• The efabless/Google/SkyWater open-source ASIC shuttle program now mandates use of the “Caravel” harness, which embeds a full microcontroller; participants view this as an unnecessary and potentially suspicious constraint on open hardware designs.  
• A new eLife paper reports a small-molecule cognitive enhancer that reverses age-related memory decline in mice, prompting skepticism about real-world viability given the long history of similar pre-clinical claims.  
• DeepMind’s latest AlphaFold advance, covered by Nature, is hailed as a “gigantic leap” in solving protein structures and predicted to “change everything” for structural biology and drug discovery.  
• A 1999 Nature article on the “COMP.BASILISK FAQ” was resurfaced, likely as a tongue-in-cheek reference to information-hazard thought experiments in AI safety circles.  
• Google Project Zero released a detailed write-up on a zero-click iOS exploit delivered over radio proximity (AWDL), highlighting ongoing vulnerabilities in mobile device stacks.  
• NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued an update on Solar Cycle 25 activity, noting rising sunspot numbers and potential impacts on satellite and terrestrial systems.