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As the threat of antibiotic resistance increases around the world, GSK and the Fleming Initiative have announced six research programs aimed at halting the rise in drug-resistant infections. Combining advanced AI, cutting-edge laboratory science, and international collaboration, these “grand challenges” aim to develop new treatments, improve prescribing practices, and strengthen global strategies against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The move comes at a critical time, with recent WHO data showing that one in six bacterial infections is resistant to currently available antibiotics, and deaths are expected to skyrocket over the next 30 years unless urgent action is taken. Growing global crisis The…
Scientists have traced the origin of the most massive black hole merger ever observed, revealing how two “impossible” giants formed despite long-held assumptions that such objects should not exist.These black holes were considered “forbidden” because it was thought that stars of that size would blow themselves up in extremely powerful explosions, leaving no debris behind that could collapse into a black hole.New research shows that rapidly rotating and magnetized stars could collapse in unexpected ways, producing black holes within this forbidden mass range and setting the stage for a giant merger event known as GW231123. you may like The discovery…
November 19, 2025Ravi LakshmananCyber espionage/malwareA threat actor known as PlushDaemon has been observed using a previously undocumented Go-based network backdoor (codenamed EdgeStepper) to facilitate adversary-man-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks. EdgeStepper “redirects all DNS queries to an external malicious hijacking node, effectively rerouting traffic from legitimate infrastructure used for software updates to attacker-controlled infrastructure,” ESET security researcher Facundo Muñoz said in a report shared with Hacker News. PlushDaemon is known to have been active since at least 2018 and is assessed to be a China-aligned group that has attacked organizations in the United States, New Zealand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and…
November 19, 2025Ravi LakshmananAI security / SaaS security A malicious attacker could exploit the default configuration of ServiceNow’s Now Assist generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform and leverage its agent capabilities to perform prompt injection attacks. According to AppOmni, second-degree prompt injection leverages Now Assist’s agent-to-agent detection capabilities to perform unauthorized actions that allow attackers to copy and extract sensitive corporate data, modify records, and escalate privileges. “This finding is concerning because this is not a bug in the AI; it is expected behavior defined by certain default configuration options,” said Aaron Costello, head of SaaS security research at AppOmni. “When…
The international LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration has completed its fourth and longest observational campaign, O4, marking a major milestone in gravitational wave research. The two-year effort, from May 2023 to the end of 2025, brought together the world’s best gravitational wave detectors to continuously search for ripples in space and time, dramatically expanding the catalog of cosmic events. During this campaign, scientists detected about 250 new gravitational wave signals. This represents a significant majority of the approximately 350 events observed to date by the worldwide network of detectors. This surge has given O4 one of the most productive observing periods since humans…
A new partnership between major shipping companies launches a concerted effort to curb ocean plastic pollution, marking one of the maritime sector’s most ambitious environmental collaborations to date. Founded by ocean impact organization Seven Clean Seas (SCS), the Maritime Association for Clean Seas (MACS) brings together leading carriers and maritime service providers with a shared mission to drive measurable reductions in plastic waste across the global shipping value chain. Tom Peacock Nazir, founder and chairman of MACS, explains: “With MACS, we are giving the maritime industry the tools it needs to make measurable progress against plastic pollution. We are working…
TikTok, the app that was once just a place to store user-generated content, has launched a new setting that allows users to choose how much AI-generated content appears in their “For You” feed. The company is also introducing more advanced labeling technology for AI-generated content. New AI-generated content (AIGC) controls are being rolled out within the app’s ‘Topic Management’ tool, allowing users to choose what they want to see on TikTok. “Topic controls let you adjust how often you see content related to more than 10 categories, including dance, sports, food and drink, and more,” TikTok said in a blog…
November 19, 2025Ravi LakshmananVulnerability/Network Security Fortinet has warned that a new security flaw exists and is being exploited in FortiWeb. This medium severity vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-58034, has a CVSS score of 6.7 out of a maximum of 10.0. “Improper Disabling of Special Elements Used in OS Commands (“OS Command Injection”) Vulnerability” [CWE-78] “FortiWeb could allow an authenticated attacker to execute malicious code on the underlying system via a crafted HTTP request or CLI command,” the company said in an advisory Tuesday. This means that for a successful attack, the attacker must first authenticate themselves through other means and chain…
The Trump administration announced Tuesday it would provide Constellation Energy with a $1 billion loan to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor. The energy company announced last year that it would restart the reactor, which had been shut down since 2019, after Microsoft pledged to buy all the power from the 835-megawatt plant over 20 years. Constellation estimates the project will cost $1.6 billion, with renovations expected to be completed in 2028. Terms of the agreement between Microsoft and Constellation were not disclosed. Jefferies analysts estimate that the tech company could pay about $110 to $115 per megawatt hour…
Venture capital firm Atomico’s annual European Technology Status Report has been published, showing an upward trend in investment. But this year’s edition goes beyond the usual assessment of the technology ecosystem. It is part of an advocacy that reflects broader changes. European startups and investors are increasingly turning to lobbying. “It’s no longer enough to show how far we’ve come; it’s also important to use those insights to chart the path forward,” said report author Tom Wehmeyer, partner and head of intelligence at Atomico. It includes four policy recommendations with the descriptive names: “Removing Friction,” “Financing the Future,” “Developing Talent,”…