In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a mysterious illness has killed a ton of people, particularly women and children — and officials are struggling to get it under control.
As the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/congo-unknown-disease-kwango-11c96d7073ae4a0bc8ef9b2575f8d226">Associated Press reports</a>, a flu-like disease began spreading in southwestern Congo in November, where affected patients reported anemia, cough, headaches, fever, and trouble breathing.
Rémy Saki, the deputy health minister of the Kwango province where the outbreak is taking place, told the AP that between 67 and 143 have died from the strange illness — though it remains unclear, obviously, what the full death toll is.
"A team of epidemiological experts is expected in the region," Saki said, "to take samples and identify the problem."
As <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/unknown-disease-kills-143-southwest-congo-local-authorities-say-2024-12-03/">Reuters reports</a>, cases continue to rise in the Panzi health zone where the outbreak is taking place.
"Panzi is a rural health zone," society leader Cephorien Manzanza told Reuters, "so there is a problem with the supply of medicines."
In a press conference over the weekend, provincial health minister Apollinaire Yumba told reporters that the country is calling on international partners to send medical aid. He also added that people in the affected regions are being advised to not touch the dead so that they can avoid contamination from this unknown disease.
The officials told reporters that people are dying alone at home from the strange illness because they don't have access to treatment, and that women and children have been most seriously affected by the illness. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, was reportedly alerted to the situation last week.
This outbreak comes at a terrible time for the DRC, which is at the heart of a <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/who-declares-second-mpox-emegency">virulent mpox epidemic</a> and has reported <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2024/08/09/healthcare-news-ebola-mdma-therapy-air-pollution-ftc-sti-hehealth/">suspected cases of ebola</a> in recent months.
One of the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc/overview">five poorest nations in the world</a>, Congo is often <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8438513/">plagued by disease outbreaks</a> because its people lack access to basic medical care.
Nonetheless, it's jarring that there hasn't been more immediate aid in this strange respiratory outbreak, given that the world is only now beginning to recoup from the COVID-19 pandemic.
More on outbreaks: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/rkf-measles-outbreak">Trump's Health Guy Linked to Measles Outbreak That Killed Dozens of Children</a>

Medical Mystery

Officials say it's targeting women and children.

Mysterious Disease Outbreak Has Already Killed Dozens

Donald Trump's top pick to lead Medicare, the celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, has at least one glaring conflict of interest: that he was sponsored by the company that makes Ozempic.
As the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/12/02/dr-oz-medicare-medicaid-ozempic-conflicts/">Washington Post reports</a>, the drug's manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, not only hosted multiple infomercials hosted by Oz on his eponymous talk show, but was also a major marketing partner of Sharecare, a digital health company Oz runs with Oprah Winfrey and WebMD founder Jeff Arnold.
Though a Novo spokesperson told the newspaper that the company ended its relationship with Oz or Sharecare and that he is no longer a stakeholder, the talk show host continues to <a href="https://www.doctoroz.com/newsletter">extoll the drugs' benefits in his newsletter</a> and advertise collagen supplements that can supposedly help with "Ozempic face," which occurs when people lose weight rapidly from these medicines.
Whether he still has financial ties to Novo or not, that relationship could, per former Office of Government Ethics head Walter Shaub, Jr., "create a disincentive to do the job the American people need done by the person in his position."
Though financial conflicts of interest are <a href="https://time.com/4669729/conflict-of-interest-history/">not at all new to politics</a>, this one is particularly tricky because Ozempic and its weight loss sister drug Wegovy are currently not covered by Medicare or Medicaid and can <a href="https://ro.co/weight-loss/ozempic-cost-without-insurance/">end up costing</a> nearly $1,000 per month without insurance. Should <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wegovy-ozempic-medicare-medicaid-biden-proposal/">proposals to get them covered by the government</a> come across his desk, Oz's financial ties to the multi-billion-dollar company behind them could easily complicate that decision.
"The situation could be an ethical morass," Shaub told WaPo, "unless he is truly willing to alter his finances and business dealing."
In statements to the newspaper, neither Oz's spokesperson nor another from the Trump-Vance transition team directly addressed the matter at hand.
Nick Clemens, the celebrity doctor's personal spokesperson for the transition team, told the paper that Oz "will work to expand access, improve care, and get Americans the best results in the world for every dollar spent on health care."
"All nominees and appointees will comply with the ethical obligations of their respective agencies," transition representative Brian Hughes told the newspaper.
In direct opposition to Oz's championing of the drug stands <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9nQ40mSMY">Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.</a>, Trump's Health Department pick who once told Fox News that Novo is "counting on selling it to Americans because we are so stupid and so addicted to drugs."
Between those non-rebuttal statements and the anti-pharma stance of Oz's <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/agencies/hhs-agencies-and-offices/index.html">potential boss</a>, the Ozempic battle could be poised to get messy — if both men are confirmed, that is, which has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/politics/matt-gaetz-withdrawing-attorney-general/index.html">already been shakey</a> with Trump's chaotic nominees.
More on Ozempic politics: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/novo-nordisk-selling-wegovy-china">Wait, Why Is Novo Selling Weight Loss Drugs for So Cheap in China?</a>

