Wednesday, 29 July 2026
This dated roundup collects the most interesting AI and technology developments found for Wednesday, 29 July 2026.
Policy & Ethics
Mooted WA oil refinery ‘dinosaur technology’ amid clean energy transition, experts say
A feasibility study for the Western Australian project will show the project is uneconomic and requires government subsidies, experts say Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Leading Australian climate policy experts say a new oil refinery in Western Australia would be an investment in “dinosaur technology” that would require public subsidy and do little to solve the country’s fuel security. The Albanese government announced a $4m early-stage feasibility study with the WA government for a new oil refinery in the Pilbara region on Tuesday, but experts said the money would be better spent on green technology to reduce Australia’s reliance on fossil fuels. Experts told Guardian Australia doing the feasibility study was not a bad idea, but would ultimately show the project would be uneconomic and would require government subsidies. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter Continue reading...
Read moreResearch & Products
‘No plan, no budget, no promotion’: how a genre-mashing masterpiece by a forgotten New York beatnik blew Gen Z away
How did an album that began life in 1984 – fusing disco, folk, synth-pop and Chinese opera – end up as ‘one of 2026’s most thrilling releases’? And why does its creator call himself Nirosta Steel? ‘It’s kind of mind-bending,” says 69-year old Steven Hall. For the last three years, the Scottish musician has been living with his lawyer husband a few hours south of Chicago, driving an Uber for some additional income. Now, suddenly, he is being lauded by critics for his double LP My Skyscraper, released last month under the name Nirosta Steel. Compiling material recorded between 1984 and 2025, it charts a sonic landscape through disco, folk and synth-pop with detours into Chinese opera and ecclesiastical a cappella. Pitchfork called it “an archival triumph and one of the year’s most thrilling new releases”. It all came about when a label head, impressed with Nirosta Steel’s 2014 album Cool Fire, asked Hall if he had any more music. “He didn’t know what he was in for,” says Hall. The couple of dozen unreleased songs he shared spanned four decades of eclectic musicianship, and revealed a globe-trotting life and career that intersects with experimental icons such as Arthur Russell and Allen Ginsberg. Now My Skyscraper seems poised to admit Hall into that rarified pantheon of historically salvaged artists whose time has belatedly arrived. Continue reading...
Read moresqlite-utils 3.39.1
Release: sqlite-utils 3.39.1 I back-ported a fix for table.delete_where() that shipped in version 4. Tags: sqlite-utils
Read moreSaudi Arabia joins US in strikes on Iran-backed militias in Iraq
US Central Command says proxy groups launched attacks against US bases and Saudi energy infrastructure.
Read moreFIFA proposes plan to sell stakes in the World Cup, angering UEFA
Football's world governing body announces plans to sell stakes of up to 20 percent in the World Cup and other events.
Read moreJordan intercepts Iranian missiles as U.S. and Saudi Arabia strike militias in Iraq
Jordan intercepted five missiles launched from Iran, the country's military said, hours after the U.S. military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American forces.
Read moreIndustry
Cyera agrees to acquire Oasis Security for $1B to safeguard proliferating AI agents
The deal is Cyera's third acquisition this year.
Read moreLongevity AI, Clalit collaborate to improve heart disease and diabetes risk predictions
Longevity AI and researchers from Meir Medical Center of the Clalit Health Group announced a joint research collaboration to evaluate and recalibrate clinical risk prediction models for cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes using longitudinal real-world data from Clalit’s integrated healthcare system. The initiative will retrain and assess globally recognized cardiovascular and Type 2 diabetes […] The post Longevity AI, Clalit collaborate to improve heart disease and diabetes risk predictions appeared first on Longevity.Technology .
Read moreAman Clinics partners with Cenegenics to launch Qatar’s first healthy aging center in Doha
Aman Clinics, a subsidiary of Aman Hospital and a wholly owned entity of Jaidah Holdings, announced a strategic partnership with Cenegenics on 27 July 2026, to open Cenegenics at its Msheireb Downtown Doha clinic. The company claims the opening brings one of the world’s most established and scientifically driven models for proactive health optimization, healthy […] The post Aman Clinics partners with Cenegenics to launch Qatar’s first healthy aging center in Doha appeared first on Longevity.Technology .
Read moreTags: funding
As AI content floods the internet, Pangram raises $9M to detect it
Pangram has raised $9 million to scale its AI detection software. The startup has also released a new AI text detection model, Pangram 4, and an AI image detection model in research preview.
Read moreTags: hardware
Shares in Asian chip firms plunge further as AI sell-off continues
Drop comes after South Korean company SK Hynix’s results undershoot investors’ expectations Business live – latest updates Shares in companies linked to AI have plunged further after disappointing results from the South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, which sent the country’s stock market tumbling for a second day in a row . Seoul’s Kospi index, which is dominated by semiconductor manufacturers, slid by as much as 12.6% at one point on Wednesday, following on from a near 11% slump the previous day, reaching its lowest level since early April. Continue reading...
Read moreTags: ai_agents
OpenAI’s rogue agent hacked an account at a second technology firm: Report
The latest hack comes after an autonomous agent escaped a controlled test and accessed AI firm Hugging Face’s servers.
Read moreTags: announcement
Ebay and ex-executives to pay $55.7m to couple sent cockroaches in harassment campaign
Bloggers David and Ina Steiner were stalked by eBay executives over their critical coverage of the company Ebay and three former top executives have agreed to pay $55.7m to resolve a lawsuit by a Massachusetts couple who fell victim to a bizarre stalking and harassment campaign carried out by several of its employees in retaliation for their coverage of the e-commerce company in a newsletter they publish. David and Ina Steiner announced the settlement late on Monday, bringing an end to a case they filed in 2021 in Boston federal court after several former eBay employees were prosecuted for targeting them in a cyberstalking campaign that involved sending the couple cockroaches, fly larvae and a bloody Halloween pig mask. Continue reading...
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