Month: August 2024
Social Security number leak: 7 steps to take if you’re affected, according to Social Security Administration | Mashable
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After months of mulling, NASA will decide on Starliner return this weekend
“The agency flight readiness review is where any formal dissents are presented and reconciled.”
Enlarge / A high-resolution commercial Earth-imaging satellite owned by Maxar captured this view of the International Space Station on June 7 with Boeing’s Starliner capsule docked at the lab’s forward port (lower right). (credit: Satellite image (c) 2024 Maxar Technologies)
Senior NASA leaders, including the agency’s administrator Bill Nelson, will meet Saturday in Houston to decide whether Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is safe enough to ferry astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth from the International Space Station.
The Flight Readiness Review (FRR) is expected to conclude with NASA’s most consequential safety decision in nearly a generation. One option is to clear the Starliner spacecraft to undock from the space station in early September with Wilmore and Williams onboard, as their flight plan initially laid out, or to bring the capsule home without its crew.
As of Thursday, the two veteran astronauts have been on the space station for 77 days, nearly 10 times longer than their planned stay of eight days. Wilmore and Williams were the first people to launch and dock at the space station aboard a Starliner spacecraft, but multiple thrusters failed and the capsule leaked helium from its propulsion system as it approached the orbiting completed on June 6.
Hydrogels Can Learn To Play Pong
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Pong will always hold a special place in the history of gaming as one of the earliest arcade video games. Introduced in 1972, it was a table tennis game featuring very simple graphics and gameplay. In fact, it’s simple enough that even non-living materials known as hydrogels can “learn” to play the game by “remembering” previous patterns of electrical stimulation, according to a new paper published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science. “Our research shows that even very simple materials can exhibit complex, adaptive behaviors typically associated with living systems or sophisticated AI,” said co-author Yoshikatsu Hayashi, a biomedical engineer at the University of Reading in the UK. “This opens up exciting possibilities for developing new types of ‘smart’ materials that can learn and adapt to their environment.” […]
The experimental setup was fairly simple. The researchers hooked up electroactive hydrogels to a simulated virtual environment of a Pong game using a custom-built electrode array. The games would start with the ball traveling in a random direction. The hydrogels tracked the ball’s position via electrical stimulation and tracked the paddle’s position by measuring the distribution of ions in the hydrogels. As the games progressed, the researchers measured how often the hydrogel managed to hit the ball with the paddle. They found that, over time, the hydrogels’ accuracy improved, hitting the ball more frequently for longer rallies. They reached their maximum potential for accuracy in about 20 minutes, compared to 10 minutes for the DishBrain. The authors attribute this to the ion movement essentially mapping out a “memory” of all motion over time, exhibiting what appears to be emergent memory functions within the material itself. Perhaps the next step will be to “teach” the hydrogels how to align the paddles in such a way that the rallies go on indefinitely.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Pong will always hold a special place in the history of gaming as one of the earliest arcade video games. Introduced in 1972, it was a table tennis game featuring very simple graphics and gameplay. In fact, it’s simple enough that even non-living materials known as hydrogels can “learn” to play the game by “remembering” previous patterns of electrical stimulation, according to a new paper published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science. “Our research shows that even very simple materials can exhibit complex, adaptive behaviors typically associated with living systems or sophisticated AI,” said co-author Yoshikatsu Hayashi, a biomedical engineer at the University of Reading in the UK. “This opens up exciting possibilities for developing new types of ‘smart’ materials that can learn and adapt to their environment.” […]
The experimental setup was fairly simple. The researchers hooked up electroactive hydrogels to a simulated virtual environment of a Pong game using a custom-built electrode array. The games would start with the ball traveling in a random direction. The hydrogels tracked the ball’s position via electrical stimulation and tracked the paddle’s position by measuring the distribution of ions in the hydrogels. As the games progressed, the researchers measured how often the hydrogel managed to hit the ball with the paddle. They found that, over time, the hydrogels’ accuracy improved, hitting the ball more frequently for longer rallies. They reached their maximum potential for accuracy in about 20 minutes, compared to 10 minutes for the DishBrain. The authors attribute this to the ion movement essentially mapping out a “memory” of all motion over time, exhibiting what appears to be emergent memory functions within the material itself. Perhaps the next step will be to “teach” the hydrogels how to align the paddles in such a way that the rallies go on indefinitely.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
How Will Tom Brady Do as an N.F.L. Broadcaster?
Brady agreed to a 10-year deal with Fox to serve as a lead analyst on N.F.L. games.
Brady agreed to a 10-year deal with Fox to serve as a lead analyst on N.F.L. games.
John Sterling Could End Retirement to Broadcast Yankees Playoff Games
The 86-year-old Sterling is expected to discuss the possibility of appearing on air during the postseason.
The 86-year-old Sterling is expected to discuss the possibility of appearing on air during the postseason.
Pommel Horse Specialist Lands Spot on ‘Dancing With the Stars’
The American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik is the first celebrity contestant announced for Season 33 of the show.
The American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik is the first celebrity contestant announced for Season 33 of the show.
A Babe Ruth Jersey Could Break Auction Records. But Is It Authentic?
The piece in question is said to have been worn by the Yankees legend during one of the most famous moments in baseball. Experts are mixed on whether that’s true.
The piece in question is said to have been worn by the Yankees legend during one of the most famous moments in baseball. Experts are mixed on whether that’s true.
After Winning a Gold Medal, Noah Lyles Says He Would Race the N.F.L.’s Tyreek Hill
Lyles said he would accept Hill’s challenge in a “legit” race, but he added, “I’m not here to do gimmicks.”
Lyles said he would accept Hill’s challenge in a “legit” race, but he added, “I’m not here to do gimmicks.”
The N.F.L. Journeyman Who Is Now the Vikings’ Quarterback Whisperer
After spending his playing career bouncing around the league as a backup quarterback, Josh McCown now has a unique advantage as a coach.
After spending his playing career bouncing around the league as a backup quarterback, Josh McCown now has a unique advantage as a coach.
Dumb idea? $1,700 “smart” bassinet loses features if you buy it used
Non-new Snoos now lose some use.
Enlarge / The Snoo, a “smart” bassinet.
Owners of the $1,695 Snoo “smart” bassinet like to gather in forums like Reddit’s r/snoolife to swap tracking graphs of their children’s sleep patterns. But they also like to complain about Happiest Baby, the company behind the Snoo. That’s because Happiest Baby this summer added a $20 monthly subscription fee to several of the Snoo’s “premium features,” which are controlled by a smartphone app.
Those who bought their Snoo from an “authorized” retailer before July 15, 2024, get the premium features free for nine months. No problem!
But those who bought their Snoo from an unauthorized retailer—that is, got it used—can “enjoy all the fun and benefits of our premium App features—for FREE—until July 15, 2024,” the company announced in its fine print. After that date, premium features went away; the only option for premium feature access on used Snoos now is to cough up $20 each month, atop the $600–$1,000 already spent on the device.