The bald eagle is now [1]officially the national bird of the US , after President Joe Biden signed a law on Christmas Eve bestowing the honour upon the white-headed and yellow-beaked bird of prey. BBC News:

> The bird has been a national emblem in the US for years, appearing on the Great Seal of the US -- used on US documents -- since 1782. But it had not been officially designated to be the national bird until Congress passed the bill last week, sending it to Biden's desk to be signed.

>

> "For nearly 250 years, we called the bald eagle the national bird when it wasn't," said Jack Davis, co-chair of the National Bird Initiative for the National Eagle Center, in a statement. "But now the title is official, and no bird is more deserving." Not everyone has always agreed about the national status of the bald eagle. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin objected to the creature being chosen to represent the country, calling it a "bird of bad moral character."



[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23vzkdek4po

The Biden administration has [1]launched a Section 301 investigation into China's semiconductor industry , citing concerns over non-market practices, supply chain dependencies, and national security risks. The Hill reports:

> In a [2]fact sheet , the White House said China "routinely engages in non-market policies and practices, as well as industrial targeting, of the semiconductor industry" that harms competition and creates "dangerous supply chain dependencies."

>

> The Biden administration said the Office of the United States Trade Representative would launch a Section 301 investigation to examine China's targeting of semiconductor chips for dominance, an effort to see whether the practices are unfairly hurting U.S. trade and take potential action. The investigation will broadly probe Chinese nonmarket practices and policies related to semiconductors and look at how the products are incorporated into industries for defense, auto, aerospace, medical, telecommunications and power. It will also examine production of silicon carbide substrates or other wafers used as inputs for semiconductors.

The probe launches four weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. "The effort could offer Trump a ready avenue to begin imposing some of the hefty 60% tariffs he has threatened on Chinese imports," notes [3]Reuters .

"Departing President Joe Biden has already imposed a 50% U.S. tariff on Chinese semiconductors that starts on Jan. 1. His administration also has tightened export curbs on advanced artificial intelligence and memory chips and chipmaking equipment."



[1] https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5053609-biden-administration-china-semiconductor-industry-probe/

[2] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/12/23/fact-sheet-president-biden-takes-action-to-protect-american-workers-and-businesses-from-chinas-unfair-trade-practices-in-the-semiconductor-sector/

[3] https://www.reuters.com/technology/biden-launches-new-us-trade-probe-into-legacy-chinese-chips-2024-12-23/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo:

> Once an icon of the 20th century seen as obsolete in the 21st, Encyclopedia Britannica -- now known as just Britannica -- [1]is all in on artificial intelligence , and may soon go public at a valuation of nearly $1 billion, according to the [2]New York Times .

>

> Until 2012 when [3]printing ended , the company's books served as the oldest continuously published, English-language encyclopedias in the world, essentially collecting all the world's knowledge in one place before Google or Wikipedia were a thing. That has helped Britannica pivot into the AI age, where models benefit from access to high-quality, vetted information. More general-purpose models like ChatGPT suffer from hallucinations because they have hoovered up the entire internet, including all the junk and misinformation.

>

> While it still offers an online edition of its encyclopedia, as well as the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Britannica's biggest business today is selling online education software to schools and libraries, the software it hopes to supercharge with AI. That could mean using AI to customize learning plans for individual students. The idea is that students will enjoy learning more when software can help them understand the gaps in their understanding of a topic and stay on it longer. Another education tech company, Brainly, recently announced that answers from its chatbot will link to the exact learning materials (i.e. textbooks) they reference.

>

> Britannica's CEO Jorge Cauz also told the Times about the company's [4]Britannica AI chatbot , which allows users to ask questions about its vast database of encyclopedic knowledge that it collected over two centuries from vetted academics and editors. The company similarly offers chatbot software for customer service use cases. Britannica told the Times it is expecting revenue to double from two years ago, to $100 million.



