Tech
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Twisteddoodles on a brand-new type of robot | New Scientist
This week's cartoon from Twisteddoodles
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Last Word: Are there plants that could survive as a food source on the moon? Part 2 | New Scientist
Fresh answers are questioning the broader applicability of the Wardian case – and note the importance of where on the moon the plants are grown
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OpenAI says it took down a malicious Russian plan to spread misinformation on ChatGPT
The International Burke Institute was central to the social influence campaign, designed to paint Russia in a better light than its Western counterparts.
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Richard Feynman’s 80-year-old quantum postulate has now been validated | New Scientist
Decades after it was posited as a foundational principle of quantum physics, Richard Feynman’s “path integral” has been directly measured in an experiment for the first time
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Forget the Samsung Watch FE — new leak reveals a secret smartwatch-lite that could rival the Apple Watch SE
A leak has revealed hints pointing towards a low-cost Samsung Galaxy Aero smartwatch.
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The quest to save the bananas we love so much makes scary reading | New Scientist
Without serious technical efforts, banana crops faces collapse worldwide. James Woodford enjoys a passionate plea from leading researcher James Dale in his new book, The Future of Bananas
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There Are No Trans Women in the WNBA, so Right-Wingers Are Making Some Up
As culture warriors continue to stoke the flames of a gender panic in professional sports, wild conspiracy theories are coming into play.
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The Meta Settlement Will Put Limits on Instagram for Teens. They’re Still Vulnerable
Child safety groups and former Meta employees welcome proposed changes to how the company’s platforms will work for teens. They also think states should have demanded more.
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Flipboard acquires Graze, the feed builder working to monetize the open social web | TechCrunch
Flipboard is acquiring Bluesky feed-building startup Graze, bringing its privacy-friendly ad technology and creator monetization tools into Flipboard’s growing open social web ecosystem.
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Meta settles its alleged social media harm case for $18B and agrees to massive changes that may be almost impossible to enforce
$12.7 billion goes to online safety initiatives, and billions more if chief competitors YouTube and TikTok fall into line
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ShinyHunters hackers claim to have hit data center provider used by Microsoft and Meta
The hackers are asking for $13 million
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OpenAI releases its official report on the Hugging Face breach | TechCrunch
The report, which spans several discrete cybersecurity compromises, is the most complete accounting of the incident to date.
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US seizes domains of Chinese botnet used to hack NASA, Justice Department, and the Senate | TechCrunch
The Justice Department said that the domain seizures made the botnet and its command and control servers "inoperable," as the domains were hardcoded into the botnet's code and were critical for the botnet's communication and essential operations.
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Ukraine pushes allies for stronger air defenses against Russia
Zelenskyy declares Ukraine must bring the war back to Russian soil as pressure mounts on Moscow's home front
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Waffle House Teleporter Gregg Phillips Is Still on the Trump Administration’s Payroll
In June, a FEMA official infamous for claiming to have teleported to a Waffle House was reportedly ousted. He’s still employed by the government, though—and meeting with a Trump fixer.
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Candidates Are Signing a Pact Promising Action on Data Centers and AI Safety
More than 15 politicians from across the country have signed on to the AI Pact, vowing to regulate data centers and AI. “We’ve got to get this right,” says Senate candidate Dan Osborn of Nebraska.
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What We Still Don’t Know About OpenAI’s Hugging Face Hack
The AI giant acknowledges that it could have done far more to prevent its AI agents from going rogue. But it still fails to explain why it didn't see this fiasco coming.
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'Play AA games on the Steam Machine and AAA games with max graphics via GeForce Now': gamers are happy to see Valve's PC get Nvidia's streaming service
Some gamers have been hoping for official GeForce Now support on Valve's PC — and that dream is now a reality.
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Tom Gauld on picking the right staff | New Scientist
Tom Gauld's weekly cartoon
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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says people think governments are using AI ‘to screw them over’, and that’s why the tech is having a ‘a crisis of trust’ — and he’s exactly right
AI is having a 'crisis of trust' because it can't be trusted
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Capital F closes $17M debut fund with goal to back the future of the 'female economy' | TechCrunch
The firm backs companies building in the “female economy,” or the markets where women drive demand — women’s health, digital commerce, and AI tools.
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How do we explain OpenAI's executive exodus? | TechCrunch
Was Greg Brockman the right executive all along?
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Democrats Just Might Win the Senate
Strategists in both parties have long thought that everything would need to go right for Democrats to take over Congress this fall. Their map, though, is becoming more forgiving.
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Meta's $18B child-safety deal hinges on age verification tech that doesn't work well | TechCrunch
The historic settlement reignites ongoing concern around how age-verification technology puts privacy at risk.
