An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch:

> A severe security vulnerability [1]affecting almost every version of the Linux operating system has caught defenders off-guard and scrambling to patch after security researchers publicly released exploit code that allows attackers to take complete control of vulnerable systems. The U.S. government [2]says the bug, dubbed "CopyFail," is [3]now being exploited in the wild , meaning it's being actively used in malicious hacking campaigns. [...] Given the risk to the federal enterprise network, U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA has [4]ordered all civilian federal agencies to patch any affected systems by May 15.



[1] https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/04/30/207231/new-linux-copy-fail-vulnerability-enables-root-access-on-major-distros

[2] https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search=31431&field_date_added_wrapper=all&field_cve=&sort_by=field_date_added&items_per_page=20&url=

[3] https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/04/u-s-government-warns-of-severe-copyfail-bug-affecting-major-versions-of-linux/

[4] https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2026/05/01/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog

The Academy has clarified that only human-performed acting and human-authored writing [1]are eligible for Oscar nominations . The Oscars will not ban AI tools broadly, but says it will judge films based on the degree to which humans remain central to the creative work. The BBC reports:

> The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences [...], which controls the US film industry's most prestigious award, on Friday [2]issued updated rules for what kind of work in movies and documentaries would be considered eligible for an Oscar as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology grows. In updated eligibility requirements, the Academy specified that only acting "demonstrably performed by humans" and that writing "must be human-authored" in order to be nominated for an award. The Academy called the requirements a "substantive" change to the rules for the Oscars.

>

> The need to specify awards can only go to acting and writing done by "humans" is new for the academy. [...] However, the academy did not issue a ban on AI use in films more broadly. Outside of acting and writing, if a filmmaker used AI tools in their work, such "tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination," the academy wrote. "The Academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award," the group added. "If questions arise regarding the aforementioned use of generative artificial intelligence, the Academy reserves the right to request more information about the nature of the use and human authorship."



[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx21dl3v7d3o

[2] https://press.oscars.org/news/awards-rules-and-campaign-promotional-regulations-approved-99th-oscarsr

A new Nature Climate Change [1]study suggests airborne microplastics -- especially darker and colored particles -- are [2]likely contributing to atmospheric warming by absorbing more heat than they reflect. Researchers estimate the effect could be roughly one-sixth that of black carbon, though outside experts say the uncertainties remain large and more study is needed before drawing firm policy conclusions. "We can say with confidence that overall they are warming agents," said Drew Shindell, a Duke University earth science professor and co-author of the study. "To me, that's the big advance." The Washington Post reports:

> To undertake their study, a group led by researchers at Fudan University in China examined how different colors and sizes of microplastics interact with light across the spectrum, while combining that information with simulations of how particles get dispersed in the air across the planet. "Black, yellow, blue and red [particles] absorb sunlight much more strongly than the white particles," Yu Liu, a Fudan professor and study co-author, said in a call with reporters. In fact, the study details how black and colored particles showed "absorption levels nearly 75 times higher than pristine, non-pigmented plastics." The scientists also found that different sizes of particles absorb light at different intensities -- and that how they absorb light can change as they age.

>

> The authors estimate that microplastics suspended in the atmosphere could be contributing to global warming at about one-sixth the amount of black carbon, also known as soot, a pollutant generated largely from burning fossil fuels. If the latest estimates are right, Shindell said, microplastics might not be an enormous source of atmospheric warming, compared with massive contributors such as cars and trucks, belching industrial plants or even burping cows. "But not a trivial one, either," he said.

>

> By his calculation, the effect of one year's microplastic emissions globally is approximately equivalent to 200 coal-fired power plants running for that year. But that rough estimate does not factor the longer-term repercussions of microplastics decaying and persisting in the environment for decades to come. Whatever the exact impact, the topic deserves further study, the authors say, because current climate modeling does not account for any additional warming that these tiny particles might be causing.



