Macro detail of some cables.gettyIts evident now that tomorrows data centers are going to need a lot of power to operate.Ive been seeing these very sudden initiatives toward safe and common U.S. nuclear power, with Microsoft and Constellation reopening Three Mile Island, or groundbreaking work on small local nuclear plants.Theres also quite a bit of research on renewables and how that would work. I even wrote about these new plans to generate power and perform AI operations on satellites orbiting the Earth,in order to harvest power in a different way.But lets look at some of the underlying challenges and our history of solving similar problems.Electrical Engineering as a GuideIn a recent presentation, Deborah Douglas points out that as we go about solving the AI power problem, we already have some historical examples that can inform our search. Douglas is Senior Director of Collections and Curator of Science and Technology at the MIT Museum.She talks about early electrical systems, and how the grid evolved from disparate networks.I would also add that you can make the analogy to the Internet as well. You can talk about the decentralized Internet, too. But another thing that Douglas mentions is the actual tools that professionals used for engineering well before our modern electrical systems were the norm.MORE FOR YOU(To clarify: of course there was electricity, it just wasnt in the modern systems and formats that we see now.)Douglas takes us back to the 1940s, where there were lots of changes going on not just changes to power grids, but in society, too.One Womans TaleShe mentions the example of Phyllis Fox, who was working on a masters thesis right here at MIT and submitted it in 1949. The title? The solution of power network problems on large scale digital computers.Its a story of the glass ceiling, and tenacity, and the power to change the world.Douglas also mentions Vannevar Bush, whos popular at MIT, too, and taught electrical engineering in 1919. He had a machine called the differential analyzer, and Fox was interested in it.A Hard Days WorkDouglas takes us through a sort of visual picture of how Foxworked at the GE company as an engineering assistant.She was put in an office with a Marchant calculator and given sets of problems to calculate, on average, she did one equation per minute. So 60 per hour, you know, 300, 400 per day, if you will. And they were expected to stay at it. And there was a minder, a man who walked up and down to make sure that they were doing their work at the time, and no talking was allowed. Well, Phyllis was one of these adventurous souls, and she wandered around the campus and she found during her lunch hour there was an office on the lower level that had, a calculator.And, they were doing the solutions by hand upstairs. So she went down in her lunch hour and did a full day's work on the calculator. and then she would go back upstairs and pretend to be working, very clever in my estimation. But she also, in those meanderings, discovered that GE had purchased a differential analyzer, just like the one that I just showed you in the picture from MIT.Eventually, she notes, Fox got to work on the differential analyzer.That calculator thing reminds me of what I was writing about the other day, with MIT professor Ethan Mollicks idea of the wait calculation that you dont need to do all kinds of hard manual work, if youre able to wait for modern tools to become available to automate that same work.Anyway, in this case, her adventurous nature was rewarded, and she got to participate in the evolution of a pretty important field.However, Douglas notes that Fox then got fired when the men came back from World War II - and then pursued that masters degree.Then she found another employer.His name, Douglas adds, was Jay Forrester.He was ecumenical in his hiring, she says. So he hired women, he hired men. He hired the first black computer operator in the United States. He hired a blind computer operator. He hired people of Japanese descent, which was very controversial in the middle of World War II. He embraced (hiring) Phyllis Fox, who he thought was very bright.So what did these pioneers do with the differential analyzers?Some Big MachinesI went to the MIT library site and took a look at some of those early machines, including something called the Rockefeller differential analyzer.These are behemoths the size of washer-dryer systems, that have big gears and wheels that will do the calculations on a differential equation.Theyre really inspiring examples of analog computing.Anyway, eventually Fox ended up teaching over at MIT, and showing more about how process calculations work, using flow charts, block diagrams, and that kind of thing.She got a job with the Atomic Energy Commissions Computer Center, and eventually developed something called Dynamo, as early computer simulation language. Fox also reportedly wrote the first LISP manual, worked at the Newark College of Engineering (now the Jersey Institute of Technology) and gained tenure in 1972.Its all incredibly impressive, and Douglas ended her presentation by theorizing that maybe theres someone around today who will play this kind of role in solving our current bottlenecks and challenges.I, for one, certainly hope so. But just thinking about the history of differential analyzer and analog equipment shows me that we have the ability to create new tools to do what we need them to do in pioneering AI power solutions.In other words, it might sound intimidating to think that data centers will need X gigawatts and terawatts of power. But who knows how were going to view this in 10 or 20 years? Or even sooner?Think about these inspirational examples, and do yourself a favor go back and look at some of these now-antiquated machines. Consider that at their time, less than a century ago,they were very state of the art.

