News
Blue Origin Announces Diverse Crew for Milestone 26th New Shepard Mission
Blue Origin has just announced the names of the six individuals who will be aboard the NS-26 mission, marking its 26th venture and the eighth involving human passengers. This diverse group includes pioneers and professionals from various fields, each bringing a unique perspective to this suborbital journey. Among them, Karsen Kitchen will be making headlines as the youngest woman ever to cross the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
Innovative Experiments Set to Launch
Adding excitement to the mission, Rob Ferl, a distinguished professor and director at the Astraeus Space Institute from the University of Florida, will conduct the first NASA-funded experiment on a commercial spaceflight. Ferl will study plant gene response in microgravity using a device called the Kennedy Space Center Fixation Tube (KFT). This research explores how Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant, alters its gene activity in space, aiming to broaden our understanding of plant biology under unique stress conditions. Anna-Lisa Paul, a colleague, will simultaneously monitor and maneuver control KFTs from Earth, ensuring precise replication of the experiment’s conditions.
Introducing the Trailblazing Passengers
- Nicolina Elrick: A multifaceted entrepreneur and philanthropist based in Singapore, Elrick is not only a helicopter pilot but also a passionate advocate for STEM education. Her autobiography “Grit, Diamonds, Stars” details her journey through life’s myriad challenges.
- Eugene Grin: A Ukrainian-born American who carved a successful path in real estate and finance, Grin is also known for his interest in meditation and adventure sports. He resides in upstate New York with his family.
- Dr. Eiman Jahangir: A cardiologist and an Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Jahangir balances his medical profession with an adventurous streak that has now led him to the edge of space, sponsored by MoonDAO, striving to make space travel accessible to all.
- Karsen Kitchen: An ambitious student from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she is not only studying Communications and Astronomy but is also a budding entrepreneur and researcher. Her participation in this mission sets a new record for youth and ambition beyond our atmosphere.
- Ephraim Rabin: An Israeli-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, Rabin has a rich history in chemical industry innovation and is as comfortable behind the steering wheel of a race car as he is in a corporate boardroom.
Blue Origin has yet to announce the flight date for NS-26, but the space community is already buzzing with anticipation about this varied crew and their unique contributions to science and space exploration.
Blue Origin
As they prepare for this incredible journey, each member of the crew not only represents human ambition but also extends the boundaries of what private spaceflight can accomplish. Through their stories, we are reminded of the potential for space to inspire and challenge our understanding of the universe and ourselves.
The flight date will be announced soon.
https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-shepard-ns-26-mission
Follow Blue Origin on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, and YouTube, and sign up on BlueOrigin.com to stay current on all mission details.
The science section of our news blog STM Daily News provides readers with captivating and up-to-date information on the latest scientific discoveries, breakthroughs, and innovations across various fields. We offer engaging and accessible content, ensuring that readers with different levels of scientific knowledge can stay informed. Whether it’s exploring advancements in medicine, astronomy, technology, or environmental sciences, our science section strives to shed light on the intriguing world of scientific exploration and its profound impact on our daily lives. From thought-provoking articles to informative interviews with experts in the field, STM Daily News Science offers a harmonious blend of factual reporting, analysis, and exploration, making it a go-to source for science enthusiasts and curious minds alike. https://stmdailynews.com/category/science/
Discover more from Daily News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The Bridge
Celebrities Unite to Mobilize Support for Hurricane Relief and Recovery
Hurricane Relief
(Family Features) In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, entire communities have been torn apart, lives were lost, families displaced and children left without schools. Recovery is lengthy – and costly – requiring people to come together to help with relief efforts.
While meeting the specific needs of hurricane survivors, from shelter, food and water to emergency supplies and repair assistance, estimated at $250 billion, is vital to recovery, making a monetary donation is one of the quickest and easiest ways to help ensure those needs are met.
That’s why United Way Worldwide (UWW) and Paramount Global are hosting a one-hour special, United Way Benefit for Hurricane Relief, at 8 p.m. ET/PT Saturday, Nov. 2 on the CBS Television Network and CMT – available to stream live on Paramount+ with Showtime – to mobilize communities and raise critical funds for relief and recovery.
The event will feature some of the biggest names in music, television and entertainment including performances by Brittney Spencer, Chris Janson, Clay Aiken, Jonathan McReynolds and Tyler Hubbard with special messages and appearances by Backstreet Boys, Billy Bob Thornton, Billy Burke, Blake Shelton, Carly Pearce, Cedric The Entertainer, Cody Alan, JB SMOOVE, Kelsea Ballerini, Max Thieriot, Nate Burleson, Stephen Colbert, Taye Diggs and Zac Brown Band.
