Ancient Trade Symbols on Cylinder Seals: Key to Proto-Cuneiform and the Roots of Writing

Researchers studying the roots of writing have highlighted the role of ancient trade symbols found on cylinder seals in Mesopotamia as key influencers of early script development. A recent study by Kathryn Kelley and Mattia Cartolano from the University of Bologna suggests that engravings on these cylindrical seals, used for marking clay in trade exchanges, may have evolved into signs used in the earliest form of writing, known as proto-cuneiform. Dating to around 4400 B.C., these seals show motifs linked to the movement of goods like textiles and jars, indicating a trade-based origin for written symbols.

From Trade Marks to Proto-Cuneiform

The study notes that cylinder seals, rolled across clay tablets, left impressions that likely authenticated transactions, laying the groundwork for a system of recording information. The seals examined include symbols predating formal writing by more than a millennium. These motifs—such as those depicting structures or vessels—likely became foundational signs in proto-cuneiform, used in early Mesopotamian cities like Uruk around 3100 B.C. These seals may thus represent a bridge between symbolic trade records and the more formalised proto-cuneiform, marking a significant cognitive shift from imagery to systematic writing.

Link to Sumerian Cuneiform Script

Developed by the Sumerians, cuneiform script is widely regarded as the world's first known writing system. Created with a stylus that imprinted wedge shapes into clay, this system evolved to record spoken language. Later adopted by the Akkadians and maintained for nearly two millennia, cuneiform was used extensively across Mesopotamian empires, from the Babylonians to the Assyrians, creating a lasting legacy.

Diverse Academic Perspectives on Symbolic Origins

The study's findings have garnered support and scepticism. Holly Pittman from the University of Pennsylvania noted that similar ideas she proposed in the past were dismissed but have now gained validation through this research. Anthropologist Gordon Whittaker from the University of Göttingen remains cautious, pointing out that the association between seal motifs and writing symbols may lack clear causality.

The researchers hope that their findings will further help in decoding of proto-cuneiform and deepen understanding of the transition from trade symbols to structured script—a milestone in the development of human communication.

 

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Amaran OTT Release Date: When and Where to Watch it Online?

The Tamil war drama Amaran recently is set to premiere on Netflix later in the month of November. The movie, which showed some strong promise at the box office, will soon be available on the popular OTT platform. Reports indicate that the streaming giant acquired the film's digital rights for the war-drama movie. Following its theatrical success, Amaran will arrive on OTT in late November, providing wider access for audiences who missed its initial release.

As per a report by Filmibeat, the movie might be releasing on the popular OTT platform Netflix in third or fourth week of November. The report highlights that the OTT rights were sold to the popular streaming platform for Rs. 60 crore. That said, there is no official confirmation about the OTT release of Amaran, so you might have to wait a bit longer to know the final release date. 

Official Trailer and Plot of Amaran

The plot of Amaran centres around the courageous actions of Major Mukund Varadarajan, a decorated officer of the Indian Army's Rajput Regiment, who was awarded the Ashok Chakra posthumously. The narrative unfolds against the backdrop of his final mission, a counterterrorism operation in Jammu and Kashmir with the 44th Rashtriya Rifles. The trailer, launched before the film's theatrical debut, offers a glimpse into the film's intense battle sequences and emotional depth. Audiences can expect a high-stakes story that highlights real-life bravery and sacrifice.

Cast and Crew of Amaran

Directed by Rajkumar Periyasamy, Amaran stars Sivakarthikeyan as Major Mukund Varadarajan, alongside Sai Pallavi in a prominent role. G.V. Prakash Kumar's musical compositions add to the film's atmosphere, while Sony Pictures International Productions and Raajkamal Films International serve as the production powerhouses behind the film. Legendary actor Kamal Haasan is among the film's producers, along with R. Mahendran and co-producer Vakil Khan, whose collective backing has amplified the movie's reach.

