To say that Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund made a killing these past months would be an understatement. The world’s largest investor in the stock market earned 1,501 billion crowns (€131.1bn) in the first half of 2023, and much of it due to the recent boom in AI.
To a large extent, the profits came from the fund’s shares in tech companies such as Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Nvidia that all saw a surge from the current AI craze. Meanwhile, the fund is telling the very same companies to get serious about the responsible deployment and risks of artificial intelligence.
“As AI becomes ubiquitous across the economy, it is likely to bring great opportunities, but also severe and uncharted risks,” the €1.28 trillion fund said in a letter published this week.
It added that the technology continues to develop at a pace that makes it challenging to predict and manage risks in the form of regulatory and reputational risk to companies, as well as broader societal implications related to, for instance, discrimination and disinformation.
In order to mitigate the threats posed by the technology, the letter suggested the fund’s 9,000+ portfolio companies develop their expertise on AI on the board.
The <3 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Boards “absolutely not on top” of AI, fund CEO says
In an interview with the Financial Times, the fund’s CEO, Nicolai Tangen, stated that “Boards are absolutely not on top of this.” He further added that the fund would vote against companies that failed to deliver on AI expertise at directorial level.
The oil fund also wants companies to disclose and explain how they use AI, and how systems are designed and trained, so-called transparency and explainability. Furthermore, it is looking for robust risk management beyond a traditional business focus, adding human oversight and control to mitigate potential threats to privacy and discrimination. It did not go so far as to mention the doom of humankind.
Meanwhile, Tangen is not shy in stating that, “If you don’t think there are opportunities with AI, then in my mind you are a complete moron.”
In the letter, the fund also states that it supports the development of “a comprehensive and cohesive regulatory framework for AI that facilitates safe innovation and mitigation of adverse impacts.”
Yet, Tangen acknowledges that this will be “very hard” to achieve on a global scale, due to the technology’s near ubiquitous application in everything from education and military to cars and finance.
It is a scientific certainty that Mars was once a much different place, with a denser atmosphere, warmer temperatures, and where water once flowed. Evidence of this past is preserved in countless surface features, ranging from river channels and alluvial deposits to lakebeds. However, roughly 4 billion years ago, the planet began to change into what we see today, an extremely cold and desiccated environment. Between all that, it is possible Mars experienced glacial and interglacial periods, which is evidenced by images like the one taken by the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shown above.
Evidence of glaciers on Mars includes landforms that resemble features on Earth that were shaped by the retreat of ice flows during interglacial periods. While most surface ice on Mars is confined to the polar ice caps, these landforms can be found in non-polar regions all across the planet. This feature was photographed by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), the main camera aboard the MRO. The full-sized image (shown below) offers a wider perspective and shows how the glacial deposit flowed downhill.
Full-size image taken by HiRISE of the rough terrain thought to be caused by a retreating glacier on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
The black and white image measures 5 km (3 mi) across and shows linear ridges along the surface, exposed rocky debris, and infilling inside the floors of adjacent craters and valleys. This is similar to what is observed on Earth, where glaciers pick up rocks and soil from the landscape and carry it on their surfaces and subsurface. This allows “rock glaciers” to deposit material as they gradually retreat and flow downhill over many thousand years (or longer). This process creates a network of linear patterns scientists use to learn more about the history of ice flows.
Remove All Ads on Universe Today
Join our Patreon for as little as $3!
Get the ad-free experience for life
These features indicate that, like Earth, Mars experienced periods of cooling and warming that coincided with periodic changes in its climate. These may have coincided with variations in Mars’ axial tilt (obliquity), which is similar to Earth’s orientation – 25° vs. Earth’s tilt of 23.4°. During cooler periods, ice flows would have advanced, expanded, and picked up debris from the landscape, followed by glacial retreats as the ice was lost through melting and sublimation. Over time, this process left rocks and minerals concentrated along long ridges and material infalls within low-lying regions.
These images are a reminder of Mars’ highly-dynamic climate, something it retains today despite all the changes it has experienced. These changes began roughly 4 billion years ago when Mars’ core region began to cool rapidly, which is believed to have arrested its global magnetic field. Henceforth, Mars’ warmer, denser atmosphere was slowly stripped away by solar wind, leading to global cooling and the gradual loss of its surface water. This led to Mars becoming the extremely cold and desiccated environment we see today.
