What we can learn about China’s J-36 (from America’s FB-22)

The F-22 could have been far more capable, but the U.S., thinking threats to its air superiority were over, canceled the upgrades to save money. Now, U.S. air superiority is threatened by China.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRIooaaPlOA

This Icebreaker Has Design Problems and a History of Failure. It’s America’s Latest Military Vessel.

“The Aiviq’s Louisiana builder has made more than $7 million in political contributions since 2012. For much of that time, Edison Chouest sought to sell or lease the ship.”

“The Coast Guard’s $125 million purchase of the Aiviq, made under congressional pressure, follows the service’s failure to get its preferred, $1 billion model built.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/aiviq-icebreaker-military-coast-guard

Stargate: Artificial Superintelligence in 4 Years?

“According to OpenAI’s press release outlining the Stargate project, the partners will begin deploying $100 billion immediately. The key technology partners are Arm Holdings, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI. Initial funding will be supplied by Softbank, OpenAI, Oracle, and the MGX AI investment fund based in the United Arab Emirates. Starting with a gigantic data center currently under construction in Abilene, Texas, the ultimate goal is to build as many as 20 AI data centers scattered around the country over the next four years.
“Stargate will be building the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of advancements in AI,” declared President Trump. He further suggested, “I think it’s going to be something that’s very special. It’ll lead to something that could be the biggest of all.” How special? How about the development of artificial superintelligence?

“I think AGI is coming very, very soon,” said Son. Artificial general intelligence (AGI) are systems capable of performing any intellectual task that a human can. But Son didn’t stop with just the advent of human-level capabilities. “After that, artificial superintelligence will come to solve the issues that mankind would never, ever have thought that we could solve. Well, this is the beginning of our golden age,” he observed.”

https://reason.com/2025/01/22/stargate-artificial-superintelligence-in-4-years/

The Slow Approval of Self-Driving Cars Is Costing Lives

“more than 42,000 Americans die in collisions every year. Based on the above-mentioned research, AVs have dramatically lower bodily-injury rates. If governments slow approval of self-driving cars—or give local governments the ability to stop their use based on anecdotes and irrational fears—then we’ll likely have more deaths and injuries.”

https://reason.com/2025/01/17/the-slow-approval-of-self-driving-cars-is-costing-lives/

China’s DeepSeek AI is hitting Nvidia where it hurts

“DeepSeek also claims to have needed only about 2,000 specialized chips from Nvidia to train V3, compared to the 16,000 or more required to train leading models, according to the New York Times. These unverified claims are leading developers and investors to question the compute-intensive approach favored by the world’s leading AI companies. And if true, it means that DeepSeek engineers had to get creative in the face of trade restrictions meant to ensure US domination of AI.”

https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/27/24352801/deepseek-ai-chatbot-chatgpt-ios-app-store

Why Musk Is Wrong About Mars

Mars doesn’t have a magnetic field, so any atmosphere someone tries to terraform will just be blown away by solar winds.

It may make sense to focus on Earth and technological development for now. Better technology will make moving civilization to Mars more possible in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HNgIJqeyDw

China Goes Tit for Tat Over U.S. Chip Bans

“China banned the export of gallium, germanium, antimony, and industrial diamonds to the U.S., in response to U.S. trade and investment restrictions on Chinese technology companies. Though tit-for-tat tariffs occasionally lead to bilateral trade agreements, protectionism is more frequently a response in kind. China’s rare materials ban is the latest such response in the ongoing U.S.–China semiconductor trade war.”

“The technological trade war reduces the productive and military capacity of both countries, not just China. Technonationalism harms American and Chinese consumers, hinders economic growth, reduces cross-cultural cooperation, and makes aggression more attractive.”

https://reason.com/2024/12/04/china-goes-tit-for-tat-over-u-s-chip-bans/

Ukrainian M1 Abrams Commander Talks Tank’s Major Vulnerabilities, Advantages In Combat

““The American tankers should act promptly,” he urged. “Their tanks are too thin and vulnerable given the current threats on the battlefield. Protect your tanks urgently to avoid losses in potential near-future conflicts, taking into account our experience.””

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukrainian-m1-abrams-commander-talks-231521630.html