What if you trained your brain to seek joy instead of stress? Here's how small moments of peace can ... [+] reshape your emotional well-being.gettyYou often hear about triggersthose moments that activate stress, anxiety or past wounds. But what if there was another way to shape your emotional landscape? Instead of focusing solely on what overwhelms you, you can train your brain to notice glimmers tiny, fleeting moments of peace and joy in your everyday life.Coined by Deb Dana, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), glimmers are the opposite of triggers: they activate the parasympathetic nervous system, helping you feel grounded and at ease. They can be as simple as the warmth of the sun on your skin, the sound of laughter or the smell of fresh coffee.Being aware of your glimmers is just as important as recognizing your triggers because both shape the way your nervous system responds to the world. When we only focus on avoiding triggers, we remain in a defensive state. But when we actively seek out glimmers, we create opportunities to rewire ourselves emotionally for healing and greater emotional stability.Here are three reasons to start identifying your glimmers, and how to notice them in your daily life.1. They Can Be Your Emotional AnchorsLife can be full of unpredictable, sometimes stressful moments. Often, a single trigger can set the tone for your entire daypulling you into a spiral of negativity before you even realize it. But, just as triggers can steer you off course, glimmers can help you reset.Being aware of your glimmers is almost like creating an emotional toolkit you can reach for in difficult moments. This can help you shift your mental state and eventually regain balance when you need it most.A 2022 study published in Personality and Individual Differences shows that experiencing daily positive events can have a profound impact on ones mood, especially for individuals with depression, who are often more sensitive to stress.On stressful days, positive experiences reduced negative emotional states the following day, reinforcing the concept of mood brighteningwhere positive events help counteract negativity. So, noticing daily glimmers can be essential for emotional well-being.Intentionally embracing glimmers can help you create a buffer against stress, making it easier to navigate lifes ups and downs. Over time, this practice can strengthen emotional resilience and overall well-being.2. They Can Help Rewire Your Brain With Micro-Doses Of HealingJust like repeated encounters with stress can make anxiety feel like second nature, regularly noticing glimmers can rewire your brain to find comfort more easily. Your brain is always learning. If it constantly detects threats, it becomes wired for stress and hypervigilance.Research published in Psychoneuroendocrinology found that in women who have experienced trauma, the connection between two brain regionsthe amygdala (which detects threats and triggers fear responses) and the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (which helps regulate emotions and calm the brain)is overactive.As a result, their brains stay on high alerteven in safe situations. This can make it hard for them to relax because their brain is constantly scanning for danger, even when there arent any real threats. Trauma-exposed women also had lower cortisol but a hyperactive stress response, meaning their body struggles to calm down.While this study was focused on trauma-exposed women, its possible that ongoing stresseven without traumacan lead to heightened alertness and difficulty in regulating emotions.Glimmers can help counteract an overactive stress response by training the brain to recognize safety. Regularly noticing them could strengthen the brains ability to regulate emotions, calming the amygdala and reinforcing feelings of ease. Over time, this can help you rewire your brain to shift from constant vigilance to a state of calm. Just like repeated stress wires the brain for anxiety, glimmers help it default to peace.3. They Can Help Create A Positive Ripple EffectNot only do glimmers help you regain balance in the moment, but they also have a lasting impact. They have the power to influence your overall emotional state and social interactions.When you consciously seek out and embrace small moments of joy, you naturally shift your mindset, which makes it easier to approach challenges with resilience. This positive energy can extend beyond your own well-being; it can reach those around you and, in turn, shape the way you connect with them. In fact, research highlights that happiness is not just a personal experienceit spreads through social networks. Happy people tend to be surrounded by other happy people, and their happiness can influence friends, friends of friends and even friends of those friends (up to three degrees of separation).There are several reasons for this:Social influence. Happy people may be more kind, generous or supportive, which improves the mood of those around them.Emotional contagion. Just like smiling or laughing is contagious, happiness can spread from person to person over time.Biological effects. Being around happy people might even have health benefits, like reducing stress.The findings suggest that public health efforts to improve happiness (such as better healthcare or mental health support) could have a ripple effectwhich can improve well-being the individual level, while also extending to the social circle.Just as happiness spreads within social groups, glimmers can also create a ripple effect. When someone experiences a glimmerlike a warm smile or a shared laughit can uplift their mood and influence those around them. Over time, these small positive moments accumulate, reinforcing happiness and well-being within a community.Since social networks amplify emotions, cultivating glimmers in daily interactionsthrough kindness, gratitude or simple moments of shared joycan contribute to a larger culture of happiness and emotional resilience.How To Spot And Remember Your GlimmersGlimmers can be as small as the sight of a loved ones smile, the earthy smell before rain or a kind gesture from someone.Heres how you can identify and reinforce your glimmers in daily life:Pause and notice. Take a moment to slow down and pay attention to the little things that make