Rust has become a popular programming language in recent years as it combines security and high performance and can be used in many applications. It combines the positive characteristics of C and C++ with the modern syntax and simplicity of other programming languages such as Python. In this article, we will take a step-by-step look at the installation of Rust on various operating systems and set up a simple command line interface to understand Rust’s structure and functionality. Installing Rust — step by step Regardless of the operating system, it is quite easy to install Rust thanks to the official installer rustup, which is available for free on the Rust website. This means that the installation only takes a few steps and only differs slightly for the various operating systems. Installing Rust under Windows In Windows, the installer completely controls the installation, and you can follow the steps below: Go to the “Install” subsection on the official Rust website (https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install) and download the rustup-init.exe file there. The website recognizes the underlying operating system so that the appropriate suggestions for the system used are made directly. As soon as the download is complete, the rustup-init.exe file can be executed. A command line with various installation instructions then opens. Press the Enter key to run the standard installation to install Rust. This also includes the following tools: rustc is the compiler, which compiles the code and checks for errors before execution. cargo is Rust’s build and package management tool. rustup is the version manager. After successful installation, Rust should automatically be available in your PATH. This can be easily checked in PowerShell or CMD using the following commands: rustc --version cargo --version If “rustc” and “cargo” are then displayed in the output with the respective version numbers, then the installation was successful. However, if the command is not found, it may be due to the environment variables. To check these, you can follow the path “This PC –> Properties –> Advanced system settings –> Environment variables”. Once there, you should make sure that the path to Rust, for example “C:\Users\UserName\.cargo\bin”, is present in the PATH variable. Installing Rust under Ubuntu/Linux In Linux, Rust can be installed completely via the terminal without having to download anything from the Rust website. To install Rust, the following steps must be carried out: Open the terminal, for example, with the key combination Ctrl + Alt + T. To install Rust, the following command is executed: curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh 3. You will then be asked whether the installation should be started. This can be confirmed by entering “1” (default), for example. All required packages are then downloaded, and the environment is set up.4. You may have to set the path manually. In this case, you can use this command, for example: source $HOME/.cargo/env After the installation has been completed, you can check whether everything has worked properly. To do this, you can explicitly display the versions of rustc and cargo: rustc --version cargo --version Installing Rust under macOS There are several ways to install Rust on macOS. If you have installed Homebrew, you can simply use this to install Rust by executing the following command: brew install rustup rustup-init Alternatively, you can also install Rust directly using this script: curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh During the installation, you will be asked whether you want to run the standard installation. You can simply confirm this by pressing the Enter key. Regardless of the variant selected, you can then check the installation by displaying the version of Rust to ensure that everything has worked: rustc --version cargo --version Creating a Rust project with cargo During the installation of Rust, you have probably already come across the cargo program. This is the official package manager and build system of Rust and is comparable to pip in Python. cargo performs the following tasks, among others: Initialization of a project Management of dependencies Compiling the code Execution of tests Optimization of builds This allows you to manage complete projects in Rust without having to deal with complicated build scripts. It also helps you to set up new projects quickly and easily, which can then be filled with life. For our example, we will create a new project. To do this, we go to the terminal and navigate to a folder in which we want to save it. We then execute the following command to create a new Rust project: cargo new json_viewer --bin We call this project json_viewer because we are building a CLI tool that can be used to open and process JSON files. The --bin option indicates that we want to create an executable program and not a library. You should now be able to see the following folder structure in your directory after executing the command: json_viewer/ ├── Cargo.toml # Project configuration └── src └── main.rs # File for Rust Code Every new project has this structure. Cargo.toml contains all the dependencies and metadata of your project, such as the name, the libraries used, or the version. The src/main.rs, on the other hand, later contains the actual Rust code, which then defines the steps that are executed when the program is started. First, we can define a simple function here that generates an output in the terminal: fn main() { println!("Hello, Rust CLI-Tool!"); } The program can be easily called up from the terminal using cargo: cargo run For this call to work, it must be ensured that you are in the main directory of the project, i.e. where the Cargo.toml file is stored. If everything has been set up and executed correctly, you will receive this output: Hello, Rust CLI-Tool! With these few steps, you have just created your first successful Rust project, which we can build on in the next section. Building a CLI tool: Simple JSON parser Now we start to fill the project with life and create a program that can read JSON files and output their content in the terminal in a structured way. The first step is to define the dependencies, i.e., the libraries that we will use in the course of the project. These are stored in the Cargo.toml file. In Rust, the so-called crates are comparable to libraries or modules that offer certain predefined functionalities. For example, they can consist of reusable code written by other developers. We need the following crates for our project: serde enables the serialization and deserialization of data formats such as JSON or YAML. serde_json, on the other hand, is an extension that was developed specifically for working with JSON files. For your project to access these crates, they must be stored in the Cargo.toml file. This looks like this immediately after creating the project: [package] name = "json_viewer" version = "0.1.0" edition = "2021" [dependencies] We can now add the required crates in the [dependencies] section. Here we also define the version to be used: [dependencies] serde = "1.0" serde_json = "1.0" To ensure that the added dependencies are available in the project, they must first be downloaded and built. To do this, the following terminal command can be executed in the main directory: cargo build During execution, cargo searches the central Rust repository crates.io for the dependencies and the specified versions to download them. These crates are then compiled together with the code and cached so that they do not have to be downloaded again for the next build. If these steps have worked, we are now ready to write the actual Rust code that opens and processes the JSON file. To do this, you can open the src/main.rs file and replace the existing content with this code: use std::fs; use serde_json::Value; use std::env; fn main() { // Check arguments let args: Vec<String> = env::args().collect(); if args.len() < 2 { println!(“Please specify the path to your file.”); return; } // Read in File let file_path = &args[1]; let file_content = fs::read_to_string(file_path) .expect(“File could not be read.”); // Parse JSON let json_data: Value = serde_json::from_str(&file_content) .expect(“Invalid JSON format.”); // Print JSON println!(" JSON-content:\n{}”, json_data); } The code follows these steps: Check arguments: We read the arguments from the command line via env::args(). The user must specify the path to the JSON file at startup. Read the file: With the help of fs::read_to_string(), the content of the file is read into a string. Parse JSON: The crate serde_json converts the string into a Rust object with the type Value. Format output: The content is output legibly in the console. To test the tool, you can, for example, create a test file in the project directory under the name examples.json: { "name": "Alice", "age": 30, "skills": ["Rust", "Python", "Machine Learning"] } The program is then executed using cargo run and the path to the JSON file is also defined: cargo run ./example.json This brings us to the end of our first project in Rust and we have successfully built a simple CLI tool that can read JSON files and output them to the command line. This is what you should take with you Installing Rust is quick and easy in many operating systems. The other components that are required are already installed. With the help of cargo, an empty project can be created directly, which contains the necessary files and in which you can start writing Rust code Before you start Programming, you should enter the dependencies and download them using the build command. Now that everything is set up, you can start with the actual programming. The post Get Started with Rust: Installation and Your First CLI Tool – A Beginner’s Guide appeared first on Towards Data Science.

