The highly decorated soldier who exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI including ChatGPT to help plan the attack, Las Vegas police said on Tuesday. Nearly a week after 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger fatally shot himself, officials said according to writings, he did not intend to kill anyone else. An investigation of Livelsberger’s searches through ChatGPT indicate he was looking for information on explosive targets, the speed at which certain rounds of ammunition would travel and whether fireworks were legal in Arizona. Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, called the use of generative AI a “game-changer” and said the department was sharing information with other law enforcement agencies. “This is the first incident that I’m aware of on US soil
Author Archives: The Esbec Team
Jan
For decades, the solar energy industry has been pushing against the theoretical limits of photovoltaic efficiency. Now, in a groundbreaking development that promises to reshape the renewable energy landscape, researchers have achieved a remarkable 31% efficiency rate with perovskite solar cells – a milestone that could accelerate our transition to sustainable energy sources. The Significance […]
Jan
This NASA photo released on February 24, 2021, shows images from NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater on February 21, 2021. Photo: Handout / NASA/JPL-CALTECH/AFP/FileSource: AFP NASA announced Tuesday it may turn to Elon Musk’s SpaceX or Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin to help reduce the soaring costs of returning Martian rocks collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth. Originally planned to deliver 30 sample tubes to Earth by the 2030s, the Mars Sample Return mission has faced rising expenses and delays, prompting the US space agency to explore more streamlined solutions. The pivot comes as China progresses towards a simpler “grab-and-go” sample return mission to the Red Planet “around 2028,” according to state media, potentially making it the first nation to achieve the feat. Outgoing NASA Administrator Bill
Jan
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has hit back at Donald Trump’s threat to use “economic force” to absorb Canada into the US saying there isn’t “a snowball’s chance in hell” to join the two. President-elect Trump has in recent weeks repeatedly needled Canada about it becoming the 51st US state. “You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump said at a press conference at his Florida Mar-a Lago home on Tuesday. “Canada and the United States, that would really be something.” Trump reiterated his threat to bring in a “substantial” tariff on Canadian goods unless the country took steps to increase security on the shared US border. The ongoing
![Edmundo Gonzalez addresses a gathering of supporters outside of the Organization of American States on January 6 in Washington, DC [Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo]](https://esbecgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Venezuelan-opposition-candidate-claims-son-in-law-has-been-kidnapped.jpg)
Edmundo Gonzalez, who competed against incumbent Nicolas Maduro in July’s presidential elections, says masked men abducted his son-in-law in Caracas. Edmundo Gonzalez, the leader of Venezuela’s political opposition, has accused masked men of kidnapping his son-in-law, who remains missing. Gonzalez, who ran in the country’s contested presidential election in July, announced the news on social media on Tuesday. “This morning my son-in-law Rafael Tudares was kidnapped,” Gonzalez wrote. “Rafael was heading to my grandchildren’s school, ages 7 and 6, in Caracas, to drop them off for the start of classes, and he was intercepted by hooded men dressed in black, who put him in a gold-coloured pickup truck with the license plate AA54E2C and took him away. At this time he is missing.” Gonzalez himself currently faces an arrest warrant
Jan
Carter to lie in state at Capitol until Thursday Former President Jimmy Carter will lie in state at the Capitol from Tuesday evening until Thursday morning, allowing the public to pay respects. A U.S. flag is draped on the casket of Jimmy Carter, the former president who died on December 29 at the age of 100, as he lies in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., Jan. 7, 2025. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters On Thursday morning, former presidents and other dignitaries will attend a state funeral at Washington National Cathedral. President Joe Biden will deliver a eulogy. On Thursday afternoon, Carter’s body will return to his hometown of Plains, Georgia, for a private service and private interment. Carter will be buried next to his wife of
Jan
A US federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on investigations into Donald Trump as an appeal court weighs a challenge to the disclosure of a much-anticipated document just days before the president-elect reclaims office. The ruling from US District Judge Aileen Cannon may represent a short-lived victory for Trump but it’s nonetheless the latest instance of the Trump-appointed jurist taking action in the Republican’s favour. The halt came in response to an emergency request Monday night by defence lawyers to block the release of a report that they said would be one-sided and prejudicial. Smith’s team is expected to respond later on Tuesday. Trump responded to Cannon’s order by complaining anew about Smith’s investigation and saying: “It was a fake case
Jan
