Every year, the prizes recognize the weirdest research that often raises some very serious scientific questions. Achievements that first make people laugh and then make them think. That's the motto of the Ig Nobel Prizes, an annual competition that--parodying the Nobel Prizes--recognizes some of the world's most unusual scientific studies. The organization Improbable Research has been hosting the event since 1991 with the aim of showing that science also has a humorous side in its quest to meaningfully answer questions about the world. This year the ceremony was held in Zurich, Switzerland, and recognized 10 research projects ranging from an attempt to scientifically define what a kiss is to an experiment that used buried underwear to assess soil health.

Designed to compete with OpenClaw and Instinct, the company says Muse can do everything from sell your car to book you a plane ticket. Meta announced Tuesday the release of Muse, a personal AI agent that people can message to automate digital tasks in a secure cloud environment, all while relying on security and privacy that the company says is "built into it" from the start. Meta says Muse is rolling out today for iOS and Android users in a dedicated Muse app, as well as the website Muse.ai. The company also says users can directly message Muse in WhatsApp to interact with the agent. Meta says users of its AI glasses will soon be able to interact with its Muse agent as well.

Google said it will change its Search services in the EU in an effort to sidestep some of the 890 million ( 1 billion) in fines levied by the European Commission earlier this summer. The EU charged a fine of 460 million ( 534 million) on claims that Google had abused its dominance in search to prioritize the brand's other services when displaying query results. That sanction was the latest salvo between the EU government and a US tech company for infringing on its Digital Markets Act. The debate centers on the DMA requirement that major tech brands "must not treat their own services more favorably in ranking than third-party services." Google first laid out some of its planned changes to its services in response to the Digital Markets Act in March 2024.

Now the UK government plans to introduce new legislation that would see companies face fines and potential criminal liability, and signaled similar plans could extend to Snapchat and Instagram. In June, the UK government told Big Tech it had three months to make taking, viewing, or sharing images of child nudity on their devices impossible. "I expect tech firms to make that happen," said then prime minister Keir Starmer. "But if they choose not to, then we will act and change the law." That deadline arrived on Tuesday, and the government says that the likes of Apple and Google have failed.

Look Up Back to School Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable Selects Say More Trending Now Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Creator Playbook Switch Off Mashable Voices Safety Net Versus All Series Lauren Allain is a freelance journalist covering deals at Mashable. She graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in journalism and holds an M.B.A from Webster Leiden. You can find more of her work online from publications including Reader's Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Refined, and more. When she's not writing, Lauren prefers to be outside hiking, bouldering, swimming, or searching for the perfect location for all three. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

Look Up Back to School Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable Selects Say More Trending Now Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Creator Playbook Switch Off Mashable Voices Safety Net Versus All Series Why yes, a Starfleet Delta knob and Galileo Shuttlecraft casserole dish are, in fact, a kitchen necessity. Lauren Allain is a freelance journalist covering deals at Mashable. She graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in journalism and holds an M.B.A from Webster Leiden. You can find more of her work online from publications including Reader's Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Refined, and more. When she's not writing, Lauren prefers to be outside hiking, bouldering, swimming, or searching for the perfect location for all three.

Look Up Back to School Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable Selects Say More Trending Now Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Creator Playbook Switch Off Mashable Voices Safety Net Versus All Series Just announced: The Nintendo Switch 2 is getting a'Legend of Zelda' makeover Lauren Allain is a freelance journalist covering deals at Mashable. She graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in journalism and holds an M.B.A from Webster Leiden. You can find more of her work online from publications including Reader's Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Refined, and more. When she's not writing, Lauren prefers to be outside hiking, bouldering, swimming, or searching for the perfect location for all three. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

A landmark announcement by the frontier AI lab has been overshadowed by accusations of impropriety. OpenAI said today that it has found an AI-generated solution to one of the biggest problems in mathematics --a 200-year-old equation that describes the natural behavior of fluids like water and air. The announcement appears to demonstrate the stunning power for AI to advance mathematics. But it has been marred by claims from another mathematician, Tristan Buckmaster, who says that OpenAI rushed ahead to solve the problem after learning of his and another mathematician's progress on the problem, and also then tried to influence who got credit for the work. The proof concerns the Navier-Stokes equation, one of the unsolved problems in the Clay Millennium prizes, which are each worth $1 million.

Muriel Howorth founded the Atomic Gardening Association in 1959, recruiting hundreds of members. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Muriel Howorth shows popular garden writer Beverly Nichols a two-foot-high peanut plant grown from an irradiated nut planted in her own backyard. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

Images of real children--including a member of a European royal family--were used to create some of the 350 ads containing child sexual abuse. Lawmakers say they plan to investigate. Early last month, Meta deleted around 50 ads posted on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads that directly included child sexual abuse material (CSAM), following reporting by WIRED. At the time, the company said that most of the abusive ads had been published prior to it rolling out new AI tools designed to "better detect and block" harmful ads being uploaded. That AI system, however, doesn't appear to have been entirely effective.