Sci-Tech news

• Facial recognition software can find your sculpture double

  21-03-2017 14:35 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Quebec-based Musée de la Civilisation has released facial recognition software that scans through 123 facial comparison points andmatches your face to an ancient sculpture within seconds.
  
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• Jailed Flock vandal wipes out three cameras, racks up thousands in damages

  30-07-2026 17:28 via theregister.com
  
  Note to privacy-conscious vandals: If you're going to destroy Flock license plate readers, make sure you also take out the other CCTV cameras in the area that could catch you in your crime. Otherwise, you'll end up like one unlucky Californian. Marcus Bee, 40, was arrested by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, accused of joining the ever-growing band of US citizens damaging the controversial cameras popping up across the country. A police report filed this week stated that Be
  
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• Why France and Spain keep going up in flames: Study reveals the number of dangerous 'fire weather' days has more than DOUBLED since the 1980s

  30-07-2026 17:02 via dailymail.com
  
  The apocalyptic infernos ripping through Europe are becoming increasingly likely, experts have warned, as the number of dangerous 'fire weather' days has more than doubled since the 1980s.
  
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• 5 Things to Consider BEFORE Your VMware ELA Expiration Date

  30-07-2026 17:00 via theregister.com
  
  When organizations plan for the future, refresh environments, or roll out new capabilities, they are often tied to software licensing agreements that exist or will need to be acquired. While an organization's requirements should drive the planning, the decision‑making can often be constrained by legacy licensing models that limit flexibility and increase long‑term cost exposure. The process of extending, renegotiating, or ending an existing agreement, such as a VMware by Broadcom Ent
  
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• 4th Circuit Court: The Border Search Exception Meets Your Phone

  30-07-2026 16:51 via technocracy.news
  
  Fourth Amendment? Forget it! Roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population, or about 200 to 213 million people, lives within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 100-mile border enforcement zone. Your smartphone can now be manually searched without cause or suspicion, and without a warrant. For most people, a fingerprint or a facial scan unlocks your phone instantly.
  You cannot be legally compelled to reveal your password, but refusal has consequences: device seizure, prolonged detention, and fo
  
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• Americans give all-day school phone bans a ringing endorsement

  30-07-2026 16:31 via theregister.com
  
  Americans are warming to the idea that schools should be for learning rather than doomscrolling, with support for all-day smartphone bans now outweighing opposition for the first time. A new Pew Research Center survey of 9,750 US adults found that 77 percent support banning smartphones during middle and high school classes, up from 68 percent in 2024. More significantly, support for so-called "bell-to-bell" bans now stands at 48 percent, compared with 43 percent who oppose the idea. Back in 2024
  
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• From individual achievement to partner impact

  30-07-2026 16:00 via theregister.com
  
  Organizations everywhere are investing in data and AI while customer expectations climb, with buyers demanding partners who can move quickly, solve complex problems, and turn technology spending into measurable results. That environment requires more than access to technology; it demands expertise applied consistently across teams, projects, and engagements. The latest Databricks survey on Databricks Certifications reveals a clear pattern: certification deepens technical knowledge, builds confid
  
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• Samsung warns memory crunch will last through 2028 as profit rises 19-fold

  30-07-2026 15:50 via theregister.com
  
  Samsung Electronics is warning that the current memory supply crunch will deepen next year and persist through 2028, a shortage that keeps padding its own record profits at the expense of enterprise customers and consumers. The Korean conglomerate said agentic AI has added to demand already generated by model training, driving an "unprecedented rise" in requirements for AI servers and other computing infrastructure. Memory makers continue to prioritize production of components for AI servers, le
  
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• Amazon links four poisoned npm packages to one North Korean crew

  30-07-2026 15:13 via theregister.com
  
  Amazon has linked the compromises of four npm packages over the past 18 months, saying they were all the work of the same North Korean crew. In research published this week, AWS attributed the activity with medium confidence to the North Korea-linked group tracked as Sapphire Sleet, which is widely regarded as a Lazarus Group offshoot. Rather than exploiting zero-days or hacking npm itself, the crew allegedly took the slower route of befriending maintainers, stealing credentials, and publishing
  
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• Scientists reveal what would happen if 'out of control' wildfires reach the Sizewell B nuclear power station

  30-07-2026 15:11 via dailymail.com
  
  Scientists have revealed what would happen if the out-of-control Suffolk wildfires reached the Sizewell B nuclear power station, as firefighters continue battling the blaze.
  
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• Earthquake with the force of 1,500lbs of TNT rattles Utah before unexpected source is revealed

  30-07-2026 15:04 via dailymail.com
  
  A mysterious earthquake rattled Utah, but one unusual detail raised questions about what really caused it.
  
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• Microsoft makes Copilot harder to miss in Classic Outlook

  30-07-2026 14:28 via theregister.com
  
  Microsoft had some news for Classic Outlook users this week, though it wasn't an extension of support or an admission that new Outlook has failed to win over the holdouts. Instead, Copilot is getting a redesigned entry point above the ribbon. The rest of the Microsoft 365 has been has liberally daubed with Copilot, and venerable Classic Outlook is no exception. In a message posted to its administration portal, Microsoft says the redesigned entry point will make the experience "more visually appe
  
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• Hims & Hers accused of sharing health secrets and hiding the cancel button

  30-07-2026 13:45 via theregister.com
  
  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Telehealth company Hims & Hers over allegations that it shared customers' sensitive health data with advertising platforms and misled them about billing and cancellations. Hims & Hers (H&H), which offers online treatments for conditions including male pattern baldness, erectile dysfunction, obesity, and mental health disorders, shared "sensitive health information about medical conditions with Meta, Snap, and more," according to the FTC's c
  
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• MariaDB again faces questions over Galera's open source future

  30-07-2026 13:01 via theregister.com
  
  With support for MySQL Galera Cluster ending in two months, open source observers are again questioning how much of the technology's future MariaDB plc intends to keep in the community edition. The company says Galera remains a core, open source component of MariaDB while it develops separate replication capabilities for enterprise customers. In March, MariaDB, the company behind the database forked from MySQL, reversed course and announced that MariaDB Community Server 12.3 would continue to in
  
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• Biohacker Bryan Johnson confesses he may have 'taken this whole longevity thing too far' after revealing he has an incurable disease

  30-07-2026 13:01 via dailymail.com
  
  He's built a global reputation by trying to cheat death through science. But biohacker Bryan Johnson has confessed he may have 'taken this whole longevity thing too far'.
  
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• Russian spies take their half-click email attack from Zimbra to Outlook

  30-07-2026 12:29 via theregister.com
  
  The Russian espionage crew that turned simply reading an email into a security risk has expanded beyond Zimbra, with Proofpoint saying it's now pulling the same half-click trick against Microsoft Outlook Web Access. Proofpoint says the cyber group it tracks as TA488, or "Laundry Bear," began exploiting CVE-2026-42897, a cross-site scripting flaw in the Outlook Web Access (OWA) component of on-premises Exchange Server, a day before researchers and government agencies exposed the group's abuse of
  
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• The majority of corporate IT is now off premises for the first time

  30-07-2026 12:00 via theregister.com
  
  IT is going remote while sucking up more power. Most corporate IT is now off-premises for the first time, according to Uptime Institute, while the average rack power density has crested above 11 kW for the first time as server fleets are gradually replaced with more powerful hardware. Uptime’s Global Data Center Survey 2026 reveals how the industry is managing to adapt to challenging circumstances, with the usual evergreen concerns over rising costs plus staffing and skills shortages. The
  
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• The Amazon's lost civilisation: Hidden network of 20,000 structures reveals rainforest once teemed with MILLIONS of people

  30-07-2026 11:47 via dailymail.com
  
  The Amazon rainforest may look like one of the last truly wild places on Earth - but experts have discovered evidence of a sprawling lost civilisation hidden beneath its dense canopy.
  
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• Nike launches MASSAGING shoes that use heat and vibration to caress your feet - but they come with a hefty price tag

  30-07-2026 11:22 via dailymail.com
  
  If you always finish your runs with aching feet, Nike might have just created the perfect shoe for you.
  
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• 30 years ago, AT&T gave Internet Explorer the default advantage

  30-07-2026 11:15 via theregister.com
  
  It is 30 years since AT&T handed Microsoft a valuable foothold in the browser wars by making Internet Explorer 3 the default for its WorldNet service. Windows 95 was barely a year old when AT&T set out to challenge CompuServe and America Online with its WorldNet service in 1996. The telecommunications giant needed a browser. Netscape Navigator dominated the market, but Microsoft was keen to make up lost ground. A promotion and distribution agreement was announced on July 25, 1996, with a
  
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• Brighton gig screen goes One Step Beyond with an update pop-up

  30-07-2026 10:30 via theregister.com
  
  BORK!BORK!BORK! An update message made an unscheduled appearance on a big screen during July's On The Beach event in Brighton, England. Partially obscured by speakers capable of deafening those at the back of the audience, the pop-up still managed to compete with the performers for attention. Thanks to modern technology, something unexpected appearing behind the performer is now high on the list of worries for technicians tasked with making sure all goes well for popsters. In the old days, it mi
  