The United States expedited refugee processes for 59 white South African refugees, despite Donald Trump having suspended the US Refugee Admissions Program in January.Read the original article on Business Insider

AI agents powered by large language models (LLMs) have grown past their FAQ chatbot beginnings to become true digital teammates capable of planning, reasoning and taking action — and taking in corrective feedback along the way. Thanks to reasoning AI models, agents can learn how to think critically and tackle complex tasks. This new class of “reasoning agents” can break down complicated problems, weigh options and make informed decisions — while using only as much compute and as many tokens as needed. Reasoning agents are making a splash in industries where decisions rely on multiple factors. Such industries range from customer service and healthcare to manufacturing and financial services. Reasoning On vs. Reasoning Off Modern AI agents can toggle reasoning on and off, allowing them to efficiently use compute and tokens. A full chain‑of‑thought pass performed during reasoning can take up to 100x more compute and tokens than a quick, single‑shot reply — so it should only be used when needed. Think of it like turning on headlights — switching on high beams only when it’s dark and turning them back to low when it’s bright enough out. Single-shot responses are great for simple queries — like checking an order number, resetting a password or answering a quick FAQ. Reasoning might be needed for complex, multistep tasks such as reconciling tax depreciation schedules or orchestrating the seating at a 120‑guest wedding. New NVIDIA Llama Nemotron models, featuring advanced reasoning capabilities, expose a simple system‑prompt flag to enable or disable reasoning, so developers can programmatically decide per query. This allows agents to perform reasoning only when the stakes demand it — saving users wait times and minimizing costs. Reasoning AI Agents in Action Reasoning AI agents are already being used for complex problem-solving across industries, including: Healthcare: Enhancing diagnostics and treatment planning. Customer Service: Automating and personalizing complex customer interactions, from resolving billing disputes to recommending tailored products. Finance: Autonomously analyzing market data and providing investment strategies. Logistics and Supply Chain: Optimizing delivery routes, rerouting shipments in response to disruptions and simulating possible scenarios to anticipate and mitigate risks. Robotics: Powering warehouse robots and autonomous vehicles, enabling them to plan, adapt and safely navigate dynamic environments. Many customers are already experiencing enhanced workflows and benefits using reasoning agents. Amdocs uses reasoning-powered AI agents to transform customer engagement for telecom operators. Its amAIz GenAI platform, enhanced with advanced reasoning models such as NVIDIA Llama Nemotron and amAIz Telco verticalization, enables agents to autonomously handle complex, multistep customer journeys — spanning customer sales, billing and care. EY is using reasoning agents to significantly improve the quality of responses to tax-related queries. The company compared generic models to tax-specific reasoning models, which revealed up to an 86% improvement in response quality for tax questions when using a reasoning approach. SAP’s Joule agents — which will be equipped with reasoning capabilities from Llama Nemotron –– can interpret complex user requests, surface relevant insights from enterprise data and execute cross-functional business processes autonomously. Designing an AI Reasoning Agent A few key components are required to build an AI agent, including tools, memory and planning modules. Each of these components augments the agent’s ability to interact with the outside world, create and execute detailed plans, and otherwise act semi- or fully autonomously. Reasoning capabilities can be added to AI agents at various places in the development process. The most natural way to do so is by augmenting planning modules with a large reasoning model, like Llama Nemotron Ultra or DeepSeek-R1. This allows more time and reasoning effort to be used during the initial planning phase of the agentic workflow, which has a direct impact on the overall outcomes of systems. The AI-Q NVIDIA AI Blueprint and the NVIDIA Agent Intelligence toolkit can help enterprises break down silos, streamline complex workflows and optimize agentic AI performance at scale. The AI-Q blueprint provides a reference workflow for building advanced agentic AI systems, making it easy to connect to NVIDIA accelerated computing, storage and tools for high-accuracy, high-speed digital workforces. AI-Q integrates fast multimodal data extraction and retrieval using NVIDIA NeMo Retriever, NIM microservices and AI agents. In addition, the open-source NVIDIA Agent Intelligence toolkit enables seamless connectivity between agents, tools and data. Available on GitHub, this toolkit lets users connect, profile and optimize teams of AI agents, with full system traceability and performance profiling to identify inefficiencies and improve outcomes. It’s framework-agnostic, simple to onboard and can be integrated into existing multi-agent systems as needed. Build and Test Reasoning Agents With Llama Nemotron Learn more about Llama Nemotron, which recently was at the top of industry benchmark leaderboards for advanced science, coding and math tasks. Join the community shaping the future of agentic, reasoning-powered AI. Plus, explore and fine-tune using the open Llama Nemotron post-training dataset to build custom reasoning agents. Experiment with toggling reasoning on and off to optimize for cost and performance. And test NIM-powered agentic workflows, including retrieval-augmented generation and the NVIDIA AI Blueprint for video search and summarization, to quickly prototype and deploy advanced AI solutions.

