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hubie writes:I came across a very interesting social media post by John Carlos Baez about a paper published a few weeks ago that showed you can build a universal computation machine using a single billiard ball on a carefully crafted table. According to one of the paper's authors (Eva Miranda):

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

upstart writes:Caltech-led Team Finds New Superconducting State:

AnonTechie writes:Starlink in IranAn interesting technical article about satellite communications and Iran

hubie writes:Physics of Foam Strangely Resembles AI Training:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/01/new-ai-plugin-uses-wikipedias-ai-writing-detection-rules-to-help-it-sound-human/

looorg writes:https://torrentfreak.com/nvidia-contacted-annas-archive-to-secure-access-to-millions-of-pirated-books/

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Scientists have discovered that human hair grows not by being pushed out of the follicle, but by being actively pulled upward by coordinated cellular movements deep within the tissue:

looorg writes:Humans use tools, it's one of the things that make us great. Some of the other smarter monkeys also use tools. Next up we have Cows. Cow tool users. Beware the bovine master race ... also lactose tolerant.

fliptop writes:Schools across the U.S. are rolling out AI-powered surveillance technology, including drones, facial recognition and even bathroom listening devices. But there's not much data to prove they keep kids safe:

upstart writes:France records more deaths than births for first time since end of second world war:

fliptop writes:A growing number of college professors are sounding the alarm over a quiet but accelerating crisis on American campuses, as Gen Z Arriving at College Unable to Read:

upstart writes:The 'bombshell' science that casts doubt on claims about microplastics:

hubie writes:Intentionally shaping your free time through goal setting, learning and connection does not just boost well-being outside the office but can spill over into creativity, engagement, and meaning at work, especially for older employees:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:IT spending set to hit $1.4 trillion in 2026 - but what exactly are we spending it on?

hubie writes:Psychology researchers used virtual reality and MRI technology to better understand how locations help us encode memories:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes: Proton VPN Kills Off Legacy OpenVPN Configs in Push for Better Security

hubie writes:Graviton detection is moving from a long-standing impossibility into a first-of-its-kind experimental program:

jelizondo writes:Slashgear published an article about the wind electric generation in China:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Mosquitoes' thirst for human blood has increased as biodiversity loss worsens

upstart writes:New Studies Can Explain Why Comet 3I/Atlas Isn't An Alien (Probably):

fliptop writes:Automotive giant Stellantis will stop selling its plug-in hybrid electric Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee models and Chrysler Pacifica minivans in the United States amid sluggish electric vehicle sales, the company announced on Friday:

hubie writes:Analysis centers on point of attachment of ligament vital to walking upright:

An Anonymous Coward writes:This release also introduces new System Information and System Administration tools, as well as updates to existing tools:

hubie writes:MIT physicists propose that under certain conditions, a magnetic material's electrons could splinter into fractions of themselves to form quasiparticles known as "anyons":

canopic jug writes:Bruce Schneier, the cryptographer and privacy specialist, and J B Branch, an accountability advocate at Public Citizen, have written a post about AI and the Corporate Capture of Knowledge. They raise hard questions about what happened to Aaron Swartz in the context of the what is going on with artificial intelligence, copyright, and ultimately the control of knowledge:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:EU-only ops, German subsidiaries, and a pinky promise your data won't end up in Uncle Sam's hands:

looorg writes:Apparently there is a new app. If you don't use your phone enough or if there is no activity it informs your next of kin that you might be dead.

canopic jug writes:The Absurd Pirate's Internet Blog asks, is gen alpha screwed?:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:It's no surprise to see similar designs appearing in Ukraine's interceptor drone fleets:

upstart writes:Pluralistic: Sorry, eh (13 Jan 2026) - Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow:

An Anonymous Coward writes:Study of 20 years of kernel history finds bugs hide for 2+ years on average, some for decades:

jelizondo writes:phys.org published an interesting article about a new hypothesis regarding the existence of worm holes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/society-cannot-function-if-no-one-is-accountable-for-ai-jaron-lanier-the-godfather-of-virtual-reality-discusses-how-far-our-empathy-should-extend-to-ai-in-episode-two-of-new-podcast-the-ten-reckonings'Society cannot function if no one is accountable for AI' - Jaron Lanier, the godfather of virtual reality

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Why flies matter, their vital role in ecosystems, and surprising diversity

fliptop writes:CISA advisory warns that unauthenticated Bluetooth access in WHILL devices allows for unauthorized movement:

jelizondo writes:Ars Technica published an interesting article about a new AI assistant that provides strong assurances that user data is unreadable even to the platform operator,

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.wired.com/story/x-didnt-fix-groks-undressing-problem-it-just-makes-people-pay-for-it/

fliptop writes:Meta Platforms Inc. is set to cut more than 1,000 jobs from its Reality Labs division as the company redirects resources away from virtual reality and Metaverse products toward artificial intelligence-powered (AI-powered) wearables and mobile features:

owl writes:

upstart writes:Over Half A Million Windows Users Are Switching To Linux - Here's Why - BGR:

looorg writes:Notorious hacker forum BreachForum has been hacked, and have their user database leaked. Containing user names, messages and such. Lets see if the users of Breach used proper opsec or not. Probably not. If you can't even trust other criminals to keep your secrets then who can you trust ...

fliptop writes:Claude has emerged as the most-used artificial intelligence model among U.S. tech professionals, outpacing ChatGPT and other rivals in day-to-day work, according to a new survey:

hubie writes:Proposal targets long-standing behavior as 'an X11ism':

hubie writes:Every sheet of frost contains ionic defects and this team uses high voltage to polarize these ions and rip off the frost:

We hadn't heard from owl in a while, but he has more than made up for his temporary absence by submitting a couple of interesting, but unusual, stories. Here is the first one:owl writes:https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/11/2360474/-Resuscitating-a-1934-Briggs-amp-Stratton-washing-machine-engine%20-%20Fnord

DannyB writes:'Dilbert' creator Scott Adams dies at 68 after prostate cancer battle

JoeMerchant writes:Summary by Gemini:

owl writes:Recently there have been four different tech bloggers that have blogged about switching from Windows (and/or MacOS) to Linux.Is this the start of a trend?And will these bloggers influence some number of their readers to also make the switch?Are we seeing a tipping point where Windows (and somewhat MacOS) usage is beginning to collapse?Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.