AI Ethics Research Conference Suspends Google Sponsorship

The ACM Conference for Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT) has decided to suspend its sponsorship relationship with Google, conference sponsorship co-chair and Boise State University assistant professor Michael Ekstrand confirmed today. From a report: The organizers of the AI ethics research conference came to this decision a little over a week after Google fired Ethical AI lead Margaret Mitchell and three…

Heat-free optical switch would enable optical quantum computing chips

In a potential boost for quantum computing and communication, a European research collaboration reported a new method of controlling and manipulating single photons without generating heat. The solution makes it possible to integrate optical switches and single-photon detectors in a single chip. …

Help is a long way away: The challenges of sending humans to Mars

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stepped out a lunar lander onto the surface of the moon. The landscape in front of him, which was made up of stark blacks and grays, resembled what he later called “magnificent desolation.” Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-03-humans-mars.html…

Hoinga: Debris of stellar explosion found in unexpected location

In the first all-sky survey by the eROSITA X-ray telescope onboard SRG, astronomers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have identified a previously unknown supernova remnant, dubbed “Hoinga.” The finding was confirmed in archival radio data and marks the first discovery of a joint Australian-eROSITA partnership established to explore our Galaxy using multiple wavelengths, from low-frequency radio waves to…

MUSE sheds more light on central kinematics of Messier 15

Using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE), astronomers have performed observations of an old globular cluster known as Messier 15. The observational campaign delivered essential information about stellar kinematics of the central region of this cluster. The results were published February 24 on arXiv.org. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-03-muse-central-kinematics-messier.html…

The Large Hadron Collider’s official tally: 59 new hadrons and counting

How many new particles has the LHC discovered? The most widely known discovery is of course that of the Higgs boson. Less well known is the fact that, over the past 10 years, the LHC experiments have also found more than 50 new particles called hadrons. Coincidentally, the number 50 appears in the context of hadrons twice, as 2021 marks the…

‘Space hurricane’ observed over the North Pole

Scientists have, for the first time, detected a hurricane taking place in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Hurricanes that form in our planet’s lower atm… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/344326/space-hurricane-observed-over-the-north-pole…

Fly me to the Moon: Japan billionaire offers space seats

It’s the sort of chance that comes along just once in a blue Moon: a Japanese billionaire is throwing open a private lunar expedition to eight people from around the world. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-03-moon-japan-billionaire-space-seats.html…