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Hi reddit! My name is Brad Hayes and I’m a postdoctoral associate at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) interested in building autonomous robots that can learn from, communicate with, and collaborate with humans. My research at MIT CSAIL involves developing and evaluating algorithms that enable robots to become capable teammates, empowering human co-workers to be safer, more proficient, and more efficient at their jobs. Back in March I also created @DeepDrumpf, a Twitter account that sounds like Donald Trump using an algorithm I trained with dozens of hours of speech transcripts. (The handle has since picked up nearly 28,000 followers) Some Tweet highlights: https://twitter.com/DeepDrumpf/status/705480367239659520 https://twitter.com/DeepDrumpf/status/705480113018707969 https://twitter.com/DeepDrumpf/status/705465462721744896 I’m excited to report that this past month DeepDrumpf formally announced its “candidacy” for presidency , with a crowdfunding campaign whose funds go directly to the awesome charity “Girls Who Code”. DeepDrumpf’s algorithm is based around what’s called “deep learning,” which describes a family of techniques within artificial intelligence and machine learning that allows computers to to learn patterns from data on their own. It creates Tweets one letter at a time, based on what letters are most likely to follow each other. For example, if it randomly began its Tweet with the letter “D,” it is somewhat likely to be followed by an “R,” and then a “A,” and so on until the bot types out Trump’s latest catchphrase, “Drain the Swamp.” It then starts over for the next sentence and repeats that process until it reaches 140 characters. The basis of my approach is similar to existing work that can simulate Shakespeare. My inspiration for it was a report that analyzed the presidential candidates’ linguistic patterns to find that Trump speaks at a fourth-grade level. Here’s a news story that explains more about Deep Drumpf, and a news story written about some of my PhD thesis research. For more background on my work feel free to also check out my research page . I’ll be online from about 4 to 6 pm EST. Ask me anything! Feel free to ask me anything about DeepDrumpf Robotics Artificial intelligence Human-robot collaboration How I got into computer science What it’s like to be at MIT CSAIL Or anything else! EDIT (2:30pm ET): I’m here to answer some of your questions a bit early! EDIT (3:05pm ET): I have to run out and do some errands, I’ll be back at 4pm ET and will stay as long as I can to answer your questions! EDIT (8:30pm ET): Taking a break for a little while! I’ll be back later tonight/tomorrow to finish answering questions NOTE FROM THE MODS Guests of /r/science have volunteered to answer questions; please treat them with due respect. Comment rules will be strictly enforced, and uncivil or rude behavior will result in a loss of privileges in /r/science. Many comments are being removed for being jokes, rude, or abusive. Please keep your questions focused on the science.

Hi reddit! In advance of this year’s national election, AAAS is bringing together scientists who have studied how people make up their minds about political issues and, once their opinions are set, how people can change their views. Science Magazine has published a few articles on this topic in 2016. One paper, by Noah Friedkin, explored the question “how do some beliefs within groups persist in the face of social pressure, whereas others change and, by changing, influence a cascade of other beliefs?” Another written by two of us, David Broockman and Joshua Kalla, describes our field experiment that showed that 1 in 10 Miami voters shifted their attitudes toward transgender individuals and maintained those changed positions for 3 months. We are joined by Drs. Samara Klar and Yanna Krupnikov, authors of “Independent Politics: How American Disdain for Parties Leads to Political Inaction.” In the final weekend before the election, we suspect that many family and friends will be speaking about issues that are important to them. Ask us anything on the science of political persuasion! Dr. David Broockman is Assistant Professor of Political Economy, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University Joshua Kalla is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at University of California, Berkeley Dr. Samara Klar is Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of Arizona. Dr. Yanna Krupnikov is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Stony Brook University. We’ll be back at noon EST (9 am PST, 4 pm UTC) to answer your questions, ask us anything!

