Indonesia lifts Grok ban ‘conditionally’
Indonesia follows Malaysia and the Philippines in lifting the ban on xAI’s chatbot Grok. Southeast Asian countries banned Grok for being used to mass create non-consensual sexual images on X (now a subsidiary of xAI), including images of real women and minors. From late December to January, Grok was used to create at least 1.8 […]
‘This is like how Google can map your home without your consent’: Why using aerial lasers to map archaeological sites requires partnerships with indigenous peoples
Imagine an airplane hurtling across the sky at hundreds of miles per hour, firing millions of laser pulses into a dense tropical forest. The goal is to create a detailed map of thousands of square miles, including the ground beneath the canopy, within a few days. Once the stuff of science fiction, aerial lidar (light […]
‘Nose in a Dish’ reveals why colds are worse for some people than others
A new lab has used a ‘nose in a dish’ to understand why colds cause mild symptoms in some people and send others to the hospital. When cold and flu season is in full swing, rhinoviruses, the most common cause of colds, can make many of us miserable, causing symptoms such as runny noses, sore […]
Earth is ‘missing’ lighter elements. They may be hiding in its solid inner core.
For close to a century, geoscientists have pondered a mystery: Where did Earth’s lighter elements go? Compared to amounts in the Sun and in some meteorites, Earth has less hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and sulfur, as well as noble gases like helium — in some cases, more than 99 percent less. Some of the disparity is […]
A rare medieval seal discovered in Britain reads ‘Richard’s Secret’ and is engraved with Roman jewels.
A medieval seal with a blood-red jewel found in Britain holds an ancient secret, researchers have discovered. Metal detectors discovered a medieval seal in Gosfield, east Essex, in autumn 2024. However, a recent analysis of the seal by experts at Britain’s Portable Antiques Project revealed that the center of the 800-year-old object prominently featured 2,000-year-old […]
Hauntingly beautiful Hubble telescope images show stellar nurseries exploding in nascent stars — Space Photo of the Week
simple facts What is it: Lupus 3 (GN 16.05.2 and Bernes 149) Molecular Cloud Location: Located in the constellation Scorpius, about 500 light years away. Share date: January 26, 2026 A placid cloud of gas and dust may not sound like much to get excited about, but it’s where one of the most fundamental phenomena […]
When were boats invented? | Live Science
Around 8000 BC, canoes carved from a single pine log arrived in what is now the Netherlands. The boat, approximately 3 meters long, was not discovered until 1955, when it was excavated from a peat bog near the village of Pesse by road workers. This artifact, now known as the Pesce Canoe, is the world’s […]
Introducing Europe’s new unicorns for 2026
January has been such a long month that five new European unicorns have already been born. From Belgium to Ukraine, several technology startups have raised funding at valuations exceeding $1 billion. But before we take a closer look at who has joined the club, there are two caveats. First: This number includes startups that may […]
Waymo reportedly raises $16 billion funding round
Waymo has nearly completed a new $16 billion funding round that values the robotaxi company at $110 billion, according to the Financial Times. More than three-quarters of that funding will reportedly come from a familiar source: Alphabet, of which Waymo is a subsidiary. (The company was founded as part of Alphabet’s “Moonshot Factory” X.) As […]
SpaceX seeks federal approval to launch 1 million solar-powered satellite data center
SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission to launch a constellation of up to 1 million solar-powered satellites to serve as data centers for artificial intelligence. The company’s application lays out a grand vision, not only describing its planned satellites as “the most efficient way to meet the accelerating demand for AI computing power,” but […]