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Nuclear Batteries: A Comeback for Long-Lasting Power?

2025-08-25

Nuclear Batteries: A Comeback for Long-Lasting Power?

In the 1970s, nuclear-powered pacemakers were implanted, but their use ceased due to radioactive waste disposal issues. Now, advancements are reviving nuclear battery research, targeting robots, drones, and sensors. New designs boast decades- or even centuries-long lifespans and higher energy density. However, commercialization faces cost, safety, and regulatory hurdles. The key lies in finding suitable markets that balance the advantages with the complexities of radioactive waste management.

(spectrum.ieee.org)

Tech

Hidden Secrets in GitHub's Deleted Commits: A $25k Bug Bounty Story

2025-07-03

Hidden Secrets in GitHub's Deleted Commits: A $25k Bug Bounty Story

White-hat hacker Sharon Brizinov leveraged the GitHub Archive and GitHub Events API to discover that GitHub retains deleted commits, even after force pushes. By scanning every force push event since 2020, he uncovered $25,000 worth of bug bounties. He partnered with Truffle Security to open-source a tool, Force Push Scanner, that helps users scan their GitHub organizations for hidden commits and leaked secrets. This highlights that even seemingly deleted commits can pose security risks, emphasizing the importance of code security.

(trufflesecurity.com)

Tech

Hubble Confirms First Lone Black Hole

2025-04-21

Hubble Confirms First Lone Black Hole

A team of astronomers, using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and Gaia spacecraft, has confirmed the existence of the first isolated stellar-mass black hole. Initially spotted in 2022, this approximately seven-solar-mass black hole was detected through its gravitational microlensing effect. Unlike previously discovered black holes which all had companion stars, this discovery offers a new window into these mysterious objects and paves the way for future searches using the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

(phys.org)

Tech

RFK Jr.'s Plan to Make America Healthy: An Apple Watch for Everyone?

2025-06-25

RFK Jr.'s Plan to Make America Healthy: An Apple Watch for Everyone?

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched an ambitious initiative to improve Americans' health by promoting widespread wearable device adoption, aiming for every American to wear one within four years. While proponents highlight the potential for early disease detection, concerns remain about privacy and data security risks associated with mass adoption. This, coupled with RFK Jr.'s history of spreading vaccine misinformation and recent controversial changes to the vaccine advisory panel, raises significant doubts about the plan's reliability and efficacy.

(gizmodo.com)

Tech

arXivLabs: Community Collaboration on Experimental Projects

2025-09-23

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Individuals and organizations involved embrace arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners who share them. Got an idea for a project that benefits the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

Turn Your iPhone into an AirPlay Receiver with AirAP

2025-06-03

Turn Your iPhone into an AirPlay Receiver with AirAP

AirAP, a native iOS AirPlay server written in Swift, lets you use your iPhone as an AirPlay receiver. Stream audio from your Mac, Apple TV, or other iOS devices to your iPhone. Perfect for late-night work (routing audio to headphones), developers testing audio apps, or building a multi-room audio setup. Just install the app, connect to the same Wi-Fi, and your iPhone will appear as an AirPlay destination.

(github.com)

Development Audio Streaming

Mystery Programmer Uses AI to Rewrite HUD Regulations, Sparking Controversy

2025-04-30

Mystery Programmer Uses AI to Rewrite HUD Regulations, Sparking Controversy

Chris Sweet, a University of Chicago student on leave, joined Elon Musk's DOGE and used AI to review and revise regulations at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Sweet's application analyzes regulations and suggests revisions, prompting questions from HUD staff about his role and methodology. Some find the effort redundant, while others question his qualifications. Sweet's background is shrouded in mystery, with extensive experience in finance and investment, yet a sparse online presence. The incident also raises concerns about DOGE's activities within HUD, with Representative Maxine Waters accusing DOGE of stealing funds, illegally terminating staff, and accessing confidential data.

(www.wired.com)

Tech Government Regulation

Ubuntu 25.10 Drops Xorg Support for GNOME, Embraces Wayland Exclusively

2025-06-10

Ubuntu 25.10 Drops Xorg Support for GNOME, Embraces Wayland Exclusively

Ubuntu 25.10, codenamed "Questing Quokka," is making a significant change: the default GNOME desktop will exclusively use Wayland, dropping support for Xorg. This isn't a sudden decision; GNOME is phasing out Xorg support, and Canonical is proactively adapting. This allows users and developers a full release cycle to adjust before the next LTS, Ubuntu 26.04, arrives next year. The move is driven by Wayland's maturity, improved Nvidia driver support, better touchscreen and high-DPI display handling, and a simplification of development by avoiding maintaining two display servers. While some users rely on Xorg, it won't disappear entirely; it can still be installed and used with other desktop environments. Most X11 applications will continue to function via XWayland.

