• Fri, February 14, 2025

by: Reuters

USDA probationary staff fired at two research agencies, sources say

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has fired probationary staff at two U.S. Department of Agriculture research agencies, two sources familiar with the situation said on Friday.

by: Time

Do You Need to Worry About an Asteroid Hitting Earth?

That's the day an asteroid dubbed 2024 YR4 may strike our planet. Cosmic bookmakers don't make an impact terribly likely. According to NASA, the odds of a collision are just 2.3%. But that nearly doubles the 1.

by: NextBigFuture

President Proposes USA, China and Russia Cut Military Spending in Half

President Trump is proposing cutting the military budgets of the USA, China and Russia in half. Cutting the military in half for USA, Russia and China is also

by: STAT

Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies

The Trump administration is set to eliminate thousands of federal health care jobs Friday, targeting employees across agencies who were hired in the past one to two years.

by: MSN

Top 10 Game-Changing Entrepreneurs of 2025

The business world is being reshaped by entrepreneurs who aren't afraid to challenge the status quo and break boundaries. The Top 10 Disruptive Entrepreneurs of 2025 highlights individuals who are pushing industries forward with innovative ideas and strategies that challenge traditional models.

by: NextBigFuture

Mark Zuckerberg Displaces Bezos as Second Richest in the World

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has become the second richest in the world. Jeff Bezos has rarely not been richest or second richest in the world for the

by: MSN

STEM Family Day at Mill City Museum

History and science come together for STEM Day at Mill City Museum with family activities focusing on the role of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) for the past and present. If you've never visited Mill City Museum,

by: NextBigFuture

I Do Predict Humans Will Land on Mars by 2030

As I have posted, I am a top 8 predictor on Metaculus out of 34617 people according to Metaculus for baseline accuracy. I was asked by a commenter what my

by: MSN

Researchers sniffed ancient Egyptian mummies, for science. Here's what they smell like

Researchers sniffed ancient Egyptian mummies, for science. Here's what they smell like - The scientists were 'surprised' at what their noses revealed

by: MSN

TikTok returns to US app stores - for now ...Tech & Science Daily podcast

Use precise geolocation data and actively scan device characteristics for identification. This is done to store and access information on a device and to provide personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. List of Partners (vendors)

by: MSN

Jeff Bezos' rocket company is slashing 10% of its workforce a month after debut orbital launch

Use precise geolocation data and actively scan device characteristics for identification. This is done to store and access information on a device and to provide personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. List of Partners (vendors)

by: MSN

Police force to trial facial recognition technology

A police force is to trial live facial recognition (LFR) technology in a town centre for a day to find criminals and prevent crime. Suffolk Police said two vans and equipment, borrowed from Essex Police,

by: MSN

Tech Moves: Smartsheet names CTO; Outreach appoints CFO; Concord's new CEO; and other hires

Smartsheet names a new CTO, Outreach appoints a CFO and Concord announces its new CEO, plus other notable hires in the Pacific Northwest.
  • Sat, February 15, 2025

by: Reuters

No need for one country to control chip industry, Taiwan official says

There is no need for one country to control the semiconductor industry, which is complex and needs a division of labour, Taiwan's top technology official said on Saturday after U.S. President Donald Trump criticised the island's chip dominance.

by: CNAS

Beyond DeepSeek: How China's AI Ecosystem Fuels Breakthroughs

The answer lies not just in DeepSeek's top engineers or innovative training techniques, but in the vast political and financial ecosystem China has built to accelerate AI innovation. Over the past decade,

by: onmanorama

Need to promote scientific temper to combat rise in superstitions: Kerala CM

The CM said that superstitious beliefs, which are the reason behind acts like human sacrifices, were multiplying because people were not seriously concerned about spreading scientific knowledge in society. He called for "popularising science," which he added was the most effective way of creating a scientific temper in society.

by: TheHealthSite

Digital Twin Technology In Patient Care: Opportunities And Challenges

What is digital twin technology and how can this be used in the field of medicine? Read this exclusive interview with UCL's Prof Peter Coveney to know about it all.

by: AOL

USDA probationary staff fired at three agencies, sources say

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has fired probationary staff at two U.S. Department of Agriculture research agencies, two sources familiar with the situation said on Friday. A USDA spokesperson would not comment specifically on whether people were fired,

by: Gizmodo

Meet Grace, the Hopping Robot That Will Dive Into the Moon's Darkest Craters

Meet Grace, the brave hopper robot that's designed to jump into the darkest depths of the Moon, providing never-before-seen views of permanently shadowed craters near the lunar south pole.

by: ScienceAlert

'Mirror Life' Is a Dangerous Scientific Vision. Here's Why.

It's important to note that researchers are likely at least 10 to 30 years away from creating mirror bacteria. On the timescale of a fast-moving field like synthetic biology, a decade is a very long time. Creating synthetic cells is difficult on its own. Creating mirrored ones would require several technical breakthroughs.

by: Forbes

Marie Curie, Lord Voldemort And Sheldon Cooper Tell Us About AI Ethics

Some of the demos that MIT people are showing off are hitting the intersection of multimedia technologies and multi-agent AI.

by: MSN

Aussie breakthrough in devastating billion-dollar beach crisis: 'First in the world'

Microplastics have become a silent crisis in our oceans, infiltrating marine life and ecosystems at an alarming rate. These tiny particles, often no bigger than grains of sand, pose a grave threat to Australia's coastal health.

by: NextBigFuture

Does DeepSeek Impact the Future of AI Data Centers?

China's DeepSeek has made innovations in the cost of AI and innovations like mixture of experts (MoE) and fine-grain expert segmentation which significantly

by: MSN

3 St. Louis area universities earn top research designation

The schools earned the prestigious "R1" status from the Carnegie Foundation, recognizing the schools as top-tier research institutions.

by: Forbes

Too Much Focus On AI Has Taken The 'Social' Out Of Social Media

As AI can be used to create misleading images and videos, which can help spread misinformation, it is making social media far less social

by: MSN

Abaca's new role after polymer bills

The former use of abaca fiber for Philippine bills - which will soon be dominated by plastic (polymer) bills produced and printed in foreign countries - may soon be revived as an alternative to the widely popular plastic bags and containers that have congested and polluted both land and water resources.

by: MSN

An asteroid has a 2% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. Here's how astronomers are tracking it

YR4 has a 2% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. Astronomers are tracking it to refine estimates of its size and orbit to see how much of a risk the space rock poses.

by: MSN

Trump administration fires over 400 DHS employees as mass firings continue

The Trump administration on Friday moved to fire more than 400 employees at the Department of Homeland Security, the latest effort in a government-wide campaign to dramatically reduce the federal workforce.

by: MSN

'Utter vandalism': Critics seethe at 'truly disheartening' effect of DOGE's $900M cut

Social media critics hammered the so-called Department of Government Efficiency task force on Friday over a recent round of cuts to nearly 100 contracts worth nearly $900 million at the Institute for Education Sciences in the Department of Education.

by: MSN

How Did Scientists Map the Shape of an Electron?

For the first time, scientists have successfully mapped the shape of an electron while it moves through a solid. This groundbreaking discovery in quantum physics, led by MIT physicist Riccardo Comin and his research team,

by: MSN

Do Pets Dream? What Science Says About Their Sleep Habits

Understanding Sleep Cycles in Pets To understand whether pets dream, it is important to first explore their sleep patterns. Sleep occurs in multiple stages, including non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

by: MSN

First made-in-India chip will come out in September-October 2025: IT minister

The government has granted Rs 334 crore to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, "for new research and development (R&D) in gallium nitride, a technology in semiconductors, which is used in telecom and power,

by: MSN

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript February 13, 2025 Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. beats earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $0.51, expectations were $-0.2. Operator: Good day. And welcome to the PacBio Fourth Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call.

by: MSN

GATE Exam Analysis 2025, February 15: Check Shift 1, 2 Branch Wise Paper Review, Difficulty Level

