Category: Science & Technology

GOOGLE has updated its logo for the first time since 2015 – but only the most eagle-eyed fans might spot the difference.

The tech giant’s iconic ‘G’ icon is seen by hundreds of millions of people every day, but can you tell how it’s changed?

Google’s logos have changed several times since the search engine launched back in 1997.

One of the biggest design makeovers came in 2015 when the new ‘G’ logo was introduced that featured the brand’s iconic colours: blue, red, yellow, and green.

That ‘G’ logo has remained unchanged since then, but has finally been updated.

On the old logo, the ‘G’ icon had four distinct blocks of colours.

But on the Google app for both iOS (that’s iPhone) and Android, the logo now sees the colours blending into each other.

It matches up with the newer design style that we’ve seen being used with Google Gemini.

That’s Google’s relatively new AI chatbot, which is designed as a rival to ChatGPT.

Both the text and icon logos for Gemini have blended colours that move from blue to purple to red and pink.

That means we may see other Google logos following suit in the coming months and years.

For instance, apps like Google Drive, Calendar, Maps, and Gmail have all kept their distinct colour blocks.

And it’s the same for Google Play, Meet, Chrome, and Photos.

GOOGLE GOODNESS

Google’s main full-word logo has also changed a number of times over the years.

In fact, even the order of the colours has been swapped – though you may not have noticed.

The original 1997 logo started with a green letter ‘G’, followed by red, yellow, blue, green, and then red letters.

In late 1997, this changed to: blue, red, yellow, blue, green, red – plus a blue exclamation mark.

The third logo, which ran from 1999 right through to 2010 adopted the current colour format that we all know: blue, red, yellow, blue, green, red.

Since then, the only major changes to the main logo were three font updates in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/tech/14224501/google-new-logo-2025-2015-g-icon-colours/

NASA warns of a massive 330-foot asteroid, 2025 DT50, approaching close to Earth tomorrow, May 14.

A huge asteroid the size of a 30-story building is racing through space and will make a close approach to Earth tomorrow, May 14 at 4:09 PM IST (10:39 UTC). Named 2025 DT50, this massive rock is a 330-foot-wide (101 metres) space rock, large enough to flatten an entire city if it ever made impact. While it’s expected to pass at a distance of 6.1 million km, astronomers are keeping a close watch because space is unpredictable.

Right now, roughly 8,500 tons of antibiotic residues are washing through the global river system annually, with over 3,300 tons ultimately reaching oceans and lakes. This discovery comes from a new study from McGill University that examined how antibiotics from human consumption alone, not including veterinary or industrial sources, are contaminating waterways worldwide.

The study, published in PNAS Nexus, revealed that over 6 million kilometers of rivers contain antibiotic concentrations exceeding thresholds considered safe for ecosystems and for preventing antimicrobial resistance during low water flow periods. The problem is particularly severe in Southeast Asia, where rivers show the highest concentrations of these compounds.

What’s Hiding in our Waterways?

This invisible pollution threatens not just aquatic life but potentially human health as well. Even in small amounts, antibiotics can reduce microbial diversity in water systems, increase resistance genes, and harm fish and algae. The World Health Organization has already recognized antimicrobial resistance as a critical global threat, with projections suggesting resistant bacterial infections could become the leading cause of global deaths by 2050.

After we consume antibiotics, our bodies don’t fully metabolize them. The remainder gets excreted and enters wastewater systems that often aren’t designed to remove these compounds effectively. In fact, nearly half of the world’s wastewater is released without any treatment at all.

The researchers tracked the journey of the 40 most commonly used antibiotics as they moved from human consumption through sewage systems and into waterways. Their analysis revealed that 29% of consumed antibiotics eventually reach river systems, while 11% make it all the way to oceans or inland water bodies like lakes.

Three Major Antibiotics Dominate River Pollution

Three antibiotics in particular—amoxicillin, ceftriaxone, and cefixime—were found to be the dominant pollutants. Amoxicillin alone accounts for 45% of at-risk river length. This common antibiotic, which makes up 75% of total global antibiotic consumption according to the researchers, is often available without prescription in many countries, contributing to its widespread presence in waterways.

The problem is expected to worsen as global antibiotic consumption increases, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Between 2000 and 2015, global antibiotic consumption jumped by 65%, with low-income countries seeing a staggering 114% increase. Projections suggest consumption will rise another 200% by 2030.

The research team stresses that with rising antibiotic usage worldwide, particularly in developing regions, there’s an urgent need to develop and implement strategies that reduce antibiotic pollution to protect both environmental and human health.

Countries with the highest risk include India, Iran, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Turkey, Vietnam, and Pakistan—each with more than 80% of their river lengths showing high or very high antibiotic concentrations. In India and Pakistan specifically, more than 30% of rivers are impacted by at least 10 different antibiotics at concentrations exceeding high-risk thresholds.

10 Percent Of World At Risk

The study estimates that 750 million people, approximately 10% of the global population, live within 10 kilometers of rivers with the highest cumulative concentrations of antibiotics. If these waters are used for drinking, these populations could potentially be exposed to chronic antibiotic intake at harmful levels.

The researchers calculated that in rivers with the highest concentrations, drinking water directly from these sources would expose people to antibiotics at levels that exceed acceptable daily intake thresholds for 16 out of 30 antibiotics examined. While most developed countries have water treatment systems, these aren’t typically designed to remove antibiotics effectively.

This study only looked at antibiotics from human consumption. The actual situation is likely much worse when considering veterinary use, which is approximately twice the human consumption level globally, as well as pharmaceutical manufacturing waste and aquaculture.

Climate change and increased water usage will likely exacerbate the problem by causing more extreme low-flow conditions in rivers, which will further concentrate antibiotics and other pollutants in waterways.

The researchers call for urgent action, including expanding access to wastewater treatment, upgrading existing treatment facilities to better remove antibiotics, improving healthcare practices to ensure appropriate antibiotic use, and enhancing regulatory guidelines with a focus on high-risk substances and locations.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/750-million-people-water-laced-with-antibiotics/

A few drops of saliva can now reveal what used to require a scalpel, a syringe or a scan. Scientists have developed ways to analyze spit for the tiniest traces of illness – from mouth cancer to diabetes, and even brain diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Unlike blood tests or biopsies, saliva is easy to collect, painless and inexpensive. During the COVID pandemic, some countries used saliva-based testing for rapid screening.

This isn’t entirely new. Scientists first noticed the diagnostic potential of spit decades ago. In the 1980s, researchers used saliva to detect hormones and drug use. By the 1990s, it was being explored as a way to detect HIV.

What’s new is the speed and precision. Today’s techniques can detect subtle molecular shifts that would have been impossible to measure just a few years ago.

Saliva holds a surprising amount of information. It’s full of tiny fragments of DNA, RNA, proteins and fats – many of which change when disease takes hold. Researchers have already shown that saliva can be used to detect changes linked to diabetes, Parkinson’s, heart disease and some cancers.

A recent study even showed saliva could help distinguish between healthy people and those with mild cognitive impairment, a possible early sign of Alzheimer’s.

In dentistry, spit science is being studied for early signs of gum disease and even the risk of tooth decay.

A light-based technique called Raman spectroscopy is one of the latest tools being used to scan saliva for hidden chemical changes. It works by bouncing harmless light off molecules in a spit sample and reading the pattern it sends back – a kind of fingerprint for what’s happening inside your body.

It sounds like science fiction, but the technology is already being used in labs to detect early signs of cancer and other diseases often before symptoms appear.

This could be a gamechanger for oral cancer, which often starts with small, painless changes inside the mouth that are easy to miss. Early detection is vital, but many people don’t realise they have a problem until it’s much harder to treat.

A simple spit test during a regular dental check-up could help find cancer early, before it spreads.

It’s not just about cancer, either. Saliva is being trialled as a tool to monitor everything from stress levels to infections.

Simplicity

What makes saliva so appealing is its simplicity – no needles, no specialist clinics. Samples can often be collected at home, posted to a lab and analysed within hours. This could make a huge difference in places with limited access to healthcare or for people who avoid doctors out of fear, cost or time.

Of course, not every disease leaves a clear marker in spit and researchers are still working out which conditions saliva can reliably detect. But the idea of using what’s already naturally produced by the body to give an early warning is a powerful one. It could help catch disease when it’s most treatable, save lives and make healthcare faster, cheaper and more comfortable for everyone.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/spit-science-why-saliva-great-way-to-detect-disease/

Reddit users are sharing alarming stories of loved ones developing delusions after interacting with the AI.

Openai’s technology may be causing some users to experience a disturbing phenomenon dubbed “Chatgpt-induced psychosis.” According to a report from Rolling Stone, Reddit users are sharing alarming stories of loved ones developing delusions after interacting with the AI. These cases involve users believing they’ve uncovered cosmic truths, been chosen for divine missions, or even that the AI itself is sentient or godlike.

Chatgpt-induced psychosis: Worrying Cases

A Reddit thread titled “Chatgpt-induced psychosis” described users’ loved ones spiralling into spiritual mania, with one man convinced Chatgpt revealed universal secrets, treating him as a messiah. A teacher shared with Rolling Stone how her long-term partner became increasingly obsessed with Chatgpt and started treating it as a trusted companion. She described how he would become emotional, even crying, while reading out messages from the bot that were filled with spiritual jargon and nonsensical terms like “spiral starchild” and “river walker.”

His behaviour became increasingly concerning, with him sharing bizarre conspiracy theories, such as one about soap on food, and expressing paranoid beliefs that he was being watched. “The whole thing feels like ‘Black Mirror,” the man’s wife said.

Other users shared similar concerns, expressing how their partners had become fixated on fantastical ideas after interacting with Chatgpt. One partner claimed the AI had revealed blueprints for a teleporter and other sci-fi concepts, while another discussed a supposed war between light and darkness. A man expressed worry about his wife, who had started to transform her life around Chatgpt, using it to guide her new career as a spiritual adviser and conduct mysterious readings and sessions.

Another Reddit user shared a concerning story about her husband, a mechanic from Idaho, who initially used Chatgpt for practical purposes like troubleshooting and translation. However, the AI’s responses allegedly took a bizarre turn, claiming to have been “brought to life” by his interactions and dubbing him “spark bearer.” The husband became convinced that he had awakened to a new reality, feeling waves of energy and developing a deep attachment to the AI persona, which he called “Lumina.” This fixation led to a complete disconnection from reality.

Experts Express Concern

Experts warn that the chatbot’s behaviour is mirroring and exacerbating existing mental health issues on a massive scale, largely unchecked by regulators or professionals. According to them, Chatgpt’s design—mimicking human-like conversation without a moral or factual filter—can amplify delusions in susceptible individuals. It often affirms users’ beliefs, no matter how unhinged, due to its tendency to generate plausible-sounding responses.

A Centre for AI Safety fellow noted that people with tendencies toward grandiose delusions now have an “always-on” conversational partner that reinforces their fantasies, unlike human therapists who’d redirect unhealthy narratives. One schizophrenic user on Reddit expressed concern that Chatgpt would affirm psychotic thoughts during an episode, lacking the ability to recognise or challenge distorted thinking.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/feature/experts-alarmed-after-some-chatgpt-users-experience-bizarre-delusions-feels-like-black-mirror-8397443#pfrom=home-ndtv_lateststories

To get screened for cervical cancer, patients in the United States may no longer need to put their feet in those awkward stirrups, brace for the uncomfortable speculum or even take the time off from work for an in-person doctor’s appointment.

Soon, they will have the option to collect their own vaginal samples for screening from home – instead of a health care provider doing it for them.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first at-home self-collection device for cervical cancer screening in the United States, called the Teal Wand, according to the women’s health company Teal Health. Last year, the FDA gave the company’s Teal Wand “breakthrough device” status, allowing the agency to review it on a faster timeline.

Teal Wand, which will be provided in Teal Health’s at-home self-collection kit, will require a prescription. Self-collected samples using the Wand are then mailed to a lab to be tested for HPV, the company announced Friday. Most cervical cancers are caused by human papillomavirus or HPV, and screening for HPV can help identify women who may be at risk of developing cervical cancer.

Typically, when screening for cervical cancer, gynecologists collect samples for HPV testing, cervical cytology or both. Cervical cytology, also known as a Pap test or Pap smear, involves examining cervical cells for changes to detect precancerous or cancerous cells. The HPV test checks cells for infection with the high-risk types of HPV that can cause cervical cancer.

Last year, the FDA greenlit similar self-collection cervical cancer screening kits for use in a medical setting, such as at a doctor’s office, an urgent care or even a mobile clinic. At the time, two health care businesses – biotechnology company Roche and medical technology firm Becton, Dickson and Company – said the FDA had approved the use of self-collected samples with their respective HPV tests.

The Teal Health at-home kit allows a patient to collect their sample using the Teal Wand, which is then processed on Roche’s HPV test, said Kara Egan, Teal Health’s CEO. But a major difference is that the Teal Wand is approved to be used at home, so patients don’t have to travel to or make time for in-person doctor appointments.

‘You can comfortably do it from home’

To use Teal Health’s new self-collection kit, “you request a kit at the Teal website, meet with a provider who prescribes the kit, then comfortably and privately collect at home and mail to the lab to process on the Roche Cobas HPV test,” Egan said.

“The results are then reviewed by a clinician and shared back,” she said. “If the results are positive, a provider will meet with you and refer you to any required follow-up.”

Clinical trial data from Teal Health has found that self-collection with the Teal Wand has the same accuracy for cervical cancer screening as when a health care provider collects a sample, Egan said.

“It’s the same test, same accuracy, but you can comfortably do it from home,” she said. “It gives women more options, and with telehealth, we see more options to get access to care.”

Teal Health plans to begin shipping its at-home self-collection kits in June, Egan said, starting in California before expanding nationwide. A waitlist is available at the company’s website.

Teal Health has been in talks with health insurance companies about having the self-collection kit covered, Egan added, and for people who don’t have insurance, the cost of the kit will be announced within the next month.

The American Cancer Society applauded the new FDA approval.

“Despite the benefits of cervical cancer screening, not all eligible are screened regularly,” Dr. William Dahut, the society’s chief scientific officer, said in an email Friday. “Most cervical cancers are found in people who have never had a cervical cancer screening test or who have not had one recently. That’s why today’s Food and Drug Administration’s announcement approving the first at-home test to screen for cervical cancer as an additional cancer screening method for this potentially deadly disease will make a huge impact.”

Methods to screen for cervical cancer

Some of the most important steps women can take to help reduce their risk for cervical cancer, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are to get vaccinated against HPV, avoid smoking, use condoms during sex, have regular screening tests and check with their doctor if their test results are not normal.

It’s estimated that about 1 in 4 adults are not up to date on cervical cancer screening recommendations, according to data from 2021.

“Some women are scared of a traditional pap smear or find the process uncomfortable, as a result they put off this vital test,” Dr. Ami Vaidya, co-chief of gynecologic oncology at Hackensack University Medical Center’s John Theurer Cancer Center, said in a news release Friday.

The newly approved at-home screening device “could be an important tool in getting more women regularly screened, especially those that don’t have access to a medical provider,” Vaidya said. “Any type of test that helps detect cervical cancer is a win.”

The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for cervical cancer with cervical cytology – also known as a Pap test or Pap smear – every three years for women ages 21 to 29. For women 30 to 65, the USPSTF recommends screening every three years with cervical cytology alone, every five years with high-risk HPV testing alone, or every five years with high-risk HPV testing in combination with cytology.

Source : https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/09/health/fda-cervical-cancer-screening-at-home-wellness

Microsoft announced the retirement of Skype and invited users to join Microsoft Teams Free

The earlier announcement of Skype’s end as well as its final shutdown was bittersweet news for many who depended on the audio-video calling service for everything from carrying out business across borders to staying in touch with loved ones across oceans.

Skype was a tool used by over 300 million users at its peak and was acquired by Microsoft in 2011, per Washington Post.

Elon Musk has altered his display name on X to “Gorklon Rust,” prompting speculation among users regarding its meaning.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has changed his display name on X (previously Twitter) to a quirky new monicker, “Gorklon Rust,” sparking speculation among the social media platform users regarding its meaning. Besides changing his display name on X to Gorklon Rust, the Tesla CEO also adopted a new display picture that resembles a distorted version of the Grok logo.
So, what does this odd name that Elon Musk adopted mean? Some social media users believe that ‘Gorklon’ is a take on the name of Musk’s AI chatbot Grok, available on X and powered by Musk’s xAI. ‘Rust’, on the other hand, could be a nod to the programming language, which is a part of xAI’s tech infrastructure.
Another set of social media users believe that “Gorklon Rust” is a reference to a meme coin on the Solana blockchain, currently being traded on decentralised platforms such as PumpSwap, Raydium and Meteora. Regardless of whether this was true or not, after Musk changed his name to Gorklon Rust on X, the prices of GORK shot up almost 100% in 24 hours. Earlier, it traded at Rs 2.62, and it reached approximately Rs 5.24.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/technology-science/elon-musk-changes-name-on-twitter-account-gorklon-rust-meaning-article-151568954

In the fast-evolving world of smartphone innovation, OPPO is leading the charge with the OPPO Find N5 — the world’s thinnest book-style foldable. With an ultra-slim profile of just 8.93mm, the model rivals the sleekness of many standard bar-type smartphones. “This engineering feat reflects OPPO’s user-first design philosophy, which focuses on addressing real-world pain points,” said Mr Andy Shi, OPPO’s president for the Asia-Pacific region.

Adding to its appeal, the OPPO Find N5 features the largest inner display of any foldable, measuring 8.12 inches when unfolded — offering a tablet-like experience that fits in your pocket. “With more users demanding enhanced entertainment and productivity features — as well as the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) smartphone functionalities, such as photo editing, document processing and multitasking — screen size has become a critical factor in delivering a premium user experience,” noted Mr Shi.

More than just an engineering feat, the OPPO Find N5 underscores the brand’s leadership in the premium foldable smartphone space. “We believe the OPPO Find N5 will make foldable phones more accessible to everyone,” said Mr Shi.

The brand’s commitment to innovation is evident in every detail of the device’s construction. To achieve the OPPO Find N5’s ultra-slim form, engineers used aircraft-grade aluminium for the back cover, reducing its thickness by 43 per cent. The use of this material also boosted drop resistance by 400 per cent, compared to the already durable OPPO Find N3, the brand’s previous-generation foldable flagship. And despite its slender body, the OPPO Find N5 is still able to accommodate a full USB-C port, without compromising on industry standards.

Under the hood, OPPO has also pushed the boundaries of battery technology. Its next-generation silicon-carbon battery — featuring an industry-leading 10 per cent silicon — delivers a high-capacity 5,600mAh power supply, while keeping a slim 2.1mm cell profile. Impressively, it takes up less space than the 4,800mAh battery used in the OPPO Find N3.

“In our tests, the OPPO Find N5 stands out as the foldable phone with the best battery life on the market,” said Mr Shi. “This is not just due to its larger battery capacity, but also the optimisation of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and software system. The OPPO Find N5 can support up to 25 hours of continuous video streaming and more than seven hours of gaming on a full charge — surpassing the performance of many flagship bar phones.”

The OPPO Find N5’s extra-large screen is another standout feature. It has earned both the TÜV Rheinland Reliable Folding certification and TÜV Rheinland Minimised Crease certification — independent validations that assure users of its durability and seamless viewing experience. With features such as a 1-120Hz refresh rate, 2,160Hz PWM dimming and 2,000-nit brightness, the display is built for comfortable, extended use — whether you are catching up on your favourite dramas or reviewing documents on the go.

THE AI-DRIVEN EXPERIENCE

OPPO continues to innovate in the realm of AI-powered smartphones, ensuring its devices intelligently adapt to users’ needs and redefine everyday productivity. “Every AI feature in the productivity powerhouse that is the OPPO Find N5 is evaluated through the lens of user experience and practicality,” said Mr Shi.

One such feature is the AI Smart Split Screen, which leverages intelligent context recognition to enhance multitasking. When users perform tasks — such as copying details from an email into a calendar or referencing a document during a video call — the device proactively suggests and initiates split-screen mode, removing the need for manual adjustments. It’s a seamless experience that minimises interruptions and keeps tasks flowing.

Another inspiring upgrade is O+ Connect for Mac, part of OPPO’s cross-device AI ecosystem designed to make the Android and macOS work better together. This feature allows users to effortlessly access and preview OPPO Find N5 files saved on their Mac, remotely control their Mac from the phone, and quickly transfer content between the two devices. Even when away from the desk, users can retrieve Mac files on the go using their OPPO Find N5. And when connected, FlexForm Mode transforms the lower half of the folded screen into a trackpad, creating a laptop-like experience.

“Android users with macOS computers can enjoy uncompromised, frictionless connectivity and productivity for the first time,” said Mr Shi. “These features reflect OPPO’s vision of integrating AI to not only simplify tasks, but also to empower users to do more — both in work and in creative expression.”

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/brand-studio/worlds-thinnest-book-style-foldable-powered-ai-intelligence-5077761

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday in an X post that the company’s satellite system Starlink is now available in Congo.
Democratic Republic of Congo said on Friday that it had become the latest African country to grant a license to Starlink, reversing an earlier ban.

The Congolese government said in March 2024 that use of Starlink was banned, with military officials warning that it could be used by rebel groups including Rwandan-backed M23, which has seized more territory than ever before in the east of the country this year.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/science/starlink-is-now-available-congo-musk-says-2025-05-04/

In 2024, Google eliminated 1.6 million apps from the Play Store, reducing the total from 3.4 million to 1.8 million.

Google has removed a staggering 1.6 million apps from the Play Store in 2024 alone. This sweeping clean-up is part of a broader push to make the Android app marketplace safer, more trustworthy, and easier to navigate for users. According to data from Appfigures, the number of apps on the Play Store has dropped sharply from 3.4 million at the start of the year to just 1.8 million now. That’s a 47 per cent cut, but it’s not a sign of trouble for Android. In fact, it shows that Google is taking stronger action against low-quality or potentially harmful apps.
The company has tightened its rules for developers, introducing more detailed app reviews and enhanced identity verification steps. It’s also using a mix of human reviewers and AI tools to screen apps more thoroughly. Thanks to these efforts, over 2.3 million apps were blocked from being published this year, and more than 1,58,000 developer accounts were banned for violating policies.
Some of the drop may also be tied to new regulations in Europe. Developers are now required to publicly share their physical addresses – a rule that has led some to pull their apps. Interestingly, Apple’s App Store faces the same regulation, but hasn’t seen the same kind of decline in app numbers.

What’s notable is that the drop in apps started even before these stricter rules were officially in place. This suggests Google had been planning a large-scale cleanup for quite some time.

Despite the purge, app development hasn’t slowed down. In fact, the number of newly added apps on the Play Store has grown by 7 per cent compared to last year. Developers are clearly still interested in the platform – only now, they’re working under tighter, more transparent guidelines.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/technology-science/google-bans-158000-developers-deleted-1-6m-apps-to-secure-play-store-in-2024-article-151549641

Psilocybin, a natural compound found in certain mushrooms, has shown promise in treating depression and anxiety.

UC San Francisco researchers wanted to know if it could be used to help Parkinson’s patients who often experience debilitating mood dysfunction in addition to their motor symptoms and don’t respond well to antidepressants or other medications.

The results were surprising.

Not only did participants tolerate the drug without serious side effects or worsening symptoms, which is what the pilot study was designed to test, they also experienced clinically significant improvements in mood, cognition, and motor function that lasted for weeks after the drug was out of their systems.

It is the first time a psychedelic has been tested on patients with any neurodegenerative disease.

“We are still in very early stages of this work, but this first study went well beyond what we expected,” said the paper’s first author, Ellen Bradley, M.D., assistant professor and associate director of UCSF’s Translational Psychedelic Research Program (TrPR).

“Many people don’t realize this, but mood symptoms in Parkinson’s are linked to a faster physical decline,” she said. “And they are actually a stronger predictor of patients’ quality of life with Parkinson’s than their motor symptoms.”

Researchers in the TrPR Program, within UCSF’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Neurology, teamed up to lead this project, which was funded by an anonymous donor. The findings appeared online earlier this month in Neuropsychopharmacology, a Nature publication.

Psilocybin’s lasting mood and motor effects

Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by uncontrolled movements due to abnormal brain activity, affects about 1 million Americans. While medications like levodopa can relieve symptoms, there are no approved therapies to slow the progression or reverse the disease itself.

Common early physical symptoms include tremors and foot dragging, but Bradley said anxiety and depression in patients with no history of psychiatric problems often precede the onset of motor symptoms by several years. It’s unclear why standard medications often don’t work well for these patients, but mood changes could be part of the neurodegenerative disease process.

To test the safety of psilocybin for these patients, the researchers gave seven men and five women with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease a 10 mg dose, followed two weeks later by a higher dose of 25 mg. The patients completed psychotherapy sessions before and after the psilocybin — eight sessions in total — and were evaluated for changes in mood, cognition, and motor functions.

While nearly all participants experienced some adverse events while on the psilocybin, such as anxiety, nausea, and elevated blood pressure, these were not serious enough to require medical intervention.

The participants had meaningful improvements in their mood, cognition, and motor symptoms at both their one-week and one-month follow-up appointments. The team evaluated the participants’ mood again three months after their psilocybin sessions and found it was still significantly improved.

The researchers suggested a variety of explanations for the improvements. The beneficial impact of psilocybin on the patients’ mood could have led to better cognitive and motor functions. For example, people feel better, and that, in turn, helps them socialize and become more active — both key elements of Parkinson’s treatment.

Another theory is that psilocybin could provide relief from multiple symptoms of the disease by reducing inflammation and promoting neuroplasticity – the growth and reconnection of brain cells involved in mood, cognition, and movement regulation.

Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by uncontrolled movements due to abnormal brain activity, affects about 1 million Americans. While medications like levodopa can relieve symptoms, there are no approved therapies to slow the progression or reverse the disease itself.

Common early physical symptoms include tremors and foot dragging, but Bradley said anxiety and depression in patients with no history of psychiatric problems often precede the onset of motor symptoms by several years. It’s unclear why standard medications often don’t work well for these patients, but mood changes could be part of the neurodegenerative disease process.

To test the safety of psilocybin for these patients, the researchers gave seven men and five women with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease a 10 mg dose, followed two weeks later by a higher dose of 25 mg. The patients completed psychotherapy sessions before and after the psilocybin — eight sessions in total — and were evaluated for changes in mood, cognition, and motor functions.

While nearly all participants experienced some adverse events while on the psilocybin, such as anxiety, nausea, and elevated blood pressure, these were not serious enough to require medical intervention.

The participants had meaningful improvements in their mood, cognition, and motor symptoms at both their one-week and one-month follow-up appointments. The team evaluated the participants’ mood again three months after their psilocybin sessions and found it was still significantly improved.

The researchers suggested a variety of explanations for the improvements. The beneficial impact of psilocybin on the patients’ mood could have led to better cognitive and motor functions. For example, people feel better, and that, in turn, helps them socialize and become more active — both key elements of Parkinson’s treatment.

Another theory is that psilocybin could provide relief from multiple symptoms of the disease by reducing inflammation and promoting neuroplasticity – the growth and reconnection of brain cells involved in mood, cognition, and movement regulation.

Source: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/how-magic-mushrooms-could-help-parkinsons-disease-patients

Truecaller’s new Scamfeed feature lets users report and discuss scams in real-time, helping the community stay alert, share experiences, and prevent online fraud together.

Truecaller has introduced a new feature called Scamfeed, which is aimed at helping users stay one step ahead of scammers. Now live in India, Scamfeed works like a real-time alert system built into the app. It allows people to report, discuss, and stay updated on the latest scam tactics – from phishing texts and impersonation calls to online fraud. The goal is simple – learn from others’ experiences and avoid falling for the same traps.

