
Absa joins Ripple’s custody network in digital-asset push
Absa has partnered with Ripple to offer institutional-grade digital asset custody to institutional clients in South Africa.
THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2025, 01:49

Absa has partnered with Ripple to offer institutional-grade digital asset custody to institutional clients in South Africa.

The outsourcing giant accepted liability, after the data watchdog said they failed to protect client data.

Astrophysicist proposes a ‘radically mundane’ theory for why humans have yet to encounter extraterrestrials
For centuries, great thinkers have pondered why, given the hundreds of billions of planets in the galaxy, we have seen no compelling signs of intelligent life beyond Earth.
Now, scientists are mulling an intriguing possibility: if aliens exist, their technology may be only marginally...

Altron Digital Business and Microsoft show how Azure Arc modernises SQL Server, uniting governance, compliance and cloud innovation.

Google South Africa said the new AI glossary marks a critical step towards linguistic inclusion and digital empowerment.

Botanist trying to conserve highly vulnerable rhizanthella that survives by feeding on nutrients from a fungus
Rhizanthella is an extraordinary orchid that lives its entire life underground. It flowers below ground, has no leaves and survives by feeding on nutrients from a fungus that gets its food from the soil and by connecting with roots of the broom bush, Melaleuca uncinata.
Rhizanthella...

The UK has also frozen assets linked to the alleged scammers, including a £100m London office building.

CEO Sam Altman says upcoming versions of the popular chatbot would enable it to behave in a more human-like way – “but only if you want it”.

The head of the company that makes Tasers tells us about the future of the technology.

Biggest and most powerful rocket ever built successfully made it halfway around the world while releasing mock satellites during its 11th test flight on Monday. The previous test flight in August — a success after a string of explosive failures — followed a similar path with similar goals
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The restrictions also apply to conversations between teenage users and artificial intelligence chatbots.

Vodafone said its Monday outage, which knocked broadband and mobile data users offline for several hours, was caused by a “non-malicious software issue”.
With federal subsidies ending or becoming hard to claim, companies are racing ahead with solar, wind and battery projects.

The Traitors has returned to UK screens with its biggest viewing figures ever as 19 celebrities compete to be crowned the winner. The game depends on being able to accurately spot a liar, but are any deception detection methods actually backed up by science?
Madeleine Finlay speaks to Timothy Luke, a senior lecturer in the department of applied psychology at the University of Gothenburg, to...

The answers to today’s questions
Earlier today I set these three puzzles, loosely based around 1729, the “taxicab number”. To read about the link between London cabs and 1729 please read the original post.
1. Square pair
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Report raises concerns about liability issues and lack of testing as development of AI health tools booms
The use of artificial intelligence in healthcare could create a legally complex blame game when it comes to establishing liability for medical failings, experts have warned.
The development of AI for clinical use has boomed, with researchers creating a host of tools, from algorithms to help...

Breakthrough raises new possibilities for regenerative medicine, which uses patient’s own cells to repair damaged tissues
Scientists have grown embryo-like structures in the laboratory that produced human blood cells, raising new possibilities for regenerative medicine.
The ability to generate blood stem cells in the laboratory may one day make it possible to treat patients in need of bone...
After signing multibillion-dollar agreements to use chips from Nvidia and AMD, OpenAI plans to deploy its own designs next year.
Drawn by local talent, cheap labor and state cash incentives, start-ups building the weapons of the future are revitalizing manufacturing in once-vibrant industrial towns.

A tourism initiative in India’s first dark sky reserve has brought new hope to a community as employment means they can stay close to their roots and culture
The snow-flecked peaks surrounding the village of Hanle are bathed in golden light as the sun sets. In the valley, 28-year-old Tsering Dolkar secures a telescope to its tripod and focuses the lens beneath a clear sky.
Zipped into warm...

Do you have the knowledge?
Around 1919, the British mathematician G. H. Hardy hopped on a London cab on his way to visit his Indian colleague Srinivasa Ramanujan.
The cab’s licence number, 1729, seemed dull to Hardy but his pal fervently disagreed. “It is a very interesting number,” said Ramanujan. “It is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.”
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