Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright.
Note: My new book about aging and growing older with intention, How To Turn 39 (howtoturn39.com), is available for pre-sale :)
US Air Force confirms first successful AI dogfight
Summary: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, confirmed earlier this month that it has successfully tested an artificial intelligence controlled aircraft in dogfight conditions, as part of its Air Combat Evolution, or ACE program.
Context: The purported goal of this program is to integrate autonomous systems into the US’s military operations, including but not limited to allowing fighter jets to be controlled by machine-assisted humans, and in some cases, just machines; in this test-run, there were human pilots aboard the AI-controlled aircraft as it operated, ready to take control if necessary, but the AI system reportedly functioned properly and completed the test as they had hoped; this is a big deal in part because of how fundamental drones and other such autonomous-capable systems are becoming to warfare, and in part because of concerns related to using AI and other autonomous systems in combat and in other situations in which they might intentionally or accidentally harm or kill humans.
—The Verge
Biden unveils $7 billion for rooftop solar in Earth Day message
Summary: On Monday, US President Biden announced $7 billion in grants for residential solar projects, and that applications are now open for the American Climate Corps.
Context: These grants are meant to support projects that will power about a million low-income American households, and the American Climate Corps is a program that will help train young people to work in clean energy-related fields, paying them as they learn these skills and work on relevant projects around the country.
—Reuters
Rocket Lab launches new NASA solar sail tech to orbit
Summary: Earlier this week, a rocket carrying NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System was launched into orbit from New Zealand—the first project of its kind to be deployed by NASA.
Context: Solar sails are lightweight materials that work like a kite or a sail, but which capture photons from the sun instead of wind, allowing them to slowly speed up over time using no fuel, which could mean they’re ideal for carrying probes and other payloads vast distances, including other star systems that are out of reach using other, currently available technologies; other solar sail projects have been flown by Japan’s space program and by the Planetary Society, but this most recent effort uses a new composite for the sail—which measures about 30 feet or 9 meters per side—and it’s meant to help the agency test the utility of this propulsion method for future programs.
—Space.com
After years of encouraging news organizations to invest in growing their social platform subscriber numbers, Facebook- and Instagram-owner Meta has been pulling away from political and news coverage, biasing their algorithms against such content in order to nudge conversation away from hot-button issues.
—The Washington Post
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Number of new billionaires resulting from China’s “bubble tea boom” over the past few years, which has seen several new bubble tea (or “boba tea”) chains raise hundreds of millions of dollars to expand their brands in-country and internationally.
—Bloomberg
One Sentence News / April 26, 2024