3Q: Julien de Wit on searching for red worlds in the northern skies

With a new telescope situated on a scenic plateau in Tenerife, Spain, MIT planetary scientists now have an added way to search for Earth-sized exoplanets. Artemis, the first ground-based telescope of the SPECULOOS Northern Observatory (SNO), joins a network of 1-meter-class robotic telescopes as part of the SPECULOOS project (Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars), which is led by Michael Gillon at the University of Liège in Belgium and carried out in collaboration with MIT and several other institutions and financial supporters. Artemis is the latest product of a collaboration with MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). The other network telescopes that make up the SPECULOOS Southern Observatory — named Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto after the four Galilean moons of Jupiter — are up and running at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, busily scanning the skies for exoplanets in the Southern Hemisphere.

Together, these SPECULOOS telescopes will look for terrestrial planets circling very faint, nearby stars, called ultra-cool dwarfs, and the new Artemis telescope will allow the research group to expand the search into the Northern Hemisphere skies. Artemis was unveiled today at an inauguration event attended by scientists and dignitaries from MIT, the University of Liège, and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) in Tenerife. Artemis was funded by MIT donors Peter A. Gilman, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and Colin and Leslie Masson, with additional support from the Ministry of Higher Education of the Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles, and the Balzan Foundation.

Before the SPECULOOS telescopes were conceived, researchers had already established the proof of concept for this technique with a project using a small, ground-based telescope located in La Silla, Chile, known as TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope). With the TRAPPIST telescope, researchers looked at a limited sample of 50 target stars and discovered the TRAPPIST-1 system, which consists of seven terrestrial planets orbiting their cool, ultra-dwarf star. To date, these are the only known planets that are nearby, Earth-sized, temperate, and amenable for future atmospheric characterization, setting them apart from previous exoplanet findings. The SPECULOOS group is building on this earlier project with its new telescope network to scan more of the sky for similar Earth-sized exoplanets, and deliver more targets that can be assessed for habitability and potentially signs of life in the future.

Julien de Wit is an EAPS assistant professor, SPECULOOS collaborator, Artemis principal investigator, and SNO co-principal investigator with Gillon. As a postdoc in the group of MIT Professor Sara Seager, he worked with Gillon and the TRAPPIST team to identify and characterize the TRAPPIST-1 system. Later he spearheaded the expansion of the SPECULOOS venture into the Northern Hemisphere. EAPS recently spoke with de Wit about the capabilities of Artemis and what we can expect to find with the SPECULOOS project.

Q: Tell us about the new Artemis telescope. Why is it particularly exciting?

A: The first telescope of the SPECULOOS Northern Observatory is named Artemis, built and owned by MIT, after the Greek goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, the moon, which seemed appropriate as we are hunting for planets and signs of life.

Artemis is located on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife about 150 miles off the coast of Morocco. The SNO is built within the Teide Observatory, which is an astronomical observatory by the Teide Volcano, 2,400 meters above sea level and operated by the Insituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. The location, which hosts one of the first major international observatories, boasts excellent astronomical conditions for viewing.

As far as the telescope itself, it measures about 4 meters high, with an optical quality of less than 0.8 arcsec and a field of view, 12 arcmin by 12 arcmin. Artemis, which was built by the German company ASTELCO, has a robot mount, and its detectors are very sensitive to the near-infrared wavelengths that we find emanating from these ultra-cool dwarf stars. We will be operating it remotely from MIT or any other collaborating institutes.

With TRAPPIST, we demonstrated a proof of concept — confirming that ultra-cool dwarf stars have the capacity to host planets — and are investigating the atmospheres of these TRAPPIST-1 planets with the Hubble Space Telescope. To date, there are no other temperate Earth-sized planets that would be such exquisite targets for atmospheric study. This justified fully scaling up with the SPECULOOS project.

