Air-stable, ultrathin superconductors developed for more scalable quantum devices
Scientists developed air-stable superconductors measuring just one to a few atoms thick that resist rapid degradation. These ultrathin materials enable more compact and scalable quantum devices compared to conventional superconductors.
Long-term study suggests landfill methane emissions are far higher than estimates
Landfill methane emissions measured continuously at a New Jersey site were found to be significantly higher than current estimates, according to a Columbia University study. Researchers used ground-based measurements to determine that U.S. and global methane pollution calculations from landfills may be substantially underestimated.
Experimental drug turns cancer's favorite fuel against it
An experimental drug blocks cancer cells' ability to metabolize sugar, their primary fuel source for rapid growth. The approach attempts to starve cancer cells by preventing them from accessing glucose, their preferred energy source.
Dutch Bros Coffee buys dozens of Salad and Go stores that abruptly closed: See a full list of locations in 4 states
Dutch Bros Coffee acquired 51 Salad and Go locations across Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Oklahoma after the salad chain's bankruptcy filing this week. The purchase followed Salad and Go's collapse due to a cyclosporiasis outbreak and financial strain from over-leveraged expansion in 2021.
Laser scanning may help prevent urban trees from falling
Researchers used LiDAR technology to create 3D digital models of urban trees by generating point clouds with millions of coordinates. This laser-scanning approach maps tree architecture precisely to assess health and guide pruning decisions that reduce falling risk.
Sapiom Secures $35 Million to Help Companies Control AI Agent Costs
Sapiom raised $35 million in Series A funding to expand its platform for shipping, running, and scaling AI agents. The round closed 11 months after the company's founding and 6 months after its $15 million seed round.
Meta enters the AI coding wars with Muse Spark 1.2 and Muse Code with persistent async background agents
Meta released Muse Code, a terminal-based AI coding agent in beta, alongside Muse Spark 1.2 models for handling complete software engineering tasks across large repositories. The system performs planning, code writing, and validation and is installable on macOS or Linux with a single curl command.
Why Lightspeed is going all-in on creator-led venture capital
Lightspeed Venture Partners hired Claire Zau, a seed investor with a major Instagram following, to build trust with next-generation founders. The move follows similar investments by a16z in Erik Torenberg's Turpentine podcast and OpenAI in TBPN, reflecting a trend of venture firms leveraging creators' influence.
Meta AI Releases Muse Code (Beta): A Terminal Coding Agent Powered by the New Muse Spark 1.2 Model
A terminal coding agent called Muse Code plans, writes, and validates code across large repositories using the Muse Spark 1.2 model. The system maintains async background agents throughout sessions and uses a local append-only event log for crash recovery and exact runtime replay.
E.l.f. Beauty acquired Rhode for $1 billion a year ago. It’s been a great investment so far
E.l.f. Beauty's acquired brand Rhode achieved $160 million in net sales this quarter, up from $212 million for the full year before its acquisition. Rhode became Sephora North America's number one brand by some metrics and sold three products every second upon launching there.
Demis Hassabis steps down as DeepMind CEO, plus more Google leadership changes
Demis Hassabis stepped down as DeepMind CEO to become chair of Google DeepMind and chief scientist at Alphabet, a newly created role. Koray Kavukcuoglu, the former chief technology officer, will become senior vice president of DeepMind while retaining his position as Google's chief AI architect.
Anthropic confirmed it is designing custom chips for Claude. It wants engineers who have “shipped silicon.”
Anthropic is designing custom silicon chips for its Claude AI model to improve performance and efficiency at scale. The company is building an internal team and seeking engineers with experience shipping silicon products.
Dangote’s $5bn listing signals new era for Africa’s markets
Dangote's five billion dollar listing represents a major infrastructure investment on African capital markets. The refinery asset demonstrates confidence in Africa's industrial capability at an unprecedented scale.
SkinBit Raises $6M Pre-Seed to Improve Early Skin Cancer Detection Through Full-Body Imaging
SkinBit secured $6 million in pre-seed funding to develop full-body skin imaging technology that creates consistent patient records of skin changes over time. The platform replaces single annual examinations with standardized imaging and computer analysis for early skin cancer detection.
A prestigious university used AI to monitor its entrance exam. It turned into a disaster
An AI proctoring system missed widespread cheating during Mexico's largest university entrance exam, with high scores jumping from 0.9% to 5.5% of test-takers. Nearly 160,000 applicants took the online exam monitored by AI software called Territorium, which watched through webcams while a browser called LockDown restricted computer access.
