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Submission + - System76 Launches First Stable Release of COSMIC Desktop and Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS (9to5linux.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: From a report on 9to5linux.com: "Based on the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) operating system series, Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS ships with the brand-new COSMIC desktop environment written in the Rust programming language, designed and developed by System76 for all GNU/Linux distributions."

"Previous Pop!_OS releases used a version of the COSMIC desktop that was based on the GNOME desktop environment. However, System76 wanted to create a new desktop environment from scratch while keeping the same familiar interface and user experience built for efficiency and fun."

"COSMIC Launcher lets users launch and navigate apps quickly and efficiently with features like web search, calculator, and file search. Moreover, COSMIC supports both dual-panel and single-panel layouts, workspaces, advanced window tiling and stacking, and new theming options."

Submission + - New OpenAI Models Likely Pose 'High' Cybersecurity Risk, Company Says (axios.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: OpenAI says the cyber capabilities of its frontier AI models are accelerating and warns Wednesday that upcoming models are likely to pose a "high" risk, according to a report shared first with Axios. The models' growing capabilities could significantly expand the number of people able to carry out cyberattacks. OpenAI said it has already seen a significant increase in capabilities in recent releases, particularly as models are able to operate longer autonomously, paving the way for brute force attacks.

The company notes that GPT-5 scored a 27% on a capture-the-flag exercise in August, GPT-5.1-Codex-Max was able to score 76% last month. "We expect that upcoming AI models will continue on this trajectory," the company says in the report. "In preparation, we are planning and evaluating as though each new model could reach 'high' levels of cybersecurity capability as measured by our Preparedness Framework." "High" is the second-highest level, below the "critical" level at which models are unsafe to be released publicly.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Locally hosted security cameras 2

Submitted by Randseed
Randseed writes: With the likes of Google Nest, Ring, and others cooperating with law enforcement, I started to look for affordable wireless IP security cameras that I can put around my house. Unfortunately, it looks like almost every thing now incorporates some kind of cloud-based slop. All I really want is to put up some cameras, hook them up to my LAN, and install something like Zoneminder. What are the most economical, wireless IP security cameras that I can set up with my server?

Submission + - Fish-inspired filter removes 99% of microplastics from washing machine wastewate (techxplore.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Some fish feed by means of filtration; these include, for example, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies. They swim through the water with their mouths open and sift out the plankton with their gill arch system. "We took a closer look at the construction of this system and used it as the model for developing a filter that can be used in washing machines," says Blanke, who is a member of the transdisciplinary research areas Life & Health and Sustainable Futures at the University of Bonn.

During their evolution, these fish have developed a technique similar to cross-flow filtration. Their gill arch system is shaped like a funnel that is widest at the fish's mouth and tapers towards their gullet. The walls of the funnel are shaped by the branchial arches. These feature comb-like structures, the arches, which are themselves covered in small teeth. This creates a kind of mesh that is stretched by the branchial arches.

The filter element in the center imitates the gill arch system of the fish. The filter housing enables periodic cleaning and installation in washing machines.

"During food intake, the water flows through the permeable funnel wall, is filtered, and the particle-free water is then released back into the environment via the gills," explains Blanke. "However, the plankton is too big for this; it is held back by the natural sieve structure. Thanks to the funnel shape, it then rolls toward the gullet, where it is collected until the fish swallows, which empties and cleans the system."

This principle prevents the filter from being blocked—instead of hitting the filter head-on, the fibers roll along it toward the gullet. The process is also highly effective, as it removes almost all of the plankton from the water. Both are aspects that a microplastic filter must also be able to deliver. The researchers thus replicated the gill arch system. In doing so, they varied both the mesh size of the sieve structure and the opening angle of the funnel.

"We have thus found a combination of parameters that enable our filter to separate more than 99% of the microplastics out of the water but not become blocked," says Hamann. To achieve this, the team used not only experiments but also computer simulations. The filter modeled on nature does not contain any elaborate mechanics and should thus be very inexpensive to manufacture.

The microplastics that it filters out of the washing water collect in the filter outlet and are then suctioned away several times a minute. According to the researcher, who has now moved to the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, they could then, for example, be pressed in the machine to remove the remaining water. The plastic pellet created in this manner could then be removed every few dozen washes and disposed of with general waste.

Submission + - Iran's Capital Is Moving. The Reason Is an Ecological Catastrophe (scientificamerican.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Amid a deepening ecological crisis and acute water shortage, Tehran can no longer remain the capital of Iran, the country’s president has said. The situation in Tehran is the result of "a perfect storm of climate change and corruption,” says Michael Rubin, a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. “We no longer have a choice,” said Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian during a speech on Thursday. Instead Iranian officials are considering moving the capital to the country’s southern coast. But experts say the proposal does not change the reality for the nearly 10 million people who live in Tehran and are now suffering the consequences of a decades-long decline in water supply.

Comment Re: AI is biased against anything not Big Pharma (Score 1) 27

by ForkInMe (#65806841) Attached to: Google Launches Gemini 3, Its 'Most Intelligent' AI Model Yet
I know two actually, one is the son of a good friend of mine and believes he can cure/prevent asthma, cancer, and pretty much anything else. The second is the brother in-law (ex now I guess) of another friend of mine - He was/is a real believer; when he got testicular cancer, he put off real treatment for almost a year while trying his pseudoscience and almost died - then relented and got chemo and radiation and lived.

Comment Amazon is terrified... (Score 4, Interesting) 44

I think Amazon sees that a good shopping agent doesn't need to go to 3 or 4 big sites looking for good prices - they can go to hundreds or thousands of sites and find the best deal - no need for 3rd party resellers to give a cut to Amazon in that situation, just have a site listing your items and terms in a way that makes it easy for an "AI" agent to browse and forget selling through Amazon.

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