Daily Archives: April 9, 2021

Officials Aim to Diversify the U.S. Quantum Workforce Early On – Nextgov

Posted: April 9, 2021 at 2:30 am

Quantum information science is an on-the-rise field that merges quantum mechanics-based conceptsor those that hone in on how things operate at the subatomic levelwith theories on storing, transmitting, computing or measuring information.

Many argue it will lead to unprecedented breakthroughs across major industries, but QIS is still relatively young among other technology areas, and quantum-ready personnel remainrare and in demand.

The numbers that I could find said something like a total few thousand quantum experts worldwide. Worldwide, there is a shortage, Abiodun Ilumoka, a program director in the National Science Foundations Education and Human Resources Directorate told Nextgov recently. In the United States, there is definitely a shortage. And yes, there's definitely a diversity gap: a huge diversity gap.

Passed in late 2018, the National Quantum Initiative Act aims to spur the governments prioritization of this emerging realm. It incorporates federal mandates to help grow the QIS workforce pipeline. Over the last several months, Nextgov spoke to officials across U.S. public, private and academic sectors about the complexities of quantum career paths, and efforts to help deliberately diversify this up-and-coming talent pool on the front end, before the field is fully realized.

We're not talking about something like the world's 25 million classical developers. We're talking about a few thousand to tens of thousandsthats what we're seeing here. So when we say nascent, it really is a nascent technology, IBMs Global Lead of Quantum Education and Open Science Dr. Abe Asfaw noted. And so how do you take that opportunity, then, to build a community from the ground up that is diverse and inclusive?

Momentum Presents Opportunity

The roots of QIS trace back to the 20th century, and the field saw a real surge in the 1990s.

But today, the U.S. is confronting a need for qualified quantum scientists, engineers and technicians. People with such expertise essentially try to use bizarre features of subatomic phenomena and quantum mechanics that dont occur in standard physicslike the notion that a quantum system can exist in multiple states simultaneously until observedto their advantage. They arent united in one specific type of academic degree, though most have some science, technology, engineering and math-, or STEM-aligned expertise.

The way that the field of quantum information science has been approached has been very interdisciplinary, according to Isabella Bello Martinez, a quantum computing researcher at Booz Allen Hamilton. Colleagues on her team have studied biology, chemistry, psychology and more, while her own background includes some focus on engineering and entrepreneurship. In her current role, Martinez is passionate about assessing what quantum computing means nowand what it might mean for the future.

She said specific areas of study or universities attended matter less in hiring than applicants attitudes. Its about being willing to think about a field that is newthat we don't really know how things work, we will never understand how atoms work, probablyand looking to work with that uncertainty, she explained. So, those building quantum-centered teams can pick from a wide range of individuals who have studied different subsets of math and science regardless of their final degree.

However, those fields I'm thinking about, which are mostly physical sciences, are inherently white spaces, Martinez explained, also noting that there arent a lot of women who pursue these areas. She reflected on an experience in a professional setting that struck her personally, to shed a little light on what it can sometimes be like for those less represented in the field.

I was presenting at a conference, talking about what quantum computing is going to mean to the field of communications, Martinez noted. And I had a gentleman come up to me after the talk, and tell me something along the lines of I'm so impressed that a young Latina woman was able to give such a good presentation, or something to that effect. And I was like, OK, we're leaving, and left the conference for the rest of the day. It was awful.

She considers herself lucky to have not encountered the exact same icky situation again since then, but Martinez added, This also wasn't that long ago, and I think its representative of, not even looking at quantum yet, but just looking at physical sciences.

University of Chicagos Associate Professor in Computer Science and Director of Computer Science Education Diana Franklin told Nextgov that she, too, has seen how the technology communities that trickle out of these topics generally have a shortage of people of color and depending on the subject matter, less women.

I have definitely felt [the diversity gap]. I mean, there are very few women in my department and very few females in my classes. The ways that it plays outwell, it's interesting for me because in computer science education, actually that is not male-dominated, Franklin explained. So for me, it's very interesting because I have one community in which I'm normal, and I have another community where I'm very much a minority. And so you can definitely see the difference in just communication patterns and how I'm treated.

While the federal website quantum.gov emerged amid the Trump administration, it doesnt house one updated public source that captures comprehensive data reflecting or forecasting the U.S. quantum workforce. Whats become clear more recently, though, is that STEM disciplines with some of the lowest representation of women contribute to the strongest involvement in QIS.

According to the 2017 NSF Science and Engineering Indicators, women earned a smaller percentage of Bachelors degrees than men in the primary quantum-related disciplines: computer sciences (19%), engineering (22%), mathematics and statistics (42%), and physical sciences (40%), academics who participated in a 2019 symposium regarding the quantum information science and engineering, or QISE, talent pipeline wrote in a subsequent paper. Further, the quantum thinkers said those same indicators suggest students who identify as Hispanic, Latinx, Black or African American account for a much higher percentage of awarded degrees at the Associates level than at the Bachelors degree level.

