Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: transportation – Page 71

The Mathematics of Reliable Artificial Intelligence

By Gitta Kutyniok

The recent unprecedented success of foundation models like GPT-4 has heightened the general public’s awareness of artificial intelligence (AI) and inspired vivid discussion about its associated possibilities and threats. In March 2023, a group of technology leaders published an open letter that called for a public pause in AI development to allow time for the creation and implementation of shared safety protocols. Policymakers around the world have also responded to rapid advancements in AI technology with various regulatory efforts, including the European Union (EU) AI Act and the Hiroshima AI Process.

One of the current problems—and consequential dangers—of AI technology is its unreliability and subsequent lack of trustworthiness. In recent years, AI-based technologies have often encountered severe issues in terms of safety, security, privacy, and responsibility with respect to fairness and interpretability. Privacy violations, unfair decisions, unexplainable results, and accidents involving self-driving cars are all examples of concerning outcomes.

Tesla’s Elon Musk posts video update of Giga Texas supercomputer cluster

As noted by Musk in his update, Tesla is just finalizing the construction of Giga Texas’ supercomputer cluster. He also noted that the electric vehicle maker would be attempting to get the supercomputer cluster online in the coming months. The cluster is expected to further accelerate the progress of Tesla’s FSD efforts, which is crucial for the rollout of the company’s dedicated Robotaxi, which will be unveiled on August 8, 2024.

While Musk was all work in his Giga Texas update during Independence Day, he also took some time to poke fun at Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg, who posted a video of himself wakeboarding in a suit and sunglasses, sipping some beer, and holding up an American flag to celebrate the Fourth of July. Zuckerburg’s video went viral, with social media users noting that it made the Meta CEO very likable and cool.

Tesla Cybertruck on track to be #1 electric pickup truck in the US

The Tesla Cybertruck is on track to becoming the #1 electric pickup truck in the United States. Tesla recently celebrated the Tesla Cybertruck becoming the best-selling electric pickup truck in the US.

Tesla reported delivering approximately 443,956 vehicles in total for Q2 2024. The majority of the deliveries were Tesla Model Y and Model 3 units. Tesla reported delivering 21,551 units of its other models, including the Cybertruck, Semi, Model X, and Model S.

Tesla did not provide a precise number for its Cybertruck deliveries. However, a few official X accounts suggested that the Tesla Cybertruck is the best-selling electric truck as of the second quarter. Tesla’s lead engineer for the Cybertruck, Wes, celebrated the electric pickup truck’s achievement on X. Tesla’s official Cybertruck X account also confirmed the news.

RACER Speeds Into a Second Phase With Robotic Fleet Expansion and Another Experiment Success

Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) program successfully tested autonomous movement on a new, much larger fleet vehicle – a significant step in scaling up the adaptability and capability of the underlying RACER algorithms.

The RACER Heavy Platform (RHP) vehicles are 12-ton, 20-foot-long, skid-steer tracked vehicles – similar in size to forthcoming robotic and optionally manned combat/fighting vehicles. The RHPs complement the 2-ton, 11-foot-long, Ackermann-steered, wheeled RACER Fleet Vehicles (RFVs) already in use.

“Having two radically different types of vehicles helps us advance towards RACER’s goal of platform agnostic autonomy in complex, mission-relevant off-road environments that are significantly more unpredictable than on-road conditions,” said Stuart Young, RACER program manager.

New Study Reveals Molecular Secret to Lifelong Memories

New research identifies the molecule KIBRA as a critical “glue” in stabilizing long-term memories by maintaining synaptic strength, offering insights into memory persistence despite ongoing cellular changes.

Whether it’s a first-time visit to a zoo or when we learned to ride a bicycle, we have memories from our childhoods kept well into adult years. But what explains how these memories last nearly an entire lifetime?

A new study in the journal Science Advances, conducted by a team of international researchers, has uncovered a biological explanation for long-term memories. It centers on the discovery of the role of a molecule, KIBRA, that serves as a “glue” to other molecules, thereby solidifying memory formation.

Scientists visualize magnetic fields at atomic scale with holography electron microscope

A research team from Japan, including scientists from Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE 6,501, Hitachi), Kyushu University, RIKEN, and HREM Research Inc. (HREM), has achieved a major breakthrough in the observation of magnetic fields at unimaginably small scales.

In collaboration with National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), the team used Hitachi’s atomic-resolution holography electron microscope—with a newly developed image acquisition technology and defocus correction algorithms—to visualize the magnetic fields of individual atomic layers within a crystalline solid.

Many advances in , catalysis, transportation, and have been made possible by the development and adoption of high-performance materials with tailored characteristics. Atom arrangement and electron behavior are among the most critical factors that dictate a crystalline material’s properties.

Tesla Giga Berlin expansion gets approval from authorities: report

Recent reports have noted that Tesla Germany has received permission to expand Giga Berlin from the Brandenburg State Office for the Environment, as per the Ministry of the Environment. With the approval in place, Tesla could start construction work ahead of schedule.

The Ministry of the Environment noted that the early start of construction involves the buildout of an asphalted logistics area for new vehicles, the construction of underground lines and staircases at the press shop, and the installation of rooftop solar panels. As per German publication Stern, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has expressed his support for the Tesla Model Y factory’s expansion.

The approval for Giga Berlin’s expansion is expected to pave the way for the facility to increase its vehicle production output. It should be noted, however, that the approval that Tesla Germany was able to secure was only for expansion of the existing Giga Berlin facility. Further forest clearing activities, which are required for Tesla’s plan to build a railway station in the complex, still require permissions.

Japan deploys humanoid robot for railway maintenance

It resembles a malevolent robot from 1980s sci-fi but West Japan Railway’s new humanoid employee was designed with nothing more sinister than a spot of painting and gardening in mind.

Starting this month, the machine with a crude head and coke-bottle eyes mounted on a truck—which can drive on rails—will be put to use for on the firm’s network.

Its operator sits in a cockpit on the truck, “seeing” through the robot’s eyes via cameras and operating its powerful limbs and hands remotely.

Video shows new hybrid aircraft complete mind-blowing test flight with ‘almost no runway’: ‘An incredible achievement’

The next-gen aerospace company Electra has achieved a remarkable milestone with its hybrid-electric test aircraft, which took off in under 170 feet on its first test flight — around 10% of the typical length of conventional airplane runways.

In a company news release, Electra said that test flights of its hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft, the EL-2 Goldfinch, took place earlier this year at several Virginia airports. Although the vehicle is designed to take off and land on airstrips about the size of a soccer field (300 feet by 100 feet), as New Atlas described, it needed “almost no runway” to take flight.

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