Category: Science

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A massive rocket owned by Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin detonated during engine testing, producing an enormous orange explosion that could be seen and felt across a wide area.

The space company was conducting fuel tests on their towering New Glenn rocket Thursday evening, planning to fire the engines momentarily in preparation for a planned satellite mission next week. However, the 321-foot tall rocket erupted in flames, damaging portions of the launch facility.

On Friday, emergency authorities issued warnings for residents to stay away from any debris that could potentially reach shorelines and instead contact 911 immediately.

The New Glenn rocket takes its name from John Glenn, America’s first astronaut to orbit Earth. Blue Origin intends to use this rocket system for delivering lunar landing vehicles as part of NASA’s Artemis initiative, which seeks to establish a major installation near the moon’s southern region. The space agency hopes to achieve the first Artemis crew landings by 2028 at the earliest. Just days before this incident, NASA granted Blue Origin a new multi-hundred-million-dollar agreement.

The rocket was empty of its intended payload of 48 Amazon Leo satellites when the explosion occurred. A separate group of Amazon Leo satellites — designed to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink network in providing internet access to isolated areas — remained safely positioned miles away at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, scheduled for launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

Less than half a day after Blue Origin’s mishap, SpaceX successfully deployed additional Starlink satellites Friday morning. CEO Elon Musk operates two launch facilities — one at the Space Force location where the recent Falcon 9 departed, and another at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Blue Origin operates only one Florida launch site. Their smaller New Shepard vehicles launch from Texas, carrying paying passengers and research payloads on brief space journeys lasting several minutes. These tourist flights were suspended in January to allow the company to concentrate on New Glenn development and future lunar missions. All operations remain halted while investigators examine the cause of Thursday’s explosion.

Three Chinese astronauts safely landed back on Earth Friday evening after completing a mission that lasted almost seven months in space, having finished passing responsibilities to a new crew earlier in the week.

The spacecraft transporting astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang from the Shenzhou 21 mission made its descent at the Dongfeng landing site located in north China’s Inner Mongolia region. This mission concludes as China moves forward with plans for its initial lunar landing mission scheduled for 2030.

According to the China Manned Space Agency, as reported by the official Xinhua News Agency, the astronauts accomplished numerous objectives during their stay, including handling and sending experimental data and moving leftover supplies. The crew also passed along their knowledge to the Shenzhou 23 team members who reached the space station this past Monday, Xinhua reported.

Xinhua’s earlier reports indicated the crew had finished three spacewalk activities. Zhang Jingbo, the space agency’s spokesperson, noted that Zhang Lu, who previously participated in the Shenzhou 15 mission to the space station, had now completed seven such operations in total — making him the Chinese astronaut with the highest number of spacewalks, according to the report.

Among the three astronauts who reached the Tiangong space station aboard the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft, one is scheduled to remain for a full year. In Chinese, Tiangong translates to “Heavenly Palace.”

The crew members are commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who Chinese officials also refer to as Li Jiaying, using the Mandarin version of her name. Lai, a Hong Kong native, represents the first astronaut from that city to participate in a space mission.

With China expanding its space initiatives, its astronauts have conducted numerous missions to the Tiangong space station, which was built after China was essentially barred from the International Space Station due to U.S. national security considerations.

The United States remains China’s primary competitor in space exploration, with NASA targeting 2028 for landing astronauts on the moon’s surface.

Scientists have finally solved one of paleontology’s most puzzling questions: why did Tyrannosaurus rex develop such an enormous head while keeping ridiculously small arms?

New research shows that this bizarre body design wasn’t random. As plant-eating dinosaurs grew to massive sizes after dinosaurs became the dominant land creatures, meat-eating predators evolved stronger skulls to tackle bigger prey, while their arms gradually became less important for hunting.

The study found that this evolutionary pattern occurred independently in five different groups of theropods – the two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs. This suggests the combination of big heads and small arms provided significant survival advantages.

T. rex’s comically tiny limbs have long captured public imagination, inspiring countless internet jokes about the fearsome hunter’s inability to clap or do push-ups. But the new findings reveal there was serious evolutionary logic behind this design.

Dinosaurs first emerged around 230 million years ago during the Triassic Period, then ruled the planet through the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods until an asteroid impact wiped them out 66 million years ago. Early meat-eating dinosaurs had well-developed arms that helped them catch prey, but this changed as enormous plant-eaters like long-necked sauropods appeared.

“Body size in dinosaurs increased massively from the Triassic to the end-Cretaceous, so it’s likely that the increase in body size drove some theropods to shift towards using their heads more than their limbs in hunting. Effectively, the forelimbs became redundant in hunting,” explained Charlie Scherer, a University College London doctoral student in paleontology who led the research published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

“Natural selection will act on the traits which allow an animal to survive and thrive in its ecosystem. If that means sacrificing the size of the arms for a stronger head, which is the primary weapon for the animal, then that’s likely what will happen,” Scherer added.

The research team developed a new system for measuring skull strength based on factors like skull size, bite power, tooth design, and bone fusion patterns. Tyrannosaurus, which roamed North America during the Cretaceous period, ranked highest, followed by Tyrannotitan from Cretaceous South America.

The study revealed a strong connection between skull strength and arm reduction across multiple dinosaur groups: tyrannosaurs including Tyrannosaurus; carcharodontosaurs including Carcharodontosaurus from Cretaceous Africa; megalosaurs including Megalosaurus from Jurassic England; ceratosaurs including Ceratosaurus from Jurassic North America and Europe; and abelisaurs including Abelisaurus from Cretaceous South America.

These groups included top predators that used large body size and powerful jaws to hunt various giant plant-eaters including sauropods, horned dinosaurs, armored dinosaurs, and duck-billed dinosaurs. One of the earliest examples was Eoabelisaurus, which lived in South America about 170 million years ago during the Jurassic period.

However, not all large meat-eating dinosaurs followed this pattern. Some groups kept long, powerful arms, including Spinosaurus from Cretaceous Africa and Megaraptor from Cretaceous South America.

These dinosaurs “have incredibly large and mobile arms for their body size, which suggest a more prominent role for them in hunting compared to something like T. rex,” Scherer noted.

Smaller theropods also maintained useful arms, including the evolutionary line that eventually led to modern birds.

For giants like Tyrannosaurus, researchers remain uncertain about what purpose the tiny arms served. Not only were T. rex’s arms weak and short, but they had only two fingers instead of the typical three or more.

“Potentially, they did nothing with them – they were just useless. This raises the question: why did they have tiny arms, rather than no arms? If the tiny arms are still there, then it is possible that they still retain some kind of function that we are not aware of,” said University College London paleontologist and study co-author Paul Upchurch.

“For me, however, this is unlikely, and I think something else is going on,” Upchurch continued.

When body parts become unnecessary, genetic changes typically cause them to shrink so animals don’t waste energy building structures they don’t need, Upchurch explained.

“But we know that genetics is complicated, and very often genes have more than one role. For example, a gene might be involved in building something that the animal no longer needs, but the same gene might also be doing something in another part of the body that the animal does still need. This means that the gene is maintained because it is still doing something useful, so the useless structure persists in a reduced form rather than disappearing completely,” Upchurch said.

Taiwan’s premier technology trade show next week is expected to shine a spotlight on Nvidia’s deepening investment in the island nation and Taiwan’s expanding influence in artificial intelligence infrastructure development.

The Nvidia chief executive, Jensen Huang, who arrived in Taipei over a week before the event begins, emphasized his company’s commitment on Wednesday by announcing plans to invest up to $150 billion annually in Taiwan, describing the nation as the center of the artificial intelligence revolution.

“Many years ago, we had 10 partners. Five years ago, maybe 50 partners. Now we have 150 partners,” Huang stated.

Similarly, AMD’s chief executive Lisa Su announced last week that her company plans to invest more than $10 billion in Taiwan’s artificial intelligence industry, noting the company is working with local partners to ensure adequate capacity for growth in 2026 and beyond.

The island nation features a comprehensive network essential for AI data centers, including manufacturers of AI servers, packaging facilities, and component suppliers.

“Taiwan’s AI role is moving from a semiconductor story to an infrastructure story,” commented Ryan Fletcher, a partner at McKinsey & Company.

“The question is no longer only who makes the chip, but who can turn it into a powered, cooled, networked and serviceable AI system.”

The Computex exhibition will take place from June 2-5, beginning with an opening presentation from Huang on Monday, with strengthened relationships between Nvidia and its partners expected to be a major focus.

Since his arrival in Taiwan, Huang has maintained an intensive schedule of meetings and dinners with supply chain leaders, including sessions with TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu and Quanta Computer Chairman Barry Lam.

Although Computex has historically focused on consumer electronics, Nvidia has transformed it into a more enterprise-focused event in recent years. Expected highlights include the company’s data center offerings, including its latest Vera Rubin AI computing platform and Vera central processing unit, along with developments in robotics and manufacturing AI applications.

The show, anticipated to be the largest Computex ever with 1,500 exhibitors, will feature other prominent technology executives including Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Qualcomm Chief Executive Cristiano Amon and Arm boss Rene Haas.

Marvell’s chief executive, Matt Murphy, and NXP Semiconductors CEO Rafael Sotomayor are also scheduled to attend.

Intel’s presentation by Tan will draw significant attention from industry observers.

“He’s been able to get Intel back on its feet and his keynote will give indications on other directions that he is looking to take the company,” said Bryan Ma, vice president, client devices research at IDC.

Ma noted he will be watching for developments including a long-rumored Nvidia PC platform, Intel’s Arc G-series processors for handheld gaming devices, and will assess industry sentiment amid elevated memory costs.

Intel is anticipated to highlight its numerous partnerships and renewed focus on high-performance central processing units for AI inference, according to Ian Cutress, chief analyst at More than Moore.

The technology showcase occurs during a period of increased geopolitical tensions.

China’s President Xi Jinping warned U.S. President Donald Trump at their recent summit that mismanaging Taiwan issues could result in conflict between the nations. China has also intensified pressure on Taiwan through increased military activity in surrounding areas.

Despite these tensions, Taiwan’s technology business continues to thrive. The island’s server exports jumped to $60 billion last year, up dramatically from just $571 million in 2017.

A major Chinese technology company has revealed a new strategy for developing advanced computer chips that could help the nation work around US trade restrictions that have limited access to sophisticated manufacturing equipment.

Huawei introduced an innovative semiconductor design philosophy this week that prioritizes enhancing signal transmission speeds instead of continuing the traditional approach of making transistors progressively smaller. This new method could provide China with an alternative pathway to create state-of-the-art chips despite sanctions that have been in place since 2019.

The restrictions have prevented China from obtaining the most sophisticated extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, which has hampered Chinese chipmakers’ ability to compete with global industry leaders like Taiwan’s TSMC in the race to develop increasingly miniaturized manufacturing processes that enhance chip performance.

The semiconductor field has long followed Moore’s Law, which states that the number of transistors on a microchip approximately doubles every two years. Huawei’s alternative strategy introduces what the company calls the Tau Scaling Law, which focuses on reducing the time required for signals to travel through chips and broader computing systems.

The company’s core innovation, known as LogicFolding, involves organizing logic, analogue and memory circuits in layered, more closely connected configurations. This arrangement could potentially enhance density, efficiency and processing speeds over the coming decade.

Supporters view this approach as a method to continue chip advancement as traditional manufacturing improvements begin to plateau.

“For Huawei, chips face two key constraints. One is inevitable that Moore’s Law will hit a physical ‘wall’ within the next decade,” said He Tingbo, the president of Huawei’s semiconductor business, in comments to China’s People’s Daily this week.

“The other is accidental because of the external restrictions that Huawei encountered this ‘wall’ earlier than its peers,” she added, apparently referring to US sanctions on importing advanced manufacturing equipment.

However, some industry experts argue that minimizing latency has always been a component of semiconductor design and that many of the fundamental concepts resemble existing work in three-dimensional stacking, advanced packaging and system optimization.

“This is a breakthrough for Huawei, but it’s not a threat for TSMC,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told reporters in Taipei on Thursday. “TSMC has been using die stacking and 3D packaging for how long now? Almost 10 years. And so TSMC’s technology is very advanced.”

The semiconductor industry has already adopted advanced packaging technologies that stack chips vertically in the pursuit of building more powerful computing systems. TSMC has led this field with its packaging technology called SoIC, which allows for more tightly integrated diverse chiplets to reduce size and boost performance.

Memory chip manufacturers such as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics also employ advanced 3D stacking and packaging technologies to create multi-layer memory chips, which are essential components of AI chipsets, while improving power efficiency and performance.

Huawei contends that LogicFolding may surpass commonly used 3D integrated circuit stacking techniques by “very finely and carefully split the critical paths of logic circuits across multiple layers,” according to Liao Heng, chief scientist at Huawei Semiconductor.

However, Bernstein analysts warned in a research note that while stacking multiple chip layers increases transistor density, it also raises power density and creates risks of chip overheating. Production yields and costs will present additional obstacles for widespread adoption, they noted.

Huawei’s own development timeline acknowledges these challenges. The company’s executive said the approach would require new semiconductor design tools adapted to folded chip architectures, along with improved methods for managing heat across devices from smartphones to large AI data centers.

“With the methodology of not optimising the area on a chip level, but on a system level based on time, that will dramatically change the capability requirements for the EDA (electronic design automation) vendors,” said Handel H. Jones, CEO of International Business Strategies, during a panel discussion on Tau Scaling on Tuesday.

Standard electronic design automation software from vendors like Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys serves a vital function in developing blueprints for complex semiconductor devices.

Huawei’s most specific assertions focused on a new Kirin smartphone chip scheduled for release later this year, which would be the first to implement its LogicFolding architecture.

Compared to its previous single-layer design, the new chip would boost power efficiency by 41% and increase the chip’s maximum operating speed by nearly 13%, according to Huawei’s He in a speech on Monday.

These numbers would be substantial if achieved in mass production. However, Huawei did not share production yield data, cost comparisons or a detailed explanation of how the improvements would measure against competing chips manufactured using more advanced process technologies.

“There’s nothing concrete that can be independently verified or benchmarked against other players at the moment,” said Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at tech research firm Omdia.

Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin reported on Thursday that it encountered a malfunction during engine testing, with social media footage capturing their New Glenn rocket bursting into flames in a dramatic explosion.

The incident occurred during what’s known as a hot-fire test, a procedure where rocket engines are ignited while the vehicle remains secured to the ground.

“All personnel are accounted for,” Blue Origin stated in a post on X.

The company has invested billions of dollars over approximately ten years creating New Glenn, a towering rocket standing 29 stories tall featuring a reusable first stage designed to rival SpaceX’s Falcon fleet and its more advanced Starship.

The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An explosive malfunction during a rocket engine test Thursday evening sent shockwaves through surrounding neighborhoods and illuminated the Florida sky with an orange glow.

The incident involved Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin and its New Glenn rocket during what the company described as a hotfire test. Blue Origin confirmed through social media that all personnel were safely accounted for following the blast.

Local emergency authorities have stated there are no dangers from toxic vapors or other safety concerns stemming from the explosion.

This setback comes after the enormous New Glenn vehicle was previously sidelined in April when it failed to deliver a satellite to its intended orbital path due to propulsion system problems. The rocket has only completed three missions and represents Blue Origin’s vehicle of choice for delivering lunar landing craft for NASA.

The blast occurred around 9 p.m., causing structures in neighboring Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach to vibrate. Local residents quickly took to social platforms to share their experiences and seek answers about the disturbance. The launch facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36 can be seen from coastal areas, and images of the fiery explosion rapidly spread online.

“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin stated in their official response. “We will provide updates as we learn more.”

The New Glenn vehicle first launched in 2025 from Cape Canaveral and bears the name of John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth.

Residents and tourists in New York City turned their eyes skyward Thursday to witness the annual astronomical event called Manhattanhenge.

The descending sun appeared perfectly framed within a corridor of towering buildings as it aligned with Manhattan’s organized street layout before disappearing below the skyline.

Thursday’s impressive display marks only the first occurrence this year. An even more complete view of the setting sun nestled between the city’s iconic high-rises is anticipated Friday. The celestial event will return again on July 11 and 12.

This astronomical alignment occurs approximately three weeks on either side of the summer solstice.

Through the years, the event has transformed into an essential viewing experience, drawing photography enthusiasts and curious onlookers to city sidewalks during spring and summer evenings.

Here’s what makes this distinctly New York phenomenon special:

The name was created by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in a 1997 piece for “Natural History” magazine. Tyson, who leads the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, drew inspiration from his teenage visit to Stonehenge.

The television personality, who would later host programs including PBS’ “Nova ScienceNow,” participated in a research expedition guided by Gerald Hawkins, the researcher who initially proposed that Stonehenge’s ancient stone structures functioned as an astronomical observation site.

The New York native Tyson recognized similarities between the sun setting among Manhattan’s skyscrapers and the way sunlight penetrates Stonehenge’s stone circle during the solstice.

However, unlike the ancient Stonehenge architects, Manhattan’s urban designers had no intention of creating solar alignment. The effect emerged purely by coincidence.

The phenomenon doesn’t coincide with this year’s summer solstice on June 21. Rather, it occurs roughly three weeks before and after that date, when the sun positions itself in perfect harmony with the city’s east-west running streets.

Spectators can experience two distinct variations of this event.

Thursday’s display, along with July 12’s occurrence, features exactly half the sun visible above the horizon while the other half sits below during the street alignment moment, the Hayden Planetarium explains.

Friday’s event and July 11’s showing will present the complete sun appearing suspended between structures before it descends toward the New Jersey skyline beyond the Hudson River.

Popular observation locations include the city’s wide east-west avenues: 14th Street, 23rd Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street and 57th Street.

Moving eastward provides increasingly spectacular views as sunlight illuminates building surfaces lining both sides of the roadway. The phenomenon can also be observed from Long Island City in Queens, looking across the East River.

Witnessing Manhattanhenge requires no special arrangements or organized events.

Crowds typically assemble along east-west streets roughly 30 minutes before sunset to capture photographs as evening approaches. Clear skies are essential – overcast or rainy conditions prevent any visible display.

Comparable phenomena happen in other cities featuring organized street patterns. Chicagohenge and Baltimorehenge occur when sunset aligns with those cities’ grid systems during March and September, coinciding with spring and fall equinoxes. Torontohenge takes place in February and October.

However, Manhattanhenge stands out due to the exceptional height of surrounding structures and the clear western view toward the Hudson River.

Samsung Electronics announced Friday that it has commenced distribution of sample units for its newest high-bandwidth memory technology, the 12-layer HBM4E chip, which the company describes as the industry’s inaugural shipment of this advanced product type.

The technology giant from South Korea reported that this latest chip delivers performance speeds exceeding 20% compared to earlier HBM4 generation products.

According to Samsung, the chip incorporates the company’s newest 1c DRAM process technology, which represents sixth-generation 10-nanometer-class DRAM, combined with Samsung’s 4-nanometer foundry logic base die technology.

The manufacturer had announced in April its intention to deliver initial HBM4E chip samples during the second quarter.

This development follows just three months after Samsung initiated shipments of its HBM4 chips to clients in February, highlighting the company’s push to solidify its standing in the emerging AI memory sector through early distribution of cutting-edge product samples.

Among Samsung’s client base are prominent AI industry leaders including AMD, Nvidia and Google, as market demand continues growing for sophisticated memory chips utilized in AI servers and processing units.

Artificial intelligence development may become a key catalyst for expanding Middle East diplomatic partnerships, according to two prominent technology leaders who see enormous potential in regional cooperation.

Judah Taub, managing partner at Hetz Ventures, and Ofer Shacham, co-founder and CEO of Majestic Labs, believe that merging Gulf nations’ abundant energy resources with Israeli technological capabilities could position the Middle East as a major player in the global AI revolution.

Speaking to journalists during a dinner meeting in Jerusalem this week, Shacham emphasized the region’s unique advantages. “This region is primed for an AI upgrade,” Shacham stated. “The whole Gulf region has energy. Israel has the technology and the talent … Everybody basically wants to work together to build the next AI revolution in this region. It’s going to happen eventually.”

The executives highlighted how different areas bring complementary strengths to potential partnerships. Shacham noted that “together we are able to solve a much bigger problem than each one of us separately.” He pointed out that the region hasn’t yet achieved the AI adoption levels seen elsewhere globally, creating significant opportunities for rapid expansion.

A crucial factor in AI development is electrical power consumption. Taub explained that many people don’t understand how much electricity countries need to dedicate to AI technology to remain competitive.

“When you hear of AWS [Amazon Web Services], Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI, they all are now talking about how many gigawatts of AI they’re going to create, because they’re slowly realizing that the number one issue they’re all going to run into is that there simply isn’t enough electricity,” Taub said.

To illustrate the scale, Taub compared current AI power demands to scientific research facilities. While CERN experiments use approximately 0.2 to 0.3 gigawatts at peak capacity, OpenAI is planning data centers requiring about 1 gigawatt for continuous year-round operation. Starlink has projected needs of 10 gigawatts, and Elon Musk has discussed figures reaching 100 gigawatts, with each gigawatt roughly equal to powering 1 million homes.

Israel’s total electricity generation capacity stands at around 27 gigawatts, according to Taub. He predicts that once regional conflicts end and collaboration with additional Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia becomes possible, “one of the first things that moves forward is a regional collaboration for AI.”

Taub described energy as something Saudi Arabia possesses in abundance, while Israel’s technological knowledge makes such partnerships naturally beneficial for both sides.

Beyond electricity generation, companies must consider hardware requirements and emerging regulations that may restrict advanced AI technology sales. Manufacturing companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Nvidia play critical roles in this ecosystem.

“Governments have realized that these are, to an extent, the nuclear facilities of the future, and by selling some of these, you’re helping people that you might not want to leapfrog or do things that they otherwise can’t,” Taub explained.

Shacham’s company, Majestic Labs, which began operations just one month after the October 7, 2023, massacre, is working to revolutionize server architecture. The company aims to replace multiple hardware racks with single, more efficient systems.

“We started Majestic Labs to build AI infrastructure for the world with that notion and vision of ubiquitous AI; we want to bring it to everyone,” Shacham said.

Current AI infrastructure typically requires approximately 40 refrigerator-sized racks of Nvidia equipment, as Taub described. Majestic Labs is working to compress that capability into something closer to microwave-sized units.

Memory has emerged as a major industry constraint, with only a few companies manufacturing the necessary components. Nations are increasingly competing for memory supply and related technologies, which forms a central principle behind Majestic Labs’ approach.

“What Majestic gives you is 10 times, 50 times, sometimes 100 times more users per kilowatt invested in that data center,” Shacham detailed. “Ten times to 100 times more users per $1 million invested in that data center, that’s our advantage.”

According to the company’s website: “One Majestic rack holds the fast memory capacity of 25 Nvidia NVL72 Vera Rubin racks at a fraction of the power. Organizations that could never justify hyperscaler infrastructure can now run any workload.”

Shacham reported that the company expects to ship its initial servers next year and has already secured orders valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. Data centers and foundational AI companies are searching for methods to boost revenue and efficiency from investments that already require massive capital commitments.

Israel has earned recognition for constructing high-quality, optimized data centers, Taub noted. The country particularly excels in application layer development—the software that operates on top of platforms like OpenAI or Anthropic.

“We’re seeing an explosion of apps,” he observed.

Taub’s Hetz Ventures focuses on early-stage investments in Israeli companies developing fundamental cybersecurity and AI infrastructure components—the underlying systems that determine whether everything built above them functions properly.

“We’re typically the first check, the first ticket into these startups,” Taub said. “We’re writing tickets anywhere from the smallest, which will be a million dollars, and up to maybe 10 million. It really depends on the company, and we’re doing this somewhere between six and eight times a year.”

The venture capital firm has achieved several significant successes, including Granulate, which Hetz initially funded at a $6.4 million valuation before Intel acquired it for $650 million. Intel discontinued Granulate in 2024.

Hetz also provided seed funding for Israeli cybersecurity startup Silk Security, which Armis Security purchased in April 2024 for $150 million.

Shacham explained that Israel became a global technology leader, rather than focusing on industries like automobile manufacturing, partly due to its size and partly because moving software, digital products, and intellectual property is much easier than transporting physical goods when a country faces constant conflict and challenging geographical circumstances.

“Half of my company is in the US. I work with Europe, I work with Paris. I work with the Gulf States. They are fighting over us because what we have is easily transferable and very hard to come by,” Shacham said.

He added that working with Gulf States offers the additional benefit of compatible time zones, eliminating the need for anyone to work overnight hours for regional collaboration.

“The biggest market for Israeli technology is still going to be the US and Europe … but there is a cherry on top, because if the Abraham Accords can continue, if there is more stability in the region, this region as a whole could be very prosperous,” Shacham said.

While acknowledging that Saudi Arabia demonstrates clear interest in modernization and technology investment, Shacham admitted that Majestic Labs hasn’t yet converted that interest into signed agreements. However, he confirmed that discussions are already underway.

“For this region to be successful, you need to create business opportunities together,” Shacham concluded. “We need to work together so that we break down those walls, because that’s not going to come from the political aspects. It’s going to come from companies wanting to do stuff together … I think it’s pretty soon that we will have that.”

Scientists have honored McLaren Formula One driver Oscar Piastri by naming a prehistoric wasp species after him, according to a new research study.

The ancient insect was discovered preserved in amber from northern Myanmar and dates back to the middle Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Researchers published their findings in the academic journal Palaeoworld’s June edition, officially naming the species ‘Gwesped Piastrii.’

According to the research article, scientists chose to honor the racing driver for a specific reason. “The specific epithet honours Mr. Oscar Piastri for his achievements in Formula One, and because the colour of the amber piece recalled to the first author the iconic McLaren orange,” researchers wrote.

The prehistoric wasp lived during the Cretaceous period, which concluded 65 million years ago.

The 25-year-old Australian racing driver entered Formula One competition in 2023 and has secured nine grand prix victories during his career. Piastri is currently at the Isle of Man TT races during a break before the Monaco Grand Prix scheduled for June 7, and has not yet responded to news of the scientific honor.

A recent scientific breakthrough may finally explain how pigeons manage to find their way home across vast distances without getting lost.

While animals employ different methods for navigation such as star patterns and landmark recognition, many birds, fish and sea turtles rely on Earth’s magnetic field for direction. However, the exact mechanism behind this ability has remained unclear to scientists.

These remarkable birds are capable of flying hundreds of miles in one day and have served humans for millennia as messengers carrying news, correspondence and wartime communications.

Researchers have spent decades attempting to solve the puzzle of pigeon navigation. Various theories have emerged, with some scientists proposing that birds sense magnetic signals through light-detecting molecules in their eyes, while others believe the process occurs in their beak or inner ear.

“The magnetic sense has been this mystery for almost 100 years,” explained Martin Wikelski from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany.

In their latest research, Wikelski and his team set out to uncover the secrets behind pigeon navigation by examining the birds’ organs for magnetic indicators. Their investigation revealed a powerful signal in a surprising location: the liver.

The study found that specific immune cells within the pigeon’s liver process red blood cells and accumulate iron. When researchers temporarily removed these immune cells from pigeons before releasing them, the birds “just couldn’t find their way,” according to Christian Kurts from the University of Bonn in Germany. This finding indicates that these iron-containing liver cells may be essential for directional sensing.

Interestingly, the birds only lost their navigational abilities during cloudy conditions, as they can also rely on solar positioning for guidance.

While scientists had previously theorized about immune cells playing a role in magnetic detection, this research published Thursday in Science journal represents the first comprehensive explanation of the process.

“I would never have guessed it, but once it was explained to me, it makes sense,” commented behavioral ecologist Albert Kao from the University of Massachusetts Boston, who was not involved in the research.

These immune cells are positioned close to nerve pathways in the liver, which could explain how they relay magnetic information to the brain “and help the pigeons to navigate,” stated study co-author Clivia Lisowski from the University of Bonn.

The research team believes other birds and animals such as mice might use similar magnetic navigation systems. However, independent experts emphasize that additional research is required to confirm this navigational method and understand how these signals reach the brain. Although researchers discovered the strongest magnetic activity in pigeon livers, similar immune cells have been identified in other body parts including the beak and spleen.

The solution to this magnetic navigation mystery may not be singular, according to veterinary pathologist Simon Spiro and biologist Hal Drakesmith in their accompanying editorial. Birds might employ different magnetic sensing methods depending on their specific needs, whether for long-distance travel or locating precise destinations.

“Indeed, it could be prudent to have more than one way of getting home in the dark,” they noted.

Technology firm Anthropic announced Thursday it will debut an enhanced Claude Opus 4.8 system while simultaneously preparing to make its sophisticated Mythos artificial intelligence models available to all users within the next several weeks.

The Mythos system represents the AI company’s large language model equipped with enhanced cybersecurity functions that have generated worry among business leaders and government officials regarding potential consequences.

Microsoft plans to announce a collection of internally developed artificial intelligence models at its upcoming developer conference in San Francisco next week, according to a report from the Information published Thursday.

The announcement will take place during the company’s annual “Build” conference and will feature a new coding model designed to enhance its GitHub Copilot platform, the report stated. A source familiar with the plans told the publication that Microsoft also intends to introduce specialized models for transcription, reasoning, speech processing, and image analysis.

When contacted about the report, Microsoft chose not to provide a statement.

Following news of the planned announcement, Microsoft’s stock price rose nearly 3 percent during trading.

The software giant is working to strengthen its artificial intelligence capabilities as it seeks greater independence from OpenAI, which has been a crucial partner. The relationship between the two companies has evolved in recent months, with both organizations adjusting their partnership agreements to become less dependent on one another.

Currently, Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot development tool relies heavily on AI technology from OpenAI, Anthropic, and competitor Google. Although the platform initially showed promising adoption rates, competing products like Anthropic’s Claude Code have gained significant market share in AI-powered programming assistance.

According to earlier Reuters reporting this month, Microsoft is exploring potential acquisitions of AI startups as part of its strategy to expand beyond its OpenAI collaboration. Industry sources indicated these acquisitions could help the company attract AI expertise and achieve its objective of creating an advanced AI model within the next year.

Investor confidence in Microsoft’s AI strategy has declined this year as questions arise about the company’s early advantages in artificial intelligence. The changing dynamics with OpenAI, combined with strong AI developments from competitors Google and Amazon, have contributed to market uncertainty about Microsoft’s position in the sector.

Astronomy enthusiasts should prepare for an extraordinary celestial display this weekend featuring a blue micromoon — combining the rarity of a blue moon with the year’s most distant and tiniest-appearing full moon.

Adding to the spectacle, the bright star Antares will create a photobombing effect during Sunday’s event, delivering a triple celestial treat.

Blue moons happen approximately every two to three years whenever a month contains two complete lunar cycles. This month’s initial full moon occurred on May 1.

Due to the moon’s elliptical orbital path, this weekend’s full moon will sit unusually far from our planet at 252,360 miles (406,135 kilometers), causing it to look somewhat smaller and less bright. This contrasts with a supermoon, which occurs when the full moon moves closer than normal. The latest supermoon, by comparison, was positioned at only 225,130 miles (362,312 kilometers) from Earth.

Gianluca Masi from the Virtual Telescope Project, who plans to broadcast the event live from Italy, explained that Sunday’s micromoon will look roughly 6% smaller and 10% less luminous than a typical full moon — “differences that are subtle enough to likely go unnoticed by most observers.”

The spectacle will be particularly exciting for viewers south of the equator throughout the Pacific region.

Observers in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, eastern Australia, portions of Antarctica and several other islands will witness Antares briefly disappear as the blue micromoon moves across it.

This red supergiant star sits 550 light-years from Earth and carries the nickname “heart of scorpion” within the Scorpius constellation. One light-year equals nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).

People watching from other global locations won’t see this vanishing effect, but will still observe Antares shining steadily next to the full moon.

Despite its name, this blue moon won’t display turquoise, sapphire or any other color. The designation simply describes the unusual event of experiencing two full moons within a single month.

TOKYO (AP) — Robotic hands skilled enough to sew with a needle, child-sized dancing machines, and full-grown robots designed for package delivery took center stage Thursday at the opening of the Humanoids Summit Tokyo.

While dozens of firms participated in the showcase, featuring major names such as Boston Dynamics and Toyota Motor Corp., Chinese companies clearly emerged as the dominant force.

Chinese upstarts like Booster Robotics and LimX Dynamics have taken original innovations created in Japan and the United States and refined them, frequently targeting affordable large-scale manufacturing. This pattern mirrors what occurred across other Japanese sectors, including consumer electronics, mobile phones, and electric cars. With humanoid technology, Japan held early advantages but struggled to deliver significant commercial breakthroughs.

Tim Hornyuk, who wrote “Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots” and attended the conference, described this as the “Galapagos syndrome,” where groundbreaking Japanese innovations develop separately and fail to succeed globally.

“I really hope that Japan can come up with a Ford Model T-version of humanoid roots. But I think China has already stolen their lunch. It’s a bit too little too late,” he said.

High Torque of China’s dancing Mini Pi Plus robot, for example, cannot assist in automotive manufacturing or handle household cleaning tasks. However, it appeals with its charm and reasonable pricing, beginning at $5,500.

A notable illustration of Chinese robotics integration in Japan involved GMO, a Tokyo-based artificial intelligence and robotics firm developing a humanoid equipped with camera vision to assist Japan Airlines with cargo handling and various airport duties.

The strategy focuses on creating robots that perform tasks identically to humans, making them replaceable workers in addressing Japan’s growing labor shortage crisis.

The robot’s internal mechanisms came entirely from Unitree, a Chinese company also developing a four-legged canine-style “stellar explorer.”

Industry specialists note that Japan’s precision manufacturing expertise created favorable conditions for robotics advancement. The cultural environment of public acceptance toward robotics also contributed positively.

A recent Pew global survey revealed that Japanese citizens demonstrate high awareness of AI while showing less concern about it, approximately 28%, compared to Americans at 50%.

Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co., a robotics pioneer with its bipedal humanoid Asimo introduced in 2000, displayed a motorized four-finger robotic hand capable of fastening and removing small bolts or threading needles.

Keisuke Tsuta, assistant chief engineer, appeared unbothered that comparable mechanical hands filled nearby displays, many produced by Chinese manufacturers.

According to Tsuta, Honda’s developed technology offers superior durability and strength compared to competing products, and Japanese companies have historically demonstrated excellence in quality mass manufacturing.

The potential threat of Chinese robotics dominance didn’t concern Osaka University Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who has spent decades working on humanoids, including creating one resembling himself.

“What’s significant is that Japan has a culture that’s receptive to robotics. If we’re going to really start using robots in society, Japan is the ideal place,” he said, emphasizing that Japanese people don’t show prejudice against robots.

His mechanical duplicate, wearing all black like the professor, performed equally well, perhaps better, when addressing a fundamental philosophical question about robots’ purpose.

“I think robots will coexist with people. Robots are the mirror of human beings,” the robot responded in a somewhat flat but human-sounding voice.

Previously, the professor had addressed a comparable question with a different perspective.

“No one is interested in me. All everyone cares about is my robot,” he said, seated beside his twin-like humanoid.

“As long as people identify with what I have produced, I am a success,” he added.

The chief executive of a French artificial intelligence company has responded to recent papal concerns about military applications of AI technology, maintaining that European nations must develop defensive capabilities in response to global threats.

Arthur Mensch, who serves as CEO and co-founder of the AI startup Mistral, addressed the controversy during remarks Thursday in Paris. “We’re all for peace, but if you look at our rivals and adversaries in the world, they’re using artificial intelligence […] As long as we have adversaries that are threatening, and they are threatening, we do need to have our own capabilities,” Mensch stated.

The company simultaneously revealed plans for a new computing facility in Les Ulis, France.

Key developments include:

• Pope Leo released a statement Monday calling for global oversight to limit AI system development, expressing concerns about potential misinformation spread and risks of ongoing conflicts. The papal document also condemned military AI applications.

• When questioned about these remarks, Mistral stood by its military AI work. The firm currently supplies artificial intelligence technology to French armed forces.

• The company unveiled its Les Ulis data center project, featuring 10 megawatts of processing capacity and scheduled to begin operations in the third quarter of 2026.

• This facility joins two previously announced data centers in Sweden and France, representing part of a €4 billion investment strategy aimed at achieving 200 MW of computing capacity by late 2027.

• Data center developments are encountering community resistance globally, including within France.

• Regarding recent incidents where students disrupted AI executives speaking at American graduation events, Mensch commented: “I think there is some expected anguish around artificial intelligence, in that it’s profoundly changing the way people are working.”

• “It’s not the first time that people are a bit anguished at something coming up. But we’ll be fine. We’ll find a way to use it efficiently,” he continued.

TikTok’s parent company is working on custom computer processors to fuel its artificial intelligence operations as rising costs and supply chain issues hamper expansion efforts, according to three sources with knowledge of the project.

ByteDance’s initiative highlights the tech industry’s growing focus on “inference” – the process where AI systems are put to work on tasks requiring more processing power from central processing units alongside the graphics cards from companies like Nvidia that have powered the AI revolution.

This trend has led to processor shortages in recent months, pushing major tech companies including Google’s parent Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft to create their own custom chips to cut expenses and optimize performance for their specific needs. The development has also positioned major processor manufacturers Intel and AMD as key competitors to Nvidia’s AI market leadership.

The Beijing-based company plans to use its custom-built processors in its own servers and data centers for internal operations while preparing a large-scale launch of AI-powered products including its Coze platform, according to the first source.

ByteDance has reached out to multiple external partners for assistance with the project, with these collaborators expected to help both with chip design and securing production capacity at manufacturing facilities, sources indicated. The initiative is still in early development stages, the first source noted.

The sources requested anonymity since the plans have not been made public.

ByteDance did not provide a response to requests for comment.

The company’s strategy puts it among a growing number of technology firms that have determined the financial benefits of custom processors outweigh the challenges of developing them.

ByteDance is pursuing dual development paths for its processor project – one using technology from SoftBank-owned Arm and another based on the open-source RISC-V design framework, as it evaluates which approach best meets its long-term data center needs, sources revealed.

Creating two designs at once is a typical strategy for major tech companies, allowing them to compare options before investing in expensive, large-scale production.

Arm did not immediately provide comment when contacted.

The custom chip development effort comes as Intel has informed Chinese customers of server processor delivery delays extending up to six months, as previously reported in February.

Intel announced last month that first-quarter demand from AI companies was so intense that the company sold processors it had previously considered unsaleable.

AMD’s chief executive warned recently that the worldwide processor market remains “tight,” with demand exceeding projections and supply limitations expected to continue.

ByteDance currently purchases processors from Intel and AMD, with both companies implementing substantial price increases ranging from 10% to 35% quarter-over-quarter in recent months, according to two sources, spurring ByteDance to speed up its internal chip development efforts.

Intel stated it had adjusted pricing on certain products due to continued strong demand, higher component and material costs, and changing market conditions. AMD did not immediately respond to comment requests.

Nvidia is moving beyond graphics cards into the processor market, with its chief executive hoping the company’s new “Vera” central processors will provide access to a $200 billion market opportunity.

The company introduced a new central processor and AI system using technology from Groq – a startup focused on inference processing – in March, as part of efforts to maintain its position in the AI chip sector.

A new United Nations climate forecast warns that Earth faces an overwhelming likelihood of repeatedly breaking through critical warming limits during the next five years, while simultaneously shattering existing temperature records.

The World Meteorological Organization’s latest projections paint a concerning picture of an overheating Arctic region that could warm nearly 3 degrees Fahrenheit between now and 2030, alongside dangerous drought conditions threatening the Amazon rainforest – a vital component of Earth’s natural climate defense systems. Scientists warn that rising global temperatures from fossil fuel combustion will trigger more severe weather events, including flooding, droughts and extreme heat waves.

The forecast from the U.N. climate agency and the United Kingdom’s Meteorological Office indicates a 75% probability that average global temperatures from 2026 to 2030 will surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This benchmark represents the warming limit established by the 2015 Paris climate agreement when averaged over two decades.

A subsequent U.N. scientific assessment revealed that crossing this 1.5-degree mark increases the likelihood of fatalities, environmental hazards and species extinction. Despite appearing minimal, this fractional temperature increase places unbearable stress on vulnerable ecosystems like coral reefs and glaciers.

The WMO report indicates a 91% probability that at least one year within the next five will exceed the 1.5-degree threshold, with an 86% likelihood that one of these years will surpass 2024’s record as Earth’s hottest year on record. Projections show annual temperatures between now and 2030 ranging from 1.3 to 1.9 degrees Celsius above late 1800s levels.

“It’s important to note that (1.5) is not kind of a cliff edge that we’re going to fall off,” said report co-author Melissa Seabrook, a climate scientist at the U.K. Meteorological Office. “Every kind of 0.1 of a degree has more and more severe impact.”

She referenced this week’s extraordinary May heat wave across Europe as an example.

Sustaining temperatures above the 1.5-degree threshold for an entire year or longer “means a whole range of extreme weather events, probably many so hot/wet/dry that it exceeds anything we’ve experienced in the past and thus crucially, anything our city planning, agriculture etc. has anticipated,” Imperial College of London climate scientist Friederike Otto, who wasn’t part of the report, said in an email. “This will mean many people will lose their lives, we are in for a lot of food price shocks, and more intense wildfires.”

Most short-term predictions anticipate the development of a powerful El Nino pattern – a natural warming phenomenon in parts of the central Pacific that influences global weather patterns and elevates worldwide temperatures. The WMO report suggests this could persist through 2028. Due to this factor, Seabrook indicated 2027 will likely surpass 2024’s temperature record.

Should the upcoming five years average above 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times, Earth will have experienced a quarter-degree Celsius warming within a single decade – exceeding previous warming rates that typically measured closer to two-tenths of a degree Celsius per decade.

Climate researchers are currently examining whether global warming is gaining momentum, “which obviously is quite scary,” and these projections would provide additional support for those observing an accelerated pace of change, Seabrook noted.

The forecasts, derived from averaging approximately 200 computer simulation runs using 13 different climate models from various nations, demonstrate Arctic warming occurring 3.5 times faster than the global average, attributed to diminishing ice and snow that previously reflected solar energy back to space, Seabrook explained. This creates a self-perpetuating cycle.

“As the temperature warms, more sea ice melts, the worse this makes it,” Seabrook said.

Arctic winters from 2020 to 2025 averaged 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the 1991-2020 baseline. The WMO anticipates the next five winters will average 5.1 degrees Fahrenheit above that recent standard, Seabrook reported.

The assessment also predicts continued summer Arctic sea ice reduction.

The report anticipates increasingly warm and unusually arid conditions across the Amazon basin, potentially proving catastrophic for both regional populations and global climate stability, Seabrook stated.

Local communities depend on the Amazon for water resources, and the projected hotter, drier environment should elevate wildfire risks, Seabrook explained, potentially transforming the Amazon from a region that currently absorbs heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into an area that amplifies the climate problem.

Africa’s Sahel region, which has experienced exceptional dryness, may receive above-normal rainfall that could trigger flooding, Seabrook said.

United Nations leadership emphasized that climate change mitigation efforts remain insufficient.

“Despite the progress of recent years, it’s clear that global heating is still outpacing global efforts to contain it, and the baking temperatures in Europe, India and elsewhere show yet again the brutal human and economic impacts of humanity still burning colossal amounts of coal, oil and gas,” U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell said about the WMO report.

“Whether it’s extreme heat, mega-storms, floods, massive wildfires or droughts hitting food supply and prices,” he said, “every nation is already paying a huge price from this global climate crisis.”

NEW YORK (AP) — That beloved pair of denim in your wardrobe likely journeyed across the globe, passing through cotton fields, dyeing facilities, washing plants and manufacturing sites before reaching your dresser. The fabric might be brand new but appears aged through stone washing, sanding, chemical bleaching or laser treatments to achieve that worn look.

These manufacturing steps demand substantial water, energy and chemical usage — contributing to why denim has emerged as a key focus for environmental initiatives throughout the fashion sector, which ranks among the globe’s largest greenhouse gas contributors.

Companies are addressing increased consumer awareness by promoting their denim as “sustainable,” highlighting regenerative cotton sources, recycled materials and water-conserving production methods. However, determining the accuracy of these claims proves much more complex. Sustainability lacks a clear definition and universal measurement standards.

Last week, Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein acquired Everlane, a brand known for transparency and sustainability efforts, highlighting broader tensions over scale and affordability. Enhanced sustainable methods typically increase costs, creating challenges for businesses operating with rapid production schedules and budget pricing to implement these practices broadly. Shoppers must navigate complex considerations involving agricultural methods, chemical treatments, worker conditions and varying price points.

Industry professionals recommend consumers research actual jean manufacturing processes to identify truly sustainable options.

Cotton serves as the primary material for most denim, and this crop often demands substantial water, fertilizer and pesticide applications.

Beth Jensen, chief impact officer at the nonprofit Textile Exchange, noted that numerous companies still cannot fully trace their cotton origins. Since denim manufacturing frequently involves multiple nations and suppliers, monitoring workplace conditions also becomes challenging.

“We as an industry, collectively, have a long way to go on this,” she said.

With growing concerns about fashion’s environmental effects, certain companies have explored alternatives like regenerative cotton, emphasizing soil wellness, ecosystem diversity and reduced synthetic chemical usage. However, as Jensen explained, methods that work on California farms may not suit locations like India or Australia due to climate differences.

Following cotton harvest, the material becomes yarn and receives dyeing — usually with indigo, requiring considerable water consumption and chemical processing. The dyed cotton then becomes denim fabric before being cut and assembled into jeans.

Finished jeans typically undergo additional treatments creating various colors, fading effects and distressed appearances. Bill Curtin, owner of New Jersey-based BPD Washhouse, explained that denim finishing divides into “wet” and “dry” methods.

Wet processing involves washing denim with water, chemicals and treatments that lighten or alter the fabric color. Traditional methods used pumice stones for achieving weathered, stonewashed appearances — with stones frequently imported from Mexico, increasing transportation emissions and expenses. Many operations now use enzyme-based substitutes and ozone systems requiring less water.

Dry processing creates wear patterns, whisker marks and torn details through manual work or laser systems, which Curtin described as more efficient and requiring less manual labor.

Stretch denim often includes materials like polyester or elastane — petroleum-based synthetic fibers that may release microplastics during use.

Fashion designer Maria McManus spent years considering adding denim to her environmentally conscious collection but couldn’t find production methods matching her principles. The obstacle, she explained, remained the washing procedures.

“From a water and chemical perspective, it’s very invasive,” she said.

Instead, she obtained dark, untreated denim from Japan — indigo-dyed with minimal processing — and eliminated washing entirely, avoiding the faded and weathered appearance characterizing most commercial jeans. This represented an intentional limitation maintained for years.

Progress occurred through her partnership with Agolde, a prominent denim company. Together with its parent organization Citizens of Humanity, the brand has earned fashion industry recognition for emphasizing regenerative cotton cultivation.

The collaboration provided McManus access to resources her smaller company couldn’t develop independently — a consulting firm connecting her with regenerative cotton producers, an approved indigo-dyeing method using biochemical instead of petrochemical dyes, and thorough supply chain verification.

Even this approach, she noted, involves complications. Organic and regenerative cotton harvests may fail. Supply networks prove difficult to confirm. “You know when they tell you their harvest failed” that they’re honest, she said of one supplier. “I know I can trust them because really, what they should have done as business people or capitalists was just get regular cotton — because nobody is testing this stuff.”

These methods often result in higher costs. McManus’ jeans retail for nearly $700 — reflecting limited production quantities, she explained. “It’s truly a units game.”

Industry professionals advise consumers to question unclear environmental claims and seek companies providing comprehensive details about their sourcing and production methods.

Dana Davis, a strategic fashion adviser who led sustainability efforts for the label Mara Hoffman, urged shoppers to examine beyond individual product descriptions and investigate whether companies address worker rights, materials and production locations throughout their operations — not merely in specialty collections.

“If a brand really explains the whys behind why they’re doing these things, then you can get a sense of, ‘OK, this feels authentic,’” Davis said. However, she noted that “greenwashing” — exaggerating environmental benefits — complicates consumers’ ability to identify genuine efforts.

Third-party certifications offer guidance, though Davis warned no single designation ensures sustainability. B Corp certification deserves consideration, as it assesses companies’ social and environmental performance. Certain plant-based fibers like lyocell, frequently mixed into denim, may originate from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) approved sources, showing the wood pulp came from responsibly managed forests.

One of the most effective methods for reducing denim’s environmental impact remains the least exciting: purchasing fewer jeans, wearing them longer, washing them less frequently and buying secondhand.

A life cycle study by Levi Strauss & Co. found that if 34.2 million people — representing 1 in 10 Americans — purchased secondhand jeans this year instead of new pairs, it would prevent approximately 1.5 billion pounds (roughly 0.7 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide, matching emissions from about 150,000 gasoline vehicles.

“The most sustainable thing you can do,” Jensen said, “is use a product that’s already been made.”

NEW YORK (AP) — An Asian elephant at the Bronx Zoo who provided scientists with groundbreaking insights into animal intelligence and became the focal point of a high-profile animal rights lawsuit has died at 55 years old, zoo officials announced Wednesday.

The elephant, named Happy, was euthanized on Tuesday at the facility where she had resided for nearly 50 years. According to zoo representatives, several health issues related to her advanced age had worsened over recent weeks, with the animal displaying symptoms of declining kidney or liver function. Post-mortem examination uncovered arthritis and large uterine tumors that could not be surgically removed and are impossible to detect in elephants through standard medical examinations or imaging techniques, the zoo reported.

“She was a wonderful elephant,” said interim zoo director Craig Piper during a Wednesday interview, while saddened staff members mourned the loss of an animal some had cared for more than three decades. “She served as a tremendous ambassador for elephants and for elephant conservation.”

Following Happy’s passing, the zoo’s 57-year-old elephant Patty remains the sole elephant on display in the nation’s most populous city. The facility’s governing organization, the Wildlife Conservation Society, made the decision two decades ago to cease obtaining new elephants.

Happy entered the world in the Asian wilderness and was transported to America when she was just one year old. She received her name from a character in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” prior to her 1977 arrival at the zoo.

The elephant demonstrated strong bonds with her caretakers and responded well to incentives like her preferred snacks, including watermelon and strawberries, according to Keith Lovett, the zoo’s director of animal programs. Piper noted that she would occasionally hide treats in her ear for later consumption.

In 2005, Happy demonstrated to scientists that elephants possess the ability to recognize their own reflection in mirrors — an indication of self-awareness observed in only a handful of animal species. Throughout the study, Happy stood before her mirror image and continuously used her trunk to touch an “X” mark painted above her eye, which she could only observe through the reflection.

She shared living space with other elephants until her final companion passed away in 2006. Happy subsequently lived apart from Patty and another elephant due to worries that they might not coexist peacefully, although Lovett explained the animals maintained visual, scent, and physical contact through a barrier. The third elephant, named Maxine, died in 2018.

Zoo representatives stated that the average lifespan for Asian elephants in American zoos is approximately 45 years. Their longevity in natural habitats is more challenging to determine.

Throughout Happy’s years, elephant exhibits at zoos faced growing criticism. Certain specialists argued that city-based animal facilities were inadequate for animals that travel vast distances in their natural environment. Animal welfare advocates contended that zoo enclosures were inappropriate for highly intelligent, socially complex elephants.

Several zoos eliminated their elephant displays and relocated the animals to sanctuaries, while other facilities continue supporting the housing and breeding of these creatures, maintaining that they generate public interest in wildlife preservation.

The Nonhuman Rights Project, an advocacy organization, filed a lawsuit against the Bronx Zoo in 2018, attempting to have Happy legally recognized as a “person” and relocated to a spacious animal sanctuary. This marked the first legal case of its kind involving an elephant, the group stated.

Using a legal concept typically employed to challenge unlawful human detention, the advocacy group characterized Happy as “an extraordinarily cognitively complex and autonomous nonhuman being” who was illegally denied freedom and suffered from confinement in an exhibit without elephant companions.

Zoo administrators maintained that Happy received excellent care and had access to areas for swimming, foraging, and other instinctive behaviors. Relocating her from her established home could cause her distress, the zoo argued.

New York’s highest court eventually dismissed the activists’ petition by a 5-2 vote. Colorado’s supreme court subsequently issued a comparable decision regarding five elephants at a zoo in that state.

