🇨🇭 Thought-to-text chip smaller than Neuralink achieves 91% accuracy

While Elon Musk's Neuralink has garnered most of the headlines in this field, a new small and thin chip out of Switzerland makes it look downright clunky by comparison. It also works impressively well.

The chip has been developed by researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and represents a leap forward in the sizzling space of brain-machine-interfaces (BMIs) – devices that are able to read activity in the brain and translate it into real-world output such as text on a screen. That's because this particular device – known as a miniaturized brain-machine interface (MiBMI) – is extremely small, consisting of two thin chips measuring just 8 mm2 total. By comparison, Elon Musk's Neuralink device clocks in at comparatively gargantuan size of about 23 x 8 mm (about 0.3 x .9 in).

Additionally, the EPFL chipset uses very little power, is reported to be minimally invasive, and consists of a fully integrated system that processes data in real time. That's different from Neuralink, which requires the insertion of 64 electrodes into the brain and carries out its processing via an app located on a device outside of the brain.

"MiBMI allows us to convert intricate neural activity into readable text with high accuracy and low power consumption," said Mahsa Shoaran who heads EPFL's Integrated Neurotechnologies Laboratory. "This advancement brings us closer to practical, implantable solutions that can significantly enhance communication abilities for individuals with severe motor impairments."

Like other BMIs, the new chip basically monitors electrical activity in the brain and, armed with datasets from previous brain-monitoring efforts, converts that activity into an output. In this case, the MiBMI is able to read brain signals that are formed as someone imagines drawing a letter and output those signals as text.

"We are collaborating with other research groups to test the system in different contexts, such as speech decoding and movement control," says Shoaran. "Our goal is to develop a versatile BMI that can be tailored to various neurological disorders, providing a broader range of solutions for patients."

🔗 https://newatlas.com/computers/mibmi-text-accuracy/

🚬 Recreational drug use — even cannabis — triples the risk of heart attack, stroke

A new study has found that recreational drug users are three times more likely to have recurrent heart emergencies than those who abstain.

Over a two-week period in 2021, researchers followed nearly 1,400 patients admitted to ICUs across France.

All of the patients were tested for drugs, and 11% were found to have cannabis, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines or MDMA in their systems at the time of intake, and more than 28% tested positive for two or more of those drugs.

Researchers then tracked the patients for a year to see if they experienced cardiac emergencies or strokes.

Of this test group, roughly 6% of nonusers suffered a follow-up emergency, while a staggering 13% of drug users found themselves back in the ER with cardiovascular complications within the year.

Furthermore, drug takers were more likely than their straight-edge counterparts to suffer a heart-related death, non-fatal heart attack or stroke.

“Recreational drug use was associated with a tripling of the risk of a repeat serious cardiovascular event within one year,” said researcher Dr. Raphael Mirailles, a physician with Lariboisière Hospital in Paris.

Returning to the study, taking opioids upped the cardiac risk factor by 3.6 times, while cannabis use nearly doubled it.

Curiously, cocaine and amphetamines did not have a statistically significant relationship with serious cardiovascular events.

🔗 https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/Recent-recreational-drug-use-triples-risk-of-repeat-serious-cardiovascular-event

📎 New York Post

🇧🇷⌛️🚫❌ — 𝕏 will (probably) be blocked in Brazil today at 6:00 PM Brasília time (GMT-3) – this information is being reported by some journalists, citing a leaked source from the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel).

🇧🇷⚖️🚫💰👤🛰 — In a completely illegal action, Minister Alexandre de Moraes of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) blocked the accounts of the Starlink company in Brazil, which belongs to businessman Elon Musk. The decision was justified as a way to collect judicial fines owed by 𝕏

📝 Since the social media platform no longer has a legal representative in Brazil, Moraes turned against Starlink. All Starlink executives in Brazil have been notified and summoned to respond for the amounts owed to the Brazilian judiciary by 𝕏, which is another case of nullity since they are different entities and there is no involvement with Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino.

⁉️ This was not the first attempt to disrupt Starlink's services in the country. Several times in 2024, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) has criticized the company, calling for it to be investigated and ordering the termination of all contracts the company had for providing internet to some schools in remote areas without access to basic services.

Source 🖇

🖥❗️🇧🇷 — The ProtonVPN service announced that it is making several efforts to help the population of Brazil against censorship:

Amidst reports of X censorship in #Brazil, we're continuing to work to provide access to a free and open internet. #ProtonVPN and its browser extension are available for free on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.

Proton VPN (@ProtonVPN) on 𝕏 🖇

👤❌❌🇧🇷⚖️ — Elon Musk responded on 𝕏 to the news that Starlink accounts in Brazil were blocked by Minister Alexandre de Moraes (STF):

"The tyrant, Alexandre de Moraes, is dictator of Brazil. Lula is his lapdog."

@elonmusk 🖇

🇻🇪🇻🇪⁉️🇧🇷⚖️🤡 — Nicolás Maduro again referred to Brazilian elections, saying, "Don't stick your nose in Venezuela's internal affairs."

