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Scientists say they have created a new method of testing materials that allows predictions to be made about their ductility, which could lead to the production of virtually “unbreakable” metals for use with components in a variety of applications. Drawing from quantum mechanics principles, the new method allows for significant improvements by enhancing predictions about metals’ ability to be drawn out into thinner shapes while maintaining their strength. According to researchers involved with the discovery, the new method has proven very effective for metals used in high-temperature applications and could help industries like aerospace and other fields perform tests of...

As technology has advanced, AI-generated deepfakes have become more convincing, says disinformation researcher Eileen Culloty.Disinformation caught many people off guard during the 2016 Brexit referendum and US presidential election. Since then, a mini-industry has developed to analyse and counter it. Yet despite that, we have entered 2024 - a year of more than 40 elections worldwide - more fearful than ever about disinformation. In many ways, the problem is more challenging than it was in 2016. Advances in technology since then are one reason for that, in particular the development that has taken place with synthetic media, otherwise known as...

If you pay for car insurance, you’ve probably noticed that rates are really high lately. You’re not alone. Last week’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report — the government’s method for tracking what people are paying for goods and services and how that’s changing over time — noted that the price of car insurance was up more than 20 percent over the same time last year. What’s particularly painful is that rates were already rising: CPI reports have shown that, overall, car insurance rates are up more than 38 percent since January 2020. What’s going on? The big insurance companies have...

Top microchip makers are postponing their expansion into the U.S. and setting up shop in Israel and Russia due to equity caveats that are required for them to receive grants from the U.S. government. The Biden administration promised earlier this year that they would be handing out $39 billion in grants to encourage semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. Shortly after the announcement however, Intel announced they would be holding off on their Columbus factory, while Samsung also delayed their facility in Texas. Despite the billions in subsidies, two experts believe the tech companies' decision to back out of building manufacturing...

<p>On the windowsill above the gas fire sits a surprisingly heavy square box. Its back is dirty, thick plastic; its battered and much-dented front is metallic, with rows of tiny ridges and microscopic holes creating a nubby texture if you run your hand across it. A leather strap is buckled into the top for ease of carry, in front of a retractable metal antenna. When the antenna is fully outstretched above the squat rectangle, it looks comical. In the top third of the box’s face, a vertical orange needle moves across the rows of numbers denoting frequency scales. You move the needle with a metal knob. There are four knobs in total, and a switch, and a few helpful legends: am/fm, volume, and, in neat, raised letters, general electric.</p>

Two developments caught my eye like a fly on arsenic glue paper over the past few weeks. One was the arrival of Sora from Open AI, which generates video from text prompts. This can now create convincing, realistic footage, whether of a woman calmly walking through an idealised urban landscape or some sleepyhead being woken by their impatient, persistent yet affectionate cat. The uncanny valley – that unsettling feeling you get when looking at images with features that are human-like, but slightly off – if not closed entirely, is now barely a crack in the pavement. This leap forward in...

The Biden administration laid out an ambitious new goal for the US: produce 20% of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips by the end of the decade. It currently makes 0% of the so-called leading edge logic chips that are considerably more powerful than older-generation semiconductors, making them crucial for everything from mobile phones to AI to quantum computing. The legislation allows the White House to spend $50 billion in taxpayer dollars — $39 billion specifically earmarked for manufacturing — to try and help reignite American manufacturing in the years ahead.

The first human patient for Neuralink implanted with a brain chip appears to have made a ‘full recovery,’ according to Elon Musk. “Progress is good and the patient seems to have made a full recovery, with neural effects that we are aware of,” Musk said in a Spaces event on X, according to the Daily Mail. “Patient is able to move a mouse around the screen by just thinking,” he reportedly added.

My Sony flat screen TV is old and is rebooting at least once a day. And the pimps at Sony have overridden my "preferences" to hawk their "woke" alerts and advertisements. All this on the home screen. Since I'm going to upgrade anyway, is there a brand that doesn't pimp the Psuedo Cause du jour when it fires up?

Discover how the Yemeni Navy's seizure of the Remus 600 submarine highlights the evolving dynamics of naval power, technological warfare, and regional security in the 21st century. In an event that reads like a narrative torn from the pages of a high-stakes international thriller, the Yemeni Navy's special unit has seized control of the Remus 600, an advanced American unmanned submarine. This recent incident not only underscores the ongoing tensions in the region but also highlights the complexities of modern maritime security and technological warfare. The Strategic Seizure of the Remus 600 The Remus 600, with its sleek design and...

"THE CART IS SO FAR AHEAD OF THE HORSE, IT’S LIKE HOW DO WE REIN IT BACK IN WITHOUT CAREENING OVER THE RAVINE?" You may remember a series of lawyers who have attempted to use AI tools in court — and were subsequently embarrassed and sanctioned when the chatbots screwed up, sometimes even inventing plausible-sounding cases that didn't actually exist. So consider this: how would you feel if your doctor did the same thing, feeding your symptoms into an AI system to diagnose what's wrong with you? That's a looming question, Politico reports in a fascinating story, that's currently stressing...

