Iran police shot a woman while trying to seize her car over hijab law violation, activists say
– Iranian police shot a 31-year-old woman named Arezou Badri while trying to seize her car over a violation of Iran’s hijab (headscarf) law. – Police had ordered to impound her car due to a previous hijab violation where she showed her hair while driving. – The shooting occurred last month near the Caspian Sea […]
Analysis: High-wire diplomacy on possible Iran retaliation in the Israel-Hamas war draws in world
Iran has threatened retaliation against Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. This has triggered high-stakes diplomacy to prevent an Iranian strike. An Iranian strike could escalate fighting in the monthslong Israel-Hamas war in Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinians. It could also strain efforts to reach a ceasefire and […]
Enormous hidden ocean discovered under Mars could contain life
– Scientists have discovered a huge hidden ocean under the surface of Mars using data from NASA’s InSight lander. – The ocean is estimated to contain enough water to cover the whole planet in about 1 mile (1.6 km) of water. It is located between 11-20 km below the surface, trapped under fractured rock. – […]
China constructs world’s first dual-tower solar thermal plant — and it will help generate nearly 2 billion kWh annually
– China has constructed the world’s first dual-tower solar thermal plant near Guazhou County in Gansu Province. – The plant uses thousands of mirrors to reflect and focus sunlight onto two central towers to generate intense heat. This heat is used to boil water and produce steam that drives turbines to generate electricity. – It […]
Russian navy trained to target sites inside Europe with nuclear-capable missiles
Secret Russian military documents seen by the FT show Russia had plans to target sites deep within Europe using nuclear-capable missiles in a potential conflict with NATO. Maps showed targets as far as the west coast of France and the UK, predating the Ukraine invasion. The documents, from 2008-2014, outlined targeting of military and infrastructure […]
New supercomputing network could lead to AGI, scientists hope, with 1st node coming online within weeks
– Researchers plan to build a worldwide network of extremely powerful supercomputers to accelerate the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI). – The first supercomputer in the network will come online in September 2024 and the project is expected to be completed by late 2024 or early 2025. – The new modular supercomputer will feature […]
Google DeepMind can beat humans at table tennis
– Google’s DeepMind AI, known for mastering Go and solving protein structures, has developed a robotic system that can beat human players at table tennis. – The system uses a customized DeepMind neural network trained on real and simulated table tennis data to control a robotic arm. It learns strategies and skills like topspin serves. […]
Researchers discover potentially catastrophic exploit present in AMD chips for decades
– Security researchers have discovered a vulnerability in AMD processors that has been present for decades dating back to at least 2006. – Called the “Sinkclose” flaw, it potentially allows hackers to run their own code in the most privileged mode of an AMD processor called System Management Mode (SMM), which is normally protected firmware. […]
Webb telescope just snapped image of huge black hole gobbling things
– The James Webb Space Telescope captured an image of the giant black hole at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 4258, located 23 million light years from Earth. – The black hole is actively consuming surrounding material, heating it up and producing bright light as it orbits and falls into the black hole. […]
Iran gives few clues as region awaits military response to Israel
– Iran has been threatening retaliation against Israel for assassinating Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran two weeks ago, but has not given any clear indications of how or when it may respond. – The psychological warfare of keeping Israel on edge without a direct attack allows Iran to appease hardliners calling for revenge […]