IBM spent a decade "building, testing and improving" quantum computing, [1]reports the Wall Street Journal .

"This year, the company is laying the groundwork to turn that technology into a fully-fledged, scalable business from an expensive science project."

> IBM said last month it plans to form a new independent subsidiary called Anderon, a foundry to produce the silicon wafers needed to make quantum-computing processors. The venture is seeded by a $1 billion investment from the Trump administration and another $1 billion of IBM's own cash. Anderon will give the company a new line of business in selling wafers to other quantum-computing companies. It will also provide a steady stream of wafers to continue developing its own quantum technology, positioning IBM to capture part of what the Boston Consulting Group projects will be a $90 billion to $170 billion market for quantum-computing providers by 2040...

>

> The company also plans to spend an additional $9 billion over five years to advance the final stages of its quest to build a quantum-mechanics-powered computer capable and reliable enough for widespread use, a goal known as fault tolerance. That computer, named Starling, is being targeted for 2029. With Anderon, IBM is thinking beyond Starling, or even a more powerful quantum computer planned for 2033.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/technologyinvesting/ibm-getting-ready-to-scale-quantum-computing/ar-AA26mMZg

America generated 10.06% more energy with renewables in the first four months of 2026 than it did in the same period the year before. That's according to [1]new figures from America's Energy Information Administration, cited in [2]this report from Electrek :

> The growth was led by utility-scale solar (+21.3%), hydropower (+15.7%), small-scale solar

> In April alone, wind and solar each produced more electricity than US coal plants, while the combination of solar and wind produced 57.0% more electricity than nuclear power.

>

> The mix of all renewables, including biomass and geothermal, accounted for 30.0% of total US electrical generation during the first third of 2026 — up from 27.8% a year earlier... EIA reported that, in April, utility-scale solar capacity surpassed wind capacity for the first time (160,208.1 MW vs. 160,100.6 MW). Further, utility-scale battery energy storage capacity increased by 17,703.5 MW, or 58.1%. Nuclear added just 18.4 MW. The combined capacity growth of all utility-scale renewable energy sources for the 12-month period (55,980.3 MW) is two-thirds more (i.e., 67.6%) than that added during the previous 12 months (33,392.0 MW).

"EIA projects no new nuclear generating capacity and a net decline of 5,200.5 MW in fossil fuel capacity."



[1] https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/

[2] https://electrek.co/2026/06/26/eia-renewables-30-percent-us-electricity-generation/

Slashdot reader [1]BrianFagioli writes:

> Florida International University researchers have developed a technique called [2]JaiLIP (Jailbreaking with Loss-guided Image Perturbation) that uses subtle image modifications to [3]bypass AI safety guardrails . Unlike traditional jailbreaks that rely on carefully crafted prompts, the attack works through images that appear normal to human viewers.

>

> The researchers tested the technique against BLIP-2, a multimodal AI model, and found that manipulated images significantly increased the likelihood of harmful responses. According to the study, the approach outperformed previous image-based jailbreak methods and nearly doubled the number of unsafe outputs generated during testing.

>

> The findings highlight a potential security risk for businesses deploying AI systems that process both images and text. While most discussions about AI safety focus on prompts, the research suggests that seemingly harmless images may also serve as an attack vector.



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

[2] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11471479

[3] https://nerds.xyz/2026/06/how-image-jailbreak-ai/

There's a [1]deadly, record-breaking heat wave spreading east across Europe, [2]reports the Washington Post — and it's even worse than a dire earlier forecast:

> The forecast was [3]recorded in 2014 as part of a campaign coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that invited about 60 presenters worldwide to imagine a weather report from the year 2050. In one clip, Ãvelyne Dhéliat from French television network TF1 presented a hypothetical scenario of high temperatures 36 years into the future — during a heat wave in a warmer climate in 2050... One of the maps that Dhéliat shared was lit up in shades of orange, filled with temperature predictions of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), reaching as high as 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

>

> But it turns out, it didn't take 36 years for those imagined temperatures to be reached — and even exceeded. The heat on Wednesday alone, when the temperature soared as high as 112.3 degrees Fahrenheit (44.3 degrees Celsius), exceeded the 2050 projections in 19 out of 34 locations across mainland France — far sooner than some may have expected. Some places surpassed those hypothetical future temperatures by more than 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It's part of a dramatic shift in heat wave frequency across the country. Half of the heat waves observed since 1947 have occurred since 2010. "By 2100, heat waves could last up to two months continuously," the country's weather agency, Météo-France, said this week.