A shortage of air traffic controllers has caused travel headaches in April and May. The Trump Administration has vowed to hire more and upgrade the FAA's communications infrastructure. Win McNamee/Getty Images Updated 2025-05-13T16:45:03Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? The government is racing to hire enough air-traffic controllers as staffing shortages cause delays. ATC jobs involve a lot of stress and possible overnight hours, but they can easily pay over $100,000 a year. Hopefull controllers must go through rigorous training and academic testing. A staggering shortage of air traffic controllers has once again been thrust into the spotlight as one of the country's busiest airports faces another week of cascading delays — and the government is desperate to higher more, if you can handle the stress.Since late April, equipment issues and a lack of staff at the facility that guides planes into their approach paths for Newark Liberty International Airport, in New Jersey, have caused delays and cancellations day after day.United Airlines, the airport's largest customer, has even cut 35 flights from its schedule to accommodate the traffic limits. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced plans for raises, bonuses, and faster hiring to "supercharge" the nation's ATC network and restore staffing to normal levels after years of decline (the system is still about 3,000 controllers short, he said). "It takes a year to three years to train up a new controller to work in airspace, so this is going to be a longer-term problem," Duffy said on CNBC Tuesday morning. He'll also need Congress's approval for big spending items like upgrading communications infrastructure.The most recent round of entry-level controller applications closed on March 17, and it's not clear when more will open. There are currently other openings for support staff, senior roles, and other higher-level jobs with salaries as high as $200,000 a year.What it takes to get hired as an air traffic controllerBeing an air traffic controller is an extremely high-stress job. More than 14,000 workers nationwide are responsible for moving tens of thousands of lives on board planes across the country every day.Business Insider spoke with FAA controller Cedrick Earley to discuss what it is like to work the job.You may not need a university degree to work in ATCATC is a good option for people looking for a high-salary job that doesn't require a college degree.According to the FAA's hiring website, eligible applicants must:Be a US citizenSpeak clear and fluent EnglishBe under the age of 31 before the application closing date (more on that later)Have one year of full-time work experience or higher education, or a combination of bothMeet specific physical and mental fitness standards Air Traffic Controllers can start training with minimal to no prior aviation experience. Michael Dwyer/AP Successful applicants who apply through the FAA must undergo months of extensive training and pass mandatory tests, such as an aptitude test, a skills assessment, and physical and psychological exams, before being officially hired.The applicants will spend up to five months at the academy, where training and testing will occur. However, some applicants come from other careers, like the military.Earley went through the Air Force to become a controller instead of the FAA."[Air Force] is a different track," he said. "The quality of training you receive from the Air Force is equivalent to what you would get if you went through the route with the FAA in Oklahoma."You have to be younger than 31 when you applyAccording to the FAA, all ATC applicants must be 30 or younger on the closing date of the application period to qualify for the position.This is because the agency has determined through extensive research that the older someone is, the harder it is for them to complete the rigorous training.However, according to the agency, those who already have air traffic control experience can be hired up to 35 years of age. You'll go through a lot of testing and trainingWhether you become a controller through the FAA or the military, you will have to undergo monthslong training and pass aptitude, physical, physiological, and skill tests. These exams assess applicants' health and their ability to train for and perform the job.Initial tests are pass/fail, according to the agency, and failing certain exams will eliminate applicants from the hiring process.The training is demanding, with about 50% of aspiring Air Force controllers failing out.You won't necessarily work in an airport towerEarley said traffic controllers are not just confined to the airport tower but can also work in one of several hundred facilities around and between airports nationwide. The Houston TRACON is responsible for controlling more than 16,000 square miles of airspace surrounding the Houston Area Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images For example, one may work in the Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility, or TRACON, in Memphis and be responsible for controlling aircraft leaving the airport for their next destination and directing flights into the airport for a quick and safe landing. Employees can also work in one of the air route traffic control centers, or ARTCCs, throughout the US, which direct aircraft en route to their destinations.The work can be high-stress, but also boring sometimesBeing an air traffic controller can be stressful due to the heavy workload and high-consequence environment. But depending on how busy the skies are, the job can also be dull and boring.Former air traffic controller Michele Robson wrote in 2020 that the job can be quiet at night, but controllers must always be alert and ready to work at any hour on shift.While some controllers find the job extremely stressful, Earley said that isn't the case for him because he enjoys solving a new problem every day."Controllers are always learning on the job, like updating and refining the processes or learning new rules and procedures," he explained. "It is a job where you always have to change and adapt."  Safety is always the top priorityAir traffic controllers are responsible for about 50,000 daily flights in the US, so safety is the most important aspect of the job.An increasing number of planes colliding or nearly colliding has further enhanced calls for improved FAA training and staffing.According to Earley, there are several things controllers do to ensure nothing is missed."I work in front of a radar scope, and it can get busy at times, so I am not supposed to work in position more than two hours at a time, so we get a break to keep us refreshed," he said. "We also do not work more than 10 hours in one day, and there is a certain amount of hours we have to be off before we can work again." Air traffic controllers have strict rest rules to enhance safety. chara_stagram / Shutterstock.com The FAA implemented new rules in 2024 to minimize controller fatigue by raising the minimum rest time between shifts from at least nine hours to at least 10 hours. Controllers also get 12 hours off before and after midnight shifts.Earley also explained that there are redundancies in the job to elevate safety and that other controllers and supervisors help check each other's work."Everyone is actually able to see what is going on with any particular person's work at the time, so it is one team, one fight," he said. "If we notice something is a little out of sorts, we can bring that to the controller's attention, and they can fix it before it becomes a bigger problem."The salary is good, but the work schedule can be inconsistentEarley explained the job's salary, which increases with seniority, plus the benefits provide a good work-life balance."It's a job that pays me well and allows me to support my family," he said. "I'm also able to take leisure time for myself, like spending time with my daughter."However, he also said his schedule is not the regular 9-5."I do have some shifts I work from midnight to 8 a.m., as well as some scattered 12-8 shifts, so it rotates," he said. "I always know what my hours are each day, but it is not always at the same time. It is consistently inconsistent."Average pay is $160,000 for controllers, the FAA says. You know your schedule for the entire yearAccording to Earley, air traffic controllers know their work schedule a year in advance. Air traffic controllers don't work typical schedules. Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images "When we set our schedules up, we bid what we want for the next year, and then we are awarded our full schedule for the year," he said. "It helps in terms of planning our leave."He also explained that the schedule is only for one year, and controllers can change it the following year.You can retire at 56All air traffic controllers must retire at 56 due to the higher possibility of memory or hearing loss, inattentiveness, or reduced eyesight in older individuals.However, Earley said the 56 age cut-off only applies to those actively working traffic, so controllers who are not yet ready to retire can take a desk or management job instead.Many controllers choose to retire early after completing their required 25 years of service, Duffy said, exacerbating the staffing issues. Recommended video

Marks and Spencer (M&S) has confirmed that customer data was stolen during the Easter DragonForce ransomware attack on its server infrastructure and will be prompting all online customers to reset their account passwords as a precautionary move. The attack unfolded three weeks ago and is thought to have been the work of a white-label affiliate of DragonForce – possibly the notorious Scattered Spider operation, which uses social engineering tactics to conduct its intrusions. The stolen tranche of data is understood to include contact details email addresses, postal addresses and phone numbers; personal information including names and dates of birth; and data on customer interactions with the chain, including online order histories, household information, and ‘masked’ payment card details. M&S added that customer reference numbers, but not payment information, belonging to holders of M&S credit cards or Sparks Pay cards – including former cardholders – may also have been taken. “We have written to customers today to let them know that unfortunately, some personal customer information has been taken,” said M&S chief exec Stuart Machin. “Importantly there is no evidence that the information has been shared and it does not include useable card or payment details, or account passwords, so there is no need for customers to take any action.” Machin added: “To give customers peace of mind, they will be prompted to reset their password the next time they visit or log on to their M&S account and we have shared information on  how to stay safe online. “Everyone at M&S is working around the clock to get things back to normal for our customers as quickly as possible, and we are very sorry for any inconvenience they have experienced. Our stores remain open as they have throughout.” The letter to customers from customer service operations director Jayne Wall – which can be reviewed here – also includes additional standard guidance on how to stay safe online. NordVPN chief technology officer, Marijus Briedis, described M&S’ assertion that the attackers have not yet leaked or shared the stolen data was “overly optimistic” under the circumstances and warned that even if passwords or credit card details were not exposed, the data that was taken was still very useful to cyber criminals. “This type of data can be used in phishing campaigns or combined with other leaked information to commit identity theft,” explained Briedis. “Consumers often underestimate how damaging ‘harmless’ data like order history or email addresses can be in the wrong hands. These M&S hackers could use this data to build highly personalised phishing emails, designed to look identical to what the retailer would send, and these are much harder to spot. “This breach highlights how companies must not only secure financial data, but also treat seemingly less sensitive information – like customer profiles and purchase records – as  critical assets that require protection.” Max Vetter, vice president of cyber at Immersive and a former money laundering investigator with London’s Metropolitan Police, also had harsh words for M&S. “M&S saying that customers could change their passwords “for extra peace of mind” does little to reassure those worried about who has access to their personal information,” he said. “As the fallout from this attack continues, customers want clear assurances about their personal data and what M&S is doing to keep it safe from being published online. “M&S want to appear in control and telling people to be more vigilant, however, telling customers there’s no need to act risks does potentially the wrong message. We recommend all customers reset their password. Zetter reaffirmed the stolen data would be prime material for downstream social engineering and phishing attacks, especially if it is indeed in the hands of Scattered Spider who, he said, “often play a long game”. Meanwhile, disruption from the parallel DragonForce attack on Co-op continues, with the BBC today reporting that stores in the Channel Islands are experiencing particularly acute shortages and are now working with local suppliers to maintain some supplies. In other remote parts of the UK, including the Hebrides in Scotland, residents are similarly contending with disruption to deliveries. On many islands, such as whisky-making hub Islay, where Co-op stores is the only large food retailer operating, these shortages are now extending to supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables. Co-op has also confirmed that data has been stolen, including names, dates of birth and contact information, but not passwords, financial details, or any information on members’ shopping habits or other interactions with the organisation. Timeline: UK retail cyber attacks 22 April 2025: A cyber attack at M&S has caused significant disruption to customers, leaving them unable to make contactless payments or use click-and-collect services. 24 April: M&S is still unable to provide contactless payment or click-and-collect services amid a cyber attack that it says has forced it to move a number of processes offline to safeguard its customers, staff and business. 25 April: M&S shuts down online sales as it works to contain and mitigate a severe cyber attack on its systems. 29 April: The infamous Scattered Spider hacking collective may have been behind the ongoing cyber attack on M&S that has crippled systems at the retailer and left its ecommerce operation in disarray. 30 April: A developing cyber incident at Co-op has forced the retailer to pull the plug on some of its IT systems as it works to contain the attack. 1 May: Co-op tells staff to stop using their VPNs and be wary that their communications channels may be being monitored, as a cyber attack on the organisation continues to develop. 1 May: Harrods confirms it is the latest UK retailer to experience a cyber attack, shutting off a number of systems in an attempt to lessen the impact. 2 May: The National Cyber Security Centre confirms it is providing assistance to M&S, Co-op and Harrods as concerns grow among UK retailers. 7 May: No end is yet in sight for UK retailers subjected to apparent ransomware attacks.

