Before the modern Internet existed, there were still plenty of ways of connecting with other computer users “online”, although many of them might seem completely foreign to those of us in the modern era. One of those systems was the Bulletin Board System, or BBS, which would have been a single computer, often in someone’s home, connected to a single phone line. People accessing the BBS would log in if the line wasn’t busy, leave messages, and quickly log out since the system could only support one user at a time. While perhaps a rose-tinted view, this was a more wholesome and less angsty time than the modern algorithm-driven Internet, and it turns out these systems are making a bit of a comeback as a result.

The video by [The Retro Shack] sets up a lot of this history for context, then, towards the end, uses a modern FPGA-based recreation called the Commodore 64 Ultimate to access a BBS called The Old Net, a modern recreation of what these 80s-era BBS systems were like. This involves using a modern networking card that allows the C64 to connect to Wi-Fi access points to get online instead of an old phone modem, and then using a terminal program called CCGMS to connect to the BBS itself. Once there, users can access mail, share files, and even play a few games.

While the video is a very basic illustration of how these BBS systems worked and how to access one, it is notable in that it’s part of a trend of rejecting more modern technology and systems in favor of older ones, where the users had more control. A retro machine like a C64 or Atari is not required either; modern operating systems can access these with the right terminal program, too. A more in-depth guide to the BBS can be found here for those looking to explore, and we’ve also seen other modern BBS systems recently.

Thanks to [Charlie] for the tip!

An anonymous reader shared this article from the blog Linuxiac In a blog post, Alan Pope, a longtime Ubuntu community figure and former Canonical employee who remains an active Snap publisher... [warns of] a persistent campaign of malicious snaps impersonating cryptocurrency wallet applications. These fake apps typically mimic well-known projects such as Exodus, Ledger Live, or Trust Wallet, prompting users to enter wallet recovery phrases, which are then transmitted to attackers, resulting in drained funds. The perpetrators had originally used similar-looking characters from other alphabets to mimic other app listings, then began uploading "revisions" to other innocuous-seeming (approved) apps that would transform their original listing into that of a fake crypto wallet app. But now they're re-registering expired domains to take over existing Snap Store accounts, which Pope calls "a significant escalation..." I worked for Canonical between 2011 and 2021 as an Engineering Manager, Community Manager, and Developer Advocate. I was a strong advocate for snap packages and the Snap Store. While I left the company nearly five years ago, I still maintain nearly 50 packages in the Snap Store, with thousands of users... Personally, I want the Snap Store to be successful, and for users to be confident that the packages they install are trustworthy and safe. Currently, that confidence isn't warranted, which is a problem for desktop Linux users who install snap packages. I report every bad snap I encounter, and I know other security professionals do the same — even though doing so results in no action for days sometimes... To be clear: none of this should be seen as an attack on the Snap Store, Canonical, or the engineers working on these problems. I'm raising awareness of an issue that exists, because I want it fixed... But pretending there isn't a problem helps nobody.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

BMW’s electric M3 will feature authentic audio built from real M-engine recordings, offering selectable sound profiles and simulated gear shifts to preserve the signature M driving experience.

The post Your future BMW electric M3 will still sound like a real M car appeared first on Digital Trends.

Sherwood News:
Domain Name Stat: the number of .ai domains has surpassed 1M; data suggests Anguilla, the UK territory managing the domain, made ~$70M in fees in the past year  —  Data from Domain Name Stat reveals that the top-level domain originally assigned to the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla passed the milestone in early January.

Manish Singh / India Dispatch:
HSBC: JioHotstar had 300M paying subscribers in India in 2025, compared with 65M for Amazon Prime Video and 20M for Netflix; ~24% of OTT users pay for content  —  And more than $900 million in annual revenue in India.  —  Amazon Prime Video has more than three times the subscribers as Netflix in India, according to HSBC.

Robots don’t have to be large and imposing to be impressive. As this tiny quadruped from [Dorian Todd] demonstrates, some simple electronics and a few servos can create something altogether charming on their own.

This little fellow is named Sesame. A quadruped robot, it’s built out of 3D-printed components. Each leg features a pair of MG90S hobby servos, one of which rotates the leg around the vertical axis, while the other moves the foot. The ESP32 microcontroller controls all eight servos, enabling remote control of Sesame via its built-in wireless connectivity. Sesame also gets a 128×64 OLED display, which it uses to display a range of emotions.

