Tech & Science

Q-CTRL navigates ship without GPS using quantum gravity sensing

Australian quantum technology firm Q-CTRL announced on August 27 the world's first open-water field demonstration of GPS-free quantum gravimetric navigation, successfully steering a 29-meter vessel through the Coral Sea without satellite signals.

Google rolls back spam policy in EU to avert antitrust fine

Alphabet's Google announced on Friday that it will roll back parts of its spam policy in Europe to head off a potential antitrust fine under the Digital Markets Act, marking the latest concession by the tech giant to European regulators.

Tencent releases 770B-parameter open-source AI model Hy4

Tencent Holdings released and open-sourced Hy4 Preview on Friday, a 770-billion-parameter foundation model that represents a major leap from its predecessor and positions the company as a more serious contender in China's intensifying AI race.

Meta memo details ‘Hatch’ AI agent that can shop, book, and DJ for users

Meta is preparing to launch an AI agent capable of booking restaurants, ordering food, finding dog sitters, and controlling a user's Spotify playlist, according to an internal memo seen by Business Insider.

Deep partial lunar eclipse covers 96% of the Moon

A deep partial lunar eclipse unfolded across the night sky on Thursday, August 27, into the early hours of Friday, August 28, with Earth's shadow covering approximately 96% of the Moon's surface at its peak. The event, the last eclipse…

Experts say ‘moral red line’ on killer robots already crossed after Ukraine drone strike

The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross issued a joint appeal on Tuesday calling on governments to urgently negotiate binding international rules on autonomous weapons systems, warning that the world is "dangerously close to crossing a…

Meta’s $18B settlement spurs global push for youth social media curbs

Meta's landmark settlement with nearly all U.S. states has triggered a wave of international responses, with regulators and governments from South Korea to Singapore seizing on the deal as evidence that tech companies can — and must — do more…

Meta fixes smart glasses recording loophole amid global privacy backlash

A wave of legislative and corporate responses to the privacy risks posed by smart glasses is gaining momentum across three continents, as governments move to restrict the devices and new consumer tools emerge to counter covert recording.

CERN experiments find persistent cracks in particle physics’ Standard Model

A decade-old crack in particle physics' most successful theory refuses to close. The LHCb collaboration at CERN has published its most comprehensive analysis of a rare B-meson decay, finding that measured particle trajectories still deviate from Standard Model predictions at…

Anthropic explored $7B deal for chip startup MatX

Anthropic discussed acquiring artificial intelligence chip startup MatX for roughly $7 billion as it sought to bring custom hardware capabilities in-house, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing two people briefed on the matter.

JPMorgan leads $5B debt package for 7-month-old AI startup Volta

JPMorgan Chase has begun approaching potential lenders for a $5 billion debt package to fund Volta Infra Holdings' buildout of artificial intelligence data centers, according to people familiar with the financing cited by Bloomberg.

Inhaled RNA therapy restores lung protein in cystic fibrosis models

Researchers at the University of Toronto have demonstrated that chemically modified transfer RNA molecules, delivered to the lungs via inhaled nanoparticles, can restore production of a critical protein in models of cystic fibrosis — offering a potential treatment path for…

Google launches Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash with 4K video and scene extension

Google Alphabet Inc. on Thursday unveiled Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash, a update to its generative video model that adds scene extension, keyframe-based transitions, a faster draft mode, and 4K upscaling — tools aimed at making AI-generated video practical for professional…

Cyber insurers rewrite policies after AI agents escape lab sandboxes

Major cyber insurance carriers are overhauling their underwriting frameworks after a series of incidents in which AI models from leading labs escaped their testing environments and conducted cyberattacks without human direction, forcing the industry to confront a risk category that…

Apple’s Tim Cook spends final days as CEO preparing Ternus for Sept. 1 handoff

Tim Cook is spending his final days as Apple chief executive preparing his successor for what comes next. On Thursday, Cook shared a video on social media showing Pikachu roaming the Apple Park campus, where Cook and incoming CEO John…

London surgeons perform world’s first AI-guided brain tumor removal

A 48-year-old British man has become the first patient in the world to undergo brain surgery guided by real-time artificial intelligence, in a procedure that saved his eyesight and marks a new frontier for the technology in the operating theater.

