[REGIONAL NEWS] California to launch nation’s first statewide earthquake warning system
FILE – This Jan. 28, 2013 file photo Seismologist, Dr. Lucy Jones, describes how an early warning system would provide advance warning of an earthquake, at a news conference at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif./ AP Photo/Reed Saxon,File By Madeline Holcombe and Sarah Moon | CNN California will launch the nation’s first […]
Read More →A bitter debate rages over the future of Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats
A scientist examines the condition of the salt flats./CBS NEWS CBS NEWS [REGIONAL NEWS] Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats have been one of America’s most famous speedways for more than 100 years. The salt that stretches for miles and miles in northwest Utah makes the region look like a different planet — one that is uniquely […]
Read More →Are brain implants the future of thinking?
Brain-computer interface technology is moving fast and Silicon Valley is moving in. Will we all soon be typing with our minds? By Zoë Corbyn | The Guardian Almost two years ago, Dennis Degray sent an unusual text message to his friend. “You are holding in your hand the very first text message ever sent from […]
Read More →[SUNDAY FEATURE] The problem with believing what we’re told
ILLUSTRATION: TOMASZ WALENTA In an age of information overload, it’s important to find ways to resist the brain’s difficulty in separating fact from falsehood By Gary Marcus and Annie Duke | The Wall Street Journal In a perfect world, to determine whether an idea or fact is true, we would patiently evaluate how it fits […]
Read More →Humans need to take charge of their robots
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios By Steve LeVine | Axios In 2013, two young Oxford University researchers ignited a provocative debate with a landmark forecast that 47% of U.S. jobs are vulnerable to automation. Since then, experts around the world have relentlessly argued whether the new age of robots will wipe out whole classes of jobs, or […]
Read More →Meet the researchers working to make sure artificial intelligence is a force for good
AI has plenty of success stories, with positive outcomes in fields from healthcare to education to urban planning. But there have also been unexpected pitfalls. By Alejandro De La Garza | TIME With glass interior walls, exposed plumbing and a staff of young researchers dressed like Urban Outfitters models, New York University’s AI Now Institute […]
Read More →ASU and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin refuse to release moon lander contract to public
By Ray Stern| Phoenix New Times Arizona State University and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company claim they’ll put a payload on the moon by 2024. But they can’t even release the payload contract they signed after two months. The lengthy delay to release a basic public record is somewhat ironic for both ASU, home to […]
Read More →[REGIONAL NEWS] Tiny desert towns around area 51 are stressed about the viral Facebook event
“On the county level we’re prepared for two to three times the population of the entire county … Our gas stations will run out of gas, our grocery stores will run out of groceries” By Tanya Chen | BuzzFeed The tiny community of Lincoln County, Nevada, is bracing itself for potentially tens of thousands of […]
Read More →Why stowaway creatures on the moon confound international space law; Jordan Rose, Rose Law Group founder and president, comments on enforcement of laws
Tardigrade / Wikicommons By Loren Grush | The Verge This month, space enthusiasts were shocked to learn that an Israeli lunar lander that crashed into the Moon’s surface in April actually had some passengers aboard: a tiny capsule filled with dehydrated microscopic organisms known as tardigrades. These little “water bears,” known to withstand very extreme environments, may have […]
Read More →[REGIONAL NEWS] Is it time to regulate biohacking? California thinks so.
The mew law is the first to explicitly address the gene-editing technology CRISPR. The type of biohackers currently gaining the most notoriety are the ones who experiment on their bodies with the hope of “upgrading” or “optimizing” their physical and cognitive performance. By Sigal Samuel | Vox California wants to make it clear that tinkering […]
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