I think the French title for this call is more informative “L’UNESCO et Mila s’associent pour lancer un appel à publications afin de mettre en lumière les faiblesses du développement de l’IA [l’intelligence artificiel].” Here’s my translation (in advance, apologies to all who find it clumsy), ‘UNESCO {United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) and MILA (Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms) are issuing a joint call for papers illuminating weaknesses in the development of artificial…

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This video features information about eBOSS from a number of researchers including Will Percival, the speaker on the April 7, 2021 PI webcast, From an April 2, 2021 PI notice (received via email), Mapping the Universe with eBOSSWEDNESDAY, APRIL 7 [2021] at 7 pm ETAs Douglas Adams correctly wrote in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s…

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Since COVID-19, we’ve been advised to wear face masks. It seems some of them may not be as safe as we assumed. First, the Health Canada advisory that was issued today, April 2, 2021 and then excerpts from an in-depth posting by Dr. Andrew Maynard (associate dean in the Arizona State University College of Global Futures) about the advisory and the use of graphene in masks. From the Health Canada Recalls & alerts: Face masks…

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I wrote about some brain computer interface (BCI) work out of Stanford University (California, US), in a Sept. 17, 2020 posting (Turning brain-controlled wireless electronic prostheses into reality plus some ethical points), which may have contributed to what is now the first demonstration of a wireless brain-computer interface for people with tetraplegia (also known as quadriplegia). From an April 1, 2021 news item on ScienceDaily, In an important step toward a fully implantable intracortical brain-computer…

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The combination of the US Army, bacterial cellulose, and kombucha seems a little unusual. However, this January 26, 2021 U.S. Army Research Laboratory news release (also on EurekAlert) provides some clues as to how this combination makes sense, Kombucha tea, a trendy fermented beverage, inspired researchers to develop a new way to generate tough, functional materials using a mixture of bacteria and yeast similar to the kombucha mother used to ferment tea.With Army funding, using…

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First, this Cambridge is in Massachusetts, US. The US festival was started in 2007 by John Durant, Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Museum (see the MIT Museum Wikipedia entry for more information). There’s also this from the Cambridge Science Festival website About Us webpage, The Cambridge Science Festival, the first of its kind in the United States, is a celebration showcasing the leading edge in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM). …

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A January 26, 2021 news item on Nanowerk announces a promising discovery in ‘self-assembly research’ (Note: A link has been removed, Self-assembly is ubiquitous in the natural world, serving as a route to form organized structures in every living organism. This phenomenon can be seen, for instance, when two strands of DNA — without any external prodding or guidance — join to form a double helix, or when large numbers of molecules combine to create…

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I stumbled across the Little Lost Robot website courtesy of someone (I apologize for not noting who it was) on my Twitter feed. It caught my eye as the approach to the possibilities of an increasingly robotic future is more hopeful than most I’ve seen and most of the ones I’ve featured here. Here’s what they’re all about from the Little Lost Robot website, AboutLittle Lost Robot is a new CIC [community interest company] founded…

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[downloaded from https://debbyfriday.com/link-sick] This is an artistic work, part of the DEBBY FRIDAY enterprise, and an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) project. Here’s the description from the Simon Fraser University (SFU) Link Sick event page, LINK SICKDEBBY FRIDAY’S MFA ProjectLaunching Monday, March 29, 2021 | debbyfriday.com/link-sickSet against the backdrop of an ambiguous dystopia and eternal rave, LINK SICK is a tale about the threads that bind us together.  LINK SICK is DEBBY FRIDAY’S graduate thesis…

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Rice University (Texas, US) has a pretty image illustrating the process of making 2D nanoflakes, Caption: The image displays the exfoliation of hexagonal boron nitride into atomically thin nanosheets aided by surfactants, a process refined by chemists at Rice University. Credit: Ella Maru Studio A January 27, 2021 news item on Nanowerk announces the Rice University news, Just a little soap helps clean up the challenging process of preparing two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (hBN).Rice University…

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