[1] https://gizmodo.com/encyclopedia-britannica-is-now-an-ai-company-2000542600

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/business/dealbook/britannica-artificial-intelligence.html

[3] https://news.slashdot.org/story/12/03/13/2255247/after-244-years-the-end-for-the-dead-tree-encyclopedia-britannica

[4] https://www.britannica.com/chatbot

Sweden has accused China of [1]denying a request for Swedish prosecutors to board a Chinese ship that has been linked to the [2]cutting of two undersea cables in the Baltic despite Beijing pledging "cooperation" with regional authorities. From a report:

> The Yi Peng 3 left the waters it had been anchored in since last month on Saturday -- despite an ongoing investigation. The ship was tracked sailing over the two fibre-optic cables, one between Sweden and Lithuania, and the other linking Helsinki and Germany, at around the time that they were cut on 17 and 18 November in Swedish territorial waters close to the Swedish islands of Gotland and Oland.

>

> For more than a month afterwards it was anchored in the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark where it was being observed by multiple countries and was boarded by Swedish police and other authorities last week. The ship tracking site VesselFinder showed the Yi Peng 3 heading north out of the strait on Saturday and on Monday China confirmed the ship had left in order to "ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of the crew." The Swedish foreign minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard, said on Monday that China had not cooperated with Sweden's request to allow Swedish prosecutors onboard.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/23/china-refused-investigation-into-ship-linked-to-severed-baltic-cables-says-sweden

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/11/23/1953221/sabotage-or-accident-american-and-european-officials-disagree-on-what-caused-cuts-to-two-undersea-cables

A rare Sony KX-45ED1 television, considered the world's largest CRT TV, has been [1]preserved from destruction in Japan , marking a significant moment for gaming history preservation. The 440-pound display was salvaged from an Osaka restaurant days before its scheduled demolition, following a two-week international rescue operation.

Gaming enthusiast Shank Mods, aided by local contacts and industrial shipping experts, secured the functioning 45-inch unit, which originally sold for $40,000 in the late 1980s. The TV, valued by retro gaming enthusiasts for its authentic, lag-free display capabilities, could potentially become a public exhibit pending future funding.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/12/retro-gamers-save-one-of-the-last-45-inch-crt-tvs-in-existence/

An anonymous reader [1]shares a report :

> The Department of Justice's list of solutions for fixing Google's illegal antitrust behavior and restoring competition in the search engine market started with forcing the company to sell Chrome, and late Friday night, Google responded with a list of its own.

>

> Instead of breaking off Chrome, Android, or Google Play as the DOJ's filing considers, Google's proposed [2]fixes aim at the payments it makes to companies like Apple and Mozilla for exclusive, prioritized placement of its services, its licensing deals with companies that make Android phones, and contracts with wireless carriers. They don't address a DOJ suggestion about possibly forcing Google to share its valuable search data with other companies to help their products catch up.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/21/24326402/google-search-antitrust-remedies-proposal-browser-default-android

[2] https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/21/24326402/google-search-antitrust-remedies-proposal-browser-default-android

Lilium, once a [1]darling in the nascent industry of electric aircraft that raised more than $1 billion before going public, has [2]ceased operations and laid off about 1,000 workers after efforts to gain financing and exit insolvency failed. From a report:

> Lilium co-founder and CEO Patrick Nathen confirmed on LinkedIn that the 10-year-old company had stopped operating. "After 10 years and 10 months, it is a sad fact that Lilium has ceased operations. The company that Daniel, Sebastian, Matthias and I founded can no longer pursue our shared belief in more environmentally friendly aviation. This is heartbreaking and the timing feels painfully ironic," wrote Nathen. The layoffs cover the bulk of the company's workforce and come a few days after about 200 workers were let go, according to a regulatory filing on December 16.



[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/05/18/0040230/german-startup-unveils-electric-flying-taxi-prototype

[2] https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/23/electric-aircraft-startup-lilium-ceases-operations-1000-workers-laid-off/

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> A lawyer defending an alleged distributor of Anom, the encrypted phone company for criminals that the FBI [1]secretly ran and backdoored to intercept tens of millions of messages, is [2]pushing to learn the identity of the confidential human source (CHS) who first created Anom and provided it to the FBI starting the largest sting operation in history, according to recently filed court records. The government says it will provide that identity under discovery, but the CHS may also be revealed in open court if they testify.

>

> The move is significant in that the CHS, who used the pseudonym Afgoo while running Anom, is a likely target for retaliation from violent criminals caught in Anom's net. The Anom case, called Operation Trojan Shield, implicated hundreds of criminal syndicates in more than 100 countries. That includes South American cocaine traffickers, Australian biker gangs, and kingpins hiding in Dubai. Anom also snagged specific significant drug traffickers like Hakan Ayik, who authorities say heads the Aussie Cartel which brought in more than a billion Australian dollars in profit annually. Court records say, however, that if this defendant's case goes to trial, the lawyer believes Afgoo will be the "government's key witness."



[1] https://it.slashdot.org/story/21/06/08/1824223/fbi-and-australian-police-ran-an-encrypted-chat-platform-to-catch-criminal-gangs

[2] https://www.404media.co/government-to-name-key-witness-who-provided-fbi-with-backdoored-encrypted-chat-app-anom-2/

Meta plans to [1]add displays to its Ray-Ban smart glasses as soon as next year, Financial Times reports, as the US tech giant accelerates its plans to build lightweight headsets that can usurp the smartphone as consumers' main computing device. Financial Times:

> The $1.5tn social media group is planning to add a screen inside the $300 sunglasses it makes and sells in partnership with eyewear group EssilorLuxottica, according to people familiar with the plans. The updated Ray-Bans could be released as early as the second half of 2025, the people said. The small display would be likely to be used to show notifications or responses from Meta's virtual assistant.

>

> The move comes as Meta pushes further into wearable devices and what chief executive Mark Zuckerberg hopes will be the next computing platform, as rivals such as Apple, Google and Snap also race to develop their own similar products.



[1] https://www.ft.com/content/77bd9117-0a2d-4bd7-9248-4dd288f695a4

Honda sketched plans for a drawn-out deal that amounts to [1]a takeover of Nissan in all but name , as Japan's automakers struggle to keep up in an increasingly competitive global car industry. From a report:

> The two announced a tentative agreement Monday to set up a joint holding company that will aim to list shares in August 2026. While their executives called the transaction a merger, Honda will take the lead in forming the new entity and nominate a majority of its directors.

>

> Nissan's partner Mitsubishi may also participate in the deal. Honda and Nissan both are having trouble contending with ascendant domestic automakers in China, which surpassed Japan as the world's largest car-exporting nation last year and is pulling further ahead in 2024. Honda Chief Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe spoke to the level of level of difficulty ahead for the companies when he said during a press conference that their goal is to be competitive by 2030.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/honda-crafts-nissan-rescue-plan-that-will-take-years-to-play-out/ar-AA1wlW4V

A U.S. judge has ruled that Israeli spyware maker NSO Group [1]breached hacking laws by using WhatsApp to infect devices with its Pegasus spyware. From a report:

> In a historic ruling on Friday, a Northern California federal judge held NSO Group liable for targeting the devices of 1,400 WhatsApp users, violating state and federal hacking laws as well as WhatsApp's terms of service, which prohibit the use of the messaging platform for malicious purposes.

>

> The ruling comes five years after Meta-owned WhatsApp [2]sued NSO Group , alleging the spyware outfit had exploited an audio-calling vulnerability in the messaging platform to install its Pegasus spyware on unsuspecting users' devices. WhatsApp said that more than 100 human rights defenders, journalists and "other members of civil society" were targeted by the malware, along with government officials and diplomats. In her ruling, Judge Phyllis Hamilton said NSO did not dispute that it "must have reverse-engineered and/or decompiled the WhatsApp software" to install its Pegasus spyware on devices, but raised questions about whether it had done so before agreeing to WhatsApp's terms of service.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/23/whatsapp-scores-historic-victory-against-nso-group-in-long-running-spyware-hacking-case/

[2] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/10/29/2032239/facebook-sues-israels-nso-group-over-alleged-whatsapp-hack

Xerox has agreed to [1]acquire printer maker Lexmark for $1.5 billion , bringing the Kentucky-based company back under U.S. ownership after seven years of Chinese control.

