June 29, 2026

05 Sci-Tech

Dutch government takes control of China-owned chip firm– www.bbc.com

pgnewser October 14, 2025 0

Blurb:

The Dutch government has taken control of Nexperia, a Chinese-owned chipmaker based in the Netherlands, in a bid to safeguard the European supply of semiconductors for cars and other electronic goods and protect Europe’s economic security.

The Hague said it took the decision due to “serious governance shortcomings” and to prevent the chips from becoming unavailable in an emergency.

Nexperia’s owner Wingtech said on Monday that it would take actions to protect its rights and would seek government support.

The development threatens to raise tensions between the European Union and China, which have increased in recent months over trade and Beijing’s relationship with Russia.

Social media - Wikipedia

Social Media Sued by NYC for Driving Children Mad

pgnewser October 9, 2025 2

New York City has filed a 327-page lawsuit in federal court against all the major social media companies, alleging they have driven children into a mental health crisis. They join a growing list of civic authorities nationwide bringing similar suits. So far, about 2,050 similar lawsuits are working their way through the court system.

The city declared in its lawsuit, “Defendants should be held to account for the harms their conduct has inflicted. As it stands now, [the] plaintiffs are left to abate the nuisance and foot the bill.”

NYC sues social media giants for allegedly addicting children

from www.aljazeera.com

Blurb:

New York City has filed a lawsuit accusing Facebook, Google, Snapchat, TikTok and other online platforms of fuelling a mental health crisis among children by addicting them to social media.

The 327-page complaint filed on Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan seeks damages from Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms, Google and YouTube owner Alphabet, Snapchat owner Snap and TikTok owner ByteDance. It accused the defendants of gross negligence and causing a public nuisance.

The city joined other governments, school districts and individuals pursuing about 2,050 similar lawsuits in nationwide litigation in the Oakland, California, federal court.

New York City is among the largest plaintiffs with a population of 8.48 million, including about 1.8 million under age 18. Its school and healthcare systems are also plaintiffs.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said allegations concerning YouTube are “simply not true”, in part because it is a streaming service and not a social network where people catch up with friends.

Innovation. `Bone-02' — A glue that heals fractures in just 3 ...

Bone Glue Could Revolutionize Emergency Medical Healthcare

pgnewser October 9, 2025 1

Chinese researchers have developed a glue that, when applied, turns into, effectively, human bone. Lead researcher Lin Xianfeng said the glue has the potential power to “achieve precise fixation within two to three minutes.” If it proves to be as affective as possible, Bone-02 could not only rapidly heal broken bones, it could save millions of lives.

Researchers ecstatic over medical breakthrough that could change the way we heal: ‘Potential for use in emergency fracture treatment in battlefields or disaster zones’  

from The Cool Down

Blurb:

A cutting-edge medical breakthrough could help change the way that doctors are able to treat fractures.

As reported in Interesting Engineering, a team of Chinese researchers has developed Bone-02, a dissolvable bone glue that aims to streamline the healing process in fractures. The technology is inspired by the way oysters attach to surfaces underwater.

Led by Lin Xianfeng, an associate chief orthopedic surgeon, the research team sought to reduce the number of potential complications that arise in traditional fracture treatments. According to Lin, the groundbreaking adhesive has the ability to “achieve precise fixation within two to three minutes.”

Research into Bone-02 began in 2016 after the team began to look for methods to combat the wet, blood-rich environment of the human body. Lin explained that he took inspiration from marine species after observing oysters that were effectively adhered to a bridge’s underwater structure despite the force of the waves hitting against them. Oysters are able to stick to underwater surfaces by secreting an organic cement onto the hard surface, which then hardens and binds the oyster to its new home.

Mine the Tech Gap: Why China's Rare Earth Dominance Persists | New ...

China Blocks Its Rare Earth Exports from Military, Semiconductor Manufacturers

pgnewser October 9, 2025 1

China tightens rare earth export controls, targets defence, semiconductor users
from finance.yahoo.com

Blurb:

BEIJING (Reuters) -China tightened its rare earth export controls on Thursday, expanding restrictions on processing technology, unauthorised overseas cooperation and spelling out its intention to limit exports to overseas defence and semiconductor users.

Exports of technology used to mine and process rare earths or make the associated magnets is barred without permission, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. Many of these technologies are already restricted and it was not immediately clear what the new rules will add.

