It’s important to have friends who come to your birthday parties, offer support during tough times, and allocate resources to develop apps for emerging virtual reality platforms despite limited direct benefits. It may be tempting to believe that a $30 billion cash reserve and a product line generating over $200 billion annually are sufficient. However, Apple is finding that money cannot buy everything.
Pre-orders for Apple’s Vision Pro headset, a $3,500 “spatial computing” platform and CEO Tim Cook’s vision of Apple’s future, opened last week. Despite Apple’s enthusiasm, quiet opposition from potential users has overshadowed the announcement.
According to a report from Bloomberg (£), Netflix has opted not to design a Vision Pro app or support existing iPad apps on the platform, instead instructing users to access their content through a web browser.
Rather than developing a Vision Pro app or supporting existing iPad apps, Netflix has chosen to direct users to watch their content on the web. This decision is notable given the competition between Netflix and Apple in the streaming market.
Although the initial weekend release of Vision Pro saw an estimated 160,000-180,000 units sold, this pales in comparison to Netflix’s 250 million paying subscribers. Therefore, Netflix’s reluctance to invest resources in an app for the Vision Pro is understandable, as app development is only worthwhile if it can attract new customers or retain existing ones.
Despite Apple’s promotion of the Vision Pro as the most immersive way to watch TV, Netflix has similarly abandoned its app for MetaQuest, demonstrating a pattern of resistance to immersive platforms.
Due to these decisions, Vision Pro users will be limited to watching Netflix through the web, losing the ability to access offline viewing, a key selling point of the headset.
Furthermore, YouTube and Spotify have also opted not to release new apps for the Vision Pro, indicating a lack of enthusiasm from major content providers for the platform.
In a related story, Apple has recently allowed developers to bypass its payment system, providing them with an alternative to the high fees associated with in-app purchases. This shift may reflect a broader resistance among developers to Apple’s monopoly over economic activity in their app ecosystem.
The reluctance of major content providers to invest in apps for the Vision Pro may indicate a broader skepticism among developers about the benefits of supporting Apple’s latest venture. This trend may signal a greater movement within the developer community to challenge Apple’s control over app development and monetization.
The new year has only just begun, but it looks like the biggest games of 2024 are already in store. And it’s not his multi-million dollar sci-fi extravaganza set in a vast universe created by a giant publisher. It’s a survival adventure released by a small Japanese company that had only released one game before. It’s called Palworld, and is more accurately described as a “Pokémon with a gun.” If that sounds terrible, you seem to be very lonely. It sold 5 million copies within three days of its release on January 18th. What in the name of Pikachu is going on?
What is Palworld?
Developed by Tokyo-based Pocketpair, Palworld belongs to the genre known as survival adventure, where players are thrown into a harsh open-world environment to find food and shelter, craft tools, and, of course, fight enemies. While, yes, you have to survive, whether they are aliens or hungry wolves. Minecraft is probably the most famous example, but titles like Rust, Ark, Don’t Starve, and Subnautica all compete in similar fields.
What does it actually do?
Palworld: Funny, silly, and weirdly engrossing. Photo: pocket pair
You control a character who arrives in a lush open-world environment known as the Parpagos Islands and must survive by farming, cooking, building shelter, and battling various enemy factions. Also, more than 100 kinds of cute creatures called “pals” live in this world, and each one has its own unique abilities. You can catch these cute beasts and use them to fight your enemies or craft useful items in your base.
A big part of the game is exploring the world and looking for allies and resources. It is important to monitor your hunger level and collect resources. As you battle enemies (using captured allies), you unlock new crafting recipes by following various technology trees. You can play alone, but if you choose the PC version, you can also play online with up to 31 other so-called “Paltimers”.
It’s funny, silly, and oddly engrossing even though all the individual elements are very recognizable. Pokemon developer Game Freak has been too reluctant to seriously reinvent its aging series over the past five years, with some feeling that Palworld is the modern incarnation that longtime fans have been craving. There is. Indeed, very well received among many top video game influencers, No1 game on streaming platform Twitch Within one day of release. This certainly helped attract attention.
So this is like a neoliberal pastiche of Poku
Do we emphasize the immoral exploitation of these animals as mere resources?
Well, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but it might be true. And in fact, one of the enemy factions you’ll face in the game is the Free Pal Alliance, an activist organization dedicated to freeing Pals from slavery.
Palworld screenshot shows character riding a flying dragon-like monster Photo: pocket pair
Are people mad at obvious pock?
Lemon connection?
This game is highly controversial among some developers, and not just because of its similarities to Pokemon. Accusing the developer of plagiarism As well as the creature design, it also uses tropes and conventions from other successful survival games, most notably Ark and Rust.However, Nintendo, Creatures, and the Pokémon Company, which are responsible for Pokémon, have yet to comment, although Don McGowan, who managed the Pokémon Company's legal team for 10 years, said: Game files recently talked about on news sites: “This seems like the same old plagiarism nonsense I saw thousands of times a year when I was chief legal officer at Pokemon. I'm just surprised it's gotten this far.”
Takuro Mizobe, CEO and lead developer at Pocketpair, said: claimed The game has been checked against legal requirements and does not infringe on copyright.
Also, Pokemon isn’t the only game based on monster hunting.Other titles such as Digimon and Monster Rancher have existed alongside it for many years, and the entire genre has Insect collecting is a popular hobby in Japan.
, Therefore, it is never a concept that can be followed. The history of video games is one of successful ideas being “borrowed” and improved upon, and most modern genres can be traced back to one or two of his wildly successful ancestors.
There was also debate over whether the studio created assets using AI-generated art without notifying the platform or players.Mr. Mizobe Showed interest in AI art generation in the past. PC Platform Steam requires studios to: Disclose the use of AI-generated assets With games sold on the site. There have been concerns in the industry about the potential for job losses from widespread use of generative AI and the unauthorized use of AI models trained on copyrighted material. However, at this time there is no evidence that Pocket Pair used his AI model in this way.
Where can I play?
Although the game is technically still in development, bug has been resolved.However, you can download it if you have a PC. Steam Early Access For £25. You can also play a preview version on Xbox, but this version is even less stable and currently doesn’t feature a 32-player online mode. Cooperative play is possible for 2 to 4 people. If you’re into the idea of cute mini monsters wielding machine guns, you know where to go.
a A friend of mine was recently fooled by a fraudulent email purporting to be from her middle school daughter and transferred £100 into her account to cover a mysterious situation, which she described as a very time-sensitive and inconvenient event. That’s it.
You can imagine how the scammers managed to pull it off. Remember the everyday low-level anxiety of parents expecting bad news when their children are further away than the kitchen table? What’s more, the bad news story, which begins with a 19-year-old’s email saying, “I broke my phone,” is completely believable. All the scammer has to do is lean back.
Still, the story isn’t complete, as it neglects to ask basic questions like, “But if your phone is broken, why transfer money to someone else’s bank account?” , and for years afterward we called him a fool. He didn’t even call her number to see if he could talk to her. A 100-pound lighter was probably the best place to land. If someone tries to release his life savings, he will concentrate.
But what happens when you hear your child begging for money just like you? Who has strong enough defenses to withstand voice cloning? Members of Stop Scams UK tried to explain this to me last year. Scammers can extract the child’s voice from her TikTok account. Then all they have to do is find the parent’s phone number. I thought I had gotten the wrong end of the stick and had to piece together the message from recorded words available on social media. Good luck getting some soccer tips and some believable havoc from K-Pop, I thought. When it comes to AI, he didn’t think for 10 seconds about whether it could infer speech patterns from samples. In fact, it’s possible.
I think it’s still pretty easy to get around. Kid Machine is seeking urgent assistance. You say, “Precious and perfect being, I love you with all my heart.” Kid Machine will surely reply, “I love you too.” Why can’t we do that? A real child would claim to have been sick in the mouth. You can’t build an algorithm for this.
We have all experienced vomiting at some stage in our lives. Whether it’s due to a nasty bout of food poisoning or the well-known norovirus that infects the population episodically. And we can all agree that it’s scary.
But imagine what it would do to you physically, mentally, and emotionally if you were to expect constant nausea and vomiting at a critical stage in your life.this is the reality for them 4 in 5 women experience nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Even mild cases can cause unpleasant symptoms such as nausea, loss of appetite, and vomiting.
According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2022 this will result in: 20,000 women hospitalized.
But until recently, little was known about the causes of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the more nausea and vomiting you have, the healthier your pregnancy, and even suggests that it is related to the number of babies you have.
However, real-world evidence shows this is not true. In fact, nausea and vomiting can vary widely in severity and pattern during pregnancy.
Often referred to as “morning sickness,” nausea and vomiting during pregnancy can occur at any time of the day or night. Usually it’s worse for the first 12 weeks, then it calms down. However, for many women, it lasts throughout the pregnancy.
Read more about women’s health:
However, after more than 20 years of research in this field, a breakthrough has been made that identifies a causal relationship. This was promoted by Dr. Malena Fezo, a geneticist at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
Fezo was inspired to pursue this career after suffering from severe nausea and vomiting during her second pregnancy in 1999. She was unable to eat or drink without vomiting, and she rapidly lost weight and became so weak that she could no longer stand or walk.
However, doctors were skeptical that she might be exaggerating her symptoms to get attention. Fezo was eventually hospitalized and she miscarried at 15 weeks.
Fezo will conduct genetic research on previously pregnant women in collaboration with 23andMe, a private company that allows individuals to send samples of their DNA to determine health status and insights into their ancestry. did.
She identified a link with a woman who suffered from severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (requiring an intravenous fluid). and a variant of the gene encoding a protein named GDF15, a hormone that acts on the brain stem.
This association pinpointed the need for further research to understand the role of GDF15 protein in pregnancy.
GDF15 is secreted by the placenta during the first two trimesters of pregnancy. It also likely plays a role in preventing the mother from biologically rejecting the baby, which is essential to allowing the pregnancy to continue. However, GDF15 has been shown to regulate physiological body weight and appetite through the brain. This substance is produced in excess in cancer patients who suffer from severe appetite and weight loss.
In addition to previous research, research led by Fejzo and the University of Cambridge Professor Stephen O'Rahilly We found that the level of GDF15 was high. Seen in women with severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. However, the effects of this hormone appear to depend on the woman's susceptibility and her exposure to GDF15 before pregnancy. Women who received higher levels of exposure before pregnancy had higher levels of the GDF15 hormone but did not have symptoms of nausea or vomiting.
It has been hypothesized that long-term exposure to GDF15 before pregnancy may have a protective effect and reduce a woman’s sensitivity to the hormonal surge caused by fetal development.
This exposure relationship is very unique and provides more understanding and knowledge as well as the potential that women may be desensitized by increasing their exposure to hormones before pregnancy. It also suggests possible treatments. Just like some people treat food allergies with controlled exposure therapy.
Many of the common symptoms affecting women, such as nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, are poorly understood despite their very high incidence. Women’s healthcare is not a niche, and there is much to understand and learn through this type of research.
Although water striders are small insects, they have an amazing ability to withstand the impact of raindrops that are tens of times heavier than themselves. Slow-motion video of being crushed by water reveals tricks to avoid being crushed by water, including how to ride a water jet, shoot into the air and somersault before landing. There is.
As their name suggests, water striders can be found walking along the surface of ponds, lakes, and rivers around the world. They have long legs covered in microscopic hairs that trap air and help the insect float in water.
“One day I saw them skating by the water and thought, ‘What do they do when it rains?'” andrew dickerson at the University of Tennessee. The weight of a raindrop is more than 40 times that of an adult water strider. “How do they survive? Submerged or thrown into the air?” he added.
To investigate, Dickerson and his colleagues placed several water striders in a glass aquarium filled with water, applied droplets of water, and recorded the creatures’ reactions on slow-motion video.
The researchers noticed that when raindrops hit insects on the water’s surface, the insects initially remained unharmed because of their low density. However, it was dragged into the resulting impact crater. The crater’s collapse then spewed out a stream of water that returned to the surface, taking the insects with it.
In a few cases, the researchers witnessed water striders jumping from the water jets before they returned to the surface. “It was so beautiful. You could see it do backflips out of that jet,” Dickerson says.
However, if the water strider cannot escape from the jet of water, it will be sucked back down. Luckily, their hairy, water-repellent feet allowed them to float and swim back to the surface.
“This is the equivalent of them surviving when we get hit by a car, and in some cases going through a very acrobatic journey in the process,” Dickerson said. .
Mateo Greco, Research Analyst, Listed Digital Assets and FinTech Investment Business Finekia International (CSE:FNQ)
Bitcoin (BTC) ended the week at around $41,600, down just 0.4% from the previous week's closing price of around $41,750. Prices have become less volatile and more stable following the SEC's approval of the ETF compared to the previous week, putting an end to speculation on the issue.
The introduction of the new BTC Spot ETF has attracted funds from traditional finance to the digital asset market. The 11 spot ETFs have collectively attracted approximately $1.15 billion in cumulative inflows since inception. Leading the pack is the BlackRock Spot ETF with about $1.4 billion in assets under management (AUM), followed closely by the Fidelity Spot ETF with about $1.26 billion in assets under management.
