AI is making hyperscalers' sustainability pledges look more and more like a Hail Mary
Carbon capture, SMRs, fusion power - tech titans' climate strategies are packed with moon shots
Comment AI's appetite for power is exploding. Hyperscalers have only just begun to adopt Nvidia's 120 kW-per-rack systems, and the GPU giant is already charting a course toward 600 kW designs.…
Brooklyn Beckham packs on the PDA with wife Nicola Peltz as they lock lips at Coachella after his family 'blanked them' on their wedding anniversary
Brooklyn Beckham and his wife Nicola Peltz put on a loved up display as they attended Coachella festival in California on Friday, amid ongoing tensions with his family.
Tammy Abraham starts PRAYING after horrendous head clash knocked out AC Milan team-mate Mike Maignan
The clash of heads occured when the Frenchman came rushing out of his area in the 54th minute and was unable to slow down his momentum before colliding with Jimenez.
Coachella revelers slam 'diabolical' cost of food and drink as onlookers left in disbelief
Not only have guests so far had to battle car park chaos and near record-breaking temperatures, but many are only just discovering how much they will be forking out on supplies during the event.
Missing Essex teenagers spark urgent police appeal
Lily Gray and Maggie May Timon, both 15, are missing from Harlow
Germany's 'Universal Basic Income' Experiment Proves It Doesn't Encourage Unmployment
People "are likely to continue working full-time even if they receive no-strings-attached universal basic income payments," reports CNN, citing results from a recent experiment in Germany (discussed on Slashdot in 2020):
Mein Grundeinkommen (My Basic Income), the Berlin-based non-profit that ran the German study, followed 122 people for three years. From June 2021 to May 2024, this group received an unconditional sum of €1,200 ($1,365) per month. The study focused on people aged between 21 and 40 who lived alone and already earned between 1,100 euros (around $1,250) and 2,600 euros ($2,950) a month. They were free to use the extra money from the study on anything they wanted. Over the course of three years, the only condition was that they had to fill out a questionnaire every six months that asked about different areas of their lives, including their financial situation, work patterns, mental well-being and social engagement.
One concern voiced by critics is that receiving a basic income could make people less inclined to work. But the Grundeinkommen study suggests that may not be the case at all. It found that receiving a basic income was not a reason for people to quit their jobs. On average, study participants worked 40 hours a week and stayed in employment — identical to the study's control group, which received no payment. "We find no evidence that people love doing nothing," Susann Fiedler, a professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business who was involved with the study, said on the study's website.
Unlike the control group, those receiving a basic income were more likely to change jobs or enroll in further education. They reported greater satisfaction in their working life — and were "significantly" more satisfied with their income...
And can more money buy happiness? According to the study, the recipients of a basic income reported feeling that their lives were "more valuable and meaningful" and felt a clear improvement in their mental health.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
'I was addicted to sun beds and tans but then got cancer twice'
She was twice diagnosed with skin cancer after getting hooked on sunbeds and topping up her tan multiple times a week
The 'chilled and relaxed' Essex bar and restaurant loved by Olly Murs
He sometimes frequents the bar when he's in the county with friends
AI Industry Tells US Congress: 'We Need Energy'
The Washington Post reports:
The United States urgently needs more energy to fuel an artificial intelligence race with China that the country can't afford to lose, industry leaders told lawmakers at a House hearing on Wednesday. "We need energy in all forms," said Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, who now leads the Special Competitive Studies Project, a think tank focused on technology and security. "Renewable, nonrenewable, whatever. It needs to be there, and it needs to be there quickly." It was a nearly unanimous sentiment at the four-hour-plus hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which revealed bipartisan support for ramping up U.S. energy production to meet skyrocketing demand for energy-thirsty AI data centers.
The hearing showed how the country's AI policy priorities have changed under President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden's wide-ranging 2023 executive order on AI had sought to balance the technology's potential rewards with the risks it poses to workers, civil rights and national security. Trump rescinded that order within days of taking office, saying its "onerous" requirements would "threaten American technological leadership...." [Data center power consumption] is already straining power grids, as residential consumers compete with data centers that can use as much electricity as an entire city. And those energy demands are projected to grow dramatically in the coming years... [Former Google CEO Eric] Schmidt, whom the committee's Republicans called as a witness on Wednesday, told [committee chairman Brett] Guthrie that winning the AI race is too important to let environmental considerations get in the way...
Once the United States beats China to develop superintelligence, Schmidt said, AI will solve the climate crisis. And if it doesn't, he went on, China will become the world's sole superpower. (Schmidt's view that AI will become superintelligent within a decade is controversial among experts, some of whom predict the technology will remain limited by fundamental shortcomings in its ability to plan and reason.)