Subject: Unveiling Project Renaissance: Catalyzing Paradigmatic Shifts for Unprecedented Triumph Esteemed Visionaries and Architects of Tomorrow, In the labyrinth of modern commerce, where the tides of change ebb and flow with capricious abandon, we find ourselves at a pivotal juncture, poised on the cusp of greatness. Today, I stand before you, fueled by the fervent belief that our collective resolve and boundless ingenuity shall illuminate the path to transcendent glory. With an illustrious flourish and a flourish of grandeur, I am thrilled to unveil Project Renaissance – a symphony of innovation and audacious ambition that shall reverberate throughout the annals...

Nice reasonable, thorough review of Apple Vision Pro. 0:00 Intro 2:48 Immersiveness 6:35 Looking through glass 9:10 The Ecosystem 13:17 The Apps 16:06 The Comfort Issue 19:55 Eyes on the outside 21:40 So should you buy It?

I've collected more ATSC 3.0 over the air television news. Unfortunately it's not great news: I learned that all ATSC 3 tuners will have certificates that will expire after a certain length of time and there's been very little progress towards getting gateway devices to work.00:00 - Intro00:59 - DRM Petition Update02:23 - Tuner Expiration Dates04:13 - All ATSC 3 Devices "Phone Home" For Decryption04:48 - Zero Progress on Gateway Devices05:44 - ATSC 3 statement10:08 - Broadcaster Moving 4k to Streaming Only11:07 - Could Cable Access Channels Use Unwanted Spectrum?13:58 - ConclusionAll ATSC 3 TV Tuners will EXPIRE & More...

For venture capitalists and startup entrepreneurs, 2023 was a year dedicated to the destructive phase of Joseph Schumpeter’s notion of creative destruction. Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in the second-largest bank failure in American history, 400,000 tech jobs were eliminated in what Wired dubbed “The Great Tech Layoffs,” and dozens of high-potential startups transformed from unicorns into “zombies.” Destruction is a necessary ingredient to creativity. Not all ideas are good, and not all firms can make it. Economic dynamism is predicated not just on the rapid generation and growth of winning startups, but also on the implosion of failed companies, which...

Beijing Betavolt New Energy Technology Co Ltd has announced the development of a miniature nuclear battery, the BV100, which they claim can generate power for 50 years. Utilizing nickel-63 isotope decay technology and diamond semiconductors, this battery offers significant advancements in miniaturizing and modularizing atomic energy batteries. The company said the batteries have entered the pilot stage and will be put into mass production on the market. Beijing Betavolt New Energy Technology Co Ltd, a Chinese company, recently announced they have made a significant breakthrough in battery technology by developing a new type of nuclear battery. Named the BV100, this...

Using AI and cloud computing, Microsoft was able to identify promising new battery materials for the Department of Energy (DoE) — in a fraction of the time it would usually take. The challenge: Batteries are an essential part of the clean energy future. We need them to power electric vehicles and to store energy from solar and wind. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are our best option for both of these uses, but they aren’t ideal. Because lithium is relatively scarce, it’s also expensive, and the metal is often unethically mined using child labor and environmentally destructive processes. Identifying better battery materials...

If you haven’t lost your job yet, you should be very thankful. Artificial intelligence and robots are taking more of our jobs with each passing day, and there will be no end to this high tech invasion. Eventually we could get to a point where AI and robots can do virtually everything far more efficiently and far more inexpensively than humans can. So what will happen to the vast majority of the human population when their labor is no longer needed? Will a way be found to quietly deal with “useless eaters” that are considered to be “just taking up...

At first, Ukraine noticed its GPS-guided 155mm Excalibur artillery shells suddenly started veering off target. Then rockets fired with Himars, which Kyiv once boasted had “scalpel-like” accuracy, began missing their targets. In some areas, they almost always missed. The same happened to JDAM guided bombs supplied to Ukraine’s air force by the United States. Frantic investigation eventually discovered they had all fallen victim to a new threat – Russian jamming. Moscow has quietly developed a knack for taking out some of Ukraine’s most prized missiles and rockets. It is a rare but crucial example of Russian technological advantage in a...

A new nickel-rich, single-crystal battery technology is on track for rapid deployment A seemingly simple shift in lithium-ion battery manufacturing could pay big dividends, improving electric vehicles’ (EV) ability to store more energy per charge and to withstand more charging cycles, according to new research led by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. An EV’s mileage depends on the deliverable energy from each of the constituent cells of its battery pack. For lithium-ion cells—which dominate the EV battery market—both the cell-level energy capacity and the cell cost are bottlenecked by the positive electrode, or cathode. Now that bottleneck...