However, two New York high court justices authored strong dissenting opinions. One described Happy’s confinement as “inherently unjust and inhumane” and “an affront to a civilized society.”

The Nonhuman Rights Project continues pursuing similar cases involving elephants in different states.

Happy chose to spend her last weeks in a non-public barn and yard area within her habitat, Piper reported. In what resembled zoo-based end-of-life care, staff members offered hydration, nutrition, and pain relief, he explained.

Officials report that Patty is currently in good health.

The Wildlife Conservation Society announced in 2006 that once only one elephant remained, the animal might be transferred to another zoo under appropriate conditions. Piper stated the zoo will approach any decision about relocating Patty from her 53-year home with careful consideration.

Chemical storage tanks number in the millions across the United States, and specialists indicate failures are extremely uncommon when facilities follow proper maintenance and inspection procedures.

However, the past week witnessed two significant hazardous material incidents on the West Coast. On Tuesday, a large container holding corrosive chemicals burst at a paper mill in Longview, Washington, resulting in two confirmed deaths and potentially nine additional fatalities. Additionally, around 50,000 residents were forced to evacuate in Southern California late last week when a chemical storage vessel overheated and posed a risk of catastrophic explosion. Officials successfully addressed the danger, allowing residents to return to their homes.

These events have sparked discussions about regulatory oversight for companies managing dangerous substances. A review by the Associated Press revealed that officials across local, state and federal jurisdictions share responsibility for maintaining safety at these operations.

Here’s what to understand:

According to chemical engineering professor Stephen Kmiotek, nearly all industries utilize chemical storage tanks. These containers are widespread because most manufacturing operations incorporate chemicals during production processes.

Kmiotek explained that while millions of tanks exist nationwide, they remain generally secure when companies adhere to construction, maintenance and inspection standards. The Worcester Polytechnic Institute professor noted that chemical tank failures occur at approximately 1 incident per 1 million tanks annually.

“There are a lot of measures in place to keep people safe,” Kmiotek stated, noting he has closely monitored the Washington situation.

However, companies must maintain adequate upkeep and inspections, especially as tanks age. He recommended increasing inspection frequency after tanks reach 10 years of operation. This becomes particularly crucial for containers storing highly caustic materials, such as the white liquor involved in the Washington incident. Tank valves require more frequent replacement in these applications.

Washington authorities reported they have not yet determined the tank’s age or when valves were last replaced.

Following the 1984 Bhopal, India, pesticide plant catastrophe that claimed at least 3,800 lives, the chemical industry implemented numerous safety improvements. These included ensuring proper tank construction and inspection, educating workers about hazards, and conducting failure analysis to identify potential risks and affected populations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency participated in responses to both incidents, and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board announced Wednesday it would investigate the Washington event. This independent federal agency examines incidents that could result in “the catastrophic release of extremely hazardous substances.”

State agencies in Washington and California supervised safety at both companies, working alongside local fire marshals and hazardous materials teams, according to Marissa Baker, an associate professor in the University of Washington, Department of Environmental & Occupational Sciences. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries would have handled inspections, she explained.

In Washington state, where chemical facilities outnumber available inspectors, the state labor agency typically initiates investigations following complaints or incidents, Baker noted.

Baker mentioned that the Washington company, Nippon Dynawave, had been subject to two state labor and industries agency investigations, though those issues were unrelated to the current situation, and the facility had experienced fires in recent years.

Federal regulations mandate that facilities storing or using hazardous chemicals maintain a “safety data sheet” outlining dangers and emergency response guidance. Companies must share this information with state, tribal and local authorities. Under an EPA right-to-know regulation, businesses must permit fire department inspections upon request.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has established procedures for industries using or storing highly dangerous chemicals, called Process Safety Management standards. These encompass inspections, training, special work permits, operating procedures and emergency planning and response.

While the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, California, would be subject to this regulation due to manufacturing materials used, it remained unclear whether the Longview paper mill must follow Process Safety Management protocols.

Stephen Lester, a public health specialist and former science director of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, expressed concern about unclear exposure level standards. One primary standard addresses workplace exposure, but no established guideline exists for safe chemical exposure levels following spills or explosions.

“Without these health-based guidelines, you’re ending up with some person making the judgment about what’s acceptable and what’s not,” Lester said, drawing from over 40 years helping communities evaluate health risks.

Additionally, workplace standards are based on an average man, failing to account for children, elderly individuals, or those with compromised immune systems.

“It’s a very tough situation. I don’t envy the scientists and the toxicologists in the position of advising the decision makers because that person’s going to have to make a judgment call in their best opinion based on what information he knows and he’s been able to research and generally accept it about the exposure to these chemicals,” Lester said.

Federal aviation officials have suspended all SpaceX Starship rocket launches while they investigate problems that occurred during last week’s test mission.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that the hour-long test flight from last Friday constituted a mishap due to issues with the massive rocket’s first-stage booster performance.

Following Friday’s liftoff from Texas, the booster detached normally but suffered engine failures during its return journey to Earth. Rather than executing a planned controlled landing in the Gulf of Mexico, the booster crashed into the water. The FAA reported no injuries or property damage occurred and will supervise the company’s investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, the upper spacecraft successfully completed its mission around Earth, deploying 20 test satellites before concluding with an intentional fiery descent into the Indian Ocean as scheduled.

Standing 407 feet tall, this rocket represents the largest and most powerful version yet of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s Starship vehicle, engineered to transport crews to Mars. NASA plans to use this spacecraft for lunar astronaut missions beginning as early as 2028 and to establish a moon base.

Maintaining steady climate conditions in museums throughout every season requires enormous amounts of power and comes with hefty costs. However, certain cultural institutions are discovering ways to address this challenge.

Museums must keep their internal environments at consistent temperature and humidity levels regardless of outside weather conditions, creating substantial energy demands that drive up operational expenses.

The term “bird watching” doesn’t encompass the complete spectrum of individuals who enjoy seeking out wild birds in their natural habitats. Among these enthusiasts are numerous birders with visual impairments who rely on their sense of hearing to pursue their passion.

These dedicated nature lovers demonstrate that enjoying birds doesn’t require perfect vision, as they’ve developed skills to identify species through their calls, songs, and other auditory cues.

Conservation specialists are working to protect seeds from extremely rare plant species following a recent wildfire that swept through Santa Rosa Island off the California coastline.

Heather Schneider from the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden discussed the facility’s conservation initiatives during a recent interview, highlighting their work to safeguard genetic material from uncommon plant varieties found on the island where the fire occurred.

The botanical garden has been actively collecting and preserving seeds from rare flora native to Santa Rosa Island as part of their broader conservation mission to protect endangered plant species from extinction.

DURHAM, N.C. — Researchers at Duke University have created a revolutionary robot that’s preparing to take on real-world challenges from every possible angle.

Rather than mimicking symmetrical forms found in nature by designing robots that resemble humans, canines, or bugs, engineering professor Boyuan Chen and his research team concentrated on consistency of movement, which he refers to as “dynamic symmetry.”

This approach led to the creation of Argus. The spherical robot takes its name from a legendary multi-eyed creature and features depth-sensing cameras mounted on 20 extending legs that project outward from a center hub. Without designated front, rear, top, or bottom surfaces, the machine can observe and travel in all directions without delay.

“Instead of measuring how your legs are arranged around a different part of your body, we’re measuring how fast you can move in any direction,” Chen said. “Who said, you know, if you have a robot to help us in a most effective way, it has to look like us?”

During testing phases, Argus has successfully traversed sandy shorelines and dense forest floor vegetation, rolling across barriers and regaining balance after being knocked off course. The robot can scale between parallel brick surfaces by alternating between bracing and pushing movements with its appendages. Even when one or multiple motors fail or a leg becomes damaged, operation continues.

“Watching Argus move is unlike watching any other robot we’ve worked with,” said Jiaxun Liu, a graduate student and co-author of a study about Argus published online Wednesday in the journal Science Robotics. “The first time we saw it navigate among trees and rough terrain, even under heavy collisions, we knew this was something different.”

During their research, the team established a new design concept called dynamic isotropy that evaluates robots on a measurement from 0 to 1 according to how evenly they can accelerate in all directions. Most currently operating robots, including humanoid models and drones, achieve scores under 0.6. Argus reaches 0.91.

“When a robot can accelerate equally well in every direction, it stops needing to face the world in any particular way,” said Chen, who hopes the same principle could guide the development of search and rescue robots, underwater or aerial vehicles or robots with the ability to grip objects.

“Instead of building a robot hand that looks like a human hand … one idea is to think about having Argus be the hand itself, and it can manipulate objects in any direction,” he said. “The knowledge we can transfer to the rest of the world is much more deeper than building an existing robot or copying an existing species.”

The nation’s highest court has given final approval to an agreement that resolves a decade-long legal battle over water rights along the Rio Grande, one of North America’s major waterways.

In a concise ruling issued Tuesday, the Supreme Court endorsed the recommendation from a special master to proceed with the settlement framework initially put forward last year by New Mexico, Texas and Colorado.

The agreement mandates cuts to groundwater extraction along the shrinking river and the elimination of water rights tied to agricultural land in southern New Mexico. State officials presented the plan as a commitment to bring stability back to a complex water storage and distribution network serving two major irrigation districts spanning southern New Mexico and western Texas.

Scientists have cautioned that the Rio Grande’s unsustainable usage patterns — the river begins in Colorado and flows southward into Mexico — pose risks to water availability for millions who depend on this cross-border watershed.

Agricultural producers in southern New Mexico have increasingly relied on underground water sources to sustain pecan groves and chile farming operations as rising temperatures and reduced precipitation have diminished river levels and reservoir capacity in recent decades. This groundwater extraction led Texas to file suit in 2013, alleging the practice was reducing water allocations.

Although the Colorado River dominates water crisis coverage, specialists note the Rio Grande faces equally serious challenges. River sections extending north to Albuquerque are projected to run completely dry again this year, representing the third occurrence within a five-year span.

Representatives from the New Mexico Department of Justice and the state engineer’s office did not respond immediately to Wednesday inquiries regarding the court’s decision. They have stated previously that these agreements will enable local water management decisions while preventing catastrophic financial penalties worth billions for water delivery shortfalls.

The settlement framework establishes a comprehensive tracking system for water allocation to Texas. New Mexico will be able to use credit and deficit mechanisms across multiple years to manage drought and wet cycles, though extended delivery delays could trigger additional water-sharing requirements.

According to the settlement terms, New Mexico must decrease yearly groundwater depletion by 18,200 acre-feet, equivalent to approximately 5.9 billion gallons (22.3 billion liters).

Authorities anticipate meeting most reduction targets through voluntary water rights purchases from landowners, which would remove more than 14 square miles (36 square kilometers) of agricultural property from production.

Additional specifics — including total costs — remain under development, but senior water officials have consistently informed New Mexico legislators that success requires “an all hands on deck approach.”

“The problems that we face with water are problems we can’t face unless we work together,” Hannah Riseley-White, director of the Interstate Stream Commission, told a group of water experts during a meeting in March.

She referenced a mix of extended land retirement programs, water conservation measures and upgraded irrigation systems.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The governor of Puerto Rico declared a state of emergency Wednesday to combat escalating coastal erosion that has been battering the U.S. territory’s northern shoreline.

Gov. Jenniffer González stated that the executive declaration will enable her administration to fast-track initiatives aimed at safeguarding natural resources and at-risk coastal areas. Officials noted in a statement that elevated sea levels, storm surges and additional environmental factors have worsened the erosion problem throughout Puerto Rico.

González committed to assisting northern municipalities, including Loiza, where residents have been forced to relocate and sections of pavement from seaside roadways have collapsed into the sea after powerful wave activity.

The emergency declaration comes just prior to the beginning of Atlantic hurricane season, which spans from June 1 through November 30.

Officials have not yet calculated the total expense for the planned protective measures.

The organization that oversees OpenAI announced Wednesday it will dedicate an initial $250 million toward grants, partnerships and direct initiatives designed to assist workers and economies as they adapt to disruption from artificial intelligence technology.

This marks the first major funding commitment from the foundation, which plans to support research examining how AI affects employment, provide assistance to workers and communities experiencing immediate job displacement, and investigate new methods for sharing AI’s economic benefits more widely across society.

“The current pace of change means the window to get this right is shorter than we’re used to, and the cost of getting it wrong is profound,” the organization stated.

Growing adoption of AI systems that can automate various tasks including computer programming has raised concerns about potential mass unemployment, with multiple corporations such as Block and Standard Chartered directly attributing recent workforce reductions to AI-driven efficiency improvements.

The foundation obtained a 26% ownership stake in the company’s for-profit division last year during a corporate reorganization that assessed its holdings at $130 billion, establishing it as among the world’s largest charitable organizations. In March, the company pledged to invest a minimum of $1 billion through its charitable arm over the coming year for AI-related initiatives, encompassing life sciences research and community programs.

The organization revealed Wednesday that its initial programs will be unveiled later this year and confirmed it is assembling a team that will operate programs directly rather than functioning solely as a grant distributor like traditional charitable organizations.

Funding will support charitable organizations along with various other types of institutions, according to the announcement.

Among the initiatives the foundation seeks to support are projects utilizing AI-powered modeling systems to predict how economic systems might transform as the technology advances.

A charitable foundation established by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, announced Wednesday the release of an artificial intelligence system designed to advance medical research and drug development.

The organization, called Biohub, introduced what it describes as a comprehensive model of protein biology that could help scientists create new treatments more efficiently. Proteins serve as the body’s fundamental building blocks, carrying out everything from structural support to energy production, but creating new proteins that remain stable and function properly in human bodies has long challenged researchers.

The new AI system operates using the fourth generation of what’s known as evolutionary scale modeling, or ESM, which analyzes protein patterns that have emerged through natural evolution and applies that information to better understand how proteins work.

“We’ve verified the model’s ability and validated many of its predictions in both immune diseases and cancer cases … It is very promising. We are hopeful that once these models are released, others will quickly adopt them to tackle some of the problems that they see in the lab,” Chan said in an interview.

Drug companies are increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence into their research operations, hoping that advanced modeling systems and automated laboratory equipment will make their development processes more effective.

The Biohub system consists of publicly available AI tools that work together to help scientists better understand and create proteins. Research teams have already used these tools to develop new protein compounds targeting cancer and immune system disorders, which have successfully reactivated immune cells during laboratory testing.

“We’re partnering with a number of different organizations that provide biological analysis platforms, and the models will be available there. But we also have a biohub.ai platform, enabling people to use the models on our servers. We will be providing compute credits for that purpose to researchers,” said Alex Rives, Biohub’s head of science.

The technology will also be accessible through other platforms including AWS Bio Discovery and SandboxAQ.

Established in 2015, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative consolidated its medical research activities under Biohub in November 2025, which included purchasing AI-biology startup EvolutionaryScale.

The couple has donated more than $7 billion to charitable causes since 2015 and has promised to donate 99% of their Meta stock holdings during their lifetimes, primarily through Biohub.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Solar and wind installations combined with battery storage are becoming the dominant choice for Africa’s emerging power infrastructure, as nations and financial backers move away from coal plants and massive hydroelectric dams seeking more affordable, quicker-to-build and dependable electricity sources.

This transformation is evident in a $1.5 billion power deal between China and Zambia revealed in early May, featuring three distinct 300-megawatt developments covering solar, wind and coal-powered generation.

Although coal’s presence highlights the continent’s ongoing requirement for steady baseline power, African nations confronting increased fuel import costs due to the Iran war, unstable electrical grids and expanding industrial needs are progressively embracing renewable power developments that can be constructed more rapidly and economically than conventional facilities.

Among the 322 power projects unveiled throughout Africa in 2025, 173 involved solar installations, with hydropower following at 46, wind at 34, gas at 22 and combined energy developments at 14, based on data from energy research company Electron Intelligence.

“Africa is not on the periphery of the global energy transition, it is sitting at its center,” said Mugwe Manga, climate finance lead at FSD Kenya. “The continent holds the world’s best renewable resources, and the economics have now decisively turned in favor of clean energy.”

According to Olamide Niyi-Afuye, CEO of the Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA), the continent is undergoing a broader strategic shift in how energy infrastructure is being developed, with an emphasis on systems that can be deployed faster and expanded gradually with flexible financing.

Niyi-Afuye pointed to the growing role of solar within mini-grid systems.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, Africa added a record 11.3 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in 2025, triple the previous year. South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia accounted for much of the growth.

Declining technology prices are providing assistance. Large-scale solar energy expenses have plummeted by almost 90% worldwide since 2010, while land-based wind expenses have decreased approximately 70%, establishing renewables as the most economical option for fresh electricity production in numerous African regions.

“Renewable energy is now unequivocally the fastest, cheapest, and most bankable way to connect people, companies and economies to the megawatts they need to grow,” said Matt Tilleard, CEO of CrossBoundary Energy, which invests in renewable energy in Africa.

A significant portion of the expansion occurs through decentralized solar and battery installations placed directly at mining operations, manufacturing facilities, telecommunications towers and residential properties.

“Most official statistics still measure the energy transition the old way, by counting megawatts connected to national grids,” he said. “But solar and batteries don’t need central utilities.”

Information from the Africa Solar Industry Association reveals 23.4 gigawatts of functioning solar developments had been documented throughout Africa by 2025’s conclusion. However, Chinese shipping data shows 58.1 gigawatts of solar panels have been delivered to African nations since 2017, indicating solar implementation may be advancing much more rapidly than government records reflect.

Financial backers increasingly prefer renewable developments because they can produce profits more quickly and with reduced vulnerability to international fuel price fluctuations.

“Solar and wind projects are especially attractive at this moment because they combine strong commercial fundamentals with relatively lower investment risk,” Niyi-Afuye said.

At the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo, CrossBoundary Energy is developing a 233-megawatt solar and battery project to supply one of Africa’s largest copper mines. Tilleard said the project moved from signing to more than 80% completion within a year. Coal-fired plants can take up to 12 years to complete, while major hydropower projects often require a decade or more.

“Investors deploy capital and see assets generating revenue within 18 months,” Tilleard said.

The continent’s renewable push is also being accelerated by policy changes. Ethiopia was the first country to ban imports of internal combustion engine vehicles, spurring faster adoption of electric vehicles. In South Africa, relaxing limits on private power generation has opened the door to a surge in industrial renewable energy projects.

Nevertheless, significant challenges persist. Numerous African power companies face financial difficulties. Consequently, lenders remain cautious about extended power purchasing contracts. Funding expenses for renewable developments in Africa reach up to three times those in developed nations due to perceived national risk, according to the International Energy Agency.

Development finance institutions, including the African Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation, are helping bridge the gap with concessional loans, guarantees and risk-sharing structures.

“What remains is not a question of technology or cost,” Manga said. “It is a question of finance, political will and preparing bankable projects that will drive demand for power on the continent.”

Major technology companies are pushing back against proposed Canadian legislation that they say could force them to weaken encryption protections without proper court oversight.

During testimony before Canada’s parliament on Tuesday, representatives from Apple and Google called for amendments to Bill C-22, which is currently under consideration by the House of Commons. The legislation was introduced by Canada’s ruling Liberal Party.

The proposed law mirrors similar measures already in place in Britain and Australia, designed to give law enforcement agencies access to encrypted information. Canadian officials say the legislation would enable them to detect security threats sooner and respond more rapidly.

End-to-end encryption ensures that nobody – not law enforcement agencies or technology companies themselves – can read protected data without the proper decryption key.

While Bill C-22 doesn’t directly mandate that tech companies disable encryption on their products, Apple, Google and Meta Platforms have all voiced opposition to the proposal. These companies contend the legislation creates a framework where government agencies could secretly order them to create backdoor access to their systems without informing users or the general public.

During their appearance before the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, both Apple and Google representatives advocated for explicit encryption safeguards and mandatory judicial review.

“Secret orders are out of step with other democratic countries and would severely restrict companies’ ability to be transparent with users about how their data is protected,” testified Jeanette Patell, director for government affairs and public policy in Canada for Google.

Apple previously received a confidential order to disable encryption in the UK last year, leading the company to remove encrypted cloud backup services from that country.

When Frank Caputo, a Conservative member from British Columbia, asked Erik Neuenschwander, senior director for user privacy and child safety at Apple, whether the company might exit Canada if forced to build backdoors into its products, Neuenschwander declined to speculate.

“I can’t speculate what would happen in that situation,” Neuenschwander responded. “Through this engagement and the continued dialogue, we hope to have positive amendments made to the bill.”

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — Roughly 16,000 residents in Southern California continue living away from their homes as authorities maintain evacuation orders due to an ongoing threat from a dangerously overheated chemical storage tank.

Last week’s emergency displaced 50,000 people from the Orange County community of Garden Grove and surrounding areas. When a fortuitous crack developed in the tank’s structure, it released built-up pressure and prevented what could have been a devastating blast, enabling most displaced residents to return during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

However, concerns about a potential smaller blast or chemical leak have kept evacuation requirements active for roughly one-third of those originally forced to leave. These residents are currently staying in hotel accommodations, temporary shelters at educational facilities, camping areas, or with relatives and friends.

Among those still displaced is Isabel Mendez, who remains away from her mobile home residence. During last week’s evacuation, she experienced facial skin irritation, lip numbness, and throat discomfort. Following costly hotel stays, she has relocated to stay with her mother in the Los Angeles region.

Mendez expressed skepticism about official safety declarations regarding her neighborhood’s condition.

“Of course it is still dangerous,” she said.

According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, contact with methyl methacrylate — an extremely combustible substance used in plastic manufacturing — may result in severe breathing difficulties, nervous system complications, and irritation affecting skin, eyes, and throat. The storage vessel at GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, a manufacturer of aircraft cockpit windows, canopies and windshields, holds between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons of this chemical.

“We apologize for the ongoing disruption this incident is causing and our priority remains its safe resolution,” the company said, “so that residents can return to their homes as quickly as possible.”

In a separate incident Tuesday, a chemical tank explosion at a Washington state pulp and paper facility resulted in at least 10 injuries, with an unknown number of fatalities and missing persons.

Work teams at the California facility operated through the night to secure two adjacent tanks, ensuring they would remain unaffected by the damaged container, according to Orange County Fire Capt. Brian Yau.

Fire officials determined the tank’s overheating resulted from a malfunctioning valve in its cooling mechanism.

“That’s what kept it at 50 degrees,” or 10 degrees Celsius, said TJ McGovern, interim chief of the Orange County Fire Authority.

“Due to that failure, the tank went into the heating-up process because it wasn’t continuing to be chilled,” he said at a news conference Monday evening.

Emergency responders continuously sprayed water onto the tank until its internal temperature dropped to 92 F (33.3 C) from the weekend’s peak of 100 F (37.7 C), fire officials reported Tuesday. The water application delivered 1,250 gallons per minute across five days, totaling approximately 9 million gallons used.

The facility’s sprinkler system continues cooling the tank, while company technical experts and firefighters have stripped away insulation to enhance the cooling process.

Fire authorities also examined storm drain water and confirmed its cleanliness, McGovern reported.

“There was no contamination,” Orange County Health Director Regina Chinsio-Kwong said at a Monday news conference. “You should feel comfortable going home even if you’re across the street from that new zone line.”

The emergency unfolded in central Orange County’s densely populated region, encompassing multiple interconnected cities including Garden Grove. This community of 170,000 residents, along with adjacent Westminster, houses Little Saigon, the world’s largest Vietnamese population center outside Vietnam. The area sits near Anaheim, location of Disneyland’s two theme parks, which remained outside evacuation zones.

The situation disrupted Memorial Day activities, graduation events, and routine daily activities.

Henry Nguyen, a 56-year-old automotive repair worker, and his family initially spent two nights sleeping in their vehicle.

Several days into the evacuation period, Nguyen said he secretly returned to their Stanton residence, which was filled with chemical vapors, to retrieve the family’s dog, cat, and betta fish.

He also collected camping gear and established a tent near an emergency shelter that officials created in a nearby park facility in Fountain Valley. Nguyen said he’s attempting to view the situation as a camping adventure in the middle of heavily populated Orange County.

He even transported archery gear to use at a park range to help occupy his teenage daughter, who returned to high school Tuesday, while they await clearance to go home.

“There’s no time frame,” he said.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District plans to conduct air monitoring for several months while the EPA will examine sewer and storm drainage systems for potential spills, Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen announced.

As the tank’s temperature rose, the chemical transformed from liquid to vapor form, increasing pressure and explosion potential, explained Andrew Whelton, a Purdue University engineering professor specializing in environmental contamination studies. Some methyl methacrylate may have already solidified into stable plastic material resembling plexiglass, decreasing the hazard level, he noted.

“The tank was on track for a catastrophic explosion,” Whelton said. “The formation of a crack seems to have allowed pressure to vent.”

Risks persist for a smaller explosion that might launch debris or create a chemical cloud moving toward nearby residences, he warned.

The tank requires cooling to approximately 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 to 21.1 degrees C) before conditions become substantially safer, he indicated.

This California emergency echoes a 2014 chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia, when storage tanks failed. That incident prevented the capital city and surrounding communities from using tap water for multiple days. Local businesses temporarily closed while hundreds sought emergency medical care for symptoms ranging from nausea to skin rashes. The disaster led to new state legislation mandating increased inspections and registration requirements for above-ground storage tanks.

The space agency has begun placing orders for equipment needed to establish a lunar outpost, just weeks following the successful Artemis II mission that broke records for deep space travel.

On Tuesday, NASA revealed details for the initial stage of constructing a moon base, distributing contract awards worth hundreds of millions to four American companies.

Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, will supply two landing vehicles to transport lunar rovers to the moon’s surface near the south polar region. The moon vehicles will be manufactured by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost. Firefly Aerospace, which achieved a successful moon landing last year, will transport the initial aerial drones to the lunar surface.

The timeline calls for all equipment to reach the moon ahead of the first Artemis crew landing, currently scheduled for 2028 at the earliest.

This past April, four astronauts completed the Artemis II mission by circling the moon, venturing further from Earth than any Apollo crews during their missions in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The upcoming Artemis III mission next year will see astronauts rehearse connecting NASA’s Orion spacecraft with lunar landing vehicles in Earth orbit, which are being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX, led by Elon Musk.

