Phoronix reports on a presentation about trying FreeBSD on modern Framework laptop from last week’s Open Source Summit hosted by the Linux Foundation:With FreeBSD having worked on improving its laptop support over the past two years with some big changes and ongoing efforts for making a nice KDE desktop experience on FreeBSD, FreeBSD Foundation’s Executive Director has been trying to daily...
“Canonical says Ubuntu Pastebin will be decommissioned at the end of May 2026,” writes Slashdot reader BrianFagioli, “as part of an infrastructure modernization effort.”The announcement only appeared this week, giving the Linux community barely any warning before a service that has been tied to Ubuntu support culture for years suddenly disappears. Ubuntu Pastebin has long been used for sharing...
The Web Serial API lets websites write to (and read from) serial devices using JavaScript, including USB and Bluetooth devices with virtual serial ports. And this week’s Firefox 151 release introduced support for the Web Serial API on desktop. “Most folks won’t use this API,” acknowledges Mozilla’s blog, “but for our community of builders and tinkerers, it unlocks the ability to use Firefox to...
It’s “the first time in seven years that a new Star Wars film has launched on the big screen,” writes CNBC . And Variety notes it’s expected to earn $102 million through Monday.[B]ox office analysts are mixed on the results. On one hand, it’s significant for any film to debut above $100 million in post-pandemic times. On the other, “Star Wars” is one of Hollywood’s preeminent film properties,...
Apple just registered a new subdomain record: genai.apple.com. The domain was spotted by a MacRumors contributing researcher, and though it doesn’t yet lead to a live web page, they believe it’s tied to Apple’s annual developers conference WWDC which starts June 8, “where the company has promised to announce ‘AI advancements’ across its software platforms.” The blog 9to5Mac speculates that “All...
Last month saw a world first, reports Electrek. Wind and solar generated more power globally than gas:According to new analysis from independent energy think tank Ember, wind and solar produced 22% of the world’s electricity in April 2026, compared to 20% from gas. Together, the two renewable sources generated a record 531 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity during the month, 54 TWh more than...
Animals have tactics of their own to cope with the heat, but zoo animals also get a little help from their keepers
A hot bank holiday weekend might see humans flock to the beach, don summer hats and crack open a cold beer, but when it comes to keeping big cats cool, zoos turn to a rather different treat: blood lollies.
While experts note habitats within zoos are carefully tuned to their...
“For months, scammers have been taking advantage of a loophole that allows them to send spammy emails from an internal Microsoft email address typically used for sending legitimate account alerts,” TechCrunch reports:[The scammers] have been able to set up new Microsoft accounts as if they are new customers and use that access to send out emails purportedly from the tech giant, potentially...
Mission will put first astronaut in orbit for a year, a key step in Beijing’s plan to put people on the moon by 2030
China has launched its Shenzhou-23 mission in which an astronaut will spend a full year in orbit for the first time, a crucial step in Beijing’s ambition to send humans to the moon by 2030.
The Long March 2-F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan launch centre in north-western China...
La Brea Tar Pits – the only urban, active ice age excavation site in world – gets a mammoth face lift for the first time in nearly 50 years
Los Angeles is known for famous museum such as the Getty and the Lacma, but perhaps fewer people are aware that – in the heart of the city – lies a museum that contains one of the world’s most remarkable fossil sites.
The It’s FOSS blog has news about the Linux Vendor Firmware Service, which gives hardware vendors a secure portal to upload firmware updates “which can then be downloaded and installed by users through clients such as GNOME Software or fwupdmgr.” (Originally developed in 2015 by GNOME maintainer Richard Hughes…)The issue, however, obviously, had been funding with the largest contributors being...
Developers for several top videogames have joined unions under the Communication Workers of America — including Call of Duty, Fallout, Overwatch, Diablo and World of Warcraft. Last month workers on the online game Magic: The Gathering Arena team announced their own CWA union. The gaming news site Aftermath shares some interesting details:Owner Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast could have...
Technological interventions face huge financial or practical challenges, but there is another way
In 2019, my scientific research was nearly brought to an early end when my team and I published the bombastic statement that natural forest restoration was the “best climate change solution” available in a paper for the peer-reviewed journal Science.
Project Hail Mary, Jurassic Park: from dino-mosquitoes to a spaceship’s roar, pointless mistakes on the scientific details make me wince
On the advice of my teenage son, I recently went to the cinema to see Project Hail Mary. The film has science in it. I am a science writer and so he was convinced I would like it.
Imagine my surprise partway through, however, when I found myself seething so...
The government’s A.I. Security Institute, staffed by alumni from OpenAI and Google, is becoming a model for countries grappling with A.I.’s emerging risks.