Ironically, this transition ensured that the evidence for Mars’ warmer, wetter past was also perfectly preserved. Without precipitation and more powerful winds (which require a dense atmosphere and a water cycle), these features did not experience weathering and erosion – as is the case here on Earth. Like river channels, clay minerals, and alluvial deposits, these preserved ridges prove that glaciers once existed on Mars beyond its polar regions.
A container holding boxes of Mifepristone, the first medication in a medical abortion, are prepared for patients at Alamo Women’s Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, April 20, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
A federal appeals court on Wednesday imposed restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, though the ruling will not have an immediate impact on the medication’s availability.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that several decisions the Food and Drug Administration took to make mifepristone more broadly available to women did not take safety concerns into account.
The ruling is paused from taking effect until the Supreme Court makes a decision about the case. The high court imposed the pause in April upon request from the Biden administration after lower courts had ruled against the pill in the spring.
If the Supreme Court upholds Wednesday’s ruling, women would no longer be able to obtain the abortion pill through telemedicine appointments and by mail. Patients would have to receive a prescription from a doctor and have three follow-up appointments in person.
The restrictions would also shorten the time period when women can take the pill to 49 days into their pregnancy, down from 70 days.
“In loosening mifepristone’s safety restrictions, FDA failed to address several important concerns about whether the drug would be safe for the women who use it,” Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod wrote for the court Wednesday. “It failed to consider the cumulative effect of removing several important safeguards at the same time.”
The appeals court left the FDA’s underlying 2000 approval of mifepristone and its 2019 authorization of a generic form of the drug in place.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge James Ho arguedthe appeals court should also have rolled back the FDA’s original approval of mifepristone, an action that would remove the medication from the U.S. market.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists criticized the appeals court decision as “judicial activism.” The medical association said mifepristone is “demonstrably safe and effective” for its FDA-approved use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Mifepristone, used in combination with another drug called misoprostol, is the most common method to terminate a pregnancy in the U.S.
The case ended up in the 5th Circuit on appeal after U.S Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas issued a much broader ruling in April that suspended the FDA approval of mifepristone.
The three-judge panel at the 5th Circuit heard oral arguments in May from the FDA, mifepristone distributor Danco Laboratories and a group of anti-abortion doctors called the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine.
The appeals court judges were all appointed by Republican presidents. Elrod was appointed by George W. Bush. Ho and Judge Cory Wilson were appointed by Donald Trump.
The FDA and Danco argued during the May hearing that the lawsuit seeking to pull mifepristone from the U.S. market is unprecedented, has no basis in science and will jeopardize women’s health.
The panel of judges pushed back hard on those arguments.
The judges questioned whether allowing women to receive mifepristone by mail without having to see a doctor would result in more patients seeking emergency care. Ho took issue with the characterization of the case as unprecedented.
“I don’t understand this theme — the FDA can do no wrong. That is basically the narrative you all are putting forth — nobody should ever question the FDA,” Ho said during the hearing.
“We are allowed to look at the FDA just like we are allowed to look at any agency, that’s the role of the courts,” Ho said.
Correction: Justice Samuel Alito dissented from the Supreme Court emergency decision on April 21 that kept mifepristone broadly available. A previous version of this story misstated his position.
Meghann Fahy lived out her wildest dreams when she met Taylor Swift.
In fact, the White Lotus star recalled feeling all too unwell when she met the “Cruel Summer” singer for the first time.
“Meeting Taylor Swift was…I couldn’t have been more starstruck,” she told W Magazine in an interview published Aug. 15. “I almost threw up before meeting her. I saw her from across the room, and I just started crying involuntarily. I was so embarrassed.”
As for how the encounter went, Meghann said that she approached Taylor after regaining her composure.
“I was like, I cannot say hello to her with tears in my eyes,” she recalled. “I have to pretend to be seminormal, but I don’t think I fooled her. She put her arm around me, and she was like, ‘you’re fine.'”
And it turns out that Taylor was equally a big fan of Meghann, who played Daphne in season two.
Neymar said he has moved to a “very competitive” league by joining Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia and praised Cristiano Ronaldo for igniting the growth of the Saudi Pro League despite being called “crazy” when he moved to the Middle East last December.
Brazil forward Neymar, 31, quit French champions Paris Saint-Germain to join Riyadh-based Al Hilal, the reigning champions of Asia, in a transfer worth $98.6 million (€90 million).
