The Future of War According to RAND; Cyborgs and Genetically Enhanced Supersoldiers – hackernoon.com

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RAND Corporation's recent report paints a dystopian picture of future warfighterscyborgs with telepathic abilities and genetically enhanced supersoldiers. From brain-computer interfaces to genomic editing, the report explores technologies that could reshape warfare. However, ethical concerns and potential risks, including cyber threats and privacy issues, loom large over this vision of a high-tech military future.

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CES 2024: This AI-powered exoskeleton can help you trek further, run faster and carry more – Tom’s Guide

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If youve ever dreamed of being a human cyborg, like Inspector Gadget or Robocop, Ive got some good news. Robotics startup Hypershell just unveiled its new ProX exoskeleton at CES 2024. This all-terrain, AI-assisted apparatus attaches to the legs and powers movement with a one-horsepower motor. Think of it as an e-assist for your lower body.

Built for outdoor adventurers and runners, its designed to help users trek further and run faster using what Hypershell calls an AI-based motion engine that adapts to individual body styles and movements. Heres everything you need to know about the new Hypershell ProX.

The Hypershell ProX attaches to a users waist and thighs via adjustable straps. Power comes from an 800-watt (1-horsepower) motor, and users can dial in just how much assistance they want. At maximum power, you can cruise at speeds up to 12.4mph, which is quite fast for a human.

In addition to hiking and running, the ProX can be used for assistance while biking and even climbing. And its not just for increasing range and speed. For backpackers, in particular, the Hypershell ProX offsets up to 66 pounds of carried weight to help reduce fatigue.

The exoskeleton has nine joints. One is active or connected to the motor, and the other eight are passive. Hypershell notes that this design gives users an enormous range of movement.

With an IP54 rating, the ProX can be operated in light rain or snow. Sadly, this likely excludes using the devices while skiing or snowboarding. Still, it can be operated in temperatures as low as negative four degrees Fahrenheit.

Power comes from a hot-swappable 14.8-volt battery. One fully charged pack should provide enough juice for up to 16 miles of trekking or eight hours of use. The charge time is roughly four hours. When not in use, the 4.4-pound Hypershell ProX can be folded down and carried in a backpack or bag.

As an avid hiker and occasional jogger, Im super stoked to get these AI-driven robot legs in and take a walk on the cyborg side. Will it allow me to finally keep up with my peak-tagging, early-morning-rising mountain climbing friends? Time will tell, but we hope to do a review soon.

The Hypersell ProX exoskeleton is available for preorder now, starting at $799. Orders are expected to start shipping in May.

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CES 2024: This AI-powered exoskeleton can help you trek further, run faster and carry more - Tom's Guide

| The Code Block CES 2024, Cyborgs, and Fingerprints | by Joshua Lin | The Code Block | Jan, 2024 – Medium

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Bartesians Robot Bartender

The potential for full-life automation might be closer than you think. Robot bartenders, ice cream whenever you want within 2 minutes, and automated smart grills? Put on your hat Alfredo Linguine, today is the day anyone can become a chef, and you dont even need a rat to do it!

Chef AIs one-touch air fryer: All you need to do is put in the food that youre trying to cook, and the air fryer will detect the components inside and do its thing! Presumably available in September for $250.

Bartesians robot bartender: Capable of holding 4 types of spirits and automatically creates up to 60 different drinks. Said to retail for $369 later this year.

ColdSnaps no-clean ice cream: Automated ice cream within 2 minutes of cravings. Capable for the user to choose between multiple flavors before dispensing cold, creamy goodness.

Brisk Its easy-grill: I think you get the point. It does its job and you dont have to do anything.

With AI and automation, everything in life is about to get much easier. (AP News)

Wearables and performance-enhancing technology is starting to enter the scene.

Leave your physical limitations behind with Hypershells new Pro-X exoskeleton that makes hiking and traversing nature even easier. The device uses AI to sense your movements and adjust accordingly helping you carry more weight in your backpack, reducing strain on leg muscles, and weighs about 4.5 lbs or 2 kilograms. Users are said to be able to reach speeds of 12 miles per hour.

Another CES showcased product was the Evie ring. It is a discreet ring meant to track health primarily for women to track their period, ovulation, steps, sleep, mood, menstrual cycles, and many more metrics! A female analysts dream, Id assume. Evie says that the ring has 4+ days of battery life and orders are now open.

Looks like were one step closer to full-tech augmentation.

Whodunit?

