List of All Articles with Tag 'tech'

Ever felt a bit immature? Well, don't worry. People don't become fully "adult" until they're in their 30s, according to experts. While, in the UK, we legally become adults at 18, research suggests people in their late teens are still going through significant changes in the brain. Professor Peter Jones, from Cambridge University, told the BBC back in 2019: "What we're really saying is that to have a definition of when you move from childhood to adulthood looks increasingly absurd. "It's a much more nuanced transition that takes place over three decades." He added: "I guess systems like the education system, the health system and the legal system make it convenient for themselves by having definitions." When you reach 18, you can vote, buy alcohol, get a mortgage and are also treated as an adult if you get in trouble with the police. Despite this, Professor Jones says he believes experienced criminal judges recognise the difference between a 19-year-old defendant and a "hardened criminal" in their late 30s. "I think the system is adapting to what's hiding in plain sight, that people don't like (the idea of) a caterpillar turning into a butterfly," he said. "There isn't a childhood and then an adulthood. People are on a pathway, they're on a trajectory." Meanwhile, in an interview with PBS, Dr Jay Giedd, chair of child psychiatry at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, said that the development of the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for social interactions, regulating emotions, controlling impulsive behaviour, and assessing risk, doesn’t stop at age 18. Instead, he said it takes almost 25 years. So give yourself a break unless you are in your 30s. And if you are? Grow up. 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.

The presentation of two “ancient alien bodies” to Mexico’s congress earlier this month was touted as a historic, world-changing moment. And yet, no sooner had ufologist Jaime Maussan hailed the mysterious pair as humankind’s most significant discovery to date than experts and netizens resoundingly debunked the claim. Maussan declared that the tiny mummified figures, with elongated heads and three fingers, were discovered buried between the Peruvian cities of Palpa and Nazca in 2017. He even published scientific analysis purporting to prove that the “corpses” were some 1,000 years old and not related to any known Earthly species. And yet, countless commentators have since exposed the whole thing as a long-discredited and possibly criminal hoax. Now, a resurfaced video that has been doing the rounds on social media suggests that the two bodies are, essentially, a couple of Frankenstein’s monsters, made up of a “hodgepodge of human and animal bones.” In the clip, which has been widely shared on Reddit, the commentator points to one of the “specimens” and notes that “instead of humeri (upper arm bones), she sports femurs, or thigh bones”. “Her legs are even more baffling,” he continues, using X-ray-style images to illustrate. “One of the thigh bones is actually a femur, only facing the wrong way round, while the other one is a tibia and they're completely mismatched with the hip bone. There's no joint there at all. “The poor humanoid wouldn't have made a single step.” He then highlights other asymmetries, saying “some of the bones are simply chopped off”, while the fingers are “a total mess”. “The first pseudo phalanges are facing in different directions on her left and right hands,” he explains, suggesting that the creators “just forgot to turn them the right way”. He then cites French palaeontologist Julian Benoit, who concluded that whoever “crafted” the humanoid mummies used skulls of small mammals for their heads, such as lamas or alpacas. “The whole facial part of the skull was broken off, leaving only the braincase,” he says. “The skull was then rotated, so its back part faces forward – the reptiloid’s face is actually the back of [the animal’s skull]”. Reddit - Dive into anything from Damnthatsinteresting The excerpt, which was apparently taken from a 2018 episode of French news show ‘66 Minutes’ has encouraged further derision of Maussan’s grand claims. One commentator wrote in response to the original revelations: “My first thought was ‘these look like ‘aliens’ so I highly doubt they’re aliens’ lol. [T]here ain’t no way we’re gonna find some that look like the ones we imagined and conjured up.” And yet, Maussan, 70, was unflinching in his declaration that his crusade to bring awareness to the “corpses” is “the most important thing that has happened to humanity.” "I believe that this phenomenon is the only one that gives us the opportunity to unite," he told reporters from his office in Mexico City. Meanwhile, Elsa Tomasto-Cagigao, a respected Peruvian bio-anthropologist, told Reuters she was frustrated that such claims are still being given publicity, citing similar alleged discoveries that were found to be frauds. "What we said before still stands, they are presenting the same rehash as always and if there are people that keep believing that, what can we do?" she said. "It is so crass and so simple that there is nothing more to add." Sign up for 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.

By Yelin Mo and Brenda Goh BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Huawei Technologies kicked off a product launch event on Monday by thanking

TAIPEI The CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI said on Monday that it was possible to get regulation wrong