‘Out of Africa’ champagne picnic experience during a Masai Mara luxury safari, Kenya. All images © Zed Nelson, courtesy of Guest Editions, shared with permission In His New Book, Photographer Zed Nelson Lifts the Veil on ‘The Anthropocene Illusion’ May 13, 2025 Kate Mothes In the 1985 film Out of Africa starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, a picturesque scene highlights the pair on a romantic picnic high above the sweeping Masai Mara National Reserve. Today, tourists are invited to recreate the iconic moment in a colonial-inspired, hillside champagne picnic experience for which “local Masaai tribesman are employed to provide picturesque authenticity to the experience,” photographer Zed Nelson says. In his new book, The Anthropocene Illusion, Nelson takes us on a global journey that lifts the veil, so to speak, on what we think of as “wilderness” and our progressively uneasy relationship with the environment. “While we destroy the natural world around us, we have become masters of a stage-managed, artificial ‘experience’ of nature—a reassuring spectacle, an illusion,” he says. The Anthropocene defines the ever-evolving, rapid changes to the environment due to humans’ unyielding impact. Many scientists place the epoch’s origin during the Industrial Revolution, but some consider 1945—the year humans tested the atomic bomb—to be the true beginning. Yet others suggest that the Anthropocene was initiated even earlier, during the advent of agriculture. At that point, we entered into an increasingly uneasy relationship with the natural world, relying on ever-more extractive processes, heavy manufacturing, plastics, and advancing technology—all of which depend on the earth’s resources. Our societies’ colonialist tendencies also apply to nature just as much as other human-occupied territories. We’re depleting entire aquifurs, forever altering the composition of the land, and irretrievably damaging delicate ecosystems. All the while, Nelson shows, we subscribe to a nostalgic view of untamed wilderness while at the same time expecting it to mold to our lifestyles. In Kenyan national parks like Masai Mara, wildlife is provided sanctuary, “but the animals living within them are allowed to survive essentially for human entertainment and reassurance,” Nelson says. “These animals become, in effect, performers for paying tourists eager to see a nostalgic picture book image of the natural world.” Snow cannon producing artificial snow at Val Gardena ski resort, Dolomites, Italy Nelson’s illuminating series taps into the absurdities of the illusion that nature is still thriving as it once was. Artificial snow shot from a cannon in the Italian Dolomites, for example, nods to warmer winters. A result of the climate crisis, leading to little snow, the powder is manufactured so holidaymakers can ski. From vine-draped brutalist buildings to overcrowded national park lookouts to half-tame lions walked out like entertainers during a safari, he shares moments that feel skewed and incongruous, indicating looming and ultimately inescapable problems behind the veneer. The Anthropocene Illusion series took first place in the professional category of the 2025 Sony World Photography Awards, and the book, which comes out this month, is available for pre-order in the Guest Editions shop. Ten percent of profits will be donated to Friends of the Earth, an environmental justice nonprofit. See more on Nelson’s Instagram. ‘Walk with Lions’ tourist experience, South Africa Next article

As the manufacturing industry faces challenges — such as labor shortages, reshoring and inconsistent operational strategies — AI-powered robots present a significant opportunity to accelerate industrial automation. At Automate, the largest robotics and automation event in North America, robotics leaders KUKA, Standard Bots, Universal Robots (UR) and Vention are showcasing hardware and robots powered by the NVIDIA accelerated computing, Omniverse and Isaac platforms — helping manufacturers everywhere automate and optimize their production lines. Deepu Talla, vice president of robotics and edge AI at NVIDIA, delivered a keynote on physical AI and industrial autonomy. “The manufacturing industry is experiencing a fundamental shift, with industrial automation and AI-powered robots increasingly changing how warehouses and factories operate worldwide,” said Deepu Talla, vice president of robotics and edge AI at NVIDIA. “NVIDIA’s three-computer architecture — enabling robot training, simulation and accelerated runtime — is empowering the entire robotics ecosystem to accelerate this shift toward software-defined autonomous facilities.” Synthetic Data Generation Blueprint Speeds Up Robot Development Pipelines Embodied AI systems, which refers to the integration of AI into physical systems, must be trained with real-world data — traditionally a complex and resource-intensive process. Each robot typically needs its own custom dataset due to differences in hardware, sensors and environments. Synthetic data offers a powerful alternative. NVIDIA Isaac Lab 2.1 — the latest version of the open-source robot learning framework, announced at Automate — provides developers with tools to accelerate the robot training process using the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T Blueprint for synthetic motion generation. Built on NVIDIA Omniverse, a physical AI simulation platform, and NVIDIA Cosmos world foundation models, the blueprint provides a reference workflow for creating vast amounts of synthetic and robot manipulation data, making it easier and faster to train robots, like manipulators and humanoids, for a variety of tasks. NVIDIA showcases the synthetic manipulation motion generation