The industry's wish list also included "light touch" federal regulation, high-skill immigration and continued subsidies for chip development. Alexandr Wang, the young billionaire CEO of San Francisco-based Scale AI, said a growing patchwork of state privacy laws is hampering AI companies' access to the data needed to train their models. He called for a federal privacy law that would preempt state regulations and prioritize innovation.
Some committee Democrats argued that cuts to scientific research and renewable energy will actually hamper America's AI competitiveness, according to the article. " But few questioned the premise that the U.S. is locked in an existential struggle with China for AI supremacy.
"That stark outlook has nearly coalesced into a consensus on Capitol Hill since China's DeepSeek chatbot stunned the AI industry with its reasoning skills earlier this year."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Newly found mummies reveal new human ancestor that broke off from humanity thousands of years ago
Shocking DNA findings pulled from two mummies discovered in Northern Africa may rewrite the family tree of human history.
Kaani Kaana: Exact date award-winning Indian takeaway to open brand new location
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Microsoft is Killing Skype - and Refusing Refunds for Prepaid International Calls
Skype is shutting down after two decades on May 5th, notes the Washington Post.
But the bigger problem for retired attorney Karen Griffin is that Microsoft won't refund the money they paid into a Skype account for cheap international phone calls:
"They're no longer offering this service that I prepaid for, and now they're not giving me my money back," Griffin said. "There's a lot of people out there who are going to lose money...."
To its credit, Microsoft gave Skype users a couple months' warning about the shutdown coming May 5. People can transfer Skype contacts and chat history to the company's Microsoft Teams chat-and-calling app or to other companies' services. (While Microsoft sells Teams to organizations, there's a free version for personal use.) But Microsoft didn't explain well what will happen to money that people like Griffin have parked in Skype accounts, in some cases for years.... Unless you bought Skype credits very recently, Microsoft said it won't refund money in Skype accounts. The company says it will add an option for Skype account holders to keep using their funds for phone calls online or in Teams.
Griffin doesn't love what Microsoft is doing. She prefers a cash refund or a credit applied to her Microsoft Office subscription, for which she pays about $110 a year. Amit Fulay, vice president of product for Skype and Teams, said it's not possible to shift funds from a Skype account to Office subscriptions. And he nixed refunds because Microsoft will still offer basic call services for former Skype customers. "Refunds make more sense if you took away something," Fulay said. "We're not." Microsoft declined to say how much money Skype users collectively have sitting in accounts that they might never use.
Stacey Higginbotham, a policy specialist with Consumer Reports' technology advocacy team, said Griffin is making a reasonable request for a rich company like Microsoft that's shutting down an internet service. "The best way: Give people their money back. The second-best way, give people a credit to all of your services," Higginbotham said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Jamie Laing and wife Sophie Habboo share baby plans and their hopes for a big family - as he reveals she 'HATED' him when they first met for being 'full of himself'
The pair - who tied the knot in April 2023 - has been more loved-up than ever and got candid about their future plans on building a family during a chat with The Times .
Louis Tomlinson goes under the radar at Coachella while Zara McDermott is spotted just miles away after confirming romance
Love Island bombshell Zara, 28, and the One Direction star, 33, first sparked romance rumours in March when a diner at The Suffolk in Aldeburgh took snaps of the couple enjoying a romantic date.
Huge Hollywood actor is spotted puffing on a cigar in London as he joins the locals in Soho - but can you guess who it is?
The A-lister is famed for his action-packed productions, hunky physique and towering height of 6ft 4in.
British tourists face tough new travel rules as government bids to stop spread of disease that's sweeping through Europe
Strict new travel restrictions have been put in place by the government in an attempt to stop the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.
'Narco terrorist' drug wanted by the FBI is accused of flooding Britain with heroin and fuelling gang war that saw girl, nine, gunned down in drive-by shooting
Naji Sharifi Zindashti is wanted by the US intelligence service for his alleged 'involvement in criminal activities'.
'You have run out of chances' – drug driver jailed by magistrates
George Bennett, 40, received a suspended sentence in October last year for driving whilst disqualified, only to get behind the wheel 13 days later.
Listed: 11 car boot sale events commencing across Essex this spring
With the weather getting warmer across Essex, we have compiled a list of 11 car boot sales taking place throughout spring.
Jorgie Porter shows off her incredible figure in a stylish white bikini as she enjoys a sunny Spanish getaway - four months after welcoming second child
The Hollyoaks star, who gave birth to her second child, Peony Jorgie, in December 2024 , decided to make the most of the Easter break with a family trip to Spain.