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Comment This will need to go to the US Supreme Court (Score 2) 95

by schwit1 (#66152619) Attached to: Minnesota Becomes First State To Ban Prediction Markets

Nevada, Maryland, and Ohio federal district courts sided with states.
Nevada: Dissolved Kalshi injunction; ruled sports contracts resemble gambling, not CFTC swaps.
Maryland: Denied preemption; state gambling laws apply.
Ohio: Denied injunction; similar reasoning.

New Jersey and Tennessee courts have favored Kalshi/CFTC.

Submission + - Zombifying the universities (joannejacobs.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: AI use on college campuses “threatens to turn a generation of promising young Americans into a class of drooling morons,” writes Owen Yingling, a University of Chicago philosophy major, in The Great Zombification. “It will grotesquely disfigure, if not destroy, the university as an institute in every way that it is imagined — as a sacrosanct humanist project, as a moral training ground, or even as a vulgar sweatshop for job training,” he argues in The New Critic.

Elite universities are spending millions of dollars to figure out how to “integrate” AI in the classroom, Yingling writes. What it really means is substituting AI “for learning, teaching, and conversing.”

Some will wait for the university system to crumble, hoping to build something new from the ashes, he writes. The ivied halls “will remain, to be observed and treated respectfully — like old cathedrals, mainline Protestant churches, and most of the European continent.”

Submission + - 4 alien species pulled from crashed UFOs, ex-government researcher claims (nypost.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: The US has recovered four distinct species of extraterrestrial life from crashed UFOs, a former CIA-funded government researcher sensationally claimed this week.

Dr. Hal Puthoff, former Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program advisor and CIA-funded researcher, made the claim alongside “Age of Disclosure” director Dan Farrah on Steve Bartlett’s “The Diary of a CEO” podcast on Thursday.

"People who have been involved in recoveries have said there are at least four types. Four separate types," the 89-year-old said. "Now I have not had direct access to that but I believe the people who I talked to — four separate types of life."

The Stanford-trained quantum physicist did not detail the supposed alien species — but his longtime collaborator and former AAWSAP colleague Dr. Eric Davis claimed last year that Grays, Nordics, Insectoids, and Reptilians are the names of the biological lifeforms pulled from the wreckage of downed or crashed UFOs.

Each alien species has two arms and legs and a humanoid appearance, Davis claimed, citing intelligence reports.

Submission + - Google Maps 'Unburned' the Pacific Palisades - and Infuriated Angelenos Noticed (redstate.com) 1

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes:

Angelenos have been noticing something strange: the Google Maps satellite imagery depicting the Los Angeles areas of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena now shows pristine neighborhoods untouched by the devastating fires of January 2025.

Of course, as we all know, those neighborhoods are in ruins. Why would Google pretend otherwise?

On Reddit, user TinyPinkSparkles asked, “Why is Google maps back to showing old satellite images of Altadena?" She continued:

Not too long after the fire, Google updated the satellite imagery to reflect the fire and thousands of lost structures. Now it's back to pre-fire images of houses and businesses that are no longer there. Why?

Submission + - SpaceX unveils sweeping Starship V3 upgrades ahead of May 19 launch (teslarati.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Here is an explicit, broken-down list of the key changes, first starting with the changes to Super Heavy V3:
  • Grid Fin Redesign: Reduced from four fins to three. Each fin is now 50% larger and stronger, repositioned for better catching and lifting performance. Fins are lowered on the booster to reduce heat exposure during hot staging, with hardware moved inside the fuel tank for protection.
  • Integrated Hot Staging: Eliminates the old disposable interstage shield. The booster dome is now directly exposed to upper-stage engine ignition, protected by tank pressure and steel shielding. Interstage actuators retract after separation.
  • New Fuel Transfer System: Massive redesign of the fuel transfer tube—roughly the size of a Falcon 9 first stage—enables simultaneous startup of all 33 Raptors for faster, more reliable flip maneuvers.
  • Engine Bay/Thermal Protection: Engine shrouds removed entirely; new shielding added between engines. Propulsion and avionics are more tightly integrated. CO? fire suppression system deleted for a simpler, lighter aft section.
  • Propellant Loading Improvements: Switched from one quick disconnect to two separate systems for added redundancy and reduced pad complexity.

Next, we have the changes to Starship V3:

  • Completely Redesigned Propulsion System: Clean-sheet redesign supports new Raptor startup, larger propellant volume, and an improved reaction control system while reducing trapped or leaked propellant risk.
  • Aft Section Simplification: Fluid and electrical systems rerouted; engine shrouds and large aft cavity deleted.
  • Flap Actuation Upgrade: Changed from two actuators per flap to one actuator with three motors for better redundancy, mass efficiency, and lower cost.
  • Faster Starlink Deployment: Upgraded PEZ dispenser enables quicker satellite release.
  • Long-Duration Spaceflight Capability: New systems for long orbital coasts, orbital refueling, cryogenic fluid management, vacuum-insulated header tanks, and high-voltage cryogenic recirculation.
  • Ship-to-Ship Docking + Refueling: Four docking drogues and dedicated propellant transfer connections added to support in-space refueling architecture.
  • Avionics Upgrades: 60 custom avionics units with integrated batteries, inverters, and high-voltage systems (9 MW peak power). New multi-sensor navigation for precision autonomous flight. RF sensors measure propellant in microgravity. ~50 onboard camera views and 480 Mbps Starlink connectivity for low-latency communications.

Believe it or not, there's more.

