Methane leak in South China Sea spawned thriving worm-bacteria ecosystem within 2 years

A drilling incident in the South China Sea in 2018 triggered a significant underwater methane leak, forming a plume nearly one kilometre high. Marine scientists monitored how the local ecosystem responded to the sudden release of gas. Within two years, bacteria and worms had colonised the site, creating a natural biofilter that consumed the methane and substantially reduced the plume. While the newly formed 'worm bed' proved effective at breaking down the gas, researchers noted that the rapid ecological shift came at a cost — a marked decline in the area's original microbial diversity.

Adhikari takes Bengal’s investment pitch to Mumbai

Anthropic Reports Blocking Attempt to Use Its AI for Biological Weapons

AI safety company Anthropic has revealed it detected and blocked a potential attempt to misuse its artificial intelligence to develop biological weapons. The disclosure was made in the company's threat intelligence report, which outlines efforts to monitor and prevent harmful use of its technology. The report highlights the real-world risks posed by advanced AI systems being exploited for dangerous purposes. The findings come shortly after a former senior researcher at Anthropic publicly raised concerns about the broader existential risks that AI poses to humanity.

Imran Tahir, 47, becomes oldest player to take T20 five-wicket haul

South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir made history by becoming the oldest cricketer to claim a five-wicket haul in T20 cricket. Playing for his franchise against St Lucia Kings, Tahir returned exceptional figures of 5 wickets for just 17 runs in 4 overs. The performance also stands as the best bowling figures of his T20 career. Tahir credited his young son as a source of motivation, saying his child had been pushing him to keep performing at the highest level.

BRICS Faces Pressure to Move Beyond Rhetoric and Tackle Global Crises

The BRICS grouping has expanded significantly in recent years, raising expectations for it to take on a more mature and consequential role in global affairs. The relationship between India and China is seen as a critical factor in shaping the bloc's future direction and effectiveness. Analysts argue that a non-Western agenda can only gain credibility if it addresses ongoing global conflicts alongside economic stabilisation goals. Simply positioning itself as an alternative to Western-led institutions will not be sufficient unless BRICS delivers tangible outcomes on peace and governance. The grouping now faces the challenge of translating its growing membership and influence into coherent, action-oriented global leadership.

‘Congress exposes Congress’: BJP on Shashi Tharoor, Chidambaram and BRICS

Man Throws Chilli Powder at Bank Staff in Nagpur, Escapes with Rs 4 Lakh

A man robbed a bank in Nagpur by throwing red chilli powder at staff members to incapacitate them. The incident was captured on CCTV, which showed the accused dressed in a red kurta and black pyjama. After blinding the employees with the powder, the suspect fled the premises with approximately Rs 4 lakh in cash. The footage has been released as authorities work to identify and apprehend the perpetrator.

Why a Developer Deleted Clean AI-Generated Code to Build Something Truly Original

A software developer writing on DEV Community argues that AI's advantage over any individual is limited precisely to the boundaries of that person's own ignorance — no further. While acknowledging AI's superior recall of syntax, algorithms, and documented solutions, the developer contends that it can only remix what already exists and cannot originate a vision for something entirely new. The author deleted a cleaner, AI-style function and replaced it with a slower, idiosyncratic one because that imperfect version contained a behaviour no standard solution would produce — one central to the product's purpose. The piece frames AI's knowledge gaps not as a threat but as a personal to-do list, arguing that every subject learned deeply removes one more area where the tool holds an edge. Ultimately, the developer concludes that authorship and taste are inseparable from the product itself, and outsourcing key decisions — even to a better output — hollows out the work's identity.

Can BRICS build a cross-border payment network?

CF7 to Google Sheets Drops Submissions Due to Shared API Quota Across All Users

WordPress site owners reported that roughly one in three Contact Form 7 submissions never reached their Google Sheets spreadsheet, even though email notifications and local database entries were recorded correctly. The GSheetConnector support team confirmed the cause: the free version of the plugin routes all API calls through the developer's single Google Cloud project, meaning thousands of sites share one 300-requests-per-minute quota. When that shared quota is exhausted, Google returns a 429 error and the submission is silently discarded without any alert to the site owner. The problem worsens as the plugin gains more installations, since more sites compete for the same limited quota bucket. The recommended fix is for each site owner to register their own Google Cloud project and connect the plugin to personal API credentials, effectively isolating their quota from all other users.

Delhi Airport Probes Alleged Unauthorized Passport Scanning of Children

A US-based Indian couple has raised concerns over suspicious passport scanning of their young children at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. Airport staff reportedly scanned multiple family passports following a single purchase, claiming they were checking for available offers. The couple expressed alarm over potential unauthorized data collection and possible misuse of their personal information. Airport authorities have acknowledged the complaint and committed to conducting a thorough investigation into the matter. Officials stated that strict action will be taken against those responsible if the allegations are proven true.

Developer Builds PDF Chat API in One Day Using FastAPI, Gemini, and Qdrant

A developer built a fully functional PDF Chat API in a single day, allowing users to upload PDF documents and ask questions about their content using natural language. The system uses a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture, combining Google Gemini for embeddings and chat, Qdrant as a vector database, and LangChain for pipeline orchestration. During ingestion, PDF text is split into chunks, converted into 3072-dimensional vectors via Gemini, and stored in Qdrant; at query time, the most relevant chunks are retrieved and passed to Gemini to generate an answer. The project includes a REST API with authentication, a plain HTML/CSS web interface, and is deployable on Qdrant's free cloud tier. The developer plans to add multi-user support, Docker deployment, and compatibility with other document formats such as Word and Excel.

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AI Agents Can't Be Sued: Why Liability Trails Back to Human Operators

When an AI agent autonomously negotiates and signs a contract, it cannot be held legally liable because software has no legal personhood. Legal systems universally agree that liability travels back along the chain of delegation until it reaches a human or entity that can be sued or fined. The challenge becomes more complex in multi-hop deployments where a principal authorizes an agent, which in turn delegates to sub-agents and third-party tools. Determining liability requires identifying, at each step, who held authority, who had sufficient information, and who could have intervened to prevent a bad outcome. Operators must maintain verifiable, timestamped authorization trails — not just policy statements — to demonstrate that governance controls were actually enforced at the moment an agent acted.

IRDAI fines bank ₹1 cr over insurance grievances

Five image compression tools compared on batch, animation, formats, and limits

A feature-by-feature comparison of five image compression tools — TinyPNG, compressor.io, docsmall, Squoosh, and ImgIng — examines what each can and cannot do beyond basic compression ratios. TinyPNG and docsmall support batch processing, while ImgIng goes further by handling entire folders; Squoosh and compressor.io process only one image at a time. ImgIng is the only tool among the five that compresses animated GIF, APNG, and animated WebP files using inter-frame differencing. On format support, Squoosh offers the broadest encoder options for single images, compressor.io uniquely handles SVG, and docsmall adds PDF compression, while ImgIng and Squoosh both run entirely in the browser, meaning files never leave the user's device. Regarding limits, Squoosh and ImgIng impose no file count caps or login requirements, whereas TinyPNG caps free use at 500 images per month and other server-based tools restrict maximum file sizes on free tiers.

US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

Article URL: https://www.ft.com/content/ebfa69a3-323b-450d-8bfd-0b12e01d2a5b Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49655012 Points: 22 # Comments: 13

IRCTC handled 20 lakh train ticket bookings in a day: How it is managing the festive season rush

AI helps terror groups target women, children: UN

The Ezra Klein Show: The A.I. Revolt Is Here

The A.I. giants weren’t prepared for this.