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Brain-inspired computing may one day help curb AI's ballooning energy demands, but don't expect it to replace today's datacenter hardware any time soon, UK politicans have been told. Speaking to MPs this week, University of York professor Martin Trefzer said neuromorphic and other bio-inspired systems could improve efficiency by borrowing ideas from biological brains, where memory and processing are integrated rather than split across separate components. Analysis from last year shows AI is the biggest driver pushing global datacenter electricity use to more than double by 2030 to around 945 terawatt-hours (TWh), slightly more than the entire electricity consumption of Japan. "Data movement is probably one of the fundamental things we can learn from the brain. We don't have a memory bank on one computer and a [processor] on the other; it's all one system, and that is underpinning the efficiency," Trefzer told the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee. At the same time, the brain "is not a rigid computer that is kind of clocked in a digital system." "This is motivating us to really build computing systems that are adaptable, to make them more robust, and to potentially adapt them to be more efficient in certain circumstances," Trefzer said. However, given the complexity of the as-yet-experimental computing model, it could be a long time before it proves its worth as a replacement for mature computing systems. "It is always pitched against a very mature technology like LLMs running in datacenters, but suffering from all the energy and sustainability problems," he said. The only way experimental technologies like neuromorphic computing – which takes inspiration from the brain – could have a practical impact in the short term is through specific applications alongside conventional computing to make it more efficient. "A wearable device, let's say a hearing aid, for example: you currently have these devices that are built on a digital substrate. We train models offline, but you could imagine a neuromorphic substrate that is susceptible to sound, that has modalities that allow it to function in a more brain-inspired computational manner. Then you could push functionality out of the digital system into, in this case, a sensor. This is where there is significant potential to be much more energy efficient, by orders of magnitude," Trefzer said. The short-term impact will be in identifying use cases for hybrid integration that work with current technology to optimize it. Also speaking to the committee, University of Manchester physics professor Caterina Doglioni said these advantages need to be offset against the energy and carbon cost of putting more devices on the edge, but there could be a threshold over which a new model is more efficient. "I hate to be the person that breaks it, but you have to think about how much it costs you and the environment to build these devices, but one can reach a break-even point where ultimately it is doing a better job on environmental sustainability, but that needs the studies," she said. ®
Tilda Swinton makes her audiobook debut with this landmark study of how New York artists from Edward Hopper to Andy Warhol have lived with loneliness
It is a decade since Olivia Laing published The Lonely City, a blend of memoir and cultural analysis on the isolation of urban living. Laing – who is non-binary – had moved to Manhattan following a love affair that ended abruptly. Once there, they were taken aback at their feelings of isolation. Laing discovered “you can be lonely anywhere, but there is a particular flavour to the loneliness that comes from living in a city, surrounded by millions of people”.
The author’s attempts to navigate these difficult feelings are threaded through a series of artist portraits examining the connection between loneliness and creativity. There is Edward Hopper, famed for his paintings featuring lone figures seated in cafes and diners, and Henry Darger, the janitor and hospital worker who lived alone and achieved posthumous fame through his disturbing and hallucinatory paintings of misfits. Laing also ponders the work of Andy Warhol, who surrounded himself with people while still keeping them at arm’s length, and David Wojnarowicz, the American artist and photographer who documented the devastation caused by the Aids virus. His work, Laing notes, “did more than anything to release me from the burden of feeling that in my solitude I was shamefully alone”.
Continue reading...⚽ Kick-off time: 12pm local/2am AEST/5pm BST/12pm EDT
⚽ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail Daniel
Mike Costello, the legendary boxing commentator, tells a story of when he was fresh in the game, an old pro heard him getting dead excited calling a fight that wasn’t Hagler-Hearns, so issued some advice: always leave yourself somewhere to go.
For those of us involved in a similar kind of thing, this is an important lesson, but one easier grasped than lived – especially during the World Cup and even more so during this World Cup. How not to unload the suitcase – and why not unload the suitcase – when Curaçao equalise against Germany, Cape Verde force a draw with Spain and DRC equalise against then draw with Portugal? For them – and so for us, sport being the experience of living your life through others – this is their Hagler-Hearns, so it makes more sense to trust you’ll find somewhere to go than not turn up somewhere you desperately need to be.
Continue reading...Show features characters and sets from likes of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep and celebrates roots in city
Aardman’s most famous characters, Wallace and Gromit, may be denizens of northern England but the studio’s deep-rooted connection to the south-west of the UK is being celebrated in a new show on Bristol’s harbourside.
