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ASAT tests are also widely condemned by many in the space community, as these demonstrations typically create hundreds to thousands of pieces of debris that can last for months, and even years, in orbit. Because these tests are high speed and high impact, the resulting debris can spread far and wide. Those pieces then pose a threat to other functioning spacecraft. A fast-moving piece of junk can render an operational satellite inoperable if they hit head on.

Today, Russia conducted another test of its missile system designed to destroy a satellite in orbit around Earth, according to US Space Command. It is believed to be the 10th test of this anti-satellite, or ASAT, technology, but it’s unclear if the missile actually destroyed anything in space.

Regardless of its target, US Space Command is openly condemning the demonstration. “Russia’s [anti-satellite] test provides yet another example that the threats to US and allied space systems are real, serious, and growing,” Gen. John Raymond, commander of USSPACECOM and the US Space Force chief of space operations, said in a statement. “The United States is ready and committed to deterring aggression and defending the Nation, our allies and U.S. interests from hostile acts in space.”

Russia has been periodically testing out this ASAT system, known as Nudol, since 2014, with the last test occurring on November 15th, 2019, according to analysis from the nonprofit Secure World Foundation. The Nudol system consists of a mobile land vehicle with a ballistic missile attached capable of driving around and launching from various locations on Earth.

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A team from Facebook AI Research (FAIR) has developed a novel low-dimensional design space called ‘RegNet’ that outperforms traditional available models like from Google and runs five times faster on GPUs.

RegNet produces simple, fast and versatile networks and in experiments, it outperformed Google’s SOTA EfficientNet models, said the researchers in a paper titled ‘Designing Network Design Spaces; published on pre-print repository ArXiv.

The researchers aimed for “interpretability and to discover general design principles that describe networks that are simple, work well, and generalize across settings”.

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John Horton Conway, a legendary mathematician who stood out for his love of games and for bringing mathematics to the masses, died on Saturday, April 11, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, from complications related to COVID-19. He was 82.

Known for his unbounded curiosity and enthusiasm for subjects far beyond mathematics, Conway was a beloved figure in the hallways of Princeton’s mathematics building and at the Small World coffee shop on Nassau Street, where he engaged with students, faculty and mathematical hobbyists with equal interest.

Conway, who joined the faculty in 1987, was the John von Neumann Professor in Applied and Computational Mathematics and a professor of mathematics until 2013 when he transferred to emeritus status.

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How and when will this pandemic end? We asked a virologist: https://bit.ly/3afDiMy from World Economic Forum P.S., Many people predict that life will be permanently changed after COVID-19 pandemic. Some new things will become the norm, such as remote working, #telemedicine, the increase of #automation, online education, and so on (e.g., https://bit.ly/2z6qF9I). Our opinion is that “whether the above things become permanent depends on how the pandemic ends.” If the virus becomes seasonal, as predicted by the virologist in the interview, then our lives may gradually shift towards these new practices (i.e., working remotely, seeing doctor remotely, and learning online, etc.). However, if the virus disappears abruptly, just like the 1918 Spanish flu (https://bit.ly/3bdJKop), our lives may slowly go back to what we used to know before the COVID-19 crisis.

We spoke to Belgian virologist Guido Vanham, the former head of virology at the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, and asked him: how will this pandemic end? And on which factors might that depend?

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NOTE FROM TED: Please do not look to this talk for medical advice. This talk only represents the speaker’s personal views and understanding of aging which remains an emerging field of study. We’ve flagged this talk because it falls outside the content guidelines TED gives TEDx organizers. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/tedx_content_guidelines.pdf

Could we reverse epigenetic aging by re-growing the thymus? In the future, will it be possible to extend our lives or increase our longevity? Dr. Greg Fahy is a low-temperature biologist and investigator of aging intervention in humans. His first clinical trial, intended to reverse immune system aging, provided evidence that aging could be reversed in humans. Dr. Greg Fahy is a low-temperature biologist and investigator of aging intervention in humans. His first clinical trial, intended to reverse immune system aging, provided the first evidence that global aging can be reversed in humans. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

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