Speed

A new open-source project called Strata claims it can run the Qwen 3.8 Flash Next 125-billion-parameter model on consumer hardware like an RTX 4090, at speeds around 100 tokens per second. The claim drew strong interest on Hacker News, where it reached the top spot, as running large language models at that size and speed on a single consumer GPU would be a major step for local AI inference.

The Department of War's Critical Technologies Office has announced a partnership with In-Q-Tel, the CIA-linked venture capital firm, to speed up the adoption of emerging technologies. In-Q-Tel invests in startups developing artificial intelligence, data analytics and other dual-use technologies, and the deal is intended to give defense agencies faster access to commercial innovation.

Johor Darul Ta'zim, Malaysia's dominant football club, is preparing for a fixture against Cambodian opposition, with the team's coach publicly warning that their opponents' pace will be a serious threat. The Malaysian side, long the country's top club, is expected to win, but the coach's caution about Cambodia's quick attacking players has drawn attention ahead of the match.

A new essay argues that long-lasting software is built gradually, through patience, maintenance, and small cumulative improvements rather than rapid iteration or hype cycles. Readers are discussing whether durability in software comes more from restraint and longevity of design than from speed, and how modern development culture conflicts with the slow work required to keep tools reliable over decades.

Word is spreading that Adobe's creative suite has been rebuilt using the Rust programming language, a claim generating debate among developers and designers. Rust is prized for memory safety and performance, and the idea of Adobe's flagship apps moving to it has sparked discussion about whether the news is real, how such a rewrite would work, and what it would mean for software stability and speed.

Dutch top speed skater Kjeld Nuis is struggling with his health just before the new season, saying he has been on antibiotics for three weeks. The news raises questions about his preparation and fitness ahead of the upcoming speed skating campaign, with fans concerned about whether he will be ready to compete at his usual level when the season begins.

Carlos Alcaraz faced Denis Shapovalov at the Tokyo tournament in a match highlights editors branded a rollercoaster. The contest drew heavy attention from tennis fans, with hundreds of thousands engaging with the highlights within a short span. The pair's contrasting styles — Alcaraz's speed and power against Shapovalov's shotmaking — produced a dramatic, momentum-shifting contest that viewers are dissecting point by point.

A new episode of a Kerbal Space Program roleplay series focused on the Soviet space programme has been released, showing viewers racing through an accelerated alternate-history Soviet launch schedule using the RP-1 realism mod. Fans of the series are following along as the fictional Soviet programme advances, with engagement focused on the design choices and pacing of the latest instalment.

A Wall Street Journal report describes how a Boeing 737 MAX survived a near-vertical dive in which it reportedly approached the speed of sound before the crew recovered the aircraft. The account is drawing attention to the plane's structural limits and the crew's handling during the emergency, renewing discussion of the MAX's troubled safety record.

Frustrated by years-long delays in approving energy projects, members of Congress are pushing legislation to accelerate the permitting process for power lines, pipelines and other infrastructure. The effort reflects bipartisan concern that slow federal reviews are holding back energy development and investment, though the scope of any deal and its chances of passage remain uncertain.

A new Linux technique called CRAM compresses memory and keeps it in RAM, delivering up to a 452x speedup on reads of compressed memory. Tom's Hardware reports the method offers a major boost over existing compressed-swap approaches, and the story is drawing attention among developers debating its real-world impact and how it compares to zram.

A developer has released Musql, an open-source database engine that uses JIT compilation of SQL queries, claiming performance up to 300 times faster than SQLite and 1,000 times faster than Turso. The project is being shared with the developer community on Hacker News, where readers are likely scrutinising the benchmarks and methodology behind such bold speed claims.

The United Nations is calling on governments to speed up climate action ahead of the COP31 summit, insisting that breaching global warming limits does not justify giving up. UN leadership framed the message starkly: even if the world overshoots agreed temperature targets, efforts must intensify rather than stall, with countries urged to submit stronger emissions commitments ahead of the talks.

