Andy Weber on rendering bioweapons obsolete & ending the new nuclear arms race
"COVID-19 has provided a vivid reminder of the power of biological threats. But the threat doesn’t come from natural sources alone. Weaponized contagious diseases — which were abandoned by the United States, but developed in large numbers by the Soviet Union, right up until its collapse — have...
Source: 80000hours.org
Edtech VC survey, 5 founder mistakes, fintech liquidity, more – TechCrunch
Edtech is so widespread, we already need more consumer-friendly nomenclature to describe the products, services and tools it encompasses. I
Source: globalresearchsyndicate.com
UK PM pledges 3 billion pounds for England's bus network
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will invest 3 billion pounds ($4.17 billion) in England's bus network, aiming to provide more frequent, cheaper services to encourage people to catch the bus instead of using the car.
Source: reuters.com
Over 27,000 students share how colleges and universities could improve digital learning
"A Jisc survey of 27,069 higher and further education students reveals that most are pleased with their digital learning, but areas such as wellbeing, mental health and staff digital skills need more attention." Get the basics right (like college WiFi)Make learning sessions more interactive Record lessons...
Source: jisc.ac.uk
Opinion: The UK has a huge rubbish problem – but building new waste incinerators isn’t the answer
Some take waste directly from businesses, but the vast majority burn the contents of our wheelie bins – and around 12 per cent of that is plastic
Source: independent.co.uk
Tesla Is Secretly Building a Giant Battery in Texas - ExtremeTech
Tesla is building a secret 100MW battery storage facility in Texas, for an electricity provider with roughly 255,000 customers across the state.
Source: extremetech.com
PAIRED: A New Multi-agent Approach for Adversarial Environment Generation
This Google AI blog describes a method for machine learning using paired agents. The gap between the one that did the best and the one that did the worst is regret. That feeling of 'could have done' better is what pushes the 'unsupervised environment design' algorithm towards a better solution. "The...
Source: googleblog.com
Europe seeks semiconductor boost, first quantum computer
The European Union wants to produce a fifth of the global output of cutting-edge semiconductors at the end of this decade and make its first quantum computer in five years, as part of efforts to cut its dependence on non-European technologies.
Source: reuters.com
Government has no climate change plan - MPs
Two reports from MPs cast doubt on the government's approach to meeting its climate change goals.
Source: bbc.com
The Power of Asynchronous Video
"A set of seven articles discusses the benefits of asynchronous video and provides specific guidance about how to effectively incorporate these tools to improve learning. Unbounded by Time: Understanding How Asynchronous Video Can Be Critical to Learning Success Putting Your Best Self Forward: 6 Keys...
Source: educause.edu
COVID-19 has transformed education – here are the 5 innovations we should keep
"Five changes made to higher education during COVID-19 will be beneficial afterwards, according to an expert, including more creative assessment methods." Whilst this is written from the perspective of university education this authentic, rich, and active learning approach can and should be applied to...
Source: weforum.org
Why Active Learning Works - Training Industry
Experiential learning takes many forms, but one form has proven particularly potent: Active learning is more effective than explaining content.
Source: trainingindustry.com
Rashomon approach to medical education.
"The Rashomon approach was named after the 1950 film, Rashomon. In this film, a single event, a homicide is described from the different perspectives of the characters. In the Rashomon approach, teachers, like film directors, need to fully understand the big pictures so that they can engage characters = students...
Source: biomedcentral.com
Why does Netflix’s The Dig exclude the women who photographed Sutton Hoo? - Prospect Magazine
"The filmmakers’ massaging of the facts tells us a lot about how middle-aged women are regarded by Hollywood." Great piece by Emma Hartley in Prospect Magazine about the Netflix film The Dig at Sutton Hoo.
Source: prospectmagazine.co.uk
Quantum computing and pharmaceutical research
"Theoretically, quantum computers can prove more powerful than any supercomputer. And recent moves from computer giants such as Google and pharmaceutical titans such as Roche now suggest drug discovery might prove to be quantum computing’s first killer app." In January this year Boehringer-Ingelheim...
Source: ieee.org
Data trusts: what are they and how do they work?
"The trade unions of the data economy." "How do we, the general public, gain greater control over the estimated
2.5 quintillion bytes of data that is recorded, stored, processed and
analysed, every day?" This also links to the DataSkop project from AlgorithmWatch.
Source: thersa.org
Study shows conversations rarely end when people want them to end
"A team of researchers from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and the University of Virginia has found that conversations between people usually do not end when either partner in the conversation wants them to end. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National...
Source: phys.org
Data-driven humanitarianism
An article from MIT Technology Review showing how the World Food
Programme uses geospatial data that is developed and made 'open' to all
by people within the areas being served. "It’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but its people are among the most vulnerable. Afghanistan’s snowy...
Source: technologyreview.com
Simulations suggest Earth's oxygen-rich atmosphere will last only another billion years
A pair of researchers from Toho University and NASA Nexus for Exoplanet System Science has found evidence, via simulation, that Earth will lose its oxygen-rich atmosphere in approximately 1 billion years. In their paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Kazumi Ozaki and Christopher Reinhard...
Source: phys.org
How private equity squeezes cash from the dying U.S. coal industry
Private equity firms are proving there’s still plenty of profit in the U.S. coal industry despite a decade of falling demand for the fossil fuel. They are spending billions of dollars buying coal-fired plants on the cheap - and getting paid even when they are not providing...
Source: reuters.com
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