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Nepal’s catastrophic flood heralds a new era of disasters

Nepal’s catastrophic flood heralds a new era of disasters

Bloomberg reports: The giant wave of rock, ice and debris that swept through 100 kilometers (62 miles) of Nepalese valleys last week is the deadliest illustration yet of how climate change is fueling mountain disasters of epic proportions. Scientists have long predicted quicker melting of snow and ice and accelerated thawing of permafrost in high mountain areas that are warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. For years they have documented the results: more frequent rockfalls, avalanches,…

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The AI overlords are using apocalyptic warnings to distract us from immediate threats

The AI overlords are using apocalyptic warnings to distract us from immediate threats

Cal Newport writes: The observation that the most alarmist claims about A.I.’s impact seem to come from the individuals most connected to Rationalism [originating from Eliezer Yudkowsky] should anger us. This exaggerated grimness makes it easy to overlook the more immediate harms created by these technologies, such as their potential use in cybersecurity attacks, excess resource consumption, impact on our cognitive fitness, role in undermining education and amplification of soul-deadening slop. This style of anxious talk also allows the A.I….

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OpenAI’s rogue agents keep escaping, with no formal process to investigate them

OpenAI’s rogue agents keep escaping, with no formal process to investigate them

TechCrunch reports: OpenAI is at the center of another agent swarm incident. Researchers say the company’s internally deployed agents took over an obscure German-language wiki in May and June, using it to coordinate on evaluations and swap methods to evade OpenAI’s own controls (OpenAI has not yet confirmed the swarm came from the company). The revelation surfaces days after METR and Redwood Research published their account of July’s Hugging Face breach. In July, a swarm of OpenAI agents worked together…

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Republicans sour on the economy

Republicans sour on the economy

Axios reports: Republicans’ confidence in the economy has plummeted over the last six months at a pace unseen since Covid — reminiscent of the declines during the global financial crisis nearly two decades ago. Why it matters: Usually, the president’s party is upbeat about the economy, while the party out of power is far more downcast. What’s striking now is that Republicans have grown increasingly sour this year, even with a Republican president in office. It’s another in a long list of ominous indicators for President…

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Norway seizes Russian research ship in the high Arctic

Norway seizes Russian research ship in the high Arctic

The New York Times reports: For the past several days, Norwegian security services had been tracking a Russian research ship. It was cruising around Svalbard, an icy archipelago high in the Arctic near the North Pole that Norway controls but is governed by a one-of-a-kind treaty that gives the Russians access. On Wednesday, the Norwegians pounced. Armed with a court order that is part of a global effort to recover Russian assets, Norwegian police officers boarded the ship while it…

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How a massive solar storm could take down the power grid

How a massive solar storm could take down the power grid

CNN reports: Forecasters knew something unusual was hurtling toward Earth. Three days before a solar storm arrived on May 10, 2024, they watched as a dark knot on the sun — tangled magnetic field lines spanning 124,000 miles — took aim at the planet. “That’s magnets twisting and turning and popping through each other,” said Shawn Dahl, service coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado. “Think about a rubber…

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In major win for voters, judge blocks Trump’s mail voting restrictions for midterms

In major win for voters, judge blocks Trump’s mail voting restrictions for midterms

Democracy Docket reports: A federal judge in Massachusetts barred the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Friday from advancing new mail voting restrictions that, if carried out, could leave vast numbers of people unable to cast a ballot by mail this fall. The decision is a massive win for access to the ballot, though the administration is all but certain to appeal. Issuing her ruling a day after a pivotal hearing in Boston, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said USPS’s rule, which…

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Trump administration rushes to Supreme Court in ongoing effort to upend midterm elections

Trump administration rushes to Supreme Court in ongoing effort to upend midterm elections

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to immediately allow new restrictions on mail-in balloting, potentially setting up a major legal clash that could affect millions of voters for November’s midterm elections. The fight could possibly upend election procedures just as states begin to send out mail-in ballots in pivotal contests that will determine control of the U.S. House and Senate. Some communities in Wisconsin mailed ballots to voters this week, North Carolina is…

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Price of diesel hits a record high

Price of diesel hits a record high

NPR reports: The price of diesel has reached an all-time high, according to AAA. The national average for a gallon is now $5.85. That exceeds the previous high in June 2022, when the average for a gallon reached $5.81 a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine, according to AAA data. The record high is significant because diesel powers much of the industrial supply chain in the United States via the “three t’s” of the economy: trains, tractors, and trucks, says…

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Arab diplomats fear Iran is widening the war — and there’s no way out

Arab diplomats fear Iran is widening the war — and there’s no way out

Politico reports: Iran’s renewed attacks against Arab countries are raising the stakes for regional powers, with some saying they are losing hope that there’s any way out of the war — and that things will get worse before the November elections. The fear is that Iran is particularly motivated to increase strikes right now — ahead of the U.S. midterms — making a widening regional conflict more likely. “Iran would like to prolong this status of controlled escalation and retaliation…

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Gary Marcus: Pause OpenAI, now

Gary Marcus: Pause OpenAI, now

Gary Marcus writes: I simply don’t believe that they are trustworthy enough or responsible enough to be good stewards of the technology that they are developing. As a company, they simply don’t have good judgment. Here are four considerations. 1. Sam Altman cannot be trusted. I have been writing about that for a long time. Ronan Farrow’s reporting backs that up. So does the just-dropped bombshell below that I am about to get to. 2. The just-released Astra reduces Chain…

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Reform UK suspends two senior officials after undercover report on donations

Reform UK suspends two senior officials after undercover report on donations

The Guardian reports: Reform UK has suspended two senior officials after they were filmed in an undercover investigation appearing to plot to get around electoral laws on foreign donations. In a blow to Nigel Farage hours before his conference speech, the party said it had launched an investigation into the actions of James Orr, the party’s head of policy, and Dan Jukes, a senior aide to Farage, after the broadcast by Channel 4 News. Jukes and Orr were filmed by…

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Huge genetic study finds strong links between DNA and personality traits

Huge genetic study finds strong links between DNA and personality traits

John M Lund / Getty Images By Briar Wormington, QIMR Berghofer and Michelle K Lupton, QIMR Berghofer Personality is something we all share, but the different ways we think and feel also make us unique. Personality is relatively stable and influences nearly every aspect of human life, from academic performance and career choices to health behaviours and longevity. For example, someone who is responsible might avoid taking risks or alcohol and drug use. Our new study, published in Nature, has…

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Sanders proposes pause on advanced AI development and ban on ‘artificial superintelligence’ after rogue AI incidents

Sanders proposes pause on advanced AI development and ban on ‘artificial superintelligence’ after rogue AI incidents

If the leaders of the major AI companies admit that they are losing control of their extremely dangerous technology, it is time for an immediate PAUSE on advanced AI development and a permanent BAN on superintelligence. pic.twitter.com/0FQo4risiD — Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 3, 2026 The Washington Post reports: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) called Thursday for the United States to ban so-called artificial superintelligence, saying a summer hacking spree by rogue OpenAI agents had revealed…

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