Episode Details

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Today's topics:

AI-powered scam factories in Myanmar - An AP and FRONTLINE investigation says Myanmar scam compounds are scaling romance and investment fraud using U.S. AI tools, cloud services, and Starlink—fueling global losses and human trafficking.

Clean energy surge, fossil highs - The Energy Institute review finds wind and solar added more new energy than any single fossil fuel in 2025, even as coal, oil, and gas still hit record highs—showing a transition running alongside demand.

China export controls on Japan - China expanded export controls and blacklisted Japanese defense research institutes, tightening dual-use licensing and raising supply-chain risk for critical minerals and high-tech manufacturing.

US moves to unwind Iran sanctions - The Trump administration is pursuing broad Iran sanctions relief via waivers and new licenses to stabilize the Strait of Hormuz and energy markets, but banks and lawmakers may resist amid legal uncertainty.

Supreme Court limits geofence warrants - In Chatrie v US, the Supreme Court ruled geofence warrants trigger Fourth Amendment protections, strengthening digital privacy around smartphone location trails held by third parties like Google.

Open-weight cyber AI goes public - China’s Z.ai released GLM-5.2 under an MIT license, putting advanced code-and-vulnerability AI on local machines without vendor guardrails—pushing defenders to speed up patching and audits.

Mini-heart sensors for safer drugs - Australian researchers built a wireless, non-invasive sensor to track lab-grown mini hearts in real time, potentially improving preclinical drug screening, cardiotoxicity checks, and personalized medicine.

Schistosomiasis vaccine shows immune memory - Early Phase I data on SchistoShield suggests strong T-cell and B-cell immune memory against schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease with huge global burden and limited long-term prevention options.

Arc protein links to Tau spread - New mouse research suggests the brain protein Arc can help toxic Tau travel between neurons via extracellular vesicles, offering a potential target to slow Alzheimer’s progression by blocking spread.

Vitamin B12 derivative vs glioblastoma - A pilot study reports nitrosylcobalamin, a nitric-oxide-releasing vitamin B12 variant, may cross the blood-brain barrier and work synergistically with existing treatments against glioblastoma.

Episode Transcript

AI-powered scam factories in Myanmar
Let’s start with energy, because the latest global numbers carry a surprising dual message: clean power is growing fast, and fossil fuels are still not going away. The Energy Institute’s new Statistical Review, highlighted by Carbon Brief, says clean energy added more to global ener