Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the brain-in-a-vat department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from IEEE Spectrum: In a development straight out of science fiction, Australian startup Cortical Labs has released what it calls the world's first code-deployable biological computer. The CL1, which debuted in March, fuses human brain cells on a silicon chip to process information via sub-millisecond electrical feedback loops. Designed as a tool for neuroscience and biotech research, the CL1 offers a new way to study how brain cells process and react to stimuli. Unlike conventional silicon-based systems, the hybrid platform uses live human neurons capable of adapting, learning, and responding to external inputs in real time. "On one view, [the CL1] could be regarded as the first commercially available biomimetic computer, the ultimate in neuromorphic computing that uses real neurons," says theoretical neuroscientist Karl Friston of University College London. "However, the real gift of this technology is not to computer science. Rather, it's an enabling technology that allows scientists to perform experiments on a little synthetic brain."
The first 115 units will begin shipping this summer at $35,000 each, or $20,000 when purchased in 30-unit server racks. Cortical Labs also offers a cloud-based "wetware-as-a-service" at $300 weekly per unit, unlocking remote access to its in-house cell cultures. Each CL1 contains 800,000 lab-grown human neurons, reprogrammed from the skin or blood samples of real adult donors. The cells remain viable for up to six months, fed by a life-support system that supplies nutrients, controls temperature, filters waste, and maintains fluid balance. Meanwhile, the neurons are firing and interpreting signals, adapting from each interaction.
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the small-but-mighty department: Ars Technica's Benj Edwards reports: In 1979, Atari released the Atari 400 and 800, groundbreaking home computers that included custom graphics and sound chips, four joystick ports, and the ability to run the most advanced home video games of their era. These machines, which retailed for $549 and $999, respectively, represented a leap in consumer-friendly personal computing, with their modular design and serial I/O bus that presaged USB. Now, 46 years later, a hobbyist has shrunk down the system hardware to a size that would have seemed like science fiction in the 1970s.
Polish engineer Piotr "Osa" Ostapowicz recently unveiled "Atarino," which may be the world's smallest 8-bit Atari computer re-creation, according to retro computing site Atariteca. The entire system -- processor, graphics chips, sound hardware, and memory controllers -- fits on a module measuring just 2x1.5 centimeters (about 0.79x0.59 inches), which is roughly the size of a postage stamp.
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the altman-to-oscar department: Luca Guadagnino is in talks to direct Artificial, a dramatization of Sam Altman's dramatic firing and rehiring at OpenAI in 2023. The Amazon-MGM film is rumored to star Andrew Garfield, 'A Complete Unknown' scene-stealer Monica Barbaro, and 'Anora' actor Yura Borisov as lead roles in the story. From the Hollywood Reporter: Heyday Films' David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford are producing the feature that is being put together at lightning speed at Amazon MGM Studios. Simon Rich wrote the script and will also produce, with Jennifer Fox also in talks to produce. How fast is this moving? Sources say Amazon is looking to get production going this summer, with an eye to shoot in San Francisco and Italy.
Altman co-founded OpenAI, but in the fall of 2023, after mounting safety concerns regarding AI, and reports of abusive behavior, was ousted as the head of the company by his board. Five days later, after a revolt, he was reinstated. Sources say that if all goes as planned, Garfield would play Altman, Barbaro would play chief technology office Mira Murati, and Borisov would play Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder who led the movement to get rid of Altman.
Posted by from MMO Champion
WoW Hotfixes - June 3, 2025
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Delves
Fixed an issue where the Big Wheel of Cheese would not grant experience to Brann.
Dungeons and Raids
Darkflame Cleft
Fixed an issue where one of the Shuffling Horror can fall through the world.
Updated the visual of Rank Overseer’s Wild Wallop to match with the actual impact area.
Liberation of Undermine
Chrome King Gallywix
Increased the lifetime of Giga Bombs on Mythic difficulty by 30 seconds.
