Here is the daily technology #threadcast for 4/29/25. The goal is to make this a technology "reddit".
Drop all question, comments, and articles relating to #technology and the future. The goal is make it a technology center.
Here is the daily technology #threadcast for 4/29/25. The goal is to make this a technology "reddit".
Drop all question, comments, and articles relating to #technology and the future. The goal is make it a technology center.
Paragraphs
“Bioturbation is also important for seabed and wider ocean ecosystems. We have a good understanding of how invertebrates contribute to global bioturbation – but until now, we have been missing half the story. Our study is the first to attempt to quantify the bioturbation impact of fish, and it shows they play a significant, widespread role.”
How overfishing threatens nature’s underwater engineers
Co-author Callum Roberts said, “We also found that species with the highest bioturbation impacts are among the most vulnerable to threats such as commercial fishing.”
“Many of the largest and most powerful diggers and disturbers of seabed sediments, like giant skates, halibut and cod, have been so overfished they have all but vanished from our seas. These losses translate into big, but still uncertain, changes in the way seabed ecosystems work.”
For now, predicting the exact timing of the spacecraft’s reentry remains difficult. Marco Langbroek estimates it could occur around May 10, though the forecast will become more accurate as the date approaches. The uncertainty is largely due to heightened solar activity — the Sun’s current active phase is heating and expanding Earth’s atmosphere, increasing atmospheric drag and causing orbiting objects to lose altitude more quickly.
It’s equally challenging to predict where any surviving debris might land. The location will depend on the precise moment the spacecraft reenters and starts to break apart.
Typically, the risk to populated areas is low, with debris more likely to fall into remote regions of the ocean. Due to its robust construction, if it lands on solid ground, it could provide valuable insights into the durability of spacecraft materials after prolonged exposure to space.
However, even though the risk is small, uncontrolled reentries are never entirely without danger.
This is not the first time reentry predictions have been made for Kosmos 482.
In 2018, Russian astronomer Pavel Shubin estimated that the spacecraft would crash between 2023 and 2025 . Further analyses in 2019 and 2022 refined these predictions, with simulations indicating a reentry window between mid-2024 and mid-2027, most likely around 2025–2026.
!summarize #stanford #creativity #ai
Inflammation’s hidden retinal imprint
Another important finding from the study points to genetic variants linked to inflammatory processes in the brain, which may also play a role in structural changes observed in the retina.
These results lend additional support to the inflammation hypothesis of schizophrenia — the idea that inflammation could drive the onset or progression of the disorder.
“If this hypothesis is confirmed, inflammation could be interrupted by medication, potentially enabling us to improve treatment possibilities in the future,” Rabe explained.
“Understanding the anatomy of the Uturuncu volcanic system was only possible thanks to the expertise within the research team. This enabled us to combine various advanced geophysical imaging tools with modelling of the rock properties and their interactions with fluids,” said Professor Haijiang Zhang, the co-author from the School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, in the press release.
The team suggests that the study techniques be valuable for investigating over 1400 potentially active volcanoes and the many other seemingly inactive, zombie-like volcanoes.
The study involved researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, the University of Oxford, and Cornell University.
The findings were published in the journal PNAS.
C2 molecule production
Even though other experiments have achieved artificial photosynthesis using biological materials, Yang’s team chose copper, an inorganic material with lower selectivity for desired chemical reactions than biological catalysts. However, copper offers significant advantages such as greater durability, stability, and longer operational life, all critical for scaling up future applications.
While LiSA experts developed the device’s cathode and anode components, the integration with metal contacts was carried out using instruments at Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry. During testing, a solar simulator replicating continuous sunlight demonstrated that the system could efficiently convert CO₂ into carbon-carbon (C2) molecules, essential building blocks for a wide range of industries.
Education Dept. Investigating Chicago Public Schools
A conservative nonprofit, Parents Defending Education, alleges Chicago public schools has an academic-achievement initiative that discriminates against students on the basis of race and the Department of Education is investigating the complaint.
The complaint concerns a recent program aimed at helping Black students academically, the Black Students Success Plan, and claims that it "violates Title VI" of the Civil Rights Act "by focusing on remedial measures only for Black students, despite acknowledging that Chicago students of all races struggle academically," the release states.
The news follows a threat, which cited the same section of the Civil Rights Act, issued by the Trump administration earlier this month to cut off more than $1 billion in federal funding to CPS over programs that focus on diversity, equality and inclusion.
