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Zoom Partners With Sam Altman's Iris-Scanning Company To Offer Callers Verifications of Humanness
Zoom "has partnered with World, Sam Altman's iris-scanning identity company (previously known as Worldcoin), " reports Digital Trends, "to add real-time human verification inside meetings." Zoom is now inviting organizations to join the beta version of the rollout, which Digital Trends says "lets hosts confirm that every face on the call belongs to a real person, not an AI-generated imposter. " For those wondering how World's Deep Face technology works, it includes a three-step process. It cross-references a signed image from a user's original Orb registration, a live face scan from the device, and the frame of the video that's visible to the other participants in the meeting. Only when the three samples match does a "Verified Human" badge appear next to the user's name... Hosts can also make Deep Face verification mandatory for joining meetings, preventing unverified participants from joining entirely. Mid-call, on-the-spot checks are also possible...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Brave Browser Introduces 'Origin', a Pay-Once 'Minimalist' Browser
The Brave browser "has introduced Brave Origin, a stripped-down version of its browser that removes built-in monetization features like Rewards and other extras tied to its business model," writes Slashdot reader BrianFagioli" The stripped-down browser is available either as a separate browser download or as an upgrade to the existing Brave install, unlocked through a one-time purchase that can be activated across multiple devices. The idea is simple on paper: pay once, and you get a cleaner, more minimal browsing experience without the add-ons that fund Brave's ecosystem. What makes the move unusual is the pricing model itself. While paying to support a browser is not controversial, charging users specifically to remove features raises questions about whether those additions are seen as value or clutter. The situation gets even stranger on Linux, where Brave Origin is reportedly available at no cost, creating an uneven experience across platforms and leaving some users wondering why they are being asked to pay for something others get for free.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Blue Origin Rocket Launches, Successfully Reuses Booster - But Loses Satellite
SpaceNews reports: Blue Origin's New Glenn suffered a malfunction of its second stage on the rocket's third flight April 19, stranding its payload in an unrecoverable "off-nominal" orbit and dealing the company a setback as it seeks to increase its flight rate... AST SpaceMobile had planned to launch 45 to 60 satellites this year for its D2D constellation, but BlueBird 7 is the first to launch since BlueBird 6 launched on an Indian LVM3 rocket in December. AST SpaceMobile still expects to have 45 satellites in orbit by the end of the year, the article notes. (In an earnings call in March, AST SpaceMobile's CEO had promised they'd soon start "stacking" satellites, "batched in groups of either three, four, six or eight in a single launch.") He'd added that "To support our launch cadence during 2026, we expect the New Glenn booster to be reused every 30 days or less..." There's some good news there, SpaceNews points out, since today saw the first successful reflight of a New Glenn first stage rocket: The booster, called "Never Tell Me The Odds" by Blue Origin, touched down on the company's landing platform, Jacklyn, in the Atlantic Ocean nearly nine and a half minutes after liftoff. The booster launched NASA's ESCAPADE Mars mission on the NG-2 flight in November. However, the booster reuse on NG-3 was only partial since the stage's biggest component, its BE-4 engines, was new. "With our first refurbished booster we elected to replace all seven engines and test out a few upgrades including a thermal protection system on one of the engine nozzles," Dave Limp, chief executive of Blue Origin, said in an April 13 social media post. "We plan to use the engines we flew for NG-2 on future flights." The satellite will now be "de-orbited", AST SpaceMobile said in a statement. (They added that "The cost of the satellite is expected to be recovered under the company's insurance policy.") Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Voyager 1 is Running Out of Power. NASA Just Switched Part of It Off
After 49 years of space travel, Voyager 1 "is running out of power," reports NPR: The spacecraft runs on a radioisotope thermoelectric generator — a device that converts heat from decaying plutonium into electricity. It carries no solar panels, no rechargeable batteries. Just the slow, steady release of nuclear warmth, which diminishes by about 4 watts each year. After nearly five decades, that decline has become critical. During a routine maneuver in late February, Voyager 1's power levels fell unexpectedly, bringing the probe dangerously close to triggering an automatic fault-protection shutdown — a self-preservation response that would have forced engineers into a lengthy and risky recovery process. The team needed to act first. On April 17, mission engineers sent a sequence of commands to deactivate the Low-energy Charged Particles experiment, known as the LECP, which is one of Voyager 1's remaining science instruments. The LECP has measured ions, electrons, and cosmic rays originating from both our solar system and the galaxy beyond it, helping scientists map the structure of interstellar space in a way no other instrument could... Voyager 1 now carries two operational science instruments: one that listens for plasma waves, and one that measures magnetic fields. Engineers believe the latest shutdown could buy the mission roughly another year of breathing room. The team is also developing a more sweeping power conservation plan they informally call "the Big Bang" — a coordinated swap of several powered components all at once, trading older systems for lower-power alternatives. If testing on Voyager 2, planned for May and June 2026, goes well, the same procedure will be attempted on Voyager 1 no sooner than July. If it works, there is even a slim chance the LECP could once more continue to work. The engineers say they hope to keep at least one instrument operating on each spacecraft into the 2030s. It would leave both still reporting from places no machine has ever gone before.111 Voyager 1 is now 15 billion miles from Earth, the article points out. (Radio signals take 23 hours to arrive...) Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader fahrbot-bot for sharing the article.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Predicts Humankind Won't Survive Another 50 Years