This inflow was partially offset by the fact that one of the 11 spot ETFs launched was Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). GBTC is not a new product; it has been traded in trust since 2015, but was converted to an ETF. The product has experienced significant outflows of approximately $2.81 billion since the conversion, with total inflows for the 11BTC Spot ETF decreasing from approximately $3.96 billion to $1.15 billion.
At the time of the conversion, GBTC held approximately 620,000 BTC, which has now decreased to approximately 552,000 BTC. The large outflow can be attributed to two main factors. First, prior to the conversion, due to the structure of the product, GBTC customers were restricted from redeeming their shares and could only sell them on the secondary market. This forced many customers to hold positions for years without an exit option unless they were willing to sell at a deep discount on the secondary market. Second, the high management fee charged by Grayscale (1.5%) compared to most of its competitors (0.2%/0.3%) has led some investors to choose between cashing out their profits or offering a more cost-effective option. I withdrew my investment from Grayscale to reinvest in a high-performing ETF.
BTC spot ETFs recorded strong activity with high trading volumes. Since their launch, the cumulative trading volume of the 11 spot ETFs has reached approximately $16.6 billion in six trading days, or an average daily trading volume of approximately $2.77 billion. As expected, GBTC recorded the highest trading volume given the large amount of BTC being stored and the dynamic activity related to the conversion of trusts into ETFs.
With the successful launch of the BTC Spot ETF, market participants and analysts are now focusing on the potential for the ETF to include a variety of digital assets. Analysts predict an Ethereum (ETH) spot ETF has a greater than 70% chance of approval this year. This expectation is reinforced by analyzing the price trend of ETH. Immediately after the approval of the BTC Spot ETF, funds were transferred from BTC to ETH. ETH rose 17% versus BTC and 11% in dollar terms during the week of approval. This indicates that market participants are anticipating the approval of the ETH Spot ETF following the green light for the BTC Spot ETF and are adjusting their positions accordingly.
The gliding-winged reptile called Queneosaurus lived in what is now the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, during the Triassic period, about 210 million years ago.
Queneosaurus Although they resembled lizards, they were more closely related to crocodiles and dinosaur ancestors.
It was a small animal that could fit in the palm of your hand.
There were two species: Queneosaurus latus and Queneosuchus latissimus.
One had broad wings, the other short wings, made of a layer of skin stretched over elongated transverse ribs, which allowed it to swoop from tree to tree.
Like a modern flying lizard draco Hailing from Southeast Asia, they are likely to roam the ground or climb trees in search of insect prey.
When startled or when they saw a tasty insect flying by, they could fly into the air and land safely 10 meters away.
The discovery was made by Mike Cawthorn, a student at the University of Bristol, and his colleagues.
The authors examined a large number of reptile fossils taken from three limestone quarries: Enborough, Butscombe and Highcroft. These quarries were located on the largest subtropical island at the time, Mendip Paleo Island.
In addition to Queneosaurus latus and Queneosuchus latissimusthey recorded the existence of Trilophosaurus, a reptile with complex teeth. Variodence and aquatic life Pachystropheus It probably lived a bit like modern otters, eating shrimp and small fish.
These creatures fell or their bones were washed away into caves and limestone cracks.
“The beasts were all small. We were hoping to find dinosaur bones or even isolated teeth, but in fact we found everything but dinosaurs,” Cawthorn said.
“The collections I studied were created in the 1940s and 1950s, when the quarries were still active, and paleontologists could visit to see fresh rock surfaces and talk to the quarrymen. is completed.”
Professor Mike Benton, from the University of Bristol, said: “It took a huge amount of effort to identify the fossil bones, most of which were separate and not part of the skeleton.”
“But we have a lot of comparative material and Mike Cawthorn was able to compare the isolated jaw and other bones with more complete specimens from other sites around Bristol.”
“He showed that the ancient Mendip islands, some 30km long, stretching from Frome in the east to Weston-super-Mare in the west, were home to a wide variety of small reptiles that fed on plants and insects.”
“He didn’t find any dinosaur bones, but dinosaur bones have been found elsewhere in the same geological period around Bristol, so dinosaur bones may have been there.”
During the Late Triassic period, 200 million years ago, the area around Bristol was an archipelago of small islands in a warm subtropical sea.
“These bones were collected in the 1940s and 1950s by some of the great fossil finders, including Tom Fry, an amateur collector at the University of Bristol, who often cycled to the quarry and picked up heavy stones. “They came home with bags of stuff,” said Dr David from the University of Bristol. white side.
“Other collectors were Walter Kuehne, a talented German researcher who was imprisoned in Britain during World War II, and Pamela L. Robinson of University College London.”
“They donated the specimens to the Natural History Museum in London and the Geology Collection at the University of Bristol.”
team's paper Published in Proceedings of the Association of Geologists.
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Michael Cawthorn other. A modern Triassic terrestrial microvertebrate assemblage from caves at Emborough Quarry, Batscombe Quarry and Hycroft Quarry on the Old Islands of Mendip, south-west England. Proceedings of the Association of Geologists, published online on January 20, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2023.12.003
The Amazon forest is dense as it is and difficult to penetrate, either on foot or with scanning technology. But over the past few years, improved light detection and ranging scans have begun to penetrate the forest canopy, revealing previously unknown evidence of past Amazonian cultures. In a new paper, CNSR archaeologist Stephen Rostain and his colleagues describe evidence of such an Amazonian agricultural culture that began more than 2,000 years ago. The authors described more than 6,000 platforms distributed in a geometric pattern connected by roads and intertwined with agricultural landscapes and river drainage channels in the Upano Valley of Amazonian Ecuador, at the eastern foothills of the Andes. Such large-scale early development in the Upper Amazon resembles similar Maya urban systems in Central America.
Rostain other. They discovered a dense system of pre-Hispanic urban centers, characterized by constructed platforms and plazas, and connected by large straight roads.Image credit: Rostain other., doi: 10.1126/science.adi6317.
Although a growing number of studies focus on the extent and scale of pre-Hispanic occupation of the Amazon, evidence of large-scale urbanization remains elusive.
Rostain and his co-authors found evidence of an agricultural civilization that began more than 2,500 years ago in the Upano Valley of Amazonian Ecuador, a region at the eastern foothills of the Andes.
“Based on more than 20 years of interdisciplinary research, including fieldwork and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) mapping, we depict urbanism on a scale never before recorded in Amazonia,” they said. said.
“We describe the construction of more than 6,000 anthropogenic rectangular earth platforms and plazas connected by footpaths and roads and surrounded by extensive agricultural landscapes and river drainages within 300 km.2 This is the research area. ”
The authors identified at least 15 different settlements of varying size based on clusters of structures.
However, the most notable element of this built environment is the extensive and complex regional road network that connects the city center with the surrounding hinterland.
Archaeological excavations show that the construction and occupation of the platforms and roads took place between 500 BC and 300-600 AD, and was carried out by groups of the Kiramopu culture and later the Upano culture.
Such large-scale early development in the upper Amazon is comparable to similar Maya urban systems recently noted in Mexico and Guatemala.
“The Upano site is different from other monumental sites discovered in the Amazon; these are more recent and less extensive,” the researchers said.
“Discoveries like this are another vivid example of how the Amazon's dual heritage, not only environmental but also cultural and indigenous, is undervalued.”
“We believe it is important to radically revise preconceptions about the Amazonian world and, in doing so, reinterpret contexts and concepts in terms necessary for inclusive and participatory science.”
team's paper Published in the January 11th issue of the magazine science.
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Stefan Rostain other. 2024. Two thousand years of garden urbanization in the upper Amazon River basin. science 383 (6679): 183-189; doi: 10.1126/science.adi6317
Jim Peebles is widely known as the architect of modern cosmology and its nice-guy chief executive.give half a share of 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics, the committee said he “took up the universe” and helped create the framework known as the Standard Model of Cosmology, which is now considered “the basis of modern understanding of the history of the universe.” Others described him as an “extraordinary physicist” and “extraordinarily thoughtful, polite and kind.”
Now the Albert Einstein Professor Emeritus of Science at Princeton University, Peebles' career began there in the 1960s, focusing on Einstein's theory of general relativity, in which gravity occurs as a result of distortions of mass in spacetime. . He later characterized the cosmic microwave background (CMB), an “echo” of the Big Bang, a discovery that made cosmology an experimental science. He also showed that halos of dark matter around galaxies create a mass distribution consistent with astronomers' observations, and that the description of our universe requires reinstatement of Einstein's much-derided cosmological constant. I convinced the field that there was. Initially incorporated into the equations of general relativity as an unwieldy trick, it is now thought of as dark energy, the repulsive force driving the accelerating expansion of the universe.
Despite the success of the standard cosmological model, Peebles has always sought to undermine it. In recent years, he has focused his musings on observing astronomical anomalies – strange galaxies and other interesting phenomena – that may expose flaws in our thinking.
he says new scientist On his vision for cosmology and why it's important to deviate from the mainstream…
Over 15 years ago ESA's Mars Express spacecraft studied the Fossae Formation of Medusae and revealed mysterious deposits up to 2.5 km deep. These early observations left it unclear what the sediment was made of, but a new study provides an answer.
This image shows a height map of the surface of Mars, with the lowest land areas shown in blue and the highest land areas shown in white. Image credit: ESA.
of Formation of medusae fossa (MFF) – a huge and unusual soft rock deposit near Mars' equator – is about one-fifth the size of the continental United States and 100 times the mass of the largest explosive volcanic deposits on Earth.
It consists of several wind-carved features hundreds of kilometers in diameter and several kilometers high.
This feature, discovered at the boundary between highlands and lowlands on Mars, is probably the largest single source of dust on Mars.
Initial observations from ESA's Mars Express spacecraft show that the MFF is relatively transparent to radar and has low density, both characteristics seen in ice deposits.
But planetary scientists couldn't rule out the possibility that the terrain is actually drier, a huge accumulation of windblown dust, volcanic ash, or sediment.
“When we reexamined the MFF using new data from Mars Express's MARSIS radar, we found that the deposits were even thicker than we thought,” said Dr. Thomas Watters, a planetary researcher at the Smithsonian Institution. It's up to 3.7 kilometers thick,” said Dr. Thomas Watters, a planetary researcher at the Smithsonian Institution.
“Interestingly, the radar signal is consistent with what we would expect to see from layered ice, and is similar to the signal seen from the polar caps of Mars, which we know are very ice-rich.”
“If it were to melt, the ice trapped in the MFF would cover the entire planet in a layer of water 1.5 to 2.7 meters deep. This would be the largest amount of water ever discovered in this region of Mars. That's enough to fill Earth's Red Sea.”
“This is where the new radar data comes in. Given its depth, if the MFF is just a huge dust pile, we would expect it to be compressed under its own weight,” says the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics. said researcher Dr. Andrea Cicchetti.
“This will produce something much denser than what we're actually seeing with MARSIS.”
“And when we modeled how different materials behave without ice, nothing reproduced the properties of MFF. We need ice.”
“The new results suggest that there is instead a layer of dust and ice, topped by a protective layer of dry dust or ash hundreds of meters thick.”
In this image, the white line on Mars' surface (top) indicates the stretch of land scanned by Mars Express's MARSIS radar. The graph below shows the topography and subsurface structure of the land, with layers of dry sediment (likely dust or volcanic ash) shown in brown and layers of likely ice-rich sediment shown in blue. I am. The graph shows that the ice deposits are thousands of meters high and hundreds of kilometers wide. Once all the suspected water ice in the MFF melts, Mars will be covered by an ocean of water up to 2.7 meters deep. Image credit: CReSIS / KU / Smithsonian Institution.
“This latest analysis challenges our understanding of the MFF and raises as many questions as it answers,” said ESA Project Scientist for Mars Express and the ESA ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. said Dr. Colin Wilson.
“How long ago did these ice deposits form? What was Mars like at that time?”
“If confirmed to be water ice, these giant deposits could change our understanding of Mars' climate history.”
“Any ancient water reservoir would be an attractive target for human or robotic exploration.”
Protein plaques in the brain may be caused by mitochondrial dysfunction
Sebastian Kauritzky/Alamy
If you own a car, you’ve probably noticed that your engine becomes less efficient over time. The farther you drive, the more fuel it takes to cover the same distance. Eventually, you’ll end up with so little power that you need a physical push to climb a gentle hill.
It is now becoming clear that much the same holds true for the human brain. Microscopic structures called mitochondria, found in all brain cells, are literally the engines of our thoughts and emotions. As we age, we find it increasingly difficult to generate enough energy to power mental activity. Worse, just like an old car leaves behind a cloud of smoke, the power source of our cells begins to produce unnecessary waste products that slowly pollute our brains. This means that mitochondrial dysfunction may underlie some of the most serious brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and motor neuron disease.
