Category Archives: SCI-TECH

The Pentagon’s latest report on UFOs has revealed hundreds of new reports of unidentified and unexplained aerial phenomena but no indications suggesting an extraterrestrial origin. The review includes hundreds of cases of misidentified balloons, birds and satellites as well as some that defy easy explanation, such as a near-miss between a commercial airliner and a mysterious object off the coast of New York. While it isn’t likely to settle any debates over the existence of alien life, the report reflects heightened public interest in the topic and the government’s efforts to provide some answers. Its publication comes a day after House lawmakers called for greater government transparency during a hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs – the government’s term for UFOs. Federal efforts to study and identify UAPs have

As Tesla’s electric-vehicle sales have flattened this year, CEO Elon Musk has increasingly staked the company’s future on his vision for self-driving robotaxis, despite the massive technological and regulatory obstacles in delivering them. Now Musk – as one of President-elect Donald Trump’s biggest backers – may have the influence to help break through those regulatory roadblocks. Tesla (TSLA.O) currently faces a diverse landscape of state driverless-vehicle laws that Musk blasted in an Oct. 23 earnings call, calling it “incredibly painful to do it state-by-state.” He signaled he would advocate for one federal approval process if Trump won and followed through on a promise to name Musk “efficiency czar.” “If there’s a department of government efficiency,” Musk said, “I’ll try to help make that happen.” On Tuesday, Trump tapped Musk and another ally to lead such an entity, which is not

Singapore -headquartered Ant International said it has developed an AI model that predicts currency exchange rates on an hourly basis for both inbound and outbound transactions, which would help businesses reduce transaction costs and better allocate resources, the company said in a statement on Thursday. “Integration of AI into the processing of cross-border transactions is of critical importance to further strengthening global trade and commerce, especially for SMEs who up to now can’t afford real-time global settlement services,” Ant International CEO Yang Peng said in the statement. To address potential risks, Ant’s new FX model, which consolidates hundreds of existing models, provides mechanisms that allow human intervention in case of discrepancies between the new model and previous ones, according to Yang. Chinese fintech giant Ant Group goes all in on

The Australian government will legislate for a ban on social media for children under 16, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday, in what it calls a world-leading package of measures that could become law late next year. Australia is trialing an age-verification system to assist in blocking children from accessing social media platforms, as part of a range of measures that include some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date. “Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese told a news conference. Albanese cited the risks to physical and mental health of children from excessive social media use, in particular the risks to girls from harmful depictions of body image, and misogynist content aimed at boys. “If you’re a

 Swiss bank UBS (UBSG.S) said on Thursday it had successfully piloted a blockchain-based payment system it has developed to improve efficiency of cross-border transactions known as UBS Digital Cash. In the pilot, transactions were carried out with multinational clients and banks, including domestic transactions in Switzerland and cross-border payments in U.S. dollars, Swiss francs, euros and Chinese yuan, UBS said in a statement. Andy Kollegger, head UBS Institutional & Multinational Banking, described blockchain-based payment solutions for cross-border payments as a strategic focus for UBS. “UBS Digital Cash going forward aims to enable our clients to make cross-border payments in a much more efficient and transparent way,” Kollegger said. The pilot scheme included the transfer of liquidity between various UBS companies. UBS said it plans to expand and develop UBS Digital Cash in

Beijing -based Ensonic is a seven-year-old start-up that produces AI-powered acoustic-detection systems used for equipment quality control and maintenance, the two firms said in a statement on Tuesday. This marks MTR Lab’s first investment in a mainland Chinese company. The deal is “more than an investment” because it is also “a commitment to collaborate” and advance development of the firm’s AI-based acoustic detection technology, MTR Lab managing director Michael Chan Ting-bond said in the statement. He said MTR Lab also hopes to “align with the national strategy” of developing “new quality productive forces” – a term introduced by President Xi Jinping in September last year to describe productivity gains driven by technological innovation. MTR Lab-backed Ensonic’s solutions use artificial intelligence algorithms to identify potential faults or problems in equipment. Photo:

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 5 – Universities must uphold the highest standards of academic excellence as they are the engine of Kenya’s human capital development, President William Ruto has said. The President said the institutions should also incorporate ethical and moral development to make education a tool for transformation and not merely a means of acquiring certification.  Speaking when he awarded charters to the National Intelligence and Research University and the Islamic University of Kenya at State House Nairobi on Tuesday, he said: “I encourage both universities to bear this responsibility with integrity and dedication in their endeavour to inclusively uplift society.” While the government appreciates efforts to expand public universities’ infrastructure and facilities, President Ruto pointed out, there is a need to ensure quality is not compromised and that graduates

U.S. tech companies have warned Vietnam’s government that a draft law to tighten rules on data protection and limit data transfers abroad would hamper social media platforms and data centre operators from growing their businesses in the country. The Southeast Asian nation with a population of 100 million is one of the world’s largest markets for Facebook and other online platforms, and is aiming to exponentially increase its data centre industry with foreign investment in coming years. The draft law “will make it challenging for tech companies, social media platforms and data centre operators to reach the customers that rely on them daily,” said Jason Oxman, who chairs the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), a trade association representing big tech companies including Meta (META.O) Google (GOOGL.O), and data centres operator Equinix (EQIX.O). The draft

Internal Security and National Administration Principal Secretary, Dr Raymond Omollo, has today officiated the opening of a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination container at the Deputy County Commissioner’s office in Kikuyu, marking the start of this year’s national exams. Dr Omollo, who also observed the commencement of the KCSE exams at Alliance Girls High School in Kiambu County, underscored the government’s dedication to ensuring a safe and fair exam period. Addressing education officials and local administrators, he emphasised on the role of security in maintaining integrity throughout the examination process. “As we go through this exercise, you can always count on our support. From the security sector, I am happy to note that so far we have not had any major security incident, and we expect that to

“We’re at the mercy of Google.” Undecided voters in the US who turn to Google may see dramatically different views of the world – even when they’re asking the exact same question. Type in “Is Kamala Harris a good Democratic candidate”, and Google paints a rosy picture. Search results are constantly changing, but last week, the first link was a Pew Research Center poll showing that “Harris energises Democrats”. Next is an Associated Press article titled “Majority of Democrats think Kamala Harris would make a good president”, and the following links were similar. But if you’ve been hearing negative things about Harris, you might ask if she’s a “bad” Democratic candidate instead. Fundamentally, that’s an identical question, but Google’s results are far more pessimistic. “It’s been easy to forget how bad Kamala Harris is,”