185637038
submission
alternative_right writes:
A massive worldwide survey of physicists has revealed surprisingly little agreement about some of the universeâ(TM)s biggest mysteries. No majority backed the standard cosmological model, a leading explanation for dark matter, or any single theory of quantum gravity. One area of stronger agreement stood out: 68% said the Big Bang does not necessarily represent the beginning of time. Researchers say the divisions show just how alive and unsettled the frontiers of physics remain.
185613026
submission
alternative_right writes:
Now, a team led by neuroscientist Marina Weiler of the University of Virginia has put the phenomenon to the test again â" with a carefully blinded experiment, 21 experienced out-of-body practitioners, and a hidden image waiting in another room.
Not a single participant succeeded at the task they were given.
But two of them reported seeing something else that should have been impossible â" and the researchers can't quite explain it.
185573374
submission
alternative_right writes:
A new analysis of more than 1,700 supernovae is questioning whether the universe is really accelerating at all. After accounting for the ages of the stars that produce these explosions, researchers found signs that cosmic expansion may actually be slowing. They also argue that the apparent acceleration changes with direction, which would be difficult to explain with dark energy. Other cosmologists dispute the conclusion, setting up a major test for upcoming observatories.
185541968
submission
alternative_right writes:
Scientists have devised a new way to switch magnetic computer memory while using far less energy than today's leading technologies. By mathematically optimizing the pulses used to flip digital bits, the method could reduce energy consumption by several orders of magnitude. Simulations suggest it may bring future memory devices surprisingly close to the fundamental physical limit for processing information. The same idea could eventually work with electrical currents or ultrafast lasers.
185541192
submission
alternative_right writes:
Criminal gangs are using artificial intelligence to help them find locations in Europe to build illicit cigarette factories with less chance of getting caught, an EU auditor warned on Tuesday.
These gangs used to operate in Eastern Europe where it was easier to hide, Petri Sarvamaa in charge of the European Court of Auditorâ(TM)s report on illicit tobacco, told a press briefing.
Now, with AI, itâ(TM)s easier to find places to operate that are closer to their markets, he said, in rural locations and villages. âoeThis reduces the risk in the supply chain for the criminals,â added Esther Torrente Heras, senior auditor.
185427460
submission
alternative_right writes:
OpenAI on Thursday released GPT-6 Astra, which president Greg Brockman said could eventually be seen as the start of artificial general intelligence, or AGI.
Astra performs better, but it's also better at avoiding monitoring, meaning it could be harder to know what it's thinking or doing.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman separately told Axios this week that models are becoming "superhuman" in some capabilities and that "we are just sailing in unknown waters."
185426944
submission
alternative_right writes:
The LUX-ZEPLIN experiment has detected a rare particle interaction that looks unusually difficult to explain as ordinary background noise and appeared where dark matter might be expected. Scientists are not claiming a discovery yet, but additional data could show whether this single mysterious event is the first hint of a long-sought dark matter particle.
185405574
submission
alternative_right writes:
Published in Nature, the research pooled genetic and personality data from 46 research groups worldwide, focusing on the five major personality categories psychologists call the Big Five: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience. Scientists scanned the DNA of somewhere between 611,037 and 1.14 million people per trait, hunting for spots in the genetic code tied to each dimension, then traced how those patterns connected to dozens of real-world outcomes.
âoeThere is no single âpersonality gene,'â said Ted Schwaba, lead author of the study and a faculty member in Michigan State Universityâ(TM)s Department of Psychology. Personality traits are tied to thousands of genetic variants, he said, and even the largest individual effects are tiny. Combined, those effects add up to something researchers could trace across a personâ(TM)s life, from their doctorâ(TM)s office to their dating history.
185375273
submission
alternative_right writes:
âoePerhaps the reason why the platform seems worse is because your life has changed,â Thelot says. âoeOver the same period of time, your goals have changed, and they no longer fit with the platformâ(TM)s new features. Why the hell would a fifty-five year-old be watching Reels? Go take care of your kids.â
The indisputable fact of Thelotâ(TM)s argument is that various social media platforms have more users and are more profitable than ever. This data is readily available from reliable market surveys, polls, and quarterly earning reports from the companies themselves. Itâ(TM)s important to note that companies like Meta have a history of juking the numbers, and that despite this it recently reported its first ever decline of 20 million users, but Thelotâ(TM)s point stands: Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are massively popular.
185255588
submission
alternative_right writes:
The X Safety team probed suspected Chinese accounts involved in influence operations and identified 200,000 accounts, including 200 accounts "posting in a manner that could manipulate a legitimate debate about American AI and energy policy," the team said in a tweet.
The posts included content on how AI strains the electricity grid and increases utility prices and "cartoons that depicted data-center operators enriching themselves at the public's expense."
It's unclear what, if any, action X will take to suspend or delete accounts from the bot farm.
X, owned by Elon Musk, whose billions rely on data centers to boost his AI enterprises, did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
185194510
submission
alternative_right writes:
At first what they were telling people is that it was for Kindles, but I just didn't believe that. I instantly was like, I don't think that's how they do it because of publication rights and stuff, copyright and everything. Then I saw it was for AI. I don't like it only because I wish I could take these books. There's so much knowledge and so much stuff in them and some of them look like they might be rare, and I've heard that they order rare books, and that's why I say some of these are so obscure. I definitely don't like the idea that they can't be reused or anything like that afterwards. They're reducing the amount of available copies for other people.
185194240
submission
alternative_right writes:
Every single model tested could be manipulated into producing harmful content, including models equipped with defenses meant to resist exactly that kind of tampering.
185130660
submission
alternative_right writes:
Researchers have created a tiny chip that produces a stable âoerainbowâ of light capable of generating multiple high-frequency signals at once, potentially boosting the speed and capacity of future 6G networks. Its extreme precision could also make it valuable for quantum timing, navigation, radar, and even space-based technologies.
185114114
submission
alternative_right writes:
A shadowy polling firm confessed this week to faking survey results in two marquee races â" then claimed the entire operation was a "short-term social experiment" on misinformation.
Why it matters: An AI-enabled flood of synthetic and outright fabricated content is wreaking havoc on reality, poisoning the signals people rely on to understand politics, business and culture.
185101072
submission
alternative_right writes:
Brands have completely taken over the modern world, from established corporate trademarks to the proliferation of online influencers. But the allure of brands is nothing new, according to a study about an ancient style of pottery called Qurayyah Painted Ware that was a progenitor of branding some 3,200 years ago.
This brand of pottery was popular in what is now Saudi Arabia during the Bronze Age. The tradition is distinguished by distinctive black-and-red geometric designs and stylized animal and human figures. These unique visual properties, along with a consistent production technique and quality, suggest that it was an early branded commodity that was made to be recognizable to the wider community.
âoeIt is now understood that brands and proto-brands existed well before modern economies,â said researchers led by Marta Luciani of the University of Vienna. âoeIn this contribution we analyze the process by which the commodity itselfâ"decorated pottery vesselsâ"was developed into a brand not by added symbols but on the virtue of its visual identity, material consistency, technological continuity, centralized production, export circulation, local imitation, intentional commercial scope, and cultural reputation.â