[1] https://archive.ph/o/pmfhI/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-026-02620-1

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2026/05/04/microplastics-global-warming-climate/

Longtime Slashdot reader [1]UnknowingFool writes:

> On April 15, 2026, a Microsoft employee made a change to Visual Studio Code and pushed it within 8 hours without review, notification, or documentation. The [2]change added "Co-authored-by: Copilot" by default to the end of commit messages in Git when Copilot was used in creating the code. However, the implementation was bugged, and the message was [3]added to every commit regardless if Copilot was used or disabled . Since this [4]message was automatically added to the end of commit messages, users were not aware of it as the UI does not show this addition when making commits. The change as been reverted as of May 3, but not before 1.4 million commits were made. Unfortunately, those messages cannot be cleansed and are permanent.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~UnknowingFool

[2] https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/pull/310226#issue-4271775814

[3] https://www.heise.de/en/news/WTF-Microsoft-forces-Co-Authored-by-Copilot-in-commits-11279554.html

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBkJuXtV23o

"The Associated Press is reporting on a new [1]study in Nature Astronomy suggesting that a tiny, icy world beyond Pluto [2]harbors a thin, delicate atmosphere that may have been created by volcanic eruptions or a comet strike," writes longtime Slashdot reader [3]fahrbot-bot . From the report:

> Just 300 miles (500 kilometers) or so across, this mini Pluto is thought to be the solar system's smallest object yet with a clearly detected global atmosphere bound by gravity, said lead researcher Ko Arimatsu of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. This so-called minor planet -- formally known as (612533) 2002 XV93 -- is considered a plutino, circling the sun twice in the time it takes Neptune to complete three solar orbits. At the time of the study, it was more than 3.4 billion miles (5.5 billion kilometers) away, farther than even Pluto, the only other object in the Kuiper Belt with an observed atmosphere. This cosmic iceball's atmosphere is believed to be 5 million to 10 million times thinner than Earth's protective atmosphere, according to the the study [...].

>

> It's 50 to 100 times thinner than even Pluto's tenuous atmosphere. The likeliest atmospheric chemicals are methane, nitrogen or carbon monoxide, any of which could reproduce the observed dimming as the object passed before the star, according to Arimatsu. Further observations, especially by NASA's Webb Space Telescope, could verify the makeup of the atmosphere, according to Arimatsu.



[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02846-1

[2] https://apnews.com/article/pluto-atmosphere-kuiper-belt-c6b0ec2e0631f47c25ce18479b14e1ed

[3] https://slashdot.org/~fahrbot-bot

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica, written by Andrew Cunningham:

> As its name implies, the venerable [1]Notepad++ text editor began as a more capable version of the classic Windows Notepad, with features such as line numbering and syntax highlighting. It was created in 2003 by Don Ho, who continues to be its primary author and maintainer, and it has been [2]a Windows-exclusive app throughout its existence (older Notepad++ versions support OSes as old as Windows 95; the current version officially supports everything going back to Windows 7). I'm not a devoted user of the app, but I was aware of its history, which is why I was surprised to see news of a "Notepad++ for Mac" port [3]making the rounds last week, as though it were a port of the original available from the Notepad++ website.

>

> Apparently, this news surprised Ho as well, who [4]claims that the Mac version and its author, Andrey Letov, are " [5]using the Notepad++ trademark (the name) without permission ." "This is misleading, inappropriate, and frankly disrespectful to both the project and its users," Ho wrote. "It has already fooled people -- including tech media -- into believing this is an official release. To be crystal clear: Notepad++ has never released a macOS version. Anyone claiming otherwise is simply riding on the Notepad++ name."

Ho repeatedly asked the developer to stop using the brand and eventually reported the trademark use to Cloudflare, the CDN of the Notepad++ for Mac site. "Every day that website remains active, you are in further violation of the law," Ho wrote. "I cannot authorize a 'week or two' of continued trademark infringement."

