🇧🇷 China's Huawei and UK's Aggreko to develop storage system project in Brazil's Amazon

China's Huawei will sell batteries to British business Aggreko for a renewable energy project in Brazil's Amazon region, in what is expected to become the country's largest-ever energy storage system. Huawei's batteries will run alongside solar plants set up in microgrids across Brazil's Amazonas state, in order to diversify Aggreko's power supply in the region away from polluting thermal plants.

"It's an extremely disruptive project, the largest microgrid project currently in the Americas," Barbara Pizzolato, off-grid director at Huawei in Brazil.

Aggreko's project will cost about 850 million reais ($165.55 million) and take up to three years for full implementation, with the first plants coming online between 2027 and 2028. It's expected that the microgrids will supply energy to communities in 24 locations in Amazonas state, including in large cities such as Tefe, home to about 75,000 people.

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🔬 FDA-approved seizure drug may stop Alzheimer’s before it starts

Scientists at Northwestern University report that they have identified the location and timing of toxic protein buildup in Alzheimer’s patients. The team also found that an inexpensive drug already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can interrupt the process before the damage begins.

Amyloid-beta 42, known as particularly harmful fragment, accumulates inside synaptic vesicles, the small sacs neurons use to release chemical signals and communicate with one another. When the scientists treated animals and human neurons with levetiracetam, a widely prescribed anti-seizure medication, the drug blocked the formation of amyloid-beta 42. By preventing production of the peptide, levetiracetam stopped the chain of events that leads to amyloid plaque buildup.

However, people at high risk for Alzheimer’s might need to begin taking levetiracetam at early stages and this drug is cleared from the body relatively quickly. Now the scientists are now working to develop improved versions that would remain active longer and more precisely target the mechanism that blocks the formation of amyloid plaques.

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↗️ AI coding startup Cursor hits $2 billion annual sales rate

Cursor’s annualized revenue topped $2 billion in February, a figure that underscores the wide popularity of the AI coding assistant. About 60% of the revenue is coming from corporate customers.

At less than 5 years old, Cursor has become one of the fastest-growing startups of all time. Its product is now ingrained in the daily routine of software programmers at businesses ranging from tech companies like OpenAI to consumer brands such as Instacart, Spotify and Uber to organizations not generally associated with software, like AB InBev’s Budweiser beer brand.

Cursor was valued at $29.3 billion in November in a funding round, making it one of the most valuable AI startups in the US. The software has helped introduce a new style of programming known as vibe coding, where developers can create complicated software using relatively simple prompts, letting the AI do most of the work.

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🆕 AI data centers may not need constant peak power, study finds

The trial involving National Grid Plc., Nvidia Corp., Emerald AI and EPRI indicates AI data centers can quickly adjust their consumption when asked. At a London site, operators cut electricity use by roughly a third within about a minute of receiving a signal from the grid, without disrupting workloads. In one live test, an AI facility reduced demand by 10% for 10 hours.

Data centers may not require perfectly steady supply. Instead of acting as rigid, always-on loads, data centers could respond to grid conditions, easing demand during system stress or absorbing surplus renewable power. If operators agree to curb usage at peak times, networks may not have to be built to meet their theoretical maximum demand continuously. 🤔

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🧑‍⚖️ Washington state bill would ban employers from forcibly microchipping workers

The Washington State Legislature website describes House Bill 2303 as a law that prohibits employers from microchipping employees. Introduced earlier in the year by Dem. Reps. Brianna Thomas and Lisa Parshley, HB 2303 explicitly states that businesses “may not request, require, or coerce any employee to have a microchip implanted in the employee for any reason.”

The bill has officially passed through the House and a Senate committee with bipartisan support, and is now on its way to becoming a law. While there aren’t any known instances of the scenario (so far), a pair of lawmakers in Washington state hope to ensure it stays that way. HB 2303 currently states hypothetical corporate violators will receive a minimum fine of $10,000 for the first offense, followed by $20,000 charges for each additional infraction.

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🤖 US scientists build first rewritable DNA hard drive for molecular data storage

Researchers at the University of Missouri in Columbia have created a storage system that enables information written into DNA to be edited, therefore transforming it from a one-time storage medium into a rewritable digital hard drive.

DNA storage converts the bits into sequences of letters, including A, C, G, and T, the four nucleotide bases that form the genetic code. Until now, DNA storage has been permanent - the information could not be edited or reused, which limited it mainly to long-term archiving. To address the limitation, the team developed a method that allows DNA-stored data to be erased and overwritten repeatedly. This is crucial for storage systems meant for everyday use.

