Richard

Hmmm...so what does it mean that Roberts will preside?

Yes, too much has been made of McConnell's ability to thwart a trial, given that Roberts will preside. However, I think it's a safe assumption that Mitch will do whatever he can to prevent a conviction. I've seen some discussion of holding the …

While there is a natural tendency to look at this whole incident in terms of domestic electoral politics, we should try to remember that debasing American foreign policy has world-wide …

Face recognition does not bother me in and of itself. However, when it is used to accumulate data over time and from multiple sources, it is chilling. If a hotel uses face recognition instead of a key card, that's convenient, as long as the data …

Thanks for the insights, @Chris . I confess that this is not something I have thought much about before, but now I am starting to realize how difficult it is to do rigorous research in this area. One needs to examine the claims carefully …

A recent study has created controversy by finding that the health benefits of reducing meat consumption have been …

Never thought I would say this, but Jeff Sessions is starting to look good.

Barr's failure to recuse himself from a process in which he has been named in the complaint will almost certainly come back to haunt him. So far, he has not suffered any consequences for being a loyal foot soldier, but we know that for Trump …

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/deal-reached-for-whistleblowers-testimony-house-intelligence-chairman-says/2019/09/29/01cade60-e2d1-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html Yep. It will be private testimony, but details will certainly be leaked. …

> One wonders how this is all going to play out for Joe Biden's more centrist, attempt to gain the nomination for the Democrats. I couldn't read the WSJ article (paywall), but I don't see much of an interdependence here. There doesn't seem to be …

Well, he did give it a shot in 2012. But he seems too reasonable for today's Republican Party. I've seen speculation that he may run for governor of Utah again.

Isn't it interesting how one courageous person can have such a huge impact on political events?

You may well be right that there are other, non-human caused factors at play, but that doesn't in any way allow us to escape responsibility for the damage we're doing. I, too, am concerned that evidence is accumulating that change is happening more …

Do you really mean "insufficient?" Our modeling is certainly not perfect, but we certainly know enough about what's coming to be alarmed. Perhaps I am not understanding your claim.

Thanks @Chris. I'm old enough (and started learning about computers when I was young enough) that I remember the old IBM unit record accounting machines, which took punch card input and produced punch card output under the control of removable …

Mostly good things, especially running simulations that are computationally intractable today--protein folding, drug discovery, cosmology, climate, etc. One seriously bad one, which is that it will break current encryption methods. Maybe eventually …

I've been reading The New York Review of Books ever since my college days for its thoughtful coverage of the arts, history, science and politics. Jonathan Freedland, a columnist for The Guardian has a longish article in the current issue that is an …

I've never understood the US policy, but I'm pretty sure that it will inevitably come to an end as climate change brings rising coastal waters and more severe floods. It will simply be unaffordable.

Fascinating development. I was not aware that Libet had been discredited. But then, I never agreed with those who said his findings demonstrated that free will was an illusion. I see no reason to demand that free will be conscious, though of course …

David Wallace-Wells' new book, The Uninhabitable Earth is an expansion of his 2017 article in New York magazine (annotated version here). As you might gather from the title, he paints a bleak picture of the coming climate catastrophe. He is a …

Unless you have gone very far out of your way (use Tor or a VPN and a different device than you usually use), they can almost certainly find out who you are if they want. IP address, location information, trackers, machine fingerprints, face …

This is still in play, as the decision will be appealed to the UK supreme court. There have also been two other decisions that contradict the latest Scottish decision. Until the high court rules, nothing will change. One question is whether Boris …

I think there's generally a lot of confusion concerning the relationship between intelligence and consciousness. I believe that, strictly speaking, consciousness is not necessarily a component of intelligence. But for animals, it sure does come in …

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02659-5 The Event Horizon Telescope team has won a $3 million prize for the first image of a black hole. The prize will be shared equally among the 347 members of the collaboration.

From Berkeley philosopher John Searle: Next time a waiter asks for your order, try explaining to him that you have no free will and cannot choose. I'm not sure anyone still believes in Laplace's Demon, but even if it were to be true, it's …