Letov has since begun rebranding the app as "NextPad++," though the old branding and URL reportedly remained available. The name changes is "an homage to NeXT Computer," notes Ars, "and uses a frog icon rather than the Notepad++ lizard."



[1] https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

[2] https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/blob/master/SUPPORTED_SYSTEM.md

[3] https://web.archive.org/web/20260429083840/https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/29/notepad-plus-plus-editor-comes-to-mac/

[4] https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/npp-trademark-infringement/

[5] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/05/unofficial-vibe-coded-notepad-for-mac-draws-objections-from-original-author/

OpenAI president Greg Brockman's testimony dominated the fifth day of the trial for Elon Musk's lawsuit against the AI company. Brockman took the witness stand on Monday, [1]disclosing that his stake in OpenAI is worth nearly $30 billion , despite not personally investing money in OpenAI. The judge also declined to admit a pretrial text in which Musk allegedly warned Brockman that he and Altman would become "the most hated men in America." From a report:

> Brockman's disclosure would put him on the Forbes list of the world's richest people, with wealth comparable to Melinda French Gates. [...] Late Sunday, OpenAI lawyers tried to admit as evidence a text message Musk sent to Brockman two days before the trial began. According to a court filing -- which did not include the actual text exchange -- Musk sent a message to Brockman to gauge interest in settlement.

>

> When Brockman replied that both sides should drop their respective claims, Musk shot back, according to the filing, "By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, so it will be." Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is overseeing the trial, did not admit the text exchange as evidence.

Brockman acknowledged that he had promised to personally donate $100,000 to OpenAI's charity but never did. In explaining the delay, Brockman put the onus on Altman: "I asked Sam when I should donate this, and he said he would let me know," reports [2]Business Insider .

The first witness to testify on Monday was Stuart Russell, an artificial intelligence expert who teaches computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. "The most memorable part of Russell's testimony was when he talked about how much Musk's legal team paid him," notes Business Insider. "He received an eye-popping $5,000 per hour for 40 hours of preparatory work. Expert witnesses in high-profile cases typically make between $500 to $1,000 per hour."

Recap:

[3]Musk Concludes Testimony At OpenAI Trial (Day Four)

[4]Elon Musk Says OpenAI Betrayed Him, Clashes With Company's Attorney (Day Three)

[5]Musk Testifies OpenAI Was Created As Nonprofit To Counter Google (Day Two)

[6]Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Head To Court (Day One)



[1] https://apnews.com/article/brockman-musk-altman-openai-trial-837bdc3fbced2a02f0f93a1899260bdd

[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-missed-greg-brockman-testimony-openai-trial-elon-musk-2026-5

[3] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/05/01/0058258/musk-concludes-testimony-at-openai-trial

[4] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/04/30/0137225/elon-musk-says-openai-betrayed-him-clashes-with-companys-attorney

[5] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/04/29/0311202/musk-testifies-openai-was-created-as-nonprofit-to-counter-google

[6] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/04/28/0326240/elon-musk-and-openai-ceo-sam-altman-head-to-court

The Trump administration is reportedly considering an executive order to create a working group that [1]could review advanced AI models before public release . The shift follows concerns over [2]Anthropic's powerful Mythos model and its cyber capabilities, with officials weighing whether the government should get early access to frontier models without necessarily blocking their release. The New York Times reports:

> In meetings last week, White House officials told executives from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI about some of those plans, people briefed on the conversations said. The working group is likely to consider a number of oversight approaches, officials said. But a review process could be similar to one being developed in Britain, which has assigned several government bodies to ensure that A.I. models meet certain safety standards, people in the tech industry and the administration said.

>

> The discussions signal a stark reversal in the Trump administration's approach to A.I. Since returning to office last year, Mr. Trump has been a major booster of the technology, which he has said is vital to winning the geopolitical contest against China. Among other moves, he swiftly rolled back a Biden administration regulatory process that asked A.I. developers to perform safety evaluations and report on A.I. models with potential military applications. "We're going to make this industry absolutely the top, because right now it's a beautiful baby that's born," Mr. Trump said of A.I. at an event in July. "We have to grow that baby and let that baby thrive. We can't stop it. We can't stop it with politics. We can't stop it with foolish rules and even stupid rules." Mr. Trump left room for some rules, but he added that "they have to be more brilliant than even the technology itself."

