Agree - it’s a po-faced snooze fest…
June 13, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Agree - it’s a po-faced snooze fest…
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
Creepy! Visited the abandoned Fort de la Chartreuse. The fort was built in 1817 by the Dutch to defend Liège. After the revolution of 1830, it came into Belgian hands. Decommissioned in 1891, it was converted into a barracks. In 1988, it was finally abandoned by the Belgian army.
May 26, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Creepy! Visited the abandoned Fort de la Chartreuse. The fort was built in 1817 by the Dutch to defend Liège. After the revolution of 1830, it came into Belgian hands. Decommissioned in 1891, it was converted into a barracks. In 1988, it was finally abandoned by the Belgian army.
V interesting. And maybe multicausal, but I reckon Fraser Nelson gets at one of the reasons - apathetic, screen addicted young men aren’t getting drunk and violent… link below:
“Baltimore’s decline in violence is not unique…crime appears to be falling all over America. Jeff Asher, an analyst who compiles a real-time crime index … reckons that this year is on track to be the least murderous nationwide since the 1960s” www.economist.com/united-state...
Violent crime is falling rapidly across America
Baltimore’s success may illustrate why
www.economist.com
May 18, 2025 at 6:30 PM
V interesting. And maybe multicausal, but I reckon Fraser Nelson gets at one of the reasons - apathetic, screen addicted young men aren’t getting drunk and violent… link below:
True. And also habit
We under discuss boredom as a political phenomenon
May 11, 2025 at 12:53 PM
True. And also habit
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
New blog post: open.substack.com/pub/cassiai/...
Doctor Weirdlove or: “How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Skynet”
Why betting on a crewed RAF Tempest is a dangerous gamble—and how ignoring the AGI debate leaves us strategically exposed
open.substack.com
May 9, 2025 at 7:17 PM
New blog post: open.substack.com/pub/cassiai/...
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
‚Drones don’t replace troops; in fact, each flight of a first-person-view drone can require up to four soldiers. For flights last week in northeastern Ukraine, a drone squad consisted of a pilot, a navigator, an armorer and a pilot of a retransmitting drone.‘ www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/w...
Ukraine Pinning War Hopes on Expanded Drone Program
Ukraine has adapted strategies and weapons during its fight against Russia. It is now banking on expanding the use of domestically produced drones, even though American arms remain crucial.
www.nytimes.com
April 28, 2025 at 4:56 PM
‚Drones don’t replace troops; in fact, each flight of a first-person-view drone can require up to four soldiers. For flights last week in northeastern Ukraine, a drone squad consisted of a pilot, a navigator, an armorer and a pilot of a retransmitting drone.‘ www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/w...
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
Russian satellite at centre of nuclear weapons allegations is 'spinning out of control'
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Russian satellite at centre of nuclear weapons allegations is spinning out of control, analysts say
Data indicates the Cosmos 2553 – which US officials claim is aiding Moscow’s development of nuclear anti-satellite weapon – may no longer be functional
www.theguardian.com
April 26, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Russian satellite at centre of nuclear weapons allegations is 'spinning out of control'
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Robustly demonstrated by now that you don’t need a mind to have theory of mind:
Interesting experiment on a LLM deliberately lying to its users. "Apollo’s experiment is arresting proof that AI models, though incapable of conscious thought, are nonetheless capable of pursuing goals at odds with those of their programmers." www.economist.com/science-and-...
AI models can learn to conceal information from their users
This makes it harder to ensure that they remain transparent
www.economist.com
April 25, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Robustly demonstrated by now that you don’t need a mind to have theory of mind:
Simulating the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
A Project Schelling update
open.substack.com
April 15, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
Human brain cells engineered to evade detection by the immune system have successfully restored muscle control in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease
https://go.nature.com/4lqDT3w
https://go.nature.com/4lqDT3w
Brain cells given an ‘invisibility cloak’ fix Parkinson’s symptoms in rats
Neurons engineered to evade the immune system could work as cell-replacement therapy.
go.nature.com
April 10, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Human brain cells engineered to evade detection by the immune system have successfully restored muscle control in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease
https://go.nature.com/4lqDT3w
https://go.nature.com/4lqDT3w
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
Artificial intelligence complicates nuclear deterrence strategy in more ways than you might expect. warontherocks.com/episode/thin...
April 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Artificial intelligence complicates nuclear deterrence strategy in more ways than you might expect. warontherocks.com/episode/thin...
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
Pundits are - in vain - looking to economics and politics when trying to explain Trump's behavior.
But, in reality, the central place to look if we want to understand Trump and his policies is this:
The psychology of dominance.
🧵(1/5)
But, in reality, the central place to look if we want to understand Trump and his policies is this:
The psychology of dominance.
🧵(1/5)
April 9, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Pundits are - in vain - looking to economics and politics when trying to explain Trump's behavior.
But, in reality, the central place to look if we want to understand Trump and his policies is this:
The psychology of dominance.
🧵(1/5)
But, in reality, the central place to look if we want to understand Trump and his policies is this:
The psychology of dominance.
