“Tavajoh! Tavajoh! Tavajoh!” a man’s voice announces, before going on to narrate a string of numbers in no apparent order, slowly and rhythmically. After nearly two hours, the calls of “Attention!” in Persian stop, only to resume again hours later.

The broadcast has been playing twice a day on a shortwave frequency since the start of the US-Israel attack on Iran on February 28.

According to Priyom, an organization which tracks and analyses global military and intelligence use of shortwave radio, using established radio-location techniques, the broadcast was first heard as the US bombing of Iran began. It has since played on the 7910 kHz shortwave frequency like clockwork—at 02.00 UTC and again at 18.00 UTC.

Over the weekend, Priyom said it had identified the likely origin of the broadcast. Using multilateration and triangulation techniques, the group traced the signal to a shortwave transmission facility inside a US military base in Böblingen, southwest of Stuttgart, Germany.

The site lies within a restricted training area between Panzer Kaserne and Patch Barracks, with technical operations possibly linked to the US army’s 52nd Strategic Signal Battalion, headquartered nearby.

That identification narrows the field, but it does not reveal who is behind the transmissions or who they are meant for.

The two-hour-long transmission is divided into five to six segments, each lasting up to 20 minutes. Each opens with “Tavajoh!” before shifting into a string of numbers in Persian, sometimes punctuated with an English word or two. Five days into the broadcast, radio jammers were heard attempting to block the frequency. The following day, the transmission shifted to a different frequency—7842 kHz.

Radio communication experts believe the broadcast is likely part of a Cold War–era system known as number stations.

The Return of the Numbers

Number stations are shortwave radio broadcasts that play strings of numbers or codes that sound random—like the one now heard in Iran. “It is an encrypted radio message used by foreign intelligence services, often as part of a complex operation by intelligence agencies and militaries,” says Maris Goldmanis, a Latvian historian and avid numbers stations researcher.

Number stations are most commonly associated with espionage. “For intelligence agencies, it is important to communicate with their spies to gather intelligence,” says John Sipher, a former US intelligence officer who served 28 years in the CIA’s National Clandestine Service. “This is not always possible in person due to political constraints or conflict. This is where number stations come in.”

While the use of number stations can be traced back to the First World War, they gained prominence during the US-Soviet Cold War. As espionage grew more sophisticated, governments used automated voice transmissions of coded numbers to communicate with agents, Goldmanis says. Citing declassified KGB and CIA documents, he adds that number stations were widely used during this period, often as Morse code transmissions and, in many cases, as two-way communications, with agents reporting back using their own shortwave transmitters.

“Nowadays, you have various satellite and encrypted communications technologies,” Sipher says. “But during the Cold War and even before that, governments had to find ways to do this without being noticed, and broadcasting coded messages was one way to communicate with your assets discreetly.”

The apparent randomness of the numbers means they can be understood only with a codebook, Sipher adds. “Nobody can make heads or tails of it or understand what it says unless you have the codebook that can give you hints to decrypt the code,” he says, noting that such systems must be set up and coordinated in advance.

A Signal Without a Sender

While the likely origin of the signal may now be clearer, its purpose and intended recipient remain unknown.

Because the broadcasts are encrypted and designed to be covert, those details may remain unclear for years, Goldmanis says. The structured nature of the transmission—its fixed schedule and consistent use of frequencies—further suggests it is part of a planned operation.

As the Trump administration phases out the use of animal experimentation across the federal government, a biotech startup has a bold idea for an alternative to animal testing: nonsentient “organ sacks.”

Bay Area-based R3 Bio has been quietly pitching the idea to investors and in industry publications as a way to replace lab animals without the ethical issues that come with living organisms. That’s because these structures would contain all of the typical organs—except a brain, rendering them unable to think or feel pain. The company’s long-term goal, cofounder Alice Gilman says, is to make human versions that could be used as a source of tissues and organs for people who need them.

For Immortal Dragons, a Singapore-based longevity fund that’s invested in R3, the idea of replacement is a core strategy for human longevity. “We think replacement is probably better than repair when it comes to treating diseases or regulating the aging process in the human body,” says CEO Boyang Wang. “If we can create a nonsentient, headless bodyoid for a human being, that will be a great source of organs.”

For now, R3 is aiming to make monkey organ sacks. “The benefit of using models that are more ethical and are exclusively organ systems would be that testing can be meaningfully more scalable,” Gilman says. (R3’s name comes from the philosophy in animal research known as the three R’s—replacement, reduction, and refinement—developed by British scientists William Russell and Rex Burch in 1959 to promote humane experimentation.)

New drugs are often tested in monkeys before they’re given to human participants in clinical trials. For instance, monkeys were critical during the Covid-19 pandemic for testing vaccines and therapeutics. But they’re also an expensive resource, and their numbers are dwindling in the US after China banned the export of nonhuman primates in 2020.

