Futurology

Data centers aren't the sole cause of Ireland's high electricity prices, but they do contribute to them. The biggest cause is Ireland's reliance on imported natural gas.

That said, data centers are heading for 30% of the country's electricity use, and they contribute significantly to high prices. Effectively a subsidy from Irish consumers to Big Tech. There are other externalized costs, too. E.g. Supporting Big Tech data center infrastructure is delaying house building. Ireland is lucky in that most of Big Tech pays its European taxes to the Irish government, so there's a quid pro quo here. But that is less true for other parts of the world.

Some people think AI may need as big a share of other countries' electricity - who should be paying for this?

Government warned of rising household bills as data centres strain grid

There are lots of reasons to think Chinese AI will come to dominate globally, and the Chinese government's latest directives on AI seem to make that more likely.

First, there's no mention of AGI or superintelligence. The only other nation's AI likely to dominate is the US's. China's approach to AI is profoundly different. Where the US AI leaders are focused on reaching AGI first, the Chinese are focused on the widespread integration of today's AI across all levels of society and their economy.

That means China can't help but export its AI standards. They are the world's manufacturing hub. This AI approach will be built into all their exports and thus spread around the world. EVs, robots, electronics, renewable energy infrastructure, etc, etc - all will have Chinese AI.

The Chinese make most of their AI open-source and free. They are more focused on the money they can make on top of that. Google with the Android OS is a good analogy. This will encourage global dispersal, too.

Finally, the Chinese have the advantage of having detailed plans and the ability to stick to them and implement them. Many Westerners favor as close as they can get to complete deregulation and the absence of any plans. The disadvantage of that approach in the 21st century, is that the Chinese and their planned joined-up thinking tend to leave you behind in the dust, while they get ahead and get things done.

The AI Plus initiative – China’s blueprint for AI diffusion

The study tested whether genetically engineered senescence-resistant mesenchymal progenitor cells (SRCs) could slow or reverse aging in primates. By enhancing the activity of the longevity-associated gene FOXO3, the researchers created stem cells more resilient to stress and senescence.

This reversed ageing across a broad series of markers, including the brain, skin, bones, internal organs, and reproductive system.

The study used cynomolgus macaques aged 19–23 years, which they said is equivalent to 57–69 years in humans. I don't know if you can directly scale up the improvements to "human years", but if you could, it seems this would be the same as reversing human aging by about a decade for people in their 50s and 60s.

Senescence-resistant human mesenchymal progenitor cells counter aging in primates

Full details, including a 27 page PDF are at this link

People used to hold up China as the prime example of Orwellian government monitoring of the citizenry. Now it looks like the US is giving them a run for their money. This spyware is for immigration officials, but how long before its use spreads? Tied to AI, it will be a powerful way to identify and monitor "enemies" of the government.

This software takes control of your phone, meaning its users can act as you. Don't like all those social media posts you made criticising XYZ. Fine, we'll delete them for you. If you think the government wouldn't go that far, I've a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

We used to speculate about a 100% surveillance future. It looks like it has arrived, and we're living in it.

Ice obtains access to Israeli-made spyware that can hack phones and encrypted apps

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/41849856

If an LLM can't be trusted with a fast food order, I can't imagine what it is reliable enough for. I really was expecting this was the easy use case for the things.

It sounds like most orders still worked, so I guess we'll see if other chains come to the same conclusion.

All the 100s of billions of dollars Silicon Valley is pouring into AI depend on one thing. Earning it back in the future. OpenAI, which made $13 billion last year, thinks it might make $200 billion in 2030. New data points to a different reality; AI use may be declining in big corporate customers. Though perhaps it's a blip, and it may begin climbing again.

AI use is still spreading worldwide, and open-source efforts are the equal of Silicon Valley's offerings. Even if the current Silicon Valley AI leaders fail, that won't stop. But the US is piggybacking on the Silicon Valley boom to try to reach AGI. That effort may be affected.

Link to graph of the data, source US Census Bureau - PDF 1 page

"Swiss firm Novartis’s radioligand therapy, which delivers radioactive isotopes directly to tumours, has completely cleared metastatic cancers in trial patients - an unprecedented result. And, US researchers found that blocking an immune protein (IL-23) makes HPV vaccines effective against existing tumours, raising hopes for therapeutic vaccines."

Quote from Fixthenews newsletter

How Novartis got ahead on ‘incredible’ cancer breakthrough

Preventive HPV vaccines work. Now a new discovery could also help eliminate existing cancers too

380 GW of new solar power has been installed globally in the first six months of 2025; 64% up on the same period last year. GWEC projects that 2025 will see 139 GW of new wind installations. Assuming solar keeps increasing at the near rate in the second half of 2025, the total renewables figure for 2025 will top 1,000 GW for the first time ever. Even if solar slowed down to half its current rate of growth, that will still be true.

Three times the entire global nuclear capacity. Let that sink in. That took decades to build. Now renewables can do three times more in just one year.

Consider something else. Renewables growth has years, if not decades, of further growth ahead of it. Economies of scale mean that as more of it gets built, it keeps getting cheaper. And it's already the cheapest electricity there is. When will the first 2,000 GW year be?

Scaling hasn’t gotten us to AGI, or 'superintelligence”, let alone AI we could trust. The field is overdue for a rethink. What do we next?

India has a pretty good track record on following through on space commitments, so this all seems achievable to me. It's already landed on the Moon with Chandrayaan-3. I wonder by 2040 will there be anyone in permanent habitation at the International Lunar Research Station? Who knows how many space stations there will be in ten year's time (2035). China will have one, the ISS will have de-orbited, but presumably there will be Western commercial ones too.

India unveils its space vision to 2040