In October cryptologist/CS professor Daniel J. Bernstein alleged that America’s National SecurityAgency (and its UK counterpart GCHQ) were attempting to influence NIST to adopt weaker post-quantum cryptographystandards without a “hybrid” approach that would’ve also included pre-quantum ECC. Bernstein is of the opinion that “Given howmany post-quantum proposals have been broken and the...
“Three years ago, Google removed JPEG XL support from Chrome, stating there wasn’t enough interest at the time,” writes the blog Windows Report. “That position has now changed.”In a recent note to developers, a Chrome team representative confirmed that work has restarted to bring JPEG XL to Chromium and said Google “would ship it in Chrome” once long-term maintenance and the usual launch...
The prehistoric birch tar found in Estonia contained traces of saliva that were analysed by genetics experts
A piece of stone age “gum” chewed by a teenage girl 10,500 years ago has been discovered by archaeologists in Estonia.
The Institute of History and Archaeology at the University of Tartu discovered that the prehistoric birch tar had impressions of teeth marks and traces of saliva.
“Fresh from announcing it is building an AI browsing mode in Firefox and laying the groundwork for agentic interactions in the Firefox 145 release, the corp arm of Mozilla is now flexing its AI muscles in the direction of those more likely to care,” writes the blog OMG Ubuntu:If you’re a developer building AI agents, you can sign up to get early access to Mozilla’s TABS API, a “powerful web...
Long-time Slashdot reader jenningsthecat shared this article from IEEE Spectrum:By dropping a nuclear reactor 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) underground, Deep Fission aims to use the weight of a billion tons of rock and water as a natural containment system comparable to concrete domes and cooling towers. With the fission reaction occurring far below the surface, steam can safely circulate in a closed...
With some animated graphics, CNN “reimagined” what three of America’s busiest air and road travel routes would look like with high-speed trains, for “a glimpse into a faster, more connected future.”The journey from New York City to Chicago could take just over six hours by high-speed train at an average speed of 160 mph, cutting travel time by more than 13 hours compared with the current Amtrak...
New technologies can reduce our reliance on animal experiments. This isn’t just morally right, it could have scientific and economic benefits too
Science is a slaughterhouse. We rarely acknowledge the degree to which animal life underwrites the research that provides us with medicines, or the regulation that keeps us safe. Live animals were used in 2.64m officially sanctioned scientific...
“Security, development, and AI now move as one,” says Microsoft’s director of cloud/AI securityproduct marketing. Microsoft and GitHub “have launched a native integration between Microsoft Defender for Cloud and GitHub Advanced Security that aims to address what one executive calls decades of accumulated security debt in enterprise codebases…” according to The New Stack:The integration,...
Walmart opened its first store in South Africa on Saturday, marking the US retail giant’s debut on the African continent as it seeks a stake in a competitive market. More than 100 shoppers queued for hours outside the store to take advantage of Walmart’s “Everyday Low Prices” and shop international products that are not easily […]
“On the slopes of an Oregon volcano, engineers are building the hottest geothermal power plant on Earth,” reports the Washington Post:The plant will tap into the infernal energy of Newberry Volcano, “one of the largest and most hazardous active volcanoes in the United States,” according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It has already reached temperatures of 629 degrees Fahrenheit, making it one...
South Africa’s mobile data prices have declined by more than 99% since 2000, thanks to substantial network investments, more radiofrequency spectrum for cellular use, and increased competition.
Choosing a Chromebook that isn’t terrible can feel like dodging bullets. We’ve tested all of the latest models and can point you in the right direction.
“The internet did transform work — but not the way 1998 thought…” argues the Wall Street Journal. “The internet slipped inside almost every job and rewired how work got done.” So while the number of single-task jobs like travel agent dropped, most jobs “are bundles of judgment, coordination and hands-on work,” and instead the internet brought “the quiet transformation of nearly every job in...
Investing in a great surround sound system is the best way to get the movie theater experience at home. Here’s everything you need to know to get started.