July 2026

Update: Romania keeps one nuclear power reactor online despite low Danube levels

#romania #energy

55 Percent of Leaders Regret AI Layoffs—and a Major Hiring Reversal Has Begun

A wave of corporate regret and flawed tech rollouts is forcing Ford, IBM, and others to quietly bring back the human talent they cut.

#generative ai #work

A Canadian lab just ran a chemical process on real spent nuclear fuel and pulled out 90% of the long-lived danger in 24 hours, the part that forces a burial site to last 100,000 years, with the leftovers meant to fuel a reactor

#canada #energy

EU Parliament greenlights Chat Control 1.0 – Breyer: “Our children lose out”

#europe #privacy #law

99% of people on Earth will get sunlight at the same time this Wednesday

On July 8, at about 11:10 GMT, about 99 percent of the world experiences sunlight at the same time.

#cool #nature

The biological dogma that women don’t make new eggs after birth may be wrong

Female mammals have long thought to be born with all the eggs they would ever have, but new research is challenging that consensus

#gender #health

Google’s exponential path to climate-wrecking digital bloat

Are you getting a deadly heatwave’s worth of use, out of PDF summaries and AI overviews?

#big tech #climate

For the First Time, a Cell Built From Scratch Grows and Divides

Scientists built a synthetic cell that combines more lifelike properties than ever before — proof of concept that it’s possible to bring nonliving materials to life, or something close to it, in the lab.

#nature #science

June 2026

Soatok’s Informal Guide to Threat Models

#computers #security

The problem with treating science like a startup

Few New Zealanders spend much time thinking about volcanic monitoring but when a volcano erupts, we expect expertise to exist immediately.

#science #education

Sask. veterinarian recruits chatty sheep to be blind llama's bestie

Maple and Peeps are an unlikely dynamic duo

#animals #canada

European digital ID wallets are a gift to Google and Apple

European governments are rolling out digital identity wallets, which are to be used by citizens to access services, and to verify their age online. As reported by Follow the Money and Android Authority, there is a serious problem with this: these wallets rely on safety services of Google and Apple. These are known as Google Play Integrity API, and Apple’s Managed Device Attestation1. Such safety services (known as “remote attestation”) are used to ensure that wallet apps run on hardware that is not tampered with. In this article we explain why the EU-wallet case is part of a bigger problem: by embedding these safety services in public infrastructure, Europe risks making society dependent on private companies while serving their corporate interests.

#europe #big tech #law

AI Economics for Dummies

#generative ai #humor

Facebook is paying people overseas promoting Alberta separatism

CBC uncovers 14 accounts from India, Pakistan, Indonesia posting on popular Alberta separatist groups

#canada #social media #politics

IA : il faudra l'eau et l'électricité de 1,3 milliard de personnes pour répondre à vos prompts d'ici 2030

Un rapport de l'Université des Nations unies chiffre pour la première fois l'empreinte carbone, hydrique et foncière de l'intelligence artificielle. Les chiffres donnent le vertige : 945 TWh d'électricité projetés en 2030, 9 300 milliards de litres d'eau, 14 500 km² de terres. Et chaque prompt que vous envoyez y contribue.

#generative ai #energy

Trees and greenery can cool cities by as much as 18°C – but only if they’re the right type

#cities #nature

May 2026

Romania condemns 'irresponsible escalation' after Russian drone hits apartment building

A drone struck a residential building in Romania’s city of Galati near the Ukrainian border, injuring two people and triggering a fire after impact, authorities said on Friday. The incident, which prompted the evacuation of dozens of residents, comes amid continued drone activity in the region linked to the war in Ukraine. Bucharest condemned the strike as an 'irresponsible escalation' by Moscow.

#romania #war

Monde. Les énormes pipelines de données qui alimentent les principaux systèmes d’IA générative reposent intrinsèquement sur des intrusions massives dans la vie privée

(World: The enormous data pipelines fueling the major generative AI systems intrinsically rely on massive intrusions into private life)

#generative ai #law

In the 'biggest book giveaway in history' WWII soldiers received pocket-sized reads

#books #war

4,000-year-old Mohenjo-daro study finds ancient city grew more equal over time

#antiquity #cities

Of Course They Booed

#generative ai #education

AI Rage Is Inextricably Fused With Justified Loathing Of The Extraction Class. 'Deal With It'

Commencement AI booing reflects growing class revolt now tightly tethered to AI -- whether the technology's biggest proponents like it or not.

#generative ai #education

The class of 2026 has heard enough about AI, thanks

From campus ceremonies to Linux communities and academic journals, resistance to LLM evangelism is getting louder

#generative ai #education

Concrete towers on the seabed scupper Cambodia's illegal trawling

Marine Conservation Cambodia has reached a 25% milestone in deploying seabed structures that deter illegal trawling and rebuild fish stocks - with early monitoring recording six times more fish at protected sites than control areas.

#asia #environment

Papers, please: Age verification laws threaten everyone's online security and privacy

Laws that require adults to upload their driver's licenses or passports to access apps, websites, and VPNs will make the entire web less safe.

#privacy #disaster