If youre preparing to level up your streaming or vlogging career, investing in laptop deals or desktop computer deals wont be enough. In addition to looking amazing with a proper webcam, youll also have to sound crystal clear through a high-quality microphone like the Blue Yeti. Youre in luck because its currently on sale at Best Buy with a $30 discount, which slashes its price from $130 to an even more affordable $100. Youre going to have to be quick in securing your stock though, as were not sure how much time is remaining before this offer expires.There have been variations to the popular microphone, such as the Blue Yeti X that weve included in our roundup of the best microphones for streaming as our top choice for beginners, but the original Blue Yeti remains an excellent option for anybody who wants to produce professional-quality audio. It features a custom three-capsule array and four pickup patterns flexible cardioid, omni, bidirectional, and stereo so youll be able to record voices, music, and other types of sound in ways that would usually require more than one microphone.The Blue Yeti comes with onboard audio controls that will let you select the pickup pattern, adjust your headphones volume, and instantly mute the microphone. Its easy to set up with any computer, and youll also have access to the Blue VO!CE software that will let you add enhanced affects, apply advanced modulation, and access HD audio samples to make your recordings and streams even more interesting to your listeners.RelatedIf you need a microphone for any reason, you simply cant go wrong with one of the top choices in the market: the Blue Yeti. Its an even more attractive purchase right now because its available from Best Buy for only $100, for savings of $30 on its sticker price of $130. The stocks that are up for sale are expected to sell out quickly though, so if you want to buy the Blue Yeti microphone while its price is lower than usual, you need to act fast add it to your cart and finish the checkout process as soon as you can.Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of Contents5. Blitz4. Juror #23. Sing Sing2. The Brutalist1. ConclaveDespite the overpowering presence of blockbusters, 2024 was a great year for drama movies. It was just more difficult to find them in theaters, as limited releases or direct-to-streaming debuts seem to be the fate of films that arent designed to be huge moneymakers. Regardless, a handful of dramas broke out from the pack and they will likely be remembered as some of the top films of the year.Our picks for the five best drama movies of 2024 include two period dramas, and the film that may close the book on one of Hollywoods living legends. The other two choices feature an inspiring tale of redemption through the arts, and a film that finds unexpected thrills and drama in the heart of the Vatican.Recommended VideosApple StudiosUnless you already have Apple TV+, chances are good that Blitz fell completely off your radar after it a had a very limited release last month. Director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave ) wrote and directed this World War II drama, which centers on a young boy named George Hanway (Elliott Heffernan) and his mother, Rita (Saoirse Ronan).RelatedDuring the darkest days of the bombing campaign against London, Rita sends George away to the country for his own safety. George, however, decides to embark on a dangerous solo journey back to the city to be reunited with his mother and grandfather, Gerald (Paul Weller).Blitz "Don't Send Me Away" Scene | Apple TV+Along the way, George encounters some surreal individuals who seem like they could have come out of a Charles Dickens novel. Meanwhile, Rita struggles to find some purpose in her life beyond mere survival. This film seems like it could be a contender around Oscar time, and we wouldnt be shocked if both Ronan and Heffernan get nominations.Warner Bros. PicturesIf Juror #2 does turn out to be Clint Eastwoods final movie, then its an impressive way to go out. The 94-year old filmmaker has been in the industry for seven decades, and he still has a deft dramatic touch. Eastwood doesnt take a role in this movie, although his daughter, Francesca Eastwood, plays Kendall Carter, the woman whose death sparks a murder trial for her boyfriend, James Michael Sythe (The Night Agents Gabriel Basso).Nicholas Hoult is the titular juror, Justin Kemp, and hes facing a major moral dilemma. He knows theres reasonable doubt that James is innocent because he was present the night of Kendalls death. Justin may even be responsible for Kendalls demise, which is a thought that horrifies him. He doesnt want James to go to prison, but Justin also wants to stay free.Juror #2 