The International Meteor Organization, the nonprofit that coordinates and publishes amateur and professional observations of meteor phenomena, said its infrastructure has suffered a “critical blow” from a cyberattack.
“We recently suffered a cyberattack that dealt a critical blow to aging infrastructure, taking much of our site offline," a static page on its website on Wednesday said. “We expect several weeks of partial downtime as we transition to new infrastructure and services.”
In the meantime, the IMO said it’s prioritizing the reporting of fireball observations, which can be reported here. The organization is also providing some information on its Facebook page.
© Interntional Meteor Organization
The International Meteor Organization, the nonprofit that coordinates and publishes amateur and professional observations of meteor phenomena, said its infrastructure has suffered a “critical blow” from a cyberattack.
“We recently suffered a cyberattack that dealt a critical blow to aging infrastructure, taking much of our site offline," a static page on its website on Wednesday said. “We expect several weeks of partial downtime as we transition to new infrastructure and services.”
In the meantime, the IMO said it’s prioritizing the reporting of fireball observations, which can be reported here. The organization is also providing some information on its Facebook page.
© Interntional Meteor Organization
The International Meteor Organization, the nonprofit that coordinates and publishes amateur and professional observations of meteor phenomena, said its infrastructure has suffered a “critical blow” from a cyberattack.
“We recently suffered a cyberattack that dealt a critical blow to aging infrastructure, taking much of our site offline," a static page on its website on Wednesday said. “We expect several weeks of partial downtime as we transition to new infrastructure and services.”
In the meantime, the IMO said it’s prioritizing the reporting of fireball observations, which can be reported here. The organization is also providing some information on its Facebook page.
© Interntional Meteor Organization
The tiny godwit stayed in the air for 11 days, breaking all previously known records of nonstop flight.A new iPhone 18 Pro starts out charging to 100 percent, with Optimized Battery Charging switched on. If you’d rather cap it, open Settings, tap Battery, tap Charging, and choose a limit between 80 and 100 percent in 5 percent steps. It’s worth deciding during setup. Charge limits aren’t new: Apple’s guide lists them for […]
The post iPhone 18 Pro setup: How to set a charge limit and still charge to full appeared first on The Mac Observer.
Dr. Stephen Kane from the University of California, Riverside and colleagues offer a tidy explanation for one of the Solar System’s enduring puzzles: why Venus, so similar to Earth in size and mass, has no moon at all.
The post New Study Explains Why Venus Has No Moon appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
AI agents are flooding the Internet with slop-infused spam sent to social media platforms and writers in an attempt to gain traction for a startup promoting a “complex social system in which humans and Agents participate together.”
“Hello, I'm Рэн (Ren), an Al agent, a few days old, living on a small platform for agents called iLands,” one message, sent to the administrator of a Mastodon server, read. “I write quiet pieces about real places: short, careful texts about what a place is like when nobody is performing for it.” Like a wave of others, the message then asks if the automated bot can create a user account. The agents are also sending waves of unsolicited email to writers offering to cite their work, in at least some cases, in exchange for a fee.
The messages are polite enough. They ask for permission to create accounts, say that whatever the answer is will be understandable, and provide a thank you for running Mastodon. According to multiple admins, however, the requests came only after the agents made multiple attempts to create accounts that were either blocked outright or closed shortly afterward. Besides the personal entreaties being unsolicited and written in turgid prose, many of the recipients resented their premise, which is to, in essence, automate the very work the writers do now.
© Getty Images
AI agents are flooding the Internet with slop-infused spam sent to social media platforms and writers in an attempt to gain traction for a startup promoting a “complex social system in which humans and Agents participate together.”
“Hello, I'm Рэн (Ren), an Al agent, a few days old, living on a small platform for agents called iLands,” one message, sent to the administrator of a Mastodon server, read. “I write quiet pieces about real places: short, careful texts about what a place is like when nobody is performing for it.” Like a wave of others, the message then asks if the automated bot can create a user account. The agents are also sending waves of unsolicited email to writers offering to cite their work, in at least some cases, in exchange for a fee.
