Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 94 posts

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#81

Post by saeranv »

cblconfederate wrote: post #18

Natural selection led to evolutionary optimization algorithms Statistical mechanics to boltzmann machines, ising model to perceptron

I was thinking of two more in this vein, but I'm not actually sure about the history of their derivation, so I'll pose them as questions:

Was simulated annealing inspired by actual annealing (heating and slowly cooling metal/glass to toughen it)? Or did they just name it annealing after discovering it?

What is the relationship between thermodynamic/statistical entropy and Shannon's information theory entropy (E = -p lg(p))?

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#82

Post by parliament32 »

deanebarker wrote: post #4
axegon_ wrote: post #2

A real popular one would be QR codes. They were initially created to track manufacturing processes in the automotive industry. And you know how it is these days...

I feel like QR codes failed as a general UI tool. I get annoyed whenever I have to deal with one. They wee HUGE about 10 years ago. Now, not so much.

Their use has exploded since Covid in dense cities: I regularly have to use them to fill out pre-screening forms for facilities ("do you have symptoms X or have been in contact..."), see restaurant menus, pay bills (receipt at a restaurant has a QR code printed on the bottom, link to an online checkout on your phone, so you don't have to handle the POS machine), etc.

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#84

Post by adwww »

The approach to safety in the aviation industry is all about learning from mistakes. Whereas in Healthcare it is often more about winning an inevitable legal battle.

There have been a few efforts recently to try and apply aviation safety lessons to healthcare.

Interesting story on it here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02x3vwh

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#85

Post by cblconfederate »

saeranv wrote: post #81
cblconfederate wrote: post #18

Natural selection led to evolutionary optimization algorithms Statistical mechanics to boltzmann machines, ising model to perceptron

I was thinking of two more in this vein, but I'm not actually sure about the history of their derivation, so I'll pose them as questions: Was simulated annealing inspired by actual annealing (heating and slowly cooling metal/glass to toughen it)? Or did they just name it annealing after discovering it? What is the relationship between thermodynamic/statistical entropy and Shannon's information theory entropy (E = -p…

there are a lot of applications of physical theories in other sciences. annealing is just a descriptive name though. Shannons information entropy is a generalization of thermodynamic entropy.

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#86

Post by webmaven »

This may not be specific enough, but Elon Musk seems to have brought a software-engineering-like perspective to both SpaceX and Tesla, although the latter hasn't been an unqualified success in all respects, applying rapid iteration to a product and process while the process is running at scale has caused occasional blips: https://jalopnik.com/tesla-model-y-owners-have-found-home-de...

We sometimes refer to software systems as held together with spit and baling wire, but it's never literally true.

Others have noted the general influence in the opposite direction of the Toyota Production System on software engineering methodologies (most notably in that family of processes labeled "Lean"), but it is pretty clear Tesla could have stood to take a bit more direct influence from TPS on their assembly line.

We haven't seen anything like that at SpaceX (despite much armchair prognostication), but then, even as they ramp up production and launches, each rocket is still somewhat a bespoke product, and no one is going to get in trouble for holding up the production schedule when a problem is noted. Each rocket is still very much a pet, rather than cattle. It remains to be seen if the pace of iteration will slack off (or start conforming to a more regular punctuated cadence) as SpaceX continues to ramp up their capacity.

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#87

Post by smegcicle »

Bee waggle dance found to be analogous to a 2d projection from a 6D flag manifold, complete with explanation of how the dance changes between a figure 8 shape to a round shape at a certain indicated distance- not much of a problem solved though, perhaps bringing more questions than answers...

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/quantum-honeyb...

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#88

Post by webmaven »

I'm not sure if it is possible to pinpoint the specific point of crossover, but the analysis of crowd dynamics owes a lot to the study of fluid dynamics, and the counterintuitive insight that placing an obstacle like a column in front of an exit can smooth out and speed the outflow of people by adding some turbulence (preventing the jams that can crush people) is one specific example that I recall.

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#89

Post by saeranv »

cblconfederate wrote: post #85
saeranv wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking of two more in this vein, but I'm not actually sure about the history of their derivation, so I'll pose them as questions: Was simulated annealing inspired by actual annealing (heating and slowly cooling metal/glass to toughen it)? Or did they just name it annealing after discovering it? What is the relationship between thermodynamic/statistical entropy and Shannon's information theory entropy (E = -p…

there are a lot of applications of physical theories in other sciences. annealing is just a descriptive name though. Shannons information entropy is a generalization of thermodynamic entropy.

Brilliant! I've always wondered the relationship between these two.

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#90

Post by deadly_syn »

frogpelt wrote: post #30
mabbo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife said to me yesterday "How do I use a QR Code?". Keep in mind, she's a civil engineer and one of the smartest people I know. I said "In what context?" because really, I didn't know either. "I have to scan this QR code if I go to my office. It's apparently posted at the door, and will let them know I've been there, for contact tracing." After a lot of playing around, we finally found out her phone's camera coul…

It sounds like you aren't a fan of the way this QR code was used. I went to a restaurant the other day and it had one of those Coke Freestyle soda machines. There was a QR code on the screen which I scanned with my phone. This opened a website with drink choices. I put my cup under the dispenser and pushed the Barq's Root Beer button on the website on my phone which dispensed the drink from the machine. I was impress…

I wonder what the security implications of this would be. Did the QR code connect your phone to the machine locally, or is there some menu out there for every freestyle coke machine on the open internet?

If it's the latter I'd wager there's probably a way to remotely create a huuuge mess at some random five guys location.

Post reply on HN