Africa
Big Tech Dreams of Putting Data Centers in Space
A sci-fi idea is gaining supporters, from billionaires to city councils. Whether it's feasible is another matter. All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. The companies frantically building and leasing data centers are well aware that they're straining grids, driving emissions, and guzzling water.
Say Hello to the 2025 Ig Nobel Prize Winners
The annual award ceremony features miniature operas, scientific demos, and 24/7 lectures. All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Does alcohol enhance one's foreign language fluency? Do West African lizards have a preferred pizza topping? And can painting cows with zebra stripes help repel biting flies? These and other unusual research questions were honored tonight in a virtual ceremony to announce the 2025 recipients of the annual Ig Nobel Prizes.
They shed pounds with weight-loss jabs - but then came the loose skin
After losing nearly six stone since December with the help of weight-loss injections, Emilly Murray has been left with an unwanted reminder of her former body - loose skin. I can't wear what I want to wear, says the 35-year-old from Liverpool. I cannot get my legs out because the skin hangs over my knee so much. While she doesn't regret losing weight for the benefit of her health, Emilly says the loose skin on her thighs really does get me down as it makes her feel self-conscious, and the way she looks naked makes her feel like a catfish. It looks okay when it's all pulled in, but then I feel like, when I take my clothes off, I look like a 90-year-old woman.
David Gandy: 'Britain produces some of the greatest models. We want to keep it that way'
David Gandy: 'Britain produces some of the greatest models. We want to keep it that way' The Essex-born supermodel is sitting in his light-filled kitchen, sipping a glass of water and reflecting on his almost 25-year career. At 45, Gandy's striking dark brown hair, sharp cheekbones and piercing blue eyes have been at the centre of some of fashion's most iconic campaigns of the last two decades, and he is one of the few male models to become a household name. I always say that I was inspired by the female supermodels, Gandy says, name-checking Cindy Crawford, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. You don't even need to say the surnames.
Faisal Islam: Will the US tech bromance turn around the UK economy?
In the old Camden Town Hall opposite London's St Pancras station, away from the white tie and tails of the pageantry at Windsor Castle, was perhaps the most substantive display of the consequences of Donald Trump's state visit. In front of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, many members of the British and US cabinets and the cream of the European tech industry, a highly-crafted video played, featuring the long history of UK science. It included George Stephenson, Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing and Sir Demis Hassabis, with dozens of UK start-up companies from every corner of the country listed. It was a cross between a UK government investment promotion video and the Danny Boyle 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, except for one crucial detail - it was voiced by Jensen Huang, the American Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) and microchip magnate. This week, Trump said the tech tycoon was taking over the world and the boss of the company, which hit a market value of $4tn (£2.9tn) this summer, appears to have gone all-in on the UK in quite an extraordinary way.
Drone strike on mosque kills dozens in Sudan's el-Fasher
Drone strike on mosque kills dozens in Sudan's el-Fasher NewsFeed Drone strike on mosque kills dozens in Sudan's el-Fasher At least 70 people were killed when the paramilitary RSF struck a mosque in Sudan's el-Fasher in Darfur. The attack came the same day the UN warned of deepening ethnic violence in Sudan's civil war, which has already killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. Russia becoming'more dangerous', EU foreign affairs head warns
Donald Trump Is Saying There's a TikTok Deal. China Isn't
Donald Trump Is Saying There's a TikTok Deal. Donald Trump claimed victory on a deal that would put TikTok in the hands of his allies after a call with Xi Jinping. A man walks by a TikTok sign in a shopping mall in Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang province. The United States and China may have agreed on a deal to prevent the social platform TikTok from being banned in the US --if you take US President Donald Trump's word for it. After a long-awaited call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, Trump announced victory on Truth Social: "The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!" Specifics around the shape and scope of the deal remain largely unclear as of Friday afternoon.
The Landscape of Arabic Large Language Models
Membership in ACM includes a subscription to Communications of the ACM (CACM), the computing industry's most trusted source for staying connected to the world of advanced computing. The emergence of ChatGPT marked a transformative milestone for artificial intelligence (AI), showcasing the remarkable potential of large language models (LLMs) to generate human-like text. This wave of innovation has revolutionized how we interact with technology, seamlessly integrating LLMs into everyday tasks such as vacation planning, email drafting, and content creation. While English-speaking users have significantly benefited from these advancements, the Arabic world faces distinct challenges in developing Arabic-specific LLMs. Arabic, one of the languages spoken most widely around the world, serves more than 422 million native speakers in 27 countries and is deeply rooted in a rich linguistic and cultural heritage. Developing Arabic LLMs (ALLMs) presents an unparalleled opportunity to bridge technological gaps and empower communities. The journey of ALLMs has been both fascinating and complex, evolving from rudimentary text-processing systems to sophisticated AI-driven models. This article explores the trajectory of ALLMs, from their inception to the present day, highlighting the efforts to evaluate these models through benchmarks and public leaderboards.
AI-Driven Disaster Response and Displacement Monitoring
The 2023 Türkiye-Syria earthquakes, also known as the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, were two catastrophic events that struck nine hours apart on February 6, 2023, with epicenters in the Pazarcık and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş, and magnitudes of 7.8 Mw and 7.5 Mw, respectively (see Figure 1).