An anonymous reader shares a report:

> Elon Musk's AI startup xAI [1]sued Apple and ChatGPT maker OpenAI in U.S. federal court in Texas on Monday, accusing them of illegally conspiring to thwart competition for artificial intelligence.

>

> Musk earlier this month had [2]threatened to sue Cupertino, California-based Apple , saying in a post on his social media platform X that "Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store."



[1] https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/elon-musks-xai-sues-apple-openai-over-ai-competition-app-store-rankings-2025-08-25/

[2] https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/08/12/1412224/musk-threatens-immediate-legal-action-against-apple-over-alleged-antitrust-violations

Years of aggressive capacity expansion have [1]driven China's solar manufacturing sector into deep losses . Panel prices have hit their lowest levels since 2011 even as the country's installations more than doubled. Shanghai-listed Tongwei reported a 4.96 billion yuan ($693 million) net loss for the first half of 2025, widening from 3.13 billion yuan a year earlier, while Trina Solar swung to a 2.92 billion yuan loss from a prior-year profit.

Panel prices touched 8.7 cents per watt in July, forcing manufacturers to write down inventory values across the polysilicon-to-module supply chain. China installed 212.2 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity through June, bringing total installations to 1.1 terawatts, yet supply continues outpacing demand after seven major manufacturers posted their first combined annual loss in 2024. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology convened leading producers last week to urge shutdowns of outdated capacity, while the China Photovoltaic Industry Association pledged to tackle what it termed "involution-style" competition through strengthened self-discipline measures.



[1] https://asia.nikkei.com/business/energy/chinese-solar-makers-losses-deepen-as-industry-vows-to-end-price-war

DHL's German operations, facing the departure of one-third of support staff within five years, has [1]automated customer service calls and begun capturing institutional knowledge through AI-conducted exit interviews. The company's voicebot now processes one million monthly calls, resolving half without human intervention, though initial deployments struggled with basic German language recognition.

FT adds:

> At DHL in Germany, one in three staff working in support operations will retire in the next five years, taking with them decades of institutional memory. "Everyone in Germany understands that if you don't automate and use AI, you won't be able to deal with the shrinking workforce," says Gemein [chief information officer for post and parcels].



[1] https://www.ft.com/content/ce09786f-2481-44fe-957c-f7bb0b43e284

People in Mississippi no longer have access to Bluesky. "If you access Bluesky from a Mississippi IP address, you'll see a message explaining why the app isn't available," [1]announced a Bluesky blog post Friday .

The reason is a new Mississippi law that "requires all users to verify their ages before using common social media sites ranging from Facebook to Nextdoor," [2]noted NPR . Bluesky wrote that their block "will remain in place while the courts decide whether the law will stand."

> [U]nder the law, we would need to verify every user's age and obtain parental consent for anyone under 18. The potential penalties for non-compliance are substantial — up to $10,000 per user. Building the required verification systems, parental consent workflows, and compliance infrastructure would require significant resources that our small team is currently unable to spare.

Bluesky also notes that the law "requires collecting and storing sensitive personal information from all users...not just those accessing age-restricted content" — and that this information would include "detailed tracking of minors."

TechCrunch notes that [3]even blocking Mississippi has created some problems :

> Some Bluesky users outside Mississippi subsequently reported issues accessing the service due to their cell providers routing traffic through servers in the state, with CTO Paul Frazee responding Saturday that the company was "working deploy an update to our location detection that we hope will solve some inaccuracies." The company's blog post notes that its decision only applies to the Bluesky app built on the AT Protocol. Other apps may approach the decision differently.

Interestingly, the law had been immediately challenged by NetChoice (a trade [4]association of major tech companies ). But while a District Court agreed, blocking the law from going into effect (until court challenges finished), an Appeals Court then lifted that block. A final appeal to America's Supreme Court was unsuccessful — although the [5]ruling by Justice Kavanaugh suggests the law could be overturned later:

> "To be clear, NetChoice has, in my view, demonstrated that it is likely to succeed on the merits — namely, that enforcement of the Mississippi law would likely violate its members' First Amendment rights under this Court's precedents... [U]nder this Court's case law as it currently stands, the Mississippi law is likely unconstitutional. Nonetheless, because NetChoice has not sufficiently demonstrated that the balance of harms and equities favors it at this time, I concur in the Court's denial of the application for interim relief."



[1] https://bsky.social/about/blog/08-22-2025-mississippi-hb1126

[2] https://www.npr.org/2025/08/14/nx-s1-5482925/scotus-netchoice

[3] https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/24/bluesky-blocks-service-in-mississippi-over-age-assurance-law/

[4] https://netchoice.org/about/#association-members

[5] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a97_5h25.pdf

Yahoo Finance interviews Peter Cappelli, a Wharton professor of management, on " [1]the business case for employers pushing for workers to get back to the office ." (Cappelli has co-written a new book with workplace strategist Ranya Nehmeh titled [2]In Praise of the Office: The Limits to Hybrid and Remote Work ...)

> Yahoo Finance: What's wrong with a hybrid work arrangement?

>

> Cappelli: People just don't come in. That's maybe the single biggest factor. There is a growing awareness that people are really never there on their anchor days. If you want that for your company, you have to manage that attendance...

>

> Yahoo Finance: What's the compelling advantage of in-person work?

>

> Cappelli: There's value in human interaction, what we learn from each other, the cooperation that we can get in solving problems, and the motivation and commitment that comes from being around other people... When you first began your career, imagine what it would've been like if no one was in the office. You'd be completely lost.

