Mumbai Families Suffer As Data Centers Keep the City Hooked on Coal
Two coal plants in Mumbai (in India) that were scheduled to close last year continue operating after the state government of Maharashtra reversed shutdown decisions in late 2023 and extended the life of at least one facility by five years. The largest single factor the Indian conglomerate Tata cited in its petition for an extension was i … ⌘ Read more

Nvidia Claims ‘Generation Ahead’ Advantage After $200 Billion Sell-off on Google Fears
Nvidia pushed back against investor concerns about Google’s competitive positioning in AI on Tuesday after the chipmaker’s shares tumbled 4.4% and erased nearly $200 billion in market cap on fears that Alphabet’s tensor processing units were gaining ground against its dominance in AI computing. The company said … ⌘ Read more

Evidence from the One Laptop per Child Program in Rural Peru
The abstract of a paper on NBER: This paper examines a large-scale randomized evaluation of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program in 531 Peruvian rural primary schools. We use administrative data on academic performance and grade progression over 10 years to estimate the long-run effects of increased computer access on (i) school performance over time … ⌘ Read more

Adolescence Lasts Into 30s - New Study Shows Four Pivotal Ages For Your Brain
The brain goes through five distinct phases in life, with key turning points at ages nine, 32, 66 and 83, scientists have revealed. From a report: Around 4,000 people up to the age of 90 had scans to reveal the connections between their brain cells. Researchers at the University of Cambridge showed that the brain stays … ⌘ Read more

Unpowered SSDs in Your Drawer Are Slowly Losing Data
An anonymous reader shares a report: Solid-state drives sitting unpowered in drawers or storage can lose data over time because voltage gradually leaks from their NAND flash cells, and consumer-grade drives using QLC NAND retain data for about a year while TLC NAND lasts up to three years without power. More expensive MLC and SLC NAND can hold data for five and ten … ⌘ Read more

Singapore Orders Apple, Google To Prevent Government Spoofing on Messaging Platforms
An anonymous reader shares a report: Singapore’s police have ordered Apple and Google to prevent the spoofing of government agencies on their messaging platforms, the home affairs ministry said on Tuesday. The order under the nation’s Online Criminal Harms Act came after the police observed scams on Apple’s … ⌘ Read more

Microsoft To Preload File Explorer in Background For Faster Launch in Windows 11
In the latest Windows Insider beta update, Microsoft has announced that it is exploring preloading File Explorer in the background to improve launch performance. The feature will load File Explorer silently before users click on it and can be toggled off for those who prefer not to use it. Microsoft introduced a sim … ⌘ Read more

Lenovo Stockpiling PC Memory Due To ‘Unprecedented’ AI Squeeze
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Lenovo is stockpiling memory and other critical components to navigate a supply crunch brought on by the boom in artificial intelligence. The world’s biggest PC maker is holding on to component inventories that are roughly 50% higher than usual, Chief Financial Officer Winston Cheng told Bloomberg … ⌘ Read more

EPA Approves New ‘Forever Chemical’ Pesticides For Use On Food
The EPA has approved new pesticides that qualify as PFAS “forever chemicals” (paywalled; alternative source), sparking criticism from scientists and environmental groups who warn these decisions could increase Americans’ exposure through food and water at a time when many states are moving to restrict such substances. The Washington Post reports: This … ⌘ Read more

Ozone Hole Ranked As 5th Smallest In More Than 30 Years
Scientists report that the Antarctic ozone hole in 2025 is the fifth-smallest since 1992, thanks largely to decades of global restrictions on ozone-depleting chemicals under the Montreal Protocol. ABC News reports: The ozone hole reached its greatest one-day extent for 2025 in early September, measuring 8.83 million square miles, about 30% smaller than the largest … ⌘ Read more

Hacker Conference Installed a Literal Antivirus Monitoring System
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Hacker conferences – like all conventions – are notorious for giving attendees a parting gift of mystery illness. To combat “con crud,” New Zealand’s premier hacker conference, Kawaiicon, quietly launched a real-time, room-by-room carbon dioxide monitoring system for attendees. To get the system u … ⌘ Read more

Mind-Altering ‘Brain Weapons’ No Longer Only Science Fiction, Say Researchers
Researchers warn that rapid advances in neuroscience, pharmacology, and AI are bringing “brain weapons” out of science fiction and into real-world plausibility. They argue current arms treaties don’t adequately cover these emerging tools and call for a new, proactive framework to prevent the weaponization of the human mi … ⌘ Read more

Trump Launches Genesis Mission, a Manhattan Project-Level AI Push
BrianFagioli writes: President Trump has issued a sweeping executive order that creates the Genesis Mission, a national AI program he compares to a Manhattan Project level effort. It centralizes DOE supercomputers, national lab resources, massive scientific datasets, and new AI foundation models into a single platform meant to fast track research … ⌘ Read more

