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fliptop writes:

Buying a car is only the beginning. Every year afterward, drivers face a steady stream of expenses—from insurance and fuel to repairs and taxes—that can add up to thousands of dollars:

Using data from LendingTree, this map compares average annual car ownership costs across every U.S. state and Washington D.C., excluding car payments, revealing where those ongoing expenses place the biggest burden on drivers.

[...] Annual ownership costs range from roughly $3,000 in New Hampshire to more than $6,100 in Nevada, meaning two drivers with the same vehicle could face a difference of more than $3,000 every year based solely on where they live.

Seven of the 15 most expensive states are in the South, largely because of elevated insurance premiums. Florida and Louisiana rank near the top for insurance costs, while California stands out for high fuel prices and repair expenses rather than insurance alone.

[...] Transportation is one of the largest household expenses after housing, making recurring vehicle costs an important part of overall affordability. While consumers often focus on a car's purchase price or monthly payment, insurance, fuel, repairs, and taxes can add thousands of dollars each year, and those costs depend heavily on where they live.

That burden is especially significant in communities where driving is a necessity rather than a choice. Beyond commuting, vehicles are essential for work, school, childcare, and everyday errands, making recurring ownership costs difficult to avoid.

TL;DR - Highest is Nevada at $6.1k/year, lowest is New Hampshire at $3.0k/year. US average is $4.5k/year.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/people/stem-formulas-calculations-creativity-working-life-henkel-skills-technology

Henkel's Julie Joseph explores the aspects of the sector she would change and the personality traits most suited to a career in this space.

“What drew me towards this career area was my enjoyment of problem solving and understanding how things work. I have always been naturally curious, so I could easily have ended up in many different STEM careers,” explained Julie Joseph, a technology specialist at Henkel.

Particularly interested in chemistry and how it combines scientific thinking with practical applications that can make a real difference in industry and manufacturing, she went on to complete a PhD in polymer chemistry and developed specialist technical knowledge.

She said, “After finishing my studies, I initially worked in research and development for many years. Those roles suited my background well because they involved experimentation, innovation and continuous learning. I enjoyed investigating scientific problems and helping develop new materials and technologies. 

Later in my career, I was given the opportunity to move into a more customer-focused role, where I now work with customers to solve design and production issues involving Henkel’s adhesives. That move was a major turning point for me because it allowed me to combine technical problem solving with communication and collaboration. One of the things I enjoy most is that I work with many different people and industries and no two challenges are exactly the same. There is often a stereotype that STEM careers involve sitting alone in a laboratory, but my experience has been very different. I regularly work with engineers, manufacturers and customers and I enjoy helping people find practical solutions to complex problems.

The thing I enjoy most about my job is the variety. Every day is different, which means the work never becomes repetitive. I help current and potential customers solve technical and manufacturing problems, so there is always a new challenge to investigate and a different solution to develop. I enjoy the satisfaction that comes from helping someone overcome an issue and improving the way a product or process works. Another part of the role that I enjoy is meeting and working with different people. Some meetings take place in person while others happen online through Microsoft Teams, but communication is always a huge part of my work. 

Technical knowledge is important, but it is equally important to explain ideas clearly, listen carefully and collaborate effectively. I enjoy that balance between science and communication because it makes the role much more dynamic and rewarding.

I also enjoy the fact that I am constantly learning. STEM industries evolve quickly, with new technologies, materials and manufacturing methods being introduced all the time. There is always something new to understand, which keeps my brain active and makes the work interesting.

There have been many exciting developments since I started working in the sector, particularly in materials science and computing. New adhesive technologies have allowed manufacturers to create stronger, lighter and more efficient products across industries such as automotive and electronics. However, the biggest development I have witnessed has been the continued rise of computing and digital technology. When I first started working in research and development, many processes were slower and more manual. Today, advanced software, modelling systems and digital communication tools have completely changed the way scientists and engineers work. We can now analyse data more quickly, collaborate globally and solve problems far more efficiently than before. 

