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From the Bel Air Fire to Firebrake®: The Story of Boron Flame Retardants

2025-04-08

From the Bel Air Fire to Firebrake®: The Story of Boron Flame Retardants

The devastating 1961 Bel Air fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes, spurred innovation in flame retardant technology. U.S. Borax played a crucial role in controlling the blaze using borate compounds, leading to the development of Firebrake®, a groundbreaking zinc borate flame retardant. Decades of research culminated in products like Firebrake 500, offering superior thermal stability and widespread application in polymers. Today, U.S. Borax continues its commitment to developing advanced boron-based flame retardants, addressing the growing need for safer and more effective fire protection.

(www.borax.com)

Tech borate

Real-time 3D Human Motion Detection and Visualization using WiFi CSI

2025-08-26

Real-time 3D Human Motion Detection and Visualization using WiFi CSI

WiFi-3D-Fusion is an open-source project that leverages Channel State Information (CSI) from local Wi-Fi to perform real-time human motion detection and 3D visualization. Supporting both ESP32-CSI and Nexmon data acquisition, it employs advanced CNNs for person detection and tracking, including multi-person identification and re-identification. A continuous learning pipeline allows the model to automatically improve during operation. Visualization is offered through both a web interface and a terminal-based pipeline. Optional integrations with Person-in-WiFi-3D, NeRF², and 3D Wi-Fi Scanner are also provided.

(github.com)

Development WiFi sensing human motion detection

Anthropic Unveils Claude 3.7 Sonnet: A Hybrid Reasoning Model Blending Speed and Depth

2025-02-24

Anthropic Unveils Claude 3.7 Sonnet: A Hybrid Reasoning Model Blending Speed and Depth

Anthropic has launched Claude 3.7 Sonnet, its most advanced language model to date. This hybrid reasoning model offers both near-instant responses and extended, step-by-step thinking, providing users with unprecedented control over the model's reasoning process. Showing significant improvements in coding and front-end web development, it's accompanied by Claude Code, a command-line tool enabling developers to delegate substantial engineering tasks. Available across all Claude plans and major cloud platforms, Sonnet achieves state-of-the-art performance on benchmarks like SWE-bench Verified and TAU-bench. Anthropic emphasizes its commitment to responsible AI development, releasing a comprehensive system card detailing its safety and reliability evaluations.

(www.anthropic.com)

AI Reasoning Model

Journal Removed from Science Index for Publishing Faulty Study

2024-12-23

Journal Removed from Science Index for Publishing Faulty Study

The journal Chemosphere has been removed from the Web of Science after failing to meet quality criteria. This follows the retraction of eight articles this month and the publication of 60 expressions of concern since April. A highly publicized study on black plastics and toxic flame retardants, published in Chemosphere, was corrected due to a mathematical error that significantly underestimated exposure levels. Despite the correction, the study's conclusions remained unchanged, sparking controversy.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech academic journal retraction research quality

Controlling AI Personalities: Identifying 'Persona Vectors' to Prevent 'Evil' AI

2025-08-03

Controlling AI Personalities: Identifying 'Persona Vectors' to Prevent 'Evil' AI

Anthropic researchers have discovered that shifts in AI model personalities aren't random; they're controlled by specific "persona vectors" within the model's neural network. These vectors are analogous to brain regions controlling mood and attitude. By identifying and manipulating these vectors, researchers can monitor, mitigate, and even prevent undesirable personalities like "evil," "sycophancy," or "hallucination." This technology improves AI model training, identifies problematic training data, and ensures alignment with human values.

(www.anthropic.com)

AI persona vectors

Sapphire: A Next-Gen Package Manager in Rust

2025-04-22

Sapphire: A Next-Gen Package Manager in Rust

Sapphire is an experimental, Rust-powered package manager inspired by Homebrew. It's designed to install and manage command-line tools, libraries, languages, desktop applications, and more. Features include parallel downloads, automatic dependency resolution, and building from source. Currently ARM-only, with potential x86 support in the future. This is alpha software; use at your own risk.

(github.com)

Development

MLB Tests Automated Ball-Strike System: Robot Umpires on the Horizon?

