Category: Just plain interesting!

Nano Banana Pro Is the Best AI Image Tool I’ve Tested. It’s Also Deeply Troubling

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Nano Banana Pro Is the Best AI Image Tool I’ve Tested. It’s Also Deeply Troubling

source: cnet.com  :  image: google

 

You can’t talk about AI image generation without including Google’s nano banana models, for good reason. The two versions, the original (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) and the new pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image), have only been around for a couple of months, but they’ve quickly redefined what’s possible with AI image generation and editing. 

The pro version uses Gemini 3’s reasoning model to power results. That means it takes a little bit longer to generate, but the images are more detailed. You can also add swaths of legible text to your images, an industry first. The pro version is the best AI image generation tool CNET has ever tested, hands down. But that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Continue reading “Nano Banana Pro Is the Best AI Image Tool I’ve Tested. It’s Also Deeply Troubling” →

MI5 ‘very relaxed’ about proposed Chinese super-embassy in London

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MI5 ‘very relaxed’ about proposed Chinese super-embassy in London

source: theguardian.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

Senior Security Service officers told Commons speaker in private meeting they can tackle espionage risks

 

MI5 officers told the House of Commons speaker at a private meeting that they can tackle the risks of a proposed Chinese super-embassy in London, opening the door to its approval.

The Guardian understands that in a meeting held with Lindsay Hoyle in the summer, senior figures from the Security Service indicated they were “very relaxed” about the prospect of a 20,000 sq metre embassy being constructed at Royal Mint Court near Tower Bridge.

It is considered that the espionage risks stemming from the large outpost can be managed. China has long had a diplomatic presence in the UK, with its existing embassy on Portland Place dating back over a century.

Keir Starmer is planning to travel to China for his first bilateral visit in January or February next year, according to several people briefed on the plans, but insiders believe that any trip is contingent on the embassy being greenlit next month.

In October, when asked about the espionage risk posed by the new embassy, Ken McCallum, the spy agency’s director general, indicated the Security Service believed the development was something it could deal with.

“MI5 has more than a century of experience of dealing with the national security risks, which do flow from the presence of foreign embassies on British soil,” he said. Continue reading “MI5 ‘very relaxed’ about proposed Chinese super-embassy in London” →

Google’s Gemma Model Helps Uncover Promising Cancer Therapy Pathway

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Google’s Gemma Model Helps Uncover Promising Cancer Therapy Pathway

source: eweek.com  |  image: pexels.com

In a world where we ask artificial intelligence to summarize articles and create images, scientists have now tasked an AI with a much bigger challenge: finding a new way to fight cancer. And it just delivered a promising lead.

Google, on October 15, announced a major scientific milestone: an AI model from its Gemma family has helped uncover a potential new way to treat cancer.

In collaboration with Yale University, researchers at Google DeepMind and Google Research developed Cell2Sentence-Scale 27B (C2S-Scale), a massive 27 billion parameter AI model designed to understand the “language” of individual cells. Continue reading “Google’s Gemma Model Helps Uncover Promising Cancer Therapy Pathway” →

Hackers Went Looking for a Backdoor in High-Security Safes…

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Hackers Went Looking for a Backdoor in High-Security Safes—and Now Can Open Them in Seconds

source: wired.com (contributed by Artemus founder, Bob Wallace)  |  Image: pixabay.com

 

Security researchers found two techniques to crack at least eight brands of electronic safes—used to secure everything from guns to narcotics—that are sold with Securam Prologic locks.

 

About two years ago, security researchers James Rowley and Mark Omo got curious about a scandal in the world of electronic safes: Liberty Safe, which markets itself as “America’s #1 heavy-duty home and gun safe manufacturer,” had apparently given the FBI a code that allowed agents to open a criminal suspect’s safe in response to a warrant related to the January 6, 2021, invasion of the US Capitol building.

Politics aside, Rowley and Omo were taken aback to read that it was so easy for law enforcement to penetrate a locked metal box—not even an internet-connected device—that no one but the owner ought to have the code to open. “How is it possible that there’s this physical security product, and somebody else has the keys to the kingdom?” Omo asks. Continue reading “Hackers Went Looking for a Backdoor in High-Security Safes…” →

That Time Chinese Intelligence Tried to Recruit Me

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That Time Chinese Intelligence Tried to Recruit Me

source: substack.com (contributed by Artemus founder, Bob Wallace  |  image: pexels.com

 

How I found myself on the receiving end of a Chinese spy recruitment pitch and stumbled into the strange new frontier of AI-assisted espionage.

 

If you’ve ever thought your inbox was full of suspiciously good offers—say, a Nigerian prince asking for your bank details—you may be missing out on another opportunity: being recruited by a foreign intelligence agency.

