Self-Driving Vehicle Legal Update

"U.S. eliminates human controls requirement for fully automated vehicles". (Via W.R.)

Swim Math

"This professor studies each swimmer as a math problem. It's helped them to be faster"

Lost Tolkien Scripts

"Hoard of the rings: 'Lost' scripts for BBC Tolkien drama discovered"

Another Island Micronation -- Or Not

CNN: "They bought a Caribbean island to start their own country"

Like many micronations before it, the Principality of Islandia has begun building all the traditional trappings of a nation-state. There's a national anthem, an Islandia flag and a government that's elected from amongst the investors. Johnson even jokes that he holds the "hush, hush role of Head of the Secret Police."...

Mayer emphasizes that the micronation should be seen as "tongue in cheek," and that while they might bring in their own rules when they are on the island (such as no single-use plastics, he said as an example), Coffee Caye still falls squarely within the laws and borders of Belize. 

Sealed Moon Rocks

"NASA opens sample taken from the Moon 50 years on". (Via J.P.)

Simulation?

Wired: "Of Course We're Living in a Simulation".

Stolen concept alert!

Rogue Wave

"Record-Breaking Rogue Wave Detected Off Vancouver Island"

A wave the height of a four-story building was recorded off the coast of Vancouver Island, and scientists say it’s “the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded.” The 58-foot-tall giant, which appeared off the coast of Ucluelet, British Columbia, on November 17, 2020, is described in the journal Scientific Reports. 

"Only a few rogue waves in high sea states have been observed directly, and nothing of this magnitude,” lead author Johannes Gemmrich, an oceanographer at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, says in the statement. “The probability of such an event occurring is once in 1,300 years."

Batman Ranked

"Batman Movies, Ranked". As usual, YMMV.

Stonehenge Update

"Stonehenge may be ancient solar calendar"

Japanese Rock

"Japan’s 'killing stone' splits in two, releasing superstitions amid the sulphur springs"

Cryptocurrency And War

Wired: "War Is Calling Crypto’s 'Neutrality' Into Question"

All About Go

"It's like putting your hand on the third rail of the universe."

Trustworthy Synthetic Faces

"AI-synthesized faces are indistinguishable from real faces and more trustworthy"

Silurian Hypothesis

"Are There Lost Civilizations in Earth's Past?" 

Color me skeptical.

Russian Nuclear Launch Procedures

"Good thread on Russian nuclear launch procedures." (Via Tyler Cowen.)

Can Russia's president launch nuclear weapons alone? The honest answer is "we don't know." A short answer is "probably." A longer answer is "it's complicated." A longish thread that may (or may not) help clarify things 1/

— Pavel Podvig (@russianforces) March 5, 2022

Biggest Galaxy

"The Biggest Galaxy Ever Found Has Just Been Discovered, And It Will Break Your Brain". (Via H.R.)

Earth's Core

"Scientists discover the Earth's inner core isn't solid or liquid. It's 'superionic.'". (Via H.R.)

Pulverizing Asteroids

"Ingenious System to Pulverize Asteroids May Be Earth's Only Chance in a Catastrophe". (Via H.R.)

COBOL Longevity

IEEE: "Long-Enduring COBOL May Still Have a Shelf Life"

Crypto And CO?

Wired: "[Colorado governor]Jared Polis received a warm welcome when he appeared onstage at last week’s ETHDenver conference to present his vision for making Colorado the 'first digital state.'"

Americans Travelling To Europe

"Americans Will Need To Register To Travel To Europe In 2023"

Metaverse Laws

"Metaverse vs. employment law: The reality of the virtual workplace"

I'm sure looking forward to spending more time on mandatory HR training videos on safety/diversity/privacy/etc. if I ever take a job in the Metaverse!

AI Chemical Discovery

"How AI is Changing Chemical Discovery"

Hsieh Forbes Column: "What Happens In The Brain At The Moment Of Death?"

My latest Forbes column is out: "What Happens In The Brain At The Moment Of Death?"

Original academic article:  "Enhanced Interplay of Neuronal Coherence and Coupling in the Dying Human Brain" by Zemmar, et al.

Mathematical Objects

"Collections of mathematical objects":

If math is the art of finding relations between abstract objects, then a catalogue of abstract objects is a good place for a mathematician to start. So: real numbers (in order of popularity), equations, functions, formulas involving π, tilings (previously, specifically nonperiodic), rings and their properties, finite group representations, packings of equal circles in a square, triangle centers (previously), top ten lists of prime numbers, integer sequences (previously, extremely previously), combinatorial statistics, graphs, movies, fundamental theorems, counterexamples.