The deal, announced Monday, will be financed through cash and debt, creating a vertically integrated printing equipment manufacturer and service provider. Lexmark, formed from IBM in 1991, was previously acquired by Chinese investors including Ninestar for $2.54 billion in 2016. The merger comes as Xerox faces declining equipment sales and a 50% year-to-date stock drop, with its market value at just over $1 billion.



[1] https://www.news.xerox.com/news/xerox-to-acquire-lexmark

PayPal-owned browser extension Honey manipulates affiliate marketing systems and withholds discount information from users, according to an investigation by YouTube channel MegaLag.

The extension -- which rose in popularity after promising it consumers it would find them the best online deals -- replaces existing affiliate cookies with its own during checkout, diverting commission payments from content creators who promoted the products to PayPal, MegaLag [1]reported in a 23-minute video [YouTube link] .

The investigation revealed that Honey, which PayPal [2]acquired in 2019 for $4 billion , allows merchants in its cashback program to control which coupons appear to users, hiding better publicly available discounts.



[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk

[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/11/20/2234223/paypal-to-acquire-shopping-and-rewards-program-honey-for-4-billion

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> In recent months, Telegram, the lightly moderated social media app, has held discussions with investors who lent it more than $2 billion. The goal: to reassure them that the company [1]remains a viable bet after its founder, Pavel Durov, was [2]arrested in France in August on charges related to illicit activities on the platform.

>

> In the conversations, Telegram told investors that it was tackling its legal troubles head-on by policing more user-generated content. The company also said it had paid down a "meaningful amount" of its debt, according to an investor in the talks who was not authorized to discuss confidential information. Telegram has been under increasing scrutiny around the world this year for hosting illicit content from child predators, drug traffickers and other criminals. The company also faces pressure another way: to prove it can make money.

>

> For years, skeptics have questioned if a platform known for hosting toxic material could turn a profit. Unlike social media companies such as Meta, Telegram took an unusual business path: It did not raise money from venture capitalists, sell advertising based on user data or hire aggressively to accelerate growth. Instead, it relied on Mr. Durov's fame and fortune to sustain its business, took on debt and barreled into the cryptocurrency market. [...] The result: Telegram is set to be profitable this year for the first time, according to a person with knowledge of the finances who declined to be identified discussing internal figures. Revenue is on track to surpass $1 billion, up from nearly $350 million last year, the person said.



[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/23/technology/telegram-business-profit.html

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/08/24/2253249/telegram-ceo-arested-in-france

Silicon Valley is betting the farm on AI. Data centers are straining power grids. Model training costs are heading toward billions. Yet across the software industry, [1]AI revenue remains theoretical . From a report:

> Hyperscalers -- combined with Meta and Oracle -- plan to spend $292 billion on AI infrastructure by 2025 -- an 88% increase since 2023. Two-thirds of software companies, however, still report decelerating growth in 2024.

>

> Semiconductor stocks have surged 43% year-to-date on AI expectations, while the software index IGV is up 30%. Microsoft, despite its OpenAI investment, has underperformed the IGV by 19% since ChatGPT's release. Microsoft's AI revenue run rate is 3% of total revenue, according to estimates by investment bank Jefferies. Snowflake expects immaterial AI contribution in fiscal 2025. Salesforce isn't factoring in material contribution from new AI products into FY25 guidance. Adobe's Firefly AI, launched in March 2023, hasn't accelerated revenue.



[1] https://indiadispatch.com/2024/12/22/big-techs-292-billion-ai-spending-spree-meets-the-revenue-desert/

[1]Newsweek supplies some context

> After his arrest, merch — including T-shirts featuring Mangione's booking photos and others taken from his social media accounts — began popping up for sale on several sites. Websites, including Amazon, eBay and Etsy, have moved to [2]take down products that glorify violence or the suspect. An eBay spokesperson told Newsweek that "items that glorify or incite violence, including those that celebrate the recent murder of UHC CEO Brian Thompson, are prohibited."

