Monthly Archives: April 2022

The actress histories with Johnny Depp and Elon Musk have collided in spectacular fashion

If you spent any time on the internet during this, the last week of April 2022, you could not escape two major, ongoing stories: The defamation trial in which Johnny Depp is seeking $50 million from ex-wife Amber Heard over an op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post in 2018, and billionaire Elon Musk striking a deal to buy his favorite social platform, Twitter, for $44 billion.

But the two events arent entirely distinct. In a strange twist that either portends the breakdown of our simulated reality or the moment when all culture collapses into an infinitely dense singularity i.e., a black hole Depp and Musk are linked through Heard, who dated the Tesla CEO in 2017 after splitting up with the Pirates of the Caribbean actor. Moreover, she listed Musk as a prospective witness in the trial, though as he never sat for a deposition and cannot be compelled to testify in the Virginia court where the case is unfolding, its assumed that hell avoid any role in the proceedings. But that hasnt stopped TikTok, YouTube and Instagram analysts from delving into theories that Heard had an affair with Musk while married to Depp, and speculation that Musk could have been the sperm donor for Heards 1-year-old daughter. Then theres the rumor that Musk and Heard had a threesome with English model Cara Delevingne, not to mention testimony suggesting Musk might have assaulted Heard.

Oh, maybe Musk is buying Twitter to delete his DMs with her? Or planning to boot any users spreading this kind of stuff around? And some Depp stans are still convinced hes going to show up at the trial to defend Heard. Anythings possible when youre overinvested and paranoid!

Given the sheer volume and intensity of the reactions, you can understand why Heard announced an official break from social media ahead of the trial with Depp. Yet silence doesnt save her from being the common denominator in an absolute shitshow of financial, technological and sexual intrigue being covered in media around the globe and spun by countless influencers. Maybe getting famous isnt worth it? One minute youre part of a celebrity couple and joining the cast of Aquaman, the next youre fleeing the internet so you dont have to see anyone rhyming your last name with turd. Also, whatever happens next at your trial could affect the stock of the company that dominates the U.S. electric vehicle market.

Yeah, it rocks not being any of these people. Must be a nice break for Grimes as well. Lets all try to avoid initiating a love triangle with two insufferable rich dudes while behaving in an erratically volatile way ourselves. Not saying itll be easy, but you cant argue with the results.

Miles Klee is MELs resident tank-top dirtbag, shitposter and meme expert. Hes also the author of the novel Ivyland and a story collection, True False.

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The Week Amber Heard Became the Singularity - MEL Magazine

Ducati is currently leading the world constructors championship with two wins (Bastianini), two second places (Martin and Zarco) and a third (Zarco) to its name. Actually there is also a third place for Jackass in Austin, Texas but since that Grand Prix was won by the 'Beast', the points for the constructors on that occasion were brought home by the Gresini team rider.

The singularity, as far as Ducati is concerned, therefore, is that despite having an official team and three satellite teams on the track - Pramac, Gresini and Mooney - not even one single point for the world constructors championship has been scored by the two titular riders, Bagnaia and Miller, seeing as only the best bike counts at the finish line, as is logical, otherwise the manufacturer with the most bikes on the track would win.

It is obvious, however, that the more bikes a manufacturer lines up on the grid, the more chances there are of getting at least one into the positions that matter, but that's another story.

Since the Sepang tests it has been said that the new GP22 had greater potential than the previous one, but then both Pecco and Jack asked not to use the very latest version of the engine, accusing the latter of being too aggressive at the first touch of the throttle. Then came the problem of the front lowering device, banned for 2023. Certainly not the best start to the season for Gigi Dall'Igna who, quite rightly so, saw time and money invested in the development of innovations not entirely appreciated by his own riders, but approved by the test rider, Michele Pirro. One wonders, at this point, whether too much meat has been put on the fire or, more simply, Bagnaia and Miller have not started the season completely on the ball.

After five races, in fact, they are both 38 points from the top of the championship in 9th and 10th position, with almost half of Bastianini's points. And it would be more without Eneas mistake at Portimao.

In short, Ducati has a lot to recriminate: none of its riders have always scored points so far. Bastianini crashed in Portimao, Bagnaia in Losail (bringing Martin down), Miller crashed in Portugal (in the accident with Mir) and retired at Losail with an unidentified problem. Martin crashed in three out of five races, the first time in Qatar without blame. In any case, too many. Conclusion: the GP22 has been criticized, but if we look at the situation in detail it seems to us, rather, that something has gone wrong at the level of human resources potential management. Pecco has suffered from not being able to pick up where he left off the 2021 season; Jack seems to be at the same performance level, and so do Zarco and Martin, a fast but still not very consistent rider. As for Luca Marini and rookie Marco Bezzecchi it can only be said that they are both fast, especially in practice.