Telescopes like this provide two important observational advantages. One, due to similar planet-to-star area ratios, the signal we’ll get from an Earth-sized planet transiting an ultra-cool dwarf star will be similar to a Jupiter-sized planet crossing in front of a sun-like star. Two, the vicinity of their habitable zone, due to their small size and temperature, means that habitable planets will have small transit periodicities, similar to gas giants, which are in close orbit around solar-type stars. This means that each star will require less monitoring time, and that the transit search targeting the roughly 1,200 nearest ultra-cool stars could be done in about 10 years with four telescopes scanning each hemisphere.

Q: What is the goal of Artemis, and how many exoplanets do you estimate can be evaluated by MIT’s new SPECULOOS Northern Observatory?

A: Over each night, we will be gathering pictures of a specific section of the sky, focused on our target stars in order to search for a brightness drop characteristic of a planetary transit.

The goal of the Artemis telescope is to look at the roughly 800 nearest ultra-cool dwarf stars located in the northern skies (and a sliver of the southern skies) to find Earth-sized planets that may have a temperate climate and be amenable for further in-depth characterization with the next generation of observatories, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Extremely Large Telescopes. These will be able to tell us more about their atmosphere, climate, and what molecules might be present on them. We are confidently expecting to identify about 15 temperate planets with the SPECULOOS network, and doing so on a relevant timeline, which will allow for their atmospheres to be studied with the JWST, which is expected to launch in 2021 and last for 10 years.

Additionally, we’ll expand Artemis’s scope of work. We plan to do a follow-up of some of the trickiest planet candidates (terrestrial planets around small M-dwarfs) identified by the MIT-led TESS [Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite] NASA mission, since Artemis has 100 times larger viewing areas. We’ll also be able to study asteroids, comets, and other objects, such as observations of the Quaoar occultation, with other scientists at MIT and outside of the Institute.

Q: You mentioned that Artemis is the first telescope for the SPECULOOS Northern Observatory. Does that mean more telescopes might be added to the SPECULOOS network in the future?

A: Yes, we hope to build out the SPECULOOS Northern Observatory and add telescopes to accompany Artemis. As a matter of fact, we have already built an additional platform ready to host a twin to Artemis, as soon as we have found additional funding. Our agreement with the Teide Observatory reserves space to accommodate up to three additional telescopes. Doing so will allow us to thoroughly study all the nearest ultra-cool dwarf stars and complete the Northern Hemisphere survey in time to perform the atmospheric characterization of their transiting planets with the JWST.

With SPECULOOS, we are giving it our best shot at enabling the identification of habitats beyond Earth within the next decade. Our team is looking forward to sharing “first light” with our donors and the public, and it is a privilege for MIT to be working with our international partners on this exciting venture.

from MIT News http://bit.ly/2L35pW5
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The Big Business of ASMR Apps, Videos, and Gadgets

ASMR videos and apps feature soft sounds and quiet whispers that help you relax. But they're also a path to serious revenue.

from Wired http://bit.ly/2MZJgKX
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Under Trump, Cybersecurity Has Waned

Opinion: Congress has abdicated its role in preventing and punishing cyberattacks. The Cyber Solarium Commission is our best defense.

from Wired http://bit.ly/2Fmnue5
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Gay refugees sent back to 'homophobic Kenya camp'

The group had been staying in safe houses in Kenya's capital after fleeing attacks, the UN says.

from BBC News - Africa https://bbc.in/31MacBt
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Real Housewives of Atlanta star Todd Tucker explains ‘daddy/daughter’ strip club visit video after birthday backlash

Brim 8-Cup Pour-Over Coffee Maker Review: Barista-Style Brew Without All the Effort

An automatic coffee machine that gives you a barista-style brew.

from Wired http://bit.ly/31Nhi8u
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B. Smith’s husband Dan Gasby continues to wife approves of his side chick while battling Alzheimer’s

While the world continues to give B. Smith’s husband the side-eye for moving on with a girlfriend while the famed restaurateur battles Alzheimer’s disease, he insists that he’s been taking good care of her all the while.

—‘I love my wife but I can’t let her take away my life!’: B. Smith’s husband responds to critics—

Dan Gasby’s been under fire for parading his girlfriend Alex Lerner around his ailing wife who has significant memory loss and then doing a number of interviews late last year explaining that she approved.