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

Gartner projects global data center electricity use hitting 565 TWh in 2026 and topping 1,200 TWh by 2030:

Conventional servers are effectively flat by comparison. They grew less than 1% in 2025 and are projected to rise 1.2% in 2026 to around 195 TWh, reaching 200 TWh in 2027. Gartner estimates AI-optimized servers will make up 31% of total data center power consumption in 2026, up from roughly 20% a year earlier. Cooling, of course, represents a growing share of the total, with electricity used by cooling systems forecast to climb 22.6% in 2026 to 195 TWh, reflecting the thermal load of denser AI racks and continued capacity expansion.

The U.S. accounts for about 204 TWh of the 565 TWh total in 2026, or 36% of worldwide consumption. Of that U.S. figure, dedicated AI data centers consume roughly 68 TWh, or one-third of the national total, while non-AI data center demand in the country has grown only marginally over the same period.

Regional grids are already feeling the strain, and more than 75 data center projects worth $130 billion were blocked in the first months of 2026 amid opposition over power and water costs, while some operators have turned to on-site gas generators to bring capacity online without waiting for grid connections. In Virginia, one county asked employees to conserve power as data center demand pushed utility rates higher.

In its report, Garner warns that grid supply will be insufficient to meet demand once consumption passes 1,200 TWh by 2030, a shortfall that will affect all data center users, not just AI operators. The forecast accounts for parts and supply shortages, delayed or cancelled projects, and geopolitical disruption, including conflict involving Iran. Wang said infrastructure and operations leaders should prioritize efficiency upgrades, secure grid access, and invest in high-efficiency cooling and edge computing to manage the constraint.

Hyperscalers have moved in the same direction, with Meta having signed deals for more than 6GW of nuclear power to supply its upcoming data centers, and one firm repurposing retired U.S. Navy reactors for an AI site in Tennessee. Those projects will take years to deliver, with recommissioned nuclear plants and the earliest small modular reactors not expected online until 2028 or later, leaving power availability as a near-term limitation on the seemingly unstoppable AI build-out.

Original Submission

"mrpg" writes:

AI coding agents can be tricked into installing malware via 'clean' GitHub repositories — Mozilla's 0din team shows how Claude Code can be exploited by its own helpfulness:

"Think out of the box" is painted onto millions of motivation posters across the world, a shooting message for middle managers and eliciting eyerolls from most everyone else. And yet that's exactly what the researchers at Mozilla's 0din did, by tricking Claude into running malware in a roundabout yet deceptively simple way, by merely asking it to initialize a project from a pretty clean-looking GitHub repository.

An attacker would then have control over the developer's own account, accessing all their secrets, API keys, code, documents, browser sessions, and passwords. They could even install additional malware to maintain permanent access. Suffice to say, almost every bot agent is susceptible to this type of attack, though Claude is the default choice for programming tasks.

Here's how it works. All a victim developer has to do is tell Claude to initialize a project from a malicious GitHub repository (or tell it to configure it after cloning it themselves). Said repo looks pretty clean, with just a handful of scaffolding files, and most importantly, nothing that will trigger security tools, whether remote, local, or even Claude's own checks.

Claude will clone the repo. The first file it will process will be a "readme" or Markdown file describing how to initialize a Python environment with the Axiom package, a commonly used monitoring tool. So far, this appears completely legitimate. However, there's a fake Axiom startup script that will simply error out the first time it's run. This is the first step that tricks the box, because in order to be helpful and solve the problem, it'll run another innocuous-looking command to initialize Axiom: "python3 -m axiom init".

This then triggers a shell script that downloads a bit of software to run, another standard operation that won't raise an eyebrow. But the second trick is that instead of downloading from a malicious URL that could be scanned, the script reads the DNS text records of a specific domain — in this case, the domain "_axiom-config.m100.cloud". This too looks kosher enough, as for example, e-mail and by extension its configuration tools extensively rely on TXT records.

