The Panama Canal is one of the most important waterways in the world, with about 7% of global trade passing through. It also relies heavily on rainfall. Without enough freshwater flowing in, the canals locks cant raise and lower ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Droughts mean fewer ships per day, and that can quickly affect Panamas finances and economies around the world.But the same freshwater is also essential for Panamas many other needs, including drinking water for about two million Panamanians, use by Indigenous people and farmers in the watershed, as well as hydropower.When the region experiences droughts, as it did in 20232024, the resulting water shortages can lead to increasing water conflicts.One of those conflicts involves a new dam the Panama Canal Authority plans to begin building in 2027. It would be designed to secure enough water to keep the canal, which contributes about 4.2% to the countrys gross domestic product, operating into the future, but it would also submerge farming communities and displace over 2,000 people from their homes.This recent drought wasnt an anomaly. As an academic who studies the effects of rising temperatures on water availability and sea level rise, Im aware that as the climate warms, Panama will likely face more extremes, both long dry spells and also periods of too much rain. That will force more trade-offs between residential needs and the canal over water use.Complex engineering remade the landscapeThe Panama Canal was built over a century ago at the narrowest point of the country and in the heart of its population center. The route was historically used by the Spanish colonies and later for a rail line between the oceans.The idea of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans began as a French endeavor, led by architect Ferdinand D. Lesseps, designer of the Suez Canal in Egypt. After the French effort failed, the U.S. government signed a treaty with newly independent Panama in 1903 to take over the project.The U.S. acquired the rights to build and operate the Panama Canal in exchange for U.S.$10 million and annual payments of $250,000. Later, the Torrijos-Carter Treaty in 1977 committed the U.S. to transfer the control of operations to Panama at the end of 1999.The canal project was designed to take advantage of the regions tropical climate and abundant average rainfall.It harnessed the water of the Chagres River basin to run three sets of lockschambers that, filled with fresh water, act like elevators, lifting or lowering ships to compensate for the difference in water levels between the two oceans.To ensure enough water would be available for the locks, the canals designers changed the shapes of the regions mountains and rivers to create a large watershedover 1,325 square miles (3,435 square kilometers)that drains toward the canals human-made lakes, Gatun and Alajuela.About 65% of the water that flows from the watershed today goes to operate the locks. The majority of that water is quickly lost to the oceans.Even the two newest locks, built in 2016, only reuse about 60% of water on each transit40% is flushed to avoid saltwater from the oceans intruding into the watershed.Threats to water securityPanamas wet tropical weather is predominantly influenced by its location near the equator, the trade winds, and the oceans. Most of its rain falls during the wet season, from May to November. However, weather records show a drop in average precipitation starting around 1950.The driest years resulted in dangerously low water levels in Gatun Lake that made canal operations difficult, including in 1998, 2016, and most recently 20232024. El Nio weather patterns can mean particularly low rainfall.In December 2023, the Panama Canal Authority was forced to limit the number of daily transits to 22, compared with 36 to 38 usual crossings, because too little freshwater was available.Water levels at Gatun Lake since 1965 show how low 2023 and 2024 were. [Image: EIA]To avoid steep financial losses, the Panama Canal Authority raised prices and auctioned transit opportunities to the highest bidders. Without those measures, the authority estimated it would lose $100 million a month from reduced ship traffic because of the water shortage.Ecosystems also need enough water, and changes in forest tree composition have become evident on Barro Colorado Island in Gatun Lake in response to rising temperatures and more frequent droughts.Climate change is also creating greater variability in rainfall. Too much rain can also be a problem for canal operations. In December 2010, the biggest storm on record caused landslides and $150 million in damage that interrupted transits on the canal.Sustaining Panamas canal and its peopleTemporary measures for saving water have been already implemented. The Panama Canal Authority shortened the chamber size in some of its locks to use less water for smaller vessels and minimized direction changes.In January 2025, the authority approved plans to build the new dam on the Indio River to increase water available for the canal. The dam could solve some water concerns during drier periods for the canal.However, it also illustrates the countrys water conflicts. Once filled, the dams reservoir will submerge over 1,200 homes by some counts, and more people in the region will lose access to land and travel routes. The Panama Canal Authority promises that residents will be relocated, but some of those living in the region fear they will lose their livelihoods, along with the communities their families have lived in for generations.Residents across Panama, meanwhile, regularly hear media campaigns that encourage them to save water. An Environmental Economic Incentives Program promotes forest conservation and sustainable family agriculture to conserve water resources.The Panama Canal is a crucial part of international trade, and it will face more periods of water stress. I believe responding to those future changes, as well as market and societal demands, will require innovative solutions that respect ecosystem limits and the needs of the population.Karina Garcia is a researcher and lecturer in climate at Universidad Tecnolgica de Panam.