SpaceX [1]surpassed the 10,000-satellite milestone for its Starlink constellation after two Falcon 9 launches on Oct. 19 added 56 more satellites to orbit. The company now operates about two-thirds of all active satellites worldwide and continues to break reuse records. Space.com reports:

> A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink internet satellites lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base today at 3:24 p.m. EDT (1924 GMT; 12:24 p.m. local California time). Those 28 included the 10,000th Starlink spacecraft ever to reach orbit, which a SpaceX employee noted on the company's launch webcast: "From Tintin to 10,000! Go Starlink, go Falcon, go SpaceX!"

>

> It was also the 132nd Falcon 9 liftoff of the year, equaling the mark set by the rocket last year -- and there are still nearly 2.5 months to go in 2025. [...] This launch was the second of the day for SpaceX; less than two hours earlier, another Falcon 9 sent 28 more Starlink satellites up from Florida's Space Coast. That earlier liftoff was the 31st for that Falcon 9's first stage, setting a new reuse record.



[1] https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-10000th-starlink-satellite-launch

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register:

> Lloyds Banking Group [1]claims employees save 46 minutes daily using Microsoft 365 Copilot , based on a survey of 1,000 users among nearly 30,000 deployed licenses. According to Lloyds Banking Group (LBG), the rollout is "helping teams summarize documents, prepare for meetings, and reduce administrative tasks." Almost 5,000 engineers are also using GitHub Copilot. Vic Weigler, chief technology officer at the finance corp, said in a statement: "We converted 11,000 lines of code across 83 files in half the expected time."

>

> An insider at the bank, a self-professed fan of the technology, listed some of the ways it was being used in their business area. These ranged from the mundane -- drafting and summarizing emails, transcribing meetings, and comparing documents to group standards -- to the eyebrow-raising, such as drafting legal clauses, undertaking due diligence, and creating complex Excel formulas. They told us the next step is creating bots and agents to perform repetitive data-based tasks and rolling out the technology to customer-facing processes. That said, they also noted the AI tools occasionally make mistakes. The "golden rule," is to "never use the output without checking it."



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/20/lloyds_banking_copilot/?td=rt-3a

Investigators recovered the OceanGate Titan sub's underwater camera nearly intact, [1]discovering a SanDisk SD card that survived the [2]2023 implosion and still contained 12 images and 9 videos. TechSpot reports:

> Scott Manley, the science communication YouTuber, gamer, astrophysicist, and programmer, [3]posted about the latest find: a hardened SubC-branded Rayfin Mk2 Benthic Camera containing the undamaged SD card. The titanium and synthetic sapphire crystal camera is rated to withstand depths of up to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) -- the Titan imploded at around 3,300 meters (10,827 feet). The casing is intact, though the lens is shattered and the PCBs are slightly damaged.

>

> Incredibly the SD card inside the camera was undamaged. Tom's Hardware [4]reports that it's almost certainly a SanDisk Extreme Pro 512GB, which costs around $62 on Amazon. The camera's SD card was found to be fully encrypted, divided into a small partition for operating system updates and a larger one for user data. Due to impact damage from the accident, several components of the system-on-module (SOM) board -- including connectors and the microcontroller -- were broken, complicating the data extraction process. [...] After determining the data wasn't encrypted beyond the file system level, they successfully accessed the SD card contents using the manufacturer's proprietary equipment and procedures.



[1] https://www.techspot.com/news/109921-oceangate-titan-sub-camera-found-mostly-intact-sandisk.html

[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/06/22/1911238/oceangate-says-all-five-titan-passengers-have-died

[3] https://x.com/DJSnM/status/1978569771789467981

[4] https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/microsd-cards/tragic-oceangate-titan-submersibles-usd62-sandisk-memory-card-found-undamaged-at-wreckage-site-12-stills-and-nine-videos-have-been-recovered-but-none-from-the-fateful-implosion

Foreign hackers [1]breached the National Nuclear Security Administration's Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC) by exploiting unpatched Microsoft SharePoint vulnerabilities. The intrusion happened in August and is possibly linked to either Chinese state actors or Russian cybercriminals. CSO Online notes that "roughly 80% of the non-nuclear parts in the nation's nuclear stockpile originate from KCNSC," making it "one of the most sensitive facilities in the federal weapons complex." From the report:

