aAt first glance, Wanderstop seems to stimulate the same restless urge as many other feel-good games: the desire to escape a stressful life into a secluded wilderness. The game begins with you taking a job as an assistant in a tea shop in the forest, where you spend your days cleaning, tending to the garden, and researching the perfect tea blend to satisfy the needs of visiting customers. Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll find that the game rips away the hollow rewards of escapist fantasies.
This idyllic setting was born from an idea that game designer Davey Redden had in mind a few months after the game’s release. Beginner’s Guide for 2015He had a recurring daydream about going to a coffee shop in the woods and lying on a bench by the water. He drew various sketches of that scene for several months, before finally deciding that it would be his next game.
“I thought feel-good games would soothe my soul. But I was so wrong” … Wanderstop. Photo: Ivy Road
“I was feeling extremely exhausted,” he says, “like I was trying to summon up some energy within myself to rest and relax. I thought that some feel-good games would soothe a part of me. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that this was completely wrong.”
Making a feel-good game is a marathon of hard work, just like making any other game, and one that’s not made easier by a cute sensibility, but Wreden was also consumed by the same illusion at the heart of the genre: that the satisfaction of completing a series of tasks is the same as solace.
It wasn’t until Carla Zimonja, one of the creators of Gone Home, came on board that Welden realized he was making a seemingly heartwarming game about trauma.[We realized Wanderstop’s] “The characters were really conflicted and in a really bad situation,” he says. “And they’re not going to be magically cured by having tea in the middle of the woods.”
The protagonist, Alta, is at the heart of Wonderstop’s heartwarming fantasy, a character who seeks healing through escapism and the mundane. Once a champion fighter and human weapon, she was sharp and violent. “Her whole life and mind is focused on progressing and achieving future accomplishments,” says Redden. Her time in the arena left her traumatized, and she believes completing the tea shop job will help her heal.
If Alta were a player, she’d be a quintessential min-maxer, figuring out the most efficient way to get the coffee shop’s work done in the shortest time possible. She sweeps her broom as if she were swinging a sword. But without spoiling the story, Ureden makes it clear that running through a checklist of wholesome tasks won’t lead to the solace Alta or her customers are looking for. “A character who offers you a cup of tea and says, ‘Great, well done, thank you for cheering me up. Here’s a token of my appreciation!’ and then just walks away is the last thing we can do,” Ureden says. “I think this place is a place where you can be yourself and not just be yourself.” [challenge] If she doesn’t, the activity won’t have the predictable results that players are accustomed to.”
“WonderStop was created not to shatter the comfort zone of gamers and their escapist fantasies, but to change our understanding of where healing comes from,” he said. “In Studio Ghibli films, [we watch] “This is someone doing chores,” Zimonja says, “sweeping the floor, washing dishes, tidying up. You can see that these ritualistic elements, these ongoing acts of maintenance, are important and meaningful parts of living in the world.”
Through Arta’s story, we learn that tasks are restorative only because of the intrinsic pleasure of performing them, and not, as Redden puts it, “because of the promise of future reward.” As Zimonja adds, “It’s our daily rituals that are the foundation of our lives.”
Charles Darwin observed that dogs exhibit a sense of humor in between their other activities like studying bird beaks or riding giant turtles.
In his work, The Origin of Man, Darwin recounted a dog playing a prank by dropping a stick near its owner, then running off with it when the owner tried to pick it up. Darwin suggested that the dog found this prank amusing.
This scenario is familiar to many dog owners, prompting the question of whether dogs are truly aspiring comedians or if there’s something else going on.
Dogs are descendants of wolves, which are highly social animals that live in packs, leading to dogs also being social creatures by nature.
It is instinctual for dogs to interact with humans and other animals in their group, attempting to elicit a response, whether through a playful bow, a wagging tail, or even attempting to open the fridge for a snack.
Human ancestors began domesticating dogs over 30,000 years ago, and selective breeding has further shaped their behavior, making them more playful and less timid compared to their wolf ancestors.
Dogs essentially remain forever young mentally, displaying a mischievous nature that stems from their lack of mental maturation.
Some dog breeds are more playful than others, with Irish setters and English springer spaniels considered more clumsy while Samoyeds and Chihuahuas are seen as more serious.
During play, dogs may exhibit “play panting” vocalizations and wag their tails, which can help alleviate stress.
This behavior has been described as a “dog laugh,” reflecting the pleasurable experiences that elicit laughter among humans. However, it does not necessarily mean that dogs possess a sense of humor or are intentionally trying to make people laugh.
If dogs engage in playful antics like stealing sticks, it’s likely for fun rather than intentional comedy. Dogs are adept at reading human emotions and social cues, understanding that laughter is positive. Consequently, if stealing a stick leads to laughter, the dog is more likely to repeat the behavior.
While it may seem like dogs are intentionally trying to be funny, they might simply be responding to the joy and reduced stress their actions bring to humans.
In the end, only the dog truly knows if it’s intentionally trying to make us laugh. Until we can communicate with dogs more effectively, the joke may remain on us.
This article is in response to a query from Joseph Bennett of Manchester: Is my dog intentionally trying to make me laugh?
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Charles Darwin observed that dogs possess a sense of humor when not preoccupied with other activities like studying bird beaks or riding giant turtles.
In his work, The Origin of Man, he recounted a dog playing a prank on its owner by dropping a stick and then grabbing it before the owner could. Darwin interpreted this as the dog enjoying the joke.
While many dog owners may have experienced similar antics, the question remains: are dogs truly aspiring comedians or is there a deeper motivation behind their behaviors?
Dogs, being descendants of wolves, are inherently social animals due to their pack-oriented nature. This sociability extends to interactions with humans and other animals within their social group, manifesting in behaviors like playful gestures, wagging tails, and curious exploration.
Human domestication of dogs over millennia, coupled with selective breeding practices, has further molded their behavior to be less timid and more playful. Essentially, dogs retain a puppy-like demeanor throughout their lives, a trait absent in their wolf ancestors.
Various dog breeds exhibit different levels of playfulness, with some like Irish setters and English springer spaniels being known for their exuberant antics, while others like Samoyeds and Chihuahuas seem more reserved.
Dogs also engage in “play panting” vocalizations and tail-wagging to initiate play and reduce stress, behaviors that have been equated to laughter due to their pleasurable nature. However, whether dogs possess a genuine sense of humor remains a topic of debate.
Despite this uncertainty, dogs are adept at interpreting human emotions and behaviors, often engaging in behaviors that evoke positive responses from their owners. So, while it may seem like dogs are purposefully trying to be funny, their actions are likely driven by a desire to elicit a positive reaction.
Ultimately, deciphering a dog’s intentions, especially regarding humor, remains a challenge without the ability to communicate with them directly. Until we bridge this communication gap, the humor in our interactions with dogs may remain a subjective experience.
This article addresses a question posed by Joseph Bennett from Manchester: Is my dog deliberately trying to make me laugh?
If you have any inquiries, please reach out to us via the provided contact information.
Water on Mars may be lurking beneath or even above the planet’s surface.
NASA/JPL/USGS
Mars isn’t as dry as it seems. Billions of years ago, oceans and rivers of liquid water rippled across its surface, but now it appears that all of that liquid has disappeared, leaving behind a dusty barren landscape. But as we explore Mars with probes, landers, rovers, and even distant telescopic images, more and more traces of water are popping up.
Each hint fascinates researchers about how important water is to life and how it could aid future exploration. Water has now been found in various forms all over Mars. Here are five places where water has been found.
1. Buried underground
The InSight lander, visualized here, recently discovered new potential water reservoirs on Mars.
NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology
Just beneath Mars’ dry surface lies an icy wonderland. These deposits are insulated by an overlying layer of dust, but erosion or meteorite impacts could expose them to the watchful eye of Mars orbiters. A single icy deposit recently identified using data from the Mars Express spacecraft appears to contain enough water to cover the entire Martian surface with an ocean 1.5 to 2.7 meters deep.
It’s not just ice buried under the orange sand. There’s a controversial theory that there’s a huge lake beneath Earth’s Antarctic pole. It could just be wet silt or volcanic rock. But… New Research Using data from the InSight lander, researchers have uncovered the possibility of another reservoir of water near the Martian equator. InSight found this water, buried 11.5 to 20 kilometers underground, by sensing Martian earthquakes and measuring the speed at which seismic waves travel. The results revealed that the rocks through which the earthquakes travel appear to be saturated with water.
2. Frost the pole
Frost in a crater on the North Plains of Mars
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Reaching buried water on Mars will be difficult. For future explorers, the more promising reservoirs are probably exposed on the surface. Mars has ice caps at both poles, just like Earth’s, and we’ve known about them for decades. Many of Mars’ craters also contain small ice sheets inside them, the only places on the Martian surface cold enough to hold ice.
However, at higher latitudes on Mars, the air is cooler and more moist, and temporary frosts can occur. On frigid Martian mornings, volcano peaks are also covered in frost, likely caused by water vapor in the atmosphere freezing.
Deuteron It is believed that atomic nuclei consisting of protons and neutrons, like those of helium-3 nuclei, are formed in collisions between helium-4 nuclei and other nuclei in the interstellar medium. If this were the case, the flux ratio of deuterons to helium-4 should be similar to that of helium-3 to helium-4. However, this is not the case. Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (AMS) are watching.
Aguilar othersThe deuteron flux was measured using the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on board the International Space Station.
Cosmic rays are high-energy particles with energies ranging from MeV to 10.20 Electronic V.
These properties are studied from measurements of the energy (stiffness) spectrum (number of particles per unit time, solid angle, surface area, and energy as a function of energy), which is characterized by a rapid decrease in the spectrum as the energy increases.
Cosmic rays with energies below PeV are thought to originate in our own Milky Way galaxy.
The elemental composition of these galactic cosmic rays is dominated by hydrogen nuclei, primarily protons, with helium nuclei making up about 10%, and electrons and nuclei heavier than helium making up just 1% each.
The species synthesized in stars, such as protons, electrons, and most atomic nuclei, are called primary cosmic rays.
Light nuclei, synthesized by nuclear fusion in the cores of stars, are more abundant than heavy nuclei because their production becomes energetically unfavorable as mass increases.
The synthesis of atomic nuclei heavier than iron, such as nickel, occurs through explosive phenomena such as supernova explosions that occur at the end of the life of massive stars, so atomic nuclei heavier than iron are extremely rare.
When primary nuclei are ejected from their source in space, they can collide with interstellar material and split into lighter species.
This is the primary production mechanism for atomic nuclei that are energetically unfavorable to produce by stellar nucleosynthesis, such as lithium, beryllium, boron, fluorine, scandium, titanium, and vanadium. These are called secondary cosmic rays.
Compared to primary nuclei of similar mass, secondary nuclei are less abundant and, as stiffness increases, their stiffness spectrum decreases faster than that of primary nuclei.
The energy (or rigidity) dependence of the cosmic ray spectrum arises from a combination of source-directed emission, acceleration, and propagation mechanisms that occur during a cosmic ray's passage through the galaxy.
Cosmic rays are diffusely accelerated by expanding shock waves, propagate diffusely through the interstellar medium, and are scattered by irregularities in the galactic magnetic field, both of which depend on the particle's momentum, and thus on its magnetic stiffness.
Cosmic ray propagation is described by a stiffness-dependent diffusion coefficient that incorporates the properties of turbulence in the galactic magnetic field.
“Hydrogen nuclei are the most abundant species of cosmic ray,” members of the AMS collaboration wrote in the paper.
“They are made up of two stable isotopes: protons and deuterons.”
“Big Bang nucleosynthesis predicts negligible production of deuterium, and over time the abundance of deuterons has decreased from its primordial value, with the ratio of deuterons to protons measured in the interstellar medium being 0.00002.”
“Deuterons are thought to arise primarily from the interaction of helium with interstellar matter, rather than being accelerated in supernova remnants like primary cosmic ray protons and helium-4.”
“Deuterons, along with helium-3, are called secondary cosmic rays.”
For the latest study, AMS physicists examined data from 21 million cosmic deuterons detected by AMS between May 2011 and April 2021.
