A startup called Germ becomes the first private messenger launched directly from the Bluesky app.
This is something we have never seen on Big Tech social platforms. Decentralized open social network Bluesky has integrated a new technology from a startup called Germ Network to bring end-to-end encrypted (E2E) messaging to the Bluesky app. This move makes Germ DM the first private messenger that can be launched natively within the Bluesky […]
SeatGeek and Spotify team up to offer concert ticket sales within their music platform
SeatGeek announced a new integration with Spotify on Wednesday, bringing a seamless ticket purchasing experience to Spotify users. When Spotify users view an artist’s page or upcoming tour dates, they will now see ticket links provided by SeatGeek for concerts at these participating venues, streamlining the purchasing process. This integration is currently available for select […]
‘A complete surprise’: Homo erectus skull discovered in China is almost 1.8 million years old, the oldest evidence of ancient human relatives in East Asia
Three Homo erectus skulls previously unearthed in China are about 1.8 million years old, making them about 600,000 years older than originally thought, a new study has found. The new findings make the Unxian skull of Hubei the oldest evidence of early relatives of humans, known as hominins, in East Asia, according to a study […]
Amazon cancels Blue Jay robotics project after less than 6 months
Amazon has hundreds of thousands of robots in its warehouses, but that doesn’t mean all of its robot efforts are success stories. As first reported by Business Insider and confirmed by TechCrunch, the e-commerce giant has canceled its Blue Jay warehouse robot project just months after announcing the technology. Blue Jay, a multi-armed robot designed […]
Cold, city-sized volcanic comet turns into a glowing ‘snail shell’ after massive explosion
A mysterious volcanic comet has transformed into a giant “fossil-like” spiral of light after its most violent explosion in years, new photos have revealed. This amazing sight is a reminder of how puzzling this particular planetary debris really is. This unusual comet, known as 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (29P), is a gigantic ball of ice about 60 kilometers […]
Laser breakthrough allows Microsoft to store 10,000 years of data on everyday glass
A groundbreaking improvement in Microsoft’s glass-based data storage technology allows ordinary glassware, such as those used in cookware and oven doors, to store terabytes of data, which is retained for 10,000 years. The technology, which has been under development since 2019 under the name Project Silica, has been steadily improving, and scientists today published a […]
Citizen Lab finds Cellebrite tool used on mobile phone of Kenyan activist in police custody
Ravi LakshmananFebruary 18, 2026Mobile security/spyware A new study by Citizen Lab has found evidence that Kenyan authorities used a commercial forensic extraction tool made by Israeli company Celebrite to hack into the mobile phones of prominent dissidents, the latest incident of technology abuse targeting civil society. The Interdisciplinary Research Unit at the University of Toronto’s […]
Grandstream GXP1600 VoIP phone exposed to unauthenticated remote code execution
Ravi LakshmananFebruary 18, 2026Network Security/Enterprise Security Cybersecurity researchers have revealed a critical security flaw in Grandstream GXP1600 series VoIP phones that could allow attackers to seize control of susceptible devices. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-2329 and has a CVSS score of 9.3 out of a maximum of 10.0. This is described as a case […]
The largest trees in the Peruvian Amazon store the most carbon and also face the biggest threats from humans
The largest trees in the Peruvian Amazon store disproportionately more carbon than smaller trees, a new study has found. But these large trees are also the ones most likely to be cut down, which means more carbon is released into the atmosphere, thereby reducing the ability of these forests to act as carbon sinks, the […]
A supercomputer simulated the orbits of a million satellites between the Earth and the moon, but fewer than 10% survived.
New supercomputer simulations show that if a million satellites were placed at different points between the Earth and the moon, fewer than 10% would survive long enough to make it worth the effort to send them out in the first place. While this is not as dire as it initially seemed, research shows that it […]