News

Scientists Find Strongest Evidence Yet of Life on an Alien Planet Washington, 17 Apr (ONA) --- In a potential landmark discovery, scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have obtained what they call the strongest signs yet of possible life beyond our solar system, detecting in an alien planet's atmosphere the chemical fingerprints of gases that on Earth are produced only by biological processes. The two gases - dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, and dimethyl disulfide, or DMDS - involved in Webb's observations of the planet named K2-18 b are generated on Earth by living ...

OpenAI is Developing X-like Social Network PlatformWashington, 16 Apr (ONA) --- OpenAI has developed a new social network similar to X platform, formerly known as Twitter, in a move aimed at expanding the company's business beyond traditional artificial intelligence. According to a report published by American technology news website, The Verge, OpenAI has developed an internal prototype that adds a social feed to ChatGPT, suggesting the new network could be integrated into the ChatGPT application rather than launched as a standalone application. The report ...

OpenAI Unveils GPT-4.1 Models with Major Upgrades in Coding CapabilitiesWashington, 15 Apr (ONA) --- OpenAI has unveiled its latest line-up of artificial intelligence models, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and GPT-4.1 nano, marking a significant leap in performance and efficiency for developers working with the company's API. According to OpenAI, the new models deliver improved capabilities in coding, instruction adherence, and long-context comprehension. The company also announced that GPT-4.1 outperforms both the GPT-4o and GPT-4.5 models, while offering lower operational ...

IEA Report Examines AI’s Growing Impact on Energy Sector Paris, 10 Apr (ONA)--- The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released a new report analyzing the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and energy consumption. As AI adoption expands, concerns grow over its electricity demands, particularly for data centers, while also recognizing its potential to revolutionize the energy industry. The report, based on global and regional modeling, provides projections on AI’s electricity consumption over the next decade and examines which energy sources will support this ...

Heart Failure Accelerates Brain Aging: Study Washington, 8 Apr (ONA) --- A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan Medical Center in the United States has shown that people with heart failure experience a more rapid decline in cognitive function.Scientists analyzed medical data from nearly 30,000 adults with heart failure and discovered that these patients already had significant impairments in memory, attention, and problem-solving skills at the start of the study. Seven years after their heart failure was detected, their cognitive decline was ...

Study Confirms Link Between Maternal Diabetes and AutismWashington, 4 Apr (ONA) --- A new American study has shown that diabetes during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of brain and nervous system problems in children, particularly autism.The study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal, showed that diabetes diagnosed before pregnancy increases the risk of one or more neurodevelopmental disorders by 39 percent compared to gestational diabetes, which begins during pregnancy and often resolves afterward.According to the researchers, the findings ...

Google Expands AI Capabilities in Search with Advanced Visual FeaturesWashington, 8 Apr (ONA) ---- Google announced a new update that enhances the capabilities of its search engine's AI Mode, adding advanced visual features that enable it to handle various types of data, including images.The company explained in a statement on its official blog that the new update allows users to upload or take photos directly, then ask questions about their content to receive accurate answers and links to additional resources.It added that the new AI Mode "can understand the entire scene in an ...

Researchers Develop New Brain-to-Voice AI Technology inRealTime Washington, 8 Apr (ONA) --- American researchers have developed a new technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to collect complex brain signals and convert them into audible speech in real time, almost simultaneously with an individual's attempt to speak, which represents a quantum leap in the field of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). This technology, developed by a joint research team from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), ...

China Launches New Data Transmission SatelliteBeijing, 27 Mar (ONA) —- China successfully launched a new data transmission satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The Tianlian II-04 satellite was launched aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered its planned orbit. The satellite will provide data transmission, telemetry, tracking, and control services for manned spacecraft such as spacecraft and space stations, and for resource monitoring satellites in medium-Earth orbit and low-Earth orbit. ...

OpenAI Enhances Image Generation Capabilities in ChatGPTWashington, 27 Mar (ONA) —- OpenAI has announced a new update to its ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) robot, allowing users to generate images based on detailed, complex, and unconventional instructions, marking a significant development in the company's flagship product. The new version of ChatGPT is based on the GPT-4o model, which enables the robot to analyze text and images together within a single, integrated system, giving it an unprecedented ability to generate more complex and accurate images. ...