Editor’s Picks
1 Related
The former Barcelona star had been linked with moves to Manchester United, Chelsea and a return to Camp Nou this summer, but speaking for the first time since the move he said that Ronaldo’s decision to join Al-Nassr following his release from United during the 2022 World Cup helped make Saudi Arabia an appealing destination for himself and some of the game’s top players.
“I believe Cristiano Ronaldo started all of this and everybody called him ‘crazy,’ and this and that,” Neymar said. “Today you see the league grow more and more.
“The league will be very competitive, especially after the signings made in the summer transfer window. I believe competitiveness is important. That’s why I am joining this league. I am driven by challenges. I am there to help the league grow.
“I am very excited to write a new story chasing all the objectives with the club and my teammates — winning more and more titles and fulfilling the club’s ambition. I am very excited in that regard.”
Neymar, who will reportedly earn an annual salary of $100m (€91.7m) at Al Hilal, brings the number of transfers to Saudi Arabia from Europe’s major leagues (England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal) to more than 30.
And he said that the presence of Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino and others will make the Saudi league exciting and competitive.
“It is exciting, meeting top-quality players on the other teams thrills you, and motivates you to play even better,” Neymar said. “And it is a given when you face Ronaldo, Benzema, Firmino, that the excitement is even greater.
“So I am happy to join this league, facing them will be wonderful, it will be fantastic. Of course a lot of Brazil will be watching the league. Obviously I will be there and I expect all Brazilians and everybody following the league to support Al Hilal.
“The message I have for them is I will do my best to make them enjoy football, our goal is winning all titles.”
The Saudi Pro League has invested over €600 million to lure a host of top players and coaches from European clubs, with other notable arrivals including Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and Riyad Mahrez from Manchester City.
Neymar’s new team, Al Hilal, hosts Al-Feiha in the next round of league matches on Saturday.
PJM, MISO, others warn of ‘significant power shortages’ from EPA’s power plant carbon rule
The agency’s proposed limits on power plant carbon emissions rely on “green” hydrogen and carbon capture, technologies that may not be widely available, four grid operators told the agency.
Published Aug. 10, 2023
Ethan Howland Senior Reporter
The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed greenhouse gas emissions standards for power plants could hurt grid reliability, with the potential for “significant power shortages,” according to major U.S. grid operators.
“The joint [independent system operators/regional transmission organizations] are concerned that the proposed rule could result in material, adverse impacts to the reliability of the power grid,” four of the largest U.S. grid operators said in joint comments to the agency Tuesday.
Their reliability concerns mainly stem from the chance that the EPA is overestimating how quickly technological advances may occur in “green” hydrogen production, transport and generation, as well as in carbon capture and storage, or CCS — the key compliance pathways for meeting the proposed rule, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the PJM Interconnection and the Southwest Power Pool, organizations that operate the grid in 30 states and the District of Columbia, serving about 154 million people.
[…]
The proposal requires coal-fired power plants that intend to operate past 2039 to install CCS that captures 90% of carbon emissions. Coal plants that plan to retire by 2035 and run at no more than a 20% capacity factor and units that will be shuttered before 2032 don’t face GHG emissions limits.
Gas-fired combustion turbines larger that 300 MW and with at least a 50% capacity factor have two compliance options: CCS with 90% carbon capture by 2035, or co-firing of 30% low-GHG hydrogen beginning in 2032 and co-firing 96% starting in 2038, according to the agency.
[…]
Utility Dive
“The EPA is overestimating how quickly technological advances may occur in “green” hydrogen… as well as in carbon capture and storage, or CCS”
Note that the EPA’s new strategy doesn’t rely on wind and solar to save us from the weather… It now depends on the rapid deployment of “green hydrogen” and CCS.
Green Hydrogen… WTF?
Scientific element: Hydrogen
A colourless, odourless gas, hydrogen has the lowest density of all gases.
Hydrogen is an essential element for life, it is present in water and in almost all the molecules in living things.
Hydrogen is easily the most abundant element in the universe. It is found in the sun and most of the stars, and the planet Jupiter is composed mostly of hydrogen.
University of Nottingham
What makes “a colorless” gas green? Dollars.
What Are The Colours Of Hydrogen And What Do They Mean?
[…]
Green
Green hydrogen doesn’t generate any emissions in its entire life cycle as it uses renewable energies in the production process, making it a true source of clean energy. It is made by electrolysing water using clean electricity created from surplus renewable energy from wind and solar power. The process causes a reaction that splits water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen (the H and O in H2O). This results in no carbon emissions being released in the process. It’s a great alternative to grey and blue, but for now the main challenge is in reducing the production costs of green hydrogen to make it a truly obtainable renewable and environmentally friendly alternative.
