What If We Just Stopped? “We’re in the Looney Tunes stage of the end of social, where we’ve glided well past the edge of the cliff and it’s slowing dawning on us that the only way left is down. Fast.”
Using a handheld scanner, designer/illustrator Noah Nolet captures textures from surfaces in cities around the world, including Tokyo, LA, Paris, Kyoto, NYC, and Berlin. On his website, he offers city packs of hundreds of scans for sale and free sample packs as well. You can also check out how he captures the textures on Instagram and YouTube. This is a modern take on stone rubbing.
Tags: cities · design · Noah Nolet · photography
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King Protea, Protea cynaroides. At the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden in Mount Tomah, NSW Australia.
Google will loft its tensor processing units (TPUs) into orbit aboard a SpaceX rocket next week, in the latest phase of its previously announced Project Suncatcher space datacenter initiative. The launch is part of a test mission to better understand how its homegrown compute platform will handle both the rigors of launch and the harsh environment of space. Long term, the Chocolate Factory believes that space-based datacenter clusters powered by a limitless supply of solar energy from our sun could hold the answer to more sustainable AI. Not everyone is convinced. Earlier this year, Gartner analyst Bill Ray described the idea as “peak insanity.” He argued that space-based datacenters won't be viable for decades and in the end won't serve terrestrial needs. But that hasn't stopped the likes of Nvidia and Google from trying. Google has been particularly pragmatic relative to others like SpaceXAI, which like any other Musk-run outfit can't help but set ambitious targets like 250-kilowatt satellites. Rather than grand plans and satellite concepts backed by dubious launch economics, Google's Project Suncatcher is being treated for what it is: a moonshot. Like past moonshots, it may ultimately go nowhere. Remember Project Loon? Google is still in the early stages of development here. It hasn't announced a space-rated TPU and instead has subjected its existing Trillium accelerators, which we looked at back in 2024, to a series of tests here on Earth to understand whether it can be done. The challenges are numerous, as Suncatcher's project leaders explained in a recent blog post touting the proof-of-concept launch. The first challenge is surviving the trip into space. During launch, they explain that the chips will be subjected to as much as 50-100 gravities worth of amplified forces. If not accounted for, the systems could literally shake themselves to pieces. Since announcing Project Suncatcher last year, Google's moonshot team has conducted several tests, including one involving a vibration table, to simulate these forces, but it won't know for sure if its kit will survive until it's actually in orbit. As you probably already guessed, once in orbit, the challenges facing Google's systems are far from over. Beyond the atmosphere, the chips will be subject to solar activity and cosmic rays that could cause single-event upsets, such as bit flips, as well as cumulative damage from ionizing radiation. By bombarding its TPUs with energetic particles using UC Davis' Crocker Nuclear Laboratory's proton beam, Google is reasonably confident that its TPUs won't fizzle out shortly after reaching their target orbit, but once again lab tests can only tell you so much, and there is a lot more that can go wrong. In particular, there's the issue of cooling. Heat can't be carried away by convection in the vacuum of space, and so these satellites will ultimately have to rely on radiation to reject it. According to Google, it will need roughly 1.3 square meters of radiator area to dissipate the heat generated by a single TPU, and the search and advertising giant hopes to pack dozens of TPUs into each satellite. This translates to a rather large radiator area. Once again, Google arrived at this conclusion based on testing within a temperature controlled vacuum chamber. However, this is only part of the challenge. There's also the issue of getting the heat from the TPU to the radiators in the first place. Here Google is exploring existing technologies like heat pipes and pumped coolants. With its first launch, Google aims to see what works, what doesn't, and to identify points of failure that can be addressed in future missions. The test sat is scheduled to launch aboard the Transporter-18 rideshare mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on October 1. However, Google's challenges extend far beyond the chips themselves. Even if Google can figure out how to build space-rated TPUs without breaking the bank, the available launch systems put a practical limit on how big they can be built. Because of this, space-based AI training and inference will have to be spread across multiple satellites, necessitating high-speed interconnects. At the distances required, this means laser-based communication, which Google argues is well understood, but hasn't been adapted for the requirements of orbital AI just yet. Most existing inter-satellite communications have relatively low bandwidth over a wide area. Its clusters will need the exact opposite: extremely high bandwidth over relatively small distances. But even if Google can prove that orbital datacenter clusters can be made to work, there's no guarantee it'll be economical. Speaking with El Reg earlier this year, space datacenter startup Orbital admitted the entire venture depends on rockets from SpaceX and others driving the cost to orbit from around $7,000 per kilogram today to just $10 per kilogram, a target that many have expressed skepticism SpaceX will actually be able to deliver. Speaking of SpaceX, the rocket company's AI wing SpaceXAI aims to put its first space-based test systems into orbit by the end of next year. If all goes to plan, the simplified system will be the first of what could eventually become a constellation of up to one million satellites. But as is often the case with Elon Musk's claims, and Google's moonshots for that matter, their dreams don't always become reality and even when they do, it doesn't always happen as quickly as they'd hope. ®
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Alvar and Aino Aalto
Camera: Hasselblad 503CW
Lens: Carl Zeiss Planar T* 2.8/80 C
Film: Ilford XP2 Super
Lab: Prolab, Stuttgart
Forward uses corner flag to simulate gun after equaliser
Nations League match ends in 3-1 loss for Israel
Israel’s forward Saied Abu Farchi was sent off for celebrating his goal against Austria in his side’s 3-1 Nations League defeat on Thursday by using the corner flag to simulate a gun.