Jony Ive and Sam Altman Say They Finally Have an AI Hardware Prototype
Sam Altman and Jony Ive say they’ve settled on a prototype for OpenAI’s first hardware device that could ship in “less than” two years. The Verge reports: In an interview with Laurene Powell Jobs at Emerson Collective’s 2025 Demo Day, they said they are currently prototyping the device, and when asked about a timeframe, Ive said it … ⌘ Read more

Japan’s High-Stakes Gamble To Turn Island of Flowers Into Global Chip Hub
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: The island of Hokkaido has long been an agricultural powerhouse – now Japan is investing billions to turn it into a global hub for advanced semiconductors. More than half of Japan’s dairy produce comes from Hokkaido, the northernmost of its main islands. In winter, it’s a wonderland o … ⌘ Read more

Amazon Pledges Up To $50 Billion To Expand AI, Supercomputing For US Government
Amazon is committing up to $50 billion to massively expand AI and supercomputing capacity for U.S. government cloud regions, adding 1.3 gigawatts of high-performance compute and giving federal agencies access to its full suite of AI tools. Reuters reports: The project, expected to break ground in 2026, will add nearly 1 … ⌘ Read more

Pebble Goes Fully Open Source
Core Devices has fully open-sourced the entire Pebble software stack and confirmed the first Pebble Time 2 shipments will start in January. “This is the clearest sign yet that the platform is shifting from a company-led product to a community-backed project that can survive independently,” reports Gadgets & Wearables. From the report: The announcement follows weeks of tension between Core Devices and parts of the P … ⌘ Read more

Arduino’s New Terms of Service Worries Hobbyists Ahead of Qualcomm Acquisition
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Some members of the maker community are distraught about Arduino’s new terms of service (ToS), saying that the added rules put the company’s open source DNA at risk. Arduino updated its ToS and privacy policy this month, which is about a month after Qualcomm ann … ⌘ Read more

Americans Are Holding Onto Devices Longer Than Ever
An anonymous reader shares a report: The average American now holds onto their smartphone for 29 months, according to a recent survey by Reviews.org, and that cycle is getting longer. The average was around 22 months in 2016.

[…] Research released by the Federal Reserve last month concludes that each additional year companies delay upgrading equipment results in a product … ⌘ Read more

Udio Users Can’t Download Their AI Music Creations Anymore
An anonymous reader shares a report: As part of the settlement with Universal, Udio has amended its terms of service, and users can no longer download their outputs. This has AI music makers furious, and with good reason. Unfortunately, they have little recourse, as the contract they sign when creating a Udio account includes a waiver of the right to … ⌘ Read more

Obesity Jab Drug Fails To Slow Alzheimer’s
Drug maker Novo Nordisk says semaglutide, the active ingredient for the weight loss jab Wegovy, does not slow Alzheimer’s – despite initial hopes that it might help against dementia. From a report: Researchers began two large trials involving more than 3,800 people after reports the medicine was having an impact in the real world. But the studies showed the GLP-1 drug, which is already … ⌘ Read more

Google’s ‘Aluminium OS’ Will Eventually Replace ChromeOS With Android
Google’s long-rumored plan to merge ChromeOS and Android into a single desktop operating system now has a name: Aluminium OS, AndroidAuthority reports, citing a job listing.

The job listing explicitly tasks applicants with “working on a new Aluminium, Android-based, operating system.” The job listing confirms Google intends to eventually … ⌘ Read more

Science-Centric Streaming Service Curiosity Stream is an AI-licensing Firm Now
Curiosity Stream, the decade-old science documentary streaming service founded by Discovery Channel’s John Hendricks, expects its AI licensing business to generate more revenue than its 23 million subscribers by 2027 – possibly earlier. The company’s Q3 2025 earnings revealed a 41% year-over-year revenue increase, dri … ⌘ Read more

Google Denies ‘Misleading’ Reports of Gmail Using Your Emails To Train AI
An anonymous reader shares a report: Google is pushing back on viral social media posts and articles like this one by Malwarebytes, claiming Google has changed its policy to use your Gmail messages and attachments to train AI models, and the only way to opt out is by disabling “smart features” like spell checking.