you feel good.Engage your senses. Tune into what you see, hear, feel, taste or smell that sparks a positive feeling.Keep a glimmer journal. Write down small joyful moments to remind yourself of them later.Create visual or mental reminders. Set a phone wallpaper of your glimmer, keep a sticky note of it or intentionally slow down and recall happy moments when you need a boost.Share and revisit. Talking about your glimmers with a friend or intentionally seeking them out daily helps them become a natural part of your life.The more you intentionally notice, appreciate and repeat these experiences, the stronger their impact becomes. Over time, your brain begins to rewire itself to seek out and hold onto these positive moments more naturally.By consistently experiencing and reinforcing glimmers, you train your mind to shift toward hope and learn how to ground yourself in stressful moments. Rather than going down a negative spiral, let your glimmers guide you to an uplifting sense of calm and connectiontheyll remind you that joy and safety exist even in small, everyday moments.Are you interested in learning about your overall state of well-being? Take this science-backed test to find out: WHO-5 Well-Being Index

Something to look forward to: Microsoft is introducing Copilot for Gaming, an AI-powered assistant designed to enhance the Xbox experience by guiding players through games and streamlining various aspects of gameplay. Initially available through the Xbox mobile app, Copilot for Gaming will offer tips, guides, and insights about game worlds. Sonali Yadav, product manager for gaming AI, positioned the tool as a "sidekick" that accompanies players without disrupting the gaming flow. Yadav showcased several concept demos highlighting Copilot's potential capabilities. For instance, in a demo involving Overwatch 2, Copilot analyzed gameplay mistakes and suggested optimal hero picks to complement team compositions, detailing the strengths and weaknesses of each character.Another demo featured Minecraft, where Copilot could answer crafting-related questions and locate specific materials. The AI can observe the player's screen, providing tailored guidance based on their actions, such as pinpointing crafting resources in Minecraft when cheats are enabled.While these demos were conceptual and won't be part of the initial launch, they illustrate the potential of Copilot for Gaming.Microsoft plans to test early versions of Copilot with Xbox Insiders in April, starting on mobile devices before expanding to other platforms. The company emphasizes that player feedback will be crucial in shaping the product's direction."Gaming is the only form of entertainment where you can get stuck. So that's where you want something to show up to say, 'let's help you get past that,'" Fatima Kardar, Xbox Corporate Vice President of Gaming AI, said on The Official Xbox podcast. Kardar also highlighted the importance of timing in AI assistance, stating, "It's not just about AI showing up to help you. It's about AI showing up at the right moment." // Related StoriesCopilot for Gaming is built on three core principles: capability, adaptability, and personalization. It aims to assist players in various ways, from personalized game recommendations and setup to helpful coaching and maintaining connections with friends. "All of it is with one goal: to help you to get to play first," Kardar said.In addition to Copilot for Gaming, Microsoft celebrated a milestone with over 1,000 titles now supporting Xbox Play Anywhere, allowing gamers to play titles across Xbox and Windows 10/11 devices at no additional cost.Jason Ronald, Vice President of Next Generation, said that Xbox Play Anywhere titles see a 20 percent increase in gameplay due to their flexibility. This feature enables players to access their saves, progress, and achievements across devices, making it a valuable asset for those who prefer to play on multiple platforms.

A hot potato: Remember during the chip crisis when people were so desperate for graphics cards that they were buying prebuilds just for the GPUs? The complete lack of RTX 5000 stock has led some gamers to once again consider this extreme measure, but one desktop vendor has warned, "we're getting scalped," meaning custom RTX 5090 builds are priced at $5,000 or more. Jese Martinez, CEO of custom PC builder PowerGPU, posted a video on X explaining that the company is facing the same problems with securing RTX 5090 cards as everyone else.The RTX 5090 has an MSRP of $1,999, but finding one at that price (or in stock at retailers) right now is an impossibility. Martinez says system integrators like PowerGPU are facing the same issues.The CEO says it took two to three weeks after launch for PowerGPU to receive the first batch of RTX 5090 cards. Now, he says the company is "getting scalped, literally."Martinez says PowerGPU is being offered RTX 5090s anywhere from $3,050 to $3,100, which isn't far from what you'd pay for one on eBay. And that isn't even for the high-end models like the Asus ROG Astral; it's the price for low- to mid-range models.It's due to these massive prices that custom builds with RTX 5090 cards on PowerGPU's website cost around $5,000. Right now, adding an RTX 5090 to one of the company's custom builds adds $3,450 to the total cost. There's also a warning that the current ETA for these cards is three to four months. // Related StoriesMartinez says these prices have led to some clients accusing PowerGPU of scalping. "We explain it to them. This is literally what's happening right now with this market. It is insane," he said."People are willing to pay for it, but I feel horrible," Martinez adds. "I just feel gross. Like, literally my whole team, we all feel just disgusted when we see these prices."It's not just PowerGPU; other system builders are being forced to add astronomical prices to PCs with RTX 5090s.A message in the video also mentions the 20% tariff that the Trump administration implemented on goods from China playing a part in the prices. But PowerGPU says that companies are taking advantage of the tariffs by charging more than 20% for these items.Further illustrating the RTX 5000 pricing problem, manufacturer Colorful has partnered with an Indian retailer for a competition in which three "winners" get to buy an RTX 5080 at its MSRP.

