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How did the very primitive cell-like entities that preceded the first cells (protocells) develop the ability to survive in unpredictable and changing environments?

Researchers developed a new computer model called Araudia to start addressing this question.

In the model, protocells live and evolve in a simulated flow reactor, an artificial environment where nutrients are continually supplied and washed away. The protocells consume nutrients, grow, divide, and occasionally mutate.

Importantly, they can live in a cross-feeding ecology, meaning that they can interact metabolically by exchanging chemical byproducts, which leads to complex interdependencies. The model spans three levels of analysis: metabolism (how cells process resources), ecology (how they interact with each other), and evolution (how populations change over longer timescales).

Fedora-based Ultramarine Linux distribution has been updated to version 43, a release built on top of Fedora Linux 43 and shipping with updated components and a few surprise features.

Highlights of Ultramarine 43 include a new theme called Orchis for the Xfce edition, the latest KDE Plasma 6.5 and GNOME 49 desktop environments for the KDE Plasma and GNOME editions, Pinebook Pro support, updated Raspberry Pi 4 images, and support for the CachyOS kernel as a tweak in umcli.

LXD, a modern system container and virtual machine manager developed by Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has just released LXD 6.6, marking the sixth feature launch in the 6.x series.

One of the headline additions is support for instance placement groups, giving administrators more control over how virtual machines and containers are distributed across cluster members. Kubernetes users receive a new LXD Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver, streamlining volume provisioning and integrating more cleanly with Kubernetes storage workflows.

Intel software engineers continue to be hard at work on LLM-Scaler as their solution for running vLLM on Intel GPUs in a Docker containerized environment. A new beta release of LLM-Scaler built around vLLM was released overnight with support for running more large language models.

Since the "LLM-Scaler 1.0" debut of the project back in August there have been frequent updates for expanding LLM coverage on Intel GPUs and exposing more features for harnessing the AI compute power on Intel graphics hardware. The versioning scheme though remains a mess with today's test version being "llm-scaler-vllm beta release 0.10.2-b6" even with "1.0" previously being announced.

Reus 2 from Abbey Games recently had a big upgrade, and now it's Steam Deck Verified / SteamOS Compatible with full support from the developer.

What is it? It's all about shaping worlds as one of 6 powerful giants each with their own unique abilities. Your choices will determine the fate of the planet and its inhabitants. And as you progress, you'll unlock more new skills for your giants too. Humanity does its own thing though, and may even turn against you.

For those continuing to make use of the X.Org Server, a new point release is now available in the 21.1 series. While most often X.Org Server stable releases these days are driven by shipping new security fixes, the X.Org Server 21.1.21 release is to fix several regressions introduced for various functional issues.

Red Hat engineer Olivier Fourdan released X.Org Server 21.1.21 this morning and it simply consists of various code reverts in order to address some reported problems with the X.Org Server usage, particularly when using NVIDIA graphics.

Chaosmonger Studio continue working on Voivod: The Nuclear Warrior a retro-styled heavy metal platformer in partnership with the band Voivod.

Following on from the successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, they say it has now moved onto "full production" with the new trailer showcasing the game's evolving world: a desolate, post-apocalyptic landscape where mechanical ruins meet cosmic horror, brought to life through hand-crafted pixel art and an original soundtrack shaped by Voivod's unmistakable sound.

Only a month after the previous 42 release, Ultramarine Linux 43 is now out, powered by kernel 6.17 and based on Fedora 43. Developed by Fyra Labs, the distro bets on the Btrfs filesystem under the hood, and it is now beginning with the retirement of Ultramarine’s long-standing “Flagship” designation.

With that said, the Budgie edition, which previously held that role, is no longer the recommended default. The project notes that its original rationale for choosing Budgie was that Fedora did not offer it at the time.

But now Ultramarine is formally recommending the Plasma Edition going forward. According to devs, this change doesn’t remove Budgie from the lineup; it simply becomes “Budgie Edition,” still fully supported and updated with the latest fixes as the desktop approaches its 10.10 release.

With lots of enhancements for the classics Tomb Raider 1 and Tomb Raider 2, the TRX project version 1.0 is out now with an LUA scripting engine for modders.

So what exactly is TRX? It aims to enhance the classic Tomb Raiders games through decompilation and the implementation of open-source alternatives to proprietary components. TRX is a single engine capable of running TR1, TR2, and custom levels respecting each of the distinct, classic engines' mechanics.

Version 1.0 was released November 23rd bringing the two games together under one roof, and with a new LUA scripting engine that could be really fun for modders to do all sorts with the game. There's absolutely tons more that was added into this release like improved rendering, support for triangular geometry, support for additive blending in textures, a new easter egg command for TR1, support for TR2 weapons in TR1 and so much more.