All posts tagged: Catastrophic

The Catastrophic Swatch x Audemars Piguet Launch Was Entirely Predictable and Utterly Avoidable

The Catastrophic Swatch x Audemars Piguet Launch Was Entirely Predictable and Utterly Avoidable

Published by skeptic

The note from the communications team then, quite remarkably, lists some stats in an attempt to paint the launch in a positive light, as opposed the retail bin-fire it seemingly was: “We have received millions of clicks on our website. This new collaboration is literally making social media explode, with over 6 billion views within one week; by now, it is already 11 billion. All in all, the Royal Pop Collection is captivating the entire world, not least because the Royal Pop is, quite surprisingly, not a wristwatch.” Audemars Piguet seems unhappy with how Swatch has handled the launch of its collaboration on the Royal Pop. AP told WIRED that “we understand the questions around the Royal Pop launch experience. As retail operations are handled by Swatch and their local teams, Swatch is best placed to comment on the operational handling of the launch. From AP’s perspective, safety and a positive experience for clients and teams remain the priority.” The brand did not respond when asked if it considered Swatch’s handling of the Royal Pop launch a …

Panic as UK town high street to be ‘killed off’ from June 1 – ‘catastrophic’ | UK | News

Panic as UK town high street to be ‘killed off’ from June 1 – ‘catastrophic’ | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

High Street, Sanquhar (Image: Google Streetview) Fears are mounting that a major road shutdown could devastate a struggling High Street in the Scottish town of Sanquhar, with traders warning the disruption may effectively “kill off” the town centre. Business owners say the planned closure will choke off vital passing traffic and leave them fighting to survive at an already difficult time. Shopkeepers in the town have voiced alarm over a six-week closure of the A76, a key route running directly through the High Street, calling the potential fallout “catastrophic”. The road is set to be completely shut from June 1 until July 10 to allow essential stonework repairs to the historic Tolbooth Museum, a Category A-listed building dating back to the 18th century. The structure sits immediately beside the road, where the carriageway narrows significantly, prompting the council to insist a full closure is required to keep both workers and motorists safe. Read more: The UK’s 10 best farmers’ markets – from Scotland to Cornwall Read more: Construction company plunges into liquidation – in business …

The Fact That Anthropic Has Been Boasting About How Much Its Development Now Relies on Claude Makes It Very Interesting That It Just Suffered a Catastrophic Leak of Its Source Code

The Fact That Anthropic Has Been Boasting About How Much Its Development Now Relies on Claude Makes It Very Interesting That It Just Suffered a Catastrophic Leak of Its Source Code

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Earlier this year, the head of Anthropic’s blockbuster Claude Code AI agent Boris Cherny boasted that “pretty much 100 percent” of the entire company’s code is AI-generated. “For me personally, it has been 100 percent for two plus months now, I don’t even make small edits by hand,” he tweeted at the time. But the glaring cybersecurity implications of giving an AI agent full access over a computer to carry out complex tasks — something experts have been ringing the alarm bells over for a while now — isn’t coinciding during a period of competence for the company: it confirmed on Tuesday that parts of the internal source code for its Claude Code had leaked, which is extremely bad. “No sensitive customer data or credentials were involved or exposed,” a spokesperson told CNBC, in an apparent effort to focus on the bright side. The news comes less than a week after news of Anthropic’s upcoming “Claude Mythos” AI …

If Trump’s War in Iran Spirals Into a Full-Blown Recession, It Could Crush the AI Industry and Spark a Catastrophic Polycrisis

If Trump’s War in Iran Spirals Into a Full-Blown Recession, It Could Crush the AI Industry and Spark a Catastrophic Polycrisis

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Far be it from tech writers to chart yield curves or forecast jobs data, but it doesn’t take a tenured econ professor to notice the sorry state of the financial world. Thanks to Trump’s disastrous invasion of Iran, gas has surged to $9 a gallon in some places, the Dow and Nasdaq have officially entered a correction, and Bloomberg TV anchors are actively weighing the possibility of a full-blown “recession” on the airwaves. If they’re right, people across the US — indeed, the world — are in for plenty of financial pain. And though we’re fresh out of pity, the effects on the AI industry, which has long been speculated to be in a financial bubble, could be catastrophic. Well before the US war on Iran kicked off in late February, there were already trillions of dollars stuffed into the AI industry — a bottomless pit swallowing every last penny it comes across. Even several years into the …

The Simpsons Was ‘Almost Cancelled’ Due To ‘Catastrophic’ Episode

The Simpsons Was ‘Almost Cancelled’ Due To ‘Catastrophic’ Episode

Published by Sam Flores

With The Simpsons currently gearing up for its 38th season, the beloved animated show continues to extend its record as the longest-running sitcom in American TV history. After premiering at the end of the 1980s, it didn’t take long for the show to ascend to TV phenomenon status, and is now considered one of the most iconic and influential shows of all time. But what might fans might not realise is how close The Simpsons came to being axed before it even aired. It’s well-documented that The Simpsons got off to a bit of a bumpy start, with its planned debut episode Some Enchanted Evening being nowhere near ready for broadcast, resulting in the show launching with the Christmas special Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire instead. But former producer Mike Reiss has now revealed that the situation was so disastrous, the show came to close to being “cancelled” altogether. Speaking on the podcast My Roman Empire, Mike admitted: “It’s a famous story, they sat down and watched the first episode of The Simpsons – …

