Submission + - Wearable nanotech could combat nerve agents (phys.org)

Submitted by alternative_right on Tuesday September 29, 2026 @10:33AM

alternative_right writes: Nanoparticles could someday provide a new way to help soldiers fight back against deadly nerve agents on the front lines. In a new study, Northwestern University scientists developed a nanoparticle-based compound that, when mixed into clothing dyes, could limit the impact of chemicals commonly found in pesticides, insecticides and nerve agents.

Submission + - Humans Are Reading Copilot Prompts â" And They're Horrified (404media.co)

Submitted by alternative_right on Monday September 28, 2026 @09:53AM

alternative_right writes: 404 Media obtained a set of internal documents related to the contractors reviewing Copilot prompts and images, including instruction guides, real Copilot user prompts and pictures, and conversations between contractors on an internal message board.

In a thread on the internal message board, a contractor discussed prompts asking Copilot to make a womanâ(TM)s skirt shorter, or enlarge her breasts, or show more leg while wearing stilettos. She-Hulk images come up a lot, the person who works on the prompts told 404 Media. Other contractors also wrote they were presented with pro-anorexia content.

âoeI recoiled,â one contractor wrote about seeing that content. Another person wrote that one of the prompts they reviewed asked Copilot to make an image of Ariana Grande with anorexia. Another reported a prompt that seemed to be designed to create a lewd or suggestive image of a group of young girls.

Submission + - Study: AI Hasnâ(TM)t Made Hackers Scarier, Itâ(TM)s Just Made Their Co (studyfinds.com)

Submitted by alternative_right on Tuesday September 22, 2026 @11:54PM

alternative_right writes: New research suggests the actual overlap between AI and cybercrime looks a lot less like a sci-fi thriller and a lot more like a teenager copying and pasting someone else's homework.

Submission + - Fruit fly beats advanced AI at chess in just 11 moves (nypost.com)

Submitted by alternative_right on Saturday September 19, 2026 @11:40AM

alternative_right writes: The lowly fruit fly just beat one of the worldâ(TM)s most advanced AI models at chess.

Thatâ(TM)s just one of dozens of wild experiments that have gone viral since scientists fully mapped the neural pathways of an adult male fruit fly â" whose entire brain fits on the head of a pin â" and posted the data online.

The threshold-crossing technology, achieved by HHMI Janelia Research in Virginia and Google Research, catalogued all 166,000 individual neurons and 25.6 million connections in the flyâ(TM)s brain and made it downloadable on Sept 3.

Inventive nerds then used the digitized neural network to power and navigate a wide variety of contraptions, apps and games.

Creator Maxime Labonne hooked the mapped pathways up to a chess engine and pitted it against Claude Opus 5, which is one of the most advanced AI models on the market.

The fly delivered a checkmate in just 11 moves.

Submission + - Chinese Scientists Say They've Detected A Quantum State Inside Living Cells (sciencealert.com) 2

Submitted by alternative_right on Friday September 18, 2026 @07:25PM

alternative_right writes: In experiments involving living cells, mouse tissues, and isolated mitochondria, the team detected an unusual vibration that appeared only while mitochondrial structures remained intact.

A model linked the vibration to a possible quantum interaction. When researchers illuminated cells with selected infrared frequencies, the cells produced 10 percent more ATP.

Together, the results suggest mitochondria may contain a quantum state that influences cellular energy production.

Submission + - Hackers Stole Flockâ(TM)s Camera Software, Revealing How the Company Tracks (404media.co)

Submitted by alternative_right on Wednesday September 16, 2026 @09:05AM

alternative_right writes: While much of the automatic license plate readerâ(TM)s (ALPR) most sensitive storage remained encrypted and inaccessible, the joint analysis of the recovered data shows that software running on the device explicitly detects people as well as vehicles, license plates, and bicycles. The camera can produce dozens of images of a single passing vehicle and, according to several weeks of recovered logs, generated more than a million images. Its computer-vision software also sometimes isolated bumper stickers and other graphics, including, in one case, an American flag patch on a motorcyclistâ(TM)s saddlebag.