Abu Farchi headed home in the 55th minute to bring Israel level after Austria had taken the lead through a Romano Schmid penalty before half-time at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.
Continue reading...Attorney general Todd Blanche requests that justices overturn lower court ruling that halted such removals
The Trump administration has asked the US supreme court to allow it to deport immigrants to countries other than their own, the latest effort to seek approval for a controversial policy that fulfils Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Todd Blanche, the US attorney general, said on Thursday morning that the Department of Justice would ask the conservative-majority supreme court for help, nearly a week after a lower court judge rejected the policy.
Continue reading...I refuse to play host to a man who has overseen the slaughter or injury of more than 64,000 children in Gaza with American taxpayer dollars. I refuse to be complicit in genocide
Benjamin Netanyahu belongs at The Hague; not in the streets of New York City, and certainly not before the United Nations general assembly. The international criminal court has a warrant out for his arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The UN’s own commission of inquiry has found that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and named Netanyahu as its chief architect.
As the Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th congressional district, I refuse to allow a war criminal to roam the streets of our city unchallenged. I refuse to play host to a man who has overseen the slaughter or injury of more than 64,000 children in Gaza with American taxpayer dollars. I refuse to be complicit in genocide.
Darializa Avila Chevalier is the Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th congressional district
Continue reading...If something is under $15 and you buy it for me, I will do the same for you next time. This is called trust and this is called reciprocity
Like many women in their 30s, one of my true joys is meeting a friend for a beverage. However, after catching up for a green juice (healthy) with a dear colleague recently, I was on the train home when I got a message saying “Hey! Can you please transfer me $12.50? Thank you!” My response can only be described as … horrified.
The reason that it stuck in my craw is because I firmly believe that you should not request repayment for anything under $15. If we are out together and I shout you a coffee I would rather commit seppuku than be bank-transferred $4.50 ($6 if you are in the CBD, $9 if you are a matcha observant). For context, A$15 is roughly US$10, £8, €9, NZ$19 and 1,680 yen. In this (scary) global economy, that doesn’t stretch much further than a small beverage/snack/Boots meal deal.
Continue reading...
"Nationwide, at least 100 police department employees have been charged with or accused of misusing license-plate readers for unauthorized purposes," reports the Washington Post. They cite their past investigations "based on thousands of pages of police and court records," which found that "In many of these cases, officers used Flock's roadside cameras to track the location of romantic partners and exes."
In fact, five Indianapolis police officers were just criminally charged Wednesday with fraud and misconduct. "One has also been charged with stalking," the police department said in a statement, noting that one office had already resigned, "while the four other officers have been suspended and recommended for termination. County prosecutor Ryan Mears admitted "A lot of this was initiated by The Washington Post."
And the Post published a new investigation Wednesday:
Using publicly available information, The Post found that...one of the officers charged Wednesday, appeared to have relied on Flock cameras to track vehicles used by his wife and two close personal acquaintances, searching the plates 3,759 times over a 10-month period — an average of about 12 lookups per day. At the time, Police Chief Tanya Terry said she suspended one officer while the department conducted an investigation into possible misuse and a systemwide audit of the city's 301-camera Flock system. That audit led to the discovery of more widespread abuse, [County prosecutor Ryan] Mears said Wednesday.
Mears said the department's findings highlight the vast power Flock cameras give police officers and raise questions about whether the government should be doing more to prevent the misuse of that power. "Many of the proposed guardrails and the things that have been proposed would not have prevented the behaviors and actions we see here today," Mears said. "Does there need to be independent oversight? Does there need to be judicial oversight of the Flock camera system?"
One of the Indianapolis officers, Schultz, an 18-year veteran of the police department, was accused of using Flock to track his ex-wife and women he met while on duty or out in public. He was charged with multiple counts of official misconduct as well as two counts of stalking. Schultz told one woman he was an FBI agent, according to prosecutors, and began texting her and showing up at places she frequented, including at her gym and at a school function with her daughter. Prosecutors said he arrived at her gym within an hour of her at least nine times between June 12 and Aug. 1 of this year... Another woman met Schultz after her car was stolen from a mall parking lot, and he began texting her flirty messages later that night. The two dated briefly, and Schultz later looked up where the woman went on dates with another man. Schultz searched the plates of a third woman 178 times and also frequently showed up where she was, including her gym, a Smoothie King and a Walmart earlier this month...
A third officer, Binford, told investigators he had used the log-in credentials of another officer who had logged in to Binford's laptop during a field training exercise. Binford searched the plate of his ex-wife more than 1,000 times between April 2024 and April 2025. Indianapolis police had no regular practice of auditing officers' Flock searches until recently, [Police Chief] Terry said in an interview last month. The department's investigation into the tool's misuse has been "a learning process for us," she said at the time.
