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Category: internet

Affordable laser could be mass-produced for use in self-driving cars and fiber optics

Laser technology is used in many areas, where precise measurements are required and in communication. This means that they are important for everything from self-driving cars to the fiber optic internet and for detecting gases in the air.

Now, a research group has come up with a new type of laser that solves several problems associated with current-day lasers. The group is led by Associate Professor Johann Riemensberger at NTNU’s Department of Electronic Systems.

“Our results can give us a new type of laser that is both fast, relatively cheap, powerful and easy to use,” says Riemensberger.

Google rolls out new Gemini model that can run on robots locally

Google DeepMind on Tuesday released a new language model called Gemini Robotics On-Device that can run tasks locally on robots without requiring an internet connection.

Building on the company’s previous Gemini Robotics model that was released in March, Gemini Robotics On-Device can control a robot’s movements. Developers can control and fine-tune the model to suit various needs using natural language prompts.

In benchmarks, Google claims the model performs at a level close to the cloud-based Gemini Robotics model. The company says it outperforms other on-device models in general benchmarks, though it didn’t name those models.

Scientists create ‘universal translator’ for quantum tech

Scientists at UBC have devised a chip-based device that acts as a “universal translator” for quantum computers, converting delicate microwave signals to optical ones and back with minimal loss and noise. This innovation preserves crucial quantum entanglement and works both ways, making it a potential backbone for a future quantum internet. By exploiting engineered flaws in silicon and using superconducting components, the device achieves near-perfect signal translation with extremely low power use and it all fits on a chip. If realized, this could transform secure communication, navigation, and even drug discovery.

Teleportation Becomes a Scientific Reality

When we think about the future of our communications, we rarely imagine that it could be hidden in the intricacies of the infinitely small. Yet, it is there, among frisky photons, that the next digital revolution could take shape. A simple photon, teleported from one point to another across the globe via the Internet, opens up dizzying horizons. Who would have thought that the key to our future exchanges would lie in an elementary particle, capable of challenging everything we thought we knew about information transmission?

Researchers at Northwestern University have recently achieved a major milestone in the field of quantum physics. They have succeeded in teleporting a photon over a distance of 30.2 km through an Internet network. This feat, once confined to the realm of science fiction novels, represents a significant advance in exploring the possibilities offered by quantum entanglement. With this accomplishment, the foundations of a future global quantum network seem to be rapidly approaching.

Iran’s State TV Hijacked Mid-Broadcast Amid Geopolitical Tensions; $90M Stolen in Crypto Heist

Cybersecurity firm Radware said nearly 40% of all hacktivist DDoS activity has been directed against Israel since the onset of the latest flare-up. On June 17, the hacktivist group DieNet warned it would launch cyber-attacks at the United States should it join the conflict against Iran.

The message has since been amplified by other groups like Arabian Ghosts, Sylhet Gang, and Team Fearless, suggesting that these entities are forming a potential collaboration in cyberspace as battle rages on the ground.

“Companies are urged to take maximum vigilance. The warning signs are clear. Critical infrastructure, supply chains, and even global businesses could become collateral targets if the cyber crossfire intensifies,” said Pascal Geenens, director of threat intelligence at Radware.

Massive 7.3 Tbps DDoS Attack Delivers 37.4 TB in 45 Seconds, Targeting Hosting Provider

“Hosting providers and critical Internet infrastructure have increasingly become targets of DDoS attacks,” Cloudflare’s Omer Yoachimik said. “The 7.3 Tbps attack delivered 37.4 terabytes in 45 seconds.”

Earlier this January, the web infrastructure and security company said it had mitigated a 5.6 Tbps DDoS attack aimed at an unnamed internet service provider (ISP) from Eastern Asia. The attack originated from a Mirai-variant botnet in October 2024.

Then in April 2025, Cloudflare revealed it defended against a massive 6.5 Tbps flood that likely emanated from Eleven11bot, a botnet comprising roughly 30,000 webcams and video recorders. The hyper-volumetric attack lasted about 49 seconds.

MIT’s Optical AI Chip That Could Revolutionize 6G at the Speed of Light

As more connected devices require greater bandwidth for activities like teleworking and cloud computing, managing the limited wireless spectrum shared by all users is becoming increasingly difficult.

To address this, engineers are turning to artificial intelligence.

Elon Musk: Digital Superintelligence, Multiplanetary Life, How to Be Useful

A fireside with Elon Musk at AI Startup School in San Francisco.

Before rockets and robots, Elon Musk was drilling holes through his office floor to borrow internet. In this candid talk, he walks through the early days of Zip2, the Falcon 1 launches that nearly ended SpaceX, and the “miracle” of Tesla surviving 2008.

He shares the thinking that guided him—building from first principles, doing useful things, and the belief that we’re in the middle of an intelligence big bang.

Chapters:

00:00 — Intro.
01:25 — His origin story.
02:00 — Dream to help build the internet.
04:40 — Zip2 and lessons learned.
08:00 — PayPal.
14:30 — Origin of SpaceX
18:30 — Building rockets from first principles.
23:50 — Lessons in leadership.
27:10 — Building up xAI
39:00 — Super intelligence and synthetic data.
39:30 — Multi-planetary future.
43:00 — Nueralink, AI safety and the singularity.

Hackers could use smartwatches to eavesdrop on air-gapped computers via ultrasonic signals

A security specialist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has found evidence that it might be possible to infiltrate an air-gap computing system using a smartwatch. Mordechai Guri has published a paper outlining his ideas on the arXiv preprint server.

Air-gap computers or computing systems are those that have been physically removed from other networks, such as the internet, as a way to make them remotely hack-proof. The only way such a computer or system could be hacked would be to gain direct or to have someone do it for them. In his paper, Guri suggests there may be another way—by using features of smartwatches.

Smartwatches, Guri notes, have all the features needed to listen for ultrasonic signals from an air-gapped computer, starting with a microphone. They also could be used for processing signals or for routing them to a speaker or a Wi-Fi device, which could broadcast them to a more sophisticated device.