Sci-Tech news

• Experts gather to discuss ways we can 'share' our universe

  09-03-2016 02:17 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Bill Nelson (pictured), a US senator and former astronaut who participated in a 1986 voyage on the space shuttle Columbia made the comments at a meeting in Costa Rica.
  
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• India’s central bank wants AI to approve loans that humans would reject

  12-08-2026 03:18 via theregister.com
  
  The governor of India’s Reserve Bank wants the nation’s financial institutions to use AI to approve loans that human assessors would likely reject. In a speech delivered yesterday at the FIBAC conference in Mumbai, Sanjay Malhotra said the regulator “sees AI as a capability to be responsibly harnessed and not merely as a risk to be contained,” then offered several reasons to support that statement. The first reason is that banks currently find it hard to justify loans to
  
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• Modular's Mojo programming language hits 1.0 milestone

  12-08-2026 01:50 via theregister.com
  
  Modular's Mojo reached its 1.0 milestone on Tuesday, promising developers a stable, production-ready, general-purpose programming language. But its primary purpose is more specific: to unify the AI software stack by providing a way to target the diverse set of GPUs, CPUs, ASICs, and other heterogeneous systems that are used to run AI workloads. Mojo, in conjunction with the MAX inference framework, aspires to make it easier to develop AI software, systems, and tools without being tied to vendor-
  
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• Everything you need to know about tonight's total solar eclipse

  12-08-2026 01:22 via dailymail.com
  
  CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: The conditions are practically perfect. For most people, this evening offers the best chance in a lifetime to see an almost total solar eclipse.
  
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• Tastes like home! First 100% British chocolate bar made since 1932 - using cocoa from Berkshire

  12-08-2026 01:02 via dailymail.com
  
  Forget Belgian truffles and Swiss chocolate - this bar is about as British as they come, with cocoa grown not in the tropics but in Berkshire.
  
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• Signal adds an extra layer of security to make sure you're actually chatting with the right person

  11-08-2026 23:45 via theregister.com
  
  Signal has introduced a new layer of security to help make sure no one has secretly interfered with your encrypted chats. The chat app is favored by diplomats, activists, and journalists for its security. It uses end-to-end message encryption and “safety numbers” – cryptographic fingerprints associated with the keys securing a conversation – which users can compare to verify they have the expected encrypted connection with a contact. But in theory, someone could still int
  
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• 421 bugs in Microsoft's Patch Tuesday release, and the Norks have already attacked one

  11-08-2026 23:31 via theregister.com
  
  This is an epic month for Microsoft patches, though not a record-setting one. Redmond addressed 421 bugs in its own products this month - about 200 fewer CVEs than last month, but likely the new norm with AI-assisted vulnerability disclosures and fixes. The big news is that North Korea’s Lazarus Group (and possibly other miscreants) found and attacked one of these flaws as a zero-day in early June. The bug, tracked as CVE-2026-68820, is a use-after-free in the Windows Ancillary Function Dr
  
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• Give Palantir up to $244m through 2028, says internal Defense Department memo

  11-08-2026 23:15 via theregister.com
  
  EXCLUSIVE US Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg has drafted a memorandum directing Defense Department subordinates to purchase up to $243.9 million in services from AI-enabled data analytics biz Palantir through March 31, 2027, without a competitive bidding process, The Register has learned. The August 4th, 2026, memo calls for what would effectively be a sole-source or no-bid consulting contract. Its subject line is "Funding Palantir." It's unclear, our source told us, whether the dea
  
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• Wild theory claims Earth will lose gravity for seven seconds TOMORROW in cosmic catastrophe

  11-08-2026 22:52 via dailymail.com
  
  A shocking conspiracy theory claims NASA has been working on a plan to survive a doomsday-like event that would kill millions worldwide.
  
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• Together AI embraces the competition with $240M IBM Cloud deal

  11-08-2026 20:51 via theregister.com
  
  With power, datacenter capacity, and other supply chain constraints, AI infrastructure is in short supply, and service providers will rent all the compute they can get, even if it means working with competing cloud providers. Together AI is the latest example. This week the service provider announced a $240 million deal to run its open weights inference platform on a “large cluster” of Nvidia GPUs housed in IBM Cloud. “Together AI selected IBM with Nvidia because of their innov
  
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• Millions of Americans across Midwest placed under urgent tornado warning as Chicago braces for impact: 'Take cover now!'

