Airplane Mode

"Do You Really Need To Turn On Airplane Mode While Flying?"

Lego Great Ball Contraption

"The Lego Great Ball Contraption"

Hsieh Forbes Column On AI And Prostate Cancer

My latest Forbes column has been out for a few days: "AI Can Help Fallible Human Physicians In Diagnosing Prostate Cancer"

Arctic Research

"The Golden Age of offbeat Arctic research". (Via H.R.)

Eye Transplant

"World's first whole-eye transplant: The innovations that made it possible". (Via G.F.)

Pseudo-visa For Europe

"Americans Will Need a 'Visa' to Visit Europe Next Year -- Here's What to Know"

When Europe’s new authorization system is eventually implemented, travelers with passports from visa-exempt countries will have to apply for ETIAS online prior to their arrival on the continent. This requirement will affect citizens from the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, among dozens of other countries. Unlike traditional visas, the application process for ETIAS is relatively quick and easy—it’s also inexpensive, costing only €7 (about $8) for a three-year approval. All travelers will need to fill out an ETIAS application regardless of their age. However, children under 18 and adults over 70 years old can apply for free.

Travelers will simply fill out an online form with their basic biographical data and travel history. They’ll also respond to several security questions, and if everything checks out, they’ll receive approval via email within an hour. This will be the case for most travelers, although some may require additional security checks that prolong the process to up to 96 hours.

“The most important piece of advice I can give travelers is to make sure to apply for your ETIAS at least 96 hours before your flight departs,” Cripps says. “Airlines will likely require proof of an ETIAS in order to board your flight, and while most travelers are expected to receive their approval quickly, you don’t want any surprises before your big trip.”

 

Telegram Woes

"How Telegram Became a Playground for Criminals, Extremists and Terrorists"

Are Ice Baths Good For Your Body?

Mayo Clinic: "The science behind ice baths for recovery"

Lotsa Data

"It is estimated that 90% of the world's data was generated in the last two years alone."

"Inside Out" And Therapists

"How 'Inside Out' and Its Sequel Changed Therapy"

"Local" Defined

"How many years do you need to live somewhere before you are considered a local?"

Among the many interesting answers on the thread, one person from Vermont replied: 

"In New England, the rule is simple. You are considered a local as soon as you have three grandparents who were born in the town where you live. Thanks for asking."

Jelly AI Learns Pong

"AI made of jelly 'learns' to play Pong -- and improves with practice"

Self-Driving Cars And Kangaroos

"Self-driving cars a 'game changer' for disabled Aussies, but they've got a kangaroo problem"

When we did a study, we found that with less effort, we were able to detect kangaroos, but we did not have enough data to come to conclusions on how algorithms can predict their behaviour.

Wolfram On Machine Learning

Stephen Wolfram: "What's Really Going On in Machine Learning? Some Minimal Models"

Are Blue Zones Of Longevity Based On Bad Data?

"The Blue Zone Distraction". 

Summary: Blue Zones -- geographical regions that supposedly have the world's most long-lived people -- are dubious. Whether it's Sardinia, Okinawa, or Greece, the numbers of old people are wrong, due to census mistakes or "pension fraudsters". These errors propagate false claims about the benefits of wine-drinking or plant-based diets. Researchers seriously interested in longevity must look for better data.

Air Hockey Robot

Video of robot capable of playing air hockey. (Via W.R.)

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NSA Releases Classic 1982 Grace Hopper Lecture

"NSA releases copy of internal lecture delivered by computing giant Rear Adm. Grace Hopper". 

The public domain lecture is entitled, "Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People", and was delivered in 1982. The videos are in two parts, below.

Part 1

Part 2

Lunar Time Solved

"Researchers figure out how to keep clocks on the Earth, Moon in sync". (Via H.R.)

Labor Day Break

Happy Labor Day to our US readers! Posting will resume tomorrow.