-
AMD’s Threadripper Halo is a local-AI workstation for researchers with deep pockets
AMD has unveiled the Threadripper Halo, a workstation-class system aimed at machine learning researchers who want to run large AI models locally rather than in the cloud. Announced at IFA 2026 for launch next year, it marks the first time AMD has offered its Instinct accelerators in a workstation form factor, positioning the machine as…
-
Scientists discover new tick-borne virus after testing thousands of patients with mysterious illnesses
Chinese researchers have identified a new tick-borne virus, named the Asian longhorned tick nairovirus (ALTNV), after investigating years of unexplained illnesses in patients bitten by ticks. The virus, part of the orthonairovirus group, causes flu-like symptoms, fatigue, gastrointestinal upset, reduced blood platelet counts and signs of liver inflammation, and its discovery highlights how many undiagnosed…
-
‘Barbara Forever’ Review: Queer Experimental Filmmaker Barbara Hammer Gets a Tactile, True and Treasurable Career Overview
The Hollywood Reporter has reviewed “Barbara Forever,” a new documentary that offers a career overview of Barbara Hammer, a pioneering queer experimental filmmaker who died in 2019 aged 79. The film, directed by archival producer Brydie O’Connor, draws on Hammer’s own extensive archive, now held at Yale University, and is largely constructed from footage Hammer…
-
Healthy middle-aged Britons to be offered Alzheimer’s drug in trial aiming to prevent dementia
A trial launching in Britain will give a drug currently used to treat Alzheimer’s to healthy middle-aged and older people, testing whether it can prevent the disease before symptoms ever emerge. Screening for the first European participants begins on Monday, with more than 15 UK centres expected to take part in the global study, which…
-
Microsoft says virtually nobody was grabbing NYT articles through its chatbot
Microsoft has told a US court that its Copilot chatbot only rarely reproduces substantial chunks of copyrighted news articles or books, as it seeks summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by The New York Times, book authors and other publishers. The filing, submitted on Friday, forms part of Microsoft and OpenAI’s defence against claims that…
-
Common cholesterol drug linked to lower dementia risk when started early
A large observational study presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress found that people with type 2 diabetes who started taking statins soon after diagnosis had a lower relative risk of developing dementia over the following decade. This matters because statins are already widely recommended for cardiovascular protection in diabetes patients, and the findings…
-
Maggie Gyllenhaal Says She Tried Using AI to Turn Dakota Johnson Into Marilyn Monroe — Then Scrapped It: ‘It Fundamentally Did Not Work’
Venice Film Festival jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal has revealed she tried using AI to digitally transform Dakota Johnson into Marilyn Monroe for her short film “Flesh Impact,” which is screening at the festival, but ultimately abandoned the technology because it drained the humanity from Johnson’s performance. Speaking at a symposium on the Lido alongside composer…
-
Patients could be at risk if their GP uses AI to listen to appointments and write medical notes, study suggests
A study by University of Edinburgh researchers warns that AI “scribe” tools, now used by roughly four in ten GPs to transcribe and summarise appointments, may miss crucial non-verbal cues such as gestures, facial expressions and tone, potentially putting patients at risk. The technology, designed to reduce paperwork and let doctors focus more on patients,…
-
Primate centre outbreak yields insights for Shigella vaccine
A years-long diarrhoea outbreak among captive primates has given scientists an unexpected wealth of immunological data that could speed up development of a vaccine against Shigella, a bacterium that kills over 200,000 people worldwide each year, mostly children. Researchers analysed immune responses from the infected animals to identify precise molecular targets on the bacteria, pinpointing…
-
OpenAI’s ChatGPT pivots after previously putting Trump alongside Putin as top threats to democracy
ChatGPT initially rated Donald Trump as a nine out of ten threat to democracy when queried by a researcher at the conservative Media Research Center (MRC), placing him in the same category as authoritarian figures such as Vladimir Putin, Recep Erdoğan and Hugo Chávez. After Fox News Digital approached OpenAI for comment on the findings,…