Sci-Tech news

• IOActive exposes danger of seemingly friendly home-help robots. #IoT siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/rob…

  23-08-2017 19:40 via twitter.com
  IOActive exposes danger of seemingly friendly home-help robots. #IoT siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/rob…
  
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• Ancient Roman records offer fresh evidence Jesus was a real person

  19-06-2026 21:07 via dailymail.com
  
  Ancient records written nearly 2,000 years ago are being hailed as some of the strongest evidence yet that Jesus of Nazareth was a real person.
  
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• Seven iPhone models compromised by major security breach... is yours on the list?

  19-06-2026 19:12 via dailymail.com
  
  Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new security flaw affecting millions of iPhones. Experts warn the weakness could allow attackers to gain deep access to affected devices.
  
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• Child genius claims he was recruited into a secret program to mentally pilot UFOs

  19-06-2026 18:27 via dailymail.com
  
  A child genius has come forward with claims that he was removed from public school and secretly trained to develop psychic abilities for military and UFO-related applications.
  
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• Researchers drop checkm8-style BootROM exploit for A12 and A13 iPhones

  19-06-2026 18:02 via theregister.com
  
  A newly disclosed BootROM exploit affecting Apple's A12 and A13 chips gives researchers a way to break the secure boot chain on millions of iPhones and other Apple devices. The exploit, dubbed “usbliter8” by security researchers at Paradigm Shift, targets a flaw in the SecureROM code found on the iPhone XS, XR, 11, and 11 Pro models, plus other devices powered by Apple's A12 and A13 processors. Because the vulnerability resides in immutable BootROM code burned into silicon during man
  
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• Tensordyne makes a big bet on log math to beat Nvidia

  19-06-2026 17:30 via theregister.com
  
  AI infrastructure startup Tensordyne has taped out its first commercial accelerator, with fabrication on TSMC’s 3nm process already underway. Developed in collaboration with Juniper Networks and Broadcom, Tensordyne’s systems promise higher throughput and lower power consumption than GPUs. It claims to achieve this using an unorthodox approach to mathematics that uses logarithms — which you might recall from high school arithmetic — to make matrix multiplication heavy AI
  
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• 'I was taken from school and trained to fly UFOs with my mind,' claims child genius

  19-06-2026 17:22 via dailymail.com
  
  A child genius has come forward with claims that he was removed from public school and secretly trained to develop psychic abilities for military and UFO-related applications.
  
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• Bcachefs exits experimental status in new 'performance release'

  19-06-2026 16:47 via theregister.com
  
  bcachefs boss Kent Overstreet has announced version 1.38.6 of the Linux filesystem, dubbing it “the performance release” and declaring the project is no longer experimental. The new code is ostensibly a relatively modest point release, but is noteworthy as it’s only the second release this year that project leader Kent Overstreet has described on his Patreon blog. His latest post reveals he no longer considers the filesystem experimental. "Consider this the belated official ann
  
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• Biblical plague of cannibal crickets invades parts of the US sparking fears of end-times prophecy

  19-06-2026 16:25 via dailymail.com
  
  Swarms of Mormon crickets are invading parts of the US, prompting comparisons online to a biblical plague described in the Book of Revelation.
  
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• Waymo hits the brakes after robotaxis keep missing the signs for freeway construction zones

  19-06-2026 16:03 via theregister.com
  
  Waymo is recalling nearly 4,000 robotaxis after its vehicles repeatedly failed to recognize freeway construction zones, in some cases driving past closure signs or between cones marking closed lanes. A total of 3,871 vehicles equipped with Waymo’s fifth-generation Automated Driving System (ADS) are affected, and the interim workaround is to restrict freeway driving until a fix is available. Six events were logged in Phoenix, Arizona, in April, during which vehicles drove past ramp-closure
  
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• Telegram founder accuses Meta of sabotaging access in India with BGP hijacks

  19-06-2026 15:31 via theregister.com
  
  The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has suggested Meta might be using its investment in Indian telco Jio to sabotage the messaging service. Durov dropped his theory on X, writing: "Indian telecom Reliance is sabotaging access to Telegram for millions of users OUTSIDE India (including the UAE) via a rogue method called BGP hijacking." Such attacks see miscreants publish inaccurate routing announcements that associate a service with the wrong IP address. Because routers share info with each othe
  
