NEW: After DOGE outed Mohammad Halimi on social media, Taliban intelligence agents blindfolded and took three of his family members to a remote prison. They were repeatedly beaten and questioned about Halimi and his recently publicized work for the United States.

Horrific. mRNA vaccines have saved millions of lives and could save millions more. “I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,” said Mike Osterholm, a UMN expert on infectious diseases & pandemic preparations. www.huffpost.com/entry/rfk-va...

Two vaccine candidates using mRNA technology elicit a potent immune response against HIV go.nature.com/46Kiais

www.chemistryworld.com/news/an-act-... UK visa costs 'act of national self-harm' as chemistry departments struggle to attract international research talent | Chemistry World

More on the age verification chaos and how this is a bad idea. The article also has references to ways that age verification procedures can be put in place without handing over sensitive data to private companies with unvertain T&C www.theverge.com/analysis/715...

More excellent news, because some parents don't know how to parent and instead rely on the government to baby-proof the internet with the help of "trusted" companies. www.independent.co.uk/tech/spotify...

Britain is not a broken society https://on.ft.com/45nWkQx | opinion

Governments probably should slap Facebook about for a moderation and recommendation system that prey on the suggestible. But as it stands, the OSA mostly seems to threaten the access of WIKIPEDIA from the UK. For goodness sake, it took the entire Gaming on Linux (!!!) forum down. Not about porn!

This has been a terrible couple of weeks for free internet. First the UK, now Denmark trying to lead the EU astray, with the same old arguments that it is for “children’s safety”. You want to protect children, you fund police services and targeted investigations www.techradar.com/computing/cy...

🇦🇫 On the streets of Kabul, ‘virtue police’ chase and arrest young women for apparent breaches of strict dress code

These are the same people that would ban table salt because sodium is highly reactive and can explode www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

“"They'll download the first free app with decent reviews, often without realising they're handing over access to their data."” People do that *because* they don’t want to send their documents and biometric data to whatever company is doing age verification. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It is my opinion that introducing age verification now is irresponsible, mainly because we have now reached the point where Western governments *are* using "the database state" and exploiting online surveillance to be repressive - just as privacy activists warned for decades. This applies to UK & US

So "EU privacy" is better than "Swiss privacy" - interesting news, given the source. 👀 Background on the upcoming Swiss surveillance law that's worse than US surveillance laws - and that we all need to fight against! 💪 👉 tuta.com/blog/switzer...

I wasn't a massive fan of the music of Black Sabbath, but as a fan of metal it's impossible not to feel what a loss Ozzy Osbourne's passing is. Rest in peace!

It's a pity that decisions like this are likely to be backtracked "just" because of commercial agreements rather thanfor being a bad idea that attacks people's privacy and security. www.macrumors.com/2025/07/20/u...

That was an interesting read www.chemistryworld.com/news/why-is-...

This is cool. I haven't looked up on this any further (and certainly I'm no expert in mitochondrial biology), but why necessarily "three-person" IVF? Couldn't the father be the mitochondrial donor? www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I saw an infographic a couple years ago about how to remove source identifiers from links and why it's important, but I can't find it again and too many people I know are sending me links with them so here's an infographic straight from the oven

Senior Spanish government officials accused the European Commission of “complicity” with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ban on an LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Budapest this weekend.

At least the ads are in a feature that nobody uses.

Takes so much money to publish/buy a scientific paper, and the publishers often can't even spit out a pdf file that can be properly highlighted.

The EU is set to deliver a sobering message to a growing movement in Europe calling for a detox from US Big Tech. The message? That ain’t happening anytime soon.

"The State Department has ordered officers to examine “whether the lack of any online presence, or having social media accounts restricted to ‘private’ or with limited visibility, may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant’s credibility.”" newrepublic.com/post/195947/...

Do instagram now www.neowin.net/news/whatsap...

Early-access proteomics workflows are here: · ID in clinical samples · Barcoding Immediate opportunity for early adopters to access panel-based proteomics assays. 2/4 #nanoporeconf

We’re scaling innovation with purpose. This means: -Consolidation of devices & chemistry -Fewer & more robust launches. -Software-led performance improvements -Industry-standard pricing -✔️ Guaranteed outputs. ❌Theoretical maximums #nanoporeconf

Live from London Calling 2025! Speakers, attendees and the Oxford Nanopore crew are starting to fill into Old Billingsgate! Ready for Gordon to kick things off for the 11th time! Make sure you keep your posts coming using: #nanoporeconf

Seems like a nice read www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I'd love if there was a way of preventing gonorrhoea (e.g., a vaccine), and doxy-PEP is often touted as the answer. It seems counter-productive to use an antibiotic prophylactically, and a recent paper says as much journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

Proper Black Swan event right here

schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2... #MicroSky #Archaea #ArchaeaSky #SymbioSky

Donald Trump calls Harvard a ‘joke’ and says it should be stripped of funds – US politics live

Hope it gets renewed, it's one of the best fantasy series at the moment. And yes, it deviates from the books, but I don't see this is necessarily a bad thing. Different medium, why not different story? It just enriches the world #TheWheelofTime www.techradar.com/streaming/am...

Britain is banning travelers from the EU from bringing meat and dairy products into the country as foot-and-mouth disease spreads across the continent.

EU drug firms warn of exodus to US as Trump threatens import tariffs

𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: Within hours after a @Reuters journalist got in touch with Apple, the Apple team got back to us. 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬: You will soon be able to select #Tuta Mail as your default email app on #iOS. 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬: #Apple will get away with ignoring our request for weeks without any consequence.