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Tech
Industry, products, and the wires that hold it all together.
546 stories archived
Lara Croft is 30! We look at the video game icon’s biggest blunders
We all know the highlights of the tomb raider’s storied career – but what about the lowlights? We dig deep to unearth the archaeologist’s less glorious moments Happy birthday, Lara! This month marks 30 years since Ms Croft first swan-dived into our lives with her unique blend of athletic prowess, archaeological expertise and giant knockers. More than 100 million Tomb Raider games have been sold since. We all remember the good times: the bold design and sheer playability of the original titles; the establishment of Lara as a 90s icon, embodying both lads’ mag culture and girl power; the way she made games cool, even appearing on the cover of the Face. We’ve had blockbuster movies, big budget reboots, and shiny reissues . And who could forget the time we got to powerwash her house ? But no one gets to 30 without a few skeletons in the closet – or in Lara’s case, butlers in the freezer. So here’s a look at the darker parts of her past. Continue reading...
Cookie theft: how fraudsters get the digital key to your accounts
‘Session cookies’ are a primary target for hackers letting them hijack and use your accounts You’ve had a busy morning of life admin, logging into various accounts to check balances and make payments. At the end of a productive few hours you close your laptop and move on to your next job. What you don’t know is that fraudsters have hijacked your session with the bank and are now able to access your account. You are the victim of cookie theft, which belongs to a type of fraud known as “session hijacking”. Continue reading...
‘Synthetic twin’: Why Socceroo Cristian Volpato is the latest footballer to license his AI clone
Athletes’ scramble to control – and monetise – their digital identities at the cutting edge of AI rights deals Get our new political email , free app or daily news podcast The Socceroos star stares at the camera as he strides through an enormous atrium, the sound of his football boots on polished concrete echoing around him. Suddenly, he spawns four digital clones that peel off out of view to re-emerge in different settings around the world. This scene from a social media video is fake and generated by artificial intelligence. But it has been authorised by the very real 22-year-old footballer, Cristian Volpato, the latest professional athlete to licence and monetise his AI likeness. Continue reading...
An Ancient Virus Explains Why the Human Brain Is Special
Scientists have discovered a family of retroviruses that invaded the genomes of chimps and other primates, silencing genes involved with brain development, while humans were left unaffected.
A 1,000-mile cloud on Mars may reveal physics never seen in nature
A new model suggests Mars may host ice-forming physics never directly observed before.
The datacentre next door: on the frontline of tech’s latest David v Goliath battle
The AI boom is pitting local residents against corporate giants seeking to power their energy-hungry networks – but one Welsh city is fighting back Dale Johnston opens the gate to his neat suburban garden on the western fringes of Newport in South Wales. There’s a trampoline and a slide on the lawn for his grandchildren, and chairs for him and his wife. He should be enjoying the light draining from the perfect autumnal sky – but almost his entire view is blotted out by a vast expanse of prefabricated panels. The 23 metre-high grey hulk looming over him and his neighbours is a hyperscale datacentre. It is heralded by the area’s Labour politicians as a job creator, yet all Johnston can think about is what he has lost: “Before, the sun used to come around here and it was lovely.” The way residents have been treated is “disgusting”. Continue reading...
Ice sheet expansion may have started 2,000 years ago, but we canceled that
The tiny remains of the Laurentide Ice Sheet began getting somewhat less tiny.
John Healey pledges to use budget to harness power of AI to bolster Britain’s security
Chancellor says government to commit hundreds of millions to develop ‘distinctively British’ approach to AI John Healey has pledged to use Wednesday’s budget to harness the power of artificial intelligence to bolster Britain’s security and prosperity against the risks in the accelerating global technology arms race. As he prepares for his debut budget, the chancellor said that Andy Burnham’s government would commit hundreds of millions of pounds to develop a “distinctively British” approach to AI that would capitalise on the benefits of the frontier technology. Continue reading...