According to this “grand unified theory” of neurodegeneration, recharging neurons through restoration of their power plants can prolong healthy brain function. This idea has already inspired some exciting new treatments for age-related brain diseases, with multiple drug candidates under investigation. Some researchers are exploring the possibility of transplanting healthy mitochondria into damaged, aging brains to reactivate them. “If you keep replacing the parts in your car, it can last forever,” he says. claudio soto, a neurologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. “So what happens if we try to run this…
A single atom of krypton trapped in a Buckminsterfullerene cage
University of Nottingham
The krypton atoms become stuck in a “traffic jam” inside the carbon nanotube, unable to pass through each other, allowing scientists to more easily observe how the krypton atoms interact. Researchers hope that this “primary energetic body” can shed light on fundamental physical forces.
Andrey Klobistov and his colleagues at the University of Nottingham, UK, have discovered that the narrow space restricts movement and makes it easier to observe the inside of carbon nanotubes, which are just 1.5 nanometers thick (one-half millionth the width of a human hair). He spent years studying chemical reactions. They have now developed a way to do the same thing with atoms of the rare gas krypton, creating a so-called one-dimensional gas.
The researchers used a buckminsterfullerene molecule, a spherical cage made of 60 carbon atoms, with a krypton atom trapped inside. These molecules are sucked into the carbon nanotube by van der Waals forces, weak attractive forces caused by fluctuations in the electron cloud surrounding the atomic nucleus. Once filled, the tube is heated to 1200 °C and the cage is destroyed. The carbon atoms are absorbed into the nanotube, leaving behind a string of krypton atoms.
A single atom of krypton confined in a Buckminsterfullerene cage inside a nanotube, observed with an electron microscope
University of Nottingham
Klovistov said the result is like a “traffic jam” in which atoms can be observed slowly, rather than flying around at up to 400 meters per second, as they often do in three-dimensional gases. The group used a transmission electron microscope to image atoms, allowing them to accurately measure the distances between them.
“They fundamentally change their behavior,” Klovistov said. “This is a very interesting system. We can track their trajectories, how they move and how they interact. This is a great toy to play with with noble gases. “We can gain a fundamental understanding of the behavior of atoms under extreme confinement.”
Other researchers have already observed that krypton atoms form pairs held together by van der Waals forces. This phenomenon is difficult to observe in unconstrained atoms and can also occur within nanotubes. Klobistov said future experiments will be “full of surprises.”
Future research will investigate how temperature affects primary gas. If you reduce the temperature of a gas in three-dimensional space, it will condense into a liquid and then solidify, but there is no guarantee that the same rules will apply in his one dimension.
“Maybe there's no such thing as a 1D liquid, it's just a 1D solid. It's a bit of a voyage of discovery,” says Klobistov.
I
As we were chopping garlic and herbs at Burning Man, we met Gabriel Metcalf, an urban planner hired to design a new city in California with the backing of a tech billionaire. new york times
The mystery of who was secretly buying up more than 50,000 acres of farmland in Solano County, about 80 miles northeast of San Francisco, has just been uncovered.
The buyers included Silicon Valley investors who were committed to ambitious plans for a new “California Dream” city with walkable neighborhoods, climate-friendly infrastructure, green energy jobs, and affordable housing. It turns out that the list includes celebrities.
Many people are deeply suspicious of tech elites throwing money around thinking they can solve everything. And the way California Forever, an investor-backed company, secretly bought up nearly $1 billion worth of land without the knowledge of local residents or officials, also discouraged people from getting excited about the project. In the months since the project was announced, residents, officials and environmentalists have raised serious questions about the feasibility of turning rural land into a bustling city.
I followed up with Metcalfe to see if what sounded like a bold vision when shared in a pop-up city in the Nevada desert actually makes sense in the real world. . Metcalf, who comes across as more of a pragmatic urban design geek than a Silicon Valley techie, admits he understands where the skeptics are coming from.
“This has never been done before, at least not in this way or on this scale. There's a lot of work to do to get people on board and understand the vision,” he said over coffee in San Francisco's Dogpatch district. he said while drinking. “We're not proposing a utopia. We're just proposing a city. We're not claiming that this will solve all your problems. But this is another tool. I would argue that it can be helpful.”
Farmland in rural Solano County, California. Counties where California Forever wants to build.
Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez/AP
California faces difficult housing issues that Metcalf, a respected urban planner, believes can only be addressed through bold action.
Metcalf ran Spar, a San Francisco-based urban planning think tank, for a decade and a half, where he advocated for building more cities. public housingways to address the region's housing crisis include increasing public transportation and increasing the minimum wage.
AI has great capabilities, but remains an expensive option for some tasks
Yuichiro Kayano/Moment RF/Getty Images
Artificial intelligence may find its way into many people's jobs, but AI computer vision technology is still cheap enough to be valuable to most U.S. companies today, according to Fortune 500 CEOs and Silicon Valley leaders. Not. This finding comes from a study of human tasks, particularly those involving vision, that are at risk of machine automation.
In this study, researchers focused on whether vision tasks involved in various human jobs are economically worth replacing with existing AI computer vision. “There are a lot of tasks that you can imagine applying AI to, but you wouldn't actually want to do because of the cost,” he says. neil thompson Co-authored by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Published today as a working paper.
Thompson and colleagues identified 414 visual tasks in U.S. occupations that could potentially be automated with existing AI technology. These jobs include those of retail store supervisors who visually check to see if products have the correct price tag, or who notice dilated pupils or changes in cheek color that can be warning signs of potential problems. Includes a trained nurse anesthetist who monitors the patient's care.
The researchers calculated the cost of training and operating an AI computer vision model that can handle these tasks with the required precision. We then compared the cost of AI to the cost of human labor. The latter is expressed as a percentage of the employee's total salary and benefits. This is because visual tasks typically make up a small portion of a given employee's job duties.
As a result, while 36 percent of U.S. non-agricultural businesses have at least one employee task that can be automated with AI computer vision, there are few tasks that would be cost-effective to automate using AI. was found to be only 8%.
They also concluded that only 0.4 percent of U.S. non-farm worker pay and benefits is actually cost-effective for employers to automate.
The current cost of AI computer vision means that even large U.S. companies with 5,000 or more employees (over 99.9 percent of all U.S. companies) can cost-effectively automate less than one-tenth of their existing vision tasks. It means that.
While such a finding that AI computer vision would be too costly for most U.S. companies “may sound like a reassuring finding,” “there may be other consequences.” [AI] “Applications with low automation costs.” Gino Gancia at Queen Mary University of London.
rush to Adopts “generation AI” The ability to create new content is already having a negative impact on the number of jobs available and the incomes of human freelancers on online platforms such as: upwork. Gancia's research also shows that regions of the U.S. with industries that are more advanced in adopting AI, such as California, are already experiencing greater job losses.
“In general, we find that new technologies spread unevenly,” Gancia says. “As a result, automation and AI are likely to contribute to increasing inequality between businesses and workers.”
Thompson and his colleagues expect a significant amount of human work to be automated in the long term. But that depends on how quickly the costs of training and developing AI technology come down.
“There is going to be a significant amount of automation going forward, so governments need to start preparing for it,” Thompson said. “But there is plenty of time to put in place real programs that can bring benefits. [displaced] Worker. “
Analytical chemistry could help forensic teams get more information from crime scenes
Orange County Register/Media News Group (via Getty Images)
Even if no bullets are found at the scene, the brand of bullet used in the crime can be determined by analyzing the small pieces of metal left behind.
Forensic experts may try to link a suspect to a crime by analyzing bullets or spent shell casings found at a crime scene and proving that they were fired by the suspect's gun. . But doing so when the bullet is not present at the scene, such as when it has been removed…
OpenAI has taken down the account of the developer of an AI-powered bot that pretended to be US presidential candidate Dean Phillips, citing a violation of company policies.
Phillips, who is challenging Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, was impersonated by a bot using ChatGPT. dean bot site.
The bot is backed by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Matt Krysilov and Jed Summers, who are supporting Phillips with a superpack called “We Deserve Better” that funds and supports political candidates. An organization to do this has been established.
San Francisco-based OpenAI announced it has removed developer accounts that violated its policies against political campaigning and impersonation.
“We recently terminated developer accounts that knowingly violated our API Usage Policy, which prohibits political campaigning, or that impersonated individuals without their consent,” the company said.
The Phillips bot, created by AI company Delphi, is currently disabled. Delphi has been contacted for comment.
OpenAI Usage policy It says developers who use the company’s technology to build their own applications must not engage in “political campaigning or lobbying.” It also prohibits “impersonating another person or entity without their consent or legal right to do so,” although it is unclear whether Minnesota Congressman Phillips gave his consent to the bot.
A pop-up notification on the dean.bot website describes the “AI voice bot” as “a fun educational tool, but not perfect.” It added: “Although the voice bot is programmed to sound like him and elicit his ideas, it may say things that are wrong, incorrect, or shouldn’t be said.” I am.
washington post, The ban was first reported by, reported that Krysilov asked Delphi to remove ChatGPT from its bot and instead rely on freely available open source technology. We have reached out to Krysilov, a former OpenAI employee, for comment.
We Deserve Better received $1 million in funding from billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who put it in a post to “It’s the biggest investment I’ve ever made.”
Mr. Phillips, 55, announced his candidacy for president in October, citing Mr. Biden’s age and saying he should be given the opportunity to mentor younger generations. Mr. Phillips, who was campaigning in New Hampshire on Saturday, described Mr. Biden as “un-electable and weak.”
There are concerns that deepfakes and AI-generated disinformation could disrupt elections around the world this year, with the US, EU, UK and India all planning to vote. On Sunday, the Observer reported that 70% of British MPs are concerned that AI will increase the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
I
Is it a phone call? Is it a tablet? A new group of folding devices, with phone-like screens on the outside and large displays that open like books on the inside, are vying to appeal to consumers who want the best of both worlds.
Each is better in different parts of the equation, but which one is better overall? I tested the most promising devices in a round-by-round contest to find the foldable phone champion. Ta.
contestants
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 – Category Definer, now in its 5th generation
Google Pixel Fold – Android manufacturer’s first attempt at a foldable smartphone
one plus open – A first for the brand, built on parent company Oppo’s 3rd generation technology
Honor Magic V2 – The third generation foldable model will be available in Europe from the end of January
The outer screen is important for phone-type uses such as messaging and calling, but it varies greatly from device to device. From left to right: Honor Magic V2, OnePlus Open, Google Pixel Fold, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The dimensions of the outer screen make a big difference in how much the folder resembles a phone, and is where the devices differ the most.
The Z Fold 5’s outer screen is long and narrow, making typing uncomfortable. The Pixel Fold is short and stubby, so the keyboard is full width, but the apps are a little short and stubby. The Open and Magic V2 are more phone-like and much easier to fold and use.
winner: Honor Magic V2 – The thinnest, most phone-like experience available.
When it opens like a book, the large screen inside takes center stage. Top left to bottom right: Honor Magic V2, Google Pixel Fold, OnePlus Open, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The size and shape of the inner screen is a bit more consistent between brands. The OnePlus and Honor are the most square when unfolded, while the others are slightly longer on one side, similar to the iPad’s display.
Similarly, all screens have high refresh rates and are crisp and bright. Some products are better at preventing fingerprints and glare from lights, while others, like those from Samsung, support stylus input.
The big difference is the feel of the screen under your fingers and the visibility of the crease in the center of the screen. The Z Fold 5 has the most solid-feeling screen, but the Open has less noticeable creases than the others.
winner: OnePlus Open – Less noticeable creases and the smoothest feel.
The real megalodon may have been longer and slimmer than this illustration.
Kathmandu/Shutterstock
A new analysis of fossil evidence reveals that the megalodon, an ancient shark often depicted as a super-sized great white, was actually a very different beast. A team of shark scientists concluded that this fearsome predator was longer, thinner and hunted in a different way.
He is well known for his depiction of “. meg movie franchise, Otodus megalodon It became extinct about 3.5 million years ago. It was one of the largest marine predators of all time, but no complete skeleton has ever been found, so we don’t know exactly how big it was.
2022 survey by jack cooper Doctors from Swansea University, UK, et al. IRSNB P 9893, It is housed at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels. They found it to be a stocky, powerful shark, similar to the great white shark, built to attack at breakneck speeds to attack its prey.carcharodon carcharius) current –?? but at 15.9 meters long, it is about three times longer.
charles underwood Researchers from Birkbeck, University of London, said the study made “tenuous assumptions” about megalodon’s size, mainly based on the fact that it has teeth similar to great white sharks, although it is much larger. ing. He is part of a group of 26 shark experts aiming to set the record straight with new research.
Underwood said Cooper’s team didn’t realize how incomplete the partial skeleton was. The vertebrae lack the typical size of a shark, tapering toward both the tail and the head, indicating that much of the vertebrae are missing, he said.
The researchers of the new study say that the strength of the spinal column suggests a slender body shape than the great white shark, which would make megalodon sharks very unwieldy.
“It almost certainly doesn’t feed like modern great white sharks,” Underwood said. “You wouldn’t just hover over the ocean floor, wait for the whale to move over it, and then hit the whale from below and basically tear it apart. It’s better than an ambush predator. , you’re going to need more straight-line tracking, longer tracking, because you don’t have top speed. You don’t have acceleration.”
Based on other partial fossils, the largest known specimen of Megalodon was estimated to be 20 meters long. Mr. Underwood believes that it was actually 20% longer than him, and that he was 24 meters long.
