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WhatsApp has unveiled a major update that will allow users to hide intimate conversations in a secret folder. The Chat Lock feature, which parent company Meta announced on Monday, means selected messages can only be accessed with a password or biometric identification, like a fingerprint or face scan. Any incoming messages will also be hidden on the receiver’s phone or computer screen to prevent bystanders from seeing what they say or who they are from. “We believe this feature will be great for people who share their phones from time to time with a family member, or in moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra-special chat arrives,” Meta wrote in a blog post announcing the WhatsApp update. “Over the next few months, we’re going to be adding more options for Chat Lock, including locks for companion devices and creating a custom password for your chats so that you can use a unique password different from your phone’s.” The new WhatsApp feature will be rolling out globally this week to more than 2 billion people who use the messaging app. “New locked chats in WhatsApp make your conversations more private,” Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post on Facebook. “They’re hidden in a password protected folder and notifications won’t show sender or message content.” The latest update comes just days after widespread concerns emerged from WhatsApp users about a “creepy” feature relating to the app’s privacy settings. Messages on people’s phones appeared to show that WhatsApp was listening to users while they were asleep, with notifications of the app activating the device’s microphone displayed on the privacy menu within Google’s Android operating system. WhatsApp blamed the issue on a bug within Android, claiming it would never access a user’s microphone without their consent. “Users have full control over their mic settings,” WhatsApp posted in response to a tweet about the issue. “Once granted permission, WhatsApp only accesses the mic when a user is making a call or recording a voice note or video – and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption so WhatsApp cannot hear them.” Read More Creepy WhatsApp update sparks fears users are being listened to through their phone

A new Rampart bug in Apex Legends caused a player to phase through the floor onto an enemy team when firing Sheila.

TikTok is “proactively and aggressively” removing posts seemingly glorifying Osama bin Laden, it has said. A series of videos that shared a letter from bin Laden justifying the 9/11 attacks were published across the platform, and TikTok said it was “investigating” how it had happened. But it also said that reports about the spread of the posts had been exaggerated, and that the number of videos was actually small. The controversy began in recent days after a host of videos were highlighted by journalist Yashar Ali, in a tweet. He said there were “thousands of TikToks (at least)” that shared the letter from bin Laden. “The TikToks are from people of all ages, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Many of them say that reading the letter has opened their eyes, and they’ll never see geopolitical matters the same way again,” he said. “Many of them — and I have watched a lot — say it has made them reevaluate their perspective on how what is often labeled as terrorism can be a legitimate form of resistance to a hostile power.” The tweet led to criticism of TikTok as well as its users, including from the White House. “There is never a justification for spreading the repugnant, evil and antisemitic lies that the leader of Al Qaeda issued just after committing the worst terrorist attack in American history,” a spokesperson said. TikTok said however that the spread of the posts had been relatively limited and that it was not true that the videos were trending. “Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism,” the company wrote on its TikTok account. “We are proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it got onto our platform. “The number of videos on TikTok is small and reports of it trending on our platform are inaccurate. This is not unique to TikTok and has appeared across multiple platforms and the media.” TikTok does not provide readily accessible information about the spread of posts on its platform. Some of the videos had tens of thousands of likes and views. Many of the TikToks pointed to a copy of the letter that had been posted on The Guardian’s website. As it began to spread, the newspaper removed the page, replacing it with a note that it was lacking “the full context” and instead directed readers to a news article about the original letter. Read More TikTok launches feature to save songs to music apps like Spotify Elon Musk weighs in on the scooped bagel debate ICO seeks permission to appeal against Clearview AI tribunal ruling

A group of amateur radio enthusiasts have set up a beacon in the UK that allows anyone to observe meteors as they burn through the Earth’s atmosphere. The UK Meteor Beacon project uses radio signals to identify meteorites as they pass through a 400 km-wide section of sky over England and Wales. The data is then displayed on a live online feed, with meteors appearing as blue streaks that emit a ping followed by a trailing pitch. The system captures more than 100 meteors every hour, even during times of relatively low activity. For the upcoming Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on 12 August, the frequency could be in the region of thousands per hour as Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Unlike optical astronomy, the use of radio signals mean that meteors can be observed in nearly any weather conditions at all hours of the day and night. It also means that the system can pick up smaller meteors that may not appear as ‘shooting stars’ to the naked eye. This method of observation could potentially lead to the discovery of new meteor showers, which could then be tracked to uncover previously unknown comets. The radio transmitter is based at the Sherwood Observatory near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, however receivers can be placed anywhere in the country. “The transmitter is illuminating the sky above Mansfield with radio signals that can be reflected by meteors and their trails,” Brian Coleman, who designed the system’s hardware and has a receiver in his back garden, told The Independent. “Even outside the Perseids and other meteor showers we’re seeing them at a rate of two a minute – and we can observe them day and night no matter what the weather. Only thunderstorms and lightning can interfere with it.” It is the first meteor beacon system run by amateur radio and astronomy volunteers in the UK, and has already received funding from the Radio Society of Great Britain and the British Astronomical Association. It has also gained the attention of academic and citizen scientists keen on studying meteors. Setting up the beacon transmitter is only the first part of the project, with the four-person team now planning to design and deploy echo receivers that can be distributed throughout the country at distances of up to 1,200 km from the Sherwood Observatory. The receivers can be built for as little as £10, according to Mr Coleman, using plastic pipes and other materials found in DIY stores. His hope is that the low cost will encourage schools to set up their own receivers to develop STEM-related projects that will encourage students to explore radio engineering and astronomy. Observations of the meteors from different directions can also be used to calculate the location and trajectory of meteors, with the team currently trying to establish whether it is possible to triangulate the meteors by studying the horizontal lines and blue smudges that appear on the waterfall display. Such measurements are currently possible with military-grade pulse radar systems, but it has never been done before on this scale. If it is possible, then knowing the speed and direction of the meteors will allow them to calculate the landing spot of any meteors that make it through the Earth’s ionosphere without burning up completely. These samples can then be studied to offer a better understanding of the universe. “The ultimate ambition is to have a system like Blitzortung, which uses a network of ground-based detectors to track live lightning strikes around the planet,” Mr Coleman said. “If successful, we could observe meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere in real-time throughout the world – but there’s still a lot of work to do before we achieve that.” Read More Amateur astronomers make ‘major breakthrough’ in saving Earth from asteroids ‘It’s becoming like an airport’: How SpaceX normalised rocket launches Perseid meteor shower offers best chance to see a ‘shooting star’ in 2023 Watch live: Russian cosmonauts step out of ISS to perform spacewalk Earth hit by powerful ‘X-1’ solar flare, after fears of ‘cannibal’ blast