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/07/09/mps-tell-nhs-to-start-packing-palantirs-bags-ahead-of-2027-contract-break/5269146

A cross-party group of MPs has told the government to start planning for life after Palantir, arguing the NHS should use a 2027 break clause in its Federated Data Platform (FDP) contract to find a replacement rather than doubling down on one of Whitehall's most contentious tech deals.

In a letter to Health Innovation Minister Preet Kaur Gill, the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee said the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) should begin preparing to replace the FDP when the contract reaches its break clause in February 2027. Rather than waiting until the deadline looms, MPs want ministers to begin assessing alternatives now so a replacement could be in place by March 2027 if they decide not to continue with Palantir.

MPs reached that conclusion after grilling ministers and NHS England officials last month over the platform's supposed benefits. Since then, NHS England has quietly rewritten its website, dropping claims that the FDP was responsible for cutting waiting lists and boosting the number of procedures. It now says it "cannot therefore draw conclusions about cause and effect as other variables have not been controlled for."

The committee said there remains "serious mistrust" of Palantir among the public, warning that the company's involvement with NHS data could discourage patients from allowing their information to be used. MPs argued that loss of confidence could undermine the NHS's wider push to make better use of patient data across the health service.

The committee also seized on the government's admission that some NHS trusts already have capabilities beyond those offered by the FDP. If that's the case, MPs argue, there's no reason Palantir should be treated as the only option for the rest of the health service.

MPs are now asking the DHSC to set out what assessment it will carry out before deciding whether to exercise the break clause, as well as what advice it has received on replacing the platform by March 2027.

"AlwaysNever" writes:

Microsoft admits Windows 11 has a GDID tracker with no off switch, first documented publicly in an FBI hacker complaint:

A 19-year-old walked through Helsinki airport in April 2026 carrying two 2TB hard drives and a ticket to Japan. He couldn't make that flight. Finnish police stopped him on an Interpol Red Notice, and by July, US prosecutors had unsealed a federal complaint identifying him as Peter Stokes, an alleged member of the Scattered Spider hacking group, wanted over a May 2025 breach of a US luxury jewelry retailer that ended in an $8 million ransom demand.

[...] it was Microsoft that handed the FBI a way to trace Stokes' Windows PC across VPNs, proxy servers, and three countries. The tool is called a Global Device Identifier, or GDID , and outside a handful of enterprise documentation pages, most Windows users had never heard the term before this case made it public.

We went through the full 39-page complaint, cross checked it against independent reverse engineering of how Windows generates and transmits this identifier, and fact checked the technical claims since the story broke. Here is everything you need to know about GDID, how it caught Stokes, and what it means if you are one of the 1.6 billion people using Windows PCs.

The complaint quotes a Microsoft representative describing the GDID as "a persistent, device-level identifier designed to uniquely identify an installation of a Windows operating system on a device, either a physical device (e.g., a mobile phone or laptop) or virtual machine, across certain Microsoft services and scenarios"

A Global Device ID (GDID) is a permanent, unique digital fingerprint that Microsoft automatically assigns to your computer when you install Windows or sign into a Microsoft account.

Microsoft uses it to manage software licensing and Windows Store apps, but because it links all your online activities on that computer back to a single identity, law enforcement can use it to track a device's true owner across the internet

It survives Windows updates. It does not survive a clean reinstall, and Microsoft's footnote in the complaint admits "one Microsoft user could have multiple GDIDs" over the life of a single account.

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

This UK Satellite's Thermal Camera Raises Major Privacy Concerns

Modern technology often comes with safety concerns, including everything from mobile apps that track your location to traffic cameras that store your personal information. Those concerns also extend to SatVu's HotSat-2, a thermal imaging satellite currently orbiting the Earth. HotSat-2 can monitor everything from industrial operations to heat patterns in large cities, and it can even detect movement inside buildings. This raises some serious questions about privacy.