Reception of Amaran

Amaran has witnessed a promising start at the Tamil Nadu box office, with early figures suggesting it could reach Rs 125 crore in regional earnings alone, potentially surpassing Rs 150 crore globally. The film has reportedly garnered strong reviews, with audiences particularly praising its performances and the compelling depiction of military courage. This encouraging reception suggests a positive trajectory as Amaran heads towards its digital release on Netflix, where it aims to expand its viewership further.

 

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Series Cases Leak, Hinting Towards Design Tweaks on Ultra Model

Samsung Galaxy S25 series is expected to make its debut early next year. Rumour mills hint towards major changes coming to Samsung's flagship smartphone lineup in terms of hardware. The latest leak comes courtesy of a tipster who has shared images of the alleged cases of the Galaxy S25 series. The images suggest a shift in the design strategy of the purported top-of-the-line Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra compared to the existing model.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Series Cases Leak

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), reliable tipster Roland Quandt shared multiple images of alleged Galaxy S25 series cases. The snapshots suggest that the standard Galaxy S25 and the Galaxy S25 Plus may have similar design elements as the current models, including the placement of power and volume buttons on the right side.

S25, S25+, S25U silicon covers (third party) pic.twitter.com/V9yajt8aFX

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) November 4, 2024

However, that does not appear to be the case with the purported Galaxy S25 Ultra. The images suggest it might come with rounded corners, moving away from the boxy design that has become synonymous with Samsung's Ultra models in the last few years. This development corroborates previous dummy unit leaks which hinted at the implementation of rounded corners on Samsung's flagship non-foldable smartphone.

All three smartphones in the purported S25 series seem to have a hole-punch cutout for the front camera and a vertically stacked rear camera module. As always, the Galaxy S25 Ultra's case appears to have more space for the extra cameras.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Specifications (Expected)

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is reported to sport a 6.86-inch AMOLED screen with thinner bezels than its predecessor. The purported handset may be equipped with a 200-megapixel primary camera, a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto camera, a 50-megapixel 5x telephoto camera, and an upgraded 50-megapixel ultrawide camera. It is expected to be powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset with support for up to 16GB of RAM. The phone could pack a 5,000mAh battery with support for 45W charging.

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Find Balance Between Convenience, Security: Binance CTO Rohit Wad to Web3 App Makers

Rohit Wad, a computer science engineer from India's second tier city of Bhilai presently leads the technology initiatives at Binance, touted as the largest crypto exchange in the world. In conversation with Gadgets360 last week, Wad emphasised that for Web3 adoption to grow, developers must strike the right balance between convenience and security to ease user hesitations about exploring the space. Previously a Corporate VP at Microsoft, Wad took on the role of Binance's CTO in April 2022.

Wad was present at Binance Blockchain Week, that was recently held in Dubai to unite the crypto community. As the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Binance, the IIT Bombay alumnus is tasked with spearheading the development of scalable Web3 service offerings to serve the exchange's global user base, which exceeds 237 million registered users.

Speaking to Gadgets360, Wad shared that his vision for Binance focuses on combining the user-friendly features of familiar apps and interfaces with enhanced security measures. This approach aims to support users as they navigate the complexities of volatile cryptocurrencies in upcoming services.

“Many people on their phone with the banking app enable face recognition, right? This lets the app unlock very quickly, making face scanning convenient. But it's also insecure. The big thing that we are trying to figure out is how we can drive comfort and security into the crypto community through our services,” Wad said, advising other Web3 app makers also to concentrate on merging these two requirements in their services.

In a recent development, Binance onboarded Amazon Web Services (AWS) to access its suite of offerings to finetune the experience of Binance users with the AI-based products the exchange offers. As part of this partnership, the exchange will use the Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) to fuel its AI efforts for ‘intuitive customer service' experience.

It is however, noteworthy, that cyber criminals have been able to breach the AWS systems in the past. Back in 2022, hackers were reportedly able to violate Amazon cloud storage buckets, firewall misconfigurations, and vulnerabilities in AWS server configurations linked to Pegasus Airlines. At the time, over 6.5 TB of sensitive data had come under risk including social security numbers, credit card information, email addresses, phone numbers of over 600,000 Pegasus flyers.

