"AI And The Limits Of Language" good article on a big open question in my mind - how much can an AI learn from internet text alone? what if added a lot of images/videos from the internet? do we have to reach all the way to embodied agents?
NOEMA
AI And The Limits Of Language | NOEMA
An artificial intelligence system trained on words and sentences alone will never approximate human understanding.
❤4
Google AI introduce an ML-generated sensory map that relates thousands of molecules and their perceived odors, enabling the prediction of odors from unseen molecules and providing a potential tool to address global health issues like insect-borne disease.
research.google
Digitizing Smell: Using Molecular Maps to Understand Odor
Posted by Richard C. Gerkin, Google Research, and Alexander B. Wiltschko, Google Did you ever try to measure a smell? …Until you can measure their ...
The 1,000 Chinese SpaceX engineers who never existed
If you were just looking at his LinkedIn page, you’d certainly think Mai Linzheng was a top-notch engineer.
With a bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua, China’s top university, and a master’s degree in semiconductor manufacturing from UCLA, Mai began his career at Intel and KBR, a space tech company, before ending up at SpaceX in 2013. Except all is not as it seems.
The profile of “Mai Linzheng” is actually one of the millions of fraudulent pages set up on LinkedIn to lure users into scams. Scammers like Mai claim affiliation with prestigious schools and companies to boost their credibility before connecting with other users, building a relationship, and laying a financial trap.
Victims have now lost millions of dollars through scams that originated on the platform, and the problem is only growin
If you were just looking at his LinkedIn page, you’d certainly think Mai Linzheng was a top-notch engineer.
With a bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua, China’s top university, and a master’s degree in semiconductor manufacturing from UCLA, Mai began his career at Intel and KBR, a space tech company, before ending up at SpaceX in 2013. Except all is not as it seems.
The profile of “Mai Linzheng” is actually one of the millions of fraudulent pages set up on LinkedIn to lure users into scams. Scammers like Mai claim affiliation with prestigious schools and companies to boost their credibility before connecting with other users, building a relationship, and laying a financial trap.
Victims have now lost millions of dollars through scams that originated on the platform, and the problem is only growin
MIT Technology Review
The 1,000 Chinese SpaceX engineers who never existed
LinkedIn users are being scammed of millions of dollars by fake connections posing as graduates of prestigious universities and employees at top tech companies.
NBA partners with Sorare to launch the first NFT-based fantasy basketball game
The game will be released in time for the 2022-23 season and will allow fans to put NFT-based digital collectibles into action.
The game will provide fans a new opportunity to interact with the league and compete through a unique fantasy gaming experience that offers users the ability to create a lineup of NFT-based digital collectibles representing their favorite players and teams to earn points based on the real-life performance of NBA players.
As part of the partnership, Sorare will have the rights to utilize official NBA league and team logos across its products.
The game will be released in time for the 2022-23 season and will allow fans to put NFT-based digital collectibles into action.
The game will provide fans a new opportunity to interact with the league and compete through a unique fantasy gaming experience that offers users the ability to create a lineup of NFT-based digital collectibles representing their favorite players and teams to earn points based on the real-life performance of NBA players.
As part of the partnership, Sorare will have the rights to utilize official NBA league and team logos across its products.
NBA.com
NBA, NBPA team up with Sorare to launch free-to-play fantasy basketball game
The game will be released in time for the 2022-23 season and will allow fans to put NFT-based digital collectibles into action.
All sectors posted negative performances in the month of August.
Metaverse and DeFi sectors lost the most, returning -23% and -21%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Exchange sector and the Privacy sector performed the best on a relative basis, returning -3% and -4%, respectively.
• When looking at 1Y performance, the Metaverse sector has significantly outperformed the market YoY with a return of -5%. The Metaverse sector is comprised of assets such as Decentraland (MANA), Sandbox (SAND), Axie Infinity (AXS), Apecoin (APE), and STEPN (GMT).
