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☆ Hunter’s Sweetheart Plea Deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Kimberley A. Strassel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Kimberley Strassel is a member of the editorial board for The Wall Street Journal. She writes editorials, as well as the weekly Potomac Watch political column, from her base in Alaska. Ms. Strassel joined Dow Jones & Co. in 1994, working in the news department of The Wall Street Journal Europe in Brussels, and then in London. She moved to New York in 1999 and soon thereafter joined the Journal's editorial page, working as a features editor, and then as an editorial writer. An Oregon native, Ms. Strassel earned a bachelor's degree in Public Policy and International Affairs from Princeton University.

Persons: Kimberley Strassel, Strassel Organizations: Wall Street, Potomac Watch, Dow Jones & Co, The, Street, Fox, Sunday, Press, Policy, International Affairs, Princeton University Locations: Kimberley, Alaska, Brussels, London, New York, An Oregon

☆ How the 23-year-old founder of GPTZero turned his student anti-cheating tool into a leading startup that detects AI-generated text online
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Over the course of the holiday break last year, Tian built what would become the main tool for his startup, GPTZero. They became some of the earliest adopters of GPTZero, Tian explained. "You have to imagine, this is before TurnItIn even knew what AI detection was, and OpenAI wasn't considering this at all either," Tian said. As customer and media interest grew in GPTZero, Tian realized he had built something that could be a full-fledged startup. Tian and the GPTZero team acknowledge that errors can happen with GPTZero as well, but that focusing on "human" detection can be one way around it.

Persons: Edward Tian, he's, He's, Tian, Bard, TurnItIn, OpenAI, Alex Cui, Cui, Jack Altman's, Emad Mostaque, Tom Glozer, Mark Thompson, GPTZero, Greylock's Asheem, graf, It's, they've, we've Organizations: Princeton, Princeton University, NPR, Educators, BBC, University of Toronto, Uncork Capital, Altman, New York Times, Microsoft Locations: British, GPTZero, Uganda, Kenya

☆ 'Oppenheimer' doesn't get Einstein's relationship with the Los Alamos director quite right. Here's what they really thought of each other.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In reality, Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer knew each other but weren't friends until much later. The movie focuses on J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led the assembly and testing of the first-ever atomic bomb at Los Alamos in New Mexico. Einstein and Oppenheimer disagreed on a key issue: the governmentOppenheimer (right) standing with General Leslie Groves of the US army. Out of fear the Nazis would develop and use a nuclear weapon, Einstein wrote the letter that convinced President Franklin D. Roosevelt to launch an atom-bomb program. Einstein the outsider, Oppenheimer the disgraced insiderJ. Robert Oppenheimer in 1950.

Persons: Albert Einstein, Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer, Einstein, J, Robert Oppenheimer, Nolan, Alex Wellerstein, Corbis, who'd, Edward Teller, Wellerstein, Arthur Compton, Leslie Groves, Einstein wasn't, wouldn't, Franklin D, Roosevelt, Lewis Strauss, Strauss Organizations: Service, Manhattan, Princeton, New York Times, Manhattan Project, University of Chicago, Times, Getty, Trinity, National Security Research, United Locations: Wall, Silicon, Los Alamos, New Mexico, Princeton, United States

☆ Science advisors for 'Oppenheimer' say Christopher Nolan taught himself quantum physics so well that it made their jobs easy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Christopher Nolan's new film 'Oppenheimer' features complex science. Science advisors on his latest film, "Oppenheimer," told Insider that's because he teaches himself the science before he even sits down to write. Thorne, who attended lectures by the real J. Robert Oppenheimer while studying at Princeton, has first-hand knowledge about Oppenheimer the man, not just his science. So he said that he clarified and expanded on some of the interactions these famous men would have had with one another for Nolan's film. Oppenheimer was an expert in quantum physics, and was responsible for bringing the discipline to the US, Thorne said.

