Ancient Chinese society was dominated by feudalism. The economy was dominated by agriculture, and the development of science and technology was slow or even suppressed. The main achievements of this era were the four major inventions of China: papermaking, gunpowder, the compass, and printing. Why was this so? For an ancient civilization with a history of several thousand years, why was the development of science and technology so backward? The fundamental reason was the idea of imperial power. Ancient China was centered on the emperor, and everything on the Chinese land was owned by the emperor, including the farmers on that land. The emperor was afraid of a peasant revolution and was afraid that others would take the emperor’s place, and as a result successive emperors would use the policy of fools. Instead of allowing farmers to read books, the emperors just wanted the farmers to plant the land every day, like slaves, so that the farmers would have no ability to overthrow the rulers. This idea of imperial power had greatly suppressed the development of science and technology.

In 1949, Mao Zedong established the first democratic, self-improving, unified China in Chinese history: The People’s Republic of China, a stable country; a country without feudal ideas; and a country that serves the people. Only then did China begin to truly develop its own education, technology, and industry. It was aimed for ordinary people to have food to eat, houses to live in, and books to read, and it was also intended for them to be more involved in technology and democracy. However, Chinese politics had hindered the development of science and technology (superhuman science), such as the Great Leap Forward, which severely reduced China’s productivity and starved many people; the Cultural Revolution had destroyed China’s economic development, education, and technology, bringing China back to pre-liberation overnight. These events were relatively unfortunate. Political struggles have severely hindered the development of science and technology (superhuman science) in China.

In 1978, China began reform and opening up. This phase of reform and opening up was China’s greatest era. China has changed from a closed country to an open country. Deng Xiaoping formulated a basic national policy centered on economic construction, which has enabled China’s economy to develop rapidly. At this time, China attaches great importance to the development of education, science and technology, and the economy. At the same time, special attention is also paid to foreign exchanges, and advanced education and technology have been introduced from abroad. In education, a large number of international students are sent to study in developed countries such as the United States, which has cultivated a large number of scientific and technological talents for China; economically, a large number of foreign companies have been introduced to optimize state-owned enterprises and support for private enterprises, so China’s economy has developed rapidly.

Major study backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman shows unconditional cash has benefits that have nothing to do with AI.

One of the largest-ever studies on basic income in the US suggests it can benefit people with low incomes, even if AI doesn’t steal anyone’s job.

A project supported by OpenAI’s founder tested the impact of monthly $1,000 payments to low-income individuals. It found increased flexibility and autonomy for recipients.

What happens when humanity begins living in space, building larger space stations, and creating a purely space based economy. Space drones will deliver goods between stations, farming stations will grow food, and space hotels will host celestial events and viewing parties for eclipses and welcoming parties for spaceships returning from Mars.

This sci-fi documentary takes a look at the future of space stations and space technology, starting with the retiring of the International Space Station, and ending with the construction of the largest rotating ring world space station, with its own atmosphere and lakes that evaporate creating clouds and rain.

Other topics in this video include: stealth based technology and metamaterials, the future of Starship Mark 2, cryo refuelling in space, Moon space stations, the Mars Colony, asteroid mining station, future space telescope stations, design concepts, and cryo sleep.
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Furthermore, the synergy between educational programs, cultural influences and the tangible benefits derived from space exploration not only enriches our present-day society but also ensures a legacy of continuous innovation and exploration. This ongoing engagement with space inspires future generations to look beyond our planetary boundaries and consider what might be possible in the broader cosmos.

Space exploration presents significant challenges, including costs, astronaut health risks and technological hurdles for interstellar travel. Ethical and legal considerations regarding space colonization, resource utilization and celestial environmental impact require careful consideration and international cooperation.

While Silicon Valley visionaries envision a future among the stars, other voices remind us of our responsibilities to Earth. These are not mutually exclusive goals. By leveraging advancements and opportunities from space exploration, we can better protect and enhance life on Earth. Through economic benefits, scientific advancement and social inspiration, space exploration remains a crucial endeavor for humanity, not as an escape from our problems, but as a way to expand our horizons and solve them on our home planet.

