Links for 2023-08-12
Chinese tech companies reportedly rushed to stockpile $5 billion worth of advanced gaming processors to power artificial-intelligence development. https://www.ft.com/content/9dfee156-4870-4ca4-b67d-bb5a285d855c [https://archive.is/LpAG2]
Evidence Shows AI-Driven Companies Are Buying up Gaming GPUs https://www.tomshardware.com/news/evidence-shows-ai-driven-companies-are-buying-up-gaming-gpus
Nvidia Unveils Faster Chip Aimed at Cementing AI Dominance https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-08/nvidia-unveils-faster-processor-aimed-at-cementing-ai-dominance [https://archive.is/GNcJE]
3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering https://repo-sam.inria.fr/fungraph/3d-gaussian-splatting/
GPT-3 Aces Tests of Reasoning by Analogy https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/07/large-language-models-beat-undergrads-on-tests-of-reasoning-via-analogy/
“No one likes geoengineering. It will certainly be done, as it is the lesser of two evils. Of course, increasing the global greenhouse gas forcing by 4 W/m² is also a form of geoengineering. We don't like that, but did it nonetheless.” https://www.ryanlcooper.com/geoengineering-is-going-to-happen/
“Skin cancer rates are ~17-fold higher in the UK compared to Singapore despite that Singaporeans bathe in 2-3 fold more UV radiation than the British.” https://twitter.com/doctorveera/status/1687590434644606976
Super Radar: Breakthrough radar research overcomes a nearly century-old trade-off between wavelength and distance resolution https://news.chapman.edu/2023/08/02/super-radar-breakthrough-radar-research-overcomes-a-nearly-century-old-trade-off-between-wavelength-and-distance-resolution-2/
Revolutionizing Optical Imaging With Complex-Domain Neural Networks https://spie.org/news/complex-domain-neural-network-advances-large-scale-coherent-imaging
“What the hell is an ampersand and why does it look like that?! The first thing you need to know is that "&" used to be the 27th letter of the alphabet...” https://twitter.com/culturaltutor/status/1687673402750828544
Remains found in China may belong to third human lineage https://phys.org/news/2023-08-china-human-lineage.html
Ukraine links:
“I say this as a budget cutter - if you dislike the $113 billion spent on Ukraine so far, you'd really hate the *trillions* in higher defense spending we'd see over the next 20 years had Russia quickly won and moved towards other former Soviet neighbors.” https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/ukraine-aid-isnt-breaking-the-bank/ [https://archive.is/z3sFg]
“Russia’s control on the left bank of Dnipro in Kherson is crumbling fast as Ukrainian SOF teams operate deep in the rear. Here, in a video released by Sobchak, troops of Battalion 1822 raised in Moscow say they’ve lost 40% of their men in two weeks.” https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1690035932655697920
“Ukrainian armored forces have successfully fought their way into Urozhaine, Donetsk Oblast, as seen here, multiple Ukrainian tanks move towards the center of town while shelling Russian positions.” https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1690056114195308557
“The 2S22 Bohdana is an impressive modern self-propelled howitzer with a range of up to 50km and an average fire rate of 6 shells per minute. But most importantly, it's a system that has been designed, manufactured, improved and deployed, all inside Ukraine's borders.” https://twitter.com/WhereisRussia/status/1689925497541554176 (more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLUXoYmhT1I)
We must prevent the war from escalating between Russia and NATO. That's why we haven't done it alone (sending Taurus). Our focus remains on sending […] air defence, artillery and tanks […] in close cooperation with our international partners
— Olaf Scholz on August 11th 2023
This is the same old narrative that allowed Russia to build fortifications over many months.
There won't be an escalation because Russia is already struggling to win against a much smaller country without air superiority.
And they are not going to commit collective nuclear suicide over a few missiles.
This cowardice is why Putin attacked in the first place: https://twitter.com/SpencerGuard/status/1661512331397054464