Year: 2024

Human smuggling arrests made in West Texas linked to woman’s death  WSET
source

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don’t have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The integration of herbal medicine with modern pharmaceuticals offers a novel approach to addressing complex healthcare challenges. This study investigates the role of dielectric spectroscopy in analysing key physicochemical properties such as solubility, stability, and molecular interactions. The findings reveal that combining herbal extracts with pharmaceutical agents enhances solubility and stability. It also reduces adverse effects, improving therapeutic efficacy. Dielectric spectroscopy is highlighted as a powerful analytical tool in this process.The study demonstrates how traditional herbal knowledge can be effectively linked with modern scientific methods. This approach enables the development of innovative therapeutic solutions that address safety and efficacy challenges. The results underline the potential of combining advanced analytical techniques with ethnopharmacological practices. This integration paves the way for the creation of safe, effective, and scientifically validated formulations for improved healthcare outcomes.
Keywords: Medicine, Herbal, pharmaceutical, molecular interactions, Dielectric Spectroscopy
Received: 28 Nov 2024; Accepted: 26 Dec 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Khatri and Dey. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Vinita Khatri, Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering, SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, India

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

source

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
The man accused of burning a sleeping woman to death inside a New York City subway train has been indicted on murder and arson charges, a prosecutor said on Friday, as authorities continue working to confirm the victim’s identity. (AP video: Cedar Attanasio)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a subway train, appears in court in New York, on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)
The man accused of burning a sleeping woman to death inside a New York City subway train has been indicted on murder and arson charges, a prosecutor said on Friday, as authorities continue working to confirm the victim’s identity. (AP video: Cedar Attanasio)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a subway train, appears in court in New York, on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a subway train, appears in court in New York, on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of burning a sleeping woman to death inside a New York City subway train has been indicted on murder and arson charges, prosecutors announced Friday, as authorities continue working to identify the victim.
Sebastian Zapeta is accused by prosecutors of lighting the woman on fire on a stopped F train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station Sunday morning, then fanning the flames with a shirt, causing her to become engulfed in the blaze, before sitting on platform bench and watching as she burned.
“This was a malicious deed. A sleeping, vulnerable woman on our subway system,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said after a brief court hearing where the indictment was announced.
He said Zapeta has been charged with multiple counts of murder as well as an arson charge. The top charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. The indictment will be unsealed on Jan. 7.
Zapeta, 33, was not present at the hearing, and his attorney declined to comment afterwards.
Zapeta, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, was taken into custody later Sunday. During questioning by police, prosecutors say he claimed not to know what had happened, noting that he consumes alcohol, but identified himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire being lit.
He was initially charged in a criminal complaint with murder and arson earlier this week. Such filings are often a first step in the criminal process because, in New York, all felony cases require a grand jury indictment to proceed to trial unless a defendant waives that requirement.

Gonzalez told reporters that police and medical examiners are working to identify the woman using fingerprints and advanced DNA techniques, while also retracing her steps before the killing.
“Our hearts go out not only to this victim, but we know that there’s a family,” Gonzalez said. “Just because someone appears to have been living in the situation of homelessness does not mean that there’s not going to be family devastated by the tragic way she lost her life.”
A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police after his arrest matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support. Federal immigration officials said he was deported in 2018 but returned to the U.S. illegally sometime after that.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has directed police to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ’s investigative team to explore criminal charges against Zapeta under the federal arson statute, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said this week.
Gonzalez argued Friday that the state charges brought by his office could result in a more severe penalty.
“I have a lot of confidence in the people of Brooklyn and the people who come and serve on jury duty here, and I think that this crime took place in New York City, in Brooklyn, and that the people of this county should serve on the jury there,” Gonzalez said.
The harrowing episode has renewed discussion about safety in the nation’s largest mass transit system.
Overall, crime in the subway is relatively rare, with trains and platforms generally as safe as any other public place in New York City. Police data shows major crimes were down this year through November, compared to the same period in 2023.
But homicides were up, with nine killings through November versus five during the same time frame last year. That figure doesn’t include the woman who was burned to death, nor a man who was fatally stabbed at a Queens subway station the same day.
High-profile attacks such as stabbings and shovings also put many riders on edge in a city where millions ride the rails every day.
“When you have these incidents, it overshadows the success and it plays on the psyche of New Yorkers,” Adams said in a televised interview earlier this week, noting that many high-profile incidents involve people with mental health issues.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

source

US-China tech war: Shanghai aims to be global medical AI hub by 2027  Yahoo Singapore News
source

Spock’s 2 Star Trek Heartbreaks Explain Why The Vulcan Never Pursued Love Again  Screen Rant
source

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2025  Variety
source

A Va. teen’s love of music inspired him to repair over 100 instruments  The Washington Post
source

Manchester City is seeking an end to a second four-game winless run of their latest Premier League title defense when they visit a leaky Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s men drew Everton 1-1 on Boxing Day, their second point of this winless run after four-straight losses from November 2 – December 1.
WATCH – Leicester City vs Manchester City
What’s been wrong with Man City? Injuries, for one, and an unlucky/misfiring Erling Haaland have not helped, but there does seem to be something deeper in this unanticipated dynasty drop-off.
Leicester’s new manager bounce under Ruud van Nistelrooy was shortlived, as the Foxes have now lost three-straight by a combined score line of 10-1 against Newcastle, Wolves, and — on Boxing Day — Liverpool.
It doesn’t get any easier for Van Nistelrooy, who did not have Jamie Vardy last time out and now gets wounded and angry Man City and Aston Villa on back-to-back match days.

