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Today — 27 April 2024Main stream

Two Lifeforms Merge Into One Organism For First Time In a Billion Years

✇Slashdot
By: EditorDavid
27 April 2024 at 12:34
"For the first time in at least a billion years, two lifeforms have merged into a single organism," reports the Independent: The process, called primary endosymbiosis, has only happened twice in the history of the Earth, with the first time giving rise to all complex life as we know it through mitochondria. The second time that it happened saw the emergence of plants. Now, an international team of scientists have observed the evolutionary event happening between a species of algae commonly found in the ocean and a bacterium... The process involves the algae engulfing the bacterium and providing it with nutrients, energy and protection in return for functions that it could not previously perform — in this instance, the ability to "fix" nitrogen from the air. The algae then incorporates the bacterium as an internal organ called an organelle, which becomes vital to the host's ability to function. The researchers from the U.S. and Japan who made the discovery said it will offer new insights into the process of evolution, while also holding the potential to fundamentally change agriculture. "This system is a new perspective on nitrogen fixation, and it might provide clues into how such an organelle could be engineered into crop plants," said Dr Coale. Two papers detailing the research were published in the scientific journals Science and Cell. Thanks to Slashdot reader fjo3 for sharing the news.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Intel's Stock Drops 9%. Are They Struggling to Remain Relevant?

✇Slashdot
By: EditorDavid
27 April 2024 at 11:34
"Intel used to dominate the U.S. chip industry," writes CNBC. But now "it's struggling to stay relevant." Intel's long-awaited turnaround looks farther away than ever after the company reported dismal first-quarter earnings. Investors pushed the shares down 9% on Friday to their lowest level of the year. Although Intel's revenue is no longer shrinking and the company remains the biggest maker of processors that power PCs and laptops, sales in the first quarter trailed estimates. Intel also gave a soft forecast for the second quarter, suggesting weak demand... Intel is the worst-performing tech stock in the S&P 500 this year, down 37%. Meanwhile, the two best-performing stocks in the index are chipmaker Nvidia and Super Micro Computer, which has been boosted by surging demand for Nvidia-based artificial intelligence servers. Intel, long the most valuable U.S. chipmaker, is now one-sixteenth the size of Nvidia by market cap. It's also smaller than Qualcomm, Broadcom, Texas Instruments, and AMD. For decades, it was the largest semiconductor company in the world by sales, but suffered seven straight quarters of revenue declines recently, and was passed by Nvidia last year. Intel's problems "are decades in the making," according to CNBC, suggesting that one turning point was Apple's decision not to use Intel's chips in its iPhone. Now nearly every smartphone built uses Arm chips built by Apple and Qualcomm, while Apple's huge orders for TSMC chips "provided the cash to annually upgrade the manufacturing equipment at TSMC, which eventually surpassed Intel." Around 2017, mobile chips from Apple and Qualcomm started adding AI parts to their chips called neural processing units, another advancement over Intel's PC processors. The first Intel-based laptop with an NPU shipped late last year. Intel has since lost share in its core PC chip business to chips that grew out of the mobile revolution... Apple stopped using Intel in its PCs in 2020. Macs now use Arm-based chips, and some of the first mainstream Windows laptops with Arm-based chips are coming out later this year. Low-cost laptops running Google ChromeOS are increasingly using Arm, too... AMD made over 20% of server CPUs sold in 2022, and shipments grew 62% that year, according to an estimate from Counterpoint Research last year. AMD surpassed Intel's market cap the same year.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A Windows Vulnerability Reported by the NSA Was Exploited To Install Russian Malware

✇Slashdot
By: EditorDavid
27 April 2024 at 10:34
"Kremlin-backed hackers have been exploiting a critical Microsoft vulnerability for four years," Ars Technica reported this week, "in attacks that targeted a vast array of organizations with a previously undocumented tool, the software maker disclosed Monday. "When Microsoft patched the vulnerability in October 2022 — at least two years after it came under attack by the Russian hackers — the company made no mention that it was under active exploitation." As of publication, the company's advisory still made no mention of the in-the-wild targeting. Windows users frequently prioritize the installation of patches based on whether a vulnerability is likely to be exploited in real-world attacks. Exploiting CVE-2022-38028, as the vulnerability is tracked, allows attackers to gain system privileges, the highest available in Windows, when combined with a separate exploit. Exploiting the flaw, which carries a 7.8 severity rating out of a possible 10, requires low existing privileges and little complexity. It resides in the Windows print spooler, a printer-management component that has harbored previous critical zero-days. Microsoft said at the time that it learned of the vulnerability from the US National Security Agency... Since as early as April 2019, Forest Blizzard has been exploiting CVE-2022-38028 in attacks that, once system privileges are acquired, use a previously undocumented tool that Microsoft calls GooseEgg. The post-exploitation malware elevates privileges within a compromised system and goes on to provide a simple interface for installing additional pieces of malware that also run with system privileges. This additional malware, which includes credential stealers and tools for moving laterally through a compromised network, can be customized for each target. "While a simple launcher application, GooseEgg is capable of spawning other applications specified at the command line with elevated permissions, allowing threat actors to support any follow-on objectives such as remote code execution, installing a backdoor, and moving laterally through compromised networks," Microsoft officials wrote. Thanks to Slashdot reader echo123 for sharing the news.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Petrol Car Sale Restrictions Are “Terrible for the U.K.”, Warns Vauxhall Maker

✇The Daily Sceptic
By: Will Jones
27 April 2024 at 12:00

The Net Zero crackdown on combustion engines could force the maker of Vauxhall to scale back its presence in Britain, its boss has warned, calling the petrol car sales restrictions "terrible for the U.K."

