Sci-Tech news

• Apple's 'Siri speaker' to take on Google Home and Amazon Echo

  25-05-2016 02:13 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The speaker would double as a music player according to tech blog The Information, and could be revealed next month at the firm's annual developer conference, it is believed.
  
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• Destructive Windows backdoor stuffs multiple wipers and ransomware code into a single package

  10-07-2026 19:35 via theregister.com
  
  A newly identified destructive Windows backdoor combines ransomware-like encryption with multiple data-wiping features, according to Microsoft. Last October, the Redmond threat-hunting team first spotted attacks using the Golang-based implant they've named GigaWiper. Its developers stuffed multiple malware families into the software as on-demand commands, giving criminals a Swiss Army knife of command-and-control (C2) and destructive capabilities, including multiple wiping commands and file encr
  
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• LisaFPGA brings Apple's magnificent misfire back in programmable logic

  10-07-2026 19:12 via theregister.com
  
  Apple Lisas are rare now. Here's a rather cheaper way to build your own – and in theory, it can even use original floppy drives. LisaFPGA does what it says on the GitHub repo: "The Apple Lisa computer implemented inside an FPGA!" It's an open source project that recreates a complete Apple Lisa on an FPGA board. It's not entirely complete yet, but hardware went on sale in May and you might still be able to buy one – or download the bitstream of the model and build your own. The Apple
  
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• World’s Largest AI Data Center Project On Verge Of Collapse

  10-07-2026 19:04 via technocracy.news
  
  Hear the giant sucking sound going into the black hole. Citizen resistance is rising into a firestorm across the country, like a crown fire in a forest’s treetops that takes on a life of its own. AI executives are freaking out. Investors are at risk of losing billions. Citizens will be left with the hubris of collapsed communities and abandoned behemoth buildings that won’t be torn down. Technocrats are about to get a dose of reality. ⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.In a significant set
  
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• Prehistoric discovery in the Oregon mountains older than Egypt's Great Pyramid could rewrite human history

  10-07-2026 18:22 via dailymail.com
  
  Artifacts found in the Oregon mountains challenge a long-held belief of human history. The discovery is also four times older than Egypt's Great Pyramid.
  
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• Orbital datacenter gold rush needs an environmental review, FCC told

  10-07-2026 18:02 via theregister.com
  
  Environmental groups want the FCC to slam the brakes on orbital datacenters, arguing the agency shouldn't approve constellations they say would total more than a million satellites before taking a hard look at their environmental impact. Earthjustice, acting on behalf of DarkSky International, Environment America, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), filed a petition this week urging the regulator to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) under the
  
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• How can you help wildlife during hot weather?

  10-07-2026 18:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sophia Herod has some tips for helping animals that might visit your garden or neighbourhood.
  
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• Boxy forms and odd lights: US declassifies more UFO files

  10-07-2026 17:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The US government published a fourth instalment of unresolved cases, promising to release more files on a rolling basis.
  
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• OpenAI's Atlas browser doesn't make it to its first birthday

  10-07-2026 16:59 via theregister.com
  
  OpenAI has decided its AI browser experiment has run its course, pulling the plug on ChatGPT Atlas less than a year after launch and moving its browser-based agent features into ChatGPT and Codex. The company said Atlas will stop working on August 9 as it rolls out the newly unveiled ChatGPT Work platform. Atlas arrived last October with no shortage of ambition. Rather than trying to out-Chrome Chrome, OpenAI wanted to bolt ChatGPT directly onto the web, promising a browser that could read pages
  
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• Would YOU trust these people? Fake faces created by AI look MORE trustworthy than real people, study reveals - take the test to see if you can tell the difference

  10-07-2026 16:08 via dailymail.com
  
  Can you tell the difference between a real face and one generated by AI? According to a new study, it might be a lot harder than you think.
  
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• AI-driven datacenter builds drive Microsoft's emissions up a quarter in one year

  10-07-2026 16:01 via theregister.com
  
  Microsoft says it matched its entire electricity consumption with renewable energy last year. The bad news is it also increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25 percent due to datacenter construction. The cloud and software biz has released a 2026 Environmental Sustainability Report [PDF], claiming its environmental sustainability work is entering a new phase due to rapid technological change. A global shift towards AI is reshaping economies, the report claims, which is becoming “found
  
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• Monster of the deep: Scientists capture the first EVER footage of a Barreleye Fish deep in the Atlantic

  10-07-2026 16:00 via dailymail.com
  
  One of the ocean's eeriest creatures has emerged from the darkness. Scientists have captured the first ever footage of a rare species of barreleye fish alive in its natural habitat.
  
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• East Asia braces for destructive typhoon as landslides kill 15 in Philippines

  10-07-2026 15:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Heading for Taiwan and south-eastern China, the 1,000 km-wide Bavi is forecast to be one of the strongest storms in decades.
  
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• Watch: Typhoon Bavi forecast to bring heavy rains and floods to Taiwan, Japan and China

  10-07-2026 15:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  See how the powerful storm is expected to move across east Asia on Saturday.
  