Recently he talked to Page Six to continue to try to explain that he’s giving his wife the best care.

“Barbara’s being cared for and loved. She’s not in a box. Not struggling or dying,” he told the outlet. “I take care of Barbara. I’ll always take care of her.”

“Everybody tells you how to live your life,” he said. “But that’s while they’re living theirs and not surviving through our problems. I’m in my 60s. I lived tied up in a box five years. Childlike, Barbara can no longer spell a word,” he said.

—‘Why not now?’ Ta-Nehisi Coates and Danny Glover join lawmakers to debate slavery reparations—

The social media backlash has been harsh and swift for Gasby from those who quickly condemned him for bringing a white woman into the home while B. Smith suffers from the disease. But Gasby maintains that his relationship with his girlfriend is wife-approved.

“I take care of Barbara. I’ll always take care of her. My daughter, Dana, who’s 32, is caring for her. My ladyfriend Alexandra is taking care. We’ve gone through the whole circle of brain foundations. Diagnosed with dementia in 2013, Barbara then told me to live my life. It would maybe not be bad if I weren’t so lonely.

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‘Why not now?’ Ta-Nehisi Coates and Danny Glover join lawmakers to debate slavery reparations

The debate over reparations catapulted from the campaign trail to Congress on Wednesday as lawmakers heard impassioned testimony for and against the idea of providing compensation for America’s history of slavery and racial discrimination.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, the sponsor of a resolution to study reparations, put a fine point on the discussion: “I just simply ask: Why not and why not now?”

It was Congress’ first hearing on reparations in more than a decade, and came amid a growing conversation both in the Democratic Party and the country at large about lingering racial disparities in the United States. Once considered a fringe topic, mostly pushed aside in Congress, the possibility of reparations was treated with seriousness by the witnesses and lawmakers alike, though Republicans made clear their opposition.

One of the most striking moments came as writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author of a widely read 2014 essay making the case for reparations, challenged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s assertion that no one alive today is responsible for the past treatment of black Americans.

“It’s impossible to imagine America without the inheritance of slavery,” Coates told the House Judiciary panel.

“For a century after the Civil War, black people were subjected to a relentless campaign of terror,” Coates said. “Victims of that plunder are very much alive today. I am sure they’d love a word with the majority leader.”

McConnell, R-Ky., said on Tuesday he doesn’t think “reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us currently living are responsible, is a good idea.”

Wednesday’s hearing coincided with Juneteenth, a cultural holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved black people in the United States, and it attracted a crowd. More than a hundred people were lined up to try and get a seat in the hearing room. Those inside frequently reacted to testimony and comments from members of Congress with cheers and boos.

At one point, an audience member shouted “You lie!” at Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert when he urged that Americans know their history and “not punish people today for the sins of their predecessors in the Democratic Party.”

Coates was among eight witnesses who testified for more than three hours on the topic of House Resolution 40, aimed at creating a commission to study reparations. Actor and activist Danny Glover, a longtime advocate of reparations, urged passage of the resolution.
“A national reparations policy is a moral, democratic and economic imperative,” said Glover, noting that his great-grandmother was a former slave he met as a young boy. “This hearing is yet another important step in the long and historic struggle of African Americans to secure reparations for the damage that has been inflicted by slavery and Jim Crow.”

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., a presidential contender, testified that the U.S has “yet to truly acknowledge and grapple with the racism and white supremacy that tainted this country’s founding and continues to cause persistent and deep racial disparities and inequality.”
But another witness, Coleman Hughes, who at times testified over boos from the audience, said black people don’t need “another apology,” but safer neighborhoods, better schools, a less punitive criminal justice system and better health care.

“None of these things can be achieved through reparations for slavery,” said Hughes, a writer and student at Columbia University who said he is the descendant of blacks enslaved at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

The Democratic legislation, which would set up a bipartisan commission to study the issue, spotlights a national conversation over the legacy of slavery. Several of the party’s presidential candidates have endorsed looking at the idea, though they have stopped short of endorsing direct payouts for African Americans.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., on Wednesday called reparations a “serious issue” and said he expects the resolution will see a vote in the House.

