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• Jack Ma-Backed Ant Touts AI Breakthrough Using Chinese Chips

  25-03-2025 00:40 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Jack Ma-backed Ant Group used Chinese-made semiconductors to develop techniques for training AI models that would cut costs by 20%, according to people familiar with the matter. Ant used domestic chips, including from affiliate Alibaba and Huawei, to train models using the so-called Mixture of Experts machine learning approach, the people said. It got results similar to those from Nvidia chips like the H800, they said, asking not to be named as
  
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• Why a Lost Cellphone Forced an Airplane to Turn Around in Mid-Flight

  29-03-2025 20:34 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  Last week an Air France flight to the Caribbean had to turn around and return to Paris, reports the Washington Post, "after a passenger could not locate their cellphone."
  Because of fears that an unattended cellphone could overheat — and because the passenger and crew couldn't find the phone — the Boeing 777 turned around off the coast of France "and returned to the airport, according to the flight-tracking service FlightAware. It landed back where it started a little more than two h
  
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• 'An Open Letter To Meta: Support True Messaging Interoperability With XMPP'

  29-03-2025 19:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  In 1999 Slashdot reader Jeremie announced "a new project I recently started to create a complete open-source platform for Instant Messaging with transparent communication to other IM systems (ICQ, AIM, etc)." It was the first release of the eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, and by 2008 Slashdot was asking if XMPP was "the next big thing." Facebook even supported it for third-party chat clients until 2015.
  And here in 2025, the chair of the nonprofit XMPP Standards Foundation is long-ti
  
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• Scientists May Have Discovered How To Extract Power From the Earth's Rotation

  29-03-2025 18:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Long-time Slashdot reader Baron_Yam writes:No more burning fossil fuels, playing with fissile material, damming rivers, erecting wind mills, or making solar panels. All of our energy needs could potentially be supplied by the angular kinetic energy of the Earth — and because of the mass of the planet, doing so would slow its rotation down by a mere 7ms per century. [Which is similar to speed changes caused by natural phenomena such as the Moon's pull and changing dynamics inside the planet
  
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• Scientists Create New Heavy-Metal Molecule: 'Berkelocene'

  29-03-2025 17:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shared this report from the Mercury News:After a year of fastidious planning, a microscopic sample of the ultra-rare radioactive element berkelium arrived at a Berkeley Lab. With just 48 hours to experiment before it would become unusable, a group of nearly 20 researchers focused intently on creating a brand-new molecule. Using a chemical glove box, a polycarbonate glass box with protruding gloves that shields substances from oxygen and moisture, scientists combined the berke
  
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• As the Arctic's Winter Sea Ice Hits a New Record Low - What Happens Next?

  29-03-2025 16:34 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The Washington Post reports that after months of polar darkness, the extent of sea ice blanketing the Arctic this winter "fell to the lowest level on record, researchers announced this week... the smallest maximum extent in the 47-year satellite record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
  "Since then, the ice has already begun to melt again."
  "Sea ice is acting like the old canary in the coal mine," Dartmouth University geophysicist Don Perovich said. "It's saying loud and clear
  
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• New Ubuntu Linux Security Bypasses Require Manual Mitigations

  29-03-2025 15:34 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shared this report from BleepingComputer:Three security bypasses have been discovered in Ubuntu Linux's unprivileged user namespace restrictions, which could be enable a local attacker to exploit vulnerabilities in kernel components. The issues allow local unprivileged users to create user namespaces with full administrative capabilities and impact Ubuntu versions 23.10, where unprivileged user namespaces restrictions are enabled, and 24.04 which has them active by default...
  
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• First Trial of Generative AI Therapy Shows It Might Help With Depression

  29-03-2025 14:00 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: The first clinical trial of a therapy bot that uses generative AI suggests it was as effective as human therapy for participants with depression, anxiety, or risk for developing eating disorders. Even so, it doesn't give a go-ahead to the dozens of companies hyping such technologies while operating in a regulatory gray area. A team led by psychiatric researchers and psychologists at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College
  
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• NASA Adds SpaceX's Starship To Launch Services Program Fleet

  29-03-2025 11:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Despite recent test failures, NASA has added SpaceX's Starship to its Launch Services Program contract, allowing it to compete for future science missions once it achieves a successful orbital flight. Florida Today reports: NASA announced the addition Friday to its current launch provider contract with SpaceX, which covers the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. This opens the possibility of Starship flying future NASA science missions -- that is once Starship reaches a successful orbital flight."NASA ha
  
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• Martian Dust May Pose Health Risk To Humans Exploring Red Planet, Study Finds

  29-03-2025 08:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  A new study warns that toxic Martian dust contains fine particles and harmful substances like silica and metals that pose serious health risks to astronauts, making missions to Mars more dangerous than previously thought. The Guardian reports: During Apollo missions to the moon, astronauts suffered from exposure to lunar dust. It clung to spacesuits and seeped into the lunar landers, causing coughing, runny eyes and irritated throats. Studies showed that chronic health effects would result from
  