An undergraduate senior at Columbia wanted to explore the truth on whether fingerprints were truly unique. He used a deep contrastive network and analyzed 60,000 fingerprints to find that different fingers of the same person shared strong similarities. Guo believes that this contradicted the notion that each fingerprint is completely unique.

In evaluation, the model had an accuracy rate of 77% when using one fingerprint from an individual to determine if another fingerprint belonged to the same person.

The practical use of this discovery in criminal investigations is debated, with some suggesting that it could help generate new leads in cold cases. This technology could potentially help solve very niche cases, where officials find one print at one scene, and another print at another.

Whether or not its practical, there is always the possibility that these researchers are on the right track in finding hidden patterns and features that humans may have overlooked.

Thats it for today! Follow The Code Block and get daily newsletters sent to your email inbox for free!

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| The Code Block CES 2024, Cyborgs, and Fingerprints | by Joshua Lin | The Code Block | Jan, 2024 - Medium

Why Casey Left Substack, Elon Musk and Drugs, and an A.I. Antibiotic Discovery – The New York Times

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Listen and follow Hard Fork Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube

Casey is taking his newsletter Platformer off Substack, as criticism over the companys handling of pro-Nazi content grows. Then, The Wall Street Journal spoke with witnesses who said that Elon Musk had used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, worrying some directors and board members of his companies. And finally, how researchers found a new class of antibiotics with the help of an artificial intelligence algorithm used to win the board game Go.

Todays guests:

Kirsten Grind, enterprise reporter for The Wall Street Journal

Felix Wong, postdoctoral fellow at M.I.T. and co-founder of Integrated Biosciences

Additional Reading:

Hard Fork is hosted by Kevin Roose and Casey Newton and produced by Davis Land and Rachel Cohn . The show is edited by Jen Poyant. Engineering by Alyssa Moxley and original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Diane Wong and Pat McCusker . Fact-checking by Mary Mathis.

Special thanks to Paula Szuchman, Pui-Wing Tam, Nell Gallogly, Kate LoPresti and Jeffrey Miranda.

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Why Casey Left Substack, Elon Musk and Drugs, and an A.I. Antibiotic Discovery - The New York Times

Elon Musk complains about his smaller stake in Tesla after wasting it on buying Twitter – Electrek

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Elon Musk has made a bizarre statement in which he appears to complain about his smaller stake in Tesla and said that he prefers building products elsewhere unless he gets a bigger stake in the company.

The statement is particularly bizarre when you consider the fact that he himself recently sold tens of billions of dollars worth of Tesla stock to buy a grossly overpriced Twitter.

Theres currently some talk, mainly from Musk fans, about Tesla putting together a new CEO compensation package for him.

Musk completed his last CEO compensation plan, which awarded him millions of Tesla shares worth billions of dollars and made him the richest man in the world.

Ironically, the talks about a new CEO compensation package came just as Tesla slashed its own employee stock option plan.

While most commentators dont seem opposed to Musk having a new reasonable compensation package, the consensus is that since Musk owns 411 million shares in Tesla, representing about 13% of the outstanding shares, thats plenty of incentives for him to perform as CEO.

However, Musk responded to this argument with the following:

Musk claims that he wants more shares in Tesla to have more influence on the companys AI and robotics endeavors:

I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I cant be overturned. Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla.

The CEO of Tesla is claiming here that he prefers to build products outside of the company because he doesnt have a big enough stake in it.

Its important to note that Musk used to have a much bigger stake in Tesla before his botched acquisition of Twitter.

For those who dont remember the whole debacle, 2021-2022 were an interesting few years for Musks Tesla ownership.

It all started whenMusk said he would sell 10% of his stake in Teslaif a Twitter poll would agree, which it unsurprisingly did.

The CEO framed the idea as pressure from the media and politicians about the rich not paying taxes on unrealized gains. He said that he would voluntarily set himself up to have the biggest tax bill in US history.

However, Musk wasnt as vocal about the fact that he was facing a giant tax bill regardless of his sale of shares, due to a large number of stock options he needed to exercise from his previously mentioned massive CEO compensation plan.

The CEO then used the proceeds from selling his Tesla shares to invest a few billions into Twitter.

He later agreed to buy Twitter and take it private for $44 billion. Musk quickly backed out of the deal despite it being signed. Twitter sued him to force him to go through with the deal, which he ultimately did.

But to pay for the acquisition, he had to sell tens of billions of dollars worth of Tesla stock, which resulted in a significant crash in the stock price.