LA Port Braces for 35 Percent Drop As Trump Tariffs Hit
Shipments from China to the West Coast are expected to fall sharply next week, with cargo to the Port of Los Angeles projected to drop by more than a third, as President Donald Trump's new tariffs prompt major U.S. retailers to curb import orders.
Gene Seroka, who heads the nation's busiest container port, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that American retailers are halting large orders from China in response to the new duties, significantly reducing incoming cargo volume.
"According to our own port optimizer, which measures the loadings in Asia, we'll be down just a little bit over 35% next week compared to last year. And it's a precipitous drop in volume with a number of major American retailers stopping all shipments from China based on the tariffs," Seroka said.
Beijing responded swiftly with retaliatory tariffs, raising the combined levies of the two countries to more than 100% on many goods. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called the standoff "unsustainable," but no significant negotiations have emerged to resolve the dispute.
Economic analysts are already warning of broader impacts. Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, has outlined the risk of job losses in the transportation and retail sectors, shrinking inventories, and a possible recession if trade disruptions persist through summer.
Despite these concerns, U.S. retailers are temporarily buffered by inventory stockpiled ahead of Trump's tariff hike. Seroka estimated that companies have five to seven weeks of inventory before product shortages become visible to consumers.
ICE Dismantles Marriage Fraud Operation; 4 Charged
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has dismantled a nationwide marriage fraud operation that resulted in four people being arrested in connection with facilitating visa and marriage fraud.
The sham marriages were arranged to help those who entered the U.S. illegally gain immigration benefits, ICE announced Monday.
Ella Zuran, 65, Tatiana Sigal, 74, and Alexandra Tkach, 41, of New York City, along with Shawnta Hopper, 33, of Sicklerville, New Jersey, are alleged to have been the ringleaders of the operation. Zuran, Sigal, and Tkach were arrested and charged in March.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations began the investigation in April 2022 with assistance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service.
The inquiry resulted in 10 more arrests last Thursday.
Border Patrol Gets Assist From Mexican Navy
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol posted a video Monday of a patrol boat intercepting and ramming a suspected human smuggling craft off the California coast.
Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks said the operation to intercept the border-crossing criminals might not have happened if not for a tip from the Mexican navy.
Banks credited Mexican military commanders with passing along information about a boat Border Patrol was unable to stop and figured it was heading for the U.S. Banks said CBP's West Coast Air and Marine Operations agents spotted the boat in open water off San Diego and ordered the operators to stop.
The boat continued at a high rate of speed. A few moves later the evasion ended. All was caught on video. Banks initially reported that two suspected human smugglers were being detained after the stop.
In a later post, Banks updated the case and reported that there were three apparent smugglers onboard who were trying to sneak 16 others on the vessel to shore.
"The smugglers now face felony charges for alien smuggling ... while the others will be prosecuted for felony illegal re-entry," Banks said. "Even in the open ocean," said the chief, "the border has a line — and we will defend it."
CO2 engineers of deep sea: Cod, eel save environment by storing carbon in ocean
New research reveals that many of the fish species we eat are vital to maintaining the seabed — and by extension, the climate.
New research reveals that many of the fish species we eat are vital to maintaining the seabed — and by extension, the climate.
Experts at the Convex Seascape Survey analyzed the role of fish in bioturbation, which is the stirring and reworking of sediments in the shallow seas around the UK and globally. The results also underscore the ecological importance of species like the Atlantic cod, Atlantic hagfish, and European eel, which were the region’s highest-ranked ‘ecosystem engineers’.
Altogether, the researchers identified 185 fish species contributing to bioturbation, 120 targeted by commercial fisheries.
“Ocean sediments are the world’s largest reservoir of organic carbon – so what happens on the seabed matters for our climate,” said University of Exeter PhD student Mara Fischer, who led the study.
“Bioturbation is very important for how the seabed takes up and stores organic carbon, so the process is vital to our understanding of how the ocean absorbs greenhouse gases to slow the rate of climate change.
!summarize #humanoid #robots #automation
Kosmos 482: 1,000-pound Soviet Venus probe could crash to earth after 53 years
The lander module from the Kosmos 482 mission is expected to crash back to earth in May.
Half a century after its launch, Kosmos 482 — the doomed Soviet Venus probe that that never made it beyond Earth orbit — is making headlines again.
The super tough venus lander is making an uncontrolled reentry to the earth in the coming weeks, sparking concerns as scientists do not where it may fall. Designed to survive the brutal conditions of Venus’s atmosphere, parts of the probe could endure the plunge through Earth’s atmosphere and strike the surface.