>

> It was hotter in France on Wednesday than in Las Vegas and Phoenix and just two degrees Fahrenheit shy of what was observed in Death Valley, California. An estimated [4]less than one percent of the planet was hotter than France's hottest place... [T]he heat dome, which will linger into early next week, is only part of the story. This type of extreme heat is becoming more common as the planet warms, especially in Europe.

>

> Climate scientist Robert Rohde said in a [5]post explaining the heat wave's causes that France and Western Europe should expect many more heat waves like this over the coming decades. "This isn't a fluke, but simply part of the new normal," he said.

> Thanks to Slashdot reader [6]fjo3 for sharing the news.



[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/06/23/record-heat-france-leads-least-40-drowning-deaths-officials-say/

[2] https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/frances-heat-this-week-was-worse-than-a-dire-scenario-imagined-for-2050/ar-AA26wuoB

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s55xNz26qQ

[4] https://x.com/BenNollWeather/status/2069737306349568493?s=20

[5] https://x.com/RARohde/status/2069782132361187650?s=20

[6] https://slashdot.org/~fjo3

Max Planck won 1918's Nobel Prize for physics. Yet two of his papers were retracted — a move now being criticized by Yves Gingras, a historian of physics at the University of Quebec and Mahdi Khelfaoui, a fellow historian of science at UQ Trois-Rivières. [1] Science reports :

> The papers, both quietly retracted in 2011, originally appeared in the early 1940s in Naturwissenschaften , a German journal now owned by publishing giant Springer Nature. After some sleuthing, Khelfaoui determined one of the Planck pieces, a philosophical [2]essay from 1942 titled "Sinn und Grenzen der exakten Wissenschaft" ("Meaning and Limits of Exact Science"), about how to achieve certainty in scientific knowledge, had also appeared in two other journals and been reprinted twice in books. Repackaging the same work multiple times is considered "self-plagiarism" and frowned upon today — the practice produces copyright conflicts and inflates scholars' publication records. The Naturwissenschaften site gives "copyright violation" as the reason for the retraction.

>

> Yet publishing identical material in multiple journals was widespread before the internet. "Science was more fragmented" then, Khelfaoui says. "You wanted different audiences ... to have access to your work." The practice was especially common for luminaries like Planck. Albert Einstein did the same (but escaped retractions). Springer Nature's "anachronistic" application of modern standards to a 1942 paper "distort[s] the historical record," Gingras and Khelfaoui argue [3]in a preprint posted last month on arXiv. Any concerns about copyright violations are largely moot anyway: Because Planck died in 1947, his works are in the public domain in most countries.

>

> Gingras was especially incensed that Springer Nature deviated from the normal practice of merely slapping the word RETRACTED across the digital version of the paper while still allowing scholars to read the text. Instead, the publisher posted a blank white page with the cryptic phrase, "This article has been withdrawn due to article violation." Springer Nature is nevertheless still selling the empty PDF for $39.95. Suzanne Scarlata, a chemist and biochemist at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and editor-in-chief of The Science of Nature, as Naturwissenschaften is now known, had not heard about the retractions before being contacted for this story... Scarlata suspects Springer Nature's internal policing software removed the paper and posted the retraction notice unilaterally, without human supervision: "I think it just happened with their algorithm," she says. "It's a mistake they should probably rectify."

A second Planck paper was apparently removed because its response to a 1940 paper had used an identical title.

Thanks to our long-time Slashdot reader [4]He Who Has No Name for sharing the article.



[1] https://www.science.org/content/article/why-have-papers-one-history-s-most-famous-physicists-been-retracted

[2] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01475382

[3] http://arxiv.org/abs/2605.17534

[4] https://www.slashdot.org/~He+Who+Has+No+Name

Students are using AI-powered smart glasses to cheat on tests, [1]reports CNN . "And in East Asia's test-obsessed societies, where a single exam could impact the trajectory of a student's future career and social status, educators are scrambling to get ahead of the problem."

> Already, countries are stepping up inspections for test-takers. For China's [2]grueling annual college entrance exam earlier this month — which more than 10 million hopefuls take each year — authorities required screening of all glasses. In the United Kingdom, the head of England's exam watchdog warned earlier this month that AI glasses and smart devices like earpieces could [3]worsen cheating in exams... [T]wo incidents in South Korea were the country's first reported cases of cheating with AI glasses... In Taiwan, the university where a prospective student was caught cheating is now reviewing rules and standard operating procedures for AI eyewears during examinations.

