The 2016 Siberian Anthrax outbreak wasnt just a freak accidentit was a warning shot. Thawing ... [+] permafrost had awakened something dangerous, and this was just a glimpse of what might be lurking in the ice.gettyBeneath the Arctic tundra lies a biological time capsule of Earths past, undisturbed for thousandssometimes millionsof years. It covers about 15% of the Northern Hemisphere, preserving more than just ice.Locked inside are ancient organic matter, potent greenhouse gases and something far more unsettling: long-dormant microbes, including bacteria and viruses that modern life has never encountered.Atop this frozen vault sits the active layer, a thin crust of soil that thaws and refreezes each year, supporting Arctic ecosystems. But as the planet warms, this fragile balance is breaking. Permafroststable for millenniais now thawing at an accelerating pace, breaking open microbial vaults from a prehistoric world.What Is Permafrost, And Why Is It Critical To The Arctic Ecosystem?At its core, permafrost is soil, rock or sediment that has remained frozen for at least two consecutive years. But in the Arctic, its far more than just frozen groundits a keystone of the entire ecosystem.Permafrost acts as natures foundation in the Arctic, providing structural stability for landscapes that would otherwise collapse. Many Arctic plants and animals have adapted to rely on permafrosts consistency, from forests that root into its surface layer to migratory species that depend on the tundras seasonal cycles. When permafrost remains frozen, the ecosystem above it functions as expected. But when it thaws unpredictably, the results are catastrophic.Melting permafrost causes ground collapse, reshapes waterways and triggers landslides, altering habitats for animals like caribou, musk oxen and Arctic foxes. Entire forests can sink, rivers can reroute overnight and wetlands can drain completely, destroying food sources for wildlife. This instability has a ripple effect, disrupting migration patterns and threatening species that have thrived in these landscapes for millennia.Here's what actual, actively thawing permafrost looks like. Thawing permafrost can destabilize the ... [+] ground, causing landslides, sinkholes and infrastructure collapse. This shot was taken at Svalbard Island, Norway.gettyBut permafrosts influence goes beyond just Arctic wildlifeit plays a critical role in the global climate system. It traps an immense amount of carbontwice as much as whats in the atmosphere today. When permafrost thaws, that carbon is released as CO and methane, amplifying global warming in a dangerous feedback loop.Simply put, permafrost isnt just part of the Arctic ecosystemits the backbone holding it together. And as it deteriorates, the consequences wont be confined to the Arctic alone.Beyond the carbon and ecological collapse, however, theres another threat buried deep in the iceone that we understand far less, yet may be even more dangerous.The Most Unsettling Threat Lurking In Permafrost Is Far More MicroscopicAnd Potentially DeadlyIn the summer of 2016, an unexpected anthrax outbreak struck the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia, leading to the hospitalization of several people and the death of a 12-year-old boy. The outbreak also decimated local reindeer populations, with over 2,300 animals succumbing to the disease. This health crisis was traced back to a heatwave, intensified by unrelenting global warming, that caused permafrost to thaw more extensively than usual. The thawing unearthed the carcass of a reindeer that had died from anthrax decades earlier, releasing dormant Bacillus anthracis spores back into the environment.However, the 2016 anthrax outbreak was a preview of whats possiblebut not the worst-case scenario. Anthrax is a contemporary pathogen, meaning it was already known to scientists and had been present in the region. The last recorded outbreak in the area happened just 75 years prior, meaning the bacteria had only been frozen for a relatively short period before resurfacing.But what about pathogens that have been trapped for millions of years? Unlike anthrax, which modern medicine can treat, there may be ancient diseases locked in permafrost that the animal kingdom has not encountered in recent times. Some could be remnants of past pandemics, while others might belong to entirely extinct ecosystems, making their behavior unpredictable in todays world.Scientists have already revived 30,000-year-old viruses from permafrost in Siberiaones that were still infectious, though only to amoebas. While no human-affecting viruses have been revived yet, the fact that ancient microbes can persist in a viable state raises a disturbing possibility: what else is hidden in the deep freeze, waiting to wake up?Where Do We Go From Here?The Arctic is currently warming at an unprecedented rate, and the consequences of permafrost thawing are already unfolding in real-time. Unlike the release of greenhouse gases, which follows well-understood climate models, the resurgence of ancient microbes presents a Pandoras box of unknowns.Permafrost holds mostly uncharacterized microorganisms and viruses, many of which could still be viable. The truth is, we dont yet know whether these microbes pose a real threat to human, animal or plant healthor if they will simply fade into the environment unnoticed.Scientific efforts are already underway to unravel these mysteries before they become crises. Companies like Colossal Biosciences, known for its work in de-extinction, are also pioneering the study of ancient genetic material, providing a crucial opportunity to analyze permafrost-trapped microbes before they reawaken. Advances in synthetic biology, metagenomics and pathogen surveillance may offer a way to assessand potentially counteractany microbial threats emerging from the Arctics melting vault.As the Arctic transforms, we arent just watching a landscape disappearwere unlocking a prehistoric world we barely understand. The difference between a global health crisis and scientific preparedness may depend on what we do next.Take the 10-question Climate Change Worry Scale now to see how your concerns compare to global trendsand discover what actions align with your climate mindset.