China added several rare earths and related material to its export control list in April, however Thursday’s announcement explicitly said licenses are unlikely to be granted for defence companies as well as certain users in the semiconductor sector.

 

Are AI robots the future of parenting in China? | CNN

AI Toys Coming to America, Look at China for what’s to come here

pgnewser October 9, 2025 1

Parents in the US brace as China’s AI toy trend goes global

from www.techspot.com

Blurb:

The market for AI toys in China is predicted to grow faster than any other consumer AI sector, writes MIT Technology Review, reaching $14 billion by 2030. That’s not surprising when there are around 1,500 AI toy companies operating in the country as of October 2025.

 

An Asteroid Just Streaked Over Antarctica, Becoming the Second Closest Flyby Ever Recorded– www.discovermagazine.com

pgnewser October 9, 2025 0

Blurb:

 

One week ago, an asteroid flew so close to Earth that it nearly broke the record for the closest asteroid approach ever.

This space surprise came to astronomers’ attention on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, when the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona spotted an asteroid named 2025 TF a few hours after it had passed Earth. Flying over Antarctica, the asteroid came a mere 428 kilometers (266 miles) from Earth’s surface. For reference, the International Space Station orbits our planet at a similar altitude, approximately 370 km to 460 km (254 miles).

Asteroid 2025 TF may have only amounted to a near miss, but keeping tabs on near-Earth objects like this — even if most miss Earth — is a never-ending responsibility for astronomers.

Can Lutnick’s Chip-for-Chip Idea Work?– warontherocks.com

pgnewser October 9, 2025 0

Blurb:

The Commerce Department’s imminent Section 232 investigation — launched in April and expected to conclude soon — may fundamentally shift how the United States acquires semiconductors. The chips America imports range from commodity devices embedded in household appliances to the expensive, high-performance AI processors that power the AI boom, designed in America by Nvidia, but manufactured in Asia.

Taiwan and Korea sit at the center of this challenge. Together, they produce the majority of semiconductors used by the United States across nearly every category. This concentration represents a major national security risk, given China’s preparations and repeated threats to use force against Taiwan and antagonism toward South Korea.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick phrased the situation thus in a recent interview: “If you can’t make your own chips, how can you defend yourself?”

Tariffs are one tool to address this exposure, designed to boost demand for chips manufactured in the United States. But they are not enough. Lutnick offers a second measure, called “chip for chip.” It would tie tariff waivers directly to verifiable domestic production milestones, incentivizing U.S. firms to act more in the national interest.

However, Lutnick’s ‘chip-for-chip’ framework could succeed only if Washington pairs it with enforceable production benchmarks and demand-side incentives. Otherwise, it risks becoming another half-measure in America’s decades-long struggle to rebuild semiconductor sovereignty.

Shock as world’s rarest parrot declared EXTINCT is hatched at zoo in major breakthrough– www.thesun.co.uk

pgnewser October 9, 2025 0

Blurb:

A RARE blue parrot declared extinct in the wild has hatched for the first time at a conservation centre, sparking new hope for the species.

The Spix’s macaw chick was born at the Centre for the Conservation of Endangered Bird Species in Pairi Daiza, a zoo in Cambron-Casteau, Belgium, on September 21.

It is the first chick of its species to hatch at the park after 100 previous eggs failed to be fertilised, marking a major breakthrough in an international breeding programme to save the world’s rarest parrot.

The zoo said: “Egg 101 is a true miracle of life, the result of years of effort and patience,” and described it as “a birth more precious than gold.”

Specialists decided to remove the egg from its inexperienced parents before it hatched to increase the chick’s chances of survival.

Its caretaker Thomas Biagi said having to feed the chick every two hours was exhausting but motivating because “we’re literally holding the future of one of the world’s most endangered species in our hands.”

Scientists suggest the brain may work best with 7 senses, not just 5– www.sciencedaily.com

pgnewser October 9, 2025 0

Blurb:

Skoltech scientists have devised a mathematical model of memory. By analyzing its new model, the team came to surprising conclusions that could prove useful for robot design, artificial intelligence, and for better understanding of human memory. Published in Scientific Reports, the study suggests there may be an optimal number of senses — if so, those of us with five senses could use a couple more!

“Our conclusion is of course highly speculative in application to human senses, although you never know: It could be that humans of the future would evolve a sense of radiation or magnetic field. But in any case, our findings may be of practical importance for robotics and the theory of artificial intelligence,” said study co-author Professor Nikolay Brilliantov of Skoltech AI. “It appears that when each concept retained in memory is characterized in terms of seven features — as opposed to, say, five or eight — the number of distinct objects held in memory is maximized.”

In line with a well-established approach, which originated in the early 20th century, the team models the fundamental building blocks of memory: the memory “engrams.” An engram can be viewed as a sparse ensemble of neurons across multiple regions in the brain that fire together. The conceptual content of an engram is an ideal abstract object characterized with regard to multiple features. In the context of human memory, the features correspond to sensory inputs, so that the notion of a banana would match up with a visual image, a smell, the taste of a banana, and so on. This results in a five-dimensional object that exists and evolves in a five-dimensional space populated by all the other concepts retained in memory.

Court Declares Gun Ban Unconstitutional—Then Demands Names of Pro-2A Group Members– www.usacarry.com

pgnewser October 9, 2025 0

Blurb:

LAFAYETTE, LA — A federal judge has issued a final judgment in the closely watched case Reese v. ATF, acknowledging that the federal prohibition on handgun sales to adults under 21 violates the Second Amendment—but limiting the practical impact of the decision to a small, narrowly defined group.

On October 7, U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays issued a two-page ruling in compliance with a January 2025 decision from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. That earlier ruling found that the federal law barring handgun sales by licensed dealers to adults aged 18 to 20 was unconstitutional.

Judge Summerhays’ final order declared the statute unconstitutional only as applied to three individual plaintiffs—Caleb Reese, Joseph Granich, and Emily Naquin—as well as members of the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and Louisiana Shooting Association (LSA) who were members of those organizations on November 6, 2020 and who reside within the Fifth Circuit’s jurisdiction, which includes Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

The judgment blocks the federal government from enforcing the handgun sales ban against those specific individuals, but only if the buyer is between 18 and 20 years old and is covered by the limited group named in the case.

Satellites detected strange gravity signal coming from deep within Earth almost 20 years ago, study reveals– www.livescience.com

pgnewser October 9, 2025 0

Blurb:

Satellites detected a strange gravity signal off the coast of Africa nearly 20 years ago, suggesting something unusual had happened deep within the planet to distort its gravitational field, according to a recent study.

The large gravitational anomaly lasted for about two years over the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It peaked in January 2007, the same month Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone (though, of course, there was no connection between the two events).

The strange anomaly, and the jerk, were caused by a previously unknown geological process, the researchers suspect. Their findings, published Aug. 28 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, indicated that a shift in minerals may have caused a rapid redistribution of mass in the deep mantle, near the core, altering Earth’s magnetic field.

 

‘Squeezed light’ might be the secret to building the quantum internet– www.techexplorist.com

pgnewser October 9, 2025 0

Blurb:

Imagine a future where the internet isn’t just fast, it’s fundamentally different. Where information doesn’t travel through cables in bits and bytes, but dances across space in entangled photons, instantaneously linking quantum computers continents apart. In this shimmering vision of tomorrow, the backbone of communication is no longer copper or fiber; it’s quantum light.

At the heart of this revolution is a peculiar phenomenon known as squeezed light, and a team of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology believes it may be the key to unlocking scalable quantum networks. Their latest study, led by Fermilab scientist Alexandru Macridin, marks a pivotal step toward building a quantum internet, one that could transform scientific research, cryptography, and computing itself.

Quantum networks rely on entangled qubits: pairs of quantum bits that remain mysteriously connected, no matter how far apart they are. In quantum physics, entanglement is the ghostly thread that links particles across space, such that a change in one instantly affects the other. It’s a phenomenon Einstein famously referred to as “spooky action at a distance,” and it forms the cornerstone of quantum communication.

from www.techexplorist.com

Kentucky sues Roblox after Charlie Kirk ‘assassination simulators’ found on platform | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com

pgnewser October 9, 2025 0

Blurb:

Roblox, which reports more than 111 million active monthly users, is used by roughly two-thirds of American children aged 9 to 12.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has filed a lawsuit against Roblox, alleging the company failed to protect minors from sexual predators and explicit material, including violent simulations depicting the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Filed on Monday, the suit accuses the California gaming platform of operating as a “playground for pedophiles” by neglecting to implement any meaningful age verification, moderation, or parental safeguards. Roblox, which reports more than 111 million active monthly users, is used by roughly two-thirds of American children aged 9 to 12.

According to the complaint, predators frequently create fake accounts posing as children to contact and groom minors. “Roblox is designed to allow predators easy access to children,” prosecutors wrote, alleging that the company’s inaction has resulted in “harassment, kidnapping, trafficking, violence, and sexual assault.”

The People's Lawyers': Attorneys General Letitia James and Dana ...

NY Hopes to become a Social Media Cop, and Letitia James is the Wanna-be Chief

pgnewser October 7, 2025 0

The People's Lawyers': Attorneys General Letitia James and Dana ...

NY’s unconstitutional “Stop Hiding Hate” act takes effect January 1, 2026, and Letitia James is expecting social media companies to submit their hate speech standards biannually. The key element of the unconstitutional law lies in the requirement by social media companies to effectively show how they’re fighting “hate” on their platform, a term that is highly subjective. A Democrat’s Hate is a Republican’s righteous truth, and vice versa.

Letitia James has informed social media companies of her intention to enforce this Soviet-styled law, setting up a legal showdown for January 1, 2026. The social media companies face potential fines for every violation of the Orwellian law.

A regulatory analysis website, regulatoryoversight.com, summed up the regulations in the law: “Social media companies are required to submit reports twice a year to the New York AG’s office. These reports must include statements on their terms of service, including whether the policy defines terms such as hate speech, racism, extremism, and radicalization, among others. The company must also describe its policy and how it enforces it, such as how the company uses automated process and addresses user reports to address conduct that violates the policy.”

New York’s “Stop Hiding Hate” Act: What It Means for Social Media Companies – regulatoryoversight.com
Source Link
Excerpt:

On October 2, New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James announced that, in accordance with the “Stop Hiding Hate” Act, social media companies are now required to report their content moderation policies to her office, with first reports due no later than January 1, 2026. This legislation, sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Grace Lee and signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul, mandates that platforms operating in New York with more than $100 million in gross annual revenue must post their content moderation policies publicly, provide consumers with a contact to report violations of the policy, and submit biannual reports to James’ office concerning compliance.

AMD: Latest news and insights | Network World

AMD wins massive AI chip deal from OpenAI with stock sweetener– arstechnica.com

pgnewser October 7, 2025 0

AMD: Latest news and insights | Network World

AMD wins massive AI chip deal from OpenAI with stock sweetener– arstechnica.com
Source Link
Excerpt:

As part of the arrangement, AMD will allow OpenAI to purchase up to 160 million AMD shares at 1 cent each throughout the chips deal.

With demand for AI compute growing rapidly, companies like OpenAI have been looking for secondary supply lines and sources of additional computing capacity, and the AMD partnership is part the company’s wider effort to secure sufficient computing power for its AI operations. In September, Nvidia announced an investment of up to $100 billion in OpenAI that included supplying at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems. OpenAI plans to deploy a gigawatt of Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin chips in late 2026.

OpenAI has worked with AMD for years, according to Reuters, providing input on the design of older generations of AI chips such as the MI300X. The new agreement calls for deploying the equivalent of 6 gigawatts of computing power using AMD chips over multiple years.

Beyond working with chip suppliers, OpenAI is widely reported to be developing its own silicon for AI applications and has partnered with Broadcom, as we reported in February. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters the AMD deal does not change OpenAI’s ongoing compute plans, including its chip development effort or its partnership with Microsoft.

Lockheed, Verizon testing 5G-linked drone swarm for intel collection

‘Swarms of Killer Robots’: Why AI is Terrifying the American Military – Politico

pgnewser October 7, 2025 0

Lockheed, Verizon testing 5G-linked drone swarm for intel collection

‘Swarms of Killer Robots’: Why AI is Terrifying the American Military – Politico
Source Link
Excerpt:

Artificial intelligence technology is poised to transform national security. In the United States, experts and policymakers are already experimenting with large language models that can aid in strategic decision-making in conflicts and autonomous weapons systems (or, as they are more commonly called, “killer robots”) that can make real-time decisions about what to target and whether to use lethal force.

But these new technologies also pose enormous risks. The Pentagon is filled with some of the country’s most sensitive information. Putting that information in the hands of AI tools makes it more vulnerable, both to foreign hackers and to malicious inside actors who want to leak information, as AI can comb through and summarize massive amounts of information better than any human. A misaligned AI agent can also quickly lead to decision-making that unnecessarily escalates conflict.

Bacteria - Wikipedia

Bacteria hidden inside tumors could help beat cancer– www.sciencedaily.com

pgnewser October 7, 2025 0

Bacteria - Wikipedia

Bacteria hidden inside tumors could help beat cancer– www.sciencedaily.com
Source Link
Excerpt:

An international team of scientists led by researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS), Imperial College London and the University of Cologne have discovered that microbes associated with tumors produce a molecule, which can control cancer progression and boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

Most people are familiar with the microbes on our skin or in our gut, but recent discoveries have revealed that tumors also host unique communities of bacteria. Scientists are now investigating how these tumor-associated bacteria can affect tumor growth and the response to chemotherapy.

New research, published online in Cell Systems on September 10, 2025, provides a significant breakthrough in this field, identifying a powerful anti-cancer metabolite produced by bacteria associated with colorectal cancer. This finding opens the door to new strategies for treating cancer, including the development of novel drugs that could make existing therapies more potent.

The researchers used a sophisticated large-scale screening approach to test over 1,100 conditions in a type of microscopic worm called C. elegans. Through this, they found that the bacteria E. coli produced a molecule called 2-methylisocitrate (2-MiCit) that could improve the effectiveness of the chemotherapy drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU).

Trump Opens the White House Doors to Foreign Regimes and Their Dirty Money– www.thenation.com

pgnewser October 7, 2025 0

Trump Opens the White House Doors to Foreign Regimes and Their Dirty Money– www.thenation.com
Source Link
Excerpt:

Lobbyists for foreign countries have long helped other governments influence US policy, but nothing compares to the brazen corruption of the second administration of Trump.

Given that anyone anywhere can quietly bankroll President Donald Trump via his “memecoin,” it’s fair to say that we’ve never seen a White House so saturated in foreign money.

(Paul Yeung / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

It’s difficult to overstate how significantly the world of foreign lobbying has transformed in the past few months. An industry that was once relegated to backrooms and back channels is now blasted out in public statements and social media posts. From India to Oman to Romania and beyond, governments are lavishing Donald Trump with luxury jets, high-rise towers, resorts, and crypto investments—and the president is unashamed, even bragging about it. Eight months into Trump’s second administration, it’s difficult to keep track of all the unprecedented ways that regimes have tried to curry favor with him.

Myanmar activists to sue Norway’s Telenor for handing data to military | Privacy News– www.aljazeera.com

pgnewser October 7, 2025 0

Myanmar activists to sue Norway’s Telenor for handing data to military | Privacy News– www.aljazeera.com
Source Link
Excerpt:

Claimants say government used data to track and target activists in the wake of 2021 coup.

A group of civil society organisations in Myanmar plans to take legal action against Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor, accusing it of passing customer data to the country’s military government for use in repression.

The activists sent Telenor a notice of intent to sue on Monday, according to a statement from the Netherlands-based nonprofit Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), which is backing the case. The case states that the data shared by the telecoms giant was used by the military following its 2021 coup to trace and target civilians.

The claimants allege that Telenor, majority-owned by the Norwegian government, disclosed data from millions of customers to the military authorities, which, after toppling the country’s elected government, embarked on a campaign of violence and repression.

A Wargame to Take Taiwan, from China’s Perspective– warontherocks.com

pgnewser October 7, 2025 0

A Wargame to Take Taiwan, from China’s Perspective– warontherocks.com
Source Link
Excerpt:

In August 2025, 25 international experts gathered at Syracuse University to do something unusual: plan China’s invasion of Taiwan. For two days, academics, policy analysts, and current and former U.S. officials abandoned their typical defensive postures and attempted to inhabit Beijing’s offensive strategic mindset in a wargame. They debated not how America should respond to Chinese aggression, but how China might overcome the obstacles that have so far kept it from attacking the island nation.

This role reversal yielded an uncomfortable insight. The invasion scenarios that dominate U.S. military planning — involving massive amphibious assaults on Taiwan and preemptive strikes on American bases — may fundamentally misread Beijing’s calculus. As the wargame revealed, analysts seeking to understand China’s intentions should pay greater attention to plausible alternative military pathways to reunification that involve far less force and far more political calculation.