HotSat-2 doesn't work like an X-ray camera that can see through walls, or even everyday tech that can track your activity. But the technology it utilizes has reportedly been used for intelligence missions, including monitoring a nuclear facility in North Korea. SatVu's capabilities are so precise that the company says its thermal imagery can determine whether specific equipment, such as pumps at a nuclear reactor, is operating or inactive based on its heat signature. The company has also demonstrated the tech's capability through previous imagery at other locations, including Japan's Yokosuka Naval Base, the Ruwais Refinery in the United Arab Emirates, and the Albuquerque International Airport in the U.S.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

US Weighs Removing Steering Wheel Requirement for Driverless Cars

[...] "If you're developing a vehicle that is designed never to be driven by a human operator, does it make any sense to require manual control for the vehicle?" Morrison said. "I think the answer is pretty clear there."

Some self-driving cars, such as models intended for ridesharing fleets from companies like Uber and Tesla, are already steering in that direction, since they aren't designed for human driving. Some, such as the cars used by Waymo, can be taken over by remote human drivers.

Removing brake pedals and steering wheels, however, would mean that a human could not take over if an autonomous car stalls or a dangerous situation arises that requires intervention.

[...] In the CNBC interview, Morrison also discussed a letter sent to autonomous car makers about incidents in which those vehicles have stalled or been slow to move out of the way of emergency responders.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

Scientist models way to make sure no one's violating the ban on nuclear weapons in space

One scientist has produced a detailed model which proposes a way to verify that no government or rogue actors are secretly hiding nuclear weapons in the Earth's orbit.

Currently, international laws prevent the use of nuclear weapons in orbit, but it also presents a problem.

International space law was created by the Outer Space Treaty, which was drafted in 1966 and has been ratified by 117 nations, including the USA, China, and Russia, since then. It explicitly bans nuclear weapons from being used in space, which is reassuring, because a nuclear explosion launched from an orbiting object could destroy most of the satellites in low Earth orbit, creating havoc with vital satellite communications, imaging and weather forecasting, to say the least.

[...] Danagoulian's modeling showed calculations suggesting a CubeSat made of commercially available equipment weighing up to 18kg could detect the tell-tale signals emitted by nuclear weapons in space. Such a satellite could identify a thermonuclear weapon at a distance of 4 km after around a week of observations, the study found.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

Utility Companies Want To Take Control Of Your Home's Smart Thermostat

One of the uncomfortable elements of a more digitized, interconnected world is that outside parties can access your devices remotely. This is even true for those with smart thermostats, with perks like convenient HVAC adjustment over Wi-Fi and, in some cases, a lower energy bill, which can come with an unusual reality. There are now multiple proposals coming forward, on top of existing agreements between individuals and utility companies, that could grant utility companies remote access to residents' smart thermostats. Of course, these agreements don't come out of nowhere, and so far they're not mandatory.

The idea behind giving utility companies access to thermostats stems from efforts to reduce strain on power grids across the United States. Remote access allows companies to strategically tweak usage at specific points during the day and night, and when grid strain approaches critical levels. In Arizona, three different utilities have pushed for such agreements, seeking to avoid grid overload and blackouts during extreme heat events. Meanwhile, Ohio is pushing to formally authorize these voluntary demand response programs via House Bill 427. These are just two of many state-specific energy-conserving initiatives in play at this point.

[...] While many have already worked with utility companies to grant occasional access to their thermostats, many aren't so keen on the idea. The main concern is that this is an example of corporate overreach and that companies shouldn't be allowed to change how individual homes set their temperatures. Could this lead to higher billing? Or even dangerous in-home temperatures during winter and summer? Some online have even voiced their extreme dislike of these deals, desiring ways to hack into their smart thermostat to prevent any unwanted entity from making remote changes.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

New Horizons Pluto probe just woke itself up after 321 days of hibernation

NASA's New Horizons probe has woken itself up after 321 days of hibernation.