NASA has set a target of mid-2027 for Artemis III, followed by a two-person lunar landing mission as early as 2028. The lunar base’s second development stage, spanning from 2029 through the early 2030s, will focus on establishing permanent infrastructure including electrical systems. The facility is expected to accommodate astronauts for long-duration stays in dedicated living quarters during the third phase sometime in the 2030s.

“Then we’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re permanently here and we’re not giving it up,’” said NASA’s moon base program executive Carlos Garcia-Galan.

Garcia-Galan pictures a lunar facility extending across hundreds of square miles, with boundaries defined by drones called MoonFall positioned at strategic points.

Isaacman explained that these boundary markers are designed to show consideration for other nations’ spacecraft and equipment that may be operating in the vicinity. He anticipates similar courtesy from other countries.

The lunar base aims to foster commercial lunar activities while supporting scientific studies and preparing for future Mars missions, according to Isaacman.

“For those waiting patiently, the grand return is close at hand and we will not slow down,” Isaacman said. “We are really just getting started.”

Federal officials managing the Colorado River face a challenging choice between protecting endangered wildlife and maintaining affordable electricity as the waterway continues shrinking due to overuse and changing climate conditions.

Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona may need to implement what’s called a “cool mix flow” – releasing cold water from the deepest parts of its reservoir to lower river temperatures downstream and protect the humpback chub, a threatened native fish species. However, this process would bypass the dam’s power-generating turbines, resulting in substantial electricity production losses.

This decision follows the Colorado River Basin’s worst snowpack in recorded history. The river system supports agricultural operations, industries, wildlife, and supplies water to more than 40 million residents across seven states, tribal territories, and Mexico. Meanwhile, these states have yet to reach agreement on long-term water sharing arrangements beyond this year’s expiring guidelines.

“There is a limited water supply. It’s getting even lower. And with that, a lot of hard decisions need to be made,” said John Berggren, regional policy manager for the environmental nonprofit Western Resource Advocates.

Electric utilities purchasing this hydroelectric power warn that cool water releases would create expensive problems, forcing them to spend millions on alternative energy sources and increasing financial burdens for their customers. Environmental advocates counter that without these releases, warmer downstream waters this summer would enable invasive predatory fish to reproduce, further endangering the humpback chub and devastating a renowned trout fishing area.

The Bureau of Reclamation plans to announce its decision within the coming weeks, stating it’s considering multiple factors including river ecosystem health and dam power production. The Interior Department, which supervises the bureau, refused to provide comment. Should cool water releases receive approval, they would likely occur from June through October using jet tubes that bypass the surface-level turbines.

Lake Powell, one of the Colorado River’s two enormous reservoirs, currently holds just 23% of its capacity following decades of excessive use and evaporation caused by rising average temperatures from climate change. Record low water inflow is projected for this summer. With such depleted reservoir levels, warm surface water gets drawn through the generators and flows downstream.

Smallmouth bass, introduced to Lake Powell during the 1980s for recreational fishing, inhabit these warm surface areas and also get pulled through the hydroelectric generators into the river below. This creates problems for the humpback chub and other federally protected fish species in the Grand Canyon, a 278-mile stretch further south known worldwide for its geological formations. Recent research indicates approximately half the bass survive passage through the generators. When downstream river temperatures are sufficiently warm, they reproduce.

Smallmouth bass already prey on humpback chub in the river’s upper reaches, where agencies annually spend millions controlling these invaders. Native fish populations have remained safer below Glen Canyon Dam because it blocks access to the Grand Canyon – but this protection may not continue much longer.

Water temperatures immediately downstream from the dam are projected to break records established in 2022, when smallmouth bass were initially discovered there. Officials predict temperatures will consistently surpass 60 degrees Fahrenheit by mid-June due to warm water being drawn from Lake Powell. Above that threshold, non-native predatory fish passing through the dam could successfully reproduce.

Officials report that cool water releases from Lake Powell during 2024 and 2025 successfully prevented spawning.

It’s essential to weigh the consequences of not implementing the cool mix, Heather Whitlaw, field supervisor with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said during a recent meeting addressing this issue. “We are certainly just giving up on the future for any kind of recovery for humpback chub and all of the other pieces of the system that rely on those cooler water temperatures.”

Without a long-term strategy to prevent predators from passing through the dam, refusing cool water releases would force officials to depend entirely on manually removing them downstream.

Utilities dependent on hydropower from federal generators express concern.

Should cool water releases gain approval, it could mean bypassing roughly half the generation at Glen Canyon Dam, requiring utilities to purchase power from other sources that would likely cost more, according to the Utah utility group Heber Light & Power.

“We keep hearing comments that we must continue Cool Mix because the cost of not doing it will be even greater,” the Colorado River Energy Distributors Association, representing about 155 customers who purchase federal hydropower generated from the river and opposes the releases, wrote this month in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. “We would like to understand what remediation would consistently cost more than $20 to $30 (million) per year.”

The association argued the releases don’t provide a sustainable solution for preventing smallmouth bass reproduction and jeopardize a critical fund used for operating, maintaining and investing in hydropower and transmission infrastructure.

During 2024’s cool water releases, nearly 900,000 acre-feet of water bypassed the generators, resulting in $19 million in replacement energy expenses, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. The amount of water that would bypass generators this year remains unclear, though replacement costs are expected to reach around $25 million – approximately matching the total expense to hydropower users from the previous two years.

The continuing hydropower losses due to Lake Powell’s decline have created difficulties for Heber Light & Power as population increases, said Emily Brandt, the utility’s energy resource manager. The overall decline has resulted in rate increases over the past five years.

Ann Moulton, who lives in Heber City, has watched her residential electricity bill from Heber Light & Power consistently climb. Her April bill reached $125.98, up from $103.24 and $86.14 for the same month in the two previous years. This is affecting her budget, she said.

Other customers face payment difficulties. This year, the utility has experienced an increase in late payments compared to the past two years, rising from 10% to 12%.

Brandt said the utility supports fish protection, “but this particular experiment seems unnecessary.”

“We’re already seeing reduced generation from drought, and now we’re seeing even further reduced generation because of this environmental experiment,” Brandt said.

Dave Foster still recalls the 2022 trout die-off in Marble Canyon, an isolated river section between the dam and Grand Canyon entrance. Warm water killed nearly half the rainbow trout supporting the world-famous fishery, said Foster, who has worked on or near that river stretch since age 13.

He and other guides continue recovering from the die-off, he said, as “the population has simply not rebounded.” However, cool water releases in recent years have prevented additional negative impacts, and more releases this year would help them survive through fall and winter.

Foster has warned customers booking trips after mid-June that he might cancel if water becomes too warm, which can stress fish. Without cool water releases this year, “that’s it for the trout fishery,” he said. “There’s no ambiguity about it. It will destroy it.”

Brazilian authorities announced Monday they are dedicating 3.1 billion reais ($617.5 million) to support sustainable economic development in the Amazon rainforest region. The funding represents an expansion of a federal initiative called Eco Invest that officials unveiled during last year’s COP30 climate summit.

Officials say the money will support companies focused on sustainable tourism, infrastructure improvements throughout the Amazon, and expansion of what they call the “bioeconomy” — economic activities using natural resources while protecting the forest.

The financing structure involves the National Treasury providing loans to banks at a 1% annual interest rate. Banks must then generate at least four times that amount through private investment, with international investors providing a minimum of 60%. The program has secured 140 billion reais ($28 billion) in combined public and private funding to date.

Monday’s announcement included the National Treasury’s allocation of 3.1 billion reais ($617.5 million) and commitments from eight banks for an additional 10.1 billion reais ($2 billion) through the latest Eco Invest auction, according to the Ministry of Environment.

Carina Pimenta, the national secretary for the bioeconomy at the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, explained the funding could assist cooperatives that produce Amazon goods like acai and Brazil nuts, along with tourism facilities in protected areas.

The Amazon rainforest, which is the planet’s largest, serves a vital function in global climate regulation. Brazil contains over 60% of the forest, with much of it located in some of the nation’s most economically disadvantaged states. Regional projects typically involve high costs and significant investor risks, prompting the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to create the Eco Invest program in 2024 to minimize those risks through guarantees.

João Paulo Capobianco, Brazil’s environment minister, stated that Eco Invest advances Brazil’s goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 through financial incentives for Amazon economic activities that don’t depend on deforestation. Although agricultural expansion has historically driven deforestation, Capobianco noted Brazil has decreased forest loss while maintaining productivity since 2023.

The funding announcement follows a challenging week for Brazil’s environmental policies.

Last week, the lower house — predominantly conservative and supportive of agricultural business interests — passed expedited legislation that undermines environmental crime enforcement efforts, including measures that restrict action against illegal deforestation based only on satellite data.

This enforcement approach has been fundamental to Brazil’s environmental protection strategy and, according to Brazil’s natural resources agency known as IBAMA, contributed to approximately 50% reduction in Amazon deforestation since 2023.

The legislation requires Senate approval and the president’s signature, but has generated worry among environmental advocates.

“By weakening oversight tools, territorial protection and environmental governance, the measures reduce the Brazilian state’s ability to prevent, control and respond to the economic, social and climate impacts of climate change,” Climate Observatory, a network of environmental nongovernmental associations, said in a statement Monday.

Capobianco acknowledged that such congressional actions might create uncertainty about Brazil’s environmental commitments, but emphasized the country remains dedicated to meeting its climate goals.

“We will show that Brazil remains on a path of controlling and reducing deforestation,” he said.

A leading artificial intelligence executive warned Monday that tech companies should not be left alone to develop AI technology, calling for increased supervision from government officials, religious leaders and community organizations.

Chris Olah, who co-founded the AI company Anthropic, made these remarks during a Vatican ceremony where the pope presented his first official letter about artificial intelligence. Olah cautioned there exists “a real possibility” that artificial intelligence will replace human workers “at very large scale.”

“If that happens, supporting those displaced will be a moral imperative of historic proportions,” Olah stated while seated next to the pope during the Vatican event on Monday.

The tech executive explained that his company and others face significant business pressures, international competition and personal motivations that may not align with what benefits society as a whole.

“Every frontier AI lab … operates inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing,” Olah noted, emphasizing that even researchers with good intentions remain subject to these influences.

According to Olah, these competing interests make independent oversight from outside the tech industry crucial for responsible AI development.

The California State University system is providing a preview of the challenges that emerge when university leadership pushes forward with technology adoption while the academic community remains unconvinced about its educational benefits.

The large public university system’s commitment to artificial intelligence is moving ahead despite reservations from both students and faculty members who question whether the technology will actually enhance learning outcomes.

This disconnect between administrative vision and campus sentiment illustrates the broader tensions facing higher education institutions as they navigate emerging technologies and their potential impact on teaching and learning.

MUSANZE, Rwanda — In the mist-shrouded forests of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, a wildlife guide uses distinctive grunts and clicks to communicate with endangered golden monkeys, signaling his peaceful intentions through sounds they recognize.

Within this renowned African park, the challenging landscape of steep ridges and thick vegetation makes it difficult to spot even large mountain gorillas, which are also endangered. Scientists are now adopting innovative technology to better locate and safeguard these species.

The method, called environmental DNA or eDNA, enables researchers to identify wildlife through genetic traces such as hair or droppings found in soil and water sources. This approach minimizes the need for direct human contact during wildlife studies that often involve searching blindly through foggy conditions.

This technique, typically employed in ocean conservation efforts, was brought to the region by the African Wildlife Foundation working alongside Rwanda’s government. The goal is to create a comprehensive catalog of all species within the nation’s borders, supporting biodiversity protection efforts against threats from climate change and growing human populations.

“We selected eDNA as a new technology to bring solutions and to complement existing methods used in ecological monitoring,” said the foundation’s country manager for Rwanda, Patrick Nsabimana.

For many years, biodiversity tracking has depended on camera traps activated by animal movement and direct observations by park rangers.

However, this presents difficulties in challenging landscapes like the Virunga mountains, which form the core of Volcanoes National Park spanning parts of Rwanda, Uganda and Congo. Safety concerns in border regions can also restrict ranger access.

Nsabimana explained that eDNA offers an economical monitoring solution for vast ecosystems like Virunga. Researchers collect samples from areas such as downstream water sources that likely contain traces from animals living at higher elevations, then analyze them in laboratories.

“With one sample, you can detect multiple species, mammals, birds, amphibians and many others,” said Deogratias Tuyisingize, a Rwanda-based biodiversity researcher with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund that is also involved in the project.

He emphasized that combining conventional tracking methods with new technology is essential for comprehensive species monitoring. Due to the area’s steep valleys and mountain slopes, “we are sure we were missing some species.”

Project participants noted that improved knowledge of endangered species locations could enhance anti-poaching patrol efforts.

The capacity to create comprehensive biodiversity assessments is vital for conservation work, particularly as Rwanda expands certain national parks by restoring former farmland.

“We can see how species are colonizing these sites over time,” Tuyisingize said.

This enables conservationists to measure progress through the return of rare or threatened wildlife and provides early detection of invasive species.

However, the eDNA method has its constraints. It cannot accurately determine animal population sizes within an ecosystem, and DNA evidence may persist long after species have relocated.

Processing samples within Rwanda also presents challenges, as initial specimens from the project required shipment to Europe for testing.

Joshua Newton, who conducted research on eDNA for Curtin University’s Trace and Environmental DNA Laboratory, said challenges also include having cold storage to preserve DNA samples and ensuring samples are not contaminated.

Information shortfalls present another obstacle. Africa maintains relatively sparse genetic reference databases despite decades of conservation efforts across the continent, complicating efforts to match DNA samples with known species.

Most genetic reference libraries come from Europe and America, said James Munyawera, a lab specialist with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

Scientists are currently developing region-specific databases to address this gap.

The Volcanoes National Park initiative has also started educating local community members and rangers to participate in monitoring activities by gathering samples.

Chinese technology company Huawei Technologies announced Monday it anticipates creating advanced semiconductors by 2031 with transistor density matching 1.4-nanometre processes, even as U.S. trade restrictions continue to limit China’s ability to manufacture cutting-edge chips.

The announcement represents the most notable aspect of what Huawei terms the Tau Scaling Law, a fresh approach to semiconductor advancement as the industry moves beyond simply reducing transistor size.

He Tingbo, who leads Huawei’s semiconductor division and serves on its Scientist Committee, presented this new framework during a presentation called “New Semiconductor Path in Practice” at Monday’s 2026 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS) held in Shanghai, according to the company.

While Huawei has not released independent verification of performance metrics, the 1.4 nm goal carries importance since this measurement is anticipated to represent the global standard for cutting-edge chip manufacturing by decade’s end.

Industry observers generally believe China faces challenges reaching such technological levels through traditional production methods, as Washington has limited Chinese access to sophisticated lithography equipment and other essential semiconductor tools.

According to Huawei, the Tau Scaling Law concentrates on reducing the duration required for signals and information to travel within chips and computer systems. Should this approach succeed, it might provide the company with methods to enhance performance and chip capacity while working around limitations on China’s access to the most sophisticated semiconductor machinery.

The company stated that its upcoming Kirin processors, set for release in fall 2026, will be the initial products incorporating a connected design called LogicFolding, which Huawei claims will reduce internal chip wiring and significantly boost performance.

Huawei reported it has created and manufactured 381 different chips during the previous six years using the Tau Scaling Law principles, with applications spanning mobile devices and artificial intelligence computing.

China successfully sent three astronauts into orbit Sunday evening aboard the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft, with one crew member planned to remain at the space station for a full year.

The rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in China’s northwest region. This highly anticipated mission occurs as the nation works toward achieving its first human moon landing by 2030.

The three-person crew consists of mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying, who Chinese officials also refer to as Li Jiaying when using the Mandarin version of her name.

Lai represents a historic milestone as the first astronaut from Hong Kong to participate in a space mission. Born and educated in Hong Kong, she holds a doctorate in computer forensics.

According to state media reports, the team will undertake numerous scientific and practical experiments during their mission. They will also perform a crew changeover with the Shenzhou 21 astronauts, who have been living aboard the Tiangong space station for over 200 days.

One crew member from the Shenzhou 23 mission will remain at the orbital facility for twelve months, marking one of the longest individual space missions ever attempted. State media indicated this extended stay aims to “explore human adaptability and performance limits” during prolonged periods in space.

China continues expanding its space exploration efforts, with astronauts completing numerous missions to the Tiangong facility. The nation developed its own space station after being barred from participating in the International Space Station due to American national security concerns.

The United States remains China’s primary competitor in space exploration, with NASA targeting 2028 for returning astronauts to the moon’s surface.

China’s Tiangong station, meaning “Heavenly Palace,” welcomed its first crew in 2021. The previous year saw an emergency rescue mission within the Shenzhou program, translated as “Divine Vessel,” which brought home astronauts whose return vehicle had been damaged.

ARACHOVA, Greece (AP) — Giannis Stathas recalls childhood winters when heavy snowfall would trap him and other children indoors for days in Arachova, a mountain village renowned for its ski slopes and winter recreation.

“We couldn’t go to school because of the snow,” recalled Stathas, who now serves as mayor of Arachova and its surrounding region. “We might have been stuck at home for two days without being able to go out because of the snow.”

“Now we don’t see that here anymore.”

According to Stathas, the amount of snow that previously accumulated at 300 meters (984 feet) elevation now only occurs at 2,400 meters (7,874 feet) up Mount Parnassos.

Recent research from the University of Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute supports what the mayor has witnessed firsthand.

“What we found across 10 mountains of Greece, across the mainland, is that snow cover is rapidly declining,” explained Konstantis Alexopoulos, a snow hydrologist at the University of Cambridge and the National Observatory of Athens, and co-founder of the Hellenic Mountain Observatory. “We’ve lost more than half of the snow cover … since the mid-1980s.”

The research team analyzed four decades of satellite data from NASA and the European Space Agency, employing machine learning techniques to fill in information gaps caused by cloud interference and irregular satellite coverage.

According to Alexopoulos, this reduction is significant because snow functions as nature’s water storage system.

“Snowpack is really like a savings account,” he explained. “You can deposit an amount today and the longer you keep it in this savings account without spending it, the interest value is going to increase. And snow works in the exact same way.”

While rainfall quickly flows away through rivers to the ocean, snow stays trapped in mountainous areas “ultimately melting at the time that we need it the most,” Alexopoulos noted.

This natural storage system helps maintain water availability during dry periods, which proves particularly crucial in Mediterranean regions where summer precipitation remains scarce.

Alexopoulos emphasized that warming temperatures caused by greenhouse gas emissions are the primary driver behind snow loss, reducing both the amount of snowfall and how long it remains on the ground.

“The snow cover decline that we’re observing on the Greek mountains is not connected to the natural climate variability that does exist,” he stated. “The current rate of climate change globally and specifically in hotspots like the Mediterranean is much faster than what the earth has experienced previously.”

While researchers anticipated some decline, Alexopoulos said the severity caught them off guard. “Other mountainous regions of the world, such as the Andes or the Himalayas, … have all experienced a steep decline in snow cover but not at the rate that we saw in the Greek mountains.”

This research represents among the first comprehensive long-term examinations of Greek mountain conditions.

“Studying mountainous environments is inherently difficult due to remote access,” Alexopoulos explained, noting the challenges of installing and maintaining weather monitoring equipment in these locations.

“In Greece we haven’t focused so much on it because we never really understood the importance of snow’s contribution to our water resources,” he said. “But as this shifts and as this starts to decline, we are seeing those droughts, and we are trying to explain them.”

Though Mount Parnassos wasn’t included in the research, Alexopoulos said it reflects conditions found throughout Greece.

In Arachova, situated below Mount Parnassos, residents are already experiencing the effects.

“One hundred percent of Arachova’s water is supplied by snowmelt,” explained local restaurant owner Aktida Koritou.

She noted that community members have grown increasingly mindful of water conservation, taking extra precautions to avoid waste, particularly during summer months when shortages become most acute.

The mayor expressed serious worry as local springs are running dry and water reservoirs aren’t being replenished.

“The biggest problem begins in late August and early September and lasts until late September or early October,” Stathas explained.

While an unusual April snowfall surprised and pleased locals, it “will hardly help the reservoirs fill up,” according to Stathas.

Local officials are working on solutions. The municipal government is investigating small dam construction to prevent water loss, while the ski facility is implementing measures to help preserve snow for longer periods.

Reduced snowfall also creates drier plant life and heightened fire danger. Stathas said wildfires weren’t previously a concern in northern Greece, but conditions have changed.

“You could set fire among the fir trees 30 years, 40 years ago and there was never a chance that the mountain would burn,” he said. “But now there is a great danger because of the severe drought.”

Arachova’s ski-dependent economy is adapting to these changes.

Koritou, who was employed at the ski facility when it launched in the early 1980s, said skiing season now begins in January rather than December.

“No one will come to the mountain for Christmas. They will go to Switzerland. They will go wherever they find snow,” she said. “So they leave and (business) decreases. This Christmas, there was a 30% reduction, for me at least.”

To address this challenge, municipal leaders are working to expand beyond winter tourism, marketing Arachova as a summer retreat.

“Someone can swim and in 20 minutes come to stay here where it’s cool,” Stathas said. “But to be able to hold on to tourism in the summer, we have to have water.”

Residents still hold memories of previous winters. Koritou remembers farmers hurrying to collect grapes in late October ahead of the season’s first snow. People stored shovels by their entrances, and community members worked together to clear roadways. She also recalls mountain areas where snow remained year-round.

“There are some years when despair grips you,” Koritou said. “For those of us who know winter well, it’s disappointing not to see snow. You want it in the winter. The change is enormous.”

A federal courtroom battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman revealed one area where both tech billionaires found common ground: developing artificial intelligence technology demands massive financial resources and billions in funding.

While this reality appears evident today, with AI-driven stock markets fueling worldwide construction of semiconductor plants and power-intensive data facilities for chatbot operations, courtroom testimony and documents demonstrated how industry leaders with substantial influence were privately discussing these expenses almost ten years ago.

In a 2018 message to Altman and other company co-founders, Musk wrote about what he viewed as a hopeless effort to rival Google, stating: “Even raising several hundred million won’t be enough. This needs billions per year immediately or forget it.”

These escalating expenses influenced OpenAI’s path from its 2015 launch as a nonprofit organization focused on developing AI technology for public benefit to its current status as a commercial company worth $852 billion. With the San Francisco company and other AI firms preparing for potentially record-breaking Wall Street launches, the legal proceedings highlighted questions about whether non-commercial forces can guide AI’s development.

According to Karan Girotra, who teaches operations, technology, and innovation at Cornell Tech, constructing major projects using only nonprofit funding remains possible, though OpenAI’s early period coincided with AI investment uncertainty that created risk. Currently, he noted, AI investment has moved beyond speculation.

“Now it’s traditional investment in something we know works,” Girotra explained. “People want your car, you need to build the factory ahead of demand.”

Musk’s legal action claimed OpenAI abandoned its charitable purpose for AI development, alleging Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman acted secretly and improperly enriched themselves. OpenAI responded that Musk had supported for-profit company plans and filed his 2024 case to damage the ChatGPT creator’s success while developing his competing AI venture, xAI.

The Oakland, California federal jury never reached a decision on the case’s substance, finding Musk’s legal challenge exceeded statutory time limits and dismissing it Monday following three weeks of proceedings.

However, the trial documented internal conflicts that foreshadowed current social and political discussions about AI’s effects and expenses.

Microsoft’s chief technology officer Kevin Scott explained to jurors his company’s decision to invest billions supporting OpenAI’s technology development after founding supporter Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018, testifying: “It’s sort of hard to imagine at this point, given where AI has gotten.”

Scott continued: “It was before ChatGPT. It was before these remarkable things that are happening right now and so most of the people at Microsoft were very skeptical about whether or not all of these claims were going to materialize into reality.”

Microsoft, named as a defendant in the lawsuit, sought methods to compete with Google in AI research at that time. OpenAI informed Microsoft their requirements included additional data and computing capacity, promising significantly more powerful AI systems with these resources.

Scott testified: “The things that they wanted and ultimately that we helped them do were very capital-intensive projects like building giant data centers, full of very expensive computers and networks.”

Disagreement persists regarding profit’s role as the primary driver behind OpenAI’s transformation into a capitalistic enterprise, which remains unprofitable but appears headed toward a public stock offering possibly this year.

However, the constraining effect of these costs on company choices remains undisputed.

More than five years before ChatGPT’s introduction, OpenAI achieved success training an AI system to defeat professional competitors in Dota 2, a team-based video game featuring ogres, centaurs and mythical beings.

Altman testified about the achievement: “Honestly, the world reacted to it somewhat less than I thought they should have, but to us internally, it really felt like a moment where we had shown that our technology, using something called reinforcement learning, could take on an enormously complex task.”

OpenAI’s broadcast triumph over an elite Dota 2 competitor at a 2017 Seattle event elevated the small nonprofit into serious competition with Google, then considered the AI research frontrunner. This success also prompted internal reflection about nonprofit competition strategies while depending primarily on Musk and other contributors.

Describing Musk’s reaction, Altman testified: “He was impressed. And then immediately after the Dota win, Mr. Musk said he thought we really need to get more serious and figure out how to get way more capital.”

For co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, the Dota success initiated conversations about establishing a for-profit entity to facilitate fundraising.

Sutskever told jurors: “The realization is that to make progress in AI, you need a big computer. And you need the big computer because the brain is a big computer. You have a hundred billion neurons and a hundred trillion synapses in the brain.”

This led to a leadership struggle between Altman and Musk over OpenAI’s direction, with Musk later attempting to merge the AI laboratory with his automotive company Tesla. Other OpenAI executives opposed this plan, ultimately leading to Musk’s departure.

China plans to launch three astronauts to its space station this Sunday, with one crew member remaining aboard for an unprecedented year-long stay as the nation advances toward its goal of landing humans on the moon by 2030.

The Shenzhou-23 spacecraft will blast off at 11:08 p.m. local time (1508 GMT) aboard a Long March-2F Y23 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, carrying three Chinese space travelers.

Among the crew is payload specialist Li Jiaying, formerly a Hong Kong police inspector, who will become the first astronaut from Hong Kong to participate in a Chinese space mission. The mission commander is Zhu Yangzhu, while Zhang Yuanzhi serves as pilot – both are members of the People’s Liberation Army’s astronaut corps.

Officials from the China Manned Space Agency announced Saturday that which of the three astronauts will remain on the Tiangong space station for the full year will be determined based on mission developments. The yearlong duration would represent one of the longest space missions in history, though it falls short of the 14-1/2 month record established by a Russian cosmonaut in 1995.