Facebook parent company Meta is reportedly planning to internally release an artificial intelligence chatbot called “Gen AI Personas” aimed at younger users. The chatbot, similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, is set to be launched during Meta’s Connect Event on Wednesday. The tech giant is testing the chatbot, which comes in multiple “personas” aimed to engage young users, including a “sassy robot” persona inspired by Bender from Futurama,according to The Wall Street Journal. Meta is reportedly developing “dozens” of these chatbots, including some to help with “coding and other tasks” and improve productivity as well as a tool to help celebrities make their own chatbots for their fans. The development of some of these chatbots – including one with the personality of former US president Abraham Lincoln – are part of Meta’s attempts to boost engagement on its social media platforms, reports previously suggested. The development of these new chatbots are signs of Meta’s growing interest in the market for large language models (LLM) similar to ChatGPT. It launched a new version of its open-source model in July called Llama 2 for commercial use, becoming the first major tech firm to release its AI chatbot. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg said at the time of Llama 2’s release that it would “drive progress across the industry” while the firm’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun said it will “change the landscape of the LLM market”. The tech firm’s development of “personas” also comes as tech industry leaders called for a balanced approach towards regulating AI at a historic gathering convened by US senate majority leader Chuck Schumer. At the meeting held earlier this month, Mr Zuckerberg said the two defining issues for AI are “safety and access.” He urged the US Congress should “engage with AI to support innovation and safeguards”. “New technology often brings new challenges, and it’s on companies to make sure we build and deploy products responsibly,” the Meta chief said. “This is an emerging technology, there are important equities to balance here, and the government is ultimately responsible for that,” he added. Read More Meta’s new end-to-end encryption ‘means thousands of criminals could go undetected’ Elon Musk warns of ‘civilisational risk’ posed by AI at historic gathering of tech giant chiefs WhatsApp update brings ‘channels’, allowing people to follow updates from celebrities and companies Facebook changes logo to ‘make F stand apart’ – but can you tell the difference? Elon Musk warns of ‘civilisational risk’ posed by AI at historic gathering Nasa just delivered a piece of a distant asteroid to Earth

By Sam Nussey TOKYO Japanese video game company Capcom enjoyed a 6% jump in its stock price on

Amazon.com Inc. will invest as much as $4 billion in Anthropic, bagging a crucial partner in its effort

Apple Inc.’s basic iPhone 15 model is taking almost twice as long for deliveries this year than its

Videogame studio Capcom Co. may sell more copies of games in India than in China within a decade

Apple Inc. plans to increase production in India more than fivefold within the next five years, PTI reported,

A mysterious spinning ‘UFO’ has been spotted in the night sky by a stunned local. The brightly illuminated object is seen spinning in the air, but it appears to hover above a mountain. The shocked onlooker zooms in on the mysterious aircraft while saying in wonder: “It’s moving.” The hovering UFO was filmed in the village of Honorato Vásquez, Ecuador, on Tuesday (9 Sept) evening. The local authorities have yet to respond to claims that the object was from outer space. One local said: “I believe it.” Manuel wrote: “Those crazy aliens.” Yet Eddy joked: “In that drone there, you wouldn’t even be able to fit two-quarters of a Martian!” It followed an alleged aerial battle between military personnel and several alien spaceships in Argentina this month. Scared locals claimed that the military base was attacked by four black triangular-shaped UFOs. Scores of residents gathered outside the Commander Espora Air Naval Base near Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, as thunderous noises sounded from within the perimeter walls. The Commission for the Study of UFO Phenomena of the Argentine Republic, an organisation dedicated to investigating alleged alien sightings, claimed to have information that there were four UFOs seen attacking the military base. The group said the alien spacecrafts were black and triangular in shape and that Argentine troops fired at them with anti-aircraft weapons. Group spokesperson Andrea Pérez Simondini said witnesses saw “four lights entering the territory from across the ocean before taking a strategic position over one of the buildings where ammunition is stored”. However, the military authorities have denied that the base was under attack and claimed that the videos were faked by unscrupulous locals. Navy spokesperson Captain Germán Luis Zarralanga said their Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopter was taking part in a training exercise that night, but was not involved in any kind of altercation with other aircraft. When discussing the social media footage, the spokesperson said: “It’s an edit. I don’t know what their intentions were. “Airport security and airport workers did not report seeing anything, and everyone at the base was sleeping except for the person piloting the helicopter. There was no type of special activity, no tactical manoeuvres, just a normal helicopter training flight, nothing related to ammunition.” One local commented: “Incredible! How many UFOs? I can't believe it! Amazing. An interplanetary war has begun.” Another said: “Are you telling me that it was one of the first-ever confrontations between humans and UFOs and we shot them down?” Sign up for 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.

Archaeologists are terrified to open the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor who has been buried for 2,200 years. The tomb of Qin Shu Huang, who ruled from 221 BC to 210 BC, is guarded by a terracotta army of soldiers and horses. The discovery was found by farmers back in 1974 in the Shaanxi province of China. While archaeologists explored the area, they have never opened the tomb itself – and within good reason. According to IFL Science, not only do archaeologists believe it will cause damage, but there are rumours of deathly booby traps that could kill curious intruders. Writings by Chinese historian Sima Qian 100 years after Qin Shu Huang's death claim "Palaces and scenic towers for a hundred officials were constructed and the tomb was filled with rare artifacts and wonderful treasure." He continued: "Craftsmen were ordered to make crossbows and arrows primed to shoot at anyone who enters the tomb. Mercury was used to simulate the hundred rivers, the Yangtze and Yellow River, and the great sea, and set to flow mechanically." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Even if those alleged crossbows failed thousands of years later, there are still fears of liquid mercury seeping through the cracks. "Highly volatile mercury may be escaping through cracks, which developed in the structure over time, and our investigation supports ancient chronicle records on the tomb, which is believed never to have been opened/looted," one 2020 paper suggests, as per the publication. Scientists have reportedly toyed with the idea of using non-invasive techniques to open the tomb, however, they have not yet come to fruition. 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.