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsAnora (2024)Fight Club (1999)The Prestige (2006)Its extremely rare for the streaming services to have the chance to mark the debut of the Oscar-winner for Best Picture just a few weeks after it won the award. But Hulu gets to do exactly that this Sunday, March 17, when Anora arrives on the streamer. Naturally, thats our top pick among the three great Hulu movies that you need to stream this weekend.Our other picks is an all-time cult classic starring Brad Pitt and Ed Norton, while our final film of the week also boasts an all-star cast in a story by one of the most acclaimed directors of his generation.Recommended VideosNeed more recommendations? We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max,andthe best movies on Disney+.RelatedNeonThis years Best Picture winner, Anora, also won Oscars for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay both of which went to Sean Baker and Best Actress for Mikey Madison for her role as Anora Ani Mikheeva. Anora is a stripper whose life hasnt entirely turned out the way she hoped. But she thinks her ship has come in when the wealthy Ivan Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn) lavishes attention on her and marries her.Ivan may have underestimated the ruthlessness of his extremely wealthy Russian parents, Nikolai (Aleksei Serebryakov) and Galina Zakharova (Darya Ekamasova). They send their henchmen ahead of them to intimidate the young couple and force them to annul the marriage. Anora insists that she really loves Ivan, but she soon finds herself alone facing some potentially very dangerous individuals who want her out of the picture.Watch Anora on Hulu on Sunday, March 17.20th Century StudiosIf we had our way, Fight Club would never leave Hulu again. And why should it? Like every other movie in the 20th Century Fox catalog, its technically a Disney film now. This is an unconventional story, to say the least. Ed Norton stars as the Narrator, a man who is trapped in a dead end and lonely life until he meets the enigmatic Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt).Unlike the Narrator, Tyler oozes charisma and he helps him gather together a group of like-minded guys for Fight Club, a place where men can bond by punching the hell out of each other. It inspires the Narrator to reinvent himself with a more confident persona, but Tyler has much grander ambitions. And once the Narrator realizes just how much trouble Tyler has gotten them in, theres no turning back from Project Mayhem.Watch Fight Club on Hulu.Warner Bros. PicturesWhile some would say Batman Begins marked the start of Christopher Nolan as a box-office draw, that journey really began with The Prestige. This adaptation of Christopher Priests novel casts Batman and Wolverine actors Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as Alfred Borden and Robert Angier, two rival magicians in the late 19th century who will do anything to upstage each other. Its an obsession that leads both men to dangerous extremes.Angiers assistant, Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson), finds herself drawn to both Angier and Borden, but betrayals and broken hearts await in their shared future. As for Angier himself, he stumbles upon something that may truly be the blend of magic and science. That leads him to perform what may be the greatest magic trick that anyone has ever pulled off but at a very high price.Watch The Prestige on Hulu.Editors Recommendations

Love crossword puzzles but dont have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? Thats what The Mini is for!A bite-sized version of the New York Times well-known crossword puzzle, The Mini is a quick and easy way to test your crossword skills daily in a lot less time (the average puzzle takes most players just over a minute to solve). While The Mini is smaller and simpler than a normal crossword, it isnt always easy. Tripping up on one clue can be the difference between a personal best completion time and an embarrassing solve attempt.Recommended VideosJust like ourWordle hints and Connections hints, were here to help with The Mini today if youre stuck and need a little help.Please enable Javascript to view this contentBelow are the answers for the NYT Mini crossword today.New York TimesAcrossHydroelectric project DAMPiece of the pie SLICEConcern for a basement apartment LIGHTNoted octet in higher education IVIESFur-riend PETDownPiece of the pi? DIGITFeel the pain ACHETeam that signed Juan Soto to a record-breaking 15-year, $765 million contract METSMess (up) SLIPLike podcasts with a studio audience, say LIVEEditors Recommendations

A pause in Oz Rocket Report: ULA confirms cause of booster anomaly; Crew-10 launch on tap The head of Poland's space agency was fired over a bungled response to SpaceX debris falling over Polish territory. Stephen Clark Mar 14, 2025 8:09 am | 1 A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the companys Dragon spacecraft on top is seen during sunset Tuesday at Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: SpaceX A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the companys Dragon spacecraft on top is seen during sunset Tuesday at Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: SpaceX Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreWelcome to Edition 7.35 of the Rocket Report! SpaceX's steamroller is still rolling, but for the first time in many years, it doesn't seem like it's rolling downhill. After a three-year run of perfect performancewith no launch failures or any other serious malfunctionsSpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has suffered a handful of issues in recent months. Meanwhile, SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket is having problems, too. Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX's vice president of launch, addressed some (but not all) of these concerns in a post on X this week. Despite the issues with the Falcon 9, SpaceX has maintained a remarkable launch cadence. As of Thursday, SpaceX has launched 28 Falcon 9 flights since January 1, ahead of last year's pace.As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.Alpha rocket preps for weekend launch. While Firefly Aerospace is making headlines for landing on the Moon, its Alpha rocket is set to launch again as soon as Saturday morning from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The two-stage, kerosene-fueled rocket will launch a self-funded technology demonstration satellite for Lockheed Martin. It's the first of up to 25 launches Lockheed Martin has booked with Firefly over the next five years. This launch will be the sixth flight of an Alpha rocket, which has become a leader in the US commercial launch industry for dedicated missions with 1 ton-class satellites.Firefly's OG ... The Alpha rocket was Firefly's first product, and it has been a central piece of the company's development since 2014. Like Firefly itself, the Alpha rocket program has gone through multiple iterations, including a wholesale redesign nearly a decade ago. Sure, Firefly can't claim any revolutionary firsts with the Alpha rocket, as it can with its Blue Ghost lunar lander. But without Alpha, Firefly wouldn't be where it is today. The Texas-based firm is one of only four US companies with an operational orbital-class rocket. One thing to watch for is how quickly Firefly can ramp up its Alpha launch cadence. The rocket only flew once last year.Isar Aerospace celebrates another win. In last week's Rocket Report, we mentioned that the German launch startup Isar Aerospace won a contract with a Japanese company to launch a 200-kilogram commercial satellite in 2026. But wait, there's more! On Wednesday, the Norwegian Space Agency announced it awarded a contract to Isar Aerospace for the launch of a pair of satellites for the countrys Arctic Ocean Surveillance initiative, European Spaceflight reports. The satellites are scheduled to launch on Isar's Spectrum rocket from Andya Spaceport in Norway by 2028.First launch pending ... These recent contract wins are a promising sign for Isar Aerospace, which is also vying for contracts to launch small payloads for the European Space Agency. The Spectrum rocket could launch on its inaugural flight within a matter of weeks, and if successful, it could mark a transformative moment for the European space industry, which has long been limited to a single launch provider: the French company Arianespace. (submitted by EllPeaTea) The Ars Technica Rocket Report The easiest way to keep up with Eric Berger's and Stephen Clark's reporting on all things space is to sign up for our newsletter. We'll collect their stories and deliver them straight to your inbox.Sign Me Up!Mother Nature holds up Oz launch. The first launch by Gilmour Space has been postponed again due to a tropical cyclone that brought severe weather to Australia's Gold Coast region earlier this month, InnovationAus.com reports. Tropical Cyclone Alfred didn't significantly impact Gilmour's launch site, but the storm did cause the company to suspend work at its corporate headquarters in Southeast Queensland. With the storm now over, Gilmour is reassessing when it might be ready to launch its Eris rocket. Reportedly, the delay could be as long as two weeks or more.A regulatory storm ... Gilmour aims to become the first Australian company to launch a rocket into orbit. Last month, Gilmour announced the launch date for the Eris rocket was set for no earlier than March 15, but Tropical Cyclone Alfred threw this schedule out the window. Gilmour said it received a launch license from the Australian Space Agency in November and last month secured approvals to clear airspace around the launch site. But there's still a hitch. The license is conditional on final documentation for the launch being filed and agreed with the space agency, and this process is stretching longer than anticipated. (submitted by ZygP)What is going on at SpaceX?As we mention in the introduction to this week's Rocket Report, it has been an uncharacteristically messy eight months for SpaceX. These speed bumps include issues with the Falcon 9 rocket's upper stage on three missions, two lost Falcon 9 boosters, and consecutive failures of SpaceX's massive Starship rocket on its first two test flights of the year. So what's behind SpaceX's bumpy ride? Ars wrote about the pressures facing SpaceX employees as Elon Musk pushes his workforce ever-harder to accelerate toward what Musk might call a multi-planetary future.Headwinds or tailwinds? ... No country or private company ever launched as many times as SpaceX flew its fleet of Falcon 9 rockets in 2024. At the same time, the company has been attempting to move its talented engineering team off the Falcon 9 and Dragon programs and onto Starship to keep that ambitious program moving forward. This is all happening as Musk has taken on significant roles in the Trump administration, stirring controversy and raising questions about his motives and potential conflicts of interest. However, it may be not so much Musk's absence from SpaceX that is causing these issues but more the company's relentless culture. As my colleague Eric Berger suggested in his piece, it seems possible that, at least for now, SpaceX has reached the speed limit for commercial spaceflight.A titan of Silicon Valley enters the rocket business. Former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has taken a controlling interest in the Long Beach, California-based Relativity Space, Ars reports. Schmidt's involvement with Relativity has been quietly discussed among space industry insiders for a few months. Multiple sources told Ars that he has largely been bankrolling the company since the end of October, when the company's previous fundraising dried up. Now, Schmidt is Relativity's CEO.Unclear motives ... It is not immediately clear why Schmidt is taking a hands-on approach at Relativity. However, it is one of the few US-based companies with a credible path toward developing a medium-lift rocket that could potentially challenge the dominance of SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket. If the Terran R booster becomes commercially successful, it could play a big role in launching megaconstellations. Schmidt's ascension also means that Tim Ellis, the company's co-founder, chief executive, and almost sole public persona for nearly a decade, is now out of a leadership position.Falcon 9 deploys NASA's newest space telescope. Satellites come in all shapes and sizes, but there aren't any that look quite like SPHEREx, an infrared observatory NASA launched Tuesday night in search of answers to simmering questions about how the Universe, and ultimately life, came to be, Ars reports. The SPHEREx satellite rocketed into orbit from California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, beginning a two-year mission surveying the sky in search of clues about the earliest periods of cosmic history, when the Universe rapidly expanded and the first galaxies formed. SPHEREx will also scan for pockets of water ice within our own galaxy, where clouds of gas and dust coalesce to form stars and planets.Excess capacity ... SPHEREx has lofty goals, but it's modest in size, weighing just a little more than a half-ton at launch. This