[…]
Acciona
Hydrogen, as an energy source, ranks right up there with nuclear fusion: Infinitely abundant clean and inexpensive energy; however, it’s always just over the horizon. Green hydrogen is the most expensive way to manufacture the most abundant element in the Universe, furthermore relying entirely on the most unreliable electricity generation sources on Earth.
What’s the main obstacle to carbon capture and storage?
The EPA.
The Permitting Program Crucial for Carbon Capture’s Success
Posted on March 11, 2021 by Jena Lococo
[…]
Challenges with the Class VI Program A program that was meant to protect the public’s drinking water has instead created many challenges for cost-effective deployment of carbon capture and sequestration. Of the more than 700,000 wells the UIC program has permitted, only two Class VI wells have ever been permitted for injection, both located at the Archer Daniel Midland’s ethanol plant located in Illinois. The typical permit application processing time was six years for both of these permits. This timeline is a significant barrier to develop storage capacity at the rate needed to capture carbon dioxide as well as for projects trying to take advantage of the incentives provided by the 45Q tax credit. Additionally, there are significant costs associated with complying with the onerous corrective action and monitoring requirements of the Class VI program, which are not always proportionate with the risk to drinking water from the project.
[…]
Clear Path
The technology for CCS is already available. It’s been available for more than 50 years. Furthermore, there’s no shortage of geologic storage space for CO2. The 45Q tax credit might actually make it economically viable. However, there’s an 800 pound gorilla blocking the road:
Thus far, the EPA has approved 2 Class VI permits and lists 118 Class VI applications as “pending.” The EPA seems to think that industry can rapidly ramp up CCS to meet its new CO2 emissions restrictions, in spite of the fact that the EPA is incapable of processing Class VI applications in a timely manner while slow-walking approvals of primacy for state agencies.
A team of researchers at King’s College London, has demonstrated that, despite being the more vulnerable group when it comes to cyber abuse, women engage much less than men with security and privacy tech.
Led by Dr Kovila Coopamootoo, lecturer in Computer Science within the Cyber Security Group at King’s College, the research revealed a significant gender gap in the utilisation of tools designed to keep users safe online.
From a survey of 600 people, in near equal proportion men and women, the team concluded that the habits of protecting oneself from cyber harassment and crime differ greatly between the two groups.
Of the respondents, just over 75% of women were more likely to base their online safety customs on advice from family members and friends (intimate and social connections, or ISC), in comparison to under 24% of men. The vast majority of men on the other hand, 70%, were more likely to seek advice from online sources such as forums, reviews, and specialist pages. Meanwhile, this applied to only about 35% of women.
Now, your cousin Luke might be the world’s greatest cyber security buff, in which case asking for their advice is probably a sensible thing to do. However, the researchers argue that these ISC may not be particularly qualified to provide the most accurate or helpful information. Furthermore, the arguably often more well-informed cyber security expertise available on the internet is evidently not reaching the female population.
Gender norms at play
The study also found that women were much less likely to use a broader spectrum of online safety tools, such as a VPN, multi-factor authentication, firewall, anti-spyware, anti-malware, and anti-tracking. Instead, they were more inclined to rely on simpler and more readily available security measures, such as software updates and strong passwords.
“Women make up over 50% of the population yet they’re not able to effectively engage with digital safety advice, and security/privacy technologies,” Dr Coopamootoo stated. “The stark gender gap in access and participation, evidenced in our research, highlights the gender norms at play in online safety and the role that gender identity plays in staying safe online.”
How to increase gender equality and fairness in online safety
The research was presented at this year’s edition of the Usenix Security Symposium in Anaheim, California, an event sponsored by the likes of Meta, Google, TikTok, and IBM. The paper’s authors added a number of recommendations for developers and policymakers on how to make digital safety more inclusive.
This includes providing trustworthy support in coping with often complex harm situations in accessible language, tailoring advice to threatening situations more often experienced by women, and ensuring women and girls are equipped with the digital skills needed to comprehend online safety protocols. However, researchers also stressed the importance of designing advice and technology that anyone can use to gain optimal protection, irrespective of skill level.
“With online safety considered a social good and its equity advocated by international human rights organisations, we need action to bring about greater gender equity in online safety opportunities, access, participation, and outcomes,” Dr Coopamootoo added. “This requires re-envisaging the current models that don’t best serve women, so that we can make the online experience safer and fairer for everyone.”
