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February 1, 20245min readLetters to the editors for the October 2023 issue of Scientific American Credit: Scientific American, October 2023RESIDENTIAL SPACE?I was astounded by the challenges to leaving Earth detailed by Sarah Scoles in “Why We'll Never Live in Space.” I could only conclude that we will never achieve this goal. But then I visualized someone witnessing the Wright Brothers” first flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903. That witness was probably amazed that this vehicle did get off the ground and fly a short…

Kieran Culkin has had one busy week: along with winning a 2024 Emmy Award for his devastating work as Roman Roy in the fourth and final season of Succession and further making headlines for his funny "feud" with Pedro Pascal, the actor also had his new film debut at the Sundance Film Festival this past weekend: A Real Pain. In the upcoming dramedy, Culkin stars as Benji Kaplan, who joins his cousin David— played by The Social Network cast lead Jesse Eisenberg, who also wrote and directed the feature—as they travel to …

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeJulianne Moore and Natalie Portman have responded to Vili Fualauu’s criticism of May December, which is said to have taken inspiration from the latter’s infamous relationship with Mary Kay Letourneau.The two actors co-star in director Todd Haynes’s latest dark comedy about a former convict Gracie (Moore), who was jailed for having sexual relations with her young son’s school-aged…

January 1, 20244min readLetters to the editors for the September 2023 issue of Scientific American Credit: Scientific American, September 2023INTELLIGENCE PROBEIn “An AI Mystery,” George Musser makes multiple references to “probes” that can examine the methods an artificial-intelligence model uses to produce its output. Does this not effectively solve the “black box” problem that is often cited by AI experts—that is, the problem of our inability to know how an AI reaches a certain conclusion? How is the hypothetical…

Educational Curricula across Provinces and Territories. Credit: TECHNOLOGY-FACILITATED SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CANADIAN EDUCATIONAL CURRICULA, POLICIES, AND LEGISLATION (2023). Schools and teachers play a critical role in equipping students with the skills to understand, respond to, and prevent sexual violence in safe and healthy ways. As the lines between the digital and physical world continue to blur, young people are reporting…

Relationships between cousins are complicated. And by complicated, I mean that for some people they are like siblings and best friends, but others are not so close - they don’t even know them or, for example, they don’t count them as a family member, meaning having a relationship is totally appropriate. I’m sure many of us have read stories, seen films or TV shows where people start dating or become close friends and then find out they are actually related to each other. But it’s not always about the relationship.…

Google has announced some major changes to its Maps services which are set to enhance privacy for its users by a long mile. Google has announced that location data will now be stored directly on their devices, and that Google will not have access to the data anymore…

Google Ads will stop responding to multicall requests within hybrid setups from January 2024. The announcement comes as the platform continues its gradual transition from waterfall to real-time bidding auctions for publisher apps. Why we care. Publisher apps must ensure they comply with the updated rules, as Google Ads has issued a warning that it will cease purchases from publishers deliberately evading multicall detection. Risks of non compliance. Starting January 20, 2024, Google Ads may suspend purchases on…

Independent cafes not only fill us with caffeine, but they also provide us with space to work, socialize, and unwind.However, different establishments have different rules about how long you can linger there without coming to the counter.Recently, SLO BAR Cafe in Bacolod, Philippines, asked a group of ten students to leave after they bought just two drinks but ended up taking up three tables.Feeling hurt, the friends then retaliated, flooding the joint with bad online reviews. So in an attempt to save their reputation,…

Believe it or not, scientists have been using virtual reality setups to study brain activity in lab mice for years. In the past, this has been done by surrounding the mice with flat displays — a tactic that has obvious limitations for simulating a realistic environment. Now, in an attempt to create a more immersive experience, a team at Northwestern University actually developed tiny VR goggles that fit over a mouse’s face… and most of its body. This has allowed them to simulate overhead threats for the first time, and…