In this edition:We introduce privacy enhancements for multiparty deep learning, a framework using smaller, open-source models to provide relevance judgments, and other notable new research.We congratulate Yasuyuki Matsushita, who was named an IEEE Computer Society Fellow.Weve included a recap of the extraordinary, far-reaching work done by researchers at Microsoft in 2024.NEW RESEARCHAI meets materials discoveryTwo of the transformative tools that play a central role in Microsofts work on AI for science are MatterGen and MatterSim. In the world of materials discovery, each plays a distinct yet complementary role in reshaping how researchers design and validate new materials.Read the storyNEW RESEARCHDistributed training enables multiple parties to jointly train a machine learning model on their respective datasets, which can help address the challenges posed by requirements in modern machine learning for large volumes of diverse data. However, this can raise security and privacy issues protecting each partys data during training and preventing leakage of private information from the model after training through various inference attacks.In a recent paper, Communication Efficient Secure and Private Multi-Party Deep Learning, researchers from Microsoft address these concerns simultaneously by designing efficient Differentially Private, secure Multiparty Computation (DP-MPC) protocols for jointly training a model on data distributed among multiple parties. This DP-MPC protocol in the two-party setting is 56-to-794 times more communication-efficient and 16-to-182 times faster than previous such protocols. This work simplifies and improves on previous attempts to combine techniques from secure multiparty computation and differential privacy, especially in the context of training machine learning models.Read the paperNEW RESEARCHTraining and evaluating retrieval systems requires significant relevance judgments, which are traditionally collected from human assessors. This process is both costly and time-consuming. Large language models (LLMs) have shown promise in generating relevance labels for search tasks, offering a potential alternative to manual assessments. Current approaches often rely on a single LLM. While effective, this approach can be expensive and prone to intra-model biases that can favor systems leveraging similar models.In a recent paper: JudgeBlender: Ensembling Judgments for Automatic Relevance Assessment, researchers from Microsoft we introduce a framework that employs smaller, open-source models to provide relevance judgments by combining evaluations across multiple LLMs (LLMBlender) or multiple prompts (PromptBlender). By leveraging the LLMJudge benchmark, they compare JudgeBlender with state-of-the-art methods and the top performers in the LLMJudge challenge. This research shows that JudgeBlender achieves competitive performance, demonstrating that very large models are often unnecessary for reliable relevance assessments.Read the paperNEW RESEARCHCongestion games are used to describe the behavior of agents who share a set of resources. Each player chooses a combination of resources, which may become congested, decreasing utility for the players who choose them. Players can avoid congestion by choosing combinations that are less popular. This is useful for modeling a range of real-world scenarios, such as traffic flow, data routing, and wireless communication networks.In a recent paper: Convergence to Equilibrium of No-regret Dynamics in Congestion Games; researchers from Microsoft and external colleagues propose CongestEXP, a decentralized algorithm based on the classic exponential weights method. They evaluate CongestEXP in a traffic congestion game setting. As more drivers use a particular route, congestion increases, leading to higher travel times and lower utility. Players can choose a different route every day to optimize their utility, but the observed utility by each player may be subject to randomness due to uncertainty (e.g., bad weather). The researchers show that this approach provides both regret guarantees and convergence to Nash Equilibrium, where no player can unilaterally improve their outcome by changing their strategy.Read the paperNEW RESEARCHResearch and development (R&D) plays a pivotal role in boosting industrial productivity. However, the rapid advance of AI has exposed the limitations of traditional R&D automation. Current methods often lack the intelligence needed to support innovative research and complex development tasks, underperforming human experts with deep knowledge.LLMs trained on vast datasets spanning many subjects are equipped with extensive knowledge and reasoning capabilities that support complex decision-making in diverse workflows. By autonomously performing tasks and analyzing data, LLMs can significantly increase the efficiency and precision of R&D processes.In a recent article, researchers from Microsoft introduce RD-Agent, a tool that integrates data-driven R&D systems and harnesses advanced AI to automate innovation and development.At the heart of RD-Agent is an autonomous agent framework with two key components: a) Research and b) Development. Research focuses on actively exploring and generating new ideas, while Development implements these ideas. Both components improve through an iterative process, illustrated in Figure 1 of the article, ensures the system becomes increasingly effective over time.Read the articleSpotlight: Microsoft research newsletterMicrosoft Research NewsletterStay connected to the research community at Microsoft.Subscribe todayOpens in a new tab Microsoft Research | In case you missed itMicrosoft Research 2024: A year in reviewDecember 20, 2024Microsoft Research did extraordinary work this year, using AI and scientific research to make progress on real-world challenges like climate change, food security, global health, and human trafficking. Heres a look back at the broad range of accomplishments and advances in 2024. AIOpsLab: Building AI agents for autonomous cloudsDecember 20, 2024AIOpsLab is a holistic evaluation framework for researchers and developers, to enable the design, development, evaluation, and enhancement of AIOps agents, which also serves the purpose of reproducible, standardized, interoperable, and scalable benchmarks. Yasuyuki Matsushita, IEEE Computer Society 2025 FellowDecember 19, 2024Congratulations to Yasuyuki Matsushita, Senior Principal Research Manager at Microsoft Research, who was named a 2025 IEEE Computer Society Fellow. Matsushita was recognized for contributions to photometric 3D modeling and computational photography. View more news and awards Opens in a new tab

