Lugh

joined 2 years ago
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Quite apart from the blatant corruption, if SpaceX's biggest problem is that its rockets keep exploding, how is an AI that you have deliberately designed to give wrong answers supposed to fix things?

Thanks to gutting NASA and science budgets, space is another area where the US will soon cede the top spot to China. They have fully developed plans for a lunar base, deep space exploration, and will likely be the next to have humans on the Moon.

BTW - to anyone who tries to argue this isn't outright corruption, via diverting and siphoning taxpayers money, I have NFTs and memecoins for a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to interest you in.

SpaceX to invest $2 billion in Musk's xAI startup, WSJ reports

 

If you tend towards conspiracy theory-type thinking, you might wonder if the Chinese government is directing its AI sector to use open-source AI to undermine US AI efforts. If they aren't, is it just a coincidence that this is what is happening?

Two things seem inevitable to me if the trend of Chinese open-source AI equalling Western efforts keeps up. A) - It will eventually bankrupt the Western AI companies and their investors, as the hundreds of billions poured into them will never be realized in profits. B) The 21st century will be built on Chinese AI, as it will be what most of the world uses.

The former seems more dramatic in the short term, but the latter is what will be more significant in the long term.

Moonshot AI just released Kimi K2: China is not so behind in Agentic AI either it would seem.

 

The new law will allow consumers to install solar in their homes without the need to connect to the grid; however, more needs to be done.

"Regulations and standards governing electrical devices haven’t kept pace with the development of the technology, and they lack essential approvals required for adoption, including compliance with the National Electrical Code and a product safety standard from Underwriters Laboratories. Nothing about the bill Ward wrote changes that."

The fossil fuel industry has the current US administration in its pocket. Once they see they have leverage with national requirements like this, expect them to exploit the situation with delays and blocking tactics.

But it will only work for so long. They can't hide what is happening in the rest of the world, and more and more Americans will be wondering why they can't have the cheap energy everyone else is enjoying.

Balcony solar took off in Germany. Why not the US?

 

China operates the world's only commercial maglev train. It connects Shanghai Airport and the city center, and reaches top speeds of 430 km/h. China is also testing a near-vacuum-tube train which claims it may achieve speeds of up to 1,000 km/h in the future.

Interestingly this project aims to demonstrate 800 km/h later in 2025. That speed is almost as fast as the cruising speed of commercial airliners.

Will it need special rail tracks? This is the Japanese test maglev train passing people at 500 km/hr.

400 mph in 7 seconds: China’s maglev breaks speed barriers with new record

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 1 points 2 months ago

There's good news too. It says the AI can persuade people who hold false beliefs. Maybe it can school people who've been led into delusion bubbles by misinformation?

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

I thought voice might take off more, though Alexa and Siri are popular. Maybe it just isn't efficient enough for large amounts of information.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Yes, unethical practices seem baked in now with Big Tech, and Big Tech aspirants. I'm gratified to see open source AI keep up with the Big Tech offerings. At least it means there will be widespread alternatives. I hope it hobbles any one company from being as big as Google.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Google recently held its big annual product announcement event - I/O 2025 - and it got lots of upbeat coverage. There were dozens of new product upgrades across Android, Search, Gmail, etc. Of course, the big focus was AI.

Google seemed to be lagging in AI but has caught up to speed lately with its models topping various AI leaderboards. Not surprising, Google has deep wells of computing power and talent to compete in AI.

However, behind the scenes, all is not so rosy. Almost 75% of Google's revenue comes from search, and it's about to be obliterated. As anyone who has gotten used to using ChatGPT, Claude, or DeepSeek instead of Google Search will tell you - AI is miles better. Google is about to transform old Search into an AI Search like ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, and all the other AIs, but the problem is their days of 90% market domination in this new medium don't seem repeatable.

Google are about to be replaced as the dominant means of internet search - but just how much, and how fast?

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 1 points 2 months ago

Great article. I'm glad 'Star Trek' still looms so large in the public imagination; it's given us a really hopeful template for the future.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

This topic fascinates me. There are more space telescopes from Europe, the US and China due to launch, that will have even greater capability for biosignature detection than now. I wonder how soon the day will come when one of these findings will be regarded as definitive proof?

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 19 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

I don't like or support Hezbollah, but the added irony here is that Northern Ireland (where Mo Chara is from) is festooned with British-supporting terrorist flags from groups like the UDF & UDA; pro-British terrorist groups active during The Troubles.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 1 points 2 months 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.

[–] Lugh@futurology.today 6 points 2 months 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 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months 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 13 points 2 months 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.

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