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Humanity edges closer to annihilation as Doomsday Clock lurches forward because of new global threats

Daily Mail - Science & tech

A simple trick cured my tinnitus after a long-haul flight left me in misery for months. Here's the miracle method I wish everyone knew I was diagnosed with cancer after strange things began happening to my hands - here are the symptoms you can't ignore Explosive twist in'diva' inmate Bryan Kohberger's life in prison revealed in the FREE The Crime Desk newsletter Marco Rubio'cocoons like a mummy' in bizarre strategy to hide naps from Trump Food Network star Valerie Bertinelli's heartbreaking struggles laid bare after confession about shock firing Devastating truth about Blind Side actor Quinton Aaron: More to this'than everyone is letting on', friends reveal... as co-star Sandra Bullock'monitors' situation Mother hit by unimaginable triple tragedy after'son, 6, fell through icy pond and brothers aged 8 and 9 jumped in to save him' Sydney Sweeney shows off her bombshell curves in racy lingerie to promote her new SYRN line - as it's revealed Hollywood Sign bra stunt could leave her facing trespassing and vandalism charges Lawyer, 44, who died on flight to London after falling asleep on her mother's shoulder had undiagnosed cardiac condition, inquest hears Top Citi banker displayed'sexually charged' behavior towards female underling and let co-workers think they were having affair, harassment lawsuit alleges Revealed: Tupac Shakur's'crack fiend mama' lived in'SCARY' houseboat community full of drug addicts like'Psycho Steve' before shock death My perfect life at $2m Manchester-by-the-Sea mansion took nasty turn when neighbors tried to ban me from getting a gun because of my HUSBAND - now I've had the last laugh Boy, 15, has been missing for two weeks after sneaking away to New York to meet stranger he'd chatted to on Roblox Nicola Peltz could barely speak Victoria Beckham's name, says interviewer who quizzed her about THAT wedding dress row in explosive new chapter of family feud Doctor who was branded'tone deaf' for flaunting her Louboutin heels at work furiously hits back at critics Doomsday Clock ticks forward... moving humanity closer to annihilation than ever before The Doomsday Clock, which has been ticking down to the end of the world for decades, is now officially closer to annihilation than ever before. On Tuesday, scientists with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the symbolic clock four seconds forward to 85 seconds to midnight . It's also the closest the clock has ever been to midnight in its 79-year history, meaning experts believe humanity has never faced a more dire threat of a world-ending catastrophe than it does in 2026. The group, which decides where the hands are set annually, cited multiple threats to global stability, including nuclear weapons, climate change, disruptive technologies like AI, and the creation of synthetic biological substances called'mirror life.' Alexandra Bell, president and CEO of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, said: 'Every second counts and we are running out of time.


Doomsday Clock ticks forwards to 89 seconds to midnight - the closest humans have ever been to annihilation

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Humanity is officially one second closer to world annihilation, scientists say. The Doomsday Clock has been revealed – and it now sits at 89 seconds to midnight, one second closer than last year. It's also the closest the clock has ever been to midnight in its 78-year history, meaning we're nearer to world-ending catastrophe than ever before. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which decides where the hands are set, cited the Russia-Ukraine war, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the threat of nuclear war, climate change, a looming bird flu pandemic and AI arms race for the update. The Chicago-based nonprofit created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 during the Cold War tensions that followed World War II to warn the public about how close humankind was to destroying the world.


Annihilation of Spurious Minima in Two-Layer ReLU Networks

Neural Information Processing Systems

We study the optimization problem associated with fitting two-layer ReLU neural networks with respect to the squared loss, where labels are generated by a target network. Use is made of the rich symmetry structure to develop a novel set of tools for studying the mechanism by which over-parameterization annihilates spurious minima through. Sharp analytic estimates are obtained for the loss and the Hessian spectrum at different minima, and it is shown that adding neurons can turn symmetric spurious minima into saddles through a local mechanism that does not generate new spurious minima; minima of smaller symmetry require more neurons. Using Cauchy's interlacing theorem, we prove the existence of descent directions in certain subspaces arising from the symmetry structure of the loss function. This analytic approach uses techniques, new to the field, from algebraic geometry, representation theory and symmetry breaking, and confirms rigorously the effectiveness of over-parameterization in making the associated loss landscape accessible to gradient-based methods.


When science fiction becomes reality: Experts reveal the most realistic APOCALPYSE movies - so, does your favourite blockbuster give us a glimpse at how the world will end?