US regulators want to make it easier for people to know whats in each of their alcoholic drinks of choice. The Treasury Departments Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has announced it is seeking public comment on two proposals aimed at overhauling how nutritional facts are displayed on beer, wine, and liquor packaging by requiring nutrition labels on bottles and cans for the first time ever. That said, the health information may not come in the form of physical labels.[ Related: Is drinking alcohol ever good for you? Heres what the science says. ]According to a forthcoming Federal Register notice first reported by the Associated Press on January 16th, the reform is intended to follow the bureau mandate to ensure that labels provide consumers with adequate information about the identity, quality and alcohol content of alcoholic drinks. The information would likely be displayed similar to existing nutrition labels, and include the amount of alcohol content, calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein per serving. Sugar content, however, would remain optional to list on labels. A second proposed rule would federally require companies to identify any top allergens such as milk, eggs, shellfish, and nuts.If approved, the changes would achieve a goal that consumer advocacy groups have spent over two decades pursuing for the $2.5 billion industry.The proposals represent a momentous step toward ensuring consumers have access to the information they need to make informed choices, follow health guidelines, and avoid allergic reactions, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) wrote in a statement published on Thursday. The CSPI also referred to its March 2024 survey, in which 63-77 percent of the over 1,500 Americans polled indicated support for at least some form of mandatory content labels.While companies may voluntarily disclose nutritional information on the products, many still do not. A 2021 survey of the 150 top US beer and wine brands found that only 28 percent of former and none of the latter featured a full Serving Facts label. Just one beer at the time had an Alcohol Facts label.The CSPI first filed a Citizen Petition in support of better nutritional and alcohol content transparency in 2003. In 2022, they sued the Treasury Department for 19 years of alleged inaction on the petition.If nutrition facts become mandatory, however, they could vary from the traditional paper labels. The AP also noted on Thursday that while some prominent trade groups already said they would support the reforms, they would prefer it to be in the form of digital labels.Given the unique nature of winemaking, the most accurate and least burdensome approach to providing nutrition information to consumers would be to allow the option of off-label disclosure via QR code or other electronic means, said the Wine Institute, with the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States echoing similar hopes.Regardless, it will take some time before nutrition factsphysical or otherwiseare legally required for alcohol. After an open comment period and subsequent review, the new rules would take effect five years from their approval date.The post US may finally require Nutrition Facts labeling for alcohol appeared first on Popular Science.

NewsScience & SocietyWhat nuclear weapons experts will watch for under TrumpResearchers will be monitoring arms control, the U.S. arsenal and the possibility of resumed tests The United States has undertaken a massive effort to modernize its nuclear arsenal, replacing or refurbishing its nuclear weapons and the missiles, submarines and bombers that carry them.U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Devan HalsteadBy Emily Conover14 seconds agoIts a pivotal moment for nuclear weapons.Tensions between the United States and Russia, the two major nuclear powers,are high. Longstanding nuclear pacts have crumbled. China, which trails well behind the United States and Russia in nuclear arms, is beefing up its arsenal. North Korea is a nuclear threat, and Iran is on the threshold.Meanwhile, the United States is in the midst of an extensive update of its nuclear weapons. And when Donald Trump takes office as president on January 20, he will, for a second time, be responsible for those weapons. Here are some of the big issues well be watching.

