Friday, 21 April 2023
Thailand receives top-tier military landing craft from China
Military website Armstrade reported that China had delivered an advanced military landing craft to Thailand.
A message on the website said: “The Chinese shipyard Hudong Zhonghua recently hosted a ceremony marking the handover of the new Type-071E category warship to the Thai Navy. The ceremony was attended by the commander of the Thai Navy and a number of military dignitaries of the two countries.
The website states that the ship will leave the Chinese shipyard and is expected to arrive in Thailand on April 25.
In 2019, the Thai Navy entered into a contract with China to purchase the Type-071E military amphibious assault ship, which is a modified version of the Type-071 ships used by the Chinese Navy, making Thailand the first foreign country to purchase a new Chinese amphibious assault ship. ships of the above category. Thailand also plans to purchase 3 more ships of this class.
Each ship of the above category can carry 800 soldiers with full combat equipment, is equipped with platforms to carry two helicopters, 4 attack boats with airbags, as well as 20 pieces of military equipment, such as infantry armored personnel carriers and light tanks. .
Source: Weapons of Russia
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Thursday, 20 April 2023
Space mice uncover bone loss solution for astronauts
Experiments with mice sent to the International Space Station (ISS) have shown that changes in the gut bacteria of space travelers may be associated with bone loss.
The study found that mice that spent a month or more on the International Space Station experienced more changes and diversity in their gut microbiome.
The findings suggest that bacterial species that thrive in space may have contributed to the increased production of molecules known to influence bone changes.
Senior author Wanyuan Shi, a microbiologist and CEO of the Foresight Institute in the US, said: “This is just another prime example showing the dynamic interactions between the microbiome and the mammalian host. The gut microbiome is constantly observing and interacting, and it is also the case when it is exposed to microgravity. Whether there is a causal relationship between changes in the microbiome and the bone loss observed in microgravity, and whether this is simply a consequence or an effective bone compensation, the data is inspiring and opens up new research opportunities.”
If scientists can identify the microbes that support maintaining bone density, the researchers said, it could help astronauts stay healthier in space and could also help people on Earth who suffer from bone loss, such as people with osteoporosis.
To study how the microbiome changes with prolonged exposure to microgravity and explore possible links between these changes and bone density, the researchers sent 20 mice to the International Space Station.
Ten of these mice returned alive to the ground after 4.5 weeks, and the researchers tracked how the rodents recovered.
The remaining 10 mice remained in orbit for nine weeks.
Twenty other mice were kept in identical conditions, except for microgravity, on the floor.
The researchers compared the microbial communities of different groups over time – before launch, after returning to Earth, and at the end of the study.
They found that space mice had more diverse gut microbes, with microgravity-exposed rodents having more than two specific types of bacteria.
Bacteria levels were higher in rodents that were in space for nine weeks rather than 4.5 weeks.
Dr Shi said: “This is the first time in NASA history that a rodent has been returned to Earth alive. This means that we were able to collect information about the change in space and then follow the recovery of the microbiome after its return.” The good news is that while the microbiome has changed in space, those changes do not appear to persist after returning to Earth.”
Bones are not static, and even when a person is fully grown, material is constantly being added, removed, and reshaped in a process called bone remodeling.
Recent studies have shown that the gut microbiota may influence this process through various mechanisms, including interactions with the immune and hormonal systems.
Microbes also produce various molecules through their metabolism, and some of them interact indirectly with the cells responsible for bone remodeling.
First author and microbiologist Joseph Pedre, who began at UCLA and continued at the Forsyth Institute, said experts expect space travel to impact the microbiome for a number of reasons.
He explains: “First of all, physical forces such as microgravity and exposure to cosmic radiation play a role, which affect not only bacterial cells, but also human cells. Similarly, the impact has many effects on the biological systems of the host. , Microgravity, dysregulation of the immune systems, musculoskeletal changes, altered circadian rhythm and stress, and when these systems are out of balance, microbial communities can also be disrupted.”
The researchers suggest that another factor, besides microgravity, that may have altered the microbiome of rodents in space is the fact that they were unable to participate in mating.
This is normal behavior for rodents, as they eat their own feces, bringing the microbes back into the intestines.
However, mice returning from space after 4.5 weeks were able to participate in mating upon their return, and this may have contributed to the recovery of their microbiomes.
While this study sheds light on how the microbiome changes during space travel, the researchers say more work needs to be done to understand the potential link between the microbiome and bone density.
“If we can identify which microbes support bone density, it could help astronauts stay healthier in space,” Dr. Shi explained.
The researchers say this information could also help people with bone loss from causes unrelated to Earth’s gravity.