>

> The White House wants to avoid any political repercussions if a devastating A.I.-enabled cyberattack were to occur, people in the tech industry and the administration said. The administration is also evaluating whether new A.I. models could yield cyber-capabilities that could be useful to the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies, they said. To get ahead of models like Mythos, some officials are pushing for a review system that would give the government first access to A.I. models, but that would not block their release, people briefed on the talks said.



[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/technology/trump-ai-models.html

[2] https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/04/07/2115208/anthropic-unveils-claude-mythos-powerful-ai-with-major-cyber-implications

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media:

> A new, bipartisan bill [1]introduced (PDF) by Democratic Senator of California Adam Schiff and endorsed by the biggest AI developers in the world -- including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft -- [2]would change the K-12 curriculum to shoehorn in "AI literacy ," something that young people and teachers alike already hate in schools. The Literacy in Future Technologies Artificial Intelligence, or LIFT AI Act, would empower the new director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to make grant awards "on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations (or a consortium thereof) to support research activities to develop educational curricula, instructional material, teacher professional development, and evaluation methods for AI literacy at the K-12 level," the bill says.

>

> It defines AI literacy as using AI; specifically, "having the age-appropriate knowledge and ability to use artificial intelligence effectively, to critically interpret outputs, to solve problems in an AI-enabled world, and to mitigate potential risks." The bill is endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers, Google, OpenAI, Information Technology Industry Council, Software & Information Industry Association, Microsoft, and HP Inc. [...] The grant would support "AI literacy evaluation tools and resources for educators assessing proficiency in AI literacy," according to the bill. It would also fund "professional development courses and experiences in AI literacy," and the development of "hands-on learning tools to assist in developing and improving AI literacy." Most importantly for real-world implications, it would fund changing the existing curriculum "to incorporate AI literacy where appropriate, including responsible use of AI in learning."



[1] https://www.schiff.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/LIFT-AI-Act_Text.pdf

[2] https://www.404media.co/literacy-in-future-technologies-artificial-intelligence-act-adam-schiff-mike-rounds/

Google's Pixel 11 lineup [1]could see RAM cuts or lower starting configurations because of the global memory shortage, with [2]leaks suggesting the base model may drop from 12GB to 8GB while Pro models could add 12GB versions below the current 16GB tier. The Verge reports:

> There will be 16GB configurations available for each, but adding a lower-spec model could mean the 16GB version is getting a price hike. However, the silver lining is that the specs from MysticLeaks also include camera upgrades and brighter displays for the Pro models. The RAM shortage is pushing other phone makers, [3]including Samsung , to raise prices, too.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/tech/923252/google-pixel-11-spec-leak-lower-ram

[2] https://t.me/mysticleaks/163

[3] https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/26/04/24/2048217/samsung-could-lose-money-on-smartphones-for-the-first-time

AMD is [1]preparing expanded HDMI 2.1 support for Linux , following earlier delays after the HDMI Forum [2]rejected an open source implementation of HDMI 2.1 as proprietary technology. As GamingOnLinux reports, AMD developer Harry Wentland submitted a [3]patch series to the Linux kernel mailing list, noting that it brings "HDMI FRL support to the amdgpu display driver" and that "DSC is still being tested and will be sent out later."

A [4]forum post on Phoronix from an AMD driver developer also said "a full implementation will ultimately be available once the patches are ready and have completed compliance testing."