While the QISE community is still nascent, emphasizing diversity upfront, rather than as an afterthought, is an essential step forward, they wrote.

NSF statistics informed those viewsand officials within that agency are aware of systemic issues around representation apparent in other technological fields seeping into this realm. As they work to help promote a robust channel for future quantum personnel, federal insiders are also making serious considerations around ensuring its more inclusive.

There are very, very few women and minorities in STEM nationwide, NSFs Ilumoka reiterated. Now, if you consider the quantum technologies emergingthen the diversity gap in quantum is even worse.

Ilumokas interests span complex systems design with artificial intelligence and engineering education. She works in NSFs Education and Human Resources directorate, which she noted focuses on getting folks educated in STEM, but also making sure that they're well-prepared for the workplace.

In December, officials in EHR released a Dear Colleague Letter, detailing existing funding opportunities for education-related research and development to prepare a diverse QISE workforce. Ilumoka said the move was meant to inspire NSFs community to craft projects that will inspire and support students interest in the spaceacross many ages and from many backgrounds. Its just one of several moves NSF made last year to help boost Americas quantum workforce, but together, the programs will account for hundreds of millions towardresearch.

Ilumokas colleague Tomasz Durakiewicz, a condensed matter physicist and program director in NSFs Division of Materials Research, noted that the letter came after the agency had been deliberately refocusing and renewing its approaches to education, broadening participation and workforce development. That work enabled officials across NSFs seemingly disparate realmslike physical sciences and educationto connect and share expertise across curriculum development and enable fundamental QIS research.

The quantum enthusiasm and momentum that is now happening in front of our eyes across this nation brings with it unique opportunities, Durakiewicz said. And this is how we want to look at that: There are challenges out there, but every single challenge is an opportunity.

Eyeing Early Exposure

IBMs Abe Asfaw went to high school in Ethiopia and was later trained as an electrical engineer. More recently, he completed a doctorate at Princeton, where he focused on quantum computinga topic Asfaw said he wasnt introduced to until roughly his senior year of college.

A barrier to entry I think, Asfaw noted, is that we haven't rethought our STEM education in a way that makes quantum mechanics an easy thing to learnand it's something you encounter very late.

His industry-based team is now supporting a government-steered effort to help make that happen.

In August, months before dropping the Dear Colleague letter, NSF partnered with the White House to launch the National Q-12 Education Partnership and Q2Work Program. The partnership is meant to bring together public, private and academic experts to ultimately foster the creation of first-of-a-kind materials for K-12 classrooms intended to spark students interests in quantum-aligned career fields while the program helps facilitate the community developing those resources. The entities involved collectively aim to support and grow a quantum workforce that is diverse and equitable, according to the partnerships website.

NSFs Durakiewicz is enthusiastically involved with Q-12 and Q2Work. He explained that they surfaced as the next steps following a virtual workshop the agency hosted earlier last year to produce what would become Key Concepts for Future Quantum Information Science Learners. Hours of heated debates unfolded among various stakeholders, he said, and after it was over, those involved made it very clear that they wanted the collaboration to continue on the path toward implementation. Durakiewicz noted that while the Office of Science and Technology Policy and NSF spearhead the partnership, theyre working jointly with industry partners, teachers and academics through it.

So then you have the full picture here in this project because you have a very strong tie to reality out there down in the trenchesthe industrial types, they know exactly what they need, with teachers who are supposed to deliver that but don't always have the right tools in handand academics who are developing those tools, he explained. And then on top of it, there is OSTP that provides the necessary anchors, so to speak, in this all-of-government approach.

Partners participating will help design and disseminate a foundation for classroom activities and curricula to spur students interest in QIS topics as early as grade school, and broaden access to such studies throughout K-12 education. Q2Work is a coordinating member of the partnership thatll lead the making of digital tools, collaborative exchanges and other outreach to amplify the resources.

University of Chicagos Franklin was tapped to co-lead Q2Work.

This idea that things that happen at the quantum level are so crazy and no one could understand itit's just not true, Franklin said. And so I'm trying to create the resources that connect these things to things you've already figured out in daily life.

She noted that those involved with Q2Work will host workshops to dive deeper into how NSFs foundational concepts for quantum learners might be applied for different audiences, and for students at different grade levels.

I would characterize our effort not as directly interacting with underserved communities and people of color starting outit's that we want to design for them from day one, instead of designing for people who are already successful, Franklin noted. A lot of early computer science outreach activities were people designing for what they wish they had when they were young, which of course, those were the people who already made it in computer science. And if we want to broaden participation, we have to do different types of activities than the ones that you wish you would have. That's been a big challenge to get people to understand in computer science. And so for quantum, we want to start with that.