Gender-based cyber violence is a constantly growing area of concern that has implications on both individual and societal levels. As if the obvious toll on mental health and quality of life was not enough, a different study commissioned by the European Parliament in 2021 estimated the overall costs of cyber harassment and cyber stalking of women in Europe at between €49 billion and €89.3 billion.
A man uses a Juul vaporizer in Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 26, 2019.
Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters
Young people are at risk of experiencing significant respiratory symptoms, including bronchitis and shortness of breath, after just 30 days of electronic cigarette use, according to a new study released Tuesday.
Researchers from the Center for Tobacco Research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Southern California Keck School of Medicine used four years of data from online surveys to examine the health impact of e-cigarettes — which create a vapor containing nicotine and other harmful substances — on teens and young adults.
They said the study, partly funded by the National Institutes of Health, contributes to existing evidence that e-cigarette use is associated with an increased risk of respiratory symptoms. Drug regulators should consider the findings and work to minimize the negative health impact of e-cigarette use on young people, the researchers added.
E-cigarettes have hooked a new generation on nicotine in less than a decade, putting the health of millions of children, teens and young adults at risk while threatening years of progress in reducing youth tobacco use.
E-cigarette usage is now substantially higher among youths and young adults than it is among adults overall in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sales of e-cigarettes jumped nearly 50% during the first two years of the Covid pandemic, mainly driven by disposable products in sweet and fruity flavors that have long been popular among teens.
That surge in sales came despite a federal crackdown that placed more restrictions on the marketing and flavors of tobacco products.
Manufacturers are still flooding the market with thousands of addictive products that are often sold illegally. Brands such as Puff Bar, Elf Bar and Breeze Smoke are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and some have surpassed vaping pioneer Juul in popularity.
“An important point for consumers is just that e-cigarettes are not risk-free,” Alayna Tackett, a pediatric psychologist and researcher at the Center for Tobacco Research. “We absolutely want to eliminate the initiation and use of e-cigarettes among young people. I think that’s a critical public health goal.”
She noted that the study examines only teens and young adults, and that in the demographic of all adults, people “often switch from using cigarettes to using e-cigarettes with likely fewer risks.”
“I think we need to be thoughtful about policies to protect those young people, while also supporting adults who are interested in choosing a potentially less harmful alternative to cigarettes,” Tackett added.
What does the data say?
Researchers followed more than 2,000 young people with an average age of 17.3 years from the Southern California Children’s Health Study.
In 2014, they asked the participants to complete an online survey about their respiratory symptoms and e-cigarette, traditional cigarette and cannabis use. Around 23% of participants reported a history of asthma at the time of the initial survey.
Researchers collected follow-up data from the majority of those participants during three additional survey waves, in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
Participants were specifically asked if they had ever used each of the three products. If they indicated yes, they were asked about the number of days they had used a product in the past 30-day period.
Those who had never tried a product were classified as “never users,” while participants who had used a product on at least one of the past 30 days were classified as “past 30-day” users.
Past 30-day e-cigarette users were at an 81% higher risk of experiencing a symptom called wheeze than never users after accounting for survey wave, age, sex, race and parental education. Wheeze was defined as wheezing or whistling in the chest in the previous 12 months.
Past 30-day users were also at a 78% increased risk of experiencing shortness of breath and a 50% higher risk of experiencing symptoms of bronchitis, an infection of the main lung airways that causes them to become irritated and inflamed.
A saleswoman helps a customer as she shops for an electronic cigarette at the Vapor Shark store in Miami.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
The link between e-cigarette use and respiratory symptoms was slightly weaker when researchers accounted for two factors: co-use of e-cigarettes with traditional cigarettes or cannabis, and secondhand exposure to any of the three products.
For example, past 30-day e-cigarette users were at a 41% higher risk of experiencing wheeze than never users if they also used traditional cigarettes or cannabis at the same time or experienced secondhand exposure to any of the products.
“Wheeze was no longer significantly related to the respiratory symptoms associated with e-cigarette use when we controlled for co-use of cigarettes and cannabis,” Tackett said. But she noted that bronchitis symptoms and shortness of breath remained significant.
The link between e-cigarette use and respiratory symptoms was persistent in a sub-analysis that excluded participants with a history of asthma. That indicates that the negative health effects of e-cigarette use were present in all participants, not just those with asthma, according to the study.
