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☆ Richard Branson and Oppenheimer's grandson urge action to stop AI and climate 'catastrophe'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Richard Branson believes the environmental costs of space travel will "come down even further." Dozens of high-profile figures in business and politics are calling on world leaders to address the existential risks of artificial intelligence and the climate crisis. Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, along with former United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, and Charles Oppenheimer — the grandson of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer — signed an open letter urging action against the escalating dangers of the climate crisis, pandemics, nuclear weapons, and ungoverned AI. Signatories called for urgent multilateral action, including through financing the transition away from fossil fuels, signing an equitable pandemic treaty, restarting nuclear arms talks, and building global governance needed to make AI a force for good. The letter was released on Thursday by The Elders, a nongovernmental organization that was launched by former South African President Nelson Mandela and Branson to address global human rights issues and advocate for world peace.

Persons: Richard Branson, Ban, Charles Oppenheimer —, J, Robert Oppenheimer —, Nelson Mandela, Branson, MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark, Jaan Tallinn Organizations: Virgin Group, United Nations, Elders, South, Life Institute, MIT, Skype

☆ How atomic bombs work and why Manhattan Project scientists designed two types of bombs during WWII
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Adam Barnes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Atomic bombs work via a process called nuclear fission that involves atom splitting. Albert Einstein didn't make the first atomic bombs, but his famous equation explains how they work. Scene from the film "Oppenheimer," where Cillian Murphy stands next to the first ever atomic bomb to detonate. The scientists designed and completed two different types of atomic bombs because they weren't sure which method would work. Since scientists working on the Manhattan Project weren't quite sure if the plutonium bomb's implosion method would work, they decided to test one before it was used in the war.

Persons: Albert Einstein didn't, Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy, J, Robert Oppenheimer —, they'd, Albert Einstein, Oppenheimer —, Amanda Macias, Sun, Robert Oppenheimer Organizations: Service, University of Nevada, Trinity, TNT, National Security Research, Los, Manhattan, Hiroshima . Little, Los Alamos National Laboratory Nuclear, Nagasaki . Locations: Wall, Silicon, University of Nevada Las Vegas, New Mexico, Hiroshima, Germany, Los Alamos, United States, Manhattan, Oak Ridge , Tennessee, Los, Hanford , Washington, Nagasaki

Listen to and follow ‘Matter of Opinion’Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicChristopher Nolan’s blockbuster hit “Oppenheimer” tells the story of the father of the atomic bomb and the invention he hoped would end all wars. (Spoiler alert: It did not.) On “Matter of Opinion,” the hosts discuss how history should view J. Robert Oppenheimer — naïve martyr or crybaby? — and whether we have more to fear from nuclear weapons in the age of artificial intelligence. (A full transcript of the episode will be available midday on the Times website.)

Persons: Christopher Nolan’s, “ Oppenheimer ”, J, Robert Oppenheimer — Organizations: Spotify, Amazon, Times

☆ The beauty and terror of Oppenheimer's first-ever nuclear test explosion, in the words of those who witnessed it
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Tom Porter | Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

On July 16, 1945, at 5:29 a.m., the world's first nuclear weapon test was conducted in New Mexico. A photo made by a US Army automatic newsreel camera showing the test explosion of the world's first atomic bomb. An aerial view of the aftermath of the explosion at Trinity Test Site, New Mexico, July 16, 1945. The massive explosion of Oppenheimer's Trinity test was first explained away as an ammo dump explosion. Asked to describe his reaction to seeing the explosion, Oppenheimer quoted a verse from the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu devotional text.

Persons: J, Robert Oppenheimer, Robert Oppenheimer —, Christopher Nolan's, —, Arthur Compton, Compton, Oppenheimer, Nolan, It's, Elsie McMillan, Edwin McMillan, Gadget, John Donne, Eddie Adams, Sam Allison, Marvin Wilkening, Brig, Thomas F, Farrell, William Spindel, I'm, Roger Rasmussen, Trinity Organizations: Manhattan Project, Service, Scientific, Manhattan, Hollywood, Atomic Heritage Foundation, Trinity, Institute for, Study, AP, US Army, Clovis, National Security Research Locations: New Mexico, Wall, Silicon, Socorro , New Mexico, Princeton , New Jersey, Gen

☆ Oppenheimer went into a deep depression after reading about the effects of the atomic bomb on Japan and even publicly spoke out against using the bomb
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

J. Robert Oppenheimer "plunged into a deep depression" after he created the atomic bomb. Days later when the US dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki, things began to change for the physicist, The Post reported. Oppenheimer didn't think it was necessary or justified to drop the second bomb, according to the Post. "Mr. President, I feel I have blood on my hands," Oppenheimer told Truman, according to Bird's book, "American Prometheus," the Post reported. Oppenheimer then began to publicly denounce the use of his atomic bomb, much to the NSA's dismay, Bird said.

Persons: Robert Oppenheimer, Kai Bird, Harry Truman, Oppenheimer, Kai Bird —, Oppenheimer —, Truman, Mr, Bird, Biden, Energy Jennifer Granholm Organizations: Service, Manhattan, CBS, Washington Post, Post, Energy Locations: Wall, Silicon, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Alamos

☆ ‘Oppenheimer’ Review: A Man for Our Time
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Manohla Dargis | More About Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s staggering film about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man known as “the father of the atomic bomb,” condenses a titanic shift in consciousness into three haunted hours. The movie is based on “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” the authoritative 2005 biography by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. The atomic bomb and what it wrought define Oppenheimer’s legacy and also shape this film. “Oppenheimer” is a great achievement in formal and conceptual terms, and fully absorbing, but Nolan’s filmmaking is, crucially, in service to the history that it relates. The story tracks Oppenheimer — played with feverish intensity by Cillian Murphy — across decades, starting in the 1920s with him as a young adult and continuing until his hair grays.

Persons: “ Oppenheimer, ” Christopher Nolan’s, Robert Oppenheimer, J, Kai Bird, Martin J, Sherwin ., Nolan, Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer —, Cillian Murphy —, Jean Tatlock, Florence Pugh, boozer, Kitty Harrison, Emily Blunt Organizations: Manhattan Engineer District, Manhattan Locations: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Los Alamos, New Mexico, Pacific

☆ 'Cracks in the foundation': 3 leading Wall Street strategists reveal the overlooked reason why stocks are on shaky ground right now — and how to invest with a downturn looming
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Instead, they've been propelled by large caps and growth stocks, specifically tech. If not for a small number of mega-cap growth stocks, the S&P 500 wouldn't be staying afloat. Last year investors learned the hard way that narrow markets are dangerous, as tech stocks tumbled during the market selloff. "Breadth has been exceptionally weak as large-cap growth stocks hold up the major averages," Wilson wrote in a late March note. Outside of tech, Lebovitz highlighted traditional defensive sectors like consumer staples and utilities.

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