Sep 29
Once among the star companies championing a deal to create a private successor to the International Space Station, talks between Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Sierra Space regarding the Orbital Reef project now appear to be souring.
Sep 29
The National Security Agency (NSA) is starting a dedicated artificial intelligence security center, as reported by AP. This move comes after the government has begun to increasingly rely on AI, integrating multiple algorithms into defense and intelligence systems. The security center will work to protect these systems from theft and sabotage, in addition to safeguarding the country from external AI-based threats.
The NSA’s recent move toward AI security was announced Thursday by outgoing director General Paul Nakasone. He says that the division will operate underneath the umbrella of the pre-existing Cybersecurity Collaboration Center. This entity works with private industry and international partners to protect the US from cyberattacks stemming from China, Russia and other countries with active malware and hacking campaigns.
For instance, the agency issued an advisory this week suggesting that Chinese hackers have been targeting government, industrial and telecommunications outfits via hacked router firmware. There’s also the specter of election interference, though Nakasone says he’s yet to see any evidence of Russia or China trying to influence the 2024 US presidential election. Still, this has been a big problem in the past, and that was before the rapid proliferation of AI algorithms like the CIA’s recently-announced chatbot.
As artificial intelligence threatens to boost the abilities of these bad actors, the US government will look to this new security division to keep up. The NSA decided on establishing the unit after conducting a study that suggested poorly-secured AI models pose a significant national security challenge. This has only been compounded by the increase of generative AI technologies that the NSA points out can be used for both good and bad purposes.
Nakasone says the organization will become “NSA’s focal point for leveraging foreign intelligence insights, contributing to the development of best practices guidelines, principles, evaluation, methodology and risk frameworks” for both AI security and for the goal of secure development and adoption of artificial intelligence within “our national security systems and our defense industrial base.” To that end, the group will work hand-in-hand with industry leaders, science labs, academic institutions, international partners and, of course, the Department of Defense.
Nakasone is on his way out of the NSA and the US Cyber Command and he’ll be succeeded by his current deputy, Air Force Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh. Nakasone has been at his post since 2018 and, by all accounts, has had quite a successful run of it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-nsa-has-a-new-security-center-specifically-for-guarding-against-ai-180354146.html?src=rss
Sep 29
‘Harry Potter’ Stars Share Heartfelt Tributes To Late Co-Star Michael Gambon
Posted in: Today's ChiliFrom Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint to Eddie Izzard, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard E. Grant, the actor is being remembered far and wide.
Sep 29
Behold a galactic onion: the shell galaxy NGC 3923, spotted by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory’s Dark Energy Camera (DECam) at a distance of about 70 million light-years from Earth.
Sep 29
Break out the mops, throw on the tutus, and slide that eye down to your cheek. The first trailer for the remake of The Toxic Avenger is here and it perfectly portrays the film’s irreverent tone and gory tendencies.
Sep 29
The mutants are coming! The mutants are coming! A new report suggests that now, with the writers’ strike over, Marvel Studios has put the wheels in motion to start taking meetings about an upcoming X-Men movie. This is the absolute earliest stage of the process—but it is the start of the process, and that’s saying…
Sep 29
The Arecibo Observatory's next phase as a STEM education center starts in 2024
Posted in: Today's ChiliAn educational center could open up at the site of the famed Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico as soon as early next year, but astronomy research won’t be among its missions. At least, not for now. The National Science Foundation announced this week that it’s chosen four institutions to take charge of the site’s transition, with a $5.5 million investment over the next five years. It’ll be a hub for STEM education, with a focus on life and computer sciences.
The NSF first revealed its plans for an education center at Arecibo last year after months of uncertainty about its future, confirming then that the telescope would not be rebuilt. The observatory’s main radio telescope suffered a catastrophic collapse in December 2020, when its 900-ton hanging instrument platform fell onto the dish below, destroying the 1,000-foot-wide structure. The collapse abruptly finalized the end of the telescope’s operations after nearly six decades of observations, during which it became a critical tool in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and in advancing our understanding of the universe.
The new educational center, called the Arecibo Center for Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Science Education, Computational Skills, and Community Engagement (Arecibo C3 for short), is projected to open in early 2024. It’ll be led in collaboration by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
While there are other working instruments at the site still, which researchers hoped to see funding for to continue science operations, the NSF confirmed to Nature that this is not in its current plans, though it will accept and consider proposals. The telescope’s impact will be presented in an interactive exhibit at the new center. Arecibo C3’s executive director, astronomer Wanda Díaz-Merced, told Nature, “We will be building on the heritage of Arecibo, but we will be building in a wider sense.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-arecibo-observatorys-next-phase-as-a-stem-education-center-starts-in-2024-165915827.html?src=rss
Sep 29
Judge Is Ending Conservatorship Between Michael Oher And ‘Blind Side’ Tuohy Family
Posted in: Today's ChiliOher signed the agreement when he was 18 and living with the couple as he was being recruited by colleges as a star high school football player.
Sep 29
A new Fall of the House of Usher clip introduces us to its world. Chucky makes a threat in new footage from season 3. Samara Weaving’s new sci-fi action movie finds a home.. Plus, teases for Luca Guadagnino’s take on Lord of the Flies, and even more footage from Saw X and Exorcist: Believer. Spoilers now!
Sep 29
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 4 Review: E Ink and OLED Screens in a Single Laptop
Posted in: Today's Chili
The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 4 hits a couple of my soft spots. It’s a hybrid PC with an inventive, risk-taking design, and it includes an E Ink display. And not just any E Ink display, but one of the only color E Ink displays I’ve seen in the real world. The other side of the display is a 13-inch OLED panel, which…
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