I'm writing an article that deals in part with the career of MIT civil engineering prof John B. "Bud" Wilbur, class of '26. Did you or any of your mentors/elders know him? Please get in touch! #mit#engineering
Wow 300 images captured by Curiosity to build a panoramic survey at her Sol 4175 location, ten days ago. This video shows them at a rate of 10/second. It took about 50 minutes for the rover to complete this scan with her left mast camera.
This image perfectly conveys just how huge the 100-m dish of the Green Bank Telescope is. I had the chance to visit it a few years ago, back when I lived in the US, and the view from the receiver room is stunning. Although I must admit that looking down through the mesh floor was... "an experience" 😵💫 😅
I’ve started writing a “learning to draw to make better engineering sketchbooks” and was wondering which aspects I should focus on. Here’s a selection of some working pages from 2016 and 2022 (I started the endeavor in 2010).
Boilerplate code is not a thing. Most "boilerplate" code is already covered in a library or package, and it should be used there. Otherwise, there are situational edge cases to be covered.
And unit test code is not boilerplate either. The point of unit tests aren't just to verify, but to explain problems when a failure happens. Unit tests without this are test theater.
Research aims to improve data quality in manufacturing, seeking 'golden data'
"Despite the advances in manufacturing AI methodologies over the past decade, including significant strides in deep learning and neural networks, Jin points out that data generation and quality have become the major roadblocks in modeling and decision-making performance."
Starting a new mini-series this coming week, exploring the history and construction of the Galloway Hydro Scheme. It was a bit of a trial to get going at first between weather and equipment issues, but it will be worth it!
PS, Could someone tell me about which would be the best Fediverse video platform for me to branch out into with my videos?
A 3d printed, lightweight, less expensive, instrument, that can fit into a shoe box sized satellite,
to isolate and monitor air pollution from low earth orbit.
Fmr #Trump treas sec #Mnuchin is telling investors he has a plan to buy #TikTok
Mnuchin told potential backers he aims to maneuver around its price of >$100B & #China’s ban of the export of recommendation #algorithms.
He indicated he could overcome those hurdles by offering to buy the #app w/o the export-blocked #code, essentially forcing his consortium to remake a service built on billions of lines of code.
“Everyone wants to build a #TikTok-level #algorithm. That’s a key element of competition in… #tech …right now,” said Matt Perault, UNC prof & fmr #Facebook dir who studies tech #policy.
“…the biggest cos have thrown a lot of money & #engineering talent at that issue & have struggled to do it. If #Mnuchin thinks he can do that & succeed where…successful cos have struggled, good luck.”
Mnuchin, [is] a fmr hedge fund mngr & Hollywood producer w/no #SocialMedia experience….
Why Boeing needs to be run by engineers and not bean counters
Really insightful video about what has gone wrong.
Among the points Casey makes is that Boeing imported Jack Welch's GE management culture.
This has included a focus on short-term profits over engineering, and practises such as stack ranking.
Boeing, as a major defence contractor and (direct and indirect) employer, is too big to fail.
And Casey argues that either the Board or, if they're unwilling, the US government, needs to clear out the senior management and introduce an engineer-led management team:
Because engineering keeps having to fix other damage and isn’t given time to maintain the consoles.
You can’t even go do routine maintenance like degaussing your ship with baryon rays without criminals trying to steal your trilithium resin or commander Hutchison and Data killing you slowly with small talk.
🚢 #russia's aircraft carrier nightmare just won't end
ℹ Despite its vast #engineering capabilities and industrial might, the #SovietUnion, throughout its 74-year existence, never fully realized its ambitions of fielding a true #aircraft carrier
Early endeavors began with plans to convert the #battlecruiser Izmail into a carrier in 1927, yet the project was abandoned
Early human development is a complex, multistep process that’s complicated to study in the lab. Models made from stem cells avoid some of the trouble with using real human embryos.
“By embracing the complexities and potential of synthetic embryology, researchers stand on the brink of a new era in biological understanding and are poised to unravel the mysteries of life itself.” – Min Yang, University of Washington
Warning: Rant
My husband and I are both left-handed.
There are approximately 708 million left-handers in the world.
Over 9% of people are left-handed.
Apparently these numbers do not meet the threshold for inclusion in product design.
My former Mr. Coffee coffeemaker had ambidextrous functionality. The flap over the water reservoir opened to the back, allowing someone to pour water easily from either side.
My new Mr. Coffee coffeemaker includes a design change. The flap over the water reservoir opens to the left, making it almost impossible for me pour water into it.
I just bought a new electric water kettle. The first time I filled it with water, I guessed at the fill limit because I saw no markings inside.
Then I read the instruction manual that referenced the maximum fill line. What? Turns out, I can only see the fill line markings if I fill the kettle while holding it in my right hand. 🤦♀️
If you are a product designer, you commit design malpractice if you fail to acknowledge the existence of left-handers.
How a rare earth facility in Canada wants to clean up the dirty side of green energy
The plant in Saskatchewan won't just showcase less environmentally damaging processes. It also wants to take a bite out of a supply chain dominated by China.
By day, I lead engineering teams. Social impact in tech is a huge deal to me, and I specialize in #accessibility. I write about this sort of thing and more on AlexisWatson.dev
The terrible human toll in Gaza has many causes.
A chilling investigation by +972 highlights efficiency:
An engineer: “When a 3-year-old girl is killed in a home in Gaza, it’s because someone in the army decided it wasn’t a big deal for her to be killed.”
An AI outputs "100 targets a day". Like a factory with murder delivery:
"According to the investigation, another reason for the large number of targets, and the extensive harm to civilian life in Gaza, is the widespread use of a system called “Habsora” (“The Gospel”), which is largely built on artificial intelligence and can “generate” targets almost automatically at a rate that far exceeds what was previously possible. This AI system, as described by a former intelligence officer, essentially facilitates a “mass assassination factory.”"
"The third is “power targets,” which includes high-rises and residential towers in the heart of cities, and public buildings such as universities, banks, and government offices."
#IDI stands for the Intelligence Division of the Israel army. Here is some praise of technology usage:
May 2021 "is the first time that the intelligence services have played such a transformative role at the tactical level.
This is the result of a strategic shift made by the IDI [in] recent years. Revisiting its role in military operations, it established a comprehensive, “one-stop-shop” intelligence war machine, gathering all relevant players in intelligence planning and direction, collection, processing and exploitation, analysis and production, and dissemination process (PCPAD)".
It was easier to locate the individuals in their private houses.
“We were not interested in killing operatives only when they were in a military building or engaged in a military activity. On the contrary, the IDF bombed them in homes without hesitation, as a first option. It’s much easier to bomb a family’s home. The system is built to look for them in these situations.”
The current commander of the Israeli intelligence #Unit8200 wrote a book released in English in 2021. In it, he describes human personnel as a “bottleneck” that limits the army’s capacity during a military operation; the commander laments: “We [humans] cannot process so much information. It doesn’t matter how many people you have tasked to produce targets during the war — you still cannot produce enough targets per day.”
So people invented the #Lavender machine to mark persons using AI. Then the army decided to designate all operatives of Hamas’ military wing as human targets, regardless of their rank or military importance.
Senior officer B.: “They wanted to allow us to attack [the junior operatives] automatically. That’s the Holy Grail. Once you go automatic, target generation goes crazy.”