For the people at #WikimediaCommons who might be checking the permissions for the stuff I upload there: I intend to upload most of my scientific animations on Commons and release them into the #publicdomain
My username there is https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Berto, so I will use that account to upload them.
I have a really weird #ICanHazPDF request. I remember a #MathOverflow question about the classification of #manifolds in which a paper (apparently unpublished) was linked from the author's website. I think it was by either Manolescu or Nicolaescu and it was a very nice, short survey of the current state of the classification. I thought I had a copy of this, but I can't find it or the original MathOverflow question. I've tried DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Google, and Bing to no avail. It's not this (https://pi.math.cornell.edu/~hatcher/Papers/3Msurvey.pdf) by Allen Hatcher. Did I hallucinate this survey article?
People have been asking why space is dark despite being filled with stars for so long that this question has a special name – Olbers’ paradox.
Astronomers believe that in the distant future, the universe will go dark, inhabited by only stellar remnants like white dwarfs and black holes.
For now, we really do live in a very special time in the universe’s life, when we’re able to see a complex night sky filled with light and dark.
https://theconversation.com/why-is-space-so-dark-even-though-the-universe-is-filled-with-stars-205810
#space #science
When I was a child in the 80s, the night sky was filled with of stars. And those stars inspired us to imagine other worlds & ask really big questions.
Decades later, the night sky looks like a much lonelier place. Light pollution is increasing & I fear we may lose the ability to be awed by looking up & recognizing our place in the universe.
I don’t know about others, but I sure miss the stars. Image: Luke Stackpoole via Unsplash
Thought Blast from my (mod) vantage point to mark a year since The Surge.
1. Sane people would have ran. Glad we didn't.
2. Before the surge our server was mostly people here for the principle of the thing. Today we have people here for the nature of the thing as well, which is kinda cool.
3. Not replacing Twitter outright with everyone moving to Fedi (yet) is probably for the best. Volunteer networks need to grow slow if at all. Replacing Twitter means inheriting problems. /1
Today marks one year since I walked away from 360,000 followers on that other site joined this incredible community here!
That was easily one of the most positive moves I've ever made, and I frankly haven't looked back. Thank you to @jerry and everyone else who keeps this place humming. Come to think of it, it's time to renew our annual support!
No, Okta, senior management, not an errant employee, caused you to get hacked
If a transgression by a single employee breaches your network, you're doing it wrong.
Looks like my @arstechnica subscription is up for renewal. When I got it last year, it was a no-brainier to ops for Ars Pro++, because I wanted the free Yubikey it came with anyway. I considered downgrading today, since the lower Ars Pro tier has all the features I want, but I decided to stay at the higher tier, because the ~$4/mo I'm paying is less than many of my other #news subscriptions and really well worth it for multiple reasons:
1. I really appreciate the quality of the original #journalism on #science, #tech, and #security topics by folks like @dangoodin and @JenLucPiquant, among others
2. It offers an actual add-free experience, unlike many other news subscriptions
3. Subscribers can use RSS feeds!
4. They have an active, official #Fediverse presence
For our 20th (!!) episode of Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, @alex and I are going to travel back in time and examine the #AIhype in the grant proposal that funded the 1956 summer project at Dartmouth that started it all.... There may or may not be costumes involved.
Join us live, next Monday, Nov 6 at 10:30am Pacific!
This is a preview of App Communication Scopes from an incomplete proof of concept we made for a previous version. The goal is to provide the ability to disable communication with user installed apps within a profile with the ability to enable it on a case-by-case basis instead.
It turns out that students’ test scores rise with their parents’ incomes. 🤔
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/23/upshot/sat-inequality.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8Ew.E07E.cbMSbZ68qrSu&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare #GiftArticle
The Andromeda Galaxy (at 2.5 million years from us) and the innermost region of our Sun both emit a photon towards Earth.
Which of the two photons will reach us first?
Here a new #AstroPhysicsFactlet for you.
OMG PEOPLE I SAW THE AURORA FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER TONIGHT!!
We went down to the salt lake again (Bortle 1 sky) and the recent geo-storm put on a beautiful show! I took many photos of it!
(sorry for bad quality this is a photo of my DSLR display screen - will process image properly at home)
I went on NPR's Weekend Edition this morning to talk about the FTX collapse and what I think it means for the wider cryptocurrency industry.
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/05/1210734163/ftx-is-now-defunct-does-crypto-have-a-future
“In the absence of clear policies, auditable access logs, and community transparency about the capabilities and costs of Fusus, any community in which this technology is adopted should be concerned about its use and abuse.” —Beryl Lipton of @eff via @404mediaco https://www.404media.co/fusus-ai-cameras-took-over-town-america/
Theoretical physicist by training (PhD in quantum open systems/quantum information), University lecturer for a bit, and currently paying the bills as an engineer working in optical communication (implementation) and quantum communication (concepts), though still pursuing a little science on the side. I'm interested in physics and math, of course, but I enjoy learning about really any area of science, philosophy, and many other academic areas as well. My biggest other interest is hiking and generally being out in nature.