Sublime

The key factor was that the plant-seeking botanist and the colony-seeking naval officer shared a similar mindset. Both scientist and conqueror began by admitting ignorance – they both said, ‘I don’t know what’s out there.’ They both felt compelled to go out and make new discoveries. And they both hoped the new knowledge thus acquired would make the

Men Wanted: For hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.4 The ad may have been apocryphal, but the sacrifice it illustrates was not. These were the realities of exploration only a century ago: Our progress on the frontier was limi

ACI represents the next stage of AI’s evolution. A system that not only could recognize and generate novel images, audio, and language appropriate to a given context, but also would be interactive—operating in real time, with real users. It would augment these abilities with a reliable memory so that it could be consistent over extended timescales

As we continue to explore the cosmos, we are finding other planetary systems, some with planets that are even somewhat Earth-like in character. Some are similar in size to ours, and roughly the right distance from their star to reside in the so-called “habitable zone.” Some may harbor liquid water, an ingredient that is likely essential for life. Y

The astronauts themselves could be considered pioneers, but none of the ventures into space undertaken by Moscow and Washington were the product of an individualistic gamble of life and fortune. Rather, each was a coordinated diplomatic and military mission, powered by enormous investments of money, time, and latitude for experimentation.