• In terms of risk-adjusted returns (Sharpe ratio), ETH outperformed BTC with a ratio of 1.59 versus 1.0.
• BTC dominance fell slightly over the course of August, starting off the month at 40% and closing at 37%, Historically, BTC dominance trends increase during downtrends in the crypto market.
Metaverse and DeFi sectors lost the most, returning -23% and -21%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Exchange sector and the Privacy sector performed the best on a relative basis, returning -3% and -4%, respectively.
• When looking at 1Y performance, the Metaverse sector has significantly outperformed the market YoY with a return of -5%. The Metaverse sector is comprised of assets such as Decentraland (MANA), Sandbox (SAND), Axie Infinity (AXS), Apecoin (APE), and STEPN (GMT).
• In terms of risk-adjusted returns (Sharpe ratio), ETH outperformed BTC with a ratio of 1.59 versus 1.0.
• BTC dominance fell slightly over the course of August, starting off the month at 40% and closing at 37%, Historically, BTC dominance trends increase during downtrends in the crypto market.
Today’s large language models tend to have limited reasoning powers, and are not good at explaining themselves.
To address these issues, DeepMind has developed a language-model based question-answering system that is faithful to the laws of logic:
The “faithful” reasoning system performs well at tasks that require multiple reasoning steps, and generates an interpretable reasoning trace along the way.
To address these issues, DeepMind has developed a language-model based question-answering system that is faithful to the laws of logic:
The “faithful” reasoning system performs well at tasks that require multiple reasoning steps, and generates an interpretable reasoning trace along the way.
While the Merge is likely to cause a reduction in ether's supply, making it a deflationary asset, low network usage may delay the expected bullish effect
Ethereum's long-awaited technological overhaul, the Merge, is just a week away and holders of the blockchain's native token ether (ETH) may be feeling giddy because the upgrade is widely projected to establish ETH as a deflationary cryptocurrency – one with a depreciating supply – and bring more buyers to the market.
The supposedly bullish pivot, however, may remain elusive for some time, according to Singapore-based crypto trading giant QCP Capital.
"The uber-bullish thesis is that ETH 2.0 will immediately herald a new era of deflationary supply for ETH," strategists at QCP wrote in a recently published report. "This is not entirely true. For now, at least."
The QCP strategists, led by co-founder and Chief Investment Officer Darius Sit, said low network usage could delay ether's transformation into a deflationary cryptocurrency.
"Where the bullish kicker will come is in the burn rate – which in the midst of [crypto] winter is not looking so bullish right now," QCP strategists noted.
The burn rate – the amount of ether tokens taken out of circulation daily due to the protocol burning of a portion of transaction fees paid in the cryptocurrency – is essentially tied to the network usage, which has cooled this year due to the bear market.
Ethereum's long-awaited technological overhaul, the Merge, is just a week away and holders of the blockchain's native token ether (ETH) may be feeling giddy because the upgrade is widely projected to establish ETH as a deflationary cryptocurrency – one with a depreciating supply – and bring more buyers to the market.
The supposedly bullish pivot, however, may remain elusive for some time, according to Singapore-based crypto trading giant QCP Capital.
"The uber-bullish thesis is that ETH 2.0 will immediately herald a new era of deflationary supply for ETH," strategists at QCP wrote in a recently published report. "This is not entirely true. For now, at least."
The QCP strategists, led by co-founder and Chief Investment Officer Darius Sit, said low network usage could delay ether's transformation into a deflationary cryptocurrency.
"Where the bullish kicker will come is in the burn rate – which in the midst of [crypto] winter is not looking so bullish right now," QCP strategists noted.
The burn rate – the amount of ether tokens taken out of circulation daily due to the protocol burning of a portion of transaction fees paid in the cryptocurrency – is essentially tied to the network usage, which has cooled this year due to the bear market.