He even told Tesla shareholders that he would stop selling shares, but then sold more anyway.

Update: Musk added that the only reason he doesnt have a new compensation plan is due to Tesla waiting for the decision in a court case brought on by shareholders over his prior compensation plan being too excessive, according to the complaint.

Following a separate lawsuit, Musk and Teslas board agreed to return over $700 million to the company over excessive board compensation.

This is Elon setting the stage for another wild compensation package. I bet that the board is already discussing it.

But honestly, I dont get how he can even be CEO of Tesla at this point.

Theres a clear conflict of interest. He has repeatedly claimed recently that Tesla is an AI/robotics company and he started a separate new AI startup.

Now, he is straight up saying that he prefers building new AI products at that startup rather than Tesla because he has more control (larger ownership stake) over that startup.

Is this a clear conflict of interest, or am I missing something?

And regardless of that, are we to believe that Elon wants a bigger stake in Tesla to have more influence over AI or because he wasted his Tesla shares on an overpriced Twitter?

Only he knows the truth and we all know that the truth is only on X:

I have my doubts. But I have more than doubts and complaints this time. I have a solution.

Tesla shareholders should give Elon a new CEO compensation plan. 1 million TSLA shares per year, but theres a catch. Every time he tweets something dumb, you take away 10,000 shares. There you go. The most efficient CEO compensation to create shareholder value. You are welcome.

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Elon Musk complains about his smaller stake in Tesla after wasting it on buying Twitter - Electrek

Futures Fall; Elon Musk Makes This Tesla Threat – Investor’s Business Daily

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Starlink Mini Dish Coming Later This Year, Elon Musk Says – PCMag

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says a portable version of Starlink is set to arrive in the coming months.

Well be introducing the Starlink mini later this year, which can fit in a backpack, he said in a speech to SpaceX employees.

On Friday, SpaceX took to Twitter/X to post Musks speech, which provided an update on the companys businesses, including the progress in expanding Starlink, its satellite internet service.

Back in September, the FCC approved SpaceXs application to operate the Starlink mini dish, which is supposed to be the size of a MacBook. But the company had been quiet about the product until now.

No pricing, specs, or image were provided. But Musk said the model will be "pretty cool for anyone who wants a very portable Starlink.

In his speech, Musk also talked about the companys next-generation standard Starlink dish, which the company began inviting users to order in November. The hardware itself costs $599, the same price as the current second-generation dish. However, Musk signaled that the new Standard dish costs less for SpaceX to manufacture.

Weve now shipped our next-gen hardware. Thats version four of the user terminal. So that allows us to lower the cost of Starlink, he said.(Meanwhile, users have told PCMag the next-generation dish seems to excel at delivering more consistent higher download speeds and better upload rates.)

(Credit: SpaceX)

Previously, a single Starlink dish cost $3,000 to produce, but the company has been steadily driving down the manufacturing costs. This has involved opening a new Starlink factory in Texas, which Musk referred to in his speech.

The companys other major goal is to operate a cellular version of Starlink that can beam data to phones on the ground, giving a way for consumers to digitally communicate even in the most remote regions. On Thursday, SpaceX demonstrated that the technology works, successfully relaying text messages from a batch of newly launched Direct to Cell Starlink satellites to unmodified phones on the ground.

(Credit: SpaceX)

In his speech, Musk said the cellular Starlink system is designed to supply about 7Mbps per cell. And the cells are hundreds of square miles, kilometers in size. So its good for text messages, he said. You could technically do video if youre the only one, or if theres only a few people in that cell, like if youre in the middle of the Pacific.

The company plans on launching the cellular Starlink service through T-Mobile later this year to support text messages. Voice and data support are scheduled to arrive later in 2025. However, SpaceX is still waiting for FCC approval to operate the service commercially in the US.

As for the regular Starlink service, Musk said a major goal is to reduce the systems latency to under 20 milliseconds. To do so, the company is building more gateway stations connected to fiber networks on the ground. These ground stations can then beam the high-speed internet to Starlink satellites in orbit.

(Credit: SpaceX)

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Elon Musk’s recent all-hands meeting at SpaceX was full of interesting news – Ars Technica

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Enlarge / Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, recently held an all-hands meeting with employees at the company's Starbase facility in South Texas.

SpaceX

Last year was unquestionably the best year in SpaceX's history, CEO Elon Musk told his employees during an all-hands meeting in South Texas last week.