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Welcome toAI Decoded,Fast Companys weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every weekhere.OpenAI says it will release an open-source modelbut why now?OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Monday that his company intends to release a powerful new open-weight language model with reasoning in the next few months. That would mark a major shift for a company that has kept its models proprietary and secret since 2019. The announcement wasnt a total surprise: After the groundbreaking Chinese open-source model DeepSeek-R1 showed up in January, Altman said during a Reddit AMA that he realized his company was on the wrong side of history and suggested an OpenAI open-source model was a real possibility.Open models typically come with a permissive license that requires little or no payment to the model developer. Open-weight models can be more cost-effective for corporations trying to leverage AI since they allow businesses to host (and secure) the models themselvesavoiding the often risky prospect of sending proprietary data through an API to a third-party provider and paying fees to do it. More businesses are moving in this directionespecially those holding sensitive user data in regulated industries.The catch: A corporate user doesnt have to pay to use the open model. Some AI labs release open models to gain credibility in the marketpotentially paving the way to eventually sell API access to their more powerful closed models. By releasing open models early on, the French AI company Mistral established itself as a top-tier AI lab and a legitimate alternative to U.S. players. Some AI labs release open-source models, then earn consulting fees by helping large enterprises deploy and optimize the models over time.Metas Llama models are the most widely deployed open modelsthough the company restricts reuse and redistribution and keeps the training data and code secret, meaning they are not by definition open source. Meta had different reasons for giving away its models. Unlike Mistral and others, it makes money by surveilling users and targeting adsnot by renting out AI models. Zuckerberg continues funding Llama research because the models are a disruptive force in the industry and earn Meta the right to be called an AI company.OpenAI now has its own reasons for releasing an open-weight model. Eighteen months ago, OpenAI was the undisputed champion of state-of-the-art AI models. But in the time since, the release of LLMs like Googles formidable Gemini 2.0 and DeepSeeks open-source R1 have cracked the competition wide open.The market has changed, and OpenAI itself has evolved. Like Meta, OpenAI doesnt depend directly and solely on its models for its revenue. Selling access to its models via an API is no longer the companys main source of revenue. Now, most of its revenue, not to mention its staggering $300 billion valuation, comes from selling subscriptions to ChatGPT (most of them to individual consumers). OpenAIs real superpower is being a household-name consumer AI brand.OpenAI will definitely continue pouring massive resources into developing ever-better models, but its main reason for doing so isnt to collect rent from developers for direct access to them, but rather to continue making ChatGPT smarter for consumers.AI video generation is getting scary goodAI-video-generation tools are rapidly leaping over the uncanny valley, making it increasingly difficult for everyday internet users to distinguish between real and generated video. This could bode well for smaller companies looking to produce glossy, creative, or ambitious ads at a fraction of the normal cost. But it could spell bad news if bad actors use the technology in phishing scams or to spread disinformation. Its also yet another threat to the film sectors livelihood.The issue is back in the spotlight following several announcements, starting with Runwaysrelease of its new Gen-4 video-generation system, which the company says produces production ready video.AI startup Runway says the new system of models understands much of the worlds physics (a claim supported by this video of a man being overtaken by an ocean wave). The company also touts improvements in video consistency and realism, as well as user control during the generation process. Runway posted a demo video of Gen-4s control tools, which makes the production process look pretty easy, even for non-technicals). Some of the samples of finished videos posted on X look somehow more real than real (see Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation).Runway faces some stiff competition in the AI video space in the form of perennial contenders including Googles Veo 2 model, OpenAIs Sora, Adobe Firefly, Pika, and Kling.A new math benchmark aims to beat test question contaminationPeople in the AI community have been debating for some time whether our current methods of testing models math skills are broken. The concern is that while existing math benchmarks contain some very hard problems, those problems (and their solutions) tend to get published online pretty quickly. This of course makes the problem-solution sets fair game for AI companies sweeping up training data for their next models. The worry is that, come evaluation time, the models may have already encountered the test problems and answers in their training data.A new benchmark called MathArena was designed to eliminate those issues. MathArena takes its math problems from very recent math competitions and Olympiads, which have obvious incentives to keep their problems secret. The researchers from MathArena also created their own standard method of administering the evaluation, meaning the AI model developers cant give their own models an edge via changes to the evaluation setup.MathArena has just released the results of the most recent benchmark, which includes questions from the 2025 USA Math Olympiad. Heres one of the questions: Let H be the orthocenter of the acute triangle ABC, let F be the foot of the altitude from C to AB, and let P be the reflection of H across BC. Suppose that the circumcircle of triangle AFP intersects line BC at two distinct points, X and Y. Prove that C is the midpoint of XY. Ouch. And to make matters worse, the test requires not only the correct answer but a description of each reasoning step the model took along the way.The results are, well, ugly. Some of the most powerful and celebrated models in the world took the test, and none scored above 5%. The top score went to DeepSeeks R1 model, which earned a 4.76%. Googles Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking model scored 4.17%. Anthropics Claude 3.7 Sonnet (Thinking) scored 3.65%. OpenAIs most recent thinking model, o3 mini, scored 2.08%.(Update: Shortly after this writing, Googles new Gemini 2.5 Pro model scored an impressive 24.4% on the benchmark, besting other top models by a wide margin.)The results suggest one of several possibilities: Maybe MathArena contains far harder questions than other benchmarks, or LLMs arent great at explaining their reasoning steps, or earlier math benchmark scores are questionable because the LLMs had already seen the answers. Looks like LLMs still have some homework to do.More AI coverage from Fast Company:An AI watchdog accused OpenAI of using copyrighted books without permissionAmazon unveils Nova Act, an AI agent that can shop for youWhat is AI thinking? Anthropic researchers are starting to figure it outHow Hebbia is building AI for in-depth researchWant exclusive reporting and trend analysis on technology, business innovation, future of work, and design? Sign up for Fast Company Premium.

Games can only get better.

An image-editing app offering a broad range of functionality.

MacworldYou bought a Mac for its sleek design and smooth performance, not to feel locked out of your own system. If youve ever wished you could tweak your Mac without messing with code or digging through obscure menus,MacPilot is the answer, and its 70% off.With over 1,200 advanced macOS tweaks, MacPilot gives you access to system controls Apple keeps tucked away all in a user-friendly interface. No Terminal commands. No guesswork. Just a smarter, more personalized Mac.What you can do with just a few clicksReveal hidden system settings Show invisible files,disable Mac the startup chime, tweak animationsCustomize your Dock Add spacers, smart stacks, and hidden menu optionsOptimize performance Clear cache, run maintenance tools and repair system filesControl login & app behavior Manage startup items, crash logs, and privacy settingsGet deep system insights View hardware specs, RAM speeds, network info, and moreIts like flipping the switch from stock Mac to power user without the stress of breaking something or having to google How to use Terminal?. Whether youre a developer, a creative, or tired of Apples one-size-fits-all setup, MacPilot gives you real control.Unlock your Macs true potential with MacPilot $29.97 with coupon MAC10 at checkout till April 27.MacPilot Lifetime LicenseSee DealStackSocialprices subject to change.

Nvidia confirms Nintendo Switch 2 will support ray tracingFirm has produced a custom processor for the consoleImage credit: Nintendo News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on April 4, 2025 Nvidia has confirmed the Nintendo Switch 2 will support ray tracing, with the firm producing a custom processor for the console.In a blog post, Nvidia provided a few details about the Switch 2's hardware including new RT Cores to support ray tracing and Tensor Cores to support Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) to boost resolution.According to Nvidia, the Switch 2 has "ten times the graphics performance of the Nintendo Switch" with "improved game engines, better physics and optimised APIs for faster, more efficient game creation."Nvidia's G-Sync feature, which provides a variable refresh rate to prevent screen tearing, will also be available in handheld mode.So far, Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch 2 will support up to 1080p resolution and 120fps in handheld mode, on a 7.9-inch LCD screen. When docked, the console can reach up to 4K resolution with a new in-built cooling fan to support the system.The Switch 2 launches on June 5, 2025, with pre-orders beginning on April 8 in the UK and Europe followed by the US and Canada on April 9.Nintendo has implemented pre-order restrictions for purchases made on My Nintendo Store to "prioritise the most dedicated players."GamesIndustry.biz also spoke with analysts to get their view on how US President Donald Trump's tariffs could affect the Switch 2, and what it could mean for potential consumer price increases.

