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☆ 'Griefbots' could use AI to haunt relatives from beyond the grave, ethicists warn
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Nascent 'griefbots' or 'deadbots' allow users to chat with the deceased. Safeguards should keep kids away from the bots and allow users to turn them off, a study suggested. AdvertisementAI could make your relatives haunt you from beyond the grave, researchers are warning. These bots use generative AI to allow people to have text and voice conversations with the deceased, using their past digital footprints to conjure a likeness. But AI ethicists at Cambridge's Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence warn that AI could one day push ads on grieving relatives or confuse children.

Persons: —, Tomasz Hollanek, Dr, Katarzyna Nowaczyk Organizations: Service, University of Cambridge, Cambridge's Leverhulme, Intelligence Locations: Cambridge, China, Cambridge's

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried was the 'the poster child' of the effective altruism movement, now the charity he bankrolled is shutting down
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An "effective altruism" charity backed by Sam Bankman-Fried is set to close. The jailed former crypto billionaire was a major proponent of effective altruism. AdvertisementA UK-based "effective altruism" charity funded by the disgraced former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is set to close. Effective Ventures Foundation UK, originally incorporated in 2012, reported income of more than £140 million in 2022, which is around $177 million as of April 2024. The UK Charity Commission also opened an inquiry into Effective Ventures UK in December 2022 in order to assess any potential risks to the charity's assets.

Persons: Sam Bankman, —, Luke Kemp, Michael Lewis, Fried Organizations: Service, Ventures Foundation, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge's, Harvard Law School, Alameda Research, Financial Times, UK, Commission, Ventures UK Locations: Oxford, Silicon Valley, FTX

Helping these countries, which face some of the biggest risks from climate change, access these will be a key aim during the COP28 climate talks underway in Dubai. Ambitions for results at COP28 got off to a good start on the opening day on Thursday when countries approved plans for the climate disaster fund, after months of negotiations. About 60% of low-income countries are either in or at high risk of debt distress, the CDP said. The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program, for example, aims to agree a disaster relief bond issuance and a regional risk transfer facility, the ADB's Principal Disaster Risk Insurance and Finance Specialist, Thomas Kessler, told Reuters. "We are ready to scale up climate protection through early warning systems, anticipatory cash, climate insurance and community-based resilience projects," said Gernot Laganda, director of Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction at the United Nations World Food Programme.

Persons: COP28, Ekhosuehi Iyahen, IDF's Iyahen, Michèle Plichta, Lydia Poole, Odile Renaud, Basso, Thomas Kessler, Otis, Gernot Laganda, Alessandro Parodi, Simon Jessop, Libby George, Karin Strohecker, Susan Fenton Organizations: Insurance, Forum, PAF, Disaster, European Bank for Reconstruction, Global, Swiss, Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation, Finance, Reuters, UN, University of Cambridge's Institute for Sustainability Leadership, United Nations, Food, Thomson Locations: GDANSK, LONDON, Dubai, London, Mexico

☆ Comets that bounce around the universe could be delivering the ingredients for life to alien planets
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

They could also have delivered similar building blocks of life to other planets. Scientists at Cambridge University propose that comets may "bounce" around the universe, carrying the essential ingredients to create life on alien worlds. They specifically looked at systems carrying rocky planets around low-mass stars — stars that are smaller than our sun. AdvertisementStill, Bonsor said the research suggests a low-mass planetary system is less likely to carry life than a system with a brighter star. "We're all super excited in the community about the fact that we can find habitable zone planets around low-mass stars.

Persons: —, Richard Anslow, it's, Amy Bonsor, Bonsor, she's Organizations: Service, Cambridge University, Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Royal Society

☆ I'm a 23-year-old gay man training to be a priest. Though I'm living on only $740 a month, I don't regret it one bit.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

He says he had considered the idea ludicrous as someone who's gay and used to be an atheist. And it was also a big shift for someone who was living abroad in the Hague, who's openly gay, and who was heavily invested in a different career. I thought it was completely ludicrous, as someone who used to be quite atheist as a teen, who's gay, and who'd been preparing for an entirely different career. By January, I'd started working there as a pastoral assistant. Though it hasn't been the easiest time — I get a stipend of 600 pounds a month, or about $740 — I don't regret it one bit.