NASA updates lander plans for Moon landings, finally solves long-festering Orion issue
"We have the mandate, we have the resources, and the support from our stakeholders."
Hegseth warns prediction market bets warp military judgment, endanger troops
Pentagon memo: Insider trading gives US enemies key intel on military operations.
Updated Google privacy policy says your Gmail might be used for advertising
Turning on Personal Intelligence gives the company more data for ad targeting.
Inside the Pentagon, the pressure is on to find a home for a new spaceport
Space Force considering options: public-private, federal installation, state land.
Spotify ramps up policy enforcement on family plans
If you share Spotify sub with family, you may need to scan QR code to prove it.
Crows can evaluate visual info twice as fast as mammals
Birds' compact nervous system seems to help them handle tasks very quickly.
Intel gets waiver after worries fuzzy US ban on foreign-made robots may hit fabs
Company says foreign-made robotic vehicles are crucial to US chip production.
RFK Jr.’s vaccine injury clinic could damage NIH hospital, board warns
"Trust is slow to build and quick to lose," board chair Jack Leslie said.
Knicks sent employees fake offer of championship rings in phishing test: Report
Corporate phishing tests are common, but this one was especially cruel.
Podcast: ‘Reverse-Engineer Anything’ Is the Next Wave of AI Slop
How people are removing surveillance ads from their TVs; a big AI shakeup at Accenture; and the Character.ai bankruptcy.
Opposition deepfake video sparks outrage in Spain ahead of election
Video shows AI likenesses of people linked to Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist party appearing to admit to wrongdoing A political ad from Spain’s main opposition party that used a deepfake video of the prime minister’s wife has sparked outrage and set off a wider debate on AI, as the deeply polarised country gears up for general elections next month. Launched this week across the social media channels of the conservative People’s party (PP), the video used artificial intelligence to manipulate the likenesses of various people linked to Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist party and appeared to show them admitting to acts such as soliciting prostitutes and taking kickbacks. Continue reading...
Everybody panic: A Valve developer said "HLX" in public
Sound designer lets Half Life-related codename slip at a conference.
Behind the Blog: Brute Forces
This week, we discuss reverse engineering and some wild court docs.
A farewell to BioWare, maker of some of the best games of the 21st century | Lucy James
The closure of the studio responsible for some of the best games of the 21st century leaves the world of RPGs feeling smaller without the hope of another instalment of the much-loved sci-fi series Earlier this week, EA announced the closure of BioWare, a game studio with a 30-year history of compelling role-playing games, complex characters and bold, choice-driven narratives. Its forthcoming game in the Mass Effect sci-fi series has been cancelled, and more than 400 people are losing their jobs. As someone who has worked in the video games industry for 15 years and spent almost 20 as a BioWare fan, I am among millions of mourners today. It’s not terribly hard to see why BioWare got the chop. Its parent company has been saddled with $20bn of debt thanks to a recent leveraged buyout involving Jared Kushner and the Saudi wealth fund. EA was looking for weight to cut loose, and despite its hardcore fanbase and reputation for genre-defining RPGs such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age, BioWare hadn’t put out a critical or commercial hit in over 10 years. Its forthcoming game, titled Mass Effect: Universe according to a leaked trailer , was announced back in 2020. Despite some flashy teases, it was still years away from release. Continue reading...
Experts cast doubt on Anthropic report detailing how AI has altered work at the company
Anthropic claims AI will shift how work gets done and labor demand – but some experts are skeptical of the vision Last year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that artificial intelligence could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs and that in six months it would be writing 90% of code . Neither of those predictions came to pass. Now, in a report Anthropic published on Thursday, the company said it was hiring fewer junior technical workers and that human attention has become the new “bottleneck” as it increasingly relies on its Claude AI agents. Continue reading...
The reactor meant to showcase nuclear’s comeback keeps hitting problems
A contractor fell into a reactor cavity and a bundle of fuel rods almost fell over.