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NASA-JAXA XRISM finds elemental bounty in supernova remnant

For the first time, scientists have made a clear X-ray detection of chlorine and potassium in the wreckage of a star using data from the Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) spacecraft.

The Resolve instrument aboard XRISM, pronounced “crism,” discovered these elements in a supernova remnant called Cassiopeia A or Cas A, for short. The expanding cloud of debris is located about 11,000 light-years away in the northern constellation Cassiopeia.

“This discovery helps illustrate how the deaths of stars and life on Earth are fundamentally linked,” said Toshiki Sato, an astrophysicist at Meiji University in Tokyo. “Stars appear to shimmer quietly in the night sky, but they actively forge materials that form planets and enable life as we know it. Now, thanks to XRISM, we have a better idea of when and how stars might make crucial, yet harder-to-find, elements.”

From Decoherence to Coherent Intelligence: A Framework for the Emergence of AI Structure through Recursive Reasoning

This paper develops a thermodynamic framework for understanding the coherence of both biological and artificial cognition. We formalize thermodynamic coherence as an expression of information processing constrained by entropy and temperature, establishing a quantitative link between physical energy states and cognitive stability. Building on foundational concepts from statistical mechanics, quantum biology, and information theory, we argue that intelligence emerges as an ordered process, one that locally resists entropy through orderly reasoning work that generates coherent structure. The resulting framework is applied to wave function collapse, consciousness models, and machine reasoning, showing that coherence serves as a universal condition for stable cognition across domains.

Inventor and futurist talks his hopes for the advancement of AI and technology

Ray Kurzweil is an acclaimed inventor, futurist and author. In his newest book, “The Singularity is Nearer,” he dives into the future date where humans and machines eventually merge. Jeff Glor has more from their conversation. “CBS Saturday Morning” co-hosts Jeff Glor, Michelle Miller and Dana Jacobson deliver two hours of original reporting and breaking news, as well as profiles of leading figures in culture and the arts. Watch “CBS Saturday Morning” at 7 a.m. ET on CBS and 8 a.m. ET on the CBS News app. Subscribe to “CBS Mornings” on YouTube: / cbsmornings Watch CBS News 24/7: https://cbsnews.com/live/ Download the CBS News app: https://cbsnews.com/mobile/ Follow “CBS Mornings” on Instagram: / cbsmornings Like “CBS Mornings” on Facebook: / cbsmornings Follow “CBS Mornings” on Twitter: / cbsmornings Subscribe to our newsletter: https://cbsnews.com/newsletters/ Try Paramount+ free: https://paramountplus.com/?ftag=PPM-0… For video licensing inquiries, contact: [email protected]

Introducing TinyAleph: Revolutionizing How Computers Understand Meaning with Primes and Oscillators

Imagine if meaning — the elusive essence of language and thought — could be broken down into mathematical building blocks as fundamental as prime numbers. What if computers could “reason” by synchronizing oscillators, much like neurons firing in harmony in our brains?

That’s the bold idea behind TinyAleph, a new framework and library I’ve developed for semantic computing. Unlike today’s AI models that gobble up massive datasets to mimic understanding, TinyAleph grounds meaning in pure math: primes, hypercomplex algebra, and dynamic oscillators.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the core ideas of TinyAleph, stripping away the academic jargon to show why this could be a game-changer for AI, cryptography, and even quantum-inspired simulations. No PhD required — just an open mind.

AI Bathroom Monitors? Welcome To America’s New Surveillance High Schools

This isn’t a high-security government facility. It’s Beverly Hills High School.

District superintendent Alex Cherniss says the striking array of surveillance tools is a necessity, and one that ensures the safety of his students. “We are in the hub of an urban setting of Los Angeles, in one of the most recognizable cities on the planet. So we are always a target and that means our kids are a target and our staff are a target,” he said. In the 2024–2025 fiscal year, the district spent $4.8 million on security, including staff. The surveillance system spots multiple threats per day, the district said.

Beverly Hills’ apparatus might seem extreme, but it’s not an outlier. Across the U.S., schools are rolling out similar surveillance systems they hope will keep them free of the horrific and unceasing tide of mass shootings. There have been 49 deaths from gunfire on school property this year. In 2024, there were 59, and in 2023 there were 45, per Everytown for Gun Safety. Between 2000 and 2,022,131 people were killed and 197 wounded at schools in the U.S., most of them children. Given those appalling metrics, allocating a portion of your budget to state of the art AI-powered safety and surveillance tools is a relatively easy decision.

To flexibly organize thought, the brain makes use of space

In Current Biology, the Miller Lab at MIT provides new evidence that the brain recruits and controls ad hoc groups of neurons for cognitive tasks by applying brain waves to patches of the cortex.

News: Study:

#neuroscience #cognition #brain


In a new study, MIT researchers tested their theory of Spatial Computing, which holds that the brain recruits and controls ad hoc groups of neurons for cognitive tasks by applying brain waves to patches of the cortex.

Seasonal influenza

Seasonal influenza activity has increased globally in recent months, and influenza A(H3N2) viruses are predominant. This rise coincides with the onset of winter in the northern hemisphere. Epidemics and outbreaks of seasonal influenza and other circulating respiratory viruses can place significant pressure on healthcare systems. Although global activity remains within expected seasonal ranges, early increases and higher activity than typical at this time of year have been observed in some regions. Seasonal influenza could place significant pressure on healthcare systems even in non-temperate countries. Genetically drifted influenza A(H3N2) viruses, known as subclade K viruses, have been detected in many countries. While data on how well the vaccine works against clinical disease this season are still limited, vaccination is still expected to protect against severe illness and remains one of the most effective public health measures.

Surveillance

Due to the constantly evolving nature of influenza viruses, WHO continues to stress the importance of year-round global surveillance to detect and monitor virological, epidemiological and clinical changes associated with emerging or circulating influenza viruses that may affect human health and timely virus sharing for risk assessment. Countries are encouraged to remain vigilant to the threat of influenza viruses and review any unusual epidemiological patterns.

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