“This is likely to lead to new tools for treating conditions like osteoporosis or osteoporosis, so it’s not just another story in space,” Dr. Shi said.
The results are published in the journal Cell Reports.
Source: Independent
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Uncovering the Treasure Trove of the Deep Sea
Researchers have calculated the value to society of a common but hidden underwater resource, and it is much higher than we ever expected.
The kelp forests have always done so much for humanity, working all the time out of sight under the waves.
It covers a third of our coastline, providing food and shelter for much of the coastal seafood. And in doing so, these vibrant oceanic jungles have facilitated bold human migrations, such as the southern colonization of the Americas 20,000 years ago.
We also eat algae themselves, use them to fertilize crops, add them to medicines and skin care products, and breathe the oxygen they produce.
However, the kelp forests are in catastrophic decline and we don’t fully understand how much we are losing, let alone the value of it. Therefore, a team of researchers compiled an assessment of the services provided by algae ecosystems.
Aaron Egger, a marine ecologist at the University of New South Wales, says: “For the first time, we have numbers that show the significant commercial value of our world’s kelp forests. We found that 740 million people live within 50 kilometers of kelp. So these systems play an important role in the livelihood of these people and vice versa.”
Egger and colleagues used 1,354 studies of fish and invertebrates in six different types of algae in eight different regions of the ocean. They have also taken steps to utilize nutrients ranging from carbon to phosphorus.
The average economic value of kelp’s contribution to fish production is $29,851 and 904 kilograms per hectare per year, the team says.
Surprisingly, only 50 animal species out of 193 identified have contributed the bulk of the fishery’s value, especially invertebrates such as lobsters and hedgehogs.
These ocean “trees” are not only home to thousands of marine species, but also play a huge role in global nutrient cycles. life that protect them by removing carbon dioxide from the environment and producing oxygen in the process.
The removal of carbon dioxide, in turn, raises pH levels and oxygen supply to nearby areas, helping to mitigate the local effects of ocean acidification.
The algae absorb other nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to encourage their rapid growth, with some species growing up to 50 cm in height per day. Previous research has shown that kelp forests are more productive in terms of growth than more intensively grown crops such as rice and wheat.
And while carbon uptake by algae may not be as impressive as nitrogen removal, they are still equivalent to terrestrial forests and seaweeds.
The team concludes: “These kelp forests produce about US$500 billion worldwide annually.” That’s three times more than the previous best estimate, and it’s just a baseline that hasn’t yet taken into account other important contributions to the economy. There were also many other services that we did not evaluate, including tourism, educational experiments and seaweed as a food source, so we expect the real value of the world’s seaweed forests to be higher.”
Algae also have amazing potential as a sustainable biofuel and help protect our coastlines from erosion.
But, like much of the world around us, kelp forests struggle to survive. Over the past few decades, about a third of all kelp forests have suffered catastrophic losses. Since 2014, heatwaves and predatory invasive sea urchins have declined by 95% off the coast of California. Australian kelp forests have been listed as endangered following a similarly severe decline.
They also suffer from anthropogenic pollution, and as these floating forests decline, crabs, fish, and every other living thing that depends on them, are in decline.
“Pricing these systems in dollars is an exercise in helping us understand one measure of their enormous value,” says Egger. “It is important to remember that these forests also have intrinsic, historical, cultural and social value in their own right. ”
The researchers hope their findings will bring much-needed attention to this long-forgotten ecosystem.
This study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
Source: Science Alert
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Microsoft Unveils In-House AI Chips for Enhanced Performance.
A new report claims that Microsoft is developing its own AI chips that can be used to train large language models, thereby reducing reliance on NVIDIA chips.
According to the report, published by The Information website, Microsoft has started working on chip development in secret since 2019 and is now available for some of its employees and OpenAI employees to test their performance in the latest large language models, such as: (G).PT-4) GPT-4.
main supplier
NVIDIA is the leading supplier of AI server chips that companies are racing to buy, and OpenAI is estimated to need 30,000 NVIDIA A100 GPUs to commercialize ChatGPT.
Nvidia’s latest H100 GPUs are selling for over $40,000 on eBay, demonstrating the demand for cutting-edge chips that can help spread the software of artificial intelligence.
And while NVIDIA is rushing to produce as many chips as possible to meet demand, Microsoft is said to be looking into developing its own chips, which it hopes will help it save money in its push to adopt AI in its services.
Microsoft is said to have accelerated work on the name in Athena Code, a project to make its own AI chips, which it hopes will help it save money on its drive to adopt AI in its services.
While it is not known whether Microsoft intends to supply the chips to customers of its ‘Azure’ cloud service, the data giant is said to have software US is planning to make its AI chips more widely available within Microsoft and (OpenAI) OpenAI early next year.
