Tag Archives: AI

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – April 5, 2024

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Times Literary Supplement (April 3, 2024): The ‘The Art Issue’ features ‘Miss Lonelyhearts’ – Tom Seymour Evans: Carson McCullers’s unruly life; Violence and Climate Change; Posing for John Singer Sargent and Huckleberry Jim – Mark Twain’s escaped slave wrests control of his story…

Life at the sad café

Carson McCullers, 1939

Carson McCullers: a novelist of the marginalized and ‘those struggling to understand who they are’

By Tom Seymour Evan

Huckleberry Jim

Eddie Hodges and Archie Moore in The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, 1961

Mark Twain’s escaped slave wrests control of his story

By Clifford Thompson

Nods and winks of recognition

Jeffrey Wright in American Fiction

Percival Everett’s wry, provocative novel on the publishing world brought to the screen

By Colin Grant

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – April 5, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (April 5, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Lone Star’ – Have the UN vote and questions about its conduct in Gaza left Israel isolated?; Liz Truss bids for political resurrection; Will IS strike again?; Nick Cave’s devilish change of direction…

Spotlight | IS affiliates could launch new wave of terror on the west

Islamic State has stalled in Iraq and Syria but officials believe it has been planning new attacks on the west for years, reports Jason Burke; while Angelique Chrisafis writes that France’s interior minister has met intelligence services to assess the terrorist threat to the country ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games

Environment | True cost of a city built from scratch

Nusantara is billed as a state-of-the-art capital city that will coexist with nature – but not all residents of Borneo’s Balikpapan Bay are happy, find. By Rebecca Ratcliffe and Richaldo Hariandja

Feature | 49 days later

Liz Truss trashed the economy as Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister. But she is back, launching a new conservative movement and spreading her ideology across the world. You just can’t keep a bad politician down, argues David Runciman

Culture | The devil in the details

In the past nine years, Nick Cave has lost two sons – an experience he explores in a deeply personal new ceramics project. He discusses mercy, forgiveness, making and meaning with Simon Hattenstone

Architecture | A Māori-built environment

A new wave of Indigenous architects are behind a series of stunning buildings embracing tribal identity in Aotearoa New Zealand, Oliver Wainwright discovers

The Economist Magazine – March 30, 2024 Preview

The Economist Magazine (March 21, 2024): The latest issue features

The AI doctor will see you…eventually

A doctor with a computer screen head displaying a loading icon

Artificial intelligence holds huge promise in health care. But it also faces massive barriers

Better diagnoses. Personalised support for patients. Faster drug discovery. Greater efficiency. Artificial intelligence (ai) is generating excitement and hyperbole everywhere, but in the field of health care it has the potential to be transformational. In Europe analysts predict that deploying ai could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year; in America, they say, it could also save money, shaving $200bn-360bn from overall annual medical spending, now $4.5trn a year (or 17% of gdp). From smart stethoscopes and robot surgeons to the analysis of large data sets or the ability to chat to a medical ai with a human face, opportunities abound.

The triple shock facing Europe’s economy

After the energy crisis, Europe faces surging Chinese imports and the threat of Trump tariffs

Russia is gearing up for a big new push along a long front line

Ukraine must prepare

Antarctica needs a lot more attention

Melting ice sheets do more than raise sea levels

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – March 28, 2024

Volume 627 Issue 8005

Nature Magazine – March 27, 2024: The latest issue cover features ‘Qubit Quota’ – Code cuts overhead for quantum error correction by 90%…

How the body’s cholesterol factory avoids producing too much

Scientists identify a molecule that halts cholesterol production in the liver when dietary consumption is high. Research Highlight

A view of wind turbines drives down home values — but only briefly

House prices drop by 1% if wind turbines are close and visible, but they rebound quickly. Research Highlight

A supercollider glimpses a gathering of three particles never seen together before

Data from billions of proton collisions reveal that subatomic particles called W+ and W bosons keep company with a photon .Research Highlight

Squeeze, freeze, bake: how to make 3D-printed wood that mimics the real thing

Scientists turn waste wood into an ‘ink’ that can be printed into a variety of structures.

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement-March 29, 2024

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Times Literary Supplement (March 27, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Illustrating Ray Bradbury’ – Michael Caines on a writer who transcended genre; Fifteen French Kings; Spy stories; Neel Mukherjee’s art and artifice; Space colonization and Andrew O’Hagan on the Cally Road….

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – March 25, 2024

Magazine - Latest Issue - Barron's

BARRON’S MAGAZINE – MARCH 25, 2024 ISSUE:

Medicare Advantage Is Under Fire. What It Means for Your Health—and Wallet.

Medicare Advantage Is Under Fire. What It Means for Your Health—and Wallet.

