Steve Wozniak's Foundation Partners With Realbotix To Build AI Teacherbot
July 18, 2026 at 07:00AM
July 18, 2026 at 07:00AM
hardware.slashdot.org
Steve Wozniak's Foundation Partners With Realbotix To Build AI Teacherbot
"Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's Woz Ed foundation is partnering with Realbotix, best known for their RealDoll-branded artificial companions, to deploy AI-powered robotic tutors in classrooms," writes Slashdot reader Hentes. "The doll will serve as a sort…
Australia To Put Environmental Brakes On AI Data Centers
July 18, 2026 at 11:30AM
July 18, 2026 at 11:30AM
slashdot.org
Australia To Put Environmental Brakes On AI Data Centers
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: Australia will require large data centers powering artificial intelligence to generate as much power as they consume, and ensure that creative professionals retain control over work that may be…
亚马逊 AWS 计费系统单位错误导致客户看到了数亿乃至数万亿美元的账单
世界各地的亚马逊 AWS 客户周五可能都心跳加速，他们看到了远远超过他们想象的账单数字，很多每月只花几美元的客户看到了数亿乃至数十亿美元的账单，很多企业甚至看到了数以万亿美元的账单。亚马逊证实其计费系统出现问题，账单预估数字不正确，在问题解决期间它暂停了账单更新。亚马逊称它已经识别问题是单位导致的，所有受影响客户预计到 7 月 19 日 12:00 AM PDT 将会完全恢复正常。亚马逊没有详细解释单位问题，猜测是原来按 GB 收费的系统漏掉了 GB，而系统默认按 Byte 计费，1 GB = 1,073,741,824 Bytes，这意味着一小时内账单费用就会膨胀十亿倍。 via Solidot
世界各地的亚马逊 AWS 客户周五可能都心跳加速，他们看到了远远超过他们想象的账单数字，很多每月只花几美元的客户看到了数亿乃至数十亿美元的账单，很多企业甚至看到了数以万亿美元的账单。亚马逊证实其计费系统出现问题，账单预估数字不正确，在问题解决期间它暂停了账单更新。亚马逊称它已经识别问题是单位导致的，所有受影响客户预计到 7 月 19 日 12:00 AM PDT 将会完全恢复正常。亚马逊没有详细解释单位问题，猜测是原来按 GB 收费的系统漏掉了 GB，而系统默认按 Byte 计费，1 GB = 1,073,741,824 Bytes，这意味着一小时内账单费用就会膨胀十亿倍。 via Solidot
Alien World Chemistry Found Inside Meteorite That Struck New Jersey Home
July 18, 2026 at 03:00PM
July 18, 2026 at 03:00PM
science.slashdot.org
Alien World Chemistry Found Inside Meteorite That Struck New Jersey Home
Researchers say a meteorite that crashed through the roof of a Hillsborough, New Jersey, home in 2024 contains unusually pristine evidence of salty fluids and organic chemistry from near the surface of a primitive asteroid. "A forensic study of the fragments…
Google-Backed Satellites For Wildfire Detection Launch As Smoke Chokes US, Canada
July 18, 2026 at 07:00PM
July 18, 2026 at 07:00PM
news.slashdot.org
Google-Backed Satellites For Wildfire Detection Launch As Smoke Chokes US, Canada
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: As smoke from hundreds of burning wildfires spread across Canada and the United States, the first three operational satellites in the Google-backed FireSat program successfully launched into orbit. The…
The 'Death of the Stick Shift' is Almost Here for Americans
July 18, 2026 at 10:34PM
July 18, 2026 at 10:34PM
tech.slashdot.org
The 'Death of the Stick Shift' is Almost Here for Americans
Last year just 0.6% of new vehicles made for U.S. customers were stick shifts, reports the Washington Post, citing preliminary government data. "That's a precipitous drop from the 34.6 percent of vehicles with manual transmissions produced in 1980." [T]he…
Firefox 将从 9 月 1 日起每两周发布一个新版本
Mozilla 工程总监 Sylvestre Ledru 通过 dev-platform@mozilla.org 邮件列表宣布，从 2026 年 9 月起 Firefox 桌面版和 Android 版本的发布周期从 4 周减少到 2 周。他表示这是一次实验，并不意味着工作进度加倍，并不会仓促交付新功能。当前的目标是在 9 月 1 日释出 Firefox 155 而不是原计划的 9 月 15 日，“我们将密切关注这一变化在实际中的效果，根据需要进行调整。”Firefox 接下来的两个版本 Firefox 153（ESR） 和 154 仍然是每隔 4 周释出，Firefox 155 开始提前两周释出。 via Solidot
