2020

[2020]

The robot wars have begun

[2020]

A startup claims it has launched weather balloons that may have released reflective sulfur particles in the stratosphere, potentially crossing a controversial barrier in the field of solar geoengineering.

Geoengineering refers to deliberate efforts to manipulate��the climate by reflecting more sunlight back into space, mimicking a natural process that occurs in the aftermath of large volcanic eruptions. In theory, spraying sulfur and similar particles in sufficient quantities could potentially ease global warming.

It’s not technically difficult to release such compounds into the stratosphere. But scientists have mostly (though not entirely) refrained from carrying out even small-scale outdoor experiments. And it’s not clear that any have yet injected materials into that specific layer of the atmosphere in the context of geoengineering-related research.

That’s in part because it’s highly controversial. Little is known about the real-world effect of such deliberate interventions at large scales, but they could have dangerous side effects. The impacts could also be worse in some regions than others, which could provoke geopolitical conflicts. 

Some researchers who have long studied the technology are deeply troubled that the company, Make Sunsets, appears to have moved forward with launches from a site in Mexico without any public engagement or scientific scrutiny. It’s already attempting to sell “cooling credits” for future balloon flights that could carry larger payloads. 

[2020]

Physicists have purportedly created the first-ever wormhole, a kind of tunnel theorized in 1935 by Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen that leads from one place to another by passing into an extra dimension of space.

The wormhole emerged like a hologram out of quantum bits of information, or “qubits,” stored in tiny superconducting circuits. By manipulating the qubits, the physicists then sent information through the wormhole, they reported today in the journal Nature.

The team, led by Maria Spiropulu of the California Institute of Technology, implemented the novel “wormhole teleportation protocol” using Google’s quantum computer, a device called Sycamore housed at Google Quantum AI in Santa Barbara, California. With this first-of-its-kind “quantum gravity experiment on a chip,” as Spiropulu described it, she and her team beat a competing group of physicists who aim to do wormhole teleportation with IBM and Quantinuum’s quantum computers.

When Spiropulu saw the key signature indicating that qubits were passing through the wormhole, she said, “I was shaken.”

[2020]

[2020]

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[2020]

An A.I.-Generated Picture Won an Art Prize. Artists Aren’t Happy.

[2020]

Capitol Drops ‘Virtual Rapper’ FN Meka After Backlash Over Stereotypes

The record company apologized to “the Black community” for insensitivity in promoting an AI-backed artist that critics said was “appropriative” and included “slurs infused in lyrics.”

[2020]

Artemis launch: What Nasa’s base camp on the Moon could look like

[2020]

"The Japanese ambassador to Ukraine stayed in Kiev, he was delivered from Tokyo his great-grandfather's samurai sword and traditional armor. Dressed in them, he declared that the samurai must protect the country in which he is! Glory to Japan! Glory to Ukraine!"#Ukraine

[2020]

North American companies rush to add robots as demand surges

Factories and other industrial users ordered 29,000 robots, 37% more than during the same period last year, valued at $1.48 billion, according to data compiled by the industry group the Association for Advancing Automation.

[2020]

The next fashion trend is clothes that don't exist

The online metaverse is coming and if we're going to be spending more time in virtual worlds, there's one crucial question: What are you going to wear?

"When I first started talking about this, my friends were like, 'What are you talking about?'" said 27-year-old Daniella Loftus.

"But my 14-year-old cousins understood it immediately."

For many, the idea of buying clothes that don't exist is a conceptual leap too far.

But emerging digital fashion stores are tapping into a growing market -- not actual clothes but digitally generated outfits that stores simply photoshop onto a customer's photos or videos to be posted onto Instagram and elsewhere.

Soon they are likely to become a way to dress your avatar when interacting in online games and meeting places, all potentially while reclining in sweat pants in your own home.

British influencer Loftus sees so much potential that last month she gave up her job with a fashion consultancy to devote herself full-time to her website, This Outfit Does Not Exist.

Her Instagram shows the potential of virtual clothing that doesn't need to obey the laws of physics -- from a shimmering silver liquid pant suit with tentacles, to a wobbling pink creation with lasers firing out of her bustier.

"Digital is coming to overtake physical. Kids are asking each other: 'What skin did you have in this game yesterday?'" said Loftus.

https://news.yahoo.com/next-fashion-trend-clothes-dont-102535368.html?guccounter=1

[2020]

Plans for $400-billion new city in the American desert unveiled

https://www.cnn.com/style/amp/telosa-marc-lore-blake-ingels-new-city/index.html

A former Walmart executive last week unveiled plans for Telosa, a sustainable metropolis that he hopes to create, from scratch, in the American desert. The ambitious 150,000-acre proposal promises eco-friendly architecture, sustainable energy production and a purportedly drought-resistant water system. A so-called "15-minute city design" will allow residents to access their workplaces, schools and amenities within a quarter-hour commute of their homes.

[2020]

“in Finland they use to have about 4,000 reindeer/ car accidents a year so they paint their antlers with reflective paint” – Cullen Dudas