It must be said that the world championship is still largely within the reach of the Rosse of Borgo Panigale, given the current situation but be careful: the next circuits are in favour of Quartararo and his Yamaha. Special measures are required, i.e. start winning races with the titular riders, preferably with one rider, because the risk is of wasting points.

Of course if Enea hadn't crashed - he was 11th at the time, behind Pol Espargar - perhaps he would have arrived a little further up, even taking account of how the Grand Prix eventually panned out. But there again, you dont win many championships with ifs and buts

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MotoGP, Ducati singularity: leading the world manufacturers championship, but without Bagnaia and Miller - GPOne.com

The Apex Legends Global Series Split 2 Playoffs, where competitors from across the world will compete for a share of the $1,000,000 prize pool, start on Friday. Here are a few of the 40 teams from each participating region to keep an eye on during the ALGS Split 2 playoffs.

TSM are an obvious pick for something like this, as they won the NA Split 1 playoffs after shaky performances during the regular season. Though they placed seventh overall in the NA Split 2, that was enough to qualify for the ALGS Split 2 playoffs, which is clearly all this squad needs to perform their best.

The newly signed OpTic Gaming squad (formerly Esports Arena) have proven theyre a force to be reckoned with on the NA servers. As ESA, they took the top spot in NA Pro League for Split 2 and all three took top spots on the NA Split 2 kills leaderboard.

NRG were one of the best and most consistent squads during Split 2. Though they werent able to outscore ESA, they did win multiple match days and have proven they can show up in a competition when they need to.

Brazils Elevate were the fourth place South American team for Split 2. It seems like theyre doing pretty well in the international scrims, so expect a solid performance from them in this tournament.

Another Brazilian powerhouse, Fnix Team scored a whopping 129 points to qualify for the ALGS Split 2 playoffs the third highest score out of all five regions. They were only outdone by one point in their own region, just barely losing out to Team Singularitys 130.

Team Singularity took the second highest score out of all five regions to qualify and have simply looked monstrous. With a long LAN tournament ahead of them, the Latin American squad seem poised for another impressive performance on the international stage.

SCARZ Europe came in ninth for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region Split 2, which is an accomplishment in and of itself but probably hides their real potential going into this tournament. This SCARZ squad was able to consistently show up on the top three of match day leaderboards and take wins.

Element 6 were formerly known as 69iQ Esports, but while they recently rebranded, they are still currently an independent organization. Despite seeming like underdogs in that sense, Element 6 performed well in Split 1 (fourth), the Split 1 playoffs (fifth) and Split 2 (tenth). This consistency makes them a threat in a competition that rewards those who are able to both kill and take placements.

Acend are the clear pick for teams to look out for as the winners of the EMEA Split 1 playoffs, back when they were still the unsigned NEW Esports roster. They looked good this split as well, placing fifth overall for EMEA. Theyre likely looking to secure a repeat of their Split 1 playoffs performance, and since their colleagues on the Acend VALORANT roster have already secured international victories, the Apex squad will probably want to be next.

Crazy Raccoon have shown significant improvement this split. After placing 12th in the APAC North Split 1 playoffs, they proceeded to take second overall for the Split 2 season, behind the APAC Norths current front-runners, South Korean aDRaccoon.

REJECT are another Japanese Apex team who have seen some solid improvement going into these playoffs. They went from seventh place in Split 1 to fifth in Split 2 and theyve been boot camping with CR in Sweden, so theres definitely even more room for them to pop off at these playoffs.

GameWith were the third place team in APAC North Split 2. The Japanese organization is ready to take a win on an international stage and if they can get on the same level as Crazy Raccoon and aDRaccon, theyll be in a good spot.

Now that Noyan Genburten Ozkose has tested negative for COVID-19 and is scrimming again, APAC Souths number one team after Split 2 should be back in fighting shape during the tournament. Since they wont be playing with a substitute, the Australian squad are definitely ones to watch out for. They got the highest score out of any team in any region to qualify with 134 points.

Another Australian team, Team Burger, looked very good in Split 2. They finished the season out with 125 points, narrowly missing the second place spot in their region to Sutoraiku, who got 126. Theyre a high scoring team, which is always dangerous in these competitions.

Freeagents, as you might guess, are an unsigned Indonesian roster with an Indian coach. Though they werent quite as high scoring as the other two teams here, they still broke 100 points on their path to qualification and made it to the playoffs from a region that only had five slots available.

