The gravitational lensing that causes this rare phenomenon cannot be explained solely by looking at observable objectssuggesting that dark matter had a hand in its formation.

The new A.I. app generated videos of store robberies and home intrusions even bomb explosions on city streets that never happened.

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The authoritarian,surveillance-lovingUK Labour government remains deeply committed to magical thinking, slammingyet another encryption-bustingTechnical Capability Notice (TCN) on Apple, according to theFinancial Times.The difference is that this time it says it only wants to damage the privacy and security of the UKs subject population. The UK government has issued a new order to Apple to create a back door into its cloud storage service, this time targeting only British users data, the FT reported.Its not over till its overSnap back in time and youll recall the UK Home Office secretly demanded that Apple create a worldwide back door into encrypted iCloud data. Apple responded bywithdrawing its Advanced Data Protection servicefrom the UK market and opposing the request in a top-secret UK court. The original order also extended to users outside the UK, so the government also faced opposition fromprivacy and free speech advocates and the US governmentas the move trampled on the Constitutional rights of US citizens.The latter seemed to have an impact.In the end, we believed the UK had pulled back, particularly as its overreach was deeply dangerous, would invite imitation from other repressive governments, and would deeply damage data security with the potential to undermine international business transactions.The widely understood argument is that if one back door exists, every hacker, surveillance fetishist, tech-addicted stalker, criminal, gangster, or enemy nation would spend vast resources locating that door and exploiting it.Anyone, absolutely anyone, who has any insight into how digital communications works will tell you the same thing. Any weakening of encryption opens a Pandoras box of harms and will not keep you safe.UK.gov wants all your dataUnfortunately, the Keir Starmer government is big on hyperbole and short on sense, so the Home Office has returned to the fray, filing a September TCN insisting Apple build encryption back doors that only target UK subjects.It can make this egregious request because the subjects of the UK crown have no constitutional rights to protect them, (despite much-repeated hokum concerning the Magna Carta) and US politicians are unlikely to care so long as US citizens arent affected by the rule.The thing is, technically its impossible.There is no real way to create a back door or to weaken encryption of UK users data thatdoes not also impact others if nothing else, the existence of that door means it will be abused, and digital criminals are quite sufficiently well-resourced to find that weakness, exploit, and extend it. Just look at the existence of the highly profitablesurveillance-as-a-service industry for proof. In other words, the UKs demand still undermines the rights enjoyed by US users.Dangerous overreachThe other thing is that the UK plan cant work.Anyone who understands technology and values data privacy will simply add additional encryption to the files they store online, using tools likeCryptomator. That means the only people who will be affected by the rule will be ordinary folk, rather than criminals. That suggests the UK agenda is not about crime prevention, but more likely concerned with wider exploitation of the data made available. Such intentions dont appear to have been discussed in public, which hints the UK public would probably reject them if it knew.Thats the worst thing about the UKs determination to continue down this dangerous road; not only is it refusing to listen to common sense about the dangers of weakening data protection, but it is also making moves that would be unpopular with no transparency at all.For the government, the danger here is that it will be remembered for putting in place the mechanism for dangerous authoritarianism (including Digital ID) without scrutiny, transparency, or legal recourse.What Apple saidIn a statement provided toComputerworld, an Apple spokesperson said: Apple is still unable to offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP) in the United Kingdom to new users and current UK users will eventually need to disable this security feature.ADP protects iCloud data with end-to-end encryption, which means the data can only be decrypted by the user who owns it, and only on their trusted devices. We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP are not available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy. Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before. Apple remains committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future in the UK.As we have said many times before, we have never built a back door or master key to any of our products or services, and we never will.What the UK saidThe UK Home Office told theFTthat it does not comment on such matters, including, for example, confirming or denying the existence of any such notices. We will alwaystake all actions necessary at the domestic level to keep UK citizens safe, it said.Except, of course, in this case its actions will not keep UK citizens safe, leaving their data at risk and potentiallyimpacting the entire digital value chain allwithout transparency, discussion, or public mandate.You can follow me on social media! Join me onBlueSky, LinkedIn, andMastodon.

