Science & Tech

Apple expands silent security updates on iPhone, speeding fixes—and raising transparency questions

Apple’s “Background Security Improvements” quietly patches Safari and system libraries between iOS releases, as Australia emergency-call fixes spotlight the stakes.

#apple, #iphone, #ios, #cybersecurity, #softwareupdates

Illinois and New York City Join WHO Outbreak Network After U.S. Withdrawal

Illinois and New York City join WHO-coordinated GOARN after the U.S. exit, seeking direct global outbreak data and support—following California.

#who, #publichealth, #outbreakresponse, #goarn, #usstates

A New Proposal Would Train AI on Brain Signals — and Raise the Stakes for Mental Privacy

A neuroscientist’s preprint argues AI could learn from neuroimaging, not just clicks and text—promising better alignment while intensifying neurorights debates.

#artificialintelligence, #neurotechnology, #brainprivacy, #machinelearning, #ethics

Anthropic says new Claude model found 500-plus high-severity flaws in open-source software

Anthropic unveils Claude Opus 4.6 and says it helped uncover and validate 500+ serious, previously unknown flaws—raising new questions about AI-scale security.

#ai, #cybersecurity, #opensource, #zeroday, #anthropic

U.S. life expectancy hits record high in 2024 as overdose deaths plunge, CDC says

CDC data show U.S. life expectancy rose to 79 in 2024, topping pre-pandemic levels as overdose deaths fell 26% and COVID dropped from the top 10.

#lifeexpectancy, #overdoses, #naloxone, #cdc, #publichealth

AI Story Leads Collapse Under Basic Checks, Highlighting Hallucination Risk in Newsrooms

An in-house AI tool produced six detailed but nonexistent news leads. Editors traced them to hallucinations, underscoring the need for strict verification.

#ai, #journalism, #misinformation, #verification

CERN study finds early-universe quark-gluon plasma leaves a liquidlike wake

Using 2018 LHC lead-ion data, CMS reports clearest evidence yet that quark-gluon plasma behaves like a liquid, complete with wakes.

#cern, #lhc, #particlephysics, #quarkgluonplasma, #cosmology

Back-to-back Starlink launches push SpaceX past 11,000 satellites, deepening debates over security and sky crowding

Two Falcon 9 missions in 13 hours grew Starlink’s fleet past 9,600 active satellites, underscoring its role in war, broadband and orbit policy.

#spacex, #starlink, #satellites, #spacepolicy, #nationalsecurity

International AI safety report warns frontier systems are outpacing oversight

A major international report says frontier AI is advancing faster than testing and governance, raising risks from deepfakes to cyber and bio misuse.

#ai, #aisafety, #deepfakes, #cybersecurity, #governance

U.N. weather agency warns January 2026 was a ‘month of extremes’ as heat, floods and cold hit worldwide

WMO says January 2026 brought global weather extremes—from Mozambique floods to Chile fires and Australia heat—against record warmth.

#climatechange, #extremeweather, #wmo, #flooding, #heatwave

South Carolina measles outbreak nears 800 cases, testing U.S. elimination status

Spartanburg County leads the nation’s largest measles outbreak in decades, forcing school quarantines as officials warn U.S. status is at risk.

#measles, #vaccines, #southcarolina, #publichealth, #schools

Study Warns Ultra-High-Frequency Gravitational Waves May Be Too Faint to Hear

A new arXiv analysis finds cosmological bounds leave few viable sources of megahertz–gigahertz gravitational waves, tightening targets for would-be detectors.

#gravitationalwaves, #cosmology, #earlyuniverse, #physics, #detectors

Meta’s $135 Billion AI Spending Plan Raises the Stakes for Big Tech—and the Power Grid

Meta projects up to $135B in 2026 capex for AI data centers, jolting rivals and suppliers while intensifying pressure on chips, energy and regulation.

#meta, #artificialintelligence, #datacenters, #capex, #powergrid

Google Tests Gemini-Powered ‘Auto Browse’ Agent Inside Chrome

Google is rolling out an experimental Chrome feature that lets Gemini click, scroll and fill forms to complete online tasks—raising new security and privacy questions.

#google, #chrome, #gemini, #aiagents, #cybersecurity

Ethiopia Declares Marburg Outbreak Over After 42 Days With No New Cases

Ethiopia ended its first Marburg outbreak after a 42-day countdown with no new cases. Nineteen cases were recorded and 14 people died.

#ethiopia, #marburg, #outbreak, #who, #publichealth