“In times of crisis, United Way mobilizes the caring power of communities to help people in need,” said Angela F. Williams, president and CEO of UWW. “United Way Benefit for Hurricane Relief is an opportunity to unite people to help the individuals and families impacted by the devastating hurricanes. Because united is the way to create long-term and lasting resiliency for individuals, families and communities.”
Proceeds from the benefit will support immediate hurricane relief and long-term recovery efforts and benefit individuals and families across the southeastern United States. Every minute you watch and every dollar given helps fund shelter, meals and other critical support services.
“Paramount Global and its brands are proud to collaborate with United Way Worldwide on the United Way Benefit for Hurricane Relief in reaching audiences across the U.S. to help those impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton,” said Melissa C. Potter, executive director, Content for Change, Paramount Global and UWW board of trustees. “I’ve seen firsthand how United Way rallies local leaders, cross-sector partners and the community to aid people during times of crisis, and the resources raised by this benefit event will help those in need to recover and rebuild.”
In the last four years alone, United Way has responded to more than 200 disasters around the world, including droughts, water crises, hurricanes, fires and floods, and mobilized resources by facilitating more than $219 million in outside investments to support local needs.
“The impact of Hurricane Helene on our community and this region is almost impossible to comprehend,” said Dan Leroy, president and CEO of United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County. “Recovery is a marathon that won’t end in weeks or months – it’ll take years. Thanks to the generosity of those contributing to the United Way Benefit for Hurricane Relief, we can make sure that 5, 10 and 20 years from now, our neighbors and families will not only rebuild but thrive. United, we will emerge stronger.”
To learn more or donate, visit unitedway.org/benefit or text “RECOVERY” to 40403.
SOURCE:
United Way Worldwide
The Bridge is a section of the STM Daily News Blog meant for diversity, offering real news stories about bona fide community efforts to perpetuate a greater good. The purpose of The Bridge is to connect the divides that separate us, fostering understanding and empathy among different groups. By highlighting positive initiatives and inspirational actions, The Bridge aims to create a sense of unity and shared purpose. This section brings to light stories of individuals and organizations working tirelessly to promote inclusivity, equality, and mutual respect. Through these narratives, readers are encouraged to appreciate the richness of diverse perspectives and to participate actively in building stronger, more cohesive communities.
https://stmdailynews.com/the-bridge
Discover more from Daily News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Entertainment
Quincy Jones: A Musical Innovator and Cultural Icon
Quincy Jones: The Musical Legend
On November 3, 2024, the world lost an extraordinary talent and visionary, Quincy Delight Jones Jr., at the age of 91. Jones, an American record producer, songwriter, composer, and film and television producer, left an indelible mark on the music industry and beyond, shaping the soundscape of multiple genres over a career that spanned more than 70 years.
Born on March 14, 1933, Jones’s journey in music began in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor. He quickly rose to prominence and became known for his versatility, seamlessly moving between jazz, pop, and film scoring. His remarkable ability to transcend genres led to iconic collaborations, including producing pop hits for Lesley Gore, arranging for legends like Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, and ultimately partnering with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The trio of albums they created—Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987)—remains monumental in music history, with Thriller still holding the title of the best-selling album of all time.
Jones broke numerous barriers throughout his career. In 1968, he became the first African American nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “The Eyes of Love.” His groundbreaking achievements continued as he became the first African American musical director and conductor of the Academy Awards in 1971 and received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1995. With 28 Grammy Awards out of 80 nominations, Jones’s accolades are a testament to his exceptional talent and influence.
Beyond music, Jones was a multifaceted entrepreneur, establishing a media empire that included Qwest Records, QDE Entertainment, and the acclaimed Black music magazine, Vibe. His ability to foster talent extended to the realms of film and television, where he played a pivotal role in launching the careers of icons like Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith.
Jones’s legacy is characterized not only by his remarkable achievements but also by his unique approach to music production. Described by his longtime sound engineer Bruce Swedien as someone who often used food-related metaphors in the studio, Jones had a distinctive way of cultivating creativity. He believed in the power of “divine intervention” and was known for his willingness to experiment, an attitude that kept him at the forefront of musical innovation. His embrace of synthesizers and blending of funk with jazz were revolutionary, influencing countless artists across generations.
