13 Sci-Tech

IRS will compensate for firings with AI– mashable.com

pgnewser May 9, 2025

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has plans to take advantage of the “AI boom” to fill glaring workforce gaps, following the layoff of thousands of tax agents.

In a May 6 oversight hearing of the House Appropriations Committee, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained that the agency would be leaning into AI solutions in order to accommodate further reductions in the IRS’ budget and staff and not fall behind on tax collection. The Treasury’s budget proposal includes the removal of another 40,000 jobs.

3D printing in vivo using sound– www.sciencedaily.com

pgnewser May 9, 2025

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Imagine if doctors could precisely print miniature capsules capable of delivering cells needed for tissue repair exactly where they are needed inside a beating heart. A team of scientists led by Caltech has taken a significant step toward that ultimate goal, having developed a method for 3D printing polymers at specific locations deep within living animals. The technique relies on sound for localization and has already been used to print polymer capsules for selective drug delivery as well as glue-like polymers to seal internal wounds.

Previously, scientists have used infrared light to trigger polymerization, the linking of the basic units, or monomers, of polymers within living animals. “But infrared penetration is very limited. It only reaches right below the skin,” says Wei Gao, professor of medical engineering at Caltech and a Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator. “Our new technique reaches the deep tissue and can print a variety of materials for a broad range of applications, all while maintaining excellent biocompatibility.”

Gao and his colleagues report their new in vivo 3D-printing technique in the journal Science. Along with bioadhesive gels and polymers for drug and cell delivery, the paper also describes the use of the technique for printing bioelectric hydrogels, which are polymers with embedded conductive materials for use in the internal monitoring of physiological vital signs as in electrocardiograms (ECGs). The lead author of the study is Elham Davoodi, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Utah, who completed the work while a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech.

All Major U.S. Cities Are at Risk of Sinking, Not Just Coastal Urban Areas– www.discovermagazine.com

pgnewser May 9, 2025

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The 28 most populous U.S. cities are all settling to one degree or other, according to a study in Nature Cities. The phenomenon isn’t limited to coastal urban areas but includes population centers in the country’s interior as well. Rates differ from city to city — even area to area within some municipalities — but the general phenomenon is consistent.

Authors suspect that draining the groundwater upon which the cities sit is a major contributor. If that practice continues — not just in the U.S. but around the world — it could put lives at risk.

“As cities continue to grow, we will see more cities expand into subsiding regions,” Leonard Ohenhen, a research fellow at the Columbia Climate School and an author of the paper, said in a press release. “Over time, this subsidence can produce stresses on infrastructure that will go past their safety limit.”

Only Polarized People Want Companies In Polarized Political Issues– www.science20.com

pgnewser May 9, 2025

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Last year, companies began to pull back from promoting their Diversity Equity Inclusion efforts and social justice activists blamed the incoming Trump administration. It has been a violation of federal law to discriminate for 60 years so to moderates it seemed odd to add a layer of discrimination in hiring, even one deemed positive. And they never considered it may have instead been done at all due to pressure from the previous administration.The backlash was entirely predictable, but in both cases it was on the fringes. For no benefit, corporate CEOs were ignoring the ‘stay out of it unless your customers are dominated by it’ mantra.

In the 1930s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer(MGM) studio head Louis B. Mayer was asked why he was not capitalizing on the horror movie craze, “Frankenstein”, etc. that had made Universal so much money. He replied, ‘Why sell two tickets when I can sell four?’ In their case he meant family movies rather than just those for adults but if your product is for both Republicans and Democrats, cheese or booze, it is wise to alienate neither by telling the world you support Hamas terrorists or DOGE or anything else.

Failed Soviet probe will soon crash to Earth – and we don’t know where– www.newscientist.com

pgnewser May 9, 2025

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More than 50 years after its launch, a Soviet spacecraft called Kosmos 482 is about to come crashing back to Earth. It was originally intended to land on the surface of Venus, but it started to fall apart in low Earth orbit and never made it beyond there. After decades of circling our planet in an oval-shaped orbit, it’s finally about to hurtle back to the ground.

Kosmos 482 launched in 1972, but because of secrecy during the cold war period, little is known about its structure or its exact mission. We only know it was headed for Venus because of other Soviet missions that were focused on our neighbouring world at the time and because the spacecraft appeared to attempt to launch on a trajectory there before it went to pieces. It isn’t clear what exactly caused the spacecraft failure, but three of the four fragments fell in New Zealand shortly after the launch.

 

Moscow Airports Face Ukraine Drone Assault as Putin Prepares for Red Square Parade

pgnewser May 7, 2025

Ukrainian drones keep targeting Moscow as foreign leaders arrive for Red Square parade – The Washington Post
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Attacks by Ukrainian long-range drones caused flight disruption at Moscow’s main airports for a third straight day on Wednesday as Russia prepared to receive the Chinese president and other foreign leaders for the annual Victory Day military parade in Red Square.

Russian flag carrier Aeroflot canceled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow. More than 140 flights were delayed as Russian planes were repeatedly grounded, flight data showed, because of what officials described as the Ukrainian drone threat and amid heightened security measures around the Victory Day events. Russian air defenses repelled an attack by nine drones close to the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

Though Ukrainian drones have targeted Moscow in the past, the sustained attacks appeared designed to disrupt preparations for the 80th anniversary celebrations marking victory over Nazi Germany in World War II — Russia’s biggest secular holiday of the year…