[3]Inc. magazine adds :

> Separately, GoFundMe has shuttered several fundraising campaigns created for Mangione. The fundraising site's terms and conditions are pretty clear on the matter, NBC News [4]reports , with a company spokesperson explaining they prohibit "fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes."

But one incident was different, according to a [5]post from the law school of the University of British Columbia :

> To provide a quick summary, Rachel Kenaston, an artist selling merch on TeePublic received an e-mail from the platform regarding intellectual property claim by UnitedHealth Group Inc and decided to remove Kenaston's design from the merch store. Obviously, it is important to point out that it isn't quite clear who is filing those DMCA claims. While TeePublic , in the email, claimed that they have no say in the matter, [ [6]an article from 404 Media ] goes on to explain that TeePublic has the right to refuse DMCA claims, but often choose not to in order to avoid headache. The design had nothing to do with UnitedHealthcare-it seems to be a picture of the Mangione in a heart frame. Meaning, whether it was UnitedHealthcare or not, the claim shouldn't hold any weight.

>

> Consensus seems to be mostly leaning towards speculation that it is unlikely to be UnitedHealthcare actually filing those DMCA claims, but rather potential competitors... Regardless of whether or not it really was UnitedHealthcare that filed DMCA claims, I think the important point here is that the merch actually did get taken down. In fact, this would be more problematic if it was from a competitor using DMCA as a form of removing competition, because, then it really has nothing to do with intellectual property. I would assume that this happens quite frequently. Especially for YouTubers, it seems that copyright strikes are more than a mere pesky occurrence, but for many, something that affects livelihood...

>

> The difficult part, as always, is finding the balance between protecting the rights of the copyright holders and ensuring that the mechanisms doesn't get abused.

The artist [7]told Gizmodo she was filing a counterclaim to the copyright notice, adding that instead of a DMCA, "I honestly expected the design to be pulled for condoning violence or something..."

Gizmodo published the image — a watercolored rendition of a hostel surveillance-camera photo released by police — adding "UnitedHealth Group didn't respond to questions emailed on Monday [December 16] about how the company could possibly claim a copyright violation had occurred." And while Gizmodo promised they'd update the post if UnitedHealth responded — there has been no update since...

[8]404 Media adds that the watercolor "is not the only United Healthcare or Luigi Mangione-themed artwork on the internet that has been hit with bogus DMCA takedowns in recent days. Several platforms publish the DMCA takedown requests they get on the Lumen Database, which is a repository of DMCA takedowns."

> On December 7, someone named Samantha Montoya filed a DMCA takedown with Google that targeted eight websites selling "Deny, Defend, Depose" merch that uses elements of the United Healthcare logo... Medium, one of the targeted websites, has deleted the page that the merch was hosted on...

>

> Over the weekend, a lawyer demanded that independent journalist Marisa Kabas take down an image of Luigi Mangione and his family [9]that she posted to Bluesky , which was originally posted on the campaign website of Maryland assemblymember Nino Mangione. The lawyer, Desiree Moore, said she was "acting on behalf of our client, the Doe Family," and claimed that "the use of this photograph is not authorized by the copyright owner and is not otherwise permitted by law..." In a follow-up email to Kabas, Moore said "the owner of the photograph has not authorized anyone to publish, disseminate, or otherwise use the photograph for any purpose, and the photograph has been removed from various digital platforms as a result," which suggests that other websites have also been threatened with takedown requests. Moore also said that her "client seeks to remain anonymous" and that "the photograph is hardly newsworthy."

404 Media believes the takedown request "shows that the Mangione family or someone associated with it is using the prospect of a copyright lawsuit to threaten journalists for reporting on one of the most important stories of the year..."

UPDATE: Long-time Slashdot reader [10]destinyland notes [11]there's an interesting precedent from 2007 :

> [D]eep within the DMCA law is a counter-provision — 512(f), which states that misrepresenting yourself as a copyright owner has consequences. Any damage caused by harmful misrepresentation must be reimbursed. In 2004 the Electronic Frontier Foundation won a six-figure award from Diebold Election Systems, who had [12]claimed a "copyright" on embarrassing internal memos which were published online.



