Facial Recognition and Drivers’ Licenses: Should the DMV Share Your Photo?

In this brief, authors Daniel Bromberg, Étienne Charbonneau, and Andrew Smith present the findings of a 2017 Granite State Poll asking New Hampshire residents how they feel about the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) sharing their driver’s license photos with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Currently 21 states, though not New Hampshire, share DMV data with the FBI in support of its effort to build a massive database of over 400 million photos to which it applies facial recognition technology. The authors report that about 70 percent of Granite Staters support the state DMV sharing photos with the FBI for inclusion in the national facial recognition database. Trump voters show the strongest support, but over 60 percent of Clinton voters and nonvoters would also support the practice. Women more strongly support the sharing of DMV photos than do men. Support in the Manchester and Seacoast areas is less than in other areas of the state but still exceeds 60 percent. New Hampshire is one of the few states comprehensively addressing the collection of biometric data. A discussion among law enforcement, policymakers, and the public seems imperative as the use of facial recognition technology continues to expand

Discovery of the Widest Very Low Mass Binary

We report the discovery of a very low mass binary system (primary mass <0.1 Msol) with a projected separation of ~5100 AU, more than twice that of the widest previously known system. A spectrum covering the 1-2.5 microns wavelength interval at R ~1700 is presented for each component. Analysis of the spectra indicates spectral types of M6.5V and M8V, and the photometric distance of the system is ~62 pc. Given that previous studies have established that no more than 1% of very low mass binary systems have orbits larger than 20 AU, the existence of such a wide system has a bearing on very low mass star formation and evolution models.Comment: accepted ApJL, 4 page

Les robots et l'Empire du droit. Forces et limites de la gouvernance par le droit pour l'encadrement normatif du développement de la robotique interactive