  11-08-2026 18:32 via dailymail.com
  
  Extreme winds and heavy rain have struck Illinois and Indiana, setting off tornado warnings throughout the region.
  
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• DEF CON dingus suspected of trying to take over Delta in-flight Wi-Fi

  11-08-2026 18:27 via theregister.com
  
  A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta after DEF CON is suspected of jamming the in-flight Wi-Fi and broadcasting an unauthorized network in what could amount to a federal offense. It seems like someone forgot the old truism "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." News of the incident began circulating late Monday when flight watchers spotted Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) messages from the crew of Delta Flight 591 indicating that somet
  
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• Millions of Americans placed under urgent tornado warning near major US city: 'Take cover now!'

  11-08-2026 18:05 via dailymail.com
  
  Extreme winds and heavy rain have struck Illinois and Indiana, setting off tornado warnings throughout the region.
  
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• Intel upsizes stock sale to $20B with spending plans still fuzzy

  11-08-2026 18:01 via theregister.com
  
  Intel stands to raise $20 billion from a public offering of common stock after increasing the deal from the $15 billion announced on Monday, although analysts disagree over what the chip giant wants the cash for. The Santa Clara biz initially announced a $15 billion offering before pricing the shares at $95 apiece and increasing the deal to $20 billion. Intel is offering 210,526,315 shares at a price understood to represent a 6.5 percent discount to Friday's closing level. It has also granted un
  
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• Two wars and a World Cup lead to epic DDoS attacks on publishers

  11-08-2026 17:33 via theregister.com
  
  Ongoing wars in Ukraine and Iran, and the FIFA World Cup, all contributed to a DDoS walloping of media organizations throughout 2026 so far, according to Cloudflare’s latest data, which identified the sector as the most targeted this year. Attacks on media, production, and publishing accounted for 14.2 percent of all DDoS attacks launched since January 1. Over the first six months of the year, the sector saw nearly four times the number of attacks leveled at the second most-targeted sector
  
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• California 'in the crosshairs' of mega earthquake within months, warns scientist who predicted deadly Colombia disaster

  11-08-2026 17:15 via dailymail.com
  
  A scientist who said Colombia would be struck by a major earthquake two months before it happened has now warned that multiple hotspots in the US are at risk for a megaquake in 2026.
  
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• Feds warn Gunra ransomware is exploiting known bugs to hit critical infrastructure

  11-08-2026 16:36 via theregister.com
  
  US cyber agencies are warning critical infrastructure operators to patch their internet-facing kit after Gunra ransomware affiliates were spotted exploiting known vulnerabilities to break into networks. Gunra first surfaced in 2025 and has wasted little time expanding. CISA, the FBI, NSA, Secret Service, and partner agencies in the US and South Korea say it now operates as ransomware-as-a-service, with affiliates attacking organizations worldwide. Targets have included healthcare, financial serv
  
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• The mushroom making people hallucinate dozens of tiny humans: Scientists identify unusual fungi that contains an entirely new hallucinogenic compound

  11-08-2026 16:31 via dailymail.com
  
  For nearly a century, scientists have been baffled by bizarre reports of hallucinations that leave people seeing dozens or even hundreds of tiny human figures.
  
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• Cyberattack on logistics giant CEVA delivers customer data into the wrong hands

  11-08-2026 15:24 via theregister.com
  
  A cyberattack on logistics giant CEVA has disrupted warehouses across Europe and exposed customer data belonging to a growing list of big-name clients, including Valve and Ajax. The France-headquartered shipping outfit, which operates more than 1,000 warehouses worldwide and generated $18.3 billion in revenue last year, was attacked between July 29 and August 1, according to a notification Valve sent to customers. Eight CEVA warehouses in Europe were affected, industry news site FreightWaves rep
  
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• Think twice before embracing the silver hair! Going grey makes wrinkles stand out more, study finds

  11-08-2026 15:04 via dailymail.com
  
  A new study suggests that if you really want your skin to appear wrinkle-free, you should be focusing on your hair.
  
