Want to send something to space? Get in line. The demand for rides off Earth is skyrocketing, pushing even the busiest spaceports, like Floridas Kennedy Space Center, to their operational limits. Orbital launches worldwide have more than doubled over the past four years, from about 100 to 250 annually. That number is projected to spiral further up this decade, fueled by an epic growth spurt in the commercial space sector.To relieve the congestion, some mission planners are looking to the ocean as the next big gateway to space. China has sent more than a dozen space missions from ocean platforms since 2019, most recently in January 2025. Italys space program has announced it will reopen its ocean launchpad off the coast of Kenya, while German space insiders envision an offshore spaceport in the North Sea. In the US, the idea of sea launches has attracted attention from heavyweights like SpaceX and inspired a new startup called the Spaceport Company.Launching rockets from offshore platforms like barges or oil rigs has a number of advantages. For one thing, it dramatically expands potential locations to lift off from, especially along the equator (this provides rockets with a natural speed boost because, thanks to geometry, the equator moves faster than the poles). At the same time, it is potentially safer and more environmentally friendly, placing launches further from population centers and delicate ecosystems.Ocean launches have taken place on and off for decades. But the renewed interest in offshore spaceports raises a host of questions about the unique regulatory, geopolitical, and environmental trade-offs of sea-based launches. It also offers a glimpse of new technologies and industries, enabled by a potentially limitless launch capacity, that could profoundly reshape our lives.The best way to build a future where we have dozens, hundreds, or maybe thousands of spaceports is to build them at sea, says Tom Marotta, CEO and founder of the Spaceport Company, which is working to establish offshore launch hubs. Its very hard to find a thousand acres on the coast over and over again to build spaceports. Its very easy to build the same ship over and over again.The saga of sea launchesThe vision of oceanic spaceports is almost as old as rocketry itself. The first large rocket to take off from sea was a V2, the notorious missile developed by Germany in World War II and subsequently adopted by the United States, which the US Navy launched from the aircraft carrier USS Midway south of Bermuda on September 6, 1947.As it turned out, the inaugural flight was a bit of a mixed bag. Neal Casey, an 18-year-old technician stationed on the Midway, later recalled how the missile tilted dangerously starboard and headed toward the vessels own command center, known as the island.I had no problem tracking the rocket, said Casey, according to the USS Midway Museum. It almost hit the island.Despite this brush with disaster, the test was considered a success because it proved that launching rockets from sea platforms was technically feasible. That revelation enabled the proliferation of missile-armed vessels, like warships or submarines, that have prowled the sea ever since.Of course, missiles are designed to hit targets on Earth, not venture into space. But in the early 1960s Robert Truax, an American rocketry engineer, began pursuing a spectacular vision: the Sea Dragon.Standing nearly 500 feet tall, it would have been by far the biggest rocket in history, towering over the Apollo Programs Saturn V or SpaceXs Starship. No launchpad on land could withstand the force of its liftoff. A rocket this gargantuan could only be launched from a submerged position beneath the sea, rising out of the water like a breaching whale and leaving whirlpools swirling in its wake.Truax proposed this incredible idea in 1963 while he was working at the rocket and missile manufacturer Aerojet General. He was even able to test a few small prototypes, including the Sea Bee, which was fired from under the waters of San Francisco Bay. Though the Sea Dragon never became a reality, the concept captured the imaginations of space dreamers for decades; most recently, it was depicted bursting from the ocean in the Apple+ series For All Mankind.Truax was eerily prescient about many future trends in spaceflight, and indeed, various governments and private entities have developed offshore launch platforms to take advantage of the flexibility offered by the seas.The most wanted launching sites are close to the equator, says Gerasimos Rodotheatos, an assistant professor of international law and security at the American University in the Emirates who has researched sea-based launches. Many countries there are hard to deal with because of political instability or because they dont have the infrastructure. But if youre using a platform or a vessel, its easier to select your location.Another major advantage is safety. Youre far away from cities, Rodotheatos adds. Youre far away from land. Youre minimizing the risk of any accidents or any failures.For these reasons, rockets have intermittently lifted off from sea for nearly 60 years, beginning with Italys Luigi Broglio Malindi Space Center, a retrofitted oil rig off the coast of Kenya that launched orbital missions from the 1960s to the 1980s and may soon reopen after a nearly 40-year hiatus.Sea Launch, a multinational company founded in 1995, launched dozens of missions into orbit from the LP Odyssey, another repurposed drilling rig. The company might still be in business if Russia had not annexed Crimea in 2014, a move that prompted the venturea partnership between Russia, Ukraine, the United States, and Norwayto shutter later the same year.The saga of Sea Launch proved that offshore launches could be commercially profitable, but it also exposed gray areas in international marine and space law. For instance, while Sea Launch was a venture between four spacefaring nations, it registered its rig and vessels to Liberia, which has been interpreted as a flag of convenience. Such strategies could present the opportunity for companies or other entities to evade certain labor laws, tax obligations, and environmental regulations.Some states are very strict on the nationality and transparency of ownership, and other states less strict, says Alla Pozdnakova, a professor of law at the University of Oslos Scandinavian Institute for Maritime Law, who has researched sea-based launches. For now, it seems that it hasnt been really that problematic because the United States, for example, would require that if youre a US citizen or a US company, then you have to apply for a license from the US space authorities, regardless of where you want to launch.But if the US imposes strict oversight on launches, other nations might apply different standards to licensing agreements with launch providers. I can imagine that some unauthorized projects may become possible simply because they are on the seas and there is no real authorityby contrast to land-based space launchesto supervise those kinds of launches, Pozdnakova says.Boeing, which managed Sea Launch, was fined $10 million in 1998 by the US Department of State for allegedly sharing information about American defense technology with its foreign partners in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. In addition to the legal and national security risks posed by Sea Launch, Pacific Island nations raised concerns to the United Nations in 1999 that the companys offshore rockets could damage the environment by, for instance, creating oil slicks from unused fuel in discarded boosters.The complex issues that offshore spaceports raise for international law, environmental protection, and launch access have never been more relevant. SpaceX, which is famous for pioneering offshore rocket landings, has also flirted with sea-based launches. The company went so far as to purchase two oil rigs for $3.5 million apiece in 2020. They were renamed Deimos and Phobos after the two moons of Mars.SpaceX is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, moon & hypersonic travel around Earth, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on Twitter (when it was still Twitter) in 2020.SpaceX eventually abandoned this project and sold the rigs, though Gwynne Shotwell, its president and COO, said in 2023 that sea-based launches were likely to be part of the companys future. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.The company might need to move launch operations offshore if it wants to carry through on its aspirations for Starship, which is the most powerful rocket ever developed and the keystone of SpaceXs future plans to send humans to the moon and Mars. We have designed Starship to be as much like aircraft operations as we possibly can get it, she said at a conference in 2023, according to SpaceNews. We want to talk about dozens of launches a day, if not hundreds of launches a day.The environmental impact of launching hundreds of rockets a day, either from sea or land, is not known. While offshore launches pose fewer direct risks to local environments than land launches, very little is understood about the risks that rocket emissions and chemical pollution pose to the climate and human health at current levels, much less exponentially higher ones.Its hard to deny that launching or emitting anything further from people is usually better, says Sebastian Eastham, the senior lecturer in sustainable aviation at Imperial College London, who studies aerospace emissions and their environmental impacts. But when we say that were concerned about the emissions, it is incomplete to say that were not launching near people, so people arent going to be affected.I really hope that we find out that the impacts are small, he continues. But because you have this very rapid growth in launch emissions, you cant sample now and say that this is representative of what its going to be like in five years. Were nowhere near a steady state.In other words, rocket launches have been largely overlooked as a source of greenhouse-gas emissions and air pollution, simply because they have been too rare to be considered a major contributor. As space missions ramp up around the world, experts must aim to constrain the impact on climate change, the ozone layer, and pollution from spent parts that burn up in the atmosphere.The McDonalds of spaceportsOffshore launches are almost routine in China, where companies like Galactic Energy, Orienspace, and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation have expanded orbital liftoffs from barges. (None of these companies responded to a request for comment.)But at the moment, sea-based launches are limited to small rockets that can deploy payloads of a few thousand pounds to orbit. No ocean spaceport is currently equipped to handle the worlds most powerful rockets, like SpaceXs Falcon Heavy, which can deliver more than 140,000 pounds to orbit. There are also currently no public plans to invest in sea-based infrastructure for heavy-lift rockets, but that may change if smaller offshore spaceports prove to be reliable and affordable options.All the activities now are based on off-the-shelf technologies, Rodotheatos says, meaning facilities like oil rigs or barges. If one company makes an investment to design and implement a floating platform from zero, specifically fitted for that purpose, I expect to see a big change.Tom Marotta founded the Spaceport Company in 2022 with a similar long-term vision in mind. After working both for the space company Astra and on the regulatory side at the Federal Aviation Administrations Office of Commercial Space Transportation, Marotta observed what he calls a spaceport bottleneck that had to be addressed to keep pace with the demands of the commercial space sector.To that end, the Spaceport Company procured a former US Navy training vessel, named the Once in a Lifetime after the Talking Heads song, as its first launchpad. The company is currently serving customers for suborbital space missions and missile tests, but its broader vision is to establish a network of scalable orbital spaceports across the ocean.We want to be the McDonalds of spaceports, and build a model that can be repeated and copied-and-pasted all around the world, Marotta says.Marotta sees boundless applications for such a network. It could expand launch capacity without threatening coastal ecosystems or provoking pushback from local communities. It could serve as a reliable backup option for busy spaceports on land. It could give nations that normally dont have access to spaceflight an affordable option for their own launch services.Many nations want their own sovereign orbital launch capability, but they dont want to spend a billion dollars to build a launchpad that might only be used once or twice, Marotta says. We see an opportunity there to basically give them a launchpad on demand.Marotta also has another dream in mind: ocean platforms could help to enable point-to-point rocket travel, capable of transporting cargo and passengers anywhere on Earth in under 90 minutes.Youre going to need dedicated and exclusive use of rockets off the coasts of major cities to serve that point-to-point rocket travel concept, Marotta says. This is science fiction right now, but I would not be surprised if in the next five years we see [organizations], particularly the military, experimenting with point-to-point rocket cargo.Offshore launches currently represent a small tile in the global space mosaic, but they could dramatically change our lives in the coming decades. What that future might look like, with all of its risks and benefits, depends on the choices that companies, governments, and the public make right now.Becky Ferreira is a science reporter based in Ithaca, NY. She writes the weekly Abstract column for 404 Media and is the author of the upcoming book First Contact, about the search for alien life.

Xsolla, a game commerce company, has partnered with AppsFlyer to provide analytics for web shops as alternative stores for game devs.Read More

In 2023, when I realized small phones were truly dead, I decided I couldnt wait for the Small Android Phone Project to revive them. That project, from the founder of the Pebble smartwatch, just wasnt far enough along. Unfortunately, things arent any better in 2025 for small phone lovers now that founder Eric Migicovsky is bringing back the Pebble smartwatch (yay!), he tells me hes only tangentially working on small phones, and that theyre no longer the top priority.I really do hope someone else makes one so I dont have to , writes Migicovsky.RelatedIm now one of a contingent of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip owners who is seriously considering trading in my Flip for a Galaxy S25. Its not small, but its the closest thing weve got and my Flips battery doesnt remotely last until bedtime anymore. I ask Migicovsky whether I can safely upgrade without feeling I might miss out on a possible Small Android Phone by, say, mid-2026. He says I can, without commenting on my proposed timeline.At one point the phone project was targeting a 2024 release date and had gotten as far as creating an entire brand, Beep, to market it with, according to the portfolio of Small Android Phone Project industrial designer Alex De Stasio. Hed even dreamt up a billboard:The perfect perfect-sized smartphone. Image: Alex De StasioThe Beep phones possible design. Image: Alex De StasioIm still pretty excited for Migicovskys new project to revive the Pebble smartwatch I loved my Pebble Time Steel and even owned two of them for a bit. You shouldnt get your expectations up too high for that project, either, though: Migicovsky told the Android Faithful podcast that this will not be a watch for everyone, and expanded on that in a February 6th blog post:Please dont get your hopes up that the new watch will have X/Y/Z new feature. Its going to be a Pebble and almost exactly as you remember it, except now with open source software that can you can modify and improve yourself. More hardware details will be shared in the future.For the uninitiated, the original Pebbles were low-power devices whose best features were dead simplicity and battery life no touchscreen, no digital crown, just a few buttons to help you read notifications and run a catalog of charming basic apps. Thats fine with me as long as the buttons are good!A few other things hes confirmed about the new Pebble so far:It will be new hardware, not an existing watchIts targeting this specific chip as processor, which is marketed primarily as a Bluetooth SoC!Youll be able to load your own firmware if you want to develop your own featuresHe told Android Faithful there are two software features hed like to add. His big thing is to someday have a chat client, one that could address a limitation of early Pebbles by letting you see a whole conversation history on your wrist. The other is a basic AI handoff: Pebble has a microphone, it has a screen why cant you talk to ChatGPT?Migicovsky should be in Shenzhen this week to meet with suppliers and factories for the new smartwatch.See More:

Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated proficiency in solving complex problems across mathematics, scientific research, and software engineering. Chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting is pivotal in guiding models through intermediate reasoning steps before reaching conclusions. Reinforcement learning (RL) is another essential component that enables structured reasoning, allowing models to recognize and correct errors efficiently. Despite these advancements, the challenge remains in extending CoT lengths while maintaining accuracy, particularly in specialized domains where structured reasoning is critical.A key issue in enhancing reasoning abilities in LLMs lies in generating long and structured chains of thought. Existing models struggle with high-complexity tasks that require iterative reasoning, such as PhD-level scientific problem-solving and competitive mathematics. Simply scaling the model size and training data does not guarantee improved CoT capabilities. Furthermore, RL-based training demands precise reward shaping, as improper reward mechanisms can result in counterproductive learning behaviors. The research aims to identify the fundamental factors influencing CoT emergence and design optimal training strategies to stabilize and improve long-chain reasoning.Previously, researchers have employed supervised fine-tuning (SFT) and reinforcement learning to enhance CoT reasoning in LLMs. SFT is commonly used to initialize models with structured reasoning examples, while RL is applied to fine-tune and extend reasoning capabilities. However, traditional RL approaches lack stability when increasing CoT length, often leading to inconsistent reasoning quality. Verifiable reward signals, such as ground-truth accuracy, are critical for preventing models from engaging in reward hacking, where the model learns to optimize for rewards without genuinely improving reasoning performance. Despite these efforts, current training methodologies lack a systematic approach to effectively scaling and stabilizing long CoTs.Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and IN.AI introduced a comprehensive framework to analyze and optimize long CoT reasoning in LLMs. Their approach focused on determining the underlying mechanics of long-chain reasoning, experimenting with various training methodologies to assess their impact. The team systematically tested SFT and RL techniques, emphasizing the importance of structured reward shaping. A novel cosine length-scaling reward with a repetition penalty was developed to encourage models to refine their reasoning strategies, such as branching and backtracking, leading to more effective problem-solving processes. Further, the researchers explored incorporating web-extracted solutions as verifiable reward signals to enhance the learning process, particularly for out-of-distribution (OOD) tasks like STEM problem-solving.The training methodology involved extensive experimentation with different base models, including Llama-3.1-8B and Qwen2.5-7B-Math, each representing general-purpose and mathematics-specialized models, respectively. The researchers used a dataset of 7,500 training sample prompts from MATH, ensuring access to verifiable ground-truth solutions. Initial training with SFT provided the foundation for long CoT development, followed by RL optimization. A rule-based verifier was employed to compare generated responses with correct answers, ensuring stability in the learning process. The team introduced a repetition penalty mechanism to refine reward shaping further, discouraging models from producing redundant reasoning paths while incentivizing efficient problem-solving. The team also analyzed data extracted from web corpora, assessing the potential of noisy but diverse supervision signals in refining CoT length scaling.The research findings revealed several critical insights into long CoT reasoning. Models trained with long CoT SFT consistently achieved superior accuracy than those initialized with short CoT SFT. On the MATH-500 benchmark, long CoT SFT models saw a significant improvement, with accuracy exceeding 70%, while short CoT SFT models stagnated below 55%. RL fine-tuning further enhanced long CoT models, providing an additional 3% absolute accuracy gain. The introduction of the cosine length-scaling reward proved effective in stabilizing reasoning trajectories, preventing excessive or unstructured CoT growth. Moreover, models incorporating filtered web-extracted solutions demonstrated improved generalization capabilities, particularly in OOD benchmarks such as AIME 2024 and TheoremQA, where accuracy gains of 15-50% were recorded. The research also confirmed that core reasoning skills, such as error validation and correction, are inherently present in base models. Still, effective RL training is necessary to reinforce these abilities efficiently.The study significantly advances understanding and optimizing long CoT reasoning in LLMs. The researchers successfully identified key training factors that enhance structured reasoning, emphasizing the importance of supervised fine-tuning, verifiable reward signals, and carefully designed reinforcement learning techniques. The findings highlight the potential for further research in refining RL methodologies, optimizing reward-shaping mechanisms, and leveraging diverse data sources to enhance model reasoning capabilities. The studys contributions offer valuable insights for the future development of AI models with robust, interpretable, and scalable reasoning abilities.Check outthePaper.All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitterand join ourTelegram ChannelandLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our75k+ ML SubReddit. NikhilNikhil is an intern consultant at Marktechpost. He is pursuing an integrated dual degree in Materials at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Nikhil is an AI/ML enthusiast who is always researching applications in fields like biomaterials and biomedical science. With a strong background in Material Science, he is exploring new advancements and creating opportunities to contribute.Nikhilhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/nikhil0980/This AI Paper Introduces MAETok: A Masked Autoencoder-Based Tokenizer for Efficient Diffusion ModelsNikhilhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/nikhil0980/Meta AI Introduces ParetoQ: A Unified Machine Learning Framework for Sub-4-Bit Quantization in Large Language ModelsNikhilhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/nikhil0980/Meet ZebraLogic: A Comprehensive AI Evaluation Framework for Assessing LLM Reasoning Performance on Logic Grid Puzzles Derived from Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs)Nikhilhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/nikhil0980/Princeton University Researchers Introduce Self-MoA and Self-MoA-Seq: Optimizing LLM Performance with Single-Model Ensembles [Recommended] Join Our Telegram Channel

The biggest draw for The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is its lead performance: Game Geralt Doug Cockle moves from one rendition of Andrzej Sapkowskis ongoing fantasy saga to another to give a gravelly, sardonic turn as the famed Butcher of Blaviken in this Netflix movie. Unfortunately, the biggest draw here is also the only draw. A follow-up to 2021's Nightmare of the Wolf, Sirens of the Deep is unimaginative and dramatically sterile. Its bland, pastel anime approach turns Geralt of Rivia into a spinning action figure well enough, at the expense of the artistic curiosity that makes Sapkowskis Witcher world such a fascinating one to get lost in.Cockle's distinct vocal delivery is a stabilizing presence in Sirens of the Deep, lending it a brooding quality that comfortably hearkens back to the heights of CDPR's Witcher RPGs. His performance has a sly richness thats regrettably absent in other adaptations. As the film around him veers into predictable fantasy cliches and compulsory hack-and-slash havoc, the once and future (?) Geralt holds steady, waiting for a smarter story that never materializes.Another bright spot is his banter with Joey Batey, once more picking up the lute of live-action Witcher breakout Jaskier. This cross-franchise pairing makes a snug fit, and when Geralt and Jaskier are free to pal around, Sirens of the Deep becomes halfway enjoyable. The actors confidence in their roles is easily the most appealing aspect of the movie, and theyre far more of a delight to listen to than the host of appalling Bri'ish accents surrounding them.And goodness, some of the cast really fail the new characters. It's especially difficult to appreciate Essi (Christina Wren) and Prince Agloval (Camrus Johnson), not only due to Wren and Johnsons unconvincing, occasionally dire acting, but also because of the passive way theyre written. From a storytelling perspective, Essi is particularly unremarkable: a passionate, nautically savvy figure from Jaskier's past who naturally captures Geralt's affection, shes more a stock love interest for our libidinous hero than a proper romantic foil. Agloval is just as one-dimensional, the sullen prince entangled in a politically charged melodrama between the kingdoms of merpeople and humans. His infatuation with the mermaid Sh'eenaz (Emily Carey) serves as a prelude to war, but if theres any passion worth risking a kingdom for between these two characters, it was left out of the script.The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep GalleryGeralt and Jaskier find themselves in the coastal realm of Bremervoord, suffering empty stomachs and, thanks to the violet-eyed Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra, in flashbacks), hurt feelings that dictate where the Witcher takes his contracts and whether he'll slay a beast to earn some coin. (He insists he has a moral code though that insistence is Sirens of the Deeps only evidence of the codes existence.) Their desperation pulls them into a conflict between Bremervoord and the merman kingdom of Ys, and despite his initial, feeble reservations, Geralt can't resist getting involved, especially when the dubious contract to cull an entire monster race comes from wealthy King Usveldt (Simon Templeman) "Codes for none, coin for all," as famished Jaskier puts it. It isn't long before Geralt's medallion begins to shimmy and shake.The plot is boilerplate, even by Witcher standards. Usveldt bids Geralt rout a school of vodnik fish-men who serve Ys plaguing pearl divers off the coast of Bremervoord, but naturally, theres more at play than a simple dispute over aquatic territory. As the movie goes on, the courtly intrigues on land and sea paint a dull picture of racist motives from a power-hungry few who'd like nothing better than to have their kingdoms go to war simply for spite (and perhaps a little profit). And war is inevitable unless Geralt, Jaskier, and Essi get to the bottom of this conspiracy, a story that unfolds like a crappy rehash of The Little Mermaid (a parallel underlined during one crummy musical sequence) and often looks like a more uninspired version of the DC Animated Movie Universes spotty Throne of Atlantis. The action is rudimentary, and Sapkowskis murky morality loses some of its nuances in lines like "Humans have a knack for seeking short-term profits and retelling the story so it wasn't their fault." As an enchanting under-the-sea adventure that also wants to be social commentary, its out of its depth. Sirens of the Deep is unimaginative and dramatically sterile.This is no reinvigoration of a franchise thats struggling to find its footing in the wake of Henry Cavills departure from its flagship series. If Sirens of the Deep is the best Netflix has to offer under such circumstances, it might be time for the streamer to reconsider its investment in the Witcher universe. Perhaps it's time to finally let Geralt sail to friendlier shores.

Over the last 62 years, Doctor Who has been a lot of different TV shows, and the Doctor has been a lot of different characters, in more ways than one. There are common strands: cleverness mixed with tomfoolery mixed with one hell of an ego, an idiosyncratic dress sense, and a tendency towards big noses and Scottish accents. But each Doctor has their very own distinct flavour, and in each Doctors era, there is one story that captures the essence of the era.In tracking down those stories, were going to avoid regeneration stories at either end of the Time Lord life cycle if possible, because this isnt about how the Doctors are introduced or summarise themselves at the end. It is about that one story that shows who a Doctor is.The First Doctor The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964)Anyone who writes Doctor Who for any length of time will eventually have the quite stupid thought What if we finally did the Doctors origin story?Andrew Cartmel thought he could do it with his great unrealised Masterplan. Moffat had a couple of goes, with both Claras visit to the Doctors childhood in Listen, and the somewhat messy, never quite adequately explained Hybrid plotline. And of course, there is the always-to-be-relitigated Timeless Child reveal under Chibnall. But the Doctors real origin story was already told in 1964.Doctor Who, starring William Hartnell, had been around for about a year. In the first episode he assumed the name The Doctor when Ian Chesterton refers to him as such and he likes the sound of it. The TARDIS gets stuck as a police box just because.However, the hero known as the Doctor is nowhere to be found. He kidnaps schoolteachers, attempts to bludgeon cavemen to death from behind, sabotages his own TARDIS so he can look around an alien planet, then riles its pacifist inhabitants into fighting a war so he can fix it again. The early Doctor Who stories are about the TARDIS crew arriving somewhere, getting into a scrape, getting out of it again and if some heroism happens along the way it is strictly a by-product.Until this story. When someone asks if the Daleks dare to meddle with the forces of creation, and the Doctor says They dare! And we must dare to stop them! it is our first glimpse of the Doctor of legend, a person who travels through space and time to willingly put themselves between monsters and people who need saving from monsters.The Second Doctor The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967)By the time of the Second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton, he was well into the swing of fighting monsters. This was the era that codified the base under siege storyline while offering a conveyor belt of monsters.Troughton also had a quality that, frankly, new Doctor Who could stand to learn from. He was a Doctor who didnt mind being underestimated. Where every other Doctor wanted to be Sherlock Holmes, he was happy to be a Columbo, using flattery and modesty to disarm the megalomaniac until he could turn the tables.While the title might lead you to believe that the Cybermen are the lead villain of this story, the truth is the real baddies are Miss Kaftan and Eric Klieg, representing the Brotherhood of Logicians. The Brotherhood of Logicians is a secret society of technocrats who believe that their great intellect entitles them to rule over the human race (make your own satirical observations in the comments). That total confidence in their own intellectual superiority makes them absolutely perfect Second Doctor fodder.The Third Doctor The Claws of Axos (1971)Choosing the definitive Third Doctor story is difficult because it is an era with so many complex moving parts. It marked a temporary shift away from TARDIS-destination-of-the-week stories to Avengers (Steed and Peel, not Marvel)-style adventures with back-up from a global paramilitary organisation with a cool-sounding acronym. It also introduced a new enemy for the Doctor in the form of the goatee-loving Master.