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Submission + - DOGE shared social security data, DoJ court filing reveals (theguardian.com)

2phar writes: The Guardian reports that after months of denials, the Trump administration has acknowledged in a federal court filing that employees working for Elon Musk’s supposed cost-cutting operation accessed and improperly shared Americans’ sensitive social security data.

The justice department court filing, submitted on Friday in an ongoing lawsuit, reveals that a member of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) signed a secret data-sharing agreement with an unidentified political advocacy group.

“Based on its review of records obtained during or after October 2025,” the filing said, “SSA identified communications, use of data, and other actions by the then-SSA DOGE Team that were potentially outside of SSA policy and/or noncompliant with the District Court’s March 20, 2025, temporary restraining order.”

The court filing added that Doge members shared data with each other using Cloudflare, an unauthorized third-party server, and that the agency had been unable to determine what information was transmitted or whether it still exists on the server. In one instance, a Doge staffer sent an encrypted, password-protected file to Steve Davis, described as a senior adviser to the Doge operation, that the agency believes contained names and addresses of approximately 1,000 people derived from social security systems. Officials have been unable to access the file to confirm its contents.

Submission + - China's 'fizzy' method recovers 95% lithium from dead batteries with CO2+H2O (interestingengineering.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Chinese researchers have found a method to extract lithium from used lithium-ion batteries using a mix of carbon dioxide (CO) and water. This process is safer than others that involve harsh acids and harmful chemicals, allowing for the reuse of leftover metals while also capturing carbon dioxide.

The first step is to use CO and water to gently dissolve lithium from the batteries. The CO reacts with water to form carbonic acid, which is a very weak acid, a bit like fizzy water.

This, the researchers explain, is just strong enough to pull lithium out of the battery cathode. This resulted in over 95% lithium recovery, which matches harsh chemical methods.

The second part involves the use of cathodes that contain cobalt, nickel, and manganese. Following the process, instead of discarding them, the new method “upcycles” these materials into useful catalysts.

Those catalysts can be reused in energy and chemical reactions. Throughout the entire process, the CO is permanently locked away too.

This is achieved by some of the CO ending up chemically bound in solid by-products. That means carbon sequestration, not emissions.

Interestingly, unlike traditional methods, the new lithium recovery process is able to run at room temperature and normal pressure. No grinding agents or added leaching chemicals are required, making it safer, cheaper, and easier to scale.

“Conducted under ambient conditions without additional grinding aids or leaching agents, this method minimises environmental impact,” the research team explained.

Comment Distopia anyone? (Score 1) 129

From TFA: “The very platforms that have led to our social isolation and being chronically online are now posing a solution to the loneliness epidemic,” said Meghana Dhar, a former Instagram executive who thinks AI friends will only make such problems worse. “It almost seems like the arsonist coming back and being the fireman.”

Comment Used market and batteries (Score 4, Informative) 430

For the majority of non-rich people that buy used cars, cars are not disposable. The 'battery outlasting the car' doesn't hold.. range and max current keeps falling off. Past that 100k / 8-10 year / min capacity battery warranty, people have to take on a risk that a cell / BMS / colling failure within the pack is going to render the battery unusable and this is where the ugly repair situation happens. The manufacturers still have no interest in battery repair options. There is no standard for cell modules .. every manufacturer or even model has different construction/packaging of cells, cooling channels, wiring, BMS. This could all be standardized at a few standard individual cell form factors, to enable an aftermarket battery rebuild industry to give used buyers confidence their resale/repair options isn't going to fall off a cliff; to make it possible for standard aftermarket module supply, and a battery construction designed for cell level repair within reasonable labor times. And then there's the complete disregard for battery construction that makes material recovery feasible. Some 98% of automotive lithium batteries currently end up in landfill, a rapidly expanding environmental disaster.

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