Hawaii Science Journal

Is China pulling ahead in AI video synthesis? We put Minimax to the test

Hurricane Helene crossed the Gulf of Mexico at a time when sea surface temperatures were at record highs and then barreled into a region where heavy rains had left the ground saturated. The result was historic, catastrophic flooding . One key question is how soon we might expect history to repeat itself. Our rapidly warming planet has tilted the odds in favor of some extreme weather events in a w

Hailuo AI launches Image-to-Video feature

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Drug makers can’t make knockoff weight-loss drugs anymore—and they’re mad

If 2022 was the year AI image generators went mainstream , 2024 has arguably been the year that AI video synthesis models exploded in capability. These models, while not yet perfect, can generate new videos from text descriptions called prompts, still images, or existing videos. After OpenAI made waves with Sora in February, two major AI models emerged from China: Kuaishou Technology's Kling and

Lilly weight-loss drugs no longer scarce

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“Sticky” steering sparks huge recall for Honda, 1.7M cars affected

Compounding pharmacies are suing the Food and Drug Administration so they can keep making imitation versions of popular—and lucrative—tirzepatide drugs, namely knockoffs of Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for weight loss. Generally, compounding pharmacies make customized formulations of drugs for patients with specific needs, like when a patient has an allergy to a filler ingredient or if a ch

Honda recalls 1.7 million vehicles

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DOJ proposes breakup and other big changes to end Google search monopoly

Honda is recalling almost 1.7 million vehicles due to a steering defect. An improperly made part can cause certain cars' steering to become "sticky"—never an attribute one wants in a moving vehicle. The problem affects a range of newer Hondas and an Acura; the earliest the defective parts were used on any vehicle was February 2021. But it applies to the following: 2022–2025 Honda Civic four-door

US proposes measures to curb Google

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Ars Technica - All content / 16h

The US Department of Justice finally proposed sweeping remedies to destroy Google's search monopoly late yesterday, and, predictably, Google is not loving any of it. On top of predictable asks —like potentially requiring Google to share search data with rivals, restricting distribution agreements with browsers like Firefox and device makers like Apple, and breaking off Chrome or Android—the DOJ p

Octopus suckers inspire new tech for gripping objects underwater

Octopus-inspired adhesive excels underwater

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Ars Technica - All content / 18h

Over the last few years, Virginia Tech scientists have been looking to the octopus for inspiration to design technologies that can better grip a wide variety of objects in underwater environments. Their latest breakthrough is a special switchable adhesive modeled after the shape of the animal's suckers, according to a new paper published in the journal Advanced Science. “I am fascinated with how

Google identifies low noise “phase transition” in its quantum processor

Google finds quantum computing breakthrough

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Ars Technica - All content / 18h

Back in 2019, Google made waves by claiming it had achieved what has been called "quantum supremacy"—the ability of a quantum computer to perform operations that would take a wildly impractical amount of time to simulate on standard computing hardware. That claim proved to be controversial, in that the operations were little more than a benchmark that involved getting the quantum computer to beha

Thunderbird Android client is K-9 Mail reborn, and it’s in solid beta

Thunderbird Beta for Android released

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Ars Technica - All content / 19h

Thunderbird's Android app, which is actually the K-9 Mail project reborn , is almost out. You can check it out a bit early in a beta that will feel pretty robust to most users. Thunderbird, maintained by the Mozilla Foundation subsidiary MZLA, acquired the source code and naming rights to K-9 Mail, as announced in June 2022 . The group also brought K-9 maintainer Christian Ketterer (or "cketti")

X reinstated in Brazil after Musk pays fines, agrees to follow local laws

X fined in Brazil for payment error

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24Ars Technica - All content / 19h

Brazil's Supreme Court is allowing Elon Musk's X to resume operations, apparently ending a months-long battle after the social network paid over $5 million in fines and reluctantly agreed to suspend accounts accused of spreading disinformation. The court yesterday issued a press release announcing the reinstatement, saying that X has complied with all the orders it previously defied. Brazil Supre

GM ditches failed Ultium battery branding as its EV sales soar

GM drops Ultium branding for batteries

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Ars Technica - All content / 21h

General Motors is shaking up its electric vehicle strategy once again. Despite bumper EV sales in 2024, the US automaker told investors yesterday that it will stop branding its batteries under the Ultium name . Perhaps more consequentially, it's also abandoning its one-cell-type-fits-all strategy and will embrace a wider range of cell chemistries and physical formats in forthcoming EVs. GM debute

Protein structure and design software gets the Chemistry Nobel

Baker Hassabis Jumper win Chemistry Nobel

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25Ars Technica - All content / 22h

On Wednesday, the Nobel Committee announced that it had awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry to researchers who pioneered major breakthroughs in computational chemistry. These include two researchers at Google's DeepMind in acknowledgment of their role in developing AI software that could take a raw protein sequence and use it to predict the three-dimensional structure the protein would adopt in

How foreign influence campaigns manipulate your social media feeds

Foreign operations manipulate social media

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Ars Technica - All content / 23h

Foreign influence campaigns, or information operations, have been widespread in the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election. Influence campaigns are large-scale efforts to shift public opinion, push false narratives, or change behaviors among a target population. Russia , China , Iran , Israel , and other nations have run these campaigns by exploiting social bots , influencers , media compani

We’re finally going to the Solar System’s most intriguing but unexplored frontier

