Curiosity Blog, Sols 4934-4940: In the Land of the Polygons
Curiosity rover traversed light-toned, smooth terrain during sols 4934-4940 in June 2026, operating through two planning cycles. The rover's position within this orbital-imaged unit allowed it to continue systematic surface observations and geological documentation.
Restaurants can now accept orders placed directly from ChatGPT and Claude thanks to Square's new, low-fee, no setup integration
Restaurants can now accept orders placed directly through ChatGPT and Claude using Square's integration, which waives marketplace commission fees while charging standard online ordering fees of 3.3% plus $0.30 per transaction. The system pulls live inventory data to prevent customers from ordering out-of-stock items.
LLMs are stuck in a groupthink groove. This startup is trying to get them out.
# Summary Large language models exhibit predictable patterns when generating random numbers, consistently returning 7 first, then 3 or 4, then 8 or 9 when asked repeatedly. A startup is developing methods to reduce this groupthink behavior and increase the diversity of responses from these AI systems.
Caltech Welcomes Astrophysicist Ray Jayawardhana as New President
Ray Jayawardhana became Caltech's 10th president, succeeding Thomas Rosenbaum who served since 2014. Jayawardhana holds the Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and serves as professor of astronomy.
Taiwan Passes Crucial Crypto Law With Licensing Rules, Stablecoin Framework
Taiwan passed its first comprehensive crypto law establishing a licensing regime for virtual asset firms and stablecoin rules. The law imposes penalties of up to seven years in prison for unlicensed operations.
Meta, like SpaceX, looks to turn excess AI compute into cash
Meta plans to sell access to excess AI compute power and models through a new cloud infrastructure business competing with AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. The company will offer customers access to its computational resources and artificial intelligence systems.
Nations Championship 2026: Fixtures, TV channels and all you need to know about the new biennial international rugby competition
A new biennial international rugby competition called the Nations Championship begins on Saturday, July 4, 2026. Six nations will compete in the tournament format designed as an alternative to traditional championship structures.
New Law Will Protect Kids’ Lemonade Stands After State Employees Were Caught Demanding Fees
Michigan is pursuing legislation to eliminate regulations on children's lemonade stands after local health officials demanded fees from young operators. State Representative Cam Cavitt introduced the measure following complaints from his district about repeated fee demands.
NASA’s TESS Mission Finds Planetary System in New Way
TESS identified a planet using gravitational wave ripples in space-time for the first time, detecting a super-Jupiter orbiting far from its host star. This differs from TESS's standard method of finding planets that pass in front of their stars blocking light.
European Firms Providing Crypto Services Must Adhere to MiCA Rules as of July 1st
European crypto firms must comply with MiCA regulations starting July 1st to operate legally in the EEA. The Markets in Crypto Assets regulation establishes rules for crypto businesses that balance innovation with consumer protection measures.
The Download: Anthropic launches Claude Science, and California’s carbon manure math
Anthropic announced Claude Science, a new product designed to support scientific research, at an event for pharmaceutical executives, biotech founders, and researchers. The product serves as Anthropic's newest flagship offering targeting the scientific community.
The Orbital Data Center Hype Machine Is Already in Orbit
SpaceX filed an FCC application for an orbital data center constellation of up to 1 million satellites in low Earth orbit, positioned 500 to 2,000 kilometers above Earth. Deploying this many satellites would require launch cadences to scale dramatically, as only roughly 7,000 orbital launches have occurred in all of human history.
Digital resilience compounds when AI and human expertise scale together
Agentic AI is automating routine tasks like triaging false positives and log analysis that previously trained junior security and operations analysts through repetition and pattern recognition. Organizations now face a challenge of developing expert operators when AI handles the apprenticeship work that historically built deep analytical intuition over thousands of hours.
Europe’s Future Circular Collider could revolutionize particle physics—if it’s ever built
A proposed 91-kilometer circular particle collider would succeed Europe's Large Hadron Collider, with scientific support established after decades of discussion. The megaproject's construction remains uncertain despite clear scientific justification for the undertaking.
Trust, stablecoins, and the AI margin squeeze: What McKinsey and QED’s fintech report means for banks
Fintech has entered a fifth phase characterized by larger scale, profitability, and operational discipline following the previous hype cycle and market reset. Fintech IPO listings tripled investor appetite this year, with Stripe reportedly targeting a six-figure valuation.
