electoral dysfunction Wide range of weekly episodes available
Sky News politician and poker star Beth Rigby is sandwiched between Conservative MP Ruth Davidson and Labor MP Jess Phillips in this promising new podcast leading into a ‘prolific election year’. What voters want, leadership, and the sorry state of things are all on the table. This trio offers a refreshing change from the usual daddy cast, valuing heart and insight over political point-scoring. There’s also a story about Priti Patel’s kindness… Hannah Verdier
tard cast Widely available, on sale now “A lot of people actually wanted to listen to the podcast…and you mostly know why.” Joe Lycett announced the poop pod as a campaign prank against sewage leaks, but Gary Lineker’s Thanks to demand for more details on World Cup poop, it’s now actually here. It’s so funny that it makes your stomach hurt, and it also includes the shocking revelation that “Gaza was often left alone in the public bath.'' Holly Richardson
Indira Varma. Photo: Suki Dhanda/Observer
A tiger tamer who went out to sea Wide range of weekly episodes available Victorian superstar Bob Carlyle was fired from the circus for drunkenly walking a tiger around town on a leash, but at least he had the stamina of a pushcart to get back on his feet. This isn’t your typical history podcast where Dave his Dr. Musgrove chronicles Carlisle’s very interesting life.HV
significant other Wide range of weekly episodes available Our new series of podcasts about lesser-known figures in history begins with the story of Peggy Shippen. History books remember American Revolutionary War general Benedict Arnold for switching allegiance, but in reality it was his wife who motivated the rebellion. Host Liza Powell O’Brien examines how “America’s Most Handsome Woman” influenced events. HV
The Spy Who… Wide range of weekly episodes available starting Tuesday Indira Varma (pictured above) hosts a dive into “a dank, murky world full of dark corners, sinister motives and rotten morals” occupied by spies. The first is the story of Dusko Popov, the spy whose playboy ways inspired Ian Fleming’s James Bond. The scenes from that time are dramatically recreated, making it irresistibly cinematic. HV
There’s a podcast for that
Twelve boys and their coach rescued from a cave in Thailand have mourned the loss of a former Navy SEAL who died while taking part in the mission. Photo: AFP/Getty Images
From escaping a grizzly bear attack to a 2018 cave rescue in Thailand. Ella Braidwood Choose 5 podcasts about survival stories
vice versa
Since 2021, Against the Odds has been exploring some of the most famous survival stories from past and present. Adventurers Mike Corley and Kathy de Pecol take turns hosting each story, each told in detail over several episodes. The podcast is based on historical research, but dramatizations are used to bring headline-grabbing stories to life. For example, there is a five-part series about the 2018 cave rescue in Thailand, and a four-part series about the famous Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in 1972, when 16 people were forced into the Andes Mountains. He survived for 72 days in the camp. He turns to cannibalism.
real survival story The weekly podcast, narrated by actor John Hopkins, launched this year and explores stories of “ordinary people forced into extraordinary circumstances.” Hopkins is a smooth storyteller, and his musings are deftly interspersed with audio excerpts from the survivors themselves. Among those featured is a paraglider caught in a storm. A prospector trapped in a gold mine 100 feet underground. and a couple caught in a wildfire while on vacation. Background music adds suspense, and stories are drawn from around the world, including the Rocky Mountains, Hawaii, and New Zealand.
special live While it’s not just about survival stories, this podcast focuses on the amazing stories of people who have overcome extraordinary circumstances. In each episode, LADbible’s former creative director, Ben Powell-Jones, sits down with an interviewee and reveals what happened to them. Mr. Powell-Jones has a calm demeanor that allows his interviewees to speak candidly about their experiences. Video footage for each episode is available at: YouTube. Highlights include an interview with journalist Sean Langan, who was taken hostage by the Taliban;Park Ji Hyun person who fled from North Korea And now I live in the UK. and Nick Yarris, who was wrongly convicted of murder and spent 22 years on death row.
out alive Backpacker Magazine’s biweekly podcast features short episodes featuring outdoor tips from experts, interspersed with inspiring survival stories. The episodes, hosted by editor Louisa Albanese, tell stories of people who have survived amazing events, from a man who fell 50 feet into a hidden ice cave to a runner who became stranded after falling on a trekking pole. We are featuring interviews. Some of the brief episodes debunk some of the most common questions about survival, and others about the rise in bear attacks. Transcript too You can read it online.
not today Since launching their podcast in 2020, husband and wife team Steph Fitt and Alex Hunt have grown their following. Features It was in the top 1% of most followed podcasts on Spotify last year. Hosted by Fit and Hunt, this podcast features recent and more historical survival stories. In one episode, Fit tells listeners about Lydia Tillman. Her brave escape led to her conviction. travis forbes In 2011, he was charged with crimes against her and the murder of Kenya Monge. A more historical episode is the one about the Titanic.The other is about entertainers Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, the latter of whom was once attacked by a tiger on stage.
sound off Conversation with Katie Henriksen features deep conversations that explore creativity at the intersection of art, music, and literature.
A mix of comedy, tragedy, and everything in between. possession Focuses on the world of professional sports ownership with former NBA player Rex Chapman.
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The artificial intelligence boom has pushed demand for Nvidia products beyond Wall Street’s already high expectations.
The company announced fourth-quarter results on Wednesday that significantly beat analysts’ expectations, with revenue of $22.1 billion versus the $20.55 billion expected and earnings of $4.93 per share versus the $4.64 expected. became. Revenue increased 22% sequentially and 265% year over year.
Revenue from data centers, Nvidia’s most-watched revenue, increased more than 400% year-over-year to $18.4 billion.
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said in a press release: “Accelerated computing and generative AI have reached a tipping point. Demand is surging around the world across companies, industries, and nations.”
Nvidia’s earnings and stock demand are seen as a bellwether for overall interest in artificial intelligence, as the company relies heavily on its products to develop AI. Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, Meta, and Google have all signed deals to buy the company’s chips in bulk as they race to release new AI products and features.
Some major companies, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, are launching their own AI chip ventures to compete with established Nvidia, which would likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars. .
Nvidia plans to ship a new chip, the B100, which will be the top of its product line, in 2024, raising expectations for explosive growth. Nokia and Nvidia on Wednesday announced a partnership to develop AI solutions that can improve communications infrastructure.
Wall Street has come to expect big growth from Nvidia. Analysts’ baseline forecast on Wednesday was for sales to increase his 240%. Tech companies are rushing to develop AI products that leverage the company’s proprietary AI chips and software, considered the best on the market.
Nvidia’s revenue tripled last quarter, and its profits for the past four quarters have exceeded analyst expectations.
The company’s stock price has more than tripled over the past year, valuing the company at more than $1.5 trillion. The company surpassed Google and Amazon in market capitalization last week, making it the world’s third-largest company by value within days.
Being optimistic, believing in your abilities, practicing affirmations, being grateful, and setting clear goals can bring real benefits. But is manifestation pure pseudoscience, or does it mean something? We look at how the WOOP approach can actively support you on your journey towards realizing your dreams. I’ll go.
volcanic eruption
After three years of violent eruptions, experts now believe that Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula has entered a new phase of volcanic activity.
counterintuitive universe
The world is not what it seems. This special feature explores how science has exposed fallacies and false beliefs about heaven and earth throughout history.
planet nine
Something strange is happening beyond Neptune, and it may change everything we think we know about our solar system. Could orbital oddities reveal the existence of undiscovered planets near our heavens? Or is it something else?
plus
CES 2024’s biggest innovations: Every year, Las Vegas hosts the Consumer Electronics Show, where technology manufacturers from around the world gather to unveil their latest developments. From transparent technology to domestic robots and the latest cooking appliances, technology expert Alex Hughes shares some of the highlights.
Pothole: There are 750,000 potholes in Britain’s roads, creating a crater-like structure. These can cause serious damage to vehicles and pose a danger to drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. But with bacteria and self-healing asphalt, it could be smooth again.
First moon base: Head to the moon’s south pole to peer inside what may be the first human habitation on the moon. Initially he planned to house 144 people, but the modular design of the Lunar Habitat Master Plan will expand and evolve with the inhabitants.
don’t forget that BBC Science Focus Also available on all major digital platforms. There is a version of android, Kindle Fire and Kindle e-readers, but also, iOS app For iPad and iPhone.
The black hole in the newly discovered quasar SMSS J052915.80-435152.0 (J0529-4351) accretes about 1 solar mass per day on top of its existing mass of 17 billion solar masses.
This image of the exceptional quasar J0529-4351 is from the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey DR10. Adjacent M stars are displayed in red.Image credit: Wolf other., doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02195-x.
In 1963, Dutch-born American astronomer Maarten Schmidt identified the first quasar, known as 3C 273. It appeared as a very bright star of magnitude 12, and its redshift suggested that it was one of the most distant objects known in the universe. time.
These two facts suggest an incredibly huge light output, and ever since, newly discovered quasars have impressed with their ability to emit enormous amounts of energy from small regions of the universe. Ta.
This can only be explained by the conversion of gravitational energy into heat and light in a highly viscous accretion disk around a supermassive black hole.
Currently, about 1 million quasars are known, but a few specimens stand out. In 2015, ultraluminous quasar J0100+2802 was confirmed to be a supermassive black hole with 10 billion solar masses.
In 2018, an even brighter object, J2157-3602, was discovered, which contains a supermassive black hole with a mass of 24 billion solar masses.
Its brightness suggests rapid growth, but its existence is difficult to explain. When black holes start from the debris of a star's collapse and grow temporarily, they are not expected to reach appreciable mass in the time between the Big Bang and the black hole era. observation.
The quasar that broke the new record is so far from Earth that it took more than 12 billion years for its light to reach us.
The object, called J0529-4351, was first detected using the 2.3 meter telescope at the ANU Siding Spring Observatory.
Australian National University astronomer Christian Wolff and colleagues then turned to ESO's Very Large Telescope, one of the world's largest telescopes, to confirm the full nature of the black hole and measure its mass. Toward.
“We have discovered the fastest growing black hole ever known. It has a mass of 17 billion suns and eats just over one sun a day. This makes it the fastest growing black hole in the known universe. It will be a bright object,” Dr. Wolf said.
The material drawn into this black hole in the form of a disk emits so much energy that J0529-4351 is more than 500 trillion times brighter than the Sun.
“All this light comes from a hot accretion disk seven light-years in diameter, which must be the largest accretion disk in the universe,” said Dr. Student Samuel Lai.
“Given what we know about many other less impressive black holes, it's surprising that it hasn't been detected before. It was hiding in plain sight,” says the Australian National said Dr. Christopher Onken of the university.
This finding is reported in the following article: paper in diary natural astronomy.
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C.Wolf other. Accretion of solar masses per day by a 17 billion solar mass black hole. Nat Astron, published online on February 19, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02195-x
Despite intensive efforts to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD), substantial residual CVD risk remains, even in people who receive all guideline-recommended interventions. Niacin (vitamin B3) is an essential micronutrient fortified in staple foods, but its role in CVD is poorly understood. Excessive amounts of niacin's breakdown products may be associated with an increased risk of death, heart attack, and stroke, according to a new study.
Niacin is an essential micronutrient that is fortified in staple foods beyond dietary requirements. Image credit: Ferrell other., doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02793-8.
