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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

It’s been just over two months since Kathleen Hicks stepped down as US deputy secretary of defense. As the highest-ranking woman in Pentagon history, Hicks shaped US military posture through an era defined by renewed competition between powerful countries and a scramble to modernize defense technology.  

She’s currently taking a break before jumping into her (still unannounced) next act. “It’s been refreshing,” she says—but disconnecting isn’t easy. She continues to monitor defense developments closely and expresses concern over potential setbacks: “New administrations have new priorities, and that’s completely expected, but I do worry about just stalling out on progress that we've built over a number of administrations.”

Over the past three decades, Hicks has watched the Pentagon transform—politically, strategically, and technologically. She entered government in the 1990s at the tail end of the Cold War, when optimism and a belief in global cooperation still dominated US foreign policy. But that optimism dimmed. After 9/11, the focus shifted to counterterrorism and nonstate actors. Then came Russia’s resurgence and China’s growing assertiveness. Hicks took two previous breaks from government work—the first to complete a PhD at MIT and the second to join the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she focused on defense strategy. “By the time I returned in 2021,” she says, “there was one actor—the PRC (People’s Republic of China)—that had the capability and the will to really contest the international system as it’s set up.”

In this conversation with MIT Technology Review, Hicks reflects on how the Pentagon is adapting—or failing to adapt—to a new era of geopolitical competition. She discusses China’s technological rise, the future of AI in warfare, and her signature initiative, Replicator, a Pentagon initiative to rapidly field thousands of low-cost autonomous systems such as drones.

Yes, I do. China is the biggest pacing challenge we face, which means it sets the pace for most capability areas for what we need to be able to defeat to deter them. For example, surface maritime capability, missile capability, stealth fighter capability. They set their minds to achieving a certain capability, they tend to get there, and they tend to get there even faster.

That said, they have a substantial amount of corruption, and they haven’t been engaged in a real conflict or combat operation in the way that Western militaries have trained for or been involved in, and that is a huge X factor in how effective they would be.

I would never want to underestimate their ability—or any nation’s ability—to innovate organically when they put their minds to it. But I still think it’s a helpful comparison to look at the US model. Because we’re a system of free minds, free people, and free markets, we have the potential to generate much more innovation culturally and organically than a statist model does. That’s our advantage—if we can realize it.

I do think it’s a massive problem. When we were conceiving Replicator, one of the big concerns was that DJI had just jumped way out ahead on the manufacturing side, and the US had been left behind. A lot of manufacturers here believe they can catch up if given the right contracts—and I agree with that.

DJI’s commercial-use drones are affordable and powerful, but their applications in a war zone have raised concerns in the US and beyond.

taylorvich writes:

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-04-rare-crystal-strength-3d-metal.html

Andrew Iams saw something strange while looking through his electron microscope. He was examining a sliver of a new aluminum alloy at the atomic scale, searching for the key to its strength, when he noticed that the atoms were arranged in an extremely unusual pattern.

"That's when I started to get excited," said Iams, a materials research engineer, "because I thought I might be looking at a quasicrystal."

Not only did he find quasicrystals in this aluminum alloy, but he and his colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) found that these quasicrystals also make it stronger. They have published their findings in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds.

The alloy formed under the extreme conditions of 3D metal printing, a new way to make metal parts. Understanding this aluminum on the atomic scale will enable a whole new category of 3D-printed parts such as airplane components, heat exchangers and car chassis. It will also open the door to research on new aluminum alloys that use quasicrystals for strength.

Quasicrystals are like ordinary crystals but with a few key differences.

A traditional crystal is any solid made of atoms or molecules in repeating patterns. Table salt is a common crystal, for example. Salt's atoms connect to make cubes, and those microscopic cubes connect to form bigger cubes that are large enough to see with the naked eye.

There are only 230 possible ways for atoms to form repeating crystal patterns. Quasicrystals don't fit into any of them. Their unique shape lets them form a pattern that fills the space, but never repeats.

