List of All Articles with Tag 'tec'

A new report from Wired has alleged that Elon Musk's Neuralink - a neurotechnology company developing a brain-computer interface - euthanised the company's macaque subjects after they suffered various complications from the implant. The report comes after human-test subjects were recently approved for Neuralink's clinical trial. Elon Musk had claimed earlier this month that "no monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant, but public documents obtained by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and seen by Wired, suggest that the primate subjects suffered complications including "bloody diarrhoea, partial paralysis, and cerebral edema." Musk had acknowledged the deaths on September 10 on Twitter/X, denying the deaths were "a result of a Neuralink implant", and that researchers had selected subjects who were already "close to death." However an anonymous former employee called this "ridiculous" if not a "straight fabrication." However, the public records reviewed by Wired suggest a different story. The PCRM, a nonprofit aiming to abolish live animal testing, claim that Musk knew his comments about the primate subjects deaths "to be false". They write that investors deserve to hear the truth about the safety, "and thus the marketability," of Neuralink's product. A December 2019 experiment outlined in one of the documents mentioned a subject known as Animal 15. The documents said that the subject "began to press her head against the floor for no apparent reason" just days after receiving the implant. Her condition only worsened as she "began to lose coordination" and "would shake uncontrollably when she saw lab workers." Staff finally euthanised her months later. Last year, the PCRM filed a complaint with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging that Neuralink's practices violate the Animal Welfare Act. The US Department of Transportation is also investigating Neuralink over allegations contimanted devices that were removed from monkeys' brains were illegally transported. Indy100 have reached out to Neuralink for comment. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A researcher has figured out that the Earth’s first continent was formed 3bn years ago, in a new paper that sheds fresh light on the early stages of the planet’s life. Jane Greaves, an astronomy professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University in Wales, was examining continent formation on distant stars and planets. It is thought that exoplanets with continents that formed in a similar way to Earth’s are more likely to be habitable, and perhaps even contain alien life. In the process, she calculated when several distant planets’ continents were born, as well as those a little closer to home. Continents on Earth sit on top of the planet’s hot, viscous mantle. Heat from the inner core stops the mantle from solidifying. The reason the core is hot is because it contains radioactive elements that came from neutron star collisions billions of years ago such as forms of Uranium, Thorium and Potassium. By analysing how many materials like this are present on Earth and on other planets, we are also able to estimate when the continents formed. On Earth, that was about 9.5 billion years since the beginning of the universe. Meanwhile, in Greaves' sample, the first continents appeared 2bn years before Earth’s on the exoplanets of younger, so-called thin disk stars. Older, thick disk stars analysed in her work produced rocky planets with continents that appeared even earlier: about 4 to 5bn years before Earth’s. “The outlook seems very promising for finding rocky exoplanets with continents, given that nearby Sun-like stars have already produced a few candidate hosts,” she wrote. The study, “When were the First Exocontinents?” is published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical SocietySign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Since the passage of its landmark climate regulations 17 years ago, California has been a leader in the

Test monkeys at Elon Musk’s controversial biotech startup Neuralink died due to a number of complications from brain chip implant procedures, counter to the claims made by the multi-billionaire, a new report claimed. Nuralink has been developing chips to be implanted into the skull, claiming that such a computer-brain interface will help restore vision in the blind and paralysed people walk again. The company unveiled the working of its technology in monkey models in the past, including one demonstration of a nine-year-old macaque learning to play the 1970s classic video game Pong. However, the startup is also subjected to complaints by animal rights groups, including the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), which criticised the company’s “inadequate care” of its research monkeys a number of times in the past. In a post on X, the Tesla titan said earlier this month that “no monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant” in response to allegations that the neurotech firm was inflicting “extreme suffering” on its primate test subjects. “First our early implants, to minimise risk to healthy monkeys, we chose terminal monkeys (close to death already),” Mr Musk posted on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. In a presentation last year, the multibillionaire also claimed that Neuralink’s animal testing was never “exploratory” but was conducted to confirm scientific hypotheses. “We are extremely careful,” he said at the presentation. However, public documents obtained by PCRM – a nonprofit that advocates against using live animals in testing – present a different picture. The documents, reviewed by Wired, pointed out that a number of monkeys, on whom the implants were tested, were euthanised after suffering various complications, including “bloody diarrhea, partial paralysis, and cerebral edema”. One document reportedly noted that a male macaque was euthanised in March 2020 “after his cranial implant became loose” to the extent that they “could easily be lifted out”. A necropsy report of this monkey pointed out that “the failure of this implant can be considered purely mechanical and not exacerbated by infection”, which appeared to counter Mr Musk’s claim that no monkeys died due to Neuralink’s chips. Another primate, the report noted “began to press her head against the floor for no apparent reason” and lose coordination, with her condition deteriorating for months until she was finally euthanised. A necropsy report, cited by Wired, suggested that this animal was bleeding in her brain and that the neurotech firm’s implants left parts of her cerebral cortex brain region “focally tattered”. However, the company held that its “use of every animal was extensively planned and considered to balance scientific discovery with the ethical use of animals”. Neuralink did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment. The latest report also comes as Neuralink announced on Wednesday that it has started human trials for people with quadriplegia after testing its implants on pigs and monkeys. “We’re excited to announce that recruitment is open for our first-in-human clinical trial,” the company posted on X. “If you have quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), you may qualify,” it said. Read More Elon Musk recruiting humans to trial brain implant Starship rocket launch window revealed by FAA Elon Musk reveals trillion dollar algorithm that explains everything he does Elon Musk’s Neuralink recruiting humans to trial brain implant Elon Musk and the one trillion-dollar algorithm that explains everything he does Elon Musk says monkeys implanted with Neuralink brain chips were ‘close to death’

