An inevitable comment is usually something along the lines of women don’t need this kind of help because “insert foolish reason here.” The announcement of the black hole image shows just why this kind of action is needed.

The soon-to-be iconic picture of Katie Bouman reacting to the first image coming through was posted. Suddenly, the Internet trolls in defense of “male scientist” broke upon the scene, The goal to denigrate Bouman’s work on the project and turn the real “hero” of the discovery to another male scientists.

End analysis: No long term or irreversible damage due to long term space exposure.

Here’s what happens on long-duration space missions.

A Black Hole of Global Warming Stupidity has been formed. Beware of the event horizon.

Meteorologist and founder of most-read climate website in the world named senior fellow.

Human agency and oversight — AI should not trample on human autonomy. People should not be manipulated or coerced by AI systems, and humans should be able to intervene or oversee every decision that the software makes. — Technical robustness and safety — AI should be secure and accurate. It shouldn’t be easily compromised by external attacks (such as adversarial examples), and it should be reasonably reliable. — Privacy and data governance — Personal data collected by AI systems should be secure and private. It shouldn’t be accessible to just anyone, and it shouldn’t be easily stolen. — Transparency — Data and algorithms used to create an AI system should be accessible, and the decisions made by the software should be “understood and traced by human beings.” In other words, operators should be able to explain the decisions their AI systems make. — Diversity, non-discrimination, and fairness — Services provided by AI should be available to all, regardless of age, gender, race, or other characteristics. Similarly, systems should not be biased along these lines. — Environmental and societal well-being — AI systems should be sustainable (i.e., they should be ecologically responsible) and “enhance positive social change” — Accountability — AI systems should be auditable and covered by existing protections for corporate whistleblowers. Negative impacts of systems should be acknowledged and reported in advance.

AI technologies should be accountable, explainable, and unbiased, says EU.

Instead of just getting rid of the regressive element from the Heritage Foundation, Google just cancelled the whole thing.

The controversial panel lasted just a little over a week.

Up until now, the ability to make gray goo has been theoretical. However, the scientists at the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science have made a significant breakthrough. The individual components are computationally simple but can exhibit complex behavior.

Current robots are usually self-contained entities made of interdependent subcomponents, each with a specific function. If one part fails, the robot stops working. In robotic swarms, each robot is an independently functioning machine.

In a new study published today in Nature, researchers at Columbia Engineering and MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL), demonstrate for the first time a way to make a robot composed of many loosely coupled components, or “particles.” Unlike swarm or modular robots, each component is simple, and has no individual address or identity. In their system, which the researchers call a “particle robot,” each particle can perform only uniform volumetric oscillations (slightly expanding and contracting), but cannot move independently.

The team, led by Hod Lipson, professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia Engineering, and CSAIL Director Daniela Rus, discovered that when they grouped thousands of these particles together in a “sticky” cluster and made them oscillate in reaction to a light source, the entire particle robot slowly began to move forward, towards the light.

Simplified molecular computing with DNA. Just mix test tubes.

Researchers have designed self-assembling DNA molecules with unprecedented reprogrammability.

The Onion is well known for biting satire. This is NOT The Onion.

Massimiliano Fedriga, a member of Italy’s far-right League party, is dead-set against the country’s mandatory vaccination laws. Guess who contracted chickenpox and had to spend four days in the hospital?

I’ve posted or commented several times about relying on what I call single-study-science. The tendency to see some awesome scientific report and base one’s entire position on that one paper. This can be a problem in all areas of science.

A few months ago, PLOS ONE published a study of parental reports on gender dysphoria in adolescents and young adults, which was the subject of strong criticism and debate shortly after publication (see example here or here). We also received a large volume of personal communication, which I have personally reviewed. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to contact us with their assessment of this study.

Another step towards organic ships?

Inspired by jellyfish, researchers have created an electronic skin that is transparent, stretchable, touch-sensitive, and repairs itself in both wet and dry conditions. The novel material has wide-ranging uses, from water-resistant touch screens to soft robots aimed at mimicking biological tissues.