World

Ancient scrolls found at Mt. Vesuvius are being decoded

What can charred, archaic scrolls tell us? Apparently, quite a lot. While you were sitting on the couch watching football on Sunday, two computer science students were the first people to read a Herculaneum scroll in two millennia.

This discovery is the biggest breakthrough yet in the Vesuvius Challenge, a competition to decipher scrolls from ancient Herculaneum without damaging them. But how do you read a scroll you can’t open?

The science behind ancient scroll reading

The man who started the project, University of Kentucky professor Brent Seals, made 3D scans of the scrolls using a particle accelerator. His team also photographed and scanned detached scroll fragments bearing invisible ink, providing a baseline of data to work off of.

One of Seal’s graduate students worked on detecting ink from the CT scans using machine learning models, which identified patterns in the detached fragments. That success caught the eye of tech entrepreneurs Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, who started the Vesuvius Challenge to accelerate progress.

What’s next?

While the teams working on the project and other independent contestants continue to make progress, the $700,000 grand prize is still up for grabs. In order to win it, the contributor(s) will have to decipher up to four separate passages and/or 140 characters of text.

The latest breakthrough came from Youseff Nader, one of the two computer scientists who discovered standalone text from the scrolls, where he generated a new image that shows four and a half columns of text. Now all that’s left is to figure out what it says, how hard could that be?

NASA’s new 2.2 billion mile journey

NASA is conducting a historic scientific mission to better understand our own planet. NASA got a boost from their buddy SpaceX on Friday, launching their new spacecraft, Psyche, into orbit to find an asteroid that goes by the same name.

Psyche will travel 2.2 billion miles to the massive, metallic space-rock, but it won’t be collecting any of its valuable ore. Instead, the craft will take high-resolution images of the asteroid in hopes of better understanding how Earth was formed during the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago.

The Massachusetts-sized rock is believed to be a planet that never fully formed, which is partly why scientists believe it could help us understand our own metallic core. Directly studying our own core would prove impossible, as we don’t currently have the technology to drill thousands of feet below us.

The journey should also inform NASA on how to extract metal from similar asteroids in the future, which could prove valuable. Unfortunately, the probe won’t arrive at the asteroid until July 2029, so we have plenty of time to go before NASA discovers what they’re looking for.

If you need hotel advice ask… the Michelin Man?

Everyone’s heard of Michelin stars for restaurants, but have you heard of Michelin keys? Last week, the French tire company announced that starting in 2024, it will be awarding “keys” to hotels around the world that meet its high standards.

They will rely on their own judges, who check into hotels anonymously, to determine the best overnight stays. The key program is Michelin’s latest attempt to expand into the rapidly growing travel and hospitality industry.

• In 2018, Michelin acquired the hotel booking app Tablet, which allowed customers to book their stays on the Michelin website.

• The move will help Michelin compete with other rivals, such as World’s 50 Best, and La Liste, both of which started ranking hotels this year

Where did this start?

Michelin has come a long way since it started with the Michelin Guide, a physical book series, way back in 1900 to try and convince customers to drive long distances to restaurants (so they could sell more tires). Michelin stars can change the career of a chef, and a Michelin guide can transform a local economy. So much so, that tourism boards will pay hundreds of thousands to be featured in one.

However, the question remains, how much will a Michelin key be worth?

International

World on edge over Israel-Hamas war

As the world anticipates a coming ground invasion from Israel, uncertainty amplifies regarding the future of the Middle East. The loss of life from the war is already staggering: At least 1,689 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7th attack on Israel, most of them being civilians, including 30 Americans. Authorities in Gaza said that Israel’s retaliation attack has left more than 2,808 dead, the majority being civilians.

The world is watching as Israel prepares their ground invasion to “destroy the rule of Hamas,” with worries not only about the humanitarian crisis, but fears that it could escalate into a larger conflict within the Middle East, and have global implications.

Who else could join the war?

It seems the most likely to get involved is the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon. There have already been isolated incidents along Israel’s border with Lebanon, highlighting the possibility of a proxy war with Iran.

Concerns have been heightened after several statements have been made by both Iran and Hezbollah, with Iran warning that if Israel continued to strike Gaza, Hezbollah would respond and “create an earthquake” for Israel.

This is a scenario that Israel and the U.S. are desperately trying to prevent. Israel’s defense minister stated it’s not looking to fight on the northern border as long as the group “restrains itself.” The U.S. has intensified its diplomatic efforts in the Middle East:

• Met directly with Arab leaders

• Calling on Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and China, to help limit the conflict spread and address the growing humanitarian crisis

• Held back-channel talks with Iran discussing the risks of escalation

In addition to the human toll, Bloomberg estimates if the war expands it could devastate the international economy:

• Since the Middle East serves as the global energy center, a direct conflict between Iran and Israel would skyrocket the price of oil to $150/barrel and possibly start a recession that would shave off $1 trillion of the world's global economic output.