NASA's Europa Clipper mission delayed

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X ignores revenge porn takedown requests unless DMCA is used, study says

I really hate to be the bearer of such bad news, but you and I will not live forever, dear reader. We may hope to draw breath for a few decades yet, perhaps. But that's not long enough to descry any worlds circling other stars in a meaningful way. Those mysterious orbs are too distant, both in space and time; the vastness of this galaxy is too great, the beat of a human life too short against the

Oct 8, 2024

32Ars Technica - All content / 1d

X (formerly Twitter) claims that non-consensual nudity is not tolerated on its platform. But a recent study shows that X is more likely to quickly remove this harmful content—sometimes known as revenge porn or non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII)—if victims flag content through a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown rather than using X's mechanism for reporting NCII. In the pre-prin

Apple brings years-old features to iCloud web interface

iCloud.com introduces dark mode updates

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Your doctor’s office could be reading your blood pressure all wrong

In a rare event, Apple has rolled out substantial updates to the web-based iCloud interface meant to allow users to access Apple services like Mail and Photos when they're away from a Mac, iPad, or iPhone. The flagship addition is dark mode; it "will automatically match your device settings with a Light Mode or Dark Mode color scheme," Apple explains as part of the update. There is also now a way

Arm position affects blood pressure

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74Ars Technica - All content / 1d

Many people may be surprised to learn the proper procedure for taking a blood pressure reading—because of how different it is from what happens during their doctor's appointments. According to the American Heart Association and other medical experts , getting an accurate reading requires following a strict set of preparations: You must not eat, drink, exercise, or smoke within 30 minutes of a rea

Alleged Switch modder takes on Nintendo’s legal might without a lawyer

Modchip seller defends against Nintendo

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Disney likely axed The Acolyte because of soaring costs

When faced with a legal threat from Nintendo, most alleged modders , ROM pirates , and/or emulator makers will simply give in to a cease-and-desist demand , reach an out of court settlement , or plead guilty rather than hiring legal representation for what could be a lengthy, costly trial. Then there's Ryan Daly, alleged owner of ModdedHardware.com, who has apparently decided to represent himself

56Ars Technica - All content / 1d

We had mixed feelings about the news in August that Disney+ had cancelled its Star Wars spinoff series The Acolyte after just one season. At the time, it seemed steadily declining ratings were to blame , particularly given the high production costs. More budgetary details have trickled out since then, indicating that the streaming series spent far more than previously reported, topping $230.1 mil

Samsung quits updating Galaxy Z Fold 2 that came out in 2020 for $2,000

Samsung ends updates for Z Fold 2

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SpaceX’s next Starship launch—and first catch—could happen this weekend

Samsung is no longer providing software or security updates for the Galaxy Z Fold 2 foldable smartphone that it released in September 2020. Highly anticipated ahead of its full unveiling, the Z Fold 2 released with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, and a 4500 mAh battery. The phone’s hallmark is, of course, a foldable 7.6-inch OLED screen with 2208×1768 pixels run

SpaceX plans Starship launch October 13

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Winamp really whips open source coders into frenzy with its source release

We may not have to wait as long as we thought for the next test flight of SpaceX's Starship rocket. The world's most powerful launcher could fly again as soon as Sunday, SpaceX says, assuming the Federal Aviation Administration grants approval. The last public statement released from the FAA suggested the agency didn't expect to determine whether to approve a commercial launch license for SpaceX'

Judge orders Google to distribute third-party app stores on Google Play

It's been a while since most of us used or just thought about Winamp . But now there is a whole lot going on with the MP3 player of yore, mostly due to a remarkably chaotic source code release. As previously announced , Winamp, through its Belgian owner Llama Group, provided "the Legacy Player Code" on September 24 so that developers could "contribute their expertise, ideas, and passion to help t

Google ordered to open app store

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Apple kicked Musi out of the App Store based on YouTube lie, lawsuit says

A federal judge yesterday ordered Google to open up the Google Play Store and its collection of apps to third-party app stores as part of a US-wide injunction stemming from Epic Games' antitrust victory over the company. The injunction is scheduled to take effect on November 1, though Google will have up to eight months to implement certain provisions. For three years, Google will have to let thi

Musi sues Apple over app removal

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Injured comb jellies can fuse into a single organism

Musi, a free music-streaming app only available on iPhone, sued Apple last week, arguing that Apple breached Musi's developer agreement by abruptly removing the app from its App Store for no good reason. According to Musi, Apple decided to remove Musi from the App Store based on allegedly "unsubstantiated" claims from YouTube that Musi was infringing on YouTube's intellectual property. The remova

Comb jellies fuse after injury

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In stunning Nobel win, AI researchers Hopfield and Hinton take 2024 Physics Prize

Comb jellies, technically known as ctenophores, are one of the weirdest creatures on Earth. They appeared in the seas over half a billion years ago and have maintained to the present day the comb-like rows of cilia they used to move around. Their transparent bodies and internal bioluminescence give them looks that rival gaming computers. But there’s something that makes them even weirder. When a

Nobel winner warns of AI risks

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Samsung says it’s in “crisis,” apologizes for missing profit target

On Tuesday, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics to John J. Hopfield of Princeton University and Geoffrey E. Hinton of the University of Toronto for their foundational work in machine learning with artificial neural networks. Hinton notably captured headlines in 2023 for warning about the threat that AI superintelligence may pose to humanity. The win came

SK hynix to surpass Samsung profits

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