Dan Shechtman, a materials scientist at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, discovered quasicrystals while on sabbatical at NIST in the 1980s. Many scientists at the time thought his research was flawed because the new crystal shapes he found weren't possible under the normal rules for crystals. But through careful research, Shechtman proved beyond a doubt that this new type of crystal existed, revolutionizing the science of crystallography and winning the chemistry Nobel Prize in 2011.

Working in the same building as Shechtman decades later, Andrew Iams found his own quasicrystals in 3D-printed aluminum.

aliks writes:

For the first time, scientists map the half-billion connections that allow mice to see

"Writing in Scientific American in 1979, the leading biologist of his era, Francis Crick, suggested that technological innovators in neuroscience should focus on achieving attainable goals. "It is no use asking for the impossible, such as, say, the exact wiring diagram for a cubic millimeter of brain tissue and the way all its neurons are firing."

[...] "After nine years of painstaking work, an international team of researchers at Princeton have this week published a precise map of the vision centers of a mouse brain, revealing the exquisite structures and functional systems of mammalian perception.

To date, it is the largest and most detailed such rendering of neural circuits in a mammalian brain."

"In making the map, the researchers digitally disentangled tens of thousands of individual tree-like neurons, traced each neuron's distinct system of branches, and then reconstructed them one by one into a vast network of circuitry—what scientists call a "connectome."

"Princeton University's H. Sebastian Seung, the Evnin Professor in Neuroscience compared the broader impacts of a future project mapping the human connectome to the Human Genome Project's transformation of genomics.

"Of course, there are key differences between the genome and the connectome. Namely, whereas the genome can be written on a single line using sequences of a four-letter alphabet, the brain is a morass of tangled fibers that process information in real time on an extremely small energy budget. But the potential for transformation of brain science could prove to be even more breathtaking than that of genomics."

More information: The MICrONS Consortium, Functional connectomics spanning multiple areas of mouse visual cortex, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08790-w

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upstart writes:

Commission targets in-game currency in children's video games:

The European Commission announced on Friday a new consumer protection probe into Star Stable Online, a children's video game where players explore an online world by riding horses and competing with friends in obstacle races.

However, players who spend real money gain advantages within the game. To acquire items, players – mostly children – must exchange real money for in-game currency, known as "star coins".

The European Commission, in collaboration with the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (which brings together consumer protection organisations from member states), has requested information from Swedish game developer Star Stable Entertainment AB to understand their commercial practices.

In a statement, the EU consumer protection group noted: "Consumers – especially children and teenagers who are regular video game users – remain very vulnerable to such manipulative and unfair practices," welcoming the Commission's first steps.

The company has one month to respond to the request for information.

Meanwhile, the Commission has issued guidelines on the use of in-game currency in video games, emphasising the need for clarity, respect for withdrawal rights, and avoiding pressure, particularly with vulnerable users such as children. "Children spend a lot of time online, gaming and interacting on social media. This makes them an attractive target for traders and advertisers," said Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Justice and Consumer Protection.

"It is crucial to ensure a safe online environment for consumers, particularly children, so they can enjoy gaming without facing unfair practices."

In the press release, the European Commission clarified that it will "continue to examine these topics in the context of forthcoming consultations on the Digital Fairness Act".

The Act, currently under development, aims to close gaps in existing rules. Expected in mid-2026, consultations with stakeholders will begin next spring.

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Vicious cycles are accelerating climate change. One is happening at the north pole, where rising temperatures caused by record levels of fossil fuel combustion are melting more and more sea ice.

Indeed, the extent of Arctic winter sea ice in March 2025 was the lowest ever recorded. This decline in sea ice means the Earth reflects less of the sun's energy back into space. So, more climate change leads to less sea ice—and more climate change.

Human behavior is not immune to this dynamic either, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). It identified another troubling feedback loop: demand for coal rose 1% globally in 2024 off the back of intense heat waves in China and India, which spurred a frenzy for air-conditioners and excess fuel to power them.

