Latest news with #Babbage
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
The GOP Tax Bill Will Destabilize Tomorrow's Power Grid
The energy provisions in the Senate's version of the Republican tax bill, released this weekend and now being wrestled toward passage, are best described as steampunk. This offshoot of science fiction imagines a retro-futurist world where industrial steam power remains the cutting edge; think Jules Verne, zeppelins and Babbage machines. The description is all the more apt because the GOP appears to imagine that 19th-century energy sources will underpin US dominance of 21st century fields like artificial intelligence. Far from fostering leadership, it will hamstring America's efforts. Contrary to expectations, Republican senators intensified, rather than moderated, their House colleagues' assault on renewable energy. Not only were phase-outs of tax credits for grid-scale wind and solar projects accelerated, but a new tax was introduced to penalize any projects running afoul of foreign entity of concern, or FEOC, stipulations (previously, those just blocked access to credits). Plus, those FEOC regulations get tightened. Plus, plus, suddenly metallurgical coal, used for steelmaking, gets a tax credit.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Science
- The Hindu
Ada Lovelace: the Enchantress of Numbers
Women in STEM is a popular term you would have heard, and it is well-celebrated in the modern age. However, what about the women who laid the stepping stones for the term? Women who not only broke gender barriers but also played an important role in laying the foundation in several modern fields. One such icon was Ada Lovelace. Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, more commonly known as Ada Lovelace, was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron and his wife, Anne Isabella Milbanke. She did something most women deemed impossible then. She became the world's first computer programmer. Even though recognised much later, her visionary notes on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine included what is recognised as the first computer algorithm, earning her that title. A mother's fear Being a single mother, Lady Byron was sceptical of several skills thought to be irrational — specifically subjects like the arts — which she associated with Lord Byron. In order to prevent Ada from having any poetic tendencies, Lady Byron made sure that her daughter received a rigorous education in science and mathematics, which were very uncommon for girls in her era. Ada had a natural aptitude for numbers and reasoning from a young age. Among her tutors were renowned mathematicians like Augustus De Morgan, a well-known logician, and Mary Somerville, one of the first female members of the Royal Astronomical Society. Ada's life changed dramatically when she met Charles Babbage, the inventor and mathematician who is frequently referred to as the 'father of the computer', when she was just 17 years old. Babbage was then developing the Difference Engine, a mechanical device used to perform mathematical calculations. Ada was fascinated by his ideas and demonstrated a thorough understanding of his work. They developed a strong intellectual bond, and Babbage was impressed by her perceptions and critical abilities. He affectionately referred to her as 'The Enchantress of Numbers'. Babbage and Lovelace's friendship and collaboration would become one of the most significant intellectual partnerships of the 19th Century. Babbage later started working on the Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computing machine. It contained many features that we see and use in modern computers, including an arithmetic logic unit and integrated memory. The path changer In 1842, based on a lecture Babbage gave in Turin, Italian engineer Luigi Federico Menabrea wrote a paper in French about the Analytical Engine. Lovelace was commissioned to translate this paper into English. But she went far beyond a mere translation. Her notes were three times longer than the original text and offered profound insights into the potential of the machine. She described how the engine could be programmed to perform tasks beyond pure number-crunching—such as composing music—highlighting her prescient understanding of computing as a universal machine. Lovelace most famously included a technique for using the Analytical Engine to calculate a series of Bernoulli numbers. This is widely regarded as the first algorithm ever intended to be executed by a machine, making her the first computer programmer in history. Did you know? Ada Lovelace Day, celebrated annually in October, promotes the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The U.S. Department of Defence named a programming language 'Ada' in her honour in the 1980s. She was also aware of machines' limitations and emphasised the difference between human creativity and machine processing, which is still relevant in discussions about automation and artificial intelligence today. But in the late 1840s, her health began to decline, and in 1852, she passed away from uterine cancer. She was buried next to her father, Lord Byron, in Nottinghamshire's Church of St Mary Magdalene, as she requested. For many years after her death, Ada Lovelace's contributions were largely forgotten. It wasn't until the mid-20th Century, with the rise of computer science as a discipline, that her work was rediscovered and properly recognised. In a field where women have been traditionally discriminated against and not taken seriously, Ada Lovelace shines bright as a pioneer in not just STEM but also feminism!