Persons: Christopher Nolan's, Oppenheimer, Nolan, Christopher Nolan, Tenet, he's, Kip Thorne, Thorne, Robert Oppenheimer, it's, David Saltzberg, Saltzberg, Prefacing he's Organizations: Service, Princeton, UCLA, Trinity Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ New research on Facebook shows the algorithm isn't entirely to blame for political polarization
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

For all the blame Facebook has received for fostering extreme political polarization on its ubiquitous apps, new research suggests that the problem may not strictly be a function of the algorithm. Doing so during the three-month period, "did not significantly alter levels of issue polarization, affective polarization, political knowledge, or other key attitudes," the authors wrote. When altering the kind of content these Facebook users were receiving to presumably make it more diverse, they found that the change didn't alter users' views. "However, the data clearly indicate that Facebook users are much more likely to see content from like-minded sources than they are to see content from cross-cutting sources." The polarization problem exists on Facebook, the researchers all agree, but the question is whether the algorithm is intensifying the matter.

Persons: Meta, Holden Thorp, Science's, Thorp, Nick Clegg, Clegg, Stephan Lewandowsky, Lewandowsky, Susan Li Organizations: Facebook, Nature, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, University of Texas, Meta, University of Bristol Locations: U.S

The algorithms powering Facebook and Instagram, which drive what billions of people see on the social networks, have been in the cross hairs of lawmakers, activists and regulators for years. In the papers, researchers from the University of Texas, New York University, Princeton and other institutions found that removing some key functions of the social platforms’ algorithms had “no measurable effects” on people’s political beliefs. In one experiment on Facebook’s algorithm, people’s knowledge of political news declined when their ability to reshare posts was removed, the researchers said. At the same time, the consumption of political news on Facebook and Instagram was highly segregated by ideology, according to another study. Ninety-seven percent of the links to “untrustworthy” news stories on the apps during the 2020 election were read by users who identified as conservative and largely engaged with right-wing content, the research found.

Persons: Instagram Organizations: University of Texas, University of Texas , New York University , Princeton, Facebook Locations: University of Texas , New

☆ An Ivy League degree won't boost your salary much compared to a good state school, a study finds. You're just more likely to have an elite-sounding job.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new study finds that an Ivy League degree doesn't meaningfully increase a graduate's future income compared to attending a good state school. Americans are debating the merits of affirmative action and legacy admissions at Ivy League schools. While attending an Ivy League school only increased students' future income by 3% on average, the researchers found that it boosted any one student's chances of reaching the top 1% in income at age 33 by 59%. So while attending an Ivy didn't meaningfully boost students' odds of making more money on average, it did boost their odds of getting super-duper rich. Age 33 income levels were projected using a student's current income and data on their employers and graduate schools.

Persons: —, Alan Kruger, Ivy, Ivy — Organizations: Ivy League, Service, Ivy League university —, Opportunity, Harvard, Princeton, Ivy, ACT, Ohio State University, UC Berkeley, UCLA, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Michigan, University of North, University of Texas, University of Virginia Locations: Wall, Silicon, University of North Carolina

☆ Chien-Shiung Wu, a nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, spent her career fighting for gender equality in science
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Yoonji Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Chien-Shiung Wu was a Chinese physicist who was instrumental to the Manhattan Project. Chien-Shiung Wu is a physicist who broke through both gender and racial barriers in 1940s America, wowing the science community with her significant contributions to the Manhattan Project. Like many other scientists involved in the project, Wu later distanced herself from the Manhattan Project due to its destructive outcome. Robert W. Kelley/Contributor/Getty ImagesWu's legacyAfter the Manhattan Project, Wu continued to advance the science community's understanding of nuclear physics. Wu was later awarded the first Wolf Prize, considered the second most prestigious award after the Nobel Prize, in 1978.