>

> If you think about how we learn about office work, we learn by watching. You learn what the values of the organization are. You learn it from the conversations in the office. You can see how the boss reacts to different requests and different problems. As you advance, you've got your ear to the ground, and you've got the opportunity to raise your hand and pitch in and have some influence. You can catch the boss between meetings and pass along a little tidbit of information, and you develop relationships with people where you can solve problems... Those are the kind of things that we miss when we move to remote — in addition to the general fact that people are energized by working with people.

>

> With remote work, people also spend more time in meetings that are worthless. A lot of those things could be fixed, but the problem is they're not.

He argues remote work isn't as widespread as it seems. ("In Europe, for example, where employees have always had more power, I figured remote work would stay. It hasn't. Most everybody's gone back to the office.") Even in the U.S., 70% of employers are in-office, all the time. ("[M]ost employers are small. Remote work and hybrid work, in particular, is largely a big city, big company phenomenon... It's only white-collar jobs.")

And fewer jobs offered are being offered with remote-working options, he believes, now that the labor market has softened. "CEOs are now thinking we're losing something, and the employee resistance to return to the office has weakened.... The longer you wait, the harder it is to ever get people to come back without a big fight. "

> Cappelli: Right now, people might be saying, 'I will quit if I have to go back to the office,' but it turns out they don't mean it. The reason, of course, is it's one thing to say that you will quit; it's another to actually walk away from a paycheck...

>

> If you opt for remote or hybrid, good outcomes don't happen by themselves. You can make it work, but it requires more time and effort for management, more rules, more practices, more leadership.



[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/author-getting-employees-back-to-the-office-is-at-an-inflection-point-201435253.html

[2] https://www.pennpress.org/9781613631935/in-praise-of-the-office/

More than 30,000 Python developers from around the world answered questions for the Python Software Foundation's [1]annual survey — and PSF Fellow Michael Kennedy [2]tells the Python community what they've learned in a new blog post . Some highlights:

> Most still use older Python versions despite benefits of newer releases ... Many of us (15%) are running on the very latest released version of Python, but more likely than not, we're using a version a year old or older (83%). [Although less than 1% are using "Python 3.5 or lower".] The survey also indicates that many of us are using Docker and containers to execute our code, which makes this 83% or higher number even more surprising... You simply choose a newer runtime, and your code runs faster. CPython has been extremely good at backward compatibility. There's rarely significant effort involved in upgrading... [He calculates some cloud users are paying up to $420,000 and $5.6M more in compute costs.] If your company realizes you are burning an extra $0.4M-$5M a year because you haven't gotten around to spending the day it takes to upgrade, that'll be a tough conversation...

>

> Rust is how we speed up Python now ... The Python Language Summit of 2025 [3]revealed that "Somewhere between one-quarter and one-third of all native code being uploaded to PyPI for new projects uses Rust", indicating that "people are choosing to start new projects using Rust". Looking into the survey results, we see that Rust usage grew from 27% to 33% for binary extensions to Python packages... [The blog post later advises Python developers to learn to read basic Rust, "not to replace Python, but to complement it," since Rust "is becoming increasingly important in the most significant portions of the Python ecosystem."]

>

> PostgreSQL is the king of Python databases , and only it's growing, going from 43% to 49%. That's +14% year over year, which is remarkable for a 28-year-old open-source project... [E]very single database in the top six grew in usage year over year. This is likely another indicator that web development itself is growing again, as discussed above...

>

> [N]early half of the respondents (49%) plan to try AI coding agents in the coming year. Program managers at major tech companies have stated that they almost cannot hire developers who don't embrace agentic AI. The productive delta between those using it and those who avoid it is simply too great (estimated at about 30% greater productivity with AI).

It's their eighth annual survey (conducted in collaboration with JetBrains last October and November). But even though Python is 34 years old, it's still evolving. "In just the past few months, we have seen two new high-performance typing tools released," notes the blog post. (The ty and Pyrefly typecheckers — both written in Rust.) And Python 3.14 will be the first version of Python to completely support free-threaded Python...

> Just last week, the steering council and core developers officially accepted this as a permanent part of the language and runtime... Developers and data scientists will have to think more carefully about threaded code with locks, race conditions, and the performance benefits that come with it. Package maintainers, especially those with native code extensions, may have to rewrite some of their code to support free-threaded Python so they themselves do not enter race conditions and deadlocks.

>

> There is a massive upside to this as well. I'm currently writing this on the cheapest Apple Mac Mini M4. This computer comes with 10 CPU cores. That means until this change manifests in Python, the maximum performance I can get out of a single Python process is 10% of what my machine is actually capable of. Once free-threaded Python is fully part of the ecosystem, I should get much closer to maximum capacity with a standard Python program using threading and the async and await keywords.

Some other notable findings from the survey:

Data science is now over half of all Python. This year, 51% of all surveyed Python developers are involved in data exploration and processing, with pandas and NumPy being the tools most commonly used for this.

Exactly 50% of respondents have less than two years of professional coding experience! And 39% have less than two years of experience with Python (even in hobbyist or educational settings)...

"The survey tells us that one-third of devs contributed to open source. This manifests primarily as code and documentation/tutorial additions."



[1] https://lp.jetbrains.com/python-developers-survey-2024/

[2] https://blog.jetbrains.com/pycharm/2025/08/the-state-of-python-2025/

[3] https://pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/06/python-language-summit-2025-what-do-core-developers-want-from-rust.html

"For a few dozen people in the world, the downside of living with a rare immune condition comes with a surprising superpower — the ability to fight off all viruses..." notes [1]an announcement from Columbia University . "At first, the condition only seemed to increase vulnerability to some bacterial infections. But as more patients were identified, its unexpected antiviral benefits became apparent."