When investigating how the deuteron flux varies with rigidity, a surprising feature was discovered.
The AMS data show that these ratios differ significantly above a stiffness of 4.5 GV, with the deuteron to helium-4 ratio decreasing more slowly with stiffness than the helium-3 to helium-4 ratio.
Furthermore, and again contrary to expectations, when stiffness exceeds 13 GV, the data show that the flux of deuterons is nearly the same as the flux of protons, the primary cosmic ray.
Simply put, researchers found more deuterons than expected from collisions between main helium-4 nuclei and interstellar matter.
“Measuring deuterons is very challenging due to the large cosmic proton background radiation,” said Dr Samuel Ting, spokesman for the AMS collaboration.
“Our unexpected results show how little we know about cosmic rays.”
“Future upgrades to AMS will increase the acceptance rate by 300 percent, enabling AMS to measure all charged cosmic rays with 1 percent accuracy, providing the experimental basis for the development of accurate cosmic ray theory.”
The team's paper was published in the journal Physics Review Letter.
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M. Aguilar others(AMS Collaboration). 2024. Properties of cosmic deuterons measured with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. Physiotherapy Rev Lett 132(26):261001;doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.261001
Chloride deposits are indicators of the presence of water on early Mars and have important implications for understanding the Martian climate and habitability. Color and Stereo Surface Imaging Systems Using the spacecraft (CaSSIS) aboard the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Trace Gases Explorer (TGO), planetary researchers conducted a planet-wide search for chloride-bearing deposits in Terra Sirenum and other parts of Mars.
This CaSSIS/TGO image shows chloride-bearing deposits (purple-colored scaly waves) in Terra Sirenum on Mars. Image credit: ESA/TGO/CaSSIS.
“Mars is currently a desert world, but around 3.5 billion years ago it was covered by rivers, lakes and possibly oceans,” said University of Bern researcher Valentin Bickel and his colleagues.
“The Cold Period began as Mars lost its magnetic field, could no longer retain its atmosphere, and water evaporated, froze, or became trapped within the surface.”
“Over time, the water disappeared, leaving behind mineral fingerprints on the surface.”
In this study, the researchers used neural networks to map potential chloride-bearing deposits in CaSSIS images across a large portion of Mars.
They identified a total of 965 potential chloride deposits ranging from 300 to 3,000 metres in diameter.
“These salt deposits probably formed from shallow pools or brines that evaporated in the sun,” the scientists said.
“Similar methods are used in saltwater pools on Earth to produce salt for human consumption.”
“Highly salty water could be a haven for life and an indicator of habitable parts of Mars,” the researchers added.
“Due to the high salinity, the water remains liquid even at minus 40 degrees.”
“The presence of chloride deposits, pictured above, and their direct association with liquid water, make areas like Terra Sirenum good targets for future robotic missions to search for signs of life.”
“While chloride-bearing terrains are not noticeable in regular black-and-white images, they show up as a distinct purple color in color infrared images, making CaSSIS a unique tool for studying the distribution of salts across Mars.”
“Our paper contains never-before-seen data that will help us better understand the distribution of water on Mars' distant past,” they said.
“TGO continues to image Mars from orbit to understand the planet's ancient past and potential habitability.”
“Not only will the spacecraft send back stunning images, it will also provide the best inventory of atmospheric gases and map water-rich areas on the planet's surface.”
“Understanding the history of water on Mars and whether it once allowed life to thrive is at the heart of ESA's ExoMars mission.”
Team paper Featured in this month's journal Scientific Data.
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VT Bickel others2024. Global dataset of potential chloride deposits on Mars identified by TGO CaSSIS. Scientific Data 11,845;doi: 10.1038/s41597-024-03685-3
Using new data about the Martian crust collected by NASA’s InSight spacecraft, geophysicists from the University of California, San Diego and the University of California, Berkeley estimate that groundwater could cover the entire planet to a depth of one to two kilometers. Groundwater exists in tiny cracks and pores in rocks in the mid-crust, 11.5 to 20 kilometers below the surface.
A cross section of NASA’s InSight lander and the data it collected. Image courtesy of James Tuttle Keane / Aaron Rodriquez.
“Liquid water existed at least occasionally in Martian rivers, lakes, oceans, and aquifers during the Noachian and Hesperian periods more than 3 billion years ago,” said Dr Vashan Wright of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues.
“During this time, Mars lost most of its atmosphere and therefore the ability to support liquid water on its surface for any sustained period of time.”
“Ancient surface water may have been incorporated into minerals, buried as ice, trapped as liquid in deep aquifers, or lost to space.”
For the study, Dr Wright and his colleagues used data collected by InSight during its four-year mission, which ends in 2022.
The lander collected information from the surface directly beneath it about variables such as the speed of Mars’ seismic waves, which allowed scientists to infer what materials exist beneath the surface.
The data was fed into a model based on mathematical theories of rock physics.
Based on this data, the researchers determined that the presence of liquid water in the Earth’s crust was the most plausible explanation.
“If we prove that there is a large reservoir of liquid water, it could give us insight into what the climate was or could be like at that time,” said Professor Michael Manga of the University of California, Berkeley.
“And water is essential for life as we know it. I don’t see why underground reservoirs wouldn’t be habitable environments. On Earth they certainly are. There is life in deep mines, there is life at the bottom of the ocean.”
“We still don’t have evidence of life on Mars, but we’ve identified places that could, at least in principle, support life.”
“A wealth of evidence, including rivers, deltas, lake deposits, and hydrologically altered rocks, supports the hypothesis that water once flowed on the planet’s surface.”
“But that wet period ended more than 3 billion years ago, when Mars lost its atmosphere.”
“Planetary scientists on Earth have sent many probes and landers to Mars to learn what happened to the Martian water (water frozen in the Martian polar ice caps does not explain the whole story), when this happened, and whether life exists or ever existed on Mars,” the authors said.
“The new findings indicate that much of the water has seeped into the crust rather than escaping into space.”
“The new paper analyzes the deeper crust and concludes that the available data are best explained by a water-saturated mid-crust beneath the InSight location.”
“Assuming the crust is similar across the planet, this mid-crustal zone should contain more water than would have filled the hypothetical ancient Martian ocean.”
of Survey results Appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Vashan Wright others2024. Liquid water exists in the central crust of Mars. PNAS 121 (35): e2409983121; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2409983121
ChatGPT and other large-scale language models (LLMs) consist of billions of parameters, are pre-trained on large web-scale corpora, and are claimed to be able to acquire certain features without any special training. These features, known as emergent capabilities, have fueled debates about the promise and peril of language models. Their new paperUniversity of Bath researcher Harish Tayyar Madhavshi and his colleagues present a new theory to explain emergent abilities, taking into account potential confounding factors, and rigorously validate this theory through over 1,000 experiments. Their findings suggest that so-called emergent abilities are not in fact emergent, but rather result from a combination of contextual learning, model memory, and linguistic knowledge.
Lou othersThis suggests that large language models like ChatGPT cannot learn independently or acquire new skills.
“The common perception that this type of AI is a threat to humanity is both preventing the widespread adoption and development of this technology and distracting from the real problems that need our attention,” said Dr Tayyar Madhavshi.
Dr. Tayyar Madabhushi and his colleagues carried out experiments to test LLM's ability to complete tasks that the model had not encountered before – so-called emergent capabilities.
As an example, LLMs can answer questions about social situations without being explicitly trained or programmed to do so.
While previous research has suggested that this is a product of the model's 'knowing' the social situation, the researchers show that this is actually a result of the model using a well-known ability of LLMs to complete a task based on a few examples that it is presented with – so-called 'in-context learning' (ICL).
Across thousands of experiments, the researchers demonstrated that a combination of LLMs' ability to follow instructions, memory, and language abilities explains both the capabilities and limitations they exhibit.
“There is a concern that as models get larger and larger, they will be able to solve new problems that we currently cannot predict, and as a result these large models may gain dangerous capabilities such as reasoning and planning,” Dr Tayyar Madabhshi said.
“This has generated a lot of debate – for example we were asked to comment at last year's AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park – but our research shows that fears that the models will go off and do something totally unexpected, innovative and potentially dangerous are unfounded.”
“Concerns about the existential threat posed by the LLM are not limited to non-specialists but have been expressed by some of the leading AI researchers around the world.”
However, Dr Tayyar Madabushi and his co-authors argue that this concern is unfounded as tests show that LLMs lack complex reasoning skills.
“While it is important to address existing potential misuse of AI, such as the creation of fake news and increased risk of fraud, it would be premature to enact regulations based on perceived existential threats,” Dr Tayyar Madabhsi said.
“The point is, it is likely a mistake for end users to rely on LLMs to interpret and perform complex tasks that require complex reasoning without explicit instructions.”
“Instead, users are likely to benefit from being explicitly told what they want the model to do, and from providing examples, where possible, for all but the simplest tasks.”
“Our findings do not mean that AI is not a threat at all,” said Professor Irina Gurevich of Darmstadt University of Technology.
“Rather, the emergence of threat-specific complex thinking skills is not supported by the evidence, and we show that the learning process in LLMs can ultimately be quite well controlled.”
“Future research should therefore focus on other risks posed by the model, such as the possibility that it could be used to generate fake news.”
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Shen Lu others. 2024. Is emergent capability in large-scale language models just in-context learning? arXiv: 2309.01809
In the UK, the NHS recommends 6 to 8 cupsThe Harvard Medical School recommends drinking 1.2 liters of fluid per day, and points out that you should also get some fluid from the food you eat. 4-6 cups per dayBut it's the more extreme advice – drinking two litres of water a day – that has taken off online.
In 2016, the idea that getting most of your hydration from water is beneficial was debunked by Dr Stuart Galloway, an associate professor of physiology, kinesiology, and nutrition at the University of Stirling. His research showed that a range of drinks, including diuretic drinks such as lager and instant coffee, It did not promote additional fluid loss compared to drinking normal amounts of water..
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But because everyone has a different body type, diet, and activity level, and different environments (hot, dry, humid, etc.), it's impossible to really say how much everyone needs to drink. Most people can tell if they need more water by feeling thirsty, but this desire weakens as we age. If in doubt, for the majority of adults, the number of times you go to the bathroom can be a useful indicator of adequate hydration, says Galloway.
“It takes into account differences in fluid loss due to environment and activity level, as well as changes in fluid intake. A good rule of thumb is that if your fluid intake is adequate, you'll be going to the bathroom four to six times in a typical day.”
If you're peeing more than six times, you're overdoing it, if you're peeing less than four times, you probably need to drink more water.
“This method has some drawbacks, including influences such as changes in kidney function with age, certain medications, or ingredients in different drinks that can affect urine concentration and volume,” he warns. “So this is a rough rule of thumb rather than a precise guide.”
Urine color can also be helpful, he says, with a similar caveat: “For best results, don't rely on a single marker, but evaluate them in combination.”
About our expert, Dr Stuart Galloway
Dr Galloway is Professor of Exercise Physiology at the University of Stirling. He is also Group Leader of the University's Physiology, Exercise and Nutrition Research Group and has published over 90 peer-reviewed research articles, review articles, and book chapters. His research focuses on human nutrition and exercise metabolism, and fluid and electrolyte balance.
TThe current social media trend is familiar, with self-absorbed individuals posting excessively on the platforms they dominate, a scenario we’ve seen play out in the past. Donald Trump’s incendiary tweets post-election loss resulted in the Capitol siege on January 6, 2021. Following this, the then-president was banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and even Pinterest, disappointing those aiming to emulate the Mar-a-Lago style on their mood boards.
The situation is likely to evolve differently this time, especially with social media provocateur Elon Musk at the helm of the platform he utilizes.
During Trump’s tenure, I was stationed at Twitter as its highest-ranking official outside the U.S. Over my eight-year tenure, it became apparent that there was a disparity in the interpretation of free speech between the UK and the U.S., with the latter often championing a libertarian outlook on the concept.
As the UK subsidiary of an American entity, we witnessed a daily fervent defense of free speech. Twitter’s founding legal advisor, Alex MacGillivray, famously dubbed the company as “the free speech wing of the free speech party.” While the U.S. often assumes its freedoms are unique, the UK’s Human Rights Act of 1998 guarantees freedom of speech while also acknowledging its responsibility, stressing that it should not be used to incite criminal activities or spread hatred.