Although CVD is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, only a portion of the attributable risk is explained by established risk factors.
Despite significant advances in treatment, the risk of residual cardiovascular disease remains high, and it has been suggested that additional, as yet unrecognized factors contribute to cardiovascular disease.
Research has previously shown that niacin (vitamin B3) reduces levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
However, this vitamin does not seem to have the expected effect in reducing CVD risk, the so-called “niacin paradox”.
“Our study shows that niacin breakdown products can promote vascular inflammation, providing a potential explanation for this discrepancy,” said Cleveland Clinic researcher Stanley Hazen, Ph.D. said.
In the study, the authors analyzed plasma samples from 4,325 people in three patient cohorts, including men and women from the United States and Europe.
They found that two breakdown products of niacin, the metabolites N1-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide (2PY) and N1-methyl-4-pyridone-3-carboxamide (4PY), are associated with increased CVD risk. I discovered that
In subsequent human genetic studies and mouse studies, the research team found that this increased risk is due to these breakdown products increasing the abundance of the pro-inflammatory protein VCAM-1 within the endothelial cells lining the blood. showed that it may be mediated by the ability of one of the (4PY). ship.
“Further studies are needed in large-scale studies to investigate the association between niacin and its degradation products and CVD,” the researchers said.
their findings It was published in the magazine natural medicine.
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M. Ferrell other. 2024. End metabolites of niacin promote vascular inflammation and contribute to cardiovascular disease risk. Nat Med 30, 424-434; doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02793-8
Yellow-bellied shrike (Prionops alberti). Image credit: University of Texas at El Paso.
First described in 1933, the shrike is a member of the bird family. Bangidae.
Also known as the King Albert Shrike, this bird is distinguished by its black plumage and bright yellow crown.
This species is endemic to the mountains of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The yellow shrike is endemic to the western slopes of the Albertine Rift in Central Africa, an area that has been largely inaccessible due to war and security issues, but has recently become safe to visit. '' said Dr. Michael Harvey.ornithologist University of Texas El Paso.
Dr. Harvey and his colleagues made the discovery during a six-week expedition to the Itombwe Massif, a mountain range in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“It was a shocking experience to encounter these birds,” Dr Harvey said.
“I knew they might be possible here, but I wasn't prepared for how grand and unique it would be.”
The ornithologists walked more than 121 kilometers (75 miles) deep into the Itumbwe massif, studying birds, amphibians and reptiles along the way.
While exploring the cloud forest on the side of a mountain, they encountered a striking black bird with a bright yellow “helmet”, the long-eared shrike.
“These birds appeared to be a fairly noisy and active flock in the mid-levels of the forest,” they said.
A total of about 18 birds were spotted at three locations during the expedition.
“This gives us hope that perhaps this species still maintains a reasonably healthy population in the remote forests of this region,” Dr Harvey said.
“However, mining, logging, and deforestation for agriculture are encroaching deep into the forests of the Itombwe Mountains.”
“We are in discussions with other researchers and conservation groups about further efforts to protect forests and shrike in this region.”
“Now is a great time to protect these tropical forests so species like the long-eared shrike are not lost before they are known and studied.”
The lamprey and human hindbrains are built using very similar molecular and genetic toolkits, according to a new study led by the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.
These images show an adult lamprey (top and left) and a developing lamprey embryo. Image credit: Stowers Medical Research Institute.
“Our research on the hindbrain (the part of the brain that controls important functions such as blood pressure and heart rate) is essentially a window into the distant past and can serve as a model for understanding the evolution of complexity. “, said Dr. Hugo Parker. Researcher at Stowers Medical Research Institute.
Like other vertebrates, sea lampreys have a backbone and skeleton, but they noticeably lack a jaw, a characteristic feature of the head.
Most vertebrates, including humans, have jaws, so this striking difference in sea lampreys makes it a valuable model for understanding the evolution of vertebrate traits.
“About 500 million years ago, at the origin of vertebrates, there was a split between jawless and jawed animals,” said Dr. Alice Bedois, also of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.
“We wanted to know how vertebrate brains evolved and whether there is something unique to jawed vertebrates that jawless vertebrates don't.”
Previous research had identified genes that structure and subdivide the sea lamprey's hindbrain as identical to genes in jawed vertebrates, including humans.
However, these genes are part of an interconnected network or circuit that needs to be initiated and directed to properly build the hindbrain.
In a new study, the authors identify common molecular cues known to direct head-to-tail patterning in a variety of animals as part of a genetic circuit that guides hindbrain patterning in the lamprey. .
“We found that the same genes, as well as the same cues, are involved in hindbrain development in sea lampreys. This suggests that this process is ancestral to all vertebrates. ,” Dr. Bedwa said.
“This signal is called retinoic acid, commonly known as vitamin A.”
Researchers have known that retinoic acid signals the genetic circuits that build the hindbrains of complex species, but they believe it is involved in more primitive animals like sea lampreys. was not considered.
Surprisingly, they discovered that the lamprey's core hindbrain circuit is also initiated by retinoic acid, providing evidence that these sea monsters and humans are much more closely related than expected.
“People thought that because lampreys don't have jaws, their hindbrains don't form like other vertebrates,” says Dr. Rob Krumlauf, a researcher at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.
“We showed that this fundamental part of the brain is built exactly the same way as in mice, and even in humans.”
Signaling molecules that signal cell fate during development are well known.
Now, researchers have discovered that retinoic acid plays another key role in signaling important steps in development, such as the formation of the brainstem.
Furthermore, if hindbrain formation is a conserved feature in all vertebrates, other mechanisms must be involved to explain its incredible diversity.
“We all come from a common ancestor,” Dr. Bedwa said.
“The lamprey provided further clues.”
“We now need to go further back in evolutionary time to discover when the genetic circuits controlling hindbrain formation first evolved.”
of study It was published in the magazine nature communications.
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AMH Bedwa other. 2024. Lamprey reveals the origins of retinoic acid signaling and its coupling to vertebrate hindbrain segments. Nat Commune 15, 1538. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-45911-x
The study looked at men who produced less than 1.5 million sperm per milliliter of semen, which is considered to produce very few or no sperm.
Joshua Resnick/Shutterstock
Relatives of men who have infertility problems may be at increased risk of cancer, and the odds vary widely from family to family.
Research suggests that certain relatives within three generations of such men are more likely to develop a variety of cancers, including cancers that affect the colon, testicles, and uterus. However, the risk varies by family lineage and whether the man is infertile or subfertile.
Joey Ramsay Researchers at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City suspected this might vary from family to family. To find out, they analyzed the sperm counts of 360 men who produced fewer than 1.5 million sperm per milliliter of semen and 426 men who produced no sperm at all. These men were matched in age to more than 5,600 of his others with whom he had at least one biological child. Researchers do not know whether any of the participants were transgender.
Next, they obtained information on cancer diagnoses in the men's first-, second-, and third-degree relatives from Utah's database.
The research team found that relatives of men with low sperm counts within three generations were more likely to develop colon and testicular cancer compared to the general population, and some of those related to men with low sperm counts They discovered there was a high chance of developing sarcoma, Hodgkin said. Lymphoma, cancer of the uterus and thyroid. Both of these groups had much higher rates of bone and joint cancer than the general population.
The researchers then used specially developed software to determine the increased risk of cancer combinations in 34 body regions within different families (both fertile and infertile groups). We have detected a tendency to This resulted in “clustering” that allowed trends within families to be detected.
Two-thirds of male relatives who did not have sperm were at no higher risk of cancer than the general population. However, other families showed a significantly increased risk of various types of cancer, and that risk varied by family lineage, with higher risks for childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancers. There were people too.
Relatives of men with low sperm counts all had an increased risk of at least one type of cancer compared to the general population, but the degree of risk and type of condition varied.
It is unclear why this increased risk occurs, but it may be due to genetic factors or common environmental exposures among relatives. It is hoped that further research will investigate this and lead to tests that identify families at higher risk, Ramsay said.
Archaeologists have discovered traces of an ancient ocher-based multicomponent adhesive in 40,000-year-old stone tools unearthed in Le Moustiers, France.
Photographs, drawings and details of stone tools from Le Moustiers, France. Image credit: D. Greinert / Schmidt other., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adl0822.
“These surprisingly well-preserved tools show technical solutions that are broadly similar to examples of tools made by early modern humans in Africa, but the exact recipes reflect a Neanderthal 'spin.' “This is the manufacture of hand tool grips,” he said. Radu Iovita, researcher at New York University's Center for Human Origins Research.
In the study, Dr. Iovita and colleagues examined stone tools with traces of red and yellow colorants excavated from the French ruins of Le Moustiers, discovered in the early 20th century.
These stone tools were made by Neanderthals during the Middle Paleolithic period, between 120,000 and 40,000 years ago.
They are kept in the collection of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin, but have not been studied in detail until now.
“The products had been individually wrapped and left untouched since the 1960s. As a result, the remains of attached organic matter were very well preserved,” says Eva, a researcher at the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin. Dr. Dutkiewicz said.
Researchers found traces of ocher and asphalt mixtures on some Mousterian stone tools, such as scrapers, flakes, and blades.
Ocher is a naturally occurring earth pigment. Bitumen is a component of asphalt and can be produced from crude oil, but it also occurs naturally in soil.
“I was surprised to find that it contained more than 50% ocher. This is because air-dried asphalt can be used directly as an adhesive, but adding so much ocher would cause it to lose its adhesive properties. '' said Dr. Patrick Schmidt, a researcher at the University of Tübingen.
Scientists tested these materials in tensile tests and other measurements used to determine strength.
“The situation was different when we used liquid bitumen, which is not very suitable for bonding. When you add 55% ocher, a malleable mass forms,” said Dr. Schmidt.
It was sticky enough to pierce stone tools, and did not stick to hands, making it ideal as a material for handles.
In fact, microscopic examination of the signs of wear from use on these stone tools revealed that the adhesive on Le Moustier's stone tools had been used in this way.
“The tool showed two types of micro-wear: one is the typical grinding of sharp edges, which is usually caused by machining other materials,” says Dr. Iovita.
“Secondly, there was a bright polish distributed all over what appeared to be the hand grip, but not anywhere else. We interpreted it to be the result of wear and tear.”
The use of adhesives containing several ingredients, including various sticky substances such as tree resins and ocher, was known from early Homo sapiens in Africa, but not since early Neanderthals in Europe. It wasn't known.
Overall, the development of adhesives and their use in tool manufacturing is considered to be some of the best physical evidence of early human cultural evolution and cognitive abilities.
“Composite glue is thought to be one of the first expressions of modern cognitive processes that are still active today,” said Dr. Schmidt.
In the Le Moustiers area, ocher and asphalt had to be collected from remote locations, which required a great deal of effort, planning and a targeted approach.
“Given the overall circumstances of the find, we believe that this sticky material was created by Neanderthals,” Dr. Dutkiewicz said.
“Our research shows that early homo sapiens “African Neanderthals and European Neanderthals had similar thought patterns,” Dr. Schmidt said.
“Their adhesion techniques have the same importance for understanding human evolution.”
Regarding this research, paper Published in today's magazine scientific progress.
