Leftovers

• Science / Mathematics / Computer Science

  • Science Alert ☛ NASA Spots a Bizarre 'Jellyfish' Floating on Mars. Here's What We Know.

    H.G. Wells called it.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Hiroshima Atomic Blast Forged a Metal Never Seen Before on Earth

    Discovery from tragedy.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Week in Science: Ocean 'Backrooms', Plastic Cookies, And More!

    Our weekly science news roundup.

  • Science Alert ☛ Researchers Put Spinach Directly Into Bread And Saw The Body's Insulin Response Change

    A secret boost.

  • Science Alert ☛ Gruesome Discovery Shows 17th-Century Villagers Were Terrified of What Lurked in 'Grave 75'

    'Anti-demonic' measures.

  • Science Alert ☛ This 17th-Century Aristocrat Had an Ingenious Secret For Keeping Her Teeth

    Smile!

• Hardware

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Trying Out an ATAPI Zip drive again

    One of the first things I bought with my own money as a kid was an internal 100 MB Iomega Zip drive with an ATAPI interface. I remember asking my computer teacher Mr Jones where he’d got his, and he wrote me a referral that got me a bit of a discount, which was great. I used that drive for everything for years, amassing a small tower of the grey disks and their jewel cases. I envied the MO disks my Japanese friends had, but I couldn’t fault my Zip drive.

  • CNX Software ☛ Microduck – A duck-like biped robot designed for physical Hey Hi (AI) experimentation and fun

    Pollen Robotics and Hugging Face have unveiled the Microduck, a 25 cm tall biped robot with 15 motors, a camera, a depth sensor, two motion sensors, and an articulated beak that can pick up objects. This follows the launch of the Reachy Mini desktop robot earlier this year that featured a Raspberry Pi CM4 module or could interface to a computer instead. In some ways, we may think of the Microduck as a Reachy Mini with legs, but the company says both are different products.

  • CNX Software ☛ Fanless AMD Ryzen Embedded 8840U/8640U Edge Hey Hi (AI) Computer supports up to 256GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory

    IBASE AA400-N is an “ultra-compact” fanless edge Hey Hi (AI) computer powered by an AMD Ryzen Embedded 8840U/8640U processor with up to 8 cores, 16 threads, and a combined 39 TOPS of Hey Hi (AI) performance for machine and robotic vision, autonomous inspection, smart retail, industrial automation, and other data-intensive, space-constrained applications. The most intriguing part of the specs and announcement is the claim of up to 256GB DDR5 capacity through two SO-DIMM modules, implying availability of 128GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory modules.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ Social Media and the Myth of the Big Tobacco Moment

    Smoking used to be everywhere, the way Facebook, TikTok, Snap, YouTube and Instagram are now. Society decided to break the habit, but it took a long time.

  • New York Times ☛ Why Countries Are Pushing Social Media Bans Despite Their Flaws

    Proposals for curbing social control media use among children have wide support, but critics say they are ineffective.

  • JURIST ☛ Brazil sues Discord over alleged shortcomings in youth safety policies and enforcement

    Brazil’s federal government on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Discord, Inc. accusing the messaging platform of violating national child protection laws. Brazil’s attorney general’s office, the Advocacia-Geral da Union (AGU) brought the lawsuit in the federal court seeking roughly R$500 million ($97 million) in damages.

  • NYPost ☛ NYC Legionnaires’ outbreak death toll reaches 11— but officials insist disease no longer spreading

    The death toll from the Upper East Side Legionnaires’ outbreak has reached 11, but NYC health officials say the cluster is no longer spreading.

  • Futurism ☛ Chinese Scientists Develop Muscle Grafts That Can Be Injected Straight Under the Skin

    They literally exercise themselves.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Identify a Single Protein That May Control Cravings For Fatty Foods

    Do we really choose our own diets?

• Proprietary / Vendor Lock-in / Malware

  • So-Called 'Artificial Intelligence' ('AI') / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • ACLU ☛ Another Problem With AI-Assisted Police Reports: Companies Can Have Incentives to Distort Their Content

      Police Companies Could Train Their Hey Hi (AI) to Hide Use of Their Products or Make Them Look Good

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Claude nukes a developer's 700 GB home directory while testing deletion safeguards; automatic model safety downgrade may have contributed to the screw-up — Anthropic safety harness downgraded model to Opus 4.8 before fatal variable collision [iophk: WTF was he doing using an LLM against a live, production system? I'd almost say it serves him right, except that using LLMs is a punishment in itself.]

