Some theorists view the brain as a predictive machine that uses experiences to determine what’s likely to happen next. It also uses this prior knowledge with new information to make decisions, which sometimes makes us biased. However, it seems that the brain of a person with autism weighs prior knowledge with new information differently, prioritising new information. This prioritisation causes increased sensitivity to stimuli, and perhaps a more rational, unbiased decision-making process. Read full article here
Science
‘Ghostly’ neutrinos provide new path to study protons
In groundbreaking research, an international collaboration of scientists from the University of Rochester have used a beam of neutrinos to measure the size and shape of the protons that make up the nuclei of atoms. This feat, once thought impossible, provides scientists with a new way of looking at the small components of an atom’s nucleus and opens up a wealth of new information about the structure of an atom’s nucleus and the dynamics of the forces that affect neutrino interactions. The researchers solved the challenge of harnessing neutrinos in large numbers by using a neutrino detector containing a target of both hydrogen and carbon atoms, and over nine years of data collection at Fermilab’s accelerator. Read full article here