Video on black holes

 This video gets into how black holes have now been photographed and directly observed! Cool! You'll notice some things Prof. Tchekhovskoy talked about and showed us in class!!

Ethics of AI in Education report

 I was very fortunate to be invited and involved in a couple different ways to provide thoughts and input into The Institute for Ethical AI in Education's report on ethical concerns of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in schools and classrooms. The Institute is at the U. of Buckingham in the U.K. We also had two students, Nora Miller and Aidan Goodman, contribute in a student panel (just one of two US high schools involved in this global student participation). AI is already here in various capacities, and the unleashing of 'intelligent machines' into classrooms, with which children will be interacting with them at a variety of different levels and capacities and at all stages of human development, is already happening and will only continue to ramp up exponentially around the world. 

But how many are thinking about the ethics and potential unforeseen consequences of these technologies? With SO many possible benefits as a tool in the teaching and learning portions of education, what are the possible downsides we are not considering? How do we do this to maximize benefits to students and teachers, while respecting the human condition, morality, and health of the whole person who is using the technologies? 

The Final Report is here. There is also an Annex that outlines the key takeaways the Institute had from panel discussions and working groups. 

Some thoughts on what AI is, and some already existing applications: 

Check out UIUC's Engineering Open House...it's online & free!!

 If you want to get a sense of what goes on at arguably the top engineering college in the world (seriously, I am biased but there aren't many that compare), check out the U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Engineering Open House. Go here to check it out and anyone can 'attend.' I've been to the live ones, and when those come back, it is worth going to...very cool stuff to see! 

It is March 26-27. You can also sign up to see the keynote speaker, Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani, who is awesome! 

A wonderful orchestra performance involving one of our own

 Check out a performance of Midwest Young Artists Conservatory orchestra, which includes August H. A wonderful job! The main performance begins around the 15 minute mark. Thanks for sharing, August. If other students want to share any performance, whether in the arts or athletics, just let me know! Let's celebrate all the talent and interests we collectively have, as everyone has something to share with the world!

A layperson's way of thinking about 'Space.'

 Space, and time, are challenging, abstract ideas in modern physics. There are no good ways of putting these ideas into words, certainly that a person not trained in general relativity would understand. Mathematically there are elegant, well-known ways of explaining how space and time behave and change, etc. 

Check out this more humorous way of thinking about space. It may help clear some ideas up for you.

The Essence of Calculus channel

 There is a channel with 12 videos that do a wonderful job of more visually explaining the essence of the calculus! It looks to be very nicely done, and may be useful for students learning about and being curious about the workings of this top tool we use in physics. 

Thank you to Ezra for finding this.