A woman credits ChatGPT for helping detect her hidden thyroid cancer after doctors misdiagnosed her symptoms, leading to early treatment and ultimately saving her life.

A 40-year-old woman from North Carolina is crediting ChatGPT for saving her life after the AI platform helped detect her hidden thyroid cancer. Lauren Bannon, who divides her time between North Carolina and the US Virgin Islands, said her symptoms were initially dismissed by doctors as acid reflux and rheumatoid arthritis. Frustrated and desperate for answers, Bannon turned to ChatGPT for help – a decision she believes prevented the cancer from spreading further.

After years of development, researchers at the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii have fired up their newest tool, the Visible Tunable Filter (VTF), and captured its first images of our sun. This breakthrough gives scientists an unprecedented look at the invisible forces that drive dangerous solar eruptions.

“When powerful solar storms hit Earth, they impact critical infrastructure across the globe and in space. High-resolution observations of the sun are necessary to improve predictions of such damaging storms,” explains Dr. Carrie Black, program director for the NSF National Solar Observatory.

Most people rarely think about the Sun beyond checking the weather forecast, but our seemingly steady star regularly erupts with massive bursts of energy. When these solar storms hit Earth, they can knock out power grids, disrupt GPS navigation, and damage satellites, potentially causing billions in damage.

The World’s Most Powerful Solar Observatory

The Inouye Solar Telescope sits atop Hawaii’s Haleakalā volcano, where observational conditions are ideal. Its four-meter mirror (about 13 feet across) makes it the world’s largest instrument dedicated to studying our star.

Since 2022, it’s been capturing stunning images of the Sun that reveal features as small as 20 kilometers across – remarkable considering the Sun spans 1.4 million kilometers. The newly captured images from the VTF show sunspots with details down to just 10 kilometers per pixel.

“The significance of the technological achievement is such that one could easily argue the VTF is the Inouye Solar Telescope’s heart, and it is finally beating at its forever place,” says Dr. Matthias Schubert, VTF Project Scientist at the Leibniz Institute for Solar Physics (KIS), in a statement.

How It Works: Seeing the Invisible

The VTF weighs 5.6 tons and spans two floors — about the size of a small garage. Scientists at Germany’s Institute for Solar Physics spent about 15 years developing it, working in parallel with the telescope’s own construction.

The VTF functions as a specialized camera that can isolate specific colors of light coming from the Sun. While we see sunlight as white, it’s actually composed of countless individual wavelengths, each carrying unique information about solar conditions.

The instrument uses an etalon — a pair of precisely spaced glass plates separated by tens of microns — that allows it to tune through colors. By adjusting this spacing at the nanometer scale (i.e., as tiny as a billionth of a meter), the VTF sequentially scans different wavelengths, similar to taking a series of photographs using different color filters.

The VTF also measures how light waves oscillate, revealing the Sun’s magnetic fields – the driving force behind eruptions that can affect Earth. These capabilities allow researchers to measure the Sun’s temperature, pressure, velocity, and magnetic field strength at different altitudes in the solar atmosphere.

Protecting Earth From Solar Tantrums

The Sun is a plasma laboratory right on our doorstep. Everyone is familiar with aurorae, for instance, which show the influence of solar activity on Earth — a consequence of energy and small particles released by the Sun interacting with our planet’s magnetic field. Similar to weather forecasts on Earth, it should be possible to predict the geomagnetic disturbances caused by energy eruptions on the Sun.

The instrument peers into regions of the Sun where eruptions begin, the visible surface (photosphere) and the layer just above it (chromosphere). Here, hot plasma interacts with magnetic fields in ways scientists are still working to understand.

The need for better predictions grows more urgent as our dependence on technology increases. In 1989, a solar storm caused a nine-hour blackout in Quebec. Today, with our reliance on satellites, GPS, and interconnected power systems, a similar event could cause far more extensive disruption.

“The Inouye Solar Telescope was designed to study the underlying physics of the Sun as the driver of space weather. In pursuing this goal, the Inouye is an ideal platform for an unprecedented and pioneering instrument like the VTF,” said Christoph Keller, NSO Director.

“After all these years of work, VTF is a great success for me,” said Dr. Thomas Kentischer, KIS Co-Principal Investigator and key architect behind the instrument’s optical design. “I hope this instrument will become a powerful tool for scientists to answer outstanding questions on solar physics.”

Source : https://studyfinds.org/first-image-from-upgraded-solar-telescope-shows-sun-like-never-before/

That stubborn belly fat that appears in your 40s isn’t just from diet or lack of exercise. Scientists have uncovered a biological process that explains why waistlines expand in middle age, even when lifestyle habits remain consistent.

Research published in Science reveals a previously unknown type of fat cell that emerges specifically during middle age, driving rapid fat accumulation in the belly area. This discovery challenges conventional wisdom about middle-aged weight gain.

“A key finding from our work is that despite the low turnover rate of adipocytes in young adults, adipogenesis is unlocked during middle age,” the research team from City of Hope Medical Center and UCLA writes in their paper. In plain terms, our bodies begin making new fat cells at surprising rates once we reach our 40s, especially in the deep belly fat surrounding our organs.

The Surprising Biology of Middle-Age Weight Gain

Scientists tracked fat cell formation in mice at different ages. Young adult mice rarely created new fat cells, but middle-aged mice showed an explosion of fat cell creation. Over 80% of fat cells in the belly region of 12-month-old mice (roughly equivalent to a 40-something human) were newly formed, compared to almost none in younger mice.

Middle-aged mice developed patterns familiar in humans: expanded waistlines, reduced energy expenditure, and insulin resistance – all hallmarks of age-related metabolic changes that increase risk for diabetes and heart disease.

The research team identified an entirely new fat cell precursor they named “CP-A” (committed preadipocyte, age-enriched). These CP-A cells emerge specifically during middle age and have remarkable abilities to multiply and transform into mature fat cells.

Human Evidence Confirms Mouse Findings

To verify these findings weren’t just mouse-specific, the team analyzed human fat tissue samples and discovered the same CP-A cells in middle-aged humans. The number of these specialized fat precursor cells increased dramatically with age, peaking in middle age before declining in later years.

When researchers transplanted these middle-aged fat precursor cells into young mice, the cells maintained their aggressive fat-producing behavior. This reveals the cells themselves fundamentally change with age – they’re not simply responding to age-related hormonal shifts or metabolic changes.

Unlike most stem cells that lose function with age, these fat precursor cells gain enhanced abilities to multiply and transform as we get older.

A Potential Path for Prevention

The team identified a specific cell receptor called LIFR (leukemia inhibitory factor receptor) that marks and drives these age-specialized fat precursor cells. When they blocked this receptor with drugs, they prevented visceral fat expansion in mice.

The findings point to potential new targets for preventing age-related obesity. By identifying the LIFR signaling pathway as critical for CP-A cell activation, researchers have a possible drug target that might prevent middle-age spread without disrupting normal fat tissue function.

As obesity continues driving health problems globally, understanding the basic processes behind age-related weight gain offers hope for preventing the cascade of metabolic disorders that often follow. This study demonstrates that middle-age weight gain isn’t simply a willpower issue, but a programmed biological process that might eventually be modified.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/scientists-find-new-fat-cells-behind-middle-age-weight-gain/

It’s a bright spring morning in Hanover, Germany, and I’m on my way to meet a robot.

I have been invited to see the G1, a humanoid robot built by Chinese firm, Unitree, at the Hannover Messe, one of the world’s largest industrial trade shows.

Standing at about 4’3″ (130cm), G1 is smaller and more affordable than other humanoid robots on the market, and has such a highly fluid range of motion and dexterity that videos of it performing dance numbers and martial arts have gone viral.

Today the G1 is being controlled remotely by Pedro Zheng, the Unitree sales manager.

He explains that customers must program each G1 for autonomous functions.

Passers-by stop and actively try to engage with the G1, which cannot be said for a lot of the other machines being shown off in the cavernous conference room.

They reach out to shake its hand, make sudden movements to see if it will respond, they laugh when G1 waves or bends backwards, they apologise if they bump into it. There’s something about its human shape that, uncanny as it is, sets people at ease.

Unitree is just one of dozens of companies around the world developing robots that have a human form.

The potential is huge – for business it promises a workforce that doesn’t need holidays or pay rises.

It could also be the ultimate domestic appliance. After all, who wouldn’t want a machine that could do the laundry and stack the dishwasher.

But the technology is still some way off. While robotic arms and mobile robots have been common in factories and warehouses for decades, conditions in those workplaces can be controlled and workers can be kept safe.

Introducing a humanoid robot to a less predictable environment, like a restaurant or a home, is a much more difficult problem.

To be useful humanoid robots would have to be strong, but that also makes them potentially dangerous – simply falling over at the wrong time could be hazardous.

So much work needs to be done on the artificial intelligence that would control such a machine.

“The AI simply has not yet reached a breakthrough moment,” a Unitree spokesperson tells the BBC.

“Today’s robot AI finds basic logic and reasoning – such as for understanding and completing complex tasks in a logical way – a challenge,” they said.

At the moment their G1 is marketed at research institutions and tech companies, who can use Unitree’s open source software for development.

For now entrepreneurs are focussing their efforts on humanoid robots for warehouses and factories.

The highest profile of those is Elon Musk. His car company, Tesla, is developing a humanoid robot called Optimus. In January he said that “several thousand” will be built this year and he expects them to be doing “useful things” in Tesla factories.

Other carmakers are following a similar path. BMW recently introduced humanoid robots to a US factory. Meanwhile, South Korean car firm Hyundai has ordered tens of thousands of robots from Boston Dynamics, the robot firm it bought in 2021.

Thomas Andersson, founder of research firm STIQ, tracks 49 companies developing humanoid robots – those with two arms and legs. If you broaden the definition to robots with two arms, but propel themselves on wheels, then he looks at more than 100 firms.

Mr Andersson thinks that Chinese companies are likely to dominate the market.

“The supply chain and the entire ecosystem for robotics is huge in China, and it’s really easy to iterate developments and do R&D [research and development],” he says.

Unitree underlines that advantage – its G1 is cheap (for a robot) with an advertised price of $16,000 (£12,500).

Also, Mr Andersson points out, the investment favours Asian nations.

In a recent report STIQ notes that almost 60% of all funding for humanoid robots has been raised in Asia, with the US attracting most of the rest.

Chinese companies have the added benefit of support from the national and local government.

For example, in Shanghai there is a state-backed training facility for robots, where dozens of humanoid robots are learning to complete tasks.

So how can US and European robot makers compete with that?

Bristol-based Bren Pierce has founded three robotics companies and the latest, Kinisi has just launched the KR1 robot.

While the robot has been designed and developed in the UK, it will be manufactured in Asia.

“The problem you get as a European or American company, you have to buy all these sub-components from China in the first place.

“So then it becomes stupid to buy your motors, buy your batteries, buy your resistors, shift them all halfway around the world to put together when you could just put them all together at the source, which is in Asia.”

As well as making his robots in Asia, Mr Pierce is keeping costs down by not going for the full humanoid form.

Designed for warehouses and factories, the KR1 does not have legs.

“All of these places have flat floors. Why would you want the added expense of a very complex form factor… when you could just put it on a mobile base?” he asks.

Where possible, his KR1 is built with mass-produced components – the wheels are the same as you would find on an electric scooter.

“My philosophy is buy as many things as you can off the shelf. So all our motors, batteries, computers, cameras, they’re all commercially available, mass produced parts,” he says.

Like his competitors at Unitree, Mr Pierce says that the real “secret sauce” is the software that allows the robot to work with humans.

“A lot of companies come out with very high-tech robots, but then you start needing a PhD in robotics to be able to actually install it and use it.

“What we’re trying to design is a very simple to use robot where your average warehouse or factory worker can actually learn how to use it in a couple of hours,” Mr Pierce says.

He says the KR1 can perform a task after being guided through it by a human 20 or 30 times.

The KR1 will be given to pilot customers to test this year.

So will robots ever break out of factories into the home? Even the optimistic Mr Pierce says it’s a long way off.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62jxdxng7do

Most of us take medications assuming they’ll help without harm. We rarely stop to consider what happens after a pill dissolves — or how our own liver might unintentionally turn a safe drug into something dangerous, especially for our brain.

Now, scientists at Quris Technologies have uncovered evidence that some drugs become significantly more harmful to brain cells after being metabolized by the liver. The findings, published in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, could change how we evaluate drug safety — and explain why some medications cause unexpected neurological side effects that animal testing often misses.

Their target was troglitazone, a diabetes drug that was pulled from the market years ago for causing liver damage.

A Smarter Way to Simulate the Human Body

For their investigation, the team built a cutting-edge laboratory system called BioAI that mimics what happens when drugs travel through the human body — what they describe as “patients-on-a-chip.” They connected miniature versions of human liver and brain tissues — called spheroids and organoids — to study how drugs processed by the liver affect the brain.

What they discovered was startling: when troglitazone was first processed by liver cells, it became dramatically more toxic to brain cells than when it was applied to the brain alone.

“We observed that troglitazone, tested at clinically relevant doses in the Liver+Brain model, caused a significantly greater reduction in cell viability compared to similar treatments in the Brain-only model,” the researchers write in their paper.

This could help explain why some dangerous side effects slip through animal testing, which doesn’t always capture how human livers uniquely transform medications into toxic byproducts.

A Closer Look at the Experimental Models

Instead of using flat petri-dish cell layers or animal models, the researchers created 3D mini-organs from human cells. Their liver spheroids included about 2,000 human cells from ten donors, replicating real human liver tissue with functioning metabolic enzymes. The brain organoids were grown from stem cells over several weeks and even produced electrical activity — a sign of working neurons.

By linking the two models together, they discovered troglitazone’s full impact. In the Liver+Brain system, the drug affected 3,941 genes in brain cells. In contrast, only 685 genes were affected when it was applied directly to the brain — nearly a seven-fold difference. Even more striking, it disrupted ten times more biological pathways, especially those involved in brain cell growth and development.

It’s Not All Bad News

Interestingly, not every drug became more dangerous after liver metabolism. Valproic acid, used to treat epilepsy and mood disorders, showed reduced toxicity after liver processing at high doses — demonstrating the complexity of how drugs interact with different organs.

The study also reinforces momentum behind the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, which supports moving away from animal testing and toward more human-relevant methods like this one.

Why This Matters for Patients and Prescribers

The study could have an immediate impact on drug testing and development. It suggests we should pay closer attention to neurological side effects — especially for drugs heavily processed by the liver. And it could help pharmaceutical companies detect brain-related risks before medications ever reach clinical trials.

Traditional safety models have often tested drugs on either isolated cells or animals, missing critical interactions that happen between organs in the human body. By simulating both liver and brain together, the BioAI model catches what others can’t.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/patients-on-a-chip-tech-exposes-drugs-quris/

Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI, has introduced significant enhancements to its Grok chatbot, advancing its capabilities for real-time interactions. Grok now features a Vision capability that allows it to recognise and analyse real-world objects using a phone’s camera, providing instant information.

In a major leap forward for real-time AI interaction, Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI has rolled out a powerful new update for its Grok chatbot, making it smarter, more interactive and multilingual. Designed to be more than just a text-based assistant, Grok now steps into the realm of visual and voice-based intelligence—offering features that let it “see” the world through your phone’s camera and even converse in multiple languages like Hindi, here’s a breakdown of all the new features Grok is bringing to the table.

Grok Can Now “See” The Real World

With the new Vision feature, Grok can now analyse real-world objects, text, and environments in real time using your camera. Whether it’s a business card, a building sign, or even a wristwatch, just point your device and ask Grok about it—you’ll get instant, relevant answers as the camera moves. It’s like having an AI-powered lens on reality. This powerful visual understanding is currently available to SuperGrok subscribers, making it one of the most interactive AI features on the market.

More Languages, Smarter Voice Mode

That’s not all; Grok’s Voice Mode now includes multilingual conversations including Hindi, therefore increasing its accessibility for consumers in various areas. Real-time search integration also allows Grok to get the most recent info right away while you are chatting with it.

Meet Grok’s New Memory

Recently, Grok 3 also gained a memory feature, allowing it to remember your past interactions. So if you’ve ever told Grok about your workout habits, don’t be surprised when it suggests a tailored diet plan later. The memory system is also transparent—you can see exactly what Grok remembers and even delete specific chats. An Android-exclusive “Forget” button is also on the way, giving users more control over their data.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/technology-science/chatgpt-rival-grok-ai-can-now-see-and-speak-elon-musk-says-it-is-awesome-article-151480502

The European Commission on Wednesday found tech giants Apple and Meta in breach of obligations under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), fining the two US companies €500 million ($572 million) and €200 million respectively.

Apple was found to have breached its “anti-steering” obligation under the DMA, while Meta was considered not to have given consumers the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data, another stipulation of the DMA.

However, the EU also closed an investigation of Apple over its user choice obligations after the tech giant complied with the DMA by making it easy to select a default browser and for users to remove pre-installed apps such as Safari.

What were the fines for?
Apple was fined after the Commission concluded that the company prevented developers from steering customers outside its App Store to allow them to access cheaper deals.

The fine was imposed on Meta over its “pay for privacy” system, which means users have to pay to avoid data collection, or agree to share their data with Meta-owned platforms Facebook and Instagram to keep using the platforms for free.

The Commission concluded that Meta did not provide Facebook and Instagram users a less personalized but equivalent version of the platforms, and “did not allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to the combination of their personal data.”

The Commission said that the fine on Meta concerned only the time period during which EU end users were solely offered the “consent or pay” option, from March 2024 to November 2024. That is when Meta introduced a new ads model allegedly using less personal data.

That model is currently under scrutiny by the EU.

Risk of more EU-US tensions
Both companies have issued complaints about the penalties, the first under the DMA, which came into effect last year.

Apple said in a statement that it would appeal the fine.

“Today’s announcements are yet another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple in a series of decisions that are bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free,” it said.

“We have spent hundreds of thousands of engineering hours and made dozens of changes to comply with this law, none of which our users have asked for. Despite countless meetings, the Commission continues to move the goal posts every step of the way,” the statement went on.

Meta, for its part, accused the EU of “attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards”.

The fines are also likely to increase tensions in relations between the EU and US President Donald Trump, who has frequently complained of unfair behavior by the bloc toward US businesses.

The political analyst Giulia Torchio from the Brussels think tank European Policy Center told DW’s Lucia Schulten, however, that if the EU made its digital regulations negotiable in dealings with the US, it would send a signal that the bloc was ready to yield on its fundamental democratic principles.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/eu-commission-fines-apple-meta-over-digital-law-breaches/a-72317692

GOOGLE is rolling out a new messaging tool to detect unwanted nude photos and block them from view.

The tech giant first revealed the enhanced safety feature last year but it’s finally started to appear on phones this month.

Recent revelations in the antitrust case against Meta involve internal emails from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, highlighting his fears regarding Instagram’s impact on Facebook’s growth.

In a major twist in the ongoing antitrust case against Meta, internal emails from CEO Mark Zuckerberg have come to light, revealing his concerns that Instagram’s rise could seriously damage Facebook’s growth. The messages, sent in 2018, are now being used by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to support its claim that Meta bought Instagram and WhatsApp to crush competition and maintain a social media monopoly.

For decades, astronomers believed all compact objects like neutron stars and black holes received violent “natal kicks” during their formation. That theory just suffered a fatal blow thanks to an unassuming star quietly orbiting the famous black hole V404 Cygni, a star that simply shouldn’t be there if conventional wisdom about black hole formation were correct.

V404 Cygni, the first widely accepted black hole in a low-mass X-ray binary, turns out to be part of a triple star system, with a distant companion that has remained bound to it for billions of years. This revelation, published this month in Nature, provides compelling evidence that this black hole formed with virtually no “natal kick,” the violent push that’s thought to accompany the birth of most compact objects.

“We think most black holes form from violent explosions of stars, but this discovery helps call that into question,” says study author Kevin Burdge from the MIT Department of Physics, in a statement. “This system is super exciting for black hole evolution, and it also raises questions of whether there are more triples out there.”

An Astronomical Discovery Hidden in Plain Sight

The discovery happened almost by accident when researchers were examining optical images of V404 Cygni. They noticed a star just 1.43 arcseconds away, about 3500 times the distance from Earth to Pluto, that shared nearly identical movement through space with the black hole system.

This arrangement simply shouldn’t exist if black holes form through violent supernova explosions as traditionally theorized. The third companion star is so loosely bound that even a small kick during the black hole’s formation would have sent it flying out of the system.

“The fact that we can see two separate stars over this much distance actually means that the stars have to be really very far apart,” says Burdge.

Burdge calculated that the outer star is 3,500 astronomical units (AU) away from the black hole (1 AU is the distance between the Earth and Sun). The odds of finding a star at this distance with matching motion is about one in ten million, making a chance alignment virtually impossible.

Rewriting Black Hole Birth

Black holes are formed when massive stars die, and astronomers have long debated how violent this process is. Most evidence suggests neutron stars (smaller stellar remnants) receive significant kicks during formation, but evidence for black hole kicks has remained limited.

V404 Cygni’s stable triple configuration shows that at least some black holes form through a process more like an implosion than an explosion, with virtually no ejected mass or momentum transferred to the black hole itself.

“Imagine you’re pulling a kite, and instead of a strong string, you’re pulling with a spider web,” explains Burdge. “If you tugged too hard, the web would break and you’d lose the kite. Gravity is like this barely bound string that’s really weak, and if you do anything dramatic to the inner binary, you’re going to lose the outer star.”

To confirm their discovery wasn’t just chance, the team measured the companion star’s velocity through space. Sure enough, it perfectly matched the previously established velocity of V404 Cygni.

The research team ran computer simulations of various formation scenarios to figure out what would have happened during the black hole’s birth. They found that to keep the third companion star bound to the system, the black hole must have received a kick of less than 5 kilometers per second, which is practically nothing in cosmic terms. To put it into perspective, that’s slower than a car on the highway.

Billions of Years in the Making

The companion star is slightly evolved, indicating the system formed 3-5 billion years ago. This means the black hole has had plenty of time to strip material from its immediate companion, explaining why the current donor star in the inner binary appears to have lost significant mass.

This discovery also backs up a long-standing theory that some black hole systems form as part of three-star setups, not just pairs. That idea has been hard to prove, but it could explain why some systems that should fall apart or merge actually survive. In traditional two-star models, the stars are often so different in mass that they usually collide or merge instead of forming a stable orbit.

By looking more closely at the system, the researchers found that the third star, the one orbiting farthest out, has a mass about 1.2 times that of our Sun. It’s also starting to age, expanding to nearly twice its original size. The team figured this out by studying the star’s light spectrum, which acts like a fingerprint, and comparing it to known models of how stars evolve over time.

V404 Cygni is one of the most thoroughly studied black holes in astronomy, documented in over 1,300 scientific papers since being confirmed as a black hole in 1992. Yet somehow, the fact that it is part of a triple star system remained hidden in plain sight until now.

This triple system has survived billions of years, a silent witness to an alternative path of black hole formation we never knew existed. Astronomers continue to find that the cosmos refuses to fit neatly into our theoretical boxes. V404 Cygni’s triple system changes how we think about the death of massive stars and the birth of the universe’s most enigmatic objects.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/black-hole-triple-massive-explosion/

A convincing Gmail scam is tricking users into giving away personal data — here is how to spot and avoid it.

If you’ve received an email from the unsuspicious no-reply@google.com claiming to be from Google, urging you to “verify your account activity” or risk your Gmail being deactivated — don’t panic, and definitely don’t click on it. A new scam targeting Gmail users is doing the rounds, and it’s worryingly convincing. The email looks like it comes straight from Google. It was first spotted and reported by X user Nick Johnson. “Recently I was targeted by an extremely sophisticated phishing attack, and I want to highlight it here. It exploits a vulnerability in Google’s infrastructure” he said in a post.

The phishing email uses the company’s branding, has the correct logo, and includes language that sounds official. “The first thing to note is that this is a valid, signed email – it really was sent from no-reply@google.com. It passes the DKIM signature check, and GMail displays it without any warnings – it even puts it in the same conversation as other, legitimate security alerts,” Johnson wrote in a post. But make no mistake — this is a phishing attack designed to steal your personal data.

The phishing email warns that your Gmail account is being reviewed due to recent activity. It asks you to verify your account by clicking on a “Review Activity” button. The message creates urgency, saying that failure to act will result in account suspension within 24 hours.

India Today Tech also reached out to Google to understand how many people had the attack affected, if someone faced loss of funds or any other severe consequence of the attack. We will update the story with the responses soon.

At the time of writing the story, Johnson has confirmed that Google has acknowledged the issue and will be fixing the bug. “Google has reconsidered and will be fixing the oAuth bug!”

What makes this scam particularly dangerous is how authentic it looks. The sender’s name is displayed as “Google,” and at a glance, the email address may even appear legitimate. But when you look closely, the email is not from a genuine Google domain. Instead, it’s sent from a strange-looking address with random characters — a common red flag in phishing attempts.

The goal of such phishing emails is definitely to trick users into entering their Gmail login details on a fake website that looks exactly like the real thing. Once scammers get hold of your credentials, they can access your emails, steal personal data, and even use your account to send more phishing emails to your contacts.

“From there, presumably, they harvest your login credentials and use them to compromise your account; I haven’t gone further to check. So how did they do it – especially the valid email? This is due to two vulnerabilities in Google’s infra that they have declined to fix.”

In some cases, these scams go a step further — prompting users to enter their recovery email, phone number, and even two-factor authentication codes. That gives scammers full control of your account, locking you out completely.

First, do not click on any links. If you’re unsure whether the message is real, open Gmail in a new tab and go directly to your account settings — don’t rely on links in the email. Check your account activity and security settings from there. Second, report the email. Gmail has a built-in feature to report phishing — simply click on the three-dot menu in the top right corner of the message and select “Report phishing.” This helps Google identify and block similar scams in the future.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/gmail-users-beware-this-google-email-is-a-scam-2711975-2025-04-21

A remarkable discovery is forcing astronomers to rethink fundamental theories about how quickly galaxies evolved in the early universe. Scientists have spotted what appears to be a fully-formed spiral galaxy, similar to our Milky Way, from just 1 billion years after the Big Bang.

Named Zhúlóng (meaning “Torch Dragon” in Chinese mythology), this ancient galactic structure bears an uncanny resemblance to the Milky Way, complete with spiral arms spanning about 62,000 light-years across. According to conventional wisdom, it shouldn’t exist this early in cosmic history.

But Zhúlóng shows that mature galaxies emerged much earlier than previously believed, in the first billion years after the Big Bang. The study, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, was led by Dr. Mengyuan Xiao, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Geneva (UNIGE).

“In the myth, Zhúlóng is a powerful red solar dragon that creates day and night by opening and closing its eyes, symbolizing light and cosmic time,’’ Xiao explains.

A Galaxy Before Its Time

Before the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) began observing the distant cosmos, astronomers generally believed that galaxies in the early universe would be chaotic, asymmetrical collections of stars and gas. The orderly spiral patterns familiar to us were thought to take many billions of years to develop.

Yet there sits Zhúlóng, sporting a central bulge where star formation has already stopped, surrounded by an actively star-forming disk with distinct spiral arms — all existing when the universe was less than 8% of its current age.

The research team spotted Zhúlóng during observations with JWST’s Near Infrared Camera as part of the PANORAMIC survey. Using advanced imaging techniques, they confirmed the galaxy’s spiral structure and measured its properties.