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Hi Reddit, We are so happy to be here. It’s thyroid awareness week, and we are pretty passionate about it. Let’s dive in. The thyroid is one of the most important organs in the body. It is a gland that secretes hormones which control your body’s metabolism, and it affects everything from your body temperature to your heart rate to how fast food moves through your GI tract. Problems with the thyroid can include the gland making too much hormone (hyperthyroidism) or too little (hypothyroidism). The thyroid can also be a common site for cancer, and in terms of number new cases, thyroid cancer is one of the fastest growing of all forms of cancer. Fortunately, it is also highly treatable. We are dedicated to providing the best medical care and education to patients with disorders of the thyroid gland, and we work to improve the standard of care for thyroid patients worldwide. Learn more about us here. James Lee, MD: Chief of Endocrine Surgery, Co-Director New York Thyroid Center, Columbia University Medical Center Jenn Kuo, MD: Director of Thyroid Biopsy Program, Director of Endocrine Surgery Research Program, Columbia University Medical Center Salila Kurra, MD: Co-Director of Columbia Adrenal Center, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center We will answer as many questions as we can starting at 2pm. EDIT: We’re here, and Dr. Kuo is on her way from the OR. Let’s get started! PROOF Signing as: JL: James Lee JK: Jenn Kuo SK: Salila Kurra EDIT 2: Thanks for all of your insightful questions! This was a blast. We’re signing off for now, but hope to come back and answer a few more this evening. JL/JK/SK To continue this conversation you can always tweet at us via @ColumbiaSurgery

Hi Reddit! I’m Dr. Kate Greenberg, assistant professor of adolescent medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Here, I serve as director of the Gender Health Services clinic, which provides services and support for families, youth, and young adults who identify as transgender or gender non-conforming. Transgender men and women have existed throughout human history, but recently, Caitlyn Jenner, Laverne Cox, and others have raised societal awareness of transgender people. Growing up in a world where outward appearance and identity are so closely intertwined can be difficult, and health professionals are working to support transgender people as they seek to align their physical selves with their sense of self. At our clinic, we offer cross-gender hormone therapy, pubertal blockade, and social work services. We also coordinate closely with urologists, endocrinologists, voice therapists, surgeons, and mental health professionals. Hey all! I’m here and answering questions. First, let me say that I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve read so far on this AMA - folks are asking really thoughtful questions and where there are challenges/corrections to be made, doing so in a respectful and evidence-based fashion. Thanks for being here and for being thoughtful when asking questions. One of my mantras in attempting to discuss trans* medicine is to encourage questions, no matter how basic or unaware, as long as they’re respectful. I will use the phrase trans/trans folks/trans* people throughout the discussion as shorthand for much more complex phenomena around people’s sense of self, their bodies, and their identities. I’d also like to say that I will provide citations and evidence where I can, but will also admit where I’m not aware of much evidence or where studies are ongoing. This is a neglected area of healthcare, and as I tell parents and patients in my clinic, there’s a lot more that we don’t know and still need to figure out. I’m a physician and hormone prescriber, not a psychologist or mental health provider, so I’ll also acknowledge where my expertise ends. Edit: Thanks to everyone for the questions and responses. I will try to come back this evening to answer more questions, and will certainly follow the comments that come in. Hope this was helpful. Moderator Warning: We know that many people have strong feelings about this issue, if you are unable to comment in a civil manner, it would be best to not comment. Our policies on hate-speech will be rigorously enforced, and violators will find their accounts banned without warning. /r/science is about discussing the science of issues, not your personal biases or opinions.

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We’re signing off for now. Thanks for all your great questions! Tune into the LIVE expansion at 5:30am ET on Thursday on NASA TV (www.nasa.gov/ntv) and follow updates on the @Space_Station Twitter. We’re a group from NASA and Bigelow Aerospace that are getting ready to make history on Thursday! The first human-rated expandable structure, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) will be expanded on the International Space Station on May 26. It will be expanded to nearly five times its compressed size of 8 feet in diameter by 7 feet in length to roughly 10 feet in diameter and 13 feet in length. Astronaut Jeff Williams is going to be doing the expanding for us while we support him and watch from Mission Control in Houston. We’re really excited about this new technology that may help inform the design of deep space habitats for future missions, even those to deep space. Expandable habitats are designed to take up less room on a rocket, but provide greater volume for living and working in space once expanded. Looking forward to your questions! *Rajib Dasgupta, NASA BEAM Project Manager *Steve Munday, NASA BEAM Deputy Manager *Brandon Bechtol, Bigelow Aerospace Engineer *Lisa Kauke, Bigelow Aerospace Engineer *Earl Han, Bigelow Aerospace Engineer Proof: http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-televises-hosts-events-for-deployment-of-first-expandable-habitat-on-0 We will be back at 6 pm ET to answer your questions, ask us anything!

