I get people are upset with the plagiarism machine iteration of chat bots, but the reality is that AI, machine learning, etc. has lots of practical uses that aren’t directly consumer-facing.

…empirical estimation is precluded by physics.

All things to say, it’s boring. But it can be really important when you’re trying to get lithium or rare earths out of the ground, or figure out the right acid digestion that maximizes extraction while minimizing environmental harm.

…estimate Na. A classic example is that coherent (Raleigh) and incoherent (Compton) scattering can be used to estimate density, which may correlate with Na in certain clays provided calcium is at a certain threshold. AI algorithms can capture these interactions and efficiently infer Na when

…that fluoresce around 13 keV, and come from a depth closer to 1,000 microns. So a minor surface contaminant (practically guaranteed) can distort measurements that have huge implications for mineralogy.

Using AI, we can identify other portions of X-ray scatter which can serve as proxies to help

Sodium Kα1 fluoresces at 1.1 keV, which when you calculate our mass attenuation coefficients to estimate depth in a pure silicate comes out to about 7 microns. In a given geologic core that will be closer to 4-5 microns. But the elements we need to interpret it with - like Rb, have Kα1 lines

Though Trump’s pardons can’t extend to state crimes, I think it’s worth pointing out the message being conveyed:

Trump’s allies are alleged to have stolen data from state voting systems in an effort to help him overturn an election he lost.

Now he’s pardoning them for it.

bsky.app/profile/anna...

Those who were furious at German Social Democrats fumbling the ball at the twilight of the Weimar Republic wasted a lot of emotional energy.

I think this is better categorized as a pyrrhic defeat

and since the expanded 2021 subsidies have become load-bearing in the marketplace, rugpulling them breaks the insurance market *as it currently exists* because you yank a few million people out of the pool ~overnight. (this is why you're seeing people get hit with the massive premium spikes)

At some point we have to let pain hurt Trump instead of helping him. Every time we let pain help him, he’ll do more and bigger next time.

Each acquiescence means the next one will be *more* painful.

The House would continue to pass anti-lynching legislation and the Senate would continue to not even both to bring it up for a vote FOR AN ENTIRE CENTURY. And then finally, in 2022 they caved and the Emmitt Till Anti-Lynching Act was signed into law. deathpenaltyinfo.org/more-than-a-...

I work with AI on X-rays for mining critical minerals. Boring, but the kind of stuff that will improve our ability to produce more renewable energy sources long term. Lots of niche applications that are doing good work.