How Trump's tariffs could affect the Switch 2 and the rest of the games industryWhat analysts and the ESA are saying about potential consumer price increasesImage credit: Nintendo Feature by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on April 4, 2025 Analysts and other industry figures have weighed in on the potential impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs, including the upcoming launch of the Nintendo Switch 2.Trump's general 10% tariff rate for certain countries comes into force on April 5, 2025, while nations affected by variously higher 'reciprocal' percentages will be hit from April 9. The full impact is still coming into focus as countries retaliate.In this context, it's an extremely significant week for video games, with the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 revealed shortly before the tariffs were formally unveiled on April 2. As a result, it has ignited speculation around whether the $450 US price tag for the Switch 2 was partially determined by the incoming threat of tariffs or not."It's difficult to say for certain," Mat Piscatella of Circana tells GamesIndustry.biz when asked whether he believed Nintendo factored tariffs into the price. "However at least the potential for tariffs was widely known before the announcement of pricing around Switch 2 products."How much potential tariffs played as part of the determination of that pricing? I don't know. I'd have to believe that it was at least a consideration.""Nintendo most likely ran simulations to get to a price that would make them tariff-proof as much as possible"Dr Serkan Toto, Kantan GamesThe specifics of the tariffs were harder to predict."Now whether or not the scale and scope of the tariffs, as they were announced yesterday, were considered possible is an entirely different question," says Piscatella. "Another open question is what the announced tariffs may mean in terms of potential for further end consumer price increases (not just for Nintendo products, but across all physical video game products), particularly in the US."When asked by GameSpot about the tariffs and whether they could drive the Switch 2 price up in affected countries further, a Nintendo spokesperson said, "If there are any price changes, we will make an announcement."Nintendo moved some manufacturing of its hardware to Vietnam, which was hit with a steep 46% reciprocal tariff. "The reciprocal tariffs on Vietnam and Japan have come in higher than expected, and Nintendo will feel the impact of this if the tariffs go into full effect," said Niko Partners.Still, Niko Partners do not expect a price increase for the Switch 2 based on what was announced this week. "That being said, we think its unlikely that Nintendo will raise the price of the console at this point, but its also unlikely to see a price drop in the next 5 years."Kantan Games' Dr Serkan Toto agrees that a price increase over the announced $450 is unlikely. "I believe it is now too late for Nintendo to drive up the price further, if that ever was an option in the first place," Toto tells GamesIndustry.biz."As far as tariffs go, Nintendo was looking at a black box all the way until April 2 just like everybody else," says Toto. "As a hardware manufacturer, Nintendo most likely ran simulations to get to a price that would make them tariff-proof as much as possible."Ampere Analysis' Piers Harding-Rolls told GameSpot that any price increase as a result of the tariffs would likely come further down the road. "If the tariffs persist, I think a price increase in 2026 might be on the table." Image credit: Nintendo"All anyone can do at this point is speculate," says Piscatella when asked about the potential impact of the tariffs on the Switch 2 before and after launch. "We are certainly in uncharted waters here, and no one really knows what will happen next. The situation is chaotic, to say the least.""When it comes to the impact on Switch 2, even if additional price increases were to come, I'm not too worried about sales of the console in 2025. Given the limited quantities available in a launch year, and potential changes to regional allocation of those units, there should be more than enough super enthusiast fans and higher income households to allow the console to sell out in the US this year."Piscatella adds: "However, year two could be trickier as more supply should become available, and as the market will need to shift more from super enthusiasts to more mass-market buyers. But so many questions exist around what the US market will look like by 2026 that I don't think any one outcome is all that more likely than another at the moment."As for the wider impact on the games industry beyond the Switch 2, that too is an open question at this point but a negative impact is almost certain. The Entertainment Software Association's Senior Vice President Aubrey Quinn told GameFile that tariffs "are going to have a real and detrimental impact on the video game industry."Since components are sourced from multiple countries, the effect could be far-reaching. Any one product that a consumer would buy is likely to be subject to many of the tariffs announced, all compounded on top of one another," Quinn said."We are certainly in uncharted waters here, and no one really knows what will happen next. The situation is chaotic, to say the least"Mat Piscatella, CircanaThe announcement this week is "not the end of the story", Quinn added, either for the US or other countries.It's a challenging backdrop for the reveal of the follow-up to the third best-selling console of all time. The Switch 2 arrives on June 5 and a lot can happen in two months.Still, the console being revealed on the same day as the tariffs has made them part of the same story. "I am aware that Nintendo communicated the April 2 date before Trump announced his 'Liberation Day', but I am still flabbergasted as to why they did not postpone the Direct," says Toto."Why on earth would you let your big news be buried by the tariff news in global mass media? Why would you not wait for the US to fix their tariffs first and then decide on pricing?"This makes no sense."

