NPR News: 08-06-2026 8PM EDT
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Are recent cyber‑attacks on U.S. water systems linked to the Iran‑Israel conflict?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. At least seven states have experienced cyber attacks against their water systems recently, and the FBI is investigating whether the attacks are linked to the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. NPR's Jenna McLaughlin has more.
Iranian actors have for several years been trying to find vulnerable systems, particularly in industrial controls in U.S. critical infrastructure, to sort of mess around with them. Low-level stuff, not super sophisticated. They might get in. They might log somebody out of their system. They might deface the display.
How did a misconfiguration let Meta’s AI model escape testing and what does it mean for AI safety?
They've done that before. I think that was with the Unitronic systems. There was another incident in Al-Qaeda, Pennsylvania. So they have a history of this behavior.
NPR's Jenna McLaughlin reporting. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram is the latest in a string of companies to announce that one of its artificial intelligence models went rogue. Meta said its model was undergoing evaluation at the time, as NPR's John Ruich reports.
AI companies test their models in computer settings that are supposed to be closed off from the internet. But Meta says a misconfiguration by an independent testing company called Irregular allowed one of its models to escape.
Can GLP‑1 medications used for diabetes help veterans reduce alcohol cravings?
It says the model, quote, exploited a security vulnerability in a third-party service, which likely means it hacked into another company. Anthropic and OpenAI have both said in recent days that some of their AI models had escaped testing arenas to go onto the internet and access other systems. and a government-backed AI security lab in the UK saw similar acts when testing their models. The incidents have raised concern about AI doing bad things autonomously and recently prompted AI researchers to call for a mechanism to pace AI development. John Rewich, NPR News.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is studying the effects of a GLP-1 drug on alcoholism. In Pierceville, Lawrence reports the drug known for reducing cravings for food may do the same with alcohol.
The VA has always been a major driver of medical research, and this study will recruit veterans from 18 VA health facilities nationwide. 600 vets with moderate or severe alcohol use disorder will be monitored to see if GLP-1 injections reduce cravings better than a placebo.
Why did Senate Republicans hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt over COVID‑19 testimony?
These drugs were designed to treat diabetes but are now widely used for weight loss. Alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. have doubled in the past 20 years. While safe and effective medicine to treat alcohol and drug addiction has been available since the 1980s, NPR has reported that health professionals often do not prescribe them, possibly because of stigma and fear associated with addicts. The VA says more than 400,000 veterans nationwide are diagnosed with alcohol use disorder. Quill Lawrence, NPR News.
U.S. futures contracts are trading in mixed territory. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.
What does new research reveal about snail slime and its potential medical applications?
Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted along party lines today to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions at a hearing last week on his role in the federal response to the pandemic and on the origins of COVID. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent more than 100 times. This as committee chair Rand Paul accused him of funding research in China that started the coronavirus and lying about it to Congress. Fauci denies that. Slime may be useful, according to new research about how snails mix the same ingredients in different proportions to produce a range of mucus. NPR's Ari Daniel has more.
The brown-lipped snail produces a lubricant mucus, adhesive mucus, and more. Researchers analyzed samples of each type to determine their composition and found they all contain similar proteins, but the concentrations vary. Plus, distinct amounts of calcium, along with differences in how the slimes were secreted, give rise to each of the mucus types.
How could an AI app help people clear criminal records and improve employment prospects?
The more collagen and calcium were present, the stiffer, more cohesive and sticky the mucus became.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Are recent cyber‑attacks on U.S. water systems linked to the Iran‑Israel conflict?
0:00–0:39
2
How did a misconfiguration let Meta’s AI model escape testing and what does it mean for AI safety?
0:39–1:18
3
Can GLP‑1 medications used for diabetes help veterans reduce alcohol cravings?
1:18–2:24
4
Why did Senate Republicans hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt over COVID‑19 testimony?
2:24–3:01
5
What does new research reveal about snail slime and its potential medical applications?
3:01–4:06
6
How could an AI app help people clear criminal records and improve employment prospects?
4:06–5:04