An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Thursday, a large group of university and private industry researchers unveiled Genesis, a new open source computer simulation system that lets robots practice tasks in simulated reality 430,000 times faster than in the real world. Researchers also plan to introduce an AI agent to generate 3D physics simulations from text prompts. The accelerated simulation means a neural network for piloting robots can spend the virtual equivalent of decades learning to pick up objects, walk, or manipulate tools during just hours of real computer time.

"One hour of compute time gives a robot 10 years of training experience. That's how Neo was able to learn martial arts in a blink of an eye in the Matrix Dojo," wrote Genesis paper co-author Jim Fan on X, who says he played a "minor part" in the research. Fan has previously worked on several robotics simulation projects for Nvidia. [...] The team also announced they are working on the ability to generate what it calls "4D dynamic worlds" -- perhaps using "4D" because they can simulate a 3D world in motion over time. The system will reportedly use vision-language models (VLMs) to generate complete virtual environments from text descriptions (similar to "prompts" in other AI models), utilizing Genesis's own simulation infrastructure APIs to create the worlds.

PCWorld's Jon Phillips pays tribute to Gordon Mah Ung, "our hardware guru, host of The Full Nerd, exemplary tech journalist, and very good friend." He passed away over the weekend after a hard-fought battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 58. From the report: With more than 25 years' experience covering computer tech broadly and computer chips specifically, Gordon's dogged reporting, one-of-a-kind personality, and commitment to journalistic standards touched many, many lives. He will be profoundly missed by co-workers, industry sources, and the PC enthusiasts who read his words and followed him as a video creator.

Gordon studied journalism at San Francisco State University and then worked as a police reporter for the Contra Costa Times in the late 1990s. In 1997, he joined Computerworld (a PCWorld sister publication) before I recruited him to join boot magazine (later re-launched as Maximum PC), where he would ultimately lead hardware coverage for 16 years.

The Biden administration has launched a Section 301 investigation into China's semiconductor industry, citing concerns over non-market practices, supply chain dependencies, and national security risks. The Hill reports: In a fact sheet, the White House said China "routinely engages in non-market policies and practices, as well as industrial targeting, of the semiconductor industry" that harms competition and creates "dangerous supply chain dependencies."

The Biden administration said the Office of the United States Trade Representative would launch a Section 301 investigation to examine China's targeting of semiconductor chips for dominance, an effort to see whether the practices are unfairly hurting U.S. trade and take potential action. The investigation will broadly probe Chinese nonmarket practices and policies related to semiconductors and look at how the products are incorporated into industries for defense, auto, aerospace, medical, telecommunications and power. It will also examine production of silicon carbide substrates or other wafers used as inputs for semiconductors. The probe launches four weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. "The effort could offer Trump a ready avenue to begin imposing some of the hefty 60% tariffs he has threatened on Chinese imports," notes Reuters.

"Departing President Joe Biden has already imposed a 50% U.S. tariff on Chinese semiconductors that starts on Jan. 1. His administration also has tightened export curbs on advanced artificial intelligence and memory chips and chipmaking equipment."

Xerox has agreed to acquire printer maker Lexmark for $1.5 billion, bringing the Kentucky-based company back under U.S. ownership after seven years of Chinese control.

The deal, announced Monday, will be financed through cash and debt, creating a vertically integrated printing equipment manufacturer and service provider. Lexmark, formed from IBM in 1991, was previously acquired by Chinese investors including Ninestar for $2.54 billion in 2016. The merger comes as Xerox faces declining equipment sales and a 50% year-to-date stock drop, with its market value at just over $1 billion.

Saturday France connected a new nuclear reactor to its grid "for the first time in a quarter century..." reports Bloomberg, "adding low-carbon electricity supply at a time when a sputtering economy has made demand sluggish." The Flamanville-3 reactor — the first such addition since Civaux 2 was connected in 1999 — will join EDF's fleet of 56 reactors in France, which generate more than two-thirds of the country's electricity and are the backbone of western Europe's power system. When fully ramped up, the new unit will provide a stable source of supply, which can be particularly useful during peak hours in the winter. Increased nuclear output will also curb the use of gas-fired power stations.

France is set for record power exports in 2024 as local demand remains subdued and it keeps adding renewable capacity. Better generation from EDF's nuclear fleet is also helping keep a lid on wholesale prices, partly reversing bill increases caused by Europe's energy crisis. The Flamanville-3 reactor in the country's northwest adds 1.6 gigawatts of output, raising France overall atomic capacity to about 63 gigawatts...

