ICT news

• New Study Could Upend How We Think About the Ozone Layer and Health

  23-09-2023 23:34 via news.slashdot.org
  
  First the Washington Post summarizes what scientists believed in the 1970s. Chlorofluorocarbons, or (CFCs, "could float up into the stratosphere and break down a protective layer of ozone, allowing more ultraviolet light to enter the atmosphere and harm humans, crops, and entire ecosystems. In fact, this had already happened: There was a hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole."Experts view the subsequent treaty to cut down on the use of CFCs — the 1987 Montreal Protocol — as a l
  
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• California Startup Hopes to Harvest Desalinated Drinking Water from the Ocean Floor

  23-09-2023 22:34 via news.slashdot.org
  
  A startup named OceanWell has partnered with southern California's Las Virgenes Municipal Water District "to study the feasibility of harvesting drinking water from desalination pods placed on the ocean floor," reports the Los Angeles Times:The company says that by combining desalination with off-shore energy technology, it can solve many of the challenges associated with traditional, land-based desalination, including high energy costs and salty byproducts that threaten marine life. The process
  
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• 'Laugh then Think': Strange Research Honored at 33rd Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony

  23-09-2023 21:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Since 1999, Slashdot has been covering the annual Ig Nobel prize ceremonies — which honor real scientific research into strange or surprising subjects. "Each winner (or winning team) has done something that makes people LAUGH, then THINK," explains the ceremony web page, promising that "a gaggle of genuine, genuinely bemused Nobel laureates handed the Ig Nobel Prizes to the new Ig Nobel winners." As co-founder Marc Abrahams says on his LinkedIn profile, "All these things celebrate the unus
  
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• California is Using AI to Spot Wildfires Early

  23-09-2023 20:34 via slashdot.org
  
  CNN reports:The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection [known as Cal Fire] says it has a new tool to battle wildfires before they explode — artificial intelligence. "I think it is a game changer ... It has enhanced our abilities to validate situational awareness and then respond in a quick fashion," Phillip SeLegue, Cal Fire's staff chief for fire intelligence, told CNN.
  Deep in the California wilderness of the Cleveland National Forest in San Diego County, a fire started in
  
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• Return to the Office? These Workers Quit Instead

  23-09-2023 19:34 via it.slashdot.org
  
  "As more companies enforce their office mandates, some workers are choosing to quit instead of complying and returning to the office," reports the Washington Post.Workers say their reasons for quitting include everything from family to commuting expenses to being required to relocate. And many workers worry that people like those with disabilities or who are primary caregivers may be left behind due to their inability to successfully work from the office... Workers are pushing back, penning lett
  
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• India's Moon Lander Has Not Replied to Its First Wake-Up Call

  23-09-2023 18:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  "As the sun rose on Friday over the lunar plateau where India's Vikram lander and Pragyan rover sit, the robotic explorers remained silent," writes the New York Times:
  The Indian Space Research Organization, India's equivalent of NASA, said on Friday that mission controllers on the ground had sent a wake-up message to Vikram. The lander, as expected, did not reply. Efforts will continue over the next few days, but this could well be the conclusion of Chandrayaan-3, India's first successful space
  
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• Did Teens Ally with Ransomware Gangs for MGM Breach?

  23-09-2023 17:34 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Recent breaches of MGM's casino systems "were probably carried out by teens and young adults who have allied themselves with one of the world's most notorious ransomware gangs," writes the Washington Post's technology reporter.
  Their alliance with the "Scattered Spider" group is described as "part of a trend that has alarmed security experts and defenders of corporate computer networks." The group is said to be "very active in the past two years, targeting large companies via stolen employee cre
  
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• China's Quest for Human Genetic Data Spurs Fears of a DNA Arms Race