Mechanically, the Sesame design isn’t particularly sophisticated. Where it shines is that even with such a limited range of motion, between its four legs and its little screen, this robot can display a great deal of emotion. [Dorian] shows this off in the project video, in which Sesame scampers around a desktop with all the joy and verve of a new puppy. It’s also very cheap; [Dorian] estimates you can build your own Sesame for about $60. Files are on GitHub for the curious.

If you prefer your quadrupeds built for performance over charm, you might consider an alternative build. Video after the break.

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 25, No. 489.

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 25.

Ross Andersen / The Atlantic:
Analysis: scientists who appeared to use LLMs posted 33% more papers on arXiv than those who didn't, as concerns grow over AI slop in scientific publishing  —  Peer review has met its match.  —  On a frigid Norwegian afternoon earlier this month, Dan Quintana, a psychology professor …

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

Hurdle Word 1 hint

A rock.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

FLINT

Hurdle Word 2 hint

A famous R&B singer.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

USHER

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Done to fruits and vegetables.

Hurdle Word 3 answer

PRUNE

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Typically sat on.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

CHAIR

Final Hurdle hint

To crouch down.

Hurdle Word 5 answer

KNEEL

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

An anonymous reader shared this report from the Guardian: Google's search feature AI Overviews cites YouTube more than any medical website when answering queries about health conditions, according to research that raises fresh questions about a tool seen by 2 billion people each month. The company has said its AI summaries, which appear at the top of search results and use generative AI to answer questions from users, are "reliable" and cite reputable medical sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Mayo Clinic. However, a study that analysed responses to more than 50,000 health queries, captured using Google searches from Berlin, found the top cited source was YouTube. The video-sharing platform is the world's second most visited website, after Google itself, and is owned by Google. Researchers at SE Ranking, a search engine optimisation platform, found YouTube made up 4.43% of all AI Overview citations. No hospital network, government health portal, medical association or academic institution came close to that number, they said. "This matters because YouTube is not a medical publisher," the researchers wrote. "It is a general-purpose video platform...." In one case that experts said was "dangerous" and "alarming", Google provided bogus information about crucial liver function tests that could have left people with serious liver disease wrongly thinking they were healthy. The company later removed AI Overviews for some but not all medical searches... Hannah van Kolfschooten, a researcher specialising in AI, health and law at the University of Basel who was not involved with the research, said: "This study provides empirical evidence that the risks posed by AI Overviews for health are structural, not anecdotal. It becomes difficult for Google to argue that misleading or harmful health outputs are rare cases. "Instead, the findings show that these risks are embedded in the way AI Overviews are designed. In particular, the heavy reliance on YouTube rather than on public health authorities or medical institutions suggests that visibility and popularity, rather than medical reliability, is the central driver for health knowledge."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Federico Viticci / MacStories:
A look at Clawdbot, an open-source personal AI agent that runs locally on the user's computer and integrates with multiple LLMs and messaging services  —  For the past week or so, I've been working with a digital assistant that knows my name, my preferences for my morning routine …

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, the Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move onto the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity for how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible – and common – for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

Easy difficulty hints, answers for Jan. 25 Pips

Number (6): Everything in this red space must add up to 6. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 0-2, placed vertically.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 1-3, placed vertically; 3-3, placed vertically.

Number (6): Everything in this red space must add up to 6. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Jan. 25 Pips

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this purple space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally; 3-3, placed vertically.

Number (6): Everything in this light blue space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-3, placed vertically; 3-2, placed vertically.

Number (6): Everything in this orange space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-2, placed vertically; 4-0, placed vertically.

Number (6): Everything in this dark blue space must add up to 6. The answer is 5-1, placed horizontally.

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally; 4-0, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Jan. 25 Pips

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-3, placed vertically; 5-5, placed horizontally; 5-6, placed horizontally; 5-4, placed horizontally.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 3-4, placed vertically; 3-3, placed horizontally; 3-5, placed vertically.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 5-6, placed horizontally; 6-6, placed vertically.