(nerds.xyz)

Development

North American Ski Resorts Face Existential Threat: Climate Change and Environmental Regulations

2025-01-31

North American Ski Resorts Face Existential Threat: Climate Change and Environmental Regulations

The North American ski industry is facing a crisis. Since the boom of the 1960s and 70s, over half of all ski resorts have closed, driven by climate change, environmental regulations, and shifting consumer demands. The study highlights the unsustainable water and energy consumption of artificial snowmaking, along with negative impacts on vegetation and wildlife. To survive, resorts must adopt sustainable practices, including investing in eco-friendly technologies, diversifying their offerings, implementing multi-resort passes, and exploring innovative ownership models to adapt to the changing climate and environmental pressures while maintaining profitability.

(www.mdpi.com)

Tech ski resorts

Revolutionizing Race Timing: StoryTiming Demo

2025-01-20

StoryTiming reimagines race timing, prioritizing timing information and letting the race action follow. This demo, using data from the 2024 IMSA Rolex 24, showcases an innovative interactive experience. Users navigate the race effortlessly via keyboard shortcuts or mouse controls, viewing data through various perspectives, including a driver tracker overlay. Aimed at enhancing digital broadcasts, this project is the work of an independent software developer and is still under development.

(storytiming.racing)

Misc race timing interactive video

HeH+ Reaction Rate in Early Universe Challenges Previous Theories

2025-08-07

HeH+ Reaction Rate in Early Universe Challenges Previous Theories

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics have recreated the reaction of HeH+ with deuterium under early universe conditions using the Cryogenic Storage Ring (CSR). Contrary to previous predictions, the reaction rate remains nearly constant at low temperatures, implying a much greater role for HeH+ and H2 in the formation of the first stars than previously thought. This finding revises our understanding of early universe chemistry and significantly advances our knowledge of early star formation.

(www.sciencedaily.com)

Tech Molecular Reaction Early Star Formation

The Impossible Tetrahedron: From Math Problem to Real-World Object

2025-06-26

The Impossible Tetrahedron: From Math Problem to Real-World Object

Mathematicians have long studied the 'monostable tetrahedron' – a unique shape stable on only one side. Theoretically, this shape is achievable through clever mass distribution, but building one proved incredibly challenging. Gergő Almádi and his team, after complex calculations and multiple failed attempts, finally constructed a monostable tetrahedron model using a carbon fiber frame and tungsten carbide components. This successful model not only validates mathematical theory but also offers new avenues for future engineering designs, such as lunar landers.

(www.quantamagazine.org)

Tech

Kaspersky Network Allegedly Provides Transit for Notorious 'Bulletproof' Host

2025-03-04

KrebsOnSecurity reports that Prospero OOO, a notorious provider of 'bulletproof' web hosting for cybercriminals, has begun routing its operations through networks run by Kaspersky Lab, the Russian antivirus and security firm. Prospero OOO has long been a source of malware, botnet controllers, and phishing websites. Security experts express concern that Kaspersky's provision of network services, even if denied by Kaspersky, exacerbates worries about facilitating cybercrime. The use of Kaspersky's network as a transit point raises questions about its security practices, especially considering the US government's previous ban on Kaspersky software for federal agencies.

(krebsonsecurity.com)

Tech

US Research Funding Freeze: Innovation Engine Stalls

2025-05-12

US Research Funding Freeze: Innovation Engine Stalls

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) froze all outgoing funding, abruptly canceling over 1,000 research projects and halting roughly $739 million in research funds. This has caused widespread chaos in academia, forcing labs to shut down, jeopardizing graduate students' degrees, and leaving early-career faculty without grants. The article argues that this threatens the future of the US tech industry, as many tech giants' technologies originated from publicly funded university research. It calls for tech companies to reciprocate and collectively protect the research ecosystem to prevent a talent shortage.

(www.sigarch.org)

Tech talent pipeline

Inner Loop Agents: LLMs Calling Tools Directly

2025-04-21

Inner Loop Agents: LLMs Calling Tools Directly

Traditional LLMs require a client to parse and execute tool calls, but inner loop agents allow the LLM to parse and execute tools directly—a paradigm shift. The post explains how inner loop agents work, illustrating the difference between them and traditional LLMs with diagrams. The advantage is that LLMs can concurrently call tools alongside their thinking process, improving efficiency. Reinforcement learning's role in training inner loop agents and the Model Context Protocol (MCP)'s importance in supporting diverse tool use are also discussed. Ultimately, while LLMs can currently use tools, achieving optimal tool use requires specialized model training for best results.