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Teams to watch from each region in the ALGS Split 2 playoffs - Upcomer

Even during times of conflict on the ground, space has historically been an arena of collaboration among nations. But trends in the past decade suggest that the nature of cooperation in space is shifting, and fallout from Russias invasion of Ukraine has highlighted these changes.

Im an international relations scholar who studies power distributions in spacewho the main players are, what capabilities they possess, and whom they decide to cooperate with. Some scholars predict a future in which single states pursue various levels of dominance, while others foresee a scenario in which commercial entities bring nations together.

But I believe that the future may be different. In the past few years, groups of nations with similar strategic interests on Earth have come together to further their interests in space, forming what I call space blocs.

The US and the Soviet Union dominated space activities during the Cold War. Despite tensions on the ground, both acted carefully to avoid causing crises and even cooperated on a number of projects in space.

As more countries developed their own space agencies, several international collaborative groups emerged. These include the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, and the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems.

In 1975, 10 European nations founded the European Space Agency. In 1998, the US and Russia joined efforts to build the International Space Station, which is now supported by 15 countries.

These multinational ventures were primarily focused on scientific collaboration and data exchange.

The European Space Agency, which now includes 22 nations, could be considered among the first space blocs. But a more pronounced shift toward this type of power structure can be seen after the end of the Cold War. Countries that shared interests on the ground began coming together to pursue specific mission objectives in space, forming space blocs.

In the past five years, several new space blocs have emerged with various levels of space capabilities. These include the African Space Agency, with 55 member states; the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency, with 7 member states; and the Arab Space Coordination Group, with 12 Middle Eastern member states.

These groups allow for nations to collaborate closely with others in their blocs, but the blocs also compete with one another. Two recent space blocsthe Artemis Accords and the Sino-Russian lunar agreementare an example of such competition.

No human has been on the moon in 50 years, but in the next decade, both the US-led Artemis Accords and a Chinese-Russian mission aim to establish moon bases. Credit: NASA/Neil Armstrong via WikimediaCommons

The Artemis Accords were launched in October 2020. They are led by the US and currently include 18 country members. The groups goal is to return people to the moon by 2025 and establish a governing framework for exploring and mining on the moon, Mars and beyond. The mission aims to build a research station on the south pole of the moon with a supporting lunar space station called the Gateway.

Similarly, in 2019, Russia and China agreed to collaborate on a mission to send people to the south pole of the moon by 2026. This joint Sino-Russian mission also aims to eventually build a moon base and place a space station in lunar orbit.

That these blocs do not collaborate to accomplish similar missions on the moon indicates that strategic interests and rivalries on the ground have been transposed to space.

Any nation can join the Artemis Accords. But Russia and Chinaalong with a number of their allies on Earthhave not done so because some perceive the accords as an effort to expand the US-dominated international order to outer space.

Similarly, Russia and China plan to open their future lunar research station to all interested parties, but no Artemis country has expressed interest. The European Space Agency has even discontinued several joint projects it had planned with Russia and is instead expanding its partnerships with the US and Japan.

In addition to seeking power in space, countries are also using space blocs to strengthen their spheres of influence on the ground.

One example is the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, which was formed in 2005. Led by China, it includes Bangladesh, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, and Turkey.

While its broad goal is the development and launch of satellites, the organizations major aim is to expand and normalize the use of the Chinese BeiDou navigation systemthe Chinese version of GPS. Countries that use the system could become dependent on China, as is the case of Iran.

There has been tremendous growth of commercial activities in space in the past decade. As a result, some scholars see a future of space cooperation defined by shared commercial interests. In this scenario, commercial entities act as intermediaries between states, uniting them behind specific commercial projects in space.

However, commercial enterprises are unlikely to dictate future international cooperation in space. According to current international space law, any company that operates in space does so as an extension ofand under the jurisdiction ofits home nations government.

The dominance of states over companies in space affairs has been starkly exemplified through the Ukraine crisis. As a result of state-imposed sanctions, many commercial space companies have stopped collaborating with Russia.

Given the current legal framework, it seems most likely that statesnot commercial entitieswill continue to dictate the rules in space.

I believe that going forward, state formationssuch as space blocswill serve as the major means through which states further their national interests in space and on the ground. There are many benefits when nations come together and form space blocs. Space is hard, so pooling resources, manpower, and know-how makes sense. However, such a system also comes with inherent dangers.

History offers many examples showing that the more rigid alliances become, the more likely conflict will ensue. The growing rigidity of two alliancesthe Triple Entente and the Triple Allianceat the end of 19th century is often cited as the key trigger of World War I.