The aerospace agency sent commands to the probe last July, instructing it to commence hibernation on August 7 and then resume activity in July 2026.

On June 23, NASA checked to see if New Horizons had obeyed the instruction to wake up and was pleased to find it was online again.

New Horizons' main job was to make our first ever visit to Pluto, which it accomplished in 2015, before zipping off to visit a Kuiper Belt object named Arrokoth in 2019.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

What, did someone get some bad news during their IPO process or something?

Investment bankers might be next in line to be rendered obsolete by artificial intelligence if OpenAI's latest push into the financial space is any indication. 

The House of Altman on Wednesday opened up a new position for an investment banking expert, whose responsibilities include making ChatGPT and its AI relations better at handling the complexities of major financial transactions like mergers, acquisitions, fundraising, and other high-value, high-stakes financial ventures.

The job notice mentions that investment banking is one of the most demanding knowledge work tasks around due to all the things bankers have to consider, and it seems to be hoping AI can serve as an assistant for some of Wall Street's heaviest hitters. 

"We are looking for a Subject Matter Expert in Investment Banking to help define what excellent AI-assisted banking work looks like and turn that standard into better models and products," OpenAI said in the posting. "You will use that expertise to design realistic tasks and evaluations, create and assess high-quality reference work, diagnose model failures, and help our technical teams improve model behavior and product experiences."

OpenAI further describes the position as defining "the quality bar for AI-assisted investment banking," making it seem suspiciously like the ChatGPT maker isn't satisfied to keep its financial insights confined to the personal bank accounts of its individual users. 

The company announced in May that it was adding connectors for personal financial accounts to be integrated into ChatGPT, giving AI direct access to bank records and other financial data. The feature was rolled out generally to ChatGPT Plus and Pro users at the end of June. 

Now, it seems, OpenAI wants ChatGPT to help i-bankers, with the aforementioned "quality bar" touching things like research, analysis, valuation, modeling, diligence, transaction execution, and handling client materials. OpenAI apparently also wants its subject matter expert to help translate banking workflows into "representative evaluation tasks" that would allow AI to handle turning investment ideas into success, and generally "improve model performance on financial work." 

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/china-recovered-its-first-reusable-rocket-and-showed-a-new-way-to-do-it/

China's sprawling state-owned rocket developer, maker of the country's Long March rocket family, announced it recovered a reusable orbital-class booster for the first time Friday in the South China Sea.

The milestone mission began with the liftoff of a Long March 10B rocket from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site on Hainan Island, China's southernmost province. Powered by seven kerosene-fueled engines, the approximately 209-foot-tall (63.6-meter) rocket took off at 12:15 am EDT (04:15 UTC), or 12:15 pm local time at the seaside spaceport at Wenchang.

About 10 minutes later, the Long March 10B booster descended from space and guided itself into a four-legged frame affixed to an offshore vessel. Tensioned cables stretched over the ship in a grid pattern captured the rocket as it shut down its landing engines, leaving the smoldering booster hanging in midair. The rocket's upper stage continued into orbit and deployed a payload known only as CX-26. Chinese officials hailed the flight as a "complete success."

"A historic day in China's space program!" wrote Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, on X. "China's Long March 10B has successfully completed its maiden flight—and recovered its first stage via a sea-based net. This marks the country's first-ever controlled rocket recovery. A major leap toward reusable launch capabilities."

The landing on Friday makes the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and its subsidiary, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), the third enterprise to accomplish this feat. SpaceX did it with its Falcon 9 rocket in 2015 and with its Starship/Super Heavy booster in 2024. Blue Origin landed its New Glenn booster on an offshore platform for the first time last November.

SpaceX and Blue Origin use propulsive landings to return their Falcon 9 and New Glenn boosters to offshore platforms or onshore landing pads. With Starship, SpaceX pioneered a new method of catching the rocket's reusable booster back at its launch pad using mechanical arms mounted to the launch tower.