Coindesk
Ethereum Merge May Not Be Immediately Deflationary, Crypto Trading Firm QCP Says
While the Merge is likely to cause a reduction in ether's supply, making it a deflationary asset, low network usage may delay the expected bullish effect.
Stimulation of the vagus nerve strengthens the communication between the stomach and the brain
The nervous system takes in sensory stimuli, processes them and triggers reactions such as muscle movements or pain sensations. A few years ago, a network in the brain was identified that is coupled with signals from the stomach and presumably influences the human feeling of hunger and satiety.
Now, a research team led by Prof. Dr. Nils Kroemer of the University Hospitals of Tübingen and Bonn has shown for the first time that non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve at the ear can strengthen the communication between stomach and brain within minutes.
The vagus nerve is responsible for controlling many aspects of human behavior: This cranial nerve connects several important organ systems with the brain and thus supports the transmission of endogenous signals.
These help, for example, in the goal-directed search for food by tuning the reward system for food stimuli when the stomach is empty. Previous research showed that the vagus nerve can regulate digestion via the brain. This mechanism is relevant for therapeutic applications because the vagus nerve can be stimulated non-invasively.
With a new study, the team of Ph.D. student Sophie Müller and Prof. Dr. Nils Kroemer addresses the previously unanswered question of how exactly the modulation via the brain works.
The nervous system takes in sensory stimuli, processes them and triggers reactions such as muscle movements or pain sensations. A few years ago, a network in the brain was identified that is coupled with signals from the stomach and presumably influences the human feeling of hunger and satiety.
Now, a research team led by Prof. Dr. Nils Kroemer of the University Hospitals of Tübingen and Bonn has shown for the first time that non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve at the ear can strengthen the communication between stomach and brain within minutes.
The vagus nerve is responsible for controlling many aspects of human behavior: This cranial nerve connects several important organ systems with the brain and thus supports the transmission of endogenous signals.
These help, for example, in the goal-directed search for food by tuning the reward system for food stimuli when the stomach is empty. Previous research showed that the vagus nerve can regulate digestion via the brain. This mechanism is relevant for therapeutic applications because the vagus nerve can be stimulated non-invasively.
With a new study, the team of Ph.D. student Sophie Müller and Prof. Dr. Nils Kroemer addresses the previously unanswered question of how exactly the modulation via the brain works.
Neuroscience News
Stimulation of the Vagus Nerve Strengthens the Communication Between the Stomach and the Brain
Non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve can help strengthen communication between the stomach and brain within minutes.
EU presents project to fight counterfeiting by using NFTs
The European Union has recently announced that is working on a system that will use blockchain and NFTs as part of its fight against the counterfeiting of physical goods.
The system proposed will be designed by the European Union Intellectual Property Office, and is the product of more than five years of work. A document issued this month explains that the organization has already selected a high-level architecture for this task, and details generalities about how the system will work.
Intellectual property (IP) holders will create digital tokens (twin NFTs) to prove that a group of produced goods are authentic. These IP holders will have to be previously included as approved signatories to create these products on the tracking blockchain.
The solution will then allow for supply chain tracking as the products are transported through different checkpoints, allowing the IP holders to be certain that the products that reach stores are authentic.
Implementation
The European Union Intellectual Property Office hopes to have a working system by the end of 2023, but to achieve this objective, it will have to create a registry system to group all of the IP holders, logistics operations, and retailers in the EU. To better achieve its objective, the report states that the system will seek to be interoperable with existing supply chain tracking solutions.
If the European Union manages to implement this system by the end of 2023, it will be one of the first applications of blockchain technology at that scale for the objective. However, blockchain tech has also been used for supply line tracking before. Recently, Vechain, an enterprise blockchain project, announced a partnership with Orionone, a global supply chain technology solution, with the objective of integrating blockchain into its stack of working technologies.
The European Union is also currently discussing MiCA, a union-wide law proposal for regulating cryptocurrencies.
