Worker with logs in a wood recycling plant.gettyThe U.S Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $100,000 in small business innovation grants to encourage 24 companies to develop their ideas, such as repurposing waste, into green products.The $2.4 million in total grants were awarded Jan. 13 from EPAs Small Business Innovation Research program in a two-stage process to develop the first proof-of-concept phase to deploy their technology within six months. Upon successful completion of the initial stage, the companies can apply for up to $400,000 in Phase II grants to commercialize their technology."Congratulations to these small businesses for their dedication to driving innovation and tackling todays environmental challenges," said Maureen Gwinn, EPA acting Assistant administrator of the Office of Research and Development, stated in announcing the grants. "Their groundbreaking ideas not only address critical needs but also pave the way for a healthier planet and a stronger, more sustainable economy."The companies are located in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.The funding is meant to spur small business products to the marketplace for innovative environmental technologies in:Air quality and climate,Clean and safe water,Homeland security,Land revitalization,Risk assessment,Safer chemicals,Sustainable materials management/circular economy.The companies also have the ability to receive $100,000 as a commercialization incentive from the EPA in the second phase of the grant program if they obtain a third-party investment. The SBIR was created to help fund and commercialize innovative green technologies to protect the environment.MORE FOR YOUOne company awarded the seed funding was Pacific Reclaimed Lumber & Supply of Sebastopol, Calif. will design a web-based platform to increase purchases of reclaimed lumber and building materials.The U.S. reclaimed lumber industry is poised to become an $11 billion industry by 2030, but could strive for a more ambitious goal with increased sales efficiency. The construction industry currently disposes of over 27 million tons of wood waste annually, much of which could be salvaged through deconstruction. Reclaimed lumber offers significant environmental benefits, reducing climate emissions by up to double compared to disposal, and sequestering embodied carbon for 50-100 years when reused. However, for the reclaimed lumber industry to meaningfully reduce national waste, it must scale up operations and sales. A key step will be making reclaimed lumber inventories more accessible online, which is currently a challenge, stated the grant proposal.Relief-cast terracotta tiles in a salvage yard. Getty ImagesA Florida flooring and construction company called Nativo Inc. of Pompano Beach will use the grant to apply a new technology to remove installed ceramic tiles without damaging them through vibration technology. The innovative method would enable ceramic tiles to be reused or salvaged from floors.Boulder, Colo.-based PAGE Technologies Inc. intends to develop chemical sensors that can be deployed directly into the environment for real-time measurement for water monitoring.. The companys development of low-cost, handheld printable sensors for water quality monitoring will deliver an innovative, new tool for safeguarding water quality and public health, stated an EPA spokesperson in a statement about the grant.Fabric rolls inside a sustainable workshop.gettyIn Hull, Georgia, EcoaTEX LLC plans use the EPA grantCommercial potential for this technology is vast, particularly within the textile industry, where there is an increasing demand for sustainable materials. By converting agricultural waste into valuable fibers, EcoaTEX not only offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional fibers but also supports local economies by providing farmers with a sustainable outlet for their waste. This approach not only helps farmers economically but also prevents the environmental damage associated with traditional waste disposal methods, according to the grant proposal.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 13: A general view is seen of the WBC title belt (Photo by Steve ... [+] Marcus/Getty Images)Getty ImagesKeith One-Time Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs; 1 No Contest) is making his return to the boxing ring after a three-year layoff. The comeback fight is set for March 12, per Ring Magazine, against Brock Jarvis (22-1, 20 KOs) in Sydney, Australia.Thurman, 36, is scheduled to meet the media on Wednesday to announce the fight as well as the co-main event, which is reported to feature middleweight Michael Zerafa.LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 20: Keith Thurman stands in the ring after losing a WBA welterweight title ... [+] fight to Manny Pacquiao at MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 20, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao won the fight by split decision. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)Getty ImagesThurmans last fight was in February 2022, when he scored a unanimous decision win over current WBA champion Mario Barrios. Thurman was scheduled to fight Tim Tszyu in March 2024, but he pulled out two weeks before the event.Tszyu defended his WBO 154-pound title against Sebastian Fundora instead, and Fundora pulled off the split-decision upset to become world champion. Because of Thurmans inactivity, hell need to shake off some rust, and it appears his team believes Jarvis is the right opponent for the occasion.While Jarvis has a sparkling record, he has not faced top competition. The only noteworthy name on his rsum as an opponent is former IBF 140-pound champion Liam Parowhom Jarvis lost to by first-round KO in October 2022.MORE FOR YOUBRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 15: Liam Paro celebrates winning his fight against Brock Jarvis after ... [+] their super lightweight title bout at Southbank Plaza on October 15, 2022 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Russell Freeman/Getty Images)Getty ImagesJarvis has amazingly fought in six different weight classes over the course of his four-plus-year professional career. He won his most recent fight at middleweight over a journeyman named Adrian Rodriguez in December 2024.Despite his willingness to jump from division to division, Jarvis hasnt been especially active of late. Since the loss to Paro in 2022, Jarvis has only fought twice.In short, boxing fans shouldnt expect to see the version of Thurman that had many people placing him on their pound-for-pound list back in 2017. Jarvis is likely going to be undersized and a safe test for One-Time to help him determine how muchif anythinghe still has left in the tank.Here is a look at the upcoming major fight schedule into March 2025, per The Ring.Boxing Schedule 2025Friday, January 24, 2025The Ring, IBF, WBC and WBO Junior Featherweight Championship: (c) Naoya Inoue vs. Ye Joon KimLocation: Ariake Arena, Tokyo, JPTime: 2:00 AM (ET)Saturday, January 25, 2025European Title: Dalton Smith vs. Walid OuizzaLocation: Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, GBTime: Noon (ET)Diego Pacheco vs. Steven NelsonErnesto Mercado vs. Jose PedrazaAndy Cruz vs. Omar Salcido GamezLocation: The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, USTime: 7:00 PM (ET)Saturday, February 1, 2025Adam Azim vs. Sergey LipinetsLocation: OVO Wembley Arena, London, GBTime: 1:00 PM (ET)David Benavidez vs. David MorrellBrandon Figueroa vs. Stephen FultonAlejandro Ramos Jr. vs. Jeison RosarioIsaac Pitbull Cruz vs. Angel FierroLocation: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, USTime: 8:00 PM (ET)Sunday, February 2, 2025WBO World Heavyweight Championship: Claressa Shields vs. Danielle PerkinsLocation: Dort Federal Event Center, Flint, USTime: 8:00 PM (ET)Saturday, February 8, 2025Dereck Chisora vs. Otto WallinLocation: Co-Op Live Arena, Manchester, GBTime: 2:00 PM (ET)Friday, February 14, 2025WBO World Lightweight Championship: (c) Denys Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn DavisXander Zayas vs. Slawa SpomerVito Mielnicki vs. Connor CoyleJared Anderson vs. Marios KolliasAbdullah Mason vs. Manuel JaimesLocation: The Theater at MSG, New York City, USTime: 8:00 PM (ET)Saturday, February 15, 2025Jack Catterall vs. Arnold BarbozaLocation: Co-Op Live Arena, Manchester, GBTime: Noon (ET)Oscar Duarte vs. Regis PrograisHonda Center, Anaheim, California, USTime: 8 PM (ET)Saturday, February 22, 2025The Ring, WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF Light Heavyweight Championship: (c) Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry BivolIBF Heavyweight Championship: (c) Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph ParkerWBC Lightweight Championship (c) Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd SchofieldWBC Middleweight Championship (c) Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah SheerazVergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil MadrimovJoshua Buatsi vs. Callum SmithZhilei Zhang vs. Agit KabayelLocation: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, SATime: Noon (ET)Monday, February 24, 2025WBC World Bantamweight Championship: (c) Junto Nakatani vs. David Cuellar ContrerasLocation: Ariake Arena, Tokyo, JPTime: 2:00 AM (ET)Saturday, March 1, 2025WBA World Lightweight Championship: (c) Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr.Location: Barclays Center, New York City, USTime: 8:00 PM (ET)Friday, March 7, 2025The Ring Welterweight Championship: (c) Natasha Jonas vs. Lauren PriceLocation: Royal Albert Hall, London, GBTime: 1:00 PM (ET)Saturday, March 15, 2025WBA World Featherweight Championship: (c) Nick Ball vs. TJ DohenyLocation: M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, GBTime: 1:00 PM (ET)Sunday, March 16, 2025Callum Walsh vs. Dean SutherlandLocation: The Theater at MSG, New York City, USTime: 9:00 PM (ET)

Recently exposed manifests reveal that Intel has begun shipping test samples of its next-generation server and desktop processors. While much about these upcoming CPUs remains uncertain, their eventual launch could be a defining moment for Intel's 18A process node and its foundry business.The shipments reportedly occurred last month, but the manifests were recently uncovered by leaker x86deadandback. He suspects that two listings for 500W A0 chips correspond to Clearwater Forest processors. Another shipment from the same period is explicitly marked as a Nova Lake CPU intended for R&D, suggesting that both product lines have reached a critical development milestone.Intel unveiled Clearwater Forest last fall, positioning the upcoming Xeon server CPUs as a cornerstone in its strategy to compete with AMD and TSMC. Although TSMC has maintained the semiconductor market's pole position for years, Intel hopes to leapfrog the Taiwanese