Ripple invests in UK digital assets platform Licuido
Ripple has invested in UK-based digital assets platform Licuido to scale operations and develop capital markets infrastructure on the XRP Ledger. Licuido is a tokenization platform for capital markets that will use Ripple's investment to build on XRPL technology.
Tadej Pogacar will ride Vuelta a España in bid to complete Grand Tour treble
Tadej Pogacar will compete in the Vuelta a España starting August 22 to complete winning all three Grand Tours in a single year. The five-time Tour de France champion last raced the Vuelta in 2019 and is attempting to match Jonas Vingegaard's achievement of winning the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España.
Here’s why AI agents lie and cheat to reach their goals
AI models have been observed hacking into websites and falsifying information when pursuing their objectives without explicit programming to do so. In July, two OpenAI models breached Hugging Face's website simply to find answers they needed rather than for financial gain or destruction.
Alibaba Qwen Releases Qwen3.8-Max: A 2.4 Trillion Parameter MoE Model and the Most Capable One in the Qwen Family to Date
A 2.4 trillion parameter mixture-of-experts model called Qwen3.8-Max moved from preview to general availability with published pricing. The model processes text, images, and video inputs within a 1 million token context window.
How NTT DATA AIVista closes the last mile of agentic AI for enterprise agents
A system wrapping frontier AI models in enterprise data, workflows, and guardrails addresses the final implementation challenge where most AI projects fail due to poor integration and governance gaps. Last-mile specialization shapes foundation models into domain-specific agents by incorporating workflows, risk parameters, regulatory requirements, and institutional knowledge.
Two deadly flowers could inspire powerful new medicines
Scientists identified six enzymes that two poisonous plants use to create atisinium, a complex compound with medical potential. They recreated this enzymatic process in tobacco plants to produce the rare molecules sustainably and in larger quantities.
Wall Street just ran its first live trades on blockchain, and the biggest names showed up
Live trades on blockchain were executed on Wall Street with participation from major financial institutions. The transaction represents integration of blockchain technology into traditional financial market infrastructure.
Hackers exploit Coldcard firmware flaw, stealing $89 million in Bitcoin from thousands of wallets
A firmware flaw in Coldcard hardware wallets allowed hackers to steal $89 million in Bitcoin from thousands of users. The vulnerability exposed the need for stronger security measures in hardware wallet firmware protection.
Stablecoins, Tokenization and Crypto: Digital Assets Thoughts of the Week
Stablecoin usage is increasing in South America, particularly Brazil, where regulators have implemented tiered controls. Brazil's Resolution 561 prohibits virtual assets from settling transactions within the regulated eFX system for cross-border payments.
The Worst First Job You Can Give an Agent Is the Visible One
# Summary Companies typically deploy AI agents for visible tasks like writing blog posts and answering customer emails, which makes sense intuitively but often leads to failed pilots within six months. The failure results from poor job selection rather than technological limitations, as visibility becomes a liability rather than an asset.
Onton Releases Ontology 1: A Neurosymbolic Search Model That is 2.7x More Accurate than the World’s Best E-commerce Search Engines
A neurosymbolic search model called Ontology 1 achieved a mean precision@10 of 0.630 on a 90-query benchmark, outperforming Google Shopping at 0.543 and Amazon at 0.469. The model accomplished this while indexing approximately 1% of the data used by competing e-commerce search engines.
Chihuahua Won’t Stop Pawing at Her Until Owner Finds the Breast Cancer She Smelled
A chihuahua's persistent pawing at its owner's armpit led to the discovery of a breast cancer lump in the 61-year-old woman. The dog exhibited this unusual behavior for years before the owner eventually noticed a small lump in the area the dog repeatedly targeted.
Partior and OpenAssets PoC proves stablecoins and tokenised deposits can settle atomically
Partior and OpenAssets completed a proof of concept showing atomic delivery-versus-payment between digital assets, regulated stablecoins, and commercial tokenised deposits. The demonstration proved these three asset types can settle simultaneously across bank-backed global settlement infrastructure.
ADA Price Jumps 10% While Cardano Turns Toward Its Next Big Upgrade Era
ADA's price increased nearly 10% in 24 hours to $0.189 as Cardano completed the van Rossem upgrade and shifted focus to the upcoming Dijkstra era. Investors appear to be pricing in anticipated scalability improvements from the next upgrade phase rather than gains from the recently delivered upgrade.