A California mansion has been raided several times to discover an illegal casino, drug activity, and no less than 15 children.Arcadia police in California have completed several raids on Pacific Place, a gated complex of office buildings and warehouses and found evidence of illegal gambling, drug activity, and 15 children, most of them toddlers. The raids took place four times across three years, with authorities finding evidence of new crimes each time, including an illegal casino with electronic gambling tables. The police seized these machines on December 9, 2021.The owner of the property and father of 22 children, 65-year-old Guojun Xuan, told police that all but two of the children were born to surrogates. The presence of so many young children made Kollin Cieadlo, a lieutenant for the Arcadia Police Department, and his detectives suspect that theyd uncovered a human trafficking ring. Xuan and his partner, 38-year-old Sylvia Zhang, told police they simply wanted to have a large family, according to LA Times. No charges have been filed against the couple.Uncovering an illegal casinoThe investigation was sparked when Arcadia police asked the FBI to look into Xuan and Zhang after learning they had transferred money to surrogates and traveled across state lines to collect the children. This led to the discovery of illicit drugs on a property belonging to Xuan in El Monte, California, which he was renting out.Further evidence led to El Monte authorities filing a civil abatement claim against Xuan and others connected to Pacific Place, laying the groundwork for a series of police raids that would uncover evidence of alleged illegal gambling and drug manufacturing. El Monte authorities claim that they found evidence at Xuans property of a well-established, sophisticated and persistent criminal enterprise, including trash bags full of drugs, guns, and counterfeit currency.While Xuan and Zhang have not been charged, local authorities are reviewing evidence to potentially charge them with child abuse, with Arcadia police asking other agencies to assist in reviewing several weeks of video.Our intention is 100% to get charges filed, Cieadlo said.At the moment, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services has taken custody of the children, with some reportedly already finding homes via foster care.Featured image: LA TimesThe post Arcadia police raided a mansion to find an illegal casino, drug activity, and 15 young children appeared first on ReadWrite.

A team at Microsoft says it used artificial intelligence to discover a zero day vulnerability in the biosecurity systems used to prevent the misuse of DNA.These screening systems are designed to stop people from purchasing genetic sequences that could be used to create deadly toxins or pathogens. But now researchers led by Microsofts chief scientist, Eric Horvitz, says they have figured out how to bypass the protections in a way previously unknown to defenders.The team described its work today in the journal Science.Horvitz and his team focused on generative AI algorithms that propose new protein shapes. These types of programs are already fueling the hunt for new drugs at well-funded startups like Generate Biomedicines and Isomorphic Labs, a spinout of Google.The problem is that such systems are potentially dual use. They can use their training sets to generate both beneficial molecules and harmful ones.Microsoft says it began a red-teaming test of AIs dual-use potential in 2023 in order to determine whether adversarial AI protein design could help bioterrorists manufacture harmful proteins.The safeguard that Microsoft attacked is whats known as biosecurity screening software. To manufacture a protein, researchers typically need to order a corresponding DNA sequence from a commercial vendor, which they can then install in a cell. Those vendors use screening software to compare incoming orders with known toxins or pathogens. A close match will set off an alert.To design its attack, Microsoft used several generative protein models (including its own, called EvoDiff) to redesign toxinschanging their structure in a way that let them slip past screening software but was predicted to keep their deadly function intact.The researchers say the exercise was entirely digital and they never produced any toxic proteins. That was to avoid any perception that the company was developing bioweapons.Before publishing the results, Microsoft says, it alerted the US government and software makers, whove already patched their systems, although some AI-designed molecules can still escape detection.The patch is incomplete, and the state of the art is changing. But this isnt a one-and-done thing. Its the start of even more testing, says Adam Clore, director of technology R&D at Integrated DNA Technologies, a large manufacturer of DNA, who is a coauthor on the Microsoft report. Were in something of an arms race.To make sure nobody misuses the research, the researchers say, theyre not disclosing some of their code and didnt reveal what toxic proteins they asked the AI to redesign. However, some dangerous proteins are well known, like ricina poison found in castor beansand the infectious prions that are the cause of mad-cow disease.This finding, combined with rapid advances in AI-enabled biological modeling, demonstrates the clear and urgent need for enhanced nucleic acid synthesis screening procedures coupled with a reliable enforcement and verification mechanism, says Dean Ball, a fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, a think tank in San Francisco.Ball notes that the US government already considers screening of DNA orders a key line of security. Last May, in an executive order on biological research safety, President Trump called for an overall revamp of that system, although so far the White House hasnt released new recommendations.Others doubt that commercial DNA synthesis is the best point of defense against bad actors. Michael Cohen, an AI-safety researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, believes there will always be ways to disguise sequences and that Microsoft could have made its test harder.The challenge appears weak, and their patched tools fail a lot, says Cohen. There seems to be an unwillingness to admit that sometime soon, were going to have to retreat from this supposed choke point, so we should start looking around for ground that we can actually hold.Cohen says biosecurity should probably be built into the AI systems themselveseither directly or via controls over what information they give.But Clore says monitoring gene synthesis is still a practical approach to detecting biothreats, since the manufacture of DNA in the US is dominated by a few companies that work closely with the government. By contrast, the technology used to build and train AI models is more widespread. You cant put that genie back in the bottle, says Clore. If you have the resources to try to trick us into making a DNA sequence, you can probably train a large language model.

