🕒 66-million-year-old fossilized vomit, OpenAI accuses DeepSeek, Doomsday Clock moves ahead

Paleontologists are used to unearthing bones, but a recent discovery has them examining something far more unusual: fossilized vomit.

This 66-million-year-old fossilized vomit comes from the end of the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

Peter Bennicke, a local fossil hunter, discovered the fossil at Stevns Klint in eastern Denmark. He spotted unusual sea lily fragments within the chalk. Let's take a closer look at this Must Read. 

🔥Today’s job of the day as featured on jobs.interestingengineering.com:

> Lead Database Engineer
> Cloud Engineer

Reading Time: 4 mins

Did a friend forward this e-mail to you? Subscribe here.

MUST-READ

🐟 Denmark discovers 66-million-year-old fossilized vomit of a fish

The fossilized vomit contains at least two species of sea lilies, which are deep-sea animals related to starfish and sea urchins.

These were likely consumed by a fish that then regurgitated the hard-to-digest parts. This fossilized vomit is incredibly valuable to scientists. It provides a snapshot of the prehistoric food chain.

“In technical terms, this type of find is called regurgitalite, and they are considered very important when reconstructing ancient ecosystems, because the finds provide important knowledge about which animals have been eaten by whom,” stated the Museum of East Zealand press release.

💾 OpenAI accuses DeepSeek of data theft, internet calls out hypocrisy

In a rapidly unfolding dispute, OpenAI has accused Chinese AI startup DeepSeek of using its proprietary models’ outputs to train a competing chatbot. This accusation comes despite OpenAI itself facing multiple lawsuits alleging copyright infringement and data misuse.

According to the Financial Times, OpenAI believes DeepSeek may have “distilled” knowledge from ChatGPT, potentially violating the company’s terms of service.

The issue is when you [take it out of the platform and] are doing it to create your own model for your own purposes,” a source close to OpenAI told the FT.

🕒 Doomsday Clock shows world ’89 seconds away’ from total destruction

Atomic scientists have moved the ‘Doomsday Clock’ a second ahead, bringing it closer to midnight than it ever has been in its history.

The atomic scientists have now set the clock to 89 seconds (1 minute and 29 seconds) before midnight. Midnight in the ‘Doomsday Clock’ stands for the point of annihilation of the world.

The Doomsday Clock’s time is set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board (SASB) in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes nine Nobel Laureates.  

Love what you're reading, but too many emails? Sign up to IE+ to get Blueprint Weekly, our exclusive weekly premium newsletter that gives all the insights you love in a more digestible weekly format– plus, enjoy an Ad-Free experience on our website. Try IE+ today for just $1 in the first month. Subscribe here

HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY

SCIENCE

> Researchers have made an interesting finding—flower mites that use hummingbirds as a mode of transportation depend on an unusual method to get on and off their feathered vehicles. (More)

> A giant space rock is on a potential collision course with Earth in 2032. (More)

> A new study has showcased that one civilization in the Amazon successfully developed an advanced agricultural system that allowed them to plant maize crops year-round. (More)

ENERGY

> Engine No. 1 and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. have announced establishing a strategic partnership to develop scalable and reliable power solutions for data centers across the United States. (More)

> Record-breaking 25 MW wind turbines are planned for deployment at the first national level offshore wind power research and testing base being developed in China. (More)

> Enercon has introduced a new version of its E-138 EP3 onshore wind turbine, optimized for locations with high wind speeds. (More)

INNOVATION

> Satellite imagery analysis has revealed that China is developing a laser fusion research facility in Mianyang, a city in the southwestern region of the country. (More)

> Japan is working to construct two of the world’s largest vessels tailored for offshore wind farm development. (More)

> A new optical sensor enables the detection of extremely low levels of arsenic in water in real-time. (More)

VIDEO

> The National Water Carrier of Israel is an engineering marvel that feeds the prosperity of the country. Spanning over 130 kilometers, it supplies water to the millions of people in Israel’s desert. How was it built? And how did it affect not just the lives of people in Israel, but the world itself? (More)

> The state-of-the-art B-52, B-1B, and B-2 bombers stand as the cornerstone of U.S. air dominance, combining unrivaled power and advanced technology. (More)

FROM THE WEB

> MIT spinout Gradiant reduces companies’ water use and waste by billions of gallons each day

> From Earth to space: Testing tech in lava tubes for future space exploration

> Breakthrough could enable diamond transistors for high-power applications

> Remote sensing tools yield insights into abandoned pre-Columbian Mexican city

> So small and yet so powerful - The hidden power of the smallest microquasars

> Musk promises Tesla robotaxis yet again – this time by June