Movie Clip I Facts of the Case I Warner Bros. EntertainmentThus he has to walk a very fine line to convince his fellow jurors to find James not guilty while avoiding an investigation that could destroy his own life. Justins plan rests on a flimsy house of cards, and it wont take much to blow them over.A24Between high-profile prestige films like Rustin and The Color PurpleThe Madness, Colman Domingo is having a moment in the spotlight. Sing Sing continues the actors hot streak with an affecting dramatization of the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility that uses actual graduates from the program in leading and supporting roles.Domingo plays John Divine G Whitfield, an unjustly imprisoned inmate at Sing Sing who embraces the RTA program and encourages other prisoners to join. Clarence Divine Eye Maclin (who plays himself) is a reluctant recruit whom Divine G initially sees as a potential acting rival. But as the two men bond, they form a deep friendship and let the experience of acting become a transformative force in their lives.A24Twenty-two years ago, Adrien Brody won Best Actor at the Academy Awards for his role in the World War II drama The Pianist. Early next year, Brody could very well win another Oscar for his breathtaking performance in The Brutalist. In the aftermath of World War II, Brody plays a Holocaust survivor named Lszl Tth who feels adrift in America, a country thats less than welcoming to Jews.Industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) takes notice of Lszls plight and commissions him to create a building that the latter hopes will be the culmination of his work as an architect and stand the test of time. Unfortunately, Harrison is kind of crazy and he abuses his control over Lszl, which only strains the latters sanity and his already fragile relationship with his wife, Erzsbet (Felicity Jones).Focus FeaturesWho knew that an election for a new pope could have so much intrigue and drama? Conclave imagines a very plausible scenario in which the future of the Catholic Church itself may be at stake, depending upon which candidate for pope is chosen. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is the Dean of the College of Cardinals, and hes the man who has to help the assembly make their choice.Cardinals Bellini (Stanley Tucci), Tremblay (John Lithgow), Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), and Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) are the four finalists, and they each have very different ideas about where they want to take the church. There are also secrets hidden among this group that can bring down their papal aspirations if they come out.CONCLAVE - "It Is a War" Official Clip - Now Playing Only In TheatersEach ballot reshapes the election and ratchets up the tension for Lawrence. There are even some moments of surprising levity. The conclusion and the final twist have given the film some detractors, but for our money, Conclave is the best drama movie of 2024.Editors Recommendations

Steve Bannon advised Elon Musk to "study modern political history" amid the H-1B visa debate.Bannon said Musk should not "start lecturing people about the way things are gonna be."Musk recently faced MAGA criticism after he shared strong support for H-1B visas.President-elect Donald Trump's former advisor, Steve Bannon, has some advice forElon Musk start studying."You need to study modern political history of the fights we've been through for twelve or fourteen years to get to this spot," Bannon said on his "War Room" podcast on Tuesday.The remarks were made during a discussion about the H-1B visa, for which Musk has recently expressed support. While Bannon said Musk earned a seat at the table for investing in Trump's reelection and supporting the cause, he said he didn't agree with the Tesla CEO's stance on the H-1B visa."Don't come up and go to the pulpit in your first week here and start lecturing people about the way things are gonna be. If you're gonna do that," Bannon said, "we're gonna rip your face off."Musk said on X that the US needs to attract foreign talent to remain globally competitive. He strongly supports H-1B visas, which he said were crucial to building "SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong."While Trump stood behind Musk, his stance has been criticized by MAGA supportersBannon was considered one of the most powerful figures in Trump's administration before he was ousted from the White House. He was later found in contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with the January 6 panel.Bannon completed a four-month prison sentence in October. After his release, the former strategist said at a media conference that he was "empowered" by his sentence.