L’avènement de certaines technologies comme les biotechnologies ou les nanotechnologies a entraîné de nombreux impacts tant positifs que négatifs à l’encontre de divers enjeux techniques, sécuritaires, économiques, éthiques, légaux et sociaux. Compte tenu des récentes avancées réalisées dans les domaines de l’intelligence artificielle et de la microélectronique, le développement de robots destinés à interagir de plus en plus avec les humains apparaît lui aussi soulever une pluralité d’enjeux à titre de technologie de rupture. De fait, le développement de robots interactifs dotés d’un degré d’autonomie décisionnelle de plus en plus complexe soulève de nombreuses incertitudes quant aux impacts qu’ils pourraient entraîner et suscite ainsi de nombreuses réflexions sur leur encadrement normatif. Au cœur de ces réflexions, nous retrouvons un questionnement sur la capacité du droit comme mode de gouvernance à encadrer les enjeux concernés par l’essor de la robotique interactive. En guise de réponse, le soft law est régulièrement invoqué dans la littérature juridique sur la régulation du développement technologique, puisqu’il offrirait une alternative plus efficace compte tenu de sa flexibilité et de son adaptabilité. Le développement de la robotique interactive ne fait pas exception à cette réaction, alors que plusieurs acteurs publics et privés proposent de recourir à des chartes éthiques, des lignes directrices et d’autres types de normes pour mieux prendre en compte les différents enjeux soulevés. Le recours à ces formes alternatives de régulation sociale qu’offre le soft law permettrait ainsi d’assurer un développement plus socialement responsable de robots interactifs. Or, la transposition du constat de l’insuffisance des cadres juridiques effectué pour le développement technologique à celui de la robotique interactive interpelle la nécessaire analyse des forces et des limites autant du droit dur traditionnel (hard law) que celles du soft law à titre de modes de gouvernance sociale. C’est dans cette optique que cette thèse entend contribuer à la réflexion amorcée sur la régulation du développement de la robotique, en examinant jusqu’à quel point la gouvernance qu’offre le droit peut effectivement encadrer les enjeux soulevés par l’essor de robots de plus en plus autonomes. Pour ce faire, le recours à un cadre théorique permettant d’analyser la capacité effective du droit comme mode de gouvernance du développement technologique, et plus particulièrement celui de la robotique, est essentiel. Dans un premier temps, notre cadre théorique situe, puis caractérise les différents champs normatifs du droit comme mode de gouvernance en les catégorisant sous trois formes particulières : le droit dur, le droit souple et le droit mou. Cette cartographie de la normativité du droit comme mode de gouvernance s’inspire ainsi des travaux de C. Thibierge et de l’étude annuelle du Conseil d’État français sur le droit souple. Dans un second temps, notre cadre théorique permet d’examiner la capacité effective du droit comme mode de gouvernance à encadrer l’essor de la robotique en recourant à deux critères d’analyse : (1) son efficacité réelle à prendre en compte les impacts entraînés par le développement de robots interactifs à l’égard des différents enjeux qu’il soulève et (2) son efficacité normative à assurer une légitimité et une adhésion auprès des destinataires visés. La seconde partie du cadre théorique présente ainsi une grille d’analyse d’impacts du développement de la robotique et de la capacité effective du droit à les encadrer, qui se base notamment sur les différents travaux menés par J. Lenoble en matière de gouvernance et par C. Thibierge sur le concept de force normative. Cette thèse permet ainsi d’examiner de quelle manière les trois formes dure, souple et molle du droit mobilisé comme mode de gouvernance peuvent encadrer de manière effective les différents enjeux soulevés par le développement de la robotique interactive. Notre appliquerons d’abord dans un second chapitre notre grille d’analyse à différents dispositifs juridiques du droit dur et souple, notamment reliés au droit réglementaire, à la responsabilité civile et à la protection des renseignements personnels. Le recours à notre grille d’analyse permettra ainsi d’examiner les forces et les limites des normes juridiques de droit dur et souple à encadrer certains enjeux spécifiques, tels que la sécurité humaine et la vie privée, soulevés par le développement actuel et futur de robots interactifs. Nous appliquerons ensuite cette même grille d’analyse dans un troisième chapitre à divers instruments normatifs, comme des codes de conduite et des lignes directrices provenant d’acteurs publics et privés ou encore la Déclaration de Montréal sur le développement responsable de l’intelligence artificielle, qui se rattachent tous à la catégorie du droit mou. Ce faisant, le recours à notre grille d’analyse nous permettra d’illustrer l’ampleur des enjeux sociaux ciblés par le droit mou, de même que leurs différentes limites, lorsque certains instruments normatifs sont mobilisés pour réguler le développement de robots interactifs. De cette manière, cette thèse offre un diagnostic normatif des forces et limites des trois formes de droit mobilisées pour gouverner l’essor de robots interactifs en tenant compte de leur efficacité réelle pour ce faire, ainsi que de leur efficacité normative. L’analyse précise ainsi de quelle manière les normes issues des formes dure, souple et molle du droit peuvent travailler en synergie pour assurer un développement technologique responsable, qui tient compte des différents impacts et enjeux soulevés. Par le fait même, cette thèse ouvre le champ à une réflexion approfondie sur les conditions propices à la mise en œuvre d’une gouvernance par le droit du développement technologique.Abstract: The development of emerging technologies, such as biotechnology and nanotechnology, has caused various positive and negative impacts regarding technical, health and safety, environemental, economical, ethical, legal, and social issues. Given the recent advances in artificial intelligence and microelectronics, robots designed to interact in numerous ways with humans will likely generate the same issues and thus possibly become the next disruptive technology. The development of interactive robots which incorporate an increasingly complex degree of decisional autonomy raise several uncertainties and many consider current legal frameworks inadequate to effectively regulate them. More specifically, these reflections bring the focus on the capacity of the law to govern the issues generated by the rise of interactive robotics. In this context, soft law is often called upon by the legal litterature to regulate technological development, as it provides a flexible and adaptative approach judged more suitable to emerging technologies. Interactive robotics is no different from other disruptive technologies such as nanotechnology or biotechnology and thus, many public and private actors have invoked ethical charters, guidelines and different alternative norms to specifically regulate the various issues raised by social robots. In doing so, the use of soft law as a normative alternative would provide a more socially responsible development of interactive robotics. However, the answer provided by these alternative norms challenges the traditional role of hard law and thus postulates that legal norms are insufficient to regulate interactive robotics. By doing so, this normative stance mobilizes the necessary analysis of the strenghts and limits of hard law and soft law as social modes of governance. In this context, this thesis will contribute to the emerging reflection on the regulation of interactive robotics by examining to what extent the law as a social mode of governance can effectively regulate the numerous issues raised by the rise of autonomous interactive robots. It is thus necessary to mobilize a theoretical framework to analyse the effective capacity of the law as a social mode of governance to regulate the technological development and more specifically the development of interactive robotics. This framework is detailed in the first chapter of the thesis. In the first part of the first chapter, our theoretical framework identifies and characterizes the normative fields related to the concept of law as a social mode of governance, which comprises three different forms: hard law (droit dur), legally recognized soft law (droit souple), and non legally recognized soft law (droit mou). This normative cartography draws on the French annual study from the Conseil d’État on soft law and the theoretical works from Catherine Thibierge on the normativity of the law. In the second part of the first chapter, our theoretical framework provides two analytical criteria to analyse the effective capacity of the law as a social mode of governance to regulate the development of interactive robotics: (1) its real effectiveness to take into account the various impacts raised by interactive robots on certain issues; and (2) its normative effectiveness, which is based on the democratic legitimacy of the norms invoked and the normative adherence they can have upon targeted recipients. The second part of our theoretical framework thus provides an analytical grid which can be used to examine the various impacts raised by the development of interactive robotics and analyse the effective capacity of law as a social mode of governance. This analytical grid is grounded on theoritical works on legal governance from J. Lenoble and on the concept of normative force developped by C. Thibierge. Building on this theoretical framework, our thesis will analyse how the three normative forms identified in the law as a social mode of governance can effectively regulate the various issues raised by the development of interactive robotics. In a second chapter, our analytical grid will be used to analyse hard law and legally recognized soft law norms found in regulatory law, civil liability, and personal information protection legislations. The application of our analytical grid will provide an analysis of the strengths and limits of hard law and legally recognized soft law norms invoked to regulate two specific issues raised by the current and future developement of interactive robotics: safety issues and privacy issues. In a third chapter, the same analytical grid will be used to analyse various normative documents, such as ethical charters and guidelines, codes of conducts issued by public and private actors or the Declaration of Montreal on the responsible development of AI, all of which are categorized as non legally recognized soft law instruments. Our analytical grid will provide an analysis of the normative scope these documents provide and their inherent limits to regulate the numerous issues raised by the development of interactive robots. This thesis will thus offer a normative diagnosis of the strengths and limits of both hard and soft legal norms, whether legally recognized or not, that are mobilized as a social mode of governance by examining their real and normative effectiveness to regulate the rise of sophisticated and autonomous interactive robots. Our analysis details in a specific manner how the three different types of hard and soft legal norms can work in synergy to provide a responsible technological development able to consider the impacts and issues generated by the development of interactive robotics. This thesis opens further discussion on how to set out the appropriate conditions to implement a more responsible legal governance of technological development

