China’s Giant Underground Neutrino Observatory Releases Its First Results
China’s new JUNO neutrino observatory has delivered world-leading measurements after just 59 days, offering the most precise readings yet of two key neutrino oscillation parameters. “The physics result is already world-leading in the areas that it touches,” says particle physicist Juan Pedro Ochoa-Ricoux of the University of C … ⌘ Read more

Mexico Unveils Plans To Build Most Powerful Supercomputer In Latin America
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: Mexico unveiled plans Wednesday to build what it claims will be Latin America’s most powerful supercomputer – a project the government says will help the country capitalize on the rapidly evolving uses of artificial intelligence and exponentially expand the co … ⌘ Read more

Amazon Faces FAA Probe After Delivery Drone Snaps Internet Cable In Texas
Amazon’s drone-delivery program is under federal scrutiny after an MK30 aircraft clipped an internet cable in Texas. CNBC reports: The incident occurred on Nov. 18 around 12:45 p.m. Central in Waco, Texas. After dropping off a package, one of Amazon’s MK30 drones was ascending out of a customer’s yard when one of its six propell … ⌘ Read more

Greek Cybercrime Unit Shuts Down IPTV Pirates, 68 End Users Face Fines
Greek authorities shut down an IPTV piracy operation on Santorini, arresting a reseller and referring 68 end users for prosecution. TorrentFreak reports: A new legal framework to tackle online infringement in Greece went live just a couple of months ago, and reports of prosecutions are already coming in. Early September, it was reported … ⌘ Read more

Google’s AirDrop Support For Pixel 10 Likely Exists Because of EU’s Apple Ruling
Last week, Google surprised the tech world when it announced AirDrop support on Pixel 10 devices – all without Apple’s involvement. “While it initially seemed like this was a rogue move made by Google to coerce Apple into another boundary-breaking decision, it might actually be part of the repercussions that also l … ⌘ Read more

OpenAI Says Dead Teen Violated TOS When He Used ChatGPT To Plan Suicide
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Facing five lawsuits alleging wrongful deaths, OpenAI lobbed its first defense Tuesday, denying in a court filing that ChatGPT caused a teen’s suicide and instead arguing the teen violated terms that prohibit discussing suicide or self-harm with the chatbot. The earliest look at … ⌘ Read more

Newegg Sparks Debate With New PayPal-Integrated AI Shopping Push
BrianFagioli writes: Newegg’s new partnership with PayPal is another sign that mainstream e-commerce is shifting control from users to AI-driven intermediaries. Instead of shoppers visiting Newegg directly, PayPal’s agentic commerce system pushes product discovery through AI platforms like Perplexity where recommendations, checkout, and fraud che … ⌘ Read more

Chinese Pharma is On the Cusp of Going Global
China’s pharmaceutical industry has quietly evolved from a hub for generics and clinical trials into something more ambitious – a genuine competitor in drug discovery that Western giants are now courting to fill gaps left by looming patent expirations worth over $300 billion by 2030. In the first half of 2025, nearly a third of global licensing agreements signed by big pharma inv … ⌘ Read more

How ‘Stranger Things’ Defined the Era of the Algorithm
As Stranger Things releases the first four episodes of its final season today, nearly a decade after its July 2016 premiere, the Netflix series has come to represent something broader than its own popularity – the embodiment of streaming television’s algorithmic philosophy. When the show first appeared, streaming was still finding its footing. Netflix had be … ⌘ Read more

European Lawmakers Seek EU-Wide Minimum Age To Access AI Chatbots, Social Media
The European Parliament has passed a non-binding resolution urging an EU-wide minimum age of 16 to access social media, video-sharing platforms, and AI chatbots, with parental consent allowed for ages 13-16 and a hard ban for anyone under 13. “It also proposes additional measures, including a ban on addictive design f … ⌘ Read more

More Than Half of New Articles On the Internet Are Being Written By AI
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Conversation: The line between human and machine authorship is blurring, particularly as it’s become increasingly difficult to tell whether something was written by a person or AI. Now, in what may seem like a tipping point, the digital marketing firm Graphite recently published a study sho … ⌘ Read more

SEC Must Not Let Crypto Companies ‘Bypass’ Rules, Stock Exchanges Say
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s possible plan to grant crypto companies relief from regulation to sell “tokenised” stocks risks harming investors, a group of stock exchanges said in a letter to the U.S. regulator this week. From a report: Several crypto companies plan to sell crypto tokens linked to listed equities to retail investors … ⌘ Read more

Pentagon Cited Alibaba on China Military Aid in Oct. 7 Letter
An anonymous reader shares a report: The Pentagon concluded that Alibaba Group, Baidu and BYD should be added to a list of companies that aid the Chinese military, according to a letter to Congress sent roughly three weeks before Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a broad trade truce.

Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg informed lawmakers of t … ⌘ Read more

OpenAI Needs At Least $207 Billion By 2030 Just To Keep Losing Money, HSBC Estimates
OpenAI will need to raise at least $207 billion in new funding by 2030 to sustain operations while continuing to lose money, according to a new analysis from HSBC that models the company’s cloud computing commitments against projected revenue. The bank’s US software team updated its forecasts after OpenAI ann … ⌘ Read more

China’s Dual Squeeze on European Industry Intensifies
European manufacturers are facing a two-front assault from China that has German industry associations warning of deindustrialisation: on one side, artificially cheap Chinese goods are flooding into Europe, and on the other, Beijing has demonstrated its willingness to abruptly cut off access to critical inputs like rare earths and semiconductors.

The alarm intensified in O … ⌘ Read more

NASA Rover Makes a Shocking Discovery: Lightning on Mars
An anonymous reader shares a report: It is shocking but not surprising. Lightning crackles on Mars, scientists reported on Wednesday. What they observed, however, were not jagged, high-voltage bolts like those on Earth, arcing thousands of feet from cloud to ground. Rather, the phenomenon was more like the shock you feel when you scuff your feet on the carpet … ⌘ Read more

Dell Says Windows 11 Transition is Far Slower Than Windows 10 Shift as PC Sales Stall
Dell has predicted PC sales will be flat next year, despite the potential of the AI PC and the slow replacement of Windows 10. From a report: “We have not completed the Windows 11 transition,” COO Jeffrey Clarke said during Dell’s Q3 earnings call on Tuesday. “In fact, if you were to look at it relative t … ⌘ 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Le Breaking Bad de l’État français
Pour lutter pied à pied contre contre le crime organisé, quoi de mieux que l’État, le crime désorganisé, piloté par Macron et sa clique ? C’est en tout cas la direction que prend la nouvelle gesticulation du locataire de l’Élysée : pour le frétillant chef de l’État, la place de la drogue dans le pays devient préoccupante […] ⌘ 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