Eight years ago, Debbie Welsch moved to Bali, Indonesia, after being laid off from her job in Los Angeles.Welsch wanted to escape the rat race and live a simple life where she'd be free from constantly thinking about money.Last year, her mother now 81 joined her in Bali. They live across the street from each other.Debbie Welsch never thought she'd be retired and living in Bali, Indonesia, across the street from her mother.Eight years ago, in 2018, Welsch was laid off from her dream job as an interior designer for a developer in Los Angeles. Although she managed to secure some contract work after sometimes even making $100 an hour she was always worried about not having enough money."Everything just seemed like I was not moving my life forward," Welsch, now 55, told Business Insider. Debbie Welsch moved to Bali from California in 2018. A few years later, her mother joined her on the island. Debbie Welsch. It reminded her of her struggles in 2012 when she was forced to shut down her home improvement business because of the financial crisis.Back then, Welsch had to lease out her house because she couldn't afford her mortgage. She then started living in a room she rented from a friend.Over the years, anxiety kept Welsch from moving back into her own home even as her financial situation improved. Welsch renovated the villa she rented in Bali, Indonesia. Debbie Welsch. This time, being laid off made her realize she had an unhealthy relationship with money, one in which she would always worry about not having enough.Several hypnotherapy sessions helped her let go of her fears, but Welsch knew she needed a fresh start away from the rat race if she wanted to change her life.The idea of leaving the US started to take root, and by the end of the year, Welsch had sold almost everything she owned to move to Bali.Trading LA for BaliWelsch had considered various locations before deciding on Bali."I actually looked at the Yucatn in South Mexico. I looked at Costa Rica, I looked at Tulum," she said, adding that none of the places appealed to her because "the vibe just wasn't there." The villa was dark and dingy before the renovation. Debbie Welsch. But Bali was different: Welsch had been there for vacation multiple times before, and she always loved the pace of life on the island."The vibe, the energy, the local Balinese culture is so soothing to me. I feel comfortable," Welsch said.Before she made her decision, Welsch thought it'd be a good idea to visit a friend who was already living in Bali with her husband."I spent three weeks just trying to live as a resident versus a tourist, just to see where I would live, what I would do, all that kind of stuff," Welsch said. Welsch overhauled the villa, adding new floor tiles and installing a bathroom upstairs. Debbie Welsch. Within six months of that trip, Welsch was back on the island this time for good."When I came here, I felt safe, and I felt like it was where I needed to be, even if it was for a few years," she said.House-hunting took a couple of months."I didn't need a big house or anything like that the bigger the house, the more maintenance required," Welsch said. "I also wanted to be close by to the cafs and things like that." The revamped kitchen was brighter and more airy. Debbie Welsch. Through word of mouth, she eventually found the perfect one-bedroom home in Seminyak, just an eight-minute walk to the beach.Welsch's lease was for 10 years, and she preferred to keep the amount she spent on rent private.With permission from her landlord, she was also able to renovate the villa."It was all just concrete gray concrete floors, gray concrete walls. It was dingy. There were no windows in the back, and there was no breeze coming through," she said. Now, Welsch lives in her villa alone with her dog, while her mother lives in the house across the street. Debbie Welsch. Welsch spent six months transforming the entire villa, adding new floor tiles, and even installing a new bathroom upstairs."It just needed a lot of work," she said.Her mother followed in her footstepsIn February 2023, Welsch's mother, Linda Puzio, decided to join her in Bali.Puzio then 79 had just been laid off from her job as a legal secretary in Palm Springs.Even though her daughter had been trying to convince her to move for over a year, Puzio said she finally relented due to financial reasons."My boss retired, and I didn't have a job anymore. All I had was my Social Security to live on," Puzio, now 81, told BI. "I couldn't live in Palm Springs anymore. My rent was going to be $1,500 a month. My Social Security is $1,900 that meant I had $400 for car insurance, gasoline, food, clothing, electricity, things like that." Now, the mother-daughter pair spend a lot of time together. Debbie Welsch. It made more sense for her to move to Bali, where the cost of living was much lower.Now, Puzio lives in a house across the street from her daughter, and the two of them get to spend quality time together."She's like my best friend. If anyone's going to hang out with me morning, noon, and night, it's her," Welsch said. "She's in her senior years and needs support, and I have the opportunity to help her with that, just making sure she's taken care of. But there's also a reciprocal thing. I have family here now, so it works well for us." Living a simple island lifeWelsch and her mother aren't alone in their decision to retire abroad.With the rising cost of living, more and more Americans are being