Comment Re:Pretty sure the article is wrong (Score 1) 73
Absolutely correct. Pu-238 is NOT fissionable and NOT used in nuclear weapons. See https://artsandculture.google....
Comment Re:SNAP (Score 1) 73
Absolutely correct. Pu-238 is NOT fissionable and NOT used in nuclear weapons. See https://artsandculture.google....
Submission + - World-First Biocomputing Platform Hits the Market (ieee.org)
An anonymous reader writes: In a development straight out of science fiction, Australian startup Cortical Labs has released what it calls the world’s first code-deployable biological computer. The CL1, which debuted in March, fuses human brain cells on a silicon chip to process information via sub-millisecond electrical feedback loops. Designed as a tool for neuroscience and biotech research, the CL1 offers a new way to study how brain cells process and react to stimuli. Unlike conventional silicon-based systems, the hybrid platform uses live human neurons capable of adapting, learning, and responding to external inputs in real time. “On one view, [the CL1] could be regarded as the first commercially available biomimetic computer, the ultimate in neuromorphic computing that uses real neurons,” says theoretical neuroscientist Karl Friston of University College London. “However, the real gift of this technology is not to computer science. Rather, it’s an enabling technology that allows scientists to perform experiments on a little synthetic brain.”
The first 115 units will begin shipping this summer at $35,000 each, or $20,000 when purchased in 30-unit server racks. Cortical Labs also offers a cloud-based “wetware-as-a-service” at $300 weekly per unit, unlocking remote access to its in-house cell cultures. Each CL1 contains 800,000 lab-grown human neurons, reprogrammed from the skin or blood samples of real adult donors. The cells remain viable for up to six months, fed by a life-support system that supplies nutrients, controls temperature, filters waste, and maintains fluid balance. Meanwhile, the neurons are firing and interpreting signals, adapting from each interaction.
The CL1’s compact energy and hardware footprint could make it attractive for extended experiments. A rack of CL1 units consumes 850-1,000 watts, notably lower than the tens of kilowatts required by a data center setup running AI workloads. “Brain cells generate small electrical pulses to communicate to a broader network,” says Cortical Labs Chief Scientific Officer Brett Kagan. “We can do something similar by inputting small electrical pulses representing bits of information, and then reading their responses. The CL1 does this in real time using simple code abstracted through multiple interacting layers of firmware and hardware. Sub-millisecond loops read information, act on it, and write new information into the cell culture.”
The first 115 units will begin shipping this summer at $35,000 each, or $20,000 when purchased in 30-unit server racks. Cortical Labs also offers a cloud-based “wetware-as-a-service” at $300 weekly per unit, unlocking remote access to its in-house cell cultures. Each CL1 contains 800,000 lab-grown human neurons, reprogrammed from the skin or blood samples of real adult donors. The cells remain viable for up to six months, fed by a life-support system that supplies nutrients, controls temperature, filters waste, and maintains fluid balance. Meanwhile, the neurons are firing and interpreting signals, adapting from each interaction.
The CL1’s compact energy and hardware footprint could make it attractive for extended experiments. A rack of CL1 units consumes 850-1,000 watts, notably lower than the tens of kilowatts required by a data center setup running AI workloads. “Brain cells generate small electrical pulses to communicate to a broader network,” says Cortical Labs Chief Scientific Officer Brett Kagan. “We can do something similar by inputting small electrical pulses representing bits of information, and then reading their responses. The CL1 does this in real time using simple code abstracted through multiple interacting layers of firmware and hardware. Sub-millisecond loops read information, act on it, and write new information into the cell culture.”
Submission + - Meta and Yandex are de-anonymizing Android users' web browsing identifiers (github.io)
TheWho79 writes: It appears as though Meta (aka: Facebooks parent company) and Yandex have found a way to side step the Android Sandbox :
a novel tracking method by Meta and Yandex potentially affecting billions of Android users. We found that native Android apps—including Facebook, Instagram, and several Yandex apps including Maps and Browser—silently listen on fixed local ports for tracking purposes. These native Android apps receive browsers' metadata, cookies and commands from the Meta Pixel and Yandex Metrica scripts embedded on thousands of web sites. These JavaScripts load on users' mobile browsers and silently connect with native apps running on the same device through localhost sockets. As native apps access programatically device identifiers like the Android Advertising ID (AAID) or handle user identities as in the case of Meta apps, this method effectively allows these organizations to link mobile browsing sessions and web cookies to user identities, hence de-anonymizing users' visiting sites embedding their scripts. This web-to-app ID sharing method bypasses typical privacy protections such as clearing cookies, Incognito Mode and Android's permission controls. Worse, it opens the door for potentially malicious apps eavesdropping on users’ web activity.
Submission + - Ukraine's Massive Drone Attack Was Powered by Open Source Software (404media.co)
alternative_right writes: The Security Services of Ukraine’s (SBU) Operation Spider Web was a coordinated assault on Russian targets it claimed was more than a year in the making, which was carried out using a nearly 20-year-old piece of open source drone autopilot software called ArduPilot.
Submission + - Ukraine Drones Destroy Dozens of Russian Aircraft (foxnews.com)
schwit1 writes: The brazen Ukrainian blitz of Russian warplanes Sunday was 18 months in the making and the Pentagon was kept in the dark until it was over, sources told Fox News.