>

> But experts worry these individual cases point to a more widespread issue. "If we're seeing a few cases being reported, we're seeing a lot more cases not being reported," said Thomas Corbin, lecturer at Deakin University in Australia, who has conducted research around the usage of AI-powered glasses and other smart devices in academic assessment. With the rapid development of AI technology, however, smart glasses are becoming slimmer, less noticeable, while integrating AI models that can operate independently with connectivity, raising concerns not only about exam integrity, but also about broader privacy risks... "Wearable AI is as much of a challenge to exams as ChatGPT was to essays in 2022 and I just don't think there is any real way that we can reliably have exam practices moving forward," Corbin said.



[1] https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/26/asia/ai-glasses-cheating-exams-intl-hnk

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-h13gktA7Y&list=PL6XRrncXkMaU2KTgzzxT6XwqmkNaFQCdV&index=2

[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cheating-in-exams-with-high-tech-smart-devices-poses-growing-threat-warns-ofqual-chief-in-new-podcast

When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D., it buried hundreds of [1]papyrus scrolls . They were rediscovered in the mid-1700s, [2]remembers Smithsonian magazine , "the [3]only surviving collection of its kind from the Greco-Roman world..."

"But when scholars tried to unroll them, the carbonized manuscripts crumbled to dust."

> Every generation that followed faced the same dilemma: They could wait for technology to advance, abandoning hope of reading the ancient texts in their own lifetime. Or they could try to open the scrolls themselves — and risk destroying them.

>

> In recent years, researchers have settled on a third option. Using advanced imaging and artificial intelligence, they're [4] [5]deciphering the scrolls without needing to unroll them at all.

>

> The [6]Vesuvius Challenge has accelerated the process by turning it into a public competition, complete with cash prizes. In 2023, a student won $40,000 for deciphering [7]a single word — "purple" — from an unopened scroll. Later, contestants would identify [8]2,000 Greek characters from one scroll ($700,000) and [9]the title of another ($60,000). Now, for the very first time, researchers have recovered [10]all surviving text from a single scroll. The nearly five-foot-long segment includes roughly 20 columns of ancient Greek philosophy, accessible for the first time in nearly 2,000 years.

"The tech actually does look like magic, but it's not," [11]Brent Seales , a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky, said at a [12]press conference . (The article points out that Seales partnered with two Silicon Valley investors in 2023 to launch the Vesuvius Challenge, and is now hailing "the restoration of lost voices from the ancient world."

> Seales has been working on virtually unwrapping the scrolls since the early 2000s. The process involved imaging the bundles of papyrus using technology similar to CT scanners, isolating thin layers and then stitching them together.... "We've developed a systematic and a repeatable approach," Seales told the audience. "Now it's only a matter of time until we read all of the scrolls."



[1] https://www.herculaneum.ox.ac.uk/index.php/papyri/

[2] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-have-deciphered-the-surviving-fragments-of-a-2000-year-old-philosophical-treatise-frozen-in-time-by-mount-vesuvius-eruption-180989036/

[3] https://www.herculaneum.ox.ac.uk/index.php/the-story-of-herculaneum/

[4] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/buried-ash-vesuvius-scrolls-are-being-read-new-xray-technique-180969358/

[5] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/buried-ash-vesuvius-scrolls-are-being-read-new-xray-technique-180969358/

[6] https://scrollprize.org/

[7] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-21-year-old-used-ai-to-decipher-text-from-a-scroll-that-hasnt-been-read-in-2000-years-180983084/

[8] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/three-students-decipher-first-passages-2000-year-old-scroll-burned-vesuvius-eruption-180983738/

[9] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-ancient-scrolls-have-been-a-tantalizing-mystery-for-2000-years-researchers-just-deciphered-a-title-for-the-first-time-180986639/

[10] https://scrollprize.org/firstscroll

[11] https://engr.uky.edu/people/brent-seales

[12] https://engr.uky.edu/herculaneum

The Los Angeles Police Department [1]says about 1,500 police agencies across America have drone programs, [2]reports SFGate , and 58 of those drone-using police agencies are in California.