Speaking from experience, Booz Allen Hamiltons Martinez said its very good that there is going to be a concerted unifying effort to increase early education in quantum topics. She recalled referencing being taught about the electron model of an atom in grade school in a recent conversation with a male colleague, whod responded that he wasnt introduced to the subject until college.

So that's the kicker, right? I went to a private school, Martinez noted, adding that her teachers empowered female students from an early age. She had access to and was placed into advanced classes, and had a support system and resources to pursue her interests.

And that is, by far, not the normal experience for someone whose parents are immigrants from Latin America, or someone who is Black growing up in a rural community, or even just communities that are poor, like Rust Belt communities, or communities in the Appalachian that don't have access to those resources, she said. And clearly, it didn't bother [my colleague] that he did not learn about quantum until undergrad. Clearly, it captivated his imagination. But I imagine that he had people telling him You are smart, you should pursue science, as a childthe same way I did.

To Martinez, children likely wont dwell on complicated topics unless they have an inherent interest in them or someone encourages them, and teachers in many of these communities are already too overburdened to learn such weedy topics independently.

So this is cool, this needs to be doneit can go further, she said. Like I would like to see, once this curriculum gets developed a bit more, very deliberate partnerships with the teachers to give them the time, the funds and the support that they need in order to give their students support that they need.

Theres More

Among the Q2Work programs various founding members was IBM. The company for years now has been rolling out quantum-centered educational activities that incorporate device access and events like hackathons to inspire its next generation of workers. Officials released an open-source quantum software platform known as Qiskit, and the Qiskit Textbook and Qiskit Global Summer School to help outsiders learn quantum computation using it. Those are essentially a collection of tools that allow almost anyone to write and run programs on quantum computers.

The goal of all these open-source efforts is to work with the community to build everythingincluding the quantum computing software and the educational materials. I am seeing 16-year-olds contributing to our open-source quantum computing textbook and just wondering how much times have changed because these resources were not accessible to me at that time, Asfaw said. And so that's one of the things that makes all of this education work rewarding is seeing things like that.

On top of other pursuits, the company aims to make its Quantum Educators program, which provides teachers and their students with prioritized use of IBM quantum systems via the cloud, available to K-12 schools through Q2Work.

It's one of these situations where the interests of the industry align with what I consider to be good for the world. So good for the world, I would consider it to be everyone is equipped and ready to do quantum computing and has access to quantum computers. The interest of the industry would be to see more people exploring the field and coming up with applications for quantum computing, Asfaw said. Both of them are aligned here, and we have a pretty good opportunity to make sure that we build this nascent technology from the ground up while being inclusive to everyone.

Beyond Q-12 and Q2Work, NSF, IBM and other major science players are also supporting some historically Black colleges and universities to expand students exposure and access to quantum opportunities, and embarking on other pursuits to meet this national initiative.

Imagine this fast train that is zooming through the countrythis is a quantum train. Everyone who wants a ticket should be able to get a ticket on this train to benefit from this revolution, NSFs Durakiewicz said. And inclusion here, it's not an obligation, it is an opportunity to do the right thing. If we fail in broadening participation in quantum, we will fail in quantumperiod. We cannot afford that.

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Rethinking Indian Federalism : Consequences of Diversity-promoting Governing Practices – Economic and Political Weekly

Posted: at 2:28 am

India is considered as a successful federation in resolving most of its ethno-regional and linguistic problems in favour of a relatively durable political order and stability through territorial as well as non-territorial recognition of identity. On the basis of a distinction between what has been termed diversity claims and equality claims, it is argued that Indias democratic success has remained a very poor match to its federal success. Democracy here has been pressed into the service of a kind of federalism that has privileged diversity claims over equality claims. Although Indias experiment with state creation within federalism remains ongoing, with Telangana being the latest one carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, given the shifts in priorities since the onset of Indias reforms in 1991, political incentives for demanding more states do not appear to be as attractive as before. While equality claims played second fiddle to diversity claims, the scope of the former has become further restricted today.

Indian federalism is much credited for resolving most of its ethno-regional and ethno-linguistic conflicts in conditions of democracy, which has served to ensure a relatively enduring political order and stability in the country over the last seven decades. The most distinctive method of doing so has been the territorial reorganisation since the early 1950s(Bhattacharyya 2019a: 8199). This territorial reorganisation entailed the political recognition of ethnic identities mostly through statehood. The latest addition to the process is the creation of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh as the 29th (now 28th)1state of India in June 2014. In cases involving indigenous people in North East India, statehood and sub-statehood within the state have worked to manage conflicts among and between the indigenous people on the one hand and other ethnic groups on the other.

In both the cases, democracy in the sense of selecting the representatives as well as the mobilisation of the ethnic groups to demonstrate popular support for statehood and sub-statehood has added legitimacy to the process. It is beyond doubt that Indias is a success story in ensuring self-rule, to a significant extent, at many layers of federation. However, the same cannot be said to be true in the shared-rule part of federalism, whether at the national or the subnational levels, and better democratic delivery. There is today a global consensus that a federation is a compound polity that combines appropriately shared rule (national purposes) and self-rule (regional purposes) (Watts 2008).