Ethics Loss

Rx/Medicines

"The situation could be an ethical morass."

Dr. Oz Will Have a Fascinating Conflict of Interest Running Medicare: Ozempic

UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside of a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan earlier this morning, in what the New York Police Department is calling a "brazen, targeted attack."
"I want to be clear at this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack," Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters, as <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/04/unitedhealth-cancels-investor-day-after-reports-of-executive-shot-in-manhattan.html">quoted by </a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/04/unitedhealth-cancels-investor-day-after-reports-of-executive-shot-in-manhattan.html">CNBC</a>.
Let's be clear: any act of violence or loss of life is a tragedy. But the internet's indifference to Thompson's passing — and gallows humor about the notorious deficiencies of the private insurance industry — are simultaneously ghoulish and illustrative of America's profoundly dysfunctional medical system.
"All human life is sacred, so it's not proper to laugh when serious harm befalls someone," one Bluesky user <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com/post/3lcij44wlmc2n">wrote</a>. "The moral thing to do is instead charge them hundreds of thousands of dollars."
"Our apologies, but bullet wounds are only covered under our platinum+ package," another user <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/melimoder.bsky.social/post/3lcijcngljc2j">added</a>.
The reactions highlight widespread disillusionment and anger over a woefully inadequate health insurance system in the United States that has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/07/americans-healthcare-medical-costs">preyed on the unemployed and uninsured</a> for decades, leading to a <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/09/new-study-finds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-to-lack-of-health-coverage/">endless death</a>, bankruptcy and suffering.
Skyrocketing medical costs have forced a <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/e497c623e5a0216b31291cd37063df1d/NHIS-Q3-2023-Data-Point-FINAL.pdf">huge chunk of the population</a> to delay getting medical help. People have astonishingly little trust in the US healthcare system, going as far as to <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/experts-alarmed-medical-scans-grok">voluntarily upload their medical scans</a> to Elon Musk's potty-mouthed Grok AI for what are likely untrustworthy answers.
UnitedHealth's role shouldn't be underestimated. The group is <a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/class-action-lawsuit-against-unitedhealth-group-inc-nyse-unh">one of the largest</a> health insurance companies in the world in terms of revenue, and the <a href="https://fortune.com/ranking/global500/">eighth largest corporation</a> by market capitalization.
In short, seeing the CEO of a notorious health insurance company — which is currently facing a class action lawsuit for <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2023/11/14/unitedhealth-class-action-lawsuit-algorithm-medicare-advantage/">using an algorithm to deny rehabilitation care</a> to seriously ill patients — meet a violent end doesn't seem to have caused an outpouring of mourning.
"Thank you for choosing UnitedHealthcare for your healthcare needs," one Reddit user wrote in a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/medicine/comments/1h6h3hh/comment/m0dtg74/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">facetious post</a>, imitating the style of a letter from a health insurer denying coverage. "After a careful review of the claim submitted for emergency services on December 4, 2024, we regret to inform you that your request for coverage has been denied."
"If you would like to appeal the fatal gunshot, please call 1-800-555-1234 with case # 123456789P to initiate a peer-to-peer within 48 hours of the fatal gunshot," another Reddit user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/medicine/comments/1h6h3hh/comment/m0dfqws/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">wrote</a>.
Besides its reputation for denying health coverage, UnitedHealth has been embroiled in a number of controversies lately. In March, the insurer was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/class-action-lawsuits-pile-up-over-unitedhealth-data-breach-2024-03-13/">hit with at least six separate class action lawsuits</a>, accusing it of failing to protect millions from a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/healthcare-providers-hit-by-frozen-payments-ransomware-outage-2024-02-29/">massive personal data breach</a> in February. The hack, kickstarted by a week-long ransomware outage, left countless healthcare providers in the cold, forcing hospitals to absorb massive upfront costs.
In June, UnitedHealth shareholders filed a separate class action lawsuit against the company, alleging that they had <a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/class-action-lawsuit-against-unitedhealth-group-inc-nyse-unh">bought stock at artificially inflated prices</a> between March 2022 and February 2024.
The company also <a href="https://www.fox21news.com/business/press-releases/accesswire/888527/class-action-filed-against-unitedhealth-group-inc-unh-july-15-2024-deadline-to-join-contact-levi-korsinsky/">faces an antitrust class action lawsuit</a> relating to its failure to establish boundaries between its own two complementary businesses, Optum and UnitedHealthcare.
In fact, Thompson was rushed to a hospital in New York City's Mount Sinai network — a medical system that UnitedHealth <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/nyregion/united-healthcare-mount-sinai-hospital-deal.html">removed from its network last year</a>, to the chagrin of patients who relied on its care.
Needless to say, there could be any number of reasons why the killer could have targeted Thompson. While the exact motive remains unknown, it's certainly possible the killer was looking for revenge.
"Yes, there had been some threats basically I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details," Thompson's wife <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-fatally-shot-nyc-hotel-police-say-rcna182789">told NBC News</a>. "I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him."
UnitedHealth is set to <a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/international/2024/12/04/unitedhealth-executive-fatally-shot-in-nyc-on-investor-day/">bring in $280 billion</a> in revenue this year. Shares are up around half a percent as of the time of writing.
According to the US government, <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ee0475e44e27daef00155e95a24fd023/nhis-q1-2024-datapoint.pdf">just over 27 million Americans</a> currently lack health insurance.
More on health insurance: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/experts-alarmed-medical-scans-grok">Experts Alarmed by People Uploading Their Medical Scans to Elon Musk's Grok AI</a>

