If world leaders learn only one lesson from the war in Ukraine, it should be that the ability to rapidly innovate—to invent, adopt, and effectively integrate new technologies—can have profound implications for combat outcomes. Outgunned and outnumbered, Ukrainians took a page from the U.S. playbook and turned to technology to gain an advantage over the… Continue reading Winning the Tech Cold War
A Tower of Conjectures That Rests Upon a Needle
The next step up in that hierarchy is the “restriction” conjecture. If it is true, so is the Kakeya conjecture. (This also means that if the Kakeya conjecture turns out to be false, the restriction conjecture can’t be true.) The restriction conjecture, in turn, is implied by the so-called Bochner-Riesz conjecture. And at the very… Continue reading A Tower of Conjectures That Rests Upon a Needle
Maui Wildires, Regulating AI, Ukraine’s Civilian Resistance: RAND Weekly Recaps
This week, we discuss the invisible damage from the Maui wildfires; improving the safety of America’s AI industry; what makes teachers of color feel a sense of belonging; Ukraine’s civilian resistance; how to increase housing affordability in New York City; and the situation of ISIS prisoners in Syria. The Vaa family escaped the deadly wildfire… Continue reading Maui Wildires, Regulating AI, Ukraine’s Civilian Resistance: RAND Weekly Recaps
‘Species Repulsion’ Enables High Biodiversity in Tropical Trees
For ecologists, tropical rainforests hold many enigmas. A single hectare can contain hundreds of tree species, far more than in forests closer to the poles. Somehow these species coexist in such dizzying abundance that, as naturalists and ecologists have sometimes noted, tropical forests can feel like botanical gardens, where every plant is something new. For… Continue reading ‘Species Repulsion’ Enables High Biodiversity in Tropical Trees
Much of the Damage in Maui Will Be Invisible, but Very Real
The wildfires on Maui killed at least 96 people and damaged or destroyed thousands of buildings in the town of Lahaina. While the loss of life is clearly the most tragic, officials estimate that the cost to rebuild will exceed $5 billion. But the full economic cost will likely be far higher, because it will… Continue reading Much of the Damage in Maui Will Be Invisible, but Very Real
Grand Canyon Gains New Million-Acre Monument
CLIMATEWIRE | President Joe Biden will create a new national monument in Arizona on Tuesday covering close to a million acres of lands surrounding the Grand Canyon important to nearby Native American tribes. The Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument will be the fifth designated by Biden in the past 10… Continue reading Grand Canyon Gains New Million-Acre Monument
India Is Pushing Back Against China in South Asia
As the intensifying strategic confrontation between the United States and China dominates many foreign-policy debates, another important competition is quietly playing out. The jostling between India and China for influence in South Asia—from the Himalayas to the islands off the subcontinent in the Indian Ocean—will likely prove crucial to the fate of Washington’s strategy to… Continue reading India Is Pushing Back Against China in South Asia
Machine Learning Aids Classical Modeling of Quantum Systems
Understanding the quantum universe is not an easy thing. Intuitive notions of space and time break down in the tiny realm of subatomic physics, allowing for behavior that seems, to our macro sensibilities, downright weird. Quantum computers should allow us to harness this strangeness. Such machines could theoretically explore molecular interactions to create new drugs… Continue reading Machine Learning Aids Classical Modeling of Quantum Systems
Is Believing Our Kids Are Safer Worth Closing Off Some of Their Futures?
Fifteen months after the tragedy in Uvalde, many school districts in Texas and around the country are working with their local police departments to place more police officers inside schools. These officers—mostly known as school resource officers—will arrive at a fraught time. Just a few years ago, after George Floyd’s murder, many districts ended their… Continue reading Is Believing Our Kids Are Safer Worth Closing Off Some of Their Futures?
Reincarnation Theories (Ian Stevenson and Others)
Podcast: Download MYS276: Last time, Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli looked at what parapyschologists have found in studying reincarnation and this time they examine the question of reincarnation. Do we truly live again or is there another explanation? Get all new episodes automatically and for free: Follow by Email | Watch this episode and subscribe… Continue reading Reincarnation Theories (Ian Stevenson and Others)