Links for 2021-09-22
How quickly do algorithms improve? MIT scientists show how fast algorithms are improving across a broad range of examples, demonstrating their critical importance in advancing computing. — “For large computing problems, 43 percent of algorithm families had year-on-year improvements that were equal to or larger than the much-touted gains from Moore’s Law. In 14 percent of problems, the improvement to performance from algorithms vastly outpaced those that have come from improved hardware. The gains from algorithm improvement were particularly large for big-data problems, so the importance of those advancements has grown in recent decades. The single biggest change that the authors observed came when an algorithm family transitioned from exponential to polynomial complexity.” https://news.mit.edu/2021/how-quickly-do-algorithms-improve-0920
Direct detection of dark energy: The XENON1T excess and future prospects https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.063023
Intuitive crutches for higher dimensional thinking https://mathoverflow.net/questions/25983/intuitive-crutches-for-higher-dimensional-thinking
Air pollution reduces global life expectancy by 2.2 years on average. That’s more than alcohol use, unsafe water and sanitation, HIV/AIDS, and malaria combined. https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AQLI_2021-Report.EnglishGlobal.pdf
Can you control the past? — On decision theory and the possibility of “acausal control” https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PcfHSSAMNFMgdqFyB/can-you-control-the-past
Partial Derivatives and Partial Narratives https://everythingstudies.com/2016/06/02/partial-derivatives-and-partial-narratives/
"Asteroid spotting: Could an asteroid wipe out human civilisation like it may have eliminated the dinosaurs? Big asteroids come along extremely rarely and our monitoring systems are effective and well funded. We should be safe" https://www.worksinprogress.co/issue/asteroid-spotting/
In 400 large Japanese companies and 400,000 employees over 12 years, the gender gap in bonus pay was greater, not smaller, in workplaces with a merit-based system compared to workplaces without it. https://academic.oup.com/sf/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/sf/soab083/6322750?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Alibaba uses a smarter neural net to lower its cost and increase its amount of users https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.12100
A geometry puzzle from Russia’s prime minister
Construct a perpendicular from the (red) point on the circle to the diameter, without using any measuring devices.
(You cannot use a compass or a marked ruler. All you are allowed is an unmarked ruler to draw straight lines.)
Source: https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2021/09/20/a-geometry-puzzle-from-russias-prime-minister/