For American tech firms, the interpretation of “free speech” varies. During my tenure at Twitter under a more enlightened leadership, the UK team quickly realized that the Silicon Valley notion of “free speech” wasn’t always geared towards fostering an ideal world. Instead, it often allowed certain groups to target marginalized sections of society, such as women, the LGBTQ+ community, and ethnic minorities, with impunity, detracting from the platform’s original enjoyable nature.
Working within the UK office felt akin to operating within a parliamentary system devoid of a written constitution, relying more on external expectations to shape the organization’s direction.
Efforts to brand “free speech” as a philosophical conviction notwithstanding, its appeal to tech companies is primarily economic. As journalist Kara Swisher notes, Silicon Valley’s approach is more profit-driven than principle-based, evidenced by the support for Trump within San Francisco’s venture capital realm. Holding tech oligarchs accountable for their platforms’ content is feasible and necessary.
Considerations around Musk’s tweets often offer insights into his actions. For instance, his posts on social media platforms like Instagram highlight his late-night musings, providing clues about his mindset and geographic location. Musk’s propensity for controversial posts and real-world ramifications underscores the need for accountability on social media platforms.
The discussion centers on whether billionaire oligarchs like Musk should be allowed to influence societal discourse unchecked. Calls for regulation and accountability in the social media landscape are imperative to address the challenges posed by influential figures like Musk.
Bruce Daisley served as Twitter’s vice president for Europe, Middle East, and Africa from 2012 to 2020.
If you have any comments on the topics discussed in this article and wish to submit a response of up to 300 words for publication in our Letters section, please click here.
What actions can the UK government take regarding Twitter? Should What are your thoughts on Twitter? What interests does Elon Musk have?
The billionaire proprietor of the social network, still officially referred to as X, has had an eventful week causing disruptions on his platform. Besides his own posts, which include low-quality memes sourced from 8chan and reposted fake concerns from far-right figures, the platform as a whole, along with the other two of the three “T’s,” TikTok and Telegram, briefly played a significant role in orchestrating this chaos.
There is a consensus that action needs to be taken: Bruce Daisley, former VP EMEA at Twitter, proposes individual accountability.
In the near term, Musk and other executives should be reminded of their legal liability for their actions under current laws. The UK’s Online Safety Act 2023 should be promptly bolstered. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his team should carefully consider if Ofcom, the media regulator frequently criticized for the conduct of organizations like GB News, can effectively manage the rapid behavior of someone like Musk. In my view, the threat of personal consequences is much more impactful on corporate executives than the prospect of a corporate fine. If Musk continues to incite unrest, an arrest warrant could create sparks from his fingertips, though as a jet-setting personality, an arrest warrant could be a compelling deterrent.
Last week, London Mayor Sadiq Khan presented his own suggestion.
“The government swiftly realized the need to reform the online safety law,” Khan told the Guardian in an interview. “I believe that the government must ensure that this law is suitable immediately. I don’t think it currently is.”
“Responsible social media platforms can take action,” Khan remarked, but added that “if they fail to address their own issues, regulation will be enforced.”
When I spoke to Euan McGaughey, a law professor at King’s College London on Monday, he provided more precise recommendations on what actions the government could take. He mentioned that the Communications Act 2003 underlies many of Ofcom’s authorities and is applied to regulate broadcast television and radio, but extends beyond those media.
Simply as section 232 specifies that “television licensable content services” involve distribution “by any means involving the use of an electronic communications network,” this Act empowers Ofcom to regulate online media content. While Ofcom could exercise this power, it is highly improbable as Ofcom anticipates challenges from tech companies, including those fueling riots and conspiracy theories.
Even if the BBC or the government were reluctant to interpret the old law differently, minor modifications could subject Twitter to stricter broadcasting regulatory oversight, he added.
For instance, there is no distinction between Elon Musk posting a video on X about (so-called) two-tier policing, discussing “detention camps” or asserting “civil war is inevitable” and ITV, Sky, or the BBC broadcasting the news… Online Safety Act Grossly insufficient, as the constraints merely aim to prevent “illegal” content and do not inherently address false or dangerous speech.
The law of keeping promises
Police in Middlesbrough responded to a mob spurred by social media posts this month. Photo: Gary Culton/Observer
It may seem peculiar to feel sympathy for an inanimate object, but the Online Safety Act has likely been treated quite harshly given its minimal enforcement. A comprehensive law encompassing over 200 individual clauses, it was enacted in 2023, but most of its modifications will only take effect once Ofcom has completed the extensive consultation process and established a code of practice.
The law introduces a few new offenses, such as bans on cyber-flashing and upskirt photography. Sections of the old law, referred to as malicious communications, have been substituted with new, more precise laws like threatening and false communications, with two of the new offenses going into effect for the first time this week.
But what if this had all happened earlier and Ofcom was operational? Would the outcome have been different?
The Online Safety Act is a peculiar piece of legislation: an effort to curb the worst impulses on the internet, drafted by a government taking a stance in favor of free speech amidst a growing culture war and enforced by regulators staunchly unwilling to pass judgment on individual social media posts.
What transpired was either a skillful act of navigating a tricky situation or a clumsy mishap, depending on who you ask. The Online Safety Act does not outright criminalize everything on the web; instead, it mandates social media companies to establish specific codes of conduct and consistently enforce them. For certain forms of harm like incitement to self-harm, racism, and racial hatred, major services must at least provide adults with the option to opt out of such content and completely block it from children. For illegal content ranging from child abuse imagery to threats and false communications, it requires new risk assessments to aid companies in proactively addressing these issues.
It’s understandable why this legislation faced significant backlash upon its passage: its main consequence was a mountain of new paperwork in which social networks had to demonstrate adherence to what they had always purportedly done: attempting to mitigate racist abuse, addressing child abuse imagery, enforcing their terms of use, and so forth.
Advocates of the law argue that it serves more as a means for Ofcom to impose its promises on companies rather than forcing them to alter their behavior. The easiest way to impose a penalty under the Online Safety Act – potentially amounting to 10% of global turnover if modeled after GDPR – is to announce loudly to customers that steps are being taken to tackle issues on the platform, only to do nothing.
One could envision a scenario where the CEO of a tech company, the key antagonist in this play, stands before an inquiry, solemnly asserting that the reprehensible behavior they witness violates their terms of service, then returning to their office and taking no action.
The challenge for Ofcom lies in the fact that multinational social networks are not governed by cartoonish villains who flout legal departments, defy moderators, and whimsically enforce one set of terms of service on allies and a different one on adversaries.
Except for one.
Do as I say, don’t do as I do
Elon Musk’s Twitter has emerged as a prime test case for online safety laws. On the surface, the social network appears relatively ordinary: its terms of service prohibit the dissemination of much of the same content as other major networks, with a slightly more lenient stance on pornographic material. Twitter maintains a moderation team that employs both automated and human moderation to remove objectionable content, an appeals process for individuals alleging unfair treatment, and progressive penalties that could ultimately lead to account suspensions for violations.
However, there’s an additional layer to how Twitter operates: Elon Musk follows through on what he says. For instance, last summer, after a prominent right-wing influencer shared child abuse images, the account’s creator received a 129-year prison sentence. The motive remains unclear, but the account was swiftly suspended. Musk then intervened:
The only people who have seen these photos are members of the CSE team. At this time, we will remove these posts and reinstate your account.
While Twitter’s terms of service theoretically prohibit many of the egregious posts related to the UK riots, such as “hateful conduct” and “inciting, glorifying, or expressing a desire for violence,” they do not seem to be consistently enforced. This is where Ofcom may potentially take aggressive actions against Musk and his affiliated companies.
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and othersLast spring, one of my favorite brand tie-ins of 2023 came when cosmetics giant Lush teamed up with Nintendo to create a range of products based on Super Mario. It was a riot of brightly coloured shower gels and super sweet fragrances, including an amazing Princess Peach body spray that I still wear because I don’t give a damn about gender-based perfume norms.
Rush has released a new video game series. Celebrating Minecraft’s 15th AnniversaryThere are 12 items in the collection, including a TNT block, the most literal bath bomb Lush has ever made, as well as grass and lava blocks, a creeper head shower bomb, and a diamond pickaxe bubble bar, which is pretty heavy despite its small size.
The collection is the result of a year-long collaboration with game developer Mojang, and has been a popular project among the company’s employees. Melody Morton, creative director at Lush Concepts, is a frequent player, but she’s not the only one. “We have a lot of Minecraft players within the company, so we had a lot of input and resources to draw from in terms of product, creative, and messaging,” says Kareem Brinkworth, creative lead on the Lush collaboration team.
How much you want to try these will depend on your love of the game, and Lush’s famously rather strong scents. “Choosing the scent for a product is often the last part of putting everything together, so we all have fun with this part,” says Brinkworth. “Some items had a clear and obvious scent direction. For example, the Glass Block Bath Bomb needed to smell clean, fresh and green – just like grass. We developed a freshly cut grass scent a while back, so this combination was in the cards from the start.”
Brinkworth says some of the other items required trial and error with multiple scents. “We look at the color of the bath bomb and the properties of the item to determine the overall feeling we want to evoke, and that often leads to the perfectly matched scent.” The TNT bath bomb is an explosion of ylang-ylang and jasmine that paints your bath a vibrant red, like you’re immersed in a hippie horror movie. In contrast, Creeper Block has a delicate lemongrass scent that belies the creature’s sinister role in the game. Totem of Undying is a soap made with Brazilian orange and bergamot oils that some people might find off-putting, but as someone who likes to smell like fruit salad chews, I love it.
But what’s really cool about this collection is the way it thinks about form factor: Most of the pieces are cube-shaped, so you can stack them up next to your bath.You can also hit them with an axe. The Lush Bath Bombs add-on for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition is also available to download for free from the Minecraft Marketplace, which allows you to create your own bath bombs to use in the game. I found this really useful a few years ago when I was trying to give my Minecraft-obsessed young sons a bath. For any other desperate parents out there, remember that if you have kids who want to smell like a creeper or the Ender Dragon, you’ll need to hurry up and buy one, as the set will only be available until the end of August.
More than a quarter of the world’s women, which is over one billion women, are in need of contraception, as reported by a 2021 global organization report. Source.
Thankfully, there are numerous options available for women seeking contraception. With over 13 different methods of birth control and more than 200 different brands of birth control pills worldwide, women have a variety of choices. The majority of birth control methods in use today are hormonal, including birth control pills, implants, and intrauterine devices.
Women use contraception for various reasons beyond preventing pregnancy. Some reasons include managing painful or heavy periods, irregular periods, and acne.
Each woman’s contraceptive needs are unique, and variables such as ethnicity, postpartum status, menopausal stage, or other medications can further complicate the selection process.
On average, women try 3.4 different contraceptive methods during their lifetime, according to a US study. Study reference.
The most common issue faced by women using hormonal contraceptives is the side effects, which can be severe and lead to discontinuation of the pills. Side effects may include migraines, blood clots, irregular bleeding, nausea, and mood changes.
Choosing the right birth control method can take years due to the changing hormonal states in a woman’s body throughout life stages. Personalized medicine could provide a solution by customizing contraceptives to individual needs based on genetics and other factors.
read more:
In a groundbreaking study, researchers at the Yale School of Medicine identified genetic variations that affect the efficacy and side effects of hormonal contraception. Genetic mutations, such as the CYP3A7 gene mutation, can impact the metabolism of contraceptive hormones, leading to contraceptive failure in some women.
Another study by the same research team found that genetic mutations in the ESR1 gene may contribute to weight gain associated with using contraceptive implants.
Understanding these genetic factors could pave the way for personalized medicine in women’s health, reducing side effects and enhancing satisfaction with contraception.
Further research and large-scale studies are needed to unlock the full potential of personalized medicine in women’s health and ensure optimal healthcare delivery to women.
