Australia’s new food security strategy: What’s on the table, and what’s missing?
In 2023, a parliamentary inquiry into food security was held in Australia. This involves the government asking for public and expert advice on key issues to make better decisions. ⌘ Read more

From the chicken archive, 2017.

Not mine, these were more or less free roaming chickens. Farmers didn’t use some of their fields for a while and allowed some other farmer to let the birds live there in the meantime.

(Full resolution, CC BY-SA.)

Saturday Citations: Bird news: Vultures as curators and a newly discovered interspecies warning call
This week, researchers reported that mild dietary stress supports healthy aging. Engineers created artificial neurons that can communicate directly with living cells. And dark energy observations suggest that the universe could end in a “big crunch” at 33 billion years old. ⌘ Read more

Migrated away from Micro.blog ⌘ Read more

That Manton guy is so incredible dull, not even funny: https://www.manton.org/2025/10/03/apparently-there-was-some-drama.html

Molecular coating cleans up noisy quantum light
Quantum technologies demand perfection: one photon at a time, every time, all with the same energy. Even tiny deviations in the number or energy of photons can derail devices, threatening the performance of quantum computers that someday could make up a quantum internet. ⌘ Read more

Computational tool helps forecast volcano slope collapses and tsunamis
For people living near volcanoes, danger goes well beyond lava flows and clouds of ash. Some explosive eruptions can lead to dramatic collapses of the sides of a volcano, like those at Mount St. Helens, Washington, and Anak Krakatau, Indonesia. The latter triggered tsunamis blamed for most deaths from its historic eruptions in 1883. ⌘ Read more

First wolf-dog hybrid confirmed in Greece
A prominent Greek wildlife group on Friday said it had confirmed the first case of a wolf-dog hybrid in the north of the country. ⌘ Read more

Accelerated Gulf of Maine warming may pose a serious threat to American lobsters
The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the world’s oceans, raising concerns for its $2 billion-a-year American lobster fishery. Scientists at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS have been studying the impacts of ocean acidification and warming on lobster reproduction, and the results of their most recent research suggest the rising temperatures pose the greatest risk. ⌘ Read more

Why some human GII.4 noroviruses are better than others at infecting cells
Human noroviruses, GII.4 strains in particular, are the chief drivers of acute viral gastroenteritis around the world, a condition for which there are no vaccines or antivirals. Understanding how these viruses enter cells in the gut, a first step toward developing an infection, can lead to effective therapeutics. ⌘ Read more

Energy harvesters surpass Carnot efficiency using non-thermal electron states
Harnessing quantum states that avoid thermalization enables energy harvesters to surpass traditional thermodynamic limits such as Carnot efficiency, report researchers from Japan. The team developed a new approach using a non-thermal Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid to convert waste heat into electricity with higher efficiency than conventional approaches. These findings pave the way for more sustainable low-power elect … ⌘ Read more

Novel method for controlling Faraday rotation in conductive polymers
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have developed a novel method for controlling the optical rotation of conductive polymer polythiophene in a magnetic field at low voltage. This method combines the “Faraday rotation” phenomenon, in which a polarizing plane rotates in response to a magnetic field, with the electrochemical oxidation and reduction of conductive polymers. ⌘ Read more

Ultra-thin sodium films offer low-cost alternative to gold and silver in optical technologies
From solar panels to next-generation medical devices, many emerging technologies rely on materials that can manipulate light with extreme precision. These materials—called plasmonic materials—are typically made from expensive metals like gold or silver. But what if a cheaper, more abundant metal could do the job just as well or better? ⌘ Read more

Neolithic Chinese culture artifacts show systematic human bone modification
In a recent study by Dr. Sawada and his colleagues published in Scientific Reports, 183 human bones were surveyed, of which 52 were found to be worked human bones, all of which belong to the Neolithic Liangzhu culture. ⌘ Read more

New telescope cuts through space noise in hunt for distant Earth-like worlds
EU researchers are developing powerful new telescopes to help uncover Earth-like planets around distant stars and advance the search for extraterrestrial life. ⌘ Read more

Millions of buildings at risk from sea level rise, analysis finds
Sea level rise could put more than 100 million buildings across the Global South at risk of regular flooding if fossil fuel emissions are not curbed quickly, according to a new McGill-led study published in npj Urban Sustainability. ⌘ Read more

