Reasoning (Is Greater Than) Math = Coder
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| Reasoning>Math = Coder | |
| Number | 3731 |
| Broadcast Date | MARCH 4, 2020 |
| Episode Length | 29:25 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang |
| Guests | Scott Johnson |
New research from the University of Washington shows strong correlation between language skills, reasoning capability, and working memory as key indicators of coding ability beating out mathematical capability.
Guest
Quick Hits
- Hulu's Live TV service is now available on Sony's PlayStation, joining YouTube TV as options to replace the now closed PlayStation Vue streaming TV service. Hulu's existing PlayStation app will be updated to give access to the Live TV features.
- Amazon Studios joined Twitter and Facebook in cancelling plans to attend the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas starting March 13. Amazon had planned two screenings, some panels and a marketing event.
- Microsoft is offering free six-month trials to the premium version of Microsoft Teams. The premium version has more calling and meeting features than the free version. But Microsoft is also updating the free version of Teams to let users schedule meetings for video calling, starting March 10.
- Tesla has been using an older slower processor for its Autopilot functions for cars made in China since January 7, because of a lack of chip supply. Tesla says it will upgrade the chip free of charge when supplies become available. The newer chips prices images 21 times faster than the previous generation.
Top Stories
- Twitter announced it will test a new sharing format called "Fleets" starting in Brazil. Fleets cannot receive likes, public replies or retweets and disappear after 24 hours. Fleets show up in rounded profile icons at the top of the timeline from people who follow each other. Fleets do NOT show up in search or Moments and cannot be embedded on external websites.
- General Motors announced a new battery called Ultium that uses pouch-style cells instead of cylindrical cells, which can be stacked vertically or horizontally. The Ultium's 50-200kWh range can get up to 400 miles on a charge. GM added aluminum to reduce the cobalt content by 70 percent. Ultium's cost should be below $100/kWh. GM plans to have 20 electric "nameplates" by 2023 with the first three coming in the next few months. Its plant in Hamtramck, Michigan will be retrofitted to produce autonomous and electric vehicles. Battery cells are to be supplied from a factory run by a joint venture with LG Chem in Lordstown, Ohio.
- A feature Google showed at CES that reads webpages aloud is rolling out worldwide. Users tell Google Assistant "Read It" or "Read This Page" and the page will be read aloud and highlight words as they are read. You can tap the screen to move to a particular section as well. You can also adjust the speed of the reading to be slower or faster. The feature also translates between 42 languages.
- The Foldit puzzle game which crowd sources research into protein folding in a game format, has added a COVID-19 virus related puzzle. The hope is to develop a protein that binds to COVID-19 to block interaction with human cells and halt infection. Human players are often better than computers at finding certain solutions. However, the Folding@Home project is also researching the virus. Folding@Home uses spare computer cycles to power a computer model.
- India's Supreme Court has sided with cryptocurrency exchanges that were banned in April 2018 by the central bank, barring banks from offering any services to support digital currencies. The court struck down the RBI’s curbs, which would let virtual currency investors and businesses in India push against stricter rules being planned by the government, and participate in projects such as Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency. The Supreme Court is separately hearing another case which will decide on regulations for digital currencies. The Indian central bank has been exploring creating a sovereign-backed digital currency and said private coins like Bitcoin increase potential for money laundering and other illegal activities.
Discussion
- Surprising study reveals what makes a good coder, and it’s not math
- Not a 'math person'? You may be better at learning to code than you think
- Chantel Prat, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Washington, is the lead author on a study published in Nature's Scientific Reports. 36 adults learned python and they were tested for things like problem-solving, memory, numerical skill, resting-state brain activity. They found the participants who learned Python the fastest had strong language, working memory and reasoning abilities. Math skill was barely correlated. Learning programming languages seems like it may resemble learning a language like Korean or Spanish.
Thing of the Day
- Let's see what's the latest on Tech's Message this week where Nate Lanxon tackles food, and royalty.
Mailbag
- I'm actually excited to see reports that Apple is going to go down the Mini LED route with their coming products according to Quo. I have zero Apple hardware in my life these days, but I have a super high-end PC. The highest-end gaming PC monitors are getting new revisions later this year with Mini LED backlights, and the new backlight is expected to add a large amount to the price of these new revisions.
With Apple ordering Mini LED backlights from suppliers that will hopefully mean the orders will be high enough to bring down Mini LED prices in general. Right now there is a premium charged for Mini LED and anything that brings down the price is nothing but good news to me as these displays are amazing to gaze upon. - Sent by Nik
- I'm actually excited to see reports that Apple is going to go down the Mini LED route with their coming products according to Quo. I have zero Apple hardware in my life these days, but I have a super high-end PC. The highest-end gaming PC monitors are getting new revisions later this year with Mini LED backlights, and the new backlight is expected to add a large amount to the price of these new revisions.
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