Associated Press
An autonomous humanoid robot developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor won a 21-km. (13-mile) half-marathon in Beijing Sunday, finishing in 50 minutes, 26 seconds—faster than the human world record. In last year’s inaugural race, the winning robot finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes, 42 seconds. While a remotely-controlled robot from Honor was the first to cross the finish line in 48 minutes, 19 seconds this year, under the event's weighted scoring rules the autonomous robot was declared the champion.
From "Humanoid Robot Beats Human Half-Marathon Record in Beijing"
Associated Press (04/19/26)
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The Logic (Canada)
Canada is advancing plans to build one of the world’s most powerful public AI supercomputers through its Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program, offering up to $890 million to qualified builders. The initiative aims to close a gap in research computing capacity while ensuring Canadian ownership, control, and data sovereignty of the resulting supercomputer. Bidders—which must be led by a post-secondary institute or not-for-profit—must deliver the system within 18 months of signing the contract.
From "Canada Looking for a Supercomputer Builder"
The Logic (Canada) (04/17/26) Murad Hemmadi
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Politico Europe
Last Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented an age-verification tool, saying it was "technically ready" and will soon be available to use. Cyber and privacy experts examining the source code on GitHub soon found several issues with the app's design, including that it would store sensitive data on a user’s phone and leave it unprotected, and that it was possible to bypass the app’s biometric authentication features.
From "Hackers Say It Takes 2 Minutes to Break the EU's New Age Checking App"
Politico Europe (04/17/26) Émile Marzolf; Ellen O'Regan; Eliza Gkritsi
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Ars Technica
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) mounted at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, AZ, has completed the highest-resolution 3D map of the universe to date. DESI has mapped more than 47 million galaxies in its five years of operation, detailing the impact of dark energy over 11 billion years. It collects about 80 GB of data each night; once the data is fully analyzed, it could help determine whether dark energy is constant or varies over time.
From "3D Map of Universe Could Solve Dark Energy Mystery"
Ars Technica (04/15/26) Jennifer Ouellette
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Fortune
ACM A.M. Turing Award laureate Yoshua Bengio warned that powerful AI systems like Anthropic’s Claude Mythos are creating urgent global cybersecurity risks that require global cooperation. Such AI systems can detect hidden software flaws but also could enable large-scale cyberattacks if misused. The companies behind these models have limited access to them to select U.S. organizations; said Bengio, “It doesn’t make sense that private individuals are deciding the fate of infrastructure for everyone else.”
From "Anthropic’s Mythos Cybersecurity Capabilities Require Urgent International Cooperation, Bengio Says"
Fortune (04/18/26) Beatrice Nolan
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R&D World
An intracortical brain-computer interface (BCI) developed by researchers at Belgium's KU Leuven enabled macaque monkeys to navigate complex 3D virtual reality environments using only neural signals. By combining data from multiple brain regions beyond the primary motor cortex, the system achieved more precise and flexible control than previous BCIs. It was trained through passive observation, making it promising for paralyzed patients who cannot move. The system adapts in real time without retraining, relying on brain plasticity.
From "BCI Allows Monkeys to Navigate 3D Virtual Reality"
R&D World (04/16/26) Julia Rock-Torcivia
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