ICT news

• New Nuclear Fuel Rods Endure 3,452F For 120-Day Test, Raising Hopes for Safer Reactors

  06-12-2024 23:35 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Nuclear rods are traditionally clad in metal. But a U.S. energy company wants to develop a better, safer alternative that instead uses silicon carbide composites. Working with America's Energy Department, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems just completed a 120-day irradiation testing period simulating the intense radiation and extreme temperatures (3,452F) of a pressurized water reactor in a real-world nuclear power plant.
  And the tests "showed no significant mass change, indicating promisi
  
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• ElonMusk's AI Chatbot 'Grok' is Now Free to All X Users

  06-12-2024 21:59 via slashdot.org
  
  "Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok is now available to free users on X," reports the Verge:
  Several users noticed the change on Friday, which gives non-Premium subscribers the ability to send up to 10 messages to Grok every two hours.
  xAI launched Grok last year as a "humorous AI assistant," but it was only available to Premium subscribers... Making Grok more widely available might help it compete with the already-free chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Anthropic's C
  
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• TikTok is One Step Closer to Being Banned in the US

  06-12-2024 20:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  "TikTok has lost its bid to strike down a law that could result in the platform being banned in the United States," reports CNN.
  A U.S. federal appeals court just unanimously ruled in favor of the new U.S. law requiring TikTok's China-based owners to either sell the app next month or face an effective ban in the United States.Denying TikTok's argument that the law was unconstitutional, the judges found that the law does not "contravene the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
  
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• Linux Preps for Kunpeng ARM Server SoC With High Bandwidth Memory

  06-12-2024 19:34 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shared this report from Phoronix:
  New Linux patches from Huawei engineers are preparing new driver support for controlling High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) with the ARM-based Kunpeng high performance SoC...
  [I]t would appear there is a new Kunpeng SoC coming that will feature integrated High Bandwidth Memory (HBM).Unless I missed something, this Kunpeng SoC with HBM memory hasn't been formally announced yet and I haven't been able to find any other references short of pointing to
  
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• NATO Considers Watching Undersea Internet Cables with a Fleet of Unmanned Boats

  06-12-2024 18:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shared this report from Defense News:
  Following a pattern of undersea cable damage across European waters in the last year, with the most recent disruptions happening just weeks ago, top NATO officials have begun envisioning a capability that would allow the alliance to have permanent eyes above and under the waterline. In an interview with Defense News, Admiral Pierre Vandier, the alliance's Norfolk, Virginia-based commander for concepts and transformation, likened the idea
  
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• Google, Other OpenAI Rivals Make Their Own Big Announcements

  06-12-2024 17:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Thursday OpenAI released a "smarter, faster" ChatGPT. But there's still competition, notes the tech site Tom's Guide (which is liveblogging December's AI news). "Not to be outdone by OpenAI, this week has seen several big announcements by other AI companies."Google Deepmind unveiled Genie 2, a tool capable of creating limitless 3D environments. It could create playable games based on a single text input.
  ElevenLabs announced a new Conversational AI system. It's a voice bot meant to feel like you
  
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• Mozilla's Announces 'JavaScriptmas' - Daily Coding Challenges with a Chance at Prizes

  06-12-2024 16:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Mozilla's developer blog is announcing "JavaScriptmas".[F]rom December 1st to December 24th, we will release a fun, daily coding challenge for you to solve on [code-learning platform] Scrimba. Each challenge comes with an introductory screencast called "scrim", some starter code, and then it's your turn to fill in the gaps.
  JavaScriptmas is about coding, learning, and the chance to win exciting prizes. Two lucky coders will be chosen as winners at the end of JavaScriptmas, and each will win a Ma
  
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• Mozilla Announces 'JavaScriptmas' - Daily Coding Challenges with a Chance at Prizes

  06-12-2024 16:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Mozilla's developer blog is announcing "JavaScriptmas".[F]rom December 1st to December 24th, we will release a fun, daily coding challenge for you to solve on [code-learning platform] Scrimba. Each challenge comes with an introductory screencast called "scrim", some starter code, and then it's your turn to fill in the gaps.
  JavaScriptmas is about coding, learning, and the chance to win exciting prizes. Two lucky coders will be chosen as winners at the end of JavaScriptmas, and each will win a Ma
  
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• Do Electric Cars Offer 'Fake Shifting, Real Fun'?

  06-12-2024 13:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The Verge is applauding Hyundai's electric SUV, the IONIQ 5 for "Fake shifting, real fun." And others agree. "The Ioniq 5 N is also special for how it simulates the 'feel' of gear shifting," writes the blog Inside EVs, "including the jolt and brief interruption in power that happens and the mechanical resistance that's normal upon downshifting.
  "The Ioniq 5 N also simulates engine sounds through the speakers, will let you rev the 'engine' while parked and has a 'redline' you'll hit before you ne
  
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• 75 Years of Lead in Gasoline Caused 150 Million Mental Health Disorders, Study Finds

  06-12-2024 09:34 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The use of lead in gasoline "might have harmed the mental health of a generation," reports USA Today.
  Gen X bears an extra burden of conditions such as depression, anxiety, ADHD and neurotic behavior because of the leaded gasoline they were exposed to as children, according to a study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Leaded gas was banned in the United States in 1996, but the study said years of exposure during development made them particularl
  
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• The Verge Explains Why, After 13 Years, It's Offering a 'Subscription' Option for Its Supporters

  06-12-2024 05:34 via news.slashdot.org
  
  "Okay, we're doing this," begins a new announcement at The Verge:Today we're launching a Verge subscription that lets you get rid of a bunch of ads, gets you unlimited access to our top-notch reporting and analysis across the site and our killer premium newsletters, and generally lets you support independent tech journalism in a world of sponsored influencer content. It'll cost $7 / month or $50 / year — and for a limited time, if you sign up for the annual plan, we'll send you an absolute
  
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• OpenAI Releases 'Smarter, Faster' ChatGPT - Plus $200-a-Month Subscriptions for 'Even-Smarter Mode'

  06-12-2024 03:34 via slashdot.org
  
  Wednesday OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced "12 Days of OpenAI," promising that "Each weekday, we will have a livestream with a launch or demo..." And sure enough, today he announced the launch of two things:- "o1, the smartest model in the world. Smarter, faster, and more features (e.g. multimodality) than o1-preview. Live in ChatGPT now, coming to API soon."
  - "ChatGPT Pro. $200/month. Unlimited usage and even-smarter mode for using o1. More benefits to come!"
  Altman added this update later:
  For
  
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• Earth Began Absorbing More Sunlight in 2023, Climate Researchers Find

  06-12-2024 01:25 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Today a group of German scientists presented data suggesting Earth is absorbing more sunlight than in the past, reports Ars Technica, "largely due to reduced cloud cover."
  We can measure both the amount of energy the Earth receives from the Sun and how much energy it radiates back into space.... The new paper finds that the energy imbalance set a new high in 2023, with a record amount of energy being absorbed by the ocean/atmosphere system. This wasn't accompanied by a drop in infrared emissions
  
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• Millions of Cubans Had Another Power Outage Wednesday

  06-12-2024 00:25 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Wednesday Cuba's energy grid collapsed, "leaving millions without power," CNN reported, calling it "the latest in a series of failures on an island struggling from creaking infrastructure, natural disasters and economic turmoil."
  Today Reuters reports:Cuba said it had reconnected its national electrical grid on Thursday, though generation remained well below demand one day after a plant failure knocked out power to millions across the island... Around half of Cuba's power generation facilities a
  
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