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's Nio Inc on Thursday unveiled a high-end smartphone designed to be used with its electric vehicles, touting

Meta is revamping Facebook’s logo to a darker blue with a few small tweaks to create what it claims is a “bolder, electric and everlasting” design. The “subtle” logo change – which at first glance may seem barely noticeable – incorporates a “more confident expression of Facebook’s core blue color,” the social media company said in a blog post. Facebook says the logo change to the lowercase “f” is more visually accessible in the platform’s app with “stronger contrast for the ’f’ to stand apart”. “We wanted to ensure that the refreshed logo felt familiar, yet dynamic, polished and elegant in execution. These subtle, but significant changes allowed us to achieve optical balance with a sense of forward movement.” Dave N, director of design at Facebook said. The social media giant highlighted three “key drivers” behind the evolution of its logo, including a push to “elevate the most iconic elements” of the brand, and to create “an expansive set of colors” anchored in blue. Over the years, the social media platform’s logo has undergone a number of changes, starting from one that had square boundaries to the current circular design. The new logo, the company says, uses its custom typeface – Facebook Sans – and a redesigned wordmark and logo to “create a consistent treatment and improve overall legibility.” The new design has led to some being left puzzled on social media. Some users, however, described the design changes in a little more detail. Facebook says it has also developed a new colour palette with a new set of hues, tones and contrast ratios. “The deep tonal range of secondary blues allows for flexibility while providing balance as a single expression of our brand identity,” the company said. It said more changes to the platform’s “reactions, typography and iconography” are to be rolled out in the future. “All of these refinements will create a more consistent, personal and seamless experience for the billions of people who interact with Facebook daily,” the company said. Meta likely has more changes planned for the brand’s design in the coming days, with the company describing the latest tweaks on Wednesday’s blog as “the first phase of a refreshed identity system” for the app. Read More Meta’s encryption plans will create ‘safe haven’ for paedophiles, Braverman says Elon Musk warns of ‘civilisational risk’ posed by AI at historic gathering of tech giant chiefs Twitter rival Threads’ launch of much-anticipated feature did little to attract more users, data suggests What is ‘Rumble’, where Russell Brand is posting videos? Google sued after man drove off collapsed bridge while following map directions Google’s powerful ‘Bard’ AI can now get into your email

While Chinese tech companies have long harbored ambitions to move into the electric car industry, EV upstart Nio

Huawei has joined the list of companies that want to be all about artificial intelligence.

The family of a North Carolina man who died after driving his car off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps directions is suing the technology giant for negligence, claiming it had been informed of the collapse but failed to update its navigation system. Philip Paxson, a medical device salesman and father of two, drowned Sept. 30, 2022, after his Jeep Gladiator plunged into Snow Creek in Hickory, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Wake County Superior Court. Paxson was driving home from his daughter’s ninth birthday party through an unfamiliar neighborhood when Google Maps allegedly directed him to cross a bridge that had collapsed nine years prior and was never repaired. “Our girls ask how and why their daddy died, and I’m at a loss for words they can understand because, as an adult, I still can’t understand how those responsible for the GPS directions and the bridge could have acted with so little regard for human life," his wife, Alicia Paxson, said in a news release. State troopers who found Paxton's body in his overturned and partially submerged truck had said there were no barriers or warning signs along the washed-out roadway. He had driven off an unguarded edge and crashed about 20 feet below, according to the lawsuit. The North Carolina State Patrol had said the bridge was not maintained by local or state officials, and the original developer’s company had dissolved. The lawsuit names several private property management companies that it claims are responsible for the bridge and the adjoining land. Multiple people had notified Google Maps about the collapse in the years leading up to Paxson's death and had urged the company to update its route information, according to the lawsuit. The Tuesday court filing includes email records from another Hickory resident who had used the map's “suggest and edit” feature in September 2020 to alert the company that it was directing drivers over the collapsed bridge. A November 2020 email confirmation from Google confirms the company received her report and was reviewing the suggested change, but the lawsuit claims Google took no further actions. A spokesperson for Google, which is headquartered in California but maintains a registered office in Raleigh, did not immediately provide comment on the lawsuit. Read More Google’s powerful ‘Bard’ AI can now get into your email BBC reviews Russell Brand’s time at corporation as YouTube demonetises content Google announces huge breakthrough step in finding genes that cause disease

Apple Inc.’s major suppliers in Taiwan suffered another double-digit sales decline in August as weak consumer demand dragged

The US Department of Justice has removed public access to emails, charts and internal presentations from Alphabet Inc.’s

South Korea’s trade data indicated the trend toward declining exports moderated further in the first part of September,