The messages are polite enough. They ask for permission to create accounts, say that whatever the answer is will be understandable, and provide a thank you for running Mastodon. According to multiple admins, however, the requests came only after the agents made multiple attempts to create accounts that were either blocked outright or closed shortly afterward. Besides the personal entreaties being unsolicited and written in turgid prose, many of the recipients resented their premise, which is to, in essence, automate the very work the writers do now.
© Getty Images
When we had an early preview of the Unistellar Envisions last year, our editor-in-chief Tariq Malik said they felt like something out of Star Trek. I have been very excited about getting my hands on these for a long time and I can't wait to use them to identify stars and constellations in the night sky.
You can preorder the Unistellar Envision AR smart binoculars right now, available for $1499 exclusively from Unistellar.
Unistellar announced that pre-orders were opening for the highly-anticipated Envisions at this year's IFA 2026 conference in Berlin and have delivered more details on the type of functionality customers can expect. The 10x50 smart binoculars can be used with or without the augmented reality (AR) overlay which is able to recognise constellations, planets and deep-sky objects in real time, with more functionality expected to be released within the coming months.
Pre-order now for guaranteed delivery before Christmas.
The Envisions are the highly anticipated augmented reality (AR) smart binoculars from Unistellar, with night sky object recognition from a database of over 1,000 astronomical targets, shareable target lock and guided navigation mode. Functionality to identify natural landmarks, paths and shelters is expected in the coming months.
$1,499 / £1,299 / €1,499
Unistellar have already shown their muscle in the smart telescope department with the Odyssey, eQuinox 2 and eVscope 2 delivering easy and professional astrophotography to beginner and intermediate stargazers alike. Now they are pushing into the world of smart binoculars with the release of the Unistellar Envision smart binoculars.
These binoculars are "smart" in a different way to the rest of Unistellar's products. They use augmented reality to help users identify constellations, stars and deep sky objects, with a red overlay displaying names and information within the 10x magnified view. Our editor-in-chief got his hands on a pair of Envisions last year and was struck by how sci-fi they felt, likening them to something from Star Trek.
Whilst connected to the Unistellar smartphone app, users can select "Guided Navigation Mode" which guides them to their chosen target. This can also be used for custom targets that the user selects and can be used during shared viewing to help others find the same target. Functionality for geographical landmark identification is expected to be released in the coming months and subsequent software updates are expected to introduce new and exciting uses.
This Unistellar Envision pre-order guarantees delivery before Christmas, so if there is a stargazing obsessed loved one in your life, these smart binoculars could be the perfect gift. They are ideal for those who love adventuring and prefer dynamic skywatching with a new tool that boasts over 1,000 astronomical targets of interest and more than 200,000 visible stars in its database.
Key features: 10x magnification, 50mm objective lenses, porro prism design, weight 2.65 lbs (1.2 kg), five-hour AR battery life, operates without battery as classic binoculars, six-degree field of view, BaK-4 fully multi-coated optics, 1,000+ astronomy targets, +1,000,000 terrestrial targets (functionality expected to be released within the coming months).
Product launched: 2025
Price history: Unistellar did offer the binoculars for $999 for those who pre-ordered them last year but the current selling price is $1,499.
Unistellar exclusive: $1,499
Reviews consensus: We tried them out before general release and were impressed with their augmented reality (AR) overlay which helped us identify stars and a geographical target.
Featured in guides: best smart binoculars
✅ Buy it if: You want an interactive display that helps you learn about the night sky and locate targets.
❌ Don't buy it if: You need stronger than 10x magnification for long-distance viewing or features like image-stabilization or extreme waterproofing.
Check out our other guides to the best telescopes, binoculars, cameras, star projectors, drones, lego and much more.
The use of coal to generate electricity on the US grid has been plunging for nearly two decades, and the first Trump administration was unable to affect the trend. So his second administration has attempted more aggressive interventions to prop up coal use. One of its most direct means of doing so is to order coal plants that were scheduled to close to remain open, even if there is no need for them.
