Tag Archives: Overview

Italian News Publisher Urges Investigation into Google’s AI Overview | Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Posted on by
Reply

An Italian news publisher is urging an investigation into Google’s AI profile, asserting that the search engine’s AI-generated summary feature is a “traffic killer” that jeopardizes its survival. FIEG, the federation representing Italian newspapers, has formally lodged a complaint with Agcom, Italy’s communications watchdog.

Similar grievances have emerged in other EU countries. Coordinated by the European Newspaper Association, the initiative aims to prompt the European Commission to investigate Google under the EU Digital Services Act. One of the primary concerns for European news organizations is the threat posed by AI summaries, which condense search results into text blocks at the top of results pages, offering information without requiring users to click through to the original source.

FIEG expressed particular anxiety regarding newer AI models that gather information from various sources and present it as a chatbot. The federation argues that Google’s services “violate fundamental provisions of the Digital Services Act and negatively impact Italian users, consumers, and businesses.”

“Google is becoming a traffic killer,” FIEG stated, highlighting that these products not only compete directly with content from publishers but also “reduce visibility, discoverability, and ultimately advertising revenue.”

“This, along with the risks associated with a lack of transparency and the spread of disinformation in democratic discussions, poses serious challenges to the financial sustainability and diversity of the media,” the statement continued.

A study released in July by the UK-based analytics firm Authoritas indicated that Google’s AI Overviews, introduced last year, decreased click-through rates by as much as 80%. This study was submitted as part of a legal complaint to the UK competition regulator about the impact of Google AI Overview, which also revealed that links to YouTube—owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet—were more prominently displayed than in traditional search results.

A second study from the US think tank Pew Research Center showed a significant decline in referral traffic from Google AI Overview, with users only clicking on a link under AI Overview once in every 100 attempts. Google responded by claiming the study was based on inaccurate and flawed methodology.

Google AI Overview made its debut in Italy in March. In September, Italy became the first EU country to enact comprehensive legislation regulating artificial intelligence, including restrictions on access for children and potential prison sentences for harmful uses, such as generating deepfakes. Giorgia Meloni’s government asserted that the legislation aligns with the EU’s groundbreaking AI law and represents a decisive action that will shape the use of AI in Italy.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Utah Lawyers Approved After Using ChatGPT in Court: An Overview

Posted on by
Reply

The Utah Court of Appeals has sanctioned the attorney after it was found that he utilized ChatGPT in a filing that referenced a fictitious trial.

Earlier this week, the Utah Court of Appeals chose to take action against Richard Bednar following accusations that he submitted a brief with fabricated citations.

Based on reviewed court documents, By ABC4, Bednar along with Douglas Dalbano, another attorney from Utah who represented the petitioners, filed a “timely petition for dialogue appeal.”

Upon examining the summary prepared by the Law Clerk, it was revealed that the respondent’s counsel noted several inaccurate quotes in the case.

“It seems that parts of the petition may have been produced by AI, including citations that do not exist in the legal database (and can only be found in ChatGPT).

The report highlights that the brief cited a case named “Royer v Nelson,” which was absent from any legal database.

After discovering the false citation, Bednar expressed his “apologies” for the “errors present in the petition,” according to documents from the Utah Court of Appeals. During the April hearing, Bednar and his legal team acknowledged, “The petition contained fabricated legal authority acquired from ChatGPT and accepted responsibility for its contents.”

According to Bednar and his legal team, the “unlicensed legal assistant” drafted the outline, and Bednar did not conduct an “independent accuracy check” before filing. ABC4 further reported that Dalbano was not involved in crafting the petition, and the individual responsible for filing was a law school graduate who was subsequently let go from the firm.

The report added that Bednar had offered to cover the relevant attorneys’ fees to “rectify” the situation.

In a statement made public by ABC4, the Utah Court of Appeals commented: “I concur that employing AI for lawsuit preparation is a developing legal research tool that continues to evolve alongside technological advancements. Nonetheless, all attorneys must ensure that court submissions are accurate, emphasizing that claimants’ attorneys are liable for their filings. They included fictitious precedents produced by ChatGPT.”

As a consequence of the false citation, ABC4 reports that Bednar has been ordered to cover the respondent’s attorneys’ fees for the petition and the hearing, refund clients for time spent on preparation and attendance, and donate $1,000 to legal nonprofits and justice initiatives based in Utah.