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• Struggling pig farmers say £2m support package 'not enough'

  10-07-2026 15:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Farmers welcome the Scottish government funding but say it's not enough to stop them losing about £1m a month
  
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• The fake air cons fooling Britain: Experts warn against products 'designed by NASA' that promise to cool a room in 90 seconds

  10-07-2026 15:17 via dailymail.com
  
  The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said some companies are exploiting demand for portable AC units, making exaggerated claims that lure desperate customers in
  
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• Clearest image of jellyfish UAP and silent craft that breached US nuclear base revealed in Trump's latest UFO files

  10-07-2026 15:16 via dailymail.com
  
  The Trump administration on Friday released its fourth batch of never-before-seen UFO files, shedding new light on unexplained sightings investigated by the US.
  
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• EU puts 'addictive' design of Facebook, Instagram under the DSA microscope

  10-07-2026 14:59 via theregister.com
  
  Meta may have breached the European Union's Digital Services Act by designing Facebook and Instagram to keep users glued to their screens, with Brussels saying that features such as infinite scroll and autoplay should be switched off by default. The European Commission on Friday published preliminary findings accusing the social media giant of failing to properly assess or mitigate the risks posed by what it describes as the addictive design of its platforms. The investigation centers on infinit
  
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• Trump's bombshell UFO files expose eerie eight-point object and silent craft that breached US nuclear base

  10-07-2026 14:50 via dailymail.com
  
  The Trump administration on Friday released its fourth batch of never-before-seen UFO files, shedding new light on unexplained sightings investigated by the US.
  
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• Capita hears demand for pension scheme cleanup 'loud and clear' – but won't say yes

  10-07-2026 14:41 via theregister.com
  
  Capita has yet to agree to reimburse the UK government for the full cost of recovering the failing Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) it administers. In a testy Parliamentary hearing in which Capita was called to account for its performance since taking over the CSPS, Adolfo Hernandez, group chief executive, refused to be drawn on whether the company would pay the full amount that the government had invested in emergency support. Capita's CSPS went live in December last year, after which The Re
  
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• UK bakes in 35C highs as millions under hosepipe bans

  10-07-2026 14:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  On Thursday, temperatures exceeded 34C for the eighth day this year, breaking the previous record of seven days in a calendar year.
  
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• Fashion mart Miinto unzips breach details, warns shoppers to watch for phisherfolk

  10-07-2026 14:10 via theregister.com
  
  Danish ecommerce company Miinto admitted an intruder has been looking at its order data, according to emails it sent to customers this week. The emails, seen by The Register, do not comment on the scale of the data accessed by the perp or how exactly the breach occurred, although UK-based customers of the Copenhagen-HQ'd biz have received them. “We are writing to let you know about a security incident that may have affected some of the personal data associated with a purchase you made on M
  
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• The point of no return? Scientists warn collapse of one of Earth's most important ocean currents may already be locked in

  10-07-2026 13:24 via dailymail.com
  
  The collapse of one of Earth's most important ocean currents may already be locked in, according to an ominous new study.
  
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• When will the world end? Scientists calculate when the last life on Earth will die

  10-07-2026 12:32 via dailymail.com
  
  Every tree, flower and blade of grass will one day wither and die - and scientists now believe they have worked out when that bleak moment will arrive.
  
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• Cinnamon 6.8 will support Wayland – if you want it

  10-07-2026 12:00 via theregister.com
  
  The latest Linux Mint blog says that its Wayland support is about ready for primetime – but X11 isn’t going away. Linux Mint lead developer Clement Lefebvre has published the Linux Mint blog for June 2026, announcing that as of the next version of the Cinnamon desktop, it will officially drop “experimental” status for Wayland: this will be a fully supported way to use the Cinnamon desktop environment. You will have to be patient, though – the post says: “The i
  
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• Scot NHS Trust probes email stuffup involving maternity patients' data

  10-07-2026 11:17 via theregister.com
  
  A staff member sent the personal details of around 150 women who were in contact with a Scottish NHS Trust’s maternity services to their own personal email account, the Trust has revealed. NHS Forth Valley, the health board that oversees NHS services in the region between Edinburgh and Glasgow, said it is investigating the matter and has contacted the women affected. “An internal investigation is underway after a member of staff transferred a spreadsheet containing an extract of data
  
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• How cows are helping one of Britain's rarest butterflies

  10-07-2026 11:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The high brown fritillary needs bracken and a certain violet to thrive - but everything in moderation.
  
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• BOFH: Cross-department AI pitches are easier to swallow with a pint in hand

  10-07-2026 10:30 via theregister.com
  
  EPISODE 13 "It's just a quick pitch session. You won't have to stay long," the Boss wheedles. "Thanks, but..." I reply. "Come on, you'll meet some new people." "Boring people," the PFY interjects. "... and hear some stories..." "Boring stories..." "You might even learn something!" the Boss pleads. "Something boring," the PFY says. And he's not wrong. Cross-department pitch sessions are drier than a sawdust sandwich in the Sahara. To add insult to injury, the sessions are scheduled at the end of
  
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• China lands reusable rocket for first time, state media says

  10-07-2026 08:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  It follows similar landings of reusable rockets by US-owned companies SpaceX and Blue Origin.
  
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• Datacenter MacGyver saved the biggest football match of the year

  10-07-2026 08:30 via theregister.com
  
  ON CALL The 2026 FIFA World Cup continues and at the time of writing, The Register's home nation – England – remains in with a chance to bring home the trophy! We therefore devote this week's edition of On Call, our weekly reader-contributed tale of tech support, to the beautiful game. We're able to do so thanks to a reader we'll Regomize as "George" who once pulled off a great save when, decades ago, he worked as one half of the two-person tech team at one of Europe's most famous fo
  
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