tl;dr
Altair pre-release has launched
In the past week, beacon chain Altair pre-release specifications — Stargazer v1.1.0-alpha.1 and Half of ‘em just look like dots v1.1.0-alpha.2 — have been released. These signify the first fully-featured releases of the impending Altair enhancement to the beacon chain, providing engineering teams with something tangible to explore.
Altair is an enhancement to the beacon chain that introduces light client support, minor tweaks to incentives, per-validator inactivity leak calculations, an escalation in slashing severity, and adjustments to validator rewards accounting for more streamlined state management.
Alongside these various attributes, Altair also acts as a “preparatory upgrade” for the beacon chain and its clients. Ethereum’s proof-of-stake system has functioned quite seamlessly since inception, however, prior to undertaking the critical merge, client teams wish to undergo a live upgrade to further validate and prepare their codebases and the operational system.
Client teams are presently integrating modifications from the pre-release and offering feedback throughout the process. Following this phase, we will prepare a complete release and initiate the testnet stage.
Open call: Security RfP
Recently, the EF unveiled a beacon chain security+testing RfP. This represents an open invitation for proposals aimed at enhancing the beacon chain’s security, analysis, and testing. Beyond client engineering, there is ample work to be done to continue scrutinizing, refining, and strengthening the beacon chain system ahead of the merge, and we are eager to involve more teams with diverse expertise to delve into these tasks.
Explore the RfP’s potential focus areas for some inspiration, but if you find it challenging to distill these various domains into a more polished proposal, don’t hesitate to reach out via email to rfp@ethereum.org for assistance. Share some background on your or your team’s skills and experience, along with a basic concept, and we can collaborate to refine a proposal.
If you are aware of a group or individual who may be well suited for this RfP, please pass it along!
Merge progress
Merge progress is gaining momentum 
Curious about the merge? It signifies the integration of Ethereum’s application layer (currently powered by proof-of-work) with Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus layer, the beacon chain. Although the beacon chain is already operational, it presently only reaches consensus on its own; however, post-merge, the beacon chain will govern all dapps, smart contracts, and accounts that you interact with today.
In recent weeks, merge designs have been continually refined. Check out Mikhail’s latest spec PR for the newest synthesis of merge strategies and structures. We anticipate these foundational designs to be incorporated into the specifications soon, with engineering teams set to commence work on the next series of demos and testnets.
Alongside our ongoing research, design, and engineering efforts, we have initiated a bi-weekly call to foster collaboration among the numerous teams. You can stay updated on progress and actively engage in the Eth R&D discord #merge channel 