      Claude nuked a developer's 700 GB home directory while testing a script to ensure that wouldn't happen, and it's possible that an automatic model downgrade likely contributed to the screw-up

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Nvidia denies pausing Hey Hi (AI) cloud commitments initiative after reported partner backlash — report claims company told cloud providers it could only lease its GPUs to Nvidia-approved customers

      Nvidia denies putting Hey Hi (AI) cloud commitments initiative on hold despite reports that some deals were paused amid partner pushback over customer controls and concerns about potential antitrust scrutiny.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Futurism ☛ NASA’s Powerful New Space Telescope, Just Cleared for Launch, Was Developed by an Intelligence Agency to “Spy on America’s Adversaries”

      "What what do you guys think about instead of pointing downwards, we point upwards, and you guys use it?"

    • International Business Times ☛ Mark Kapo-berg Faces Biggest Reckoning Yet as Meta Settles Landmark Lawsuit for 17B

      Meta agrees to a $17.1bn settlement over claims that its platforms harm children, introducing safety changes like time limits and notification blocks on Instagram and Facebook (Farcebook) for teenage users

    • New Yorker ☛ How the Meta Settlement Could Change the Internet

      Even while refusing to admit legal fault, the parent company of Facebook (Farcebook) and Instagram has accepted, for the first time, that much of its business model is unacceptable for children.

    • Futurism ☛ People Taking Down Flock Towers Are Becoming Folk Heroes, With Communities Circling to Protect Them

      "Kudos to the citizen that threw tea in the harbor!"

  • Confidentiality

    • Digital Music News ☛ Federal Judge Consolidates Two Suno Data Breach Class Actions — Plaintiffs Say They’re Facing ‘A Significantly Increased and Certainly Impending Risk of Fraud’

      A federal judge has officially consolidated a pair of class action lawsuits centering on a November 2025 Suno breach that’s said to have compromised “the sensitive data of 55 million users.” The first of those cases set sail on July 24th, while the second, likewise filed in Massachusetts, kicked off on the 28th.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Overboard! Whiskey Pete Hegseth Tries to Fire His Way Out of Being a Loser

    The Secretary of Defense who brings his wife everywhere because his own mental health is so shoddy he can't cope without her presence is disciplining a 19-year old who jumped overboard after more than eight months at sea.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China removes two top generals from supreme military command body

    The removal of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli leaves just two active members on the formerly seven-member commission, including the president himself.

  • JURIST ☛ US charges dozens of alleged Puerto Rico gang members with gun and drug offenses

    The US Justice Department on Thursday announced federal gun and drug charges brought against 81 alleged members of Puerto Rican gang “Los Baja Deo” following a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigation.

  • Site36 ☛ Forensic Architecture presents new evidence in trial of nine police officers over death of refugee Ibrahima Barry

    An expert report by the Berlin-based organisation Forensis, presented by lawyers for the joint plaintiffs, argues that the fatal “hogtie” restraint used by police against Ibrahima Barry caused his death, as the trial against nine officers charged over his killing resumed this week.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Underground missile shelter to be built near Tokyo Station

    The plan comes as North Korea has repeatedly test-fired ballistic missiles into regional waters.

  • New York Times ☛ Fear Over Malaysia’s Plan to Send Back Rohingya Migrants to Myanmar

    The announcement has sent panic through a community that fled its country’s brutal military rule, civil war, religious persecution or some combination of the three.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Vietnam demands end to activity in Paracels after report of Chinese construction

    Vietnam said on Friday it strongly opposed all foreign activities in the Paracels archipelago in the disputed South China Sea, following a report earlier this week of new Chinese construction on an islet there.

  • JURIST ☛ UN raises concerns about rise in anti-migrant violence in South Africa

    The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on Thursday expressed concern about the rise in violence and racist hate crimes targeting migrants in South Africa, urging authorities to implement urgent measures to address this issue.

  • International Business Times ☛ 'In Danger': Prince Harry Reportedly Denied Taxpayer-Funded UK Police Escort Despite Home Move

    Prince Harry's UK return has sparked controversy after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were denied taxpayer-funded police protection upon their arrival in Britain, relying instead on private security.

  • France24 ☛ Spanish government urges calm after Ceuta anti-migrant protesters clash with police

    Spain's left-wing government called for calm in the North African enclave of Ceuta on Friday after protests over security escalated into clashes between locals and police, a month after a mass influx of migrants from Morocco triggered a Europe-wide alert.

  • The Straits Times ☛ On islands key to Taiwan’s defence, troops train for a Chinese first strike

    Taiwan is fortifying Penghu with missiles and civilian resolve to withstand the first blows of war.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Dismisses Fears Of Russian Strike On NATO: 'I Am Not Concerned'

      US President The Insurrectionist told reporters that he does not believe Moscow will attack a NATO nation amid rising concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin will strike a Baltic country or other member state to test the Western alliance’s resolve.

