BEAM

Four environmental organizations filed a petition Thursday asking the Federal Communications Commission to reverse its approval of a startup's plan to beam on-demand sunlight from space to Earth. The groups argue the agency ignored the project's potential impacts on wildlife and astronomy, opening a new front in the debate over commercial use of orbit and its environmental consequences.

Reflection AI has introduced Beam, a large open-weight AI model with 501 billion parameters, positioning it among the biggest openly available models to date. The announcement has drawn strong attention from developers and AI researchers, who are debating its capabilities, licensing terms and how it compares to leading closed models from major AI labs.

A Palmetto Sports Daily segment examines whether South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer can tune out external criticism while also taking an early look at the Clemson men's basketball program. Discussion centers on pressure surrounding Beamer's Gamecocks football team and expectations for Clemson's hoops squad heading into the season.