Discovery of the brightest T dwarf in the northern hemisphere

We report the discovery of a bright (H=12.77) brown dwarf designated SIMP J013656.5+093347. The discovery was made as part of a near-infrared proper motion survey, SIMP (Sondage Infrarouge de Mouvement Propre), which uses proper motion and near-infrared/optical photometry to identify brown dwarf candidates. A low resolution (lambda/dlambda~40) spectrum of this brown dwarf covering the 0.88-2.35 microns wavelength interval is presented. Analysis of the spectrum indicates a spectral type of T2.5+/-0.5. A photometric distance of 6.4+/-0.3 pc is estimated assuming it is a single object. Current observations rule out a binary of mass ratio ~1 and separation >5 AU. SIMP 0136 is the brightest T dwarf in the northern hemisphere and is surpassed only by Eps Indi Bab over the whole sky. It is thus an excellent candidate for detailed studies and should become a benchmark object for the early-T spectral class.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, To be published in November 1, 2006 issue of ApJL. Following IAU recommendation, the survey acronym (IBIS) was changed to SIM

An electrophysiological investigation of power-amplification in the ballistic mantis shrimp punch

Author Posting. © Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, 2019. This article is posted here by permission of Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education 17(1), (2019): T12-T19.Mantis shrimp are aggressive, burrowing crustaceans that hunt using one the fastest movements in the natural world. These stomatopods can crack the calcified shells of prey or spear down unsuspecting fish with lighting speed. Their strike makes use of power-amplification mechanisms to move their limbs much faster than is possible by muscles alone. Other arthropods such as crickets and grasshoppers also use power-amplified kicks that allow these animals to rapidly jump away from predator threats. Here we present a template laboratory exercise for studying the electrophysiology of power-amplified limb movement in arthropods, with a specific focus on mantis shrimp strikes. The exercise is designed in such a way that it can be applied to other species that perform power-amplified limb movements (e.g., house crickets, Acheta domesticus) and species that do not (e.g., cockroaches, Blaberus discoidalis). Students learn to handle the animals, make and implant electromyogram (EMG) probes, and finally perform experiments. This integrative approach introduces the concept of power-amplified neuromuscular control; allows students to develop scientific methods, and conveys high-level insights into behavior, and convergent evolution, the process by which different species evolve similar traits.Author GJG declares a commercial interest in the SpikerBox used here as a co-owner in Backyard Brains. Authors ES and SM are employed by Backyard Brains. DJP and GJG were supported by a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) award #R44MH093334. Author KDF is funded by European Commission Marie Sklodowska-Curie Independent Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and the Grass Foundation

Le tas de sable Du désordre qui rassemble

Un tas de sable, une gelée de groseilles, un composite conducteur, un filtre poreux... Derrière ces exemples concrets du quotidien se cache une science complexe, dédiée aux milieux aléatoires macroscopiques, les Miam. Depuis plus de trente ans, des générations de chercheurs ont collaboré dans le cadre d’une structure légère soutenue par le CNRS pour percer les mystères de la matière en désordre.A pile of sand, a jelly, a conducting composite, a porous filter... Behind these various examples of everyday life is hidden a complex science dedicated to macroscopic random media (Miam, for MIlieux Aléatoires Macroscopiques). During the last thirty years, generations of scientists have collaborated in a flexible association to unravel the mysteries of random matter

