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Dec 29, 2023

Physicists upgrade world’s biggest atom smasher to probe dark photons

Posted by in category: particle physics

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) ongoing Run 3 experiment has presented its initial findings about the elusive dark photons.


The Large Hadron Collider, located at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) near Geneva, Switzerland, is the world’s most powerful and biggest particle accelerator.

It is made up of a 27-kilometer ring of superconducting magnets and accelerating structures that accelerate protons and other heavy particles to near-light speeds. The LHC is meant to smash these particles, allowing scientists to investigate the fundamental features of matter as well as the forces that govern the universe.

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Dec 29, 2023

Opinion: John Szarkowski

Posted by in categories: existential risks, robotics/AI

The legendary former curator of the Museum of Modern Art, once described photography as “the act of pointing.” And for the nearly 200 years since its inception, photography has consisted of capturing a visual perspective from the physical world using light — first with…


A.I. generators can produce photorealistic images, which is either an extinction-level event for photographers or a fantastic opportunity. Or both.

Dec 29, 2023

Boston Dynamics’ rival Unitree unleashes powerful robot dog that lifts 265 lbs

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Explore the features of Unitree’s B2, the fastest and most versatile industrial quadruped robot in the market, designed to enhance efficiency across various industries.


This upgrade from its predecessor, the B1, introduces remarkable improvements across speed, load capacity, endurance, and adaptability.

Dec 29, 2023

Europe’s exascale supercomputer JUPITER to challenge US and China’s dominance

Posted by in categories: business, space, supercomputing

Officially, there are only two exascale supercomputers in the world: Frontier at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Aurora at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. However, it is widely suspected that China has at least two secret exascale machines that have not been tested and ranked by the industry’s 500 list of the most powerful supercomputers in the world.

JUPITER, which stands for Joint Undertaking Pioneer for Innovative and Transformative Exascale Research, will be built at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre in Germany by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), a collaboration between the European Union and private businesses.

Dec 29, 2023

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy sends the secret X-37B to orbit for seventh flight

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space travel

The launch was delayed twice this month due to weather and technical issues.


SpaceX did not show any footage of the X-37B separating from the rocket’s second stage, as the mission was shrouded in secrecy. The X-37B, which looks like a miniature version of the space shuttle, is an autonomous reusable vehicle that can stay in orbit for years, performing various experiments and maneuvers. It is operated by the Air Force in partnership with the Space Force and built by Boeing. There are two X-37B spacecraft in the fleet, and they have flown six missions since 2010.

Standing by for launch of USSF-52 and the X-37B mission this evening using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at Kennedy Space Center! #SpaceSystemsCommand #USSF #PartnersInSpace pic.twitter.com/eraa6dwqix — Space Systems Command (@USSF_SSC) December 28, 2023

Continue reading “SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy sends the secret X-37B to orbit for seventh flight” »

Dec 29, 2023

Meet Valkyrie, NASA’s humanoid robot enters advanced stages of testing

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space travel

The robot is being developed to offer an helping hand to astronauts, designed to operate in hostile and hazardous conditions in space.


NASA’s first bipedal humanoid robot, Valkyrie, is undergoing a few of its final testing phases at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

A humanoid, much like Iron Man but constructed from metal and electronics, mimics human walking and appearance. Designed for a diverse array of functions, NASA is exploring if such machines can further space exploration, starting with the Artemis mission, according to Reuters.

Continue reading “Meet Valkyrie, NASA’s humanoid robot enters advanced stages of testing” »

Dec 29, 2023

Private? Google’s $5 billion lawsuit settlement exposes incognito snooping

Posted by in category: internet

The tech giant has been accused of tracking user activities even in “private mode.”

In a recent development, Google has reached a preliminary settlement in a lawsuit alleging that the search engine provider tracked the internet usage of millions who believed their browsing activities were private.


Google has agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of millions of people who thought they were doing their browsing privately.

Continue reading “Private? Google’s $5 billion lawsuit settlement exposes incognito snooping” »

Dec 29, 2023

UK firm develops jet fuel made from human poo

Posted by in categories: energy, food

The starting material is generated in excess and available in plenty.


Environmentalists have opposed using crops for jet fuel but there will be no opposition to using a waste that nobody wants.

Dec 29, 2023

Michael Cohen used Google’s AI to research legal cases to cite in his appeal. The AI hallucinated them

Posted by in categories: law, robotics/AI

In a newly released court filing, Michael Cohen admitted to using Google Bard to research court cases, without realizing the chatbot made them up.

Dec 29, 2023

Incredible bionic arm powered by A.I. and THOUGHT 🦾 | BBC

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, drones, robotics/AI, transhumanism

This is a great invention.


Professor Mike Wooldridge asks: what is artificial intelligence? He compares how AI works and learns with how the human brain functions. Exploring the roots of AI, Mike reveals how Alan Turing devised the Imitation Game – a test of whether a machine answering a series of questions could pass as a human. The audience in the lecture theatre play a real-life version of the game to find out if AI can pass this test today. In this lecture, Mike examines real-life neurons in action and explains how artificial neural networks are inspired by neural structures in the brain. To demonstrate how AI learns, we watch drones as they are trained to recognise and fly through structures in the lecture theatre autonomously. AI exploded into the public consciousness in 2022 with the release of ChatGPT and boasts around 100 million monthly users. Mike unravels the mystery of how large language models like ChatGPT work, and he finds out if one day this technology — along with a whole suite of different AI tools — will allow us to understand the animals we share this planet with. The Christmas Lectures are the most prestigious event in the Royal Institution calendar, dating from 1,825, when Michael Faraday founded the series. They are the world’s longest running science television series and always promise to inspire and amaze each year through explosive demonstrations and interactive experiments with the live theatre audience.\
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