SOVIET-ERA INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
From domestic appliances to clothing to children’s toys, everyday items from Soviet life are the subject of the new book Designed in the USSR: 1950 – 1989. It’s a comprehensive look at a momentous four decades, in which otherwise mundane products often had an additional purpose: to replicate items from the West, or to promote Soviet achievements. Source: atlasobscura.com
ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HOW CHILDREN LEARN TO READ HAVE BEEN DISPROVEN BY RESEARCH
Every two years, education-policy wonks gear up for what has become a time-honored ritual: the release of the Nation’s Report Card. Officially known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, the data reflect the results of reading and math tests administered to a sample of students across the country. Experts generally consider the tests rigorous and highly reliable—and the scores basically stagnant. Source: theatlantic.com
WAS THERE A CIVILIZATION ON EARTH BEFORE HUMANS?
Schmidt is the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (a.k.a. GISS) a world-class climate-science facility. One day last year, I came to GISS with a far-out proposal. In my work as an astrophysicist, I’d begun researching global warming from an “astrobiological perspective.” That meant asking whether any industrial civilization that rises on any planet will, through their own activity, trigger their own version of a climate shift. I was visiting GISS that day hoping to gain some climate science insights and, perhaps, collaborators.
Read moreWHY TESLA IS HAVING A HARDER TIME THAN SPACEX
SpaceX debuted a powerful new rocket, the Falcon Heavy, and has successfully launched seven orbital missions. Tesla has struggled to produce its Model 3 electric sedan at promised rates, raising questions about the company’s cash flow and encouraging short-sellers. On March 23, a driver was killed after his Tesla’s autopilot system steered the car into a barrier, though the system is not intended to be used without a driver’s hands on the wheel.
Read moreSCIENTISTS MAKE A MOLECULE BY MANIPULATING JUST TWO ATOMS
The physics here isn’t too hard to understand. Scientists have long been able to push around single atoms within clouds of many atoms. In this case, they used two optical “tweezers” at two specific wavelengths. Basically, this is two differently colored lasers focused with a lens so that each laser controls one of two separate atoms, one cesium (Cs) and one sodium (Na) atom. They’re held still at near absolute zero in a vacuum.
Read moreVOTERS COULD DECIDE WHETHER TO SPLIT CALIFORNIA INTO THREE SMALLER STATES
The population of each new state would range from 13.9 million people in Southern California, 13.3 million in Northern California and 12.3 million in California. The three new states would still be among the top ten most populous in the country. Source: cbsnews.com
WAYMO APPLIES TO PUT AUTONOMOUS CARS ON CA ROADS WITHOUT SAFETY DRIVERS
California only just made it possible to grant permits allowing autonomous vehicles without safety drivers on April 2; one other company has applied for it in addition to Waymo, but it’s unclear which. The new permit type also allows for vehicles lacking any kind of traditional manual controls, but for now the company is sticking with its modified Chrysler Pacificas. Hey, they’re practical. Source: techcrunch.com
SWEET POTATO DNA CHALLENGES THEORY THAT POLYNESIANS BEAT COLUMBUS TO AMERICA
Christopher Columbus reached the New World in 1492, but some experts say Polynesian explorers beat him to it. There’s little evidence to support this fringe theory, but scientists have pointed to the presence of sweet potatoes, a plant thought to be native to the Americas, in the South Pacific as potential proof. A genetic analysis of the popular tuberous root and its relatives has now effectively quashed this hypothesis.
Read moreSEA TURTLES USE MAGNETIC FIELDS TO FIND THEIR BIRTHPLACE BEACH
After swimming for years in a giant loop from nesting grounds in North Carolina and Florida to North Africa, the turtles find their way back to nest on beaches within about 40 to 50 miles of where they were born. The new study suggests that the turtles learned their home beach’s distinctive magnetic signature, through what is called geomagnetic imprinting. Source: nytimes.com
WATCH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CREATE A 3D MODEL OF A PERSON—FROM JUST A FEW SECONDS OF VIDEO
The researchers tested the method with a variety of body shapes, clothing, and backgrounds and found that it had an average accuracy within 5 millimeters, they will report in June at the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition conference in Salt Lake City. The system can also reproduce the folding and wrinkles of fabric, but it struggles with skirts and long hair. With a model of you, the researchers can change your weight, clothing, and pose—and even make you perform a perfect pirouette.
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