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    Astronomers warn Reflect Orbital's 50,000 space mirrors could be catastrophic●"'They're saying we want to launch 50,000 mirrors by 2035,' Benvenuti said. 'That would be catastrophic for astronomy, tMmastodonScienceSpace Policy1008 min ago

    Plans by Reflect Orbital to launch tens of thousands of sunlight-reflecting satellites are drawing alarm from astronomers. A figure of 50,000 mirrors by 2035, quoted by researcher Federico Benvenuti, was called 'catastrophic for astronomy, that is clear.' The discussion follows the US Federal Communications Commission's approval process for the company's orbital mirrors, which would bounce sunlight to Earth and could brighten night skies and interfere with telescopes.

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    Data Centers Under Fire for Hiding Water and Power Use●Data Centers Are Hiding How Much Water and Power They Consume - Gadget Review https://www. gadgetreview.com/data-centersMmastodonTechnology56 min ago

    European data centers are legally required to report their energy and water consumption, but fewer than one in four facilities are actually complying. The shortfall raises concerns about the true environmental footprint of the rapidly growing cloud and AI infrastructure sector, which consumes vast amounts of electricity and water for cooling while keeping those figures largely out of public view.

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    Montana Officials Kill 14 Black Bears Accustomed to Human Food●Montana wildlife officials cull 14 black bears after they lost fear of people, ate human food✉newsEnvironmentWildlife4 min ago

    Montana wildlife officials have culled 14 black bears after the animals lost their fear of humans and began eating human food. Authorities say food-conditioned bears pose a safety risk to people and cannot be relocated successfully. The large-scale removal has drawn attention to how human food waste and improper storage can turn bears into public safety threats.

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    Swedish students accept climate-friendly school lunches when they taste good●Students accept climate-friendly school lunches when they taste good Swedish students understood food’s climate impact,MmastodonEnvironmentClimate46 min ago

    A study of Swedish school meals found students understood the climate impact of their food, but their acceptance of climate-friendly lunches depended mainly on taste, fullness, and familiarity. Researchers say schools hoping to cut emissions from food should focus on making sustainable dishes tasty and satisfying rather than only explaining their environmental benefits.

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    Maker reveals moonstone eyes for robot owl Archimedes●Back in 2021, I used moonstones for Archimedes' backlit eyes. They're gorgeous in regular light, AND give a beautiful teMmastodonTechnologyRobotics1014 min ago

    A robotics hobbyist has revisited their 2021 build of Archimedes, a robotic owl familiar, explaining that its backlit eyes use moonstones. The stones serve double duty, looking striking in ordinary light while also acting as LED diffusers for a soft glow. The creator points others to a project write-up on Hackster.io with more build details.

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    Outdoor photo exhibition finds new visual language for the climate crisis●No polar bears, no wind farms: this outdoor exhibition asked 20 photographers to find new ways of showing the climate crisis, and they didn't hold back✉newsEnvironmentClimate6 min ago

    A new outdoor exhibition has brought together 20 photographers tasked with depicting the climate crisis without relying on familiar clichés such as polar bears or wind turbines. The works presented offer fresh, often unflinching perspectives on environmental change, and the show is drawing attention for how it challenges the way climate imagery is conventionally framed and consumed.

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    A new blog post argues that AI agents work better with well-written documentation than with built-in memory systems. The author contends that instead of trying to give agents persistent memory, developers should maintain clear, structured docs that agents can read on demand. The argument is drawing attention among developers debating how to build more reliable AI agents.

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    Decade-long deep reef experiment yields its secrets●A decade-long experiment unlocking the mysteries of the ocean's deep reefs: what scientists found when they retrieved stMmastodonScience59 min ago

    Scientists have retrieved structures placed 100 metres underwater ten years ago, closing out a decade-long experiment aimed at understanding the ocean's mysterious deep reefs. The recovered materials offer researchers a rare long-term look at how life develops in these dim, poorly studied zones. The findings are drawing attention for shedding light on one of the least explored habitats on Earth.

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    Alexandria Reconsiders Parking Rules and Their Cost to Residents●Alexandria Takes a Fresh Look at Parking Rules—and What They Cost Residents✉newsScienceSpace Policy8 min ago

    Alexandria, Virginia, is reviewing its parking regulations and how much they cost residents. Local outlet ALXnow's Zebra reports the city is examining whether current requirements—such as minimum parking mandates—add unnecessary expense to housing and development. The reassessment reflects a wider debate among US cities over parking policy, housing affordability and street space.

