Arizona
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Markov Boundary for Tabular Prediction
Wan, Shu, Gorantla, Abhinav, Liu, Huan, Candan, K. Selçuk
Under standard graphical assumptions, the Markov boundary of a target variable is the smallest set of features that renders every other feature redundant. Once the boundary is observed, the target is conditionally independent of the rest of the table. This is a tempting object for tabular prediction, since it names exactly the columns a model should need. Yet modern regressors are still trained on the full feature set. We ask whether the Markov boundary is genuinely useful for prediction on SCM3K, a 3,450-task synthetic SCM benchmark with feature counts from 40 to 1000 and six SCM families, evaluated with six regressors. The answer is more nuanced than the theory suggests. Restricting a regressor to the oracle boundary often improves prediction substantially, and the improvement grows as the feature space becomes larger and sparser. But the natural pipeline of recovering the boundary with causal discovery and training on the recovered mask does not deliver. Existing estimators exhaust the compute budget before reaching the regime where the boundary helps most, and even where they run they rarely beat the full feature set. We trace this to three causes. Discovery optimizes structural recovery rather than prediction. False negatives and false positives carry sharply asymmetric predictive cost. The exact boundary is only one of many feature sets that beat all features. We then develop what these facts imply for prediction-aligned feature selection and for tabular models that learn to use causal structure.
Constructing efficient channels for ideal observers using the conjugate gradient method
Purpose: Task-based assessment of image quality (IQ) is critically important for the design and optimization of medical imaging systems. Ideal observers, including the Bayesian Ideal Observer (IO) and the ideal linear observer, i.e., the Hotelling observer (HO), provide objective figures of merit (FOMs) that quantify system performance on signal detection tasks. However, the application of ideal observers to high-dimensional image data is often computationally intractable. Channel mechanisms provide an effective framework for dimensionality reduction that can facilitate the computation of ideal observers. This work presents a conjugate gradient (CG)-based method to construct efficient channels for approximating the IO and HO performance.
The AI Hype Index: AI gets booed in graduation season
It is one thing to say AI will change the world. It is another to expect the class of 2026 to applaud it. In fact, when former Google CEO Eric Schmidt told University of Arizona graduates that their task is to help shape AI, he was met with a resounding chorus of boos. "I can hear you," he said, before conceding that fears about disappearing jobs and a broken future were "rational." This is not exactly the message one hopes to hear while sweating under a polyester gown and tallying student loan payments. Graduates have been jeering at AI pep talks at other commencements too, including ceremonies at the University of Central Florida and Middle Tennessee State University.
Selena Gomez is reportedly bringing her talents to award-winning director's new four-hour X-rated movie
Minka Kelly uncorks a heater at 45, ABS backfires spectacularly and LSU parents vs a security guard! Robot's lifeless corpse hauled off stage after fall during disastrous Michael Jackson impression Bear cubs spar on woman's front porch in adorable viral nature video, reactions pour in Show Tiffany Stratton some respect -- a boob job doesn't mean the WWE champ is made of plastic Britney Spears stuns with a post-plea deal Instagram dance, college baseball HOT mic & is this dream normal? Landlord in a tenant's home for repairs was caught on a security camera getting it on with a woman instead Paige Spiranac continues her generational golf content influencing run in 2026, Mike Alstott is ripped & MEAT! 'World's sexiest fan' drops her World Cup anthem and here's why you never assist a bike thief Wearing only a watch, a headlamp and flip-flops isn't a great disguise when trashing a neighbor's motion light Stephen Miller: The American people rejected'third world' Democratic policies by voting for Trump Former CENTCOM commander'concerned' about Iran's residual military capabilities Wall Street titans sound alarm on Mamdani's'reckless' targeting of top employers Retired general says Iran is fighting a'war of resistance' Kevin Warsh's potential Fed chairmanship sparks economic debate on inflation Minnesota fraud mastermind sentenced to 41.5 years in prison OutKick-Culture Selena Gomez is reportedly bringing her talents to award-winning director's new four-hour X-rated movie Don't let reports that Selena Gomez is going to be starring in an X-rated movie fool you. This isn't going to be a poorly produced amateur-level movie thrown together with someone who doesn't know what they're doing. It's also not a sex tape, for the folks who can't get their act together.