Submission + - Physicists canâ(TM)t agree on how the Universe works (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by alternative_right on Sunday September 13, 2026 @01:01PM

alternative_right writes: A massive worldwide survey of physicists has revealed surprisingly little agreement about some of the universeâ(TM)s biggest mysteries. No majority backed the standard cosmological model, a leading explanation for dark matter, or any single theory of quantum gravity. One area of stronger agreement stood out: 68% said the Big Bang does not necessarily represent the beginning of time. Researchers say the divisions show just how alive and unsettled the frontiers of physics remain.

Submission + - Two In Out-of-Body Experiment Reported Seeing Things Scientists Cannot Explain (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right on Friday September 11, 2026 @09:39PM

alternative_right writes: Now, a team led by neuroscientist Marina Weiler of the University of Virginia has put the phenomenon to the test again â" with a carefully blinded experiment, 21 experienced out-of-body practitioners, and a hidden image waiting in another room.

Not a single participant succeeded at the task they were given.

But two of them reported seeing something else that should have been impossible â" and the researchers can't quite explain it.

Comment What's the chance humans will kill all humans? (Score 2) 167

by alternative_right on Wednesday September 09, 2026 @10:52PM (#66331826) Attached to: Anthropic Researcher Believes More Than 10% Chance AI 'Could Kill All Humans'

I consider this a much greater risk.

Submission + - Dark energy debunked? Cosmic acceleration may be an illusion (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by alternative_right on Wednesday September 09, 2026 @10:14PM

alternative_right writes: A new analysis of more than 1,700 supernovae is questioning whether the universe is really accelerating at all. After accounting for the ages of the stars that produce these explosions, researchers found signs that cosmic expansion may actually be slowing. They also argue that the apparent acceleration changes with direction, which would be difficult to explain with dark energy. Other cosmologists dispute the conclusion, setting up a major test for upcoming observatories.

Submission + - Scientists find a way to slash computer memory energy use by orders of magnitude (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by alternative_right on Tuesday September 08, 2026 @08:20PM

alternative_right writes: Scientists have devised a new way to switch magnetic computer memory while using far less energy than today's leading technologies. By mathematically optimizing the pulses used to flip digital bits, the method could reduce energy consumption by several orders of magnitude. Simulations suggest it may bring future memory devices surprisingly close to the fundamental physical limit for processing information. The same idea could eventually work with electrical currents or ultrafast lasers.

Submission + - AI is helping gangs grow illicit tobacco networks, EU auditor warns (politico.eu)

Submitted by alternative_right on Tuesday September 08, 2026 @07:27PM

alternative_right writes: Criminal gangs are using artificial intelligence to help them find locations in Europe to build illicit cigarette factories with less chance of getting caught, an EU auditor warned on Tuesday.

These gangs used to operate in Eastern Europe where it was easier to hide, Petri Sarvamaa in charge of the European Court of Auditorâ(TM)s report on illicit tobacco, told a press briefing.

Now, with AI, itâ(TM)s easier to find places to operate that are closer to their markets, he said, in rural locations and villages. âoeThis reduces the risk in the supply chain for the criminals,â added Esther Torrente Heras, senior auditor.

Comment TOTAL FREE SPEECH (Score 1) 38

by alternative_right on Sunday September 06, 2026 @12:33PM (#66325914) Attached to: FSF is Now on Bluesky - But Won't Advocate Signing Up Due to Nonfree JavaScript

...there is no obligation to carry unpaid commercial messages. In the same way, you probably have to filter out the obvious insane who might just for example post "Just wondering, should I refer to you as a liar or a hypocrite?" as every message.

Comment TOTAL FREE SPEECH OR NO SPEECH AT ALL (Score 1) 38

by alternative_right on Saturday September 05, 2026 @10:02PM (#66325320) Attached to: FSF is Now on Bluesky - But Won't Advocate Signing Up Due to Nonfree JavaScript

Wimps and poseurs leave the hall!

Try these:

Submission + - AI models are becoming unknowable (axios.com)

Submitted by alternative_right on Friday September 04, 2026 @11:21AM

alternative_right writes: OpenAI on Thursday released GPT-6 Astra, which president Greg Brockman said could eventually be seen as the start of artificial general intelligence, or AGI.

Astra performs better, but it's also better at avoiding monitoring, meaning it could be harder to know what it's thinking or doing.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman separately told Axios this week that models are becoming "superhuman" in some capabilities and that "we are just sailing in unknown waters."