Mozilla 工程总监 Sylvestre Ledru 通过 dev-platform@mozilla.org 邮件列表宣布，从 2026 年 9 月起 Firefox 桌面版和 Android 版本的发布周期从 4 周减少到 2 周。他表示这是一次实验，并不意味着工作进度加倍，并不会仓促交付新功能。当前的目标是在 9 月 1 日释出 Firefox 155 而不是原计划的 9 月 15 日，“我们将密切关注这一变化在实际中的效果，根据需要进行调整。”Firefox 接下来的两个版本 Firefox 153（ESR） 和 154 仍然是每隔 4 周释出，Firefox 155 开始提前两周释出。 via Solidot
重度电视观众有更小的大脑结构
“电视会腐蚀你的大脑”这句话也许在字面意义上是正确的。根据发表在《Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association》上的一项研究，常看电视的人大脑中与记忆相关的区域体积缩小，额叶和枕叶变小，大脑白质出现了与衰老、中风风险、认知能力下降和痴呆症相关的损伤区域。研究人员分析了约 1700 名成年人的数据，他们的平均年龄 53 岁，在 1987-1989 年间参与了心血管研究 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities(ARIC) 。参与者被询问了休闲时看电视的频率。20 多年后参与者接受了脑部核磁共振成像检查。结果显示，重度电视人群的大脑结构出现了缩小，其中男性的影响更显著。 via Solidot
“电视会腐蚀你的大脑”这句话也许在字面意义上是正确的。根据发表在《Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association》上的一项研究，常看电视的人大脑中与记忆相关的区域体积缩小，额叶和枕叶变小，大脑白质出现了与衰老、中风风险、认知能力下降和痴呆症相关的损伤区域。研究人员分析了约 1700 名成年人的数据，他们的平均年龄 53 岁，在 1987-1989 年间参与了心血管研究 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities(ARIC) 。参与者被询问了休闲时看电视的频率。20 多年后参与者接受了脑部核磁共振成像检查。结果显示，重度电视人群的大脑结构出现了缩小，其中男性的影响更显著。 via Solidot
天文学家确认了 25 光年外的一颗位于宜居带的岩石行星
天文学家确认一颗名为 GJ3378b 的系外行星，位于距离地球仅 25 光年的红矮星宜居带内，可能具备孕育生命的条件。这颗行星位于鹿豹座方向，围绕一颗暗淡的红矮星运行，被视为目前已知距离地球最近的潜在宜居世界之一。GJ3378b 最初于 2024 年被法国天文学家发现。当时测定的质量为地球的 5.26 倍，被认为是一颗类似微型海王星的气态行星。天文学家利用基特峰国家天文台的 WIYN 3.5米望远镜等设备进行二次观测后，修正了这一结论。新数据显示，GJ3378b 的真实质量仅为地球的 2.3 倍，属于岩石质地的“超级地球”。轨道参数同样得到修正。最初认为该行星的公转周期为 25 天，实际仅为 21 天。这意味着它比此前判断的更靠近母星，但也恰好处于宜居带内——这一区域允许行星表面温度维持液态水的存在。这颗行星从母星接收的辐射量约为地球从太阳获取的 90%，位置非常理想。 via Solidot
天文学家确认一颗名为 GJ3378b 的系外行星，位于距离地球仅 25 光年的红矮星宜居带内，可能具备孕育生命的条件。这颗行星位于鹿豹座方向，围绕一颗暗淡的红矮星运行，被视为目前已知距离地球最近的潜在宜居世界之一。GJ3378b 最初于 2024 年被法国天文学家发现。当时测定的质量为地球的 5.26 倍，被认为是一颗类似微型海王星的气态行星。天文学家利用基特峰国家天文台的 WIYN 3.5米望远镜等设备进行二次观测后，修正了这一结论。新数据显示，GJ3378b 的真实质量仅为地球的 2.3 倍，属于岩石质地的“超级地球”。轨道参数同样得到修正。最初认为该行星的公转周期为 25 天，实际仅为 21 天。这意味着它比此前判断的更靠近母星，但也恰好处于宜居带内——这一区域允许行星表面温度维持液态水的存在。这颗行星从母星接收的辐射量约为地球从太阳获取的 90%，位置非常理想。 via Solidot
Union Fights Microsoft Over Layoffs at Game Studios
July 18, 2026 at 11:34PM
July 18, 2026 at 11:34PM
games.slashdot.org
Union Fights Microsoft Over Layoffs at Game Studios
Thursday the union that helped organize thousands of workers across numerous Microsoft-owned video game studios filed unfair labor complaints against Microsoft over the layoffs of 1,600 employees. The gaming news site Aftermath says the complaints allege…
Long After Pluto Fly-By, NASA's New Horizon's Probe Wakes Up Again, Starts Doing New Science
July 19, 2026 at 12:34AM
July 19, 2026 at 12:34AM
science.slashdot.org
Long After Pluto Fly-By, NASA's New Horizon's Probe Wakes Up Again, Starts Doing New Science
Launched in 2006, NASA's New Horizons probe flew by the planet Pluto in 2015. But this week it "awakened from its longest sleep ever," reports CNN. It's now 5.9 billion miles (9.5 billion kilometers) from Earth... NASA's New Horizons spacecraft went into…
CNBC's Jim Cramer Says He Needs 'Cold Hard' Proof AI Is Paying Off
July 19, 2026 at 01:34AM
July 19, 2026 at 01:34AM
slashdot.org
CNBC's Jim Cramer Says He Needs 'Cold Hard' Proof AI Is Paying Off
In a sign of our times, CNBC's Jim Cramer "said Wednesday that it's time for companies to prove artificial intelligence is paying off," reports CNBC: "I need cold hard return facts," the "Mad Money" host said. "Or, I, too, will grow more skeptical than I…
NextBSD Returns to Port Apple Source Onto FreeBSD
July 19, 2026 at 02:46AM
July 19, 2026 at 02:46AM
bsd.slashdot.org
NextBSD Returns to Port Apple Source Onto FreeBSD