The European Union has recently announced that is working on a system that will use blockchain and NFTs as part of its fight against the counterfeiting of physical goods.
The system proposed will be designed by the European Union Intellectual Property Office, and is the product of more than five years of work. A document issued this month explains that the organization has already selected a high-level architecture for this task, and details generalities about how the system will work.
Intellectual property (IP) holders will create digital tokens (twin NFTs) to prove that a group of produced goods are authentic. These IP holders will have to be previously included as approved signatories to create these products on the tracking blockchain.
The solution will then allow for supply chain tracking as the products are transported through different checkpoints, allowing the IP holders to be certain that the products that reach stores are authentic.
Implementation
The European Union Intellectual Property Office hopes to have a working system by the end of 2023, but to achieve this objective, it will have to create a registry system to group all of the IP holders, logistics operations, and retailers in the EU. To better achieve its objective, the report states that the system will seek to be interoperable with existing supply chain tracking solutions.
If the European Union manages to implement this system by the end of 2023, it will be one of the first applications of blockchain technology at that scale for the objective. However, blockchain tech has also been used for supply line tracking before. Recently, Vechain, an enterprise blockchain project, announced a partnership with Orionone, a global supply chain technology solution, with the objective of integrating blockchain into its stack of working technologies.
The European Union is also currently discussing MiCA, a union-wide law proposal for regulating cryptocurrencies.
Tech breakthroughs. Xi renews calls for China to step up the development of technology critical to national security. A personal intervention suggests growing concern in Beijing about US efforts to contain China’s advance.
Bloomberg.com
Xi Renews Call for China Tech Push After US Escalates Curbs
Xi Jinping renewed calls for China to step up the development of technology critical to national security, issuing a forceful reminder just as escalating US sanctions threaten Beijing’s efforts to become self-reliant in semiconductors.
⚡️Bitcoin halving 2024 BECOMES
Bitcoin halving 2023 as hashrate jumps significantly.
Bitcoin halving is now expected in December 2023
Bitcoin halving 2023 as hashrate jumps significantly.
Bitcoin halving is now expected in December 2023
Nicehash
Bitcoin halving countdown
31 December 2023, 08:24; What is a Bitcoin block halving event?
Block halving events happen every 4 years or 210,000 blocks on Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin's initial block ...
Block halving events happen every 4 years or 210,000 blocks on Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin's initial block ...
Digital asset investment products saw outflows totalling $63m, the 5th consecutive week of outflows.
Ethereum was the primary focus of the outflows, totalling $62m last week — link
Ethereum was the primary focus of the outflows, totalling $62m last week — link
The same kind of neural networks that power sentence-completing programs like BERT and GPT-3 have recently helped neuroscientists model spatial processing mechanisms in biological brains.
Quanta Magazine
How Transformers Seem to Mimic Parts of the Brain
Neural networks originally designed for language processing turn out to be great models of how our brains understand places.
The week’s 10 biggest funding rounds: Healthcare & Web3 lead the way
August was slow, but if the first full week of September is a harbinger, things may be picking up. Several U.S.-based startups saw large rounds last week, with the top nine companies on the list raising $100 million or more.
Verily, $1B, health care: Google and its parent, Alphabet, have been active health care investors—especially recently. This week continued that trend as Alphabet led a $1 billion investment in its former life sciences unit, Verily.
Mysten Labs, $300M, blockchain: In July, Palo Alto, California-based Web3 Layer 1 startup Aptos Labs closed a $150 million Series A led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto at a $2 billion valuation and made this list. Fast-forward to this week, and Palo Alto-based Web3 Layer 1 startup Mysten Labs closed a $300 million Series B at a more than $2 billion valuation led by FTX Ventures with Jump Crypto participating. Looks like it pays to be a Palo Alto, California-based Web3 Layer 1 company. Layer 1 system blockchain build their own blockchain—meaning it will not sit on Ethereum or another network, but be its own decentralized network. Mysten Labs has now raised $336 million, per Crunchbase data.
