undefined 21, 2024
Tesla that killed motorcyclist was in ‘Full Self-Driving’ mode
A Tesla Model S in "Full Self-Driving" mode struck and killed a motorcyclist in Seattle, marking at least the second fatal accident involving the technology. The driver, who admitted to looking at his phone during the incident, was arrested for vehicular homicide. Tesla's FSD software requires active driver supervision and is not fully autonomous. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the crash, highlighting concerns about the limitations of Tesla's technology.
Source: interestingengineering
Switzerland seeks ideas to safely retrieve WWI-era bombs dumped in lakes
Between 1918 and 1964, the Swiss military discarded munitions in lakes like Thun, Brienz, and Lucerne, located in the environmentally sensitive Swiss Alps. While authorities were aware of the munitions, they didn't fully understand the environmental risks. Now, Swiss officials have launched a competition with a prize of 50,000 Swiss francs to find safe, eco-friendly methods for retrieving these munitions. The challenge lies in the depth, poor visibility, and potential hazards like toxic leaks or accidental explosions.
Google must face trial over claims Chrome misled users on data collection
A panel of federal judges ruled that Google must face a class-action lawsuit alleging it misled Chrome browser users about data collection. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reversed a 2022 dismissal, stating that the lower court failed to consider whether users reasonably believed their data wasn't being collected when they didn't activate Chrome Sync. This ruling adds to Google's recent legal challenges, including cases involving its app store and search engine, reflecting growing scrutiny of Big Tech's power.
Who is Mike Lynch, the tech tycoon missing in the Sicily yacht disaster
Mike Lynch, once dubbed "Britain's Bill Gates," is among six people missing after his luxury yacht sank during a storm off Sicily. Lynch, 59, gained fame in the 1990s by founding the software company Autonomy, later selling it to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion. The deal led to a 12-year legal battle over alleged accounting improprieties, with Lynch being cleared of fraud charges in June 2024. Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, survived the disaster, but their daughter Hannah is among the missing.
Scientists believe they now know where the dinosaur-killing asteroid came from
Around 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid, estimated to be 10 to 15 kilometers wide, struck Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula, causing a cataclysmic explosion and a giant tsunami, leading to the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. A new study in *Science* confirms that the impactor was a carbonaceous asteroid from beyond Jupiter. Researchers identified this by analyzing the isotope ruthenium, a rare element found in Earth's crust, which left behind a "cosmic fingerprint" from the asteroid despite its destruction.
Google Photos lets you block a person’s face from memories
Google Photos has introduced a new feature that allows Android users to block a person entirely from appearing in their media collection, particularly in the Memories tab. Previously, users could only hide a person from certain sections, but the new "Block" option ensures that a person's face, including in group photos, is completely excluded from memories. To block someone, users can access the feature through the app's settings under "Preferences" and "Memories." This feature is currently available on Android but not yet on iOS.
Source: interestingengineering
The world’s first private spacewalk mission could launch next week
SpaceX aims to launch Polaris Dawn on August 26, marking its fifth private Crew Dragon mission and the first private spacewalk in history. The mission will involve four crew members, including mission commander Jared Isaacman, and aims to reach a record-high orbital altitude of 435 miles. Polaris Dawn will not dock with the ISS but will stay in low Earth orbit, conducting the first commercial spacewalk and testing SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network. The mission also seeks to gather data on space radiation, supporting future space exploration.
Anthropic hit with class-action lawsuit over copyright infringement
Anthropic, the AI startup backed by Amazon, Google, and Salesforce, is facing a class-action lawsuit in California for alleged copyright infringement. Authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson claim that Anthropic's AI models, including Claude, were trained using pirated versions of their copyrighted books. This lawsuit follows another filed by Universal Music last October over similar claims regarding copyrighted song lyrics. The case highlights ongoing tensions between AI companies and content creators over the use of copyrighted materials.
GPT-4o fine-tuning feature to allow users to train AI model with custom datasets
OpenAI's latest AI model, GPT-4o, released in May, is receiving a major update with a new fine-tuning feature. This upgrade, announced on Tuesday, allows developers and organizations to train GPT-4o using custom datasets, making its responses more relevant and precise for specific use cases. The company is also offering free training tokens for the next month: one million tokens per day for GPT-4o and two million for GPT-4o mini. Fine-tuning will be priced at $25 per million tokens, with additional costs for inference. This feature aims to enhance performance and customize the AI's responses by allowing adjustments to its structure and tone.
Four billion people lack safe water
Greenwood et al. report that 4.4 billion people in 135 low- and middle-income countries lack safe drinking water, more than double the 2020 estimate. Their study uses geospatial modeling to identify fecal contamination, climate variability, and environmental factors as major issues. Improved data-monitoring systems and robust national data are needed to address water safety and service equity, with a shift from infrastructure investment to maintenance. This research is part of the REACH program funded by UK Aid.
