Links for 2023-11-27
A framework for robotic excavation and dry stone construction using on-site materials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxpE5yryCTU
AI can figure out sewing patterns from a single photo of clothing https://www.newscientist.com/article/2404358-ai-can-figure-out-sewing-patterns-from-a-single-photo-of-clothing/ [https://archive.is/T2q7u]
Cell-free quest for new antibiotics: A new method combines synthetic biology with artificial intelligence https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42434-9
Introducing EUGENe: An Easy-to-Use Deep Learning Genomics Software https://today.ucsd.edu/story/introducing-eugene-an-easy-to-use-deep-learning-genomics-software
Does creatine supplementation make you smarter? The largest RCT to date. Weak Bayesian evidence for a small effect (not significant), still uncertain. Veg vs omni made no difference. Previous studies likely too small. https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CbaznRo9fKpriw2mi/paper-out-now-on-creatine-and-cognitive-performance
Aaron Silverbook on anti-cavity bacteria https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CdxdMLbBwHgEcGYCv/aaron-silverbook-on-anti-cavity-bacteria
Researchers 3D printed and deployed a communication satellite in 90 min https://www.uoc.edu/portal/en/news/actualitat/2023/279-nanosatellite-for-emergency-broadband.html
A call for a massive US arms buildup: "Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, total U.S. defense production has increased by a mere 10% … Washington may need to invoke the Defense Production Act & begin converting some civilian industry to military purposes." https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/16/us-russia-china-gaza-ukraine-world-war-defense-security-strategy/ [https://archive.is/UOlnF]
Computer scientist who had his bike stolen tried to explain binary search to the cops:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i-have-owned-11-bikes-this-is-how-they-were-stolen-d3r553gx3 [https://archive.is/TgrKu]
Afterwards I found a chatroom thread among Cambridge computer scientists, one of whom had also been told that unless he could pin down the moment of theft no one would look at the footage. He said he had tried to explain sorting algorithms to police — he was a computer scientist, after all.
You don’t watch the whole thing, he said. You use a binary search. You fast forward to halfway, see if the bike is there and, if it is, zoom to three quarters of the way through. But if it wasn’t there at the halfway mark, you rewind to a quarter of the way through. It’s very quick. In fact, he had pointed out, if the CCTV footage stretched back to the dawn of humanity it would probably have only taken an hour to find the moment of theft. This argument didn’t go down well.