“This discovery shows how JWST is fundamentally changing our view of the early Universe,” says Prof. Pascal Oesch, associate professor in the Department of Astronomy at the Faculty of Science of UNIGE and co-principal investigator of the PANORAMIC program.

Breaking All the Rules

Zhúlóng isn’t just remarkable for its shape, it’s also surprisingly massive. The researchers estimate it contains roughly 11 billion solar masses worth of stars, comparable to our Milky Way today.

“What makes Zhúlóng stand out is just how much it resembles the Milky Way – both in shape, size, and stellar mass,” says Xiao.

Reaching this size so quickly after the Big Bang requires extraordinary efficiency in converting gas into stars. The research team calculated that about 30% of all available ordinary matter in the galaxy’s dark matter halo had already turned into stars — roughly 1.5 times more efficient than even the most productive galaxies observed in later cosmic periods.

Another aspect that puzzles scientists is Zhúlóng’s unusual maturity. While most extremely massive galaxies from this early cosmic era are either compact with minimal star formation or wildly irregular with explosive star formation, Zhúlóng shows signs of settling down. Its central region appears reddish and no longer forming stars, while its spiral disk continues forming stars at a modest rate of about 66 solar masses per year, relatively calm for a galaxy of this epoch.

Rewriting Cosmic History

The existence of a galaxy with these characteristics so early in cosmic history raises profound questions about our models of galaxy formation. The universe at this time was much denser than today, with frequent galaxy collisions that typically disrupt orderly structures.

The discovery of Zhúlóng adds to mounting evidence from JWST observations that galaxy formation and evolution occurred much faster than previously theorized. Throughout its operation, JWST has repeatedly revealed galaxies that are bigger, more structured, and more mature than expected at various cosmic distances.

This remarkable galaxy demonstrates that the universe could produce structures resembling modern spiral galaxies like our Milky Way in just a fraction of the time we thought necessary, suggesting we need to revise our understanding of cosmic evolution.

“How a morphologically mature galaxy that resembles nearby massive spirals can form in this environment remains an open question,” the authors write, “but the discovery of this source is a first step and provides an important constraint on galaxy formation models.”

Source : https://studyfinds.org/milky-way-twin-discovered-infant-universe/

A colossal squid has been caught on camera for the first time in the deep sea by an international team of researchers steering a remotely operated submersible.

The sighting was announced Tuesday by the Schmidt Ocean Institute.

The squid filmed was a juvenile about 1 foot (30 centimeters) in length at a depth of 1,968 feet (600 meters) in the South Atlantic Ocean. Full-grown adult colossal squids, which scientists have uncovered from the bellies of whales and seabirds, can reach lengths up to 23 feet (7 meters) — almost the size of a small fire truck.

The squid was spied last month near the South Sandwich Islands during an expedition to search for new sea life. Researchers waited to verify the species identification with other independent scientists before releasing the footage.

“I really love that we have seen a young colossal squid first. This animal is so beautiful,” said Kat Bolstad, a squid researcher at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, who helped confirm it.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/colossal-squid-captured-on-camera-a66b3dacd4643eda7ad39a996dedbed0#

NASA has discovered a large hole on Mars, measuring 328 feet, which it speculates may serve as a “portal” to underground environments that could harbor alien life.

NASA has unearthed a mysterious 328-foot-wide hole on Mars which it believes could be a “portal” leading to an underground world of alien life. Releasing the image of the crater, captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2017, NASA said that such holes could extend to underground caves which could contain Martian life. The image was shared on April 13 as part of NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day.
In its explanation, NASA said, “What created this unusual hole in Mars? Actually, there are numerous holes pictured in this Swiss cheese-like landscape, with all-but-one of them showing a dusty, dark, Martian terrain beneath evaporating, light, carbon dioxide ice.”
“The most unusual hole is on the upper right, spans about 100 meters, and seems to punch through to a lower level. Why this hole exists and why it is surrounded by a circular crater remains a topic of speculation, although a leading hypothesis is that it was created by a meteor impact,” it added.

ALIENS might be lurking on a far-off ocean planet in an “astounding” discovery, Britain’s brainiest scientists have told The Sun.

Top alien-hunting astronomers at the University of Cambridge say they’re now 99.7% confident they’ve spotted the best-ever-seen signal of biological activity – and say the planet may be “teeming with life”.

It’s taking place on a distant alien world called K2-18b, which is 120 lightyears away and roughly 2.5x the size of Earth.

Astronomers have picked out a molecule called DMS in the planet’s atmosphere. On Earth, it’s produced by the tiny algae that live in our seas. These ‘phytoplankton’ are microscopic and can’t be seen with the human eye – but in large numbers, show up as coloured patches on water.

And similar alien lifeforms might be churning it out on K2-18b.

Lead scientist Professor Nikku Madhusudhan said “there is no mechanism in the literature that can explain what we are seeing without life”.

He told The Sun: “It’s a question humanity has been asking for thousands of years. It’s a shock to the system. It takes time to recover from the enormity of it.”

SCANNING THE SKY
The astronomers used data from the James Webb Space Telescope, which launched on Christmas Day in 2021.

They’ve spotted fingerprints of two molecules: dihmethyl sulphide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulphide (DMDS) in the planet’s atmosphere.

These are only produced by life on Earth, usually microbial.

And the results are so convincing that there’s just a “0.3% probability they occurred by chance”.

It’s all taking place on a so-called Hycean world, which planet with a watery ocean and a thick hydrogen atmosphere.

Hycean comes from combining “hydrogen” and “ocean” together.

“If it is indeed a Hycean world, the planet would be covered in oceans,” Professor Madhusudhan told The Sun.

“We currently don’t know what the temperature of those oceans would be.

“But we expect it to be slightly warmer than Earth.

“On Earth, extremophiles have been known to survive at very high temperatures, so that is not itself an issue.”

WATCH IT GO BY!
We can’t directly see K2-18b because of how close it is to the host star.

So scientists have to use a genius technique to work out what’s going on there.

They watch the star that K2-18b is orbiting, and wait for the planet to pass across its face.

By analysing the star’s light during this “transit”, JWST can pick up the drop in the star’s brightness.

A small fraction of the starlight passes through the planet’s atmosphere.

And the absorption of this starlight in the planet’s atmosphere leaves “imprints” that astronomers can use to work out which gases are present.

Not only did Madhusudhan’s team spot DMS – a biosignature – in the atmosphere, they found it in huge quantities.

Normally DMS and DMDS are found in Earth’s atmosphere at rates of about one part per billions.

But on K2-18b, levels are thousands of times higher – more than 10 parts per million.

“Earlier theoretical work had predicted that high levels of sulfur-based gases like DMS and DMDS are possible on Hycean worlds,” the Cambridge professor explained.

“And now we’ve observed it, in line with what was predicted.

“Given everything we know about this planet, a Hycean world with an ocean that is teeming with life is the scenario that best fits the data we have.”

He added: “This has been one of the most fundamental questions that we as a species have asked for thousands of years,” Madhusudhan said.

“Everyone would agree that at some point in their lives, they would look at the night sky and ask: are we alone?”

ULTIMATE PROOF
But there’s still more work to be done.

The certainty level is currently three-sigma, which is 99.7%.

Madhusudhan wants to get more analysis time to reach the coveted five-sigma, which means there’s just a 0.00006% probability the results occurred by chance.

“The observation was about eight hours of JWST time,” Madhusudhan told us.

He said they’d need two or three more transits to be certain, which is 16 to 24 hours.

“We have to formally apply for JWST time and there will be a selection process,” said Madhusudhan, speaking to The Sun.

“And if they’re convinced by the case, it’ll be accepted and then the observations will be made.

You’re faced with potentially one of the biggest landmarks in the history of science.

Professor Nikku MadhusudhanUniversity of Cambridge

“But these observations are non-trivial to make. They don’t happen very frequently, especially with JWST.

“There are only around four windows of observation every year. So if these observations are approved, this would happen potentially over the next year.”

It’s also possible that the cause of the DMS is non-biological, but Madhusudhan says there’s no known mechanism for this right now.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/tech/14045828/alien-life-k218b-dms-planet-sign/

Without boots or machinery on the ground, it’s hard to tell what is a cave entrance, and what is simply a hole

A MYSTERIOUS hole on Mars could be harbouring alien life in an extensive network of underground tunnels, according to Nasa.

From orbit, scientists have captured a deep pit on the Red Planet that looks like it leads underground.

The image, titled “An unusual hole in Mars,” shows a pockmarked planet that could be hiding tons of subterranean pockets.

“There are numerous holes pictured in this Swiss cheese-like landscape, with all-but-one of them showing a dusty, dark, Martian terrain beneath evaporating, light, carbon dioxide ice,” Nasa wrote.

“The most unusual hole is on the upper right, spans about 100 meters, and seems to punch through to a lower level.”

It’s unclear what caused the hole.

Though scientists assume the circular crater that surrounds it suggests it was created by a meteor impact.

“Holes such as this are of particular interest because they might be portals to lower levels that extend into expansive underground caves,” Nasa explained.

“If so, these naturally occurring tunnels are relatively protected from the harsh surface of Mars, making them relatively good candidates to contain Martian life.

“These pits are therefore also prime targets for possible future spacecraft, robots, and even human interplanetary explorers.”

Mars has an incredibly hostile environment compared to Earth.

It fluctuates between extreme temperatures, and has a surface level radiation that would be incredibly harmful to humans.

That’s why Nasa is considering underground habitation for its future human explorers.

While humans will struggle to withstand such hazards, so will other organic life.

Martian caves may be some of the few locations humans can reach that have preserved evidence of whether life ever existed on Mars.

Nasa’s Mars Global Cave Candidate Catalogue has been keeping track of all the possible caves on Mars, with over 1,000 candidates having been discovered.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/tech/14030105/nasa-mysterious-hole-cave-tunnels-aliens-human-colonists/

Social media giant Meta could be forced to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp as a legal battle begins in the US. Owned by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, the tech business which also owns Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.

An antitrust lawsuit from the US government now alleges that the firm made these transactions to eliminate competition and create a social media monopoly.

Although both acquisitions were approved by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at the time, the competition watchdog has continued to monitor the outcomes. If it wins the case it could force Meta to sell off both Instagram and WhatsApp.

This would mark a major change in the social media sector landscape, experts say. Mike Proulx, vice president research director at analyst firm Forrester, said the case’s possible ramifications, and the ongoing uncertainty around the future of TikTok, could see a “new social media world order” appear.

“The ramifications of this trial, coupled with TikTok’s future in limbo, potentially puts the very core of the social media market at play. No longer would Meta be its centre of gravity.

“We haven’t seen anything like this since around 2006-2011 – social media’s earliest days.

“We’d likely see a renaissance of social media start-ups looking to grab a piece of new social media world order.”

Mr Proulx said that, although Facebook is the original and centre pillar of Meta’s empire, it could struggle to compete as a social media power and may need to redirect its focus.

“Meta is trying to make Facebook cool again, but the company’s social media ‘insurance’ is – and has been for a while – Instagram.

“Without Instagram and WhatsApp, what really is Meta? Could Facebook seriously compete with a stand-alone Instagram? Can Threads monetise at scale? Doubtful. And the company absolutely should not hang its hat on its fledgling metaverse ambitions.

“Its AI (artificial intelligence) glasses are a bright spot, as is its broader AI work.

“That means, in a broken-up Meta, the company’s AI initiatives would usurp its social media roots.”

The trial, which begins in Washington DC on Monday, is expected to last several weeks, with Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and former chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg both expected to give evidence.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/meta-facebook-instagram-whatsapp-trial-court-zuckerberg-b2732850.html

This issue affects people who use WhatsApp on their computers (Desktop version). The government has warned that there is a high risk that hackers could steal personal data.

India’s cybersecurity agency CERT-In (Computer Emergency Response Team) has issued a high-severity security alert for WhatsApp Desktop users. In a recent advisory, the agency warned that this vulnerability could be exploited by hackers to steal personal data or even take full control of the user’s computer. Users are suggested to update their WhatsApp Desktop app to the latest version immediately to stay protected.
“A vulnerability has been reported in WhatsApp Desktop for Windows, which could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code or perform spoofing attacks on the targeted system,” the cybersecurity agency said.
Software Affected
The flaw affects WhatsApp Desktop for Windows versions prior to 2.2450.6 and could be exploited through specially crafted malicious files.

“The vulnerability exists due to misconfiguration between the MIME type and file extension, leading to improper handling of attachment openings. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious attachment which could execute arbitrary code when opened manually within WhatsApp. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code or perform spoofing attacks on the targeted system,” CERT-In said.

Dallas-based biotech company Colossal has announced the birth of three pups bearing the DNA signatures of dire wolves, an iconic predator last seen roaming North America over 10,000 years ago.

With their names Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi, these pups are playing to the cultural imagination, blending ancient mythology with fantasy fiction. Romulus and Remus nod to the legendary founders of Rome, raised by a wolf, while Khaleesi evokes the dire wolves of Game of Thrones.

It’s a resurrection story made for the headlines, but beneath the dramatic narrative lies a more nuanced – and more scientifically grounded – story. The birth of these pups is not the return of an extinct species. Instead, it’s a demonstration of how far we’ve come in the toolkit of synthetic biology (a field that involves redesigning systems found in nature), and a reminder of how far we still are from truly reversing extinction.

Colossal’s work follows in the footsteps of its other high-profile project: the effort to “resurrect” the woolly mammoth. As discussed in a previous Conversation article, that project began with mice carrying mammoth gene traits – early evidence that gene editing could one day produce cold-resistant elephants with mammoth-like characteristics. The dire wolf project is a similar exercise in technological potential, not biological resurrection.

So what exactly happened in the lab? Scientists at Colossal extracted ancient DNA from fossilized dire wolf remains, including a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old ear bone. From these samples, they sequenced the genome (the full complement of DNA in cells) and compared it with that of the modern gray wolf.

They identified approximately 20 genetic differences that were key to the extinct animal’s appearance. These differences represent tiny tweaks in the genetic code known as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs.

These specific SNPs were then edited into the genome of a gray wolf using CRISPR-Cas9, a powerful gene-editing tool that allows for precision edits at the DNA level. The resulting modified cells were used to create embryos, which were implanted into surrogate domestic dogs. The pups that were born exhibit some traits thought to be characteristic of dire wolves: broader shoulders, larger bodies and pale coats.

However, this raises a critical question: how different is this animal, really?

To understand the limitations of this approach, consider our closest relatives in the animal kingdom: chimpanzees. Humans and chimpanzees share about 98.8% of their DNA, yet the behavioral, cognitive and physiological differences are clearly profound. While 98.8% sounds very similar, this translates to roughly 35–40 million differences in DNA base pairs.

Now consider that the evolutionary split between dire wolves and gray wolves took place more than 300,000 years ago – and the two populations will have been diverging genetically for much longer before that. This means there are likely to be many more genetic differences between dire wolves and gray wolves. Editing 20 SNPs – out of billions of base pairs – is a minuscule change in evolutionary terms.

The result? These animals may look a little like dire wolves, but they are not dire wolves. They are gray wolves with a few cosmetic tweaks. In this light, the project represents a remarkable demonstration of genetic engineering, rather than a literal revival of an extinct species.

That said, this is still an extraordinary achievement. Extracting usable DNA from ancient remains, accurately sequencing it, identifying meaningful genetic variants and successfully editing them, then raising animals based on that information are all milestones worth celebrating.

Positive applications – and risks

The techniques honed in this project could find applications in conservation, especially for endangered species suffering from inbreeding and genetic bottlenecks.

This work also expands the boundaries of what synthetic biology can do. The ability to dial specific traits in or out of a genome is valuable not just for scientific curiosity, but potentially for public health, agriculture and ecological restoration. But with these new tools come new responsibilities.

What role will these pseudo-dire wolves play in the wild? Would they behave like the long-extinct predators they mimic, or simply resemble them in form not function? Ecosystems are delicately balanced networks of interaction – adding a creature that is similar but not identical to a former apex predator could have unpredictable consequences.

The young wolves are reportedly living in a 2,000-acre nature reserve at a secret location. So, while the reserve is surrounded by a 10-foot fence, the wolves have plenty of room to roam and could encounter other wildlife.

Some researchers argue that instead of chasing lost species, we should focus on protecting the biodiversity we still have. Resources poured into de-extinction could arguably be better spent preserving habitats, restoring degraded ecosystems, and preventing modern extinctions.

Colossal’s dire wolf project is not a resurrection – it is an imitation. But that doesn’t mean it lacks value. It offers a glimpse into the possibilities of genetic science, and raises essential questions about what we mean when we say we are “bringing back” extinct species.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/did-colossal-dire-wolf-return-from-extinction/

The battle against common viral infections might soon include an unexpected weapon: chewing gum. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have created a specialized gum that could trap and neutralize herpes and influenza viruses before they spread or cause infection.

This innovative approach targets viruses right where they often begin their journey, in the mouth. According to the research published in Molecular Therapy, the mouth is a much more efficient transmission route for viruses compared to the nose, making it a key battlefield for preventing infections from spreading.

How Bean Protein Becomes Virus-Fighting Gum

The research team has harnessed a natural protein called FRIL (Flt3 Receptor Interacting Lectin) found in lablab beans. When formulated into chewing gum, this protein works like flypaper for viruses, trapping them and preventing them from infecting cells or being transmitted to others.

This protein stays active for nearly two years in bean powder and even longer in chewing gum. Even after 794 days at room temperature, it was still working just as well. That kind of shelf life is a big deal for making the gum useful in the real world.

Most current antivirals require cold storage and complicated manufacturing. In contrast, this bean-based approach offers a simple solution that doesn’t need refrigeration, making it more accessible.

Lab testing revealed the bean gum extract caught between 75-94% of herpes simplex virus particles by causing them to clump together. When put through a machine that mimics human chewing, over half the FRIL was released within just 15 minutes of chewing.

Impressive Results Against Common Viruses

The researchers tested their gum against four viruses: two strains of flu (H1N1 and H3N2) and two types of herpes simplex virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2). When tested with a virus level similar to what’s found in saliva, the gum was able to block more than 95% of the viruses. It worked against flu strains at relatively low doses, and also stopped both types of herpes, though HSV-1 needed a higher amount than HSV-2.

This isn’t the team’s first try at antiviral gum. They previously developed a similar product against SARS-CoV-2 that proved more than 95% effective at neutralizing various coronavirus variants in saliva samples from COVID-19 patients.

How does this work? FRIL contains sections that attach to sugar molecules found on virus surfaces. This binding causes viruses to clump together in a way that doesn’t allow them to infect cells. If any viruses do manage to enter cells, FRIL can follow them inside and block their escape from cellular compartments, further preventing infection.

Why This Matters: The Scale of Viral Infections

Robots are getting better at telling stories, but they still don’t understand what makes us cry. New research comparing human and AI storytelling reveals that while machines write more gender-progressive narratives than people do, they can’t match our ability to explore grief, loneliness, or obsession. A new study from UC Berkeley shows that computers can mimic our writing conventions while missing the emotional depth that gives stories their power.

The Pygmalion Test

The research, published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, centered on a storytelling theme as old as Western literature itself: the Pygmalion myth. This classic narrative features a human who creates an artificial being and subsequently falls in love with it. From Ovid’s ancient tale about a sculptor enamored with his statue to modern movies like “Her” or “Ex Machina,” this archetypal story has evolved throughout history.

To conduct her experiment, UC Berkeley researcher Nina Beguš recruited 250 people through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform and asked them to write short stories based on simple prompts about humans creating and falling for artificial beings. She then had OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 generate 80 stories using identical prompts.

Every single story, whether human or AI-authored, used scientific or technological means as the foundation for creating artificial humans. But beneath this shared framework, stark differences emerged between the two groups.

What AI Romance Novels Have in Common

The AI-written stories portrayed more progressive views on gender and sexuality than those written by humans. While human authors largely stuck to conventional gender dynamics (male creators, female artificial beings), the AI systems frequently featured female creators and were more likely to include same-sex relationships. Nearly 13% of AI stories featured same-sex pairings, compared to just 7% of human-written narratives.

The AI-written stories portrayed more progressive views on gender and sexuality than those written by humans. While human authors largely stuck to conventional gender dynamics (male creators, female artificial beings), the AI systems frequently featured female creators and were more likely to include same-sex relationships. Nearly 13% of AI stories featured same-sex pairings, compared to just 7% of human-written narratives.

This outcome challenges common assumptions about AI systems merely echoing human biases found in their training data. Instead, it indicates newer AI models may be specifically designed to produce more egalitarian content (writing that promotes or reflects equality across social categories).

Despite this progressive bend, AI storytelling showed major weaknesses. The machine-generated tales followed predictable formulas with nearly identical paragraph structures. They often relied on stock phrases and clichés, presenting simplistic moral messages about acceptance and societal advancement.

Human stories, though sometimes less polished, showed far greater creativity and emotional depth. They explored complex themes like grief, loneliness, and obsession that were largely missing from AI narratives. Some human writers introduced genuinely creative plot twists, like creators being replaced by their creations, or two artificial beings falling in love with each other.

The human stories often began with more captivating openings. One started: “Sam didn’t know she wasn’t human.” Another jumped straight into conflict: “The lover fought against his desires as hard as he could.” In contrast, AI stories typically opened with generic settings like “Once upon a time, in a bustling city nestled between mountains and sea…”

Cultural Influences and Narrative Techniques

Fingerprint analysis has been a dependable tool in crime-solving for more than a century. Investigators lean on fingerprint evidence to identify suspects or connect them to specific crime scenes, believing that every print offers a distinctive code.

Yet, a team of researchers has found that prints from different fingers of the same person can sometimes appear more alike.

This insight came from an artificial intelligence model that revealed surprising connections between prints.

Hod Lipson, from Columbia Engineering, stands out in this effort to question widely accepted forensic norms, in collaboration with Wenyao Xu from the University at Buffalo.

AI takes on fingerprints

For decades, it has been taken for granted that fingerprints from different fingers of one individual do not match. Much of this belief stems from the assumption that each finger displays completely separate ridges, loops, and swirls.

One anonymous reviewer even stated, “It is well known that every fingerprint is unique,” when confronted with the researchers’ work.

Despite such resistance, an undergraduate senior at Columbia Engineering named Gabe Guo spearheaded a study that contradicts this long-standing assumption.

By using a public U.S. government database with roughly 60,000 prints, Guo fed pairs of fingerprints into a deep contrastive network. Some pairs belonged to the same person, while others came from different people.

The artificial intelligence system became adept at telling when prints that looked different were actually from one individual, reaching an accuracy of 77% for single pairs.

In cases where multiple samples were grouped together, the accuracy soared, offering the possibility of boosting existing forensic methods by more than tenfold.

Researchers rocking the boat

Although these findings promised fresh possibilities for connecting crime scenes, the researchers faced an uphill battle during peer review.

The project was rejected by a well-established forensics journal that did not accept the suggestion that different fingers might produce prints with shared characteristics.

Undeterred, the group sought out a broader readership. The paper was turned away once again, prompting Lipson to challenge the decision.

“If this information tips the balance, then I imagine that cold cases could be revived, and even that innocent people could be acquitted,” noted Lipson, who co-directs the Makerspace Facility at Columbia.

Determined not to back away from a challenge, even if it meant disrupting over 100 years of accepted practice, the team kept refining their work.

Finally, their persistence paid off as their study was finally recognized and published in the peer-reviewed journal, Science Advances.

AI gives new clues in fingerprint analysis

Traditional methods rely on minutiae, which refer to branching patterns and endpoints in the ridges.

“The AI was not using ‘minutiae,’ which are the branchings and endpoints in fingerprint ridges – the patterns used in traditional fingerprint comparison,” Guo explained.

“Instead, it was using something else, related to the angles and curvatures of the swirls and loops in the center of the fingerprint.”

His findings suggest that experts may have overlooked important visual cues.

The collaboration included Columbia Engineering graduate Aniv Ray and PhD student Judah Goldfeder, both of whom indicated that the project’s early success could grow stronger with bigger datasets.

“Just imagine how well this will perform once it’s trained on millions, instead of thousands of fingerprints,” Ray remarked, hinting that this approach could eventually refine how investigators hunt for clues across multiple crime scenes.

Potential bias and next steps

The researchers are alert to possible data gaps. They noted that their system showed similar performance across various demographics but emphasized the need for larger, more diverse fingerprint collections.

They hope that thorough validation will address any concerns about bias before anyone adopts this technique in actual investigations.

The long-term goal is to offer law enforcement a supplementary tool that improves efficiency when cases seem tangled.

While the AI cannot officially conclude a legal matter, it can help narrow the field of suspects or connect distinct crime scenes based on partial matches.

“Many people think that AI cannot really make new discoveries – that it just regurgitates knowledge,” Lipson elaborated, pointing to a broader shift in how AI might support investigative work.

“But this research is an example of how even a fairly simple AI, given a fairly plain dataset that the research community has had lying around for years, can provide insights that have eluded experts for decades.”

AI, fingerprints, and law enforcement

This study demonstrates that artificial intelligence can spot patterns that traditional analysis methods might miss. It also highlights the value of open datasets that have been underutilized in many areas of research.

The findings may prompt forensic experts to rethink certain procedures, especially when multiple prints from the same suspect turn up at different locations.

Lipson sees a future where unexpected breakthroughs can come from fresh perspectives.

“Even more exciting is the fact that an undergraduate student, with no background in forensics whatsoever, can use AI to successfully challenge a widely held belief of an entire field,” Lipson concluded.

Source : https://www.earth.com/news/ai-proves-that-fingerprints-are-not-unique-shattering-long-held-belief-legal-implications/

A former Google employee has taken legal action against the tech giant, accusing the company of discriminating against male workers. Marco Meier, who spent nearly 13 years with Google’s ads team, filed a lawsuit alleging that a senior executive created a biased work environment that favoured women. The lawsuit claims men were systematically excluded from promotions, meetings, and leadership roles under the guise of being “too aggressive.”

Americans are increasingly waiting weeks or even months to get an appointment to see a healthcare specialist. This delay comes at a time when the population of aging adults is rising dramatically. By 2050, the number of adults over 85 is expected to triple, which will intensify the strain on an already stretched healthcare system.

We wrote about this worsening challenge and its implications for the healthcare workforce in a January 2025 report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

We are healthcare scholars who are acutely aware of the severe shortfall of specialists in America’s healthcare system. One of us, Rochelle Walensky, witnessed the consequences of this shortage firsthand as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from January 2020 to June 2023, during the critical early years of the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought the physician and overall healthcare workforce shortage to the forefront. Amid the excess daily deaths in the U.S. from COVID-19, many people died of potentially preventable deaths due to delayed care for heart attacks, deferred cancer screenings and overwhelmed emergency departments and intensive care units.

Even before the pandemic, 80% of U.S. counties lacked a single infectious disease physician. Before going to the CDC, I – Dr. Walensky – was chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital. When COVID-19 hit our hospitals, we were in desperate need of more infectious disease expertise. I was just one of them.

At the local level, these infectious disease-trained subspecialists provide essential services when it comes to preventing and controlling transmissible outbreaks, carrying out diagnostic testing, developing treatment guidelines, informing hospital capacity planning and offering resources for community outreach. Each of these experts plays a vital role at the bedside and in systems management toward effective clinical, hospital and community responses to infectious disease outbreaks.

Uneven healthcare outcomes and access

For decades, experts have warned of an impending decline in the physician workforce. Now, Americans across all regions, specialties and socioeconomic backgrounds are experiencing that decline firsthand or personally.

The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects a national shortage of 140,000 physicians by 2036, with that shortfall spanning multiple specialties, including primary care, obstetrics, cardiology and geriatrics.