Insurers may cut back on benefits as their profits get squeezed. Why a Medicare/Medigap plan could be a better deal for consumers.

Anglo American Stock Is a Diamond in the Rough. 2 Reasons to Buy.

Anglo American Stock Is a Diamond in the Rough. 2 Reasons to Buy.

The London-based mining company produces copper ore, diamonds, and platinum, but its shares are treated more like lead. It offers shareholders two ways to win.

Trump’s New Media Company Has Risks. 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Invest, in Its Own Words.

Trump’s New Media Company Has Risks. 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Invest, in Its Own Words.

The prospectus for former President Trump’s new media company details its potential risks to investors.

The ‘Everything’ Rally Rolls On. Thank You, Central Banks.

Randall W. Forsyth

Home Sales Are Stirring. Zillow Needs the Help—and Some New Ideas.

Jack Hough

Opinion & Politics: Reason Magazine – May 2024

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REASON MAGAZINE (March 21, 2024)The latest issue features ‘What If America Runs Out Of Bombs?’ – Due to overzealous interventionism, the U.S. is dispensing munitions faster than they can be replaced…

What if America Runs Out of Bombs?

An illustration of Uncle Sam as a PEZ dispenser, dispensing bombs | Photo: Julian Dufort; Wikimedia

The U.S. is dispensing munitions to Ukraine and Israel faster than they can be replaced.

By MATTHEW PETTI 

How Capitalism Beat Communism in Vietnam

Two photos illustrate Vietnam's progress over time | Photo: Hanoi, Vietnam, 1985; Christopher Pillitz/Gettya; Photo: Hanoi, Vietnam, 2020; Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty

It only took a generation to go from ration cards to exporting electronics.

RAINER ZITELMANN

Anti-Chinese Xenophobia Fueled America’s First Drug War

opium | Photo: An opium den in Chinatown, San Francisco, California, in 1898; REASON 31 Strohmeyer & Wyman/Library of Congress

Opium dens in San Francisco were patronized “by the vicious and the depraved,” politicians of the 1800s claimed.

JACOB SULLUM

Research Preview: Science Magazine – March 22, 2024

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Science Magazine – March 21, 2024: The new issue features ‘Looking for Love’ – Revealing the genetic basis of mate preference…

Mars rover probes ancient shoreline for signs of life

Plans for Perseverance to explore past crater rim may be in jeopardy

More math, less “math war”

A false “equity versus excellence” debate over mathematics curricula has long disrupted education in the United States

A genetic cause of male mate preference

A gene for mate preference has been shared between hybridizing butterfly species

Collateral impacts of organic farming

Clustering organic cropland can reduce pesticide use on nearby conventional farms

The Economist Magazine – March 23, 2024 Preview

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The Economist Magazine (March 21, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Israel Alone’ – At a moment of military might, Israel looks deeply; ‘How To Trade An Election’ – It is getting harder for investors to ignore politics; China, Iran and Russia versus The West – Assessing the economic threat posed by the anti-Western axis…

At a moment of military might, Israel looks deeply vulnerable

The flag of Israel being blown in a sandstorm

America should help it find a better strategy

There is still a narrow path out of the hellscape of Gaza. A temporary ceasefire and hostage release could cause a change of Israel’s government; the rump of Hamas fighters in south Gaza could be contained or fade away; and from the rubble, talks on a two-state solution could begin, underwritten by America and its Gulf allies. It is just as likely, however, that ceasefire talks will fail. That could leave Israel locked in the bleakest trajectory of its 75-year existence, featuring endless occupation, hard-right politics and isolation. Today many Israelis are in denial about this, but a political reckoning will come eventually. It will determine not only the fate of Palestinians, but also whether Israel thrives in the next 75 years.

How to trade an election

It is becoming harder for investors to ignore politics

Illustration of a ballot box falling onto a piggy bank.

Investors differ in their approach to elections. Some see politics as an edge to exploit; others as noise to block out. Even for those without a financial interest, markets offer a brutally frank perspective on the economic stakes. As elections approach in America and Britain, as well as plenty of other countries, that is especially valuable.

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – March 21, 2024

Volume 627 Issue 8004

Nature Magazine – March 20, 2024: The latest issue cover features ‘Planet Eaters’ – The stars that capture and ingest nearby worlds…

How OpenAI’s text-to-video tool Sora could change science – and society

OpenAI’s debut of its impressive Sora text-to-video tool has raised important questions.

Blockbuster obesity drug leads to better health in people with HIV

Semaglutide reduces weight and fat accumulation associated with the antiretroviral regimen that keeps HIV at bay.

These ‘movies’ of proteins in action are revealing the hidden biology of cells

A burgeoning technique called time-resolved cryo-EM is granting insights into the tiny motors and devices that power life.