05 Sci-Tech

190-million-year-old “Sword Dragon” fossil rewrites ichthyosaur history– www.sciencedaily.com

pgnewser February 24, 2026 0

Blurb:

A remarkably complete skeleton uncovered along the UK’s Jurassic Coast has been identified as a previously unknown species of ichthyosaur — a group of prehistoric marine reptiles that once dominated the world’s oceans.

The dolphin-sized creature, named Xiphodracon goldencapensis and nicknamed the “Sword Dragon of Dorset,” is the only known specimen of its species. Its discovery helps close a major gap in the fossil record and offers new insight into ichthyosaur evolution.

For more than two centuries, the Jurassic Coast has yielded thousands of ichthyosaur fossils, ever since pioneering fossil hunter Mary Anning began making historic finds there. However, this marks the first new genus of Early Jurassic ichthyosaur described from the region in more than 100 years.

Amazon’s AI ‘Deleted and Recreated’ a Live AWS Environment – RedState– redstate.com

pgnewser February 24, 2026 0

Blurb:

Amazon Web Services suffered a 13-hour outage in December after its internal AI coding agent determined that the optimal solution to a problem was to wipe and rebuild an environment in production. This was not a cyberattack. It was not foreign interference. It was an AI system operating with operator-level permissions inside one of the most economically critical cloud platforms in the world.

“The people said the agentic tool, which can take autonomous actions on behalf of users, determined that the best course of action was to ‘delete and recreate the environment’.”

Delete and recreate the environment.

That command halted a live cloud service for half a day. AWS accounts for roughly 60 percent of Amazon’s operating profits and supports payroll systems, logistics networks, enterprise back ends, and consumer-facing applications used by millions. Its reliability is not a bonus feature. It is the product.

‘Biggest dilemma’ in homeland counter drone strategy is ‘how broad the threat exists’– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser February 23, 2026 0

Blurb:

The federal government, in conjunction with state and local governments, is desperately trying to catch up to the threat posed by drones, but needs to close the gap for U.S. defenses before it’s too late.

The sheer scope and scale of what’s needed is hard to quantify. Any public event, airport, airplane, military installation, or critical infrastructure could be targeted by a drone or drone swarms, and the U.S. needs to be prepared to not only stop the perceived threat, but do so in a way that avoids collateral damage.

“The biggest dilemma is just how broad the threat exists. And then how do you layer in solutions that can take into account how much just territory is required to be defended,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told the Washington Examiner. “What keeps me up at night is just the sheer magnitude of the problem that is required.”

Cartel and Chinese Drones Demand Immediate FAA Action– thefederalist.com

pgnewser February 23, 2026 0

Blurb:

Drones are increasingly violating American airspace. We know that tens of thousands of drone sightings on our southern border are connected with the Mexican drug and human trafficking cartels. But dozens of other drone sightings at sensitive military installations suggest hostile nation-state actors, most likely China.

As drone operations in Russia’s war on Ukraine show, the threat is no longer hypothetical — it is active and escalating. Unfortunately, a dangerous combination of bureaucratic inertia and misplaced priorities has left our borders and military installations vulnerable.

Trump FDA rejects Moderna application for mRNA-based flu vaccine– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser February 18, 2026 0

Blurb:

(LifeSiteNews) — The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has notified pharmaceutical giant Moderna that it will not be reviewing its application for a new mRNA-based flu vaccine, continuing the Trump administration’s pivot away from the technology that was introduced to the country with the controversial COVID-19 shots.

Time magazine reports that almost two years ago, Moderna submitted Phase 3 data touting the purported effectiveness of mRNA 1010.6, the first influenza vaccine to use mRNA, and has been in talks with the government ever since. But on February 3, it received a Refusal to File letter from the FDA declaring its application “is not sufficiently complete to enable a substantive review.”

German public broadcaster ZDF apologizes after AI-generated ICE arrest footage aired on flagship news program– rmx.news

pgnewser February 18, 2026 0

Blurb:

German public broadcaster ZDF has issued an on-air apology after its flagship news program, Heute Journal, aired a segment containing AI-generated footage depicting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arresting a migrant family.

