Links for 2024-07-02
AI:
Scaling Synthetic Data Creation with 1,000,000,000 Personas — Massive gains on MATH: 49.6 ->64.9 https://github.com/tencent-ailab/persona-hub
“To build the next generation of intelligent agents, developing efficient world models is essential. We introduce Δ-IRIS, an agent that learns behaviors by imagining millions of trajectories in its world model.” https://github.com/vmicheli/delta-iris
GraphReader: Building Graph-based Agent to Enhance Long-Context Abilities of Large Language Models https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.14550v1
Babies use ‘helpless’ infant period to learn powerful foundation models, just like ChatGPT https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/2024/infant-helplessness/
LLaRA: Supercharging Robot Learning Data for Vision-Language Policy https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.20095
PoliFormer: On-Policy RL with Transformers Results in Masterful Navigators https://poliformer.allen.ai/
Figure announces commercial agreement with BMW Manufacturing to bring general purpose robots into automotive production https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1TrbI0BaaU
Gen-3 Alpha Text to Video is now available to everyone. A new frontier for high-fidelity, fast and controllable video generation. https://runwayml.com/
Meta 3D Gen: A new system for end-to-end generation of 3D assets from text in <1min. https://ai.meta.com/research/publications/meta-3d-gen/
AI-assisted development is now the norm - 78% of survey respondents currently use AI in software development or plan to in the next two years, up from 64% in 2023. https://www.zdnet.com/article/ai-accelerates-software-development-to-breakneck-speeds-but-measuring-that-is-tricky/
Dario Amodei says AI models "better than most humans at most things" are 1-3 years away https://youtu.be/xm6jNMSFT7g?si=9TPpU0cbZdKtWQjG&t=746
Technology:
A new neuroprosthetic interface developed by researchers in the K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics is driven by the nervous system and helps people with amputation walk naturally. https://mcgovern.mit.edu/2024/07/01/a-prosthesis-driven-by-the-nervous-system-helps-people-with-amputation-walk-naturally/
Electricity-free mechanical computer goes beyond binary data storage https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ado6476
“This electric car battery takes less than 5 minutes to charge” https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/01/cars/electric-car-battery-charge/index.html
Breakthrough Computational Warp Drive Design Without Needing Negative Energy https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/06/breakthrough-computational-warp-drive-design-without-needing-negative-energy.html
Archeology:
A lost civilization’s partial alphabet was discovered in a social media post https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lost-civilization-alphabet-social-media
Archaeological evidence of an ethnographically documented Australian Aboriginal ritual dated to the last ice age https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-01912-w
Politics:
The lab leak theory for the origin of the Covid virus is once again deep-sixed https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2024/07/01/the-lab-leak-theory-for-the-origin-of-the-covid-virus-is-once-again-deep-sixed/
"South Korea is trending toward a fertility rate of just 0.68 births per woman in 2024 … was at 1.24 … in 2015, … Chile is projected to have a TFR of just 0.88 … in 2024, … 1.78 just in 2015. Turkey’s fertility was just 1.51 in 2023, having been 2.16 in 2015." https://x.com/MoreBirths/status/1807509085732106420
“The Indiana pi bill was bill 246 of the 1897 sitting of the Indiana General Assembly, one of the most notorious attempts to establish mathematical truth by legislative fiat.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_pi_bill
Israel:
Lt Gen Yitzhak Gershon: "...we won’t just attack Hizbullah. We will realise the number one lesson of the [2006] war...To destroy the state of Lebanon to its foundations. Gaza should look like paradise in comparison to what we shall do there" https://www.mako.co.il/news-columns/2024_q2/Article-5644e506f901091026.htm
Ukraine:
The SBU special forces destroyed eight Russian air defense systems using "RAM" strike drones, including four TOR-M2 SAMs, three Pantsyr-S1, and one BUK air defense system. https://x.com/NOELreports/status/1807009114561651142
“Destruction of the Russian BM-21 Grad MLRS with a big explosion at the end. And FPV attack attempt on a Russian fuel train. By “Ronins” unit.” https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1807035823109427400
HIMARS strike on the Russian Zala reconnaissance drone and Lancet loitering munition crews. https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1807031129083396144
“In the evening, on 01.07.2024, a missile attack was carried out on a facility of the Russian Black Sea Fleet near Cape Fiolent, Sevastopol, Crimea” https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1808073231485542755
“Early this morning, Ukrainian forces successfully struck a Russian facility in Kursk housing the 16th Separate Electronic Warfare Brigade and the 3754th Central Aviation Technical Base.” https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/1808140351716446449
Graveyard of Russian motorcycles. Approximately two dozen of motorcycles just on this spot. https://x.com/Tendar/status/1807752998543618213
“Footage of repelling the Russian attack on Konstantinovka by the 79th Brigade. The Ukrainian positions were mined and prepared.” https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1807838905884094950
“Kharkiv region, Vovchansk direction. Two brothers, Igor and Yevgeny Valetov, servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces from the 25th Motor Rifle Brigade, were wounded during a "meat assault." Despite this and the serious losses in their unit, their commanders drive them back to the attack the next day.” https://x.com/emilkastehelmi/status/1807848058203554272
“But despite its losses, Russia is recruiting 25,000 to 30,000 new soldiers a month — roughly as many as are exiting the battlefield, U.S. officials said.” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/27/us/politics/russia-casualties-ukraine-war.html [no paywall: https://archive.is/vKxsh]
“An Iskander-M missile looks to have struck a Ukrainian military train at the Ukrainka station in Zaporizhia region, 50 km from the front line. Russian sources claim the destruction of M113s, BUK-M1s, BMP-1s, and trucks, but the video quality makes it difficult to confirm. Regardless, the impact is significant.” https://x.com/NOELreports/status/1807154178633994664
“Myrhorod Air Base. Not the first time that Russian recon drones have been able to quietly observe before striking with an Iskander cluster missile. It appears that at least 1 Ukrainian Su-27 has been destroyed, while several others are also believed to have been damaged.” https://x.com/Rebel44CZ/status/1808022229332156922
The Dutch government will soon deliver 24 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. This decision marks the final significant act of the outgoing cabinet. Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced the approval of the export license for these jets. https://www.ad.nl/politiek/laatste-wapenfeit-kabinet-exportvergunning-nederlandse-f-16-s-rond-toestellen-spoedig-naar-oekraine~aec850c3/
Su-34 fighter-bombers strafing Ukraine are parked in the open at airfields less than 200 km from the Ukrainian border. Despite being within range of Ukraine's ATACMS missiles, a US ban prevents Ukraine from attacking these targets on Russian soil. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/06/28/russias-most-dangerous-jets-are-parked-in-the-open-a-hundred-miles-from-ukraine-but-kyiv-needs-washingtons-permission-to-strike-them/
Russian special forces under heavy fire in Vovchansk https://x.com/moklasen/status/1807176918317330857