Free Republic

The design is modeled on the Prisoner’s Dilemma, a classic game theory scenario involving two players who independently choose between cooperation and defection.obe University researchers have unveiled an interactive web application that transforms the abstract concepts of quantum game theory into a tangible, musical experience, drawing parallels with the “emergent dialogue” in jazz and improvisational music. This development is the world’s first browser-based interactive music system built on quantum game theory, and it offers users real-time visual and auditory feedback on how their strategic decisions intertwine. The project, led by quantum engineer Souma Satofumi, aims to bridge a significant...

Editor’s Note: For the record, I’m among the EXTREMELY skeptical when it comes to automation of anything that can kill people. Big rigs qualify. Call me a Boomer if you’d like but I prefer drivers to be human… as long as they speak and read in English and are U.S. citizens. With that said, the data on AI trucks is at least a little compelling… ============================================================== Artificial intelligence has officially taken the wheel—literally. A recent large-scale safety showdown between AI-driven trucking systems and top-rated human drivers has revealed something few expected: the machines won. According to results released this week,...

The containerized demonstrator has already been successfully tested several times. The weapon could also be equipped with greater capabilities and be used to destroy supersonic guided missiles. Rheinmetall/Wikimedia Commons ==================================================================== Ademonstrator laser weapon, which can fry enemy drones, has been delivered to Germany. The weapon is expected to be deployed for operational use starting in 2029. Developed by Rheinmetall and MBDA, the laser weapon could serve as a powerful and cost-effective addition to conventional guided missiles. The weapon’s effectiveness and precision have been proven under real operational conditions in over 100 firing tests. High-energy laser weapon system for maritime use...

The space environment would provide natural radiative cooling, as well as unlimited solar energy. With the generative AI boom in full force, scientists have warned of the immense power requirements of data centers used to train and utilize these systems. Now, a team of researchers from NTU Singapore has joined the call to place data centers in space. Doing so would pave the way for sustainable computing, the claim. According to the team, space data centers would be powered by round-the-clock solar energy and would harness free cooling. Crucially, all of this is possible using existing technologies. Sending AI infrastructure...

A misconfiguration at Microsoft Azure caused massive, widespread outages today starting around noon ET. https://azure.status.microsoft/en-us/status for details. https://downdetector.com/ was on fire. It's getting better.

FortNine explores how a search engine generates revenue, using the example of bicycle parts. The video examines the PageRank algorithm and its evolution into targeted advertising. This investigation reveals a surprising method for attributing sales, raising questions about the true impact of online marketing.

Like you, I see those flashy headlines and articles every day trying to convince Windows users to switch to Linux—how it’s supposedly better in every possible way, how you can use all your favorite apps, and so on. But honestly, most of that is just talk. It sounds great on paper, but it doesn’t match up with reality. Still, I guess those kinds of articles do their job pretty well.Here, though, I want to take a slightly different approach. Right from the start, let me be clear: I’m not here to persuade anyone to jump on the Linux bandwagon. Instead,...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced that the company will build seven supercomputers for the Department of Energy with up to 100,000 chips all made in America. Huang said, “The first thing that President Trump asked me is, ‘bring manufacturing back.'” The New York Post reports that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made several significant announcements during the keynote address at the company’s GTC event in Washington, DC, highlighting the company’s ongoing success and its commitment to advancing e AI technology. The event, held for the first time in the US capital, signifies Nvidia’s pursuit of work with the government and contractors...

A recent firmware update on my LG television revealed that the TV is taking audio samples of all content that is played through it. Other TVs are now taking audio and video samples and sending them off for analysis. Your Smart TV's HDMI Port Is Spying On You! | 23:43 Lon.TV | 389K subscribers | 62,195 views | October 27, 2025 VIDEO INDEX: 00:00 - Intro 00:55 - Supporter Thank Yous 01:26 - ACR / Automatic Content Recognition 02:10 - LG Televisions 04:03 - Samsung TVs 04:57 - Amazon Fire TV Sets 06:33 - Roku TVs 09:04 - Google TVs...

Take this with a grain of salt, but users have reported another privacy transgression by Microsoft. According to the report by users from the Resetera forum and elsewhere, Copilot Gaming, an AI specially for gaming-related AI tasks, is taking screen captures of your gameplay for training. While that would be fine if the user knew about it and enabled it willingly, it appears to be turned on automatically and without informing users about the data collecting and use of the data. According to the user who noticed it first by monitoring network traffic, the AI is using OCR technology to...