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Patrick Schmidt other. 2024. Ocher-based composite adhesives used in Mousterian typesetting have recorded mixed recognition and significant investment. scientific progress 10(8); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adl0822
A European satellite that is malfunctioning is expected to fall to Earth and plunge uncontrollably through the atmosphere on Wednesday.
The European Space Agency said that most of the dead satellite is anticipated to burn up in the atmosphere and any surviving debris is unlikely to cause harm. However, it is challenging to determine the exact time and location of the spacecraft’s fall.
According to the Latest blog posts, the space agency estimated that the re-entry time will be around 10:41 a.m. ET on Wednesday, which would take approximately two hours. Based on the satellite’s orbit, the spacecraft was expected to be somewhere off the coast of North America in the Pacific Ocean during that period.
The space agency explained that much of the uncertainty about the re-entry of satellites is due to the challenge of predicting atmospheric density. Changes in air density, influenced by solar activity, impact the drag experienced by objects passing through Earth’s atmosphere.
The space agency stated that although there is uncertainty about the re-entry point of the dead satellite, it is unlikely to pose a threat to populated areas.
“Most of the satellites will burn out, and the surviving debris will be scattered somewhat randomly over a ground orbit averaging hundreds of kilometers long and tens of kilometers wide (this is why the risks involved are so great). “The reason for this is low),” said an expert from the agency’s Space Debris Countermeasures Office. I wrote it in a blog post.
The spacecraft, known as European Remote Sensing 2 or ERS-2, was an Earth observation satellite that collected data about Earth’s oceans, polar caps, and surface. The space agency said the satellite, launched in April 1995, was also used to monitor severe floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters in remote areas of the world.
A rare bird with a spectacular yellow crown has been photographed for the first time in the tropical mountains of the Democratic Republic of Congo, almost 20 years after it was last seen.
Yellow-bellied shrike (Prionops alberti)Also known as the King Albert Shrike, it is a small bird that lives in the damp forests of the Albertine Rift Mountains in Central Africa. Adults are covered in glossy black feathers, with a magnificent crown of bright golden feathers on their heads. Their eyes are surrounded by distinctive orange tissue called wattles.
After not being seen for many years, the long-eared shrike was listed as an endangered species. Find a lost bird partnership.
michael harvey Researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso finally encountered this phenomenon again during a six-week expedition into the Itobwe Mountains from December 2023 to January 2024.
As team members wandered through the cloud forest, they encountered a flock of elusive birds.
“It was a shocking experience to come across these birds. I knew it might be possible here, but I wasn't prepared for how spectacular and unique it would be in my life.” ,” Harvey said in a statement.
A total of 18 Long-tailed Shrikes were spotted at three locations during the expedition. This suggests that there may be healthy populations of birds currently considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The group also developed the red-bellied mushroom frog (Articular leptis hematogaster), last seen in the 1950s.
“Now is a great time to protect these tropical forests so we don't lose species like the long-eared shrike before they are known and studied,” Harvey said. Ta.
MLast week's big Xbox announcement from Microsoft turned out to be somewhat anticlimactic. Just four games, none particularly shocking, will be coming to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch in the near future. (Annoyingly, Microsoft executives declined to be named, but it was later reported by Famitsu and The Verge that the games in question were Sea of Thieves, Grounded, Pentiment, and Hi-Fi Rush.) (This matches the game I have in mind; I've heard it from other sources.)
Microsoft has no intention of exiting the console market or making all its games multi-platform, as the Whiplash rumormongers have hotly speculated. And the (very valuable) Xbox Game Pass subscription service remains exclusive to Xbox and PC.
This is not essentially news. Microsoft is already one of the biggest publishers of PlayStation, especially now that it owns both Bethesda and Activision-Blizzard. So everything from Skyrim to Call of Duty to Minecraft is technically a Microsoft game. If Microsoft's head of games, Phil Spencer, announced last year that Starfield would be developed for the PlayStation 5, or if Xbox head Sarah Bond announced that Microsoft would develop an Xbox-only game, for example. If they had said they were abandoning the idea completely, well, that would have been the case. This is a big change worth reporting home (or, in my case, writing to you). Rather, it's a small extension of a strategy Microsoft has pursued for years. Every time I've talked to Microsoft executives over the years, they've always offered some variation of the line, “Play the games you want, with the people you want, wherever you want.” Last week's Xbox broadcast.
Instead, the announcement highlighted how harmful and outdated the idea of console wars is.Adults are still overly invested in the idea of a console identity, and some of the products Microsoft has spent billions of dollars developing or acquiring on other, far more popular gaming consoles. The very prospect of releasing it was enough to cause excitement. tantrums and emotional outbursts;. The Xbox community has been in an uproar over the issue for weeks, with X people posting wartime memes and YouTubers posting videos with titles like: “Xbox…it's over!”.
No doubt some of this anger is designed to get more clicks, but most of it is misplaced passion. Fans care a lot about Xbox and the games that Xbox Studios has brought us over the years, but fundamentally they care about which machine the video game is played on, Steam deck or Switch, Xbox or PlayStation. . Microsoft's own management has been saying this for years, and anyone who hasn't heard it hasn't.
Sea of Thieves on Xbox One. Photo: Rare
The console wars were never anything more than a marketing strategy. Like when Sega vs. Nintendo created one of the great business rivalries of the 1990s (remember the catchphrase “What does Sega do that Nintendo doesn't do?”) and when Microsoft , there were times over the years when it was still very entertaining. ™'s continued fumbling with his Xbox One announcement in 2013 gave Sony ample opportunity. playful piss.
But that's no longer fun, now that the culture wars have turned every aspect of modern life, from politics to parkruns, into a hostile nightmare. It's ridiculous to see people arguing over video game consoles as if it were a matter of life and death.
But even if what we're discussing doesn't matter, how we discuss it does. Toxic fandom is a problem everywhere from football to video games to Star Wars, and its loud, illogical, and mean-spirited nature reflects trends in public discourse since 2016. doing. Bad actors have tried to use video game fandom as a weapon to direct their anger. If you set goals that align with their purpose, they will try again.
Getting back to Xbox, to me, the problem with Microsoft's presence in the gaming world is that it's a huge company focused on continued growth. Unlike Sony or Nintendo, the company has nearly limitless resources, as recent acquisition activity shows. We're still working on changing our history of acquiring great studios. crush them Through corporate intervention. I wonder if some companies have the power to buy out competitors in creative industries where competition is key to the diversity, innovation, and creative value of work. Microsoft has started bringing Xbox games to rival consoles, which actually suggests do not have It's desperate to dominate this space and allow more players to benefit from the fruits of its many studio efforts. This is safe.
This isn't the end of Xbox consoles, but let's take this opportunity to call for an end to the manufactured console wars. They really make us all look bad.
what to play
pacific drive. Photo: Ironwood Studio
I understand that pacific drive It's inspired by Jeff VanderMeer's bizarre novel, and playing it is like driving a beat-up car into the exclusion zone of Annihilation. There, strange and frightening things await you under eerie hues and thunderous skies. And your poor vehicle is the only thing standing between you and them. You ride into the zone over and over again, never knowing what you're going to see. Repair the car in the garage with what you found and try to further investigate what is going on.
Everything is very peaceful until it suddenly isn't so peaceful and you fumble to manually turn the lights and wipers on and off while running away from the storm.
Available on: PC, PS5 Estimated play time: Still do not know…
what to read
Stroke Tthe Animals video game by TJ Gardner. Photo: TJ Gardner
If you've ever absentmindedly looked at the PlayStation Store, you may have seen it. pet the animal Game – A basic, eyebrow-raising game where you press a button and pet an animal (i.e. a JPEG of an animal) for a few minutes to earn a simple trophy. When Ellie Gibson looked into the contents of these games, he discovered an unexpected story.
Peripheral device manufacturers PDP It is coming out as new guitar controller Used in the festival music game component of Fornite (and Rock Band 4 for those still playing). Fun fact: Fortnite Festival was developed by Harmonix, the developer of the original Guitar Hero and Rock Band games.
If you can get to Asda, you might be able to buy a copy of last year's ill-fated Wizard FPS Immortals of Aveum On PS5 for 1 pound. It's not a bad game, but it was released in one of the busiest gaming years on record and sadly sank without a trace.
Embracer grouphas gone on a wild acquisition spree funded by Saudi speculative funds that suddenly disappeared last year, laying off 1,400 people, canceling 29 games and shuttering several of the studios it acquired. Therefore, the company's CEO Definitely a popular statement Layoffs are “something everyone has to overcome.”
Ever wanted to play Mario Kart to the accompaniment of a live jazz band? In Oklahoma, you can:
Report finds LGBTQ+ representation in video games lags behind movies and TV
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered Edition Review – A great remaster of Lara Croft’s Lost Ark
question block
sunset overdrive. Photo: Microsoft
This week's question from reader Paul:
“What game would you like to go back and re-score (if you could)? Were you too harsh or too lenient on the game back then?”
So, Paul, it's clear that I was right from beginning to end. Except when I'm not. Most of my early critical gaffes are thankfully hidden in the pages of his 10-20 year old magazines, but some remain in the public domain. Dear reader, may I humbly declare that I was wrong about Assassin's Creed 3? should have been more strict towards.
It's easy to name people who have evolved human thinking, from Jane Austen to Albert Einstein, Zaha Hadid to Ai Weiwei, but why are these people so much more creative than others? It's much more difficult to explain what kind of thinking you do. Are their brains just built that way, or can anyone learn it? The mystery of creativity has long puzzled scientists. Now, researchers are finally making some progress towards closing the curtain. Even better, their insights can help us all exercise a little more original thinking.
Some of them are exciting insights This stems from the “dual process theory” of creativity, which distinguishes between idea generation and idea evaluation. Idea generation involves digging deep into existing knowledge for seeds of inspiration. Perhaps it is done by drawing analogies from completely different areas. Free association is key at this stage, as one thought leads to another, more original insight. The second phase, idea evaluation, requires you to apply a more critical eye to select the ideas that best fit your goals. Novelists must decide whether strange, supernatural plot twists will excite readers or turn them off. Engineers must consider whether a fish-inspired airplane would be practical and efficient. Large projects require these two stages to be repeated many times during the long and winding journey from concept to completion.
Brain scans of people engaged in creative problem solving suggest that idea generation and evaluation relies on…
Humpback whales use songs to communicate with each other across oceans
Karim Ilya
Biologists have discovered how baleen whales produce their unique songs. It involves the uniquely shaped larynx.
Baleen whales, including humpback whales, communicate through complex songs that can be heard over great distances. “People recorded the first whale sounds in his 1970s, but only recently have we started to recognize the different sounds these animals actually make,” he says. Cohen Elemans At the University of Southern Denmark. “Now the question is, how do they do this?”
To learn more, Elemans and his team extracted the larynxes of three recently deceased baleen whales.Balaenoptera borealis), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and the northern minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata).
The larynx, commonly known as the voice box, is an organ located in the upper neck of mammals. As air flows through the organ, the tissue folds vibrate, creating sound.
But that's not the case with baleen whales, Ellemans says. When the researchers examined the whale's larynx, they discovered that the organ had an unexpected shape, with a cushion of fat on one side.
