Science & Tech

AMD publishes detailed Instella‑MoE technical report; weights licensed for research use

AMD published a detailed technical report and checkpoints for Instella‑MoE, a 16B MoE model trained on its Instinct GPUs — but model weights are licensed for research only.

$AMD, #amd, #ai, #moe, #openmodels

Judge Rules Pentagon Unlawfully Retaliated Against Anthropic Over Surveillance Stance

A federal judge found the Pentagon unlawfully labeled Anthropic a 'supply chain risk' after the company refused to allow its AI for mass U.S. surveillance.

#anthropic, #ai, #pentagon, #firstamendment

John Ternus Becomes Apple’s CEO as Tim Cook Moves to Executive Chair

John Ternus became Apple’s CEO on Sept. 1 as Tim Cook moved to executive chair; Apple disclosed governance and compensation changes tied to the transition.

$AAPL, #apple, #ceo, #timcook, #johnternus

Judge Approves Meta Settlement That Mandates Age Checks, Teen Limits and Years of Audits

Federal judge approved a ~$17bn Meta settlement that mandates age-assurance checks, default teen limits, parental controls and years of audits.

#meta, #privacy, #teens, #settlement

NASA awards Blue Origin up to $700 million contract to build Mars telecommunications network

NASA selected Blue Origin to build and operate a Mars Telecommunications Network under a contract worth up to $700M; an orbiter is due by Dec. 31, 2028.

#nasa, #blueorigin, #mars, #space, #telecommunications

Google rolls out 'agentic video understanding' in Gemini Flash to cut token use and costs

Google adds 'agentic video understanding' to Gemini Flash models to analyze only relevant segments, cutting token use, cost and speeding long-video analysis.

$GOOGL, #google, #gemini, #ai, #video, #cloud

SPT-3G produces high-precision CMB lensing map, sharpens neutrino-mass and structure-growth limits

SPT-3G releases a high signal-to-noise CMB lensing map from 2019–20 South Pole data, tightening structure-growth and neutrino-mass constraints.

#cmb, #cosmology, #spt3g, #neutrinos

Deeper X‑ray and JWST Data Cast Doubt on Claimed Black Hole in Galaxy UHZ1

Deep Chandra and JWST reanalysis finds no solid X‑ray or mid‑IR evidence that galaxy UHZ1 (z=10.05) hosts the luminous, obscured black hole claimed in 2023.

#astronomy, #black-holes, #jwst, #chandra

ArXiv preprint: DC electric field cools bosonic NaRb to quantum degeneracy and forms self-bound droplets

A Princeton-led arXiv preprint reports that a single static (dc) electric field cooled bosonic NaRb molecules to quantum degeneracy and produced self-bound droplets.

#physics, #ultracold, #molecules, #quantum

Cronos halted block production after Tectonic exploit; preliminary losses estimated $66–75M

Cronos halted its blockchain on Aug. 30 after an exploit at Tectonic froze activity; on-chain researchers estimate $66–75 million in preliminary losses.

#crypto, #defi, #blockchain, #security

EU Names ChatGPT a 'Very Large' Search Engine; Reddit and Roblox Also Designated Under DSA

EU adds ChatGPT to top-tier DSA search engines, and names Reddit and Roblox very-large platforms—bringing all three under stricter EU oversight.

#ai, #dsa, #chatgpt, #reddit, #roblox

Cosmos Labs: Shared Cosmos EVM Vulnerability Exploited on Six Chains, $5.7M Taken

Cosmos Labs says an underflow bug in its shared Cosmos EVM module was exploited across six blockchains in August, enabling roughly $5.7M in cash-outs.

#blockchain, #cybersecurity, #cosmos, #cryptocurrency

DESI DR1 Reanalysis Sets Neutrino Mass Limit That Appears to Disfavor Inverted Ordering

Independent reanalysis of DESI DR1 finds a 95% cosmological upper limit on summed neutrino mass that appears to disfavor the inverted hierarchy.

#neutrinos, #cosmology, #desi, #astrophysics

NASA Launches Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Headed for L2 to Study Dark Energy and Exoplanets

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched from Kennedy Space Center, starting a three-month cruise to Sun–Earth L2 to study dark energy, dark matter and exoplanets.

#nasa, #space, #telescope, #exoplanets, #darkenergy

Sham-controlled trial finds pulmonary vein isolation no better than sham for atrial fibrillation quality of life at six months

A multicentre sham-controlled trial in Europe published in The Lancet found PVI didn’t improve AF-related quality of life versus sham at six months.

#atrialfibrillation, #catheterablation, #cardiology, #clinicaltrials