23 Apr 2026
Slashdot
Your Phone's Next Speed Boost May Come From Magnetic Chips
alternative_right writes: A new technology has been proposed that could fundamentally solve the issue of smartphones overheating during high-spec gaming or extended video streaming. Researchers at KAIST have discovered the principle of processing signals using the minute vibrations of magnets (spin waves) instead of electrons. This method significantly reduces heat generation and power consumption while enabling instantaneous frequency switching within the several GHz range. This breakthrough is expected to pave the way for smart devices with less heat and longer battery life, as well as ultra-low-power, high-speed computing. Professor Kab-Jin Kim from the Department of Physics said: "This study is a case that proves we can implement and control the nonlinear dynamics of magnons -- the principle of information processing using magnetic vibrations -- in actual nano-devices, which had previously only been proposed in theory. It will serve as an important foundation for the development of a new information processing paradigm using spin waves instead of electrons." The findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
23 Apr 2026 7:00am GMT
Hacker News
Ars Technica: Our newsroom AI policy
23 Apr 2026 5:14am GMT
I am building a cloud
23 Apr 2026 4:44am GMT
Slashdot
Nearly Half of US Children Are Breathing Dangerous Levels of Air Pollution
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: Nearly half of children in the United States are breathing dangerous levels of air pollution, according to a new report, as experts warned Donald Trump's expansive rollback of protections will make the situation worse. The 27th annual air quality report from the American Lung Association (ALA) released on Wednesday evaluates pollution across the country by grading levels of ground-level ozone -- also known as smog -- as well as year-round and short-term spikes in particle pollution, commonly referred to as soot. The report analyzed quality-assured data collected between 2022 and 2024. It found that 33.5 million children in the US -- 46% of those under 18 -- live in areas that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution. The report also found that 7 million children, or 10% of all children in the US, live in communities that failed all three measures. The report further found that communities of color are disproportionately exposed to unhealthy air. As a result, they are more likely to live with one or more chronic health conditions that make them more vulnerable to pollution, including asthma, diabetes, and heart disease. Although people of color make up 42.1% of the US population, they represent 54.2% of those living in counties with at least one failing grade, the report noted. It also found that a person of color is 2.42 times more likely than a white person to live in a community that fails all three pollution measures. Smog remains the most widespread pollutant affecting Americans' health. Between 2022 and 2024, 38% of the US population -- approximately 129.1 million people -- were exposed to ozone levels that put their health at risk. This marks the highest number recorded in the ALA's report in six years, and a 3.9 million increase from the previous year. Several factors contributed to these unhealthy pollution levels, including extreme heat, drought and wildfires which have exposed a growing share of the population to harmful ozone, the report said. The regions most affected by high ozone levels include south-western states from California to Texas, as well as much of the midwest. This is mainly driven by smoke from Canada's 2023 wildfires crossing into the US, along with high temperatures and weather patterns that favored ozone formation in 2023 and 2024 -- particularly in southern states. More broadly, the report found that climate change is intensifying ozone pollution by boosting precursor emissions and creating atmospheric conditions such as higher temperatures and lower wind speeds that allow pollutants to build up and ozone to form. Another growing source of pollution: datacenters. The report notes how they rely on regional electricity grids where fossil fuels like methane gas and coal still account for a large portion of generation. Many datacenters also use dozens of large diesel-powered backup generators, which emit carcinogenic particulate matter. "Children's lungs are still developing," said Will Barrett, assistant vice-president of the ALA's Nationwide Clean Air Policy. "For their body size, they're breathing more air. And also, kids play outdoors, they're more active, they're breathing in more outdoor air [...]. So, air pollution exposure in children can contribute to long-term developmental harm to their lungs, new cases of asthma, increased risks of respiratory illness and other health considerations later in life."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
23 Apr 2026 3:30am GMT
Hacker News
Borrow-checking without type-checking
23 Apr 2026 2:55am GMT
22 Apr 2026
Slashdot
Billionaire Backer Sues Trump Family's Crypto Firm Over Alleged Extortion
Ancient Slashdot reader Alain Williams shares a report from the BBC: The Trump family's World Liberty crypto venture is being sued by one of its billionaire backers over allegations of extortion. Justin Sun has accused World Liberty of an "illegal scheme" to seize his WLFI tokens, a cryptocurrency issued by the company. Sun alleges the firm, co-founded by U.S. President Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump, has "frozen" all of his tokens and stripped him of his right to vote on governance issues. [...] Sun alleged that those running World Liberty, including another co-founder, Chase Herro, are using it as a "golden opportunity to leverage the Trump brand to profit through fraud." In his complaint, filed on Tuesday in a San Francisco federal court, Sun argues that initial promises to give token-holders the option to trade the currency in future "were false and misleading." While the tokens at large became tradeable, Sun said World Liberty has blocked him from being able to sell a single one, and is now threatening to "burn" his - deleting them entirely. WLFI said in a post on X: "Does anyone still believe @justinsuntron? Justin's favorite move is playing the victim while making baseless allegations to cover up his own misconduct. Same playbook, different target. WLFI isn't the first. We have the contracts. We have the evidence. We have the truth. See you in court pal."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
22 Apr 2026 11:00pm GMT
Linuxiac
OpenVPN 2.7.2 Fixes Two Security Flaws and Improves Password Handling

OpenVPN 2.7.2 fixes two security flaws, adds long password support in the management interface, and includes several bugfixes for Windows users.
22 Apr 2026 10:18pm GMT
Ars Technica
Crypto scam lures ships into Strait of Hormuz, falsely promising safe passage
Ship attacked by Iran after possibly falling for safe passage crypto scam.
22 Apr 2026 10:07pm GMT
Linuxiac
Linux May Drop Legacy 3Com, AMD, and Xircom Ethernet Drivers

The Linux kernel may drop 18 old Ethernet drivers for ISA- and PCMCIA-era hardware as maintainers question whether the aging code still has active users.
22 Apr 2026 9:27pm GMT
Ars Technica
Tesla reports Q1 2026 earnings: Still profitable
Car sales are up, battery sales and emissions credits are down.
22 Apr 2026 9:16pm GMT
Our newsroom AI policy
How Ars Technica uses, and doesn't use, generative AI.
22 Apr 2026 8:40pm GMT
Linuxiac
AlmaLinux Takes a Wait-and-See Stance on California Age Verification Law

AlmaLinux will take a wait-and-see approach to California's age verification law while legal and upstream questions remain unresolved.
22 Apr 2026 2:02pm GMT