Persons: Wu, Wolf, Christopher Nolan's, Oppenheimer, Wu's, Madame Curie, Ernest Lawrence, J, Robert Oppenheimer, weren't, Lawrence, Wu —, Emilio Segrè, Marie Curie, Luke Yuan, East Coast . Wu, Brode, Wallace Brode, Enrico Fermi, Robert W, Kelley, —, Y.K, Lee, Bettmann Organizations: Manhattan, Physics, Service, University of Michigan, University of California, Princeton University, Science, Smithsonian Institution, Manhattan Project, Columbia University, Los Alamos, Columbia Locations: Chinese, Wall, Silicon, America, Jiangsu, China, Republic of China, United States, Michigan, Berkeley, Italian, East Coast ., Los, Manhattan

☆ Kids of the 1% are twice as likely to get into 'Ivy Plus' colleges, even when their grades are no better than anyone else's
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A new study shows kids of the top 1% are over twice as likely to be admitted to Ivy Plus colleges. That's despite scoring no better than students of other income groups, per an Opportunity Insights study. Ivy Plus refers to the eight Ivy League colleges Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, UPenn, Princeton, and Yale, plus Stanford, MIT, Duke, and the University of Chicago. On Tuesday, the US Department of Education launched a federal civil rights probe against Harvard, alleging favoritism towards legacy students in their admission process, per Reuters. The Ivy Plus colleges did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, sent outside regular business hours.

Persons: Rhodes Organizations: Ivy Plus, Service, Opportunity, Harvard, Ivy, Ivy League colleges Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Duke, University of Chicago, US, Associated Press, US Department of Education, Reuters Locations: Wall, Silicon, Columbia, UPenn, Princeton

☆ ChatGPT creator pulls AI detection tool due to ‘low rate of accuracy’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Less than six months after ChatGPT-creator OpenAI unveiled an AI detection tool with the potential to help teachers and other professionals detect AI generated work, the company has pulled the feature. OpenAI quietly shut down the tool last week citing a “low rate of accuracy,” according to an update to the original company blog post announcing the feature. Against that backdrop, OpenAI announced the AI detection tool in February to allow users to check if an essay was written by a human or AI. Other companies such as Turnitin have also rolled out AI plagiarism detection tools that could help teachers identify when assignments are written by the tool. Meanwhile, Princeton student Edward Tuan introduced a similar AI detection feature, called ZeroGPT.

Persons: OpenAI, ChatGPT, ”, Lama Ahmad, Ahmad, Edward Tuan Organizations: CNN, Public, Princeton Locations: New York City, Seattle

☆ 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

It was enacted as an amendment to one of Israel’s Basic Laws, which the justices have never previously struck down. Originally, Basic Laws, which can be passed by a simple parliamentary majority, were not necessarily superior to other laws. Then in 1992, the Knesset passed a Basic Law that guaranteed dignity and liberty. “Proportionality is a balancing test,” said Rivka Weill, another law professor at Reichman University. But if the government removed Ms. Baharav-Miara, it would “cross a red line for the court,” Professor Weill said.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Netanyahu, —, Oded, Adam Shinar, “, it’s, ”, Kim Lane Scheppele, Aharon Barak, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ronaldo Schemidt, Shinar, Rivka Weill, Weill, Gil Cohen Magen “, Aryeh Deri, Deri, Scheppele, Ronen Zvulun Organizations: Monday, Reichman University, Princeton University, ., Agence France, Princeton, Senate Locations: Israel, Israel’s, Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Jerusalem, Gali Baharav, Britain, United States

☆ How Israel’s Supreme Court Might React to the Challenge to Its Power
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Emily Bazelon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

So the other theory is that the court should be cautious and follow the law to show the criticism is exaggerated. It was enacted as an amendment to one of Israel’s Basic Laws, which the justices have never previously struck down. Originally, Basic Laws, which can be passed by a simple parliamentary majority, were not necessarily superior to other laws. Then in 1992, the Knesset passed a Basic Law that guaranteed dignity and liberty. Supreme Court Justice Aharon Barak, one of the country’s most influential jurists, proclaimed a “constitutional revolution,” and the court established the supremacy of the Basic Laws and gave judges more sway to interpret them.

