Interoceptive Ability Predicts Survival on a London Trading Floor
September 20th, 2016Via: Nature:
Interoception is the sensing of physiological signals originating inside the body, such as hunger, pain and heart rate. People with greater sensitivity to interoceptive signals, as measured by, for example, tests of heart beat detection, perform better in laboratory studies of risky decision-making. However, there has been little field work to determine if interoceptive sensitivity contributes to success in real-world, high-stakes risk taking. Here, we report on a study in which we quantified heartbeat detection skills in a group of financial traders working on a London trading floor. We found that traders are better able to perceive their own heartbeats than matched controls from the non-trading population. Moreover, the interoceptive ability of traders predicted their relative profitability, and strikingly, how long they survived in the financial markets. Our results suggest that signals from the body – the gut feelings of financial lore – contribute to success in the markets.
Abu Dhabi: Solar Power at 2.42 Cents a Kilowatt-Hour
September 20th, 2016Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand.
Via: Bloomberg:
Two companies offered to build the cheapest solar power plant on record in Abu Dhabi, reflecting declining costs for photovoltaic cells and cheaper financing for clean-energy projects.
Government-owned Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority received a record-low bid of 2.42 cents a kilowatt-hour for power from a planned facility in the Persian Gulf sheikhdom, state-run Emirates News Agency said. The utility on Monday opened six bids to build a solar plant capable of generating at least 350 megawatts, the agency said. JinkoSolar Holding Co. of China and Japan’s Marubeni Corp. made the lowest joint offer, according to an official from the Middle East Solar Energy Industry Association, who asked not to be identified citing policy.
The bid marks another record for solar technology prices, which have fallen almost 70 percent in the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Competition among Chinese solar manufacturers including Jinko has brought down the cost of delivering panels while more investors have become comfortable with backing the technology, reducing borrowing costs.
U.S. Government Will Release Policy on Autonomous Vehicles Today
September 20th, 2016Via: Cnet:
On Tuesday, the government will issue federal policy, comprising a four-section package to help facilitate the “responsible” testing and deployment of self-driving vehicles. The policy will include a 15-point “Safety Assessment,” which the government has asked automakers to sign and submit when an autonomous car is believed to be ready for public roads. The policy covers topics like validation methods, privacy, post-crash behavior and crashworthiness.
It also helps set the foundation for consistent policies on the state level. It provides clear delineation between federal and state responsibilities without forcing the states to all create the same policy. The feds will cover safety standards, compliance, recalls and public education, with states focusing on testing permissions, law and regulation enforcement and licensing.
ALTA 8 – Moving Pictures
September 19th, 2016When I was in photography school more than a couple of decades ago, I used to hang out with the extreme slow mo and bullet-slicing-playing-cards-in-half weirdos.
We used to wonder what tech would exist in 20 years along these lines, and we all chuckled and agreed that film would mostly be gone…
Nobody guessed that you wouldn’t need a helicopter to fly “it” around though!
Anyway, if you check out this clip, definitely go full screen.
It’s a very, very
Mad world…
Via: Freefly Systems:
“Disruptive Tidal Wave”: Robots Will Eliminate 6% of All U.S. Jobs by 2021
September 19th, 2016Via: Guardian:
By 2021, robots will have eliminated 6% of all jobs in the US, starting with customer service representatives and eventually truck and taxi drivers. That’s just one cheery takeaway from a report released by market research company Forrester this week.
These robots, or intelligent agents, represent a set of AI-powered systems that can understand human behavior and make decisions on our behalf. Current technologies in this field include virtual assistants like Alexa, Cortana, Siri and Google Now as well as chatbots and automated robotic systems. For now, they are quite simple, but over the next five years they will become much better at making decisions on our behalf in more complex scenarios, which will enable mass adoption of breakthroughs like self-driving cars.
These robots can be helpful for companies looking to cut costs, but not so good if you’re an employee working in a simple-to-automate field.
“By 2021 a disruptive tidal wave will begin. Solutions powered by AI/cognitive technology will displace jobs, with the biggest impact felt in transportation, logistics, customer service and consumer services,” said Forrester’s Brian Hopkins in the report.
