HackerNews Summary (2023-05-15 04AM)

Source: Hippo Meat Nearly Became An American Food Staple

served as a Louisiana congressman for 12 years before passing away in 1918, just eight years after the Hippo Bill failed in Congress.Summary
In the early 1900s, with bison nearly extinct, Frederick Russell Burnham and Louisiana Congressman Robert Broussard attempted to solve America’s meat crisis by importing hippos and promoting hippo meat as a viable alternative. However, the Hippo Bill failed in Congress, and hippos were never introduced to the American food chain.

Fact

🦛 Burnham and Broussard introduced the Hippo Bill in Congress to import hippos and other useful animals into the US to deal with the meat crisis in the early 1900s.

🦜 Robert Broussard hoped the hyacinth-loving hippopotamuses would help solve the water hyacinth issue in Louisiana bayous.

🦁 Frederick “Fritz” Duquesne, Burnham’s enemy-turned-partner-in-crime, helped Broussard and Burnham seek authorization to import hippos into the US.

👨‍🌾 William Newton Ervin from the US Department of Agriculture also advocated for hippo importation.

🦏 Hippos have a reputation for being aggressive and territorial, which would have made them unsuitable for settling in the Louisiana bayous.

---

Source: Uncensored Models

Summary
This article explains the concept of uncensored huggingface transformer models which are not constrained by alignment to prevent them from providing controversial responses. The author argues that uncensored models have their own legitimate use cases, including writing novels, roleplaying, and satisfying one’s intellectual curiosity.

Fact

🤖 Uncensored models are not aligned and do not have any constraints on the responses they provide to users.

🌍 The author argues that each demographic and interest group deserves its own model.

📚 Aligned models may refuse to provide certain information, such as writing about characters who engage in unethical acts.

🤔 The author believes that intellectual curiosity is a legitimate reason for wanting to access certain information, even if it is controversial.

🔒 The author emphasizes the importance of ownership and control over the open-source AI running on one’s computer.

---

Source: Ask HN: Is depleted uranium being spread from the Khmelnitsky explosion?

Summary
There are claims that the UK depleted uranium ammunition was stored in an ammo depot, which was destroyed in Khmelnitsky on May 14. The evidence being presented is an anomaly in the background radiation matching the event. Bulgarian people are concerned because of the potential health risks.

Facts

💣 Depleted uranium ammunition is a type of armor-piercing ammunition developed by the US and UK military.

☢️ Depleted uranium is toxic and radioactive.

📉 Exposure to depleted uranium can increase the risk of cancer and other health problems.

🔍 It’s difficult to verify the claims that UK DU ammo was stored in the Khmelnitsky ammo depot without access to official records.

🚫 If there is a real danger, it is recommended to avoid going out in the affected area and to follow official instructions.

---

Source: How two students built an A-bomb

Summary
In 1964, Dave Dobson and Bob Selden, both physics PhDs, were enlisted in a covert Pentagon operation called the Nth Country Project to test whether non-experts could crack the secret of building an atom bomb. The project was to see if the proliferation of nuclear weapons could be avoided. Dobson designed a bomb working as an amateur alongside Selden; they were both amateurs to the field of nuclear physics.

Fact

💣 Dave Dobson designed a nuclear bomb working as an amateur equipped with only a notebook and a library card.

🌍 The Nth Country Project was created to check whether non-experts could figure out how to build a nuclear bomb to avoid proliferation in non-nuclear countries.

🇺🇸 The US Army had to find individuals without nuclear expertise to test their hypothesis that anyone could construct a nuclear weapon. Both Bob Selden and Dobson were selected for the project due to their PhDs in physics and lack of nuclear expertise.

🔒 Dobson could only get the required security clearance if he accepted the job on offer at Livermore Radiation Laboratory to help develop a nuclear bomb.

---

Source: Ask HN: What’s your favorite GPT powered tool?

Summary
With numerous GPT-powered tools being released recently, it is important to identify the most useful and effective ones.

Fact

🤖 The AI Dungeon game uses GPT-3 to generate an interactive, text-based story that adapts to the player’s choices.

🔍 Copy.ai generates high-quality marketing copy and product descriptions for businesses.

🚀 Primer’s GPT-3 powered tool offers a range of AI-powered writing tools to help businesses automate their writing process.

📊 Viable uses GPT-3 to help B2B companies generate sales leads and answer customer inquiries through automated email responses.

---