meant the Falcon 9 rocket had plenty of extra room for four other small satellites that will fly in formation to image the solar wind as it travels from the Sun into the Solar System. The four satellites are part of NASA's PUNCH mission. SPHEREx and PUNCH are part of NASA's Explorers program, a series of cost-capped science missions with a lineage going back to the dawn of the Space Age. SPHEREx and PUNCH have a combined cost of about $638 million. (submitted by EllPeaTea)China has launched another batch of Internet satellites. A new group of 18 satellites entered orbit Tuesday for the Thousand Sails constellation with the first launch from a new commercial launch pad, Space News reports. The satellites launched on top of a Long March 8 rocket from Hainan Commercial Launch Site near Wenchang on Hainan Island. The commercial launch site has two pads, the first of which entered service with a launch last year. This mission was the first to launch from the other pad at the commercial spaceport, which is gearing up for an uptick in Chinese launch activity to continue deploying satellites for the Thousand Sails network and other megaconstellations.Sailing on ... The Thousand Sails constellation, also known as Qianfan, or G60 Starlink, is a broadband satellite constellation spearheaded by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), also known as Spacesail, Space News reported. The project, which aims to deploy 14,000 satellites, seeks to compete in the global satellite Internet market. Spacesail has now launched 90 satellites into near-polar orbits, and the operator previously stated it aims to have 648 satellites in orbit by the end of 2025. If Spacesail continues launching 18 satellites per rocket, this goal would require 31 more launches this year. (submitted by EllPeaTea)NASA, SpaceX call off astronaut launch. With the countdown within 45 minutes of launch, NASA called off an attempt to send the next crew to the International Space Station Wednesday evening to allow more time to troubleshoot a ground system hydraulics issue, CBS News reports. During the countdown Wednesday, SpaceX engineers were troubleshooting a problem with one of two clamp arms that hold the Falcon 9 rocket to its strongback support gantry. Hydraulics are used to retract the two clamps prior to launch.Back on track ... NASA confirmed Thursday SpaceX ground teams completed inspections of the hydraulics system used for the clamp arm supporting the Falcon 9 rocket and successfully flushed a suspected pocket of trapped air in the system, clearing the way for another launch attempt Friday evening. This mission, known as Crew-10, will ferry two NASA astronauts, a Japanese mission specialist, and a Russian cosmonaut to the space station. They will replace a four-person crew currently at the ISS, including Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been in orbit since last June after flying to space on Boeing's Starliner capsule. Starliner returned to Earth without its crew due to a problem with overheating thrusters, leaving Wilmore and Williams behind to wait for a ride home with SpaceX.SpaceX's woes reach Poland's space agency. The president of the Polish Space Agency, Grzegorz Wrochna, has been dismissed following a botched response to the uncontrolled reentry of a Falcon 9 second stage that scattered debris across multiple locations in Poland, European Spaceflight reports. The Falcon 9's upper stage was supposed to steer itself toward a controlled reentry last month after deploying a set of Starlink satellites, but a propellant leak prevented it from doing so. Instead, the stage remained in orbit for nearly three weeks before falling back into the atmosphere February 19, scattering debris fragments at several locations in Poland.A failure to communicate ...In the aftermath of the Falcon 9's uncontrolled reentry, the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) claimed it sent warnings of the threat of falling space debris to multiple departments of the Polish government. One Polish ministry disputed this claim, saying it was not adequately warned about the uncontrolled reentry. POLSA later confirmed it sent information regarding the reentry to a wrong email address. Making matters worse, the Polish Space Agency reported it was hacked on March 2. The Polish government apparently had enough and fired the head of the space agency March 11.Vulcan booster anomaly blamed on "manufacturing defect." The loss of a solid rocket motor nozzle on the second flight of United Launch Alliances Vulcan Centaur last October was caused by a manufacturing defect, Space News reports. In a roundtable with reporters Wednesday, ULA chief executive Tory Bruno said the problem has been corrected as the company awaits certification of the Vulcan rocket by the Space Force. The nozzle fell off the bottom of one of the Vulcan launcher's twin solid rocket boosters about a half-minute into its second test flight last year. The rocket continued its climb into space, but ULA and Northrop Grumman, which supplies solid rocket motors for Vulcan, set up an investigation to find the cause of the nozzle malfunction.All the trimmings ... Bruno said the anomaly was traced to a "manufacturing defect" in one of the internal parts of the nozzle, an insulator. Specific details, he said, remained proprietary, according to Space News. "We have isolated the root cause and made appropriate corrective actions," he said, which were confirmed in a static-fire test of a motor at a Northrop test site in Utah in February. "So we are back continuing to fabricate hardware and, at least initially, screening for what that root cause was." Bruno said the investigation was aided by recovery of hardware that fell off the motor while in flight and landed near the launch pad in Florida, as well as "trimmings" of material left over from the manufacturing process. ULA also recovered both boosters from the ocean so engineers could compare the one that lost its nozzle to the one that performed normally. The defective hardware "just stood out night and day," Bruno said. "It was pretty clear that that was an outlier, far out of family." Meanwhile, ULA has trimmed its launch forecast for this year, from a projection of up to 20 launches down to a dozen. (submitted by EllPeaTea)Next three launchesMarch 14: Falcon 9 | Crew-10 | Kennedy Space Center, Florida | 23:03 UTCMarch 15: Electron | QPS-SAR-9 | Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand | 00:00 UTCMarch 15: Long March 2B | Unknown Payload | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China | 04:10 UTCStephen ClarkSpace ReporterStephen ClarkSpace Reporter Stephen Clark is a space reporter at Ars Technica, covering private space companies and the worlds space agencies. Stephen writes about the nexus of technology, science, policy, and business on and off the planet. 1 Comments