Live Science spoke with physicist David Gross, who today received the $3 million "Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics". He was part of a trio that won the 2004 physics Nobel prize for research that helped complete the Standard Model of particle physics. But when asked if physics will reach a unified theory of the fundamental forces of nature within 50 years, Gross has a surprising answer. "Currently, I spend part of my time trying to tell people... that the chances of you living 50 [more] years are very small." Cold War estimates for a 1% chance of nuclear war each year seem low, Gross says. "The chances are more likely 2%. So that's a 1-in-50 chance every year." David Gross: The expected lifetime, in the case of 2% [per year], is about 35 years. [The expected lifetime is the average time it would take to have had a nuclear war by then. It is calculated using similar equations as those used to determine the "half-life" of a radioactive material.] Live Science: So what do you suggest as remedies to lower that risk? Gross: We had something called the Nobel Laureate Assembly for reducing the risk of nuclear war in Chicago last year. There are steps, which are easy to take — for nations, I mean. For example, talk to each other. In the last 10 years, there are no treaties anymore. We're entering an incredible arms race. We have three super nuclear powers. People are talking about using nuclear weapons; there's a major war going on in the middle of Europe; we're bombing Iran; India and Pakistan almost went to war. OK, so that's increased the chance [of nuclear war]. I would really like to have a solid estimate — it might be more, and I think I'm being conservative — but a 2% estimate [of nuclear war] in today's crazy world. Live Science: Do you think we'll ever get to a place where we get rid of nuclear weapons? Gross: We're not recommending that. That's idealistic, but yes, I hope so. Because if you don't, there's always some risk an AI 100 years from now [could launch nuclear weapons], but chances of [humanity] living, with this estimate, 100 years, is very small, and living 200 years is infinitesimal. So [the answer to] Fermi's question of "Where are the civilizations, all the intelligent organisms around the galaxy, and why don't they talk to us?" is that they've killed themselves... There are now nine nuclear powers. Even three is infinitely more complicated than two. The agreements, the norms between countries, are all falling apart. Weapons are getting crazier. Automation, and perhaps even AI, will be in control of those instruments pretty soon... It's going to be very hard to resist making AI make decisions because it acts so fast. He points out that with the threat of climate change, "people have done something," even though "It's a much harder argument to make than about nuclear weapons. "We made them; we can stop them." Thanks to hwstar (Slashdot reader #35,834) for sharing the article.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Ars Technica
Blue Origin's rocket reuse achievement marred by upper stage failure
Blue Origin's reused first stage hit its targets, but New Glenn's upper stage did not.
I’ve fired one of America’s most powerful lasers—here’s what a shot day looks like
The laser was used to study the physics of stellar interiors and fusion energy, among other things.
Great white sharks are overheating
The sharks might also be the most physiologically vulnerable to warming waters.
US-sanctioned currency exchange says $15 million heist done by "unfriendly states"
Grinex says needed hacking resources "available exclusively to ... unfriendly states."
Man with @ihackedthegovernment Instagram account tells judge, “I made a mistake"
Probation for man who used stolen logins and posted private info on social media.
Trump picks qualified, normal health leader to head CDC; experts still cautious
She's well qualified but will need to navigate RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine agenda.
$25,000 buys plenty of used EVs: Here are some options
Is $20,000–$25,000 a sweet spot for secondhand electric cars? We think so.
Satellite and drone images reveal big delays in US data center construction
Data centers face construction delays and energy bottleneck as resistance grows.
Amazon won’t release Fire Sticks that support sideloading anymore
The two newest Fire Sticks block apps from outside of Amazon's store.
Ridley Scott's post-apocalyptic The Dog Stars drops first trailer
"The world that was, doesn't exist. It's just us, trying to hold onto what was."
Artemis II pilot talks about what it was really like to fly and land in Orion
"I've been thinking about reentry for three straight years."
Meta's AI spending spree is helping make its Quest headsets more expensive
Prices for "critical components" are surging because of massive data center investments.
Rocket Report: Starship V3 test-fired; ESA's tentative step toward crew launch
Blue Origin will soon launch the third flight of its New Glenn rocket, this time with a reused booster.
Recent advances push Big Tech closer to the Q-Day danger zone
Here's which players are winning the race to transition to post-quantum crypto.
After a saga of broken promises, a European rover finally has a ride to Mars
Europe's first Mars rover mission is now on its fourth rocket: SpaceX's Falcon Heavy
Lucasfilm drops The Mandalorian and Grogu final trailer at CinemaCon
"The old protect the young, and then the young protect the old."
Intel refreshes non-Ultra Core CPUs with new silicon for the first time
For the first time in a while, the benefits of new Intel tech will trickle down.
OpenAI starts offering a biology-tuned LLM
GPT-Rosalind is an LLM trained on biology workflows, available in closed access.
As they got close to the Moon, Artemis II astronauts were eager to land
"If you had given us the keys to the lander, we would have taken it down."
Mozilla launches Thunderbolt AI client with focus on self-hosted infrastructure
New tool builds on deepset’s Haystack toward a “decentralized open source AI ecosystem.”
Check out some Bands on Bandcamp.com. Seven Times Refined by Altogether Steve and the Mercenaries, Crazy Fingers (Vancouver 1991), Flying Butt Pliers, and Hammy Ham Hands.
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