However, Binance is placing its bets on AWS to power its internal automated system diagnostics and polish its user onboarding process.

Wad pointed out that Binance currently deploys multi-factor authorisation – another suggestion he extended to emerging Web3 developers – to prevent unauthorised access to its user funds and ensuring safety. He further explained how even if somebody was to use AI to initiate a breach they could be identified.

“We kind of know what your patterns were before, so, if your new patterns (the hackers' patterns) are very different from your previous patterns, we can flag this. We have enhanced checks that go in and that might stop or block your account. You can just say, okay, this account cannot do any withdrawals anymore, until you authenticate with the customer service staff. That's something that we can do completely on our end, yeah, and the two-factor authorisation is something that we are training or educating our users to do,” Wad said.

Amid growing number of hacks on Web-connected hot wallets – discussions around the need for more hardware wallet solutions had picked pace around the world. Wad said that Binance, as of now, does not have a hardware wallet service in the works. The exchange had launched a cold storage solution for institutional investors in January last year.

The exchange is also not working with third-party custody solutions because they believe that “our wallets and our multi signature systems are probably the best in the world, and so we don't work with someone else”, Wad stated.

Discussing the current challenges surrounding on-chain transfers at Binance, Wad emphasised the urgent need to improve transaction speeds. He explained that, at present, customers seeking faster transactions must pay hefty gas fees, resulting in excessive costs. Wad highlighted that finding a comprehensive solution to this issue is a key area of focus for Binance.

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Upcoming Electric Scooters in India: Honda Activa EV, TVS Jupiter EV, and More

The electric two-wheelers segment is gaining quite a lot of traction this year. We have seen multiple brands launching their EV scooters in the country at different price points. That said, major bike makers are also eyeing this segment. We have brands like Honda, TVS, and Suzuki, reportedly working on EV vehicles that might launch in the first half of 2025. And with the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025 right around the corner, one might expected announcements of multiple electric scooters for the Indian market. That said, in this article, we will focusing majorly on three electric two-wheelers, which are also one of the most anticipated launches in the upcoming months. So, without further ado, let's begin. 

Honda Activa EV 

Honda Motors is reportedly working to launch its first electric scooter for the Indian market in March 2025.

Specifications

Honda Activa EV could share similarities with Activa 110. The two-wheeler might sport two Honda Mobile Power Packs, which could be detachable and swappable. The scooter might also come loaded with an on-board fully digital touchscreen instrumental console, keyless start and stop feature. It is expected to have a range of 100+ km when fully charged.

Expected Price in India

The upcoming EV is expected to be priced somewhere around Rs 1 Lakh (ex-showroom). The scooter could be a direct competitor of Ola S1, TVS iQube and Ather 450. Honda Activa EV is expected to make its global debut at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo in January in New Delhi next year.

TVS Jupiter EV 

TVS is also reported to launch two eletric vehicles in India in the next six months. As per multiple reports, the brand might launch one electric vehicle for B2B market and another could be an electric version of its popular scooter, TVS Jupiter. 

Specifications

The Jupiter EV is anticipated to be a mass-market product which will be targeted to everyday commuters. The two-wheeler is expected to have a range of 70-80 km on a single charge.

Expected Price in India 

The scooter is expected to be priced below the Rs 1 Lakh mark (ex-showroom).

Suzuki Burgman EV 

As per Gaadiwaadi, the Japanese automobile maker's first electric scooter could be none other than the Burgman EV. The scooter is expected to enter production in December 2024. Suzuki has also reportedly set a annual sales target of 25,000 units for Burgman EV.

Specifications

The two-wheeler is expected to get a fixed battery pack rather than the detachable battery which was claimed earlier in spy images. Not much is revealed about the two-wheeler at the moment.

