Daily Archives: October 16, 2019

Physicists have found quasiparticles that mimic hypothetical dark matter axions – Science News

Posted: October 16, 2019 at 5:33 pm

An elusive hypothetical particle comesin imitation form.

Lurking within a solid crystal is aphenomenon that is mathematically similar to proposed subatomic particlescalled axions, physicist JohannesGooth and colleagues report online October 7 in Nature.

If axions exist as fundamentalparticles, they could constitute a hidden form of matter in the cosmos, darkmatter. Scientists know dark matter exists thanks to its gravitational pull,but they have yet to identify what it is. Axions are one possibility, but no one has found the particles yet (SN: 4/9/18).

Enter the imitators. The axions analogswithin the crystal are a type of quasiparticle, a disturbance in a material thatcan mimic fundamental particles like axions. Quasiparticles result from thecoordinated jostling of electrons within a solid material. Its a bit like how birdsin a flock seem to take on new forms by syncing up their movements.

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Axions were first proposed in thecontext of quantum chromodynamics the theory that explains the behaviors of quarks,tiny particles that are contained, for example, inside protons. Axions andtheir new doppelgngers are mathematically similar but physically totallyunrelated, says theoretical physicist Helen Quinn of SLAC National AcceleratorLaboratory in Menlo Park, Calif., one of the scientists who formulated thetheory behind axions. That means scientists are no closer to solving their darkmatter woes.

Still, the new study reveals for thefirst time that the phenomenon has a life beyond mere equations, inquasiparticle form. Its actually amazing, says Gooth, of the Max Planck Institutefor Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Germany. The idea of axions is avery mathematical concept, in a sense, but it still exists in reality.

In the new study, the researchersstarted with a material that hosts a type of quasiparticle known as a Weyl fermion,which behaves as if massless (SN: 7/16/15).When the material is cooled, Weyl fermions become locked into place, forming acrystal. That results in the density of electrons varying in a regular patternacross the material, like a stationary wave of electric charge, with peaks inthe wave corresponding to more electrons and dips corresponding to fewerelectrons.

Applying parallel electric and magneticfields to the crystal caused the wave to slosh back and forth. That sloshing isthe mathematical equivalent of an axion, the researchers say.

To confirm that the sloshing wasoccurring, the team measured the electric current through the crystal. Thatcurrent grew quickly as the researchers ramped up the electric fields strength,in a way that is a fingerprint of axion quasiparticles.

If the scientists changed the directionof the magnetic field so that it no longer aligned with the electric field, theenhanced growth of the electric current was lost, indicating that the axionquasiparticles went away. This material behaves exactly as you would expect,Gooth says.

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New Quantum-Mechanical Dissipation Mechanism Observed for the First Time – SciTechDaily

Posted: at 5:33 pm

The gold tip is moved across the surface of the topological insulator and experiences energy loss only at discrete, quantized energies. This is related to the image potential states that are formed over the conducting surface of the topological insulator. Credit: University of Basel, Departement of Physics

Topological insulators are innovative materials that conduct electricity on the surface, but act as insulators on the inside. Physicists at the University of Basel and the Istanbul Technical University have begun investigating how they react to friction. Their experiment shows that the heat generated through friction is significantly lower than in conventional materials. This is due to a new quantum mechanism, the researchers report in the scientific journal Nature Materials.

Thanks to their unique electrical properties, topological insulators promise many innovations in the electronics and computer industries, as well as in the development of quantum computers. The thin surface layer can conduct electricity almost without resistance, resulting in less heat than traditional materials. This makes them of particular interest for electronic components.

Our measurements clearly show that at certain voltages there is virtually no heat generation caused by electronic friction. Dr. Dilek Yildiz

Furthermore, in topological insulators, the electronic friction i.e. the electron-mediated conversion of electrical energy into heat can be reduced and controlled. Researchers of the University of Basel, the Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI) and the Istanbul Technical University have now been able to experimentally verify and demonstrate exactly how the transition from energy to heat through friction behaves a process known as dissipation.

The team headed by Professor Ernst Meyer at the Department of Physics of the University of Basel investigated the effects of friction on the surface of a bismuth telluride topological insulator. The scientists used an atomic force microscope in pendulum mode. Here, the conductive microscope tip made of gold oscillates back and forth just above the two-dimensional surface of the topological insulator. When a voltage is applied to the microscope tip, the movement of the pendulum induces a small electrical current on the surface.

In conventional materials, some of this electrical energy is converted into heat through friction. The result on the conductive surface of the topological insulator looks very different: the loss of energy through the conversion to heat is significantly reduced.

Our measurements clearly show that at certain voltages there is virtually no heat generation caused by electronic friction, explains Dr. Dilek Yildiz, who carried out this work within the SNI Ph.D. School.

The researchers were also able to observe for the first time a new quantum-mechanical dissipation mechanism that occurs only at certain voltages. Under these conditions, the electrons migrate from the tip through an intermediate state into the material similar to the tunneling effect in scanning tunneling microscopes. By regulating the voltage, the scientists were able to influence the dissipation. These measurements confirm the great potential of topological insulators, since electronic friction can be controlled in a targeted manner, adds Meyer.