Karma

Developments

"Our apologies, but bullet wounds are only covered under our Platinum+ package."

People's Reactions to a Health Insurance CEO Getting Assassinated Are Incredibly Dark

Could a chatbot <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/chatgpt-atrocious-doctor">be your doctor</a> someday? It's looking more likely than you'd think.
In a recently published study, 50 doctors were asked to diagnose medical conditions from examining case reports, with some of them being randomly assigned to use ChatGPT to help with their decision making.
During the experiment, the participating doctors were graded on not just the correctness of their final diagnosis, but on how well they could explain their thought process.
Based on that criteria, the doctors who worked by themselves scored 74 percent on average, and those who collaborated with the AI chatbot to reach their diagnosis scored 76 percent.
But both groups were vastly outperformed by something that never went to med school: ChatGPT, acting on its own, blew the human docs out of the water with an average score of 90 percent.
The research, <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2825395">published in the journal JAMA Network Open</a>, was small in scope — the 50 doctors only examined six case studies — but nonetheless has striking implications about the role of AI in the medical field — and perhaps the biases held by human doctors.
"I was shocked at the results," study coauthor Adam Rodman, an internal medicine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/podcasts/trumps-next-online-speech-cop-doctors-vs-chatgpt-hard-fork-crimes-division.html?showTranscript=1">said in an interview</a> on the New York Times podcast Hard Fork. "My hypothesis going in was that people using [ChatGPT] would be the best. So I am surprised by this."
These cases, based on real medical patients, were intentionally challenging. Nevertheless, ChatGPT overwhelmingly prevailed. According to Rodman, this could be as much of a testament to the AI model's capabilities as it is to a human doctor's stubbornness.
The MDs using ChatGPT, for example, may have felt resistant to the chatbot's second opinion and dismissed it as wrong, doubling down on their first guess as a result.
Another factor that could explain why the doctors lagged behind the technology is that they simply weren't familiar with using it.
But Rodman pushed back against the takeaway that ChatGPT is more competent than your average human doc. "The difference is that the people who put the case together, like, the information, if you want to think about the prompts, were expert clinicians," he said on the podcast. "We organize it in such a way."
In other words, human medical professionals did all the hard work of accurately gathering and presenting medical information in the final case reports — <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/whisper-nabla-hospital-ai-details-patients">something an AI can't do</a>, at least yet. To declare that the AI obviously trumps the doctors is sort of like a chef taking all the credit for a tasty meal when they used someone else's recipe.
The study was also primarily designed to test how effectively a chatbot could help doctors, which turned out to be not very much — and not to demonstrate that AI was superior. In fact, similar studies have found <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/chatgpt-atrocious-doctor">ChatGPT to be terrible at diagnosing cases</a>.
What's striking, though, is that that the experiment was conducted a year ago using an older version of ChatGPT. The results could be even more impressive now.
"Maybe AI models are better at making diagnoses than human doctors. But I don't think that's the case with GPT-4 Turbo, which was the model that was used here," Rodman said. "But it's going to be true at some point, and we're quickly approaching that."
More on AI: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/elon-musk-grok-medical-scans">Elon Musk Recommends Feeding Your Medical Scans Into His Grok AI</a>

Docs Populi