Animal rights activists have long pushed to end research on monkeys, and one of the seven federally funded primate research facilities across the country has signaled it would consider shutting down and transitioning into a sanctuary amid growing pressure. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also winding down monkey research, part of a bigger trend across the government to reduce reliance on animal testing.

As a result, Gilman says, there aren’t enough research monkeys left in the US to allow for necessary research if another pandemic threat emerges. Enter organ sacks.

Organ sacks would in theory offer advantages over existing organs-on-chips or tissue models, which lack the full complexity of whole organs, including blood vessels.

Gilman says it’s already possible to create mouse organ sacks that lack a brain, though she and cofounder John Schloendorn deny that R3 has made them. (For the record, Gilman doesn’t like the term “brainless” to describe the organ sacks. “It’s not missing anything, because we design it to only have the things we want,” she says.) Gilman and Schloendorn would not say how exactly they plan to create the monkey and human organ sacks, but said they are exploring a combination of stem-cell technology and gene editing.

It’s plausible that organ sacks could be grown from induced pluripotent stem cells, says Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell biologist at the University of California, Davis. These stem cells come from adult skin cells and are reprogrammed to an embryonic-like state. They have the potential to form into any cell or tissue in the body and have been used to create embryo-like structures that resemble the real thing. By editing these stem cells, scientists could disable genes needed for brain development. The resulting embryo could then be incubated until it grows into organized organ structures.

The first full moon of spring 2026 is on its way, and with it, an early Easter. April’s Pink Moon is scheduled for the first day of April, and while it’s not a lunar eclipse like the full moon in March, it should still light up the sky.

The best time to view the full moon is the evening of April 1. Per The Old Farmer’s Almanac, peak illumination occurs at 10:12 p.m. ET. That’s well after dark for much of the US, and since the moon is set to rise at around 8 p.m. local time in all time zones, most of the US should get a chance to see it at peak illumination. 

The only ones left out are those on the West Coast, where the moon won’t rise until around an hour after peak illumination. It doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme since the moon will still be completely full. If you miss the full moon due to inclement weather, the moon will still be mostly full in the two days leading up to and after April 1, so you’ll have plenty of chances to see at least a mostly full moon.

Happy Easter!

The Pink Moon doesn’t have any special characteristics like January’s supermoon or last June’s micromoon. (More of those will come later in 2026.) There is still some cultural significance for this year’s Pink Moon. In Christianity, the first full moon that takes place after the spring equinox determines the calendar dates for Easter. That particular full moon is known as the Paschal Moon.

Easter is always observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. That means the date for Easter this year is April 5. 

Since the holiday doesn’t have a fixed date like Christmas, it’s commonly referred to as the “movable feast” and can take place anywhere between March 22 and April 25. The dates are based on the fact that Christianity recognizes the spring equinox as March 21 every year, even though the astronomical date varies slightly, making March 22 the earliest day Easter can occur. The moon cycle is 29.5 days, and when you do the math, the latest you can go is April 25. The next time Earth is scheduled to have an Easter on April 25 is 2038.

The launch of Crimson Desert wasn’t smooth for everyone, especially Intel Arc GPU users. While the game was a AAA release that showed refreshing levels of polish, it didn’t support Intel Arc graphics at all.

If you looked for more details and stumbled upon the FAQ, Pearl Abyss simply told you to seek a refund.

And as expected, this didn’t go down so well with the gaming community. Now, the studio is changing course and has confirmed that Intel Arc support is officially in the works, marking a major shift in stance.

The backlash clearly worked

The controversy was picked up quickly after launch, with players calling out the lack of support. This was even more surprising since Intel was working with the studio during development, and reportedly even offered drivers and engineering help for Arc GPU support.

But following the immediate backlash, the developers issued an apology.

What went wrong in the first place?

At launch, Crimson Desert simply would not run on Intel Arc GPUs, throwing up an “unsupported hardware” error. It wasn’t a minor bug or performance issue; what was surprising was the complete lack of compatibility. This affected both discrete Arc cards and Intel’s integrated graphics.

The decision raised eyebrows almost immediately, considering how widely Intel iGPUs are used across laptops and PCs. The good news is that Pearl Abyss has now committed to fixing it. While it has confirmed active development for compatibility updates, performance optimization, and a “smooth and stable gameplay experience” on Arc GPUs, there’s still no clear timeline for when this support will actually roll out.

Andrew Jones doesn’t need a reintroduction, but he’s getting one anyway. After shaping some of the most important loudspeakers of the past three decades at KEF, Pioneer, ELAC, and now MoFi Electronics, where he still leads loudspeaker design—one of the industry’s most respected and technically grounded engineers is stepping out with something new. Jones and Cerreta, a Los Angeles based speaker company co-founded with Jamie and Bill Cerreta, marks the first time Andrew Jones has put his name on the door.