Source: www.theguardian.com

China’s Unexpected Surge in Regional Internet Censorship: A Research Overview

Posted on by
Reply

Authorities in China seem to be rolling out a more stringent version of the internet censorship system in Henan province, imposing tighter controls over information access for its tens of millions of residents compared to others in the country.

A research paper published by the Great Firewall Report this month indicates that internet users in Henan—one of China’s most densely populated provinces—were blocked from accessing five times as many websites from November 2023 to March 2025 compared to the national average.

“Our findings highlight striking instances of censorship emerging in the region,” stated the researchers, including authors from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Stanford University.

China has established the most advanced and extensive internet censorship system globally. Users are barred from accessing a majority of Western news sites and social media platforms, which includes popular services provided by Google, Wikipedia, and Meta.

Under the “Great Firewall,” online content is scrutinized and censored by a combination of governmental bodies and private companies that adhere to regulations requiring removal of content deemed “sensitive.” This often involves topics regarding historical or current events that conflict with the official narrative of the Chinese Communist Party.

Researchers began their investigation after residents in Henan reported that many sites accessible elsewhere in China were unavailable in their province. They discovered millions of domains not blocked by central firewalls at one point that were inaccessible to Henan users.

By acquiring a server from a cloud provider, the authors monitored internet traffic within Henan. They conducted daily tests on the top 1 million domains from November 2023 to March 2025, revealing a significant rise in blocks during 2024. The results indicated that Henan’s firewall obstructed around 4.2 million domains during the survey period—over five times the roughly 741,500 domains obstructed by regular Chinese censorship measures.

The domains specifically blocked in Henan predominantly came from business-related websites. Recent financial protests in the province have led researchers to theorize that increased information control might stem from concerns about their managed economy.

In 2022, thousands in Henan participated in protests after being denied access to their bank accounts. The situation escalated when demonstrators found their mobile health codes—essential for pandemic management—turned red, restricting their movement. Subsequent to this, five staff members faced penalties for misusing health regulations to quash the protests.

Other regions of China have also seen heightened internet restrictions. For example, after a deadly ethnic riot in July 2009, the government imposed a ten-month internet blackout in Xinjiang, a Uyghur minority region in Western China. Thereafter, internet usage in Xinjiang has been monitored much more rigorously than in other areas, with Tibet also facing strict online controls.

The rise of a regional censorship regime in Henan is notable as it is not typically identified as a hotspot for such measures by Chinese authorities.

Researchers have not been able to ascertain whether the intensified controls were imposed by the local Henan government or the central government in Beijing.

Skip past newsletter promotions

The swift advancements in Chinese AI technologies have proven beneficial for both censorship enforcement and evasion efforts. Recently, China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced new monitoring tools enabling surveillance of users on virtual private networks (VPNs), designed to bypass internet restrictions. The MPS Institute has also introduced tools claiming to monitor accounts on Telegram, reportedly processing over 30 billion messages.

Minshu Wu, the lead author of “Henan Studies,” uses pseudonyms to safeguard their identity. Conversely, AI technologies can also be utilized to develop more sophisticated and adaptive censorship and monitoring tools.

The Henan Cyberspace Issues Committee has not responded to requests for comment.

Additional contributions by Lilian Yang

Source: www.theguardian.com

Overview of the Ariane 6 Rocket Launch: What to Expect and When to Watch

Posted on by
Reply

Artistic depiction of the Ariane 6 rocket

ESA-D. Duclos

What is Ariane 6?

Ariane 6 is the latest model in the Ariane series of European satellite launch vehicles. The project dates back to a proposal in 1973, with the first flight of the Ariane 1 rocket taking place just six years later in 1979.

The last to be launched was Ariane 5, which completed 112 successful missions out of 117 launches, including the James Webb Space Telescope and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, but was retired last year to make way for Ariane 6, which was expected to have lower launch costs.

The loss of Ariane 5 and the European Space Agency's (ESA) decision to cut ties with the Russian space agency Roscosmos following Russia's invasion of Ukraine temporarily left Europe without a direct means of launching satellites and forced it to turn to the commercial sector.

The ultimate idea is to not just take on all of these government launches in the future, but also offer its own commercial launch services — it's already received a launch order from Amazon. Kuiper Internet Satellite.

How big is Ariane 6?

The Ariane 6 is 63 meters tall and 5.4 meters in diameter, and can launch up to 21,650 kilograms of cargo into low Earth orbit. While that's less than the payloads of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), China's Long March 10, or SpaceX's Starship, it can still put a variety of satellites into orbit, including spy, weather, and global positioning satellites.

