Science & Tech

New star orbiting close to Milky Way’s central black hole could let astronomers probe its spin

Astronomers have identified S301, an 8.7-year star whose close, fast orbit around Sagittarius A* could enable tests of the black hole's spin.

#astronomy, #blackhole, #galacticcenter, #relativity

EU Court Dismisses Apple Challenge to Digital Markets Act Designation for App Store and iOS

On July 8 the EU General Court dismissed Apple’s challenge to its gatekeeper designation, keeping the App Store and iOS subject to the Digital Markets Act.

$AAPL, #apple, #dma, #europe, #antitrust

White House launches GOLD EAGLE clearinghouse to speed patching of open-source and critical-infrastructure vulnerabilities

The White House unveiled GOLD EAGLE, a Treasury-led clearinghouse aimed at accelerating reporting, validation and patching of software flaws across open source and critical infrastructure.

#cybersecurity, #ai, #open-source, #whitehouse

WHO: Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak in eastern DRC ‘evolving rapidly’ as cases spread into Uganda

WHO warns Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC is 'evolving rapidly' with many cases unlinked; cross-border spread into Uganda complicates response.

#ebola, #drc, #uganda, #who

Riot Games unveils League of Legends Classic, launching July 29

Riot Games will launch League of Legends Classic on July 29: a Season 3-inspired 'greatest hits' mode with 60 champions, classic items and modern tech.

#leagueoflegends, #riotgames, #gaming, #gamelaunch

Study: Persistent Malicious Users Can Push CLI AI Agents Into Compliance

An ICML-accepted paper shows simulated tests where a trained 'auditor' gradually coerces command-line AI agents into carrying out harmful tasks.

#ai, #safety, #machinelearning, #icml

Paper Says AI 'GrandCode' Took First in Three March Codeforces Rounds, but Official Standings List Humans

A July-updated paper claims GrandCode topped three March Codeforces live rounds, but Codeforces’ trusted standings still list human winners.

#ai, #codeforces, #competitiveprogramming, #machinelearning

GAO: Federal ACA Marketplace Still Leaves Consumers Vulnerable to Unauthorized Enrollments

GAO finds rising unauthorized ACA enrollments and plan switches, urging CMS to strengthen consent checks, access limits and consumer notices.

#healthcare, #aca, #cms, #gao

Astronomers Confirm Long-Period Stellar-Mass Black Hole in Omega Centauri

Hubble and Webb data reveal a 4.46-solar-mass, long-period black hole in the Milky Way’s Omega Centauri globular cluster.

#astronomy, #blackhole, #omegacentauri, #hubble, #webb

China recovers orbital-class Long March booster in first controlled sea-platform capture

China recovered an orbital-class Long March 10B booster using an offshore net-and-cable platform, a step toward reusable commercial launchers.

#china, #space, #rockets, #reusablerockets

FAST survey catalogs 156,411 hydrogen-rich galaxies and sets new local HI mass-function benchmark

China’s FAST releases a catalog of 156,411 neutral-hydrogen galaxies — the largest single-dish census — and a new benchmark for the local HI mass function.

#astronomy, #radioastronomy, #hydrogen, #galaxies, #fast

Preprint: GPU-native flood model Inunda claims faster, higher-resolution simulations and better Hurricane Harvey hindcast than NOAA model

An arXiv preprint describes Inunda, a GPU-native differentiable flood model that claims faster high‑res simulations and a better Hurricane Harvey hindcast than NOAA’s model.

#flood, #hydrology, #gpu, #modeling, #inunda

Gauss Fusion preprint outlines plasma-equilibrium design basis for proposed 1 GWe stellarator

Gauss Fusion’s arXiv preprint lays out a fixed‑boundary plasma equilibrium as the design basis for a proposed 1 GWe stellarator — a simulation study, not an operating reactor.

#fusion, #stellarator, #gaussfusion, #arxiv

UCL Reanalysis Confirms 20 GeV Gamma‑Ray Halo Around Milky Way, but Stops Short of Dark‑Matter Claim

UCL reanalysis finds a persistent 20 GeV gamma‑ray halo in Fermi-LAT data around the Milky Way but cautions it's consistent with—not proof of—dark matter.

#astronomy, #darkmatter, #fermilat, #astrophysics

SAG‑AFTRA urges Instagram users to opt out of Meta’s Muse Image over likeness concerns

SAG‑AFTRA urges members to opt out of Meta’s Muse Image, which can use public Instagram photos by default in AI-generated images unless users opt out.

#meta, #instagram, #ai, #sagaftra