Gap-controlled infrared method enables analysis of molecular interfaces
A novel spectroscopic method developed at Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, enables highly sensitive analysis of molecules at material interfaces, using a combination of conventional ATR-IR, precise gap-control and advanced data processing. The technique offers a low-cost alternative to conventional interfacial spectroscopy and has potential applications in material sciences, nanotechnology, and biological sciences. ⌘ Read more

Researchers demonstrate substrate design principles for scalable superconducting quantum materials
Silicides—alloys of silicon and metals long used in microelectronics—are now being explored again for quantum hardware. But their use faces a critical challenge: achieving phase purity, since some silicide phases are superconducting while others are not. ⌘ Read more

Making yogurt with ants revives a creative fermentation process
Researchers recreated a nearly forgotten yogurt recipe that once was common across the Balkans and Turkey—using ants. Reporting in iScience on October 3, the team shows that bacteria, acids, and enzymes in ants can kickstart the fermentation process that turns milk into yogurt. The work highlights how traditional practices can inspire new approaches to food science and even add creativity to the dinner table. ⌘ Read more

Natural barriers in northern Sweden’s rivers challenge downstream assumptions
Rivers in northern Sweden do not always become wider or richer in species further downstream. Natural barriers shape the flow and stop plants from spreading, new research from Umeå University shows. The study is published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. ⌘ Read more

Antarctica sees similar climate change effects as Greenland: Study
The planet’s warming climate is having effects in Antarctica that increasingly resemble those observed in the Arctic, meaning global sea levels could rise faster than previously predicted, Danish researchers warned on Friday. ⌘ Read more

Physicists maneuver DNA molecules using electrical fields, offering real-time control
Researchers in McGill’s Department of Physics have developed a new device that can trap and study DNA molecules without touching or damaging them. The device, which uses carefully tuned electric fields, offers scientists unprecedented control over how DNA behaves in real time, creating the opportunity for faster, more precise molecular analysis that could improve diagnostics, genome mapping and the study … ⌘ Read more

Trauma in a puppy’s first six months linked to adult aggression, says new study
As many dog owners can attest, their four-legged companions are delightful and loving. But for others, their animals have an aggressive side, such as biting and attacking strangers, which may ultimately lead to them having to be euthanized. But why do some dogs turn out this way? ⌘ Read more

Cascadia megathrust earthquake could trigger San Andreas fault
When the tectonic subduction zone beneath the Pacific Northwest moves, it does so in dramatic fashion. Not only is ground shaking from a magnitude 9+ earthquake incredibly destructive, the event triggers tsunamis and landslides to compound the damage. Now, a new study in the Geosphere suggests the “really big one” could also trigger a major earthquake in California. ⌘ Read more

Even short school breaks can affect student learning unevenly across socioeconomic backgrounds
The COVID-19 pandemic affected people worldwide disproportionately, with economically disadvantaged households facing a heavier burden. Children were also affected since schools and classes were closed to contain the virus. ⌘ Read more

Unique videos show how trawling restrictions bring back life to the sea
Trawling restrictions not only benefit fish and shellfish; anemones and corals are also becoming more common, according to a new study from the University of Gothenburg. Twenty-six years of underwater videos from the depths of the Koster Sea also show long-term changes in the ecosystem as the water becomes warmer. ⌘ Read more

Supercomputer modeling unlocks longstanding mystery of subducted oceanic slabs
An international research collaboration has harnessed supercomputing power to better understand how massive slabs of ancient ocean floors are shaped as they sink hundreds of kilometers below Earth’s surface. ⌘ Read more

Inkjet printer with DRM-free ink will be launched via a crowdfunding campaign
Article URL: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Open-Printer-is-an-open-source-inkjet-printer-with-DRM-free-ink-and-roll-paper-support.1126929.0.html

Comments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45423404](https://news.ycombin … ⌘ Read more

Okay, now that I knew what to look for, I found existing bug reports:

• https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2023-04/msg00400.html
  
• https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?63960
  

Most importantly:

This is resolved in the groff trunk.

🥳

@prologic@twtxt.net No, this is a Linux manpage from the man-pages project: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/docs/man-pages/man-pages.git/tree/man/man7/ascii.7

I do have an idea what’s going on. Could be an unfortunate interaction between the table preprocessor tbl and the man macro package. 🤔

XMPP Interop Testing: Two New Features for Clearer Testing
We’ve just released version 1.7.1 of all of our test runners. This release adds two improvements to make interop testing
both stricter and easier to set up!