(timkellogg.me)

AI Inner Loop Agents

Zero-Downtime Database Migration Verified with PlusCal

2025-03-11

This blog post details how the author used PlusCal, a DSL for TLA+, and formal verification to ensure the correctness of a zero-downtime database migration. A PlusCal model was built simulating user Upsert, Delete, and Get operations on a database, along with a background migration process. By simulating a system without migration and one with migration, and verifying the consistency of Get operation results across all states, the author ensured the correctness of the migration algorithm. Formal verification helped in early detection of flaws, such as improper handling of TOMBSTONES, and highlighted the importance of atomic operations, like the atomicity of checking and inserting data during migration.

(biradarganesh25.github.io)

Development

Openlayer: Hiring Backend Engineer to Tackle AI Reliability

2025-02-28

Openlayer: Hiring Backend Engineer to Tackle AI Reliability

Openlayer, a startup tackling the AI reliability problem, is hiring a seasoned backend engineer. The role involves maintaining and expanding their core API, working with large datasets, improving user-facing developer tools, and contributing to security, new features, bug fixes, and product ideation. Ideal candidates will have 5+ years of backend or full-stack experience, proficiency in Python and another language, and a passion for building scalable data engines. Openlayer offers competitive salary, equity, health benefits, and a flexible work environment.

(www.ycombinator.com)

Development backend engineer startup hiring

The Brain's Energy Budget: Why Focus Leads to Fatigue

2025-06-06

The Brain's Energy Budget: Why Focus Leads to Fatigue

New research unveils the secrets of the brain's energy efficiency. The brain operates far more efficiently than previously thought, a legacy of our ancestors' evolution in energy-scarce environments. Even at rest, the brain performs extensive background tasks, including prediction and maintaining homeostasis. Intense mental activity significantly increases energy consumption, explaining why prolonged focus leads to fatigue. The brain has evolved mechanisms to limit energy expenditure, such as reducing neuronal firing rates and synaptic transmission efficiency, maximizing information transmission efficiency per energy unit. This research provides insights into the brain's mechanisms and the limits of human cognitive capacity.

(www.quantamagazine.org)

Tech

Swift: One Language to Rule Them All, From Embedded Devices to the Cloud

2025-06-04

Swift's unique combination of approachability, speed, safety, and interoperability with C and C++ makes it the only language that scales from embedded devices and kernels to apps and cloud infrastructure. Its concise, readable syntax empowers developers of all levels, supporting object-oriented, functional, and generic programming paradigms. The language's progressive disclosure allows beginners to quickly learn the basics while experienced developers can leverage advanced features. A simple example demonstrates how a full command-line tool can be implemented in just a few lines of code.

(swift.org)

Development

Typewise (YC S22) is Hiring a Machine Learning Engineer in Zurich

2025-04-15

Typewise (YC S22) is Hiring a Machine Learning Engineer in Zurich

Typewise, a YC S22 startup building an AI customer service platform for enterprises, is seeking a Machine Learning Engineer to join their Zurich-based team. Leveraging custom AI and LLMs, Typewise boosts efficiency by up to 50% for clients like Unilever and DPD. The role involves researching, developing, and deploying cutting-edge NLP algorithms, collaborating directly with enterprise clients to optimize workflows, and contributing to the continuous improvement of their AI technology. Ideal candidates possess a computer science degree, 2+ years of experience building and deploying ML algorithms, and excellent Python programming skills. This is a chance to make a significant impact on a rapidly growing, innovative company.

(www.ycombinator.com)

AI

Psylo: A New Browser That Fights Browser Fingerprinting

2025-06-26

Psylo: A New Browser That Fights Browser Fingerprinting

Mysk, a Canadian company, launched Psylo, an iOS browser designed to combat browser fingerprinting, a technique used for ad tracking and targeting. Psylo isolates tabs into 'silos,' applying unique anti-fingerprinting measures like canvas randomization. It uses the Mysk Private Proxy Network to mask each silo's IP address and encrypts network traffic. Unlike VPNs, Psylo adjusts timezone and language to match each proxy's geolocation for enhanced privacy. The company emphasizes no logging of personally identifiable information or browsing data, only aggregated bandwidth usage for abuse prevention. Psylo offers robust privacy protection at $9.99/month.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech anti-fingerprinting

AI Revolutionizes Code Development: A Roundup of Powerful Tools

2025-03-21

From command-line interfaces to visual platforms, AI is transforming software development. This article explores a range of exciting AI-powered coding tools, including terminal-based AI coding assistants (like aider chat, Kwaak, RA.Aid, CodeBuff), advanced headless IDEs (like SWE-Kit), and AI-driven code generation platforms (like v0, Base44, bolt). These tools cover everything from code generation and understanding to complete software building processes, supporting multiple programming languages and frameworks. Whether you're an experienced developer or a coding novice, you'll find tools to boost efficiency and simplify your workflow.