In a study published in Nature, a research team has, for the first time, observed the antiferromagnetic phase transition within a large-scale quantum simulator of the fermionic Hubbard model (FHM).

This study highlights the advantages of quantum simulation. It marks an important first step towards obtaining the low-temperature phase diagram of the FHM and understanding the role of quantum magnetism in the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity. The team was led by Prof. Pan Jianwei, Prof. Chen Yuao, and Prof. Yao Xingcan from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Strongly correlated quantum materials such as high-temperature superconductors are of scientific importance and have potential economic benefits. However, the physical mechanisms underlying these materials remain unclear, posing challenges to their large-scale preparation and application.

A Q&A; with Georgia Tech’s Deepak Divan.

Generative AI models have changed the way we create and consume content, particularly images and art. Diffusion models such as MidJourney and Stable Diffusion have been trained on large datasets of scraped images from online, many of which are copyrighted, private, or sensitive in subject matter. Many artists have discovered significant numbers of their art pieces in training data such as LAION-5B, without their knowledge, consent, credit or compensation.

To make it worse, many of these models are now used to copy individual artists, through a process called style mimicry. Home users can take art work from human artists, perform “fine-tuning” or LoRA on models like stable diffusion, and end up with a model that is capable of producing arbitrary images in the “style” of the target artist, when evoked with their name as a prompt. Popular independent artists find low quality facsimilies of their artwork online, often with their names still embedded in the metadata from model prompts.

Style mimicry produces a number of harmful outcomes that may not be obvious at first glance. For artists whose styles are intentionally copied, not only do they see loss in commissions and basic income, but low quality synthetic copies scattered online dilute their brand and reputation. Most importantly, artists associate their styles with their very identity. Seeing the artistic style they worked years to develop taken to create content without their consent or compensation is akin to identity theft. Finally, style mimicry and its impacts on successful artists have demoralized and disincentivized young aspiring artists. We have heard administrators at art schools and art teachers talking about plummeting student enrollment, and panicked parents concerned for the future of their aspiring artist children.

Tech companies, including Amazon Web Services, are striking deals with U.S. nuclear power plants to secure electricity for their data centers, driven by the skyrocketing demands of artificial intelligence. This move promises 24/7 carbon-free power but stirs controversy, as it could divert existing energy supplies, raise prices, and increase reliance on natural gas. These nuclear-powered data centers might accelerate the AI race, but they also spark debates over economic development, grid reliability, and climate goals. Could this be the future of tech or a risky gamble with unforeseen consequences?

As reported by WSJ, tech businesses searching the country for electrical supplies have focused on one important target: America’s nuclear power facilities.

The owners of about one-third of the United States’ nuclear power reactors are in negotiations with technology companies about providing electricity to new data centers needed to satisfy the needs of an artificial intelligence boom.

WASHINGTON — The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that the agency is seeking assistance from industry as it begins a study into its Geostationary Littoral Imaging and Monitoring Radiometer (GLIMR) Access to Space (ATS) approach.

The GLIMR mission aims to provide transformative rapid observations of dynamic coastal zone ecosystems throughout the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and coastal continental U.S. (CONUS). Its goal is to observe and monitor ocean biology, chemistry, and ecology to help protect ecosystem sustainability, improve resource management, and enhance economic activity. This includes identifying and tracking harmful algal blooms and oil spills, while also observing, quantifying, and understanding processes associated with rapid changes in phytoplankton growth.

The GLIMR ATS scope is expected to include several key components and activities: the spacecraft itself, the launch vehicle, the integration and testing of the GLIMR payload with the spacecraft, and the integration of the spacecraft with the launch vehicle and subsequent launch. It will also cover the command uplink from the industry-provided Mission Operations Center (MOC), the downlink of GLIMR engineering and science telemetry to industry-allocated ground stations, and the delivery of error-checked GLIMR data to various mission partners. Additionally, it encompasses all related tasks and support required during the planned GLIMR Mission, such as pre-launch planning, launch support, in-orbit check-out, and operations.