Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

May 31st, 2023

Good morning, and happy Wednesday! Did you know that octopuses have built mini-cities in some parts of the ocean? In Eastern Australia’s Jervis Bay, scientists have observed octopuses living in constructed burrows and dens. They use marine items like shells to create their abodes and, apparently, have even been observed to evict each other from their dens. Talk about a landlord who’s constantly floating around!

In Today’s Brief

Russia: Former spy beluga whale spotted
Florida: Flesh-eating seaweed bacteria
Fall Out Boy: Guitarist returns to band
Nvidia: Passes $1T market cap briefly

...and more

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Top Tips

Existential threats of AI

Artificial intelligence experts including the heads of OpenAI and Google DeepMind warned that AI could possibly lead to the extinction of humanity.

The Center for AI Safety published a single-sentence statement, which reads: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.” Aside from the statement, the organization’s website suggests a number of “disaster” scenarios, such as the weaponization of AI through drug-discovery tools being used to build chemical weapons, misinformation generated by AI that could destabilize society and “undermine collective decision-making,” and more.

While some in the field argue that the above scenarios are overblown, the statement has received hundreds of signatures since it was published. Notable signatories include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, and Geoffrey Hinton, known as one of the “godfathers of AI” who recently quit his job at Google to warn of AI’s potential threats.

Moscow drone attack

Moscow was hit by drones yesterday morning, in what appeared to be the first attack on residential areas of the Russian capital since the country invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The attack–which Kyiv hasn’t claimed responsibility for–involved at least eight drones that flew over the city. The Kremlin claims that air-defense crews shot down or electronically jammed all the drones and that damage done to a few apartment buildings was caused by metal shards of the disabled airframes as they fell from the sky. The incident comes weeks after an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin and after days of deadly Russian bombardment against civilians in Kyiv.

As of last night, it is unclear whether the drones were fired from within Russia or Ukraine, or another location. The incident marks the largest wave of attacks launched against Russia since the start of its war against Ukraine, and the first of its kind in Moscow.

Green canals in Venice

Italian environmental authorities uncovered that a patch of fluorescent green water that appeared in Venice’s Grand Canal over the weekend was caused by a chemical commonly used in underwater construction to help identify leaks.

After the green water appeared, Italian authorities launched an investigation. Samples collected by firefighters and analyzed by the local environmental protection agency revealed the presence of the chemical fluorescein. The governor of Italy’s northern Veneto region, Luca Zaia, said that there was no danger of pollution. Zaia added it is still unclear how the substance ended up in the canal, but the volume released suggests that it was unlikely to be an accident.

After reports surfaced of the water’s changing color, some social media users said the images were reminiscent of a similar stunt in 1968 by Argentine artist Nicolas García Uriburu, who dyed the waters of Venice’s Grand Canal green in order to raise awareness of ecological issues.

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Quick Tips

Around the Globe

An alleged former Russian spy whale has been spotted off the coast of Sweden, according to the organization dedicated to tracking its movements; named locally as Hvaldimir, the beluga whale was first spotted off Norway’s coast in 2019 wearing a Russian harness (More)
Two Iranian female journalists who helped break Mahsa Amini’s story of her death in custody last September have gone on trial before a Revolutionary Court; they are reportedly charged with “collaborating with the hostile U.S. government” and “propaganda against the establishment” (More)
Brazilian President Lula da Silva proposed a common currency in South America’s Mercosur trade bloc, comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay (More)

On the Homefront

Some seaweed on Florida's beaches contains a flesh-eating bacteria that poses an immediate public health threat, according to claims published by Florida Atlantic University researchers in the journal Water Research (More)
Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes reported to federal prison in Texas to begin her sentence of 11 years (More)
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has dementia and is living at home with her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, per a statement from the Carter Center; the announcement comes as former President Carter is receiving hospice care at their home in Plains, Georgia (More)

Glitz & Games

In partnership with Snake River Farms

2.9M people watched HBO’s ‘Succession’ series finale on Sunday night, marking the show’s largest audience ever (More)
Bob Myers stepped down as president of basketball operations and general manager of the Golden State Warriors; Myers spent the past 12 years with the Warriors and became their general manager in April 2012 (More)
Fall Out Boy guitarist and founding member Joe Trohman has returned to the band after taking a several-month hiatus from the band to focus on his mental health (More)

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Business & Markets

Stocks indexes ended mixed yesterday, with the Dow losing, the Nasdaq gaining, and S&P 500 staying flat (Dow -0.15%, Nasdaq +0.32%, S&P 500 +0.00%)
Goldman Sachs is preparing for its third round of layoffs since September, according to sources familiar with the matter (More)
Nvidia passed a $1T market cap at one point during yesterday’s trading session, joining a handful of tech companies including Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft that have reached that threshold (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: Learn about Enoteca Maria, a restaurant in Staten Island, New York, that invites and employs real grandmothers from countries all around the globe to cook their family recipes and create that “special something” for their patrons
Sneak Peek: Check out the official trailer for I’m a Virgo, an upcoming fairy tale/superhero origin story that chronicles the life and times of a 13-foot-tall, 19-year-old boy who’s spent the bulk of his life hidden away by his family who fears what the world might do to him
Bump This: Consistent hitmakers OneRepublic are back with another radio-ready single “RUNAWAY” - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Chow Down: For a delicious breakfast that will satisfy both gluten lovers and gluten-intolerant folks, try out this recipe for buckwheat pancakes that have a light and fluffy texture and earthy, nutty flavor
Go Deep: Read about how construction workers in France are relying on medieval building techniques to reconstruct the Notre Dame cathedral’s fire-ravaged roof
Hot Goss: WWE’s Alexa Bliss announced that she is pregnant and expecting her first baby with her husband Ryan Cabrera
Life Hack: We all like to keep snacks around the house, but there are a ton of nutritional reasons why we should go nuts for nuts - here are the eight best nuts for protein that will help you boost your intake of this crucial ingredient

Tip-Offs

See if you can spot the five seedless watermelons.

The company where every employee earns the same.

A stunt director shows how to make fights look real.

Watch WWII veteran headstones get deep cleaned.

The latest domestic revolution: not washing clothes.

See NASA’s image of baby stars in the Orion Constellation.

Examining whether we’ll ever understand how animals think.

How the Vegas Golden Knights got to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Looking Back…

On May 31st: The United States establishes copyright law (1790); a flood causes more than 2.2K deaths in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (1889); the Battle of Jutland, an encounter between British and German naval fleets in WWI, begins (1916); actor and director Clint Eastwood is born (1930).

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