All posts tagged: testing

US reverses course on Britain’s testing of AI models, Telegraph says

US reverses course on Britain’s testing of AI models, Telegraph says

Published by Sam Flores

(Corrects to drop byline with no text changes) By Courtney Rozen WASHINGTON, Oct 11 : American AI developers can give the British government early access to AI models for safety testing without running afoul of US President Donald Trump’s administration, the Telegraph newspaper said on Sunday. The Trump administration has reversed a decision that requested developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic not to share new AI models with Britain’s AI Security Institute before release, the newspaper said. The change signals a softer stance by the Trump administration on international AI safety efforts, giving US developers greater latitude to cooperate with Britain as policymakers grapple with how to oversee the increasingly powerful technology. Spokespersons for Trump, OpenAI and Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Britain’s AI Security Institute, set up after the world’s first AI safety summit in 2023, tests the most advanced AI models to evaluate their capabilities and the risk of misuse.  Trump has repeatedly dismissed calls for binding safety requirements on AI developers, a position that appears …

Your old HDD’s reliability depends on who made it, here’s what testing from over 400k drives shows

Your old HDD’s reliability depends on who made it, here’s what testing from over 400k drives shows

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Given how expensive NAND memory is, SSDs are out of reach for most, and HDDs are somehow making a comeback in the hardware market, despite their obsolescence. For bulk data storage and offloading content I don’t use daily, or for building a NAS server, I’ll always reach for mechanical drives because they retain data better and last longer than SSDs. However, despite their strengths, HDDs require much more care than an SSD, and I’m not even talking about physical care, since there are moving parts involved. Instead, some HDD brands require more care than others, according to a study that tested over 400k HDDs in a data center environment. Related This built-in Windows feature tells you how much life your hard drive has left Your hard drive is silently monitoring its own health. Your HDD’s age matters less than who made it Brand affects how likely an old HDD is to fail Based on a research paper in which two economists, Christoph Siemroth and Yeomyung Park, extensively analyzed 443,156 HDDs over 1.66 million drive-years from …

PNOE’s new face mask wants to make lab-grade breath testing a self-serve affair

PNOE’s new face mask wants to make lab-grade breath testing a self-serve affair

Published by Miika Tikkanen

At first glance, the newest device from PNOĒ looks like something a comic-book villain might wear. The mask, which covers the nose and mouth and straps around the back of the head, bears more than a passing resemblance to the one worn by Bane, Batman’s hulking nemesis. But its purpose is far more benign; it measures how much oxygen you consume and how much carbon dioxide you exhale, then turns that data into advice about how to eat, train, and, the company hopes, live longer. PNOĒ, which is based in Malden, Massachusetts, and has operations in Athens, Greece, is preparing to launch the PNOĒ 2.0 on October 1. The big change from its current device is that users can administer the test themselves. According to co-founder and CEO Apostolos Atsalakis, someone can walk into a gym, “just wear the mask, push the button, sit down,” and breathe for eight minutes. “That’s it. It’s that easy,” he said recently, talking with this editor over a Zoom call from the company’s Athens location. That matters because PNOĒ’s …

Pentagon issues new guidance for testosterone testing after rescinding previous one

Pentagon issues new guidance for testosterone testing after rescinding previous one

Published by Sam Flores

The Pentagon issued new guidance late Thursday requiring mandatory testosterone deficiency screening for male active-duty and ​reserve service members over the age of 30 after temporarily rescinding previous guidance earlier this month.  The department said the updated guidance will address male testosterone deficiency and establish uniform screening and treatment pathways across the Defense Health Agency… Source link

Those Viral Bodega Peptides Aren’t Actually Peptides

Those Viral Bodega Peptides Aren’t Actually Peptides

Published by Miika Tikkanen

The Mr. Green bodega sits on a busy stretch of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Near the counter, you can buy the usual assortment of candy, gum, rolling papers, and soda. You can also purchase tiny vials of injectable peptides. So we did. And then we sent them to a lab. Mr. Green is one of several shops that went viral this summer for selling peptides, a broad class of amino acids touted for their ability to aid in everything from weight loss to injury recovery. For $376.20, we acquired four varieties: PT-141, for low libido; BPC-157, for healing and muscle recovery; NAD+, for cellular repair; and retatrutide, for weight loss. The clerk packed them up in an unlabeled paper bag and sent us on our way. WIRED sent the vials to Finnrick, an Austin-based startup that offers independent peptide testing. Consumers can request tests for purity and whether samples contain common contaminants, as well as whether they contain the quantity of the substance listed. The company doesn’t have in-house labs but instead acts …