The exhibition at the M Shed, just around the corner from the Aardman base on Gas Ferry Road (a name that would not be out of place in a Wallace and Gromit adventure), shines a light on the studio’s 50 years in Bristol.
Continue reading...Ehnes/Armstrong
(Seattle Chamber Music Society)
The Canadian violinist and American pianist – musical partners for over three decades – bring assurance and grace to these three violin sonatas written by Brahms in his creative prime.
Written between 1879 and 1888, Brahms’s three violin sonatas are the work of a man in his creative prime. Between them, they cover a considerable emotional span, from the lyrical, ultimately wistful G major with its rain-dappled finale to the structural complexities of the fiery D minor. The central A major sonata, good natured yet intimate, is one of the composer’s sunniest and most endearing works.
James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong met in Winnipeg in 1991 when the Canadian violinist was 15 years old and the American pianist was 17. The longevity of their partnership pays dividends here in performances that exude an effortless rightness. In the opening of the G major, Armstrong is the wind beneath Ehnes’s wings, the two musicians in artistic lockstep, even if the recorded sound favours the brightness of the violin. Pacing is assured, phrasing shapely. The gently pattering finale, with Ehnes’s graceful double-stopping, suggests remembrances of times past.
Continue reading...Mass drone strike on capital brought the war to Russians, but Ukrainians will be braced for Kremlin’s response
Ukraine hit Moscow with nearly 200 drones in its largest-ever attack on the capital on Thursday, striking a Russian oil refinery and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing over the city’s south.
The towering plumes of smoke rising above Moscow offered a stark demonstration of Ukraine’s growing ability to strike deep inside Russia with its increasingly sophisticated, largely domestically produced long-range drones.
Continue reading... Updates from the second day’s play at the Oval
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80th over: New Zealand 318-7 (Jamieson 16, Phillips 59) Jamieson slaps Baker through the off-side, then makes room for a mighty smack … he edges away over Rew for four more. The big man is here to have fun as he launches to deep midwicket … and Ben Duckett, backpedalling, drops it! That should have been snaffled; Baker was already celebrating. To make matters worse for the debutant, Phillips pulls away for another boundary, the third of the over. A very tidy start to the day for New Zealand.
79th over: New Zealand 305-7 (Jamieson 7, Phillips 55) It’s Josh Tongue to bound in from the Pavilion End – he goes short and Phillips offers no shot, the ball smashing into his belly button. Ouch. England are going full bumper mode, with three men on the leg-side boundary, and midwicket just a few yards in front of the rope. And is Jamieson gone, gloving the ball high, with Rew collecting? Nah, off the helmet. And a no ball, too. Jamieson will get checked out by the doc.
Continue reading...Assume You Will Be Hacked. “As AI tools have become extremely good at writing code, they’ve also become extremely good at pulling off cyberattacks. The result has been a change in the scale, speed, and sophistication of hacks…”
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Israël! Nee, Palestina! Maar 1939 t/m 1945! Nee, 1947! Maar Joden hebben recht op een staat! Nee, geen etnostaat! Maar dat is het niet, er wonen allerlei soorten mensen! Nee, die hebben geen gelijke rechten! Maar diversiteit in het parlement! Nee, gekke doodstrafwet! Maar Israël heeft bestaansrecht! Nee, stom! Maar antisemitisme! Nee, filosemitisme! Maar antisemitisme (II)! Nee, apartheid! Maar Golda Meir! Nee, Ali Abu Awwad! Maar Israël wilde vrede en normalisering! Nee, Yithzak Rabin! Maar de tweede intifida! Nee, de eerste! Maar, Hamas democratisch verkozen! Nee, Netanyahu democratisch verkozen! Maar, miljarden in tunnels gestoken! Nee, miljoenen! Maar, Israël wilde vrede en normalisering (II)! Nee, apartheid (II)! Maar 7 oktober! Maar genocide! Maar, Hamas is genocidaal! Nee, de IDF is genocidaal! Maar, meest morele leger ooit! Nee, kindermoordenaars! Maar! Nee! Nee! Maar! Wat! Leuk! Een! Normaal! En! Inhoudelijk! Gesprek! Over! De! Materie! Tussen! Mensen! Die! Allebei! Kunnen! Nadenken! Opiniemeneer! Coleman! Hughes! En! Opiniemeneer! Peter! Beinart! Maar, dat duurt heel lang! Nee, is zo voorbij!