While reparations has been moving toward the mainstream of the Democratic Party, the idea remains far from wide acceptance. And the panelists themselves, mostly black, differed on what reparations should look like and who should benefit from them.

In a Point Taken-Marist poll conducted in 2016, 68 percent of Americans said the country should not pay cash reparations to African American descendants of slaves to make up for the harm caused by slavery and racial discrimination. About 8 in 10 white Americans said they were opposed to reparations, while about 6 in 10 black Americans said they were in favor.

Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, the top Republican on the panel, said he respects the beliefs of those who support reparations. He called America’s history with slavery “regrettable and shameful.”

But he said paying monetary reparations for the “sins of a small subset of Americans from many generations ago” would be unfair, difficult to carry out in practice and, in his view, likely unconstitutional.

The Republican witnesses for the hearing were Hughes and Burgess Owens, a former Oakland Raiders football player and Super Bowl champion, who recently wrote a Wall Street Journal editorial eschewing reparations.

The debate over reparations for black Americans began not long after the end of the Civil War. A resolution to study the issue was first proposed in 1989 by Conyers of Michigan, who put it forward year after year until his retirement in 2017. His portrait hangs in the room where the hearing was held.

The post ‘Why not now?’ Ta-Nehisi Coates and Danny Glover join lawmakers to debate slavery reparations appeared first on theGrio.

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Judge says R. Kelly’s lawyers have week to answer sex abuse lawsuit

Attorneys for R. Kelly have one week to respond to a lawsuit alleging sex abuse or face losing the case.

Kelly’s attorneys sought to put the lawsuit on hold while the singer fights sex-related felony charges. Associate Judge Moira Johnson on Wednesday agreed with lawyers for the woman who filed the lawsuit that Kelly needs to file an answer to the litigation.

Johnson gave Kelly’s lawyers until June 26 to respond to the lawsuit in Cook County.
Kelly did not attend Wednesday’s hearing in Chicago.

After the hearing, the attorneys for the woman said they expect the lawsuit will be delayed while the criminal case proceeds. However, they said it was improper for Kelly’s attorneys to seek a delay before acknowledging the lawsuit.

The woman who brought the lawsuit is one of four women Kelly is charged with sexually abusing.

The post Judge says R. Kelly’s lawyers have week to answer sex abuse lawsuit appeared first on theGrio.

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Tiffany Haddish explains why she won’t perform in Georgia

Tiffany Haddish says she chose to join a boycott of Georgia after she read the state’s new anti-abortion legislation.

Haddish announced this week that she had cancelled a show in the state and explained her reasoning Tuesday at the launch of a “Harry Potter” mobile augmented-reality game.

“The reason that I cancelled the show, is because I read that bill,” she said. “And I feel like everyone should just take the time to read it.”

The new law bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. It was signed into law on May 7.

Haddish had been scheduled to perform June 22 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. Major Hollywood studios have said they may reevaluate filming in Georgia. Celebrities like John Legend and Spike Lee have joined calls for a boycott.

The “Girls Trip” star on Tuesday was the host of an event that unveiled the new “Wizards Unite” video game at Universal Studios’ Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

“I love everything about ‘Harry Potter’ because it teaches unity, it teaches friendship, it teaches loyalty, it teaches to believe in something,” Haddish said.

The post Tiffany Haddish explains why she won’t perform in Georgia appeared first on theGrio.

from theGrio https://on.thegrio.com/2N2hpK8
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Fifa confirms appointment of Fatma Samoura in Africa

Fifa confirms the appointment of its general secretary Fatma Samoura as a 'General Delegate for Africa' in light of recent governance issues on the continent.

from BBC News - Africa https://bbc.in/2KsV06B
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Disney's New *Lion King* Is the VR-Fueled Future of Cinema

Director Jon Favreau shot the remake of the animated classic inside virtual reality. He doesn't know what to call the result, but it looks like a real movie.

from Wired http://bit.ly/2WSabgg
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Africa Cup of Nations: What to look out for in this summer's tournament

The Africa Cup of Nations gets under way on Friday as hosts Egypt face Zimbabwe. BBC Sport looks at some of the things to keep an eye out for.

from BBC News - Africa https://bbc.in/2XWsFsI
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Spotting objects amid clutter

A new MIT-developed technique enables robots to quickly identify objects hidden in a three-dimensional cloud of data, reminiscent of how some people can make sense of a densely patterned “Magic Eye” image if they observe it in just the right way.

Robots typically “see” their environment through sensors that collect and translate a visual scene into a matrix of dots. Think of the world of, well, “The Matrix,” except that the 1s and 0s seen by the fictional character Neo are replaced by dots — lots of dots — whose patterns and densities outline the objects in a particular scene.

Conventional techniques that try to pick out objects from such clouds of dots, or point clouds, can do so with either speed or accuracy, but not both.

With their new technique, the researchers say a robot can accurately pick out an object, such as a small animal, that is otherwise obscured within a dense cloud of dots, within seconds of receiving the visual data. The team says the technique can be used to improve a host of situations in which machine perception must be both speedy and accurate, including driverless cars and robotic assistants in the factory and the home.

“The surprising thing about this work is, if I ask you to find a bunny in this cloud of thousands of points, there’s no way you could do that,” says Luca Carlone, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics and a member of MIT’s Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS). “But our algorithm is able to see the object through all this clutter. So we’re getting to a level of superhuman performance in localizing objects.”

Carlone and graduate student Heng Yang will present details of the technique later this month at the Robotics: Science and Systems conference in Germany.

“Failing without knowing”

Robots currently attempt to identify objects in a point cloud by comparing a template object — a 3-D dot representation of an object, such as a rabbit — with a point cloud representation of the real world that may contain that object. The template image includes “features,” or collections of dots that indicate characteristic curvatures or angles of that object, such the bunny’s ear or tail. Existing algorithms first extract similar features from the real-life point cloud, then attempt to match those features and the template’s features, and ultimately rotate and align the features to the template to determine if the point cloud contains the object in question.

But the point cloud data that streams into a robot’s sensor invariably includes errors, in the form of dots that are in the wrong position or incorrectly spaced, which can significantly confuse the process of feature extraction and matching. As a consequence, robots can make a huge number of wrong associations, or what researchers call “outliers” between point clouds, and ultimately misidentify objects or miss them entirely.

Carlone says state-of-the-art algorithms are able to sift the bad associations from the good once features have been matched, but they do so in “exponential time,” meaning that even a cluster of processing-heavy computers, sifting through dense point cloud data with existing algorithms, would not be able to solve the problem in a reasonable time. Such techniques, while accurate, are impractical for analyzing larger, real-life datasets containing dense point clouds.

Other algorithms that can quickly identify features and associations do so hastily, creating a huge number of outliers or misdetections in the process, without being aware of these errors.

“That’s terrible if this is running on a self-driving car, or any safety-critical application,” Carlone says. “Failing without knowing you’re failing is the worst thing an algorithm can do.”

A relaxed view

Yang and Carlone instead devised a technique that prunes away outliers in “polynomial time,” meaning that it can do so quickly, even for increasingly dense clouds of dots. The technique can thus quickly and accurately identify objects hidden in cluttered scenes.

The MIT-developed technique quickly and smoothly matches objects to those hidden in dense point clouds (left), versus existing techniques (right) that produce incorrect, disjointed matches. Gif: Courtesy of the researchers

The researchers first used conventional techniques to extract features of a template object from a point cloud. They then developed a three-step process to match the size, position, and orientation of the object in a point cloud with the template object, while simultaneously identifying good from bad feature associations.

The team developed an “adaptive voting scheme” algorithm to prune outliers and match an object’s size and position. For size, the algorithm makes associations between template and point cloud features, then compares the relative distance between features in a template and corresponding features in the point cloud. If, say, the distance between two features in the point cloud is five times that of the corresponding points in the template, the algorithm assigns a “vote” to the hypothesis that the object is five times larger than the template object.