giant with its next node.Clearwater Forest and the laptop-focused Panther Lake CPUs mark the debut of Intel's 18A node. With PowerVia backside power delivery and performance improvements from the RibbonFET gate-all-around architecture, Intel hopes the node will compete against TSMC's 3nm and 2nm chips. // Related StoriesFollowing a turbulent year that forced CEO Pat Gelsinger to resign, the company is betting heavily on 18A to prove that it can remain in the foundry business. Last month, Intel confirmed that third-party customers have successfully powered on 18A samples, suggesting that development is progressing smoothly.Intel has also confirmed that Clearwater Forest will feature stacked cache technology similar to AMD's 3D V-Cache. However, unlike AMD's implementation which has significantly boosted gaming performance Intel's version will be exclusive to server processors. Both Clearwater Forest and Panther Lake are anticipated to launch later this year.Meanwhile, Nova Lake is expected to follow Panther Lake, potentially arriving in 2026. Although details about Nova Lake remain sparse, it is rumored to succeed the recently launched Arrow Lake desktop processors and may include laptop variants. Details regarding Nova Lake's semiconductor node also remain unclear, but it could use Intel's 14A or TSMC's 2nm.TSMC's 2nm N2 node, like Intel's 18A, will employ gate-all-around architecture to significantly improve performance and power efficiency. Mass production of TSMC's 2nm chips is set to begin in late 2025. Other competitors, including Samsung and Rapidus, are also working on similar technologies. However, Samsung faces challenges with low yields, while Rapidus is expected to lag behind TSMC by at least two years.

Microsoft's browser provides a fast, secure, and modern web experience. Browse the web anywhere with one seamless experience from your phone to your computer and other signed-in devices. Microsoft Edge is also a safe browser that gives you the tools to protect your privacy and security online.Is Edge browser better than Chrome?Microsoft Edge offers better privacy, resource management, and integration with Microsoft services. Chrome dominates with extensions, cross-platform compatibility, and user base. Personal preference plays a role.Can Edge block autoplay media?Yes, Microsoft Edge lets you block all the autoplay media by heading to edge://settings/content/mediaAutoplay and selecting "Block" from the drop-down menu. You can also add exceptions to websites using the "Add" tool in site permissions.Why is Edge a Microsoft browser you should actually use?Microsoft Edge is a well rounded browser based on Chromium with four key advantages:It offers solid integration with Windows and other Microsoft services, which allows for more direct communications between programs and thus a more fluent workflow.Performance and battery savings are improved upon Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers.You can access all Chrome extensions giving you a world of options to customize the browser.It adds enhanced privacy settings and track prevention measures that give you control over almost all aspects of the information you share. Microsoft promises that while using InPrivate tabs, your browsing and search data aren't saved on your device and any data collected will not be tied with your Microsoft account.FeaturesComposeWith the power of AI, you can effortlessly transform your ideas into polished drafts, saving valuable time and ensuring the right tone, wherever you write online. Compose is available only with Copilot in the Edge browser. To open Compose, click the Copilot icon in the upper-right of Edge, and then click Compose at the top of the Copilot sidepane. Simply click the Re-generate draft button on the bottom of your draft, and Compose will rewrite it. You can also type input at the bottom of the Preview box, and have Compose rewrite your draft based on that feedback. To go back to your previous draft, click the Back button.Making the web a better place for everyoneWe've adopted the Chromium open source project in the development of Microsoft Edge to create better web compatibility for our customers, and less fragmentation of the web for all web developers.Investing in open sourceWe've also started making contributions back to Chromium in areas like accessibility, touch, ARM64 and others. Our plan is to continue working in Chromium rather than creating a parallel project. We're working directly with the teams at Google, and we're looking forward to working even more with the open source community. To learn more about our contributions, see our Microsoft Edge "Explainers" on GitHub and check out our source code release.We're listening!The Microsoft Edge team wants to hear from you. In December we asked visitors to this site "if you could change one thing about the web, what would it be?". We've read your answers and have some thoughts to share. Head over to the Microsoft Edge Insider Forum to see what the community is saying about this and other topics.Microsoft Edge now uses Mica materialMica is an opaque, dynamic material that incorporates theme and desktop wallpaper to paint the background of long-lived windows such as apps and settings. You can apply Mica to your application backdrop to delight users and create visual hierarchy, aiding productivity, by increasing clarity about which window is in focus. Mica is specifically designed for app performance as it only samples the desktop wallpaper once to create its visualization. Mica is available for UWP apps that use WinUI 2 and apps that use Windows App SDK 1.1 or later, while running on Windows 11 version 22000 or later.What's NewExpanding Microsoft Edge Game Assist (Preview) to Edge StableWe announced the release of Microsoft Edge Game Assist (Preview) just before the holidays, and we've been thrilled by the response from players. Today, we're excited to share that we're expanding the preview of Game Assist to Edge Stable, making it even easier for players to try it without installing special software or changing your default browser. We're also excited to share some of the latest changes we've made based on your feedback.Game Assist (Preview) arrives in the Stable channelFor technical reasons, the initial preview of Game Assist required you to install Edge Beta 132 and set it as your default browser. With the release of Edge Stable 132, Game Assist is available without any Insider software or needing to change your default browser, making it even easier to use on your gaming PC.To opt-into Game Assist (Preview), open Edge, go toSettings and more("") >Settings, search for Game Assist in the search box, find the Game Assist option, and select Install widget. It's that easy. From now on, you can access Game Assist (Preview) at any time by opening Game Bar with Win+G.If you're already using Game Assist, you don't have to change anything. Going forward Game Assist will use Edge Stable by default, but for the latest and greatest updates you can set it to use Edge Beta, Dev, or Canary instead. To do this, simply set the channel you'd like to use as your default browser and restart Game Assist.Read more about the Game Assist here.Previous Release Notes:FixesFixed an issue that caused deployed pinned Shortcuts to the Taskbar to be duplicated.Previous Release Notes:Feature UpdatesImproved user experience for Purview copy/paste controls in Edge. Our Purview cut/copy/paste experience is now more user friendly with self-dismissing dialogs on successful paste. The existing "Paste to supported browsers" setting allows organizations to classify and protect the content that end users can paste both to specific websites and through supported browsers. You can follow the instructions in Use Endpoint data loss prevention (DLP) to create the DLP policy.New Workspaces color display: browser window outline. Workspaces each have a dedicated color, and that color is now displayed as an outline on the browser window. The previous experience applied the color across the entire tab strip in horizontal tab orientation, and across the title bar in vertical tab orientation. Note: This feature is a controlled feature rollout. If you don't see this feature, check back as we continue our rollout.Full Favorites Bar available in Workspaces. Workspaces now display a user's full set of favorites in the Favorites Bar, with a dedicated workspace folder accessible from the bar. The previous experience replaced the Favorites Bar with the workspace favorites folder. Note: This feature is a controlled feature rollout. If you don't see this feature, check back as we continue our rollout.Previous Release Notes:Feature updatesIn this article, we'll share a few important improvements that we've recently made to Microsoft Edge and to the web platform, which we're very excited about:Rewriting text with AI.Writing with digital pens directly on web pages.Building text editors that support advanced text-editing surfaces.Improving clipboard access APIs.And controlling text prediction features.Rewrite text with CopilotStarting with version 124, Microsoft Edge's AI Compose feature becomes available inline, within editable text areas of a document. Select a section of text that's displayed in an editable field and click the Copilot icon to start rewriting that section, by iterating through different AI-generated proposals.You can change the tone, format, or length settings to your needs.Being able to access Copilot directly within input fields can save time and avoid context switching. But we also realize that not all text editable surfaces on the web need this capability, so we're also introducing the writing suggestions HTML attribute to disable it. More on this attribute at the end of this article.Write in any text field with a digital penWindows Ink allows you to write with a digital pen directly into an input field on Windows touch devices. This helps you stay in your workflow by reducing the need to switch back and forth between your keyboard and digital pen.Microsoft Edge now also supports Windows Ink in places such as text area elements, input elements, elements with the content editable attribute, or the browser address bar.With Windows Ink support in Microsoft Edge, you can:Enter text by writing with a pen in, or near an input field.Delete text by scribbling over words to delete them.Add or remove spaces by drawing vertical lines in the text.Add line breaks by drawing horizontal lines.Windows Ink can save a lot of time when interacting with webpages with a digital pen, and we would love to hear what you think and how we can improve the feature. Note that you can toggle the feature in Microsoft Edge by going to edge://settings/content/HandwritingToText in a browser window.Build rich text editors that support advanced input methodsToday's text editing techniques on the web make it hard to truly decouple the text input logic from the text rendering logic. Custom text editors often must use a hidden element that uses the contenteditable attribute to capture text input events, and then render the text separately, which often comes with accessibility issues.To help with this, we shipped the EditContext API in Chromium to make it possible to create custom web text editors that support advanced input methods and avoid hacky solutions. The API is available in Microsoft Edge starting with 121, and in other Chromium-based browsers.With the EditContext API, web developers can receive text input events directly through the API surface, which removes unnecessary complexity in the code, enhances accessibility, and lets developers create their own custom view of the edited text. For example, you can use the API to render the edited text in a element if you want.The API supports text-editing UI surfaces that a user might be composing text with at the operating system level, such as IME composition dialogs. It even supports Windows Ink.Copy & paste HTMLText editing webapps often encounter clipboard issues when copying and pasting HTML formatted content. Sometimes, the format is lost, other times, the clipboard payload is much more complicated than it should.To address this, we introduced the unsanitized option to the navigator.clipboard.read() method, allowing web applications to choose when they want to receive the full HTML content, rather than a browser-sanitized version of the HTML.To learn more about how to use the option, check out the Clipboard read() method documentation on MDN.This API has already helped us improve Excel Online by addressing several top copy-paste issues affecting the app. We shipped the API in Chromium, making it available to all Chromium-based browsers, including Microsoft Edge starting with version 122.Detect supported clipboard formatsWhen writing data to the system clipboard, by using the Clipboard API, web developers have no way of knowing if the data they're trying to write is supported. This means that they must first attempt to write the data to the clipboard and then check whether the write operation failed due to an unsupported data format.This leads to more complex code and unnecessary cost in terms of CPU cycles.To fix this, we've added a new static method to the ClipboardItem interface called supports(), which makes it possible to detect supported clipboard formats before attempting to write data. For example, to test if the text/html mime-type is supported, use ClipboardItem.supports("text/html").Control the browser's text prediction featureAs mentioned before, Microsoft Edge lets you rewrite text with the inline Compose feature. Edge can also predict text as you type, with the text prediction feature. Text prediction makes writing much faster by completing sentences.However, we realize that not all text editing surfaces on the web want the text prediction or inline Compose features available at all times. So, starting with version 124, we're introducing a new HTML attribute called writingsuggestions. The new attribute can be used to turn off text prediction and inline Compose on any editor element. To learn more, check out our explainer document, and the attribute's specification.The new writingsuggestions attribute is now part of the Chromium codebase, making it available to all Chromium-based browsers. However, because Microsoft Edge is currently the only browser to have access to these text prediction and rewriting features, the attribute doesn't have any effect in other browsers.

NG-1 Launch RecapBlue Origin has just released a video recap (above) of last weeks successful maiden launch of its heavy-lift rocket, the New Glenn.Recommended VideosThe footage shows some dramatic close-ups of the 98-meter-tall rocket leaving the launchpad, with its seven BE-4 engines creating nearly 4 million pounds of thrust as it headed toward orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida last Thursday.Please enable Javascript to view this contentThe New Glenns upper stage successfully completed two burns of its BE-3U engines to carry the Blue Ring Pathfinder payload into orbit while remaining attached to the upper stage. The Blue Ring Pathfinder tested key technologies for the upcoming Blue Ring spacecraft and included a communications array, power system, and flight computer.While the main goal of reaching orbit was accomplished, an attempt to land the reusable first stage on a floating platform stationed off the coast of Florida proved unsuccessful. Blue Origins New Glenn rocket is designed to be partially reusable, with the Jeff Bezos-led company aiming to launch, land, and reuse each booster up to 25 times.Blue Origins mission was significant as it marked its entry into the orbital launch market, positioning it to compete with established players such as Elon Musks SpaceX spaceflight company.Following the New Glenns launch, Bezos posted a message on X saying: So much heart, sweat, persistence. Huge congrats and kudos team Blue!Jarrett Jones, senior vice president of New Glenn, said the mission ushered in a new era for Blue Origin and for commercial space, adding that his team is now focused on ramping up its launch cadence and rocket-building rate.The next New Glenn flight is scheduled for the spring and will build on the lessons learned from the first mission. A key objective for the upcoming mission will be to successfully land the returning first-stage booster, allowing it to be used for multiple flights.Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsWearing the bandNomads coolest glow yetWorth buying?Since my Apple Watch Series 10 arrived Ive worn it with Apples Milanese Loop band, which is easily one of the best you can buy, but when Nomad announced a new glow-in-the-dark Sport Band, I thought it was time for a change. Turns out, getting it to glow was a bit of a challenge, and while it looks as outrageous as youd expect, I found I like it for a different reason.Andy Boxall / Digital TrendsIll come to the glow in the dark bit next, but for me to even think about wearing Nomads Sport Band it had to come at least close to the Milanese Loops comfort. Im very pleased to say it does, and its an interesting alternative to Apples own Sport Band. The fluoroelastemer rubber material is surprisingly thick and therefore feels very durable. I could wear it for any sport or activity and not worry about it.Recommended VideosIts secured on your wrist using a metal pin-and-hole system, and cleverly the holes travel the entire length of both ends of the band, ensuring theres masses of air flow and plenty of adjustability. You have to tuck the end of the strap underneath the other, but Ive found it easy to get the right degree of tightness. Ive certainly never noticed it getting hot or sweaty, and while its a bit chunkier than I personally prefer to wear overnight, I doubt it would cause any discomfort. Best of all, it fulfilled my top priority for any watch band to be almost unnoticeable on my wrist during the day.1 of 3Andy Boxall / Digital Trends Andy Boxall / Digital Trends Andy Boxall / Digital Trends This is what has appealed to me more about Nomads Sport Band than the color or its glow in the dark feature. Apples own Sport Band is similarly excellent, and I also really like Casetifys Impact Band too, which matches it for comfort and is really lightweight. Where does Nomads Sport Band fit in? It appears to be tougher and feels a little more durable than both of them, and is more rugged in appearance, giving it a style of its own. All of this applies to any Nomad Sport Band which is available in a variety of colors, but Ive been wearing the one that glows in the dark, so whats it like?RelatedAndy Boxall / Digital TrendsThis is the third glow in the dark Apple Watch band Nomad has released, and its in a fantastic Icy Blue color. When its not glowing, the band takes on an almost off-white color with just a hint of cool minty blue, and its very special indeed. Its not in-your-face blue, even when glowing, and it goes with most outfits because of it. The Nomad Sport Band isnt dressy like the Milanese Loop, and is more rugged looking than Apples or Casetifys alternative, making it the most casual of these three excellent bands.The glow in the dark part is really fun, but it has taken some effort and patience for it to work for me. The band needs to see enough light to charge the photoluminescence up. Its winter in the U.K., where I live, at the moment and sunlight isnt very common. Because its cold, my wrists are almost always covered in several layers of clothing, meaning my Apple Watch gets hidden away most of the time.Andy Boxall / Digital TrendsTo give the Nomad Sport Band a fighting chance I left if on the windowsill all day, and I finally got to see it glow after night fell. It looks excellent. Not too bright, but bright enough that everyone would notice it on your wrist. Its a uniform glow, with no hotspots or dull patches, and the Icy Blue tone gives it a sci-fi, Tron-like appearance that I adore. The previous lime green version wasnt to my taste, but this one is perfect. Its not a band for someone who doesnt want attention though, as people will notice it.It took a while, and some effort, to give the Nomad Sport Band enough sunlight to charge it up, but once the Watch was back on my wrist and hidden away, the glow sadly soon faded. Admittedly its not getting a full days sunlight at the moment (not even close) and it is still very new, so the length of time it glows for may change accordingly when conditions alter. Oh, the joy of winter time in the U.K., but the glow in the dark Nomad Sport Band really managed to brighten things up.Andy Boxall / Digital TrendsAt the time of writing some versions of the limited edition Icy Blue glow in the dark Sport Band are still available on Nomads website, and given how the previous limited versions have entirely sold out, Id say if you want one itd be best to get one soon. Its well worth it too. Its more than just a fun glowing watch band due to Nomads attention to detail from ensuring the glow is consistent across the entire band, to not letting any additional treatments necessary affect the bands usual high level of comfort.Nomads not charging any more for the limited edition glow in the dark Apple Watch band either, and its yours for $60. Sadly the smaller 41mm/42mm version have sold out at Nomad, but you can still buy the 46mm/49mm version which fits bigger Apple Watch models and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Nomads glowing Icy Blue Sport Band isgoing to enter my regular rotation of Apple Watch bands, but I think Ill save it for the summer months when both it and I have a better chance of seeing some sun.Editors Recommendations

OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank unveiled AI infrastructure plans at White House.

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Donald Trump holding an executive order announcing the US withdrawal from the Paris AgreementJIM WATSON/AFP/Getty ImagesA cheer went up from the crowd in a Washington DC stadium on 20 January as US president Donald Trump signed an order on stage to withdraw the US from the Paris climate treaty. The order said the move was in the interest of putting America first. But environmental groups condemned the decision, arguing the exit of the worlds second-largest greenhouse gas emitter from the agreement will exacerbate climate damages while ceding US influence in global negotiations to its rival and clean-energy juggernaut, China.This is a matter of the US and the Trump administration shooting themselves in the foot, says David Waskow at the World Resources Institute, a global environmental nonprofit. It will sideline the US.AdvertisementThis is the second time Trump has pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement, the landmark deal agreed upon in 2015 to limit global warming to well below 2C above the pre-industrial average. Due to the rules of the United Nations treaty, the first exit in 2017 took three years to become official, and the US only left for a few months before the former US president Joe Biden had the country rejoin in 2021.This time around, the rules of the accord stipulate it will take a year for the withdrawal to become official, at which point the US will be the only major economy not party to the agreement. The other countries that have not signed on are Libya, Yemen and Iran.This is definitely not good news for international climate action, says Li Shuo at the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington DC. Unlike the first time the US withdrew, this second exit comes at a moment when the countrys appetite for ambitious emission reductions was already facing geopolitical, social and economic obstacles, he says. Last year saw record global emissions while the rise in global average temperatures surpassed 1.5C for the first time. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterThe US exit will leave the country without leverage to push for deeper emission cuts, and could create an excuse for countries around the globe to decrease their own climate commitments. Climate momentum across the world, even before Trumps election, was declining, says Li.However, the US withdrawal wont mean the bottom drops out of global climate action, says Waskow. Countries representing more than 90 per cent of global emissions are still committed to the Paris agreement. Wind and solar energy, electric vehicles, batteries and other clean technologies also now play a much larger role in the global economy than the first time the US withdrew, he says.The rest of the world is shifting to clean energy, says Manish Bapna at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a US environmental advocacy group. This will slow that transition, not stop it. But it raises the question of what role the US will play in shaping that future, he says.Looming large is China, which dominates many of the key clean energy industries, from solar panels to batteries, and is increasingly exporting its technology to the rest of the world. The US wont only be ceding influence over how those markets are shaped, but will be ceding those markets period, says Waskow. I dont think other countries will think of the US first when thinking about who to engage with.The retreat from global climate action also comes as the new Trump administration moved swiftly to reverse, abandon or impede the previous administrations policies in a flurry of executive orders made in the first day in office. Those include a ban on federal permits for wind energy, and a rollback of policies Biden put in place to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles. Others are aimed at expanding fossil fuel development on federal lands, in coastal waters and in Alaska and increasing exports of natural gas to solve what yet another order declares is a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill, he said in his inaugural address.Topics:

OpenAI spent $1.76 million on government lobbying in 2024 and $510,000 in the last three months of the year alone, according to a new disclosure filed on Tuesdaya significant jump from 2023, when the company spent just $260,000 on Capitol Hill. The company also disclosed a new in-house lobbyist, Meghan Dorn, who worked for five years for Senator Lindsey Graham and started at OpenAI in October. The filing also shows activity related to two new pieces of legislation in the final months of the year: the Houses AI Advancement and Reliability Act, which would set up a government center for AI research, and the Senates Future of Artificial Intelligence Innovation Act, which would create shared benchmark tests for AI models. OpenAI did not respond to questions about its lobbying efforts. But perhaps more important, the disclosure is a clear signal of the companys arrival as a political player, as its first year of serious lobbying ends and Republican control of Washington begins. While OpenAIs lobbying spending is still dwarfed by its peersMeta tops the list of Big Tech spenders, with more than $24 million in 2024the uptick comes as it and other AI companies have helped redraw the shape of AI policy. For the past few years, AI policy has been something like a whack-a-mole response to the risks posed by deepfakes and misinformation. But over the last year, AI companies have started to position the success of the technology as pivotal to national security and American competitiveness, arguing that the government must therefore support the industrys growth. As a result, OpenAI and others now seem poised to gain access to cheaper energy, lucrative national security contracts, and a more lax regulatory environment thats unconcerned with the minutiae of AI safety. While the big players seem more or less aligned on this grand narrative, messy divides on other issues are still threatening to break through the harmony on display at President Trumps inauguration this week. AI regulation really began in earnest after ChatGPT launched in November 2022. At that point, a lot of the conversation was about responsibility, says Liana Keesing, campaigns manager for technology reform at Issue One, a democracy nonprofit that tracks Big Techs influence. Companies were asked what theyd do about sexually abusive deepfake images and election disinformation. Sam Altman did a very good job coming in and painting himself early as a supporter of that process, Keesing says. OpenAI started its official lobbying effort around October 2023, hiring Chan Parka onetime Senate Judiciary Committee counsel and Microsoft lobbyistto lead the effort. Lawmakers, particularly then Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, were vocal about wanting to curb these particular harms; OpenAI hired Schumers former legal counsel, Reginald Babin, as a lobbyist, according to data from OpenSecrets. This past summer, the company hired the veteran political operative Chris Lehane as its head of global policy. OpenAIs previous disclosures confirm that the companys lobbyists subsequently focused much of last year on legislation like the No Fakes Act and the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act. The bills did not materialize into law. But as the year went on, the regulatory goals of AI companies began to change. One of the biggest shifts that weve seen, Keesing says, is that theyve really started to focus on energy. In September, Altman, along with leaders from Nvidia, Anthropic, and Google, visited the White House and pitched the vision that US competitiveness in AI will depend on subsidized energy infrastructure to train the best models. Altman proposed to the Biden administration the construction of multiple five-gigawatt data centers, which would each consume as much electricity as New York City. Around the same time, companies like Meta and Microsoft started to say that nuclear energy will provide the path forward for AI, announcing deals aimed at firing up new nuclear power plants. It seems likely OpenAIs policy team was already planning for this particular shift. In April, the company hired lobbyist Matthew Rimkunas, who worked for Bill Gatess sustainable energy effort Breakthrough Energies and, before that, spent 16 years working for Senator Graham; the South Carolina Republican serves on the Senate subcommittee that manages nuclear safety. This new AI energy race is inseparable from the positioning of AI as essential for national security and US competitiveness with China. OpenAI laid out its position in a blog post in October, writing, AI is a transformational technology that can be used to strengthen democratic values or to undermine them. Thats why we believe democracies should continue to take the lead in AI development. Then in December, the company went a step further and reversed its policy against working with the military, announcing it would develop AI models with the defense-tech company Anduril to help take down drones around military bases. That same month, Sam Altman said during an interview with The Free Press that the Biden administration was not that effective in shepherding AI: The things that I think should have been the administrations priorities, and I hope will be the next administrations priorities, are building out massive AI infrastructure in the US, having a supply chain in the US, things like that. That characterization glosses over the CHIPS Act, a $52 billion stimulus to the domestic chips industry that is, at least on paper, aligned with Altmans vision. (It also preceded an executive order Biden issued just last week, to lease federal land to host the type of gigawatt-scale data centers that Altman had been asking for.) Intentionally or not, Altmans posture aligned him with the growing camaraderie between President Trump and Silicon Valley. Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sundar Pichai all sat directly behind Trumps family at the inauguration on Monday, and Altman also attended. Many of them had also made sizable donations to Trumps inaugural fund, with Altman personally throwing in $1 million. Its easy to view the inauguration as evidence that these tech leaders are aligned with each other, and with other players in Trumps orbit. But there are still some key dividing lines that will be worth watching. Notably, theres the clash over H-1B visas, which allow many noncitizen AI researchers to work in the US. Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy (who is, as of this week, no longer a part of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency) have been pushing for that visa program to be expanded. This sparked backlash from some allies of the Trump administration, perhaps most loudly Steve Bannon. Another fault line is the battle between open- and closed-source AI. Google and OpenAI prevent anyone from knowing exactly whats in their most powerful models, often arguing that this keeps them from being used improperly by bad actors. Musk has sued OpenAI and Microsoft over the issue, alleging that closed-source models are antithetical to OpenAIs hybrid nonprofit structure. Meta, whose Llama model is open-source, recently sided with Musk in that lawsuit. Venture capitalist and Trump ally Marc Andreessen echoed these criticisms of OpenAI on X just hours after the inauguration. (Andreessen has also said that making AI models open-source makes overbearing regulations unnecessary.) Finally, there are the battles over bias and free speech. The vastly different approaches that social media companies have taken to moderating contentincluding Metas recent announcement that it would end its US fact-checking programraise questions about whether the way AI models are moderated will continue to splinter too. Musk has lamented what he calls the wokeness of many leading models, and Andreessen said on Tuesday that Chinese LLMs are much less censored than American LLMs (though thats not quite true, given that many Chinese AI models have government-mandated censorship in place that forbids particular topics). Altman has been more equivocal: No two people are ever going to agree that one system is perfectly unbiased, he told The Free Press. Its only the start of a new era in Washington, but the White House has been busy. It has repealed many executive orders signed by President Biden, including the landmark order on AI that imposed rules for government use of the technology (while it appears to have kept Bidens order on leasing land for more data centers). Altman is busy as well. OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank reportedly plan to spend up to $500 billion on a joint venture for new data centers; the project was announced by President Trump, with Altman standing alongside. And according to Axios, Altman will also be part of a closed-door briefing with government officials on January 30, reportedly about OpenAIs development of a powerful new AI agent.