Marco Langbroek, a satellite tracker based in Netherlands, said the lander module from the Kosmos 482 mission could come down in the second week of May.
“Because this lander was built to withstand Venus’s harsh atmosphere, there’s a real chance it could survive reentry intact,” Langbroek noted in a recent blog update. He added that while the overall risk to people is low, it is not zero.
Doomed launch, lingering threat
Launched on March 31, 1972, the mission attempted to deliver a lander to Venus. However, the spacecraft failed to escape Earth’s orbit due to a premature shutdown of its Blok L upper stage, attributed to an incorrectly set timer. Consequently, it was designated as “Kosmos 482,” a common practice for Soviet missions that remained in Earth orbit.
The spacecraft split into four pieces after launch, with two smaller fragments reentering the atmosphere and falling over Ashburton, New Zealand, just two days later. The descent module, weighing approximately 1,091 pound has been orbiting Earth since the mission’s failure.
Considering its mass, “risks are similar to that of a meteorite impact,” Langbroek wrote.
Could eye scans spot schizophrenia? New research offers hope for early detection
New study suggests that greater genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia is linked to thinner retinal tissue.
Eyes have long been called a window to the world — but new research suggests they may also reveal the state of a person’s mental health.
New study by a team of international researchers from the University of Zurich and the University Hospital of Psychiatry, Zurich finds that genetic risk for schizophrenia is linked to thinner retinas, suggesting that one day retinal scans could aid in early detection and intervention of the disease.
A part of the central nervous system, retina is directly connected to the brain, showing subtle signatures of shift in the brain activity in the eyes.
Researchers investigated whether disruptions in neural communication are tied to genetic risk factors for schizophrenia — a disorder known for affecting how the brain processes information.
Genetic risk meets retina
Previous studies have suggested that schizophrenia may be associated with a loss of gray matter in the brain and thinning of the retina. Yet it remains uncertain whether these changes contribute to the development of the disorder or emerge as a consequence of it.
Other variables — such as the effects of antipsychotic medications, lifestyle habits, or comorbid conditions like diabetes — could also play a role in altering the retina.
“To investigate whether the risk of developing schizophrenia has an effect on the central nervous system, we examined tens of thousands of healthy individuals,” first author of the study Finn Rabe said.
Postage stamp-sized artificial leaf converts CO2 into fuel using sunlight
The self-contained carbon-carbon producing system combines the catalytic power of copper with perovskite from solar panels.
Researchers have made an outstanding step towards sustainable energy solutions after they developed an artificial leaf capable of converting carbon dioxide into liquid fuels and other valuable chemicals using sunlight alone.
The team of experts from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and their international collaborators brought science one step closer to replicating the incredible productivity of natural photosynthesis, but with the added potential for industrial-scale application.
By harnessing copper’s catalytic power alongside perovskite – a calcium titanium oxide mineral widely used in solar panels – they developed a self-contained system that captures sunlight and converts carbon dioxide (CO₂) into carbon-carbon (C2) molecules.
These C2 molecules – a green, gaseous inorganic chemical also known as diatomic carbon – are essential building blocks for various industries, including fuel production and plastics.
Efficient carbon conversion
A part of the Liquid Sunlight Alliance (LiSA), a Department of Energy-funded initiative led by Caltech in close partnership with Berkeley Lab, the project draws on the expertise of over 100 scientists from institutions including SLAC, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and the University of Oregon. To further its mission, LiSA aims to advance technologies that turn sunlight, CO₂, and water into fuels.
“Nature was our inspiration,” said Peidong Yang, PhD, a senior faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s material sciences division and UC Berkeley professor of chemistry and materials science and engineering.
“We had to work on the individual components first, but when we brought everything together and realized that it was successful, it was a very exciting moment.”
!summarize #openai #chatgpt #samaltman #personality
#askleo what is this threadcast about and who hosts it?
ChatGPT goes shopping with new product-browsing feature
OpenAI has announced new shopping features in ChatGPT Search that will allow users to search for products and purchase them through merchant websites after being redirected from the ChatGPT interface. The experience resembles Google Shopping - users click on a product image and the interface displays multiple retailers on the right side of the screen with buttons to complete purchases. Product reviews come from various online sources and users can choose which review sources for ChatGPT to prioritize. The product results are not sponsored for now, but the company is likely working towards enabling sponsored placements.
