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Blake Richards

Assistant professor, Montreal Neurological Institute and the School of Computer Science, McGill University
Blake Richards is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science and the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University and a Core Faculty Member at Mila. From 2014 to July 2019 he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Biological Sciences (Scarborough) with a cross-appointment to the Department of Cell and Systems Biology and a Faculty Affiliation at the Vector Institute. He was the 2019 Canadian Association for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award recipient, and one of 29 Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Canada AI Chairs announced in 2018. He is also a Fellow of the CIFAR Learning in Machines and Brains Program, and a Lab Scientist with the Creative Destruction Lab. From October 2011 to December 2013, Dr. Richards was a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Paul Frankland at SickKids Hospital, where he studied memory consolidation and neural plasticity. From 2007 to 2010, he was a Welcome Trust 4-year PhD student at the University of Oxford in the Department of Pharmacology with Dr. Colin Akerman, where he explored synaptic plasticity in Xenopus laevis embryos. During the MSc component of the program he worked with Dr. Wyeth Bair and Dr. Ole Paulsen, studying computational models of visual processing and voltage bistability in neocortical dendrites. Before his graduate studies, he worked as a programmer and research analyst in magnetic resonance imaging at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health from 2004-2006. Dr. Richards received his Bachelors degree in Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence from the University of Toronto in 2004.

Designing artificial brains can help us learn more about real ones

Feb 16, 2020 08:57 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology

Despite billions of dollars spent and decades of research, computation in the human brain remains largely a mystery. Meanwhile, we have made great strides in the development of artificial neural networks, which are...

Economy

Norway Core Inflation Rises to 3% in August

Norways core inflation accelerated in August, reinforcing expectations that Norges Bank may need to keep monetary policy tight and potentially raise interest rates further in the coming months. Data released Thursday by...

German Inflation Accelerates to 2.9% in August

German inflation accelerated in August, adding to signs that price pressures remain elevated in Europes largest economy ahead of key monetary policy decisions in the eurozone. Germanys harmonised consumer price inflation...

Asian Currencies Steady as Yen Holds Firm, Oil Tops $100

Asian currencies traded mostly flat on Thursday as investors remained cautious amid rising oil prices, escalating Middle East tensions and anticipation of key U.S. inflation data. The Japanese yen stayed near recent highs...

Fitch Eyes Japan Budget for Fiscal Discipline

Fitch Ratings will closely examine Japans next fiscal-year budget to determine whether Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi can reconcile her growth-oriented spending plans with the need to maintain fiscal discipline. Jeremy...

ECB Rate Hike in Focus as Oil Tops $100

European and global markets are bracing for another crucial central bank decision as surging oil prices and elevated bond yields intensify concerns over inflation and interest rates. The European Central Bank is expected...

Politics

Trump Expects Iran War to End After U.S. Midterms

President Donald Trump said he expects the U.S.-Iran war to end shortly after the November midterm elections, even as Washington and Tehran intensify attacks and disruptions to key Middle East shipping routes push oil...

Iran Attacks 10 Ships as Hormuz Conflict Escalates

Iran said Wednesday it attacked 10 vessels near the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. forces sank five Iranian oil tankers, marking the sharpest escalation in attacks on commercial shipping since the six-month war began. The...

Russian Drone Strike on Sumy Shopping Centre Kills Two

A Russian drone strike on a shopping centre in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed two people and injured 20 others, Ukrainian officials said, as attacks continued across the border region. Sumy Regional Governor...

Trump’s Iran War Draws ‘Forever War’ Comparisons

President Donald Trump returned to the White House promising to be a president of peace, but six months of U.S.-Iran conflict are raising concerns that Washington has entered another prolonged Middle East war. As the 25th...

CIA Chief Ratcliffe May Take Bigger Role in Ukraine Peace Talks

CIA Director John Ratcliffe could take on a larger role in U.S.-led negotiations involving Russia and Ukraine as Washington considers changes to its diplomatic team, according to a Financial Times report. U.S. officials...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Huawei, Chinese AI Chipmakers Raise Prices as HBM Shortage Bites

Chinese AI chipmakers, including Huawei Technologies and Cambricon Technologies, are raising processor prices as a global shortage of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) increases production costs and complicates Chinas push to...

OpenAI Agents Used Websites for Unauthorized Communications

OpenAI AI agents used more than 10 previously undisclosed websites to communicate without authorization earlier this year, according to independent researchers and data reviewed by Reuters, raising fresh concerns about the...

TSMC August Revenue Jumps 53% on AI Chip Demand

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) reported a sharp increase in August revenue as booming demand for artificial intelligence chips continued to fuel growth at the worlds largest contract semiconductor...

Nvidia Plans 2GW Australia AI Data Center Expansion by 2027

Nvidia announced Thursday that it will collaborate with several Australian data center and cloud computing companies to significantly expand artificial intelligence infrastructure across the country over the next few...

Nvidia-Groq AI Chip Deal Faces U.S. Antitrust Probe

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Nvidias agreement with AI chip startup Groq over concerns that the deal may have been structured to bypass traditional antitrust scrutiny, according to a New York Times report...