Reference: Mechanical dissipation via image potential states on a topological insulator surface by D. Yildiz, M. Kisiel, U. Gysin, O. Grl and E. Meyer, 14 October 2019, Nature Materials.DOI: 10.1038/s41563-019-0492-3

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China’s Silicon Valley aims to become the country’s top research center – Abacus

Posted: at 5:33 pm

Shenzhen, home to Chinese tech giants Tencent, Huawei and DJI, is known for warp speed when it comes to new product development whether that be in mobile games, 5G wireless technology, or consumer electronics.

Now the Chinese government wants the southern metropolis, designated the countrys first special economic zone 40 years ago when it was a sleepy fishing village, to focus on the longer term by giving it an added role: fundamental research and development.

Often called Chinas Silicon Valley, the city of 12 million has been named as the location of the countrys fourth major national science center amid the Chinese governments ambitions to become a global technology and innovation powerhouse.

China is very good at the hardware, but basic research is not a simple task, said Jonathan Chee, project director at the Center for Entrepreneurship of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The most cutting-edge research and technology are in the universities and its not easy to bring the talent together to form a cluster Im worried that the efforts would be too costly.

The science centers, managed by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission, include technology parks and government-funded laboratories tasked with undertaking basic research in fields such as nuclear reactions, quantum physics and astrophysics. The three existing science centers are in Beijing to the north, Shanghai on the east coast, and Hefei in central China.

Shenzhen is very innovative in technology applications, but the city is traditionally weak in basic science research, said Guo Wanda, executive vice-president of the Shenzhen-based think tank China Development Institute. Without breakthroughs in technologies, the city will be one step behind other international cities.

Details of the Shenzhen project were unveiled by Chinese authorities in August as government planners looked to major mainland cities to drive regional development amid Chinas ongoing trade and tech war with the US.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for industry to innovate and become more self-reliant. Self-determination and innovation is the unavoidable path to climb to the worlds top as a leading player in technology, Xi told a group of Chinese scientists last year. We [should] hold innovative development tightly in our own hands. [We have to] put much effort in key areas where we are facing bottlenecks and make breakthroughs as soon as we can.

As a key plank in Chinas many policies to advance basic research, the national science centers are designed to serve the strategic needs of the nation by bringing together high level talent and offering an open research environment, according to the countrys 13th five-year plan.

Large-scale technology infrastructure and national labs are expected to be built in Shenzhen, especially in the fields of biological science, cyberspace and materials science, said Guo.

Shenzhen already has Chinas first national gene bank and has hosted a national supercomputing center, though the city still ranks well behind Beijing and Shanghai when it comes to government support in basic science, with 90 per cent of the research institutions in the city funded by private enterprises.

For basic science research, it is necessary to have central government support it is a national strategy and needs nationwide effort no matter whether in the US or Japan, said Liu Ruopeng, head of the Shenzhen-based Kuang-Chi Institute of Advanced Technology,a not-for-profit research institute backed by Kuang Chi Group.

Silicon Valley owes its start in large part to Stanford University in Palo Alto, Japans Tsukuba Science City is home to the STEM-focused University of Tsukuba, while Taiwans Hsinchu Science Park has drawn engineering graduates from nearby National Chiao Tung University and National Tsing Hua University.

However, Shenzhen is not known for its institutions of higher education. Shenzhen University, located in the citys Nanshan district, was placed in the 601st to 800th group in terms of global ranking, according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Beijing, in contrast, boasts two of the countrys top universities, Peking University and Tsinghua, which rank among the top 50 internationally. As of this year, the Chinese capital had also established a cluster of around 90 universities. Elsewhere, Shanghais Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Hefeis University of Science and Technology are all ranked among Chinas top 10 universities.

Shenzhens status as a science center is expected to encourage overseas universities to set up graduate schools and research institutes in the city. The University of Cambridge in the UK and Peking University are in talks about hosting joint programs in Shenzhen while the Shenzhen MSU-BIT University was jointly established by Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Beijing Institute of Technology.

Shenzhen beat more than a dozen rivals including Chengdu in the southwest and the central Chinese cities of Xian and Wuhan, to secure the countrys fourth science center. Industry experts point to a few advantages that enabled Shenzhen to win amid the fierce competition. One was its role as the technology driver in the Greater Bay Area, a central government plan to turn 11 cities in southern China into an international innovation and technology hub to compete globally.

Another advantage was geography. The three current centers are located in north, east and central China respectively. The new center in Shenzhen will help balance the output of national innovation and drive economy transformation in southern China, said Liu.

It is not hard to understand why Chinese cities vie so keenly for such designations.Like in Silicon Valley, Tsukuba and Hsinchu, government support combined with top level universities attract the talent and capital needed to succeed. Shenzhen, too, expects to see new labs, institutions and universities with its new-found national science status, say experts.

The Shanghai Science Center has received funding of 13.8 billion yuan (US$2 billion) from the central government for multiple large-scale scientific facilities, according to a recent report from state media Xinhua. By 2020, the Chinese government plans to invest 30 billion yuan in the three key centers.

By 2018, China had announced 38 large-scale scientific facilities in areas such as physics and astronomy 22 operating and the remainder planned but none are in southern China. Most are co-located within the existing three national science centers.

Shanghai was chosen to host the countrys first national science center in 2016, supported by infrastructure to enable life science, supercomputing and photon research for applications in integrated circuits, artificial intelligence and bio medicine. The second national science center in Hefei is focused on information technology, energy, health and the environment, and will conduct research in areas such as quantum communications, nuclear fusion, smog prevention and cancer treatment.

The nations third facility, to be operating in the capital of Beijing by 2020, will focus on physical science, space science and geoscience.

Shenzhens designation as a national science center may be new but the citys planners have had their eyes on the prize for a while. In January 2018, the city government proposed a national science and technology center and laid out an ambitious proposal called Ten Plans that entailed 10 scientific and technology infrastructure projects, 10 overseas innovation centers and 10 manufacturing innovation centers.

There is even a plan to establish 10 laboratories backed by Nobel Prize-winning scientists, with blue LED inventor and 2014 Nobel laureate in physics Shuji Nakamura and 2005 laureate in chemistry Robert Grubbs already signed up.

We cannot expect to make a profit from basic science research as quick as technology applications, said Guo. We have to keep investing and be patient.

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Trance in everyday life – The Hindu

Posted: at 5:32 pm

Moshe Dayan didnt have a formal training in art. He took to it intuitively, he says, in his childhood and found happiness in painting in the last few years. When he felt he had a decent body of work that he could showcase, he approached Hyderabads Kalakriti gallery that manages The Gallery Caf, with some trepidation. I wasnt sure if they would consider a relative newcomer like me, says Moshe. But within a month, his portfolio was given the nod and he was asked to assemble a series.

The caf is now decked with 27 of his paintings, all in watercolours. Not many Hyderabad artists work in watercolours these days, but this is the medium I enjoy working with, he says.

Moshes paintings stem off things that happen around us in day-to-day lives, but presented with new perspectives and lighting that reflects the mood in different times of the day. He finds beauty in the ordinary things and calls this series And Trance Everywhere.

Curated by Ruchi Sharma, the showcase focuses on the artists urban musings that range from people walking under a bridge in the metropolis to musicians and fire artists during performances. Even the everyday occurrence of being stuck in traffic snarls finds representation.

What perks up Moshes work is the pop of bright colours; hes particularly partial to canary yellows and reds. Plants by the window sill in his studio as the light seeps in early morning speak of a new dawn and possibilities while the cluttered interiors of a tea stall are bathed in orange hues. Some of his works also give a hint of the artists own leanings in music and art for instance, the portrait of Ilaiyaraja.

I like to look at things around me a little differently, and the use of watercolours helps me present a softer visual narrative, sums up the artist.

And Trance Everywhere is on display at The Gallery Caf, Hyderabad, till October 21.

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Above & Beyond ‘Waltz’ their into the release ring with new single – Dancing Astronaut

Posted: at 5:32 pm

by: Rachel NarozniakOct 14, 2019

It takes two to tango, and three to Waltz. Highly sought since Above & Beyonds premiere of the single at A State of Trance 900 in Utrecht in February 2018, Waltz now gains an official release, serving as a finale of sorts to the electronic trios recently concluded ABGT350 celebration in Prague.

A sonic reprieve from Above & Beyonds more vocal-centric stylings, Waltz is a wholly instrumental showing that comes in both an edited and an extended version. A penetrating bass line punctuates the atmospheric number, which slowly and tantalizingly arches and falls for a near five-minute duration. It epitomizes the unique and masterful blend of trance, pop, and electro elements that the iconic trio are known to inject of each of their releases. Waltz appears on Above & Beyonds newly released 27 track album, Group Therapy 350 Live from Prague.

Tags: Above & Beyond, AGBT350, Waltz

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Lennart Ootes: "Chess is a sport and sport is emotion" – Chessbase News

Posted: at 5:30 pm

An interview with Lennart Ootes

All photos: Lennart Ootes

You are a renowned chess photographer who visits about 25 top tournaments a year to make pictures of top players and amateurs and to support the transmission of these tournaments. With your work you shape the image of chess and chess players. Moreover, as you write on your recently launched website lennartootes.com you are also a strong amateur chess player with a rating of 2217. How did you get interested in chess and in chess photography?

I played chess from a young age. My dad is a passionate chess player and drove my brother Lars and me to many chess tournaments in the Netherlands. Till the age of 23 I was playing a lot of chess, made it up to 2200, but also lost 100 points once I spent less time on studying and playing.

My passion for chess photography is quite a coincidence. I have always been involved with chess tournaments in the Netherlands: I wrote tournament reports, organized events and operated DGT boards. Back in 2011, the Dutch chess website schaaksite.nl asked a friend and me to make video reports of youth tournaments. So we went to a camera shop and bought a Sony photo camera with video function. But it took another three years before I preferred the photo function over video. In 2014 I was hired to operate the DGT boards at the US Championships, but I also managed to take pictures as well, which ended up on websites like Chessbase, Chessvibes and Chess24. It motivated me to learn more about photography, I watched many hours of online tutorials and the rest is history. 🙂

What is it that fascinates you about chess players and the world of chess?

Chess is a sport and sport is emotion. I love to witness the crucial moments in a chess tournament and to capture the moments that tell the story.