This launch occurs as competition intensifies between China and the United States in the race to return humans to the lunar surface. The U.S. has raised concerns about what it claims are China’s intentions to colonize and extract resources from the moon, allegations that Beijing has firmly denied.

NASA targets a crewed lunar landing by 2028, two years before China’s deadline. The American space agency seeks to create a sustained lunar presence as preparation for future human missions to Mars.

Recent developments include NASA’s April achievement when four astronauts completed a historic lunar flyby as part of the Artemis II mission, traveling farther from Earth than any previous crew in the first human lunar mission in fifty years.

Additionally, Elon Musk’s SpaceX conducted a mostly successful uncrewed test of its next-generation Starship rocket on Friday, designed to support increased Starlink satellite deployments and transport future NASA lunar missions.

China faces significant challenges in meeting its 2030 target, requiring development of completely new equipment and systems for lunar operations. The nation must demonstrate mission readiness to ensure its astronauts, accustomed to the relatively secure environment of Tiangong in low-Earth orbit, can safely navigate the more dangerous journey to the moon’s surface.

Since 2021, China’s Shenzhou missions have regularly transported three-person crews to the station for six-month assignments. The Chinese space program is currently preparing two Pakistani astronauts, with one potentially joining an anticipated Tiangong mission later this year for a brief stay.

The preceding mission, Shenzhou-22, launched earlier than planned in November to retrieve three Chinese astronauts whose Shenzhou-20 spacecraft sustained damage from orbital debris.

While China has only deployed robotic missions to the moon thus far, its continuing Shenzhou operations demonstrate the country’s advancing space technology. In June 2024, China achieved a world first by collecting lunar samples from the moon’s far side using robotic systems.

Successfully completing a crewed lunar landing before 2030 would support China’s objective to build a permanent lunar base by 2035 in partnership with Russia.

Wu Weiren, the chief scientist of China’s lunar program, has indicated that Beijing’s public schedule is deliberately cautious.

Throughout the past year, Beijing has conducted safety evaluations of equipment designed for the 2030 mission, including heavy-lift Long March-10 rockets, the Mengzhou spacecraft, and the Lanyue lunar lander.

The Shenzhou-23 mission will perform the first autonomous rapid approach and docking with Tiangong’s core module, preparing for the 2030 mission that depends on automated lunar-orbit connection between the Mengzhou capsule and Lanyue lander.

Researchers will examine the physical impacts of radiation exposure, bone density reduction, and psychological strain during the extended Shenzhou-23 mission.

Beijing is conducting the world’s first human “artificial embryo” study in space, having delivered human stem cell samples to the Shenzhou-22 crew aboard Tiangong this month, according to state media reports. The research aims to investigate long-term human habitation, survival, and reproduction capabilities in space environments.

A Chinese artificial intelligence company announced Saturday it will permanently slash prices on its most advanced AI model by 75%, according to a company statement.

DeepSeek said the dramatic reduction will keep pricing for its V4-Pro artificial intelligence model at just one-quarter of what customers previously paid. The company did not reveal whether the permanent discount resulted from greater availability of Huawei’s Ascend 950 chips, which DeepSeek uses to enhance V4’s capabilities.

According to the statement, DeepSeek reduced V4-Pro API pricing to a range of 0.025 to 6 yuan per million tokens (approximately $0.0035 to $0.83) based on how customers use the service. Previously, costs ranged from 0.1 to 24 yuan. Tokens represent units of text that the AI system processes.

Sales of Huawei’s AI chips have grown due to U.S. trade restrictions that block Nvidia from marketing its most sophisticated semiconductors in China. However, additional limits on equipment exports for chip manufacturing have restricted Huawei’s capacity to increase Ascend production.

During V4’s debut last month, DeepSeek explained that the Pro version would carry prices up to 12 times higher than the less capable Flash version because of “constraints in high-end compute capacity,” which restricted how widely it could be offered.

The company also indicated that Pro pricing would drop significantly once Huawei begins mass production of Ascend 950 supernodes during the year’s second half.

A powerful 6.0 magnitude tremor shook Hawaii’s Big Island late Friday evening near Honaunau-Napoopoo, prompting scientists with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to evaluate conditions at the Kilauea volcano.

The famous Kilauea volcano, recognized as among the globe’s most active volcanic sites, sits on Hawaii’s Big Island and has been producing intermittent eruptions since December 23, 2024.

Scientists with the USGS’ Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) released information earlier Friday indicating their forecast models predict the volcano’s next eruption will happen between May 24 and May 27.

Friday’s seismic event registered at approximately 23 kilometers (14 miles) below the surface and created tremors that residents across Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu islands could feel, the USGS reported.

Officials with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center determined the earthquake would not generate tsunami conditions, and authorities received no initial reports of structural damage or injuries from the incident.

Plant species that define familiar landscapes around the world face a growing threat of extinction as rising global temperatures transform their natural environments, new research reveals.

Scientists examined the future survival prospects of more than 67,000 vascular plant species — representing roughly 18% of all known plants with water and nutrient transport systems. Their findings paint a concerning picture for botanical diversity worldwide.

The research indicates that between 7% and 16% of these species could see their natural ranges reduced by more than 90%, putting them in serious danger of disappearing entirely. Among the plants at highest risk are California’s Catalina ironwood, an uncommon native tree, bluish spike-moss from an ancient plant family spanning over 400 million years, and approximately one-third of all Eucalyptus varieties — trees synonymous with Australia’s landscape.

Scientists reached these conclusions by analyzing millions of location records for plants alongside projected greenhouse gas emission patterns for the years 2081-2100.

Plant survival depends on much more than geographic location — it requires specific combinations of temperature ranges, precipitation levels, soil types, land usage, and environmental features like shade coverage.

“One way to picture this is to imagine plants trying to follow a moving ‘climate envelope.’ As temperatures warm, many species can shift northward or uphill to stay cool enough. But temperature is only part of the story,” explained Junna Wang, a Yale University postdoctoral researcher, and Xiaoli Dong, a professor of environmental science and policy at the University of California, Davis, in joint statements to Reuters.

Wang and Dong served as lead researchers for the study, which appeared in the journal Science.

According to their findings, climate change is reducing the availability of these essential environmental combinations in many regions, creating fewer locations where all necessary survival conditions exist simultaneously.

Plants typically spread to new areas over multiple generations through seeds or spores transported by wind, water, wildlife, or gravity. However, when researchers compared realistic plant movement patterns with hypothetical scenarios allowing unlimited dispersal, extinction projections remained remarkably similar.

“If slow movement were the main problem, then allowing unlimited dispersal should dramatically reduce extinction risk. But that is not what we found,” Wang and Dong noted.

This discovery carries significant implications for conservation efforts.

“If dispersal limitation were the main driver, then strategies like assisted migration — physically helping species move to new areas — could solve much of the problem. But if climate change is reducing the amount of suitable habitat overall, then simply helping species move may not be enough,” the researchers added.

Different regions face varying levels of threat. Arctic plants adapted to cold conditions may lose habitat as extremely cold climates become less common. Arid areas, including portions of the western United States and regions with Mediterranean-style climates, confront dangers from intensified drought conditions, reduced soil moisture, and increased wildfire frequency. Along southern and eastern Australian coasts, shorelines may prevent species from migrating toward the poles.

However, the study also identified potential benefits in some areas. Local plant diversity could increase across approximately 28% of Earth’s land surface as species establish themselves in newly favorable locations. This includes parts of tropical and subtropical regions where enhanced rainfall — beyond just temperature changes — might create suitable conditions for additional plant varieties.

The researchers characterized these changes as a worldwide reorganization, with some species vanishing from their traditional territories while others colonize new areas. They emphasized that local increases don’t necessarily indicate overall improvement for plant populations.

These geographical shifts could also produce “novel communities” — plant combinations that have never coexisted historically but would begin interacting for the first time. The researchers acknowledged uncertainty about how these new ecological relationships might develop.

Plants form the foundation of most land-based ecosystems. They capture and store carbon, prevent soil erosion, support animal populations, and supply food, lumber, medicines, and other essential materials. Changes in plant diversity can therefore trigger widespread effects throughout natural systems and human communities.

“If climate change reduces vegetation cover, ecosystems may absorb less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which can further intensify warming. That creates a feedback loop in which climate change harms plants, and reduced plant cover/productivity in turn worsens climate change,” Wang and Dong explained.

“Ultimately, protecting plant diversity is not only about conserving nature for its own sake — it is also about maintaining the ecological systems that support human societies,” they concluded.

The aerospace company conducted a test launch of its most powerful Starship rocket to date on Friday from its Texas facility.

The massive rocket’s trial flight took place just two days following an announcement from the company’s CEO that the business would go public. According to the NASA Administrator, this test brings the Starship vehicle closer to future lunar missions.

The enhanced rocket represents the company’s largest and most advanced version of the spacecraft designed for deep space exploration.

SpaceX conducted a test flight Friday of its most advanced Starship rocket to date, featuring an enhanced design that NASA plans to use for returning astronauts to the lunar surface.

The revamped mega rocket took its maiden voyage just two days following an announcement by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk about taking his company public. The launch occurred from Texas’s southern border region, with the spacecraft carrying 20 simulated Starlink satellites scheduled for deployment on the opposite side of the globe.

This marks the 12th experimental mission for the rocket system Musk envisions will eventually transport humans to Mars. However, lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis initiative come first in the timeline.

October saw the final launch of the previous generation of space-bound Starships. SpaceX’s third-generation model — an enhanced variant called V3 — lifted off from a newly constructed launch platform at Starbase, located close to the Mexican border. Technical problems with the launch pad prevented Thursday evening’s scheduled attempt.

The company hoped to prevent the explosive incidents that occurred during consecutive launches the previous year, when mid-flight detonations scattered debris across the Atlantic Ocean. Previous test flights also concluded with fiery endings.

Standing at 407 feet (124 meters) tall, this newest variant surpasses earlier Starship models by multiple feet (over 1 meter) and delivers increased engine power.

The updated booster features fewer but larger and more durable grid fins designed to guide it back to Earth after takeoff, plus an enlarged and reinforced fuel transfer system that supplies the 33 primary engines. This fuel line matches the dimensions of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-styled, stainless steel vehicle also contains enhanced capabilities across the board — additional cameras, improved navigation and computing systems — along with docking equipment for upcoming rendezvous and lunar operations.

The Starship system is designed for complete reusability, utilizing massive mechanical arms at launch sites to capture returning rocket components. However, during this recent test mission, no recovery operations were planned. The redesigned first-stage booster’s journey ended in the Gulf of Mexico, while the spacecraft and its satellite demonstrations concluded in the Indian Ocean.

NASA has contracted SpaceX for billions of dollars — along with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin — to develop the lunar landing vehicles that will transport Artemis astronauts to the moon’s surface.

Both companies are competing to achieve the first successful mission.

Although Starship has reached space’s outer boundaries during multiple flights lasting no more than an hour, Bezos’ Blue Moon vehicle has not yet launched, though a prototype is being prepared for a lunar mission later this year.

NASA plans to follow April’s successful lunar flyby mission with four astronauts by conducting an orbital docking test around Earth next year. During that Artemis III mission, crew members will rehearse connecting their Orion capsule with either Starship, Blue Moon, or both vehicles.

A crewed lunar landing mission — Artemis IV — could occur as early as 2028 using whichever lander proves safer and becomes operational first. This would represent NASA’s first crewed moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. The current objective involves establishing a lunar base near the moon’s south pole, operated by both astronauts and robotic systems.

SpaceX has begun accepting bookings for private missions to the moon and Mars aboard Starship.

Dennis Tito, the world’s inaugural space tourist and California businessman, along with his wife, reserved seats 3 1/2 years ago for a lunar orbit flight. The departure date remains undetermined.

This week, another affluent space traveler — Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang — revealed his plans to journey to Mars on Starship’s inaugural interplanetary voyage. Wang previously funded a SpaceX polar mission in a Dragon capsule last year and, together with his selected crew, became the first to orbit over both polar regions.

Neither cost nor timeline details were disclosed for his Mars expedition.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX conducted a crucial test Friday evening, launching its 12th Starship mission from Texas facilities in what represents the maiden voyage of the upgraded V3 spacecraft.

The uncrewed launch from Starbase, Texas near Brownsville marked a significant moment for the rocket company as it approaches what could become the largest initial public offering in history next month.

This inaugural flight of the Starship V3 – engineered to support more regular Starlink satellite deployments and future NASA lunar missions – comes after months of testing postponements and could influence investor sentiment before the anticipated IPO.

The massive spacecraft, which has consumed over $15 billion in development costs as a completely reusable vehicle, plays a central role in Musk’s vision to reduce launch expenses, grow his Starlink enterprise, and pursue goals from deep-space missions to orbital data facilities – all calculated into his targeted $1.75 trillion IPO valuation.

A positive test outcome would strengthen SpaceX’s argument that Starship, recognized as the world’s most massive and powerful rocket ever launched, is approaching commercial viability following years of explosive failures and development setbacks.

The enormous rocket system, featuring the upper-stage Starship crew vehicle mounted on its Super Heavy booster, lifted off Friday evening from SpaceX’s Gulf of Mexico facilities near Brownsville.

This launch represented the company’s 12th Starship test since 2023 and the inaugural flight for the V3 version of both the spacecraft and its Super Heavy booster – equipped with the company’s latest Raptor 3 engines – plus the first departure from a new launch platform built for the enhanced rocket.

PLANNED OCEAN SPLASHDOWN

SpaceX announced it would not try to recover or land either the booster or upper-stage Starship following Friday’s test mission, regardless of performance.

However, test goals encompass completing multiple return-flight procedures by both the lower-stage rocket and Starship, including controlled landing sequences before both vehicles impact ocean waters.

The Super Heavy aims for a Gulf of Mexico splashdown location approximately seven minutes post-launch. The Starship will continue traveling through suborbital space before executing its own “exciting landing!” as SpaceX describes it, in the Indian Ocean roughly one hour afterward.

During Starship V3’s space journey, mission plans involve its payload system releasing 20 simulated Starlink satellites individually, plus two operational satellites positioned along Starship’s flight path to monitor the spacecraft’s heat protection and relay information to ground controllers during descent.

Approximately 20 minutes following the payload release demonstration, a scheduled restart of Starship’s Raptor engine in space will occur.

For Starship’s intense, transonic return through Earth’s atmosphere, engineers deliberately removed one heat shield tile to assess varying aerodynamic pressures on surrounding tiles. Additional tiles received white paint to function as imaging references during testing.

The rocket’s thermal protection system constitutes one of SpaceX’s most challenging development obstacles with Starship, as engineers work to create an extremely durable protective coating requiring minimal or zero maintenance between flights.

INVESTOR ATTENTION BEFORE IPO

This 12th test flight in the Starship program faces intense investor observation three weeks before an IPO that could establish the first U.S. market entry exceeding $1 trillion and instantly make SpaceX among the world’s most valuable public companies.

SpaceX’s most profitable operations, focused on its Starlink business and orbital data center plans, depend heavily on Starship successfully delivering them to space.

Although Musk has publicly accepted previous test-flight failures calmly, questions remain about how investors will balance the billionaire entrepreneur’s willingness to accept short-term risks against his long-term goals for lunar and interplanetary exploration.

SpaceX’s engineering approach, viewed as more risk-accepting than many established aerospace companies, relies on a flight-testing method that pushes new spacecraft to failure points, then refines improvements through repeated attempts.

Musk, who established his California-based rocket firm in 2002, stated one year ago he expected Starship to complete its first uncrewed Mars journey by late 2026, a timeline now clearly unattainable.

The V3 incorporates numerous enhancements designed to optimize the vehicle’s performance for missions extending beyond the low-Earth orbit domain of SpaceX’s current primary launch system, comprising Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rocket boosters with Dragon capsules.

Among the key improvements to the Super Heavy booster is redesigning its 33 Raptor engines to generate increased thrust from a configuration that weighs considerably less.

The upper-stage Starship’s propulsion system has similarly been enhanced for extended-duration missions, featuring capabilities for spacecraft-to-spacecraft connections, space-based refueling, and improved maneuverability.

Several Starship tanker craft would need to perform the orbital refueling process – a dangerous and untested procedure necessary for SpaceX’s strategy regarding its initial lunar-landing mission, scheduled for 2028.

These elements were all included in the $3 billion-plus contract SpaceX secured in 2021 through NASA’s Artemis program, the U.S. initiative to return astronauts to the moon’s surface this decade for the first time since 1972. These objectives position Starship at the heart of a renewed space competition with China, which targets its own crewed lunar landing in 2030.

Maritime safety advocates successfully extracted 10 derelict boats from Virginia waters during a coordinated three-day cleanup operation that ran from April 14-16. The BoatUS Foundation partnered with Lynnhaven River and TowBoatUS crews from Gwynns Island and Portsmouth to tackle the removal project in Gloucester and Portsmouth areas.

The cleanup represents part of a larger initiative targeting up to 100 abandoned vessels throughout the region. Lynnhaven River NOW spearheaded the collaborative effort, bringing together nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and private sector partners to combat the mounting environmental and safety concerns created by derelict boats. The project receives backing from a 2023 grant awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program.

“Abandoned boats don’t just disappear. They become a burden on communities, the environment and local economies,” said Alanna Keating, Director of Outreach at BoatUS Foundation. “By connecting trusted partners, we are addressing the issue of ADVs and making real progress toward cleaner, safer Virginia waterways.”

The extraction of derelict vessels delivers immediate advantages for waterway health and surrounding communities. When left to deteriorate, these boats can discharge fuel into the water, create dangerous obstacles for navigation, and cause lasting harm to marine habitats and coastal areas. Successful removal operations improve safety conditions for boaters, protect natural environments, and prevent long-term ecological damage.

Two TowBoatUS operators handled the challenging removal work: Chris Parker from Gwynns Island and Donald Duck from Portsmouth. Both contractors donated considerable time and equipment while navigating the complexities of extracting vessels in various states of decay.

“Every removal is different, and often more complex than people realize,” Parker said. “Some vessels can be refloated and towed, while others need to be taken apart piece by piece. It takes time and coordination, but the impact on the community and the bay is significant once removed.”

“These boats pose real risks to navigation and safety,” Duck said. “We see how they can break free, damage property, or require emergency response. Prevention through proper insurance and responsible disposal can make a big difference.”

The BoatUS Foundation operates a comprehensive abandoned vessel program that includes the Turning the Tide Summit and maintains a national tracking database for derelict boats across the country.

Several local officials attended the cleanup activities, including Gloucester County Administrator Greg Gentry, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Coastal Zone Manager Jeff Flood, and Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover.

Boaters who spot abandoned or deteriorating vessels in waterways are urged to file reports with appropriate authorities.

The autonomous vehicle company Waymo has temporarily shut down its self-driving car operations in Atlanta and Texas following severe weather that left one of its vehicles trapped in floodwater, raising concerns about more dangerous storms expected during the holiday weekend.

The National Weather Service has forecast severe thunderstorms with large hail and strong winds for Friday across Texas and other areas of the Southern and Central Plains.

Weather experts are warning about potential flash flooding along the Gulf Coast areas of Texas and Louisiana on Saturday, with rain and thunderstorms anticipated throughout much of the central and eastern United States.

One of the company’s autonomous vehicles became trapped during heavy rainfall in Atlanta on Wednesday that caused street flooding and inundated part of a downtown highway. The vehicle had no passengers inside and was successfully retrieved afterward, according to a company statement. At least one additional vehicle from the fleet was also affected by the storm.

The company’s operations are limited to Atlanta city limits in Georgia, while it provides services across multiple Texas cities.

Operations in Texas were suspended “out of an abundance of caution for the forecasted severe weather,” according to the company’s statement.

When officials at the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission headquarters in Virginia faced a deteriorating asphalt parking area needing repairs, they decided against simply installing more traditional dark pavement.

Their replacement lot, finished last year, features porous concrete sections and zones with native vegetation and recycled components designed to reduce temperatures and flooding risks.

With these new sections, “the rain infiltrates faster than it can puddle and stop on the surface,” explained Jill Sunderland, the commission’s senior water resources planner.

“You notice too, that it’s cooler,” Sunderland continued. “You really can tell a difference out there … not to mention it’s just more inviting.”

This initiative represents one of many examples where communities and organizations nationwide are implementing alternatives to conventional asphalt surfaces to combat excessive heat and manage water drainage — particularly as climate impacts intensify.

New Orleans has mandated its Department of Public Works utilize permeable surfacing in appropriate lots and spaces. In Indianapolis, the Newfields art museum redesigned one parking area to incorporate bioretention rain gardens and converted another using a permeable grid system rather than standard blacktop. Denver’s dePaving a Greener Denver program aims to reduce the city’s coverage of parking areas and other impervious surfaces.

Communities are also reducing pavement by eliminating regulations requiring minimum parking space quotas for new residential or commercial construction. Buffalo, New York; Austin, Texas; and Minneapolis have modified these requirements recently.

Representatives from the asphalt industry highlight improvements in their materials while advising parking lot operators to carefully evaluate the longevity of non-asphalt options.

Here’s an examination of various alternatives to conventional lots.

In certain downtown areas, parking occupies 25% or more of available land, with research indicating over one-third of parking spots remain unused at any moment, according to Adam Millard-Ball, a professor of urban planning at UCLA. Many areas see limited usage at sports venues, shopping centers, or office buildings. Various organizations provide funding for municipalities and businesses to replace or modify these hardscape parking zones traditionally constructed with asphalt.

Reflective surface treatments or coatings, implemented in Los Angeles’ Pacoima neighborhood, work similarly to paint to prevent surfaces from absorbing excessive heat.

Adding plant life also helps control temperatures by absorbing energy and releasing moisture.

Sacramento, California, mandates parking lot developers plant sufficient trees to shade 50% of the area within 15 years of construction. Washington, D.C., and Seattle maintain green space requirements for landscaping, especially for new developments. Some municipalities utilize solar panel installations as shading structures.

Without these solutions, dark paved areas can capture heat and increase temperatures by up to 20 degrees. This heat generally accumulates throughout daytime hours.

The warmth spreads, contributing to the urban heat island effect, explained Vincent Cotrone, extension educator of urban forestry at Pennsylvania State University. Hotter neighborhoods often result in increased energy consumption as residents depend more heavily on air conditioning for comfort. These cooling units discharge hot air back outdoors.

Other alternatives target issues arising when impervious pavement blocks rainwater from penetrating soil. When water flows off paved areas, it can transport pollutants including oil and heavy metals into neighboring waterways, Cotrone noted.

More sophisticated than gravel, lattice pavers permit grass growth. These, along with interlocking pavers creating gaps between individual pieces, enable rainwater filtration. Additional permeable materials for runoff management include stone beds, brick pavers, or honeycomb-style frameworks.

The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission employs stamped, grooved concrete edging so when stormwater flows from regular concrete to porous concrete, sediment becomes trapped rather than creating clogs requiring maintenance.

Extended plant channels called bioswales and sunken areas known as rain gardens both utilize sand, soil, and vegetation to filter contaminants before stormwater reaches streams or sewage systems.

At Indianapolis’ Newfields museum, one parking area includes rain gardens while the overflow lot consists of recycled plastic grid pavers.

“It has worked really well for us because we don’t park on that lot every single day,” stated Jonathan Wright, director of the garden. “Why should it be asphalt and not breathing and not permeable when you only need to use it 10% of the time?”

Alternative materials may require higher initial investments, so experts recommend owners conduct cost analyses considering additional benefits throughout a parking lot’s lifespan.

“If we were going to just repave it with asphalt, we could have done it significantly cheaper,” noted Sunderland regarding the Virginia project. “It’s more expensive initially, but you get so much more life out of it.”

Buzz Powell, technical director at the Asphalt Pavement Alliance, a coalition of national industry groups, stated asphalt offers greater versatility and handles heavy traffic better than some newer alternatives, noting any new pavement may eventually require repairs.

“I just think we need to be really, really careful when we put alternative systems in to make sure that we have a good understanding of what the life cycle impact is gonna be,” Powell commented. “Some things can be really sexy on the front end and look good on paper, but then when you run a trash truck over it, it can’t handle the stresses and strains.”

Asphalt can be applied at varying thicknesses for different requirements, and porous asphalt is gaining popularity. He indicated it may repair more easily — and all choices involve tradeoffs regarding environmental impact, durability, and maintenance based on usage.

“My focus is 100% to make asphalt better,” he added. “If we do better asphalt, that means better mixing materials, better structural pavement design, and better pavement preservation.”

Some experts supporting alternatives also express concern that budget-limited cities interested in renovating parking lots may struggle to secure necessary funding.

“We are headed in the right direction, but at the same time, we’ve got acres and acres of nothing but blacktop parking lots that sit there and age and again, heat up,” said Cotrone. “And we just don’t have the dollars to go retrofit those.”

However, enhancing parking lot construction methods or reducing their overall footprint can simultaneously address multiple challenges, from heat to water quality to related inequality concerns.

“The reality is, one city changing their surfaces is just not by itself not going to have a big impact,” explained Greg Kats, founder of the Smart Surfaces Coalition. “But once cities are able to understand in a rigorous way the scale of the benefits… it’s kind of intuitive.”

A biotechnology company specializing in bringing back vanished species has achieved a major breakthrough by successfully hatching more than two dozen healthy baby chickens using an innovative artificial egg system.

Colossal Biosciences, which focuses on “de-extinction” projects aimed at resurrecting lost species, announced this week that their artificial egg platform has proven successful. The achievement marks a crucial advancement in their efforts to revive the South Island Giant Moa, a massive flightless bird from New Zealand that disappeared hundreds of years ago.

The moa represents one of two bird species in the company’s revival portfolio, alongside the dodo. Overall, the firm is working to bring back six different extinct species using ancient DNA as their guide. Last year, the company reported they had genetically engineered the dire wolf, an Ice Age predator that vanished long ago.

“Using our system we have hatched 26 chicks and we are now actively monitoring these birds as they grow up,” Colossal CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm told Reuters.

According to Lamm, the chicks emerged at the company’s Dallas headquarters.

The innovative artificial egg system features a specially engineered silicone-based membrane housed within a sturdy external framework. Scientists designed the membrane to replicate how natural eggshells facilitate gas exchange, allowing developing bird embryos to obtain oxygen through controlled movement of gases and moisture.

