An ambitious bill to keep toxic “forever chemicals” off California produce lost its teeth after the chemical and agricultural industries spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying against it.
Fridges are piling up in laybys across the country as recycling centres refuse to take anymore. It's the backfiring result, in part, of pettifogging green waste disposal regulation, says Ben Pile.
The post Green Rules Mean Britain Can’t Even Recycle a Fridge appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
On Tuesday, Google announced AlphaGenome Atlas, a resource that attempts to predict the consequences of every possible single-base variant in the human genome. The human genome is about 3 billion bases long, so trying the other three DNA bases that don't appear in our reference genome means sending a total of 9 billion bases through AlphaGenome software.
AlphaGenome is designed to identify potential functions of non-coding DNA, which does not encode proteins but makes up the vast majority of the human genome. Some of this non-coding DNA is essential for controlling the activity of the protein-coding portion—it tells the cell where and when to make messenger RNAs, how to process them into mature protein-coding forms, and so on. But much of it appears to be little more than the remains of viruses and other molecular parasites.
Being able to identify the functional portion is very useful, as is having all the analysis done by a single software package. But until biologists start to use it heavily (assuming they do), it won't be clear what AlphaGenome offers beyond what we could have gotten out of its training data.
© Vertigo3D
On Tuesday, Google announced AlphaGenome Atlas, a resource that attempts to predict the consequences of every possible single-base variant in the human genome. The human genome is about 3 billion bases long, so trying the other three DNA bases that don't appear in our reference genome means sending a total of 9 billion bases through AlphaGenome software.
AlphaGenome is designed to identify potential functions of non-coding DNA, which does not encode proteins but makes up the vast majority of the human genome. Some of this non-coding DNA is essential for controlling the activity of the protein-coding portion—it tells the cell where and when to make messenger RNAs, how to process them into mature protein-coding forms, and so on. But much of it appears to be little more than the remains of viruses and other molecular parasites.
Being able to identify the functional portion is very useful, as is having all the analysis done by a single software package. But until biologists start to use it heavily (assuming they do), it won't be clear what AlphaGenome offers beyond what we could have gotten out of its training data.
© Vertigo3D
Across several states, a quiet chemical industry campaign is making it harder to hold air polluters accountable.
Xiaomi could reportedly face more heat in India after the country’s Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) called for a probe into the Chinese manufacturer over its business model and compliance with investment law.
Reuters reported the SFIO released a document recommending authorities look into the movement of funds and whether Xiaomi secured mandatory investment approvals, after India turned the screw on Chinese companies following political tensions in 2020.
Xiaomi is already facing a tax bill in the country and had some banking assets frozen in 2022 for illegal remittances, an allegation it denies.
Reuters reported the government is reviewing the SFIO recommendations and action could be taken.
The SFIO reportedly stated in the document: “The most important part of the proposed investigation should be examination of the beneficial ownership of foreign investors and group entities.”
It added any investigation “should verify whether any direct or indirect beneficial ownership, control or change in control was disclosed and approved as required”.
The SFIO did not specify what it wants investigated. Reuters explained the agency is tasked with looking into corporate fraud, and has the power to arrest and prosecute offenders.
Xiaomi’s smartphone share in India has reduced significantly in recent years.
Counterpoint Research figures indicate the vendor holds fourth-place, with a 13% share.
The post Indian fraud office recommends Xiaomi probe appeared first on Mobile World Live.
Since China banned the import of plastic waste in 2018, plastic pollution has had a growing impact on the people and ecosystems of Latin America.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote later this month on two items intended to free up spectrum for next-generation connectivity, according to chair Brendan Carr (pictured).
The first is a satellite spectrum abundance order, which would allow the FCC to unlock more than 1,000 MHz of spectrum across the 12GHz and 42GHz bands. The FCC stated the freed-up airwaves could support a range of connectivity services, including faster satellite broadband.
The second item is a proposal to seek comment on modernising the FCC’s rules governing ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, an unlicensed spectrum category used across IoT, automotive and consumer devices. Carr noted the rules have not been comprehensively updated since their adoption in 2002.
“The FCC’s work to free up more spectrum continues apace this month,” Carr said. “Today, I shared two items with my colleagues that will push more commercial spectrum into the marketplace than ever before. By unlocking these bands, the FCC will give a big boost to American innovation and promote economic growth across a wide range of industries.”
On the satellite order, Carr said the move is designed to ensure consumers continue benefiting from competitive, high-speed internet delivered from next-generation satellite systems.
On the UWB proposal, he said the rule changes would unlock further opportunities for unlicensed devices across a wide swath of spectrum, pointing to UWB’s role in applications from vehicle safety systems to package tracking.
He stated the technology is so deeply embedded in everyday life that most people are unaware of its role, and that the proposal represents the FCC’s first comprehensive modernisation of the rules in over two decades.
Both items are scheduled for a vote at the FCC’s 30 September open meeting. The satellite spectrum move comes as regulators globally weigh how to balance growing demand for satellite broadband capacity, driven by operators including Amazon Leo, SpaceX’s Starlink and others, against existing terrestrial and federal spectrum users. The 12GHz band in particular has been the subject of a long-running dispute between satellite operators and terrestrial 5G proponents over interference risks and competing use cases.
The meeting items build on Carr’s broader push to release more spectrum since taking the chair, which has included restarting the agency’s first spectrum auction in four years. Auction 113, covering AWS-3 licences in the 1695-1710MHz, 1755-1780MHz and 2155-2180MHz bands, forms part of the FCC’s Build America Agenda, targeting 800MHz of new spectrum by 2034.
The post FCC eyes spectrum vote for space-based services appeared first on Mobile World Live.
The PA Department of Environmental Protection says between 2023 and August 2026, Shell’s ethane cracker, exceeded limits on visible emissions set by its state-issued air permit more than two dozen times.
Almost 130 nations called for restrictions to be placed on autonomous weapons systems, adding another slant to recent growing concerns over the impact of rogue AI.
In a post on X on 5 September, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Tom Berendsen revealed 128 nations reached an accord on a United Nations (UN) push to address the challenges posed by lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) by defining what the systems are.
The agreement is an “important step” in regulating the systems, Berendsen wrote.
Various news outlets quoted an Agence France-Presse (AFP) article explaining the move to define what LAWS are is the first step towards possible regulation, which the UN separately explained is needed to ensure autonomous systems do not breach international humanitarian laws prohibiting the targeting of civilians during conflicts.
UN information indicates the agreement ratifies work on the impact of emerging technologies on LAWS commenced in 2023.
Across various meetings, government experts have defined the systems as being “one or more” weapons which can work together to “identify, select and engage a target with force, without intervention by a human being”.
Life-and-death
The concerns hold particular relevance in various ongoing global conflicts, with reports Russia and Ukraine are already testing autonomous drone fleets in their war.
In late August, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres and Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), jointly expressed concerns over the growing capabilities of AI, in particular its use in scenarios involving lethal force.
“We are now dangerously close to crossing a moral red line: the autonomous targeting of humans by machines,” Guterres said.
Spoljaric branded autonomous targeting systems “morally repugnant”.
The UN and ICRC urged nations to act swiftly to agree global rules and continue to press for humans to remain involved in “life-and-death decisions”.
UN high commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk today (7 September) pressed for faster action on governing AI as a whole, warning in a speech the technology poses an “existential risk to humanity” and lamenting the “almost unlimited power” a “handful of men” have over the technology.
Volker called for independent verification and “much stronger collaboration on security”, along with expressing concern over the potential impact of AI on employment, democracy and the environment.
The post UN push for killer robot rules advances appeared first on Mobile World Live.
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