  23-09-2023 16:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  In 2020 Serbian scientists were gifted China's "Fire-Eye" labs, remembers the Washington Post. The sophisticated portable labs "excelled not only at cracking the genetic code for viruses, but also for humans, with machines that can decipher genetic instructions contained within the cells of every person on Earth, according to its Chinese inventors."
  Although some of them were temporary, "scores" of the portable labs "were donated or sold to foreign countries during the pandemic," reports the Was
  
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• Fed's Cook Sees Signs of AI Improving US Labor Productivity

  23-09-2023 14:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The use of AI in the economy presents many unanswered questions for policymakers though there is some evidence that it could improve labor productivity, according to Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. From a report: "The impact of AI on the economy and monetary policy will depend on whether AI is just another app or something more profound," Cook said in remarks prepared for delivery at the National Bureau of Economic Research's conference on artificial intelligence in Toronto Friday. "Empirica
  
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• Meredith Whittaker Reaffirms That Signal Would Leave UK If Forced By Privacy Bill

  23-09-2023 13:00 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Meredith Whittaker, the president of the Signal Foundation, which maintains the nonprofit Signal messaging app, reaffirmed that Signal would leave the U.K. if the country's recently passed Online Safety Bill forced Signal to build "backdoors" into its end-to-end encryption. From a report: "We would leave the U.K. or any jurisdiction if it came down to the choice between backdooring our encryption and betraying the people who count on us for privacy, or leaving," Whittaker said. "And that's never
  
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• Cyberpunk 2077 Finds Redemption Years After Calamitous Debut

  23-09-2023 10:00 via games.slashdot.org
  
  In 2019, CD Projekt Red unexpectedly announced Cyberpunk 2077's 2020 release, surprising some employees. Released in December 2020, it faced bugs and issues, symbolizing industry crunch. However, post-release updates, particularly in 2022, significantly improved the game, leading some to praise its transformation. A Kotaku critic wrote that the game "might finally be complete." But CD Projekt Red wasn't finished just yet. Now, in September 2023, the Cyberpunk 2077 saga is coming to an end with t
  
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• Advances in Eye Scans and Protein Structure Win 2023 Lasker Awards

  23-09-2023 07:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  The prestigious Lasker Awards were given this week to scientists making advances in the diagnosis of eye disease, the prediction of cellular protein structure and the intricacies of the immune system. The awards, closely watched by researchers in biomedical fields, often foreshadow Nobel Prizes. The New York Times adds: The Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award was given to a team of three scientists, led by James G. Fujimoto, a professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts I
  
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• China's AI 'War of a Hundred Models' Heads For a Shakeout

  23-09-2023 04:01 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: China's craze over generative artificial intelligence has triggered a flurry of product announcements from startups and tech giants on an almost daily basis, but investors are warning a shakeout is imminent as cost and profit pressures grow. The buzz in China, first ignited by the success of OpenAI's ChatGPT almost a year ago, has given rise to what a senior Tencent executive described this month as "war of a hundred models", as it and rivals from Baidu to Al
  
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• European Commission Hits Intel With New Fine Over Antitrust Findings

  23-09-2023 01:30 via slashdot.org
  
  The European Commission has re-imposed a fine of about $400 million on chipmaker Intel for abusing its dominant position in the x86 processor market. The move is the latest twist in an antitrust saga that has been now running for more than two decades. The Register: According to the Commission, the fine is in response to previously established anticompetitive practices by the silicon giant, aimed at excluding competitors from the market in breach of EU competition rules. The original fine handed
  
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• NASA's Webb Finds Carbon Source on Surface of Jupiter's Moon Europa

  23-09-2023 00:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  NASA, in a press release: Jupiter's moon Europa is one of a handful of worlds in our solar system that could potentially harbor conditions suitable for life. Previous research has shown that beneath its water-ice crust lies a salty ocean of liquid water with a rocky seafloor. However, planetary scientists had not confirmed if that ocean contained the chemicals needed for life, particularly carbon. Astronomers using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have identified carbon dioxide in a s
  
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