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
What are Com networks and what threat do they pose?
Stark warnings have been issued by law enforcement chiefs about so-called Com networks, described as the 'online equivalent of urban street gangs'. The National Crime Agency (NCA) raised the groups as a key threat in its annual National Strategic Assessment, published on Tuesday. The groups are loose online networks that share extreme graphic material and manipulate victims to allow them to commit both sexual and violent child abuse, as well as fraud. Members are mainly teenage boys who are driven by a desire for status, sharing more and more extreme content and committing increasingly serious crimes. The groups use various platforms including Discord and Telegram, and some gaming apps are also believed to be ways boys get drawn into the networks. NCA director general for threats James Babbage said: 'Competitive and collaborative behaviours involved in gaming may also be another way that people get drawn into competitive and collaborative behaviour in these forums, and then become desensitised to the sort of violence they're seeing. 'In an attempt to gain kudos and notoriety they seek to outdo what they're seeing others do.' It is estimated that thousands of teenage boys are members of the networks, but the NCA believes their crimes are significantly under-reported. This is partly because some of their victims have been groomed and may not be aware that a crime has taken place. Mr Babbage said the groups are 'the online equivalent of urban street gangs committing crimes to make money, cause fear and harm, and gain notoriety.' They will sometimes deliberately target victims who have sought out information about eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, or other mental health issues. Members become involved in a wide range of disturbing activities online, from viewing and sharing extreme violent material to coercing victims to harm themselves or commit sexual acts. They use the same techniques to groom victims as they do to target others for fraud. NCA director general Graeme Biggar said both investigators at the agency and in counter-terrorism policing are seeing 'gamification' of threats, where young people want to progress through levels and therefore their level of offending escalates quickly. He said the speed at which the crimes become extreme is new. 'We've seen a number of mass victim offenders in child sexual abuse cases before, but the level of social networking, the pursuit of notoriety within the networks, and the speed of moving to the most extreme harms is new and shocking.' Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ada Lovelace's skills with language, music, and needlepoint contributed to her pioneering work in computing
Ada Lovelace, known as the first computer programmer, was born on Dec. 10, 1815, more than a century before digital electronic computers were developed. Lovelace has been hailed as a model for girls in science, technology, engineering, and math, also known as STEM. A dozen biographies for young audiences were published for the 200th anniversary of her birth in 2015. And in 2018, The New York Times added hers as one of the first "missing obituaries" of women at the rise of the #MeToo movement. But Lovelace—properly Ada King, Countess of Lovelace after her marriage—drew on many different fields for her innovative work, including languages, music, and needlecraft, in addition to mathematical logic. Recognizing that her well-rounded education enabled her to accomplish work that was well ahead of her time, she can be a model for all students, not just girls, Corinna Schlombs, a history professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, writes for The Conversation. Lovelace was the daughter of the scandal-ridden romantic poet George Gordon Byron, aka Lord Byron, and his highly educated and strictly religious wife Anne Isabella Noel Byron, known as Lady Byron. Lovelace's parents separated shortly after her birth. At a time when women were not allowed to own property and had few legal rights, her mother managed to secure custody of her daughter. Growing up in a privileged aristocratic family, Lovelace was educated by home tutors, as was common for girls like her. She received lessons in French and Italian, music, and in suitable handicrafts such as embroidery. Less common for a girl in her time, she also studied math. Lovelace continued to work with math tutors into her adult life, and she eventually corresponded with mathematician and logician Augustus De Morgan at London University about symbolic logic. Lovelace drew on all of these lessons when she wrote her computer program—in reality, it was a set of instructions for a mechanical calculator that had been built only in parts. The computer in question was the Analytical Engine designed by mathematician, philosopher, and inventor Charles Babbage. Lovelace had met Babbage when she was introduced to London society. The two related to each other over their shared love for mathematics and fascination for mechanical calculation. By the early 1840s, Babbage had won and lost government funding for a mathematical calculator, fallen out with the skilled