John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorMarch 14, 20255 Min ReadWavebreakmedia Ltd IFE-250126 via Alamy Stock PhotoThe music industry is always evolving. Artists, trends, labels, and media platforms emerge and depart with startling regularity. Yet performers, recording firms, concert promoters, and other industry players may now be facing their biggest transformation challenge yet -- artificial intelligence.Even at this relatively early stage, there's no area of the business that's unaffected, says Daniel Abowd, president of music publishing company The Royalty Network. "On the creation side, AI-powered tools are being used to enhance and synthesize performance, editing, production, post-production, and post-release content," he explains in an email interview. "On the consumption side, AI is powering listener and playlisting algorithms and other tools that deliver listeners to content."There's already been an incredible number of AI-supported use cases, says Andrew Sanchez, co-founder of Udio, which offers a generative AI model that produces music based on simple text prompts. He observes, via email, that The Beatles' "Now and Then," which was restored with the help of AI, was recently nominated for two Grammys in the Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance categories.There's always been a distance between music creators and listeners, Sanchez states. He notes that AI is helping to reduce that gap by allowing a more direct dialogue between artists and their fans. "When artists release music that fans can then remix, extend, distort, or otherwise interact with through AI, it opens up an entirely new revenue stream for artists and means of engagement."Related:GenAI, in particular, opens a new way to explore musical creativity, inviting people who might otherwise never engage with music, says Mike Clem, CEO of musical equipment retailer Sweetwater. "It takes patience and grit to learn an instrument, and AI lowers the bar on the talent required to sound good," he explains in an online interview. As a result, there's now a new wave of music makers experimenting with AI, who then learn to play a "real" instrument.AI-generated music tools are also helping artists accelerate their creative processes, allowing them to generate hits that match the pace of pop culture innovation, Sanchez says. He notes that comedian Willonius Hatcher, known as King Willonius, used Udio to create an AI-assisted song called BBL Drizzy. "The song made waves in pop culture when Metro Boomin sampled it, Sanchez says, marking the first time an AI-generated song was sampled by a major producer."A Generational TransformationRelated:Unlike their predecessors, many modern musicians have no desire to appear live on stage or even record an album, Clem says. He believes there's now a transition from 'musicians' to 'creators,' fueled in part by AI. "Its about creating content that connects with their audiences to build and grow their following," he explains.Music has evolved throughout history, thanks to artists who aren't afraid to push the status quo, Sanchez says. "The transformation in AI is really being led by artists who understand how AI-generated music tools can enhance their creative processes."Some industry observers view AI as a potential replacement for human artists. But Sanchez disagrees. "In reality, we believe that human creativity will never be cut out of the process," he says. "The songs that rise to the top have the confluence of the creative spark and the understanding of what people actually want to listen to."Both Sides NowAI-powered tools can enhance, empower, and inspire human creativity, Abowd says. They can simplify many creative tasks, such as editing out breaths from a vocal track. With consent, AI technology can also enhance or simulate the vocal sound of a singer who's no longer able to perform as they did years ago, as well as inspire songwriters with a foundational sound concept they can build upon.Related:On the downside, there's the possible existential threat posed by AI models that use unlicensed human-authored music to create new works that will compete in the same marketplace, potentially at a lower price point, Abowd says. "Reasonable people can disagree on the magnitude of that threat, but it's certainly a conversation on the tip of many people's tongues."A Golden OpportunitySanchez believes that blending AI with art presents a golden opportunity to create a powerful, transformative creativity technology that will open new revenue options for artists. Fans will benefit, too. "It's clear from recent music tour successes ... that consumers are interested in immersive experiences that put them at the helm of the storyline."There's something very innately human and beautiful about expressing yourself musically, Clem observes. "AI may displace some commercial music production -- for example, in commercials and video game soundtracks -- but we're in no danger of computers replacing our desire to express ourselves creatively, or our desire to experience live music and all its attached emotions and nostalgia," he notes. "There's something about music that resonates in our souls in ways that we cannot explain."About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like

Lisa Morgan, Freelance WriterMarch 14, 20258 Min ReadDragos Condrea via Alamy StockMany organizations have learned that AI models need to be monitored, fine-tuned, and eventually retired. This is as true of large language models (LLM) as it is of other AI models, but the pace of generative AI innovation has been so fast, some organizations are not managing their models as they should be, yet.Senthil Padmanabhan, VP, platform and infrastructure at global commerce company eBay, says enterprises are wise to establish a centralized gateway and a unified portal for all model management tasks as his company has done. EBay essentially created an internal version of Hugging Face that eBay has implemented as a centralized system.Our AI platform serves as a common gateway for all AI-related API calls, encompassing inference, fine-tuning, and post-training tasks. It supports a blend of closed models (acting as a proxy), open models (hosted in-house), and foundational models built entirely from the ground up, says Padmanabhan in an email interview. Enterprises should keep in mind four essential functionalities when approaching model management: Dataset