News

New Study Reveals Most ChatGPT Users Rely on It for Practical PurposesWashington, 24 Mar (ONA) —- A new study conducted by OpenAI in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab reveals that most ChatGPT users rely on it for practical purposes. The study, which analyzed nearly 40 million ChatGPT interactions, showed that users rarely seek sympathy or emotional support from AI, with their interactions focused on exchanging information and facts. The research team used two studies with different approaches to people's interactions with ChatGPT. OpenAI conducted a ...

Apple Plans to Launch Smartwatches with Cameras in 2027Washington, 24 Mar (ONA) —- Apple is planning to develop new versions of its smartwatch with built-in cameras, expected to be released by 2027. According to Bloomberg, Apple intends to integrate an in-display camera into one of its future watch models, while the camera in the more expensive Apple Watch Ultra may be located on the right side near the Digital Crown button. The cameras are not expected to support FaceTime video calling, but will instead be dedicated to the Visual Intelligence feature, which ...

WhatsApp to Soon Support Motion Photo Sharing on Android DevicesWashington, 23 Mar (ONA) —- The instant messaging app, WhatsApp, is developing a new feature that will soon allow Android users to share motion photos in individual chats, groups, and channels. According to the website "WABetaInfo," which specializes in WhatsApp news, this upcoming support for motion photos aims to expand the media-sharing capabilities of the app. Upon opening the photo and video gallery in WhatsApp, a new button dedicated to motion photos will appear, providing users with the option to send ...

WMO: Climate Change Reached New Heights in 2024Geneva, 19 Mar (ONA) —- A new report issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that climate change has reached new heights in 2024, with some of the consequences being irreversible over hundreds if not thousands of years. In a statement on its website, the Organization said, "2024 was likely the first calendar year to be more than 1.5 C above the pre-industrial era, with a global mean near-surface temperature of 1.55 0.13 C above the 1850-1900 average. This is the warmest year in the 175-year ...

James Webb Space Telescope Detects Carbon Dioxide on Exoplanets for the First TimeWashington, 18 Mar (ONA) —- The James Webb Space Telescope has, for the first time, directly detected carbon dioxide on exoplanets, observing it within the multi-planetary system HR 8799, located approximately 130 light-years from Earth. A research team from Johns Hopkins University utilized tools to block the intense light of the star, enhancing observation of its surrounding environment. The telescope employed the transit method, capturing slight brightness variations caused by the ...

NASA: Stranded Astronauts Heading Back to Earth after Nine Months in SpaceWashington, 18 Mar (ONA) —- NASA announced today that the SpaceX Dragon craft carrying the stranded US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday, at 15:25 Moscow time, landing off the coast of Florida. The astronauts went on what was meant to be an eight day mission to the International Space Station aboard a Boeing Starliner on 5 June 2024, but they were stranded on the ISS due to ...

SpaceX Launches 23 New Starlink Satellites into OrbitWashington, 16 Mar (ONA) --- Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) successfully launched 23 new Starlink satellites into space, including 13 equipped with direct-to-cell connectivity capabilities. The Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, delivering the satellites into low Earth orbit. According to the company, this marks SpaceX's third launch within just 13 hours. To date in 2025, SpaceX has conducted 31 Falcon 9 missions, with about two-thirds dedicated to ...

Google DeepMind Launches New AI Models to Help Robots Perform Physical TasksWashington, 13 Mar (ONA) --- Google DeepMind is launching two new AI models designed to help robots perform a wider range of real-world tasks than ever before." Gemini Robotics is built on Gemini 2.0, the latest version of Google's flagship AI model. During a press briefing, Carolina Parada, the senior director and head of robotics at Google DeepMind, said Gemini Robotics "draws from Gemini's multimodal world understanding and transfers it to the real world by adding physical actions as a new ...

Space Telescope SPHEREx Begins Initial Operation Seoul, 13 Mar (ONA) --- The SPHEREx, a space telescope jointly developed by South Korea and the United States, has entered an initial operation stage following its successful launch, Seoul's aerospace agency said. The SPHEREx was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, according to the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA). The SPHEREx observatory was detached from the rocket about three minutes after the launch and succeeded in communicating with Svalbard Ground Station ...

Brain Tracks Complex Social Interactions: Study London, 13 Mar (ONA) --- A new study led by University College London (UCL) revealed that our brains use fundamental "building blocks" of information to track social interactions. Published in Nature, the research shows that instead of monitoring individual players, specific brain regions respond to patterns of interaction. Using functional MRI, scientists from UCL and the University of Oxford analyzed the brain activity of 88 participants as they played a game involving a teammate and opponents. The study found that the ...

Meta Beings Testing Its First AI ChipWashington, 12 Mar (ONA) --- Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has begun testing its first in-house chip designed for training AI systems. The world's biggest social media company has begun a small deployment of the chip and plans to ramp up production for wide-scale use if the test goes well, sources said. Meta's decision to build its own AI chip is part of a longer-term strategy to reduce the company's reliance on third-party suppliers like Nvidia. The new chip is part of Meta Training and ...

Apple Issues Emergency Patches for Zero-Day VulnerabilityWashington, 12 Mar (ONA) --- Apple has released emergency software patches that address a newly identified zero-day vulnerability in the company's WebKit web browser engine. Tracked as CVE-2025-24201, an attacker can potentially escape the constraints of Webkits Web Content sandbox, potentially leading to unauthorized actions. The sandbox is a security feature that isolates untrusted web content in order to prevent malicious code from accessing critical parts of the system. Apple categorized the attack as ...

Scientists Invent Engines to Eliminate Space Debris CrisisMoscow, 12 Mar (ONA) --- Scientists from the Russian Siberian Aerospace University have invented engines for spacecraft that burn as soon as they leave their orbit and enter the atmosphere. The scientists noted that the service life of small spacecraft is 3-5 years, and most of them are not equipped with special devices to remove them from orbit and get rid of them permanently, so they remain in space for several years, posing a real danger to operating spacecraft, including the International Space Station ...

China Successfully Launches 18 Satellites into SpaceBeijing, 12 Mar (ONA) --- China launched a Long March-8 Y6 rocket today, carrying 18 satellites into space. The satellites, the fifth group of its kind, have entered the preset orbit successfully, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). They will constitute China's commercial internet constellation Spacesail. This mission signifies the dual-pad readiness of China's first commercial spaceport for future missions. The Long March-8 rocket, developed by the China Academy of Launch ...

Climate Change Threatens Satellite Safety in Low Earth Orbit: Study Washington, 11 Mar (ONA) --- Climate change is altering the conditions of near-Earth space in ways that could greatly reduce the number of satellites able to safely function in low Earth orbit by the end of the century, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Published in Nature Sustainability,the research reveals that greenhouse gas emissions are causing the upper atmosphere, particularly the thermosphere—where the International Space Station (ISS) and most ...

Apple Plans Major Software Overhaul for iPhone, iPad and MacWashington, 11 Mar (ONA) --- Apple is preparing one of the most dramatic software overhauls in the company's history, aiming to transform the interface of the iPhone, iPad and Mac for a new generation of users. The revamp - due later this year (2025) - will fundamentally change the look of the operating systems and make Apple's various software platforms more consistent, according to reports. According to the Bloomberg report, the company's revamp of its operating systems will include the style of icons, ...

Chinese Scientists Identify Six New Genera of Antarctic BacteriaBeijing, 10 Mar (ONA) --- Researchers from the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) have identified and published six new genera and seven new species of Antarctic bacteria, as announced by China's 41st Antarctic expedition team. These microorganisms represent a valuable resource for studying biological genetics and species diversity. Their potential applications are vast, spanning biopharmaceuticals, cosmetic development, industrial enzyme production, and the protection and restoration of extreme ...

Amazon Plans to Launch New AI Model with Advanced Reasoning CapabilitiesWashington, 6 Mar (ONA) --- Amazon is building its own AI model that incorporates advanced "reasoning" capabilities, Business Insider said. The offering is tentatively scheduled to launch by June 2025 under the Nova brand, a group of generative AI models Amazon unveiled late last year (2024). Amazon wants the new model to take a "hybrid reasoning" approach that provides quick answers and more complex extended thinking within a single system. Reasoning models have recently become the next ...

Google Rolls out New Features for All Android DevicesWashington, 5 Mar (ONA) --- Google is rolling out some new tools to Android devices to make things a bit easier and safer. The new updates include the phone's new ability to spot potential scams in text messages, a feature that has been highly expected for a while now. This feature can help stop people from losing money or giving away important information. Another helpful update allows sharing location with trusted people using the "Find my Device" app. This is great for meeting up or making sure someone gets ...

Apple Introduces iPad Air with Powerful M3 Chip and New Magic KeyboardWashington, 5 Mar (ONA) --- Apple introduced the faster, more powerful iPad Air with the M3 chip and built for Apple Intelligence. iPad Air with M3 brings Apple's advanced graphics architecture to iPad Air for the first time taking its incredible combination of power-efficient performance and portability to a new level. iPad Air with M3 is nearly 2x faster compared to iPad Air with M1,1 and up to 3.5x faster than iPad Air with A14 Bionic.2 Users will feel the speed of M3 in everything they do, from ...

SpaceX Postpones Starship Test Flight over Unspecified Ship IssueWashington, 4 Mar (ONA) —- SpaceX pushed back the planned test flight of its Starship megarocket after issues cropped up in the final seconds before liftoff. Mission controllers paused operations with 40 seconds remaining in the countdown, as engineers worked through technical problems with the Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft. The test mission would have been the first Starship launch since a January mission ended eight minutes into flight when Starship, atop a rocket ...

Xiaomi Releases Xiaomi 15 SeriesBeijing, 3 Mar (ONA) --- Xiaomi announced the release of its latest flagship smartphone lineup, Xiaomi 15 Series - Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Ultra. Powered by the latest Xiaomi HyperOS 2, Xiaomi 15 Series introduces a comprehensive upgraded system experience, optimizing performance, connectivity, and AI capabilities for a seamless next-generation mobile experience. Xiaomi 15 Ultra combines supreme build quality with a sense of refined sophistication. It boasts a WQHD+ 6.73-inch AMOLED display, delivering a crystal-clear resolution of ...

Russia Successfully Launches Soyuz Rocket with Spacecraft Moscow, 3 Mar (ONA) --- The Russian Aerospace Forces have successfully launched a Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a satellite, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Soyuz-2.1b launch lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region in Russia's north, according to the Ministry. The Aerospace Forces successfully launched a Soyuz-2.1b medium-class rocket carrying an orbital vehicle from the Russian Defense Ministry's State Test Cosmodrome (Plesetsk Cosmodrome) in the Arkhangelsk Region, it said.--- ...

Washington, 2 Mar (ONA) --- A US space company has landed a lunar vehicle on the Moon, becoming the second private organization to do so. A live stream showed the Blue Ghost lander, built by Firefly Aerospace, touching down on the Moon today. The vehicle was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida in January on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX. It touched down in the Mare Crisium, a lowland plain with a diameter of some 500 kilometres. Blue Ghost, which is around 2 metres high and 3 metres wide, is set to spend two weeks conducting experiments using several scientific instruments. The ...

Russian Cargo Spacecraft Successfully Docks with ISSMoscow, 2 Ma (ONA) --- Russia's Progress MS-30 cargo spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos said today. The spacecraft delivered 2,599 kg of various cargoes to the ISS, including 950 kg of refueling propellant, 420 kg of potable water for cosmonauts, and 50 kg of nitrogen. The Progress MS-30 cargo spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur space center into orbit using a Soyuz-2.1a rocket on Friday.--- ...

YouTube Reduces Ads Interruptions, Gives Creators New Control OptionsWashington, 26 Feb (ONA) --- YouTube has announced that it will begin reducing the number of ads that appear in the middle of videos when interrupting dialogue sentences or important scenes, starting 12 May 2025. The company explained on its official website that it will add automatic ad breaks at natural pauses in old videos that have manually selected their ads, with the ability to disable this option for content creators. YouTube will also provide a new tool to help them determine whether the ad spots ...

Google Launches Free Gemini Code Assist for DevelopersWashington, 26 Feb (ONA) --- Google has announced the launch of the free version of Gemini Code Assist, its AI-powered programming tool, to be available globally to individual developers. This move aims to make advanced AI robots accessible to students, hobbyists, freelancers, and startups, to assist them with programming tasks. "Now anyone can more conveniently learn, create code snippets, debug, and modify their existing applications all without needing to toggle between different windows for help or to ...

Microsoft Copilot Offers Unlimited Free Access to Voice and Think DeeperWashington, 26 Feb (ONA) --- Microsoft announced the rollout of new AI-powered features for all Copilot users, offering free, unlimited access to Voice and Think Deeper, powered by OpenAIs o1 model. The Copilot Team said Voice now supports longer conversations, while Think Deeper addresses tougher questions. Users can use Voice to learn simple phrases in a new language, conduct mock interviews for job applications, or get hands-free cooking advice for new recipes. Think Deeper ...

Meta AI Officially Supports Arabic LanguageWashington, 25 Feb (ONA) --- Meta has officially announced the availability of Arabic language support within its intelligent assistant Meta AI, allowing millions of users in the Middle East and North Africa to use it in their native language, according to a statement published by the company on its official website. Meta is set to gradually roll out its intelligent assistant to other Arab countries over the coming weeks and months. Meta affirmed that Meta AI is now available in 42 countries in 13 languages to serve 700 million ...

Anthropic Unveils Advanced AI Model 'Claude 3.7 Sonnet'Washington, 25 Feb (ONA) --- Anthropic, a startup backed by Amazon, has introduced its most advanced AI model to date, Claude 3.7 Sonnet. This model is distinguished by its "hybrid mode," which combines reasoning capabilities with real-time responses, allowing it to tackle complex problems and excel in fields like mathematics and coding. The company claims Claude 3.7 Sonnet is the only "hybrid" model on the market, designed to function like the human brain by balancing deep thinking and quick ...