Federalism And Prospect Of Centre-State Relations In India Analysis – Eurasia Review

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The demand for restructuring Centre-State relations is as old as the adoption of the Constitution of India in 1950. The Founding Fathers of the Indian constitution took note of the emerging trend of cooperative federalism in the traditional federations. They were not committed to any principle of federalism rather their sole aim was to hammer out a constitution which was capable of solving the problems that the country was subjected to on the eve of independence and would also be confronted with in the future. Its makers were enamoured with the idea that it should work for the progress, peace and prosperity of the people. The framers evolved, developed and improvised a substructure in the constitution, to promote cooperation and minimize tensions between the centre and states. They provided a framework in which the federal governments was vested with wider powers than were granted to the governments of the states.

The religious, linguistic and ethnic diversities of India, the outbreak of communal riots, the trauma of partition and its ghastly aftermath, Gandhis assassination, the Communist upsurge in Telangana, problems of Indias external security and complex international order, and squalor of the teeming millions affected the mood and thinking of the framers of the Indian constitution. They believed that only a strong centre can act as a foil to Indias propensity to decentralise to the point of dismemberment, that the goal of the nation-the welfare of the people would be achieved only with a centralised cooperative federation.

The history of federalism and CentreState relations in India is marked by political mobilisation and intermittent struggle to fashion a more federal set-up. In the first phase lasting until the last 1960s, the task of nation building and development was the main concern of the nations rulers. This period was not solely dominated by the trend of centralisation. Whatever conflicts arose and there were many major ones-were all sought to be resolved under the Constitution. Geographic boundaries of the States have often been reorganised. In 1956, they were organised on linguistic basis. This laid the basis for the later assertion by the States for greater powers.

Later more States were formed Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa. Even in 2003, three large States were bifurcated to create three new States of Jharkand, Uttarakhand and Chhatisgarh to respect and encourage the local aspirations of the people.

In this regard installation of non-Congress governments at the state level after 1967 is considered as the beginning of the process of erosion of Congress hegemony. But in fact this was the starting point for the emergence of coalition politics in India. The decline of the Congress System as advocated by Austin, brought a number of issues to the surface. One of this issues was to make room for other political parties to play their roles in the national as well as local politics. The 1977 development is the process of culmination which started way back in 1967. In post 1967 phase the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam decided to carry on a campaign on CentreState relations in a systematic and scientific manner. In February 1970, in the DMK Conference in Tiruchy, a popular slogan , Autonomy for the States; Federalism at the Centre, was given.

In its 1971 Election Manifesto, the DMK announced: Though the Constitution of India is described as a Federal one, the balance is more tilted towards the Centre and hence the States are not able to function freely in the administrative and financial spheres. Only such powers as are necessary for the Centre to preserve the strength of India should be assigned to the Centre and all the other powers should be left to the States without impairing the ideal of a strong India. The DMK is of the view that for proper and ideal CentreState relations, there should be more powers for the States.

In the reign of Rajiv Gandhi, the strategies adopted to meet the crises originating from the states under non-Congress government became counter- productive on many issues. Initially, the Congress tried to penetrate into the Hindi heartland states in order to regain their electoral superiority. But the results in the Assembly elections in as many as ten states did not register a steady growth. In Maharashtra and Punjab almost the same picture could be seen.

In a bid to settle these issues, mainly in Punjab a peace accord was concluded between Rajiv Gandhi and the religious leader Harchand Singh Longowal which failed to satisfy either the people of Punjab or the government at the centre. The demand for state autonomy in the matter of finance, was also made by Biju Patnaik of Orissa towards the end of 1973 and in 1990 when he became the Chief Minister of Orissa.

In an interview to The Indian Express in September 1991, Patnaik reiterated his demand and suggested radical restructuring of CentreState relations.In fact the framers of the Constitution adopted a federal form of governance in the hope that the Union and the States would work within the limits of the constitution by mutual willingness and cooperation. States should not become over ambitious and the Union should also not be too coercive. Federalism can operate only if the Union tolerates the States and vice-versa. Federalism is primarily a device with considerable potential for integrating the political assertion of diverse regional interests and providing a framework for reconciling demands for increased representation and participation in national development. Thus viewed, the issue is more than merely devolution of powers from the Centre to the States. In other words, the constitution avoids the tight mould of federalism and it can be both unitary and federal according to the requirements of time and circumstances.

For the first time in 1989, a National Front coalition government headed by V.P. Singh, which included major regional parties like the DMK, took office at the Centre. Though short lived, this government took certain steps to strengthen the federal principle. The Inter State Council was constituted in 1990. The entry of regional parties in coalition government at the centre became a regular feature in 1996 with the formation of the United Front government and in all subsequent ones and presently in the United Progressive Alliance government.