According to the report, Microsoft also has a roadmap for chipsets that include several generations to come.
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Snapchat’s AI Chatbot Now Available for Free to All Users
The chatbot, driven by OpenAI, is also being added to group chats. It will soon be able to suggest things like AR filters and even make photos inside Snapchat.
Snap is giving its “My AI” chatbot to all of Snapchat’s 750 million monthly users for free. This comes less than two months after the OpenAI-powered bot was first made available to the app’s more than 3 million paid members.
My AI is becoming a more significant part of Snapchat as well. It can now be added to group chats by using the @ sign, and Snap will let people change the look and name of their bot with a custom Bitmoji avatar. Also, My AI can now suggest AR filters for Snapchat’s camera or places to visit from the map tab of the app. Snap also wants to make it possible for people to send My AI visual messages and get automated replies. An example shown today at the company’s annual conference was a picture of tomatoes in a garden, which made the bot send back a shot of gazpacho soup.
Microsoft and Google are racing to add generative AI to their search engines, but Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snap, thinks that the technology is “an awesome creative tool.” During a recent interview, he discussed using My AI to tell his kids bedtime stories and plan his wife Miranda Kerr’s birthday. He says My AI is already used for over 2 million daily chats.
Spiegel says of generative AI bots, “Just based on how they work, I think they’re much better at creative tasks.” “And some things that make them so creative also make it hard for them to remember specific details.”
He calls the relationship between Snap and OpenAI, building My AI’s core big language model, a “close partnership.” Spiegel cares deeply about the project and sees My AI as a critical part of Snap’s future. He wouldn’t say how much it costs to run the robot, but I’ve heard that Snap was surprised at how cheap it was to run on a large scale.
Spiegel also won’t say anything about how My AI might affect Snap’s advertising business, which has struggled to grow. He agrees that using My AI’s interactions to target ads could be a chance, but he doesn’t go into more detail, hinting that things could change shortly.
When My AI was first made available to people who paid for Snapchat Plus, it didn’t take long for it to act up. For example, the Center for Humane Technology shared an example of My AI teaching a 13-year-old girl how to set the mood for sex with a 31-year-old. Snap added more safety features to My AI in response, like using a user’s self-reported age in Snapchat to guide how the bot answers questions.
Spiegel says that despite some harmful interactions with My AI, many interactions have been good. “We had much faith in the service because, as we watched how people used it, we saw that 99.5 percent of My AI answers were in line with our community rules,” he says.
There is a considerable debate about whether chatbots should have human-like personalities in the AI business. Spiegel says that one of the most common requests from early users was to change My AI’s name and how it looks. “That just shows how much people want to put their spin on things and make them feel like their own.”
Concerns about the potential harm of generative AI as a whole are not shared by Spiegel, who says, “When I compare this to almost any other technology invented in the last 20 years, it’d be hard to name one where people have been more careful about how it’s being used and rolled out.”
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9 Reasons to Consider Purchasing the Apple AR/VR Headset
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg says that the Apple AR/VR headset will have a long list of skills that will surprise people when it comes out at Apple WWDC 2023 in June. These will reportedly include “gaming, fitness, and collaboration tools” and “services for watching sports,” which could go well with Apple’s move into Friday Night Baseball and its rumored bid for Premier League soccer events.
Another exciting option is that the “around $3,000 headset” will have “new versions of Apple’s existing iPad features.” This could give the mixed reality headset a lot of start apps, like Apple Books and Freeform, which can help people come up with new ideas.
Like the iPad, the AR/VR headset will probably have some standard features, like a home screen and the Control Center, where you can change things like Wi-Fi or the volume. Bloomberg says that the next generation of Face ID will also have a headset that uses “a scan of the user’s eyes instead of a face or fingerprint.”
But the most exciting thing about these new reports is the possible uses for the Apple AR/VR headset, which we’ll review below. The length of this list might make you think that Apple is throwing everything at the wall and hoping something sticks instead of making a headset with a clear purpose.
Still, it’s a good sign that Apple is making many fun, consumer-friendly experiences for its headset, even though it costs as much as a professional tool. Here are the nine main ways Apple’s upcoming headset can be used, as described in the most recent story from Bloomberg.
Fitness workouts
Apple’s AR/VR headset might cost about as much as three Peloton bikes, but it could be a great way to get fit, and a story from Bloomberg says that will be one of its first big draws.
It says, “Apple is also working on a version of its Fitness+ service for the headset, which will let users work out while watching an instructor in VR.” If the AR/VR gear can handle sweat better than Apple’s AirPods Max headphones, this could be an inspiring and robust experience.