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• Everything's bigger and better in Texas – even data breaches

  19-06-2026 15:01 via theregister.com
  
  The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) says 3 million Texans had their data stolen following a breach at one of its suppliers. People with state-issued hunting and fishing licenses are among those affected after attackers breached the vendor that handles license sales and copied customer data. Details of victims' driving license and passport numbers may be present in the leaked data. Basic personal information, such as email addresses, phone numbers, and residential addresses also leaked
  
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• Vercel debuts eve open source agent framework, tries to fix shadow AI with Passport

  19-06-2026 14:35 via theregister.com
  
  Vercel introduced an open source agent framework called eve at its Ship event in London this week, along with other new features including Passport, an attempt to put employee apps created with AI under enterprise control. Agents are dominating the AI conversation currently, and in particular custom agents. Agent frameworks that simplify coding already exist, though eve has a few notable characteristics. The coding languages are TypeScript and Markdown, and an agent is a directory with files tha
  
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• Millions told to stay indoors as lung-damaging toxins blanket two US states

  19-06-2026 14:19 via dailymail.com
  
  Millions are being told to stay indoors on Friday due to toxins filling the air in two US states. These toxins can damage the lungs and trigger breathing difficulties.
  
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• Do you prefer Messi or Ronaldo? Your answer can reveal your political views, scientists say

  19-06-2026 14:11 via dailymail.com
  
  They're arguably two of the greatest footballers of all time. But do you prefer Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? According to a new study, your answer can reveal your political views.
  
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• Microsoft's latest Windows bug belongs in the Recycle Bin

  19-06-2026 14:06 via theregister.com
  
  Microsoft's latest Windows update has introduced a cosmetic bug that exposes the Recycle Bin's internal file-naming scheme when users permanently delete a file. When permanently deleting a single item from the Recycle Bin, Windows now displays its internal name – such as $Rxxxxx.ext – in the confirmation dialog rather than the file's original name. The name is correct in the Recycle Bin itself and also correct if restored. It's only in the deletion confirmation dialog that Windows ex
  
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• Britain's privacy watchdog quits after 'poor judgment' admission

  19-06-2026 13:14 via theregister.com
  
  John Edwards has resigned as Britain's information commissioner, saying his position had become "untenable" following an investigation into conduct he admits caused offense. Edwards announced his departure in a statement posted to LinkedIn on Friday, bringing an abrupt end to a saga that has engulfed the UK's data protection watchdog for months. Edwards said he had informed technology minister Ian Murray of his resignation from the roles of Information Commissioner and chair of the Information C
  
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• Rights groups brand Home Office's AI age guesser for asylum-seekers as biased and inaccurate

  19-06-2026 13:02 via theregister.com
  
  More than 60 rights groups have told the UK government to scrap plans to use AI-powered facial age estimation on asylum-seeking children, warning the technology is biased, inaccurate, and potentially unlawful. In an open letter sent to border security and asylum minister Alex Norris, 62 organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Liberty, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Foxglove, and the Open Rights Group, called on the Home Office to halt deployment of facial age est
  
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• Humanoid robot is spotted BEGGING on a street in China - claiming it has 'no money to recharge'

  19-06-2026 12:55 via dailymail.com
  
  A humanoid robot was spotted begging for money on a street corner in China's Sichuan province last week.
  
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• Why is it so hot in the UK? Scientists blame an expanding plume of warm air from Europe for the latest heatwave - as forecasters predict highs of 34°C

  19-06-2026 12:49 via dailymail.com
  
  The UK is in the middle of yet another heatwave, with parts of the country expected to hit 34°C. So, what's behind this intense heat? According to the Met Office, the UK is caught between two air masses.
  
