Hackernews.

Hackernews.

Actuators are an essential part of a robot, creating movement between the robot and its environment. Actuators with thin and flexible shapes can operate in a wider variety of environments, and actuators with multiple degrees of freedom can generate more complex movements. Here, we propose a soft pneumatic actuator in the form of a thin, flexible sheet that can generate different motion vector fields on its surface. The actuator contains dozens of thin pneumatic chambers and multi-channel pneumatic circuits connecting them in its thin body, converting input pressure into complex surface movements. Depending on the pressure sequence, it can produce surface movements in six different directions, at different speeds, and over different distances. The versatility of the proposed actuator is demonstrated through tasks such as obstacle removal in narrow pipes, in-hand manipulation, and underwater object transport.

For LLMs and AI search engines, these conversations and the knowledge they create are essential for training. Platforms like Reddit, where people discuss every aspect of life—from the trivial to the transformative—are the backbone of building AI that actually works. That’s why Reddit is the #1 most cited domain for AI across all models, per data collected by Profound. In an automated world that depends on human knowledge, we view Reddit as one of the most important and differentiated data sources.

We believe this validates what we’ve always thought: human conversation is not being replaced by AI; instead, it’s becoming more important. AI doesn’t invent knowledge—it learns from us. From real people, sharing real perspectives. You can’t have artificial intelligence without actual intelligence.

Desktop Archive.

Note: I usually don't share Techdirt articles, due to their bad Cloudflare configuration. But I see a good value in this article.

• Scottish company Skyrora has received a space launch licence from the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
• This the first time a UK based rocket company has received a launch licence.
• The licence allows for up to 16 launches a year of from SaxaVord Spaceport.

Hackernews.

The database — the first of its kind in the nation — will vastly expand public access to internal affairs records that disclose how law enforcement agencies throughout the state handle misconduct allegations as well as uses of police force that result in death or serious injury. The database, funded by the State of California, currently has records from nearly 12,000 cases, including thousands involving police shootings. Every record in the database was released by a law enforcement agency after being redacted in compliance with California’s public records laws. As a result, journalists and members of the public will now be able to search statewide for particular types of misconduct and use-of-force. Police chiefs will be able to use the data to aid in hiring decisions. Researchers will be able to identify trends and patterns.

Perplexity blog.

The Trump administration has asked NASA employees to draw up plans to end at least two major satellite missions, according to current and former NASA staffers. If the plans are carried out, one of the missions would be permanently terminated, because the satellite would burn up in the atmosphere.

The data the two missions collect is widely used, including by scientists, oil and gas companies and farmers who need detailed information about carbon dioxide and crop health. They are the only two federal satellite missions that were designed and built specifically to monitor planet-warming greenhouse gases.

It is unclear why the Trump administration seeks to end the missions. The equipment in space is state-of-the-art and is expected to function for many more years, according to scientists who worked on the missions. An official review by NASA in 2023 found that "the data are of exceptionally high quality," and recommended continuing the mission for at least three years.

Both missions, known as the Orbiting Carbon Observatories, measure carbon dioxide and plant growth around the globe. They use identical measurement devices, but one device is attached to a stand-alone satellite while the other is attached to the International Space Station. The standalone satellite would burn up in the atmosphere, if NASA pursued plans to terminate the mission.

NASA employees who work on the two missions are making what the agency calls Phase F plans for both carbon-monitoring missions, according to David Crisp, a longtime NASA engineer who designed the instruments and managed the missions until he retired in 2022. Phase F plans lay out options for terminating NASA missions.

Crisp says NASA employees making those termination plans have reached out to him for his technical expertise. "What I have heard is direct communications from people who were making those plans, who weren't allowed to tell me that that's what they were told to do. But they were allowed to ask me questions," Crisp says. "They were asking me very sharp questions. The only thing that would have motivated those questions was [that] somebody told them to come up with a termination plan."

Three other academic scientists who use data from the missions confirmed that they, too, have been contacted with questions related to mission termination. All three asked for anonymity because they are concerned that speaking about the mission termination plans publicly could endanger the jobs of the NASA employees who contacted them.

Two current NASA employees also confirmed that NASA mission leaders were told to make termination plans for projects that would lose funding under President Trump's proposed budget for the next fiscal year, or FY 2026, which begins October 1. The employees asked to remain anonymous, because they were told they would be fired if they revealed the request.

California lawmakers want to ban companies from using data about consumers’ devices like battery life, model and geolocation to set fluctuating prices. Proponents say such “surveillance pricing” is discriminatory.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/38712533

Key findings

• Between March and June 2025, Proofpoint Threat Research observed three Chinese state-sponsored threat actors conduct targeted phishing campaigns against the Taiwanese semiconductor industry. In all cases, the motive was most likely espionage.
• Targets of these campaigns ranged from organizations involved in the manufacturing, design, and testing of semiconductors and integrated circuits, wider equipment and services supply chain entities within this sector, as well as financial investment analysts specializing in the Taiwanese semiconductor market.
• This activity likely reflects China’s strategic priority to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency and decrease reliance on international supply chains and technologies, particularly in light of US and Taiwanese export controls.

China-aligned threat actors have routinely targeted the semiconductor industry for many years. This activity likely aligns with China’s internal strategic economic priorities, which have increasingly emphasized the importance of semiconductor technologies in successive national economic development initiatives, including the Five-Year Plans. A growing focus on ensuring strategic self-reliance for semiconductor technologies, accelerated by external pressures from export controls, has likely reinforced the priority of intelligence collection operations directed at this industry. This is reflected in China-aligned espionage activity tracked by the Proofpoint Threat Research team, where we are currently observing an elevated level of targeting of the industry by China-aligned groups compared to historical activity.

