Physics Nobel Awarded for Machine Learning Tools

This post was originally published on Astrology News Service

Sue Kientz

The Astrology News Service’s week examining the 2024 Nobel Prize winners continues with the Physics prize, the first Nobel to honor achievements in the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Specifically, the two honorees in Physics both developed tools now used in machine learning.

Physics Nobel Winners

Neither John Hopfield nor Gary Hinton was looking to make inroads in Artificial Intelligence when they began their investigations in the 1980s. Rather, both were trying to understand the human mind, not aiming to create an artificial mind or, using the scientific term, a neural network. Hopfield said he wanted to know how “mind” arises from processes in the brain,(1) and Hinton similarly insisted he was just “trying to understand how the brain works.”(2) By endeavoring to pursue these similar aims, both found themselves needing a structure that would help them to this complex understanding. That structure, one that could store data and then, at will, retrieve the data, search it, find specific items, among many other tasks, was found to be invaluable for AI’s advancement.

John Hopfield (born July 15, 1933)(3), shows he has a deep connection to science, an enthusiasm for delving into the unknown, and an intense interest in how things work and nature’s underlying organization, as shown by the many contacts between his personal planets (e.g., Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars) to Uranus (initiator of the scientific age), Jupiter (exploration and joyful discovery), Pluto (deep interest in finding answers), and Saturn (love of structure and usefulness). To start, Hopfield’s Sun closely conjoins Pluto (both 22 Cancer) and both sextile optimistic Jupiter (19 Virgo), pointing to investigative talents (Pluto) which allow him to locate and bring forth amazing things (sextile Jupiter). Sun/Pluto is also square Uranus (27 Aries), denoting a scientific mind, eager to know, best when at “work” on intellectual problems (squares best utilized by “working”), and square dwarf planet Sedna (18 Aries), another very serious yet sublime force, giving one determination and stamina to see difficult challenges through. As to Hopfield’s Mercury and Venus, they conjunct (13 Leo and 15 Leo) opposite serious Saturn (14 Aquarius) and trine Sedna, symbolically repeating the Sun configuration, since Mercury (mind) has great value (Venus), but is trained on Aquarian Saturn (science as a weighty pursuit, a career), with Sedna again providing determination and will to get projects completed. His Mars (4 Libra) is quite powerful with its supportive sextile from dwarf planet Haumea (5 Leo), which denotes the ability to create and find solutions, reassemble, renew, even remake the world. Mars is also square dwarf planet Makemake (2 Cancer), representing intellectual creativity of the highest magnitude, so much so some can reject it as “crazy” or “unwise,” when it’s just ahead of its time.

Next, what indicates that John Hopfield has reached this career pinnacle that is the Nobel Prize, “on time”? First, transiting Uranus (24 Taurus) is sextile his Sun, pointing to reaching a great intellectual milestone, and Neptune (27 Pisces) is trine his Sun, making him suddenly a well-sought-after figure, wanted for interviews, his image on television (Neptune makes one “everywhere”).  His Mercury, the “mind” whose processes he sought to plumb, is well accompanied presently by transiting Jupiter (15 Gemini) sextile on one side, and Makemake (11 Libra), sextile on the other, and on ceremony day, transiting Sun (19 Sagittarius) is trine his Mercury, promising a thrilling, wondrous day. Transiting Jupiter is also sextile Venus, and no wonder, considering Hopfield will be splitting half the Nobel prize money (Venus), a generous (Jupiter) haul! Another indicator of the incorporeal value of the Nobel, is transiting Venus (4 Aquarius) on ceremony day trines Hopfield’s Mars (4 Libra), a source of energy and drive. The things he will be able to do now! Not just financially, but with his new, enhanced reputation and regard. 