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• Geopolitical jitters push Europe's internet registry away from cloud-first strategy

  19-06-2026 12:24 via theregister.com
  
  Europe's internet registry is abandoning its cloud migration plans over geopolitical risk, but reversing course now means rebuilding the resilient, secure infrastructure it needs. The RIPE Network Coordination Centre - which oversees the regional internet registry (RIR) for Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia - had, like many organizations, adopted a "cloud-first" strategy that involved moving move core services and databases to cloud providers. But, as with many European organizations, t
  
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• Devs in the trenches are stressed from the mandate to automate everything, but Render thinks it can help

  19-06-2026 12:15 via theregister.com
  
  On Thursday during a developer event held at San Francisco's St. Regis Hotel, the marketing stack failed. Literally. During an AI agent workflow demo on the fourth floor balcony, the wind toppled a tower of three cardboard promotional display cubes. One of these – maybe three or four feet per side – fell over the edge of the balcony and plummeted onto Minna Street below. Concerned staff rushed to the edge of the parapet and peered over. Evidently satisfied that no one had been injure
  
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• Inside the plan to create Earth's 'Black Box': Indestructible device in remote Tasmanian airfield will record every step humanity takes towards the apocalypse

  19-06-2026 11:14 via dailymail.com
  
  A bizarre structure dubbed 'Earth's Black Box' will be built in a remote Tasmanian airfield as a silent witness to humanity's destruction.
  
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• Is your garden heatwave ready? Here are the nine hot weather essentials all middle class gardens need

  19-06-2026 11:13 via dailymail.com
  
  A few years ago, a decent barbecue and somewhere to sit would have done the job.
  
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• Behind the scenes of 'Project Sunrise', the historic flight coming to the UK next year - 20 hours non-stop from Sydney

  19-06-2026 11:12 via dailymail.com
  
  No stopovers, no airport transfers and up to four hours saved: here's what travellers can expect from the direct London-Sydney flights launching in 2027.
  
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• Sick of your neighbours celebrating goals before you? How to watch the World Cup with NO delay - and why you should avoid streaming on iPlayer or ITVX

  19-06-2026 11:07 via dailymail.com
  
  Ofcom has released a handy guide to watching the football with as little delay as possible.
  
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• Rockstar Games faces full hearing over alleged union busting

  19-06-2026 11:04 via theregister.com
  
  Rockstar Games has suffered a legal setback in a dispute over alleged union busting, clearing the way for a final employment tribunal hearing shortly before Grand Theft Auto VI is due to launch. The developer had sought to have "blacklisting" allegations struck from the case. The employment tribunal rejected the request, and the final hearing is scheduled to run from September 10 to October 15. According to the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which brought the case, blacklist
  
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• Use of HMRC's taxing IR35 status tool drops 71% in two years

  19-06-2026 10:00 via theregister.com
  
  Use of HMRC's own tool for checking compliance with the UK's controversial IR35 freelancer tax rules has fallen sharply, according to Freedom of Information data obtained by tax adviser IR35 Shield. The Check Employment Status for Tax tool, better known as CEST, was created to help firms decide whether contractors should be taxed like employees. But usage fell 43 percent during the 2025-26 tax year, and dropped 71 percent between 2023-24 and 2024-25, from 458,894 determinations to 135,178. The f
  
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• Nutanix's Tech Day London 2026 offers infrastructure insights

  19-06-2026 10:00 via theregister.com
  
  Your hybrid estate has grown more complicated since the last refresh cycle. Some workloads run in the public cloud, others never left the rack, and a few sit stuck in transition because nobody wants to be the person who broke the database. Add AI to the pile and the platform questions only get harder. Nutanix Tech Day is a half-day event designed to help the people who have to deal with increasingly complex infrastructure. Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2026 Time: 12pm to 6pm BST Place: Prospero Hous
  
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• Users claimed they’d never seen a spell checker and panicked at the sight of red squiggles

  19-06-2026 08:28 via theregister.com
  
  ON CALL Welcome to another edition of On Call, The Register’s reader-contributed Friday column in which you share your stories of troublesome tech support incidents. This week, meet a reader we’ll Regomize as “Cooper” who told us that his employer uses an MS Word document to record incoming orders. “It includes a table with two columns: the left column contains a description of the data to be entered in the right column - things like product, SKU, quantity, customer
  
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