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• Madison Square Garden Bans Fan After Surveillance System IDs Him as Critic of Its CEO

  29-03-2025 04:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: A concert on Monday night at New York's Radio City Music Hall was a special occasion for Frank Miller: his parents' wedding anniversary. He didn't end up seeing the show -- and before he could even get past security, he was informed that he was in fact banned for life from the venue and all other properties owned by Madison Square Garden (MSG). After scanning his ticket and promptly being pulled aside by security, Miller was told by staff that
  
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• Giant, Fungus-Like Organism May Be Completely Unknown Branch of Life

  29-03-2025 02:10 via science.slashdot.org
  
  New research suggests that Prototaxites, once believed to be a giant fungus, may actually represent an entirely extinct and previously unknown branch of complex life, distinct from fungi, plants, animals, and protists. Live Science reports: The researchers studied the fossilized remains of one Prototaxites species named Prototaxites taiti, found preserved in the Rhynie chert, a sedimentary deposit of exceptionally well-preserved fossils of early land plants and animals in Scotland. This species
  
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• FDIC Rescinds Guidance Around Banks and Crypto

  29-03-2025 01:30 via slashdot.org
  
  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) says banks no longer need prior approval before engaging in crypto-related activities, such as holding digital currency assets or partnering with companies in the industry. Axios reports: After publishing a general caution against banks participating in the industry just two years ago, the FDIC is the latest Trump administration regulator to change its tune entirely amid the president's warm embrace of crypto. "With today's action, the FDIC is tur
  
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• A New Image File Format Efficiently Stores Invisible Light Data

  29-03-2025 00:50 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Imagine working with special cameras that capture light your eyes can't even see -- ultraviolet rays that cause sunburn, infrared heat signatures that reveal hidden writing, or specific wavelengths that plants use for photosynthesis. Or perhaps using a special camera designed to distinguish the subtle visible differences that make paint colors appear just right under specific lighting. Scientists and engineers do this every day, and they're
  
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• DOGE To Rewrite SSA Codebase In 'Months'

  29-03-2025 00:10 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  Longtime Slashdot reader frank_adrian314159 writes: According to an article in Wired, Elon Musk has appointed a team of technologists from DOGE to "rewrite the code that runs the SSA in months." This codebase has over 60 million lines of COBOL and handles record keeping for all American workers and payments for all Social Security recipients. Given that the code has to track the byzantine regulations dealing with Social Security, it's no wonder that the codebase is this large. What is in questio
  
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• Oracle Health Breach Compromises Patient Data At US Hospitals

  28-03-2025 23:30 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  A breach of legacy Cerner servers at Oracle Health exposed patient data from multiple U.S. hospitals and healthcare organizations, with threat actors using compromised customer credentials to steal the data before it had been migrated to Oracle Cloud. Despite confirming the breach privately, Oracle Health has yet to publicly acknowledge the incident. BleepingComputer reports: Oracle Health, formerly known as Cerner, is a healthcare software-as-a-service (SaaS) company offering Electronic Health
  
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• xAI Acquires X

  28-03-2025 23:10 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Elon Musk says its xAI company has acquired the social media platform X in an all-stock transaction. "The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45 billion less $12 billion debt)," said Musk. He writes on X: Since its founding two years ago, xAI has rapidly become one of the leading AI labs in the world, building models and data centers at unprecedented speed and scale. X is the digital town square where more than 600M active users go to find the real-time source of ground
  
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• Trump Pardons Founder of Electric Vehicle Start-Up Nikola, Trevor Milton

  28-03-2025 22:50 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Trevor Milton, the founder of electric vehicle start-up Nikola who was sentenced to prison last year, was pardoned by Donald Trump late on Thursday, the White House confirmed on Friday. The pardon of Milton, who was sentenced to four years in prison for exaggerating the potential of his technology, could wipe out hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution that prosecutors were seeking for defrauded investors. Milton and his wife donated
  
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• Nearly Half of People in the US Have Toxic PFAS in Their Drinking Water

  28-03-2025 22:10 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: New data recently released by the Environmental Protection Agency indicate that more than 158 million people across the U.S. have drinking water contaminated by toxic "forever chemicals," scientifically known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
  "Drinking water is a major source of PFAS exposure. The sheer number of contaminated sites shows that these chemicals are likely present in most of the U.S. water supply," said David Andrews, deput
  
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• Smart TVs Are Employing Screen Monitoring Tech To Harvest User Data

  28-03-2025 21:30 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  Smart TV platforms are increasingly monitoring what appears on users' screens through Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology, building detailed viewer profiles for targeted advertising.
  Roku, which transitioned from a hardware company to an advertising powerhouse, reported $3.5 billion in annual ad revenue for 2024 -- representing 85% of its total income. The company has aggressively acquired ACR-related firms, with Roku-owned technology winning an Emmy in 2023 for advancements in the fi
  