Abortion is an accepted legal practice, in many countries, (Center for Reproductive Rights 2016), but that does not mean that there are not ethical implications which are being ignored. This article examines the ethical consequences in the light of a new understanding of them: the “infinite crime”. This variety of crime is one in which any given action has infinite consequences of a negative nature. Several motivations for elective abortion are considered individually with regards to their ethics, in the light of this new definition of an ethical crime. These include the desire for the freedom to be lazy; the freedom to be materialist; the freedom of time and its subcategory the freedom to create; and the freedom of movement. Furthermore, rape is examined and the question considered as to whether it is an infinite crime, and whether it is always a crime, at all, in a broader ethical context. The Principle of the Immorality of Conception by Rape, is defined. The issue of how to approach abortion in rape cases, is addressed. Other reasons for abortion are weighed, including abortion for reason of timing; abortion for reason of family sizing, abortion for reason of genetic deformity and abortion for reason of incest. A new value for human life is proposed. The implications for medicine and law, of this new understanding of the ethics of abortion, are outlined.

A document by Henry Rzepa. Click on the document to view its contents.

Hi, we’re Bernadette Woods Placky and Brian Kahn from Climate Central and Carl Parker, a hurricane specialist from the Weather Channel. The last 11 12 months in a row have been some of the most abnormally warm months the planet has ever experienced and are toeing close to the 1.5°C warming threshold laid out by the United Nations laid out as an important climate milestone. We’ve been keeping an eye on the record-setting temperatures as well as some of the impacts from record-low sea ice to a sudden April meltdown in Greenland to coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef. We’re here to answer your questions about the global warming hot streak the planet is currently on, where we’re headed in the future and our new Twitter hashtag for why these temperatures are #2hot2ignore. We will be back at 3 pm ET to answer your questions, Ask us anything! UPDATE: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released their April global temperature data this afternoon. It was the hottest April on record. Despite only being four months into 2016, there’s a 99 percent chance this will be the hottest year on record. Some food for thought. UPDATE #2: We’ve got to head out for now. Thank you all for the amazing questions. This is a wildly important topic and we’d love to come back and chat about it again sometime. We’ll also be continuing the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #2hot2ignore so if we didn’t answer your question (or you have other ones), feel free to drop us a line over there. Until next time, Carl, Bernadette and Brian

Greetings Reddit! I am Anthony (Tony) Noce, the current Chair of the ACS Committee on Environmental Improvement (http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/about/governance/committees/cei.html). I have more than 27 years of experience in environmental chemistry and environment health and safety (EH&S) consulting, with a focus on global EH&S compliance as well as due diligence and integration services. I am currently a Principal Consultant with Haley & Aldrich, Inc. (http://www.haleyaldrich.com/) where I work with clients to help control and mitigate their operational risk, particularly in the EH&S arena, while building their business. I have firsthand experience on how scientists and related professionals can lend their perspectives to policy. The Committee on Environmental Improvement works at the crossroads of science and policy, helping to leverage the chemical community’s awareness of and response to sustainability challenges. We help the American Chemical Society’s members articulate policy statements on environmentally facing issues such as chemical risk assessment, climate change, and various energy and water sources. You can read my ACS Comment published yesterday in Chemical & Engineering News entitled “TSCA reform and changing our practice of chemistry” here: http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i20/TSCA-reform-changing-practice-chemistry.html?h=-1691421665 I really enjoyed doing this, and hope that you enjoyed it as well. Thank you for all the questions. I got through as many as I could in the time allowed. I plan to come back later today or tomorrow if I can. Who knows, maybe they’ll even invite me back. All the best!

Hi Reddit! I’m Katie Rizzone and I’m a primary care sports medicine physician at the University of Rochester Medical Center. I specialize in musculoskeletal ailments including strains, sprains, tendonitis, fractures, sports concussions, and arthritis, as well as medical problems unique to the female athlete, and runners. As a lifelong athlete, with two young sons who are just getting into sports, I am very passionate about sports safety. One area I’m particularly concerned about is school-age athletes overtraining and specializing in one sport all year long, rather than resting in the off-season. My research looks at what this may be doing to their bodies not just during their competitive years, but in the long term. I’m also working to expand our understanding of who is most at risk from specialization and overtraining – Girls? Boys? Athletes in a particular sport? And I’m looking at the ages of athletes when these injuries start to occur. With that information, we can establish better sports safety guidelines for young athletes. The goal is to help young athletes continue to enjoy sports, and be able to maintain their physical health well into the future. Good morning! I’m here to answer your questions, ask me anything!**