"One of the most interesting BSD variants of the 2010s, NextBSD, has come back to life under new management," reports The Register: Aside from the homepage, there's a GitHub repository — but beware, this is separate from the old one, whose repo is still…
Gen Z and Millennials are Buying CDs - Though Half Don't Have CD Players
July 19, 2026 at 03:50AM
July 19, 2026 at 03:50AM
entertainment.slashdot.org
Gen Z and Millennials are Buying CDs - Though Half Don't Have CD Players
"Approximately half of Gen Z and millennials who have purchased a CD do not own a CD player," according to midyear sales statistics from entertainment data company Luminate. It's driven in part by "collection building", according to their report [PDF]: The…
Next UK Prime Minister Drops Digital ID Scheme
July 19, 2026 at 06:17AM
July 19, 2026 at 06:17AM
news.slashdot.org
Next UK Prime Minister Drops Digital ID Scheme
Reuters reports: Incoming British prime minister Andy Burnham will scrap the government's troubled plans for a digital ID scheme when he enters office on Monday, a spokesperson for the new Labour Party leader said. Resources devoted to the scheme, deemed…
How Microsoft's 'Little Workaround' Created a Major Threat to America's Defense Department
July 19, 2026 at 07:17AM
July 19, 2026 at 07:17AM
yro.slashdot.org
How Microsoft's 'Little Workaround' Created a Major Threat to America's Defense Department
This week Slashdot reader joshuark found the story of exactly how in 2025 ProPublica reporter Renee Dudley confirmed Microsoft was running tech support for the U.S. Defense Department through China, America's biggest cybersecurity adversary — and how…
France Orders ISPs to Block Access to Polymarket
July 19, 2026 at 08:17AM
July 19, 2026 at 08:17AM
yro.slashdot.org
France Orders ISPs to Block Access to Polymarket
France's regulatory authority for licensed gambling/betting games "announced this week that it ordered ISPs to block access to Polymarket," reports Engadget. Anyone caught advertising an unauthorized betting site "could be fined up to 100,000 euros, or around…
OpenAI Acknowledges GPT-5.6 May Accidentally Delete Files, Calls It 'Honest Mistake'
July 19, 2026 at 09:34AM
July 19, 2026 at 09:34AM
developers.slashdot.org
OpenAI Acknowledges GPT-5.6 May Accidentally Delete Files, Calls It 'Honest Mistake'
"OpenAI has finally confirmed reports that its latest family of large language models can accidentally delete files," reports InfoWorld, "while stressing that such incidents are rare and should be viewed as 'honest mistakes.'" Reports of the flagship LLMs…
'Grok Build' Coding Tool Open Sourced This Week, Promises to Respect Zero Data Retention
July 19, 2026 at 11:34AM
July 19, 2026 at 11:34AM
news.slashdot.org
'Grok Build' Coding Tool Open Sourced This Week, Promises to Respect Zero Data Retention
Elon Musk confirmed SpaceX has open sourced the Grok Build CLI this week, reports The Register, "just days after researchers caught the AI tool scooping up users' entire repositories and uploading them to company-controlled cloud storage." That discovery…
New Study Links Teen Boys' ADHD Symptoms To Addictive Social Media Use
July 19, 2026 at 03:34PM
July 19, 2026 at 03:34PM
science.slashdot.org
New Study Links Teen Boys' ADHD Symptoms To Addictive Social Media Use
A new study by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco "adds to growing research linking increased social media use to detrimental effects on attention, memory and cognition," reports the Washington Post: The study followed more than…