Gsus4

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/hardware/p/1701506/china-reveals-200-strong-ai-drone-swarm-that-can-be-controlled-by-a-single-soldier-inte

The PLA just introduced a new weapon in the drone arms race.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/54149315

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Peter Thiel's visit to the Institute of France, a learned society in the heart of Paris, was kept secret until the very last moment. There, behind closed doors, he was due to speak at a meeting of members of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, a working group intended to discuss "the future of democracy." The group, chaired by former minister Hervé Gaymard, has previously interviewed 25 figures, all French, mainly legal scholars, political scientists and historians.

Even Xavier Darcos, chancellor of the Institute of France, who oversees all five of its academies, was only informed of Thiel's invitation at the last minute. The invitation has caused a stir within the institution, not only because Thiel, the American billionaire who co-founded the online payment system PayPal and Palantir Technologies, a data analytics giant that works for many governments, is one of the biggest investors in the American tech sector. Rather, it is Thiel's political ideas, which openly contest democracy, that make his presence at the academy event decidedly provocative.

According to an outline of his speech sent to the academy, of which Le Monde obtained a copy in French, Thiel intended to introduce himself as "a moderate Orthodox Christian and a humble classical liberal, with one seemingly minor deviation from classical liberal orthodoxy: I worry about the Antichrist."

Through Thiel, however, the academy is about to encounter a far more radical worldview. The Antichrist, a figure he has given sometimes-cryptic talks on, drawing from both the Book of Daniel in the Bible and the writings of 16th-century English philosopher Francis Bacon, does not, according to him, refer to the rise of artificial intelligence or the proliferation of imperialist leaders. Thiel claims that today's Antichrist is anyone who expresses alarm about climate change, stokes fears of nuclear war or seeks to regulate the use of screens and social media platforms, all in order to promote the emergence of a "world government" – something libertarians, who are hostile to all forms of state regulation, dread above all.

"No screens in the bedroom, ever."

See, Apple? Even cars can do it :)

Abstract from the paper in the article:

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL109280

Large constellations of small satellites will significantly increase the number of objects orbiting the Earth. Satellites burn up at the end of service life during reentry, generating aluminum oxides as the main byproduct. These are known catalysts for chlorine activation that depletes ozone in the stratosphere. We present the first atomic-scale molecular dynamics simulation study to resolve the oxidation process of the satellite's aluminum structure during mesospheric reentry, and investigate the ozone depletion potential from aluminum oxides. We find that the demise of a typical 250-kg satellite can generate around 30 kg of aluminum oxide nanoparticles, which may endure for decades in the atmosphere. Aluminum oxide compounds generated by the entire population of satellites reentering the atmosphere in 2022 are estimated at around 17 metric tons. Reentry scenarios involving mega-constellations point to over 360 metric tons of aluminum oxide compounds per year, which can lead to significant ozone depletion.

PS: wooden satellites can help mitigate this https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01456-z