"Operation Spider's Web," a series of coordinated drone strikes penetrating deep into Russian territory, is believed to have taken out dozens of Russia's most powerful bomber jets and surveillance planes as they sat idle on five military airfields.
The stunning operation was personally overseen by President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s security service (SBU) said.
Ukraine used small FPV drones hidden inside wooden cabins mounted on trucks. When the trucks reached their targets, the roofs opened by remote control, and the drones launched.
"Operation Spider's Web," a series of coordinated drone strikes penetrating deep into Russian territory, is believed to have taken out dozens of Russia's most powerful bomber jets and surveillance planes as they sat idle on five military airfields.
The stunning operation was personally overseen by President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s security service (SBU) said.
Ukraine used small FPV drones hidden inside wooden cabins mounted on trucks. When the trucks reached their targets, the roofs opened by remote control, and the drones launched.
Submission + - ICE Taps into Nationwide AI-Enabled Camera Network, Data Shows (404media.co) 3
ArchieBunker writes: Data from a license plate-scanning tool that is primarily marketed as a surveillance solution for small towns to combat crimes like car jackings or finding missing people is being used by ICE, according to data reviewed by 404 Media. Local police around the country are performing lookups in Flock’s AI-powered automatic license plate reader (ALPR) system for “immigration” related searches and as part of other ICE investigations, giving federal law enforcement side-door access to a tool that it currently does not have a formal contract for.
The massive trove of lookup data was obtained by researchers who asked to remain anonymous to avoid potential retaliation and shared with 404 Media. It shows more than 4,000 nation and statewide lookups by local and state police done either at the behest of the federal government or as an “informal” favor to federal law enforcement, or with a potential immigration focus, according to statements from police departments and sheriff offices collected by 404 Media. It shows that, while Flock does not have a contract with ICE, the agency sources data from Flock’s cameras by making requests to local law enforcement. The data reviewed by 404 Media was obtained using a public records request from the Danville, Illinois Police Department, and shows the Flock search logs from police departments around the country.
As part of a Flock search, police have to provide a “reason” they are performing the lookup. In the “reason” field for searches of Danville’s cameras, officers from across the U.S. wrote “immigration,” “ICE,” “ICE+ERO,” which is ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, the section that focuses on deportations; “illegal immigration,” “ICE WARRANT,” and other immigration-related reasons. Although lookups mentioning ICE occurred across both the Biden and Trump administrations, all of the lookups that explicitly list “immigration” as their reason were made after Trump was inaugurated, according to the data.
The massive trove of lookup data was obtained by researchers who asked to remain anonymous to avoid potential retaliation and shared with 404 Media. It shows more than 4,000 nation and statewide lookups by local and state police done either at the behest of the federal government or as an “informal” favor to federal law enforcement, or with a potential immigration focus, according to statements from police departments and sheriff offices collected by 404 Media. It shows that, while Flock does not have a contract with ICE, the agency sources data from Flock’s cameras by making requests to local law enforcement. The data reviewed by 404 Media was obtained using a public records request from the Danville, Illinois Police Department, and shows the Flock search logs from police departments around the country.
As part of a Flock search, police have to provide a “reason” they are performing the lookup. In the “reason” field for searches of Danville’s cameras, officers from across the U.S. wrote “immigration,” “ICE,” “ICE+ERO,” which is ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, the section that focuses on deportations; “illegal immigration,” “ICE WARRANT,” and other immigration-related reasons. Although lookups mentioning ICE occurred across both the Biden and Trump administrations, all of the lookups that explicitly list “immigration” as their reason were made after Trump was inaugurated, according to the data.
Submission + - Trump get Palantir to compile data on Americans, using the data DOGE gathered. (nytimes.com)
shocking writes: After DOGE extracted a lot of personal data from govt sources, Palantir will be used to find connections and correlations which were previously unknown, posing a severe threat to privacy.
Comment A better solution (Score 1) 133
See http://server-sky.com/ for a better solution.
Comment Helium's out there, we need to capture more of it (Score 4, Informative) 130
Minable helium is the product of radioactive decay, as alpha particles capture electrons. Any place mining natural gas can, and should, use fractional distillation to capture helium as they store the methane it accompanies, for that buried methane picks up helium from the uranium (a common element) and thorium (even more common) as well as other radioactives. Helium can also be collected from the atmosphere. In short, we don't efficiently save what we waste.
Comment Link failure (Score 1) 25
Looks like wrong URL used in weblink. Suggest using https://time.com/6224137/iran-...
Comment Re:2,500 suns' worth of energy (Score 1) 53
30% efficiency is a useful goal to reach. That's typical in the chemical industry.
Comment Re:T-Mobile home internet (Score 1) 30
Which is why we always use a no-logging European-based VPN
Comment Re:Make banks pay cash for coins without hassle (Score 1) 203
They use cellular modems now.
Comment Solition: Saccies and Susies (Score 1) 203
Solution: Enable vending machines to use Sacajawea, Susan B. Anthony, and other dollar coins. After visiting Canada and discovering the wonders of the Loonie and Twonie, I ran into a vending machine rep, who stated most modern vending machines were dollar-coin-capable, but operators didn't want to add another denomination to the counting process, so that options is disabled.
Bound to be a way to encourage vending machine operators to start taking dollar coins, and given the parlous condition of the Georges in my wallet, perhaps we should emulate Canada and cease printing dollar bills while stamping a two-dollar coin.
