Read Brian Hickerson's sinister texts to girlfriend Hayden Panettiere as he breaks cover after star's death: 'Time to go to war'
Hayden Panettiere's on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson has finally broken cover after the beloved child actress's shock passing from a suspected overdose.
One in five GCSE entries get top marks as grades rise for second year in a row - but pass rates for English and maths fall once again to lowest level in a decade
As hundreds of thousands of pupils picked up their GCSE results this morning, 22 per cent were awarded a 7 or A, up from 21.9 per cent last year.
Watching TikTok Videos and Instagram Reels Deactivates the Brain's Cognitive Control Network
An anonymous reader quotes a report from RathBiotaClan: Millions of people finish short video after short video every day; a new brain-scan study shows that the very act of finishing a clip they like temporarily quiets the brain regions that normally help them stay focused and weigh longer-term goals. When people watch a short video they enjoy enough to finish, two brain regions involved in cognitive control show significant deactivation. That is the central finding of a new study from Zhejiang University, published in NeuroImagein January 2026.
Using functional MRI alongside proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS), the research team examined 56 young adults while they freely watched short video clips inside an MRI scanner. Both the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) showed reduced activity specifically when participants watched clips they liked enough to view to completion. Cognitive control helps people balance immediate pleasures against longer-term goals, and impairments in this system are linked to conditions such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, and addiction. Short-video platforms present rapid, algorithmically curated streams that are built for continuous, low-effort consumption.
Prior behavioral research has tied both internet addiction and smartphone addiction to weaker self-control, and separate neuroimaging work has documented disruptions to reward and cognitive-control circuits in people with behavioral addictions. Despite this, few studies had directly tested whether the act of watching entertaining short videos itself suppresses the brain's cognitive control regions. The Zhejiang University team set out to answer that question, along with a second one: what neurochemical factors might explain why this suppression varies from person to person?
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Go updates may delight diehard gophers but displease AI overlords
v 1.27 expands generics to support methods
Harry beams after announcing he and Meghan will move to UK in DAYS with Archie and Lilibet to attend British school: Surprised Royal camp says 'no alteration' to Megxit deal
It is understood that while he 'welcomes' the chance to see Harry and his family in a private and personal capacity, the King is clear that there will be 'no alteration' to the Duke and Duchess's role.
Ukrainian Publishers Call For Support After Russian Attacks Destroy 10 Million Books
Russian attacks on Ukrainian publishing infrastructure in July and August destroyed roughly 10 million books, which equates to about 30% of Ukraine's annual book output. The Ukrainian Book Institute is warning of a potential "collapse of the entire book ecosystem" and is calling for international financial and industry support to help publishers, printers, and distributors recover. The Guardian reports: A major attack on August 1 hit warehouses belonging to the RNK-Ranok publishing group in Kharkiv, destroying approximately 8m books, following July attacks in Kyiv which led to the loss of more than 1.5m books. In all, the recent attacks have led to the destruction of approximately 30% of the volume of books produced annually in Ukraine.
The RNK-Ranok logistics centre, which stores books for the company's many imprints, is also the distribution centre for the national bookselling chain KnyhoLand, which runs 51 shops and several websites. Along with the estimated 8m books lost, a further 600,000 school textbooks were destroyed. The total loss has been preliminarily estimated at almost 1bn hryvnias (16.5m eueros). "At this stage, we face the risk of the collapse of the entire book ecosystem," said Oleksandra Koval, director of the Ukrainian Book Institute. The institute is asking for donations to support Ukrainian publishers, and is calling on the international publishing community to work with Ukrainian publishers and raise awareness about Russian attacks on Ukrainian culture.
On August 16, a Russian attack on Kyiv led to a fire breaking out at the Pochaina book market, destroying several rows of stalls, books and vendors' property. The Pochaina market, founded in 1997, was once one of Ukraine's largest book markets, with hundreds of stalls and books from more than 120 publishers. The institute said the book industry was of "strategic importance" to Ukraine, preserving and promoting Ukrainian culture and giving the country's voice a platform at home and abroad. [...] The institute also called for an end to cooperation with Russian publishers and literary agencies, saying that solidarity with Ukrainian publishers was crucial to preserving cultural heritage that Russia was "deliberately trying to destroy."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Fugitive drill rapper who went on the run twice and fled to France ahead of deportation flight is jailed - as police admit they have no idea how he escaped the country
Daniel Boakye, 21, fled from prison guards taking him to West Middlesex University Hospital by slipping out of handcuffs while using the toilet.
