May 4, 2026

05 Sci-Tech

China’s Baidu reveals its first quantum computer called Qianshi– ca.style.yahoo.com

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BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc revealed its first quantum computer on Thursday and is ready to make it available to external users, joining the global race to apply the technology to practical uses.

The Baidu-developed quantum computer, dubbed “Qianshi”, has a 10-quantum-bit (qubit) processor, Baidu said in a statement. The Beijing-based company has also developed a 36-qubit quantum chip, it said.

Governments and companies around the world for years have touted the potential of quantum computing, a form of high-speed calculation at extraordinarily cold temperatures that will bring computers to unprecedented processing speeds.

However, current real-world applications in the field are still very basic and limited to a small group of early clients.

The United States, China and the European Union have initiated massively funded projects in quantum computing, hoping to pull ahead in the field, which is often considered as one of the cornerstones on which the new global supremacy will be determined.

More geomagnetic storms remain likely for today as sun continues to erupt X-class flares– www.cbsnews.com

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Excerpt from www.cbsnews.com

The strongest geomagnetic storm in more than 20 years slammed Earth on Friday, with explosions of plasma and magnetic fields causing some radio blackouts and the northern lights to extend to the southern U.S. On Monday, officials warned the storms aren’t yet over.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said early Monday that a G3, or “strong,” geomagnetic storm warning was in effect until 2 a.m. ET. While stronger storms are no longer likely and conditions are expected to “gradually wane” throughout the day, the center said in its forecast that moderate to strong geomagnetic storms are “likely” on Monday, as are minor storms on Tuesday.

The center also said “solar activity is expected to be at high levels” with a possibility of more solar flares, or bursts of electromagnetic radiation from the sun.

The update came as another X-class solar flare was recorded. X-class flares are the strongest class of these solar bursts, and the latest was recorded as “moderate.”

“Flares of this magnitude are not frequent,” the center said. “…Users of high frequency (HF) radio signals may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth.”

Schools turn to artificial intelligence to spot guns as companies lobby for state funds | Health & Science– www.journalgazette.net

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Excerpt from www.journalgazette.net

TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas could soon offer up to $5 million in grants for schools to outfit surveillance cameras with artificial intelligence systems that can spot people carrying guns. But the governor needs to approve the expenditures, and the schools must meet specific criteria.

The AI software must be patented, “designated as qualified anti-terrorism technology,” in compliance with certain security industry standards, already in use in at least 30 states and capable of detecting “three broad firearm classifications with a minimum of 300 subclassifications” and “at least 2,000 permutations,” among other things.

Only one company currently meets all those criteria: the same organization that touted them to Kansas lawmakers crafting the state budget. That company, ZeroEyes, is a rapidly growing firm founded by military veterans after the fatal shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

Elon Musk’s X Isn’t Female Friendly: Tech Billionaire Takes Note As Users Complain About Algorithm Needing Some ‘Serious Adjustments’– www.benzinga.com

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Excerpt from www.benzinga.com

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in October 2022 and subsequently rebranded it as X, is now getting complaints about the lack of female-friendliness on his social media platform.

What Happened: Over the weekend, a user on X shared a video of Johnny McEntee, Donald Trump loyalist and former staffer, saying that he should start posting on X. This prompted a discussion about the platform’s female user base, or lack thereof.

One user pointed out that X needs video integration to make it easier to upload TikTok videos. In response, Ashley St Clair, a right-wing commentator and an X user, noted that the platform’s demographic is primarily male.

NYPD social media use under investigation by NYC agency – NBC New York– www.nbcnewyork.com

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Excerpt from www.nbcnewyork.com

What to Know

  • New York City’s watchdog agency says it has launched a probe into allegations that the New York City Police Department has improperly used its official social media accounts to target public officials and private citizens
  • The city’s Department of Investigation confirmed the probe in a statement Wednesday. It was prompted by recent requests from City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Legal Aid Society asking to look into the NYPD’s social media policies and practices
  • The Legal Aid Society accused the police department of using social media “unprofessionally and unethically” to discredit pro-Palestinian protesters at local colleges

Navigating the future of work: A case for a robot tax in the age of AI– www.brookings.edu

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Excerpt from www.brookings.edu

In an era characterized by declining birthrates and the urgent need for enhanced productivity, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics stands as a dual-edged sword, promising unprecedented efficiency while posing challenges to the economic and social structure through the potential displacement of human workers across both manual and professional fields. As we navigate this new technological revolution, the integration of automation into our workforce and economy moves to an imminent and practical concern.

