184114658
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
'Doctors at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa have successfully treated their first Israeli opioid addiction patient using an experimental noninvasive brain technology, easing him through withdrawal in just 20 minutes.
'H., a 40-year-old family man from northern Israel, was injured in his neck several years ago. Because of the injury, he relied on painkillers and eventually became addicted to them....
'The patient himself reported a craving score of zero out of 10 for using the drug, and even another side effect, a drastic drop in the desire for cigarettes, from three packs a day to just a few cigarettes, and with no urge to use alcohol. In other words, in a treatment that lasted about 20 minutes net, our patient was completely freed from an extreme dependence that had accompanied him every day for years. This is nothing less than a medical and therapeutic revolution.”'
184037300
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
An artificial intelligence law firm has won a case in an English court, in what is believed to be the first time a trial has been won using an AI lawyer.
A freelance HR consultant, Tamires Camal Taquidir, paid the firm, called Garfield AI, about £400 to send a legal letter and then issue court proceedings over an unpaid debt of £7,000.
183464116
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
A German court this week sentenced a member of the Red Army Faction — a hard left terrorist organisation that operated in West Germany in the 1970s and 1980s — to jail. She had remained hidden for decades, and the German police hadn't deployed facial recognition software to catch her. But according to the article a journalist did, to good effect.
Is the ban on the police using it a good thing? Is it good that a journalist was able to track her down using it?
183214643
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
An FOI request resulted in a claim of 1 false positive out of over 66,000. I'm not sure whether to be impressed that false positives are so rare, scared that the technology is so good or focused on the phrase 'confirmed' false positives.
183205187
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
Just for stealing a couple of suitcases from a car. Funny how the elite punish those who inconvenience them. Can you imagine an ordinary victim see their offender get that sort of sentence?
183119864
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
The Guardian has three articles today on the issue
Oversight lagging behind
https://www.theguardian.com/te...
The consequences of false positives
https://www.theguardian.com/te...
UK usage by police force
https://www.theguardian.com/te...
The obvious answer is that any victim of a false positive should receive £1000 for the first event, £2000 for the second etc...
181750128
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
The company had made an agreement with the Islamic State group to allow the continued operation of their cement plant in Syria despite this providing financial support to IS. Two senior executives were taken from the court to prison following the verdict with sentences of five and six years.
One claimed not to have read a particularly damning email. '“I’m not a child of the internet,” he said. “Emails that I’m copied on, I don’t read, and emails from people I don’t know, I don’t open.”'
181728418
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
The London Guardian reflects on the poor reproducibility of experiments in social science revealed by the latest Systematizing Confidence in Open Research and Evidence (Score) finding, which has now published three studies looking at 3,900 social science papers.
Despite the low quality revealed by these studies, it suggests that things are getting better, admits: 'Some findings don’t matter much' claims 'replication studies can themselves be flawed.... These studies should strengthen the case for change and serve as a warning. Social science is a powerful tool for understanding the world – and that trust will be built by acknowledging uncertainty, not repudiating it.'
Given the degree to which 'following the science' led to some very bad decisions during the pandemic, not least because the social impact of lockdown choices were not well evaluated, it's hard to come to a clear view. And it's worth remembering the size of the industry employed in these science studies... It's encouraging that one of its spokesmen is admitting that mistakes were made in the past. Whether this is enough reason to carry on is less clear!
181525556
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
'The European parliament has blocked the extension of a law that permits big tech firms to scan for child sexual exploitation on their platforms, creating a legal gap that child safety experts say will lead to crimes going undetected.
'The law, which was a carve-out of the EU Privacy Act, was put in place in 2021 as a temporary measure allowing companies to use automated detection technologies to scan messages for harms, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), grooming and sextortion. However, it expired on 3 April, and the EU parliament decided not to vote to extend it, amid privacy concerns from some lawmakers.
'The regulatory gap has created uncertainty for big tech companies, because while scanning for harms on their platforms is now illegal, they still remain liable to remove any illegal content hosted on their platforms under a different law, the Digital Services Act. Google, Meta, Snap and Microsoft said they would continue to voluntarily scan their platforms for CSAM, in a joint statement posted on a Google blog.'
Child abuse as the excuse for avoiding privacy protections. Who would have thought it?
181385190
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
Lead(II) acetate is being used as a fixer to keep dyes adhering to clothing.
181174218
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
'Grammy-winning composer Lebo M is suing comedian Learnmore Jonasi for $27 million, claiming he falsely translated the “Lion King” opening chant as “Look, there’s a lion.”
'Jonasi was served court papers while performing onstage. He claims his podcast translation was comedy and not presented as authoritative fact.
'After a public social media dispute, Lebo M’s legal team recently signaled interest in exploring a structured settlement with the comedian.
'The Grammy-winning composer behind the signature opening chant in the song “Circle of Life” for “The Lion King” movies is taking a comedian to court for allegedly damaging his reputation by misrepresenting the song’s meaning on a viral podcast episode.'
Seriously?
180783062
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
A man got on the wrong plane at LAX and ended up in Tokyo rather than Houston, where his connecting flight to take him to Managua was due to leave from.
It appears security is less than impressive...
180662120
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
'Neural 'on/off' switch discovery may shed light on sex differences in social behavior
'What makes this neural cluster unusual is its binary activity pattern: it is consistently active in females but largely inactive in males, only turning on during major social or reproductive events.
'The research, published in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, also shows that the cluster’s activity is dynamic, not fixed. In males, it turns on only after sexual contact or reproductive experience, demonstrating that the brain can adapt neural circuits based on life events. Before sexual maturity, males and females show similar levels of activity, but after puberty, the cluster disappears in males until these social or reproductive triggers occur.
'“This shows the brain can ‘flip’ neural states to match social and reproductive circumstances,” Dr. Rokni said. “It’s an example of how experience can shape behavior differently in males and females.”'
180644402
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
'New filtration technology developed by Rice University may absorb some Pfas “forever chemicals” at 100 times the rate than previously possible, which could dramatically improve pollution control and speed remediations.
'Researchers also say they have also found a way to destroy Pfas, though both technologies face a steep challenge in being deployed on an industrial scale.
'A new peer-reviewed paper details a layered double hydroxide (LDH) material made from copper and aluminum that absorbs long-chain Pfas up to 100 times faster than commonly used filtration systems.'
180618750
submission
Bruce66423 writes:
Nice spin:
'Since the cameras were switched on, crime has plummeted compared to November last year.
'So far, police have made 100 arrests, with a third being for offences of violence against women and girls including strangulation and sexual assault.
'Others include those wanted on recall to prison and for burglary and possession of offensive weapon offences.'
The article quotes a false positive rate of 1 in 33,000. A promise to pay the victim of a false positive £10,000 for the first occurrence would help convince me that there isn't an issue. Second time £20,000, third £40,000 etc. If they're really confident, they won't have a problem with this, will they?