> Columbia immunologist Dusan Bogunovic discovered the individuals' antiviral powers about 15 years ago, soon after he identified the genetic mutation that causes the condition... Bogunovic, a professor of pediatric immunology at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, soon learned that everyone with the mutation, which causes a deficiency in an immune regulator called ISG15, has mild, but persistent systemic inflammation... "In the back of my mind, I kept thinking that if we could produce this type of light immune activation in other people, we could protect them from just about any virus," Bogunovic says.

>

> Today, Bogunovic is closing in on a therapeutic strategy that could provide that broad-spectrum protection against viruses and become an important weapon in next pandemic. In his latest study, published August 13 in Science Translational Medicine , Bogunovic and his team report that an experimental therapy they've developed temporarily gives recipients (hamsters and mice, so far) the same antiviral superpower as people with ISG15 deficiency. When administered prophylactically into the animals' lungs via a nasal drip, the therapy prevented viral replication of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses and lessened disease severity. In cell culture, "we have yet to find a virus that can break through the therapy's defenses," Bogunovic says...

>

> Bogunovic's therapeutic turns on production of 10 proteins that are primarily responsible for the broad antiviral protection. The current design resembles COVID mRNA vaccines but with a twist: Ten mRNAs encoding the 10 proteins are packaged inside a lipid nanoparticle. Once the nanoparticles are absorbed by the recipient's cells, the cells generate the ten host proteins to produce the antiviral protection. "We only generate a small amount of these ten proteins, for a very short time, and that leads to much less inflammation than what we see in ISG15-deficient individuals," Bogunovic says. "But that inflammation is enough to prevent antiviral diseases...."

>

> "We believe the technology will work even if we don't know the identity of the virus," Bogunovic says. Importantly, the antiviral protection provided by the technology will not prevent people from developing their own immunological memory to the virus for longer-term protection.

"Our findings reinforce the power of research driven by curiosity without preconceived notions," Bogunovic [2]says in the announcement . "We were not looking for an antiviral when we began studying our rare patients, but the studies have inspired the potential development of a universal antiviral for everyone."

[3]More coverage from ScienceAlert .



[1] https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/one-universal-antiviral-rule-them-all

[2] https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/one-universal-antiviral-rule-them-all

[3] https://www.sciencealert.com/recreating-a-rare-mutation-could-grant-almost-universal-virus-immunity-for-days

"A fierce dust storm hit the Black Rock Desert on the eve of its annual Burning Man festival," [1]reports the San Francisco Chronicle , "causing at least four minor injuries and damaging campsites that had been set up early." [ [2]Alternate URL ]

"Winds of up to 50 mph stirred up the lake bed's alkaline dust so ferociously that participants in the annual art and culture festival reported not being able to see beyond a foot... "

> The dust storm arrived Saturday evening after strong thunderstorms in the Sierra Nevada drifted off the mountains and whipped up strong winds in the Nevada desert... At 5:14 p.m. Saturday, the weather service issued a [3]dust storm advisory for Black Rock City and warned of "a wall of blowing dust coming off the Smoke Creek and Black Rock Desert playa areas is tracking northward at around 30 mph." The agency warned of visibility less than 1 mile and wind gusts exceeding 45 mph. A weather station at Black Rock City Airport measured gusts up to 52 mph at 5:50 p.m... ["We saw structures being [4]ripped and torn down by the wind speeds even though we buttoned everything down as best as we could..." one Burner told the Chronicle.] Camp residents posted a slew of videos to social media featuring [5]dust tornadoes , [6]destroyed campsites , and fellow campers [7]struggling to hold onto bucking canvases as the wind threatened to rip them away. "Every popup canopy I've seen has been destroyed," one Burner wrote [8]on Reddit ... ["Make sure you carry your particle/dust mask and goggles with you when you venture out on playa!" warns Burning Man's [9]official weather page .]

>

> Even after Saturday's storm, Burners won't be out of the woods from hazardous weather. The weather service warned of possible monsoon thunderstorms and heavy rain Sunday through Wednesday, raising concerns that this year's festival could echo disastrous 2023 conditions, when [10]heavy storms stranded tens of thousands of attendees amid thick mud. "It's becoming increasingly likely that we could see an even greater flash flood threat," the weather service wrote in an [11]online forecast . "If you're on the playa at the Black Rock Desert, you may very well be in for a muddy mess Monday through Wednesday." Slow-moving storms could drop an inch of rain or more in a short period.

"Still, gates to the festival had opened by Sunday morning," the article adds, "with organizers cautioning new arrivals to 'drive safely!'"

Burning Man's official weather page currently links to a National Weather Service page [12]with a "Flood Watch" warning through 9 p.m. Sunday, and also predicting a chance of thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/extreme-weather-events/dust-storm-flips-tents-at-burning-man-as-forecasters-warn-of-looming-flood-danger/ar-AA1L7RiV

[2] https://www.sfchronicle.com/us-world/article/burning-man-dust-storm-20994950.php

[3] https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=rev&issuedby=REV&product=DSW

[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/1mz1j7v/its_not_the_size_of_the_lag_bolt_that_screwed_you/

[5] https://www.tiktok.com/@johnnydiggz/video/7541956732314995998?_r=1&_t=ZP-8z9MbPoPmG7

[6] https://www.tiktok.com/@angiepeacockmsw/video/7541995887623425311?_t=ZP-8z9MfPkCKwY&_r=1

[7] https://www.tiktok.com/@andreatamanas/video/7541969367009987871?_r=1&_t=ZP-8z9MZgLF1mZ

[8] https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/1myiemv/comment/nadmdyj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[9] https://burningman.org/event/preparation/playa-living/weather/

[10] https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/burning-man-effigy-18345243.php

[11] https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=rev&issuedby=REV&product=AFD

[12] https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?x=160&y=75&site=rev&zmx=&zmy=&map_x=160&map_y=75

After the Tea dating-advice app leaked information on its users, [1]the BBC found two online maps "purporting to represent the locations of women who had signed up for Tea... showing 33,000 pins spread across the United States." The maps were hosted on Google Maps. (Notified by the BBC, Google deleted the maps, saying they violated their harassment policies.)