In fact, five Indianapolis police officers were just criminally charged Wednesday with fraud and misconduct. "One has also been charged with stalking," the police department said in a statement, noting that one office had already resigned, "while the four other officers have been suspended and recommended for termination. County prosecutor Ryan Mears admitted "A lot of this was initiated by The Washington Post."
And the Post published a new investigation Wednesday:
Using publicly available information, The Post found that...one of the officers charged Wednesday, appeared to have relied on Flock cameras to track vehicles used by his wife and two close personal acquaintances, searching the plates 3,759 times over a 10-month period — an average of about 12 lookups per day. At the time, Police Chief Tanya Terry said she suspended one officer while the department conducted an investigation into possible misuse and a systemwide audit of the city's 301-camera Flock system. That audit led to the discovery of more widespread abuse, [County prosecutor Ryan] Mears said Wednesday.
Mears said the department's findings highlight the vast power Flock cameras give police officers and raise questions about whether the government should be doing more to prevent the misuse of that power. "Many of the proposed guardrails and the things that have been proposed would not have prevented the behaviors and actions we see here today," Mears said. "Does there need to be independent oversight? Does there need to be judicial oversight of the Flock camera system?"
One of the Indianapolis officers, Schultz, an 18-year veteran of the police department, was accused of using Flock to track his ex-wife and women he met while on duty or out in public. He was charged with multiple counts of official misconduct as well as two counts of stalking. Schultz told one woman he was an FBI agent, according to prosecutors, and began texting her and showing up at places she frequented, including at her gym and at a school function with her daughter. Prosecutors said he arrived at her gym within an hour of her at least nine times between June 12 and Aug. 1 of this year... Another woman met Schultz after her car was stolen from a mall parking lot, and he began texting her flirty messages later that night. The two dated briefly, and Schultz later looked up where the woman went on dates with another man. Schultz searched the plates of a third woman 178 times and also frequently showed up where she was, including her gym, a Smoothie King and a Walmart earlier this month...
A third officer, Binford, told investigators he had used the log-in credentials of another officer who had logged in to Binford's laptop during a field training exercise. Binford searched the plate of his ex-wife more than 1,000 times between April 2024 and April 2025. Indianapolis police had no regular practice of auditing officers' Flock searches until recently, [Police Chief] Terry said in an interview last month. The department's investigation into the tool's misuse has been "a learning process for us," she said at the time.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
KESTEREN (ANP) - De politie heeft donderdagavond zeven personen aangehouden bij een protest tegen een azc in het Gelderse dorp Kesteren. Drie mensen werden gearresteerd voor wederspannigheid, ofwel fysiek verzet bij een aanhouding. Vier aanhoudingen hielden verband met vuurwerk.
Een paar honderd demonstranten verzamelden zich in Kesteren voor het dorpshuis. Na het afsteken van vuurwerk greep de ME rond 21.00 uur in. Daarbij werden enkele personen aangehouden en werd minstens een projectiel naar de politie gegooid. Volgens de politie is de inzet in het dorp even voor 23.00 uur officieel beëindigd.
De demonstratie in Kesteren vond een week na rellen in dezelfde gemeente bij het dorp Opheusden plaats. Daar werd toen ook gedemonstreerd tegen een azc en er werden veertien personen aangehouden. Na signalen van een nieuwe demonstratie deze donderdag in Opheusden werden daar een noodverordening en een veiligheidsrisicogebied afgekondigd.
NEW YORK (ANP) - De New Yorkse burgemeester Zohran Mamdani heeft fel uitgehaald naar de Israëlische premier Benjamin Netanyahu. Die nam eerder op donderdag tegenover de Algemene Vergadering van de VN in New York ruim de tijd om Mamdani's vermeende vergoelijking van geweld tegen Joden te bespreken.
Netanyahu verweet Mamdani onder meer dat Joden zich in New York sinds zijn aantreden als burgemeester niet meer veilig voelen, claims die hij slecht of niet onderbouwde.
Mamdani, die zelf niet aanwezig was, hekelde nadien het optreden van de Israëlische premier en zegt dat Netanyahu zo het Israëlische militaire optreden probeert te verhullen. "Geen leugen in de wereld kan het feit veranderen dat er tegen hem een internationaal arrestatiebevel is uitgevaardigd", aldus Mamdani, die eraan toevoegde dat Netanyahu "met ongegronde leugens zijn genocide tegen Palestijnen wil witwassen".
Tegen Netanyahu werd in 2024 door het Internationaal Strafhof een arrestatiebevel uitgevaardigd.
Our expert betting writers share their top picks for Qualifying at the Baku City Circuit.
The drivers and teams report back on all the action from Thursday practice in Baku ahead of the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Discovery of 30-million-year-old fossilised fruit changes evolutionary story.
The fruit has challenged what scientists previously believed about how and when Melastomataceae plants arrived in Australia.