When these whales breathe, air is forced against the fatty material, which vibrates and makes sound. “I've never seen this in any other animal,” Ellemans says. “This is unique to baleen whales.”
Whales can also recycle air from their lungs, which is useful when they are underwater for long periods of time. When you exhale through the trachea and larynx, air enters a sac with walls that contract, returning air to the lungs.
Using a computer model of its larynx, the researchers found that baleen whales can generate frequencies of up to 300 hertz at depths up to 100 meters below the ocean's surface. This is within the frequency range of noise emitted by ships, raising concerns that ship noise could drown out their songs.
“These whales can't escape this situation,” Elemans said. “Therefore, we need to take steps to reduce noise.”
View from a kayak on Death Valley Temporary Lake, February 9, 2024
Michael Kohler/NPS
Heavy rain has fallen in California in recent weeks, resulting in the remarkable formation of a rare temporary lake in Death Valley, the driest place in the United States.
Record levels of rain have flooded California over the past month. Numerous atmospheric river storms (narrow bands of highly concentrated moisture in the air) worsen wet conditions, putting up to 37 million people at risk of flooding.
Heavy rainfall also hit Death Valley National Park along the California-Nevada border. In fact, it rained so much that the park's Badwater Basin, normally a dry salt flat, temporarily turned into a shallow lake.
At 86 meters below sea level, the basin is the lowest point in North America and was home to an ancient body of water that researchers named Lake Manly tens of thousands of years ago.
Over the past few decades, the lake has been backfilled several times. In August 2023, rains associated with Hurricane Hillary formed a lake 11.3 kilometers long and 0.6 meters deep, which shrank in the following months. Well, it has been replenished once again. The current maximum length of the lake is nearly 10 kilometers and the depth is approximately 0.3 meters.
Last year, Death Valley National Park Closed for several weeks after Hurricane Hillary This is because flooding damaged the road network and limited opportunities for visitors to explore the temporary lake. This time, the park opened and the re-emergence of Lake Manly attracted tourists, including swimmers and kayakers.
Bitcoin Dogs raised a total of $3.1 million in the first six days of its historic presale. The project's BRC-20 token, 0DOG, is the first-ever ICO on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Bitcoin dog Leveraging the recent Ordinals protocol to break new ground in the Bitcoin ecosystem, the team plans to launch a 10,000-strong NFT collection later this year.
The opportunity to be a part of history is a key selling point for the brand, which is no doubt boosted by the token price increasing every three days until the pre-sale ends on Friday, March 15th, after which the token will be available for trading.
Within 6 days, the Bitcoin dogs X community has over 80,000 followers and an additional 145,000 people actively discussing the project. Telegram community.
Bitcoin Dogs (0DOG) is available on the official website Website.
Future path for Bitcoin dogs
Beyond the historic ICO that launched the 0DOG token, Bitcoin Dogs has a very comprehensive roadmap: White paper consisting of a new Play-to-Earn game and one of the largest Bitcoin NFT collections ever.
Retro 8-bit graphics bring the world of Bitcoin Dogs to life, subtly echoing early NFT collections like CryptoPunks and classic pet simulator games like Tamagotchi.
Gameplay is tightly integrated with social media, a mechanism aimed at building community and bringing the game to a wider audience. By sharing their progress, players have the opportunity to earn in-game currency, which they can use to compete against other players in gruesome races and canine-themed competitions.
0DOG price factors
Bitcoin Dogs' success can be attributed to a number of factors, including strong project fundamentals, a resurgence in the Bitcoin-led cryptocurrency market, and a strong value proposition.
Bitcoin Dogs offers specific products such as: Games and NFT collections On the horizon. The project roadmap is also clear, with a long-term strategy to maintain interest beyond the ICO.
The ICO itself is also an important selling point. Being the first pre-sale for Bitcoin-based tokens has attracted a large number of buyers, and the short 30-day period is encouraging potential buyers to participate early. This momentum increase can also be caused by the 3-day price increase.
The project's proximity to Bitcoin is also likely to be a boon. Bitcoin will rise in value in 2024, stabilizing above $50,000 at the time of writing ahead of the next halving scheduled for April.
including media Cointelegraph The broader market could also benefit from predicting new highs after the halving, which would put Bitcoin Dogs in a good position to benefit from Bitcoin's slipstream.
Additionally, the BRC-20 token standard (which allows new cryptocurrencies to be deployed on and secured by the Bitcoin blockchain) has been making waves since its announcement in 2023. His BRC-20 projects such as ORDI and ORNJ achieved 3,000% rallies and 677% each.
Bringing this possibility to the forefront, Bitcoin dog We aim to become a strong candidate to carry the torch of BRC-20. With only 23 days left, time is running out for the long-awaited public trading to begin.
About Bitcoin Dog
Bitcoin Dogs is breaking new ground in the Bitcoin ecosystem. For the first time ever, NFTs, games, and a new type of token come together to deliver the first ICO on the original Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin's true permissionless immutability has been leveraged to create the 0DOG token, and a play-to-earn (P2E) gaming experience and NFT collection has been developed exclusively for his 0DOG holders.
For more information (0DOG) users please visit Bitcoin Dogs. Website.
Crescent Nebula: More complex than the human brain?
Reinhold Wittich/Stocktrek Images/Alamy
Back in 2012, neuroscientist Christoph Koch wrote in his book: Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist The human brain is “the most complex object in the known universe.” This seems intuitive, given that the brain has approximately 86 billion neurons, which are connected in ways that are still beginning to be understood. But when I put it, David Wolpert At New Mexico's Santa Fe Institute, founded in the 1980s as a hub for the budding field of complexity science, he doesn't think so. “It's almost a travesty that we are the most complex system in the universe,” he says. “That question is actually misguided.”
Nevertheless, I persevere. Is there a common measure of complexity that can be applied to complex systems of all kinds? After all, if you squint, galaxy clusters and the filaments that connect them look like intertwined circuits of neurons. Masu. The human brain even has almost as many neurons as there are galaxies in the observable universe. This formal similarity may have something to do with the general laws by which complexity emerges, he says. Ricard Sole At Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. Or maybe not. “By chance, it might show up in both systems, but that doesn't mean anything,” he says.
Moreover, complexity is not defined by components and their interconnections. It's the idea that the whole is more than just something.
Over the past week, Bitcoin has experienced a bullish rally, topping the coveted $52,000 mark and recouping almost all the losses incurred since the FTX collapse. The milestone is crucial for an industry grappling with a prolonged bear market.
Consistent with Bitcoin’s upward trajectory, there has been a notable increase in the total market capitalization of major stablecoins, including: USDT, USDC, BUSDand Big. The market capitalization of these four stablecoin giants increased from $131.232 billion to $138.993 billion from February 13th to February 20th, indicating growing demand.
Stablecoins play a vital role as a bridge between fiat and crypto markets, making up the majority of crypto trading pairs and, as a result, becoming a major source of funding. market liquidity. The rise in market capitalization highlights the increasing adoption of stablecoins, solidifying their position as the preferred medium for engaging with cryptocurrencies.
Looking at the broader picture, we can see that the supply of the top four stablecoins has surged by 3.475% in the past 30 days. While a variety of factors may be contributing to this increase, it is primarily due to the overall market movement of assets into stablecoins, whether fiat or cryptocurrencies, in anticipation of future trading activity. It shows the trend. This suggests that the market is gearing up for a quick entry or exit from Bitcoin.
Supporting this trend is the notable rise in the stablecoin supply rate (SSR). SSR is a key metric that measures stablecoin supply relative to Bitcoin’s market capitalization, indicating the depth of market liquidity and potential purchasing power. A rise in SSR means a larger proportion of stablecoins compared to Bitcoin, and if these stablecoins are converted to Bitcoin, this could impact Bitcoin price growth.
SSR that exceeds the top bollinger bands This represents an unusual surge in potential purchasing power in February 2024. This suggests that investors may be poised to migrate to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in line with the Bitcoin price increase observed since January 2024.
The soaring price of Bitcoin, combined with the expansion in market capitalization and supply of major stablecoins, signals a significant influx of capital into the crypto market. For stablecoins, these trends highlight their important role in the ecosystem, serving not only as a safe haven during times of volatility, but also as an important means of putting money into Bitcoin. .
The trends observed last week highlight the interconnectedness of the stablecoin market and Bitcoin and highlight how fluctuations in stablecoin supply and market capitalization act as indicators of impending market activity. I am.
TWhat's frustrating about this adventurous multiplayer game from Ubisoft? reportedly It was in development hell for about 10 years. largely good.some things about it teeth. It offers interesting customization and even thrills when playing against well-matched opponents, including ship battles that are more flexible than you might expect. And when you're sailing from the coast of Africa to the East Indies, or navigating river channels surrounded on all sides by tropical wilderness, you can't help but admire the beauty of this game. And some things about it could get better. For now the menu is confusing, slow and messy time. A few tweaks could further increase the pace before pirate exploration becomes more exciting. This is a live service game, so there is room for evolution.
But some things about Skull and Bones are never going to be good, at least not without tearing them down and starting over, and after years of costly delays, it seems unlikely that that will ever happen. Seems low. All characters in this game have dead eyes and only their lips move when they speak. The story is so boring that even after spending over 20 hours at sea, I can tell you the relative value of rough stones and where to sell cigarettes for the most money, but I can't remember the names of a single character or faction. not. And when you're on the ground, there's no sword fighting, no treasure hunting, no meaningful exploration. A lot of effort has gone into creating a small oasis of land, but there's nothing there except a few quest-givers and a campfire. He only has two more populous pirate-based settlements on the whole map, and while you can at least find a blacksmith and a tavern, it's hard to find other interesting places to anchor.
This means you will spend 90% of your time sailing as all the action takes place on the waves. And if you're not plundering merchant ships or trying to protect yourself from other pirates, all you need to sail is raising and lowering your sails and occasionally adjusting your trajectory. Although boring, I found it peaceful to actually carry things and enjoy the scenery. The best part of Skull and Bones is the Indian Ocean. Occasionally, I felt a sense of quiet awe, such as when I was maneuvering a narrow cutter down a narrow road, seeing rocks towering from all sides and waterfalls cascading around corners. As the sun set, a soundtrack could be heard coming from the crew's shack. At that moment, like Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed games sometimes do, Skull and Bones felt like a recreation of a lost time, breathing new life into the Golden Age of Piracy.
A few tweaks could really speed up the pace – Skull and Bones. Photo: Ubisoft/Keza McDonald
Unfortunately, Assassin's Creed is the elephant in the room here. Skull and Bones is a super fun pirate-flavored adventure inspired by 2013's Assassin's Creed Black Flag. Felt It's an adventure, with lots of islands to explore, things to discover, and interesting stories to discover along with the thrill of sailing and firing cannonballs at your enemies. 2018's Assassin's Creed Odyssey still features a stunning voyage through the deep blue waters of ancient Greece, but there's so much more to do. Skull and Bones levels up sailing ever so slightly, and ship building is much better – changing ships and weapons makes a big difference in how you play – but it has nothing else to offer. The game has no personality or plot at all. The game that inspired it.
