Tag: china

INVISIBILITY COAT’ THAT HIDES HUMANS FROM AI SECURITY CAMERAS DEVELOPED BY CHINESE STUDENTS

At first glance, it may look like an ordinary, run-of-the-mill camouflage coat. However, what a group of Chinese graduate students have actually developed is a cost-effective “invisibility coat” capable of concealing the human body from AI-monitored security cameras, both day and night.

At the forgivable price of just $70 USD, the high-tech jacket, which has been dubbed the “InvisDefense coat,” was crafted by a team of four graduate students from Wuhan University in China. The real-life sci-fi coat secured the top prize at the inaugural “Huawei Cup,” a cybersecurity innovation contest sponsored by the Chinese tech giant Huawei. 

Professor Wang Zheng from the School of Computer Science oversaw the team, comprising doctoral student Wei Hui from the School of Computer Science, along with postgraduates Li Zhubo and Dai Shuyv from the School of Cyber Science and Engineering, and postgraduate Jian Zehua from the Economics and Management School.

The InvisDefense invisibility cloak involves a kind of camouflage pattern designed by a new algorithm, which challenges the efficacy of this commonly used method of AI pedestrian detection. “In layman’s terms, it means cameras can detect you but cannot determine that you are human,” according to a statement released by Wuhan University (WHU).

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Hundreds of Illegal Chinese-owned Marijuana Operations Taking Over Maine

Hundreds of illegal Chinese-owned marijuana growing operations have been popping up across Maine over the past three years.

On Tuesday, Nov. 28, local law enforcement shut down an illegal marijuana grow that was being operated in a building located behind a licensed marijuana cultivation facility in Franklin County.

Officers from the Wilton Police Department were assisting investigators from the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP) during a routine follow-up inspection of a licensed facility in Wilton when they raided the illegal operation, authorities said in a press release posted on social media.

“It’s a place that has been on the radar,” State Rep. Mike Sobeleski (R) told The Epoch Times, adding that he had visited the facility previously. The Republican lawmaker said he had learned about the raid just minutes before Tuesday’s interview with The Epoch Times to discuss the illegal marijuana operations being run by Chinese nationals throughout the state.

Earlier this month, a man identifying himself as the property manager told the Maine Wire that the building was being used to grow marijuana and that operators paid about $30,000 per month in rent.

He also reportedly told the news outlet that the facility was being run by four Asian men who claimed they were from New York, California, Washington, and Massachusetts.

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BREAKTHROUGH IN QUANTUM STORAGE OF ENTANGLED PHOTONS MAY USHER AGE OF SOLID STATE-BASED QUANTUM NETWORKS

Chinese researchers report the successful quantum storage of entangled photons at telecom wavelengths within a crystal, in a breakthrough achievement that reportedly lasted 387 times longer than past similar experiments.

The research team, based at Nanjing University, says their findings could potentially “pave the way for realizing quantum networks based on solid-state devices.”

Experts have differing opinions on how soon we may see a global quantum internet. However, no one disputes that once it is achieved, it will revolutionize how information is processed and secured. In the move toward that reality, researchers are currently focusing on ensuring that processes that include quantum storage and distribution of entangled photons will be compatible with existing telecommunications networks.

In the case of entangled photons, entanglement describes the quantum phenomenon where particles remain connected, which effectively allows actions performed on one to affect its entangled counterpart even from across great physical distances.

However, making sure that quantum networks work reliably using fiber-based systems, like those the Internet currently uses, presents a number of challenges, namely signal loss due to the limitations of optical fiber systems that are presently in use.

One way of overcoming these problems involves the use of devices called quantum repeaters, which can help extend the range of these systems by storing the quantum state of photons into matter. Successful quantum repeaters must accomplish three primary tasks: 1) they must match the standard telecom wavelength, which is around 1.55 μm; 2) they must be capable of storing data for long periods; and 3) they have to be able to handle multiple data streams simultaneously.

