MONDAY, 08 DECEMBER 2025, 04:21
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: OpenAI is testing another new way to expose the complicated processes at work inside large language models. Researchers at the company can make an LLM produce what they call a confession, in which the model explains how it carried out a task and (most of the time) owns up to any bad behavior. Figuring out why large language models...
alternative_right shares a report from ScienceAlert: Engineers at Cornell University have created the blackest fabric on record, finding it absorbs 99.87 percent of all light that dares to illuminate its surface. […] In this case, the Cornell researchers dyed a white merino wool knit fabric with a synthetic melanin polymer called polydopamine. Then, they placed the material in a plasma chamber,...
Despite predictions that AI would replace radiologists, healthcare systems worldwide are hiring more of them because AI tools enhance their work, create new oversight tasks, and increase imaging volumes rather than reducing workloads. “Put all that together with the context of an aging population and growing demand for imaging of all kinds, and you can see why Offiah and the Royal College of...
sinij shares news of the Trump administration surprising the auto industry by granting approval for “tiny cars” to be built in the United States. Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump, apparently enamored by the pint-sized Kei cars he saw during his recent trip to Japan, has paved the way for them to be made and sold in the U.S., despite concerns that they’re too small and slow to be driven...
U.S. and Canadian cybersecurity agencies say Chinese-linked actors deployed “Brickstorm” malware to infiltrate critical infrastructure and maintain long-term access for potential sabotage. Reuters reports: The Chinese-linked hacking operations are the latest example of Chinese hackers targeting critical infrastructure, infiltrating sensitive networks and “embedding themselves to enable...
Former Perth curator Mark Harvey is one of the few people on Earth to have described 1,000 new species, many of them arachnids. Colleagues say his legacy is ‘unquantifiable’
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For most people around the world, 16 August 1977 was memorable because it was the day Elvis Presley died.
“We turned the radio on when we got back in the car...
The Streamer Awards organiser said the negatives of her online role made it hard to enjoy the job.
In this episode of Uncanny Valley, we bring you the news of the week, then dive into how some DOGE operatives are still at work in the federal government—despite reports claiming otherwise.
Meta is acquiring AI wearable startup Limitless, maker of a pendant that records conversations and generates summaries. “We’re excited that Limitless will be joining Meta to help accelerate our work to build AI-enabled wearables,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. CNBC reports: Limitless CEO Dan Siroker revealed the deal on Friday via a corporate blog post but did not disclose the...
India is weighing a proposal to mandate always-on satellite tracking in smartphones for precise government surveillance — an idea strongly opposed by Apple, Google, Samsung, and industry groups. Reuters reports: For years, the [Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s] administration has been concerned its agencies do not get precise locations when legal requests are made to telecom firms during...
First it was banned. Then its sales blew up. But Horses fails to meet the lofty goals of its own ideas.
The $83 billion deal gives the streamer a century’s worth of prestige television and movies, from Batman movies to Game of Thrones. It also ends the streaming wars.
The New York Times is suing Perplexity for copyright infringement, accusing the AI startup of repackaging its paywalled reporting without permission. TechCrunch reports: The Times joins several media outlets suing Perplexity, including the Chicago Tribune, which also filed suit this week. The Times’ suit claims that “Perplexity provides commercial products to its own users that substitute” for...
Cloudflare says it blocked 416 billion AI scraping attempts in five months and warns that AI is reshaping the internet’s economic model — with Google’s combined crawler creating a monopoly-style dilemma where opting out of AI means disappearing from search altogether. Tom’s Hardware reports: “The business model of the internet has always been to generate content that drive traffic and then sell...
For a few more days, you can save on mattresses and bed frames from one of our favorite makers.
Netflix is buying Warner Bros. Discovery in an $82.7 billion deal that gives it HBO, iconic franchises, and major studio infrastructure. “Warner Bros. shareholders will receive $27.75 a share in cash and stock in Netflix,” notes Bloomberg. “The total equity value of the deal is $72 billion, while the enterprise value of the deal is about $82.7 billion.” From the report: Prior to the closing of...
Paper published in 2000 found glyphosate was not harmful, while internal emails later revealed company’s influence
The journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology has formally retracted a sweeping scientific paper published in 2000 that became a key defense for Monsanto’s claim that Roundup herbicide and its active ingredient glyphosate don’t cause cancer. Martin van den Berg, the...
On Dec. 2, QuickTime turned 34, and despite its origins in Apple’s chaotic 1990s (1991 to be exact), “it’s still the backbone of video on our devices,” writes Macworld’s Jason Snell. That includes MP4 and Apple’s immersive video formats for Vision Pro. From the report: By the late ’80s and early ’90s, digital audio had been thoroughly integrated into Macs. (PCs needed add-on cards to do much...
AI startups say the promise of turning dazzling models into useful products is harder than anyone expected. Three founders discuss what it takes.
Two Virginia brothers Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter, previously convicted of hacking the U.S. State Department, were rehired as federal contractors and are now charged with conspiring to steal sensitive data and destroy government databases after being fired. “Following the termination of their employment, the brothers allegedly sought to harm the company and its U.S. government customers by...
For the most sensitive parts of the human body, friction is the enemy. Here’s how to keep it at bay with our favorite lubes made of water, silicone, or natural oil.