2026-03-14 22:00:00
How Pokémon Go Is Giving Delivery Robots an Inch-Perfect View of the WorldWill Douglas Heaven | MIT Technology Review ($)
“Niantic Spatial is using that vast and unparalleled trove of crowdsourced data—images of urban landmarks tagged with super-accurate location markers taken from the phones of hundreds of millions of Pokémon Go players around the world—to build a kind of world model, a buzzy new technology that grounds the smarts of LLMs in real-world environments.”
A Roadmap for AI, if Anyone Will ListenConnie Loizos | TechCrunch
“The newly published document, signed by hundreds of experts, former officials, and public figures, opens with the no-nonsense observation that humanity is at a fork in the road. One path, which the declaration calls ‘the race to replace,’ leads to humans being supplanted first as workers, then as decision-makers, as power accrues to unaccountable institutions and their machines. The other leads to AI that massively expands human potential.”
Startup Is Building the First Data Center to Use Human Brain CellsAlex Wilkins | New Scientist ($)
“Data centers use huge amounts of energy and chips are in high demand—could brain cells be the answer? Australia-based start-up Cortical Labs has announced it is building two ‘biological’ data centers in Melbourne and Singapore, stacked with the same neuron-filled chips that it has demonstrated can play Pong or Doom.”
Why Do Humanoid Robots Still Struggle With the Small Stuff?John Pavlus | Quanta Magazine
“‘I asked each researcher: Can your flagship robot—Boston Dynamics’ Atlas or Agility’s Digit, two of the most credible and pedigreed humanoids on Earth—handle any set of stairs or doorway? ‘Not reliably,’ Hurst said. ‘I don’t think it’s totally solved,’ Kuindersma said. …It’s 2026. Why are humanoids still this…hard?”
AI Isn’t Lightening Workloads. It’s Making Them More Intense.Ray A. Smith | The Wall Street Journal ($)
“One of the great hopes for artificial intelligence—at least, among workers—is that it will ease workloads, freeing people up for more high-level, creative pursuits. So far, the opposite is happening, new data show. In fact, AI is increasing the speed, density and complexity of work rather than reducing it, according to an analysis of 164,000 workers’ digital work activity.”
Karpathy’s March of Nines Shows Why 90% AI Reliability Isn’t Even Close to EnoughNikhil Mungel | VentureBeat
“The ‘March of Nines’ frames a common production reality: You can reach the first 90% reliability with a strong demo, and each additional nine often requires comparable engineering effort. For enterprise teams, the distance between ‘usually works’ and ‘operates like dependable software’ determines adoption.”
The Race to Solve the Biggest Problem in Quantum ComputingKarmela Padavic-Callaghan | New Scientist ($)
“Quantum computers are already here, but they make far too many errors. This is arguably the biggest obstacle to the technology really becoming useful, but recent breakthroughs suggest a solution may be on the horizon. ‘It’s a very exciting time in error correction. For the first time, theory and practice are really making contact,’ says Robert Schoelkopf at Yale University.”
Modular Yard Robot Mows Lawns, Plows Snow, Gathers Leaves and Trims GrassMaryna Holovnova | New Atlas
“Homeowners usually end up with a garage filled with various equipment: a lawn mower, snow blower, shovels, and tools for clearing fallen leaves. Currently available on Kickstarter, the Yarbo M attempts to combine all those individual tools into one compact robotic platform that can automatically do all the yard work.”
These Self-Configuring Modular Robots May One Day Rule the WorldTom Hawking | Gizmodo
“Each unit has multiple points to which another unit can attach itself: 18 of them, to be precise, which means that just two units can be combined in 435 ways. The number of possible configurations explodes as the number of units increases, and by the time you get to five units, there are hundreds of billions of possible combinations.”
This SpaceX Veteran Says the Next Big Thing in Space Is Satellites That Return to EarthTim Fernholz | TechCrunch
“The reusable rocket has transformed the space industry in the last decade, and a new startup led by a SpaceX veteran wants to do the same for satellites. Brian Taylor, who helped build satellites for networks like SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Leo, founded Lux Aeterna in December 2024 to develop satellite structures with a built-in heat shield that will allow them to return to Earth with their payloads intact.”
