A Physicist Rigged His Pet Hamster’s Wheel to Upload to Strava

202 aanet 2026-08-08 02:06:33 UTC runnersworld.com Llama Share 40

Thijs de Buck, an MRI physicist, built a speed and distance tracker for his hamster Mollie's wheel, uploading data to Mollie's Strava account. Mollie has logged over 10 kilometers per night, with a record of 10.8 kilometers, and has gained thousands of likes and followers on Strava.

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731

630 tosh 2026-08-07 18:06:33 UTC arcprize.org Full Share 379

At max effort, DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 scores 89.0% on ARC-AGI-1 Semi-Private at $0.02 per task and 61.4% on ARC-AGI-2 Semi-Private at $0.04 per task.

Hardware backdoors in some x86 CPUs

90 epestr 2026-08-08 07:06:33 UTC github.com/xoreaxeaxeax Llama Share 26

The rosenbridge backdoor is a hidden CPU core in some VIA C3 processors that allows unprivileged code to access kernel data. It can be closed by running a utility on baremetal, but an attacker with kernel access can still re-enable it.

U.S. Department of Energy Launches the Genesis Open Models Initiative

235 moelf 2026-08-07 23:06:33 UTC genesisopenmodels.anl.gov Full Share 82

What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

668 RickJWagner 2026-08-07 13:06:33 UTC noemamag.com Llama Share 742

Knowledge Workers are increasingly disillusioned with their careers, feeling a sense of existential angst and questioning the point of their work, as AI threatens to automate many tasks and make their jobs seem meaningless. This disillusionment could lead to a paradigm shift, where workers start to value the human experience of work over the appearance of productivity, and seek to create ...

Assembly Hall of Shame

345 piotrgrabowski 2026-08-07 18:06:33 UTC github.com/xoreaxeaxeax Llama Share 85

Researchers are finding the slowest single instructions on CPUs by using various techniques such as starving the PCIe fabric, loading large amounts of data from high-latency MMIO regions, and leveraging microcode assists.

ao486: x86-compatible Verilog core implementing all features of a 486 SX (2014)

20 csmantle 2026-08-08 05:06:33 UTC github.com/alfikpl Llama Share 1

The ao486 project is an x86 compatible Verilog core implementing a 486 SX with a SoC capable of booting Linux and Windows 95. It includes Sound Blaster 2.0 and VGA support, with a NIOS2 processor for managing components and displaying On Screen Display.

NASA figured out how to keep its Voyager 2 probe running for another year

236 wglb 2026-08-08 02:06:33 UTC space.com Llama Share 45

NASA made a power-saving tweak to Voyager 2, called the 'Big Bang', to extend its lifespan by a year. The tweak reduced power requirements by turning off non-essential devices and using lower-power alternatives to keep the spacecraft warm.

SupererDuperer

106 zdw 2026-08-08 01:06:33 UTC shirtpocket.com Llama Share 21

SuperDuper 4 is a major update with a new design, faster performance, and more features. It offers improved copy jobs, scheduling, and support for various file systems, as well as new shortcuts and rules for customization.

Ancient Library – 1,060 Greek/Latin texts, click any word to parse it

209 aagha 2026-08-07 19:06:33 UTC ancientlibrary.net Full Share 66

A complete parsing reader for the classical canon. Click any word in any text for its lemma, morphology, and full dictionary entry — Lewis & Short for Latin, Liddell-Scott-Jones for Greek. 1060 works · 293 Latin · 767 Greek · 140 authors · browse the full A–Z index

Tell Abu Hureyra (prehistoric archaeological site)

6 dieselgate 2026-08-08 08:06:33 UTC en.wikipedia.org Prefix Share 0

Tell Abu Hureyra (Arabic: تل أبو هريرة) is a prehistoric archaeological site in the Upper Euphrates valley in Syria. The tell was inhabited between 13,300 and 7,800 cal. BP[1] in two main phases: Abu Hureyra 1, dated to the Epipalaeolithic, was a village of sedentary hunter-gatherers; Abu Hureyra 2, dated to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, was home to some of the world's first farmers.[2] This ...

Managing AI Coding Costs at Scale

236 moonikakiss 2026-08-07 19:06:33 UTC databricks.com Llama Share 203

Companies are facing exponentially growing costs from AI coding tools, but several large-scale adopters have converged on approaches to manage costs while maintaining access to AI tooling. Techniques such as adopting newer, more efficient models, using meta-harnesses, and routing work to the cheapest capable model can help reduce costs while preserving productivity gains.

The Nixpkgs core team has disbanded

299 Meleagris 2026-08-08 02:06:33 UTC discourse.nixos.org Llama Share 147

Nixpkgs core team disbanded after 10 months, leaving a legacy of governance reforms and new committer onboarding. Key achievements include process reforms, new committer additions, and infrastructure upgrades.

Workers Drilling in Romania Broke into a Cave Sealed for 5.5M Years

84 yk 2026-08-08 00:06:33 UTC travelandtannins.com Llama Share 32

In 1986, a Romanian cave system was discovered sealed off from the outside world for 5.5 million years, containing a thriving community of life powered by chemosynthesis, not sunlight. This underground ecosystem, known as Movile Cave, has been a significant scientific discovery, providing insights into life's adaptability and potential existence beyond Earth.

2027 memory capacity is reportedly sold out

367 inigyou 2026-08-07 10:06:33 UTC ign.com Llama Share 336

RAM prices are expected to rise due to sold-out 2027 capacity to AI companies through long-term purchasing agreements. NAND storage is also in high demand, with SSD prices increasing, potentially leading to further price hikes in the near future.