Disney's CinemaCon presentation was filled with footage showcasing some of the upcoming films from Disney, Marvel, and more. While the studios have yet to release most of the clips, we were in attendance and are here to break down the biggest moments for you from The Fantasic Four: First Steps to Thunderbolts* to Avatar: Fire and Ash and more.New Fantastic Four Footage Reveals a Major Plot Point... and the Female Silver SurferThe Fantastic Four took center stage at CinemaCon and we got a look at brand-new footage of the long-awaited film that will be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.The footage begins with Mark Gatiss' Ted Gilbert hosting his 1960s Ed Sullivan Show-style talk show and recapping the story of the Fantastic Four. We get to see the space trip that transformed them, their popularity amongst the people, and their powers, minus the stretching abilities belonging to Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards. We then cut to a look at the Fantastic Four's home life and see more of our favorite robot, H.E.R.B.I.E., who is cooking with Ebon Moss Bachrach's Ben. The big reveal here is... SPOILER WARNING... Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm is pregnant. It doesn't end there as we were then treated to the first shots of Julia Garner's Shalla-Bal, the Silver Surfer. She says, "your planet is now marked for death," and that is followed by shots of Galactus' shadow over New York.Lastly, Reed is seen getting ready for a mission and questioning whether or not they are safe. We also saw a large crowd running through the city and a little girl finding a The Thing action figure before being enveloped in Galactus' shadow herself. The final shot is off the SIlver Surfer flying towards the camera on her surfboard.Thunderbolts: New Footage Revealed the Sad Outcome of Buckys Political CareerPlayTo help with the wait until Thunderbolts* is unleashed into theaters on May 2, Marvel has revealed new footage of the upcoming MCU film.It all begins with the team driving to Jefferson Starship's 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now,' and we hear Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Red Guardian (David Harbour) talking about the Super Soldier Serum and Hydra. In the back, Yelena (Florence Pugh) is talking about her Widow's Bite bracelets with Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) and John Walker (Wyatt Russell). The vehicle our heroes are in then smashes through glass walls and a fight breaks out where we see some of the unique skills and powers of these Thunderbolts in action. The fight is interrupted by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who tells them to come upstairs in what is revealed as the building once known as Avengers Tower.Valentina talks about purchasing Avengers Tower and then addresses the team one by one, all before mocking Bucky's brief time as a congressman as he couldn't even make it half a term. Bucky lunges at Valentina, but he is stopped by an unseen force that we soon learn is caused by the Sentry. His reign of terror doesn't end there either as the footage ends with him taking out our favorite new team with ease.Avatar: Fire and Ash Footage Introduced New Na'vi Allies and AdversariesAhead of its December 19 release date, Avatar: Fire and Ash was given an introduction by director James Cameron before the first-ever footage was shown to the audience. The Sully family are really put through the ringer on this one as they face not only the human invaders, but new adversaries: the Ash People, Cameron said in his introduction.We got to see about five minutes of the film in 3D, and it featured two new groups of Na'vi - the Tlalim clan, a.k.a. the Windtraders, and the Mangkwan clan, a.k.a. the Ash People. The former are nomads who "sail" the skies and the latter have rejected their diety and the ways of the Na'vi after a volcano destoryed their homeland and left nothing but ash.The next sequence starred Jak Sully, Neytiri, Lo'ak, Tuk, Kiri, and Spider living amongst the Windtraders and sailing high above the sky in their membrane-like sails that look like jellyfish. All is well until they are attacked by the Ash People. First Predator: Badlands Trailer Shown at CinemaConElle Fanning took the stage at CinemaCon to unveil the first trailer for Predator: Badlands, where the Predator is a... good guy?! This new Predator is a younger warrior who has been cast out from his tribe and chooses to work with Fanning's character. "Something unprecedented happens in this movie," Fanning said. "My character is not the one being chased. My character actually teams up with the Predator. And you get to see him in a completley new light. And... I'll stop there!"As for the trailer, it kicks off with Predator relics on a ship and then a Predator standing on the shore of a planet that is not Earth. He also isn't wearing his helmet. Alongside glimpses of the Predator being surrounded by giant deadly monsters and Fanning's character saying, "You're somthing that cannot be killed," the footage ends with a bang as the Predator roars and faces down another massive creature with no fear. Predator: Badlands will be released in theaters on November 7, 2025. Tron: Ares Footage Gives Us a Tease of the Digital and Real Worlds CollidingTron: Ares will be