Unitree robot's incredible martial arts performance at the Chinese New Year gala. And there's a final boss at the end.

France slashes renewable energy targets, expands nuclear power with new law ➡️ go.france24.com/hBZ

Norway consistently wins the most medals at the Winter Olympic Games, with a population of just 5.6 million people. A big part of their success is how they treat youth sports—and it’s the opposite of what we do in the US. Here’s what we can learn from Norway: 1. Scorekeeping: In the US: Youth sports tend to be hyper competitive even at early ages. Leagues almost always keep score. In Norway: Scorekeeping isn’t even allowed until age 13. Removing winners and losers keeps the focus on the process not outcomes. It keeps kids engaged longer because it minimizes pressure (and tears) and maximizes fun, learning, and growth. The goal isn’t to win a third grade championship. It’s to love sport and keep playing. 2. Trophies: In the US: If you give everyone a trophy, you’re creating snowflakes who will never gain a competitive edge. In Norway: Whenever trophies are awarded, they are handed out to everyone. If getting a trophy makes young kids feel good, we should give them trophies. Maybe they’ll come back and play again next year!! As for the creation of snowflakes with no competitive edge—Norway’s athletes are tough as nails and all they do is win. 3. Prioritizing Fun: In the US: Far too often, the goal is to win. In Norway: The national philosophy is “joy of sport.” Youth sports in the US are driven by adults, ego, and money. Youth sports in Norway are driven by fun. Only half of kids in the US participate in sports. The number one reason they drop out: because they aren’t having fun anymore. In Norway, 93% of kids participate in youth sports. Fun is the foremost goal. 4. Playing Multiple Sports: In the US: There’s pressure to specialize early and play your best sport year round. In Norway: Try as many sports as you can before specializing as late as college. Norway encourages kids to try all types of sport. This reduces injury and burnout and increases all-around athleticism. It also helps promotes match quality, or finding the sport you are best suited for as your body develops, which is impossible if you commit to a single sport too early. 5. Affordability In the US: There is increasingly a pay-to-play model with high fees for leagues, equipment, and travel. This excludes many kids from playing. In Norway: It’s a national priority to keep youth sports affordable and therefore accessible for all. Kids aren’t priced out, which creates opportunities for everyone to participate (and develop into athletes), regardless of their parents’ income level. We could learn a lot from Norway: In the US, 70% of kids drop out of youth sports by age 13. This not only diminishes an elite-athlete pipeline, but it also destroys an opportunity for healthy habits and all the character lessons kids can learn from sport. In Norway, lifelong participation in sport is the norm. The goal isn’t to have the best 9U team. It’s to develop the best athletes. Those are two very different things. And Norway has the gold medals to prove it.

Otrā pensiju līmeņa padarīšana par brīvprātīgu neatbilst pensiju sistēmas ilgtermiņa mērķiem, uzskata ministrija. jauns.lv/raksts/bizness/6958…

Šobrīd divu partiju pārstāvji - JKP un Platforma 21 mēģina ar populistiskām iniciatīvām vākt balsis. Piedāvā atļaut izņemt pensiju 2-ā līmeņa uzkrājumu. Vateniecisks uzsaukums vateniekiem. Atgādinu, ka valsts savulaik izlēma daļu no valstij algas nodoklī (VSAOI) samaksātās naudas ieskaitīt tavā personīgajā uzkrājumā/kontā, nevis notērēt šodienas pensiju izmaksai. Nebijis gadījums, citu piemēru es nezinu. Tā jau nav 'tava nauda', bet obligāti maksājami nodokļi, kas ir 'valsts nauda', kuru toreiz samazināja par labu tev. Ar nosacījumu (katrā darījumā ir divas puses), ka to nevarēs tā vienkārši noplītēt tagad (un valsts tādējādi cenšas risināt pensiju sistēmas ilgtspēju). Tagad vate uz labu iniciatīvu atbild ar cūcību. Atdod nodzert! (Igaunijā atļāva, vairums nodzēra, tagad atzīst par lielu kļūdu).

Google just dropped 145 pages documenting how researchers use Gemini to tackle scientific problems. 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘦 & 𝘙𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 (𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬) A few things that stood out to me (in simple terms): - In one case, the AI was used as an adversarial reviewer and caught a serious flaw in a cryptography proof that had passed human review. That’s a very different use than “summarise this PDF.” - The model links tools from very different fields (for example, using theorems from geometry/measure theory to make progress on algorithms questions). This is where its wide reading really matters. - They don’t let the model run wild. Humans still choose the problems, check every proof, and decide what’s actually new. The model is there to suggest ideas, spot gaps, and do the heavy algebra. - Agentic loops, not just chat In some projects, they plug Gemini into a loop where it: -- proposes a mathematical expression, -- writes code to test it, -- reads the error messages, and -- fixes itself. (humans only step in when something promising appears) We are moving past the era of simple chat prompts and into a more sophisticated era of research. ⮑ If your institution is interested in hosting an AI session or a workshop, request your training here: forms.gle/dbRtc7j2W4zZyLpt6