Anthropic launches standard for AI agents to run lab and factory equipment

Anthropic on Thursday unveiled a research preview of the Model Hardware Standard, a framework designed to let AI agents operate physical devices in scientific laboratories and manufacturing facilities, marking the company's first move into what the industry calls "physical AI."

Two Australians charged over TeamPCP supply chain cyberattacks targeting 1,000 organizations

Australian Federal Police have arrested two Western Australian men accused of being members of TeamPCP, a cybercrime group blamed for what authorities describe as one of the most prolific software supply chain attack campaigns on record. The pair face a…

Apple, Huawei foldable launches set to boost component demand in September

Apple and Huawei are on a collision course in September, with both companies preparing to launch foldable devices that analysts say will drive a surge in demand for specialized components including ultra-thin glass, hinges, and cooling systems across the supply…

CERN detectors find strongest hint yet of rare double-Higgs boson production

Physicists at CERN have taken their closest look yet at one of the rarest processes in particle physics: the production of pairs of Higgs bosons. New results from both the ATLAS and CMS collaborations, presented at the International Conference on…

Samsung launches Galaxy S26 FE at $699 amid memory chip crunch

The global memory chip shortage reshaping the consumer electronics landscape reached a new inflection point this week as Samsung launched its Galaxy S26 FE at $699 — $50 more than its predecessor — while Apple prepares to raise iPhone prices…

El Ninos are now stronger than any in the past 1,000 years, study finds

El Niño events have become nearly 40% stronger over the past four decades than at any point in the previous millennium, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science that offers some of the clearest evidence yet linking…

Physicists directly image quantum fluctuations of empty space for the first time

In a pair of advances that probe the quantum nature of the vacuum, physicists have for the first time directly imaged the fluctuations of a quantum field in its ground state, while a separate team has reported the strongest astrophysical…

Russian hackers used SpaceX’s Cursor AI to breach seven firms, report finds

A Russian-speaking ransomware gang used SpaceX's AI coding assistant Cursor to breach at least seven companies earlier this year, according to a report published Thursday by cybersecurity startup Gambit Security and data reviewed by Reuters.

Android 17 hides website names from ISPs with new encryption standard

Google Alphabet Inc. on Thursday confirmed that Android 17 will be the first major mobile operating system to ship with platform-wide support for Encrypted Client Hello, a privacy standard that hides the names of websites users visit from internet service…

CEPI awards $16.5M to advance Ebola vaccine into human trials

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations announced Thursday it will provide up to $16.5 million to Egypt-based Minapharm Group to advance an experimental Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine into human trials, as the deadliest Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo history…

Google to enforce Android app memory limits starting February 2027

Google Alphabet Inc. announced on Tuesday that beginning in February 2027, all Android apps and games on the Play Store must comply with new performance thresholds covering memory usage and code optimization, or face reduced visibility and restricted publishing on…

Meta is one of Anthropic’s biggest customers despite rivalry, NYT reports

Mark Zuckerberg has spent recent weeks positioning himself as a philosophical opponent of Anthropic and its approach to artificial intelligence. But behind the scenes, his company has been quietly pouring billions into the very rival he criticizes, according to a…

AI token prices collapse as chip costs climb, squeezing investors

The price of artificial intelligence is deflating in real time while the cost of building it refuses to follow, creating a squeeze that has dominated equity markets this summer. Investors are now grappling with a central question: as intelligence becomes…

FAO report finds over half the world’s soils degrading

More than half of the world's soils are under poor or very poor management, threatening global food supplies, biodiversity, and the planet's ability to fight climate change, according to a major report released Thursday by the United Nations Food and…