Sony Autonomous Robot Defeats Elite Table Tennis Players
April 22nd, 2026Elite Table Tennis players perform at the outer limits of what’s possible in terms of human reaction time and dexterity.
Sony developed a robot that exceeds those limits in the real world.
Ping Pong? Who cares?
Let your imagination run wild with how these “innovations” will be incorporated into battlefield robotic systems…
Have a nice day!
Via: Nature:
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems now challenge or surpass human experts in many computer games. Physical and real-time sports such as table tennis, however, remain a major open challenge because of their requirements for fast, precise and adversarial interactions near obstacles and at the edge of human reaction time. Here we present Ace, to our knowledge the first real-world autonomous system competitive with elite human table tennis players. Ace addresses the challenges of physical real-time interaction through a new, high-speed perception system using event-based vision sensors, and a new control system based on model-free reinforcement learning, as well as state-of-the-art high-speed robot hardware. Evaluated in matches against elite and professional players under official competition rules, Ace achieved several victories and demonstrated consistent returns of high-speed, high-spin shots. These results highlight the potential of physical AI agents to perform complex, real-time interactive tasks, suggesting broader applications in domains requiring fast, precise human–robot interaction.
Ursa Ag: Canadian Company Manufacturing Low Tech Tractors
April 22nd, 2026When technological “innovation” becomes a nightmare…
Via: Wheelfront:
Four hundred inquiries from American farmers poured in after a single interview. Not for a John Deere. Not for a Case IH. For a tractor built in Alberta with a remanufactured 1990s diesel engine and zero electronics.
Ursa Ag, a small Canadian manufacturer, is assembling tractors powered by 12-valve Cummins engines — the same mechanically injected workhorses that powered combines and pickup trucks decades ago — and selling them for roughly half the price of comparable machines from established brands. The 150-horsepower model starts at $129,900 CAD, about $95,000 USD. The range-topping 260-hp version runs $199,900 CAD, around $146,000.
Try finding a similarly powered John Deere for that money.
Owner Doug Wilson isn’t pretending this is cutting-edge technology. That’s the entire point. The 150-hp and 180-hp models use remanufactured 5.9-liter Cummins engines, while the 260-hp gets an 8.3-liter unit.
All are fed by Bosch P-pumps — purely mechanical fuel injection, no ECU, no proprietary software handshake required. The cabs are sourced externally and stripped to essentials: an air ride seat, mechanically connected controls, and nothing resembling a touchscreen.
…
The farm equipment industry spent 20 years adding complexity and cost. Ursa Ag is wagering that a significant number of farmers never wanted any of it.
Company: Ursa-Ag
Lufthansa Cuts 20,000 Summer Flights as Fuel Prices Surge
April 22nd, 2026Via: BBC:
German airline Lufthansa will cut 20,000 European short-haul flights over the summer, saying soaring fuel prices have made many journeys “unprofitable” for the firm.
Jet fuel has doubled in price since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran as the conflict has slowed its production and transportation across the Middle East.
Several airlines, including KLM-France and Delta, have also temporarily cut some flights while others have raised ticket prices as they pass on expenses to customers.
Analysts have warned that travellers should expect further ticket price rises and more cancelled flights as the conflict continues.
Pentagon Wants $54 Billion for Drones, More than Most Nations’ Military Budgets
April 22nd, 2026Via: Ars Technica:
The US military’s massive $1.5 trillion budget request for the next fiscal year includes what Pentagon officials described as the largest investment in drone warfare and counter-drone technology in US history.
The proposed spending on drone and autonomous warfare technologies within the FY2027 budget proposal for the US Department of Defense would surpass most countries’ defense budgets and rank among the top 10 in the world for military spending, ahead of countries such as Ukraine, South Korea, and Israel.
Specifically, the Pentagon is requesting $53.6 billion to boost US production and procurement of drones, train drone operators, build out a logistics network for sustaining drone deployments, and expand counter-drone systems to defend more US military sites. The funding request is budgeted under the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG), an organization established in late 2025 that would see a massive budget increase after receiving about $226 million in the 2026 fiscal year budget.
Coincidence:
Trump Jr-Backed Drone Firm Lands Pentagon Contract
Trump Sons Seek to Buy Ukrainian Drone Technologies for Manufacturing in U.S.