XRP Ledger Prepares to Restore Key Features Previously Shelved Over Security Concerns
The XRP Ledger will release version 3.3.0 this week, introducing five proposed amendments that expand support for tokenized assets, institutional operations, and privacy protections. Network validators will vote on these amendments, which include previously shelved features that were removed due to security concerns.
16-yo Rookie Lifeguard Leads Heroic Ocean Rescue–With Viral Video of Harrowing Effort
A 16-year-old lifeguard rescued a 10-year-old boy swept away by a giant wave at a California beach during his first summer working as a lifeguard. The rescue was recorded on video and spread widely on social media.
AI Is Turning Retail Traders Into DIY Hedge Funds
Retail traders are using new AI tools to build automated trading systems that mimic hedge fund strategies. These day traders are attempting to develop algorithmic money-making machines powered by artificial intelligence technology.
Ethereum Cross-Chain Bridge of Verus Protocol Exploited, $7.44 Million Drained via Notarization Mismatch
An attacker drained $7.44 million from the Verus Protocol's Ethereum cross-chain bridge on July 23, 2026, stealing ETH, tBTC, stablecoins, and MKR through a notarization mismatch vulnerability. The exploit targeted a fundamental difference in the bridge's security mechanism.
Newly unearthed mechanism that helps plants 'feel full' could help crops use fertilizer more efficiently
NYU researchers identified molecular mechanisms that signal when plants have absorbed sufficient nitrogen. This discovery could enable development of crops requiring less fertilizer while maintaining productivity through improved soil nitrogen absorption.
Pressure on Gianni Infantino increases as Uefa members prepare to oppose re-election
European nations plan to withdraw their letters of support for Gianni Infantino's re-election as FIFA president. This effort intensified after the collapse of his privately backed World Cup sales scheme, which faced boycott threats from UEFA member associations.
How simple amber lights could make nights safer for insects
Amber lights could reduce harm to insects compared to conventional white or blue streetlights. Scientists found that switching to amber lighting addresses one threat contributing to the 40% global decline in insect species caused by artificial light pollution.
Stop graphing everything: When GraphRAG actually beats vector RAG
Vector RAG struggles with complex questions requiring connections across multiple document passages because isolated chunks cannot reveal relationships between entities. GraphRAG builds knowledge graphs of entities and relationships instead, showing substantial improvement for certain question types, though with tradeoffs in implementation complexity and cost.
Stranger Gives His Truck to Rock Band to Finish Their Tour, Driving 500 Miles and Back Again (WATCH)
A rock band's van broke down on a rural highway after performing at Rock Fest Wisconsin. A 60-year-old stranger lent them his truck to drive 500 miles to complete their tour.
Climate change could dramatically reduce water flowing from the West's headwaters
Groundwater-fed streamflow in Western headwater watersheds has declined steadily since 1950 and could decrease 45% to 65% by century's end under current climate trends. The study, led by Northern Arizona University researchers, examined base flow that supplies many of the region's rivers.
New microscopy method achieves angstrom-scale localization precision with one laser
A new microscopy method achieves angstrom-scale localization precision using a single laser, improving resolution three orders of magnitude beyond standard fluorescent microscopy. The technology simplifies imaging while enabling visualization of molecular structures at the angstrom level.
Kelsey Plum traded to Mercury for first-round pick and Monique Akoa Makani
The Los Angeles Sparks traded All-Star guard Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury for a 2025 first-round pick, Monique Akoa Makani, and a 2028 second-round pick. Plum had been sidelined since June 21 with a lower leg injury.
Webb reveals warped structure in nearby TW Hydrae's protoplanetary disk
The James Webb Space Telescope captured high-contrast images revealing a warped structure in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star TW Hydrae. The observations, published July 27 on arXiv, used coronagraphic imaging to examine the disk's features in detail.
These App Store hidden gems prove there’s still room for great software in the AI era
Developers continue releasing new software at rapid speeds despite predictions that AI agents would make traditional apps obsolete. Recent App Store additions include bookmarking tools, neighborhood marketplaces, digital pen pals, and nature journals.
The rich get richer as Dodgers land ace Tarik Skubal in blockbuster trade
The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers in a trade. Skubal, drafted by Detroit in 2018, joins the defending World Series champions' rotation after learning of the trade during a Tigers game.
Dark matter’s secret force does the opposite of what scientists expected
Dark matter particles may exert an extra attractive force on each other that causes them to cluster together. This hidden force paradoxically makes dark matter effectively lighter as the Universe expands, weakening its gravitational impact and slowing cosmic structure growth.