Abstract Pediatric feeding disorders are common, especially among developmentally delayed children. The consequences of having these disorders can be severe: children could suffer from growth failure, chronic illness, and even death. In addition, these disorders have been reported to affect members of the entire family. While some interventions have been implemented to help families with children with these disorders, these studies are limited by small sample sizes and the lack of long-term follow-up visits. Moreover, there is a lack of a standardized system to classify children with these disorders, which directly impacts the diagnoses of children with these disorders. This paper reviews the relevant literature on the impact on the family of these feeding disorders and the current classification systems and interventions used to help children with these feeding disorders. It also recommends further research to create a more standardized classification system and to test the efficacy of current interventions, with the aim of improving accuracy of diagnoses and developing treatments tailored to children’s special needs.

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Yang-Mills theories are a very fruitful concept in quantum field theory. Fundamental interactions and its unifications can be described with Yang-Mills theory. However, gravity is still not modeled in the framework of Yang-Mills theory. It is modeled in terms of the Einstein-Hilbert action in the case of semiclassical field theory, but ordinary quantization of the spacetime field fails due to UV divergences. A possible approach to quantum gravity called E-gravity theory avoids UV-divergences. Primary, this theory is based on a spacetime discretization and the assignment of a curvature measure to discretized spacetime. This paper shows that this approach is also a special case of Yang-Mills theory.

In this essay the requirements for a perfectly replicable study are described as well as the active initiatives which promote the open practices for data and materials availability

Hello Reddit! I’m Chris Jones, BBSRC Future Leader Fellow at Rothamsted Research in the UK. At 14 I wanted to be a soccer player. At 32 I am not a soccer player but instead spend my time attaching insects to pieces of wire. How did this come to pass? Biologist? Molecular entomologist? Molecular ecologist? It’s hard to know what box I tick. But what I do know is that I am interested in researching the genetic basis of the fascinating migrations of insects, and more specifically, insects of agricultural importance. Every year billions of insects take to the skies migrating vast distances to find suitable habitats in which to breed. Forgoing food and reproduction, these journeys are arduous and risky, but the rewards are high. These migrations are often multi-generational - in other words - the offspring inherently know when and where to go. But what is the genetic programme that drives this behaviour? What are the genes involved? And how can we study this in the lab? The goal of my research is to understand the ‘migratory gene package’ in greater detail. So go ahead. Ask me anything. I will be back at 4pm BST. In the meantime you are welcome to find out more about me and my work in a blog entry I recently wrote for Rothamsted Research’s ‘A day in the life of a Research Scientist’http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/day-life-dr-chris-jones blog series. I’ll be back at 11 am ET to answer your questions, ask me anything! POST-AMA Hi all, it’s 6pm and time to catch what’s left of the UK spring evening. Thanks for all your questions on insect migration. Some really good questions. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Sorry I haven’t answered everything. I will come back and answer a few more tomorrow. If you are interested more in the work I/we do here in the Insect Migration Group at Rothamsted then please find our contact info in the usual places. Enjoy the rest of your Monday folks. All the best.

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Hi Reddit! In 2010, we watched Sonia’s mom die of a rapid, mysterious neurodegenerative disease that baffled her doctors. After her death, we learned that it had been a genetic prion disease, and Sonia was at 50/50 risk. We got genetic testing and learned, in late 2011, that Sonia had inherited the lethal mutation, meaning that unless a treatment or cure is developed, she’s very likely to suffer the same fate, probably by about age 50. After learning this information, we abandoned our old careers in law and city planning, and threw ourselves headfirst into re-training as scientists. Four years later, we’re both Harvard biology PhD students, and we work side-by-side Stuart Schreiber’s lab at the Broad Institute, where we are researching therapeutics for prion disease. A husband and wife’s race to cure her fatal genetic disease, Kathleen Burge, Boston Globe Magazine, February 17, 2016 Insomnia that kills, Aimee Swartz, The Atlantic, February 5, 2015 Computer scientist makes prion advance, Erika Check Hayden, Nature News, October 2, 2014 A prion love story, D.T. Max, The New Yorker, September 27, 2013 We’ll be back at 1 pm EST (10 am PST, 6 pm UTC) to answer your questions, ask us anything! Update: Hi Reddit, we’re going to officially sign off but just wanted to say thank you so much. Four and half years ago, we never would have imagined people taking such an interest in our cause, or our career changes, or this uphill battle we are fighting. It’s humbling to have so many people out there pulling for us. Hopefully this story has many chapters to come. Thank you!