The need to cool ourselves, and briefly escape the consequences of climate change, is driving more climate change. Thankfully, there are ways to break these cycles and form greener habits. Today, we'll look at one in particular.

[...] If wealthy countries paid the enormous climate finance debt they owe the developing world, it could help finance the closing of this gap. And thankfully, advancements in renewable energy technology mean no one should need to contribute to a spike in fossil fuel use just to keep cool.

"The absurdity of resorting to coal to power air conditioners … is difficult to miss," say a team of engineers and energy experts at Nottingham Trent University and Coventry University, led by Tom Rogers. They recommend rooftop solar panels instead, which can soak up sunshine during heat waves and turn it into electricity for air-conditioning units.

"Rooftop solar can also reduce demand for cooling by keeping buildings in the shade," the team say. "A study conducted by Arizona State University found that even a modest group of solar panels that shade about half a roof can lead to anything from 2% to 13% reduction in cooling demand, depending on factors such as location, roof type and insulation levels."

looorg writes:

The Ministry of Justice is developing a system that aims to 'predict' who will commit murder, as part of a "data science" project using sensitive personal data on hundreds of thousands of people.

So an AI fueled minority report. Never one to shy from dystopian future. They are apparently want to try and re-create Minority Report with AI. Instead of the three mutants predicting the future they'll have a machine. Apparently there are indicators to murderers. Things to be predicted.

https://www.statewatch.org/news/2025/april/uk-ministry-of-justice-secretly-developing-murder-prediction-system/
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/08/uk-creating-prediction-tool-to-identify-people-most-likely-to-kill

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oregonjohn writes:

Okay, I don't really know what I'm talking about here. Let's just get that up front and recognized. The president of the board for Soylent Phoenix is a pretty bad script kiddie and not a programmer at all.

But, we have a problem on SoylentNews with using Stripe for donating for membership. Paypal works on the site but some folks don't want to send them any business and Stripe is an acceptable alternative.

My brief reading of https://docs.stripe.com/js/including indicates there is such a thing as a Stripe.js module.

Would this help the site maintainers? Can they just drop a js module into the system? Like I said, I know nothing.

Do you know how to create a module? If you do maybe you could help the site to use one so that Stripe will work on SoylentNews without a lot of fiddling around, could you?

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

GlobalFoundries is mulling a possible merger with Taiwanese semiconductor producer United Microelectronics Corp. to strengthen their shared role in making chips using mature and specialty process technologies, according to an assessment document reviewed by Tom's Hardware.

The document outlines plans for 'Project Ultron,' which is meant to create a powerhouse controlling a significant share of the global production of chips. However, the plan will likely face major financial, political, and regulatory challenges. Nikkei has also reported on the matter, citing that it has reviewed an assessment plan. UMC has denied involvement, saying it is not currently conducting a merger.

[...] Tim Breen, named GlobalFoundries's next chief executive in February, will take over in April and is considering acquiring UMC, one of GF's main rivals. Combining two major foundries would create a stronger competitor in the mature-node segment (e.g., 28nm and above), essential for automotive, industrial, and legacy applications.

The combined company is expected to control around 28% of the mainstream node foundry revenue, and a greater scale would enable better pricing power, operational efficiency, and stronger negotiating leverage with customers. The GF-UMC, if combined, will still be smaller than TSMC, which controls 44% of the mainstream node share.

There is a rationale for GlobalFoundries to buy its rival and for UMC to become a part of GF. The mature-node segment is increasingly threatened by low-cost Chinese fabs, and a combined GF-UMC entity could consolidate global capacity and better compete on cost, scale, and reliability. Also, UMC and GF have different but complementary customer sets, so a merger could enable cross-selling, better utilization of fabs, and more diversified revenue streams, reducing business risks.

