186489640
submission
fjo3 writes:
Any rational observer can admit that the current iteration of the web—and the social fabric woven there—is not what they signed up for. Symptoms of advanced cultural decay can no longer be ignored. This thing is eating itself.
Giants including Meta and Google have been forced to settle massive consumer lawsuits brought over privacy violations and mental health harms allegedly caused by the addictive mechanisms of their platforms. Schools are banning smartphones as multiple countries institute social media restrictions for under-16s. Parents are in a panic about their kids aspiring to careers as social media celebrities, losing themselves in a vast ecosystem of online casinos, or joining extremist movements.
Generative AI, briefly considered an amusing novelty, is now a turbocharged slop engine for the web, filling feeds and comment sections with useless, grotesque content. As humans scroll past headlines about AI taking their jobs, confusing fantasy for reality, and contributing to cognitive decline, any consumer appeal the technology might have is turning to anguish. The data centers that power it have become increasingly unpopular, and politically radioactive.
186450584
submission
fjo3 writes:
After Ukraine said the services had been restored, Elon Musk spoke out on the speed restrictions that began last week. In a post Saturday on X, Musk acknowledged that his company SpaceX throttled the Starlink satellite internet service.
“Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” Musk wrote. “Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.”
But he maintained that the U.S. government controlled whatever changes happened with Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink that is the backbone of Ukraine’s drone operations and communication. He also defended the role of SpaceX in bolstering Ukraine’s defenses since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
186433082
submission
fjo3 writes:
Earlier in October, Finnish authorities ordered Google’s affiliate data center developer Tuike Finland Oy to immediately suspend the illegal cutting of some 1,300 acres of forest. The tech giant was given a week to draft a report explaining its actions, which soon became a flashpoint for Europe’s growing outrage over the data center boom.
As the anger grew, reporters descended on the scene — and what they found is a clear-cut example of the AI revolution’s impact on the environment.
New reporting by the Guardian shed fresh light on the impacts of Google’s deforestation. After the 1,300 acres of pristine boreal forests were reduced to tracts of mud and stumps, fauna which once called the woods home has been forced to vacate.
186400688
submission
fjo3 writes:
Nuclear power has historically been a divisive issue: During the Cold War, an entire generation feared annihilation at the hands of the same basic technology that some want to use to power their homes.
That's unfortunate, because nuclear energy has considerable benefits—a reliable source of power with very few greenhouse gas emissions—with increasingly lower risks.
Thankfully, it seems that message is catching on with people from both major political parties.
"About six-in-ten U.S. adults now say they favor more nuclear power plants to generate electricity," Pew Research reported in October 2025. "That's up from 43% in 2020, driven by increasing support among both Republicans and Democrats." The authors noted that "Republicans are more likely than Democrats" to favor the policy, with "roughly seven-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents" expressing support, but it still included 52 percent of Democrats and independents who lean in that direction.
186306174
submission
fjo3 writes:
"For example, they may be drinking tap water which can be cloudy and contain a lot of lime. I can fix this problem with a filtered water tank. Such a small thing can make them much happier. Maybe they can't shower because their equipment is broken. I'll buy a part, replace it and their shower is fine."
"The elderly treat us like their children, and we treat them like our own parents," he added.
186014436
submission
fjo3 writes:
What I’m about to tell you has, I realize, become something of a cliché: I resigned this week from OpenAI. I led the writing of the safety reports we published with each major launch. Now I’m joining a parade of former colleagues—at OpenAI and the industry’s other leaders—who have decided that the current path is unacceptable.
I agree with other recently departed staff that the companies building this technology aren’t being nearly careful enough. But I believe that we need to look deeper than specific rules or new laws. We need to talk about culture.
The future depends on wisdom that Silicon Valley lacks. Wisdom about how to handle dangerous technology and, more fundamentally, wisdom about what it means to care for people.
185912320
submission
fjo3 writes:
Communities across California are rushing to prepare for the imminent arrival of the so-called “Kelvin wave”, a massive underwater band of warm water threatening to inundate swaths of the vast North American shoreline.
The wave is nearing southern California and expected to reach the San Francisco Bay Area by early October, as it crawls toward Alaska. Waters could rise by a foot along the California coast, according to scientists, who have warned that this could dramatically double the 8-12in rise in sea levels already caused by climate change over the last century.
