Kenya's push to make 'boda-boda' motorbike taxis go electric
"The government wants Kenya's three million motorbike taxi riders to go green but only a few have done so." I last went to Kenya over 10 years ago and I got around Kitale on the back of push bikes by local riders. Motorised bikes 'boda-boda' were only just being introduced at the time. Apparently there...
Source: bbc.com
Microsoft Cloud AI Accelerates Search for New Battery Materials
Extremetech report that "Microsoft and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory used AI to narrow a list of 32 million candidate materials down to 18 in hours instead of years."
Source: extremetech.com
A checklist for reporting, reading and evaluating Artificial Intelligence Technology Enhanced Learning (AITEL) research
"This paper proposes a checklist for reporting on AI systems, and covers the initial protocols and scoping, modelling and code, algorithm design, training data, testing and validation, usage, comparisons, real-world requirements, results and limitations, and ethical considerations. The aim is to have...
Source: tandfonline.com
Apple knew AirDrop users could be identified and tracked as early as 2019, researchers say | CNN Business
Security researchers warned Apple as early as 2019 about vulnerabilities in its AirDrop wireless sharing function that Chinese authorities claim they recently used to track down users of the feature, the researchers told CNN, in a case that experts say has sweeping implications for global privacy.
Source: cnn.com
5 expert tips for behavior change in 2024 - Stanford Report
Looking to eat better? Exercise more? Get unstuck in life or career? Stanford scholars offer research-backed advice for making moves in the new year.
Source: stanford.edu
Huge ancient city found in the Amazon
The city was built 2,500 years ago but may have been abandoned after a volcanic eruption.
Source: bbc.com
How the Post Office's Horizon system failed: a technical breakdown
"From bugs to unqualified staff, the Post Office's point-of-sale system was inadequate on many levels." The code was poor from the start and the small team of developers were not up to the job. However, the problems were apparent in 1999 before it was launched. Includes a discussion of the Dalmellington...
Source: theguardian.com
Yaws could soon be eradicated — 70 years behind schedule Jones, Sam. Nature 2024.
Researchers are cautiously optimistic that the neglected tropical disease could be gone by 2030, but new barriers — including antibiotic resistance and primate reservoirs — might stand in the way. Researchers are cautiously optimistic that the neglected tropical disease could be gone by 2030, but...
Source: nature.com
The Vulnerable World Hypothesis
"This paper introduces the concept of a vulnerable world: roughly, one in which there is some level of technological development at which civilization almost certainly gets devastated by default, i.e. unless it has exited the ‘semi-anarchic default condition’. Several counterfactual historical and...
Source: doi.org
Workplace well-being initiatives don't boost employee mental health
"The mental health of people who undertake mindfulness or meditation courses offered by their employer is generally no better than those who are not offered such programmes." "Instead of offering these initiatives, Fleming suggests that employers focus on bettering the work environment. For example,...
Source: newscientist.com
Mozilla launches a new startup focused on 'trustworthy' AI | TechCrunch
Mozilla, the nonprofit behind software like Firefox, has launched a new startup, Mozilla.ai, focused on developing trustworthy AI systems.
Source: techcrunch.com
A New Kind of AI Copy Can Fully Replicate Famous People. The Law Is Powerless.
New AI-generated digital replicas of real experts expose an unnerving policy gray zone. Washington wants to fix it, but it’s not clear how.
Source: politico.com
AI will be deeply disruptive to Higher Education
Paul LeBlanc and George Siemens are teaming up to explore how AI is going to change higher education. "LeBlanc transformed SNHU from 2500 students in 2003 to over 200,000 students in 20 years by using technology to switch delivery online." Siemens is one of the proposers of connectivism - a theory...
Nikon, Sony and Canon fight AI fakes with new camera tech
Digital signatures to provide way to tell real photos from deepfakes
Source: nikkei.com
Newspocalypse now
"We will learn that the less something looks like what we have now, the better chance it has of being the thing on the other side of death."
Source: niemanlab.org
The Internet Is About to Get Weird Again
The internet seems ripe for change, and millions of people seem poised to connect in new ways, as they reconsider their relationship to technology.
Source: rollingstone.com
We're getting closer to OpenAI's first device
Sam Altman and Jony Ive have tapped Apple executive Tang Tan to build their new AI device.
Source: businessinsider.com
Apple’s iPhone Design Chief Enlisted by Jony Ive, Sam Altman to Work on AI Devices
Legendary designer Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman are enlisting an Apple Inc. veteran to work on a new artificial intelligence hardware project, aiming to create devices with the latest capabilities.
Source: bloomberg.com
Monkeys in Thailand took up stone tools when covid-19 stopped tourism
Long-tailed macaques on the island of Koh Ped appear to have learned a new way to forage when the pandemic put a stop to feeding by tourists
Source: newscientist.com
NFTs died a slow, painful death in 2023 as most are now worthless
A reminder that early adoption of technology is not without risk. "Non-fungible tokens promised to revolutionise the concept of ownership using the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, but the market seems to have all but collapsed."
Source: newscientist.com
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