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An Anonymous Coward writes:I just saw this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMwjKyAPR34, explaining how the end of the world is coming in 2028 or so. I work for the department of redundancy department, so here's a summary:Investors are throwing a lot of money into AI research. State-level investors, in many cases, are interested in surveillance and efficient warfare. Many experts are saying that humans cannot control a machine more intelligent than themselves. Experts have also outlined a number of "AGI success" scenarios which end with human extinction. The video provides a relatively simple suggestion to circumvent the problem: keep "AI" simple for now, by keeping three properties always separate: "autonomy", "generality" and "intelligence". The video then ends encouraging the spreading of the word, and putting pressure on the EU to act on this (since it seems that the US and China are going to ignore the warnings).In a recent journal entry by AnonTechie https://soylentnews.org/~AnonTechie/journal/19211 [note: I am not AnonTechie] other experts say that we're not on the right path to general AI. I asked there "but why try to make AGI in the first place?". And it's still not clear to me: what advantage does humanity get from "building AGI"? I can certainly see the money that Google, Amazon and Facebook are making from improving their advertisement stuff, and I can certainly see the benefits of improved medical diagnosis, universal translation, and a bunch of other clearly defined use-cases. But why do we need 1 algorithmic/hardware entity that can do everything? Why are the citizens of democracies allowing their governments to put money into "AGI"?For what it's worth, humanity has recent experience with exponential growth (covid), and warnings of a catastrophic future ignored by governments and populations (climate change). We also have experience with a catastrophic future that was avoided (ozone layer survives and it's recovering because of actions taken in the 1980s). In democracies, at least nominally, power is evenly divided between people through the universal vote. How can we convince voters that the rate of progress in AI research is out of control?In the case of ITER (hard theory), the LHC (hard theory and high precision) or LIGO (high precision) there is a human community which can ultimately explain every nut and bolt.

Many of you will recall last week I made a plea for submissions as the subs queue was all but empty. One of our regular contributors did us proud and provided about a dozen stories, some of which you have already seen. But, unusually, they were all connected by a single topic - the gut microbiome.Several of you have made comments that you are aware of the strong link between the microbiome and various medical problems and issues. Rather than drag all the other stories out gradually, I have created a mashup of the remaining stories.There are quite a few..... Thanks c0lo!Gut Microbiome Could Delay Onset of Type 1 DiabetesGut microbiome could delay onset of type 1 diabetes:

hubie writes:Ideal for everyone who likes to throw a few swear words into their sentences:

An Anonymous Coward writes:- https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=showheadline&story=19984

upstart writes:9-mile-thick layer of solid diamonds may lurk beneath Mercury's surface, study hints:

Arthur Wellesley writes:The XKCD cartoon 'PhD Timeline' ( https://xkcd.com/3081/ ) with its rollover, protests.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

hubie writes:Energy labelling and ecodesign requirements will apply to these products from June 2025:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

canopic jug writes:Mathematician, cryptologist, and computer scientist, Daniel J Bernstein has written a detailed blog post about the McEliece cryptosystem. Specifically he covers what Classic McEliece does , how the parameter sets were selected, its small ciphertexts, what NIST says about ISO standardization. what NIST says about deployment, a note about one performance number, a second note about FrodoKEM, and finally what NIST says about security.

upstart writes:Kennedy promises exhaustive studies to identify any environmental factors that may cause autismKennedy promises exhaustive studies to identify any environmental factors that may cause autism:

upstart writes:One hundred years after its discovery, the colossal squid has been filmed alive in its environment for the first time:

canopic jug writes:SparkFun Electronics, known for open source designs and software libraries, has an article covering the history of time keeping, from the earliest archeological evidence like sundials and water clocks, through mechanical clocks, to the latest standards like Cesium-133 atomic clocks.

upstart writes:Study provides explanation for one bacterium's link to mental health:

aliks writes:The story itself is interesting as quantum messaging over existing networks dramatically reduces costs, but I wanted to compare how different sources report the story.The story caught my eye on phys.org where you get a short but reasonable summary with pictures. Maybe phys.org used AI to generate this summary?scienmag.com has a longer summary with more detail and commentary on why the story is significant.The original story is reported in Nature, with more detail and dense technical language.First off we have phys.org: Quantum messages travel 254 km using existing infrastructure for the first time

A team of researchers has developed a new way to control light interactions using a specially engineered structure called a 3D photonic-crystal cavity that could enable transformative advancements in quantum computing, quantum communication and other quantum-based technologies.

