The entry-level price for an Xbox now starts at 499.99€/£429.99.

Photo credit: Karissa Hosek / RM Sotheby’s
Claudio Zampolli spent years fixing other people’s dreams in Los Angeles before deciding to build his own. A former Lamborghini test driver and development engineer, he wanted something that would make the Countach look ordinary. He found a partner in Giorgio Moroder, the three-time Academy Award-winning composer behind some of the biggest disco and film scores of the era. Together they put their names on a car that carried both: the Cizeta-Moroder V16T. Chassis 001 is the only one that ever wore both names at once. In two weeks it heads to RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction with an estimate between $1.4 million and $1.8 million.

Marcello Gandini envisioned the Chizeta V16T’s body with the stunning, aggressive lines that had originally been given to Lamborghini as a Countach replacement. Chrysler, the business that owned Lamborghini at the time, was not entirely sold on them, preferring a gentler curve with more conventional styling. Gandini wasn’t impressed, so he handed along the rejected design to Zampolli instead. A striking quartet of pop-up headlights sit atop a nose that cuts straight up into a sharply curved windshield. The side intakes are larger and more severely flared than those on later production cars. In profile, this monster is massive: more than 80 inches wide, 3 inches wider than a modern Ferrari Testarossa, and only 43.5 inches tall to boot. Finished in a gorgeous pearl white and featuring a one-of-a-kind red leather interior, the impression is nevertheless confusing, as if you’ve stepped back into another age entirely.

LEGO Icons Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole Model Car Kit – Collectible Building Set for Adults…

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The power comes from the innovative 6.0-liter V16 engine, which is positioned transversely behind the seats, precisely like the Lamborghini Miura from two decades ago. There are no bolted-together V8s in this beauty, as it is a single, lightweight aluminum block with two flat-plane crankshafts gearing up to a central output shaft and eight overhead camshafts controlling 64 valves. Bosch K-Jetronic injection delivers fuel to the cylinders, and official estimates indicate 540 horsepower at an exhilarating 8,000 rpm and 400 lb-ft of torque all the way down to 6,000 rpm. Power is delivered to the rear wheels via a five-speed ZF manual gearbox. When it was new, the 0-60 mph time was roughly 4 seconds, and the top speed was just north of 200 mph, leaving you breathless. Then there’s the characteristic sound, a deep, rolling V8 “woofle” at idle that transforms into a screaming high-revving roar as the engine starts up.

Chassis 001 made its public debut on December 5, 1988, in Los Angeles, with Jay Leno presenting the event. Giorgio Moroder even composed an original piece of music for the occasion, which he appropriately titled “A Car Is Born”. Chassis 001 appeared at the 89 LA and Geneva auto shows before disappearing when Zampolli and Moroder parted ways, and the production cars were dubbed Cizeta V16Ts instead. In the end, just nine of these were produced. For more than 30 years, this prototype was Moroders’ constant friend.

Canepa Design gave this automobile a complete mechanical repair in 2018, adding extra heat shielding and doing quality control to get it functioning properly, then they completed even more cosmetic and technical work in 2024. This automobile has almost minimal mileage, less than 400 kilometers, as it has rarely been driven at all. It was previously displayed in the Wedge Shaped Concept Cars and Prototypes class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2024. It’s now for sale with a one-of-a-kind NFT and a fairly cool package, including a Giorgio Moroder EP on a four-track record designed specifically for the automobile, a 3D artistic portrayal, an extremely detailed 3D scan, and proper digitized documentation indicating where it came from.

Most of the original nine cars appear identical at first glance, but Chassis 001 stands out in every way that matters. The side intakes are larger, and the lights are different; the mirrors, dashboard, inside the tunnel, seats, and even the steering wheel are all distinctive. The cherry on top is that it’s the only one to have the particular nameplate in the front that tells the entire tale of how it was created.
[Source]

Researchers suspect that a vulnerability in COLDCARD hardware wallet firmware was exploited to steal an estimated $88.6 million in Bitcoin from thousands of wallets whose seeds were generated using a flawed random number generator.

Digital asset research firm Galaxy Research says it identified an initial wave of transactions that it believes was likely linked to the vulnerability, draining approximately 1,083 BTC, worth $70.2 million, from 1,196 addresses on July 30.

The 41-minute attack occurred approximately 30 hours before Coinkite publicly disclosed the flaw.

Every transaction used an identical hardcoded fee rate of 30 satoshis per virtual byte and left no change output, making Galaxy believe the attackers used an automated tool.

“Signature: every sweep paid an identical hardcoded 30.0 sat/vB — a 30-75x overpay vs the 0.4-1.0 sat/vB median that week — and left no change output, explained Galaxy.

“That looks like an automated tool spending keys it already held, not owners moving funds.”

