Every second, 11m bits of information enter our brains, which then efficiently prioritise them. We need to learn to work with the process, rather than against it
It’s believed that we have about 50,000 thoughts a day: big, small, urgent, banal – “Did I leave the oven on?”. And those are just the ones that register. Subconsciously, we’re constantly sifting through a barrage of...
The EU “has switched on parts of its homegrown secure satellite communications network for the first time,” reports Bloomberg, calling it part of a €10.6 billion push to “wean itself off US support amid growing tensions.” SpaceNews notes the new government program GOVSATCOM pools capacity from eight already on-oribit satellites from France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Luxembourg — both...
“Most Go developers are now using AI-powered development tools when seeking information (e.g., learning how to use a module) or toiling (e.g., writing repetitive blocks of similar code).” That’s one of the conclusions Google’s Go team drew from September’s big survey of 5,379 Go developers. But the survey also found that among Go developers using AI-powered tools, “their satisfaction with these...
Talks “are at a standstill” for Anthropic’s potential $200 million contract with America’s Defense Department, reports Reuters (citing several people familiar with the discussions.”) The two issues? – Using AI to surveil Americans- Safeguards against deploying AI autonomously The company’s position on how its AI tools can be used has intensified disagreements between it and the Trump...
The Wall Street Journal says that Meta “might be reaping some of the richest benefits from the AI boom so far.”Meta’s revenue grew 22% year over year in 2025 to $201 billion, and the company expects even bigger gains in the current quarter, potentially as high as 34%. That is huge growth for a company that brought in nearly $60 billion in the latest three-month period. And Zuckerberg signaled...
October saw Bitcoin reach $123,742. But less than four months later, “The world’s largest cryptocurrency slipped below $76,000…” Bloomberg reports, “dropping about 40% from its 2025 peak…” “What began as a sharp crash in October has morphed into something more corrosive: a selloff shaped not by panic, but by absence of buyers, momentum and belief.”Unlike the October drawdown, there’s been no...
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, will be adding spaces for electric vehicle charging to parking lots in 19 different states, reports MLive:The move follows up on a plan announced in 2023 to build a network of charging stations at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores throughout the U.S… “With a store or club located within 10 miles of approximately 90% of Americans, we are uniquely positioned to...
Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland writes: Just months after his 20th birthday, Bill Gates had already angered the programmer community,” remembers this 50th-anniversary commemoration of Gates’ Open Letter to Hobbyists. “As the first home computers began appearing in the 1970s, the world faced a question: Would its software be free?” Gates railed in 1976 that “Most of you steal your...
Vineyard Wind (powering Massachusetts) is one of five offshore wind projects “that the Trump administration tried to hold up in December,” reports The Hill. This week it became the fourth of those wind projects allowed by a judge to resume construction, the article notes, while even the fifth project “is still awaiting court proceedings.”Federal Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee, issued a...
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan “have created the world’s smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots,” according to a recent announcement. The announcement calls them “microscopic swimming machines that can independently sense and respond to their surroundings, operate for months and cost just a penny each.” Barely visible to the naked eye, each...
We are living longer and longer, but many of us are unprepared for the challenges age brings, says the novelist and psychotherapist Frank Tallis
We have never lived so long, so well, nor had more available advice on how to do so: don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t eat ultraprocessed foods; lift weights, get outside, learn a language. Cosmetics – or surgery – have never been so available,...
“A box full of viruses and bacteria has completed its return trip to the International Space Station,” reports ScienceAlert, “and the changes these ‘bugs’ experienced in their travels could help us Earthlings tackle drug-resistant infections…”Scientists aboard the space station incubated different combinations of bacteria and phages for 25 days, while the research team led by biochemist Vatsan...
Recreating cosmic dust may help answer questions about how meteorites hitting Earth came to contain the organic matter that they do
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How does one acquire star dust? One option, as the Perry Como song suggests, is to catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, so to speak: thousands of tonnes of cosmic dust bombard the Earth each...
This year in America, renewables and battery storage “will account for 99.2% of net new capacity — and even higher if small-scale solar were included,” reports Electrek, citing EIA data reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign:EIA’s latest monthly “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through November 30, 2025), once again confirms that solar is the fastest-growing among the major sources of US...
This year in America, renewables and battery storage “will account for 99.2% of net new capacity — and even higher if small-scale solar were included,” reports Electrek, citing EIA data reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign:EIA’s latest monthly “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through November 30, 2025), once again confirms that solar is the fastest-growing among the major sources of US...
I tested 10 popular date-night boxes with people I met on Hinge. From writing love notes to trying out sex swings, these kits fulfilled their promise to keep dates interesting.