priced out of the US. A single person would need to earn more than $111,000 to live comfortably in LA, while the average household would need to save for 36 years to afford a typical home in LA.In recent years, thanks to its relative affordability, Bali has become a popular place for people to live especially digital nomads.The cost of living inclusive of rent in Bali is 52%Numbeo, a platform that uses crowdsourced data to compare the cost of living in major cities across the world. A person would need around $2,400 in Bali to maintain the same standard of life that they can have with $5,000 in LA.However, the influx of digital nomads has drawn the ire of some, who accuse them of gentrifying the island and driving up the cost of living over the years.As much as Welsch appreciates her life in Bali, there are still things that she misses about LA."In LA, I had a lot of friends, and there's always an art gallery to go to or just a gathering with my friends and sleepovers all that stuff. I miss the connection with my friends there," Welsch said. "Even if you have friends here, you're still living an independent life."She also misses her other family members like her brother and nephews and some of the beaches in LA. Welsch says that living near each other has enabled them to take care of each other in a foreign country. Debbie Welsch. However, Welsch doesn't think that she'd go back to living there, although her mother feels differently."I'll go back in a heartbeat, because why? It is OK here and all, but I moved here when I was 79. I really kind of am set in my own ways, in what I want and what I like. I'm used to certain things, and I miss them," Puzio said.However, both of them are happy where they are. Living a simple life in Bali has allowed Welsch to stay present instead of constantly worrying about money like she used to."I can just be, instead of waking up and going, 'OK, how am I going to make money or what's the money situation in my life?' Money is the first thing I'd think of when I wake up, and money's the last thing I'd think of when I go to sleep. It's not like that anymore," Welsch said.These days, she doesn't feel the need to keep up with the Joneses either."I'm satisfied with a basic life, not being fancy, dressing up, going out, looking a certain way, having a certain car," Welsch said. "We don't have to worry what people think."Have you recently relocated to a new country and found your dream home? If you have a story to share, contact this reporter at agoh@businessinsider.com.

Kelly Benthall, 53, and her husband decided they wanted to retire early and travel the world.Part of the couple's plan for early retirement was not to leave an inheritance to their 6 kids.They've been traveling across Europe and Africa since August and are happy with the decision.When I was in my 40s, if you had told me I'd be writing this from Mauritius after months of traveling across Europe, I would have laughed.Back then, I had a more traditional view of retirement: I would work until 65, leave a nest egg for my kids, and settle into a quieter life.But at 53, my husband Nigel and I quit our jobs in oil and gas, traded comfort for adventure, and hit the road.To retire early and travel, we restructured our finances and mapped out a plan to spend every penny. Deciding not to leave an inheritance for our six kids was a crucial part of the plan.We invested in their first 25 years, giving each of them a strong foundation to build their own futures.Building confidenceWe didn't want to tap into ourretirementaccounts to avoid early withdrawal penalties, so we simplified our lifestyle.We got engaged in 2017, shortly after Hurricane Harvey destroyed Nigel's house. He moved in with me, we married, and instead of upgrading to a bigger home, we agreed to make mine work. During COVID, we sold our second car and learned to share one.We also paid off credit card debt and committed to settling all bills in full every month. These choices made a difference, but we still needed help.To turn our dream into reality, we hired a financial advisor who helped us devise a plan we could trust. Together, we grew our fixed-income resources for easy access, crafted a strategy to fully spend our savings during our lifetime, and transitioned to having our accounts managed by our advisor with asset-based fees. It helped us stop worrying about outliving our money.Budgeting for life on the moveNow, our goal is to spend 20% less than we did during the last five years of work, gradually scaling back as we age and slow down. Careful budgeting and travel hacks have been helping.Before leaving Texas in August, we had been living in Houston, where we still own a home. The decision to rent or sell felt too overwhelming before we left, so when we started our adventure in August, we held off on that decision. For now, it remains as we left it. The plan is to return in January to pack everything up and make those tough calls.Instead, we kicked off the adventure by visiting family in England. Since then, we've had to rethink how we travel, prioritizing affordability without compromising our standards. This has influenced everything from where we stay to how we plan our itineraries.For lodging, I use Airbnb and local real estate agencies that offer discounts with a minimum stay of 30 days to cut down on costs. It gives us time to settle in and experience a place fully. By following the sun during shoulder seasons, we've scored lower