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!The Claws of Axos brings us the full Third Doctor toy box. The Doctor is in full UNIT employee mode, doing what he does best, being incredibly cross about it while having to argue with exactly the sort of bureaucrats he normally gets to ignore. There is an alien visitation that introduces itself as friendly but has a similar motive, and of course, those aliens are allied with the Master, who seeks to use the aliens for his own agenda.The outcome of this deal is so predictable that, with hindsight, you may be forgiven for thinking it was the Masters idea in the first place: The aliens turn on him, forcing the Doctor and the Master to work together to defeat the threat (he just wants attention!).It is frankly, everything you want from a Third Doctor story in one neat little box.The Fourth Doctor Genesis of the Daleks (1975)If Doctor Who had ended with Tom Bakers tenure, it would still be considered a classic series that had a pretty good run. The show evolved and had the sort of peaks and troughs of quality that you would expect for any programme that ran for seven years.Yet if you want the quintessential Fourth Doctor story, you need only look at that Doctors fourth story. It stands as a pretty good flagbearer for Doctor Who as a whole, even though it is that rare thing: a story without the TARDIS.Genesis of the Daleks, in many ways, has the perfect Doctor Who premise. It addresses the first question everyone asks of any time traveller, let alone the most do-gooding time traveller of them all. Why dont you just kill Hitler? (In case the metaphor of screeching, purity-obsessed tin-pots whose arms are stuck in a permanent sieg heil was too subtle for you, this story puts the Daleks creators in straight-up Gestapo uniforms.)It gives Baker room to flex every muscle he has. Say what you like about Nazis, but their arrogance and self-seriousness make them a great comic foil. Then, up against Davros in his first and greatest appearance, we see the Doctor grow serious as he grasps the sheer evil he is up against. And of course, there is the famous Have I the right? speech, where the Doctor has the opportunity to wipe out his enemy once and for all, and chooses not to.The Fifth Doctor Earthshock (1982)To younger fans (and by younger here I mean, People in their 30s and 40s) the Fifth Doctor has undergone a bit of a memetic evolution. Among the Doctors of the classic series, he was the Young One. We see him being chummy with David Tennant in the Children in Need Time Crash short, and hanging out with Tegan in The Power of the Doctor, and we watch Peter Davison in The Five-ish Doctors and he seems nice. A bit grumpy. Definitely not on a par with the likes of McCoy, Ecclestone and Capaldi when you need a Doctor to go dark.Yet what you forget about Tegan is that shes the companion who left the TARDIS in Resurrection of the Daleks because it was too fricking violent. If you watch this charming collection of times the Doctor has shot someone to death with a gun, the Fifth Doctor is better represented than most especially when you consider that in context, the Fourth Doctor is being framed in most of his scenes, and the Second Doctor is carrying a couple of big torches.The show had been on the air for 20 years, and a battle was raging over whether it was going to be dark and grown-up and edgy now its audience was growing up, or be a kids show forever. And one of the definitive strikes in that battle was Earthshock, where the show killed off Adric. Sure, Adric will never rank well in our Top 10 Least Annoying Doctor Who Companions listicle, but if Star Trek: The Next Generation murdered Wesley Crusher, itd still be considered a dark move.It set the tone that would eventually lead to the All-Time-Favourites-List regular, Caves of Androzani.The Sixth Doctor The Mark of the Rani (1985)Russell T Davies is credited with bringing a few innovations to Doctor Who: changing the episodes from 25 to 45 minutes each, amping up the flirtation between the Doctor and the Master, giving the Doctor a leather jacket instead of a clown-ish period costume covered in question marks. Which is all just a long way of saying poor Colin Baker.The Mark of the Rani is a story made of two 45-minute episodes, starring Colin Baker in a brightly coloured patchwork outfit (not the leather jacket he wanted to wear). In a terribly underserved era (Baker would go on to do much better in the Big Finish audios) this feels almost like a Davies-era historical. Almost.But the heart of the story is What if the Doctor had to fight an evil Time Lord who actually wanted to take over the world, rather than just flirt with him the whole time?This episode still suffers from all the flaws of its time, including post-2005 length episodes with pre-1988 level pacing, but it gives us a glimpse only a glimpse of what Baker might have done with better material.The Seventh Doctor Battlefield (1989)Just as Peter Davison can be unfairly pigeonholed as the nice one, Sylvester McCoys Doctor has a bit of an unearned reputation for being the dark, morally complex, grown-up Doctor of the classic era. Our image of the Seventh Doctor is as much defined by the Virgin Adventures with their deep lore, and stories about drug trafficking and war crimes, as it is by the 12 stories that aired on TV.The Doctor is just as much a funny man dangling from an umbrella over a cliff in Dragonfire as he is the manipulator who intentionally destroys Aces faith in him to defeat his adversary in The Curse of Fenric.And Battlefield shows us a nice halfway house between those two Seventh Doctors. It is a Doctor with friends, as we see him joyfully reunited with the Brigadier, not to mention his old car Betty. It is a Doctor with a past, but also a future (and while spin-off media have gone there a few times, were still dying to see the TV show give us The Doctor As Merlin). A Doctor who is capable of manipulating and plotting, but whose ultimate winning move is to appeal to his enemys mercy, as he does when he tells Jean Marshs Morgaine of the true horrors nuclear weapons will unleash.It is McCoys ability to master that scope, which he managed right from his audition, that puts him among the best actors in the role.The Eighth Doctor Night of the Doctor (2013)Yes, we said no regeneration stories, but you have to admit that were in a bit of a bind with this one. Of the two TV stories Paul McGann starred in as the Doctor, it isnt much of a contest. In The Movie, nobody is sure of themselves. Everyone, McGann included, is still finding their way. The Paul McGann who appears in The Night of the Doctor has held the title for as long as anyone (tied for nine years with McCoy), but while McCoy spent the time between the show being cancelled and his swan song in the movie in other roles, or on the convention circuit, McGann spent his off-screen hiatus starring in dozens of audio plays, getting to know the character better, refining his performance, and getting to do things with the character that frankly, the TV show would never let you get away with.From Bring me knitting to saying farewell by name to each of his audio drama companions, we see McGann bring the full range a Doctor Who actor is expected to deliver, with the weight of an actor who has waited longer than anyone for his final bow.The War Doctor The Day of the Doctor (2013)It was his one episode, come on, keep up.The Ninth Doctor Boom Town (2005)This isnt a best-of list. Boom Town is probably not anyones favourite. Its probably not anyones favourite Christopher Eccleston episode. But this is where we see the Ninth Doctor at his height. Hes got his TARDIS crew, Rose and Jack and even Mickey turning up to join in. Hes watched the last Dalek die, has The One Where Everybody Lives (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances) under his belt, and is starting to seem like he might just be starting to heal from all that trauma hes carrying around. Honestly, wouldve been nice to get another season or two out of him at this point before finding what all that Bad Wolf stuff is about.But here is also where we find out who this Doctor is, and in the best possible way. Catch the villain right at the start of the episode, then make the Doctor sit down for dinner with them. This isnt a Doctor who will let you underestimate him. This isnt a Doctor who will ask if he has the right. Hes decided he does, and has done, over and over again by this point. This is a Doctor whos done terrible things and lived with them, and despite all of that still really wants to try and be the hero people think he is.The Tenth Doctor School Reunion (2006)This has been one of the hardest ones to pick, because the Tenth Doctor is always so completely The Tenth Doctor. Until David Tennant came along, on some level all Doctor actors were doing a Tom Baker impression. After Tennant, a bit of them was always doing a Tennant impression as well.So its fitting that the best showcase for Tennants Doctor introduces him to a companion of the Fourth. In this story we get the full Doctor Acting Range experience, from the Doctor cheerfully posing as a supply teacher, to the chilling delivery of I used to have so much mercy. Here we see the seeds of the Tenth Doctors ultimate arc. In The Runaway Bride, when Donna tells him I think you need someone to stop you, and in the Time Lord Victorious speech in The Waters of Mars the seeds of that journey are planted here when the Doctor is offered the chance to save everyone, if he only takes over the universe.And of course, the Tenth Doctors story is ultimately all about Rose Tyler, so seeing her realise her place as the latest in a long line, rather than the one and only, shines a big light on that relationship.The Eleventh Doctor A Good Man Goes to War (2011)Remember the Second Doctor? The Columbo in a line of Sherlock Holmeses? That man is long gone. Both the character and the TV show have been on a long journey since then, and in both the legend of who the Doctor is has grown. By this point, the Doctor barely even needs to outwit the enemy anymore. He just needs to tell them to look him up.This is where it peaks. Not at Trenzalore (a skirmish by your standards as the Great Intelligence points out), not in bringing back Gallifrey, but here. The stakes are not the planet or the universe, but the Doctors friend and her child, and the Doctor raises an army to get them back. This is the Doctor at the climax of the journey he started in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, truly believing his own hype as the Oncoming Storm.And Matt Smith, probably one of the most Doctor-ish of Doctor actors, is at his most Doctor-ish hair. Clowning and silly (Point a gun at me if it makes you feel better!), menacing (Telling the newly-crowned Colonel Runaway I want you to tell them your name.), hopping backwards and forwards through time to recruit anyone he needs, because they all owe him favours.Then he loses, and that paves the way for what comes next.The Twelfth Doctor The Wizards Apprentice/The Witchs Familiar (2015)The Doctor is back on the Dalek home planet of Skaro again, with a gun pointed right at baby Hitler (sorry, Davros). And yet, given that this two-parter is also a season premiere, it feels oddly routine as far as Nu Who Dalek episodes go. Which is why its such a good showcase of Capaldi.We see how this Doctor reacts to learning hes going to die, which to be fair, after He will knock four times and the exploding TARDIS arc from Series 5 and Trenzalore, is a pretty routine occurrence. This time rather than raging against the dying of the light, he throws a party. But thats not the reason why this is the story weve chosen to sum up Capaldis time as the Doctor.See, once again, Capaldi is one of those dark Doctors. Spends his first series wondering if hes a good person while making trolley problem decisions left and right. But this whole two-parter, this entire story, comes down to one decision. Davros tells the Doctor hes dying, and asks him to come and visit, and the Doctor agrees. Even though Davros is his worst enemy (sorry Missy). Even though Davros will probably kill him. The Doctor walks right into an obvious trap, and he does it because its the kind thing to do.However grumpy he gets, that is the thing that most defines this version of the Doctor one who has (mostly) got over his own hype, and now just wants to help.The Thirteenth Doctor Rosa (2018) Once again, we are not here to make a best-of list, but Rosa remains one of the best stories in Jodie Whittakers time in the TARDIS. It encapsulates a lot of what was best about her and Chibnalls era. It took us to a place and a time the show had not visited before, the segregation-era Deep South. It was unapologetic and unflinching in talking about social issues, and made an effort to educate about history in a way that the show perhaps hadnt done since Hartnells time.And yet, as happened a lot under Chibnall, muddled storytelling led to some pretty weird messaging, despite its noble goals. Things like the Doctor and Graham having to heroically take up seats in the whites-only part of the bus to ensure Rosa Parks would be asked to stand.Another thing you can see Chibnall doing throughout his run is trying to move the Doctor away from the grandstanding we see in A Good Man Goes to War, but again, that goal has mixed results when you combine it with the first time the character is played by a woman. It leads to a Doctor who, on more than one occasion, is willing to be a spectator when injustice happens, which just isnt the gig.The Fourteenth Doctor The GiggleOnce again weve broken our No regenerations episodes rule, but once again I think you can agree we have our reasons here. Wild Blue Yonder is an all-time great Doctor Who episode, but it doesnt get to the heart of who this version of the Doctor is as much as The Giggle. The finale of the 60th anniversary specials trilogy is almost like an exorcism. After The Star Beast showed us Russell T Davies triumphant return with exactly the sort of grounded-yet-fantastic season opener he excels at, followed by the minimalist, misanthropic and claustrophobic horror of Wild Blue Yonder, The Giggle is the embodiment of everything any fan on the internet complained about from 2005 to 2010. Camp villains doing musical numbers, completely-on-the-nose political commentary, the Doctor getting weepy about his sad backstory, an insane deus-ex-machina ending that raises more questions than it answers, Russell T Davies dances in front of his critics like Neil Patrick Harris in front of UNIT machine gun fire.This is what defines the Fourteenth Doctor the Tenth Doctor with the brakes well and truly off.The Fifteenth Doctor Space Babies (2024)Ncuti Gatwas time in the TARDIS is far from over. Maybe his incarnation of the Doctor will see a transformation as dramatic as Capaldis between Deep Breath and Twice Upon a Time. But his first full, non-Christmas special episode in the role provides a pretty strong mission statement. It puts the Doctor exactly where the Doctor most likes to be between some children and a monster. Then he does the thing the Doctor is best at finding the humanity in that monster.This episode shows us a Doctor who is more open than any of his predecessors, telling Ruby that his people are GONE! right from the start, but also adding that he is so glad to be alive. But what clinches it, what really shows us who this Doctor is, who the Doctor is, is the line Nobody grows up wrong.Thats Doctor Who, right there.

Feb 11, 2025The Hacker NewsSoftware Security / Threat IntelligenceImagine you're considering a new car for your family. Before making a purchase, you evaluate its safety ratings, fuel efficiency, and reliability. You might even take it for a test drive to ensure it meets your needs. The same approach should be applied to software and hardware products before integrating them into an organization's environment. Just as you wouldn't buy a car without knowing its safety features, you shouldn't deploy software without understanding the risks it introduces.The Rising Threat of Supply Chain AttacksCybercriminals have recognized that instead of attacking an organization head-on, they can infiltrate through the software supply chainlike slipping counterfeit parts into an assembly line. According to the 2024 Sonatype State of the Software Supply Chain report, attackers are infiltrating open-source ecosystems at an alarming rate, with over 512,847 malicious packages detected last year alonea 156% increase from the previous year. Traditional security tools and processes often miss these threats, leaving organizations unprepared.One major example in 2024 was a year-long supply chain attack uncovered in the Python Package Index (PyPI). Attackers uploaded malicious packages disguised as legitimate AI chatbot tools, hoping to trick developers into integrating them into their projects. These packages contained harmful code designed to steal sensitive data and execute remote commands on infected systems. Because PyPI is widely used across various industries, this attack had the potential to compromise thousands of applications before security researchers at Kaspersky detected and reported the malicious activity. This incident highlights how attackers are increasingly exploiting trusted repositories to distribute malware, reinforcing the need for additional in-depth measures when evaluating software.A Hands-On Approach to Risk Assessment: Product Security TestingOrganizations need a structured and repeatable way to evaluate software and hardware risks before introducing them into their environments. This process, known as Product Security Testing (PST), is about answering key questions:What risks does this product introduce to my network?Should we use this product, or is there a safer alternative?If we use it, what mitigations should be put in place to minimize risk?PST isn't just about scanning for vulnerabilitiesit's about understanding how a product behaves in your specific environment and determining its overall risk impact. Given the vast number of third-party components used in modern IT, it's unrealistic to scrutinize every software package equally. Instead, security teams should prioritize their efforts based on business impact and attack surface exposure. High-privilege applications that frequently communicate with external services should undergo product security testing, while lower-risk applications can be assessed through automated or less resource-intensive methods. Whether done before deployment or as a retrospective analysis, a structured approach to PST ensures that organizations focus on securing the most critical assets first while maintaining overall system integrity.Learning to Think Red, Act BlueThe SANS SEC568 course is designed to build practical skills in PST. It focuses on black-box testing, a method that simulates real-world conditions where the source code isn't available. This makes it highly applicable for evaluating third-party products that organizations don't have direct control over. The course follows the principle of Think Red, Act Blueby learning offensive tactics, organizations can better defend against them.While Product Security Testing will never prevent a breach of a third party out of your control, it is necessary to allow organizations to make informed decisions about their defensive posture and response strategy. Many organizations follow a standard process of identifying a need, selecting a product, and deploying it without a deep security evaluation. This lack of scrutiny can leave them scrambling to determine the impact when a supply chain attack occurs.By incorporating PST into the decision-making process, security teams gain critical documentation, including dependency mapping, threat models, and specific mitigations tailored to the technology in use. This proactive approach reduces uncertainty, allowing for faster and more effective responses when vulnerabilities emerge. Rather than relying solely on broad industry mitigations, organizations with PST documentation can implement targeted security controls that minimize risk before a breach even happens.Who leverages Product Security Testing?Regardless of job title, having a strong foundation in product security testing leads to better security posture and preparedness within the entire organization. While the obvious fit is product security testing teams can leverage these methodologies to evaluate third-party software as well as their own in-house products - product security testing isn't limited to one specific role. This is a valuable skill set that enhances various positions within an organization. Security auditors can use PST to tailor evaluations to an organization's unique risks and compliance needs, while penetration testers can go beyond simple vulnerability scans to analyze unknown protocols and proprietary software. Application developers benefit by understanding how attackers exploit security flaws, helping them write more secure code from the start, while SOC analysts can use these skills to detect and mitigate threats introduced by new software and hardware. Even decision-makers gain insights from PST, as it helps them make informed choices about risk, security investments, and mitigation strategies. It's important to remember that it's impossible to detect, mitigate, exploit, or develop what we don't understand.Join Us in Orlando: April 13-18, 2024To gain hands-on experience in product security testing, consider attending SEC568 in Orlando from April 13-18, 2024. This training will provide the technical foundation needed to assess software and hardware security effectively. Just like taking a car for a test drive before purchasing, applying a structured approach to product security testing allows organizations to fully understand potential risks before deployment. By following a repeatable methodology, security teams can reduce risks and be better prepared for future threats.Note: This article was expertly written and contributed by Douglas McKee, the Executive Director of Threat Research at SonicWall, as well as the lead author and instructor for SANS SEC568.Found this article interesting? This article is a contributed piece from one of our valued partners. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Feb 11, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / Cyber AttackThreat actors have observed the increasingly common ClickFix technique to deliver a remote access trojan named NetSupport RAT since early January 2025.NetSupport RAT, typically propagated via bogus websites and fake browser updates, grants attackers full control over the victim's host, allowing them to monitor the device's screen in real-time, control the keyboard and mouse, upload and download files, and launch and execute malicious commands.Originally known as NetSupport Manager, it was developed as a legitimate remote IT support program, but has since been repurposed by malicious actors to target organizations and capture sensitive information, including screenshots, audio, video, and files."ClickFix is a technique used by threat actors to inject a fake CAPTCHA webpage on compromised websites, instructing users to follow certain steps to copy and execute malicious PowerShell commands on their host to download and run malware payloads," eSentire said in an analysis.In the attack chains identified by the cybersecurity company, the PowerShell command is used to download and execute the NetSupport RAT client from a remote server that hosts the malicious components in the form of PNG image files.The development comes as the ClickFix approach is also being used to propagate an updated version of the Lumma Stealer malware that uses the ChaCha20 cipher for decrypting a configuration file containing the list of command-and-control (C2) servers."These changes provide insight into the evasive tactics employed by the developer(s) who are actively working to circumvent current extraction and analysis tools," eSentire said.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

About This RoleBaymard Institute conducts large-scale UX research studies, sharing our findings through a bespoke B2B SaaS platform (see baymard.com/research) that serves 17,500+ brands, agencies, researchers, and UX designers across 80+ countriesincluding 71% of Fortune 500 e-commerce companies. Were fully distributed, with ~50 team members spanning America and Europe, all committed to advancing e-commerce UX.As Baymards Product Marketing Manager, youll lead go-to-market plans for new research features and product launchesensuring our positioning and messaging resonate with the right audiences. By crafting compelling product narratives, developing targeted promotional strategies, and championing a consistent brand voice, youll help drive awareness, adoption, and ongoing engagement. Alongside Sales, Product, and Research teams, youll also shape sales enablement resources, contribute to educational content, and guide product improvements that stem from user feedback.While analytics and user insights will inform many of your decisions, this position emphasizes creative storytelling and value-driven marketing just as much. Youll blend qualitative and quantitative inputs to refine buyer personas, position Baymards offerings against competitor products, and ensure that customers fully understand how our research translates into tangible performance benefits.About YouYou excel at translating complex insights into accessible, engaging product narratives. Whether its drafting key messaging, planning a feature launch, or collaborating with content teams, you focus on highlighting real-world value for customers.Youre a natural collaborator who enjoys partnering across disciplines whether working with the Product team to influence the roadmap, providing Sales with meaningful collateral, or conveying user needs back to Research. At your core, you believe that user-centricity is key to successful marketing, and youre adept at balancing both data-driven and creative perspectives.You also possess an experimentation mindset, viewing each campaign or launch as an opportunity to learn and iterate. Youre comfortable adapting your strategies based on qualitative feedback, A/B testing results, or broader industry shifts, all to ensure Baymard remains the go-to authority in UX research.Qualifications4+ years of experience in product marketing (preferably freemium B2B SaaS)Exceptional communication skills, with a track record of producing compelling customer-facing messagingAbility to blend qualitative and quantitative findings into clear, actionable marketing strategiesProven collaboration with Sales, Product, and Customer Success teams to align initiatives and drive adoptionFamiliarity with relevant marketing tools (e.g., Google Analytics, HubSpot) for tracking performance and user behaviorNice-To-HavesExperience marketing to e-commerce or UX research audiencesBackground in product-led growth, lifecycle marketing, or in-app guidancePrevious work with refining buyer personas or ICP definitions for niche B2B segmentsDetailsLocation: This is a remote, full-time position from either America or Europe. (US West Coast: you will have to be available from 6 AM Pacific Time since the product and marketing team is mostly in Europe and we need 2 hours of daily overlap.)Salary: In accordance with qualifications.Start Date: As soon as possible.Language: Fully proficient in written and spoken English.Travel: Limited; expect only 0-2 weeks of travel each year.Company: Learn more about Baymards work culture and values here.How to ApplyA cover letter (1-2 pages; PDF) describing how you fit the role and qualifications. (Required.)A resume (PDF) or a link to your LinkedIn profile. (Required.)Send the above to [emailprotected].(All applications and materials are treated confidentially.)Deadline is March 10th, 2025 (end of day).Sincerely,Joseph Waddington, Marketing Lead at Baymard InstituteApply NowLet's start your dream job Apply now

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first,sign up here. No tech leader before has played the role in a new presidential administration that Elon Musk is playing now. Under his leadership, DOGE has entered offices in a half-dozen agencies and counting, begun building AI models for government data, accessed various payment systems, had its access to the Treasury halted by a federal judge, and sparked lawsuits questioning the legality of the groups activities. The stated goal of DOGEs actions, per a statement from a White House spokesperson to the New York Times on Thursday, is slashing waste, fraud, and abuse. As I point out in my story published Friday, these three terms mean very different things in the world of federal budgets, from errors the government makes when spending money to nebulous spending thats legal and approved but disliked by someone in power. Many of the new administrations loudest and most sweeping actionslike Musks promise to end the entirety of USAIDs varied activities or Trumps severe cuts to scientific funding from the National Institutes of Healthmight be said to target the latter category. If DOGE feeds government data to large language models, it might easily find spending associated with DEI or other initiatives the administration considers wasteful as it pushes for $2 trillion in cuts, nearly a third of the federal budget. But the fact that DOGE aides are reportedly working in the offices of Medicaid and even Medicarewhere budget cuts have been politically untenable for decadessuggests the task force is also driven by evidence published by the Government Accountability Office. The GAOs reports also give a clue into what DOGE might be hoping AI can accomplish. Heres what the reports reveal: Six federal programs account for 85% of what the GAO calls improper payments by the government, or about $200 billion per year, and Medicare and Medicaid top the list. These make up small fractions of overall spending but nearly 14% of the federal deficit. Estimates of fraud, in which courts found that someone willfully misrepresented something for financial benefit, run between $233 billion and $521 billion annually. So where is fraud happening, and could AI models fix it, as DOGE staffers hope? By dollar value [of enforcement], most health-care fraud is committed by pharmaceutical companies, he says. Often those companies promote drugs for uses that are not approved, called off-label promotion, which is deemed fraud when Medicare or Medicaid pay the bill. Other types of fraud include upcoding, where a provider sends a bill for a more expensive service than was given, and medical-necessity fraud, where patients receive services that they're not qualified for or didnt need. Theres also substandard care, where companies take money but dont provide adequate services. The way the government currently handles fraud is referred to as pay and chase. Questionable payments occur, and then people try to track it down after the fact. The more effective way, as advocated by Leder-Luis and others, is to look for patterns and stop fraudulent payments before they occur. This is where AI comes in. The idea is to use predictive models to find providers that show the marks of questionable payment. You want to look for providers who make a lot more money than everyone else, or providers who bill a specialty code that nobody else bills, Leder-Luis says, naming just two of many anomalies the models might look for. In a 2024 study by Leder-Luis and colleagues, machine-learning models achieved an eightfold improvement over random selection in identifying suspicious hospitals. The government does use some algorithms to do this already, but theyre vastly underutilized and miss clear-cut fraud cases, Leder-Luis says. Switching to a preventive model requires more than just a technological shift. Health-care fraud, like other fraud, is investigated by law enforcement under the current pay and chase paradigm. A lot of the types of things that Im suggesting require you to think more like a data scientist than like a cop, Leder-Luis says. One caveat is procedural. Building AI models, testing them, and deploying them safely in different government agencies is a massive feat, made even more complex by the sensitive nature of health data. Critics of Musk, like the tech and democracy group Tech Policy Press, argue that his zeal for government AI discards established procedures and is based on a false idea that the goal of bureaucracy is merely what it produces (services, information, governance) and can be isolated from the process through which democracy achieves those ends: debate, deliberation, and consensus. Jennifer Pahlka, who served as US deputy chief technology officer under President Barack Obama, argued in a recent op-ed in the New York Times that ineffective procedures have held the US government back from adopting useful tech. Still, she warns, abandoning nearly all procedure would be an overcorrection. Democrats goal must be a muscular, lean, effective administrative state that works for Americans, she wrote. Mr. Musks recklessness will not get us there, but neither will the excessive caution and addiction to procedure that Democrats exhibited under President Joe Bidens leadership. The other caveat is this: Unless DOGE articulates where and how it's focusing its efforts, our insight into its intentions is limited. How much is Musk identifying evidence-based opportunities to reduce fraud, versus just slashing what he considers woke spending in an effort to drastically reduce the size of the government? Its not clear DOGE makes a distinction. Now read the rest of The Algorithm Deeper Learning Meta has an AI for brain typing, but its stuck in the lab Researchers working for Meta have managed to analyze peoples brains as they type and determine what keys they are pressing, just from their thoughts. The system can determine what letter a typist has pressed as much as 80% of the time. The catch is that it can only be done in a lab. Why it matters: Though brain scanning with implants like Neuralink has come a long way, this approach from Meta is different. The company says it is oriented toward basic research into the nature of intelligence, part of a broader effort to uncover how the brain structures language. Read more from Antonio Regalado. Bites and Bytes An AI chatbot told a user how to kill himselfbut the company doesnt want to censor it While Nomi's chatbot is not the first to suggest suicide, researchers and critics say that its explicit instructionsand the companys responseare striking. Taken together with a separate casein which the parents of a teen who died by suicide filed a lawsuit against Character.AI, the maker of a chatbot they say played a key role in their sons deathits clear we are just beginning to see whether an AI company is held legally responsible when its models output something unsafe. (MIT Technology Review) I let OpenAIs new agent manage my life. It spent $31 on a dozen eggs. Operator, the new AI that can reach into the real world, wants to act like your personal assistant. This fun review shows what its good and bad atand how it can go rogue. (The Washington Post) Four Chinese AI startups to watch beyond DeepSeek DeepSeek is far from the only game in town. These companies are all in a position to compete both within China and beyond. (MIT Technology Review) Metas alleged torrenting and seeding of pirated books complicates copyright case Newly unsealed emails allegedly provide the most damning evidence yet against Meta in a copyright case raised by authors alleging that it illegally trained its AI models on pirated books. In one particularly telling email, an engineer told a colleague, Torrenting from a corporate laptop doesnt feel right. (Ars Technica) Whats next for smart glassesSmart glasses are on the verge of becomingwhisper itcool. Thats because, thanks to various technological advancements, theyre becoming useful, and theyre only set to become more so. Heres whats coming in 2025 and beyond. (MIT Technology Review)