    • New York Times ☛ Why Putin Is Fighting On, Even as His Problems Multiply

      There is little sign that public exhaustion, economic headwinds or increased Ukrainian strikes are changing the Russian leader’s view that he will eventually achieve victory.

    • Futurism ☛ Russia Now Using Fully AI-Controlled Drones to Kill Ukrainian Civilians, Powered by Nvidia Chips

      "In a few years, we will be living in a ‘Terminator’ movie. It’s no joke. Machines are making decisions to strike."

    • The Strategist ☛ Ukraine races to prepare for winter

      Top of mind in Kyiv for the leadership and populace is how to prepare for the coming winter, when Russia will surely work at incapacitating Ukraine’s electricity grid.

    • Latvia ☛ Major cigarette smuggling operation case goes to court in Latvia

      A case has been referred to court concerning a member of an international organised group who is accused of smuggling 10 million cigarettes from Belarus. The cigarette smuggling caused losses of 1.5 million euros to the state, the Public Prosecutor’s Office reported.

    • LRT ☛ Poland detains two Lithuanians over balloon cigarette smuggling

      Polish border guards detained nine people, including two Lithuanian citizens, on Friday on suspicion of smuggling cigarettes from Belarus into Poland using weather balloons.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian, Belarusian climbers identified after perishing in Kyrgyzstan mountains

      Relatives have identified two climbers, a Lithuanian and a Belarusian, who died on Mount Korumdu in Kyrgyzstan, local news outlet 24.kg reported Thursday.

    • Latvia ☛ Senior Latvian central bank official to resign

      Deputy Governor of the Bank of Latvia, Māris Kālis, has decided to terminate his employment at the Bank of Latvia at the end of September, the central bank announced on August 28th.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • International Business Times ☛ Former Convicted Felon Border Commander Says He Was Stripped of Protection as Officials 'Want Him Dead'

    Greg Bovino says Convicted Felon officials want him dead after his security detail was withdrawn, naming CBP chief while the White House rejects his explosive claim.

  • American Oversight ☛ Lawmakers, National Security Veterans, and Former U.S. Archivists Urge Appeals Court to Uphold Block on Convicted Felon’s Evasion of Presidential Records Act

    Three amicus briefs in a case brought by watchdogs and historians reject the Convicted Felon administration’s claim that a nearly 50-year-old recordkeeping law is unconstitutional.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Nepal declines foreign rescue help, South Korea says it is negotiating

    Nepal does not need foreign assistance for search-and-rescue operations following the devastating flash flood that swept through several towns on Wednesday, its foreign ministry said, despite offers from several countries with nationals missing.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Nepal orders rescuers to safety as overflow brings new flood risks and death toll climbs to 472

    Nepal ordered rescuers searching for survivors of deadly floods to get to safety as it reported a debris dam had burst in Tibet on Friday, bringing risks of new torrents.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Nepal needs help in technical areas, not search and rescue, foreign minister says

    Nepal needs foreign help in specialised and technical areas in which it does not have expertise in the aftermath of the devastating flood that hit its Himalayan border with China this week, but not in search and rescue, its foreign minister told Reuters.

  • France24 ☛ Rescuers grapple with mountain of challenges after the Nepal-Tibet floods

    Emergency services are rushing to find survivors and treat the wounded after a devastating flash flood on the border of Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday killed more than 500 people, with over a thousand still missing. But the remote and rugged terrain, as well as the risk of further flooding from upstream lakes formed by piles of debris, make their work as delicate as it is dangerous.

  • New York Times ☛ China Offers Condolences to Nepal While Emphasizing Disaster Began There

    China’s leader, Pooh-tin Jinping, issued his first message to Nepal’s government since the landslide on Wednesday that has left hundreds dead near the countries’ border.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Deadly Nepal-Tibet floods spawn fast-swelling lakes that could burst again

    Rescuers search for 1,500 missing as unstable lakes pose fresh flood threats across Nepal and China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Number of missing in deadly Nepal, China floods jumps past 2,400

    Rescuers were battling through mud even as the threat of new floods loomed, with emergency teams recovering 584 bodies so far.

  • France24 ☛ 🔴Nepal-Tibet floods live: Death toll passes 580, nearly 2,500 people missing

  • New York Times ☛ A Nepali city struggles to handle the many bodies on its riverbanks.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Nepal lake breaks banks, water level rising: District official

    The authorities in Nepal said they had paused rescue operations.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China halts rescue at Tibet disaster epicentre over flood risk

    China paused a rescue operation on Friday citing the high risk of renewed flooding in Tibet, where hundreds remain missing two days after a deadly mudslide, state media said.