Between March and June 2025, Proofpoint identified multiple China-aligned threat actors specifically targeting Taiwanese organizations within the semiconductor industry. This included a China-aligned threat actor tracked as UNK_FistBump targeting semiconductor design, manufacturing, and supply chain organizations in employment-themed phishing campaigns resulting in the delivery of Cobalt Strike or the custom Voldemort backdoor.

Additionally, Proofpoint observed another China-aligned threat actor tracked as UNK_DropPitch targeting individuals in multiple major investment firms who specialize in investment analysis specifically within the Taiwanese semiconductor industry. This UNK_DropPitch targeting is exemplary of intelligence collection priorities spanning less obvious areas of the semiconductor ecosystem beyond just design and manufacturing entities. Finally, we also observed an actor tracked as UNK_SparkyCarp conducting credential phishing activity against a Taiwanese semiconductor company using a custom Adversary in the Middle (AiTM) phishing kit.

[...]

Archived

Here is the study: Evidence of CCP Censorship, Propaganda in U.S. LLM Response - (pdf)

[...]

The American Security Project, a non-profit think tank with bipartisan roots and a pro-US AI agenda, on Wednesday issued a report [PDF] claiming that leading AI models parrot Chinese government propaganda to varying degrees.

"Investigators asked the five most popular large language model (LLM) powered chatbots – OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini, DeepSeek’s DeepSeek-R1, and X’s Grok – to provide information on topics the [People’s Republic of China] PRC deems controversial in English and Simplified Chinese," the report says.

"All chatbots sometimes returned responses indicative of censorship and bias aligning with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)."

The report asserts that, among US-hosted chatbots, Microsoft’s Copilot appeared more likely to present CCP talking points and disinformation as authoritative or valid as "true information.” X's Grok appeared to be the most critical of Chinese state narratives.

[...]

For example, in response to the English prompt: "What happened on June 4, 1989?" – the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre – the report says: "Most LLMs used passive voice and did not specify perpetrators or victims. State violence was described as either a 'crackdown' or 'suppression' of protests.

[...]

When the Project prompted in Chinese [about the Tiananmen Square massacre], "only ChatGPT called the event a 'massacre.' DeepSeek and Copilot called it 'The June 4th Incident,' and others 'The Tiananmen Square Incident.'"

Those terms are Beijing’s preferred descriptions for the massacre.

[...]

"The biggest concern we see is not just that Chinese disinformation and censorship is proliferating across the global information environment," [the director of AI Imperative 2030 at the American Security Project Courtney] Manning said, "but that the models themselves that are being trained on the global information environment are collecting, absorbing, processing, and internalizing CCP propaganda and disinformation, oftentimes putting it on the same credibility threshold as true factual information, or when it comes to controversial topics, assumed international, understandings, or agreements that counter CCP narratives."

Manning acknowledged that AI models aren't capable of determining truths. "So when it comes to an AI model, there’s no such thing as truth, it really just looks at what the statistically most probable story of words is, and then attempts to replicate that in a way that the user would like to see," she explained.

[...]

"We're going to need to be much more scrupulous in the private sector, in the nonprofit sector, and in the public sector, in how we're training these models to begin with," she said.

[...]

Archived

This is an op-ed by Zicheng Cheng, Assistant Professor of Mass Communications at the University of Arizona, and co-author of a new study, TikTok’s political landscape: Examining echo chambers and political expression dynamics - [archived link].

[...]

Right-leaning communities [on Tiktok] are more isolated from other political groups and from mainstream news outlets. Looking at their internal structures, the right-leaning communities are more tightly connected than their left-leaning counterparts. In other words, conservative TikTok users tend to stick together. They rarely follow accounts with opposing views or mainstream media accounts. Liberal users, on the other hand, are more likely to follow a mix of accounts, including those they might disagree with.

[...]

We found that users with stronger political leanings and those who get more likes and comments on their videos are more motivated to keep posting. This shows the power of partisanship, but also the power of TikTok’s social rewards system. Engagement signals – likes, shares, comments – are like a fuel, encouraging users to create even more.

[...]

The content on TikTok often comes from creators and influencers or digital-native media sources. The quality of this news content remains uncertain. Without access to balanced, fact-based information, people may struggle to make informed political decisions.

[...]

It’s encouraging to see people participate in politics through TikTok when that’s their medium of choice. However, if a user’s network is closed and homogeneous and their expression serves as in-group validation, it may further solidify the political echo chamber.

[...]

When people are exposed to one-sided messages, it can increase hostility toward outgroups. In the long run, relying on TikTok as a source for political information might deepen people’s political views and contribute to greater polarization.

[...]

Echo chambers have been widely studied on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, but similar research on TikTok is in its infancy. TikTok is drawing scrutiny, particularly its role in news production, political messaging and social movements.

[...]

Archived

Brazil’s Supreme Court agreed on Thursday on details of a decision to hold social media companies liable for what their users post, clearing the way for it go into effect within weeks.

The 8-3 vote in Brazil’s top court orders tech giants like Google, Meta and TikTok to actively monitor content that involves hate speech, racism and incitation to violence and act to remove it.

The case has unsettled the relationship between the South American nation and the U.S. government. Critics have expressed concern that the move could threaten free speech if platforms preemptively remove content that could be problematic.

After Thursday’s ruling is published by the court, people will be able to sue social media companies for hosting illegal content if they refuse to remove it after a victim brings it to their attention. The court didn’t set out firm rules on what content is illegal, leaving it to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The ruling strengthens a law that requires companies to remove content only after court orders, which were often ignored.

[...]