President John Dramani Mahama has outlined his vision crucial for Ghana’s economic stability and rebuilding trust with the Ghanaian people. He said four key areas his administration will prioritise include: economic restoration and stabilization; improvement of the business and investment environment; governance and constitutional reforms; and accountability and the fight against corruption. In his inaugural address at the Black Star Square in Accra today, he highlighted the country’s recent struggles with inflation, unemployment, and fiscal deficits, emphasizing that economic recovery would be a top priority for his government. “The circumstances we find ourselves in are indeed tough, but even so, I will be decisive and swift in my actions. We will focus our initial efforts on economic restoration and stabilization of the macroeconomic environment. Ghana’s future depends on how well
Jan
Rescue operations still under way as nine others remain trapped in flooded Assam coal mine. Three miners are feared dead inside a flooded coal mine in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, with rescue efforts ongoing to save nine others. Rescue teams have spotted three bodies but have not been able to recover them yet, the local authorities in Assam’s hilly Dima Hasao district said in a statement on Tuesday. Twelve miners were trapped when water flooded the mine on Monday. The Indian military said in a statement it has deployed divers, helicopters and engineers to help rescue the trapped men. “The mine got flooded yesterday — the source was internal. They [the miners] probably hit some water channel and water came out and flooded it,” Mayank Kumar, district police
RICHMOND, Va. — Three special elections taking place on Tuesday to fill seats in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates will determine whether Democrats or Republicans have control of the Statehouse in Republican Glenn Youngkin’s final year as governor. In northern Loudoun County, Republican Tumay Harding and Democrat Del. Kannan Srinivasan are vying to succeed Suhas Subramanyam in the state Senate after the Democrat was elected to the U.S. House in November. Also on the ballot are Democrat JJ Singh and Republican Ram Venkatachalam, who are racing to replace Srinivasan in the state House of Delegates after he vacated his seat to run in the special Senate election. In central Goochland County, Republican Luther Cifers is up against Democrat Jack Trammell, a college professor, in a state Senate race.
Jan
AI to better train robots and cars and new gaming chips dominated Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote speech at the CES 2025 conference on Monday as the world’s second most valuable firm expounded on its potential to expand its business. Nvidia introduced what it calls Cosmos “foundation” models that generate photo-realistic videos which can be used to train robots and self-driving cars at a much lower cost than using conventional data. By creating what is known in the tech industry as “synthetic” training data, the models can help robots and cars understand the physical world similar to the way large language models helped chatbots generate responses in natural language. Users will be able to give Cosmos a text description that can be used to generate video of a world that
Jan
When Sarah started her weight loss journey, the first few weeks showed promising results. However, despite maintaining the same diet and exercise routine, her progress gradually slowed to a frustrating halt. This experience, shared by countless others, has a scientific explanation: metabolic adaptation, or what’s commonly known as metabolic slowdown. What Causes Your Metabolism to […]
![Damaged houses are pictured after an earthquake at a village in Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, on January 7, 2025 [Xinhua via Reuters]](https://esbecgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/At-least-95-reported-killed-as-powerful-earthquake-hits-Tibet.jpg)
DEVELOPING STORY, Tremors were reported as far away as northern India and Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, where buildings shook. Dozens of people have been reported killed after a powerful earthquake hit near Tibet’s second-largest city of Shigatse, according to Chinese and US monitoring groups, with tremors felt hundreds of kilometres away in Nepal. The earthquake struck at 9:05am local time (01:05 GMT) on Tuesday at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles), according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre, which recorded a magnitude 6.8 quake, while the United States Geological Survey reported the earthquake to be magnitude 7.1. A magnitude 6.8 earthquake is considered strong and capable of causing severe damage. Multiple aftershocks have also been reported, with the largest measuring a magnitude 4.4. China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that nine
The energy landscape is rapidly evolving, and virtual power plants (VPPs) are emerging as a crucial solution for managing distributed energy resources efficiently. According to the International Energy Agency, VPP implementations grew by 47% globally in 2023, marking a significant shift in how we approach power management and distribution. Key Takeaway: Virtual power plants are revolutionizing […]
Jan
In a self-recorded video, the suspect in the deadly New Orleans truck-ramming attack appeared to be an average tourist peddling through the city’s French Quarter on a bicycle while wearing what appeared to be a pair of normal sunglasses. But FBI officials now believe the bike ride Shamsud-Din Jabbar took in late October was not intended for mere recreation. Lyonel Myrthil, special agent in charge of the bureau’s New Orleans field office, said during a news conference on Sunday that the shades Jabbar was wearing were a pair of Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, equipped with cameras in the frame, allowing him to take video and photos without using his hands. “Everything he does with the glasses you could do with a cellphone, but it does give you cover,” said Brad