Oceania
Sum-of-Squares Degree Barriers for the Reweighted-Hinge Method in Robust Halfspace Learning: A Christoffel-Function Characterization
A certificate that removes outliers sees the data only through its low-degree moments, and an adversary exploits exactly this, hiding corruption where the clean data already looks typical, in the blind spot no bounded-degree test resolves. That blind spot turns out to have an exact size: the Christoffel function of the clean marginal, the very quantity modern data analysis thresholds to detect outliers, here read from the adversary's side as the corruption a bounded-degree certificate cannot remove. We turn this inversion into the organizing principle of the reweighted-hinge approach to robustly learning $ฮณ$-margin halfspaces under malicious noise (Shen, 2025; Zeng and Shen, 2025): the governing resource is the Sum-of-Squares degree of the outlier-removal certificate, and the resolution principle states that the maximal corruption mass which can hide at a center $c$ from a degree-$2t$ certificate is exactly the Christoffel function $ฮป_{t+1}(c)$ of the clean marginal. Three consequences follow, all against the certificate method (not information-theoretic). A margin-degree tradeoff: certifying the dense pancake to error $ฮต$ costs SoS degree $ฮฉ(\log(1/ฮต))$ or margin $ฮฉ(\sqrt{\log(1/ฮต)}/\sqrt{d})$, explaining why the $\log(1/ฮต)$ margin Shen (2025) records is forced, with a weighted-Chebyshev reduction making the threshold $2t=ฮ((|c|/s)^2)$ tight modulo one classical weighted-extremal estimate. A degree-$2$ outlier barrier: the resolution principle realized as an explicit instance on which degree $2$ is stuck at $ฮท^{1/2}$ while degree $4$ escapes, locating the method's small breakdown rate in the degree, not the analysis. And a degree-$2t$ algorithm tracing the frontier $ฮท^{1-1/2t}$ (recovering Shen (2025) at $t=1$), whose gain is an explicit constant, capped by the pancake density and shown unimprovable by the degree-$2$ barrier.
ACT as Human: Multimodal Large Language Model Data Annotation with Critical Thinking
Supervised learning relies on high-quality labeled data, but obtaining such data through human annotation is both expensive and time-consuming. Recent work explores using large language models (LLMs) for annotation, but LLM-generated labels still fall short of human-level quality. To address this problem, we propose the Annotation with Critical Thinking (ACT) data pipeline, where LLMs serve not only as annotators but also as judges to critically identify potential errors. Human effort is then directed towards reviewing only the most "suspicious" cases, significantly improving the human annotation efficiency. Our major contributions are as follows: (1) ACT is applicable to a wide range of domains, including natural language processing (NLP), computer vision (CV), and multimodal understanding, by leveraging multimodal-LLMs (MLLMs).
Andrew Hastie compares AI to cold-war nuclear arms race and warns Australia may fall behind
Andrew Hastie has said the education system should be overhauled so'we can unleash Australian hearts and minds on AI'. Andrew Hastie has said the education system should be overhauled so'we can unleash Australian hearts and minds on AI'. Liberal MP says Australia risks sovereignty and strategic independence being'constrained by the AI superpowers reshaping the global order' Liberal MP Andrew Hastie says Australia should dramatically scale up investment in artificial intelligence to preserve strategic independence and warns the country risks being "a supplicant state" tethered to the US in an era of possible hot conflict with China. In a major address to Liberal members in Sydney on Monday night, the shadow minister for industry and sovereign capability likened the development of AI to the nuclear arms race of the cold-war era and proposed Australia position itself as a technology hub in the southern hemisphere. Delivering the annual Tom Hughes Oration, Hastie called for a new AI ambassador to be appointed and said the education system should be overhauled "so we can unleash Australian hearts and minds on AI". He said prime ministers, including Robert Menzies and John Gorton, had wrestled with the question of Australia pursuing nuclear capability, but ultimately aligned our security settings with Washington.
UMU-Bench: Closing the Modality Gap in Multimodal Unlearning Evaluation
Although Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) have advanced numerous fields, their training on extensive multimodal datasets introduces significant privacy concerns, prompting the necessity for effective unlearning methods. However, current multimodal unlearning approaches often directly adapt techniques from unimodal contexts, largely overlooking the critical issue of modality alignment, i.e., consistently removing knowledge across both unimodal and multimodal settings. To close this gap, we introduce UMU-Bench, a unified benchmark specifically targeting modality misalignment in multimodal unlearning. UMU-Benchconsists of a meticulously curated dataset featuring 653 individual profiles, each described with both unimodal and multimodal knowledge. Additionally, novel tasks and evaluation metrics focusing on modality alignment are introduced, facilitating a comprehensive analysis of unimodal and multimodal unlearning effectiveness. Through extensive experimentation with state-of-the-art unlearning algorithms on UMU-Bench, we demonstrate prevalent modality misalignment issues in existing methods. These findings underscore the critical need for novel multimodal unlearning approaches explicitly considering modality alignment.
Orochi: Versatile Biomedical Image Processor
Deep learning has emerged as a pivotal tool for accelerating research in the life sciences, with the low-level processing of biomedical images (e.g., registration, fusion, restoration, super-resolution) being one of its most critical applications. Platforms such as ImageJ (Fiji) and napari have enabled the development of customized plugins for various models. However, these plugins are typically based on models that are limited to specific tasks and datasets, making them less practical for biologists. To address this challenge, we introduce Orochi, the first application-oriented, efficient, and versatile image processor designed to overcome these limitations. Orochi is pre-trained on patches/volumes extracted from the raw data of over 100 publicly available studies using our Random Multi-scale Sampling strategy.
Goblin shark filmed in its native habitat for the first time
One of these mysterious sharks was spotted 2,300 feet deeper than scientists expected. 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. The goblin shark was first described in 1898. 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 .
Espresso brewed with soundwaves instead of heat tastes just as good
The process is 75 percent more energy efficient--and makes a great cup of joe. 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. The new method makes espresso in less than three minutes. 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 .
Canada proposes teen social media ban - with workaround for tech firms
Canada is proposing a social media ban for children and teenagers under the age of 16, mirroring a similar law passed in Australia late last year. But unlike Australia's law, tech firms could sidestep Canada's ban if they demonstrate they have policies to minimise harm to minors. The law includes sweeping measures to regulate AI chatbots and curtail harmful content online. It would create a regulator to ensure tech firms comply. Some free speech groups have warned it would expand censorship.
Orochi: Versatile Biomedical Image Processor
Deep learning has emerged as a pivotal tool for accelerating research in the life sciences, with the low-level processing of biomedical images (e.g., registration, fusion, restoration, super-resolution) being one of its most critical applications. Platforms such as ImageJ (Fiji) and napari have enabled the development of customized plugins for various models. However, these plugins are typically based on models that are limited to specific tasks and datasets, making them less practical for biologists.