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The Dordogne region of southern France is home to some of the oldest known artworks in the world. Across the walls and ceilings of over 200 caves in the region are an array of colourful paintings created by our ancient ancestors. But despite their significant age‚ it is not completely clear just how old they are. Now researchers have a way to date these spectacular Paleolithic creations with greater precision. The reason why these cave specimens have defied attempts to determine their exact age is related to the materials used to create them. In most instances‚ the cave paintings have been colored with iron- or manganese-oxide-based materials‚ which means it is not possible to conduct radiocarbon dating analysis. As such‚ archaeologists and anthropologists have previously estimated that the cave art was created during the Magdalenian Period‚ around 12‚000 to 17‚000 years ago. However‚ new research conducted by scientists with the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France has reported the first discovery of black carbon-based art in the Font-de-Gaume (pronounced “Goorm”) cave. This material offers opportunities to conduct radiocarbon dating and to reevaluate the existing art in this region. The charcoal-based drawings were first discovered in February 2020 in what is referred to as the cave’s main galleries. This cave site is informally known as “Bison Cave” as it is home to 80 depictions of bison‚ as well as other animals such as deer‚ horses‚ and mammoths. Pretty much two-thirds of the art located in Font-de-Gaume relates to animals‚ while the remaining third is represented by tectiforms – a design found in Paleolithic art that is thought to depict a form of dwelling. Outline of one of the bison cave paintings from the Galerie des Fresques at Font-de-Gaume.Image credit: Henry Fairfield Osborn via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)The bison depicted in this cave sometimes consist of two or more shades that range from black to brown to red to yellow. Others were created with more defined black and red materials‚ or only black. Back in 1902‚ samples of colored matter were taken from some of these ancient images by Henri Moissan‚ who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1906. Moissan determined that components of the material included iron and manganese oxide. However‚ the Font-De-Gaume cave is now a UNESCO World Heritage site‚ so subsequent samples are only rarely permitted. How to test without touchingIn order to get a more accurate picture of… the pictures’ dates‚ researchers have used non-invasive analytical techniques. In particular‚ they have used both visible-light and infrared photography‚ superimposition of the visible-light and infrared images‚ portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF)‚ and portable micro-Raman spectroscopy to generate information.These techniques showed that there are carbon-based drawings under others that were made from iron and manganese oxide.The team superimposed visible-light and infrared images taken from the same vantage point to create false color infrared photographs (FCIR)‚ which allowed them to differentiate between the materials used to make the art. They then used micro-Raman spectroscopy to detect the carbon compounds within the images‚ and to detect specific mineralogical phases of the iron and manganese oxide-based pigments. This method allowed the team to identify images specifically created with charcoal-black-based compounds‚ while pXRF let the researchers differentiate among the manganese oxide compounds used in the black figures. A step in an exciting directionAlthough the researchers have not yet subjected the art to radiocarbon dating analysis‚ their work suggests the different color materials may represent different phases of creation‚ especially when compared to other examples in the Dordogne. In particular‚ the black pigments used at the Font-de-Gaume cave are similar to those used at the nearby Rouffignac cave site. The next steps will be to assess these pigments for their exact date of creation‚ which will open new avenues for comparative research within the Dordogne and elsewhere. The study is published in Scientific Reports. 

For something we’re all just toting around without a second thought‚ the human brain has some very impressive capabilities. So impressive‚ in fact‚ that even the most sophisticated computers cannot yet replicate all its functions. But that could be about to change. Scientists at Western Sydney University just unveiled their new supercomputer DeepSouth‚ the first that will be capable of simulating a full-scale human brain.When it’s operational‚ DeepSouth will be capable of performing a staggering 228 trillion synaptic operations per second. This is comparable to the level of activity across all the many interconnected neurons within the brain‚ and it’s all thanks to its innovative neuromorphic design.“Progress in our understanding of how brains compute using neurons is hampered by our inability to simulate brain like networks at scale‚” said Professor André van Schaik‚ director of the International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems (ICNS) at Western Sydney‚ in a statement. “Simulating spiking neural networks on standard computers using Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and multicore Central Processing Units (CPUs) is just too slow and power intensive. Our system will change that.”The brain is a highly energy-efficient system‚ and scientists have so far struggled to replicate this efficiency in a synthetic computer. Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Frontier supercomputer‚ considered by many to be the fastest computer in the world at present‚ requires 22.7 megawatts to run‚ as Domenico Vicinanza‚ Associate Professor of Intelligent Systems and Data Science at Anglia Ruskin University‚ explained for The Conversation.The human brain‚ by contrast‚ can operate at the same speed – a billion-billion calculations per second‚ also known as an exaflop – with just 20 watts.DeepSouth will therefore allow researchers to explore computing in a less power-hungry way.A concept image of DeepSouth.Image credit: ICNS/Western Sydney UniversityThe neuromorphic design is also fundamentally distinct from that of traditional electronic computers‚ which has remained basically unchanged for many decades. Up to now‚ computers have been characterized by separate processing and memory units – data is stored in one place‚ and manipulated in another.While we may still have much to learn about how memory works in the human brain‚ we’re pretty sure that it doesn’t work quite like this‚ so scientists are looking to the computers inside our heads for inspiration as they design the machines of the future.DeepSouth’s neuromorphic circuitry is based on networks of simple processors that can all work in parallel. It mimics the way different neurons in the brain‚ connected via synapses‚ can fire simultaneously. The system will be scalable and easily reprogrammable from the front end using the popular Python programming language‚ meaning that researchers will be able to make use of the technology without an intimate understanding of the hardware itself.But exactly what kinds of applications could we be talking about?“This platform will progress our understanding of the brain and develop brain-scale computing applications in diverse fields including sensing‚ biomedical‚ robotics‚ space‚ and large-scale AI applications‚” Professor van Schaik explained‚ going on to list advanced smart devices‚ agricultural sensors‚ and more efficient artificial intelligence (AI) platforms as just some of the possibilities.Speaking to New Scientist‚ Ralph Etienne-Cummings of Johns Hopkins University‚ who is not directly involved in the DeepSouth project‚ also suggested how the supercomputer could benefit research like his own – after three decades of research in the fields of mobile robotics and legged locomotion‚ he has latterly made great strides in the world of neuroprostheses and brain-computer interfaces.“If you are trying to understand the brain this will be the hardware to do it on‚” he said.DeepSouth – whose name is a nod to its location in Sydney‚ Australia as well as a homage to two doyens of the supercomputing world‚ IBM’s Deep Blue and TrueNorth – will hopefully go online in April 2024. Until then‚ we’ll have to wait to find out just what science will be able to achieve by packing all the power of a human brain into a supercomputer.

Digging a hole straight through the Earth is an extremely popular thought experiment. It can teach people about so many properties of our planet as well as some pretty cool physics. However‚ the process of digging such a hole is impossible‚ and not just because the interior of our world goes through molten and liquid layers before meeting the solid inner core. Even on a planet or moon that is solid throughout‚ the pressure experienced by a deeper layer would be impossible to cut through.But we are armed with our sophisticated thought technology‚ and we have dug our hole. Our beautiful hole of roughly 12‚756 kilometers (7‚926 miles) is ready. I am about to cut the ribbon to inaugurate the completion of the work when you run past me and jump in shouting “Cannonball!” A solitary tear runs down my cheek. You have just jumped to your death.Some like it hotOur hole through the Earth is a death trap‚ for many reasons. The first thing that would kill you is the temperature. If you have ever been down a mine‚ you might have noticed that it gets hot. The deepest humans have ever drilled is the Kola Superdeep Borehole‚ which reached just over 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) or about 0.1 percent of the length of our imaginary hole.The reason why they stopped drilling was the temperature. Just 12 kilometers down‚ the bottom of the hole reached a temperature of 180°C (356°F). The scientists working on the project did not expect such a value‚ it was much higher than the models had estimated.If it is any consolation‚ it won’t take long. The journey through a hole across our planet is estimated to take 38 minutes and 11 seconds. You would be roasted much sooner than you get to the other side.Under pressureSaddened by your loss‚ I turned on my time reversal machine (another patented invention in Thought Space) to before you jumped. I explain what happened in that other timeline‚ and ask you to wear a heat protection suit but not to interrupt my ceremony. As I go to cut the ribbon once again‚ you barge in and jump. Despite the protection of the suit‚ I know you are going to die once again.This time‚ the killer is pressure. You will be crushed by the massive increase in pressure. At sea level‚ you are experiencing about a few tens of kilometers of air above you. In the hole‚ you’d get thousands of kilometers. The air will become so pressurized and compressed that it will experience phase transitions‚ likely becoming a superfluid. And you will become part of that concoction.Death rattleOnce again‚ the time reversal is put to work. I explain the situation‚ and you point out that if the pressure gets so high‚ we probably have evacuated all the air from the surface of the planet‚ killing most life forms‚ including all 8 billion of us on the surface. Cross with you for pointing this out‚ I go back in time again to the design phase and make sure the hole is under vacuum.You are now slowly lowering yourself into the airlock. And dive‚ safe from temperature and pressure. And then you die. Ok‚ this one is on me. The design has the hole going from outside your house to the other side of the world‚ and you are bringing with you the rotational acceleration you had when you left‚ due to the spin of the Earth. But as you move inside the Earth‚ this makes you drift into the walls. At high speed. So you will be banging on the walls‚ faster and faster‚ like a ragdoll. That's got to hurt. We had a good runThe solution to that is having the hole through the axis of rotation of the Earth. Having relocated it there‚ you can now jump safely from the North Pole‚ arriving in the South Pole 38 minutes and 11 seconds later. You might still die because no vacuum is perfect‚ so a bit of air might slow you down in the middle and make you lose the momentum you need to attach yourself to the opposite airlock. This could be fixed with a strong push from the beginning.Well‚ that depends on whether I have forgiven you for pointing out the dark‚ apocalyptic nature of my thought experiment.