Yes, I’m here to report that I was pitched by what can only be described as a Chinese intelligence operation masquerading as a hedge fund consultancy. After 20 years of writing about foreign intelligence operations, I found myself in the middle of one.

Let me set the stage: it all began innocently enough on May 21, with a direct message on X from “Mary Taylor.” Her firm, the Visionary Advisory Group, was exploring the possibility of conflict between China and Taiwan, and I was just the guy whose opinion they wanted to hear about it.

Now, I’m really not that guy. I have at best a rudimentary understanding of the tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Don’t ask me to explain the “One China” policy or “strategic ambiguity.”

Continue reading “That Time Chinese Intelligence Tried to Recruit Me” →

World’s Smallest Pacemaker…

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World’s Smallest Pacemaker Goes in Via Syringe — And Dissolves When No Longer Needed

source: nicenews.com  |  image: pixabay.com

Scientists have developed a tiny pacemaker with tiny hearts in mind. A team of engineers at Northwestern University built a device that’s so small it can be inserted noninvasively via syringe and dissolves when it’s no longer needed. That makes it particularly well-suited for newborns with heart defects, who often only need temporary pacing.
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“We have developed what is, to our knowledge, the world’s smallest pacemaker,” bioelectronics pioneer John A. Rogers, who led the device development, told Northwestern Now. “There’s a crucial need for temporary pacemakers in the context of pediatric heart surgeries, and that’s a use case where size miniaturization is incredibly important. In terms of the device load on the body — the smaller, the better.”
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Experimental cardiologist Igor Efimov, who co-led the research, added that for most of the roughly 1% of children born with congenital heart defects, the heart self-repairs within about a week. “But those seven days are absolutely critical,” Efimov said. “Now, we can place this tiny pacemaker on a child’s heart and stimulate it with a soft, gentle, wearable device. And no additional surgery is necessary to remove it.”

​Watch a video of Rogers explaining how it works.​

 

That water bottle you’re carrying says a lot more than ‘hydration’

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That water bottle you’re carrying says a lot more than ‘hydration’

source: apnews.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

If you like to stay hydrated no matter where you go, chances are you’ve got a reusable water bottle or two. Or 10. (The collectors know who they are.)

Whether you’re a tech enthusiast, fashion trendsetter, hiker, commuter or just an eco-conscious consumer, there’s a bottle out there for you. There are bottles that sterilize themselves. Bottles that remind you when to drink. Bottles designed for sustainability. And bottles transformed by a paintbox of colors and imagery into mini artworks.

Hydration’s become more than a necessity. It’s got a personality. Continue reading “That water bottle you’re carrying says a lot more than ‘hydration’” →

CIA Leveraging Digital Transformation Tools in HUMINT Missions

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CIA Leveraging Digital Transformation Tools in HUMINT Missions

source: executivegov.com (contributed by FAN, Steve Page)  |  Image: pixabay.com

 

One of the United States’ most secretive agencies is using digital transformation tools such as AI and human-machine teaming as it tries to solve the nation’s toughest national security problems.

Since the CIA established the Directorate of Digital Innovation, or DDI, in 2015, the agency has increasingly encouraged entwining digital technology into its core human intelligence, or HUMINT, mission, where intelligence is obtained from human sources. Juliane Gallina, the CIA’s deputy director for digital innovation, said every DDI mission is guided by human-machine teaming, which starts with data and is improved with AI before being put to use by CIA agents. Continue reading “CIA Leveraging Digital Transformation Tools in HUMINT Missions” →

ChatGPT’s Deep Research just identified 20 jobs…

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ChatGPT’s Deep Research just identified 20 jobs it will replace. Is yours on the list?

source: zdnet.com (contributed by Artemus founder, Bob Wallace)  |  image: pexels.com

 

After researching 24 sources in seven minutes, ChatGPT came up with the top jobs that might be on the chopping block.

This week, OpenAI launched its Deep Research feature which can synthesize content from across the web into one detailed report in minutes leveraging a version of the company’s latest model, o3. 

This feature is a powerful tool for workers, as it can save them hours by completing research autonomously. But can the technology’s underlying model replace workers? Yes, suggests Deep Research. Continue reading “ChatGPT’s Deep Research just identified 20 jobs…” →

X is blocking links to Signal

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X is blocking links to Signal

source: theverge.com (contributed by FAN, Steve Page)  |  image: pexels.com

Users attempting to add their Signal.me URL to posts, DMs, and bio descriptions are being met with error messages.

X users are currently unable to post links to Signal.me, which are used to quickly and securely send direct messages to Signal users. A variety of failure notifications are being reported when X users attempt to post Signal links on the platform, some of which identify the blocked message as containing spam, harmful content, or malicious activity. Continue reading “X is blocking links to Signal” →