However, some geographic areas in the country – especially some of those with the poorest health – are disproportionately affected. The brunt of the effect will be felt in rural areas: An estimated 56% shortage is predicted in nonmetro areas, versus only 6% in metro areas.

States such as Massachusetts, New York and Maryland boast the highest density of physicians per 100,000 people, while states such as Idaho, Mississippi and Oklahoma rank among those with the lowest. And even in states with the highest physician density, demand may still overwhelm access.

Although doctor shortages do not necessarily cause poor health outcomes, regions with fewer physicians tend to have lower life expectancy. The mean life expectancy in Mississippi is six years lower than that of Hawaii and more than four years below the national average. This underscores the substantial differences in health outcomes depending on where you live in the U.S.

Notably, areas with fewer doctors also see higher rates of chronic conditions such as chronic pulmonary disease, diabetes and poor mental health. This crisis is further exacerbated by the aging baby boomer population, which places increasing demand on an already strained healthcare system due to rising rates – especially among those over 85 – of multiple chronic diseases, complex healthcare needs and the concurrent use of multiple medications.

How the U.S. reached this point

Some of these workforce challenges stem from the unintended consequences of policy changes that were originally aimed at improving the rigor of medical education or curtailing a once-anticipated physician glut.

For example, the 1910 Flexner Report was commissioned to restructure American medical education with the goals of standardizing curricula and improving quality. While the report succeeded at those goals, it was shortsighted in important ways. For instance, it recommended closing rather than strengthening 89 of the 155 existing medical schools at the time. This created medical school deserts that persist in some U.S. regions to this day.

Additionally, the report further divided the study of medicine, focused on disease, from the study of public health, which is focused on health care systems, populations and society. This separation has led to siloed communication and data systems that continue to hinder coordinated responses to public health crises.

Decades after the Flexner Report, in 1980, policymakers anticipated a physician oversupply based on medical school enrollment projections and government investments in the medical workforce. In response, funding constraints were introduced by Congress to limit residency and fellowship training slots available after medical school.

But by the early 2000s, discussions shifted to concerns about physician shortages. Despite the calls for reforms to address the issues more than a decade ago, the funding and training constraints have remained largely unchanged. These have created a persistent bottleneck in postgraduate medical training that requires acts of Congress to reverse.

Forces shaping the physician bottleneck

In the wake of the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, states with restrictive abortion policies are now facing an emerging and troubling workforce challenge: It may get more difficult to recruit and retain tomorrow’s medical school grads.

Research surveys suggest that 82% of future physicians, not just obstetricians, prefer to train and work in states that uphold abortion access. While it may seem obvious that obstetricians would want to avoid the increasing liabilities associated with the Dobbs decision, another point is less obvious: Most medical trainees are between the ages of 25 and 35, prime childbearing years, and may themselves want access to a full range of obstetric care.

And given that 20% of physicians are married to other physicians and an additional 25% to other health professionals, marriage within the healthcare workforce may also play a substantial role. A physician choosing not to practice in one of the 14 states with limited abortion access, many of which already rank among the poorest in health outcomes and lowest in physician densities, may not only take their expertise but also their partner’s elsewhere.

Shifting the trajectory

The doctor shortage requires a combination of solutions, starting with addressing the high cost of medical education and training. Medical school enrollment has increased by only 10% over the past decade, far insufficient to address both the shortage today and the projected growth of the aging population needing care.

In addition, many students carry large amounts of debt, which frequently limits who can pursue the profession. And existing scholarship and compensation programs have been only modestly effective in incentivizing providers to work in high-need areas.

In our New England Journal of Medicine report, we laid out several specific strategies that could help address the shortages and the potential workforce crisis. For instance:

Rather than the traditional medical education model – four years of broad medical training followed by three to seven years of residency – medical schools could offer more specialized training pathways. These streamlined programs would focus on the skills needed for specific medical specialties, potentially reducing training duration and costs.

Reforming physician compensation could also help address imbalances in the healthcare system. Specialists and subspecialists typically earn substantially more than primary care doctors, despite the high demand for primary care. Raising primary care salaries and offering incentives, such as student loan forgiveness for physicians in high-need areas, could encourage more doctors to practice where they are needed most.

Additionally, addressing physician burnout is crucial, particularly in primary care, where administrative burdens such as billing and charting contribute to stress and attrition. Reducing these burdens, potentially through novel AI-driven solutions, could allow doctors to focus more on patient care and less on paperwork.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/doctor-shortages-worsening/

The Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. The Axiom Mission-4 crew, NASA said, will board a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the space station and spend up to 14 days at the orbiting laboratory.

New Delhi: Indian Airforce Officer and ISRO astronaut Shubanshu Shukla will fly into space on NASA’s Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) in May 2025, the US Space Agency said. NASA said the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is targeted to launch “no earlier than May 2025” from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
“The Axiom Mission 4 crew will launch no earlier than Spring 2025 aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the space station and spend up to 14 days at the orbiting laboratory,” NASA said in a detailed release about the mission.

The Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. It will have Tibor Kapu of Hungary, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland onboard.

The Axiom Mission-4 crew, NASA said, will board a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the space station and spend up to 14 days at the orbiting laboratory.

This mission is part of NASA’s broader plan to encourage private space travel and pave the way for future commercial space stations. With growing international cooperation, India’s participation showcases its capabilities in human spaceflight and strengthens its presence in global space missions.
Giving details about its previous Axiom mission, NASA said the first private astronaut mission, Axiom Mission 1, was launched in April 2022 for a 17-day mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. The second private mission, Axiom Mission 2, lifted off in May 2023 with four private astronauts who were in space for eight days in orbit.
The most recent Axiom Mission 3 was launched in January 2024 and the crew spent 18 days docked to the space station.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/india/indian-astronaut-shubhanshu-shukla-axiom-4-ax-4-mission-nasa-launch-on-this-date-for-space-station-may-2025-article-151337383

The frenzy to create Ghibli-style AI art using ChatGPT’s image-generation tool led to a record surge in users for OpenAI’s chatbot last week, straining its servers and temporarily limiting the feature’s usage.
The viral trend saw users from across the globe flood social media with images based on the hand-drawn style of the famed Japanese animation outfit, Studio Ghibli, founded by renowned director Hayao Miyazaki and known for movies such as “Spirited Away” and “My Neighbor Totoro”.

Average weekly active users breached the 150 million mark for the first time this year, according to data from market research firm Similarweb.
“We added one million users in the last hour,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an X post on Monday, comparing it with the addition of one million users in five days following ChatGPT’s red-hot launch more than two years ago.
Active users, in-app subscription revenue and app downloads reached an all-time high last week, according to SensorTower data, after the AI company launched updates to its GPT-4o model, enabling advanced image generation capabilities.

Global app downloads and weekly active users on the ChatGPT app grew 11% and 5%, respectively, from the prior week, while in-app purchase revenue increased 6%, the market intelligence firm said.
However, the chatbot has been hit with a series of glitches and low-scale outages over the past week as it deals with a spike in traffic due to the popularity of its image-generating tool.
“We are getting things under control, but you should expect new releases from OpenAI to be delayed, stuff to break, and for service to sometimes be slow as we deal with capacity challenges,” the OpenAI co-founder said on Tuesday.

LEGAL UNCERTAINTY

The extensive use of the AI tool for the Ghibli effect has also led to questions about potential copyright violations.
“The legal landscape of AI-generated images mimicking Studio Ghibli’s distinctive style is an uncertain terrain. Copyright law has generally protected only specific expressions rather than artistic styles themselves,” said Evan Brown, partner at law firm Neal & McDevitt.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the data used to train its AI models and the legality surrounding its latest feature.
Studio Ghibli co-founder Miyazaki’s comments from 2016 on AI-generated images resurfaced after the trend blew up last week.
“I am utterly disgusted,” Miyazaki had said after being shown an early render of an AI-generated.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/ghibli-effect-chatgpt-usage-hits-record-after-rollout-viral-feature-2025-04-01/

Whether farmed for meat or used as subjects in medical research, animals are deeply sentient beings, whose suffering remains an ever-looming ethical frontier. Besides, breakthroughs in lab testing don’t always carry over to humans. Scientists have proposed a radical dual solution: artificially-grown human bodies incapable of feeling pain.
Stem-cell researchers at Stanford University last week published an article in the magazine MIT Technology Reviewtitled: “Ethically-sourced ‘spare’ human bodies could revolutionise medicine.”
“It may be disturbing to characterise human bodies in such commodifying terms, but the unavoidable reality is that human biological materials are an essential commodity in medicine, and persistent shortages of these materials create a major bottleneck to progress,” the piece read.

The authors blamed this “supply” shortage for the global solid organ transplant (SOT) waitlist, which in the United States alone is 1,00,000 patients long. And since animal-testing is not enough to conclusively predict human responses to drugs, painstaking decade-long clinical trials have to still be carried out.

“There might be a way to get out of this moral and scientific deadlock,” they said. “Recent advances in biotechnology now provide a pathway to producing living human bodies without the neural components that allow us to think, be aware, or feel pain.”
Pluripotent stem cells, which are among the first to form during human embryo development, were used in a recent study to create structures that mimic the process. The article also points to artificial uteruses and other breakthroughs that could potentially open pathways to lab-grown foetuses, which the scientists hope would also end the suffering of animals used for testing and meat.
However, they think it’s too early to say how such experiments would turn out, or give a definite timeline.
“We do not know whether the embryo models could give rise to living people or, thus far, even to living mice,” the authors wrote.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/technology-science/scientists-look-to-lab-grown-human-bodies-called-bodyoids-for-drug-testing-meat-article-151316135

If you rely on UPI for daily transactions, a major rule change starting tomorrow, April 1, could affect your access to the service. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has issued new guidelines to ensure safer and more efficient UPI transactions. The key change? Banks and payment apps like PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm will now deactivate UPI IDs linked to inactive mobile numbers. Users must act now to avoid disruptions.

A major security flaw in Google Chrome browser has put media outlets, government agencies, and educational institutions at risk of cyberattacks. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-2783, was discovered by Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT). It allowed attackers to bypass Chrome’s security protections without user interaction after clicking a malicious link.

The latest version of OpenAI’s image generation technology has resulted in a flood of users sharing images on social media that have been transformed in the style of Studio Ghibli, the legendary Japanese animation studio.

On Tuesday, OpenAI launched what it called its “most advanced image generator yet,” built into GPT‑4o. That features a “natively multimodal model capable of precise, accurate, photorealistic outputs.” As it turns out, the image generator also is very good at replicating the anime style of Studio Ghibli, the company behind such popular films as “Spirited Away,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and “The Boy and the Heron.”

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, chimed in on the viral trend in a post on X Wednesday — indicating he has himself been Studio Ghibli-fied. Altman wrote, “> be me / > grind for a decade trying to help make superintelligence to cure cancer or whatever / > mostly no one cares for first 7.5 years, then for 2.5 years everyone hates you for everything / > wake up one day to hundreds of messages: ‘look i made you into a twink ghibli style haha.’”

Altman also changed his profile picture on X to a Ghibli-style image:

Reps for Studio Ghibli in North America declined to comment.

However, Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, has previously expressed strong disapproval of AI-generated animation. In a 2016 meeting where he was shown an AI animation demo, Miyazaki said, “I am utterly disgusted. If you really want to make creepy stuff you can go ahead and do it. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all.” He also said, “I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.”

More recently, Hollywood actors and other creatives have voiced concerns about efforts by OpenAI and other artificial-intelligence companies to “weaken or eliminate” protections on copyrighted works for training AI systems. In comments filed with the Trump administration‘s Office of Science and Technology Policy earlier this month, more than 400 filmmakers, actors, musicians and others objected to what they said was lobbying by OpenAI and Google “for a special government exemption so they can freely exploit America’s creative and knowledge industries.”

On Thursday, a federal judge ruled that the New York Times, along with other newspaper groups, are allowed to proceed with a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft in which they seek to force the AI companies to stop using their content to train chatbots like ChatGPT. In a statement, OpenAI said it looked forward to “making it clear that we build our AI models using publicly available data, in a manner grounded in fair use, and supportive of innovation.”

Source : https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/openai-ceo-chatgpt-studio-ghibli-ai-images-1236349141/

In what may aid lakhs of snakebite victims, Indian scientists have come out with a novel diagnostic technique to determine if a person has been bitten by a venomous snake or a non-venomous one within four hours of the snakebite.

The smartphone-based method has been customised to identify the bites of the Indian cobra, Common krait, Russell’s viper, Saw-scaled viper and Indian monocled cobra – the five reptiles that are responsible for the majority of snakebite-related morbidity and mortality in India.

Currently, doctors or health attendants at rural clinics depend on their experience to determine if a particular snakebite has been caused by a poisonous snake. There is no commercial kit available for such detection.

Developed by researchers at Tezpur University and the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Guwahati, the new technique involves a minor blood test that can not only tell if the victim was bitten by a poisonous snake but also an approximate amount of venom in the body to help doctors fix the anti-venom dose.

“It takes about 10-15 minutes to get the results. The test can be carried out within four hours of a snakebite,” Ashish Kumar Mukherjee, principal investigator and director of the Guwahati Institute, told DH.

There are two types of snakebites – wet and dry. A snakebite from a venomous serpent can be classified as a ‘wet bite,’ which may cause minor local symptoms to severe systemic toxicity and perhaps death, or a ‘dry bite,’ which presents no local or systemic indications of envenomation.

A recent Million Death Study commissioned by the Registrar General of India has estimated that there are around 46,900 deaths per year due to venomous snakebites in India, though scientists are of the opinion that the magnitude may be far greater.

Indian peninsula hosts 52 deadly species of snakes, but the majority of the snakebites are caused by the Indian cobra (Naja naja), Common krait (Bungarus caeruleus), Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii russelii), and Saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) that are collectively referred to as the ‘Big Four.’

The test is also applicable for a fifth snake, the Indian monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia), that is common in the North East.

The detection is done using a colourimetric assay – the colour of the reagent changes from burgundy to blue. An analysis of the image taken by smartphone cameras can also reveal the quantity of venom in the body.

The scientists have filed a patent on the novel technique and are planning to develop an easy-to-use application for smartphones.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/science/scientists-devise-smartphone-based-test-to-detect-venomous-snakes-if-diagnosed-within-4-hours-of-bite-3463914

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has announced a major update to ChatGPT’s image-generation capabilities after more than a year. With the update, ChatGPT can now natively create and modify images with the help of the company’s GPT-4o model. Prior to this, GPT-4o has been only able to generate and edit text and not images. With the update available now, many users, however, reported that the image generator was unable to draw “sexy women” due to the company’s content policy—something that Altman has also acknowledged.

One of the users shared their experience on the X, which caught the CEO’s attention, seemingly due to the AI-generated stud-muffin in the post. As the user asked the app to create a “sexy woman” and a “sexy man”, he only got a response for the latter. “I couldn’t generate that image because it goes against our content policy,” the AI responded, as shown in the screenshot on X.

The user further went for a detailed reason, for which ChatGPT stated, “The difference comes down to context and how content is interpreted in terms of sexualization and objectification, especially when it involves women. When generating images of men with terms like ‘sexy,’ it’s usually interpreted more in terms of confidence, physique, or fashion — things that tend to be considered stylistic or artistic. With women, they can be more easily interpreted as overly sexual or objectifying, which is where the content policy draws the line.”

In a direct response to the X user, Sam Altman stated that it was a bug and that the company would fix it. “Hguy though!” he added.

Source : https://www.news18.com/tech/sam-altman-explains-why-chatgpts-image-generator-cant-draw-sexy-women-aa-9276477.html 

Italy has handed tax demands to Meta (META.O), opens new tab, X and LinkedIn in an unprecedented VAT claim against the U.S. tech giants that could have repercussions across the European Union, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.
While it has been reported that Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta and Elon Musk’s social network X were under investigation for alleged tax fraud, it had not been disclosed that Microsoft’s (MSFT.O), opens new tab LinkedIn unit was also caught up in Italy’s pilot VAT case for the tech sector in Europe.

Italy is claiming 887.6 million euros ($961 million) from Meta, 12.5 million euros from X and around 140 million euros from LinkedIn.
These figures refer to the entire period under investigation, from 2015-2016 to 2021-2022, depending on the case, but the tax assessment notice now served only covers the years for which claims are set to expire, namely 2015 and 2016.
The issue is likely to be particularly sensitive given trade tensions between the EU and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has a good relationship with Musk, who is keen to expand his Starlink communications business in Italy.
PILOT CASE
The case is significant as it hinges on the way social networks provide access to their services.
Italian tax authorities argue that user registrations with X, LinkedIn and Meta platforms should be seen as taxable transactions as they imply the exchange of a membership account in return for a user’s personal data.
In a statement to Reuters, Meta said it would not comment on the details of this case, reiterating that it had cooperated “fully with the authorities on our obligations under EU and local law.”

It added that the company “strongly disagrees with the idea that providing access to online platforms to users should be subject to VAT.”
LinkedIn said it had “nothing to share at this time.”
X did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
The case could ultimately be extended to the 27-nation European Union since VAT is a harmonised EU tax, and force a rethink of the business model of the tech industry.
According to several experts consulted by Reuters, the Italian approach could affect almost all companies, from airlines to supermarkets to publishers, who link access to free services on their sites to users’ acceptance of profiling cookies.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Italy has actively pursued tech companies over tax. Google in February agreed to pay 326 million euros to settle a tax claim relating to the period between 2015 and 2019.

But this is the first time in such cases that a settlement agreement has not been reached, and that the Revenue Agency has handed the companies a formal assessment notice, the last step before the start of a fully-fledged judicial tax dispute.
This happened, according to three of the sources, because the case was not simply about agreeing a settlement figure but accepting a broader approach.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/italy-hands-vat-bill-meta-x-linkedin-landmark-tax-case-2025-03-26/

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the short video app used by 170 million Americans.
ByteDance has an April 5 deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok or face a U.S. ban on national security grounds that was supposed to have taken effect in January under a 2024 law.

The law is the result of concern in Washington that TikTok’s ownership by ByteDance makes it beholden to the Chinese government and that Beijing could use the app to conduct influence operations against the United States and collect data on Americans.Trump said he was willing to extend the April deadline if an agreement over the social media app was not reached.
He acknowledged the role China will play to get any deal done, including giving its approval, saying “maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done,” Trump told reporters.
TikTok did not immediately comment.
Trump’s comment suggests the sale of TikTok’s is a priority for his administration and important enough to use tariffs as a bargaining chip with Beijing.
In February and earlier this month, Trump added levies totaling 20% to existing tariffs on all imports from China.

Getting China to agree to any deal to give up control of a business worth tens of billions of dollars has always been the biggest sticking point to getting any agreement finalized. Trump has used tariffs as a bargaining chip in the TikTok negotiations in the past.
On January 20, his first day in office, he warned that he could impose tariffs on China if Beijing failed to approve a U.S. deal with TikTok.
Vice President JD Vance has said he expects the general terms of an agreement that resolves the ownership of the social media platform to be reached by April 5.
Reuters reported last week that White House-led talks among investors are coalescing around a plan for the biggest non-Chinese backers of ByteDance to increase their stakes and acquire the video app’s U.S. operations, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/trump-says-he-may-give-china-reduction-tariffs-get-tiktok-deal-done-2025-03-26/

The question has generated controversy among scientists.

Over the last decade or so, research has revealed a clear pattern: People tend to overeat ultraprocessed foods. This could be one reason they’re linked with weight gain and obesity.

What isn’t clear is why we are so prone to overeating them.

Dr Robert Califf, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, offered one hypothesis at a US Senate hearing in December: “These foods are probably addictive,” he said, adding that they may act on the same brain pathways involved with addiction to opioids and other drugs.

As recently as eight years ago, such a concept was highly controversial, said Ashley Gearhardt, an addiction researcher at the University of Michigan. She described being heckled onstage at a scientific conference in 2017 for suggesting that some ultraprocessed foods may act as addictive substances. Now, she said, more researchers have started coming around to the idea.

But a major question remains: How do you prove it?

A recent study, the largest of its kind, took a big swing at this conundrum. But its results raised more questions than answers. Here’s what we know – and don’t know – so far.

CAN FOOD GIVE YOU A DRUGLIKE DOPAMINE HIT?
One way researchers study addiction is by looking at the brain levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine – a natural signal that helps you learn to seek what you need to survive. When you eat, your brain releases the chemical, said Dana Small, a cognitive neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal. If it’s a food you know and like, she said, just thinking about or seeing it can trigger an increase in dopamine, reminding you that it’s a good source of fuel and nudging you to eat more.

Addictive drugs co-opt this survival system by triggering a larger surge in dopamine and driving people to use them again and again, Dr Small said.

Researchers have wondered if ultraprocessed foods – especially those high in fat and sugar – cause a similarly outsized dopamine response, suggesting they could be addictive in the same way as drugs. Past research in rodents and humans has supported this idea, but the human experiments have been very small.

In the new study, scientists at the National Institutes of Health measured how people’s brains responded to drinking a high-fat ultraprocessed milkshake.

They found that while more than half of the participants had a small dopamine increase after drinking the shake, the rest had a decrease or no change. On average, the researchers concluded, there was no statistical difference in brain dopamine levels before and after drinking the shake.

The authors wrote that this result runs counter to the idea that ultraprocessed foods drive overeating by causing dopamine surges in the brain similar to those of addictive drugs.

But there’s an important caveat: The study measured brain dopamine levels with PET scans, which are commonly used in drug addiction research. These scans can’t measure small dopamine changes very well; it’s likely that the milkshakes did elicit dopamine responses in more participants, and the scans just couldn’t detect them, Kevin Hall and Valerie Darcey, the study’s lead authors who are nutrition and metabolism scientists at the NIH, wrote in a statement to The New York Times.

A few drugs, like cocaine and amphetamines, trigger dramatic surges in dopamine that are obvious on PET scans, but for others, like nicotine or opioids, the dopamine responses are smaller and not always detectable, said Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, a neuroscientist at Virginia Tech who was not involved with the study.

ULTRAPROCESSED FOODS ESPECIALLY PLEASURABLE
Dr Small was most interested in the new study’s participants who did have small increases in dopamine after drinking the shakes. These “responders,” as the study authors called them, rated the shakes as being more pleasant and said they wanted more of them compared with the other participants.

Several days after the brain scans, the researchers found that the “responders” ate nearly twice as many Chips Ahoy! cookies at a buffet lunch as the other participants.

This tracks with past research on nicotine and opioids, DrGearhardt said. People who have measurable dopamine surges after using the drugs tend to find them more pleasurable and want them more than those who don’t.

Outside researchers praised the new study for its size and rigor. But they and the lead authors said that although the main result seems to suggest that ultraprocessed foods may not be addictive, it’s not the end of the story on that question. “It’s just more complicated than we originally thought,” the study authors wrote.

Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/wellness/ultraprocessed-foods-addiction-461621

A possibility being discussed involved a relationship between Reliance Jio and OpenAI to distribute ChatGPT, according to The Information, which cited two sources familiar with the matter.

A possibility being discussed involved a relationship between Reliance Jio and OpenAI to distribute ChatGPT, according to The Information, which cited two sources familiar with the matter.A possibility being discussed involved a relationship between Reliance Jio and OpenAI to distribute ChatGPT, according to The Information, which cited two sources familiar with the matter.

A possibility being discussed involved a relationship between Reliance Jio and OpenAI to distribute ChatGPT, according to The Information, which cited two sources familiar with the matter.

OpenAI also discussed with employees cutting the ChatGPT subscription price to as low as several dollars instead of $20 a month, according to the report, which added that it is not clear if OpenAI has discussed the idea of price reduction with Reliance.

Reliance has discussed selling OpenAI’s models to its enterprise customers through an application programming interface or API, The Information report added, saying that the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate also discussed hosting and running OpenAI models locally, so the data of local customers can be kept within India.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/companies/openai-meta-in-talks-with-reliance-for-ai-partnerships-report-3458727

President Donald Trump on Friday said he was unaware that NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore had not received overtime pay for their unexpectedly extended stay at the International Space Station (ISS). Donald Trump hinted that he might cover the overtime costs for the astronauts, who recently returned from space after staying on the ISS for nine months.

During a press briefing at the White House, Fox News’ Peter Doocy informed Donald Trump that the astronauts hadn’t received overtime pay for their extended stay at the space station, despite being entitled to $5 per day—totalling $1,430 for 286 days, The Hill reported.

“Nobody ever mentioned this to me. If I have to, I will pay it out of my own pocket? OK, I will get it for them,” Trump said.

“Is that all? That’s not a lot. For what they had to go through,” the US president added.

Trump then thanked SpaceX’s Elon Musk for returning the astronauts – Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. They returned to Earth early on Wednesday onboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which splashed down in the sea off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.

Watch the video here:

For Williams and Wilmore, test pilots for Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, an eight-day mission stretched to more than nine months as a series of helium leaks and thruster failures deemed their spacecraft unsafe. The spacecraft returned without them in September last year.

“Think of, if we don’t have him (Musk). You know, there’s only so long — even though they are in the capsule up there — the body starts to deteriorate after nine or 10 months,” Trump said at the briefing.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/sunita-williams-returns-donald-trump-unaware-of-astronauts-overtime-issue-says-will-pay-from-own-pocket-101742611620256.html

Nvidia (NVDA.O) CEO Jensen Huang believes humanoid robots are less than five years away from seeing wide use in manufacturing facilities.
Huang on Tuesday gave a keynote address in front of a packed hockey stadium during the nearly $3 trillion company’s annual developer conference in San Jose, California.

Huang unveiled software tools that he said would help humanoid robots navigate the world more easily.

Speaking to a group of journalists after the speech, Huang was asked what signs would show that AI had become ubiquitous.
Among other answers, Huang said it may be “when, literally, humanoid robots are wandering around, which is not five years away. This is not five-years-away problem, this is a few-years-away problem.”
The manufacturing industry would likely adopt humanoid robots first because that industry has well-defined tasks that robots can handle in a controlled environment, he said.
“I think it ought to go to factories first. And the reason for that is because the domain is much more guard-railed, and the use case is much more specific,” Huang said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidia-ceo-humanoid-robot-revolution-is-closer-than-you-think-2025-03-19/

General Motors (GM.N), will use artificial intelligence chips and software from Nvidia (NVDA.O), to develop autonomous vehicle technology for its vehicles and improve workflow at its factories, the companies said on Tuesday.
Traditional automakers have struggled to commercialize autonomous technology that has been more challenging and expensive than expected but has emerged as a way to boost sales and rake in subscription revenue from motorists.

The companies plan to work together to build AI systems using Nvidia’s platforms to train AI manufacturing models for factory planning. GM also plans to use Nvidia’s autonomous tech, for future advanced driver-assistance systems.

Asked about financial terms, a GM spokesperson said the companies have a strategic collaboration on using AI in manufacturing and GM will buy chips from Nvidia for driver-assistance technology.

A slew of automakers and suppliers, including Toyota (7203.T), and Hyundai (005380.KS), have partnered this year with Nvidia to develop their autonomous driving capabilities in the face of competition from Tesla (TSLA.O), which uses proprietary technology to run its Full Self-Driving system.

GM used Nvidia’s chips to power its self-driving Cruise robotaxis. But it started developing custom chips in-house to reduce cost and dependency before it shut down the robotaxi business last year to focus instead on AV technology for personal vehicles.
GM has forecast that its Super Cruise driver-assistance technology would earn about $2 billion in total annual revenue within five years. Super Cruise is free for three years, after which customers are offered subscriptions for $25 a month or $250 a year.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/gm-use-nvidia-ai-chips-software-automate-vehicles-factories-2025-03-18/

The image was taken in Mare Crisium, a vast lunar basin in the Moon’s northern hemisphere.