The Sacramento County sheriff's office recently posted [3]drone footage on Instagram set to theme from " Mission: Impossible ," claiming "a nationwide first" where their drone successfully disarmed a felon "seen earlier with a firearm" (though now not moving, but holding a knife while lying face down in a garage). In the video the "not responding" suspect continues not moving as the drone dangles a magnet which catches on the knife. The drone then pulls multiple times until it comes out of the unmoving suspect's hand. The sheriff's office says their footage shows their drone "disarm an armed suspect, helping bring the incident to a safe resolution," in their post on Instagram, "rather than rush into a potentially deadly encounter..."

> Was he pretending to be dead or simply lying in wait for deputies to approach...?

>

> It's also worth noting that our drones are labeled as "military equipment" (even though anyone can purchase them at their local Walmart), but are really just another piece of technology helping deputies resolve dangerous situations safely. Their use protects both law enforcement personnel and suspects.

SFGate offers [4]more reports from around California :

> In Yucaipa, officials launched a Drone as First Responder (DFR) pilot program on May 28, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department announced [5]this month . According to the release, drones have already been used to respond to over 100 calls for service, arriving before deputies for 71% of them. "The drones also contributed to 12 arrests, assisted in locating persons of interest on 37 occasions, and provided aerial overwatch during 44 incidents," it continues, though details on how they assisted the police are unclear. The drones, manufactured by Skydio, were also used to locate a young person experiencing a mental health crisis and another person launching illegal fireworks.



[1] https://www.lapdonline.org/drone/

[2] https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-police-drone-responders-22315437.php

[3] https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ4-tdPtbey/

[4] https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-police-drone-responders-22315437.php

[5] https://nixle.us/HDYY5?_ga=2.10071797.1527361777.1782136382-1228344719.1778769615

Thursday the Free Software Foundation [1]blogged about this year's 47 'LibreLocal 2026' meetups , highlighting 10 that took place in Australia, Mexico, the United States, New Zealand, Cameroon, Switzerland, Spain, Argentina, China, and Iran. "Far from each other in many parts of the world, they came together around one unifying belief: free software."

> We envisioned LibreLocal as a collage of in-person community meetups that would bring people together to swap ideas, learn from each other, and celebrate free software. When we asked the free software community to organize LibreLocals last year, the response was very inspirational: 29 different meetups were hosted. After we made the global call this year, we were greeted with an even more enthusiastic response... Organizers hosted LibreLocals in cafes, bars, restaurants, libraries, universities, a computer repair shop, and even as part of a field trip to the System Source Museum, a museum dedicated to the history of computing in Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA.

>

> We also learned that a LibreLocal was organized inside Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad, Iran by a free software supporter. Originally planned to be held in Shiraz, we were informed of this change in location on the [2]LibreLocal wiki page set up for listing all LibreLocals. The updated entry, by another free software supporter in Iran, reads:

>

> "This year, one of our dedicated activists organized a LibrePlanet event from within prison in Iran. Currently serving a sentence for "cyber-crimes" related to his promotion of free software, he continues to introduce the principles of software freedom to his fellow inmates. We have placed this banner to honor his resilience and the community of individuals in prison who continue to stand for technological freedom. His identity will be revealed when it is safe to do so."

>

> Advocating for user freedom should never result in a prison sentence. We especially admire and respect the bravery and strength of those who fight for software freedom in the most dangerous and oppressive of environments.

50 people attended the LibreLocal meetup in Switzerland, according to one of the organizers, "forging connections between several local free software stakeholders and strengthening their cohesion." But the FSF's blog post stresses these are "ten stories among many more of free software supporters from across the globe... We also thank you our donors and associate members for the support that makes such meetups possible."

[3]The GNU Press Shop is now open through [4]July 19 for their biannual fundraiser, offering a variety of freedom-respecting novelties including an [5]FSF-branded antisurveillance webcam guard and both technical and philosophical books, like Richard Stallman's [6] Free as in Freedom (which [7]allegedly has turned up in Anthropic's training data ). Other items include a [8]slick new FSF logo sticker , a brass and zinc [9]GNU "emblem" pin with real gold plating, and a cheeky sticker reminding everyone that " [10]There is no cloud ." And there's even a [11]plush GNU toy .



[1] https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/2026-librelocal-report-part-1

[2] https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Librelocal/2026

[3] https://shop.fsf.org/?page=0

[4] https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/2026-gnu-press-shop-summer-opening

[5] https://shop.fsf.org/stickers/antisurveillance-webcam-guard

[6] https://shop.fsf.org/books-docs/free-freedom-20-richard-stallman

[7] https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/03/16/0539240/fsf-threatens-anthropic-over-infringed-copyright-share-your-llms-freely

[8] https://shop.fsf.org/stickers/new-fsf-logo-sticker-pack

[9] https://shop.fsf.org/gear/gnu-emblem-classic-pin

[10] https://shop.fsf.org/stickers/there-is-no-cloud

[11] https://shop.fsf.org/gear/stuffed-baby-gnu-2

[1]The Onion joked the new movie Supergirl is about a hero who must single-handedly save the world "after the catastrophic collapse of interest in the genre."