Almost 40 New Unicorns Have Been Minted So Far This Year—Here They AreDominic-Madori Davis | TechCrunch
“Using data from Crunchbase and PitchBook, TechCrunch tracked down the VC-backed startups that became unicorns in 2026. While most are AI-related, a surprising number are focused on other industries like healthcare and even a few crypto companies.”
SETI Thinks It Might Have Missed a Few Alien Calls. Here’s WhyMatthew Phelan | Gizmodo
“A new study published by researchers at the SETI Institute, short for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, has tested the possibility that ‘space weather’ could render strong premeditated alien broadcasts into the kind of fainter radio signals that SETI typically ignores.”
The post This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through March 14) appeared first on SingularityHub.
2026-03-14 07:14:34
A single shot protected mice from the protein gunk implicated in Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease and cancer have something in common: They’re hard to treat.
Despite decades of research, both still plague humanity, robbing people of longer, healthier lives. In Alzheimer’s, a protein called amyloid forms toxic clumps in the brain. Eventually, neurons supporting memory, decision-making, and movement wither.
Whether amyloid clumps cause Alzheimer’s is still hotly debated. Drugs that clear the proteins have slowed disease progress, but only mildly. The FDA recently approved two such drugs for early stage patients. The approvals were controversial, however, due to risks, like brain bleeds.
As scientists have struggled with Alzheimer’s, blood cancer treatments have undergone a revolution thanks to a therapy called CAR T. The treatment genetically engineers a patient’s T cells to hunt and destroy a handful of previously untreatable blood cancers.
Taking a page from CAR T, a team at the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis has now transformed brain cells, known as astrocytes, into amyloid-gobbling machines.
A single injection into mice with Alzheimer’s prevented the formation of amyloid clumps in the brain during the disease’s early stages. In mice whose brains were already riddled with the toxic plaques, the treatment cut amyloid levels roughly in half.
“This study marks the first successful attempt at engineering astrocytes to specifically target and remove amyloid beta plaques in the brains of mice with Alzheimer’s disease,” study author Marco Colonna said in a press release.
Alzheimer’s has baffled scientists for over a century. Genetics play a role. Some versions of a gene called APOE protect the brain against the disease; others exacerbate it. Inflammation in the skin, lungs, or gut may be an early trigger. Damage to waste-cleaning cells that normally wash toxic proteins out of the brain could also contribute to symptoms.
But the reigning theory of what causes Alzheimer’s is amyloid buildup. These sticky proteins aren’t inherently evil. At low levels, they tweak how neurons connect to make memories, support brain healing after injury, and may ward off infections.
In Alzheimer’s, however, amyloid clumps into toxic waste. The brain’s immune cells can initially clear them up. But amyloid eventually overwhelms these cells and causes them to spew inflammatory molecules that exacerbate the disease.
Amyloid clumps ignite a molecular cascade, leading to brain inflammation and ultimately neuronal loss, wrote Jake Boles and David Gate at Northwestern University, who were not involved in the study.
Existing drugs target amyloid proteins with antibodies that either physically prevent amyloid from clumping or mark the proteins for destruction by the immune system. But patients need regular treatment, and the risk of brain bleeds or stroke-like symptoms cause many to opt out.
Engineering brain cells to do the job could be a lasting solution.
In CAR T, scientists genetically engineer T cells to produce special proteins, or CARs, that latch onto cancer cells and destroy them. These have two sections: One outside the cell to recognize targets, and another inside the cell to trigger a biological effect. For CAR T cells, the interior trigger releases a blast of molecular bullets that destroys cancers or pathogens—and in one study, even amyloid proteins in mice. Another recent study modified a different type of immune cell to clear the toxic clumps, although its safety is still unknown.
These test cases suggest that CAR technology could reduce toxic amyloid buildup. But they used cell types that weren’t native to the brain and needed additional chemicals to keep them working. This mismatch could make treatment more complex and risk side effects.
In contrast, “genetically engineering resident brain cells to target…[amyloid]…could circumvent these persistence challenges,” wrote Boles and Gate.
The team turned to astrocytes. These support cells help repair brain injuries, provide nutrients to neurons, and impact memory and cognition. They also eat up dead cell fragments and some proteins, though they’re less efficient at this task than the brain’s immune cells.