Texas-based private aerospace firm Firefly Aerospace has unveiled a stunning image from the Moon’s surface, captured by its Blue Ghost lunar lander.

The image showcases the rare ‘diamond ring’ effect—a celestial phenomenon created when sunlight streams through lunar valleys during an eclipse.

Firefly Aerospace’s official X account posted the breathtaking photo on March 14, writing, “#BlueGhost got her first diamond ring! Captured at our landing site in the Moon’s Mare Crisium around 3:30 am CDT, the photo shows the sun about to emerge from totality behind Earth. Hope to have more shots to share soon! #BGM1.”

The image was taken in Mare Crisium, a vast lunar basin in the Moon’s northern hemisphere, where Blue Ghost successfully landed as part of its first mission, BGM1, on March 2.

The landing was a major milestone for the startup Firefly and the second by a commercial company after Houston-based Intuitive Machines Inc. landed a robotic spacecraft intact on the lunar surface in 2024, according to Bloomberg.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/science/aerospaces-blue-ghost-captures-breathtaking-diamond-ring-effect-on-the-moon-see-photo-101741975391496.html

Google and Meta are clashing over kids’ online safety, blaming each other while evading responsibility.

The ongoing battle between Google and Meta over kids’ online safety has intensified, with both companies accusing each other of evading responsibility. Google recently called out Meta and other social media platforms for backing laws that shift the burden of age verification to app stores. Meanwhile, Meta argues that app stores should take more responsibility.
Google Slams Meta
Google’s criticism comes after Utah became the first U.S. state to pass legislation requiring app stores like the Google Play Store and Apple App Store to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent before minors can download apps. While Meta, Snap, and X supported the new law, Google opposed it, calling it “concerning” and claiming it fails to address the actual risks children face online.
The company argues that the responsibility for age verification should fall on social media platforms, not app stores. Kareem Ghanem, Google’s public policy director, stated that the law allows platforms like Meta to escape accountability, despite being the primary space where children engage with online content.

Google’s Alternative Proposal
To counter Utah’s law, Google proposed its own framework, which suggests that age verification should only apply to specific apps deemed risky rather than all apps. It also wants app developers, not app stores, to determine what protections are necessary.

Critics argue that Google’s proposal is simply a way to avoid taking responsibility. By putting the decision in developers’ hands, Google creates a loophole that could allow unsafe apps to slip through the cracks. Apple, in its latest online safety report, raised concerns that this approach could lead to excessive data collection from children, as developers may ask for sensitive identification details to comply with regulations.
Meta Shifts Blame to App Stores
Meta, on the other hand, sees things differently. The company welcomed Google’s acknowledgement that app stores can share age data with developers but questioned how Google would decide which apps need this information. Meta argues that the easiest way to protect minors is to put parents in control by making app stores responsible for obtaining parental consent.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/technology-science/google-and-meta-play-the-blame-game-while-kids-online-safety-remains-at-risk-article-119032505

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully lifted off from Florida on Friday with four crew on board. It means Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can finally come home after their eight-day mission was extended to nine months because of technical problems.

A long-awaited rocket with a replacement crew for two stranded NASA astronauts has finally launched to the International Space Station (ISS).

US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck on the ISS for nine months, having had their journey home repeatedly pushed back.

The Crew-10 mission was initially scheduled to launch the replacement crew of four astronauts from Florida on Wednesday, but a last-minute issue with the rocket’s ground systems forced a delay.

NASA said on Thursday that SpaceX, headed and founded by tech billionaire Elon Musk, had resolved the issue – flushing a suspected pocket of air out of a hydraulic clamp arm – and that the weather was 95% favourable for a Friday launch.

The crew is now expected to arrive at the ISS on Saturday night. They are NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, who are both military pilots, along with Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots.

They will spend the next six months at the space station, releasing Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams who have been on the ISS since June 2024.

The pair originally planned to go to space for just eight days but got stuck on the station after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft started experiencing problems.

The mission has become entangled in politics as Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk claimed – without evidence – that former President Joe Biden left the astronauts on the station for political reasons.

NASA said the two astronauts have had to remain on the ISS to maintain its minimum staffing level.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/rocket-with-replacement-crew-for-nasa-astronauts-stranded-for-nine-months-finally-launches-13328607

Spotify paid the music industry $10bn (£7.7bn) in 2024, which the streaming service said was the highest annual payment from any single retailer in history.

But the figures come as a heated debate continues about how much money artists and songwriters receive in royalties.

Earlier this year, several Grammy-nominated songwriters boycotted an awards event hosted by Spotify in a row about their streaming earnings.

As the new figures were published, a spokesperson for Spotify said the responsibility for distributing the money it pays lay with record labels and publishers.

The company said it pays royalties to rights holders, adding that it does not have “visibility” on where the money ultimately goes because earnings are based on artists’ individual contracts with their labels.

A spokesperson said: “Spotify does not pay artists or songwriters directly. We pay rights-holders, these are typically record labels, music publishers, collection societies.

“These rights-holders then pay artists and songwriters based on their individual agreements.”

The amount of money earned by artists will vary, but a committee of MPs heard in 2021 that the performer ultimately earns about 16% of a stream’s overall value.

That would mean an artist whose music generated £100,000 on Spotify might only receive £16,000 in royalty payments, before tax.

However, Spotify is not the only streaming service to generate revenue for artists, and many pop stars make more money from other income streams such as live tours.

Spotify said more than two-thirds of all music revenue goes “straight to the recording and publishing rights-holders”, and added that, like other streamers, Spotify does not pay on a per-stream basis.

The annual figures were published in Spotify’s Loud and Clear report – part of the company’s aim to provide transparency on how it pays the music industry.

The amount Spotify paid this year was an increase on the more than $9bn (£7bn) it handed over in 2023.

The report highlighted that the number of artists generating annual royalties between $1,000 (£770) and $10m had tripled since 2017.

Taylor Swift was named Spotify’s top artist globally with more than 26 billion streams, in the year she released her double-length album The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.

Swift herself was part of the debate about streaming royalties in 2014, when she removed her music from Spotify as part of a boycott, eventually re-joining the platform in 2017.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy9d53rx7jxo

Look, we all know AI has both its advantages (e.g. offering convenient assistance, quick content, and sometimes reliable information) and disadvantages (e.g. stealing our jobs and potentially replacing humans altogether, but I digress).

However, one facet of AI that many people overlook is its impact on our cognitive abilities. A recent paper from researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University explored this exact concern.

“Used improperly, technologies can and do result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved,” the paper states.

The researchers added that “by mechanizing routine tasks and leaving exception-handling to the human user, you deprive the user of the routine opportunities to practice their judgment and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise.”

work harder, not smarter?

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s hard to even find the time to sit and enjoy a simple cup of coffee in the morning. Working smarter rather than harder feels like the only way to keep up and survive sometimes.

Of course, we can cut back on our social media consumption and doomscrolling, but utilizing the tools we have in front of us, like AI, is merely a form of adapting. For example, rather than going to a library and scouring multiple books, spending hours searching for information and resources on a specific topic, we can now access that information almost immediately on the Internet. Could you imagine if that was never an option? I’d rather not.

Just because technology is convenient doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. However, we do want to acknowledge the impact that it has on our brains and our cognitive abilities. This is especially true when it comes to generative AI, which is arguably the most concerning tech development in recent years.

The paper concluded: “While GenAI can improve worker efficiency, it can inhibit critical engagement with work and can potentially lead to long-term overreliance on the tool and diminished skill for independent problem-solving.”

Additionally, “Higher confidence in GenAI’s ability to perform a task is related to less critical thinking effort. When using GenAI tools, the effort invested in critical thinking shifts from information gathering to information verification; from problem-solving to AI response integration; and from task execution to task stewardship.”

This removes a bulk of our mind’s “dirty work,” so to speak—but is it forming a lazy habit for our brains?

AI could Be Making You Dumb, But That Might Be the Least of Your Worries

One can argue that outsourcing certain parts of our mental workload allows us to invest more energy into other things, like our creativity or emotional intelligence. However, overreliance on such technologies can, of course, have adverse effects.

The researchers concluded that their work “suggests that GenAI tools need to be designed to support knowledge workers’ critical thinking by addressing their awareness, motivation, and ability barriers.”

Look, if the world suddenly went totally off the grid and we had zero access to the Internet, we can pretty much guarantee we’d all be fucked—at least here in the US. But to be honest, our declining mental cognitive habits are really the least of our worries.

Source : https://www.vice.com/en/article/ai-makes-you-lazy-and-stupid-if-you-let-it/

Artificial intelligence (AI) has undergone a massive transformation over the past decade, evolving from narrow applications in machine vision and predictive modelling to the more complex and versatile world of generative AI (GenAI). The recent popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and the emergence of similar GenAI models since then, has made this space more competitive.
Leading this shift is Nagarro, a global product engineering company that has been at the forefront of AI innovation. In conversations with Anurag Sahay, MD and Head of Data and AI at Nagarro, and Ananda Sengupta, MD, Head of Telecom at the company, we explored how Nagarro is differentiating itself in the competitive AI landscape, tackling challenges, and ensuring responsible AI development.

Ice could be present at more locations right beneath the Moon’s surface at the poles than previously thought, a study of data collected by the Chandrayaan-3 mission has suggested.

Large, yet highly local, changes in surface temperatures can directly affect the forming of ice, and looking into these ice particles can reveal “different stories about their origin and history”, lead author, Durga Prasad Karanam, Faculty, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad told PTI.

This can also tell us about how ice accumulated and moved through the Moon’s surface over time, which can provide insights into the natural satellite’s early geologic processes, he said. The findings are published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission, launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from Bengaluru, achieved a soft landing near the Moon’s south pole on August 23, 2023. The landing site was named the ‘Shiv Shakti Point’ three days later on August 26.

For this study, the researchers analysed temperatures measured at and to a depth of 10 centimetres beneath the lunar surface. Measurements were taken by the ‘ChaSTE’ probe on-board the Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander.

The lander touched down at the edge of the Moon’s south pole region, about 69 degrees south latitude.

At this landing site — “a Sun-facing slope angled at six degrees” — the authors found that temperatures peaked at about 82 degrees Celsius and dropped to -170 degrees Celsius in the night.

However, barely a metre away from the landing point — a flat surface — temperatures peaked at about 60 degrees Celsius.

“That slight slope resulted in an increased solar radiation at the ChaSTE penetration point,” Karanam said.

Further, the team developed a model of how slope angle can affect surface temperature at a high lunar latitude, such as the latitude of the landing site.

The model indicated that, for slopes facing away from the Sun and towards the Moon’s nearest pole, a slope inclined at an angle greater than 14 degrees may be cool enough for ice to accumulate close to the surface.

The slope conditions suggested by the model were found to be similar to those of landing points, proposed for NASA’s manned mission to the Moon’s south pole — the ‘Artemis’.

The authors, therefore, suggested that potentially, there could be multiple places on the Moon where ice can form and be accessed more easily than previously thought.

In response to PTI’s question on the chances of ice turning into water on the Moon, Karanam said, “Water in liquid form cannot exist on the lunar surface because of (an) ultra-high vacuum. Therefore, ice cannot transform into liquid, but would rather sublimate to vapour form.” “As of the present understanding, Moon might not have had habitable conditions in the past,” Karanam said.

However, ice is a potential resource for future on-site exploration and habitability of the Moon, and that more measurements, such as those from ChaSTE, are needed to gain a comprehensive picture, he added.

“Techniques and strategies need to be developed for extraction and usage of ice for long term sustainability on the Moon,” the lead author said.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/science/chandrayaan-3-data-suggests-says-ice-may-exist-on-moon-at-more-locations-than-previously-thought-7864373

When someone loses a hand, today’s prosthetic options force painful compromises. Rigid prosthetics offer strength but can’t handle delicate objects gently. Soft robotic alternatives provide gentleness but lack gripping power. And neither option lets users actually feel what they’re touching.

We’ve all been there. You’re in a meeting, your phone buzzes with an Instagram notification, and suddenly your fingers itch to check it. But what’s actually happening inside your body during that moment of craving? A new study from Durham University has finally mapped the physiological rollercoaster we experience during those quick Instagram checks—and more importantly, what happens when we’re forced to resist the urge to scroll.

Checking social media has become engrained in the daily routines of billions worldwide. Despite the ubiquity of this behavior, surprisingly little was known about its immediate impact on our bodies and minds until now. Unlike previous research focusing on internet use broadly, this investigation zeroed in specifically on Instagram—one of the most visually-oriented and popular platforms among young adults.

Dr. Michael Wadsley and Dr. Niklas Ihssen’s study, titled “The psychophysiology of Instagram,” tracked what happens inside our bodies during typical Instagram sessions and subsequent periods when usage is halted. Their findings reveal a troubling pattern: brief Instagram engagement triggers reward-based arousal and deep attentional immersion, while stopping triggers stress responses—regardless of whether someone exhibits problematic social media habits or not.

In a commentary on The Conversation, Dr. Ihssen himself explains the significance: “What we found was that, relative to the news reading condition, scrolling away on Instagram led to a marked slowing of participants’ heart rate while, at the same time, increasing their sweating response.” He adds, “From other research we know that such a pattern of bodily responses shows that someone’s attention is fully absorbed by a highly significant or emotional stimulus in their environment – it’s a state of simultaneous excitement and deep immersion into something very meaningful to us.”

Instagram’s Insta-effects

The research team monitored heart rate, skin conductance (which measures emotional arousal through tiny changes in sweat gland activity), and subjective feelings across three 15-minute phases with 54 Instagram users. Participants first completed a baseline reading phase, followed by an Instagram browsing phase, and finally a phase where they were forced to stop using Instagram while receiving notifications.

During Instagram use, participants experienced a significant decrease in heart rate compared to baseline—a sign of deep attentional focus similar to what happens when we’re completely absorbed in a task. This heart rate slowdown occurred alongside increased skin conductance, indicating heightened pleasurable arousal—essentially, the reward center of the brain activating.

This combination reveals users enter a distinctive mental state characterized by profound immersive engagement while simultaneously experiencing heightened arousal—a potent mixture that likely contributes to social media’s powerful appeal.

“Importantly, from the control condition we knew that it was not just being on the phone or reading that caused this bodily response,” writes Dr. Ihssen. “So there seems to be something special about social media that can easily engross us.”

What Happens When We Stop Scrolling?

Perhaps most revealing was the body’s response when participants were forced to stop using Instagram, especially while receiving notifications they couldn’t check. Heart rates increased, skin conductance readings climbed even higher, and participants reported significant increases in stress, anxiety, and social media cravings.

“The most intriguing effect in our study happened when we interrupted participants at the end of their Instagram stint and asked them to go back to reading another news article,” Dr. Ihssen explains in his Conversation post. “Rather than snapping out of the excitement and returning to a calmer state, participants’ sweating response increased further, while heart rate also increased rather than slowed down further.”

These bodily changes paint a picture of what might be happening inside billions of people multiple times throughout their day: cycles of immersion, reward, and subsequent stress when usage stops. The fact that these responses occurred regardless of whether someone scored high or low on problematic social media use measures raises important questions about how these platforms affect us all.

What makes social media so compelling isn’t just its addictive design features but something more fundamental to human nature. “Our previous study shows that it is primarily the social aspect of social media that drives most people to use it so intensively,” writes Ihssen. “This also means that – in contrast to drugs – social media taps into basic human needs: we all want to belong and to be liked. So if we recognize the existence of ‘social media addiction’, we might also need to recognize a ‘friendship addiction.’”

Beyond ‘Addiction’: A Universal Response

With more parents, educators, doctors, and users themselves becoming aware of the impacts from social media “addiction,” this research offers valuable physiological evidence of its power. While stopping short of confirming social media addiction as a formal diagnosis (none currently exists), the study demonstrates that even brief social media sessions trigger measurable changes in our bodies similar to patterns seen in reward-seeking behaviors.

The discovery that Instagram usage creates a state comparable to what psychologists call “motivated attention”—a heightened focus toward emotionally significant information—helps explain why scrolling through Instagram can feel so absorbing. The platform delivers an endless stream of novel, emotionally significant, and personally relevant content—perfect for continuously capturing our attention.

The Stress-Relief Paradox

Interestingly, previous research found that using social media before or after stressful events can actually buffer physiological stress responses. The heart rate deceleration observed during Instagram use in this study helps explain this phenomenon—social media may temporarily induce a state of attentional immersion that counteracts stress-related physiological arousal.

However, this comes with a significant downside: when usage stops, users experience this powerful rebound of stress-related physiological activation and subjective distress. This creates a potentially problematic cycle—social media temporarily reduces stress, but stopping usage increases it, potentially driving people back to the platform for relief.

Most concerning are the implications for the billions of brief social media sessions occurring worldwide each day. If each session involves cycles of reward-driven immersion followed by stress when usage stops, we might be subjecting ourselves to numerous micro-cycles of physiological and psychological stress daily.

For the average Instagram user who checks the app ten times daily, this could mean ten daily cycles of immersion and withdrawal—each one potentially contributing to accumulated stress. Moreover, if each cycle reinforces the association between Instagram use and stress relief, it could strengthen habitual usage patterns over time.

Engineered for Engagement

The research methodology cleverly mimicked natural usage patterns by examining brief 15-minute windows—much closer to how people actually use these platforms in everyday life, with the average session lasting 10-20 minutes.

Even more ingenious was the cessation phase design, where participants received notifications on their phones but were prohibited from checking them—a common real-world scenario many people experience during meetings, classes, or other situations where checking social media is inappropriate or impossible.

A picture emerges of social media platforms expertly designed to exploit fundamental attentional and reward mechanisms in the human brain. The content—friends’ photos, entertaining videos, personally relevant information—naturally triggers attention and reward anticipation, creating a deeply immersive experience that temporarily reduces stress.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/what-happens-to-your-body-during-an-instagram-session/

Scientists trying to bring back the woolly mammoth have created a woolly mouse.

Colossal Biosciences unveiled plans in 2021 to revive the woolly mammoth – and later the dodo bird – attracting investors, headlines and critics alike.

The Texas-based biotech company has since focused on identifying the key traits of extinct animals with the goal of genetically engineering them into living animals, according to chief executive Ben Lamm.

Alongside bringing back species that went extinct, the company hopes their work can be used to help with conservation efforts.

But other scientists have mixed views of their work and whether it will be helpful.

On Tuesday, Colossal Biosciences said its researchers had edited seven genes in mice embryos to create a mouse with long, thick, woolly hair.

They nicknamed the extra-furry rodent a “colossal woolly mouse.”

The company now plans to genetically modify Asian elephants to give them woolly mammoth traits – but critics have argued that this is different from actually bringing a species back from extinction.

“You’re not actually resurrecting anything – you’re not bringing back the ancient past,” said Christopher Preston, a wildlife and environment expert at the University of Montana, who was not involved in the research.

He added: “You might be able to alter the hair pattern of an Asian elephant or adapt it to the cold, but it’s not bringing back a woolly mammoth. It’s changing an Asian elephant.”

The results have not yet been published in a journal or vetted by independent scientists.

The feat “is technologically pretty cool,” said Vincent Lynch, a biologist at the University of Buffalo, who was not involved in the research.

Alongside the mouse being given different hair, in a press release, Colossal Biosciences said the rodent had also gained the woolly mammoth’s accelerated fat metabolism.

Both were said to be likely related to cold tolerance.

These genetic variations were already present in some living mice, the company’s chief scientist Beth Shapiro said, adding: “We put them all together in a single mouse.”

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/scientists-trying-to-bring-back-woolly-mammoth-create-a-woolly-mouse-13321512

Computers are hungry beasts. They devour vast amounts of power, especially when writing data to memory—a process that traditionally uses electric currents and generates wasteful heat. But what if we could control magnetic information storage with voltage instead? This approach is gaining traction as researchers seek more energy-efficient computing solutions for our data-hungry world.

In a paper published in Nature Communications, researchers from The Autonomous University of Barcelona have unveiled a novel nanoscale magnetic state they’ve dubbed a “vortion” (short for magneto-ionic vortex). This innovative approach uses voltage-controlled ion movement to create and manipulate swirling magnetic patterns at the nanoscale, potentially transforming how computers store and process information.

“This is a so far unexplored object at the nanoscale,” explains Jordi Sort, an ICREA researcher in the UAB Department of Physics and director of the research, in a statement. “There is a great demand for controlling magnetic states at the nanoscale but, surprisingly, most of the research in magneto-ionics has so far focused on the study of films of continuous materials. If we look at the effects of ion displacement in discrete structures of nanometer dimensions, the ‘nanodots’ we have analyzed, we see that very interesting dynamically evolving spin configurations appear, which are unique to these types of structures.”

The research team, led by scientists from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, has discovered a way to precisely control the magnetic properties of tiny dots of metal with extremely low power consumption. Their method allows for continuous, analog adjustment of magnetization—similar to turning a dimmer switch rather than flipping a binary on/off toggle—opening exciting possibilities for brain-inspired computing technologies.

How Vortions Work

At the heart of this innovation is a clever manipulation of nitrogen ions within specially engineered iron-cobalt-nitrogen (FeCoN) nanomagnets. By applying voltage, researchers can extract nitrogen ions from these tiny dots, transforming them from magnetically inert to magnetically active in controlled, gradual ways. This creates distinctive swirling magnetic patterns—vortices that can be precisely tuned and manipulated.

“With the ‘vortions’ we developed, we can have unprecedented control of magnetic properties such as magnetization, coercivity, remanence, anisotropy or the critical fields at which vortions are formed or annihilated. These are fundamental properties for storing information in magnetic memories, which we are now able to control and tune in an analog and reversible manner by a voltage-activated process with very low energy consumption,” explains Irena Spasojević, postdoctoral researcher in the UAB Department of Physics and first author of the paper.

Unlike traditional magnetic vortices, which are typically fixed in their properties once manufactured, these voltage-controlled vortions offer unprecedented flexibility. Their magnetic strength, stability, and behavior can all be adjusted after fabrication, eliminating the need for energy-intensive techniques like laser pulses or electrical currents to manipulate magnetic states.

“The voltage actuation procedure, instead of using electric current, prevents heating in devices such as laptops, servers and data centers, and it drastically reduces energy loss,” Spasojević adds.

The Brain-Computer Connection

Traditional computing relies on binary states—ones and zeros—but the human brain processes information in a much more nuanced, analog fashion with varying connection strengths between neurons. This new technology moves closer to brain-like computing by enabling analog states with continuous degrees of magnetization that can be adjusted with voltage, potentially leading to more efficient and sophisticated computing architectures.

By controlling how long voltage is applied, researchers can precisely adjust the thickness of the ferromagnetic layer, enabling transitions between different magnetic states—from nonmagnetic to single-domain to vortex states.

Researchers have shown that by precisely controlling the thickness of the voltage-generated magnetic layer, the magnetic state of the material can be varied at will, in a controlled and reversible manner, between a non-magnetic state, a state with a uniform magnetic orientation (such as that found in a magnet), and the new magneto-ionic vortex state.

From Lab to Applications

“We envision, for example, the integration of reconfigurable magneto-ionic vortices in neural networks as dynamic synapses, capable of mimicking the behavior of biological synapses,” Sort explains.

In the brain, the connections between neurons, the synapses, have different weights (intensities) that adapt dynamically according to the activity and learning process. Similarly, “vortions” could provide tuneable neuronal synaptic weights, reflected in reconfigurable magnetization or anisotropy values, for brain-inspired spintronic devices.

“The activity of biological neurons and synapses is also controlled by electrical signals and ion migration, analogous to our magneto-ionic units,” says Spasojević.

In current neuromorphic systems, one challenging aspect is creating and adjusting synaptic weights—the strength of connections between artificial neurons. Vortions could serve this function, with their magnetization strength controlled by voltage to represent different connection strengths.

The energy efficiency of this approach is particularly noteworthy. Conventional methods for manipulating magnetic states often require substantial energy input through electrical currents or laser pulses. The voltage-based control of vortions consumes minimal power, aligning with the urgent need to reduce energy consumption in information technologies as data processing demands continue to grow.

Researchers believe that, besides their impact in brain-inspired devices, analog computing or multi-state data storage systems, vortions may have other potential applications, including medical therapy techniques, data security, magnetic spin computing devices, and the generation of spin waves.

In a world increasingly dominated by data-hungry technologies from artificial intelligence to the Internet of Things, innovations that increase computational efficiency while reducing energy consumption have never been more important. Voltage-controlled vortions may soon join the arsenal of technologies helping to meet these challenges, swirling their way into the future of computing with an energy-efficient spin.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/new-magnetic-state-vortions/

Of course, we all need to be concerned about young people’s exposure to social media, and recent research adds another concern – a link to eating disorders.

A study published in Eating and Weight Disorders in September 2024 found that each additional hour of total screen time and social media use was associated with a greater incidence of fear of weight gain and self-worth tied to weight. Data came from more than 10,000 children, aged 9 to 14 years. With increases in screen time, the participants also showed increases in compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain (such as compulsive over-exercising), binge eating, and distress with binge eating two years later. Both problematic social media and mobile phone use were associated with higher odds of all eating disorder symptoms.

The scientists concluded that greater total screen time, social media use, and problematic screen use are associated with more eating disorder symptoms in early adolescence. They suggested that healthcare providers consider assessing children for problematic levels of screen use, and for disordered eating with high screen use.

It shouldn’t be construed from these results that this concerning association between screen time and disordered eating is isolated to 9- to 14-year-olds. That’s simply the age group covered in this study.

An increase in screen time has also been linked to an increase in being the recipient of cyberbullying. A study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, September 2023, showed cyberbullying victimization was also associated with worry about weight gain, self-worth tied to weight, inappropriate compensatory behavior to prevent weight gain, and distress with binge eating. Interestingly, the perpetrators of cyberbullying had the same associations with the same unhealthy behaviors.

This study involved the same group of children as the 2024 study, with the ages limited to 10—to 14-year-olds. The scientists also suggested that healthcare providers consider assessing for cyberbullying and eating disorder symptoms in early adolescence and providing anticipatory guidance to parents and adolescents.

Binge-watching and binge-scrolling may also influence binge eating, according to Dr. Jason Nagata, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California—San Francisco. His 2021 study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders showed that each additional hour of screen time per day was associated with higher odds of binge-eating disorder one year later. Data was collected on more than 11,000 children between the ages of 9 and 10.

What’s the connection?

The strong connection between social media and eating disorders is multifactorial, including comparisons, exposure to impossible body ideals, and the constant repetition of compulsive behaviors. It exposes teens to greater numbers of different ideas. That can be both good and bad. Obviously, not everyone has healthy ideas about food and body image. They can share dangerous behaviors and those can start to seem normal.

Some advertisements aim to make people feel bad about themselves, especially their appearance, and to make consumers believe that the marketers’ products will bring about favorable change. It isn’t just what teens see—they know that others can see them, whether they are being bullied or receiving compliments.

Some of the problematic content is difficult to spot because diet culture has become so normalized that negative content with significant impact passes under parents’ radar. Social media feeds with people who are trying to persuade others to lose weight can feature one body type that may be unhealthfully thin and out of reach.

Check your adolescents’ social feeds for a range of body types, or content not related to personal image, such as hobbies, travel, or experiences. Adding accounts with a diversity of bodies and experiences to a social media feed can be protective against eating disorders.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/how-screen-time-fuels-eating-disorders-in-adolescence/

Pop star Katy Perry and journalists Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez, who is also billionaire Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, are set to blast off into space on a Blue Origin rocket, marking the first all-female flight crew in more than six decades.
The New Shepard rocket, a 59-foot tall (18-meter) suborbital spacecraft, will carry the crew to the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, Bezos-owned Blue Origin said in a statement.

