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New moth species named for Pope Leo

Popular Science

'Pyralis papaleonei' reflects his strong stance on environmental conservation. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. The moth appears to be endemic to the island of Crete. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Pope Leo XIV receives gifts from visitors from all over the world every year, but a newly identified insect may be the first papal tribute of its kind.


US to safety test new AI models from Google, Microsoft, xAI

BBC News

New artificial intelligence (AI) tools and capabilities from Google, Microsoft and xAI will now be tested by the US Department of Commerce before they are released to the public. The tech firms have agreed to voluntarily submit their models for testing through Commerce's Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI). The new pacts are an expansion on agreements by AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic that were reached during the Biden Administration, and will see AI models from all of the companies evaluated for their capabilities and security. These expanded industry collaborations help us scale our work in the public interest at a critical moment, CAISI's director Chris Fall said. Overall, the evaluations of the AI tools will cover testing, collaborative research and best practice development related to commercial AI systems.


Ukraine, Russia exchange drone strikes ahead of V-Day 'ceasefire'

Al Jazeera

Ukraine strikes multiple sites in Moscow, following Russia's strikes on a Ukrainian gas production facility that killed at least 5 people. This escalation comes after each side announced a ceasefire - but for different days. West Bengal Chief refuses to resign after'dirty' election Hegseth says US'hasn't capitulated on anything' regarding Iran Smotrich says he promised his son'more destruction' in Lebanon Hegseth says US blockade on Iran'gift to the world'


Backlash builds over NHS plan to hide source code from AI hacking risk

New Scientist

NHS England is pulling its open-source software from the internet because of fears around computer-hacking AI models like Mythos. A decision by NHS England to withdraw open-source code created with UK taxpayer funds because of the risk posed by computer-hacking AI models is attracting growing backlash. Last month, Mythos, an AI created by technology firm Anthropic, was widely reported to be capable of discovering flaws in virtually any software, potentially allowing hackers to break into systems running it. NHS England has now told staff that existing and future software must be pulled from public view and kept behind closed doors by 11 May because of this risk. The decision goes against the NHS service standard, which requires that staff make any software they produce open-source so that tools can be built upon, improved and used without the need for duplicated effort.


The Italian Dubbing of 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' Has Stirred Up a Surprising Controversy

WIRED

The voice actors from the original film have returned for the sequel--and not everyone is happy about it. One thing is certain about: The ambitious undertaking of making a sequel of a cult status film after 20 years has succeeded, at least as far as box office figures are concerned. The numbers speak for themselves, with $77 million generated in US theaters and another $157 million in the rest of the world since its April 29 release. In the face of such a box office smash, this installment has inspired heated debates for days about its quality and comparisons to the original. In Italy, those arguments even extend to the dubbing of the film. The controversy stems from the choice of voice actors in the Italian version of, who are themselves a nod to continuity; it's the same cast as the original.


Robotically assembled building blocks could make construction more efficient and sustainable

Robohub

Robotically assembled building blocks could be a more environmentally friendly method for erecting large-scale structures than some existing construction techniques, according to a new study by MIT researchers. The team conducted a feasibility study to evaluate the efficiency of constructing a simple building using "voxels," which are modular 3D subunits that assemble into complex, durable structures. After studying the performance of multiple voxels, the researchers developed three new designs intended to streamline building construction. They also produced a robotic assembler and a user-friendly interface for generating voxel-based building layouts and feeding instructions to the robots. Their results indicate this voxel-based robotic assembly system could reduce embodied carbon -- all of the carbon emitted during the lifecycle of building materials -- by as much as 82 percent, compared with popular techniques like 3D concrete printing, precast modular concrete, and steel framing.


Nissan to close one UK production line and cut 900 jobs in Europe

BBC News

Car manufacturer Nissan has announced it will be closing one of its UK production lines and will be cutting 900 jobs in Europe. The company confirmed it would be merging two of its lines in its Sunderland plant, but said no jobs would lost through the production change. However, the Japanese-owned car maker said it was in talks to cut about 10% of its European workforce, which included plans to close part of its warehouse in Barcelona and import cars to Nordic countries. A Nissan spokesperson said the changes were being made under its RE:Nissan recovery plan and were designed to create a leaner, more resilient business that adapts quickly to market changes. As part of this approach, today we have opened discussions with our European employees with a view to simplifying our structures, reducing complexity, and ensuring we operate in a sustainable and profitable way, they said.


Russian air attacks kill five at Ukraine's Naftogaz gas facilities

Al Jazeera

What are Russia's gains from the Iran war? 'We are not losers; we are winners' Russian air attacks kill five at Ukraine's Naftogaz gas facilities At least five people have been killed in Russian air strikes on Ukrainian state-run gas facilities in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions, officials said, a day after Kyiv and Moscow announced unilateral ceasefires to take effect later this week. Three employees and two rescue workers were killed and 37 people were wounded in the overnight missile and drone barrage, Serhiy Koretskyi, the CEO of Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz said on Tuesday. This was a combined strike involving UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and ballistic missiles," said Koretskyi. He added that the attack cut gas supply to nearly 3,500 customers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian authorities had shown "utter cynicism" by announcing a ceasefire and then launching missile and drone attacks on his country. "Russia could cease fire at any moment, and this would stop the war and our responses.


Prehistoric child's finger bone, bear tooth pendant, and more discovered in Spanish cave

Popular Science

Science Archaeology Prehistoric child's finger bone, bear tooth pendant, and more discovered in Spanish cave Nestled in the Pyrenees Mountains, the high-altitude cave may have been an ancient mining camp and burial ground. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Cave 338 is located at 7,332 feet (2,235 meters) above sea level in the Núria Valley (Queralbs, Ripollès). Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Life at high altitudes is unforgiving.


Design, Cups, and Blankets. A Free-Energy-Principle-Based Approach to Product Design

arXiv.org Machine Learning

Classical design theory treats the type of an object as a given: the designer decides in advance that this will be a cup, then optimizes its parameters. This paper argues that object type is not a presupposition but an inference, something that can be determined from physical data and functional requirements jointly. We call this problem requirement-steered interface type inference and show that it is inexpressible within existing design frameworks. This paper makes two contributions that are jointly necessary and individually incomplete. The first is the problem itself, which classical design cannot pose because it presupposes the very thing our problem seeks to determine. The second is C-DMBD, a constrained extension of the Dynamic Markov Blanket Detection algorithm, which makes requirement-steered inference computationally tractable. Drawing on the free-energy principle and active inference, established frameworks in theoretical neuroscience and Bayesian mechanics, we model a product's surface as a Markov blanket: the minimal boundary through which all causal exchange between object and environment must pass. Different blanket structures correspond to different object types; different parameterizations of the same structure correspond to different functional modes of the same type. This paper is a proof of concept and a theoretical proposal. It reframes design as inference rather than optimization, and as a relation between generative models rather than a specification of parameters.