Researchers at Tampere University have developed the world’s first soft touchpad that can sense the force, area and location of contact without electricity. The device utilises pneumatic channels, enabling its use in environments such as MRI machines and other conditions that are unsuitable for electronic devices. Soft devices like soft robots and rehabilitation aids could also benefit from this new technology.
Researchers at Tampere University have developed the world’s first soft touchpad that is able to sense the force, area and location of contact without electricity.
That has traditionally required electronic sensors, but the newly developed touchpad does not need electricity as it uses pneumatic channels embedded in the device for detection.
A critical authentication bypass vulnerability has been disclosed in the Really Simple Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) plugin for WordPress that, if successfully exploited, could grant an attacker to remotely gain full administrative access to a susceptible site.
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024–10924 (CVSS score: 9.8), impacts both free and premium versions of the plugin. The software is installed on over 4 million WordPress sites.
“The vulnerability is scriptable, meaning that it can be turned into a large-scale automated attack, targeting WordPress websites,” Wordfence security researcher István Márton said.
GitHub projects have been targeted with malicious commits and pull requests, in an attempt to inject backdoors into these projects.
Most recently, the GitHub repository of Exo Labs, an AI and machine learning startup, was targeted in the attack, which has left many wondering about the attacker’s true intentions.
Big Tech’s AI spending continues to accelerate at a blistering pace, with the four giants well on track to spend upwards of a quarter trillion dollars predominantly towards AI infrastructure next year.
Though there have recently been concerns about the durability of this AI spending from Big Tech and others downstream, these fears have been assuaged, with management teams stepping out to highlight AI revenue streams approaching and surpassing $10 billion with demand still outpacing capacity.
Below, I take a look at the growth in AI spending from Big Tech this year and yet, as it quickly approaches the quarter-trillion mark, and next week, I’ll discuss exactly what this means for the market’s biggest beneficiary.
I love the analogy they use here of space flight — a deeply impressive human accomplishment that has, nevertheless, primarily relied on engineering solutions because the science behind it is relatively well understood. It’s a great reminder that BCIs are not “rocket science” because, unlike rocket science, we don’t yet have the science to underpin the engineering that advances will rely on.
Yet despite this, Gordon and Seth throw a bone to engineers who can’t wait for the science to catch up. And they do this by suggesting that artificial intelligence may “soften” if not completely eliminate the science challenges facing the development of successful BCIs.
At this point it’s hard to tell how far AI-driven engineering solutions might support BCIs designed to enhance performance — and Gordon and Seth suggest that near term technologies may be “limited to controlling apps on phones or other similarly prosaic activities”. But they also acknowledge that, in spite of the considerable challenges, BCIs still hold promise for human enhancement in the future.
Evo is a large language model that is not trained on words but on the genomes of millions of microbes. It can accurately predict the effects of mutations.
Step Into the Future with The Cybernetic Singularity: The Syntellect Emergence 🎧 The groundbreaking third volume of The Cybernetic Theory of Mind series by Alex M Vikoulov is now available as an audiobook!
Ecstadelic Media Group releases a new non-fiction audiobook The Cybernetic Singularity: The Syntellect Emergence, in addition to a previously published Kindle eBook, part of The Cybernetic Theory of Mind series. Written by Alex M. Vikoulov; Narrated by Virtual Voice; Foreword by Antonin Tuynman, PhD; Format: Audible audiobook (Press Release, Burlingame, CA, USA, November 16, 2024 09.23 AM PST)
The Cybernetic Singularity: The Syntellect Emergence is a visionary exploration of humanity’s impending transition into a post-biological state of existence, where artificial intelligence, advanced cybernetics, and collective intelligence converge to form a unified Global Mind. As the third installment in The Cybernetic Theory of Mind series, this book delves into the transformative potential of AI and the emergence of hyperconnected “infomorphs” — substrate-independent minds transcending biological limitations. It examines the profound philosophical, technological, and existential implications of this evolutionary leap, which may redefine what it means to be human. The book also introduces key concepts like Cybernetic Immortality and Experiential Realism, suggesting how we might engineer a future of infinite creativity and bliss.
With the Syntellect Hypothesis as its foundation, The Cybernetic Singularity presents a roadmap to the ultimate phase transition of civilization — the awakening of a universal consciousness network capable of synthesizing knowledge, experience, and purpose at unimaginable scales. From the rise of transhumanism to the development of a planetary superorganism, the narrative connects cutting-edge scientific insights with metaphysical musings on the nature of reality. Opening with Norbert Wiener’s quote, “The world of the future will be an even more demanding struggle against the limitations of our intelligence,” the book invites readers to contemplate their role in this grand cosmic drama. Whether you are a technophile, philosopher, or futurist, this volume is an essential guide to understanding and embracing the dawn of the Syntellect Emergence.