Just when you thought 2023 was already going pretty badly, an “entrance to the underworld” has been found under a Mexican church - so, that can't be a good omen. It is, however, a very interesting find: the ancient structure was once believed to be an opening to hell and it was discovered in the site of Mitla near Oaxaca. It consists of a labyrinth leading underground used frequently by the Zapotec culture, who lived in the area for around 2200 years until the Spanish conquests in 1521. While the structure has its origins much earlier, the site was expanded by the Zapotecs and it was used extensively until a Church was later built over it after they left the area. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Around the late 16th century CE, after the Spanish had welcomed themselves to the Americas, a Catholic church and other structures were plonked on top of the site. Traditionally, the ancient Zapotecs believed the ruin to be a doorway to the world of the dead, and it’s thought that the entrance to the passages could be through the main altar of the church. Teams from the Mexican National Institute of History and Anthropology (INAH), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Association for Archaeological Research and Exploration and the ARX Project all collaborated on the findings. They used geophysical scanning to uncover the complex of tunnels. However, perhaps the most significant discovery was an area measuring around 16 to 26 feet below the ground which could be a large chamber. It’s an exciting development, and as only the first round of surveys has taken place this is just the beginning. Project Lyobaa: Revealing the Underworld of Mitla, Oaxaca www.youtube.com The ARX Project, one of the grounds behind the discovery, released an announcement saying: “In 1674, the Dominican father Francisco de Burgoa described the exploration of the ruins of Mitla and their subterranean chambers by a group of Spanish missionaries. Burgoa’s account speaks of a vast subterranean temple consisting of four interconnected chambers, containing the tombs of the high priests and the kings of Teozapotlán. “From the last subterranean chamber, a stone door led into a deep cavern extending thirty leagues below ground. This cavern was intersected by other passages like streets, its roof supported by pillars. According to Burgoa, the missionaries had all entrances to this underground labyrinth sealed, leaving only the palaces standing above ground,” it continued. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The founder of the small search engine company DuckDuckGo is testifying against Google in the biggest antitrust trial in a quarter of a century

Wall Street’s embrace of artificial intelligence poses acute risks to the US financial system and demands more congressional

Long space missions are damaging astronauts’ brains, scientists have said. Experts now suggest that those who are spending a long time in space should take three years to allow their brains to recover from the changes experienced during their journeys. Those are the findings of a new study looking at how brain’s react to leaving Earth’s gravity. It comes ahead of what is expected to be a new era of long journeys around space, including the first missions to Mars. Researchers looked at brain scans of 30 astronauts, taken before and after they travelled to space. They found that journeys over six months left the brain’s ventricles significantly expanded – and they could take up to three years to recover. The ventricles are cavities in the brain that are filled with a fluid that protects and nourishes the brain, as well as removing waste. Usually, that fluid is helpfully distributed around the body, but the lack of gravity in space can mean that the fluid is pushed upward and shoves the brain higher in the skull. “We found that the more time people spent in space, the larger their ventricles became,” said Rachael Seidler, a professor of applied physiology and kinesiology at the University of Florida and an author of the study. “Many astronauts travel to space more than one time, and our study shows it takes about three years between flights for the ventricles to fully recover.” Read More Scientists demonstrate wireless power transmission from space for first time Japan to launch satellite made of wood in 2024 US tells China: ‘We’ll fight in outer space if we have to’

A class action lawsuit was filed against Roblox this week alleging that the gaming platform

Alphabet Inc.’s Google has cut jobs at mapping service Waze, the tech giant’s latest move to trim its

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg will deliver the keynote speech at the tech company’s annual Connect conference. Zuckerberg and guests are expected to unveil the new Meta Quest 3 VR headset and, the company says, reveal how Meta is bringing mixed reality to life. Zuckerburg will speak about how AI can help people connect and express themselves in new ways, according to the company. And he will showcase Meta’s latest products and updates that will help developers build the future of human connection. This year’s Connect is being billed as a two-day virtual event focused on AI and virtual, mixed and augmented realities, as it seeks to put its mark on these emerging technologies. The highlight of the two-day event event will likely be the keynote, where Meta is expected to announce its much-hyped Quest 3 mixed-reality headset. Zuckerberg is expected reveal the Quest 3’s features, pricing, and availability. Read More ‘Shocking’ rise in number of children falling victim to sextortion, charity says Elon Musk warns of ‘civilisational risk’ posed by AI at historic gathering ChatGPT boss says he’s achieved human-level AI, then says he’s ‘just memeing’