Also, UMC is heavily concentrated in Taiwan, while GF operates fabs in the U.S., Germany, and Singapore, so a merger would spread geographic risk, reduce reliance on Taiwan, and appeal to customers and governments looking for supply chain resilience. Taiwan would still lead with 40% of capacity (UMC), followed by Singapore with 25% (shared by both), and smaller shares in China (11%), Germany (9%), the USA (9%), and Japan (6%). Growth is expected in the USA, Germany, and Singapore, while capacity in China and Taiwan is projected to decline.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

There’s a newfound mismatch between matter and antimatter. And that could bring physicists one step closer to understanding how everything in the universe came to be.

For the most part, particles and their oppositely charged antiparticles are like perfect mirror images of one another. But some particles disobey this symmetry, a phenomenon known as charge-parity, or CP, violation. Now, researchers at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva have spotted CP violation in a class of particles called baryons, where it’s never been confirmed before. 

Baryons are particles that contain three smaller particles called quarks. The most famous examples of baryons are protons and neutrons. Previously, scientists had seen CP violation only in mesons, which are particles containing one quark and one antiquark.

For the new study, researchers with the LHCb collaboration studied particles called lambda-b baryons. The scientists looked at a decay of a lambda-b baryon into a proton and three lesser-known particles: a kaon and two pions. The rate of this decay is slightly different than that of its antimatter counterpart, the team found. This difference indicates CP violation, the researchers report in a paper submitted March 21 to arXiv.org and in a March 25 talk at the Rencontres de Moriond meeting in La Thuile, Italy.

Building on previous hints of CP violation in baryons, the study is the first to cross the statistical threshold for a discovery, known as five sigma.

A better understanding of CP violation could help explain how matter came to dominate over antimatter. In the Big Bang, matter and antimatter were made in equal measure. CP violation is thought to have given matter the upper hand. But known processes don’t violate CP enough to account for the matter-antimatter imbalance. The new study doesn’t solve that quandary, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Original Submission

Some may remember the initial press on the Aptera streamlined solar-assisted BEV...that was 2005. For some reason, looking at the aircraft-like shape again reminded me of the Buffalo Springfield / Neil Young song, "If flying on the ground is wrong..."

After one bankruptcy, resurrection and continued development, the company is still going. Here's a recent release including video of a road trip, which claimed about 20 miles of solar charging during the part-cloudy day, https://www.automotivetestingtechnologyinternational.com/news/prototypes/apteras-test-vehicle-completes-solar-supported-road-trip.html
No obvious drama in driving it, but it was all highway and rural 2 lane. No city traffic.

It's exactly the sort of thing I'd like, but the company history is pretty sketchy. I'm typically not an early adopter and looking from here I doubt that the company will ever be well enough established to risk buying one.

Overview of the company here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptera_Motors

Original Submission

liar writes:

Framework Halts Sales of Select Laptops in the US Amid Tariff Changes https://www.techpowerup.com/335198/framework-halts-sales-of-select-laptops-in-the-us-amid-tariff-changes (reported by by AleksandarK)

"Framework, the maker of modular laptops, has temporarily halted sales of specific models in the US due to newly imposed tariffs. The move affects the Laptop 13 configurations. The company shared its decision through the official X account: "Due to the new tariffs that came into effect on April 5th, we're temporarily pausing US sales on a few base Framework Laptop 13 systems (Ultra 5 125H and Ryzen 5 7640U). For now, these models will be removed from our US site. We will continue to provide updates as we have them." The tariff adjustment, which raises import duties on goods from Taiwan to 10 percent, directly impacts Framework's cost structure. Originally priced assuming a zero percent tariff rate, the affected devices would now incur losses if sold at current pricing due to the zero-tariff situation in the past. In a detailed follow-up, Framework noted that other consumer electronics firms have undertaken similar recalculations, though few have publicly acknowledged their course of action.

Currently, the Ultra 5 125H model has already been removed from Framework's online store. Other models, such as the Ultra 7 155H and Ultra 7 165H, are for now discounted by up to eight percent, suggesting a temporary price adjustment strategy rather than a complete market withdrawal. Higher end AMD Ryzen 7 7840U SKUs are discounted by 10% and 12%, which is interesting. Framework's situation is just a part of the shift happening across industries triggered by the US administration's recent tariff changes. While Framework's statement leaves the possibility of resumed US sales open, no timeline has been provided. The consequences of the tariff shift are still unfolding across global supply chains."