“The technology is designed to closely replicate the conditions of a natural egg to produce healthy animals with normal development, fertility and longevity. This is especially important for species like the moa, whose eggs were far larger than those of any living bird, making traditional surrogate approaches impractical,” Lamm explained.

The company’s dire wolf project involved creating embryos through cloning from modified gray wolf cells, which were then placed in surrogate domestic dog mothers. However, no existing bird species is large enough to produce an egg comparable to the South Island Giant Moa’s, which measures approximately the size of a soccer ball.

The extinct moa reached heights of roughly 12 feet and vanished about 500 years ago, primarily due to human hunting. Today’s closest living relative is the emu, a large flightless Australian bird that grows to about six feet tall.

“In order to hatch a South Island Giant Moa, Colossal needs a way to gestate the embryo. There is no living surrogate large enough to lay a South Island Moa egg, as they are around eight times larger than an emu egg,” Lamm noted.

Lamm outlined the artificial egg procedure in detail.

“The process begins with a fertilized avian embryo, similar to the earliest stages of development inside a natural egg. The embryo and yolk are then transferred into Colossal’s artificial egg platform, which is designed to replicate the key functions of a natural eggshell and incubation environment, including gas exchange, moisture regulation, temperature stability and developmental support,” he said.

“As the embryo develops, the system provides continuous environmental control and supplementation where needed – for example, calcium support during skeletal growth, which would normally come from the natural shell. Because the embryo develops visibly on top of the yolk, researchers can monitor development in real time throughout embryogenesis,” Lamm added, referring to the process where fertilized eggs transform into embryos.

The 26 successful chicks required roughly 21 days from embryo transfer to hatching, which aligns with typical development timelines for their species, Lamm reported.

Beyond its application for extinct species revival, Lamm believes this artificial egg technology could prove valuable for protecting endangered bird species currently at risk.

While significant, this breakthrough represents just one step toward the ultimate goal of restoring the moa population.

“Other hurdles include the need to reconstruct an accurate moa genome from ancient DNA, identify the genetic basis of key moa traits and engineer those traits into a closely related living species such as the emu,” Lamm acknowledged.

“At Colossal, the project is currently in the genome-sequencing phase,” Lamm said, with teams working to construct comprehensive genomes for this species and eight other extinct moa varieties. “So far, the team has identified multiple strong ancient DNA sources, including samples from the South Island Giant Moa.”

The proliferation of data centers throughout Texas is placing unprecedented strain on the state’s electrical infrastructure, raising serious questions about the power grid’s capacity to satisfy these massive energy requirements.

These computer facilities are generating substantial demand for additional electrical power across Texas, but uncertainty remains about whether the existing grid infrastructure can adequately supply the enormous amounts of electricity these operations require.

With Americans discarding nearly 1,800 pounds of waste annually, one Illinois university is providing students with valuable recycling education that offers lasting benefits.

The institution has developed a program that teaches students practical skills for giving discarded items new purpose, helping address the growing waste problem facing the nation.

SpaceX canceled Thursday’s planned launch of its twelfth Starship rocket from Texas, announcing the company will make another attempt on Friday.

The launch was called off on May 21, with the space company providing no immediate details about the reason for the delay.

SpaceX came tantalizingly close to launching its massive Starship rocket Thursday evening, with the countdown halting just 30 seconds before liftoff due to a series of technical malfunctions.

The towering 407-foot (124-meter) spacecraft was ready to embark on a test mission from Texas that would take it on a path spanning half the globe. However, complications arose with the newly constructed launch pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, forcing engineers to call off the attempt when time ran out.

Company CEO Elon Musk later explained that a hydraulic pin responsible for keeping the launch tower’s arm secured failed to withdraw properly. He indicated that if engineers can resolve the issue promptly, the company will try again Friday.

The failed launch attempt occurred just one day following Musk’s announcement that his aerospace company plans to go public.

The spacecraft carries 20 simulated Starlink satellites that were scheduled for deployment before the vehicle’s planned controlled descent into the Indian Ocean, concluding what was intended to be an hour-long mission. This marks the 12th test flight planned for a Starship and the first attempt since last fall.

NASA has designated this newest iteration of Starship as the vehicle that will transport astronauts to the lunar surface in the coming years.

SpaceX plans to conduct the 12th uncrewed test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, marking the first launch of a redesigned vehicle that plays a crucial role in Elon Musk’s lunar and Mars exploration goals, as well as the company’s upcoming public stock offering.

The rocket system consists of SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster paired with the Starship upper-stage vehicle, engineered for complete reusability and designed to transport both crew members and cargo.

This inaugural flight of the Starship V3, equipped with new capabilities to support future lunar and Martian missions, represents a critical evaluation for the spacecraft as SpaceX prepares for its stock market launch with a target valuation of $1.75 trillion.

Here’s a chronological overview of Starship test flights:

FIRST TEST FLIGHT – APRIL 20, 2023

The rocket detonated just minutes following takeoff from South Texas, failing to accomplish multiple mission targets.

Although the two-stage vehicle reached less than half the distance to space’s edge, ascending to approximately 25 miles (40.23 km), the mission achieved its primary objective of launching the new rocket from the pad despite several engine malfunctions.

SECOND TEST FLIGHT – NOVEMBER 18, 2023

The rocket launched from the Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas, but encountered failure in space shortly after takeoff.

While the Super Heavy first-stage booster successfully separated from the main Starship, it detonated over the Gulf of Mexico moments later. The upper stage was subsequently lost during the flight.

THIRD TEST FLIGHT – MARCH 14, 2024

The rocket nearly completed its entire test mission on the third try, traveling further than previous attempts, but broke apart during its Earth return.

Communication with the spacecraft ceased moments after live video footage from an onboard camera revealed a reddish glow surrounding the silver vehicle due to re-entry heat.

FOURTH TEST FLIGHT – JUNE 6, 2024

The spacecraft endured a blazing, high-speed return from space and accomplished a groundbreaking controlled ocean landing in the Indian Ocean, representing significant progress for a vehicle built to return from orbit.

While descending, protective tiles and metal fragments separated from the craft, and portions of its steering flaps sustained severe damage, though they continued functioning sufficiently for the ocean landing.

FIFTH TEST FLIGHT – OCTOBER 13, 2024

The company’s launch tower successfully captured the massive first-stage booster using enormous mechanical arms as it returned to the Texas launch site for the first time.

This capture represented a major advancement for SpaceX’s testing program for a rocket designed to transport heavier payloads to orbit, carry astronauts to the moon for NASA, and eventually journey to Mars.

SIXTH TEST FLIGHT – NOVEMBER 19, 2024

The company conducted its sixth test flight, enhancing the upper stage’s space capabilities, but abandoned an attempt to catch the booster at the launch site while then U.S. President-elect Donald Trump observed in person.

The Super Heavy booster instead landed in the Gulf of Mexico after SpaceX redirected it from the launch tower, suggesting the vehicle failed to meet the requirements for a catch attempt.

SEVENTH TEST FLIGHT – JANUARY 16, 2025

A rocket detonated in space above the Bahamas approximately eight minutes post-launch, creating fields of burning debris that streaked across the sky over the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The vehicle featured multiple new onboard systems flying for the first time and carried the initial batch of simulated satellites intended for space deployment.

Both the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Turks and Caicos Islands officials initiated investigations into the rocket test.

EIGHTH TEST FLIGHT – MARCH 6, 2025

The upper stage detonated in space minutes after launching from Texas, causing the FAA to temporarily suspend flights at Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando airports due to “space launch debris.”

The FAA opened a mishap investigation into the event. Musk described the explosion as “a minor setback.”

MAY 22

The FAA authorized Starship to resume flights following the March incident, permitting SpaceX to proceed with another Texas launch.

However, the agency extended the Aircraft Hazard Area along the rocket’s flight path from 885 nautical miles to 1,600 nautical miles, reaching eastward from the South Texas coastline through the Straits of Florida and encompassing the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands.

NINTH TEST FLIGHT – MAY 27, 2025

The rocket launched into space from Texas but lost control approximately midway through its mission, failing to achieve several key test objectives.

SpaceX also lost communication with the 232-foot Super Heavy booster during its descent before it crashed into the ocean, rather than executing the controlled splashdown the company had intended.

The upper stage achieved suborbital space but started spinning uncontrollably roughly 30 minutes into the mission, after SpaceX cancelled a planned release of eight mock Starlink satellites when the vehicle’s Pez dispenser-like mechanism malfunctioned.

TENTH TEST FLIGHT – AUGUST 26, 2025

The spacecraft successfully released its first group of mock Starlink satellites in space and evaluated new heat shield tiles during re-entry, reaching development goals that had been postponed by recent failures.

Approximately 30 minutes into the mission, the craft’s Pez-like deployment system ejected eight dummy Starlink satellites, representing a crucial test for a rocket that SpaceX intends to use in its satellite launch operations.

ELEVENTH TEST FLIGHT – OCTOBER 13, 2025

The company launched its 11th rocket from Texas and successfully landed it in the Indian Ocean, marking the final flight before testing commenced on a new version of the massive rocket equipped with additional features for lunar and Martian missions.

After propelling the upper stage into space, Super Heavy returned for a gentle splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico seven minutes after liftoff, evaluating a landing engine setup before the booster’s destruction.

TWELFTH TEST FLIGHT – EXPECTED ON MAY 21, 2026

The upcoming test flight is anticipated to be the inaugural launch of Starship V3 and its enhanced Super Heavy booster, as well as the first mission from a new launch pad constructed for the more powerful rocket.

Key improvements include a redesign of the booster’s 33 Raptor engines to generate increased thrust from a lighter configuration.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The final moments of a distant star have been captured in breathtaking detail, creating one of the most beautiful cosmic images ever recorded.

Using the Gemini North Telescope positioned on Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s highest mountain, astronomers photographed this stellar death in stunning clarity. The National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, which manages the telescope, made the photograph public on Thursday.

The subject is actually a pair of stars located 1,500 light-years from our planet, commonly called the Crystal Ball Nebula due to the pale, round gas cloud that surrounds it. One light-year equals nearly 6 trillion miles.

This gaseous envelope develops when a star expels its exterior material during its final stages. The remaining stellar center then superheats this cloud to temperatures reaching tens of thousands of degrees, creating its ghostly luminescence.

Researchers think that one of the two stars in this planetary nebula system — which was originally larger than our sun — has completed its life cycle.

The nebula, officially designated NGC 1514, was observed by Gemini North during the previous year, with the full-color image processing finished just last week.

A groundbreaking study has revealed why the Great Pyramid of Giza has survived for millennia – ancient Egyptian engineers incorporated advanced earthquake-resistant features into its design over 4,600 years ago.

Scientists used specialized equipment called seismometers to measure continuous background vibrations at 37 different points throughout and around the massive structure, which served as pharaoh Khufu’s burial site. The measurements showed the pyramid maintains remarkably consistent and stable responses to ground movement, despite its enormous size and intricate internal layout.

Located just outside Cairo in Giza, the monument’s four sides each span approximately 755 feet at ground level, covering roughly 13 acres of limestone bedrock. While it once reached 480 feet in height, erosion and the ancient removal of outer casing stones have reduced it to about 455 feet tall. For nearly 3,800 years, it held the record as Earth’s tallest human-made structure.

The research team identified multiple design elements that provide seismic protection: an exceptionally wide foundation with a low center of gravity, perfectly symmetrical shape, decreasing mass toward the summit, and complex interior chambers that reduce vibration buildup. The structure also sits on solid limestone bedrock.

“These elements together create a well-balanced, coherent structure,” said seismologist Mohamed ElGabry of the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, or NRIAG, in Egypt, lead author of the study published on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.

“Ancient Egyptian builders clearly possessed practical knowledge related to stability, foundation behavior, mass distribution and load transfer,” NRIAG seismologist and study senior author Asem Salama said.

Testing revealed that vibrations recorded inside the pyramid occurred at frequencies indicating mechanical stress was distributed uniformly throughout the structure.

“So while I would hesitate to claim that they intentionally designed the pyramid specifically for earthquake resistance, I do think they developed architectural and geotechnical solutions that naturally produced structures with exceptional long-term resilience,” Salama said.

These techniques were developed through experience and experimentation, as evidenced by earlier pyramid construction failures that preceded this masterpiece.

Researchers gathered seismic information from internal corridors and rooms, including the main burial space known as the King’s Chamber, plus the surrounding rock and earth.

While vibration amplification typically increases with height in tall buildings, the team discovered reduced amplification in five special chambers positioned above the King’s Chamber, despite their elevated location.

“This suggests these chambers effectively help dissipate seismic energy and protect the King’s Chamber – one of the most critical areas – from excessive shaking,” ElGabry said.

Recent regional earthquakes in 1847 and 1992 caused extensive damage to thousands of structures, with the 1992 event claiming over 560 lives. The pyramid sustained minimal damage from both events.

The monument stands as part of a larger archaeological site that includes additional pyramids and the Great Sphinx of Giza, attracting countless visitors throughout history.

“The Great Pyramid is not only an extraordinary engineering achievement but also a profound work of art and human vision. Its perfect symmetry, monumental scale and elegant proportions create a timeless beauty that continues to inspire awe even after 4,600 years,” ElGabry said.

“Beyond its physical beauty, what impresses me most is the incredible project management and organizational mastery it represents. Building such a monument took approximately 20 years and required sustaining a clear, long-term vision, an extremely complex supply chain and the coordination of tens of thousands of skilled workers, engineers, and administrators,” ElGabry said.

The massive undertaking involved managing personnel, training specialized craftsmen, maintaining food supplies for workers, and coordinating transportation of enormous stone quantities.

“It reminds us what human civilization is capable of when vision, science, organization and determination come together,” ElGabry said.

“They really did,” Salama said, “build ‘one for the ages’.”

Virginia’s annual birding competition has concluded with The Thrashers claiming the top prize in the state’s 3rd Annual Virginia Birding Classic, marking another year of record-breaking participation and fierce competition throughout the state.

During the competition period from April 15 through May 15, participating teams ventured across Virginia’s public lands with the goal of spotting as many different bird species as they could within a single 24-hour timeframe. This year’s competitors managed to document more than 200 species total, demonstrating both Virginia’s rich bird diversity and the dedication of the state’s birding enthusiasts. The 2026 competition has also strengthened what appears to be an emerging competitive rivalry within the Virginia Birding Classic.

Following their Cardinal Cup victory in 2025 as part of the Birdbrains team, Chopper Dawson came back with many of the same team members but operating under their new identity as The Thrashers, successfully holding onto their championship status. At the same time, June McDaniels and Andrew Baldelli of the Twitchers maintained their impressive track record by securing second place once again, after claiming victory in the competition’s first year in 2024.

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) has announced the final standings for the 2026 Virginia Birding Classic Cardinal Cup winners:

1st Place — 135 Species
The Thrashers
Chopper Dawson, Ewa Greene, Todd Dixon, Allen Cumbia, and George Arnold

2nd Place — 124 Species
Twitchers
June McDaniels and Andrew Baldelli

3rd Place — 101 Species
WAYOUT
Joan Mashburn, Jim Pearson, Carol Mullen, and Evan Pannkuk

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources expressed gratitude to all competing teams, supporters, partners, and volunteers whose contributions led to another successful year for the event. Each year brings continued growth for the Virginia Birding Classic while showcasing the exceptional birdwatching and public land access opportunities found across Virginia.

American energy storage developers achieved a milestone in the opening months of 2026, adding 9.7 gigawatt-hours of new capacity during the first quarter – setting a new record for that time period, according to an industry analysis released Thursday.

The sector experienced a 32% expansion compared to the same quarter last year, even as the industry contends with federal policies that developers claim are hampering clean energy progress, according to findings from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

According to the SEIA, the increased demand stems from data center requirements, fluctuating power costs, and global supply chain disruptions affecting gas and turbine equipment.

Leading tech corporations such as Google and Meta have signed agreements this year to secure tens of thousands of megawatt-hours worth of storage systems to support data centers required for artificial intelligence operations.

OBSTACLES FOR RENEWABLE SECTOR

The solar sector confronts tariff challenges and halted approvals for large-scale developments under the Trump administration, reflecting priorities centered on oil, gas, coal and nuclear power sources.

According to the analysis, 467 solar and storage developments are awaiting permits and may experience postponements or terminations.

“If federal permitting bottlenecks persist, household electric bills will continue to rise and China will surge further ahead in the race for AI leadership,” the report said.

The analysis projects over 610 GWh in storage expansion through 2030.

“Energy storage’s remarkable first quarter only underscores the fundamental values of this technology,” said Darren Van’t Hof, SEIA’s interim president and chief executive.

Sufficient energy storage capabilities can protect customers from fuel cost volatility, contribute to reduced electricity expenses and enhance power grid dependability, he explained.

Texas, Arizona and California topped utility-scale deployments during the quarter. More than 70% of utility-scale storage systems installed during this period were located in states won by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Large-scale utility projects represented 7.8 GWh of first-quarter deployments; commercial and industrial installations contributed 648 megawatt-hours while residential systems added 515 MWh.

The private space company has set an ambitious target of conducting 10,000 rocket launches each year within the next five years, according to federal aviation officials who say enhanced safety measures must come first.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford revealed Wednesday that he recently met with SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who outlined the company’s bold expansion plans. This represents a dramatic increase from the 170 launches SpaceX completed in 2025, which deployed approximately 2,500 satellites into orbit.

During their discussion, Shotwell shared details “about the SpaceX five-year vision to get to 10,000 launches a year,” Bedford explained.

The company’s CEO Elon Musk has also discussed similar goals in recent media appearances. In a Forbes video interview released this week, Musk mentioned that the company currently operates 10,000 satellites in space and hopes to eventually deploy 10,000 communication satellites annually, though he didn’t provide specific timing.

However, Bedford emphasized that federal regulators will require significant improvements before approving such expansion. “We need to see a lot more reliability,” Bedford told reporters following a recent forum.

The FAA oversees licensing for all commercial space missions and works to reduce regulatory obstacles while ensuring launches don’t disrupt commercial aviation or pose safety risks.

Bedford described the meeting’s purpose as examining “the constraints that we see and what can we do planning wise now to put ourselves in a position to accommodate that type of a stretch goal.”

SpaceX has not yet provided comment on the discussions.

The FAA chief characterized their conversation as productive but direct. He and Shotwell “had a very frank conversation, we’re going to have to push ourselves, they’re going to have to push their reliability,” Bedford said.

The discussions come as President Donald Trump has called for returning to the moon before 2028. “To do that, we are going to have to work with industry to unlock that innovation,” Bedford noted.

Bedford acknowledged that while the FAA isn’t currently limiting space launch activities, that could change. “I can see a future where we will be the limiting factor, because we are not putting enough funding into our space team,” he warned.

The agency is currently analyzing data from previous launches to better assess potential risks. Safety protocols require blocking aircraft from certain areas during launches, which “can be very disruptive,” Bedford explained.

Earlier this year in January, SpaceX announced plans for an even more ambitious project involving 1 million satellites designed to orbit Earth and capture solar energy for powering artificial intelligence data centers.

College graduation speakers are discovering that discussing artificial intelligence during commencement addresses can lead to unwelcome reactions from students in the Class of 2026.

Recent ceremonies have seen speakers face audible disapproval from graduates when they mention the transformative effects that artificial intelligence is having across various sectors.

Real estate executive Gloria Caulfield encountered student pushback during her address at University of Central Florida’s graduation ceremony. Similarly, Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta experienced booing from students at Middle Tennessee State University’s commencement when he referenced artificial intelligence topics.

The negative student responses suggest that graduating seniors may be resistant to hearing about AI’s role in shaping their future careers and society, despite the technology’s growing influence across industries.

The severe dry conditions that have struck the southeastern United States this spring are creating significant challenges for Virginia’s aquatic wildlife beyond just affecting agricultural operations. Reptiles and amphibians that depend on water environments for reproduction and daily living are experiencing major disruptions to their normal patterns.

These creatures rely on various water sources, from temporary seasonal wetlands to lasting water bodies like lakes and reservoirs. When drought causes these areas to shrink and dry up, the animals become vulnerable to birds and mammals that prey on them, or they must search for alternative water sources. Some amphibians may choose to skip reproduction entirely during drought years. To survive these challenging periods, amphibians and reptiles often hide in nearby forests or dig deep into mud while waiting for rainfall to return.

Despite the challenges, occasional dry spells can actually benefit certain species and play an essential role in their long-term survival. Chicken turtles, barking treefrogs, and tiger salamanders are examples of creatures that need environments without fish to successfully reproduce and thrive. Regular drying cycles in their habitats, including sinkholes, Carolina bays, and other temporary wetlands, prevent fish populations from taking hold. The Cat Ponds sinkhole complex in Isle of Wight County serves as an example of this type of habitat, typically containing 3-5 feet of water during normal spring seasons.

This natural cycle of abundance and scarcity represents a normal pattern that typically doesn’t threaten the long-term survival of these species, provided the dry periods remain infrequent. However, if drought conditions become more common due to shifting climate patterns, these animals may lose their ability to bounce back, potentially resulting in local population losses.

Scientists announced Wednesday that Neptune’s distant moon Nereid might be the final remaining original companion of the planet that managed to survive an ancient cosmic collision.

Neptune is surrounded by 16 known moons, making it the eighth and furthest planet in our solar system. The planet’s largest moon, Triton, arrived from the cold outer regions of the solar system billions of years ago, disrupting Neptune’s original moons and sending them on paths that led to their destruction.

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology utilized NASA’s Webb Space Telescope to examine Nereid. Their findings indicate that Nereid is not an intruder like Triton and probably survived by moving into its unusual, elongated orbit around Neptune.

“What we know about Nereid is very limited. For its size, Nereid is extremely understudied,” said study author Matthew Belyakov, of Caltech.

Only one spacecraft has ever visited Neptune – NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1989. Nereid was found 40 years before that mission by Dutch astronomer Gerard Kuiper, who gave the moon its name based on the sea nymphs from Greek mythology.

Measuring approximately 220 miles (350 kilometers) in diameter, Nereid follows an unusually eccentric path for a moon. The moon requires nearly a full Earth year to complete one orbit around Neptune, coming within less than 1 million miles (1.4 million kilometers) of the massive icy planet at one point in its oval-shaped journey and traveling as far as 6 million miles (9.6 million kilometers) away at the opposite end.

Similar to many other moons in the outer solar system, Nereid was previously thought to have traveled to Neptune’s vicinity from the cold distant region called the Kuiper Belt. However, using the Webb telescope, researchers found that Nereid’s makeup was different from Kuiper Belt objects – containing too much ice. This discovery suggests it belonged to Neptune’s system from the beginning.

“We don’t have all that much evidence left around Neptune — the system doesn’t have very many moons left,” Belyakov said in an email. But the latest observations “strongly rule out” that Nereid wandered by like so many others and got ensnared by planetary gravity.

The research was published in the journal Science Advances.

This is “an exciting result,” said Carnegie Science planetary astronomer Scott Sheppard, who was not part of the study.

The observations demonstrate for the first time that Nereid’s unusual orbit aligns with “the history we might expect from a moon that originally formed close to Neptune and was later pushed outward from the capture of Triton,” Sheppard said in an email.

According to Belyakov and his research team, Neptune’s closest moons probably developed from the broken pieces of the original moons that were destroyed when Triton arrived.

The solar system’s other three giant planets all have more moons than Neptune, with Saturn leading with 292.

According to scientists, a future spacecraft mission could confirm the origin story of Neptune’s moon system, though no such missions are currently scheduled.

An environmental organization is challenging coffee giant Starbucks over claims that its plastic single-use cups can be recycled, saying a tracking study shows the containers end up in landfills instead.

The Vermont-based environmental nonprofit Beyond Plastics conducted an experiment earlier this year, placing tracking devices on 36 polypropylene cups and depositing them in recycling containers at Starbucks locations nationwide. According to the organization’s findings released Wednesday, not one cup reached a recycling facility. The majority—33 cups—wound up in landfills or incinerators, while three were last detected at sorting facilities.

These cups display recycling symbols prominently and are shown as recyclable on bins inside stores. In February, Starbucks declared its polypropylene cups “widely recyclable” across the United States after receiving approval from How2Recycle, a labeling organization.

When contacted Wednesday, a Starbucks spokesperson expressed doubts about Beyond Plastics’ research methods, though specific concerns were not detailed. The representative noted that recycling success varies by local infrastructure and stated the company “work closely with others, including the recycling companies, to help expand access and help improve the system.”

Trade organizations, including the Association of Plastic Recyclers representing mechanical recyclers, suggest that tracking devices might cause items to be removed from recycling processes.

The coffee chain made a 2020 pledge to ensure all customer packaging becomes reusable, recyclable or compostable before 2030. This year, Starbucks began accepting customer-provided cups for mobile and drive-through purchases. Under CEO Brian Niccol’s leadership, the company policy calls for serving café customers with reusable ceramic mugs, though Beyond Plastics reports many in-store patrons continue receiving plastic cups.

Judith Enck, who leads Beyond Plastics and previously worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, called on Starbucks to discontinue labeling plastic cups as recyclable. She also advocated for a complete transition to fiber-based cups, similar to what the company uses in certain markets. Such a change would represent “one of the most significant plastic-reduction corporate policies in the world,” she stated.

The Iran war has increased global plastic prices, as these materials derive from oil or natural gas, according to an April Reuters report.

Beyond Plastics reports that plastic recycling rates in the United States remain below 6%, with most recycled plastic not being polypropylene, which the group says has limited processing facilities capable of handling it.

NASA’s Perseverance Rover is approaching a significant milestone as it continues its extended mission exploring the Red Planet’s surface. The robotic vehicle has covered 26.09 miles during more than five years of operation, nearly reaching the standard marathon distance of 26.22 miles.

Mission manager Robert Hogg expects the rover will surpass the marathon mark within the coming month as it continues its scientific work.

The automobile-sized explorer touched down on the Martian surface on February 18, 2021, originally scheduled for a mission lasting one Martian year, equivalent to approximately 687 Earth days.

“The rover continues in good health with at least a decade left in its power source. The duration of the mission will depend on choices NASA makes,” said Ken Farley, the rover’s deputy project scientist at Caltech, in statements shared with Reuters through NASA.

