An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Airbnb recently announced that it had its best quarter ever, reflecting a surging thirst for travel and tourism as the pandemic’s grip loosens. But in New York City, the company is at the cen…
Microsoft Seizes Domains Used By Chinese Cyber-Espionage Group ‘Nickel’
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Record: Microsoft said today that its legal team has successfully obtained a court warrant that allowed it to seize 42 domains used by a Chinese cyber-espionage group in recent operations that targeted organ…
France To Mimic Musk With Own SpaceX-Style Launcher, Minister Says
European space company ArianeGroup will develop a reusable mini-launcher to compete with the likes of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday. Reuters reports: The launcher “must be able to be operational in 2026,” Le …
Mysterious Galaxy Without Dark Matter Puzzles Astronomers
Astronomers say they’ve located six galaxies that appear to have either very little or absolutely no dark matter. The team will present its findings in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. CNET reports: Mentioning that they’d previously b…
SolarWinds Hackers Have a Whole Bag of New Tricks For Mass Compromise Attacks
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Almost exactly a year ago, security researchers uncovered one of the worst data breaches in modern history, if not ever: a Kremlin-backed hacking campaign that compromised the servers of network ma…
China ‘Modified’ the Weather To Create Clear Skies For Political Celebration, Study Finds
Chinese weather authorities successfully controlled the weather ahead of a major political celebration earlier this year, according to a Beijing university study. The Guardian reports: On 1 July the Chinese Communist party marked its centenary with maj…
DeepMind Cracks ‘Knot’ Conjecture That Bedeviled Mathematicians For Decades
The artificial intelligence (AI) program DeepMind has gotten closer to proving a math conjecture that’s bedeviled mathematicians for decades and revealed another new conjecture that may unravel how mathematicians understand knots. Live Science reports:…
Meta Has a ‘Moral Obligation’ To Make Its Mental Health Research Transparent, Scientists Say
In an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg published Monday, a group of academics called for Meta to be more transparent about its research into how Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp affect the mental health of children and adolescents. The Verge reports: Th…
Eurostar Tests Facial Recognition System On London Train Station
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: Eurostar is testing a new biometric facial recognition technology on passengers traveling from London’s St Pancras International station to continental Europe. The passengers will be given the …
Verizon Might Be Collecting Your Browsing History
Verizon might be collecting information about your browsing history, location, apps, and your contacts, all in the name of helping the company “understand your interests,” first spotted by Input. The Verge reports: The program, which Verizon appears to…