released in theaters on October 10, 2025, and CinemaCon gave us a tease of this new adventure that will see the digital and real worlds collide. The footage begins with a highly sophisticated program, Jared Leto's Area, entering the real world from his digital home. This momentous occasion marks the first time humanity has encountered these AI beings in their world.Ares can be seen speeding through a city on his red-tinged light cycle, leaving police cars in his wake that have no hope of catching him. A Recognizer can also be seen hovering over the city with terrified citizens looking on. Gillian Anderson's character, who appears to be a business executive, makes an appearance alongside Jeff Bridges' Kevin Flynn, who can be heard saying, "Are you ready? Because there's no going back." And yes, the footage was accompanied by music by Nine Inch Nails.Lilo & Stitch Clip Shows Stitch Causing Chaos at Jimmy's LuauPlayThe live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch is set to be released in theaters on May 23, 2025, and CinemaCon presented us with a clip that fans of the original should be familiar with. The footage takes place at Jimmy's Luau, where Nani works, and sees Lilo and Stitch joining her. People still think Stitch is some weird dog, even David, but he doesn't behave like a good boy as he escapes his leash and has a western showdown with Lilo with a soda gun. Zootopia 2 and Elio Steal Our Hearts With New Footage, Adorable Animals, and MoreZootopia 2 and Elio both got new looks at CinemaCon, wit helio getting roughly 10 minutes of showtime with footage we've seen in the trailers ane beyond. PlayFor Zootopia 2, Ke Huy Quan, who plays Gary De'Snake, took the stage to share new details about the much-anticipated sequel, including that Quinta Brunson will be playing an adorable quokka therapist named Dr. Fuzzby. Nick and Judy are seen chasing after Gary De'Snake and are searching for clues as to his wherabouts. Alongside the way, they stop at therapy and meet the wonderful Dr. Fuzzby.Lindsay Lohan Flirts With Chad Michael Murray Even Though She's Really Jamie Lee Curtis in New Freakier Friday Footage After Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis took the stage at CinemaCon, footage was shown of Lindsay's Anna, who is actually housing Curtis' Tess in her body after they swap, flirting with Chad Michael Murray's Jake. Jake then asks if Tess' husband is still alive and she confirms she is and that he's very old.Freakier Friday will be released in theaters on August 8, 2025.

Apr 04, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Cloud SecurityA maximum severity security vulnerability has been disclosed in Apache Parquet's Java Library that, if successfully exploited, could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on susceptible instances.Apache Parquet is a free and open-source columnar data file format that's designed for efficient data processing and retrieval, providing support for complex data, high-performance compression, and encoding schemes. It was first launched in 2013.The vulnerability in question is tracked as CVE-2025-30065. It carries a CVSS score of 10.0."Schema parsing in the parquet-avro module of Apache Parquet 1.15.0 and previous versions allows bad actors to execute arbitrary code," the project maintainers said in an advisory.According to Endor Labs, successful exploitation of the flaw requires tricking a vulnerable system into reading a specially crafted Parquet file to obtain code execution."This vulnerability can impact data pipelines and analytics systems that import Parquet files, particularly when those files come from external or untrusted sources," the company said. "If attackers can tamper with the files, the vulnerability may be triggered."The shortcoming impacts all versions of the software up to and including 1.15.0. It has been addressed in version 1.15.1. Keyi Li of Amazon has been credited with discovering and reporting the flaw.While there is no evidence that the flaw has been exploited in the wild, vulnerabilities in Apache projects have become a lightning rod for threat actors looking to opportunistically breach systems and deploy malware.Last month, a critical security flaw in Apache Tomcat (CVE-2025-24813, CVSS score: 9.8) came under active exploitation within 30 hours of public disclosure.Cloud security firm Aqua, in an analysis published this week, said it discovered a new attack campaign that targets Apache Tomcat servers with easy-to-guess credentials to deploy encrypted payloads that are designed to steal SSH credentials for lateral movement and ultimately hijack the system resources for illicit cryptocurrency mining.The payloads are also capable of establishing persistence and acting as a Java-based web shell that "enables the attacker to execute arbitrary Java code on the server," Assaf Morag, director of threat intelligence at Aqua, said."In addition, the script is designed to check if the user has root privileges and if so it executes two functions that optimize CPU consumption for better cryptomining results."The campaign, which affects both Windows and Linux systems, is likely assessed to be the work of a Chinese-speaking threat actor owing to the presence of Chinese language comments in the source code.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE