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The Hidden Mathematics of Alzheimer’s Plaques Could Reveal New Treatment Strategies

Mathematics may offer a new way to investigate the complex chemistry behind Alzheimer’s-related plaque formation.

Plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease begin with molecular interactions that are difficult to observe directly as they unfold. Shantia Yarahmadian, an associate professor at Mississippi State University, is using mathematics to simulate part of that process, focusing on how metals such as copper and zinc may influence the behavior of amyloid-beta proteins.

His latest model follows a chain of reactions that can lead amyloid-beta to aggregate, or clump together, and form plaque. It also allows researchers to test how two potential therapeutic approaches might interfere with those reactions. The work was published in Bulletin of Mathematical Biology and extends Yarahmadian’s earlier efforts to model Alzheimer’s disease mathematically.

Microsoft enables Windows settings backup by default for orgs

Microsoft announced that Windows settings backup and restore is now enabled by default on all Microsoft Entra-joined or Microsoft Entra hybrid-joined enterprise systems upgraded to Windows 11 26H2.

The Windows settings backup tool (formerly known as Windows Backup for Organizations) backs up and restores enterprise users’ Windows settings after a device is reset, replaced, upgraded, or reimaged.

Microsoft unveiled it two years ago at the Ignite conference in November 2024 as an opt-in feature (disabled by default), and it reached public preview in May 2025 and general availability in August 2025.

Metamask discloses security incident affecting its infrastructure

On Thursday, cryptocurrency wallet provider MetaMask has disclosed an ongoing infrastructure security incident affecting some of its infrastructure.

The company is working to address the issue internally, with help from external partners and security advisors, and says there is “no immediate threat to MetaMask wallets.”

“As a precautionary measure, we are proactively exiting affected validators within our non-custodial staking operations, in coordination with clients and partners,” MetaMask noted. “As a reminder, our staking operations are non-custodial in nature and we do not manage withdrawal keys for stake on behalf of our clients.”

Autonomous AI agents tried to hack US, Canadian government websites

Autonomous AI agents using aggressive strategies attempted to hack U.S. and Canadian government websites to find school and divorce statistics.

The failed breach attempts targeted a website under the U.S. Department of Education and Library and Archives Canada. However, the collected data shows no evidence of access to non-public information.

Nonprofit research lab Transluce says the AI agents appeared tasked with data retrieval operations, but their activity also included failed “rudimentary hacking attempts.”

Microsoft says threat actors are ahead in the early AI race

Microsoft says cyberattackers are currently benefiting from artificial intelligence faster than defenders, allowing threat actors to speed up vulnerability discovery, malware development, and post-compromise activity while security teams struggle to keep pace.

This comes from Microsoft’s 2026 Digital Defense Report, which strongly focuses on how artificial intelligence is changing both offensive and defensive cybersecurity operations.

Microsoft says AI is reducing the time, expertise, and cost required to discover and exploit weaknesses, while allowing attackers and defenders alike to operate with greater speed, scale, and autonomy.

Hackers stole Pentagon personnel records of over 3 million people

The Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) is notifying millions of military service members that hackers stole their data after breaching the Pentagon’s human resources management system in October 2025.

In data breach notification letters shared online by affected individuals, the DMDC told affected military personnel that “a small number of unauthorized users” had access to their sensitive data, including personally identifiable information (PII), between October 2025 and July 2026 after exploiting a vulnerability in its file-sharing systems.

The stolen data varies by person and includes Social Security numbers (SSNs), names, dates of birth, contact information, sex, race, and military personnel information.

The Red Planet has a purple side

Oxidized iron dominates the Martian color palette. The dusty reds, ochers, browns and tans give the planet its nickname: the Red Planet. But new images of Mars’ south polar region show something different. Swirls of pink, purple and red highlight the region and a feature named Thyles Rupes, an icy crag with cliffs higher than 1 km (0.6 miles). Rupes means cliff in Latin, while Thyles is a mythical northern land spoken of in the ancient world.

All the differently colored materials in this region have different sources. Volcanoes created and spread the darker material, which is rich in minerals like olivine and pyroxene, both of which are also plentiful in Earth’s mantle. Olivine is made of magnesium, iron and silicate. Pyroxenes are a group of silicate minerals made mostly of silicon and oxygen, also common in Earth’s upper mantle.

The pale bluish areas, like those in the crater, are covered in frozen carbon dioxide. Near the south pole, this material persists even in springtime, when this image was captured. The pale patch on the lower left is part of the south polar cap. The main cap never melts, but a seasonal CO2 frost cap expands and contracts with the seasons.

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