At this pivotal moment, the proposal of a robot tax is introduced not merely as a knee-jerk governmental response to tax new and unknown technologies, but as a deliberate strategy aimed at enhancing the equity and fairness of technological advances. This approach seeks to sustain humanity and needed social services in this newly automated landscape, aiming to ensure the benefits of technological progress are broadly shared, thus facilitating a smoother, less disruptive transition for society and the economy. As the capabilities of AI continue to advance, the time is approaching to define the appropriate relationship between humans and AI/robots—a critical step towards harmonizing our coexistence.

Do aliens exist? NASA to send missions to investigate life in outer space– m.economictimes.com

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Though the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, called Seti, began in the mid-20th Century, researchers could not get anything substantial as they failed to get radio signals from other planets. But it did not deter them. Now, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA and the European Space Agency are gearing up to send spacecraft on groundbreaking missions to uncover evidence of extraterrestrial life.

According to ‘The US Sun’, the US space agency will launch Europa Clipper on October 10, 2024, which will place a spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter. Jupiter’s Europa is a moon roughly the same size as Earth’s own. The spacecraft will study the environment of the place and study its similarity with those of the Earth, if any.

 

AI robot gives commencement speech at D’Youville University – WFTV– www.wftv.com

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From comedian Jerry Seinfeld to President Joe Biden to author Brad Meltzer, each year, universities across the country make headlines because of their commencement speakers. But one university in Buffalo, New York may have taken the tradition into the future.

A robot took the stage at D’Youville University and used artificial intelligence to deliver the graduation presentation.

Sophia also explained what, or who, she is, “I am Sophia, a humanoid robot developed by Hanson Robotics. I was designed to interact with humans and engage in conversations learning and adapting through artificial intelligence algorithms,” WGRZ reported.

SA government pushes social media ban for children, but one expert says platforms need to be more accountable– amp.abc.net.au

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Legislation to hold major technology companies accountable would be better than a push to block children from having social media accounts, a communications expert says.

The South Australian government has announced what it says is an “ambitious” first step to protect children from social media and its harmful impacts on their mental health.

Former High Court Chief Justice Robert French has been appointed, at no cost to the state, to examine the legal pathways for the SA government to impose the ban on children under the age of 14.

SpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites from Florida tonight– www.space.com

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Excerpt from www.space.com

 

SpaceX plans to launch 23 more of its Starlink satellites tonight (May 12), adding to its huge and ever-growing broadband megaconstellation.

A Falcon 9 rocket topped with the Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station tonight during a roughly three-hour window that opens at 8:53 p.m. EDT (0053 GMT on May 13).

SpaceX will webcast the launch via its X account, beginning about five minutes before the window opens.

AI Will Offer a Future for Re-Animated Loved Ones?

pgnewser May 9, 2024 1

AI ethicists Tomasz Hollanek and Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska have posited a theory based on a method of analysis called “design fiction” that has led them to conclude loved ones lost in the future, if they leave a digital footprint, including audio and video, can be recreated as an AI friend.

Nowaczyk-Basińska stated, “Rapid advancements in generative AI mean that nearly anyone with internet access and some basic know-how can revive a deceased loved one. At the same time, a person may leave an AI simulation as a farewell gift for loved ones who are not prepared to process their grief in this manner. The rights of both data donors and those who interact with AI afterlife services should be equally safeguarded.”

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Excerpt from www.popsci.com

AI ethicists and science-fiction authors have explored and anticipated these potential situations for decades. But for researchers at Cambridge University’s Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence, this unregulated, uncharted “ethical minefield” is already here. And to drive the point home, they envisioned three, fictional scenarios that could easily occur any day now.