‘Mistakes are romantic’: the revival of point-and-shoot cameras
This week saw the launch of new Google smartphones with AI image generation capabilities, yet there's a growing trend towards point-and-shoot cameras. Celebrities like Megan Rapinoe and Kim Kardashian are seen using them, and young stars like Myha’la and Ayo Edebiri are embracing this nostalgic tech. The global film camera market is growing, with demand for film doubling and new models like the Pentax 17 being introduced. The aesthetic appeal and nostalgic value of these cameras are driving their popularity, especially among Gen Z.
Don't want to Google it? These alternatives are worth exploring
The U.S. Department of Justice ruled that Google monopolized online search through deals with companies like Apple. Alternatives include DuckDuckGo, which offers strong privacy protections, and Bing, known for eye-catching results and AI integration via Microsoft's Copilot. Bing also has a rewards program but falls short on privacy. Yahoo!, powered by Bing, offers robust news and finance tools. Lesser-known options like AOL and Ask.com provide decent alternatives, though with some quirks and privacy concerns.
Tesla is hiring humans to wear motion-capture suits to train Optimus robots
Tesla is racing to advance its humanoid robot, Optimus, with a new job posting for a robot trainer that reveals a grueling work schedule. Candidates must wear motion capture suits and VR headsets while performing tasks to train the robot. The job involves long hours, including graveyard shifts, and requires physical stamina. Pay ranges from $25.25 to $48.00 per hour, with potential weekend and overtime work, suggesting Tesla is pushing hard to catch up with competitors in the robot industry.
Inside new virtual-reality entertainment venue Mirra
At the preview event for Mirra, a new VR entertainment center in Bellevue, WA, I expected either an arcade or a cyberpunk vibe, but found an upscale gastropub with a VR twist. Mirra features a central screen and a large VR gaming zone where teams of up to 32 players compete in games like Hyper Rhythm, Bubble Boom, and Hockey Smash. The event ended in a tie, with the winners sharing a trophy filled with truffle fries. Mirra offers a unique blend of VR gaming and social atmosphere.
Juice spacecraft to pass over Earth in 'world first' fly-by
The European Space Agency's Juice spacecraft will perform a world-first fly-by tonight, passing both the moon and Earth in a critical maneuver. Juice, carrying UK-made scientific instruments, will use the moon's gravity as a natural brake before Earth's gravity sling-shots it toward Venus on its journey to Jupiter. The mission, launched in April 2023, aims to explore Jupiter's moons to determine if they can support life. The maneuver, starting around 11:57 p.m., is a risky but essential step in its 4.1 billion-mile, eight-year voyage.
Waterspouts: Europe's underestimated extreme weather threat?
Waterspouts, a type of tornado occurring over water, are more common in Europe than many realize. This week, a waterspout is believed to have caused the sinking of a yacht off Sicily. Europe sees around 500 waterspouts annually, compared to 1,000 tornadoes in the U.S. Despite their frequency, experts warn that Europe underestimates the risks due to fragmented weather services. Waterspouts often form during weak storms near coastlines but can become dangerous if they make landfall. Social media has been vital in improving storm tracking and understanding these phenomena.
Nvidia quietly launches a new RTX 4070
Nvidia is announcing an updated RTX 4070 with GDDR6 memory today. “To improve supply and availability to meet strong demand, we’re introducing the GeForce RTX 4070 with extra fast GDDR6 memory,” says Nvidia. All of the other specs of the GPU are the same, and Nvidia says “it offers similar performance” in games and apps, despite the decrease in bandwidth from GDDR6X to GDDR6 memory. This updated RTX 4070 will be available worldwide starting in September.
Fragments of two lost tragedies by Euripides, discovered in an Egyptian papyrus
Two University of Colorado Boulder scholars discovered significant fragments of two lost tragedies by Euripides, marking a major find in over fifty years. The discovery began when a papyrus from Egypt was analyzed, revealing previously unknown content from *Polyidus* and *Ino*. *Polyidus* tells a rare happy-ending myth, while *Ino* reveals a new plot twist, redefining her role as a victim rather than a villain. Their findings have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication.
Running an LLM on a simple Raspberry Pi
I attempted to run a Large Language Model (LLM) on a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB RAM to see if it could work on a small system with limited or no internet. I chose the Phi-3 model via Ollama, a tool for running LLMs locally. With 8GB RAM, models over 7 billion parameters aren't practical, so I tested the 3.8 billion parameter version. This setup showed it's possible to use LLMs on a Raspberry Pi, albeit with limited capacity for larger models.
Exposure to the sun’s UV radiation may be good for you
For decades, sun exposure has been seen as a health risk due to UV light, which increases skin cancer risk and accelerates aging. However, new research suggests benefits to UV exposure, such as reduced cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality. A study using UK Biobank data found that those with higher UV exposure lived longer, although the exact mechanism is unclear. Despite these findings, experts caution against abandoning sun protection until more is known.