Climate deniers use scientific aesthetics to reinforce and legitimize their message. At the same time, their main opponents, the climate activists, are portrayed as emotional and irrational. This has been demonstrated by researchers from the Universities of Gothenburg and Amsterdam, who have studied how climate deniers communicate online. "Disinformation is not just about incorrect facts, but about how these facts look and feel. In today's digital media landscape, messages are spread through images, memes and visual narratives that influence us in an instant, before we even have time to think. By understanding the aesthetic logic behind climate denial, we can...

Shield AI's X-BAT designed to counter China's strategy of destroying American aircraft before they leave the ground Analysts say China has developed a chilling strategy for fighting a war with the United States: destroy America’s fighter jets before they ever leave the ground. In nearly every modern conflict, disabling enemy aircraft on the ground has been the first move. When Israel struck Iranian nuclear sites earlier this year, it began by destroying Iranian runways — grounding Tehran’s air force before it could take off. Russia and Ukraine have done the same throughout their ongoing war, targeting airfields to cripple enemy...

Late in World War 2, in the European theater, the Germans hit the Allied air forces with something new: Jet fighters. Chief among them was the Messerschmitt Me-262, a big, brutal twin-engine beast packing four 30-mm cannons. It was considerably faster than the American P-51 Mustang, generally considered the best piston-engine fighter in the air at the time. It was near-impossible to defeat in the air, but it was slow and cumbersome on taxi, vulnerable during takeoff and landing, and required a long runway. So we went after them when they were on the ground, destroying aircraft and bases alike....

A new groundbreaking light therapy could kill cancer cells in just 30 minutes, scientists have discovered. In the new method, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin fired infrared light, a type of light invisible to the eye, from LED bulbs at test tubes that contained human skin cancer or colon cancer cells and healthy human skin cells. The tubes also contained nanoscopic flakes of tin oxide, or SnOx nanoflakes, which were absorbed by the cancer cells. The scientists found that when the light was fired at the cells, the nanoscopic flakes absorbed it and heated up, turning into...

BOOOOOOOM! Wow, wow! Testing Grokipedia! It is absolutely brilliant and will only get better. Bye, bye Wikipedia—don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Test it now: grokipedia.com

Created by Elon Musk, xAI's Grok has introduced AI ‘companions’ — and one of them targeted toward children refers users to Planned Parenthood, likening abortion to simply “turning off a light.” According to a July 2025 article from Tom's Guide, Grok's companions are "AI chatbots that are assigned specific personalities for you to interact with...." Tom's reviewer Alex Hughes adds, with concern, that "[M]ost of the larger AI companies with strong reputations have stayed clear of this world, primarily because of the pretty expansive ethical problems that come attached with providing people with ‘AI relationships’." Grok's companions, Hughes writes, each...

When you cross into Loudon County, Virginia, one of the first things you notice is the hum - that's the sound of 199 data centres whirring in the background. Few people have heard of this inconspicuous part of northern Virginia, which also happens to be the wealthiest county in the US. But Loudon was on everyone's radar earlier this week, when a massive global Amazon outage downed everything from crucial banking services to fun Snapchat streaks for millions. That's because the county is home to the world's largest swath of data storage and processing facilities - even outpacing China. Data...

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, October 20, 2025. Evaristo Sa / AFP. The persecution of ordinary citizens on behalf of the LGBT movement will be funded by the state—that is, by the taxpayers being targeted. President Lula da Silva’s Brazil has taken another step towards totalitarianism with the launch of a massive platform designed to streamline the prosecution of those who criticize LGBT ideology. With Orwellian irony, it has been called the ‘Platform of Respect.’ “The Ministry of Human Rights, in partnership with the NGO Aliança Nacional LGBTI+, launched a platform aimed at holding legally accountable authors of...

Whatever else its faults — and it has many — one of the good things you can say about Amazon is that it employs a whole heck of a lot of American workers. At least, it does for now. CNBC reports: Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a new robotic system that's capable of performing multiple tasks at once in the company's warehouses. The system, called Blue Jay, is made up of a series of robotic arms that are suspended from a conveyor belt-like track. Those arms are tipped with suction-cup devices that allow them to grab and sort items of varying...

Good news: U.S. tech companies are attacking the AI race like a modern Manhattan Project — spending unfathomable money and time to beat China to superintelligence.Bad news: The U.S. government, even if it weren't shut down, is doing nothing to prepare Americans for the coming, in some areas already-unfolding, economic and jobs shock.Why it matters: The gap between the AI giants, employees and investors and ordinary Americans is growing by the month. This gap, if it persists, will increasingly define American political debate in the coming months and years."This is an enormously transformational moment," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told Axios'...