In 1994, physicist Miguel Alcubierreproposeda radical technology that would allow faster than light travel: thewarp drive, a hypothetical way to skirt around the universe’s ultimate speed limit by bending the fabric of reality. It was an intriguing idea – even NASA has beenresearchingit at the Eagleworks laboratory – but Alcubierre’s proposal contained problems that seemed insurmountable. Now, a recentpaperby US-based physicists Alexey Bobrick and Gianni Martire has resolved many of those issues andgeneratedalotofbuzz....

“The whole appearance of the ocean waslike a plain covered with snow. There was scarce a cloud in the heavens, yet the sky … appeared as black as if a storm was raging. The scene was one of awful grandeur, the sea having turned to phosphorus, and the heavens being hung in blackness, and the stars going out, seemed to indicate that all nature was preparing for that last grand conflagration which we are taught to believe is to annihilate this material world....

New self-supervised AI models scan X-rays to predict prognosis of COVID-19 patients The researchers say it forecasts mortality more accurately than radiologists Predicting COVID-19 deterioration They used the pre-trained model to build classifiers that predict if a COVID-19 patient’s condition will likely worsen. They then fine-tuned the model with an extended version of the NYU COVID-19 dataset. This smaller dataset set of around27,000 X-ray images from 5,000 patients was given labels indicating whether the patient’s condition deteriorated within 24, 48, 72, or 96 hours of the scan....

Sina’s CEO Charles Chao recently announced Sina Weibo’splans to monetizethe service, revealing how the company can take advantage of its 140 million registered users to generate revenue. A leaked screenshot caught byTechRicereveals more details on what seems to be Sina’s new “QWeibo” profiles, which feature virtual goods and eCommerce integration. Sina has been busy addingmore and more featuresto the Weibo platform, turning it into a complete social network experience instead of simply being a microblogging platform....

In Middle Eastern countries like Lebanon and Egypt, indicators are optional, more often that not replaced with an arm sticking out the window to signal the intention to turn. The white lines dotting streets are there for show, with no real purpose, such as possibly forming lanes for cars to drive down. In other words, traffic is a nightmare. There are a lot of great online services in the region which can keep you up-to-date on traffic, making sure you know which route to avoid before leaving the house....