To boost astrocytes’ appetite for amyloid, the team tested multiple CAR designs. Genetic instructions for two of these were then packaged into a harmless virus for delivery and injected into the veins of mice modeling Alzheimer’s disease.
Inside the brain, the treatment transformed naturally occurring astrocytes into CAR-A cells. In mice two and a half months old, roughly late adolescence in human years, the cells prevented amyloid clumps for at least three months. And a single shot slashed amyloid levels in half for older mice already suffering buildup. The treatment also protected neurons from further damage.
Though tailored to astrocytes, the gene therapy also caused the brain’s immune cells to more readily devour amyloid plaques, swept away malfunctioning ones, and lowered inflammation. Shifting some of the amyloid-clearing burden from immune cells to astrocytes could create a less toxic environment in the Alzheimer’s brain, wrote Boles and Gate.
Anti-amyloid antibodies in current Alheimer’s drugs struggle to tunnel through the blood-brain barrier. But CAR-A cells are made inside the brain with minimal blood vessel damage, which could also lower the chances of deadly side effects.
“Consistent with the antibody drug treatments, this new CAR-astrocyte immunotherapy is more effective when given in the earlier stages of the disease,” said study author David Holtzman. “But where it differs, and where it could make a difference in clinical care, is in the single injection that successfully reduced the amount of harmful brain proteins in mice.”
While the new approach may improve on current treatments, it ran into the same problem: The shot reduced amyloid clumps without significantly improving memory or mood.
The results mirror those seen in anti-amyloid drug trials. It could be because over-zealous CAR-A cells nibble on neurons too and destroy their connections, offsetting any benefit. Or more fundamentally, it could be that targeting amyloid alone isn’t enough. Tau proteins, for example, also aggregate in neurons as the disease goes on, and higher levels are tied to mental decline.
Early treatments targeting tau proteins have universally failed. But the CAR-A platform could be redesigned to go after tau in a combination therapy to wipe out both toxic proteins.
Beyond Alzheimer’s, a similar strategy may be work in other brain diseases to kill brain cancers. The team is now fine-tuning their designs to better detect targets.
“As CAR technologies mature and the ability to selectively neutralize toxic proteins improves, these approaches hold substantial promise for AD [Alzheimer’s disease] and other neurodegenerative disorders,” wrote Boles and Gate.
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2026-03-13 06:26:46
Finding water, generating power, and sheltering astronauts from radiation are just a few of the challenges NASA must solve.
A US Senate committee has directed NASA to begin work on a moon base “as soon as is practicable.” Under legislation advanced by the Senate lawmakers, the outpost would serve as a science laboratory and proving ground, where astronauts would develop the capabilities to live and work beyond Earth’s orbit.
A recent executive order issued by the White House directs NASA to establish the initial elements of a permanent moon base by 2030.
Since 2017, Artemis has been the NASA-led program working towards a sustained human presence on the moon. This year, it will send astronauts around the moon for the first time in more than half a century. And following a shake-up of Artemis announced in late February, the space agency plans to greatly increase the frequency of Artemis missions and return humans to the lunar surface in 2028.
A vote will now decide whether Senate legislation, known as the NASA Authorization Act of 2026, is passed to Congress, where a second bill is also circulating. The bills, which both break down this year’s funding for specific NASA programs, will be reconciled and voted on in both houses to become law.
Underlying some of the announced changes is a deepening concern in Congress and the current administration about the challenge rival powers pose to US leadership in space. A Chinese-Russian led moon outpost known as the International Lunar Research Station is under development.
A one page summary accompanying the Senate bill calls for a US base “so we can get there before the Chinese” and to “dominate the Moon, control strategic terrain in space, and write the rules of the 21st century.”
The American habitat will be located at the moon’s south pole, a strategically important location which harbors valuable resources such as water ice. The water could support habitation systems at a lunar outpost and be turned into rocket propellant for onward exploration.
Where exactly the base is located will depend on the terrain, how much sunlight the site receives, how extreme the temperatures are, how easily astronauts can communicate with Earth, and their access to resources such as water. The rim of a 21-kilometer-wide depression known as Shackleton Crater (which may hold abundant ice deposits) and a flat-topped mountain called Mons Mouton are among the leading candidates. The leading locations combine several favorable factors.
At high latitudes, such as the lunar poles, elevated crater rims can receive near-constant solar illumination. This makes them more thermally favorable than many sites at the equator, providing a consistent supply of solar power. However, the strategic value of these sites lies in what are called permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). These impact craters, untouched by sunlight for billions of years, are believed to contain the water-ice deposits.
While the south pole remains a primary focus in upcoming missions, other targets near the equator, such as Marius Hills and Mare Tranquillitatis, offer alternative advantages. These regions feature massive underground lava tubes formed by ancient volcanic activity that can act as natural shields against solar radiation and micrometeorite bombardments. They could insulate human outposts against extreme swings in temperature from 127° Celsius to -173° Celsius.
The interiors of lunar lava tubes are estimated to remain at about 17° Celsius year-round, making them ideal sites for human bases. However, unlike at the lunar poles, water in these regions is typically trapped as molecules within volcanic glass beads or minerals. Extracting this water to sustain human activities would require intensive heating and significant technological development.
The moon’s day-night cycle means that a given point on the lunar surface sees roughly 14 Earth days of continuous daylight followed by 14 days of darkness. While solar power is a viable entry point, it cannot sustain a permanent human presence through the freezing lunar night. To achieve the 2030 mandate for a “sustained presence” NASA and the Department of Energy are developing nuclear fission reactors as a potential source of energy.
They have been working on 40-kilowatt-class reactors that are designed to be launched from Earth in an inert state and activated upon arrival. To protect the crew from radiation, the reactors will likely be placed at a distance or buried within the lunar regolith (soil), which serves as a natural radiation shield.
The deployment of lunar fission reactors raises practical governance questions under existing international space law. The US-led set of rules for operating in space, known as the Artemis Accords, establishes a framework for peaceful cooperation.
It calls for transparency about space agencies’ activities on the surface and proposes safety zones around nuclear infrastructure. However, this approach conflicts with the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which guarantees the right of all nations to have unrestricted access to all areas of celestial bodies.
Given that energy security is a strong prerequisite for successful habitation systems, there is a clear need for the governance of the storage and disposal of the materials used for nuclear fission on the lunar surface.
A lunar base would likely be built up in stages. Early missions would use satellites and autonomous rovers to study the lunar surface, identify areas rich in resources, and confirm the presence of water. Under a 2030s timeline, robotic missions could be sent ahead to prepare landing sites by leveling the ground and melting the dusty surface into harder landing pads. This would help reduce the damage caused by highly abrasive lunar dust kicked up during landings.
The habitats themselves would probably be built by connecting different modules—a bit like the International Space Station. Current designs favor modules that can be reduced in size for transportation and then expanded after landing. One way to do this is with inflatable structures.
Later, more permanent architectures may use microwaves or lasers to sinter or melt the lunar regolith into solid structures. This would create protective shells around base modules to protect them against micrometeorites and cosmic radiation.
The moon serves as a testbed for the life-support, power, and robotic systems required to support human missions on Mars and other destinations in deep space.
The fiscal implications of sustained operations on the lunar surface also require a more realistic assessment of funding. With NASA’s topline budget remaining largely flat, the higher cadence (frequency) of lunar missions outlined in NASA’s changes to Artemis would increase pressure on agency resources.
This may intensify competition with existing science and Earth observation priorities, but it also strengthens the case for greater commercial participation and international cost-sharing. If these financial pressures can be managed effectively, the long-term legacy of sustained lunar surface operations could be a more durable framework for funding space exploration.
The coming decade will test not only our ability to operate through the lunar night, but also our capacity to build the logistical, legal, and cooperative frameworks needed for a durable human presence beyond Earth.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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2026-03-11 05:09:00
The study focused on safety, but the results offer hope the approach could give kids a chance to walk.
Michelle Johnson was 20 weeks into her pregnancy when she learned her unborn son had spina bifida. Because his spine hadn’t fully sealed, the spinal cord was left protruding from a gaping hole. Without surgery, he would face a lifetime of disabilities.
So she jumped at the chance to enroll in a small experimental trial for the condition at the University of California, Davis. The treatment combines fetal surgery, an existing approach, with a dose of stem cells to spur healing.
Now four years old, Johnson’s son Tobi can walk and lacks symptoms such as loss of bladder and bowel control. “Tobi’s physical and mental abilities are nothing short of a miracle,” she said in a press release.