But Google spok … ⌘ Read more

NATO Taps Google For Air-Gapped Sovereign Cloud
NATO has hired Google to provide “air-gapped” sovereign cloud services and AI in “completely disconnected, highly secure environments.” From a report: The Chocolate Factory will support the military alliance’s Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Centre (JATEC) in a move designed to improve its digital infrastructure and strengthen its data governance. NATO was formed in 1949 … ⌘ Read more

The Slow Transformation of Notepad Into Something Else Entirely Continues
Microsoft is rolling out yet another update to Notepad for Windows 11 Insiders that adds table support and faster AI-generated responses, continuing a transformation of the once-minimal text editor that has drawn sustained criticism from users who preferred its original simplicity. The update, version 11.2510.6.0, lets users inser … ⌘ Read more

Lenovo Stockpiling PC Memory Due To ‘Unprecedented’ AI Squeeze
Lenovo is stockpiling memory and other critical components to navigate a supply crunch brought on by the boom in AI. From a report: The world’s biggest PC maker is holding on to component inventories that are roughly 50% higher than usual, [non-paywalled source] Chief Financial Officer Winston Cheng told Bloomberg TV on Monday. The frenzy to build and f … ⌘ Read more

Apple iOS 27 to Be No-Frills ‘Snow Leopard’ Update, Other Than New AI
Apple’s next major iPhone software update will prioritize stability and performance over flashy new features, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who reports that iOS 27 is being developed as a “Snow Leopard-style” release [non-paywalled source] focused on fixing bugs, removing bloat and improving underlying code after this year’s swe … ⌘ Read more

Ubisoft Shows Off New AI-Powered FPS And Hopes You’ve Forgotten About Its Failed NFTs
Ubisoft has revealed Teammates, a first-person shooter built around AI-powered squadmates that the company is calling its “first playable generative AI research project” – not long after the publisher went all-in on NFTs and the metaverse only to largely move on from both. Built in the Snowdrop Engine th … ⌘ Read more

How Google Finally Leapfrogged Rivals With New Gemini Rollout
An anonymous reader shares a report: With the release of its third version last week, Google’s Gemini large language model surged past ChatGPT and other competitors to become the most capable AI chatbot, as determined by consensus industry-benchmark tests. […] Aaron Levie, chief executive of the cloud content management company Box, got early access … ⌘ Read more

New Mars Orbiter Manuever Challenges Theory: That May Not Be an Underground Lake on Mars
In 2018 researchers claimed evidence of a lake beneath the surface of Mars, detected by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding instrument (or Marsis for short).

But new Mars observations “are not consistent with the presence of liquid water in this location and an alternat … ⌘ Read more

How An MIT Student Awed Top Economists With His AI Study - Until It All Fell Apart
In May MIT announced “no confidence” in a preprint paper on how AI increased scientific discovery, asking arXiv to withdraw it. The paper, authored by 27-year-old grad student Aidan Toner-Rodgers, had claimed an AI-driven materials discovery tool helped 1,018 scientists at a U.S. R&D lab.

But within weeks his … ⌘ Read more

‘We Could’ve Asked ChatGPT’: UK Students Fight Back Over Course Taught By AI
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Guardian:

James and Owen were among 41 students who took a coding module at the University of Staffordshire last year, hoping to change careers through a government-funded apprenticeship programme designed to help them become cybersecurity experts or software engineers. But afte … ⌘ Read more

Napster Said It Raised $3 Billion From a Mystery Investor. But Now the ‘Investor’ and ‘Money’ Are Gone
An anonymous reader shared this report from Forbes:

On November 20, at approximately 4 p.m. Eastern time, Napster held an online meeting for its shareholders; an estimated 700 of roughly 1,500 including employees, former employees and individual investors tuned in. Th … ⌘ Read more

New Research Finds America’s Top Social Media Sites: YouTube (84%) Facebook (71%), Instagram (50%)
Pew Research surveyed 5,022 Americans this year (between February 5 and June 18), asking them
“do you ever use” YouTube, Facebook, and nine of the other top social media platforms. The results?

YouTube 84%

Facebook 71%

Instagram 50%

TikTok 37%

WhatsApp 32%

Reddit 26%

Snapchat 2 … ⌘ Read more

Was the Moon-Forming Protoplanet ‘Theia’ a Neighbor of Earth?
Theia crashed into earth and formed the moon, the theory goes. But then where did Theia come from? The lead author on a new study says “The most convincing scenario is that most of the building blocks of Earth and Theia originated in the inner Solar System. Earth and Theia are likely to have been neighbors.”

Though Theia was completely destroyed in th … ⌘ Read more

Cryptologist DJB Criticizes Push to Finalize Non-Hybrid Security for Post-Quantum Cryptography
In October cryptologist/CS professor Daniel J. Bernstein alleged that America’s National Security
Agency (and its UK counterpart GCHQ) were attempting to influence NIST to adopt weaker post-quantum cryptography
standards without a “hybrid” approach that would’ve also included pre-quantum EC … ⌘ Read more

Google Revisits JPEG XL in Chromium After Earlier Removal
“Three years ago, Google removed JPEG XL support from Chrome, stating there wasn’t enough interest at the time,” writes the blog Windows Report. “That position has now changed.”

