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Showing posts from August, 2023

This French app aims to fight sexual harassment on beaches

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This French app aims to fight sexual harassment on beaches https://ift.tt/TYC5R2m Women who are subject to unwanted attention and harassment on the beaches of southern France this summer are experimenting with a new app which summons police.

'Super Mario Bros. Wonder' makers explain new gameplay — and the elephant in the room

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'Super Mario Bros. Wonder' makers explain new gameplay — and the elephant in the room https://ift.tt/0mOVZr5 Nintendo's first new side-scrolling Mario game in a decade features Dark Souls-style phantoms, trippy flowers, and a pachyderm power-up that had the internet trumpeting. (Image credit: Nintendo)

Saudi man sentenced to death for tweets in harshest verdict yet for online critics

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Saudi man sentenced to death for tweets in harshest verdict yet for online critics https://ift.tt/LFPGjeo A retired teacher in Saudi Arabia a death sentence for his tweets criticizing the country's leadership to just a handful of followers, according to rights advocates and his family. (Image credit: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

An AI quadcopter has beaten human champions at drone racing

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An AI quadcopter has beaten human champions at drone racing https://ift.tt/2nToa4l The achievement marks the first time an artificial intelligence system has been able to regularly beat humans in a real-world competition and could lead to better drones in the future. (Image credit: Leonard Bauersfeld)

Meta says Chinese, Russian influence operations are among the biggest it's taken down

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Meta says Chinese, Russian influence operations are among the biggest it's taken down https://ift.tt/MtAa2Ix Facebook's parent company says both operations used fake accounts across social media sites to promote Chinese and Russian interests (Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Anonymous protestors immobilize driverless cars using traffic cones

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Anonymous protestors immobilize driverless cars using traffic cones https://ift.tt/IFtWVqT Self-driving cars are everywhere in San Francisco. On anonymous group is surreptitiously placing orange traffic cones on the driverless cars, confusing their sensors and rendering them inoperable.

AI is biased. The White House is working with hackers to try to fix that

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AI is biased. The White House is working with hackers to try to fix that https://ift.tt/hsSdpkH The White House is concerned AI can perpetuate discrimination. It helped host a red-teaming challenge at the Def Con hacker convention to figure out flaws. ( Story aired on ATC on Aug. 26, 2023 .)

Shipping containers account for 2% of global emissions — wind-powered sails could help

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Shipping containers account for 2% of global emissions — wind-powered sails could help https://ift.tt/3HY9s60 NPR's Scott Simon talks to John Cooper of BAR Technologies, the company behind new sails for cargo ships, meant to reduce emissions by moving these massive vessels with wind power.

Armed with traffic cones, protesters are immobilizing driverless cars

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Armed with traffic cones, protesters are immobilizing driverless cars https://ift.tt/BNaTQug Self-driving cars have flooded San Francisco's streets, and not everyone is happy. Street activists have been using a low-tech solution to incapacitate the vehicles. (Image credit: Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

AI is biased. The White House is working with hackers to try to fix that

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AI is biased. The White House is working with hackers to try to fix that https://ift.tt/sz6Qvkl The White House is concerned that AI can perpetuate discrimination. So they helped host a red-teaming challenge at the Def Con hacker convention in Las Vegas to help figure out some of the flaws. (Image credit: Deepa Shivaram/NPR)

'All we want is revenge': How social media fuels gun violence among teens

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'All we want is revenge': How social media fuels gun violence among teens https://ift.tt/TayFgx6 Teens share photos or videos of themselves with guns and cash, sometimes calling out rivals, on social media. When posts go viral, fueled by "likes" and comments, the danger is hard to contain. (Image credit: Oona Tempest/KFF Health News)

Ronan Farrow says Elon Musk has become an 'arbiter' of the war in Ukraine

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Ronan Farrow says Elon Musk has become an 'arbiter' of the war in Ukraine https://ift.tt/z3xkH5j The New Yorker writer says Musk's Starlink satellites are key to providing internet to Ukraine in its war with Russia, giving Musk an influence that's "more like a nation state than an individual."

A new Illinois law wants to ensure child influencers get a share of their earnings

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A new Illinois law wants to ensure child influencers get a share of their earnings https://ift.tt/eSVhcyj Evoking debates from the days when child actors had little protections, the digital age is revealing a need for similar types of oversight. (Image credit: Getty Images)

New game by Elden Ring developer delivers ace apocalyptic mech combat

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New game by Elden Ring developer delivers ace apocalyptic mech combat https://ift.tt/QXJSHNi Elden Ring developer FromSoftware revived its long-dormant giant robot series and delivered stunning omnidirectional mech combat. (Image credit: Bandai Namco)

India joins an elite club as first to land a spacecraft near the moon's south pole

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India joins an elite club as first to land a spacecraft near the moon's south pole https://ift.tt/XB8ETc7 Scientists believe the south pole region might hold frozen water that could help future astronaut missions. (Image credit: Aijaz Rahi/AP)

Van poof! Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof goes bankrupt, leaving riders stranded

