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Robotic Flea Leaps 87 Times Its Own Length

Although fleas are annoying pests, credit must be given where it’s due. These tiny creatures, just 3 millimeters long, can leap as far as 330 millimeters in a single hop—a distance close to 100 times their own body length. Now a similar feat has been achieved by a miniature robot. The results were published 24 March in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

“We were inspired by fleas in nature, which despite their small size can unleash tremendous potential and jump close to 100 times their body length. No one in the field of robotics has been able to achieve this feat yet,” says Ruide Yun, a third-year Ph.D. student at Beihang University, in Beijing, who was involved in the study.

To acquire flealike jumping abilities, the robot had to be able to unleash a lot of energy at once, so Yun and his colleagues created one that works somewhat like a miniature piston engine.

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MIT Makes Probability-Based Computing a Bit Brighter

In a noisy and imprecise world, the definitive 0s and 1s of today’s computers can get in the way of accurate answers to messy real-world problems. So says an emerging field of research pioneering a kind of computing called probabilistic computing. And now a team of researchers at MIT have pioneered a new way of generating probabilistic bits (p-bits) at much higher rates—using photonics to harness random quantum oscillations in empty space.

The deterministic way in which conventional computers operate is not well suited to dealing with the uncertainty and randomness found in many physical processes and complex systems. Probabilistic computing promises to provide a more natural way to solve these kinds of problems by building processors out of components that behave randomly themselves.

The approach is particularly well suited to complicated optimization problems with many possible solutions or to doing machine learning on very large and incomplete datasets where uncertainty is an issue. Probabilistic computing could unlock new insights and findings in meteorology and climate simulations, for instance, or spam detection and counterterrorism software, or next-generation AI.

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Reality Check: No, we didn’t just have “the hottest week in 100,000 years”

The buzz in the Climate Change news is that the five hottest days in the last 100,000 years all happened last week, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

You can read an article about it from Forbes:

The Fourth of July was the hottest day on Earth in as many as 125,000 years—breaking a record set the day before—as the return of the El Niño weather pattern collides with soaring temperatures at the start of summer, researchers say.

Or, if you prefer, you can read Climate alarmists rending their garments on Twitter.

Now, first off let’s be clear – we haven’t had the “7 the hottest days”  in the last 100,000 years since July 4…

…or, more accurately, there is absolutely no way for anyone to reliably know if we have or not.

Actually think about what they’re saying when they make this claim.

They are claiming that they know, for a fact, the global average temperature to two decimal points over the last 36 million days.

Couple of things to bear in mind here before we go any further.

1 – Humans have only had the ability to accurately measure the temperature of anything for maybe four-hundred years.

2 – Official “global temperature” records only began in 1880.

3 – Beyond  that point we only have partial, local and pretty inaccurate readings back to the mid-17th century.

That’s 400 years, give or take.

So, how do climatologists get the data for the other 99,600 years?

Well – they  guess.

Sorry, they “model”, using tree ring data and ice core samples.

NASA claims by comparing modern tree rings from known weather systems they can figure out the weather patterns that created tree rings in the past.

This is not scientific, it is interpretive.

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Placement of ancient hidden lamps, skulls in cave in Israel suggests Roman-era practice of necromancy

A pair of archaeologists, one with the Israel Antiquities Authority, the other from Bar-Ilan University, has found evidence of Roman-era necromancy practices in a cave in Israel. In their study, reported in the journal Harvard Theological Review, Eitan Klein and Boaz Zissu analyzed artifacts excavated from the Te’omim Cave over the past 14 years.

The Te’omim Cave has played a role in the history of what is now the Jerusalem hills region west of the famous city. During the Bar-Kokhba Revolt, for example, it served as a hideout for Jewish rebels. In this new effort, the researchers studied artifacts that multiple groups have removed from the cave since 2009 as part of a collaboration between several entities in Israel. Such artifacts have been dated to approximately 2,000 years ago, during the Roman era.

Researchers have found more than 120 oil lamps, various weapons, vessels, coins and even three human skulls. Many of the artifacts were found wedged into tight spaces. In this new effort, the researchers analyzed the artifacts and the places where they were found and hypothesize that at least some of them were used in attempts to speak with dead people, a practice called necromancy.

Necromancy is the practice of enchanted conjuring, involving attempts to communicate with the dead by calling forth their spirits or visualizations of them for the purpose of divination or revealing future events, or to discover secrets. It is also generally associated with black magic or witchcraft. Klein and Zissu suggest that the placement of many of the lamps, for example, is indicative of behavior associated with necromancy—mostly because of the presence of the skulls.

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The Urban Legend of the Government’s Mind-Controlling Arcade Game

IN A SUBURBAN ARCADE NEAR Portland, Oregon, in 1981, a dull, digital glow bounced off the faces of teenagers who clutched joysticks, immersed in the game. Tiny lines and dots danced or exploded with high-pitched beeps across them all, but one game cabinet, Polybius, drew the longest lines.

Gamers who tried it couldn’t stop playing, and began acting oddly: they were nauseous, stressed, had horrific nightmares. Others had seizures or attempted suicide, many felt unable to control their own thoughts. It was only later that they recalled how Polybius was serviced more often than other games. Men in black suits opened the machine every week, recorded its data, and left, with no interest in its coins. Soon after it appeared, the mysterious arcade game vanished without warning—taken by the men in black suits, leaving no record of its existence.

