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Yale ventures into blockchain with investment in new $400M crypto-fund

Oct05
by on October 5, 2018 at 12:21 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, blockchain, cryptocurrency, Hard Fork


It seems even the Ivy League wants a piece of the cryptocurrency and blockchain action. While academic institutions have been gradually evolving to include blockchain and cryptocurrency courses, they have mostly stayed away from investing in the industry – until now. Yale University has purportedly backed a new multi-million dollar crypto-fund, co-founded by former Coinbase and Sequioa Capital execs. The Ivy League school helped the new venture, called Paradigm, raise $400 million, Bloomberg reports. It remains unclear precisely how big Yale’s investment in the fund is, though. As far as Paradigm goes, the fund plans to invest in early-stage startups focused…

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These Nobel Prize-winning optical tweezers use light to move stuff

Oct05
by on October 5, 2018 at 12:12 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, syndication


The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three pioneers of the laser technology that has made a big impact on the world. Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland were recognized for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses, which today is used in laser eye surgery. The other recipient was Arthur Ashkin for his groundbreaking work on optical tweezers. This method of using light to capture and manipulate tiny objects has changed the way we’re able to study microscopic life. But how can light be used to move matter? The energy carried by light is fundamental to…

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Thieves use Bitcoin ATMs to scam Australian immigrants out of $50,000

Oct05
by on October 5, 2018 at 12:11 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, blockchain, cryptocurrency, Hard Fork


Being in a new country can be confusing and scary at times. Australian crooks are taking advantage of this and are using Bitcoin ATMs to scam newly-arrived migrants out of their life savings. It seems the crooks managed to scam more than $35,000 USD ($50,000 AUD) out of four Australian immigrants by telling them they needed to pay a tax debt. The victims were told they would be arrested if the amount was not paid, The Age reports. Believing that their immigration status might be in jeopardy, the targets obliged. It appears the victims were told to withdraw money from…

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Deepfakes are being weaponized to silence women — but this woman is fighting back

Oct05
by on October 5, 2018 at 11:34 am
Posted In: Around the Web


Fake sex videos aren’t a new phenomenon, but advancement in AI is worrying as ‘deepfakes’ are becoming increasingly harder to distinguish from real videos. Deepfake tech has become easily accessible and videos can be made via FakeApp or on affordable consumer-grade equipment, which is partly why earlier this year the web was flooded with pornographic films of high-profile female celebrities. The erosive effects deepfakes could have on politics are also obvious — such as ‘Barack Obama’ calling Trump a “dipshit.” However, we haven’t yet seen any governing bodies or politicians’ reputations been destroyed yet by deepfakes. What we have seen…

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Meet the blessed person who guessed how often Apple said ‘apple’ in its keynote

Oct05
by on October 5, 2018 at 11:22 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Plugged


Apple‘s September keynote is one of the world’s biggest tech events. Alluringly titled the “Apple Special Event,” it finds the tech giant announcing a range of its newest gadgets, with the emphasis firmly on the updated iPhone. Well, ahead of this year’s event we ran a little competition. We asked the world to guess how many times Apple would say the word “apple” throughout the keynote. And if they won? Well, the lucky person would receive that number of apples. What a glorious prize. Thanks to the wonderful folks at the Singju Post who transcribed the talk (y’all the real MVPs,…

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