The left parties, which supported both the National Front government in 1989 and the United Front government in 1996-1998 and the present UPA government, are strong supporters of the federal principle. An analysis of the nature and dimension of federal government in India will show that there has been qualitative changes in the inner dynamics of political parties in India, both at the national and regional levels.

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States Fight the Tax-Cut Ban – The Wall Street Journal

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After its price tag and progressive ambition, the most significant feature of the new Democratic agenda is how it seeks to shift core policy-making powers from state legislatures to Washington. The House of Representatives has already passed one bill that would federalize election rules and another that would undo state right-to-work laws on union membership. The Covid relief bill, now law of the land, includes unprecedented controls over states ability to set tax policy.

Ohio recently challenged the tax-cut restrictions in federal court, and on Wednesday 13 other states, led by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, followed suit. The challenges are worth watching for their economic impactand because they offer a preview of how the court system might mediate the contradictions between constitutional federalism and the new progressive juggernaut.

The American Rescue Plan bill distributes $350 billion to state and local governments, but it includes a provision that states cant use the funds to directly or indirectly offset tax reductions. What that means in practice is unclearand the new lawsuit argues the language is either impermissibly overbroad, impermissibly vague, or both.

The Supreme Courts anti-commandeering doctrine puts strict limitations on how much Congress can lean on states to enact its favored policies. Theres a straightforward small-d democratic reason for this: Voters need to know who to credit or blame for the laws they live under. The brief quotes a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that if a State imposes regulations only because it has been commanded to do so by Congress, responsibility is blurred. That puts sand in the gears of the federalist system.

The lawsuit also explains that the funds from Washington are too significant for states to reasonably refuse or raise on their own. West Virginias share amounts to a quarter of its 2021 revenue. Its 21% for Alabama and 29% for Arkansas. This forced choiceof whether to accept federal aid after an economic shockcommands states to pursue tax policy regimes in the interest of Congress, not of their constituents, the suit says.

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Startup Says Its Super Powerful Laser Can Blast Space Junk From Down on the Earth’s Surface – Futurism

Posted: at 2:27 am

It's like playing a high-stakes game of Missile Command.Top Sniper

The Australian startup EOS Space Systems says it has finally finished building a powerful laser capable of blasting dangerous space junk out of orbit all the way from the surface of the Earth.

After seven years of development, the company says it can accurately track and snipe debris orbiting the planet from Australias Mt. Stromio Observatory, 9News reports. Thats an impressive feat, given the junk can travel at speeds up to 17,500 miles per hour. But if it works, the laser could make space safer for satellites and especially human astronauts without needing to launch risky cleanup missions.

The system is actually made up of two lasers. The first, a bright orange beam, targets specific pieces of space junk and helps the other one line up its shot, according to 9News. Then a second laser, far more powerful than the first, blasts it out of orbit and into deeper space.

Its a unique type of laser which weve just grown to [the] right scale and power so we can map the atmosphere then use the maps which are made hundreds of times a second to correct laser beams on the ground so they propagate into space perfectly, EOS Systems CEO Ben Greene told 9News. That will allow us to apply very high-power laser beams to move space debris in space and make space navigation much safer.

The laser, once its fully online, stands to make the process of clearing orbital debris a whole lot easier than other plans currently in development or being tested.

Just about every other plan to clear the skies, whether it be spearing garbage with a big harpoon, clearing it with a magnetic grabbling hook, or even equipping spacecraft with junk-melting lasers, involves launching something else into orbit too. By comparison, blasting dangerous space debris out of orbit from the safety of Earth sounds much more appealing.

READ MORE: World-first laser to shunt deadly space junk out of orbit [9News]

More on space junk: China Crashed Spacecraft Into the Moon so it Wouldnt Become Space Junk

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Scientists: Mass Extinction Is Coming as Organisms Flee the Equator – Futurism

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"When the same thing happened 252 million years ago, 90 percent of all marine species died."Moving Out

The most biodiverse ecosystems in the ocean are typically found in the tropical waters around the equator. But as temperatures rise, aquatic organisms will likely continue to flee their homes in greater and greater numbers.

Climate change and rising temperatures are already causing a mass exodus away from the equator, according to a team of Australian researchers from the Universities of Auckland, Queensland, and the Sunshine Coast. The scientists wrote in The Conversation that we could be on the cusp of a mass extinction event caused not only by the inhospitably-hot water around the equator, but also by the ecosystem disruption that organisms fleeing the area will cause wherever they happen to settle.

When the same thing happened 252 million years ago, 90 percent of all marine species died, the scientists wrote.

The scientists tracked the distribution of nearly 49,000 different species throughout the ocean to see where they were heading. Typically, the distribution of oceanic life looks a bit like a bell curve, with just a few species near the North and South pole but loads more at the equator.

