Are we really nearing the AI singularity?gettyIn todays column, I examine two recent tweets that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted that have caused quite a heated stir. The upshot is that his posting suggests we might be at, near, or even passing through a momentous moment of AI advancement referred to as the AI singularity. The implication is that artificial general intelligence (AGI) or possibly artificial superintelligence (ASI) is essentially staring us directly in the face.Lets talk about it.This analysis of an innovative AI breakthrough is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage on the latest in AI including identifying and explaining various impactful AI complexities (see the link here).About The Nature Of IntelligenceBefore I get to the provocative tweets, Id like to set some foundational considerations.The place to begin is by thinking about intelligence. The deal is this: A compelling case can be made that intelligence begets intelligence. In other words, it is possible to produce even more intelligence by accumulating and interplaying intelligence with intelligence. That seems like a reasonable assertion and has an intuitive air about it.If you buy into that assumption, we can start to toss around various offshoot theorems.The most prominent offshoot is that there is a chance of being able to instigate a chain reaction of intelligence. Think of this as akin to a nuclear explosion. A nuclear atomic chain reaction ignites nuclear activity, and it then fuels itself to further expansion. Perhaps the same can be said of intelligence. There might be a phenomenon coined as an intelligence explosion. Intelligence might seemingly ignite to foster the expansion of more and more intelligence, running rapidly at an incredible pace.MORE FOR YOUYou might know that when nuclear reactions were first devised during World War II, there was some concern raised that once a nuclear reaction began it might proceed nearly indefinitely. The thought was that the earths atmosphere might get carried into the reaction and the next thing that happens is the entire planet is engulfed in flames and ruin. This famous moment of grave concern has been portrayed in many movies such as the blockbuster 2023 film Oppenheimer.Reflecting on that potentially destructive outcome gives rise to a similar question in the context of intelligence.What might happen if there is an unfettered intelligence explosion?The answer is that no one can say for sure what will happen. Abundant theories are floating here and there. Some take the upbeat viewpoint and declare that this would be the best thing ever. Others are downbeat and worry that utter obliteration could be afoot.The Impetus For An Intelligence ExplosionIt seems unlikely that any individual human is going to somehow have an intelligence explosion in their brain that miraculously produces immense intelligence far beyond anything weve ever seen. For those of you waiting on that possibility, sorry, it seems highly doubtful. Ive met doting parents who think their beloved prodigy is going to have that occur. Best of luck with that.Okay, where then would an intelligence explosion have a modicum of chance occurring?Aha, the answer for that is via a computer system that is running AI. Maybe an AI system that is operating on servers in the cloud would lean into an intelligence explosion. The AI would fuel itself and produce vast quantities of artificially produced intelligence.Lets go with that concept and see where it takes us.First, contemplate how this AI intelligence explosion is going to get underway. One possibility is that humans such as AI researchers and AI developers provide the spark for this to happen. There they are, playing around with the AI and tweaking it, when bam, an intelligence explosion gets launched. It is conceivable those humans at work intentionally did this, knowingly, while the other possibility is that it happens by accident. For further assessment on this, see my discussion at the link here.Second, it could be that the AI stirs itself to initiate an intelligence explosion.Maybe the AI has some embedded element that perchance spurs the rest of the AI to start multiplying in terms of increasingly accumulating computational-based intelligence. Since this seems like something we dont want AI to do on its own accord, various AI containment techniques exist (see my coverage at the link here), and numerous AI human-values alignment approaches are being adopted (see my analysis at the link here).Third, the eyebrow-raising question is how far the intelligence explosion would go. Is there no limit to how much AI-based intelligence there might be? Would the intelligence fill up whatever computer servers were accessible and stop expanding at that point? Or might the AI grab up other computer servers, as many as could be found, and keep expanding?Does the server constraint even matter, since perhaps intelligence isnt bound by the underlying computing and can keep going anyway?The AI Singularity Is On Our MindsBy and large, this speculated artificially focused intelligence explosion is referred to as the AI singularity.A prevailing hunch is that AI is going to reach a juncture where it will start to explode into more and more intelligence. Some theorize that the AI singularity will take place in the briefest of split seconds, happening so rapidly that no human can somehow watch it occur. Not everyone agrees with that supposition. Maybe it will take minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, etc. Conjecture abounds.Will humankind be able to do anything about the AI singularity?Thats