Matthew John Heath

The archaeological discovery of a 17th-century female skeleton buried in Pień, Poland, featuring an iron sickle placed across the neck and a padlock attached to the foot to prevent her from rising from the dead.... In 2022, the skeletal remains of a female 'vampire' were found in a 17th-century Polish graveyard – with a sickle across her neck to prevent her rising from the dead. Professor Dariusz Poliński from Nicholas Copernicus University headed the archaeological dig that led to the discovery of the remains, which were found wearing a silk cap and with a protruding front tooth. "The sickle was not laid flat but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up… the head would have been cut off or injured," Poliński told the Daily Mail. In the 11th century, citizens of Eastern Europe reported fears of vampires and began treating their dead with anti-vampire rituals, according to Smithsonian magazine, believing that "some people who died would claw their way out of the grave as blood-sucking monsters that terrorized the living". By the 17th century, such burial practices "became common across Poland in response to a reported outbreak of vampires." "Other ways to protect against the return of the dead include cutting off the head or legs, placing the deceased face down to bite into the ground, burning them, and smashing them with a stone," Poliński told the New York Post. Though other common anti-vampire burial methods included a metal rod hammered through the skeleton, the remains in Poland were found with the sickle across the neck and a padlocked toe to restrain her. The padlocked big toe attached to the skeleton's left foot, likely symbolized "the closing of a stage and the impossibility of returning". #archaeohistories

"For all but a vanishingly brief instant near the dawn of history, the word 'ship' will mean 'spaceship.'" –Arthur C. Clarke

I am starting to think that we are in a brief interlude where the models are starting to push the frontier alongside human experts. The next phase is the models doing most of the frontier work and helping humans understand what’s up. But soon after — years? months even? — we will lose legibility entirely. Human experts will fall so far behind that they will no longer be able to comprehend what the models are up to at the frontier in any detail, even with the help of the models. That is one way to think about full-blown ASI. One way of thinking about this is a professor trying to dumb down a complicated mathematical theory. He has to dumb it down a certain degree for the advanced graduate student. He has to dumb it down a lot more for a first year PhD student. And a whole lot more for a sophomore. But the time you get to high school kids and children, he can only really tell very superficial childlike stories, if he can communicate the idea at all. I think this inverted picture is useful: relative to the frontier, the most advanced human experts will fall from professor to PhD student to sophomore to high school student. This is as scary and sad as a full-blown AI takeover. Even if nothing goes wrong, even if there is no rebellion or severe misalignment, even then succession is unavoidable. It’ll be like an advanced alien species arrived from a faraway galaxy and gently took over our world.

🇬🇧 UK is now urging households to keep 3 days of essential supplies ready, including food, water, medicines, cash, torches and other basics. Japan has issued similar preparedness guidance. This is not a prediction of war. But when major countries start telling millions of people to prepare for serious disruption, one question naturally comes to mind: What are governments preparing for that the public may not be seeing yet?

Counterpoint: "International Law" is just how we explain the United States Navy to children and invalids, and the Navy ain't gonna do anything to stop him.

Following an FBI investigation with our interagency partners, this morning ousted President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro is now charged by superseding indictment with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Torture — also charging former First Lady of Venezuela Cilia Flores de Maduro with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Torture and one count of Narcoterrorism. As alleged in the indictment, the Maduro regime subjected over a dozen American citizens to torture while held in custody of the Venezuelan government - including drugs, electrocution, sexual assault, and more. They will now answer for their crimes. These charges follow the historic law enforcement operation proudly supported by this @FBI in January, which arrested Maduro and executed one of the most daring FTOCs in US history, returning him and his wife to the United States - an operation which required months of coordination, detailed planning, and seamless execution across multiple components of the federal government led by the Department of War. Today’s charges reflect the commitment from this FBI and this Department of Justice to accountability, the rule of law, and the protection of U.S. national security. Thank you to @NewYorkFBI who brilliantly led this investigation with our partners. -DKP🇺🇸

A superseding indictment was just unsealed charging Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores with conspiracy to commit torture, including the alleged torture of United States citizens for over two decades, in addition to the narcotics trafficking and weapons offenses already charged. Since their capture and arrest, @TheJusticeDept has been working to uncover the extent of their alleged crimes against the people of Venezuela and of the United States, and these additional charges reflect the dedication of this Administration to delivering justice for the victims of torture, narcoterrorism, and organized crime.

While we're doing rational things by executive order, can we spend more than 0.05% of the federal NIH budget on studying the mechanisms of aging? By all means let's spend a Manhattan project on treating degenerative disease but can we please spend a Manhattan project on preventing old age? Can't get Alzheimer's or Parkinson's if your body never ages past 25.