The Leaders Agenda ArchiveThe Leaders Guide to Strategic ThinkingAmy BernsteinSeptember 30, 2025We recently asked you what topics youd like us to cover in The Leaders Agenda, and among the answers was the request for guidance on becoming a better strategic thinker. Given that many organizations are dealing with profound challenges to their strategies right now, I cant imagine a timelier topic. Here are a few thoughts that I hope youll find valuable.First, understand what strategy really isand what its not. Therere are countless explanations out there (weve published many of them), but the one I return to comes from Felix Oberholzer-Gee of Harvard Business School. Hesays, Strategy is a plan to create value. Important note: A strategy is not the same as a plan, as former Rotman dean Roger Martin hasnoted.Knowing what strategy is doesnt make you a strategic thinker, however. Strategic thinkers are characterized by their ability to take a future-focused view of their organization and the shifting context in which it operates, and they make decisions proactively to strengthen their organizations competitive advantage.They tend to be comfortable with uncertainty and theyask smart questions.The most successful strategic thinkers excel at certain skills and behaviors, says Rich Horwath, the founder and CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute. InHow to Become a Better Strategic Thinker,he lays out the areas that you should focus on developing:Acumen, or how you think. This has three core components: context awareness, insight and innovation.Allocation, or how you plan. This area includes how you focus resources, make decisions, and work to achieve competitive advantage.Action, or what you do. The three components are collaboration, execution, and personal performance.The bigger point here is that we can all learn to become better strategic thinkers. Thats good news for anyone working to drive a strategic transformation.***We want to make The Leaders Agenda as useful to you as possible, so any feedback you may have will be invaluable to us. What are your top concerns? What sort of insight would be most helpful to you? Please share your thoughts here.Thanks for reading,Amy BernsteinEditor in Chief, HBRFurther Reading:Six Ways to Scale Corporate Leadership Development Quickly for Strategic AdvantageKnowAnd UseYour Organizations Business StrategyStrategic Thinking: Because Good Ideas Can Come From AnywhereGet on the ListDont miss a future issue! Subscribe to receive The Leaders Agenda in your inbox monthly.SubscribeClients come to Harvard Business Impact to accelerate and strengthen leadership across their organizations. We create learning experiences that help leaders drive change, inspire teams, and move businesses forward.Contact us to learn more.Explore Previous EditionsThe Leaders Guide to Strategic ThinkingStrategic thinkers take a future-focused view of their organization and the shifting context in which Read more: The Leaders Guide to Strategic ThinkingThe Leader's AgendaWhy Courage Is the Leadership Quality We Need NowWith geopolitics, the economy, and society in a constant state of upheaval, risk aversion seems Read more: Why Courage Is the Leadership Quality We Need NowThe Leader's AgendaLeadership AttunementAttunement is when a leader deeply notices, actively listens, and signals to an employee, and Read more: Leadership AttunementThe Leader's AgendaLead with Strength: Build Your Conflict IntelligenceConflict intelligence can provide an antidote to todays low levels of employee engagement and its Read more: Lead with Strength: Build Your Conflict IntelligenceThe Leader's AgendaThe post The Leaders Guide to Strategic Thinking appeared first on Harvard Business Impact.

Developers around the world are able to bring even more intelligent experiences into their apps by tapping into Apples Foundation Models framework.