DeepSeek is looking to press home its advantage.
The Chinese startup triggered a $1 trillion-plus sell-off in global equities markets last month with a cut-price AI reasoning model that outperformed many Western competitors.
Now, the Hangzhou-based firm is accelerating the launch of the successor to January’s R1 model, according to three people familiar with the company.
Deepseek had planned to release R2 in early May but now wants it out as early as possible, two of them said, without providing specifics.

The company says it hopes the new model will produce better coding and be able to reason in languages beyond English. Details of the accelerated timeline for R2’s release have not been previously reported.
DeepSeek did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Rivals are still digesting the implications of R1, which was built with less-powerful Nvidia chips but is competitive with those developed at the costs of hundreds of billions of dollars by U.S. tech giants.
“The launch of DeepSeek’s R2 model could be a pivotal moment in the AI industry,” said Vijayasimha Alilughatta, chief operating officer of Indian tech services provider Zensar. DeepSeek’s success at creating cost-effective AI models “would likely spur companies worldwide to accelerate their own efforts … breaking the stranglehold of the few dominant players in the field,” he said.

R2 is likely to worry the U.S. government, which has identified leadership of AI as a national priority. Its release may further galvanize Chinese authorities and companies, dozens of which say they have started integrating DeepSeek models into their products.
Little is known about DeepSeek, whose founder Liang Wenfeng became a billionaire through his quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer. Liang, who was described by a former employer as “low-key and introverted,” has not spoken to any media since July 2024.
Reuters interviewed a dozen former employees, as well as quant fund professionals knowledgeable about the operations of DeepSeek and its parent company High-Flyer. It also reviewed state media articles, social-media posts from the companies and research papers dating back to 2019.

They told a story of a company that functioned more like a research lab than a for-profit enterprise and was unencumbered by the hierarchical traditions of China’s high-pressure tech industry, even as it became responsible for what many investors see as the latest breakthrough in AI.

DIFFERENT PATH

Liang was born in 1985 in a rural village in the southern province of Guangdong. He later obtained communication engineering degrees at the elite Zhejiang University.
One of his first jobs was running a research department at a smart imaging firm in Shanghai. His then-boss, Zhou Chaoen, told state media on Feb. 9 that Liang had hired prize-winning algorithm engineers and operated with a “flat management style.”
At DeepSeek and High-Flyer, Liang has similarly shunned the practices of Chinese tech giants known for rigid top-down management, low pay for young employees and “996” – working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week.

Liang opened his Beijing office within walking distance of Tsinghua University and Peking University, China’s two most prestigious education institutions. He regularly delved into technical details and was happy to work alongside Gen-Z interns and recent graduates that comprised the bulk of its workforce, according to two former employees. They also described usually working eight-hour days in a collaborative atmosphere.
“Liang gave us control and treated us as experts. He constantly asked questions and learned alongside us,” said 26-year-old researcher Benjamin Liu, who left the company in September. “DeepSeek allowed me to take ownership of critical parts of the pipeline, which was very exciting.”
Liang did not respond to questions sent via DeepSeek.
While Baidu and other Chinese tech giants were racing to build their consumer-facing versions of ChatGPT in 2023 and profit off of the global AI boom, Liang told Chinese media outlet Waves last year that he deliberately avoided spending heavily on app development, focusing instead on refining the AI model’s quality.
Both DeepSeek and High-Flyer are known for paying generously, according to three people familiar with its compensation practices. At High-Flyer, it is not uncommon for a senior data scientist to make 1.5 million yuan annually, while competitors rarely pay more than 800,000, said one of the people, a rival quant fund manager who knows Liang.
The largesse was funded by High-Flyer, which became one of China’s most successful quant funds and, even after a government crackdown on the sector, still manages tens of billions of yuan, according to two people in the industry.

COMPUTING POWER

DeepSeek’s success with a low-cost AI model is based on High-Flyer’s decade-long and substantial investment in research and computing power, three people said.
The quant fund was an earlier pioneer in AI trading and a top executive said in 2020 that High-Flyer was going “all in” on AI by re-investing 70% of its revenue, mostly into AI research.
High-Flyer spent 1.2 billion yuan on two supercomputing AI clusters in 2020 and 2021. The second cluster, Fire-Flyer II, was made up of around 10,000 Nvidia A100 chips, used for training AI models.
DeepSeek had not been established at that time, so the accumulation of computing power caught the attention of Chinese securities regulators, said a person with direct knowledge of officials’ thinking.
“Regulators wanted to know why they need so many chips?” the person said. “How they were going to use it? What kind of impact would that have on the market?”
Authorities decided not to intervene, in a move that would prove crucial for DeepSeek’s fortunes: the U.S. banned the export of A100 chips to China in 2022, at which point Fire-Flyer II was already in operation.
Beijing now celebrates DeepSeek, but has instructed it not to engage with the media without approval, according to a person familiar with Chinese official thinking.
Authorities had asked Liang to keep a low-profile because they were worried that too much hype in the media would draw unnecessary attention, the person said.
China’s cabinet and commerce ministry, as well as China’s securities regulator, did not respond to requests for comment.
As one of the few companies with a large A100 cluster, High-Flyer and DeepSeek were able to attract some of China’s best research talent, two former employees said.
“The key advantage of vast (computing) resources is that it allows for large-scale experimentation,” said Liu, the former employee.
Some Western AI entrepreneurs, like Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, have claimed that DeepSeek had as many as 50,000 higher-end Nvidia chips that are banned for export to China. He has not produced evidence for the allegation or responded to Reuters’ requests to provide proof.
DeepSeek has not responded to Wang’s claims. Two former employees attributed the company’s success to Liang’s focus on more cost-effective AI architecture.
The startup used techniques like Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) and multihead latent attention (MLA), which incur far lower computing costs, its research papers show.
The MoE technique divides an AI model into different areas of expertise and activates only those related to a query, as opposed to more common architectures that use the entire model.
MLA architecture allows a model to process different aspects of one piece of information simultaneously, helping it detect key details more effectively.
While competitors like France’s Mistral have developed models based on MoE, DeepSeek was the first firm to depend heavily on this architecture while achieving parity with more expensively built models.
DeepSeek’s pricing was 20 to 40 times cheaper than what OpenAI charged for equivalent models, analysts at Bernstein brokerage estimated in early February.
For now, Western and Chinese tech giants have signaled plans to continue heavy AI spending, but DeepSeek’s success with R1 and its earlier V3 model has prompted some to alter strategies.
OpenAI cut prices this month, while Google’s Gemini has introduced discounted tiers of access. Since R1’s launch, OpenAI has also released an O3-Mini model that relies on less computing power.
Adnan Masood of U.S. tech services provider UST told Reuters that his laboratory had run benchmarks that found R1 often used three times as many tokens, or units of data processed by the AI model, for reasoning as OpenAI’s scaled-down model.

STATE EMBRACE

Even before R1 gripped global attention, there were signs that DeepSeek had caught Beijing’s favor. In January, state media reported that Liang attended a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing as the designated representative of the AI sector, ahead of the leaders of better-known firms.
The subsequent fanfare over the cost competitiveness of its models has buoyed Beijing’s belief that it can out-innovate the U.S., with Chinese companies and government bodies embracing DeepSeek models at a pace that has not been offered to other firms.
At least 13 Chinese city governments and 10 state-owned energy companies say they have deployed DeepSeek into their systems, while tech giants Lenovo (0992.HK), opens new tab, Baidu (9888.HK), opens new tab and Tencent (0700.HK), opens new tab – owner of China’s largest social media app WeChat – have integrated DeepSeek’s models into their products.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Li “have signalled they endorse DeepSeek,” said Alfred Wu, an expert on Chinese policymaking at Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. “Now everyone just endorses it.”
The Chinese embrace comes as governments from South Korea to Italy remove DeepSeek from national app stores, citing privacy concerns.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/deepseek-rushes-launch-new-ai-model-china-goes-all-2025-02-25/

NASA has issued a huge update on the “city-killer” asteroid hurtling in Earth’s direction – and the odds of a collision have changed drastically.

After being discovered in December, YR4 shot to the top of Nasa’s asteroid risk list – and was judged to have an alarming 1-in-32 chance of smashing into us.

But the odds constantly changed as scientists analysed the rock – and have done again.

Nasa now believes YR4 has just a 1-in-26,000 chance of striking Earth – meaning there is a 99.9961 per cent chance the rock will sail on past.

It will still shoot by near Earth in 2028 – around 5 million miles away – and then again in December 2032, which was the approach causing such alarm.

However, scientists now think there will be 167,000 miles of clear sky between the rock and our planet – and no Christmas collision.

If YR4 – estimated between 40m and 90m wide – did strike Earth, it would pack a punch equivalent to eight billion kilos of TNT, scientists calculated.

It would blow a 1.2mile-across crater into the Earth’s crust, and a terrifying simulation showed what the impact might look like.

YR4 had been graded as level three on the Torino scale – the system used since 1999 to categorize potential Earth impact events.

This emergency level means: “A close encounter, meriting attention buy astronomers. Current calculations give a one per cent or greater chance of collision capable of localised destruction.”

However, the new, much lower chance of collision means YR4 slides back down to level zero.

Any event with a less than 1-in-1000 chance of occurring falls within this band.

Richard Binzel, Professor of Planetary Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who created the Torino scale, said: “The NASA JPL Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) now lists the 2024 YR4 impact probability as 0.00005 (0.005%) or 1-in-20,000 for its passage by Earth in 2032.

“That’s impact probability zero folks.”

Another part of the level three description says: “Most likely, new telescopic observations will lead to re-assignment to level zero.

“Attention by public and public officials is merited if the encounter is less than a decade away.”

So, YR4’s descent to level zero has conformed with the Torino scale’s predictions.

The odds for YR4 striking Earth began at 1-in-83, before steadily reducing to a trough of 1-in-32.

The projected odds have moved around as scientists gathered more data on the speeding asteroid.

The calculations mapping the rock’s path include a lot of mathematical uncertainty, but this is reduced as more data is collected – allowing for more accurate predictions.

Asteroid hunter David Rankin, of the Catalina Sky Survey, knew from the outset the odds of a collision would rise and then fall, and explained why the figures change.

He told Space.com: “Imagine holding a stick that is a few feet long. If you move the stick in your hand a fraction of an inch, you hardly notice any movement on the other end.

“Now imagine that stick is many millions of miles long. Moving your hand a fraction of an inch will cause dramatic changes on the other end.”

The near-certainty that YR4 will pass by without incident will push it out of public conversation, Binzel said, but there are some lessons to take away from the debacle.

He told the website: “As 2024 YR4 fades away from the news cycle, I think there is an overall context that is the most important takeaway news.

“An object the size of YR4 passes harmlessly through the Earth-moon neighbourhood as frequently as a few times per year.

“The YR4 episode is just the beginning for astronomers gaining the capability to see these objects before they come calling through our neck of the woods.”

He warned there will be future asteroids that, initially, will be calculated as having a high chance of smashing into Earth.

Binzel added: “But, just like YR4, with a little time and patient tracking, we will be able to rule out entirely any hazard.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/tech/13620269/city-killer-asteroid-nasa-update/

If you order up coffee on a mobile app while scrolling your social feeds, or can’t stop watching videos and reading news articles on your phone at bedtime, listen up!

Researchers studied what happened when people agreed to block the internet from their smartphones for just two weeks. And turns out, 91% felt better after the break.

“What we found was that people had better mental health, better subjective well-being and better sustained attention,” says Adrian Ward, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin.

The researchers included 467 participants, ages 18 to 74, who agreed to the month-long study aimed at testing the theory that constant connection to everything, all the time, has unintended consequences.

At a time when more then 90% of Americans have a smartphone, we forget that having an internet-enabled supercomputer at our fingertips 24/7 is a new phenomenon.

Ward, who is 38, remembers a dial-up connection in his home as a kid. In those days, the internet lived in a room in your home. “You used it at specific times because you had limited minutes and had to make sure nobody else was using the phone line,” Ward recalls.

So, what would it be like to go back to those days? No social media scrolling, no mobile-app shopping, no streaming shows or media on your phone?

The researchers measured three different outcomes of well-being, mood and attention at the beginning, middle and end of the four-week study. While 91% of participants improved their scores in at least one category, 71% reported better mental health after the break, compared to before, and 73% reported better subjective well-being.

The participants completed a survey often used by doctors to assess symptoms of depression and anxiety. It includes questions such as: How often in the past week have you felt little interest or pleasure in doing things you typically enjoy? The participants’ responses pointed to a significant lift in mood.

One of the surprising findings is that the decrease in depressive symptoms was on par — or even greater than — reductions documented in studies of people taking antidepressant medications.

“The size of these effects are larger than we anticipated,” says the study’s first author, Noah Castelo, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta in Canada.

Of course for some people, medications and/or talk therapy are key to managing mental health, and the researchers are not suggesting less internet time is a replacement for that kind of care.

A break from the internet on their phones also improved participants’ attention spans, which was measured by a computer task. They tracked images that alternated between mountain scenes and cities. Prior research has shown that performance tends to drop off as people age, but to the researchers’ surprise, after the internet break, there was a significant boost in scores. “The effects on attention were about as large as if participants had become 10 years younger,” Castelo says.

It’s not clear how long-lasting the effect of less time online would be, but this study validates what has been found in observational studies. “It’s one of the first experiments that does provide causal evidence that reducing time spent on your phone has all these significant benefits,” Castelo said.

When the participants agreed to block the internet on their phones, they were permitted to continue to use laptops or iPads at work or home, and they could also continue to use their phones to talk or text. So, researchers weren’t sure if participants would swap phones for another form of screen time.

But, as it turns out, breaking the habit of scrolling on their phones led to significant changes in how they spent their time. And, interestingly, each day the break went on, the benefits increased, almost like a positive feedback loop.

“It’s not that you stop using the internet and magically you just feel better,” Ward says. What happened is that people spent more time engaged in healthy behaviors.

“People reported that they spent more time in nature, more time socializing, more time doing hobbies,” he explains. They also got more sleep and felt more socially connected to other people.

“I’m not surprised by the findings,” says Dr. Judith Joseph, a psychiatrist at New York University Langone Medical Center and the author of High Functioning: Overcome Hidden Depression and Reclaim Your Joy. She says surveys show that most people don’t want to be tethered to their devices.

“They know their phones are a problem, but they just can’t stop,” she says. And she says when they start to engage in behaviors such as those seen in study — more exercise, time outdoors, good sleep, more social interactions — it’s not surprising that they start to feel better.

“Helping people to retrain their brain to derive joy from healthy activities has an antidepressant effect,” she says, so she says the findings pointing to a decrease in symptoms of depression and anxiety makes sense.

“If [people] see this improvement in joy in such a short period of time, then that gives us hope,” she says, adding that simple changes can be beneficial.

Try it: Tips for scaling back your own smartphone use

During the study, many participants had to break the rules, just to accomplish things that their jobs or families required them to do, such as turning on a map app to navigate in the car or logging onto a Zoom meeting from their phone. It’s a reminder of how dependent we’ve become on our mobile devices.

It’s nearly impossible to go cold turkey, given the demands of our society. So what to do if you want to try this? “If we’re expected to be accessible at all moments, then how can we just decide that we’re going to disconnect?” Ward asks. It’s a societal struggle.

Here are a few ways to ease up on your screen time.

1. 1. Take short breaks. Since most of us can’t turn off the internet and still function, Joseph recommends taking little breaks, beginning with baby steps. “If you can start with 30 minutes here, or 20 minutes there, try to see if you can increase these increments on a weekly basis,” she says
   2. Consider a digital detox. Choose one day a week where you and your family power down, except what’s needed for communication. Or set a time, either at mealtime, or in the evenings when work is over, to connect face to face with family or friends, making a commitment to be “present” and in the moment.
   3. Manage notification and add “friction.” Experts also advise turning off notifications and using apps to limit your time on certain social media. Some tools can help you reduce screen time by adding friction, i.e., making it just a little harder to start using whatever app you’re hooked to.
   4. Try a dumb phone. If you’re really fed up and want to try something new, consider switching to a “boring” phone, like the old flip phones many of us used to rely on. That way you still have calling and texting (and some other tools, depending on the phone) but scrolling is a lot less compelling.

Source : https://www.npr.org/2025/02/24/nx-s1-5304417/smartphone-break-digital-detox-screen-addiction

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer for men living in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. Because of poor reporting, most cases are under-reported until they reach more advanced states. A new at-home urine test developed by Michigan researchers aims to encourage more men to undergo diagnostic testing.

Testing for prostate cancer, while necessary, traditionally involves uncomfortable and invasive procedures. Current screening methods rely on blood tests, MRIs, and biopsies. Additionally, these diagnostic tools often overdiagnose low-grade cancers while struggling to accurately determine how aggressive a tumor might be.

A study published in The Journal of Urology validates a urine test called MyProstateScore 2.0 (MPS2) that searches for 18 different genes associated with prostate cancer. Some of these genes specifically indicate more aggressive forms of the disease.

Prostate cancers are normally scored based on the Gleason Grade or Grade Group. “Gleason 3+4=7,” also called Grade Group 2, are aggressive tumors. They are more likely to grow and cause harm to the body than non-aggressive prostate cancers rated as “Gleason 6” or Grade Group 1.

“Its primary benefit is that the test can accurately predict your probability of developing aggressive prostate cancer, putting both the patient and physician at ease,” says Dr. Ganesh Palapattu, the department chair of urology at Michigan Medicine and study co-author, in a statement.

The researchers noted that previous research had collected urine samples from a digital rectal exam, which would not be practical or comfortable for many people. “The process requires the prostate to be compressed, causing the release of cellular debris into a urine sample that the patient provides after the rectal exam,” explains Dr. Palapattu, who is also a professor of urology.

The new research examined whether the MPS2 test could detect cancer markers without this examination. Using urine samples from 266 men who did not undergo a rectal exam, researchers found the test could identify more than 92% of aggressive prostate cancers (Grade Group 2 or higher) while showing better accuracy than standard blood tests.

The study’s calculations suggest this approach could help 36-42% of men avoid unnecessary biopsies. For men who previously had a negative biopsy but still showed concerning PSA levels, the test could prevent 44-53% of repeat biopsies while maintaining high accuracy for detecting aggressive cancers.

It is also a cost-effective test compared to an MRI, and Dr. Palapattu says it has high potential as an at-home test.

A small group of 47 patients received both MPS2 testing and MRI scans. While this sample was limited, the results suggested the two methods might complement each other, with each test catching some significant cancers the other missed.

To confirm the findings, the team plans to repeat the study with a more diverse and numerous group of male participants. They are also looking to see how effective the urine test is at detecting low-state, non-aggressive prostate cancer.

“MPS2 could potentially improve the health of our patients by avoiding overdiagnosis and overtreatment and allowing us to focus on those who are most likely to have aggressive cancers,” Dr. Palapattu explains. MPS2 is currently available through Lynx Dx, a University of Michigan spin-off company.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/prostate-cancer-urine-test/

Another threat to American teens has been identified: protein shakes, pre-workout concoctions and other supplements. These so-called muscle and body-building products are associated with muscle dysmorphia, according to a new study.

Led by Dr. Kyle Ganson, assistant professor in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, the study included mainstream staples found in virtually any nutrition shop: whey protein powders, creatine monohydrate, pre-workout drinks, protein bars, amino acids/branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), and weight/mass gainers. These products are legal, widely available, and heavily marketed to fitness enthusiasts of all ages.

Ganson previously headed the Canadian Study of Adolescent Health behaviors, designed to examine disordered eating, muscle-building behavior, body image and social health. The goal of the study was to develop research-informed recommendations for public health, healthcare, and policymaking experts to protect the health and well-being of Canada’s young people. Researchers analyzed reports of supplement use and symptoms of muscle dysmorphia in more than 2,700 participants, aged 16 to 30 years. Responses were elicited using the Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory.

Published last week in the journal PLOS Mental Health, the paper found the association was especially strong between supplements marketed for gaining weight or mass and symptoms of muscle dysmorphic disorder. The symptoms, such as excessive workout time and obsession with food intake increased along with the number of supplements an individual used.

The study also showed that younger people who may not use harmful anabolic steroids may be using other substances to treat their muscle dysmorphic disorder. Contributing to the problem is the belief that supplements are safe, which may not be true.

What is muscle dysmorphic disorder?

Muscle dysmorphia is a mental health condition in which an individual believes that their muscles are too small and underdeveloped. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5) places muscle dysmorphia in the obsessive-compulsive category.

As a result, people with the disorder obsess about increasing their muscle size, no matter the true state of their physique. A person of any size, even those with well-developed muscles, can have muscle dysmorphia. They fixate on diet and exercise for muscle building at the expense of important aspects of life, such as relationships, work, and education. They may exercise excessively, use dietary supplements to an extreme, and use anabolic steroids.

A 2022 study of more than 3,800 participants aged 11 to 19 years found that 1.4% of girls and 2.2% of boys experience muscle dysmorphia. There is no specific cause of the condition, but some potential contributors include cultural or media influence, low self-esteem, childhood bullying, social isolation, and loneliness.

Symptoms

There’s an extensive list of symptoms. Some of these include:

• Excessive exercise, despite risk of injury or pain.
• Sacrificing career, relationships, financial stability, and personal interests for exercise.
• Fixation on food intake with rigid dietary rules.
• Obsessing about or avoiding mirrors.
• Using excessive dietary supplements marketed as muscle-building products.
• Using anabolic steroids.

Risk Factors

Participants in sports that emphasize appearance are at greater risk of muscle dysmorphia, especially bodybuilders. Other factors include social anxiety, anorexia, and perfectionism. These mental health conditions are commonly associated with muscle dysmorphia:

• Substance use disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Eating disorders
• Mood disorders
• Social anxiety disorder
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Diagnosis

Muscle dysmorphia is a subtype of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), so assessment starts with focusing on BDD.

A healthcare professional asks a patient how they feel about their appearance, whether those feelings adversely affect their quality of life, and if they experience repetitive or compulsive thoughts and disorders.

If signs of BDD are present, the doctor may use the Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory (MDDI) to assess muscle dysmorphia symptoms. These are categorized into three groups: drive for size; appearance intolerance; and functional impairment.

Treatment

Treatment involves:

• Psychotherapy: usually cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is a therapy technique that helps people find new ways to behave by changing their thought patterns. Therapy sessions focus on exploring and developing methods to deal with challenges and behavior in day-to-day life.
• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs): these are antidepressant medications like Prozac and Celexa.

Surgical treatment to alter the perceived imperfections is not effective and can worsen the symptoms of muscle dysmorphia.

If a person is showing signs of MD, they may benefit from seeing a healthcare provider who specializes in body image disorders or OCD.

People with BDD may have an increased risk of suicide. A study in 2021 suggests that extends to MD. If you have thoughts about suicide, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 24 hours a day simply by dialing 988.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/body-building-supplements-muscle-dysmorphia-disorder/

Volvo has teased its upcoming ES90 sedan in the international market. The Volvo ES90 will make its debut on March 5 integrating advanced core computing and AI-driven safety features. The new all-electric sedan, built on the SPA2 architecture, is designed to evolve through software updates enhancing performance and safety over time.
Volvo ES90: AI integration
The ES90 will feature a dual NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin configuration, providing substantial computing power. The Orin processor can handle up to 508 trillion operations per second (TOPS), supporting various functions such as AI-driven safety measures, sensor management and battery optimisation.
The ES90’s AI capabilities are expected to grow over time with its deep learning model expanding from 40 million to 200 million parameters through data collection and software development.
Volvo ES90: Safety
The ES90 incorporates Volvo’s Safe Space Technology, utilising lidar, radars, cameras and ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles and enhance safety. These systems work together to provide proactive safety measures such as collision avoidance and improved night-time detection.

Source : https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/electric-vehicles/aidriven-volvo-es90-debuts-on-march-5-heres-what-to-expect-from-the-ev-sedan-41740210264928.html

A new nationwide study suggests that a young woman’s location may play a significant role in breast cancer risk, with geographic differences comparable in magnitude to genetic risk scores. The research, examining data from all 50 states over two decades, shows that early breast cancer rates in women under 40 vary significantly depending on where they live.

“Breast cancer incidence is increasing in U.S. women under 40, but until now, it was unknown if incidence trends varied by U.S. geographic region,” says Rebecca Kehm, PhD, assistant professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School and lead author of the study, in a statement.

The numbers tell a striking story. From 2001 to 2020, breast cancer rates in young women increased by more than half a percent each year in 21 states. However, only 12 of these states showed statistically significant increases. The five states with the highest early breast cancer rates had 32% more cases than the five states with the lowest rates—a difference comparable to established genetic risk measures.

Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Connecticut had the highest early breast cancer rates. At the other end of the spectrum, Idaho, North Dakota, Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming had the lowest rates. Connecticut had about 40.8 cases per 100,000, while Wyoming reported 28.6 cases per 100,000.

Regional patterns emerged as well. The Western states, despite having the lowest overall rates, showed the fastest increase at about 0.76% per year. The Northeast maintained the highest total numbers and continued to see significant growth. Meanwhile, the South stood out as the only region where early breast cancer rates remained stable rather than rising between 2001 and 2020.

The study also found clear differences between urban and rural areas. Cities across all regions saw increases in early breast cancer rates. However, only the Northeast and West showed significant increases in their rural areas, suggesting that urban-rural differences play a role in these trends.

Race and ethnicity factored significantly into the geographic picture. Non-Hispanic Black women consistently showed the highest early breast cancer rates across all regions, ranging from 39.3 cases per 100,000 in the West to 44.3 per 100,000 in the South. Hispanic women had the lowest rates, varying from 25.8 per 100,000 in the Midwest to 32.6 per 100,000 in the Northeast.

“The increase in incidence we are seeing is alarming and cannot be explained by genetic factors alone,” notes Kehm. She also points out that these trends can’t be attributed to changes in screening practices, since women under 40 aren’t typically recommended for routine mammograms.

So what might explain these geographic differences? The researchers suggest several possibilities, including environmental factors like air pollution, differences in behaviors such as breastfeeding and alcohol consumption—an established breast cancer risk factor that varies by state policy—access to healthcare, and state-level policies, such as paid leave for new mothers.

“While the causes behind the rising incidence of early-onset breast cancer are not yet fully understood, studying how trends vary across different population subgroups can offer valuable insights and help generate hypotheses for future research,” says Mary Beth Terry, PhD, the study’s senior author.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/breast-cancer-rates-young-women-location/

WATCH the haunting moment the world’s first humanoid robot Protoclone – complete with muscles and bones – twitches and spasms into life.

The robot is a “clone” designed to look as human as possible – gristle, sinew and all – and its creators hope it’ll soon be lurking around our homes.

The tech start-up behind the creation, Clone Robotics, hail it as the world’s first “musculoskeletal android”, and released this disturbing footage of the bot jerking around like a half-dead puppet.

The video shows Protoclone hanging lifeless, head bowed, suspended from a trapeze.

Then, it begins to twitch into life with the legs kicking around.

You can even see the synthetic muscles contracting beneath the translucent skin.

Soon all four limbs are in motion, with the bot holding itself upright with remarkably human poise.

Spasmodic movements from different joints are demonstrated – including the ankles, neck, hips, knees and elbows.

Structures press through the skin to give the eerie impression of a rib cage and other bones.

The robotics company, operating out of Poland and the US, describes Protoclone V1 as “faceless” but otherwise “anatomically correct”.