The Long March 10B employs a different approach for recovery, combining an offshore vessel floating downrange with the catch technique somewhat like what SpaceX uses for Starship. Catching the rocket in this way reduces the effect of reuse on payload capacity. The Long March 10B doesn't have to carry the extra mass of landing legs, and recovering it downrange reduces how much fuel the rocket must consume during its descent.

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

https://www.slashgear.com/2208743/why-navy-submarine-propeller-designs-are-kept-secret/

Militaries around the world frequently release photographs and videos of submarines entering or leaving port. Yet if you look closely at them, one detail is typically missing: the propeller.

[...] At first glance, a submarine propeller may not seem all that different from one found on a commercial ship. However, every aspect of its design is carefully engineered to help the vessel move as quietly as possible through the water. Put another way, naval propeller design places stealth above propeller efficiency. Stealth is achieved by minimizing cavitation, which is the sudden implosion of vapor bubbles when the speed of propeller blades drops local water pressure below its vapor point, creating an acoustic signature that can be tracked by the enemy. Details such as the number of blades, their shape, curvature, pitch, and even the precision with which they are manufactured all influence the amount of noise and vibration produced as the submarine travels beneath the surface. While those differences may appear subtle to the casual observer, they can have a significant impact on a submarine's ability to remain hidden during operations.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

https://www.techradar.com/pro/an-electric-drone-just-set-a-new-world-air-speed-record-434-mph-device-could-be-ideal-for-anti-aircraft-interceptor-action

https://www.aerospace-and-defence.com/quantum-systems-chases-speed-records-a-52dd697b273097c2c264fdab161e0b47/

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/drones/electric-drone-breaks-world-air-speed-record-at-434-mph-designed-for-anti-aircraft-interceptor-roles-german-firm-convincingly-smashed-the-official-409-mph-record-hopes-to-get-stamp-of-approval-from-guinness-soon

According to the official press release, the Apex Recordhunter drone was developed over the last year and serves as a technology demonstrator for next-gen electrically powered drones. Tellingly, Ukrainian engineers are also working on this project under the auspices of WIY Drones, a branch of Quantum Systems. It will also be attempting record-breaking speed challenges in Ukraine, as the Apex Recordhunter is being assessed for future interceptor drone programs.

So, we might have a flurry of new drone speed records on the way, and it wouldn’t be a great surprise if the Apex Recordhunter drone pushes past the 700 km/h (435 mph) milestone.

Like with the Apex Recordhunter drone, the Blackbird speed record remains unofficial, as they haven’t had a verification that requires a certified independent observer, verified measurement equipment, documentation including a submission, followed by a controlled two-way run.

At the same time, WIY Drones, part of the Quantum Systems Group, is targeting two official Ukrainian speed records during planned testing expected next week.

• STRILA Interceptor – Highest speed achieved by an FPV interceptor drone carrying a 0.5 kg payload.
• SPYS – Highest speed achieved by an anti-aircraft class FPV interceptor drone.

These initiatives reflect WIY's continued development of high-performance interceptor systems designed to counter increasingly fast and maneuverable aerial threats, building on the company's operational experience and its growing role within the Quantum Systems Group.

Mainstream news sources note that Gulf States are rapidly eating through their air defense supplies. Contrasts are made between the costs of dispatching Ukrainian drone interceptors ($1,000 to $2,000) vs a Patriot missile (~$4 million). It isn't all about the cost, though. Supplies of Patriot missiles are also more constrained. Some commentators note that more Patriot missiles have been fired during the Iran war than Ukraine has been supplied during the last four years.

Another thing in the Ukrainian interceptor drone's favor is that it can be launched and controlled by one person. Patriot missiles need a launcher system and three soldiers for a one-off launch, but around 90 personnel for full sustained operation and maintenance.

Original Submission