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Submission + - Startup discovers hidden abundant, clean energy and did it in an unusual way (cnn.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: It’s a “classic needle in the haystack problem,” said Joel Edwards, co-founder and CTO of Zanskar. “There’s no one type of data that tells you that a system is below you, even if you’re right on top of it.” Instead, there are multiple indicators which are really hard for humans to put together to figure out if a system exists.

That’s where AI comes in.

The AI models Zanskar uses are fed information on where blind systems already exist. This data is plentiful as, over the last century and more, humans have accidentally stumbled on many around the world while drilling for other resources such as oil and gas.

The models then scour huge amounts of data — everything from rock composition to magnetic fields — to find patterns that point to the existence of geothermal reserves. AI models have “gotten really good over the last 10 years at being able to pull those types of signals out of noise,” Hoiland said.

Once a potential location has been found, the next step for the company is to drill down to confirm the reserve exists and is hot enough to produce utility-scale power.

That’s exactly what they did at Big Blind over the summer, drilling wells to depths of around 2,700 feet where they found porous rock at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. They know the site is at least the minimum size needed to support a power plant, but don’t yet have a sense of how big it could be.

There is also work to be done to navigate permitting processes and grid interconnection, but the company estimates the first electricity could be produced here in three to five years’ time.

Comment Well... (Score 2) 59

by jd (#65854017) Attached to: Berlin Approves New Expansion of Police Surveillance Powers

This will be great for Haiku, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD installs, there's not the remotest possibility there'll be binaries for these. Not because the software couldn't be ported, but because the sorts of people politicians hire to write software would never be able to figure out the installer.

Submission + - Arkansas becoming 1st state to sever ties with PBS, effective July 1 (apnews.com)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: Arkansas is becoming the first state to officially end its public television affiliation with PBS. The Arkansas Educational Television Commission, whose members are all appointed by the governor, voted to disaffiliate from PBS effective July 1, 2026, citing the $2.5 million annual membership dues as “not feasible.” The decision was also driven by the loss of a similar amount in federal funding after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was defunded by Congress.

PBS Arkansas is rebranding itself as Arkansas TV and will provide more local content, the agency’s Executive Director and CEO Carlton Wing said in a statement. Wing, a former Republican state representative, took the helm of the agency in September.

“Public television in Arkansas is not going away,” Wing said. “In fact, we invite you to join our vision for an increased focus on local programming, continuing to safeguard Arkansans in times of emergency and supporting our K-12 educators and students.”

“The commission’s decision to drop PBS membership is a blow to Arkansans who will lose free, over the air access to quality PBS programming they know and love,” a PBS spokesperson wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

The demise of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is a direct result of President Donald Trump’s targeting of public media, which he has repeatedly said is spreading political and cultural views antithetical to those the United States should be espousing. Trump denied taking a big should on television viewers.

Submission + - Elon Musk admits DOGE was a waste of time (and money) (yahoo.com)

Submitted by echo123
echo123 writes: Elon Musk appeared to admit for the first time that his work at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency was a total waste of time—which also destroyed his reputation.

He told Katie Miller, who is married to Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, that he would not take the controversial post in Washington, D.C., if he had his time over again.

“I think instead of doing DOGE, I would have basically built—worked on my companies, essentially," he told The Katie Miller Podcast.

“If you could go back and start from scratch like it’s January 20th all again, would you go back and do it differently? And, knowing what you know now, do you think there’s ever a place to restart?”

After a deep sigh, Elon Musk, 54, replied, “I mean, no, I don’t think so.”

“You gave up a lot to DOGE,” she said.

“Yeah,” he conceded, sadly.

DOGE oversaw a $220 billion jump in federal spending—not including interest—in the fiscal year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bill Gates has warned Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts will cause ‘millions of deaths’

Submission + - The rise of the electrostate (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by AmiMoJo
AmiMoJo writes: China’s massive lead in clean technologies has shifted the global climate fight from one of big pledges and international diplomacy toward a technological revolution in cheaper energy, analysts say.
The accelerated adoption of clean technologies — particularly solar and wind power, as well as electric vehicles — has challenged long-held assumptions about how central fossil fuels are to modern industrial development, as well as which countries would lead the world in the climate fight.
The contrast between countries embracing clean technologies and countries still dependent on producing and burning fossil fuels is also becoming wider. Countries like the U.S., now the world's largest oil producer, could be left behind in the race for the energy sources of the future.

Comment I can see the point. (Score 4, Insightful) 136

by jd (#65847059) Attached to: Millions of Australian Teens Lose Access To Social Media As Ban Takes Effect

Social media has become a toxic dump. If you wouldn't allow children to play in waste effluent from a 1960s nuclear power plant, then you shouldn't allow them to play in the social media that's out there. Because, frankly, of the two, plutonium is safer.

I do, however, contend that this is a perfectly fixable problem. There is no reason why social media couldn't be safe. USENET was never this bad. Hell, Slashdot at its worst was never as bad as Facebook at its best. And Kuro5hin was miles better than X. Had a better name, too. The reason it's bad is that politicians get a lot of kickbacks from the companies and the advertisers, plus a lot of free exposure to millions. Politicians would do ANYTHING for publicity.

I would therefore contend that Australia is fixing the wrong problem. Brain-damaging material on Facebook doesn't magically become less brain-damaging because kids have to work harder to get brain damage. Nor are adults mystically immune. If you took the planet's IQ today and compared it to what it was in the early 1990s, I'm convinced the global average would have dropped 30 points. Australia is, however, at least acknowledging that a problem exists. They just haven't identified the right one. I'll give them participation points. The rest of the globe, not so much.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Locally hosted security cameras 2

Submitted by Randseed
Randseed writes: With the likes of Google Nest, Ring, and others cooperating with law enforcement, I started to look for affordable wireless IP security cameras that I can put around my house. Unfortunately, it looks like almost every thing now incorporates some kind of cloud-based slop. All I really want is to put up some cameras, hook them up to my LAN, and install something like Zoneminder. What are the most economical, wireless IP security cameras that I can set up with my server?

Comment Re:Who thought this service was a good idea? (Score 5, Informative) 117

by chefren (#65842805) Attached to: All of Russia's Porsches Were Bricked By a Mysterious Satellite Outage

Porsche was founded in 1931. The Nazi party was founded in 1920.

Two of the Porsche founders (one was Ferdinand himself and the other his son-in-law) joined the Nazi party after the company was founded. The third founder was a Jew who was later attested for "racial crimes" but saved by a colleague bribing the Gestapo and was able to flee Germany.

Does this mean the company was founded by Nazis? Probably not, because many prominent businessmen were basically given the choice of joining the party or having their business confiscated. Could Ferdinand have shown some backbone and not joined? For sure yes.

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