In a recent note to developers, a Chrome team representative confirmed that work has restarted to bring JPEG XL to Chromium and said Google “would ship it in Chrome” once long-term ma … ⌘ Read more

Mozilla Announces ‘TABS API’ For Developers Building AI Agents
“Fresh from announcing it is building an AI browsing mode in Firefox and laying the groundwork for agentic interactions in the Firefox 145 release, the corp arm of Mozilla is now flexing its AI muscles in the direction of those more likely to care,” writes the blog OMG Ubuntu:

If you’re a developer building AI agents, you can sign up to get early acces … ⌘ Read more

One Company’s Plan to Sink Nuclear Reactors Deep Underground
Long-time Slashdot reader jenningsthecat shared this article from IEEE Spectrum:

By dropping a nuclear reactor 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) underground, Deep Fission aims to use the weight of a billion tons of rock and water as a natural containment system comparable to concrete domes and cooling towers. With the fission reaction occurring far below the s … ⌘ Read more

Could High-Speed Trains Shorten US Travel Times While Reducing Emissions?
With some animated graphics, CNN “reimagined” what three of America’s busiest air and road travel routes would look like with high-speed trains, for “a glimpse into a faster, more connected future.”

The journey from New York City to Chicago could take just over six hours by high-speed train at an average speed of 160 mph, cutting … ⌘ Read more

Microsoft and GitHub Preview New Tool That Identifies, Prioritizes, and Fixes Vulnerabilities With AI
“Security, development, and AI now move as one,” says Microsoft’s director of cloud/AI security
product marketing.

Microsoft and GitHub “have launched a native integration between Microsoft Defender for Cloud and GitHub Advanced Security that aims to address what one e … ⌘ Read more

Engineers are Building the Hottest Geothermal Power Plant on Earth - Next to a US Volcano
“On the slopes of an Oregon volcano, engineers are building the hottest geothermal power plant on Earth,” reports the Washington Post:

The plant will tap into the infernal energy of Newberry Volcano, “one of the largest and most hazardous active volcanoes in the United States,” according to t … ⌘ Read more

How the Internet Rewired Work - and What That Tells Us About AI’s Likely Impact
“The internet did transform work — but not the way 1998 thought…” argues the Wall Street Journal. “The internet slipped inside almost every job and rewired how work got done.”

So while the number of single-task jobs like travel agent dropped, most jobs “are bundles of judgment, coordination and hands-on work,” and in … ⌘ Read more

Microsoft Warns Its Windows AI Feature Brings Data Theft and Malware Risks, and ‘Occasionally May Hallucinate’
“Copilot Actions on Windows 11” is currently available in Insider builds (version 26220.7262) as part of Copilot Labs, according to a recent report, “and is off by default, requiring admin access to set it up.”

But maybe it’s off for a good reason…besides t … ⌘ Read more

Amazon’s AI-Powered IDE Kiro Helps Vibe Coders with ‘Spec Mode’
A promotional video for Amazon’s Kiro software development system took a unique approach, writes GeekWire. “Instead of product diagrams or keynote slides, a crew from Seattle’s Packrat creative studio used action figures on a miniature set to create a stop-motion sequence…”

“Can the software development hero conquer the ‘AI Slop Monster’ to u … ⌘ Read more

Did Bitcoin Play a Role in Thursday’s Stock Sell-Off?
A week ago Bitcoin was at $93,714. Saturday it dropped to $85,300.

Late Thursday, market researcher Ed Yardeni blamed some of Thursday’s stock market sell-off on “the ongoing plunge in bitcoin’s price,” reports Fortune:

“There has been a strong correlation between it and the price of TQQQ, an ETF that seeks to achieve daily investment results that correspond to three … ⌘ Read more

PHP 8.5 Brings Long-Awaited Pipe Operator, Adds New URI Tools
“PHP 8.5 landed on Thursday with a long-awaited pipe operator and a new standards-compliant URI parser,” reports the Register, “marking one of the scripting language’s more substantial updates… “

The pipe operator allows function calls to be chained together, which avoids the
extraneous variables and nested statements that might otherwise be
inv … ⌘ Read more

‘The Strange and Totally Real Plan to Blot Out the Sun and Reverse Global Warming’
In a 2023 pitch to investors, a “well-financed, highly credentialed” startup named Stardust aimed for a “gradual temperature reduction demonstration” in 2027, according to a massive new 9,600-word article from Politico. (“Annually dispersing ~1 million tons of sun-reflecting particles,” says one slide. “Equivalen … ⌘ Read more

Meta Plans New AI-Powered ‘Morning Brief’ Drawn From Facebook and ‘External Sources’
Meta “is testing a new product that would give Facebook users a personalized daily briefing powered by the company’s generative AI technology” reports the Washington Post. They cite records they’ve reviwed showing that Meta “would analyze Facebook content and external sources to push custom updates to its users. … ⌘ Read more