Throughout his life, Jones collected stories and experiences that would intrigue anyone. From his encounters with historical figures like Leni Riefenstahl to iconic musicians like Tupac Shakur, his narratives were as rich and diverse as his music.
Quincy Jones’s passing marks the end of an era, but his influence will continue to resonate through the countless artists he inspired and the music he crafted. As we remember this musical innovator, we celebrate a life dedicated to breaking barriers and creating a legacy that transcends time and genre. His contributions have forever altered the landscape of music, and his spirit will undoubtedly continue to inspire future generations of musicians and dreamers.
Rest in peace, Quincy Jones—a true maestro, a visionary, and an enduring symbol of artistic excellence.
Related Link from the Associated Press:
Looking for an entertainment experience that transcends the ordinary? Look no further than STM Daily News Blog’s vibrant Entertainment section. Immerse yourself in the captivating world of indie films, streaming and podcasts, movie reviews, music, expos, venues, and theme and amusement parks. Discover hidden cinematic gems, binge-worthy series and addictive podcasts, gain insights into the latest releases with our movie reviews, explore the latest trends in music, dive into the vibrant atmosphere of expos, and embark on thrilling adventures in breathtaking venues and theme parks. Join us at STM Entertainment and let your entertainment journey begin! https://stmdailynews.com/category/entertainment/
and let your entertainment journey begin!
Discover more from Daily News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Tech
From shrimp Jesus to fake self-portraits, AI-generated images have become the latest form of social media spam
Renee DiResta, Stanford University; Abhiram Reddy, Georgetown University, and Josh A. Goldstein, Georgetown University
If you’ve spent time on Facebook over the past six months, you may have noticed photorealistic images that are too good to be true: children holding paintings that look like the work of professional artists, or majestic log cabin interiors that are the stuff of Airbnb dreams.
Others, such as renderings of Jesus made out of crustaceans, are just bizarre.
Like the AI image of the pope in a puffer jacket that went viral in May 2023, these AI-generated images are increasingly prevalent – and popular – on social media platforms. Even as many of them border on the surreal, they’re often used to bait engagement from ordinary users.
Our team of researchers from the Stanford Internet Observatory and Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology investigated over 100 Facebook pages that posted high volumes of AI-generated content. We published the results in March 2024 as a preprint paper, meaning the findings have not yet gone through peer review.
We explored patterns of images, unearthed evidence of coordination between some of the pages, and tried to discern the likely goals of the posters.
Page operators seemed to be posting pictures of AI-generated babies, kitchens or birthday cakes for a range of reasons.
There were content creators innocuously looking to grow their followings with synthetic content; scammers using pages stolen from small businesses to advertise products that don’t seem to exist; and spammers sharing AI-generated images of animals while referring users to websites filled with advertisements, which allow the owners to collect ad revenue without creating high-quality content.
Our findings suggest that these AI-generated images draw in users – and Facebook’s recommendation algorithm may be organically promoting these posts.
Generative AI meets scams and spam
Internet spammers and scammers are nothing new.
For more than two decades, they’ve used unsolicited bulk email to promote pyramid schemes. They’ve targeted senior citizens while posing as Medicare representatives or computer technicians.
On social media, profiteers have used clickbait articles to drive users to ad-laden websites. Recall the 2016 U.S. presidential election, when Macedonian teenagers shared sensational political memes on Facebook and collected advertising revenue after users visited the URLs they posted. The teens didn’t care who won the election. They just wanted to make a buck.
In the early 2010s, spammers captured people’s attention with ads promising that anyone could lose belly fat or learn a new language with “one weird trick.”
AI-generated content has become another “weird trick.”
It’s visually appealing and cheap to produce, allowing scammers and spammers to generate high volumes of engaging posts. Some of the pages we observed uploaded dozens of unique images per day. In doing so, they followed Meta’s own advice for page creators. Frequent posting, the company suggests, helps creators get the kind of algorithmic pickup that leads their content to appear in the “Feed,” formerly known as the “News Feed.”
Much of the content is still, in a sense, clickbait: Shrimp Jesus makes people pause to gawk and inspires shares purely because it is so bizarre.
Many users react by liking the post or leaving a comment. This signals to the algorithmic curators that perhaps the content should be pushed into the feeds of even more people.
Some of the more established spammers we observed, likely recognizing this, improved their engagement by pivoting from posting URLs to posting AI-generated images. They would then comment on the post of the AI-generated images with the URLs of the ad-laden content farms they wanted users to click.
But more ordinary creators capitalized on the engagement of AI-generated images, too, without obviously violating platform policies.
