The Vatican and Microsoft on Monday unveiled a digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica that uses artificial intelligence to explore one of the world’s most important monument’s while helping the Holy See manage visitor flows and identify conservation problems.

Using 400,000 high-resolution digital photographs, taken with drones, cameras and lasers over four weeks when no one was in the basilica, the digital replica is going online alongside two new on-site exhibits to provide visitors—real and virtual—with an interactive experience.

“It is literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued,” Microsoft’s president Brad Smith told a Vatican press conference.

The project has been launched ahead of the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee, a holy year in which more than 30 million pilgrims are expected to pass through the basilica’s Holy Door, on top of the 50,000 who visit on a normal day.

“Everyone, really everyone should feel welcome in this great house,” Pope Francis told Smith and members of the project’s development teams at an audience Monday.

The digital platform allows visitors to reserve entry times to the basilica, a novelty for one of the world’s most visited monuments that regularly has an hours-long line of tourists waiting to get in.

But the heart of the project is the creation of a digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica through advanced photogrammetry and artificial intelligence that allows anyone to “visit” the church and learn about its history.

The ultra-precise 3D replica, developed in collaboration with digital preservation company Iconem, incorporates 22 petabytes of data—enough to fill five million DVDs—Smith said.

The images have already identified structural damage and signs of deterioration, such as missing mosaic pieces, cracks and fissures invisible to the naked eye, with a speed and precision far beyond human capabilities.

Francis has called for the ethical use of AI and used his annual World Message of Peace this year to urge an international treaty to regulate it, arguing that technology lacking human values of compassion, mercy, morality and forgiveness were too great.

On Monday, he thanked the Microsoft team and basilica workers responsible for the project and marveled at how modern technology was helping spread an ancient faith and preserve a piece of world patrimony, which celebrates the 400th anniversary of its consecration in 2026.

“This house of prayer for all peoples has been entrusted to us by those who have preceded us in faith and apostolic ministry,” he told Smith and the delegation. “Therefore, it is a gift and a task to care for it, in both a spiritual and material sense, even through the latest technologies.”

Smith declined to give a price tag for Microsoft’s investment in the project, saying only it was “substantial” and was borne of Francis’ initiative in 2018 to bring tech companies together to promote ethnically minded AI.

He said Microsoft had done similar AI projects at Mont Saint-Michel in France and Ancient Olympia, in Greece.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

—Nicole Winfield, Associated Press

Donald Trump has yet to take office as president for a second time, but vulnerable groups of Americans are already responding to his election victory.

As mental health appointments have surged in the wake of the 2024 presidential election, so have cries for help from LGBTQ+ youth. The day after the election, the Trevor Project, a nonprofit suicide prevention program for LGBTQ+ youth, saw a 700% increase in requests for its crisis services, according to data shared with Fast Company. (The Trevor Project also created a guide for LGBTQ+ youth to find and build community after the election.)

“The increases in volume that we have experienced across our lines indicate that this election is taking a toll on the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people in a major way,” said Becca Nordeen, the group’s SVP of crisis intervention. “It’s clear that this is a challenging moment for many LGBTQ+ young people. But, we want to remind everyone that no matter what they are feeling right now, we can – and we will – get through this together.”

As Fast Company reported last week, the election also sparked a surge in appointments for mental healthcare services, according to data from Zocdoc.

Microsoft Design shares a downloadable reinterpretation of their iconic Bliss wallpaper from the 2000s, evolved with a modern lens for today’s world.

LG Electronics' latest CineBeam Q Portable Laser Projector punches above its weightless in an ever-growing infrastructure of moving image displays.

Get ready to explore the different methods of automating technical and business challenges with Azure in James Rudley’s new course; Automation With Microsoft Azure. In this course you will learn a range of azure features including: Azure Automation Functions Logic Apps ARM Templates Update Management Azure PowerShell Ready to master Azure? You can buy this [...]

What it is: Recently, the good people at SAM Labs sent me an Alpha Kit to play with and review. You guys, this is such a cool product! I love that as soon as students open it up, it puts them in charge of the learning. Best of all, it encourages the learning to happen...

What it is: ClassPad is free online software that lets you digitize your math scratch paper. You can create original teaching materials for the math classroom quickly and easily. With ClassPad, you can quickly add mathematical formulas, graphs, spreadsheets, and geometry sheets to share with your students (and other teachers). ClassPad can be accessed from...

