Only human beings (with rare exceptions) are able to grasp analogies. A study carried out in collaboration with SISSA has investigated the origin of this ability, which precedes linguistic ability and forms the basis of highly sophisticated reasoning. The study has been published in the journal Child Development.
News
Aiutare i bambini a imparare l’informatica in modo divertente e con un approccio intuitivo, questo è quello che l’iniziativa CoderDojo fa in tutto il mondo, Trieste compresa. Il prossimo appuntamento nella nostra città è alla Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) di Trieste e vedrà partecipare un gruppo di bambini di quarta e quinta elementare (del ricreatorio comunale Fonda Savio di Opicina) che potranno realizzare un videogioco, un’animazione, un cartone animato con Scratch! il programma ideato al MIT di Boston.
Students who have just completed the first edition of the Master in High Performance Computing (MHPC) held at SISSA/ICTP last year (and who still have to finish their dissertations) are already starting to work in the field. Now it is time to select candidates for the 2015-2016 academic year: the master’s course has in fact just opened applications, which should be made online at http://www.mhpc.it/apply and will remain open until 6 July 2015.
Little is known about how the proteins forming ion channels – the “pores” on the cell membrane - change when they open and close, especially the portion that is “embedded” in the membrane. Scientists at SISSA have invented a method, based on the combined and innovative use of known techniques, which allowed them to observe in detail a specific membrane protein and its structural changes. The study has just been published in Nature Communications
Amalia Finzi
27 May 2015, 2.30 pm
SISSA, “P. Budinich” Main Lecture Hall
24-26 giugno 2015, dalle 9.00 alle 18.00
SISSA, Big Meeting Room
Jonathan Weiner
22 May, 2015, 2.30 pm
SISSA, Room 128
They are “strange” materials, insulators on the inside and conductors on the surface. They also have properties that make them excellent candidates for the development of spintronics (”spin-based electronics”) and more in general quantum computing. However, they are also elusive as their properties are extremely difficult to observe. Now a SISSA study, published in Physical Review Letters, proposes a new family of materials whose topological state can be directly observed experimentally, thus simplifying things for researchers.
12 e 26 maggio 2015, dalle 9.30 alle 12.30
SISSA, Aula 128/129
Grid cells, space-mapping neurons of the entorhinal cortex of rodents, could also work for hyperbolic surfaces. A SISSA study just published in Interface, the journal of the Royal Society, tests a model (a computer simulation) based on mathematical principles, that explains how maps emerge in the brain and shows how these maps adapt to the environment in which the individual develops.
By using “unusual” optic fibres in a novel fashion, an international team of researchers led by the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste, scrutinized the response to light of rods, the light-sensitive cells of the retina, and demonstrated that the intensity of response varies according to the region of the cell hit by the light.
Introducing flaws into liquid crystals by inserting microspheres and then controlling them with electrical fields: that, in a nutshell, is the rationale behind a method that could be exploited for a new generation of advanced materials, potentially useful for optical technologies, electronic displays and e-readers.
Collaborators and friends of John Nicholls, pioneer of neurobiology studies and Professor at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) of Trieste, celebrate the publication of his autobiographical book “Pioneers of Neurobiology: My Brilliant Eccentric Heroes”, a very personal take on the evolution of neurobiology, but especially on the protagonists of this field of research, today one of the most important in neuroscience. The event is open to the public and will be held in English.
June 29-30, 2015
SISSA, Big Meeting Room, 7th floor
Via Bonomea 265, Trieste
SISSA will host a workshop entitled “Semantic processing and its disorders” in honor of Prof. Tim Shallice. Alfonso Caramazza, Maria Gorno-Tempini, Alex Martin, Morris Moscovitch, Matthew Lambon-Ralph, David Plaut, Caterina Silveri, Lorraine Tyler, Gabriella Vigliocco and others will attend the event.
Recommendation: If you intend to attend the meeting please send an email to lpiretti@sissa.it
23 aprile 2015, 9.30 – 13.30
SISSA, aula 128/129
Via Bonomea 268, Trieste
We learn how our world works by observing the frequency of events: if (almost) every time I press a button a light comes on, by repeating the same experience over and over again I will learn that to turn on the light I need to press that button. In addition to this sort of “statistical evaluation” of observed events, there is another very powerful instrument that the brain uses for learning and that sometimes clashes with the former: communication.
Il giornalismo digitale richiede competenze specifiche. La SISSA propone un intervento di Paolo Omero, docente di Tecnologie web all’Università di Udine, che approfondirà i vari aspetti di questo ambito in continua mutazione, utili a tutti i giornalisti, non solo a coloro che già lavorano nelle redazioni online.
The School aims to provide practical and theoretical training on the application of a large spectrum of techniques to neuroscience. The course will have sessions with tutorial lectures and sessions with hands-on practicals.
Fare il giornalista oggi significa anche saper maneggiare (e raccontare) dati: cercare le fonti giuste, destreggiarsi con le statistiche, creare infografiche, ma non solo. Anche quest’anno il Master in Comunicazione della Scienza “Franco Prattico” della SISSA propone una scuola dedicata al data journalism.
Designed to detect the fossil radiation of the Universe, the Planck satellite, working in tandem with Herschel, can also help to understand the macrostructure of the Universe. A just-published experimental study, carried out with the participation of SISSA, has detected astronomical sources that may be precursors to galaxy clusters, the largest dynamically stable structures existing in the Universe. These primitive elements have long been sought by astrophysicists since they are crucial for tracing the development of the Universe’s macrostructures.