Sci-Tech news

• Earth's worst mass extinction was caused by global warming

  24-03-2017 18:51 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Researchers from Brock University in Ontario have shed new light on the world's worst mass extinction event, the end Permian. The event wiped out around 90 per cent of species.
  
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• What? Most AI Is Now Written by AI?

  14-07-2026 00:24 via technocracy.news
  
  For the better part of the last two years, I have been tracking what appeared to be a reasonably predictable pattern in AI development: a doubling of capability roughly every 3.5 months. That figure came from METR’s time horizon benchmarks — measurements of how long an AI agent can work autonomously on a task before failing. Early 2024 through early 2026, the data held with uncomfortable consistency. If you plotted it, the curve bent upward with almost mechanical precision.
  I say &ld
  
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• What? Most AI Is Now Written by — AI?

  14-07-2026 00:24 via technocracy.news
  
  For the better part of the last two years, I have been tracking what appeared to be a reasonably predictable pattern in AI development: a doubling of capability roughly every 3.5 months. That figure came from METR’s time horizon benchmarks — measurements of how long an AI agent can work autonomously on a task before failing. Early 2024 through early 2026, the data held with uncomfortable consistency. If you plotted it, the curve bent upward with almost mechanical precision.
  I say &ld
  
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• What? Most AI Is Now Written by… AI

  14-07-2026 00:24 via technocracy.news
  
  Check the counter to the right ==>
  For the better part of the last two years, I have been tracking what appeared to be a reasonably predictable pattern in AI development: a doubling of capability roughly every 3.5 months. That figure came from METR’s time horizon benchmarks — measurements of how long an AI agent can work autonomously on a task before failing. Early 2024 through early 2026, the data held with uncomfortable consistency. If you plotted it, the curve bent upward with
  
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• Biggest great white shark ever recorded in Atlantic resurfaces after vanishing for months

  13-07-2026 23:13 via dailymail.com
  
  A gigantic great white shark that disappeared near the East Coast three months ago has been spotted again as thousands of its fellow predators near US beaches.
  
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• Excel competition goes extreme, makes spreadsheet geeks compete from the street

  13-07-2026 22:18 via theregister.com
  
  The Excel games have gone extreme, tossing four top competitors into urban wilds around the world in a one-off battle, which reigning champion Diarmuid Early won at the last minute. Irish phenom Early captured the win in the Microsoft Excel World Championship’s (MEWC) inaugural Landmark Battle over the weekend after a last-minute comeback that saw him take down Andrew Ngai by a mere 40 points (1060 to 1020) in the 30-minute contest. Jaq Kennedy and Nicolas Micot made up the back half of th
  
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• Apple issues warning to all iPhone owners as criminals weaponize FaceTime to drain bank accounts... here's how to stay safe

  13-07-2026 21:42 via dailymail.com
  
  Apple has issued a new warning to all iPhone users, alerting them to a fast-growing scam that is draining victims' bank accounts.
  
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• The price is wrong: AI cost calculation has to consider task completion rates, not just token costs

  13-07-2026 21:26 via theregister.com
  
  When it comes to AI services, you don't necessarily get what you pay for. It turns out that AI models with expensive tokens may cost less than models with cheap tokens for particular tasks. And the tooling attached to those models can have a significant effect on cost and output quality. Databricks, which sells data analytics software and services, recently devised an internal coding benchmark to assess the tradeoff between price and performance using various AI models. Matei Zaharia, CTO of Dat
  
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• California rocked by ANOTHER earthquake as experts warn terrifying fault line that will unleash the Big One has officially been 'unlocked'

  13-07-2026 19:50 via dailymail.com
  
  An earthquake has struck California in a rare location which has not seen a seismic event in the 21st century, with one expert saying it is a sign of the Big One.
  
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• Ancient book banned from the Bible fuels theory of fallen angels imprisoned beneath Antarctica

  13-07-2026 19:25 via dailymail.com
  
  The theory links chilling passages from sacred texts banned from the Bible to mysterious features hidden beneath Antarctica's ice sheet.
  