Tackett noted that there are limitations to the study that future research could address.
Additional studies could more objectively measure respiratory symptoms and product use instead of using surveys that participants filled out themselves, according to Tackett.
She added that future studies, including one she’s currently working on, could further assess the “complex relationship” between the use of e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes or cannabis.
Deja Taylor, 26, is likely looking at a sentence of six months after her six-year-old shot his first-grade teacher in January. Taylor pleaded guilty to felony child neglect on Tuesday (Aug. 15), per multiple reports.
RELATED: Virginia Teacher In ‘Stable Condition After Being Struck By 6-Year-Old Student While Attempting To Confiscate Firearm
The 26-year-old reached a plea agreement with prosecutors that could land her in prison for about half a year. By comparison, CNN reports that the maximum statutory sentence for her charge is five years.
However, Judge Chris Papile reportedly reserved the right to sentence Taylor outside the prosecution’s six-month sentencing guidelines. Deja did not speak during today’s court session outside of acknowledging that she understood the proceedings.
Her family lawyer, James Ellenson, expressed the mother’s alleged deep remorse over the incident.
“She feels very responsible, feels very bad,” Ellenson reportedly said following the hearing. “It’s just very emotional, the whole hearing. It’s all just upsetting to everybody.”
Deja Taylor To Be Sentenced This Fall After Her Son Shot His Teacher
According to NBC News, Judge Papile will sentence Deja Taylor on Oct. 27 for the child neglect charge.
Taylor also faces additional time in prison following a second guilty plea related to marijuana use in June. A police investigation into the shooting uncovered that Taylor used marijuana while possessing a firearm, which is illegal in the United States.
Her charges related to the gun include illegally obtaining and possessing the firearm and making a false statement (regarding marijuana use) to buy the gun. These related charges could reportedly mean another 18 to 24 months in prison for Taylor, per NBC News. A judge is expected to sentence her for the gun charges on Oct. 18.
Police say they recovered the narcotics during a court-ordered search of her home. In addition, investigators also recovered text messages that showed the “pervasive scope of Taylor’s marijuana use.”
RELATED: Mom Of 6-Year-Old Who Shot Virginia Teacher Breaks Silence, Says Son Has ADHD (Video)
As previously reported, Taylor’s son shot his teacher, Abigail Zwerner, on Jan. 6 at Richneck Elementary School. She suffered severe wounds hand and upper chest but ultimately survived the shooting. She reportedly spent about two weeks hospitalized.
Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn decided against charging the adolescent in March. Officials factored in his age and inability to competently understand court proceedings.
A grand jury indicted Deja on two charges in April, felony child neglect and recklessly leaving a firearm to endanger a child. Prosecutors dropped the second charge during Taylor’s plea agreement.
From June 18th to 22nd, the Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center (PSETI) held the second annual Penn State SETI Symposium. The event saw experts from many fields and backgrounds gathering to discuss the enduring questions about SETI, the technical challenges of looking for technosignatures, its ethical and moral dimensions, and what some of the latest experiments have revealed. Some very interesting presentations examined what will be possible in the near future and the likelihood that we will find evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence.
Among them, there were some very interesting presentations by Adam Frank, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Rochester; Ph.D. student Matias Suazo, an astrophysicist and member of Project Haephestos at the University of Uppsala; and Nicholas Siegler, the Chief Technologist of NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP). These presentations addressed ongoing issues in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), technosignatures, the role of oxygen in the evolution of complex life, and what motivations extraterrestrial civilizations (ETC) might have for creating noticeable signatures.
Oxygen and Advanced Life
On Monday, July 19th, as part of the first Plenary Session, Adam Frank delivered a presentation titled “Technosignatures and the Oxygen Bottleneck.” During the talk, Frank whether an oxygen-rich atmosphere at sufficient densities is a precursor to the emergence of complex life and “technospheres,” which Frank described as “the equivalent [of biospheres], the sum total of technological activity on a planet.” These findings were presented in a paper co-authored by Frank and Amedeo Balbi (an associate professor of astrophysics at the University of Rome) that is being reviewed for publication in Nature Astronomy.
Remove All Ads on Universe Today
Join our Patreon for as little as $3!
