Could Ukraine hold a presidential election right now? Will Europe use frozen Russian assets to fund war? How can Ukraine rebuild China ties? 'Ukraine is running out of men, money and time' How does the cutoff of Starlink terminals affect Russia's moves in Ukraine? A heavy Russian Geran drone struck a fast-moving train in northern Ukraine on January 27, killing five, wounding two and starting a fire that disfigured the railway carriage.

Plus: Apple's Lockdown mode keeps the FBI out of a reporter's phone, Elon Musk's Starlink cuts off Russian forces, and more. An analysis by WIRED this week found that ICE and CBP's face recognition app Mobile Fortify, which is being used to identify people across the United States, isn't actually designed to verify who people are and was only approved for Department of Homeland Security use by relaxing some of the agency's own privacy rules. WIRED took a close look at highly militarized ICE and CBP units that use extreme tactics typically seen only in active combat. Two agents involved in the shooting deaths of US citizens in Minneapolis are reportedly members of these paramilitary units. And a new report from the Public Service Alliance this week found that data brokers can fuel violence against public servants, who are facing more and more threats but have few ways to protect their personal information under state privacy laws.

In a pine forest on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the only active nickel mine in the US is nearing the end of its life. At a time when carmakers want the metal for electric-vehicle batteries, nickel concentration at Eagle Mine is falling and could soon drop too low to warrant digging. Demand for nickel, copper, and rare earth elements is rapidly increasing amid the explosive growth of metal-intensive data centers, electric cars, and renewable energy projects. But producing these metals is becoming harder and more expensive because miners have already exploited the best resources. Here's how biotechnology could help . What we've been getting wrong about AI's truth crisis What would it take to convince you that the era of truth decay we were long warned about--where AI content dupes us, shapes our beliefs even when we catch the lie, and erodes societal trust in the process--is now here?

Ukraine hails'real results' after Musk restricts Russian Starlink use Elon Musk's efforts to stop Russia from using Starlink satellites for drone attacks have delivered real results, a Ukrainian official said. Praising the SpaceX founder as a true champion of freedom and a true friend of the Ukrainian people, defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Musk had swiftly responded when he was told Russian drones with Starlink connectivity were operating in the country. The drones have been linked to a number of recent deadly attacks by Russia on Ukraine, including one on a moving passenger train which left six people dead. Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorised use of Starlink by Russia have worked, Musk wrote on X. Let us know if more needs to be done.

Elon Musk has suggested he could buy Ryanair and called for its chief executive to be fired amid a deepening spat between the pair. The budget airline on Tuesday branded the Tesla chief executive an idiot, and used the extraordinary row to promote its January sale. Musk and Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary have been trading insults over the past week after O'Leary rejected the idea of using Musk's Starlink technology to provide wi-fi on flights. The two are among the world's most outspoken business chiefs, with Musk the world's richest man with an estimated net worth of $769bn (£573bn), and O'Leary running Europe's busiest airline. A statement on Ryanair's X account on Tuesday evening said: Perhaps Musk needs a break?? Ryanair is launching a Great Idiots seat sale especially for Elon and any other idiots on'X'.

The popularity of commercial nuclear reactors has surged in recent years as worries about climate change and energy independence drowned out concerns about meltdowns and radioactive waste. The problem is, building nuclear power plants is expensive and slow. A new generation of nuclear power technology could reinvent what a reactor looks like--and how it works. Advocates hope that new tech can refresh the industry and help replace fossil fuels without emitting greenhouse gases. Here's what that might look like . Next-gen nuclear is one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies this year.

Plus: State-sponsored AI hacking is here, Google hosts a CBP face recognition app, and more of the week's top security news. The United States issued a seizure warrant to Starlink this week related to satellite internet infrastructure used in a scam compound in Myanmar. The action is part of a larger US law enforcement interagency initiative announced this week called the District of Columbia Scam Center Strike Force. Meanwhile, Google moved this week to sue 25 people that it alleges are behind a "staggering" and "relentless" scam text operation that uses a notorious phishing-as-a-service platform called Lighthouse. WIRED reported this week that the US Department of Homeland Security collected data on Chicago residents accused of gang ties to test if police files could feed an FBI watchlist--and then, crucially, kept the records for months in violation of domestic espionage rules .

Virgin Media O2 is set to become the first mobile operator to offer UK customers automatic connectivity via satellite in places without mobile signal. O2 Satellite will be an optional service due to launch in the first half of 2026. The firm has not yet revealed how much it will cost, but it will be an additional fee to pay each month. O2 has partnered with Elon Musk's satellite business Starlink to offer the service. Enabled smartphones will automatically switch to satellite coverage in parts of the UK where there is no terrestrial signal available - for example in rural areas.

Plus: OpenAI's AI-powered web browser is coming We're thrilled to share the latest edition of MIT Technology Review magazine, digging into the future of the human body, and how it could change in the years ahead thanks to scientific and technological tinkering. The below stories are just a taste of what you can expect from this fascinating issue. To read the full thing, subscribe now if you haven't already. But is this the next step in human evolution or something more dangerous? Bonnie Tsui's piece digs into how our bodies learn to remember . MIT Technology Review Narrated: How Antarctica's history of isolation is ending--thanks to Starlink "This is one of the least visited places on planet Earth and I got to open the door," Matty Jordan, a construction specialist at New Zealand's Scott Base in Antarctica, wrote in the caption to the video he posted to Instagram and TikTok in October 2023.

In the era of mega-constellations, the need for accurate and publicly available information has become fundamental for satellite operators to guarantee the safety of spacecrafts and the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space environment. This study critically evaluates the accuracy and reliability of publicly available ephemeris data for a LEO mega-constellation - Starlink. The goal of this work is twofold: (i) compare and analyze the quality of the data against high-precision numerical propagation. By analyzing two months of real orbital data for approximately 1500 Starlink satellites, we identify discrepancies between high precision numerical algorithms and the published ephemerides, recognizing the use of simplified dynamics at fixed thresholds, planned maneuvers, and limitations in uncertainty propagations. Furthermore, we compare data obtained from multiple sources to track and analyze deorbiting satellites over the same period. Empirically, we extract the acceleration profile of satellites during deorbiting and provide insights relating to the effects of non-conservative forces during reentry. For non-deorbiting satellites, the position Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) was approximately 300 m, while for deorbiting satellites it increased to about 600 m. Through this in-depth analysis, we highlight potential limitations in publicly available data for accurate and robust Space Situational Awareness (SSA), and importantly, we propose a data-driven model of satellite decay in mega-constellations. Keywords: Starlink, Low Earth Orbit, Physics-Informed Machine Learning, Space Situational Awareness, Satellite Decay 1. Introduction As the number of active satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) continues to grow, ensuring their safe operation has become a complex challenge. Accurate trajectory prediction and collision avoidance are now essential, as overcrowding in LEO has significantly raised the likelihood of orbital collisions [1]. Such events not only threaten the functionality of space assets but also contribute to the accumulation of debris, increasing the risk of chain reaction scenarios like the Kessler syndrome [2].