preparation, model training, model deployment and inferencing, and continuous evaluation pipeline. By consolidating these functionalities, weve achieved consistency and efficiency in our model management processes.Related:Previously, the lack of a unified system led to fragmented efforts and operational chaos.Rather than building the platform first during its initial exploration of GenAI, the company focused on identifying impactful use cases.As the technology matured and generative AI applications expanded across various domains, the need for a centralized system became apparent, says Padmanabhan. Today, the AI platform is instrumental in managing the complexity of AI model development and deployment at scale.Senthil Padmanabhan, eBaySenthil Padmanabhan, eBayPhoenix Childrens Hospital has been managing machine learning models for some time because predictive can models drift.Weve had a model that predicts malnutrition in patients [and] a no-show model predicting when people are not going to show up [for appointments], says David Higginson, executive vice president and chief innovation officer at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Especially the no-show model changes over time so you have to be very, very conscious about, is this model still any good? Is it still predicting correctly? Weve had to build a little bit of a governance process around that over the years before large language models, but I will tell you, like with large language models, it is a learning [experience], because different models are used for different use cases.Related:Meanwhile, LLM providers, including OpenAI and Google, are rapidly adding new models turning off old ones, which means that something Phoenix Childrens Hospital built a year ago might suddenly disappear from Azure.Its not only that the technical part of it is just keeping up with whats being added and what's being removed. Theres also the bigger question of the large language models. If youre using it for ambient listening and youve been through a vetting process, and everybodys been using a certain model, and then tomorrow, theres a better model, people will want to use it, says Higginson. Were finding there are a lot of questions, [such as], is this actually a better model for my use case? What's the expense of this model? Have we tested it?How to Approach Model ManagementEBays Padmanabhan says any approach to model management will intrinsically establish a lifecycle, as with any other complex system. EBay already follows a structured lifecycle, encompassing stages from dataset preparation to evaluation.To complete the cycle, we also include model depreciation, where newer models replace existing ones, and older models are systematically phased out, says Padmanabhan. This process follows semantic versioning to maintain clarity and consistency during transitions. Without such a lifecycle approach, managing models effectively becomes increasingly challenging as systems grow in complexity.Related:EBays approach is iterative, shaped by constant feedback from developers, product use cases and the rapidly evolving AI landscape. This iterative process allowed eBay to make steady progress.With each iteration of the AI platform, we locked in a step of value, which gave us momentum for the next step. By repeating this process relentlessly, weve been able to adapt to surprise -- whether they were new constraints or emerging opportunities -- while continuing to make progress, says eBays Padmanabhan. While this approach may not be the most efficient or optimized path to building an AI platform, it has proven highly effective for us. We accepted that some effort might be wasted, but well do it in a safe way that continuously unlocks more value.To start, he recommends setting up a common gateway for all model API calls.This gateway helps you keep track of all the different use cases for AI models and gives you insights into traffic patterns, which are super useful for operations and SRE teams to ensure everything runs smoothly, says Padmanabhan. Its also a big win for your InfoSec and compliance teams. With a centralized gateway, you can apply policies in one place and easily block any bad patterns, making security and compliance much simpler. After that, one can use the traffic data from the gateway to build a unified portal. This portal will let you manage a models entire lifecycle, from deployment to phasing it out, making the whole process more organized and efficient as you scale.Phoenix Childrens Hospitals Higginson says its wise to keep an eye on the industry because its changing so fast.David Higginson, Phoenix Children's HospitalDavid Higginson, Phoenix Children's HospitalWhen a new model comes out, we try to think about it in terms of solving a problem, but we've stopped chasing the [latest] model as GPT-4 does most of what we need. I think what weve learned over time is dont chase the new model because were not quite sure what it is or youre limited on how much you can use it in a day, says Higginson. Now, were focusing more on models that have been deprecated or removed, because we get no notice of that.Its also important for stakeholders to have a baseline knowledge of AI so there are fewer obstacles to progress. Phoenix Childrens Hospital began its governance processes with AI 101 training for stakeholders, including information about how the models work. This training was done during the groups first three meetings.Otherwise, you can leave people behind, says Higginson. People have important things to say, [but] they just don't know how to say them in an AI world. So, I think thats the best way to get started. You also tend to find out that some people have an aptitude or an interest, and you can keep them on the team, and people who dont want to be part of it can exit.Jacob Anderson, owner of Beyond Ordinary Software Solutions, says a model is no different than a software product thats released to the masses.If you have lifecycle management on your product rollouts, then you should also implement the same in your model stewardship, says Anderson. You will need to have a defined retirement plan for models and have a policy in place to destroy the models. These models are just amalgamations of the data that went into training them. You need to treat models with the same care as you would the training data.Sage AdviceEBays Padmanabhan recommends that organizations still in the early stages of exploring GenAI refrain from building a complex platform to start, which is exactly what eBay did.At eBay, we initially focused on identifying impactful use cases rather than investing in a platform. Once the technology