Expected Price in India

Codenamed as XF091, the scooter is expected to make its debut at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025 in January next year. Nothing is revealed about the price of the vehicle.

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iOS 18.2 Update for iPhone With Image Playground, ChatGPT Integration to Release Earlier Than Expected: Report

Apple introduced the iOS 18.1 update last week that brought Apple Intelligence, the company's suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features, to iPhone and other devices. Now, a report suggests that the next batch of Apple Intelligence features, including ChatGPT integration in Siri and a new Image Playground app, will arrive with the iOS 18.2 update for iPhone earlier than expected. The release timeline of other iOS 18 updates, along with the improvements they might carry, has also been suggested.

iOS 18.2 Update Release Timeline

Apple has previously confirmed that the iOS 18.2 update with more Apple Intelligence features would be released in December. Release trends of similar past updates suggest it could take place in the second week of the month. However in his Power on newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claimed that iOS 18.2's release could take place earlier than scheduled. It could be rolled out in the week of December 2.

This update is reported to introduce Apple Intelligence in more English locales than just English American.

Furthermore, Gurman suggested that the “next major update to Apple Intelligence” will arrive with the iOS 18.4 update. This is reportedly scheduled to launch sometime in April 2025 and will bring improvements to Siri, including being able to access the user data and alter its query responses based on it.

iOS 18.2 Update Features (Expected)

Apple's iOS 18.2 update is expected to introduce several key Apple Intelligence features. This includes a new Image Playground app, which leverages generative AI to create images based on text-based prompts. It also bundles Genmoji which does the same for emojis instead of images. Users can share these images and emojis in apps like Messages, Notes, and Keynote. Furthermore, it also includes an Image Wand feature which can transform a rough sketch into an image using descriptive prompts.

Apple has also brought ChatGPT integration to Siri with its latest update. Its voice assistant can now take advantage of the capabilities of OpenAI's AI chatbot to provide users with more in-depth responses to queries. They can now ask for ChatGPT via Siri directly to get improved answers. With iOS 18.2, ChatGPT also becomes a part of Writing Tools. The feature requires optional sign-in, and iPhone users with a paid ChatGPT account can use their account for access to more powerful OpenAI models.

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Study Claims Black Holes Could be Driving Universe's Expansion

Astronomers are investigating a controversial idea that black holes might be linked to the universe's accelerated expansion, driven by dark energy. Dark energy, a mysterious force that forms about 70 percent of the universe, has long been assumed to spread evenly across space, pushing galaxies apart since shortly after the Big Bang. A study published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics tilts towards a connection between dark energy and black holes. This work has sparked debates within the scientific community, presenting evidence that black holes, formed by massive star collapses, might contribute to dark energy as they grow.

Evidence Points to a Potential Dark Energy-Black Hole Link

As per the research, the team used the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) on the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope in Arizona. The team reportedly analysed the data to estimate the amount of dark energy through the universe's lifespan. Their findings suggest a parallel increase in dark energy density with black hole mass over time. Dr. Gregory Tarlé, a physics professor at the University of Michigan and co-author of the study, posits that gravity in black holes might mirror the universe's early gravitational conditions. Tarlé describes the process as a “reverse inflation,” where a massive star's collapse could generate dark energy, acting like a reversed Big Bang.

A Solution to Cosmology's ‘Hubble Tension'?

If validated, this hypothesis could also address an ongoing mystery in cosmology called the “Hubble tension” — the observation that different parts of the universe expand at different speeds, creating inconsistencies in current models. The concept implies that black holes could influence these discrepancies. Dr. Duncan Farrah, associate professor of physics at the University of Hawaii and co-author, noted that the findings point to a “plausible” link, suggesting that black holes might indeed

influence dark energy levels in the universe.

While the study offers promising leads, the team stresses that additional research with instruments like DESI will be essential to confirm these initial observations. Tarlé explained that whether black holes contribute to dark energy is now “an experimental question,” marking a new chapter in our understanding of black holes and the forces shaping the cosmos.

 

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