JoeMerchant writes:Physicists have developed a "physics shortcut" that allows ordinary laptops to solve complex quantum dynamics problems, a feat previously reserved for supercomputers and AI models (Live Science). The breakthrough, from the University at Buffalo, is an extension of a decades-old method called the truncated Wigner approximation (TWA).TWA is a semiclassical approach that simplifies quantum math by retaining necessary quantum behavior while discarding less critical details. Historically, applying TWA required re-deriving complicated math for every new problem, making it inaccessible. The team transformed this into a user-friendly "conversion table" that translates a quantum problem into solvable equations, allowing physicists to get usable results on a consumer laptop within hours (University at Buffalo).This new, practical approach significantly lowers the computational cost and makes exploring certain quantum phenomena much easier. It's hoped that this will save supercomputing resources for the truly intractable quantum systems, while allowing more common quantum dynamics to be studied efficiently on accessible consumer-grade computers (ScienceDaily).Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
FunkyLich writes:A Debian developer gave out the news. Julian Andres Klode wrote in the mailing lists that APT (the package manager tool of Debian Linux) begin requiring a Rust compiler. It goes like:"I plan to introduce hard Rust dependencies and Rust code into APT, no earlier than May 2026. This extends at first to the Rust compiler and standard library, and the Sequoia ecosystem.
An Anonymous Coward writes:The Linux phone features 12GB RAM, up to 2TB storage, a 6.36-inch FullHD AMOLED display, and a user-replaceable 5,500mAh battery:
SomeGuy writes:In 1983, before the release of Microsoft Windows, Digital Research GEM, or Apple Macintosh, the office software giant VisiCorp released a graphical multitasking operating system for the IBM PC called Visi On.It was an "open system", so anyone could make programs for it. Well, if they owned an expensive VAX computer and were prepared to shell out $7,000 on the Software Development Kit.42 years later, although the mainframe based development environment has been lost to time, enthusiast Nina Kalinina has pulled apart Visi Corp Visi On to reveal some of the strange and curious internals.https://git.sr.ht/~nkali/vision-sdk/tree/main/note/index.mdIn this article, they document some of the internals, clear up some marketing misconceptions, discover some interesting Visi On quirks, and even provide a new application for it.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
canopic jug writes:Hacker Dave Cross has written a short blog post about how Perl's early success created the seeds of its downfall or, as he puts it, made it a victim of the Dotcom Survivor Syndrome. From the 90s through the 00s, Perl had been not just part of the WWW but in many ways instrumental in actually creating the WWW as we knew it in its prime. Perl and the community around it have improved a lot in the last 25 years, even if the versioning might disguise that fact.
canopic jug writes:A blog post covers why datacenters in space are a terrible, horrible, no good idea. Thermal management is just the beginning of the long list of challenges which make space an inferior environment for data centers.
janrinok writes:An accidental leak revealed that Flock, which has cameras in thousands of US communities, is using workers in the Philippines to review and classify footage:
Blender 5.0 Open-Source 3D Graphics App Is Now Available for DownloadAn Anonymous Coward writes:This release introduces support for displaying HDR and wide gamut colors on Linux when using Wayland and the Vulkan backend:
The root cause of the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge when hit by container ship Dali has been identified. It was the wrong placement, by a few millimeters, of the label on one wire. As usual, the National Transportation Safety Board has taken their time and done a detailed investigation--summarized in this short video