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Which gifts were popular this year? This list from Apple offers clues.New Mexico's two national laboratories are banding together with higher education institutions to bring the state to the national forefront of artificial intelligence development. The seven-member New Mexico AI Consortium is the first of its kind to unify industry with educational institutions, according to Melanie Moses, computer science professor at the University of New Mexico and the university's leader within the AI Consortium. Its aim is to combine the research and education of the state's universities and colleges with the experience and computational power of Los Alamos and Sandia national labs. While many educational institutions have AI programs — including state-funded AI-literacy programs for K-12 students — the new partnership represents an expansion of the state's AI’s capabilities in regard to science, specifically, according to a UNM news release Monday. “We think New Mexico can be a real powerhouse in AI research and AI education by combining the universities with the labs' long history of working in AI and high performance computing,” Moses said in an interview. The consortium isn't interested in making the next ChatGPT or any other traditional language model. Instead, it's focused on using AI’s strength to recognize patterns among large amounts of data for research purposes — such as designing improved antibiotic drugs, or conducting material analysis on energy technology like batteries and solar panels. The newly formed union brings together Los Alamos and Sandia with UNM, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology, Central New Mexico Community College and the educational research nonprofit New Mexico Consortium to create a “pipeline,” to bolster the state’s AI research and employment opportunities. The consortium was formed during a recent meeting held by LANL that brought educational institutions together with lab leaders to discuss the state’s future in artificial intelligence. “In that meeting, it became clear that if we want to invest specifically in AI in the state, we really need to pool resources,” Moses said. It was a natural partnership, Moses said. Industry has the resources to develop AI for profit, while universities need more resources to research AI’s ethical and social implications. “So, we said, ‘Why don't we just see what we can do to pull people together?’ And everybody was excited to join this,” said Moses, who said she expects more colleges and institutions to join the coalition as it expands throughout the state. At the meeting, Moses sat alongside Los Alamos National Laboratory's AI Office Council Director Jason Pruet and Sandia's Director of Computing Research Jennifer Gaudioso, who testified in June before the congressional Joint Economic Committee on “artificial intelligence and its potential to fuel economic growth and improve governance.” In that hearing, Gaudioso said data from the U.S. Department of Energy would go a long way in training AI models. Moses, whose specialization is in biology-inspired computation, cited another recent example. The use of AI to predict the protein shape produced by a string of DNA, what she called, “an open problem in biology for the last five decades,” which was solved in just a few years by AI. The discovery came about as a result of an AI tool called AlphaFold, made by the Google Deep Mind team, which successfully mapped the predicted shape for all 200 million known proteins, earning the team the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. “That’s millions and millions of hours of human labor just taken care of. It’s done. The problem is essentially solved,” she said. There are some drawbacks to using AI, though. One of the largest is the lack of transparency, or the “black box” effect, referring to the fact that most AI models are unable to explain exactly why they arrived at a given conclusion. “It's a huge problem,” said Moses. “As a scientist, you're not very satisfied when it just says, ‘The answer is 42.’ You want explainability. Everyone understands that this black box nature of AI is not ideal.” Elimination or reduction of this black box effect is an early top priority for the consortium, said Moses, and for good reason. Not only is AI being looked at for hard scientific research applications in areas such as biomedicine and chemistry, but also within social sciences. Political scientists using AI to examine election infrastructure and law specialists using it to analyze legal codes and deliver proposed verdicts are just a couple of examples of the about 60 faculty members that Moses said are engaged in AI research at UNM. That expansion of AI applications has also given rise to those raising caution. Specifically in the form of an algorithmic justice team between UNM and the Santa Fe Institute, developed before the consortium, which is focused on ensuring AI provides tangible explanations, especially if an AI decision could affect a person’s livelihood. As one consortium-proposed solution, Sandia is “looking to the architecture of the human brain for a better model of how to build these sort of artificial neural networks,” said Moses, both as a method of reducing the black box effect and aiming to reduce the traditionally high energy expenditure of AI models. While the coalition is focused on bringing AI-interested students to the labs, it is also trying to expand the labs' role in the classroom, adding to the already-strong cohort of adjunct faculty with a background in the labs. While Moses recognized some jobs could be threatened by AI, having AI skills will “empower people to be more productive and to have secure, interesting jobs in the future,” she said. "This consortium is trying to foster all of us being able to apply for very large grants that will really bring funding into the state and to build this kind of ecosystem that'll attract AI startups and things of that nature," said Moses. "This right now is the seedling stage, and I'm hoping that we'll really grow into something that benefits all of the state."