> The breach targeted a plant that produces the vast majority of critical non-nuclear components for US nuclear weapons under the NNSA, a semi-autonomous agency within the Department of Energy (DOE) that oversees the design, production, and maintenance of the nation's nuclear weapons. Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies (FM&T) manages the Kansas City campus under contract to the NNSA. [...] The attackers exploited two recently disclosed Microsoft SharePoint vulnerabilities -- CVE-2025-53770, a spoofing flaw, and CVE-2025-49704, a remote code execution (RCE) bug -- both affecting on-premises servers. Microsoft [2]issued fixes for the vulnerabilities on July 19.

>

> On July 22, the NNSA [3]confirmed it was one of the organizations hit by attacks enabled by the SharePoint flaws. "On Friday, July 18th, the exploitation of a Microsoft SharePoint zero-day vulnerability began affecting the Department of Energy," a DOE spokesperson said. However, the DOE contended at the time, "The department was minimally impacted due to its widespread use of the Microsoft M365 cloud and very capable cybersecurity systems. A very small number of systems were impacted. All impacted systems are being restored." By early August, federal responders, including personnel from the NSA, were on-site at the Kansas City facility, the source tells CSO.



[1] https://www.csoonline.com/article/4074962/foreign-hackers-breached-a-us-nuclear-weapons-plant-via-sharepoint-flaws.html

[2] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/msrc/blog/2025/07/customer-guidance-for-sharepoint-vulnerability-cve-2025-53770/

[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-23/us-nuclear-weapons-agency-breached-in-microsoft-sharepoint-hack

U.S. Grandmaster and beloved chess commentator Daniel Naroditsky has tragically [1]passed away at the age of 29 . "The news has sent shockwaves around the chess community, which is grieving the loss of one of the most beloved and influential voices," reports Chess.com. From the report:

> The devastating news was first shared by Naroditsky's club, Charlotte Chess Center, on Monday, and confirmed by Chess.com with multiple sources: "It is with great sadness that we share the unexpected passing of Daniel Naroditsky. Daniel was a talented chess player, educator, and cherished member of the chess community. He was also a loving son, brother, and loyal friend. We ask for privacy for Daniel's family during this extremely difficult time. Let us honor Daniel by remembering his passion for chess and the inspiration he brought to us all."

>

> Naroditsky, who was three weeks away from turning 30, has long been known as one of United States' most talented players. He achieved his grandmaster title at the age of 18 in 2013, and placed fifth among the highest-ranked juniors in 2015. His last FIDE-rating is 2619, which places him among the top 150 in the world, or the 17th highest-ranked in the United States. He has a peak rating of 2647 from 2017. He leaves a legacy that spans strong over-the-board competition and highly popular chess instruction and commentary on streaming platforms.



[1] https://www.chess.com/news/view/grandmaster-daniel-naroditsky-dies-at-29

An anonymous reader quotes a report from MacRumors:

> With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's [1]designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass . The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted increases the opacity of Liquid Glass and adds more contrast.

>

> Apple says that the new toggle was added because during the beta testing period over the summer, user feedback suggested that some people would prefer to have a more opaque option for Liquid Glass. The added setting provides additional customization in iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1. Increasing opacity and adding contrast applies to Liquid Glass throughout the operating system, including in apps and Lock Screen notifications.



[1] https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/20/ios-26-1-liquid-glass-toggle/

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has [1]issued criminal subpoenas to Roblox , calling it a "breeding ground for predators" and accusing the platform of profiting while failing to protect children. NBC News reports:

> The subpoenas will allow prosecutors to gather more information about the [2]alleged criminal activity on the platform, including evidence related to suspected predators and victims, according to Uthmeier. The concerns prompted Roblox to invest heavily in protecting younger users on its platform by tightening messaging rules for children under 13, intensive content moderation and AI-powered monitoring.

>

> In an emailed statement to Reuters, Roblox said it prohibits sharing images and videos in chat, uses filters designed to block the exchange of personal information, and is working to implement age estimation for all users accessing chat features. "While no system is perfect, our trained teams and automated tools continuously monitor communications to detect and remove harmful content," a Roblox spokesperson said.



[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/florida-attorney-general-issues-subpoenas-roblox-child-safety-rcna238711

[2] https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/04/14/2259206/risks-to-children-playing-roblox-deeply-disturbing-say-researchers

Kohler has launched the Dekoda, a $599 smart toilet camera that [1]analyzes users' waste to track hydration, gut health, and detect potential issues like blood . "It also comes with a rechargeable battery, a USB connection, and a fingerprint sensor to identify who's using the toilet," reports TechCrunch. From the report:

> The Dekoda is [2]currently available for preorder , with shipments scheduled to begin on October 21. In addition to the hardware purchase fee, customers will need to pay between $70 and $156 per year for a subscription. If you're uneasy about the privacy implications of putting a camera right below your private parts, the company says, "Dekoda's sensors see down into your toilet and nowhere else." It also notes that the resulting data is secured via end-to-end encryption.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/19/kohler-unveils-a-camera-for-your-toilet/

[2] https://www.kohlerhealth.com/dekoda/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica:

> Anthropic has [1]added web and mobile interfaces for Claude Code , its immensely popular command-line interface (CLI) agentic AI coding tool. The web interface appears to be well-baked at launch, but the mobile version is limited to iOS and is in an earlier stage of development. The [2]web version of Claude Code can be given access to a GitHub repository. Once that's done, developers can give it general marching orders like "add real-time inventory tracking to the dashboard."

>

> As with the CLI version, it gets to work, with updates along the way approximating where it's at and what it's doing. The web interface supports the recently implemented Claude Code capability to take suggestions or requested changes while it's in the middle of working on a task. (Previously, if you saw it doing something wrong or missing something, you often had to cancel and start over.) Developers can run multiple sessions at once and switch between them as needed; they're listed in a left-side panel in the interface.

>

> Alongside this web and mobile rollout, Anthropic has also introduced a [3]new sandboxing runtime to Claude Code that, along with other things, aims to make the experience both more secure and lower friction. In the past, Claude Code worked by asking permission before making most changes and steps along the way. Now, it can instead be given permissions for specific file system folders and network servers. That means fewer approval steps, but it's also more secure overall against prompt injection and other risks.

You can learn more about "Claude Code on the web" through the [4]company's blog and [5]official YouTube channel .

Note: the new features are available in beta as a research preview, and they are available to Claude users with Pro or Max subscriptions.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/10/claude-code-gets-a-web-version-but-its-the-new-sandboxing-that-really-matters/

[2] https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-code-on-the-web

[3] https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/sandboxing

[4] https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/claude-code-sandboxing

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-avRazvmLg

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> A hacking group that recently [1]doxed hundreds of government officials , including from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has now [2]built dossiers on tens of thousands of U.S. government officials , including NSA employees, a member of the group told 404 Media. The member said the group did this by digging through its caches of stolen Salesforce customer data. The person provided 404 Media with samples of this information, which 404 Media was able to corroborate.

>

> As well as NSA officials, the person sent 404 Media personal data on officials from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), members of the Air Force, and several other agencies.



[1] https://www.404media.co/hackers-dox-hundreds-of-dhs-ice-fbi-and-doj-officials/

[2] https://www.404media.co/hackers-say-they-have-personal-data-of-thousands-of-nsa-and-other-government-officials/

A Court of Accounts report written before Sunday's theft of crown jewels from the Louvre revealed the museum's security systems were [1]outdated and inadequate [ [2]non-paywalled source ] . The report noted a lack of basic CCTV equipment across multiple wings. Cameras had mainly been installed only when rooms were refurbished due to repeated postponements of scheduled modernization. In the Denon wing where the Apollo Gallery was targeted, a third of rooms had no CCTV cameras. Three-quarters of rooms in the Richelieu wing and nearly two-thirds in the Sully wing lacked cameras.

The thieves were caught on camera at one point but were masked and impossible to identify, according to Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau. The alarm system activated when thieves cut open display cases, but they threatened staff who left the area. Culture minister Rachida Dati confirmed new CCTV cameras would be installed. President Macron had earmarked $186.30 million to upgrade the Louvre's security systems under a renaissance plan launched in June.