Now, that tidy curve is actively changing, according to research they published recently in the journal PNAS, as two separate peaks emerge on either side that represent the huge number of species that fled the equator in either direction.

As historic equator-dwellers find new homes, theyll essentially become invasive species competing with locals for food, space, and other resources, the scientists warn. With only so much to go around, many species are likely to die off and vanish altogether.

This threatens not only the biodiversity and ecological health of the planet in general, but also local human communities that depend on native species for food or income making immediate climate action all the more urgent.

READ MORE: Marine life is fleeing the equator to cooler waters. History tells us this could trigger a mass extinction event [The Conversation]

More on climate change: Climate Change Threatens 60 Percent of the Worlds Fish Species

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NASA’s Mars Rover Just Took a Selfie and It’s Actually Beautiful – Futurism

Posted: at 2:27 am

Hello, Percy.Selfie Stick

NASAs Perseverance Mars rover has sent back a selfie.

The stunningly crisp self-image of the six-wheeled rovers head was taken by Perseverances WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering), a high resolution camera meant to take close-up pictures of rock textures. Honestly, our guys not looking too bad.

NASAs Curiosity rover has a similar camera, called Mars Hand Lens Imager, that can take similar selfies (and also study rocks up close.)

In the tweet, NASA titled the image Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bot, a nod to Irish author James Joyces first novel titled A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, published in 1916.

The large lens element in the top right of Perseverances head, more commonly referred to as the mast, is the SuperCam, a laser-equipped spectrometer designed to analyze rock samples.

Around its neck is the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer, an instrument designed to sense and monitor the weather conditions on Mars.

In combination with sample analyses carried out by Perseverances SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organicand Chemicals), a smartphone-sized scientific instrument that uses spectroscopy to study the chemical makeup of nearby rocks, the images taken by WATSON allow scientists at NASA to study minute mineral layers of Martian rocks to see how they were formed and changed over time.

Life is clumpy, Luther Beegle, SHERLOCs principal investigator at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a May 2020 blog post. If we see organics clumping together on one part of a rock, it might be a sign that microbes thrived there in the past.

Now that weve seen Perseverances face up-close, chances are we will soon get the rovers first full-body selfie, just like the ones weve seen taken by Curiosity.

READ MORE: NASAs New Mars Rover Just Took One of The Sweetest Extraterrestrial Selfies Ever [Science Alert]

More on Perseverance: NASAs Mars Helicopter Is Online and Just Sent Back a Photo

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The World’s First Hydrogen-Powered Cargo Vessel Is About to Set Sail – Futurism

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"The demand for more sustainable technologies in inland waterway transport is on the rise."Hydrogen Vessel

A French company is developing the worlds first hydrogen-powered cargo transport vessel,which is scheduled to make its debut some time later this year, Renewable Energy Magazine reports.

The boat, built by Compagnie Fluvial de Transport (CFT), is set to be deployed on the river Seine in Paris and will use compressed hydrogen produced from electrolysis as its sole power source. The vessel is designed for inland water routes only and is not designed to sail the oceans.

The demand for more sustainable technologies in inland waterway transport is on the rise, Matthieu Blanc, director of CFT, told the magazine. As part of the Flagships project, we are happy to be leading the way on reducing emissions from transport and demonstrating the superior features of hydrogen fuel cells in waterborne applications.

Ocean-navigating cargo ships have revolutionized world trade over the last 50 years in many ways but they have also become a huge contributor to harmful greenhouse emissions.

Most ships run on bunker fuel, which emits even more carbon dioxide and fine carbon particulates than burning refined fuel. Overall, theyre the second-largest contributor to climate change.

The Flagship project was awarded just shy of $6 millionin funding in 2018 from the European Unions Research and Innovation program, called Horizon 2020,intended to further research into hydrogen-fuel cargo transport.

One hydrogen powered concept vesselis already sailing in Paris, while two additional vessels are currently under construction.

To convert much larger seafaring cargo ships to hydrogen power could pose a substantial logistical challenge. Fossil fuels are far more energy dense, taking up less space on ships. Making refueling stops could also bring up the cost of operating a cargo ship significantly but still, the vessel is an intriguing concept.

READ MORE: Worlds first hydrogen cargo vessel set for Paris debut [Renewable Energy Magazine]

More on hydrogen power: This is the Worlds First Home Hydrogen Battery

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Japan Says Sorry, But It Has to Dump This Radioactive Water Into the Ocean – Futurism

Posted: at 2:27 am

Japanese officials say they've put off the "unavoidable" release long enough.Moving Ahead

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says that the government has put off figuring out what to do with all of the contaminated water building up at the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for long enough and its time to start dumping it into the ocean.

Sugas hand is forced given that the plant will soon run out of space to store the contaminated groundwater seeping into the facility, The Japan Times reports, and hes framing the controversial plan to release the water into the Pacific Ocean as unavoidable.

Japanese officials have been debating how to best contain the radioactive water at the Fukushima plant for years, but the plan that seems to have stuck is to purify the water as best as possible, dilute the radioactive tritium that persists even after the cleaning process, and to dump it over the course of 30 years.

What to do with the [treated] water is a task that the government can no longer put off without setting a policy, Japanese trade minister Hiroshi Kajiyama told reporters on Wednesday.

But outside of government halls, the plan is still considerably unpopular, especially among fishers who are concerned no one will want to buy fish caught in radioactive waters. Reasonably so, too, since 15 countries and regions still restrict imports from the Fukushima prefecture, according to the Japan Times.

Suga is expected to make a formal decision on the release by next Tuesday, according to the newspaper. If the government proceeds, the plan will be to dilute tritium down to just 2.5 percent of the maximum concentration allowed by national standards before dumping it out.

That means, Japanese officials say, the water wont be dangerous to people though only time will tell how much people trust it.

READ MORE: Suga says time ripe to decide fate of treated Fukushima No.1 water [The Japan Times]

More on Fukushima: Fukushima Plans to Power Region With 100% Renewable Energy

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Japan Says Sorry, But It Has to Dump This Radioactive Water Into the Ocean - Futurism

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Iddris Sandu is the digital architect designing the future – Dazed

Posted: at 2:27 am

The 23-year-old Ghanaian-born designer and technologist has worked alongside Nipsey Hussle and Kanye West here we go deep on the new realities he wants to create

Welcome to A Future World Dazed's network, community, and platform focusing on the intersection of science, technology and pop culture. Throughout April, we're featuring conversations and mission statements from the people paving new pathways for our planet: activists, inventors, fashion pioneers, technologists, AI scientists, and global youth movements, alongside in-depth editorial exploring the new realities for our future world

This article was created in partnership with adidas Originals

23-year-old Iddris Sandu was born in Accra, Ghana, before moving to Harbor City, Los Angeles when he was three years old. Relentlessly curious about technology from an early age, hed drive his mum crazy by taking apart TV remotes and rewiring them to make new things he could play with. At 13, he taught himself to code at the Torrance Public Library in Compton library, and a decade later has his sights firmly on shaping the world not just through his work with spatial reality and the development of his virtual interface Canvas, but also by laying the foundations for a next generation of kids to succeed, through mentoring schemes and building schools in Ghana.

A digital architect and futurist, Sandu has also collaborated with titans in the hip hop world, namely the late Nipsey Hussle and Kanye West. In 2017, Sandu and Nipsey Hussle opened the Marathon store in Crenshaw, LA, the worlds first smart store in which visitors could unlock augmented reality experiences and access exclusives by interacting with objects in the store. Tragically, Nipsey Hussle was shot dead outside the Marathon store in 2019, leaving behind him an immense legacy, a vision of what the world could be for Crenshaw kids through education and collaboration.

Sandu worked on a top-secret project called Yeezy Sense after introducing Kanye to quantum computing, spatial mapping, and how these technologies can inform his art. Currently, hes a design and tech consultant for Wests brand, and recently joined adidas mission to help #EndPlasticWaste. Hes... busy.

Here, we talk about his visions of a future world, diversity in technology, and as he seeks to create new versions of reality what the word means to him.

Youve been mentoring kids in Compton, you set up a new school in Ghana to technological literacy. Youve also worked with politicians to launch STEM programmes. Why is this community work so important to you?

Iddris Sandu: People have this notion of specific technologies and where they come from. Silicon Valley is called Silicon Valley because of the silicon chips. I wanted to see what could happen if the next generation of self-driving cars or computer vision technology, or the next Instagram, the next Uber, the next utility, could come from a kid from Compton, or a kid from Chicago, or a kid from Atlanta. What if it didn't have to be the default? What if we didn't have to be subject to the realities of how a lot of these industries were birthed? The people that sat down and created the Constitution, you know they more than likely all look the same, therefore, the supreme law of the land was inherited by it, right? And the same thing happens with technology.

Having worked with Nipsey Hussle and Kanye West, you know the importance of mentors. How vital have those two people been to your perspective and to your work?

Iddris Sandu: Nipsey is a huge reason why I feel like my work in the cultural space has been amplified. I was able to take my technical skills, my concrete understanding of design, hardware and software, vertical integration, and his relentless curiosity to want to bring those worlds to hip hop. Kanye is an artist thats known for being able to take different palettes from so many different places, especially in dragging from spaces that you would normally not see in hip hop, or are coming from someone that is Black, and be able to colour outside of the lines and deliver a masterpiece. Nipsey worked the same way, but from a business standpoint Nipsey was able to take the high-level business thinking and design thinking associated with business and finance, and apply it to his brand. The crux of what they both represent was very crucial to how I think, and being able to collaborate with large artists like them definitely just opened my mind up to the possibilities.

