I used to be actually trying ahead to July 4, and never simply because I like a poolside barbecue. This 12 months the American vacation additionally marked an enormous symbolic deadline for US nuclear energy.
Final 12 months the Trump administration set a purpose to see three new microreactors obtain criticality, a technical milestone establishing {that a} reactor can maintain a sequence response, by the nation’s 250th birthday. And simply in time, not simply three, however 4 reactors did so.
It’s a optimistic signal for nuclear applied sciences at a time of accelerating want for electrical energy and emissions-free power sources. However attaining criticality doesn’t imply a reactor is able to present electrical energy for the grid (or in any respect, for that matter).
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The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you in the present day’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 China plans to let its high AI companies purchase Nvidia H200 chips
Alibaba, ByteDance, and DeepSeek are set to get permission. (Data $)
+ China had beforehand withheld approval regardless of US authorization. (Reuters $)
2 NATO is constructing a community to cease Russian attackers of their tracks
It would use sensors, drones, satellites, and AI to detect them. (Enterprise Insider)
+ Troops are donning odd camouflage to elude drones. (Economist $)
+ The US needs cheaper drones as Iran’s wrecking its Reapers. (Ars Technica)
3 Researchers have a brand new thought to battle future El Niños: dimming the solar
Deflecting photo voltaic power might cool the ocean and mitigate the dangers. (Wired $)
+ However there might be sudden penalties. (New Scientist $)
+ And geoengineering as a discipline is getting a actuality verify. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
4 Meta is patenting an AI gadget that data customers to analyse feelings
It ostensibly goals to tailor exercise plans to the person’s temper. (404 Media)
+ AI reminiscence is privateness’s subsequent frontier. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
5 Chipmakers are going vertical as Moore’s Legislation slows
They’re stacking transistors to maintain chips advancing. (Economist $)
+ IBM is betting on the method. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
6 Ivy League college students suspected of AI dishonest noticed scores fall in particular person
From 96% all the way in which all the way down to 48%. (Ars Technica)
+ AI giants wish to take over the classroom. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
7 A brand new research says mother and father’ telephone addictions harm bonds with children
It could actually exacerbate “insecure attachment” for all times. (Bloomberg $)
+ And make youngsters extra anxious and avoidant. (Gizmodo)
8 A decide accredited Musk’s $1.5 million Twitter settlement with the SEC
Regardless of what she known as “severe misgivings” and “crimson flags.” (Reuters $)
+ Musk was accused of skirting inventory disclosure guidelines. (Fortune)
9 Shoebox-sized “detector satellites” might discover nuclear bombs in area
Cubesats carrying the detector might sense a bomb’s radiation. (House)
+ Russia is suspected of creating space-based nukes. (Reuters $)
10 A World Cup match drove Google Search site visitors to a brand new file
The milestone got here after Argentina’s comeback in opposition to Egypt. (CNBC)