Garry Kasparov

Magnus Carlsen

I am very fortunate to get very close to the players, to see their hands shaking in time trouble and to hear their reaction after the game. I really have an amazing day at work when there are exciting games and some decisive results.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Magnus Carlsen

Besides that, the chess world is a big family that shares so many great memories in so many different places.

How did you become a professional photographer? Did you take courses, did you teach yourself or did you learn by doing?

I have watched many hours of online photography and photo editing tutorials. EspeciallyLynda.com(which is now LinkedIn Learning) gave me a great basic understanding. But in the end I had to practice. To make many thousands of photos, edit the ones I like and throw away the ones that were not good enough. Chess is the only thing I do and it's easier to stand out in a niche market than to master the entire spectrum of photography.

Tell us a bit about the everyday life of a chess photographer when working at chess tournaments. Usually, at top tournaments photographers are only allowed to take pictures at the beginning of the game. What do you do to get the best pictures in that short period of time and what do you do the rest of the time to produce your pictures?

At classical events I take about 100-250 photos at the start of the round, then make a selection to reduce that to about 30 photos, edit them in the next 3 hours and come back to the playing hall when I expect some action: a potential tactical blow, time trouble, the end of a game or a player interview. I have to admit that I have the privilege to be house photographer at the Grand Chess Tour and some other tournaments, so I can get within the ropes and have more freedom to do my work compared to some colleagues.

Fabiano Caruana vs Magnus Carlsen

You seem to travel all year to take pictures from chess tournaments but I think officially you still live in Holland. Are you indeed living there or are you just travelling?

I am quite passionate about traveling, so I am happy you don't ask me about my CO2 footprint...

I live in Amsterdam together with some chess friends: Merijn van Delft, David Miedema and Nico Zwirs, who are all IMs and chess trainers. Amsterdam is an amazing city, but I am there only one week per month.I just came back from two days in Windhoek, Namibia, to join my girlfriend who flew there as a flight attendant. And after this I will go to the Isle of Man, three days at Hoogeveen, the Chess960 World Championships in Oslo and the Grand Chess Tour events in Romania, India and London almost back-to-back. I won't be home in the next two months. It's a lifestyle that I really enjoy.

Travelling might be exciting but isnt it boring to take pictures of chess players again and again two players who hardly move sitting opposite each other, looking grim most of the time?

When a game lasts for six hours, timing is actually very important. As a photographer I am looking for emotions or something interesting.

I have to agree that I don't get too excited when a social media manager asks me to take a normal photo of two players behind the board. But I have to say that the real magic happens on my laptop: I can crop the photo in different ways, make it black and white or pump up the contrast in a creative way. Editing photos is not a puzzle with only one correct outcome and that gives me a lot of pleasure.

Vladimir Kramnik vs Vishy Anand

How do find the motifs for your pictures, your inspiration?

I've had a wonderful time working at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the largest Modern and Contemporary Art Museum in the Netherlands, for 14 months. Russian avant-garde artists like Malevich and Kandinsky have made a deep impression on me with their colours, shapes and movement. I can really appreciate stadiums or interesting stage designs. From David Llada's photos it looked like theWomen's Grand Prix inSkolkovo had a great venue with interesting colours.I can only hope that more chess tournaments would learn from theatre and other sport events.

Do you have any idols or role-models in photography?

I don't consider photography as the ultimate art and I am not obsessively studying the greatest photographers of all time. Like chess, photography is very technical and has been extremely influenced by the computer. But I tend to check David Llada's photos when I'm carving for some inspiration.

And in chess?

When I was young I really enjoyed the games of original players like Shirov, Morozevich andVolokitin. But it is the rise of Magnus Carlsen in 2010-2013 that convinced me to try to make a living in the chess world.

Can you give us a very short crash course for budding chess photographers and reveal what mistakes one should avoid at all costs when taking pictures of chess players?

Chess photography is extremely hard. We work in low light conditions, our subjects do sit there for hours and we can only get close to them in the first few minutes. On my website you can find an article on how to get bright photos in a dark environment. Camera gear is important, but the biggest win can be made in editing photos.

The biggest mistake I see in chess photography is when the photo is not framed well. I see a lot of photos that are taken from a standing position, so you see more board than player. Cropping is also very important: what to you pick as your horizontal line, what part of the chess board to include. I tend to crop parts of the head to make a photo more intense, but that's a creative choice that depends per person.

If I had to review my own photos, I would say that I have trouble with the white balance (colour temperature) and that I publish too many photos that are just above average and nothing special. My biggest strength is to be at the right moment at the right time. That is something that comes with experience and some decent passion for the game.

(From left to right) Sergey Karjakin, Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen

Girl with curious hair

And what are the three most important rules or guidelines to follow?

Don't distract a player. And be nice to arbiters and security they can't make your day, only break it.

Hunt for the player's eyes. It's our primary way to get into the chess player's brain. Without eyes, it is hard to find the emotion of a player.

Tatev Abrahamyan

The Indian talent Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu

Try to build a special feeling with the moments/persons you take a photo of. A photo is more special when someone plays an amazing game, or when something memorable happens.

You started your career as chess photographer in 2012. What are the most memorable moments of the last seven years chess wise and in regard to travelling?

