US, Iran trade fresh strikes as Middle East tensions escalate - top developments

Recycled Water-Treatment Waste Filter Removes 97% of Microplastics

Researchers have developed a new water filtration method that repurposes waste material generated during conventional water treatment. The recycled waste is used as a filtering medium and has demonstrated a microplastic removal efficiency of up to 97% in testing. The approach addresses two environmental challenges at once by reducing treatment waste while tackling microplastic contamination. Scientists believe this circular strategy could significantly improve future water purification systems.

NYC Students Plant 100,000 Beachgrass Stalks to Shield Coney Island from Floods

Nearly 4,000 New York City public school students have participated in a coastal restoration effort at Coney Island Creek Park since 2022. The initiative is led by the National Wildlife Federation's Resilient Schools and Communities programme. Students, teachers, and community members have collectively planted over 100,000 American beachgrass culms across 2.25 acres of coastal dunes. The project is designed to stabilise dunes, curb erosion, and strengthen flood defences for more than 50,000 residents living near the park.

OpenAI claims AI solved 90-year-old maths problem; researcher alleges idea theft

OpenAI has announced that an unreleased AI model solved the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem, a longstanding Millennium Prize challenge in mathematics. The feat reportedly involved around 10,000 AI agents working collaboratively over 88 hours. However, NYU professor Tristan Buckmaster has accused OpenAI of leveraging his unpublished research approach, alleging his draft work fed into the company's Codex model over several months. OpenAI has denied deliberately accessing private user data but acknowledged it cannot fully rule out that anonymised training data may have influenced its models. The controversy raises broader questions about data privacy and intellectual ownership in AI development.

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