"Since the breach, more than 10 women have filed class actions against the company which owns Tea," the article points out, noting that leaked content is also spreading around social media:

> Since the breach, the BBC has found websites, apps and even a "game" featuring the leaked data... The "game" puts the selfies submitted by women head-to-head, instructing users to click on the one they prefer, with leaderboards of the "top 50" and "bottom 50"... [And one researcher calculates more than 12,000 posts on 4Chan referenced the Tea app over the three weeks after the leak.]

>

> It is unsurprising that the leak was exploited. The app had drawn criticism ever since it had grown in popularity. Defamation, with the spread of unproven allegations, and doxxing, when someone's identifying information is published without their consent, were real possibilities. Men's groups had wanted to take the app down — and when they found the data breach, they saw it as a chance for retribution.

They weren't the only ones with a gripe against Tea. Back in 2023 the fiance of Tea's CEO founder approached the administrator of a collection of Facebook groups called "Are We Dating the Same Guy?" to see if she'd be the "face" of the Tea app, [2]reports 404 Media . But they add that after Tea failed to recruit her, Tea "shifted tactics" to raid her Facebook groups instead:

> Tea paid influencers to undermine Are We Dating the Same Guy and created competing Facebook groups with nearly identical names. 404 Media also identified a number of seemingly hijacked Facebook accounts that spammed the real Are We Dating The Same Guy groups with links to Tea app.

Reviews for the Tea app show several women later thought the app was affiliated with their trusted Facebook groups, the reporter said this week [3]on a 404 Media podcast .

And they add that founder Sean Cook took over the "Tara" personna that his fiance has used for technical support. "So he's on the app pretend to be a woman, talking to other women who are on the app in order to weed out men who are being deceptive..."

Thanks to Slashdot reader [4]samleecole for sharing the article.



[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce87rer52k3o

[2] https://www.404media.co/how-teas-founder-convinced-millions-of-women-to-spill-their-secrets-then-exposed-them-to-the-world/

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRFaNoU-cGI

[4] https://www.slashdot.org/~samleecole

"The truly universal properties of languages are not independent of our physiology and cognition," argues the co-author of a new study. Instead he says their research "strengthens the idea that intonation units are a universal feature of language."

[1]Phys.org explains :

> Have you ever noticed that a natural conversation flows like a dance — pauses, emphases, and turns arriving just in time? A new study has discovered that this isn't just intuition; there is a biological rhythm embedded in our speech...

>

> According to the study, led by Dr. Maya Inbar, alongside Professors Eitan Grossman and Ayelet N. Landau, human speech across the world pulses to the beat of what are called intonation units, short prosodic phrases that occur at a consistent rate of one every 1.6 seconds. The research analyzed over 650 recordings in 48 languages spanning every continent and 27 language families. Using a novel algorithm, the team was able to automatically identify intonation units in spontaneous speech, revealing that regardless of the language spoken, from English and Russian to endangered languages in remote regions, people naturally break their speech into these rhythmic chunks. "These findings suggest that the way we pace our speech isn't just a cultural artifact, it's deeply rooted in human cognition and biology," says Dr. Inbar.

>

> "We also show that the rhythm of intonation units is unrelated to faster rhythms in speech, such as the rhythm of syllables, and thus likely serves a different cognitive role...." Most intriguingly, the low-frequency rhythm they follow mirrors patterns in brain activity linked to memory, attention, and volitional action, illuminating the profound connection between how we speak and how we think.

The work is [2]published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .



[1] https://phys.org/news/2025-08-universal-rhythm-global-analysis-reveals.html

[2] https://pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2425166122

"The ultimate test of climate projections is to compare them with what has played out..." says earth sciences professor Torbjörn Törnqvist, lead author on [1]a new study published in the open-access journal Earth's Future (published by the American Geophysical Union).

But after "decades of observations," he says his researchers "were [2]quite amazed how good those early projections were , especially when you think about how crude the models were back then, compared to what is available now."

> "For anyone who questions the role of humans in changing our climate, here is some of the best proof that we have understood for decades what is really happening, and that we can make credible projections...."

>

> A new era of monitoring global sea-level change took off when satellites were launched in the early 1990s to measure the height of the ocean surface. This showed that the rate of global sea-level rise since that time has averaged about one eighth of an inch per year. Only more recently, it became possible to detect that the rate of global sea-level rise is accelerating. When NASA researchers demonstrated in October 2024 that the rate has doubled during this 30-year period, the time was right to compare this finding with projections that were made during the mid-1990s, independent of the satellite measurements.

>

> In 1996, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published an assessment report soon after the satellite-based sea-level measurements had started. It projected that the most likely amount of global sea-level rise over the next 30 years would be almost 8 centimeters (3 inches), remarkably close to the 9 centimeters that has occurred.