Daily Mail - Science & tech

From The Terminator to The Day After Tomorrow, movies have envisioned just about every possibility for how the world might end. If you're a science fiction movie buff, you might think that some of these apocalyptic scenarios seem a little far-fetched. But hold onto your popcorn, as experts say that some of these disastrous plotlines could actually become a reality. While we don't need to worry about an asteroid wiping us out like in Armageddon, experts warn that a bioweapon leak like 12 Monkeys could really end the world. And if your favourite blockbuster does give us a glimpse at how the world will end, not even Bruce Willis will be able to save us. Apocalypse movies find their inspiration in a number of different disasters, but which are the most realistic. An escaped bioweapon could pose a genuine threat of destroying humanity.


The risks posed by artificial intelligence demand serious consideration

#artificialintelligence

Amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the risk of nuclear war is now larger than it has been since the end of the Cold War. The spectre of nuclear annihilation, once thought a thing of the past, has returned. While technology can avert some forms of annihilation, for example by diverting major asteroid strikes, these naturally occurring risks are likely small, evidenced by our long history free from them. The same cannot be said for those caused or exacerbated by technology. Nuclear war, climate change, engineered bioweapons, and even pandemics: these risks are unfortunately all too familiar.


Ex Machina: Ava The Final Girl

#artificialintelligence

After I watched Men, I went to see what others had to say about it, and the first place I went to was a recorded conversion about the film on Diregentleman's channel. Toward the end of the conversation, Henry Galley says Men further diminished Garland's previous two films. Personally, I didn't get that in regards to Annihilation, but Ex Machina, on the other hand, I hadn't seen before. I did not watch Garland's directorial debut in 2014. And my reason is that I have been obsessed with pop culture about robotic A.I. ever since I was a kid from Astro Boy (circa.


Why We Should Think Twice About Colonizing Space - Facts So Romantic

Nautilus

There are lots of reasons why colonizing space seems compelling. The popular astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson argues that it would stimulate the economy and inspire the next generation of scientists. Elon Musk, who founded SpaceX, argues that "there is a strong humanitarian argument for making life multiplanetary…to safeguard the existence of humanity in the event that something catastrophic were to happen." And the late astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has conjectured that if humanity fails to colonize space within 100 years, we could face extinction. To be sure, humanity will eventually need to escape Earth to survive, since the sun will make the planet uninhabitable in about 1 billion years.


Why We Should Think Twice About Colonizing Space - Facts So Romantic

Nautilus

There are lots of reasons why colonizing space seems compelling. The popular astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson argues that it would stimulate the economy and inspire the next generation of scientists. Elon Musk, who founded SpaceX, argues that "there is a strong humanitarian argument for making life multiplanetary…to safeguard the existence of humanity in the event that something catastrophic were to happen." And the late astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has conjectured that if humanity fails to colonize space within 100 years, we could face extinction. To be sure, humanity will eventually need to escape Earth to survive, since the sun will make the planet uninhabitable in about 1 billion years.


Annihilation Is the Latest Example of How Women Are Taking Over Science-Fiction Movies

Slate - Articles

Annihilation deals in bountiful hallucinogenic imagery, but the image from Alex Garland's sci-fi horror that may prove most remarkable to audiences is one that really ought to be mundane: a poster featuring the film's five female leads. It's an uncommon setup, and not just for a generously budgeted studio picture.


Annihilation Is the Latest Example of How Women Are Taking Over Science-Fiction Movies

Slate

Annihilation deals in bountiful hallucinogenic imagery, but the image from Alex Garland's sci-fi horror that may prove most remarkable to audiences is one that really ought to be mundane: a poster featuring the film's five female leads. Female representation in Hollywood still lags far behind --women made up only 34 percent of speaking characters in top-grossing films last year, while the number of female leads has, in fact, recently fallen--but Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, and Tuva Novotny have the reins of this $55 million Paramount project, while Oscar Isaac, the film's most significant male character, takes the supporting role of imperilled love interest to a take-action female hero. It's an uncommon setup, and not just for a generously budgeted studio picture. But it's less unusual when you narrow the focus to science fiction, where women have recently been taking the lead on-screen. Garland's sophomore effort as writer-director follows his own Ex Machina, plus such sizable productions as Arrival, Gravity, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Cloverfield Paradox, Colossal, Okja, and The Shape of Water, in putting a woman or women at the forefront of a science-fiction narrative.