All posts tagged: stakes

AI is raising the stakes in the government surveillance debate

AI is raising the stakes in the government surveillance debate

Published by Sam Flores

A controversial provision used by the federal government as a backdoor for spying on Americans is up for renewal in April. This time, however, analysts say that the renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 is of even greater stakes thanks to artificial intelligence, which has the potential to supercharge the government’s mass surveillance capabilities as well as the national security priorities laid out by President Donald Trump last year. In 1978, when Congress originally passed FISA, the act was meant to establish a system of oversight for the U.S.’s foreign surveillance activities, with the bill establishing the FISA court to provide some judicial oversight. In 2008, however, the bill was changed with the passage of Section 702 of FISA, which ostensibly empowered intelligence agencies with the ability to conduct mass surveillance of targeted noncitizens. The problem with FISA, however, is that it de facto created a system in which the government can collect and store information about essentially any foreigner it believes may have “foreign intelligence information,” a term so broadly defined …

Heat shield safety concerns raise stakes for Nasa’s Artemis II Moon mission

Heat shield safety concerns raise stakes for Nasa’s Artemis II Moon mission

Published by skeptic

The astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are preparing to launch into space on a trajectory that will make them the first humans to travel to the Moon in over half a century. Their 10-day mission, known as Artemis II, loops around the Moon but will not land. It will see them travel 4,700 miles (7,600 kilometres) beyond the lunar far side in Nasa’s Orion spacecraft. As such, the four astronauts will travel further from Earth than any humans before them. The quarter-of-a-million mile Artemis II expedition is audacious, but it’s the last five minutes of the mission that might be the most cause for concern for the safety of the astronauts. An uncrewed test of the Orion spacecraft in 2022 first highlighted problems with the heat shield. This is the part of Orion that bears the brunt of the searing heat the capsule experiences during re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere. When engineers examined the Orion heat shield from 2022’s Artemis I mission, they found large chunks of material had been lost. …

Strong early turnout in Italy referendum with high stakes for Meloni – POLITICO

Strong early turnout in Italy referendum with high stakes for Meloni – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Regional data shows northern and central regions leading participation, with Emilia-Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Lombardy recording the highest turnout so far. Southern regions including Calabria, Basilicata and Sicily are trailing in turnout. At the heart of the vote is a deeply contested reform of the Italian judiciary. The most controversial element is a proposal to overhaul how members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) — the body that governs judges’ careers — are selected. Instead of being elected, most members would be chosen by lottery under the proposal. Supporters of the reform argue the change would break the influence of internal factions within the judiciary and reduce politicization. Critics say it risks undermining merit and representation, potentially allowing underqualified and political candidates to oversee key decisions on appointments and discipline. Two further turnout updates are scheduled for 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. Sunday, with final results expected after polls close on Monday at 3 p.m. The referendum does not require a minimum turnout, meaning the reform will be approved or rejected based …

‘The stakes are enormous’: how a prolonged Iran war could shock the global economy | Global economy

‘The stakes are enormous’: how a prolonged Iran war could shock the global economy | Global economy

Published by Sam Flores

In the days after the US and Israel first bombed Iran, financial markets bet the economic fallout from Donald Trump’s “little excursion” in the Middle East would be short-lived. “There are risks from higher oil prices longer term. But this is a tail risk,” one US-based fund manager said after the airstrike killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “History has shown time and time again that geopolitical flare-ups like this tend to be short-lived. This one should prove to be no exception.’’ Goldman Sachs told clients it expected temporary disruption. “Oil prices to decline throughout the year. But risks are skewed to the upside,” its analysts wrote. UniCredit suggested crude would be capped at about $80 a barrel. “Given its struggle for survival, the Iranian regime has an incentive to keep its response measured”. Three weeks later, the prospect of a drawn-out war is causing mounting economic problems. Oil prices have soared above $100 a barrel, European gas prices have doubled, volatility stalks financial markets, and consumers worldwide are bracing for a surge in …

Houseplant hacks: should I swap moss poles for plant stakes? | Houseplants

Houseplant hacks: should I swap moss poles for plant stakes? | Houseplants

Published by Sam Flores

The problemSomewhere along the way, moss poles became mandatory for any climbing plant. In reality, most are plastic tubes wrapped in fibres that shed, go bald and drop bits all over the soil. The “living totem” promise is rarely fulfilled, especially if you aren’t misting it daily. The hackSwap the fake tree trunk for a proper plant stake. A simple metal or recycled plastic stake gives your climber something solid to lean on without pretending to be bark. The new sculptural stakes, such as the wavy pieces from Secateur Me Baby (pictured), transform a floppy vine into a line of living green wrapped around a piece of design. The methodChoose a stake taller than the current plant to allow room for growth. Push it into the soil close to the main stem, taking care not to stab the roots. Weave the vines through the curves. As new growth appears, keep guiding it along the stake’s shape. The testI replaced a patchy moss pole on a Monstera adansonii with a bold blue stake. The verdictIt was like …