Another game I can't help but mention here is Rare's Sea of Thieves. This is another online pirate action game that launched in 2018 in Barren State, but has since evolved into something fun, chaotic, and unique, and a great time with friends. As you would expect from a pirate game. But Skull and Bones is much more serious, lonely, and a completely different game. It reminded me more of Sid Meier's Pirates than Sea of Thieves in that most of the game involves actually transporting or interfering with cargo. A faction of colonialists. The deeper you go, the more Skull and Bones will be tasked with manufacturing, selling, and transporting goods in hidden markets, or sinking other players to steal their goods. This is more than just a pirate game, it's a trade and naval battle simulator. Although he is not overbearing, he is a good sailor and has a wide selection of three-cornered hats.
If publisher Ubisoft continues to support it, Skull and Bones will appeal to avid players of naval warfare enthusiasts who enjoy tinkering with ship construction, facing off against each other, and teaming up to take on deadly fleets and cargo. It will attract a lot of people. However, if you're looking for a game that feels like a pirate adventure, Black Flag is still a better choice.
Iojima is itself a volcano, located on the edge of the massive underwater Akahoya volcanic caldera.
Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images
The largest volcanic eruption in current geological time occurred underwater off the southern coast of Japan about 7,300 years ago. This explosion produced more than three times as much material as the eruption of Mount Tambora, the largest known modern eruption. Mount Tambora exploded in Indonesia in 1815, causing dramatic climate changes that led to the “Year Without a Summer” in 1816.
The new record holder, the Kikai Akahoya eruption, originated from a submerged caldera in an area off Japan's Kyushu island.
The devastating impact this eruption had on humans living on nearby islands has been recorded by geologists and archaeologists, and analysis of volcanic ash deposits has shown that this eruption was the most recent geological event that began 11,700 years ago. It was shown to be one of the largest eruptions of the Holocene era. .
However, the origin and scale of the explosion were unclear because of the difficulty in accessing the submarine caldera, the crater formed after the volcanic eruption, and the volcanic deposits on the ocean floor.
now, Nobukazu Sema Professors at Japan's Kobe University calculated that the Kikai-Akahoya eruption produced far more rock and ash underwater than previously thought, about 70 cubic kilometers. Combining this with previous estimates from volcanic rocks deposited over Japan, the total amount of material pumped out of the volcano equates to more than 300 cubic kilometers of material. This is twice the amount of water in Lake Tahoe in the western United States. “It was huge, more than we expected,” Seema says.
However, it is still far behind the huge eruption of Indonesia's Toba supervolcano, which released more than 2,500 cubic kilometers of magma about 74,000 years ago.
To assess Kikai Akahoya, Seema and his colleagues conducted seismic surveys and mapped the underwater area around the caldera, about 200 meters below the surface. This allowed them to see layers of material around the volcano, but they could not tell which ones were due to the eruption itself.
The researchers used remote-controlled drilling robots to collect sediment from the ocean floor, take core samples from the underlying rock, and identify layers containing characteristic volcanic glass. This data allowed us to isolate the volcanic layers from seismic surveys and calculate the total amount of material produced by the volcano.
“We know that very large, caldera-forming eruptions like this are rare, but we also know that there have been many more of these events in the geological past, and we have found evidence for them. ” he says. David Pyle at Oxford University.
The main reason it took so long for the scale of the eruption to be determined is because calderas deep under the sea are difficult to locate and measure, he said.
It still remains in the Kikai Akahoya caldera. big magma chamber It's below. If this explodes, there could be another eruption, but it's unclear how big it will be because it depends on the size of the magma chamber, Seema said. He says the chance of an eruption is small, but his team is working on measuring the dome more precisely to better understand the risks.
Creating better models to predict future eruptions by combining historical information from past eruptions, such as the Kikai-Akahoya eruption, with research from recent underwater eruptions, such as the 2022 Hunga-Tonga eruption. Pyle says it could help.
Is consciousness a collection of discrete states that we move between?
PM Images/Getty Images
What is consciousness? This is perhaps the greatest mystery remaining in the human brain. No wonder it's known as the “hard problem.” We also cannot agree on whether consciousness is one thing or whether it is various states. But a new way to explore that question sheds interesting light on this most elusive of concepts.
We use words like “blacking out” to describe fainting or falling asleep, but researchers believe that consciousness is much more than simply flipping a metaphorical switch from “on” to “off.” I have long understood that it is complicated. However, there is still much debate as to whether it is a single phenomenon with many continuous shades, as imagined as a dimmer switch, or a collection of discrete states, like separate television channels. there is.
Thinking about consciousness from a physicist's perspective may help answer this question. That's because the brain is constantly transitioning between states defined by patterns of electrical signals, and physicists have metrics to study such busy, ever-changing systems. In 2014, robin carhart harris University of California, San Francisco and colleagues hypothesized that entropy may be particularly useful.
Entropy describes how chaotic a system is. One measure of entropy is how many different microscopic configurations (such as the arrangement of water molecules within a glass) exist within a particular macroscopic property (such as the volume of a glass). Researchers proposed that brain states have greater entropy when measured…
Sui Basecamp, co-organizer of the inaugural global Sui conference, today announced the first batch of confirmed speakers for the Paris event, to be held on April 10 and 11, 2024. Sui Basecamp is a celebration of the developers and entrepreneurs building on Sui, enabling innovative layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platforms, and featuring speakers and thinkers from around the world and across the greater Web3 ecosystem. Leaders participate.
Sui Basecamp's first speakers include:
Arianna Simpson, a16z General Partner
Balaji S. Srinivasan, angel investor, technology founder, author of The Network State
Meltem Demiraz, passionate cult leader
Evan Cheng, CEO of Mysten Labs and former Sui contributor
Nikola Plecas, Global Head of Product GTM and Product Commercialization, Visa Crypto
Rachel Conran, Binance Chief Marketing Officer
Sam Blackshear, Chief Technology Officer at Mysten Labs and Creator of Move
Vincent Chok, Chief Executive Officer, First Digital Trust
Logan Jastremski, Managing Partner, Frictionless Capital
Benoit Pellevoizin, Head of Marketing and Communications, CoinShares France
Robert Knight, Cointelegraph Feature Writer
Greg Ciolounis, Managing Director, Sui Foundation
Sponsored by Misten Lab and the Sui Foundation, Sui Basecamp will be held at two selected venues. The first day and opening night of his party, Suissoirée, will be held at the Pavillon Cambon Capucines, the former headquarters of Credit Foncied de France, after which participants will move to the Pavillon. The festival on the second day was Vendôme. Both locations are adjacent to the main event of Paris Blockchain Week.
Early bird tickets are available at a discounted price of $99 from now until March 1st. Ticket prices will remain at the discounted price of US$149 from March 2nd to 31st, but will increase to the full price of US$299 from April 1st until the event.
Sui is a first-of-its-kind Layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform designed from the bottom up to make digital asset ownership fast, private, secure, and accessible to everyone. An object-centric model based on the Move programming language enables parallel execution, sub-second finality, and rich on-chain assets. With horizontally scalable processing and storage, Sui supports a wide range of applications at low cost and unmatched speed. Sui is a step-function advancement in blockchain and a platform that allows creators and developers to build amazing user-friendly experiences. learn more: https://sui.io
About Misten Lab
Mysten Labs is a team of leading experts in distributed systems, programming languages, and cryptography, and its founders were senior executives and lead architects of pioneering blockchain projects. Mysten Labs' mission is to create the foundational infrastructure for Web3. learn more: https://mystenlabs.com
Sui Foundation
The Sui Foundation is an independent organization dedicated to promoting and popularizing Sui. The Sui Foundation supports the Sui community and its projects that enable individuals and creators to take unprecedented ownership over their data and content.
TThe internet is a place rife with drug addicts and scammers. It has become a completely godless organization, with only a narcissistic malevolent actor at its helm. Honest people come here to lie, but liars come here to be honest. We have to go off-grid and destroy what has become man’s fifth limb because we fear our children will become mentally fragile. They adore skividi toilets, Rachel Finally, we confirmed that idolatry is an unforgivable sin.
Actually, I don’t care. And I just changed my mind too.
Look, you can do that on the internet. You can also share your lived experiences on the internet. How wonderful! And the thing about lived experience is that you can completely make it up – how beautiful. today? I’m Irish and Italian. I’m a DJ. And I’m a total vibe terrorist. tomorrow? A farmer with a missing child. A loving father who lives secretly in Ozempic. Revolutionary. yesterday? broken. lost. club girl hyena. Rabbit rabbit.
So bring your beautiful beluga blue eyes here, hold my hand, and let’s walk together.
1. Who cleans your toilet?
At the kick-on, you say something you think is genius, everyone goes completely silent, breakout rooms form, and suddenly you chain-smoker an entire box of Double Happiness and consider quitting drinking. You’ll know when you’re doing it. Is it really a big way? This video is like that. This captures the experience of saying something completely out of line and immediately falling victim to the reaction. I titled this my Monday monologue after an eventful weekend and waking up in the morning to receive several essay messages about my actions. Homework for therapists.
2. Ed Hardy Fashion Show, Sydney, 2009
Before Uber came along and ruined that, we were horseback riding. And Sydney was once the place where risk-taking kings were crowned. All we know now is a nude beach and a new airport next to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Oh, how empires fall! At 5:30, a group of models will dance to Sydney Samson’s Riverside. black jesus amen fashion!
The human brain is likely the most advanced computer in the world. While it operates differently than a traditional computer and has a much softer structure, its computing power is unparalleled.
Neuromorphic computing, which models machines after the human brain and nervous system, has been a growing concept since the 1980s. Many attempts have been made to achieve this, with the DeepSouth project at the International Center for Neuromorphic Systems at Western Sydney University aiming to be the most advanced yet, with the potential to perform 228 trillion actions per second.
How does a brain computer work?
DeepSouth uses an approach to computing that is inspired by the human brain and body, aiming to combine processing power and memory just like the human brain does. By distributing power to billions of tiny units (neurons) that interact through trillions of different connections (synapses), the brain becomes incredibly powerful while consuming very little energy.
What does this mean for the future of computers?
This approach could lead to significant improvements in energy efficiency and battery life for devices such as smartphones. It could also enable the development of smaller and more powerful computers, bringing high-powered computing to a variety of applications and industries.
How DeepSouth can help fight aging
While the primary goal of DeepSouth is to improve computing technology, the neuromorphic approach also offers insights into the workings of the human brain. This could lead to a better understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, and Parkinson’s and potentially aid in developing treatments for these conditions.
“Whale Bones was photographed in the most extreme conditions,” explains jury chair and renowned photographer Alex Mustard. “A breath-holding diver descends below the Greenland ice sheet to witness a carcass. This composition invites us to think about the impact we have on the great creatures on this planet. Since the advent of humans, wild animals were reduced by his 85%.
“Currently, only 4 percent of mammals are wild animals, and the remaining 96 percent are humans and livestock. We need to change the way we do things to find a balance with nature.”
Portuguese photographer Nuno Sa has been named the Save Our Seas Foundation’s 2024 Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year. His photo, dubbed “Saving Goliath,” depicts a beachgoer’s futile efforts to save a stranded sperm whale off the coast of Portugal.
Underwater Photographer of the Year is an annual competition that celebrates the best underwater photography since 1965.
Today’s competition attracts entries from all over the world, with 13 categories testing photographers in themes such as macro, wide-angle, action photography, and shipwreck photography, as well as four categories specifically for photographs taken in British waters.