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Van poof! Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof goes bankrupt, leaving riders stranded https://ift.tt/ck7apFf The sophisticated bicycle has attracted fans in Europe and the U.S., but repairs under warranty have bled the company of money. (Image credit: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters)

The biggest and best video game releases of the summer

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The biggest and best video game releases of the summer https://ift.tt/3VBDnz9 From long-awaited epics like Baldur's Gate 3 to indie darlings like Dave the Diver, NPR staff review this summer's surprise hits and more. (Image credit: Electronic Arts/Larian Studios/DreadXP)

This video from a humpback 'whale spa' shows skin care is serious — and social

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This video from a humpback 'whale spa' shows skin care is serious — and social https://ift.tt/xIT2d0j The footage of humpback whales exfoliating their skin with sand offer new insight into these animals' complex lifestyles deep beneath the ocean (Image credit: Jan-Olaf Meynecke)

The Russian space agency says its Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the moon

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The Russian space agency says its Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the moon https://ift.tt/GI8MChz Russia's unmanned robot lander crashed after it had spun into uncontrolled orbit, the country's space agency Roscosmos reported. (Image credit: AP)

Worldcoin uses silver orbs to scan people's eyeballs in exchange for crypto tokens

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Worldcoin uses silver orbs to scan people's eyeballs in exchange for crypto tokens https://ift.tt/Izo1KYj Hundreds of people around the world lined up to have their eyeballs scanned by a tech startup that says it wants to authenticate humans in the age of AI.

OpenAI is facing lawsuits over copyrighted materials it uses to train ChatGPT

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OpenAI is facing lawsuits over copyrighted materials it uses to train ChatGPT https://ift.tt/XyN5abM AI tools like ChatGPT scrape millions of pages from the internet. Pages such as news articles, books, Wikipedia pages and blog posts. But is it legal?

New York City officially bans TikTok on all government devices

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New York City officially bans TikTok on all government devices https://ift.tt/fJvO1oB City employees will begin to lose access to TikTok and its website from all city-owned devices and networks, according to a New York City Hall spokesperson. (Image credit: Kiichiro Sato/AP)

New York Times considers legal action against OpenAI as copyright tensions swirl

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New York Times considers legal action against OpenAI as copyright tensions swirl https://ift.tt/c1AWbDS The news publisher and maker of ChatGPT have held tense negotiations over striking a licensing deal for the use of the paper's articles to train the chatbot. Now, legal action is being considered. (Image credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Cell phone photos and some metadata. A son's search for his mother in Maui

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Cell phone photos and some metadata. A son's search for his mother in Maui https://ift.tt/OIU7hAC Jason Musgrove has been in agony for more than a week. He's had no contact from his 69-year-old mother, who has mobility issues. She was last seen escorted out of her apartment building on Aug. 8. (Image credit: Vanessa Romo/NPR )

How easy is it to make the AI behind chatbots go rogue? Hackers at Defcon test it out

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How easy is it to make the AI behind chatbots go rogue? Hackers at Defcon test it out https://ift.tt/azxPSG2 Thousands of hackers probed AI chatbots for misinformation, bias and security flaws at the annual Defcon hacking convention in Las Vegas to see how easy is it to make the AI go off the rails.

The future of crypto hinges on a fight between the SEC and a former burger flipper

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The future of crypto hinges on a fight between the SEC and a former burger flipper https://ift.tt/rNDkji9 A looming courtroom battle between the largest cryptocurrency exchange and the world's most powerful regulator promises to shape the future of crypto. (Image credit: Eric Piermont/AFP via Getty Images)

What happens when thousands of hackers try to break AI chatbots

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What happens when thousands of hackers try to break AI chatbots https://ift.tt/Zn3rhFA In a Jeopardy-style game at the annual Def Con hacking convention in Las Vegas, hackers tried to get chatbots from OpenAI, Google and Meta to create misinformation and share harmful content. (Image credit: Paul Bloch/Paul's Vegas Photography)

Silicon Valley's new product: Eyeball-scanning silver orbs to confirm you're human

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Silicon Valley's new product: Eyeball-scanning silver orbs to confirm you're human https://ift.tt/N9BEYUO Hundreds of people around the world lined up to have their eyeballs scanned by a tech startup that says it wants to authenticate humans in the age of AI.

Why lasers could help make the electric grid greener

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Why lasers could help make the electric grid greener https://ift.tt/sY6NDec Thousands of renewable projects are waiting to connect to the grid, but there aren't enough transmission lines. Some tech companies have faster and cheaper solutions. (Image credit: Julia Simon/NPR)

Silicon Valley's latest hype: Eyeball-scanning silver orbs to confirm you're human

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Silicon Valley's latest hype: Eyeball-scanning silver orbs to confirm you're human https://ift.tt/rJOgkh7 The project is called Worldcoin. It was co-founded by Sam Altman of ChatGPT fame. Its mission is to authenticate all the world's humans, one eyeball scan at a time. (Image credit: Grace Widyatmadja/NPR)