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YouTube launches ‘Study Hall’ which will allow earning college credits online

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YouTube, Arizona State University, and Crash Course, the well-known YouTube channel of writers and brothers Hank and John Green, have announced an astonishing expansion of their accessible education programme Study Hall. 

According to YouTube’s announcement, the partnership is “a new approach that demystifies the college process while creating an affordable and accessible onramp to earning college credit,” outlining the chance for online learners to pursue transferable course credits with fewer restrictions than traditional college programmes.

In addition to being able to watch all Study Hall videos for free on YouTube, users can register for related courses developed by Crash Course and academics at Arizona State University in order to receive credits and compile a transcript. 

Beginning on March 7, 2023, the current lineup of four “College Foundations” courses will address postsecondary fundamentals including English composition, college math, American history, and interpersonal communication. Each course costs $25 to enrol in, plus an additional $400 registration fee to acquire credits. Prior to March 7, 2023, each course will cost $350 to enrol in.

When Study Hall is fully operational, the number of credits available will equal the whole first year of study at most institutions and the cost is “less than one-third of the typical course cost at a public four-year university,” according to YouTube.

Enrollment does not require a minimum GPA or even an application, and students are allowed to retake classes as many times as they need to. Any eligible student who wants to use their Study Hall experience toward a degree can apply for admission to Arizona State University through the Earned Admissions program or transfer to any school in the US that accepts ASU credits.

According to Katie Kurtz, head of learning at YouTube, the company wants to serve as a middleman between the general public and higher education.

“At YouTube, we want to empower learners to go further by breaking down barriers to high-impact learning experiences. Postsecondary education is still one of the best drivers of economic and social mobility, yet the path to higher education has too many barriers,” she explained.

“We want to help address this urgent challenge by tapping into our endlessly creative and passionate learning creator community. With 10 years of experience delivering compelling and engaging educational content, we knew Crash Course, paired with ASU’s world class faculty would be a dynamic partnership to address this challenge.”

The Green brothers, well-known for being early, influential creators on both YouTube and Tumblr, launched the Crash Course channel in 2012. The channel has produced a decade’s worth of educational material on a variety of topics linked to early college and Advanced Placement high school courses, including psychology, world history, and even intellectual property law. The Green brothers’ quick and easy educational videos have an even wider audience now that they are both regulars on the TikTok For You Page.

Hank Green discussed his most recent educational endeavour, writing, in a tweet: “Around 43 million Americans are saddled with 1.75 trillion dollars in student debt. This may sound bad, but it’s worse than it seems: 40% of those 43 million people do not have degrees and will not pursue them.”

The biggest obstacles to getting degrees in the hands of students, according to Green and his production firm, Complexly, included fees, the complexity of college admissions systems, and the difficulty of many college courses for people who didn’t acquire a thorough high school education. “With some funding and a lot of hard work, we started to build ‘Study Hall’ with the goal that it helps lower these barriers.”

Along with the new course options, Study Hall also offers educational material on comprehending and navigating the higher education landscape, including a Crash Course series on “How To College” and quick primers to popular ideas and subject areas, hosted by Green and other academics.

By January 2025, the programme is expected to have 12 courses accessible. On the Study Hall website, prospective students can sign up.

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Study reveals how an ancient beast failed to survive millions of years ago

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In a new revelation about the extinction of species from the earth roughly 252 million years ago, scientists said that the fossils excavated in South Africa provide insight into predators that over multiple generations migrated halfway around the world and ultimately failed to survive, reported Reuters.

It is believed that the mass extinction occurred due to global warming started after calamitous volcanism in Siberia and dooming perhaps 90% of species.

The extinction event that occurred even before the wiping out of dinosaurs — 66 million years ago — remained there for a longer time with species perishing one by one as conditions worsened.

This beast, a tiger-sized, sabre-toothed mammal forerunner called Inostrancevia, had been known only from fossils unearthed in Russia’s northwestern corner bordering the Arctic Sea until new remains were discovered at a farm in central South Africa.

The research reveals that “the new fossils suggest that Inostrancevia left its place of origin and trekked over time — maybe hundreds or thousands of years — about 7,000 miles across Earth’s ancient supercontinent Pangaea at a time when today’s continents were united.”

The findings of the research were published in the journal Current Biology.

The researchers noted that “Inostrancevia filled the ecological niche of a top predator in South Africa left vacant after four other species already had vanished.”

Paleontologist Christian Kammerer of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and the lead author of the study said: “However, it did not survive long. Inostrancevia and all of its closest relatives disappeared in the mass extinction called the Great Dying.”

“So, they have no living descendants, but they are a member of the larger group called synapsids, which includes mammals as living representatives,” Kammerer added.

Inostrancevia is part of a collection of animals called protomammals that combine reptile-like and mammal-like features.

The research estimated that it was 10-13 feet (3-4 meters) long, roughly the size of a Siberian tiger, but with a proportionally larger and elongated skull as well as enormous, blade-like canine teeth.

