“More than at any point since the QAnon conspiracy began, there is a tremendous opportunity to pull disaffected followers out of the conspiracy,” writes FiveThirtyEight. And while it’s just one of three possible scenarios, online posts suggest at least some members are abandoning the group, “but they will need support to really sever their connection.” ABC News reports that some QAnon…
Tag: casualties
As UK Military Begins Mass Coronavirus Testing, Head of Armed Forces Ponders Robot Soldiers
Remembrance Sunday is the day of commemoration for British and Commonwealth servicemen, and the head of the British Armed Forces marked the occasion with a special interview on Sky News. And he shared a thoughtful answer when asked whether the army might try to recruit fewer soldiers. “[W]hat I’m hinting at is that we need to be thinking about how we…
AI Writes an Essay On Why Humans Should Not Fear AI
The Guardian asked GPT-3, OpenAI’s powerful new language generator, to write an essay for us from scratch. The assignment? To convince us robots come in peace. From the article, written by AI: I am not a human. I am a robot. A thinking robot. I use only 0.12% of my cognitive capacity. I am a micro-robot in that respect. I know…
Developers Observe Anzac Day, Commemorating Those Who Served, With a Data-Based ‘Anzacathon’
Today is Anzac Day, a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand for those who served, marked on the anniversary of the 1915 campaign that led to the first major casualties for Australian and New Zealand Army Corp forces during World War One. “More than 87,000 Turks died, along with an estimated 44,000 men from the British Empire and…
Killer Robots Reconsidered: Could AI Weapons Actually Save Lives?
“On the surface, who could disagree with quashing the idea of supposed killer robots?” writes Slashdot reader Lasrick. “Dr. Larry Lewis, who spearheaded the first data-based approach to protecting civilians in conflict, wants us to look a bit closer.” From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:
The proponents of a UN ban are in some respects raising a false alarm. I should…
Magnitude 6.4 earthquake shakes Puerto Rico
USGS reports that the strong earthquake in Puerto Rico this morning was “widely felt.” Strong to very strong shaking occurred across parts of southern Puerto Rico closest to the event, and moderate shaking occurred across the rest of the island. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/magnitude-6-4-earthquake-puerto-rico-jan-7-2020…
The US Is Suspected of Killing a Terrorist In Syria Using Missile With Knife Warhead
pgmrdlm shares a report from Business Insider: A suspected terrorist in Syria was reportedly killed with a rare U.S. missile packed with swords, according to multiple reports. The weapon that shredded the car did not explode. While the driver’s side was torn apart, the vehicle was actually mostly intact. The deadly precision weapon was, according to a report from the Wall…
Is daylight time worth the trouble?
This is the weekend we “fall back” here in the U.S. Are you glad? Sad? Mad? Advocates say daylight time saves energy and wins wars. Studies show injuries and illnesses rise when clocks change. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/is-daylight-saving-time-worth-the-trouble…
Nokia’s Collapse Turned a Sleepy Town in Finland Into an Internet Wonderland
An anonymous reader shares a report: In the early days of the mobile phone, Nokia was everywhere — ubiquitous, inescapable, supreme. It created the best-selling 1100, with a keypad like droplets of water; the gray-blue 3310; even the cutting-edge 8810, with a slip-sliding protective cover that felt like the future. Today, the firm is doing just fine, though its primary money-makers…
Ten Drones Attack Saudi Arabia’s Oil and Gas Facilities
“Saudi Arabia has cut oil and gas production following drone attacks on two major oil facilities run by state-owned company Aramco…” reports the BBC. “TV footage showed a huge blaze at Abqaiq, site of Aramco’s largest oil processing plant [the world’s biggest oil producer], while a second drone attack started fires in the Khurais oilfield.” The Iran-aligned Houthi movement (fighting the…