There were 96 flights of SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, plus the first two test flights of the enormous new Starship rocket. In 2024, SpaceX said it aims for more than 140 launches of the Falcon rocket family. There may be up to 10 Starship test flights this year, according to the NASA official who manages the agency's contract with SpaceX to develop Starship into a human-rated Moon lander.

SpaceX posted a video late Friday on the social media platform X of Musk's all-hands meeting at the Starbase launch facility near Brownsville, Texas. The hour-long video includes Musk's comments on SpaceX's recent accomplishments and plans, but the video ends before employees ask questions of their boss.

While it would be nice to see space reporters get more opportunities to question Musk about SpaceX, it's good to see the company sharing these kinds of videos. Musk has presented several formal updates on Starship in the pastin person and virtualand taken questions from reporters and space enthusiasts.

Nevertheless, the recent all-hands meeting included significant updates on Starship and other SpaceX programs. We now know a little more about what happened at the end of an otherwise successful Starship test flight from South Texas in November, preventing the rocket from achieving its planned trajectory. And Musk talked about what we can expect in upcoming Starship test flights.

He also touched on the records set by SpaceX's workhorse Falcon rocket family this year. Until Starship is fully operational, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy will keep flying. SpaceX has launch contracts for both rockets into the late 2020s.

Musk said SpaceX is working on extending the life of Falcon 9's reusable first-stage boosters. Originally, SpaceX said each Falcon 9 booster could fly up to 10 times without a major overhaul. Some Falcon 9s have now flown almost twice that number of missions.

Weve done a 19th re-flight," Musk said. "Were now qualifying Falcon 9 to be able to do 40 flights, and were aiming for maybe as much as 150 flights this year."

Ramping up the launch cadence will require SpaceX to increase factory throughout to produce more Falcon 9 second stages, which are only used once. And SpaceX will need to get even better at turning around its Falcon 9 launch pads between missions

"Were aiming to hopefully, I think, get under 24 hours pad turnaround by the end of this year," Musk said.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Musk's presentation centered on Starship.

Starship's second full-scale test flight on November 18 surpassed SpaceX's goals going into the launch. Musk said the primary objective was to get the rocket past staging, a milestone just shy of three minutes into the flight when Starship's upper stage separated from its Super Heavy booster.

Getting to that point, the Super Heavy booster's 33 Raptor engines all worked, apparently flawlessly, then Starship's upper stage lit its six Raptor engines to continue the climb into space.

The Super Heavy booster exploded moments later as it began a boost-back burn to guide itself toward a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. This was a secondary objective, but SpaceX engineers will have to correct this issue before it can recover and reuse a Super Heavy booster.

Starshipthe rocket's upper stagecontinued flying until around eight minutes into the flight, when it broke apart in space over the Gulf of Mexico. This happened less than 30 seconds before Starship's engines were supposed to cut off, when the vehicle would have accumulated enough velocity to reach its planned trajectory, taking it most of the way around the world. If everything went perfectly, the ship would have reentered the atmosphere and splashed down near Hawaii.

Musk didn't discuss what happened with the Super Heavy booster on the November flight, but he said Starship disintegratedduring a liquid oxygen vent late in its burn. The Raptor engines consume liquid oxygen and methane as propellants.

Flight 2 actually almost made it to orbit," Musk said. "The reason that it actually didnt quite make it to orbit was we vented the liquid oxygen, and the liquid oxygen ultimately led to a fire and an explosion.We wanted to vent the liquid oxygen because we normally wouldnt have that liquid oxygen if we had a payload. Ironically, if it had a payload, it would have reached orbit.

SpaceX

Musk didn't offer any more details about the liquid oxygen vent but said he thinks SpaceX has a "really good shot of reaching orbit" on the next Starship test flight. This third full-size Starship test flight is likely weeks away. Jessica Jensen, SpaceX's vice president of customer operations and integration, said in a NASA teleconference last week that SpaceX aims to have hardware for the next Starship launch ready this month.

She said SpaceX anticipates getting a commercial launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration in February. SpaceX launched its first two Starship test flights within a few days of receiving its FAA license.

SpaceX introduced numerous changes to the Starship design between its first and second flights last year, including a water deluge system at the launch pad, a redesigned stage separation technique, and replacing hydraulic thrust vector controls with an electrically driven engine steering system.

"With Flight 1, the goal was not to blow the pad up and ideally get some distance, which we did," Musk said. "With Flight 2, it was to get past staging, so we achieved the goal of getting past staging and almost to orbit."