HHow do you follow up on a game that made the world cry? It’s a question that’s vexed writer Graham Parks since his 2021 BAFTA-winning Before Your Eyes. Released during the height of lockdown, Parks’ webcam-controlled story uses the player’s blinks to fast-forward through protagonist Benny’s memories, blinking through each uplifting and heartbreaking moment of his existence. It quickly gained a reputation as Twitch’s tearjerker, its moving story and the misery of the pandemic’s last few months creating a perfect, tissue-paper-shredding storm. “As a writer, it was definitely a scary thing,” Parks says. “I’m interested in using games to tell concise, emotional stories, but I can’t say they’re going to make you cry every time.”
Still, tears or no tears, things are already looking pretty promising for Goodnight Universe, an intriguing sequel to Before Your Eyes. Developed by Nice Dream, an all-new studio founded by creators Graham Parks and Oliver Lewin, Goodnight Universe has already won the 2024 Game of the Year award at the TriBeCa Film Festival, beating out the excellent Thank Goodness You’re Here!
So moving…Goodnight universe Photo: Nice Dream
What’s the premise of Goodnight Universe? “It’s a game where you play as a baby with psychic powers,” Parks says with a coy laugh. Using a webcam or a VR headset, players step inside the tiny body of baby Isaac, who begins to develop mysterious abilities. The slithering psychic must grasp his rapidly blossoming new powers and use his eyes to bend the vast world around him to his will – preferably without scaring Isaac’s poor parents, Parker explains.
“Before Your Eyes was a game about disempowering the player,” Parks says, “but we always felt that mechanics like blinking and eye tracking could also be used to empower the player and give them a sense of magic.”
Second grade angst…Goodnight universe. Photo: Nice Dream
Sounding more like Boss Baby than indie darling, Goodnight Universe’s storyline was definitely a tonal shift, and one that took the team a while to realise. “We had been anxious about the second album for a really long time,” Parks says. “We even had to make a rule in ideation sessions that we couldn’t even talk about ‘Before Your Eyes’.”
Luckily, inspiration struck from a new face in the room. “Our lead designer, Bella, had just had her first child,” says Parks. “She started coming into meetings and was at an age where you’d sit down and she’d just stare at one thing for an hour and you’d forget she was there. We’d become known as people who make games that don’t move around a lot… I noticed her quietly staring at me, and that was my ‘Oh, noooo!’ moment.” Goodnight Universe was born.
From kinetically changing TV channels to sending wooden blocks flying, Goodnight Universe takes players on Isaac’s strange but heartwarming journey to understand his powers, be accepted by his family, and avoid being kidnapped by a shady tech company. The diaper-clad protagonist is voiced by Top Gun Maverick’s Lewis Pullman, and the supporting cast includes actors from TV shows like Veep, Barry, and The Daily Show, and the LA studio cleverly takes advantage of its proximity to Hollywood.
“Many indies [the union] “Some actors only do film or TV,” adds the game’s director and composer Oliver Lewin, “but the truth is, these actors are really excited about this.”
Thanks to its BAFTA win, Before Your Eyes has transcended its webcam origins, making its way to PlayStation VR2 and joining Netflix’s steadily growing library of mobile games. But while you can play Goodnight Universe in VR and turn off face tracking, for Lewin, the game’s story is still tied to the humble webcam. “For us, the face-tracking technology is there to enhance immersion,” Lewin says. [few] Developers are researching this…There’s a lot you can do with just a simple webcam, and everyone has one.”
“Our game is, in many ways, a playable movie,” Parks adds. “I think what motivates us more than any exciting controls is how we can use this medium to tell a story in an interesting and unique way.”
In a medium that revolves around slaying dragons, crushing demons and embarking on intergalactic power fantasies, there’s something fresh and quaint about Goodnight Universe, but after shedding a fair few tears over Before Your Eyes, if anyone can do justice to this strange premise, it’s the quirky LA Art Games collective.
Binary asteroid systems have attracted the attention of the scientific community due to their intriguing properties and significant impact on our understanding of the Solar System. Unlike single asteroids, binary systems provide unique insights into many fundamental processes, including planetary formation and evolution, collision dynamics, and gravitational interactions.
Gaia has discovered possible moons around 352 asteroids that are not known to have companion stars. Image courtesy of ESA.
Asteroids are fascinating celestial objects that hold unique insights into the formation and evolution of our solar system.
Binary stars are even more fascinating because they allow astronomers to study how different objects in the universe form, collide, and interact.
With our unique all-sky scanning function, ESA's Gaia satellite Since its launch in 2013, it has made a number of important asteroid discoveries.
In Data Release 3, Gaia pinpointed the positions and movements of more than 150,000 asteroids. That precision has allowed scientists to probe deeper, looking for asteroids that exhibit a characteristic “wobble” caused by the gravitational pull of their orbiting companion stars.
Gaia has also collected data on the asteroid's chemistry, compiling the largest ever collection of asteroid reflectance spectra – light curves that reveal an object's color and composition.
More than 150,000 orbits determined in Gaia's Data Release 3 were refined as part of the mission's Focused Product Release last year, making them 20 times more accurate.
Gaia's upcoming Data Release 4 (due after mid-2026) is expected to reveal the orbits of even more asteroids.
“Binary asteroids are difficult to find because most are very small and far away from Earth,” said Dr Luana Liberato, an astronomer at the Observatory of the Côte d'Azur.
“Although just under one in six asteroids are predicted to have companion stars, only half a billion of the one million known asteroids have been found to be in binary systems.”
“But this discovery shows that there are many more asteroid moons still waiting to be discovered.”
“If confirmed, this new discovery adds 352 potential binary systems, nearly doubling the known number of moon-bearing asteroids.”
“Gaia is proving to be an excellent asteroid explorer, working hard to unlock the secrets of the universe, both within our solar system and beyond,” said Dr Timo Prusti, ESA's Gaia project scientist.
“This discovery highlights the Gaia data release as a major improvement in data quality and demonstrates the incredible new science made possible by this mission.”
a paper A paper describing the results has been published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
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L. Liberato others2024. Binary asteroid candidate in the Gaia DR3 astronomical measurements. A&A 688, A50;doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202349122
This article was based on an original release from ESA.
NASA has released a stunning new image of the active center of nearby spiral galaxy Messier 106, taken with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.
This Webb image shows Messier 106, a spiral galaxy 20 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. Image courtesy of NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / J. Glenn.
Located more than 20 million light years from Earth in the small northern constellation Canes Venatici, Messier 106 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies and closest to our Milky Way Galaxy.
Also known as M106 or NGC 4258, the galaxy was discovered in 1781 by Charles Messier's observational assistant, Pierre Méchain.
“Despite its name, Messier 106 was neither discovered nor catalogued by the famous 18th century astronomer Charles Messier,” astronomers Webb said in a statement.
“This galaxy was discovered by his assistant Pierre Méchain, but was not catalogued during his lifetime.”
“Messier 106, along with six other objects they discovered but did not record, Messier Catalogue In the 20th century.”
Messier 106 is similar in size and brightness to our galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy.
Messier 106 measures more than 130,000 light-years from end to end, but because of its great distance from the Milky Way galaxy, it appears very small from Earth's perspective.
At the center of Messier 106 lies an extremely active supermassive black hole with a mass about 40 million times that of the Sun.
Unlike the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, which only occasionally sucks in gas particles, Messier 106's black hole is actively consuming material.
“As the gas spirals toward Messier 106's black hole, it heats up and emits powerful radiation,” the astronomers said.
“The observations were made as part of a dedicated program to study active galactic nuclei – luminous central regions of galaxies dominated by light emitted by dust and gas falling into a black hole,” the researchers said.
“The blue areas in this image reflect the distribution of stars throughout the central region of the galaxy.”
“Orange areas indicate warmer dust, while more intense reds represent cooler dust.”
“The blue-green, green and yellow tones near the center of the image represent the various gas distributions across the region.”
Messier 106 also has a notable feature: it has two “unusual” extra arms that are visible in radio and x-ray wavelengths, rather than visible light.
“Unlike normal arms, these are made up of hot gas rather than stars,” the scientists said.
“Astronomers think these extra arms are the result of black hole activity, a feedback effect that has been seen in other galaxies.”
“These could be caused by outflows of material produced by the violent churning of gas around the black hole, creating a phenomenon similar to waves rushing out of the ocean when they hit rocks near the shore.”
Just as the much-anticipated conversation between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was set to begin, users of X (formerly Twitter) were met with a message stating, “This space is no longer available.”
X’s livestreaming audio feature, Spaces, was supposed to host the conversation, but technical difficulties prevented it from working. Clicking on a link to Trump’s inactive account, @RealDonaldTrump, caused the site to freeze and become unusable, leading to complaints from users about being unable to join and browsers crashing.
Musk, the owner of X, posted that it seemed the platform had been hit with a massive DDOS attack. However, the rest of X seemed to be functioning without issues.
The interview was scheduled for 8pm ET, but due to resolving technical problems, Musk announced a 30-minute delay. Eventually, users were able to join the broadcast by clicking a link.
When the hold music on X stopped at 8:30 p.m. ET, a rustling sound could be heard from Trump’s microphone, leading to 10 minutes of silence before the interview finally began. X showed a high listener count of over 1 million as the interview progressed.
Musk mentioned that the DDOS attack had been mostly overcome, stating, “There is strong opposition to listening to President Trump, as evidenced by this massive attack.”
Trump expressed satisfaction with the incident, calling it an honor alongside millions of others.
This mishap is particularly damaging for X’s image as a tech innovator and a reliable advertising platform. The company recently filed a lawsuit against major advertisers for monopolistic practices.
Despite some challenges, Musk continues to position X as a platform at the forefront of politics and free speech.
The new biomaterial, called C-ELM, incorporates live cyanobacteria in translucent panels that can be attached to the interior walls of buildings. The microbes embedded in these panels grow through photosynthesis, absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and attaching it to calcium through a biomineralization process to produce calcium carbonate, which traps carbon.
C-ELM is Camptonema Animal Cyanobacteria extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Image courtesy of Prantar Tamuli.
One kilogram of C-ELM (cyanobacterial engineered biomaterial) can capture and sequester up to 350 grams of carbon dioxide, while the same amount of traditional concrete releases as much as 500 grams of carbon dioxide.
A 150-square-metre wall covered with these C-ELM panels will trap around one tonne of carbon dioxide.
“By developing C-ELM materials, my goal is to transform the construction of future human settlements from one of the largest carbon emitting activities into one of the largest carbon sequestration activities,” said Planter Tamri, a graduate student at University College London.
“I was inspired to develop this material through my study of stromatolites – natural stone structures that formed over millions of years from sediments trapped by algal mats, the oldest living organisms on Earth.”
Tamri et al. Camptonema AnimalA type of photosynthetic cyanobacteria, it grows in long filamentous structures that help attach the microbes to the surrounding material within the panel.
The calcium carbonate produced by the cyanobacteria helps strengthen the panels.
The panels themselves are designed to provide a variety of aesthetic and structural benefits to buildings.
It is lightweight, sound absorbing, translucent enough to let light through, and has insulating properties, making buildings more energy efficient.
The first such panel was unveiled at an exhibition in the “Bioscope” pavilion at St. Andrews Botanic Garden in Scotland.
Designed by design collective Studio Biocene, the exhibit showcased low-carbon, low-impact building methods that mimic the natural environment.
“The potential of this type of biomaterial is enormous,” said Professor Marcos Cruz, from University College London.
“If mass-produced and widely adopted, it has the potential to dramatically reduce the construction industry's carbon footprint.”
“We hope to scale up the production of this C-ELM and further optimize its performance to make it suitable for use on construction sites.”
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This article is a version of a press release provided by University College London.
Marine Life a small genus of seabird OceanidaeThis includes all of the small petrels in the Southern Hemisphere.
“The family Oceanidae consists of petrels with a phylogeographic origin in the Southern Hemisphere, and the genus contains 10 species. Marine Life, Garodia, Pelagodroma, Freguettaand Nesofregetta,” paleontologist Gerardo Norambuena of the University of Santo Tomas and his colleagues said.
“The marine distribution of this family includes tropical, temperate, sub-Antarctic and Antarctic oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, as well as temperate waters of the North Atlantic.”