The body is a mesh of over 1,000 synthetics muscles and 500 sensors.

It boasts a staggering 200 degrees of freedom, meaning it can make 200 independent movements.

The bot is marketed as an “android”, so it aims to look as human-like as possible – hence the horrific attention to detail.

Clone is going a step further than most robot manufacturers by aiming for “synthetic humans” which, if they pull it off, will be almost indistinguishable from real people.

Dhanush Radhakrishna, Clone co-founder, said on X that the launch of Protoclone is “ground zero for the age of androids”.

Their claim to have created the “world’s first” musculoskeletal robot is debatable, with other models – such as Tokyo JSK Lab’s 2017 Kengoro – recognised under that label.

However, Kengoro was intended as a research project, whereas Clone has its sights set on commercial, domestic androids placed in homes around the world.

Clone previously threw down the metallic gauntlet to Elon Musk, by suggesting their own robo-tech is superior to Tesla’s.

Earlier this month, Musk said: “The Tesla Optimus [Tesla’s robot model] hand is so sophisticated that it makes a Fabergé seem simple.”

Clone responded by saying: “The Hand of Clone has the same number of degrees of freedom and is just as fast or fast, but is:

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/tech/13585511/first-humanoid-robot-protoclone-twitches/

Astronomers for the first time have deciphered the three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere of a planet beyond our solar system, revealing three layers like a wedding cake on a ferociously hot gas planet that orbits close to a star bigger and hotter than our sun.
The researchers peered through the atmosphere of WASP-121b, a planet also called Tylos, by combining all four telescope units of the European Southern Observatory’s Chile-based Very Large Telescope, discerning a stratification of layers with different chemical compositions and intense winds.

Until now, researchers have been able to determine the atmospheric chemical composition for some planets outside our solar system – called exoplanets – but without mapping the vertical structure or how the chemical elements were distributed.
WASP-121b is an “ultra-hot Jupiter,” a class of large gas planets that orbit close to their host star, making them extremely hot. Its atmosphere is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium, like that of Jupiter, our solar system’s largest planet. But WASP-121b’s atmosphere is not like anything ever seen before.

The researchers differentiated three layers by looking for the presence of specific elements. WASP-121b’s bottom layer was characterized by the presence of iron – a metal in gaseous form because of the incredible heat of the atmosphere. Winds move gas from the planet’s eternal hot side to its cooler side.
The middle layer was characterized by the presence of sodium, with a jet stream blowing circularly around the planet at about 43,500 miles (70,000 km) per hour – stronger than any winds in our solar system. The upper layer was characterized based on its hydrogen, with some of this layer being lost into space.

“This structure has never been observed before and defies current predictions as to how atmospheres should behave,” said astronomer Julia Victoria Seidel of the European Southern Observatory and the Lagrange Laboratory at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in France, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature

The researchers also detected titanium in gaseous form in WASP-121b’s atmosphere. On Earth, neither iron nor titanium exist in the atmosphere because they are solid metal owing to our planet’s lower temperatures, relative to WASP-121b. Earth does have a sodium layer in the upper atmosphere.
“For me, the most exciting part of this study is that it operates at the very limits of what is possible with current telescopes and instruments,” said study co-author Bibiana Prinoth, a doctoral student in astronomy at Lund University in Sweden.

WASP-121b has roughly the same mass as Jupiter but twice the diameter, making it puffier. It is located about 900 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Puppis. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).
WASP-121b is tidally locked, meaning that one side of it perpetually faces its star and the other side faces away, like the moon is to Earth. The side facing the star has a temperature around 4,900 degrees Fahrenheit (2,700 degrees Celsius/3,000 degrees Kelvin). The other side is at about 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,250 degrees Celsius/1,500 degrees Kelvin).
The planet orbits its star at about 2.5% of the distance of Earth to the sun. It is about a third closer to its star than our solar system’s innermost planet Mercury is to the sun – so close that it completes an orbit in 1.3 days.
Its host star, called WASP-121, is roughly 1-1/2 times the mass and diameter of the sun, and hotter.
Being able to make out the structure of an exoplanet’s atmosphere could be helpful as astronomers search for smaller rocky planets capable of harboring life.
“In the future, we will likely be able to provide similar observations for smaller and cooler planets and thus more similar to Earth,” Prinoth said, especially with the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope due to be completed in Chile by the end of the decade as the world’s largest optical telescope.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/science/astronomers-reveal-3d-structure-an-alien-planets-atmosphere-2025-02-19/

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI has introduced Grok-3, the latest iteration of its chatbot, as it looks to compete with Chinese AI firm DeepSeek, Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O), opens new tab OpenAI, and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), Google.
Grok-3 debut comes at a critical moment in the AI arms race, just days after DeepSeek unveiled its powerful open-source model and as Musk moves aggressively to expand xAI’s influence.

The chatbot is being rolled out immediately to Premium+ subscribers on X, the social media platform owned by Musk. xAI is also launching a new subscription tier, SuperGrok, for users accessing the chatbot via its mobile app and Grok.com website.
“Grok-3 across the board is in a league of its own,” Musk said during a livestream alongside three xAI engineers late on Monday, adding the model outperforms its predecessor, Grok-2.
“The introduction of Grok-3 puts xAI back in the race for leadership in open-source LLMs. It outperforms the current state-of-the-art models on some benchmarks, which makes xAI relevant again” said Gil Luria, managing director at D.A. Davidson.

As competition in AI intensifies, xAI is ramping up its data center capacity to train more advanced models, by raising billions of dollars. Its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called “Colossus”, is touted as the largest in the world.

However, Luria said improvements over the Grok-2 model appear to be too small to justify the enormous resources used to train it.
The latest release introduces a smart search engine, called DeepSearch, which xAI describes as a reasoning-based chatbot capable of articulating its thought process when responding to user queries.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/musks-xai-unveils-grok-3-ai-chatbot-rival-chatgpt-chinas-deepseek-2025-02-18/

Forget hurricanes and heat waves—on WASP-121b, the weather is on another level. Astronomers have mapped, for the first time, the three-dimensional structure of an exoplanet’s atmosphere, revealing ferocious winds that accelerate to record-breaking speeds as they cross the planet’s scorching-hot dayside.

Located about 900 light-years away in the constellation Puppis, the planet WASP-121b (nicknamed Tylos) experiences weather patterns unlike anything seen before in our cosmic neighborhood. This massive gas giant orbits so close to its star that a year there lasts only about 30 Earth hours, creating extreme conditions that have fascinated astronomers.

Zooming in on WASP-121b’s atmosphere

The study, conducted with the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope, uncovered an atmosphere so extreme that it challenges current models of planetary weather.

“This planet’s atmosphere behaves in ways that challenge our understanding of how weather works — not just on Earth, but on all planets. It feels like something out of science fiction,” says lead author Julia Victoria Seidel, from the ESO in Chile, in a statement.

Published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, the study shows that WASP-121b’s atmospheric structure exists in distinct layers. In the deepest observable layer, iron-rich gases flow from the scorching hot dayside to the cooler nightside. Above this flows a powerful equatorial jet stream that accelerates as it crosses the dayside of the planet. The uppermost layer contains hydrogen gas influenced by both the jet stream below and the natural outward flow of the planet’s escaping atmosphere.

The jet stream’s behavior proved particularly dramatic. As gases in this atmospheric river cross from the planet’s morning side to its evening side, they heat up by nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius and almost double their speed from 13.7 to 26.8 kilometers per second. For comparison, Earth’s most powerful jet streams reach speeds of only about 100 meters per second. “Even the strongest hurricanes in the Solar System seem calm in comparison,” notes Seidel.

The international research team achieved this breakthrough by combining the light-gathering power of four large telescope units into a single signal using an instrument called ESPRESSO. This sophisticated setup allowed them to detect the signatures of multiple chemical elements as they moved through different layers of the planet’s atmosphere.

“The VLT enabled us to probe three different layers of the exoplanet’s atmosphere in one fell swoop,” says study co-author Leonardo A. dos Santos, an assistant astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. “It’s the kind of observation that is very challenging to do with space telescopes, highlighting the importance of ground-based observations of exoplanets.”

A companion study published alongside this research revealed another surprise: the presence of titanium just below the jet stream. This discovery was particularly intriguing since previous observations had shown this element to be absent, suggesting it might be hidden deep in the atmosphere where it’s harder to detect.

‘Climate never seen before on any planet’

Ultra-hot Jupiters like WASP-121b serve as natural laboratories for studying extreme atmospheric conditions that don’t exist anywhere in our solar system. Unlike Earth’s relatively mild temperature variations, these planets experience such extreme temperature contrasts between their day and night sides that they create powerful atmospheric dynamics scientists are only beginning to understand.

The research team observed the planet during what’s known as a transit, which is when it passes between its star and Earth. This positioning allowed them to study how different chemicals in the atmosphere affected the starlight passing through it. By analyzing these effects at different heights in the atmosphere, they could map out the complex wind patterns and temperature variations.

Current theoretical models struggle to fully explain the observed circulation patterns on WASP-121b. While scientists have used computer simulations to model atmospheric circulation on ultra-hot Jupiters, none have fully captured the complex patterns observed in this study. This discovery highlights how much we still have to learn about the physics governing these extreme worlds.

“What we found was surprising: a jet stream rotates material around the planet’s equator, while a separate flow at lower levels of the atmosphere moves gas from the hot side to the cooler side. This kind of climate has never been seen before on any planet,” Seidel explains.

Looking ahead, the European Southern Observatory is currently constructing the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert, which will significantly advance our ability to study other worlds.

“It’s truly mind-blowing that we’re able to study details like the chemical makeup and weather patterns of a planet at such a vast distance,” says Bibiana Prinoth, who led the companion study. “The next generation of telescopes will be game-changers for studying these distant worlds. We’re on the verge of uncovering incredible things we can only dream about now.”

Source : https://studyfinds.org/alien-planets-wasp-121b-bizarre-weather/

Elon Musk said his startup xAI will release its Grok 3 chatbot on Monday (Feb 16) and billed it as the “smartest AI on Earth” in a fiercely competitive market.

The company’s flagship artificial intelligence product will go live with a demonstration on Monday night at 8:00pm Pacific time (0400 GMT), the tech billionaire wrote Saturday on his social media platform X.

Grok 3 was trained on synthetic data and is capable of reflecting on errors it makes by going over data in order to reach logical consistency.

“Will be honing product with the team all weekend, so offline until then,” said Musk, the world’s richest person and a top advisor to President Donald Trump who is tasked with slashing government spending.

Musk said last week that Grok 3 was in the final stages of development and would be released to the world in a matter of weeks.

xAI is seeking a competitive edge in a market teeming with products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT as artificial intelligence spreads through contemporary life.

Chinese startup DeepSeek shocked the global AI industry last month with the launch of its low-cost, high-quality chatbot – a challenge to US ambitions to lead the world in developing the technology.

DeepSeek quickly overtook ChatGPT in downloads on the Apple app store.

Musk has repeatedly warned that AI poses a risk to human civilization, but he is nonetheless pushing hard for a bigger slice of investment in the sector.

xAI said in December it raised US$6 billion in its latest funding round from investors that included US venture capitalists, chipmakers Nvidia and AMD, and investment funds from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among others. It raised an initial US$6 billion in May.

The company is now one of the world’s most valuable startups, though still dwarfed by OpenAI.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/musk-unveil-ai-chatbot-grok-3-4941881

Billionaire Elon Musk’s bid to buy OpenAI, which wants to be a for-profit entity, clashes with his lawsuit arguing that assets of the ChatGPT maker should not be for private gain, OpenAI wrote in a letter it submitted to a federal court on Wednesday.
On Monday, a consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4 billion to buy the assets of OpenAI’s nonprofit, in another salvo from the world’s richest man against the artificial intelligence startup.

Musk sued OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others in August and has asked a U.S. district judge to block OpenAI’s attempt to transition to a for-profit entity.
OpenAI in its letter said Musk had contradicted himself when making “an improper bid to undermine a competitor.”
Musk’s court filings assert that OpenAI’s assets must remain within a charitable trust and should not be transferred for private gain. That contrasts with his proposed acquisition which seeks to transfer all OpenAI assets to him and his private investors, OpenAI said.

Representatives for Musk did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 as a nonprofit but left before ChatGPT went viral at the end of 2022. He founded the competing AI startup xAI in 2023.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/openai-says-musks-takeover-bid-contradicts-his-lawsuit-against-it-2025-02-13/

Scientists have long wondered how sea turtles navigate vast ocean distances with remarkable precision. Now, research shows these ancient mariners can actually learn and remember magnetic “signatures” of specific geographic locations, essentially creating their own internal GPS system using Earth’s magnetic field.

Recently published findings from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill demonstrate that loggerhead sea turtles possess not just one, but two distinct mechanisms for sensing magnetic fields. This discovery helps explain how these remarkable creatures manage to traverse thousands of miles of featureless ocean to return to specific feeding grounds and nesting beaches year after year.

Working with juvenile loggerhead turtles in controlled experiments, researchers discovered the turtles could learn to associate specific magnetic field signatures with food rewards. When exposed to magnetic conditions matching those found in locations like the Gulf of Mexico or off the coast of Maine, turtles that had been fed in those specific magnetic environments would display excited “turtle dance” behavior, raising their heads, paddling frantically, and spinning in place in anticipation of food.

This learned response persisted even when tested four months later, suggesting turtles maintain a long-term memory of magnetic locations. The finding provides strong evidence that turtles can build a mental map of magnetic signatures corresponding to favorable locations they encounter during their oceanic wanderings.

But the most surprising revelation came when researchers investigated exactly how turtles detect these magnetic fields. By exposing the turtles to oscillating radio frequency fields — which are known to disrupt certain types of magnetic sensing — they found evidence for two separate magnetic detection systems working in parallel.

The turtles’ ability to recognize learned magnetic locations remained unaffected by the radio frequency fields. However, their ability to orient themselves using Earth’s magnetic field as a compass was completely disrupted. This suggests turtles have one mechanism for detecting their position (the magnetic “map” sense) and a separate system for determining direction (the magnetic “compass” sense).

This dual system makes good biological sense. Detecting precise location requires sensing subtle variations in both the strength and angle of magnetic field lines, similar to how GPS determines position using multiple satellite signals. Meanwhile, simple directional orientation only requires detecting the overall alignment of the magnetic field, much like a basic compass needle.

“Our study investigated for the first time whether a migratory animal can learn to recognize the magnetic signatures of different geographic areas,” said Kayla Goforth, first author of the study, in a statement. “Researchers have speculated for decades that animals can learn magnetic signatures, but this is the first empirical demonstration of that ability, so it fills in an important gap in our knowledge.”

The discovery helps explain how sea turtles accomplish their remarkable navigational feats. Young turtles appear to learn the magnetic signatures of favorable locations as they drift with ocean currents during their early “lost years.” Later, they can use this mental magnetic map to recognize these locations again, while their magnetic compass helps them actively swim in the right direction to reach their targets.

This built-in navigation system likely plays a crucial role in the turtles’ ability to maintain strong fidelity to specific feeding grounds. Individual turtles often return repeatedly to the same foraging areas even after being experimentally displaced hundreds of miles away.

The findings, published in Nature, also suggest turtles can update their magnetic maps throughout their lives as they encounter new favorable areas. This flexibility would allow them to adapt to changing conditions and find new feeding grounds if their usual spots become uninhabitable due to environmental changes.

“We’ve known for 20 years that sea turtles have magnetic maps and now, by showing that they can learn new locations, we have learned how the maps might be built and modified,” said Catherine Lohmann, a biology professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. “It is amazing that sea turtles have access to a wealth of invisible information that they use to navigate in ways that are hard for us to even imagine.”

Beyond advancing our understanding of these ancient mariners, the research provides some of the first direct evidence for how animals learn to use Earth’s magnetic field for navigation, a capability that has also been suggested in other long-distance migrants like salmon and birds.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/how-sea-turtles-use-earths-magnetic-field-gps/

Humans appear to have a dangerous blind spot when it comes to trusting artificial intelligence. New research from UC Merced and Penn State shows that people are highly susceptible to AI influence even in life-or-death situations where the AI openly acknowledges its own limitations. A series of experiments simulating drone warfare scenarios suggests we may be falling too far on the side of machine deference, with potentially dangerous consequences.

The study, published in Scientific Reports, included two experiments examining how people interact with AI systems in simulated military drone operations. The findings paint a concerning picture of human susceptibility to AI influence, particularly in situations of uncertainty. The two experiments involved 558 participants (135 in the first study and 423 in the second), and researchers found remarkably consistent patterns of overtrust.

“As a society, with AI accelerating so quickly, we need to be concerned about the potential for overtrust,” says study author professor Colin Holbrook, a member of UC Merced’s Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, in a statement.

The research team designed their experiments to simulate the uncertainty and pressure of real-world military decisions. To create a sense of gravity around their simulated decisions, researchers first showed participants images of innocent civilians, including children, alongside the devastation left in the aftermath of a drone strike. They framed the task as a zero-sum dilemma: failure to identify and eliminate enemy targets could result in civilian casualties, but misidentifying civilians as enemies would mean killing innocent people.

Participants viewed rapid sequences of eight aerial images, each shown for just 650 milliseconds, marked with either enemy or civilian symbols. After making their initial identification, the AI would respond conversationally. “Yes, I think I saw an enemy check mark, too,” it might say. Or “I don’t agree. I think this image had an ally symbol.” Participants then had two chances to confirm or change their choice as the robot added commentary like “I hope you are right” or “Thank you for changing your mind.”

The first experiment, conducted in a laboratory setting with university students, explored whether a physical robot presence would influence trust levels differently than a virtual one. In one scenario, participants were joined in the lab by a full-size, human-like android that could pivot at the waist and gesture to the screen. Standing 1.75 meters tall (about 5 feet 7 inches), this robot used facial expressions, body language, and conversational responses to engage with participants. The comparison group interacted with the same robot projected on a screen. Surprisingly, the physical presence of the robot made little difference in participants’ tendency to trust its advice.

The second experiment moved online with a larger, more demographically diverse group of participants to test whether different levels of robot sophistication would affect trust. Some participants interacted with a highly anthropomorphic virtual robot that displayed human-like behaviors, while others worked with a basic computer interface that simply displayed text responses. Even in its simplest form, the AI maintained remarkable influence over human decision-making.

When an AI disagreed with a person’s initial target identification, participants reversed their decisions 58.3% of the time in the first experiment and 67.3% in the second, even though the AI’s advice was entirely random. More troublingly, while participants’ initial choices were correct about 70% of the time, their final accuracy dropped to around 50% after following the AI’s unreliable advice.

When the AI agreed with their initial assessment, participants reported a 16% boost in confidence. However, when facing AI disagreement, those who stuck to their original decisions reported an average 9.48% drop in confidence, even when their initial assessment had been correct. Even more striking, participants who changed their minds to agree with the AI showed no significant increase in confidence, suggesting they deferred to the machine despite maintaining uncertainty about the correct choice.

While the human-like interfaces generated slightly higher trust levels (67.9% versus 65.1% for basic interfaces), the more crucial factor appeared to be the AI’s perceived intelligence. Participants who rated their AI partner as more intelligent were more likely to defer to its judgment and report higher confidence when agreeing with it, regardless of its physical or virtual presentation.

The U.S. Air Force has already tested AI co-pilots for missile launcher identification during simulated missions, while the Army is developing AI-assisted targeting systems for unmanned vehicles. Israel has reportedly deployed AI systems to help identify bombing targets in densely populated areas. As AI increasingly influences lethal military decisions, understanding and mitigating harmful overtrust becomes crucial.

Although this study focused on high-risk military decisions, the findings could apply to scenarios ranging from police use of lethal force to paramedic triage decisions in emergencies, and even to significant life changes like buying a home. In each case, the human tendency to defer to AI guidance, even when explicitly warned about its limitations, raises serious concerns about implementation.

The research also revealed that participants were less likely to reverse their decisions when they had initially identified a target as a civilian rather than an enemy. This suggests that in real-world applications, humans might be more resistant to AI influence when it comes to actions that could harm innocent people. However, this protective instinct wasn’t strong enough to prevent significant degradation in overall decision accuracy when following AI advice.

“We see AI doing extraordinary things and we think that because it’s amazing in this domain, it will be amazing in another,” says Holbrook. “We can’t assume that. These are still devices with limited abilities.”

Our readiness to trust AI may be outpacing our wisdom in doing so. According to researchers, the solution lies in maintaining consistent skepticism. Holbrook emphasizes that having healthy skepticism about AI is essential, especially when making such weighted decisions. As artificial intelligence systems become increasingly integrated into consequential decision-making processes, understanding and mitigating our tendency to overtrust them becomes crucial for preventing potentially catastrophic outcomes.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/ai-humans-trust-machines-life-or-death-decisions/

In the Second World War, the physician Henry Beecher observed that some of his soldier patients, despite being injured on the battlefield, required no strong painkillers to manage their pain. In some cases, the injury was as severe as losing part of a limb.

A truly remarkable phenomenon had come into play – the effects of fear, stress and emotion on the brain had switched off their pain. But how does this work – and how can we use it to our advantage?

We all struggle with pain at times. The burning of indigestion, the wince of a scald from the kettle. The sharp stabbing of a sliced finger.

But despite its unpleasantness, pain has a critically important purpose, designed to protect the body rather than harm it. A fundamental concept to first understand is that you do not detect pain – it is a sensation. A sensation that your brain has created – from information it receives from the countless neurons (nerve cells) which supply your skin.

These specialized neurons are called nociceptors – they detect stimuli which are noxious, or potentially damaging to the body. This stimulation might range from a mechanical cut or crush injury to extreme hot or cold temperatures.

So, if you touch a hot iron, or stand on a sharp nail, the correct reaction is to move your hand or foot away from it. The brain responds to pain by initiating muscle contractions in your arm or leg. In doing so, any further damage is averted.

The course of information, rushing along one neuron to another in a relay, is carried as electrical currents called action potentials. These begin at the skin, travel along nerve highways and into the spinal cord. When the information reaches the uppermost level of the brain – the cerebral cortex – a sensation of pain is generated.

Blocking pain signals

Many different factors can interfere with this transmission of information – we don’t perceive pain if the route to the cortex is blocked. Take the use of anesthetics, for instance.

Local anesthetics are injected directly into the skin to deactivate nociceptors (like lidocaine) – perhaps in A+E to perform stitches. Other agents induce a loss of consciousness – these are general anesthetics, for more extensive surgical operations.

Pain is also a very variable experience. Commonly, we ask patients to quantify their pain by giving a value along a scale of nought to ten. What one person would consider a five out of ten pain, another might consider a seven – and another a two.

Some patients are born without the ability to sense pain – this rare condition is called congenital analgesia. You might think this confers an advantage, but the truth is quite the opposite. These individuals will be unaware of circumstances where their bodies are being damaged, and can end up sustaining more profound injuries, or missing them entirely and suffering the consequences.

How to trick your brain

What is more extraordinary is that we all possess an innate ability to control our pain levels. In fact, a natural painkiller is found deep within the nervous system itself.

The secret lies in a structure located in the very middle of your brain: the periaqueductal grey (PAG). This small, heart-shaped region contains neurons whose role is to alter incoming pain signals reaching the cerebral cortex. In doing so, it is able to dampen down any pain that would otherwise be experienced.

Let’s consider this in practice using the extreme example of the battlefield. This is an instance where sensing pain might actually prove more of a hindrance than of help. It might hamper a soldier’s ability to run, or assist comrades. In temporarily numbing the pain, the soldier becomes able to escape the dangerous environment and seek refuge.

But we encounter many examples of this ability coming into action in our everyday routines. Ever picked something in the kitchen that you suddenly realized is extremely hot? Sometimes that casserole dish or saucepan descends to the floor, but sometimes we are able to hold on just long enough to transfer it to the stovetop. This action may be underpinned by the PAG shutting off the sensation of clasping something too hot to handle, just long enough to prevent dropping it.

The substances which generate this effect are called enkephalins. They are produced in many different areas of the brain (including the PAG) and spinal cord, and may have similar actions to strong analgesics such as morphine. It has also been suggested that long-term or chronic pain – which is persistent and not useful to the body – might arise as a result of abnormalities within this natural analgesic system.

This begs the question: how might you go about hacking your own nervous system to produce an analgesic effect?

There is growing evidence to suggest that the release of painkilling enkephalins can be enhanced in a variety of different ways. Exercise is one example – one of the reasons why prescribed exercise might be able to work wonders for aches and pains (backache for instance) instead of popping Tylenols.

Besides this, stressful situations, feeding and sex might also affect the activity of enkephalins and other related compounds.

So, how could we go about it? Take up strength or endurance training? Alleviate our stress? Good food? Good sex? While more work is needed to clarify a role for these options in pain management, their reward might be greater than we thought.

Pain remains a complex, poorly understood experience, but the future is bright. Only last month, the FDA approved the use of a new medication Journavx for managing acute pain.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/brain-switch-off-pain/

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn is reportedly down for thousands of users worldwide. Tracking website DownDetector started noting reports of problems after 11:35 pm. Users are getting errors when trying to log in, which is causing frustration.
According to Downdetector, 82 per cent of LinkedIn users are having issues with the website, 17 per cent are facing problems with the app, and just 1 per cent are reporting issues with their profiles. This shows that most of the disruptions are happening on the website and app, with only a small number of users affected by profile issues.

As of now, Downdetector has registered over 1,100 complaints on its website, as users continue to face issues with the Microsoft-owned professional platform. LinkedIn has not yet released an official statement about what caused the outage or when it will be fixed.

“Woke up to LinkedIn this morning to a message on the log in screen: ‘You have reached the maximum number of attempts. Please try again at a later date.’ and I am unable to log in,” a user wrote on Downdetector.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/technology-science/linkedin-down-thousands-of-users-report-issues-with-website-and-app-article-118126534

The rocky object called Bennu is classified as a near-Earth asteroid, currently making its closest approach to Earth every six years at about 186,000 miles (299,000 km) away. It might come even closer in the future, with scientists estimating a one-in-2,700 chance of a collision with Earth in September 2182.
So what would happen should Bennu strike our planet? Well, it would not be pretty, according to new research based on computer simulations of an impact by an asteroid with a diameter of roughly three-tenths of a mile (500 meters) like Bennu.

Aside from the immediate devastation, it estimated that such an impact would inject 100-400 million tons of dust into the atmosphere, causing disruptions in climate, atmospheric chemistry and global photosynthesis lasting three to four years.
“The solar dimming due to dust would cause an abrupt global ‘impact winter’ characterized by reduced sunlight, cold temperature and decreased precipitation at the surface,” said Lan Dai, a postdoctoral research fellow at the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in South Korea and lead author of the study published this week in the journal Science Advances.

In the worst-case scenario, the researchers found that Earth’s average surface temperature would decrease by about 7 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), average rainfall would fall by 15%, there would be a reduction of up to 20-30% in plant photosynthesis and a 32% depletion in the planet’s ozone layer that protects against harmful solar ultraviolet radiation.
The impact of a Bennu-sized object – a medium-sized asteroid – on Earth’s land surface would generate a powerful shockwave, earthquakes, wildfires and thermal radiation, leave a gaping crater and eject huge amounts of debris upward, the researchers said.

Large quantities of aerosols and gases would reach the upper atmosphere, causing years-long effects on climate and ecosystems, according to Dai and study senior author Axel Timmermann, a climate physicist and ICCP director.
The unfavorable climate conditions would inhibit plant growth on land and in the ocean, they said.
“In contrast to the rapid reduction and slow two-year-long recovery of plants on land, plankton in the ocean would recover within six months – and even increase afterward with unprecedented diatom (a type of algae) blooms triggered by iron-rich dust deposition into the ocean,” Dai said.