>

> But it also underestimated the role of melting ice sheets by more than 2 centimeters (about 1 inch). At the time, little was known about the role of warming ocean waters and how that could destabilize marine sectors of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from below. Ice flow from the Greenland Ice Sheet into the ocean has also been faster than foreseen.

"The findings provide confidence in model-based climate projections," [3]according to the paper . Again, its two key points:

The largest disparities between projections and observations were due to underestimated dynamic mass loss of ice sheets

Comparison of past projections with subsequent observations gives confidence in future climate projections

Thanks to Slashdot reader [4]Mr. Dollar Ton for sharing the news.



[1] https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025EF006533

[2] https://news.tulane.edu/pr/study-finds-sea-level-projections-1990s-were-spot

[3] https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025EF006533

[4] https://slashdot.org/~Mr.+Dollar+Ton

"Delta Air Lines Flight 1334 was flying from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale last month when smoke and flames started pouring out of a backpack," [1]reports CNN . "The pilots declared an emergency and diverted to Fort Meyers where the 191 people onboard safely evacuated."

> The culprit was a passenger's personal lithium-ion battery pack, which had been tucked away in the carry-on bag. At the FAA's William J. Hughes Technical Center for Advanced Aerospace in Atlantic City, New Jersey, fire safety engineers research and demonstrate just how bad it can be. "Lithium batteries can go into what's called thermal runaway," Fire Safety Branch Manager Robert Ochs, explained. "All of a sudden, it'll start to short circuit ... It will get warmer and warmer and warmer until the structure of the battery itself fails. At that point, it can eject molten electrolyte and flames and smoke and toxic gas...."

>

> These thermal runaways are difficult to fight. The FAA recommends flight attendants first use a halon fire extinguisher, which is standard equipment on planes, but that alone may not be enough. In the test performed for CNN, the flames sprung back up in just moments... "Adding the water, as much water from the galley cart, non-alcoholic liquids, everything that they can get to just start pouring on that device." The problems are not new, but more batteries are being carried onto planes than ever before. Safety organization UL Standards and Engagement says today an average passenger flies with four devices powered by lithium-ion batteries. "The incidents of fire are rare, but they are increasing. We're seeing as many as two per week, either on planes or within airports," Jeff Marootian, the president and CEO of the organization, told CNN...

>

> [T]he latest federal data shows external battery packs are the top cause of incidents, and as a result the FAA has banned them from checked baggage where they are harder to extinguish. But despite all of the warnings, UL Standards and Engagement says two in five passengers still say they check them.



[1] https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/22/travel/battery-fire-risks-planes

[1]The Hill reports :

> Russian state-sponsored hackers have targeted thousands of networking devices associated with U.S. critical infrastructure sectors over the past year, [2]the FBI warned Wednesday . The cyber actors are associated with the Russian Federal Security Service's (FSB) Center 16 and have taken aim at a vulnerability in certain Cisco devices, according to an agency public service announcement.

>

> In some cases, hackers have been able to modify configuration files to enable unauthorized access, which they have used to conduct reconnaissance on networks. This has "revealed their interest in protocols and applications commonly associated with industrial control systems," the FBI said.

>

> Cisco's threat intelligence research arm, Talos, explained in a separate advisory that a subcluster of this group, which it has named "Static Tundra," is targeting a seven-year-old vulnerability in the company's Smart Install feature. The firm has offered a patch for the vulnerability, but it remains a problem in unpatched and end-of-life network devices, it warned.

"Once they establish initial access to a network device, Static Tundra will pivot further into the target environment, compromising additional network devices and establishing channels for long-term persistence and information gathering," warns [3]the Talos blog . "This is demonstrated by the group's ability to maintain access in target environments for multiple years without being detected."

In [4]a statement emailed to The Register , a Cisco spokesperson "said the company is aware of ongoing exploitation targeting this flaw."

> "We strongly urge customers to immediately upgrade to fixed software versions as outlined in [5]the security advisory and follow our published security best practices," the spokesperson said, directing customers to the FBI's announcement and Cisco Talos blog for additional details.

>

> The ongoing campaign targets telecommunications, higher education, and manufacturing organizations across North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, "with victims selected based on their strategic interest to the Russian government," according to Talos researchers Sara McBroom and Brandon White. "We assess that the purpose of this campaign is to compromise and extract device configuration information en masse, which can later be leveraged as needed based on then-current strategic goals and interests of the Russian government," McBroom and White [6]wrote .

>

> And while both security alerts focus on the FSB's latest round of network intrusions, "many other state-sponsored actors also covet the access these devices afford," the Talos team warned. "Organizations should be aware that other advanced persistent threats (APTs) are likely prioritizing carrying out similar operations as well."

Some [7]context from Hot Hardware :

> Cisco indicated in its advisory that "Only Smart Install client switches are affected by the vulnerability". The list of affected devices is in Table A-1 here. For a successful attack, hackers exploit a vulnerability tracked as CVE-2018-0171. This was a vulnerability that was patched way back in 2018.



[1] https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5463287-russian-hackers-targeting-critical-infrastructure-it-systems-fbi/

[2] https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250820

[3] https://blog.talosintelligence.com/static-tundra/

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/20/russian_fsb_cyberspies_exploiting_cisco_bug/

[5] https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/csa/cisco-sa-20180328-smi2.html

[6] https://blog.talosintelligence.com/static-tundra/

[7] https://hothardware.com/news/fbi-warns-cisco-device-russian-hacking

"Good news, everyone! The new version of Mozilla's browser now makes even more extensive use of AI," [1]writes the Register , "providing summaries of linked content and offering developers the ability to add LLM support to extensions."