“The family was once considered a subfamily of the Hydrobatidae, although scientists had long ago suggested, based on osteological and myological analyses, that Oceanidae species should not be grouped with other petrels.”
“Recent molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed that the family Oceanitiidae is not the sister lineage of the family Hydrobatidae. However, the systematics of Oceanitiidae, especially within the genus, remain unclear. Marine Life.”
“Currently, this genus Marine Life It consists of three species: Oceanitas oceanica, Oceanitis gracilisand Oceanites pinkoyaeHowever, the taxonomic status of subspecies (and some species) remains under debate.”
In a new study, the researchers Oceanitas oceanica The species complex is formed under the hypothesis that it corresponds to multiple species.
They analyzed new mitochondrial sequence data and morphological measurements of all species and subspecies. Marine LifeThis includes a mysterious new species discovered in the Chilean Andes.
“When I think about that Oceanites “Because birds have such conservative plumage variation and cryptic colours, breeding distributions may be the best way to understand the distribution of each taxon,” the researchers said.
“The new species, Oceanites BarocciIn central Chile, Oceanitis gracilis To the North Oceanites pinkoyae To the south, far from its known breeding range, Oceanitis chilensis.”
“Oceanitis gracilis They breed mainly in the Atacama Desert, Oceanites Barocci Based on multiple lines of evidence, it apparently breeds in the Andes in central Chile.”
The team's analysis also Marine Life Occurred from the Antarctic Ocean to the southeastern Pacific Ocean Oceanitis gracilis, Oceanites pinkoyaeand Oceanites Barocci Approximately 15 to 18 million years ago.
“The colonization of Antarctica occurred about 17 million years ago. Oceanites exasperatus on that continent,” the authors state.
“Colonization of the Atlantic (Oceanitas oceanica) is thought to have originated in the southeast Pacific Ocean 15 million years ago.
“However, these patterns can be better understood through genomic or multilocus approaches, which should allow for more precise assessment of divergence times between groups.”
of Survey results Published in the journal on July 29, 2024 Animal taxa.
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Gerardo V. Norambuena others2024. Resolving conflicting lineages Marine Life (Oceanitisidae: Pelecaniformes) and description of a new species. Animal taxa 5486(4):451-475;doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5486.4.1
JUICE spacecraft may be visible from Southeast Asia during unprecedented operation
European Space Agency
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will land on Earth in what the European Space Agency (ESA) calls a “double world first.” It is scheduled to fly past Earth and the Moon on August 19 and 20, the first of several complex maneuvers along a looping path to Jupiter. You may be able to see the spacecraft in the sky as it speeds past.
JUICE was launched on April 14, 2023, and has been orbiting the Sun almost parallel to Earth ever since. But on August 19, its journey will start to get interesting: it will pass within 700 km of the Moon's surface, slowing down slightly using a method called gravity assist. The next day, it will drop to less than 7,000 km above Earth's surface, curving its orbit even further. That's when eagle-eyed astronomy fans in Southeast Asia may get a glimpse of the spacecraft.
All of this is necessary because if JUICE were to fly in a straight line to Jupiter, it would need more than 60,000 kilograms of fuel to get there, and even more to slow down and enter orbit once there. With the entire spacecraft's mass unfueled at 2,420 kilograms, this just isn't feasible. Instead, upcoming Earth-Moon flybys will send the spacecraft to Venus, where it will begin to accelerate, then fly past Earth twice to get it just fast enough to reach Jupiter in 2031.
The first maneuver may be the most complex of the entire mission, as JUICE must pass precise points relative to both the Earth and the Moon to en route to Venus. “It's like going through a very narrow corridor very fast, with the accelerator at full speed with only millimeters of clearance on the side of the road,” said ESA's Ignacio Tanco in statementA dual Earth-Moon flyby has never been attempted before, nor has a dual gravity assist been performed.
If all goes well, JUICE will not only head to Venus and then Jupiter, but it will also perform the first major tests of its scientific instruments. For some of the probes, this will be their only chance to observe the planet's surface and iron out any kinks before they reach orbit around Jupiter and begin their mission to search for hints of possible life on the planet's giant moons.
One of the world's most endangered marine fish has been saved from extinction thanks to researchers who caught specimens in the wild and helped breed them in captivity.
Stingray (Zearajah Mageana) is found only in Port Macquarie, on the extremely isolated and rugged southwest coast of the Australian island of Tasmania, a region that is naturally low in oxygen, making it difficult for fish to thrive, but this is exacerbated by human impacts, particularly the alteration of river flows by salmon farming and hydroelectric dams.
Jason Semmens A researcher from the University of Tasmania said that while no one knows the exact population of these rays, there has been a dramatic decline, with their numbers halving between 2014 and 2021. He said the population may now be just over 1,000, and what's most worrying is that the majority of the rays are adults, meaning the young have not yet reached maturity.
As a marine heatwave raged in this area off the southeast coast of Australia last year, Semmens and his colleagues decided to make a bold intervention to save the rays from extinction.
In December 2023, the team collected 50 eggs, more than half of which hatched in captivity. They also collected four adult insects, two of which died within two weeks. The two surviving females were kept separately, so the team was shocked when the remaining female laid eggs.
That's because rays can store sperm and fertilize the eggs, Semmens says. “On average, rays lay two eggs every four days,” he says. “We've seen over 100 eggs laid by rays, and the majority of them appear to be viable.”
To maximise the genetic diversity of the captive-raised young, the team is considering capturing other, already-fertilised females to obtain eggs and then releasing them back into the wild.
But the team members David MorenoResearchers from the University of Tasmania said captive breeding was not a complete solution and they were also working to solve environmental issues at Port Macquarie, including experimenting with pumping oxygen into the water.
There is no quick fix, and even if captive-bred individuals could be released straight away, it would take four to five years for them to mature and be able to contribute to the population.
If recovery efforts fail, the cost will be huge: “This would be the first extinction of a ray or shark species in modern history,” Moreno says, “so this is a really big red line.”
Mars A recent study indicates that the Earth may be hiding a global ocean beneath its surface, with cracks in rocks potentially holding enough water to form it.
Scientists believe that the water lies about seven to 12 miles (11.5 to 20 kilometers) deep in Mars’ crust, possibly originating from the planet’s ancient surface water sources such as rivers, lakes, and oceans billions of years ago, according to Vashan Wright, the lead scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.
Despite the presence of water inside Mars, Wright noted that it does not necessarily mean that life exists there.
“However, our findings suggest the possibility of habitable environments,” he mentioned in an email.
The research team combined computer simulations with InSight data, including earthquake speeds, to suggest that groundwater is the most likely explanation. These results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.
Wright remarked that if InSight’s observations near the equator of Mars at Elysium Planitia are representative of the entire planet, there could be enough groundwater to fill a terrestrial ocean approximately a mile (1 to 2 kilometers) deep.
Tools like drills will be required to verify the presence of water and search for signs of microbial life.
Despite the InSight lander no longer being in operation, scientists are still analyzing the data collected between 2018 and 2022 to gain more insights into Mars’ interior.
Over 3 billion years ago, Mars was mostly covered in water, but due to the thinning of its atmosphere, it lost its surface water, becoming the dry and dusty world we see today. It is believed by scientists that the ancient water either escaped into space or remains hidden underground.
Texas environmental officials notified the company last week that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had discharged pollutants into or near Texas waters, violating environmental regulations.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report came five months after the Environmental Protection Agency notified SpaceX that it had violated the Clean Water Act.
The breach could threaten SpaceX’s ambitions to increase StartShip launches from its StarBase facility.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has repeatedly discharged pollutants into or near Texas waters, violating environmental regulations, state officials said in a notice of violation that focused on the water discharge system at the company’s StarBase launch facility.
The notice from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) last week came five months after the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 6, which oversees Texas and surrounding states, also notified SpaceX that it was violating the Clean Water Act through similar activities.
The notice and related investigative records obtained by CNBC have not been previously reported.
TCEQ said its office in the South Texas city of Harlingen, near Boca Chica Starbase, received a complaint on Aug. 6, 2023, alleging that SpaceX was “discharging floodwaters without TCEQ authorization.”
“The Harlingen area received a total of 14 complaints alleging environmental impacts from the facility’s water discharge system,” regulators said in a written statement.
Aerospace companies, including SpaceX, generally comply with state and federal laws. Federal Aviation Administration SpaceX had been seeking permission to conduct up to 25 launches and landings per year of its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket at the Boca Chica facility. The notice of violation could delay those approvals and lead to civil fines, further investigations and criminal charges against SpaceX.
in Long post about XAfter this article was published, SpaceX said regulators told it it could continue launch operations despite the violation notice.
“Through ongoing coordination with TCEQ and EPA, we have specifically asked whether we should cease operations of the Deluge system and have been informed that operations can continue,” SpaceX wrote to EPA.
Neither regulator responded to CNBC’s questions about SpaceX’s statements.
SpaceX’s Starship in Brownsville, Texas on June 5. Brandon Bell/Getty Images file
Rushing to rebuild
On July 25, 2024, TCEQ environmental investigators “conducted an internal compliance records review” to determine SpaceX’s compliance with wastewater regulations. The investigation found that SpaceX had discharged industrial wastewater without a permit four times between March and July of this year.
A water system with flame deflectors would dissipate heat, sound and energy generated during orbital test flights and rocket launches, but SpaceX didn’t have one installed at its Boca Chica launch pad before it began test flights of Starship, the biggest rocket ever made.
The FAA did not give a reason for the delay and said a new date would be announced in the future.
The environmentally friendly technology uses multi-chamber chemical reactors to turn wastewater into ammonia and harmless by-products. This sustainable alternative requires much less energy than traditional methods to produce this important chemical.
Hundreds of millions of tons of ammonia are used every year in industries such as agriculture, refrigeration systems, paper and cleaning products. Producing this amount of chemical uses about 2% of total energy consumption and accounts for 1.4% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Part of this environmental cost comes from traditional ammonia production methods, which require high temperatures and pressures. To make ammonia production more sustainable, Fengyan Chen Researchers at Rice University in Texas hoped to translate that technology into a room-temperature reactor.
Their reactor takes in water laced with nitrates, a nitrogen compound commonly found in wastewater, such as industrial or agricultural runoff contaminated with nitrogen fertilizers. When the nitrate water enters the first of three chambers, electrodes, like those found in a battery, create an electrochemical reaction that turns the liquid into its three components. Only ammonia remains in the reactor’s first chamber, purified water flows out of the second chamber, and oxygen flows into the third.
Because ammonia contains only nitrogen and hydrogen, the electrochemical reaction requires no other components than wastewater, and the purified water produced is clean enough to meet World Health Organization (WHO) regulations for drinking water.
Similar reactors have been tested before, Chen says, but the electrodes couldn’t shuffle charges at a high enough voltage for the reaction to work unless the wastewater was mixed with large amounts of salt. Chen and his colleagues made the device more practical by filling the central chamber with a porous material that acts as the salt, allowing wastewater to be fed directly into the reactor without any additives.
In tests using water samples with realistic nitrate concentrations, the reactor processed 100 milliliters in about one hour and continued to operate without problems for 10 days straight. The performance of this reactor is comparable to previous, more complex reactor designs.
Chen says the team only tested the reactor in the lab using nitrate-rich water, not actual wastewater samples that contain more than just nitrates, but the researchers envision local businesses and farms eventually using the reactors to recycle their wastewater, rather than sending it to faraway treatment facilities where it would waste its ammonia-producing potential.
In the best case scenario, the farm would have its own solar- or wind-powered reactor. Farmers would run local wastewater through the device, which would immediately Reusing ammonia It is mined for fuel and fertilizer.
“It’s still at the academic research level, but this is my ultimate dream,” Chen says.
Raising cattle produces huge amounts of greenhouse gases
Alan Hopps/Getty Images
As the world's population grows, the only way to reduce agriculture's huge greenhouse gas emissions is to make food production more efficient. Unfortunately, efficiency gains have stagnated since 2010, and as food demand continues to grow, agricultural emissions and deforestation are likely to skyrocket.