[1] https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/05/expanded-amd-hdmi-2-1-support-is-coming-to-linux/

[2] https://linux.slashdot.org/story/25/12/10/1652206/hdmi-forum-continues-to-block-hdmi-21-for-linux-valve-says

[3] https://lore.kernel.org/amd-gfx/20260501140441.41068-1-harry.wentland@amd.com/

[4] https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/phoronix/latest-phoronix-articles/1631149-amd-posts-hdmi-2-1-frl-patches-for-their-amdgpu-linux-driver#post1631154

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg's Ashley Carman:

> Welcome to the modern era of podcasting in which thousands of new shows are released into the world every day [1]with a sizable portion likely being AI-generated . Figuring out exactly which ones fall into that growing category is becoming more difficult just as the industry is starting to take this issue seriously. In only the past month or so, Amazon launched a feature that explains a product by generating a quasi-podcast, complete with co-hosts talking to each other and taking questions from users. Shout out to Business Insider reporter Katie Notopoulos for [2]spotting this (and, naturally, demoing it with an adult diaper rash-cream). Not long ago, Nicholas Thompson, chief executive officer of the Atlantic, [3]noted "podslop" dominated his Spotify search results when he typed in the word "Sora." This was around the time that OpenAI shut down its user-generated, AI-content-only app.

>

> [...] All of which raises some big, difficult questions. For one, what should the listening platforms do about this incursion? As of right now, Apple Podcasts [4]requires creators who generated a "material portion" of their show using AI to disclose it. The platform also bans misleading or deceptive content. Spotify hasn't published any specific guidelines around AI, though it maintains [5]general rules around dangerous and misleading content. Where this conversation gets even trickier is when it comes to money. Many of these podcasts are hosted on at least one free service that allows programs to opt into their ad marketplace with zero barrier to entry, meaning these shows (and the hosting service) profit off every listen or download. Spreaker, a company owned by iHeartMedia, is the primary one to watch here. Though it tells users to disclose when they rely on AI, it still allows those shows to opt into its programmatic ad marketplace, which pays creators 60% of the revenue generated by the ads placed in their shows. It stands to reason that most of these thousands of shows don't reach many people. But in the aggregate, the ears and dollars could add up. Are the advertisers on board with being next to AI-generated content, some of which might be deemed "slop?"

There's also the question of how to define "slop." Jackson of the Podcast Index and his co-host Adam Curry treat it as something listeners simply know when they hear it, while Alberto Betella, co-founder of RSS.com, defines it as "fully automated content with no human review."

Jeanine Wright, co-founder of Inception Point, rejects the debate altogether: "The people still talking about slop are still making 6-7 jokes," she said. "It's still yesterday's conversation."



[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-04-30/-podslop-proliferation-is-challenging-the-audio-industry

[2] https://x.com/katienotopoulos/status/2049549142150598798?s=20

[3] https://www.threads.com/@nxthompson/post/DWTouBFEbTK?xmt=AQF09Twy5qN38aDXJDDaj1_TibjBg3SJ959imdowvohqZQ

[4] https://podcasters.apple.com/support/891-content-and-subscription-guidelines

[5] https://www.spotify.com/us/safetyandprivacy/platform-rules

Anthropic is reportedly [1]nearing a roughly $1.5 billion joint venture with Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Hellman & Friedman, and other Wall Street firms to sell AI tools to private-equity-backed companies. "The investors aim to create a company that acts as a consulting arm for Anthropic and helps teach businesses -- including the private-equity firms' portfolio companies -- how to incorporate AI across their operations," reports the [2]Wall Street Journal . Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman would each invest about $300 million, while Goldman would contribute around $150 million.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/anthropic-nears-15-billion-ai-joint-venture-with-wall-street-firms-wsj-reports-2026-05-04/

[2] https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/anthropic-nears-1-5-billion-joint-venture-with-wall-street-firms-8f5448ee

GameStop has [1]made an unsolicited [2]$56 billion cash-and-stock offer to buy eBay (paywalled; [3]alternative source ), with CEO Ryan Cohen arguing he can turn the marketplace into a far larger Amazon competitor. "EBay should be worth -- and will be worth -- a lot more money," Cohen said in an interview. "I'm thinking about turning eBay into something worth hundreds of billions of dollars." The Wall Street Journal reports:

> Cohen said GameStop has a commitment letter from TD Bank to provide up to $20 billion in debt financing to help make a deal possible. GameStop delivered an offer letter to eBay on Sunday and released a copy of it following the Journal's report on the details of the bid. Cohen wrote in the letter to eBay Chairman Paul Pressler that GameStop started building its eBay position on Feb. 4. It said its offer consists of 50% cash and 50% GameStop shares.

