Lab-Grown Brains Growing More Powerful
March 1st, 2026Via: Futurism:
In a remarkable breakthrough published in the journal Cell Reports, researchers were able to effectively coach lab-grown brains into solving the “cart-pole” problem. The cart-pole problem is an engineering benchmark used in robotics, artificial intelligence — and now cognitive science — to measure how effective systems are at processing information.
The test basically involves balancing a broomstick upright on your palm. Gravity forces you to constantly adjust your position — move too much or not enough, and the broom falls. Every human needs to solve this problem in order to stand and walk upright. Luckily for us, we have our animal instincts (and more importantly, our inner ears) to guide us through; brain organoids have no such advantage.
Yet by coaxing their mini-brains with electrical signals guided by a reinforcement learning algorithm, the UCSC researchers were able to “coach” the organoids from a cart-pole “win” rate of just 4.5 percent to a whopping 46 percent.
“You could think of it like an artificial coach that says, ‘you’re doing it wrong, tweak it a little bit in this way,’” Ash Robbins, the study’s lead author said in a press release. “We’re learning how to best give it these coaching signals.”
In essence, their success proves that brain organoids are capable of goal-directed learning, similar to the kind of trial-and-error a toddler goes through as they learn to walk.
Why The World Is Suddenly Running Out Of RAM
February 28th, 2026Via: Cold Fusion:
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Has Been Killed
February 28th, 2026Via: The War Zone:
U.S. President Donald Trump says that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed. Khamenei was among a number of senior Iranian officials targeted in the initial wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes earlier today.
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“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social social media network. “He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”
IRAN UNDER ATTACK FROM U.S. AND ISRAEL
February 28th, 2026Live Coverage
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Via: The War Zone:
The U.S. and Israel have began a major military operation that is aimed directly at the regime, its nuclear ambitions and its ability to wage war in the future.
Epstein and the Hijacking of Bitcoin
February 27th, 2026Via: Brownstone Institute:
The original vision for Bitcoin was simple: peer-to-peer digital cash, free from banks and government. However, the document argues that this vision was deliberately “hijacked,” as Bitcoin is now pushed as “digital gold,” a scarce asset for Wall Street, with slow and expensive transactions for everyday use.
This shift began with the 2015-2017 Block Size Fight, where a group won the argument to keep transaction blocks small, making the main network costly. The promoted “fix,” the Lightning Network, is a faster system but relies on middlemen (hubs), fundamentally changing it from true P2P cash.
The funding for this change is linked to Jeffrey Epstein. After the Bitcoin Foundation collapsed, his money flowed through MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) to pay the core developers who favored the small-block path. Epstein also invested in Blockstream, a company started by those same developers.
More: How Epstein Hijacked Bitcoin with Aaron Day
Bohemian Grove Attendance List from 2023 Summer Encampment
February 27th, 2026Via: Dan Boguslaw:
U.S. Establishes Task Force to Employ One-Way-Attack Drones in Middle East
February 27th, 2026Via: The Aviationist:
The U.S. military will employ Shahed-like One-Way-Attack (OWA) drones in the Middle East with the establishment of a new task force. On Dec. 3, 2025, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) launched Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS), which will oversee the U.S. military’s first OWA drone squadron.
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The unnamed squadron assigned to TFSS, which will operate the Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones, is currently based in the Middle East at an undisclosed location. CENTCOM says the drones have an extensive range and are designed to operate autonomously.
The command further adds they can be launched with different mechanisms to include catapults, rocket-assisted takeoff, and mobile ground and vehicle systems. This capability removes the dependency on runways normally associated to unmanned aircraft like the MQ-9 Reaper.
Anthropic Refusing to Let U.S. Government Use AI for Mass Domestic Surveillance and Fully Autonomous Weapons
February 27th, 2026Via: Anthropic:
The Department of War has stated they will only contract with AI companies who accede to “any lawful use” and remove safeguards in the cases mentioned above. They have threatened to remove us from their systems if we maintain these safeguards; they have also threatened to designate us a “supply chain risk”—a label reserved for US adversaries, never before applied to an American company—and to invoke the Defense Production Act to force the safeguards’ removal. These latter two threats are inherently contradictory: one labels us a security risk; the other labels Claude as essential to national security.
Regardless, these threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.
Apple Will Begin Manufacturing Mac Mini In Texas Later This Year
February 24th, 2026Via: Apple:
Apple today announced a significant expansion of factory operations in Houston, bringing the future production of Mac mini to the U.S. for the first time. The company will also expand advanced AI server manufacturing at the factory and provide hands-on training at its new Advanced Manufacturing Center beginning later this year. Altogether, Apple’s Houston operations will create thousands of jobs.
“Apple is deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing, and we’re proud to significantly expand our footprint in Houston with the production of Mac mini starting later this year,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We began shipping advanced AI servers from Houston ahead of schedule, and we’re excited to accelerate that work even further.”
Firefox 148 Rolls Out With The Promised AI Kill Switch
February 24th, 2026Via: Techspot:
Firefox and its forks remain the preferred browsers for a niche segment of power users, many of whom strongly opposed Mozilla’s plans to infuse the browser with generative AI features. To its credit, Mozilla listened to community feedback and agreed to introduce a graphical interface option allowing users to disable all AI features globally. The so-called “AI kill switch” is now available in Firefox 148.
Related: Mozilla Firefox