But Professor Cooper dismissed the new study as too simplistic, favoring a reconstruction of a shorter, stockier megalodon. “The bottom line is, no matter which theory you support about its body shape, it was a very large shark,” he says. “Of course, a complete skeleton would go a long way in helping us learn more. But I also don’t think we should think that this settles all debates about this very charismatic animal.”
However, the chances of finding a complete, well-preserved specimen may be low. eva stewart A professor at Britain’s Southampton University, who was not involved in the study, said he had recovered many megalodon teeth while searching for a new living species, but had seen no sign of a more complete specimen.
“I think the rest of the skeleton is just not well preserved,” she says. “For megalodon, there’s actually no fossil evidence at all.”
Thank you, I hate it. However, he has 135 million (!) views, so more information is needed.
Are you okay. “Skibidi Toilet” is an ongoing YouTube animated web series by Georgian content creator Alexei Gerasimov. Since launching in February, his YouTube channel his DaFuq!?Boom! is currently just outside the top 100 of his YouTube channels in the world by number of subscribers. There are currently over 70 episodes, with new videos uploaded every few days, but as the length and quality of production has increased, the period between new episodes has grown longer.
Skibidi Toilet's popularity is primarily driven by kids 13 and under, and it's the first meme to bemoan Gen Z being too old to understand. The fact that most of Skibidi Toilet's fans are young, combined with the show's disturbing aesthetic and violence, has led to a new wave of moral panic about how the internet is poisoning children's brains. It is an excellent material.
Parenting website and TikTok influencerIndonesia in particular has already warned of the clear dangers of “skibidi toilet syndrome”, and Russian authorities are also getting involved.
Skibidi Toilet Syndrome ???? What are the symptoms? please tell me.
It is not yet recognized by DSM-V. This is an umbrella term that describes what parents believe about the behavior their children exhibit after watching the show. Parents have recorded their children becoming 'obsessed' with the Skibidi Toilet. upset or angry after viewing has been restricted or prohibited; or Sits in a basket or box and acts like a skividi pottywhich seems more cute than scary, but what do I know?
Moscow police learn about father's case asked the authorities The purpose is to investigate whether the video is having a negative impact on children.Russian lawmakers are especially likely to look for signs of moral decline in internet culture – in 2015 the State Duma said laws passed Memes that mock or satirize public figures are prohibited.
What is the show actually about?
The first few episodes depict a city and its inhabitants being steadily taken over by Skibidi Toilet. Skibidi Toilet is a scary animated head that lives in a toilet and sings a mashup of Timbaland's “Give It to Me” and Visser King's “Dom Dom Yes Yes” . Cameraheads (the series' main characters, well-dressed men with head surveillance cameras) emerge as an underground resistance movement. It soon becomes an all-out war between both increasingly powerful and destructive sides.
Oddly enough, I found myself drawn into the world of Skibidi Toilet.A clear story is unfolding There are plot twists, betrayals, humor, murderous action scenes, and some moments that probably felt more than I expected..
You mentioned “a new moral panic about how the internet is harming children's brains.” Do you feel like something like this happens once every few months?
Harsh stories about how the Internet turns children into psychopaths have become recurring themes in the modern news cycle.In recent years, social media has been accused of putting children and teens at risk. eat laundry detergent, steal items from their school, and develop symptoms About Tourette syndrome.
There's also a political element. Far-right politicians in the United States and elsewhere have made ridiculous claims that TikTok is brainwashing children into questioning their sexual and gender identities, supporting Hamas, and feeding child sex traffickers. We are raising funds and running a campaign.
None of this is new. Millennials will remember clutching their pearls at strange internet ephemera such as: slender man And as a larger cultural indicator, grand theft auto video game series. This isn't to say there isn't some of his content online that children should be protected from, such as a disturbing pirated YouTube video of Peppa Pig being beaten at the dentist. But if all the content that caused a moral panic had any value, the world's children using the internet would have become children of the corn a long time ago.
So what's the verdict on Skibidi Toilet?
It's kind of fun! There are certainly parts that young children might find scary (many episodes end with Skibidi Toilet charging towards the camera), but once you get past the red-eyed toilet monster, there's a lot of talk surrounding it. Much less creepy than that. I was able to become one.
Either way, much of the best children's entertainment is weird and dark. Roald Dahl's books are full of murderous school principals and children who are mutilated in comedic ways. Hansel and Gretel had to push the witch into the oven. If you're worried about your child suddenly acting like a singing potty, take a look at Skibidi Potty together. You may even feel guilty.
A recent study suggests that the megalodon’s body shape might not have been as chunky as previously thought. Contrary to popular belief, researchers now suspect that this prehistoric fish, also known as the megalodon (Otodus megalodon), may have had a more elongated form, akin to modern slim sharks.
The typical estimation of the megalodon’s length is between 15 to 20 meters (50 to 65 feet), and they inhabited the earth’s oceans from 15 million to 3.6 million years ago. However, the fossil record contains limited evidence of the megalodon, mainly consisting of teeth and vertebrae rather than intact skeletons.
While previous estimates of its body size were based on the bodies of contemporary great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharius), resulting in the assumption of a thick and round body shape, a new study published in the Old Trogia Electronica journal suggests that the megalodon was more than just a larger version of the great white shark. The study contends that the animal may have had similarities to the slimmer modern mako shark.
So what’s the controversy?
Essentially, two groups of scientists are at odds over the actual size and shape of the megalodon.
A study led by scientists from DePaul University and the University of California, Riverside (UCR) employed a CT scanner on a live great white shark to compare its vertebral skeleton to existing reconstructions of the megalodon’s spinal column. This study suggests significant enough differences between the two sharks to propose that the megalodon was not merely a larger great white shark.
However, a UK-based research team utilized advanced 3D modeling to study the body structures of various shark species, including great whites, mako sharks, and salmon sharks. With this approach, they concluded that the megalodon may have been even larger than previously anticipated, with a dorsal fin comparable in size to an adult’s height.
The earlier study’s authors critiqued the new findings, asserting that they rely on circular logic and lack statistical validation. They also mentioned the absence of raw data for future researchers to verify or reproduce the study’s results. Their study was peer-reviewed by prominent shark experts from around the world, although not by the authors of the new study.
Yeah, but…can Jason Statham still defeat Megalodon?
Regardless of the megalodon’s shape, the lifespan and dietary habits of this extinct shark remain unclear. To further advance their understanding, researchers will need to find a complete or near-complete skeleton. The potential elongated body of the megalodon, if confirmed, could prompt a reassessment of its life, diet, and extinction causes.
As for the debate over the megalodon’s size and shape, the fact that it was a large, formidable predator is indisputable. However, the question of whether Jason Statham could defeat it in battle remains up for discussion.
“Even with the interpretation of the megalodon’s shape as more slender, I don’t think the odds for that matchup will change significantly,” Cooper stated. “Regardless of which theory you favor, whether the shark was fat or skinny, the short answer is that megalodon was still a very large shark. Either way, it’s a massive challenge for Statham.”
About our experts
Jack Cooper is a postdoctoral researcher in palaeontology at Swansea University. His research covers scientific report, scientific progress and the Fish Biology Journal.
Professor Catalina Pimiento is a Senior Lecturer in Paleontology at Swansea University. Her research specializes in Frontiers of ecology and evolution, natural ecology and evolution, and scientific progress.
Professor John Hutchinson is Professor of Evolutionary Biomechanics at the Royal Veterinary College. His research spans nature communications, anatomy journal, and scientific progress.
Any university lecturer will tell you that getting students to come to their morning lectures is a real struggle.
But even the most hungover beginner is sure to be captivated by Albert Einstein’s physics lesson or Coco Chanel’s design masterclass.
This could soon be the case for students in the UK, with some universities inviting guest lecturers from around the world using the same holographic technology used to bring deceased singers back on stage. It’s starting to happen.
Loughborough University, which was the first in Europe to consider applying the technology, has used the technology to bring in sports scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to teach fashion students how to create immersive shows and teach management students how to create immersive shows. plans to test how to handle difficult business situations.
Professor Vicky Locke, dean of Loughborough Business School and who is leading the rollout of the technology, said students “absolutely love” the technology and want to take selfies with it. said. They would prefer “a guest speaker from the industry who walks into the classroom with a smile on their face rather than a two-dimensional person on the wall,” she added.
The Zoom calls made students “feel like they were watching TV… it felt distant,” she said. For them, holographic images are more appealing and realistic. ” The technology will be officially introduced into the curriculum in 2025 after a year of experimentation.
The box-based holographic unit is sold by L.A.-based company Proto. The company’s customers include companies such as his BT and IBM, and it is used in meetings to reduce the need for business travel. We are also collaborating with Stockholm fashion retailer H&M to create an interactive product display.
David Nussbaum, who founded Proto four years ago after working on holograms of deceased celebrities, says his company could soon bring some of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers back from the dead. Told.
He added: “Proto has technology that projects images of Stephen Hawking and other people to make it seem as if he’s really there. We use it in books, lectures, social media, etc. You can connect it to something you were attached to, a question you asked, an interaction you had with him, etc. AI Stephen Hawking looks just like him, sounds like him, and interacts as if it were him. To do.
“It’s awe-inspiring and mind-blowing. I’m shocked at how great the interactions are. Whether people like it or not, AI is part of our lives.”
He added that his company’s ambition is to prove that “you don’t have to be an eccentric billionaire or celebrity to have a hologram.”
Gary Barnett, Professor of Digital Creativity at Loughborough University, who is also leading the implementation, said:
“Students need to understand what it means to use them, to be in that world, to experience them, to interact with them, and all that they will need for their future careers.”
Professor Rachel Thomson, the university’s vice-chancellor and advocate, said the technology could reduce the need to bring in guest speakers at short notice, encourage international research collaboration and reduce the amount of teaching materials used by students. He said it will help achieve sustainability strategies. Building prototypes in engineering, design and creative arts.
It also allows instructors to display complex equipment, such as engines, more easily than over a video call.
Nussbaum said corporations and large institutions such as universities are the first step in his company’s plans, but he hopes to roll out mini-units costing less than $1,000 within the next 18 months, which It will show a miniature image that he likens to the movie “Wonka Vision.” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl.
He added that the technology’s AI capabilities meant it was possible to create an avatar that looked like anyone in the world, but noted that this could come with legal complications.
Why are cars designed to go far above the speed limit? (Don’t tell me they’re built with the Autobahn in mind.) Andy Crosby, North Wales
Please send new questions to nq@theguardian.com.
Reader replies
Because for mechanical reasons, a car that can get to 100 will perform better at 70 than a car that can only get to 70. Also, an engine that can only reach 110 mph on flat ground may struggle on hills. I was riding a 1.2 Clio and had to anticipate the hills and lower gears so I wouldn’t run out of breath. My Golf Diesel ran smoothly on the same slope without any complaints. Of course, you can also install a speed limiter on your vehicle (I often drive minibuses with speed limits). But consider the problems that arise when a speed-limited truck tries to pass another truck, slowly weaving in the center lane of a freeway, and the resulting confusion and congestion. yorkshire expatriate
I think the Germans call this the “elephant race”. socialism now
Of course, men are embarrassed to buy Viagra. Greg KZ
Is it because you are selling it? Automotive journalists like to include acceleration and top speed performance as positive in their reviews. So perhaps car buyers want a faster car, even if they can’t use that performance (at least in theory). reggie pudding
I purchased a 2015 Audi A5 3.0TDi Quattro 5 years ago. With 245bhp it will reach 60mph in less than 6 seconds. When you need that oomph to pass a bloke going 40mph on the local highway, it’s also thanks to its bags of torque that it means overtaking is quick and easy.
Top speed is limited to 155 mph, but I’ve never seen one. In France, I hit 132 mph on the motorway, the legal maximum speed.