Nature, Published online: 17 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00126-yLab-grown viruses make cancer cells resemble pig tissue, provoking an organ-rejection response.

The first pterosaurs had a sail-like tensioning system for flying with potentially cumbersome tail vanes, which they could have used for displays, a new study finds.

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Smite 2 Tips and TricksSmite 2 may be a sequel, but it manages to maintain most of what made the original Smite such a beloved MOBA, opting for iteration over fully overhauling the gameplay experience. The move to Unreal Engine 5 has certainly provided developer Titan Forge with a wealth of opportunities to improve what already works so well about the franchise, though, ensuring that both new and veteran players have plenty to appreciate. If you fall into the former camp--or even if you're returning after a hiatus from the original game and want to brush up on tactics--here are some Smite 2 tips that will help you out. Roles are more flexible this time aroundYou could play any god in any role in the original Smite, but the game had clearly defined classes that often limited your success ceiling in doing so. Smite 2 does away with classes in favor of a flexible role system, which gives you a basic idea of which gods work especially well at playing in a certain lane or situation.This means many gods are listed as excelling at multiple roles, giving you a lot of opportunities to try unique builds and playstyles with them. Of course, there are some gods who won't perform all that well in specific roles, but by and large, you'll find there's just a lot more freedom to experiment. Builds are just as flexibleLike with roles, builds are a lot less rigid in Smite 2, too. Unlike the first game, which provided different classes with different item choices, Smite 2 allows any god to build any item. This is because many gods have abilities that scale off both main stats, Strength and Intelligence, allowing you to decide which abilities your build should cater most to.Maybe you want to bump up your Intelligence to aid with a healing ability, or perhaps you want a Strength-scaling damage ability to hit even harder--build your character any way you want. That being said, there are still certain items that won't be particularly helpful on certain gods, so it's always a good idea to learn what will work best with your god's kit. There's nothing wrong with autobuild for casual playSpeaking of building, the game offers a handy autobuild screen at the beginning of the match. Here, you'll find a handful of build types that you can select to have the game build your items for you. For instance, a frontliner like Chaac--who excels at sustainability and applying pressure--may be presented with Bruiser and Full Tank autobuilds.The former will automatically build you equally for both dealing and taking damage, while the latter will bolster your defenses. Autobuilding is pretty viable at casual levels of play, so if perfecting a build isn't something you're ready to learn, there's nothing wrong with making use of this feature. Aspects can totally change your playstyleAspects is a new feature exclusive to Smite 2. Think of these as modifications you apply on the God Select screen after you've chosen the god you want to play. At the moment, gods only have one Aspect to choose from (and some don't have one at all yet), but they can drastically change how the character plays. As an example, Athena's default ultimate ability allows her to teleport across the map to a teammate.By equipping her Aspect of War, her ultimate ability will instead allow her to teleport to someone on the enemy team and deal damage to them upon landing. Aspects are completely optional, but it's worth checking to see if your god has one that might make more sense for your playstyle. You should at least familiarize yourself with every godVariety is the spice of life--or so they say. While it's pretty normal for most folks to settle on a "main" (a primary god you play and master), it's a good idea to at least play a few rounds with all of the gods, especially as the game's lack of killcams mean you can't learn through the osmosis of getting bested. This can help you familiarize yourself with how their abilities work, how long their cooldowns tend to be, and what type of plays they're able to make. Knowing what they're capable of will grant you knowledge about how best to counter them. Practice makes perfect, and bot games make for good practiceYou may be tempted to jump into matches with real players, and that's totally fine--but it's also fine to play against bots. Each mode has a sub-mode that allows you to play it against AI, giving you an opportunity to learn the maps, practice with a new character, or just kick back and take it easy in a less stressful showdown.However, while the AI bots in Smite 2 can be dumb sometimes, they can also spontaneously become far smarter than you're anticipating. Don't be shocked if they team up on you when you least expect it. Customizing your settings can drastically improve your playThis may sound like a no-brainer, but customizing your controls and settings can help you feel more comfortable in Smite 2. Feel free to dive into the menus and check out everything that can be changed, paying special attention to the Gameplay segment.Here, make sure you decide whether you instant-cast abilities or double-tap the button to use them, and adjust your sensitivity until it feels just right. There are plenty of other important settings to look over, too, so take your time and get it right. Minion waves come first... at firstIt can be tempting to dive after an enemy in your lane just because they're low on health, but Smite 2 is a game where clearing your minion wave is almost always a priority--at least in the first few minutes of the game. Unless you (or someone supporting you) can be absolutely certain you can survive the damage from the minions and clean up a kill, it's best to be happy that you've forced an opponent to back off.It's better you both live to fight another day than it is for you to potentially get too far out of position and die. Later in the match when minions become an afterthought, though, it's probably best to pounce on those pesky low-HP foes. It's not all about killsOn the subject of kills, keep in mind they're not everything. Yes, getting more kills helps you level faster and opens opportunities for taking towers or rotating elsewhere--but the same can be said for the enemy if they win the fight. MOBAs are a game of strategy, so it's important to know when it's safe and worthwhile to chase down a possible kill and when it's best not to put yourself in risky situations where you might die instead.If you spend all your time running down your opponents and dying unnecessarily, your team is forced to compensate by supporting your lane while you wait to respawn. This stretches everyone too thin, and winning the match becomes less and less likely. You can hoard buffs (but you usually shouldn't)The original Smite only allowed you have one buff at a time, but Smite 2 allows you to carry multiple buffs at any given time. This means you could realistically stack up various buffs to give yourself an edge in your lane--but it's probably best that you don't. Each buff tends to be for a god in a specific lane or role--especially early in the match--so don't stack buffs unless you're positive no one else needs them. The grass is for playing peek-a-booSmite 2 has introduced grass around the maps, which allows you to hide from enemy players. You can be seen if an enemy gets too close to you in the grass, or if you cast an ability while hiding, but it's otherwise a great way to wait for players to get out of position before suddenly appearing to strike them down. It's not a great idea to just sit around in the grass all game, of course, but when used strategically, you can make some killer plays from these hiding spots. Wards save livesWhile we're on the subject of hiding and surprising your enemies, keep in mind they'll be doing the same thing. This is why wards are so important. These can be purchased in the store as single-use items to be placed somewhere on the map. These provide recon within a set area and will alert you any time an enemy passes through.This makes them immensely helpful when placed in the jungle of the Conquest map, giving you a heads up when enemy junglers may be rotating over your way. It may be a little frustrating to spend your gold on a consumable item like this, but you'll be thankful when it saves your life.