"I was shocked at the results."

ChatGPT Outperforms Human Doctors At Accurately Diagnosing Patients

NASA is gearing up to slowly lower the orbit of the International Space Station until it burns through the Earth's atmosphere and drops into the ocean, starting around 2030.
The agency says the station's demise will be low risk, but other experts aren't convinced.
As <a href="https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/will-the-international-space-stations-2031-death-dive-cause-pollution-problems">Space.com reports</a>, having a gigantic chunk of metal and other materials burn up in the atmosphere could release harmful chemicals that could hurt the Earth's protective ozone layer.
"Considering its large mass of 450 tons — half of human-made reentry mass into the atmosphere in 2019, a third of the reentry mass of 2023 — it only enhances the atmosphere problem induced by reentry," Technische Universität Braunschweig researcher Leonard Schulz told the site.
"We'll probably take a look in the future at what this reentry could bring to the atmosphere in terms of released substances," he added.
Researchers have already found that when satellites such as SpaceX's constellation of Starlink satellites burn up during reentry, it may <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starlink-ozone-healing">inject harmful pollutants</a> such as aluminum oxides into the upper atmosphere.
The trend, which is only bound to grow thanks to the sheer number of satellites now being launched into low-Earth orbit, could contribute to "significant ozone depletion," according to a <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL109280">paper</a> published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters earlier this year.
According to the paper's authors, a 550-pound satellite generates roughly 66 pounds of aluminum oxide nanoparticles when it burns up, which would take up to 30 years to drift down into the stratosphere.
Therefore, given the space station's enormous mass, the environmental impact could be considerable — and researchers are only beginning to wrap their heads around the extent of the risks involved.
NASA <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-hires-spacex-destroy-international-space-station">recently selected</a> SpaceX to develop a "<a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-spacecraft-destroy-iss">US Deorbit Vehicle</a>" that's designed to pull the aging lab out of its orbit.
To pull the largest human-made object to have ever orbited our planet out of its orbit will be anything but easy, requiring a <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-dragon-practice-destroying-space-station">beefed-up SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft</a>.
Nudging it out of its orbit over the span of several years could give NASA some degree of control over where it may hit the ground. While NASA has yet to officially announce a chosen landing spot, the most likely area is in the center of the South Pacific Ocean, the furthest you can get from the nearest shore on Earth.
Fortunately, as Space Flight Dynamics Laboratory physicist Luciano Anselmo told Space.com, the impact on the ocean itself will likely be minimal.
All human-made debris to fall out of orbit since the start of human space activity has a smaller mass than a single sunk World War II battleship, Anselmo said, making it "negligible compared to the mass of all the ships and cargo sunk every year, not to mention all other forms of marine waste dumping and pollution."
That doesn't mean the disposal of the ISS won't have any impact on the Earth's environment, though.
"However, this can no longer be said for the upper atmosphere, where the impact of space launches and reentries is probably becoming significant, and whose possible consequences are not yet fully assessed," Anselmo added.
More on the ISS: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/frank-rubio-stranded-space-thanksgiving">Astronaut Who Was Stranded in Space Laments Missing Thanksgiving and Child's Graduation</a>