Man Causes ‘Catastrophic Damage’ to Chihuly Glass Museum in Seattle

Man Causes ‘Catastrophic Damage’ to Chihuly Glass Museum in Seattle

Published by Jenni Sidey

A man caused $240,000 in damage to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum in Seattle late on Monday night, according to a report by the local police. The Seattle Police Department did not name the man, saying only that he was 40 and that he was arrested for assault. The blotter report described the vandalism as “catastrophic damage.” According to the report, the man destroyed several sculptures of plants located on the museum’s grounds. Those sculptures are by Dale Chihuly, whose glass sculptures are highly prized. Related Articles “Officers found large pieces of colorful broken glass on the walking path and scattered around the area,” the police said, noting that the man was taken into custody after security identified him. The police alleged that the man “threw broken glass shards at security,” though he did not hurt anyone in the process. Moreover, the man allegedly “also picked up a broken shard of glass and tried to stab the museum security officer multiple times.” The report came with pictures that purported to show the sculptures’ shards …

‘Catastrophic’: Humanitarian emergency unfolding in Lebanon as Israeli airstrikes intensify

‘Catastrophic’: Humanitarian emergency unfolding in Lebanon as Israeli airstrikes intensify

Published by Sam Flores

Haxi Meyers-Belkin is pleased to welcome Kevin Charbel, Head of Première Urgence Internationale mission in Lebanon. From his vantage point, the current airstrikes in southern Lebanon are triggering a new humanitarian emergency exacerbating the prolonged national crisis. The new attacks are once again plunging Lebanon into a state of war: significant civilian casualties and the displacement of tens of thousands of people, many of whom had only recently returned to their homes following the November 2024 ceasefire. Keywords for this article Source link

This startup claims it can stop lightning and prevent catastrophic wildfires

This startup claims it can stop lightning and prevent catastrophic wildfires

Published by skeptic

Skyward’s diagrams show planes dropping particles into clouds to prevent cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in “high risk areas.” The company also notes in the document that it uses artificial intelligence for a number of purposes, including forecasting lightning storms, prioritizing treatments, targeting storm cells, and optimizing flight paths.   Harterre stressed that the company would deploy the technology judiciously and reserve it for storm events with elevated wildfire risk, adding that such storms account for less than 0.1% of lightning activity in a given area. “Our objective is to reduce the probability of ignition on the limited number of extreme-risk days when fires threaten lives, critical infrastructure, and ecosystems, and when suppression costs and impacts can escalate rapidly,” he said. The document posted by the World Bank states that Skyward partnered with Alberta Wildfire in August of 2024 to “prove suppression by plane and drone,” and that its process produced a “60-100% reduction” in lightning compared with “control cells” (which likely means storm cells that weren’t seeded).  The document added that the company would be carrying out …

‘Deliberate targeting of vital body parts’: X-rays taken after Iran protests expose extent of catastrophic injuries | Iran

‘Deliberate targeting of vital body parts’: X-rays taken after Iran protests expose extent of catastrophic injuries | Iran

Published by Sam Flores

Across the planes of Anahita’s* face, white dots shine like a constellation. Some gleam from inside the sockets of her eyes, others are scattered over the young woman’s chin, forehead, cheekbones. A few float over the dark expanse of her brain. Each dot represents a metal sphere, about 2-5mm in size, fired from the barrel of a shotgun and revealed by the X-ray camera for a CT scan. Shot from a distance, the projectiles, known as “birdshot”, spray widely, losing some of their momentum. At close range, they can crack bone, blast through the soft tissue of the face, and easily pierce the eyeball’s delicate globe. Anahita, who is in her early 20s, has lost at least one eye, possibly both. The image of Anahita’s head is one of more than 75 sets of medical images – primarily X-rays and CT scans – shared with the Guardian from one hospital in a major city in Iran, taken over the course of a single evening during the regime’s January crackdown on protesters. The plain, grayscale images …

It’s been five years since catastrophic Texas blackouts. How much has changed? : NPR

It’s been five years since catastrophic Texas blackouts. How much has changed? : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

FORT WORTH, TX – FEBRUARY 16: Pike Electric service trucks line up after a snow storm on February 16, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. Winter storm Uri has brought historic cold weather and power outages to Texas as storms have swept across 26 states with a mix of freezing temperatures and precipitation. Ron Jenkins/Getty Images North America hide caption toggle caption Ron Jenkins/Getty Images North America HOUSTON— Sade Hogue was five months pregnant with her second daughter when her home lost power during a deadly 2021 winter storm that left millions of Texans without power or heat for days. Hogue and her family went to stay with relatives who still had electricity. Then, a few days later, they also lost power. “Not only are you worried about you, but you’re worried about the unborn child because you don’t know what the effects of this freeze is doing to the child as well,” Hogue said. Five years after that winter storm which led to at least 246 deaths statewide and hundreds of billions of dollars in …