WEDNESDAY, 29 APRIL 2026, 01:39
Research offers insights into domestication of dogs but it remains unclear why they ended up with smaller brains than wolves
It has long been known that dogs have less between their ears than wolves, but now research has suggested their brains started to get smaller at least 5,000 years ago.
Experts say the results offer fresh insights into the domestication of our canine companions. However,...
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: University of Oregon chemist Christopher Hendon loves his coffee — so much so that studying all the factors that go into creating the perfect cuppa constitutes a significant area of research for him. His latest project: discovering a novel means of measuring the flavor profile of coffee simply by sending an electrical current through a...
Apple’s Vision Pro has been used in what’s described as the world’s first cataract surgery performed with the headset. MacRumors reports: [New York opthalmologist] Dr. Eric Rosenberg of SightMD completed the initial procedure in October 2025 and has since performed hundreds of additional cases using ScopeXR, a surgical platform he co-developed for Apple’s mixed reality device. ScopeXR streams...
In the trial’s first day of testimony, Elon Musk said greed led co-founder Sam Altman to pull the A.I. lab away from its nonprofit roots. OpenAI says that’s nonsense.
The judge also warned Musk and Sam Altman to curb their “propensity to use social media to make things worse outside the courtroom” after both sides traded attacks online.
Sony is reportedly rolling out a 30-day online check-in requirement for some digital PS4 and PS5 games, meaning players could temporarily lose access if their console does not reconnect to renew the license. Tom’s Hardware reports: In the info page of an affected game, you’d see a new validity period and a “remaining time” deadline. At first, this seemed like a software bug, but now PlayStation...
Tinder and Hinge parent company Match Group invested $100 million into the queer cruising app Sniffies. The move has left users feeling uneasy about what happens next.
Apple is adding a new App Store subscription option that lets developers offer lower monthly prices in exchange for a 12-month commitment. “This model will allow developers to offer discounted rates to customers in exchange for more predictable long-term revenue,” reports TechCrunch. “This also caters to how many developers have already been marketing their annual subscriptions in their apps.”...
The court’s decision could have broader implications for lawsuits seeking to hold companies liable for international human rights abuses.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: For its famous intractability, the Bloomberg Terminal has long inspired devotion, bordering on obsession. Among traders, the ability to chart a path through the software’s dizzying scrolls of numbers and text to isolate far-flung information is the mark of a seasoned professional. But as a greater mass of data is fed into the Terminal — not only...
More than 700 people working for a Meta contractor in Ireland are at risk of losing their jobs, documents show.
Google has reportedly signed a classified agreement allowing the Pentagon to use its AI models for “any lawful government purpose.” While the deal is said to discourage domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weapons without human oversight, it apparently does not give Google the power to block how the government actually uses its models. The Verge reports: The agreement was reported less...
ARIA has a billion-dollar budget and big aspirations for tackling everything from epilepsy to Alzheimer’s.
The war in Iran has drawn attention to arrests in the United Arab Emirates over online content, but the legal framework behind that enforcement has existed for years.
fjo3 writes: The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday that it would exit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (source paywalled; alternative source), or OPEC, along with the wider group of partners known as OPEC+, effective May 1, in what could be a blow to control over prices by the group, long led in practice by Saudi Arabia. The move “reflects the UAE’s long-term strategic...
Uncertainty is still hanging over the broader crypto market, but this week, two familiar names are finding their footing again. The Stellar price is stabilizing around $0.17, with buyers defending the $0.16 floor as the market waits for a breakout above $0.20. Meanwhile, the Zcash price is riding a fresh tailwind after its Robinhood listing, […]
Readers respond to an article by Daniel Lavelle about his alien chasing expedition in the US
Daniel Lavelle went “alien-chasing” in the US and wrote a book about it. The late Nick Pope called it a “hugely entertaining, gonzo-style examination of UFOs, ufology and ufologists”. In his Guardian article (The Pentagon released its UFO videos – so I went to the US to chase aliens. This is...