Below are the winners of this year’s contest and our favorite ranked images.
Winner – Macro Category
Pot-bellied seahorse (ventral hippocampus) Pictured surrounded by bright green corals with interesting patterns. Photographed on Bear Island, Australia. Photo credit: Talia Grace/UPY2024
Dealing with snoring can be a bothersome experience for everyone involved, whether it’s falling asleep on a public bus or waking a loved one. Researchers may have found the best diet to combat this issue.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common condition that puts people at risk for high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. This is because OSA causes multiple disruptions during sleep due to loud snoring and interruptions in breathing.
The solution may lie in a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, as suggested by a new study published in the journal ERJ Open Research. This diet may help prevent or treat OSA.
In order to test this theory, researchers at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, used data from 14,210 participants in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were asked to list everything they had consumed in the past 24 hours, and the research team categorized their responses into three dietary patterns: a healthy plant-based diet, an unhealthy plant-based diet, and a diet high in animal products.
The “unhealthy” plant-based diet included high amounts of refined carbohydrates, potatoes, sugary drinks, sweets, desserts, and salty foods.
Additionally, participants completed a sleep questionnaire to determine the likelihood of having OSA. The researchers found that people with diets high in plant foods were 19% less likely to suffer from snoring caused by OSA. On the other hand, those who consumed an unhealthy plant-based diet were 22% more likely to have OSA.
Researchers believe that a healthy plant-based diet may be important due to its anti-inflammatory components and antioxidants, which can impact fat mass, inflammation, and muscle tone, thereby affecting a person’s OSA risk.
Dr. Johannes Melak, the chief researcher, emphasized that diet quality is important in managing the risk of OSA, and that a healthy plant-based diet may reduce inflammation and obesity.
Using new 21 cm radio observations made with NSF's Green Bank Telescope, astronomers have discovered that more than 250 clouds of neutral gas are blasting out into interstellar space from the center of the Milky Way. These clouds are likely the product of the same phenomenon that created the Fermi bubble.
The artist's concept is that clouds flowing from the center of the Milky Way are caught up in extremely hot winds and accelerated to speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second. Image credit: NSF/GBO/P. Vosteen.
It has long been known that energetic processes at the center of the Milky Way generate high-velocity hot winds that spread through intergalactic space with temperatures of millions of degrees and speeds of thousands of kilometers per second. Most large galaxies have winds like this.
The serendipitous discovery that some of this hot gas is trapped in cold hydrogen clouds was made by Australia's ATCA telescope, which measured 21cm radio emissions from interstellar hydrogen atoms.
This suggests that there may be an undiscovered population of clouds transporting material away from the Milky Way's core.
Hydrogen clouds are important in their own right, but they also act as probes for hot air.
Conditions in very hot winds are difficult to measure, but just as a few leaves thrown up on Earth indicate the direction and speed of the wind in the area, cold clouds can You can track its status.
The sensitivity of the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) makes it an ideal instrument for detecting faint signals from interstellar hydrogen, but mapping these clouds and understanding their true extent is essential. It wasn't easy.
Dr Felix James 'Jay' Rockman, senior astronomer at Green Bank Observatory, said: 'It took many years to systematically map hundreds of square degrees using GBT in search of weak hydrogen emissions. ” he said.
“Once we identify a few promising candidates, we can follow up with targeted observations with other telescopes to show us even more.”
“This cloud must have been ripped off from a region near the center of the Milky Way galaxy and flung outward by a burst of star formation or black hole activity.”
Some of these clouds have the fastest outflow velocities of any cloud ever observed in the Milky Way, and may even escape from the Milky Way.
In an unexpected development, new data from the APEX telescope reveals that some hydrogen clouds contain molecules and dense cold gas.
“No one would have expected that the clouds violently ejected from the Milky Way would harbor relatively fragile molecular material, but that's what happened,” Rockman said.
Astronomers using the MeerKAT array recently mapped hydrogen in several clouds with high angular resolution, showing that it evolves and gets shredded as it flows into interstellar space.
“These new results open the door to further discoveries,” Dr. Rockman said.
“How clouds that are accelerated to speeds of more than 400 kilometers per second remain stable is a mystery.”
“The chemical processes inside these clouds are very unusual and unexplored.”
Dr. Rockman and his colleague Dr. Enrico Di Teodoro of the University of Florence, findings in AAS243243rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
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Felix Rockman and Enrico di Teodoro. 2024. New investigation of neutral clouds in the Milky Way's core wind. AAS243Abstract #2851
Early hunter-gatherers faced with food shortages may have benefited from the impulsivity associated with ADHD
John Civic/Science Photo Library
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may have evolved in hunter-gatherer societies because it was an advantage for them, according to the results of a new study. Characteristics commonly associated with the disease, such as impulsivity, cause some foragers to move from areas where resources are depleted to areas with richer harvests faster than areas without the disease. It could have been something like this.
ADHD affects people's behavior, which can result in them acting impulsively and having trouble concentrating. Although its exact cause is not fully understood, the condition tends to run in families.
Its origins are similarly unknown, he says. Arjun Ramakrishnan At the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. “Is it a remnant of the hunter-gatherer world?”
To explore this, Ramakrishnan, david barak Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania recruited 506 people in the United States to play an online foraging game. Players were instructed to collect as many berries as possible in 8 minutes by moving their cursor over the bush.
They were given the choice of staying in the bush or trying their luck in another bush that might have more or less fruit. Moving to a new bush also resulted in a short timeout, so players had to balance the chance of getting more berries with the time lost by moving.
Before playing the game, participants completed a questionnaire assessing whether they had symptoms of ADHD, such as difficulty concentrating or restlessness.
People with ADHD symptoms spent about four seconds hovering over a particular bush compared to those without symptoms, and as a result, the former group collected an average of 521 berries. However, I was able to collect 602 berries.
The findings suggest that selective pressures faced by early hunter-gatherer societies, such as lack of food and other resources, may have driven the evolution of ADHD. There may have been some foraging situations in which it was better to stay than move on, but Barak said this tendency to leave could have been an advantage in some scenarios.
“Humans and other apes are very sophisticated foragers, but like almost all other animals, we tend to stay in our plots too long and harvest too much in our fields.” he says. “Therefore, starting action early may be beneficial to reduce over-harvesting, and this may be where the impulsive characteristics of ADHD come in handy.”
Although many people around the world are no longer looking for food, situations still exist where similar decision-making processes occur. If a person is studying for an exam, he may start by looking at one resource. If it doesn't help you understand the topic, Barak says, you may quickly switch to another resource, which may be more efficient and helpful.
“Although it is difficult to determine exactly how ADHD-related behaviors were adaptive in past environments, we find that people with and without ADHD show measurable differences in foraging strategies. In that sense, these results are convincing,” says Dr. Dan Eisenberg at the University of Washington in Seattle.
but Annie Swanepoel North East London NHS Foundation Trust said it did not reflect the scarcity of resources experienced by many of the early hunter-gatherers, as foraging operations produced abundant berry crops.
N
No matter how wet your phone gets, whether it’s caught in a pouring rain, dropped in the bath or in the pool, perhaps the most well-known folk remedies are: Place the device inside the rice bag. The theory is that the dry, absorbent rice should absorb moisture and help save the device. Experts have been saying it’s a bad idea for years, but now Apple is officially warning users not to do it.
“Don’t put your iPhone inside a rice bag.” Doing so may cause small rice grains to damage your iPhone. ” the company says
In a recent support note discovered by macworld. There is a risk of damage and test suggested
Raw rice is not particularly effective at drying your device.
The origins of this modification may lie in the history of photography. The Verge traces the method back to 1946
As a way to maintain your camera. During this time, panicked cell phone users have suggested dangerous methods such as attacking the phone with a hair dryer or soaking it in alcohol. So what should you actually do?
Apple is providing guidance for users who see a “liquid detected” warning when trying to charge their phone. First, unplug both ends of the charging cable. Then, “gently tap the phone in your hand with the connector facing down to remove any excess liquid.” Let it dry for at least 30 minutes, and if your phone and cable are “all dry,” try charging your device again. If this attempt fails, try again in one day.
Apple’s new support document includes two other warnings in case your phone becomes intoxicated.
“Do not use an external heat source or compressed air to dry your iPhone.”
“Do not insert foreign objects such as cotton swabs or paper towels into the connector.”
If your phone does not work at all, turn it off immediately and do not press any buttons. The next steps will vary depending on your specific situation, but as a general rule of thumb, dry it with a towel and place it in an airtight container filled with a silica packet if you have one. Do not charge until you are sure it is dry. There are a few other things you should keep in mind if you drop your iPhone in water. Even though many of today’s phones are water resistant, liquid disaster can still creep up on them.
An international team of herpetologists led by scientists from the University of New Mexico Highlands and the University of Queensland has described a mysterious new species of anaconda living deep in the Amazon.
anaconda (genus Eunectes) is a group of aquatic snakes endemic to the east of the Andes Mountains of South America.
These large-bodied snakes live in lowland rivers and wetlands. They have typical adaptations for an aquatic lifestyle, such as their nostrils and eyes located on the dorsal side of their heads, and exhibiting dorsal coloration and markings that blend well with aquatic plants.
Prior to this study, four species were recognized in this genus. Eunectes murinus represents the sister lineage of a group consisting of Eunectes veniensis, Eunectes deschaouenseiand Eunectes Noteus.
The largest of these species is Eunectes murinusor the blue anaconda, lives in most tropical regions of the continent, including the Amazon, Essequibo, and Orinoco river basins and several smaller watersheds.
The other three species are smaller Eunectes murinus distributed within or adjacent to the distribution of Eunectes murinus.
recently described species Eunectes veniensisor venian anaconda, is restricted to the Beni region of Bolivia.
Eunectes deschaouensei, or black-spotted anaconda, is distributed in the northeastern part of the continent. They range from the Amazon River Delta in Brazil to French Guiana and possibly Suriname.
Eunectes Noteusor yellow anaconda, is distributed in the south. Eunectes murinus Includes the Pantanal, Chaco, and other highly seasonal regions of tropical and subtropical South America, including Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay.
“Our team received an unusual invitation from the Huaorani people to explore the area and collect samples from an anaconda population, rumored to be the largest extant species,” the University of Queensland said. Professor Brian Fryco-lead author of the study.
“Indigenous hunters took us on a 10-day expedition into the jungle to search for snakes they consider sacred.”
“As we paddled our canoes down the river system, we were lucky enough to spot a few anacondas lurking in the shallows, waiting for prey.”
“The size of these magnificent creatures was incredible. The female anaconda we encountered was a whopping 6.3 meters (20.7 feet) long.”
“The Huaorani have reported other anacondas in the region measuring over 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) and weighing about 500 kilograms.”
named Eunectes Acaimaor northern green anaconda, a new species occurs in the Orinoco Basin.
“Eunectes Acaima branched from Eunectes murinus They are almost 10 million years old and genetically 5.5% different,” Professor Fry said.
“This is very important. To put it into perspective, there is only about a 2% difference between humans and chimpanzees. This discovery is the highlight of my career.”
“The Amazon continues to face alarming ecological threats,” he added.
