BenjaminHCCarr

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to ai

As #AI booms, land near #nuclear #powerplants becomes hot #realestate
Cheap low-carbon energy? What's not to love...
All #datacenters are energy-hungry but with more watt-greedy AI workloads on the horizon, nuclear power has fresh appeal, especially for #hyperscalers.
https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/25/ai_boom_nuclear/

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to space

#NASA missions delayed by #supercomputing shortcomings
NASA's old #supercomputers are causing mission delays — NASA's supercomputers still rely primarily on #CPU, and one of its flagship supercomputers uses 18,000 CPUs and 48 #GPU. NASA's Office of Inspector General report suggests that transitioning to GPUs and #code modernization is essential for meeting NASA's current and future needs.
https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/15/nasa_oig_supercomputing_audit #Space

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to space

Scientists reveal never-before-seen map of the #MilkyWay's central engine (image)
With funding from #NASA, researchers from #Villanova University have obtained a never-before-seen view of the central engine at the heart of our #galaxy.
"The center of the Milky Way and most of the space between stars is filled with a lot of dust, and this is important for our galaxy's life cycle." https://www.space.com/milky-way-heart-central-engine-stunning-map #space

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to zerowaste

The #plastic industry knowingly pushed #recycling myth for decades, new report finds
Center for #Climate Integrity says newly uncovered statements from #oil and #plastics executives underscore the industry's decades-long secret skepticism about the viability and efficacy of recycling. In 1994, one #Exxon Chemical executive put the industry's support for plastics recycling in blunt terms, saying "we are committed to the activities, but not committed to the results."
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-plastic-industry-knowingly-pushed-recycling-myth-for-decades-new-report-finds

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to random

Person Infected With Bird #Flu in Texas After Contact With Cattle
The case adds another worrying wrinkle to a global #outbreak that has devastated bird and marine mammal populations, and recently appeared in cattle herds.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/health/bird-flu-cattle-human.html
https://archive.ph/5dpzc

#AvianFlu hopping species.....

Let the games begin!

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to climate

#US #Taxpayers Have Subsidized #FossilFuels for 111yr
4th year in a row, #PresidentBiden trys to eliminate federal #taxbreaks for #coal, #oil and #gas. But #fossilfuel subsidies are difficult to kill.
“I don’t think the federal government should give handouts to big oil,” Mr. #Biden said. His budget calls for elimination of $35B in tax breaks that would otherwise be provided to the industry over the next decade.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/climate/tax-breaks-oil-gas-us.html
https://archive.ph/Zih4S #climatechange #climatecrisis

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to random

#Tire Makers Say They’re Not Liable for Waterway #Pollution Because It Takes Years
Multiple states have asked the #EPA to ban a #chemical in tires that has been found to kill wild salmon. https://www.thedrive.com/news/tire-makers-say-theyre-not-liable-for-waterway-pollution-because-it-takes-years

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to climate

Surge of new #US-led #oil and #gas activity threatens to wreck Paris #climate goals
World’s #fossilfuel producers on track to nearly quadruple output from newly approved projects by decade’s end
There can be no new oil and gas infrastructure if the planet is to avoid careering past 1.5C (2.7F) of global heating, above pre-industrial times. Last year, at least 20 oil and gas fields were readied for extraction following discovery, producing of 8bn barrels of oil equivalent
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/28/oil-and-gas-fossil-fuels-report

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to Canada

#Canada's #maplesyrup reserve hits 16-year low
"The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008," Simon Doré-Ouellet, deputy director general of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, told BBC.[...]
amount of maple syrup in the national reserve - stored in tens of thousands of barrels in several warehouses across Quebec - has dwindled significantly since 2020. That year, the reserve had more than 103 million lbs.. only 7% of what it was four years ago"
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68657703

