Exterminators keep getting calls for a reason. Wood-devouring insects, such as beetles, termites, and carpenter ants, are constantly chewing through walls or infecting trees and breaking them down. The fight against these insects usually involved noxious insecticides; but now, at least some of them can be eliminated using a certain species of fungus.

Infestations of bark beetles are the bane of spruce trees. Eurasian spruce bark beetles (Ips typographus) ingest bark high in phenolic compounds, organic molecules that often act as antioxidants and antimicrobials. They protect spruce bark from pathogenic fungi—and the beetles take advantage. Their bodies boost the antimicrobial power of these compounds by turning them into substances that are even more toxic to fungi. This would seem to make the beetles invulnerable to fungi.

There is a way to get past the beetles’ borrowed defenses, though. Led by biochemist Ruo Sun, a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, found that some strains of the fungus Beauveria bassiana are capable of infecting and killing the pests.

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The BBC reports:

China has executed 11 members of a notorious mafia family that ran scam centres in Myanmar along its north-eastern border, state media report.
The Ming family members were sentenced in September for various crimes including homicide, illegal detention, fraud and operating gambling dens by a court in China’s Zhejiang province. The Mings were one of many clans that ran the town of Laukkaing, transforming an impoverished backwater town into a flashy hub of casinos and red-light districts. Their scam empire came crashing down in 2023, when they were detained and handed over to China by ethnic militias that had taken control of Laukkaing during an escalation in their conflict with Myanmar’s army. With these executions Beijing is sending a message of deterrence to would-be scammers.

But the business has now moved to Myanmar’s border with Thailand, and to Cambodia and Laos, where China has much less influence.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to run online scams in Myanmar and elsewhere in South East Asia, according to estimates by the UN. Among them are thousands of Chinese people, and their victims who they swindle billions of dollars from are mainly Chinese too. Frustrated by the Myanmar military’s refusal to stop the scam business, from which it was almost certainly profiting, Beijing tacitly backed an offensive by an ethnic insurgent alliance in Shan State in late 2023. The alliance captured significant territory from the military and overran Laukkaing, a key border town.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader sinij for sharing the news.

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Five French unions representing Ubisoft workers “have called for a ‘massive international strike’,” reports the gaming news site Aftermath.

The move follows a “series of layoffs and cancellations” at Ubisoft, the article points out, plus what the company calls a “major organizational, operational and portfolio reset” that will lead to more layoffs and cancellations announced last week. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot even sent an end-of-day message warning that management continues to “make difficult decisions, including stopping certain projects” and “potentially closing select studios,” an earlier article points out:

Slipped in between the grand vision and subtle threats was the reversal of a popular hybrid work-from-home policy that would have a direct impact on everyone working at Ubisoft. Staff would be back in the office five days a week, but with the promise of a generous number of work from home days. “The intention is not to question individual performance, but to regenerate our collective performance, which is one of the key elements in creating the best games with the required speed,” Guillemot wrote.

There was immediate confusion and frustration. One French union representing Paris Ubisoft developers called for a half-day strike. “It is out of the question to let a boss run wild and destroy our working conditions,” Solidaires Informatique wrote in a press release. “Perhaps we need to remind him that it is his employees who make the games….” [The article notes later that “There’s concern that these shifts could make it harder for Ubisoft to recruit the talent it needs to improve, or even worse, actively drive away more of the company’s existing veterans.”]

Particularly galling about the new return-to-office policy for some Paris staff was that they had only recently finished negotiating to ensure two days of work-from-home per week. “It’s only been six months since the situation was more or less ‘back to normal’ and now it’s shattered to the ground by Yves’ sole decision with zero justification, zero documents, zero internal studies proving RTO increases productivity or morale, nothing,” one developer told me. The specific details for the rollout of the return-to-office policy have yet to be communicated to everyone, could vary team by team, and might not go into effect for much of the year.

The “massive international strike” would take place from February 10-12, Aftermath notes, citing the five French unions representing Ubisoft workers (CFE-CGC, CGT, Printemps Ãcologique, Solidaires Informatique, and STJV):

“The announced transformation [at Ubisoft] claims to place games at the heart of its strategy, but without us, these games cannot exist,” the unions wrote in a joint release…. We are not fooled: rather than taking financial responsibility for layoffs, they prefer to push us out by making our working conditions unbearable. It’s outrageous….”

The Ubisoft unions hope that February’s strike will be the largest yet, and they’re coordinating with unions outside France to present a globally united front against the company.

A union representative at Ubisoft Paris even argued to Aftermath that because the CEO “needs to find 200€ million for the coming year, any person who has to quit because of this is a net benefit for him.”

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Remember that lawsuit questioning WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption? Thursday Bloomberg reported those allegations had been investigated by special agents with America’s Commerce Department, “according to the law enforcement records, as well as a person familiar with the matter and one of the contractors.”

Similar claims were also the subject of a 2024 whistleblower complaint to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the records and the person, who spoke on the condition that they not be identified out of concern for potential retaliation. The investigation and whistleblower complaint haven’t been previously reported…

Last year, two people who did content moderation work for WhatsApp told an investigator with Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security that some staff at Meta have been able to see the content of WhatsApp messages, according to the agent’s report summarizing the interviews. [A spokesperson for the Bureau later told Bloomberg that investigator’s assertions were “unsubstantiated and outside the scope of his authority as an export enforcement agent.”] Those content moderators, who worked for Meta through a contract with the management and technology consulting firm Accenture Plc, also alleged that they and some of their colleagues had broad access to the substance of WhatsApp messages that were supposed to be encrypted and inaccessible, according to the report. “Both sources confirmed that they had employees within their physical work locations who had unfettered access to WhatsApp,” wrote the agent… One of the content moderators who told the investigator she had access said she also “spoke with a Facebook team employee and confirmed that they could go back aways into WhatsApp (encrypted) messages, stating that they worked cases that involved criminal actions,” according to the document…

The investigator’s report, dated July 2025, described the investigation as “ongoing,” includes a case number and dubs the inquiry “Operation Sourced Encryption…” The inquiry was active as recently as January, according to a person familiar with the matter. The inquiry’s current status and who may be the defined target are both unclear. Many investigations end without any formal accusations of wrongdoing…

WhatsApp on its website says it does, in some instances, allow information about messages to be seen by the company. If someone reports a user or group for problematic messages, “WhatsApp receives up to five of the last messages they’ve sent to you” and “the user or group won’t be notified,” the company says. In those cases, WhatsApp says it receives the “group or user ID, information on when the message was sent, and the type of message sent (image, video, text, etc.).” Former contractors outlined much broader access. Larkin Fordyce was an Accenture contractor who the report says an agent interviewed about content moderation work for Meta. Fordyce told the investigator he spent years doing this work out of an Austin, Texas office starting as early as the end of 2018. He said moderators eventually were granted their own access to WhatsApp, but even before that they could request access to communications and “the Facebook team was able to ‘pull whatever they wanted and then send it,'” the report states…

The agent also gathered records that were filed in the whistleblower complaint to the SEC, according to his report, which doesn’t describe the materials… The status of the whistleblower complaint is unclear.

Some key points from the article:

“The investigative report seen by Bloomberg doesn’t include a technical explanation of the contractors’ claims.”
“A spokesperson for Meta, which acquired WhatsApp in 2014, said the contractors’ claims are impossible.” One contractor “said that there was little vetting” of foreign nationals hired to do content moderation for Meta, saying this granted them “full access to the same portal to review” content moderation cases

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An anonymous reader shared this report from the Associated Press:

American workers adopted artificial intelligence into their work lives at a remarkable pace over the past few years, according to a new poll. Some 12% of employed adults say they use AI daily in their job, according to a Gallup Workforce survey conducted this fall of more than 22,000 U.S. workers.

