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Tech News
Don Yansen, an MIT-trained electrical engineer who retired to care for his wife, joined an MIT AgeLab study examining how older adults use technology in caregiving contexts. Hearing participants describe how frustrating and confusing modern devices could be, he decided to build a simpler alternative and founded a new company around it.
Silvis Materials, cofounded by MIT alum Patty Ferreira, has created adhesives made from cellulose that fully biodegrade, aiming to replace petroleum-based glues used in packaging labels, furniture joints, and construction materials. Ferreira notes that petroleum adhesives currently prevent otherwise recyclable containers from being processed because the glue holding labels on contaminates the recycling stream.
At the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing (August 22-26), robots competing in a 100-meter sprint and standing high jump beat human world records set by Usain Bolt and others, marking a jump from last year's event where they trailed human performance. Some sprinting robots couldn't stop in time, crashing into barriers, falling, and in a few cases breaking apart with sparks or catching fire, while separate tasks like hanging laundry showed robots still moving far slower than humans.
Security researcher Seth Larson identified that Python's stringprep module, used in IDNA 2003 domain name processing, relies on str.lower() which uses whatever Unicode version ships with the interpreter rather than the fixed Unicode 3.2 version specified in RFC 3454. This means case-folding behavior for internationalized domain names can differ across Python versions, since unicodedata.unidata_version varies by interpreter build.
Elon Musk revealed on SpaceX's latest earnings call that the company's Starmind AI project will run on NVIDIA's Vera Rubin GPU architecture, both on the ground and eventually in orbit. Musk argued the NVL72 VR system design outperforms traditional rack-based computing setups and would be cheaper and more effective for SpaceX's needs.
A poll conducted among readers asked what Google should prioritize for the Pixel 12, and a decisive 64% chose better hardware alone. About 19% wanted equal focus on hardware and AI, a similar share preferred more competitive pricing, and fewer than 2% wanted AI prioritized on its own.
Researchers examined brain tissue from 338 former NFL players who died recently and found that the vast majority showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma. The new findings suggest the condition is more widespread among professional football players than previously estimated.
A promotional video for a co-branded golf driver from Callaway and content creator group Good Good sparked online backlash after viewers said it depicted violence against women. The ad, reportedly styled after a perfume commercial, prompted widespread criticism on social media over its imagery and tone. In response, the CEOs of both Callaway and Good Good issued public apologies for the campaign.
Researchers identified a security bug in NVIDIA's OpenClaw tool that allows attackers to reach the local model server through the Ollama API without authentication. This unauthenticated access can be leveraged to tamper with the AI agent's underlying model, leading to persistent corruption of its outputs.
Instagram unveiled 'First Draft,' a feature that automatically trims clips and cuts pauses to generate an initial Reels edit in under 10 seconds. The tool is rolling out first on iPhone, accessible via the camera during recording or through the Reels gallery after selecting clips.
Stability AI, maker of the Stable Diffusion image generator, closed a $76 million Series B round, pushing its total funding to $232 million. Backers include Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, Electronic Arts, AMD Ventures, and Pacific Alliance Ventures. CEO Prem Akkaraju said the funds will support the company's creative production tools and professional services expansion.
Conservators at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields are researching the phosphorescent and fluorescent pigments used by late fashion designer Stephen Sprouse in his 1980s Day-Glo creations, aiming to prevent the colors from dulling with age. They presented their findings this week at an American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago, tracing the chemistry behind glow-in-the-dark materials from historical phosphor research to modern DayGlo pigments.