Original Submission

fliptop writes:

Wendell Berry's list from 1987 is more relevant than ever before:

What do you want from new technology?

[...] Wendell Berry provided a list of nine reasonable requirements for new tech back in 1987, and they're still appropriate today.

Berry's list is actually more relevant than ever before. And the failure of tech companies to meet his modest demands is now painfully evident to everybody.

It wasn't always this bad.

[...]

1. The new tool should be cheaper than the one it replaces.
2. It should be at least as small in scale as the one it replaces.
3. It should do work that is clearly and demonstrably better than the one it replaces.
4. It should use less energy than the one it replaces.
5. If possible, it should use some form of solar energy, such as that of the body.
6. It should be repairable by a person of ordinary intelligence, provided that he or she has the necessary tools.
7. It should be purchasable and repairable as near to home as possible.
8. It should come from a small, privately owned shop or store that will take it back for maintenance and repair.
9. It should not replace or disrupt anything good that already exists, and this includes family and community relationships.

[...] The curious fact is that the most up-to-date and forward-looking thing is this whole article is Berry's list from 1987. Nothing on it is obsolescent or inappropriate or dysfunctional or harmful.

TFA discusses each rule and provides examples how the opposite is what's actually happening today.

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

In 2013, dozens of dolphins living in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon mysteriously began to die. Their remains washed up, showing the animals had been emaciated. Now, over a decade later, ecologists believe they’ve figured out the cause of the bizarre die-off.

While the deaths have long been linked to gigantic algae blooms in the water, it took until now to determine exactly how the two events were connected, and it turns out, it’s mostly humanity’s fault. This might be hard to believe, but apparently dumping massive amounts of human waste and fertilizer into waterways can be bad.

As the ecologists note in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, the long-lasting phytoplankton blooms began in 2011. The spread of the tiny plant-like organisms led to a widespread change in the Indian River Lagoon’s ecology. Their presence caused the amount of seagrass in the water to decrease by over 50%, and a 75% loss of macroalgae (better known as seaweed).

That alone wouldn’t have killed off the dolphins, but when the ecologists examined isotopic ratios in teeth samples taken from the carcasses, and compared them to teeth taken from 44 dolphins that hadn’t been part of the die-off, they realized their diets had been drastically altered. The dolphins had eaten 14% to 20% fewer ladyfish, a key dolphin prey animal, but had eaten up to 25% more sea bream, a less nutritious fish. In essence, the presence of such large amounts of phytoplankton had reduced the amount of food available for the dolphins’ usual prey. As the prey numbers dwindled, the dolphins had to catch more prey to consume the same amount of energy. The effects weren’t felt just by those dolphins that died, but by the area’s dolphin population as a whole. At the time, 64% of observed dolphins were underweight, while 5% were classified as emaciated.

“In combination, the shift in diets and the widespread presence of malnourishment suggest that dolphins were struggling to catch enough prey of any type,” said Wendy Noke Durden, a research scientist at the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, who worked on the research, in a statement. “The loss of key structural habitats may have reduced overall foraging success by causing changes in the abundance and distribution of prey.”

The historic record bears this out. According to records kept of the recorded causes of death for stranded dolphins, starvation was the cause of death in 17% of recorded dolphin deaths in the area between 2000 and 2020. That number spiked to 61% in 2013.

“Blooms of phytoplankton are part of productive ecological systems,” said Charles Jacoby, strategic program director at the University of South Florida, who also worked on the study. “Detrimental effects arise when the quantities of nutrients entering a system fuel unusually intense, widespread, or long-lasting blooms. In most cases, people’s activities drive these excess loads. Managing our activities to keep nutrients at a safe level is key to preventing blooms that disrupt ecological systems.”

There is a small silver lining to this grisly finding. As the researchers noted, waste and other crap dumped into Indian River Lagoon is being gradually reduced and is expected to hit safe levels in 2035.