craftsman building the precision parts for his machine, and was close to giving up on his project. At this point, Lovelace stepped in as an advocate. To make Babbage's calculator known to a British audience, Lovelace proposed to translate into English an article that described the Analytical Engine. The article was written in French by the Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea and published in a Swiss journal. Scholars believe that Babbage encouraged her to add notes of her own. In her notes, which ended up twice as long as the original article, Lovelace drew on different areas of her education. Lovelace began by describing how to code instructions onto cards with punched holes, like those used for the Jacquard weaving loom, a device patented in 1804 that used punch cards to automate weaving patterns in fabric. Having learned embroidery herself, Lovelace was familiar with the repetitive patterns used for handicrafts. Similarly repetitive steps were needed for mathematical calculations. To avoid duplicating cards for repetitive steps, Lovelace used loops, nested loops, and conditional testing in her program instructions. The notes included instructions on how to calculate Bernoulli numbers, which Lovelace knew from her training to be important in the study of mathematics. Her program showed that the Analytical Engine was capable of performing original calculations that had not yet been performed manually. At the same time, Lovelace noted that the machine could only follow instructions and not "originate anything." Finally, Lovelace recognized that the numbers manipulated by the Analytical Engine could be seen as other types of symbols, such as musical notes. An accomplished singer and pianist, Lovelace was familiar with musical notation symbols representing aspects of musical performance, such as pitch and duration, and she had manipulated logical symbols in her correspondence with De Morgan. It was not a large step for her to realize that the Analytical Engine could process symbols—not just crunch numbers—and even compose music. Inventing computer programming was not the first time Lovelace brought her knowledge from different areas to bear on a new subject. For example, as a young girl, she was fascinated with flying machines. Bringing together biology, mechanics, and poetry, she asked her mother for anatomical books to study the function of bird wings. She built and experimented with wings, and in her letters, she metaphorically expressed her longing for her mother in the language of flying. Despite her talents in logic and math, Lovelace didn't pursue a scientific career. She was independently wealthy and never earned money from her scientific pursuits. This was common, however, at a time when freedom—including financial independence—was equated with the capability to impartially conduct scientific experiments. In addition, Lovelace devoted just over a year to her only publication, the translation of and notes on Menabrea's paper about the Analytical Engine. Otherwise, in her life cut short by cancer at age 37, she vacillated between math, music, her mother's demands, care for her own three children, and eventually a passion for gambling. Lovelace thus may not be an obvious model as a female scientist for girls today. However, Lovelace's way of drawing on her well-rounded education to solve difficult problems was still inspirational. True, she lived in an age before scientific specialization. Even Babbage was a polymath who worked in mathematical calculation and mechanical innovation. He also published a treatise on industrial manufacturing and another on religious questions of creationism. But Lovelace applied knowledge from what people today think of as disparate fields in the sciences, arts, and humanities. A well-rounded thinker, she created solutions that were well ahead of her time. This story was produced by The Conversation and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ada Lovelace's skills with language, music, and needlepoint contributed to her pioneering work in computing
Ada Lovelace, known as the first computer programmer, was born on Dec. 10, 1815, more than a century before digital electronic computers were developed. Lovelace has been hailed as a model for girls in science, technology, engineering, and math, also known as STEM. A dozen biographies for young audiences were published for the 200th anniversary of her birth in 2015. And in 2018, The New York Times added hers as one of the first "missing obituaries" of women at the rise of the #MeToo movement. But Lovelace—properly Ada King, Countess of Lovelace after her marriage—drew on many different fields for her innovative work, including languages, music, and needlecraft, in addition to mathematical logic. Recognizing that her well-rounded education enabled her to accomplish work that was well ahead of her time, she can be a model for all students, not just girls, Corinna Schlombs, a history professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, writes for The Conversation. Lovelace was the daughter of the scandal-ridden romantic poet George Gordon Byron, aka Lord Byron, and his highly educated and strictly religious wife Anne Isabella Noel Byron, known