Horrific Visions
Nemesis Shards are now Warbound and can be mailed to you if you miss looting them.
Performing a full clear now also grants the Incremental Progress
Fixed a bug where in some very rare cases, players could receive Corrupted Mementos instead of Displaced Corrupted Mementos.
Items and Rewards
The Rune Dispenser should now dispense the intended quantities of Crystallized Augment Runes based on Gallagio Loyalty Rewards rank.
Posted by from MMO Champion
WoW UI Team Responds to Upcoming Addon Restriction Feedback
The World of Warcraft UI Team has shared a message to addon devs in the WoWUIDev discord server, offering clarity on upcoming addon restrictions, the goals behind the changes, and what to expect in future UI updates.
Originally Posted by Warcraft UI Team
Hello to the members of the WoWUIDev Discord server from the WoW Team at Blizzard!
First of all, thank you all for your feedback so far about the upcoming addon changes. We've been reading it all and discussing it internally, and we'll continue to do so. Also, a special thanks to the mods for setting up the addon-restrictions-feedback channel. Consolidating your most important feedback about this project in one place not only makes reading the feedback easier for us but also reduces the likelihood that the feedback will get lost amongst other chat.
Reading through your feedback so far it is clear that there's a lot of confusion about the timing, goals and nature of these changes. While our communication on these changes so far has been intended more for the press and general player base, we also understand that it would greatly benefit you as addon developers to have a little more clarity. We also hope this clarity better informs your feedback going forward. Please understand that this project is in heavy development right now, so we won't be able to give specific technical details just yet (exactly which things will be locked down, etc). We'll be releasing this more detailed information in the future though, well before this project goes live, so stay tuned for those details in the coming months.
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the no-more-lies department: Yoshua Bengio, a pioneer in AI and Turing Award winner, has launched a $30 million non-profit aimed at developing "honest" AI systems that detect and prevent deceptive or harmful behavior in autonomous agents. The Guardian reports: Yoshua Bengio, a renowned computer scientist described as one of the "godfathers" of AI, will be president of LawZero, an organization committed to the safe design of the cutting-edge technology that has sparked a $1 trillion arms race. Starting with funding of approximately $30m and more than a dozen researchers, Bengio is developing a system called Scientist AI that will act as a guardrail against AI agents -- which carry out tasks without human intervention -- showing deceptive or self-preserving behavior, such as trying to avoid being turned off.
Describing the current suite of AI agents as "actors" seeking to imitate humans and please users, he said the Scientist AI system would be more like a "psychologist" that can understand and predict bad behavior. "We want to build AIs that will be honest and not deceptive," Bengio said. He added: "It is theoretically possible to imagine machines that have no self, no goal for themselves, that are just pure knowledge machines -- like a scientist who knows a lot of stuff."
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the locally-sourced department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: In a nod to European customers' growing mistrust of American hyperscalers, Amazon Web Services says it is establishing a new organization in the region "backed by strong technical controls, sovereign assurances, and legal protections." Ever since the Trump 2.0 administration assumed office and implemented an erratic and unprecedented foreign policy stance, including aggressive tariffs and threats to the national sovereignty of Greenland and Canada, customers in Europe have voiced unease about placing their data in the hands of big U.S. tech companies. The Register understands that data sovereignty is now one of the primary questions that customers at European businesses ask sales reps at hyperscalers when they have conversations about new services.
[...] AWS is forming a new European organization with a locally controlled parent company and three subsidiaries incorporated in Germany, as part of its European Sovereign Cloud (ESC) rollout, set to launch by the end of 2025. Kathrin Renz, an AWS Industries VP based in Munich, will lead the operation as the first managing director of the AWS ESC. The other leaders, we're told, include a government security official and a privacy official – all EU citizens. The cloud giant stated: "AWS will establish an independent advisory board for the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, legally obligated to act in the best interest of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. Reinforcing the sovereign control of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, the advisory board will consist of four members, all EU citizens residing in the EU, including at least one independent board member who is not affiliated with Amazon. The advisory board will act as a source of expertise and provide accountability for AWS European Sovereign Cloud operations, including strong security and access controls and the ability to operate independently in the event of disruption."
