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Submission + - Japan renders current conventional submarines obsolete (x.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: With the Taigei class and its lithium-ion batteries, Tokyo already set a new benchmark: up to three weeks submerged without ever raising a snorkel. That, however, was merely the opening act.

Today, Toyota and Panasonic are leading the global race in solid-state batteries, with prototypes arriving in 2027–2028, mass production after 2030, and Japan’s next submarine class will be the first to use them, either in pure battery form or as a hybrid with a small reactor for onboard recharging. This hybrid would be similar to what the Chinese are developing.

The leap is staggering. A 4,000 ton conventional submarine will patrol for 40 to 60 days without surfacing, sprint well above 20 knots for hours on end, and do it all more quietly than many nuclear subs, thanks to being significantly lighter and running solely on battery power.

Solid-state cells weigh roughly one-third as much, generate 40% less heat, and eliminate half the cooling systems. The result is a faster, stealthier hull that can travel thousands of kilometers without ever breaking the surface.

Those hundreds of saved tons translate directly into more powerful electric motors, extra torpedoes and missiles, cutting-edge sensors, or greater crew comfort. The same hull now carries twice the energy or twice the weapons.

It appears there are also plans to equip the system with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ micro nuclear reactor. Its design has no moving parts, which gives it excellent quietness. It’s essentially like a battery that can run for 20 years.

Submission + - Sperm donor with cancer-causing gene fathered nearly 200 children across Europe (cbsnews.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: A joint investigation by 14 European public service broadcasters has exposed a major scandal in the fertility industry: an anonymous Dutch sperm donor, who carried a mutated TP53 gene linked to Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS)—a rare condition conferring a 90% lifetime cancer risk, often striking in childhood—fathered nearly 200 children through the European Sperm Bank since 2005. Unbeknownst to the donor, a former student who passed initial screenings, the mutation affected up to 20% of his sperm, which was distributed to 67 clinics across 14 countries without adequate international oversight.

The revelation, uncovered via the European Society of Human Genetics conference where doctors flagged unusual cancer clusters in donor-conceived children, highlights systemic failures. National regulations, such as Belgium's limit of 6-12 children per donor (or 25 in the UK), were routinely violated, with one donor exceeding caps by over 10-fold. Of 67 genetically traced offspring, 23 inherited the mutation; 10 have developed cancers, including multiple tumors in some, and several died young. "We have some children that have developed already two different cancers and some of them have already died at a very early age," said cancer geneticist Edwige Kasper.

Geneticists Clare Turnbull and Edwige Kasper described LFS as a "dreadful diagnosis," imposing lifelong surveillance and emotional strain on families. The European Sperm Bank acknowledged the breach but noted no shipments to the U.S., though it operates in Canada and Mexico. No global regulatory framework exists to prevent recurrence, raising urgent calls for reform. Additional cases may surface as more children are tested, underscoring the ethical perils of unregulated sperm donation.

Submission + - SpaceX to Pursue 2026 IPO (archive.is)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: SpaceX will go public next year, aiming for a valuation of more than $1 trillion, Bloomberg reported.

The Elon Musk-led company was the first to successfully reuse rockets, bringing the cost of space travel down by around 90%; it accounted for more than half of global launches in 2024. Its broadband arm Starlink also represents most active satellites. It is expected to make $15 billion in revenue in 2025, rising to perhaps $26 billion next year.

A $1 trillion valuation on those figures would be extremely high: The only IPO at that figure was Saudi Aramco in 2019, and it had revenues of $300 billion. But SpaceX hopes Starlink, its near-monopoly on reusable rockets, and its many government contracts will justify a premium.

Submission + - Cold Case Inquiries Stall After Ancestry.com Revisits Policy for Users (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Since online genealogy services began operating, millions of people have sent them saliva samples in hopes of learning about their family roots and discovering far-flung relatives. These services also appeal to law enforcement authorities, who have used them to solve cold case murders and to investigate crimes like the 2022 killing of four University of Idaho students. Crime-scene DNA submitted to genealogy sites has helped investigators identify suspects and human remains by first identifying relatives.

The use of public records and family-tree building is crucial to this technique, and its main tool has been the genealogy site Ancestry, which has vast amounts of individual DNA profiles and public records. More than 1,400 cases have been solved with the help of so-called genetic genealogy investigations, most of them with help from Ancestry. But a recent step taken by the site is now deterring many police agencies from employing this crime-solving technique.

In August, Ancestry revised the terms and conditions on its site to make it clear that its services were off-limits “for law enforcement purposes” without a legal order or warrant, which can be hard to get, because of privacy concerns. This followed the addition last year to the terms and conditions that the services could not be used for “judicial proceedings.” Investigators say the implications are dire and will result in crucial criminal cases slowing or stalling entirely, denying answers to grieving families.

Submission + - Paramount Skydance launches hostile bid for WBD after Netflix wins bidding war (cnbc.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: David Ellison-run Paramount Skydance is launching a hostile bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.