Get the ad-free experience for life
Infographic showing sources of energy harnessed by terrestrial lifeforms. Credit: Judson, Olivia, P. (2017)
Given its importance to the evolution of terrestrial life, oxygen gas is considered a key indicator of potential habitability and life (aka. a biosignature). On Earth, atmospheric oxygen began to appear roughly 2.8 billion years ago with the emergence of single-celled photosynthetic bacteria, which slowly converted carbon dioxide (the main component of Earth’s atmosphere then) into oxygen gas. This led to the Great Oxidation Event (ca. 2.3 billion years ago), followed by the emergence of multi-celled organisms and other complex life forms.
However, modern research has shown that oxygen-rich atmospheres could also result from chemical disassociation, where exposure to solar radiation causes water molecules to split into hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. This process creates atmospheric oxygen that is not the byproduct of organic processes and not indicative of life (“abiotic” oxygen.) In essence, oxygen gas may not be a reliable biosignature, and its role in the emergence of advanced life remains an open question. But citing previous research, Frank argued that all life has limited options (i.e., the periodic table of elements) and how it has evolved to harness different energy sources.
This included how early life harnessed heat energy from hydrothermal vents, cyanobacteria harnessed photosynthesis (solar radiation), and more advanced life (including humans) harnessed fire. This had a profound impact on the evolution of human societies and planet Earth itself (in the form of climate change). But as Frank and Balbi argued, fire is impossible without a sufficiently oxygen-rich environment and at sufficient pressures. Frank illustrated this by showing how combustion is necessary for many of the technological processes humanity has come to depend on.
This includes everything from hunter-gatherers building fires to keep warm at night and in cold climates, metallurgists creating tools from copper, bronze, iron, and steel, demolition experts dynamiting rock and natural barriers, and aerospace engineers launching chemical rockets. According to Frank, these reactions are only possible in an atmosphere where oxygen partial pressures are 18% or higher – P(O2) > 18%. This leads to the inevitable question, “Can a young tool-using, tool-building species develop technosignature-scale technologies without combustion.”
According to Frank and his colleagues, the answer is a resounding “no.” Based on their analysis, atmospheric oxygen is a “bottleneck” where the evolution of advanced life is concerned.
This artistic conception illustrates large asteroids penetrating Earth’s oxygen-poor atmosphere. Credit: SwRI/Dan Durda/Simone Marchi
The Hunt for Dyson Spheres
The presentation by Matias Suazo concerning Project Hephaistos was part of Plenary Session Seven (which took place on Wednesday, July 21st). The project is dedicated to searching the Milky Way for signs of Dyson Spheres, the theoretical megastructure proposed in 1960 by Dr. Freeman Dyson (1923-2020). In his seminal paper, “Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation,” Dyson proposed how ETI that has reached a high level of technical development might build a megastructure to enclose their entire star system, thus harnessing all of the energy from their parent star.
Dyson also suggested that dedicated SETI surveys could search for these megastructures by looking for indications of waste heat radiated in the far-infrared wavelength. Project Hephaistos, launched by the University of Upsalla in 2015, is Sweden’s first SETI initiative and relies on data from advanced observatories to search for technosignatures associated with large-scale engineering projects rather than the traditional signals-based approach. For his presentation, Suazo summarized the process he and his colleagues at Hephaistos have used to find evidence of mega-scale engineering around other stars.
This includes the possibility that megastructures affect the characteristics of their host galaxies, including reduced optical luminosity, boosted infrared luminosity, and morphological anomalies. To this end, the project scientists have combined data from the ESA’s Gaia Observatory, Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), and NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Using a Sun-like spectrum as a starting point, Suazo shared how the project set an upper limit on temperature (T) and luminosity (L) to look for drops in optical flux and boosts in mid-infrared radiation.
He then described the pipeline established by the project to gather data on stars that “exhibit unusual infrared radiation not easily attributable to known astronomical sources.” This combined astrometry data from Gaia with infrared data from 2MASS and WISE, ranging from the near- to the mid-infrared spectrum (1.25 um to 22 um). This yielded 5 million sources within a volume of space measuring 300 parsecs (~1,000 light-years) in diameter. The next step was isolating sources producing elevated mid-infrared (12 to 22 um) radiation, reducing the candidates’ number to 320,000.
For the third step, Suazo and his colleagues created 220,745 models that considered astrometric data alongside temperature and luminosity to isolate sources that were a “good fit” for Dyson structures. This further reduced the number of candidates to around 11,000. The fourth step was to conduct an image classification scheme using a convolutional neural network that eliminated stars in nebular regions – these produce IR signatures similar to what would theoretically be observed with Dyson structures. This reduced the number of candidates to 5,700 sources.