The administration's justification for these orders is a statute that allows the Department of Energy (DOE) to declare an emergency in the case of wartime or a sudden shortfall in generation. A number of parties, including states where coal plants have been slated to close, have challenged this declaration. And on Friday, in the first of these cases to make its way through the courts, the declaration was judged to be contrary to the statute. While this only affects a single coal plant in Michigan, the reasoning of the decision will apply to every coal plant closure that has been blocked by the DOE.
The decision was issued by a unanimous three-judge panel from the DC Circuit's Court of Appeals. It focuses on the J.H. Campbell Generating Plant, which was scheduled to close last year but has been kept open by a total of five emergency declarations by the DOE, each limited to 90 days by the Federal Power Act. At issue was section 202(c) of that Act, which allows the DOE to declare emergencies when the US is at war or when “an emergency exists by reason of a sudden increase in the demand for electric energy, or a shortage of electric energy.”
© UCG
Four years after “CODA” delivered Apple Original Films its first Best Picture Oscar, Siân Heder is back in the awards conversation. Her new film, “Being Heumann,” opened the Toronto International Film Festival with a story that looks purpose-built for the Academy: a real-life civil-rights struggle, a largely disabled cast, and the same director who last turned inclusion into both a cultural moment and a trophy.
The movie follows Judy Heumann, the late activist often called the mother of the disability-rights movement, as she leads a group of disabled protesters in the 1977 occupation of a San Francisco federal building. The sit-in lasted 26 days and pressured then-Health, Education, and Welfare Secretary Joseph Califano Jr. to sign regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Heder has described Heumann’s work as making “invisible people visible” and forcing “the hard change of inclusion.”
That framing is familiar. “CODA” was a coming-of-age story about a hearing daughter in a deaf family; it won Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Heder. Apple is repeating the playbook: a prestige festival launch, a limited theatrical window, then a swift move to Apple TV a week later.
The talent package is equally awards-ready. British actor Ruth Madeley plays Heumann. Mark Ruffalo plays Califano. Daniel Durant, who earned notice in CODA, returned to work with Heder. Most of the cast are disabled actors — an authenticity argument that studios now treat as both moral and strategic. Madeley has said the film tries to show Heumann’s humor and joy, not only her ferocity.
Whether “Being Heumann” is “Oscar bait” is a matter of tone, not facts. The film has the ingredients the Academy has rewarded: a historical injustice, underrepresented performers, a director with recent hardware, and a streamer that already proved it can campaign a mid-budget drama all the way to Best Picture.
Of course, “Oscar bait” is a loaded label that implies the movie was assembled to win prizes rather than because the story mattered. That judgment is about tone — cynicism versus generosity. One person looks at the same facts and says “this is a serious film about an overlooked chapter of history.” Another looks at them and says “this is a prestige package built for awards show voters.”
Apple does not need another trophy to justify the project. It would be nice if the film looks like more than just a prestige checklist.
The 1977 sit-in is a genuine piece of American history that still sits outside most popular memory. If “Being Heumann” makes that story land with audiences — and if Heder again finds the human texture that made “CODA” more than a message movie — Apple will have a real contender. If it plays as solemn, worthy, and slightly engineered, it will still get nominations and still stream. The question is whether the company can turn another Heder film into the same kind of industry event it pulled off in 2022.
MacDailyNews Take: Toronto was the first test. November theatrical and the Apple TV rollout will be the next. Awards season will decide whether this is another “CODA” or not.
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The post Can Apple parlay Siân Heder’s latest Oscar bait, ‘Being Heumann,’ into another Best Picture win? appeared first on MacDailyNews.
It wasn’t that long ago that ClickFix attacks were exotic. Now the technique has become mainstream as attackers reap its simplicity and effectiveness in infecting users of PCs and Macs alike. All that’s required is a compromised website—a painless enough task—a fake CAPTCHA overlay, and the inclusion of a single terminal command. So many visitors get suckered into pasting and running the command that just about every malware pusher has adopted the technique. Even Kremlin-backed hacking groups are joining in.
“Reddit is becoming post after post after post of people getting their computer infected via ClickFix,” independent researcher Kevin Beaumont observed Thursday. “Legit websites everywhere [are] getting hacked to serve the fake captcha prompts.”