Equipped with advanced scientific equipment, Perseverance has conducted operations within and surrounding Jezero Crater, located in Mars’ northern hemisphere. Scientists believe this region was once submerged under water and contained an ancient lake system. The area features various water-related geological formations, including an ancient fan-shaped sedimentary structure where a river emptied into a lake over three billion years ago.

While Mars today appears cold and barren, the planet once maintained a denser atmosphere and warmer temperatures that supported liquid water on its surface. Researchers hope to discover whether Mars once supported life forms. Since water represents a crucial component for life, Jezero Crater’s watery history makes it an ideal location for investigation.

NASA announced Perseverance’s most significant finding last year – a sample extracted from within the crater consisting of reddish rock that formed billions of years ago from lake-bottom sediment, potentially containing indicators of ancient microscopic life. Scientists noted that minerals identified by the rover might indicate past microbial activity, though they could also result from non-biological processes.

“Further work evaluating whether these are truly evidence of Martian life requires analysis in terrestrial laboratories that contain the kinds of instrumentation necessary to make that determination,” Farley explained.

“Perseverance will continue to collect rock samples with the hope for return to Earth by a future robotic or crewed mission,” Farley added.

The rover has also collected information about organic compounds on Mars. Additional discoveries include documentation of electrical activity in the Martian atmosphere, detecting electrical charges commonly linked with spinning wind formations known as dust devils, and recording the first visible-light aurora observation on Mars, showing the sky glowing faintly in green.

During its initial years, Perseverance recorded the development cycle of the lake that occupied Jezero Crater approximately 3.7 billion years ago. The lake began as a shallow body of water, leaving salt-heavy sediments on the crater bottom, then expanded to a depth of at least 30 feet, with sandy materials flowing into the lake to create a delta formation, according to Farley.

The rover currently operates just beyond Jezero Crater’s boundaries, studying extremely old rock formations likely dating back more than four billion years. Since Mars and Earth both formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago, these rocks represent samples from the planet’s early period.

“Importantly this time period, and this surface environment, are very likely similar to those on Earth when life originated. Because rocks of this era were completely destroyed on Earth, Mars offers a key analog environment in which to investigate pre-biotic chemistry and possibly the origin of life,” Farley stated.

NASA operates a second rover on Mars called Curiosity, which arrived in 2012 at Gale Crater near the Martian equator and has traveled 22.93 miles. The rover with the greatest distance record on Mars was NASA’s Opportunity, which covered 28.06 miles during its mission from 2004 to 2019.

Perseverance carried a compact helicopter named Ingenuity that achieved the first powered and controlled aircraft flight on another world, successfully operating in Mars’ extremely thin atmosphere 72 times, traveling 10.5 miles and reaching heights of approximately 79 feet.

The varied environments both inside and outside Jezero Crater have provided valuable insights into Mars’ history.

“The fact that Perseverance could explore both a lake-river system and the early Martian crust, separated in time by perhaps half a billion years, means the Jezero site keeps on giving scientifically even after five years on the surface,” Farley concluded.

A major American semiconductor equipment manufacturer announced Wednesday the launch of a new research facility in Salzburg, Austria, dedicated to developing advanced chip packaging methods that could boost production efficiency and reduce manufacturing expenses as artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for processors.

Lam Research revealed that their Austrian location will concentrate on panel-level packaging techniques, which substitute the industry’s standard round silicon wafers with rectangular panels for semiconductor production.

Traditional circular wafers result in material waste along the curved perimeters where complete chips cannot be manufactured. Rectangular panels eliminate this wasted space, enabling manufacturers to create additional chips per surface area while lowering per-unit production costs — a vital benefit as artificial intelligence creates processor shortages.

Rising demand for increasingly sophisticated and powerful processors has created a boom in orders for wafer manufacturing equipment, which consists of complex and costly machinery supplied by companies such as Lam, Applied Materials, Dutch company ASML and KLA Corp.

Among Lam’s clientele are Samsung Electronics and the globe’s top contract chip producer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

The corporation stated that the new research and development location leverages the knowledge of Semsysco GmbH, a Salzburg-based chip equipment company established in 2012 that Lam Research purchased in 2022.

According to the company, the Salzburg location represents Lam’s inaugural panel-focused wet-processing laboratory, which employs liquid chemicals for cleaning and preparing semiconductor materials.

“This new campus, a state-of-the-art laboratory for panel-level processing, seamlessly bridges the gap from research and development to production,” Salzburg Governor Karoline Edtstadler said in a statement.

Singapore is working with technology companies to develop the world’s first labeling system for artificial intelligence products, according to a senior government official.

Digital development and information minister Josephine Teo explained that these labels would function similarly to nutrition information on food packaging, showing consumers the proper and improper ways to use AI applications.

“We may start with a voluntary framework, and then in time … we’ll see how effective these kinds of labels are before deciding to take the next step,” Teo said during an interview on Wednesday.

The labeling system would mark intended purposes and restrictions for consumer AI applications, indicating the “right ways” and “not-so-correct ways” of using the technology.

Teo made these comments while attending the Asia Tech x Singapore Summit, where she also revealed that Singapore is creating testing frameworks and certification organizations to assess AI products.

The Southeast Asian nation has positioned itself as a neutral hub for AI development, attracting companies from both the United States and China.

On Wednesday, Singapore revealed it will house OpenAI’s first Applied AI Lab outside America, representing an investment exceeding $234 million.

Meanwhile, Google DeepMind announced a collaboration with Singapore focused on education, healthcare and scientific research, following the opening of its new AI laboratory in the country last November.

Speaking at the summit, Teo outlined Singapore’s goal to help 10,000 companies adopt AI technology and increase its use in manufacturing, healthcare and financial services.

The minister highlighted the country’s semiconductor equipment manufacturing industry, which produces 20% of the world’s supply, as a crucial foundation for building an AI center.

Singapore is also funding research into energy-efficient AI at both the chip and software levels to overcome power limitations, Teo noted.

Her remarks came before scheduled discussions between herself and other ASEAN digital ministers with U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg.

Chinese representatives are also participating in the summit, which has become one of the few venues where American and Chinese policymakers regularly engage.

Initial concerns that a new artificial intelligence tool could massively boost cybercriminal capabilities appear to have been excessive, according to cybersecurity professionals evaluating the technology one month after its debut.

When Anthropic released its Mythos AI model in April, the company cautioned that the system had identified thousands of software security flaws spanning all major operating systems and web browsers, warning of potentially serious consequences if misused.

The announcement prompted swift government action across multiple nations, with officials meeting with banking institutions to evaluate potential risks. By early May, the White House was considering new regulations governing how AI models undergo safety testing before public release.

However, cybersecurity specialists have responded with greater restraint, with many suggesting the broader alarm has been disproportionate and that access to Mythos-level technology won’t immediately enable previously impossible criminal hacking operations.

“I think there’s a really big communication gap between practitioners and policymakers,” said Isaac Evans, founder and CEO of software security firm Semgrep. The model represents “a real technical advance,” he said, but the response “is not substantiated by what we actually know about how those capabilities will translate in the field.”

Nevertheless, specialists testing the model under controlled conditions have documented significant improvements in vulnerability detection, and banking sector technology teams are addressing numerous system weaknesses across both large and small financial institution networks, as reported on May 12.

Concerns intensified following continued reports of criminal and nation-state hacking incidents involving AI technology, including an announcement from a major tech company on May 11 about detecting the first instance of a significant cybercrime organization using AI to identify an unknown software vulnerability while planning widespread exploitation.

The disconnect between security professionals’ assessment of the threat level and policymakers’ perceptions has created a storyline positioning Mythos as central to an approaching security emergency, despite similar capabilities existing previously.

“We’ve been able to use AI to find more bugs than we know what to do with for months if not years,” said one person with extensive vulnerability research experience with early access to Mythos. The challenge is not finding vulnerabilities, they said, but validating, prioritizing and fixing them without breaking systems.

Organizations’ capacity to process and validate numerous newly identified vulnerabilities generally falls short of requirements, the person noted, representing the primary challenge introduced by Mythos-level models, while acknowledging the model’s improvements. “It is capable of finding more with a weaker prompt than the models that came before it,” the person said, referring to the instructions a user provides the model to attempt to achieve a goal. Earlier models required more detailed and complicated instructions, the person said, meaning the barrier to entry has been lowered.

Anthony Grieco, senior vice president and chief security and trust officer at a major technology company, highlighted one beneficial new feature of Mythos: its capability to not only identify vulnerabilities but scan enormous amounts of code much more rapidly for those vulnerabilities and help experienced practitioners reduce false positive rates. This, he said, allows defenders to focus on the most pressing cyber risks in their contexts. The model also has fewer guardrails than previous models, allowing users to craft more specific instructions that enable activities that previous models would not.

Grieco emphasized that to fully harness Mythos’s capabilities, organizations require both adequate computing power and a comprehensive framework – terminology describing the computer environment within an organization where a large language model operates with specific instructions and limitations.

“If you have a Formula One car but you’ve only ever driven a bike, you might be able to get it to go straight,” Grieco said. “But you’re not going to maximize the track time out of the gate.”

Despite this, Anthropic’s presentation and its decision to invite selected companies to test defenses through a program called Project Glasswing helped elevate discussion about the model far beyond traditional security communities. The outcome: a comprehensive response that magnified both the perceived threat and the company’s prominence, even as defense officials labeled Anthropic a supply-chain risk while other government departments sought access.

The White House is discussing with AI laboratories expanded use of their technology, a White House official confirmed. An Anthropic spokesperson stated the company is working “closely with the U.S. government to quickly advance shared priorities,” and collaborating with the government to provide more parties access to Mythos.

Mythos and another advanced AI model have dominated national security conversations about artificial intelligence. However, those discussions often overlook a fundamental point: AI-powered vulnerability detection isn’t novel. The genuine challenge lies in subsequent steps.

“Our adversaries have gotten really good without AI,” said Cynthia Kaiser, a former senior FBI cybersecurity official now working in the private sector. “Ransomware attacks are happening in under an hour,” she said, adding that most threats still don’t rely on AI at all.

Currently, Mythos’s scale and computing infrastructure requirements also restrict who can utilize it. However, those obstacles are unlikely to persist.

“I don’t think the architecture is optimized,” said Nick Adam of a financial services company during a panel discussion at a university. He referenced the computer processing infrastructure and framework issues identified by Grieco. “There’s a barrier to entry there — but it will be solved pretty quickly.”

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Commercial vessels navigated the choppy waters of San Francisco Bay this Tuesday while a whale emerged nearby, its breath spray barely distinguishable against the breaking waves. Previously, these marine mammals could pass undetected by boat operators, but a newly launched artificial intelligence monitoring system aims to track their movements continuously.

The technology, known as WhaleSpotter, monitors the bay continuously for whale breathing patterns and thermal signatures within a 2-nautical-mile radius, sending notifications to vessel operators to reduce speed or change course when whales are detected in the area.

“They’ll be able to make adjustments way before they get anywhere close,” said Thomas Hall, director of operations for San Francisco Bay Ferry. “It will also allow us to track data over time and see where the whales are camping out so we can adjust our routes during whale season to avoid those areas completely.”

This initiative responds to a troubling increase in gray whale fatalities throughout the bay region. During the previous year, 21 deceased gray whales were discovered across the broader Bay Area — representing the highest count in a quarter-century, as reported by The Marine Mammal Center — with ship strikes responsible for killing at least 40% of them. An additional 10 or more have perished in the Bay Area during the current year.

Researchers indicate these statistics probably underrepresent the actual death toll since numerous whale bodies either sink beneath the surface or drift back to open ocean before discovery or documentation.

Gray whales have historically traveled along California’s coastline during their approximately 12,000-mile (19,300-kilometer) migration between Mexican breeding areas and Arctic feeding territories.

However, rather than simply traveling past the coast, growing numbers are now entering San Francisco Bay and remaining for extended periods within the busy waterway — a behavioral change researchers increasingly attribute to climate change. Rising temperatures and changing sea ice patterns in the Arctic are disrupting the food systems gray whales depend on during summer feeding periods, according to a 2023 study in Science, resulting in malnutrition during their migration journey.

Numerous whales now gather in a busy shipping corridor between Angel Island, Alcatraz and Treasure Island, creating direct overlap with ferry paths and commercial shipping routes.

“It’s the worst place possible in terms of all the ship traffic,” said Rachel Rhodes, a project scientist at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory who led the initiative. There have been so many collisions that “the teams responding to strandings said they ran out of places to even land dead whales.”

The eastern North Pacific gray whale population was previously celebrated as a conservation achievement after recovering from commercial hunting and being delisted from the Endangered Species Act in 1994. However, population numbers have since dropped dramatically, falling by 50% during the past decade, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Only 13,000 individuals survive today.

“They may not be getting the quality or quantity of food they’re used to in the Arctic,” Rhodes said. “That means they’re starting this incredibly long migration at a disadvantage.”

Artificial intelligence technology automatically identifies possible whale observations, which trained marine mammal specialists then confirm before notifications are transmitted via radio to ferry operators, vessel traffic controllers and published on the Whale Safe website.

WhaleSpotter technologies are currently deployed on boats and permanent installations including lighthouses and coastal structures throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. However, researchers indicate the San Francisco Bay network represents the first system to directly combine land-based and ship-mounted detection capabilities with official maritime alerts, enabling whale observations to be communicated almost instantly to vessels operating in the bay.

Initial testing hours generated an immediate surge of whale detections.

“Suddenly to have a full sense of how much whale activity is in this space honestly put me a little bit on edge,” said Douglas McCauley, director of the Benioff lab. “But we’re going to use that data and we’re going to be smart about how we use that space and share it with the whales.”

Scientists emphasize the system’s primary benefit is continuous surveillance. Unlike human watchers, thermal imaging equipment can function during nighttime hours and in frequent foggy weather typical of the bay area.

One camera has been positioned on Angel Island while a second will be mounted on a ferry operating between downtown San Francisco and Vallejo to establish what Rhodes called a “moving data collection platform.” Researchers anticipate additional cameras on the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz could eventually provide comprehensive bay coverage.

A persistent marine heat wave along California’s coast is reducing the zone of cold, nutrient-dense water where krill, anchovies and sardines flourish. As coastal waters warm, humpback whales are increasingly pursuing their prey nearer to shore, where California’s Dungeness crab fishing industry operates.

The fishing industry employs thousands of vertical lines connecting seafloor traps to surface markers, creating entanglement dangers for whales traveling and feeding along the coastline.

During this spring season, officials once again restricted portions of the central California fishery from using conventional equipment, a protective action that has become more frequent in recent years as warming waters increase whale encounters with crab fishing activities.

Although gray whales face risks, humpbacks remain most susceptible to entanglement.

“Humpbacks are curious and they’ll scratch their backs on the gear,” said Kathi George, director of cetacean conservation biology at The Marine Mammal Center. “If they get a line caught on their body, they’ll breach and they’ll roll and end up entangling themselves.”

Whales may carry heavy fishing equipment for months, preventing proper diving or feeding behavior, resulting in starvation, infection and drowning.

Thirty-six whales were documented as entangled along the West Coast during 2024 — the highest total since 2018, according to NOAA – although scientists warn most incidents remain unreported.

California authorized commercial deployment of ropeless pop-up crab fishing equipment for the first time this spring, enabling fishermen to continue operations through the season’s conclusion.

Rather than using floating surface markers connected to traps, this system keeps ropes and markers on the ocean floor until fishermen return and activate an acoustic mechanism that brings the equipment to the surface.

Advocates argue this technology permits fishermen to maintain crab harvesting while significantly reducing whale endangerment.

As climate change continues altering ocean environments and whale migration behaviors, scientists anticipate ongoing conflicts between whales, shipping vessels and fishing operations.

“We will have to continue to be adaptive and science driven in terms of our management to reduce wildlife risk and keep fishermen on the water,” said Caitlynn Birch, Oceana’s Pacific campaign manager and a marine scientist. “California has been a national leader in developing whale-safe fishing technologies and we hope that model can help guide other fisheries on the West Coast and nationally.”

Young people entering today’s job market are expressing mounting concern about artificial intelligence’s growing influence on their career prospects, as major corporations announce widespread layoffs tied to AI implementation.

During a recent university commencement address, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt faced audible disapproval from graduating students at the University of Arizona when he described AI’s impact as something that would be “larger, faster, and more consequential” than previous technological shifts.

“It will touch every profession, every classroom, every hospital, every laboratory, every person, and every relationship you have,” Schmidt stated, as negative reactions echoed through the audience despite his attempts to address concerns about employment security and an uncertain economic landscape.

These workplace anxieties appear well-founded, as evidenced by Standard Chartered’s recent announcement that it plans to eliminate more than 7,000 positions while substituting “lower-value human capital” with artificial intelligence systems.

Several technology companies are also reducing their workforce while citing AI advancement as a factor. Meta, currently installing monitoring software on employee computers in the United States to develop its AI capabilities, intends to eliminate 10% of its global staff beginning this month.

Amazon.com has eliminated approximately 30,000 corporate positions in recent months as the company emphasizes AI integration and operational efficiency, while fintech company Block reduced nearly half its workforce in February.

The Iran war is also contributing to reduced hiring activity.

Schmidt recognized the younger generation’s concerns as “rational,” though like other corporate leaders, he characterized the transformation and upheaval brought by AI as an unavoidable development requiring widespread adaptation.

Research from Gallup released in April revealed that increasing numbers of Generation Z individuals – those born from 1997 to 2012 – reported feeling anxious or angry about artificial intelligence, while those expressing hope or excitement about the technology declined significantly from the previous year.

Nearly half of survey participants believed AI’s dangers outweigh its advantages, while only 15% viewed it as beneficial overall – a considerably more pessimistic outlook than twelve months earlier. Most acknowledged the importance of understanding AI but expressed concern that it impedes comprehensive learning and creative thinking.

“Negative emotions have intensified over the past year,” the research authors observed, noting that usage patterns were beginning to level off. “Young adults in the workforce are significantly more likely to view AI as a risk than a benefit.”

The study did indicate that favorable opinions of AI grew among heavier users while declining among those with limited exposure to the technology.

Schmidt’s cool reception followed other recent displays of student opposition to AI discussions. At the University of Central Florida on May 8, real estate executive Gloria Caulfield experienced similar heckling and disapproval during her graduation speech about artificial intelligence.

“The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution,” she remarked as negative reactions erupted, visibly surprising her. “What happened? OK, I struck a chord… Only a few years ago AI was not a factor in our lives.”

The audience responded with enthusiastic applause to her acknowledgment of their concerns.

Chinese technology company Alibaba Group announced Wednesday the launch of its newest artificial intelligence processor, the Zhenwu M890, as the firm accelerates efforts to create homegrown alternatives to processors amid stricter U.S. trade restrictions.

The processor, created by Alibaba’s chip design division T-Head, provides triple the performance capabilities compared to its earlier version, the Zhenwu 810E. The chip was specifically designed for the next generation of AI “agents” — computer programs capable of executing complicated, multi-phase operations with minimal human intervention.

According to Alibaba, the latest processor excels at managing the substantial memory requirements and communication needs of agent-based computing tasks, where AI models must maintain extensive contextual information and work together simultaneously.

The technology giant also revealed its long-term processor development strategy, announcing plans to release a follow-up chip named the V900 during the third quarter of 2027, followed by another processor called the J900 in the third quarter of 2028. The V900 is projected to provide approximately three times the performance improvement over the M890, demonstrating Alibaba’s commitment to continuous internal chip advancement.

This strategy highlights China’s expanding initiatives to develop domestically-produced AI processors as Washington prohibits sales of the most advanced U.S. chips to Chinese buyers, following a comparable announcement by another Chinese company last year.

The Hangzhou-based technology firm committed last year to investing more than 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) in cloud computing and AI infrastructure over a three-year period, representing its largest financial commitment to this sector.

This investment demonstrates a wider industry belief across China’s technology sector that AI computing demand will continue growing as businesses implement agent-based software solutions.

Alibaba revealed the chip during its yearly Alibaba Cloud Summit, along with introducing a new server configuration called the Panjiu AL128, which combines 128 of these processors into one rack system.

The server system became immediately available to Chinese business customers via Alibaba Cloud’s domestic platform, called Bailian.

T-Head reported delivering more than 560,000 Zhenwu processors so far, with over 400 external clients spanning 20 different sectors, including automotive manufacturers and financial services companies, currently using these chips.

Alibaba additionally announced Qwen 3.7-Max, the newest iteration of its primary large language model, which the company stated was built for sophisticated programming tasks and extended agent operations. The firm claimed this model can function continuously for up to 35 hours without any decline in performance.

Marine biologists have documented two humpback whales that completed extraordinary migrations spanning the Pacific Ocean between Australia and Brazil, setting new distance records for the species.

Researchers identified the massive marine mammals through their unique tail markings captured at locations roughly 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) apart. Both whales swam in different directions and covered greater distances than any previously documented humpback whale journey.

“It’s a very rare event, but it is a really wonderful demonstration of just how wide-ranging these animals are,” said Phillip Clapham, former head of a NOAA whale research program who was not involved with the new findings.

These massive creatures are famous for their extensive ocean travels following established migration patterns, usually routes passed down from their mothers. During warmer seasons, they hunt for krill and small fish, then move to tropical breeding areas when winter arrives.

Monitoring animals that live primarily beneath the ocean surface presents significant challenges for scientists. For this research, marine biologists examined more than 19,000 whale photographs collected over four decades by research teams and volunteer citizen scientists.

Computer recognition technology helped researchers match whales by analyzing their tail fins’ unique color markings and irregular edges. Scientists confirmed two distinct whales appeared at breeding locations in eastern Australia and Brazil across multiple years, indicating they had made the crossing between these distant regions.

One whale’s journey measured just over 9,300 miles (15,000 kilometers), surpassing earlier record holders including a humpback that swam from Colombia to Zanzibar.

The research findings appeared Tuesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Because photographs only captured the whales at their starting and ending points, scientists cannot determine the precise paths they followed during their epic voyages.

Since whales rarely migrate between different mating areas, researchers remain uncertain about what motivated these two animals to undertake such unusual journeys. The whales might have encountered other whale groups at common feeding areas and chosen to follow them rather than return to their original locations, study co-author Stephanie Stack with the Pacific Whale Foundation said in an email.

“Finding not one but two individuals that have crossed between Australia and Brazil challenges what we thought we knew about how separate these populations really are,” Stack said.

Similar long-distance travels prove more challenging for whales in the Northern Hemisphere, where large landmasses create barriers to cross-ocean migration.

Researchers noted these record-setting journeys demonstrate the remarkable traveling capabilities of humpback whales. These tracking techniques could prove valuable for monitoring whale populations as climate change alters ocean temperatures, potentially shifting krill habitats and affecting where humpbacks travel to feed and reproduce.

Electrical outages are becoming more frequent nationwide as extreme weather intensifies due to climate change. Underground power infrastructure proves far more dependable than overhead cables during severe storms and weather events.

Currently, only approximately one-fifth of America’s electrical grid runs below ground, despite the superior reliability of buried systems. The vast majority of power distribution still relies on overhead lines that remain vulnerable to wind, ice, and falling trees.

In northern Michigan, several utility companies are now exploring initiatives to transition more of their electrical infrastructure underground as a strategy to improve service reliability for customers.

The tech giant is preparing to launch an extensive collection of artificial intelligence innovations, featuring a digital assistant designed to handle tasks automatically for users without constant supervision.

The concept of “agentic” AI took center stage during the company’s yearly developer gathering, Google I/O, held this week. The forthcoming AI assistant, called Gemini Spark, represented just one highlight among numerous revelations shared at Tuesday’s event.

“We are firmly in our agentic Gemini era,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Tuesday before a packed amphitheater near the company’s Mountain View, California, headquarters. “I’ve played around with all sorts of agents and you can really see the potential, but it’s still early days when it comes to making agents easy to use, super secure and truly helpful.”

The search company and its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., have invested billions of dollars in artificial intelligence research and development. A top financial executive revealed during an investor call in late April that capital spending could reach as much as $190 billion this year. However, these investments appear to be generating returns, with quarterly financial results demonstrating robust growth. Share prices have increased an additional 11% following the earnings announcement.

During his keynote presentation, Pichai revealed that the Gemini application reached 400 million monthly users last year, but has now exceeded 900 million users, representing more than double the previous year’s figure.

The company’s newest suite of models, called Gemini 3.5, began rolling out Tuesday to users worldwide, starting with Gemini 3.5 Flash. The Flash version prioritizes processing speed, and the company claims 3.5 Flash represents its most powerful agentic and coding model to date, while operating approximately four times faster than competing systems.

This model now serves as the standard for the Gemini application and “AI mode” within the company’s search platform. Development continues on the 3.5 version of Gemini Pro, which is currently being tested internally with an expected launch next month.

Gemini 3.5 incorporates enhanced safety protocols and protective measures, reducing the likelihood of producing harmful material or incorrectly declining to respond to legitimate inquiries, according to company officials.

The announcement also included details about Gemini Omni, a new model enabling users to produce high-quality video content through various input methods, including text, images, videos and audio. Videos generated by Omni can be modified easily through conversational interactions with the system. Future capabilities will include image and audio creation, though no timeline was provided for these additions.

Company representatives explained that Omni’s video output will appear more lifelike than content from competing models due to its comprehension of physical principles such as gravity, kinetic energy and fluid dynamics.

Gemini Omni Flash, the initial release in the Omni series, became available Tuesday for Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra subscribers via the Gemini app and Google Flow. Starting this week, it will be offered at no charge through YouTube Shorts and YouTube Create App.

Every video produced with Omni will feature the company’s invisible digital watermark, SynthID, while content verification capabilities are being added to the Gemini application. This feature identifies whether photos or videos were generated by AI or captured with camera equipment and modified using AI tools. The verification system will appear in Chrome search results in upcoming months. The company also announced that AI firms Open AI, Kakao and Eleven Labs are incorporating its SynthID technology into more of their AI-generated material.

Operating on Gemini 3.5 technology, Gemini Spark will handle repetitive, everyday responsibilities such as organizing meeting notes, emails and messages, then producing documents containing key insights and action items. Unlike existing assistants, Spark functions through cloud computing, allowing it to continue operating even when users close their laptops or lock their devices.

