[llama66]

Don't you disability shame me.

[DrCaleb]

You thought it was a Toyota Hybrid, didn't you?

[raydan]

The Year in Math and Computer Science

Mathematicians and computer scientists made big progress in number theory, graph theory, machine learning and quantum computing, even as they reexamined our fundamental understanding of mathematics and neural networks.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/quantas- ... ket-newtab

[BartSimpson]

Betelgeuse might go supernova sometime soon...which means we might have some pretty bright nights in the near future!


https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/26/world/be ... index.html

A giant red star is acting weird and scientists think it may be about to explode

[raydan]

Probably won't explode in our lifespan... and I'm guessing that's it's harder to predict earthquakes than this.

But since it's 700 light years away, it may have already happened.

[Sunnyways]

Dr. Google, your next patient is here:

$1:

An artificial intelligence program has been developed that is better at spotting breast cancer in mammograms than expert radiologists.

The AI outperformed the specialists by detecting cancers that the radiologists missed in the images, while ignoring features they falsely flagged as possible tumours.

If the program proves its worth in clinical trials, the software, developed by Google Health, could make breast screening more effective and ease the burden on health services such as the NHS where radiologists are in short supply.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... ast-cancer

[Sunnyways]

Quantum teleportation, man, so groovy:

$1:

As 2019 winds to a close, the journey towards fully realised quantum computing continues: physicists have been able to demonstrate quantum teleportation between two computer chips for the first time.

Put simply, this breakthrough means that information was passed between the chips not by physical electronic connections, but through quantum entanglement – by linking two particles across a gap using the principles of quantum physics.

We don't yet understand everything about quantum entanglement (it's the same phenomenon Albert Einstein famously called "spooky action"), but being able to use it to send information between computer chips is significant, even if so far we're confined to a tightly controlled lab environment.

"We were able to demonstrate a high-quality entanglement link across two chips in the lab, where photons on either chip share a single quantum state," explains quantum physicist Dan Llewellyn from the University of Bristol in the UK.

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists ... first-time

I can’t even understand the stuff that follows ‘put simply’ but it sounds significant.

[CharlesAnthony]

Sunnyways Sunnyways:

I can’t even understand the stuff that follows ‘put simply’ but it sounds significant.

Count yourself lucky --- it is easier that way.
People who can understand that type of bullshit are dangerous.

[raydan]

So Can We Terraform Mars or Not?
Elon Musk wants to engineer Mars’ atmosphere. Can he?

$1:

Whether we can terraform Mars or not, it does look like we’ll be visiting soon. Musk has a plan to get us there using SpaceX’s Big Falcon Rockets. Several of them, after landing, will form “Mars Base Alpha.” A rendering of it was pinned on Musk’s Twitter page. In Australia, he showed it to an audience along with pictures depicting the growth of the base into a town and then a city. Eventually, Mars’ new inhabitants will terraform Mars, he said. It will be “a nice place to be.”

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/so-c ... ket-newtab

[BartSimpson]

To terraform Mars we simply need to give it a strong magnetic field and we need to increase its gravity to 1G. Then we can import an atmosphere from Jupiter or Saturn.

No biggie.

[CharlesAnthony]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

To terraform Mars we ...

....we? You and ... ??

Would you pay to visit Mars?

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Ditching coal in the US is saving lives, helping crops

A lot of the discussions about switching sources of electricity focus on costs, specifically whether going renewable will cost more than fossil fuels. But the costs of fossil fuels go well beyond simply the costs of supplying the fuel. Fossil fuels create costs by harming human health and the environment—these costs aren't priced into electricity produced. Instead, they wind up being paid by society at large—and that's before pricing in the inevitable costs of climate change.

In fact, in the United States, the rationale for Obama-era climate rules included the idea that the regulations would save money by avoiding these costs. That claim was controversial, however, and the Trump administration's rollback of these rules also claimed to provide economic benefits.

What's been lacking is a clear measure of the impact of pollution from fossil fuels. In an attempt to rectify that, Jennifer Burney of the University of California, San Diego, took advantage of a natural experiment that the US has been undertaking: shuttering older coal plants and replacing them with natural gas, which produce far less pollution. Using data from a decade of vanishing coal plants, Burney found that tens of thousands of deaths had been avoided by replacing coal plants. As an added bonus, the productivity of nearby farms increased as well.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01 ... thsdecade/

[BartSimpson]

CharlesAnthony CharlesAnthony:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

To terraform Mars we ...

....we? You and ... ??

Would you pay to visit Mars?

No, I'd pay to move there.

[CharlesAnthony]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

No, I'd pay to move there.

Would you sign an accident waiver and release from liability?

[Strutz]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

No, I'd pay to move there.

Perhaps we could all chip in to send someone there.