❗️ Without directly mentioning the Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Maduro stated that in 2022, Venezuela "did not issue a statement" and allowed Brazil to "solve its problems internally." Maduro used the Brazilian elections in 2022 as a reference to comment on the situation:

"There were elections, and Bolsonaro did not recognize the results; there was an appeal to the 'Supreme Court' [the TSE (Superior Electoral Court)]. The 'Supreme Court' of Brazil decided that Lula won the election. Holy word of Brazil. And who meddled with Brazil? Nobody!

Did you make a statement? You? You? Did Venezuela say anything? We only said that we respected Brazilian institutions, and Brazil resolved its issues internally, as it should be."

💬 Maduro referred to the January 8, 2023 events, when the headquarters of the Three Powers in Brasília (DF) were invaded, to draw a parallel with the opposition protests in Venezuela:

"What did Venezuela do [after January 8]? We immediately condemned Bolsonaro's violent fascist acts and supported democracy, the Constitution, and the established authority in Brazil without commenting on internal matters.

That's how it has been; that's how it should be. With the constitutional, institutional, and Bolivarian moral authority that we have, we demand that the world not stick its nose in Venezuela's internal affairs and respect Venezuela's sovereignty and internal life."

Source 🖇

✉️🇫🇷❌🏴 — Pavel Durov says that Telegram collaborates with the DGSI in cases of terrorism

➡️ During his first court hearing yesterday, Pavel Durov argued that Telegram had helped French domestic intelligence agency DGSI in terrorism cases, reports Le Parisien, yet excluding to help police services in other types of offenses.

«By infiltrating private groups […], police investigators have discovered unbearable pictures. In particular of the rape of a 4-month-old baby perpetrated in turn by two men. The video is real and the acts appear to have been committed in France. […]. Despite the extreme seriousness of the situation, Telegram reportedly did not deign to respond [to police requests] […]. Other police services [combating child abuse] agree: in recent years, Telegram has been absent whenever the courts ask it to make the slightest effort towards transparency.

➡️ Questioned at length on this subject during his police custody and again during his first appearance hearing before the investigating judge, Pavel Durov retorted, according to concordant sources, that Telegram's silence was on the contrary not systematic.

➡️ According to the billionaire [...], his company would be in the habit of collaborating with the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) in the context of anti-terrorist investigations. As soon as human lives are at stake, Telegram would thus comply with the requests of French intelligence through a specially designed communication channel.

➡️ Pavel Durov even claims to have helped foil terrorist plots and to have participated in the intelligence work of the DGSI in the run-up to the Olympic Games. But as he himself also admitted, Telegram would have chosen to limit its judicial cooperation to this anti-terrorist framework alone, excluding any collaboration with other police services on the pretext that the latter would use the communication channel reserved for the DGSI.

#BREAKING

🇧🇷❌❌ — Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice and de facto Dictator of Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes, orders the immediate shutdown of Twitter/X in Brazil and its overseas territories

➡️ At any moment, the social network could become inaccessible in the country, as, by law, the Court is required to formally ask the country's communications regulator (ANATEL) to shut it down

➡️ Such a thing happens after Twitter/X refused to censor accounts belonging to the Brazilian Right-wing opposition without due process, trials or even warrants under the accusation that they "spread fake news" and/or "threaten democracy"

🇧🇷❌❌❗️ — Brazilian Supreme Court Justice and de facto Dictator of Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes, issues an R$ 50,000 (~10,000 USD) fine for any Brazilian citizen using VPNs to overturn the ban on Twitter/X

➡️ Such a thing also happened when the same justice ordered the shutdown of Telegram in the past

➡️ As always, it is an order virtually impossible to enforce

https://news.1rj.ru/str/BellumActaNews/128215

🇧🇷⚖️🚫❌ — Alexandre de Moraes (STF) has ordered the removal of 𝕏 in Brazil within 24 hours, under penalty of malfeasance for those who do not comply with the order.

"The president of Anatel, Carlos Manuel Baigorri, must be notified, including through electronic means, to immediately take all necessary measures to enforce this decision, and report back to this Court within 24 hours at the latest."

📝 Admin Comment | In admin's honest view, in a measure to crackdown on the Brazilian opposition and save Democracy, Moraes just handed an delicious cake on the hands of it:

— Technically, all the "non-politized normies" will flee the network for "safe spots" as Meta Networks, Telegram and similars
— Brazilian virtual space will face the same phenomenon that Iranian, Belarusian, Chinese and Venezuelan ones face currently: It being overwhelming & largely a space supported by the opposition's narrative and its points of view.
— Political radicals will no longer see any kind of restriction to expose their views and desires
— Public figures will be purged from their biggest opinion chamber,
— Brazilian Government Propaganda, which relies on Twitter/X for 40% of its viewership, will be crushed even on the eyes of non-political normies
— The Brazilian opposition narrative that Brazil is under a dictatorship (it is) is entirely justified

https://news.1rj.ru/str/BellumActaNews/128216