Latest News
Last updated 27 Mar, 08:51 AM
BBC News
Parents told under-5s should not be on screens more than an hour a day - New government guidance also suggests children under-two should not be watching screens alone.
Three charts that are warning signs flashing for Trump on Iran war - As gas prices rise, Trump's approval rating is heading into politically dangerous territory.
Officials to ask Mandelson to hand over personal phone messages for release - Officials are set to publish more documents related to his appointment as UK ambassador to the US - but have so far only had access to the peer's work phone.
Just Eat and Autotrader among firms investigated in fake reviews probe - The UK's competition watchdog says it is looking at five firms in its investigation into misleading online reviews.
How Russia's threat forced Germany to radically rethink its military - Germany once terrorised Europe, but now Europe is welcoming a resurgent German military.
The Register
Engineer sabotaged hardware then complained when it didn't work - The 600 km drive to fix the mess was a special treat On Call Every week is special in its own way, and The Register celebrates that fact by using Friday mornings to deliver a fresh installment of On Call, our weekly reader-contributed column that shares your memories of managing IT messes someone else made.…
Security boffins scoured the web and found hundreds of valid API keys - Global bank's devs have some cleaning up to do after cloud creds found in website code Computer security boffins have conducted an analysis of 10 million websites and found almost 2,000 API credentials strewn across 10,000 webpages.…
India’s space program can't spend money fast enough, putting missions in peril - Satnav systems aren’t well, IP is being sold too cheap, and thousands of roles remain open India’s space program has thousands of vacant roles it’s struggled to fill, isn’t spending money fast enough to meet its mission timelines, and may be undervaluing intellectual property it sells to the private sector.…
China’s not thrilled its AI experts want to leave the country - Urges scientists to avoid major conference, and looks unkindly on Meta's Manus acquisition China appears to be unhappy about its brightest AI talent going offshore, either to visit or to sell their wares.…
Anthropic tweaks timed usage limits to discourage Claude demand during peak hours - AI biz makes some Claude conversations more costly to manage capacity Anthropic on Wednesday adjusted its opaque usage limits for Claude customers by reducing the power of the services it delivers during times of peak demand, in an effort to balance demand with its capacity to deliver service.…
New Scientist - Home
First glimpse of sperm whale birth reveals teamwork to support newborn - A female sperm whale has been filmed giving birth for the first time, supported by 10 adult females who lifted the calf out of the water and protected it from predators
Fossils discovered in Egypt may be the closest ancestor of all apes - Pieces of jawbone and teeth found in Egypt have been identified as a new early ape species named Masripithecus moghraensis, which lived about 17 million years ago
Computer finds flaw in major physics paper for first time - A computer language designed to robustly verify mathematical theorems and expose logical flaws has been turned towards a physics paper – and spotted an error. The discovery raises questions about how many other papers may harbour similar issues
A variety of jungle animals all use one type of tree as a latrine - In the cloud forest of Costa Rica, many canopy-dwelling animals do their business in strangler fig trees, perhaps as a way of leaving messages
The Selfish Gene: Still one of the most thrilling evolution books ever - Fifty years ago, Richard Dawkins shared an irresistible scientific metaphor with the world that modernised and democratised evolutionary biology. Half a century on, The Selfish Gene remains powerfully insightful, finds Rowan Hooper
Hacker News
A Faster Alternative to Jq - Comments
Schedule tasks on the web - Comments
The European AllSky7 fireball network - Comments
21,864 Yugoslavian .yu Domains - Comments
Apple discontinues the Mac Pro - Comments
Slashdot
CERN To Host Europe's Flagship Open Access Publishing Platform - CERN has confirmed it will host an expanded version of Open Research Europe, the EU-backed fee-free open access publishing platform that works to "keep knowledge in public hands." Research Professional News reports: A little over a year ago, 10 European research organizations announced that they would add their support to Open Research Europe, to broaden eligibility beyond only those researchers funded by the EU research program. Earlier this year, RPN reported that this group had expanded further and that Cern was set to host the broadened version of ORE, currently provided by the publisher F1000. On March 26, Cern itself finally announced the news, saying it will "provide the technical and operational infrastructure" for the broader version. It said this will build on its "longstanding experience in developing and maintaining open science infrastructures and community-governed services." [...] In its own announcement, the Commission said ORE will have a budget of 17 million euros for 2026-31, with the EU providing 10 million euros. Since it launched five years ago, ORE has published more than 1,200 articles. Cern said the platform is "expected to support a growing number of research outputs each year." Last month, experts told RPN they thought uptake of the increased eligibility will depend on how the newly participating national organizations engage with their communities. Eleven members of Science Europe, a group of major research funding and performing organizations, are part of the expansion. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple Gives FBI a User's Real Name Hidden Behind 'Hide My Email' Feature - An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Apple provided the FBI with the real iCloud email address hidden behind Apple's 'Hide My Email' feature, which lets paying iCloud+ users generate anonymous email addresses, according to a recently filed court record. The move isn't surprising but still provides uncommon insight into what data is available to authorities regarding the Apple feature. The data was turned over during an investigation into a man who allegedly sent a threatening email to Alexis Wilkins, the girlfriend of FBI director Kash Patel. "On or about February 28, 2026, Person 1 received an email from the email address peaty_terms_1o@icloud.com," the affidavit reads. Earlier on, the document explicitly says that Person 1 is Alexis Wilkins. [...] The affidavit says Apple then provided records that indicated the peaty_terms_1o@icloud.com email address was associated with an Apple account in the name of Alden Ruml. The records showed that account generated 134 anonymized email addresses, according to the affidavit. Law enforcement agents later interviewed Ruml and he confirmed he had sent the email, the affidavit says. Ruml said he sent the email after reading a February 28 article about how the FBI was using its own resources to provide security to Wilkins. The specific article is not named or linked in the affidavit, but a New York Times article published that same day described how Patel ordered a team to ferry his girlfriend on errands and to events. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple Discontinues Mac Pro - Apple has discontinued the Mac Pro and says it has no plans for future models. "The 'buy' page on Apple's website for the Mac Pro now redirects to the Mac's homepage, where all references have been removed," reports 9to5Mac. From the report: The Mac Pro has lived many lives over the years. Apple released the current Mac Pro industrial design in 2019 alongside the Pro Display XDR (which was also discontinued earlier this month). That version of the Mac Pro was powered by Intel, and Apple refreshed it with the M2 Ultra chip in June 2023. It has gone without an update since then, languishing at its $6,999 price point even as Apple debuted the M3 Ultra chip in the Mac Studio last year. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Senators Demand to Know How Much Energy Data Centers Use - Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley are pressing the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to provide better information on how much electricity data centers actually use. In a joint letter sent to the EIA on Thursday, the two senators press the agency to publicly collect "comprehensive, annual energy-use disclosures" on data centers, saying it's "essential for accurate grid planning and will support policymaking to prevent large companies from increasing electricity costs for American families." Wired reports: In December, EIA administrator Tristan Abbey said at a roundtable that he expects the EIA "is going to be an essential player in providing objective data and analysis to policymakers" with respect to data centers. The agency announced on Wednesday that it would be conducting a voluntary pilot program to collect energy consumption information from nearly 200 companies operating data centers in Texas, Washington, and Virginia, which will cover "energy sources, electricity consumption, site characteristics, server metrics, and cooling systems." While the senators praise the EIA pilot program, their letter includes several questions about how the agency plans to move forward with more data collection, such as whether or not the energy surveys will be mandatory and whether or not the EIA will collect information on behind-the-meter power. This information will be especially crucial, the senators say, to make sure that big tech companies that signed the agreement at the White House earlier this month pledging that consumers won't bear the costs of data center electricity use will stick to their promises. "Without this data, policymakers, utility companies, and local communities are operating in the dark," the senators write. The EIA mandates that other industries, including oil and gas and manufacturing, provide regular data to the agency; Hawley and Warren assert that the EIA should be able to collect similar information from data centers under the same provision. The provision is broad enough, Peskoe says, that it could absolutely be interpreted to encompass data centers. Yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced a bill that would "enact a reasonable pause to the development of AI to ensure the safety of humanity." It calls for a federal moratorium on AI data centers until stronger national safeguards are in place around safety, jobs, privacy, energy costs, and environmental impact. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
JPMorgan Starts Monitoring Investment Banker Screen Time To Prevent Burnout - JPMorgan is piloting a system that monitors junior investment bankers to avoid burnout (source paywalled; alternative source). "[T]he bank will seek to match up hours claimed by the bankers with digital activity," reports Bloomberg. "The tool won't be used for evaluation purposes, but is designed to provide a better estimate of employee workloads." From the report: The program will monitor the weekly digital footprint, including video calls, desktop keystrokes, and scheduled meetings, the Financial Times reported earlier, adding JPMorgan plans to roll out the effort more widely across its investment bank. Banks on Wall Street are known for heavy working hours, but can in return offer salaries of as much as $200,000 for entry-level analyst and associate roles. "Much like the weekly screen time summaries on a smartphone, this tool is about awareness -- not enforcement," a representative for JPMorgan said in a statement. "It's designed to support transparency, well-being, and encourage open conversations about workload." Read more of this story at Slashdot.