MINI TURBINES, ROBOT FARMERS, AND MORE: ON THE SHOW FLOOR AT THE ARPA-E SUMMIT
Last week’s ARPA-E summit was full of big ideas about the future of energy, and nowhere was that more evident than on the summit’s show floor. In the basement of the sprawling Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center, dozens of academic institutions and companies set up booths to show off what they had been working on with their grant money.
Read moreCOMPUTER-BASED PERSONALITY JUDGMENTS ARE MORE ACCURATE THAN THOSE MADE BY HUMANS
This study compares the accuracy of personality judgment—a ubiquitous and important social-cognitive activity—between computer models and humans. Using several criteria, we show that computers’ judgments of people’s personalities based on their digital footprints are more accurate and valid than judgments made by their close others or acquaintances (friends, family, spouse, colleagues, etc.). Our findings highlight that people’s personalities can be predicted automatically and without involving human social-cognitive skills.
Read morePIXAR’S SENIOR SCIENTIST EXPLAINS HOW MATH MAKES THE MOVIES AND GAMES WE LOVE
The topic of DeRose’s lecture is ‘Math in the Movies.’ This topic is his job: translating principles of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra into software that renders objects or powers physics engines. This process is much the same at Pixar as it is at other computer animation or video game studios, he explains; part of why he’s here is to explain why aspiring animators and game designers need a solid base in mathematics.
Read moreDECIPHERING CHINA’S AI DREAM
This report examines the intersection of two subjects, China and artificial intelligence, both of which are already difficult enough to comprehend on their own. It provides context for China’s AI strategy with respect to past science and technology plans, and it also connects the consistent and new features of China’s AI approach to the drivers of AI development (e.g. hardware, data, and talented scientists). In addition, it benchmarks China’s current AI capabilities by developing a novel index to measure any country’s AI potential and highlights the potential implications of China’s AI dream for issues of AI safety, national security, economic development, and social governance.
Read moreLEAD IS EVEN MORE DANGEROUS THAN PREVIOUSLY REALIZED
Looking back, it seems insane. Bluntly put, we took a known poison and – for three quarters of a century – used it in machines that puffed it out in breathable form. Then we drove them millions of miles a day, all over the world, regularly dosing billions of people with the toxin. Source: theguardian.com
SPACE GRADE ELECTRONICS OR HOW NASA’S JUNO SURVIVES NEAR JUPITER
Electronic components used in spacecrafts must be built to survive the harsh space environments and function reliably in it. The US Department of Defense mandates over 100 tests to ensure reliable operation under mechanical stress, wide temperature fluctuations and intense ionizing radiation. All space grade electronic components must be individually qualified as opposed to the sample testing common in commercial or industrial applications.
Read moreVINE: AN OPEN SOURCE INTERACTIVE DATA VISUALIZATION TOOL FOR NEUROEVOLUTION
Uber AI Labs introduces Visual Inspector for Neuroevolution (VINE), an open source interactive data visualization tool to help neuroevolution researchers better understand this family of algorithms. Source: uber.com
CHINA TO BAR PEOPLE WITH BAD ‘SOCIAL CREDIT’ FROM PLANES, TRAINS
China said it will begin applying its so-called social credit system to flights and trains and stop people who have committed misdeeds from taking such transport for up to a year. Source: reuters.com
CONGRESS DEBATES ALLOWING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CARS WITH NO STEERING WHEEL
In January, General Motors unveiled the Cruise AV, a car designed to have no steering wheel and no gas or brake pedals. It seems like science fiction, but GM is completely serious about the project. On Wednesday, GM announced that it isinvesting $100 million in manufacturing facilities for the new car, with a goal of introducing a commercial taxi service using the vehicles by the end of next year.
Read moreLIDAR SCANS ARE FINDING HIDDEN ROMAN ROADS AND CUTTING CRIME
Back in 43AD, after the Roman conquest of Britain, the Emperor Vespasian sent governor Quintus Petilius Cerialis to what’s now Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria to wrestle control of the north of England from a Celtic tribe called the Brigantes and put down a rebellion that had erupted after the breakdown of the marriage between Queen Cartimandua and her husband Venetius (she eloped with a ‘common soldier’). These roads were an important part of connecting buildings and settlements to consolidate territory up north.
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