Gabigol, now back at Santos, has spoken about his best period at the club while looking ahead to facing his former team Flamengo, recalling the goals, assists and speed that marked that stage of his career. The matchup between Santos and Flamengo is drawing attention from Brazilian football fans, with interest focused on how the striker performs against the club where he later became a star.

The US Supreme Court has refused, for now, to expedite a Democratic-led legal challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's political advertising policy. The decision means the case will proceed on the court's regular schedule rather than an accelerated timetable, delaying any ruling on rules affecting disclosure requirements for political ads ahead of upcoming election cycles.

Donald Trump is calling for artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery even as his administration continues cutting federal research funding. Critics are highlighting the contradiction between championing AI as a shortcut to scientific progress and scaling back the grants, agencies and institutions that produce the underlying research AI depends on.

AAA is urging motorists to obey speed limits as holiday travel gets underway, cautioning that speeding raises the risk of crashes on busy roads. The auto club's warning comes as millions take to the highways for holiday trips, and local outlets such as WWLP are passing the safety message along to drivers.

A new discussion examines whether Wi-Fi, not broadband connections, is the real bottleneck for households paying for gigabit internet. The piece looks at what home Wi-Fi networks can actually carry in practice, suggesting router placement, wireless standards and in-home interference often prevent users from getting the 1 Gbps speeds they subscribe to. Commenters are weighing how much of the gap between advertised and real speeds is the consumer's own equipment.

The US War Department has pledged $1.5 billion to chipmaker Wolfspeed to support production of wide bandgap semiconductors. The funding signals continued federal investment in advanced power electronics considered critical for defense applications. Wolfspeed is a leading maker of silicon carbide chips, and the commitment underscores how semiconductor supply chains remain a strategic priority for the US military and national security planners.

Nicole Linton, a former nurse, has been convicted of murder for a 2022 crash in Los Angeles that killed six people, including a pregnant woman. Prosecutors argued she deliberately drove through a busy Windsor Hills intersection at speeds approaching 100 mph after a family dispute, while her defense pointed to a possible blackout or medical episode. The verdict was met with strong public reaction.

WaterCar, a California-based amphibious vehicle maker, is promoting an electric car designed to drive on roads and transition into a speedboat capable of up to 35 mph on water. The vehicle aims to combine everyday electric driving with open-water performance in a single machine, drawing attention for its unusual amphibious concept.

Tropical Storm Isaias has strengthened into a Category 2 storm over the Gulf, according to regional news reports. The system is being tracked closely as forecasters watch its path and potential coastal impacts. Details on wind speeds, expected landfall and warnings for affected areas have not yet been fully reported.

Uniformed Services University researchers are monitoring how quickly antimicrobial resistance develops in combat wounds among soldiers injured in Ukraine. The work tracks bacterial infections acquired on the battlefield, where contaminated wounds and limited treatment options can speed the spread of drug-resistant organisms. The findings matter for military medicine and could shape infection-control practices in conflict zones worldwide.

Cognition has introduced SWE-2, a new software engineering AI model that it says pushes the Pareto frontier, meaning it improves the trade-off between capability and cost or speed. The company announced the release without detailed benchmark figures in the initial announcement. Developers and AI observers are watching closely, as Cognition is known for its coding agent Devin, and each release is seen as a signal of where autonomous coding tools are heading.

NVIDIA has published a technical blog post outlining five steps to create SimReady assets for robotics using frontier AI models. SimReady assets are simulation-ready 3D objects used to train and test robots in virtual environments. The guide explains how developers can leverage large AI models to speed up building these assets for robot learning.

A massive storm has hit Sydney, with 9 News Australia reporting on the severe weather event. Details of damage, wind speeds and rainfall remain limited, but footage of the storm is drawing wide attention as residents share conditions across the city and authorities respond to impacts.