Search Our Writing:
The Case for AlphaZero: Openings and Pawn Progression
January 20, 2022 | By Timothy Han SM ‘22
On December 6, 2017, AlphaZero, a new chess program developed by Google, changed the world. AlphaZero made its world premier in a match against Stockfish, the most dominant algorithm in chess history. Ever since IBM’s DeepBlue defeated world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997, engines have reigned supreme over humans in the world of chess. Stockfish, the latest in a long line of formidable chess algorithms, could evaluate 70 million moves per second; AlphaZero could only manage 80,000. An open-source program that has been ceaselessly improved since its debut in 2004, Stockfish came armed with countless formulas, strategies, and even endgame sequences to plan for every contingency.
The Age of the Prophets Has Ended (Or So We Thought)
January 20, 2022 | By Vienna Scott BF ‘21
I was vaguely aware of astrology in high school but, my real introduction occurred in my freshman year at Yale. As far as I was concerned, Leo was an actor and Cancer was a disease. But when a classmate offhandedly mentioned that there hasn’t been a Pisces president since 1897 in a seminar and the professor didn’t guffaw, I realized I needed to study up on all things above the stratosphere.
How Firm a Foundation: Pandemic Science Tests The Limits of Our trust
January 20, 2022 | By Raquel Sequeira TD ‘21.5
“I’ve never felt as dependent as I am today on shaky data to make what could be life or death decisions.” I was struck reading the words of Dr. Neel Shah, an obstetrician describing what it’s like to care for pregnant patients in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. [1] As I watch the world through my internet browser, scientific facts seem to flip-flop like pundits. A graph of biotech stocks, responding to daily progress reports from the companies racing to produce a vaccine, might as well be tracking the sentiments of Facebook users as each new pandemic model urges hope or despair.
Military Mental Health: Whole Persons
January 20, 2022 | By Jadan Anderson MC ‘22
Two years out from her twenty-year service with the U.S. Air Force, Mom keeps an American flag, neatly folded and elegantly framed in a closet downstairs, and insomnia between the restless tosses and turns of her four-hour sleep cycle. Though Mom is undoubtedly one of the strongest women I know, insomnia is just a single item on the long list of ailments that warrant her full disability compensation. That she has full disability is, to service members recently retired or retiring, great news. The sudden and somewhat steep drop of benefits experienced by veterans as they retire from service often feels more like getting the boot than a grateful send-off.
Searching for the Right Shade of Green
December 31, 2021 | By Ben Colón-Emeric TD ‘22
Everywhere along the paths of Trail Wood wildness seems near at hand. But nowhere else do we feel so remote from the world as here beside this woodland brook as it traces its serpentine course among the mosses and ferns and trees. So wild does this setting seem that one August day I even brought along an aluminum pie tin and at the little gravel bar above the ford panned for gold.
– Edwin Way Teale, “A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm”
Heaven Is a Place on Earth?
December 31, 2021 | By Sharla Moody BK ‘22
The science fiction of the first half of the twentieth century appears much more optimistic than what we see today. This optimistic sci-fi can perhaps be best exemplified by Hanna-Barbera’s 1962-1963 cartoon The Jetsons, which imagines what life might be like in the year 2062. The Jetsons drive a flying car, live in an ultra modern city built in Earth’s atmosphere, and exist as a happy nuclear family.
Upcoming Events:
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Writing Voice Workshop
THURSDAY, JAN 22ND, 6:15-7:50 PM,
Elm Institute
This week, we will hone our writing voice in different styles.
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Editing for Writing with Voice Workshop
THURSDAY, JAN 29TH, 6:15-7:15 PM, Location TBD
Based on the previous week’s workshop, we will edit our pieces to hone our writing voice.
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Veritas Weekend
FEB 6-8TH, Boston
Save the date for Veritas Weekend in Boston! More information below!
Signup Date Passed
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Theme Introduction Meeting
THURSDAY, FEB 12ND, 6:15-7:15 PM,
Location TBD
Our theme this semester is… mirrors! We will be exploring the literary tradition and potential topics for mirrors.
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Theme Introduction at Elm
THURSDAY, FEB 19ND, 6:15-7:50 PM,
Elm Institute
We will be continuing our exploration of the theme of mirrors at the Elm Institute, with a session led by Peter Wicks.
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Writing Retreat
SATURDAY, MARCH 28TH
We will be adjourning to the countryside to spend a day dedicated to making progress on our drafts.