Gene-Editing Experiment Increased Aggression in Hamsters
May 29th, 2022Via: New York Post:
Scientists at Northwestern University used controversial CRISPR technology to remove hormone vasopressin and its receptor, Avpr1a, from a group of the critters with the expectation that increase cooperation between the critters, according to the study.
The hypothesis was wrong.
“We were really surprised at the results,” H. Elliot Albers, one of the lead researchers in the study, told Metro.
“We anticipated that if we eliminated vasopressin activity, we would reduce both aggression and social communication.”
Once gene-spliced, the hamsters exhibited “high levels of aggression towards other same-sex individuals,” the professor said, regardless of sexuality or genotype.
OpenAI’s GPT-3 and Other Neural Nets Can Now Write Original Prose with Mind-Boggling Fluency
May 29th, 2022Via: New York Times Magazine:
So far, the experiments with large language models have been mostly that: experiments probing the model for signs of true intelligence, exploring its creative uses, exposing its biases. But the ultimate commercial potential is enormous. If the existing trajectory continues, software like GPT-3 could revolutionize how we search for information in the next few years. Today, if you have a complicated question about something — how to set up your home theater system, say, or what the options are for creating a 529 education fund for your children — you most likely type a few keywords into Google and then scan through a list of links or suggested videos on YouTube, skimming through everything to get to the exact information you seek. (Needless to say, you wouldn’t even think of asking Siri or Alexa to walk you through something this complex.) But if the GPT-3 true believers are correct, in the near future you’ll just ask an L.L.M. the question and get the answer fed back to you, cogently and accurately. Customer service could be utterly transformed: Any company with a product that currently requires a human tech-support team might be able to train an L.L.M. to replace them.
And those jobs might not be the only ones lost. For decades now, prognosticators have worried about the threat that A.I. and robotics pose to assembly-line workers, but GPT-3’s recent track record suggests that other, more elite professions may be ripe for disruption. A few months after GPT-3 went online, the OpenAI team discovered that the neural net had developed surprisingly effective skills at writing computer software, even though the training data had not deliberately included examples of code. It turned out that the web is filled with countless pages that include examples of computer programming, accompanied by descriptions of what the code is designed to do; from those elemental clues, GPT-3 effectively taught itself how to program. (OpenAI refined those embryonic coding skills with more targeted training, and now offers an interface called Codex that generates structured code in a dozen programming languages in response to natural-language instructions.) The same principle applies to other fields that involve highly structured documents. For instance, even without the kind of targeted training that OpenAI employed to create Codex, GPT-3 can already generate sophisticated legal documents, like licensing agreements or leases.
Buffalo Mass Murderer Shared Plans for Shooting with, “Retired Federal Agent”
May 28th, 2022Via: The Buffalo News:
Law enforcement officers are investigating whether a retired federal agent had about 30 minutes advance notice of a white supremacist’s plans to murder Black people at a Buffalo supermarket, two law enforcement officials told The Buffalo News.
Authorities believe the former agent – believed to be from Texas – was one of at least six individuals who regularly communicated with accused gunman Payton Gendron in an online chat room where racist hatred was discussed, the two officials said.
The two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation stated these individuals were invited by Gendron to read about his mass shooting plans and the target location about 30 minutes before Gendron killed 10 people at Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue on May 14.
…
Federal authorities are investigating if the retired agent provided information to Gendron before he went on his shooting spree, the two law enforcement officials told The News.
In addition to law enforcement sources, two other individuals with knowledge of the mass shooting investigation have also confirmed that federal authorities are looking into the former agent’s relationship to the shooter.
The Outrageous Prosecution of Julian Assange
May 27th, 2022Via: WikiLeaks:
Julian Assange's wife on the CIA plan to murder the WikiLeaks publisher and the fight to free him | @DoubleDownNews #FreeAssangeNOW pic.twitter.com/8LTjMwyRQX
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 27, 2022
Ukraine: English Speaking Fighters Engage Russian BTR
May 27th, 2022I hear British and American accents. Besides the anti-armor rockets, they are armed with FN SCAR rifles with optics. The Ukraine International Legion forces I’ve seen are typically equipped with (far less expensive) AK-type rifles without optics.
Who are these people? Is this some sort of mercenary group?
Uvalde Shooter Fired Outside School for 12 Minutes Before Entering
May 27th, 2022Via: Wall Street Journal:
Local residents voiced anger Thursday about the time it took to end the mass shooting at an elementary school here, as police laid out a fresh timeline that showed the gunman entered the building unobstructed after lingering outside for 12 minutes firing shots.
Russia Deploys 50-Year-Old T-62 Tanks To Ukraine
May 26th, 2022Via: The Warzone:
Numerous Cold-War era Russian T-62 tanks have been photographed at Melitopol railway station in southeastern Ukraine near the current front lines of the three-month-old conflict in the country. Whether the tanks will be used by Russian forces or turned over to local separatist groups is currently unclear, but their presence can only raise questions about Russia’s depleting armor reserves after months of significant losses.
Twitter Paying $150 Million in Settlement Over Using Phone Numbers for Targeted Ads
May 26th, 2022Via: Cnet:
Twitter is paying a $150 million penalty as part of a settlement over the US Federal Trade Commission’s allegations that it used account security data like phone numbers and email addresses to target advertising at users.
The company had told users their phone numbers and emails would be used to protect their accounts with two-factor authentication, but then also used them for advertising purposes between 2014 and 2019, the FTC said Wednesday.
Chinese Scientists Develop Plan to Destroy Starlink Satellites
May 26th, 2022Via: Newsweek:
A team of Chinese researchers has reportedly published a study calling for anti-satellite capabilities that could disable Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites if deemed necessary.
The study was led by Ren Yuanzhen, a researcher with the Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications, and co-authored by scientists within China’s defense industry according to the South China Morning Post, which has seen the publication.
The study is said to call for “a combination of soft and hard kill methods” that could be used to stop some Starlink satellites from working.
…
While Starlink has commercial users it has also been put to military use, pushing data across the U.S. Army network at a faster rate than previously capable.
This military capability, plus the fact that SpaceX has launched more than 2,650 satellites into space in just a few years and aims to launch thousands more, has led to concerns among countries with which the U.S. has political tensions.
Earlier this month, Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, apparently sent a threat to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk after Starlink technology was supplied to Ukraine and used to help Ukrainian forces against Russia in the countries’ ongoing war.
According to an English translation posted by Musk, Rogozin said that Musk was involved in supplying Ukraine with “military communication equipment” and that he would “be held accountable like an adult.”
Should I Be Worried About Monkeypox? [No]
May 25th, 2022Via: Peak Prosperity:
Monkeypox! You know what? It’s absolutely nothing you should worry about from a personal or public health standpoint.