A final step was to implement “additional cuts,” which prioritized sources that were point-like (stars rather than galaxies or quasars), showed no optical/mid-IR variability, no hydrogen-alpha emissions (typical of protoplanetary disks), and individual stars systems (not binary or multi-star systems). This brought the total to ~4,000 candidates, which they subdivided based on temperature – over or under 200 K (-73.15 °C; -99.67 °F) and “confounding variables” that led to questionable results (and possible false positives). Ultimately, they devised a list of 20 viable candidates for follow-up observations.
The project plans to conduct these observations using optical telescopes, which will help them discard potential false positives (such as debris disks) and narrow the search even further.
Are Aliens Looking for Us?
Another fascinating presentation was conducted by Nick Siegler titled “Alien Motivations and their Technosignature Search Approaches.” The focus of this presentation was an update on the technosignature study the NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP) began about 18 months ago (and was talked about at the 2022 PSETI Symposium) that examines how scientific investigators are searching for signs of potential alien civilizations. According to Siegler, the ExEP’s Charter comes down to three main objectives:
Discover planets around other stars.
Characterize their properties.
Identify candidates that could harbor life.
So far, the ExEP has been working towards creating a telescope that can look at any random star in our galaxy and attenuate its on-axis starlight so any exoplanets orbiting them can be seen. This is known as the Direct Imaging Method, where exoplanets are observed and characterized through direct observation rather than the most widely-used indirect methods (Transit Photometry and Doppler Spectroscopy). This can be done using internal and external occulters that block out starlight, otherwise known as coronographs and starshades.
Once this is done, astronomers will obtain spectra from exoplanet atmospheres to discern the presence of biosignatures. But as Seigler noted, these same observations could also stumble upon potential technosignatures like industrial pollutants, an orbital beacon, or other indications of an advanced civilization:
“We realize that, as we’re conducting these biosignature missions, there are opportunities for commensal technosignature research. And so it got us thinking, what else could we do to enhance the commensal relationship we have with technosignatures so we wouldn’t cost NASA a lot of money but be able to do more of these.”
This was the genesis of the ExEP technosignature study, a fact-finding study to inform NASA of where it can positively impact the investigation of technosignatures. This includes a rundown on methodology, which current and future observatories could use to conduct commensal biosignature/technosignature studies, what technology is required, and other necessities (funding, etc.). This study, said Seigler, is about 70% finished and will be made public upon completion. Some of the key details of the report were shared during the Breakout Session held the following day.
But what has been especially interesting about their study, said Seigler, is the question of motivations: what would motivate an extraterrestrial civilization to create noticeable technosignatures? This speculation could help scientists decide what type of technosignatures to investigate, saving time and resources by constraining the search. According to Seigler, the possible motivations they considered include:
Building megastructures to collect their star’s energy (aka. Dyson structures)
Calling attention to their existence (radio signals, beacons, IR pulses, transit events)
Large cities and industries on their planet (pollutants, mid-IR heat, artificial lighting, radio “leakage”)
Swarms of satellites (Clarke Belts) and space debris (reflected light, transit photometry)
Signs of terraforming (similarities/abnormalities on multiple planets)
Megastructures to reduce global warming (solar shades, reflective satellites)
Indications of spacecraft (exhaust from nuclear fusion, antimatter, radio signals, nebula contrails)
An interstellar communication network (radio communications)
Another major question Seigler raised was whether or not aliens could be observing Earth, and if so, how would we detect them? This could include reflected light from spacecraft lurking in Lagrange Points or making flybys (he included ‘Oumuamua as a potential example), artifacts from landers, rovers, and other robotic sentries, the detection of radio signals, and deliberate messages they left behind (for example, in the genome of terrestrial organisms). All of these, said Seigler, are viable approaches and could reveal evidence of past visitations.
These presentations offer a good cross-section of the questions and discussions raised at the 2023 Penn State SETI Symposium. They also highlight how far the field of study has come and what will be possible in the coming years. If there’s one takeaway, it is the fact that the Symposium raised more questions than it answered. This is no coincidence, as the field of SETI remains one of the most ambiguous and mysterious scientific pursuits there is. When it comes to the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe, we are limited in terms of what we know and how we know it.
Alas, that is the most important reason for us to keep looking. Until the day comes that we find evidence of other civilizations, we’ll never have more than a provincial understanding of what life is, under what circumstances it can emerge, and whether or not life and intelligence are ubiquitous in the Universe.
