Science & Technology

We’re still fresh off the heels of iOS 18.3, which released on January 28, and already we’re getting leaks on what to expect from iOS 18.4. That’s good news to me, because the biggest thing about the lukewarm iOS 18.3 release was removing an Apple Intelligence screw-up that in turn, was the biggest thing about iOS 18.2.…

Top White House advisers this week expressed alarm that China’s DeepSeek may have benefited from a method that allegedly piggybacks off the advances of U.S. rivals called “distillation.” The technique, which involves one AI system learning from another AI system, may be difficult to stop, according to executive and investor sources in Silicon Valley. DeepSeek this month…

Chinese tech company Alibaba (9988.HK) on Wednesday released a new version of its Qwen 2.5 artificial intelligence model that it claimed surpassed the highly-acclaimed DeepSeek-V3. The unusual timing of the Qwen 2.5-Max’s release, on the first day of the Lunar New Year when most Chinese people are off work and with their families, points to the pressure…

NASA affirmed on Wednesday a plan it set last year to work with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in returning two astronauts from the International Space Station, saying it will do so “as soon as practical,” the day after President Donald Trump suggested he wants a quicker return for the crew. On Tuesday night, Trump said he had asked…

The European Space Agency (ESA) has revealed it is closely monitoring an asteroid the size of a football pitch that could hit the Earth in a little over seven years. The asteroid, called 2024 YR4, is estimated to have a one in 83 chance of a direct hit, causing “severe damage to a local region”, according to…

US President Donald Trump and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk issued separate statements Tuesday night in the US, claiming that SpaceX will “go get” two astronauts on the International Space Station “as soon as possible,” despite NASA’s already announced plans to bring them home on a SpaceX capsule around March. The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to…

A doctor from AIIMS Delhi has identified gastroenteritis as one of the key triggers for GBS and warned people about the risks associated with contaminated food and water. Pune has recorded over 111 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), with one suspected fatality reported in Solapur. At least 17 patients are reportedly on ventilators, while seven have been…

The Vatican on Tuesday called for governments to keep a close eye on the development of artificial intelligence, warning the technology contained “the shadow of evil” in its ability to spread misinformation. “AI generated fake media can gradually undermine the foundations of society,” said a new text on the ethics of AI, written by two Vatican departments…

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he is the “product of the bond” that exists between India and the US, as top government officials and American lawmakers lauded the Indian community’s contribution during Republic Day commemoration here. The Consulate General of India in Seattle hosted a special reception on Sunday at the Bell Harbour Conference Centre to commemorate…

NASA has issued an alert about two asteroids, 2025 BF5 and 2025 BS4, that will make dangerously close flybys by Earth tomorrow, January 28. Though no immediate danger of collision is expected, the close proximity of these space rocks raises concerns about the risk of an impact. Should we be worried? Asteroid 2025 BF5: Size, Time And…

When we bake two loaves of bread using the same recipe, subtle differences in temperature or mixing could lead to slightly different results. Even with identical ingredients and instructions, the outcome isn’t always identical. Scientists have just discovered that something similar happens in human development, and it might explain why some people are more likely to get…

iOS 18.3 is here, and it’s bringing changes to AI notification summaries on your iPhone. In iOS 18.3’s release notes, Apple says it has temporarily disabled notification summaries for news and entertainment apps. The change, which was first spotted in the iOS 18.3 beta, comes after the BBC called out the feature for incorrectly summarizing one of…

OpenAI, the company behind the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, is facing a new legal challenge in India. A group of major Indian and international book publishers has filed a lawsuit, accusing the tech giant of using their copyrighted content without permission. The lawsuit, led by the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP), includes big names such as Bloomsbury,…

When most middle school students go on field trips, they might bring back photos or souvenirs. But at Chicago’s Garfield Park Lagoon, one student brought back something far more significant: bacteria from goose droppings that would lead scientists to discover a potential new cancer-fighting compound. The discovery emerged through an innovative program called the Chicago Antibiotic Discovery…

If you are using Google Chrome on Windows, Linux or Mac — now is the time to update your browser. The government has issued a high-risk warning about critical security flaws in Google Chrome users in India. The advisory, released by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), warned about serious security flaws that could make users…

OpenAI has told an Indian court that any order to remove training data powering its ChatGPT service would be inconsistent with its legal obligations in the United States, according to a recent filing seen by Reuters. The Microsoft-backed AI firm also said that it was not within the jurisdiction of Indian courts to hear a copyright breach…