Unfortunately, [2] The Hollywood Reporter says the film's reviews "range from negative to tepid praise (averaging a 58 percent Rotten Tomatoes score)."

> Many point fingers at the film's script, with [3]Variety's line — "a comic-book movie with the worst script I can remember" — going viral... Not to pile on, but there's another recurring gripe from the reviews that stood out: Critics bashed the film as being murky, dark and gray, with poor VFX: "Muddy CG sludge" wrote one. Another said the film was full of "sludgy browns and grays" and "the visual murkiness of the settings makes it hard to follow the already unintelligible action sequences." A third wrote the "VFX is so rough it makes The Flash look like Avatar ." Moviegoers increasingly despise murky, dark visuals (often used to hide weak effects), along with obvious CGI and incoherent action. They've seen it so many times they've become allergic.

The Bulwark agrees that the action sequences are " [4]terribly lit, incoherently staged, and just generally weightless and ugly ... [I]t's reminiscent of the disaster that was The Flash : It's just very obvious during certain sequences that everyone was in a big green-screen warehouse and the camera was whipping around with the knowledge that everything would be painted in later, so who really gives a crap how anything looks on the day of."

But they also call the movie "a tremendous slog of a film, a real step backwards for the James Gunn-overseen DC Universe of movies and TV shows" that's "neither fun nor exciting" and "feels empty."

> The film does have one bright spot: Lobo, who is played by Jason Momoa as something like Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice by way of Jason Momoa's Aquaman. He's blustery and cantankerous and saucy and just a little menacing; it's a perfect piece of casting and a really nice performance. Unfortunately, it's the only spark of life in what is otherwise a deeply dour, deeply boring piece of filmmaking... Supergirl is just a misfire on nearly every level, one that lacks the sincerity and fun of last year's reboot of this universe or the comic pathos present in Gunn's Peacemaker series on HBO Max.

Reason calls it " [5]dark, depressive, and dull " and "a downer of a movie in nearly every way."

> It's not fun. It's barely even righteous. It's just miserable. At one point, Supergirl flat-out murders a guy by pushing a giant sword through his neck. Somehow, I suspect even Zack Snyder would be appalled.

[6] Time argued fans of last decade's superhero movies "should be demanding more, not less." Though "Will there be rioting in the streets once audiences get some idea of how lousy Supergirl is? Probably not."



[1] https://theonion.com/what-to-know-about-supergirl

[2] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/supergirl-box-office-house-of-the-dragon-review-1236630713/

[3] https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/james-gunn-called-supergirl-worst-051109241.html

[4] https://www.thebulwark.com/p/supergirl-review

[5] https://reason.com/2026/06/26/supergirl-is-a-bafflingly-grim-violent-and-depressing-take-on-the-superhero-movie/

[6] https://time.com/article/2026/06/25/supergirl-review/

Friday Bitcoin closed at just $59,948 — dropping 19% just for June and more than 50% lower than its record high in October of $124,310.

To commemorate the occasion CNBC [1]interviewed long-time bitcoin skeptic Jeremy Grantham , reporting that the 87-year-old cofounder/chief investment strategist of the massive asset-management firm GMO is "predicting it will gradually fade into irrelevance over decades."

> [The] longtime market commentator known for his calls on asset bubbles said bitcoin is a "useless, speculative" asset without intrinsic value, speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Friday. He also said bitcoin hasn't outperformed during a bull market and questioned its practical use. "[Over] years and years, decades and decades, it will dwindle away, I suspect — not with a bang, but a whimper," he said. "It's not a stable form of value — it just halved ... for no particular reason in a strong economy, so you can't depend on it in that way."

>

> He added that gold has still delivered solid gains over the same period, even after pulling back from its highs. Bitcoin not only hasn't proved itself as a useful asset to speculate on, it doesn't provide any real world utility either, Grantham argued. "People don't use it to make serious trades, they don't use it to buy their dinner and pay at the supermarket. ... What it does is allows crooks to move money around," he said.

>

> Bitcoin has become notorious over the years for its dramatic bear market crashes, which has taken it down at least 70% from its peak in every cycle.

