Three teenage girls from Kinsale, Ireland, followed up an accidental discovery of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in pea plant roots by testing whether the same bacteria could benefit cereal crops, which normally can't host them. Working from a home laboratory over three years, Émer Hickey, Ciara Judge and Sophie Healy-Thow soaked barley, oat and other cereal seeds in rhizobium cultures and tracked germination and growth against controls, despite experts warning the bacteria wouldn't help non-legume plants.
None of the 16 Rassvet satellites Russia launched in June reached their planned 870-km orbit, with several drifting as low as 300-400 km and two already re-entering the atmosphere, according to the Institute for the Study of War citing N2YO tracking data. The March batch of 16 satellites also had issues, with one lost and only 12 reaching proper altitude, undermining Bureau 1440's plan to build a Starlink competitor.
House Democrats are preparing oversight plans for 2026, including using appropriations power to pressure Trump aides and family members to comply with subpoenas if they retake the majority. Targets reportedly include funding for Trump's West Wing renovations and a proposed triumphal arch in Washington. Rep. Jamie Raskin said Congress controls the purse strings for federal buildings and can block further alterations to the White House.
The FCC announced plans to build a public scorecard grading wireless, wireline, and VoIP providers on how well they block illegal robocalls. The rating could use numeric scores, letter grades, or risk categories, drawing on call-blocking statistics, complaint data, and enforcement records. The measure would apply to retail voice providers but exclude wholesale-only carriers.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has published documents outlining plans to award a contract worth up to $5 million for building a national database of voter registration and voting history records. The contract, managed by Homeland Security Investigations, would require the winning company to pull publicly available voter files from all 50 states, including data on which federal elections people voted in. ICE says the contractor won't initially be asked to collect party affiliation data, but that could change if a contracting officer directs it in writing.
A new United Nations Environment Programme report concludes that Earth will soon surpass the 1.5 Celsius warming threshold set by the 2015 Paris agreement, largely due to continued fossil fuel emissions. Rather than treating this as unavoidable defeat, UN officials and scientists propose a strategy to temporarily exceed the limit before working to bring temperatures back down through ending fossil fuel use and deploying carbon removal technology.
Wonderful, an AI startup founded only last year, has reached a $5 billion valuation and already employs 650 people. The company is now expanding its forward-deployed engineering teams globally as it works toward a workforce of 1,000.
Nature's Futures section ran a piece of short science fiction depicting a community living on the fringes of AI-controlled cities that have become dysfunctional and unpredictable, with one city literally rearranging itself and threatening two scavengers, Kyle and Emma, who rely on a hand-drawn map to survive. The story imagines a world where humans ceded urban management to AI systems that have since decayed into unstable, self-altering environments.
California startup Pyka has built electric, cockpit-free fixed-wing aircraft that spray crops and deliver cargo, with about a dozen already flying missions over cotton and soybean fields in Brazil, work previously done by human pilots. The company is testing software updates at a site near San Francisco Bay while eyeing an eventual expansion into passenger flights along US coastlines.
Small businesses are increasingly offering retirement savings plans to employees, a benefit once considered exclusive to larger companies with more resources. This shift is driven by improved retirement plan tools, lower barriers to entry, and rising employee expectations around financial security benefits.
New SAP research shows 62% of C-suite executives are unhappy with how poorly their people and business performance data are integrated. While half of organizations plan for AI's effect on productivity, only 21% plan for its impact on job design and organizational structure, exposing a major disconnect between HR, finance and procurement systems.
T-Mobile is offering an unadvertised 'Super Essentials Saver' plan priced at $25 per month with AutoPay (or $30 without) for up to two lines. The plan is only available in person at Walmart locations and limited to customers opening new T-Mobile accounts, with no listing on the carrier's website or app.
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