Lin Ma Ma and his colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shijiazhuang came to their conclusion after analysing existing data to estimate greenhouse gas emissions per unit of protein produced between 1961 and 2019. They chose protein instead of calories because it's a better indicator of food quality, Ma says.
Between 1961 and around 2010, emissions per unit of protein fell by two-thirds, the team says. But since then, there has been no further improvement and there are even signs of an increase. Agriculture is responsible for about a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, and food demand is projected to increase by up to 50% by 2050. If agriculture's climate efficiency does not improve further, emissions from agriculture will also increase by 50%, the researchers warn.
Moreover, without improvements in agricultural efficiency, the only way to increase production is to clear more land for farming, which will lead to further deforestation and biodiversity loss, they say.
“That's very bad news. We need to drastically reduce emissions, not increase them.” Richard Waite He is a researcher at the World Resources Institute in Washington, D.C., but was not involved in the study.
“The continued and accelerating expansion of agricultural land since the turn of the century is of great concern as there is no path forward to limit warming to 1.5°C. [of global warming] “It's important to end deforestation as quickly as possible,” he says.
There are many reasons why climate emissions per unit of protein produced are no longer decreasing, Dan Leto For one thing, people around the world are eating more meat, which produces far more greenhouse gas emissions than plant-based foods, said Breakthrough Institute researcher David Schneider, who was not on the team.
The fact that large amounts of agricultural crops are now being converted to fuel rather than food could also be a factor, he says. “The rise in crop-based biofuels likely explains some of the slowdown in decarbonization we find in the paper,” as biofuel crops grown for energy are chosen for their calorie content rather than their protein content, reducing the efficiency that Ma's team measures.
Another potential factor is the increase in extreme weather events that are affecting crop yields and food prices around the world, which the study did not take into account, Ma said. “But we suspect the impact of extreme weather on crop yields was relatively small before 2019.”
According to Thomas Hobbes, one of history’s most famous cynics, life is “nasty, cruel, and short.” Jamil ZakiIronically, this is likely true if you are someone who has a cynical, Hobbesian view of life, who sees the worst in humanity and distrusts no one, according to John F. Kelly, director of the Stanford Institute for Social Neuroscience in California.
Zaki didn’t always think this way. He’s spent 20 years studying and lecturing about the brain circuits behind empathy and kindness, but all that time he’d harbored the dirty secret that he was a cynic. He began to examine his cynical perspective after the death of his friend Emile Bruneau, who studied the neuroscience of peace and conflict and was “one of the most hopeful people I’ve ever met,” Zaki says. He discovered that being a cynic is not only harmful to our lives, it causes us to believe things that aren’t true. Luckily, as he explores in his upcoming book, there are tools we can use to combat cynicism. Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness.
Alison Flood: What is cynicism?
Jamil Zaki: Cynicism is the theory that humanity in general is selfish, greedy and dishonest. Theories influence our behavior, what we do and don’t do. Cynics use their theories about people to guide their behavior in society. It changes how they see people, it changes how they interpret others, it changes their behavior, such as not trusting others.
What is the difference between cynicism and skepticism?
Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to capture striking new photos of LEDA 12535, a barred spiral galaxy located in the famous Perseus Cluster of galaxies.
This Hubble Space Telescope image shows LEDA 12535, a barred spiral galaxy about 320 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus. The color composite was created from images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. It is based on data obtained through three filters. The colors are obtained by assigning a different hue to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / I. Chilingarian.
LEDA12535 It is located about 320 million light years away in the constellation Perseus.
Also known as MCG+07-07-072 or SDSS J032041.39+424814.8, it is classified as a barred spiral galaxy.
“LEDA 12535 has a highly unusual shape for a spiral galaxy, with thin arms extending from the ends of its barred nucleus and tracing a nearly circular path around the disk,” the Hubble astronomers said.
“Using a common extension of Hubble's basis system, it is classified as an SBc(r) galaxy. The c indicates that the two spiral arms are loosely wound, each completing only a half revolution around the galaxy, and the (r) refers to the ring-like structure they produce.”
“Galactic rings come in a variety of shapes, from merely unusual to rare and astrophysically important.”
“Lenticular galaxies are a type of galaxy that lies intermediate between elliptical and spiral galaxies,” the astronomers added.
“Unlike elliptical galaxies, they feature large disks but lack spiral arms.”
“Lenticular means lens-shaped, and these galaxies often feature a ring-like shape in their disks.”
“The classification of ring galaxies, on the other hand, is only applied to unusual galaxies with a round ring of gas and star formation that closely resembles spiral arms but is either completely detached from the galactic core or lacks a visible core at all.”
“They are thought to have formed from the collision of galaxies.”
“Finally, there is the famous gravitational lensing, where the ring is actually a distorted image of a distant background galaxy, formed by the 'lensing' galaxy bending the light around it.”
“The ring-shaped images, called Einstein rings, can only form if the lensed galaxy and the photographed galaxy are perfectly aligned.”
A former Twitter executive has suggested that Elon Musk should be subject to “personal sanctions” and the possibility of an “arrest warrant” if he is found to be disrupting public order on his social media platform.
Bruce Daisley, Twitter’s former vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, expressed in the Guardian that it is unfair to let tech billionaires like Musk tamper with discord without facing personal consequences.
He urged Chancellor Keir Starmer to toughen online safety laws and assess whether media regulator Ofcom is equipped to handle fast-moving individuals like Musk.
Daisley emphasized that the threat of personal sanctions is more effective against executives than the risk of corporate fines, as it could impact the lavish lifestyles of tech billionaires.
The UK government has urged social media platforms to act responsibly following recent riots, attributing them to false information spread online, including claims about asylum seekers.
Musk’s inflammatory posts, such as predicting civil war in the UK, have garnered criticism from government officials, with some calling his remarks unacceptable.
Daisley, who worked at Twitter from 2012 to 2020, described Musk as someone who behaves like a reckless teenager and suggested that an arrest warrant might make him reconsider his actions.
He emphasized the need for legislation to establish boundaries for acceptable behavior on social media and questioned whether tech billionaires should be allowed to influence society without consequences.
Daisley urged for immediate strengthening of the Online Safety Act 2023 to hold tech executives accountable for their actions and to prioritize democratic governance over the influence of tech billionaires.
He also suggested that views deemed harmful, such as those from individuals like Tommy Robinson, should be removed from platforms under the guidance of regulators like Ofcom.
Daisley concluded that the focus should be on upholding acceptable behavior on social media rather than prioritizing profits, especially when influential tech figures like Musk are involved.
He emphasized the possibility of holding tech billionaires accountable for the content allowed on their platforms and called for stricter measures to prevent abuse of power.
Plants and humans have one thing in common: They both consist of a single cell containing a nucleus that serves a specialized function that benefits the entire organism. When life first emerged 4 billion years ago, it consisted of simple cells that lacked a nucleus. ProkaryotesAt least 2 billion years later, a major evolutionary change gave rise to the first cells with nuclei. EukaryotesAlgae and fungi are eukaryotes, as are plants, animals, and some single-celled organisms.
Genomic studies have shown that all eukaryotes share a common ancestor, or RekaHowever, these studies can only provide limited information about LECA's characteristics, so researchers know almost nothing about their abundance, appearance, or where they live. Scientists hope to understand the origins of LECA on Earth and determine how complex life arose on Earth and how it might arise on other planets.
A team of researchers from the Australian National University, the University of Bremen and the Strasbourg Institute of Chemistry sought to trace the oldest evidence of eukaryotes in rocks and determine when eukaryotes diverged from prokaryotes. They found that only eukaryotes Structure and function of cell membranes, It is called Sterols. So to find the oldest traces of eukaryotes, researchers went looking for these molecules in sediments that accumulated beneath the oceans, where many researchers think early eukaryotes evolved.
When cells die, they sink to the ocean floor and over time completely or partially decompose and become buried in marine sediments. When these sediments harden into sedimentary rocks, all the remains of the cells become trapped within them. These researchers believe that sterols and the molecules derived from them are Decomposition productsThese molecules remain in sediments for millions of years after cells die, so the researchers reasoned that the abundance of these molecules in sedimentary rocks should correspond to the number of eukaryotic organisms living in the oceans when the sediments formed.
To find out what sterols break down into, the researchers burned different amounts of sterols found in modern eukaryotes and analyzed the sterol breakdown products using techniques that identify organic molecules. Gas ChromatographyThe researchers compared the sterol breakdown products of modern eukaryotes with organic molecules they measured in rock samples from the Burnie Creek Formation in northern Australia, which contained petroleum that dates back about 1.7 billion years. Their goal was to test whether the rock samples contained the same molecules as the burned sterols, confirming that eukaryotic organisms were present in the oceans at that time.
The researchers found that the rock samples contained only a fraction of the molecules they measured in the burned sterols. The molecules in the rocks were responsible for stabilizing eukaryotic cell membranes against environmental stresses such as high temperatures and high salinity. The researchers explained that sterols help some modern eukaryotes survive such extreme conditions by attaching to cell membranes and making them strong and flexible, preventing cell rupture caused by external stresses.
The researchers propose that the rock sample preserved the remains of early eukaryotes that produced sterols to strengthen membranes to survive in extreme conditions. Although it is unclear whether eukaryotes produced sterols before or after the development of a nucleus, they suggest that sterols may have provided early eukaryotes with a distinct ecological advantage in adapting to extreme environmental stresses, potentially facilitating the evolution of more specialized life forms.
The team suggested that changing atmospheric conditions may also have triggered the formation and adaptation of eukaryotes. They explained that oxygen first accumulated in the atmosphere about 2.3 billion years ago, which represented a chemical stress in the environment that would have been lethal to early cells that were allergic to oxygen. However, the sterols present in the cell membranes of early eukaryotes may have helped them adapt to the changing atmosphere and develop a preference for more oxygen-rich environments.
The researchers concluded that ecological stress can fundamentally change cells, and that certain compounds unique to eukaryotes can be used to find them in ancient rock samples. In the future, the scientists plan to analyze other rock samples from Northern Australia to validate their results and look for other types of molecules that could provide information about LECA.
aAmong those quickly convicted and sentenced recently for their involvement in racially charged riots were: Bobby Silbon. Silbon exited his 18th birthday celebration at a bingo hall in Hartlepool to join a group roaming the town’s streets, targeting residences they believed housed asylum seekers. He was apprehended for vandalizing property and assaulting law enforcement officials, resulting in a 20-month prison term.
While in custody, Silbon justified his actions by asserting their commonality: “It’s fine,” he reassured officers. “Everyone else is doing it too.” This rationale, although a common defense among individuals caught up in gang activity, now resonates more prominently with the hundreds facing severe sentences.
His birthday festivities were interrupted by social media alerts, potentially containing misinformation about events in Southport. Embedded in these alerts were snippets and videos that swiftly fueled a surge in violence without context.
Bobby Charbon left a birthday party in Hartlepool and headed to the riots after receiving a social media alert.
Picture: Cleveland Police/PA
Mobile phone users likely witnessed distressing scenes last week: racists setting up checkpoints in Middlesbrough, a black man being assaulted in a Manchester park, and confrontations outside a Birmingham pub. The graphic violence, normalized in real-time, incited some to take to the streets, embodying the sentiment of “everyone’s doing it.” In essence, a Kristallnacht trigger is now present in our pockets.
A vintage document from the BBC, the “Guidelines Regarding Violence Depiction,” serves as a reminder of what is deemed suitable for national broadcasters. Striking a balance between accuracy and potential distress is emphasized when airing real-life violence. Specific editorial precautions are outlined for violence incidents that may resonate with personal experiences or can be imitated by children.
Social media lacks these regulatory measures, with an overflow of explicit content that tends to prioritize sensationalism over accuracy, drawing attention through harm and misinformation.
Compliments can sometimes be tricky to navigate, as identified by a Belgian psychologist. There are several ways in which receiving compliments can make the person being complimented uncomfortable.
When someone compliments you, it might make you feel self-conscious or criticized. For instance, if a friend praises your outfit during a meet-up, you might feel uneasy due to the attention being drawn to you.
Another factor that can make compliments uncomfortable is social awkwardness or inappropriateness, such as when a boss gives you a personal compliment.