Controversial app ICEBlock has been removed from the Apple App Store after Attorney General Pam Bondi demanded its removal, suggesting it was being used to harm ICE agents.ICEBlock removed from Apple App StoreApple has had to deal with many requests from countries, usually authoritarian in nature, to remove apps or services they deem unsafe. After unconstitutional attacks against the developer's freedom of speech, the United States government chose a new tactic.According to a report from Business Insider, Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Department of Justice demanded the removal of the app ICEBlock from the App Store. Given the legal authority of the entity, Apple had no choice but to comply. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The latest edition of Architizer: The Worlds Best Architecture a stunning, hardbound book celebrating the most inspiring contemporary architecture from around the globe is now available for pre-order. Secure your copy today.Brands usually express their identity through logos, typography or visual campaigns, but they show it most powerfully when they embed it in the design of the building that houses their operations. Architecture gives form to values and makes identity visible long before a sign comes into view.I notice this in everyday life. In Nigeria, HMedix stores show themselves with distinctive curtain walls and lighting, GTBank stands out with its bright orange cubes, and Chicken Republic announces itself with its unmistakable yellow and red palette. These buildings tell their brand without necessarily needing a sign. You know where you are just by the way the place looks and, in some cases, feels.This same idea plays out globally. Companies and institutions are finding ways to include their visual language in the design of their structures. Whether its the curve of a roof or the finish of a staircase, design choices can be as telling as a logo. When those choices carry the same clarity as a name or a color, a space begins to express the brand on its own.From a wine cellar in Spain to a glowing white shop in China, the following projects show how identity can live in form, material, and layout. They prove that the most powerful brands are the ones you recognize before a single word comes into view.White Is Good Shop in WeipoBydesignRESERVE, Weipo, ChinaJury Winner, Showrooms, 13th Architizer A+AwardsWhite Is Good Shop makes its brand visible in the simplest way possible: through whiteness. designRESERVE designed the store as a glowing lantern with a pitched polycarbonate roof that shines day and night. Inside, every surface reinforces the brand identity with concrete floors, fabric walls and plexiglass shelving that all shift subtly between shades of white. A modular frame of aluminum and plexiglass holds the displays, keeping the structure clear and functional. Without a logo, visitors know they are in White Is Good. The architecture itself delivers the brands promise of clarity and simplicity.Overland Headquarters Showroom for the New Earthism SeriesBy AD ARCHITECTURE, Foshan, ChinaJury Winner, Architecture +Branding, 13th Architizer A+AwardsAD ARCHITECTURE staged the space like a runway, placing the companys Earthism Series tiles at the center of attention as if they were fashion pieces. This way, the walls, floors, and ceilings become frames for the product, while mirrors and glowing partitions create a sense of drama. The earthy tones and natural light on the inside tie back to the philosophy of Earthism, presenting the tiles as both material and lifestyle. The experience created by the designers is one where architecture makes Overlands identity visible.HumCustom Factory Exhibition HallBy OAOA Studio, Hangzhou, ChinaPopular Choice Winner, Showrooms, 13th Architizer A+AwardsHumCustoms exhibition hall turns its brand philosophy into architecture. OAOA Studio imprinted the concrete faade with outlines of hats, mugs and tote bags, the blank products the company customizes. Visitors know what the brand does before they even step inside. The interior carries the same idea with raw steel frames, concrete benches, and sponge blocks that feel like base materials waiting to be transformed. The path through the building also tells a story. A narrow entry corridor leads into the main hall like a reveal from blank base to finished good. The structure shows its brand identity like a giant sample. It communicates the fact that HumCustom is defined by flexibility and customization.The Realm of Cognac Hennessy StoreBy MO Studio, Ningbo, ChinaPopular Choice Winner, Architecture +Branding, 13th Architizer A+AwardsThe Hennessy boutique in Ningbo feels like the inside of a glass of cognac. MO Studio used amber resin panels that glow like liquid fire to wrap the room in warmth. From outside, the three window bays frame the scene like three filled glasses and turn the faade into an abstract toast. Inside, they made a column at the centre of the space shaped like a grapevine, which flows down into twenty-four brass inlays on the floor arranged like the hands of a clock. This detail represents the time required for the drink itself to mature. Feeling the brand more than seeing it was MO Studios clear goal with this project.Apple The Exchange TRXBy Foster + Partners, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaJury Winner, Retail, 13th Architizer A+AwardsFoster + Partners designed Apples first store in Malaysia to read less like a shop and more like a physical extension of the brands design language. The domed roof brings the soft curvature of an iPhone to mind, while the use of stainless steel, stone and glass mimics the finish of its devices. Inside, light is filtered and controlled with the same meticulous care that goes into the design of an apple screen. Without a logo in sight, you would look at the building and think to yourself: Yeah, this is definitely giving Apple.Tianjin Zhongshuge BookstoreBy X+LIVING, Tianjin, ChinaJury Winner, Commercial Interiors (<25,000 sq ft), 13th Architizer A+AwardsThis bookstore chain has turned architecture into its brand. Every one of Zhongshuges outlets is designed by X+LIVING, and together they form a recognizable identity built from arches and labyrinth-like layouts. If you step into any of their stores in Shanghai, Chengdu or Tianjin, you will know instantly where you are. This branch ties that brand language to its context. Set in Tianjins Italian-style district, it uses nearly 400,000 custom red bricks to form sweeping arches, spirals and shelves. Even before you see the name, the architecture makes it clear you have entered Zhongshuge.Legacy of Bodegas Faustino WineryBy Foster + Partners, Rioja, SpainPopular Choice Winner, Bars and Wineries, 13th Architizer A+AwardsThe Legacy of Bodegas Faustino project made the brands identity visible through its architecture. Foster + Partners designed the winery with elements that have appeared in the familys other projects, especially Campillo and Portia. They used barrel-esque arches that run through both the interior and exterior. Inside, the halls stretch with a senI was sse of procession, tall and dramatic like a cathedral for wine. The scale is commanding, designed to give visitors the feeling that they are stepping into a place of heritage and ritual. With this project, the winery uses architecture as a deliberate way to express its brand identity.The latest edition of Architizer: The Worlds Best Architecture a stunning, hardbound book celebrating the most inspiring contemporary architecture from around the globe is now available for pre-order. Secure your copy today.The post Beyond the Logo: 7 Projects Where Identity Speaks Through Design appeared first on Journal.