Nightshade, the free tool that ‘poisons’ AI models, is now available for artists to use
"The tool's creators are seeking to make it so that AI model developers must pay artists to train on data from them that is uncorrupted." Artists can now use this software to modify their art and influence the big tech owners of AI tools to properly recognise the original works. Growing the poisonous...
Source: venturebeat.com
The Vulnerable World Hypothesis
"This paper introduces the concept of a vulnerable world: roughly, one in which there is some level of technological development at which civilization almost certainly gets devastated by default, i.e. unless it has exited the ‘semi-anarchic default condition’. Several counterfactual historical and...
Source: doi.org
Is Vaccination Approaching a Dangerous Tipping Point? Peter Marks. Robert Califf. JAMA.
This Viewpoint discusses declining vaccination rates in the US, specifically against COVID-19, and the ways in which clinicians and the Food and Drug Administration can counter the current large volume of vaccine misinformation.
Source: jamanetwork.com
Egypt becomes the first country to achieve WHO validation on the path to elimination of hepatitis C
Source: who.int
Spem in alium nunquam habui (Hope in any other, never did I have)
This piece of music is probably like nothing you have ever heard. Maybe because it is nearly 500 years old it feels like it is from another world. Maybe because it is written for eight choirs with five voices each the forty parts it's so complex you'd be pressed even to hum some of the tune afterwards....
Source: wikipedia.org
Tax Filing Websites Caught Sending Users' Financial Data to Facebook - ExtremeTech
Filing status, dependent names, adjusted gross income...once it's on any of these three websites, it's likely in Facebook's hands. ”H&R Block, one of the country’s most recognizable tax filing firms, was found using Meta Pixel to obtain users’ health savings account usage data as well as dependents’...
Source: extremetech.com
‘A seismic shift could be underway’: the mission to make steel green
If steel were a country, it would be the planet’s third largest emitter. But the race to decarbonise the sector is gaining momentum
Source: positive.news
Fusion energy record demonstrates powerplant future
"Landmark results from EUROfusion scientists and engineers at world-leading UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Joint European Torus (JET) facility in Oxford. "Record-breaking 59 megajoules of sustained fusion energy demonstrates powerplant potential and strengthens case for ITER." "The record and scientific...
Source: ukaea.uk
For the first time in generations, this tribe in Washington has land
The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe has purchased thousands of acres of ancestral forestlands in East King County.
Source: opb.org
Combat drones: We are in a new era of warfare - here's why
No longer the preserve of superpowers, drones are now in the hands of insurgents and smaller countries.
Source: bbc.com
Early warnings and emerging accountability: Total's responses to global warming, 1971-2021 Global Environmental Change.
Building upon recent work on other major fossil fuel companies, we report new archival research and primary source interviews describing how Total responded to evolving climate science and policy in the last 50 years. We show that Total personnel received warnings of the potential for catastrophic global...
Source: sciencedirect.com
New WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines aim to save millions of lives from air pollution
"Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change. New guidelines provide clear evidence of the damage air pollution inflicts on human health, at even lower concentrations than previously understood." "Global assessments of ambient air pollution alone...
Source: who.int
New WHO toolkit promotes inclusion of people with dementia in society
“Towards a dementia-inclusive society: WHO toolkit for dementia-friendly initiatives”, launched today, is WHO’s latest response for establishing and scaling-up dementia-friendly initiatives globally. The toolkit helps countries raise public awareness and understanding of dementia to support people...
Source: who.int
Mirror, Mirror 2021: Reflecting Poorly | Commonwealth Fund
"How the 11 Countries Rank on Performance. The top-performing countries overall are Norway, the Netherlands, and Australia. The next three countries in the ranking — the U.K., Germany, and New Zealand — perform very similarly to one another." The UK was ranked #1 overall in 2017 - the last time this...
Source: commonwealthfund.org
Visa-free touring granted for UK artists in 19 EU countries – while industry demands "honesty" from government
"The government has announced that visa-free touring has been negotiated for UK artists in 19 EU member countries" This is great news for musicians but also good to see that individual EU states also still have control over their borders (they always did). It will be great for us all to have freedom...
Source: nme.com
Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants
All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, change over time. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus’ properties. However, some changes may affect the virus’s properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance...
Source: who.int
Greta Thunberg aims to change how food is produced
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has set her sights on changing how the world produces and consumes food in order to counteract a trio of threats: carbon emissions, disease outbreaks and animal suffering.
Source: reuters.com
Germany declares U.K. a virus variant region
Germany's public health institute on Friday declared Britain and Northern Ireland a virus variant region, requiring anyone entering the country from the United Kingdom to quarantine for two weeks on arrival.
Source: reuters.com
US passes emergency waiver over fuel pipeline cyber-attack
The US acts to keep fuel flowing after its largest pipeline was hit by a ransomware cyber-attack. "Cyber-security firm Digital Shadows says the Colonial attack has come about due to the pandemic - with more engineers remotely accessing control systems for the pipeline from home. James Chappell, co-founder...
Source: bbc.com
To them that hath: economic complexity and local industrial strategy in the UK Penny Mealy. Diane Coyle. International Tax
Divergent economic performance in many countries has led to renewed interest in place-based policies, such as the UK’s local industrial strategies at the level of Combined Authorities or Local Economic Partnerships. However, an analysis of employment data using methods from the economic complexity...
Source: springer.com
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