The post Petrol Car Sale Restrictions Are “Terrible for the U.K.”, Warns Vauxhall Maker appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

BBC Removes Laura Kuenssberg Episode After Complaint Over Chris Packham’s Comments About the Daily Sceptic

✇The Daily Sceptic
By: Toby Young
27 April 2024 at 08:00

The BBC has removed the most recent episode of Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg from iPlayer after it received numerous complaints that Chris Packham's smear about the Daily Sceptic was false and defamatory. 👊

The post BBC Removes Laura Kuenssberg Episode After Complaint Over Chris Packham’s Comments About the Daily Sceptic appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

AI Deep Fake Hate Hoax in Baltimore

✇Moonbattery
By: Dave Blount
27 April 2024 at 13:00

The scariest thing about AI is that it is a product of Big Tech, which like the news media is one of the most militantly woke sectors of society. Like Google’s erasure of Caucasians, a hate hoax in Baltimore offers a preview of how it will be used.

When audio circulated on social media supposedly of Pikesville High School Principal Eric Eiswert saying unflattering things about blacks, local media worked the public into a lather, even broadcasting footage of the front of Eiswert’s home. Police were called in to prevent violence at the school.

It was implied that Eiswert’s thought crimes were too horrible to air on television. But the racist rant could be heard on social media:

The improbable story was too good for the media to check. Eventually, AI experts checked it anyway — and found this:

[T]he audio was generated by an AI program that’s extremely simple to use. All you would have to do is upload a short audio file containing a voice — it can be just a single sentence — and then you can have the AI say whatever you want, in that person’s voice.

For once, a hate hoaxer is facing consequences:

Police have arrested the school’s athletic director, a 31-year-old man named Dazhon Darien, and charged him with creating this AI voice file. Specifically, he’s been hit with a variety of offenses, including stalking, theft, and disruption of school operation.

Unsurprisingly, Darien is an oppressed Person of Preferred Pigmentation.

It turns out that he was under investigation by the principal for allegedly paying teachers under the table using school funds. There was also other alleged misconduct as well, so Darien’s contract wasn’t being renewed. In response, he decided to generate fake evidence that he was being fired because he’s black. On the tape, the principal supposedly says he needs to get rid of black employees by any means necessary — including D.J., which is Darien’s nickname.

We know what will come next, as deep fake technology continues to improve:

Imagine AI-generated videos of police officers killing unarmed black suspects. Is there any doubt that kind of video would cause nationwide riots?

The malevolent media will have no interest in debunking the coming wave of deep fake hoaxes; on the contrary, it will bend over backward to promote them, so as to drive both ratings and its phony narrative.

More than ever before, we need to remember: if a story sounds too good to be true from the liberal point of view, that’s probably because it is not true.

On tips from ABC of the ANC, StephaneDumas, and KirklesWorth.

The post AI Deep Fake Hate Hoax in Baltimore appeared first on Moonbattery.

Portraits in Countermoonbattery: Cherie Currie

✇Moonbattery
By: Dave Blount
27 April 2024 at 12:20

Not all rock rebels turn out to be fad-following poseurs. If their rebelliousness is for real, it matures as they get older. Examples include Johnny Rotten/John Lydon, Nick Cave, and Cherie Currie of the Runaways:

It used to be PUNK, R&R to vote Democrat. I fell for it. But when your party demands you live in fear, squaller, beyond your means by just buying groceries, gasoline, disrespecting our veterans, our police, our elderly, supporting CRIMINALS, chaos, riots, Hamas, FAILING Israel,… pic.twitter.com/JyHRucdbI2

— Cherie Currie (@CherieCurrie3) April 25, 2024

Nowadays, the only meaningful rebellion is against the decadent liberal establishment.

The Blaze has more Cherie Currie countermoonbattery.

The post Portraits in Countermoonbattery: Cherie Currie appeared first on Moonbattery.

Profiles in Moonbattery: Crackhead Barney

✇Moonbattery
By: Dave Blount
27 April 2024 at 10:06

Quintessential liberal activist Crackhead Barney managed to make even Alec Baldwin look reasonable. Let’s see if she can do it for Piers Morgan:

“Crackhead Barney” appeared on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” to discuss her recent viral video confronting Baldwin in a coffee shop Monday, demanding that he say “free Palestine.” As the show began, the activist could be seen with sporadic white paint over her body with a neck brace on and what appeared to be a makeshift cast on her right arm. …

Morgan pushed back against the activist’s claims that Baldwin had “maimed” her, sending “Crackhead Barney” into a spiral as she yelled that her body was hurt by the celebrity.

PARENTAL WARNING: maybe Piers Morgan Uncensored could use some censoring in the interest of good taste:

This isn't a meme.

…I'm serious. It's real.pic.twitter.com/ovtcWAfTFf

— Brenden Dilley (@WarlordDilley) April 24, 2024

The heart bleeds when confronted with the pain evil white men have inflicted on this poor victim.

No wonder liberals want Democrat apparatchik Sonia Sotomayor to step down while Biden can pick her replacement. They have the perfect candidate.

On tips from seaoh and WDS 2.0.

The post Profiles in Moonbattery: Crackhead Barney appeared first on Moonbattery.

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