Some argue existence is an exercise in futility. They claim there are no winners in life. Ultimately, we are insignificant in the face of vast cosmic intelligences that were old when the Universe began.The best minds gibber at the incomprehensibility of it all. Other minds lose themselves in strange geometries because they can't comprehend any alternative.Whatever. The rest of us have to get up in the morning, feed the cat, and go to work.The Cozy Cosmic contains 3...

At the end, when the last star dies and the cold begins to seep in, what will be the totality of our accomplishments? What will have been the point? And will anyone notice that we're gone? If the true terror at the center of cosmic horror is the vast indifference the universe has for us, does that mean the closest thing we have to any sort of compassionate connection is . . . our cats? Ah, we may be doomed.But, in the interim, perhaps there may still be some spark that can illumina...

The End is Weird. In the event of cosmic fallout, it is vital that you adhere to the following: Secure your own persona, and a backup if available. A neighbor' s is acceptable. Your skin may attempt to abscond. This is normal in these situations. Ignore all notifications from your mobile devices. They are not to be trusted. Pay no mind to the details of that photograph. Yes, that one. Should your body accrue any additional limbs, please keep proper inventory; they will need to be accounted...

Becoming an International Humanitarian Aid Worker draws on the experiences of those currently working and those hiring people to work in humanitarian aid today, and an analysis of job postings over a 9-month period. It provides relevant information and advice to help jobseekers make more informed decisions about what steps to take. It first pushes prospective job seekers to reflect on whether this is the right career path for them. It then provides tried and tested strategies for preparing...

Video Based Machine Learning for Traffic Intersections describes the development of computer vision and machine learning-based applications for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and the challenges encountered during their deployment. This book presents several novel approaches, including a two-stream convolutional network architecture for vehicle detection, tracking, and near-miss detection; an unsupervised approach to detect near-misses in fisheye intersection videos using...

The Spring 2021 Issue. Ploughshares is an award-winning journal of new writing. Since 1971, Ploughshares has discovered and cultivated the freshest voices in contemporary American literature, and remains prescient in the digital age by providing readers with thoughtful and entertaining literature in a variety of formats. Find out why the New York Times named Ploughshares “the Triton among minnows.”As guest-editor Laura van den Berg writes in her introduction, “At its core, literatu...