also quite a sticking point.One viewpoint is that we ought to slow down AI development until we have figured out how to deal with AI singularity. Political proposals exist to ban certain types of AI in hopes that we wont unknowingly fall into the AI singularity, see my discussion at the link here.You can certainly imagine why the AI singularity sends chills up humankinds spine. We dont know what the outcome will be. Perhaps after the AI singularity, we will have AI that can cure cancer and save humanity from all sorts of maladies. A gloomy view is that such AI is an existential risk and will indubitably enslave us or wipe us out totally.The other hair-raising issue is that we arent sure if we can stop it. Would it happen so quickly that we are caught off-guard and cant pull the plug? Perhaps it happens at a measured pace, but we want to garner the hoped-for benefits such as aiding humanity, so we let it keep going. The downside is that the AI opts to trick us by playing dumb, the so-called AI dimwit ploy (see my description at the link here), and we let the AI singularity continue until AI does the mighty takeover.Which Era Are We In NowFor the sake of discussion, I shall divide the singularity into three main AI eras:(1) Pre-Singularity AI era. The AI singularity hasnt yet happened, and we are presumably possibly making our way towards it.(2) Underway-Singularity AI era. The AI singularity gets underway, we dont know how long it will last (instantaneous, seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months, years, etc.).(3) Post-Singularity AI era. At some point, the AI singularity is said to have been roughly completed, assuming it isnt never-ending, and we find ourselves in a post-singularity circumstance.Id like you to take a moment, provide yourself with a glass of fine wine to sip from, and vigilantly sit down for my next question to you.Which of those three AI singularity eras are we in right now?Go ahead, take a reflective moment then announce aloud which era we are in. Ill wait, thanks.Id bet that most people would say that the answer is we are in the first era, pre-singularity. It seems obvious and indisputable. There is no apparent evidence to indicate that we are in the midst of the second era, the underway-singularity, and furthermore, absolutely no evidence to support that we are in the finality or third era of the post-singularity.Some brazenly claim your eyes deceive you.Lets dive into that supposition next.The Simulation Theory Or HypothesisIt turns out that an assumed certainty of our being in the first era or pre-singularity is due to a rather mind-bending reason you see, it is because thats what youve been told to believe.Boom, drop the mic.It could be that we are all immersed in a simulation that is being run by AI. The AI singularity already has taken place. AI then established a massive simulation to house humankind. Within that simulation, the AI is making us all believe that the AI singularity hasnt yet taken place. Alternatively, maybe evildoer humans have done this in conjunction with AI. Lots of permutations and combinations come to mind.It is an incredible ruse of which you, me, and nearly everyone else have fallen for it.I am guessing that your mind is invoking thoughts of (spoiler alert!) the famous movie The Matrix. The gist of suggesting that we arent in the first era pre-singularity of AI and that we are instead in the second or third era is a popular sci-fi plotline. Been there, done that.Maybe its true.I hear you scoffing. Why would the AI allow us to make movies that reveal the truth? Doesnt seem to add up. The retort is that by making it a fictional account, AI hopes that humankind sets aside the overarching premise as absurd and merely a made-up tall tale. That way, if any humans start to figure out that the AI singularity has indeed occurred, those said humans will be ridiculed as overly imaginative and foolish following a sci-fi contrivance.It is a head-spinner.Sam Altman Tweets A StormSpeaking of spinning heads, we can now drop into the tweets of Sam Altman. You likely know that he is the CEO of OpenAI, the AI company that makes the widely and wildly popular ChatGPT. There are an estimated 300 million weekly active users of ChatGPT around the globe. It is a staggering statistic.All in all, Sam Altman has become a kind of informal spokesperson about the status of AI and the ongoing newest advances in AI. When he speaks or writes, his words are given weighty consideration. Since OpenAI operates on a secretive proprietary basis about their AI, it is difficult to know where things stand in terms of their AI advancements. Thus, reading of the tea leaves such as tweets by Sam Altman is a prevalent pastime.On January 4, 2025, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, posted these two separate tweets on X:Posted at 10:00 a.m.: I always wanted to write a six-word story. here it is: near the singularity; unclear which side.Posted at 10:08 a.m.: (its supposed to either be about 1. the simulation hypothesis or 2. the impossibility of knowing when the critical moment in the takeoff actually happens, but i like that it works in a lot of other ways too.)Carefully examine those tweets.What do you make of the remarks?One interpretation of those remarks is that we are near enough to AI singularity that it is no longer a vague far-off futuristic conception. We are presumably still in the first era, pre-singularity, but are now butting up to the second era. It is within our ready grasp. Maybe Sam Altman has seen things within OpenAIs AI latest tech that prompt him to genuinely believe that the AI singularity is right around the next corner (how near or far days, weeks, months, years?).This has generated much controversy since many others within the AI community do not see whatever he seems to be seeing. There is no agreed consensus that we are on the cusp of AI singularity. In that case, is there something going on at OpenAI that the rest of the world doesnt know about?If so, should Sam Altman and OpenAI be societally obligated to let everyone else see what appears to be the nearing of AI singularity? In essence, the AI singularity as noted earlier has such immense consequences that a company that is landing near it ought to be a responsible citizen of humankind and ensure that humanity can partake in anticipating and dealing with the AI singularity.For my coverage of numerous AI ethics and AI law considerations about outsized advances in AI, see the link here.Being Unclear Of What SideAn additional interpretation has to do with the comment in the first tweet that says the status is unclear as to which side we are currently on related to the AI singularity. Give that a mental chewing. Plus, combine that comment with the second tweet about the simulation hypothesis.Heres what might be deduced.It could be that we are past the first era and have already entered the AI singularity, maybe even zoomed into the post-singularity. Perhaps everything around us is part of an elaborate AI simulation. Thus, we are now on the other side. We arent on the pre-singularity side of things; we are beyond that stage.The bonus remark in the latter half of the second tweet that we presumably wont know when the critical moment happens seems to further cement the idea that the matter of whether we are near the AI singularity is up for grabs. Maybe we are, maybe we are not. We might have slid past it and dont know that we did.Reactions Are AplentyIt might seem surprising that those two rather brisk tweets caused a bit of a firestorm in the AI community. A keystone reason is that this topic overall has become quite serious business and daily there is handwringing concerning the existential risk of AI. Some were upset that the remarks were overly ambiguous and couched as a mystery or riddle. Come out and take a firm stand, some exhort. Say what you mean. Dont be so cryptic.Another expressed qualm was that someone of such top stature in the AI community ought to be less casual about hand-waving when it comes to the AI singularity. Further, putting aside the idea that we dont necessarily know what side of the singularity we are on, at least be more specific about how it is that we are nearing the AI singularity. Provide tangible direct evidence so that others can double-check it to gauge the veracity of the claim being made.Well, there you have it, two tweets at the beginning of the new year and already lots of provocative AI considerations underway. Lets give the revered Albert Einstein the last word on this for now: Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.Yes, indeed, keep learning, living, and questioning as AI advances since we all have a mighty big stake in what the outcome will be.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Table of ContentsTable of ContentsComputingAudio/VideoMobileGamingCarsSmart homeLas Vegas is overrun. Every billboard in town is shouting about AI, hotel bar tops now sport a sea of laptops, and after hours The Strip is elbow to elbow with engineers toting yard-long beers.That means CES, the years biggest tech bacchanalia, has come to town, and Digital Trends editors have spent the last four days frolicking among next years crop of incredible TVs, computers, tablets, and EVs. Were in heaven.With 4,500 exhibitors, theres no way for any one person to see it all, but our team of editors has done its best to explore every backwater and annex of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Were confident weve dug up the best of the best for our Best of CES 2025 awards. From monitors to smart gardens, desktop speakers to a really killer Steam Deck competitor, theres something for everyone to get excited about here. Lenovo Yoga Slim 9iWacky things have been done in the name of reducing bezels over the years. Ugly notches. Nosecams. Hidden or detachable cameras. Perhaps the worst solution is removing the webcam entirely. The latest version of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i, though, attempts an audacious technological leap to create an invisible webcam that can completely disappear from sight.RelatedThe solution is an incredible feat. When the camera is engaged, the OLED display turns off a small circle of pixels to allow the 32-megapixel camera located behind the screen to shoot through the panel and generate an image on the other side. Toss in a sprinkle of AI, and you have a half-decent camera feed for video calls. Is it a bit over-engineered? Maybe. But when youre not bothering with your camera and you get to enjoy a bountiful sea of screen unencumbered by bezels and webcams, I dont think youll mind. Luke LarsenAsus PG27AQNR Pulsar gaming monitorIn the era of refresh rates above 500Hz, youd think that the motion clarity issue for competitive gamers have been solved, but Asus PG27AQNR proves otherwise. Its 360Hz and 1440p, but thats not whats special about it. The monitor is among the first to debut Nvidias G-Sync Pulsar tech.Its a big deal if youre into competitive games. Essentially, Pulsar enables dynamic backlight strobing in a display, blanking out the image between refreshes based on whats actually happening in your game. The result? You see a static image on each refresh, locking the target that youre tracking into place for motion clarity that even the best OLED gaming monitors cant match.Although Pulsar isnt angled toward every PC gamer, its a massive step forward for competitive gamers, and Asus is putting that on full display with the PG27AQNR. Jacob RoachSamsung Odyssey 3DYou have every right in the world to be skeptical of a 3D gaming monitor. I know I was. But Im telling you as someone whos tried out multiple generations of this technology over the years, the Samsung Odyssey 3D gaming monitor finally nails it.The demo of The First Berserker I played feels like a huge advancement over the prototype technology we saw last year. Having your head in the sweet spot is no longer a factor, getting the full 3D effect in a much wider range of viewing angles and distances. Yes, theres still a lot of work to be done to bring developers on board in time for release, or perhaps develop a 2D-to-3D conversion that actually works in games.But the technology itself? Its ready for showtime. Once gamers get a chance to see it for themselves, I have a feeling they wont want to go back to the boring world of two dimensions. Luke LarsenAsus Zenbook A14A can of soup. A small pineapple. A pair of heavy socks. Google says those are a few household items that weigh about as much as the Asus Zenbook A14. At just 2.18 pounds, its the lightest laptop in recent memory at least for a device that doesnt completely sacrifice a major feature along the way. After all, when it comes to laptops, no one wants to sacrifice features, durability, ports, or functionality for lightness. The Zenbook A14 proves you can have the best of both worlds. When I picked this laptop up for the first time, I couldnt believe how light it felt in my hand.The entire laptop is made from Asus high-tech ceramic material otherwise known as Ceraluminum which provides its unique texture and its incredible lightness. All that, as is common with Asus, starts at under $1,000. Thats a winning combination, and it just might make for the ultimate laptop to travel with. Luke LarsenHisense 116UX TriChroma LED TVThe Hisense 116UX does mini-LED in a new way. Instead of blue or white LED backlights shining through a color filter, the TriChroma LED TV uses tens of thousands of RGB Local Dimming optical lenses that each contain individual red, green, and blue LEDs. The lenses are then controlled in clusters, with dimming done at both the cluster and lens levels.The individual RGB LEDs without a color filter allow the 116UX to achieve, according to Hisense, 97% of the BT.2020 color space. The RGB clusters are also more efficient, reducing power consumption.Were continuing to learn the intricacies about how the technology works, but its an obvious dynamic change to LED TV technology. John HigginsPanasonic Z95B OLED TVIt was great to see Panasonic return to the U.S. market in 2024, and CES 2025 has shown that its back in earnest. While it has three new TVs for 2025, the flagship Z95B OLED caught our eye the most thanks to its incredible boost in brightness over last years Z95A.Panasonic revealed that its using Primary RGB Tandem Panel technology a new four-layer panel structure consisting of red, green, and blue (actually two blue) layers that allows for a better separation and purity of color and higher brightness, all without MLA (Micro Lens Array) technology. In addition, Panasonic engineers designed the ThermalFlow cooling system, inspired by aerodynamic race car design, to improve heat dissipation.Its a step forward in OLED panel design that weve been speculating about, and Panasonic has delivered it and shown us what its all about. John HigginsTCL QM7K Mini-LED TVTheres a lot of amazing TV tech at CES 2025, and the TCL QM7K definitely has its share. TCL has developed multiple improvements in its backlight technology, and the 2025 series of QM televisions (the QM7K included) are a part of the Precise Dimming Series. With a new chip, lens structure, decrease in the optical distance from the backlight to the diffuser plate and some processing improvements to virtually eliminate lag from input signal to backlight response, all aspects of the backlight performance on the QM7K looks to be improved over last years QM7.Best of all, though, is that, unlike some of the other flashy TV tech on display, the QM7K will be a TV that fits within most peoples budgets. Even with all of the improvements, the QM7K is expected to be comparable in price to last years model (which started at $1,100) and we should see it sometime around midyear. John HigginsTechnics EAH-AZ100If we were to give this award a sub-category, it might be most improved wireless earbuds. Thats because the Technics EAH-AZ100 are packed with improvements over their predecessors, the EAH-AZ80. Smaller, lighter, better ANC, better call quality, and way better battery life all are strong reasons to recognize these new buds. Theyve even got spatial audio with head tracking and Auracast compatibility via Bluetooth LE Audio two features the AZ80 lacked. But the kicker is their sound.For the AZ100, Technics adapted its innovative Magnetic Fluid driver technology from its $1,100 wired IEMs, which gives the AZ100 ultra-low distortion and excellent sound quality.Taken together, these changes make the Technics EAH-AZ100 the best wireless earbuds of CES 2025. Simon CohenOnkyo GX-30ARCOn the surface, Onkyos $299 powered desktop GX-30ARC speakers look like, well, speakers. But this is a case of good things coming in small packages. Onkyos decades of amplification heritage shines through in these speakers theyre bi-amped, which means each driver gets a discrete source of power and we suspect thats a big reason for their powerful sound, which impresses with both its clarity and low-end authority.Theyre also loaded with input options, including USB-C, Bluetooth (with LE Audio and Auracast), optical, stereo RCA (with selectable line-in and phono settings), and an HDMI-ARC port, which gives the GX-30ARC part of its name.Add to this package a magnetically attached grille, your choice of two colors, an included set of angled woodgrain stands, and a remote, and youve got a compelling set of powered speakers whether youre a creator or just an avid listener. Simon CohenBelkin Stage PowerGripBelkin is always a strong force at CES, but at CES 2025, it announced one of its most unique iPhone accessories to date: the Stage PowerGrip. What exactly is the Stage PowerGrip? Well, its a lot of things.Imagine a 10,000mAh battery pack that attaches to your iPhone via MagSafe. And it has an integrated USB-C cable to charge other devices. And it acts as a stand to prop up your phone on a table. And it has a camera grip. And it has a camera shutter button. And it comes in some really lovely colors. Thats the Belkin Stage PowerGrip.Its really exciting to see this level of creativity from Belkin, and I hope we see even more of it in the years to come. Joe MaringLenovo Legion Tab Gen 3The Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 isnt an Android tablet I expected to see again in 2025. Virtually every manufacturer seemed to have given up on compact Android tablets with flagship-level specs, but thats precisely what you get with the new Legion Tab.The iPad mini monopolizes the compact tablet market. Googles Nexus 7 tablets used to be excellent alternatives, but we havent had a new model since 2013 and it didnt seem like anyone had any interest in throwing their hat in the tiny-tablet ring.But Lenovo has, and the Legion Tab Gen 3 looks like a legitimately great revitalization of the niche. Joe MaringAmazfit Active 2Smartwatches are everywhere in 2025. As such, standing out in the crowd is a big ask. But I think the Amazfit Active 2 has what it takes to do that.Take one look at the Active 2s spec sheet or feature list, and its got just about everything you could ask for including activity and sleep tracking, blood oxygen monitoring, automatic workout detection, and more. Whats impressive is you get all of that with up to 10 days of battery life, a high-quality AMOLED display, and a compact body. Whats even more impressive is that the watch starts at just $100.The value proposition here is one of the best Ive seen in a while, and my early impressions of the Amazfit Active 2 are really promising. It feels unreal that a smartwatch of this quality exists at this price, but somehow, Amazfit pulled it off. Joe MaringAnker 165W Power BankOnce youve seen one power bank, youve seen them all right? Thats what I thought until Anker announced its new 165W Power Bank. Unlike most power banks, which give you about a 10,000mAh battery capacity and call it a day, Ankers latest one crams in a massive 25,000mAh capacity, plus a few additional features that are equally ridiculous and practical.One of those features is integrated USB-C cables. The Anker Power Bank has two of them, meaning if youre traveling with two devices, you can just bring the 165W Power Bank with you and not have to fuss with bringing cables.Is the Anker 165W Power Bank overkill? Maybe. But does it also have the makings of one of the most complete power banks weve ever seen? Absolutely. Joe MaringLenovo Legion Go SOn its surface, the Lenovo Legion Go S may look like yet another Steam Deck imitation thats looking to re-create Valves success. It is that to some degree, but its a crucial development in the current handheld PC arms race. Rather than trying to outplay Valve by loading its Legion Go variant with extra bells and whistles, Lenovo finally understands that the best way to beat the competition is to join it.And thus, we have our first portable PC not made by Valve to use SteamOS, the streamlined operating system thats helped the Steam Deck maintain its dominance against experimental Windows-based rivals. With the Legion Go S, we finally have a viable alternative to the Steam Deck that still functions like an easy-to-use handheld. Not only that but its a powerful handheld thats both more comfortable and less expensive than its predecessor. All of that creates a perfect recipe for success. Giovanni ColantonioMSI Forge GK600 TKL WirelessHow many more ways can you innovate a gaming keyboard in 2025? MSIs Forge GK600 TKL Wireless proves that theres still plenty of room to perfect something thats been done to death. This is a mechanical keyboard with a hot-swappable printed circuit board that comes with some solid KTT HiFi linear switches. It comes loaded with impressive features, from its dual connectivity to its 4,000mAh battery.That might all sound a little par for the course, but whats especially impressive is the price tag. All of this only costs $80, which is unheard of for a gaming keyboard as feature rich as this. While theres a premium trade-off or two to accomplish that, like an all-plastic design, the GK600 TKL puts fierce rivals like ROG Azoth (a former Digital Trends Best of CES pick) to shame. Expect it to become the mechanical gaming keyboard to own. Giovanni ColantonioHonda 0 Series SaloonWed be tempted to give this futuristic EV a nod on its Blade Runner looks alone, but Honda packed it with so much tech that we dont have to. Thanks to an army of sensors and some heavy-duty silicon from Renesas, the Saloon should be capable of level three autonomy when it launches in 2026 thats the true eyes off driving experience Tesla still cant deliver.Unlike a lot of the questionable AI uses weve seen at CES 2025, the Saloon will employ it to learn from human drivers and process changing environments on the fly, hence the need for all that computing power. Honda has even resurrected its beloved Asimo robot as the namesake for the Saloons Alexa-style Asimo OS. Just forgive the cringey marketing. It comforts me when Im sad, says a doe-eyed driver, with Saloon I can always be myself. Stick to the chauffeuring, Asimo. Nick MokeyBMW Panoramic iDriveFor years, weve watched center console screens grow bigger and bigger, but with the Panoramic iDrive system, BMW moves away from bragging rights on screen size and focuses on practicality. The strip of screen nestled at the base of the windshield puts vital information like speed, directions, and charge state right in the drivers eyeline, and it can even be augmented with an optional 3D heads-up display.Haptic buttons on the steering wheel control everything, or you can speak commands that are processed via large language model (LLM). After seeing so much tech for techs sake shoveled into cars, we love how Panoramic iDrive seems squarely focused on drivers, and lets drivers focus on the road. Nick MokeyRoborock Saros Z70Robot vacuums have been around for a long time, and I thought Id seen basically all they had to offer. The Roborock Saros Z70 proved me wrong. This powerful robot vacuum is more than just a way to clean and mop your floors; it has a built-in, extendable arm that is able to pick up socks, small towels, and even lightweight sandals. Its one step closer to Rosie from The Jetsons.Imagine: a robot vacuum that can clear obstacles from its own path. Combined with an intelligent navigation system, the Saros Z70 (and the other entries in the Saros line) is the kind of innovation the robot vacuum industry has so sorely needed.Roborock wasnt firm with price or a release date, so the cost could be a bit hard to swallow but it might just be worth it, if the arm works like I think it will. Patrick HearnPlantaform Smart GardenSmart gardens have always felt like they came straight from science fiction, but the Plantaform takes it to a new level (especially because it uses NASA tech). This pod fully encloses the plant and helps it grow through fogponics, dispensing a fine mist throughout the interior that doesnt overwhelm the crop and allows the roots to more easily access water.The enclosure is one of my favorite aspects of this smart garden. Almost all smart gardens use artificial UV light to accelerate plant growth, but its incredibly bright. The tinted windows of the Plantaform pod block the majority of that light, making it much more plausible to keep indoors. Other units, like the Gardyn, are bright enough to light entire rooms on their own.The Plantaform doesnt use soil and is fully self-sufficient; once you put the plant in, your only job is to sit back and wait to harvest the crop. At $500, its a bit expensive, but competitively priced for the market. Patrick HearnPetkit Purobot Ultra Automatic Litter BoxA litter box might not seem that flashy, but as the owner of three cats, I appreciate anything that does the cleanup for me. The Purobot Ultra is particularly impressive not only for its cleaning capability but for the 180-degree tracking camera on the front. It can recognize each animal individually and takes a picture of the deposit before it sifts it.A little gross? Sure but cats are notorious for hiding health conditions, and this litter box makes it much easier to track your pets bathroom habits. It also has numerous safety sensors that keep your four-legged friend safe. The Purobot Ultra can connect to other Petkit products, like a water fountain and an automatic feeder, to give you a high-level overview of your cats behavior.This gadget is a little niche, but any cat owner will instantly see the utility of only emptying the box once every 20 days. Patrick HearnEditors Recommendations

Bridgewater Associates cut 7% of staff, or about 90 people.The hedge fund, which manages $172 billion, is known for its radical transparency and high turnover.The company last laid off people in 2023 to cut costs and free up resourcesBridgewater Associates cut 7% of its staff on Monday in an effort to stay lean, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider.The layoffs bring headcount back to where it was in 2023 for the world's largest hedge fund, the person said. It's unclear which divisions were impacted by the cuts.Bloomberg first reported the layoffs, including that 90 people were affected. Four of the firm's funds posted double-digit returns last year, Bloomberg said.The Connecticut-based company last laid off people in 2023 to cut costs and free up resources.Last year, Bridgewater's high-profile hires included macro traders Jerome Saragoussi and Ben Melkman, and Ziad Hindo, a veteran investor with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. The company is still hiring the firm lists three open jobs for its Shanghai office.Ray Dalio founded the firm in 1975 and relinquished his voting rights in 2022. Nir Bar Dea, who started as a management associate in 2015, is now CEO.The hedge fund had about $172 billion under management as of November, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.Bridgewater is known for its culture of radical transparency and pushing employees.Dalio instituted a real-time rating system in which employees used iPads to score each other. One former intern told BI last year that she loved the process.Dalio said in a 2019 interview that about 30% of new employees leave the firm within 18 months.

The deadly Azerbaijani plane crash on Christmas Day is souring Russia's attempt to keep Baku close.Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly said Russia shot down the plane, and is demanding answers.Putin apologized, but Aliyev is still pressuring Russia and says it must take responsibility.Azerbaijan's president has repeatedly accused Russia of covering up the cause of a plane crash that killed 38 passengers on Christmas Day, publicly criticizing Moscow again on Monday."The initial investigation and its results have been reported to me, but I can say with full certainty that the blame for the deaths of Azerbaijani citizens in this disaster lies with representatives of the Russian Federation," Ilham Aliyev said in remarks to state news agency Azertac."And we demand justice, we demand punishment of the guilty, we demand full transparency and human behavior," said Aliyev, who spoke just after meeting families of the crash victims.His comments mark a sudden and rapidly deepening point of tension between Azerbaijan and Russia as the latter has tried to maintain ties since the outbreak of full war in Ukraine. While Baku and Moscow are not close allies in the traditional sense, Russia supplies arms to Azerbaijan and has sought to be the main mediator for its bitter conflict with Armenia.Russian leader Vladimir Putin visited Aliyev in August for two days, and the pair were photographed chatting in their work shirts on sofas in Aliyev's home, alongside the First Lady of Azerbaijan.The tone in their relations has shifted dramatically since the crash.Aliyev has repeatedly said that preliminary investigations showed the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was shot down by Russian air defense systems, saying it was "riddled with holes" and affected by electronic warfare. The plane was flying to the Chechen city of Grozny and made its emergency landing in Kazakhstan."If timely measures had been taken to close the Russian airspace near the city of Grozny, if all the rules of ground services had been observed, as well as proper coordination between the armed forces of the Russian Federation and civilian services, this tragedy would not have happened," Aliyev said on Monday.Notably, Aliyev chose to speak in Russian instead of Azerbaijani, which he said was to honor the flight's two deceased pilots, who spoke Russian.The Azerbaijani president said that Baku wasn't alleging Russia shot down the plane intentionally but accused Russian officials of not investigating the crash properly."The cover-up of this incident by Russian state agencies and the focus on absurd theories causes surprise, regret, and rightful indignation," he said.Russia's federal transport agency had initially said the Azerbaijani Airlines flight was struck by birds, then blamed Ukrainian drones and fog for forcing the plane out of Grozny airspace.The US, on the other hand, has said that it had seen "early indications" that the Azerbaijani Airlines flight was possibly "brought down by Russian air defense systems."Meanwhile, Putin's press office issued an apology on December 28 without taking responsibility for the crash."Vladimir Putin offered his apologies that the tragic incident had occurred in Russia's airspace and once again conveyed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the plane crash victims and wished those injured the quickest recovery," its statement said.But Aliyev is refusing to lighten the pressure on Russia, saying that Putin's apology was "not enough" and that Moscow "must acknowledge its guilt" and punish those responsible.He added on Monday that investigators were uncovering inconsistencies in Russia's airspace regulations that he said pointed to "serious criminal issues here."The now-widening rift between Moscow and Baku comes as Azerbaijan has sought to reduce Russian influence on regional matters, especially when dealing with its archrival, Armenia.For example, Russia had stationed peacekeepers in the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh until September 2023, when Azerbaijan seized the area and flushed out Moscow's forces. Some pro-Kremlin commentators in Russia have also said that Azerbaijani volunteers are appearing among Ukraine's ranks.But Russia has responded relatively tamely, as it seeks more ex-Soviet allies to deal with its increasing isolation from Western sanctions and the war in Ukraine."I would like to note from the start that our relationship is developing in a positive way," Putin said in October when hosting Aliyev in Moscow, referencing Russian investments in the Azerbaijani economy.Per Azertac, Aliyev responded and said that "the dynamics of our bilateral relations have been quite noticeable."

