Tootfinder

Sources: DeepSeek is in talks to raise outside capital for the first time, seeking at least $300M at a valuation of at least $10B (The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/chinas-deepseek-raising-money-first-time-10-b…

China’s DeepSeek is Raising Money for First Time, At $10 Billion-Plus Valuation
DeepSeek is in talks to raise outside capital for the first time, seeking to beef up its financial war chest so it can better compete in the costly battle to develop leading AI models, according to four people familiar with the matter. DeepSeek is owned by Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer Capital ...

Logged forests burn more severely than old growth, Tasmanian study finds #Tasmania

Logged forests burn more severely than old growth, Tasmanian study finds
Tasmania's logged forests burn significantly more severely in a bushfire than old growth, University of Tasmania scientists have found in a study that provides the strongest evidence yet on a question with real consequences for how the state manages its forests. The research team, led by Professor David Bowman from the University of Tasmania's Fire Center, seized on a natural experiment when the 2019 Riveaux Road fire swept through the Huon Valley.

Vurt, a mobile-first vertical streaming platform designed for indie filmmakers to upload their micro series or feature films, launches with 100 episodes (Lauren Forristal/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/17/vurt-mobile-first-v…

Meet Vurt, the mobile-first streaming platform for indie filmmakers embracing vertical video | TechCrunch
Micro-drama apps make billions in consumer spending, so VURT launched its streaming app to allow indie filmmakers to capitalize on the vertical video trend.

"Urine From Music Festival Toilets is Fertilizing a New Biodiverse Forest With Odor-Free Nutrients'
#Festivals #Biodiversity

Urine From Music Festival Toilets is Fertilizing a New Biodiverse Forest With Odor-Free Nutrients
In a UK first, a new forest is set to be grown with fertilized nutrients recovered from urine collected at music festival toilets.

So.. folks interested in "local-first" software and apps, I could use your help!
I created a Wikipedia article about local-first software: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local-first_software
A few weeks ago I noticed there wasn't one, so I started doing some…

The government has largely won its first case bringing
🆘 "material-support-for-terrorism" charges against protesters
alleged to belong to “antifa,”
-- which Donald Trump designated as a domestic terror group in 2025
👉despite the fact that no such organized group exists
⚠️ and the president has no legal authority to designate organizations as domestic terror groups.
A federal jury in Fort Worth, Texas agreed on Friday
to convict eight people…

‘Serious threat to the First Amendment’ as Trump admin wins first antifa terror charge
“A case like this helps the government kind of see how far they can go in criminalizing constitutionally protected protest,” one legal advocate said.

Forests don’t just store carbon. They keep people alive, scientists say https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/forests-dont-just-store-carbon-they-keep-people-alive-scientists-say/

Forests don’t just store carbon. They keep people alive, scientists say
For decades, a dominant argument for protecting forests has focused on carbon. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, store it in wood and soils, and slow the accumulation of greenhouse gases. A new scientific review suggests this emphasis overlooks other ways forests shape climate and human well-being. Forests, it argues, are not only a mitigation tool for […]

Micron introduces the first mass-produced PCIe 6.0 SSDs, with read speeds up to 28GB/s, double that of PCIe 5.0 SSDs, optimized for AI/data center deployments (Aaron Klotz/Tom's Hardware)
https://www.

First PCIe 6.0 SSD enters mass production with 28GB/s speeds, 5.5 million IOPS, and liquid cooling — Micron 9650 Series SSDs support air and liquid cooling
Micron's new drive is so fast that it fully benefits from liquid cooling, but air cooling is still supported

Defensive rewilding could turn wetlands and forests into border barriers #nature

Defensive rewilding could turn wetlands and forests into border barriers
Restoring forests, wetlands and peatlands could help defend national borders as well as tackle climate change, according to new research from the University of East London (UEL). The study introduces the concept of "defensive rewilding"—the intentional, pre- or mid-conflict restoration of ecosystems to shape terrain in ways that can slow, redirect or impede military advances, while delivering environmental benefits.

Back-to-back Amazon droughts trigger record forest stress #Amazon

Back-to-back Amazon droughts trigger record forest stress
Two back-to-back droughts in 2023 and 2024 caused the most severe decline in forest moisture and biomass (the total mass of living vegetation such as leaves, trunks and branches) in the Amazon since 1992, according to a study published in the journal PNAS. And many of the hardest hit areas are unlikely to recover before the next major drought arrives.