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to mentalhealth

#Workers with job flexibility and security have better #mentalhealth
Job flexibility and security were linked to significantly less psychological distress and #anxiety.
The study, published Monday in JAMA Network Open, may not be surprising to those who have faced return-to-office mandates and rounds of #layoffs amid the pandemic. But, it offers clear data on just how important job flexibility and security are to the #health and #wellbeing of workers.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/03/job-flexibility-and-security-linked-to-better-mental-health-among-workers/

Well duh

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to space

A Rock Fell From #Space Into Sweden. Who Owns It on Earth?
#Sweden’s courts have been debating claims to a #meteorite that fell north of #Stockholm, including whether right to move around in nature, including on private property, extends to claiming a meteorite. The legal case took another turn on Thursday, when an appeals court ruled in favor of the landowner, overturning a decision that had sided with the two men who had recovered the meteorite. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/world/europe/sweden-meteorite-ownership.html
https://archive.ph/rYPRw

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to China

How #China Came to Dominate the World in #Solar Energy
#Beijing unleashed the full might of its solar energy industry last year. It installed more #solarpanels than the #UnitedStates has in its history. It cut the wholesale price of panels it sells by nearly half. And its exports of fully assembled solar panels climbed 38 percent while its exports of key components almost doubled. Get ready for an even bigger display of China's solar dominance.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/07/business/china-solar-energy-exports.html
https://archive.ph/nMxNt

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to Insurance

#Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ #Driving Behavior With #Insurance Companies
#LexisNexis, which generates consumer risk profiles for the insurers, knew about every trip #GM drivers had taken in their cars, including when they sped, braked too hard or accelerated rapidly. #Car companies are collecting information directly from internet-connected vehicles for use by the insurance industry
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/technology/carmakers-driver-tracking-insurance.html #privacy #surveillance
https://archive.ph/G1JaX

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to random

It’s a few years late, but a prototype #supersonic #airplane has taken flight
Getting Boom’s #XB1 Supersonic Test Jet airborne is an important moment for Boom in its efforts to develop economical supersonic travel.
"This milestone will be invaluable to Boom’s revival of supersonic travel." https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/03/its-a-few-years-late-but-a-prototype-supersonic-airplane-has-taken-flight/ #concorde

BenjaminHCCarr, 2 months ago to climate

#Harvard has halted its long-planned atmospheric #geoengineering experiment
Solar geoengineering posits world might be able to counteract #globalwarming by spraying tiny particles in the #atmosphere that could scatter sunlight. The experiment was to launch a high-altitude balloon, equipped with propellers and sensors, that could release a few kilograms of calcium carbonate, sulfuric acid or other materials high above the planet.
The decision follows years of controversy. https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/03/18/1089879/harvard-halts-its-long-planned-atmospheric-geoengineering-experiment/

BenjaminHCCarr, 2 months ago to climate

#ExxonMobil is suing #investors who want faster #climate action
"#shareholder proposal from Arjuna and Follow This called for ExxonMobil to cut #emissions faster from its own operations and from its supply chain, including the #pollution that's created when customers burn its oil and natural gas...90% of ExxonMobil's #carbonfootprint"
ExxonMobil sued groups in TX, Arjuna and Follow This withdrew proposal and promised not to submit it again. ExxonMobil refuses to drop case
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/29/1234358133/exxon-climate-change-oil-fossil-fuels-shareholders-investors-lawsuit

BenjaminHCCarr, 2 months ago to OpenAI

#OpenAI’s #GPT Is #Recruiter’s Dream Tool. Tests Show There’s #RacialBias
Asked to rank #resumes 1,000 times, GPT favored names from some #demographics more than others, it would fail benchmarks used to assess #jobdiscrimination against protected groups.This simple #HR workflow, isolated names as source of #bias in GPT that could affect #hiring. Interviews and experiment show using #generativeAI for #recruiting/hiring pose serious risk: automated #discrimination at scale
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-openai-gpt-hiring-racial-discrimination/?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcwOTg1NjE0OCwiZXhwIjoxNzEwNDYwOTQ4LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTQTA1Q1FUMEFGQjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI2NDU1MEM3NkRFMkU0QkM1OEI0OTI5QjBDQkIzRDlCRCJ9.MdkSGC3HMwwUYtltWq6WxWg3vULNeCTJcjacB-DNi8k

