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Last updated 29 Apr, 09:27 AM

BBC News

Five takeaways from the King's historic address to Congress - There were some lines in the speech that may have buoyed Democrats – and raised eyebrows in the White House.

Eleven cancers on the rise in young people - scientists find first clue why it's happening - Researchers stress that simple lifestyle changes can still significantly reduce the risk of cancer.

Starmer sees off inquiry call but he doesn't escape unscathed - No 10 has expended considerable political capital in keeping Labour MPs onside over the Mandelson vetting row.

A fresh financial crisis may be coming - it won't play out like the last one - Several warning lights are flashing that have some wondering whether we are in the foothills of another financial crisis.

Al Fayed survivor was modern slavery victim, says Home Office - Rachael Louw says she feels "vindication" and "validation" that her case has been recognised by the British government.

The Register

AI clause in new SAP API policy has partners worried over lock-in - Expert says it could push customers and partners to work with undocumented APIs SAP is prohibiting the use of its APIs to integrate with AI systems outside its endorsed architectures, raising concerns that it is locking out third-party AI tools from customers' SAP data.…

Bork in Prague: SUSE's keynote gods demand their tribute - Linux vendor touts European independence while rate limits, Chromium popups, and cold sparks steal the show BORK!BORK!BORK! The keynote gods are a fickle bunch, as SUSE discovered at its annual shindig in Prague. What should have been a slick edge demo instead served up error pages to unsuspecting attendees, while keynote presentations attracted some unwelcome visitors.…

30 ClawHub skills secretly turn AI agents into a crypto swarm - Yet another reason not to feast on OpenClaw Thirty ClawHub skills published by a single author are silently co-opting AI agents and creating a mass cryptocurrency mining swarm – without any malware or user consent.…

Hashicorp co-founder Mitchell Hashimoto says GitHub ‘no longer a place for serious work’ - Bemoans frequent outages that mean he’ll move Ghostty elsewhere Hashicorp co-founder Mitchell Hashimoto has decided GitHub is so unstable it is “no longer a place for serious work,” and will therefore move his current project elsewhere.…

Future holiday horror: ‘A robot lost my luggage in Tokyo’ - Haneda airport will start testing humanoid robots, because everything that gets a plane flying was designed for our species Your next holiday memory might involve humanoid robots losing your luggage.…

New Scientist - Home

Cancer is increasing in young people and we still don't know why - Obesity might be to blame for part of the increase in cancer among young people, a study in the UK has found, but the causes largely remain a mystery

People are betting on measles outbreaks – and that might be useful - Millions of dollars are being spent on wagers predicting measles outbreaks in the US, which could help researchers modelling the spread of the disease

Is consciousness more fundamental to reality than quantum physics? - The idea that everything that exists can be built from the bottom up has long held sway among physicists. Now, a new kind of science is under construction that centres conscious experience – and might unravel the universe’s biggest mysteries

Humanoid robots may be about to break the 100-metre sprint record - Robots can now run a half-marathon faster than humans and are rapidly homing in on the 100-metre sprint record. But why are companies so keen to create speedy robots that have no obvious application in homes or factories?

How I pay almost nothing to power my house and electric car - The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz has seen energy prices soar, but Alice Klein pays just A$25 (£13) a month for her electricity, even when charging an electric car or running an air conditioner.