SpaceX Launches 27 New Starlink Satellites into SpaceWashington, 27 Mar (ONA) —- The American Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) launched 27 new Starlink satellites into space. The company said in a statement that the Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, USA, carrying the satellites into low Earth orbit approximately 60 minutes after liftoff. The first section of the rocket successfully returned to Earth approximately eight minutes later, landing on a SpaceX drone stationed in the Pacific Ocean. ...

Scientists Record First Evidence of Shark Making NoiseWellington, 26 Mar (ONA) —- Researchers have recorded what they believe to be the first evidence of sharks making noise, according to newly published research. The scientists recorded New Zealand rig sharks (Mustelus lenticulatus), small sharks found in coastal waters all around the country, producing clicks when handled underwater, in what they believe is the "first documented case of active sound production by a shark." Ten juvenile rig sharks - five female and five male - were used for the study over the 11-month study. The ...

Apple Announces Date of WWDC25, Promises Major Updates to its SystemsWashington, 26 Mar (ONA) —- Apple officially announced the dates for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025), which will kick off on 9 June 2025 at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, and will continue until 13 June. The conference will focus on new versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. Apple plans to make significant changes to the design of its systems this year, including updates to icons, menus, and buttons, with the aim of improving the visual ...

New Study Reveals Most ChatGPT Users Rely on It for Practical PurposesWashington, 24 Mar (ONA) —- A new study conducted by OpenAI in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab reveals that most ChatGPT users rely on it for practical purposes. The study, which analyzed nearly 40 million ChatGPT interactions, showed that users rarely seek sympathy or emotional support from AI, with their interactions focused on exchanging information and facts. The research team used two studies with different approaches to people's interactions with ChatGPT. OpenAI conducted a ...

Apple Plans to Launch Smartwatches with Cameras in 2027Washington, 24 Mar (ONA) —- Apple is planning to develop new versions of its smartwatch with built-in cameras, expected to be released by 2027. According to Bloomberg, Apple intends to integrate an in-display camera into one of its future watch models, while the camera in the more expensive Apple Watch Ultra may be located on the right side near the Digital Crown button. The cameras are not expected to support FaceTime video calling, but will instead be dedicated to the Visual Intelligence feature, which ...

WhatsApp to Soon Support Motion Photo Sharing on Android DevicesWashington, 23 Mar (ONA) —- The instant messaging app, WhatsApp, is developing a new feature that will soon allow Android users to share motion photos in individual chats, groups, and channels. According to the website "WABetaInfo," which specializes in WhatsApp news, this upcoming support for motion photos aims to expand the media-sharing capabilities of the app. Upon opening the photo and video gallery in WhatsApp, a new button dedicated to motion photos will appear, providing users with the option to send ...

WMO: Climate Change Reached New Heights in 2024Geneva, 19 Mar (ONA) —- A new report issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that climate change has reached new heights in 2024, with some of the consequences being irreversible over hundreds if not thousands of years. In a statement on its website, the Organization said, "2024 was likely the first calendar year to be more than 1.5 C above the pre-industrial era, with a global mean near-surface temperature of 1.55 0.13 C above the 1850-1900 average. This is the warmest year in the 175-year ...

James Webb Space Telescope Detects Carbon Dioxide on Exoplanets for the First TimeWashington, 18 Mar (ONA) —- The James Webb Space Telescope has, for the first time, directly detected carbon dioxide on exoplanets, observing it within the multi-planetary system HR 8799, located approximately 130 light-years from Earth. A research team from Johns Hopkins University utilized tools to block the intense light of the star, enhancing observation of its surrounding environment. The telescope employed the transit method, capturing slight brightness variations caused by the ...

NASA: Stranded Astronauts Heading Back to Earth after Nine Months in SpaceWashington, 18 Mar (ONA) —- NASA announced today that the SpaceX Dragon craft carrying the stranded US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday, at 15:25 Moscow time, landing off the coast of Florida. The astronauts went on what was meant to be an eight day mission to the International Space Station aboard a Boeing Starliner on 5 June 2024, but they were stranded on the ISS due to ...

SpaceX Launches 23 New Starlink Satellites into OrbitWashington, 16 Mar (ONA) --- Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) successfully launched 23 new Starlink satellites into space, including 13 equipped with direct-to-cell connectivity capabilities. The Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, delivering the satellites into low Earth orbit. According to the company, this marks SpaceX's third launch within just 13 hours. To date in 2025, SpaceX has conducted 31 Falcon 9 missions, with about two-thirds dedicated to ...