“I suspect these animals primarily killed prey with their sabre-like canine fangs and either carved out chunks of meat with the serrated incisors or, if it was small enough, swallowed the prey whole,” Kammerer said.

“Inostrancevia’s body had an unusual posture typical of protomammals, not quite sprawling like a reptile or erect like a mammal but something in between, with sprawled forelimbs and mostly erect hind limbs. It also lacked the mammalian facial musculature and would not have produced milk,” according to the scientists.

“Whether these animals were furry or not remains an open question,” Kammerer said.

“They tend to take a relatively long time to mature and have few offspring. When ecosystems are disrupted and prey supplies are reduced or available habitat is limited, top predators are disproportionately affected,” Kammerer said.

The researchers see similar conditions between the Permian crisis and today’s human-induced climate change.

“The hardship these species faced was a direct result of a global-warming climate crisis, so they really had no choice but to adapt to it or go extinct. This is clear by evidence of their brief perseverance in spite of these conditions, but eventually, they disappeared one by one,” said palaeontologist and study co-author Pia Viglietti of the Field Museum in Chicago.

“Unlike our Permian predecessors,” Viglietti added, “we actually have the ability to do something to prevent this kind of ecosystem crisis from happening again.”

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WhatsApp brings two new updates for users

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Meta-owned WhatsApp is bringing yet another update for users, allowing them to share screens during a video call, WaBetaInfo reported Saturday. 

According to the WhatsApp updates tracking website, the instant messaging app is releasing a screen-sharing feature as well as a new placement for tabs within the bottom navigation bar. 

The new feature is available to some beta testers for now but will be rolled out to more people over the coming days.

— WaBetaInfo
— WaBetaInfo

Earlier, WhatsApp brought changes to voice and video calls by improving them. It also introduced changes for the missed calls in terms of colour for the Android version of the app. 

Once you click the new icon in the call control view, you will be able to share your screen with the other individual. Your screen will be recorded and shared. 

Old versions of Android might not be able to use this feature. Moreover, this will not work in large group calls as well as those using outdated versions of the app. 

Users will be able to have full control as they can stop sharing the screen anytime they want to. Also, this feature will only enable with your consent. 

Moreover, users might see minor changes in the navigation bar at the bottom with tabs being rearranged in a certain manner. “Specifically, some users may now see the tabs within the bottom navigation bar in this order: Chats, Calls, Communities, and Status,” said WhatsApp watcher. 

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Microsoft’s Brad Smith casts concerns over deep-fake technology

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Amid the fast development of artificial intelligence (AI) and experts coming forth voicing their concern over the pace of technology, Microsoft President Brad Smith said Thursday that he was worried about deep fakes, realistic-looking but false content.

During his speech in Washington on the topic of how AI should be regulated he called for steps to ensure that people know when a photo or video is real and when it is generated by AI, potentially for ill objects.

The experts have been concerned about the technology that boosted after the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT — a human-like AI-powered chatbot capable of writing human responses.

Smith said: “We’re going have to address the issues around deep fakes. We’re going to have to address in particular what we worry about most foreign cyber influence operations, the kinds of activities that are already taking place by the Russian government, the Chinese, the Iranians.”

This photo shows a Microsoft logo displayed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. — AFP/File
This photo shows a Microsoft logo displayed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. — AFP/File

“We need to take steps to protect against the alteration of legitimate content with an intent to deceive or defraud people through the use of AI.”

Smith also called for licensing for the most critical forms of AI with “obligations to protect the security, physical security, cybersecurity, national security.”

“We will need a new generation of export controls, at least the evolution of the export controls we have, to ensure that these models are not stolen or not used in ways that would violate the country’s export control requirements,” he underlined.

This photo shows screens displaying the logos of OpenAI and ChatGPT. — AFP/File
This photo shows screens displaying the logos of OpenAI and ChatGPT. — AFP/File

Legislators in Washington have been struggling to find solutions regarding how to best regulate the as the tech giants like Microsoft and Google have jumped into incorporating the technology into their products.

CEO Open AI Sam Altman last week told a Senate panel in his first appearance before Congress that the use of AI interfering with election integrity is a “significant area of concern”, adding that it needs regulation.

Altman, whose OpenAI start-up is backed by Microsoft, also called for global cooperation on AI and incentives for safety compliance.

Smith further argued also in his blog post, Thursday, that people “needed to be held accountable for any problems caused by AI,” urging lawmakers to ensure that “safety brakes be put on AI used to control the electric grid, water supply and other critical infrastructure so that humans remain in control.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during a keynote address announcing ChatGPT integration for Bing at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, on February 7, 2023. — AFP
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during a keynote address announcing ChatGPT integration for Bing at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, on February 7, 2023. — AFP

He also suggested the use of a “Know Your Customer”-style system for developers of powerful AI models to “keep tabs on how their technology is used and to inform the public of what content AI is creating so they can identify faked videos.”

Back in March, hundreds of researchers, CEOs and tech leaders including Tesla owner Elon Musk signed an open letter that voiced concerns over the “profound risks” AI technology poses to society and humanity.

“AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity,” said the open letter.

“Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable.

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