Plant Population Geneticist, Bioinformatist, Scientific Idea Explorer, Soccer and Basketball Lover, and Nature Lover.
New Zealand
Joined May 2011
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JUSTIN: India is preparing to launch a new satellite for its own regional navigation system, NavIC.
The NVS-03 mission is intended to support navigation services over India and surrounding areas.
An October 26 launch listing targeted October 30, but launch schedules can change.
NavIC is India’s own satellite navigation system, designed to cover the country and an area extending roughly 1,500 km beyond it.
#India #ISRO #Space #NavIC
JUSTIN: NASA’s Swift space observatory has completed its final observations after nearly 22 years in space.
Launched in 2004 for a planned two-year mission, Swift went on to observe more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and over 1,400 supernovae.
The spacecraft has been losing altitude as atmospheric drag pulls it closer to Earth. A forecast issued on October 22 estimated re-entry around November 2, although the timing can change.
#NASA #Space #Astronomy
JUSTIN: A new research paper highlights a growing challenge in software development: AI can produce code faster, but humans still need to review it.
Researchers examined 50 documents discussing how coding agents are changing the way developers propose and review code changes.
The most frequently mentioned problem was review capacity: can reviewers keep up with the growing volume of changes?
Some projects are experimenting with new tools or restricting contributions, but most approaches still retain the traditional pull request in some form.
The paper was released as a preprint on October 26.
#AI #Coding #SoftwareDevelopment
JUSTIN: Google Cloud and NASA are testing robotic assistants for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
The proof-of-concept robots are designed to help astronauts with everyday tasks and emergencies, including retrieving and preparing medical tools.
The robots are trained using a physics simulation engine developed by Google DeepMind and use AI models fine-tuned with Google Cloud technology.
The goal is to explore how robotic assistants could support crews far from Earth.
#Google #NASA #AI #Robotics #Space
JUSTIN: A European spacecraft is approaching an asteroid that humanity deliberately hit.
ESA’s Hera mission is scheduled to arrive at the Didymos and Dimorphos asteroid system on November 4.
In 2022, NASA’s DART spacecraft crashed into Dimorphos to test whether an asteroid’s path could be changed.
Hera will examine the aftermath up close—helping scientists understand how a similar technique might one day protect Earth.
#ESA #NASA #Asteroid #Space
JUSTIN: Japan has launched a spacecraft to investigate one of Mars’ most mysterious moons.
The MMX mission lifted off on October 20 and is now on its way toward Mars.
Its goal: study the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, collect material from Phobos, and eventually bring a sample back to Earth.
Scientists hope the mission will help answer a long-standing question: Are these moons captured asteroids, or were they formed from debris after a giant impact?
#Japan #Mars #Space
JUSTIN: OpenAI has released hundreds of AI-generated mathematics manuscripts—but there’s an important next step.
On October 6, the company published 722 manuscripts covering 372 groups of related results.
OpenAI also released computer-checkable versions of some proofs and is supporting mathematicians who will examine and build on the work.
The key question now: which results will stand up to independent scrutiny?
#OpenAI #AI #Mathematics
AI 到底是不是一个烧钱的买卖？
从科技巨头最新财报来看，AI 竞赛的投入规模已经非常惊人。
#谷歌母公司Alphabet $GOOGL
2026 年第三季度，Alphabet 用于房产和设备的支出超过 510 亿美元。尽管公司当季盈利，自由现金流仍约为负 91 亿美元。
#微软 $MSFT
微软最近一个季度对计算基础设施的投资达到 452 亿美元，包括融资租赁。但在现有业务和云业务增长的支持下，微软仍产生了 186 亿美元的正自由现金流。
#Meta $META
Meta 第三季度的资本支出，包括融资租赁，达到 349 亿美元。当季自由现金流约为负 21 亿美元。
#亚马逊 $AMZN
亚马逊预计，2026 年资本支出约为 2,200 亿美元。与此同时，其云业务 AWS 第三季度营收达到 460 亿美元，同比增长 39%。
那么，AI 到底是不是一个烧钱的买卖？
目前来看，建设 AI 基础设施确实需要巨额前期投入。 公司需要购买芯片、建设数据中心、支付电力成本，而这些投资最终能带来多少回报，还需要时间验证。
但 AI 也正在通过云服务和其他产品带来收入。关键问题是：这些收入和最终产生的利润，能否支撑如此庞大的投入。
需要注意的是，上述资本支出也包括云计算和其他基础设施，并非全部用于 AI。自由现金流为负，也不一定意味着公司亏损。
#Google #Microsoft #Amazon #AI
IS AI A MONEY-BURNING BUSINESS?
The latest earnings from Big Tech show just how expensive the AI race has become.
#Alphabet / #Google $GOOGL
In the third quarter of 2026, Alphabet spent more than $51 billion on property and equipment. Its free cash flow was approximately negative $9.1 billion, even though the company reported a profit.
#Microsoft $MSFT
Microsoft invested $45.2 billion in computing infrastructure during its latest quarter, including finance leases. But it still generated $18.6 billion in positive free cash flow, supported by its existing businesses and cloud growth.
#Meta $META
Meta’s third-quarter capital expenditure, including finance leases, reached $34.9 billion. Its free cash flow was approximately negative $2.1 billion.
#Amazon $AMZN
Amazon expects to spend approximately $220 billion on capital expenditure in 2026. Its cloud business, AWS, reported third-quarter revenue of $46 billion, up 39% year over year.
So, is AI a money-burning business?
Right now, building AI infrastructure requires enormous upfront spending. Companies are buying chips, building data centers and paying for power before they know exactly how much return those investments will produce.
But AI is also generating revenue through cloud services and other products. The key question is whether that revenue—and the profit it produces—can eventually justify the spending.
One important distinction: these capital spending figures include cloud and other infrastructure, not just AI. And negative free cash flow does not necessarily mean a company is losing money.