The world championship in Chennai was my first memorable event. I was there on my own cost (like more events in 2012-2014) but experienced chess history and was really impressed by the Indian culture with its colours and smells. On the rest days we visited, for example, Anand's former high school and a place for disabled children that was supported by Vishy's donations.

The passion for the game in India is amazing. That also strikes me in countries like Croatia, Russia, Germany and the Netherlands. At the Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb, the spectators stayed in the playing hall for five straight hours and gave the players a huge applause at the end of every round.

Another amazing adventure was Timur Gareyev's world record blindfold chess in Las Vegas. The simul lasted for 19 hours, including a fire alarm caused by "raw food master" Joe who preferred to prepare some sausages for himself. Timur's opponents were exhausted after such a long game, while Timur was slowly peddling on his stationary bike. The next morning Timur was so hyperactive that he ran through a glass door of our apartment.

Timur Gareyev on his way to his record in blindfold chess

Are there any chess players that are particularly easy or particularly difficult to photograph?

It is hard to capture the eyes of Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand and Carlsen. Guess what they have in common (smiles).

But it is also satisfactory to take a good photo of these guys. Emotional players like Nepomniachtchi, Nakamura and Jobava usually deliver in front of the camera. Grischuk is a mystery. But maybe the most remarkable player is Daniel Naroditsky who pushed suffering to a next level.

Daniel Naroditsky (right) in despair as Hikaru Nakamura watches

On your website you publish about 30,000 of your photos. How does one navigate through such an enormous number of pictures and do you have any favourites pictures that you like particularly well?

For me it was quite a job to go through all these photos, to tag players and to rate them. In the "Highlights" sectionyou can find a selection of my favourite photo by theme. But you can also just search for a player.

In your work you are close to the top players. Did you form any friendships or do the players and you keep a professional distance?

The top players are incredibly friendly, especially when you take into account that they are sportsmen. There is no player I have daily contact with, but I created some special connection with Wesley So. We mainly do some silly trash talking, but its origin might come from the Chess960 blitz game that we played last year. I have to admit that Wesley played with time odds.

Wesley So

How does travelling to these top tournaments affect your chess: do you get better by watching all these top players analyse and play or are you too saturated with chess to play well yourself?

These top guys are beasts. I have nothing but respect for the games that they play, the amazing moves they make and the mistakes they have to allow in time trouble. I do feel inspired when I play an incidental league game after a top event, but it's not that I gain chess knowledge during these game. Honestly, it's easier to follow the games at home than in the playing hall.

As you write on your website you also co-produce live-transmissions from chess events and you are on the team of app developers who work for New in Chess. As you say, you are quite advanced with the latest tech developments and always looking for new ways to improve chess broadcasting.Now, if you had the necessary resources how would your ideal transmission of a chess tournament look like?

I think that there are too many round robin tournaments. Most sport events end with a big final, but in chess we keep on playing against the same players all the time.

In terms of broadcasting, there are many things to try. For example live commentary for chess fans rated under 1400 that works well in Norway and there are many chess fans that have never played a tournament game in their life. Or a well-produced 20-minute recap of the most interesting game of the day, where the two players tell the narrativethrough personal interviews before and after the game.

Another idea is to get more practical information from computer engines. Right now, the engines' only output is tocriticizethe top player with its evaluation and a long variation.I would love to get more human-like explanation from the engine: what is the essence of the position, how difficult is it to calculate or assess the top engine line for a human, are there possible tricks in a variation? I wish it could become a tool to understand and appreciate chess more than it does now.

To conclude: what are your plans for the future in regard to your own chess and in regard to chess photography and chess transmissions?

In am working on a small photo exhibition at the Max Euwe Centre in Amsterdam, so that's exciting. There are a lot of chess events in the rest of the year, so you will definitelysee a lot of new photos in the next months. But first I will co-produce the live commentary for the Isle of Man tournament I am not sure if I will bring my camera...

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Fifty years ago, it was Boris Spassky’s turn to shine at the chessboard – Washington Times

Posted: at 5:30 pm

It didnt enthrall the world like a moon landing, didnt define a generation like Woodstock, didnt stun the experts like the Mets World Series win. But there was also a compelling world chess championship match during that packed year of 1969, one that is worth celebrating 50 years later.

As weve written here before, Boris Spassky is too often remembered today as the Russian guy Bobby Fischer beat. But Spassky in the mid-1960s was probably the strongest player in the world, with a flexible, harmonious style that set him apart from the great generation of Soviet grandmasters with whom he competed.

Armenian world champion Tigran Petrosian, whose quiet, positional style sometimes masked a unique, revolutionary approach to the game, narrowly held off Spassky in their first world title fight in 1966. But Spassky, 32, was at the peak of his powers in 1969, easily winning the right to a 24-game rematch and entering the Moscow match a betting favorite.

Given the suspicions and machinations that attended so many other world title matches before and after the two Petrosian-Spassky matches, it is nice to learn the two protagonists here genuinely liked and respected each other, despite or perhaps because of their deep stylistic differences at the chessboard.

Spassky may have entered the 1969 fight a touch overconfident, for he proceeded to lose the first game with the White pieces in 56 demoralizing moves. But he righted himself with wins in Games 4 and 5, and the play seesawed back and forth for weeks. With the match tied 8-8, Spassky finally broke Petrosians resistance with crucial wins in Game 17 and Game 19, the latter the one time in the match when the challengers famed attacking skills were on full display.