rates and balanced pricier destinations with more affordable ones. After England, we've established a rhythm we call "home bases" places where we live like locals while exploring the area.So far, we've spent a month in Dubrovnik, Croatia, with its stunning coastline; Lecce in Italy's Puglia region, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves; Seville, Spain, falling in love with Andalusia's laid-back charm; and now Mauritius, a small island just east of Madagascar where we're soaking up island vibes for the holidays.Over the past five months, we've been spending an average of $6,000 a month, not including our house payment and related expenses back in Texas.With slow travel, we shop at local markets, cook at home, and savor a relaxed pace.Looking aheadThis journey isn't just about travel it's about finding space to breathe. The endless US news cycle was wearing on me. Personally, I needed space to slow down. I keep up with international news, but the politics back home feel distant.We don't know exactly where this journey will take us, and that's the beauty of it. With a long list of places to explore and regular trips home to see family, we may even find ourselves back where we started one day.Our six children, who range in age from 23 to 37 and are spread across California, Utah, Texas, and England, were excited for us but also a little wistful when we set off. A few of them admitted that it felt like we were leaving for good a shift that seemed more permanent, even though we'll see them just as often as when we lived in Houston.Our plan to "spend it all" isn't about running out it's about using what we have with the intention to explore, learn, and create memories we'll carry forever.And for our kids? I hope we're showing them that there's no single way to live. Sometimes, you just have to leap and trust the net will appear a reminder to live fully, in whatever way feels true to them.Got a personal essay about retiring early to travel that you want to share? Get in touch with the editor: akarplus@businessinsider.com.

Pipes in Cinema 4D C4D + Redshift Project Files https://cgshortcuts.com/pipes-in-cinema-4d-2025 Old project file updated for C4D 2025 includes updated python stacking script.Download and use royalty-free in your own projects!#Cinema4D #C4D #Redshift #CGShortcuts

Welcome to Research Focus, a series of blog posts that highlights notable publications, events, code/datasets, new hires and other milestones from across the research community at Microsoft.NEW RESEARCHThe Compute Express Link (CXL) open standard interconnect enables integration of diverse types of memory into servers via its byte-addressable SerDes links. To fully utilize CXL-based heterogeneous memory systems (which combine different types of memory with varying access speeds), its necessary to implement efficient memory tieringa strategy to manage data placement across memory tiers for optimal performance. Efficiently managing these memory systems is crucial, but has been challenging due to the lack of precise and efficient tools for understanding how memory is accessed.In a recent paper: NeoMem: Hardware/Software Co-Design for CXL-Native Memory Tiering researchers from Microsoft propose a novel solution which features a hardware/software co-design to address this problem. NeoMem offloads memory profiling functions to CXL device-side controllers, integrating a dedicated hardware unit called NeoProf, which monitors memory accesses and provides the operating system (OS) with crucial page hotness statistics and other system state information. On the OS kernel side, the researchers designed a revamped memory-tiering strategy, enabling accurate and timely hot page promotion based on NeoProf statistics. Implemented on a real FPGA-based CXL memory platform and Linux kernel v6.3, NeoMem demonstrated 32% to 67% geomean speedup over several existing memory tiering solutions.Read the paperNEW RESEARCHPlanning and conducting chemical syntheses is a significant challenge in the discovery of functional small molecules, which limits the potential of generative AI for molecular inverse design. Although early machine learning-based retrosynthesis models have shown the ability to predict reasonable routes, they are less accurate for infrequent, yet important reactions.In a recent paper: Chimera: Accurate retrosynthesis prediction by ensembling models with diverse inductive biases, researchers from Microsoft and external colleagues address this limitation, with a new framework for building highly accurate reaction models. Chimera incorporates two newly developed models, each achieving state-of-the-art performance in their respective categories. Evaluations by PhD-level organic chemists show that Chimeras predictions are preferred for their higher quality compared to baseline models.The researchers further validate Chimeras robustness by applying its largest-scale model to an internal dataset from a major pharmaceutical company, demonstrating its ability to generalize effectively under distribution shifts. This new framework shows the potential to substantially accelerate the development of even more accurate and versatile reaction prediction models.Read the paperMicrosoft research podcastAbstracts: August 15, 2024Advanced AI may make it easier for bad actors to deceive others online. A multidisciplinary research team is exploring one solution: a credential that allows people to show theyre not bots without sharing identifying information. Shrey Jain and Zo Hitzig explain.Listen nowOpens in a new tab NEW RESEARCHIn bioinformatics and computational biology, data analysis often involves chaining command-line programs developed by specialized teams at different institutions. These tools, which vary widely in age, software stacks, and dependencies, lack a common programming interface, which makes integration, workflow management and reproducibility challenging.A recent article (opens in new tab) emphasizes the development, adoption and implementation of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) Task Execution Service (TES) API, created in collaboration with researchers at Microsoft and other institutions. The TES API offers a unified schema and interface for submitting and managing tasks, seamlessly bridging gaps between on-premises high-performance and high-throughput computing systems, cloud platforms, and hybrid infrastructures. Its flexibility and extensibility have already made it a critical asset for applications ranging from federated data analysis to load balancing across multi-cloud systems.Adopted by numerous service providers and integrated into several workflow engines, TES empowers researchers to execute complex computational tasks through a single, abstracted interface. This eliminates compatibility hurdles, accelerates research timelines, reduces costs and enables compute to data solutionsessential for tackling the challenges of distributed data analysis.Read the paperNEW RESEARCHIncreasing use of code agents for AI-assisted coding and software development has brought safety and security concerns, such as generating or executing malicious code, which have become significant barriers to real-world deployment of these agents.In a recent paper: RedCode: Risky Code Execution and Generation Benchmark for Code Agents, published at NeurIPS 2024, researchers from Microsoft and external colleagues propose comprehensive and practical evaluations on the safety of code agents. RedCode is an evaluation platform with benchmarks grounded in four key principles: real interaction with systems, holistic evaluation of unsafe code generation and execution, diverse input formats, and high-quality safety scenarios and tests.This research evaluated three agents based on various large language models (LLMs), providing insights into code agents vulnerabilities. For instance, results showed that agents are more likely to reject executing unsafe operations on the operating system. Unsafe operations described in natural text lead to a lower rejection rate than those in code format. Additional evaluations revealed that more capable base models and agents with stronger overall coding abilities, such as GPT-4, tend to produce more sophisticated harmful software.These findings highlight the need for stringent safety evaluations for diverse code agents. The underlying dataset and related code are publicly available at https://github.com/AI-secure/RedCode (opens in new tab).Read the paperNEW RESEARCHAlthough large language models (LLMs) excel at language-focused tasks like news writing, document summarization, customer service, and supporting virtual assistants, they can face challenges when it comes tolearning and inference on numeric and structured industry data, such as tabular and time series data. To address these issues, researchers from Microsoft propose a new approach to building industrial foundation models (IFMs). As outlined in a recent blog post, they have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of cross-domain universal in-context learning on tabular data and the significant potential it could achieve.The researchers designed Generative Tabular Learning (opens in new tab)(GTL), a new framework that integrates multi-industry zero-shot and few-shot learning capabilities into LLMs. This approach allows the models to adapt and generalize to new fields, new data, and new tasks more effectively, flexibly responding to diverse data science tasks. This technical paradigm has been open-sourced (opens in new tab)to promote broader use.Read the paperMicrosoft Research in the newsMicrosofts smaller AI model beats the big guys: Meet Phi-4, the efficiency kingDecember 12, 2024Microsoft launched a new artificial intelligence model today that achieves remarkable mathematical reasoning capabilities while using far fewer computational resources than its larger competitors. Microsoft researcher Ece Kamar discusses the future of AI agents in 2025Tech Brew | December 12, 2024With AI agents widely expected to take off in 2025, the director of Microsofts AI Frontiers lab weighs in on the future of this technology, the safeguards needed, and the year ahead in AI research. A new frontier awaits computing with lightDecember 12, 2024In the guts of a new type of computer, a bunch of tiny LEDs emit a green glow. Those lights have a job to do. Theyre performing calculations. Right now, this math is telling the computer how to identify handwritten images of numbers. The computer is part of a research program at Microsoft. View more news and awards Opens in a new tab

Nature, Published online: 18 December 2024; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-04073-yWhen the partys over.

Nature, Published online: 18 December 2024; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-04014-9Paper on hydroxychloroquine led by French researcher Didier Raoult is second-most-cited study ever to be withdrawn.