Science/Tech

Jury tosses Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its boss Sam Altman
Jurors spent nearly a month hearing and viewing evidence in the high-profile trial, where Musk had accused Altman of “stealing a charity”.

Infectious diseases such as hantavirus and Ebola becoming more frequent and damaging, say experts
Pandemic report warns of growing global threat as health teams in Africa move to contain Ebola outbreak
The world is becoming less resilient to outbreaks of infectious diseases, experts have warned, as health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda scramble to contain an outbreak of Ebola.
The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) said in a report published on...

Magic mushrooms could be effective treatment for cocaine addiction, study shows
Participants who got single dose of psilocybin were more likely to abstain from cocaine than those who got placebo
Results from a new clinical trial show that a single dose of psilocybin could be an effective treatment for cocaine addiction.
The study, published in Jama Network Open this month, showed that 19 participants who received a single dose of psilocybin were more likely to abstain from...

Instant AI answers can trivialise human intelligence, warns Royal Observatory
Paddy Rodgers said the Observatory’s rich history showed the power of human knowledge and the need to avoid “dependence” on AI.

Starwatch: A young crescent moon journeys past Venus and Jupiter
The slim arc of a two-day-old moon will pass Venus shining brightly
Keep an eye on the western sky after sunset this week to watch a beautiful sequence unfold over several evenings. A young crescent moon moves first past Venus and then Jupiter, creating a chance to track the moon’s movement through its orbit around the Earth.
The chart shows the view on 18 May looking west from London at 22.00....
Peter G. Neumann, Who Warned of Computer Security Risks, Dies at 93
For decades, he criticized the industry’s lax attitudes toward both computer security and individual digital privacy. And he developed solutions.

‘You only have so much space’: the limits of reducing infection risk on cruise ships
It is hardly a surprise that outbreaks can occur and experts say many of the factors involved are not easy to change
It was a voyage that promised such stuff as dreams are made of, yet within weeks the Atlantic expedition of the MV Hondius had become a nightmare, with three passengers dead from hantavirus and more showing symptoms.
Meanwhile, an outbreak of norovirus is under investigation on...

‘We’re not ready’: US lags on pandemic preparedness after Covid, experts say
Experts say slashed funding and growing misinformation are some of the greatest challenges facing public health
The hantavirus outbreak, while unlikely to spark the next big pandemic, is shining a spotlight on the ways public health has deteriorated in the US: its ability to test for rare diseases, its expertise on outbreak prevention and response, its ability to battle misinformation and...

Canada confirms first hantavirus case in isolation in British Columbia
The person was onboard the MV Hondius, the center of the outbreak that has claimed three lives
Canadian officials said on Saturday that a test for one of the four Canadians currently quarantining in British Columbia after being exposed to the hantavirus while on board the cruise ship where the outbreak occurred indicated a positive result.
Speaking at a news conference, Dr Bonnie Henry, British...
Did You Mean to Share That Selfie? What to Know About Instagram Instants.
Instagram’s new feature blasts photos to your mutual followers or close friends, immediately.

Stateside with Kai and Carter: Stacey Abrams on why gutting of the US Voting Rights Act is ‘evil’ – podcast
The US supreme court dealt a devastating blow to the 1965 Voting Rights Act when it ruled in Louisiana v Callais in April that states cannot consider race in redistricting. Southern states from Tennessee to Alabama have rushed to erase majority-Black districts, sparking chaos for the midterm elections. Kai Wright talks to Stacey Abrams, a voting rights activist and former Georgia house minority...
OpenAI Bought Company That Offered A.I. Tools for Cloning Voices
The acquisition, Weights.gg, was a sort of social network for creating and sharing artificial intelligence algorithms.

Ice vests or daily cold showers could help people lose weight, study finds
Researchers say daily exposure to cold activates brown fat and could help speed up body’s burning of calories
Wearing an ice vest or taking daily cold showers could help people lose weight, according to researchers.
Despite the growing popularity of cold-water swimming and freezing plunges, to date there is minimal data on the health benefits of cold exposure. But a study of 47 adults with...

X pledges quicker action on hate and terror content in the UK
Ofcom said the commitments were of particular importance after recent crimes targeting Jewish communities in the UK.
A.I. Safety Is So Back + Mythos Mayhem with Nikesh Arora + Hot Mess Express
After several years of dismissing A.I. safety as doomer fear-mongering, parts of the Trump administration now seem ready to support regulation.
Nvidia’s Future in China Remains Unclear After Trump-Xi Summit
The standoff comes as Chinese firms increasingly turn to domestic chipmakers like Huawei, in a drive to reduce China’s dependence on Western technologies.

Claim, counter-claim and tech’s seedy side exposed: Five things we learned in the Musk-Altman trial
As the jury deliberates, this is what we found out during the weeks-long trial with two tech titans at its heart.
U.S. and China Will Start Discussing A.I. Safety, Bessent Says
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not say when these talks would happen. There are fears in the United States and China about the threats from A.I., but neither side is willing to slow down its development.

Nymphomaniacs and sex droughts: what I learned while studying women’s pleasure
In antiquity, women were considered the more sexual sex – hornier, more libidinous and lust-fuelled than men. Why did that perception change?
All across the world, you will probably have read, people are having less sex. In Britain and the US, in France and Australia, frequency of sex has been on the decline (although Denmark appears to be bucking the trend). In 2018, the US magazine the...