185902740
submission
fjo3 writes:
Every year, the night sky is becoming 10% brighter. Eighty per cent of people live under light-polluted skies. And while the UN declared a healthy environment – clean air, clean water – to be a human right, I believe we also all have a right to darkness as well.
185735894
submission
fjo3 writes:
Part of the bedrock of American civil liberties is the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches. There is no right to privacy, and no due process in the justice system, without that. But immigration authorities, cops, and courts keep deciding that, for some reason, the Fourth Amendment just doesn't apply where new technology is concerned.
185654154
submission
fjo3 writes:
China’s top spy chief has warned that artificial intelligence could pose a direct threat to the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on power, in what is the highest-level and most detailed articulation yet of how Beijing sees the technology’s security risks.
The unusually blunt assessment by Chen Yixin, the head of China’s Ministry of State Security, is in contrast to the warnings dominating the AI debate in the United States, which have focused on the possibility that AI could slip out of human control or pose a threat to humanity itself.
In an article published Sunday in the state-run magazine China Cyberspace, Chen called for more party control over AI and stricter government oversight. This, he said, was necessary to protect political stability at home; to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns from “hostile forces”; and to compete militarily with countries like the United States.
185640134
submission
fjo3 writes:
As of July 7, all new passenger vehicles sold in the E.U. had to come equipped with "advanced driver distraction warning" systems that watch for signs of "distraction" and, upon detecting them, issue a visual and an audio or tactile warning. Cars will warn drivers whose gaze drifts for more than three to six seconds, depending on their speed.
To comply with this mandate, cars will have to fix cameras on drivers' faces at all times, turning private motor vehicles into efficient surveillance systems. The equipment is supposed to operate as a "closed-loop system," meaning it "shall only continuously record and retain data necessary for the system to function and operate." But it is not clear how that rule will be enforced.
Beyond privacy concerns, some critics worry that the system itself will become a dangerous distraction, issuing warnings every time a driver changes the radio station or glances at a passenger. Others have complained that the requirement will increase auto costs.
185573832
submission
fjo3 writes:
A skin condition caused by a reaction to heat from electronic devices is on the rise in children, doctors have said.
Erythema ab igne (EAI) – also known as toasted skin syndrome – is a rash caused by long-term exposure to low-level heat.
It is usually found in adults who regularly use hot water bottles or heated pads, but is becoming increasingly common among children who use electronic devices.
Doctors have shed light on the surge of cases in children after a boy was diagnosed with EAI after resting his laptop on his stomach for up to eight hours a day.
185152658
submission
fjo3 writes:
In the event we turn all arable land on this planet into a barren heath incapable of growing food, humankind may have to resort to reaping what we sowed by eating our own plastic pollution.
A team of researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale just demonstrated that this was possible by using specially engineered yeast to create tasty — and yes, edible — cookies which they 3D printed out of plastic waste.
The yeast breaks down the components of plastic compounds and agricultural byproducts like discarded plant stalks into proteins, fats, acids, and flavorings that we can eat. When these are combined together, the mixture is fed into a 3D printer that spits out cookies of any desired shape.
185140426
submission
fjo3 writes:
Everyone has seen them out at restaurants: the "iPad babies" and zoned-out families. Parents letting their children, some quite young, stare at phones or tablets throughout the meal, sometimes while mom and dad also look at screens.
It's easy to judge those families, though I try to remind myself that we, as casual onlookers, never know the full story. Maybe this almost never happens but tonight the parent has a crucial work deadline. Maybe it's been that rare kind of extraordinarily stressful day. Maybe that boy has developmental issues and this is the only way he can get through a restaurant meal, which the family needs to do because they're traveling. Maybe, whatever the reason, this is an anomaly and not the mealtime norm.
But screen time during meals may be the norm for many families, according to some new research published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Hold up, though—before you call in Jonathan Haidt (or Josh Hawley, or Jean Twenge, or whoever your favorite tech-panic evangelist might be), take a closer look at what sorts of screens that kids are using. The most common form of mealtime media consumption for kids in this study was "watching content on a large-screen device." That is, a TV, or something akin to a TV.
185104732
submission
fjo3 writes:
A robot named Lightning has run the 100m in 9.32 seconds, beating the human world record, China’s state broadcaster has reported.
The humanoid, developed by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor, reached a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second during a test event for the second World Humanoid Robot Games, which began on Saturday. The performance surpassed the 9.58sec men’s 100m world record set by Usain Bolt 17 years ago at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