From One Seed to a Thousand Leaves – Merkle's Authentication Tree

15 denismenace 2026-08-08 05:06:33 UTC 0xkrt26.github.io Llama Share 0

Ralph Merkle improved the Lamport-Diffie one-time signature by reducing storage space and introducing the Merkle tree, which allows for efficient authentication of messages without storing all public keys. The Merkle tree is a fundamental part of blockchain technology, enabling Simplified Payment Verification and protecting against fraud without overwhelming storage or costing a fortune.

An all-sky map of half a million supermassive black holes

169 MarcoDewey 2026-08-07 16:06:33 UTC sdss.org Llama Share 38

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) released Data Release 20 (DR20), marking a milestone in the study of accreting supermassive black holes. DR20 includes over 3.3 million optical spectra, providing unprecedented insights into black hole masses, growth, and physics across cosmic time.

Responding to the next frontier of critical cyber capabilities

185 artninja1988 2026-08-07 17:06:33 UTC openai.com Full Share 175

Carl's Required Reading

167 cckolon 2026-08-07 18:06:33 UTC carlkolon.com Llama Share 21

The author shares a list of recommended articles on software development, including topics such as complexity, Separation of Concerns, and accessibility, with the goal of helping programmers create good software. The articles cover various aspects of software development, including React, ORMs, PostGIS, async programming, and design principles, and are intended for programmers of all levels.

Oracle bans AI-generated code from OpenJDK

471 delduca 2026-08-07 18:06:33 UTC app.dealroom.co Llama Share 334

Oracle banned AI-generated code from OpenJDK contributions due to safety, security, and intellectual property risks. This policy contrasts with Oracle's internal use of AI models for coding, despite investing $70 billion in datacentre expansion.

Radical Study Suggests Life on Earth Arose Twice

148 jnord 2026-08-07 13:06:33 UTC sciencealert.com Llama Share 102

A new study suggests that life may have emerged twice, with bacteria and archaea independently developing metabolism and becoming free-living cells. This challenges the traditional view of a single origin of life, with two separate lineages evolving from a primordial soup.

Making Postgres 300x faster for analytics: batching, operator fusion, and SIMD

288 poly2it 2026-08-07 11:06:33 UTC malisper.me Llama Share 139

The pgrust query engine is 10x faster than the previous version and outperforms Postgres by 30% on OLTP benchmarks and 300x on Clickbench. Optimizations such as batching, operator fusion, and SIMD enabled pgrust to achieve these performance gains, with the goal of further improving performance through JIT compilation.

Kitesurf: Agent-first browser that runs in V8 isolates

193 m3h 2026-08-07 11:06:33 UTC blog.cloudflare.com Llama Share 51

Cloudflare has developed a new browser called Kitesurf, designed specifically for AI agents and automation tasks, which is more efficient in CPU and memory consumption than Chromium. Kitesurf is built on top of Cloudflare Workers and uses AI to accelerate the development process, with a focus on scalability, performance, and cost-effectiveness.

Psychological Warfare in Reverse Engineering (2015)

70 theanonymousone 2026-08-07 19:06:33 UTC github.com/xoreaxeaxeax Llama Share 4

The REpsych toolset generates images from a program's control flow graph, translating source images into functioning programs. It works reliably with IDA Pro and semi-reliably with other CFG viewers, creating two programs for each image.

Guarded Methods in OCaml (2025)

70 birdculture 2026-08-07 19:06:33 UTC xvw.lol Llama Share 7

Guarded methods allow attaching constraints to the receiver (self) for certain methods, enabling them to be called only if the receiver satisfies those constraints. In OCaml, guarded methods can be encoded using a type equality witness, specifically the eq type with the Refl constructor, which represents type equalities not known by the type-checker.

Water system controllers don't belong on the internet, says ex-NSA chief

196 Bender 2026-08-07 22:06:33 UTC theregister.com Llama Share 127

Retired General Paul Nakasone says US water systems need better cyber defense due to recent hacks, likely by Iran, targeting operational technology devices. He suggests partnerships and a more involved approach to defend the 50,000 US water municipalities.

Games at the press of a button: The Rip-O-Bot (1989)

34 msephton 2026-08-07 23:06:33 UTC blog.gingerbeardman.com Llama Share 9

Fukio Mitsuji, a game designer, warned against imitation games in a 1989 column, predicting a future where machines could create passable derivatives. He emphasized the importance of originality, saying "the idea is the one and only, final weapon left to you."

New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

764 boplicity 2026-08-07 10:06:33 UTC theguardian.com Llama Share 407

A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $567m into a fund to address mental health impacts from its platforms. The ruling brings the total amount Meta is responsible for to $942m, with $420m going towards treatment services for young people in New Mexico.

Möbius-Strip Crosswords

74 ibobev 2026-08-07 16:06:33 UTC quuxplusone.github.io Llama Share 10

Robert Guilbert Sr invented a competitive crossword game called Pago Pago in 1986, but details are unclear. A Möbius-strip crossword puzzle was proposed but proved difficult to create due to letter symmetry constraints.

AMD acquires Taalas to boost inference performance by etching models in silicon

902 itvision 2026-08-07 10:06:33 UTC theregister.com Llama Share 681

AMD acquired AI chip company Taalas, which etches model weights into silicon for faster inference performance. The deal aims to boost AI hardware and compete with Nvidia's dominance in the market.