Defender’s smaller off-road EV spotted testing

Defender’s smaller off-road EV spotted testing

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Defender is preparing to launch its first fully electric SUV, a compact off-roader that’s expected to debut by the end of the year. When will Defender launch the Sport EV? After the Range Rover Electric finally went on sale earlier this week, JLR is preparing to introduce its first EV under the Defender brand. The electric SUV is expected to arrive in 2027, likely as the Defender Sport EV, and could make its official debut by the end of the year. While the Range Rover Electric is fairly expensive, starting at £154,070 in the UK and about $140,000 in the US, the Defender “Sport” EV is expected to be positioned below the standard entry-level Defender SUV. JLR has been talking about a “mini Defender” for years now, but it’s finally coming together. Ahead of its debut, expected later this year, a prototype was spotted testing around the Nürburgring. Although it’s still disguised, the new spy images from @Wilcoblok reveal the Defender Sport EV will retain its signature boxy, rugged design in electric form. It will …

How AI could replace animal testing

How AI could replace animal testing

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Scientists across Europe are combining AI, human cells and mini-organs to predict chemical harm, reducing the need for testing on animals. Around 150,000 animals, mostly rats and mice, are used in the EU each year to test the safety of everyday chemicals, but that is starting to change. Animal welfare campaigners have long raised concerns about this practice, and questions remain over how well results from animals translate to humans. Researchers have therefore set out to design more reliable, less invasive testing methods, building on the EU’s earlier ban on animal testing for cosmetics. “Companies must register and prove that their substances are safe in order to access the European market,” said Professor John Colbourne, a biologist specialising in environmental genomics at the University of Birmingham, UK, where he also directs the Centre for Environmental Research and Justice. That obligation comes from REACH, the EU regulation governing chemical safety, which also commits Europe to the so-called three Rs: replacing animal tests where possible, reducing the numbers of animals used for testing, and refining procedures to …

Peacock Is Testing Out a Rewards Program for Subscribers

Peacock Is Testing Out a Rewards Program for Subscribers

Published by Miika Tikkanen

There aren’t too many streaming services that lean into membership perks for their subscribers, but Peacock is testing the waters with a rewards program. On Tuesday, the company announced the launch of a beta test for a select group of Peacock Premium and Premium Plus subscribers, aimed at providing “meaningful recognition, exclusive access, flexibility, and experiences that extend beyond traditional discounts.” The news arrives the same week the streamer announced a round of price hikes across its plans. The rewards membership is included with the streaming subscription at no extra cost, and is offered in three tiers based on how long you’ve subscribed to the service. Customers who’ve had an account for three months to one year are in the Gold tier; Platinum members are those with one to three years under their belts; any subscriber who’s had one of the eligible Peacock plans for more than three years is in the Diamond tier. For now, the beta version has rewards that fall under four categories. NBCUniversal rewards are tailored for Peacock and NBCU programming …

Self-driving trucks are officially testing on California highways

Self-driving trucks are officially testing on California highways

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI, two companies developing self-driving trucks, have received permits from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test their autonomous vehicle technology on public roads. And Kodiak has already started. Kodiak said it is starting with a handful of test trucks in California, primarily around its Mountain View office. Both companies applied for testing permits this spring under updated rules approved by the California DMV, the agency that regulates autonomous vehicles in the state. Those rules, approved April 28, lifted a ban on driverless vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds from testing on public roads and provided a regulatory path for companies to test, and eventually deploy, autonomous heavy-duty vehicles. Kodiak and Aurora met the DMV’s permitting criteria, including safety, insurance, vehicle registration, safety driver qualification, and other requirements, according to the agency. The testing permits require a human safety operator to be behind the wheel and prohibit companies from operating on roads where the posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour or less, unless they are on a “direct route” …