> Firefox 142 brings some visible shininess, but due to the combination of regional restrictions and Mozilla's progressive rollout system, not everybody can see all the features just yet... Not geofenced but subject to phased rollout are link previews, for various native-English-speaking regions. Hover over, long-press, or right-click a link and pick Preview Link, and a summary should appear. [2]Mozilla's summary says : "Previews can optionally include AI-generated key points, which are processed on your device to protect your privacy."

"Link Previews is gradually rolling out to ensure performance and quality," Firefox says [3]in their release notes , "and is now available in en-US, en-CA, en-GB, en-AU for users with more than 3 GB of available RAM." (The notes also add a welcome for "the developers who contributed their first code change to Firefox in this release, 20 of whom were brand new volunteers!")

The Register notes that Firefox 142 also gives developers the ability to add LLM support to extensions using [4]wllama , a Wasm binding interfacing with llama.cpp, which lets you run Meta's Llama LLM and other models, locally or in the cloud.



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/22/firefox_142/

[2] https://www.firefox.com/en-US/firefox/142.0/releasenotes/

[3] https://www.firefox.com/en-US/firefox/142.0/releasenotes/

[4] https://github.com/ngxson/wllama/

The BBC reports a growing trend in music: "for established (but not superstar) artists to be [1]targeted by fake albums or songs that suddenly appear on their pages on Spotify and other streaming services."

> Even dead musicians have had AI-generated "new" material added to their catalogues... According to music industry analysts Luminate, about [2]99,000 songs are uploaded to streaming services every day , usually via dozens of distribution services, which ask the uploader to submit the artist's details. If that information is incorrect, and a song wrongly gets listed under an existing artist's name, it's down to them or their label to complain and get it removed.

Spotify took three weeks to remove fakes of folk singer/songwriter Emily Portman, according to the article, "and she still hasn't regained control of her Spotify artist profile... Considering how the streaming era has already made a big dent in many artists' incomes, Emily Portman says this affair has felt like a "very low blow"... She suspects independent artists are being targeted because star names have more protection and more power to get fraudulent releases removed swiftly."

But it's also happened to "a number of Americana and folk-rock artists who have had fake tracks posted using their names in recent weeks — apparently all from the same source," including Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, J Tillman (now known as Father John Misty), Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine), Teddy Thompson and Jakob Dylan:

> All the releases used the same style of AI artwork and were credited to three record labels, two with apparently Indonesian names. Many listed the same name as a songwriter — Zyan Maliq Mahardika. That name has also been credited on other songs mimicking real US Christian musicians and metalcore bands. Spotify said it had flagged the issue with the distributor and removed these tracks as they "violated our policy against impersonating another person or brand." It added it would "remove any distributor who repeatedly allows this type of content on our platform"....

>

> Tatiana Cirisano from media and technology analysis company Midia Research says AI is "making it easier for fraudsters" to fool listeners, who are also more "passive" in the algorithmic age. She thinks bad actors posing as real-life artists are hoping their fraudulent tracks will "rack up enough streams" — hundreds of thousands — to earn them a nice payday. "I would think that the AI fakes are targeting lesser-known artists in the hopes that their schemes fly under the radar, compared to if they were to target a superstar who could immediately get Spotify on the line," she notes.

>

> But streaming services and distributors are "working hard" and getting better at spotting it, she stresses, "ironically, also by using AI and machine learning!



[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clydz8d03dvo

[2] https://luminatedata.com/reports/yearend-music-industry-report-2024/

"Google has confirmed that its Battery Health Assistance feature can't be turned off on the Pixel 10 phones," [1]reports Android Authority :

> Google introduced a [2]Battery Health Assistance feature on the Pixel 9a earlier this year. This feature gradually drops your phone's charging speed and battery voltage in the name of battery health. This tool is mandatory on the Pixel 9a but optional on other Pixel phones. However, there's bad news for the Pixel 10 series. Google confirmed to Android Authority that Battery Health Assistance is mandatory on the Pixel 10 series and can't be disabled. That means your phone's charging speed and effective battery life will drop over time...

>

> All smartphone batteries degrade over time, resulting in shorter and shorter endurance. Google [3]says the Pixel 8a and newer Pixel phones can withstand 1,000 charging cycles before their batteries drop down to 80% effective capacity. However, this Battery Health Assistance feature essentially reduces the phone's battery capacity over and above standard degradation. This is particularly disappointing as users aren't given a choice in the matter.

>

> It's also disappointing as some rival smartphone makers address battery health concerns by offering more durable batteries. For example, Samsung's top phones can [4]withstand 2,000 charging cycles before dropping down to 80% effective capacity, while OnePlus and OPPO's lithium-ion batteries offer 1,600 cycles before reaching 80% capacity. So there likely wouldn't be a need for a Battery Health Assistance tool if Google's batteries had similar longevity.

"The issue also comes after several older Pixel A series models suffered from [5]major battery issues in 2025..."



[1] https://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-10-battery-health-assistance-3585863/

[2] https://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-9a-battery-health-assistance-3540234/

[3] https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/15738128?hl=en

[4] https://www.androidauthority.com/smartphone-battery-cycles-3573442/

[5] https://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-battery-issues-recommendations-3566778/

The mysterious X-37B space-plane — the U.S. military's orbital test vehicle — "serves partly as a platform for cutting-edge experiments," [1]writes Space.com

And "one of these experiments is a potential alternative to GPS that makes use of quantum science as a tool for navigation: a quantum inertial sensor."

