DuckDB 1.5.3 Iceberg updates, PostgreSQL TDE extension & AI index tuning

DuckDB 1.5.3 Iceberg updates, PostgreSQL TDE extension & AI index tuning Today's Highlights Today's highlights include DuckDB's enhanced Iceberg integration with new DML and schema evolution features, alongside a deep dive into PostgreSQL's new open-source Transparent Data Encryption. Additionally, we explore AI-driven strategies for automating PostgreSQL index tuning, offering practical performance improvements. New DuckDB-Iceberg Features in v1.5.3 (DuckDB Blog) Source: https://duckdb.org/2026/05/29/new-iceberg-features.html The latest DuckDB v1.5.3 release introduces significant enhancements for working with Apache Iceberg tables, a critical component in modern data lake architectures. Key additions include full MERGE INTO support, allowing users to efficiently update, insert, and delete rows in Iceberg tables based on a source query. This release also brings ALTER TABLE commands for schema evolution, enabling operations like adding, renaming, or dropping columns, crucial for adapting to changing data requirements. Furthermore, DuckDB now supports partition transforms within Iceberg, providing more control over data organization and query optimization. Compatibility has been extended to Iceberg V3, ensuring support for the latest table format specifications, and improved handling for Iceberg REST Catalogs streamlines metadata management. These features position DuckDB as an even more powerful embedded analytical database for processing large-scale, evolving datasets directly in a data lake environment, making complex ETL/ELT operations more accessible and performant. Comment: The MERGE INTO and ALTER TABLE additions are game-changers for using DuckDB in production data pipelines with Iceberg, enabling robust upserts and schema changes. Open-Source TDE for PostgreSQL: What pg_tde Is, and Whether You Need It (Planet PostgreSQL) Source: https://postgr.es/p/9kM This article introduces pg_tde , PostgreSQL's new open-source Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) option, a l