Persons: it’s, ”, Kim Lane Scheppele, Aharon Barak Organizations: Princeton University Locations: Israel

☆ Don't give the Fed credit for crushing inflation, Nobel economist Paul Krugman says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Inflation hasn't cooled because of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hikes, Paul Krugman says. Still, the US economy might be in worse shape today if the Fed hadn't raised rates, Krugman says. Those forces plateaued more than a year ago, but have only been reflected in recent months due to lags in inflation measures, Krugman said. "This suggests to me that the Fed may have done the right thing for the wrong reasons," Krugman said. He explained that surprisingly resilient US demand could indicate the Fed stopped the economy overheating and inflation surging by raising rates, which allowed recombobulation to relieve pricing pressures.

Persons: Paul Krugman, it's, Krugman, —, recombobulation Organizations: Service, New York Times, Fed, Princeton, MIT Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Oppenheimer never won a Nobel Prize, but these 31 scientists with ties to the Manhattan Project did
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

Manhattan Project: After a harrowing escape from Nazi-occupied Denmark in 1943, Bohr began consulting on the Manhattan Project. Manhattan Project: Between 1943 and 1944, Muller was a civilian advisor for the Manhattan Project, consulting on experiments studying the effects of radiation. Maria Goeppert Mayer, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1963Maria Goeppert Mayer worked on the Manhattan Project and later won the Nobel Prize in physics. Manhattan Project: Working as an assistant to his father, Niels Bohr, Aage Bohr proved instrumental in interpreting for some members of the Manhattan Project. Manhattan Project: At 18, Glauber was still a student at Harvard when he became one of the youngest scientists to join the Manhattan Project.

Persons: Robert Oppenheimer, Alfred Nobel, Joseph Rotblat, Albert Einstein, Christopher Nolan's, Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr, Bohr, Nicholas Baker, Nick, James Franck, Boyer, Roger Viollet, Gustav Ludwig Hertz, Niels Bohr's, Franck, Arthur Compton, Imagno, Compton, Harold Urey, Harold, Urey, James Chadwick, Chadwick, Enrico Fermi, Fermi, Ernest Lawrence, Lawrence, Isidor Isaac Rabi, Nancy R, Schiff, Rabi, Hermann Muller, Muller, Edwin McMillan, Bettmann, Glenn Seaborg, McMillan, Elsie McMillan, Seaborg, Felix Bloch, Edward Purcell, Nobel, Hans Bethe, Bloch, Purcell, Emilio Segrè, Owen Chamberlain, Chamberlain, Segrè, Willard Libby, Leona Libby, Lowell, Libby, Linus Pauling, Leona Woods Marshall Libby, Eugene Wigner, Wigner, Leo Szilard's, Einstein, Franklin D, Roosevelt, Maria Goeppert Mayer, J, Hans Jensen, Goeppert Mayer, Teller, Richard Feynman, Tomonaga, Julian Schwinger, Fenynman, Hans Bethe's, Feynmwan, Feynman, Schwinger, Robert Mulliken, Mulliken, Szilard, Hans A, Bethe, Luis Alvarez, Alvarez, Enola Gay, Walter Alvarez, James Rainwater, Aage Bohr, Ben Mottelson, Rainwater, Wu, Aage Niels Bohr, Mottelson, mumbled, Val Fitch, James Cronin, Fitch, Jerome Karle, Isabelle, Larry Morris, Herbert Hauptman, Karle, Isabella Karle, Norman Ramsey, Ellie Welch, Ramsey, Norman Ramsey's Nobel, David Cheskin, Rotblat, Russell, Bertrand Russell, Enstinen, Frederick Reines, Philippe Caron, Sygma, Reines, Roy Glauber, Gail Oskin, Glauber Organizations: Manhattan Project, Service, Manhattan, US Army, AP, Getty, University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory, Chicago Met, Los Angeles Examiner, USC, Columbia, Keystone, Gamma, Columbia University, University of Chicago, Trinity Test, University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Hulton, Trinity, Deutsch, Los Alamos, University of Chicago's Metallurgical, Atomic Energy Commission, Harvard University, MIT Rad Lab, Denver, Chicago Met Lab, Materials Laboratory, Los, Radiation Laboratory, MIT, University of Chicago's, Princeton University, Naval Research Lab, Washington, US Naval Research Laboratory, Science, World Affairs, Einstein, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Harvard, Institute for Locations: Wall, Silicon, Polish, Denmark, Copenhagen, Nazi, London , Washington, Los Alamos, German, Germany, Japan, Manhattan, British, France, Washington, DC, Berkeley, Ridge , Tennessee, Los, New Mexico, Hanford, antiprotons, Hiroshima, Lowell Georgia, San Diego, Chicago, Washington ,