Self-Driving Car Update

"GM seeks US approval to deploy self-driving car without a steering wheel"

Cruise announced the filing of its petition for approval on Friday, saying the car is "a zero-emission, shared, electric vehicle that has been purposefully designed from the ground up to operate without a human driver. This means it does not rely on certain human-centered features, like a steering wheel or a sun visor, to operate safely."

King Tut's Dagger

"X-rays help unlock secrets of King Tut's iron dagger, made from a meteorite". (Via H.R.)

Enhanced Electrical Brain Activity Just Before Death

EEG study performed on patient at time of death showed high-cognitive demand activity, similar to concentration or recall. This may be the external equivalent of "life flashing before one's eyes". 

Direct link to academic paper, "Enhanced Interplay of Neuronal Coherence and Coupling in the Dying Human Brain".

Updated Pacemaker

"'Bionic' pacemaker reverses heart failure". (Via H.R.)

Exoplanet Update

"A 'hot Jupiter's' dark side is revealed in detail for first time". (Via Debby Witt.)

Three Colliding Galaxies

"Three galaxies are tearing each other apart in stunning new Hubble telescope image"

Privatizing The Moon?

"Space Invaders: Property Right On The Moon"

Robotic Caterpillar

Video: "A caterpillar with nine electric motors climbs a woodpile!"

[T]he crux of the work was a gloriously fun math problem. Solving caterpillar motion over arbitrary curved surfaces is the toughest, and most rewarding, math that I’ve gotten into yet. It took me several months as well. The video is a single take, shot between 1:10pm and 1:20pm in my shop, when the sun aligns with a skylight to create a pool of light...

Caterpillar and Woodpile 2019 from Reuben Margolin on Vimeo.

Pub Monarch Wanted

"A Tiny English Island Is Looking for a New Monarch to Run its Pub"

Online Traffic Simulator

Time-sink of the week: Online traffic simulator.

4th Star Trek Movie

"Star Trek Cast, Including Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, Returning for Fourth Film"

I really hope this one doesn't suck.

Recovering Rare Earths

"An electric jolt salvages valuable metals from waste: New method can pull rare earth elements from electronic waste and coal ash". (Via H.R.)

Wikipedia High Five Story

"The adorable love story behind Wikipedia's 'high five' photos"

Bad Bionics

IEEE: "Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported"

Los Angeles–based Second Sight provides a cautionary tale for bold entrepreneurs interested in brain tech. What happens when cutting-edge implants fail, or simply fade away like yesterday’s flip phones and Betamax? Even worse, what if the companies behind them go bust? 

More Fusion News

BBC: "Major breakthrough on nuclear fusion energy". Still a ways to go, though.

Opening Beer Bottles

"9 Ways to Open a Beer Bottle Without a Bottle Opener"

Geology of Mediterranean Sea

Mindblowing geological history of the Mediterranean Sea.

Tetrachromacy Update

"Human Tetrachromacy is Real. Here's What We Know"

Amazon LOTR Series Details

Vanity Fair: "Amazon's Lord of the Rings Series Rises: Inside The Rings of Power"

Reconnecting Tonga

"The race to reconnect Tonga: How engineers will repair the undersea communications cable severed by the recent volcanic eruption"

Neuromorphic Analog Chips

"Chip designer mimicking brain, backed by Sam Altman, gets $25 mln funding":

Rain Neuromorphics Inc., a startup designing chips that mimic the way the brain works and aims to serve companies using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, said on Wednesday it raised $25 million.

 Gordon Wilson, CEO and co-founder of Rain, said that while most AI chips on the market today are digital, his company's technology is analogue. Digital chips read 1s and 0s while analogue chips can decipher incremental information such as sound waves.

Two Forms Of Liquid Water

"Direct evidence emerges for the existence of two forms of liquid water". (Via H.R.)

Slow European Clocks

"Clocks are running slow across Europe because of an argument over who pays the electricity bill"

Quantum Friction

"Weirdly flowing water finally has an explanation: 'quantum friction'"

American Pizza

"Pizza Isn't Italian: It's as American as Dixieland Jazz"

Best Statistics Books

"The ten best books for thinking clearly about statistics"

Hacking NK

"North Korea Hacked Him. So He Took Down Its Internet"

Awesome Crossword Puzzle Clue

One of the best crossword puzzle clues ever.

Fun little trick in the Sunday New York Times crossword yesterday: the central theme clue was "The better of two sci-fi franchises", and regardless of whether you put Star Wars or Star Trek, the crossing clues worked pic.twitter.com/NS4LDxwxxl

— ℳatt (@matttomic) February 7, 2022

Superstrong Polymer

"MIT scientists filed two patents on a new, 2D material that's stronger than steel". (Via H.R.)