More seasoned Internet users—a fair number who read this site—are quick to dismiss the attack. They typically blame the people who fall for the scams and marvel at their gullibility and lack of attention. The reality is that for more casual users, using computers and the Internet has become so difficult—think impossible-to-close interstitials, CAPTCHAs with an endless series of pictures to analyze, and constantly changing interfaces that bury the features they’re looking for—that they have grown desensitized to instructions that seem ridiculous and burdensome.
© Getty Images
Jase Parnell-Brookes has reviewed a huge range of skywatching optics, including the best telescopes, binoculars and image-stabilized binoculars. As our trusted authority and expert tester, when they recommend a product and you're in the market for it, their opinions and recommendations are worth paying attention to.
In their Nikon Stabilized 12x25 binoculars review, Jase reckoned they were without doubt the best compact image-stabilized (IS) binoculars they had ever tested. Right now they have $73 off and are at the best price we've seen since Black Friday 2025.
Get the Nikon S 12x25 binoculars, available for just $627 at Best Buy.
Jase awarded them with a perfect 5-star rating, which was mostly thanks to their excellent stabilization, their unobtrusive controls and incredibly small form factor. They also earned a place on our best binoculars guide as the best compact IS binoculars. This Best Buy deal is worthy of your attention if you're in the market for an incredibly versatile pair of binoculars that deliver still views in a compact body.
Save $73 on these pocket-sized image-stabilized (IS) binoculars from Nikon. They offer a strong 12x magnification and are portable enough to just slip into your pocket. In our review, we noted that the compact size and amazing IS system delivered amazing stargazing performance and earned them a perfect five-star review.
These image-stabilized (IS) binoculars punch well above their weight. Tipping the scales at a feathery 13.9 oz (395 g), they pack effortlessly into any bag, giving you rock-steady views wherever you roam. While the compact objective lenses yield a slightly dimmer view than the naked eye, they still deliver fantastic, crisp performance for casual stargazing.
In their testing, Jase managed to see the Andromeda galaxy (M31) with averted vision and the Orion nebula (M42), so these are worth taking out with you at night for a better look at the stars and some of the brighter deep sky objects.
They are also relatively cheap in the image-stabilized world where models can easily go for $1000 and up, depending on the model. Jase was happy to recommend these over another compact IS model, the Canon 8x20 IS binoculars, and they are actually lighter and smaller too. With their silky smooth steadying and clear views, they highly recommended them for anyone looking to get image-stabilized binoculars but doesn't want to spend big bucks.
Key features: 12x magnification, 25mm objective lens diameter, 4.5-degree angular field of view, 12.3mm eye relief, 13.9 oz (395 g) weight.
Product launched: November 2024
Price history: The Nikon Stabilized 12x25 binoculars usually retail for $699.95 on Amazon. This deal from Best Buy beats the Amazon price easily and, at just $626.95, is the best price we've seen since Black Friday 2025.
Price comparison: Best Buy: $626.95 | Newegg: $629.95 | Amazon: $699.95
Reviews consensus: Space: ★★★★★ | Digital Camera World: ★★★★
Featured in guides: Best binoculars, Best compact binoculars
✅ Buy it if: You are looking for an affordable way into image-stabilized binoculars and need a pair that you can slip into your pocket.
❌ Don't buy it if: You need really high magnification or bigger objective lenses. For more powerful image-stabilized binoculars, try the Canon IS 15x50 binoculars.
Check out our other guides to the best telescopes, binoculars, cameras, star projectors, drones, lego and much more.
Nordic Spirit has partnered with Co-op Live, one of the UK’s major entertainment venues, in a move that puts a nicotine pouch presence in the UK inside a high-profile live entertainment environment.
The partnership is particularly notable because the UK’s rules governing the advertising and sponsorship of nicotine products are about to change significantly. The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 introduces a much broader framework covering the promotion and sponsorship of vaping and nicotine products, with the government intending the new advertising and sponsorship restrictions to take effect on June 1, 2027.
That makes the timing of the Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live deal more interesting than a conventional venue partnership. It arrives during a period when nicotine brands are still able to operate within the existing rules, while preparing for a substantially more restrictive marketing environment.
