catastrophic risks
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The Sun Can Spawn Dangerous ‘Superflares,’ New Research Suggests
High-energy superflares are typically associated with young, quickly rotating stars, but new evidence suggests mature, plodding stars like our own can still churn out the odd superflare.
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Why Banning Killer AI Is Easier Said Than Done
As we head deeper into the 21st century, the prospect of getting robots to do the dirty business of killing gets closer with each passing day. In Max Tegmark’s new book, Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, the MIT physicist and founder of the Future of Life Institute contemplates this seemingly…
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We Were Wrong About How The Asteroid Apocalypse Will Go Down
Here’s a cheery thought to send you into the weekend: New research suggests that the greatest danger posed by an incoming asteroid is not from the cataclysmic impact of it striking the Earth — but from the enormous shockwave it produces when it enters the atmosphere.
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Everything You Know About Artificial Intelligence Is Wrong
It was hailed as the most significant test of machine intelligence since Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in chess nearly 20 years ago. Google’s AlphaGo has won two of the first three games against grandmaster Lee Sedol in a Go tournament, showing the dramatic extent to which AI has improved over the years. That fateful…