That’s the story, at least. This legend is one of the big unsolved mysteries of the gaming world, though most concede that the game never existed. It’s since become an urban legend on gaming and conspiracy websites and the internet horror wiki Creepypasta, and like all good stories, it is kept alive by its fans.  

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ChatGPT’s Evil Twin “WormGPT” Is Silently Entering Emails And Raiding Banks

A malicious copy of OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been created by a bad actor and its aim is to take your money.

The evil AI is called WormGPT, and it was created by a hacker for sophisticated email phishing attacks.

Cybersecurity firm SlashNext confirmed the artificially intelligent language bot had been created purely for malicious purposes.

The firm explained in a report:

Our team recently gained access to a tool known as ‘WormGPT’ through a prominent online forum that’s often associated with cybercrime.

This tool presents itself as a blackhat alternative to GPT models, designed specifically for malicious activities.

The cyber experts experimented with WormGPT to see just how dangerous it could be.

They asked it to create phishing emails and found the results disturbing.

“The results were unsettling. WormGPT produced an email that was not only remarkably persuasive but also strategically cunning, showcasing its potential for sophisticated phishing and BEC attacks.

“In summary, it’s similar to ChatGPT but has no ethical boundaries or limitations,” the experts wrote.

SlashNext says WormGPT is an example of the threat that language-generative AI models pose.

Experts think the tool could be damaging even in the hands of a novice cybercriminal.

With AI like this out there, it’s best to be extra vigilant when it comes to checking your email inbox.

That especially applies to any email that asks for money, banking details, or other personal information.

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Shaving Ryan’s Privates: Female Military Recruits Forced To Shower With, Sleep Between, Transitioning Men

An 18-year-old female military recruit was forced to shower with, and sleep in between, transgender biological males under the Biden administration’s policies, placing her in an “extremely uncomfortable position,” Fox News reports.

The incident was highlighted on Tuesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, after which Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) told the outlet that the woman is afraid to speak out out of concern for her career, and that her options were to basically keep quiet about it, or resign from her early-career position.

“She could have basically resigned or stepped away,” said Rounds, adding “She could have started over again. But nonetheless, it was an extremely uncomfortable position. And I think this is one of the reasons why we’re not meeting our recruitment goals now.”

According to Rounds, the military recruit, 18, is complaining about being forced to sleep in between “two individuals who were supposedly changing from male to female.” The girl also has to shower with the individuals and reported significant distress about the matter. The individuals housed with the 18-year-old had initiated chemical interventions to change genders, but without having reassignment surgery, their genitalia were fully intact. -Fox News

Rounds heard about the incident from the Attorney General for the South Dakota National Guard.

“He had contacted our office very concerned about the information he had received from the recruit,” said Rounds. “The respect that this young recruit should have received and the privacy that she should have had, she was being deprived of.”

“This seems to be a direct correlation between when the President of the United States issued the executive order making these changes and directing the Department of Defense to integrate… individuals who were transgender and how they should be perceived within the military,” Rounds continued, adding “Most of the focus [under the Biden administration] is on the transgender individuals, not on the individuals who are working with them.”

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Biden Approves Pumping Another $1.3BN In Arms Into ‘Stalemated’ Ukraine War

The Biden administration will announce yet another $1.3 billion in military aid for Ukraine at a moment Zelensky’s counteroffensive has stalled and was recently even put on “pause”. 

“The United States will announce a new pledge to buy $1.3 billion worth of military aid for Kyiv in its conflict with Russia in the coming days, two U.S. officials said,” Reuters reports Tuesday. This fresh package will reportedly include new air defenses, counter-drone systems, exploding drones and ammunition, according to a US official speaking to Reuters.

Reflecting months of headlines of dwindling US weapons supplies, and severe arms shortages among the Western allies generally, the funds have been authorized under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) program – which means in this case the Biden administration will buy weapons from the arms industry (and not pull them from direct from Pentagon stocks).

The report continues to detail: “Also included are two different types of loitering munitions, the Phoenix Ghost drone made by AVEVEX, a private company in California, and the Switchblade, made by AeroVironment Inc.” – the latter system being a ‘suicide drone’ which is small and less expensive than conventional UAVs.

Elon Musk commented Tuesday in response to the Reuters headline, “Would be nice for the public to have some clue how the money is spent!”

The remark is in reference to growing concerns of lack of oversight and accountability when it comes to the tens of billions in funds and arms being pumped into Ukraine. 

Hawks in Congress have consistently blocked serious efforts at imposing serious oversight and accountability on Ukraine aid. Over the last year, there have been multiple reports alleging as well as documenting that foreign arms meant for Ukraine have shown up as far away as Scandinavia countries and even more recently the Middle East. 

As ‘Ukraine fatigue’ has long set in among Western populations, Washington has been doubling down…

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Cops search Las Vegas home as part of investigation into rapper Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder

Las Vegas police searched a home Monday as part of an investigation into rapper Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder.

Detectives served a search warrant at a home in Henderson near Interstate 11 and Wagon Wheel Drive.

Shakur was shot and killed just one block from the Las Vegas Strip in September 1996. He was 25 years old.

The case remains unsolved.

Police have declined to comment any further. 

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