Since construction started in 2007, its budget — excluding finance costs — has quadrupled to an estimated €13.2 billion ($13.9 billion). The yearslong saga has created lasting doubts about the French nuclear industry's ability to build reactors on time and on schedule — a crucial issue as it prepares to build at least six large plants in the country. EDF's ongoing work on two similar reactors in the UK has also suffered repeated delays and cost overruns, complicating the British government's effort to raise funds for the construction of another pair of EPRs.

Long-time Slashdot AmiMoJo quotes this report from EcoWatch: Record wind-generated electricity across Northern Ireland and Scotland Tuesday night pushed Britain's power prices below zero.

Wind output peaked at a record high 22.4 gigawatts (GW), breaking the previous high set [last] Sunday evening, the national system operator said, as Bloomberg reported. The record output provided more than 68 percent of the country's power.

From 5:30 to 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the half-hourly price fell to 6.57 pounds per megawatt-hour, according to data from European power exchange Epex Spot.

"Setting another clean electricity generation record just four days after the previous high shows the pivotal role wind is playing in keeping the country powered up during the festive season," said Dan McGrail, chief executive of RenewableUK, as . "This is also demonstrated by today's official figures which reveal that renewables have generated more than half our electricity for four quarters in a row."
The article adds that energy prices with negative numbers "have been recorded for 131 hours in the UK this year, an increase of 45 hours over 2023...

"Wind power was the largest source of energy in the UK from January to September of 2024."

The world's first nuclear-powered battery — a diamond with an embedded radioactive isotope — could power small devices for thousands of years, according to scientists at the UK's University of Bristol.

Long-time Slashdot reader fahrbot-bot shared this report from LiveScience: The diamond battery harvests fast-moving electrons excited by radiation, similar to how solar power uses photovoltaic cells to convert photons into electricity, the scientists said.

Scientists from the same university first demonstrated a prototype diamond battery — which used nickel-63 as the radioactive source — in 2017. In the new project, the team developed a battery made of carbon-14 radioactive isotopes embedded in manufactured diamonds. The researchers chose carbon-14 as the source material because it emits short-range radiation, which is quickly absorbed by any solid material — meaning there are no concerns about harm from the radiation. Although carbon-14 would be dangerous to ingest or touch with bare hands, the diamond that holds it prevents any short-range radiation from escaping. "Diamond is the hardest substance known to man; there is literally nothing we could use that could offer more protection," Neil Fox, a professor of materials for energy at the University of Bristol, said in the statement...

A single nuclear-diamond battery containing 0.04 ounce (1 gram) of carbon-14 could deliver 15 joules of electricity per day. For comparison, a standard alkaline AA battery, which weighs about 0.7 ounces (20 grams), has an energy-storage rating of 700 joules per gram. It delivers more power than the nuclear-diamond battery would in the short term, but it would be exhausted within 24 hours. By contrast, the half-life of carbon-14 is 5,730 years, which means the battery would take that long to be depleted to 50% power....

[A] spacecraft powered by a carbon-14 diamond battery would reach Alpha Centauri — our nearest stellar neighbor, which is about 4.4 light-years from Earth — long before its power were significantly depleted.
The battery has no moving parts, according to the article. It "requires no maintenance, nor does it have any carbon emissions."

"More than a decade after the advent of the 3D-printed gun as an icon of libertarianism and a gun control nightmare, police say one of those homemade plastic weapons has now been found in the hands of perhaps the world's most high-profile alleged killer," Wired wrote this month: For the community of DIY gunsmiths who have spent years honing those printable firearm models, in fact, the handgun police claim Luigi Mangione used to fatally shoot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is as recognizable as the now-famous alleged shooter himself — and shows just how practical and lethal those weapons have become. In the 24 hours since police released a photo of what they say is Mangione's gun following the 26-year-old's arrest Monday, the online community devoted to 3D-printed firearms has been quick to identify the suspected murder weapon as a particular model of printable "ghost gun" — a homemade weapon with no serial number, created by assembling a mix of commercial and DIY parts. The gun appears to be a Chairmanwon V1, a tweak of a popular partially 3D-printed Glock-style design known as the FMDA 19.2 — an acronym that stands for the libertarian slogan "Free Men Don't Ask."