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• Scientists Propose 'Bodyoids' To Address Medical Research and Organ Shortage Challenges

  28-03-2025 20:50 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Stanford University researchers have proposed creating "bodyoids" -- ethically sourced human bodies grown from stem cells without neural components for consciousness or pain sensation -- to revolutionize medical research and address organ shortages. In a new opinion piece published in MIT Technology Review, scientists Carsten T. Charlesworth, Henry T. Greely, and Hiromitsu Nakauchi argue that recent advances in biotechnology make this concept increasingly plausible. The approach would combine pl
  
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• Again and Again, NSO Group's Customers Keep Getting Their Spyware Operations Caught

  28-03-2025 20:15 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Amnesty International published a new report this week detailing attempted hacks against two Serbian journalists, allegedly carried out with NSO Group's spyware Pegasus. The two journalists, who work for the Serbia-based Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), received suspicious text messages including a link -- basically a phishing attack, according to the nonprofit. In one case, Amnesty said its researchers were able to click on the link in a safe e
  
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• UK Govt Data People Not Technical, Says Ex-Downing St Data Science Head

  28-03-2025 19:35 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: A former director of data science at the UK prime minister's office has told MPs that people working with data in government are not typically technical and would be unlikely to get a similar job in the private sector.
  In a hearing designed to illuminate the challenges facing the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) as it strives to become the digital centre for government, MPs quizzed Laura Gilbert, head of AI for Government, at the Ellis
  
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• Inside YouTube's Weird World Of Fake Movie Trailers

  28-03-2025 18:57 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  Fake movie trailers created with AI are proliferating across YouTube, with some garnering more views than official studio releases -- and Hollywood studios are quietly profiting from the phenomenon rather than shutting it down. Instead of enforcing copyright on these unauthorized videos, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures, and Paramount are claiming monetization rights, directing ad revenue from fake trailers for films like "Superman" and "Gladiator II" into studio coffers, according to a Dea
  
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• Want To Go To College? Pay the College Board

  28-03-2025 17:57 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The College Board, described as a $2 billion nonprofit, functions as the primary gatekeeper for academic success within American higher education, according to an analysis by Bloomberg. The organization significantly shapes university admissions by controlling not only who gains entry to college but also influencing what students know upon arrival.
  This central role in managing and defining higher education admissions positions the Board uniquely. The story adds: The College Board writes the cur
  
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• FTC Tells Staff To Stop Calling the Agency 'Independent' in Complaints

  28-03-2025 17:05 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Staff at the Federal Trade Commission have been instructed to no longer refer to the agency as "independent" in complaints, according to an email obtained by The Verge.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• 75% of Scientists in Nature Poll Weigh Leaving US

  28-03-2025 16:26 via science.slashdot.org
  
  A Nature survey has found that three-quarters of responding U.S. scientists are considering leaving the nation following disruptions to science under the Trump administration.
  Out of 1,608 respondents, 75.3% said they were contemplating leaving the country. Scientists cited concerns over research funding and the general treatment of science as contributing factors for their reasoning. Europe and Canada were mentioned as potential destinations for those looking for opportunities abroad.Read more
  
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• Microsoft President Calls For a National Talent Strategy For Electricians

  28-03-2025 15:46 via news.slashdot.org
  
  theodp writes: "As I prepared for a White House meeting last fall on the nation's electricity needs," begins Microsoft President Brad Smith in The Country Needs More Electricity --And More Electricians, a Fox Business op-ed. "I met with the leaders at Microsoft who are building our AI infrastructure across the country. During our discussion, I asked them to identify the single biggest challenge for data center expansion in the U.S. I expected they would mention slow permitting, delays in bringin
  
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• SoftBank May Pledge More Than $1 Trillion for AI Effort in US, Nikkei Says

  28-03-2025 14:35 via slashdot.org
  
  SoftBank Group plans to create industrial parks for AI across the US and is considering an investment of more than $1 trillion, Nikkei reported. From a report: Founder and Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son is expected to visit the US to discuss his ideas for such industrial parks, the newspaper said. The factories would likely use AI-equipped robots that would operate autonomously because of labor shortages in the country, according to the report.
  Son teamed up with OpenAI and Oracle in Janu
  
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• 'Apple Needs a Snow Sequoia'

  28-03-2025 13:30 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  uninet writes: The same year Apple launched the iPhone, it unveiled a massive upgrade to Mac OS X known as Leopard, sporting "300 New Features." Two years later, it did something almost unheard of: it released Snow Leopard, an upgrade all about how little it added and how much it took away. Apple needs to make it snow again. Current releases of MacOS Sequoia and iOS/iPadOS 18 are riddled with easily reproducible bugs in high-traffic areas, the author argues, suggesting Apple's engineers aren't u
  
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