Some tests can’t be executed if the server lacks required features. Previously, these “impossible” tests were skipped,
which could make a run look fully successful when it wasn’t. Now you can configure the suite to treat impossible t … ⌘ Read more

@prologic@twtxt.net I can’t upload a screenshot (tried, but Yarnd simple “ate” my reply). See https://zsblog.mills.io/posts/hello-zs-blog.html. Is has no date/time on it.

And I need to make something absolutely clear as well here. Twtxt was completely and utterly dead back in {Aug 2020](https://yarn.social/about.html) when I came across the spec and its simplicity and realised the lost opportunity. Since then we’ve continued to grow a small but thriving community. The extensions we’ve built over time have stood and lasted the test of time for the past ~5 years. We need not break things too badly, because what we have today and was designed years ago actually works quite well™ (despite some flaws).

@zvava@twtxt.net Going to have to hard disagree here I’m sorry. a) no-one reads the raw/plain twtxt.txt files, the only time you do is to debug something, or have a stick beak at the comments which most clients will strip out and ignore and b) I’m sorry you’ve completely lost me! I’m old enough to pre-date before Linux became popular, so I’m not sure what UNIX principles you think are being broken or violated by having a Twt Subject (Subject) whose contents is a cryptographic content-addressable hash of the “thing”™ you’re replying to and forming a chain of other replies (a thread).

I’m sorry, but the simplest thing to do is to make the smallest number of changes to the Spec as possible and all agree on a “Magic Date” for which our clients use the modified function(s).

@bender@twtxt.net Yes I did about a week or so ago. It took me a lot of effort to get the content even rendered in the first place. LOL I had to basically export my blog as HTML (can you believe that?!) – The Hugo export just didn’t work at all 🤣

I just created a zs blogging template which I’m going to use for https://prologic.blog and I might starting writing long-form again soon™ 🔜 So far the “blogging” template/engine (if you weill) is quite simple. It comprises essentially of an index.md a prehook and a few utilities:

$ git ls-files
.gitignore
.zs/config.yml
.zs/editthispage
.zs/include
.zs/layout.html
.zs/list
.zs/months
.zs/now
.zs/onthispage
.zs/posthook
.zs/postsbymonth
.zs/prehook
.zs/scripts
.zs/styles
.zs/tagcloud
.zs/taglist
.zs/years
archives/.empty
assets/css/site.css
assets/js/main.js
index.md
posts/hello-zs-blog.md
posts/on-tagging.md
posts/second-post.md
tags/.empty

I would personally rather see something like this:

2025-09-25T22:41:19+10:00	Hello World
2025-09-25T22:41:19+10:00	(#kexv5vq https://example.com/twtxt.html#:~:text=2025-09-25T22:41:19%2B10:00) Hey!

Preserving both content-based addressing as well as location-based addressing and text fragment linking.

@zvava@twtxt.net @movq@www.uninformativ.de I’m not entirely sure about the spaces, but maybe they were omitted to simplify parsing of mentions in the form of @<nick url>. If the next token after the @<nick does not look like a URL, it’s not a mention but regular text. This is just wild guessing, though.

Looking at the regex and tests in the original twtxt reference implementation seems to confirm that theory in the sense as it relies on whitespace as the delimiter:

https://lyse.isobeef.org/tmp/screenshot-2025-09-17-21-30-25.png

Another thing about nicks is that the original twtxt reference implementation converts nicks to all lowercase:

https://lyse.isobeef.org/tmp/screenshot-2025-09-17-21-20-39.png

You probably know this already, the original twtxt file format specification can be found here: https://twtxt.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user/twtxtfile.html

As for extensions, I don’t know of anything outside of twtxt.dev that has actually been (partially) implemented. However, there is also the issue tracker of the official reference implementation. You might wanna dig through that. For example, there is an alternative suggestions of multiline messages: https://github.com/buckket/twtxt/issues/157

@zvava@twtxt.net Good question. This is the spec, I think:

https://twtxt.dev/exts/metadata.html#nick

It doesn’t say much. 🤔

In the wild, I’ve only seen “traditional” nick names, i.e. ASCII 0x21 thru 0x7E.

My client removes anything but r'[a-zA-Z0-9]' from nick names.