☆ To help end the war in Ukraine, seize Russia's state assets and use them for reparations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

To end the war, some argue that Ukraine must make difficult territorial concessions to Russia. People in the United States, after all, do not vote for the president of Russia. The Biden administration has already authorized millions of dollars worth of assets from Russian oligarchs to be transferred to Ukraine. But it has refrained from touching Russia's Central Bank foreign currency reserves, which are estimated to be about $38 billion in the United States alone (and $215 billion in the European Union). As Financial Times economic commentator Martin Sandbu wrote last month, seizing state assets for reparations is an unproven legal strategy.

Persons: Cornel, Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, there's, —, Vermont Sen, Bernie Sanders, Sanders, what's, Lawrence Summers, Robert Zoellick, Philip Zelikow, Biden, Martin Sandbu Organizations: Service, Harvard, Princeton, CNN, White, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, Republican, Florida Gov, Vermont, New Lines Institute, UN, Assembly, Kremlin, Bank, Central Bank, European Union, Financial Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Washington, United, United States, Florida, America, Russian, West, Iraq, Washington ,, Mariupol

The study — by Opportunity Insights, a group of economists based at Harvard who study inequality — quantifies for the first time the extent to which being very rich is its own qualification in selective college admissions. The result is the clearest picture yet of how America’s elite colleges perpetuate the intergenerational transfer of wealth and opportunity. Less than 1 percent of American college students attend the 12 elite colleges. For the several elite colleges that also shared internal admissions data, they could see other aspects of students’ applications between 2001 and 2015, including how admissions offices rated them. Share of admitted students who were recruited athletes at selected elite colleges Recruited athletes at elite colleges were much more likely to come from the highest-earning households.

Persons: ”, Susan Dynarski, Raj Chetty, John N . Friedman of Brown, David J . Deming, Christopher L, “, Neil Gorsuch, didn’t, Ivy, Dynarski, Pell, You’re, Michael Bastedo, Bastedo, John Morganelli, don’t, It’s, you’re, Jana Barnello, Stuart Schmill, “ It’s Organizations: Elite College, Ivy League, Opportunity, Harvard, Stanford, Duke, University of Chicago, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Princeton, Notre Dame, Public, University of Texas, University of Virginia, Fortune, University of Michigan, New York Times, Dartmouth, University of Michigan’s School of Education, Cornell, College Board, Brown, University of California Locations: M.I.T, America, Northwestern, N.Y.U, Austin, United States, California, U.C.L.A

☆ Cillian Murphy didn't just want to act like Oppenheimer. He asked science advisors to help him think like him, too.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Cillian Murphy plays the "father of the atomic bomb", J. Robert Oppenheimer, in the new film. Science advisors said Murphy asked questions about the theories to accurately portray his character. For his part, Thorne met Murphy virtually and talked with him about scientific theory broadly, and Oppenheimer the man, whom Thorne studied under at Princeton, personally. Saltzberg met Murphy while working with production designers to draft the equations written on the chalkboards throughout the movie. For his role as a physicist in the 2007 movie "Sunshine", Murphy met with scientists at CERN to prepare for the role.

