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Submission + - Humans Can Learn to Echolocate in Just 10 Weeks, And It Rewires The Brain (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: A study published in PLOS One in 2021 by researchers from Durham University in the UK showed that with 10 weeks of training, both blind and sighted people could learn to echolocate using verbal clicks.

While the technique is already used by a number of people with impaired vision â" sometimes using the taps of a cane instead of clicks made by their mouth â" those findings suggest that many of us can learn the necessary techniques.

Some of the same researchers who made that discovery are part of the team behind a follow-up study published in Cerebral Cortex, looking at how the 10 weeks of training that the 26 participants went through actually changed the physical structure of their brains.

(If this is too nerdly even for Slashdot, I apologize for wasting your time.)

Comment Oddest thing about transmisitable cancers (Score 2) 11

by gurps_npc (#66253470) Attached to: Researchers Discover First Known Transmissible Cancer In Fish

These are not a cancer that causes other individuals to develop cancer. Instead there was this one individual that got the cancer and their cells managed to transplant themselves to another individual and thrive.

Often long after the original individual dies, as in known to be the case with the dog cancer.

This means that if you identify beings by genetics, there currently exists a sub-species of 'dog' that has no brain, bones, or teeth. It is just a bunch of flesh that is travelling about, attached as a parasite to regular dogs. In some ways, it is more like a plant.

Theoretically, this 'dog' may never die. Apparently, not all dogs go to heaven. ;)

Comment Re:The Army is fascist (Score 2) 80

by gurps_npc (#66252066) Attached to: The Army Is Burning Through Its AI Tokens

Businesses are not run like the US army. Your understanding of them is heavily flawed. They are NOT all alike.

Also, from what I understand, the various US branches are dramatically different. Being on a ship is very different than being a pilot, and both differ from infantry. In truth I hear it matters a lot about who your commander is.

But with regards to businesses, your opinion is far off the norm. Each person running a business runs it differently. Some run it the way you describe, but that is in no way the most common.

Some businesses are family run. Yes there may be one leader, but they have to convince their board. Others are small sole proprietors. Some are run with a large hierarchical structure, similar to the US military. Some are run like certain eastern militaries (creativity is punished, obedience and mere competence is rewarded).

Franchise systems are again very different. They have a lot of power on how to run their own substructure, as long as they abide by their franchise rules.

Then there are the co-ops. Things like credit unions are radically different than a public corporation. Ever buy LandOLakes butter? They are a farmer owned coop. If you think their CEO runs the company in a manner similar to Elon Musk, you have no idea what you are talking about.

The thing about real capitalism is that it contains a multiplicity. There is no one standard model.

   

Comment The Army is not capitalist (Score 2, Insightful) 80

by gurps_npc (#66251904) Attached to: The Army Is Burning Through Its AI Tokens

The US military mostly does not use capitalism. It is the largest anti-capitalism organization in the USA. They care about lives, not bank accounts. It is run in a bureaucratic system that is far more similar to socialism than the Republican party wants to admit.

Therefore it has to deal with the various weaknesses of that system, one of which is over-use of resources for 'trendy' and 'popular' ideas at the expense of the less sexy but more efficient programs.

Right now that means drones and AI rule.

Comment Re:Does EU has any authority over it? (Score 1) 88

EU can easily have their ISPs block the Ali Express website.

It is slightly harder but still possible to block all shipping from China.

They could still sell digital content via another web site. But that would still be a miniscule portion of their profits.

If Ali Express wants to do business in Europe they have to obey the laws of Europe or have their business be blocked both online and via shipping.

Submission + - FCC Officials Took Pricey Gifts From Paramount as the Company Needed Approval fo (propublica.org)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: ProPublica reports that disclosures show FCC Chair Brendan Carr and Federal Communications Commissioner Olivia Trusty are among seven FCC commissioners who have accepted Kennedy gala tickets from CBS or its parent company over the last decade. Ethics experts told ProPublica this poses a blatant conflict of interest since the commission regulates the network. Carr’s previous financial statements show he has accepted tickets at least seven times since his 2017 appointment, totaling over $63,000 in gifts. It’s unclear if Paramount gifted Carr the premium seats because the FCC has yet to make public his financial disclosure for last year.

Federal ethics rules ban employees from taking gifts from any entity that does business with, is regulated by or seeks official action from their agency.

Four ethics experts told ProPublica that by accepting the premium tickets Trusty and Carr compromised the FCC’s impartiality and should not take part in any upcoming decision on the merger.

“There’s no way that any top federal regulator should ever, ever accept a gift from a regulated company with interests their work will foreseeably affect,” said Walter Shaub, who led the federal Office of Government Ethics from 2013 to 2017. “The appearance of taking gifts like that is terrible. What’s at stake is nothing less than the public’s trust in government.”