The best part is that despite the engine’s size, it literally ticks along at 110mph at 1,600rpm and gets over 50mpg on long trips. So it’s a good grand tourer, with the ability to drift, a decent slug of power, and the ability to growl when needed. This is called being flexible. I’m already looking forward to my next road trip to France! Chilled Gibo
You’re Jeremy Clarkson, I charge you £5! Tatty Bogle
I am disappointed that the transition to electric power is not seen as an opportunity to end our obsession with increasingly high-powered cars. We see advertisements boasting extraordinary acceleration rates and high power outputs, but as a result, batteries are increasingly required to be larger and heavier, and have a greater environmental impact during manufacturing and use. This is contrary to the potential of electric vehicles to reduce the impact of personal mobility. We will properly lower speed limits and introduce aggressive punitive taxes on large, powerful personal vehicles. evan 1
Highest efficiency point. Designed for 110 miles per hour, it runs at full capacity. Imagine sprinting endlessly on every trip. It is designed to have a top speed of 160 mph and then cruise at 110 mph. I can run comfortably. Seno j1
A significant number of EVs buck this trend by having very fast acceleration but relatively low top speeds. For example, in my case he is supposed to reach 60 in less than 7 seconds, and this acceleration corresponds to a top speed of 130-140. In fact, its top speed is around 108, more than enough to allow a comfortable margin of stress relief at legal speeds. It is also true that some EVs reach 60 points within his 3 seconds, which begs the question of how many drivers can handle this without crashing into a more solid vehicle. suspicious solipsist
Fuel Efficiency – If a car can go 240 km/h while redlining in 5th, it will rev much lower and consume less fuel, potentially reaching 120 km/h. mcknight
Is it because speeding fines are a valuable source of income? eddie miscellaneous post
Margin of error (also known as safety). You have to turn occasionally (at legal speeds) to avoid accidents, and you always have to use mechanical devices that aren’t working at stress points, because it’s not good for wheels to fall off. Speedy 95060
A car with an engine with a “design” speed of 130 mph can have a “smaller” carburetor fitted to the engine, which will limit power and speed accordingly, but with less impact on the engine and moving parts. It has the advantage of being less stressful. . Of course, this will be about the same price as the “unlimited” version, so boy racers will want to go over the speed limit, so I guess manufacturers choose the faster version to increase sales. balance and reason
Cars are sold as toys, but only incidentally as a means of transportation. Lochaber 1
I hope this is the answer they give as their “last word.” Doralicious
aA big name in the plumbing industry. Patrick Lutz They were used to withstanding floods. But the circumstances led to a completely different kind of soaking, sitting in the rain in a local park and pondering the demise of the business in the dot-com crash. “I lost everything. I had a young child. I was embarrassed and angry that I had let my family down. I couldn't look them in the face,” he said. look back.
His lowest point came just before the patent battle with Apple erupted that would define his life. Nearly two decades later, he's still at odds with his company and the U.S. courts.
He presents an interesting profile. The reputable and established British inventor, who first found wealth and success in the 1980s, now dominates his online reputation, leaving onlookers wondering whether Raz or Apple is in the right. After years of David vs. Goliath dogfights, he was clearly feeling hurt and angry. It's on the right.
Racz is the creator of Triflow, the world's first three-way mixer faucet. This system added additional channels and valves to a typical sink mixer to deliver filtered water along with hot and cold water. A “multi-million pound” sale in 1998 sealed his profits after expanding the business to sell in 45 countries.
But he says the second chapter turned rocky when his dot-com-era venture, a file-sharing and payments technology company, was taken over by Apple's iTunes store. He claims that a US company stole his system.
“I went through a period of severe depression,” Raz said, opening up for the first time about the mental strain. “I'm embarrassed to say that I hit the bottle. I got completely lost in time and didn't remember much.”
It was a patent for the technology, first filed in 1999 and granted almost a decade later, that gave him a “new lease on life” and is still in the process of seeking $18 billion in damages. A large-scale legal battle has begun.
Apple is no stranger to patent disputes like this. U.S. sales of Apple's Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches were suspended before Christmas due to a conflict with medical technology company Masimo. Mr. Lutz has won several rounds of court action against the company, but there is no guarantee that either side will ultimately prevail. The only certainty is that the road ahead will be long, winding and expensive.
Racz grew up on a strawberry farm in Jersey and spent his early career as a salesman. When he sold his tap business, Avillion, he pursued the digital download market in the same way that Napster transformed the music industry with illegal file sharing.
Racz quickly filed a patent for Smartflash, an anti-piracy alternative, and an accompanying system for enabling payments and secure downloads. He has finalized deals with retailers and manufacturers, including French SIM card company Gemplus. Pop star Britney Spears has been appointed as a brand ambassador.
But in the aftermath of 9/11 and the dot-com crash, Spears and GemPlus withdrew, and Luck's said in court that GemPlus, also an Apple partner, subsequently claimed the product as its own. .
The late Apple president Steve Jobs is “soaking in praise” for a series of products, starting with iTunes in 2003, that blended hardware and software in a way Raz claims he first invented. His blood boiled when he saw it. After receiving patent approval in 2008, he achieved an unlikely victory. He sued Apple in Texas in 2015 and won $533 million in damages. According to Lutz, this was one of the largest jury awards for a private inventor.
However, the court's decision was later reversed. He was first hurt by a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeals Board ruling that his patent was invalid, and then lost when Apple appealed in commercial court. He later lost his case on appeal, but he vowed to keep fighting. He has faced considerable backlash among Apple supporters online in recent years, including receiving death threats via email from unknown individuals.
“When you're told your kids should be burned at the stake and beheaded for what they do, those things start to get hard. My kids were being bullied. The kids said, “Your dad says he invented this, but he didn't steal it. Apple invented it.'' Your dad is a liar.'' The Rats were having coffee in London. I say this while drinking. He's tall and stocky, with close-cropped dark hair, and he's still visibly furious as he tells his story.
Lutz's latest battle is with the U.S. Patent Office, which he is suing for refusing to release uncensored emails and documents related to his intellectual property. He seeks to prove that the group of judges was intentionally populated with former lawyers and close Apple supporters. Lutz argues that the company has used its “wealth and power” to influence the U.S. patent system.
Asked for comment, Apple pointed to a previous statement issued in 2015, saying: “SmartFlash makes no products, has no employees, does not create jobs, has no presence in the United States, and uses our patent system to seek royalties for technology invented by Apple. They are abusing it.”
“We refused to reimburse the company for the ideas our employees spent years innovating. Unfortunately, we are left with no other option but to take this fight to court.”
Gem Plus did not respond to a request for comment.
Away from legal pursuits, he is a supporter of Regent Sounds, a music store on Denmark Street in central London. The music store, once used as a studio by the Rolling Stones, has been locked in its own battle with its landlord behind a major development by media venture Outernet. .
His main mission remains to tell his story.he wrote smart flashHe has written an autobiography titled “, and there is interest from a publisher. His friend Simon Morris, Amazon's former global chief creative officer and the man behind Amazon Prime Video, struck a deal to sell the rights to a documentary about Ratt's life and persuaded the studio to pursue the project. I'm selling it.
Meanwhile, Latz continues to focus on his legal work and is supported by private investors who will share in his winnings. “They say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That made me even more determined.”
Since the advent of Midjourney and other image generators, artists have been observing and wondering whether AI represents a major opportunity or an existential threat. Midjourney names 16,000 artists whose work is said to have been used to train its AI, including Bridget Riley, Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, Tracey Emin, David Hockney, and Anish Kapoor. Now that the list has been revealed, the art world is calling to arms. For engineers.
British artists have contacted U.S. lawyers to discuss joining a class action lawsuit against Midjourney and other AI companies, other artists told a U.S. newspaper. observer They argued that they could bring legal action themselves in the UK.
“What we need to do is come together,” said Tim Flack, president of the Society of Photographers and an internationally acclaimed photographer whose name also appears on the list.
“Releasing this list of names to the public is a great opportunity for artists to come together and take on this issue. Personally, I am in favor of doing so.”
The 24-page list of names constitutes Exhibit J in a class action lawsuit filed by 10 American artists in California against Midjourney, Stability AI, Runway AI, and DeviantArt. “We’re seeing interest from artists around the world, including in the UK,” said Matthew Butterick, one of the artists’ lawyers.
Tech companies have until February 8 to respond to the complaint. Midjourney did not respond to requests for comment.
Bridget Riley and her painting Rajasthan (2012)
Photo: Nils Jorgensen/Rex Shutterstock
It may be hard to miss, but unimaginably strong bursts of cosmic radiation happen possibly a thousand times every day. They are bright enough to overwhelm our radio telescopes from billions of light-years away.
However, fast radio bursts (FRBs) were not detected until 2007. Despite over a decade of investigation, they remain one of the most intriguing mysteries in astrophysics. Recent research offers new and promising clues about their origins, while also revealing why these space phenomena are so perplexing in the first place.
When FRBs were first discussed in seminars, the big question wasn’t “What astrophysical cause is causing this?” Instead, it was, “Isn’t this just a mechanical failure?”
FRBs last about 1 millisecond and spread out in frequency in a manner very similar to a blip from a pulsar. But the problem is, they don’t come from any known pulsars, they don’t repeat like pulsars, and they’re clearly much more powerful than any pulsar pulses we’ve seen before.
To make matters worse, for many years the only telescope that observed FRBs was the Parkes Observatory in Australia. The debate became even more heated when it turned out that some of the FRB-like bursts observed by Parkes did not come from astronomical sources.
These bursts, called “peritons,” were always suspected to be of terrestrial origin. But clever detective work by astronomers solved the case. Dr. Emily Petrov and her colleagues showed that Periton had a strong correlation with local lunchtime. In reality, radiation leaked from the observatory’s microwave when the door opened too early.
It was eventually revealed that the FRBs were indeed from far away in space. More radio telescopes were configured to record very short bursts of radio waves, and detection rates began to skyrocket.
Those bursts came from all over the sky, suggesting they didn’t originate in our galaxy. In the first decade after the discovery, theorists produced a huge number of papers explaining the possible origins of the bursts.
In 2012, repeated FRBs were discovered, ruling out origins requiring complete destruction, such as supernovae. It was soon discovered that there were many more repeated bursts, mostly occurring at irregular intervals.
As more outbursts are discovered, there is growing evidence that FRBs may be associated with extraordinarily powerful magnetars: neutron stars that rotate in extremely strong magnetic fields.
Recent evidence suggests that at least some FRBs originate from nearby spiral galaxies rather than elliptical galaxies.
Astronomers will need to continue collecting clues, looking for suggestive patterns in the data, and eagerly awaiting observational upgrades that will allow them to pinpoint the FRBs’ local environment.
Whatever the outcome, the fast radio burst is a great example of the fact that in science, when we look at the universe in new and different ways, we almost always discover something surprising that no one had ever thought to look for.
WWill 2024 be boom or bust for big tech companies? estimate
the industry has seen more than 7,500 layoffs since the start of the year, a spate of pink slips that many had hoped would stop after deep job cuts in 2023.
But as earnings season for major U.S. tech companies begins this week, some analysts are predicting strong numbers. This set of quarterly financial results may indicate that the industry has shed pandemic-era hiring overhangs and reorganized around cloud computing and AI, with cuts in sectors where the outlook is less positive. It has become necessary. Analysts passionate about AI say we are at the beginning of a tech bull market.
Since the beginning of this year, Google has laid off more than 1,000 employees in various departments. The job cuts are small compared to January last year, but Google CEO Sundar Pichai warned that more layoffs are coming. He told employees in an internal memo last week that Alphabet was “removing layers to simplify execution and increase speed in some areas.”
“We have ambitious goals and will invest in big priorities this year,” Pichai said in the memo. Obtained from Verge.
“The reality is that we have to make difficult choices to create the capacity for this investment.” However, the reductions “are not the size of last year's cuts and will not impact every team.” he added.
Alphabet workers union called dismissal “needless” in Wednesday's post on X (formerly Twitter).
Amazon also announced new layoffs affecting hundreds of employees in its Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios divisions. This is part of a move away from excessive spending on entertainment and a refocus on core priorities such as online shopping logistics and new businesses such as AI.
At Meta, where more than 20,000 layoffs were made last year, departmental cuts appear to have slowed, but have not stopped. Instagram eliminated its management layer in mid-January, cutting 60 technical program managers. Last year, the company announced it was adding employees to support “priority areas” and changing its workforce to include more “high-cost technical roles.”
And that may be the true story of the technology industry in 2024. If Wedbush analyst Dan Ives is right, the layoffs are almost complete and earnings season will be a time for a “popcorn break.”
“Not only will there be companies that will benefit from the AI revolution, but there will also be companies that will be at a disadvantage.Therefore, companies will need to reduce costs in non-revenue-generating areas and redouble their use of AI.” says.
“This is more of a redistribution than anything else because 95% of the cost savings are in the rearview mirror. But the strong will get stronger and the weak will be exposed.”
But which hand is it? Apple may be looking to boost sales that have been lagging behind this month's launch of the Vision Pro headset and new iPhone models with generative AI capabilities. China's economic downturn has forced the company to cut the prices of many smartphones and hope for a recovery.
Last week, Bank of America securities analyst Wamsi Mohan expressed optimism about Apple's year ahead, suggesting that “promising AI capabilities” could lead to “an enhanced multi-year iPhone upgrade cycle.” did.
Ives said increased demand for enterprise software and cybersecurity, as well as a surge in demand related to major AI projects, will be key to earnings season and will continue to do so as the AI revolution gains momentum.
Winners have already emerged. Last week, Microsoft surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company for the first time since 2021, with a market capitalization of nearly $3 trillion. Microsoft cut 16,000 jobs from 232,000 employees last year, but Wedbush recently said that Microsoft's lead in AI will boost the company's revenue by $25 billion by 2025. I calculated that it was possible.
“The move to cloud and AI is having a huge impact on technology, including the reallocation of jobs and many changes to Apple and Google,” Ives said. “AI monetization has begun with his Nvidia and Microsoft, and we believe we are seeing the beginning of a new tech bull market starting in the summer of 2023.”
Ccountry singer songwriter margo price Born in Illinois in 1983, she studied dance and theater at Northern Illinois University. She was a fixture in the Nashville music scene for years, waiting in line and working odd jobs while playing in various bands, before releasing her debut album. Midwestern Farmer’s Daughter, in 2016. In 2018 she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist and in 2022 she published her memoir. maybe it will be successful. her fourth album, Straysreleased last year, she Tour the UK and Ireland From January 26th (Gorilla, Manchester) to January 30th (Coco, London).
