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Category: science – Page 63

Kathryn Coulter Mitchell — R&D For US Security & Resilience — Science & Technology Directorate — DHS

R&D & Innovation For U.S. Security & Resilience — Kathryn Coulter Mitchell, Acting Under Secretary for Science and Technology, DHS Science and Technology Directorate, Department of Homeland Security.

Kathryn Coulter Mitchell (https://www.dhs.gov/person/kathryn-coulter-mitchell), is Acting Under Secretary for Science and Technology (S&T), at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where as the science advisor to the Homeland Security Secretary, she heads the research, development, innovation and testing and evaluation activities in support of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) operational Components and first responders across the nation.

The Science and Technology Directorate is responsible for identifying operational gaps, conceptualizing art-of-the-possible solutions, and delivering operational results that improve the security and resilience of the nation.

In her former role as the Chief of Staff, Ms. Coulter Mitchell oversaw the operational and organizational needs of the $1 billion, 500-career-employee Directorate. A member of the Senior Executive Service, she was responsible for strategy, policy, organizational development, communications, and planning and she guided the creation of a DHS strategic vision and roadmap for research and development (R&D), the reestablishment of Integrated Product Teams to prioritize and manage DHS R&D investments, and the crafting of strategies for organizational effectiveness. Ms. Mitchell previously served S&T as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Communications Advisor for the Under Secretary and Deputy Under Secretary.

Ms. Coulter Mitchell came to DHS after a 15-year career in the private sector and on Capitol Hill. In industry, she provided organizational strategy and communications support to the S&T directorate and the Federal Emergency Management Agency where she authored the communications strategy for the multi-million dollar, multi-agency rollout of Presidential Policy Directive 8 (This directive is aimed at strengthening the security and resilience of the United States through systematic preparation for the threats that pose the greatest risk to the security of the Nation, including acts of terrorism, cyber attacks, pandemics, and catastrophic natural disasters.)

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The History and Science of Virtual Reality Headsets

You don’t even have to cover your mouth. Virtual reality has come a long way in recent years, creating unreal environments and unprecedented tactile experiences. However, researchers have struggled to recreate an adequate simulation of our most precious senses of touch, like kissing.

You would be forgiven if you thought that the current wave of virtual reality headsets was a modern phenomenon. There were obviously some awkward—and failed—attempts to capitalize on the virtual reality craze of the early 1990s and for most people, this is as far back as virtual reality goes. The truth is that virtual reality is much, much older.

The science behind virtual reality was first explored in a practical sense as far back as the 1800s, but some could argue that it goes all the way back to Leonardo Da Vinci and the first explorations of perspective in paintings of the era. So how do virtual reality headsets work, and how come it took so long for them to become, well, a reality?

A virtual reality headset works because of a physiological concept known as stereopsis. You may not have heard the proper name, but you know about it; this refers to our ability to perceive depth because of the subtle horizontal differences in the image that each eye receives when we look at something.

A Decade of Science and Trillions of Collisions Show the W Boson Is More Massive Than Expected — A Physicist Explains What It Means

“You can do it quickly, you can do it cheaply, or you can do it right. We did it right.” These were some of David Toback opening remarks when the leader of Fermilab’s Collider Detector unveiled the results of a decade-long experiment to measure the mass of a particle known as the W boson.

I am a high energy particle physicist, and I am part of the team of hundreds of scientists that built and ran the Collider Detector at Fermilab in Illinois – known as CDF.

After trillions of collisions and years of data collection and number crunching, the CDF team found that the W boson has slightly more mass than expected. Though the discrepancy is tiny, the results, described in a paper published in the journal Science on April 7, 2022, have electrified the particle physics world. If the measurement is indeed correct, it is yet another strong signal that there are missing pieces to the physics puzzle of how the universe works.

Survey: Trust in science is high, but misinformation is a threat

Trust in science is rising worldwide, according to a 3M-backed survey released Tuesday, and more people expect it to solve the world’s problems.

But the fifth annual 3M State of Science Index also showed many are worried that misinformation could lead to more , greater societal divisions and lack of action on climate change.

“It’s really good to see that trust in is high, and that’s true in America and around the world, but misinformation threatens scientific credibility,” Jayshree Seth, 3M’s corporate scientist and chief science advocate, said in an interview. “It’s not simply a matter of communicating facts, data and evidence. We need to build that relationship with the public.”

7 Programming Languages to Use in Data Science

With the constant evolution of data science, you need to be skilled in cutting-edge technologies in the field. In this article, we will look at the top programming languages used in data science.

Data has become enormously valuable in the last decade.

Every big company out there has valuable data that, with the help of a good data scientist, can benefit the way they do their business. In other cases, pinpoint strategies that may not be working that well.

What Your Blood Type Means For Heart Health, According to Science

People with type O-blood are considered “universal donors” because their blood doesn’t have any antigens or proteins, meaning anybody’s body will be able to accept it in an emergency.

But why are there different blood types? Researchers don’t fully know, but factors such as where someone’s ancestors are from and past infections which spurred protective mutations in the blood may have contributed to the diversity, according to Dr. Douglas Guggenheim, a hematologist with Penn Medicine. People with type O blood may get sicker with cholera, for example, while people with type A or B blood may be more likely to experience blood clotting issues. While our blood can’t keep up with the different biological or viral threats going around in real time, it may reflect what’s happened in the past.

“In short, it’s almost like the body has evolved around its environment in order to protect it as best as possible,” Guggenheim says.

A Novel Science of Consciousness: Towards the Cybernetic Theory of Mind

In our own not-so-distant future we’ll witness the emergence of synthetic superintelligence as a new kingdom of life. Whether that will happen in 5 or 50 years doesn’t really matter, we are firmly on the path of facilitating its emergence — synthetic intelligence is an extension of us, natural intelligence, the future version of ourselves. On a long billions-of-years evolutionary journey from the first primordial prokaryote to a Solaris-like planetary mind, we’re merely years away from this cardinal metamorphosis.

#CyberneticTheoryofMind #consciousness #evolution #mind

“Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else. ―Erwin Schrödinger.

A decade of science and trillions of collisions show the W boson is more massive than expected — a physicist on the team explains what it means for the Standard Model

“You can do it quickly, you can do it cheaply, or you can do it right. We did it right.” These were some of the opening remarks from David Toback, leader of the Collider Detector at Fermilab, as he announced the results of a decadelong experiment to measure the mass of a particle called the W boson.

I am a high energy particle physicist, and I am part of the team of hundreds of scientists that built and ran the Collider Detector at Fermilab in Illinois – known as CDF.

After trillions of collisions and years of data collection and number crunching, the CDF team found that the W boson has slightly more mass than expected. Though the discrepancy is tiny, the results, described in a paper published in Science on April 7, 2022, have electrified the particle physics world. If the measurement is correct, it is yet another strong signal that there are missing pieces to the physics puzzle of how the universe works.

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