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How machine learning might unlock earthquake prediction

Researchers are applying artificial intelligence and other techniques in the quest to forecast quakes in time to help people find safety.
Source: technologyreview.com

NFTs died a slow, painful death in 2023 as most are now worthless

A reminder that early adoption of technology is not without risk. "Non-fungible tokens promised to revolutionise the concept of ownership using the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, but the market seems to have all but collapsed."
Source: newscientist.com

Ransomware group LockBit apologizes saying 'partner' was behind SickKids attack | CBC News

A global ransomware operator has issued a rare apology after it claims one of its "partners" was behind a cyberattack on Canada's largest pediatric medical centre.
Source: www.cbc.ca

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

Fleeing Russian bombs while battling Facebook. A Meta problem Ukrainian journalists did not need. - Coda Story

The challenge of local journalism and of censoring during war. "Facebook says it’s fighting disinformation and blocking Russian propaganda. But independent newsrooms in eastern Ukraine say they’re being restricted under the same rules."
Source: codastory.com

Britishvolt: Electric car battery plant gets government funding

Britishvolt says the money (£100m) unlocks huge private investment for a protect that will create thousands of jobs. See also Britishvolt.com The figure seems to be half of the proposed Government investment which was anticipated to be £200m - £250m in December.
Source: bbc.com

Meet the rogue birding group blocking wind energy at every turn

The American Bird Conservancy has repeatedly obstructed wind energy projects and become a go-to source for renewable energy opponents.
Source: grist.org

Extinction Rebellion protesters block London's Tower Bridge

Demonstrators from the Extinction Rebellion group, which is demanding urgent action by governments and business to limit climate change and biodiversity loss, staged a sit-down protest that stopped traffic from using Tower Bridge in London on Monday.
Source: reuters.com

Teen builds solar-powered tuk-tuk from scraps

Piranawan, 15, from Sri Lanka spent eight months of his Covid lockdown making his eco-friendly vehicle.
Source: bbc.co.uk

Canada blocks proposed Rocky Mountain coal mine on environmental grounds

Canada on Friday formally blocked a proposal to build a steelmaking coal mine in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, citing what it said would be the significant environmental damage.
Source: reuters.com

How global conferences are using tech to stay in business

"Moving events online kept the industry going during the pandemic and now they're here to stay." Notable mentions of the conferences Collision, Web Summit, and RISE, and the speed networking software Mingle. "[T]he Distance Learning Association's Thomas Capone says that the future of meetings and events...
Source: bbc.com

England's 'freedom day' marred by soaring cases and isolation chaos

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's 'freedom day' ending over a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England was marred on Monday by surging infections, warnings of supermarket shortages and his own forced self-isolation.
Source: reuters.com

Then and now: Pandemic clears the air

Air pollution is highly damaging to the environment, but Covid lockdowns show we can clear the air.
Source: bbc.com

I tracked my kid with Apple's Airtags to test its privacy features

I clipped a keychain with one of Apple's tiny new Bluetooth trackers, AirTags, onto my son's book bag and waved goodbye to him on the school bus. I watched on my iPhone's Find My app as the bus stopped at a light a few blocks down from our street.
Source: cnn.com

Taking an invention from idea to the marketplace

Lockdown spurred many people to invent new products, but how did they get to market?
Source: bbc.com

AI unlocks ancient Dead Sea Scrolls mystery

"Cutting edge technology" reveals how scribes foiled modern scholars with one of the Biblical texts.
Source: bbc.com

How a coronavirus variant tore into an English island - and the world.

Genomic scientists raced against time to find out what was causing the deadly surge in cases despite a national lockdown.
Source: reuters.com

Using GPT-2 to generate Tweets

blog post image Last summer I blogged about using a Deep Neural Network to generate tweets but only used 3200 of my tweets. Since then I've used Twitter's archive mechanism to retrieve ALL my tweets (just over 30,000) to train a network. Not any old network - the GPT-2 model from OpenAI. This 'finetuning' of an existing...

Scientists unlock mysteries of world's oldest 'computer'

The 2,000-year-old mechanism has baffled experts since it was discovered on a shipwreck in 1901.
Source: bbc.com

Data-driven humanitarianism

An article from MIT Technology Review showing how the World Food Programme uses geospatial data that is developed and made 'open' to all by people within the areas being served. "It’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but its people are among the most vulnerable. Afghanistan’s snowy...
Source: technologyreview.com