Aside from these, feelings of indebtedness, pressure to return the compliment, being misunderstood, or feeling inadequate can also arise when receiving compliments. If you’re unhappy with something you’ve done, a compliment from someone might irritate you.
One way to address these feelings is to remind yourself that the person giving the compliment likely meant well. They probably wanted to show appreciation and make you feel good with their kind words.
It’s not always easy to see compliments in this light, especially for those with low self-esteem. These individuals might yearn for understanding and feel like compliments suggest a lack of it.
Research indicates that compliments can have adverse effects on individuals with low self-esteem in romantic relationships, leading to feelings of anxiety and misunderstanding.
Recent studies have explored ways to help those with low self-esteem benefit from compliments by shifting focus from personal beliefs to situational context and relationship dynamics.
Overcoming low self-esteem might result in increased receptiveness to compliments over time.
This article addresses a question from George Alvin via email: “How can I accept a compliment well?”
If you have any questions, please send them to the email address below. For additional information, contact:or send us a messageFacebook,XorInstagramPage (be sure to include your name and location).
vinegarFlip digital capitalists over and you find technological determinists: people who believe technology drives history. These individuals view themselves as agents of what Joseph Schumpeter famously called “creative destruction.” They take pleasure in “moving fast and breaking things,” a phrase once used by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, until their representatives convince them that this approach is not ideal, not only because it means taxpayers will bear the consequences.
Technological determinism is, in fact, an ideology that influences your thoughts even when you’re not consciously aware of it. It thrives on a narrative that argues: Technical necessity Whether we agree or not, this narrative suggests that new innovations will continue to emerge. LM Sacasas explains “Every claim of inevitability serves a purpose, and narratives of technological inevitability serve as a convenient shield for tech companies to achieve their desired outcomes, minimize opposition, and persuade consumers that they are embracing a future that may not be desirable but is deemed necessary.”
However, for this narrative of inevitability to resonate with the general public and result in widespread adoption of the technology, politicians must eventually endorse it as well. This scenario is currently observable with AI, although the long-term implications remain unclear. Yet, some indications are troubling, like the cringe-worthy video incidents involving Rishi Sunak’s fawning over the world’s wealthiest individual, Elon Musk, and Tony Blair’s recent heartfelt conversation aired on TV with Demis Hassabis, the well-known co-founder of Google DeepMind.
It’s refreshing to encounter an article that explores the clash between deterministic myths and democratic realities, as seen in “Resisting Technological Inevitability: Google Wing Delivery Drones and the Battle for Our Skies.” Noteworthy academic papers soon to be published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, a reputable journal. Written by Anna Zenz from the University of Western Australia’s School of Law and Julia Powles from the Technology & Policy Lab, the paper recounts the narrative of how major tech firms attempted to dominate a new market with a promising technology – delivery drones – without considering the societal repercussions. It reflects how a proactive, resourceful, and determined public successfully thwarted this corporate agenda.
The company in question is Wing, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet. Their objective is to develop delivery drones to facilitate the transportation of various goods, including emergency medical aid, creating a new commercial industry that enables broad access to the skies. This is evident in Australia, which hosts Google’s largest drone operation in terms of deliveries and customer outreach. It is endorsed by both state and federal governments, with the federal government taking the lead.
Zenz and Powles argue that by persuading Australian politicians to allow the testing of an Aerial Deliveroo-like service (under the guise of an “experimental” initiative), Google heavily relied on the myth of inevitability. Officials who already believed in the inevitability of delivery drones saw the potential benefits of embracing this trend and offered their support, either passively or actively. The company then leveraged the perception of inevitability to obtain “community acceptance,” manipulating the public into silence or passive tolerance by claiming that delivery drones were an inevitable progression.
One of the test sites for this project was Bonython, a Canberra suburb where the trial commenced in July 2018. However, the project faced immediate challenges. Numerous residents were perturbed and bewildered by the sudden appearance of drones in their neighborhood. They expressed outrage over the drones’ impact on their community, local wildlife, and the environment, citing issues like unplanned landings, dropped cargo, drones flying near traffic, and birds attacking and disrupting the drones.
While many communities might have simply grumbled and overlooked these issues, Bonython took a different approach. A group of proactive residents, including a retired aviation law expert, established a dedicated online presence, distributed newsletters, conducted door-to-door outreach, engaged with politicians, contacted media outlets, and submitted information requests to local authorities.
Their efforts paid off eventually. In August 2023, Wing quietly announced the termination of operations in the Canberra region. This decision not only marked the end of the project but also triggered a congressional inquiry into drone delivery systems, scrutinizing various aspects such as pilot training, economic implications, regulatory oversight, and environmental impacts of drone delivery. This investigation shed light on the blind acceptance of the myth of inevitability among public officials, prompting critical questions that regulators and governments should consistently pose when tech companies champion “innovation” and “progress.”
Echoing Marshall McLuhan’s sentiments in a different context, it’s crucial to acknowledge that “there is absolutely no inevitability if there is a willingness to reflect on unfolding events.” Public resistance against the myth of inevitability should always be encouraged.
The Thinker’s Work There are fascinating essays in New Statesman about John Gray’s exploration of Friedrich Hayek, one of the 20th century’s most enigmatic thinkers.
Turn the page Feeling pessimistic? Check out what Henry Oliver has to say in this insightful essay.
A whole new world Science fiction writer Karl Schroeder shares some provocative blog posts contemplating the future.
Looking for a good laugh? Check out the subreddit LinkedIn Lunatics. Trust me, it’s worth a visit.
On this subreddit, you’ll find a Financial Expert advocating for the moderation of porn consumption as a healthy practice to share with friends and community. There are also critics using cultural events like the Olympic Games to teach life lessons and even a Marriage agency mistaking LinkedIn for a dating platform.
The subreddit features stories like a social media company’s creative director who almost missed his flight but learned the valuable lesson of taking risks and a guy who learned important life lessons after a tangerine incident. It’s a mix of humor and bizarre LinkedIn encounters.
All this craziness happened in just one week, making it a rollercoaster of absurdity. Despite the entertainment, the main mission on LinkedIn is to focus on work and professional networking.
LinkedIn is a vital platform for business professionals, especially in B2B sales, like myself. However, it can be overwhelming with the constant stream of “visionary leaders” and “strategic innovators” flooding the feed. It’s a mix of greatness and embarrassment, where professionals love and hate the platform simultaneously.
Many users echo the sentiment that LinkedIn needs a revamp. As a dedicated user, I propose two radical changes:
1. Embrace Reddit Over Facebook
Encourage users to post in LinkedIn groups for longer, more engaging content, similar to Reddit’s format. This shift would enhance the user experience and encourage meaningful discussions.
2. Revise Monetization Strategies
LinkedIn should differentiate between serious members and casual users, potentially by raising fees. Additionally, introducing a nominal fee for every accepted connection request could deter spammy behavior.
Adding a “dislike” button could provide constructive feedback and reduce unwanted solicitations. These changes aim to improve the platform’s quality and user experience.
LinkedIn is at a crossroads, where the balance between professionalism and absurdity is tipping. It’s essential to adapt to evolving user needs to maintain relevance and utility.
IAs is often the case, this incident began with drama in a WhatsApp group. In 2021, a loose coalition of my friends and acquaintances, in order to survive repeated lockdowns, started playing a much maligned online game called “Excuse.” Betrayal and backstabbing are all part of the game.
Except this time people went too far, someone got so upset that he left the group, and to get him back, my friends came up with a dubious plan: they got Nigel Farage, of all people, to make a sarcastic apology video, urging his comrades to rejoin the group.
This was easy to do, thanks to Cameo, which Farage had recently signed up for. For around £100, Farage had 24 hours to record a 60-second video clip and distribute it through the app. The ploy worked, and peace was restored within the friend group, thanks to Cameo and Farage’s rather bewildered recitation of a series of inside jokes that he completely failed to understand.
It’s one of the many uses for Cameo, a service that lets anyone request custom videos for friends from celebrities and influencers and have them delivered within 24 hours. The site became an unexpected hit during the COVID-19 lockdown, helping it attract investment that put it at a $1 billion valuation in 2021.
The front page of the Cameo website, featuring some of the celebrities registered with the site. Photo: Cameo
But since then, things have been tough. The video is still being made, and it’s still… Eclectic. A number of celebrities and influencers (more on that later) are on board, but they seem to be struggling to pay the relatively small bills.
last month, Business Insider Reported Cameo reaches settlement with 30 U.S. states. The company was found to have violated the Federal Trade Commission’s rules regarding celebrity endorsements.
Cameo was fined $600,000, a modest sum for a billion-dollar company in theory, but court filings attested that it couldn’t afford that amount and instead settled for $100,000 (split among 30 states). So what went wrong?
Day to day, the site operates much the same as before, offering custom videos to those seeking them from a range of actors, comedians and influencers, including British names like actor Miriam Margolyes (£134 a video), former footballer John Terry (£197), singer Gareth Gates (£47) and presenter and environmental activist Ben Fogle (£71).
In the US, NSync’s Lance Bass (235 pounds) and Dean Norris (235 pounds), who played DEA agent Hank Schrader, Breaking Bad (193 pounds), and former supporters of the U.S. version. Office Kevin Malone, aka Brian Baumgartner (154 pounds), or “Drunk Meredith” Kate Flannery (150 pounds).
While each has its own fanbase, sometimes with cult followings, Cameo has struggled to attract or retain A-list celebrities and influencers with top-tier followings, in part because using the app poses significant risks to a celebrity’s reputation: Some have used the app for more nefarious purposes, such as scripting videos to trick celebrities into making racist or other insults.
Last year, the “Russian group” A series of videos was commissioned and stitched together. Video recordings from Cameo and similar services made it appear as if various prominent U.S. figures were calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a corrupt drug addict, creating the illusion that they were helping to stage an intervention.
The disinformation campaign also included cameos from actor Elijah Wood and convicted rapist boxer Mike Tyson, though both have since withdrawn their cameos, and both Norris and Flannery are still active on the site.
Cameo takes 30% of creators’ fees for handling sales, transaction fees, and hosting and submitting the videos. Larger creators appear to have decided to forgo this potential revenue stream because it would require making lots of individual videos that never get published, or because of the risks. But smaller creators say it’s a convenient, hassle-free source of funding with few downsides.
The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak between Sunday night and dawn on Monday, giving skywatchers around the world the chance to enjoy one of the most spectacular shooting star shows of the year.
The Perseid meteor shower is usually one of the most anticipated stargazing events of the year due to the high incidence of shooting stars. If the weather is good, you may be able to see up to 100 meteors per hour from a dark location.
“Not only is this shower rich in bright meteors and fireballs (the most so far in the world, in fact), it also peaks when it's still warm and comfortable in mid-August,” says Bill Cook, director of the Meteor Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. NASA said in a blog post.
Experts predict that conditions will be favorable for this year's meteor show, especially since the moon will set around 11:30 p.m. local time, meaning bright moonlight will not obscure the shooting stars.
If the weather is good, it's best to choose an unobstructed viewing location under the darkest possible sky, away from city lights and other light pollution.
In the Northern Hemisphere, stargazing is best done between midnight and dawn. NASA recommends giving your eyes about 45 minutes to adjust to the darkness and avoiding looking at bright screens, such as cell phones.
While the peak of the meteor shower is when you'll have the highest chance of seeing meteors, the Perseids have been visible for several weeks and should continue to be visible after this weekend. The meteor shower occurs annually from mid-July to late August.
This occurs as Earth passes through a cloud of dust particles and debris left behind by a comet known as 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862. The light streaks are caused when the debris impacts the atmosphere, vaporizes, and leaves a bright trail as it disintegrates.
This summer, there has been an alarming increase in heatstroke-related deaths worldwide. According to a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, extreme heat occurrences are becoming more frequent and lasting longer, affecting a larger number of people. Why is this happening, and how can you identify if your loved ones are at risk?
What occurs inside our bodies when our temperature rises?
Heat stress is caused by an accumulation of heat due to physical exertion or environmental stressors like solar radiation, air temperature, humidity, and wind speed. A person’s acclimatization, work type, physical activity level, and clothing also influence heat factors.