In a new study published in Philosophy and Technology, AI ethicists Tomasz Hollanek and Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska relied on a strategy called “design fiction.” First coined by sci-fi author Bruce Sterling, design fiction refers to “a suspension of disbelief about change achieved through the use of diegetic prototypes.” Basically, researchers pen plausible events alongside fabricated visual aids.

For their research, Hollanek and Nowaczyk-Basińska imagined three hyperreal scenarios of fictional individuals running into issues with various “postmortem presence” companies, and then made digital props like fake websites and phone screenshots. The researchers focused on three distinct demographics—data donors, data recipients, and service interactants. “Data donors” are the people upon whom an AI program is based, while “data recipients” are defined as the companies or entities that may possess the digital information. “Service interactants,” meanwhile, are the relatives, friends, and anyone else who may utilize a “deadbot” or “ghostbot.”

Trump says Biden is ‘leading world into WW3’ in scathing Truth Social post– www.hindustantimes.com

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Excerpt from www.hindustantimes.com

Despite his ongoing legal woes, Donald Trump is not shying away from social media rants. As Stormy Daniels gives her very explicit bombshell testimony in the hush money trial, Trump is directing his focus to Joe Biden. Taking to his social media platform, Truth Social, the former US president said that Biden is “leading the world straight into World War III.” Trump’s scathing remarks come amid Biden’s declaration that the US will not be providing weapons to Israel for attacking Rafah, Hamas’ last major stronghold in Gaza.

Scientists Demonstrate the Potential of Electron Spin to Transmit Quantum Information – Berkeley Lab News Center– newscenter.lbl.gov

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The spin of the electron is nature’s perfect quantum bit, capable of extending the range of information storage beyond “one” or “zero.” Exploiting the electron’s spin degree of freedom (possible spin states) is a central goal of quantum information science.

Recent progress by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers Joseph Orenstein, Yue Sun, Jie Yao, and Fanghao Meng has shown the potential of magnon wave packets – collective excitations of electron spins – to transport quantum information over substantial distances in a class of materials known as antiferromagnets. Their work upends conventional understanding about how such excitations propagate in antiferromagnets. The coming age of quantum technologies – computers, sensors, and other devices – depends on transmitting quantum information with fidelity, over distance.

With their discovery, reported in a paper published in Nature Physics, Orenstein and coworkers hope to have moved a step closer to these goals. Their research is part of broader efforts at Berkeley Lab to advance quantum information by working across the quantum research ecosystem, from theory to application, to fabricate and test quantum-based devices and develop software and algorithms.

The Age of Big Powerhouse U.S. Navy Warships Is All Over Now– nationalinterest.org

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U.S. Navy Warships at a Crossroads: Overcoming China’s A2/AD Challenge: For centuries, navies around the world have taken pride in their large surface warships. The dominance of these warships persisted even after the advent of submarines. In fact, during the Second World War, when submarines became a primary weapons platform for navies, the aircraft carrier stole all the headlines. ..

The rise of anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) means that the large surface warship’s days as the primary form of power projection in a naval fleet are coming to an end.

Consider that the Ford-class aircraft carrier, America’s newest, costs $13 billion per unit, plus hundreds of millions of dollars per year to maintain. The more numerous Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, while older than the Ford-class, are also very expensive.

An aircraft carrier is a large, highly complex warship. Its purpose is to maneuver a floating airbase near the territory of an enemy in order to threaten that rival with precise and consistent airstrikes.

“Living fossil” lamprey fish found in Queensland, 1,400 km north of its usual range– cosmosmagazine.com

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A lamprey fish has been found living in the coastal rivers of Queensland, Australia, about 1,400 km north of the species’ usual range.

Lampreys are fish which recall a time hundreds of millions of years ago. Unlike most fish today, lampreys are jawless. Jaws evolved in fish more than 400 million years ago. Research suggests the development of jaws was vital in some pioneering species making the move onto land, becoming the ancestors of all land vertebrates like humans.

Australian brook lampreys (Mordacia praecox) are an endangered species. Their range was widely believed to be restricted to a 170-km stretch of coastline near the border of Australian states Victoria and New South Wales (NSW).

