Dating Apps Accused of Promoting Addiction in Lawsuit Against Tinder, Hinge, and Match

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Many of us have had the negative experience of being swiped left, ghosted, breadcrumbed, or benched on internet dating apps. On Valentine’s Day, six dating app users filed a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that Tinder, Hinge, and other Match dating apps use addictive game-like features to encourage compulsive use. The lawsuit claims that Match’s app “employs perceived dopamine-manipulating product features” that turn users into “trapped gamblers seeking psychological rewards,” resulting in expensive subscriptions and persistent usage.

The lawsuit was met with skepticism by some, but online dating experts say it reflects a wider criticism of the way apps gamify human experiences for profit. The addiction may have been built into dating apps from the beginning, with the swipe mechanism, invented by Tinder co-founder Jonathan Badeen, being compared to an experiment with pigeons that aimed to manipulate the brain’s reward system.

The game-like elements of dating apps are further exemplified in the Trump-style interface first used by Tinder, leading some experts to believe that dating apps are encouraging negative behaviors and making people feel manipulated. A study suggested that couples who met online are slightly more likely to have lower marital satisfaction and stability. Dating apps also appear to encourage “bad behavior such as ghosting, breadcrumbing, and backburner relationships,” according to some researchers.

However, dating apps have also been criticized for perpetuating idealized preferences for particular ethnicities, age groups, and body types, ultimately reproducing privilege. While dating apps widen the range of potential partners in theory, endless access to romantic possibilities has been shown to have negative effects on mental health, leading some experts to advocate for transparency around matching algorithms and education about the pitfalls of online dating.

Despite criticisms, a Match Group spokesperson dismissed the lawsuit, stating that the business model is not based on advertising or engagement metrics, and that the goal is to avoid addictive use of the app. They believe that the plaintiffs are pointing to a systemic problem in the dating app ecosystem.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Ancient bone beads discovered in Wyoming date back 12,940 years

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Archaeologists have discovered ancient tubular beads made from hare bone at the La Prele mammoth site in Wyoming, USA. This is the oldest bead discovered in the Western Hemisphere.

La Prele bone beads. Polished end (top) and side view with notch (bottom). Image credit: Surovell other., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53390-9.

“The manufacture and use of personal ornaments, most commonly beads, is an important indicator of the increasing cultural and social complexity of humans during the Paleolithic period, first appearing in the Middle Stone Age of Africa. It then appeared in the Early Upper Paleolithic of Eurasia,” says the University of Wisconsin. Wyoming Professor Todd Surovell and his colleagues.

“Beads are not well documented from early archaeological contexts in the Americas, but some examples have been reported from Paleoindian regions, where the first immigrants to the Western Hemisphere used beads on their bodies and clothing. It shows that he created and used personal ornaments to decorate his home.”

Archaeologists examined ancient tubular beads from an active area centered around a hearth at the La Prele Mammoth ruins in Converse County, Wyoming, USA.

“The La Prele Mammoth Site is an early Paleoindian site located along La Prele Creek near its confluence with the North Platte River in Converse County, Wyoming,” they said.

“Test excavations in 1987 revealed an association between the chipped stone remains and the partial remains of a subadult.” Colombian mammoth (mammoth colombi)Subsequent excavations revealed that a nearby campsite preserved active areas centered around multiple hearths. ”

“The occupied surface was filled with low-energy dyke deposits, and based on an average of five radiocarbon dates of the bones, occupation occurred 12,941 years ago.”

The length of the beads is small, about 7mm. The inner diameter averages 1.6 mm and the outer diameter averages 2.9 mm.

“Two deep parallel grooves with a U-shaped cross section develop on the surface of the bead aligned perpendicular to the long axis,” the researchers said.

“Similar grooves also occur on Paleolithic and Archaic tubular bone beads, although it is unclear whether these notches are a byproduct of manufacturing, skinning, abrasion, or perhaps decoration. It's very smooth and polished.”

“The beads are lightly coated with red ocher, but the presence of ocher on the surface may be coincidental since they were recovered from a sediment contaminated with powdered hematite.”

To determine the origin of the beads, scientists extracted collagen for zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry, also known as ZooMS. This allowed us to gain insight into the chemical composition of bone.

Researchers believe that the beads are attached to either the metatarsals (the bones that connect the phalanges of the fingers to the more proximal bones of the limbs) or the proximal phalanges (the bones found in the fingers and toes of humans and other vertebrates). I concluded that it was made from either. rabbit.

The discovery provides the first solid evidence of the use of hares in BC. Clovis periodspecifically refers to the prehistoric period of North America, about 12,000 years ago.

“We also considered the possibility that the beads were the result of consumption and digestion by carnivores and were not produced by humans,” the authors said.

“However, carnivores are not common at this site, and the artifacts were recovered one meter away from a densely scattered area of other cultural materials.”

“Additionally, the grooves on the outside of the beads are consistent with those made by humans with stones and teeth.”

“Such beads may have been used to decorate their bodies or clothing.”

of findings It was published in the magazine scientific report.

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TA Slovel other. 2024. Rabbit bones are used to make Clovis beads. science officer 14/2937. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53390-9

Source: www.sci.news

SOFIA’s discovery of molecular water on a seemingly dry asteroid

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Astronomers used the FORCAST instrument on NASA's retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to obtain mid-infrared spectra of four S-type (silicate-rich) asteroids: Iris, Partenope, Melpomene, and Massalia. Did. They detected features on two of her asteroids, Iris and Massalia, that could clearly be attributed to water molecules.

Arredondo other. Using his FORCAST instrument at NASA's SOFIA Observatory, he observed four silicate-rich asteroids and found mid-infrared spectral signatures indicating molecular water on two of them, Iris and Massalia. Separated. Image credit: NASA/Carla Thomas/Southwest Research Institute.

“Asteroids are leftovers from the planet-forming process, so their composition varies depending on where in the solar nebula they form,” said Dr. Anisia Arredondo, a planetary researcher at the Southwest Research Institute.

“Of particular interest is the distribution of water on the asteroid, as it may reveal how water was delivered to Earth.”

Anhydrous, or dry, silicate asteroids form close to the Sun, and icy material coalesces farther away.

Understanding the location of asteroids and their composition can help us understand how material within the solar nebula has been distributed and evolved since its formation.

The distribution of water in our solar system provides insight into the distribution of water in other planetary systems, and because water is necessary for all life on Earth, there is potential both within and outside the solar system. You will decide where to look for natural life.

“We detected features on the asteroids Iris and Massalia that are clearly attributable to water molecules,” Arredondo said.

“We are building on the success of the team that discovered water molecules on the moon's sunlit surface.”

“We thought we could use SOFIA to find this spectral feature in other objects.”

Sofia detected water molecules in one of the largest craters in the moon's southern hemisphere.

Previous observations of both the Moon and the asteroid have detected some types of hydrogen, but have not been able to distinguish between water and its chemical cousin hydroxyl.

Scientists found that in the cubic meters of soil spread across the moon's surface, there is approximately the equivalent of a 12-ounce (355 ml) bottle of water trapped chemically bonded to minerals.

“Based on the band intensities of the spectral features, the water abundance on the asteroid matches the water abundance on the sunlit moon,” Arredondo said.

“Similarly, in asteroids, water not only binds to minerals, but also adsorbs to silicates and can become trapped or dissolved in silicate impact glass.”

Data from two fainter asteroids, Partenope and Melpomene, were too noisy to draw definitive conclusions.

The FORCAST instrument appears not to be sensitive enough to detect the spectral signature of water, if it exists.

But with these discoveries, researchers are calling on NASA/ESA/CSA's James Webb Space Telescope to take advantage of its precise optics and superior signal-to-noise ratio to investigate more targets. I am requesting you to do so.

“We conducted initial measurements of two more asteroids with Mr. Webb during Cycle 2,” said Dr. Arredondo.

“We are making another proposal to consider 30 more goals in the next cycle.”

“These studies will improve our understanding of the distribution of water in the solar system.”

of study Published in Planetary Science Journal.

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Anisia Arredondo other. 2024. Molecular H2O is detected on a nominally anhydrous asteroid. planet. Science. J 5, 37; doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ad18b8

Source: www.sci.news

China discovers new species of titanosaurus

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Chinese paleontologists have discovered fossil fragments of a new genus and species of titanosaurus, a sauropod dinosaur that walked the Earth during the Cretaceous period.

rebuilding the life of Jancitan ganjouensis. Image credit: UnexpectedDinoLesson / Sci.News.

Muttjac titanum ganjoensis They lived in what is now China from 72 million years ago to 66 million years ago (late Cretaceous period).

The partial skeleton of this dinosaur was discovered in the Nanxiong Formation near Tankou Town, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, China.

The specimen consists of seven cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrae, and several cervical and dorsal ribs.

Muttjac titanum ganjoensis belongs to the sauropod dinosaur group titanosauridae.

“Muttjac titanum ganjoensis It is unique among Asian titanosaurids in that it has a deeply bifurcated dorsal neck and anterodorsal neural spines, and a dorsoventrally compressed dorsal neck and anterodorsal center. Lead author Jin Yu Mo of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Natural History Museum and colleagues state in the paper. .

Muttjac titanum ganjoensis represents the second sauropod species. Nanyu Formation.

“The Late Cretaceous Nanxiong Formation is represented by an extensive succession of red mudstones, sandstones, and conglomerates,” the paleontologists wrote.

“Recent years have produced a wide variety of vertebrates, including theropods, ornithopods, crocodiles, turtles, lizards, and mammals, as well as vast numbers of dinosaur eggs.”

“There is only one species of sauropod, Ganansaurus sinensisrecorded in this area.

Team analysis points Muttjac titanum ganjoensis Within a group of deeply nested titanosaurs Rogoncosauria.

“Muttjac titanum ganjoensis Display features that indicate branch locations later than Ganansaurus sinensismore specifically, Muttjac titanum ganjoensis It was recovered as Rogoncosaurus, but Ganansaurus sinensis as titanosaurs outside of a late-branching clade containing Diamantina Sauria and lithostorozia” the researchers wrote.

“As a result, Muttjac titanum ganjoensis There are no duplicate elements with Ganansaurus sinensiswe are confident. Muttjac titanum ganjoensis is a different species from Ganansaurus sinensis”

The discovery of Muttjac titanum ganjoensis “This indicates the presence of both early-divergent and late-divergent titanosauroid sauropods in the Late Cretaceous Ganzhou dinosaur fauna,” the researchers added.

“This discovery also increases the diversity of titanosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Asia.”

of the team paper It was published in the magazine historical biology.

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Mo Jin Yoo other. A new species of titanosaur sauropod excavated from the Late Cretaceous period in Jiangxi Province, southern China. historical biology, published online on September 23, 2024. doi: 10.1080/08912963.2023.2259413

Source: www.sci.news

Physicists witness real-time movement of electrons in liquid water for the first time

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A research team led by physicists at Argonne National Laboratory isolated the energetic motion of electrons while “freezing” the motion of the much larger atoms they orbit in a sample of liquid water.

Shuai other. Synchronized attosecond X-ray pulse pairs (pictured here in pink and green) from an X-ray free electron laser were used to study the energetic response of electrons (gold) in liquid water on the attosecond time scale. On the other hand, hydrogen (white) and oxygen (red) atoms are “frozen” over time. Image credit: Nathan Johnson, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

“The radiation-induced chemical reactions we want to study are the result of targeted electronic reactions that occur on the attosecond time scale,” said lead author of the study, Professor Linda Young, a researcher at Argonne National Laboratory. said.

Professor Young and colleagues combined experiment and theory to reveal the effects of ionizing radiation from an X-ray source when it hits material in real time.

Addressing the timescales over which actions occur will provide a deeper understanding of the complex radiation-induced chemistry.

In fact, researchers originally came together to develop the tools needed to understand the effects of long-term exposure to ionizing radiation on chemicals found in nuclear waste.

“Attosecond time-resolved experiments are one of the major R&D developments in linac coherent light sources,” said study co-author Dr. Ago Marinelli, a researcher at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

“It's exciting to see these developments applied to new types of experiments and moving attosecond science in new directions.”

Scientists have developed a technique called X-ray attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy in liquids that allows them to “watch” electrons energized by X-rays move into an excited state before larger nuclei move on. “We were able to.

“In principle, we have tools that allow us to track the movement of electrons and watch newly ionized molecules form in real time,” Professor Young said.

The discovery resolves a long-standing scientific debate about whether the X-ray signals observed in previous experiments are the result of different structural shapes or motifs in the mechanics of water or hydrogen atoms.

These experiments conclusively demonstrate that these signals are not evidence of two structural motifs in the surrounding liquid water.

“Essentially, what people were seeing in previous experiments was a blur caused by the movement of hydrogen atoms,” Professor Young explained.

“By recording everything before the atoms moved, we were able to eliminate that movement.”

To make this discovery, the authors used a technique developed at SLAC to spray an ultrathin sheet of pure water across the pulse path of an X-ray pump.

“We needed a clean, flat, thin sheet of water that could focus the X-rays,” said study co-author Dr. Emily Nienhaus, a chemist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Once the X-ray data was collected, the researchers applied their knowledge of interpreting X-ray signals to recreate the signals observed at SLAC.

They modeled the response of liquid water to attosecond X-rays and verified that the observed signal was indeed confined to the attosecond timescale.

“Using the Hyak supercomputer, we developed cutting-edge computational chemistry techniques that enable detailed characterization of transient high-energy quantum states in water,” study co-authors from the University of Washington said Xiaosong Li, a researcher at Pacific Northwest National University. Laboratory.

“This methodological breakthrough represents a pivotal advance in our quantum-level understanding of ultrafast chemical transformations, with extraordinary precision and atomic-level detail.”

The team worked together to peer into the real-time movement of electrons in liquid water.

“The methodology we have developed enables the study of the origin and evolution of reactive species produced by radiation-induced processes encountered in space travel, cancer treatment, nuclear reactors, legacy waste, etc.,” Professor Young said. Stated.

The team's results were published in a magazine science.

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L. Shuai other. 2024. Attosecond Pump Attosecond Probe X-ray Spectroscopy of Liquid Water. science, published online on February 15, 2024. doi: 10.1126/science.adn6059

Source: www.sci.news

Webb uncovers massive inactive galaxy with mature stars in the ancient cosmos

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The formation of galaxies through the stepwise hierarchical coassembly of baryons and cold dark matter halos is a fundamental paradigm underpinning modern astrophysics and predicts a significant decline in the number of giant galaxies in the early Universe. . Very massive quiescent galaxies have been observed 1 to 2 billion years after the Big Bang. These form between 300 million and 500 million years ago and are very limiting for theoretical models, as only some models can form massive galaxies this early. The spectrum of newly discovered quiescent galaxy ZF-UDS-7329 reveals features typical of much older stellar populations. Detailed modeling shows that the stellar population formed about 1.5 billion years ago, when dark matter halos with sufficient host mass had not yet assembled in the standard scenario. This observation may indicate the existence of an undetected early population of galaxies and potentially large gaps in our understanding of the nature of early stellar populations, galaxy formation, and/or dark matter.

This web image shows ZF-UDS-7329, a rare massive galaxy that formed very early in the universe. Image credit: Glazebrook other., doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07191-9.

Galaxy formation is a fundamental paradigm underpinning modern astrophysics, and a significant decrease in the number of massive galaxies in the early universe is predicted.

Very large quiescent galaxies have been observed 1 to 2 billion years after the Big Bang, casting doubt on previous theoretical models.

Professor Carl Glazebrook, from Swinburne University of Technology, said: “We have been tracking this galaxy for seven years, observing it for hours with two of the largest telescopes on Earth to find out its age.” Ta.

“But it was too red and too faint to be measured. In the end, we had to go outside Earth and use the web to see its properties.”

“This was truly a team effort, from the infrared sky survey that began in 2010 to identifying this galaxy as an anomaly, and the many hours spent with the Keck Telescope and the Very Large Telescope. But we couldn’t confirm it, and finally, last year, we spent a lot of effort trying to figure out how to process the web data and analyze this spectrum.”

“We are now beyond the realm of possibility to have identified the oldest giant stationary monster deep in the universe,” said Dr Temmiya Nanayakkara, an astronomer at Swinburne University of Technology.

“This pushes the limits of our current understanding of how galaxies form and evolve.”

“The key question now is how do stars form so quickly, so early in the universe, and how do they form at a time when other parts of the universe are forming stars? “What kind of mysterious mechanism could cause it to suddenly stop forming?”

“Galaxy formation is determined primarily by how dark matter is concentrated.”

“The presence of these extremely massive galaxies in the early universe poses significant challenges to our standard model of cosmology.”

“This is because dark matter structures large enough to accommodate these massive galaxies are unlikely to have formed yet.”

“More observations are needed to help us understand how common these galaxies are and how massive they really are.”

“This could open new doors in our understanding of the physics of dark matter,” Professor Glazebrook said.

“Webb continues to discover evidence that massive galaxies form early.”

“This result sets a new record for this phenomenon. It’s very impressive, but it’s just one object. But we want to discover more. If I If we were to do this, it would seriously disrupt our understanding of galaxy formation.”

This finding is reported in the following article: paper Published in this week’s magazine Nature.

