Links for 2022-12-20
“Basically, as we scale up language models, the LLMs try really hard to model whatever is emitting the tokens they're being asked to look at. In a very real sense, the more complex LLMs get, the more they 'look at you' and predict what might satisfy you.” https://twitter.com/jackclarkSF/status/1604888613677764608
“Can we build fluent, factual & logical text generation systems w/ multi-step reasoning over semi-structured data (tables/graphs)? We propose MURMUR, a neuro-symbolic method w/ symbolic modules for logical skills & LLMs for linguistic skills” https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1604856665630642176.html
Amazon’s Quest for the ‘Holy Grail’ of Robotics: “Amazon, along with a collection of other robotics companies developing similar machines, are chasing what experts in the field call the ‘holy grail’ of robotics—machines as dexterous, quick and adaptable as a human arm and hand. Such a robot could someday be capable of handling any of the thousands—or in Amazon’s case, millions—of different goods carried in a typical e-commerce fulfillment warehouse. ‘What we’re doing is unlike anything that’s been done in human history—the scale we’re working at,’ says [Amazon’s Tye Brady].” [The Wall Street Journal] https://archive.vn/me55a
Synthetic Bacteria Becomes Smallest Lifeform That Can Move Around https://newatlas.com/science/synthetic-bacteria-smallest-mobile-lifeform/
Monks using CNC machines to build a gothic monastery. https://carmelitegothic.com/cnc-stone-carving/
A New Way to Achieve Nuclear Fusion: Helion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bDXXWQxK38
“The breakthrough could prevent the slaughter of billions of male chickens each year, which are culled because they don't lay eggs.” https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63937438
A big study of the genes of kids born to people exposed to the Chornobyl disaster found no effects: “no trans-generational effects of ionizing radiation were observed in adult children of Chernobyl clean-up workers and evacuees.” https://science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg2365
New Atheism: The Godlessness That Failed https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/10/30/new-atheism-the-godlessness-that-failed/
The Rise And Fall Of Online Culture Wars [follow up to the previous link] https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/the-rise-and-fall-of-online-culture
"Human skull and brain morphology are strongly influenced by genetic factors, and skull size and shape vary worldwide... We found that both skull and brain morphological variation exhibit a population-genetic fingerprint among individuals of European ancestry." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21849792/
“Western Societies Should Encourage Public Shaming” https://www.ideassleepfuriously.com/p/western-societies-should-encourage
“South Korea has a problem: thousands of people, many middle aged and isolated, are dying alone each year, often going undiscovered for days or weeks.” https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/18/asia/south-korea-godoksa-lonely-death-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
This is incredibly sad. I had no idea that anti-nuclear disinformation is even worse in France than in Germany!
52% of French believe that nuclear power plants emit "a lot" or "quite a lot" of carbon dioxide. In Germany, 43% hold a similar view. France is a place where green propaganda has been very effective in spreading ignorance.
Source: https://edf.fr/sites/groupe/files/2022-12/obscop2022_resultatscomplets_fr.pdf