Kick off time: 9:30am ET Sunday
Venue: King Power Stadium — Leicester
TV Channel: Peacock Premium
Streaming: Premier League on Peacock

OUT: Mads Hermansen (groin), Jordan Ayew (suspension), Wilfred Ndidi (thigh), Ricardo Pereira (thigh), Abdul Fatawu (knee – out for season) | QUESTIONABLE: Jamie Vardy (knock), Wout Faes (undisclosed), Kasey McAeer (knock)
OUT: John Stones (foot), Ruben Dias (muscular), Rodri (knee – out for season), Oscar Bobb (lower leg) | QUESTIONABLE: Ederson (undisclosed), Matheus Nunes (knock), Kyle Walker (illness), Jack Grealish (muscular)
The slide stops here? No offense to Ruud van Nistelrooy, but City was nearly 2 xG better than Everton and missed a penalty in their latest draw, while the Foxes have only produced a combined 1.20 xG over their three-game losing streak. Leicester City 0-3 Manchester City

A Division of NBCUniversal.
DISCLAIMER: This site and the products offered are for entertainment purposes only, and there is no gambling offered on this site. This service is intended for adult audiences. No guarantees are made for any specific outcome. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Ⓒ 2024 NBC Universal

source

CLOSE
We have emailed you a PDF version of the article you requested.
Please check your spam or junk folder
You can also addnewsletters@iflscience.comto your safe senders list to ensure you never miss a message from us.
CLOSE
Complete the form below and we will email you a PDF version
GET PDF
Cancel and go back
IFLScience needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time.
For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out ourPrivacy Policy
CLOSE
Complete the form below to listen to the audio version of this article
Listen
Cancel and go back
IFLScience needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time.
For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out ourPrivacy Policy
Advertisement
Search
Subscribe today for our Weekly Newsletter in your inbox!
Subscribe today for our Weekly Newsletter in your inbox!
Rosie McCall
Rosie McCall
Freelance Writer
Rosie is a freelance writer living in London. She has covered everything from ancient Egyptian temples to exciting medical breakthroughs, but she particularly enjoys writing about wildlife, anthropology and the wonders of the human mind.
View full profile
Read IFLScience Editorial Policy
Freelance Writer
Katy Evans
Managing Editor
Katy is Managing Editor at IFLScience where she oversees editorial content from News articles to Features, and even occasionally writes some.
View full profile
Read IFLScience Editorial Policy
DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION
OpenAI’s latest software scored 82.8 percent on a test for artificial general intelligence. That puts it in league with the average human, say researchers. 
Image credit: Krot_Studio/Shutterstock.com
DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION
AI has smashed records on a program designed to test “general intelligence”, achieving a score on a level with those of the average person. 
Historically, researchers have looked to the Turing Test to measure machine intelligence. To pass, a machine must convince a human that it too is a person. By some accounts, technology has already accomplished this feat. Indeed, ChatGPT may have cracked the test earlier this year. However, scientists question whether this can determine true intelligence. 
As an alternative, software engineer and AI researcher Francois Chollet created the ARC-AGI benchmark test, software designed to measure “artificial general intelligence” (or AGI). According to Chollet, “AGI is a system that can efficiently acquire new skills outside of its training data.” 
On this measure, ChatGPT would fail. The technology relies on probability and vast amounts of data to predict the most likely series of words to any given output. It is extraordinarily talented at creating content. However, Chollet would argue that true general intelligence is not so much about the skill (in this case, generating content) but its ability to acquire that skill in the first place without a huge amount of input. This is an ability ChatGPT lacks.

Therefore, to pass the ARC-AGI benchmark test, AI must complete a series of reasoning problems based on colored squares in a grid. Its task is to identify the pattern that turns one grid into another grid and it is given just three examples to learn from. The previous record (held by Jeremy Berman) was 58.5 percent. That record was smashed by OpenAI’s new o3 system, which scored an impressive 82.8 percent – and arguably puts it in league with humans, Chollet says.
In a blog piece, Chollet describes it as “a significant leap forward” representing a “genuine breakthrough in adaptability and generalization”. He said, “This is not just incremental progress; it is new territory, and it demands serious scientific attention.”
To put it in some context, four years ago, GPT-3 scored a less-than-impressive 0 percent. In 2024, GPT-4o did not do much better at 5 percent. Needless to say, there has been a dramatic rate of improvement. Still, there is no need to get too hasty. As Chollet himself points out, the o3 system still performs badly on some simple tasks.
While there have been some impressive developments when it comes to AI, there is little consensus amongst AI researchers on when we should expect to see true AGI. Some believe it is something we could see by the end of the decade. In a recent talk, Ben Goertzel, founder of SingularityNET, argued individual computers would have power equivalent to a human brain by 2023. “Then you add another 10/15 years on that, an individual computer would have roughly the compute power of all of human society.”
artificial intelligence,
turing test
link to article
link to article
link to article
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
link to article
link to article
link to article
Sign up today to get weekly science coverage direct to your inbox
&copy 2024 IFLScience. All Rights Reserved. RSS