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    Do Quantum Fields Count as Physically Real?●Quantum fields carry energy. Does that prove that they’re real? In quantum physics, we often argue over "what is real?"MmastodonSciencePhysics310 min ago

    Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel argues that quantum fields deserve to be considered real because they carry energy, giving them measurable physical consequences beyond mere mathematical tools. Writing for Big Think, he examines the long-running debate over what is real in quantum physics, including wavefunctions and eigenstates, and contends that energy is a compelling argument for fields' existence.

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    Debate erupts over Huawei's 'logic folding' die-stacking claims●What am I misunderstanding? "Logic folding" and "tau law" are just die stacking. They don't change the statistics behindMmastodonTechnologySemiconductors213 min ago

    Commenters are challenging Huawei's marketing terms "logic folding" and "tau law" for its advanced chips, arguing the techniques are essentially die stacking that links chiplets more efficiently. Critics say such packaging does not change the underlying statistics of machine learning performance or manufacturing yields, and question whether the buzzwords describe any genuinely new scaling approach beyond established semiconductor practices.

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    A recall of chips has been announced because the products were made in Colombia. The headline, reported by Food Safety News, gives no further detail on the brand, quantity, or specific safety concern behind the action. Consumers are being alerted to the recall, but the exact reason the Colombian origin triggered it has not been stated.

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    The irony of everyone using AI outside their expertise●Everyone is using LLMs for the things they have no fucking idea how to do. Designers use them to code. Coders use them tMmastodonBusinessLabor1722 min ago

    A widely shared social media post argues that people use large language models to do tasks they lack skills in: designers use AI to code, coders use it to design, and marketers use it for both, while nearly everyone relies on it for writing. The post's author points out the irony that these same people become angry when outsiders invade their own professional territory.

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    AI agents burning five times more tokens than humans●AI agents use 5x more tokens than humans as cached prompts explode, headed for 10x — agents are mostly rereading what they've already seen, skyrocketing KV cache demand threatens already-worsening RAM shortages✉newsTechnologySoftware17 min ago

    AI agents are consuming roughly five times more tokens than human users, a figure analysts expect to reach ten times as systems scale. Much of this usage comes from agents repeatedly re-reading information they have already processed, driving explosive growth in cached prompts. The resulting surge in KV cache demand is straining memory supplies, compounding an already worsening global RAM shortage and raising costs across the AI industry.

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    Banking developers debate when to release withdrawal holds●A withdrawal reserves funds before they leave, and something has to let that reservation go when the... # python # finteMmastodonBusinessCrypto223 min ago

    A developer is discussing how payment systems reserve funds when a withdrawal is requested, and how that reservation should be released only once the payment rail confirms the transaction failed. The point, made in a thread tagged with Python, fintech and software architecture topics, highlights a common design decision in banking software: holds must persist until a definitive failure signal arrives, or money can be double-spent.

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    Developer Launches Self-Custodial Crypto Wallet Inside Telegram●Hey everyone, I recently built VaultForgeWalletBot — a self-custodial multi-chain crypto wallet... # crypto # telegram #MmastodonBusinessCrypto226 min ago

    A developer has unveiled VaultForgeWalletBot, a self-custodial multi-chain crypto wallet that operates as a bot within Telegram. The project is open source and aimed at the web3 community, letting users manage assets across several blockchains without giving up control of their private keys. Early reactions in crypto and coding circles are modest but curious, with discussion centering on the security trade-offs of running a wallet inside a messaging app.

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    Most Americans Want to Age in Their Own Homes●Personal Finance: Most Americans want to remain home as they age✉newsBusinessPersonal Finance28 min ago

    A personal finance column reports that most Americans want to remain in their own homes as they age, rather than move to assisted living or nursing facilities. The piece highlights the financial planning involved in aging in place, including home modifications, in-home care costs and long-term savings, an issue of growing relevance as the US population ages.

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    Retirees Urged to Use $47,500 Tax-Free Conversion Window Before Dec. 31●A Retired Couple Who Hasn't Claimed Social Security Can Convert $47,500 Before Dec. 31 and Owe $0 Federal Tax. On Jan. 1 the Space Resets, and Whatever They Didn't Use Is Gone✉newsBusinessPersonal Finance28 min ago

    Personal finance commentary highlights a tax-planning opportunity for a retired couple who have not yet claimed Social Security: they could convert $47,500 from a traditional retirement account to a Roth before December 31 and owe no federal tax on the conversion, thanks to low taxable income and standard deductions. The unused portion of that low-bracket space resets on January 1 and cannot be carried over, making year-end action the point of the advice.

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