ArsenalBio, $220M, biotech: Battling cancer is big business. San Francisco-based ArsenalBio helped illustrate that with its $220 million Series B. The biotech startup specializes in cell therapy—where healthy, engineered human cells are transplanted into a patient whose body is too weak to fight disease—and is using the technique to battle a variety of cancers. The new round—the second-largest funding among cell therapy startups in 2022, per Crunchbase data—included investments by pharmaceutical company Bristol Meyers Squibb, along with biotech-focused Westlake Village BioPartners and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Founded in 2019, ArsenalBio has raised $305 million.
Muck Rack, $180M, public relations: I never knew my information was worth so much. Miami-based Muck Rack, which has put together a large database of info on journalists, closed a $180 million funding round—the company’s first since being founded in 2009. With the new round, Susquehanna Growth Equity is taking a minority stake in the company. In addition to distributing media information to marketers and public relations, Muck Rack offers other tools around media monitoring and reporting for PR pros.
Battle Motors, $150M, electric vehicles: New Philadelphia, Ohio-based commercial vehicle electrification startup Battle Motors raised a $150 million Series B from an unnamed “cornerstone global institutional investor.” The company, formerly Crane Carrier Co., provides electrified and natural gas trucks for the refuse and recycling markets. Battle Motors now has 750 municipal customers across the United States and Canada. Founded in 2021, the company previously closed a $120 million Series A last December.
VTS, $125M, real estate: New York-based real estate tech firm VTS closed a Series E of more than $125 million led by commercial real estate giant CBRE Group. The company, which started out as a leasing agent, now has a platform to help clients manage return-to-work operations after the pandemic. Founded in 2012, VTS has raised $462 million—per Crunchbase—including $150 million in debt financing in March.
Bitwarden, $100M, cybersecurity: Santa Barbara, California-based password manager Bitwarden announced a new $100 million growth round led by PSG. Founded in 2015, it’s the company’s first outside funding, per Crunchbase.
Cap Hill Brands, $100M, e-commerce: Seattle-based e-commerce aggregator Cap Hill Brands raised more than $100 million in a Series B round led by BlackRock. Founded in 2020, this is the company’s first disclosed amount of funding, according to Crunchbase.
True Food Kitchen, $100M, restaurant: Phoenix-based restaurant brand True Food Kitchen closed a funding round of more than $100 million, which included an investment from HumanCo.
August was slow, but if the first full week of September is a harbinger, things may be picking up. Several U.S.-based startups saw large rounds last week, with the top nine companies on the list raising $100 million or more.
Verily, $1B, health care: Google and its parent, Alphabet, have been active health care investors—especially recently. This week continued that trend as Alphabet led a $1 billion investment in its former life sciences unit, Verily.
Mysten Labs, $300M, blockchain: In July, Palo Alto, California-based Web3 Layer 1 startup Aptos Labs closed a $150 million Series A led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto at a $2 billion valuation and made this list. Fast-forward to this week, and Palo Alto-based Web3 Layer 1 startup Mysten Labs closed a $300 million Series B at a more than $2 billion valuation led by FTX Ventures with Jump Crypto participating. Looks like it pays to be a Palo Alto, California-based Web3 Layer 1 company. Layer 1 system blockchain build their own blockchain—meaning it will not sit on Ethereum or another network, but be its own decentralized network. Mysten Labs has now raised $336 million, per Crunchbase data.
ArsenalBio, $220M, biotech: Battling cancer is big business. San Francisco-based ArsenalBio helped illustrate that with its $220 million Series B. The biotech startup specializes in cell therapy—where healthy, engineered human cells are transplanted into a patient whose body is too weak to fight disease—and is using the technique to battle a variety of cancers. The new round—the second-largest funding among cell therapy startups in 2022, per Crunchbase data—included investments by pharmaceutical company Bristol Meyers Squibb, along with biotech-focused Westlake Village BioPartners and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Founded in 2019, ArsenalBio has raised $305 million.