>

> EBay [4]said Monday morning its board and financial advisers would review GameStop's unsolicited proposal. It said there were no discussions with or outreach from GameStop before receiving the offer. Ebay added that it will review the offer "with a focus on the value to be delivered to eBay shareholders, including the value of the GameStop stock consideration and the ability of GameStop to deliver a binding, actionable proposal."

>

> If eBay isn't receptive, Cohen said he was prepared to run a proxy fight and take the offer directly to its shareholders. The window for shareholders to nominate director candidates at eBay ahead of an annual meeting scheduled for this June has already closed, according to the company's proxy materials. Cohen told the Journal that putting his videogame retailer and eBay under one roof could create opportunities to cut costs and improve earnings. The two companies have some overlap already, including a focus on selling collectibles such as trading cards. "There is nobody who is more qualified, based on my experience, to run the eBay business," Cohen said, referencing his time at GameStop and previously Chewy, the online pet-products marketplace he co-founded.



[1] https://investor.gamestop.com/news-releases/news-details/2026/GameStop-Proposes-to-Acquire-eBay-at-125-00-Per-Share/

[2] https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/gamestop-ebay-bid-fd330f5a

[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/04/gamestop-ebay-takeover-bid-ryan-cohen-gaming-retail-ecommerce.html

[4] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ebay-confirms-receipt-of-unsolicited-proposal-from-gamestop-302761245.html

Astronomers have [1]identified 27 potential new circumbinary planets -- worlds that orbit two stars, like Star Wars' Tatooine. "To date, only about 18 circumbinary planets ... had been identified in the universe," reports the Guardian. "More than 6,000 planets have been discovered that orbit single stars, like Earth does around the sun." The Guardian reports:

> In a timely publication for May 4, also known as Star Wars Day, scientists have identified nearly 30 more candidate planets, whose distances range from 650 to 18,000 light years away from Earth. [...] More than half of the stars in the universe exist in binary or multiple star systems. The researchers instead used a method known as "apsidal precession," searching for a wobble between stars that orbit around and eclipse each other.

>

> "If we monitor the exact timing of these eclipses ... that can tell us that there's something else going on in the system," said Margo Thornton, the study's lead author and a PhD candidate at UNSW. After eliminating other factors such as the rotation and gravitational pull of the two stars, the team identified 36 star systems out of 1,590 whose behavior could only be explained by a third body. For "27 of those objects, it is possible that they are planet mass," Thornton said.

>

> More research into their spectra -- the light they emit -- was needed to formally confirm them as circumbinary planets, she said. "It's just a matter of: what is the mass of it? Is it a planet? Is it a brown dwarf? Is it a star?" The team discovered the potential planets -- which likely range from Neptune-sized to ten times heavier than Jupiter -- using data from Nasa's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, a planet-hunting space telescope that launched in 2018.

The research was [2]published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society .



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/04/scientists-discover-27-potential-new-planets

[2] https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag515/8524019

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica:

> In a makeshift demonstration kitchen in Concord, California, cooking oil splatters in and around a frying pan, which catches fire on an unattended gas stove. Within moments, a smoke detector wails. But in this demonstration, something less common happens: An AI-driven sensor activates and wall emitters blast infrasound waves toward the source of the fire in an attempt to put it out. The science of acoustic fire suppression, which has long been [1]known and [2]documented in scientific literature and the [3]press , works by vibrating oxygen molecules away from a fuel source, [4]depriving the fire of a critical component needed for combustion . Indeed, after just a few seconds of infrasound, the tiny kitchen blaze goes out.

>

> "We were able to not just point-and-shoot like a fire extinguisher; we figured out how to run it through ducting and distribute it like a sprinkler system," said Geoff Bruder, co-founder and CEO of [5]Sonic Fire Tech, during the presentation. The company's goal is to replace sprinklers, which are effective at stopping fires but can also do significant water damage to a property. Sonic Fire Tech appears to be the first company trying to commercialize the science of acoustic fire suppression. Its executives have already been touring Southern California; Wednesday's event was the first in the northern half of the state.

>

> The company aims to make this infrasound technique mainstream in both commercial (for instance, a data center, where sprinklers would damage electronics) and in-home installations, given that sprinklers are already required in all new California homes built in 2011 and later. Sonic Fire Tech also hopes to produce a backpack-based system that could be worn by wildland firefighters headed out into the field. "We are making meaningful technological improvements on a monthly basis," Stefan Pollack, a company spokesperson, emailed Ars after the event. But two experts who spoke with Ars raised serious questions about the potential for this technology to supplant traditional sprinklers in a home. They are even more skeptical as to whether the technique can be effective in an uncontrolled wildfire situation, where flames can grow very quickly.

Experts are concerned that infrasound may knock down small flames but does not cool hot surfaces or wet fuel like sprinklers do, which raises the risk of re-ignition, smoldering fires, hidden fires, or blocked fires. Sonic Fire Tech has claimed third-party validation and possible NFPA 13D equivalency, but it has not publicly released full testing details.

Fire officials and outside observers also want more information about reliability, maintenance, calibration, and how system failures would be detected and communicated.



[1] https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/Science_and_Technology/13-F-1078_REPORT_FLAME_SUPPRESSION_ACOUSTIC_SUPPRESSION.pdf

[2] https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=acoustic+fire+suppression&btnG=&oq=acoustic+fire+sup

[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18870258

[4] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/05/startup-says-sound-waves-can-replace-fire-sprinklers-experts-arent-so-sure/

[5] https://www.sonicfiretech.com/

The Independent reports that "more than a third of children in the UK [1]have found a way around age verification measures " for social media sites and other online platforms. And new research [2]from online safety organisation Internet Matters "suggests one in six parents have helped their child to get past age verification checks, with children reporting 'tricking' platforms into thinking they are older. "

> Parents also said they had caught their children drawing on facial hair in a bid to evade the technology. One mother said: "I did catch my son using an eyebrow pencil to draw a moustache on his face, and it verified him as 15 years old"... From a sample of 1,000 UK children, 46% said they believed age checks are easy to bypass, while 32% admitted to having done so.

49% of the children surveyed said they'd still encountered harmful content, according to the online safety activists. The group called the figure "unacceptable," and complained that age verification measures "are often ineffective in practice or easy to bypass."



[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/children-bypassing-age-verification-social-media-b2968803.html

[2] https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/research/online-safety-act-report-2026/

Age verification became mandatory for chat access on Roblox in January — and Friday morning [1]Quartz reported it's apparently impacted the company's financials:

> Roblox cut its full-year 2026 bookings forecast by roughly $900 million at the midpoint on Thursday, blaming stronger-than-expected headwinds from its mandatory age-verification rollout on an audience that skews heavily toward children and teenagers. Full-year 2026 bookings are now projected at $7.33 billion to $7.60 billion, a range that sits roughly $900 million below the prior guidance of $8.28 billion to $8.55 billion; analysts had expected $8.38 billion, [2]according to Yahoo Finance . Roblox stock fell almost 22% in premarket trading....

