This is an extensive investigation into the role of the Israeli government in limiting WhatsApp’s ability to obtain information from NSO, the controversial surveillance technology company that developed Pegasus spyware. The article details how senior Israeli officials closely monitored the progress of a lawsuit against NSO by WhatsApp and considered ways to prevent WhatsApp from … Read more
Netflix recently added a hilarious British comedy called “Wicked Little Letters” (92% Rotten Tomatoes rating), set in 1920s England where someone is sending obscene letters to residents of a small town. Olivia Colman’s character, Edith Swan, suspects her Irish neighbor, Rose (Jessie Buckley,) and chaos ensues. The movie is full of profanities but is a … Read more
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a notorious drug cartel leader and co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested in El Paso, Texas, as part of an elaborate sting operation. His former partner, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, also known as “El Chapo,” orchestrated Zambada’s capture by luring him to believe they were traveling to Mexico to discuss potential … Read more
California’s largest wildfire rapidly grows, threatening thousands of homes and causing evacuations in four counties. The Park Fire, currently at 480 square miles (1,243 sq km), was ignited on Wednesday and has already destroyed over 130 structures. Officials compare its intensity to the devastating Camp Fire that killed 85 people in 2018. Elsewhere in the … Read more
A team of researchers has calculated that black holes cannot be formed from light due to quantum-mechanical effects causing too much energy loss through the Schwinger effect [1]. While general relativity suggests that light can curve spacetime and form a black hole, the necessary electromagnetic field strengths would generate an excessive amount of particle production … Read more
The Manhattan Project, which brought nuclear physics into the world following Germany’s technological innovations and military power, has inspired modern-day initiatives by democratic countries, including Australia and the US in quantum computing. This pursuit of breakthroughs aims to position these nations at the forefront of technological progress for both economic prosperity and national security. Australia’s … Read more
The “sudo” command, short for “superuser do,” is a valuable tool in Unix and Linux systems, allowing users to execute programs with elevated privileges without needing full administrative access. It enhances system security by reducing the need for constant administrator login and creating detailed logs of commands used. Microsoft has introduced this functionality to Windows … Read more
In “Everyday Philosophy,” we explore how to handle a ruthless colleague without becoming similar ourselves. Machiavelli and Erikson provide insights. I once had a colleague, Aiden, who was ambitious and quick to move up the career ladder. His methods were questionable, leaving me feeling disloyal and distasteful. Machiavelli, author of “The Prince,” advocated for ruthlessness … Read more
The Standard Model of particle physics, which explains the fundamental building blocks of matter and their interactions, is known to be incomplete. Scientists are searching for signs of new physics phenomena to guide them towards a more comprehensive theory. At the recent ICHEP conference, the ATLAS collaboration presented its first results from searches for new … Read more
Charged particles emit radiation when moving faster than the light phase speed in a medium, which forms a cone-shaped pattern, known as the Cherenkov effect. This phenomenon was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1958 for its fundamental and practical applications. The oblique incidence of light on an interface between two media results in … Read more