Before modern technology made ships a lot easier to navigate, the famed lighthouse was the (slightly literal) light at the end of the tunnel for ship captains. However, not all lighthouses were created equal. The majority of early 19th century lighthouses used simply an oil lamp with a mirror, leaving maritime crews squinting into the distance. It was only when engineer Augustin-Jean Fresnel came along and invented his glass prism structure, which could focus up to 98% of the lamp’s light 32km away, that lighthouses truly became a saving grace. 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
