How China fell for a lobster: What an AI assistant tells us about Beijing’s ambition
The AI agent sparked a frenzy of “raising lobsters” in March, with users training the tool to suit their needs.
Science/Tech
Will ‘AI-Assisted’ Journalists Bring Errors and Retractions?
Meet the “journalist” who “uploads press releases or analyst notes into AI tools and prompts them to spit out articles that he can edit and publish quickly,” according to the Wall Street Journal. “AI-assisted stories accounted for nearly 20% of Fortune’s web traffic in the second half of 2025.” And most were written by 42-year-old Nick Lichtenberg, who has now written over 600 AI-assisted...
Crooks Behind $27M in ‘Refund’ Scams Busted By YouTube Pranksters After Being Lured to Fake Funeral
One crime ring scammed 2,000 elderly people of more than $27 million between 2021 and 2023 using tech support/bank impersonation/refund scams. “Victims were in their 70s and 80s,” reports the U.S. Attorney’s office for California’s southern district. Victims were first told they’d received a refund (either online or via phone), but then told they’d been “over-refunded” a massive amount, and...
Apple Brings Device-Level Age Verification to Two More Countries
11 days ago Apple launched device-level age restrictions in the U.K. There were some glitches, reports the blog 9to5Mac.For me, the experience was an entirely painless one, taking less than 30 seconds. All I had to do was tap a confirm and continue button, and Apple told me that the length of time I’d had an Apple account was used to confirm that I’m 18+. Others, however, experienced...
Chance of alien life ‘goes to heart’ of space missions, Nasa chief says
Jared Isaacman says odds of evidence we are not alone are ‘pretty high’ four days after Artemis II rocket lifted off
Nasa’s Orion spaceship four days into Artemis II mission: in pictures
The top official at Nasa says that the chance of alien existence is a factor in how the US space agency plans its missions.
Speaking on Sunday, Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman told CNN’s Meet the Press that...
Chrome 148 Will Start ‘Lazy Loading’ Video and Audio to Improve Performance
“Google has announced that it’s currently testing a new feature for Chrome 148 that could speed up day-to-day browsing,” reports PC World:[T]he browser can intelligently postpone the loading of certain elements. Why load all images at the start when it can instead load images as you get close to them while scrolling? Chrome and Chromium-based browsers have had built-in lazy loading support for...
Scientists Engineered a Plant To Produce 5 Different Psychedelics At Once
Plants, toads, and mushrooms “can all produce psychedelic substances,” writes ScienceAlert. “And now their powers have been combined in one plant.”[S]cientists have taken the genes these organisms use to make five natural psychedelics and introduced them into a tobacco plant ( Nicotiana benthamiana), which then produced all five compounds simultaneously. As interest grows in psychedelics as...
Artemis II astronauts expected to reach far side of moon on Monday
Nasa team get deeper into space than any humans have ever ventured
Astronauts on the historic Artemis II mission are expected to reach the far side of the moon on Monday, venturing deeper into space than any humans before them.
Nasa has reported satisfaction with progress toward the lunar fly-round since the team’s launch on Wednesday, with the three Americans and one Canadian on course to...
Nasa’s Orion spaceship four days into Artemis II mission: in pictures
Artemis II, Nasa’s first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years, is a key step toward a long‑term return to the moon and future crewed missions to Mars
Continue reading…
Best Apple Watch Bands of 2026: Nike, Hermés, and More
We’ve actually been testing bands since the first Apple Watch launched in 2015. From silicone sports straps to leather bands, I’ve rounded up the best for every occasion.
Satellite mirror plans could disrupt sleep and ecosystems worldwide, scientists say
Letters to US agency raise concerns over tech firms’ plans to use reflective satellites and expand numbers in low Earth orbit
Proposals to deploy reflective mirrors and up to 1m more satellites in low Earth orbit could have far-reaching consequences for human health and ecosystems, leading sleep and circadian rhythm researchers have said.
Presidents of four international scientific societies...
Does Ubuntu Now Require More RAM Than Windows 11?
“Canonical is no longer pretending that 4GB is enough,” writes the blog How-to-Geek, noting Ubuntu 26.04 LTS “raises the baseline memory to 6GB, alongside a 2GHz dual-core processor, and 25GB of storage…”Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) set the floor at 1GB — a modest ask when it launched more than a decade ago in 2014. Then came the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) that pushed the number to...
Heatbit Maxi Pro Review: a Space Heater That Also Mines Bitcoin
Electricity rates have gotten so atrocious that this Heatbit wants to offset your costs with bitcoin mining. But the math doesn’t add up.
How agentic AI is reshaping banking in South Africa
Agentic AI is already reshaping South African banking, writes Absa Business Banking CIO Lindelani Ramukumba.
3 Best Robot Lawn Mowers (2026), Tested and Reviewed
These smart mowers are expensive alternatives to some good old-fashioned yard work, but they’re finally good enough to consider if you’d rather sip an iced tea and watch the robot go by.
With One Million Displaced, Lebanon Turns to Digital Wallets for Aid
Amid mass displacement and collapsing trust in institutions, digital wallets are becoming critical conduits for aid, connecting diaspora donors directly with communities on the ground.
Sony’s PS5 Price Hikes Prove This Console Generation Is Far From Over. Good.
The current console generation may last longer than anyone expects.
The Hack That Exposed Syria’s Sweeping Security Failures
When Syrian government accounts were hijacked in March, the breach looked chaotic. But it revealed something more troubling: a state struggling with the most basic layer of cybersecurity.
Apple’s First 50 Years Celebrated – Including How Steve Jobs Finally Accepted an ‘Open’ App Store
Apple’s 50th anniversary got celebrated in weird and wild ways. CEO Tim Cook posted a special 30-second video rewinding backwards through the years of Apple’s products until it reaches the Apple I. Podcaster Lex Fridman noticed if you play the sound in reverse, “It’s the Think Different ad music, pitched up.” TechRadar played seven 50-year-old Apple I games on an emulator, including Star Trek,...
SA’s AI policy moves to comment phase
Cabinet has approved a draft AI policy for public comment, but full implementation is only expected in 2027/28.
South Africa’s 5G boom is bypassing rural areas: Icasa
South Africa’s 5G coverage has surged to 58% nationally but rural areas are being left far behind, Icasa data shows.