Petrosian, rightly considered one of the greatest defenders in chess history, here gets bulldozed in a classic Najdorf Sicilian battle. Blacks queenside counterplay never gets going, and with 15. g4!? Nxg4 (trying to gin up counterplay with 15b5?! 16. g5 hxg5 17. fxg5 Nh5 18. g6! is very strong for White) 16. Qg2 Nf6 17. Rg1 Bd7 18. f5!, White is already threatening tactical tricks such as 19. fxe6 fxe6 20. Nf5!.

White claims a powerful initiative with a second pawn sac: 19. Rfd1 Qd8?! (e5!? might be a better try, since Black survives on 20. Ne6!? [Nde2 preserves a small edge] fxe6 21. fxe6 Rxe6! [Bc6? 22. Rxf6!] 22. Bxe6 Bxe6 23. Rxf6 gxf6 24. Qg6 Bc4 25. Qxf6+ Kh7) 20. fxe6 fxe6 21. e5!, opening new lines while disrupting Blacks defense. Spasskys follow-up is impeccable: 21dxe5 22. Ne4! Nh5 (exd4 23. Rxf6! g5 [obviously not 23gxf6?? 24. Qg8 mate] 24. Qh3 Qe7 [the threat was 25. Rxh6+ Bxh6 26. Qxh6+ Kg8 27. Nxg5 28. Nxe6+ Kf7 29. Rf7 mate] 25. Rxg5 Qh7 26. Rfg6 hxg5 27. Nf6!, and if 27Qxh3, 28. Rg8 is mate) 23. Qg6! (the silicon engines at first think 23Nf4 saves things for Black, only to eventually hit on 24. Rxf4! exf4 [exd4 25. Rxf8+ Rxf8 26. Qxg7 mate] 25. Nf3! Qb6 26. Rg5! Rxc8 [hxg5 27. Nexg5 and mate next] 27. Nf6! and wins) exd4 24. Ng5!, and the champion resigns.

The threat is mate on h7, and theres no hope for Petrosian after 24hxg5 25. Qxh5+ Kg8 26. Qf7+ Kh7 27. Rf3 g4 [e5 28. Qh5 mate] 28. Rxg4 with checkmate in sight. Amazingly, Petrosian rallied from this debacle to win Game 20, but then lost again and two games later conceded the match, 12-10.

The most talked-about chess game of the week was a 47-move, midtournament draw at the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss tournament now underway on the Isle of Man. The reason: Belarus GM Vladislav Kovalev had Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen he of the 93-game unbeaten streak, whose last over-the-board loss at classical time controls came in the summer of 2018 on the ropes, with a slew of chances to deliver the knockout blow.

But its not easy to get the champ on the canvas and get him to stay.

We pick it up from todays diagram, where Carlsen as Black has been completely outplayed in a Rossolimo Sicilian: Kovalev dominates the center, has a monster passer on d7 and, after the just-played 29b6-b5, is winning a pawn to boot.

Kibitzers worldwide saw a number of winning paths, but White was facing a dogged superstar with just a few minutes to reach the 40-move time control. There followed 30. Nxc5!? (Rf5! c4 31. Re5!, centralizing the rook, was instantly winning) Bxc5 31. Qxc5 Kh7 32. Qd5 Qg5 33. Qe4+?! (and stronger here was 33. Rf5! Qe3 34. Rf7 a6 35. d4!, and Black has no perpetual check) Qg6 36. Qc7 Qg5 37. Qd6 Qg6 38. Qc7?! (Qd5! gets back on the winning track) Qg5 39. Qc6 Qe7, and with the passed pawn under control, Black has finally reached a defendable harbor.

After 40. Qxb5 Rxd7 41. Qf5+ g6 42. Qf8 Qxf8 43. Rxf8 Kg7 44. Ra8 Kf6 45. Kg2 Rxd3 46. Rxa7 Rd2+ 47. Kg1, Whites extra pawn means nothing with his king pinned on the back rank. A disappointed Kovalev agreed to the draw.

Spassky-Petrosian, Game 19, World Championship Match, Moscow, June 1969

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Bc4 Qa5 8. Qd2 h6 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. O-O-O e6 11. Rhe1 Be7 12. f4 O-O 13. Bb3 Re8 14. Kb1 Bf8 15. g4 Nxg4 16. Qg2 Nf6 17. Rg1 Bd7 18. f5 Kh8 19. Rdf1 Qd8 20. fxe6 fxe6 21. e5 dxe5 22. Ne4 Nh5 23. Qg6 exd4 24. Ng5 Black resigns.

David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email [emailprotected].

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What Can You Do with Continuous Intelligence? – RTInsights

Posted: at 5:30 pm

By integrating continuous intelligence systems into business processes using real time and historical data, organizations can respond in near real time.

Oh, the many questions to ponder when it comes to extracting value from data.

What if you could analyze data as its created?

What if you could visualize your business?

What if you could better predict your customers needs?

What if you could gain insights from unstructured data like audio, text, or video?

What if you could automate immediate actions?

What if you always knew where your assets were, and where they would be?

What if you could update machine learning models continuously?

And what if you could do it all in real time?