The survey found roughly one-quarter say they use AI at least frequently, which is defined as at least a few times a week, and nearly half say they use it at least a few times a year. That compares with 21% who were using AI at least occasionally in 2023, when Gallup began asking the question, and points to the impact of the widespread commercial boom that ChatGPT sparked for generative AI tools that can write emails and computer code, summarize long documents, create images or help answer questions…

While frequent AI use is on the rise with many employees, AI adoption remains higher among those working in technology-related fields. About 6 in 10 technology workers say they use AI frequently, and about 3 in 10 do so daily. The share of Americans working in the technology sector who say they use AI daily or regularly has grown significantly since 2023, but there are indications that AI adoption could be starting to plateau after an explosive increase between 2024 and 2025…

A separate Gallup Workforce survey from 2025 found that even as AI use is increasing, few employees said it was “very” or “somewhat” likely that new technology, automation, robots or AI will eliminate their job within the next five years. Half said it was “not at all likely,” but that has decreased from about 6 in 10 in 2023.

A bar chart lists the sectors most likely to be using AI at their jobs:

Technology (77%)
Finance (64%)
College/University (63%)
Professional Services (62%)
K-12 Education (56%)
Community/Social Services (43%)
Government/Public Policy (42%)
Manufacturing (41%)
Health Care (41%)
Retail (33%)

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“A future with flying cars is no longer science fiction,” writes the Los Angeles Times.

“All you need to order your own is about $200,000 and some hope and patience.”

The Palo Alto-based company Pivotal has been developing the technology since 2009 and is nearly ready to bring it to market… [Company founder Marcus] Leng engineered an ultralight, electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft known as an eVTOL. Other VTOL aircraft, such as helicopters, had existed for decades, but Leng’s invention was fixed-wing and didn’t rely on gas. The Canadian engineer dubbed his creation BlackFly and spent years working on it in secret. The company moved to the Bay Area in 2014 and by 2018 had developed a second version of BlackFly that laid the groundwork for Helix, the aircraft Pivotal now offers for sale…

Those who are curious — and wealthy — can reserve a Helix today with a $50,000 deposit. The aircraft starts at $190,000 with the option of purchasing a transport trailer for $21,000 and a charger for $1,100. A customer who makes their reservation today could receive their aircraft in nine to 12 months, [Pivotal Chief Executive Ken] Karklin said. It takes less than two weeks to learn how to fly it. In order to complete Pivotal’s flight certification training, a customer has to pass the FAA knowledge test and complete ground school. Training, which takes place at the company’s Palo Alto headquarters and at the Monterey Bay Academy Airport, teaches customers how to control and maintain the aircraft, as well as how to transport and assemble it…

It is uncertain how fast the company and others like it can ramp up production and how communities will react. Not everyone is on board. Darlene Yaplee, president of the Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance, said there are concerns about having different types of aircraft in limited airspace. Pivotal has around six early-access customers who already own a version of the BlackFly and are flying it for fun… Helix will have an electric range of about 30 minutes and a cruise speed of 62 mph, the company said. It takes 75 minutes to charge it using a 240 volt charger. The noise produced by the aircraft during takeoff and landing is equivalent to a couple of leaf blowers, Karklin said. When flying it is overhead, someone on the ground might not be able to hear it.

Karklin said the simplicity of the aircraft comes with lower cost, lower weight and higher safety. The aircraft, which has only 18 moving parts, is full of redundancy to prevent system failures.
In short, the article describes it as “a single-person aircraft for recreational use and short-haul travel that also has the potential to support emergency response and military operations.”

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About a decade ago, many media outlets—including WIRED—zeroed in on a weird trend at the intersection of mental health, drug science, and Silicon Valley biohacking: microdosing, or the practice of taking a small amount of a psychedelic drug seeking not full-blown hallucinatory revels but gentler, more stable effects. Typically using psilocybin mushrooms or LSD, the archetypal microdoser sought less melting walls and open-eye kaleidoscopic visuals than boosts in mood and energy, like a gentle spring breeze blowing through the mind.