Burning Up

The effects on the Earth's atmosphere could be devastating.

Experts Worried That Destroying the Space Station Will Damage the Earth's Environment

<h2>A New Polaris Dawn</h2>
President-elect Donald Trump <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-picks-jared-isaacman-head-nasa-2024-12-04/">has named</a> billionaire tech founder — and SpaceX space tourist — Jared Isaacman as the next head of NASA.
It's a confounding new development, given Isaacman has never worked for NASA nor held any government role.
The conflict of interest, given both <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-controlling-trump">Trump</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ejevknlvvo">Isaacman</a>'s proximity and financial ties to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — already a major NASA contractor — is also unmistakable.
Isaacman's appointment will likely put NASA's existing efforts to push for private-public partnerships front and center, something that could turn out to be a major windfall for SpaceX.
"Jared will drive NASA's mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in Space science, technology, and exploration," Trump wrote in an <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113595378122687080">announcement</a> posted to Truth Social.
<h2>Spacewalkman</h2>
As the new administrator, Isaacman will oversee NASA's renewed efforts to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon as part of its Artemis program.
The tech entrepreneur has commanded two private spaceflights on board SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft in <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/view-spacex-inspiration4-toilet-incredible">2021</a> and <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/billionaire-spacex-earth-radiation-belt">2024</a>. During the latter, Isaaccman became the first <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-private-spacewalk">private citizen to go on a spacewalk</a>.
Now in command of NASA, his close connection to SpaceX could further entrench NASA's <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-hyped-spacex-starship-test">existing relationship</a> with the private space company, potentially making space travel a top priority for the agency.
"At NASA, we will passionately pursue these possibilities and usher in an era where humanity becomes a true spacefaring civilization," Isaacman wrote in an <a href="https://x.com/rookisaacman/status/1864346915183157636">announcement on X</a>.
Whether the payment processing founder will cherish his new bureaucratic role in Washington, DC, which likely will leave little time for future visits to space, remains to be seen.
"On my last mission to space, my crew and I traveled farther from Earth than anyone in over half a century," Isaacman wrote. "I can confidently say this second space age has only just begun."
"It is the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role and to work alongside NASA’s extraordinary team to realize our shared dreams of exploration and discovery," he added. "Grateful to serve."
More on Isaacman: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/billionaire-spacex-earth-radiation-belt">Billionaire Adventurer Rides SpaceX Spaceship Straight Into Earth's Radiation Belt</a>

Clown Cabinet

Didn't see that one coming.

