All posts tagged: fundamental

AI ‘will not alter fundamental commercial reality’ in news

AI ‘will not alter fundamental commercial reality’ in news

Published by Sam

A report from Enders Analysis has argued that generative artificial intelligence “will not alter the fundamental commercial reality for the news” as the shift online did previously. The research firm cautioned publishers to be “realistic” about the productivity and revenue gains possible from AI, but added that ignoring AI would be “a mistake”. The report found there have been some valuable uses for AI in the newsroom — but argued that there may not be an “immediate, killer news use case to raise revenues”. Worthwhile use cases raised by the analysts included creating audio editions of articles and translating content into foreign languages, although they noted that “translation is not the same as localisation, so such formats won’t mean game-changing audience expansions”. [Read more: How The Economist is using AI to extend its global reach] Thanks for subscribing. Close AI can also help to create “more sophisticated metadata for archival material”, they wrote, in turn making it easier for journalists and readers to access a publisher’s back catalogue. This could have revenue implications for local …

Brain implants to restore sight, like Neuralink’s Blindsight, face a fundamental problem

Brain implants to restore sight, like Neuralink’s Blindsight, face a fundamental problem

Published by José

Elon Musk recently pronounced that the next Neuralink project will be a “Blindsight” cortical implant to restore vision: “Resolution will be low at first, like early Nintendo graphics, but ultimately may exceed normal human vision.” Unfortunately, this claim rests on the fallacy that neurons in the brain are like pixels on a screen. It’s not surprising that engineers often assume that “more pixels equals better vision.” After all, that is how monitors and phone screens work. In our newly published research, we created a computational model of human vision to simulate what sort of vision an extremely high-resolution cortical implant might provide. A movie of a cat with a resolution of 45,000 pixels is sharp and clear. A movie generated using a simplified version of a model of 45,000 cortical electrodes, each of which stimulates a single neuron, still has a recognizable cat but most of the details of the scene are lost.   The reason why the movie generated by electrodes is so blurry is because neurons in the human visual cortex do not …

Scientists discover new planet-wide electric field that is fundamental to Earth’s atmosphere

Scientists discover new planet-wide electric field that is fundamental to Earth’s atmosphere

Published by skeptic

A groundbreaking discovery has revealed a new, planet-wide electric field that is as fundamental to Earth as gravity. Known as the ambipolar electric field, this invisible force begins 150 miles above the planet and plays a crucial role in lifting the sky and influencing polar winds, which in turn help drive weather patterns around the world. For years, scientists had only theorized about the existence of this field, but a team from NASA, including researchers from the University of Leicester, has finally measured it by sending a rocket directly into the field. This discovery adds a third energy field to Earth’s known forces, alongside gravity and the magnetic field, which protects the planet from cosmic radiation. Dr. Glyn Collinson, the principal investigator of the Endurance Mission at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, explains, “Whenever spacecraft have flown over the poles of the Earth, they have encountered this supersonic wind of particles called the polar wind. There had to be some invisible force driving this outflow, but until now, we lacked the technology …

8 Fundamental Ways Being Cheated On Changes You | Karen Finn

8 Fundamental Ways Being Cheated On Changes You | Karen Finn

Published by skeptic

Catching your husband or wife cheating on you changes everything about your relationship. How could it not? As Jay Kent-Ferraro, Ph.D./MBA, explains: “The psychology of infidelity is quite complex, much more than the current moralistic conversation about it where people are ‘good’, ‘bad’ or ‘flawed’, therefore dismissed as damaged goods attempts to dispel the cliché myth that ‘once a cheater always a cheater.’” If you want to fix your broken relationship and save your marriage, it is possible. The path back to a healthy relationship begins with each partner seeking to understand both the cheating spouse’s reasons for having an affair, as well as how the betrayed husband or wife has been changed forever as a result. By taking such an approach, couples can reach a place of healing — and even redemption — with insight and wisdom, regardless of whether or not they ultimately stay together. The ways infidelity changes you depend not only on who you and your spouse were before the affair, but who you are both committed to becoming once it’s …

Why Are Aristotle’s “Categories” Fundamental to Logic?

Why Are Aristotle’s “Categories” Fundamental to Logic?

Published by skeptic

  Aristotle’s Categories is a foundational philosophical work that provides a framework for understanding existence and engaging in classification. The text consists of ten categories  — substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, position, state, action, and passion. Aristotle uses these ten categories to formulate and discuss the different aspects of being. But these categories have also impacted logic, the philosophical study of reasoning. Here are five ways they have been fundamental to the field.    Aristotle’s Categories and Logical Analysis Roman copy (in marble) of a Greek bronze bust of Aristotle by Lysippos (c. 330 BC). Source: Wikimedia Commons.   The main use of logic is investigating how conclusions follow from premises in formal arguments. For example, if you have an argument consisting of the premises “Jane does not like any sweet things” and “Candy is sweet,” the conclusion that follows would be “Jane does not like candy.” This seems intuitive, but it is only because of Aristotle’s categories that such an argument can be understood. The term “candy” can be understood under Aristotle’s definition of …

Abingdon’s RM plc in improved position following fundamental review

Abingdon’s RM plc in improved position following fundamental review

Published by skeptic

RM plc, the Abingdon-headquartered supplier of technology and resources to the education sector, reported it was in an improved financial and operational position following a fundamental review of the business. Reporting its results for the 12 months to end-November, 2023, the edtech group said its consortium business ceased trading in December last year following losses of around £10 million in fiscal 2023. READ MORE: RM plc to sell Integris and Finance business after strategic review In the year, the company permanently closed down its EVO ERP system – a planned warehouse automation project, and consolidated its distribution centre estate. A newly simplified business will focus on end customers: learners, educators, and accreditors, the company said, adding that it aimed to build a Global Accreditation Platform to take advantage of the education transformation towards fully on-screen examinations. A roadmap of the company’s developed IP, products and solutions had been delivered to accreditors, educators and directly to learners, it added. In the 12 months, revenue from continuing operations came in at £195.2 million, 8.9% lower than the …

Dr. John Gartner: The world is watching “a fundamental breakdown in Trump’s ability to use language”

Dr. John Gartner: The world is watching “a fundamental breakdown in Trump’s ability to use language”

Published by skeptic

It has become undeniably clear and obvious to any reasonable person that Donald Trump is experiencing increasing challenges with his speech, language, and memory during these last few weeks and months. Such a conclusion does not require a huge team of investigative journalists: a person only has to watch the corrupt ex-president’s speeches, interviews and other public behavior. For example, at a series of rallies and other events last weekend, Trump repeatedly confused one person with another. Like a broken computer in a science fiction movie, Trump appears to have moments where he cannot speak, appears lost in his thinking, and is more generally confused as he spouts nonsense words and non-sequiturs. MediasTouch editor Ron Filipowski shared a montage online of 32 examples of Trump experiencing severe challenges during his recent speeches in Virginia and North Carolina last Saturday. 32 examples from just two speeches where the ex-president “mispronounced words, got confused, mixed up names, forgot names, and babbled insane nonsense.” One of Donald Trump’s former advisors, Alyssa Farah Griffin of ABC’s “The View”, told CNN …

5-alarm fire for the party”: Ex-aide says Trump’s S.C. win exposes his “fundamental weakness

5-alarm fire for the party”: Ex-aide says Trump’s S.C. win exposes his “fundamental weakness

Published by skeptic

Former White House director of strategic communications, Alyssa Farah Griffin, argued that former President Donald Trump’s victory in South Carolina over Nikki Haley is far from a win for the GOP.  “Somebody who’s running as virtually an incumbent — Donald Trump — getting 60%, and 40% being against him? That’s not a mandate,” Griffin, now a CNN political commentator, said during a Saturday panel for the network. “Especially with the entire Republican Party apparatus behind him, with most elected Republicans behind him.” Griffin continued: “Now, it’s unclear what a path could look like for Nikki Haley. I think we’re all very open-eyed about that. But she is underscoring the fundamental weakness of Donald Trump, and it should be a five-alarm fire for the party, but for some reason, it is not.” A recent Politico report similarly noted that with about three-quarters of the South Carolina primary votes tallied, around 40 percent of voters rejected Trump. Though the stat isn’t an issue in the primary, as Politico noted, it could pose a threat to Trump’s re-election campaign in a general …

What Are Monads? Leibniz On the Most Fundamental Substance

What Are Monads? Leibniz On the Most Fundamental Substance

Published by skeptic

  What is the most basic kind of thing? This article focuses on an attempt to answer this question: the monad. This attempt comes from Gottfried Leibniz, one of the most significant Early Modern philosophers.   This article begins with a discussion of why the monad is philosophically interesting and sets out Leibniz’s purposes for postulating the existence of the monad. It then looks into the monad’s place within the concept of substance more broadly. The article ends by outlining the two central features of monads — simplicity and activity.   What Makes Monads So Interesting? Portrait of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, 1710-1719, via Herzog August Library.   Why are monads interesting, besides whatever interest we might have in Leibniz’s work for its own sake? Philosophy often seems to be an attempt to give an explanation of what really is, as opposed to how things appear to be. Arguably, this is the most traditional task of philosophy – the earliest Greek philosophers understood this task in a way not dissimilar to Leibniz, as the pursuit of …

Kyiv needs a fundamental rethink of its strategy, not just a reshuffle of military leadership

Kyiv needs a fundamental rethink of its strategy, not just a reshuffle of military leadership

Published by skeptic

The recent replacement of Valeriy Zaluzhnyi as commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces may have put a temporary end to the increasingly public disagreements between the very popular “iron general” and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. But it has not answered the fundamental question of what a winning – or even surviving – strategy in the war with Russia could look like as it moves into its third year. Several dynamics have come together that are deeper and more complex than just a major reshuffle of the military leadership. The bigger picture that will shape the future of the war – and with it the future of Ukraine and the European and international security order – comprises four main factors. These need to be analysed together to understand the present, and – most importantly – the future predicaments of Ukraine and its western partners. First, the failure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in 2023 and the increasing pressure that Russia has put on Ukraine’s frontlines and hinterland put into serious question the ability of Kyiv to win. …