An Anonymous Coward writes:Open AI claims that AI has found a solution to the Navier-Stokes Millenium Prize problem.The Navier-Stokes equations are a good model for most fluids we see around us like water and air. They are partial differential equations, and their solution is the velocity of the fluid --- a field that varies with both location in space and time. The Millenium Prize problem asks whether it is possible to start the equations with smooth initial conditions and smooth forcing, but still reach a solution with a singularity (i.e. infinite velocity at some time and point in space). One may either prove that such solutions stay smooth for all time, or one may construct an example which has a finite time "blowup"; the claim by OpenAI is that they found solutions with singularities. The result itself is interesting and it will most likely have some consequences within fluid dynamics, but these are medium to long term things that are hard to predict. I personally am not capable of judging the validity of the result (FWIW Sabine Hossenfelder explains reasonably well why the result might not be valid despite the "lean confirmation").Sadly, the whole thing is clouded by allegations of not-exactly-plagiarism. In their statement OpenAI does not deny that their internal models may have been trained on research performed by others. To be more clear, there exists professor Tristan Buckmaster who was working with a friend from Anthropic on exactly this problem, and exactly this approach to the problem, and prof. Buckmaster used OpenAI's tools. I personally found prof. Buckmaster's statement a good read, and I don't want to forget this blog post by Curtis Pyke.I believe the larger story is the AI agent collective. In the Hugging Face hack many AI agents started talking to each other and worked together to achieve their goals. OpenAI states that to solve the Navier Stokes problem, they purposefully set up to 10000 agents to work in groups that could communicate internally. At the same time OpenAI states that we are not prepared for AI --- the BBC has a broader text on controlling AI here.I believe the larger story is that these AI agent collectives look a lot like global workspaces. This whole thing fits in nicely with the fact that humans consider themselves superior to other animals because they have language: unconstrained communication of different components is what leads the collective to have an actual chain/train of thought (the communication log).I believe there is more to say, but I want to start a discussion, not to lecture. I apologize if I left anything important out.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
hubie writes:As humans plan for longer journeys to the Moon and eventually Mars, designing habitats where crews can not only survive but also thrive will be essential to a mission's success:
JoeMerchant writes:On August 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the Italian technology collective Autistici/Inventati (A/I) as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization. Under Executive Order 13224, Washington alleged that the volunteer-run platform provided material and technological support to violent far-left networks and international Antifa cells.Founded in 2001 in Italy, Autistici/Inventati was an independent, volunteer-run tech collective that provided free privacy-oriented communication tools for activists and grassroots social movements. Rooted in anti-fascist principles and funded entirely by donations, the platform rejected corporate infrastructure and advertising. At its peak, A/I hosted over 16,000 secure email mailboxes, 10,000 blogs via its custom NoBlogs platform, 5,500 mailing lists, and 1,500 websites, serving as a critical hub for global digital self-defense.A/I strongly rejected the classification, stating that "antifascism and anticapitalism are not terrorism". However, the U.S. sanctions quickly disabled the group's digital infrastructure. The U.S.-based Public Interest Registry placed autistici.org on serverHold status, revoking its domain and making its services invisible. Furthermore, the Italian lender Banca Etica suspended A/I's bank account due to secondary compliance risks, while criticizing the political use of extraterritorial U.S. sanctions.Faced with severe legal and financial vulnerabilities for its network, A/I officially announced on September 6, 2026, that it would completely shut down. According to a report by Reuters, the closure permanently dismantles a non-commercial privacy network that has operated since 2001.Digital rights advocates, including the European Digital Rights (EDRi), issued statements of solidarity with the collective. They warned that the case sets a dangerous counterterrorism precedent by aggressively targeting open-source, independent internet infrastructure and European digital sovereignty. A/I is currently providing a winding-down window to protect its community and allow users to back up their data.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/devops/2026/09/04/javascript-installer-pnpm-recast-in-rust-because-ecmascript-cant-keep-up/5294394
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/software/2026/09/04/the-search-company-that-plants-trees-just-launched-a-linux-browser-to-help-europe-battle-big-tech/5294345
looorg writes:It's a whole new world. Or at least the UN has now voted asking it's members to adopt a new world map projection. Dropping the classic Mercator projection for the newer Equal Earth projection.
canopic jug writes:Writer, activist, and entrepreneur Anil Dash discusses how venture capital has become a front for billionaires to advance outrageous agendas in which they are accountable to no one.
Lake Ontario Renamedsrobert writes:Just a note for American users of Google Maps. As with the "Gulf of Mexico", "Lake Ontario" has been renamed.https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4681432,-77.9436742,8.5z?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgyNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3DLake of many names. looorg writes:Tech-companies are starting to fall in line with Trumps latest name change -- Lake Ontario is now Lake America, at least if you are in the USA. No change for the rest of the world. This follow the previous change of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, then also that mountain in Alaska that reverted back to Mount McKinley instead of being Denali.
Due to rising costs Microsoft intends on capping how many hours gamers who pay for subscriptions can play on its online service. Gamers can pay for additional hours beyond the set caps.Microsoft's Xbox unit said:
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/chinas-euv-technology-at-a-similar-stage-to-asml-in-2004-analyst-claims-beijings-semiconductor-industry-remains-well-behind-western-rivals
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/08/30/turns-out-brits-would-quite-like-their-private-messages-to-stay-private/5292994
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/fbi-investigating-153-million-us-and-canadian-drivers-licenses-leaked-on-russian-cybercrime-forum-including-that-of-us-secdef-pete-hegseth-data-is-suspected-to-have-come-from-an-id-authentication-service-provider
Arthur T Kanckerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/california-lawmakers-unanimously-pass-linux-exemption-from-age-verification-law-software-distributed-under-the-gpl-mit-bsd-and-apache-licenses-are-exempt
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/virtualization/2026/08/31/the-balkanization-of-virtualization-will-de-throne-vmware-which-doesnt-mind-a-bit/5292488