XMPP Interop Testing: Lots More Options
Since the last update, we’ve added a lot more options on how to run your tests. We’ve added a slew of new CI systems, this time focussing on freedom-respecting, open source CI systems for your open source projects.

Recent additions include Jenkins, Drone, Harness and Woodpecker.

This brings our total number of CI systems in which you can run XMPP interop tests up to a whopping ELEVEN, plus anywhere else you can run containers!

Whether you’re building … ⌘ Read more

Great. Yet another messed up plain text e-mail part. The URL was actually HTML-escaped. Took me five attempts to figure this out, because of course it had to be several kilometers long. In fact, the e-mail stated: “Please do not be surprised that the link is particularly long. It contains your personal configuration.”

A normal person is completely lost (that’s why I got involved). Visting the broken URL opens a popup dialog suggesting to deactivate script blockers. Which I had already done upfront as a matter of prudence.

Fun bonus on top: The JWT in the link has identical iat (issued at) and exp (expiry) claims. The expiry is definitely not checked, it’s well in the past.

Medical software just has to be horrible. It’s a law.

@lyse@lyse.isobeef.org a content warning is kind of like a forum spoiler cut, or like the <details> tag in HTML; it lets you write a sentence or so that someone can then click to expand to see the actual post. it’s called a CW because most people use it to warn for potentially triggering/harmful subjects, but you can really use it for anything, like spoilers in a TV show or even for joke punchlines

@dce@hashnix.club You should try los86! 8-)

Well, what are you trying to do on this ThinkPad? That might affect the OS choices.

I really had to laugh when I read your initial comparison. I love it! :-D

👓 “How to Make an Apostrophe in HTML: The Complete 2500 Word Guide” https://thelinuxcode.com/how-can-i-make-an-apostrophe-in-html/

Hmm, gnu.org is slow as heck. Shorter HTML pages load in about ten seconds. This complete AWK manual all in one large HTML page took a full minute: https://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/manual/gawk.html Is there maybe some anti AI shenanigans going on?

In any case, I find the user guide super interesting. My AWK skills are basically non-existent, so I finally decided to change that. This document is incredibly well written and makes it really fun to keep reading and learning. I’m very impressed. So far, I made it to section 1.6, happy to continue.

Mathieu Pasquet: slixmpp v1.11
This new version includes a few new XEP plugins as well as fixes, notably
for some leftover issues in our rust JID code, as well as one for a bug that
caused issues in Home Assistant.

Thanks to everyone who contributed with code, issues, suggestions, and reviews!

Nicoco put in a lot of work in order to get all possible wheels built in CI. We now have manylinux and musl builds of everything doable within codeberg,
published to the codeberg pypi repo, and published on pypi. … ⌘ Read more

Ni Hao; bīng qílín!
I’m just dropping in, to emphasize my love for ice cream and the Chinese crawler bots, allocating their time and resources, towards scraping my humble website.

To show my gratitude, I’ve even added a random little dog generator to https://thecanine.ueuo.com/sparkle.html so that everyone can pick up their own custom dogFT, on their journey through my site.

This is soooo bloody cool, @movq@www.uninformativ.de! https://www.uninformativ.de/blog/postings/2025-08-30/0/POSTING-en.html

This is something that @kat@yarn.girlonthemoon.xyz might enjoy:

Recreating the “EPSON Image Scan!” logo with one of my Tux plushies. 😅

I’ve got a prototype of my hardcopy simulator going. I’m typing on the keyboard and the “display” goes to the printer:

https://movq.de/v/56feb53912/s.png

https://movq.de/v/235c1eabac/MVI_8810.MOV.mp4

The biiiiiiiiiig problem is that the print head and plastic cover make it impossible to see what’s currently being printed, because this is not a typewriter. This means: In order to see what I just entered, I have to feed the paper back and forth and back and forth … it’s not ideal.

I got that idea of moving back/forth from Drew DeVault, who – as it turned out – did something similar a few years back. (I tried hard to read as little as possible of his blog post, because figuring things out myself is more fun. But that could mean I missed a great idea here or there.)

But hey, at least this is running on my Pentium 133 on SuSE Linux 6.4, printer connected with a parallel cable. 😍

(Also, yes, you can see the printouts of earlier tests and, yes, I used ed(1) wrong at one point. 🤪 And ls insisted on using colors …)