PMB Technology bets $133m on silicon-aluminium alloys amid mounting silicon metal losses - AL Circle

The proof-of-concept study, conducted by researchers at North Carolina State University, uses finely ground eggshells directly in the production of magnesium alloys through a process known as friction stir extrusion. The approach allows calcium-containing materials needed to improve magnesium’s mechanical properties to be produced during the manufacturing process itself, rather than being separately processed from mined ore before being added to the alloy.

Here’s your NYT Strands hint for today, plus the spangram and all of today’s Strands answers for puzzle No. 959 on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. Today’s Strands theme was tricky. It helps to be a runner. Read on for all the answers.

A supply-chain attack involving ConnectWise’s cloud services has exposed Microsoft 365 customers to unauthorized application access, with researchers reporting successful sign-ins across 173 partner and customer tenants. The incident centres on credentials associated with ConnectWise Cloud Backup, formerly SkyKick, and raises concerns about attackers exploiting permissions already entrusted to business software. ConnectWise has confirmed unauthorized access to application identities within its Cloud Backup environment. In an October 17 update on its service-status page, the company said it was shutting off application access, interrupting customer backups while investigation and remediation continued.