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — While Gov. Ron DeSantis is a top contender to be nominated as defense secretary under President-elect Donald Trump, people around the two men see obstacles that could keep Trump from offering the job, and DeSantis from accepting it. The Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau spoke to 11 political insiders close to both DeSantis and Trump for this story. The potential hurdles are both personal and political. Pete Hegseth could still get the job Trump’s current nominee isn’t sunk yet. And he has a major champion in U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican who has never had a warm relationship with DeSantis, who succeeded him when he left office in January 2019. “ @PeteHegseth has gone into combat and put his life on the line for our country,” Scott said in a statement on X late Wednesday evening. “He will do an unbelievable job at the Department of Defense, and that’s why I support him.” DeSantis served in the Navy as a lawyer , and at one point advised U.S. Navy SEALs in Iraq. Hegseth, a Fox and Friends co-host and Trump ally, has been mired in controversy since the Washington Post reported he paid a woman for her silence after she accused him of rape. Hegseth has denied the rape allegation and insisted that the encounter was consensual. DeSantis and Trump’s complicated history It’s well known that DeSantis and Trump traded barbs during the Republican presidential primary last year. And while they have since buried the hatchet, with DeSantis offering to fundraise for Trump during the general election, both DeSantis and the president-elect have reputations for holding grudges. One potential comparison drawn was between DeSantis and Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney. In 2016, Romney called Trump during his first presidential bid “ a phony, a fraud .” But Romney still wanted to be his U.S. Secretary of State when Trump floated his name as a possible nomination after he won the election. The about-face came to nothing in the end. Trump ultimately passed over Romney – but not before publishing a picture of Trump and a sheepish-looking Romney meeting over dinner. This analogy only goes so far. DeSantis has largely stayed away from taking moral positions against Trump, focusing instead on political differences. He argued during his presidential primary campaign that the party was ready for the next iteration of Trump, one who had less baggage and more focus on implementing the conservative agenda. But at times they have disagreed over what that agenda should be. Trump has taken issue with DeSantis’ approach in Florida to the insurance crisis , recreational marijuana and abortion . And Trump’s incoming chief of staff is Susie Wiles, who was ousted by DeSantis after she helped him win his first gubernatorial bid in 2018. Wiles didn’t return a request for comment. Spokespeople for Trump and DeSantis also did not respond to requests for comment for this article. The job might not be in DeSantis’ best interest There have been different opinions on this. The defense secretary job is high-profile and would keep DeSantis in D.C. and potentially on television, both of which would help him build support for a potential 2028 presidential bid. But the job is a federal governmental position, which would make raising money more difficult thanks to a 1939 law called the Hatch Act that prohibits executive branch employees from participating in certain political activities, including soliciting and accepting campaign contributions. On the other hand, the restriction may not all be all that enforceable. The Office of Special Counsel investigated Hatch Act complaints and found in a report released in 2021 that 13 senior Trump officials had violated it during his first term as president. The report notes that “discipline is no longer possible once subjects leave government service.” It’s also a new job. DeSantis would be pivoting to a whole new agenda, which is always a risk. He’s overwhelmingly powerful in Florida, ground zero for the new Republican party. And when he terms out of his governorship in 2027, he could easily transition into campaigning for president. Serving in a Cabinet post would also limit DeSantis’ ability to criticize or distance himself from the Trump administration in a future presidential bid. If he remains in the governor’s mansion for another two years, DeSantis could still play the role of Trump ally, while maintaining an air of independence from the president-elect and his agenda. DeSantis isn’t particularly wealthy. And D.C. is expensive. DeSantis’ net worth in December of last year was nearly $1.8 million, according to a state ethics form elected officials must fill out each year. Much of his wealth came from the publishing of his 2023 memoir, "Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival." DeSantis’ gubernatorial salary last year was $141,400. He still owed $16,929.11 in student loans. He had no mortgage. He lives in the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee. Becoming defense secretary would come with a significant raise for DeSantis; as of this year, the job pays $246,400 annually . But it could also come with new bills: If DeSantis, who has three young children, leaves his job to take the defense secretary position, he may have to purchase or lease not just one home, but two — one in Florida and one in Washington, D.C. Working for Trump doesn’t scream job security For all the prestige that comes with serving in a presidential administration, Cabinet secretaries serve at the pleasure of the president, meaning DeSantis could be pushed out of office on a whim if that’s what Trump wants. During his first term in the White House, the famously mercurial Trump repeatedly ousted and replaced advisors and appointees. His first defense secretary, ret. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, served in the role for just under two years. If he remains in the governor’s mansion, DeSantis will remain in the political spotlight for at least another two years – a guarantee he wouldn’t have if he takes the job at the Pentagon. (McClatchy Chief Washington Correspondent Michael Wilner contributed to this report.) ©2024 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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The Prime Minister said the season was a time to remember the importance of “being there for one another”, including in “the more difficult times”. He also expressed hope for “peace, particularly in the Middle East as the birthplace of the Christmas story” amid spiralling conflict across the region. The message comes after a challenging first five months in office for the Labour Government and against the backdrop of a flatlining economy and rising inflation. Sir Keir said: “This Christmas, people will be travelling up and down the country. Heading home, visiting relatives and loved ones to celebrate together the hope and joy of this special season. “It’s a time to remind ourselves what’s really important. Family. Friendship. And fellowship between all people. “Being there for one another – in these celebrations, as well as the more difficult times.” To our military and veterans, the whole nation thanks you for the sacrifices you make to keep us safe. My government will serve you as you have served your country. I wish you and your families a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. pic.twitter.com/LphMZog6np — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) December 22, 2024 The Prime Minister sought to strike an optimistic note following another year of political upheaval for Britain, which saw Labour win a landslide victory after a surprise election called by Rishi Sunak in the summer. After taking office in July, the new Government made a series of unpopular decisions as ministers confronted the realities of creaking public services and strained national finances. As well as dealing with the economic inheritance, Sir Keir said he needed to fix a “broken society” which manifested itself in summer riots across the country after the Southport knife attack. Sir Keir said: “This Christmas, I will be hoping for peace, particularly in the Middle East as the birthplace of the Christmas story. “I’ll be looking towards a better, brighter future for every person and celebrating the joy and wonder that Christmas brings. “So, from my family to yours, I hope you have a very merry Christmas.” The message comes after revised official figures released on Monday indicated that UK gross domestic product (GDP) showed no growth between July and September. Downing Street defended the Government’s record so far when asked about the data, telling reporters: “We had to take those tough decisions to lay the foundations of growth such that we can then deliver the higher living standards over this Parliament that people want to see.” The Prime Minister also used his message to thank those spending Christmas serving others, including in the NHS and emergency services, the armed forces, churches and charities. “I know that this is not an easy time for everyone, and my thoughts are with all those who are lonely this Christmas. “Having a tough time, missing a loved one. You are not alone,” he said. Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch said Christmas was a time to reflect on “all that’s happened in the year” and “support all of those people who need our assistance”. “I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone, not just in the Conservative Party or in my constituency, but across the country,” the Tory leader said. “For all that you have been doing in your communities, supporting each other and helping to keep all our towns, villages and places going. “I think that Christmas is a time for us to reflect on all that’s happened in the year. “Sometimes we have amazing years. “Sometimes, like when I lost my dad, we have difficult years and we’re commiserating, but we do it together. “But it’s a time for us to support all of those people who need our assistance, who need our help, who need our support.” She added: “And I’m looking forward to 2025. “I wish you all the very best for the New Year and all of the exciting things to come.” Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “This year, I’ve had the chance to spend time with some amazing young carers. “Incredible young people who will spend this Christmas doing what they do all year round; looking after loved ones who are ill or disabled. “Carers embody the Christmas spirit of love, selflessness and generosity. “So I hope we can all take some time to think of them, and keep them in our hearts. “And wish them – and everyone – a Christmas full of peace, joy and love.”Lavrov reveals view on lifting sanctions in Carlson interview