The article adds that "many investors believe the current price slump could drag on for several more months."



[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/26/billionaire-investor-jeremy-grantham-says-bitcoin-will-dwindle-away-with-a-whimper.html

"The US government has allowed Anthropic to release its powerful Mythos AI model to select companies and organizations," [1]reports CNN , "revising license requirements after ordering an export block earlier this month in the wake of national security fears."

> Since the export ban earlier in June, "Anthropic has worked with the US government to address risks associated with the Covered Models," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote to the company in a letter dated Friday. In light of progress in that work, Lutnick wrote, "I have determined that appropriate safeguards are in place to permit certain trusted partners to access the Claude Mythos 5 Model."

>

> The letter does not include permission for Anthropic to release Fable, a less powerful version of Mythos. "We received notice from the US government that Mythos 5, our strongest cybersecurity model, can be redeployed to a small group of cyber defenders and infrastructure providers," Anthropic said in a statement...

>

> Conversations between Anthropic and the government are expected to continue into the weekend, with an eye to restoring access to Fable, as well, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN.



[1] https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/26/tech/anthropic-mythos-release

The Jerusalem Post reports that doctors at Haifa's Rambam Health Care Campus "have successfully treated their first Israeli opioid addiction patient using an experimental noninvasive brain technology, [1]easing him through withdrawal in just 20 minutes ..."

> [T]he team of specialists at the Haifa medical center intervened in the electrical activity of an area of the patient's brain called the nucleus accumbens, the core of the brain system responsible for feelings of satisfaction, pleasure, and reward. The treatment, based on technology from the Israeli company Insightec, is similar to the one used to treat symptoms of essential tremor and Parkinsonian tremor, under MRI control. In this case, the treatment was carried out with the help of a new technology that performs noninvasive neuromodulation, without heating or burning tissue, and allows stimulation in the same area of the brain to increase or suppress activity...

>

> "Tests carried out a week later produced negative results for opioids and other substances," [said Dr. Lior Lev-Tov, director of the functional neurosurgery unit in Rambam's neurosurgery division and the one leading the new study at the medical center.] "The patient himself reported a craving score of zero out of 10 for using the drug, and even another side effect, a drastic drop in the desire for cigarettes, from three packs a day to just a few cigarettes, and with no urge to use alcohol. In other words, in a treatment that lasted about 20 minutes net, our patient was completely freed from an extreme dependence that had accompanied him every day for years. This is nothing less than a medical and therapeutic revolution."

Dr. Lev-Tov added that "This experience opens doors for us to treat a wide range of very serious illnesses such as PTSD, OCD, eating disorders, other addictions, severe depression, severe pain disorders, and I hope we will also be able to reach cognitive areas and treat attention deficit disorders, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and more."

Thanks to Slashdot reader [2]Bruce66423 for sharing the article.



[1] https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-900599

[2] https://www.slashdot.org/~Bruce66423

SpaceX plans to begin [1]building an eight-mile natural gas pipeline called "Starpipe " next month to supply its Starbase launch site with fuel for a much higher cadence of Starship launches. The pipeline is expected to enter service in January 2027. Reuters reports:

> The pipeline plan, previously [2]reported by Rio Grande Valley Business Journal , signals Musk's intent to accelerate Starship's development and lay the groundwork for a faster flight rate. The 40-story rocket is central to SpaceX's push to expand its Starlink broadband network, deploy orbital AI data center satellites, and eventually carry astronauts to the moon and Mars.

>

> Designed to be fully reusable, Starship uses about 630,000 gallons (2.4 million liters) of liquid methane per launch, currently delivered by hundreds of tanker trucks in an hours-long process incompatible with Musk's expansion plans. Starship has completed 12 test launches since 2023, but Musk aims to ramp up to dozens, hundreds and eventually thousands of launches a year.

