Day: August 29, 2020

Remember Top Gun?

The weekend and the search for news and thoughts that can be of interest to my readers…..

Off we go into the wild blue yonder……

The movie made about the elite and unbeatable Air Aces from the schools in the US…..I mean it was so important and influential that there is a sequel in the process.

But recently there is some sad news for this program…..there seems these “Top Guns” have been beaten……there claim to fame is no longer.

No it was not Russian that beat them…..or the Chinese…..then who could possibly be that good?

It’s official: The robots are taking over.

Not quite. But in a significant development on August 20, an artificial intelligence (AI) program managed to defeat a human F-16 pilot in simulated dogfights. The AI program, designed by tech firm Heron Systems, was pitched against the human pilot in an environment resembling an elaborate video game during the third and final event of the AlphaDogfight trials organized by U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Heron System’s website notes that the program was based on deep reinforcement learning – an AI technique that combines insights from behavioral psychology with how the human cortex is structured and functions – along with unspecified innovations. The bested human operator, publicly known only by their callsign, “Banger,” was reported to have been trained at the Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/08/ai-defeats-human-pilot-in-darpa-organized-dogfight/

Don’t look now but this is just another step into the future and the prediction of “Skynet”.

Oh the horror!

Will that mean the cancellation of the Top Gun sequel?  (Sarcasm)

In case anyone is interested……

Heron, a small, female- and minority-owned company with offices in Maryland and Virginia, builds artificial intelligence agents, and is also a player in DARPA’s Gamebreaker effort to explore tactics for disrupting enemy strategies using real-world games as platforms. The company beat eight other teams, including one led by defense giant Lockheed Martin — which came in second in the AlphaDogfight “semi-finals” that pitted the AI pilots against each other this morning.

Congrats Ladies!  Job well done!

This ends my Saturday posts….my wife will have me designing a garden for next Spring…..at least it gets me away from the keyboard for awhile…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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Killer Katrina

15 years ago today Hurricane Katrina roared ashore killing and destruction of all in its path…..My father and I rode the storm out in our house since he refused to leave his house I had no choice but to stay with him since he was in a wheelchair and make sure he was alright.

The storm lasted 13 hours and 43 minutes….you cannot imagine how long that felt.

August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. When the storm made landfall, it had a Category 3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale–it brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour–and stretched some 400 miles across.

https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/hurricane-katrina

Here are a few things that most people that were not effected by the storm know…..

Hurricane Katrina was the largest and 3rd strongest hurricane ever recorded to make landfall in the US.

In New Orleans, the levees were designed for Category 3, but Katrina peaked at a Category 5 hurricane, with winds up to 175 mph.

The final death toll was at 1,836, primarily from Louisiana (1,577) and Mississippi (238). More than half of these victims were senior citizens. Keep seniors safe and sound, and help them plan for hurricane season.

The storm surge from Katrina was 20-ft (six meters) high.

705 people are reported as still missing as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina affected over 15 million people in different ways varying from having to evacuate their homes, rising gas prices, and the economy suffering.

An estimated 80% of New Orleans was under water, up to 20 ft deep in places.

Hurricane Katrina caused $81 billion in property damages, but it is estimated that the total economic impact in Louisiana and Mississippi may exceed $150 billion, earning the title of costliest hurricane ever in US history

Hurricane Katrina impacted about 90,000 square miles.

The region affected by the storm supported roughly 1 million non-farm jobs, and still, hundreds of thousands of local residents were left unemployed by the hurricane.

More than 70 countries pledged monetary donations or other assistance after the hurricane. Kuwait made the largest single pledge of $500 million, but Qatar, India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh made very large donations as well.

My family has ridden out two of the most powerful storms in history…..Camille and Katrina…..for those too young to remember 1969….may I help you out?

August 17 in 1969, Hurricane Camille made landfall along the Mississippi Gulf Coast near Waveland, MS. Camille is one of only FOUR Category 5 hurricanes ever to make landfall in the continental United States (Atlantic Basin)

Camille ranks as the 2nd most intense hurricane to strike the continental US with 900 mb pressure and landfall intensity of 150 knots. Camille ranks just below the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane with 892 mb and 160 knots, while slightly stronger than Hurricane Andrew with 922 mb and 145 knots and Hurricane Michael with 919 mb and 140 knots. The actual maximum sustained winds of Hurricane Camille are not known as the hurricane destroyed all the wind-recording instruments in the landfall area. Re-analysis data found peak winds of 150 knots (roughly 175 mph) along the coast. A devastating storm tide of 24.6 feet occurred west of our area in Pass Christian, MS.

https://www.weather.gov/mob/camille

And now we have dodged a bullet this time…..but there is always another storm eyeing the Mississippi Gulf Coast…..

“lego ergo scribo”