blueprint. Robotics Leaders Harness NVIDIA Technologies for Industrial AI Image courtesy of UR. Robotics leaders are building next-generation robots, tapping into NVIDIA technologies to train, power and deploy physical AI in industrial settings. Universal Robots, a leader in collaborative robotics, introduced UR15, its fastest collaborative robot yet, featuring improved cycle times and advanced motion control. Using UR’s AI Accelerator — developed on the NVIDIA Isaac platform’s CUDA-accelerated libraries and AI models, and NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin — manufacturers can build AI applications to embody intelligence into cobots. Vention, a manufacturing automation company, announced MachineMotion AI, an automation controller designed to unify motion, sensing, vision and AI. The system taps into the NVIDIA Jetson platform for embedded computing and NVIDIA Isaac’s CUDA-accelerated libraries and models, enabling compute-intensive AI tasks such as real-time vision processing, bin-picking and autonomous decision-making. This technology shows the value AI brings to the manufacturing floor for practical deployment of robotic solutions. Standard Bots, a robotics developer, unveiled its manipulator, a 30kg-payload, 2m-reach robot that can be used for heavy-duty tooling and moving large objects in the automotive, aerospace and logistics industries. With NVIDIA Isaac Sim, a reference application built on Omniverse, robots can be taught tasks through demonstrations, eliminating the need for traditional coding or programming to free up developers for higher-value tasks. Standard Bots also announced teleoperation capabilities via a tablet device, which can efficiently collect training data. KUKA, a leading supplier of intelligent automation solutions, unveiled its KR C5 Micro-2, a small robot controller integrated with an NVIDIA Jetson extension for AI-ready applications. It will provide future KUKA robots with better AI vision and AI-based control tasks powered by NVIDIA’s software stack. NVIDIA Brings Software to Deploy AI Agents in Factories and Warehouses In addition to robots, manufacturers everywhere are increasingly turning to AI agents capable of analyzing and acting upon ever-growing video data. The NVIDIA AI Blueprint for video search and summarization (VSS), part of the NVIDIA Metropolis platform, combines generative AI, large language models, vision language models and media management services to deploy visual AI agents that can optimize processes, such as visual inspection and assembly, and enhance worker safety in factories and warehouses. This helps eliminate manual monitoring and enables rapid processing and interpretation of vast amounts of video data, helping businesses drive industrial automation and make data-driven decisions. Developers can now use their own video data to try the AI Blueprint for VSS in the cloud with NVIDIA Launchable. Industry leaders are using the blueprint for VSS to enable advanced video analytics and computer vision capabilities across domains. At Automate, Siemens will be showcasing its Industrial Copilot for Operations, a generative AI-powered assistant that optimizes workflows and enhances collaboration between humans and AI. Using the tool, shop floor operators, maintenance engineers and service technicians can receive machine instructions and guidance quicker, using natural language. The copilot uses NVIDIA accelerated computing and NVIDIA NIM and NeMo Retriever microservices from the AI Blueprint for VSS to add multimodal capabilities. Connect Tech, an edge computing company, is analyzing drone footage with the blueprint for VSS running on NVIDIA Jetson edge devices to enable real-time Q&A and zero-shot detections for hazards like fires or flooding in remote areas. DeepHow, a generative AI-powered video training platform provider, is using the blueprint to create smart videos that capture key workflows and convert them into structured training content, improving shop floor operator efficiency. InOrbit.AI, a software platform for robot orchestration, will showcase its latest improvements in InOrbit Space Intelligence, which harnesses physical AI, computer vision and the VSS blueprint to analyze robot operations and optimize real-world workflows. And KoiReader Technologies, a provider of vision and generative AI-powered automation solutions, is using the blueprint to enable true real-time operational intelligence from events occurring in supply chain and manufacturing environments. Explore the following talks to connect with NVIDIA and its partners at Automate: Industrial Autonomy in the Era of Physical AI — a keynote delivered by Talla AI to Make Human Operators Better: Leveraging Generative AI for Enhanced Worker Training and Assistance — featuring Alvin Clarke, senior developer relations manager at NVIDIA, and Sivakumar Lakshmanan, CEO of DeepHow AI Everywhere: How Intelligent Systems Are Reshaping Industrial Automation — a panel discussion featuring Christi DeCuir, senior director of robotics strategic alliances at NVIDIA Unlocking Interoperable Digital Twins for Smart Factory Innovation — featuring Heiko Wenezel, head of Omniverse segment sales at NVIDIA Accelerate AI-powered Automation: Vention’s Journey With NVIDIA — featuring Yichao Pan, product manager of Isaac Manipulator at NVIDIA, Francois Giguère, chief technology officer at Vention, and Jimmy Li, research scientist at Vention The Automate Startup Challenge — an event sponsored by NVIDIA and Microsoft, spotlighting early-stage robotics and automation companies as they pitch their solutions to a panel of industry experts Learn more about NVIDIA’s latest work in robotics and industrial AI at Automate, running through May 15.

