Publications by Patrick Rhodes

Pluto: To Catch an Icy King

Sly as a fox, it is. Mysterious and diminutive, it has eluded us for decades. Despite what we’ve learned about Pluto, constant debate continues to rage over its classification. From the moment it was discovered, astronomers have bickered over this icy body and its place in our solar system. Was it Planet X? Is it a planet at all? Did it really ...

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Artificial Intelligence: Solving the Chinese Room Argument

Yesterday, the very best AI (artificial intelligence) had trouble beating a novice human chess player. Today, the very best human player has enormous difficulty beating the best AI. Tomorrow, the very best human player will never beat any AI. However, that’s not the worst news you’ve heard. This is:Computers have no idea how to play chess w...

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And Yet It Moves: Gravitational Waves

“The moment he was set at liberty, he looked up to the sky and down to the ground, and, stamping with his foot, in a contemplative mood, said, Eppur si muove [And yet it moves], meaning the earth.”1Giuseppe Baretti, on Galileo GalileiGalileo Galilei knew the Earth revolved around the Sun and that it wasn’t, as the Catholic Church would ha...

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