Persons: Peter Banks, —, I've, It's, who's, Banks, who'd, Little, I'd, hasn't, We're, you've Organizations: Service, UK's Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Democratic Party, Hague, University of Cambridge's Trinity College, Episcopal Church, Episcopal, of Locations: Cambridge, England, Hague, Netherlands, Winchester, Mary's, United States, Scotland, of Wales

☆ 2,500-year-old toilets reveal that the people of ancient Jerusalem were afflicted by painful stomach cramps and diarrhea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Archeologists excavated the cesspits below two toilets from Iron Age Jerusalem. At the time, Jerusalem was the capital of Judah — a vassal state under the control of the Assyrian Empire. "Toilets with cesspits from this time are relatively rare and were usually made only for the elite," Mitchell said. The study suggests the "long-term presence" of the disease across the Near East. Indeed, medical texts from the first and second millennium BC describe diarrhea afflicting the Near and Middle East populations.

☆ Sudan one month on: Why cease-fires are failing, and what global leaders are missing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

KHARTOUM, Sudan - May 6, 2023: Sudanese Army sodliers walk near armoured vehicles stationed on a street in southern Khartoum, amid ongoing fighting against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. AFP via Getty ImagesOne month after fighting between Sudan's two military factions broke out in the capital, Khartoum, internationally-brokered peace talks in Saudi Arabia have yielded no solution. Almost a million people have fled their homes, both to locations within Sudan and across the border to neighboring countries. The World Bank and several global powers froze aid to the country after the military takeover, honoring calls from civilians not to legitimize its leadership. Targeted and collaborative efforts by the international community to exert pressure on the countries supporting Sudan's military factions were needed, Abdel-Magied said.

☆ Return of Benin Bronzes delayed after Nigerian president's decree
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Macdonald Dzirutwe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

But an official gazette signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on March 28 said the Oba of Benin was the rightful owner of all returned Benin Bronzes and was responsible for the management of all places where the artefacts were kept. The commission has in the past signed agreements to return looted artefacts, including from Cambridge college and Germany. The University of Cambridge's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. There have been questions on whether Nigeria has capacity to safely keep artefacts returned from abroad. The palace has previously said it planned to build a museum to house returned artefacts.

☆ India's heatwaves putting economy, development goals at risk - study
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, April 20 (Reuters) - Killer heat waves are putting "unprecedented burdens" on India's agriculture, economy and public health, with climate change undermining the country's long-term efforts to reduce poverty, inequality and illness, a new study showed. India is now "facing a collision of multiple, cumulative climate hazards", with extreme weather happening almost every day from January to October last year, they said. As much as 90% of India's total area now lies in extreme heat danger zones, and it is not fully prepared, he warned. "India has already done quite a bit in terms of heat mitigation - they actually now recognise heatwaves as part of their disaster relief package," he said. The researchers also warned that heatwaves were weakening India's efforts to meet its "Social Development Goals", a list of 17 U.N. objectives to cut poverty, hunger, inequality and disease.

☆ Analysis: Saudi crown prince acts to realign Mideast dynamics amid concern over US support
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Aziz El Yaakoubi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

"Saudi Arabia is moving from disengagement towards engagement to allow it to focus on pushing ahead on Vision 2030," said Saudi analyst Abdulaziz Sager. A Saudi official said the United States and China are both very important partners for Riyadh. Washington and Riyadh are working on addressing common security challenges, he said. "The Saudis don’t want to be in a shooting war between Iran and the United States. Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Institution in Washington said Saudi Arabia's view that the U.S. is increasingly disengaged from the region is not entirely wrong.

