PLANTS DO IT, SO WHY DON’T WE?
PLANTS CONVERT SUNLIGHT into food. So why not use photosynthesis to transform sunlight into a useful fuel? Indeed, as described by BBC News, August 22, 2022, “Cambridge University Scientists Create … Continue reading
THE ETHICS OF SCIENCE: NAMING AND A.I. PART 2
YESTERDAY THE ETHICS OF SCIENCE discussed naming the James Webb Space Telescope. Today in Part 2, the word “Space” is involved too, but in a much different context. At the … Continue reading
THE ETHICS OF SCIENCE: NAMING AND A.I. PART 1
SEVERAL RECENT HAPPENINGS, DISSIMILAR THOUGH THEY BE, describe the ethics of science. One involves controversy surrounding the naming of the James Webb Space Telescope. The other involves artificial intelligence and … Continue reading
WELL, THIS SETTLES THAT!
TANTALIZINGLY LATE FOR holiday delivery is a book described in AAAS Science almost a year ago , January 6, 2022, and reaffirmed in “New Books for Young Scientists,” December 4, … Continue reading
PLATO, THE INTERNET, EDUCATION, AND A.I.
“WHAT WOULD PLATO SAY about ChatGPT?” asks Zeynep Tufekci, a young lady with more than just an interesting name: Dr. Tufekci is a sociologist, a professor at Columbia University’s Craig … Continue reading
CHANGING TIMES? ADDING ZEROES AT EITHER END
THE JULIAN CALENDAR USTA BE just fine, thank you, until Pope Gregory XIII was informed in 1582 that the actual length of a year was a tad less than the … Continue reading
A.I. LEARNS THE DIPLOMACY GAME
MACHINE-LEARNING ARTIFICIAL intelligence (A.I.) has already beat humans in playing chess, Go, and poker. But what about a board game that involves negotiation and even deception? The classic board game … Continue reading
INFINITESIMAL CHIPS OFF THE OLD BLOCK: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRANSISTOR! PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE BEGAN CELEBRATING the transistor’s 75th birthday with a book review of Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology. Today in Part 2, the American Association … Continue reading
INFINITESIMAL CHIPS OFF THE OLD BLOCK: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRANSISTOR! PART 1
IN “FROM ONE TRANSISTOR…,” AAAS Science, November 18, 2022, Phil Szuromi writes, “For most of 1947, the count of transistors made was…zero. It is now estimated that at least 3 … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 