Pandas use tools to scratch thanks to a strange evolutionary quirk
Captive giant pandas have been seen breaking off twigs and bamboo pieces to scratch hard-to-reach spots, using a crude opposable thumb that other bears don’t have ⌘ Read more

Apple Set To Become World’s Top Phone Maker, Overtaking Samsung
Apple will retake its crown as the world’s largest smartphone maker for the first time in more than a decade, lifted by the successful debut of a new iPhone series and a rush of consumers upgrading devices, according to Counterpoint Research. From a report: The iPhone 17 models introduced in September have been a hit both domestically in the US and … ⌘ Read more

Sound of lightning recorded on Mars for the first time
Microphone recordings from NASA’s Perseverance rover have turned up more than 50 instances of lightning on the red planet over the past four years, a new study finds. ⌘ Read more

A revolutionary way to map our bodies is helping cure deadly diseases
New tools that create ultra-precise maps of our tissues are transforming our ability to diagnose and cure once-fatal illnesses ⌘ Read more

Ancient human foot bones shed light on how two species coexisted
Scientists have finally assigned foot bones found in 2009 to an ancient human species, and the move suggests that different types of hominins lived close by in harmony ⌘ Read more

KDE Plasma 6.8 Will Go Wayland-Exclusive In Dropping X11 Session Support
KDE developers announced they are going “all-in on a Wayland future” and with the Plasma 6.8 desktop it will become Wayland-exclusive. The Plasma X11 session is going away… ⌘ Read more

World’s Central Banks Are Wary of AI and Struggling To Quit the Dollar, Survey Shows
An anonymous reader shares a report: AI is not a core part of operations at most of the world’s central banks and digital assets are off the table, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. The working group of 10 central banks from Europe, Africa, … ⌘ Read more

When the architect quickly explains how the project is built so I can debug it ⌘ Read more

The Underwater Cables That Carry the Internet Are in Trouble
The roughly 500 fiber-optic cables lying on the ocean floor carry more than 95% of all internet data – not satellites, as many might assume – and they face growing threats from natural disasters, terrorists and nation-states capable of disrupting global communications by dragging anchors or deploying submarines against the infrastructure.

The cables a … ⌘ Read more

Fedora SIG Proposed To Improve Production Stability
A Fedora special interest group is being proposed to help improve production stability of Fedora Linux and better handling incident management when problems do arise… ⌘ Read more

Malaysia’s Johor Bans Low-Tier Data Centers Over Water Strain
Malaysia’s Johor, one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing data center hubs, has announced it will no longer approve applications for Tier 1 and Tier 2 data centers because of their enormous water consumption – up to 50 million liters daily, or roughly 200 times what higher-tier facilities require.

The Malaysian state has approved 51 data center projec … ⌘ Read more

When I realize I reviewed the wrong pull request ⌘ Read more

Driver pleads guilty to Liverpool FC parade car ramming charges
More than 100 people were injured at a Liverpool Football Club victory parade in May. ⌘ Read more

Urgent ACPI Revert For Linux 6.18 To Deal With Some Hardware Crashing
The Linux 6.18 kernel is anticipated for release this coming Sunday while this week a last-minute crisis was averted following reports of a kernel crash from recent ACPI code changes… ⌘ Read more

Vim text editor battery draining ⌘ Read more

Israel launches new military operation in northern West Bank
Israeli security forces have launched what the military described as a counter-terrorism operation in the northern West Bank, which Palestinians said was targeting the city of Tubas. ⌘ Read more

When someone changed all my test data for their own tests ⌘ Read more

Texas Buys $5 Million In BTC ETF As States Edge Toward First Government Crypto Reserves
Texas has purchased $5 million worth of BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF as an initial step toward creating the first state-level bitcoin reserve in the U.S.
“[O]ther states having previously invested in such funds with public-employee retirement money,” notes CoinDesk. “Michigan has been building such an inve … ⌘ Read more

Trump defends Ukraine envoy after leak alleging he advised Kremlin official
It comes as a senior Kremlin official confirms Steve Witkoff is set to visit Moscow next week as efforts to find a consensus on ending the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine pick up speed. ⌘ Read more

When they tell me the delivery has been urgently moved up to today ⌘ Read more

Massive high-rise fires kill four people in Hong Kong with others still trapped
It is not known how many people remain unaccounted-for because of the fires, which have been fuelled by bamboo scaffolding. ⌘ Read more

NVIDIA Is Interested In Helping Bring Vulkan Video To Chrome
NVIDIA engineers are interested in helping Google bring Vulkan Video accelerated GPU video decoding to the Chrome/Chromium web browser… ⌘ Read more

Rocky Linux 10.1 Released As Community Alternative To RHEL 10.1
Following the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.1 earlier this month, Rocky Linux 10.1 is now available for this popular community-driven alternative to RHEL 10.1… ⌘ Read more

When the manager says we’re “doing agile” and I haven’t seen a single sprint review in 3 months ⌘ Read more

US National Parks to raise fees for foreign visitors to popular sites
Changes set to take effect on January 1 will include annual park passes jumping to $US250 for foreign tourists, while US residents will continue to be charged $US80, according to authorities. ⌘ Read more

Study Claims To Provide First Direct Evidence of Dark Matter
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: Nearly a century ago, scientists proposed that a mysterious invisible substance they named dark matter clumped around galaxies and formed a cosmic web across the universe. What dark matter is made from, and whether it is even real, are still open questions, but according to a study, the first dire … ⌘ Read more