Open Citizen Science: fostering open knowledge with participation

Citizen Science or community science has been around for a long time. The scope of community involvement in Citizen Science initiatives ranges from short-term data collection to intensive engagement to delve into a research topic together with scientists and/or other volunteers. Although many volunteer researchers have academic training, it is not a prerequisite for participation in research projects. It is important to adhere to scientific standards, which include, above all, transparency with regard to the methodology of data collection and public discussion of the results, and open educational resources (OER). Hereby, Citizen Science is closely linked to Open Science. In our contribution, we will introduce two projects, both developed within the Wikimedia Fellowship Freies Wissen.The top-down approach: ERGo! An Entomology Research Tool to raise awareness of biodiversity protection.Inclusion in academia and pressing social problems such as climate change are fundamentally social justice issues. To facilitate early participation in the scientific process on the part of people holding underrepresented identities in science, we develop a Citizen Science initiative based on a low-cost open-source platform (ERGo!) to perform a technique for electrical recordings from insect eyes known as electroretinograms (ERGs) while presenting visual stimuli. Pasadena Unified School District High School students pilot ERG experiments to test the feasibility of this technique as a large-scale Citizen Science initiative. With ERGo!, future Citizen Scientists contribute data to cutting-edge research that monitors insect biodiversity, adaptation, and health in rapidly changing environments caused by monocultures, pesticides, and climate change.The bottom-up approach: Open cultural data collection. A Citizen Science initiative for regional knowledge curation.We catalogued the 18th century German magazine ‘Die Gartenlaube’ (in Wikisource) with bibliographic metadata in Wikidata in a project called ‘Die Datenlaube’. We develop collaborative approaches for linked open data methods to produce data sets about historical knowledge. The concept of ‘Open Citizen Science’ offers a methodological baseline for Open Science practises in fields of digital humanities. Scanned documents and structured open metadata revealed open access to historic collections. Through the Wikimedia platforms 'Die Datenlaube' creates possibilities to edit entries, to design own investigations, and to contribute to OER.Based on the elaboration of the two rather different projects (natural and social sciences, involvement of pupils vs citizens, top-down vs bottom-up), we will discuss similarities and hence the challenges and lessons learned for using and developing Open Science elements in Citizen Science and mutual learning. Furthermore, we will conclude by focusing on the opportunities resulting from the integration of societal expectations in science and vice versa

Weather on Other Worlds. I. Detection of Periodic Variability in the L3 Dwarf DENIS-P J1058.7-1548 with Precise Multi-wavelength Photometry

Photometric monitoring from warm Spitzer reveals that the L3 dwarf DENIS-P J1058.7-1548 varies sinusoidally in brightness with a period of 4.25^(+0.26)_(-0.16) hr and an amplitude of 0.388% ± 0.043% (peak-to-valley) in the 3.6 μm band, confirming the reality of a 4.31 ± 0.31 hr periodicity detected in J-band photometry from the SOAR telescope. The J-band variations are a factor of 2.17 ± 0.35 larger in amplitude than those at 3.6 μm, while 4.5 μm Spitzer observations yield a 4.5 μm/3.6 μm amplitude ratio of only 0.23 ± 0.15, consistent with zero 4.5 μm variability. This wide range in amplitudes indicates rotationally modulated variability due to magnetic phenomena and/or inhomogeneous cloud cover. Weak Hα emission indicates some magnetic activity, but it is difficult to explain the observed amplitudes by magnetic phenomena unless they are combined with cloud inhomogeneities (which might have a magnetic cause). However, inhomogeneous cloud cover alone can explain all our observations, and our data align with theory in requiring that the regions with the thickest clouds also have the lowest effective temperature. Combined with published vsin (i) results, our rotation period yields a 95% confidence lower limit of R_* ≥ 0.111 R_☉, suggesting upper limits of 320 Myr and 0.055 M_☉ on the age and mass. These limits should be regarded cautiously because of ~3σ inconsistencies with other data; however, a lower limit of 45° on the inclination is more secure. DENIS-P J1058.7-1548 is only the first of nearly two dozen low-amplitude variables discovered and analyzed by the Weather on Other Worlds project

Identifying Psychosocial Determinants of the Development of Passion among Elite Level Hockey Players

Although a rapidly accumulating body of research exists on the determinants and consequences of harmonious and obsessive passion (see Vallerand, 2015), few studies have yet explored the processes involved in the development of both types of passion. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the psychosocial determinants of the development of passion among elite level hockey players