Journal Reference: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1531742

Original Submission

taylorvich writes:

https://phys.org/news/2025-04-bird-stay-unravel-entanglement-stiff.html

The concept of constructing a self-supporting structure made of rods—without the use of nails, ropes, or glue—dates back to Leonardo da Vinci. In the Codex Atlanticus, da Vinci illustrated a design for a self-supporting bridge across a river, which can be easily demonstrated using toothpicks, matches, or chopsticks. However, this design is fragile—pulling one of the rods or pushing the bridge from below can cause it to collapse.

In contrast, bird nests—which are also self-supporting structures consisting of rigid sticks and twigs—are remarkably stable despite continuous disturbances such as wind, ground vibrations, and the landing or takeoff of birds. What makes bird nests so sturdy?

This was the question at the center of a recent paper from L. Mahadevan and his team at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Mahadevan is the Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and of Physics at SEAS and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. The paper was co-authored by Thomas Plumb-Reyes and Hao-Yu Greg Lin.

While entanglement in small, flexible systems, such as polymers, is well understood, less is known about how stiff, macroscale components entangle, especially when they are densely packed.

"When we think about entanglement, we typically think about flexible, individual constituents wrapping around each other, as exemplified in tangled headphone cords or entangling vines," said Mahadevan. "Contrary to this common intuition, stiff and straight rods can also entangle themselves—if they are long or thin enough."

To understand how, the researchers used X-ray tomography—a technique that creates a detailed cross-section of an object—as well as computer simulation and experimentation to peer inside and reconstruct the complex structure of bird nests.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Melting occurs despite Corsair's first-party 600W 12VHPWR cable being used.

Another Blackwell GPU bites the dust, as the meltdown reaper has reportedly struck a Redditor's MSI GeForce RTX 5090 Gaming Trio OC, with the impact tragically extending to the power supply as well. Ironically, the user avoided third-party cables and specifically used the original power connector, the one that was supplied with the PSU, yet both sides of the connector melted anyway.

Nvidia's GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs face an inherent design flaw where all six 12V pins are internally tied together. The GPU has no way of knowing if all cables are seated properly, preventing it from balancing the power load. In the worst-case scenario, five of the six pins may lose contact, resulting in almost 500W (41A) being drawn from a single pin. Given that PCI-SIG originally rated these pins for a maximum of 9.5A, this is a textbook fire/meltdown risk.

The GPU we're looking at today is the MSI RTX 5090 Gaming Trio OC, which, on purchase, set the Redditor back a hefty $2,900. That's still a lot better than the average price of an RTX 5090 from sites like eBay, currently sitting around $4,000. Despite using Corsair's first-party 600W 12VHPWR cable, the user was left with a melted GPU-side connector, a fate which extended to the PSU.

The damage, in the form of a charred contact point, is quite visible and clearly looks as if excess current was drawn from one specific pin, corresponding to the same design flaw mentioned above. The user is weighing an RMA for their GPU and PSU, but a GPU replacement is quite unpredictable due to persistent RTX 50 series shortages. Sadly, these incidents are still rampant despite Nvidia's assurances before launch.

With the onset of enablement drivers (R570) for Blackwell, both RTX 50 and RTX 40 series GPUs began suffering from instability and crashes. Despite multiple patches from Nvidia, RTX 40 series owners haven't seen a resolution and are still reliant on reverting to older 560-series drivers. Moreover, Nvidia's decision to discontinue 32-bit OpenCL and PhysX support with RTX 50 series GPUs has left the fate of many legacy applications and games in limbo.

As of now, the only foolproof method to secure your RTX 50 series GPU is to ensure optimal current draw through each pin. You might want to consider Asus' ROG Astral GPUs as they can provide per-pin current readings, a feature that's absent in reference RTX 5090 models. Alternatively, if feeling adventurous, maybe develop your own power connector with built-in safety measures and per-pin sensing capabilities?

Original Submission