Trump Names Billionaire Space Tourist as Head of NASA

<h2>Tracking Device</h2>
Experiments to alter the climate are starting to <a href="https://www.geoengineeringmonitor.org/geoengineering-map-explainer">take place all over the world</a> — to the degree that the United States is now building a system to detect when and where it's happening.
As the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/28/climate/geoengineering-early-warning-system.html">New York Times reports</a>, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Energy are aiming to start tracking "<a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/what-solar-geoengineering">solar geoengineering</a>" endeavors. There are <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/what-solar-geoengineering">various concepts</a> for how that might work, but the general idea is often to use some form of chemical aerosol, injected high up into the planet's stratosphere, to reflect sunlight back away from the Earth and reduce the effects — though not the underlying cause — of climate change.
Many scientists are worried that these efforts, while well intended, could do more harm than good by causing destructive weather patterns or benefiting some countries more than others. As such, the NOAA is working to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/29/noaa-warning-solar-geoengineering-climate-00148573">strengthen its surveillance and recognition</a> of these projects as <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/06/university-chicago-solar-geoengineering-david-keith-bill-gates/">institutions</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=climate+hacking+geoengineering&amp;oq=climate+hacking+geoengineering+&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORifBTIGCAEQRRg80gEINDkxNGowajSoAgCwAgA&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">individual groups</a> are increasingly undertaking pilot tests of geoengineering concepts in <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tech-bros-geoengineering-stealth-rv">quests to "hack" the climate</a>.
As a result, the agency's Chemical Sciences Laboratory has begun deploying large balloon "sentries" with equipment to detect aerosol levels in the clouds. Sent miles above the planet's surface, these balloons report back the locations and amounts of any unusual aerosol concentrations in the stratosphere so the NOAA can begin to track where geoengineering is taking place.
<h2>Eye in the Sky</h2>
While a <a href="https://www.ciel.org/news/growing-momentum-for-solar-geoengineering-non-use/">growing number of countries</a> have <a href="https://www.solargeoeng.org/">formally taken pledges</a> not to do solar geoengineering, there are still some concerns that other nations or groups may <a href="https://www.ciel.org/news/ciel-response-to-geoengineering-srm-technology-rejection-unea-6/">forge ahead with the untested technology</a> or attempt to do these sorts of projects <a href="https://atmos.earth/shady-science-the-dangers-of-secret-solar-geoengineering/">in secret</a>.
"If a country — a major ally, or a major opponent — is building up capabilities, can our scientists tell us what they’re trying to do, and what the impact of that would be?" asked Kelly Wanser, the founder of the nonprofit geoengineering watchdog group SilverLining, in an interview with the NYT.
Along with trying to figure out what other countries are doing, the NOAA's forthcoming aerosol tracking program could also help its scientists learn more about the longer-term effects of these projects.
As the paper notes, Laura Swiler, a senior scientist at New Mexico's Sandia National Laboratories — which works with the DOE — <a href="https://www.sandia.gov/app/uploads/sites/127/2023/04/Tezaur_CLDERA_CFC2023_talk_keynote_v3_shortened.pdf">developed an algorithm</a> decades ago that can retroactively tell where a burst of aerosols was released and how big it was. Though it's traditionally been used to pinpoint the origins of naturally-occurring aerosol injections, such as volcano eruptions or wildfires, her tool can also predict what effects may come of aerosols that are introduced to the atmosphere intentionally.
"The effect will possibly last months, and even maybe a couple of years, depending on how much aerosols they’re injecting," Swiler told the NYT. "Understanding what might happen two years hence — that is where we will have to rely on our modeling capabilities."
In tandem, the scientist's aerosol algorithm and the NOAA's tracking balloons should be able to help the US figure out whether and where Sun-dimming efforts are happening — and, hopefully, to begin understanding what effects they'll have.
More on geoengineering: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tech-bros-geoengineering-stealth-rv">Tech Bros Releasing Climate-Hacking Chemicals From "Stealth" RV</a>

Climate Changers

Is someone already secretly geoengineering the Earth?

