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'Pew Pew': The Chinese Companies Marketing Anti-Drone Weapons on TikTok

WIRED

On TikTok, Chinese manufacturers are advertising signal-blocking weapons with the breezy cadence of consumer lifestyle advertising. "Pew, pew, pew!" a woman wearing sneakers and high-waisted pink trousers says cheerfully in a video uploaded to TikTok. She is standing on what appears to be an industrial rooftop while demonstrating how to use a black device resembling an oversized laser tag gun. "Jamming gun, good," she adds, flashing a thumbs up. These days, nearly any product imaginable is available for purchase on TikTok straight from Chinese factories, ranging from industrial chemicals to mystical crystals and custom pilates reformers.




Musk reorganizes xAI after SpaceX merger and ahead of blockbuster IPO

The Japan Times

Billionaire Elon Musk has overhauled the management of his artificial intelligence startup xAI ahead of a planned initial public offering that could rank among the largest ever, after merging the company with his rocket firm SpaceX. The reorganization announced on Wednesday follows the recent departures of several co-founders at the three-year-old AI company, leaving only half of the startup's original 12 co-founders and raising questions about stability as Musk pushes to compete with OpenAI and Google on all fronts. We're organizing because we've reached a certain scale. We're organizing the company to be more effective at this scale. Now, naturally, when this happens, there's some people who are better suited for the early stages of a company and less suited for the later stages, Musk said at an xAI all-hands meeting, according to video footage posted by the company on X.


Are drones, AI making it harder to fight armed groups in the Sahel?

Al Jazeera

Are drones, AI making it harder to fight armed groups in the Sahel? The brazen attack on the international airport and nearby military airbase in Niamey, Niger's capital, came overnight between January 28 and 29. Balls of orange fire flew across the sky as the Nigerien army attempted to respond while residents ducked for cover and whispered prayers, as shown in videos on social media. ISIL (ISIS) in Sahel Province, or ISSP - a Niger-based outfit earlier known as the ISIL affiliate in the Greater Sahara or ISGS - has since claimed responsibility and says it killed several soldiers, although the Nigerien army disputes this. Many of its fighters had breached military drone hangars using RPGs and mortars, and managed to damage several aircraft and one civilian aeroplane, according to videos from the group.


Dutch air force reads pilots' brainwaves to make training harder

New Scientist

Dutch air force reads pilots' brainwaves to make training harder Fighter pilots in training are having their brainwaves read by AI as they fly in virtual reality to measure how difficult they find tasks and ramp up the complexity if needed. Experiments show that trainee fighter pilots prefer this adaptive system to a rigid, pre-programmed alternative, but that it doesn't necessarily improve their skills. Training pilots in simulators and virtual reality is cheaper and safer than real flights, but these teaching scenarios need to be adjusted in real time so tasks sit in the sweet spot between comfort and overload. How the US military wants to use the world's largest aircraft Evy van Weelden at the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre, Amsterdam, and her colleagues used a brain-computer interface to read student pilots' brainwaves via electrodes attached to the scalp. An AI model analysed that data to determine how difficult the pilots were finding the task.


The drones being used in Sudan: 1,000 attacks since April 2023

Al Jazeera

During Sudan's civil war, which erupted in April 2023, both sides have increasingly relied on drones, and civilians have borne the brunt of the carnage. The conflict between the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group is an example of war transformed by commercially available, easily concealable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones. Modular, well-adapted to sanctions evasions and devastatingly effective, drones have killed scores of civilians, crippled infrastructure and plunged Sudanese cities into darkness. In this visual investigation, Al Jazeera examines the history of drone warfare in Sudan, the types of drones used by the warring sides, how they are sourced, where the attacks have occurred and the human toll. The RSF traces its origins to what at the time was a government-linked militia known as the Janjaweed.


Iranian drone swarms pose 'credible threat' to USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group, defense expert says

FOX News

Iranian drone swarms pose serious threat to U.S. military assets as reports emerge that Iran's Supreme Leader has gone underground, according to military drone expert Cameron Chell.


Mysterious UFO-shaped 'Dorito' aircraft spotted over Area 51 as strange military code is heard

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Trump orders a massive armada toward Iran with ominous warning about what could come next: 'We're watching' Mysterious UFO-shaped'Dorito' aircraft spotted over Area 51 as strange military code is heard Florida, Texas and California lead America's housing crash as other Sun Belt states start to crack as values plunge 7.6 percent Meghan Trainor's teary photo with her new baby born via surrogate has sparked an almost unsayable thought. Most women won't admit it... but I will: CAROLINE BULLOCK Billionaire who predicted 2008 crash issues stark warning over'worrying' new US trend but there's one way to protect your savings AND make money Canadian woman was euthanized'against her will' after husband was fed-up with caring for her Another awkward moment between Victoria Beckham and Nicola Peltz goes viral as fans claim Brooklyn's mum'is not the problem' Chilling video shows high school student rampaging through classroom with knife... before teacher steps in Trump describes excruciating ...


Sudan air force bombing of towns, markets and schools has killed hundreds, report says

BBC News

Sudan's air force has carried out bombings in which at least 1,700 civilians have died in attacks on residential neighbourhoods, markets, schools and camps for displaced people, according to an investigation into air raids in the country's civil war. The Sudan Witness Project says it has compiled the largest known dataset of military airstrikes in the conflict, which began in April 2023. Its analysis indicates that the air force has used unguided bombs in populated areas. The data focuses on attacks by warplanes, which only the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is capable of operating. Its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) does not have aircraft.