Rail bosses brace for flooding and cancellations a week after Lewes derailment as thunderstorms hit following record-breaking heatwaves
Rail tracks are expected to flood after drought hardened the surrounding ground, rail bosses said, which prevents heavy rain from soaking into the soil.
Police hunt vandals who 'beheaded' beloved Peppa Pig topiary sculpture
Police are investigating after the popular hedge sculpture was found with its head hacked off with a saw between August 13 and 15.
Voters Aren't Waiting For November to Try Ousting Officials Over Data Centers
A growing backlash against AI data centers is spilling into local politics, with residents in more than a dozen communities pushing recall elections against officials who approved projects. "People are standing up and saying, 'Sorry, we don't want these data centers in our communities for a number of reasons,'" Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said in an interview. "'If you can't have the guts to stand up to some large corporation, you should not continue serving in office.'" The New York Times reports: In Festus, Mo., critics of a local data center project gathered enough signatures in May to force a vote to remove the mayor and City Council members who had approved a $6 billion data center, though the effort is tied up in legal wrangling. In Mason, Mich., residents will vote in November over whether to recall a City Council member over a vote to create zoning rules for data centers. Voters in Yukon, Okla., will also decide in November whether to recall their mayor after the town moved to sell land to a data center developer. And residents of Independence, a city of 121,000 that is 10 miles from Kansas City, will vote on whether to remove Mr. Perkins on Sept. 1.
Some local officials have already lost their jobs in the face of data center concerns in regularly scheduled elections. Last year, two members of the Georgia Public Service Commission lost their seats amid concern about data centers' driving up electricity prices. A Virginia state delegate, Geary Higgins, also lost his job last year after his opponent branded him "Data Center Geary." [...] Independence would be one of the first municipalities to hold a data-center-motivated recall election. A judge this month rejected a legal challenge by Mr. Perkins and others, who argued the recall violated Missouri's Constitution.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
OpenAI chases Anthropic's biz customers with zero data retention pledge
With Private Safety Processing, AI biz promises discreet, automated prompt surveillance
Brother of Finlay Tarling will ride in Vuelta a Espana just eight days after British 19-year-old was fatally struck by van during race - and parents back him with brave statement
The 22-year-old will take to the start line at the Vuelta a Espana on Saturday in Monaco just eight days after his younger brother Finlay, 19, died during the Tour of Portugal.
Waymo has designed a robocar chip to stay ahead of Tesla
5 nm ML accelerators promise 1,000+ TOPS, ultra-low latency
Boy, 14, is dead after being hit by a bus in Portsmouth: Driver is arrested
Police officers were called to reports of a 'serious collision' on The Hard, a busy street in the centre of the city, shortly after 4pm on Monday.
Police launch search for missing 29-year-old man from Essex
Essex Police are looking for 29-year-old Paul Newman, who has been reported missing from Colchester.
Police launch search for missing 29-year-old man from Essex
Essex Police are looking for 29-year-old Paul Newman, who has been reported missing from Colchester.
Lindsay Clancy jury abruptly EXCUSED as judge tells court they have 'things to work out'
Lindsay Clancy, 36, is on trial for the murders of her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, at her Massachusetts home.
Trump makes extraordinary intervention as glamorous blonde aide's 'dangerous' secret is exposed in astonishing security leak
She has largely unrestricted access to the President as his personal secretary and 'human printer,' remaining close by his side throughout the day.
'They've barely heard from him in months': Fears grow for Eamonn Holmes' health as insiders reveal why his son is now managing his affairs, how GB News bosses are panicking... and what his co-host is privately telling friends
When Eamonn Holmes was hospitalised in April after suffering a terrifying stroke, he vowed to get well enough to return to his GB News breakfast show.
Reform unveils new £1.5billion pledge to boost apprenticeships and stop Britain's young people taking up 'Mickey Mouse degrees'
Suella Braverman said Britain 'needs apprentices' amid the crisis of one million young people being out of work, training or education.