Streaming analytics engines have the power and sophistication to answer the questions above in real time. As computing and networking costs have continued dropping year after year, sensors are monitoring nearly everything. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 5G networks have enabled near-instantaneous delivery of huge volumes of data.

Deep learninguses artificial neural networks to recognize patterns in data. A human brainhas about 200 billion neurons, with about 32 trillion connections between them.Its these connections that enable people to recognize the pattern in speech,facial expressions, and so much more. Artificial neural networks have far fewerconnections, but as they continue to grow, they continue to improve inaccuracy.

These artificialneural networks have been applied to many areas, such as vision, speech,acoustics, natural language processing, medical image analysis, and board gamesranging from chess to go. In many of these situations, they have producedresults beyond top experts:

Whilethese high-profile grand challenges in computing were aimed at specific tasks,the experience gained has been applied to much broader areas.

Combiningall these forms of artificial intelligence with continuous intelligencedrawingfrom geospatial, real-time, and historical analyticscan further enhancebusiness ability to know where assets and people are at all times and helppredict what might occur next. One effort some years ago used anonymizedtelephone location data to predict with 95% accuracy where people would bebased on their past movements. Were all creatures of habit, going to work,school, synagogue, mosque, or church with great regularity, enabling thesekinds of predictions.

Addingrules engines and programmatic logic to AI, location data enables organizationsto automate many decisions that previously required human insights. Frompredictive maintenance based on actual driving conditions to decide the bestnext action to take with customers to improve loyalty, leading companies aredecreasing costs and improving revenues to become more successful.

Summary

By integrating continuousintelligence systems into business processes using real time and historicaldata, organizations can respond in near real time. Monitoring model drift andautomating model refresh and deployment enables the use of the most accurate AIto deliver on organizational improvements.

To learn more about these topics and get your questions answered, come hear me speak at IBMs Data and AI Forum on October 23, 2:15 pm3:00 pm. The Forum, which runs from October 21-24, 2019 in Miami, is the premier data and AI gathering of the year to learn how to drive smarter decisions, formulate more effective strategies and achieve better business outcomes with analytics.

I will discuss the role thatcontinuous intelligence plays in both AI and business and walk you through the benefits of using analytics to not only predict what will happen,but what to do about it.

See you there.

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What’s the end game for pro-impeachment libertarians? – Washington Times

Posted: at 5:29 pm

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Recently, House Democrats announced an impeachment inquiry into President Trump over claims that Mr. Trump held back aid to Ukraine in the hope its leader would investigate Joe Biden. Predictably, social media lit up immediately with #TrumpImpeachment and #ImpeachTrumpNow trending all over the United States. The usual suspects in the #NeverTrump conservative political class joined the deafening chorus of progressive pundits in their long-standing calls for formal articles of impeachment and Mr. Trumps resignation.

Somewhat surprising, however, has been witnessing many prominent libertarians join these ranks in making knee-jerk calls for impeachment. Unfortunately, these political observers dont seem to realize that removing Mr. Trump from office would solve none of the problems associated with his alleged abuses of power. The object of their ire should not be Mr. Trump the man but the office of the presidency and especially the permanent political class and establishment media (hereinafter the establishment) who whitewash and enable true presidential atrocities.

This is nothing new for libertarians. Indeed, the imperial presidency has been a libertarian bugaboo for decades, and many commentators have written eloquently on the dire need to limit the unilateral powers of Americas executive branch. Nearly all presidents since 1900 have expanded the scope of executive power well outside the strictures of Article 2 of the Constitution.

Henry Kissinger once joked, The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer a joke that betrays the brazen callousness with which people in the establishment view supposed legal limits on their actions. Additionally, the last four presidents before Mr. Trump all initiated foreign incursions and clandestine operations that have transformed much of the Middle East into a hellscape. Many of these operations were blatantly illegal e.g. providing direct military aid and comfort to Americas enemies, which is particularly damning since this act fits the exact legal definition of treason.

Speaking of which, Bill Weld recently accused Mr. Trump of committing treason in this Ukrainian fiasco. If this phone call is enough for a treason charge against Mr. Trump, surely there is an open-and-shut case for indicting the entire foreign policy team of the Obama administration including President Obama himself for treasonously providing direct aid and comfort to al Qaeda to overthrow Bashar Assad in Syria. Instead, Mr. Weld heaped praise on Mr. Obamas administration, saying he was statesman-like while ignoring the unspeakable horrors that occurred as a result of Mr. Obamas direct orders.

This flippant attitude has been the long-standing demeanor from much of the establishment toward atrocities that span administrations of both parties. As the Joker says in The Dark Knight, Nobody panics when things go according to plan. Even if the plan is horrifying! Indeed, the establishment press only ever seems to give Mr. Trump slack when he bombs countries unconstitutionally that pesky Congress be damned.

The establishments constant whitewashing of presidential atrocities brings me back to the perplexing reaction among libertarians cheering for Mr. Trumps impeachment. A pillar of modern libertarianism has been opposing never-ending foreign interventions. However, none of the articles of Mr. Trumps impeachment will include, for example, a single word about his support for Saudi Arabias horrific war in Yemen. Instead, the Democrats and #NeverTrump Republicans hell-bent on removing Mr. Trump intend to replace him with someone who wont upset the plan. While Mr. Trumps alleged crimes in the Ukraine fiasco are unacceptable to the establishment, fomenting foreign coups appear to be A-OK. Why should libertarians cheer for Mr. Trumps replacement with someone cut from an interventionist cloth?

