This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through April 16) – Singularity Hub

COMPUTING

How Apples Monster M1 Ultra Chip Keeps Moores Law AliveWill Knight | WiredApples most powerfulchipto date has 114 billion transistors packed into over a hundred processing cores dedicated to logic, graphics, andartificial intelligence, all of it connected to 128 gigabytes of shared memory. But the M1 Ultra is in fact a Frankensteins monster, consisting of two identical M1 Max chips bolted together using a silicon interface that serves as a bridge. This clever design makes it seem as if the conjoined chips are in fact just one larger whole.

Behind Mark Zuckerbergs Big Plans for AR GlassesAlex Heath | The VergeZuckerberg calls AR goggles a holy grail device that will redefine our relationship with technology, akin to the introduction of smartphones. Employees are racing to deliver the first generation [of Facebooks AR goggles] by 2024 and are already working on a lighter, more advanced design for 2026, followed by a third version in 2028. The details, which together give the first comprehensive look at Metas AR hardware ambitions, were shared with The Verge by people familiar with the roadmap who werent authorized to speak publicly.

This Startup Wants to Get in Your Ears and Watch Your BrainSteven Levy | WiredFor years, people have been shifting from tracking their health through sporadic visits to a doctor or lab to regularlymonitoring their vitals themselves. The NextSense team is gambling that, with a gadget as familiar asan earbud, people will follow the same path with their brains. Then, with legions of folks wearing the buds for hours, days, and weeks on end, the companys scientists hope theyll amass an incredible data trove, in which theyll uncover the hidden patterns of mental health.

Russian Hackers Tried to Bring Down Ukraines Power Grid to Help the InvasionPatrick Howell ONeil | MIT Technology ReviewThe hackers attempted to destroy computers at a Ukrainian energy company using a wiper, malware specifically designed to destroy targeted systems by erasing key data and rendering them useless. The impact remains unclear. Ukrainian officials say they thwarted the attack, which they say was intended to support Russian military operations in eastern Ukraine. If successful, the hack would have caused the biggest cyber-induced blackout ever.

An mRNA Vaccine Boost May Help CAR T-Therapy Treat Solid CancersAngus Chen | StatWhile CAR T-therapy has cured some people with blood cancers, this form of immunotherapy has so far produced lackluster results for solid tumors like lung or kidney cancer. But a new early-phase clinical trial presented on Sunday at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference suggests that CAR T-cells may be able to shrink some solid tumorsas long as it gets a boost from an mRNA vaccine from BioNTech.

No Easy Feat: Daring Helicopter Rocket-Catch Attempt Set for Next WeekPassant Rabie | GizmodoRocket Lab will launch its Electron rocket from New Zealands Mhia Peninsula, carrying 34 small satellites from commercial operators like Alba Orbital, E-Space, and Unseenlabs. But on its way back, the rocket booster hopefully wont stick the landing, instead a helicopter will catch it mid-air with a customized Sikorsky S-92, a large twin engine craft normally used to transport oil and gas or for search and rescue operations,according to Rocket Lab.

Driverless Car Appears to Flee the Scene After Being Pulled Over by CopsJonathan M. Gitlin | Ars TechnicaSan Francisco police stopped one of Cruises autonomous Chevrolet Bolt EVs, likely because the cars headlights were not on despite it being night. In the video, first posted to Instagram on April 2, an officer can be heard saying, Theres nobody in it. But a few seconds later, after the officer walks back to his police car, the autonomous vehicleperhaps deciding that the traffic stop was overtries to drive away before pulling over to a stop a few hundred feet away.

Can Computers Learn Common Sense?Matthew Hutson | The New YorkerOren Etzioni, the CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, in Seattle, told me that common sense is the dark matter of AI. It shapes so much of what we do and what we need to do, and yet its ineffable, he added. If computer scientists could give their AI systems common sense, many thorny problems would be solved. Such systems would be able to function in the world because they possess the kind of knowledge we take for granted.

Aging Clocks Aim to Predict How Long Youll LiveJessica Hamzelou | MIT Technology ReviewThe big idea behind aging clocks is that theyll essentially indicate how much your organs have degraded, and thus predict how many healthy years you have left. Among the hundreds of aging clocks developed in the last decade, though, accuracy varies widely. And researchers are still grappling with a vital question: What does it mean to be biologically young?

North Korea Pulled Huge $600 Million Crypto Heist, Feds SayMonica J. White | Digital TrendsLazarus is a state-sponsored group of hackers, and this isnt the first time weve heard about their attacks. According to Chainalysis, the group stole at least $400 million worth of digital assets in 2021. However, this means that the 2022 Axie Infinity hack is a huge escalation, seeing as the group managed to steal over $600 million in one go.

MIT Engineers Built a Robot for Emergency Stroke SurgeriesM. Moon | EngadgetThe team, which has published its paper inScience Robotics, has nowpresented a robotic arm that doctors can control remotely using a modified joystick to treat stroke patients. That arm has a magnet attached to its wrist, and surgeons can adjust its orientation to guide a magnetic wire through the patients arteries and vessels in order to remove blood clots in their brain. Similar to in-person procedures, surgeons will have to rely on live imaging to get to the blood clot, except the machine will allow them to treat patients not physically in the room with them.

Image Credit: Apple

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This Week's Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through April 16) - Singularity Hub