Lifeboat Foundation

Computing experts thought they had developed adequate security patches after the major worldwide Spectre flaw of 2018, but UVA’s discovery shows processors are open to hackers again.

In 2018, industry and academic researchers revealed a potentially devastating hardware flaw that made computers and other devices worldwide vulnerable to attack.

Researchers named the vulnerability Spectre because the flaw was built into modern computer processors that get their speed from a technique called “speculative execution,” in which the processor predicts instructions it might end up executing and preps by following the predicted path to pull the instructions from memory. A Spectre attack tricks the processor into executing instructions along the wrong path. Even though the processor recovers and correctly completes its task, hackers can access confidential data while the processor is heading the wrong way.

Recently, scientists designed an AI agent that learns 60% faster than its peers by combining quantum and classical computing. 📈

This week, an international collaboration led by Dr. Philip Walther at the University of Vienna took the “classic” concept of reinforcement learning and gave it a quantum spin. They designed a hybrid AI that relies on both quantum and run-of-the-mill classic computing, and showed that—thanks to quantum quirkiness—it could simultaneously screen a handful of different ways to solve a problem.

The result is a reinforcement learning AI that learned over 60 percent faster than its non-quantum-enabled peers. This is one of the first tests that shows adding quantum computing can speed up the actual learning process of an AI agent, the authors explained.

Continue reading “Quantum Computing and Reinforcement Learning Are Joining Forces to Make Faster AI” »

After a decade of fighting for regulatory approval and public acceptance, a biotechnology firm has released genetically engineered mosquitoes into the open air in the United States for the first time. The experiment, launched this week in the Florida Keys — over the objections of some local critics — tests a method for suppressing populations of wild Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which can carry diseases such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Biotech firm Oxitec launches controversial field test of its insects in Florida after years of push-back from residents and regulatory complications.

Hey guys — you might like this interview I did with Brent Nally (CEO — Longevity Plan) about why humans can and should strive towards biological immortality. Very grateful for any subs to support the channel!

I interview Brent Nally, host of Lifespan News and CEO/co-founder of Longevity Plan, about the longevity movement and why he believes humans can and should strive for biological immortality. Covers scientific progress, the evolving longevity movement, why some oppose radical life extension and a brief section on Bitcoin.

Continue reading “Can humans achieve biological immortality? Brent Nally (longevity) interview” »

SpaceX launched its own version of the “fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy,” the Falcon 9, on Star Wars Day (aka “May the Fourth”).

A team of international scientists, led by the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), has proposed a simple and novel method to bring the accuracy of the Hubble constant measurements down to 2% using a single observation of a pair of merging neutron stars.

The universe is in continuous expansion. Because of this, distant objects such as galaxies are moving away from us. In fact, the further away they are, the faster they move. Scientists describe this expansion through a famous number known as the Hubble constant, which tells us how fast objects in the universe recede from us depending on their distance to us. By measuring the Hubble constant in a precise way, we can also determine some of the most fundamental properties of the universe, including its age.

For decades, scientists have measured Hubble’s constant with increasing accuracy, collecting electromagnetic signals emitted throughout the universe but arriving at a challenging result: the two current best measurements give inconsistent results. Since 2015, scientists have tried to tackle this challenge with the science of gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of space-time that travel at the speed of light. Gravitational waves are generated in the most violent cosmic events and provide a new channel of information about the universe. They’re emitted during the collision of two neutron stars —the dense cores of collapsed stars —and can help scientists dig deeper into the Hubble constant mystery.

Experts anticipate the global shortage of semiconductor to last another two years. This is what it could mean for you.

A mental health startup built its business on easy-to-use technology. Patients joined in droves. Then came a catastrophic data breach.

Excellent! Technology is available to make real change. Support efforts to clean the seas and use renewable energy sources.

Tired of hitting these floating objects during his races and seeing heavenly places turn into landfills, a French ocean adventurer Yvan Bourgnon decided to fight against this global scourge. He and his team have designed Manta, a giant, plastic-eating catamaran powered by renewable energy. The sea vessel literally scoops up plastic garbage and converts it into fuel to help power the boat.

Continue reading “Meet Manta, a sea-cleaning sailboat that feeds on plastic waste” »