Plus: Worldcoin just officially launched. Why is it already being investigated?
AI language models have recently become the latest frontier in the US culture wars. Right-wing commentators have accused ChatGPT of having a “woke bias,” and conservative groups have started developing their own versions of AI chatbots. Meanwhile, Elon Musk has said he is working on “TruthGPT,” a “maximum truth-seeking” language model that would stand in contrast to the “politically correct” chatbots created by OpenAI and Google.
An unbiased, purely fact-based AI chatbot is a cute idea, but it’s technically impossible. (Musk has yet to share any details of what his TruthGPT would entail, probably because he is too… More.
Jeff Bezos’ e-commerce giant is set to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink service with its 3,200-internet satellite mega-constellation.
Amazon has announced it will now deploy its two Project Kuiper prototype satellites aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket this fall.
The satellites had been scheduled to launch on the debut flight of ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. However, delays to the new rocket’s maiden flight and time constraints related to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations have led to Amazon making the shift.
Project Kuiper, Amazon’s satellite broadband program, will launch two prototype satellites on an upcoming United Launch Alliance mission to test system performance in space.
Billionaire Elon Musk acquired social media platform Twitter, which he has since rebranded to X, for $44 billion in 2022.
With the acquisition, Musk now controls the platform and has the power to make changes and, in some cases, snatch away usernames that people have been using for decades.
What Happened: When Twitter announced its rebrand to X, some users pointed out the interesting fact that one person owned the @X handle on the platform, leading to theories of a buyout by Musk to get the one-letter username.
“I view string theory as the most promising way to quantize matter and gravity in a unified way. We need both quantum gravity and we need unification and a quantization of gravity. One of the reasons why string theory is promising is that there are no singularities associated with those singularities are the same type that they offer point particles.” — Robert Brandenberger.
In this thought-provoking conversation, my grad school mentor, Robert Brandenberger shares his unique perspective on various cosmological concepts. He challenges the notion of the fundamental nature of the Planck length, questioning its significance and delving into intriguing debates surrounding its importance in our understanding of the universe. He also addresses some eyebrow-raising claims made by Elon Musk about the limitations imposed by the Planck scale on the number of digits of pi.
Moving on to the topic of inflation and its potential detectability, Robert sheds light on the elusive B mode fluctuations and the role they play in understanding the flaws of general relativity. He explains why detecting these perturbations at the required scale may be beyond our current technological capabilities. The discussion further explores the motivations behind the search for cosmic strings in the microwave sky and the implications they hold for particle physics models beyond the standard model.
With his expertise in gravity and the quantization of mass, Robert Brandenberger emphasizes the need for a quantum mechanical approach to gravity. He discusses the emergence of time, space, and a metric from matrix models, offering new insights into the foundations of our understanding of the universe. The speaker’s work challenges conventional notions of inflation and proposes alternative models, such as string gas cosmology, as potential solutions.
Beyond the scientific aspects, Robert Brandenberger reflects on his role as a scientist and educator. He expresses his gratitude to a mentor and shares advice he received about navigating the academic world. Additionally, he discusses the evolution of being a professor over the past three decades and shares his thoughts on the profession as a whole.
This episode leaves us with many questions, tantalizing possibilities, and a deeper appreciation for the mysteries of the cosmos. We invite you to join us in this cosmic journey as we explore the frontiers of theoretical cosmology.
Esther Crawford, the former director of product management at the social-media giant, which rebranded as X this week, retweeted a photo of her wrapped up in a sleeping bag on the floor of one of Twitter’s conference rooms in November. “When your team is pushing round the clock to make deadlines sometimes you #SleepWhereYouWork,” Crawford wrote in the caption.
The photo of her lying on the floor and wearing an eye mask went viral.
A number of military leaders around the world have expressed concerns to US officials over the dominance and control of SpaceX founder Elon Musk over satellite internet, according to a new report.
Over the past decade Musk’s SpaceX has changed the launch industry with its reusable Falcon 9 rocket. The company has pressed this advantage to establish itself as the leading player in satellite internet through Starlink.
“The ad money will otherwise be kept by X if you are not an X Premium (Blue) subscriber,” Musk said in a post.
To be eligible for the program, creators also need to be at least 18 years old, have a minimum of 500 followers, and have 15 million or more “organic impressions” on posts within the last three months.
The price of an X premium subscription starts at $8 per month, or $84 a year, and it gives users access to extra features such as “Edit.”