Digital Dollars

NPR: "The U.S. is considering a radical rethinking of the dollar for today's digital world"

In that scenario, the U.S. would not only mint the coins and print paper bills. It would also issue digital cash, or a central bank digital currency (CBDC), that would be stored in apps or "digital wallets" on our smartphones.

We could then use them to pay for things, just like we do with Venmo or Apple Pay, and no actual physical money would change hands.

 

Computer Sound Tracking

"Where did that sound come from? MIT neuroscientists have developed a computer model that can answer that question as well as the human brain"

AI Debating AI

"We invited an AI to debate its own ethics in the Oxford Union -- what it said was startling"

AI Monopoly

"An AI Discovers the Best Strategy for Monopoly"

Virtual World Assault

"Woman Says She Was 'Virtually Gang-Raped' in Facebook's Metaverse"

Chinese Food In America

"What I learned eating at 8,000 Chinese restaurants"

NSA Not Always Following Internal Safeguards

CNN: "NSA watchdog finds 'concerns' with searches of Americans' communications"

The National Security Agency failed to follow both court-approved and internal procedures designed to prevent officials from using a controversial foreign surveillance law to inappropriately monitor Americans' communications, the NSA inspector general found in a semi-annual report released on Monday.

Hsieh Forbes Column: Does Your Doctor Work For A Private Equity Company -- And Should You Care?

My latest Forbes column is now out: "Does Your Doctor Work For A Private Equity Company -- And Should You Care?"

Funny AI

"Artificial Intelligence Can Now Craft Original Jokes -- And That's No Laughing Matter"

Space Elevator Failure

"What Happens If a Space Elevator Breaks"

5G And Airplanes

"The 5G Airline Controversy: What Is It About?"

Prime Progress

"Mathematicians Clear Hurdle in Quest to Decode Primes":

In a paper posted in September, Paul Nelson of the Institute for Advanced Study has solved a version of the subconvexity problem, a kind of lighter-weight version of Riemann's question. The proof is a significant achievement on its own and teases the possibility that even greater discoveries related to prime numbers may be in store.

Gödel Video

Video: "The paradox at the heart of mathematics: Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem"

Light Posting Notice

Admin note: Posting may be lighter than usual this week due to external obligations.

One-Minute Time Machine

Video: "One-Minute Time Machine"

Two Sleeps

BBC: "The forgotten medieval habit of 'two sleeps'"

 

Big Electromagnet

"The Physics of Wile E. Coyote's 10 Billion-Volt Electromagnet"

Fake QR Codes On Parking Meters

"Police Warn of Parking Meters with Phishing QR Codes":

The QR codes found by Austin police department directed unsuspecting users to a fraudulent website which would ask for payment details with the false promise that their parking session would be paid for. 

The City of Austin checked its parking meters after being notified of a similar QR code scam by officials in San Antonio. They had discovered over 100 parking meters similarly stickered in late December.

Airline Passenger Rights

"The Airline Passenger Rights Everyone Should Know: You should know what you're entitled to the next time you're bumped, delayed, or trapped on the tarmac"

Science Of Flow States

"Why does experiencing 'flow' feel so good? A communication scientist explains"

Fugitive Caught Because No Mask

"Police in Poland have arrested a convicted murderer who had been on the run for 20 years because he was not wearing a face mask."

AI System Has Been Named An Inventor

"A First: An AI System Has Been Named An Inventor"

The South African patent office made history in July when it issued a patent that listed an artificial intelligence system as the inventor.

The patent is for a food container that uses fractal designs to create pits and bulges in its sides. Designed for the packaging industry, the new configuration allows containers to fit more tightly together so they can be transported better. The shape also makes it easier for robotic arms to pick up the containers.

(Via J.P.)

 

Prisoner's Dilemma With Real Prisoners

What happens when you run "Prisoner's Dilemma" experiments on actual prisoners? The hard core Mafiosi stick together and punish defectors, in contrast to "ordinary" criminals. (Via M.R.)

Impossible Light Bulb

Massimo: "In the 1920s newly hired engineers at General Electric would be told, as a joke, to develop a frosted lightbulb. The experienced engineers believed this to be impossible: newly hired Marvin Pipkin got the assignment not realizing it was a joke & succeeded" 

In the 1920s newly hired engineers at General Electric would be told, as a joke, to develop a frosted lightbulb. The experienced engineers believed this to be impossible: newly hired Marvin Pipkin got the assignment not realizing it was a joke & succeeded https://t.co/nXNUo8UwgO pic.twitter.com/5PgVvm9ar4

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 11, 2022

Alphabet Evolution

"From Greek to Latin: Visualizing the Evolution of the Alphabet"

Ramjets Won't Work

Study: 1960 ramjet design for interstellar travel -- a sci-fi staple -- is unfeasible"

Drug Emojis

"DEA releases chart of 'Dangerous Emojis' used to buy drugs"

Never-Ending Blind Date

Chinese woman goes on "blind date" for dinner at the guy's house. Then authorities impose COVID lockdown in the middle of the date and she's been stuck at his house for the past week:

Since then, Wang has posted short videos documenting her daily life in lockdown, which show her date cooking meals for her, doing household chores and working at his laptop while she sleeps in, according to clips published by local media.