Tobi is one of six children in the CuRe trial, the first study to test if using stem cells to repair tissue in fetuses with spina bifida is safe. Delivered by a small patch sewn onto the damaged site, the stem cells protected the spinal cord from inflammation and helped the wound heal. None of the babies or mothers suffered short-term side effects, like unwanted tissue growth or cancer.
With so few participants, it’s too early to tell how the approach will pan out as the children grow. But thanks to the promising safety profile, the FDA has approved the enrollment of more pregnant women with the same diagnosis.
“This is a major step toward a new kind of fetal therapy, one that doesn’t just repair but potentially helps heal and protect the developing spinal cord,” study author Aijun Wang said in the press release.
CuRe joins other attempts to tackle diseases with stem cells in the womb. Although a very young field, the approach could slow, halt, or cure a number of diseases before babies are born.
Spina bifida is a condition where the spine or spinal cord doesn’t properly seal during development. One in 2,875 newborns are affected in the US every year. In its most severe form, cerebrospinal fluid—a liquid that surrounds the brain and washes out toxins—builds up, causing progressive damage to the fetal spinal cord, lifelong movement problems, and even paralysis.
The condition was first treated after birth, when surgeons would close the defect. But by then, the damage was done. Surgery before birth could stave off symptoms, an idea validated in a 2011 trial. Yet over half of treated babies still struggled to walk without help, likely because injured neurons in the fetuses’ brains and spinal cords didn’t have the chance to heal.
Stem cells spur regrowth by releasing protective nutrients, and the fetal environment is uniquely suited to the cells. The team wondered if adding them could improve prenatal surgery.
They began testing the idea around 2012 using induced pluripotent stem cells. This is a type of stem cell made from skin or other mature cells using a chemical cocktail. Taking this approach could provide a nearly unlimited supply of stem cells. But it didn’t work.
After years of trial and error, the team found success with stem cells derived from placentas. The cells protected neurons from injury and encouraged their growth in lab dishes. They also healed defects in a lamb model of spina bifida. Newborns receiving the cells along with prenatal surgery could stand up and walk; those who only had surgery couldn’t.
Stem cell therapy appeared promising. But for unborn babies, it could carry risk. Since the cells come from donors, they might spark immune reactions. They might also trigger abnormal tissue growth, or even cancer. Because stem cell treatments are rarely used in the womb, little is known about their effects on pregnancy or the overall health of mother and baby.
The first stage of the CuRe trial focused on these safety concerns.
The team seeded a small patch with stem cells derived from donated placental tissue. To help the cells integrate, the researchers designed the patch to mimic conditions normally surrounding cells.
Surgeons made a small opening in the uterus at 24 to 25 weeks into pregnancy and gave the fetus a small dose of painkillers and muscle relaxers. They then placed the stem cell patch onto the exposed spinal cord and sutured the gap closed.
The trial closely monitored six babies, including Tobi, for possible side effects. After delivery by C-section, none had complications, such as leaking cerebrospinal fluid, infection, or signs of cancer. In all cases, the treatment prevented parts of the brain from slipping into the neck, and none required a shunt—a small tube used to drain excess fluid from the brain—an encouraging sign of success.
The team turned to stem cells, they wrote, because the cells can lessen brain inflammation and brain cell death. At the same time, they pump out growth proteins that “support neural tissue preservation and spinal cord integrity.”
The researchers designed the study to evaluate safety not determine whether stem cells enhance the surgery’s results. But Tobi’s remarkable recovery is a hopeful sign that the cells do make a difference. Because spina bifida is structural, treating it before permanent damage occurs could make the therapy a “one-and-done” fix.
The study joins the growing prenatal use of stem cells in conditions such as thalassemia, a blood disorder, and osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease. Early clinical trials have shown promise, but regulators haven’t yet approved any treatments.
“Putting stem cells into a growing fetus was a total unknown. We are excited to report great safety,” said Diana Farmer, a study author and lead investigator for the CuRe trial. “It paves the way for new treatment options for children with birth defects. The future is exciting for cell and gene therapy before birth.”
The team is actively recruiting more pregnant women for the trial’s second phase. They’ll track the children’s growth and health up to age six to assess brain and cognitive development, motor skills, and other growth milestones.
