Author: nick

Artificial intelligence has taken the wired world by storm, but the backlash came almost as fast. Progressives complain of job losses, environmentalists question the ecological impacts of huge data centers, and local activists are clamoring for assurances that household utility bills won’t skyrocket because of the centers’ voracious electricity requirements. Others simply worry that the technology will overwhelm humans’ ability to control it. At least in part, these reactions stem from the overselling of AI. AI is super cool, but it’s not superhuman nor is it super intelligent. AI is simply very fast processing of vast amounts of data. Intelligence,…

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Picture this: you’re an illiterate French sailor pulled from your wedding banquet by royal gendarmes into the office of a deputy crown prosecutor. It’s not a public hearing. You have no written complaint formalizing the charges against you. You have no lawyer. You have no right to confront your accusers. You have no right to present evidence on your own behalf. You have no right to remain silent. Worst of all, you have no judge and no jury! Instead, the deputy crown prosecutor views the evidence, realizes the case implicates his own father, and sentences you to life imprisonment in…

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Photograph Source: The White House – Public Domain A lot of people argue that we Brits should stop obsessing over the United States. After all, we have enough on our plate, not least energy bills set to jump another 20% in July, and a right-wing press determined to see the back of Keir Starmer. But for all our domestic troubles, we are not—yet—the ones most likely to start a third world war. There may be talk here of a war footing—Russia playing silly buggers in the Channel, China accused of sending missiles to Iran. But the eye, inevitably, remains locked…

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From yesterday’s longish decision by Judge Robert Pitman (W.D. Tex.) in Qaddumi v. Davis:Qaddumi challenges his suspension (and the ongoing disciplinary record resulting from it) from UT as a violation of his First Amendment rights. The parties cite record evidence of the following facts. Qaddumi was involved in planning a protest, to include a “walk out of class,” “guest speaker,” and two “teach-in[s],” against ongoing violence in Gaza in April 2024 as a member of the Palestine Solidarity Committee (“PSC”). The planned protest activities were peaceful in nature. UT, however, preemptively ordered the protest cancelled the night before it was…

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White House economists said banning rewards wouldn’t significantly boost banks’ financial health, amplifying the crypto industry view in the Clarity Act debate. What to know: A new study from White House economists downplays the benefit banks would get from banning stablecoin yield — a position that aids the crypto sector’s argument in the ongoing talks over the Clarity Act in the Senate. The White House has been eager to reach the finish line on the bill that would finally establish wide-ranging regulations to govern the U.S. crypto industry, but the legislation has remained in a holding pattern as banks and…

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No need to chase after news briefs like a robot chasing wild boars – we’ve got them all right here for you! Scientists still don’t know how consciousness emerges from the brain. New ideas suggest it may not emerge at all, but instead is a basic feature of reality. Science, stigma, and the search for truth: Researchers investigating UAP-related phenomena face institutional resistance even as new data strengthens their case. Homo erectus‘ tools include stunning geodes and fossils, possibly as a way to connect with the cosmos, study finds Experts no longer believe in photographic memory – here’s what convinced…

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