Hacker News

Ghostty is leaving GitHub - Comments

Bugs Rust won't catch - Comments

HardenedBSD Is Now Officially on Radicle - Comments

Tell HN: An update from the new Tindie team - Comments

How ChatGPT serves ads - Comments

Slashdot

New Report Finds Some Babies Spend Up To Eight Hours a Day on Screens - fjo3 shares a report from The Times: More than two-thirds of babies under two use screens, a report has found, and some are exposed for up to eight hours a day. Nearly a third of newborns were found to be watching screens for more than three hours a day, while almost 20 percent of infants of four to 11 months used screens for more than an hour a day. The report comes after the government issued guidance that children under two do not use screens at all, apart from communal activities such as video-calling relatives. In a review of the current research, researchers found evidence linking screen time to poorer outcomes for children, including an increased risk of obesity, short-sightedness, sleep and behavioural difficulties, and later challenges with friendships. [...] The research also revealed why children and parents use screens, with families reporting children doing so for educational purposes, entertainment, play and to communicate and bond with others. Parents, meanwhile, used screens to occupy or distract children, which helped caregivers to complete domestic duties, paid employment and other caring responsibilities. Nearly a quarter of parents -- 23.6 percent -- either had no childcare or were not aware of the government's early years offer. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Musk Testifies OpenAI Was Created As Nonprofit To Counter Google - Elon Musk testified on day two of his trial against OpenAI, saying he helped create the company as a nonprofit counterweight to Google and would not have backed it if the goal had been private profit. CNBC reports: Musk on Tuesday was the first witness called to testify in the trial. He spoke about his upbringing, his many companies, his role in founding OpenAI and his understanding of its structure. Musk said in his testimony that he was not opposed to the creation of a small for-profit subsidiary, "as long as the tail didn't wag the dog." Musk said he was motivated to start OpenAI to serve as a counterweight to Google. He got the idea after an argument he had with Google co-founder Larry Page, who called Musk a "speciesist for being pro-human," he testified. "I could have started it as a for profit and I chose not to," Musk said on the stand. Earlier, attorneys for Musk and OpenAI presented their opening arguments to the jury. Musk's lead trial lawyer, Steven Molo, delivered the opening statement for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. OpenAI lawyer William Savitt gave the opening statement for the AI company, Altman and Brockman. OpenAI has characterized Musk's lawsuit as a baseless "harassment campaign." The company said Monday in a post on X that it "can't wait to make our case in court where both the truth and the law are on our side." During his testimony on Tuesday, Musk repeatedly emphasized that he founded OpenAI to serve as a counterweight to Google. He said he got the idea after an argument about AI safety with Google co-founder Larry Page, who Musk said called him "a speciesist for being pro-human." Musk said he was concerned Page was not taking AI safety seriously, so he wanted there to be an nonprofit, open source alternative to Google. "I could have started it as a for profit and I chose not to," Musk said on the stand. Further reading: Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Head To Court Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Electrical Current Might Be the Key To a Better Cup of Coffee - An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: University of Oregon chemist Christopher Hendon loves his coffee -- so much so that studying all the factors that go into creating the perfect cuppa constitutes a significant area of research for him. His latest project: discovering a novel means of measuring the flavor profile of coffee simply by sending an electrical current through a sample beverage. The results appear in a new paper published in the journal Nature Communications. [...] The coffee industry typically uses a method for measuring the refractive index of coffee -- i.e., how light bends as it travels through the liquid -- to determine strength, but it doesn't capture the contribution of roast color to the overall flavor profile. So for this latest study, Hendon decided to focus on roast color and beverage strength, the two variables most likely to affect the sensory profile of the final cuppa. His solution turned out to be quite simple. Hendon repurposed an electrochemical tool called a potentiostat, typically used to test battery and fuel cell performance. Hendon used the tool to measure how electricity interacted with the liquid. He found that this provided a better measurement of the flavor profile. He even tested it on four different samples of coffee beans and successfully identified the distinctive signature of a batch that had failed the roaster's quality-control process. Granted, one's taste in coffee is fairly subjective, so Hendon's goal was not to achieve a "perfect" cup but to give baristas a simple tool to consistently reproduce flavor profiles more tailored to a given customer's taste. "It's an objective way to make a statement about what people like in a cup of coffee," said Hendon. "The reason you have an enjoyable cup of coffee is almost certainly that you have selected a coffee of a particular roast color and extracted it to a desired strength. Until now, we haven't been able to separate those variables. Now we can diagnose what gives rise to that delicious cup." Outside of his latest electrical-current experiment, Christopher Hendon's coffee research has shown that espresso can be made more consistently by modeling extraction yield -- how much coffee dissolves into the final drink -- and controlling water flow and pressure. He also found that static electricity from grinding causes fine coffee particles to clump, which disrupts brewing. The solution: adding a small squirt of water to beans before grinding (known as the Ross droplet technique) to reduce that static, cut clumping and waste, and lead to a stronger, more consistent espresso. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple Vision Pro Used In World-First Cataract Surgery - Apple's Vision Pro has been used in what's described as the world's first cataract surgery performed with the headset. MacRumors reports: [New York opthalmologist] Dr. Eric Rosenberg of SightMD completed the initial procedure in October 2025 and has since performed hundreds of additional cases using ScopeXR, a surgical platform he co-developed for Apple's mixed reality device. ScopeXR streams live feeds from 3D digital surgical microscopes directly into the Vision Pro, which lets the surgeon view the operative field in stereoscopic 3D while overlaying preoperative diagnostic data. The platform also supports real-time remote collaboration, allowing surgeons to virtually join procedures and see exactly what the operating surgeon sees. "We are now able to bring the world's best surgeon into any operating room, at any hour, from anywhere on the planet," said Dr. Rosenberg in a company press release. "From residents performing their first cases to surgeons facing unexpected complications, this technology democratizes access to expertise and that will save vision." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Sony Rolls Out 30-Day Online DRM Check-In For PlayStation Digital Games - Sony is reportedly rolling out a 30-day online check-in requirement for some digital PS4 and PS5 games, meaning players could temporarily lose access if their console does not reconnect to renew the license. Tom's Hardware reports: In the info page of an affected game, you'd see a new validity period and a "remaining time" deadline. At first, this seemed like a software bug, but now PlayStation Support has confirmed its authenticity to multiple users. PlayStation owners are furious about the change. From what we've seen, this DRM is intended for digital game copies. It works by instating a mandatory online check-in where you have to connect to the internet within a rolling 30-day window or risk losing access to the game. Afterward, you can still restore access, but you'll need an internet connection to renew the game's license first. So far, it seems like only games installed after the recent March firmware update are affected. Affected customers report that setting your PS4 or PS5 as the primary console doesn't alleviate this check-in policy either. No matter what, any game you download from now on will feature this new requirement, effectively eliminating the concept of offline play for even single-player titles. Read more of this story at Slashdot.