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Last Word: This week’s new questions | New Scientist
Is there such a thing as an olfactory illusion, and what forces make a particle of fluid start spiralling down a pipe instead of flowing smoothly?
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The healthcare industry isn't built for coming off medication | New Scientist
Starting a new medication is relatively easy once you have a prescription from your doctor, but stopping is much harder, because from research to revenue, the healthcare industry has little interest in getting people off drugs
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Anthropic continues compute-gobbling streak in $45B deal with Nscale | TechCrunch
The new deal with the infrastructure provider is the latest example of Anthropic's white-hot compute-gobbling streak.
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Google's Gemini has a branding problem, and so does the rest of AI | TechCrunch
Consumer AI apps need to stop making users learn their product architecture.
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Medical device maker Boston Scientific says a cyberattack is causing a 'global disruption' to its operations | TechCrunch
The company won't say if medical devices are affected or if any customer data was exfiltrated.
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Last Word: Why don’t we sneeze when we are asleep? | New Scientist
Our readers don’t agree with this statement, and even broaden out their evidence base to their furry companions
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Security expert hijacks Apple's Find My network to share data with a Linux device
A 'trusted' Linux device can impersonate an Apple device and access already-shared Find My locations
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FBI Disrupts Chinese Proxy Tools Used in Mass Hacking of US Agencies and Infrastructure
China’s hacking campaign targeted NASA, the Federal Reserve, the US Senate, the Justice Department, and more, according to the DOJ.
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The Humanoids at China’s Robot Games Were Faster Than Usain Bolt—but I’m More Impressed by Their Tweezer Mastery
Beijing’s endlessly delightful Robot Games featured tons of impressive stunts. But the most mind-blowing tricks challenged the humanoid’s brain, not its brawn.
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Nvidia custom 'NVHBM' promises 30% higher bandwidth, 15% lower power than commodity HBM4e — custom base die and PHY will be available to NVLink Fusion partners
Not a replacement for commodity HBM, though.
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Can 'quantum musical agents' really make a melody better? | New Scientist
Feedback wonders if a bum note is being struck in a new paper exploring "quantum teleportation in multi-agent systems for interactive music”
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The world's first dual-sensor CGM just got approved — FDA hails 'breakthrough' wearable for diabetes that could benefit 2.1 million Americans
The FDA has greenlit the first CGM wearable to monitor both blood sugar and ketone levels simultaneously.
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Last Word: Why do we feel emotional about fictional characters? | New Scientist
Readers provide different perspectives to tackle the question of why humans so readily adopt fiction into our lives
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Quote of the day by PsiQuantum CEO Jeremy O’Brien: 'If you think the goal is to get to the top of the Empire State Building, you build longer ladders' — a challenge to incremental hardware progress in quantum computing
The race to build a useful quantum computer is heating up
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How Rising Temperatures Likely Contributed to Nepal’s Deadly Flood
Climate change is causing glaciers to retreat and become less stable, upping the odds of catastrophic collapses.
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Gemini Live just got a major upgrade — now it can handle interruptions, visuals and multiple languages
Google just made Gemini Live feel much more human
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Meta agrees to sweeping changes to restrict kids' access to its apps as part of settlement with states | TechCrunch
One of the most notable changes is that Meta plans to implement a daily two-hour time limit for teens that can only be disabled with parental permission.
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Apple is holding its iPhone launch event on September 9 | TechCrunch
The event is expected to be a notable one, as Apple is rumored to unveil its long-awaited foldable iPhone. It'll also be the first Apple event with John Ternus as CEO, who is scheduled to take the reins of the tech giant from Tim Cook on September 1.
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Meta thought AI could do the job instead of humans — what happened next should surprise absolutely nobody
A new report claims Meta once planned to replace 60% of its workforce with AI
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CISA confirms hackers targeted over 100 US water systems during July | TechCrunch
The federal cyber agency's warning comes amid a wave of suspected Iran-backed cyberattacks targeting critical water systems across the United States.
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Only Murders in the Building season 6 confirmed release date is perfect timing — but I already hate another 'gimmicky' change Hulu and Disney+ has made
We finally know when Only Murders in the Building season 6 will be landing on Hulu and Disney+ — but I wish it hadn't made one unnecessary change.
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Argos' is slashing prices on everything from KitchenAid mixers to Dyson vacuums — I've hand-picked my top 41 Big Red sale bargains
Unmissable discounts on home appliances of all shapes and sizes
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5 graphs that show how the record-breaking El Niño will affect the world | New Scientist
A stronger El Niño means more extreme weather, including droughts and wildfires in some places and flooding and tropical storms in others
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Bill Gates wants to see a robot tax and 'Human Reserved' jobs to mitigate harms from AI | TechCrunch
Gates is mostly in the Responsible AI camp, but there are a few ideas in here we hadn't heard before.
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