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As the U.S. backs away from key climate, aid, and scientific investments, Europe is stepping in to pick up the slack. Europes latest intervention? Saving a plan to build one of the worlds largest, cutting-edge telescopes. This week, the Spanish government offered to pay $470 million to take over one of the most ambitious astronomy projects in history, known as the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). In the deal, Spain would also provide the unconstructed mega-telescope a home atop a rugged peak on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. After massive proposed cuts to the National Science Foundations $9 billion budget, the project faced a financing shortfall that likely spelled its doom. Trumps cuts, detailed in late May, slash the foundations budget by more than half, jettisoning funding for the TMT while keeping another $3 billion telescope project, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) under construction now in Chile alive. Faced with the risk of this major international scientific project being halted, the Government of Spain has decided to act with renewed commitment to science and major scientific infrastructures for the benefit of global knowledge, Spains Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities Diana Morant said. When constructed, the telescope will be a modern scientific marvel. Named the Thirty Meter Telescope for the size of its mirror, the project was designed to take on some of astronomys most compelling questions, searching the deep skies for signs of extraterrestrial life, evidence of the universes origins and clues about the nature of dark matter. Compared to images from the James Webb Space Telescope, a triumph of engineering itself, the TMT will produce images four times sharper. A controversial telescope Pondering the universes biggest mysteries is a shared human experience, but the TMTs journey to investigate them has proven surprisingly divisive. The plan to build a mega-telescope with a mirror as big as a blue whale began in 2003. The project evolved over time into a consortium of scientists from around the globe, an organization now known as the TMT International Observatory (TIO). The group determined that the ideal site for the massive lens was the summit of Hawaiis highest peak, Mauna Kea. While Mauna Keas high, dry summit attracts astronomy projects and already hosts thirteen other telescopes, the peaks history as a sacred place in Hawaiian culture prompted a public outcry from residents and conservationists who wanted the TMT built elsewhere. The mountain is known as the home of the god Wakea and plays a central role in native Hawaiian creation stories, a status that inspired a resistance movement against plans to further develop the area. Its not the projects first pick, but Spains offer to host the project is a natural fit. The Spanish island of La Palma was already the telescopes backup plan, and like Mauna Kea it offers a remote, high perch with consistently clear skies and infrastructure already in place from other international observatories. In 2019, the Government of Spain already expressed its willingness for the TMT to be built on this island, and now, six years later, it is taking a decisive step with a strategic investment that will benefit the European Union, Spain, the Canary Islands, and especially La Palma, Spains Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities said. Trump-era cuts to science funding werent the first time that the U.S. budget imperiled at least one of the two major next-generation telescopes in the works. With the GMT still on track, its counterpart might have a brighter future under an eager government across the ocean. “While some countries are cutting science investments and even denying it, Spain is a refuge for science, Morant said.
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If youve been confessing your deepest secrets to an AI chatbot, it might be time to reevaluate. With more people turning to AI for instant life coaching, tools like ChatGPT are sucking up massive amounts of personal information on their users. While that data stays private under ideal circumstances, it could be dredged up in court a scenario that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned users in an appearance on Theo Vons popular podcast this week. One example that weve been thinking about a lot people talk about the most personal shit in their lives to ChatGPT, Altman said. Young people especially, use it as a therapist, as a life coach, Im having these relationship problems, what should I do? And right now, if you talk to a therapist or a lawyer or a doctor about those problems, there’s legal privilege for it, theres doctor patient confidentiality, theres legal confidentiality. Altman says that as a society we havent figured that out yet for ChatGPT. Altman called for a policy framework for AI, though in reality OpenAI and its peers have lobbied for a regulatory light touch. If you go talk to ChatGPT about your most sensitive stuff and then theres a lawsuit or whatever, we could be required to produce that, and I think that’s very screwed up, Altman told Von, arguing that AI conversations should be treated with the same level of privacy as a chat with a therapist. While interactions with doctors and therapists are protected by federal privacy laws in the U.S., exceptions exist for instances in which someone is a threat to themselves or others. And even with those strong privacy protections, relevant medical information can be surfaced by court order, subpoena or a warrant. Altmans argument seems to be that from a regulatory perspective, ChatGPT shares more in common with licensed, trained specialists than it does with a search engine. I think we should have the same concept of privacy for your conversations with AI that we do with a therapist, he said. Altman also expressed concerns about how AI will adversely impact mental health, even as people seek its advice in lieu of the real thing. Another thing Im afraid of is just what this is going to mean for users mental health. There’s a lot of people that talk to ChatGPT all day long, Altman said. There are these new AI companions that people talk to like they would a girlfriend or boyfriend. I dont think we know yet the ways in which [AI] is going to have those negative impacts, but I feel for sure it’s going to have some, and we’ll have to, I hope, we can learn to mitigate it quickly.”