BenjaminHCCarr, 2 months ago to random

#Tor’s new #WebTunnel bridges mimic #HTTPS traffic to evade #censorship
WebTunnel is inspired by #HTTPT probe-resistant #proxy, but takes a different approach mimicking HTTPS. Since blocking HTTPS would also block the vast majority of connections to #webservers, the WebTunnel connections will also be permitted, effectively circumventing censorship in network environments with protocol allow lists and deny-by-default policies.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/tors-new-webtunnel-bridges-mimic-https-traffic-to-evade-censorship/

BenjaminHCCarr, 2 months ago to homelab

@ChrisLAS can you add @ironicbadger 's #HomeLab build link to https://selfhosted.show/118 as was mentioned in the EP?

BenjaminHCCarr, 2 months ago to Amd

#AMD has published a blog where it provides a setup guide on how to utilize its hardware to run your very own localized #chatbot powered by #GPT-based #LLM (#LargeLanguageModel) on a diverse range of hardware such as the #Ryzen #AI PCs which include #Ryzen7000 & #Ryzen8000 #APU featuring the #XDNA #NPU along with the latest #Radeon7000 #GPU which feature AI accelerator cores.
https://community.amd.com/t5/ai/how-to-run-a-large-language-model-llm-on-your-amd-ryzen-ai-pc-or/ba-p/670709

BenjaminHCCarr, 2 months ago to ocean

Scientists Are Freaking Out About #Ocean Temperatures
“North Atlantic has been record-breakingly warm for almost a year now,” said Brian McNoldy, a researcher at Univ of Miami. “It’s just astonishing. Like, it doesn’t seem real.”
“#Seaice around #Antarctic is just not growing,” said Matthew England, professor at Univ of New South Wales who studies ocean currents. “The temperature’s just going off the charts. It’s like an omen of the future.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/27/climate/scientists-are-freaking-out-about-ocean-temperatures.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Y00.5KtY.pFaakcBLdnkJ&smid=url-share #climatechange #climatecrisis

BenjaminHCCarr, 2 months ago to Russia

#Russia's #CozyBear (#APT29) dives into cloud environments with a new bag of tricks
One of the ways Cozy Bear breaks into victims' cloud services is via #bruteforce and #passwordspraying attacks aimed at getting access to accounts used to manage apps and services, and to those belonging to users who no longer work at the victim org – in other words, which that aren't regularly monitored by a human. Additionally, #Kremlin's spies frequently use tokens to access accounts
https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/27/russia_cozy_bear_new_ttps/

BenjaminHCCarr, 2 months ago to random

At least 15 submarine cables pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the #RedSea, a body of water just 26km wide at some points. #Yemen is the Strait's northern shore. The first reports of damage to submarine cables off the coast of Yemen began Monday where four cables (#EIG, #AAE1, #Seacom & #TGNEA) had experienced damage. Seacom confirmed damage between Kenya and Egypt
Yemeni rebels thought to lack ability to damage submarine cables, but here we are
https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/27/red_sea_cables_houthi/

BenjaminHCCarr, 2 months ago to WFH

#RTO doesn’t improve company value, but does make #employees miserable: Study
Data is consistent with bosses using RTO to reassert control and #scapegoat #workers.

Research from before the pandemic generally suggested #remotework improves #worker performance—though it often included workers who volunteered to #WFH, potentially biasing the finding. The analysis found that RTO mandates did not improve a firm's financial metrics, but they did decrease employee satisfaction
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/02/rto-doesnt-improve-company-value-but-does-make-employees-miserable-study/