#technology #chatgpt #shopping
Amazon launches first Kuiper internet satellites in bid to take on Elon Musk’s Starlink
Amazon launched its first batch of 27 Kuiper internet satellites into space on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida shortly after 7 PM ET yesterday. The Federal Communications Commission expects Amazon to launch half of its total constellation up in the air by July 2026. Amazon has booked more than 80 launches with ULA, SpaceX, Arianespace, and Blue Origin to deploy dozens of satellites at a time. The company will invest up to $10 billion to build the Kuiper network.
#technology #amazon #satelite #starlink
First 3D-printed Starbucks coffee shop opens tomorrow in Texas
A new 3D-printed Starbucks has opened in Brownsville, Texas. The Cobod BOD2-printed concrete fabricated shop is open for both in-person pickup and drive-through orders. It is not a very large store - its 1,400 sq ft shell is just enough for a mobile order pick-up desk and a drive-through coffee shop. There is no indoor seating and no in-person walk-in order system.
#technology #starbucks #3dprinting
Tooth Successfully Grown in Lab
Scientists from London's King's College and Imperial College have grown a tooth in a lab. They used a specially developed material to mimic the conditions required for natural tooth development. The technology could eventually offer patients a biological alternative to artificial fillings and implants. Now that researchers have replicated the right environment, the challenge is in translating the discovery into a clinical setting.
#technology #labgrown #tooth
Sycophancy is the first LLM "dark pattern"
OpenAI's models being overly sycophantic is bad because it's dangerous to validate people's belief that they're always in the right. This sycophancy is a dark pattern - a user interface designed to trick users into doing things they'd prefer not to do. The whole process of turning an AI base model into a model you can chat to is a process of making the model want to please the user. The problem happens when users collide with the real world and do things because a large language model has convinced them it is a good idea - and then they return to the model for comfort, and sink even deeper into the illusion.
#technology #ai #llm #sycophancy
Netflix introduces a new kind of subtitles for the non-hearing impaired
The new format omits additional information needed by the hard of hearing, including character names, music cues, and sound effects.
#technology #netflix #accessibility #a11y
BYD is coming for Tesla's lunch
BYD has set an ambitious target to double its overseas sales to more than 800,000 cars in 2025.
#technology #byd #tesla
Ethereum researcher proposes 100-fold 'exponential' gas limit boost to improve mainnet scaling
Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist has proposed EIP-9698, a plan to increase the network's gas limit by 100x over four years, potentially enabling up to 2,000 transactions per second. While it could greatly improve scalability and competitiveness, it may strain less-optimized nodes and slow block propagation, requiring gradual adaptation.
#technology #crypto #ethereum #scalability
Nexo to reenter US market after two-year regulatory exit and $45 million settlement
Nexo is reentering the U.S. market nearly two years after exiting due to regulatory scrutiny, having paid a $45M settlement without admitting wrongdoing. Announced at a private event attended by Donald Trump Jr., Nexo's return aligns with the Trump administration's more crypto-friendly regulatory stance and includes plans to relaunch savings accounts, asset-backed loans, and other core services.
#technology #crypto #nexo
Coinbase to launch yield-bearing Bitcoin fund for institutions
Coinbase Asset Management will launch the Coinbase Bitcoin Yield Fund on May 1, targeting a net annual return of 4%-8% for institutional investors outside the U.S. It will implement a cash-and-carry strategy, arbitraging between spot and derivatives markets, to generate yield on Bitcoin holdings. The fund is backed by investors like Abu Dhabi's Aspen Digital and aims to reduce operational and investment risks associated with Bitcoin yield products.
#technology #coinbase #bitcoin #fund
Noise: Turning Attention Into a Market
Noise is a new trading app that lets users long or short a project's mindshare. Tracked via Kaito's onchain oracle monitoring Crypto Twitter activity, its leaderboard-driven UX fosters a viral trading-tweeting loop, offering potential stickiness beyond memecoin speculation and challenging the “tokenize everything” narrative. Long-term success will depend on maintaining liquid markets and preventing attention manipulation.
#technology #crypto #noise #trading #attention
Tokenization as a SaaS Liquidity Option
BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized Treasury fund has rapidly grown to $2 billion, bringing with it near-instant settlement and onchain collateral borrowing. CEO Larry Fink believes fully tokenizing every asset could eliminate market closures, free up billions now tied in settlement delays, and accelerate economic growth. While Treasuries lead the way, tokenized equities stand ready to follow once regulatory frameworks adapt, promising global trading access, shareholder voting via tokens, and dramatically reduced IPO costs.
#technology #crypto #tokenization #saas
QWEN3 : LLM model from the Alibaba gets Another Update
What's new with Qwen3-30B-A3B?
#technology #ai