Persons: Cillian Murphy, Robert Oppenheimer, Murphy, Oppenheimer, Kip Thorne, David Saltzberg, Thorne, Saltzberg, Murphy didn't, he's Organizations: Service, UCLA, Princeton, CERN, Guardian, Demand Entertainment Locations: Wall, Silicon, Hollywood

☆ Who was J. Robert Oppenheimer? What you need to know before watching Christopher Nolan's biopic
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Caolán Magee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Director Christopher Nolan’s latest creation concerns an earlier existential threat, telling the story of the atomic bomb through the lens of its creator, J. Robert Oppenheimer – played by “Peaky Blinders” star Cillian Murphy. ullstein bild Dtl./ullstein bild/Getty ImagesWho was J. Robert Oppenheimer? Oppenheimer is widely considered the father of the atomic bomb. He quickly rose to prominence as an internationally renowned physicist, employed by the US government to create an atomic bomb to quell the threat of Nazi Germany. In the post-WWII era, as the world entered the Cold War, Oppenheimer was suspected by US intelligence of having ties with communists.

Persons: Oppenheimer ”, Christopher Nolan’s, J, Robert Oppenheimer –, “ Peaky, Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr, Kai Bird, Martin J, Sherwin’s Pulitzer, Robert Oppenheimer, ” Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer, Fotosearch, Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, Jennifer Granholm, ” Organizations: CNN, Trinity, Los Alamos National Laboratory, United States Atomic Energy Commission, Manhattan, Institute for, Study, Committee, Atomic Energy Commission, US Department of Energy, ” Locations: New York, Nazi Germany, New Mexico, Alamogordo , New Mexico, Germany, Los Alamos , New Mexico, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Princeton , New Jersey, Spanish

☆ Trinity Nuclear Test’s Fallout Reached 46 States, Canada and Mexico, Study Finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Lesley M. M. Blume | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In July 1945, as J. Robert Oppenheimer and the other researchers of the Manhattan Project prepared to test their brand-new atomic bomb in a New Mexico desert, they knew relatively little about how that mega-weapon would behave. On July 16, when the plutonium-implosion device was set off atop a hundred-foot metal tower in a test code-named “Trinity,” the resultant blast was much stronger than anticipated. The irradiated mushroom cloud also went many times higher into the atmosphere than expected: some 50,000 to 70,000 feet. A new study, released on Thursday ahead of submission to a scientific journal for peer review, shows that the cloud and its fallout went farther than anyone in the Manhattan Project had imagined in 1945. Using state-of-the-art modeling software and recently uncovered historical weather data, the study’s authors say that radioactive fallout from the Trinity test reached 46 states, Canada and Mexico within 10 days of detonation.

Persons: Robert Oppenheimer, ”, Sébastien Phillippe Organizations: Manhattan Project, Trinity, Princeton University’s, Science, Global Security Locations: New Mexico, Trinity, Canada, Mexico

Marc Tessier-Lavigne, a renowned neuroscientist, announced on Wednesday that he would step down from his position as president of Stanford University, after the release of an external review of his scientific work found fault with several high-profile journal articles published under his purview. A committee drafted the review in response to allegations that Dr. Tessier-Lavigne was involved in scientific misconduct. In its report, which focused on 12 academic papers, the committee said there was no evidence that Dr. Tessier-Lavigne had knowingly falsified data or withheld such information from the public. In response, Dr. Tessier-Lavigne vowed to retract three of the five articles, request major corrections for two and step down from his position as president. “I am gratified that the panel concluded I did not engage in any fraud or falsification of scientific data,” Dr. Tessier-Lavigne said in a statement, adding: “Although I was unaware of these issues, I want to be clear that I take responsibility for the work of my lab members.”

Persons: Marc Tessier, Lavigne, Tessier, Randy Schekman, Shirley Tilghman, Dr . Tessier, . Tessier, “, Dr, ” Organizations: Stanford University, Physiology, Princeton University

☆ The AI behind ChatGPT really does seem to be getting dumber — but no one can quite figure out why
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It's not just you: new research suggests ChatGPT's AI model really is getting dumber. There's been a growing feeling for a while now that the AI model behind ChatGPT is, frankly, getting dumber. No one can quite figure out why GPT-4 is changingWhat the research doesn't seem to identify is why this performance drop has happened. As the AI model underlying a more advanced version of ChatGPT, one that paying subscribers get access to, that's a bit of a problem for OpenAI. That said, it's hard to ignore the questions of quality surrounding GPT-4 when a whole community of AI devotees is asking them.