Gmail warningits time to act now.NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThis is the year AI attacks come of age. So we were warned before 2025 began, and so it has turned out. While these include targeted attacks on individuals, which even include fraudulent support calls, nothing should be more frightening than a new video proving GenAI platforms can be prompted to carry out attacks on their own. Were still early days on this, but when it evolves it will scale beyond anything weve seen before.A quiet announcement from Microsoft has just neatly framed the problem. To ensure you never lose access to your Microsoft account, it said, we will prompt you to add a secondary email or recovery phone number to your account. This is in addition to your Microsoft email, and for the majority of users that will mean Gmail. If you lose access to your Gmail account, per new AI threats, then you can add this to the risks.Email is a woefully archaic platform and the idea we still need recovery emails in 2025 that can be used to reset passwords is slightly ludicrous. While Googles decision to replace SMS for 2FA with QR codes made headlines, the reality is that users need to move to passkeys as soon as they can.Passkeys are not perfect with multiple teething issues still to be worked out, but they are the best we have today. Passkeys combine your own hardware with your own biometrics, which is the closest you can get to a dedicated security key without having to carry one around. And with passkeys in place, you can delete basic passwords and 2FA, as you dont want any form of compromisable account access to remain in place.Adding that secondary email, Microsoft says, will help you recover your Microsoft account if you ever forget your password or get locked out for any reason. The problem is that attacks compromise one account and that leads to others. And email remains unfortunately at the center of this archaic web.As I warned last month, with new attacks bypassing 2FA codes and exploiting literally billions of compromised passwords, its time to stop using passwords and basic 2FA and switch to passkeys instead. The AI attacks warnings weve seen since suggest you should not wait and should do this right away. The landscape is changing quickly.Were on the right track. The FIDO Alliance which is behind the passkey drive reports that across enterprises, two thirds (68%) of all respondents said the deployment of passkeys is a high or critical priority in their organization.Ironically, Microsoft also says it wants to push passkeys across its billion-plus users and have passwords deleted as a result. Thats the change we need, and we need to see the same clarity from Google, Apple, Meta and the rest.But dont wait for Googles Gmail 2FA upgrade to arrive. Ensure you set up a passkey now, and then with a password still in place as a backup, pick the most complex form of 2FA available to you an authenticator app is fine, and certainly not SMS. Google says with Passkeys set, it will put more focus into safeguarding accounts against password access. It also starts with you changing your account. Do that now.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Table of ContentsTable of ContentsQuantum dot confusionMonitor or TV screen?No Dolby Vision, no problem?Boosting OLED brightnessOn todays You Asked: Clearing up confusion about quantum dots and what they do, and why PC monitors arent as good as TVs.Samsung QN900C QLED 8K SamsungFarid writes: With quantum dots TVs (LCD-based or OLED) and their higher colour volume compared to non-quantum dots TV, are you meant to see those extra colors that the creators want you to see? How much content that is mastered in those extreme colors am I missing if I dont have a QD-OLED or QD-Mini LED TV? Im planning to upgrade from my 2020 WOLED TV.First, a clarification: Only some OLED TVs use quantum dots, and they use them in a very different way than LCD TVs.RelatedLCD TVs currently use quantum dots because the LED or mini-LED backlights used in LCD TVs struggle to put out pure white light. Without pure white light, its hard for the color filter in an LCD TV to carve out a wide color gamut. Quantum dots take the pure blue that LEDs are good at producing and use that blue light energy to glow red and green. Combine the blue LED with the red and green glowing quantum dots, and you now have a very pure white light that an LCD panels color filter can carve into millions of colors.There is a quantum dot OLED TV. In this case, the red and green quantum dots act at the pixel level, along with the glowing blue OLED. Here theres no color filter the blue, red, and green use additive color mixing and theres no subtractive, as in LCD, to achieve a wide gamut of colors. However, its important to note that WRGB OLEDs can also cover a very wide color gamut and dont need quantum dots to do it. That being the case, your 2020 OLED TV is a wide color gamut TV. You arent missing anything.Lots of content has color that exists beyond the capability of LCD TVs that dont have quantum dots. Anything that is in HDR and there is a lot of that content now has color that goes beyond what a non-quantum dot TV can produce.For the best and most enjoyable picture quality, yes, you want a quantum dot or QD LCD TV or an OLED TV. That doesnt mean LCD TVs without quantum dots are bad, they just arent as good at producing enhanced color. And since quantum dots are making it into less expensive TVs, its a sign that TVs without quantum dots are going to be pretty cheap and generally wont have great picture quality. Good picture quality? Yes, just not great.Luke Larsen / Digital TrendsGavin writes: Hello I recently got a QD-OLED G6 Samsung monitor. I was wondering why we dont see a ton of glossy screens on monitors and why some TVs actually work better as monitors for some people. For example, some of the reviews I saw on glossy monitors said they were not nearly as good as LG C4/G4, etc.Another thing I wanted to ask: Why is the brightness on monitors so limited as opposed to the TV counterparts? You can have the same panel on a monitor and TV (similar cooling as well) and brightness is still an issue for the monitor.Why arent there more monitors with glossy screens? Monitors often end up getting used near windows or in really bright environments where glare can be a major problem. If you sit right in front of a monitor at close range and theres any light in the room, you will see a lot of your own reflection unless the screen has some kind of anti-reflection treatment. Also, any reflection off the surface will be brighter to the eye than a similar reflection seen from many feet away from the display.That leads into the next question: Why do monitors tend to be less bright than TVs? Part of it has to do with the power supply. To get a monitor as bright as a TV would require a pretty beefy power supply and it has been done but having a big outboard power brick is a real hassle. Reviewers complain about that all the time, and I can tell you from personal experience that I dont love it.Another reason: Monitors are designed to be viewed close-up, so they dont need to be as bright. Zeke and Chris will confirm this: A 1,000-nit, 10 percent window as viewed from a foot or two away is dramatically brighter than viewed from, say, eight feet away.Monitors tend not to have picture processors; if they do, theyre pretty weak. To get a monitor looking as good as a TV, youll want to calibrate the video signal output. However, thats pretty rare to do unless youre in professional production because that picture processing adds lag and is not great for gaming.Samsung S95D Zeke Jones / Digital TrendsGabe writes: I know many cite the lack of support for DTS audio and Dolby Vision HD formats in QD-OLED Samsung TVs as reasons why they cant possibly buy one for themselves despite the TVs being good quality and highly rated in all other areas. Cant you just work around the DTS issue if you run your Blu-ray player or streaming box through your AVR/soundbar setup to still get that audio format while using HDMI passthrough to get the video information to the TV from the AVR/soundbar? If thats the case, why are people so hung up on this issue? As for Dolby Vision, I guess thats not something you can work around since the TV is the one that has to have support for it, right? Or am I misunderstanding that concept and you can work around that too?Thats correct: If your TV doesnt support DTS or maybe not all versions of it then you can connect your sources directly to your soundbar, receiver, or processor.When it comes to Dolby Vision, support has to be built into the TV. Theres no workaround. But if you dont have Dolby Vision, its no longer a deal-breaker, in my opinion. I like Dolby Vision very much, and I think it does good things for lower performance TVs it maps HDR content to look as good as it can on a TV with limited brightness capabilities. However, it only looks better when the creator took doing a Dolby Vision grade seriously; usually all the other HDR versions are serviced from that grade. Sometimes the Dolby Vision version isnt as good as the HDR 10 or HDR 10+ version it depends on the creator. Dolby Vision is a powerful tool, but, in the end, its only as good as the creator who wields it. Its technically the most capable HDR format and ecosystem, but its capabilities are still only starting to get explored and nowhere close to being used to the max.So, in this day and age, is a premium TV that lacks Dolby Vision support kind of silly? Yes, I think so. Is it a deal-breaker? Only if you want to vote with your wallet. In the end, a TV can look exceptional even without Dolby Vision, and Samsung has proved that to be true.LG G5 OLED TV John Higgins / Digital TrendsMarkus from Austria writes: Last years top-of-the-line OLED panels (e.g. the LG G4) used MLA technology for boosting brightness and did a pretty good job at that. At CES this year, MLA was not a thing anymore. Instead, the latest OLED panel by LG (the G5, and used by Panasonic too) was an RGB Tandem panel. It doesnt use anything like MLA. What about combining the RGB Tandem panel with MLA coating on top? Could that lead to an even brighter picture or lets say ridiculously bright image? Would that be possible? When I get the technical aspect right, MLA is a tiny, tiny lens array coated on top of a regular WOLED panel so this lens coating should be possible on top of an RGB Tandem panel as well.I suppose that MLA could be applied over the new 4-stack or Tandem OLED display technology. LG Display stepped away from MLA because it was inefficient, super expensive to implement, and a bit wasteful. Im glad we got it for a while, but ultimately, I think MLA was a bridge-the-gap measure intended to clap back at QD-OLED while Tandem OLED for TVs finished up in development. With OLED TVs testing the 4,000-nit territory, the need for OLED to get much brighter is starting to disappear. Its possible we could be nearing the end of the brightness wars among OLED TVs.Editors Recommendations

2025-03-16T20:35:35Z Read in app President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk are using the Department of Government Efficiency to make dramatic changes in Washington. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? DOGE is one of the most ambitious efforts to reform the federal government in decades.Elon Musk is working closely with Trump to slash spending across the government.The White House DOGE Office faces multiple lawsuits seeking to block its work.The White House DOGE Office was created by an executive order by President Donald Trump and is one of the most ambitious efforts to slash spending at the federal level in decades.Ostensibly led by Elon Musk, the world's richest man, DOGE's mission is to make government leaner and more effective.In January 2025, Musk said he'd cut at least $1 trillion from the federal budget, telling the political strategist Mark Penn that up to $2 trillion in spending cuts was the "best-case outcome" for DOGE.Almost immediately, DOGE attracted lawsuits from Democrats and union groups concerned that Musk's team had access to sensitive information within several federal agencies.Here's a look at how DOGE aims to upend the US government in Washington.Where did the idea of DOGE come from?For decades, Republicans have railed against what they've decried as excessive government spending that they feel has only been encouraged by layers of bureaucracy in the nation's capital.In his three presidential runs, Trump made tackling the federal deficit and cutting the size of government important themes of his campaign. However, the issue took on added resonance in 2024 as many Americans remained weary of inflation and federal spending.In July 2024, Musk suggested on X that Trump could establish a presidential commission on "government efficiency" and select him to lead it. Trump liked the idea and confirmed in August 2024 that he was considering Musk for an advisory role.Musk then took to X, saying, "I am willing to serve," with an image of him standing before a "Department of Government Efficiency" lectern.In the campaign's final weeks, Musk was a fixture on the trail, particularly in swing-state Pennsylvania, where he stumped hard for Trump.After Trump defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris in November 2024, he announced that DOGE would be co-led by Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk initially said DOGE jobs would have "zero" compensation, however, in January 2025 it was announced that DOGE would be hiring some salaried employees.The Department of Government Efficiency has the acronym of one of Musk's favorite memes, which features the image of a Shiba Inu dog. It is also inspired by the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.What has DOGE accomplished so far?As Trump was enjoying his inaugural festivities, reports emerged that Ramaswamy would be leaving DOGE before his now-launched gubernatorial bid in Ohio, making Musk the primary face of the conservative president's task force.From the start, DOGE aimed to analyze federal contracts and spending at government agencies, and Musk quickly moved to call out expenditures on issues like foreign aid and DEI initiatives.However, the quick pace of DOGE's work to remake government in the vision of Trump and Musk has left many in Washington and across the country and world stunned.During a joint appearance in the Oval Office in February 2025, Trump and Musk announced that DOGE had uncovered "billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse" in its first few weeks. Trump said a final number could reach "close to a trillion dollars," but neither he nor Musk gave many specifics regarding the figures. Trump also signed an executive order that directs agency heads to work with DOGE to identify "large-scale reductions in force."DOGE has sought to prune the government workforce, and the Trump administration offered buyouts to federal employees, who were given a deadline to accept an offer to be paid through September 2025. According to the administration, around 77,000 federal workers accepted the offer.One of the biggest targets for both Trump and Musk so far has been the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, which distributes foreign aid. Trump wants to shut down the independent government agency, which provides funding for everything from HIV/AIDS treatment to investments in water and sanitation access.The push is part of Musk's desire to "delete" agencies that he feels are wasteful or have outlived their usefulness.Another target is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Republicans have criticized since its creation under President Barack Obama in 2011. DOGE also cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the Department of Education's research office, with the task force announcing that they'd "terminated" contracts.A wave of probationary employees who have generally been in their roles for one or two years were also laid off across the federal government, even in key departments like Veterans Affairs and the Office of Personnel Management.However, in March 2025, two federal judges ordered the temporary reinstatement of thousands of those probationary workers. It's one of the most significant judicial pushbacks to the head count reductions that Trump and DOGE have pursued.How will Congress work with DOGE?Republicans, who retained control of the House and retook the Senate in the 2024 elections, are overwhelmingly supportive of both Trump and DOGE.The GOP-led House Oversight Committee in November 2024 announced the formation of the Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee, which is chaired by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, with Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico serving as the ranking member.Both parties have expressed a desire to eliminate wasteful spending and boost transparency. However, Stansbury said Democrats would seek accountability for DOGE."We will not sit silently by and watch the Administration recklessly and lawlessly dismantle our federal agencies, fire and harass federal employees, withhold federal funds, and hack our private and sensitive data," she said in a statement.Then there's the GOP-led House DOGE caucus, which is co-chaired by Reps. Aaron Bean of Florida, Blake Moore of Utah, and Pete Sessions of Texas. Democrats Jared Moskowitz of Florida and Steven Horsford of Nevada are also part of the caucus. Democratic Rep. Val Hoyle of Oregon left the caucus in February 2025 after accusing Musk of trying to "line his own pockets and rip off Americans."Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa leads the Senate DOGE caucus.Republicans remain aligned with Trump's agenda, and with the threat of potential Musk-funded primary challengers in 2026, GOP lawmakers have largely backed DOGE's work.Still, Congress controls federal spending.On Capitol Hill, some GOP lawmakers have become increasingly concerned about the pace of DOGE's actions.And as Republicans return to their home districts for town halls, many face angry crowds. Constituents have grilled lawmakers over the firings of federal workers and the ramifications of the dismissals on core government services.What criticism has DOGE faced?Even during its conception, questions arose regarding whether DOGE could make a dent in federal spending.With most federal spending going toward Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the defense budget, it is unclear how deeply DOGE will be able to make its desired cuts. (Trump has repeatedly pledged not to touch Medicare and Social Security.)DOGE was also granted access to a Treasury Department payment system that contains sensitive information about millions of Americans, ramping up privacy concerns.There has also been some scrutiny regarding staffing hires. DOGE has drawn criticism for its inexperienced staff members some are in their early 20s or even as young as 19.Business Insider obtained a DOGE staff list with the records of roughly 30 individuals who are now employed by the White House's DOGE office. They have backgrounds in industries like tech, finance, and law. Some have worked at Musk's companies like SpaceX or The Boring Company, and others have worked as software engineers, venture capitalists, or even law clerks for Supreme Court justices.Marko Elez a 25-year-old who previously worked at SpaceX and X and was a member of Musk's team resigned from the Treasury Department in February 2025 after The Wall Street Journal brought to light racist social media posts. Vice President JD Vance called for Elez to be rehired, and Musk said he'd rehire Elez after a poll on X found 78% of participants in favor of the move.And then there's the issue of who actually runs DOGE.Musk, who is considered to be a special government employee, has been widely seen as the leader of the task force.However, a White House official told Business Insider in late February that Amy Gleason, an ex-US Digital Service official, is the acting DOGE administrator.During Trump's joint address to Congress in March 2025, the president said DOGE is "headed" by Musk.But in a court filing, Gleason indicated that Musk "does not work" for the US DOGE Service, which was rebranded from the United States Digital Service."I do not report to him, and he does not report to me," Gleason said of Musk in a declaration. "To my knowledge, he is a Senior Advisor to the White House."Lawsuits against DOGEAn array of lawsuits have been filed by critics challenging DOGE's actions.In February, 19 Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Trump and the Treasury Department alleging a violation of federal law in granting DOGE staffers access to the personal financial data of Americans.Another lawsuit was filed against the Trump administration by several nongovernmental organizations that receive US foreign aid over DOGE's attempts to shutter USAID. The plaintiffs argued that the administration "violated the separation of powers."A US District judge subsequently ordered the administration to unfreeze foreign aid payments in February.In March, the US Supreme Court rejected Trump's request to freeze roughly $2 billion in foreign aid in a 5-4 vote. Days later, a federal judge ordered that Trump had to make the payments owed to USAID and State Department partners.The National Treasury Employees Union filed two lawsuits over the CFPB's stoppage of work and Musk and DOGE aides' access to the personal information of the agency's staffers.The White House has denounced the lawsuits, with principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields likening the plaintiffs to "children throwing pasta at the wall to see if it will stick.""Grandstanding government efficiency speaks volumes about those who'd rather delay much-needed change with legal shenanigans than work with the Trump Administration of ridding the government of waste, fraud, and abuse," Fields said.Business Insider has reached out to a DOGE spokesperson for comment.

2025-03-16T20:13:34Z Read in app Baidu's new suite of AI models is named "Ernie." Regis Martin/Getty Images This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Chinese tech giant Baidu released open-source AI models Ernie X1 and Ernie 4.5.The company says the models rival those from OpenAI and DeepSeek in performance per cost.The models also further the AI industry's turn toward open-source.Baidu, China's answer to Google, has released two new AI models.OnIt also launched a multimodal foundation model called Ernie 4.5 that the company says "outperforms GPT-4.5 in multiple benchmarks while priced at just 1% of GPT-4.5."Baidu said it's also making its chatbot, Ernie Bot, free to the public on April 1, ahead of schedule.The tech giant said it will "progressively integrate" Ernie 4.5 and X1 into its product ecosystem, including Baidu Search, China's dominant search engine.Baidu's new releases come as Silicon Valley reckons with the cost of AI models, largely spurred by the latest drops from DeepSeek, a Chinese startup launched by hedge fund High Flyer.In December, DeepSeek released a large language model called V3, and in January, it unveiled a reasoning model called R1. The models are considered as good or better than equivalent models from OpenAI but priced "anywhere from 20-40x cheaper," according to analysis from Bernstein Research.OpenAI vs DeepSeek vs BaiduTokens are the smallest unit of data an AI model processes. Companies price models according to how many input tokens a model processes and output tokens it generates.For Ernie 4.5, Baidu said that input and output token prices start as low as RMB 0.004 per thousand for input tokens and RMB 0.016 per thousand output tokens. BI converted those figures into US dollars to understand how chat models from OpenAI, DeepSeek, Baidu compare against one another. While Baidu's claims against GPT-4.5 check out, DeepSeek's V3 ultimately wins out in cost against Ernie 4.5. Comparing GPT-4.5 with DeepSeek V3 and Ernie 4.5 BI via Flourish In terms of reasoning models, conversions to USD show that Baidu's Ernie X1 is the cheapest of all, with prices coming in at just under 2% of OpenAI's o1. Comparing o1 with R1 with X1 BI via Flourish Cost-savings aside, those who've already tried Ernie seem impressed. "Been playing around with it for hours, impressive performance," Alvin Foo, a venture partner at Zero2Launch, said in a post on X.Baidu's latest models demonstrate not only the growing competition between the United States and China in the AI race but also the latter's growing embrace of open-source models."One thing we learned from DeepSeek is that open-sourcing the best models can greatly help adoption," Robin Li, Baidu's CEO, said on an earnings call in February. "When the model is open source, people naturally want to try it out of curiosity, which helps drive broader adoption."China, which aims to become a global leader in AI by 2030, has captured headlines over the past weeks with the release of AI agent Manus and Alibaba's own open-source model, QwQ-32B.Until now, AI insiders seemed eager for the coming launch of DeepSeek's R2. But the Ernie collection may give it a run for its money.

David Cronenberg is best known for his films that explore how the human body can be transformed, typically in pretty gruesome fashion. His newest feature, The Shrouds,continues that with a somber examination of death, grief, and their intersection with modern-day technologyand by letting the filmmaker get a little more personal. Set in a deceptively placid near-future, the film centers on Karsh (Vincent Kassel), a tech entrepreneur whos been using new software to watch his dead wife (Diane Kruger) decay in real time. Just as hes ready for this Shroud tech to get a wider release, all the graves currently using it get smashed up. Soon, Karsh finds himself scrambling to figure out whats going on and uncertain who to trustup to and potentially including his wifes sister, who hes started sleeping with and is also played by Kruger. Cronenberg wroteThe Shroudsfollowing the death of his wife Carolyn in 2017, which gives extra weight to moments in the trailer like Karshs opening line about wanting to join his late wife in the coffin. The logline calls the film a profoundly personal reckoning with grief and a descent into noir-tinged dystopia, which is all present in the preview, along with a slight dash of comedy. Cronenberg screened the film at Cannes 2024, where it racked up solid reviews from critics. Also starring Guy Pearce and Sandrine Holt,The Shroudswill premiere on April 18 in New York and LA ahead of its larger theatrical release on April 25. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Well, he is the black-and-white Spider-Man, so why wouldn't his show also be in complete black-and-white?

Sabiaguaba Gastronomic Complex / Architectus S/SSave this picture! Joana FranaArchitects: Architectus S/SAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:54465 ftYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2022 PhotographsPhotographs:Joana Frana Lead Architects: Elton Timb, Ricardo Saboia, Alexandre Landim, Mariana Furlani More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. Sea and River. Fresh water and salt water. The meeting of the river and the sea in the Sabiaguaba region in Fortaleza offers one of the most privileged landscapes in the city. The guardians of this natural beauty, the traditional families of Sabiaguaba, have long been advocating for the construction of a gastronomic center that would harness the region's tourism and landscape potential, protect local fauna and flora, and generate jobs and income for the natives (a term they proudly identify with).Save this picture!From the community's struggle, the Sabiaguaba Environmental and Gastronomic Complex was born. On the banks of the Coc River, near its mouth, the building is characterized by a simple and semi-buried geometry, both to take advantage of the steep slope of the land and to keep the privileged view of the landscape free of any visual barriers.Save this picture!Upon arrival, visitors are greeted on the upper floor by a plaza/lookout with garden areas and benches for contemplation. The competition for the most beautiful sunset in Fortaleza is fierce, but what we can say is that this space in the Gastronomic Complex is highly coveted.Save this picture!Using ramps or stairs, visitors can access the ground floor where they find a large platform purposely suspended from the natural terrain, absorbing the tidal variations in the area and allowing for the recovery of native vegetation. In this area, there are 20 kiosks equipped for the preparation of traditional Sabiaguaba cuisine dishes. With fresh fish, shellfish, and seafood, the permit holders, all members of the native Sabiaguaba community, prepare traditional dishes such as steamed oysters, fish stew, coconut baio, and shellfish farofa.Save this picture!To provide greater thermal comfort to users, shading was sought for the service areas and access points with canopies. Additionally, retractable canvas covers were proposed for the seating area.Save this picture!Visual integration between the building and the natural landscape was a concern from the beginning of the project. Thus, in addition to the proposal to semi-bury the constructed object, there was a preference for materials with a natural and durable appearance, such as ecological wood, used both in the flooring and in the louvers, which are key elements of the faade.Save this picture!To keep the history, traditions, and culture of the Sabiaguaba families alive, a museum was proposed among the kiosk modules. The Sabiaguaba Roots Memory Center gathers information about the native way of life, where part of the collection consists of artifacts donated by local residents.Save this picture!The promotion of ecotourism was also part of the proposal with the installation of a pier, a space intended for the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers for the well-known boat tour on the Coc River. Spontaneously, the pier also became a leisure space for bathers, especially on weekends.Save this picture!Knowledge and flavors of a centenary community. Contact and preservation of nature. All of this to the sound of the thrushes' song at the Sabiaguaba Environmental and Gastronomic Complex. Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Fortaleza, Ceara, BrazilLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeMaterialsWoodConcreteMaterials and TagsPublished on March 16, 2025Cite: "Sabiaguaba Gastronomic Complex / Architectus S/S" [Complexo Gastronmico da Sabiaguaba / Architectus S/S] 16 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1027384/sabiaguaba-gastronomic-complex-architectus-s-s&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

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