Microsoft: Project Silica Stores Warner Bros. ‘Superman’ Movie on Quartz Glass
November 9th, 2019Via: Microsoft:
Microsoft and Warner Bros. have collaborated to successfully store and retrieve the entire 1978 iconic “Superman” movie on a piece of glass roughly the size of a drink coaster, 75 by 75 by 2 millimeters thick.
It was the first proof of concept test for Project Silica, a Microsoft Research project that uses recent discoveries in ultrafast laser optics and artificial intelligence to store data in quartz glass. A laser encodes data in glass by creating layers of three-dimensional nanoscale gratings and deformations at various depths and angles. Machine learning algorithms read the data back by decoding images and patterns that are created as polarized light shines through the glass.
The hard silica glass can withstand being boiled in hot water, baked in an oven, microwaved, flooded, scoured, demagnetized and other environmental threats that can destroy priceless historic archives or cultural treasures if things go wrong.
…
Warner Bros., which approached Microsoft after learning of the research, is always on the hunt for new technologies to safeguard its vast asset library: historic treasures like “Casablanca,” 1940s radio shows, animated shorts, digitally shot theatrical films, television sitcoms, dailies from film sets. For years, they had searched for a storage technology that could last hundreds of years, withstand floods or solar flares and that doesn’t require being kept at a certain temperature or need constant refreshing.
“That had always been our beacon of hope for what we believed would be possible one day, so when we learned that Microsoft had developed this glass-based technology, we wanted to prove it out,” said Warner Bros. Chief Technology Officer Vicky Colf.
Somewhat Related: Memory of Mankind
Ireland: AI System to Search “Near Infinite Combinations” of Materials to Improve Hydrogen Production Through Electrolysis
November 8th, 2019Via: PhysOrg:
The team aims to now use artificial intelligence to put a large number of earth-abundant metals and ligands (which glue them together to generate the catalysts) in a melting pot before assessing which of the near-infinite combinations yield the greatest promise.
In combination, what once looked like an empty canvas now looks more like a paint-by-numbers as the team has established fundamental principles for the design of ideal catalysts.
Professor Max García-Melchor added: “Given the increasingly pressing need to find green energy solutions it is no surprise that scientists have, for some time, been hunting for a magical catalyst that would allow us to split water electrochemically in a cost-effective, reliable way. However, it is no exaggeration to say that before now such a hunt was akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. We are not over the finishing line yet, but we have significantly reduced the size of the haystack and we are convinced that artificial intelligence will help us hoover up plenty of the remaining hay.”
Blackouts, Fires, High Gas Prices: Who Wants to Live in California Today?
November 8th, 2019Via: Wall Street Journal:
One crisis rolls into another in parts of Golden State; ‘If I wasn’t as old as I am, I would pack up and get the hell out’
Chinese Surveillance Goods Illegally Sold to U.S. Military
November 8th, 2019Via: AP:
A Long Island firm sold tens of millions of dollars in Chinese-made surveillance and other sensitive security equipment to customers, including the U.S. military to use on aircraft carriers, by falsely claiming the goods were manufactured in America, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
The fraud that prosecutors allege by Aventura Technologies Inc. raised “a grave concern” over cyber security, U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said.
Though there was no allegation of breaches involving the Chinese government, emails and other evidence from the investigation showed “individuals in China were well aware of what was going on,” Donoghue said.
The equipment made in China and sold by Aventura “as purportedly U.S.-made has been installed on dozens of Army, Navy and Air Force bases, Department of Energy facilities and, among other places, on Navy aircraft carriers,” prosecutors said in the criminal complaint.
Google Wants More Pentagon Work
November 7th, 2019Via: DefenseOne:
The company’s senior vice president for global affairs said Tuesday that the search giant has Pentagon contracts to work on cybersecurity, business automation, and deepfake detection — and is looking for more.
“It’s been frustrating,” said Google’s Kent Walker, referring to rising public perceptions that the company is opposed to doing national security work — and to the narrative pushed by some Google rivals, such as Palantir’s Peter Thiel and their allies in Congress, such as Rep. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri.
Speaking at the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence conference, Walker said that Google is “fully engaged in a wide variety of work with different agencies” within the Defense Department. Its work with the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center includes cybersecurity, healthcare, and business automation. It is working with DARPA to “ensure the robustness of AI” and “progress the operation of hardware” beyond the expiration of Moore’s Law.
“As we take on those kind of things, we are eager to do more, [and are] pursuing actively additional certifications” to provide cloud services for classified data and other services, he said.
Weird Structures in Antarctica [???]
November 7th, 2019What is this?
I got this from Third Phase of Moon.
Fully Charged Show Visits Rivian
November 7th, 2019Via: Fully Charged:
This Is How the U.S. Military’s Massive Facial Recognition System Works
November 7th, 2019Via: OneZero:
Over the last 15 years, the United States military has developed a new addition to its arsenal. The weapon is deployed around the world, largely invisible, and grows more powerful by the day.
That weapon is a vast database, packed with millions of images of faces, irises, fingerprints, and DNA data — a biometric dragnet of anyone who has come in contact with the U.S. military abroad. The 7.4 million identities in the database range from suspected terrorists in active military zones to allied soldiers training with U.S. forces.
Escalating Millennial Health Problems Raise Economic Concerns
November 7th, 2019Via: Newsmax:
More millennials in the U.S. are suffering from chronic health problems, potentially restraining the lifetime economic potential of a generation of young adults.
A spike in conditions like depression, hypertension and high cholesterol among younger people could increase health-care costs and lower incomes in coming years, according to a report Wednesday from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, a federation of 36 independent companies that together provide coverage for 1 in 3 Americans.
Between 2014 and 2017, rates of depression among millennials surged by 31%, while hyperactivity rose 29% and hypertension increased 16%, according to the report. High cholesterol and tobacco-use disorder also increased.
Tesla ‘Cybertruck’ Pickup Gets Unveil Date: Nov 21 in Los Angeles
November 6th, 2019
Via: Electrek:
Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla is going to unveil the ‘Cybertruck’ on November 21 in Los Angeles “near SpaceX’s rocket factory.”
The CEO has been teasing Tesla’s electric pickup truck concept for the last year.
It was first supposed to be unveiled this summer, but it was pushed to the fourth quarter.
Musk hinted that it would be unveiled in November in Los Angeles.
Coincidentally, or likely not, the events in the Blade Runner movie happened in November 2019 in Los Angeles.
The CEO has previously said that the Tesla pickup truck, which he now calls the ‘Cybertruck’, looks ‘Blade Runner-esque’.