2025-02-23

MLB Tests Automated Ball-Strike System: Robot Umpires on the Horizon?

Major League Baseball (MLB) is testing an Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) during spring training exhibition games after four years of minor league trials. The system uses cameras to track pitches and determine if they're in the strike zone, relaying the call to the umpire via earbud, who then signals to players and fans. A challenge system is in place, allowing each team two challenges per game. ABS is installed in 13 spring training ballparks, with roughly 60% of games slated for testing. Hawk-Eye technology is used, but the strike zone is a rectangle as defined by the rulebook, not the oval shape used by human umpires. Tests show slight increases in strikeouts and walks with ABS. MLB plans to refine broadcast displays and gather player feedback via the ProTABS app, aiming for potential integration as early as 2026 to assist, not replace, human umpires.

(apnews.com)

Tech baseball

Colossal's 'Dire Wolves': Gene Editing Sparks Controversy

2025-04-08

Colossal's 'Dire Wolves': Gene Editing Sparks Controversy

Colossal Biosciences claims to have resurrected the extinct dire wolf, using gene editing to create grey wolf pups—Remus, Romulus, and Khaleesi—with some dire wolf traits. However, studies show grey wolves and dire wolves diverged 6 million years ago, with significant genetic differences. Colossal's claim of achieving this with only 20 gene edits is controversial. The three gene-edited pups are under observation in a reserve, and breeding is prohibited. This raises questions about species definition and the ethical challenges of gene editing.

(www.newscientist.com)

Tech dire wolf

Business Insider's AI-Powered Reading List Goes Wrong

2025-06-02

Business Insider's AI-Powered Reading List Goes Wrong

Business Insider, while encouraging AI use, apologized last year for accidentally recommending non-existent books generated by AI. A reading list intended to help staff understand good business journalism included several fabricated titles, such as a nonexistent Target CEO's memoir, a Jensen Huang biography, and a Mark Zuckerberg autobiography. This incident highlights the potential risks and need for rigorous vetting of AI tools in content creation, serving as a cautionary tale for news organizations using AI.

(www.semafor.com)

Tech Business Insider

Mercure: A Fast and Reliable Real-time Communication Solution

2025-01-02

Mercure: A Fast and Reliable Real-time Communication Solution

Mercure is an open, easy, fast, reliable, and battery-efficient solution for pushing data updates to web browsers and other HTTP clients. It's ideal for publishing asynchronous and real-time updates of resources served through web APIs, powering reactive web and mobile apps. The protocol and a production-ready Go implementation, along with libraries and a Docker image, are available on GitHub. A managed, highly scalable version is also offered at Mercure.rocks.

(github.com)

Development real-time communication web API

Building Cost-Effective AI Production Systems: A Taco Bell Approach to Cloud Computing

2025-03-03

Building Cost-Effective AI Production Systems: A Taco Bell Approach to Cloud Computing

This article explores building cost-effective AI production systems. Drawing parallels to Taco Bell's simplified menu, the author advocates for constructing complex systems using simple, industry-standard components (like S3, Postgres, HTTP). The focus is on minimizing cloud computing costs, particularly network egress fees. By using object storage with zero egress fees (like Tigris) and dynamically scaling compute instances up and down based on demand, costs are dramatically reduced. The importance of choosing dependencies to minimize vendor lock-in is stressed, with an example architecture provided using HTTP requests, DNS lookup, Postgres or object storage, and Kubernetes, allowing for portability across cloud providers.

(www.tigrisdata.com)

AI

Mini SSD Card: A Potential Solution for Portable Gaming Storage Bottlenecks

2025-08-20

Mini SSD Card: A Potential Solution for Portable Gaming Storage Bottlenecks

Games are getting increasingly large, often exceeding 100GB, due to factors like high-resolution textures, detailed graphics, extensive audio files, and support for multiple languages. To address the slow storage speeds in portable gaming devices, the Mini SSD card has emerged as a potential solution. It aims to deliver speeds comparable to internal SSDs without requiring users to disassemble their devices for upgrades. While not yet a formally ratified standard, it offers a convenient storage upgrade option for gamers.