Rate ‘my’ work!
When we looked up the posts’ captions on CrowdTangle – a social media monitoring platform owned by Meta and set to sunset in August – we found that they were “copypasta” captions, which means that they were repeated across posts.
Some of the copypasta captions baited interaction by directly asking users to, for instance, rate a “painting” by a first-time artist – even when the image was generated by AI – or to wish an elderly person a happy birthday. Facebook users often replied to AI-generated images with comments of encouragement and congratulations
Algorithms push AI-generated content
Our investigation noticeably altered our own Facebook feeds: Within days of visiting the pages – and without commenting on, liking or following any of the material – Facebook’s algorithm recommended reams of other AI-generated content.
Interestingly, the fact that we had viewed clusters of, for example, AI-generated miniature cow pages didn’t lead to a short-term increase in recommendations for pages focused on actual miniature cows, normal-sized cows or other farm animals. Rather, the algorithm recommended pages on a range of topics and themes, but with one thing in common: They contained AI-generated images.
In 2022, the technology website Verge detailed an internal Facebook memo about proposed changes to the company’s algorithm.
The algorithm, according to the memo, would become a “discovery-engine,” allowing users to come into contact with posts from individuals and pages they didn’t explicitly seek out, akin to TikTok’s “For You” page.
We analyzed Facebook’s own “Widely Viewed Content Reports,” which lists the most popular content, domains, links, pages and posts on the platform per quarter.
It showed that the proportion of content that users saw from pages and people they don’t follow steadily increased between 2021 and 2023. Changes to the algorithm have allowed more room for AI-generated content to be organically recommended without prior engagement – perhaps explaining our experiences and those of other users.
‘This post was brought to you by AI’
Since Meta currently does not flag AI-generated content by default, we sometimes observed users warning others about scams or spam AI content with infographics.
Meta, however, seems to be aware of potential issues if AI-generated content blends into the information environment without notice. The company has released several announcements about how it plans to deal with AI-generated content.
In May 2024, Facebook will begin applying a “Made with AI” label to content it can reliably detect as synthetic.
But the devil is in the details. How accurate will the detection models be? What AI-generated content will slip through? What content will be inappropriately flagged? And what will the public make of such labels?
While our work focused on Facebook spam and scams, there are broader implications.
Reporters have written about AI-generated videos targeting kids on YouTube and influencers on TikTok who use generative AI to turn a profit.
Social media platforms will have to reckon with how to treat AI-generated content; it’s certainly possible that user engagement will wane if online worlds become filled with artificially generated posts, images and videos.
Shrimp Jesus may be an obvious fake. But the challenge of assessing what’s real is only heating up.
Renee DiResta, Research Manager of the Stanford Internet Observatory, Stanford University; Abhiram Reddy, Research Assistant at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, Georgetown University, and Josh A. Goldstein, Research Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, Georgetown University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The science section of our news blog STM Daily News provides readers with captivating and up-to-date information on the latest scientific discoveries, breakthroughs, and innovations across various fields. We offer engaging and accessible content, ensuring that readers with different levels of scientific knowledge can stay informed. Whether it’s exploring advancements in medicine, astronomy, technology, or environmental sciences, our science section strives to shed light on the intriguing world of scientific exploration and its profound impact on our daily lives. From thought-provoking articles to informative interviews with experts in the field, STM Daily News Science offers a harmonious blend of factual reporting, analysis, and exploration, making it a go-to source for science enthusiasts and curious minds alike. https://stmdailynews.com/category/science/
Discover more from Daily News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
-
Urbanism1 year ago
Signal Hill, California: A Historic Enclave Surrounded by Long Beach
-
News2 years ago
Diana Gregory Talks to us about Diana Gregory’s Outreach Services
-
Senior Pickleball Report2 years ago
The Absolute Most Comfortable Pickleball Shoe I’ve Ever Worn!
-
Senior Pickleball Report2 years ago
ACE PICKLEBALL CLUB TO DEBUT THEIR HIGHLY ANTICIPATED INDOOR PICKLEBALL FRANCHISES IN THE US, IN EARLY 2023
-
STM Blog2 years ago
World Naked Gardening Day: Celebrating Body Acceptance and Nature
-
Automotive2 years ago
2023 Nissan Sentra pricing starts at $19,950
-
Travel2 years ago
Unique Experiences at the CitizenM
-
Senior Pickleball Report2 years ago
“THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS OF PICKLEBALL” – VOTING OPEN