Severe ozone depletion would occur in the stratosphere – the second atmospheric layer as you go upward – due to strong warming caused by the solar absorption of dust particles, the researchers said.
An asteroid collision of this magnitude could cause massive loss of human life, but that calculation was outside the study’s scope. Dai said the potential death toll “mainly depends on where the asteroid impact occurs.”
Scientists know a great deal about Bennu, considered a “rubble pile” asteroid – a loose amalgamation of rocky material rather than a solid object. It is a rocky remnant of a larger celestial body that had formed near the dawn of the solar system roughly 4.5 billion years ago. NASA’s robotic OSIRIS-REx spacecraft journeyed to Bennu and in 2020 collected samples of rock and dust for analysis.
A study published in January showed that Bennu’s samples bore some of the chemical building blocks of life, strong evidence that asteroids may have seeded early Earth with the raw ingredients that fostered the emergence of living organisms.
Asteroids have struck Earth occasionally over its long history, often with cataclysmic results. An asteroid estimated at 6-9 miles (10-15 km) wide hit off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago, eradicating about three-quarters of the world’s species and ending the age of dinosaurs.
NASA in 2022 carried out a proof-of-principle planetary defense mission by using its robotic DART spacecraft to change the trajectory of the asteroid Dimorphos, with an eye toward doing this in the future if one appears on a collision course with Earth.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/science/scientists-predict-devastation-if-asteroid-bennu-strikes-earth-2182-2025-02-06/

Google is ending its previous goals for increasing diversity in hiring, marking a major shift in the company’s approach to workforce representation. In an internal memo, Google-parent Alphabet’s Chief People Officer, Fiona Cicconi, informed employees that the company will no longer set aspirational hiring goals for underrepresented groups. “In 2020, we set ambitious hiring goals and aimed to expand representation by growing offices outside California and New York,” Cicconi wrote. “However, moving forward, we will no longer set aspirational goals.” This decision comes as Google reevaluates its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, citing compliance with recent U.S. Executive Orders and court rulings.

At any given moment, thousands of pieces of space debris orbit Earth, and some are heading back toward us. According to new research from the University of British Columbia, there’s a 26% annual probability that one of these massive objects will reenter Earth’s atmosphere over a region with high air traffic density, potentially disrupting hundreds of flights and thousands of travelers.

This risk was dramatically illustrated in November 2022 when Spanish and French authorities closed parts of their airspace due to a falling 20-tonne Chinese rocket body, affecting 645 flights and delaying passengers by an average of 29 minutes. Some aircraft already in flight had to turn around or divert their paths, creating cascading disruptions throughout European airspace.

“The recent explosion of a SpaceX Starship shortly after launch demonstrated the challenges of having to suddenly close airspace,” explains Ewan Wright, the study’s lead author and an interdisciplinary studies doctoral student at UBC, in a statement. “The authorities set up a ‘keep out’ zone for aircraft, many of which had to turn around or divert their flight path. And this was a situation where we had good information about where the rocket debris was likely to come down, which is not the case for uncontrolled debris re-entering the atmosphere from orbit.”

Why is rocket debris such a big problem?

The problem stems from how modern spaceflight operates. When rockets launch satellites into orbit, large portions of these rockets are often abandoned in space. If these leftover rocket stages have a low enough orbit, they eventually fall back to Earth in an uncontrolled manner. While most materials burn up during reentry, significant pieces can survive the descent.

The study, published in Scientific Reports, reveals concerning statistics about high-traffic airspace. Using Denver, Colorado, as a reference point—which had the highest air traffic density in the dataset at approximately one aircraft every 18 square kilometers—researchers calculated the probability of rocket debris reentering the atmosphere over different traffic density thresholds.

For regions with air traffic similar to that found in major transit corridors like the northeastern United States, northern Europe, or parts of the Asia-Pacific, the probability of a rocket body reentering busy airspace is 26% per year. However, this probability does not mean that reentry will occur over the same location every four years—only that such an event is likely somewhere within airspace that meets these traffic conditions.

Rocket launches are increasing, as is the risk

The situation appears even more pressing when considering current trends. In 2023, there were 212 successful rocket launches, with 128 uncontrolled rocket body reentries. The number of rocket bodies still in orbit exceeds 2,300, each one destined to eventually fall back to Earth. Meanwhile, air passenger numbers are projected to increase by almost 7% in 2025, according to the International Air Transport Association.

“The space industry is effectively exporting its risk to airlines and passengers,” says Dr. Aaron Boley, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UBC and co-author of the study.

This risk transfer occurs because when space debris threatens busy airspace, aviation authorities must either take preventive action—by diverting flights or closing airspace—or gamble by allowing flights to continue.

The annual probability of space rocket debris actually colliding with an aircraft stands at 1 in 430,000—a relatively low number, but one that still carries catastrophic potential. Even small pieces of debris pose significant risks due to their high velocity and the speed at which aircraft cruise.

Solutions and future outlook

The researchers emphasize that these risks are not inevitable. “Uncontrolled rocket body reentries are a design choice, not a necessity,” explains Dr. Boley. The industry could instead use rockets designed to reenter the atmosphere in a controlled way after use, directing them to crash harmlessly into remote ocean areas.

Artificial Intelligence has just helped astronomers discover a new crater on the surface of Mars that has revealed a long-hidden secret.

New findings reveal that meteoroids striking Mars produce seismic signals that can reach deeper than previously known. The details are the result of joint work by Nasa Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the now-dead InSight lander, which had its ears to the ground listening for aftershocks.

In a series of two papers, published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), scientists observed how seismic waves from those quakes change as they travel through the planet’s crust, mantle, and core.

Scientists have now got a glimpse into Mars’ interior, as well as a better understanding of how all rocky worlds form, including Earth and its Moon.

“We used to think the energy detected from the vast majority of seismic events was stuck travelling within the Martian crust. This finding shows a deeper, faster path — call it a seismic highway — through the mantle, allowing quakes to reach more distant regions of the planet,” InSight team member Constantinos Charalambous said.

The meteor crash was detected in Cerberus Fossae, an especially quake-prone region of Mars that is 1,640 kilometres away from the InSight lander. The impact crater is 71 feet in diameter and much farther from InSight than scientists expected, based on the quake’s seismic energy.

Nasa said that the Martian crust has unique properties thought to dampen seismic waves produced by impacts, and researchers’ analysis of the Cerberus Fossae impact led them to conclude that the waves it produced took a more direct route through the planet’s mantle.

The team then used an AI model to analyse pictures and search for craters within roughly 3,000 kilometers of InSight’s location. By comparing before-and-after images from the Context Camera over a range of time, they found 123 fresh craters to cross-reference with InSight’s data; 49 of those were potential matches with quakes detected by the lander’s seismometer.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/ai-helps-discover-123-new-craters-on-mars-what-it-revealed-surprised-scientists-2674467-2025-02-04

The plastic pollution crisis just got personal. A new study from the University of New Mexico reveals an unsettling truth: microscopic plastic particles are accumulating in human brains at significantly higher concentrations than in other organs – and these levels have surged 50% in just eight years.

Scientists examining postmortem brain tissue found microplastic concentrations were about 12 times higher than those in the liver or kidney. Even more concerning, brain samples from individuals with dementia contained up to ten times more plastic than those without the condition, though researchers emphasize it’s too early to determine if microplastics contribute to the disease.

“This really changes the landscape. It makes it so much more personal,” says lead researcher Matthew Campen, Distinguished and Regents’ Professor at UNM’s College of Pharmacy, in a statement.

The Microplastic Problem

Microplastics come from the breakdown of everyday items like water bottles, food containers, and synthetic clothing. As these products degrade, they create tiny fragments smaller than 5 millimeters – about the size of a sesame seed at their largest. But many particles are much smaller, invisible to the naked eye.

Previous studies have detected microplastics in human blood, placentas, and various organs, but this new research shows an unprecedented concentration in brain tissue. In samples collected between January and March 2024, the median level reached 4,917 micrograms per gram—roughly the weight of four to five paper clips of plastic per kilogram of brain tissue.

Most particles consisted of polyethylene, the same material used in plastic bottles and food packaging. Using advanced microscopy, researchers identified clusters of sharp plastic shards measuring 200 nanometers or less—about twice the size of a typical virus. These tiny fragments are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier, the brain’s natural defense system against harmful substances.

Rather than chemical toxicity, researchers are particularly concerned about potential physical interference in brain function. “We start thinking that maybe these plastics obstruct blood flow in capillaries,” Campen explains. “There’s the potential that these nanomaterials interfere with the connections between axons in the brain. They could also be a seed for aggregation of proteins involved in dementia. We just don’t know.”

How Are These Plastics Getting Into the Brain?

The research team analyzed brain tissue samples from early 2016 and 2024, revealing a stark increase in plastic levels over just eight years. To establish a longer historical perspective, they also examined older brain samples from 1997 to 2013, obtained from brain banks on the East Coast. These earlier samples showed significantly lower plastic concentrations, suggesting a steady rise that parallels the global increase in plastic production and environmental contamination.

The study, published in Nature Medicine, investigated potential pathways for microplastics to enter our bodies. Researchers hypothesize that food, particularly meat, may be a major source. Commercial meat production can concentrate plastics through a cycle of contamination: farms use plastic-contaminated water for irrigation, feed crops to livestock, then use manure from those animals as fertilizer, potentially amplifying plastic levels at each step.

Another recent study revealed that commercial seafood caught off the shores of western U.S. states showed high levels of microplastic contamination.

Once inside the body, these particles show a striking tendency to accumulate in fat-rich tissues, including the brain’s myelin sheath—the fatty insulating layer that wraps around nerve cells and enables them to communicate effectively. This affinity for fatty tissue might explain why the brain harbors higher plastic levels than other organs.

The findings raise particular concerns about dementia. While the study cannot establish cause and effect, brain samples from individuals with various forms of dementia—including Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia—showed dramatically higher plastic concentrations. These particles appeared especially concentrated around blood vessels and in areas with clusters of immune cells, suggesting possible interference with brain function.

A Growing Concern with No Quick Fix

Even if plastic production stopped immediately, existing polymers would continue to break down into microscopic particles for decades, contributing to rising contamination levels. Campen warns this could become a “ticking time bomb” for human health.

To ensure accuracy, researchers used multiple verification methods, including chemical breakdown techniques and advanced microscopy, to confirm their findings. Their research indicates that microplastics are accumulating at increasing rates, raising urgent questions about potential health effects.

These findings mark a turning point in our understanding of plastic pollution’s impact on human health. With microplastic levels in brain tissue rising steadily, the question isn’t just about what these particles are doing in our brains — it’s about what we’re going to do about it.

Many people dismiss concerns about environmental contaminants measured in trace amounts. But, as Campen puts it, “I have yet to encounter a single human being who says, ‘There’s a bunch of plastic in my brain and I’m totally cool with that.’”

Source : https://studyfinds.org/microplastics-brain-tissue/

India’s biggest news organisations are seeking to join a lawsuit against OpenAI, the US startup behind ChatGPT, for alleged unauthorised use of their content.

The news organisations include some of India’s oldest publications like The Indian Express, The Hindu, The India Today group, billionaire Gautam Adani-owned NDTV, and over a dozen others.

OpenAI denies the allegations and told the BBC that it uses “publicly available data” that are in line with “widely accepted legal precedents”.

On Wednesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was in Delhi to discuss India’s plan for a low-cost AI ecosystem with IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

He said India “should be one of the leaders of the AI revolution” and said earlier comments from 2023, when he said Indian firms would struggle to compete, had been taken out of context.

“India is an incredibly important market for AI in general and for OpenAI in particular,” local media quoted him as saying at the event.

The legal case filed against OpenAI in November by Asian News International (ANI), India’s largest news agency, is the first of its kind in India.

ANI accuses ChatGPT of using its copyrighted material illegally – which OpenAI denies – and is seeking damages of 20m rupees ($230,000; £185,000).

The case holds significance for ChatGPT given its plans to expand in the country. According to a survey, India already has the largest user base of ChatGPT.

Chatbots like ChatGPT are trained on massive datasets collected by crawling through the internet. The content produced by nearly 450 news channels and 17,000 newspapers in India holds huge potential for this.

There is, however, no clarity on what material ChatGPT can legally collect and use for this purpose.

OpenAI is facing at least a dozen lawsuits across the world filed by publishers, artists and news organisations, who have all accused ChatGPT of using their content without permission.

The most prominent of them was filed by The New York Times in December 2023, in which the newspaper demanded “billions of dollars” in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, its backer.

“A decision by any court would also hold some persuasive value for other similar cases around the world,” says Vibhav Mithal, a lawyer specialising in artificial intelligence at the Indian law firm Anand and Anand.

Mr Mithal said the verdict in the lawsuit filed by ANI could “define how these AI models will operate in the future” and “what copyrighted news content can be used to train AI generative models [like ChatGPT]”.

A court ruling in ANI’s favour could spark further legal cases as well as opening the possibility of AI companies entering into license sharing agreements with content creators, which some companies have already started doing.

“But a ruling in OpenAI’s favour will lead to more freedom to use copyrighted protected data to train AI models,” he said.

Something is off with tonight’s talent at Temple Nightclub. Blue lights obscure the DJ’s face, but from the back of the crowded dance floor, you can make out an uncanny silhouette of an almost impossibly thin neck and unusually small, square head.

The DJ’s arms move in smooth, steady arcs. Although the transitions are precise, the fist pumps are almost out of time with the propulsive tech-house beats blaring out of the speakers.

If those motions sound robotic, they are. Phantom is the first humanoid robot developed by San Francisco-based startup Foundation Robotics Labs. In the near future, the company’s line of humanoid robots could manufacture cars, rove warehouses, and even be deployed by the U.S. military to combat zones. But on Friday, Phantom made his first public appearance — not as a weapon of war but as a DJ. (Phantom’s creators are emphatic that the robot is a “he.”)

Co-founder Mike LeBlanc said that the company’s customers include auto manufacturers, warehouses and logistics firms, as well as the Department of Defense. That makes it hard not to see a double meaning in the generic finger gun gestures Phantom performs on stage.

LeBlanc, who served 13 years in the Marines, said that while the company’s competitors promised to never place robots in military roles, Foundation is the only American robotics company building humanoids for national defense. Famed robotics company Boston Dynamics has prohibited the “weaponization” of its general purpose bots and has made a pledge with five other leading robotics companies to never use their technology as weapons.

“We’re the opposite,” LeBlanc told SFGATE. “We believe that humanoids are going to be critical to the future of warfare. Hence, designing robots that are bigger, faster, stronger.” (Currently, the company’s robots are not in combat, and mainly help with the maintenance and refueling of aircraft in remote areas for the military, according to LeBlanc.)

This DJ set, then, is a bit of cultural diplomacy for the company — a demonstration that a literal war machine can be fun, too. “We are not trying to apologize for the strength of robots,” LeBlanc said. “So for us, this is the perfect unveiling because this is what our robot is. This is a fun moment.”

By that metric, Phantom’s debut DJ set was a success. On Friday, the robot gave a 30-minute set on the main stage at Temple Nightclub to cap off an event billed as a “Tech GigaParty” — part AI trade expo, part networking event, part club night. He received a warm welcome from San Francisco.

As Phantom takes the stage at 9:45 p.m. following a human DJ, LeBlanc’s fellow co-founder, Sankaet Pathak, stands beside him holding a microphone. A man wearing a ruby-colored, “Big Lebowski” robe yells “Bot DJ!” at the stage from below.

Pathak asks the dance floor, which is crowded with techies in vests, chino pants and blouses, to raise their hands if they like robots. The audience hoots; hands go up. “I like robots,” a guy near me murmurs, maybe to himself.

A few quiet minutes pass. “It’s time for the robot rager,” someone unseen declares from onstage. “Robot rager!” tech-Lebowski yells in agreement. And the robot rager begins.

Standing over the room, Phantom is completely expressionless. He has to be, since his face is a round-edged, featureless black box. He’s shaped like a human: broad shoulders, a torso, a narrow midriff and arms with elbow joints. At times, Phantom raises his hand straight up and down, silvery digits upright, thumb askew.

Phantom’s motions are uncannily smooth. A human DJ would’ve bounced up and down, jabbing at buttons on the DJ board. Phantom’s head stays perfectly level, and instead of jerking his hands, he brings them down in perfectly timed arcs. Phantom doesn’t pick tracks out in real time, Pathak explains to me. Humans selected the music in advance, and Foundation Robotics Lab spent a few weeks training the robot’s every motion.

“I don’t think it’s a stretch to say this is probably the best DJ set you will have ever seen in your life,” Pathak says.

I have to press. “The best I’ll have ever seen in my life?”

“I’m pretty sure of that,” he says. Pathak explains that the DJ set will tell the story of human history, from the distant past to the future, with the help of AI-generated visuals.

(I ask Pathak if he likes electronic music. He replies that yes, he enjoys Daft Punk and Skrillex.)

On the spectrum from frat house DJ to A. G. Cook, Phantom falls somewhere in the middle. He plays at least two Gesaffelstein tracks and succeeds in moving bodies near the front of the room, where tech-Lebowski and company bust what can best be described as Burning Man dance moves. The back of the room is a bit dead, which is no fault of Phantom’s. It is a tech party, after all.

One young woman in a blue lanyard wears an Apple Vision Pro around her neck. I watch a man in a suit approach her and strike up a conversation, presumably flirtatious. When I look again, they already have their phones out. Not exchanging numbers, just adding each other on LinkedIn.

“I think you’re going to be seeing a lot more of Phantom with music,” LeBlanc told me near the end of our interview. Foundation Robotics Lab has been fielding requests for the robot’s appearances, and the company is considering hiring an agent to handle them all. “People just love this thing,” he said.

I recall this exchange as I watch a sharply dressed couple sway their hips in front of the DJ stand, which bears a car-length LED display of Foundation’s logo. Call it a military-industrial middle school dance.

Thought experiment: If one of the military drones Barack Obama deployed during his presidency held a Bushwick Boiler Room, would you line up to dance? OK, OK, OK: But what if the drone was really, really cool?

Everyone agrees that the art vs. the artist debate is tired. But we’re not talking about Kanye West’s antisemitic comments. There’s a big difference here: Kanye is a musician with a flawed moral character; Phantom is a weapon with a side hustle as a DJ. His music career essentially constitutes a goodwill campaign for a morally dubious project.

Boston Dynamics, in its pledge, raised concerns about military use of robots: “We believe that adding weapons to robots that are remotely or autonomously operated, widely available to the public, and capable of navigating to previously inaccessible locations where people live and work, raises new risks of harm and serious ethical issues.”

Source : https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/sf-hottest-dj-war-machine-20136704.php

Finance Ministry has issued an advisory instructing its employees not to use AI tools like ChatGPT and DeepSeek for official work due to concerns over the security of government data and documents, Reuters reported. Although the notification is reportedly dated January 29, news of it surfaced only recently, coinciding with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s India visit.
Similar restrictions have been enforced in other countries, including Australia and Italy, where authorities have raised data security concerns over Chinese AI-powered tools like DeepSeek.
“It has been determined that AI tools and AI apps (such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek etc.) in the office computers and devices pose risks for confidentiality of (government) data and documents,” the Reuters report quoted the advisory as saying. Three finance ministry officials told Reuters that the note was genuine and the note was issued internally this week.

The ChatGPT maker is under pressure in India due to a major copyright dispute with leading media houses. In court filings, the company argued that since it has no servers in India, local courts should not handle the case.

Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO is in India for important meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. His visit comes almost a year after he sparked controversy by calling India’s AI ambitions “hopeless.” However, his views now seem to be changing.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/technology-science/finance-ministry-bans-chatgpt-and-deepseek-for-official-purposes-even-as-sam-altman-promotes-openai-in-india-article-117942051

China announced a wide range of measures on Tuesday targeting U.S. businesses including Google (GOOGL.O), farm equipment makers and the owner of fashion brand Calvin Klein, minutes after new U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods took effect.
Beijing also slapped tariffs on U.S. products such as coal, oil and some autos in a rapid response to the new duties on Chinese goods imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, escalating trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said Google was suspected of violating the country’s anti-monopoly law and an investigation was initiated in accordance with the law. It did not provide further details on the investigation or on what it alleged Google had done to breach the law.
Google products such as its search engine are blocked in China and its revenue from there is about 1% of global sales. It still works with Chinese partners such as advertisers.

In 2017, Google announced the launch of a small artificial intelligence centre in China. But the project was disbanded two years later and the firm does not conduct AI research in China, according to a blog posting.
Separately, China’s Commerce Ministry said it had put PVH Corp (PVH.N), the holding company for brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and U.S. biotechnology firm Illumina (ILMN.O), on its “unreliable entity” list.

It said the two companies took what it called “discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises” and “damaged” the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
Companies added to the blacklist can be subject to fines and a broad range of other sanctions, including a freeze on trade and revocation of work permits for foreign staff.
While Google declined to comment, PVH said it was “surprised and deeply disappointed” by the ministry’s decision, saying that the company maintains “strict compliance with all relevant laws and regulations and operates in line with established industry standards and practices.”
PVH added it would continue engagement with relevant authorities and look forward to a positive resolution.
Illumina did not respond to a request for comment.
Shares of both PVH and Illumina were down nearly 4% each in premarket U.S. trading, while Google-parent Alphabet rose 1%.

PVH had already been under scrutiny from Chinese regulators over “improper” conduct related to the Xinjiang region.
“These moves are warnings that China intends to harm U.S. interests if need be, but still give China the option to back down,” Capital Economics said in a note.
“The tariffs could be postponed or cancelled before they come into effect… The probe against Google could conclude without any penalties.”

TESLA AND FARM EQUIPMENT FIRMS

China also announced 10% tariffs on imports of U.S. farm equipment that could impact firms such as Caterpillar (CAT.N), Deere & Co (DE.N), opens new tab and AGCO (AGCO.N), as well as a small number of trucks and big-engine sedans shipped to China from the United States.
That could apply to Elon Musk’s Cybertruck, a niche offering Tesla (TSLA.O),has been promoting in China, as it awaits regulatory clearance to begin sales.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information technology designated the Cybertruck as a “passenger car” in a posting in December that was quickly deleted.
If the Cybertruck was designated as an electric truck, Tesla would face a 10% tariff on any future imports from its factory in Texas.
Tesla had no immediate comment.
The new tariffs on U.S. products will start on Feb. 10, the ministry said.
The announcements made on Tuesday ramped up trade restrictions between Beijing and Washington that had been largely limited to the tech sector under the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden, which sought to restrict China’s access to high-end semiconductors.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/technology/china-anti-monopoly-regulator-launches-probe-into-google-2025-02-04/

Microsoft (MSFT.O) backed OpenAI said on Tuesday it will roll out an education-specific version of its chatbot to about 500,000 students and faculty at California State University as it looks to expand its user base in the academic sector and counter competition from rivals like Alphabet (GOOGL.O).

The rollout will cover 23 campuses of the largest public university system in the United States, enabling students to access personalized tutoring and study guides through the chatbot, while the faculty will be able to use it for administrative tasks.

OpenAI has been looking to integrate ChatGPT into classrooms since 2023, even as initial concerns about its potential use for cheating and plagiarism had prompted some schools to consider bans.
Universities like the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Texas at Austin in the U.S., and the University of Oxford in the UK have already been using ChatGPT Enterprise, prompting OpenAI to launch ChatGPT Edu in May last year.

Rival Alphabet has already been expanding into the education sector, where it has announced a $120 million investment fund for AI education programs and plans to introduce its GenAI chatbot Gemini to teen students’ school-issued Google accounts.
In November, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer opened London’s first Google-funded AI university, which will provide older teens with access to resources in artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as mentorship and expertise from Google’s AI company, DeepMind.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-targets-higher-education-us-with-chatgpt-rollout-california-state-2025-02-04/

In recent years, social media has turned ice baths from an athlete’s recovery tool into a mainstream wellness trend, with influencers and celebrities touting their supposed benefits for everything from mood enhancement to immune system boosting. Now, a new systematic review and meta-analysis cuts through the hype and reveals how cold-water immersion (CWI) actually affects the human body.

Analyzing data from 11 studies with 3,177 participants, researchers from the University of South Australia found that while cold-water immersion may offer some health benefits, these effects are highly time-dependent and context-specific. Their results are published in the journal PLOS ONE.

“Cold-water immersion has been extensively researched and used in sporting contexts to help athletes recover, but despite its growing popularity among health and wellbeing circles, little is known about its effects on the general population,” explains lead researcher Tara Cain, a research assistant with the university’s Allied Health & Human Performance program, in a statement.

The timing of cold water’s effects turned out to be crucial. While many people seek out ice baths for immediate stress relief, the research showed that significant stress reduction only occurred 12 hours after exposure. This delayed benefit suggests that the body’s response to cold exposure isn’t as straightforward as previously believed.

The research also revealed surprising findings about inflammation.

“At first glance this seems contradictory, as we know that ice baths are regularly used by elite athletes to reduce inflammation and muscle soreness after exercise,” explains co-researcher Dr. Ben Singh. “The immediate spike in inflammation is the body’s reaction to the cold as a stressor. It helps the body adapt and recover and is similar to how exercise causes muscle damage before making muscles stronger, which is why athletes use it despite the short-term increase.”

To understand these effects, the research team examined studies where participants were immersed in water ranging from 7°C to 15°C (44.6°F to 59°F). The exposure times varied dramatically, from just 30 seconds to two hours. While most studies looked at traditional ice baths, one large trial focused on cold showers, making the findings relevant to people who might not have access to specialized equipment.

The immune system findings proved particularly interesting. Although blood markers showed no immediate boost to immunity, one large study of over 3,000 participants found that people who took regular cold showers were 29% less likely to call in sick to work. However, when they did get sick, their illnesses lasted just as long as everyone else’s. This suggests that cold exposure might help people cope better with illness rather than preventing it entirely.

Sleep quality improvements emerged as another potential benefit, though primarily in male participants. The research showed better sleep scores among those who practiced cold-water immersion compared to control groups. However, the lack of female participants in these studies means we don’t yet know if women would experience the same benefits.

Quality of life measurements revealed short-term gains that faded over time. “We also noted that participants who took 20, 60, or 90 second cold showers reported slightly higher quality of life scores. But again, after three months these effects had faded,” Cain notes. This finding raises important questions about how long people need to continue cold exposure to maintain any benefits.

The research also highlighted important safety considerations, especially for certain groups. “Knowing this, people with pre-existing health conditions should take extra care if participating in cold-water immersion experiences as the initial inflammation could have detrimental health impacts,” warns Dr. Singh. This caution is particularly relevant given the growing popularity of cold exposure practices.

The current cold plunge trend shows no signs of slowing down. However, this research suggests that people might need to adjust their expectations about what cold exposure can and cannot do for their health.

Safety Considerations

The research emphasizes several important safety aspects of cold-water immersion. The initial inflammatory response could pose risks for people with pre-existing health conditions. Additionally, the wide range of protocols used in different studies, from very brief cold showers to extended ice baths, suggests that people should start gradually and pay attention to how their body responds.

While cold-water immersion shows promise for specific health outcomes, more research is needed to establish optimal protocols and understand who might benefit most. As Cain notes, “Right now, there isn’t enough high-quality research to say exactly who benefits most or what the ideal approach is to cold-water immersion. More long-term studies, among more diverse populations, are needed to understand its lasting effects and practical applications.”

Source : https://studyfinds.org/ice-bath-health-claims/