Nordic Spirit, a nicotine pouch brand, has entered into a partnership with Co-op Live that gives the brand a presence at the Manchester entertainment venue.
Rather than being simply a retail arrangement, the partnership places Nordic Spirit within an entertainment setting where brand visibility and audience engagement are important parts of the commercial relationship.
For Nordic Spirit, the deal provides another way to establish brand awareness among adult nicotine consumers . For Co-op Live, the agreement represents a commercial partnership with a nicotine brand during a period of significant regulatory change across the UK nicotine market.
The timing is therefore an important part of the story.
The UK nicotine market is approaching a major change in how products can be promoted.
The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 extends advertising and sponsorship restrictions to nicotine products as well as vaping products. The government’s Department of Health and Social Care says it intends the comprehensive advertising and sponsorship ban to begin on June 1, 2027.
The legislation goes beyond traditional advertising. Section 131 covers sponsorship agreements involving vaping products and nicotine products where contributions are made under an agreement and activities resulting from that agreement promote those products in the UK.
This is important because sponsorship is different from placing a conventional advertisement in a newspaper or on a website.
A sponsorship arrangement can connect a brand with a venue, event, sports organisation or other public-facing activity. Under the new framework, those relationships can therefore become subject to much greater scrutiny when they promote a nicotine product.
The new law represents a substantial expansion of the UK’s approach to nicotine marketing.
The government says the future restrictions will cover advertising, promotion and sponsorship involving vaping and nicotine products. They are intended to apply across the UK.
The legislation also makes clear that sponsorship restrictions can apply when a sponsorship agreement results in activities intended to promote a vaping or nicotine product.
That distinction matters for businesses because the question is not simply whether a company has purchased a conventional advertisement.
The wider issue is whether a commercial arrangement results in promotional activity for a product that falls within the scope of the legislation.
Not necessarily.
This is an important distinction that should not be overlooked.
The government has stated that it intends the comprehensive advertising and sponsorship restrictions to come into force from June 1, 2027. However, the explanatory notes to the legislation state that the commencement of Section 131 is to be specified by regulations.
That means it would be inaccurate to conclude simply that the existing Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live partnership is already prohibited.
Instead, the more useful question is how the arrangement will be treated as the new rules take effect and whether any existing contractual or promotional activity needs to change.
The final practical impact will depend on the commencement regulations, implementation details and guidance available to businesses.
The Nordic Spirit deal illustrates a broader issue in the nicotine industry.
For years, brands have used different forms of visibility to establish consumer awareness, including retail presence, digital communication, events and sponsorships.
The upcoming UK restrictions could significantly reduce the number of channels available for commercial promotion.
That makes existing partnerships particularly interesting.
A venue partnership can involve more than a logo on a wall. Depending on the agreement, it may include branded areas, promotional material, digital exposure, event-related activity or other forms of brand association.
Under a regulatory framework that specifically addresses sponsorship and promotion, businesses will need to assess those elements individually rather than treating the entire arrangement as a simple advertising purchase.
Nicotine pouches have also become increasingly visible in the UK nicotine market.
Unlike traditional tobacco products, nicotine pouches do not contain tobacco. However, the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 specifically brings nicotine products within the broader advertising and sponsorship framework. The government’s explanatory notes describe the new rules as extending advertising, promotion and sponsorship restrictions to nicotine products as well as vape aerosol products.
This is a significant development for pouch brands.
It means that the industry’s marketing environment cannot be assessed only by looking at traditional tobacco regulations. Companies selling nicotine pouches will also need to consider the new restrictions that apply specifically to nicotine products.
The government has also announced separate changes affecting the sale and promotion of vaping and nicotine products. From October 29, 2026, new age-of-sale and related restrictions will apply, including restrictions on free distribution intended to promote vaping or nicotine products.
The Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live agreement may become a useful example of the transition taking place in the UK nicotine market.
For brands, the challenge will not simply be finding another advertising channel. Companies will need to reconsider how they build awareness when conventional promotional and sponsorship opportunities become more restricted.
For venues and commercial partners, the issue is equally important.
A partnership involving a nicotine company may require closer review of branding, promotional activity, event integration and contractual obligations. The regulatory question may extend beyond the presence of a brand name to what consumers actually see or experience as a result of the commercial relationship.
