finance – Lifeboat News: The Blog https://lifeboat.com/blog Safeguarding Humanity Thu, 25 Jul 2024 11:23:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 Sustainable Million-Mile Battery Bet Pays Off For Mercedes-Benz https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/sustainable-million-mile-battery-bet-pays-off-for-mercedes-benz https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/sustainable-million-mile-battery-bet-pays-off-for-mercedes-benz#respond Thu, 25 Jul 2024 11:23:27 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/sustainable-million-mile-battery-bet-pays-off-for-mercedes-benz

“The technological focus is on significant increases in range through advances in energy density and the reduction of charging times,” Mercedes explained, noting that the partnership cements a reliable EV battery cell supply chain while providing financial support for Farasis to build a factory in Germany.

How Sustainable Is A Million-Mile EV Battery?

As of 2020, the plan also included constructing another EV battery plant in the US. A map on the company’s website indicates somewhere in the US Southeast along the Gulf of Mexico, which is not a shocker to those following the rise of the electric vehicle industry in politically conservative states.

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Big News for Quantum Computing: First Scalable Platforms https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/big-news-for-quantum-computing-first-scalable-platforms https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/big-news-for-quantum-computing-first-scalable-platforms#respond Thu, 25 Jul 2024 01:24:28 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/big-news-for-quantum-computing-first-scalable-platforms

Learn more about neural networks and large language models on Brilliant! First 30 days are free and 20% off the annual premium subscription when you use our link ➜ https://brilliant.org/sabine.

A lot of big banks are banking on quantum computing because they think it’ll give them an edge in trading. Though I have on previous occasions noted my doubt that we’ll see any useful quantum computers within the next ten years, two new papers detailing new methods of scaling quantum computers have shifted my perspective. Let’s have a look.

Paper 1: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158
Paper 2: https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.

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#science #sciencenews #quantumcomputer #technology #technews #tech

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AI-powered optical detection to thwart counterfeit chips https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/ai-powered-optical-detection-to-thwart-counterfeit-chips https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/ai-powered-optical-detection-to-thwart-counterfeit-chips#respond Sat, 20 Jul 2024 09:23:30 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/ai-powered-optical-detection-to-thwart-counterfeit-chips

The semiconductor industry has grown into a $500 billion global market over the last 60 years. However, it is grappling with dual challenges: a profound shortage of new chips and a surge of counterfeit chips, introducing substantial risks of malfunction and unwanted surveillance. In particular, the latter inadvertently gives rise to a $75 billion counterfeit chip market that jeopardizes safety and security across multiple sectors dependent on semiconductor technologies, such as aviation, communications, quantum, artificial intelligence, and personal finance.

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How Nvidia became an AI Giant https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/how-nvidia-became-an-ai-giant https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/how-nvidia-became-an-ai-giant#respond Fri, 19 Jul 2024 15:24:45 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/how-nvidia-became-an-ai-giant

It all started at a Denny’s in San Jose in 1993. Three engineers—Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem—gathered at the diner in what is now the heart of Silicon Valley to discuss building a computer chip that would make graphics for video games faster and more realistic. That conversation, and the ones that followed, led to the founding of Nvidia, the tech company that soared through the ranks of the stock market to briefly top Microsoft as the most valuable company in the S&P 500 this week.

The company is now worth over $3.2 trillion, with its dominance as a chipmaker cementing Nvidia’s place as the poster child of the artificial intelligence boom—a moment that Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, has dubbed “the next industrial revolution.”

On a conference call with analysts last month, Huang predicted that the companies using Nvidia chips would build a new type of data center called “AI factories.”

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Live: Cyber security company CrowdStrike linked to global IT outage https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/live-cyber-security-company-crowdstrike-linked-to-global-it-outage https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/live-cyber-security-company-crowdstrike-linked-to-global-it-outage#respond Fri, 19 Jul 2024 09:23:32 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/live-cyber-security-company-crowdstrike-linked-to-global-it-outage

Computer security company CrowdStrike is linked to a major IT outage affecting banks, airports, supermarkets and businesses across Australia and the world.

Airport check-in systems across the globe have been disrupted and businesses have reported the “blue screen of death” and IT outages.

Follow our live blog or download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest updates.

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Live Updates: Global Tech Outage Grounds Flights and Hits Businesses https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/live-updates-global-tech-outage-grounds-flights-and-hits-businesses https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/live-updates-global-tech-outage-grounds-flights-and-hits-businesses#respond Fri, 19 Jul 2024 09:22:46 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/live-updates-global-tech-outage-grounds-flights-and-hits-businesses

Airlines, banks and broadcasters were among the companies around the world reporting disruptions, citing technical issues.

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Tesla’s Megapack Technology Selected for Australia’s Largest Four-Hour Battery Storage System https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/teslas-megapack-technology-selected-for-australias-largest-four-hour-battery-storage-system https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/teslas-megapack-technology-selected-for-australias-largest-four-hour-battery-storage-system#respond Mon, 15 Jul 2024 18:23:29 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/teslas-megapack-technology-selected-for-australias-largest-four-hour-battery-storage-system

Tesla Energy secured a $375 million Megapack contract in Australia. The new Tesla Megapack contract will help build a 415 MW/1660 MWh battery Down Under, one of the largest four-hour batteries in the world.

Tesla Energy will supply Megapacks to Akaysha Energy’s Orana Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). The Orana project is located in New South Wales within Central West Orana’s Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).