The FMDA 19.2, released in 2021, is a relatively old model by 3D-printed-gun standards, says one gunsmith who goes by the first name John and the online handle Mr. Snow Makes... Despite its simple description by law enforcement and others as a "3D-printed pistol," the FMDA 19.2 is only partially 3D printed. That makes it fundamentally different from fully 3D-printed guns like the "Liberator," the original one-shot, 3D-printed pistol Wilson debuted in 2013. Instead, firearms built from designs like the FMDA 19.2 are assembled from a combination of commercially produced parts like barrels, slides, and magazines — sometimes sold in kits — and a homemade frame. Because that frame, often referred to as a "lower receiver" or "lower," is the regulated body of the gun, 3D-printing that piece or otherwise creating it at home allows DIY gunmakers to skirt gun-control laws and build ghost guns with no serial number, obtained with no background check or waiting period.
Chairmanwon "instantly recognized the gun seized from the suspect..." reported USA Today. As a photo circulated online the fake New Jersey driver's license and 3D-printed gun police found on Luigi Mangione, he spotted the tell-tale stippling pattern on the firearm's grip. "It's mine lol," the man, known as "Chairmanwon" quipped on X Dec. 9. Then he quickly deleted the post...

No federal laws ban 3D-printed or privately made firearms. But as police agencies have increasingly recovered untraceable homemade guns at crime scenes, some state legislatures have passed stricter rules... If authorities can prove Mangione downloaded and printed his firearm in Pennsylvania or New York, he could face additional gun charges. Fifteen states now require serial numbers on homemade parts or ban 3D printing them. Some even ban the distribution of 3D printing instructions.

President Biden and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives added regulations in 2022 that say the ghost gun parts kits themselves qualify as "firearms" that should be regulated by the Gun Control Act. ["Commercial manufacturers of the kits will have to be licensed and must add serial numbers on the kits' frame or receiver," USA Today reported earlier. ] Gunmakers challenged those rules at the Supreme Court. In October, the court heard oral arguments, but justices signaled they were leaning toward upholding the rules.
Rolling Stone tries to assess the results: In recent years, crimes involving ghost guns seem to have abated across much of the United States. Ghost gun recoveries by police in New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other major cities dropped by as much as 25 percent between 2022 and 2023, and the most prolific maker of the kits used to build the untraceable weapons closed its doors this year. The likely cause is a federal rule change requiring the kits to be serialized — a stipulation that forces sellers to conduct background checks on their customers.
Monday Luigi Mangione will appear in court for arraignment on state murder charges, reports USA Today: Mangione had been expected to face arraignment on the state charges Thursday, but the proceedings were postponed after federal authorities announced they were also bringing charges, and he was whisked to a federal courthouse instead in a move that appeared to shock Mangione's defense team... Federal authorities unsealed a criminal complaint against Mangione that included four separate charges: murder using a firearm, two counts of interstate stalking and a firearms count. The death penalty was abolished in New York state, but the federal charges could bring a death sentence if Mangione is convicted. The charge of murder using a firearm carries a maximum possible sentence of death or life in prison. The other federal charges have maximum sentences of life in prison, and the firearms charge has a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years.

Last week, startup Embodied announced it was closing down, and its product, an $800 robot for kids ages 5 to 10, would soon be bricked. Now, in a blog post published on Friday, CEO Paolo Pirjanian shared that Embodied's technical team is working on a way to open-source the robot, ensuring it can continue operating indefinitely. Ars Technica reports: The notice says that after releasing OpenMoxie, Embodied plans to release "all necessary code and documentation" for developers and users. Pirjanian said that an over-the-air (OTA) update is now available for download that will allow previously purchased Moxies to support OpenMoxie. The executive noted that Embodied is still "seeking long-term answers" but claimed that the update is a "vital first step" to "keep the door open" for the robot's continued functionality.

At this time, OpenMoxie isn't available and doesn't have a release date. Embodied's wording also seems careful to leave an opening for OpenMoxie to not actually release; although, the company seems optimistic. However, there's also a risk of users failing to update their robots in time and properly. Embodied noted that it won't be able to support users who have trouble with the update or with OpenMoxie post-release. Updating the robot includes connecting to Wi-Fi and leaving it on for at least an hour. "It is extremely important that you update your Moxie with this OTA as soon as possible because once the cloud servers stop working you will not be able to update your robot," the document reads. Embodied hasn't said when exactly its cloud servers still stop working.

Jurors delivered a mixed verdict on Friday, ruling that Qualcomm had properly licensed its central processor chips from Arm. This decision effectively concludes Arm's lawsuit against Qualcomm, which had the potential to disrupt the global smartphone and PC chip markets.

The dispute stemmed from Qualcomm's $1.4 billion acquisition of chip startup Nuvia in 2021. Arm claimed Qualcomm breached contract terms by using Nuvia's designs without permission, while Qualcomm maintained its existing agreement covers the acquired technology. Arm demanded Qualcomm destroy the Nuvia designs created before the acquisition. Reuters reports: An eight-person jury in U.S. federal court deadlocked on the question of whether Nuvia, a startup that Qualcomm purchased for $1.4 billion in 2021, breached the terms of its license with Arm. But the jury found that Qualcomm did not breach Nuvia's license with Arm.

