James Webb Space Telescope – Hubble’s successor – to launch in October

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s most complex infrared telescope, built for a wide range of research projects. NASA is now targeting October 31 for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/james-webb-telescope-hubble-successor-to-launch…

When Big Brands Stopped Spending On Digital Ads, Nothing Happened. Why?

This weekend Forbes ran a thought-provoking article by “a digital marketer of 25 years” who now helps marketers audit their digital campaigns for ad fraud: When P&G turned off $200 million of their digital ad spending, they saw NO CHANGE in business outcomes. When Chase reduced their programmatic reach from 400,000 sites showing its ads to 5,000 sites (a 99% decrease),…

‘I’m Not Drunk, It’s My Car.’ Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ Gets Mixed Reviews

CNN describes the reactions posted online by six beta testers of Tesla’s “full self-driving” software, saying they “appear to be both delighted and alarmed by what they’ve experienced so far.” “Turn left. Come on. What are you doing?” said one frustrated Tesla owner as his car appeared slow to change lanes during a trip he posted on YouTube last week. “I…

Facebook Approves Trump Ads That Violate Its Pre-Election Rules

Judd Legum, reporting at Popular Information: In September, Facebook announced that it would stop accepting new political ads starting October 27. From October 27 through Election Day on November 3, political groups are permitted to run, subject to limitations, Facebook ads approved and running before October 27. In October, Facebook announced that after the polls close, it would ban all political…

Which insects have the worst stings?

Some of the most painful stings come from tarantula hawk wasps, warrior wasps, and bullet ants. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/which-insects-have-worst-painful-stings…

These ancient crocodiles walked on 2 legs like dinosaurs

Researchers suggest 110–120 million year old fossil footprints were made by ancient crocodiles that walked on 2 hind legs about the same length as adult human legs. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/ancient-crocodiles-walked-on-2-legs-fossil-footprints…

Was this the ancestor of all animals?

Geologists say the worm-like creature – about the size of a grain of rice – is the 1st ancestor on the family tree that contains most animals today, including humans. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/ancestor-all-animals-australian-fossils…

edX Insider: Data Analysis in Marketing

Even if you don’t work in the data science field, data analysis skills and tools are still very likely to come in handy. We chatted with a few members of the edX marketing team to find out the ways these skills arise in their day-to-day work, how they were able to pick up on tools in this field despite not having…

Astronomers award 2020 Education Prize to Deborah Byrd

Byrd received the prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of U.S. astronomers. The prizes are given for outstanding achievements in scientific research, education, scholarly writing, and service to the astronomical community. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/2020-aas-education-prize-deborah-byrd…

What Linus Torvalds Gets Wrong About ZFS

Ars Technica recently ran a rebuttal by author, podcaster, coder, and “mercenary sysadmin” Jim Salter to some comments Linus Torvalds made last week about ZFS. While its reasonable for Torvalds to oppose integrating the CDDL-licensed ZFS into the kernel, Salter argues, he believes Torvalds’ characterization of the filesystem was “inaccurate and damaging.” Torvalds dips into his own impressions of ZFS itself,…