BBC – Future – The deadly germ warfare island abandoned by the Soviets A year later, the corpses of two missing fishermen were found nearby, drifting in their boat. It’s thought that they had caught the plague. Not long afterwards, locals started landing whole nets of dead fish. No one knows why. Then in May 1988, 50,000 saiga antelope which had been grazing on a nearby steppe dropped dead – in the space of an hour. BardBots — Babble Lab BardBots is a project in which students are introduced to key concepts in computational thinking via an unlikely combination: Shakespeare and robots.  We believe that the distance between the humanities, the arts, and computer science is not as wide as it appears. Poetic Computation: Reader There is something poetic about code itself, the way that syntax works, the way that repetitions work, and the way that instruction becomes execution through abstraction. h/t Jon Becker The Schank Academy: Cyber Attack Academy Is the Cyber Attack Academy right for you? The Self Driving Car Whiz Who Fell from Grace | WIRED In September 2015, the multi-millionaire engineer at the heart of the patent and trade secrets lawsuit between Uber and Waymo, Google’s self-driving car company, founded a religious organization called Way of the Future. Its purpose, according to previously unreported state filings, […]

The Hottest Chat App for Teens Is Google Docs – The AtlanticThey’ll clone a teacher’s shared Google document, then chat in the comments, so it appears to the casual viewer that they’re just making notes on the lesson plan. If a teacher approaches to take a closer look, they can click the Resolve button, and the entire thread will disappear. Chris Anderson on Twitter: “As an industry, we had high hopes for the use of drones in anti-poaching efforts. But in hot climates everything looks hot to airborne thermal cameras and fleet logistics are crippling. Dogs work much better. Sobering report frreality vs tech How UT-Austin’s Bold Plan for Reinvention Went Belly Up – The Chronicle of Higher EducationThe costs of filming a new SMOC are between $9,000 and $66,000, according to data provided by Williams, with about two-thirds of classes between spring 2015 and fall 2018 costing more than $20,000. These figures don’t include instructional costs. ___________ Project 2021’s budget would rest on three legs: the university system, which would contribute a one-time $16 million; the extended campus, with revenue from non-degree-seeking students and other operations; and the provost’s office, which would kick in a few million dollars annually.

That Isn’t a Mistake – dy/danBut the vast majority of the work we label “mistakes” is students doing exactly what they meant to do. We just don’t understand what they meant to do. Teaching effectively means I need to know what a student knows and what to ask or say to help her develop that knowledge. Calling her ideas a mistake transforms them from a window into her knowledge into a mirror of my own, and I am instantly less effective. Influencers Are Faking Brand Deals – The AtlanticThe owner of one sunglasses brand, who asked to remain anonymous so as not to alienate anyone in the influencer community, said the practice has put him in a tough position as a stream of mid-level influencers post mediocre-quality sponsored content seemingly on his behalf, without his approval or control. Byrne’s EuclidA reproduction of Oliver Byrne’s celebrated work from 1847 plus interactive diagrams, cross references, and posters designed by Nicholas Rougeux Federal court says NY ban on nunchucks unconstitutionalThe ruling went over the history of the ban, and said it “arose out of a concern that, as a result of the rising popularity ‘of ‘Kung Fu’ movies and shows,? ‘various circles of the state’s youth’ — including ‘muggers and street gangs’ — were ‘widely’ using nunchaku to cause ‘many serious injuries.’” ??? […]