Hacker News with Generative AI: Intelligence

Genetics, not shared envs, drives parent-child similarities in intelligence (psypost.org)
How much of your cognitive ability is shaped by your genetic inheritance compared to the environment you grow up in? A new study published in Research in Social Stratification and Mobility suggests that the transmission of cognitive ability from parents to children is primarily driven by genetics, with little influence from shared environmental factors like family resources. The findings challenge traditional assumptions in social mobility research that often attribute these correlations primarily to socio-economic status.
Genetics, Intelligence, Family, Social Mobility, Research
42 points by amichail 2 days ago | 16 comments
How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Lynn's National IQ Estimates (astralcodexten.com)
Richard Lynn was a scientist who infamously tried to estimate the average IQ of every country. Typical of his results is this paper, which ranged from 60 (Malawi) to 108 (Singapore).
Intelligence, Psychology, Sociology, Research, Criticism
9 points by tontonius 3 days ago | 2 comments
MI5 files suggest queen not briefed on spy Blunt in royal household for 9 years (theguardian.com)
The late Queen Elizabeth II was not told for almost 10 years that Anthony Blunt, a surveyor of the queen’s pictures and a member of the royal household, had confessed to being a Soviet double agent, previously secret security files suggest.
History, Royal Family, Espionage, Intelligence, United Kingdom
6 points by bookofjoe 3 days ago | 0 comments
Flynn Effect (wikipedia.org)
The Flynn effect is the substantial and long-sustained increase in both fluid and crystallized intelligence test scores that were measured in many parts of the world over the 20th century, named after researcher James Flynn (1934–2020). [1][2]
Intelligence, Psychology, Research, History, Sociology
14 points by yamrzou 6 days ago | 9 comments
Ex-Mossad Agents Reveal How They Turned Hezbollah's Devices into Bombs (twz.com)
Key details of the Israeli intelligence service’s operation targeting members of Hezbollah with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in September have been revealed.
Espionage, Intelligence, Hezbollah, Israel, Security
21 points by thenaturalist 23 days ago | 21 comments
' Straight Talk' on China's Offensives in the American Homeland (thecipherbrief.com)
2024 has brought multiple reminders of the threats – real and potential – posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
China, Security, Politics, Intelligence, United States
3 points by keepamovin 30 days ago | 0 comments
Playing video games boosts IQ in children (sciencealert.com)
Researchers have linked spending more time playing video games with a boost in intelligence in children, which goes some way to contradicting the narrative that gaming is bad for young minds.
Video Games, Intelligence, Children, Science, Health
59 points by loandbehold 33 days ago | 52 comments
Memory is all we have (onepercentrule.substack.com)
Few lives illuminate the deep capacity of the human mind as vividly as that of Eric Kandel. A Nobel laureate whose life story intertwines survival, curiosity, and groundbreaking discovery, Kandel exemplifies how life’s relentless challenges serve as an enduring test of intelligence in all its forms.
Memory, Neuroscience, Biography, Intelligence
40 points by drcwpl 43 days ago | 11 comments
Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard are coming for the spooks (economist.com)
Politics, USA, Intelligence
7 points by tromp 54 days ago | 3 comments
Anyone Can Buy Data Tracking US Soldiers and Spies to Nuclear Vaults in Germany (wired.com)
A joint investigation by WIRED, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), and Netzpolitik.org reveals that US companies legally collecting digital advertising data are also providing the world a cheap and reliable way to track the movements of American military and intelligence personnel overseas, from their homes and their children’s schools to hardened aircraft shelters within an airbase where US nuclear weapons are believed to be stored.
Privacy, Military, Intelligence, Data Security, Germany
7 points by marban 59 days ago | 1 comments
NRO chief: "You can't hide" from our new swarm of SpaceX-built spy satellites (arstechnica.com)
The director of the National Reconnaissance Office has a message for US adversaries around the world.
Space, National Security, Satellites, Surveillance, Intelligence
33 points by rbanffy 73 days ago | 12 comments
An Evaluation of the Remote Viewing Program: Operational Applications (1995) [pdf] (cia.gov)
Remote Viewing, CIA, Government Documents, Intelligence, Research
37 points by mmastrac 82 days ago | 23 comments
Chinese Hackers Are Said to Have Targeted Phones Used by Trump and Vance (nytimes.com)
Chinese hackers targeted data from phones used by former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, as part of what appears to be a wide-ranging intelligence-collection effort, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Politics, Cybersecurity, China, Intelligence
14 points by jbegley 84 days ago | 1 comments
The Rise and Fall of IQ: The Cognitive Divide (onepercentrule.substack.com)
For most of the 20th century, IQ scores steadily climbed, a phenomenon so consistent it was named the “Flynn effect” after the psychologist James Flynn, who first documented it.
Intelligence, Psychology, Social Science
27 points by drcwpl 86 days ago | 63 comments
Israel’s Secret Stealth Drone (twz.com)
The existence of a secret Israeli drone, referred to as RA-01 and used for covert missions, has emerged from an unauthorized disclosure of U.S. intelligence documents which have now been posted all over social media.
Israel, Drones, Military, Intelligence, Government Secrets
32 points by belter 87 days ago | 16 comments
The U.S. Spies Who Sound the Alarm About Election Interference (newyorker.com)
The Intelligence Community Campus-Bethesda, a vast office complex covered in vertical panels of maroon siding and mirrored glass, sits on a cliff overlooking the Potomac, surrounded by a forty-acre lawn and a tall wrought-iron fence.