Set to debut in just 17 days at AXPONA 2026, the new brand signals more than another product launch. It’s a reset. Known for delivering reference level thinking at real world prices, Jones is now pairing that engineering discipline with a more design forward approach aimed at listeners who want both sonic credibility and visual impact. The debut loudspeaker is being positioned as a clear departure from his previous work, but the core philosophy remains intact: engineering decisions that serve the music first, not the spec sheet.

Who Is Behind Jones and Cerreta?

Jones and Cerreta brings together three partners with very different backgrounds across engineering, music, and technology, all focused on how music is created, reproduced, and experienced.

Andrew Jones – Lead Speaker Designer and Co Founder

Andrew Jones is one of the most experienced loudspeaker designers working today, with a career that spans KEF, Infinity, Pioneer, TAD, ELAC, and now MoFi Electronics, where he continues to lead loudspeaker design. He studied physics with a focus on acoustics and has worked extensively on crossover design and driver integration.

At KEF, he worked with concentric driver technology, and later at Pioneer helped establish TAD’s transition into the home audio market, including the development of a beryllium concentric driver. At ELAC, he played a key role in building out the company’s North American speaker lineup. Jones and Cerreta is the first company where his name is directly attached as a co founder.

Jamie Cerreta – Creative Strategy and Co Founder

Jamie Cerreta brings more than 25 years of experience in the music industry. He currently serves as President of Peermusic in the U.S. and Canada and has worked closely with artists, producers, and songwriters across a wide range of genres.

His experience includes working with artists such as Ray LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket, and Manchester Orchestra, as well as supporting the development of newer artists and writers. He also serves on the Executive Board of the National Music Publishers Association S.O.N.G.S. Foundation. His role focuses on how recorded music translates from the studio to the listener.

Bill Cerreta – CEO and Co Founder

Bill Cerreta is an electrical engineer with more than 30 years of experience in Silicon Valley, currently working at Pure Storage on data infrastructure technologies. He brings experience in product development, team leadership, and business operations.

He is also an active record collector and has spent years sourcing vinyl pressings internationally. In addition, he restores and builds vintage audio equipment, including tube gear and speakers. His role combines technical knowledge with operational oversight as the company launches its first products.

What Is Jones and Cerreta Bringing to AXPONA 2026?

Here’s what we actually know so far—and it’s just enough to raise eyebrows. The debut speaker is a floorstanding design with no model name and no announced pricing, although nobody should expect this to land anywhere near entry level.

The headline detail is the use of a concentric driver, which tracks with Andrew Jones’ long history at KEF and TAD—but this time it is paired with field coil, a technology rarely seen in modern loudspeakers due to cost, complexity, and power requirements. That combination alone suggests this is not a continuation of his ELAC or MoFi playbook.

Beyond that, details are scarce. No published specs, no confirmed materials, no crossover topology, and no official performance targets. Which means one thing: whatever shows up in Room 302 at AXPONA is likely doing something different enough that they’re not ready to fully spell it out yet.

What Is a Field Coil Driver?

Field coil drivers are an old idea that never fully went away—they just became too complicated and expensive for most modern loudspeakers. Instead of using a permanent magnet like almost every speaker today, a field coil driver uses an electromagnet powered by an external power supply to generate the magnetic field that drives the voice coil.

That difference matters. Because the magnetic field is actively generated, it can be stronger, more stable, and in some cases adjustable, which can improve control, dynamics, and overall efficiency. It’s one of the reasons field coil designs have a reputation for sounding exceptionally clean and immediate when done well.

The tradeoffs are real. Field coil systems require an external power supply, add complexity, generate heat, and significantly increase cost. That’s why they’re mostly found in ultra high end or boutique speakers, often from companies like Cessaro, Voxativ, Tune Audio, Line Magnetic, and Feastrex.

What makes this relevant now is that Andrew Jones is reportedly using a field coil concentric driver in a floorstanding speaker. That’s not how this technology is typically deployed. It’s usually seen in horn systems or single driver designs, not something that looks like it could scale into a broader product line.

In other words, the technology itself isn’t new. Where and how it’s being used this time might be.

Where and When to Hear Andrew Jones’ New Speaker at AXPONA 2026

Jones and Cerreta will make its public debut at AXPONA 2026, taking place April 10 to 12 in Chicago, Illinois, with demonstrations scheduled in Room 302 throughout the show. Attendees will be among the first to see and hear Andrew Jones’ latest loudspeaker design, which promises a fresh take that blends legacy ideas with new engineering approaches.

Andrew Jones will also host a Master Class on April 11 from 5:00 to 5:45 PM in Expo Hall, titled Reimagining the Dual Concentric Driver, offering insight into the thinking behind the new design and how it challenges traditional implementations.

We’ll be there for a first listen—and if history is any guide, this won’t be a quiet debut.

