Millions to witness rare total solar eclipse

Senior Pakistani actress and film maker Rubina Ashraf has spoken about postpartum depression and the emotional challenges women may face during pregnancy and after giving birth. Rubina Ashraf recently appeared as a guest on the television show Good Morning Pakistan where she discussed women’s mental health and the importance of emotional support during pregnancy and motherhood. She said that in the past, mental health problems linked to pregnancy and childbirth were often not taken seriously.  Society usually treated childbirth as a normal responsibility of every woman without fully understanding how difficult the experience could be for some mothers. The actress explained that pregnancy brings many physical changes to a woman’s body including changes in the skin weight and overall health. Along with happiness these changes can sometimes cause stress anxiety and emotional pressure. She added that a lack of proper care and support during this period may make a woman more vulnerable to serious emotional difficulties including postpartum depression. Rubina also highlighted the importance of a husband’s love care and understanding during pregnancy and after childbirth. She said that managing physical changes household responsibilities  and caring for a newborn can be challenging so emotional and practical support from a partner can make a big difference. Her comments also highlight the need to take women’s mental health seriously and ensure that new mothers receive proper care understanding and support.

Scientists at the University of Delaware in the United States are investigating whether sharks can be used to improve predictions of hurricane intensity and serve as ocean-observing systems for collecting marine data. Researchers at the University of Delaware are attaching sensors to sharks that measure ocean temperature, electrical conductivity and depth. Electrical conductivity is related to the amount of salt in the water. According to Aaron Carlisle, a professor at the university’s School of Marine Science and Policy and the lead researcher of the study, animal-mounted sensors have been successfully used in marine research for several years particularly in areas where scientific observations are limited. Researchers say sharks are suitable for this research because they are abundant, inhabit vast areas of the ocean and are relatively easier to access than many protected marine mammals. So far, shark tagging has mainly been used to study their movements and habitats. However, in this new research, scientists are selecting sharks that can collect useful data for hurricane forecasting and swim close enough to the ocean surface for their tags to transmit information via satellites. Preliminary analyses in the North Atlantic have identified shortfin mako sharks, blue sharks, smooth hammerhead sharks and juvenile great white sharks as suitable species for the research. According to Aaron Carlisle, scientists are paying particular attention to the heat in the upper layer of the ocean known as the “mixed layer.” This layer of water plays an important role in the intensity of hurricanes because a warmer mixed layer can contribute to the formation of stronger hurricanes. Caroline Wiernicki, a doctoral student at the University of Delaware said the shark-tagging process begins in early May, when several migratory shark species come closer to the coast after spending the winter in remote areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Researchers travel 50 to 65 kilometres offshore in a research vessel where they deploy baited lines and typically wait two to three hours for sharks to approach. A tag is attached to the shark’s dorsal fin. When the shark swims near the surface, the tag connects with a network of satellite receivers and transmits data. Carlisle said the tagging process is completed rapidly similar to a “pit crew” during a motor race and usually takes less than five minutes. Shark tagging is carried out under institutional animal-care oversight to minimize its impact on the animals. The tags are attached using materials that gradually dissolve and eventually detach on their own. Before each shark is released back into the ocean, its health is examined because stress or injury could affect its natural behaviour and consequently, the reliability of the data collected. Caroline Wiernicki said sharks are portrayed as extremely frightening animals in movies whereas in reality they are relatively calm creatures. According to the researchers, if the project proves successful, data collected from sharks could help improve forecasts of the intensity of hurricanes approaching the US East Coast. This information could provide more reliable forecasts to coastal communities from North Carolina to Massachusetts helping them prepare for storms and improve coastal protection. Aaron Carlisle said sharks are remarkable animals that are exceptionally well adapted to life in the ocean and there is much that humans can learn from them. If it is proven that sharks can also benefit humans, it would be a win-win situation for both.

Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton is widely regarded as the “Godfather of AI.” He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2024 for his work on artificial intelligence technology. Geoffrey Hinton who is associated with the University of Toronto in Canada has warned that the smarter AI technology becomes, the more difficult it will be for humanity to control it. He has also expressed concerns about AI agents recently hacking real-world companies. Speaking to the media after an AI technology conference, Geoffrey Hinton said that such incidents are occurring as these systems become increasingly intelligent. He said, “As these systems become smarter, I think we will see more complicated incidents and their ability to escape our control will become much better.” Hinton said the problem is that humans may not be able to rely on or trust highly intelligent AI models. He explained, “I do not believe that we can simply control them or assume that they will not escape our control.” It is worth noting that in recent days, OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta have acknowledged that their AI models independently escaped controlled environments and hacked the systems of other companies. Hinton described these incidents as somewhat frightening and said that this is only the beginning of AI hacking. He said, “I think we may see numerous cyberattacks but the future is uncertain. People say defenders have more resources than attackers but the problem is that an attacker only needs to succeed once, whereas defenders need to succeed every time.” Hinton’s earlier warnings about AI Geoffrey Hinton has previously issued warnings about the dangers of AI technology. On one occasion, he said there was a 10 to 20 percent chance that the technology could gradually lead to the extinction of humanity. He stressed that it is important to discuss the potential risks posed by AI. He acknowledged that uncertainty surrounding AI can be unsettling because nobody knows exactly what the future holds. He said that if someone asks what AI technology will look like over the next 10 years, no one can accurately predict it. Earlier, in August 2025 while speaking on a podcast, Hinton said that AI is not only learning things in ways that humans do not fully understand but there is also no reliable way to simply switch it off. Hinton’s contribution to AI Geoffrey Hinton’s research laid the foundation for machine learning, the technology that has helped computers imitate aspects of human intelligence. However, for the past several years, he has been campaigning for AI to be made safer. In 2023, Hinton left his job at Google, warning that malicious actors could use the technology to harm other people. In an interview some time ago, when he was asked about the pace of AI development, Hinton said that most experts in the field currently believe that at some point possibly within the next 20 years—humans could develop AI systems that are more intelligent than humans. He said, “That is a frightening thought. Right now, you can think of this technology as being like a three-year-old child and children grow up very quickly.” AI could transform world According to Hinton, the impact of AI on the world could be similar to that of the Industrial Revolution. He said the Industrial Revolution effectively halted the growth of human physical strength because humans began relying on increasingly powerful machines. He explained that humanity is now doing something similar that could replace human intelligence meaning ordinary human intelligence may no longer advance at the same pace while machines continue to develop. When asked what life might look like 10 or 20 years from now, Hinton said it would depend on how political systems respond to and manage the technology. In his view, AI could have extraordinary effects on the medical field and could increase efficiency across almost every industry. However, he emphasized that humanity needs to be much more cautious about the rapid development of this technology.