Two years ago, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever flown was Starship V1. Last year, it was Starship V2. V3 is about to become the biggest and most powerful rocket ever flown — but don't worry, the company already has plans for V4.

Submission + - US clears H200 chip sales to 10 China firms as Nvidia CEO looks for breakthrough (cnbc.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: The U.S. has cleared around 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia’s second-most powerful AI chip, the H200, but not a single delivery has been made so far, three people familiar with the matter said, leaving a major technology deal in limbo as CEO Jensen Huang seeks a breakthrough in China this week.

Huang, who was not initially listed in a White House delegation to Beijing, joined the trip after an invitation from President Donald Trump, a source said. Trump picked him up in Alaska en route to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, raising hopes the trip could finally unlock stalled efforts to sell the H200 chips in China.

Submission + - CIA whistleblower claims Anthony Fauci part of lab leak 'cover-up' (nypost.com)

Submitted by RoccamOccam
RoccamOccam writes: A CIA whistleblower appeared publicly for the first time Wednesday to testify to a Senate panel that Dr. Anthony Fauci improperly “influenced” intelligence analyses about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic to downplay findings that it most likely resulted from a laboratory accident in China.

Submission + - China Unveils World's First Dual-Core Quantum Computer (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by hackingbear
hackingbear writes: CAS Cold Atom Technology, a Wuhan-based firm affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), unveiled what it claims is the world's first dual-core quantum computer, according to a report from state-owned publication Science and Technology Daily. The system, called Hanyuan-2, pairs two independent neutral atom arrays inside a single cabinet-sized machine, totaling 200 qubits built from 100 rubidium-85 and 100 rubidium-87 atoms. The twin cores can either run in parallel to split workloads or operate in a "one main and one auxiliary" configuration, where the second array handles real-time error correction while the first executes computations. Hanyuan-2 is built on neutral atom technology, which traps uncharged atoms using laser arrays to cool and manipulate individual neutral atoms as qubits. In a related development, scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) have developed a programmable quantum computing prototype called "Jiuzhang 4.0" that has set a new world record for optical quantum information technology, according to a study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. Jiuzhang-4 can manipulate and detect quantum states of up to 3,050 photons and solve the Gaussian boson sampling problem at a speed more than 10 to the 54th (10^54) times that of the world's most powerful supercomputer, the study said.

Submission + - Guy Built an Entire Wikipedia that's 100% AI Hallucinations (x.com) 2

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: It's called Halupedia

Nothing on the site existed before you clicked. Every article was generated the second you arrived.

The site has one rule: the universe only exists when you visit it.

It looks exactly like wikipedia, same fonts, same layout, same scholarly citations, same "stumble" button for random articles.

The only difference is none of it is real.

Here are some actual articles currently in the encyclopedia:

> the great pigeon census of 1887
> the ministry of slightly wrong maps
> Chaldic arithmetic — a branch of mathematics where subtraction is forbidden
> Armund the river mapper — a cartographer who mapped 14,000 leagues of river without leaving his chair
> The society for the prevention of unnecessary Tuesdays

Every article page also tells you how many people are reading it right now. it says: "you alone are consulting this folio at present."

The creator's own tagline for the site is the most unhinged sentence i've read this year:

"an encyclopedia of a universe that does not exist until you visit it"

The entire backend is a single open source repo called vibeserver. One guy. One description on github: "a little webserver making things up just in time."

Submission + - Russian Ship Carrying Nuclear Reactors Was Heading To North Korea When It Sank (artvoice.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: A Russian cargo ship carrying what its own captain later admitted were components for two submarine nuclear reactors sank off the coast of Spain in December 2024, and a CNN investigation published Monday May 12, 2026 reveals the full picture of where those reactors were likely headed, what they were for and what may have caused the ship to go down.

The vessel, the Ursa Major, also known as Sparta 3, sank approximately 100 kilometers off the Spanish coast on December 23-24, 2024, after a series of explosions killed two crew members.

The Russian state-linked owner called it a terrorist attack. But a Spanish investigation obtained by CNN suggests the hull may have been pierced by a Barracuda supercavitating torpedo, a high-speed weapon possessed by only a handful of the world’s most elite militaries, including the United States.

The suspected destination was not Vladivostok, as the public shipping manifest claimed.

Russian captain Igor Anisimov, per sources familiar with the Spanish investigation, believed he was taking the reactors to the port of Rason in North Korea.

Submission + - NNSA Removes Highly Enriched Uranium from Venezuela (foxnews.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: The U.S. and partners completed the removal of all remaining enriched uranium from a legacy research reactor in Venezuela, the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration announced on Friday.

"For decades, the RV-1 reactor supported physics and nuclear research. Once that work finished in 1991, its uranium, enriched above the crucial 20 percent threshold, became surplus material," the NNSA said.

The NNSA's Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) team and technical experts from the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research "safely removed 13.5 kilograms (about 30 pounds) of uranium from the RV-1 reactor," the administration said. "Working in close cooperation with the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] throughout, the team securely packaged the uranium into a spent fuel cask."

The material was then transported to the U.S., where it will be processed and reused, the NNSA noted.

"The group then escorted the material 100 miles overland to a Venezuelan port. There, they transferred the cargo to a specialized carrier supplied by the U.K.’s Nuclear Transport Solutions," the announcement said. "The vessel carried the material to the United States arriving on U.S. shores in early May. Upon arrival, U.S. teams unloaded the casks and transported them to the Savannah River Site (SRS) for processing and reuse."

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