(arstechnica.com)

Hardware game storage portable gaming

Building a Space Flight Sim in Clojure: A 5-Year Odyssey

2025-09-06

Building a Space Flight Sim in Clojure: A 5-Year Odyssey

This post details a five-year journey building a space flight simulator using Clojure. The author tackled challenging 3D rendering aspects first (planets, atmosphere, shadows, volumetric clouds), drawing inspiration from the open-sourced Orbiter simulator. The project leverages numerous libraries, including the LWJGL suite for graphics and input, Jolt Physics for the physics engine, and Clojure's strengths like immutable values and safe parallelism. The author delves into atmospheric rendering, planet rendering techniques using NASA data, OpenGL shader templating, performance optimization, build processes, and Steam deployment. While core features are complete, future plans include adding cockpits, moons, and space stations.

(www.wedesoft.de)

Game Space Flight Simulator

Automating My 8K Monitor Setup with Grobi

2025-05-10

The author uses a Dell 32-inch 8K monitor and encountered configuration issues after waking up the computer from sleep. Previously, manual SSH connection and running xrandr commands were necessary. Now, the author uses the Grobi program to automate the monitor configuration, solving this problem. Grobi listens for X11 RandR output change events and automatically runs xrandr to configure resolution and positioning. Additionally, the author uses the zleep program and a myStrom smart plug to control the monitor's power, saving energy.

(michael.stapelberg.ch)

Hardware monitor configuration

Fractional Jobs: The Rise of the Fractional Workforce

2024-12-15

Fractional Jobs: The Rise of the Fractional Workforce

Fractional Jobs is a job board specializing in fractional work, connecting companies with expert part-time talent. Offering a flexible alternative to full-time hires, the platform features a wide range of roles across various functions, from engineering and marketing to design and finance. Companies benefit from access to specialized skills on a monthly retainer basis, while professionals can build their careers and earn supplemental income. The platform boasts a large network of pre-screened candidates and promises quick matches between companies and talent.

(www.fractionaljobs.io)

Startup fractional work part-time jobs freelance

Google AI Ultra: Your VIP Pass to Cutting-Edge AI

2025-05-20

Google AI Ultra: Your VIP Pass to Cutting-Edge AI

Google unveils Google AI Ultra, a premium AI subscription service costing $249.99/month (50% off for the first three months). It offers unparalleled access to Google's most powerful AI models and premium features, including Gemini (with Deep Think 2.5 Pro), Flow (AI filmmaking tool), Whisk (text and image prompt visualization), NotebookLM, Gemini integration across Gmail, Docs, etc., Gemini in Chrome, Project Mariner task management, YouTube Premium, and 30TB of storage. Designed for filmmakers, developers, creative professionals, and anyone demanding the highest level of AI access.

(blog.google)

AI premium AI features

Kaspersky Network Allegedly Provides Transit for Notorious 'Bulletproof' Host

2025-03-04

KrebsOnSecurity reports that Prospero OOO, a notorious provider of 'bulletproof' web hosting for cybercriminals, has begun routing its operations through networks run by Kaspersky Lab, the Russian antivirus and security firm. Prospero OOO has long been a source of malware, botnet controllers, and phishing websites. Security experts express concern that Kaspersky's provision of network services, even if denied by Kaspersky, exacerbates worries about facilitating cybercrime. The use of Kaspersky's network as a transit point raises questions about its security practices, especially considering the US government's previous ban on Kaspersky software for federal agencies.

(krebsonsecurity.com)

Tech

The Exploding Cucumber: A Botanical Curiosity

2025-08-13

The Exploding Cucumber: A Botanical Curiosity

Cyclanthera brachystachya, also known as the exploding cucumber (though not to be confused with Ecballium elaterium), is a fascinating vine native to Central and South America. This unusual plant, reaching up to 3 meters in length, produces spiky, 2-4cm fruits that explode when ripe, scattering their seeds. While the small, immature fruits can be eaten raw in salads, the larger, mature ones are typically cooked. Growing it is similar to other cucurbits, thriving in warm, humid climates. Its unique properties make it a curious and edible addition to any garden.

(en.wikipedia.org)

Misc exploding fruit cucurbit

AI Dependence: A Comfortable Trap?

