Artificial intelligence has been used to generate images showing some of the most controversial world leaders as babies and the results are strangely sweet. In recent years, AI has come to the fore as one of the most powerful and perhaps terrifying new types of technology we have ever seen. It has the ability to learn via data and produce results based on the information it is fed. One person has now used the technology to produce images of different world leaders as babies. On Instagram, a user named Planet AI explained they asked “AI to Draw World Leaders as Babies” and the results were pretty surprising. Included in the images were Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, the UK’s former PM Boris Johnson and the former US president Donald Trump. Remarkably, the AI-generated image managed to make the war-mongering Russian leader Vladimir Putin appear relatively sweet and innocent. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter In the comments, people certainly had some thoughts about the images AI had come up with. Someone commented: “Kim Jong Un did not change.” Another said: “I'm finding it really funny that Pope Francis is still in his pope clothes. Makes me think of a baby running the Catholic church.” “Putin is so sweet and Obama also,” another argued. On Twitter, another person wrote: “Joe Biden looks so old that even his baby version looks about 60 years old!” While AI technology can be used for relatively harmless entertainment purposes, one woman discovered how powerful it can be after claiming she “lost her job to AI” and had to apply for the job to train it. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 25, 2023--

A spate of recent orca attacks has fuelled concern among scientists in recent weeks for animal safety, and even led to speculation that the ocean mammal could be trying to rise up against humans. But are they? In a new trend – dubbed "orca wars" by some on social media – a population of orcas has recently been smashing into boats off the coast of Portugal and near the Strait of Gibraltar at a rate of nearly one per day. That's according to researcher Rui Alves, who collects data on the attacks. In June alone there have been 12 orca attacks on boats and 12 other encounters. In May, there were 21 attacks, says his website, orca.pt. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Of course, social media reacted just how you might expect: by picking a team. One person tweeted: “If you an orca whale reading this, i am on your side. I have always been on your side.” Researchers don’t know exactly why this is happening, but there are two main hypotheses. The first is that killer whales – highly intelligent and social creatures – have invented a new fad, something that younger members of orca pods have been known to do. The other, more concerning possibility, is that it is a response to trauma involving a boat, Dr Alfredo López Fernandez, of Grupo Trabajo Orca Atlántica (GTOA, or Atlantic Orca Working Group), told the Guardian. “[It could be a] response to an adverse situation; one or several individuals have had a bad experience and are trying to stop the boat so as not to repeat it. This behaviour coincides with the profile of adults,” he said. If it is the latter, there is even one key suspect in starting the trend: a white orca called Gladis Blanca (or White Gladis), who is thought to have had a bad collision with a vessel at some stage. Other adult orcas in the region also have injuries consistent with boat collisions or entanglement, López added. “All this has to make us reflect on the fact that human activities, even in an indirect way, are at the origin of this behaviour,” he said. In fact, the attacks are not such a new thing. Back in 2020, a group of orcas were seen pursuing sailboats in the region, in an act of aggression that was previously thought to be extremely rare. Since then, it has grown more and more common. The orcas have tended to ram into the hulls of boats, but they have also been seen scraping them with their teeth. The attacks sometimes snap the boats’ rudders, leaving sailors unable to navigate. In three cases, the animals damaged a boat so badly that it sank. However, for all the concern that the orcas might be getting, erm, orca-nised, scientists remain concerned that the attacks could come back to bite the ocean mammals eventually. The Iberian orca subpopulation is considered critically endangered, according to GTOA, with only 39 animals the last time a full census was carried out in 2011. López and his colleagues fear boaters may lash out, or that the orcas might hurt themselves in the process of ramming the vessels. Either way, it doesn’t look like the attacks will stop any time soon. So who knows: maybe the ocean world really is rising up… Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Applied Materials Inc., the biggest maker of semiconductor-making machinery, expects sales to decline in the current quarter, though

Apple is set to allow VPN apps on the Apple TV App Store with the

The Earth narrowly avoided being hit by a “cannibal” solar flare – but has been lashed by powerful enough blasts to disrupt communications. In recent days, space weather forecasters had warned that the Earth could be hit by a range of powerful flares that have been ejected from the Sun. Particular warnings focused on the “cannibal” flare, which was forecast to potentially glance Earth. “Cannibal” solar flares are formed when a later blast catches up with one that was ejected earlier, and consumes it. The energy of the two is combined, which can make them far more powerful than flares that are released on their own. The latest cannibal flare appears to have missed Earth, however. Forecasts had suggested that it was only expected to glance the planet, and so a miss was perhaps likely. The Earth was struck by an X-class flare, however. That is the most potent category of solar flares, and can cause considerable disruption on Earth. This time around, space weather experts warned that the blast was enough to disrupt radio and navigation signals in North America. It was measured as an R3 blackout – on a scale that runs from 1 to 5 – which meant that areas in the US and Canada as well as on the Pacific Ocean were at risk of having radio signals and navigation disrupted. The Sun moves through a cycle of activity every 11 years, during which it releases more and less “coronal mass ejections” or CMEs, and it is currently in a particularly busy part of that cycle. Those CMEs can bring energetic flares that hit Earth – and could one day cause considerable problems on the planet, disrupting energy grids and other important infrastructure. The latest flare was measured at X1.5 and is the 20th such X flare to have hit the Earth in its current period. It came out of a particularly active part of the Sun, and followed other, weaker flares, the UK’s Met Office said. Nonetheless, experts said the “minor ongoing solar radiation storm” was “waning” and that it did not expect significant disruption in the coming days. Read More Giant space ‘umbrella’ tethered to asteroid could protect Earth from climate crisis James Webb Space Telescope captures new images of the Ring Nebula Massive solar storm strikes Earth, Moon and Mars together for first time in history

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PARIS (Reuters) -Tesla is close to achieving fully autonomous vehicles, CEO Elon Musk said during a visit to Paris on

TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to Dollar Flight Club Premium Plus+ is on sale for £80.51,

Controversial sibling influencers the Island Boys say their mother “doesn’t care” that they kiss each other on OnlyFans. The identical twin brothers caught the attention of internet users last month after a disturbing clip emerged showing them kissing each other. Brothers Kodiyakredd (Franky Venegas) and Flyysoulja (Alex Venegas) shared the clip to promote their newly created OnlyFans account but were instantly hit with backlash from disturbed viewers. In response to the criticism, the pair claimed it was not “that big of a deal” and “really not disgusting” because they’re twins. Now, Flyysouljah has also commented on fans concerns about what their mother thinks, claiming that she “doesn’t care”. In a TikTok clip, he said: “My mom doesn’t care. My mom is proud of me, that I’m successful. I get to take very good care of her. I’m about to give her $10,000 to go invest in her own business.” @flyysouljah Replying to @Mrcalifornia7 #flyysoulja #fyp #islandboys #kodiyakredd He added: “So, she’s proud of me. I bought her an apartment, a car. She doesn’t really care what I do in my personal life, to be honest with you.” The video has been viewed almost one million times, but some fans weren’t buying that their mother did not care at all and questioned his dignity. One TikToker commented: “His mum definitely doesn’t know cuz if she does that’s WILD.” Someone else argued: “Bro your dignity shouldn't have a price tag. There's more to life than money.” Another said: “I would rather my mother cared.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

TL;DR: The Beats Solo3 headphones are renowned for having excellent sound and Apple-powered tech. Save

The Chinese government is preparing to publish a roadmap to cut emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas,