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CERN faces a pivotal decision about its future as the Large Hadron Collider approaches the end of its usefulness by the early 2040s. Management proposes building the Future Circular Collider (FCC), a machine with a 90-kilometer circumference that would smash particles at eight times the energy of the LHC. This hugely consequential plan faces significant challenges. Much of the required technology doesn't exist yet, including superconducting magnets strong enough to bend high-energy particle beams. The project also lacks the clear rationale that the LHC had in finding the Higgs boson. The proposal has divided physicists. Critics worry about the decades-long timeline, potential cost overruns, and the risk of sacrificing other valuable CERN activities. Germany, which provides 20% of the lab's budget, has already indicated it won't increase contributions. A council-appointed group is now gathering input from the physics community before making recommendations in December. Nature's editorial board adds: Unless some nations step up with a major infusion of cash, the FCC faces an uncertain prospect of being funded. But waiting too long could mean that there will be a large gap between the new facility opening and the closure of the LHC, and precious expertise could end up being lost. Although physicists might disagree on what CERN should do, they nearly unanimously care about the lab's future. They and their leaders must now make the case for why European taxpayers, who fund most of the lab's yearly budget should care, too. The stakes are beyond science, and even beyond Europe.

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An 'orb' UFO was shot out the sky and retrieved by the US Navy during a 1962 missile test, a former top aide to four US presidents has revealed. 

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, shared with her 2million Instagram followers a look inside her wardrobe as she unveiled an online shop.

Kristallwelten Wattens, a Swarovski crystal-themed museum, is concealed beneath a hulking greenery-covered giant in the Austrian mountains.

PLUS: Russian bug-buyers seeks Telegram flaws; Another WordPress security mess; NIST backlog grows; and more!

Infosec In Brief  Organized crime networks are now reliant on digital tech for most of their activities according to Europol, the European agency that fights international crime on the continent and beyond.…

Elon Musk's special status in Donald Trump's inner circle was revealed at the president's latest cabinet meeting.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander gave the Chancellor less than full-hearted backing after she admitted accepting gig tickets worth £600.

Single women are constantly turning to social media to find out the perfumes that men love, taking to TikTok or Reddit to ask which scents guys like - now, scent experts are weighing in.

It's a very different day out

On his visit to Washington DC, Zelenskyy brought the unique present to the Oval Office ahead of the crucial meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Aimee Cotton, 41, was arrested on March 13 after a two-year-old boy she was babysitting tragically died after she allegedly left him and a one-year-old alone in her car for hours on end.

TikTok user Mica posted a shocking video showing the home in Accra, Ghana, explaining it belongs to her mom who renovated it in 2020 before returning to the United States.

He was a beloved figure in the Merseyside community after joining the broadcaster in 1999, and prior to that, had worked as a journalist on Radio City Liverpool.

Valve's early anti-piracy efforts, which eventually led to the Steam platform, were sparked by co-founder Monica Harrington's nephew using her money to buy a CD burner for copying games, she revealed at last week's Game Developers Conference. Harrington said her nephew's "lovely thank you note" about sharing games with friends represented a "generational shift" in piracy attitudes that could "put our entire business model at risk." Half-Life subsequently launched with CD key verification in 1998. When players complained about authentication failures, co-founder Mike Harrington discovered "none of them had actually bought the game," confirming the system worked. Although easily bypassed, this early protection influenced Steam's more robust DRM implemented with Half-Life 2 in 2004, which became the industry standard for PC game distribution.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Researchers in Denmark say they have discovered a natural 'switch' in our bodies which they can alter to accelerate the speed at which we burn energy and shrink our appetite.

Capital costs of creating document-relational serverless database take their toll

FaunaDB - the database that promised relational power with document flexibility - will shut down its service at the end of May. The biz says it plans to release an open-source version of its core tech.…

Shawn 'Mickey' Stines, 43, is charged with the murder of District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, in his office in September.

The British actor, 51, filmed scenes as the late Douglas ' Dutch ' Springsteen, who died in 1998, and after wrapping received a message from the musician, 75, who had been on set.

In a recent Instagram post, Justin Bieber opened up about some of the mental health issues he's been struggling with - particularly, anger issues.

Numerous photos and videos of mysterious, glowing orbs off the coast of Florida have flooded social media, sparking fears of a new drone crisis. The activity began at the beginning of March.