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Smart home startup Quilt on Tuesday introduced a three-zone heat pump that promises to maintain efficiency under harsh conditions that hamper traditional incumbents. The 3-zone unit is exactly what it says on the label. As it is known in the HVAC world, one outdoor unit can now drive three indoor heads. It’s a product that makes large-scale installation easier and cheaper while minimizing the footprint outside the home, and is key to the startup’s expansion plans, recently bolstered by a $20 million Series B focused on growing sales. But the real story is how Quilt develops new products. Since our…
The geography of human origins is changing, with the discovery of 773,000-year-old fossils in a Moroccan cave that pinpoint the beginning of the modern human lineage in northwest Africa, according to a new study.In a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday (7 January), a team of Moroccan and French researchers detailed an analysis of a small number of bones believed to represent the last common ancestor of modern humans (Homo sapiens), Neanderthals and Denisovans.Researchers discovered the fossils in a cave called Grotte à Hominidés (Hominid Cave) on the Thomas Quarry I site in Casablanca, Morocco. The bone consists…
Providing nerves with fresh mitochondria may help reduce chronic nerve pain, new research suggests.The study, conducted in mouse cells, live mice, and human tissue, revealed a previously unknown role for mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells. This shows that supporting cells within the nervous system can transport mitochondria to nerves that respond to pressure, temperature, and pain. However, problems with that transport process can deplete nerve energy stores and cause dysfunction.Normally, nerves send signals to the brain in response to some stimulus, but malfunctioning nerves “can fire spontaneously even in the absence of stimulation,” said study lead author Lu Long Ji,…
Spotify is adding more social features to prevent users from leaving the app to share music. The company announced Wednesday that it is introducing new messaging features. The feature will allow users to see what their friends are streaming in real-time and send a request to start a jam, the app’s collaborative listening feature. Users must first go to Settings and turn on the “Listening Activity” feature in the “Privacy & Social” section. Once that’s done, your listening activity will appear at the top of your Messages chat. Tap on your friend’s listening activity to play the track, save it,…
The bidding war between Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and its vast library of hit TV shows and movies, including “Harry Potter”, “Game of Thrones” and DC Comics titles, drags on. The studio announced Wednesday that its board of directors unanimously rejected Paramount Skydance’s revised $108.4 billion offer, calling it a “leveraged buyout” that would leave the company with $87 billion in debt. In a letter to shareholders, WBD said Paramount would need to raise an “unusual amount” of debt, increasing the risk that the deal would fall through, and urged shareholders to reject the proposal and instead vote in favor…
The SAFELOOP project is working to develop safe, sustainable, high-performance lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries for the European EV industry. SAFELOOP (Safely Promoting Future EVs with Lithium-Ion Batteries Through Optimized Pathways) is a 36-month project launched in June 2024, bringing together 15 partners from 11 countries. SAFELOOP is funded by Horizon Europe, the European Union’s flagship research and innovation funding program. SAFELOOP has secured €5 million in funding from the European Commission. Figure 1: Project partners and location map The urgency for more efficient and reliable energy storage is growing In our mobile, fast-paced society, the demand for energy storage solutions has…
January 7, 2026Rabi LakshmananVulnerability/Automation Cybersecurity researchers have detailed yet another maximum-severity security flaw in n8n, a popular workflow automation platform. This flaw allows an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain complete control of a susceptible instance. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-21858 (CVSS score: 10.0) and codenamed “Ni8mare” by Cyera Research Labs. Security researcher Dor Attias is credited with discovering and reporting this flaw on November 9, 2025. “The n8n vulnerability allows an attacker to gain access to files on the underlying server through the execution of certain form-based workflows,” n8n said in an advisory published today. “A vulnerable workflow could…
A new national survey shows homebuyers are ready to address PFAS once rapid and accessible testing tools are available. For decades, PFAS testing has been conducted almost entirely within a regulatory, industrial, and scientific environment. Water utilities test at the treatment plant level, environmental agencies measure PFAS during contamination events, and laboratories rely on specialized, time-consuming workflows. Meanwhile, households most affected by PFAS have few practical ways to test their water or soil. Traditional PFAS testing is expensive, time-consuming, logistically complex, and optimized for laboratories rather than the quick timelines of homes and real estate transactions. As PFAS awareness increases,…
Following a series of lawsuits and investigations into child safety, Roblox has introduced mandatory facial recognition for all users who want to access chat. The company is now rolling out the requirement globally after testing it in several markets last month. To complete the age verification process, users must open the Roblox app, grant camera access, and follow a series of on-screen instructions for facial recognition. Once age verification is complete, Roblox says all of the user’s images and videos will be removed. Roblox says this verification is handled by a third-party vendor, Persona, and images and videos will also…
January 7, 2026hacker newsThreat detection/endpoint security Security teams are still catching malware. The question is, what are they not catching? Currently, there are an increasing number of attacks that do not arrive as files. It does not drop binaries. Traditional alerts are not triggered. Instead, it runs silently through tools already present in your environment, such as scripts, remote access, browsers, and developer workflows. This change creates blind spots. Participate in an in-depth technical session with the Zscaler Internet Access team. They reveal how to expose “invisible” tactics, why traditional defenses are inadequate, and what exactly needs to change. Secure…