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Elon Musk's recent all-hands meeting at SpaceX was full of interesting news - Ars Technica

Do You Know An HBCU Grad? Elon Musk Feels Some Type of Way About Them… – The Root

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Updated as of 1/8/2024 at 3:30 p.m. ET

Sheesh, eyes wide with his face hidden underneath a full mesh mask resembling a dog-muzzle and in restraint gloves, Deobra Redden was escorted in the courtroom by six court officers to finally receive his sentencing after violently interrupting his previous hearing. - Kalyn Womack Read More

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Do You Know An HBCU Grad? Elon Musk Feels Some Type of Way About Them... - The Root

The Twitter CEO ousted by Elon Musk has resurfaced with an AI startup – Quartz

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Parag Agrawal spent 11 months at the helm of Twitter, now known as X. Photo: Brendan McDermid ( Reuters )

Parag Agrawal, who was briefly CEO of Twitter before Elon Musk took over the social media platform, has reportedly raised about $30 million in funding for an AI startup.

Is the Apple Heart the next great innovation? | Whats next for Apple?

His company is building software for developers of large language models (LLMs), according to The Information, which cites unnamed sources. LLMs power generative AI tools like ChatGPT.

Agrawals AI venture marks the start of a new journey for him. After joining Twitter in 2011, he served as a software engineer before being promoted to chief technology officer and replacing Jack Dorsey as CEO. He then spent 11 tumultuous months at the helm before being ousted after Elon Musk closed the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, now known as X, in April 2022.

Agrawal is yet another tech executive to jump on the bandwagon of pivoting to AI as venture capital keeps flowing into the space. For example, former Twitter board chair Bret Taylor was named chairman of the new OpenAI board late last year. Even X boss Musk has launched his own AI startup, xAI.

This rush by tech execs comes as global funding for AI startups hit nearly $50 billion in 2023, up 9% from the previous year, according to market research firm Crunchbase. Leading players OpenAI, Anthropic, and Inflection collectively raised $18 billion last year. AI is still a bright spot for launching a new company, even as overall startup funding remains lackluster.

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The Twitter CEO ousted by Elon Musk has resurfaced with an AI startup - Quartz

Elon Musk expresses concern over FAA’s focus on DEI – Washington Examiner

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Billionaire Elon Musk has directed his attention to the Federal Aviation Administrations focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, stating Monday morning that he could not believe this is happening.

Musk, who has spoken out against the DEI movement recently, shared a story on social media that revealed the FAA is seeking to hire people withsevere intellectual disabilities. Among these disabilities defined by the FAA include those involving hearing, sight, partial or complete paralysis, and epilepsy.

Just had a conversation with some smart people could not believe this is happening, Musk wrote on X, his social media platform once known as Twitter.

Musks concerns about the FAAs use of DEI in its hiring comes about a week after a Boeing 737 Max 9, operated byAlaska Airlines, had a piece of it blown off during its takeoff. The government is currently investigating what caused the piece to blow off from the plane.

A social media user responding to Musk suggested how catastrophic DEI could be when hiring people in the medical industry, with the user suggesting people could DIE due to DEI. Musk agreed, responding yes to the hypothetical scenario.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Musk has made himself a vocal critic of DEI over the past few weeks, stating Monday that discrimination based on anything other than merit is wrong. He also argued last week thatDEI discriminatesagainstpeople based on their race and that DEI itself is both immoral and illegal.

Other billionaires who have recently voiced their opinions against DEI include hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, Lululemon founder Chip Wilson, and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

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Civil Rights Groups Slam Comments By Elon Musk Claiming Diversity Efforts Make Flying Less Safe – Essence

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Elon Musks comments on efforts by United Airlines and Boeing to diversify their workforces have drawn swift criticism from major civil rights organizations.

Musk claimed, without evidence, that the efforts of those airlines to hire nonwhite pilots and factory workers have made air travel less safe.

Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, called Musks statements abhorrent and pathetic. Morial pointed out that Tesla, where Musk is CEO, is facing a lawsuit from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for alleged abuse of Black employees, including racial slurs and nooses found in the workplace.

Musks company not only refused to investigate complaints or take any steps to end the abuse, it viciously retaliated against employees who complained or opposed the abuse, Morial told NBC News, citing allegations from the suit. The only thing anyone needs to hear from Musk about diversity in the workplace is an apology, he said.

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson responded to Musk on X, stating that the real danger comes from Musks own social media site, accusing it of providing a platform for hate speech and white supremacist conspiracy theories. Johnson emphasized the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (commonly referred to as DEI) for cultivating a more inclusive society.