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Not too long ago, it used to take trial and error and a girls’ night to find out that your date is a walking red flag. Now, there’s an app for that. The Tea Dating Advice appwhich allows women to anonymously leave feedback on menhas quickly captured the attention of social media. Founded and self-funded by former product manager Sean Cook, the app quietly launched in 2023, but it has just recently gained momentum. Beating out ChatGPT, the app this week became the No. 1 most downloaded app on Apple’s App Store. It has over 4 million users, the company claims. Cook first started the company after “witnessing his mothers terrifying experience with online datingnot only being catfished but unknowingly engaging with men who had criminal records,” the company website reads. Fast Company reached out to Tea for comment on this article. A press representative declined. The idea behind Tea is not new. Similarly themed forums have existed for years online. For instance,in the popular “Are We Dating the Same Guy” Facebook group, women share photos and information about their partners to find out if they were cheating, while also offering support networks to spot red flags. And while such groups do routinely get taken down due to privacy concerns, apps mimicking the model have also popped up, with one even taking the group’s name. Still, as the Tea app continues to gain traction, it has also garnered criticism and raised concerns about privacy, particularly among male groups. How does Tea work? Serving as a sort of “Yelp for men,” Tea lets women leave feedback on men they have previously dated, marking them as a green or red flag. Marketing itself as an app that revolutionizes safety in dating for women, the app also has a built-in sex-offender map and a chat section for women to discuss advice. Additionally, a premium paid version of the app offers more advanced safety tools, including an AI-powered reverse image search to spot catfishing, a background check tool, and criminal record and court document searches. The paid version of the app currently costs $14.99 a month, with 10% of the profits going to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, according to an annual giving statement published on the app’s website. Fast Company reached out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline to confirm, but did not receive a comment at the time of publishing. To access Tea, women have to verify their gender by submitting a selfie, which is then verified by the app’s team. Once accepted, users can post a photo of their partners, comment on perceived toxic behavior, add design elements like green or red flags, or generally ask the community if they know any “tea” on them. However, there is no verification process to certify that all claims are truthful. Fast Company gained access to the Tea app and used some of its features, which were prone to glitches during a review of the UX on Friday. Screenshots of the app are disabled. Men are not happy about it While Tea as a concept might seem useful for women in today’s complex dating world, men online are alarmed by the app. In one popular Reddit group, r/MensRights, a mega-thread about the Tea app was started on July 24, following several posts of men criticizing the app and asking how to get posts about them taken down. On TikTok, several posts denouncing the app have also gone viral. “This is a disaster of epic proportions,” one user shared on TikTok. “You don’t even have to prove you went on a date with this person.” Additionally, claims of a “male version” of the app circulated on social media, with users claiming that it was quickly taken down due to inappropriate content, although its existence is not yet verified. Its unclear if Teas sudden popularity will land it on the radar of Apple or Google, both of which have lengthy guidelines that prohibit apps with harmful or objectionable content on their app stores. Fast Company reached out to Apple and Google for comment. Growing concerns as user base skyrockets It’s not just men who have expressed concerns or even outright complaints about Tea. “It’s so over saturated. I was scrolling and there is a bunch of men with no comments, no anything,” one female user shared on TikTok. “I feel like that defeats the purpose.” Concerns over user safety have also circulated, with some worried that women with access to the app might be sharing the posts with their male friends, which could potentially put the anonymous users in harms way. Meanwhile, the news website 404 Media recently reported on a data breach, where personal information including drivers’ licenses and selfies from Tea users were allegedly leaked on 4chan. Tea acknowledged the breach after the story was published via a post on the app, saying the leaked dataset included 72,000 images, of which 13,000 were selfies and other types of photo identification. Tea’s privacy policy claims that photos are “securely processed and stored only temporarily and will be deleted immediately following the completion of the verification process.” However, the leaked dataset was from “over two years ago,” the post says, contradicting the company’s own privacy policy. As Tea continues to spark debates around privacy, toxic dating cultures, and potential ways that the app could be abused, many users across social media are merely highlighting the deeper meaning behind the app itself. “While everyone’s laughing at the stuff posted on that app, I’m honestly disgusted. My heart breaks for every woman who’s been cheated on, lied to, mistreated, harassed, or worse,” another user shared on TikTok. “There is nothing funny about trauma. It’s not cute. It’s not entertainment.”
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