🗑️ The Liminal Space Gazette 🗑️Issue 2
Voyager 1 pops up and read to the end for a good use of AI
Would you say that the space beyond the Solar system and before the edge of the Oort cloud is liminal? I sure think so, because after 5 months of nothing Voyager 1 is sending data back to Earth for the first time. Yessss!
Here’s a quick summary of the CNN article:
Voyager 1 Communication Restored: NASA engineers have fixed a communication issue with Voyager 1, allowing them to receive clear data for the first time in five months.
Distance and Age: The spacecraft is about 15 billion miles from Earth and has been operational for 46 years, showing signs of aging.
Technical Challenges: A glitch in the flight data system’s telemetry modulation unit led to indecipherable data being sent since November 2023.
Innovative Solution: The team successfully relocated the affected code to different parts of the system’s memory, overcoming the problem caused by a corrupted chip.
About time!
🔮 Horoscope for the Digitally Disconnected 🔮
Libra (Sept 23 - Oct 22): This week, your Wi-Fi signal wavers between full bars and existential dread. Embrace the emptiness, dear Libra. Your destiny awaits—probably in a cached cat video.
*Don’t actually believe horscopes. No seriously.*
Scientists Unleash AI Breakthrough for Limitless Clean Fusion Energy
In a mesmerizing twist of scientific ingenuity, researchers from Princeton University and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have unveiled an AI model that could be the key to unlocking the boundless potential of fusion energy. This breakthrough, akin to a cosmic revelation, addresses one of the most elusive challenges in the quest for sustainable power.
The Fusion Conundrum
Picture the sun, its fiery heart pulsating with nuclear fusion—a celestial dance where atoms fuse, releasing energy that sustains life across the cosmos. Here on Earth, replicating this cosmic ballet has proven elusive. The hurdles are many: generating more energy than consumed, crafting reactor-proof materials, maintaining impurity-free conditions, and containing the tempestuous plasma within the confines of donut-shaped reactors.
The AI Beacon
Enter our protagonist: an AI model with the wisdom of a thousand suns. Its mission? To tame the unruly plasma, preventing it from escaping the magnetic clutches that bind it within the donut-shaped tokamak reactors. These reactors, like cosmic hula hoops, rely on magnetic fields to compress plasma particles into a perpetual fusion frenzy.
But beware! A mere hiccup in the magnetic field lines, and chaos ensues. The plasma rebels, slipping through the fingers of its magnetic captors, and the fusion party grinds to a halt. Catastrophe looms—the reactor’s walls may crumble, and the delicate balance shatters.
The AI’s Dance
Our AI oracle, trained on real-world fusion experiments rather than theoretical musings, wields its predictive prowess. It foresees the impending instability—those dreaded tearing mode instabilities—300 milliseconds before they strike. A cosmic heartbeat, perhaps, but ample time to intervene.
In a daring performance, the AI orchestrates the reactor’s power flow and shapes the plasma. It whispers to the swirling particles, coaxing them into submission. The result? Controlled chaos—a fusion ballet where the stars align, and limitless energy beckons.
The Grand Finale
The Princeton lab’s AI model danced its debut at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego. There, it conducted a symphony of plasma control, ensuring the particles pirouetted harmoniously. Co-author Azarakhsh Jalalvand declared, “Our AI model’s success lies in its roots—real data, not mere equations.”
So, dear readers, as we gaze into the liminal abyss, let us celebrate this fusion waltz—a cosmic pas de deux choreographed by silicon minds. The stars whisper secrets, and humanity dances on the precipice of boundless clean energy. 🌟
A good use for AI: