Chocolate Hills: Color-changing mounds in the Philippines that inspired the legend of the mud-throwing giant
simple facts Name: Chocolate Hills Location: Bohol Island, Philippines Coordinates: 9.8297, 124.1396 Why we don’t believe it: The hills change color with the seasons, giving rise to legends that giants formed them out of mud. The Chocolate Hills are a geological formation of 1,776 limestone grass-covered mounds located in the Philippines. The landscape is lush […]
‘Earthquake on a Chip’ uses ‘phonon’ lasers to improve efficiency of mobile devices
Engineers have developed a device that generates small earthquake-like vibrations on the surface of the chip. They say it could one day be used for signal processing inside everyday electronic devices, paving the way for smaller, faster and more efficient wireless devices. In a new study published in the journal Nature on January 14, the […]
Tesla discontinues Autopilot to promote full self-driving software
Tesla has discontinued its basic driver-assistance system, Autopilot, as the company seeks to accelerate adoption of a more advanced version of the technology, which it calls “fully autonomous driving (with supervision).” The decision comes as the company faces a 30-day suspension of its manufacturing and dealer licenses in California, the country’s largest market. A judge […]
Fortinet Verifies Active FortiCloud SSO Bypass on Fully Patched FortiGate Firewalls
Rabi LakshmananJanuary 23, 2026Network security/vulnerabilities Fortinet has officially confirmed that it is working to fully resolve the FortiCloud SSO authentication bypass vulnerability following reports of new exploit activity on fully patched firewalls. “Over the past 24 hours, we have identified a number of cases in which devices were fully upgraded to the latest release at […]
TikTok establishes joint venture in the U.S. to continue business pursuant to 2025 Executive Order
Ravi LakshmananJanuary 23, 2026Regulatory Compliance/National Security TikTok officially announced Friday that it has formed a joint venture that will allow the wildly popular video-sharing application to continue operating in the United States. The new venture, named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, was established pursuant to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump in […]
Phishing attack uses stolen credentials to install LogMeIn RMM for permanent access
Rabi LakshmananJanuary 23, 2026Email security/endpoint security Cybersecurity researchers have detailed a new dual-vector campaign that leverages stolen credentials to deploy legitimate remote monitoring and management (RMM) software to gain persistent remote access to compromised hosts. “Instead of deploying custom viruses, attackers are circumventing security boundaries by weaponizing necessary IT tools that administrators trust,” said Jeewan […]
New images suggest an ocean the size of the North Pole that once covered half of Mars
New evidence of ancient rivers suggests Mars may have been a “blue planet” thanks to oceans that span the entire northern hemisphere. Cameras on multiple Mars rovers have apparently captured the dusty remains of a river delta, as described in a study published January 7 in the journal NPJ Space Exploration. A team led by […]
Microsoft warns of multi-stage AitM phishing and BEC attacks targeting energy companies
Microsoft has warned of a multi-stage adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) phishing and business email compromise (BEC) campaign targeting multiple organizations in the energy sector. “The campaign exploited the SharePoint file sharing service to deliver a phishing payload and relied on creating inbox rules to maintain persistence and avoid user awareness,” the Microsoft Defender Security Research Team said. […]
New startup from former Sequoia partner uses AI to negotiate calendars on your behalf
Kais Khimji has spent most of his professional career as a venture investor, including six years as a partner at the prominent VC firm Sequoia Capital. But like several other former Sequoia partners, including David Vélez, who founded Brazilian digital bank Nubank, Kimji (pictured left) always wanted to be a startup founder. He announced Thursday […]
Palmer Lackey says the best part about Anduril’s arrival in Long Beach is its fighters.
Defense technology company Anduril on Thursday announced plans to expand its Southern California presence with the opening of a large campus in Long Beach, the coastal town where founder Palmer Lackey grew up. The expanded campus is expected to eventually support approximately 5,500 jobs. Lackey told TechCrunch that these will be new jobs, not transfers […]