Meta to Start Capturing Employee Mouse Movements, Keystrokes for AI Training Data
April 22nd, 2026Via: Reuters:
Meta is installing new tracking software on U.S.-based employees’ computers to capture mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes for use in training its artificial intelligence models, part of a broad initiative to build AI agents that can perform work tasks autonomously, the company told staffers in internal memos seen ?by Reuters.
The tool, called Model Capability Initiative (MCI), will run on work-related apps and websites and will also take occasional snapshots of the content on employees’ screens, according to one of the ?memos, posted by a staff AI research scientist on Tuesday in a channel for the company’s model-building Meta SuperIntelligence Labs team.
The purpose, according to the memo, was to improve the company’s AI models in areas where they struggle to replicate how humans interact ?with computers, like choosing from dropdown menus and using keyboard shortcuts.
“This is where all Meta employees can help our models get better simply by doing their daily work,” it said.
Iranian Ghost Fleet Ships Bypass U.S. Navy Blockade
April 22nd, 2026Hmm…
Via: Daily Mail:
Donald Trump’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is unraveling after dozens of Iranian vessels secretly slipped past US surveillance, even as the regime tightened its grip on the critical oil passageway by attacking three tankers.
Approximately 34 Iranian oil tankers have slipped through the blockade, with 19 vessels exiting the Persian Gulf past Trump’s navy and another 15 ships entering from the Arabian Sea toward Iran, according to the Financial Times.
Six of those tankers were smuggling Iranian crude oil totaling 10.7 million barrels, estimated to be worth approximately $910 million in revenue for the regime.
The report follows Iran’s seizure of two cargo ships on Wednesday morning in the strait, after attacking those vessels and a third, claiming the ships had failed to comply with the regime’s demands.
Trump announced Tuesday he would extend the ceasefire but continue the American naval blockade of Iranian ports, as a way of exerting pressure on the Islamic Republic to reopen the vital waterway.
U.S. Indicts Southern Poverty Law Center on Federal Fraud Charges, Accused of Illegally Paying Informants in White Supremacist and Other Extremist Groups
April 22nd, 2026Via: Las Vegas Sun:
The Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday was indicted by the Justice Department alleging its past use of paid confidential informants to infiltrate extremist groups amounted to defrauding donors. The case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama.
The organization was charged for allegedly making payments totaling at least $3 million between 2014 and 2023 to people associated with extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, the United Klans of America and the National Socialist Party of America, among others.
More: Democrats Lose A Vital Propaganda Machine With The Fall Of The SPLC
Murders and Disappearances of People Associated with Black World and Space Research
April 22nd, 2026Via: Daily Mail:
The White House has vowed to leave ‘no stone unturned’ in its effort to uncover the truth behind the string of missing scientists.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Friday on X that President Donald Trump has brought the FBI into the investigation.
‘In light of the recent and legitimate questions about these troubling cases, and President Trump’s commitment to the truth, the White House is actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to holistically review all of the cases together and identify any potential commonalities that may exist,’ Leavitt said.
Several scientists with ties to NASA, nuclear research, aerospace programs and classified projects have vanished or turned up dead in recent years.
Many of the individuals, including researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, had access to sensitive information on space missions, nuclear technology or advanced defense systems, prompting speculation about possible connections.
On Thursday, Trump revealed he had been briefed on the mysterious cases that have now reached 11.
More:
See Dark Journalist’s long running X-Series of presentations. X-222 is the latest:
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Background, for those who can withstand UAPGerb’s excruciating knowledge of acronyms:
As Iran Crisis Drags On, Fears of Global Food Catastrophe Grow
April 21st, 2026Via: Al Jazeera:
“Food prices will definitely rise in the coming months, making it more difficult for many people around the world to afford adequate and healthy diets,” Matin Qaim, executive director of the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn in Germany, told Al Jazeera.
“Poor people in Africa and Asia will be hurt the most because they have to spend a high share of their income on food anyway,” Qaim said.
“Hunger and undernutrition will very likely rise.”
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) last week warned that a prolonged crisis in the strait, which Iran has closed in retaliation for the United States and Israel’s war, could lead to a global food “catastrophe”.
India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, and Egypt are among the countries most at risk, according to the FAO.
In an analysis last month, the World Food Programme said nearly 45 million more people could face acute food shortages if the conflict continues into the middle of the year and oil prices remain above $100 a barrel.
Professor Robert Pape: The Collapse Is Now “Ahead of Schedule”
April 20th, 2026Please pay close attention.
Via: Redacted:
