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Reuters

The attorneys general of 16 states have filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court in an effort to prevent the Trump administration from proceeding with significant cuts to federal funding for scientific research and projects focused on boosting diversity in STEM fields. The lawsuit contends the Trump administration does not have the authority to cap research funding and eliminate congressionally mandated diversity programs provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

From "States Sue Over Cuts to Research Funding, STEM Diversity Efforts"
Reuters (05/28/25) Daniel Wiessner
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The Wall Street Journal

Self-driving cars are quickly being embraced in the communities where they have been introduced. Alphabet's Waymo driverless cars were servicing 10,000 paid rides a week in August 2023; that number now exceeds 250,000. Waymo plans an expansion into a number of cities, including Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C.

From "It’s Waymo’s World. We’re All Just Riding in It"
The Wall Street Journal (05/31/25) Ben Cohen
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Interesting Engineering

An international team of researchers transmitted 1.02 petabits of data per second over a distance of 1,808 kilometers (1,118 miles) using a special coupled 19-core optical fiber. The team built a system that used a combination of special amplifiers in all 19 cores without mixing up the signals. They set up 19 recirculating loops, each using one core of the fiber, and passed the signals through them, with a 19-channel receiver catching the signals and a multi-input multi-output-based digital processor cleaning them up, removing interference, and calculating the data rate.

From "Petabit Per Second Internet Speed Achieved over 1,100 miles"
Interesting Engineering (05/30/25) Rupendra Brahambhatt
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Tom's Hardware

University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers developed a self-healing artificial muscle for use in soft robotics and wearable systems. The muscle consists of a damage detection bottom layer composed of liquid metal microdroplets embedded in a silicone elastomer, a middle layer of stiff thermoplastic elastomer that acts as the self-healing component, and a top actuation layer that contracts and expands with variations in water pressure. Monitoring currents sense damage as disruptions to the electrical network, triggering the network to deliver heat to the damaged areas, melting the thermoplastic layer to seal ruptures.

From "Damage-Sensing, Self-Healing Artificial Muscles for Robots"
Tom's Hardware (06/01/25) Mark Tyson
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ACM Media Center

ACM is accepting submissions for its new journal, ACM Transactions on AI for Science (TAIS), which will feature research showing how new AI can be driven by scientific challenges and how scientific discoveries can be advanced by computational methods. TAIS is geared toward methodological researchers in AI and machine learning and science and engineering researchers.

From "ACM Launches Journal on AI for Science"
ACM Media Center (05/29/25)
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The Register (U.K.)

A person calling himself GangExposed leaked key data about the Russia-linked Conti and Trickbot ransomware gangs. The leaks include thousands of chat logs, personal videos, and ransom negotiations tied to the cyber gangs, who have extorted billions of dollars from companies, hospitals, and other victims worldwide. GangExposed said he's not interested in the $10-million bounty the U.S. offered for information about one key Conti leader that he named. "I simply enjoy solving the most complex cases," he said.

From "Leaker Outs Conti Kingpins"
The Register (U.K.) (05/31/25) Jessica Lyons
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