The New Horizons space probe is about to reach Pluto to take high resolution photos of the surface, and there’s a public vote page to select a list of names for the features on its surface. Fantastic effort and should be interesting, but I’d just point out the time at which New Horizons was launched, Pluto was still a planet. STILL A PLANET, GENTLEMEN!

Google (where else) develops computer program capable of learning tasks independently, is training it on computer games from the 80s (so far). I’m… really not sure that’s a great idea to start A.I. learning the most efficient methods to get high scores on games that will often involve killing… (nobody say Skynet!)

In 2010, GCHQ and the NSA hacked a company responsible for producing a huge number of mobile SIMs and stole all the security keys: With these stolen encryption keys, intelligence agencies can monitor mobile communications without seeking or receiving approval from telecom companies and foreign governments. Possessing the keys also sidesteps the need to get a warrant or a wiretap, while leaving no trace on the wireless provider’s network that the communications were intercepted. Bulk key theft additionally enables the intelligence agencies to unlock any previously encrypted communications they had already intercepted, but did not yet have the ability to decrypt. ...

How far are the space probes we’ve sent out? Here’s a gorgeous quick reference: Spaceprob.es

Utterly gorgeous photos of birds captured perfectly in flight