Your smartphone can recognize faces, and your car can detect lane markers; now, researchers have taught machines to taste. A team at Penn State University has developed an “electronic tongue” that combines atom-thin sensors with artificial intelligence to detect food fraud, spoilage, and contamination within minutes. This research, published in Nature, combines two cutting-edge technologies. The team…

Astronomers have made a perplexing discovery that’s pushing the boundaries of what we know about mysterious cosmic signals. Using specialized telescopes, they’ve detected powerful radio bursts coming from an unexpected location: the distant outskirts of an ancient, inactive galaxy located 2 billion light-years from Earth. The discovery began when researchers using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment…

A pioneering new treatment promises to tackle a wider range of cancers, with fewer side-effects than conventional radiotherapy. It also takes less than a second. In a series of vast underground caverns on the outskirts of Geneva, Switzerland, experiments are taking place which may one day lead to new generation of radiotherapy machines. The hope is that…

In the high-stakes world of music streaming, getting noticed can make or break an artist’s career. But what drives users to follow certain playlists over others on Spotify? Prime real estate on the Search Page has emerged as a powerful force in playlist popularity. A new study from Tilburg University reveals that simply appearing on this digital…

Apple Intelligence will be switched on by default, starting in iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS 15.3. In release candidate notes spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple says it will switch on AI-powered features automatically for new users or those upgrading to the latest versions of its operating systems. The AI update will only apply to devices that support…

There are several memes that burst on the internet on the accuracy of Google Maps and other GPS navigation tools. Earlier a vehicle tragically drove over an unconstructed bridge in UP and cost lives, followed by another incident which left no other than police officials in trouble after they entered into another state being guided by Google…

TikTok stopped working in the United States late on Saturday and disappeared from Apple and Google app stores ahead of a law that takes effect Sunday requiring the shutdown of the app used by 170 million Americans. President-elect Donald Trump said earlier in the day he would “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban…

A doctor’s unconscious bias could affect patient care. A hiring manager’s preconceptions might influence recruitment. But what happens when you add AI to these scenarios? According to new research, AI systems don’t just mirror our biases — they amplify them, creating a snowball effect that makes humans progressively more biased over time. This troubling finding comes from…

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Friday, released a video of the docking of two satellites of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission. The docking process was carried out on Thursday, January 16. With this manoeuvre, India became the fourth country after the United States, Russia and China to dock satellites in the space. The video…

It’s been more than four years since Donald Trump first moved to expel TikTok from the US — and now, just days before a second Trump presidency begins, it just might happen. President Joe Biden signed legislation last April that officially began the countdown that would force TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the US business.…

SpaceX’s gigantic Starship rocket has been “lost” just minutes into its seventh test flight. The 400ft rocket – the biggest and most powerful in the world – soared from Boca Chica, south Texas, on Thursday around 4.40pm local time (10.40pm in the UK). Just minutes after the rocket launched, its booster made its planned return to the…

India’s space tech startup Pixxel launched three of its six hyperspectral imaging satellites aboard a SpaceX rocket from California on Tuesday. The satellites were launched at 1915 GMT, just after midnight in India, from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, a live telecast from SpaceX showed. The launch marks a milestone for the country’s growing private space sector…

TikTok plans to keep paying U.S. employees even if the Supreme Court does not overturn a law that would force the sale of the short-video app in the U.S. or ban it, the company’s leadership said in an internal memo reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday. The hugely popular platform is owned by China-based ByteDance and has 7,000…

When is the end for humankind? Whether it’s by a nuclear holocaust, a result of exceeding a critical climate threshold, at the hands of artificial intelligence-powered robots, or the “Don’t Look Up” asteroid, the question plagues our thoughts, our research, and our Facebook rants. Now, one theorist warns that the human civilization of 8.2 billion people is…

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) LVM3 rocket will launch in March a communication satellite of a US-based firm AST SpaceMobile that plans to provide space-based cellular broadband network services on smartphones. “The commercial LVM3-M5 mission, set for March, will deploy BlueBird Block-2 satellites under a contract with the US-based AST SpaceMobile,” an official statement said. The…

A new facility could eventually allow humans to ‘pause’ their bodies until the future arrives. TimeShift describes itself as the world’s first cryopreservation facility and is based on cutting-edge AI and new cryopreservation techniques. If the idea comes to fruition, cryopreservation could allow cancer patients to ‘freeze’ themselves until medicine advances, or allow humans to ‘outlive’ the…

Miles beneath the Pacific Ocean, in a region of Earth’s mantle where conventional wisdom says nothing unusual should exist, scientists have discovered something extraordinary. Using innovative technology to analyze seismic waves, researchers have identified massive structures that challenge fundamental theories about how our planet formed and evolved. It’s as if we’ve discovered a new geological continent –…

The Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) satellites, which ISRO planned to unite early Thursday, faced an unexpected issue late Wednesday, forcing it to postpone the procedure for the second time in just three days. “While making a maneuver to reach 225m between satellites, the drift was found to be more than expected, post non-visibility period. The planned docking…

Meta-owned WhatsApp is reportedly planning to add a new feature that allows users to attach photos to polls. By adding the ability to attach photos to poll options, voters will have a visual representation of each choice, making it easier to understand and evaluate the options before casting their vote. This feature is helpful when text isn’t…

Social media company Meta Platforms (META.O), on Tuesday scrapped its U.S. fact-checking program and reduced curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity, bowing to criticism from conservatives as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office for a second time. The move is Meta’s biggest overhaul of its approach to managing political content…

A Q&A with the lead U.S. scientist of the mission, which will track changes in everything from wetlands to ice sheets to infrastructure damaged by natural disasters. The upcoming U.S.-India NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission will observe Earth like no mission before, offering insights about our planet’s ever-changing surface. The NISAR mission is a first-of-a-kind dual-band…

The carbon atoms in your body have likely traveled much farther than you have, possibly hundreds of thousands of light-years into space and back. A new study reveals how galaxies, including our own Milky Way, operate vast recycling systems that send star-forged elements like carbon on epic journeys through space before they eventually become part of planets,…

Imagine a device that could sniff out mechanical damage in apples before bruising appears, detect diseases through a patient’s breath, monitor food freshness in real-time across entire supply chains, and identify hazardous gases in industrial settings — all using technology similar to what’s already in your smartphone. Scientists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)…

The draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, published by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on January 3, introduces measures aimed at protecting the personal data of children. These draft rules are part of a broader legislative framework established by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which was cleared by Parliament in…

Artificial intelligence has shown remarkable promise in healthcare, from reading X-rays to suggesting treatment plans. But when it comes to actually talking to patients and making accurate diagnoses through conversation — a cornerstone of medical practice — AI still has significant limitations, according to new research from Harvard Medical School and Stanford University. Published in Nature Medicine,…

A Data Fiduciary will have to ensure verifiable consent of the parent before the processing of any personal data of a child, according to the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 which have been published by the Central Government on Friday. This will doubly ensure the privacy of a child on various social media platforms and…

Artificial intelligence has shown remarkable promise in healthcare, from reading X-rays to suggesting treatment plans. But when it comes to actually talking to patients and making accurate diagnoses through conversation — a cornerstone of medical practice — AI still has significant limitations, according to new research from Harvard Medical School and Stanford University. Published in Nature Medicine,…

When it comes to mobile phone radiation, living in a city with abundant cell towers might actually reduce your exposure. This seemingly paradoxical conclusion emerges from new research examining how 5G technology is changing our electromagnetic environment across urban and rural landscapes. Switzerland, an early adopter of 5G technology in Europe, provided an ideal testing ground for…

India is all set to launch a massive American communications satellite that would allow making phone calls using direct connectivity from space. This is a highly innovative and a more modern approach to satellite telephony than the existing services. This is also the first time an American company is launching a massive communications satellite from India in…

“Private autopsy doesn’t confirm cause of death stated by police.” The family of Suchir Balaji, the 26-year-old OpenAI whistleblower who was found dead just a month after his New York Times exposé was published, is claiming that the young man was murdered. An account that appears to belong to Balaji’s mother Poornima Ramarao — shortened to “Rao”…

Study pinpoints the percentage of daily calories individuals should consume in their morning meal Mom always said breakfast was the most important meal of the day. As it turns out, she was right—but with a catch. New research suggests that when it comes to our morning meal, both portion size and nutritional quality play crucial roles in…

In the tech world, we like to label periods as the year of (insert milestone here). This past year (2024) was a year of broader experimentation in AI and, of course, agentic use cases. As 2025 opens, VentureBeat spoke to industry analysts and IT decision-makers to see what the year might bring. For many, 2025 will be…

After a phenomenal start on July 26 when bids worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore were received in a single day, the response has been tepid in the following days. The Centre received bids worth Rs 1,50,130 crore after a total of 37 rounds of bidding in the ongoing 5G Spectrum auction. The auction kicked off on July…

A Polish scientific institute has categorized domestic cats as an “invasive alien species.” The Polish Academy of Sciences has defined the house cat (felis catus) as “alien” as it was domesticated in the Middle East and has deemed cats as “invasive” due to the “negative influence of domestic cats on native biodiversity,” they explained in a statement.…