[1] https://www.newsweek.com/unitedhealth-copyright-take-down-luigi-mangione-merch-2002037

[2] https://www.newsweek.com/sellers-taking-down-luigi-mangione-merchandise-2000096

[3] https://www.inc.com/kit-eaton/as-online-fandom-persists-unitedhealthcare-blocks-sale-of-a-pro-mangione-t-shirt/91067757

[4] https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/gofundme-pulls-luigi-mangione-fundraisers-another-platform-featuring-o-rcna184044

[5] https://iplaw.allard.ubc.ca/2024/12/21/unitedhealthcare-and-dmca/#8e6a4593-0296-480b-9353-11d03cd01cbe-link

[6] https://www.404media.co/email/49070e27-ace8-4a7c-a1fe-40957e3115a4/

[7] https://gizmodo.com/unitedhealth-gets-luigi-mangione-t-shirt-pulled-with-copyright-complaint-2000539574

[8] https://www.404media.co/email/49070e27-ace8-4a7c-a1fe-40957e3115a4/

[9] https://bsky.app/profile/marisakabas.bsky.social/post/3ldaeluxqpc2f

[10] https://www.slashdot.org/~destinyland

[11] https://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2007/03/14/michael-crook-settlement-apology/

[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold_Election_Systems#Leaked_memos

A demonstration "race" between a (human) F1 race car driver Daniil Kvyat and an autonomous vehicle was just staged by the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League.

Describing the league and the "man vs. machine" showdown, [1] Ars Technica writes , "Say goodbye to the human driver and hello to 95 kilograms of computers and a whole suite of sensors."

> But again, racing is hard, and replacing humans doesn't change that. The people who run and participate in A2RL are aware of this, and while many organizations have made it a sport of overselling AI, A2RL is up-front about the limitations of the current state of the technology. One example of the technology's current shortcomings: The vehicles can't swerve back and forth to warm up the tires. Giovanni Pau, Team Principal of TII Racing, stated during a press briefing regarding the AI system built for racing, "We don't have human intuition. So basically, that is one of the main challenges to drive this type of car. It's impossible today to do a correct grip estimation. A thing my friend Daniil (Kvyat) can do in a nanosecond...."

>

> Technology Innovation Institute (TII) develops the hardware and software stack for all the vehicles. Hardware-wise, the eight teams receive the same technology. When it comes to software, the teams need to build out their own system on TII's software stack to get the vehicles to navigate the tracks. In April, four teams raced on the track in Abu Dhabi. [2]As we've noted before , how the vehicles navigate the tracks and world around them isn't actually AI. It's programmed responses to an environment; these vehicles are not learning on their own. Frankly, most of what is called "AI" in the real world is also not AI.

>

> Vehicles driven by the systems still need years of research to come close to the effectiveness of a human beyond the wheel. Kvyat has been working with A2RL since the beginning. In that time, the former F1 driver has been helping engineers understand how to bring the vehicle closer to their limit. The speed continues to increase as the development progresses. Initially, the vehicles were three to five minutes slower than Kvyat around a lap; now, they are about eight seconds behind. That's a lifetime in a real human-to-human race, but an impressive amount of development for vehicles with 90 kg of computer hardware crammed into the cockpit of a super formula car. Currently, the vehicles are capable of recreating 90-95 percent of the speed of a human driver, according to Pau. Those capabilities are reduced when a human driver is also on the track, particularly for safety reasons....

>

> The "race" was to be held ahead of the season finale of the Super Formula season... The A2RL vehicle took off approximately 22 seconds ahead of Kvyat, but the race ended before the practice lap was completed. Cameras missed the event, but the A2RL car lost traction and ended up tail-first into a wall...