---

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-4, placed vertically; 3-3, placed horizontally; 3-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 1-1, placed horizontally; 1-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally; 1-0, placed horizontally; 0-0, placed vertically.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you remember your childhood games.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Sad

• Green: Ocho sports

• Blue: Hockey stars

• Purple: Stars

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Disappointment

• Green: Sports, With "-Ing"

• Blue: Hall of Fame NHL Defensemen

• Purple: ___Star(s)

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #489 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Disappointment - BUST, DUD, FAILURE, FLOP

• Sports, With "-Ing" - BOWL, BOX, CURL, SURF

• Hall of Fame NHL Defensemen - BOURQUE, COFFEY, LEETCH, ORR

• ___Star(s) - ALL, CHICAGO, DALLAS, SUPER

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you love Italian food.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: A replacement

• Green: Computer buttons

• Blue: Noodles

• Purple: Word endings

Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Act as a backup

• Green: PC keyboard keys

• Blue: Pasta shapes

• Purple: Suffixes

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #959 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Act as a backup: COVER, FILL IN, SUB, TEMP

• PC keyboard keys: ALT, ENTER, MENU, WINDOWS

• Pasta shapes: BOWTIE, RIBBON, SHELL, TUBE

• Suffixes: ATE, DOM, HOOD, SHIP

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're always on the right track.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: The straight and narrow

The words are related to stiffness.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe solid, straight things.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Sticky Situation.

NYT Strands word list for January 25

• Sticky Situation

• Dowel

• Pole

• Picket

• Stake

• Cane

• Post

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're a model.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A confident walk.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter T appears twice.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter S.

The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

STRUT

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

It’s almost a new lunar phase, with the Moon one night away from the First Quarter. This means that just under half of the Moon is illuminated tonight.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Sunday, Jan. 25, the Moon phase is Waxing Crescent. According to NASA's Daily Moon Guide, 43% of the Moon will be lit up tonight.

There's plenty to see tonight, even with just your naked eye, including the Crisum, Serenitatis and Fecunditatis mares. If you have binoculars you'll also be able to catch a glimpse of the Endymion Crater and the Posidonius Crater. And finally, if you have a telescope, you can also see the Apollo 16 and 17 landing spots and the Rupes Altai.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon will be on Feb. 1. The last full moon was on Jan. 3.

What are Moon phases?

NASA tells us the lunar cycle lasts about 29.5 days, which is how long the Moon takes to travel once around Earth. Over that period, it passes through eight recognised phases. While the same side of the Moon always faces our planet, the portion that appears lit changes as the Moon moves along its orbit. The varying amount of sunlight reaching the Moon is what makes it appear full, partially illuminated, or almost invisible at different points in the cycle. The eight lunar phases are:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

Reuters:
EquipmentShare, which runs a jobsite tech and equipment rental platform for the construction industry, raised $747.3M in its IPO, valuing the company at $7.16B  —  EquipmentShare.com shares rose 16.3% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday, valuing the construction rental firm at $7.16 billion …

For certain high-security devices, such as card readers, ATMs, and hardware security modules, normal physical security isn’t enough – they need to wipe out their sensitive data if someone starts drilling through the case. Such devices, therefore, often integrate circuit meshes into their cases and regularly monitor them for changes that could indicate damage. To improve the sensitivity and accuracy of such countermeasures, [Jan Sebastian Götte] and [Björn Scheuermann] recently designed a time-domain reflectometer to monitor meshes (pre-print paper).

Many meshes are made from flexible circuit boards with winding traces built into the case, so cutting or drilling into the case breaks a trace. The problem is that most common ways to detect broken traces, such as by resistance or capacitance measurements, aren’t easy to implement with both high sensitivity and low error rates. Instead, this system uses time-domain reflectometry: it sends a sharp pulse into the mesh, then times the returning echoes to create a mesh fingerprint. When the circuit is damaged, it creates an additional echo, which is detected by classifier software. If enough subsequent measurements find a significant fingerprint change, it triggers a data wipe.

The most novel aspect of this design is its affordability. An STM32G4-series microcontroller manages the timing, pulse generation, and measurement, thanks to its two fast ADCs and a high-resolution timer with sub-200 picosecond resolution. For a pulse-shaping amplifier, [Jan] and [Björn] used the high-speed amplifiers in an HDMI redriver chip, which would normally compensate for cable and connector losses. Despite its inexpensive design, the circuit was sensitive enough to detect when oscilloscope probes contacted the trace, pick up temperature changes, and even discern the tiny variations between different copies of the same mesh.

It’s not absolutely impossible for an attacker to bypass this system, nor was it intended to be, but overcoming it would take a great deal of skill and some custom equipment, such as a non-conductive drill bit. If you’re interested in seeing such a system in the real world, check out this teardown of a payment terminal. One of the same authors also previously wrote a KiCad plugin to generate anti-tamper meshes.

Thanks to [mark999] for the tip!