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• Headteacher had the most guessable username-password combo you could imagine

  30-07-2026 09:00 via theregister.com
  
  PWNED Welcome, once again, to PWNED, the weekly column where we show you how not to use your computer or your network. In this week’s fable of fecklessness, we talk about a teacher who had a lot to learn about security. Have a story about someone leaving a gaping hole in their network? Share it with us at [email protected]. Anonymity is available upon request. Our story comes courtesy of Kevin Walker, a seasoned IT veteran from the UK. At one point, he was providing his services to a school
  
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• Excuses like 'AI did it' don't exist in the eyes of the law

  30-07-2026 08:30 via theregister.com
  
  The OpenAI rogue agent behind the Hugging Face hack accessed four accounts on four services, according to updated company disclosures about the intrusion. One of those four accounts belonged to a Modal customer that had published an unauthenticated endpoint for running arbitrary code in a sandbox on the AI infrastructure provider, Hugging Face noted in its technical timeline and Modal later confirmed. “We’re aware a Modal customer published an unauthenticated endpoint that allowed an
  
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• Veeam adds support for six more hypervisors in case you are up for a new one

  30-07-2026 07:59 via theregister.com
  
  Data protection vendor Veeam has decided the time is right to support half a dozen more hypervisors in case you are thinking of adopting a new one. Hypervisor migrations are currently a distinct possibility for VMware user who relies on vSphere for basic server virtualization, as Broadcom now focuses on its Cloud Foundation private cloud suite. That product is powerful and comprehensive, but Broadcom requires buyers to license at least 72 cores, which may be rather more than many small shops ope
  
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• Curiosity rover spots field of giant honeycomb on Mars – but no giant space bees

  30-07-2026 05:38 via theregister.com
  
  NASA has shared new snaps captured by its Curiosity rover that show a large “field of honeycomb textures” on Mars. Here’s the best of the images Curiosity captured. It shows the honeycomb field, each element of which is four to eight centimeters across. NASA doesn’t know how the honeycomb formed, but The Register is willing to rule out space bees because Curiosity has seen this sort of thing before and scientists are pretty sure the patterns are the result of mud drying a
  
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• Police Are Deploying 60 MPH Flock Drones To Read Your License Plate From The Sky

  30-07-2026 04:56 via technocracy.news
  
  Oh, the thrill of it. Enter, Flock’s autonomous drone. Sixty miles per hour, continuous snaps of your license plate from 2,000 feet away, and everyone around you, to boot. Instantly integrated into Flock’s master database of 50 million other cars. Bonus card: Alpha streams thermal and high-definition video directly to dispatchers. Flock was founded with venture capital from Arch-Technocrat Marc Andreessen. ⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.If you thought Flock Safety’s Automated Lic
  
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• Qualcomm won’t be a big datacenter player anytime soon

  30-07-2026 04:43 via theregister.com
  
  Qualcomm has predicted its entry to the datacenter market will yield $15 billion of annual revenue by FY 2029 – huge growth, but also a modest number compared to its more established rivals. The chip design firm dangled the $15 billion figure on Wednesday along with its Q3 results, which included a warning that revenue from its business selling modems to Apple is about to crater. Execs told investors that supply chain constraints mean Qualcomm expects “an acceleration in the step dow
  
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• Cisco 'retires' its Azure Local offering rather than catch up to Microsoft’s changed hardware requirements

  30-07-2026 03:09 via theregister.com
  
  Cisco has decided to “retire” its Azure Local offering due to changes Microsoft made to the hardware and partnerships it supports for the on-prem hyperconverged cloud stack. The networking giant quietly announced the change in a July 24 end of life and end of sale notice that reveals Cisco will stop selling its Azure Local bundles in October. That notice states Cisco will not offer a direct replacement for the product, but “does encourage customers to evaluate alternative HCI s
  
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• Trump considering AI controls after OpenAI hacking incidents

  30-07-2026 02:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  It marks a change of tone for his administration, which has taken a more hands-off approach to the technology.
  
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• Microsoft's cloud brings rain of revenue but modest M365 AI revenue harvest

  30-07-2026 01:17 via theregister.com
  
  Microsoft on Wednesday reported $90 billion in revenue for the quarter ended June 30, an increase of 18 percent, lifting its stock more than 7 percent in after hours trading. The cash intake was more than Wall Street analysts anticipated, and showed up where it counted – the company's cloud business and AI services. Microsoft Cloud revenue reached $59.3 billion, up 27 percent year-over-year, and its Azure business revenue grew 43 percent. Meanwhile, Microsoft 365 Copilot's paid user base i
  
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