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Showing posts from September 1, 2023

AI news: Meta Stands Firm on Blocking News Content in Canada Despite New Legislation

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Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has reiterated its stance on blocking news content in Canada, despite the Canadian government's efforts to clarify new legislation that will compel dominant tech companies to pay news outlets for the use of their content. The law, known as the Online News Act, is scheduled to take effect in January 2024. In response to its passage, Meta initiated the blocking of news content for users on its platforms in Canada last month. Meta asserts that the law is based on an incorrect assertion that the company unfairly benefits from news content shared on its platforms, and as such, the proposed regulations will not affect its decision to restrict news availability in Canada. Advocates in favor of the legislation argue that platforms like Facebook have profited from news articles to boost their own ad revenue, while the media organizations producing the content have not received adequate compensation. The Online News Act was modeled after a

AI news: Federal Judge Blocks Texas Law Mandating Age Verification on Pornography Sites

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A federal judge, U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra, has issued a temporary injunction blocking a Texas law that mandated age-verification measures on pornography websites. The judge ruled that the law, which was set to take effect imminently, violated the First Amendment by substantially regulating protected speech, being overly restrictive, and employing enforcement methods deemed excessive. The Texas law required pornography websites to implement age-verification measures to confirm that visitors to their sites are at least 18 years old. Additionally, it mandated the posting of warnings about the perceived harms associated with pornography. However, Judge Ezra found that the law was fundamentally flawed, stating that it was "severely underinclusive" in its approach. While the law aimed to prevent minors from accessing pornography online, it contained substantial exemptions, including materials that are most likely to serve as gateways to pornography consumption. In his or

AI news: Google Alleges Antitrust Official's Bias in Ongoing Legal Battle

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Google has raised allegations of bias against Jonathan Kanter, the U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, in an ongoing antitrust case against the tech giant. In a recent filing, Google requested information about Kanter's previous work and advocacy, claiming that his perceived bias violates the company's due process right to a neutral prosecutor. The case in question, brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ), focuses on Google's dominance in the ad-tech market and was initiated during the Biden administration in January. However, in April, Kanter recused himself from the case after Google retained his former employer, law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, to represent them. Google is simultaneously facing another antitrust case brought by the DOJ in 2020 during the Trump administration. This case targets Google's dominance in the search market and is scheduled to go to trial later this month. In both cases, Google vehemently denies allega

AI news: The Guardian Blocks ChatGPT's Access to its Content Amid AI Copyright Concerns

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In a move to address growing concerns over AI-generated content and copyright issues, The Guardian newspaper has announced its decision to block artificial intelligence (AI) text generation program ChatGPT from accessing and utilizing its content. AI products like ChatGPT operate by scraping existing online content and utilizing it as data to generate new content through complex algorithms. Concerns surrounding the legal rights of these programs to use published text, audio, and images to train their algorithms have been on the rise since they gained public prominence last year. OpenAI, the organization that owns ChatGPT, took a step toward addressing these concerns last month by allowing website owners to opt out of having their content utilized by its AI algorithms. In a statement, The Guardian's publisher emphasized, "The scraping of intellectual property from the Guardian’s website for commercial purposes is, and has always been, contrary to our terms of service." The

AI news: James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Stunning Details of Supernova SN1987A

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The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured a mesmerizing image of supernova SN1987A, providing unprecedented insights into the dramatic aftermath of this stellar explosion. SN1987A, which erupted in 1987, was a significant celestial event, marking the closest and brightest supernova observed from Earth in nearly four centuries. Located a mere 170,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy neighboring our Milky Way, SN1987A has remained a subject of fascination for astronomers worldwide. The latest image obtained by the JWST reveals a series of luminous rings encircling the site of the supernova, resembling a celestial pearl necklace. These rings represent bands of gas and dust expelled by the dying star during its various stages of collapse and detonation. Over time, these materials were excited and illuminated by the expanding shockwaves generated by the star's final moments. One of the most striking features in the image is the "string of pear

AI news: NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Captures Images of Luna-25 Crash Site

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NASA has reported the capture of images that likely depict the crash site of Russia's Luna-25 lunar lander, marking a significant development in lunar exploration. The Luna-25 probe, Russia's first post-Soviet lunar lander, encountered difficulties during pre-landing maneuvers, resulting in its collision with the Moon's surface on August 19, according to Russia's space agency, Roscosmos. In a statement, NASA announced that its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) had photographed the impact crater believed to be the Luna-25 crash site, located on the Moon's south pole. Close-range images taken on June 27 and August 24 revealed a distinctive crater forming on the lunar surface, providing strong evidence of Luna-25's impact. NASA's LRO team explained, "Since this new crater is close to the Luna 25 estimated impact point, the LRO team concludes it is likely to be from that mission, rather than a natural impactor." The Luna-25 mission held significant im

AI news: Illuminating the Nano World: Tracking Molecule Dynamics in Nanofluidic Structures

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In a groundbreaking collaboration, researchers from the University of Manchester and the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have unveiled a pioneering method to monitor the dynamics of individual molecules within nanofluidic structures. This innovative approach sheds light on how molecules respond in nanoscale environments, providing insights that were previously inaccessible. Nanofluidics: A World of Miniature Fluids Nanofluidics is the study of fluids confined within ultra-small spaces, offering a unique window into the behavior of liquids on a nanometer scale. However, investigating the movement of individual molecules within such tiny confines has long been a scientific challenge due to the limitations of conventional microscopy techniques. This limitation has hindered real-time sensing and imaging, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of molecular properties in confined spaces. Thin Channels for Molecular Insight Led by Professor Radha Boya in

AI news: A Breakthrough Method to Assess Volcano Eruption Risk

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What is the risk of a volcano erupting? To answer this question, scientists need information about its underlying internal structure. However, gathering this data can take several years of fieldwork, analyses, and monitoring, which explains why only 30% of active volcanoes are currently well documented. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has developed a method for rapidly obtaining valuable information. It is based on three parameters: the height of the volcano, the thickness of the layer of rock separating the volcano's reservoir from the surface, and the average chemical composition of the magma. These results open new prospects for identifying volcanoes that present the greatest risk and are published in the journal Geology. The Earth is home to some 1,500 active volcanoes, yet we only have accurate data for 30% of them. This is due to the difficulty of observing their "fuel," the famous magma, which is rich in information. This molten rock is first generated