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Apr 6, 2021

Artificial intelligence has advanced so much, it wrote this article

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Natural language processing rivals humans’ skills.


According to OpenAI, more than 300 applications are using GPT-3, which is part of a field called natural language processing. An average of 4.5 billion words are written per day. Some say the quality of GPT-3’s text is as good as that written by humans.

What follows is GPT-3’s response to topics in general investing.

Continue reading “Artificial intelligence has advanced so much, it wrote this article” »

Apr 6, 2021

A Genetic Link Between Face and Brain Shape

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience

Concretely: even with advanced technologies, it is impossible to predict someone’s behaviour based on their facial features. Peter Claes continues, Our results confirm that there is no genetic evidence for a link between someone’s face and that individual’s behaviour. Therefore, we explicitly dissociate ourselves from pseudoscientific claims to the contrary.


Claes said, To be able to analyse the MRI scans, we had to measure the brains shown on the scans. Our specific focus was on variations in the folded external surface of the brain – the typical ‘walnut shape’. We then went on to link the data from the image analyses to the available genetic information. This way, we identified 472 genomic locations that have an impact on the shape of our brain. 351 of these locations have never been reported before. To our surprise, we found that as many as 76 genomic locations predictive of the brain shape had previously already been found to be linked to the face shape. This makes the genetic link between face and brain shape a convincing one.

The team also found evidence that genetic signals that influence both brain and face shape are enriched in the regions of the genome that regulate gene activity during embryogenesis, either in facial progenitor cells or in the developing brain.

Apr 6, 2021

Hackers Targeting professionals With ‘more_eggs’ Malware via LinkedIn Job Offers

Posted by in category: cybercrime/malcode

A new spear-phishing campaign is targeting professionals on LinkedIn with weaponized job offers in an attempt to infect targets with a sophisticated backdoor trojan called “more_eggs.”

To increase the odds of success, the phishing lures take advantage of malicious ZIP archive files that have the same name as that of the victims’ job titles taken from their LinkedIn profiles.

“For example, if the LinkedIn member’s job is listed as Senior Account Executive—International Freight the malicious zip file would be titled Senior Account Executive—International Freight position (note the ‘position’ added to the end),” cybersecurity firm eSentire’s Threat Response Unit (TRU) said in an analysis. “Upon opening the fake job offer, the victim unwittingly initiates the stealthy installation of the fileless backdoor, more_eggs.”

Apr 5, 2021

Cancer Mortality Among People Living in Areas With Various Levels of Natural Background Radiation

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

There are many places on the earth, where natural background radiation exposures are elevated significantly above about 2.5 mSv/year. The studies of health effects on populations living in such places are crucially important for understanding the impact of low doses of ionizing radiation. This article critically reviews some recent representative literature that addresses the likelihood of radiation-induced cancer and early childhood death in regions with high natural background radiation. The comparative and Bayesian analysis of the published data shows that the linear no-threshold hypothesis does not likely explain the results of these recent studies, whereas they favor the model of threshold or hormesis. Neither cancers nor early childhood deaths positively correlate with dose rates in regions with elevated natural background radiation.

Keywords: natural radiation, background radiation, HBRA, HNBR, low radiation, cancer, hormesis.

Apr 5, 2021

‘Highest form of money’: Russia set to have first digital ruble prototype this year

Posted by in categories: cryptocurrencies, economics, finance

The launch of the first prototype of the new form of Russia’s national currency, the digital ruble, could be just several months away, the head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, Anatoly Aksakov, has told RT.

“The digital ruble is currently the highest form of money,” the official said in an interview to RT. He said that the central bank is set to publish the roadmap for development of the digital currency soon and its prototype should be ready by autumn.

“The tests of this form of money may start at the end of 2021 or at the beginning of 2022,” he went on, adding that the digital currency may be used for domestic transactions in two to three years.

Apr 5, 2021

Nova Imaginary Autonomous Space Hound Would Probably Shame Boston Dynamics’ Spot

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

Do not be afraid of what you see. Even though the robotics industry has been making huge progress lately, it hasn’t quite reached the level you see here.

Apr 5, 2021

Spanish astrophysicists discover new region of Milky Way

Posted by in categories: physics, space

Researchers detected the Cepheus spur, a bridge of massive blue stars, while creating the most accurate map of the galaxy to date.

Apr 5, 2021

Intel to Collaborate with Microsoft on DARPA Program

Posted by in categories: computing, encryption, engineering, government, virtual reality

What’s New: Intel today announced that it has signed an agreement with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to perform in its Data Protection in Virtual Environments (DPRIVE) program. The program aims to develop an accelerator for fully homomorphic encryption (FHE). Microsoft is the key cloud ecosystem and homomorphic encryption partner leading the commercial adoption of the technology once developed by testing it in its cloud offerings, including Microsoft Azure and the Microsoft JEDI cloud, with the U.S. government. The multiyear program represents a cross-team effort across multiple Intel groups, including Intel Labs, the Design Engineering Group and the Data Platforms Group, to tackle “the final frontier” in data privacy, which is computing on fully encrypted data without access to decryption keys.

“Fully homomorphic encryption remains the holy grail in the quest to keep data secure while in use. Despite strong advances in trusted execution environments and other confidential computing technologies to protect data while at rest and in transit, data is unencrypted during computation, opening the possibility of potential attacks at this stage. This frequently inhibits our ability to fully share and extract the maximum value out of data. We are pleased to be chosen as a technology partner by DARPA and look forward to working with them as well as Microsoft to advance this next chapter in confidential computing and unlock the promise of fully homomorphic encryption for all.” – Rosario Cammarota, principal engineer, Intel Labs, and principal investigator, DARPA DPRIVE program

Apr 5, 2021

Scientists connect human brain to computer wirelessly for first time ever

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, neuroscience

The first wireless commands to a computer have been demonstrated in a breakthrough for people with paralysis.

The system is able to transmit brain signals at “single-neuron resolution and in full broadband fidelity”, say researchers at Brown University in the US.

A clinical trial of the BrainGate technology involved a small transmitter that connects to a person’s brain motor cortex.

Apr 5, 2021

Faster Fusion Reactor Calculations Thanks to AI

Posted by in categories: nuclear energy, robotics/AI, sustainability

Fusion reactor technologies are well-positioned to contribute to our future power needs in a safe and sustainable manner. Numerical models can provide researchers with information on the behavior of the fusion plasma, as well as valuable insight on the effectiveness of reactor design and operation. However, to model the large number of plasma interactions requires a number of specialized models that are not fast enough to provide data on reactor design and operation.

Aaron Ho from the Science and Technology of Nuclear Fusion group in the department of Applied Physics at Eindhoven University of Technology has explored the use of machine learning approaches to speed up the numerical simulation of core plasma turbulent transport. Ho defended his thesis on March 17th.

The ultimate goal of research on fusion reactors is to achieve a net power gain in an economically viable manner. To reach this goal, large intricate devices have been constructed, but as these devices become more complex, it becomes increasingly important to adopt a predict-first approach regarding its operation. This reduces operational inefficiencies and protects the device from severe damage.