the conversation
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The Way We View Earth Changes Every Time We Get a New Photo From Space
A photograph taken by NASA’s Orion spacecraft has given us a new perspective on our home planet. The snap was taken during the Artemis I mission, which sent an uncrewed vehicle on a journey around the Moon and back in preparation for astronauts’ planned lunar return in 2025. We get pictures of Earth every day…
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These AI Examples Prove Machines Don’t Need Us To Invent Things
The question of whether artificial intelligence (AI) can invent is nearly 200 years old, going back to the very beginning of computing. Victorian mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote what’s generally considered the first computer program. As she did, she wondered about the limits of what computers could do. In 1843 Lovelace wrote, in regard to what…
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You Probably Don’t Need Notifications for Every App You Own
A ping from the pizza company. A couple of pings from your socials. Ping, ping, ping from your family WhatsApp group trying to organise a weekend barbecue. With all those smartphone notifications, it’s no wonder you lose focus on what you’re trying to do do. Your phone doesn’t even need to ping to distract you.…
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The First Photograph of the Entire Globe: 50 Years On, Blue Marble Still Inspires
December 7 marks the 50-year anniversary of the Blue Marble photograph. The crew of NASA’s Apollo 17 spacecraft – the last manned mission to the Moon – took a photograph of Earth and changed the way we visualised our planet forever. Taken with a Hasselblad film camera, it was the first photograph taken of the…