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the brought-to-justice department: Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report: A Romanian national pleaded guilty on Monday to charges related to his role in a "swatting" ring that targeted dozens of public officials, including a former US president. Going by the aliases "Plank," "Jonah" and "Cypher," 26-year-old Thomasz Szabo took part in a years-long conspiracy to place bogus 911 calls, claiming emergencies were taking place at the homes of top government officials, and make bomb threats against government buildings and houses of worship, according to the Justice Department.
Szabo and a co-conspirator, 21-year-old Serbian national Nemanja Radovanovic, allegedly targeted about 100 people, including members of Congress, governors, cabinet-level executive branch officials and state officials. Szabo, who was extradited from Romania last November, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of making bomb threats. He is slated to be sentenced in a Washington, DC, federal court in October. [...] Charges against Radovanovic are still pending.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the face-palm department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Latin Times: A once-hyped AI startup backed by Microsoft has filed for bankruptcy after it was revealed that its so-called artificial intelligence was actually hundreds of human workers in India pretending to be chatbots. Builder.ai, a London-based company previously valued at $1.5 billion, marketed its platform as an AI-powered solution that made building apps as simple as ordering pizza. Its virtual assistant, "Natasha," was supposed to generate software using artificial intelligence. In reality, nearly 700 engineers in India were manually coding customer requests behind the scenes, the Times of India reported.
The ruse began to collapse in May when lender Viola Credit seized $37 million from the company's accounts, uncovering that Builder.ai had inflated its 2024 revenue projections by 300%. An audit revealed the company generated just $50 million in revenue, far below the $220 million it claimed to investors. A Wall Street Journal report from 2019 had already questioned Builder.ai's AI claims, and a former executive sued the company that same year for allegedly misleading investors and overstating its technical capabilities. Despite that, the company raised over $445 million from big names including Microsoft and the Qatar Investment Authority. Builder.ai's collapse has triggered a federal investigation in the U.S., with prosecutors in New York requesting financial documents and customer records.
Posted by from MMO Champion
Steel Your Nerves for Dastardly Duos
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Dash into the Demolition Dome for Dastardly Duos to battle solo or rally your allies for mega-mayhem against villainous menaces from Azeroth's past. Thrilling battles and exclusive rewards await!
When: June 3 through July 14
Where: Queue up solo or with a group of friends through Xyggie Marou in Dornogal, Orgrimmar, or Stormwind
Requirements: Level 80
Steel your nerves and begin your adventure by visiting an event hub located in Stormwind, Orgrimmar, or Dornogal. Queue up with Xyggie Marou and prepare for intense matches against pairs of legendary bosses.
Mega-Mayhem Means More Madness
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the playing-god department: Animal cloning has evolved from experimental science into a thriving commercial industry producing thousands of genetic copies across nearly 60 species, despite sustained public opposition to the technology. ViaGen Pets & Equine, the world's leading producer of cloned cats, dogs and horses, charges $50,000 to clone a pet and $85,000 for a horse, with customers joining waiting lists for the service.
The technology has found applications ranging from preserving exceptional beef cattle genetics to creating armies of polo horses. Top polo player Adolfo Cambiaso owns more than 100 clones of his best mare and once fielded an entire team riding copies of the same horse. West Texas A&M professor Ty Lawrence successfully cloned superior beef cattle from meat samples, with ranchers subsequently purchasing thousands of straws of semen from his cloned bulls. A 2023 Gallup survey found 61% of Americans still consider animal cloning "morally wrong," nearly unchanged since Dolly the sheep's 1996 debut, yet the industry continues expanding globally.
