?Shoddy Teslas

"Tesla blamed drivers for failures of parts it long knew were defective".

 

Related: "You're Supposed To Be Glad Your Tesla Is A Brittle Heap Of Junk"

 

Update: I have received numerous responses from Tesla supporters questioning the reliability of those two articles.   If you're in the market for a Tesla, you should do your own consumer research.  (I don't own a Tesla, and was not interested in purchasing one even before prior those recent articles.)

Disobedient Soldiers

Video: "People Who Changed History by Disregarding Orders"

Small Nukes

Westinghouse micro nuclear reactor. (Via H.R.)

Negative Friction

"Watch sand defy gravity and flow uphill thanks to 'negative friction'"

Big Lake

"Behold the Mega Lake: Earth's Largest Lake in History Lands in Guinness Book of Records". (Via H.R.)

Time Travel Economics

"The Economics of Time Travel"

Bad Forensic Science

"Old-school hair analysis is junk science. But it still keeps people behind bars"

Quantum Computing Hype Vs. Reality

IEEE: "Quantum Computing's Hard, Cold Reality Check"

The quantum computer revolution may be further off and more limited than many have been led to believe. That’s the message coming from a small but vocal set of prominent skeptics in and around the emerging quantum computing industry...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Regular posting will resume tomorrow.

Gen Z Slang

"List of Generation Z slang"

Sniper Records

"Sniper Records Made to be Broken"

Theseus On Wikipedia

Great observation from @DepthsOfWikipedia.

Searching E-mail

"Why It's So Hard to Search Your Email"

Foldable Laptop Review

"I've used a foldable laptop for a month, and I'm ready to return to a clamshell"

New Crystal Structures Discovered With AI

"A Google AI has discovered 2.2m materials unknown to science"

AI Math Update

"DeepMind AI outdoes human mathematicians on unsolved problem"

Criminals Complaining To Federal Regulators

"Ransomware gang files SEC complaint over victim's undisclosed breach":

The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware operation has taken extortion to a new level by filing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint against one of their alleged victims for not complying with the four-day rule to disclose a cyberattack.

(Presumably, this puts more pressure on the victim to pay up.)

Hypersonic Engine

"GE Aerospace cracks hypersonic engine test, claims 4,000 mph achievable". (Via H.R.)

Neuromorphic Supercomputer Update

"Supercomputer that simulates entire human brain will switch on in 2024". (Via P.O.)

GCHQ Christmas Challenge

"The GCHQ Christmas Challenge 2023". Direct link to the puzzles (PDF).

Good Textbooks

"The Best Textbooks on Every Subject". As usual, YMMV. But at least, this may provide some pointers to new resources!

Nice Kitty

"What makes a good cat?"

Super-Strong Wonder Material

"A New Wonder Material Is 5x Lighter -- and 4x Stronger -- Than Steel"

AI And Bad Research

"Is AI leading to a reproducibility crisis in science?"

Transparent Wood

"Why scientists are making transparent wood"

Quantum Computing Update

"Quantum-computing approach uses single molecules as qubits for first time"

Crypto Resurgence

Tyler Cowen: "The resurgence of crypto"

Oobleckn Physics

"Unlocking the secrets of oobleckn -- strange stuff that's both liquid and solid". (Via H.R.)

Hot Plasma

"Super hot plasma made easy with stabilising fibres". (Via G.F.)

Math And Modernity

"How mathematics built the modern world"

Robotic Tentacles For Humans

"How does it feel to have an octopus arm? This robo-tentacle lets people find out". (Via G.F.)

AI Image Quiz

"Google Can't Catch All the AI Images. Can You?"

I only got 5/10 -- no better than flipping a coin!

AI Legislation

"Brazilian city enacts an ordinance that was secretly written by ChatGPT"

“If I had revealed it before, the proposal certainly wouldn't even have been taken to a vote,” [city councilman Ramiro] Rosário told the AP by phone on Thursday. The 36-member council approved it unanimously and the ordinance went into effect on Nov. 23.

“It would be unfair to the population to run the risk of the project not being approved simply because it was written by artificial intelligence,” he added...

Keeping the proposal's origin secret was intentional. Rosário told the AP his objective was not just to resolve a local issue, but also to spark a debate. He said he entered a 49-word prompt into ChatGPT and it returned the full draft proposal within seconds, including justifications.

 

Math Of Snakes And Ladders

Video: "The Beautiful Math of Snakes and Ladders"

LLM Guide

"Language Models: A Guide for the Perplexed"

Given the growing importance of AI literacy, we decided to write this tutorial to help narrow the gap between the discourse among those who study language models -- the core technology underlying ChatGPT and similar products -- and those who are intrigued and want to learn more about them...

Solid-State Cooling

"MacBook Air gets solid-state active cooling in intriguing demo". (Via H.R.)

AI Weed Puller

"Mother plucker: Steel fingers guided by AI pluck weeds rapidly and autonomously". (Via H.R.)

Self-Assembling Anthrobots

Nature: "Tiny robots made from human cells heal damaged tissue"

Titanium

"The Story of Titanium"

No Time

"A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time. Here's what it's like in a world without it"