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For more information: https://jonesandcerreta.com

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The TeamPCP hacking group is targeting Kubernetes clusters with a malicious script that wipes all machines when it detects systems configured for Iran.

The threat actor is responsible for the recent supply-chain attack on the Trivy vulnerability scanner, and also an NPM-based campaign dubbed ‘CanisterWorm,’ which started on March 20.

Selective destruction payload

Researchers at application security company Aikido say that the campaign targeting Kubernetes clusters uses the same command-and-control (C2), backdoor code, and drop path as seen in the CanisterWorm incidents.

However, the new campaign differs in that it includes a destructive payload targeting Iranian systems and installs the CanisterWorm backdoor on nodes in other locales.

“The script uses the exact same ICP canister (tdtqy-oyaaa-aaaae-af2dq-cai[.]raw[.]icp0[.]io) we documented in the CanisterWorm campaign. Same C2, same backdoor code, same /tmp/pglog drop path,” Aikido says.

“The Kubernetes-native lateral movement via DaemonSets is consistent with TeamPCP’s known playbook, but this variant adds something we haven’t seen from them before: a geopolitically targeted destructive payload aimed specifically at Iranian systems.”

According to Aikido researchers, the malware is built to destroy any machine that matches Iran’s timezone and locale, regardless if Kuberenetes is present or not.

If both conditions are met, the script deploys a DaemonSet named ‘Host-provisioner-iran’ in ‘kube-system’, which uses privileged containers and mounts the host root filesystem into /mnt/host.

Each pod runs an Alpine container named ‘kamikaze’ that deletes all top-level directories on the host filesystem, and then forces a reboot on the host.

If Kubernetes is present but the system is identified as not Iranian, the malware deploys a DaemonSet named ‘host-provisioner-std’ using privileged containers with the host filesystem mounted.

Instead of wiping data, each pod writes a Python backdoor onto the host filesystem and installs it as a systemd service so it persists on every node.

On Iranian systems without Kubernetes, the malware deletes every file on the machine, including system data, accessible to the current user by running the rm -rf/ command with the –no-preserve-root flag. If root privileges are not available, it attempts passwordless sudo.

On systems where none of the conditions are met, no malicious action is taken, and the malware just exits.

Aikido reports that a recent version of the malware, which uses the same ICP canister backdoor, has omitted the Kubernetes-based lateral movement and instead uses SSH propagation, parsing authentication logs for valid credentials, and using stolen private keys.

The researchers highlighted some key indicators of this activity, including outbound SSH connections with ‘StrictHostKeyChecking+no’ from compromised hosts, outbound connections to the Docker API on port 2375 across the local subnet, and privileged Alpine containers via an unauthenticated Docker API with / mounted as a hostPath.

Malware is getting smarter. The Red Report 2026 reveals how new threats use math to detect sandboxes and hide in plain sight.

Download our analysis of 1.1 million malicious samples to uncover the top 10 techniques and see if your security stack is blinded.

Download The Report

Your car might just become the new smart home hub for your house. Samsung has expanded SmartThings integration, enabling drivers to control their smart home devices directly from their car’s infotainment system. It’s called Car-to-Home. 

Building on the earlier Home-to-Car capability that allowed users to monitor their cars from inside the house, the Car-to-Home feature flips the functionality so you can control your smart home appliances, such as air conditioners, lighting systems, and other smart switches, from your car’s dashboard. 

What can the Car-to-Home feature do?

The practical scope of the feature is broader than it might sound, as it is compatible with devices such as air conditioners, air purifiers, robot vacuums, lights, and cameras. Connecting is straightforward — drivers scan a QR code displayed on their car’s infotainment screen and link their vehicle to their SmartThings account. 

Apart from manual control (flipping the switches), the Car-to-Home feature unlocks location-aware automation that genuinely changes how your home responds to your day. You can set routines so that the SmartThings network turns on the required appliances as you park your car in the garage.

I can see people using the feature to pre-cool their rooms or run air purifiers before they arrive home after a tiring day at the office. On the contrary, the feature should also shut everything down (automatically), as you get in the car and leave the driveway. There’s a dedicated Away Mode for handling lights when you’re away. 

Who gets access, and when?

For now, the feature is available on select Hyundai and Kia cars, specifically those that feature the connected car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) introduced after November 2022 in Korea. However, both Samsung and Hyundai aim to expand the feature to their customers throughout the world in due course. 

Eligible models include the Grandeur, Santa Fe, Ioniq 5, K5, Sorento, and EV9. Samsung also plans to extend the feature to Genesis vehicles equipped with the ccIC27 infotainment system. 

As and when the feature becomes available to a wider audience, it could drive a behavioral shift in which cars become central nodes in someone’s smart home ecosystem, linking mobility and domestic technology in ways that were, until recently, purely speculative.