Researchers reviewed ocean floor samples collected during the Deep Sea Drilling Project in 1975. Credit: Deposit Photos / Oleg Dorokhin Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. There was a time long ago when the Atlantic Ocean didn’t exist. The general understanding among geologists is that the body of water originated between 83 to 113 million years ago, when South America and Africa split into their two respective continents to form the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway. However, Earth’s marine history appears to require a multimillion-year revision thanks to a recent discovery roughly half a mile beneath the ocean floor. The evidence is explored in a study published in the June edition of the journal Global and Planetary Change. According to geologists at the UK’s Heriot Watt University, gigantic waves of mud and sand sediment about 250 miles off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa indicate the Atlantic Ocean actually formed around four million years earlier than previous estimates. To understand just how intense all of this movement was, imagine waves that are about half a mile long and over 300 feet high.  “A whole field formed in one particular location to the west of the Guinea Plateau, just at the final ‘pinch-point’ of the separating continents of South America and Africa,” study co-author Uisdean Nicholson explained in a statement. Nicholson and their colleagues initially came across these layers of mud waves after comparing seismic data with core samples collected from wells during the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) of 1975. Five layers in particular were utilized to recreate the tectonic processes that broke apart the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana during the Mesozoic Era. “One layer was particularly striking: it included vast fields of sediment waves and ‘contourite drifts’—mud mounds that form under strong bottom currents,” said Nicholson. These waves initially formed as dense, salty water poured out from the newly created Equatorial Atlantic Gateway, “like a giant waterfall that formed below the ocean surface,” he added. Just before the geologic event, huge salt deposits formed at the bottom of what is now the South Atlantic. After the gateway opened, the underground mudfall occurred when dense, relatively fresh Central Atlantic water in the north combined with very salty waters in the south. The resulting sedimentary evidence examined by the study’s authors now indicates this opening seems to have started closer to 117 million years ago. “This was a really important time in Earth’s history when the climate went through some major changes,” explained study co-author Débora Duarte. “Up until 117 million years ago, the Earth had been cooling for some time, with huge amounts of carbon being stored in the emerging basins, likely lakes, of the Equatorial Atlantic. But then the climate warmed significantly from 117 to 110 million years ago.” Duarte and Nicholson believe part of that major climatic change  helped from the Atlantic Ocean, as seawater inundated the newly formed basins. “As the gateway gradually opened, this initially reduced the efficiency of carbon burial, which would have had an important warming effect,” said Duarte. “And eventually, a full Atlantic circulation system emerged as the gateway grew deeper and wider, and the climate began a period of long-term cooling during the Late Cretaceous period.” The ramifications go beyond revising Earth’s geological timeline or the gateway’s role in Mesozoic climate change. Better understanding the influence of oceanic evolutionary journeys on ancient climate patterns can help to predict what the future holds for the planet.  “Today’s ocean currents play a key role in regulating global temperatures,” explained Nicholson. “Disruptions, such as those caused by melting ice caps, could have profound consequences.”

During an excavation, amidst the Patagonian winds and hard rock, a fossil began to turn green. It was an unexpected reaction: the adhesive applied to protect the bones, fragile after millions of years beneath the ice, had interacted with plant matter trapped in the rock’s cracks. This greenish hue earned the fossil the nickname Fiona, like the ogre from Shrek.But Fionais much more than a ogre-themed name. It is the first complete ichthyosaur ever excavated in Chile and, even more remarkably, the only known pregnant female from the Hauterivian — a stage of the Early Cretaceous dating back 131 million years. Her skeleton, discovered at the edge of the Tyndall Glacier in Torres del Paine National Park — an area increasingly exposed by glacial retreat — belongs to the species Myobradypterygius hauthali, originally described in Argentina from fragmentary remains.The discovery, led by Judith Pardo-Pérez, a researcher at the University of Magallanes and the Cabo de Hornos International Center (CHIC), and published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, offers an unprecedented glimpse into ancient marine life — from how these majestic reptiles reproduced to how they adapted to oceans vastly different from those of today.An Ichthyosaur Maternity Ward in Patagonia(Image Courtesy of Irene Viscor)So far, 88 ichthyosaurs have been found on the Tyndall Glacier. Most of them are adults and newborns. Two key facts stand out: food was abundant, and no other predators were competing with them.Fiona, who measures nearly 13 feet long, is still encased in five blocks of rock. Despite the challenge, she was transported to a local clinic, where CT scans allowed researchers to study her skull and body. Her species was identified thanks to one of her fins. “There’s no other like it in the world,” says Pardo-Pérez. The limbs were remarkably elongated, suggesting this animal was built for long-distance swimming.Inside her, there were more surprises. One of them was her stomach contents, which revealed what may have been her last meal: tiny fish vertebrae. But the most striking find was a fetus, about 20 inches long, already in a position to be born.“We believe these animals came to Magallanes — the southern tip of Chilean Patagonia — from time to time to give birth, because it was a safe refuge,” Pardo-Pérez says. “We don't know how long they stayed, but we do know that mortality was high during the first few days of life.”One of the big unanswered questions is where they went next, as there are no records of Myobradypterygius hauthali, apart from a piece of fin found in Argentina. The most abundant remains come from southern Germany, but those date back to the Jurassic period, meaning they’re older.Palaeontologist Erin Maxwell suggests, “In many modern ecosystems, species migrate to higher latitudes during the summer to take advantage of seasonally abundant resources and then move to lower latitudes in winter to avoid harsh conditions,” she explains. “We believe Mesozoic marine reptiles may have followed similar seasonal patterns.”Sea Dragon GraveyardThe environment where Fiona was discovered — dubbed the "sea dragon graveyard" — also has much to reveal.According to geologist Matthew Malkowski of the University of Texas at Austin, the Hauterivian age is particularly intriguing because it coincided with major planetary changes: the breakup of continents, intense volcanic episodes, and phenomena known as "oceanic anoxic events," during which vast areas of the ocean were depleted of dissolved oxygen for hundreds of thousands of years.One such poorly understood event, the Pharaonic Anoxic Event, occurred around 131 million years ago, near the end of the Hauterivian, and still raises questions about