Humans are warm-blooded creatures, meaning the body’s internal temperature must remain around 37°C. If the internal temperature reaches 42°C, vital organs can cease functioning, leading to severe illness and death. 27 pathways Extreme heat can be lethal due to reduced blood flow and damage to essential organs.
Individuals most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses include those with poor thermoregulation capabilities, such as infants, elderly individuals, those with chronic illnesses, pregnant women, and outdoor workers.
What is heat stroke?
Heat stroke manifests when individuals experience heat stress and start feeling unwell. Various types of heat stroke exist. Heat stroke often accompanies dehydration, including conditions like heat syncope, thermal tetany, heat cramps, and heat exhaustion.
Another prevalent form of heat stroke is heat stroke, where the body struggles to regulate temperature, with categories like exertional heat stroke and classic heat stroke.
read more:
What steps should be taken if someone is suspected of having heat stroke?
If an individual faints, experiences concentration issues, or has breathing difficulties, immediate medical assistance is crucial. If they are conscious but feel unwell or overheated, rapid cooling and hydration are essential.
Caution must be exercised with very cold water to avoid cold shock, which can impact breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. Ice water offers no advantage.
Replenishing lost fluids and minerals due to sweating from overheating is essential, so providing sports drinks can aid in hydration.
How can heat stroke be prevented?
Preventing heat stroke is feasible with measures such as issuing heatwave warnings, creating prevention plans, and staying hydrated during extreme heat periods. Hot drinks are as effective as cold ones, and temperature plays a minimal role in core body temperature.
Additional cooling methods include taking cool showers and focusing on cooling hands, feet, and face. Ventilating indoor spaces and avoiding direct sunlight can help maintain a cooler environment, while fans promote air circulation.
Vulnerable groups, like the elderly, should take extra precautions against heatstroke and follow advice from family and friends to stay hydrated and cool.
Babies are particularly susceptible to extreme heat, with techniques like covering strollers with damp cloths and using clip-on fans being more effective than thin blankets in protecting them from the sun.
Will the situation worsen?
While climate change intensifies extreme heat events, strides have been made in preventing heatstroke. Government strategies to prevent heatstroke are being implemented, with urban planning initiatives like creating green urban spaces to combat urban heat islands.
Initiatives like cooling centers, forecast-based financing, and early warning systems contribute to preventing heat-related illnesses. Achieving net-zero emissions is crucial to halting extreme heat escalation and averting catastrophic heatwaves.
pictureRon Musk has long been interested in right-wing politics and has enjoyed portraying himself as a contrarian showman. However, his recent political affiliations have raised doubts about Tesla, the electric-car giant he founded. How much further can he push before customers start abandoning his product?
A German pharmacy chain, Rothmann, was among the first to speak out this week. The family business announced that it would not expand its fleet of 34 Tesla cars after Musk publicly supported Donald Trump for US president.
Rothmann’s spokesperson, Raul Rothman, wrote, “Mr. Trump has consistently denied climate change, which contradicts Tesla’s mission to protect the environment by producing electric vehicles.”
Musk’s support for Trump was followed by controversial posts about far-right riots in the UK. He made remarks like “Civil war is inevitable,” which sparked criticism from politicians across the spectrum. Musk engaged with far-right figures, raising concerns among some consumers.
Some Tesla owners are now reevaluating their choice of vehicle due to Musk’s recent behavior.
Given the divisive nature of Mr. Musk’s comments and his apparent enjoyment of creating discord, we have decided to discontinue our relationship with Tesla.”
Tesla has been reached out to for comment.
In online forums, Tesla owners debate the impact of Musk’s politics on the brand. Some have created bumper stickers like “I bought this before I knew Elon was crazy.”
David Bach, a strategy and political economy professor at IMD, noted that Musk’s recent behavior sets him apart from other CEOs. Musk’s actions have garnered mixed reactions, especially in the UK.
Tesla’s sales in the UK account for a small portion of its global business. Musk’s involvement in US politics, particularly with Trump, could have significant repercussions for Tesla.
Despite Musk’s polarizing comments, some consumers still support Tesla. However, there are concerns about the potential impact on business.
Musk’s actions have already affected X and could impact SpaceX as well. Some industry insiders believe that Musk’s current path could eventually lead to a decline in Tesla’s sales.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued its first-ever “major earthquake warning” on Thursday.
The warning came after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck off the coast of the southern part of the country.
This raises the risk of an even bigger earthquake in the Nankai Trough, an undersea subduction zone that scientists believe could produce a quake of up to magnitude 9.1.
After a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Japan’s southern islands on Thursday, the country’s Meteorological Agency issued an ominous warning: More powerful quakes are possible, with the risk especially high over the coming week.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issues its first-ever “major earthquake warning,” warning that the Nankai Trough is a subduction zone where a magnitude 8-9 earthquake is likely to occur, and that there is a higher-than-usual risk of strong shaking and tsunamis. It urges people in the area to prepare.
The message is not a prophecy but an outlook for increasing risk, and it shows how far seismologists have come in understanding the dynamics of subduction-zone earthquakes.
Here’s what you need to know about the situation.
Dangerous subduction zones
The Nankai Trough is an underwater subduction zone where the Eurasian plate collides with the Philippine Sea plate, causing the latter to subduct beneath the Eurasian plate and sink into the Earth’s mantle.
Faults in subduction zones build up stress, and when the locked faults slip and release that stress, so-called megaquakes occur. “Mechatronics” is the shortened form of the name. These zones have produced some of the most powerful earthquakes in Earth’s history.
The Pacific “Ring of Fire” is a collection of subduction zones. In the United States, the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the West Coast stretches from Vancouver Island in Canada to Cape Mendocino in California.
In the southwestern Japanese city of Nichinan, beaches were closed on Friday after the country’s first warning of a possible major earthquake was issued. Kyodo News via Reuters Connect
If a major earthquake were to occur off the coast of Japan, the Philippine Sea Plate would likely shake 30 to 100 feet near the country’s southeast coast, causing violent shaking.
Vertical displacement of the ocean floor could trigger a tsunami, sending waves crashing onto the coast of Japan that Japanese scientists estimate could reach heights of nearly 100 feet. Published in 2020.
History of major earthquakes
Large earthquakes occur in the Nankai Trough approximately every 100 to 150 years. In last year’s surveyJapan’s Earthquake Research Committee announced in January 2022 that there is a 70 to 80 percent chance of a major earthquake occurring in the next 30 years.
Great Nankai Trough earthquakes tend to occur in two separate events, with the second often occurring within two years of the previous one, recent examples being the “twin” earthquakes that occurred in the Nankai Trough in 1944 and 1946.
This phenomenon is due to the segmented nature of the fault, where a shift in one segment can put strain on other segments.
People stand outside after escaping a building following an earthquake in Miyazaki on Thursday. Kyodo News via Associated Press
Harold Tobin, a professor at the University of Washington who studies the Nankai Trough, said the magnitude 7.1 quake occurred in a segment that shakes more frequently than other earthquakes. The regular quakes reduce stress, so there’s less concern that the segment itself could cause a big one. What’s concerning is the quake’s proximity to a segment that’s been building up stress since the 1940s.
“This one is adjacent to the Southwest Sea region and is obviously sealed off, so that’s a reason for caution and concern,” Tobin said.
Predictions, not predictions
Scientists cannot predict earthquakes, but they are developing the ability to forecast when danger is heightened, especially in areas like Japan where tremors occur frequently and monitoring is well established.
Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of metriorhynchid crocodyloform from the Stadthagen Formation in northwestern Germany.
Artist image Enarioetes schroederi. Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.
The newly discovered crocodyloforme lived in shallow seas off Germany during the Early Cretaceous period, between 140 and 132 million years ago.
dubbing Enarioetes schroederi Ancient reptiles belonged to the family Metriorhynchidae.
“Metriorhynchid fishes had smooth skin without scales, fins and a tail,” explained Dr Sven Sachs from the Natural Sciences Museum in Bielefeld and his colleagues.
“They Feeding Metriorhynchid reptiles fed on a variety of prey, including fast-moving animals such as squid and fish, although some metriorhynchid species have large serrated teeth, suggesting that they may have eaten other marine reptiles.”
“The Jurassic period is the best known, and fossils become rarer as we move into the Cretaceous period.”
Perfectly preserved skull Enarioetes schroederi. It was discovered over 100 years ago in a quarry in Sachsenhagen near Hanover by the German architect D. Hapke.
This specimen is the best-preserved metriorhynchid crocodyloform known from the Cretaceous.
“This specimen is remarkable as it is one of the very few metriorhynchids known to have a three-dimensionally preserved skull,” Dr Sacks said.
“This allowed us to perform CT scans of the specimens, which allowed us to learn a lot about the internal structure of these marine crocodiles.”
“The incredible state of preservation has even allowed us to reconstruct the animal’s internal cavity and inner ear.”
Enarioetes schroederi gives paleontologists new insight into how metriorhynchidae evolved during the Cretaceous period.
“During the Jurassic period, metriorhynchids evolved a body plan that was radically different to other crocodiles, with fins, tails, loss of bony armour and smooth skin without scales,” said Dr Mark Young, a palaeontologist at the University of Edinburgh.
“These changes were increasingly adapted to a marine life.”
“Enarioetes schroederi This trend continues into the Cretaceous. Enarioetes schroederi It has larger eyes than other metriorhynchids (which are already large by crocodile standards) and its bony inner ear is more compact than other metriorhynchids. Enarioetes schroederi I probably could have swum faster.”
Discovery Enarioetes schroederi has been reported paper of Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
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Sven Sachs others 2024. A new genus of metriorhynchid crocodile from the Lower Cretaceous of Germany. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 22 (1): 2359946; doi: 10.1080/14772019.2024.2359946
A wall with a zigzag pattern can stay up to 3°C (5.4°F) cooler than a normal wall, without using any energy. This approach reduces the energy used by cooling systems and helps to curb global warming.
“Such designs can lead to cooler buildings,” says Qilong Cheng of Columbia University in New York, “and therefore reduce the energy consumption for cooling.”
As global temperatures rise and more people can afford air conditioners, their use is skyrocketing. Greenhouse gas emissions from cooling could increase more than threefold by 2050. As a result, many teams are working to develop passive cooling solutions that don't require any energy.
For example, simply painting roofs white can help keep buildings and cities cooler by allowing them to reflect more sunlight.
This method works even better if the roof is coated with a material that reflects most of the sunlight but emits infrared light within the transparency of the atmosphere — a range of wavelengths that aren't absorbed by atmospheric molecules such as carbon dioxide.
“Infrared light in this band can pass through the atmosphere and potentially reach space,” Chen said.
Materials with these properties have a great cooling effect on an upward-facing roof, but are less effective on walls. The problem is that materials that emit infrared light tend to absorb it, and surfaces close to walls, such as concrete pavements, can emit large amounts of infrared light.
The solution proposed by Chen and his team is to create a wall that has a series of projections that run parallel to the ground, forming a zigzag shape when viewed from the side. To visualize this, think of a staircase sloping upward at angles between 45 and 90 degrees.
The key is that the upward-facing zigzag surfaces (the treads in the staircase analogy) are atmospheric transparency windows that radiate large amounts of heat, while the downward-facing, outward-facing zigzag surfaces (the risers) reflect infrared heat rather than absorbing it.
To test the idea, the team built a 1-metre-tall model with both a zigzag and flat surface.When they placed it outside in New Jersey during the summer, the zigzag surface was 2°C cooler than the flat surface over a 24-hour average, and 3°C cooler between 1pm and 2pm.
Chen says there are plenty of inexpensive materials with the necessary properties. Existing buildings could be retrofitted by adding corrugated panels. The cooling effect inside a building varies depending on other factors, such as the size of the building's windows, but simulations suggest it could reduce temperatures by up to 2°C and cut the energy needed for cooling by up to a quarter.
The zigzag cooling wall is only suitable for hot climates, as colder regions would need more heating in winter. But Chen and his colleagues say They proposed a design with hinged “fins.” It can be raised in the winter to increase heat absorption and lowered in the summer to minimize heat absorption.
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