Saving Zoë: Worldline self-monitoring can better limit the spread of diseases

The emergence of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has sparked intense interest in the use of mobile phone technology to aid in contact tracing. We demonstrate, using a simple model of infectious transmission, that voluntary offering of a richer dataset—worldline information—can reveal transmission paths that are missed through contact tracing alone. This information can be captured securely by a mobile device and kept confidential, thus allowing individuals to weigh their personal privacy concerns against the benefits to society, and make their own decisions. Worldline self-monitoring has other benefits for the adopter that are unrelated to health concerns, which could aid in widespread adoption. Because each worldline contributes to a more comprehensive model of objective reality, independent platforms can contribute information without coordination, similar to the way that scientific knowledge is constructed

Saving Zoë: Worldline self-monitoring can better limit the spread of diseases

The emergence of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has sparked intense interest in the use of mobile phone technology to aid in contact tracing. We demonstrate, using a simple model of infectious transmission, that voluntary offering of a richer dataset—worldline information—can reveal transmission paths that are missed through contact tracing alone. This information can be captured securely by a mobile device and kept confidential, thus allowing individuals to weigh their personal privacy concerns against the benefits to society, and make their own decisions. Worldline self-monitoring has other benefits for the adopter that are unrelated to health concerns, which could aid in widespread adoption. Because each worldline contributes to a more comprehensive model of objective reality, independent platforms can contribute information without coordination, similar to the way that scientific knowledge is constructed

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel: Why Existing Liability Law Does Not Need to Be Preemptively Altered to Cope with the Debut of the Driverless Car

First, in part I, this article seeks to explore the background of driverless vehicles, including their history, the technology involved, and general issues and potential problems that may arise from these vehicles entering the market. In part II, the article will discuss existing regulations already in place for autonomous driverless vehicles in both state and federal law. Part III will examine two proposals, those for additional laws, or for the adaptation of existing laws to create new liability schemes, and how most of these proposals are either inadequate or overbroad. Part IV will examine liability waiver for accidents, strict liability law for product defects, and the no-fault insurance system, and how the existing laws already in place can cover the introduction of driverless vehicles to market

Development and Evaluation of a Tutorial to Improve Students' Understanding of a Lock-in amplifier

A lock-in amplifier is a versatile instrument frequently used in physics research. However, many students struggle with the basic operating principles of a lock-in amplifier which can lead to a variety of difficulties. To improve students' understanding, we have been developing and evaluating a research-based tutorial which makes use of a computer simulation of a lock-in amplifier. The tutorial is based on a field-tested approach in which students realize their difficulties after predicting the outcome of simulated experiments involving a lock-in amplifier and check their predictions using the simulated lock-in amplifier. Then, the tutorial provides guidance and strives to help students develop a coherent understanding of the basics of a lock-in amplifier. The tutorial development involved interviews with physics faculty members and graduate students and iteration of many versions of the tutorial with professors and graduate students. The student difficulties with lock-in amplifiers and the development and assessment of the research-based tutorial to help students develop a functional understanding of this device are discussed.Comment: Currently under review for Phys Rev ST PER. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1601.0128