Largest and Most Detailed Picture Taken of Milky Way’s Center–With Millions of Stars and Thousands of Worlds
The Euclid Telescope captured the most detailed image of the Milky Way's center, revealing millions of individual stars previously indistinguishable in that region. The European Space Agency's telescope orbits at the second Lagrange Point, approximately 1 million miles from Earth.
Japan’s answer to its worker shortage: An AI model for 10 million robots
Japan's government approved a national strategy to deploy 10 million AI-powered robots across 18 industries by 2040, with public funding of one trillion yen over five years. The plan addresses worker shortages through robotic deployment funded at approximately $6.1 billion.
Bank of England reviews AI rules for agentic AI in finance
The Bank of England is reviewing whether current regulations adequately cover agentic AI systems in finance that can operate without direct human oversight. Existing regulatory frameworks were not designed for AI agents operating in payments, trading, cybersecurity, and operations.
Scientists discover a surprising link between vitamin C and brain health
A study of over 2,000 older Japanese adults found that lower blood vitamin C levels correlated with reduced gray matter and weaker connections in brain networks responsible for memory and attention. Participants with insufficient vitamin C showed particular weakness in cognitive function networks.
Recent discoveries of ‘lost’ Mekong giant salmon carp renews hope for the fish
A critically endangered Mekong giant salmon carp was recorded in Cambodian waters for the fourth time since 2020, suggesting the species may still survive. The fish was formally described from the Mekong River in 1991 and had not been documented for 14 years after that initial description.
Taiwan passes crypto law, requires licenses for platforms
Taiwan enacted a cryptocurrency law requiring platforms to obtain licenses. The regulation aims to improve market integrity and consumer protection while potentially forcing smaller platforms to cease operations due to strict compliance requirements.
Physicists and AI model Claude 'collaborate' to prove a 10-year-old jamming conjecture
Physicists used the AI model Claude to prove a mathematical jamming conjecture that had remained unsolved for over 10 years. The proof of this mathematical relation was published in the Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment by Nobel laureate Giorgio Parisi and Francesco Zamponi.
Payments Firm BR-DGE Raises £10 Million
BR-DGE raised £10 million to fund international expansion, platform improvements, and new products. Bettor Capital, a US-based gaming industry investor, was among the backers of the Edinburgh payments firm.
Amex and Apple Pay Enable Users to Pay With Points
American Express cardholders can redeem Membership Rewards points directly within Apple Pay's checkout experience for everyday purchases. The feature, called "Use Pay with Points with Apple Pay," became available to eligible U.S. cardmembers as of Tuesday, June 30.
5 takeaways from Anthropic’s big science event
Anthropic launched Claude Science, a new AI version tuned for scientific research, in beta on June 30. CEO Dario Amodei stated he doesn't expect AI to compress 50-100 years of biological progress into 5-10 years until possibly a decade from now.
Kylian Mbappé at the double as France swat aside Sweden in World Cup masterclass
France defeated Sweden with two goals from Kylian Mbappé, who tied Lionel Messi for the most goals in the tournament. Michael Olise provided two assists and nearly scored a hat-trick in the dominant performance.
Anthropic Cuts AI Agent Costs With Claude Sonnet 5 Rollout
Claude Sonnet 5 can now plan, use tools like browsers and terminals, and operate autonomously at capabilities that previously required larger, more expensive models. The model is set as the default for Anthropic's Free and Pro plans.
Cosmic eruption caught in the act by submillimeter array's new fastest response system
The Submillimeter Array achieved its first rapid-response observation of a gamma-ray burst on January 26, 2026, detecting the event within minutes of discovery. Scientists captured the earliest-ever submillimeter wavelength observations of such a cosmic eruption using this new capability.
Abundant catalyst converts methane into valuable liquid chemicals
Molybdenum disulfide catalyst converts methane into methyl peroxide and other liquid oxygenates at temperatures below 100°C. The process uses an earth-abundant industrial catalyst that requires minimal modification to selectively produce methyl peroxide, a precursor for methanol.
Quantum computer simulates hadronization, reproducing string breaking with 104 qubits
A quantum computer with 104 qubits successfully simulated hadronization, a key particle physics process involving string breaking. The simulation used a simplified quantum mechanical model and was conducted remotely on an IBM quantum computer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.