1. movie
Murderer of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese, 2023)
Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon. Photo: Landmark Media/Alamy
I recently read a book by David Grann. This is one of the saddest true stories I’ve ever read and one that more people should know about. Martin Scorsese’s movies were great. This is a story about the Osage His Nation, a Native American tribe who lived in Oklahoma in the 1920s and became the richest people in the United States, attracting some pretty evil people. Lily Gladstone played the lead role and her performance was breathtaking. Fun fact: They asked me to audition for the role of Robert De Niro’s wife. Of course I didn’t understand it, but it was fun to be a part of it.
2. hobby
of dulcimer
“Easier than lugging your guitar around at the airport”: the traditional Appalachian mountain dulcimer. Photo: Picture Partners/Alamy
I started playing the dulcimer about a year ago and it’s really fun. She started looking for information online, figured out the chords, took one lesson, and then decided to boldly take it on tour and perform in front of people. There are only three strings, so it is very easy to pick up the melody. Now you know why Joni Mitchell travels with her guitar. It’s small and light, so it’s easier than lugging your guitar around at the airport. I hope this will be an opportunity for people over 40 to pick up a new musical instrument.
Host Dan Harris was a former news anchor who left the media after suffering panic attacks and battling drug addiction. Although he describes himself as a “fidgety skeptic,” this is a Buddhist-leaning podcast. He has interviewed His Holiness the Dalai Lama, monks, nuns, and guests such as: Esther Perel and La Sarmiento. He’s speaking to people who have gone through some pretty awful things and lived to tell about it, and that gives me perspective. He seems like an honest person and has a dark and dry sense of humor.
This spring, in a rare synchronized phenomenon that last occurred in 1803, swarms of two different cicadas, one with a 13-year cycle and two with a 17-year cycle, emerge from the ground at the same time.
Billions of winged insects emerge from the Midwest to the Southeast, beginning in late April in some regions and performing noisy mating rituals that tend to fascinate and disgust in equal measure.
This year’s twin feathering is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Although a particular 13-year offspring and his 17-year offspring may appear at the same time, the cycles of a particular pair align only once in his 221 years. Additionally, this year’s groups of cicadas, known as Brood XIII and Brood XIX, happen to have habitats adjacent to each other and narrowly overlapping in central Illinois.
“The last time these two brothers were on the scene, Thomas Jefferson was president, so is that unusual? Yes.” said Gene Kritsky, author of “A Tale of Two Broods,” a book about this year’s double broods.
After 2024, Brood XIII and Brood XIX cicadas will not synchronize their emergence for another 221 years.
These types of cicadas are regular insects that spend most of their lives underground feeding on tree roots. After 13 or 17 years, depending on the mate, the cicada tunnels to the surface and matures, noisily searching for a mate for a month.
Cicadas typically appear on the surface in the spring when soil temperatures reach about 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
Blue dots on the map indicate Brood XIII cicadas, and red dots are areas where Brood XIX has appeared in the past. These areas may experience periodic cicadas in 2024.semi-safari
The Blued XIII cicada appears in the Midwest, primarily in Illinois, but has also spread to Wisconsin, Ohio, and Iowa. Stage XIX cicadas have been sighted in a much wider geographic area, including Missouri, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.
When these insects emerge, they occur in large numbers. And they are not quiet at all in the mating frenzy.
The insects are known to emit a high-pitched buzz, or mating song, that can reach up to 100 decibels, which is about the same as a motorcycle or a jackhammer.
The insects themselves are harmless to humans, but billions of insects emerge from the ground, making the cicada noisy for several weeks during its lifespan. When that happens, the ground can also be littered with large amounts of dead insects.
In 2019 “ semi-safari This will allow citizen scientists to report cicada sightings from their location.
“I’ve already spoken to six people who want to take a vacation and come to the area for the cicadas,” he said. “In years past, I’ve helped people plan vacations that depart while the cicadas are singing.”
In parts of the Southeast where the Blued XIX cicada occurs, the insects may begin to emerge from underground in late April.
Then, as temperatures warm across the Southeast and Midwest, more cicadas will show up throughout May and June.
When the insect reaches the surface, it sheds its nymph exoskeleton and spreads its wings. It usually takes a few more days for adult skin to harden.
The mating ritual itself is hectic, with cicadas taking only a few weeks to find a mate and lay eggs. This entire process takes approximately 6 weeks.
“By July 1st, they’ll be gone,” Kritsky said.
But while cicadas are on the ground, scientists are keen to track where they appear. Kritsky himself plans to study cicadas in the Chicago area, and hopes people in the Midwest and Southeast will report sightings using the Cicada Safari app.
Mapping insect ranges helps researchers understand how cicadas adapt and change between cycles. During this year’s double emergence, scientists are also interested in whether mating will occur between two different chicks.
But beyond science, Kritsky said this year is also a chance to experience a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.
“This year marks 50 years since I started researching cicadas,” he says. “Many of us will be in the borderlands of Illinois, driving back and forth, meeting for coffee and eating pie.”
Humans are not the fastest or strongest species. We have no wings, fangs, claws, poison, or armor. Physically, we are primarily controlled by nature.
However, the words “run the same way'' are ironic. This is because humans physically dominate all other species in one area: long-distance running. Thanks to our bipedalism and unique sweat glands, humans can continue running long after other species have collapsed from exhaustion.
Humans have evolved to train their bodies, or exercise, over long periods of time. But while many people actually enjoy exercise, they're in the minority (as evidenced by uncrowded gyms and abandoned New Year's resolutions in mid-February).
So why doesn't everyone enjoy exercise, even though we've evolved to do so? It’s because of the mysterious complexity of the human brain.Evolving abilities does not automatically evolve want to use it. Armored creatures do not want to be actively attacked.
Although physical exercise is not that Bad, but still usually unpleasant and uncomfortable. It must be so. You end up pushing your body to its physical limits, which leads to significant discomfort. There are limits for a reason.
What does the brain think about exercise?
Another problem is that the human brain is extremely sensitive to wasted effort. Research has shown that the insular cortex contains dedicated circuitry. Calculate the effort required for an action – They are there to ask “Is it worth it?”
This is a trend that evolved to prevent us from wasting vital resources on pointless endeavors, such as walking 20 miles to buy a handful of berries.
However, regular exercise to “get in shape” requires constant and great effort. It's all about gradual progress and uncertain rewards (it's impossible to guarantee success in advance). In other words, your brain tends to ask, “Is it worth it?” It would be difficult to keep quiet.
This trait also means that we typically prefer things that give us the most reward with the least amount of effort. So we choose the path of least resistance, stick to our routine, and stay in our comfort zone.
Starting to exercise means changing everything for an uncertain result. To keep us safe, our brains typically tend to value risk over reward, making us more reluctant to engage in physically demanding activities.
read more:
So while our bodies may be adapted to continuous exercise, our brains are adapted to avoid it in many ways. And we have built a world for ourselves where avoiding physical activity is a viable option.
Thankfully, the human brain is an incredibly complex organ, so there are some metaphorical tricks up your sleeve. Most obviously, it is not dominated by more primitive and direct instincts and impulses. Many species' thought processes are limited to “Food, eat!”, “Danger, run!”, “Pain, avoid!”, but we have evolved beyond that.
The human brain is capable of forming multiple long-term goals and ambitions. We are rarely satisfied with just day-to-day survival. We simply simulate a desired future scenario, figure out how to achieve it, and then…do it. Or at least strive towards it.
This directly affects how our brains process motivation and willpower in many interesting ways. First, it allows you to delay gratification. In other words, you will realize that it is important to refuse the reward now.Can lead to bigger rewards later, and act accordingly.
In this case, eating four bags of potato chips as a family while watching TV is fun in the moment, but going to the gym will make you fitter, stronger, and fitter later on.
And then there's the “just world” fallacy. Here we assume the world is fair and that is what makes us believe. research shows this – No matter how much suffering you suffer, it will always lead to reward. As the saying goes, no pain, no gain.
How the brain increases motivation
So how does the brain process all these different motivations? Self-contradiction theory suggests that we have multiple “selves” active in our minds at any given time. The “real” self, the “ideal” self, and the “ideal” self.
Your “actual” self is your current state, or how you are right now. Your “ideal self” is yourself. want Something to do. And your “ideal” self is one that does whatever it takes to become your “ideal” self.you do what you do should What I'm doing. In other words, if your “ideal” self is a professional soccer player and your “real” self is not, then the “ideal” you is someone who has to train, exercise, and train a lot to get better at soccer. It's someone who spends their time.
This is just one framework for how motivation works when it comes to physical exercise. Of course, there are many other factors that play an important role, such as time constraints, body image, and ease of movement.
However, as far as the brain is concerned, there are processes that prevent movement and processes that promote movement. Ideally, you'll end up focusing more on the latter than the former. Also, moving weights is a classic exercise, so it's a good idea to start somewhere.
Samsung’s popular folding screen foldable phone now has a larger outer screen in its fifth generation, making it even easier to use, while still maintaining a stylish look with a sleek design that leaves no gaps when closed.
The new Z Flip 5 costs £1,049 ($999/AU$1,649), £50 more than last year’s model. It also comes with double his initial capacity of storage and a number of small but meaningful upgrades. There’s no question that folding technology still commands a premium price, with prices similar to high-end Android and iPhones.
The Flip 5 feels like a gorgeous piece of technology and is more sophisticated than previous versions. The new hinge allows the two halves of your phone to close flush on one end without leaving any gaps, which looks great and prevents pocket lint.
In contrast to the wedge shape and gap of flip 4 (left), flip 5 (right) closes flat and flush. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The new design also makes the phone thinner and slightly reduces the size of the screen crease, similar to the one seen on the Oppo Find N2 Flip. You can still feel the indentation in the center of the fold and see it in the glare of light, but it is usually not noticeable during use.
The large 6.7-inch screen is great: bright, crisp, smooth, and responsive. Samsung says the screen is 25% more durable than previous models, but it’s still made of softer materials than traditional phones, so it needs to be handled more carefully to avoid scratches. That’s what it means.
A big new 3.4-inch cover screen on the outside of the phone is the standout feature. It shows the time, notifications, and other types of information typical of a regular cell phone’s always-on display. There’s also an eight-button quick settings panel for toggling Wi-Fi and other bits, which is useful but annoyingly not customizable. When you have a notification, you’ll see a retro little red dot. There are many ways to customize the look of your display with different designs, images, and animations.
Spotify’s cover screen mini player is great (top left), with widget options like calendar, weather, and timer, as well as apps like Google Maps and YouTube (bottom right). Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The cover screen also has a collection of useful widgets, and you can also access a full keyboard to reply to messages and run a handful of apps like WhatsApp without opening your phone.
specification
Main screen: 6.7-inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED Infinity Flex display (425ppi)
Cover screen: 3.4 inch AMOLED
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 2nd generation
Ram: 8GB
storage: 256 or 512GB
operating system: One UI 5.1 based on Android 13
camera: Dual 12MP rear, 10MP front
Connectivity: 5G, nano sim+esim, wifi6E, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, GNSS
water resistance: IPX8 (30 minutes at a depth of 1.5 meters)
Patrick, I don’t pretend to understand the esoteric machinations behind the TikTok algorithm, but these days you keep giving me video after video of people sailing around the world on nine-month cruises. They’re all on the same cruise, and behind each blank stare is the same quiet desperation. what’s happening?
Michael, what’s happening now is essentially a social experiment being broadcast in real time, and some of us just can’t get enough of it.
Royal Caribbean Ultimate World Cruise is a nine-month cruise on a ship called Serenade of the Seas that aims to visit more than 60 countries on all seven continents and is touted as the world’s longest cruise. I don’t know the official number of passengers, but 1 TikToker reports that there are approximately 1,000 people. Most of them are regular cruise types, but some of them have started documenting on TikTok. It basically just describes the day’s action and shows viewers the cabins, meals, and other passengers. Even though it sounds like the worst reality show premise, you’ve heard it before, it became all the rage.
Two months have passed and we now have a boat full of influencers stuck on the high seas. This place is famous for the fact that people love to go crazy and get hooked on hunting huge and sexy whales. Nothing has actually happened yet, butIt’s a perfect recipe for disaster. Terrible maritime affairs guaranteed.
How did this start? And who are the main characters?
Most of the content is daily style videos and confessionals, similar to the TikToks created by @sisters.swan color mode … and posts to his 7,000 followers.
Being on a ship for nine months sounds like an old-fashioned punishment. But people are actually paying for this, right?
Yes, it’s not cheap. You can join part of the tour or stay for the entire tour. The cheapest option for 9 months starts at $59,999 per person and the highest costs him $117,999. A couple who call themselves “Cruise Mom and Dad”I started an account @ while on board.spend our children’s money. They gained nearly 90,000 followers.
