Lugh

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[–] Lugh@futurology.today 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Both the US & Russia have claimed Mach 20 with the HTV-2 (DARPA's Falcon Project) & Avangard respectively. China’s DF-ZF HGV reportedly reaches Mach 5–10.

If this golden dome goes ahead, I suspect/guess the ensuing counter-developments will mean true Mach 20 will be achievable within a ten year time frame for all three countries.

 

This article gives details on the many shortcomings that make the 'golden dome' idea unworkable. These objections have been around since Ronald Reagan proposed the idea in the 1980's, and they are even more true today. The 'golden dome' proposal deals with ICBM-type missiles, but they are already out of date. The 'golden dome' proposal has even less chance against hypersonic missiles that travel at Mach 20.

Ask yourself a question - The $175 billion 'golden dome' idea requires 36,000 satellites. Is there a certain South African at the center of the US government who might be pushing this idea, because he's the man who'll get a lot of that $175 billion to supply & launch them?

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I’m calling bullshit.

Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal, Nature.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59698-y

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

without refrigerant

Yes, they say this does away with the need for compressors or refrigerants.

"This cools by using electrons to move heat through specialized semiconductor materials, eliminating the need for moving parts or challenging coolant liquids."

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 12 points 2 days ago

79% of 16-21 year olds say technology companies should be required by law to build robust privacy safeguards into technology and platforms used by children and teenagers.

This is another illustration of the huge divide between Big Tech and everyone else. Big Tech wants total freedom from regulation with no accountability for any damage or costs to others they cause. The general population overwhelmingly feels the opposite. Thanks to their ability to line politician's pockets, it's Big Tech who usually wins out.

In Britain's case, desperate to get a trade deal with the US, it's been dangling the offer of even less regulation on tech & AI.

 

"The new analysis for Carbon Brief shows that China’s emissions were down 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025 and by 1% in the latest 12 months."

It's possible that this is a blip, and a rise could continue. China is still using plenty of fossil fuels and recently deployed a fleet of autonomous electric mining trucks at the Yimin open-pit coal mine in Inner Mongolia. Also, China is still behind on the 2030 C02 emissions targets it pledged under the Paris Agreement.

Still, renewables growth keeps making massive gains in China. In the first quarter of 2025, China installed a total of 74.33 GW of new wind and solar capacity, bringing the cumulative installed capacity for these two sources to 1,482 GW. That is greater than the total US electricity capacity from all sources, which is at 1,324 GW.

 

Guess what AI workers never need? High wages, health care, pension contributions, breaks or vacations.

Once corporations start seeing AI and humans as interchangeable workers - no surprises for which type they'll be trying to get rid of as soon as possible.

I hope we're going to see massive deflation in drug prices from all the cost savings, and bumper profits this will give them.

Why Moderna Merged Its Tech and HR Departments

archive.ph version of WSJ article

 

"According to the New York Federal Reserve, labor conditions for recent college graduates have “deteriorated noticeably” in the past few months, and the unemployment rate now stands at an unusually high 5.8 percent. Even newly minted M.B.A.s from elite programs are struggling to find work."

The NYFR says it doesn't know what is causing the decline, but many wonder if it's AI. In particular as AI is so good at doing the entry-level tasks college grads would be employed to do.

Humans are terrible about dealing with disaster, until the very last minute (Covid in March 2020 was a good illustration of this). However, they are often surprisingly good at 'keeping calm, and carrying on' when they are forced to act. March 2020 also illustrates this.

So far AI/robotics and job replacement is a topic our political class (and their inept economic advisors) have ignored - but for how much longer?

 

The 'Big 7' prop up the U.S. stock market, accounting for a third of its value. Their sky-high valuations rely on a 'growth' narrative—if that fades, their stocks could crash.

Google deliberately worsened search results to keep users viewing more ads, as recent research revealed. A WSJ investigation found Meta knowingly lets criminal advertisers flourish, fearing a stock drop if it cracks down.

Now, AI firms are the market's new darlings. Under similar pressure to deceive, what happens when they wield the most powerful tech ever?

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

then prescriptions should be done away with and all drugs should be available.

It used to be the way the world was. The result was huge amounts of addiction (laudanum was 10% opium), and gullible people being peddled snake oil.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 12 points 1 week ago

The bill, which was passed by the state legislature on April 29 and is expected to be signed by Governor Greg Gianforte, essentially expands on existing Right to Try legislation in the state.

The same people who are denying abortions & medical care to trans people, are all for "freedom" and right to choose when it comes to other people's medical choices?

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 1 points 1 week ago

…in a similar way as with conventional rental cars – which can be hired to transport people to “a range of destinations, including cultural landmarks and urban tourist attractions.”

Baidu, like everyone else, still hasn't got to true Level 5 self-driving. But it doesn't need Level 5 to be offering services like this. If you have mapped out the 100 most popular destinations in a city, and fixed routes between them, then level 4 self-driving like they have now, is all you need.

This isn't the same as a regular rental car you can drive anywhere, but many people would be happy with a car that covers a city's Top 100 spots. How does this differ from a taxi? Seemingly that you rent it for specified time slots, whether you're in the car driving or not.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 6 points 1 week ago

Yes, Meta are 2nd, I amended the text.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I'm pretty sure in Trump's addled brain he thinks if the US gets a human on Mars first & plants the US flag, he can claim the whole planet as belonging to the US.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The accuracy rate will improve, sadly most of the developing word barely recycles anything.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 5 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Yes, for once taking the jobs humans don't want.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Unless they are trained otherwise, AI will pick up all the biases in its training data. So far, as that's the content of the entire internet, I'm not surprised at this outcome. I'd guess AI training is the next battleground for the woke/anti-DEI crowd, so they can preserve these prejudices.

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