Mark Zuckerberg wore a Greubel Forsey "Hand Made 1" in a Facebook video he posted on Tuesday.The Meta CEO was announcing the end of the company's fact-checking partnerships in the US.Zuckerberg has also worn watches from other Swiss brands like De Bethune and Patek Philippe.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sported a new luxury timepiece while announcing the end of his company's fact-checking partnerships in the US on Tuesday.Zuckerberg's watch, a Greubel Forsey "Hand Made 1," costs over $900,000 and is assembled entirely by hand. Greubel Forsey said on its website that it only makes two to three models of the "Hand Made 1" every year."Hey, everyone. I want to talk about something important today because it's time to get back to our roots around free expression on Facebook and Instagram," Zuckerberg said while wearing the "Hand Made 1" on his left wrist, per a video he posted on Facebook.When asked about the video, Greubel Forsey CEO Michel Nydegger told Bloomberg that Zuckerberg's choice of timepiece showed a "true appreciation for the most traditional approach to fine watchmaking today."According to Greubel Forsey's website, the "Hand Made 1" has 281 parts, most of which are made in-house by the watchmaker.Meta and Greubel Forsey did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.This isn't the first time Zuckerberg has publicly demonstrated his interest in luxury timepieces.In September, Zuckerberg wore a rose gold De Bethune DB 25 Starry Varius during an interview with the business podcast, "Acquired." The watch costs about $90,000, per listings by watch retailers The 1916 Company and The Hour Glass.Zuckerberg was also seen wearing the Patek Philippe Grand Complications In-Line Perpetual Calendar 5236P-001 when he posted a selfie of himself with his wife, Priscilla Chan. The watch costs $141,400, according to Patek Philippe's website.Zuckerberg has expressed some interest in timepieces to other business leaders. At Anant Ambani's pre-wedding party in March, he showed his admiration for Ambani's Richard Mille watch."You know, I never really wanted to get a watch. But after seeing that, I was like, watches are cool," Zuckerberg told Ambani, per a video circulated on social media.Joseph Rosenfeld, an image consultant based in New York, told BI in September that Zuckerberg's "love for premium watches and subtle luxury" suggests a shift in the Meta CEO's style and identity."He's stepping into a role where his appearance reflects his position as a tech innovator," Rosenfeld said.Zuckerberg's penchant for expensive watches appears to be one facet of a wider image transformation.For one, the Meta chief has ditched his gray t-shirts and hoodies, opting for shearling brown jackets and gold chains instead.But watches aside, what Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday will have far-reaching ramifications on Meta's approach toward content moderation.Meta said it is replacing its fact-checking partners with a crowdsourced moderation tool like the community notes used by X, formerly Twitter."We've seen this approach work on X where they empower their community to decide when posts are potentially misleading and need more context, and people across a diverse range of perspectives decide what sort of context is helpful for other users to see," Meta's chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan wrote in a blog post."We think this could be a better way of achieving our original intention of providing people with information about what they're seeing and one that's less prone to bias," Kaplan added.

Hibi Hitoawa Brewery / Hidenori Tsuboi ArchitectsSave this picture! Daisuke ShimaBreweryOsaka, JapanArchitects: Hidenori Tsuboi ArchitectsAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:260 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Daisuke ShimaMore SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. Beneath the elevated tracks of JR Fukushima Station in Osaka lies "Hibi-Hitoawa Brewery". The surrounding area is filled with numerous eateries, and the underpass, named Fukumaru Street 57, comes alive with the outdoor seating set up by these establishments. As part of their new business venture, the JR West Group launched a craft beer business in 2022, planning the opening of a brewery with an adjoining taproom.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Driven by the client's desire to create products and opportunities that offer a sense of escapism through craft beer, the brewery aims to contribute to the vibrancy of the town and foster coexistence with the local community. The wide faade that faces the street, is designed to embody the brewery's approach to the town. It plans to establish a counter directly facing the street, boldly opening up to the community.Save this picture!Save this picture!In light of the various conditions and constraints of construction, including the fact that it is under an overpass, efforts were made to organize and arrange the design and layout with minimal intervention. The design elements include the colorful designs depicted on the craft beer cans and bottles, which are considered part of the composition. Accordingly, subtle touches of color are added to various parts of the interior to complement these designs.Save this picture!Save this picture!In the layout, spaces, and gaps were intentionally left to create an open and inviting atmosphere, encouraging patrons to enjoy themselves freely and lively, much like an Irish pub, rather than just sitting quietly to drink beer. The wide-open faade allows the bustle of the interior to spill out into the street, while also welcoming the vibrancy of the street into the brewery, seamlessly connecting it with the community. This design aims to make the brewery a pioneering presence on the new Fukumaru Street.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Osaka, JapanLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officePublished on January 08, 2025Cite: "Hibi Hitoawa Brewery / Hidenori Tsuboi Architects" 08 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025396/hibi-hitoawa-brewery-hidenori-tsuboi-architects&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Project Files: https://www.patreon.com/posts/119542584 .In this episodes of the top down shooter series, I am going to show you how to implement orthographic projection for the camera. I will explain the difference and why we need orthographic/isometric projection for a top down game and how to change camera component parameters through code to have orthographic projection for the top down shooter. CodeLikeMe Top Down shooter series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNTm9yU0zou4pEFizUOVzcM5roBFYa1oN CodeLikeMe Third-Person shooter series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNTm9yU0zou4HL7SAyIQoCqJRJ5QeQAl8 // ! https://www.patreon.com/codelikeme Patrons will have access to project files of all the stuff I do in the channel and other extra benefitsJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClb6Jh9EBV7a_Nm52Ipll_Q/join Like my facebook page for more content : https://www.facebook.com/gamedevelopersclub/ Follow me on twitter : https://twitter.com/CodeLikeMe2 Follow me on reddit : https://www.reddit.com/user/codelikeme #CodeLikeMe #unrealengine #ue5 #indiegamedev

Nature, Published online: 08 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-04195-3Forecasts of viral variation could improve vaccine and antiviral treatments ahead of time.