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November 7: U.S. Strikes on Iran and Cyberattacks in Italy
In space research
Researchers aboard China’s space station report a record-low equivalent temperature of 9.7 picokelvin in a cloud of rubidium atoms, about a quarter of the previous record. They calculated the temperature by tracking the atoms’ expansion for seven seconds after releasing them from a laser trap. The team says longer observations in microgravity could support research into unusual quantum states and more precise tests of gravity.
NASA’s Swift telescope reentered Earth’s atmosphere uncontrolled on November fourth, ending a 22-year mission originally designed for two years. Satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell, citing U.S. Space Force data, placed the reentry over northern Sumatra. A $30 million effort to raise its orbit failed after the rescue spacecraft developed propulsion and orientation-control problems. Swift observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and 1,400 supernovae.
In U.S. taxes
The IRS has raised the federal estate and gift tax exemption to $15.48 million per person for 2027. The increase allows wealthy American families to shield an additional $480,000 per person from those taxes.
Cyberattacks in Italy
Italy’s prime minister blames pro-Russian hackers for leaking the foreign minister’s data on the dark web. The foreign minister says the cyberthreat was ongoing.
Separately, the company behind the Brenner Base Tunnel has confirmed a cyberattack in recent weeks. The project is a 55-kilometer rail link under construction between Innsbruck, Austria, and Fortezza, Italy.
U.S. strikes on Iran
have continued after more ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. Mediators are trying to prevent further escalation between the United States and Iran.
Religious freedom in Indonesia
A machete-wielding man threatened bloodshed at a Christian prayer meeting in Indonesia, and a local leader allegedly called for worshippers to be killed. Christians face bureaucratic and social pressure over where they can pray, despite constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.
Cisco and the Israeli military
Leaked documents indicate Cisco moved to strengthen its relationship with the Israeli military during the Gaza war, even as employees protested the company’s role. The documents describe repeated crashes and hours-long outages affecting military intelligence networks during digital infrastructure upgrades a year into the war. According to the documents, those failures undermined intelligence agencies’ confidence in Cisco, one of their major network providers.
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