>

> Khurram Hassan, commercial director of A2RL, told Ars that the cold tires on the cold track caused a loss of traction.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/12/man-vs-ai-race-scrapped-after-ai-car-crashes-into-wall-on-warm-up-lap/

[2] https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/05/driverless-racing-is-real-terrible-and-strangely-exciting/

Long-time Slashdot [1]AmiMoJo quotes [2]this report from EcoWatch :

> Record wind-generated electricity across Northern Ireland and Scotland Tuesday night pushed Britain's power prices below zero.

>

> Wind output peaked at a record high 22.4 gigawatts (GW), breaking the previous high set [last] Sunday evening, the national system operator said, as Bloomberg reported. The record output provided more than 68 percent of the country's power.

>

> From 5:30 to 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the half-hourly price fell to 6.57 pounds per megawatt-hour, according to data from European power exchange Epex Spot.

>

> "Setting another clean electricity generation record just four days after the previous high shows the pivotal role wind is playing in keeping the country powered up during the festive season," said Dan McGrail, chief executive of RenewableUK, as . "This is also demonstrated by today's official figures which reveal that renewables have generated more than half our electricity for four quarters in a row."

The article adds that energy prices with negative numbers "have been recorded for 131 hours in the UK this year, an increase of 45 hours over 2023...

"Wind power was the largest source of energy in the UK from January to September of 2024."



[1] https://www.slashdot.org/~AmiMoJo

[2] https://www.ecowatch.com/energy-prices-below-zero-uk-wind-power.html

[1]Engadget reports :

> Apple is developing a smart doorbell and lock system that would use Face ID to unlock the door for known residents, Mark Gurman reports in the Power On newsletter. The face-scanning doorbell would connect to a smart deadbolt, which could include existing HomeKit-compatible third-party locks, according to Gurman. Or, Apple may "[team] up with a specific lock maker to offer a complete system on day one."

The Power On newsletter also reports that Apple is testing "health" features like heart rate monitoring and temperature sensing for its AirPods Pro earbuds...



[1] https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/apple-is-reportedly-working-on-a-smart-doorbell-system-that-could-unlock-your-door-with-face-id-161504513.html?src=rss

An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from Health magazine :

> "Most people think of aging as occurring gradually, constantly, and linearly," senior study author Michael Snyder, PhD, a professor of genetics and director of the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford University, told Health. But "we're not just changing gradually over time; there are some really dramatic changes," Snyder said in a news release. "It turns out the mid-40s is a time of dramatic change, as is the early 60s. And that's true no matter what class of molecules you look at."

>

> And these molecular changes aren't insignificant to our health — they were seen in molecules related to cardiovascular disease, skin and muscle health, immune regulation, and kidney function, among others... [R]esearchers from Stanford University and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore used data from 108 participants between the ages of 25 and 75. Those participants donated blood and other biological samples (stool samples, oral and nasal swabs) every few months over the course of several years. From those samples, researchers were able to track age-related changes in more than 135,000 different molecules and microbes in the participants' bodies.

>

> The analysis showed that the majority of molecules and microbes underwent major changes in their abundance (increasing or decreasing) during two time periods: when people were in their mid-40s and early 60s... The molecules that showed extreme changes in a person's 40s, for example, were related to alcohol, caffeine, and lipid metabolism, as well as cardiovascular disease and skin and muscle health. Meanwhile, molecular changes in a person's 60s were related to carbohydrate and caffeine metabolism, immune regulation, kidney function, cardiovascular disease, and skin and muscle health. According to experts, these changes might show up as a reduced ability to metabolize caffeine and alcohol, suggesting that it may be wise to cut back on those substances. People in their 40s and 60s may also see a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and people in their 60s may benefit from [2]supporting their immune systems .

The article ends with this advice from Dr. Ronald DePinho, a cancer biology professor at the University of Texas's cancer center: there's ways to manage or slow some of the changes associated with aging.

"The easiest way to do that is through lifestyle changes, said DePinho — that means staying active, eating and sleeping well, managing stress, and avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol."



[1] https://www.health.com/study-aging-peaks-8756326

[2] https://www.health.com/foods-for-immunity-8752395