Persons: It's, There's, OpenAI, Ethan Mollick, Wharton, OpenAI hasn't, Peter Yang, Alistair Barr, Peter Welinder, tweeting, Matei Zaharia, —, Arvind Narayanan Organizations: Stanford, UC Berkeley, Morning, Stanford University, UC Berkeley — Locations: Princeton, GPT

☆ Fervo Energy hits milestone in using oil drilling technology to tap geothermal energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Geothermal startup Fervo Energy announced a key technical milestone on Tuesday, paving the way for geothermal energy to play a bigger role in the transition to clean energy. In the test, Fervo drilled down drilled down to 7,700 feet and then turned to drill another 3,250 feet horizontally, and internal temperatures reached roughly 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In the United States, geothermal energy supplies only 0.4% of electricity right now. Instead of relying on naturally occurring conditions, Fervo is using drilling technology developed by the oil and gas industry with hydraulic fracturing to create reservoirs in rocks deep underground. "By applying drilling technology from the oil and gas industry, we have proven that we can produce 24/7 carbon-free energy resources in new geographies across the world," Tim Latimer, the CEO of Fervo Energy, said in a written statement.

Persons: Fervo, Jesse Jenkins, Tim Latimer Organizations: Fervo Energy, Princeton, Fervo Locations: Nevada, United States

☆ Opinion | Do Legacy Admissions Also Benefit the Less Elite?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “Legacy Admissions Don’t Work the Way You Think They Do,” by Shamus Khan (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, July 7):The convoluted justification for legacy admissions presented by Dr. Khan, a Princeton professor, is both insulting and patronizing to us not born into privilege — i.e., “poor students, students of color, and students whose parents didn’t have a college degree.”Per Dr. Khan, we receive a boost from attending elite schools because they connect us to students born into privilege and acculturate us “in the conventions and etiquette of high-status settings.”Wrong. We benefit from admission to elite schools because it signals our accomplishment and our merits to employers — a signaling we need in the job market because we lack the connections that legacy kids have. However, the benefit we receive has absolutely nothing to do with picking up “shared literary references” and the “right” sport. If indeed acculturation in these “conventions and etiquette” is a byproduct of legacy admissions, then that is even more reason to end the practice. Perpetuation of cultural traits of privilege is repellent and not the place of any university, including an elite one.

Persons: Shamus Khan, Dr, Khan, didn’t, ”, “ Locations: Princeton

☆ Kai Bird on Christopher Nolan's ‘Oppenheimer’ - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Kai Bird | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Oppenheimer took the occasion to explain to Einstein that he was going to be absent from the Institute for some weeks. He was being forced to defend himself in Washington, D.C., during a secret hearing against charges that he was a security risk, and perhaps even disloyal. “He loved America,” said Verna Hobson, his secretary who was a witness to the conversation, “and this love was as deep as his love of science.”“Einstein doesn’t understand,” Oppenheimer told Ms. Hobson. But as Einstein walked back into his office he told his assistant, nodding in the direction of Oppenheimer, “There goes a narr [fool].”Einstein was right. Oppenheimer was foolishly subjecting himself to a kangaroo court in which he was soon stripped of his security clearance and publicly humiliated.

Persons: J, Robert Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein, Oppenheimer, Einstein, Oppenheimer “, ” Oppenheimer demurred, “, ”, Verna Hobson, ” Oppenheimer, Hobson, ” Einstein, Oppenheimer’s Organizations: Institute for, Study, Institute, Washington , D.C, Atomic Energy Locations: Princeton, N.J, Germany, Washington ,, America

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