>

> Though it is unusual for a space company to build its own natural gas pipeline for launchpad fuel, Starpipe might only be an initial step in a longer-term plan for SpaceX, which has spent years exploring its own drilling operations near Starbase and throughout Texas, according to a Reuters review of Cameron County land records. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell [3]told CNBC on June 12, when the company went public, that the company planned to build pipelines and process its own propellant, and was looking into drilling its own natural gas.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/spacex-plans-build-starpipe-natural-gas-pipeline-fuel-starship-rockets-2026-06-25/

[2] https://www.rgvbusinessjournal.com/news/23/06/2026/spacex-is-planning-a-new-gas-pipeline-across-the-brownsville-ship-channel-heres-what-we-know/

[3] https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/06/12/spacex-president-and-coo-gwynne-shotwell-exclusive-interview.html

Microsoft has quietly [1]extended free Windows 10 security updates for consumers by another year , pushing the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program's end date [2]from October 12, 2026 , to October 12, 2027. "The [3]ESU support page was updated with that date, and Microsoft's [4]blog post on the program has a new editor's note confirming the change," reports Ars Technica. From the report:

> The prevalence of Windows across so many devices and form factors has given Microsoft a massive customer base for decades, but it has also stymied the company's efforts to roll out new operating systems. Microsoft famously extended the support window for Windows XP numerous times throughout the 2010s as it became apparent that millions of PCs would never be updated. Windows 10 isn't quite as entrenched as XP was, but it has still been a slog getting people to upgrade to Windows 11 even nearly five years after release.

>

> Unlike many past Windows updates, Windows 11 required some users to buy new PCs with specific CPU technologies and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). Microsoft was widely criticized for excluding perfectly serviceable PCs, and that's turning into a problem in 2026. The AI-driven shortage of storage and memory has made system upgrades vastly more expensive, potentially slowing upgrades. Some have also avoided Windows 11 due to Microsoft's intense focus on AI features.

>

> The result is that Windows 10 remains stubbornly popular. According to [5]StatCounter data , Windows 10 is still running on about 26 percent of PCs, while Windows 11 sits at 72 percent. That means there are still hundreds of millions of active Windows 10 installs, but those machines will be up to date for at least an additional year.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/microsoft-adds-another-year-to-windows-10-extended-update-program/

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/10/14/2043238/windows-10-support-ends-today

[3] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/extended-security-updates#cw

[4] https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2025/06/24/stay-secure-with-windows-11-copilot-pcs-and-windows-365-before-support-ends-for-windows-10

[5] https://gs.statcounter.com/windows-version-market-share/desktop/united-states-of-america

Researchers say they [1]detected the first gravitational-wave "fingerprints" of a black hole's event horizon by analyzing the final moments of the powerful GW250114 merger. The findings support Einstein's general relativity and may eventually help probe [2]frame dragging and [3]quantum fluctuations near black holes. Phys.org reports:

> For the new research [4]published in Nature , an international team of researchers analyzed data from the strongest gravitational wave ever recorded, [5]known as GW250114 , detected by the LIGO observatory in January 2025. By isolating the last burst of waves -- known as "direct waves" -- from this black hole merger, the scientists said they were able to extract information from closer to an event horizon than ever before. "This black hole horizon concept normally appears in science fiction," lead study author Sizheng Ma of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada [6]told AFP . "But now we are really able to touch the region around the horizon with gravitational data," he added. "Sometimes I cannot believe this is really happening."

>

> The last stage of two black holes merging is like a spoon stirring a glass of water, Ma explained. The resulting swirl in space creates the ripple of gravitational waves that travel at the speed of light in all directions. If the metaphorical spoon is stirring close enough to the black hole's event horizon, "this offers us a chance to decode the physics around that region," Ma said. By supporting the theory of general relativity, the results "proved that Einstein was correct again," he added.

>

> The scientists emphasized that more research was needed to decipher what can be gleaned about event horizons using this method. But they did detect information about how black holes twist space around themselves as they rotate -- a phenomenon known as "frame dragging." "This is similar to pushing a glass into a table and twisting it, so that the tablecloth winds up around it," Maximiliano Isi, a gravitational wave astrophysicist at Columbia University, told AFP. In the future, the scientists hope to find signs of tiny changes known as quantum fluctuations. "In this way, we can really probe this near-horizon region to look for new physics," including searching for a deviation from general relativity, Ma said.



[1] https://phys.org/news/2026-06-fingerprints-black-hole-event-horizon.html

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame-dragging

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_fluctuation

[4] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10696-0

[5] https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/09/11/2133252/gravitational-waves-finally-prove-stephen-hawkings-black-hole-theorem

[6] https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/fingerprints-black-holes-event-horizon-150738518.html

[1]schwit1 shares a report from The Wall Street Journal:

> The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has [2]ordered (PDF) urgent inspections of 16 Airbus A380 planes operated by Emirates and Qantas, after [3]cracks were found in a wing component on some aircraft (source paywalled; [4]alternative source ). . Cracks were found during earlier inspections of the wing spars structure, a key component of the wing, EASA said in a directive effective Wednesday. EASA determined that they "could reduce the structural integrity of the wing."

