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Multisynapse optical network outperforms digital AI models

For decades, scientists have looked to light as a way to speed up computing. Photonic neural networks—systems that use light instead of electricity to process information—promise faster speeds and lower energy use than traditional electronics.

But despite their potential, these systems have struggled to match the accuracy of digital . A key reason: most photonic systems still mimic the structure and training methods of digital models, introducing errors when translating from software to hardware.

Now, a research team from Northwestern Polytechnical University and Southeast University in China has developed a new kind of photonic neural network that breaks free from this digital imitation. Their design, published in Advanced Photonics Nexus, uses physical transformations of light to process information directly, without relying on mathematical models. This approach not only improves accuracy but also highlights a new direction for building smarter, faster AI hardware.

New Chemistry Discovery Promises More Effective Cancer Drugs With Fewer Side Effects

Researchers discovered how to flip the structure of complex drug compounds using a simple reagent, offering a game-changing approach for making better medicines. For the first time, chemists have developed a novel method to manipulate a type of chemical compound that plays a crucial role in many

NASA Flips a Mars Orbiter Upside Down — And Discovers a Hidden World

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a long-running spacecraft mission dedicated to studying the Red Planet from orbit. Launched in 2005 and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate, MRO is part of NASA’s broader Mars Exploration Program. It plays a key role in analyzing Mars’ surface, atmosphere, and subsurface using a suite of advanced instruments.

One of MRO’s standout tools is SHARAD (Shallow Radar), which probes beneath the Martian surface to detect features like ice and rock layers. Provided by the Italian Space Agency and operated by Sapienza University of Rome, SHARAD is a collaborative effort analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team, with U.S. participation led by the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona.

Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, built the orbiter and continues to support its operations, ensuring the spacecraft’s longevity and scientific productivity well into its second decade.

Breaking the Bottleneck: All-Optical Chip Could Unlock Light-Speed Communication

New optical chip enables ultra-fast computing and data processing. Built using silicon photonics for next-gen networks. The rise of the big data era presents major challenges for information processing, particularly in terms of handling large volumes of data and managing energy consumption. These

This Ultra-Thin Drumhead Moves Sound With Almost No Loss — And May Change Tech Forever

When a drummer hits a drum, the surface vibrates and creates sound—a signal we recognize as music. But once those vibrations stop, the signal disappears. Now imagine a drumhead that’s incredibly thin, only about 10 millimeters wide, and covered in tiny triangular holes. Scientists have created exactly that, and it does something extraordinary.

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, working with teams from the University of Konstanz and ETH Zurich, discovered that vibrations can travel through this miniature membrane with barely any energy loss. In fact, the vibrations move more cleanly than signals in even the most advanced electronic circuits. This breakthrough, recently published in Nature, opens up new possibilities for how we transmit sound and information, especially in the race toward powerful new quantum technologies.

Phonons – Sound Signals or Vibrations That Spread Through a Solid Material.

Gold Melody IAB Exploits Exposed ASP.NET Machine Keys for Unauthorized Access to Targets

Some of the other tools downloaded onto the systems include an ELF binary named atm from an external server (“195.123.240[.]233:443”) and a Golang port scanner called TXPortMap to map out the internal network and identify potential exploitation targets.

“TGR-CRI-0045 uses a simplistic approach to ViewState exploitation, loading a single, stateless assembly directly,” the researchers noted. “Each command execution requires re-exploitation and re-uploading the assembly (e.g., running the file upload assembly multiple times).”

“Exploiting ASP.NET View State deserialization vulnerabilities via exposed Machine Keys allows minimal on-disk presence and enables long-term access. The group’s opportunistic targeting and ongoing tool development highlight the need for organizations to prioritize identifying and remediating compromised Machine Keys.”