A key lesson therein is that as long as existing space blocs remain flexible and open to all, cooperation will flourish and the world may yet avoid an open conflict in space. Maintaining the focus on scientific goals and exchanges between and within space blocswhile keeping political rivalries at baywill help to ensure the future of international cooperation in space.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Space Blocs: The Future of International Cooperation in Space Is Splitting Along Lines of Power on Earth - Singularity Hub

Driverless buses may beat driverless cars in becoming a commonplace mode of transportation. It would make sense; buses run on fixed routes, always stop in the same places, dont need to go too fast, and since theyre bigger and heavier, could feel like a safer venue for passengers to get used to the lack of a human driver.

Self-driving buses or shuttles have been tested in Spain, China, Norway, Paris, and elsewhere. The newest addition to this list is Scotland, where technology company Fusion Processing, in partnership with bus company Stagecoach, started testing driverless buses this week. The 14-mile route runs between a park & ride lot and a train/tram interchange near Edinburgh.

Somewhat harrowingly, the route includes a long-span suspension bridge, Forth Road Bridge, which is over 2.5 kilometers long in total and runs 1,006 meters between its two main towers (thats 3,300 feet, a little over half the total span of the Brooklyn Bridge). Though perfectly safe, it seems a more unsettling location for a bus full of passengers with no human driver to break down than, well, not a long suspension bridge.

Luckily, the bus will have a safety driver on board, as all autonomous vehicles do during road tests. The buses are classified as having Level 4 autonomy; there are five levels of automation in driving, with Level 5 being full autonomy, in which the vehicle can drive itself anywhere (around cities, on highways, on rural roads, etc.) in any conditions (rain, sun, fog, etc.) without human intervention. Level 4 means a car can operate without a safety driver under certain conditions (namely, good weather), and will still have a steering wheel.

The steering wheel, gas, and brakes that safety drivers will use if they need to take over are separate from the system the buses use to navigate autonomously. During the initial two-week testing period, buses will run without passengers, but the companies involved are aiming to have riders on board by summer.

The self-driving software made by Fusion Processing, called CAVstar for connected and autonomous vehicles, isnt limited to radar, lidar, or cameras, but rather integrates all three. The buses are clearly marked as autonomous so nearby drivers are aware that a computers running the show. The question is, how much will this impact drivers behavior and relevant driving decisions? Would you feel less rude cutting off a driverless bus? More obliged to let it pass you? Or just sort of confused by the whole situation?

Each bus can carry 36 passengers, and the number of planned trips per day mean the autonomous buses could move up to 10,000 passengers a week. The projects leaders anticipate the self-driving buses reducing average trip time and improving schedule reliability of the route. This sounds like itll mostly be a good thing, but what will happen when, say, an elderly or disabled passenger needs some extra time to get on or off the bus?

The projects development included a phase where 500 local citizens gave the companies feedback about the autonomous bus service, including details about would make them feel comfortable as passengers on this type of service. Somewhat counter-intuitive to the whole concept of autonomy, people said they wanted a member of staff on board each buswhether thats a driver or a software engineer or a Captain, it seems people want the reassurance of being able to look to a human if something unexpected happens (like a bus breaking down halfway across a long-span suspension bridge).

Initial road testing will last two weeks. After that, Fusion Processing CEO Jim Hutchinson said in a press release, We look forward to welcoming passengers onboard in a few months time.

Image Credit: Fusion Processing

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The UK's First Autonomous Passenger Bus Started Road Tests This Week - Singularity Hub

The UAE is one of few countries in the world that has embraced the future by modernising its government systems, a leading strategist and digital transformation expert has said.

Salim Ismail, founding executive director of Singularity University, spoke at the fourth and final lecture of the Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed.

Mr Ismail is also the best-selling author of Exponential Organisations and Exponential Transformation and co-founder and chairman of OpenExO, a global community focused on innovation and digital transformation.

In a lecture titled How Technology Grows Organisations into the Future, he said the flexibility shown by the UAE in preparing for a digital future would allow it to quickly embrace new opportunities.

All of those old business models are completely gone and so we see as we digitise, we need completely new business models to operate in this new world subscription models, freemium models, advertising models, and so on, he said.

There are only two countries in the world that I think do future thinking properly. Singapore does it badly, you [the UAE] do it much better.

Because almost all public policy globally is created defensively and reactively, and by doing it proactively and saying we know what the future looks like, let's intercept those curves, you create unbelievable possibilities.

Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed, chairman of the board of trustees of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, at the lecture. Photo: Ministry of Presidential Affairs

Speaking to an audience of officials, minsters and dignitaries, Mr Ismail said the UAE was able to adapt to the fast pace of changes brought about by technology and the disruptions they may bring.

We've never had this many technologies move this aggressively, all at the same time, Mr Ismail said.

Drones, for example, are doubling every nine months in their price-performance; the speed at which we can image the human brain is doubling every year.

And so, if you layer a solution on that technology, the solution scales along with the same underlying doubling pattern, which is why we're seeing so much disruption today.

Mr Ismail presented four key fundamentals for organisations wishing to keep pace with the future.

The first is to embrace transformative technology. The second is to structure an organisation, whether government or private, in such a way that it is able to adapt to major technological transformations. The third is to change the mentality of dealing with new ideas and the fourth is not being afraid of development and change.

Earlier this month, the UAE Cabinet approved a strategy in which the digital economy will contribute 20 per cent to the gross non-oil national economy in the coming years.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said the Cabinet also approved the formation of a digital economy council.

The strategy aims to double the contribution of the digital economy to the UAE's GDP from 9.7 per cent to 19.4 per cent within the next 10 years.

The plan includes more than 30 initiatives, projects and programmes and five new areas of growth.

Updated: April 28, 2022, 5:39 AM

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Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed: UAE is ahead of digital curve - The National

19th Annual What's Next Longevity Venture Summit features top investors in aging

LAFAYETTE, Calif., April 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA) announced its call for applications to entrepreneurs and startup companies for the 19th Annual What's Next Longevity Venture Summit $10,000 Business Plan Competition. The application deadline is May 6.

"After 19 years, we have showcased some of the top innovators in age-tech worldwide with many of our Business Plan Competition winners going on to win other large competitions such as the AARP'Disrupt Aging' national competition," said Mary Furlong, creator of the What's Next Longevity events. "This is not just winning $10,000 to fuel your idea. Finalists present to the top investors in this space as well as our virtual audience of potential distribution partners that offer invaluable strategic networking opportunities."

Leading in Longevity Business DealsFor nearly two decades the What's Next Longevity Venture Summit has focused on the longevity economy attracting a worldwide audience of more than 300 investors, entrepreneurs, senior living, home care, government agencies, nonprofits and other experts at the intersection of aging and technology. The event offers both learning and networking on the future trends to support an aging population with an economy based on people over age 50 that represents $8.3 trillion in spending today but will be $12.6 trillion by 2030 and will more than double in 2050 to $26.6 trillion.

Two thought leaders in investing and aging will keynote the event: Tom Kalil, chief innovation officer of Schmidt Ventures and former advisor to Presidents Obama and Clinton, and Sonia Arrison, founder of 100 Plus Capital and best-selling author and associate founder of Singularity University. The keynotes headline the hybrid three-day event with virtual programming June 6-7 and invitation-only in-person education and networking activities on June 7-8.

The top three finalists will pitch their business plans to a virtual audience and expert judges on June 7. In addition to winning $10,000 to support their innovation, the winner will also be invited to present atthe THRIVE Centerin Louisville, Ky., and will have the opportunity to present and exhibit at the next CABHISummit in 2023.

The 2020 Business Plan Competition winner, Steve Xu, CEO and Founder of Sonica said, "Thiscompetition was a huge and motivating event for us since we are a small company working onadvanced technology that doesn't always get recognized. It was valuable for my team to get this recognition from an outside perspective from all these judges who are all-stars. To us it is not about the prize money, it is about the recognition and acknowledgment that our company ideas are meaningful and have a purpose."

Judges for the Business Plan Competition include: Abby Levy, Primetime Partners, John Hopper, Ziegler LinkAge Longevity Fund, Christine Brocato, CommonSpirit, Richard Deulofeut, Trust Ventures, Jennifer Stybel, Pivotal Ventures, Rick Robinson, AgeTech Collaborative from AARP.

MFA is accepting applications through May 6 for this year's What's Next Longevity Venture Business Plan Competition. Learn more and apply online here:www.boomerventuresummit.com.

The What's Next Longevity Venture Summit event sponsors include: AgeTech Collaborative from AARP, GetSetUp, Ageless Innovation, iN2L, CareLinx, Posit Science, Home Instead, Ziegler LinkAge, LifeBio, WAHVE, CDW, Nationwide and Sodexo.

Media Contact:Maysen Folsom805-405-3370[emailprotected]

SOURCE Mary Furlong and Associates

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Call for Entrepreneurs in the Longevity Market to Showcase Their Innovative Solutions Before Top Investors and Other Thought Leaders for a Chance to...