> This technology could revolutionize how spacecraft, airplanes, ships and submarines navigate in environments where GPS is unavailable or compromised. In space, especially beyond Earth's orbit, GPS signals become unreliable or simply vanish. The same applies underwater, where submarines cannot access GPS at all. And even on Earth, GPS signals can be [2]jammed (blocked), [3]spoofed (making a GPS receiver think it is in a different location) or disabled — for instance, during a conflict... Traditional [4]inertial navigation systems , which use accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure a vehicle's acceleration and rotation, do provide independent navigation, as they can estimate position by tracking how the vehicle moves over time... Eventually though, without visual cues, small errors will accumulate and you will entirely lose your positioning...

>

> At very low temperatures, atoms obey the rules of quantum mechanics: they behave like waves and can exist in multiple states simultaneously — two properties that lie at the heart of quantum inertial sensors. The [5]quantum inertial sensor aboard the X-37B uses a technique called [6]atom interferometry , where atoms are cooled to the temperature of near absolute zero, so they behave like waves. Using fine-tuned lasers, each atom is split into what's called a superposition state, similar to Schrödinger's cat, so that it simultaneously travels along two paths, which are then recombined.

>

> Since the atom behaves like a wave in quantum mechanics, these two paths interfere with each other, creating a pattern similar to overlapping ripples on water. Encoded in this pattern is detailed information about how the atom's environment has affected its journey. In particular, the tiniest shifts in motion, like sensor rotations or accelerations, leave detectable marks on these atomic "waves". Compared to classical inertial navigation systems, quantum sensors offer orders of magnitude greater sensitivity. Because atoms are identical and do not change, unlike mechanical components or electronics, they are far less prone to drift or bias. The result is long duration and high accuracy navigation without the need for external references.

>

> The upcoming X-37B mission will be the first time this level of quantum inertial navigation is tested in space.

The article points out that a quantum navigation system could be crucial "for future space exploration, such as to the Moon, Mars or even deep space," where autonomy is key and when signals from Earth are unavailable.

"While quantum computing and quantum communication often steal headlines, systems like quantum clocks and quantum sensors are likely to be the first to see widespread use."



[1] https://www.space.com/technology/us-space-forces-secretive-x-37b-space-plane-will-test-quantum-alternative-to-gps-navigation

[2] https://www.space.com/gps-signal-jamming-explainer-russia-ukraine-invasion

[3] https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/satellite-jamming-is-a-real-and-growing-threat-how-can-we-protect-our-space-infrastructure

[4] https://aerospace.honeywell.com/us/en/about-us/blogs/what-is-an-inertial-navigation-system

[5] https://www.diu.mil/latest/advancing-quantum-sensing-for-the-dod-from-lab-to-orbit-within-months

[6] https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.10976

Archer Aviation is "the official air taxi partner" of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Electrek [1]reported in May . In June it entered "a [2]key development phase ahead of full-fledged flight certification and commercial operations" by completing [3]a piloted flight in its flagship Midnight aircraft, "demonstrating a conventional takeoff and landing instead of vertical (it can do both)."

> During that flight, which took place in the skies above Salinas, California, the eVTOL achieved a top speed of 125 mph and a maximum altitude of 1,500 feet above ground level. Most recently, Archer has taken its Midnight eVTOL above Salinas again, achieving its longest flight to date. [4]Per Archer , the recent successful flight in California lasted 31 minutes, and the piloted Midnight eVTOL traveled 55 miles — the company's longest recorded flight yet with a pilot onboard... [Again with speeds exceeding 125 mph]

>

> United Airlines CFO Mike Leskinen, who led the airline's early investment in Archer Aviation, was present at the test facility to witness the milestone flight. Leskinen congratulated the Archer team on its longest eVTOL flight and expressed his satisfaction with the Midnight aircraft's quiet operation.

Their aircraft even "reached speeds of nearly 150 miles per hour" the week before, according to [5]Archer's announcement . They're calling it another milestone "as the company advances toward FAA certification in the U.S. and near-term commercialization in the United Arab Emirates."

And Archer's Founder/CEO said crossing the 50-mile mark at speed "is another clear step toward commercialization that shows the maturity of our program."



[1] https://electrek.co/2025/05/15/archer-aviation-exclusive-air-taxi-provider-2028-olympic-games-la/

[2] https://electrek.co/2025/06/02/archer-begins-piloted-operations-midnight-electric-aircraft-video/

[3] https://youtu.be/gmz5yjmeZQ8

[4] https://investors.archer.com/news/news-details/2025/Archer-Completes-55-Mile-FlightLongest-Yet-For-Piloted-Midnight-Aircraft/default.aspx

[5] https://investors.archer.com/news/news-details/2025/Archer-Completes-55-Mile-FlightLongest-Yet-For-Piloted-Midnight-Aircraft/default.aspx

"Solar and wind accounted for almost 91% of new U.S. electrical generating capacity added in the first five months of 2025..." [1]reports Electrek , citing new data from America's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

"Solar has now been the largest source of new generating capacity added each month for 21 consecutive months, starting September 2023."

> The 11,518 MW of solar added during the first five months of 2025 was 75.3% of the total new capacity placed into service... Between January and May, new wind provided 2,379 MW of capacity additions, accounting for 15.6% of all new capacity added during the first five months of 2025. For the first five months of 2025, solar and wind comprised 90.9% of new capacity while natural gas (1,381 MW) provided just 9.0%; the remaining 0.1% came from oil (14 MW). Solar + wind are 22.9% of U.S. utility-scale generating capacity.

