Old Python bootstrap scripts and a malicious PyPI package expose developers to domain takeover and RAT risks.
Category: futurism
Why Space?: The Purpose of People
Life Boaters! I could use a great favour from you! Please buy a copy of my new book “Why Space? The Purpose of People” ASAP and leave me a good review (if you like it — if not — send me a sternly worded letter!) If you love it, buy a bunch and give them to every geek and nerd on your list.
I’m getting great reviews! Rod Roddenberry said I’m channeling the great captains of Star Trek, Dr. Greg Autry (future NASA CFO) called me the “godfather of commercial space.” Of course, you can bet those went on the cover — and now I have to buy them dinners for the rest of my life, but not too bad!
Look, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about the Real Space Revolution. I straighten some of that out — from the inside.
But my primary goal is to give those in the “cause” language to explain why they are in this, and perhaps even to supply those who will go out there to open the High Frontier with the words they need to stay strong as they do.
In the book, I chronicle how people like some of you gave me Permission to Dream about doing what I do now. Something for which I will be forever grateful.
Help me — help you — help us. Buy the book! Read the book! Share the book!
(The audio version comes out in a week or so)
Study finds AI can safely assist with some software annotation tasks
A dystopian future where advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems replace human decision-making has long been a trope of science fiction. The malevolent computer HAL, which takes control of the spaceship in Stanley Kubrick’s film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, is a chilling example.
But rather than being fearful of automation, a more useful response is to consider what types of repetitive human tasks could be safely offloaded to AI, particularly with the advances of large language models (LLMs) that can sort through vast amounts of data, see patterns and make predictions.
Such is the area of research co-authored by Christoph Treude, an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Singapore Management University (SMU). The team explores potential roles for LLMs in annotating software engineering artifacts, a process that is expensive and time-consuming when done manually.
Simple solvent makes polycotton fabric completely recyclable
What we think of as polyester fabric is most often actually a blend of polyester and cotton, which has proven very difficult to recycle. A new solvent, however, breaks the blend down into its two components, leaving both almost completely reusable.
Made up of menthol and benzoic acid, the solution was developed by PhD student Nika Depope, Dr. Andreas Bartl and colleagues at the Vienna University of Technology.
Although both substances are solid at room temperature, they take on a “deep eutectic solvent” form when heated to a temperature of 216 ºC (421 ºF). When polycotton (polyester/cotton blend) textiles are immersed in that liquid, it causes the polyester to dissolve and separate from the cotton fibers within just five minutes.
