Government
James Webb Space Telescope solves a comet crystal mystery
A'cosmic highway' may explain the journeys of some space silicates. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Some of the solar system's most distant comets can be very confusing. Many contain crystalline silicates that only form after exposure to high heat, which doesn't make a lot of sense to astronomers. These comets spend most of their time inside the extremely cold Oort cloud and Kuiper Belt, at temperatures averaging -450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Video shows severely damaged building in Ukraine from Russian attack
Could Ukraine hold a presidential election right now? Will Europe use frozen Russian assets to fund war? How can Ukraine rebuild China ties? 'Ukraine is running out of men, money and time' A Russian drone strike hit a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, injuring seven people and causing significant damage, according to local officials. Residents said the blast shattered windows and sparked a fire in the apartment block.
Grok AI generated about 3m sexualised images in 11 days, study finds
'What Elon [Musk] was ginning up was controversy, eyeballs, engagement and users,' CCDH's chief executive said. 'What Elon [Musk] was ginning up was controversy, eyeballs, engagement and users,' CCDH's chief executive said. Estimate made by Center for Countering Digital Hate after Elon Musk's AI image generation tool sparked outrage Grok AI generated about 3m sexualised images in less than two weeks, including 23,000 that appear to depict children, according to researchers who said it "became an industrial-scale machine for the production of sexual abuse material". The estimate has been made by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) after Elon Musk's AI image generation tool sparked international outrage when it allowed users to upload photographs of strangers and celebrities, digitally strip them to their underwear or into bikinis, put them in provocative poses and post the images on X. The trend went viral over the new year, peaking on 2 January with 199,612 individual requests, according to analysis conducted by Peryton Intelligence, a digital intelligence company specialising in online hate.
Scarlett Johansson and Cate Blanchett back campaign accusing AI firms of theft
Johansson was dragged into the AI debate after OpenAI's voice assistant used her vocal likeness, prompting the actor to say she was'angered' by the move. Johansson was dragged into the AI debate after OpenAI's voice assistant used her vocal likeness, prompting the actor to say she was'angered' by the move. Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett, REM and Jodi Picoult are among hundreds of Hollywood stars, musicians and authors backing a new campaign accusing AI companies of "theft" of their work. The "Stealing Isn't Innovation" drive launched on Thursday with the support of approximately 800 creative professionals and bands. It adds: "Artists, writers, and creators of all kinds are banding together with a simple message: Stealing our work is not innovation.
Why Experts Can't Agree on Whether AI Has a Mind
Why Experts Can't Agree on Whether AI Has a Mind Pillay is an editorial fellow at TIME. Pillay is an editorial fellow at TIME. I'm not used to getting nasty emails from a holy man, says Professor Michael Levin, a developmental biologist at Tufts University. Levin was presenting his research to a group of engineers interested in spiritual matters in India, arguing that properties like "mind" and intelligence can be observed even in cellular systems, and that they exist on a spectrum. But when he pushed further--arguing that the same properties emerge everywhere, including in computers--the reception shifted.
Why Trump is worried datacenters might cost his party an election
The president wants big tech to pay more for electricity, but he's curbing renewable projects that could boost supply Donald Trump is worried about datacenters. Specifically, he is concerned about their effects on an already expensive electricity market in the United States. Will Americans' resentment of sharply rising energy costs scuttle his party's November election ambitions? The US president's anxiety is evident in two actions in recent weeks. On 13 January, Trump and Microsoft's president jointly announced that the tech giant would pay more for its datacenters, paying full property taxes and accepting neither tax reductions nor electricity rate discounts in towns where it operates datacenters.
We Are Witnessing the Self-Immolation of a Superpower
With Donald Trump's actions in Greenland, Minneapolis, and Venezuela, a foreign enemy could not invent a better chain of events to wreck the standing of the United States. Imagine you were Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping and you woke up a year ago having magically been given command of puppet strings that control the White House. Your explicit geopolitical goal is to undermine trust in the United States on the world stage. You want to destroy the Western rules-based order that has preserved peace and security for 80 years, which allowed the US to triumph as an economic superpower and beacon of hope and innovation for the world. What exactly would you do differently with your marionette other than enact the ever more reckless agenda that Donald Trump has pursued since he became president last year?
Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill 11, Including Three Journalists
Israeli forces killed at least 11 people in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Gaza health officials said, including three Palestinian journalists who the Israeli military said were flying a drone. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, a labor union, said the three men were documenting the "suffering of civilians in displacement camps." The Israeli military said they were operating a drone that was "affiliated with Hamas" and that its forces believed it posed a threat. The Israeli military said the details of the incident were under examination. The three journalists were identified as Abdel Raouf Shaath, Mohammad Salah Qishta and Anas Ghneim by the journalists' union.
The Crimean Tatar movement trying to ruin Russia's army from within
Could Ukraine hold a presidential election right now? Will Europe use frozen Russian assets to fund war? How can Ukraine rebuild China ties? 'Ukraine is running out of men, money and time' The Crimean Tatar movement trying to ruin Russia's army from within On the weekend, a power cut shut down a train line carrying Russian weapons and supplies to the front line through the region of Bryansk in western Russia near the Ukrainian border. But this was no ordinary blackout.