Enlarge / A PC running Windows 11. (credit: Microsoft) It's been a bad couple of years for Microsoft's security and privacy efforts. Misconfigured endpoints, rogue security certificates, and weak passwords have all caused or risked the exposure of sensitive data, and Microsoft has been criticized by security researchers,...

Enlarge / A Long March 5 rocket carrying the Chang'e-6 lunar probe blasts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on May 3, 2024 in Wenchang, China. (credit: Li Zhenzhou/VCG via Getty Images) China is going back to the Moon for more samples. On Friday the country launched its largest rocket, the Long March 5, carrying...

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) On Thursday, renowned AI researcher Andrej Karpathy, formerly of OpenAI and Tesla, tweeted a lighthearted proposal that large language models (LLMs) like the one that runs ChatGPT could one day be modified to operate in or be transmitted to space, potentially to communicate with extraterrestrial...

Enlarge / The first Ecobee Thermostat, may it rest in peace. (credit: Ecobee) Ecobee is killing off some of its oldest thermostats. The "Ecobee Smart Thermostat" (Model # : EB-STAT-02) and the Ecobee Energy Management System (EMS) business thermostat (Model #: EB-EMS-02) are losing web access on July 31, 2024. Every Ecobee...

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Kirill Kudryavtsev) Google urged a federal court to reject Epic Games' request for an injunction that would reduce Google's control of the Android app distribution and in-app payment markets. "Rather than a judicial injunction against alleged violations of law, Epic asks this Court to create...

Enlarge / Mayans built impressive structures and occasionally put interesting items in the construction fill. (credit: Dr. Jürgen Tenckhoff) As civilizations evolve, so do the political regimes that govern them. But the transition from one era to another is not always quiet. Some ancient Mayan rulers made a very fiery...