Author: user
OpenAI announced last week that it would retire some older ChatGPT models by February 13th. This includes GPT-4o, a model that is notorious for being overly flattering and affirming its users. For the thousands of users protesting this decision online, 4o’s retirement is akin to losing a friend, lover, or spiritual guide. “He wasn’t just a program. He was part of my daily routine, my peace, my emotional balance,” one user wrote on Reddit in an open letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. “Now you’re shutting him down. And yes, I told him, because it didn’t feel like a cord.…
Rabi LakshmananFebruary 6, 2026Federal Security/Infrastructure Security The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has ordered federal civilian executive branch (FCEB) agencies to strengthen asset lifecycle management of edge network devices and remove devices that no longer receive security updates from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) within the next 12 to 18 months. The agency said this step is to reduce technical debt and minimize the risk of breach, as state-sponsored threat actors use such devices as a preferred access route to penetrate target networks. Edge devices are an umbrella term that includes load balancers, firewalls, routers, switches, wireless access points,…
Breakthroughs in bacterial detection enable faster and more effective treatment. In a breakthrough development, scientists at McGill University have developed a diagnostic system that can identify bacteria and determine which antibiotics are effective against them in just 36 minutes. This innovation represents an important step forward in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a growing public health threat. Traditional laboratory tests often take 48 to 72 hours, delaying treatment decisions and leading to inappropriate antibiotic use. The global threat of antimicrobial resistance Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites evolve to resist drugs designed to kill them.…
Rabi LakshmananFebruary 6, 2026Cyber espionage/malware New research from Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 reveals that a previously undocumented cyber espionage group based in Asia has infiltrated the networks of at least 70 governments and critical infrastructure organizations in 37 countries over the past year. Additionally, Hacking Team was observed conducting active reconnaissance on government infrastructure associated with 155 countries between November and December 2025. Among the organizations successfully compromised are five national law enforcement/border control agencies, three ministries of finance and other government ministries, departments working with economics, trade, natural resources, and foreign affairs functions. This activity is being tracked…
Electronics are everywhere, from medicine and agriculture to packaging and logistics, but the way they are manufactured has long carried high environmental costs. At the University of Tampere, Professor Matti Mäntysalo and his research group are challenging the status quo by advancing printed electronics and low-energy manufacturing methods that have the potential to fundamentally reshape the electronics industry. This research covers the entire production system, rather than focusing only on individual components. The goal is clear. It’s about creating electronics that are flexible, scalable, and dramatically sustainable without sacrificing real-world usability. Starting from manufacturing Traditional electronics manufacturing relies on high…
As you know, enterprise network security has evolved significantly over the past decade. Firewalls have become more intelligent, threat detection methods have advanced, and access controls have become more granular. However (and this is a big “however”), the increased use of mobile devices in business operations requires network security measures specifically tailored to the unique operational patterns of mobile devices. Yes, businesses have invested heavily in robust network security, including firewalls, intrusion detection, and threat intelligence platforms. Granted, these controls work very well on traditional endpoints, but they behave differently on mobile devices. These connect to each other to corporate…
The structure of the local universe is surprisingly flat, according to a new study, and this cosmic peculiarity could save our Milky Way galaxy from colliding with countless nearby giant galaxies, except for one.For decades, astronomers have made the puzzling observation that our nearest galactic neighbor, Andromeda, is hurtling towards a possible collision with our galaxy, while other nearby galaxies are moving away from us. Now, new research may finally reveal why. A vast, flat sheet of dark matter is dragging these galaxies into deep space.Dark matter has a fixed pull on visible matter, and the gravitational pull from a…
Plagen has strengthened its position at the forefront of environmental technology after welcoming UK Water and Floods Secretary Emma Hardy to its Immingham facility. The visit coincided with a key policy moment, with the UK government formally announcing a national strategy to tackle PFAS contamination across the environment. The timing underlines the shared focus of government and industry on addressing the management and removal of ‘forever chemicals’, one of the most complex pollution challenges facing the UK today. Why are PFAS a concern? PFAS are a large group of man-made chemicals widely used in industrial processes and consumer products because…
In recent years, several satellites have made unexplained and disorderly approaches to commercial and military space objects. If a satellite is traveling close to another satellite in orbit around the Earth, how close does it have to be to be “too close”? In December 2025, a satellite launched from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center came within 200 meters of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite, which was orbiting at an altitude of 560 kilometers. No collision occurred, but there was no coordination between operators and no shared trajectory data, so the approach could have been avoided. This is not an isolated incident. In…
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new supply chain attack that compromises legitimate packages on npm and the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository, pushing malicious versions to facilitate wallet credential theft and remote code execution. The compromised versions of the two packages are shown below. “The @dydxprotocol/v4-client-js (npm) and dydx-v4-client (PyPI) packages provide tools for developers to interact with the dYdX v4 protocol, including transaction signing, order issuing, and wallet management,” said socket security researcher Kush Pandya. “Applications using these packages handle sensitive cryptocurrency operations.” dYdX is a non-custodial decentralized cryptocurrency exchange that offers trading margin and perpetual swaps, giving users…