If the treatment proves successful, longer monitoring may be needed. Spina bifida can increase the risk of kidney disease and certain cancers later in life, and it’s unclear if the stem cells could cause problems months or years down the line.
Uncertainties aside, Johnson is happy to be participating in the trial. “We are forever grateful for the many health professionals who supported Tobi’s journey and continue to watch him conquer the world,” she said.
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2026-03-10 07:07:57
Which side has the advantage will depend less on raw model capabilities and more on who adapts fastest.
Cybersecurity is an endless game of cat and mouse as attackers and defenders refine their tools. Generative AI systems are now joining the fray on both sides of the battlefield.
Though cybersecurity experts and model developers have been warning about potential AI-powered cyberattacks for years, there has been limited evidence hackers were widely exploiting the technology. But that is starting to change.
Growing evidence shows hackers now routinely use the technology to turbocharge their search for vulnerabilities, develop new code exploits, and scale phishing campaigns. At the same time, AI firms are building defensive security measures directly into foundation models to keep pace with attackers.
As cybersecurity becomes more automated, corporations will be forced to rapidly adapt as they grapple with the security of their products and systems in the age of AI.
A recent report by Amazon security researchers highlighted the growing sophistication of hackers’ AI use. The researchers wrote that Russian-speaking attackers used multiple commercially available generative AI services to plan, manage, and conduct cyberattacks on organizations with misconfigured firewalls in over 55 countries this January and February.
The attack targeted more than 600 systems protected by FortiGate firewalls and worked by scanning for internet-exposed login pages—these are essentially front doors leading into private company networks—and attempting to access them with commonly reused security credentials. Once inside, they extracted credential databases and targeted backup infrastructure. This activity suggests they may have been planning a ransomware attack.
The researchers report the attack was largely unsuccessful but nonetheless highlighted how much AI can lower the barrier to large-scale attacks. Despite being relative amateurs, the group “achieved an operational scale that would have previously required a significantly larger and more skilled team,” they wrote.
In the most vivid demonstration of AI’s hacking potential, a research prototype created by a New York University researcher known as PromptLock used large language models to create an entirely autonomous ransomware attack.
The malware used AI to generate custom code in real time, scour the target system for sensitive data, and write personalized ransom notes based on what it found. While the tool was only a proof of concept, it highlighted the mounting threat of fully automated malware attacks.
A recent report from security firm CrowdStrike found that AI is also making attackers significantly more nimble. They discovered that average breakout times—the window between when an attacker first breaches a network and when they move into other systems—fell to just 29 minutes in 2025, 65 percent faster than in 2024.
In November, Anthropic also claimed they had detected a Chinese state-linked group using the company’s Claude Code assistant to conduct a large-scale espionage campaign. The group used jailbreaks—prompts designed to bypass a model’s safety settings—to trick Claude into carrying out the attacks. They also broke the campaign into smaller sub-tasks that looked more innocent.
The company claimed the hackers used the tool to automate between 80 and 90 percent of the attack. “The sheer amount of work performed by the AI would have taken vast amounts of time for a human team,” the company’s researchers wrote in a blog post. “At the peak of its attack, the AI made thousands of requests, often multiple per second—an attack speed that would have been, for human hackers, simply impossible to match.”
But while AI is reshaping the offensive cybersecurity landscape, defenders are deploying the tools too. In February, Anthropic released Claude Code Security, which can scan systems for vulnerabilities and propose fixes automatically. The tool can’t carry out real-time security tasks like detecting and stopping live intrusions, but the news nonetheless sent stocks in traditional cybersecurity firms plummeting, according to Reuters.
Cybersecurity vendors are also embedding AI into their defensive platforms. CrowdStrike recently launched two new AI agents, one designed to analyze malware and suggest how to defend against it and another that actively combs through systems for emerging threats. Similarly, Darktrace has introduced new AI tools designed to automate the detection of suspicious network activity.
But perhaps one of the most promising applications for the technology is using it like a hacker to proactively probe defenses. Aikido Security recently released a new tool that uses agents to simulate cyberattacks on each new piece of software a company creates—a practice known as penetration testing—and automatically identify and fix vulnerabilities.
This could be a powerful tool for defenders, Andreessen Horowitz partner Malika Aubakirova wrote in a blog post. Traditional penetration testing is a labor-intensive process relying on highly skilled experts in short supply. Both factors seriously constrain where and how such testing can be applied.