The controversy followed the Feb. 15 broadcast, which ZDF said examined fears in parts of the United States over immigration enforcement operations. Viewers quickly noted on social media that portions of the footage were artificially generated, with an OpenAI Sora watermark visible on screen.

 

The Age of AI Depends Less on Voters than on Volts | American Enterprise Institute– www.aei.org

pgnewser February 18, 2026 0

Blurb:

No AI data centers, no AI revolution.

Or to be less dramatic, slowing the buildout of these sprawling server farms will slow technical advances and the economywide spread of generative artificial intelligence, which is shaping up to be a powerful new general-purpose technology. As such, a new survey from Politico suggests Silicon Valley shouldn’t take voter tolerance for granted.

Let’s start with the good news for AI companies: Just 28 percent of 2,000 surveyed would oppose the building of a new data center in their area. That, versus 37 percent who would support construction and 28 percent who would neither support nor oppose.

Pentagon official laments some AI companies' reluctance to fully commit to military's operations– www.washingtontimes.com

pgnewser February 18, 2026 0

Blurb:

It is “disheartening” that some cutting-edge tech companies seem reluctant to fully do business with the military and support all of its operations, a key Defense Department official said Tuesday amid an escalating feud between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley firm Anthropic over the reported use of the company’s AI tool in recent U.S. Special Forces missions in Venezuela.
from www.washingtontimes.com

Thousands of executives aren’t seeing AI productivity boom, reminding economists of IT-era paradox– fortune.com

pgnewser February 18, 2026 0

Blurb:

 

In 1987, economist and Nobel laureate Robert Solow made a stark observation about the stalling evolution of the information age: Following the advent of transistors, microprocessors, integrated circuits, and memory chips of the 1960s, economists and companies expected these new technologies to disrupt workplaces and result in a surge of productivity. Instead, productivity growth slowed, dropping from 2.9% from 1948 to 1973, to 1.1% after 1973.

Glossary at Boston U. Teaching Hospital Says ‘Biology’ Doesn’t Define Sex– legalinsurrection.com

pgnewser February 18, 2026 0

Blurb:

 

The glossary is full of exciting, new progressive words and phrases.

Boston U. teaching hospital glossary says ‘biology’ doesn’t define sex

The primary teaching hospital of Boston University’s medical school recently updated its “Glossary for Culture Transformation” to include dozens of ideologically loaded terms, a medical advocacy group found.

For example, Boston Medical Center’s glossary includes entries for “assigned sex at birth,” “LGBTQIA+,” “fatphobia,” “anti-blackness,”

Fear Porn About AI Dominance Follows The Covid Panic Playbook– thefederalist.com

pgnewser February 18, 2026 0

Blurb:

Reading Matt Shumer’s viral essay about artificial intelligence was like stepping back in time to roughly six years ago, when the world started going insane over Covid-19.

It hits all the same beats as those viral essays from 2020, when we were told “something big was coming” and “life will never be the same.” It is written with the same insider tone, like the author is doing us a favor by telling us how horrible life is about to become. And the intent is clearly the same: to so unsettle a population that they will begin to feel powerless in the face of what is about to come.

How AI helps this civil rights lawyer beat the Feds– www.scientificamerican.com

pgnewser February 17, 2026 0

Blurb:

Over the course of his career, Joseph McMullen has dealt with some of the most powerful agencies in the country: the FBI, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But in early 2024 the San Diego–based civil rights attorney faced a problem of scale. He had three federal trials in three months—two involving deaths in jail, one involving American children detained at the border—and terabytes of documents. He turned to artificial intelligence to help him get through it all.

McMullen’s path to the courtroom has been unconventional. A former analyst at the consulting firm Bain & Company, he received a law degree at the University of Virginia and trained at the Trial Lawyers College (now called the Gerry Spence Method) in Wyoming in a program that specialized in the emotional craft of storytelling. The emphasis he places on both analytical rigor and narrative instinct has led him, unexpectedly, to artificial intelligence.