>

> The installed capacities of solar (11.1%) and wind (11.8%) are now each more than a tenth of the U.S. total. Taken together, they constitute 22.9% of the U.S.'s total available installed utility-scale generating capacity. At least 25-30% of U.S. solar capacity is in the form of small-scale (e.g., rooftop) systems that are [2]not reflected in FERC's data . Including that additional solar capacity would bring the share provided by solar + wind to more than a quarter of the U.S. total. With the inclusion of hydropower (7.7%), biomass (1.1%), and geothermal (0.3%), renewables currently claim a 32.0% share of total US utility-scale generating capacity. If small-scale solar capacity is included, renewables are now about one-third of total US generating capacity....

>

> Taken together, the net new "high probability" capacity additions by all renewable energy sources over the next three years — the bulk of the Trump Administration's remaining time in office — would total 113,097 MW. There is no new nuclear capacity in FERC's three-year forecast, while coal and oil are projected to contract by 24,913 MW and 1,907 MW, respectively... If FERC's current "high probability" additions materialize by May 1, 2028, solar will account for 16.7% of US installed utility-scale generating capacity. Wind would provide an additional 12.7% of the total. Thus, each would be greater than coal (12.2%) and substantially more than nuclear power or hydropower (each 7.2%). In fact, assuming current growth rates continue, the installed capacity of utility-scale solar is likely to surpass that of either coal or wind within two years...

>

> At the end of 2024, the mix of all renewables accounted for 30.96% of total generating capacity. Solar alone was 10.19% while wind was 11.68%. By the end of May, renewables' share had risen to 31.98% with solar at 11.13% and wind at 11.80%.

[3]FERC also says that 43 "units" of solar totaling 1,515 megawatts (MW) were placed into service in May, according to the article, "accounting for 58.7% of all new generating capacity added during the month."



[1] https://electrek.co/2025/08/21/ferc-solar-wind-made-up-91-of-new-us-power-generating-capacity-to-end-of-may-2025/

[2] https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/BTL/2023/09-smallscalesolar/article.php

[3] https://cms.ferc.gov/media/energy-infrastructure-update-may-2025

The U.S. government's [1]10% stake in Intel "is a mistake," [2]writes the Washington Post's editorial board , calling Intel "an aging also-ran in critical markets" that "has spent recent years stumbling on execution and missing one strategic opportunity after another."

But TechCrunch points out that the U.S. government " [3]does not appear to be committing new funds . Instead, it's simply making good on what Intel described as 'grants previously awarded, but not yet paid, to Intel.'"

> Specifically, the $8.9 billion is supposed to come from $5.7 billion [4]awarded-but-not-paid to Intel under the Biden administration's CHIPS Act, as well as $3.2 billion also [5]awarded by the Biden administration through the Secure Enclave program. In a post on his social network Truth Social, Trump wrote, "The United States paid nothing for these shares..." Trump has been critical of the CHIPS Act, [6]calling it a "horrible, horrible thing " and calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson to "get rid" of it...

>

> [7]According to The New York Times , some bankers and lawyers believe the CHIPS Act may not allow the government to convert its grants to equity, opening this deal to potential legal challenges.

Reuters writes that the money " [8]will not be enough for its contract-chipmaking business to flourish, analysts said. Intel still needs external customers for its cutting-edge 14A manufacturing process to go to production, says Summit Insights analyst Kinngai Chan, "to make its foundry arm economically viable."

> "We don't think any government investment will change the fate of its foundry arm if they cannot secure enough customers..."

>

> Reuters has reported that Intel's current 18A process — less advanced than 14A — is facing [9]problems with yield , the measure of how many chips printed are good enough to make available to customers. Large chip factories including TSMC swallow the cost of poor yields during the first iterations of the process when working with customers like Apple. For Intel, which [10]reported net losses for six straight quarters, that's hard to do and still turn a profit. "If the yield is bad then new customers won't use Intel Foundry, so it really won't fix the technical aspect of the company," said Ryuta Makino, analyst at Gabelli Funds, which holds Intel stock.

>

> Makino, who believes that Intel can ultimately produce chips at optimal yields, views the deal as a net negative for Intel compared with just receiving the funding under the CHIPS Act as originally promised under the Biden Administration. "This isn't free money," he said. The federal government will not take a seat on Intel's board and has agreed to vote with the company's board on matters that need shareholder approval, Intel said. But this voting agreement comes with "limited exceptions" and the government is getting Intel's shares at a 17.5% discount to their closing price on Friday. The stake will make the U.S. government Intel's biggest shareholder, though neither Trump nor Intel disclosed when the transaction would happen...

>

> Some analysts say Intel could benefit from the government's support, including in building out factories. Intel has said it is investing more than $100 billion to expand its U.S. factories and expects to begin high-volume chip production later this year at its Arizona plant. "To have access to capital and a new partial owner that wants to see you succeed are both important," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel.



[1] https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/22/1849210/intel-has-agreed-to-a-deal-for-us-to-take-10-equity-stake-trump-says

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/22/intel-trump-deal-china-chips/

[3] https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/23/the-trump-administrations-big-intel-investment-comes-from-already-awarded-grants/

[4] https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/26/intel-and-biden-administration-finalize-7-86b-deal-to-fund-domestic-chip-manufacturing/

[5] https://www.intc.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1708/intel-awarded-up-to-3b-by-the-biden-harris-administration

[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/technology/trump-chips-act.html

[7] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/technology/trump-intel-stake.html

[8] https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/did-trump-save-intel-not-really-2025-08-23/

[9] https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/intel-struggles-with-key-manufacturing-process-next-pc-chip-sources-say-2025-08-05/

[10] https://www.reuters.com/business/intel-is-cutting-more-jobs-ceo-tan-tries-fix-manufacturing-missteps-2025-07-24/