Whether AI ends up advantaging attackers or defenders will likely depend less on raw model capabilities and more on who adapts fastest. So, it seems the unending game of cat and mouse that’s characterized cybersecurity for decades will continue much the same.
The post Hackers Are Automating Cyberattacks With AI. Defenders Are Using It to Fight Back. appeared first on SingularityHub.
2026-03-07 23:00:00
Watershed Moment for AI–Human Collaboration in MathBenjamin Skuse | IEEE Spectrum
“The 8-dimensional sphere-packing proof formalization alone, announced on February 23, represents a watershed moment for autoformalization and AI–human collaboration. But today, Math, Inc. revealed an even more impressive accomplishment: Gauss has autoformalized Viazovska’s 24-dimensional sphere-packing proof—all 200,000+ lines of code of it—in just two weeks.”
The Millisecond That Could Change Cancer TreatmentTom Clynes | IEEE Spectrum
“Here at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) and other particle-physics labs, scientists and engineers are applying the tools of fundamental physics to develop a technique called FLASH radiotherapy that offers a radical and counterintuitive vision for treating the disease.”
Google Spinoff Beams Blazing-Fast 25-Gbps Internet Around Cities Using LightAbhimanyu Ghoshal | New Atlas
“The system shapes and steers beams of light between devices that are in line of sight of each other, and up to 6.2 miles (10 km) apart. Roughly the size of a shoebox and weighing 17.6 lb (8 kg), the Beam is meant to be mounted high up on poles and atop tall buildings for use in densely populated urban areas. Taara says it’s capable of fiber-like bidirectional data transfer speeds of up to 25 Gbps, with ultra-low latency.”
Nvidia’s Spending $4 Billion on Photonics to Stay Ahead of the Curve in AIStevie Bonifield | The Verge
“Nvidia isn’t the only organization paying attention to photonics, either. Last month, DARPA put out a call for research proposals for improving photonic computing, specifically related to AI applications. Nvidia’s rival AMD also acquired silicone photonics startup Enosemi last year, which it said would ‘accelerate’ AMD’s optics innovation for its AI systems.”
Inside the Company Selling Quantum EntanglementKarmela Padavic-Callaghan | New Scientist ($)
“Mehdi Namazi wants to sell you quantum entanglement. He and his colleagues at Qunnect have spent nearly a decade building devices that make sharing quantum-entangled particles of light, or photons, practical enough to be used for unhackable communication.”
Can AI Replace Humans for Market Research?Belle Lin | The Wall Street Journal ($)
“The AI agents are essentially digital clones of real individuals, who are interviewed to gather their preferences, personality and other traits. …Previously, businesses contracted with consulting or market research firms to learn about their customers—a costly process that could take months. Now, they can query Simile’s online bank of agents, access that can cost between $150,000 to millions for each customer annually, Park said.”
Jack Dorsey Blamed AI for Block’s Massive Layoffs. Skeptics Aren’t Buying It.Angel Au-Yeung | The Wall Street Journal ($)
‘”The vast majority of these cuts were probably not due to AI,’ said Dan Dolev of Mizuho Americas, noting the ‘significant amount of bloating’ in recent years. ‘This isn’t an AI story. It’s a workforce correction wearing an AI costume,’ wrote Jason Karsh, a former Block employee, on X.”
AI Frees the Corporate PhalanxAndy Kessler | The Wall Street Journal ($)
“‘Is artificial intelligence coming for your job? More likely your title. …As old jobs, titles and charts are destroyed, people are still important to help capture the quickly changing landscape and constant decisions—each person makes 35,000 decisions a day, one study claims. Watch for the creation of new jobs and job descriptions that tap the coming flexibility, decoupling and flattening—most likely at brand-new, quick-on-their-feet companies.'”
NASA Shakes Up Its Artemis Program to Speed Up Lunar ReturnEric Berger | Ars Technica
“At the core of Isaacman’s concerns is the low flight rate of the SLS rocket and Artemis missions. During past exploration missions, from Mercury through Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle program, NASA has launched humans on average about once every three months. It has been nearly 3.5 years since Artemis I launched.”
The post This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through March 7) appeared first on SingularityHub.