☆ Cambridge do double on Oxford in boat race
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Rowing - University Boat Race - Oxford v Cambridge - River Thames, London, Britain - March 26, 2023 Cambridge in action ahead of Oxford on their way to winning the men's race Action Images via Reuters/Peter CziborraLONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - Cambridge's male and female rowers claimed a double over Oxford in the university boat race on the River Thames on Sunday. Earlier the women's crew were dominant as they beat Oxford for a sixth successive time. "The rush of emotions when we crossed the line, there's nothing like it," Cambridge men's cox Jasper Parish, whose brother Ollie was also part of the team, said. Cambridge's women's crew won by four and a half lengths although Oxford complained of encroachment. Cambridge lead the rivalry 47-30 in the women's event, while Cambridge men have won 86 times to Oxford's 81.

Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where data for up to 87 million users was accessed. Investors claimed that Facebook, as the company was known, misled them in 2016 by describing data breaches as a mere "risk," when it knew that Cambridge had accessed user data. "It's not plausible that the company was trying to mislead the public about something the public already knew," he said. Facebook paid more than $5 billion in penalties to U.S. authorities over Cambridge Analytica. It agreed to pay $725 million to settle a lawsuit by Facebook users in December.

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec 19 (Reuters) - Mark Zuckerberg considered saying in a 2017 speech that Facebook was looking into "organizations like Cambridge Analytica," according to details from a deposition of him by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Zuckerberg in the deposition also acknowledges asking colleagues in January 2017 to assess Cambridge's claims about its influence in elections. Media reports in March 2018 suggested that Cambridge kept leveraging Facebook data, prompting government investigations related to data protection practices that Facebook settled in the United States for at least $5.1 billion. In the draft obtained by the SEC, Zuckerberg proposed saying: "We are already looking into foreign actors including Russian intelligence, actors in other former Soviet states and organizations like Cambridge Analytica." Zamaan Qureshi, policy advisor for consumer advocacy group The Real Facebook Oversight Board, said the deposition should increase users' doubts of Meta.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried was the poster boy for 'effective altruism.' Now, its followers are heartbroken and critics are questioning its 'weird' funding setup.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Sam Bankman-Fried was a proponent of effective altruism: earning as much as possible to give your wealth away. He had a huge influence on the effective-altruism movement, which counts Silicon Valley tech workers and Oxford University academics among its fans. 'Devastated'Bankman-Fried was the main funder of Future Fund, a charitable project run by the FTX Foundation. "We joined the Future Fund to support incredible people and projects," they said, "and this outcome is heartbreaking to us." Science groups that had received money from the Future Fund told the magazine Science in mid-November that they were unsure of their funding's future.

☆ Embattled CEO Werner Baumann enters his final chapter at Bayer, aiming to turn the German pharma giant into a cancer powerhouse
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

With a successor search underway, Werner Baumann is entering his last chapter as Bayer's CEO. Baumann told Insider he's more excited today about Bayer's future than several years ago. The exec wants Bayer to become a top 10 cancer player by 2030, and recently opened a Cambridge lab. CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — Within his first month as CEO of the German giant Bayer, Werner Baumann took a big, legacy-making swing. Baumann says Bayer's future is in oncologyWerner Baumann, right, CEO of Bayer, and Werner Wenning, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bayer.

☆ Why a top Roche scientist is leaving after 25 years to join a rising biotech startup using fungi to make new drugs
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

After 25 years at the pharma giant Roche, the drug hunter Martin Stahl is leaving to join a biotech. CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — A longtime drug-hunting veteran is leaving one of the largest drugmakers to lead the science division at the biotech startup LifeMine Therapeutics, Insider has learned. FogPharmaThe big draw for Stahl was LifeMine's approach to discovering drugs. With its genetic-database approach, LifeMine hopes to greatly speed up how long it takes to develop fungi-derived drugs. Stahl said LifeMine's approach leaned on nature, rather than medicinal chemists, to design the drugs.

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