The world economy is looking pretty vulnerable as of late as well. With much of the world still smoking from inflation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an expanded regional conflict would re-ignite inflation (the bigger the conflict spreads the bigger the consequences).

This means… more expensive gas prices and higher grocery and goods costs. Products will be more pricey depending on how important oil is to producing it, so keep an eye out for outlandish price tags.

The U.S. is tightening its grip on semiconductors

The race for semiconductor supremacy continues. The Biden Administration is aiming to further restrict China’s access to advanced semiconductor chips and manufacturing gear. This comes as China has accelerated its own investments in semiconductor production.

The move will set new rules for chipmaking giants like Nvidia Corp., which has been selling a less powerful version of their chip to China to comply with current regulations. The updated restrictions will be announced this week, people familiar with the situation said.

As part of the new rules:

• The U.S. will impose additional checks on Chinese firms attempting to bypass the restrictions by going through other countries

• It also will add Chinese chip design firms to a trade restriction list, requiring overseas manufacturers to gain a U.S. license to fill orders from those companies

What caused the U.S. to impose the new restrictions?

The original restrictions put out last year were done so before they gained full support from key allies, such as the Netherlands and Japan. As a result, they kept selling advanced gear to Chinese customers.

Why is this important? It allowed China to boost its progress at the exact time the Biden Administration wanted the opposite. Huawei Technologies Co., a Chinese telecommunications giant (whose presence has greatly affected U.S.-China relations), introduced a new smartphone in August powered by an advanced processor.

The processor was produced by a Chinese manufacturer and is well above what the U.S. thought it could demonstrate. This spurred political pressure on the Biden Administration to deal with China’s advance and led to the updated restrictions that were just put in place.

Going forward, the U.S. hopes to make its own advances in the semiconductor sector, however, strategic growth of its own at the expense of China will be no easy feat.

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Grab Bag

Netflix wants you to come chill

Instead of watching in the comfort of your own home, you might soon go to a physical Netflix location. The streaming giant announced they’ll open two permanent retail locations in 2025 so fans can eat, shop, and drink amidst their IPs.

So far, they won’t say too much about the details. However, one thing they have said is the locations will be called “Netflix House” and will feature rotating installations, live shows, and a menu that references their most recognizable shows, according to Bloomberg.

Investing in physical locations is certainly something new for Netflix, a category that falls under its experimental division. CFO Spencer Neumann said the division is “small today,” but growing as they lean into Disney territory.

Anytime now…

Jim Jordan is the latest nominee in the chaotic race for House Speaker. Since former speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted by his far-right compatriots, the search for another one to take his place has been ‘meh’ at best.

Since McCarthy was voted out, which marked uncharted territory for the U.S. government, the House has been without a leader and “essentially paralyzed”. Republicans have been struggling to elect a new speaker due to conflicting agendas, and until they do, pressing legislation like border security, aid to Israel, and funding issues, cannot be passed.

Who’s the new guy?

Rep. Jim Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, fended off Rep. Austin Scott (R., Georgia) to secure the Republican party’s nomination. However, it’s not actually clear he has the 217 votes required to become acting Speaker of the House.

How does this work?

The chamber is narrowly divided between 221 Republicans and 212 Democrats, and Jordan needs to win at least 217 votes to become speaker. That means he can afford no more than four Republican defections, if all Democrats oppose him, as is expected.

What are others saying? Critics of Jordan say that electing him to Speaker would essentially reward the small group of GOP dissenters, the same people who executed the historic removal of their fellow Republican McCarthy.

Rep. Austin Scott claimed the small group of GOP holdouts are only making things worse by delaying the speakership and pushing out contenders, such as Rep. Steve Scalise.

The pressure will start to rise among House Republicans if a candidate isn’t elected soon, as issues are starting to mount amid the paralyzed House.

Snippets

Better ACT Up: ACT scores for 2023 grads fell to their lowest levels in 32 years. This marks the 6th straight year they’ve dropped.

Moon Melters: Scientists want to melt the moon to create roads… and already tested it with lasers.

Toto, We’re Not in [Minnesota] Anymore? A 76-year-old man pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing a pair of ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in The Wizard of Oz from a Minnesota museum in 2005.

Color Chameleon: Researchers found out that our sense of smell changes how we see color, click here to read how.

Premium Meat (at Taco Bell?!?!): A Minneapolis Taco Bell is adding “premium chicken nuggets” to its menu.

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