Breakthrough in Soft Robotics: Shapeshifting Robot Moves Using Electric Fields
In a significant advancement for soft robotics, researchers from the University of Bristol and Queen Mary University of London have created a highly agile, shapeshifting soft robot. According to a study in Advanced Materials, the innovation lies in an electro-morphing gel (e-MG) that enables the robot to bend, stretch, and perform complex movements by manipulating electric fields. This new material allows the jelly-like humanoid gymnast to swing its body and limbs to move from one location to another.
The e-MG is a soft polymer composite containing nanocrystalline conductors, which facilitates precise remote control. This technology overcomes key limitations of existing soft robots, such as slow response times and difficulty with complex shape changes. Researchers demonstrated that the robots can achieve large-scale deformation and multifaceted morphing behaviors. This development is a major step toward the next generation of smart, adaptable robots for applications in industry, wearable technology, and healthcare.
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Waymo Announces Driverless Ride-Hailing Service for London
Waymo is expanding its autonomous vehicle operations internationally, announcing plans to launch a driverless ride-hailing service in London. This move marks a significant milestone in the company’s global expansion strategy and will be supported by a partnership with mobility company Moove. The service aims to accelerate the adoption of Level 4 autonomy, where vehicles operate without human intervention within specific geographic areas.
Initial operations will include trained safety drivers as the vehicles map and learn London’s complex urban environment. While the announcement has faced some skepticism from local taxi associations, it aligns with the UK government’s initiative to pilot autonomous vehicle services. A broader rollout of self-driving taxis is expected after the Automated Vehicles Act is fully implemented in late 2027.
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Microsoft Named a Leader in 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for SIEM
Microsoft has been recognized as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM). The recognition highlights its Microsoft Sentinel solution, which has evolved from a cloud-native SIEM into a unified, AI-powered security operations platform. The platform excels at integrating analytics and context across diverse ecosystems at scale.
Key features of Microsoft Sentinel now include a centralized security data lake, which is now generally available, designed to centralize security data from over 350 sources. The platform also incorporates agentic AI and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to prepare data for autonomous security agents, further solidifying its position as a leader in the cybersecurity space.
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Kubernetes v1.35 Release Cycle Reaches Enhancements Freeze Milestone
The Kubernetes v1.35 release cycle has officially reached its Enhancements Freeze milestone as of Thursday, October 16, 2025. This critical deadline ensures that all planned enhancements for this version have met the necessary requirements for inclusion in the upcoming release.
Following the freeze, the next major deadlines for the release team are the Feature Blog Freeze on October 30th and the Code and Test Freeze on November 6th. The official release of Kubernetes v1.35.0 is scheduled for Wednesday, December 17, 2025, keeping the cycle, which began on September 15, 2025, on its established timeline.
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China Launches ‘Zuchongzhi 3.0’ Superconducting Quantum Computer for Commercial Use
China has made its ‘Zuchongzhi 3.0’ superconducting quantum computer commercially available, marking a significant step in the practical application of quantum computing. Developed by the China Telecom Quantum Group and QuantumCTek, the system is now accessible to global users via the ‘Tianyan’ quantum computing cloud platform.
The quantum computer is built on a 105-qubit processor and is reported to perform quantum random circuit sampling tasks quadrillions of times faster than the world’s most powerful supercomputers. This development transitions China’s laboratory achievements in quantum computing into a commercial service, enabling companies and researchers to access the technology for algorithm testing and application development. The ‘Tianyan’ platform has already attracted millions of visits from users in over 60 countries.
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Deno Highlights Open-Source Contributions Beyond Its Core Runtime
Deno has spotlighted several of its key open-source projects that support its primary TypeScript and JavaScript runtime. These projects, all released under the permissive MIT license, demonstrate the company’s broader contributions to the developer ecosystem.
Notable projects include rusty_v8, which provides essential Rust bindings for the V8 JavaScript engine, and deno_core, which extends rusty_v8 with higher-level functionalities. Other important tools are dnt, a build tool for converting Deno modules into npm-compatible packages, and wasmbuild, which simplifies integrating Rust code into Deno and web browsers. Deno emphasized that these tools are designed to solve common development challenges for the entire open-source community.
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Microsoft Releases Final Patch Tuesday Update as Windows 10 Support Ends
Microsoft has rolled out the final Patch Tuesday update for Windows 10, as the popular operating system officially reaches its end-of-support date. This last cumulative update delivers several important fixes, addressing issues such as unexpected User Account Control (UAC) prompts and performance degradation with NDI streaming software.
Following this final update, Windows 10 will no longer receive security patches or non-security fixes. Microsoft is strongly encouraging all remaining users to upgrade to Windows 11 to ensure their systems remain secure and supported.
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