🧵(1/5)
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
And yet, few signs of anything other than business as usual
Strong words from the PM. “First it was defence and national security. Now it is the global economy and trade. Old assumptions can no longer be taken for granted. The world as we knew it has gone” www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
The world as we knew it has gone. Nobody wins from a trade war
My Government will champion the voice of British industry on the international stage
www.telegraph.co.uk
April 6, 2025 at 11:05 AM
And yet, few signs of anything other than business as usual
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
And I’m not stopping there
Saab has seen orders to the tune of tens of billions of SEK the last two years from a "secret" customer. Radars, recoilless rifles and air defence has been purchased, and the mystery customer is now the company's fifth largest. ekonomibladet.se/hemligt-land...
Hemligt land spenderar tiotals miljarder – på Saab
ekonomibladet.se
March 28, 2025 at 3:58 PM
And I’m not stopping there
This is super - Mike and Shashank feel the AGI and discuss much else besides:
www.chinatalk.media/p/agi-and-th...
www.chinatalk.media/p/agi-and-th...
AGI and the Future of Warfare
Shashank and Horowitz go beyond superweapons
www.chinatalk.media
March 28, 2025 at 3:53 PM
This is super - Mike and Shashank feel the AGI and discuss much else besides:
www.chinatalk.media/p/agi-and-th...
www.chinatalk.media/p/agi-and-th...
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
This would be a huge cultural change. Dutch leader of the Party for the Animals announces there is a majority in parliament for banning private fireworks—a mainstay of New Year’s celebrations.
Geweldige doorbraak!
Kamermeerderheid in zicht voor de wet van
Partij voor de Dieren en GroenLinks voor een vuurwerkverbod!
Met dank aan jarenlange strijd door dierenbeschermers, oogartsen, politie en vele anderen.
Heel goed nieuws voor mens en dier!
Kamermeerderheid in zicht voor de wet van
Partij voor de Dieren en GroenLinks voor een vuurwerkverbod!
Met dank aan jarenlange strijd door dierenbeschermers, oogartsen, politie en vele anderen.
Heel goed nieuws voor mens en dier!
VVD is om: Kamermeerderheid gloort voor algeheel vuurwerkverbod
Een algeheel vuurwerkverbod gloort in Nederland. De VVD is om en zal, onder voorwaarden, het wetsvoorstel van GroenLinks-PvdA en Partij voor de Dieren dat een vuurwerkverbod regelt, steunen. Dat verte...
www.rtl.nl
March 27, 2025 at 1:32 PM
This would be a huge cultural change. Dutch leader of the Party for the Animals announces there is a majority in parliament for banning private fireworks—a mainstay of New Year’s celebrations.
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
'In response to the DeepSeek mania in January of this year, he said, “I confess I hadn’t heard of them”. This oversight might have been excusable had it not been made by the most senior AI researcher at a [UK] national AI institute.' www.chalmermagne.com/p/how-not-to...
How not to build an AI Institute
What went wrong with the Alan Turing Institute?
www.chalmermagne.com
March 27, 2025 at 11:14 AM
'In response to the DeepSeek mania in January of this year, he said, “I confess I hadn’t heard of them”. This oversight might have been excusable had it not been made by the most senior AI researcher at a [UK] national AI institute.' www.chalmermagne.com/p/how-not-to...
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
Scientists have created the first map of the crucial structures called mitochondria throughout the entire brain
https://go.nature.com/4c2YMxw
https://go.nature.com/4c2YMxw
First map of human brain mitochondria is ‘groundbreaking’ achievement
Hundreds of cubes of human brain tissue help scientists to chart the energy-making capabilities of various brain regions.
go.nature.com
March 26, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Scientists have created the first map of the crucial structures called mitochondria throughout the entire brain
https://go.nature.com/4c2YMxw
https://go.nature.com/4c2YMxw
Reposted by Kenneth Payne
Three hypotheses, not mutually exclusive:
- The UK has few or no options for nuclear signalling
- The UK is not good at nuclear signalling
- The UK does not like nuclear signalling
Discuss.
- The UK has few or no options for nuclear signalling
- The UK is not good at nuclear signalling
- The UK does not like nuclear signalling
Discuss.
French nuclear signalling in 2022: "...waited for a Russian spy satellite to pass over their airfield & launched drills they were confident the Kremlin would watch, a/c to French officials. Rafale jets took off carrying dummy weapons to simulate attacks" www.wsj.com/world/europe...
March 25, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Three hypotheses, not mutually exclusive:
- The UK has few or no options for nuclear signalling
- The UK is not good at nuclear signalling
- The UK does not like nuclear signalling
Discuss.
- The UK has few or no options for nuclear signalling
- The UK is not good at nuclear signalling
- The UK does not like nuclear signalling
Discuss.
Bluesky is the home of cakeist thinking - especially when it comes to HE spending
New Public First polling shows how tough the “gun and butter” debate is for Starmer — public is wildly cakeist and Lab voters think butter more important. With @theboysmithy.ft.com dataviz for @financialtimes.com
on.ft.com/421yt6y New poll shows risks for Keir Starmer over spending choices
on.ft.com/421yt6y New poll shows risks for Keir Starmer over spending choices
March 24, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Bluesky is the home of cakeist thinking - especially when it comes to HE spending
Utterly wrong
March 18, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Utterly wrong