Lifeboat Foundation

According to multiple news reports, Twitter plans to give Elon Musk access to its “firehose” of raw data on hundreds of millions of daily tweets in an effort to speed up the Tesla billionaire’s $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform. The data-sharing agreement was not confirmed by the lawyers involved in the deal. Musk was silent on Twitter, despite having previously expressed his displeasure with various aspects of the deal.

Twitter declined to comment on the reports, pointing to a statement released on Monday in which the company stated that it is continuing to “cooperate” and share information with Musk, who in April entered into a legally binding agreement to purchase Twitter, claims that the transaction cannot go forward until the firm discloses more information on the frequency of bogus accounts on its network. He claims, without providing evidence, that Twitter has grossly underestimated the number of “spam bots” on its platform, which are automated accounts that typically promote scams and misinformation.

On Monday, the Attorney General of the State of Texas, Ken Paxton, said that his office will be investigating “possible false reporting” of bot activity on Twitter as part of an inquiry against Twitter for allegedly failing to disclose the scale of its spam bot and fake account activity. According to a source familiar with the situation, Twitter’s plan to give Musk full access to the firehose was first reported by the Washington Post. According to other reports, the billionaire may only have limited access.

A study, which was published on [May 30] by a group of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development’s Center for Human and Machines, shows that humans can learn new things from artificial intelligence systems and then pass those skills on to others in ways that could have a cultural impact.

Researchers discover how to use light instead of electricity to advance artificial intelligence.

In celebration of Pride Month, Inara, one of our moderators, is fundraising to pay for her transition surgery. I donated.

Gender dysphoria is the term used to describe a sense of discomfort or distress that a person may experience because of a mismatch between their gender identity and their sex assigned at birth. Methods of relieving gender dysphoria include transitioning socially (pronoun usage, name change, etc.) and physically (surgery).

I have medical insurance but it does not cover trans healthcare. Yes, we are still fighting for trans rights! I need allies willing to take action on my behalf.

Our podcast on science and technology. This week, we examine the transformative potential of a new, emerging type of machine intelligence—foundation models. Could they become as important, as fundamental, as electricity? | Podcasts.

In this bold new future, we have discovered the best possible use for artificial intelligence: making more pigs.

Osaka University researchers discovered that adjusting lifestyle behaviors can have a significant impact on lifespan, even in those with chronic health issues.

Ever since the beginning of civilization, humans have wanted to live longer. Whether it be the Fountain of Youth, Gilgamesh’s secret plant of immortality, or the elixir of life, the idea of immortality is incredibly prevalent in humanity’s oldest and most well-known stories.

Unfortunately, immortality is only a myth. The average lifespan in the United States is nearly 79 years and it is unlikely to increase dramatically in the next few years. Still, scientists have been researching how to increase our longevity and have found promising results.

Astronomers have cast a wide net to collect treasures from deep space.

NASA used the telescope in an innovative way to capture a group of massive galaxies in the COSMOS field.

It rarely makes the news that SpaceX has to fix stuff because they generally fix it within a few weeks and that is not considered newsworthy.

Anyway, at the moment the next Cargo Dragon flight is being delayed due to a thruster propellant leak and the next Crew Dragon capsule has a defective heatshield that is going to have to be replaced before launch. (The heatshield is less of an issue as the flight isn’t until September anyway.)

This Cargo Dragon has flown twice before so it is interesting that it suddenly decided to leak. Its thruster fuel is extra explosive, so SpaceX will need to figure this out. (3 years ago, a Crew Dragon was destroyed by such a leak during testing.)

Continue reading “NASA and SpaceX stand down on Dragon launch to study hydrazine issue” »