Our other Physics Nobel Laureate, Geoffrey Hinton (born December 5, 1947)(4), has traits similar to his Nobel prize partner Hopfield, with Sun (13 Sagittarius) conjunct Jupiter (9 Sagittarius), both trine Pluto (14 Leo) (a rearrangement of Hopfield’s but still favorable). Hinton’s Mercury (28 Scorpio) indicates a demanding mind, square Mars (1 Virgo) and semisquare (45 degrees) Neptune (12 Libra), always wanting to know more (a Mars demand) and rarely satisfied (Neptune is the insidious suspicion there’s always “more,” so keep probing). His saving grace is his Mercury is trine dwarf planet Eris (5 Aries), so he easily recruits others (Eris is the not-self, other people) to his cause and way of thinking. With Venus (6 Capricorn) conjoined Juno (13 Capricorn), he finds work (Capricorn) partners (Juno) that greatly help and influence him (Venus trine his Mars). Venus/Juno is also square dwarf planet Quaoar (4 Libra), symbolizing experimental and speculative endeavors, great for someone engrossed in scientific experimentation. Lastly, Hinton’s Mars, square Mercury (already mentioned) but also semisquare Makemake (19 Cancer) and trine Venus, is indicative of someone who, while he might trend argumentative, makes fortunate decisions (Venus) that produce brilliant results (Makemake). Mars also is sextile 2002 MS4, an unnamed dwarf planet that indicates one enjoys learning, reading, and ferreting out information in diverse ways.

And how is Geoffrey Hinton via his birth chart, now sitting in Stockholm expecting to receive his Nobel in Physics? If you have been reading the earlier Laureate analyses, the following might seem repetitious, but that should not really surprise: Transiting Makemake (11 Libra) is sextile Hinton’s Sun, Jupiter (15 Gemini) opposes his Sun, and Saturn (13 Pisces) is square his Sun, the latter perhaps a case of nerves at attending the sumptuous and solemn Nobel ceremony. Transiting Mars (6 Leo), trine his Sun, should bolster him through just fine. Makemake represents the perhaps other-worldly nature of the Nobel pageant, and the opposition from Jupiter, the glorious experience that could make this Sun/Jupiter individual, predisposed to having an excellent sense of humor, a bit giddy. But intellectually, his Mercury benefits from a trine from transiting Neptune (27 Pisces), enabling him to internalize this great moment, a sextile from Pluto (0 Aquarius), a deep emotional thrill, and oppositions from Uranus and Sedna (24 Taurus and 0 Gemini), bestowing the scientific honor and reminding of his supreme effort, now rewarded.

Previously released on the 2024 Nobel Prizes winners

Physiology/Medicine Nobel Awarded for MicroRNA Discovery

Check back for more analysis of this year’s Nobel Laureates, throughout this week.

Title Image credit: Background: By Photograph, JonathunderMedal: Erik Lindberg (1873-1966) – Derivative of File:NobelPrize.JPG, PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58432969. Text by the author.

Notes and References

(1.) Smith, Adam. “John Hopfield Interview, First Reactions,” 8 October 2024, NobelPrize.org, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2024/hopfield/interview/

(2.) Smith, Adam. “Geoffrey Hinton Interview, First Reactions,” 8 October 2024, NobelPrize.org, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2024/hinton/interview/

(3.) Hopfield, John, 15 July 1933, Chicago, IL, USA, 7 a.m. CT used, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2024/hopfield/facts/

(4.) Hinton, Geoffrey, 6 December 1947, London, UK, 7 a.m. UT used, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2024/hinton/facts/

Author Bio

Sue Kientz specializes in astrology’s mid-sized planetary bodies, the largest asteroids and massive trans-Neptunian dwarf planets Eris, Makemake, Haumea, and others discovered this century. Her experience researching the latter led to her book More Plutos, which received a 2016 eLit Award. More Plutos also addresses how resonance, fractals, and intuition can explain how astrology works. Sue argues that the dwarf planets are astrology’s great breakthrough, equivalent to what microorganisms did for medicine. Website: MorePlutos.com; Facebook: www.facebook.com/MorePlutos; E-mail: [email protected]