Man accused of student’s murder ‘likely’ had intellectual disability, court hears
A neuropsychologist has told the Northern Territory Supreme Court a man accused of murdering an international student in Darwin “likely” had an intellectual disability that impacted his ability to exercise self-control. ⌘ Read more

When the sales guy completely ignores our estimate ⌘ Read more

Detectives carry out ‘targeted search’ for missing woman Samantha Murphy
Detectives are conducting a search in the Ballarat area as part of the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Victorian woman Samantha Murphy. ⌘ Read more

Stars continue winning form ahead of WBBL Melbourne derby
The Melbourne Stars will carry solid momentum into Saturday’s big WBBL local derby, easily beating top side Hobart by 37 runs. ⌘ Read more

Patients evacuated by helicopter from Thai hospital as flooding continues
Floods across nine Thai provinces have killed 33 people and affected more than 2.7 million, with more rain forecast. ⌘ Read more

Court hears sand found in car of man accused of Toyah Cordingley’s beach murder
The Supreme Court in Cairns has heard Rajwinder Singh, who is accused of the 24-year-old’s 2018 murder, first came to the attention of police because of his blue car, which they later searched. ⌘ Read more

Councillor resigns for personal reasons after ‘accidental’ strip club visit
A City of Joondalup councillor, who lodged an expense claim for a drink he bought at a strip club, resigns from the council citing “personal reasons”. ⌘ Read more

NACC chief executive apologises to parliament for inaccurate evidence
National Anti-Corruption Commission chief executive Philip Reed writes to parliament apologising for inaccuracies in evidence given during Senate estimates. ⌘ Read more

China Launches An Emergency Lifeboat To Bring Three Astronauts Back To Earth
China launched an uncrewed Shenzhou 22 spacecraft to serve as an emergency lifeboat for three astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station after a docked return craft was found to have a cracked window likely caused by space debris. “A Long March 2F rocket fired its engines and lifted off with the Shenzhou 22 spacecraft, … ⌘ Read more

Socceroos placed in second pot for FIFA World Cup draw
The Socceroos, by pot luck, have avoided some of the sport’s strongest nations for the 2026 World Cup pool stage. ⌘ Read more

Taiwan announces $61 billion defence budget to defend itself against China
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te says the budget was introduced for the country to defend itself in the face of a rising threat from China. ⌘ Read more

‘Deluded’ parents jailed over criminal neglect of twin boys
Murray Bridge parents of young twins who suffered dozens of rib fractures and injuries have each been jailed, after previously being found guilty of criminal neglect. ⌘ Read more

The ‘ghost stores’ defrauding Australians ahead of Black Friday spend-a-thon
With Australians expected to spend billions this Black Friday, the consumer watchdog is warning of a growing number of ‘ghost stores’ targeting unsuspecting customers and posing as local businesses promising premium goods, when in reality they’re shipping fast fashion from overseas. ⌘ Read more

Wallabies unveil 2026 Tests as new coach begins with Japan matches
Incoming Wallabies coach Les Kiss will launch his tenure against Eddie Jones’s Japan, Australia’s 14-Test schedule for 2026 shows. ⌘ Read more

Social media ban for under-16s challenged in High Court
Australia’s social media age ban is being challenged in the High Court on the grounds it restricts young teens’ implied right to freedom of political communication. ⌘ Read more

Labor accused of turning blind eye to Nauru corruption allegations
Greens senator David Shoebridge reads what he alleges to be extracts from a secret AUSTRAC report that has not been made public, in the Senate late on Tuesday. ⌘ Read more

Parents seek answers after baby dies at maternity hospital
A WA family has been devastated by the death of their newborn son at Perth’s premier maternity hospital, and are desperate for answers on how the delivery of their fourth child went so tragically wrong. ⌘ Read more

Perry Kouroumblis to stand trial over Easey Street murders
The 66-year-old accused of killing two Melbourne in 1977 will stand trial over the murders, but has had a rape charge dismissed. ⌘ Read more

Police union warns Labor ‘austerity’ drive would undermine security
An apparent request across the public service to find and suspend low priority spending would undermine security if applied to the AFP, according to its union. ⌘ Read more

Backlash prompts midnight NYE Sunshine Coast fireworks backflip
Sunshine Coast Council has caved to public pressure and will resurrect its Mooloolaba midnight fireworks display, bringing the region into line with other Queensland towns. ⌘ Read more

Man accused of severing father’s arm with samurai sword has charge dropped
Prosecutors drop an aggravated grievous bodily harm charge against a 20-year-old man earlier accused of cutting off his father’s arm with sword. ⌘ Read more

What has changed in the year since the NT’s landmark DV inquest?
A year after NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage handed down 35 recommendations from a landmark domestic violence inquest, those on the frontline say things are going backwards. ⌘ Read more

Amanda’s husband seemed able to read her mind. Then she learnt why
Amanda’s husband always seemed to just know things. When fiddling around with her social media settings, she discovered how he had been using technology to gaslight her. ⌘ Read more

Government proposes crackdown on financial abuse, coercive control
The federal government is consulting on major reforms to reduce financial abuse, including making it harder for directors to be appointed without clear consent. Economic abuse is estimated to cost the economy nearly $11 billion a year ⌘ Read more