TUESDAY, 20 JANUARY 2026, 10:24
Netflix has begun asking filmmakers to adjust their storytelling approach to account for viewers who are scrolling through their phones while watching, according to Matt Damon. The traditional action movie formula involves three major set pieces distributed across the first, second, and third acts. Netflix now wants a large action sequence in the opening five minutes to hook viewers. The...
The answers to today’s puzzles
Earlier today, I set you these three geometrical puzzles. Here they are again with solutions.
1. Bonnie Tiler
Continue reading…
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, backed Nate Morris, a Republican businessman, in the primary race to succeed Senator Mitch McConnell in Kentucky.
Study suggests being optimistic produces more antibodies, hinting at future healthcare potential of mental techniques
Being optimistic may boost the immune system according to research that points to a connection between the mind and our body’s natural defences.
Scientists have found people who used positive thinking to boost activity in the brain’s reward system responded better to...
Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in different ways – something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees
Scientists have been forced to rethink the intelligence of cattle after an Austrian cow named Veronika displayed an impressive – and until now undocumented – knack for tool use.
Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker from a small town in Carinthia near the Italian...
BrianFagioli writes: The New York Stock Exchange, owned by Intercontinental Exchange, is developing a platform for trading tokenized versions of U.S. listed stocks and ETFs around the clock, pending regulatory approval. The system would combine the NYSE’s existing matching engine with blockchain-based settlement, enabling 24×7 trading, instant settlement, and fractional share purchases priced...
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa wants to enforce stricter pricing rules on Sentech.
Philip Green co-founded The Internet Solution in 1993 with two friends from university, pioneering an industry in South Africa.
The “surprisingly resilient” global economy is at risk of being disrupted by a sharp reversal in the AI boom, the IMF warned on Monday, as world leaders prepared for talks in the Swiss resort of Davos. From a report: Risks to global economic expansion were “tilted to the downside,” the fund said in an update to its World Economic Outlook, arguing that growth was reliant on a narrow range of...
Sansa has warned that a powerful solar eruption could trigger severe geomagnetic storm conditions.
China’s birth rate fell to 5.6 per 1,000 people in 2025, the lowest figure since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, and the country’s total population contracted by 3.39 million, the sharpest decline since the Mao Zedong era. The drop marks the fourth straight year of population decline and comes despite government efforts to encourage childbearing, including subsidies of about $500...
The South African National Space Agency says the country could see a geomagnetic storm reaching G4/Severe conditions in the next 24 hours.
The Supreme Court of Appeal has blocked a move by the South African National Roads Agency that could have led to increased forecourt, diesel, and charging prices along highways.
High mobile internet use may be masking a fibre broadband shortfall that is limiting South Africa’s economic growth.
Communications minister Solly Malatsi has provided an update on the analogue switch-off, which is over 14 years past its initial deadline.
Can you still buy a DJI drone in the US? (Yes.) Will you be able to buy future drones? (Maybe.) Here are the current DJI dos and don’ts.
The Telkom Foundation and the Gauteng Department of Education have framed their partnership around academic outcomes and the skills pipeline required for South Africa’s future digital economy.
Organisations achieve ROI by embedding governance, explainability and trusted frameworks early on, says SAS.
Slashdot reader hackingbear summarizes this report from Bloomberg: China consumed totally 10.4 trillion kilowatt hours (10.4 petaWh) in 2025 according to data from the National Energy Administration. That’s the highest annual electricity use ever recorded by a single country, and doubled the amount used by the US and surpassed the combined annual total of the EU, Russia, India and Japan. The...
The world’s largest fully-electric and plug-in hybrid carmaker has not shared any details about its sales in South Africa since launching locally in mid-2023.
Defence priorities, AI and a possible SpaceX IPO are fuelling renewed global investment in space technology.