  • France24 ☛ Nepal: A newly formed lake is sparking fears of more flooding along the Chinese border

    Rescue operations are continuing after the devastating Nepal-China floods, but authorities have ordered emergency teams to stay on high alert as a newly formed upstream lake threatens to burst and trigger fresh flooding. Satellite imagery suggests the lake formed in the same area where a glacier collapse on Wednesday unleashed the deadly chain of events. FRANCE 24's Navodita Kumari has the latest from India.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China halts rescue at Tibet disaster epicentre over flood risk

    Emergency teams which had earlier accessed the area “have been ordered to withdraw 1km”.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Mapping the 5.0-magnitude quake in China

    View the location of the earthquake’s epicenter and shake area.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Typhoon Saudel makes landfalls on China’s eastern coast, disrupts travel

    Peopleevacuated and trains halted as Typhoon Saudel made two landfalls on China's eastern coast.

  • France24 ☛ Nepal flood survivors rescued from hydropower tunnel

    Nepali soldiers rescued around 100 people trapped inside a flooded hydropower tunnel as the death toll from the Nepal-China floods continued to climb, with more than 1,500 people still missing. Rescue efforts were briefly suspended over fears that an overflowing landslide lake could trigger more flooding, while families across the disaster zone continue searching for loved ones.

  • France24 ☛ Nepal floods explained: The chain of events behind the disaster

    A glacier broke apart. An ice and rock avalanche followed. Then came an earthquake, before a landslide triggered devastating floods that tore through kilometres of valley. This is what happened along the Nepal-China border, where rescue teams are still trying to recover survivors 48 hours after the catastrophe. FRANCE 24 breaks down the chain of events and the scientific explanations behind the disaster.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Marianas voices demand a seat at the table in U.S. seabed mining proposal

      The project can boost CNMI economy and U.S. national security, but there are also local concerns, they said.

    • New York Times ☛ Sun-Ways Is Testing Out Train Track Solar Farms

      A pilot program placing solar panels between the rails has proven successful enough that the idea is spreading to Italy, France and Korea.

  • Overpopulation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Seoul fertility rate rebounds as births, marriages rise

      The increase was the largest among South Korea's 16 major administrative regions.

• Finance

  • CS Monitor ☛ Where to next on interest rates? Warsh, Bessent point in opposite directions.

    While Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent seeks to lower interest rates a bit, Kevin Warsh at the Federal Reserve, tasked with fighting inflation, might have to raise short-term rates. That, in turn, could push up rates on business and consumer loans.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ The Mexican peso’s strong run hits a snag following US inflation worries

    For the first time in eight days, the peso moved above 17 to the dollar, a weakening that was directly attributable to the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman's voiced concern about possibly increasing inflation.

  • Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra

    • Document Foundation ☛ How LibreOffice is funded

      LibreOffice 26.8 is the first version to display a donation banner in the Launch Centre. This document explains the reasons behind this decision and provides information on The Document Foundation’s sustainability model.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • The Straits Times ☛ Nepali government asks Meta, Fentanylware (CheeTok) to remove graphic flood content, misinformation

      The request comes amid a surge in misleading material on social control media following the Aug 26 flash flood.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ National security conviction shows ‘pursuing democracy is a crime,’ Tiananmen vigil activist says in mitigation hearing

    An activist who once organised annual vigils to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown has said that a Hong Kong court’s decision to convict her under national security legislation amounts to saying that “pursuing democracy is a crime.”

• Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong police officer arrested after allegedly sending indecent messages, images to female friend of suspect

    A Hong Kong police officer has been arrested after allegedly sending indecent messages and explicit photos to a female friend of a suspect he was investigating. Police said on Thursday that New Territories South regional crime unit officers arrested a 32-year-old man in Tuen Mun last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

• Monopolies/Monopsonies

  • Patents

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ USPTO Fee Setting Authority and PTAB Institution Reform

      The Senate CR would extend USPTO fee setting authority only to December 11, putting renewal in play alongside PTAB discretionary denial reform.

    • JUVE ☛ Two Vossius partners reopen German market for Pinsent Masons [Ed: Seems like paid-for marketing for a sponsor instead of news]

      Three years ago, Clifford Chance demonstrated that international law firms can rebuild their patent monopoly litigation teams in Germany following heavy losses, defying those market players who think laterals would never be interested in joining it.

  • Copyrights

    • Digital Music News ☛ US Copyright Fees Are Rising; Labels Now Have A Window Before Higher Fees Hit

      Music organizations spent much of 2026 challenging the U.S. Copyright Office’s (USCO) proposed fee increases, arguing that higher registration costs would disproportionately burden independent labels, artists, and songwriters.