[1] https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/louvre-museum-security-paris-heist-606bz30b2

[2] https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20251019-paris-louvre-heist-lays-bare-museum-security-complaints

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says his company has lost all access to China's market after U.S. export restrictions [1]eliminated what was once a 95% share . Speaking in an interview with Citadel Securities, Huang questioned the wisdom of policies that cost America one of the world's largest markets.

The Biden Administration imposed rules in 2022 to restrict exports of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips to China. The Trump Administration blocked additional chip sales in April and later granted export licenses for certain Nvidia and AMD chips in [2]exchange for 15% of revenues . Chinese regulators responded by [3]telling domestic tech companies to avoid Nvidia chips designed to meet U.S. export requirements. Beijing also placed strict limits on exports of rare earths. Huang noted that about half the world's AI researchers are in China and called it a mistake not to have them build AI on American technology.



[1] https://fortune.com/2025/10/19/jensen-huang-nvidia-china-market-share-ai-chips-trump-trade-war/

[2] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/08/11/2123206/nvidia-and-amd-to-pay-15-of-china-chip-sale-revenues-to-us-government

[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/0843228/china-tells-its-tech-companies-to-stop-buying-all-of-nvidias-ai-chips

Google plans to let Pixel smartphone enthusiasts [1]test out the company's next handset ahead of its public introduction. From a report:

> Google has invited members of its "Superfans" group to apply to test future Pixel hardware, asking entrants to profess their knowledge and passion for the brand in hopes of being able to beta test forthcoming products.

>

> Consumer tech companies often let small groups of customers try out unreleased products under strict secrecy to gather feedback during development. But it's incredibly rare for a company of Google's size to do it with something as high-profile as the Pixel lineup.

>

> The search giant will select 15 people from the pool of entrants, and winners must all sign a non-disclosure agreement to receive devices, according to official rules for the contest reviewed by Bloomberg News. "The Trusted Tester program is an opportunity to provide feedback and help shape a Pixel phone currently in development," the document reads.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/google-to-let-superfans-test-in-development-pixel-phones/ar-AA1OPSFW

An anonymous reader writes:

> "Hoisted by their own GPTards." That's how Meta's Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun [1]described the blowback after OpenAI researchers did a victory lap over GPT-5's supposed math breakthroughs. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis added, "this is embarrassing." The Decoder [2]reports that in a since-deleted tweet, OpenAI VP Kevin Weil declared that "GPT-5 found solutions to 10 (!) previously unsolved Erdos problems and made progress on 11 others." ("Erdos problems" are famous conjectures posed by mathematician Paul Erdos.)

>

> However, mathematician Thomas Bloom, who maintains the Erdos Problems website, said Weil's post was " [3]a dramatic misrepresentation " -- while these problems were indeed listed as "open" on Bloom's website, he said that only means, "I personally am unaware of a paper which solves it." In other words, it's not accurate to claim GPT-5 was able to solve previously unsolved problems. Instead, Bloom wrote, "GPT-5 found references, which solved these problems, that I personally was unaware of."



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/19/openais-embarrassing-math/

[2] https://the-decoder.com/leading-openai-researcher-announced-a-gpt-5-math-breakthrough-that-never-happened/

[3] https://x.com/thomasfbloom/status/1979254235075059732

The Sims is in a period of transition -- and as part of that, the ongoing mobile version [1]will be shutting down in a few months. From a report:

> EA announced that today's update for The Sims Mobile will be its last, and that on January 20th, 2026 the game "will no longer be accessible to play and will be sunset." The mobile iteration of the franchise first launched in 2018, and has seen more than 50 updates since then. EA says that starting today players will no longer be able to spend real money in the game, and that it will be delisted on both iOS and Android tomorrow before the servers shut down completely next year, making it entirely unplayable.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/games/802631/the-sims-mobile-shut-down-2026

China says it has uncovered what it describes as irrefutable evidence of American government cyber attacks [1]targeting the National Time Service Center . The Ministry of State Security said the National Security Agency exploited vulnerabilities in employees' mobile phones beginning March 25, 2022, and later used stolen login credentials to access the center's computers starting April 18, 2023.