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Ex-White House Official Sheds More Light on Fate of Researcher Who May Have Caused COVID Pandemic

Dr. Robert Kadlec, who served as an official in the biodefense and epidemic response departments during the pandemic, said Chinese military scientist Zhou Yusen was conducting research on live animals at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2019, and filed a patent for a COVID vaccine in February 2020 — barely one month after China put Wuhan into a lockdown due to the first outbreak.

Three months later, Dr. Yusen died when he allegedly fell from the roof of the Wuhan Institute.

“It looked like he was censored as a consequence of whatever happened,” Kadlec told Australia’s Sky News.

“Our evidence would suggest that something happened while he was doing his work, which we believe was when the virus first emerged,” he said.

“And whether he was held accountable through some formal proceeding or not, he was certainly dead by July [2020].”

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After Xi Jinping visit to San Francisco, city falling back into drug use and homelessness: business owner

With the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference over and done with in San Francisco, some business owners are complaining that the city is reverting into a den for homelessness and drug use. 

Restaurant owner Tony Pankaew said in a local media interview.that San Francisco rushed to clean up the city for Chinese President Xi Jinping and other foreign dignitaries for APEC.

“They cleaned up the people, they cleaned up the streets,” he told CBS News Bay Area. “They made the city look good and look impressive for the foreigners, for the politicians.”

“Now they have started to come back,” Pankaew said. “Slowly but surely. [In] a couple weeks [the city] will be back to where [it was] before.” 

Pankaew said he was hopeful that things will turn around in San Francisco, adding that a new skating rink near his business might attract more people, and therefore more business. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., was criticized on social media after admitting that San Francisco timed a massive cleanup effort ahead of the summit.

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China Unveils Plan To Mass Produce Human-like Robots, Calling It ‘New Engine’ For Growth

China is setting out to mass produce human-like robots in two years, an ambitious plan that, according to a blueprint issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), it hopes will make the regime in Beijing the leader in the field of robotics.

The goal is to establish an innovation framework for humanoid robots and ensure that the country can make core parts of the robots on its own.

The products, under the MIIT plan, will meet advanced international standards in quality, for use in harsh environments, manufacturing, and service sectors, according to the directive. Like smartphones, computers, and new energy vehicles, humanoid robots have the “disruptive” potential to “revolutionize” people’s lives, the document said.

The ministry told local officials to take advantage of China’s market size and its “whole-of-nation system” to accelerate humanoid robot development as a pillar industry to advance China’s manufacturing and digital dominance.

Beijing hopes that by 2025 it will have two to three companies with global influence and will nurture more smaller businesses dedicated to the field. In another two years, the aim is to create a “safe and reliable supply chain” for the technology and make the country competitive globally. At that point, it said, such products will be deeply integrated into the economy and become a “new engine” for economic growth.

The “brain,” “cerebellum,” and “limbs” of the robots should be the focus, and the industry should aim at creating “highly reliable” robots for harsh or dangerous conditions, the guideline said. When monitoring and safeguarding “strategic locations,” robots need to be able to move in “highly complicated terrains,” size up the situation, and make intelligent decisions, it said, adding that robots will need greater ability to protect themselves and work with higher precision in scenarios such as rescue work or where explosives are involved.

Relevant authorities need to deepen international cooperation, encourage foreign companies to create research centers in China, and bring Chinese products to the international market, according to the document.

Eager to partake in setting the global standard for emerging technology, Beijing said it’d like to get “deeply involved in the international rules and standard setting” and “contribute Chinese wisdom” to the industry’s development, the document said.

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Scientific breakthrough as China creates the world’s first living ‘chimeric’ monkey that was grown using stem cells

China announced it birthed the world’s first living ‘chimeric’ monkey – an animal created in a lab using special cells.

Researchers took cells from two embryos of the same monkey species – crab-eating macaques – that were genetically different and fused them together.

The team used cells from seven-day embryos, mixed them with those from a five-day-old embryo and implanted the combination into female macaques, resulting in one live glowing green-eyed infant with yellow fingertips. 

While most animals contain mixed cells from their parents, the chimeric monkey was born with several that are genetically distinct – holding distinct DNA from each biological parent, the two embryos.