…
But what’s interesting is how… junky it looks. Many university dormitories have common rooms. In fact, after the cruise started blowing up, TikTok influencer Marc Sebastian begged to be put on the ship and ended up getting sponsored by a publisher to go on an 18-night cruise. What’s his review? “I don’t like it here.”
he captioned video I went around my room writing the following: Are you okay. But for 9 months? You can’t do that, baby. ”
He also claimed that the showers were small and unreliable, that trips to see penguins were often canceled and that music was constantly blaring everywhere. nightmare.
…
Once again, what’s on board now is a shady mix of old, wealthy cruisers, digital nomads, and influencers, almost exactly like the plot of Triangle of Sorrow. Has there been any real drama so far?
No, but everyone is preparing for it. It’s like we’re in the opening scene of a disaster movie right now. There, everyone is still cheerful and happy, we meet all the characters, and scientists continue to discover strange things that no one has noticed.
But we have a lot of gossip and it can lead to real drama – 1 account They claimed the passengers were infected with the coronavirus and were actually hiding it, which could lead to a new Ruby Princess-type plague ship.
…
Another recent video Despite sharing rumors that the cruise may end much earlier than expected due to conflicts in the Middle East, a Royal Caribbean representative confirmed that they plan to continue the trip as scheduled.
Of course, even if nothing major happens, that doesn’t mean the entire ecosystem of gossip, comments, and criticism from stranded TikTok users has stopped. The passengers become characters in a soap opera, and the viewers write the story.
…
It feels like being in the middle of a season of Real Housewives when nothing is happening and everyone is talking in sharp whispers as if something is happening. Why are we still investing so much?
I think it’s a combination of factors. There’s something truly intoxicating about watching rich people eat it while being trapped on a big ship – think “Below Deck” and “Triangle of Sorrow” – and the big ship itself, which has been ravaged by COVID-19. Virus cruises and stranded ships took center stage.
On top of that, people are fed up with the way reality shows are planned and produced these days, and there could be some real real chaos on this trip. It’s like putting a box full of bats, spiders, eggs, and fireworks and shaking it up. Something will happen. And we will watch.
Scientists have made a monumental discovery about what lies beneath a mysterious mass buried below Mars’ equator, revealing the presence of ice that could be crucial in planning for potential life on the red planet.
New data from ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft has uncovered ice extending several kilometers below the surface of Mars, providing unprecedented insight into the planet’s subsurface.
Fifteen years ago, Mars Express explored the wind-sculpted Medusae fossai formation, which is where the ice is currently located. The spacecraft initially found large deposits estimated to be 2.5 km (1.6 miles) deep, but the content of these deposits remained a mystery until now. Scientists have since confirmed that the deposit stretches an incredible 3.7 km (2.3 miles) deep and is thicker than previously thought.
The volume of ice discovered is substantial, with enough water content to cover Mars with a layer 1.5 to 2.7 meters (4.9 to 8.9 feet) deep if melted – equivalent to the Red Sea’s capacity on Earth.
“Interestingly, the radar signal is consistent with what you would expect to see from layered ice, and from the polar caps of Mars, which we know to be very ice-rich,” said Thomas Watters of the Smithsonian Institution, lead author of the study.
The recent discovery, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, constitutes the largest detection of water in this region of Mars yet. The presence of water could significantly impact future human exploration of Mars, potentially favoring equatorial locations over the ice-rich polar caps.
“The finding of water ice buried underground on Mars does not directly provide optimism for discovering extraterrestrial life there, but it does offer hope for human colonization on the red planet,” commented Dr. Darren Baskill, an astronomy lecturer at the University of Sussex.
The deposit’s location close to the equator suggests that the water ice is a relic from Mars’ history, challenging current understandings of the planet’s climate and prompting further research into its implications.
About our experts
Dr. Darren Baskill is an Outreach Officer and Lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex. He previously lectured at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and organized the annual Astronomical Photographer of the Year competition.
A full moon low on the horizon is one of the most fascinating sights in the night sky. It is also one of the easiest astronomical phenomena to observe. You don't need any special equipment to see the full moon, and you don't need a star map to find it.
It's helpful to learn a little about the different craters on the moon. By observing the moon regularly, you can see how its characteristics change as the moon waxes and wanes.
Whether you're an experienced astronomer, a budding astrophotographer or someone with an interest in astrology, it's useful to know when the next full moon will be visible in the UK. For those who want to try their hand at moon photography, expert Pete Lawrence has put together a guide on how to take great photos of the moon. This guide is full of helpful (and practical!) tips and hints.
Discover more amazing views of the night sky with our beginner's guide to astronomy, and record natural fireworks on your calendar. All 2024 meteor showers are listed in our definitive guide.
When is the next full moon?
Next full moon is January 25, 2024, also known as the Wolf Moon. Other names for January's full moon include Moon After Yule, Ice Moon, and Old Moon.
A full moon is part of a lunar cycle that takes 29.53 days (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds) to complete. In other words, a full moon occurs every 29.53 days. Since this is less than one calendar month, you may see two full moons in one month, and that “extra” full moon is known as a “blue moon.”
During the Full Moon phase of the lunar cycle, the Moon, Earth, and Sun are aligned, with the Moon 180 degrees opposite the Sun. That's why during a full moon, the moon rises and the sun sets (and vice versa).
Full moon day in 2024
January 25th, 5:54pm: wolf moon
February 24th, 12:30pm: snow moon
March 25th, 7am: worm moon
April 23rd, 11:49pm: pink moon
May 23rd, 1:53pm: flower moon
June 22nd 1:08am: strawberry moon
July 21st 10:17am: back moon
August 19th, 6:26pm: sturgeon moon
September 18th, 2:34am: corn moon
October 17th 11:25am: hunter's moon
November 15th, 9:28pm: beaver moon
December 15th 9:02am: cold moon
When will the 2024 supermoon occur?
Supermoon is an unofficial name that has become increasingly popular in recent years. This refers to a full moon that appears larger and brighter than other full moons that year.
Because the Moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical shape, its distance from us changes throughout the year. When the moon is closest to us, this is called lunar perigee. When it is farthest from us, it is known as the moon's apogee.
When perigee occurs near a full moon, the moon appears larger and brighter, creating a supermoon. Typically, this is when the Moon is about 360,000 km or less from us, but this is not always the case.
2024 supermoon dates
sturgeon supermoon
August 19th: 361,969 kilometers (224,917 miles)
corn supermoon
September 18th: 357,485 kilometers (222,131 miles)
hunter's supermoon
October 17th: 357,363 kilometers (222,055 miles)
beaver supermoon
November 15th: 361,866 kilometers (224,853 miles)
What is the lunar cycle?
The moon appears to change shape throughout the lunar cycle.
new moon
waxing crescent moon
1st quarter
The waxing Gibbs moon
full moon
The fading gibbous moon
3rd quarter
waning crescent moon
Another new moon.
We can see the moon because it reflects light from the sun. As it orbits the Earth, the amount of light reflected back to us changes. When the moon passes between the sun and the earth, light can no longer be reflected back to us and a new moon occurs.
A full moon occurs when the Earth is between the sun and the moon, when the moon's surface is completely illuminated by the sun. During those hours, only part of the moon can reflect light back to Earth.
If the moon orbits the Earth in the same plane that the Earth orbits the sun, the moon will block light from the sun every time a new moon occurs.
However, this does not happen because the Moon orbits at an angle of about 5 degrees compared to the Earth's orbit of the Sun. When the Moon passes through the Earth's orbit and her three celestial bodies, the Earth, Moon, and Sun, line up.
This is called Shijiji. A solar eclipse occurs when a lunation occurs during a new moon, and a lunar eclipse occurs when a lunation occurs during a full moon.
How can I photograph the moon at night?
To photograph the moon with your phone, you may need to play around with your camera settings. No flash, lower ISO and set focus to 100.
If you don't know how to make these changes, use the Night Photography app ( night cap– Available at app store£2.99) gives you more control over your camera settings than the regular camera app.
If you're using a digital camera, start with an aperture between f/11 and f/16 and a shutter speed between 1/60 and 1/125 seconds. A tripod can help reduce shaking in low-light situations when you need to hold the camera still and keep the shutter open a little longer.
To get the best photos of the moon, you need to be creative with your shots so that you can fit the moon in the frame depending on the surrounding scenery. There is a lot of software available to help you plan where you will see the moon or anything else in the night sky ( moon locator App – available at android device, free).
To find more software worthy of your home screen, check out our guide to the best astronomy apps.
Moon photography is a great way to get started with astrophotography. The moon's appearance changes throughout the month. Not only the shape changes, but also the craters and the moon. Similarly, shadows create tricks of light that make the moon a brilliant subject.
You don't need much in terms of equipment. If you have a smartphone and a tripod, you can take good photos.
Related: Read Pete Lawrence's expert guide on how to photograph the moon. It features beginner, intermediate, and advanced projects that you can try at home.
Does the moon rotate?
Yes, the moon rotates. But it is tidally locked and rotates in sync with Earth's orbit, so for every Earth orbit he makes one revolution.
This means that the same side is always facing us as we move around the Earth. This is why we have the term “dark side of the moon,” which refers to the side we never see. In fact, that side of the moon receives as much sunlight as the side we see, so the correct term is “far side of the moon.”
What is a Blood Moon? How can I see it?
“During a total lunar eclipse, the moon turns red because Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light and only lets red light through. This is called a blood moon,” says Abigail Beale.
The next total lunar eclipse visible from the UK will be on 14 March 2025 (UK, Europe, Africa, the Americas, East Asia, Australia).
We have some time before we wait for the next Blood Moon. Below are the dates of the next total lunar eclipse that will result in a blood moon.
March 14, 2025:UK, Europe, Africa, America, East Asia, Australia
September 7, 2025:UK, Europe, Asia, Australia
March 3, 2026: America, Asia, Australia
December 31, 2028:UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, Western US, Canada
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a casual observer, a good meteor shower is always fun to watch
These occur at the same time every year, but you don’t need expensive equipment to get the most out of them. In fact, you’re better without a telescope. By using just your eyes, you can take in a wider field of view and see more meteors.
Why do meteor showers occur on specific days?
As the Earth orbits the Sun, each year we pass through the same stream of debris left behind by comets and sometimes asteroids. In the case of periodic comets such as the large comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which is the parent object of the summer Perseid meteor shower, the stream is replenished each time it passes.
Summarized meteor showers in 2024
In this article, we have summarized all the meteor showers in 2024, their maximum period, and the number of meteors that can be observed.
Learn about constellations
While you wait for that all-important peak night, why not brush up on your constellations with our handy astronomer’s guide for beginners? Having a broad understanding of constellations will help you identify and observe the radiance of each meteor shower. It will help you get the most out of your experience.
Full moon calendar
If you prefer the moon, check out our full moon calendar. All dates, names, and times are compiled into one comprehensive list. It also includes some trivia about the moon.
What is a meteor shower?
A meteor shower is a cascade of meteors, also called shooting stars, that flash across the sky and leave a trail of light in their wake. They occur on certain days every year and can be a spectacular sight if conditions are right.
When is the next meteor shower?
After the quadrant meteor shower in January, Britain’s next major meteor shower will be the Lyrids, followed quickly by Eta Aquarius in April. The peaks of these showers are expected on April 22-23 and May 6, respectively, so mark your calendars.
Meteor Showers in 2024
See below the dates of all 2024 meteor showers, along with peak times and number of meteors seen per hour.
quadrant meteor shower
Active: December 28, 2023 – January 12, 2024 peak: January 3-4, 2024 Price/hour: 110 radiation: Boes Parent body: Probably 2003 EH1, but not confirmed yet Peak moon illumination: 59-49%
Urinidae
Active: December 17th to 26th peak: December 22nd-23rd Price/hour: Ten radiation: Ursa Minor Parent body: Comet 8P/Tuttle Peak moon illumination: 61-51%
Woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) The peoples of mainland Alaska overlapped with the first peoples of this region for at least 1,000 years. However, it is unclear how mammoths used the space they shared with humans. In a new study, scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and elsewhere analyzed a 14,000-year-old female mammoth tusk discovered at an archaeological site in Fairbanks. swan point They showed that she migrated nearly 1,000 km (621 miles) from northwestern Canada to inhabit the Shaw Creek watershed in interior Alaska, an area with the highest concentration of early remains in interior Alaska. Early Alaskans appear to have built their settlements based in part on the prevalence of mammoths, utilizing them for raw materials and perhaps food.
The piece shows three mammoths being observed by an ancient Alaskan family from a sand dune near the Swan Point ruins, a seasonal hunting camp inhabited 14,000 years ago. Image credit: Julius Csostonyi.
The woolly mammoth at the center of the study, named Elmayujaye by the Healy Lake Village Council, was discovered at Swan Point, Alaska's oldest archaeological site, which also contained the remains of a juvenile mammoth and a baby.
Mammoth fossils have also been found at three other sites within 10 km of Swan Point.
In the study, University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Audrey Rowe and her colleagues conducted detailed isotopic analysis of complete tusks and genetic analysis of the remains of many other mammoth individuals, comparing the subject's movements and similar Pieced together relationships with other mammoths in location and environment. Neighborhood.
They determined that the Swan Point area was likely the gathering place for at least two closely related but distinct maternal herds.