>

> "To address this potential unsafe condition, Airbus determined that an additional special detailed inspection has to be accomplished," EASA said. The first group of five aircraft, operated by Emirates, need to be inspected immediately, while the second group of 11 aircraft can be inspected later but within 25 flight cycles, EASA said in a separate statement. From the second group, 10 are operated by Emirates and one by Qantas, the aviation safety agency said.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1

[2] https://ad.easa.europa.eu/blob/EASA_AD_2026_0119_E.pdf/EAD_2026-0119-E_1

[3] https://www.wsj.com/business/sixteen-airbus-a380s-to-undergo-inspection-after-cracks-found-on-wings-d51229c1

[4] https://people.com/cracks-discovered-on-wings-of-airbus-a380s-prompt-urgent-inspection-of-aircraft-12005843

The Trump administration has reportedly [1]asked OpenAI to stagger the release of GPT-5.6 over security concerns. The model will initially be offered to a small group of partners, with the government "approving access customer by customer during this preview period," reports [2]The Information . The request came from conversations with the Office of the National Cyber Director and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the report said.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-administration-asks-openai-stagger-release-new-model-information-reports-2026-06-25/

[2] https://www.theinformation.com/articles/trump-administration-asks-openai-stagger-release-new-model-security-concerns

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters:

> Spain will [1]require mobile networks to have backup systems that maintain connectivity when power outages occur. [2]Per a royal decree that will be approved by the end of 2026, mobile network operators (MNOs) and infrastructure companies will need to install batteries or other backups to keep service active for at least four hours during a blackout.

>

> The mobile network rules will apply to businesses that serve at least 500,000 users or generate upwards of 50 million euros ($56.9 million) in annual revenue. The decree will stipulate that half of the population will need to be covered by this failsafe within the first year, then 65 percent in the second year and three quarters in the third.

>

> [...] The decree will require other key infrastructure elements to remain up and running for a certain period after a power outage. For instance, control centers that could impact all of Spain if they were to go offline will need to remain in service for at least 24 hours. Emergency call centers will also need to have plans in place to maintain operations, as [3]Reuters notes.

The move is in response to the [4]widespread blackout across the Iberian peninsula in 2025, which left more than 50 million people without power. Experts called it "the most severe and unprecedented blackout that had occurred in Europe in the past 20 years."



[1] https://www.engadget.com/2201931/spain-will-require-carriers-to-keep-mobile-networks-live-during-power-outages/

[2] https://digital.gob.es/comunicacion/notas-prensa/mtdfp/2026/06/oscar-lopez-anuncia-que-el-gobierno-obligara-a-mantener-la-cober

[3] https://www.reuters.com/world/spain-require-minimum-four-hour-mobile-coverage-power-outages-2026-06-25/

[4] https://slashdot.org/story/25/04/28/1245258/widespread-power-outage-is-reported-in-spain-france-and-portugal

Longtime Slashdot reader [1]schwit1 shares a report from autoevolution:

> The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security [2]denied Polestar an authorization under the Connected Vehicle Rule . Polestar will continue to sell its existing inventory of Polestar 3 and 4 crossovers in the United States and will continue to offer support to customers and access to its service network. But no new 2027 models will set wheels on American soil.

>

> The [3]Connected Vehicle Rule is a regulation that restricts the import and sale of vehicles equipped with Vehicle Connectivity Systems (VCS) and Automated Driving Systems (ADS) tied to foreign adversaries, primarily from China and Russia. Polestar is owned by Chinese auto giant Geely, which has also been the parent company of Swedish brand Volvo since 2010. However, Volvo has recently been granted authorization to sell connected vehicles in the United States.

>

> The rule, set out by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), classifies modern vehicles as mobile data centers and is designed to protect national security by keeping sensitive driver data and vehicle control systems out of the hands of foreign governments. Michael Lohscheller, Polestar CEO, confirms that the company is well aware that the automotive industry is entering a new phase, based on regional dynamics. So, Polestar will shift its strategy to its biggest market as it is preparing its exit from the U.S. market.

The report notes that Polestar sold 5,384 cars in the U.S. in 2025, with 60,119 units sold globally.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1

[2] https://www.autoevolution.com/news/polestar-banned-from-selling-cars-in-the-us-starting-with-model-year-2027-272042.html

[3] https://www.bis.gov/connected-vehicles