• Nuclear startups are back in vogue with small reactors, and big challenges

    January 11, 2026

    The nuclear industry is in the mist of a renaissance. Old plants are being refurbished, and investors are showering startups with cash. In the last several weeks of 2025 alone, nuclear startups raised $1.1 billion, largely on investor optimism that smaller nuclear reactors will succeed where the broader industry has recently stumbled. Traditional nuclear reactors are massive pieces of infrastructure. The newest reactors built in the U.S. — Vogtle 3 and 4 in Georgia — contain tens of thousands of tons of concrete, are powered by fuel assemblies 14 feet tall, and generate over 1 gigawatt of electricity each. But…

  • A Coding Guide to Demonstrate Targeted Data Poisoning Attacks in Deep Learning by Label Flipping on CIFAR-10 with PyTorch

    January 11, 2026

    In this tutorial, we demonstrate a realistic data poisoning attack by manipulating labels in the CIFAR-10 dataset and observing its impact on model behavior. We construct a clean and a poisoned training pipeline side by side, using a ResNet-style convolutional network to ensure stable, comparable learning dynamics. By selectively flipping a fraction of samples from a target class to a malicious class during training, we show how subtle corruption in the data pipeline can propagate into systematic misclassification at inference time. Check out the FULL CODES here. import torch import torch.nn as nn import torch.optim as optim import torchvision import torchvision.transforms…

  • Indonesia and Malaysia block Grok over non-consensual, sexualized deepfakes

    January 11, 2026

    Officials from Indonesia and Malaysia have said they are temporarily blocking access to xAI’s chatbot Grok. These are the most aggressive moves so far from government officials responding to a flood of sexualized, AI-generated imagery — often depicting real women and minors, and sometimes depicting violence — posted by Grok in response to requests from users on the social network X. (X and xAI are part of the same company.) In a statement shared Saturday with the Guardian and other publications, Indonesia’s communications and digital minister Meutya Hafid said, “The government views the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a…

  • Spotify is no longer running ads for ICE

    January 11, 2026

    There are no recruitment ads for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) running on Spotify at the moment, the streaming service has told Variety. A spokesperson has confirmed the news after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, but they also clarified that the ads stopped running in late 2025. “The advertisements mentioned were part of a US government recruitment campaign that ran across all major media and platforms,” they explained. Spotify caught flak back in October for playing ICE ads, asking people to “join the mission to protect America,” in between songs for users on the ad-supported plan.…

  • How to change location with a VPN

    January 11, 2026

    Chances are that you’re here because you’ve heard a virtual private network (VPN) can change your virtual location, and want to know what that means. If you know already, head over to my best VPN list to learn which services I recommend for changing your location. But if you’re clueless, read on. Whenever any device connects to the internet — whether it’s a laptop, a phone or a smart Lego brick — it’s assigned a unique IP address that other devices can use to identify it. Think of the name you give the barista at a coffee shop, except instead…

  • Nissan Z facelift unveiled in Japan with more retro elements

    January 11, 2026

    With little fanfare, the Nissan Z — known as the Fairlady Z in its homeland — has been revealed at the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon. Externally, the major components of the facelift are the new front bumper, alloy wheels, and the Unryu Green hero paint option. The new bumper dispenses with the current car’s confronting slab-like rectangular grille opening in favour a wider design broken up by a body colour bar. The bumper itself is more sculpted and more cleanly continues the creases established by the bonnet. It’s not only a more cohesive design, but it decreases front lift by…

  • The CES companies hoping your brain is the next big thing in computing

    January 11, 2026

    At every CES I’ve ever been to, there’s been one or two gadgets promising to boost your mental health. In recent years, the number of companies making forays into this space has grown, and will likely continue to do so in the future. Could it be, much like the number of people wearing heart-monitoring wearables today, everyone will be strapping an EEG to their skulls a decade or so down the line? It’s more likely than you think, so it’s worth asking what these devices are good for, what benefit they could bring, and where does the science end and…

  • Elon Musk says X’s new algorithm will be made open source next week

    January 10, 2026

    X may soon provide more insight into how its algorithm works. On Saturday, Elon Musk posted on the platform to say that the company “will make the new X algorithm, including all code used to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users, open source in 7 days.” X’s recommendation algorithm has been the subject of investigations by France and the European Commission, the latter of which recently extended through 2026 a retention order that it sent to the company at the beginning of last year. And scrutiny into the platform, along with demands for accountability, have only…

  • SpaceX gets FCC approval to launch 7,500 more Starlink satellites

    January 10, 2026

    The Federal Communications Commission announced Friday that it has given SpaceX approval to launch another 7,500 of its second generation Starlink satellites, for a total of 15,000 satellites worldwide. Beyond simply allowing SpaceX to launch more satellites and expand its high-speed internet coverage, the FCC says its decision also means Starlink satellites can operate across five frequencies and to provide direct-to-cell connectivity outside the United States, along with supplemental coverage in the U.S. Reuters reports that SpaceX had requested approval for an additional 15,000 satellites, but the FCC said it would “defer authorization of the remaining 14,988 proposed Gen2 Starlink…

  • 2026 Toyota Fortuner: What could have been

    January 10, 2026

    The axe has officially fallen on the Toyota Fortuner, with the HiLux ute-based seven-seat off-road SUV not expected to return to the Japanese automaker’s lineup. But with the heavily updated ‘new-generation’ HiLux launching recently, the idea of a Fortuner borrowing its best bits from Toyota’s newest ute is something buyers would more than likely be keen to see. In fact, despite the Fortuner being discontinued in 2025, sales of the large off-road SUV were up 12 per cent year-on-year. Along with fresh-looking front and rear ends, the latest HiLux benefits from suspension updates, new safety technology, and an all-new interior…