its true impact on marine life. “We don't have a firm grasp of how significant these events were for marine vertebrates, and geological records like that of the Tyndall Glacier allow us to explore the relationship between life, the environment, and Earth’s past conditions,” Malkowski notes.Evolution of IchthyosaursReconstruction of Fiona. (Image Courtesy of Mauricio Álvarez)Don't be misled by their body shape. “Ichthyosaurs are not related to dolphins,” clarifies Pardo-Pérez. Although their hydrodynamic silhouettes may look nearly identical, the former were marine reptiles, while the latter are mammals. This resemblance results from a phenomenon known as convergent evolution: when species from different lineages develop similar anatomical features to adapt to the same environment.Ichthyosaurs evolved from terrestrial reptiles that, in response to ecological and climatic changes, began spending more time in the water until they fully adapted to a marine lifestyle. However, they retained traces of their land-dwelling ancestry, such as a pair of hind flippers — absent in dolphins — passed down from their walking forebears. They lived and thrived in prehistoric oceans for about 180 million years, giving them ample time to refine a highly specialized body: their forelimbs and hindlimbs transformed into flippers; they developed a crescent-shaped tail for propulsion, a dorsal fin for stability, and a streamlined body to reduce drag in the water. Remarkably, like whales and dolphins, “ichthyosaurs had a thick layer of blubber as insulation to maintain a higher body temperature than the surrounding seawater and gave birth to live young, which meant they didn’t need to leave the water to reproduce,” explains Maxwell.Whales and dolphins also descend from land-dwelling ancestors, but their transition happened over a comparatively short evolutionary timespan, especially when measured against the long reign of the ichthyosaurs. “Their evolution hasn't had as much time as that of ichthyosaurs,” notes Pardo-Pérez. “And yet, they look so similar. That’s the wonderful thing about evolution.”Read More: Did a Swimming Reptile Predate the Dinosaurs?Fossils on the Verge of DisappearanceOne of the key factors behind the remarkable preservation of the fossils found in the Tyndall Glacier is the way they were buried. According to Malkowski, Fiona and her contemporaries were either trapped or swiftly covered by underwater landslides and turbidity currents — geological processes that led to their sudden entombment.But the good fortune that protected them for millions of years may now be running out. As the glacier retreats, exposing fossils that were once unreachable, those same remains are now vulnerable to wind, rain, and freeze-thaw cycles, which crack the surrounding rock. As vegetation takes hold, roots accelerate erosion and eventually conceal the fossils once again.“While climate change has allowed these fossils to be studied, continued warming will also eventually lead to their loss,” Maxwell warns. In Fiona’s story, scientists find not only a record of ancient life, but also a warning etched in stone and bone: what time reveals, climate can reclaim.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:María de los Ángeles Orfila is a science journalist based in Montevideo, Uruguay, focusing on long-form storytelling. Her work has appeared in Discover Magazine, Science, National Geographic, among other outlets, and in leading Uruguayan publications such as El País and El Observador. She was a fellow in the 2023 Sharon Dunwoody Mentoring Program by The Open Notebook and often explores the intersections of science, culture, and Latin American identity.

General Motors revealed Tuesday a new battery chemistry called lithium-manganese-rich (LMR), which it says should slash costs while delivering driving range that’s just shy of the most advanced batteries on the market.  “With LMR, we can deliver over 400-mile range in our in our trucks while significantly reducing our battery costs,” Kurt Kelty, GM’s vice president of battery, propulsion and sustainability, told TechCrunch. LMR will also dramatically reduce the amount of nickel and cobalt compared with GM’s most advanced cells, two critical minerals that aren’t readily available from domestic sources in the United States. Today, the Chevrolet Silverado EV uses nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cells to drive 492 miles on a full charge. That impressive range comes with a hefty price tag. The electric trucks start at over $73,000 for the general public (a fleet version costs less). GM is planning a version with cheaper lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells, which would drop the price by $6,000, but also cuts range to 350 miles.  The new technology would preserve the LFP price cuts without sacrificing as much range. GM says the new cells will be cheaper for a few reasons. For one, manganese is cheaper than cobalt or nickel. The LMR chemistry will have zero to 2% cobalt, 30% – 40% nickel, and 60% – 70% manganese. That’s significantly less than today’s leading NMC cells, which are up to 10% cobalt and 80% nickel. Previous attempts at manganese-rich batteries have tended to degrade quickly. GM thinks it has cracked the problem. The automaker experimented with a range of materials and manufacturing processes to arrive at the current formulation. Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW LMR battery packs will contain prismatic cells instead of pouches. Today’s Ultium batteries use the latter. Kelty said switching to prismatic cells, which have a rigid shell, will help the company build a battery pack with more than 50% fewer parts. “It’s a huge, huge cost savings we’ll get,” he said. GM has big plans for LMR, with the chemistry potentially spreading throughout the EV lineup. Andy Oury, business planning manager at GM, said that LMR could “take up a huge chunk in the middle” of the market, pushing LFP to entry level vehicles and pricey NMC to applications that need long range and high energy density. The new cells will be made by Ultium Cells, GM’s joint venture with LG Energy Solution. Through Ultium, the two companies have invested billions of dollars in battery manufacturing in the United States.  Both have been pursuing LMR for years. GM has more than 50 patents on LMR, though LG has also been working on the technology itself. Kelty acknowledged it’s possible that LG could make it’s own version of LMR cells that don’t infringe on GM’s patents, making the chemistry more widely available. “It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out,” Kelty said. GM’s LMR research has been underway for a decade. Its efforts kicked into high gear in the last couple years as engineers successfully produced large-format cells similar to those in EVs on the road today. GM has made about 300 large format cells so far, and its testing regime equates to around 1.5 million miles of typical driving, said Kushal Narayanaswamy, director of advanced cell engineering at the automaker. That leaves just a few short years for the company to modify its existing manufacturing plants to accommodate the new chemistry and then scale up production. Scaling, in particular, tripped up the first Ultium cells. Kelty is confident that GM can hit the 2028 target.  “It meets all our performance metrics, we have a partner that’s going to manufacture it, and we’ve got a manufacturing location,” he said. “The other thing is, the supply chain is much more local than high-nickel or LFP, so we’re really incentivized to do this. There’s a lot of things coming together here that really make us want to go quickly.”