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• Microsoft chief turns hostile on frontier AI labs, warns companies to guard their IP

  13-07-2026 19:20 via theregister.com
  
  Seemingly unaware of the concept of irony, Satya Nadella is warning AI-using enterprises to take care not to give away their business secrets alongside the massive piles of cash they’re forking over to frontier labs every month. Writing in a long-form post on X over the weekend, the Microsoft CEO and chairman warned of what he called the “reverse information paradox,” a situation in which purchasers of AI essentially pay for the intelligence product they’re getting twice:
  
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• German firm files for insolvency, blames cybercrims who shut down production for 6 weeks

  13-07-2026 18:53 via theregister.com
  
  German textile company ZEGO Textilveredelungszentrum has filed for insolvency and is blaming the financial fallout from a March cyberattack that knocked its production offline for nearly six weeks. ZEGO's filing adds another name to the short but growing list of companies that say a digital break-in was commercially fatal to their business. The Bavaria-based company provides textile finishing, processing, and treatment services for customers across industries, including automotive, workwear, and
  
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• Sacred text banned from the Bible points to hidden realm beneath Antarctica

  13-07-2026 18:44 via dailymail.com
  
  The theory links chilling passages from sacred texts banned from the Bible to mysterious features hidden beneath Antarctica's ice sheet.
  
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• Rare California earthquake has 'unlocked' terrifying fault line that will unleash the Big One, geophysicist warns

  13-07-2026 18:43 via dailymail.com
  
  An earthquake has struck California in a rare location which has not seen a seismic event in the 21st century, with one expert saying it is a sign of the Big One.
  
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• Astronomers find sugar near the creamy center of the Milky Way (no caramel, though)

  13-07-2026 18:20 via theregister.com
  
  Scientists have detected a sugar in interstellar space, suggesting the galaxy may be liberally sprinkled with some of life's chemical ingredients. A new study shows that a sugar molecule containing four carbon atoms, called erythrulose, has been found near the center of the Milky Way, the first confirmed detection of a monosaccharide in the interstellar medium. Living organisms use sugars as energy sources, structural components, and constituents of genetic material. While scientists have previo
  
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• Philips to replace bricked Hue Bridge Pro devices

  13-07-2026 17:50 via theregister.com
  
  Philips is replacing Hue Bridge Pro devices after a software update left several units bricked with no way for users to restore them. Rumblings began in forums in June after a seemingly innocuous update left users, quite literally, in the dark. After a few weeks attempting to resolve the issues, Philips has thrown in the towel and said it will replace affected devices. A spokesperson told The Register, "We have identified a firmware issue affecting a limited number of Philips Hue Bridge Pro devi
  
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• EU and UK officially blame Russian spies for cyberattack on Poland's power grid

  13-07-2026 17:39 via theregister.com
  
  The UK and EU are demanding urgent action from critical infrastructure organizations after formally attributing the December 2025 cyberattack on Poland's power grid to Russia's Federal Security Service. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) described the attack, carried out by the FSB's Centre 16 division, as "another example of the Russian state's irresponsible attempts to sow chaos across Europe." Milosz Motyka, Poland's energy minister, confirmed the attack on the country'
  
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• Why Is Technocracy Persecuting Christians In China?

  13-07-2026 17:27 via technocracy.news
  
  What Technocracy can’t control, it crushes. No outliers allowed. Chinese Christians only meet underground in order to escape prison, or worse. As the “system” of Technocracy in China gets more entrenched, the number of house churches increases and intolerance builds against those those who pledge allegiance to Christ and the Bible, not to the system.
  China has “official” churches that are not harassed because they are heavily controlled. Similarly in America, a stat
  
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• Urgent warning as sharks move into unexpected US waters: See the popular beaches where predators are now lurking

  13-07-2026 17:21 via dailymail.com
  
  Shark sightings are on the rise and a hotspot has emerged in a surprising place in the north Atlantic, sparking new beach warnings and fears of shark attacks in unlikely states.
  
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• Urgent warning as sharks move into unexpected US waters: Shocking map reveals popular US beaches now in the danger zone

  13-07-2026 17:03 via dailymail.com
  
  Shark sightings are on the rise and a hotspot has emerged in a surprising place in the north Atlantic, sparking new beach warnings and fears of shark attacks in unlikely states.
  