“Deforestation in the Amazon basin due to agricultural expansion has resulted in an estimated loss of 20-31% of habitat and could affect up to 40% of the forest by 2050.”
“Another growing problem is habitat degradation due to land fragmentation caused by heavy metal pollution associated with runoff from industrialized agriculture and oil extraction activities.”
“Forest fires, drought and climate change are also notable threats.”
“These rare anacondas and the other species that share this remote ecosystem face significant challenges.”
“Our next research project will focus on heavy metal pollution in the Amazon,” Professor Fry said.
“It's not just these giant snakes that are facing environmental threats, but almost every creature in this region.”
“While the discovery of a new species of anaconda is exciting, it is important to emphasize the urgent need to further study these endangered species and ecosystems.”
“Particularly urgent is investigating how petrochemicals from oil spills are affecting the fertility and reproductive biology of rare snakes and other keystone species in the Amazon.”
discovery of Eunectes Acaima is explained in paper in diary Diversity.
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Jesus A. Rivas other. 2024. Untangling the anaconda: Unraveling a new species of green and rethinking yellow. Diversity 16(2):127; doi: 10.3390/d16020127
Forgetting may be essential for the brain to remember
Hans Nelemann/Getty Images
There's nothing more frustrating than trying to remember a fact or memory only to realize it's gone. You may ask yourself, is this the beginning of mental decline or the beginning of a degenerative brain disease? You probably don't think forgetting is a good thing. But it's possible. New research on memory suggests that it is actually a healthy and necessary brain function that is becoming increasingly important in our rapidly changing lives. “You want to be able to adapt to your environment because the environment is always changing. But if you get too attached to your initial experience, you won't be able to act adaptively,” he says. thomas ryan At Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Interestingly, his research also suggests that forgotten memories remain in the brain and could be restored if needed.
Everyday forgetfulness, such as not remembering what you had for dinner last week, is called natural forgetfulness. This is in contrast to pathological forgetfulness caused by conditions such as brain injury or Alzheimer's disease. Far from being a problem, natural forgetfulness supports one of our most unique and powerful traits: our ability to generalize. There are times when having a very detailed memory can be invaluable, such as when reviewing for an exam or acting as a witness to a crime, but you can't generalize without considering the specifics quickly and flexibly. says Mr. edwin robertson At the University of Glasgow, UK. “For a chair to be considered a chair…
A team of Chinese physicists has synthesized two new isotopes: osmium-160 and tungsten-156.
Location of the new isotopes osmium-160 and tungsten-156 on the nuclide chart. Image credit: Huabin Yang.
“The magic numbers of protons and neutrons make the nucleus particularly stable. The traditional magic numbers are 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, and 126,” said Dr. Huabin Yang, a physicist at the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. said the colleague.
“In previous research, physicists discovered that traditional magic numbers disappear and new magic numbers appear on the neutron-rich side of the nuclide chart.”
“Will other traditional magical numbers also disappear in the nuclear region where there is an extreme lack of neutrons?”
“Further exploration is critical to enriching and developing nuclear theory and improving our understanding of nuclear forces.”
In the new study, Dr. Yang's team conducted experiments at the Gas-Filled Recoil Separator Spectrometer for Heavy Atom and Nuclear Structures (SHANS) in Lanzhou, China.
Researchers have synthesized two new isotopes, osmium-160 and tungsten-156, using nuclear fusion vaporization reactions.
They measured the energy of the alpha particle and the half-life of the alpha-emitting isotope osmium-160.
On the other hand, the daughter nucleus, tungsten-156, was found to be a β+ emitter with a half-life of 291 ms.
The researchers used the newly measured alpha decay data to derive the alpha decay reduction for osmium-160 and compared it to other nuclei with 84 neutrons and fewer protons.
They discovered a surprising trend: the higher the number of protons, the lower the decay rate.
“This trend is interpreted as evidence of enhanced closure of the 82 neutron shell towards the proton drip line, which is supported by the increase in the neutron shell gap predicted by the theoretical model,” Dr. Yang said. said.
“The increased stability of the 82 neutron shell closure is thought to be due to the increasing proximity of the double magic nucleus lead 164, which may be a stable atomic nucleus with 82 protons and 82 neutrons. Masu.”
“Although lead-164 is predicted to cross the proton drip line, enhanced shell effects could make it a bonded or quasi-bonded nucleus.”
of study It was published in the magazine physical review letter.
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HB Yang other. 2024. Discovery of new isotopes 160with oz 156W: Reveals improved stability of N=82 shell closure on the neutron-deficient side. Physics.pastor rhett 132 (7): 072502; doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.072502
Thomas Edison says: He held a steel ball in each hand as he prepared for a nap.. When he nodded, they would fall and wake him up so he could write down ideas that came to him in the moments just before sleep, when he believed he was most creative. But are there really specific times when our brains perform better? And more broadly, are we better at different kinds of thinking at different stages of life? If so, it's worth asking how you can make the most of these mental peaks and maximize your brain's capabilities.?
Edison's methods may have been unorthodox, but It turned out that he was onto somethingas Delphine Audinet It was discovered in 2021 by the Paris Brain Institute and colleagues. They gave 103 slightly sleep-deprived people a seemingly complex math problem that they could solve with simple creative insight. Participants who woke up immediately after falling asleep were almost three times more likely to take a creative leap and solve a problem than those who stayed awake throughout the experiment.
This knowledge may be useful if you are looking for inspiration. But if that's the memory you're trying to optimize, deep sleep is when your brain does the heavy lifting, accumulating new long-term memories from the day's experiences. To get the most out of this, you need plenty of sleep. Adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. If you are among them, A lot of people…
The Arisaema plant is a death trap for pollinating mushroom gnats.
ArchivePL/Alamy
Pulpit flowers, famous for trapping and killing pollinators, may also act as nurseries for insect eggs, revealing a more subtle and mutually beneficial relationship that challenges existing assumptions. Become.
These jug-shaped plants are Alisa EmmaThey mimic the look and smell of musty mushrooms to attract fungus gnats, which are major pollinators. But when insects dip into the flower's spathe in search of this pungent food, they are unable to crawl out because the interior of the flower's elongated hood is too waxy. The gnat struggles violently inside its mottled red-green cup, scattering pollen all around it to thoroughly pollinate the plant, but eventually dies of exhaustion.
But when Kenji Suetsugu A team from Japan's Kobe University hatched 62 flowers of the Asian pulpit jack-in-the-pulpit species Alisa Emmathunbergi, they realized something was wrong. The gnat was helplessly captured and laid eggs in the crown of the flower. When the flowers begin to wither, these larvae feed on the shriveled and rotting flesh and emerge as adults a few weeks later.
The fact that traps can serve the dual function of pollination sites and nurseries for the next generation of pollinators is “really surprising,” Suetsugu says.
Furthermore, some adults are able to escape from flower traps before it is too late. So the ducks aren't “technically lethal,” Suetsugu said. This suggests that plants strike a balance between ensuring pollination and not completely depleting the number of pollinating gnats.
These findings suggest that the relationship between jack-in-the-pulpit and its pollinators is much more complex than previously thought and cannot be neatly categorized as purely mutualistic or antagonistic.”, says Suetsugu.
This relationship may represent a step in the evolution of plants, from purely deceptive pollinators to mutually beneficial relationships with pollinators. Importantly, the findings may also suggest that there is more to the relationships between other plants and pollinators around the world than meets the eye.
Indeed, these findings challenge some preconceived ecological concepts. Jeff Ollerton at the University of Northampton, UK. In this particular case, the situation is mixed, as only some insects seem to be benefiting.He has more types of Alisa Emma (This genus includes more than 190 species) To learn more, you need to study this species in detail.
“The deeper we look into plant-pollinator interactions, the more we learn about the ability of plants to manipulate pollinator behavior and how pollinators can evolve strategies to acquire resources. There are more surprises to come,” Ollerton said.
Refugio State Beach, Calif. — Severe storms that hit California have caused damage in some parts of the state. the most iconic tree.
A majestic palm tree that normally flanks Refugio State Beach just north of Santa Barbara has fallen over the past few days. Images show how a huge 100-year-old tree fell into the sea and was completely uprooted.
Local officials say multiple factors caused the trees to fall. Years of coastal erosion were combined with powerful storm surges and supersaturated soil from a series of atmospheric rivers that brought heavy rain and high winds across the state.
“When the ground becomes saturated, the trees begin to fall, and both eucalyptus and palm trees fall over because the ground becomes too wet for their roots to hold in the ground.” Santa Barbara Craig Vanderswag, chief of the County Fire Battalion, told NBC News.
California State Parks Channel Coast District Superintendent Dena Bellman said officials have tagged several more trees on the coast as at high risk of falling, especially with the new heavy rains hitting California. Ta.
Due to this threat, the park is currently temporarily closed to the public.
The dramatic footage is a symbol of the power of these atmospheric rivers, which climate experts say is growing stronger as the planet's temperature rises.
Los Angeles received 75% of its annual average precipitation in the first three weeks of February alone. The city has received more rainfall than Seattle, New Orleans and Miami, and is about 2 inches away from setting a record for the wettest February.
The first human patient implanted with Neuralink’s brain chip appears to have made a full recovery and is now able to use his thoughts to control a computer mouse, according to Neuralink founder Elon Musk, who shared the news late Monday.
“Things are going well, the patient appears to have made a full recovery, and there are no adverse effects that we are aware of. The patient can move the mouse on the screen just by thinking,” Musk said on the social media platform during the X Spaces event.
Musk said Neuralink is currently trying to get as many mouse button clicks from patients as possible. Neuralink did not immediately respond to a request for further details.
The company successfully implanted the chip in its first human patient last month after receiving approval to recruit for a clinical trial in September.
The study will use robots to surgically place brain-computer interface implants in areas of the brain that control locomotion intentions, Neuralink said, with the initial goal of helping people use their thoughts to interact with computers. He added that the idea was to be able to control the cursor and keyboard.
Musk has grand ambitions for Neuralink, saying it will facilitate rapid surgical insertion of chip devices to treat conditions such as obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia.
Neuralink, valued at about $5 billion last year, has faced repeated calls for scrutiny over its safety protocols. The company was fined for violating U.S. Department of Transportation regulations regarding the movement of hazardous materials.
Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) seized control of international ransomware group LockBit’s “command and control” infrastructure on Tuesday in a major law enforcement operation. The NCA plans to reuse its technology to expose the group’s activities to the world.
The joint operation by the NCA, FBI, Europol, and an international coalition of law enforcement agencies was revealed in a post on Rockbit’s own website. The post stated, “This site is currently under the control of the UK National Crime Agency, working closely with the FBI and international law enforcement agency Operation Kronos.”
Two people associated with LockBit were arrested in Poland and Ukraine, and two defendants believed to be related to the company were arrested and charged in the United States. Two more names have been released, but the Russian nationals are still at large. Authorities also froze more than 200 cryptocurrency accounts associated with the criminal organization.
According to the NCA, the disruption to LockBit operations is much more extensive than initially revealed. The agency not only seized control of the public website but also controlled Rockbit’s primary administrative environment, the management, and deployment of the hacking techniques it used to extort companies and individuals around the world. They also took control of the enabling infrastructure.