source

Share
Hamster Kombat, once a top Telegram game, is turning to blockchain development on TON after struggling with declining popularity.
Hamster Kombat, a tap-to-earn game built on Telegram, is showing signs to deepen its blockchain roots, this time launching a layer-2 network on top of The Open Network, or just TON (TON). The decision comes after a community vote favouring the development of a dedicated network seemingly designed to enhance the Hamster Kombat token’s HMSTR (HMSTR) use cases.
💫HERE COMES THE BLOCKCHAIN 💫

The vote on the second proposal has ended! The DAO community has spoken: there WILL BE Hamster L2 blockchain built on TON!

We will be serving our community, the biggest web3 community in the world, with the technological foundation it asked for!… pic.twitter.com/v4p3jydAPF
Table of Contents
Layer-2 networks are built on top of existing blockchains to improve transaction speeds and scalability. While Ethereum already hosts several well-known layer-2 networks, such as Coinbase’s Base or Blast, TON is still in the early stages of exploring similar technologies.
As of press time, there are no indications that TON hosts any operational layer-2 network. However, the TON ecosystem seems to be working on compatibility with Ethereum Virtual Machine protocols. The strategy may be aimed at attracting liquidity and dApp developers from Ethereum to integrate them into TON’s infrastructure.
For instance, in July, another project, dubbed TON Applications Chain, announced plans to develop a layer-2 network on TON. However, TAC aims to leverage Polygon’s layer-2 technology to achieve this goal.
The so-called “Hamster Blockchain” comes from a vote within the Hamster DAO. The proposal suggested building a network “where HMSTR token would be used for gas fees,” per the proposal’s description.
The vote met the required quorum of 1 billion HMSTR tokens on Friday, Dec. 27, with more than 1.18 billion HMSTR tokens in favor and just over 104,000 tokens against. However, it seems that over 60% of the total votes cast in favor of the initiative — amounting to approximately 737.3 million HMSTR tokens — were submitted by a single address, identified as UQDz…hUCu.
Launched in March, Hamster Kombat rapidly gained popularity, amassing millions of users within five months.
According to the Hamster Kombat team, a whopping 300 million people have signed up to play the game. Of these, a little under half of the players — 131 million in total — qualified to receive HMSTR tokens. Meanwhile, over 2.3 million players were flagged as cheaters and excluded from the token distribution.
The game’s integration with Telegram received a boost from the messaging app’s founder, Pavel Durov, who praised the game’s launch on TON as a way to bring blockchain benefits to millions.
However, for Hamster Kombat, things went south pretty quickly following the airdrop of its token, as it failed to meet players’ financial expectations. By early November, the user base had plummeted by 86%, dropping from 300 million to approximately 41 million active monthly players, per data from IntoTheBlock.
Several factors may have contributed to this decline:
In trying to solve these issues, the Hamster Kombat development team appears to be shifting the community’s focus toward the creation of a layer-2 network on TON. Nonetheless, several critical details remain unclear. For example, there’s no information thus far on who will develop the network, what technological stack will be used, or, most importantly, who’s gonna pay for the ambitious plan.
The missing details in the initiative’s description leave too many questions unanswered as well. On top of that, the proposed layer-2 network isn’t mentioned in Hamster Kombat’s roadmap at all, which appears to have not been updated since September.
Read more about
Deep Dives
Hamster Kombat to debut layer-2 network on TON after failed airdrop
Crypto tech projects shouldn’t settle for shallow marketing | Opinion
From physical rewards to solar power: How DePIN works
Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to create the state-level Bitcoin reserves. What are these bills?
Why meme coins are fading this cycle: A tale of Bitcoin and the others
Should web3 devs be building tribes, not just tools? | Opinion
Coinbase CLO shares data on crypto hedge funds debanking, demands for answers
BTC crosses the hallmark of 19.8 mined units on Xmas eve. It’s time to talk about Bitcoin’s supply cap
Bitcoin or altcoins? Find out who will win the holiday season
Crypto taxes: What does regulation look like around the world?
Related News
Ethereum can speed up by running nearly 65% of its transactions in parallel, Sei says
Binance to support Optimism network upgrade and hard fork
Pig butchering crypto scams wiped out $3.6b this year: report
Get crypto market analysis and curated news delivered right to your inbox every week.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

source