Critical vulnerabilities in BIG-IP appliances leave big networks open to intrusion– arstechnica.com

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Researchers on Wednesday reported critical vulnerabilities in a widely used networking appliance that leaves some of the world’s biggest networks open to intrusion.

The vulnerabilities reside in BIG-IP Next Central Manager, a component in the latest generation of the BIG-IP line of appliances, which organizations use to manage traffic going into and out of their networks. Seattle-based F5, which sells the product, says its gear is used in 48 of the top 50 corporations as tracked by Fortune. F5 describes the Next Central Manager as a “single, centralized point of control” for managing entire fleets of BIG-IP appliances.

As devices performing load balancing, DDoS mitigation, and inspection and encryption of data entering and exiting large networks, BIG-IP gear sits at their perimeter and acts as a major pipeline to some of the most security-critical resources housed inside. Those characteristics have made BIG-IP appliances ideal for hacking. In 2021 and 2022, hackers actively compromised BIG-IP appliances by exploiting vulnerabilities carrying severity ratings of 9.8 out of 10.

USMC testing Amphibious Combat Vehicle with Protector remote turret– www.army-technology.com

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The US Marine Corps is currently testing a new Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) equipped with a PROTECTOR remote turret (RT-20) developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

This turret is part of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle 30mm Cannon (ACV-30), the third variant for the ACV family of vehicles. BAE Systems, the prime contractor since 2018, delivered the first production representative test vehicle (PRTV) to the U.S. Marine Corps earlier this year.

While the vehicle was already designed with multiple weapon mounts for machine guns, the newly delivered test vehicle is now equipped with a stabilised, medium-calibre Remote Turret System designed by Kongsberg, intended to enhance both the lethality and protection capability for marine operations.

Jørgen Bull, Vice President of land systems at Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, highlighted the turret’s modern, digital features. “The Protector RT-20 is a modern remotely operated turret with highly accurate firepower for wheeled, tracked, and robotic combat vehicles. The modularity and digitalisation of the system has growth potential to incorporate new technologies to deter and defeat future threats,” said Bull.

 

Hemispherical Solar Cells Unleash Unmatched Absorption– scitechdaily.com

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A hemispherical-shell-shaped organic active layer for photovoltaic application, to improve energy efficiency and angular coverage; (left bottom) spatial distribution of electric field norms. Credit: D. Hah, doi 10.1117/1.JPE.14.018501

New research suggests redesigning organic solar cells with a hemispherical shell structure to provide broader angular coverage, which is particularly beneficial for devices that need adaptable light absorption, like wearable electronics.

The search for sustainable energy solutions places a high priority on developing more efficient solar cells. Organic photovoltaic cells have become an appealing choice compared to conventional silicon-based cells, thanks to their flexibility and lower costs. Nonetheless, enhancing their performance continues to be a major hurdle.

Once-Hidden Hydrogen Gas Deposits Could Be a Boon for Clean Energy– www.scientificamerican.com

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Excerpt from www.scientificamerican.com

Laurent Truche, a geochemist at Grenoble Alpes University in France, has been searching for naturally occurring hydrogen for nearly a decade. This year, in a chromite mine in Albania, he and his colleagues struck gold, or rather another element on the periodic table. Nearly a kilometer below the surface, they discovered a hydrogen seep so strong it turned a murky drainage pond into something resembling a Jacuzzi. Truche had never seen hydrogen bubbles that big. “It was really intense,” he says.

Natural hydrogen is hydrogen gas in its molecular form (H2) that is generated through natural processes. Formed deep within Earth, it may get trapped on its way to the surface, creating accumulations of gas. Confusingly also called “gold,” “white” or “geological” hydrogen, natural hydrogen could offer us an energy source cleaner than other types of hydrogen because there is no carbon involved in the process that generates it (although drilling and distribution would still involve some carbon dioxide emissions, of course). A recent study estimated the greenhouse gas intensity of natural hydrogen to be 0.4 kilogram of CO2 equivalent per kilogram (kg CO2eq/kg), far less than the 22-26 kg kg CO2e/kg of black hydrogen (produced from coal) or the 10-14 kg CO2e/kg of blue hydrogen (produced from natural gas).

Being in two places at once could make a quantum battery charge faster– www.newscientist.com

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Quantum batteries could one day charge electronics much quicker than standard ones thanks to the odd quantum phenomenon of being able to be in two places at once.

Electrochemical batteries, including those that power remotes and cars, store energy from chemical reactions between metals. But quantum batteries would be built from quantum bits, or qubits, and extract energy from quantum processes, such as those involved in moving particles of light or atoms. Physicists expect that full-fledged…

CDC Scrambled to Cover Up Sudden Deaths of 2 Teens Shortly after Covid Shots, Emails Show– slaynews.com

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Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scrambled to cover up a study that revealed two teenage boys died suddenly shortly after receiving Covid mRNA shots.

In a study published on February 14, 2022, experts revealed that the two teens both suffered unexpected fatal heart failure after being injected with the experimental mRNA shots.

The study was the first to detail examinations of American children who died of heart failure after COVID-19 vaccination.

However, the study’s paper set off a firestorm within the CDC that led to attempts by agency officials to overrule the medical examiners who examined the boys, internal emails have revealed.

Within hours of the study being published, federal officials scrambled to respond.

Internal CDC emails show officials were worried the paper would harm their efforts to promote the Covid injections to the public.

Robot dogs armed with AI-targeting rifles undergo US Marines Special Ops evaluation– arstechnica.com

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The United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) is currently evaluating a new generation of robotic “dogs” developed by Ghost Robotics, with the potential to be equipped with gun systems from defense tech company Onyx Industries, reports The War Zone.

While MARSOC is testing Ghost Robotics’ quadrupedal unmanned ground vehicles (called “Q-UGVs” for short) for various applications, including reconnaissance and surveillance, it’s the possibility of arming them with weapons for remote engagement that may draw the most attention. But it’s not unprecedented: The US Marine Corps has also tested robotic dogs armed with rocket launchers in the past.

MARSOC is currently in possession of two armed Q-UGVs undergoing testing, as confirmed by Onyx Industries staff, and their gun systems are based on Onyx’s SENTRY remote weapon system (RWS), which features an AI-enabled digital imaging system and can automatically detect and track people, drones, or vehicles, reporting potential targets to a remote human operator that could be located anywhere in the world. The system maintains a human-in-the-loop control for fire decisions, and it cannot decide to fire autonomously.

Elon Musk Aims To Deploy Tesla Robotaxis In China: Report– news.abplive.com

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Tech billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, aims to implement his company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology into robotaxi services in China, according to a report by staterun China Daily. Last month, the Tesla CEO made an unexpected trip to China, where he had a meeting with Premier Li Qiang, the country’s second-highest-ranking politician.

According to news agency Bloomberg, Musk, whose company is facing sluggish sales, received a significant boost when Chinese officials gave their initial approval for Tesla to introduce its FSD technology in the country. However, according to the report from China Daily, that wasn’t the sole topic of discussion.

The report, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the Chinese government also offered partial backing to Musk’s proposal to integrate Tesla’s FSD technology into the country’s taxi services.

Musk’s wager on fully autonomous vehicles isn’t particularly unexpected, given the recent shifts he’s made to reorient the automaker as a software company.

Facebook will now let your business create entire ad campaigns using AI– www.techradar.com

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Excerpt from www.techradar.com

In an effort to give businesses the best tools for success (but more importantly, to keep up with the likes of Google), Meta has unveiled new generative AI features for advertisers on its platforms.

The upgrades, which are set to roll out over the course of this year, will include full image and text generation capabilities.

Besides improving efficiency by automating certain parts of the ad creation process, Meta also says that its GenAI features will help to improve ad performance by offering up more creative variations.

The most eye-catching addition will be Meta’s image generation tool, which offers advertisers the ability to generate full image versions inspired by their original ad content. The tool includes text overlay capabilities and a handy image expansion feature to make adjusting the aspect ratio of an image easier.