as Lady Byron. Lovelace's parents separated shortly after her birth. At a time when women were not allowed to own property and had few legal rights, her mother managed to secure custody of her daughter. Growing up in a privileged aristocratic family, Lovelace was educated by home tutors, as was common for girls like her. She received lessons in French and Italian, music, and in suitable handicrafts such as embroidery. Less common for a girl in her time, she also studied math. Lovelace continued to work with math tutors into her adult life, and she eventually corresponded with mathematician and logician Augustus De Morgan at London University about symbolic logic. Lovelace drew on all of these lessons when she wrote her computer program—in reality, it was a set of instructions for a mechanical calculator that had been built only in parts. The computer in question was the Analytical Engine designed by mathematician, philosopher, and inventor Charles Babbage. Lovelace had met Babbage when she was introduced to London society. The two related to each other over their shared love for mathematics and fascination for mechanical calculation. By the early 1840s, Babbage had won and lost government funding for a mathematical calculator, fallen out with the skilled craftsman building the precision parts for his machine, and was close to giving up on his project. At this point, Lovelace stepped in as an advocate. To make Babbage's calculator known to a British audience, Lovelace proposed to translate into English an article that described the Analytical Engine. The article was written in French by the Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea and published in a Swiss journal. Scholars believe that Babbage encouraged her to add notes of her own. In her notes, which ended up twice as long as the original article, Lovelace drew on different areas of her education. Lovelace began by describing how to code instructions onto cards with punched holes, like those used for the Jacquard weaving loom, a device patented in 1804 that used punch cards to automate weaving patterns in fabric. Having learned embroidery herself, Lovelace was familiar with the repetitive patterns used for handicrafts. Similarly repetitive steps were needed for mathematical calculations. To avoid duplicating cards for repetitive steps, Lovelace used loops, nested loops, and conditional testing in her program instructions. The notes included instructions on how to calculate Bernoulli numbers, which Lovelace knew from her training to be important in the study of mathematics. Her program showed that the Analytical Engine was capable of performing original calculations that had not yet been performed manually. At the same time, Lovelace noted that the machine could only follow instructions and not "originate anything." Finally, Lovelace recognized that the numbers manipulated by the Analytical Engine could be seen as other types of symbols, such as musical notes. An accomplished singer and pianist, Lovelace was familiar with musical notation symbols representing aspects of musical performance, such as pitch and duration, and she had manipulated logical symbols in her correspondence with De Morgan. It was not a large step for her to realize that the Analytical Engine could process symbols—not just crunch numbers—and even compose music. Inventing computer programming was not the first time Lovelace brought her knowledge from different areas to bear on a new subject. For example, as a young girl, she was fascinated with flying machines. Bringing together biology, mechanics, and poetry, she asked her mother for anatomical books to study the function of bird wings. She built and experimented with wings, and in her letters, she metaphorically expressed her longing for her mother in the language of flying. Despite her talents in logic and math, Lovelace didn't pursue a scientific career. She was independently wealthy and never earned money from her scientific pursuits. This was common, however, at a time when freedom—including financial independence—was equated with the capability to impartially conduct scientific experiments. In addition, Lovelace devoted just over a year to her only publication, the translation of and notes on Menabrea's paper about the Analytical Engine. Otherwise, in her life cut short by cancer at age 37, she vacillated between math, music, her mother's demands, care for her own three children, and eventually a passion for gambling. Lovelace thus may not be an obvious model as a female scientist for girls today. However, Lovelace's way of drawing on her well-rounded education to solve difficult problems was still inspirational. True, she lived in an age before scientific specialization. Even Babbage was a polymath who worked in mathematical calculation and mechanical innovation. He also published a treatise on industrial manufacturing and another on religious questions of creationism. But Lovelace applied knowledge from what people today think of as disparate fields in the sciences, arts, and humanities. A well-rounded thinker, she created solutions that were well ahead of her time. This story was produced by The Conversation and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