Anecdotal reports pitched microdosing as a kind of psychedelic Swiss Army knife, providing everything from increased focus to a spiked libido and (perhaps most promisingly) lowered reported levels of depression. It was a miracle for many. Others remained wary. Could 5 percent of a dose of acid really do all that? A new, wide-ranging study by an Australian biopharma company suggests that microdosing’s benefits may indeed be drastically overstated—at least when it comes to addressing symptoms of clinical depression.

A Phase 2B trial of 89 adult patients conducted by Melbourne-based MindBio Therapeutics, investigating the effects of microdosing LSD in the treatment of major depressive disorder, found that the psychedelic was actually outperformed by a placebo. Across an eight-week period, symptoms were gauged using the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), a widely recognized tool for the clinical evaluation of depression.

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“Apple has gone for a choose-your-own-adventure when shopping for a new Mac,” writes long-time Slashdot reader esarjeant.

Macworld explains:

Apple has shifted from selling pre-configured Mac models to a fully customizable build-to-order system on its website, allowing customers to select display size, chip, memory, and storage options… This change emphasizes building a machine within budget rather than choosing from set configurations, potentially preparing for future CPU/GPU core selection with M5 chips. Third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy are expected to continue offering standard configurations for customers preferring traditional purchasing methods…

Apple is rumored to offer the ability to customize CPU and GPU cores with the upcoming launch of the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models, so this new system could pave the way for more build-to-order options. It could also be a way to âoehideâ smaller price increases as memory and other component costs rise throughout 2026.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang told reporters that the company will “invest a great deal of money” in OpenAI’s latest funding round, according to Bloomberg, after The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that the two companies were rethinking a previous $100 billion deal that hasn’t “progressed beyond the early stages” of negotiations. Speaking to reporters in Taipei this weekend, Huang reportedly said it could be “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” 

NVIDIA and OpenAI jointly announced in September that NVIDIA would be investing up to $100 billion in OpenAI to build 10 gigawatts of AI data centers. The companies said then that they were targeting the second half of 2026 for the first phase of the project to go online. Citing sources familiar with the discussions, The Wall Street Journal reported that Huang has highlighted privately that the agreement was nonbinding and has criticized OpenAI’s business approach as lacking discipline. 

According to Bloomberg, however, Huang called the report’s claims “nonsense,” and told reporters on Saturday, “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” But, Bloomberg reports, he said NVIDIA’s investment in this funding round wouldn’t come near $100 billion.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidia-is-still-planning-to-make-a-huge-investment-in-openai-ceo-says-205521528.html?src=rss

There may be plenty of gaming handhelds out there, but there aren’t many horizontal options that let you play childhood favorites in the original 4:3 aspect ratio. To address that gap, Ayaneo launched a premium option with the Pocket S Mini. As a “true 4:3 retro handheld,” the Pocket S Mini won’t have those pesky vertical black bars whenever you’re emulating video games from the CRT television era.

Handhelds like the Anbernic RG405M and even Ayaneo’s own Pocket Air Mini already offer a 4:3 aspect ratio, but the Pocket S Mini presents a more high-end build with a full metal frame and a glass front panel. The 4.2-inch LCD screen has a resolution of 1,280 x 960 and is flanked by Hall effect joysticks with RGB lighting, Hall effect triggers and “crystal-textured” buttons. Inside, the Pocket S Mini runs on a Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 chip and is powered by a 6,000mAh battery.

Ayaneo

Unlike most of Ayaneo’s other devices, the Pocket S Mini isn’t being done through a crowdfunding campaign. It’s already available on Ayaneo’s website with a starting early bird price of $319 for either the Obsidian Black or Ice Soul White options with 8GB of memory and 128GB of storage. As usual, the Retro Power colorway will only be available with the highest specs of 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage, starting at $479. We’re not sure when Ayaneo will end early bird pricing, but the prices will eventually jump to between $399 and $559 for retail pricing.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ayaneos-pocket-s-mini-has-the-perfect-aspect-ratio-for-revisiting-classic-console-games-203926701.html?src=rss