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• Deepfake hiccup unmasks suspected digital certificate fraudster

  11-08-2026 14:27 via theregister.com
  
  Spain's national police say they caught a cybercriminal after a momentary technical glitch exposed his face to a video identification platform. The unnamed man allegedly made 38 attempts to impersonate 30 people and obtain digital certificates in their names, succeeding on multiple occasions. A digital certificate uses public key infrastructure to bind a cryptographic key to a verified identity, allowing its holder to authenticate themselves and create legally recognized electronic signatures. I
  
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• Revealed: The common hair mistake that makes you look OLDER, according to science

  11-08-2026 14:03 via dailymail.com
  
  A new study suggests that if you really want your skin to appear wrinkle-free, you should be focusing on your hair.
  
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• Scientists discover dangerous chemicals lurking in popular toiletries - including face creams marked as '100 per cent natural'

  11-08-2026 14:02 via dailymail.com
  
  Unlabelled chemicals are lurking in nearly all personal care and cleaning products, an ominous study has revealed.
  
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• Mozilla revokes Firefox signing key after unencrypted copy lands in GitHub

  11-08-2026 13:36 via theregister.com
  
  Mozilla has revoked a cryptographic key used to sign Firefox and Thunderbird releases after discovering someone had accidentally committed an unencrypted copy of the private key to a GitHub repository. The browser maker disclosed the mishap on Monday, saying the GPG private subkey was checked into a private GitHub repository accessible only to a small number of Mozilla employees. All of them were already authorized to access the key through other means. Still, leaving an unencrypted private sign
  
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• Super El Niño could wreak havoc on your HEALTH: Terrifying report reveals how marine heatwaves can trigger heart and breathing issues - and even PTSD

  11-08-2026 13:04 via dailymail.com
  
  With Super El Niño now well underway, a terrifying report has revealed the impact the climate event could be having on your health.
  
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• Building up the US power grid won't be wasted, even if the AI bubble bursts

  11-08-2026 12:31 via theregister.com
  
  US power companies must decide how much capacity to build for soaring datacenter demand, knowing that some planned facilities may never materialize and the AI bubble could deflate. Consulting firm McKinsey & Company says the greater near-term risk is building too little. Driven by the AI craze, a boom in datacenter building is expected to see the energy consumed by these facilities grow by 26 percent this year, as The Register reported not too long ago. McKinsey's own figures indicate that d
  
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• The dismal state of the climate: Damning report confirms record-high greenhouse gases, global sea level and ocean heat in 2025

  11-08-2026 11:47 via dailymail.com
  
  A damning report has confirmed greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea level and ocean heat all reached record highs last year.
  
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• Malicious SIMs can shut down phones, steal files, and drag 5G back to 2G

  11-08-2026 11:37 via theregister.com
  
  Researchers have found that a malicious SIM card can tell some phones and cellular-connected devices to leak data, drop to 2G, shut themselves down, or even execute code, all thanks to functionality that's supposed to be there. The research [PDF], presented at the USENIX WOOT conference in Baltimore this week, examines proactive SIM functionality, which allows a SIM to issue commands to the device hosting it. One of those is RUN AT, which allows the SIM to request the execution of AT commands, t
  
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• Sick of the heatwave? Temperatures will drop by 'several degrees' for around an hour this week - thanks to the solar eclipse

  11-08-2026 11:10 via dailymail.com
  
  With the UK in the midst of yet another heatwave, many Brits are desperate for some respite from the heat. Well, there's good news, as that sweet relief will come this week.
  
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• Why hybrid clouds break and what to do about it

  11-08-2026 10:00 via theregister.com
  
  Hybrid cloud breaks down when every environment has its own provisioning process, security model, monitoring stack, and cost structure. In practice, many hybrid strategies were built around where infrastructure happened to live, not around each workload’s latency, data governance, resilience, performance, and cost requirements.Why has hybrid cloud become so hard to run? Most enterprises didn't choose hybrid so much as stumble into it. A cloud-first push might have handled greenfield develo
  
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