A new data visualization reassigns country sizes based on each nation's share of global IPv4 address space rather than physical geography, using October 2026 figures from the IP Trust geolocation database. The method scales each country's area to (its IPv4 count ÷ world IPv4 total) × world land area, drawing outlines from the 1:110m Natural Earth map and excluding Antarctica and roughly 70 small territories too small to render at that resolution.
iptrust.co
· 2026-10-29
A Frankfurt Regional Court ruled that Google's aerial and satellite imagery on Google Earth and Google Maps breaches German privacy rules when it shows property areas not visible from public streets without owner consent. The case was brought by an anonymous Frankfurt homeowner who had previously won a similar case forcing Google Street View and Apple Look Around to blur his home. Google said it strongly disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal.
courthousenews.com
· 2026-10-23
The US government says the Russian satellite Cosmos 2612 maneuvered within less than a mile of the Swedish-built Earth-observation satellite Iceye-X36 last Saturday, burning fuel to match its altitude and speed. US undersecretary of state Thomas DiNanno called the move threatening and consistent with 'on-orbit weapons operations,' while Russian officials denied the satellites are armed and said Western nations are using 'loudspeaker diplomacy' over the incident.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-23
TSMC has reportedly begun asking its equipment suppliers whether they can build factory automation machinery using motors that avoid rare-earth materials, according to a Reuters report citing people familiar with the matter. The move targets electric motors in TSMC's fabrication plants that typically rely on permanent magnets made from elements like neodymium, dysprosium and terbium.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-10-22
Nonprofit Earth Species Project applied machine learning to detect carrion crow vocalizations and identify which bird made which call. The group is now developing NatureLM, a model trained on human speech, music and animal sounds, aiming to interpret vocalizations across species, building on decades of recording tools like hydrophones and biologgers.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-10-21
Tomás Villalón Jr., an MIT-trained materials science engineer, cofounded Phoenix Tailings in 2019 after working at MIT spinoff Boston Metal on decarbonizing steelmaking. The company has developed a process to extract rare earth metals from mining waste rather than through conventional mining.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-10-20
LeoLabs, a commercial space-tracking company, reported that Russia's Kosmos 2612 military satellite executed a deliberate rendezvous with ICEYE-X36, a US-operated commercial imaging satellite, closing from hundreds of kilometers to within roughly 2-3 kilometers and at times under 500 meters before moving away. The company said four of six satellites launched alongside Kosmos 2612 in April had adjusted their orbits to track ICEYE-X36, and described the close pass as a controlled approach, loitering period and departure consistent with sophisticated rendezvous and proximity operations.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-19
Tracking data shows Russia's Cosmos 2612 military satellite performed a maneuver on October 16 that brought it within roughly 3 miles of ICEYE-X36, a US-registered synthetic aperture radar satellite, after previously keeping over 200 miles away. Satellite tracking firm LeoLabs called the move a deliberate approach of uncertain intent, and the maneuver was made without approval from ICEYE, which operates a satellite fleet that has supplied imagery to Ukraine since 2022.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-10-19
Google blurs certain Street View locations at the request of governments, privacy groups, and individuals, covering military sites, secure government buildings, homes of wealthy or famous people, and properties blurred by mistake. In countries like the Netherlands and Germany, residents have a legal right to request their homes be blurred, which explains the high concentration of blurred properties there. Once a location is blurred, Google does not reverse the change.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-17
The International Bureau of Weights and Measures announced it will stop issuing leap seconds to Coordinated Universal Time starting in May 2027, ending a practice used since 1972 to reconcile atomic clock time with Earth's slowing rotation. Since 1972, 32 leap seconds have been added, with the last one inserted in 2016.
wired.com
· 2026-10-16
The General Conference on Weights and Measures voted Thursday to abolish the leap second, the periodic adjustment used to keep Coordinated Universal Time aligned with Earth's rotation. The decision ends a system that has periodically synced atomic clocks with the planet's variable spin since its introduction, following repeated technical disruptions caused by past adjustments in 2012, 2015 and 2016.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-15
Since China imposed rare earth export controls in October 2025, Beijing has repeatedly granted only short-lived reprieves tied to US concessions, most recently extending a truce to January 2027 while still restricting sales. In June, China added MP Materials and USA Rare Earth—the two firms central to US efforts to build a non-Chinese supply chain—to an export control list, even as a suspension was in effect.
lawfaremedia.org
· 2026-10-14
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