Artificial Intelligence glitch at Arizona college graduation sparks uproar from crowd
Selena Gomez is reportedly bringing her talents to award-winning director's new four-hour X-rated movie Minka Kelly uncorks a heater at 45, ABS backfires spectacularly and LSU parents vs a security guard! Robot's lifeless corpse hauled off stage after fall during disastrous Michael Jackson impression Bear cubs spar on woman's front porch in adorable viral nature video, reactions pour in Show Tiffany Stratton some respect -- a boob job doesn't mean the WWE champ is made of plastic Britney Spears stuns with a post-plea deal Instagram dance, college baseball HOT mic & is this dream normal? Landlord in a tenant's home for repairs was caught on a security camera getting it on with a woman instead Paige Spiranac continues her generational golf content influencing run in 2026, Mike Alstott is ripped & MEAT! 'World's sexiest fan' drops her World Cup anthem and here's why you never assist a bike thief Wearing only a watch, a headlamp and flip-flops isn't a great disguise when trashing a neighbor's motion light Stephen Miller: The American people rejected'third world' Democratic policies by voting for Trump Former CENTCOM commander'concerned' about Iran's residual military capabilities Wall Street titans sound alarm on Mamdani's'reckless' targeting of top employers Retired general says Iran is fighting a'war of resistance' Kevin Warsh's potential Fed chairmanship sparks economic debate on inflation Minnesota fraud mastermind sentenced to 41.5 years in prison President Tiffany Hernandez said the school was'using a new AI system as our reader' and called it'a lesson learned' Kurt Knutsson discusses growing public backlash against AI, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt being booed at a University of Arizona commencement. He further discusses the development of artificial eggs that could revive dead species. I'll be honest with you guys, I don't know what to make of my feelings toward artificial intelligence, because my mood on the subject changes by the day.
The US Built a Site to Ensure Fair Access to Public Lands. Then Everything Went Wrong
The US Built a Site to Ensure Fair Access to Public Lands. Recreation.gov was supposed to make access to public lands more equitable and streamlined. It's a few minutes before 8 am Mountain Time on March 16, the day that river permit cancellations are released on Recreation.gov, the federal website for public land reservations. Rec.gov, as it's commonly called, administers everything from river permits and timed entrance fees at the most popular national parks to campground reservations on remote sites belonging to the Bureau of Land Management, and a lot of people are recreating on public land these days. There were 11 million reservations on the site in 2024, up significantly from 3.5 million reservations reported in 2019. At the center of it all is an unlikely player in the outdoor recreation space: The site is operated by the government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, a corporation known more for cybersecurity than rafting trips. Early each year, outdoor enthusiasts gear up for Recreation.gov's annual lotteries for some of the most iconic experiences in the country: a river trip down Idaho's Middle Fork of the Salmon River, which flows through the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Backcountry permits to hike into the Wave, an otherworldly rock formation in Arizona's Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. Overnight stays in the rugged, lake-studded Enchantments, in Washington's Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Odds of getting a desirable Middle Fork permit are around 2 percent.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt booed by graduates at mention of AI
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed by students as he spoke about the rise of artificial intelligence during his speech at University of Arizona's graduation ceremony, underscoring growing anxiety over AI's impact on jobs. I know what many of you are feeling about that. I can hear you, Schmidt told graduates as jeers rang out at the venue during remarks comparing today's AI boom to the rise of computers four decades ago. The reaction reflects a broader unease on campuses, where speakers who mention AI are increasingly being met with hostility from students. A recent poll suggests many students view AI as both a threat to their future and an obstacle to their intellectual development.
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt booed after AI remarks at Arizona commencement
A former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, was met with students' boos at a university commencement address in Arizona on Sunday when he raised the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) and its effects. Schmidt - who led the tech giant for more than a decade, acquiring a multi-billion dollar fortune in the process - was speaking to as many as 10,000 graduating University of Arizona students when he addressed the impact of modern technology on society. The topic struck a nerve of anxiety within the student body when he traced technology's evolution, through the laptop - which he said had "democratized knowledge" and led to prosperity - to the smartphone, the internet and social media. "We thought that we were adding stones to a cathedral of knowledge that humanity had been constructing for centuries, but the world we built turned out to be more complicated than we anticipated," Schmidt said. "The same tools that connect us also isolate us. The same platforms that gave everyone a voice - like you're using now - degraded the public square," he added, referring to the polarization within democracies.
An ICE Firearms Trainer Was Involved in At Least 4 Deadly Shootings
David Norman, a former Phoenix police officer who's described himself as "a fucking savage," now runs a company that provided training to Homeland Security's Special Response Teams. The owner of a company that trained paramilitary Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents testified that he was involved in at least four lethal shootings, according to a 2021 deposition related to a lawsuit reviewed by WIRED. David S. Norman, the founder and proprietor of law enforcement training firm TruKinetics LLC, served as a Phoenix Police officer from the late 1990s until his retirement in 2020. Prior to founding TruKinetics the same year, according to records reviewed by WIRED, Norman was involved in six shootings while on duty that left four people dead and two more wounded. In every instance, the Phoenix Police Department said Norman fired on an armed suspect and exchanged volleys of gunfire in at least two of the shootings. Based in Gilbert, Arizona, TruKinetics offers training on small-team tactics, hostage rescues, close-quarters combat, building searches, night-vision firearms proficiency, pistol and rifle courses, "vehicle interdiction," breaching with explosives, and sniper tactics, according to the company's website.