We are very pleased to announce the successful closing of the debt financing of the Orana project as we move into construction on Akaysha’s first four-hour BESS to date. As the largest standalone BESS financing globally, this achievement not only secures the capital for Orana’s construction but also highlights the strong support we have received from both local and international banks, as well as from BlackRock. Their commitment to advancing the energy transition in Australia and internationally has been pivotal to reaching this milestone.

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Skild AI raises $300M to build a general-purpose, AI-powered brain for any robot https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/skild-ai-raises-300m-to-build-a-general-purpose-ai-powered-brain-for-any-robot https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/skild-ai-raises-300m-to-build-a-general-purpose-ai-powered-brain-for-any-robot#respond Wed, 10 Jul 2024 17:30:32 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/skild-ai-raises-300m-to-build-a-general-purpose-ai-powered-brain-for-any-robot

Skild AI, a startup that’s developing artificial intelligence-powered brains for robots, said today it has closed on a bumper $300 million early-stage funding round, bringing its valuation to a cool $1.5 billion.

The Series A round was led by a host of top-tier venture capital firms, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, Softbank Group Corp. and Jeff Bezos’s Bezos Expeditions. It also saw participation from the likes of Felicis Ventures, Sequoia, Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst, CRV, Amazon, SV Angel and Carnegie Mellon University.

Skild AI is building what it says is a “shared, general-purpose brain” that will be able to equip a diverse group of robots that can perform multiple kinds of tasks in a wide range of scenarios, such as manipulating objects, locomotion and navigation. It says its AI intelligence can be integrated with any kind of robot, including humanoid bots with advanced computer vision skills designed to perform dexterous manipulation of objects in the home and in industrial settings, and more resilient quadruped robots that can navigate any physical environment.

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Sustaining wakefulness: Brainstem connectivity in human consciousness https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/sustaining-wakefulness-brainstem-connectivity-in-human-consciousness https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/sustaining-wakefulness-brainstem-connectivity-in-human-consciousness#respond Tue, 09 Jul 2024 11:37:19 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/sustaining-wakefulness-brainstem-connectivity-in-human-consciousness Consciousness is comprised of arousal (i.e., wakefulness) and awareness. Substantial progress has been made in mapping the cortical networks that modulate awareness in the human brain, but knowledge about the subcortical networks that sustain arousal is lacking. We integrated data from ex vivo diffusion MRI, immunohistochemistry, and in vivo 7 Tesla functional MRI to map the connectivity of a subcortical arousal network that we postulate sustains wakefulness in the resting, conscious human brain, analogous to the cortical default mode network (DMN) that is believed to sustain self-awareness. We identified nodes of the proposed default ascending arousal network (dAAN) in the brainstem, hypothalamus, thalamus, and basal forebrain by correlating ex vivo diffusion MRI with immunohistochemistry in three human brain specimens from neurologically normal individuals scanned at 600–750 µm resolution. We performed deterministic and probabilistic tractography analyses of the diffusion MRI data to map dAAN intra-network connections and dAAN-DMN internetwork connections. Using a newly developed network-based autopsy of the human brain that integrates ex vivo MRI and histopathology, we identified projection, association, and commissural pathways linking dAAN nodes with one another and with cortical DMN nodes, providing a structural architecture for the integration of arousal and awareness in human consciousness. We release the ex vivo diffusion MRI data, corresponding immunohistochemistry data, network-based autopsy methods, and a new brainstem dAAN atlas to support efforts to map the connectivity of human consciousness.

One sentence summary We performed ex vivo diffusion MRI, immunohistochemistry, and in vivo 7 Tesla functional MRI to map brainstem connections that sustain wakefulness in human consciousness.

BF has a financial interest in CorticoMetrics, a company whose medical pursuits focus on brain imaging and measurement technologies. BF’s interests were reviewed and are managed by Massachusetts General Hospital and Mass General Brigham HealthCare in accordance with their conflict-of-interest policies.

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Beyond Borders: Applying Modern Conflict Laws as Framework for Outer Space Governance https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/beyond-borders-applying-modern-conflict-laws-as-framework-for-outer-space-governance https://spanish.lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/beyond-borders-applying-modern-conflict-laws-as-framework-for-outer-space-governance#respond Tue, 09 Jul 2024 03:33:10 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/07/beyond-borders-applying-modern-conflict-laws-as-framework-for-outer-space-governance

Moreover, the concept of limitation, which dictates that the means and methods of warfare are not unlimited, can help prevent the escalation of conflicts in space by imposing restrictions on the use of certain weapons or tactics that could cause indiscriminate harm or result in long-term consequences for space exploration and utilization. Given a growing number of distinct weapons systems in orbit – from missile defense systems with kinetic anti-satellite capabilities, electronic warfare counter-space capabilities, and directed energy weapons to GPS jammers, space situational awareness, surveillance, and intelligence gathering capabilities – legal clarity rather than strategic ambiguity are crucial for ensuring the responsible and peaceful use of outer space.

Additionally, the principle of humanity underscores the importance of treating all individuals with dignity and respect, including astronauts, cosmonauts, and civilians who may be affected by conflicts in space. By upholding this principle, outer space law can ensure that human rights are protected and preserved, particularly in the profoundly challenging environment of outer space. Moreover, with civilians on the ground increasingly tethered to space technologies for communication, navigation, banking, leisure, and other essential services, the protection of their rights becomes a fundamental imperative.

The modern laws of armed conflict (LOAC) offer a valuable blueprint for developing a robust legal framework for governing activities in outer space. By integrating complementary principles of LOAC or international humanitarian law with the UN Charter into outer space law, policymakers can promote the peaceful and responsible use of outer space while mitigating the risks associated with potential conflicts in this increasingly contested domain.

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