The GATE 2025 exam was conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee on February 01, 02, 15 and 16, 2025, at designated test centres spread across 8 exam zones. The exam will be conducted in two sessions- Forenoon Session from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and Afternoon Session from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

by: MSN

UK's new thinking on AI: Unless it's causing serious bother, you can crack on

Plus: Keep calm and plug Anthropic's Claude into public services Comment The UK government on Friday said its AI Safety Institute will henceforth be known as its AI Security Institute, a rebranding that attests to a change in regulatory ambition from ensuring AI models get made with wholesome content - to one that primarily punishes AI-abetted crime.

by: MSN

Superstitions on rise in society, not scientific temper: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said that despite advances in the field of science and effective interventions by the government, the scientific temper in society was not developing

by: MSN

China's new hydrogen EV battery hits 2825 Wh/kg energy density with 99.7% efficiency

Through rigorous testing, this new model displayed a staggering theoretical energy density of 2825 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg), with a steady operational voltage of around thr

by: MSN

DOST to help improve Laoag's transportation system

THE Department of Science and Technology-Region 1 (DOST-1), through its Provincial Science and Technology Office-Ilocos Norte (PSTO-IN), has embarked on a transformative initiative to improve Laoag City's transportation system.
  • Sun, February 16, 2025

by: BBC

Work begins on technology block at historic school

The first phase of a 30-year modernisation project at a 400-year-old private school has begun, with the expansion of its design, technology and science block.

by: Couriermail

How Amazon is challenging Australian market

The retail behemoth is changing Australia's e-commerce landscape, with shoppers demanding fast delivery, quality products, and a seamless shopping experience. Australia's e-commerce landscape is becoming more competitive with Amazon carving out its dominance.

by: Zawya

University of Doha for Science and Technology opens admissions for Fall 2025

Master's, Bachelor's, and Diploma programs are available for students, offering new opportunities for academic and professional growth

by: NextBigFuture

xAI Releases Grok 3 in About 44 Hours

AI Elon has said xAI Grok 3 will lead on all of the AI metrics when it is released. Grok 3 has been trained on over 100,000 Nvidia H100 chips. Grok 4 will be released later this year. The rapid pace of xAI releases of major models could enable xAI to maintain a lead if scaling laws hold.

by: BBC

AI experts warn electricity costs may stunt growth

However, Dr Raza said "awful" electricity costs could stunt growth and said the government should invest in renewable energy to power AI centres. "We have to make data centres more efficient. This point is very, very important," he told the BBC.

by: MSN

Experts call for regulation to avoid 'loss of control' over AI

France, co-hosting the Monday and Tuesday gathering with India, has chosen to spotlight AI 'action' in 2025 rather than put the safety concerns front and centre as at the previous meetings in Britain's Bletchley Park in 2023 and the Korean capital Seoul in 2024.

by: MSN

What happens in Vegas: PH tech on global stage

It can all happen in the so-called Sin City—a South Korean company suddenly wanting to order 120,000 units of adhesive and sealants, or the possibility of the water system in the city of Athens, Ohio,

by: MSN

A Mysterious Millionaire is Funding the First Underwater Human Settlement

Eventually, the goal is to make underwater living accessible to more people. The facility will include accommodation units, a training center, and a platform for mini-submarines.

by: MSN

Palantir, Technology, and the American Republic

It is rare to encounter poetry as an epigraph to a serious book dealing with Silicon Valley, let alone one that exhorts executives and software engineers to redirect some of their technical prowess to bolster the U.

by: MSN

Science news this week: Hidden lakes and a 'city-killer' asteroid

Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

USDA probationary staff fired at two research agencies, sources say

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has fired probationary staff at two U.S. Department of Agriculture research agencies, two sources familiar with the situation said on Friday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has dismissed a significant number of probationary staff members from two of its research agencies, the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), according to sources cited by Reuters on February 14, 2025. This action was part of a broader initiative to restructure these agencies, which began under the Trump administration and has continued into the Biden era. The dismissals have raised concerns among employees about job security and the potential impact on the agencies' research capabilities. The USDA has not provided detailed reasons for these terminations but has mentioned that such decisions are part of standard personnel management practices during probationary periods. Critics argue that this could lead to a loss of expertise and institutional knowledge, potentially affecting the quality and continuity of agricultural and economic research.

Read the Full Reuters Article at:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/usda-probationary-staff-fired-two-research-agencies-sources-say-2025-02-14/