Reminder to @elonmusk: providing a home for the proliferation of hate speech and white supremacist conspiracy theories kills people. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion cultivate a more inclusive society, Johnsonwrote.

They are not the same. We are not the same, he added.

Musks comments on airline safety came after a panel blew off a Boeing jet while in flight. Musk began discussing the topic on X in response to a user who speculated that the IQ scores of United Airlines pilots from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were somehow lower than the average IQ of Air Force pilots.

He criticized programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, suggesting that it would take a plane crash with hundreds of casualties to change such policies.

Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening, Musk wrote.

Its important to note that commercial aviation is the safest it has ever been, with a record low number of accidents and fatalities in 2023, according to Dutch air-safety groupTo70. However, near-collisions at US airports remain a source of concern,reports NBC News.

According to the news outlet, neither United nor Boeing have commented on Musks claims.

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Civil Rights Groups Slam Comments By Elon Musk Claiming Diversity Efforts Make Flying Less Safe - Essence

Robert F Kennedy Jr to Speak at Calif. Libertarian Party Convention – IVN – Independent Voter News

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

The Libertarian Party of California (LPCA) announced this week that independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr will be a guest speaker at the party's annual convention and will participate in its POTUS Candidate Panel along with Libertarian presidential candidates Dr. Michael Rectenwald and Mike ter Maat.

The LPCA Annual Presidential Convention will be the first time in the 2024 cycle a Libertarian Party affiliate opens its doors to a non-member to engage with its presidential candidates. But it also offers something US voters are not accustomed to seeing in the nation's hyper-partisan political environment -- open and substantiative discourse between opposing sides.

"The legacy parties are too intimidated to give any voices that don't fit their narrative a platform, which is why the Democrats have cancelled their debates. The Libertarian Party is not afraid of hearing from those with whom we don't always agree," saidAdrian F Malagon, Chair of the Libertarian Party of California.

"In fact, Libertarians welcome free-flowing discourse with individuals who hold any number of dissimilar views. As such, we welcome the opportunity to have a conversation with and hear from RFK Jr."

The 2024 presidential election is primed to feature independent and third-party candidates in a way the US has not seen in over three decades. Kennedy is currently polling high enough not only to keep him in the conversation, but he could also be the first non-major party candidate since Ross Perot in 1992 to appear on the debate stage with the Republican and Democratic nominees.

The LPCA Annual Presidential Convention will be held at The Hilton Costa Mesa in Costa Mesa, California, between February 23-24. Kennedy will be the featured Saturday Luncheon Guest Speaker. Tickets for the event are available on the party's website for anyone interested in attending.

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Robert F Kennedy Jr to Speak at Calif. Libertarian Party Convention - IVN - Independent Voter News

Iowa Libertarians host debate on the eve of the Iowa Caucuses – Des Moines Register

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Russia could pose serious military threat to NATO in three to five years, Estonia warns – Yahoo News

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Russia could reconstitute its military strength and become a significant military threat to NATO's eastern flank within three to five years, Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told The Times on Jan. 15.

Citing Estonian intelligence, the PM warned that Moscow could pose a serious challenge to the eastern NATO members in foreseeable future.

Read also: Ukraine will become a member of NATO when all allies agree, and conditions are met Biden

"Much will depend on how successfully we manage to maintain our unity regarding Ukraine," said Kallas.

She added that, from the Baltic nations' perspective, Russia still has sufficient strength to exert real military pressure, despite having its fighting capacity significantly degraded by the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Read also: Latvia expels pro-Kremlin head of Latvia-Russia Association

Previously, Kallas cautioned that if the West does not aid Ukraine in winning the war, some NATO members could potentially become the Kremlins next targets for armed aggression.

Earlier reports indicated that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, it could take Russia five to ten years to rebuild the capabilities of its ground forces, and three to five years to replenish the stockpiles of precision-guided munitions.

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Russia could pose serious military threat to NATO in three to five years, Estonia warns - Yahoo News

Bulgaria will invest 6 billion in infrastructure to rapidly deploy NATO forces – EURACTIV

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Bulgaria will invest in infrastructure that will help, if necessary, deploy NATO forces on the eastern flank but can also be used for civilian needs, Defense Minister Todor Tagarev announced on Monday.