        Paramount will go straight to WBD shareholders with an all-cash, $30-per-share offer. Netflix is $27/share

        Netflix won a bidding war for the Warner Bros. film studio and HBO Max streaming service, but it doesn't plan to buy WBD's TV networks.

        Paramount has repeatedly argued keeping Warner Bros. Discovery whole was in the best interest of its shareholders.

Submission + - Fish-inspired filter removes 99% of microplastics from washing machine wastewate (techxplore.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Some fish feed by means of filtration; these include, for example, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies. They swim through the water with their mouths open and sift out the plankton with their gill arch system. "We took a closer look at the construction of this system and used it as the model for developing a filter that can be used in washing machines," says Blanke, who is a member of the transdisciplinary research areas Life & Health and Sustainable Futures at the University of Bonn.

During their evolution, these fish have developed a technique similar to cross-flow filtration. Their gill arch system is shaped like a funnel that is widest at the fish's mouth and tapers towards their gullet. The walls of the funnel are shaped by the branchial arches. These feature comb-like structures, the arches, which are themselves covered in small teeth. This creates a kind of mesh that is stretched by the branchial arches.

The filter element in the center imitates the gill arch system of the fish. The filter housing enables periodic cleaning and installation in washing machines.

"During food intake, the water flows through the permeable funnel wall, is filtered, and the particle-free water is then released back into the environment via the gills," explains Blanke. "However, the plankton is too big for this; it is held back by the natural sieve structure. Thanks to the funnel shape, it then rolls toward the gullet, where it is collected until the fish swallows, which empties and cleans the system."

This principle prevents the filter from being blocked—instead of hitting the filter head-on, the fibers roll along it toward the gullet. The process is also highly effective, as it removes almost all of the plankton from the water. Both are aspects that a microplastic filter must also be able to deliver. The researchers thus replicated the gill arch system. In doing so, they varied both the mesh size of the sieve structure and the opening angle of the funnel.

"We have thus found a combination of parameters that enable our filter to separate more than 99% of the microplastics out of the water but not become blocked," says Hamann. To achieve this, the team used not only experiments but also computer simulations. The filter modeled on nature does not contain any elaborate mechanics and should thus be very inexpensive to manufacture.

The microplastics that it filters out of the washing water collect in the filter outlet and are then suctioned away several times a minute. According to the researcher, who has now moved to the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, they could then, for example, be pressed in the machine to remove the remaining water. The plastic pellet created in this manner could then be removed every few dozen washes and disposed of with general waste.

Comment Not going to happen anytime soon (Score 2, Insightful) 144

by schwit1 (#65840339) Attached to: Could America's Paper Checks Be On the Way Out, Like the Penny?

For the same reason fax machines are still standard equipment for much of the government, law firms and many other places. They could use email but they don't.

It's too easy and they refuse to change.

Most checks today are rarely 'written' like the old days. My monthly bank payments are electronic, but a few don't have bank account destinations, so it gets done via the bank's paper check service.

I also prefer checks over credit cards because I don't want Visa getting any of my money.

Submission + - Idaho Lab Produces World's First Molten Salt Fuel For Nuclear Reactors (cowboystatedaily.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy announced this week that researchers at INL have successfully created the first batch of fuel salt.

Fuel salt is a molten salt mixture used as both a carrier for nuclear fuel and coolant in a molten salt reactor, a type of advanced nuclear reactor.

The fuel salt is critical for conducting the world’s first fast-spectrum, salt-fueled reactor test, known as the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE).

The test will help inform the future commercial deployment of a new class of advanced nuclear reactors, something a number of Wyoming-connected companies are proposing to build.

“There is a lot of push for this,” said James King, project lead for the Molten Chloride Experiment at INL. “We need to have a lot of different options so we can move away from less safe power generations methods.

“This is one of those technologies that can move us to better safety.”

The liquid form of the salt fuel means the fuel can’t melt. The technology would also offer another low-carbon alternative to generating power.

Comment What Everyone Is Getting Wrong About AI And Jobs (Score 1) 62

by schwit1 (#65838745) Attached to: AI Led To an Increase In Radiologists, Not a Decrease

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Jevon's Paradox

From radiology to software engineering, the pattern repeats: as technology makes tasks cheaper and faster, demand for human creativity and judgment grows.

YC's Garry Tan explores what history, economics, and real companies show us— that technology doesn't replace people, it redefines what we can do.

Comment Paramount bid $30/share (Score 3, Informative) 73

by schwit1 (#65838063) Attached to: Netflix To Buy Warner Bros. In $72 Billion Cash, Stock Deal

Paramount's final bid, received Thursday evening, was for $30 per share, all cash, people close to the matter told CNBC, speaking on the condition of anonymity about confidential dealings. Paramount's offer included a $5 billion breakup fee if the transaction didn't win regulatory approval after roughly 10 months, the people said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/0...

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