It is impossible to ignore the critical role that artificial intelligence (AI) and its subset, machine learning, play in the stock market today. While AI refers to machines that can perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence, machine learning (ML) involves learning patterns from data, which enhances the machines’ ability to make predictions and… Continue reading Money, Markets, and Machine Learning: Unpacking the Risks of Adversarial AI
What a Contest of Consciousness Theories Really Proved
Dehaene favored the second experiment, which also involved the comprehensive decoding of brain patterns. Test subjects would be randomly exposed to faces and objects flashed on a screen while they played a distracting Tetris-like video game. Shortly after an image was shown, the game would stop and the subject would be asked whether they saw… Continue reading What a Contest of Consciousness Theories Really Proved
The State of Public Education, the Opioid Crisis, Defending Taiwan: RAND Weekly Recap
This week, we discuss the trends shaping public education in America; expanding access to nonopioid alternatives for pain management; a historic trilateral summit at Camp David; emerging technologies that could help defend Taiwan; how climate information can help stormwater managers better protect their communities from flooding; and the rise in mental health care spending since… Continue reading The State of Public Education, the Opioid Crisis, Defending Taiwan: RAND Weekly Recap
New Codes Could Make Quantum Computing 10 Times More Efficient
Through these checks — and more subtle tweaks of the iffy qubits — you can also hide a reliable qubit throughout the square block’s data-carrying qubits, not exactly here or there but sort of everywhere. As long as the iffy qubits keep the Minesweeper operations humming along smoothly, the hidden qubit stays safe and can… Continue reading New Codes Could Make Quantum Computing 10 Times More Efficient
A Winnable War
More than a century ago, Europe was convulsed by World War I, pitting the Allies—led by Britain, France, Russia, and eventually the United States—against the Central Powers, led by imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary. In the west, fighting occurred along a 440-mile front that stretched from the English Channel to the Franco-Swiss border. Much of this… Continue reading A Winnable War
The Blood of Saint Januarius (And Other Patron Questions)
Podcast: Download MYS274: We regularly give Patrons the opportunity to ask Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli their mysterious questions and make them available exclusively to Patrons first and then later to the whole audience. This time the questions cover the blood of St. Januarius, ultraterrestrials, Mary Suratt, RPGs, the Beloved Disciple, and more. Get all… Continue reading The Blood of Saint Januarius (And Other Patron Questions)
The Hidden Brain Connections Between Our Hands and Tongues
One day, while threading a needle to sew a button, I noticed that my tongue was sticking out. The same thing happened later, as I carefully cut out a photograph. Then another day, as I perched precariously on a ladder painting the window frame of my house, there it was again! What’s going on here?… Continue reading The Hidden Brain Connections Between Our Hands and Tongues
The EU Can’t Treat Ukrainian Refugees Like Short-Term Visitors
As the war in Ukraine passes the 500-day mark, hopes are fading that the refugee crisis set off by Russia’s brutal invasion will be over any time soon. Already, 6.3 million Ukrainians have been recorded as refugees since February 2022; most have gone westward to Poland, Germany, and other European Union countries. All told, around… Continue reading The EU Can’t Treat Ukrainian Refugees Like Short-Term Visitors
Strange Ecosystem Found Thriving below Seafloor Hydrothermal Vents
There may be no ecosystem on Earth that seems less hospitable than hydrothermal vents. In the perpetual darkness, cold and relentless pressures of the deep sea, these volcanic seeps spew piping hot water so loaded with particles and metals that it looks like black smoke billowing from a chimney. But even these hellish habitats are… Continue reading Strange Ecosystem Found Thriving below Seafloor Hydrothermal Vents
Making Every Defense Dollar Count in Taiwan
The surging security relationship between the United States and Taiwan is exposing some long-simmering differences, with questions about Taiwan’s defense investments atop Washington’s list of concerns. Washington and Taipei agree on the goal of protecting Taiwan’s security, and they are forging the most comprehensive ties in decades. Taiwan faces an existential threat, but Taiwan is… Continue reading Making Every Defense Dollar Count in Taiwan