From surveys of the pre-Sputnik skies to analysis of interstellar visitors, scientists are rethinking how and where to look for physical traces of alien technology. Science fiction is awash in the material remnants of extraterrestrial civilizations, which surface in everything from the classic books of Arthur C. Clarke to game franchises like and . The discovery of the first interstellar objects in the solar system within the past decade has sparked speculation that they could be alien artifacts or spaceships, though the scientific consensus remains that all three of these visitors have natural explanations. That said, scientists have been anticipating the possibility of encountering alien artifacts since the dawn of the space age. "In the history of technosignatures, the possibility that there could be artifacts in the solar system has been around for a long time," says Adam Frank, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester.

A research team has successfully imaged a nova in high resolution--and the images suggest that the nova was not a single, impulsive explosion. The Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA Array) at Georgia State University has generated detailed images of the early stages of two nova explosions that were detected in 2021. Through near-infrared interferometry, a process that combines light from multiple telescopes, the CHARA Array was able to capture in high resolution the rapidly changing conditions of their early post-explosion phase. A nova is an astronomical phenomenon that occurs in a binary system when a white dwarf strips its companion star of hydrogen-rich gas, causing a thermonuclear runaway reaction on the white dwarf's surface. The name derives from the sudden brightening that makes it appear as though a new star has appeared in the night sky.

We're pleased to announce that we will be giving an introduction to science communication for AI researchers at AAAI this year. This will be held on Wednesday 21 January from 13:00 - 14:30. The session is part of the Undergraduate Consortium programme. However, if you are attending the conference and fancy finding out how you can communicate your research to a general audience in different formats, then you are more than welcome to join us. The session will comprise a talk, a Q&A, and the opportunity to try some of the activities presented in the tutorial. You will have the opportunity to receive advice on any science communication ideas or questions you have.

AI-driven pirated manga is booming. Can AI also help curb it? Japan's content industry -- which includes anime, manga and video games -- is a major export the country. Such exports were valued at ¥6 trillion ($38 billion) in 2024. When it comes to pirated manga online, which is being produced quicker thanks to artificial intelligence, government officials in Japan are planning to fight fire with fire and use AI to crack down on it.

As Europe's longstanding alliance with the US falters, its push to become a self-sufficient AI superpower has become more urgent. As the relationship between the US and its European allies shows signs of strain, AI labs across the continent are searching for inventive ways to close the gap with American rivals that have so far dominated the field. With rare exceptions, US-based firms outstrip European competitors across the AI production line--from processor design and manufacturing, to datacenter capacity, to model and application development. Likewise, the US has captured a massive proportion of the money pouring into AI, reflected in the performance last year of its homegrown stocks and the growth of its econonmy . The belief in some quarters is that the US-based leaders --Nvidia, Google, Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic, and the like--are already so entrenched as to make it impossible for European nations to break their dependency on American AI, mirroring the pattern in cloud services.

Ed Zitron on big tech, backlash, boom and bust: 'AI has taught us that people are excited to replace human beings' His blunt, brash scepticism has made the podcaster and writer something of a cult figure. But as concern over large language models builds, he's no longer the outsider he once was I f some time in an entirely possible future they come to make a movie about "how the AI bubble burst", Ed Zitron will doubtless be a main character. He's the perfect outsider figure: the eccentric loner who saw all this coming and screamed from the sidelines that the sky was falling, but nobody would listen. Just as Christian Bale portrayed Michael Burry, the investor who predicted the 2008 financial crash, in The Big Short, you can well imagine Robert Pattinson fighting Paul Mescal, say, to portray Zitron, the animated, colourfully obnoxious but doggedly detail-oriented Brit, who's become one of big tech's noisiest critics. This is not to say the AI bubble burst, necessarily, but against a tidal wave of AI boosterism, Zitron's blunt, brash scepticism has made him something of a cult figure. His tech newsletter, Where's Your Ed At, now has more than 80,000 subscribers; his weekly podcast, Better Offline, is well within the Top 20 on the tech charts; he's a regular dissenting voice in the media; and his subreddit has become a safe space for AI sceptics, including those within the tech industry itself - one user describes him as "a lighthouse in a storm of insane hypercapitalist bullshit".

Iranian refugee' viral video shows woman lighting cigarette with burning image of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking global protests as Trump weighs military action.

'No reasons to own': Software stocks sink on fear of new AI tool The new year was supposed to bring opportunities for beaten-down software stocks. Instead, the group is off to its worst start in years. The release of a new artificial intelligence tool from startup Anthropic on Jan. 12 rekindled fears about disruption that weighed on software makers in 2025. TurboTax owner Intuit tumbled 16% last week, its worst since 2022, while Adobe and Salesforce, which makes customer relationship management software, both sank more than 11%. All told, a group of software-as-a-service stocks tracked by Morgan Stanley is down 15% so far this year, following a drop of 11% in 2025.

Socks, salsa and stand-up comedy... easy ways to find joy in January There is a reason it is called Blue Monday. Slap-bang in the middle of a month that is all about freezing drizzle and self-denial, the third Monday in January is notoriously the gloomiest day of the year. But some of us are fighting back. Here are some ways to find joy among the January gloom. Laughter is a great tonic.

Apart from the snow and the temperature Greenland does not have much in common with the Swiss alps. But the fight for the future of the island looms over the gathering of world leaders and businesses at the World Economic Forum (WEF) this week. Indeed the timing of Donald Trump's extraordinary threat must have had in mind this meeting. And that is beyond strange given the views of his base. Last year, he beamed himself into the WEF from the White House, appearing before an audience of largely bewildered European executives just two days after his inauguration.