Science and technology micro-summaries for July 1, 2019
New open source stackable beer cans might eliminate plastic six-pack rings; Quantum computing in plain-English (sort-of); Reversing UFO technology for the public welfare; Do whiteholes exist as a natural counterbalance for black holes; Researchers at Rutgers are working to enable erasing printouts at scale for recycling purposes
Straight from my RSS feed:
Links and micro-summaries from my 1000+ daily headlines. I filter them so you don't have to.
- Corona's New Stackable Cans Would Eliminate the Need for Plastic Six-Pack Rings - Corona is experimenting with open source stackable cans as a replacement for plastic six-pack rings, which can be harmful to animals. The experimental cans include locking mechanisms at the top and bottom that enable stacking of up to 10 cans in a single connected tower. This is in addition to another experiment with biodegradable six-pack rings.
Video here:
- Quantum Computing for English Majors - Scientific American interviews Peter Shor, of Shor's algorithm fame on a wide-ranging variety of topics, including a plain English (sort-of) description of how his namesake algorithm works for factoring integers. He also weighs in with skepticism on Roger Penrose's idea that consciousness is a quantum phenomenon and Douglas Hofstadter's claim that Godel's theorem might give insight into the nature of consciousness. He agrees with Sabine Hossenfelder that physicists have been derailed in some recent research, but disagrees about the cause. According to Shor, the problem is a sociological phenomenon where groupthink is taking precedence over proof and experiment, whereas Hossenfelder thinks that it's a preference by physicists for beauty and symmetry in their equations.
- Some tech execs want to find a UFO and reverse-engineer it for the betterment of mankind - Citing a report from Vice, this article describes a number of perspectives on reversing UFO technologies. It includes ideas from Deep Prasad (ReactiveQ), Rizwan Virk (Play Labs @ MIT), Dr. Diana Walsh Pasulka, (University of North Carolina Wilmington's philosophy and religion department), and Jacques Vallée (ARPANET pioneer).
- White holes: Do black holes have mirror images? - Speaking of beauty and symmetry, astronomy.com asks if there is a reverse counterpart to black holes, a white hole that emits light and energy and is impossible to enter. According to the article, the possibility remains an open question. According to the math, white holes and black holes are equally likely, so theoreticians have come up with possible conceptualizations. After pointing out that a white hole is just a black hole played backwards in time, the article goes on to describe some other possibilities. One is the idea of that a black hole in one universe connects by a wormhole to a white one in another. Another conceptualization is the idea of a "quantum bounce" when a black hole hits some minimum size and is forced to start growing and emitting energy again. A third imagining is the idea that the big bang itself was a white hole. h/t RealClear Science
- STEEM A new Unprinting Method developed - In this Steem post, @wovlou reports that scientists at Rutgers University are working to increase recycling with an "unprinting" technique (traditionally called "erasing") that uses small amounts of alcohol to remove ink from paper so that the paper can be reused for up to four more printouts. (@wovlou will receive 5% of the rewards from this post.)
In order to help make Steem the go to place for timely information on diverse topics, I invite you to discuss any of these links in the comments and/or your own response post.
For example, feel free to comment on any or all of these discussion topics:
- Would you buy your drinks in stackable cans like Corona's? Why or why not?
- There are many topics to discuss in the Shor interview. For example, what do you think of his take on the ideas from Hossenfelder, Penrose, or Hofstadter?
- Do you think it's reasonable to think that we might find and reverse engineer technology from UFOs?
- What do you think about the existence of white holes, and if they exist, what form do you think they would take?
- Would you be willing to use the Rutgers "unprinting" technology for your own printouts?
About this series
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