Category: Science
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Pint of Science feedback infographics
In May I presented a session for the Pint of Science event, on the topic of generative AI in society, and the organisers have just shared some feedback from the event, which I’m posting here as a record. I enjoyed the experience very much and hope to be involved in the future.
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Podcast – Breaking Boundaries: Democratizing Scientific Knowledge Using AI
https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai/breaking-boundaries-democratizing-scientific-knowledge-using-ai-with-gabe-gomes-of-coscientist/ Gabe Gomes, Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses Democratizing Scientific Knowledge using AI. They talk about Coscientist, the first non-organic, intelligent being to design, plan, and execute a chemistry experiment. They explore the benefits and concerns of using AI in science, the potential of AI in generating synthesis protocols, the value of automation…
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Cover of a United Nations climate report
https://kottke.org/23/11/a-perfect-climate-report-cover “The 2023 edition of the Emissions Gap Report tells us that the world must change track, or we will be saying the same thing next year — and the year after, and the year after, like a broken record.”
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OMW, Fermat’s Library looks amazing
Fermat’s Library is a service that allows members to upload papers and annotate them to provide some of the context around research articles, through annotation and discussion. The website creators talk about the importance of understanding the backstory to a lot of academic research. For example, in the image below you can see a summary of Richard Feynman’s…
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PSA: The bomb.
In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Fred Kaplan about the ever-present threat of nuclear war. They discuss the history of nuclear deterrence, U.S. first-strike policy, preventive war, limited nuclear war, tactical vs. strategic weapons, Trump’s beliefs about nuclear weapons, the details of command and control, and other topics. Harris, S. &…
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Comment: Nasa ‘re-masters’ classic ‘Pale Blue Dot’ image of Earth.
The bright dot in the sunbeam on the far right in the image above is the “dot” being referred to. “Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The…
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Open Source: Zotero (reference manager)
Zotero is a free and open-source reference management software to manage bibliographic data and related research materials (such as PDF files). Notable features include web browser integration, online syncing, generation of in-text citations, footnotes, and bibliographies, as well as integration with the word processors Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and Google Docs. It is produced by…
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Link: Enlightenment Wars: Some Reflections on ‘Enlightenment Now,’ One Year Later
I’m a big fan of Steven Pinker’s writing (I know that this isn’t fashionable with the social justice warriors, but there it is) and so was really happy to read his 10 000 word response to some of the criticisms of his latest book, Enlightenment Now. While reviews of the book were overwhelmingly positive many…