The jury also found that Qualcomm's chips created using Nuvia technology, which have been central to Qualcomm's push into the personal computer market, are properly licensed under its own agreement with Arm, clearing the way for Qualcomm to continue selling them.

U.S. data center power demand could nearly triple in the next three years, and consume as much as 12% of the country's electricity, as the industry undergoes an AI transformation, according to an unpublished Department of Energy-backed report seen by Reuters. The publication adds: The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report, which is expected to be released on Friday, comes as the U.S. power industry and government agencies attempt to understand how the sudden rise of Big Tech's data-center demand will affect electrical grids, power bills and the climate.

By 2028, data-center annual energy use could reach between 74 and 132 gigawatts, or between 6.7% and 12% of total U.S. electricity consumption, according to the Berkeley Lab report. The industry standard-setting report included ranges that depended partly on the availability and demand for a type of AI chip known as GPUs. Currently, data centers make up a little more than 4% of the country's power load. "This really signals to us where the frontier is in terms of growing energy demand in the U.S.," said Avi Shultz, director of the DOE's Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office.

Longtime Slashdot reader timeOday shares a report from CNN: If all goes to plan, Virginia will be the site of the world's first grid-scale nuclear fusion power plant, able to harness this futuristic clean power and generate electricity from it by the early 2030s, according to an announcement Tuesday by the startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems. CFS, one of the largest and most-hyped nuclear fusion companies, will make a multibillion-dollar investment into building the facility near Richmond. When operational, the plant will be able to plug into the grid and produce 400 megawatts, enough to power around 150,000 homes, said its CEO Bob Mumgaard.

"This will mark the first time fusion power will be made available in the world at grid scale," Mumgaard said. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin welcomed the announcement, calling it "an historic moment for Virginia and the world at large." The plant would represent a new stage in the quest to commercialize nuclear fusion, the process which powers the stars. But the path toward it is unlikely to be smooth, not least because the technology has not yet been proved viable.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is no longer developing a hardware subscription service for iPhones that would let subscribers upgrade devices every year. Gurman first reported Apple's work on the service in 2022, noting it was delayed due to "software bugs and regulatory concerns." The Verge reports: While the hardware subscription service apparently won't see the light of day, Apple offers installment plans you can use to pay for an iPhone over time. The iPhone Upgrade Program spreads the payments of a loan for a new iPhone (and AppleCare Plus) over 24 months, and you can upgrade to a new phone after you pay the equivalent of 12 months. If you have an Apple Card, you can also pay for a new iPhone (and other Apple products) using Apple Card Monthly Installments.

Seagate has launched its first mass-produced hard drives using heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology, introducing 32TB and 30TB models under the Exos M brand. The drives, based on Seagate's Mozaic 3+ platform, mark the company's commercial breakthrough in HAMR technology after 16 years of development. Compatible with existing systems, the 32TB model uses shingled magnetic recording, while the 30TB version employs conventional magnetic recording.

Researchers used Canada's national synchrotron light source facility "to analyze a new type of lithium-ion battery material — called a single-crystal electrode — that's been charging and discharging non-stop in a Halifax lab for more than six years," reports Tech Xplore.

The results? The battery material "lasted more than 20,000 cycles before it hit the 80% capacity cutoff," which they say is equivalent to driving 8 million kms (nearly 5 million miles). That's more than eight times the life of a regular lithium-ion battery that lasted 2,400 cycles before reaching the 80% cutoff — and "When the researchers looked at the single crystal electrode battery, they saw next to no evidence of this mechanical stress." (One says the material "looked very much like a brand-new cell." Toby Bond [a senior scientist at the CLS, who conducted the research for his Ph.D.] attributes the near absence of degradation in the new style battery to the difference in the shape and behavior of the particles that make up the battery electrodes... The single crystal is, as its name implies, one big crystal: it's more like an ice cube. "If you have a snowball in one hand, and an ice cube in the other, it's a lot easier to crush the snowball," says Bond. "The ice cube is much more resistant to mechanical stress and strain." While researchers have for some time known that this new battery type resists the micro cracking that lithium-ion batteries are so susceptible to, this is the first time anyone has studied a cell that's been cycled for so long...

Bond says what's most exciting about the research is that it suggests we may be near the point where the battery is no longer the limiting component in an EV — as it may outlast the other parts of the car. The new batteries are already being produced commercially, says Bond, and their use should ramp up significantly within the next couple of years. "I think work like this just helps underscore how reliable they are, and it should help companies that are manufacturing and using these batteries to plan for the long term."
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the news.