Ariane 6's main advantage isn't its payload, but its low cost and ease of construction: Aerospace company Arianegroup designed it to be easier and quicker to build and launch than its predecessor, allowing ESA to launch it once a month if necessary.

The rocket was originally scheduled to launch in 2020 but has been postponed multiple times. Those delays, along with the falling cost of reusable rockets operated by SpaceX, have led Europe to look elsewhere for launch capacity. The European Agency for the Exploration of Meteorological Satellites recently said: Launch contract awarded to SpaceX Rather than opting for Ariane 6, the European contract was signed last year. Galileo navigation satellite in orbit I also went to SpaceX.

When is the Ariane 6 launch and how can I watch it?

The launch from ESA's facility in French Guiana is scheduled for 7pm-11pm BST on July 9. ESA said Live broadcast of the launchThe event will begin 30 minutes before the launch and will be available to watch via streaming. News Scientist.

What happens during launch?

Ariane 6 will be launched using a Vulcan 2.1 main engine and two expendable boosters. These will drop in the same way as the first stage, after which the Vinci engines of the upper stage will launch it into an elliptical orbit measuring 300 by 700 kilometers above Earth. The Vinci engines will then reignite to put the upper stage into a circular orbit, after which Ariane will release its eight satellites and the upper stage will burn up in the atmosphere. Two small re-entry capsules will return it safely to Earth.

What comes next for Ariane 6?

A successor to Ariane 6 is already in development and will break the sequential rocket numbering system. Known as ArianeNext, it will be a reusable rocket similar to SpaceX's Starship and is scheduled to launch in the 2030s.

A major criticism of Ariane 6 is that it cannot be reused, a feature pioneered by SpaceX and already being developed by several other companies, and will likely not be resolved in Europe until Next begins operations.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Understanding the Red River Hog: A Overview

Posted on by
Reply

Pigs are charismatic and intelligent animals, but this piglet prefers ginger biscuits. The red river hog, also known as the “dwarf pig”, is a wild swine native to western and central Africa.

Featuring a striking red coat, they are the most colorful of the pigs. Its bright fur is covered by a thin white mane that runs the length of its back, on stubby black legs and sturdy treadles.

Its face is part ALF (an alien life form from the 80's American sitcom) and part Dobby the house elf (from the movie). Harry potter story).

Whiskers protrude from the base of its long black nose, and its jet-black eyes are framed by bold white markings. Contrasting markings are a form of camouflage called disruptive coloration, which breaks up the animal's outline so that it blends into the background.

But those ears are the main event. The tapered triangle gives way to spectacular long tufts of hair that frame the face and add a touch of wizardly chic to this animal's unconventional beauty.

Red River Hog lives small group Approximately 4 to 20 animals called sounders. It is found in rainforests and adjacent savannahs, often near rivers and swamps. Each sounder is led by a boar and oversees a harem of females and their young.

Weighing between 50 and 100 kg (110 and 220 lb), they may be among the smaller pigs, but they are energetic. Males fend off rivals by head-butting, snouting, and whipping each other with their tails, and easily protect their families from leopards, spotted hyenas, and pythons.

Within groups, individuals communicate with an inventive repertoire of moans and shrieks. They take a nap and forage for food at night. Like all pigs, red river hogs are omnivorous and will eat anything they can find. Fruits, seeds, nuts, eggs, snails, carrion, and lizards are all prey, as are livestock and crops such as goats and cassava.

They use their teeth to dig for roots, bulbs, and insects, and swim to forage for aquatic plants. They also have a fondness for Boko tree seeds (Balanite Wilsoana), they find undigested material in elephant feces or by following chimpanzees in the hopes of finding fallen fruit.

Females give birth to up to six piglets between February at the end of the dry season and July in the middle of the rainy season. Mothers build temporary nests out of dead leaves and grass and take care of their children while being protected by wild boars.

Piglets initially develop dark brown fur with yellow stripes and spots, are weaned at four months of age, and grow ginger-like fur after two months. The black spots on the face fully mature after about two years.

Although the species is not currently endangered, there are concerns that local populations could decline as pigs continue to encroach on farmland and the bushmeat trade intensifies. It's time for people to come together and save this piggy bacon before things get worse.

read more:

To submit a question, please email questions@sciencefocus.com (remember to include your name and location)

Source: www.sciencefocus.com