Google DeepMind Launches New AI Models to Help Robots Perform Physical TasksWashington, 13 Mar (ONA) --- Google DeepMind is launching two new AI models designed to help robots perform a wider range of real-world tasks than ever before." Gemini Robotics is built on Gemini 2.0, the latest version of Google's flagship AI model. During a press briefing, Carolina Parada, the senior director and head of robotics at Google DeepMind, said Gemini Robotics "draws from Gemini's multimodal world understanding and transfers it to the real world by adding physical actions as a new ...

Space Telescope SPHEREx Begins Initial Operation Seoul, 13 Mar (ONA) --- The SPHEREx, a space telescope jointly developed by South Korea and the United States, has entered an initial operation stage following its successful launch, Seoul's aerospace agency said. The SPHEREx was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, according to the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA). The SPHEREx observatory was detached from the rocket about three minutes after the launch and succeeded in communicating with Svalbard Ground Station ...

Brain Tracks Complex Social Interactions: Study London, 13 Mar (ONA) --- A new study led by University College London (UCL) revealed that our brains use fundamental "building blocks" of information to track social interactions. Published in Nature, the research shows that instead of monitoring individual players, specific brain regions respond to patterns of interaction. Using functional MRI, scientists from UCL and the University of Oxford analyzed the brain activity of 88 participants as they played a game involving a teammate and opponents. The study found that the ...

Meta Beings Testing Its First AI ChipWashington, 12 Mar (ONA) --- Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has begun testing its first in-house chip designed for training AI systems. The world's biggest social media company has begun a small deployment of the chip and plans to ramp up production for wide-scale use if the test goes well, sources said. Meta's decision to build its own AI chip is part of a longer-term strategy to reduce the company's reliance on third-party suppliers like Nvidia. The new chip is part of Meta Training and ...

Apple Issues Emergency Patches for Zero-Day VulnerabilityWashington, 12 Mar (ONA) --- Apple has released emergency software patches that address a newly identified zero-day vulnerability in the company's WebKit web browser engine. Tracked as CVE-2025-24201, an attacker can potentially escape the constraints of Webkits Web Content sandbox, potentially leading to unauthorized actions. The sandbox is a security feature that isolates untrusted web content in order to prevent malicious code from accessing critical parts of the system. Apple categorized the attack as ...

Scientists Invent Engines to Eliminate Space Debris CrisisMoscow, 12 Mar (ONA) --- Scientists from the Russian Siberian Aerospace University have invented engines for spacecraft that burn as soon as they leave their orbit and enter the atmosphere. The scientists noted that the service life of small spacecraft is 3-5 years, and most of them are not equipped with special devices to remove them from orbit and get rid of them permanently, so they remain in space for several years, posing a real danger to operating spacecraft, including the International Space Station ...

China Successfully Launches 18 Satellites into SpaceBeijing, 12 Mar (ONA) --- China launched a Long March-8 Y6 rocket today, carrying 18 satellites into space. The satellites, the fifth group of its kind, have entered the preset orbit successfully, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). They will constitute China's commercial internet constellation Spacesail. This mission signifies the dual-pad readiness of China's first commercial spaceport for future missions. The Long March-8 rocket, developed by the China Academy of Launch ...

Climate Change Threatens Satellite Safety in Low Earth Orbit: Study Washington, 11 Mar (ONA) --- Climate change is altering the conditions of near-Earth space in ways that could greatly reduce the number of satellites able to safely function in low Earth orbit by the end of the century, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Published in Nature Sustainability,the research reveals that greenhouse gas emissions are causing the upper atmosphere, particularly the thermosphere—where the International Space Station (ISS) and most ...

Apple Plans Major Software Overhaul for iPhone, iPad and MacWashington, 11 Mar (ONA) --- Apple is preparing one of the most dramatic software overhauls in the company's history, aiming to transform the interface of the iPhone, iPad and Mac for a new generation of users. The revamp - due later this year (2025) - will fundamentally change the look of the operating systems and make Apple's various software platforms more consistent, according to reports. According to the Bloomberg report, the company's revamp of its operating systems will include the style of icons, ...

Chinese Scientists Identify Six New Genera of Antarctic BacteriaBeijing, 10 Mar (ONA) --- Researchers from the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) have identified and published six new genera and seven new species of Antarctic bacteria, as announced by China's 41st Antarctic expedition team. These microorganisms represent a valuable resource for studying biological genetics and species diversity. Their potential applications are vast, spanning biopharmaceuticals, cosmetic development, industrial enzyme production, and the protection and restoration of extreme ...