DNA can act like a modern hard drive, and keep its exceptional storage density and long lifespan. Also it stores information in three dimensions rather than on flat chips offering added protection against hackers. The long-term goal is to miniaturize the platform to a compact, USB-sized format.

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💻 Apple launches new MacBooks with M5 chips, bigger base storage

Apple on Tuesday unveiled updated MacBook Air ‌and MacBook Pro models, featuring its latest M5-series chips and bigger base storage. The update includes a new MacBook Air powered by Apple's latest M5 chip and higher-end MacBook Pro models equipped with the new M5 Pro and M5 Max processors, ⁠which the company says deliver significant gains in performance and on-device AI capabilities.

The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,099 and now comes with 512 gigabytes of storage as standard, double the base storage of the previous generation. The 14-inch MacBook Pro models powered by the M5 Pro chip start at $2,199 and now come with 1 terabyte of storage as standard, up from 512GB in many earlier base configurations.

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⚡️🇺🇸U.S. President Trump criticizes Banks for undermining 'Genius Act'

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed strong disapproval of banks, accusing them of threatening and undermining the 'Genius Act.' Trump emphasized that such actions are unacceptable and pose a significant challenge to the implementation of the act.

The 'Genius Act' is the first piece of crypto legislation passed in the U.S. to give a roadmap for stablecoin issuers. Also Trump emphasized the importance of safeguarding the crypto industry for the benefit of Americans. He highlighted the need to protect this emerging sector from potential undermining by financial institutions.

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🤝 Keysight, Qualcomm partner on RF digital twins for 5G, 6G networks

Keysight Technologies Inc. and Qualcomm Technologies Inc. announced a collaboration to develop high-precision radio frequency digital twins for massive multiple-input multiple-output development in 5G-Advanced and emerging 6G networks, according to a press release statement.

The companies will demonstrate the technology at Mobile World Congress 2026 at Keysight’s booth in Hall 5. The demonstration will show a photorealistic RF digital twin of Qualcomm Technologies’ massive MIMO prototype network on its San Diego campus, created using Keysight’s Channel Studio RaySim and Qualcomm Technologies’ massive MIMO algorithms.

Realistic RF digital twins are essential for developing and validating advanced beamforming and AI-based optimization techniques. The collaboration aims to help chipset, device and network equipment manufacturers predict and optimize massive MIMO performance prior to deployment.

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🆕 Diagnostics startup Droplet Biosciences partners with Nvidia to speed cancer testing

Diagnostics firm Droplet Biosciences said that it is collaborating with Nvidia to use the chipmaker's AI infrastructure to speed up post-surgery ‌cancer test results. The company has been using Nvidia Parabricks, a GPU-accelerated software suite, to speed up genomic data analysis for DNA sequencing.

Droplet said its method can detect residual disease in 24 hours by analyzing lymphatic fluid collected post surgery, compared to the four to six weeks it typically takes for tumor ⁠remnants to appear in blood-based tests.

"By leveraging NVIDIA Parabricks' acceleration, we've been able to compress some of our most computationally intensive steps from more than a day down to just a few hours," said Droplet's chief scientific officer, Wendy Winckler in a statement.

Faster turnaround allows patients to get the results while still in the hospital, while avoiding extra visits or long waits for traditional blood tests.

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⚡️US and Ecuadorian forces have launched joint operations to combat drug trafficking

Southern Command, which encompasses 31 countries through South and Central America and the Caribbean, said in a statement on X that the “decisive action” was aimed at combating illicit drug trafficking. The Ecuador defense ministry said details of the offensive operations were classified.

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🇨🇦🇮🇳 Canada, India strike $1.9 billion uranium supply agreement as they firm ties

Canada and India struck a new energy partnership, including a deal worth 2.6 billion Canadian dollars (US$1.91 billion), for Canadian firm Cameco to supply uranium to India for nuclear energy from 2027 to 2035.

A new Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the two countries will be concluded this year, which aims to double two-way trade to C$70 billion by 2030. There are other agreements signed with India were to boost cooperation on critical minerals and technology. 🤝

"Canada and India have immense strengths and growing ambitions in the technology sector, particularly in AI, quantum, and aerospace," - the statement said.

#BRICS

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📰 OpenAI is reportedly looking at contract with NATO

OpenAI is considering a contract to deploy its AI technology on North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) "unclassified" networks, days after the ‌ChatGPT-owner struck a deal with the Pentagon.

During a townhall, CEO Sam Altman said that OpenAI is considering deploying its AI technology on NATO’s classified networks. However, it was later clarified that Altman misspoke and the deal with NATO is an opportunity for unclassified networks.

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🧑‍⚖️ Indiana to enact bill allowing crypto investments in retirement plans after governor's sign-off

Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed House Bill 1042 into law, advancing a measure that allows certain state retirement programs to gain crypto exposure.

HB 1042 requires several public savings and retirement plans — including the legislators' defined contribution plan, the Hoosier START education savings program and certain public employee and teacher retirement accounts — to offer a self-directed brokerage option that includes at least one crypto investment product.

Beyond investment access, the bill also establishes protections for crypto asset users. It bars state and local authorities from imposing special taxes or fees on the use of crypto as payment for lawful goods and services, or on individuals who maintain custody of their assets through self-hosted wallets.

Under the law, plan administrators must provide access to crypto-linked investments by July 1, 2027, according to the bill text.

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🤖 Meta to create new applied AI engineering organization

Meta Platforms is establishing a new applied AI engineering organization within its Reality Labs division to support the company’s superintelligence initiatives. The new teams will operate under the leadership of Maher Saba within the Reality Labs division, which oversees Meta’s metaverse and AI glasses projects. The organization will report to Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth.

New teams will have an unusually ‘flat structure’ with up to 50:1 ratio of individual contributors to managers. The group will work in close partnership with Meta Superintelligence Labs to oversee the development of Meta's frontier AI models. The new organization will have two distinct teams: one focused on building interfaces and internal tooling, and another dedicated to helping feed the AI with data.

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🔥 RedStone launches price feeds on Stellar: XLM Definitely

Oracle provider RedStone has launched its price feed infrastructure on the Stellar mainnet and made price data accessible for major crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), PayPal USD (PYUSD), and Franklin Templeton BENJI tokenized money market fund. This infrastructure is designed to support DeFi applications such as lending markets, decentralized exchanges (DEX), and tokenized real-world asset (RWA) platforms developed on Stellar.

RedStone's Stellar integration opens the XLM $0.1608 ecosystem to DeFi. Stellar's low-fee structure is becoming ideal for RWA tokenization.

Assets like BTC, ETH, USDC, PYUSD, and BENJI can now access real-time prices on Stellar DEXes. This strengthens lending protocols and RWA platforms. XLM is evolving from traditional payments to DeFi.

#Stellar

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💻 Apple announces $599 MacBook Neo running A18 Pro chip

In simultaneous events in New York, London, and Shanghai, the company showed off the MacBook Neo, which runs on the Apple A18 Pro processor (2 performance cores, 6 efficiency cores, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine), previously used to run the iPhone 16 Pro. This new system still made of aluminum. Apple says the MacBook Neo can last up to 16 hours on a single charge thanks to its 36.5 WHr battery.

Apple says that the MacBook Neo will start at $599 for the 256GB version and will be available in silver, indigo, blush, and citrus. The 512GB version will come with Touch ID and be priced at $699. Both versions ship with just 8GB of RAM and support Apple Intelligence, and there are no build-to-order options for additional RAM.

In a statement, John Ternus, Apple’s hardware engineering chief, said that the MacBook Neo was “built from the ground up to be more affordable for even more people.”

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🇺🇸 Trump to meet tech giants on energy pledge ahead of midterms

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet today with ‌leaders of major technology companies, including Google, Meta and OpenAI, to formalize a pledge aimed at protecting consumers from rising electricity costs tied to the rapid expansion of energy‑intensive data centers.

The White House has said the so‑called "Ratepayer Protection Pledge," announced by Trump in his State of the Union Address, ​would see tech firms commit to measures designed to ensure the boom in AI infrastructure does not translate ​into higher utility bills for households and small businesses.

“President Trump’s ratepayer protection pledge will deliver more ⁠affordable, reliable, and secure energy for the American people and help stop the rising electricity prices that started during the previous ​administration,” - Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.

Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI, and Amazon will sign the pledge, a White ​House official said. 🤝

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⚡️🇺🇸Donald Trump: 'We want to dominate the cryptocurrency space'

"So the U.S. is leading by a lot. We're leading everybody. Other countries are very much into it. They all want it but we're going to be dominant in this field which is really important. In crypto we want to be dominant," - said Trump.

Yesterday U.S. President Donald Trump took a clear side on the ongoing debate over stablecoin yield that is holding up the passage of broad crypto market structure legislation in the U.S.

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