Muck Rack, $180M, public relations: I never knew my information was worth so much. Miami-based Muck Rack, which has put together a large database of info on journalists, closed a $180 million funding round—the company’s first since being founded in 2009. With the new round, Susquehanna Growth Equity is taking a minority stake in the company. In addition to distributing media information to marketers and public relations, Muck Rack offers other tools around media monitoring and reporting for PR pros.
Battle Motors, $150M, electric vehicles: New Philadelphia, Ohio-based commercial vehicle electrification startup Battle Motors raised a $150 million Series B from an unnamed “cornerstone global institutional investor.” The company, formerly Crane Carrier Co., provides electrified and natural gas trucks for the refuse and recycling markets. Battle Motors now has 750 municipal customers across the United States and Canada. Founded in 2021, the company previously closed a $120 million Series A last December.
VTS, $125M, real estate: New York-based real estate tech firm VTS closed a Series E of more than $125 million led by commercial real estate giant CBRE Group. The company, which started out as a leasing agent, now has a platform to help clients manage return-to-work operations after the pandemic. Founded in 2012, VTS has raised $462 million—per Crunchbase—including $150 million in debt financing in March.
Bitwarden, $100M, cybersecurity: Santa Barbara, California-based password manager Bitwarden announced a new $100 million growth round led by PSG. Founded in 2015, it’s the company’s first outside funding, per Crunchbase.
Cap Hill Brands, $100M, e-commerce: Seattle-based e-commerce aggregator Cap Hill Brands raised more than $100 million in a Series B round led by BlackRock. Founded in 2020, this is the company’s first disclosed amount of funding, according to Crunchbase.
True Food Kitchen, $100M, restaurant: Phoenix-based restaurant brand True Food Kitchen closed a funding round of more than $100 million, which included an investment from HumanCo.
Crunchbase News
The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Verily Raises $1B; Web3’s Mysten Labs Locks Up Huge Round
If the first full week of September is a harbinger, things may be picking up with several U.S.-based startups raising large rounds.
Photys Therapeutics, $75M, biotech: Boston-based biotech firm Photys Therapeutics closed a $75 million Series A led by MPM Capital. It was the company’s first outside raise, per Crunchbase.
Big global deals
U.S. startups saw some big rounds, but the largest of the week went to a China-based space startup. Satellite internet startup GalaxySpace raised approximately $1.59 billion in a huge Series D.
Big global deals
U.S. startups saw some big rounds, but the largest of the week went to a China-based space startup. Satellite internet startup GalaxySpace raised approximately $1.59 billion in a huge Series D.
Crunchbase
Photys Therapeutics - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding
Photys Therapeutics’ proprietary bifunctional small molecules platform unlocks fine-tuned control of protein modifications.
Industry experts shared thoughts and insight on the future of the Metaverse.
Spoiler alert: Deployment of the metaverse is going to rapidly increase in the next few years. This is just the beginning!
Spoiler alert: Deployment of the metaverse is going to rapidly increase in the next few years. This is just the beginning!
Protocol
How could the metaverse improve most in the next year?
Principal at Deloitte Consulting
Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of the PyTorch Foundation under The Linux Foundation and a board of Meta, AMD, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and NVIDIA AI.
pytorch.org
PyTorch strengthens its governance by joining the Linux Foundation
Today, I am proud to announce that PyTorch is moving to the Linux Foundation (LF) as a top-level project under the name PyTorch Foundation. The core mission of the Linux Foundation is the collaborative development of open source software. With a governing…
Linux launches foundation to support development of open source wallets — link
The Block
Linux launches foundation to support development of open source wallets
The Linux Foundation has announced the OpenWallet Foundation to support open source digital wallets.