The algorithm does this for every feature association. Then, the algorithm selects those associations that fall under the size hypothesis with the most votes, and identifies those as the correct associations, while pruning away the others.  In this way, the technique simultaneously reveals the correct associations and the relative size of the object represented by those associations. The same process is used to determine the object’s position.  

The researchers developed a separate algorithm for rotation, which finds the orientation of the template object in three-dimensional space.

To do this is an incredibly tricky computational task. Imagine holding a mug and trying to tilt it just so, to match a blurry image of something that might be that same mug. There are any number of angles you could tilt that mug, and each of those angles has a certain likelihood of matching the blurry image.

Existing techniques handle this problem by considering each possible tilt or rotation of the object as a “cost” — the lower the cost, the more likely that that rotation creates an accurate match between features. Each rotation and associated cost is represented in a topographic map of sorts, made up of multiple hills and valleys, with lower elevations associated with lower cost.

But Carlone says this can easily confuse an algorithm, especially if there are multiple valleys and no discernible lowest point representing the true, exact match between a particular rotation of an object and the object in a point cloud. Instead, the team developed a “convex relaxation” algorithm that simplifies the topographic map, with one single valley representing the optimal rotation. In this way, the algorithm is able to quickly identify the rotation that defines the orientation of the object in the point cloud.

With their approach, the team was able to quickly and accurately identify three different objects — a bunny, a dragon, and a Buddha — hidden in point clouds of increasing density. They were also able to identify objects in real-life scenes, including a living room, in which the algorithm quickly was able to spot a cereal box and a baseball hat.

Carlone says that because the approach is able to work in “polynomial time,” it can be easily scaled up to analyze even denser point clouds, resembling the complexity of sensor data for driverless cars, for example.

“Navigation, collaborative manufacturing, domestic robots, search and rescue, and self-driving cars is where we hope to make an impact,” Carlone says.

This research was supported in part by the Army Research Laboratory, the Office of Naval Research, and the Google Daydream Research Program.

from MIT News http://bit.ly/2IsZfwU
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Lawmakers debate reparations for slavery: ‘We elected an African-American president’

The heated debate over reparations came to a head this week as lawmakers listened to passionate testimonies both for and against the idea of allotting compensation to African Americans whose ancestors were adversely affected by generations of slavery and racial discrimination.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell seems to be one of the people who believe that due to Barack Obama being elected president, we’re living in a post-racial society. But he took it further by suggesting that as a reason reparations for slavery are not needed.

According to The Hill, Tuesday, during a weekly press conference, McConnell made it clear that he does not support reparations for descendants of slaves, an issue that this week, the House Judiciary Committee will hold it’s first hearing on in a decade.

READ MORE: Man falsely claiming to be cop before allegedly shooting Black woman at a Walgreen’s still not arrested

“I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago for whom none us currently living are responsible is a good idea,” McConnell said. “We’ve tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation. We elected an African American president.”

“I think we’re always a work in progress in this country, but no one currently alive was responsible for that, and I don’t think we should be trying to figure out how to compensate for it. First of all, it would be pretty hard to figure out who to compensate. … No, I don’t think reparations are a good idea,” McConnell continued.

READ MORE: CNN segment explodes when Trump supporter defends president’s treatment of the Central Park Five

Wednesday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is held the hearing, “to examine, through open and constructive discourse, the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, its continuing impact on the community and the path to restorative justice.”

“It’s impossible to imagine America without the inheritance of slavery,” writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author of a widely read 2014 essay making the case for reparations, told the House Judiciary panel.

“For a century after the Civil War, black people were subjected to a relentless campaign of terror,” Coates added. “Victims of that plunder are very much alive today. I am sure they’d love a word with the majority leader.”

READ MORE: Black seminarians say Princeton theology school owes reparations for benefiting from slavery

Reparations has become a topic of debate in the Democratic presidential primary, with several 2020 candidates, including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), vowing that they would sign a bill forming a reparation study commission into law if they become president.

However, in the GOP-controlled Senate the chances of the legislation moving seems unlikely.