What inspiration do you draw from art when youre creating new technology?

Iddris Sandu: At the heart of what I do is architecture. I'm a designer. Im known for tech, but Im really a visualist. I grew up on a very strong pillar of design as a form of expression. So my technical abilities come from the level of inherently wanting to create a better world, which is what architects do architects are doctors of the design world, right? If youre a designer, or youre an architect, youre always just playing an efficiency game. Youre always just taking the number 99.99 and youre adding another nine to it. Thats all we do. All designers do is just add nines. Its a nine game Im telling you, its like 99.9999% more efficient. Im a designer who genuinely wants to shift the world in a better way, understanding that we are drowned in a world of excess over accessibility.

But hip hop has also amplified technology on a whole other level. You had people like Grandmaster Flash that were able to take the turntable (and reshape culture).

You had the MPC

Iddris Sandu: Exactly. Some of the greatest producers are samplers, which makes them programmers. Just like a computer programmer will sit down and use a tool like Xcode, or Android Studio to build an app, they use the MPC, they compose, and they produce music by manipulating the data, to play the nine game.

I wanted to see what could happen if the next generation of self-driving cars or computer vision technology could come from a kid from Compton, or a kid from Chicago, or a kid from Atlanta Iddris Sandu

How important is sustainability and the climate crisis to you in the work that you do?

Iddris Sandu: Sometimes you can view things through people and not see the bigger picture. But when you open the door, you really see how important certain things can be. And one of those things has been spatial reality. My collaboration with Nipsey that was spatial reality.

People will look at it and say, Oh, thats not really necessary, right? Like, creating a spatial experience, or AR or VR is really, really cool. Its really awesome. But I dont know if its anything that could change the world.

For me, I have so many ideas so its like why are you using your skills to focus on a technology that cannot change the world, or cannot influence the world in the most positive way? And the reason why I triple down on spatial reality is because that is one of the greatest accelerators of sustainability. The reason why the world is so unsustainable is that were creating so much product. And if we were able to create digital products to replace those physical products, we can produce more, all while generating less amounts of energy. So, an example of that is VSTs virtual sound instruments those were pretty much spatial instruments.

In fashion, when people think of sustainability, they think of the materials that were using in a shoe, but it can also be you know instances where people can have access to doing things they would have normally loved to do without physically having to be there. What if I didnt do a whole shoe, which is what were working on with adidas right now. What if I could see a model of this thing without having to get in my car and burn gas. Were all familiar with what goes down in the Congo, right? Kids are mining kota and thats being put into phones and chips. But what if we didnt have to make physical phones anymore?

Youre described as a digital architect and I certainly see you as a futurist. Do you have any predictions for what the world will look like in 20 years?

Iddris Sandu: I think were moving to natural language being the basis of interaction again, and people having higher levels of empathy. Speaking about somebody on Twitter or on Instagram, theres a wall right? You're not capturing that persons expression or how they might be feeling in real time, hence why a lot of people say things online to each other that they would never say in person. The barrier is there so were naturally going to move into a new language thats going to be based on emotion more than anything. So I see that. I also see us living in a world thats highly decentralised as were starting to see right now with the blockchain and Bitcoin. A world thats decentralised will cause a ripple effect of accessibility for everyone theres going to be a high level of accountability for everyone but also the highest level of freedom.

Sustainability is going to be a huge arm. I guarantee you in the next 20 years people are going to be farmers, people are going to grow their own food. Beyond meat right were just playing a nine game who can get to the closest to artificial meat with it tasting exactly like meat. Its happening now, people are more conscious than ever, they want to know whats going into their minds, their food.

Youre someone who creates new realities. What does reality mean to you?

Iddris Sandu: Thats a very beautiful question. Earlier on in my life I was convinced that reality was a simulation and that the simulation was actually reality. When I create, dream, or come up with ideas Im more centred in that being a reality. Thats why movies, books and poems inspire and move us in more ways than our actual reality can. Documentation and storytelling is an essential part of being human. My definition of reality is being able to take your dreams and exist within them.

What is the best piece of design the world has ever seen and why?

Iddris Sandu: The human body. I had a discussion with someone about a month ago and I was talking about this aspect of design called biomimicry, its the study and interpretation of nature to enhance the world around us. Again, were playing a nine game we want to design things like the bullet train that were inspired by the kingfisher birds beak. We emulate nature to enhance our known reality. Neural networks, computer vision, or artificial intelligence, are all modelled on the human brain. All the technology that we create is based on our current limitation or understanding of self. Pretty much every single thing created is a result of the best thing that weve always aspired to design a human body.

Additional credits:

Grooming - Sonia Lee for Exclusive Artists using R+CoLocal Production - CARLYE BURKE

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Iddris Sandu is the digital architect designing the future - Dazed

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Daily Archives: April 9, 2021

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Iddris Sandu is the digital architect designing the future – Dazed

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