So far it seems romance has yet to blossom during their prolonged date, according to Wang who says she's looking for a more talkative partner.

"Besides the fact that he's as mute as a wooden mannequin, everything else (about him) is pretty good," Wang told The Paper. "Despite his food being mediocre, he's still willing to cook, which I think is great."

 

Japanese Railgun Technology

"Japan set to develop railguns to counter hypersonic missiles":

The Japanese Defense Ministry will develop a means to intercept hostile missiles using magnetically powered projectiles, sources told Nikkei Asia, as the nation scurries to respond to the hypersonic weapons being developed by China, North Korea and Russia.

The ministry is focusing on railgun technology that can launch projectiles with power generated when an electric current is applied to a magnetic field. The projectiles are faster than those shot from conventional intercept systems and can be fired continuously.

 

Fast Keyboard

"This Keyboard Lets People Type So Fast It's Banned From Typing Competitions"

 

Shocking The Brain

"Jolting the brain's circuits with electricity is moving from radical to almost mainstream therapy. Some crucial hurdles remain"

Living Self-Replicating Robots

Sam Kriegman: "We Created Living Robots That Self-Replicate"

More Fusion News

"Fusion Power Generation May Come Sooner Than You Think".  Of note:

While Lawrence Livermore’s facility is making strides and the ITER project is gathering together teams from around the world, the real reason for hope on the fusion front is coming from the private sector. Much as the space launch industry has been invigorated by innovative companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Rocket Lab that challenge an ossified government-directed order, so a new generation of entrepreneurs is pushing new boundaries of commercial fusion research...

The following list of companies, while not exhaustive, illustrates the myriad approaches to achieving fusion power under development in the private sector... 

Signal And Untraceable Payments

"How Signal is playing with fire: A push into untraceable payments could put end-to-end encryption at risk"

What sets Signal’s effort apart is the combination of end-to-end encryption in messaging and a cryptocurrency with privacy features designed to make any transactions anonymous.

Last year, current and former Signal employees told me they were worried about what that combination would bring to the app. Anonymous transactions would likely attract criminals, they told me, and that in turn would attract regulatory scrutiny. Given that end-to-end encryption already faces legal challenges around the globe, they said, Signal’s addition of anonymous payments was a needless provocation. And it could give more ammunition to lawmakers who want to end encryption as we know it...

Cat Attractor

"Starlink's Self-Heating Internet Satellite Dishes Are Attracting Cats"

Starlink works great until the cats find out that the dish gives off a little heat on cold days. pic.twitter.com/uyH3Kbqrie

— Aaron Taylor (@Tippen22) December 31, 2021

AI's Real Worst-Case Scenarios

"AI's 6 Worst-Case Scenarios: Who needs Terminators when you have precision clickbait and ultra-deepfakes?"

Geologist Thinking

"How do geologists think?"

Good Recollection

"Abducted son finds family by drawing map of village he last saw aged four"

Brains On A Chip

"Brains on a chip: Why startups are combining cells and silicon"

Mind Reading

"The Science of Mind Reading".  Communicating with patients in a seemingly "vegetative state".

Astute Radiologist

Classic radiology case.

ROFL!😀#MedTwitter #prisonbreak pic.twitter.com/ExkczfxQHL

— Dr. Prabhudev M Hiremath (@drutopian) January 3, 2022

Good Naps

"The Science of a Good Nap"

Fish Operated Vehicle

"Israeli scientists train goldfish to steer car around room":

Six goldfish trained to use the apparatus managed to find their way around the small room and toward a reward, wrote the authors of a study published this month in the journal Behavioural Brain Research.

The fish “were able to operate the vehicle, explore the new environment, and reach the target, regardless of the starting point, all while avoiding dead-ends and correcting location inaccuracies,” said Shachar Givon and Matan Samina, who published the research along with Ohad Ben Shahar and Ronen Segev.

 

SAGE History

"The most important computer you've never heard of"

Best Illusions Of 2021

"The Best Illusions of the Year Will Leave Your Brain Hurting More Than 2021 Did"

Doorbell Privacy

"What to Do If the Police Ask for Your Video Doorbell Recordings"