>

> Daily active users rose 35% year over year to 132 million, while hours engaged climbed 43% to 31 billion hours... Daily Active Users and hours engaged fell below forecasts of 143.8 million and 33.68 billion, respectively, according to Yahoo Finance... Users who have not completed age checks have faced restricted communication features, and the process has weighed on the platform's ability to bring in new users. Russia's blocking of the platform, which took effect in December 2025, added further drag on user growth, according to Yahoo Finance. As of the end of the first quarter, 51% of global daily active users had completed age verification, with 65% of U.S. users having done so, Roblox said....

>

> The safety push has come with legal costs. Roblox accrued $57 million in the first quarter for settlements and settlement proposals with certain states over youth-related consumer protection and digital safety matters, with payments structured over multiple years, the company said.

Roblox acknowledged in a letter to shareholders that "our aggressive push to enhance safety lowers our expectations for topline growth in 2026." But they argued that it also "makes our platform fundamentally better and amplifies the long-term growth potential of Roblox through more effective content targeting, tailored communication experiences, and improved community sentiment."



[1] https://qz.com/roblox-full-year-forecast-cut-age-verification-user-growth-050126

[2] https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/roblox-shares-tumble-22-premarket-091050170.html

"So yesterday the Devteam (it is always the Devteam) [1]released version 5.0 of legendary and venerable rogueike compuer game NetHack," writes the [2]Rogue-like games column @Play . "It is 39 years old... "

[3]MilenCent (Slashdot reader #219,397) writes:

> In addition to play changes it's left for players to discover, this version updates the code to compile with C99, makes it much easier to cross compile the code for other systems than the one running, and now uses Lua for its dungeon generation. Happy hacking!

For new players, "Nethack 5.0 now has an optional tutorial in the early phases of the game that might help you," notes the [4]Rogue-like games column @Play :

> Three systems binaries are provided: Windows, MS-DOS and Amiga. Yes, Nethack still supports MS-DOS, and yes, it still supports classic Amiga: it explicitly supports AmigaDOS 3.0, meaning it can still run on 68000 machines... That these are the only systems they provide binaries for shouldn't be seen as an indication that these are the "most important" platforms for Nethack, it's more that, since it's entirely open source, building it yourself is entirely possible, and more expected than with most software. Nethack can be built for Linux, Windows 8-11, AmigaDOS, MacOS (I'm not sure if this includes classic Mac too but it might), Windows CE (wow), OS/2 (additional wow), BeOS, VMS and multiple Unixes... Another option is to play through public Nethack servers. The most popular of these are probably [5]alt.org and [6]Hardfought .



[1] https://nethack.org/index.html

[2] https://setsideb.com/nethack-5-0-has-been-released/

[3] https://www.slashdot.org/~MilenCent

[4] https://setsideb.com/nethack-5-0-has-been-released/

[5] https://www.alt.org/nethack/

[6] https://www.hardfought.org/

"Vibe coding just got a whole lot more adorable," [1]writes Engadget :

> OpenAI introduced AI-generated pets to the Codex app, its agentic tool that helps with coding. These "optional animated companions" don't do any coding themselves, but serve as a floating overlay that can tell you what Codex is working on, notify you when Codex completes a task or whether it needs your input on something. The new feature lets developers see Codex's active thread, without having to switch away from your current open app.

"The feature ships with eight built-in variations — including a cat and dog," [2]reports Mashable . "But the more interesting play is the custom pet creator."

> Users can prompt Codex directly to generate their own companion, then share it online. A quick scroll [3]through the homepage reveals the community has already gotten to work. Current creations include Goku, Patrick Star, Microsoft's long-retired Clippy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and — naturally — [4]a goblin .

There's also Grogu, Dobby, a tiny Bob Rossi, and a "Doge-style Shiba Inu dog"...



[1] https://www.engadget.com/2162796/openai-introduces-ai-generated-pets-for-its-codex-app/

[2] https://mashable.com/article/openai-introduce-ai-pet-companions-to-codex-app

[3] https://codex-pets.net/#/?sort=popular

[4] https://mashable.com/article/openai-chatgpt-goblins-explanation