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Nov 22, 2023

OpenAI reinstates Sam Altman as its chief executive

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Yay face_with_colon_three


OpenAI said late Tuesday it had reinstated Sam Altman as its chief executive in a stunning reversal that capped five days of drama that rocked the artificial intelligence community.

The company, maker of the popular ChatGPT, said it would also create a new board of directors. This comes after the former board voted to fire Altman as CEO late last week.

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Nov 22, 2023

First experimental evidence of hopfions in crystals: Research opens up new dimension for future technology

Posted by in categories: mathematics, particle physics

Hopfions, magnetic spin structures predicted decades ago, have become a hot and challenging research topic in recent years. In a study published in Nature, the first experimental evidence is presented by a Swedish-German-Chinese research collaboration.

“Our results are important from both a fundamental and applied point of view, as a new bridge has emerged between and abstract , potentially leading to hopfions finding an application in spintronics,” says Philipp Rybakov, researcher at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University, Sweden.

A deeper understanding of how different components of materials function is important for the development of innovative materials and future technology. The research field of spintronics, for example, which studies the spin of electrons, has opened up promising possibilities to combine the electrons’ electricity and magnetism for applications such as new electronics.

Nov 22, 2023

Tesla (TSLA) starts discounting new vehicles by $3,000 in end-of-quarter push

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Tesla has started discounting new inventory Model Y and Model 3 vehicles again in an apparent new end-of-quarter delivery push.

While Tesla has historically often used price reductions as a way to create demand, but until recently, the automaker has refrained from straight discounts on vehicles.

That changed when Tesla started discounting new inventory vehicles earlier this year.

Nov 22, 2023

Harvard Professor Says Godlike Aliens May Be Creating Universes in Labs

Posted by in categories: alien life, quantum physics

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In a new interview, perpetually provocative Harvard astronomer and alien hunter Avi Loeb posited both that super-human aliens could be building “baby universes” in labs and that his haters are just “jealous.”

When discussing his work and theories in a chat with Fox News, Loeb showed his tendency toward imaginative, deeply speculative theories of extraterrestrial life.

Continue reading “Harvard Professor Says Godlike Aliens May Be Creating Universes in Labs” »

Nov 22, 2023

Why North Korea may use nuclear weapons first, and why current US policy toward Pyongyang is unsustainable

Posted by in categories: existential risks, military, nuclear energy, policy

I suggest two responses to this difficult challenge for the United States and its allies: At the time of attack, the allies should respond with nonnuclear retaliation as long as politically feasible, in order to prevent further nuclear escalation. However, this will be difficult given the likely post-strike panic and hysteria. So, in preparation, the US should deconcentrate its northeast Asian conventional footprint, to reduce North Korean opportunities to engage in nuclear blackmail regarding regional American clusters of military equipment and personnel, and to reduce potential US casualties and consequent massive retaliation pressures if North Korea does launch a nuclear attack.

North Korean first-use incentives. The incentives for North Korea to use nuclear weapons first in a major conflict are powerful:

Operationally, North Korea will likely have only a very short time window to use its weapons of mass destruction. The Americans will almost certainly try to immediately suppress Northern missiles. An imminent, massive US-South Korea disarming strike creates an extreme use-it-or-lose-it dilemma for Pyongyang. If Kim Jong-Un does not use his nuclear weapons at the start of hostilities, most will be destroyed a short time later by allied airpower, turning an inter-Korean conflict into a conventional war that the North will probably lose. Frighteningly, this may encourage Kim to also release his strategic nuclear weapons almost immediately after fighting begins.

Nov 22, 2023

Wi-Fi for neurons: first map of wireless nerve signals unveiled in worms

Posted by in categories: internet, neuroscience

Studies find a densely connected network of neurons that communicate over long distances, rather than across synapses.

Nov 22, 2023

Space Technology Is Driving Autonomous Cars. Here’s How It Works

Posted by in categories: economics, robotics/AI, space

Joining space technology and the automotive industry brings new economic and environmental benefits, but more investments and a faster pace are needed in Europe.

Nov 22, 2023

We will soon need ‘neuro rights’ to protect our brains and thoughts from technology

Posted by in category: neuroscience

The question is not whether there will be a machine that can read your mind. Rather, it is when. Before that, governments across the world need to consider ‘neurorights’ to protect citizens’ brains against neurotechnology.

Nov 22, 2023

Second-most Distant Galaxy discovered using James Webb Space Telescope

Posted by in category: space

The second-and fourth-most distant galaxies ever observed have been discovered in a region of space known as Pandora’s Cluster, or Abell 2,744, using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Following up on a deep field image of the area, an international team led by Penn State researchers confirmed the distance of these ancient galaxies and inferred their properties using new spectroscopic data — information about light emitted across the electromagnetic spectrum — from JWST. At nearly 33 billion light years away, these incredibly distant galaxies offer insights into how the earliest galaxies might have formed.

Unlike other galaxies confirmed at this distance that appear in images as red dots, the new galaxies are larger and appear like a peanut and a fluffy ball, according to the researchers. A paper describing the galaxies appears today (Nov 13) in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.

“Very little is known about the early universe, and the only way to learn about that time and to test our theories of early galaxy formation and growth is with these very distant galaxies,” said first-author Bingjie Wang, postdoctoral scholar in the Penn State Eberly College of Science and a member of the JWST UNCOVER (Ultradeep NIRSpec and NIRCam ObserVations before the Epoch of Reionization) team that conducted the research. “Prior to our analysis, we knew of only three galaxies confirmed at around this extreme distance. Studying these new galaxies and their properties has revealed the diversity of galaxies in the early universe and how much there is to be learned from them.”

Nov 22, 2023

New Medication given every 1–3 months may Slash Stubborn High Cholesterol

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

While currently available PCSK9 inhibitor medications to lower cholesterol must be administered every few weeks by injection, a new, investigational PCSK9 inhibitor called recaticimab safely lowered bad cholesterol more than 50% when injected every 1–3 months, depending on dose.

A new PCSK9 inhibitor (recaticimab) injected every one to three months may work safely and provide more flexible dosing to lower cholesterol, according to late-breaking science presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023. The meeting, Nov. 11–13, in Philadelphia, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science.

“Previous studies found that 30% to 40% of people discontinued their current PCSK9 therapies, given every two to four weeks, during or after six months of beginning treatment. More flexible dosing with recaticimab, given up to every 12 weeks, might increase the proportion of people with high levels of bad cholesterol to stick with their recommended treatment to lower bad cholesterol levels and reduce risk of heart disease,” said lead study author Xin Du, Ph.D., a professor of cardiology at Beijing Anzhen Hospital and the Capital Medical University in Beijing, China.