The autonomous capabilities of AI assistants distinguish them from traditional chatbots, though this functionality has also generated concerns about the technology’s influence. Gemini Spark is programmed to request approval before executing “high-stakes” actions such as sending emails or making purchases, the company explained.

A limited group of testers will gain access to the assistant starting Tuesday, with plans to expand beta access to U.S.-based subscribers of the Google AI Ultra service.

This summer, Gemini Spark will function directly within the Chrome browser, according to company officials.

During last year’s conference, the most significant development was the introduction and deployment of “AI mode” for the company’s search engine. This feature provides users with conversational responses to their inquiries before displaying relevant links, building upon previously implemented changes that transformed how users experience and interact with the platform.

AI mode searches have more than doubled each quarter since launching last year, with the feature recently exceeding 1 billion monthly users, according to Liz Reid, Google’s head of search.

The updated default model for search will now be Gemini 3.5 Flash, and the company is launching what it describes as an intelligent search interface. This modification, which Reid characterizes as the most significant search box improvement in 25 years, means the interface will adjust to accommodate longer queries and can assist users in formulating their questions through AI-powered suggestions rather than traditional autocomplete.

Users can now search using multiple input types, incorporating text, images, video, files and even Chrome browser tabs as search parameters. The enhanced search interface begins its rollout Tuesday in all countries and languages where AI mode is currently accessible.

The company also revealed a new feature called the Universal Cart, described as “a truly intelligent shopping cart.” It operates across different retailers and services, allowing users to add items while browsing search results, chatting with Gemini, watching YouTube, or reading emails in Gmail. The cart utilizes Gemini models to immediately begin working when items are added, searching for discounts and price reductions, providing pricing history data and notifying users when out-of-stock items become available.

The Universal Cart feature will become available to users through search and the Gemini app this summer, with YouTube and Gmail integration following later.

College students celebrating their graduation are making their feelings about artificial intelligence crystal clear – and they’re not happy about it. At commencement ceremonies nationwide, graduates have loudly jeered speakers who brought up the topic of AI during what should be celebratory addresses.

The former head of Google, Eric Schmidt, encountered vocal disapproval this past weekend while delivering remarks to roughly 10,000 graduates at the University of Arizona. When Schmidt discussed AI’s expanding influence, the crowd’s displeasure became audible.

“It will touch every profession, every classroom, every hospital, every laboratory, every person and every relationship you have,” Schmidt said, as booing began to build in the audience.

“I know what many of you are feeling about that. I can hear you,” Schmidt responded as the boos continued. “There is a fear in your generation that the future has already been written, that the machines are coming, that the jobs are evaporating … and I understand that fear.”

The subject matter struck students as insensitive, according to Olivia Malone, a 22-year-old University of Arizona graduate heading to law school.

“His speech was incredibly disrespectful to students,” said Malone. “We as students are discouraged from using it and penalized for using it. And then to have our speaker be the champion of AI is just like, OK? Why?”

The hostile reception toward commencement speakers discussing AI at various institutions reveals widespread concern among current college students.

Students nationwide and through numerous recent studies express worry about determining which abilities, academic fields and career paths will remain relevant as AI advances.

Research from the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School shows roughly 70% of college students view AI as threatening their employment opportunities in a 2025 survey.

Recent polling by Gallup examining Generation Z individuals and young adults aged 14 to 29 revealed growing pessimism toward AI technology. Approximately half of Gen Z teenagers and adults report using AI on a daily or weekly basis. However, frustration with the technology has grown compared to last year, while enthusiasm and optimism about AI continues dropping.

Real estate executive Gloria Caulfield encountered similar pushback when she emphasized artificial intelligence’s emergence during her keynote address this month at the University of Central Florida.

“The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution,” Caulfield said, as boos erupted, to her surprise. She turned around to ask those behind her, “What happened?”

“OK, I struck a chord. May I finish?” said Caulfield, who is vice president of strategic alliances at the Tavistock Development Company in Orlando.

“Only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives,” she said, prompting cheers. “And now, AI capabilities are in the palm of our hand,” she said to more jeering.

Music industry executive Scott Borchetta received comparable treatment when addressing Middle Tennessee State University’s graduating class about AI’s impact on the music business.

“AI is rewriting production as we sit here,” said Borchetta, the CEO of Big Machine Records, as the students in caps and gowns booed. “I know it. Deal with it … Do something about it. It’s a tool. Make it work for you.”

Schmidt delivered comparable guidance to graduates: While their concerns are understandable, they possess the ability to influence AI’s future development.

The recommendations didn’t resonate with students like Malone, who felt the former Google executive’s remarks served his own interests rather than inspiring graduates.

“It felt like a big advertisement. It felt like the longest Gemini ad ever,” said Malone, noting that the choice of Schmidt as keynote speaker had also been controversial because his name appears in the Epstein files. “Everybody I was sitting by was really hooting and hollering about that, yelling, ‘Epstein files! Epstein files!’”

Some of the negative response from new graduates comes from the challenging employment landscape they’re facing. Unemployment among college graduates between ages 22 and 27 has climbed to its highest point in twelve years.

Sami Wargo recently completed her studies at Marquette University in Milwaukee, where an AI specialist served as the undergraduate commencement speaker despite student efforts to petition the school for a different choice.

“Given how AI has become an increasing threat towards our jobs, especially for our graduating class, we thought it was a little bit tone deaf,” said Wargo, who majored in digital media and minored in advertising.

Chris Duffey, an AI evangelist at Adobe who recently used AI to “co-author” a book titled “Superhuman Innovation: Transforming Business with Artificial Intelligence,” took the stage anyway.

“Innovation,” he told the students, “will reveal what can be done, but only you can decide what should be done.”

Wargo reported that she participated with fellow students around her in expressing disapproval of his remarks.

The 21-year-old has submitted applications for approximately 30 positions but hasn’t secured employment yet. Many job postings require applicants to “collaborate with AI,” but “I don’t know what that means,” she said, noting that most of her classes banned her from using AI.

Being forced to confront all the uncertainty during their graduation ceremony, she explained, created another “little dent in what was supposed to be a celebratory day.”

The CEO of Alphabet will launch Google’s yearly developer gathering on Tuesday in Mountain View, California, where the technology company plans to unveil numerous artificial intelligence enhancements targeting both everyday users and programmers.

The I/O conference this year marks Google’s premier showcase event since the tech firm’s significant winter enhancement to its Gemini AI system allowed it to recover momentum in the artificial intelligence competition.

Alphabet, Google’s parent organization, has recently approached Nvidia’s position as the globe’s most valuable corporation. The company may aim to strengthen its status on Tuesday by presenting an updated Gemini version along with fresh products and capabilities powered by the model’s technology.

The search giant has worked to leverage its extensive consumer base as an advantage in AI development, linking Gemini to individual user information throughout its product ecosystem including Chrome, Gmail, and YouTube.

The organization is incorporating generative AI into its core search platform while working to attract users to its chatbot, which shares the Gemini name and rivals ChatGPT.

Search represented Alphabet’s primary income source in 2025, contributing to the company’s $402.8 billion total revenue. The firm is increasing AI infrastructure investment, projecting $180 billion to $190 billion in capital spending this year.

Revenue from advertising, including search advertisements, has sustained Google’s expansion in recent quarters, calming investor concerns that AI might disrupt the company’s offerings and weaken its market control.

Competitors OpenAI and Anthropic in the AI space have been preparing for public offerings, concentrating on securing profitable business clients. Google is also anticipated to allocate conference time toward enterprises, especially software developers who represent a key source of business AI income.

During 2025, the company acquired essential personnel from well-known AI programming startup Windsurf through a $2.4 billion transaction to strengthen its coding assistant Antigravity, which competes with Anthropic’s leading Claude Code development tool.

The company increasingly promotes digital assistants it terms agents, capable of performing complex tasks independently, as central to its AI monetization approach. The CEO and other leaders discussed this strategy at a business-focused cloud computing event last month.

The CEO of Google Cloud said during that event the company was reserving most coding-related announcements for the I/O conference.

SpaceX stands ready to launch its 12th unmanned test flight of the next-generation Starship rocket this week, marking the maiden voyage of a newly enhanced vehicle that company officials view as essential to Elon Musk’s plans to attract investors and advance deeper space exploration.

The inaugural flight of the Starship V3, equipped with fresh capabilities engineered to enable future lunar and Martian missions, represents a crucial evaluation for both the spacecraft and investor trust before SpaceX’s anticipated initial public offering scheduled for next month.

The completely reusable rocket system plays a vital role in Musk’s objectives to significantly reduce launch expenses, grow his Starlink satellite enterprise, and pursue ambitions spanning from orbital data facilities to human missions between planets — all elements factored into the company’s target $1.75 trillion IPO valuation.

“For an IPO that is leaning so heavily into narrative and symbolism, we believe this flight is the single most important pre-IPO catalyst remaining on SpaceX’s calendar,” PitchBook senior research analyst Franco Granda said.

The massive spacecraft, featuring the upper-stage Starship crew vehicle mounted on top of its Super Heavy booster rocket, was scheduled for launch no earlier than 5:30 p.m. CDT on Wednesday (2230 GMT) from the SpaceX operations in Starbase, Texas, located on the Gulf of Mexico.

Beyond serving as the maiden flight for both the V3 Starship and Super Heavy, test flight 12 will also represent the first launch from a newly constructed launch platform built for the more robust rocket.

Among the primary enhancements to the booster rocket is an overhaul of its 33 Raptor engines to generate increased thrust from a configuration that weighs considerably less.

The propulsion system of the upper-stage Starship has similarly been improved for extended-duration missions, incorporating mechanisms to enable ship-to-ship docking, orbital refueling and enhanced maneuverability.

A crucial indicator of success for upcoming test missions will be post-flight recovery of Starship and the Super Heavy booster, which are under development as reusable vehicles.

SpaceX announced it would not attempt to safely land or recover either section of the spacecraft from this launch. However, test goals include performing several return-flight procedures by the booster and Starship, including controlled landing burns before each vehicle touches down in the ocean.

The Super Heavy is projected to descend in the Gulf of Mexico approximately seven minutes after launch. Starship’s “exciting landing,” as SpaceX describes it, is expected roughly an hour afterward in the Indian Ocean.

Prior to that landing, mission plans require Starship’s payload to deploy a collection of 20 Starlink simulators, along with two real satellites adapted to monitor the spacecraft’s heat shield and relay information to ground operators during re-entry.

SpaceX’s engineering approach, viewed as more risk-accepting than many established aerospace industry companies, relies on a flight-testing methodology that drives newly created spacecraft to their breaking point, then refines improvements through regular repetition.

It remains uncertain how investors evaluating SpaceX’s upcoming IPO will balance Musk’s tolerance for near-term risk-taking with his long-range goals for lunar and interplanetary space travel.

Musk, who established his California-based rocket company in 2002, stated one year ago that he anticipated Starship making its first unmanned journey to Mars at the end of 2026.

A successful test flight would help strengthen SpaceX’s argument that Starship, the world’s largest and most powerful rocket ever launched, is approaching commercial readiness following years of explosive failures and development setbacks.

Multiple Starship tankers would be required to fill one Starship with sufficient fuel for a moon landing under SpaceX’s proposed lunar mission plan.

That forms part of a $3 billion-plus contract SpaceX secured in 2021 under NASA’s Artemis program, the U.S. initiative to return astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade for the first time since 1972 at the conclusion of the Apollo era. Those plans position Starship at the heart of a new space race with China, which targets a crewed lunar landing of its own in 2030.

NEW YORK (AP) — A biotechnology firm working to bring back extinct animals announced Tuesday that it successfully hatched living chickens using an artificial environment — news that has drawn both praise and skepticism from researchers and opponents of de-extinction projects.

According to Colossal Biosciences, 26 baby chickens — with ages spanning from several days to multiple months — were successfully born using a 3D-printed lattice design that replicates natural eggshell properties.

The company has previously revealed successful genetic modification of living creatures to mirror extinct species, creating mice with lengthy fur resembling woolly mammoths and wolf puppies engineered to look like dire wolves.

Ben Lamm, who serves as Colossal’s CEO, explained that this artificial egg system could eventually be expanded to genetically modify living birds to resemble New Zealand’s extinct South Island giant moa, whose eggs measure 80 times larger than chicken eggs and would pose significant challenges for any contemporary bird to produce.

“We wanted to build something that nature has done a pretty good job of developing and make it better and scalable and even more efficient,” Lamm said.

Outside researchers acknowledge the technology’s impressive nature but note it’s missing key elements to truly qualify as an artificial egg. They also expressed doubt about the possibility of actually reviving extinct species.

“They might be able to use this technology to help them make a genetically modified bird, but that’s just a genetically modified bird. It’s not a moa,” said evolutionary biologist Vincent Lynch with the University at Buffalo.

The chicken hatching process involved Colossal researchers placing fertilized eggs into their artificial system within an incubator environment. They supplemented the setup with calcium, which developing chicks typically absorb from natural eggshells, and monitored embryo development and growth through real-time imaging.

Researchers note that Colossal has created an artificial eggshell featuring a membrane that permits proper oxygen flow, similar to natural eggs. However, other essential egg components — including temporary organs that typically form to feed and support the developing chick while removing waste — were absent from their system.

“That’s not an artificial egg because you’ve poured in all the other parts that make it an egg. It’s an artificial eggshell,” said Lynch.

Previous researchers have employed more basic methods to develop transparent eggshells that successfully hatched chicks using plastic films or sacks. These approaches prove valuable for studying chicken development and gaining knowledge applicable to other mammals and humans.

“Producing a chick from an artificial vessel is not necessarily new,” said Nicola Hemmings, who studies bird reproductive biology at the University of Sheffield. Hemmings is not part of the Colossal team.

Significant work remains before Colossal can attempt moa resurrection through this artificial egg technology. Researchers must first analyze ancient DNA from well-preserved moa bones against genomes of existing bird species. They also need to develop larger eggshell systems.

“We didn’t want to wait till we were ready to birth a giant moa. We actually wanted to start working on the engineering challenges for surrogacy and birth now,” Lamm said.

Should Colossal manage to create a large bird resembling the moa, some researchers worry about post-creation challenges — particularly how such creatures would survive in today’s drastically different environment.

“The big challenge is, what environment is this animal going to live in?” said bioethicist Arthur Caplan with New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.

These de-extinction projects might prove more practical with currently endangered species, where researchers could preserve reproductive cells from living animals to help increase populations, Hemmings suggested.

“My personal interests lie more in preserving what we’ve got than trying to bring back what is already gone,” Hemmings said.

OAKLAND, Calif. — The artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT has successfully defended itself against a legal challenge from Elon Musk, keeping OpenAI — valued at $852 billion — positioned for what may become one of history’s largest public stock offerings.

Musk’s lawsuit aimed to remove his former business partner, CEO Sam Altman, along with implementing other company changes. However, while OpenAI won the case, witness testimony questioning Altman’s honesty has left the CEO’s reputation damaged.

During a period when artificial intelligence’s societal effects face increased scrutiny, this significant legal proceeding revealed problems and excessive ambitions among the limited group of wealthy individuals directing this transformative technology’s advancement.

According to Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, the proceedings served as evidence “of how much the future of AI still depends on a remarkably small group of powerful tech figures and their personal rivalries.”

“The trial highlighted not just a dispute between Musk and Altman, but a broader disconnect between the people building these systems and many of the people increasingly expected to live and work alongside them,” Kreps said.

Musk’s allegations centered on claims that OpenAI, Altman and his senior associate Greg Brockman abandoned their original commitment to operate as a nonprofit organization focused on developing AI for humanity’s benefit. Altman countered by claiming Musk sought to damage the ChatGPT company to advantage his competing AI business.

A nine-member federal jury in Oakland, California ruled Monday that Musk filed his legal action too late, missing required deadlines. Following three weeks of proceedings featuring hundreds of evidence pieces and testimony from major technology industry figures, jurors needed less than two hours to reach their decision based essentially on procedural grounds.

Musk announced plans to challenge the ruling and criticized Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who presided over the case, calling her a “terrible activist Oakland judge, who simply used the jury as a fig leaf” to establish harmful legal precedent. “She just handed out a free license to loot charities if you can keep the looting quiet for a few years!” Musk posted on his social media platform X.

This represents Musk’s second significant courtroom defeat in under two months.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers indicated early in the trial that she wanted to prevent it from becoming an AI safety debate. Nevertheless, unresolved concerns about artificial intelligence’s potential to cause job displacement, mental health problems and even threaten human survival formed a constant background, with demonstrators regularly protesting both Musk and Altman outside the federal courthouse.

Protesters’ messages identified ordinary citizens as the true victims, whose lives face disruption from an industry dominated by disconnected billionaires engaged in personal conflicts.

“This is a funny microcosm of this moment where we have this hugely important technology that’s being developed by for-profit corporations run by people like Musk and Altman and not as the part of some government-led initiative,” said Columbia Law School professor Dorothy Lund.

The legal proceedings exposed Silicon Valley’s chaotic internal operations through emails, personal journal entries and sometimes humiliating text message conversations presented as evidence. Messages between Altman and a former OpenAI executive generated internet memes and inspired parody music.

The trial illuminated circumstances surrounding Altman’s 2023 removal from OpenAI’s board, followed by his return several days later. Multiple witnesses including former board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley testified about concerns regarding Altman’s honesty.

During the entire trial, OpenAI dismissed Musk’s betrayal accusations as baseless complaints motivated by resentment, designed to undermine the company’s rapid expansion while supporting Musk’s own artificial intelligence venture, xAI, now integrated with SpaceX.

Both Musk’s SpaceX and OpenAI are preparing major public stock offerings, as is Anthropic, established by seven former OpenAI executives.

“It’s a lot of dirty laundry that doesn’t look very appealing, I suppose, and so that may hurt their reputation and may have downstream effects on all kinds of things that you can’t even anticipate,” said University of Richmond Law School professor Carl Tobias. “But you know, AI is likely to come forward and continue even if it isn’t OpenAI.”

CANNES, France — The world’s most prestigious film festival has become a gathering place where movie industry concerns bubble to the surface, and this year artificial intelligence dominates the conversation.

The 79th edition of the festival may be remembered as the first time this celebrated event seriously confronted AI’s impact — its influence has swept across the French Riviera like a massive wave. Since the festival began, there’s been continuous discussion about AI’s power to transform cinema, whether positively or negatively.

However, attitudes appear to be shifting in many circles.

“The buzz in Cannes and the buzz in the industry, it does feel like it’s definitely a turning point,” said Scott Mann, co-chief executive of Flawless, a company that specializes in assistive AI programs for post-production.

AI technology has become much more visible both in films and behind the scenes.

This marks the first time the festival has entered into a partnership with Meta through a new multiyear agreement. The tech company has established a presence at the Majestic Hotel. Meta’s AI technology was utilized in creating a festival submission: Steven Soderbergh’s “John Lennon: The Last Interview.”

The film documents an extensive and revealing conversation that Lennon and Yoko Ono conducted on the same day Lennon was murdered in 1980. To create visual elements accompanying Lennon’s words, Soderbergh employed Meta’s artificial intelligence software to generate dreamlike imagery.

This decision drew harsh criticism from many festival reviewers, but Soderbergh, a skilled pioneer who has filmed movies using iPhones, feels the time has come for such creative exploration.

“We haven’t seen yet someone with a certain amount of creative credibility go full-metal AI on something, and see how people react. I think it’s necessary,” Soderbergh said in an interview. “How do you know where the line is until somebody crosses it? I don’t think what I’m doing crosses it. Some people may disagree. I don’t know where my line is yet. I’m waiting to see.”

Industry professionals attending the festival have been establishing their own boundaries and making public statements about artificial intelligence.

During the opening ceremony, jury member Demi Moore declared that opposing AI “is a battle we will lose.” The following day, honorary Palme d’Or winner Peter Jackson stated: “I don’t dislike it at all. To me, it’s just a special effect. It’s no different from other special effects.”

Director James Gray, whose star-studded family story “Paper Tiger” emerged as a weekend highlight, expressed confidence about the technology.

“In some cases, it can be a very helpful tool,” said Gray in an interview. “I don’t think in our lifetime, or even our children’s lifetimes, it will come close to mirroring the only true infinite we know, which is the soul.”

“The answer I think is that most young people should be studying the humanities,” added Gray. “People should be reading Tolstoy in their spare time to understand the human soul.”

The festival is taking place following several major AI-related developments in Hollywood.

This month, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science announced new policies, declaring that only performances “demonstrably performed by humans with their consent” will be eligible for acting awards.

Simultaneously, the Oscar organization stated that AI tools “neither help nor harm the chance of a nomination.”

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists recently secured a preliminary deal with studios that outlines and clarifies AI protections regarding digital doubles and computer-generated performers.

Certain technological advances have caused alarm throughout Hollywood. The introduction of Tilly Norwood, a completely AI-generated “actress,” triggered industry-wide anger. This year, the first preview of a digital recreation of Val Kilmer after his death, created with his family’s approval, generated another wave of controversy.

Although more extreme applications of generative AI continue causing concern, other versions are gaining acceptance.

“It is going to be a part of our business,” Kent Sanderson, Bleecker Street chief executive, said in a panel discussion. “It is going to lower production costs, and yes, you probably will be able to make something that looks like a Marvel movie in your basement in a couple of years.”

Despite having strict regulations about red carpet attire, the festival isn’t implementing any rules prohibiting AI in film entries — at least not yet.

Before the festival commenced, artistic director Thierry Frémaux responded cleverly to an AI question, observing that he had also heard James Cameron used special effects for “Avatar.”

“What I can say with certainty in relation to artificial intelligence is that we are on the side of the artists, the screenwriters, actors and voice actors,” said Frémaux. “We stand with everyone whose job could be negatively impacted by artificial intelligence. It requires legislation. We need to control this.”

Mann, the Flawless executive, was positioned on the festival beach outside a celebration his company was hosting at one of the waterfront venues that frequently hold film industry gatherings. Since 2019, Flawless has worked to show that AI can be applied responsibly.

He firmly opposes unlicensed generative AI.

“But what we’ve found is that the way people don’t understand is part of the problem. AI as a term is seen as a catchall, but it’s not that simple,” says Scott. “The truth is, our industry needs saving. It needs a technological evolution, and this is offering it.”

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump recently criticized the reliability of climate change forecasts in a social media message that mischaracterized scientific research, modeling updates and international climate policy discussions.

The United Nations regularly publishes comprehensive scientific assessments examining current trends and future possibilities regarding human-driven climate change. Researchers periodically revise some scenarios used for future forecasting. A critical factor determining the extent and consequences of coming climate change involves carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal, oil and natural gas. Higher carbon pollution leads to increased global warming, so researchers build their forecasts around various potential scenarios.

These scenarios sparked the president’s weekend social media message. Here’s an examination of the facts:

TRUMP: “GOOD RIDDANCE! After 15 years of Dumocrats promising that ‘Climate change’ is going to destroy the Planet, the United Nations TOP Climate Committee just admitted that its own projections (RCP8.5) were WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!”

THE FACTS: Trump referenced forecasting models from 2011 developed by scientists connected to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that received updates in research published in a scientific publication this spring. The revision determined that the previous worst-case scenario — known as RCP8.5 — was unlikely.

These modifications led scientists and non-scientists who minimize climate change dangers or question climate science to attack the international climate research panel’s decades of work on social media, which earned a Nobel Prize. The changes also prompted leading climate researchers to explain why including improbable scenarios remains necessary and to highlight that the revision also shows how dramatically the world has expanded cleaner energy usage, including solar and wind power and electric vehicles. This has caused rapidly rising carbon emissions to essentially level off.

Even during its development 15 years ago, that worst-case scenario remained unlikely — other scenarios were deemed more probable. However, the most extreme scenario stayed possible if the world pursued heavy fossil fuel consumption, particularly continued extensive coal use, the dirtiest fossil fuel. It forecast end-of-century warming around 8 degrees Fahrenheit (4.5 degrees Celsius) above mid-1800s levels.

This wasn’t fear-mongering, stated climate researcher Detlef Van Vuuren of Utrecht University, lead author of the new research outlining future scenarios, and Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

Even with minimal projected warming “we enter danger,” Rockström stated. “We enter danger both from extreme events (such as floods, heat waves and droughts) but also from risks of crossing tipping points” such as loss of coral and glaciers.

The now-abandoned scenario represented “a relevant low-probability high-risk scenario” serving to help governments “be prepared with the possible risks of climate change. For instance, living in the Netherlands — a country possibly vulnerable to flooding — I would not like my government to only look at the best-guess scenario, but also explore what the risks are,” Van Vuuren stated.

“The risks of climate change have not disappeared. The good news is that we did not follow the most dramatic emission pathway. However, we are still heading towards a future with significant climate impacts; a future that we should avoid,” Van Vuuren added.

It represents a future of suffering and increased deaths, but was never about completely destroying the planet, stated Cornell University climate researcher Natalie Mahowald.

Nine out of 10 climate researchers interviewed by The Associated Press stated the worst-case scenario that was abandoned seemed unlikely but still possible when initially released. However, they noted this has changed due to rapid growth in carbon-free wind and solar energy technologies that has made them occasionally cheaper than fossil fuels.

Eliminating the old worst-case scenario occurs because “we are making progress in slowing climate change with a well-established affordable range of solutions — especially, solar, wind, battery storage, and electrified transportation,” stated University of Michigan environment dean Jonathan Overpeck.

TRUMP: “My administration will always be based on TRUTH, SCIENCE, and FACT!”

THE FACTS: A major Trump administration climate action was initially supported by a document presented as scientific research that scientists called inaccurate and was later abandoned.

In July 2025, the Trump administration announced it would overturn an Obama-era scientific determination by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that climate change threatened America’s public health. Supporting this decision, the Department of Energy released a 151-page document by its Climate Working Group, claiming climate change wasn’t significantly harmful.

Numerous scientists informed the AP that the Trump justification document contained errors, bias and misrepresentations.

The National Academy of Sciences, established by President Abraham Lincoln to counsel the federal government on scientific matters, released a prompt assessment challenging the Trump document and stating “human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases and resulting climate change harm the health of people in the United States.” Additionally, 85 scientists wrote a letter declaring the Trump assertions “are misleading or outright wrong.”

When the Trump administration formally reversed the EPA endangerment determination in February, it excluded the scientific justification from the Department of Energy that scientists had challenged.