On August 1, Galaxy Research identified a second and third wave, raising the estimated total to 1,367 Bitcoin, worth approximately $88.6 million, stolen from 4,585 addresses. The stolen Bitcoin remained in the attacker-controlled addresses at the time of its report.

Chainalysis found that the attacker prioritized high-value wallets, stealing approximately $30 million during the first ten minutes and taking $1.8 million from one victim.

The company said this suggested the attacker had identified and studied the affected wallets before beginning the thefts.

Flaw in COLDCARD RNG

Block’s Bitcoin Engineering and Security teams say that after seeing reports of Bitcoin being stolen from COLDCARD wallets, it worked with other researchers to analyze the device’s firmware and identify the underlying vulnerability.

Block says the researchers traced the issue to an integration error in COLDCARD’s random number generation (RNG) code and disclosed their findings to Coinkite on July 30.

“COLDCARD firmware contains an RNG integration error that causes ngu.random to use MicroPython’s deterministic Yasmarang fallback instead of the STM32 hardware RNG,” explains Block’s report.

COLDCARD includes a separate hardware random number generator, but an incorrect check in the firmware caused it to use a deterministic software generator instead.

The fallback generator relied on the device’s microcontroller identifier and system timing values, which Block says are not cryptographically secure sources of randomness and may be observable or reconstructable.

This allowed attackers to generate possible wallet seeds offline, determine their Bitcoin addresses, and compare them with addresses visible on the blockchain. A match would confirm the correct seed, allowing the attacker to generate the private keys needed to steal the funds.

A Coinkite advisory says affected seeds include those generated on Mk2 and Mk3 firmware versions 4.0.1 through 4.1.9, Mk4 and Mk5 devices before standard version 5.6.0 or Edge version 6.6.0X, and Q devices before standard version 1.5.0Q or Edge version 6.6.0QX.

New firmware that fixes the flaw is available as version 4.2.0 or later for Mk2 and Mk3, 5.6.0 or later for standard Mk4 and Mk5 devices, 1.5.0Q or later for standard Q devices, and version 6.6.0X or 6.6.0QX for the corresponding Edge releases.

However, it should be noted that updating the firmware does not repair a seed that was previously generated.

Affected users should verify their existing backup, install the fixed firmware, generate and securely record a new seed, verify the new wallet address on the device, send a small test transaction, and then move the remaining funds.

The old backup should be retained until the migration is complete and confirmed.

Coinkite says seeds supplemented with at least 50 fair, independent, and private dice rolls are not considered at risk from this flaw alone.

A strong, unique BIP-39 passphrase also makes it harder to exploit, but users should still migrate because it does not repair the underlying seed. 

Coinkit says that their TAPSIGNER, OPENDIME, and SATSCARD products are not affected because they use different codebases.

Coinkite says it also destroyed all COLDCARD devices that were awaiting shipment with the affected firmware.

Customers whose devices had already shipped were contacted by email with the security advisory and instructions for migrating their funds.

Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.

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from the so-you-say dept

This week, both our winners on the insightful side come in response to the protestor who is charged with destroying property for giving CBP agents the “duress mode” password to wipe his phone. In first place, it’s an anonymous comment extending our characterization of what the DOJ is doing here:

While simultaneously pushing to institute secret courts with secret evidence for immigration-related “terrorism.”

In second place, it’s That One Guy with a comment about the bigger problems with these border searches:

The mere existence of ‘you have no constititional rights’ zones is a legal abomination

I would like to think that the judge involved will see through the government’s farce of a case and realize that they and the legal system they represent are being weaponized against the citizenry here but far too many(read: more than zero) judges buy the ‘it’s not a fifth amendment violation to force people to unlock their devices despite the entire point of forcing someone to do that is to provide evidence to incriminate them’ argument so who knows?

For editor’s choice on the insightful side, we’ve got an anonymous comment about Trump’s cuts to national security staff:

Every US adversary is aware of this, of course

As a result, they know that — for the moment — all they need to do is sit on their hands. There’s no need to spend any money, incur any risk, or make any effort: all they have to do is nothing.

And wait. Chances are they won’t have to wait long: Trump is not only an absolute moron with rapidly advancing dementia, he’s impulsive and chaotic, and at some point he will do something well beyond merely stupid in Iran. And that will be the right moment to take action, i.e.., for China to seize Taiwan or Russia to deploy tactical nukes in Ukraine. The US will be unable to respond because there will be nobody left with the capability of grasping the situation and constructing an actionable plan.

Next, it’s Thad with a comment about the persuasive abilities of AI chatbots:

I remember reading a story about an in-development game show where children would listen to two people discussing a particular specialist subject and guess which one was a real subject matter expert and which was an actor.

The show never made it past development because it didn’t work: the children would consistently find the actors more believable than the real subject matter experts.

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The thing is, knowing stuff is an entirely different skillset than persuading people of stuff. And AI is very good at making statements that read, to human psychology, as confident and convincing. But it doesn’t know anything except statistical probabilities and repeating patterns within its training data.