It's a new year and time for the most recent crop of horror movies that are going to creep out fans and get them talking. The new Blumhouse film Wolf Man arrives in theaters on Friday, January 17th, 2025, and its box office numbers are already looking strong.

(just hoping for a chat, working alone looking to the wall for too long this week!)I'm building my own game engine (for personal development/studding) in C/C++, the Character class (the player for simplicity sake) is working great and I can make unitary actions to different states with little effort now.But when it comes to chaining actions, I'm stuck at this bit for a wile and cant decide on a good way to attack the problem.I'm thinking about each state having it's own

Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or download hereHowdy, folks! This week, the crew returns for the first show of 2025! Topics of discussion include Marvel Rivals and retro classics Final Fantasy 5 and the Contra series. Plus, Brett joins to close out the PlayStation 30th Anniversary discussion by sharing his favorite PS5 and PS VR2 games.Stuff We Talked AboutNext weeks release highlights:Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles | PS5, PS4Synduality Echo of Ada | PS5Dynasty Warriors: Origins hands-on detailsArken Age pre-launch detailsPlatformers of PlayStation PlusMarvel RivalsBrett highlights his top games on PS5 and PS VR2The CastView and download imageDownload the imagecloseCloseDownload this imageSid Shuman Senior Director of Content Communications, SIEView and download imageDownload the imagecloseCloseDownload this imageTim Turi Content Communications Manager, SIEView and download imageDownload the imagecloseCloseDownload this imageBrett Elston Manager, Content Communications, SIEThanks to Dormiln for our rad theme song and show music.[Editors note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]