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• SREs to AI agents: Prove yourself before you touch production

  13-07-2026 17:00 via theregister.com
  
  Trusting an AI agent to summarize user complaints about downtime is one thing; trusting it to fix the problem unattended is something else entirely. A survey of 696 experts The Register ran with NeuBird AI in April 2026 found that 73 percent are not using AIOps at all, another 19 percent are in pilot, and only eight percent have it in production. Asked what's stopping them, 60 percent of respondents cited a lack of trust, by far the biggest issue, with concerns about ROI, security and data quali
  
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• Scientists detect SUGAR in the centre of the Milky Way - in a breakthrough that could explain how life began on Earth

  13-07-2026 17:00 via dailymail.com
  
  Scientists have detected sugar in the depths of interstellar space for the first time.
  
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• Does England have what it takes to beat Argentina? Psychologists say the Three Lions hold the mental edge ahead of the semi-final

  13-07-2026 16:44 via dailymail.com
  
  On Wednesday, fans across England will hold their breaths as the Three Lions take on Argentina in the nail-biting World Cup semi final. So, does England have what it takes to win the game?
  
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• Sticker shock has execs rethinking this whole AI thing

  13-07-2026 16:16 via theregister.com
  
  KETTLE Like a drug dealer who's hooked you and raised their prices, business leaders are simply shocked to learn the AI their organizations are becoming dependent on is suddenly a lot more expensive. You can listen to the latest episode of The Kettle right here on this page, as well as on Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube where you can subscribe to get notified of the latest episode.Kettle host Brandon Vigliarolo is joined by Reg reporter Lindsay Clark and contributor Joab Jackson this week to di
  
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• Lucky 13: SpaceX aims for July 16 Starship flight test

  13-07-2026 15:32 via theregister.com
  
  SpaceX is scheduling another test flight of its monster Starship rocket later this week. Flight test 13 will carry 20 Starlink satellites and, hopefully, will not repeat the anomalies seen during the previous test. The mission is set to launch on Thursday, July 16, with a 90-minute launch window opening at 2245 UTC. It will carry next-generation Starlink V3 satellites for the first time, deploying them during the vehicle's sub-orbital lob. The plan is for the 20 satellites to extend their solar
  
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• Microsoft emails Windows 10 holdouts: Fine, keep your old PC another year

  13-07-2026 15:02 via theregister.com
  
  Microsoft has begun sending its email of shame to Windows 10 consumers, reminding them that Extended Security Updates will run for an extra year. Strangely, some email clients are treating this latest emission as mere spam. Microsoft last month extended consumer ESU coverage through October 12, 2027. The company is now notifying those customers who might not have noticed the update on the support page that they've got another year to buy a new PC. The email talks about "our ongoing commitment to
  
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• Women really ARE better at multitasking! Study shows men can't hold a conversation while busy - but ladies find it easy

  13-07-2026 14:43 via dailymail.com
  
  If you've ever accused your partner of not listening while they're busy doing something else, science may finally have your back.
  
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• World Cup grudge attackers may have scored Argentine FA access via year-old infostealer infection

  13-07-2026 14:02 via theregister.com
  
  Hudson Rock says the suspected compromise of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) may be linked to an infostealer infection nearly a year earlier. The incident appears to be the work of an aggrieved football fan, or group of them, after Argentina eliminated Egypt from the World Cup round of 16. Egypt's coach and football association complained about several refereeing and VAR decisions, which they said contributed to the result. The compromise of AFA's systems was spotted after mass emails w
  
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• HTTP gets a QUERY method so complex searches can stop pretending to be POST

  13-07-2026 13:15 via theregister.com
  
  "Idempotent" may be jargon, but the term performs an important job in HTTP as a hall pass that gives reverse proxies and gateways the go-ahead to cache complex query responses and automatically retry failed requests. HTTP has long allowed automatic retries for idempotent methods, but complex queries are often sent using POST, which intermediaries cannot safely assume is retryable. Developers have worked around that limitation for decades. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has published
  
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• The Milky Way is even BIGGER than we thought: Research reveals how our galaxy's gigantic spiral arms stretch 10% further than previously believed

  13-07-2026 12:58 via dailymail.com
  
  The Milky Way is even bigger than we thought, a new study has revealed.
  
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