“I think it’s too remote in time. I think it’s too divisive,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told the press earlier this year.

The post Lawmakers debate reparations for slavery: ‘We elected an African-American president’ appeared first on theGrio.

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Google's Troubles Encroach on Alphabet's Shareholder Meeting

Shareholders proposed 14 resolutions, from Google's conduct in China to conditions for Google workers. Cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin didn't attend.

from Wired http://bit.ly/2WPzdg6
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Tesla Arcade Let’s You Play a Videogame Right in Your Car

Tesla gives drivers access to games they can play on the center screen, including Beach Buggy Racing 2. The car has to be in park, however.

from Wired http://bit.ly/2WTibZN
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Three guilty over Kenya Garissa militant raid

Three of four suspects guilty over 2015 militant raid on Kenya's Garissa University in which nearly 150 people died

from BBC News - Africa https://bbc.in/2Y1dvCu
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Garissa University attack: Three found guilty in Kenya

Islamist militant group al-Shabab killed 148 people, mostly students, in the 2015 attack.

from BBC News - Africa https://bbc.in/2MXlVti
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3 Questions: An experiment illuminates the value of public transportation

Urban residents hear a lot about public transit fares, but to what extent do transportation costs really affect riders? A group of urban studies researchers at MIT has conducted a new experiment — a randomized, controlled trial — on Boston’s MBTA system showing that if low-income people are offered a 50 percent fare discount, their ridership increases by over 30 percent. A new white paper with the results was issued this month. The paper’s lead author is MIT PhD student Jeffrey Rosenblum; his co-authors are Department of Urban Studies and Planning professors Jinhua Zhao, Mariana Arcaya, Justin Steil, and Chris Zegras. MIT News spoke to Rosenblum about the results.

Q: What was the impetus for the study, and what did you find?

A: The idea was to look at travel behavior of riders. One of the things we don’t ordinarily have access to is how low-income people use the system. We can track seniors because seniors have a special card. But for low-income people, a lot of the information had previously been anecdotal.

There were hardly any studies to help me understand how low-income riders would respond to fare decreases. When I have to look back to a 1964 study from New York City as one of the prime examples that looked at low-income riders, you know there’s some missing data.

There have been two hypotheses in this area. One is that low-income people have no choice but to use public transit, so they have to take it out of their food budget or child budget. The other is that they do change behavior when fares decrease. The second is what we ended up finding: Low-income people did take significantly more trips, about a third more, based on the analysis. This suggests that for the low-income people in the study group, who were selected out of food stamps recipients, affordability was a big factor. So that’s really the take-home message.

Q: There is another layer to the results, though, which is that the increased use of public transit was strongly linked to certain purposes, such as using social services.

A: This gets into an important concept in transportation. No one gets on a bus to get on a bus. They want to go someplace. In the past transit systems really just cared about the numbers of people using the system, and they didn’t really care about the purposes of those trips.

In most categories of trip purpose, we didn’t see much difference, but in the social services category, we did. Usually when people think of public transportation, they think of commuting to work. And when people think about low-income riders, they don’t think about other really important things in life. Low-income people also spend more time on public transit doing errands, visiting family, as well as going to social services and health care providers.

Q: So this is not just a matter of household finance, since it seems like lower fares for low-income people have a kind of multiplier effect, allowing them to access other goods, right?

A: Yes. And any decisions related to implementation and the impact on the system would be as important as trying to find the money to fund such a program. Whenever studies like this get done, the implication is that this is an important issue to address.

But then one question is: Who is going to pay for it, and how? And the second is: Who would administer it? One option would be just to say the MBTA has to do it all. A more creative option would be to incorporate it into an existing government program, like Mass Health, or SNAP, the food stamps program, where those agencies already have a whole customer-service system set up, a database of low-income people, and are already issuing them cards. Imagine if a low-income person had one card, with a debit-card for food stamps, the Mass Health information, and a Charlie Card [an MBTA metro card] chip embedded in it. That’s where government efficiency counts. The technology is there but the lack of interagency coordination is a significant barrier.

from MIT News http://bit.ly/2Ir5ZLV
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