upstart writes:Those are large numbers for an SD card:

canopic jug writes:Harvard University is pushing back via a lawsuit against micromanagement and censorship attempts emanating from the White House.

upstart writes:Out-of-balance bacteria is linked to multiple sclerosis - the ratio can predict severity of disease:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/culture/2025/04/4chan-may-be-dead-but-its-toxic-legacy-lives-on/

An Anonymous Coward writes:https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/19/us_crosswalk_button_hacking/Some pranksters altered the voices on crosswalk buttons in some US cities. The hardware had a control app available on Google Play and Apple App Store along with a listed default PIN of 1234.

coolgopher writes:http://www.quiss.org/signal_carnival/

JoeMerchant writes:

fliptop writes:The scam exploited a Google Sites vulnerability, tricking users with convincing fake emails:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

turgid writes:At phys.org there is an article about a lone black hole discovered by astronomers at the University of St Andrews.Lone black holes are very rare, and the discovery was challenged, since lone neutron stars are far more common but subsequent observations confirm the lone black hole moving through the constellation Sagittarius.

coolgopher writes:https://blog.infected.systems/posts/2025-04-21-this-blog-is-hosted-on-a-nintendo-wii/

Booga1 writes:Researchers explored a new range of colors using a different kind of laser vision. Direct laser stimulation of individual photoreceptors:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

aliks writes:The stated aim is to promote better security by encouraging automation of certificate renewal, and this is the narrative promoted by vendors who will coincidentally benefit mightily from increased certificate and services sales.The story was picked up by most of the usual tech channels such as Computerworldhttps://www.computerworld.com/article/3960658/vendors-vote-to-radically-slash-website-certificate-duration.htmlwho have a decent summary of the likely consequences, but here is an exercept from the press release of one vendor: Sectigohttps://www.sectigo.com/resource-library/sectigo-cab-reduce-ssl-tls-certificates-lifespan-47-daysScottsdale, AZ - April 14, 2025 - Sectigo, a global leader in digital certificates and automated Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM), today announced that the CA/Browser (CA/B) Forum ballot it endorsed to reduce the maximum validity term of SSL/TLS certificates to 47 days by 2029 has passed. This groundbreaking move to shorten digital certificate lifespans seeks to enhance online security, drive automation in certificate management, and ready systems for quantum computing challenges by improving crypto agility.The newly approved measure, initially proposed by Apple and endorsed by Sectigo in January 2025, will gradually reduce certificate lifespans from the current 398 days to 47 days through a phased approach:March 15, 2026: Maximum TLS certificate lifespan shrinks to 200 days. This accommodates a six-month renewal cadence. The Domain Control Validation (DCV) reuse period reduces to 200 days.

upstart writes:Tesla Accused Of Speeding Up Odometers So Their Warranties Expire Faster:

upstart writes:Oldest serving US astronaut returns to Earth on 70th birthday:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Submissions - we need them pleaseThat says it all, really.ImportantNote:

upstart writes:Jim Zemlin on taking a 'portfolio approach' to Linux Foundation projects:

aliks writes:Glyn Moody writing for the techdirt.com site has a good summary of the status of Deepseek - with an added bonus of lots of links to his source material. Longish article, covering a lot of ground including usage of AI for social surveillance by the Chinese governmenthttps://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/14/deepseek-is-already-being-applied-widely-across-chinas-industries-and-used-for-government-surveillance-and-propaganda/

AnonTechie writes:

upstart writes:Google introduces Firebase Studio, an end-to-end platform that builds custom apps in-browser, in minutes:

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/pope-francis-dies-on-easter-monday-aged-88.htmlPope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta.Read more of this story at SoylentNews.

upstart writes:Intel agrees to sell controlling stake in Altera chip business:

upstart writes:Google has illegal advertising monopoly, judge rules:

AnonTechie writes:

upstart writes:Taking a jolt of lightning also kills parasitic vines:

upstart writes:The Israeli spyware maker, still on the US Commerce Department's "blacklist," has hired a new lobbying firm with direct ties to the Trump administration, a WIRED investigation has found:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/04/heres-how-a-satellite-ended-up-as-a-ghostly-apparition-on-google-earth/

upstart writes:The new general AI agent from China had some system crashes and server overload-but it's highly intuitive and shows real promise for the future of AI helpers:

An Anonymous Coward writes:Analysis aims to solidify agreement on cannabis's potential as a cancer treatment, lead author of research says:

AnonTechie writes:

upstart writes:Modern science wouldn't exist without the online research repository known as arXiv. Three decades in, its creator still can't let it go.: