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Image Source : FILE Grok AI chatbot by Elon Musk set to go open source by this week Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has said that his artificial intelligence (AI) startup xAI will open-source the AI chatbot Grok this week. The news officially surfaced on Monday where Musk posted that Sam Altman-run OpenAI is a lie while responding to a comment in the X (formerly…

A privately funded satellite is set to push methane tracking into a new era, once it launches into space on Monday.A collaborative mission between Environmental Defense Fund, Google, the Government of New Zealand and several other partners, MethaneSAT will track methane emissions around the globe in attempts to identify and quantify sources spewing the climate-heating greenhouse gas. For 20 years after its release into the atmosphere, methane gas is 80 times more harmful than carbon dioxide in its ability to increase…

The Port of Fontvieille Harbor in the Principality of Monaco.Education Images | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesThe ultrawealthy are looking for a better lifestyle and strong investment when it comes to buying their next home, according to a new study.One-quarter of American ultra-high-net individuals, or those worth $30 million or more, plan to buy a residential property this year, according to the Douglas Elliman and Knight Frank Wealth Report. The average ultra-high-net-worth individual already owns four homes,…

It might seem counterintuitive that reducing an employee’s time on the clock by eight hours per week, while keeping their pay the same, will boost productivity — and cause costs to drop. But data from a six-month pilot at the Golden Police Department show the force’s shortened workweek approach, which launched in July, has quickened emergency response times and saved the city $115,000 in overtime compensation. “I was pleasantly surprised,” City Manager Scott Vargo said of the results. “There’s a greater level of…

On Tuesday, SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket into space with six Starlink satellites that can connect directly to mobile phones anywhere on Earth, eliminating dead zones. The Elon Musk-owned company is scheduled to test this service in the United States in partnership with T-Mobile later this year. SpaceX has also partnered with six other cellular network providers — Optus, Rogers, Entel, Kiddi, One NZ, and Salt — to provide the service in Australia, Canada, Chile,  Japan, New Zealand, Peru, and Switzerland. SpaceX…

The Current11:34A hand-drawn map with no people, but 1,642 free-roaming animalsRead Transcribed AudioArtist Anton Thomas wanted to draw a "world map of nature" that would showcase the many different species across the globe — but at one point he was a little worried he'd run out of animals."I thought before drawing, 'Oh, surely I would run out of species across the Southern Ocean or the vast South Pacific,'" said Thomas, a New Zealand man now living in Melbourne."But no, there was just always more to choose from," he…

There are differing opinions on cats' personalities and behaviour: They're affectionate, they're aloof, they love you, they hate you.Then there's the undeniable fact of what they become when left to roam free outside: indiscriminate, stone-cold killers.A new study has found cats roaming free prey upon almost any animal, reptile, insect, and amphibian around the world – their hunting so prolific and so successful, the authors found, that it poses a legitimate threat to global biodiversity."What's shocking is just the…

Listen to article(2 minutes)ADELAIDE, Australia—Ivan Williamsreckons he can help to break China’s dominance of a key ingredient of electric-vehicle batteries. To do so, he has been collecting wood chips from sawmills around the world.At a test plant in New Zealand’s picturesque Marlborough wine region, Williams and his team feed the wood chips into machines that turn out a form of synthetic graphite. He says the engineered material is as pure as synthetic graphite made from fossil fuels, which is mostly produced in China…

As It Happens6:35These anglerfish spend their days upside down, on purposeMore than two decades ago, researchers captured the first confirmed footage of a deepsea anglerfish. But something about it seemed off. Or, more specifically, upside down.The female whipnose anglerfish was bobbing around belly-up just above the ocean's floor. "What wasn't known was: Is this abnormal behaviour?" Andrew Stewart, curator of fishes at the Museum of New Zealand, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.Now, after reviewing footage of whipnose…

Australia and New Zealand are a far cry from Silicon Valley, yet the problems and circumstances of their venture environments tend to be similar in nature. Megadeals are rarer today, early-stage funding is up, valuations have come back to earth, and investors are encouraging their portfolio companies to demonstrate a sustainable business with a clear path to revenue. The difference is that the geographic isolation of Australia and New Zealand creates a sense of hustle, if not urgency, around…