Currently, the multinational NATO battle group under Italian command is on Bulgarian territory, consisting of approximately 1,000 military personnel. The plans are to expand the contingent to 1,500 and build a military base for NATO needs in southern Bulgaria, allowing a brigade to be formed.

The deployment of a multinational NATO battle group on our territory has been discussed dozens or hundreds of times. During my visit to the United States (last week), we talked about how best to provide the necessary infrastructure as a host country and how the United States can help us so we can use available international co-financing funds for its construction, Tagarev told bTV.

Bulgaria has a bilateral agreement with the US for the joint use of four Bulgarian military bases.

The investment of 6 billion is unrelated to the defence budget and will be used for road and railway infrastructure to help rapidly deploy military formations when needed, said Tagarev.

The minister spoke of new roads and railways with the capacity to ensure rapid deployment of allied troops, as well as oil pipelines, gas pipelines, and new warehouses.

We are working on all these issues, not only within the competence of the Ministry of Defence, Todor Tagarev explained.

According to the minister, there are plans for all battle groups from the countries of the eastern flank of NATO to grow to brigade battle groups that is, up to about 5,000 people. This will happen when needed, we dont have a clear timetable at the moment. We have to be ready to provide the conditions when it happens, he said.

Over the past few years, Bulgaria has made relatively large investments in its military in an attempt to replace old Soviet equipment. The country bought new F-16 Block 70 fighter jets for $2.4 billion, 200 US Stryker infantry fighting vehicles for $1.1 billion and is building two new patrol ships.

Tagarev explained that Bulgaria will become a regional centre for repairing and maintaining Stryker combat vehicles.

Other projects include strengthening the coast guard, building new military radars, and even buying submarines.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)

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Bulgaria will invest 6 billion in infrastructure to rapidly deploy NATO forces - EURACTIV

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NATO says Bild article about war between Russia and Alliance is war game scenario – Yahoo News

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The story by the German tabloid Bild, which says NATO is preparing for war with Russia, is based on a training scenario document.

Source: Jnis Srts, Director of the NATO Center of Excellence for Strategic Communications on Twitter; European Pravda

Details: Srts noted that Bild has a training scenario, which is always a fictional situation.

It is aimed at testing military capabilities in a particular area, Srts added.

"Previously, scenarios were completely invented with non-existent countries and geographical regions. Now it is more appropriate to use existing countries and geographical regions," Srts commented.

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...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TO 6 PMEST TUESDAY...* WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 4 to 7inches.* WHERE...Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties.* WHEN...From 6 AM to 6 PM EST Tuesday.* IMPACTS...Plan on snow covered and slippery road conditions. Thehazardous conditions will impact the Tuesday morning andevening commutes.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Periods of snow will result in snow covered roads and limitedvisibilities. Slow down and use caution while driving.Submit snow reports through our website or social media.&&

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Sweden seeks to tighten NATO’s grip in Baltic Sea with 2 new submarines – POLITICO Europe

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KARLSKRONA, Sweden Theyve been on the drawing board for more than a decade, but in the heart of a vast assembly hall in a shipyard on the Baltic Sea coast, Swedens two new A26 attack submarinesare finally coming together.

Set for launch in 2027 and 2028, the 66-meter-long diesel-electric subs, named Blekinge and Skne after two Swedish counties, are designed to patrol NATOs eastern reaches under the Baltic Sea, tracking and countering Moscows maritime moves amid ever worsening relations between Russia and Europe.

The two are Swedens first new subs to be built since the mid-1990s and will join four older vessels in the Nordic states fleet.

We have a long history of building submarines, said Mats Wicksell, the head of Kockums, a business area of Swedish military equipment manufacturer Saab which is building the A26s. But this is still a big step forward for us.

The looming Swedish launches underscore a nascent subsea renewal in Northern Europe, where the Norwegian navy recently ordered four new submarines from Germanys ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). The Netherlands has received bids from TKMS, Saab Kockums and Frances Naval Group to build four submarines, while Denmark, which disposed of its fleet in 2004, recently suggested itmightreverse that move.

This expansion will partially bridge the gap to NATOs biggest European fleets, which are set for slight growth this decade, according to a report by Swedens Defense Research Agency. Six new French Barracuda class submarines are entering service and two further Type 212 subs will join an existing German fleet of six. The U.K.s fleet of Astute class submarines will total seven by the end of the decade and the Italian Todaro class submarines eight.

The European upgrades come amid a Russian PR drive about additions to its own fleet. In December, President Vladimir Putin posed on the dockside at Russias White Sea submarine production hub at Severodvinsk alongside two new vessels, the Krasnoyarsk and Emperor Alexander the Third.