Over on the funny side, both winning comments are again about the CBP duress mode story, and the first place winner is another anonymous response:

“What are you in for?”

“I killed eight people. You?”

“I got a TSA agent to wipe my phone.”

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“Shit, they’ll put anyone in here now, huh?”

In second place, it’s Thad again, this time with a suggestion for everyone thinking about installing GrapheneOS:

And set the duress passcode to “1-9-8-4”

For editor’s choice on the funny side, we’ve got a pair of comments about the bizarre news that RFK Jr. is going to host a cooking show. First, it’s Bloof pointing out what a great on-air personality he’ll be:

With his soothing Krang from TMNT voice, the man is a natural host of Podcasts and television shows. I’m sure Bari Weiss had him on the shortlist of hosts for 60 minutes too, but he was so in demand because of his velvet voice, she had to settle for the young, handsome, charismatic Ross Douchehat.

Finally, it’s one more anonymous commenter with a pitch for the show:

101 Ways To Get The Tire Tracks Out Of Your Raccoon Ragú.

That’s all for this week, folks!

• Russia patented a carrier drone capable of deploying six tethered reconnaissance copters
• One airborne platform controls multiple surveillance drones through physical cable connections simultaneously
• Each tethered copter receives power and commands directly from the carrier aircraft

A newly-patented Russian drone design turns a single aircraft into a mobile hub for up to six smaller spy copters.

Engineers at the Novosibirsk Higher Military Command School, known as NVVKU, filed the patent through Russia’s Ministry of Defence.

Today’s Wordle answer is a common word, but the letters are a bit tough to place. Read on for hints and the answer.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel, and one sometimes vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with R.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with Y.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer means to answer or respond.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is REPLY.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, No. 1,870 for Aug. 2, was PENAL.

Recent Wordle answers

July 29, No. 1,866: VALVE

July 30, No. 1,867: FLUME

July 31, No. 1,868: PURSE

Aug. 1, No. 1,869: SLUSH

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CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.

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• The Pentagon admits American drone production still trails Ukraine by millions annually
• Ukraine’s combat software will support Pentagon artificial intelligence development through new partnerships
• Ukraine’s battlefield-tested technology has supported more than 100,000 combat missions since 2024

The United States has confirmed plans to draw on Ukraine’s battlefield experience with military drones to close a significant production gap.

Reuters reports that the Pentagon acknowledges its own drone output remains a fraction of Ukraine’s current production levels each year.

To test these new ideas, researchers are exploring the infant universe through simulations. “There’s actually been really remarkable progress since Webb launched, really in the last year or so, on numerical simulations,” Somerville told attendees, adding that these new simulations “perhaps are more appropriate and more informative for interpreting observations in the high-redshift universe.”

As these models improve, JWST is documenting more and more galaxies. By comparing what it sees in the early universe to simulations that attempt to explain why, researchers are inching closer to uncovering the true nature of cosmic dawn.

“We can try to match the best analogue of the observed galaxy to the simulated,” said Hakim Atek, an astrophysicist with the Paris Institute of Astrophysics at Sorbonne University. “Once you have this best match, you can look at the star-formation history, because in the simulations you have access to the whole history of the galaxy.”

An intriguing clue has recently emerged from JWST’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), a supercooled device that can split apart the light of distant objects. MIRI has revealed that early galaxies do not have the same traits, as scientists assumed.

“The main surprise is the diversity of the properties of galaxies we are seeing at early epochs,” Atek said. “You’re expecting that they would look the same.”

This diversity may be an indication of star formation that occurred in bursts, as galaxies cycled through periods of fusing stars that exploded and expelled gas clouds, halting the creation of stars, only for the gas to gather again and trigger a new wave of stellar birth.

“Some of them, it looks like they cleared all the interstellar medium that is present there, the gas and the dust. It’s like you’re looking only at naked stars,” Atek said. “Another galaxy is the opposite. It has a lot of gas.”

A further clue comes from a group of galaxies with an overabundance of nitrogen. The presence of the element suggests that there may have been a lot of particularly massive stars in the early universe. In simulations, these massive stars generate an excess of nitrogen before exploding in supernovas and scattering the element across their host galaxies.

Someday, researchers may uncover the full picture of galactic formation. Until then, they’ll continue sifting through the traces in new observations and simulations.

The Puzzle of Existence

Once the astral lights switched on, the universe transformed. Radiation from early galaxies and black holes ionized a sea of neutral hydrogen gas, carving out immense bubbles amid the cosmic haze. Researchers call this period reionization, as it was the second time the universe was ionized. It marks the end of the cosmic dark age, when the foggy abyss was devoid of stars.

The first stars, thought to be hundreds or thousands of times more massive than the sun, furiously worked their way through their hydrogen and helium fuel and erupted in powerful supernovas, seeding the universe with new elements such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and iron—the stuff of planets and of life.