The baby monkey’s body had many donor cells detected from both embryos in the brain, heart, kidney, liver, gastrointestinal tract, testes, and the cells that turn into sperm. 

The team in China said the work has vast implications, such as allowing them to increase animal populations that are on the brink of extinction and learning more about IVF.

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Gov. Newsom says California to track residents from ‘cradle to career’ after China trip

After a trip to China, which uses a social credit score system, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the next phase of the state’s “Cradle to Career” system that uses more than one billion data points.

“By leveraging billions of data points, California’s Cradle-to-Career data system will be a game-changer for improving the quality of life for millions of Californians and highlighting ways to improve opportunity in the classroom and access to the workforce.”

The system is designed to “illuminate gaps and identify opportunities throughout students’ education experiences so they can ultimately reach their goals for life and careers” through data that includes “race, gender, ability, and geography to illuminate and address areas of strength and needed growth, and any inequities.”

“This milestone represents a significant step forward in our mission to establish a robust, comprehensive data system that provides a nuanced understanding of Californians’ educational and professional journeys,” said Mary Ann Bates, Executive Director of the California Cradle-to-Career Data System. “I want to thank our data partners for their unwavering commitment to ensuring that Californians will have validated, reliable data available to inform decisions. This collective effort will equip our state with the data and tools necessary to ensure that every Californian has the opportunity to succeed.”

The system is designed to be used by students, families, politicians, researchers, and policymakers, providing insights from a granular, individual level to the state as a whole.

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Lawmakers Demand Answers From Costco Over Sale Of Surveillance Equipment Made Using ‘Banned Chinese Components’

Two bipartisan lawmakers are demanding answers from Costco over its decision to continue selling Chinese-manufactured security products that have been linked to human rights abuses and cybersecurity risks.

In a letter dated Oct. 31, Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) questioned the retail giant’s continued sale of Lorex security products, noting the company previously had ties to China-based company Dahua, whose products are restricted in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Lorex is a former subsidiary of camera maker Zhejiang Dahua Technology, a China-based company that was added to the U.S. trade blacklist in 2019 owing to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) treatment of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities.

The U.S. Department of Commerce, in placing the company on the blacklist, said it and other entities “have been implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups” in China’s Xinjiang region.

Additionally, the FCC last year banned the sale of new telecommunications and surveillance equipment made by Dahua, citing an “unacceptable risk” and national security concerns.

Dahua sold Lorex earlier this year to Taiwanese-based company Skywatch for around $72 million.

However, in their letter to Costco Chief Executive W. Craig Jelinek, Mr. Smith and Mr. Merkley said Dahua still supplies all the component parts for the Lorex cameras and other surveillance equipment.

The continued sale of Lorex security equipment throughout the retailer’s stores allows Dahua to profit from the U.S. market despite its equipment being banned from U.S. government use, they argued.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Vindicated – China’s Top Spy Agency Warns of “Gene Weapons’ Able to Target Specific Ethnicity or Race

In July, Robert Kennedy, Jr. took heat from the leftwing media and The New York Post after he alleged that both the U.S. and China had done research into ethnically-targeted bioweapons.

Kennedy added, “History shows that Jews, Africans, and the indigenous have the most to fear from such technologies,” he said, adding, “We must rein in all bioweapons research, whether these weapons are ethnically targeted or not. We saw what COVID did to the world when it was leaked from a laboratory.“

Kennedy made these comments after NY Post reporter Jon Levine wrote a hit piece on Kennedy after sitting next to him at “party filled with farting and beer drinking” and accused him of anti-Semitism for suggesting the COVID Pandemic hit some ethnic groups harder than others and that European Ashkenazi Jews and Asians fared better with the virus.

During the party Robert Kennedy, Jr. spoke about how scientists are now developing viruses as bioweapons. The US is sponsoring these laboratories financially. And scientists are currently working on ethnically targeted microbes. This was all true

On Tuesday, the top Spy Agency in China confirmed that “some countries” have armed themselves with deadly bioweapons targeting human genes. This was the first time a Chinese state body has mentioned such a threat publicly.

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