The Russian navy will have 50 submarines in 2030, according to the Swedish report.

The U.S. submarine fleet is set to shrink slightly in numerical terms to 57 by 2030, but the continued introduction of the new Virginia class will serve to maintain and even widen America's technological advantage over its rivals during the same period, the Swedish report said.

Visited on a recent weekday, the Saab shipyard in the southern Swedish naval town of Karlskrona was humming with activity.

The partially built Blekinge was shrouded in scaffolding, while metal workers prepared further steel hull sections for highly skilled welders to later stitch together into a whole capable of withstanding blasts from mines and impact with the seabed. In another area, electricians threaded seemingly endless reams of wiring into high-tech interiors.

For Sweden, the long delayed new submarines they were initially supposed to enter service in 2018 and 2019 will be a shot in the arm in a rapidly deteriorating security environment.

Sweden has seenincursionsby an unidentified submarine in its territorial waters as well as explosions crippling the Russian-built Nord Stream natural gas pipelines in its maritime exclusive economic zone in 2022 and the severing of a subsea communications cable linkto Estoniain 2023.

Sweden reinstated conscription and remilitarized its strategically placed Baltic Sea of Gotland in the wake of Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014. Since the Kremlins full scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, it has boosted defense spending by 30 percent between 2023 and 2024 and applied to join NATO.

In early January, the Swedish government and the head of its armytoldcitizens to prepare themselves for war.

Theplan tolaunch the A26s has been a key pillar in Stockholms claim that it cancontributeto NATOs military strength,and isnt applying to join the alliance solely to benefit from its mutual defense guarantees.

Since the accession to NATO of the Baltic States in 2004 and Finland last April, the alliance has faced a headache over how to protect maritime supply lines to those states and restrict access to Russia in the event of conflict with the Kremlin.

Carl Gyhlenius, a Swedish former submarine commander and now a planner for the countrys navy, said he felt that NATO was getting a missing jigsaw piece with Sweden's NATO accession delayed by foot-dragging from Turkey and Hungary.

The Baltic Sea is hard to deal with if you don't have the necessary experience, and the fact that another country is joining NATO which has this as its backyard, with that regional expertise, that should ease operational problems, Gyhlenius said.

The Baltic is widely seen as a tricky operating environment because its varying salt levels affect sonar. It is also shallow and heavily trafficked, which increases collision risk.

On a recent visit to Stockholm, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg praised Swedens defense industry saying it offered advanced technology across a range of branches addingthat the NATO accession of the Nordic statewill be a big advantagefor the alliance as it seeks to maintainits technological edgeoveritsrivals.

Swedens first submarine, called the Shark, was launched in 1904, and over the decades that followed the Swedish navyexpanded its underwater capabilities as part of its broader effort to mount a credible national defense as a neutral state betweenEast andWest.

Toward the end of the last century,Swedish engineers achieved a technical breakthrough with a system called air independent propulsion (AIP) which allowed Swedish submarines to operate for longer periods without surfacing, aiding their ability to evade detection.

Following the end of the Cold War, Sweden cut back on defense spending and its submarine program was largely on hold foradecade until 2010, when Defense Minister Sten Tolgfors announced a plan to build the A26.

Through this significant renewal, we are ensuring that the Swedish submarine fleet will continue to maintain the highest international class, he said. Modern submarines represent a significant obstacle to any actor who wants to use the Baltic Sea for anything other than peaceful shipping.

In the years since, the A26 project has been criticized for delays and cost overruns.

But its defenders say the wait and extra cost will be justified by the delivery of vessels tailor-made for Baltic Sea conditions at a time when control of that waterway is geopolitically vital.

In its promotional material, Saab notes that the dimensions of the A26 as well as its updated AIP system and new sonar-defeating hull design make it ideally suited to the Baltic.

It also has a new modular design, which will allow obsolete technology to be replaced with new systems more easily and a new portal toward the front of the boat will also allow easier interaction between the crew inside the vessel and divers or unmanned vessels operating outside, Saab says.

Kockums chief Wicksell said the A26 represents value for money because its combination of stealth and advanced weapons systems can help ward off foes and reduce the risk of a costly future conflict.

If I know there is something out there but I dont know where it is and I cant defend myself against it, that is a deterrent, he said.

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Sweden seeks to tighten NATO's grip in Baltic Sea with 2 new submarines - POLITICO Europe