We’ve already seen Meta push the VR fitness experience with some of the best Oculus Quest fitness games, but adding augmented reality to the mix could make it even more potent by adding game-like goals to your real-world view.
Meditation
Some might say that putting on a $3,000 mixed reality headset is the opposite of true meditation, but it doesn’t look like that will stop Apple from adding this feature to its AR/VR headset’s health features.
Bloomberg says that “a series of calming graphics, sounds, and voice-overs” will be used in an app to help people meditate. In some ways, this is a good thing for an AR/VR headset. Isolating yourself from the rest of the world might be bad for some hobbies, but it could be a good thing for meditation.
Still, a VR version of Headspace could be fun, but it wouldn’t be a reason to buy Apple’s gear. It would be more of a bonus.
Brainstorming ideas
Back at work, Apple thinks that its AR/VR headset will help teams work together and develop new ideas.
Bloomberg says that “Apple is making a version of its Freeform collaboration app for the headset,” which it “sees as a major selling point for the product.”
Even though we’ve worked in VR for a whole week with the Meta Quest Pro, we still need to figure out that. But the service will “let users work on virtual whiteboards while in mixed reality,” which suggests that Apple sees its AR/VR headset as a business tool.
Watching sports in new ways
Watching TV and live sports on Apple’s mixed reality headset is more exciting than VR whiteboards, and Bloomberg says that will be another big focus at the launch.
Bloomberg says that “one of the things that will make people want to buy the headset is the ability to watch sports in a more immersive way.” This will work with Apple’s current deals to show live Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball games on Apple TV Plus. This could also be why Apple wants to bid for the rights to show Premier League games in the UK.
How should this go? We can get an idea by looking at NextVR (above), a company that now works for Apple and makes live VR sports events for the Meta Quest 2. You can watch videos from the field or courtside and get a good view of virtual comedy and music shows.
Video and Music Production
iMovie and GarageBand are two of the essential apps Apple is working on for its AR/VR headset. These apps could bring new ways to make videos and songs.
Since Apple’s headset might not have a controller but instead track your eyes and hands, this could be a powerful new way to make and improve digital works.
Another benefit of an AR/VR headset is that it can mimic real-world equipment that costs much more than the headset itself. For example, Tribe XR is a virtual reality DJ studio and school where you can learn to use industry-standard equipment like the Pioneer CDJ-3000.
If Apple’s mixed reality headset is easier to use than the best VR headsets, artistic experiences like these will likely be a big draw.
Gaming
You might have thought that gaming would be a big part of the appeal of any AR/VR gear, but Bloomberg says that wasn’t Apple’s plan at first.
Still, it seems that gaming will now be “a central part of the device’s appeal,” which differs from what Apple said earlier in its development. We don’t know much about Apple’s gaming history, so we will wait to rate this one.
But games like Beat Saber (shown above) and Pistol Whip from Meta Quest 2 would add to the device’s general appeal, even if they would need more than convince people to buy Apple’s pricey headset.
Next-gen FaceTime
Given our experiences with VR meetings in Horizon Workrooms on the Meta Quest, we’re not sure how well this one will work, but Apple is reportedly planning a new version of FaceTime for its AR/VR headset.
Bloomberg says the new FaceTime will show 3D versions of users in virtual meeting rooms. The goal is to make people feel like they are talking to each other in the same room.
We’ve heard this one before, and VR video conferencing has yet to show us any big benefits in the real world, even though you can do it from a virtual beach. But we can’t wait to try this out, and we’re keeping our virtual fingers crossed that it works more reliably than FaceTime does now.
An extension for your iPad
A bit surprising about Bloomberg’s new report is how many iPad apps Apple plans to have ready for its AR/VR headset when it comes out.
According to rumors, this will include “optimized versions of the Safari web browser and Apple’s services for calendars, contacts, files, home control, mail, maps, messaging, notes, photos, and reminders, as well as its music, news, stocks, and weather apps.”
Is the stocks app in virtual reality or augmented reality? That sounds like torture, but accessing “millions of existing apps from third-party developers via the new 3D interface” is more attractive. If you don’t like the idea of strapping an iPhone to your face, the best apps must be designed for the AR/VR experience.
Virtual Reading
On the surface, this is the most strange way that Bloomberg’s story says Apple’s AR/VR headset could be used, but we hope to be pleasantly surprised. According to the site’s rumors, Apple “is working on a version of Apple Books for the headset that will let users read in virtual reality.”
We might need more vision, but we don’t see how virtual books could be better than reading on an iPad or from an actual book unless the experience takes you to the Library of Congress or the British Library. Interactive books are also helpful, especially for learning, so this is another idea we’re looking forward to seeing come to (virtual) life.
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