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Jun 3, 2022
New York just passed a bill cracking down on bitcoin mining — here’s everything that’s in it
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: bitcoin, blockchains, cryptocurrencies, law, security
Following an early morning vote in Albany on Friday, lawmakers in New York passed a bill to ban certain bitcoin mining operations that run on carbon-based power sources. The measure now heads to the desk of Governor Kathy Hochul, who could sign it into law or veto it.
If Hochul signs the bill, it would make New York the first state in the country to ban blockchain technology infrastructure, according to Perianne Boring, founder and president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. Industry insiders also tell CNBC it could have a domino effect across the U.S., which is currently at the forefront of the global bitcoin mining industry, accounting for 38% of the world’s miners.
The New York bill, which previously passed the State Assembly in late April before heading to the State Senate, calls for a two-year moratorium on certain cryptocurrency mining operations which use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate blockchain transactions. Proof-of-work mining, which requires sophisticated gear and a whole lot of electricity, is used to create bitcoin. Ethereum is switching to a less energy-intensive process, but will still use this method for at least for another few months.
Jun 3, 2022
US has over 750 complaints of Teslas braking for no reason
Posted by Omuterema Akhahenda in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
DETROIT (AP) — More than 750 Tesla owners have complained to U.S. safety regulators that cars operating on the automaker’s partially automated driving systems have suddenly stopped on roadways for no apparent reason.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed the number in a detailed information request letter to Tesla that was posted Friday on the agency’s website.
The 14-page letter dated May 4 asks the automaker for all consumer and field reports it has received about false braking, as well as reports of crashes, injuries, deaths and property damage claims. It also asks whether the company’s “Full Self Driving” and automatic emergency braking systems were active at the time of any incident.
Jun 3, 2022
Angela Sheffield — AI For Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation — National Nuclear Security Admin (NNSA)
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: economics, mathematics, military, nuclear energy, policy, robotics/AI, space
AI For Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation — Angela Sheffield, Senior Program Manager, National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy.
Angela Sheffield is a graduate student and Space Industry fellow at the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School. She is on detail from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), where she serves as the Senior Program Manager for AI for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development.
Jun 3, 2022
A New Signature of a Multiply Connected Universe
Posted by Shubham Ghosh Roy in categories: cosmology, mapping
Scientists have measured an upper-bound to the size of the Universe using the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature gradient field [1]. The results show that the universe is most likely multiply connected, which means that it is finite, and the topology is such that it closes back in on itself—such that on the largest scale the universe has the geometry of a torus (and has a global positive curvature). This is contrary to the conventional cosmological models of the universe that model it as spatially infinite and topologically flat—assumed parameters that the researchers of the latest study demonstrate do not match the CMB temperature gradient data.
If the universe were spatially infinite and topologically flat, then the temperature fluctuations seen in the CMB would occur across all size scales—however this is not what is observed in the data. If, instead, the universe has a finite size and a multiply connected topology, like that of a torus, then in the early universe when the CMB was first emitted temperature fluctuations would be restricted in size since they could not be larger than the universe at that time. This would be observable in the extant CMB temperature gradient as a specific wave-length cut-off, which has now been described and demonstrated in a comprehensive analysis of the observed Planck CMB maps.
One of the researchers on the team that performed the study— astrophysicist Thomas Buchert, of the University of Lyon, Astrophysical Research Center in France— told Live Science in an email “We could say: Now we know the size of the universe” [2]. As reported by Live Science, Buchert further explained “In an infinite space, the perturbations in the temperature of the CMB radiation exist on all scales. If, however, space is finite, then there are those wavelengths missing that are larger than the size of the space.”
Jun 3, 2022
Two Time Crystals Have Been Successfully Linked Together For The First Time
Posted by Shubham Ghosh Roy in categories: computing, particle physics, quantum physics
Physicists have just taken an amazing step towards quantum devices that sound like something out of science fiction.
For the first time, isolated groups of particles behaving like bizarre states of matter known as time crystals have been linked into a single, evolving system that could be incredibly useful in quantum computing.
Following the first observation of the interaction between two time crystals, detailed in a paper two years ago, this is the next step towards potentially harnessing time crystals for practical purposes, such as quantum information processing.
Jun 3, 2022
Asteroid Rate Jumped in Solar System’s Past
Posted by Shubham Ghosh Roy in category: space
An analysis of lunar craters has found that we’ve been living in a relatively violent period in cosmic history.
Jun 3, 2022
Breakthrough artificial photosynthesis comes closer
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: chemistry, climatology, solar power, sustainability
Imagine we could do what green plants can do: photosynthesis. Then we could satisfy our enormous energy needs with deep-green hydrogen and climate-neutral biodiesel. Scientists have been working on this for decades. Chemist Chengyu Liu will receive his doctorate on 8 June for yet another step that brings artificial photosynthesis closer. He expects it to be commonplace in fifty years.
In fact, we can already achieve photosynthesis as green plants can. Solar energy converts CO2 and water into oxygen and chemical compounds that we can use as fuel. Hydrogen for example, but also carbon compounds like those found in petrol. But the costs are higher than the value of the fuel it yields. If that changes, and we can scale up this artificial photosynthesis gigantically, then all our energy problems will be solved. Then CO2 emissions from energy production will become negative.
Jun 3, 2022
Doctors Transplant Ear That Was 3D Printed With Patient’s Own Cells
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, life extension
A team of scientists at a company called 3DBio Therapeutics have successfully transplanted a 3D printed ear made from the patient’s own cells, The New York Times reports.
It appears to be a first in the field of tissue engineering, according to experts, and could be the harbinger of a new era of regenerative medicine.
“It’s definitely a big deal,” Carnegie Mellon biomedical engineering researcher Adam Feinberg, who was not involved in the project, told the NYT. “It shows this technology is not an ‘if’ anymore, but a ‘when.’”.
Jun 3, 2022
Iraq’s extreme drought reveals a 3,400-year-old city
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: health, security
A team of archaeologists rushed to the site to excavate and map the city before it, once again, became submerged.
Monkeypox appears to be spreading from person to person, the UK Health Security Agency said.