Om maar meteen met de deur in huis te vallen: het blijft warm de komende dagen. Vrijdag kunnen de temperaturen oplopen tot een tropische 33 graden. Hoe houd je je huis dan in vredesnaam nog koel als je geen airco hebt? Experts geven vijf belangrijke tips.
Transparante vluchtprijzen, snellere terugbetalingen, compensatie voor vertragingen van drie uur en duidelijke prijzen en instructies: het Europees Parlement heeft na jaren onderhandelen een deal bereikt over de rechten van vliegpassagiers – tot ontstemming van budgetmaatschappijen.
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BRUSSEL (ANP) - Dat de Verenigde Staten minder versterkingen reserveren voor de verdediging van Europa, maakt Europa volgens defensieminister Dilan Yeşilgöz nog niet onveiliger. "Ik denk niet dat het zo'n vaart zal lopen", zei ze na overleg met NAVO-collega's.
De VS hebben een aantal vliegtuigen, marineschepen en andere eenheden geschrapt die tot dusver klaarstonden om Europa te helpen verdedigen als het aangevallen zou worden door bijvoorbeeld Rusland. De afzegging geldt onmiddellijk, terwijl Europese landen niet voor alle weggestreepte Amerikaanse hulptroepen meteen een alternatief in huis hebben.
Yeşilgöz wil niet beamen dat de NAVO-verdediging nu sommige capaciteiten mist, als oorlog zou uitbreken. "Dat is wel iets, dat moet je zoveel mogelijk voorkomen." Ze zegt daarover te overleggen met andere NAVO-landen.
"Gelukkig zijn we niet een weerloos continent. De afschrikking van de NAVO staat heel sterk", verzekerde Yeşilgöz donderdag. "Onze vijanden zijn niet voor niets bang voor ons."
NEW YORK (ANP) - Chipmaker Intel ging donderdag stevig omhoog op de beurzen in New York na uitlatingen van Donald Trump. Volgens de Amerikaanse president heeft Apple ingestemd om samen met Intel zijn chips te ontwerpen en te produceren in de Verenigde Staten. Trump gaf geen verdere details over de samenwerking. De Amerikaanse regering investeerde vorig jaar al miljarden in Intel om de chipproductie in eigen land te stimuleren.
Intel werd ruim 10 procent hoger gezet. Het aandeel is de afgelopen twaalf maanden al met ruim 460 procent gestegen, na een lange periode van tegenspoed waarin de chipfabrikant zijn dominante marktpositie kwijtraakte en achterbleef bij concurrenten op het gebied van chips voor kunstmatige intelligentie (AI).
De algehele stemming op Wall Street was eveneens positief, na de verliesbeurt een dag eerder. De Dow-Jonesindex noteerde kort na opening van de markt 0,5 procent hoger op 51.758 punten. De brede S&P 500-index steeg 0,7 procent tot 7476 punten en techgraadmeter Nasdaq won 0,8 procent tot 26.234 punten.
DEN HAAG (ANP) - PostNL heeft vorig jaar meer brievenbussen weggehaald dan in eerdere jaren. Door heel Nederland verdwenen bijna achthonderd brievenbussen. De betrouwbaarheid van de postbezorging is daarnaast gelijk gebleven en lag in 2025 opnieuw ruim onder de wettelijke norm, meldt de Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM) donderdag in een jaarlijkse monitor van de post- en pakketmarkt.
Het aantal brievenbussen in Nederland daalt al een aantal jaar. Vorig jaar kwam het aantal brievenbussen uit op 9791, tegenover 11.431 brievenbussen in 2022.
De hoeveelheid verstuurde brieven nam verder af. Wel steeg de omzet op de postmarkt licht door prijsverhogingen. De betrouwbaarheid bleef opnieuw achter, wat betekent dat veel post niet op tijd bij de ontvanger komt. Volgens de ACM werd het afgelopen jaar 86 procent van de post de volgende dag bezorgd. Daarmee ligt de postbezorging opnieuw onder de wettelijke norm van 95 procent, net als in voorgaande jaren.
Special-effects designer Brian Johnson, known for his groundbreaking work on Space: 1999, The Empire Strikes Back, Alien, and Aliens, has died at the age of 86. Johnson began his career creating models and explosions for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson productions, later designed the iconic Eagle Transporter, and became one of science fiction cinema's most influential behind-the-scenes artists. Longtime Slashdot reader sandbagger remembers the SFX legend, writing: "The Space: 1999 Eagle is one of the great space ships of science fiction."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.