This edition of Foreshadowing TechΒ considers how so many AI speculations from Colossus: The Forbin ProjectΒ have come true in both surprising and subtle ways. Regular panelists Chuck Joiner, Marty Jencius, Jeff Gamet, are joined by guest AI enthusiast Jill McKinley to look at how the film predicted things like machine autonomy, surveillance, privacy and self-improving systems. Wrapped in a thriller that is as much political as it is tech, there are questions about freedom and security that we have yet to address today. The panel mixes film trivia, tech analysis, and unsettling parallels to todayβs AI debates in a thoughtful discussion.Β
Ukrainian drone teams demolished a brigade of US Army tanks and armored vehicles during a live war game held this yearβbut the US soldiers were lucky enough to get βrespawnβ attempts while learning from the experience.
The semiannual military exercise, called Combined Resolve, gave the US military a firsthand taste of how modern drone warfare has evolved on the battlefields of Ukraine. The Ukrainian drone operators participating in the exercise were easily able to spot and destroy US armored vehicles by mimicking the actions of dropping bombs from above or moving close enough to simulate a kamikaze strike, according to US officials and a participant who spoke with The Wall Street Journal.
US armored vehicles were being destroyed so quickly that they were βrespawnedβ and sent back into the simulated fray, a US official told The Wall Street Journal. The US troops who participated in the exerciseβheld in Germany from April 9 to May 10βwere on rotational deployment from Fort Hood, Texas.
Romanian army divers used explosives to destroy two Russian-made drones found floating in the Black Sea near Romaniaβs largest natural gas project, according to the NATO member countryβs defense minister.
Defense Minister Radu MiruΘΔ posted a Facebook video supposedly showing one of the drones being blown up in the water by explosive ordnance disposal divers of the Romanian army on August 11, as reported by Reuters and other news outlets. The drones were first spotted in the water by a ship working in the vicinity of the Neptun Deepβan offshore gas project under development in the Black Sea that will make Romania the largest gas producer in the European Union.
A Romanian Coast Guard ship that responded with army soldiers aboard found two drifting Gerbera-type drones of Russian design along with other debris. MiruΘΔ also disclosed that Romania had reached out to βUkrainian partners who confirmed that the systems do not belong to them.β
German police disarmed a drone carrying explosives after it was discovered near Ukrainian cargo aircraft parked at Leipzig airportβand authorities are looking into the possibility of a second drone after an approaching aircraft collided with something midair.
The drone, first spotted by an airport employee,Β was hovering close to the ground between two parked An-124 cargo aircraft owned by Ukraineβs Antonov Airlines shortly before midnight on August 4, according to The Guardian. It had apparently been modified to help avoid detection by the airportβs drone defense sensors, said Alexander Dobrindt, federal minister of the interior for Germany, during a press conference.
Dobrindt described the drone as carrying a fist-sized package of a substance believed to be the plastic explosive Semtex. Only a failed detonator prevented the drone from exploding near the Ukrainian cargo aircraft, he said.
German police disarmed a drone carrying explosives after it was discovered near Ukrainian cargo aircraft parked at Leipzig airportβand authorities are looking into the possibility of a second drone after an approaching aircraft collided with something midair.
The drone, first spotted by an airport employee,Β was hovering close to the ground between two parked An-124 cargo aircraft owned by Ukraineβs Antonov Airlines shortly before midnight on August 4, according to The Guardian. It had apparently been modified to help avoid detection by the airportβs drone defense sensors, said Alexander Dobrindt, federal minister of the interior for Germany, during a press conference.
Dobrindt described the drone as carrying a fist-sized package of a substance believed to be the plastic explosive Semtex. Only a failed detonator prevented the drone from exploding near the Ukrainian cargo aircraft, he said.
Arts Council England is facing a backlash for splurging millions of taxpayers' pounds on projects like queer cabaret, gender-diverse kids' shows and identity workshops while traditional museums are closing their doors.
Satellite images have revealed new damage to Amazon data centers in the Middle East along with at least one crucial Saudi oil facility, following missile and drone attacks by Iran and its Houthi allies.
The images from Europeβs Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites provide evidence of a widening war as the United States and several Gulf states exchange military strikes with Iran, the Houthi faction in Yemen, and Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Such satellite images also offer independent verification of claimed war damage, despite the US government having pressured US commercial firms and even Europe to restrict satellite imagery of the region.
Three Amazon data centers in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were already previously damaged by Iranian drone strikes on March 1. Those earlier attacks stuck Amazon with months of expected repairs and forced Amazon Web Services customers in the Middle East to migrate workloads to other cloud regions.
The European Union has begun delaying the release of satellite images showing shipping lanes near the Strait of Hormuz by 24 hours. The move comes in response to an earlier US government request and coincides with the Trump administration ramping up the war with Iran once again.
The unusual change in the free and open data policy for Europeβs Copernicus Earth observation program was revealed by Space News, which reviewed a copy of the decision made by the Council of the EU on July 13. The ordered delay applies to images taken by Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites and covers the Gulf of Oman region that includes shipping lanes leading to and from the contested Strait of Hormuz.
The US government first requested that the European Union restrict Copernicus satellite imagery on May 26, according to the decision document seen by Space News. That request occurred during a shaky ceasefire period for the war that began on April 8 and ended on July 8, when the US military resumed a broader campaign of military strikes following an announcement by President Donald Trump.
The European Union has begun delaying the release of satellite images showing shipping lanes near the Strait of Hormuz by 24 hours. The move comes in response to an earlier US government request and coincides with the Trump administration ramping up the war with Iran once again.
The unusual change in the free and open data policy for Europeβs Copernicus Earth observation program was revealed by Space News, which reviewed a copy of the decision made by the Council of the EU on July 13. The ordered delay applies to images taken by Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites and covers the Gulf of Oman region that includes shipping lanes leading to and from the contested Strait of Hormuz.
The US government first requested that the European Union restrict Copernicus satellite imagery on May 26, according to the decision document seen by Space News. That request occurred during a shaky ceasefire period for the war that began on April 8 and ended on July 8, when the US military resumed a broader campaign of military strikes following an announcement by President Donald Trump.
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