“Through close collaboration, we hacked the hackers. We took control of the infrastructure, seized the source code, and obtained keys to help victims decrypt their systems,” said NCA Director General Graham Biggar.
“As of today, LockBit is locked out. We have undermined the ability of a group that relied on secrecy and anonymity, and most importantly its credibility.”
The organization pioneered the ‘ransomware-as-a-service’ model, outsourcing the actual target selection and attack to a network of semi-independent ‘affiliates’, providing the tools and infrastructure, and paying ransom fees in return.
While ransomware typically works by encrypting data on an infected machine and demanding payment for the decryption key, LockBit copies the stolen data and releases it publicly if the fee is not paid. They threatened to do so and promised to delete the copies once the ransom was received.
However, the NCA said that promise was false. Some of the data found on LockBit’s systems belonged to victims who paid the ransom.
Home Secretary James Cleverley said: “The NCA’s world-class expertise has delivered a huge blow to those behind the world’s most prolific ransomware.”
“The criminals operating LockBit are sophisticated and highly organized, but they have not escaped the clutches of UK law enforcement and our international partners.”
The “Hackback” campaign has also recovered over 1,000 decryption keys intended for victims of LockBit’s attacks, and plans to contact victims to assist them in recovering their encrypted data.
In a blog post last month, Ciaran Martin, former director of the National Cyber Security Center, said: Announcement of involvement of Russian hackers Cybercrime undermines many common law enforcement tactics. “Impose costs where you can. There are things you can do to harass and harass cybercriminals,” he warned. “But as long as Russian safe havens exist, this will not be a strategic solution.”
Bitcoin is a digital currency that operates freely from central control. Rather than an authority like a bank or government tracking who owns what, Bitcoin relies on encryption.
So-called miners collect information about transactions and record them on a ledger called a blockchain. These miners perform a huge number of calculations with the aim of completing cryptographic problems, 0.69% of the world's electricity in the process. The first miner to solve this problem adds a collection (block) of transaction data to the blockchain.
You will also be rewarded with a certain amount of newly created Bitcoins. Bitcoin is built into the source code that writes and runs the network. Every 210,000 blocks, an event called a halving occurs where the size of the reward is reduced by 50%. This is intended to avoid inflation due to too many coins being created.
The first block ever mined gave a reward of 50 coins, which is now down to 6.25 coins after three halvings. The last halving was in May 2020.
When is the next Bitcoin halving?
The next Bitcoin halving is expected to occur around April 19th, reducing miners' rewards to 3.125 coins. The reward continues to decrease and disappears completely around 2140 after 21 million coins have been created. At that point, there are no new coins.
Why is it important?
For those who use Bitcoin to purchase goods and services or hold Bitcoin as an investment, nothing changes. The current Bitcoin pool will remain. However, for miners, the value of the rewards they receive will be significantly reduced.
This could lead some miners to close up shop if they decide the effort isn't worth the reward. But the reality is that mining economics are constantly changing, and the industry is likely to adapt and continue as it has always done.
More powerful computers are being created all the time that can perform mining calculations faster, making it easier to mine blocks. However, the feedback mechanism within Bitcoin's code constantly adapts to this by increasing or decreasing the difficulty of calculations depending on the total computer power currently allocated to mining. The purpose of Bitcoin's source code is that a new block is created approximately every 10 minutes, and the network adjusts to speed up or slow down as needed.
When Bitcoin was first launched in 2009, it was possible to mine coins almost instantly with even a basic computer. Nowadays, you need a room filled with powerful equipment, often high-end graphics cards and computationally proficient custom hardware.
What will happen to the price of Bitcoin?
The recent emergence of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), regulated financial products offered by large banks that offer an easier way to invest in Bitcoin, has been long anticipated and was expected to drive up prices. .Some analysts are now estimate Approximately 704,400 coins are already in the hands of the ETF.
There are currently two schools of thought regarding the effect of half-life. Some think the halving will give Bitcoin more impetus, causing the price to rise further, while others think the impact is already priced in. Regulatory approval for Bitcoin ETFs is by no means certain, but the halving is a certainty, so its impact may already be reflected in the price. But it's almost certain that halving won't double the price.
The wild price fluctuations that Bitcoin has experienced over the past few years have become less frequent, and metrics that track volatility seems to be on a downward trend. But at the end of the day, any discussion about Bitcoin's price is just speculation.
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The following week, there was another clash between Apple and European regulators. According to the Financial Times, the company could face a huge fine for alleged anti-competitive conduct in its music streaming business. from that story:
The fine, estimated at around 500 million euros, is expected to be announced early next month and will be exclusive to the European Commission, which is investigating whether Apple used its own platform to favor its own services over those of competitors. This will be the culmination of research into prohibition laws.
The investigation is looking into whether Apple blocked apps from informing iPhone users of cheaper alternatives to access music subscriptions outside the App Store.
The process dates back to a complaint filed by Spotify in 2019. From what we said at the time:
Apple’s app the Store is a key distribution platform for Spotify. However, Apple receives a 30% commission on all sales made through this site. Spotify and many other third-party app developers have long complained that the store (which includes music streaming subscriptions) is an unfair “tax.”
“Apple requires Spotify and other digital services to pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple’s payment system, including upgrades from free to premium services.” Said Daniel Ekco-founder of Spotify, chief executive officer in a blog post.
“If we pay this tax, we will be forced to artificially inflate the price of premium membership far above the regular price.” Apple Music. And keeping prices competitive for our customers is beyond our control. ”
For more information on the fine itself, Dan Milmo explains.
In the years since then, complaints have diminished somewhat. Apple declined to respond directly to the FT’s report, saying it does not comment on speculation, but pointed to the European Commission’s decision last year to exclude the “tax” aspect from an investigation launched by Spotify. ‘s complaint. The revised counter statement states that the main harm is no longer the 30% fee levied by apps that use in-app purchases or the requirement to offer them in the first place, but simply the fact that other payment options exist for users. It was forbidden to communicate.
“We are pleased that the European Commission has narrowed the issue and no longer challenges Apple’s right to collect fees on digital goods and require the use of in-app payment systems that users trust,” Apple said in a statement. Ta. time.
These so-called “anti-steering” rules have been tested by regulators around the world, and various jurisdictions have placed formal limits on Apple’s ability to impose them. But these restrictions rarely go as far as competitors like Spotify would like. Because Apple is letting out a sharp gasp. If forced to do so, companies could direct users to alternative payment methods and still charge fees. In some cases, that new fee accounted for 27% of costs, and his 3% reduction in in-app purchase fees was justified on the basis that it reflected the fact that Apple was not paying directly for credit card processing. I am.
“We are currently negotiating the price.”
Spotify on Apple Watch. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Assuming the fine is imposed as expected, Apple is unlikely to be too disappointed. The Digital Markets Act, which Apple and other “tech gatekeepers” must comply with by March 6, has already forced changes to the App Store that will put Apple Music in unfair competition with Spotify. The Competition Commission’s concerns will almost certainly be corrected. As for the cash itself, “500 million isn’t a laughable amount, even for a company as big as Apple, but it’s a fraction of the maximum potential, and it’s a fraction of the company’s total.” An even smaller amount’ of annual profit.
In fact, it’s possible that Apple will avoid fines with dignity. The company hammers home one of its core points every time it is hit by regulatory action that leaves room for compromises, such as imposing a 27% fee on outside purchases. That is, the real criticism is not about the lofty points. Basically, it’s a simple haggling over fees. If complaints about Apple’s control of the App Store boil down to “I want to pay less,” that would be an easier fight than one that would force Apple to actually relinquish control of the platform.
Some critics make deeper claims. Spotify, for example, has long complained about more detailed aspects of Apple’s platform, from the fact that Apple Music is installed by default on its devices to the way platform owners break their own rules about free. I’ve been holding you. Trials (Apple can independently offer trials that end the moment they are canceled; all third parties must provide access until just before the first billing deadline).
For others, the gist of the principle is poor in reality. Epic Games famously introduced a unique payment process for Fortnite, which resulted in Apple pulling the game from the App Store. The company already pays hefty cuts to operate its gaming consoles and operates its own app store for PCs. Issues with Apple have always been viewed through the lens of how much Apple pays.
Perhaps this is why Epic is also the longtime Apple critic most eager to enter the world of an EU-mandated alternative App Store. You may remember the debate over whether the company’s proposals amounted to “garbage” or meaningful concessions. Well, three weeks have passed, Epic Games announces the launch of Epic Games Store for iOS.
This is a bold move. The company will immediately pay him 0.50 euros for every download on the store, and an additional 0.50 euros for every download of Fortnite via the store after his first 1 million. But compared to keeping it on the App Store, per user he should be able to get that amount back in one “Battle Pass” purchase. And to the company’s credit, it clearly believes the principles exist. At risk.
Cash is also constantly flushed in case it takes longer to break even. The company, which is run by founder and CEO Tim Sweeney and has a 40% minority stake held by China’s Tencent, announced earlier this month that it will become the world’s leading company in the world of gaming and entertainment. The collaboration required a $1.5 billion investment from Disney. Disney is a long-time ally of Apple, and its CEO was on Apple’s board of directors until 2019, but competition between Apple TV+ and Disney+ made that unsustainable. . We haven’t seen the beginnings of a messy breakup yet, but perhaps even the House of Mouse will want to pay a smaller share of the world’s most valuable company.
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Apple faces a €500m (£427m) fine for unfairly influencing competitors in the music streaming market, according to the Financial Times. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will impose the penalty following an extensive investigation.
Why is Apple facing the prospect of fines?
After Spotify filed complaints in 2019, the EU began examining Apple’s position in the music streaming app market. The focus was narrowed down to specific restrictions placed by Apple on app developers, preventing them from informing iPhone and iPad users about more affordable music subscriptions outside of the App Store. Spotify claims this favors Apple Music, the company’s rival app.
This case is the latest in a series of legal disputes involving Apple’s App Store, which has been criticized by the companies utilizing it for its rules and charges. Apple recently announced that it would allow EU customers to download apps without going through its own store, a concession made under pressure from the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
What does the EU think about Apple’s actions?
The EU did not comment directly, but when Apple issued a new statement of objection in February of the previous year, it suggested that the company would be penalized for unfair trading conditions violating Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Commission expressed concerns that the restrictions can prevent developers from informing consumers about affordable streaming service subscriptions.
What happens next?
The Financial Times reported that the Commission will announce the fine in the early part of the next month. The maximum fine for anti-competitive behavior is 10% of global turnover, which, in Apple’s case, could be up to $30bn (£24bn), although the final amount is expected to be lower. Apple may appeal the Commission’s decision.
What are Apple and Spotify saying?
Apple and Spotify declined to comment on Monday. However, Apple has previously defended its App Store, stating that it has aided Spotify in becoming Europe’s top music streaming service.
Spotify, on the other hand, has emphasized its complaint against Apple’s aim to establish a “level playing field,” arguing that the App Store restrictions give preference to Apple Music, the company’s own streaming service.
What do the experts say?
Ann Witt, a professor of antitrust law at France’s EDHEC Business School, remarked that Apple is already confronting a stringent regulatory environment with the introduction of the DMA. The Open Market Institute opined that the size of the reported fine will not have a significant impact on Apple’s behavior.
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