High Stakes, and a Low Bar, For Markwayne Mullin at DHS

High Stakes, and a Low Bar, For Markwayne Mullin at DHS

Published by Daniella Wilson

During the 14 months of Kristi Noem’s tenure at the Department of Homeland Security, I regularly heard from staffers—career law-enforcement officers and political appointees alike—who were desperate for a return to institutional normalcy. Their concerns weren’t ideological. They felt, instead, that Noem was running the department and its law-enforcement agencies as an attention-grabbing spectacle, undermining their mission. Consider Noem’s appearance at a Salvadoran megaprison. Or the creepy white-nationalist messaging of her public-affairs team. Or the daily social-media clips of Greg Bovino’s masked border agents. Never mind the dubious media contracts, the luxury jet, and the presence of Corey Lewandowski, a shadow secretary rumored to be in a romance with Noem that both deny. These employees seemed to long for the steady hand of a veteran bureaucrat. Now Donald Trump has finally ousted Noem, but in her place, he is sending them Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. Mullin is a former mixed-martial-arts fighter, a current fighter for Trump, and a guy who once tried to throw down against the president of the Teamsters union in …

Costs mount as war on Iran nears third week, raising political stakes for Trump

Costs mount as war on Iran nears third week, raising political stakes for Trump

Published by Sam Flores

Democrats have raised concerns that the surge in military spending could come at the expense of domestic priorities. “Taxpayer dollars should be used to make your life more affordable,” noted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries during a recent press conference. “We’ve seen Republicans, led by Donald Trump … spending billions of dollars to bomb Iran. But they can’t find a dime to make it more affordable for the American people to go see a doctor … to lower the grocery bills,” Jeffries added. Polls already show that a majority of Americans believe the country is facing an affordability crisis, and the war is now contributing to rising costs at home. SOARING OIL PRICES Since the US and Israel first launched strikes on Iran on Feb 28, surging oil prices have pushed fuel costs up by 16 cents per litre, putting new pressure on household budgets. “I’m really going to have to cut back on where I drive and how often I drive, I’m going to have to make one trip instead of three trips to …

Lead Investor in Music Generation App Suno Deletes Tweet That Contradicts Its Argument in High Stakes Court Cases

Lead Investor in Music Generation App Suno Deletes Tweet That Contradicts Its Argument in High Stakes Court Cases

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech As music streaming services continue to be overwhelmed by a tidal wave of AI slop, companies facilitating the creation of said slop are exploding in popularity. AI music app Suno hit two million paid subscribers and $300 million in annual recurring revenue, as cofounder and CEO Mikey Shulman proudly announced on LinkedIn last week, highlighting considerable interest in software that allows anybody with or without music production experience to generate soulless regurgitations of other people’s work through simple text prompts. Much like their text-based AI chatbot counterparts, the emergence of these apps has sparked a heated debate surrounding copyright infringement. While major label Warner Music Group announced in November that it was settling its copyright lawsuit against Suno and signing a deal with the company instead, other legal challenges remain up in the air. Case in point, Germany’s music rights organization, GEMA, accused Suno of using its repertoire without the required licensing or artist compensation last year. The …

The political stakes of organized crime in Israel

The political stakes of organized crime in Israel

Published by Sam Flores

During a protest against crime in the Arab community in Tamra, northern Israel, on January 28, 2026. LAURENCE GEAI/MYOP FOR LE MONDE Israeli society has long been spared from drug trafficking and the violence that comes with it. Early Zionist settlers stigmatized hashish as a symbol of what they called Arab “decadence,” which they claimed to be fighting against. It was not until Israel’s occupation in 1967 of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that a psychedelic culture, largely imported from the United States, began to take root in Israel. The now-common “pilgrimage” to India to experiment with drugs became a frequent interval between the three years of military service for men (and two years for women) and entry into working life. Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982 brought the hashish-producing regions of Lebanon into contact with the rapidly expanding Israeli market, with 700 tonnes smuggled in as early as the following year. Israeli officers were sometimes implicated in these cross-border networks, which were regularly dismantled. Crackdowns intensified due to the involvement …

Love in low gravity: The surprisingly high stakes of sex in space

Love in low gravity: The surprisingly high stakes of sex in space

Published by Jenni Sidey

Outer space is having a moment. NASA’s Artemis 2 mission is about to take humans farther into space than we have ever gone; SpaceX is preparing to test the latest version of Starship, its interplanetary transport system; and just today, a crew of four astronauts flew to the International Space Station to replace the team that was evacuated last month due to a medical emergency. These efforts are part of a common vision: expanding humanity’s presence beyond Earth, including the eventual creation of human settlements on Mars. But what would it be like to live on Mars? Aside from the challenges of lower gravity, intense radiation, and toxic soil, an important, but less often considered, factor would be your love life. People have been traveling to space for more than six decades and have been living off-planet continuously since 2000, when the International Space Station (ISS) became operational. Yet, no one has had sex in space (as far as we know). This is surprising given the extensive research dedicated to understanding nearly every aspect of …