Libertarians jumping on the impeachment train seem to be forgetting a basic tenet of economics: There are no solutions only tradeoffs. What, therefore, are the realistic alternatives to Mr. Trump? Legally speaking, after Mr. Trumps removal, Mike Pence would be next, who was an establishment animal before he became Mr. Trumps VP. Thus far, no one has made a compelling case for why a President Pence would be desirable over a President Trump from a pro-liberty perspective.

None of the Democratic candidates with a real shot at winning would be a net improvement over Mr. Trump on either the domestic or foreign policy fronts as Mr. Obama has shown, leftist candidates inevitably abandon their anti-war messages and neuter opposition from a left-wing anti-war movement. These libertarians are committing a Nirvana fallacy in wishing for someone better than Mr. Trump rather than evaluating the actual alternatives.

The establishment plays a key role in expanding the power of the president and should be as much a target of libertarian anger as the president himself. Libertarians must realize that they cannot achieve their laudable goal of reducing presidential power unless the establishment first loses its influence over that power. Replacing Mr. Trump with an establishment sycophant wont advance that goal.

Despite all his shortcomings, Mr. Trump is the best weapon against the establishment given present alternatives; therefore, the liberty movement would be poorly served if libertarians took the bait in this latest impeachment scheme.

Nick Cooper is a Mises Institute research fellow at George Mason University.

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Election 2019: Will the PPC win any seats, and will it split the right vote? – CityNews Calgary

Posted: at 5:29 pm

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) Its an ambitious move: the Peoples Party is running hundreds of candidates in the first federal election since the party formed just over a year ago.

However, despite the fledgling fringe party having hundreds of candidates across the country in every province and territory except Prince Edward Island and Nunavut UBC political scientist Richard Johnston says its unlikely any PPC candidates will win a seat.

Except, perhaps, for the partys leader.

I dont think theyre going to do terribly well. Maxime Bernier probably will hold on to his seat. Beyond that, Im not so sure. I also dont think that on balance, theyre going to be as disruptive a force as some people fear they might be, he says.

Nor will the party be much of a thorn in the side of the Conservative Party, he adds.

The PPC has been hovering at around two per cent support nationally in the weeks leading up to the election. The areas where the party has more support, however, are already Conservative strongholds. Drawing support from that partys base enough to split right-leaning votes is unlikely, Johnston says.

When you look at where theyre hitting their maximums, its basically in Alberta and Saskatchewan, probably the interior of B.C. So these are places where the culture is more Conservative, and where anti-immigrant attitudes tend to be strongest. But theyre also places where the Conservative Party has, generally speaking, very comfortable majorities. And so if they give up a few votes, theyre probably not going to give up any of those seats.

Chad Hudson, a former PPC candidate, recently dropped out of the running in the Nova Scotia riding of West Nova. He says the partys libertarianism and fiscal conservatism values are what initially drew him in, but the racist elements drove him out.

I was assured by the party that a lot of those things that I was concerned about being the more extreme elements of the parties, some of the racist elements, some of the more far right elements werent going to be a problem, that those elements had been purged from the party, he says.

But over time, he says a xenophobic and anti-immigrant sentiment has become prominent.

Johnston says thats the message getting through to the grassroots.

It is generally the case that simpler messages, often involving scapegoating, just tend to have more traction and more penetration, he says. And to the extent that theres going to be voters responding to the Peoples Party, its going to be people who are currently in the Conservative cap, but unhappy with the generally moderate presentation that Andrew Scheer is trying to produce.

In B.C., including Metro Vancouver, where many people are immigrants, Johnston says that message isnt going to go over well.

The people who are potential Conservative voters in the Lower Mainland are often people of color, of immigrant or minority background, and theyre not going to be particularly drawn to a party whose primary appeal is a kind of anti-immigrant, anti-minority sentiment.

While the PPCs chances at securing more than one seat are slim, its populist and anti-immigrant undertones may be more popular than the polls indicate.

A public opinion survey out of Simon Fraser University this summer found a decline in trust in Canadas democracy, and that a populist message may strike a chord with some.

Some of the race-based populism that weve seen emerge in other countries is starting to appear here in Canada. So one-in-three Canadians dont think that foreign-born Canadians should have the same say in government as Canadians that were born here, says Shauna Sylvester with SFU.

The survey also found one-in-four Canadians believe that minorities have too many supports and protections, and that there is too much support for religious freedom.

I think that during election time, certain narratives get exacerbated, and youre seeing anti-immigrant sentiments being expressed by certain political parties, and its important to pay attention to that, she says.

Overall, however, she says she doesnt think these messages will be attractive to most Canadians.

The information of the research indicates that some of the messaging that has come out from parties that are advancing anti-immigration stance or advancing a Canada-first stance will resonate with some portion of the population, Sylvester says. Thankfully, thats a small portion of the population, because I think that those are sentiments that go against a lot of the Canadian values on democracy.

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Election 2019: Will the PPC win any seats, and will it split the right vote? - CityNews Calgary

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