(aicode.danvoronov.com)

Development AI development tools low-code platforms

Chip-8 Emulator Intro: Building a Retro Game Console in Code

2025-01-06

This article introduces Chip-8, a simple virtual game console system, and explains how to build its emulator. It clearly explains binary, hexadecimal, and how Chip-8 instructions work, providing the foundational knowledge for building an emulator. The author guides the reader step-by-step, from simple to more complex instructions, explaining the inner workings of Chip-8, making it a great resource for those interested in retro gaming consoles and emulator technology.

(www.emulationonline.com)

Development

arXivLabs: Experimenting with Community Collaboration

2025-04-15

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Individuals and organizations involved uphold arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only partners with those who share them. Got an idea for a project that benefits the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

CVE Program Faces Funding Cliff, Threatening Global Cybersecurity

2025-04-16

CVE Program Faces Funding Cliff, Threatening Global Cybersecurity

MITRE's CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) program, a cornerstone of global cybersecurity, faces a potential shutdown due to expiring funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The program assigns standardized identifiers to software vulnerabilities, crucial for communication and coordinated responses. A lapse would severely disrupt vulnerability tracking, patch management, and threat intelligence, impacting governments, businesses, and individuals. While historical CVE data will remain on GitHub, the cessation of new vulnerability assignment would cripple the global cybersecurity community's ability to respond to emerging threats. Experts urge immediate government intervention to prevent catastrophic consequences and advocate for stable, long-term funding to ensure the CVE program's continued operation.

(www.forbes.com)

Tech

Unprecedented Solar Storm Creates Mystery Radiation Belts Around Earth

2025-02-07

Unprecedented Solar Storm Creates Mystery Radiation Belts Around Earth

A massive solar storm in May 2024 impacted Earth profoundly, its effects reaching even the ocean floor. Beyond stunning auroras, the storm created two temporary radiation belts within Earth's magnetic field. Remarkably, one belt contained high-energy protons—a never-before-seen phenomenon. These belts persisted for three months, far longer than typical storm-induced belts. While subsequent storms largely dispersed the particles, some remain, posing a potential hazard to satellites. Further research is crucial to understand the long-term effects and risks.

(www.sciencealert.com)

Tech solar storm radiation belts space weather

Go's io.Reader Efficiency: A Battle with Indirection and Type Assertions

2025-05-19

Many Go functions take an io.Reader, enabling streaming and avoiding loading everything into memory. However, when you already have the bytes, using them directly is more efficient. This article describes the author's experience decoding images with libavif and libheif. For simplicity, the simple memory interfaces were used, but the Go image.Decode function checks for a Peek function on the io.Reader, wrapping with bufio.Reader if not found, preventing direct use of bytes.Reader. The author cleverly uses type assertions and unsafe.Pointer to bypass bufio.Reader and bytes.Reader, achieving zero-copy. However, the article highlights issues in Go's type checking and interface design, including the resulting 'shadow APIs'.

(flak.tedunangst.com)

Development

Animations Without Keyframes: A New CSS Trick

2025-01-12

Animations Without Keyframes: A New CSS Trick

CSS's new `@starting-style` allows creating animations without `@keyframes`. This isn't a replacement for traditional animation, but a useful CSS trick in certain situations. The article demonstrates two examples: an infinitely rotating square, and a more complex animation manipulating background color, translation, and rotation via an animated variable `--i`. While not always superior, it offers a fresh way to express animations, expanding CSS animation possibilities.

(css-tip.com)

Development CSS animation keyframeless animation

Raspberry Pi Pico-Controlled 3x5 LED Matrix: From Circuit Design to Web Control

2025-04-25

This tutorial details building a 3x5 LED matrix controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico using tscircuit, enabling WiFi remote control. It covers circuit design, component selection (WS2812B LEDs), connection methodology (daisy-chaining LEDs), PCB layout, and a final web interface for control. Learn to create an LED matrix for displaying information, data visualization, or interactive notification systems.

(docs.tscircuit.com)

Hardware LED Matrix

Whistleblower Alleges DOGE Team Exfiltrated Sensitive Labor Data

2025-04-15

Whistleblower Alleges DOGE Team Exfiltrated Sensitive Labor Data

A whistleblower has revealed details of how the DOGE team may have accessed and exfiltrated sensitive labor data from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The whistleblower alleges that after gaining access to NLRB systems, the DOGE team obtained substantial data, including union information, ongoing legal cases, and corporate secrets. They allegedly attempted to cover their tracks by disabling monitoring tools and manually deleting access records. Evidence presented includes a large data exfiltration event, suspicious login attempts from a Russian IP address, and a project named "NxGenBdoorExtract," potentially designed to extract data from the NLRB's internal system. This incident raises serious concerns about data security and privacy, with experts warning of potential harm to unions, employees, and businesses.

(www.npr.org)

Tech government data breach

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