United States Attempting to Detect Other Countries Tinkering With the Climate

<h2>Meth Hall</h2>
Police in India have a bone to pick with Elon Musk after they say drug smugglers were using SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet to sneak billions of dollars worth of methamphetamine into the country.
As <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-police-query-starlink-device-used-huge-haul-smuggled-drugs-2024-12-03/">Reuters reports</a>, police in India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands are requesting information from the SpaceX subsidiary after discovering smugglers used its internet services to navigate its waters.
The discovery was made after police looked through Myanmar-based boats that had docked at the islands — and found 13,000 pounds of the crystallized drug, estimated to be valued at around $4.25 billion. Along with the seized meth, they also found a Starlink Mini device to access the internet.
Six Myanmar nationals were detained after the drugs were uncovered — and according to ranking Andaman police officer Hargobinder S. Dhaliwal, pressing Starlink for information will help bring the dealers behind this international scheme to justice.
"This is different because it is bypassing all the legal channels," Dhaliwal told Reuters. "[The smugglers] directly operated with satellite, creating a Wi-Fi hotspot."
<h2>Legal Ease</h2>
Police plan to ask Starlink for information about who purchased the Starlink Mini, when they bought it, and its usage history. Per its <a href="https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1020-91087-64">terms of service</a>, the company should comply with this law enforcement request — though it's unclear whether it has yet.
This is the first known time a police force has requested information from the Musk-owned company regarding drug smuggling, Reuters reports. The issue seems compounded by the fact that <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/elon-musks-starlink-has-to-comply-with-all-rules-for-licence-says-union-minister-jyotiraditya-scindia-101731399416563.html">India doesn't yet have Starlink access</a> as it wades through regulatory red tape.
Although Starlink claims to offer internet coverage in international waters to <a href="https://www.starlink.com/us/business/maritime">maritime subscribers</a>, the company also asserts that it seeks government approval for "territorial waters," which may well have been what the smugglers traveled through during their boat voyage from Myanmar to Andaman.
From <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-admits-to-sabotaging-ukraines-military">wartime</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-starlink-is-aiding-criminal-efforts-in-brazil-report-2023-3">illegal mining</a> to <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-elon-musk-spy-satellites">espionage</a> and now drug smuggling, Starlink is now being used for all kinds of bizarre purposes — and it's likely people will keep using it for nefarious ends, whether sanctioned or not.
More on Starlink: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/military-personnel-trouble-starlink-terminal-warship-wifi">Military Leaders in Huge Trouble After Bolting a Starlink Terminal to a Warship for Unrestricted WiFi</a>

Easy Access

"This is different because it is bypassing all the legal channels."

Drug Smugglers Caught With $4.25 Billion Worth Of Meth Were Using SpaceX Starlink for Navigation

<h2>Another One</h2>
Yet another OpenAI researcher has left the company amid concerns about its safety practices and readiness for potentially human-level AI.
In a <a href="https://www.rosiecampbell.xyz/p/leaving-openai">post on her personal Substack</a>, OpenAI safety researcher Rosie Campbell shared a message she posted on the company Slack days prior announcing her resignation.
As she noted in the message, her decision was spurred by the <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-agi-readiness-head-resigns">exit of the company's former</a> artificial general intelligence (AGI) czar Miles Brundage, a close colleague whose resignation also led to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/24/openai-miles-brundage-agi-readiness.html">OpenAI dissolving that team</a> entirely.
"After almost three and a half years here, I am leaving OpenAI," Campbell's message reads. "I’ve always been strongly driven by the mission of ensuring safe and beneficial AGI, and after [Brundage's] departure and the dissolution of the AGI Readiness team, I believe I can pursue this more effectively externally."
Though she didn't get into it too much, the former OpenAI-er said that she decided to leave because she was troubled by changes at the company over the past year or so. It's unclear what changes she's referencing exactly, but that timeframe matches the <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tech-ceos-group-chat-openai">failed coup</a> against CEO and cofounder Sam Altman late last November, which was reportedly <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/reason-openai-fired-sam-altman">undertaken by board members with concerns</a> about the firm's lack of focus on safety under his leadership.
<h2>Growing Pains</h2>
Beyond <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/in-stunning-reversal-openai-rehires-sam-altman">Altman's reinstatement</a> after the ouster attempt, there have been several other <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-leaders-who-left-since-2023-sam-altman-leadership-struggle-2024-9">noteworthy OpenAI resignations</a> over the past year as the firm <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open-ai-division-for-profit-da26c24b">grapples with its increasing profile and worth</a>, not to mention its increasingly commercial focus.
"While change is inevitable with growth, I’ve been unsettled by some of the shifts over the last [roughly] year, and the loss of so many people who shaped our culture," the researcher wrote. "I sincerely hope that what made this place so special to me can be strengthened rather than diminished."
Campbell went on to add that she hopes her former colleagues remember that the firm's "mission is not simply to 'build AGI,'" but also to keep working to make sure it "<a href="https://openai.com/about/">benefits humanity</a>."
She also wrote that she hopes her former colleagues will "take seriously the prospect that our current approach to safety might not be sufficient for the vastly more powerful systems we think could arrive this decade."
It's a salient warning that's made all the more imminent by increasing concerns that AGI will fundamentally change or even harm humankind — and one, unfortunately, that's been <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/17/24159095/openai-jan-leike-superalignment-sam-altman-ai-safety">echoed by other people</a> on their way out the door of OpenAI.
More on OpenAI: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-weighs-ads-chatgpt">It Sounds an Awful Lot Like OpenAI Is Adding Ads to ChatGPT</a>

AI Sayonara

"I’ve been unsettled by some of the shifts over the last year."