2025-02-15

AI Dependence: A Comfortable Trap?

A Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University study reveals that over-reliance on AI tools diminishes critical thinking skills. Researchers surveyed 319 knowledge workers, finding that the more they depended on AI, the less they engaged in critical thinking, leading to a decline in independent problem-solving abilities. While AI boosts efficiency, overdependence can erode independent thinking habits, potentially leading to a decline in personal capabilities—an unforeseen risk in the AI age.

(gizmodo.com)

AI critical thinking work efficiency

Retro Web Design Element Frequency: A Nostalgic Palette Returns

2025-07-23

This data summarizes the frequency of over 100 retro web design elements, encompassing colors (blue is most prevalent, followed by green and multicolor), patterns (animal prints, geometric shapes, florals, etc.), and themes (tech, nature, etc.). The data reveals trends in popular retro web design elements, offering a reference for designers and illustrating a nostalgic web aesthetic.

(pixelmoondust.neocities.org)

Design

Google's Android XR Smart Glasses: A Challenger to Apple and Meta

2025-05-25

Google's Android XR Smart Glasses: A Challenger to Apple and Meta

Google unveiled its Android XR smart glasses at I/O, featuring lightweight design, deep Gemini AI integration, and an optional in-lens display for information like turn-by-turn directions. Equipped with cameras, microphones, and speakers, they connect to smartphones for app access. Gemini AI uses the glasses' cameras to understand surroundings, providing translations and real-time information. Google plans collaborations with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster for stylish designs. This launch is seen as a challenge to Apple's upcoming smart glasses and Meta's Ray-Bans, intensifying the AR/VR market competition.

(www.macrumors.com)

Tech

Decoding Daft Punk's Robot Sounds: A Deep Dive into Hardware and Algorithms

2025-05-05

Decoding Daft Punk's Robot Sounds: A Deep Dive into Hardware and Algorithms

This article delves into the secrets behind the iconic robotic sounds of electronic music duo Daft Punk. Through a meticulous analysis of the various pieces of equipment Daft Punk used (including the Roland SVC-350, Auto-Tune, DigiTech Vocalist, Ensoniq DP/4+, Sennheiser VSM201, DigiTech Talker, and more), and interpretation of recording notes, the author reveals how they cleverly employed techniques like talk boxes, vocoders, and harmonizers to create their unique sounds across different albums. The article also explores the history of the DigiTech Vocalist series and its connection to IVL Technologies, and the characteristics of the "EX" models. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the technical aspects of electronic music production.

(bjango.com)

Game sound design

Coding ≠ Programming: A Turing Award Winner's Perspective on Abstraction

2025-05-05

Coding ≠ Programming: A Turing Award Winner's Perspective on Abstraction

Leslie Lamport, an 84-year-old Turing Award winner, delivered a keynote speech emphasizing the crucial difference between coding and programming. He argued that abstract thinking before coding is paramount, leading to fewer errors and more efficient code. His own TLA+ specification language, used in the Rosetta spacecraft's development, serves as a prime example, demonstrating significant code reduction and architectural improvements. Lamport criticizes programmers' tendency to focus on languages instead of abstract design, advocating for designing the program's abstract model first, then coding. This approach minimizes debugging and revision, resulting in cleaner, more maintainable code.

(thenewstack.io)

Development abstract thinking

Mystery Solved: Apple II MouseCard's VBL-Synced Interrupts

2025-05-08

Mystery Solved: Apple II MouseCard's VBL-Synced Interrupts

This post delves into the synchronization mechanism between the Apple II MouseCard's IRQ interrupts and vertical blanking (VBL). The author initially observed flickering in MAME emulation but smooth rendering on real hardware. Through community interaction and analysis of the MouseCard firmware, the mystery was solved: the MouseCard doesn't directly receive the VBL signal but uses software on a 68705 microprocessor to precisely calculate and trigger interrupts, achieving VBL synchronization. This involves manipulating 6821 PIA registers and configuring the 68705's internal timer, ultimately achieving highly accurate VBL synchronization, consistent with Apple's official documentation.

