This technique enables the artificial intelligence model that plans a robot's motion to forecast its future position. The model uses this prediction to seamlessly transition current movements into the next actions. Many existing methods cause a robot to stop and think about what it needs to do next, leading to slow and jerky motions. By basing its calculations on the future state of the robot, rather than its current position, the MIT method helps robots operate much faster. This new method doubled the speed of robots performing activities like pick-and-place tasks, while significantly reducing lag time between motions. It also boosted the performance of robotic arms in highly dynamic activities, such as playing table tennis and Whack-a-Mole. The system could be especially useful for robots that perform fast and agile maneuvers in challenging real-world environments, like emergency response or search-and-rescue. It could also allow robots to react more quickly when recovering from mistakes....

That is the challenge facing sites run by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which funds the Diamond Light Source ' the national synchrotron facility in Harwell ' as well as other scientific instruments and labs. The remodelling comes amid an overhaul to UK public research funding in line with the government's strategic priorities, and during a rocky period for UK science. The country's new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has merged the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology into a larger Department of Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. Patrick Vallance, a clinical scientist popular among research leaders, resigned as science minister on 20 July. Chemical engineer Chris McDonald, a member of the UK parliament who had a prior career in industry research, was appointed to the role on 24 July. The Labour government, led by former prime minister Keir Starmer until 20 July, promised that the budget for the country's main research funder, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), would grow from '8.8 billion in 2025'26 to '10 billion in 2029'30. But under this plan, cash for 'curiosity-driven research' ' meaning mostly that led by individual researchers through grants ' would stay roughly flat. By contrast, spending on strategic government priorities, such as artificial intelligence, supporting businesses and investing in talent and infrastructure, including computing resources, would receive most of the increase. AI is slated to get more than '1.6 billion over four years....

' Hey, Linas here! Every day, I break down 3 stories shaping the future of FinTech & Artificial Intelligence - plus the money movements and trends worth tracking. First time here' 397k+ FinTech and AI leaders get this daily. Join them: Liang Wenfeng has given roughly two interviews in his life. So when a 3-hour-44-minute recording of DeepSeek's founder walking his new shareholders through the entire playbook (pricing math, GPU counts, the Huawei bet, a step-by-step AGI roadmap) leaked out of a May 20, 2026 closed-door meeting, it instantly became the most complete picture available of the AI lab that erased $589 billion of Nvidia's NVDA 0.00%' market value in a single trading day in January 2025. The meeting was Liang's debrief for the incoming investors in DeepSeek's first external financing ever: roughly '50 billion (~$7.4 billion) at a post-money valuation of about $52 billion, per a regulatory filing surfaced by Caixin, from Tencent, CATL, JD.com and NetEase, with Liang personally putting in around '20 billion (~$3 billion) of his own money. Within weeks, a follow-on round was reportedly in early talks at around $70 billion '...

In The Odyssey, Homer records the earliest imaginings of autonomous ships guided by what sounds remarkably like artificial intelligence to modern readers. The ships of the Phaeacians, which carry Odysseus home to Ithaca, 'know every city, every fertile land'. They 'have no steersmen', and 'know by instinct what their crews are thinking and propose to do'. Homer's epic tells of the adventures and mishaps of Odysseus as he struggles home from the Trojan War. Along with its prequel, The Iliad, it is a foundational piece of literature with roots as far back as 1600 bc. But for all The Odyssey's fantastical tales of monsters and magic, it also gives glimpses into the science, medicine and technology of the Homeric world. After being transmitted orally for centuries, The Odyssey was written down during the Iron Age, around 800 bc. Accordingly, it reflects an anachronistic mix of metalwork, from iron knives and gates to bronze spears and swords that reflect its late Bronze Age roots. There are also hints of steel production....