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Billionaire Elon Musk took a dig at fellow billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates over his knowledge of artificial intelligence (AI). He insisted that Mr. Gates has a “limited” understanding of AI.

This was in response to a tweet by Sandy Kory, who praised the leadership of Mr. Gates at Microsoft and his approach toward AI. “‘I’d been meeting with the team from OpenAI since 2016…” –from Bill Gates’ essay, The Age of AI Has Begun. It’s big when someone like Gates is so bullish on AI. Also notable that MSFT has been tracking this so closely for so long,” he said.

Mr. Kory was referring to a long, 3,639-word essay the billionaire wrote on his blog titled “The Age of A.I. Has Begun”. He wrote about how humanity was waiting for another great revolution. Mr. Gates discussed the potential impact of AI on employment, health care, and education.

Coccolithophores, a globally ubiquitous type of phytoplankton, play an essential role in the cycling of carbon between the ocean and atmosphere. New research from Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences shows that these vital microbes can survive in low-light conditions by taking up dissolved organic forms of carbon, forcing researchers to reconsider the processes that drive carbon cycling in the ocean. The findings were published this week in Science Advances.

The ability to extract carbon from the direct absorption of dissolved organic carbon is known as osmotrophy. Though scientists had previously observed osmotrophy by coccolithophores using lab-grown cultures, this is the first evidence of this phenomenon in nature.

The team, led by Senior Research Scientist William Balch, undertook their experiments in populations of coccolithophores across the northwest Atlantic Ocean. They measured the rate at which phytoplankton fed on three different organic compounds, each labeled with chemical markers to track them. The dissolved compounds were used by the coccolithophores as a carbon source for both the organic tissues that comprise their single cells as well as the inorganic mineral plates, called coccoliths, which they secrete around themselves. Uptake of the organic compounds was slow compared to the rate at which phytoplankton can take up carbon through photosynthesis. But it wasn’t negligible.

The International Space Development Conference (ISDC) connects the top leaders of current space efforts with NSS membership, students, and the public.

At a certain point, it was starting to feel like Netflix’s proposed crackdown on password sharing was a bluff, that they would never actually go through with it, right?

Well, the time has come, and the new anti-password sharing system has reached the US at last. No more testing, it’s time to nuke those extra accounts.

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Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain-implant company, said on Thursday it had received a green light from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to kickstart its first in-human clinical study, a critical milestone after earlier struggles to gain approval.

Musk has predicted on at least four occasions since 2019 that his medical device company would begin human trials for a brain implant to treat severe conditions such as paralysis and blindness.

Continue reading “Elon Musk’s brain implant company Neuralink approved for in-human study” »

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New Tesla Cybertruck interior photos reveal an improved yoke steering wheel and other new tiny details to the all-electric pickup truck.

The interior photos revealed an improved yoke steering wheel that’s closed up, similar to a traditional round steering wheel.

Continue reading “Tesla Cybertruck interior photo shows improved yoke steering & more” »

These include rugged small vehicles with tracks, cameras and sensors that can search inside rubble and climb over obstacles. Teledyne FLIR, a sensing technology specialist based in Oregon in the United States, used robots like these in June 2021 when a tower block partially collapsed in the Miami suburb of Surfside in Florida.

In Japan, university teams are developing another type of search and rescue robot – a hose-like robot with a video camera called the Active Scope Camera that can search inside collapsed buildings. Drones also help search and rescue teams see disaster sites from above.

Continue reading “From robotic dogs to magnetic slime: 6 ways robots are helping humans” »

Upcycling a vintage milling machine for CNC control while adding a fourth axis isn’t for the fainthearted, but the results are impressive.

ChatGPT-style AI tools that are limited to enterprise information are being considered. Here’s what that technology could mean for you and your organization.