Now, Experts Are Warning Revolutionary AI Tools Change Everything – RedState– redstate.com

pgnewser February 17, 2026 0

Blurb:

 

 

The advent of artificial intelligence is rattling a lot of cages. Trust me, I should know; two of our four daughters are freelance commercial graphic artists, and they are (rightfully) worried about being underbid and driven out of the market by computers. As for me, I’m not too worried – what computer could ever match my inimitable style, my wit, my wisdom, not to mention my modesty?

Bacterial strain from 5,000-year-old cave ice shows resistance against 10 modern antibiotics– phys.org

pgnewser February 17, 2026 0

Blurb:

Bacteria have evolved to adapt to all of Earth’s most extreme conditions, from scorching heat to temperatures well below zero. Ice caves are just one of the environments hosting a variety of microorganisms that represent a source of genetic diversity that has not yet been studied extensively. Now, researchers in Romania tested antibiotic resistance profiles of a bacterial strain that until recently was hidden in a 5,000-year-old layer of ice of an underground ice cave—and found it could be an opportunity for developing new strategies to prevent the rise of antibiotic resistance and study how resistance naturally evolves and spreads. They reported their discovery in Frontiers in Microbiology.
from phys.org

Denying Everyone’s Access to Lawful Speech to Protect a Vulnerable Few: Arkansas’s Overinclusive Regulatory Trade-Off | American Enterprise Institute– www.aei.org

pgnewser February 11, 2026 0

Blurb:

An Arkansas federal court recently issued a preliminary injunction barring authorities in the Natural State from enforcing a speech-restrictive statute called Act 901. Among other things, it prohibits social media platforms from using algorithms they know or reasonably should know will cause “a user to: (1) purchase a controlled substance; (2) develop an eating disorder; (3) commit or attempt to commit suicide; or (4) develop or sustain an addiction to the social media platform[s].”

Chief US District Judge Timothy L. Brooks’ ruling in NetChoice v. Griffin marks yet another victory for NetChoice in its seemingly ceaseless battle against state laws that curb the First Amendment speech rights of two groups—users (to express and receive lawful content) and platforms (to exercise editorial discretion and moderate content without government interference). Brooks’ decision also offers several constitutional lessons for lawmakers about such measures; two are addressed below.

Elon Musk says, “You have to go to the moon” as he announces AI satellite factory plan with lunar mass driver |– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

pgnewser February 11, 2026 0

Blurb:

Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind SpaceX and the artificial intelligence company xAI, has unveiled one of his most ambitious plans yet. During an all-hands meeting with xAI staff on Tuesday, February 10, Musk announced a proposal to establish a manufacturing facility on the Moon that would build satellites equipped with advanced computing capabilities. According to The New York Times, Musk described the Moon as a necessary step in gaining a competitive advantage for future AI systems, saying simply, “You have to go to the Moon.”The idea involves constructing a lunar factory that could produce satellites outfitted with hardware designed to support artificial intelligence workloads.

“AI can’t deal with emotion”: We used AI as our photography assistant for a week– www.livescience.com

pgnewser February 11, 2026 0

Blurb:

Artificial intelligence is already embedded in most modern cameras, from autofocus tracking to in-camera noise reduction, but with the speed of AI advancement ever-increasing, it’s now possible to use AI before you even pick up the camera.

So-called “agentic AI”, where AI positions itself as an assistant in everyday life, is becoming increasingly popular. Naturally, we were curious to see if its usefulness extended to life as a photographer, and what we could therefore learn about how AI positions itself as a companion across every walk of life.

Ukraine’s Drone-Killer, An-28 Aerial Gunship– sofrep.com

pgnewser February 10, 2026 0

Blurb:

“Ukraine is using at least one adapted Antonov An-28 Cash twin-turboprop utility aircraft as part of its anti-drone inventory. While images of the aircraft, replete with multiple drone-kill marks, had previously been published, we now get to see the aircraft’s armament, a six-barrel, Gatling-type, M134 Minigun, in action, too.” — Thomas Newdick, for The War Zone, February 5, 2026.

“It’s two in the morning. There are targets in the air in the southeast. As pilots, we try to counter these drones using our aircraft, shooting them down with a machine gun.” — Ukrainian An-28TD aircrew member, February 2026.