AI Safety Researcher Quits OpenAI, Saying Its Trajectory Alarms Her

<h2>Moon Shot</h2>
SpaceX stock, to invoke a crypto — but aptly spacefaring-related — cliche, is going to the Moon.
The Elon Musk-owned space company is currently in talks to sell off private shares held by employees and other insiders at an even higher than expected price that would skyrocket the venture's valuation to $350 billion, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-02/spacex-discusses-tender-offer-at-roughly-350-billion-valuation">Bloomberg reports</a>, in a deal known as a tender offer. The predicted price had previously been around $255 billion.
This would put SpaceX, already one of the most valuable private companies in the world, into an entirely different galaxy from its peers. The next closest private organization in terms of market cap would be TikTok parent company ByteDance, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/tiktok-parent-bytedances-valuation-hits-300-billion-amid-us-ban-uncertainty-wsj-2024-11-16/">at $300 billion</a>, and nothing in the private space sector would even come close.
The news comes as Musk, who owns a 42 percent stake in SpaceX, has dramatically aggrandized not only his business empire, but his equally formidable personal fortune following the election of presidential candidate Donald Trump, whom he backed with hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money. Musk's net worth now <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/22/business/elon-musk-net-worth-election/index.html">stands at nearly $350 billion</a> — or just about one SpaceX, now that you mention it.
<h2>Keeping Space</h2>
As with many Musk ventures, the hype with SpaceX is unreal.
This results in a significant gulf between its perceived value and its revenue — the money it actually makes — which topped at "just" an estimated <a href="https://payloadspace.com/estimating-spacexs-2023-revenue/">$8.7 billion in 2023</a> (though it's expected to be higher for this year). The comparably-sized ByteDance, for comparison, had a revenue of around <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/tiktok-parent-bytedances-valuation-hits-300-billion-amid-us-ban-uncertainty-wsj-2024-11-16/">$110 billion last year</a>.
SpaceX remains an indispensable launch provider in the US. Most of all, NASA relies on its Falcon 9 rocket and its Crew Dragon spacecraft to ferry its astronauts to the International Space Station.
The space agency will also be counting on SpaceX's flagship rocket, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starship-banana-cargo">Starship</a>, to play a headlining role in its ambitious mission to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in over fifty years.
Besides government contracts, SpaceX generates <a href="https://spacenews.com/starlink-soars-spacexs-satellite-internet-surprises-analysts-with-6-6-billion-revenue-projection/">billions of dollars in revenue through Starlink</a>, its satellite-based internet service, which it can maintain using its own rockets.
<h2>Money Talks</h2>
SpaceX's jump in value is a testament to the resilience of Musk's brands, even though his personal image has sullied among some in recent years with his ardent support for far-right politics.
Whatever its owner's cultural cachet, SpaceX is set to be more valuable than any other private company on Earth, and Tesla's stock is up nearly 45 percent in the past month, following the election.
Despite the undeniable successes of both ventures, they still have some major proving to do. SpaceX is <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-watch-elon-musk-starship-explodes">yet to perfect Starship</a> and show that it's reusable and thereby cost effective. Tesla, meanwhile, is weathering the controversy surrounding its shoddy Cybertruck and <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-realizes-all-teslas-self-driving-computers">self-driving tech</a>, and is also in the middle of making a huge gamble with its <a href="https://futurism.com/why-tesla-cybercab-robotaxi-no-sense">robotaxi pivot</a>.
For now, though, there're no brakes on the hype train.
More on SpaceX: <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-city-mars-death-catastrophe">Elon Musk's Plans for a City on Mars Will Likely End in Horrifying Mass Death</a>