The officially accepted speed of light is 299,792,458 metres per second. Although we came to that figure in the 1920s, it is a culmination of multiple scientists’ efforts to determine the speed of light. The first attempts to calculate the speed of light were Galileo’s experiments in the 17th century, which observed light across distances. Although he was unsuccessful, his idea was revived in the mid-19th century and was built upon for decades until we arrived at the figure of 299,792,458 metres per second. 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