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It’s been a minute (or thousands) since I’ve blogged new technology finds. This year has us utilizing technology in new ways and in need of tools that support learning in new ways. I thought I’d drop back into the tech-tool blogging world with some of the technology that has kept us sane this year, but...

“Creativity is an active engagement with the unknown, it’s risk-taking, it’s curiosity, it’s exploration, it’s discovery, it’s mystery. It’s all of that.” – Esther Perel

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My pal Saul sent me the weirdest and funnest treat I have *ever* received: A “Not Fried Chicken” Ice Cream Bucket by Life Raft Treats. It looks just like a fried chicken drumstick, but it’s actually an intricate ice cream creation, complete with waffle ice cream, a chocolate-covered cookie “bone” and a coating of white […]

Apple is planning a significant AI upgrade for Siri, according to recent developer documentation. The company has introduced new APIs designed to make Siri more context-aware. These changes will allow Siri to interact directly with content displayed on a user’s screen. Part of Apple’s broader AI initiative, Apple Intelligence, this upgrade aims to make Siri […]

After publishing an article breaking the news about how police were seeing iPhones stored for examination mysteriously reboot themselves, 404 Media covers the subsequent revelation that Apple has increased security in iOS 18 by automatically rebooting iPhones after they have spent four days in a locked state.

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While building some plugins, I figured creating dynamic applications in WordPress Admin is much easier with React components compared to using PHP and jQuery like back in the old days. However, integrating React components with WordPress Admin can be a bit challenging, especially when it comes to styling and accessibility. This led me to create…

The post How to Create a WordPress Settings Page with React appeared first on Hongkiat.

JavaScript continues to grow and evolve. While new libraries are important, there’s much more happening. The language itself is improving, there’s a lot going on in the community, and the tools are rapidly advancing. Let’s take a look at what’s new in JavaScript. Vue.js Creator’s New Company Raises $4.6M to Build Better JavaScript Tools Evan…

The post What’s New in JavaScript (2024) appeared first on Hongkiat.

Macs have built-in screenshot tools, but for extra features like annotations and scrolling capture, specialized tools are a must. Here are the best free options to enhance your screenshots.

The post 10+ Best Free macOS Screen Recording Tools appeared first on Hongkiat.

Three Technology Dividend Aristocrats Warren Buffett Might Like  Validea Guru Investor Blog

Market Whales and Their Recent Bets on Micron Technology Options  Benzinga

Cisco Unveils Wi-Fi 7 Technology; Unified Subscription To Support Cloud And Premises-Based Network Management  CRN

Rackspace Technology Reports Decreased Q3 2024 Revenue  TipRanks

Netcracker Technology Wins 2024 NaaS Excellence Award for Service Automation  SDxCentral

SAS Boosts GenAI Capabilities With ‘Synthetic Data’ Technology Acquisition  CRN

JSW Defence & Shield AI Forge Strategic Partnership To Bring Cutting-Edge Military Aircraft Technology To India  ASDNews

Credential Authentication Technology now at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport  Transportation Security Administration

QuantumPay (QTP) represents an ambitious technological initiative that blends blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to create a secure, efficient, and transparent digital transaction  StreetInsider.com

How Embedding Technology is Revolutionizing AI and Contextual Advertising  TechCrunch

DOJ Opens Recruitment for Legal Technology Officer  GovTech

WVU researchers develop microwave technology that could extend the life cycle of plastics  WBOY.com

Cedar Crest names founding director of technology leadership center  Lehigh Valley Business

Vatican and Microsoft partner to showcase St. Peter’s Basilica through AI technology  National Catholic Reporter

How Tech Created a ‘Recipe for Loneliness’  The New York Times

Zama’s Prof Nigel Smart spoke to Prof Florian Kerschbaum about the challenges of harnessing data to make supply chains more efficient while protecting privacy.

Read more: Can this cryptography tool secure your supply chain data?

More than two-thirds of Irish cybersecurity leaders believe that reputational damage from a cyberattack would 'significantly' damage their business.

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The jobs will be in areas such as software engineering, applied sciences, data science, design, technical writing and analytics.

Read more: Microsoft to create 550 Irish-based jobs in R&D investment

C-suite roles have changed significantly in the last decade, so how can a modern CEO upskill and stay ahead of the crowd?