10x Banking Raises £40 Million from AshGrove Capital
10x Banking secured £40 million in funding from AshGrove Capital to expand sales and go-to-market efforts. The company achieved EBITDA-positive status and surpassed 10 million live accounts while onboarding 10+ new financial institutions in the last 12 months.
Yann LeCun’s second attempt at a VC fund lands with $100M and Gemini’s co-lead as a partner
A venture capital fund called 224 Ventures launched with over $100 million in assets under management, with Yann LeCun and Oriol Vinyals as partners. Vinyals previously served as Gemini's co-technical lead at Google DeepMind before joining the new firm.
A startup that slashes AI agent bills just raised $35M. Anthropic is a backer.
Sapiom, a startup positioned between AI agents and the models they operate on, raised $35 million in Series A funding led by Dragonfly. The round brings total funding to $50 million across a seed and Series A completed within 17 months of the company's launch.
Washington Commanders to sign four-time Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs
Stefon Diggs agreed to join the Washington Commanders on a deal worth up to 12 million dollars. The 32-year-old four-time Pro Bowl receiver posted his seventh 1,000-yard season in the past eight years with the New England Patriots last season.
NASA’s IXPE May Have Proven 90-Year-Old Theory
NASA's IXPE conducted over 140 hours of observations of a magnetar and detected X-ray polarization patterns matching predictions from nearly a century-old physics theory. The results, published in Nature, represent the first direct measurement of empty space exhibiting the theoretically predicted behavior.
Google is cutting 52 jobs in Washington the same week it lost four star researchers
Google is permanently laying off 52 employees in Washington state. The company provided no reason for the cuts and stated they did not result from work relocation or outsourcing.
Anthropic built an inspection layer that lets enterprises block sensitive data before it reaches Claude
Anthropic launched inference hooks for Claude Enterprise that route every prompt through a customer's security server for inspection before Claude processes it. The system checks both prompts and tool calls, blocking sensitive data if the security server returns a deny verdict.
Used for Centuries as Poison, Larkspur, Wolfsbane May Become Medicine After Lab Breakthrough
Researchers synthesized medicinal compounds from toxic plants wolfsbane and larkspur in a laboratory for the first time. These plants have traditionally been used to treat pain, malaria, cancer, and pests despite their poisonous properties.
Wordsmith Extends Series B With $14 Million to Scale AI for In-House Legal Teams
Wordsmith AI secured a $14 million Series B extension led by Intact Private Capital to help in-house legal teams use AI for work traditionally outsourced to external counsel. New investors FT Ventures joined existing backers Highland Europe and Index Ventures in the funding round.
Jamie Dimon recruits bank and IT leaders to tackle AI risks
Jamie Dimon is recruiting banking and IT leaders to form an industry group addressing AI risks from rapid corporate adoption. The group aims to tackle challenges posed by widespread AI implementation across the business sector.
‘Flat housing market’ forces Zillow layoffs: Real estate company sheds 7% of jobs in second round of cuts this year
Zillow laid off over 500 employees, representing 7% of its workforce, citing a flat housing market and need for cost efficiency. This marks the company's second round of cuts this year, following a 3% workforce reduction in January.
IEEE Course Teaches How to Use AI to Modernize Power Grids
Millions of digital sensors and smart meters generate continuous data streams that human operators cannot process fast enough, requiring automated computer analysis. Texas's largest power transmission utility reported 220 gigawatts of new connection requests, driven largely by data center energy demands.
Reddit’s new Rules Hub uses AI to enforce moderation by intent, not keywords. Automod’s other features stay.
A moderation system called Rules Hub uses large language models to evaluate whether posts match community rule intent rather than keywords. The system works alongside Post & Comment Guidance and Safety Filters to replace Automod's enforcement capabilities while keeping Automod's other features.
Google named the new boss of Gemini 4. Both of Gemini’s co-leads quit the same day
Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat departed Google after 27 years to start a new company called Discovery Loop. Google appointed a new leader for Gemini while two co-leads of Gemini also quit the same day.
Artemis III Orion Crew and Service Models Joined
The Orion crew and service modules were joined together on July 30, 2026, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew module will carry four astronauts: three NASA astronauts and one ESA astronaut named Luca Parmitano.