Lifeboat Foundation

COLORADO SPRINGS — Axiom Space has introduced a new program to allow countries to create human spaceflight programs without needing to develop their own infrastructure or other capabilities.

The Axiom Space Access Program, announced April 17, offers countries a tiered approach to conducting research on the International Space Station or Axiom’s future commercial space station, as well as flying their own astronauts.

The program is effectively a “space program in a box,” said Tejpaul Bhatia, chief revenue officer at Axiom, in an interview during the 38^th Space Symposium. “The real key is that turnkey access at affordable, sustainable and predictable rates.”

Accelerating Leadership In Quantum Information Sciences — Dr. Charles Tahan, Ph.D., Assistant Director for Quantum Information Science (QIS); Director, National Quantum Coordination Office, Office of Science and Technology Policy, The White House.

Dr. Charles Tahan, Ph.D. is the Assistant Director for Quantum Information Science (QIS) and the Director of the National Quantum Coordination Office (NQCO) within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (https://www.quantum.gov/nqco/). The NQCO ensures coordination of the National Quantum Initiative (NQI) and QIS activities across the federal government, industry, and academia.

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To build a workforce that can meet the expected future demand in the quantum sector, we need to train many more quantum-literate educators and marshal support for them.

In 2018 the US federal government passed the National Quantum Initiative Act, a program designed to accelerate the country’s quantum research and development activities. In the next decade, quantum information science and quantum technologies are expected to have a significant impact on the US economy, as well as on that of other countries. To fulfill that promise, the US will need a “quantum-capable” workforce that is conversant with the core aspects of quantum technologies and is large enough to meet the expected demand. But even now, as quantum-career opportunities are just starting to appear, supply falls behind demand; according to a 2022 report, there is currently only around one qualified candidate for every three quantum job openings [1]. We call for education institutions and funding agencies to invest significantly in workforce development efforts to prevent the worsening of this dearth.

Most of today’s jobs in quantum information science and technology (QIST) require detailed knowledge and skills that students typically gain in graduate-level programs [2]. As the quantum industry matures from having a research and development focus toward having a deployment focus, this requirement will likely relax. The change is expected to increase the proportion of QIST jobs compatible with undergraduate-level training. However, 86% of QIST-focused courses currently take place at PhD-granting research institutions [3]. Very few other undergraduate institutions offer opportunities to learn about the subject. To meet the future need, we believe that aspect needs to change with QIST education being incorporated into the curricula at predominantly undergraduate institutions and community colleges in the US. However, adding QIST classes to the curricula at these institutions will be no easy task.

Chinese hackers could also attack the networks of companies that provide services to the military or to critical infrastructure operators, holding their systems hostage for ransom payments.

“If you get the right supply chain, it can have a lot of effects against a lot of targets,” said John Hultquist, head of Mandiant Intelligence Analysis at Google Cloud.

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Future food.

Think about grasshopper fries, a protein bar made of crickets or silkworm cocoons. As unconventional as it may sound, Singapore is trying to make insect food mainstream. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has given approval to 16 species of insects, such as crickets, silkworms and grasshoppers for human consumption.

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Among the many unique experiences of reporting on A.I. is this: In a young industry flooded with hype and money, person after person tells me that they are desperate to be regulated, even if it slows them down. In fact, especially if it slows them down.

What they tell me is obvious to anyone watching. Competition is forcing them to go too fast and cut too many corners. This technology is too important to be left to a race between Microsoft, Google, Meta and a few other firms. But no one company can slow down to a safe pace without risking irrelevancy. That’s where the government comes in — or so they hope.

A place to start is with the frameworks policymakers have already put forward to govern A.I. The two major proposals, at least in the West, are the “Blueprint for an A.I. Bill of Rights,” which the White House put forward in 2022, and the Artificial Intelligence Act, which the European Commission proposed in 2021. Then, last week, China released its latest regulatory approach.

In this weeks episode of Minutes With we sat down with Mustafa Al-Bassam, a former member of Anonymous and one of the founders of LulzSec.

Mustafa tells us how he got in to hacking and how he ended up getting involved in attacks on The Sun, The Westboro Baptist Church and even the US Government.

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But that’s not true. There are concrete things regulators can do right now to prevent tech companies from releasing risky systems.

In a new report, the AI Now Institute — a research center studying the social implications of artificial intelligence — offers a roadmap that specifies exactly which steps policymakers can take. It’s refreshingly pragmatic and actionable, thanks to the government experience of authors Amba Kak and Sarah Myers West. Both former advisers to Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan, they focus on what regulators can realistically do today.

The big argument is that if we want to curb AI harms, we need to curb the concentration of power in Big Tech.

One thing that is not really making the news is that South Korea is becoming a major military power. For example, France has recently committed to providing 2,000 155 mm shells to Ukraine per month, as reported at https://kyivindependent.com/france-to-double-supply-of-155-m…o-ukraine/. Meanwhile, South Korea has just committed to providing 500,000 155 mm shells to Ukraine in one big batch as reported at https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/south-korea-to-lend-500…r-AA19LIgJ. (They are giving the shells to the U.S. who will then give the same quantity of shells to Ukraine.

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters)-South Korea has reached an agreement to lend the United States 500,000 rounds of 155mm artillery shells that could give Washington greater flexibility to supply Ukraine with ammunition, a South Korean newspaper reported on Wednesday. The DongA Ilbo newspaper cited unidentified government sources as saying South Korea decided to “lend” the ammunition instead of selling, to minimise the possibility of South Korean shells being used in the Ukraine conflict.