Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Blog – Page 3026

Hackers are able to grab a target’s IP address, potentially revealing their general physical location, by simply sending a link over the Skype mobile app. The target does not need to click the link or otherwise interact with the hacker beyond opening the message, according to a security researcher who demonstrated the issue and successfully discovered my IP address by using it.

Yossi, the independent security researcher who uncovered the vulnerability, reported the issue to Microsoft earlier this month, according to Yossi and a cache of emails and bug reports he shared with 404 Media. In those emails Microsoft said the issue does not require immediate servicing, and gave no indication that it plans to fix the security hole. Only after 404 Media contacted Microsoft for comment did the company say it would patch the issue in an upcoming update.

The attack could pose a serious risk to activists, political dissidents, journalists, those targeted by cybercriminals, and many more people. At minimum, an IP address can show what area of a city someone is in. An IP address can be even more revealing in a less densely populated area, because there are fewer people who could be associated with it.

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In an era of growing digitalisation, data centers have emerged as the fundamental support of our technological framework. However, worries persist over the ecological effects due to their swift growth and power-demanding activities. These data centers rank among the planet’s most energy-intensive establishments, drawing substantial electricity to fuel servers, cooling mechanisms, and auxiliary apparatus vital for their operations. Such elevated energy usage significantly affects the environment by adding to greenhouse gas discharges and ushering climate change.

The AI Power Consumption Challenge

The growing surge of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in recent years has been a remarkable and transformative phenomenon. However, AI models and algorithms are highly resource-intensive and consume significant amounts of power. Training AI models involve massive computational workloads, often requiring specialised hardware accelerators like GPUs, which consume substantial energy. This power consumption is a major concern when it comes to making data centers greener.

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Antipsychotic drugs treat incredibly vulnerable patients. Maintaining a treatment regimen is difficult for many patients, but not taking the medication is associated with a higher risk of poor health outcomes. These drugs are also very powerful with strong side effects, and blood tests are often used to calibrate a patient’s dosage and confirm that they are taking the recommended dose.

However, blood tests are invasive and potentially uncomfortable. Scientists have now discovered a way to test the levels of common in the sweat from patients’ fingerprints, offering a quicker, more comfortable, and more convenient alternative to blood draws for patient monitoring.

“Our test offers patients a quick and dignified way of showing commitment to antipsychotic treatment,” said Katherine Longman of the University of Surrey, first author of the study in Frontiers in Chemistry. “This non-invasive approach can also be adapted to fit other therapeutic regimes.”

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The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard Chandrayaan-3 Rover has made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole. These in-situ measurements confirm the presence of Sulphur (S) in the region unambiguously, something that was not feasible by the instruments onboard the orbiters.

LIBS is a scientific technique that analyzes the composition of materials by exposing them to intense laser pulses. A high-energy laser pulse is focused onto the surface of a material, such as a rock or soil. The laser pulse generates an extremely hot and localized plasma. The collected plasma light is spectrally resolved and detected by detectors such as Charge Coupled Devices. Since each element emits a characteristic set of wavelengths of light when it’s in a plasma state, the elemental composition of the material is determined.

Preliminary analyses, graphically represented, have unveiled the presence of Aluminum (Al), Sulphur (S), Calcium (Ca), Iron (Fe), Chromium (Cr), and Titanium (Ti) on the lunar surface. Further measurements have revealed the presence of manganese (Mn), silicon (Si), and oxygen (O). Thorough investigation regarding the presence of Hydrogen is underway.

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Coming to a tight spot near you: CLARI, the little, squishable robot that can passively change its shape to squeeze through narrow gaps—with a bit of inspiration from the world of bugs.

CLARI, which stands for Compliant Legged Articulated Robotic Insect, comes from a team of engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder. It also has the potential to aid after major disasters in an entirely new way.

Several of these robots can easily fit in the palm of your hand, and each weighs less than a Ping Pong ball. CLARI can transform its from square to long and slender when its surroundings become cramped, said Heiko Kabutz, a doctoral student in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering.

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The Apogee+ exoskeleton aims to help support caregivers in healthcare settings. | Source: German Bionic.

German Bionic has unveiled the Apogee+, a powered exoskeleton for the North American healthcare market. Apogee+ aims to merge cutting-edge robots with research-backed, data-driven insights to better support caregivers.

Apogee+ is designed to provide personal lift assistance to caregivers, and it specifically addresses concerns with care worker safety and job satisfaction. This is German Bionic’s first foray into the healthcare space, and the mover underscores its success in industrial settings.

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While Apple continues (or doesn’t continue) to develop its plans for a self-driving automobile, the company is proposing an advanced high-end technology for an augmented reality (AR) display system that would generate a bunch of information onto a vehicle’s windshield.

In a U.S. Patent Office filing last week, Apple described a graphical overlay on the glass in front of the driver that would provide information about the real-time environment as well as data about objects in the distance — humans included — along with the vehicle’s speed, suspension and other factors.

The system, which may borrow on Apple’s science being employed in its soon-to-be-released Vision Pro headsets, would rely on a variety of sensors to collect information about the surrounding environment. This could include visible light cameras, various types of infrared cameras, as well as ultrasonic and light-based scanning devices for building up a three-dimensional picture of the car’s surroundings. The patent also mentions the use of geographical positioning devices and radar devices.

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