There is a lot of hope right now that 2021 will be better than 2020. It certainly can’t be much worse. But aside from wishful thinking there is a concrete reason for optimism: the launch of a new scientific endeavor, a new kind of supercomputer that aims to map the human brain and solve some of the hardest problems in modern day science.
As Big Think puts it:
“Between your ears lies a miracle of nature, with more connections than our galaxy has stars. In the past, the idea of mapping the connectome—or the interconnected neuronal pathways of the brain (the white matter), was thought impossible. Now, a group of scientists are planning to do just that. How? They plan on using an oncoming supercomputer with tremendous power. Should they be successful, it could stand as one of the greatest achievements in the history of science. And that’s just one of the project’s scientists at Argonne National Laboratory are planning, with Aurora 21 (A21).”
Just one of the projects?! What else are they working on?!
“Others projects include understanding how gases flow during combustion, how galaxies form, and how plasma reacts in a fusion reactor. A21 will also forecast the weather and predict how new medicines might react inside the body. In sum total, it’ll be a huge windfall for physics and science in general.”
A windfall that we can certainly use right about now.
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