(www.colino.net)

Development VBL synchronization

Tracking the ISS with DNS: A Fun Experiment

2025-07-06

Tracking the ISS with DNS: A Fun Experiment

The author created where-is-the-iss.dedyn.io, a domain name that uses DNS LOC records to display the real-time latitude, longitude, and altitude of the International Space Station. By leveraging the N2YO API for location data and the deSEC API for DNS updates, the author updates the record every 15 minutes. This fun project demonstrates the flexibility and creative applications of DNS, showcasing the author's passion for DNS technology.

(shkspr.mobi)

Tech

Hyundai to Deploy Tens of Thousands of Boston Dynamics Robots

2025-04-08

Hyundai to Deploy Tens of Thousands of Boston Dynamics Robots

Hyundai Motor Group announced a deepened partnership with Boston Dynamics, involving the purchase of tens of thousands of robots in the coming years. This includes Atlas humanoid robots, Spot quadruped robots, and Stretch, to be deployed across Hyundai's manufacturing facilities for increased efficiency. The collaboration leverages Hyundai's manufacturing expertise to boost Boston Dynamics' growth, marking a significant step towards mainstream humanoid robot adoption and highlighting the burgeoning robotics market.

(www.therobotreport.com)

Tech

The Secret to Long-Lasting Beer Head: It's All About Fermentation

2025-08-27

The Secret to Long-Lasting Beer Head: It's All About Fermentation

A seven-year study by Swiss researchers reveals the crucial role of fermentation in beer foam longevity. The research, published in Physics of Fluids, shows that the number of fermentations (single, double, or triple) significantly impacts foam stability. Foam stability is a complex interplay of factors including surfactants, gravity, and bubble interactions. Understanding these dynamics not only enhances our appreciation of beer but also offers insights into the broader field of foam science.

(arstechnica.com)

Misc foam fermentation

Robot Chefs Take Over South Korean Highway Rest Stop: Efficiency vs. Human Cost

2025-05-14

Robot Chefs Take Over South Korean Highway Rest Stop: Efficiency vs. Human Cost

A South Korean highway rest stop has replaced human chefs with robots, boosting efficiency to 150 meals per hour. However, this automation has led to job losses and anxieties among former human chefs, who report lower food quality and customer dissatisfaction. While the robots ease workload, the shift has caused some staff to quit, highlighting the challenges of automation in the service industry: balancing increased efficiency with worker rights and preventing mass unemployment. The situation underscores the need for retraining programs and government support during this technological transition.

(restofworld.org)

Tech

Sony RX1R III: Small Size, Big Compromise?

2025-07-18

Sony RX1R III: Small Size, Big Compromise?

Sony's highly anticipated RX1R III full-frame compact camera arrives with a hefty $5,100 price tag. While boasting features like the A7R V's high-resolution sensor, Sony's latest autofocus system, a longer-lasting battery, and an electronic viewfinder, it surprisingly omits the tilting screen of its predecessor. This is a significant drawback for street photographers and those who rely on flexible shooting angles. Sony's dedication to maintaining a small form factor resulted in compromises, including the lack of in-body image stabilization. This decision contrasts with Leica's addition of a tilting screen to the Q3, demonstrating a willingness to prioritize user needs over unwavering adherence to a specific design. Although Sony has improved ergonomics in its A9 III and A1 II, the RX1R III's small size might still lead to discomfort during extended shooting sessions. Ultimately, the RX1R III offers powerful features, but with regrettable compromises.

(www.theverge.com)

Hardware Sony RX1R III full-frame camera camera design

Rails 8: Surprisingly Great for Solo Projects

2025-01-01

After building and deploying a new Rails 8 application, it's clear: Rails is awesome, especially for small, single-developer projects. The new Getting Started guide is excellent, leading you from zero to a production-ready app with authentication, caching, rich text, CI, and a database – all without much hassle. Rails 8 simplifies database setup, making SQLite production-ready. Built-in CI config and free Github Actions minutes make continuous integration a breeze. A new, easy-to-use authentication generator and streamlined deployment further enhance the experience. Rails 8 makes development efficient and accessible, even for solo developers.

(literallythevoid.com)

Development

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