Politics, National Security, Elections, Intelligence
12 points by mitchbob 87 days ago | 5 comments
Intelligence is not Enough [video] (youtube.com)
Intelligence, Philosophy, Video
15 points by mooreds 89 days ago | 9 comments
US Offers $10M for Information on Russia War Blog Rybar (bloomberg.com)
The US government is offering a reward of as much as $10 million for information “leading to the identification or location” of the Russian military media outlet Rybar and its employees, according to a statement posted on the Rewards for Justice mission.
Russia, War, Intelligence, Rewards
19 points by giuliomagnifico 90 days ago | 2 comments
Germany's most spectacular espionage cases – DW – 04/18/2024 (dw.com)
As a supporter of Ukraine, Germany has been targeted by foreign intelligence services, but not just since the Ukraine war began. Here's a reminder of some prominent spy cases.
Espionage, Germany, Intelligence, Ukraine, History
7 points by scapecast 91 days ago | 1 comments
Do Fungi Recognize Shapes? (tohoku.ac.jp)
Can organisms without a brain still show signs of intelligence? Researchers at Tohoku University and Nagaoka College had this question in mind when conducting a study to measure the decision-making processes in fungi. While it may sound like science fiction, this level of basal cognition is possible even in fungi.
Science, Fungi, Cognition, Intelligence
84 points by svilches 92 days ago | 29 comments
Germany: Spy chiefs warn of increasing Russian threat (dw.com)
German intelligence chiefs on Monday warned of the increasing threat posed by Russia, which they said could be capable of launching a direct assault on NATO "by the end of this decade."
Germany, Russia, NATO, Security, Intelligence
7 points by doener 95 days ago | 0 comments
Graph Databases for Crime-Fighting: How Memgraph Maps and Analyzes Criminal (memgraph.com)
Graph databases, such as Memgraph, are highly effective in crime-fighting and intelligence work because they excel at uncovering and analyzing relationships between entities, such as individuals, communication channels, and locations. In counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence operations, graph databases are often used to map out and analyze complex networks of individuals and their associations.
Graph Databases, Crime, Data Analysis, Security, Intelligence
13 points by taubek 96 days ago | 4 comments
Being generous, thoughtful, and kind is a sign of high intelligence (inc.com)
If you tend to be a giver rather than a taker, research shows you also could be much smarter than the average person.
Intelligence, Psychology, Generosity, Kindness
105 points by happy-go-lucky 100 days ago | 81 comments
The Atlantic: Studies Show Short People Are Dumb, Poor, Criminals (theatlantic.com)
There are plenty of studies that claim it pays to be tall. A 2004 report found that each inch of height amounts to a salary increase of about $789 per year (controlling for gender, weight and age). Another concluded that taller people are flat out smarter. Indeed, no American president has been below average height since 1888.
Height, Social Science, Salary, Intelligence
5 points by popcalc 111 days ago | 0 comments
Everything we know about spies is wrong (lithub.com)
In the movies, spies are usually ripped hunks who carry lots of gadgets, like James Bond and Jason Bourne. That’s rarely the case in real life, however. When the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA, was established in haste at the outset of WWII, the spies tapped to join were librarians, professors, and researchers quite literally pulled from college campuses.
History, Intelligence, Espionage, Media, Reality
129 points by bookofjoe 113 days ago | 117 comments
G, a Statistical Myth (2007) (bactra.org)
Anyone who wanders into the bleak and monotonous desert of IQ and the nature-vs-nurture dispute eventually gets trapped in the especially arid question of what, if anything, g, the supposed general factor of intelligence, tells us about these matters.
Intelligence, Psychology, Statistics
22 points by akalin 115 days ago | 4 comments
How We Found Bin Laden: The Basics of Foreign Signals Intelligence (libsyn.com)
Osama bin Laden helped plan the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 which killed nearly 3,000 Americans. To find him, the U.S. government had to put its best people on the job. Along with their counterparts across multiple agencies, experts at the National Security Agency answered the call. NSA generated foreign signals intelligence to help find, and ultimately eliminate, the terrorist leader.
National Security, Terrorism, Intelligence, Government, History
77 points by gmays 120 days ago | 77 comments
Zersetzung (wikipedia.org)
Zersetzung (pronounced [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈzɛt͡sʊŋ] ⓘ, German for "decomposition" and "disruption") was a psychological warfare technique used by the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) to repress political opponents in East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s.
Cold War, East Germany, Psychology, Political Repression, Intelligence
8 points by rendx 122 days ago | 1 comments
Interview Learnings from Former CIA Intelligence Officer (lopespm.com)
I’ve been getting into the habit of writing down what I learned from content I consume and I’ve recently seen an interview with Andrew Bustamante, a former CIA intelligence officer on the Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett.
Intelligence, Interviews, CIA
80 points by lopespm 127 days ago | 38 comments
The CIA-in-Chile Scandal at 50 (nsarchive.gwu.edu)
Washington, D.C., September 9, 2024 – Fifty years ago, as the New York Times prepared to break a major exposé on CIA covert operations in Chile, the architect of those operations, Henry Kissinger, misled President Gerald Ford about clandestine U.S. efforts to undermine the elected government of Socialist Party leader Salvador Allende, documents posted today by the National Security Archive show.
Politics, History, United States, Chile, Intelligence
133 points by robtherobber 129 days ago | 92 comments