The FCC’s review of the merger is one of the final hurdles facing a historic $110 billion consolidation of two of the five largest film studios in Hollywood. The deal would unite Paramount Skydance with Warner Bros., bringing under the control of one company Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services; CBS and CNN; and scores of other major broadcast channels, cable networks, and digital platforms.

American and international regulators are evaluating the deal for its potential national security implications and impacts to consumers worldwide. Last week, the British government signaled it planned to investigate whether the new entertainment titan that would emerge from the union would unfairly stifle competition. The FCC’s ongoing review includes examining the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds backing the deal, including from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The FCC usually has five commissioners — all appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve five-year terms — but the agency currently has only three. Any vote by the full commission would likely be decided by Republicans Carr and Trusty over Democrat Anna Gomez.

The experts warned the commissioners’ gifts might become central in legal challenges and said the Justice Department should investigate potential violations of federal rules or laws.

Neither Carr nor Trusty responded to ProPublica’s requests for comment. Gomez said in a statement that she followed agency advice when she attended the event in 2023 and 2024. Her statement did not elaborate or otherwise address why taking gifts from Paramount did not pose a conflict of interest.

An FCC spokesperson said agency ethics officers have for years cleared commissioner appearances, finding it consistent with ethics law.

“FCC Chairs and officials have attended the same event, in the same ways, consistently from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration to the Obama Administration,” the FCC said in a statement. “There has been no change in recent years.”

Shaub called the justification outrageous.

“It’s no excuse to say that you took the gift because everyone else was doing it or that your agency has had a bad habit of indulging in gift taking for a long time,” Shaub said. “That kind of explanation doesn’t work for school children, and it sure as hell doesn’t work for government officials who are supposed to have better judgment than a fifth grader.”

Richard Painter, a former White House ethics attorney in the administration of George W. Bush, said while courts often defer to the government’s judgment, they also can become skeptical if a regulatory agency is shown to have violated ethics rules.

“A judge may very well say that the merger decision of the FCC isn’t worth jack because the process was corrupted,” he said.

Comment Symptoms are not a disease. (Score 1) 58

I like the fact they checked the reverse. Important part of any social experiment.

However, they did not mention any attempt to confirm the diagnosis of ADHD by administering medication. ADHD medication does not always work and many doctors believe that the cases of it not working indicate the patient did not in fact have ADHD, just some of the symptoms.

The symptoms of ADHD basically fall into two categories:
1) Stereotypical 'childish' behavior.
2) Poor social skills.

This is combined with the facts that about 20% of kids diagnosed with ADHD lose all symptoms after adulthood and only 15% retain all their symptoms.

Some people think the 20% that get cured never really had ADHD, they were misdiagnosed and just took a bit longer to mature. Others believe ADHD is a spectrum and most people have it in very slight degrees that can be 'cured'/overcome.

These facts along with the study seems to imply an explanation that social media may not 'hurt' the children and instead are more like filler. Too much filler activity delays maturation rather than causing ADHD.

I would love to see how the children that got symptoms of ADHD after engaging with social media reacted to the medications. In addition, I would like to know if the
'ADHD' symptoms that 'appeared' always existed and were just ignored until the child reached an age where those behaviors were less accepted.

Comment Even an idiot can be right (Score 3, Interesting) 121

Cramer is not someone I respect. There is a study that says if you invest the opposite of what Cramer advises on TV you make more money than if you follow his advice. He is an entertainer more than a financial adviser.

That said, I do agree with Cramer that many people are doing stupid things with AI and making bad assumptions.

Humans do higher quality work than AI, AI's advantage is SPEED.

Sometimes speed is an advantage. Sometimes it is a bad idea. Do you think it is a good idea to travel at 90 mph all the time? Do you want your doctor to take extra time considering your illness, or make an instant snap decision? Would you prefer to accept an AI's diagnosis or would you rather have a human do it?

I have no doubt many businesses will make a ton of money because they use AI. I also have no doubt many a business will bankrupt themselves trying to do the same thing.

It is true that millions of protein foldings were first calculated using the first AI. I am sure there will be many other good uses of AI. But in addition tho that Lawyers are being fined and fired for using AI. Kids are using it to cheat at school.

Corporations need to prove they are making good use of the new technology rather than just hoping on the bandwagon and wasting a ton of money.

Comment Re:Compared to....? (Score 1) 226

by gurps_npc (#66241584) Attached to: US Suffered a Major Power Outage Every Month of 2026

You make a lot of good points.
.
However, two environmental disasters creating an increase may indicate an underlying cause. Many environmental scientists claim that both more fires and more frost are a result of climate change that is itself a trend that will continue.

Adjustments for population growth is also an underlying cause, not something we should ignore.

The idea that it is a couple of local problems rather than a national one has significant importance. Texas in particular, being a separate power grid, may have issues that the rest of the country does not.

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