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Category: policy
No sorting needed: Plasma torch shows promise for hassle-free plastic recycling
The inconvenience of separating plastics for recycling may soon be a thing of the past. A team of Korean researchers has developed the world’s first technology that can chemically recycle mixed waste plastics into raw materials in a highly selective manner without the need for strict sorting or label removal.
The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), under the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST), announced that its Center for Plasma Process for Organic Material Recycling, carried out in collaboration with the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), and several universities, has successfully developed an innovative plasma conversion process.
This process transforms a wide variety of waste plastics directly into raw chemical feedstocks, setting a new milestone for Korea’s chemical industry and environmental policy.
Shadow AI Discovery: A Critical Part of Enterprise AI Governance
MITs State of AI in Business report revealed that while 40% of organizations have purchased enterprise LLM subscriptions, over 90% of employees are actively using AI tools in their daily work. Similarly, research from Harmonic Security found that 45.4% of sensitive AI interactions are coming from personal email accounts, where employees are bypassing corporate controls entirely.
This has, understandably, led to plenty of concerns around a growing “Shadow AI Economy”. But what does that mean and how can security and AI governance teams overcome these challenges?
OpenAI’s GPT-5 Flop, AI’s Unlimited Market, China’s Big Advantage, Rise in Socialism, Housing Crisis
Questions to inspire discussion.
📊 Q: How did GPT-5 perform compared to GPT-4? A: GPT-5 was narrowly ahead of GPT-4 in artificial analysis, but GPT-4 was significantly better in “humanity’s last exam” and RKGI2, which measures tasks relatively easy for humans but hard for AIs.
🌐 Q: What is the key architectural improvement in GPT-5? A: GPT-5 has a multimodal architecture that can self-select the underlying model for a task, providing a simple, clean interface without users needing to understand technical details.
AI industry growth and economic impact.
💰 Q: How much is being invested in the AI industry annually? A: The AI industry is experiencing astronomical growth, with hundreds of billions of dollars being deployed annually, and a projected trillion dollars in the next 5 years on data centers and AI infrastructure.
📈 Q: Are there already economic returns on AI investments? A: Economic returns on AI investments are already evident, with companies like Meta and Microsoft reporting significant revenue growth and productivity gains.
New research unveils vast influence of B vitamins on health and disease
Eight essential nutrients make up the suite of B vitamins also known as the B complex. Researchers from Tufts University and elsewhere have revealed that these B vitamins influence a vast spectrum of human health and disease, including cognitive function, cardiovascular health, gastric bypass recovery, neural tube defects, and even cancer.
“It’s hard to study the B vitamins in isolation,” says gastroenterologist Joel Mason, senior scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) and professor at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and Tufts University School of Medicine. “Four of these B-vitamins cooperate as co-factors in many critical activities in cells in what we call ‘one carbon metabolism’.”
One carbon metabolism is a series of pathways that allow for the transfer of single-carbon units to cells for essential processes such as DNA synthesis, amino acid metabolism, and more. It’s their role in all these crucial biological functions that make the B vitamins so important-and so challenging to tease out how they contribute positively and, perhaps negatively, to human health.
Microsoft to disable Excel workbook links to blocked file types
Microsoft has announced that it will start disabling external workbook links to blocked file types by default between October 2025 and July 2026.
After the rollout, Excel workbooks referencing blocked file types will display a #BLOCKED error or fail to refresh, eliminating security risks associated with accessing unsupported or high-risk file types, including, but not limited to, phishing attacks that utilize workbooks to redirect targets to malicious payloads.
This change is being introduced as a new FileBlockExternalLinks group policy, which expands File Block Settings to include external workbook links.
Launch pad indicator error causes SpaceX, NASA to scrub planned static fire test of a Falcon 9 rocket ahead of the Crew-11 launch
Amazon is hoping to get a good rhythm going with the launch and deployment of Project Kuiper, its 3,232-satellite internet constellation, which began operational flights in April. The tech giant said on Thursday that its nearly $140 million investment in Florida is a cornerstone to making that happen.
While shown in the background of photos and hinted at in other public relations materials during its first three launch campaigns, Amazon confirmed on July 24 that its payload processing facility (PPF) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) entered service back in April in time to support its first operational launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket.
“There is no better place than Florida’s Space Coast to fulfill Kuiper’s promise to bring broadband to unserved and underserved across the nation and world,” said Brian Huseman, Amazon’s vice president for public policy and community engagement, in a statement. “We are proud to make investments in Florida that will impact the local community and ultimately our customers. We look forward to our long-term partnership with Space Florida, NASA, Space Force, and state and local officials, as well as our launch providers and community partners.”
Earth and Space for Educators
This FREE features Inspiration4 astronaut Chris Sembroski and educator Erin Duncan-Sembroski, along with your hosts, planetary scientist Dr. Kirby Runyon and space educator Dr. Mark Wagner. The high-energy one-hour session is focused on providing an overview of the three-day Earth and Space Experience coming up on November 7–9, 2025. Register now to learn about the geology at specific locations in Southern New Mexico, and how these sites are analogs for the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere in the solar system. Time is also allocated for a Q&A opportunity with all four speakers… come ready with questions! Participation in this also includes access to free space education resources that you can take back to share with your students or others in your community.
Note: This is appropriate for educators, industry professionals, and space enthusiasts from all walks of life. Space education is for everyone!
Chris “Hanks” Sembroski is a commercial astronaut, U.S. Air Force veteran, and passionate advocate for space exploration and STEM education. Best known for his role as Mission Specialist on the historic Inspiration4 mission in 2021, Sembroski spent three days in space, completing 47 orbits as part of the first all-civilian crew. With degrees in aeronautics and a career dedicated to advancing aerospace innovation, he has contributed to groundbreaking projects like Blue Origin’s New Glenn program and teaches as an adjunct faculty member at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Chris’s journey reflects a lifelong passion for human spaceflight, from launching model rockets in college, leading teams through simulated missions at U.S. Space Camp, to advocating for space policy in Washington, D.C. He continues to inspire the next generation through his work as a speaker, educator, and industry leader, embodying the spirit of generosity and exploration.
Evaluating AI and machine learning models in cheminformatics: benchmarking techniques and case studies
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