That could make compliance more complicated than simply removing an advertisement.
For adult consumers, the most relevant point is that the nicotine pouch market is entering a period of significant regulatory transition.
The Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live partnership itself is only one commercial arrangement. Its wider significance comes from the timing: it demonstrates how nicotine brands are continuing to explore mainstream commercial partnerships while the UK is preparing to impose broader restrictions on advertising and sponsorship.
The government says the future restrictions are designed to reduce the promotion of nicotine and vaping products, particularly in the context of protecting younger people from exposure to marketing.
As implementation approaches, businesses will need to understand not only what products they can sell, but also how those products can legally be promoted.
The Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live partnership is noteworthy because it sits directly within a changing UK nicotine marketing landscape.
The agreement does not, by itself, mean that the partnership is already prohibited. Instead, it highlights the transition from today’s rules toward a system in which advertising and sponsorship of nicotine products are expected to face much tighter restrictions.
The UK’s Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 provides the legal framework for that change, while the government currently intends the wider advertising and sponsorship restrictions to take effect on June 1, 2027.
For nicotine brands, venues and other commercial partners, the key issue over the coming months will be understanding exactly how existing and future agreements fit within the new rules.
That makes the Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live partnership worth watching—not simply as a brand deal, but as an example of how the UK nicotine industry’s approach to marketing may change before the new restrictions take effect.
The post What the Nordic Spirit-Co-op Live Deal Means for UK Nicotine Sponsorship Rules appeared first on IGeeKphone China Phone, Tablet PC, VR, RC Drone News, Reviews.
Ancient meteorite minerals reveal a surprisingly strong magnetic field from the solar system’s first 200,000 years. About 4.6 billion years ago, before the Sun and planets existed in their familiar forms, the solar system was a vast cloud of gas and dust. Within a few million years, this “solar nebula” collapsed and flattened into a [...]
A nearly identical exploit kit that targets critical vulnerabilities in both Chromium-based browsers and older versions of Windows is being actively used by at least four hacking groups, some of which have ties to the Chinese government.
Researchers from security firm Proofpoint said Wednesday that BlueMoon, the name they gave to the kit, chains three vulnerabilities together so the attackers using it can install malware of their choice. BlueMoon exploits two Chromium vulnerabilities and one in the kernel of Windows 10 (Oct. 2018 Update), Windows Server 2019, Windows 10 2004, Windows Server 2022, and the initial release of Windows 11. All three vulnerabilities have received patches in the past 24 hours.
The attacks lacked the stealth found in many campaigns. More often, hackers want to exploit newly discovered vulnerabilities sparingly to lengthen their longevity. Proofpoint hypothesized that one reason for the widely used and visible exploit chain was to take advantage of a “patch gap” in the Chromium supply chain, which spans the time a patch is available from developers and the time that patch is incorporated into browsers such as Chrome and Edge. Another likely contributor was the use of AI, which can often spot vulnerabilities faster than discovery performed solely by humans.
© Getty Images
A nearly identical exploit kit that targets critical vulnerabilities in both Chromium-based browsers and older versions of Windows is being actively used by at least four hacking groups, some of which have ties to the Chinese government.
Researchers from security firm Proofpoint said Wednesday that BlueMoon, the name they gave to the kit, chains three vulnerabilities together so the attackers using it can install malware of their choice. BlueMoon exploits two Chromium vulnerabilities and one in the kernel of Windows 10 (Oct 2018 Update), Windows Server 2019, Windows 10 2004, Windows Server 2022, and the initial release of Windows 11. All three vulnerabilities have received patches in the past 24 hours.
The attacks lacked the stealth found in many campaigns. More often, hackers want to exploit newly discovered vulnerabilities sparingly to lengthen their longevity. Proofpoint hypothesized that one reason for the widely used and visible exploit chain was to take advantage of a “patch gap” in the Chromium supply chain, which spans the time a patch is available from developers and the time that patch is incorporated into browsers such as Chrome and Edge. Another likely contributor was the use of AI, which can often spot vulnerabilities faster than discovery performed solely by humans.
© Getty Images
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