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#experiments

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Continued thread

But we can simplify this.

I'm not putting finished effects into standalone metal #boxes at this point; I'm #experimenting, not producing a product. So I have a simple #modular system I cooked up to connect arbitrary effects #experiments together. One of the things it does is handle the power-supply stuff, so each effect board doesn't need to do any of that. It just receives a nice 0V and buffered #Vcc (9V) it can rely on, along with a buffered 4.5V to use as a #bias voltage when AC coupling #signals, since this is a single-supply system.

So we can chop out all the power stuff from the schematic, which fills basically a ninth of the image - divide it into 3 rows and 3 columns, like the Brady Bunch intro, and the left-middle square is basically the power section.

But there's a bigger chunk we can strip out. Boss (and many other) pedals of the era frequently used "soft switching" to enable / disable the effect while playing. If you go back in time, real physical #switches were used, so the signal was actually totally disconnected from the effects circuitry when in the "off" position. This is called "true #bypass", as opposed to the soft switching.

#Soft #switching involves having two signal paths through the effect. One applies the characteristic effect, and the other basically just buffers the signal and bypasses the rest of the effect stuff. This is implemented with transistors and latches.

2/x

When designing a scientific experiment, a key factor is the sample size to be used for the results of the experiment to be meaningful.

How many cells do I need to measure? How many people do I interview? How many patients do I try my new drug on?

This is of great importance especially for quantitative studies, where we use statistics to determine whether a treatment or condition has an effect. Indeed, when we test a drug on a (small) number of patients, we do so in the hope our results can generalise to any patient because it would be impossible to test it on everyone.

The solution is to perform a "power analysis", a calculation that tells us whether given our experimental design, the statistical test we are using is able to see an effect of a certain magnitude, if that effect is really there. In other words, this is something that tells us whether the experiment we're planning to do could give us meaningful results.

But, as I said, in order to do a power analysis we need to decide what size of effect we would like to see. So... do scientists actually do that?

We explored this question in the context of the chronic variable stress literature.

We found that only a few studies give a clear justification for the sample size used, and in those that do, only a very small fraction used a biologically meaningful effect size as part of the sample size calculation. We discuss challenges around identifying a biologically meaningful effect size and ways to overcome them.

Read more here!
physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

"Unchecked #AI agency poses significant #risks to public #safety and #security ,ranging from misuse by malicious actors to a potentially irreversible loss of #human control. [...] Indeed, various #scenarios and #experiments have demonstrated the possibility of AI agents engaging in #deception or pursuing goals that were not specified by human operators and that conflict with human interests, such as self-preservation."

arxiv.org/abs/2502.15657

arXiv logo
arXiv.orgSuperintelligent Agents Pose Catastrophic Risks: Can Scientist AI Offer a Safer Path?The leading AI companies are increasingly focused on building generalist AI agents -- systems that can autonomously plan, act, and pursue goals across almost all tasks that humans can perform. Despite how useful these systems might be, unchecked AI agency poses significant risks to public safety and security, ranging from misuse by malicious actors to a potentially irreversible loss of human control. We discuss how these risks arise from current AI training methods. Indeed, various scenarios and experiments have demonstrated the possibility of AI agents engaging in deception or pursuing goals that were not specified by human operators and that conflict with human interests, such as self-preservation. Following the precautionary principle, we see a strong need for safer, yet still useful, alternatives to the current agency-driven trajectory. Accordingly, we propose as a core building block for further advances the development of a non-agentic AI system that is trustworthy and safe by design, which we call Scientist AI. This system is designed to explain the world from observations, as opposed to taking actions in it to imitate or please humans. It comprises a world model that generates theories to explain data and a question-answering inference machine. Both components operate with an explicit notion of uncertainty to mitigate the risks of overconfident predictions. In light of these considerations, a Scientist AI could be used to assist human researchers in accelerating scientific progress, including in AI safety. In particular, our system can be employed as a guardrail against AI agents that might be created despite the risks involved. Ultimately, focusing on non-agentic AI may enable the benefits of AI innovation while avoiding the risks associated with the current trajectory. We hope these arguments will motivate researchers, developers, and policymakers to favor this safer path.

🌥️ Though familiar features of our skies, #clouds are surprisingly elusive. Last night, in a highly anticipated public lecture at Feldstraßenbunker in #Hamburg, our director Bjorn Stevens set out to explore and address some of the fundamental questions driving scientific research on clouds. A particular highlight of the talk was a series of engaging #experiments that demonstrated the physical processes behind cloud formation. Someone may have gotten wet! 👀💦 #MPIM50 #SciComm #Wisskomm #UHH
©MPI-M

#gaza
#experiments
#IsraelTerroristState
@palestine

The IOF "has announced the deployment of a new artillery weapon as part of its ongoing war against Palestinians"
The IOF "described the Bar rockets as equipped with a specialized guidance mechanism...The system is designed to strike targets within a very short response window"
"Since October 2023, the Israeli occupation has increasingly treated Gaza as a live weapons testing ground"

english.almayadeen.net/news/po

Al Mayadeen English · IOF use Gaza as testing ground for new Bar rocket systemBy Al Mayadeen English

Fog cover coming in over the Bay; Hyde street, Alcatraz, Angel Island and Belevedere, Ghiradelli sign, Golden Gate bridge in the distance. Francisco Park was the site of one of the first (if not the first) reservoirs in the City built in the mid-1800s; its now a really nice park with a great dog run on Bay street below. Edited in Capcut speed 2xs, ‘Berlin Sky.cube LUT’

Weather and Climate Experiments by Pamela Walker, 2009

Study of the weather and climate helps students understand weather conditions and the science behind weather research. Temperature, barometric pressure, wind, and precipitation are just a few of the types of data routinely collected and analyzed by meteorologists. By studying weather, students can understand more about what is going on in the world around them.

@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#weather
#climate
#experiments