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Users can find if an image has been altered with AI in the photo details, under file name and size.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Sweden has vetoed plans for 13 offshore windfarms in the Baltic Sea, citing unacceptable security risks. The country's defence minister, Pal Jonson, said on Monday that the government had rejected plans for all but one of 14 windfarms planned along the east coast. The decision comes after the Swedish armed forces concluded last week that the projects would make it more difficult to defend Nato's newest member. The proposed windfarms would have been located between Aland, the autonomous Finnish region between Sweden and Finland, and the Sound, the strait between southern Sweden and Denmark. The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is only about 310 miles (500km) from Stockholm. Wind power could affect Sweden's defence capabilities across sensors and radars and make it harder to detect submarines and possible attacks from the air if war broke out, Jonson said. The only project to receive the green light to was Poseidon, which will include as many as 81 wind turbines to produce 5.5 terawatt hours a year off Stenungsund on Sweden's west coast. "Both ballistic robots and also cruise robots are a big problem if you have offshore wind power," Jonson said. "If you have a strong signal detection capability and a radar system that is important, we use the Patriot system for example, there would be negative consequences if there were offshore wind power in the way of the sensors."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Renew Home says they're building a "virtual power plant" in Texas by "enabling homes to easily reduce and shift the timing of energy use." Thursday they announced a 10-year project distributing hundreds of thousands of smart thermostats to customers of Texas-based power utility NRG Energy, starting next spring. (Bloomberg calls them "AI-enabled thermostats that use Alphabet Inc.'s Google Cloud technology.") The ultimate goal? "Create a nearly 1-gigawatt, AI-powered virtual power plant" — equivalent to 1.9 million solar panels, enough to power about 200,000 homes during peak demand. One NRG executive touted the move as "cutting-edge, AI-driven solutions that will bolster grid resilience and contribute to a more sustainable future." [Residential virtual power plants] work by aggregating numerous, small-scale distributed energy resources like HVAC systems controlled by smart thermostats and home batteries and coordinating them to balance supply and demand... NRG, in partnership with Renew Home, plans to offer Vivint and Nest smart thermostats, including professional installation, at no cost to eligible customers across NRG's retail electricity providers and plans. These advanced thermostats make subtle automatic HVAC adjustments to help customers shift their energy use to times when electricity is less constrained, less expensive, and cleaner... Over time, the parties expect to add devices like batteries and electric vehicles to the virtual power plant, expanding energy savings opportunities for customers... Through the use of Google Cloud's data, analytics, and AI technology, NRG will be able to do things like better predict weather conditions, forecast wind and solar generation output, and create predictive pricing models, allowing for more efficient production and ultimately ensuring the home energy experience is seamless for customers. Google Cloud will also offer "its AI and machine learning to determine the best time to cool or heat homes," reports Bloomberg, "based on a household's energy usage patterns and ambient temperatures." It was less than a year ago that Renew Home was formed when Google spun off the load-shifting service for its "Google Nest" thermostats, which merged with load-shift management startup OhmConnect. Bloomberg describes this week's announcement as "Three of the biggest names in US home energy automation... coming together to offer some relief to the beleaguered Texas electrical grid." But they point out that 1 gigawatt is roughly 1% of the record summer demand seen in Texas this year. Still, "The entire industry has been built to serve the peak load on the hottest day of the year," said Rasesh Patel, president of NRG's consumer unit. "This allows us to be a lot more smarter about demand in shaving the peak."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The tech giant plans to spend big on AI because it sees 'strong momentum' in this area.

Read more: Meta to increase AI spend as revenue soars

The game will also restrict under-13s from being able to play, search or discover games with unrated experiences.

Read more: Roblox bans social hangouts, free-form creation for under-13s

Ruby’s creator, Yukihiro Matsumoto (Matz), released the first public version of the programming language in December 1995, making Ruby just shy of its 30th birthday. It spread across Japanese-language Usenet newsgroups, a popular way of exchanging conversation and media before the World Wide Web, and then reached broader communities throughout the late 1990s. This was thanks to Ruby’s friendly community and, in no small part, thanks to Matz. (The community has a motto, “Matz is nice, and so we are nice.”) At this year’s annual European Ruby Konferenze — EuRoKu — in Sarajevo, Matz said he created Ruby because he…

This story continues at The Next Web

To upgrade a facility's 145,300 square foot roof with metal and solar while dealing with COVID delays, a contractor turned to S-5! to shrink the project timeline.

Discipline and focus are more important than ever. The basic principles of time management have not changed. The tools are just different.

Competition for employees will continue to grow and be a major business issue for years to come.

In this session, Monroe Porter will review some of the more common problem areas roofing contractors should consider when running their business.