Related: A World Without Work Is Coming
More than 800 Immigrants “Mistakenly” Granted Citizenship
September 19th, 2016Mmm hmm.
Via: AP:
The U.S. government has mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants from countries of concern to national security or with high rates of immigration fraud who had pending deportation orders, according to an internal Homeland Security audit released Monday.
The Homeland Security Department’s inspector general found that the immigrants used different names or birthdates to apply for citizenship with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and such discrepancies weren’t caught because their fingerprints were missing from government databases.
DHS said in an emailed statement that an initial review of these cases suggest that some of the individuals may have ultimately qualified for citizenship, and that the lack of digital fingerprint records does not necessarily mean they committed fraud.
The report does not identify any of the immigrants by name, but Inspector General John Roth’s auditors said they were all from “special interest countries” — those that present a national security concern for the United States — or neighboring countries with high rates of immigration fraud. The report did not identify those countries.
6 States Facing Possible Gas Shortages After Colonial Pipeline Spill
September 19th, 2016The number of eggs in one basket with this thing is insane.
Via: ABC:
Six states — Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and North Carolina — are facing possible gas shortages after a pipeline spill, officials said.
The states have all declared states of emergency, citing concerns about “fuel supply disruptions” and “disruptions of gasoline” in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline spill.
The governor of North Carolina declared the state of emergency to “help ensure that there will be adequate supplies of fuel across the state and prevent excessive fuel pricing.”
Prices on futures contracts for wholesale gasoline rose about 2 percent Friday to $1.46 a gallon after rising 5 percent on Thursday.
Long lines have quickly amassed at gas stations in the six states, and social media users took to their accounts to document the chaos and dwindling gasoline supply, in some cases. Below, images from Tennessee.
More: Leak From Biggest U.S. Gasoline Pipe Sparks ‘Red Alert’
NEW YORK: NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYING
September 19th, 2016Via: CBS New York:
Cuomo said that there is “no reason to believe at this time that there is an immediate threat” to the city, but to “err on the side of caution,” the state will be deploying an additional 1,000 New York State Police and National Guard people to police the bus terminals, airports and subway stations.
“I want New Yorkers to be confident when they go back to work on Monday that New York is up and running and that we’re doing everything we need to do. And I feel comfortable that this additional deployment will help do that and is prudent on this occasion,” Cuomo said.
8 People Taken to a Hospital After MN Mall Stabbings
September 18th, 2016Via: AP:
Eight people were injured during a stabbing attack at a Minnesota shopping mall that ended with the suspected attacker — who was dressed in a private security uniform and made references to Allah — shot dead by an off-duty police officer, authorities said.
St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said during a news conference shortly after midnight that eight people were taken to St. Cloud Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries following the attack first reported about 8:15 p.m. Saturday at the Crossroads Center. One person was admitted. No further details were released.
Anderson said an off-duty police officer from another jurisdiction shot and killed the unidentified suspect, who was armed with a knife and wearing a private security firm uniform at the time of the attack. Anderson did not say where the off-duty officer serves.
New York: Dumpster Bomb Rocks Chelsea, Injuring 29; Second Device Found Nearby
September 18th, 2016Via: New York Post:
A “deafening’’ explosion rocked Chelsea Saturday night, injuring 29 people, blowing out scores of windows and forcing the evacuation of at least two buildings.
The blast went off in a 4-by-4-by-3-foot construction Dumpster outside the Townhouse Inn of Chelsea at 131 W. 23d St.
Mayor de Blasio called the explosion an “intentional act,’’ but not believed to be connected to terrorism.
But tensions only rose when, three hours after the blast, a second device was found four blocks away — a pressure cooker that an early investigation found was likely also a bomb.
“The bomb squad believes it’s real,” a police source with knowledge of the investigation told The Post of that second device, found at 27th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues. The cooker was safely removed from the scene by NYPD.
The strength of the W. 23rd St. blast sent the Dumpster flying from the north side of the street to the south sidewalk, and it landed without hitting anyone or anything, police sources told The Post.
One of the injuries “may be considered serious,” de Blasio said. That victim suffered a puncture wound. The vast majority of those injured, however, suffered scrapes and abrasions from flying debris.