The facility in Xi'an provides high-precision timekeeping service for the government, civil society, and various industries. It also supplies data used to calculate international standard time. Chinese authorities said investigators found that private servers worldwide were employed to conceal the attacks' origin. The accusations emerge against a backdrop of mutual cyber-espionage claims between Washington and Beijing. Western governments and companies have repeatedly blamed Chinese hackers for intrusions in recent years.



[1] https://apnews.com/article/china-us-cyberattacks-allegations-time-b3408ed2352c113904350f80e505ab9f

An electronic eye implant has [1]restored reading ability to patients blinded by geographic atrophy, a form of dry age-related macular degeneration. Results published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that 84% of trial participants regained the ability to read letters, numbers, and words after receiving the Prima device.

The microchip measures two millimetres by two millimetres and is implanted beneath the center of the retina. Patients wear augmented reality glasses containing a camera that projects images onto the chip. The device converts light into electrical pulses transmitted to the brain.

Frank Holz, the study's lead author and chair of ophthalmology at the University Hospital of Bonn, called the implant "a paradigm shift in treating late-stage age-related macular degeneration." Mahi Muqit, a consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, said the trial enabled "meaningful central vision restoration, which has never been done before." The procedure takes less than two hours and requires intensive rehabilitation. Science Corporation, which manufactures the device, has applied for clinical authorization in the United States and Europe.



[1] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2501396

Food allergies in children dropped sharply in the years after new guidelines encouraged parents to introduce infants to peanuts, a study has found. The New York Times:

> For decades, as food allergy rates climbed, experts recommended that parents avoid exposing their infants to common allergens. But a landmark trial in 2015 found that feeding peanuts to babies [1]could cut their chances of developing an allergy by over 80% . [ [2]non-paywalled source .] In 2017, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases formally recommended the early-introduction approach and issued national guidelines.

>

> The new study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, found that food allergy rates in children under 3 fell after those guidelines were put into place -- dropping to 0.93% between 2017 and 2020, from 1.46% between 2012 and 2015. That's a 36% reduction in all food allergies, driven largely by a 43% drop in peanut allergies. The study also found that eggs overtook peanuts as the No. 1 food allergen in young children.

>

> The study did not examine what infants ate, so it does not show that the guidelines caused the decline. Still, the data is promising. While all food allergies can be dangerous, 80% of people never outgrow one.



[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/well/peanut-allergy-drop.html

[2] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peanut-allergies-60000-kids-avoided-2015-advice/

India will need as much as [1]$21 trillion to achieve its climate goals and lift its population out of poverty, according to a draft government plan seen by Bloomberg. From the report:

> The estimate offers a first glimpse of how the country intends to live up to its target of net zero emissions by 2070. The updated scenario implies hitting peak emissions in 2045, which is a decade earlier than the current trajectory.

>

> India is already being severely battered by the fallout of climate change, as deadly floods and heat waves become more destructive each year. But the need to mitigate the emissions that feed climate change has historically been at odds with India's priorities of economic growth and energy security, with the latter still mostly provided through coal. The new plan shows India will seek to achieve climate and economic development goals simultaneously, with low-carbon options envisaged for much of its yet-to-be-built residential and industrial infrastructure.



[1] https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/india-draft-plan-reveals-21-trillion-net-zero-investment-need

Test scores across OECD countries peaked around 2012 and have declined since. IQ scores in many developed countries appear to be falling after rising throughout the twentieth century. Nataliya Kosmyna at MIT's Media Lab began noticing changes around two years ago when strangers started emailing her to ask if using ChatGPT [1]could alter their brains . She posted a study in June tracking brain activity in 54 students writing essays. Those using ChatGPT showed significantly less activity in networks tied to cognitive processing and attention compared to students who wrote without digital help or used only internet search engines. Almost none could recall what they had written immediately after submitting their work.

She received more than 4,000 emails afterward. Many came from teachers who reported students producing passable assignments without understanding the material. A British survey found that 92% of university students now use AI and roughly 20% have used it to write all or part of an assignment. Independent research has found that more screen time in schools correlates with worse results. Technology companies have designed products to be frictionless, removing the cognitive challenges brains need to learn. AI now allows users to outsource thinking itself.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/18/are-we-living-in-a-golden-age-of-stupidity-technology