Taiwan pushes back against Washington’s 40% chip supply relocation goal– www.cnbc.com

pgnewser February 10, 2026 0

Blurb:

Taiwan has told Washington that its proposal to move 40% of the island’s semiconductor supply chain to the U.S. was “impossible,” the country’s top tariff trade negotiator said in an interview.

Speaking on a local television broadcast Sunday, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said she had made it clear to Washington that the country’s semiconductor ecosystem, built over decades, could not simply be relocated.

Taiwan’s international expansion, including its investments in the U.S., is predicated on the notion that the industry remains’ rooted in Taiwan and continues to expand domestic investments, she said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

Elon Musk confirms ‘SpaceX and xAI are now one company’; says future of AI is in space |– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

pgnewser February 5, 2026 0

Blurb:

Elon Musk confirms ‘SpaceX and xAI are now one company’; says future of AI is in space (Image Source – X/ xAI)

SpaceX has moved to absorb Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence start-up xAI, bringing the smaller company and its Grok chatbot under the aerospace firm’s control. The deal continues Musk’s broader effort to align his technology businesses more closely, linking artificial intelligence with space launch systems and satellite infrastructure. The merger would allow closer coordination between AI development, space-based communications, and satellite networks. Elon Musk believes today’s AI is about to hit a wall on Earth. Analysts cited by the BBC estimate xAI’s value at around $125bn, while SpaceX is valued at roughly $1tn, reinforcing its position as the world’s most valuable private company.

DOJ and States to Appeal Google’s Slap on the Wrist in Search Antitrust Case– www.breitbart.com

pgnewser February 4, 2026 0

Blurb:

The DOJ and multiple states have filed notices to appeal a federal court ruling in the Google Search antitrust case that imposed limited restrictions on the internet giant’s conquest of the search and AI market. The verdict was so friendly to Google that one analyst called it “a home run for the status quo.”

Bloomberg reports that the DOJ and a coalition of states announced Tuesday they will appeal a September 2025 federal court decision that is widely considered to be the best case scenario for Big Tech following a landmark antitrust case. The appeal targets a ruling by US District Judge Amit Mehta that allowed the tech giant to avoid major structural changes despite being found guilty of operating an illegal monopoly in the search market.

How automakers are quietly locking you out of your own car– www.theblaze.com

pgnewser February 4, 2026 0

Blurb:

 

Car ownership used to come with an unspoken assumption: You bought the vehicle, and it was yours to maintain, repair, and service in any way you saw fit. That assumption is quietly eroding. And one of the clearest signs doesn’t involve software updates or subscription features.

It involves a screw.

Tasks once considered routine — such as clearing fault codes or accessing safety systems — now often require dealer-level credentials or paid subscriptions.

AI Undermines Medical Education—Trainee Doctors May Never Learn Vital Skills– www.madinamerica.com

pgnewser February 3, 2026 0

Blurb:

Will the ubiquity of chatbots lead to a generation of doctors who don’t know their stuff? That’s the danger, according to a new editorial in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.

The authors, led by Jacob Hough at the University of Missouri, outline the many ways that AI use can undermine medical education, like automation bias, de-skilling, and providing false information.

“These tools can fabricate sources, encode bias, lead to over-reliance and have negatively disruptive effects on the educational journey. Medical programmes must be vigilant about these risks and adjust their curricula and training programmes to stay ahead of them and mitigate their likelihood,” they write.

Federal Appeals Court Tosses Felon Gun Ban Based on Meth Possession– www.usacarry.com

pgnewser February 3, 2026 0

Blurb:

NEW ORLEANS, LA — In a major development reflecting the ongoing impact of the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which criminalizes firearm possession by felons, is unconstitutional as applied to a Mississippi man whose only felony conviction was for “simple possession of methamphetamine.”

Charles Hembree was indicted in 2022 under § 922(g)(1) after authorities discovered he possessed a firearm. His lone prior felony was a 2018 Mississippi state conviction for meth possession. Hembree moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing the law violated his Second Amendment rights under the framework set forth in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The district court denied that motion.