“This is a fascinating story about the complexity of mammoth life and behavior, about which we have little insight,” said Dr. Hendrik Poynar, director of the McMaster Center for Ancient DNA at McMaster University.
The authors sequenced the mitochondrial genomes of eight woolly mammoths found at Swan Point and other nearby sites to see if and how they were related.
They also conducted isotopic analysis of a 14,000-year-old tusk from Elmayujaye (Elma) taken from Swan Point.
“Mammoth tusks grew like tree trunks, with thin layers showing steady growth, and isotopes of different elements such as oxygen and strontium providing information about the target's movements,” the researchers said. Ta.
“The female mammoth lived most of her life in a relatively small area of the Yukon Territory and died when she was about 20 years old.”
“As she grew older, she traveled more than 1,000 kilometers in just three years, settling in interior Alaska and dying near related babies and boys, suggesting that she may have been the matrilineal leader. unknown.”
“Mammoths are estimated to behave much like modern elephants, with females and young living in close-knit matrilineal herds, and adult males traveling alone or in looser groups of males. They are often thought to have a wider range than females.
The researchers extracted and analyzed ancient DNA from Elmayujay's tusks and found that the mammoth was closely related to other mammoths at the same site, and more distantly related to other mammoths at a nearby site called Holzmann. found.
“Early humans had a deep understanding of mammoths and the art of hunting them, and used mammoth habitats for scavenging and hunting detritus as raw material for tools,” the researchers said.
“In addition to the direct effects of hunting on mammoth populations, human activities and settlements have also affected mammoth populations indirectly by restricting mammoth movement and access to preferred grazing areas. There is a possibility.”
“For early people in Alaska, these areas were important for observation and viewing, as well as potential food sources,” Dr. Poyner said.
The data collected suggests that people organized seasonal hunting camps based on where mammoths congregated, and that this may have had an indirect effect on the localized extinction of mammoths in Alaska, which was further exacerbated by a rapidly changing climate and changes in vegetation. This suggests that it may have played a role.
However, such deprivation does not seem to have affected the mammoths involved.
“She was a young adult in her prime,” said Professor Matthew Wooler, director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility and a researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
“Her isotopes showed that she was not malnourished and that she died during the same season as the Swan Point seasonal hunting camp where her tusk was found.”
“This is more than just looking at stone tools and ruins and making assumptions. This analysis of lifetime migration is very helpful in understanding how humans and mammoths lived in these areas,” McMaster said. said Dr. Tyler Murchy, a postdoctoral fellow at the university.
a paper The findings were published in this week's magazine scientific progress.
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Audrey G. Lowe other. 2024. The female woolly mammoth's lifelong migration ends in an ancient Alaskan hunter-gatherer camp. scientific progress 10(3); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adk0818
Two weeks before the pandemic lockdown in March 2020, I flew to Tucson, Arizona, and knocked on the door of a suburban ranch-style home. I was there to visit Stuart Hammeroff. He is an anesthesiologist and co-inventor with Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose of a radical proposal for how conscious experience arises: that it has its origins in quantum phenomena in the brain.
Such ideas, in one form or another, have existed on the fringes of mainstream consciousness research for decades. There is no solid experimental evidence that quantum effects occur in the brain, as critics claim, and aside from a clear idea of how quantum effects produce consciousness, they come in from the cold. Not that it was. “It was very popular to bash us,” Hammeroff told me.
But after a week of questioning him about the concept, I realized that at least his version of quantum consciousness is widely misunderstood. Partly, I think it’s Hammeroff’s fault. He gives the impression of a single package. In fact, his ideas are a series of independent proposals, each forcing us to confront important questions about the relationship between fundamental physics, biology, and the indescribable thing called consciousness. I am.
Furthermore, during my visit I saw several experiments that Hammeroff had proposed come to fruition, and it became clear that his ideas could be applied to experimental research. Researchers have now provided preliminary evidence suggesting that fragile quantum states can persist in the brain and that anesthetics can influence those states.
Artist's impression of a pulsar orbiting a black hole – one possible interpretation of the mysterious binary star system
Daniel Hutseller (artsource.nl)
Some 40,000 light-years away, a strange object could be either the heaviest neutron star or the lightest black hole ever seen, and it resides in a mysterious celestial void that astronomers have never directly observed. .
Neutron stars form when a star runs out of fuel and collapses due to gravity, creating a shock wave called a supernova and leaving behind an extremely dense core. Astrophysical calculations show that these nuclei must remain below a certain mass, about 2.2 times the mass of the Sun, or they will collapse further to form a black hole.
However, black holes have only been observed to have a mass more than five times that of the sun, leaving a gap in scale between neutron stars and black holes. Gravitational-wave observatories have observed several dense objects in this gap, but astronomers have never discovered them with conventional telescopes.
now, Ewan Barr Researchers at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy discovered an object with 2.5 times the mass of the Sun by observing pulsars orbiting around it. A pulsar is a neutron star that emits pulses of light at regular millisecond intervals due to a strong magnetic field.
As predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, pulsars emit light with great regularity, but very large nearby objects can distort these rhythms. Dr. Barr and his team were able to calculate the mass of the pulsar's partner by observing the pulsar's pulses for more than a year using his MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
“What we've discovered in this binary system appears to go beyond that [upper limit for neutron star mass]This suggests that there is some new physics going on here and that this is either a new type of star, or simply a black hole, the lightest stellar-mass black hole yet discovered. “There will be,” Barr said.
Pulsars are located in globular clusters, which are dense regions of stars and some rare objects that can pass close to each other. These unusual interactions could explain the mysterious object, Barr said.
If it's a black hole, researchers will be able to test theories of gravity that weren't possible before. “A pulsar is just a ridiculously accurate measuring device in orbit around a black hole, but it's not going anywhere. It's going to be around for the next billion years,” Barr says. “So this is an incredibly stable and natural test bed for investigating the physics of black holes.”
“If it's a neutron star, it would be more massive than any neutron star we've ever seen,” he says. Christine Dunn At Durham University, UK. “This actually tells us about the ultimate density that a star can support before it collapses under its own gravity and becomes a black hole. We need to understand the physics of matter at such extreme densities. I don't know what the limits are.”
Barr and his team plan to observe the pulsar with other telescopes over the next few years, looking for clues about what the object is. If it were a black hole, we would see the pulsar's orbit change over time, as the black hole dragged through spacetime around it, much like a ship dragging a small boat behind it. Or if it's a neutron star, more sensitive instruments might be able to detect the light.
Japan's Smart Lander for Lunar Exploration (SLIM) has landed on the moon. Although the spacecraft is not operating perfectly, the successful landing follows a series of recent failed moon landings by governments and private spaceflight companies, and remains encouraging for international efforts to explore the moon. . With this landing, Japan will become the fifth country to land on the moon, following the United States, Soviet Union, China, and India.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched SLIM in September 2023, and the spacecraft took a long orbit to the moon, circling the Earth several times to conserve fuel. It has been orbiting the moon since December, taking images of the surface and preparing for landing.
The January 19 touchdown marked the first use of a technology engineers dubbed “smart eye,” which allows SLIM to aim its landing spot with extreme precision. SLIM determined its position by comparing images from its onboard camera with data from other spacecraft orbiting the moon, then autonomously navigated to a landing site on the slopes of Sioli Crater. JAXA officials are continuing to analyze how well the targeting protocol worked.
Initial signals from SLIM suggest that the solar panels do not appear to be operational, so the spacecraft is operating on battery power for now. If spacecraft operators are unable to figure out what's wrong with the solar cells and get them working, SLIM's scientific capabilities could be hampered and its lifespan significantly shortened. According to JAXA officials, battery life is expected to be only a few hours. It's possible the spacecraft will regain solar power, but for now JAXA's priority is to return as much data as possible to Earth before its batteries run out.
As SLIM descended to the lunar surface, two small rovers, each carrying a small payload of scientific instruments, also descended. One of them is designed to bounce rather than roll on wheels, and the other is a tennis ball. He was designed by toy manufacturers to roll on the moon, with a sphere slightly smaller than a ball. The spacecraft appears to be functioning normally.
Spacecraft landing sites are potentially important. Previous observations suggest that material may have come from inside the moon during the impact that formed the crater. SLIM's scientific instruments can study these minerals to learn about the formation and evolution of the Moon. A successful landing and the scientific data collected will provide useful data for the many spacecraft scheduled to travel to the moon from around the world in the coming years.
History isn’t full of glorious Indiana Jones video games. The Fate of Atlantis, a beautiful adventure from LucasArts. A pretty good Lego game. A proper imperial tomb. A great-looking SNES side-scrolling game, Greatest Adventures… good There are games, but very few of them are classic games that transcend the brand like Knights of the Old Republic. Maybe that is about to change.
At Microsoft’s latest Developer Direct online event streamed Thursday night, we saw: 12 minute preview Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a globe-trotting first-person adventure set between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. The project was revealed three years ago by him, but this is the first footage we’ve seen, and what we can expect. There are Nazis, there are whips, there is Dr. Jones in the desert and in a tomb, and there is an argument with Denholm Elliott in an old university building. And it includes a story about stolen artifacts that are somehow connected to an international network of ancient sites along a circle that stretches around the world.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Photo: Microsoft/MachineGames
Interestingly, much of the lengthy promotional video shown during the event went to developer MachineGames explaining why the game uses a first-person perspective. “Our game is all about putting yourself in the shoes of an indie and letting him see what he sees and feel what he feels,” said Senior Narrator his designer Edward Curtis-Syves. says. “For us at MachineGames, it’s best to do it from a first-person perspective. We believe it’s important to experience the adventure up close.” Perhaps of concern is the appearance of Indiana Jones. is so iconic that fans may miss seeing him move around on screen. In fact, his two major game franchises, Uncharted and Tomb Raider, which owe most to Raiders of the Lost Ark, both use a third-person perspective. , Indy mimics the cinematic feel of his series.
In fact, this game is going to do a great job of crawling out from under the legacies of these two series. Both have worked on the cinematic, puzzle-filled action-adventure genre and established much of its promise. For example, in The Great Circle, Indy is accompanied by a hard-nosed journalist named Gina Lombardi, not unlike Elena Fisher, Nathan Drake’s partner in colonial crimes. It also looks like there will be some environmental puzzles, with one section taking place inside a tomb and requiring you to place a stone gear, presumably to open a door. This will be very familiar to anyone who has played Uncharted 3 or Tomb Raider, for example. : Anniversaries and adventures inspired by Indiana Jones. The video also promises multiple routes through key set-piece locations, including the chance to sneak in and study enemy patrol routes. Again, Nathan and Lara have been doing this for years.
But this is MachineGames’ brilliant reboot of the Wolfenstein series. It’s a studio that’s used to taking established concepts and giving them strange new twists. For those worried about not seeing Indie on screen, the team brought real detail and character to protagonist BJ Blazkowicz, who rarely appears in games.And we teeth Go see Indy. The video highlights that the camera switches to a third-person perspective during certain sections of gameplay, and of course there’s a very convincing Harrison Ford model present in the cutscenes. The character is expertly voiced by video game actor Troy Baker, best known for his role as Joel in The Last of Us.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Photo: Microsoft/MachineGames
More promising, however, is the implementation of classic Indie tropes. It seems that his whip can be used not only as a weapon but also as a crossing device, and you can enjoy full-fledged punching with thunderous punch sound effects. Additionally, the arrogant Nazi antagonist Emmerich Voss is a classic indie film. It’s also great to see the role of horror movie stalwart Tony Todd, who is seen stealing a seemingly minor artifact from Indy’s workplace, Marshall University, at the beginning of the game.
It seems unfair that Great Circle has to contend with two games that plundered Indiana Jones’ treasure trove of ideas, images, and action. But of course, what’s there is the Lucasfilm legacy: the character and his worldview, the whip, that score, and decades of goodwill. Additionally, MachineGames is a really interesting studio that isn’t afraid of compelling and idiosyncratic ideas. Indy is going to need a lot of them if it’s going to win against the young usurpers.
A mother manatee (pictured above) swims up to a cave diver in a flooded cave in Quintana Roo, Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Klaus ThiemannThey captured amazing photos of these endangered mammals living in unique, unexplored habitats. “Of course I think she's looking at me,” Tyman says. “But in reality, she's probably seeing what's on camera.”
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Carved into the limestone by flowing water, this cave system is thought to be up to 16,000 kilometers long and connects coastal and inland cenotes, freshwater-filled sinkholes created when cave roofs collapse. is. Timan and his fellow divers have been exploring this system (pictured above) to photograph manatees, which, unlike humans, can easily navigate passages.
Although manatees have likely lived in the area for generations, it is estimated that fewer than 250 manatees exist in the Mexican Caribbean, Tiemann said. Timan is concerned that nearby construction projects are endangering aquatic species in the area. A new railway line will further develop this popular tourist destination (pictured above). Construction can impede the flow of water through the system, starving it of oxygen and trapping manatees. Wastewater from surface runoff and sewage systems degrades the water quality of local aquifers.
Although the coastal area is protected as a manatee sanctuary, it does not extend as far inland as the manatees were photographed. So while the discovery of manatees in a relatively pristine cave system is good news, these habitats may not remain pristine for very long.
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