matured and applications expanded across different domains, we saw the need for a centralized system, says Padmanabhan. Today, our AI platform helps us manage the complexity of AI development and deployment at scale -- but we built it when the timing was right.He also thinks it wise not to become overwhelmed by the rapid changes in this field.Its easy to get caught up in trying to create a system that supports every type of model out there. Instead, take a step back and focus on what will truly make a difference for your organization. Tailor your model management system to meet your specific needs, not just what the industry is buzzing about, says Padmanabhan. Lastly, from our experience we see that quality of the dataset is what really matters. Quality trumps quantity. It is better to have 10,000 highly curated high-quality rows than 100,000 average rows.Phoenix Childrens Hospitals Higginson recommends experimenting with guardrails so people can learn.Have a warning that says, Don't put PII in there and use the output carefully, but absolutely use it, says Higginson. Don't believe everything it says, but other than that, don't be scared. The use cases coming from our staff, employees and physicians are way more creative than I would have ever thought of, or any committee would have thought of.Beyond Ordinarys Anderson recommends understanding the legal obligations of jurisdictions in which the models are operating because they vary.Take care to understand those differences and how your obligations bleed into those regulatory theatres. Then you need to have a well-defined operational plan for model stewardship, says Anderson. This is very much akin to your data stewardship plan, so if you don't have one of those, then it's time to slow the bus and fix that flat tire.He also recommends against putting hobbyist AI practitioners in charge of models.Find qualified professionals to help you with the policy frameworks and setting up a stewardship plan, says Anderson. Cybersecurity credentials play into the stewardship of AI models because the models are just data. Your cyber people don't need to know how to train or evaluate an AI model. They just need to know what data went into training and how the model is going to be used in a real-world scenario.About the AuthorLisa MorganFreelance WriterLisa Morgan is a freelance writer who covers business and IT strategy and emergingtechnology for InformationWeek. She has contributed articles, reports, and other types of content to many technology, business, and mainstream publications and sites including tech pubs, The Washington Post and The Economist Intelligence Unit. Frequent areas of coverage include AI, analytics, cloud, cybersecurity, mobility, software development, and emerging cultural issues affecting the C-suite.See more from Lisa MorganWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like

Many AI firms say their models are on the road to artificial general intelligence, but not everyone agreesMANAURE QUINTERO/AFP via Getty ImagesTech companies have long claimed that simply expanding their current AI models will lead to artificial general intelligence (AGI), which can match or surpass human capabilities. But as the performance of the most recent models has plateaued, AI researchers doubt that todays technology will lead to superintelligent systems.In a survey of 475 AI researchers, about 76 per cent of respondents said it was unlikely or very unlikely that scaling up current approaches will succeed in achieving AGI. The findings are part of a report by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, an international scientific society based in Washington DC. AdvertisementThis is a notable change in attitude from the scaling is all you need optimism that has spurred tech companies since the start of the generative AI boom in 2022. Most of the cutting-edge achievements since then have been based on systems called transformer models, which have improved in performance as they have been trained on increasing volumes of data. But they seem to have stagnated in the most recent releases, which showed only incremental changes in quality.The vast investments in scaling, unaccompanied by any comparable efforts to understand what was going on, always seemed to me to be misplaced, says Stuart Russell at the University of California, Berkeley, a member of the panel that organised the report. I think that, about a year ago, it started to become obvious to everyone that the benefits of scaling in the conventional sense had plateaued.Nonetheless, tech companies plan to collectively spend an estimated $1 trillion on data centres and chips in the next few years to support their AI ambitions.Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox.Sign up to newsletterThe hype around AI technologies may explain why 80 per cent of survey respondents also said current perceptions of AI capabilities dont match reality. Systems proclaimed to be matching human performance such as on coding problems or mathematics problems still make bone-headed mistakes, says Thomas Dietterich at Oregon State University, who contributed to the report. These systems can be very useful as tools for assisting in research and coding, but they are not going to replace any human workers.AI companies have more recently focused on so-called inference-time scaling, which involves AI models using more computing power and taking longer to process queries before responding, says Arvind Narayanan at Princeton University. But he says this approach is unlikely to be a silver bullet for reaching AGI.Although tech companies frequently describe AGI as their ultimate goal, the very definition of AGI is unsettled. Google DeepMind has described it as a system that can outperform all humans on a set of cognitive tests, while Huawei has suggested reaching this milestone requires a body that lets AI interact with its environment. As for Microsoft and OpenAI, an internal report stated that they will consider AGI achieved only when OpenAI has developed a model that can generate $100 billion in profit.Topics:

CloudLab researchers use a giant white balloon to hoist a device that measures ice crystals high in the airCloudLabSomeone taking a walk in the snowy hills near the Swiss capital of Bern last winter would have been perplexed by a giant white balloon rising into the low-lying clouds. Near the hilltop where the balloon was tethered, they would have found a group of researchers launching a drone, then flying it upwind to sprinkle crystals of silver powder into the fog.We use the natural cloud as a laboratory, says Ulrike Lohmannat ETH Zurich in Switzerland, a member