A history of the asterix. Although the Sumerians had a pictograph for “star” that looks quite like the modern-day asterisk, it was likely the Greeks who first used it as a character. Experts note that the asterisk had been used by Aristarchus of Samothrace while editing Homer to denote passages which he thought were not originally part of the latter’s writing. While no proof of its shape (as used by Aristarchus) remains, it’s believed to have been similar to today’s asterisk. Read full article here
Societal Issues
AI Predicts Crime A Week In Advance With 90 Per Cent Accuracy
An artificial intelligence model built by Ishanu Chattopadhyay and his colleagues analysed crime data in Chicago from 2014 to 2016 and managed to predict future levels of crime down to the nearest 300 metres, a week before they actually happened. While extremely useful, this artificial intelligence has been shown to expose racial prejudice in law enforcement. Hopefully, as the study’s data and methodology have been made available for others to evaluate, these prejudices can be avoided in the next iteration. Read full article here
Merv
August 15, 2022