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K. Glazebrook other. A huge galaxy that formed stars at z ~ 11. Nature, published online on February 14, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07191-9

Source: www.sci.news

Security Concerns Raised by the Realism of OpenAI’s Sora Video Generator

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

AI program Sora generated this video featuring an android based on text prompts

Sora/OpenAI

OpenAI has announced a program called Sora, a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence system that can turn text descriptions into photo-realistic videos. This video generation model has added to excitement over advances in AI technology, along with growing concerns about how synthetic deepfake videos will exacerbate misinformation and disinformation during a critical election year around the world. I am.

Sora AI models can currently create videos up to 60 seconds using text instructions alone or a combination of text and images. One demonstration video begins with a text prompt describing a “stylish woman walking down a Tokyo street filled with warmly glowing neon lights and animated city signs.” Other examples include more fantastical scenarios such as dogs frolicking in the snow, vehicles driving down the road, and sharks swimming through the air between city skyscrapers.

“Like other technologies in generative AI, there is no reason to believe that text-to-video conversion will not continue to advance rapidly. We are increasingly approaching a time when it will be difficult to tell the fake from the real.” Honey Farid at the University of California, Berkeley. “Combining this technology with AI-powered voice cloning could open up entirely new ground in terms of creating deepfakes of things people say and do that they have never actually done.”

Sora is based on some of OpenAI's existing technologies, including the image generator DALL-E and the GPT large language model. Although his text-to-video AI models lag somewhat behind other technologies in terms of realism and accessibility, Sora's demonstrations are “orders of magnitude more believable and cartoon-like” than previous ones. “It's less sticky,” he said. Rachel TobackHe is the co-founder of SocialProof Security, a white hat hacking organization focused on social engineering.

To achieve this higher level of realism, Sora combines two different AI approaches. The first is a diffusion model similar to those used in AI image generators such as DALL-E. These models learn to gradually transform randomized image pixels into a consistent image. The second of his AI techniques is called “Transformer Architecture” and is used to contextualize and stitch together continuous data. For example, large-scale language models use transformer architectures to assemble words into commonly understandable sentences. In this case, OpenAI split the video clip into visual “space-time patches” that Sora's transformer architecture could process.

Sora's video still contains many mistakes, such as a walking person's left and right feet swapping positions, a chair floating randomly in the air, and a chewed cookie magically leaving no bite marks. contained. still, jim fanThe senior research scientist at NVIDIA praised Sora on social media platform X as a “data-driven physics engine” that can simulate the world.

The fact that Sola's video still exhibits some strange glitches when depicting complex scenes with lots of movement suggests that such deepfake videos are still detectable for now. There is, he says. Arvind Narayanan at Princeton University. But he also warned that in the long term, “we need to find other ways to adapt as a society.”

OpenAI has been holding off on making Sora publicly available while it conducts “red team” exercises in which experts attempt to break safeguards in AI models to assess Sora's potential for abuse. An OpenAI spokesperson said the select group currently testing Sora are “experts in areas such as misinformation, hateful content, and bias.”

This test is very important. Because synthetic videos allow malicious actors to generate fake footage, for example, to harass someone or sway a political election. Misinformation and disinformation fueled by AI-generated deepfakes ranks as a major concern For leaders as well as in academia, business, government, and other fields. For AI experts.

“Sora is fully capable of creating videos that have the potential to deceive the public,” Tobac said. “Videos don't have to be perfect to be trustworthy, as many people still don't understand that videos can be manipulated as easily as photos.”

Toback said AI companies will need to work with social media networks and governments to combat the massive misinformation and disinformation that could arise after Sora is released to the public. Defenses could include implementing unique identifiers, or “watermarks,” for AI-generated content.

When asked if OpenAI has plans to make Sora more widely available in 2024, an OpenAI spokesperson said the company “will make Sora more widely available in OpenAI's products.” We are taking important safety measures.” For example, the company already uses automated processes aimed at preventing commercial AI models from producing extreme violence, sexual content, hateful images, and depictions of real politicians and celebrities. .With more people than ever before Participate in elections this yearthese safety measures are extremely important.

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artificial intelligence/
video

Source: www.newscientist.com

Research: Daily consumption of 100% orange juice reduces blood sugar levels compared to orange drink

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A new study from Toronto Metropolitan University says 100% orange juice and sugar-sweetened beverages are not equivalent when it comes to their effects on food intake and blood sugar response, and should not be placed in the same category when making beverage decisions.

Consuming 100% orange juice before a meal reduces food intake at the next meal and lowers daily blood glucose concentrations in healthy, normal weight adults when compared to orange drink.

The World Health Organization suggests reducing free sugar intake to no more than 10% of daily energy intake to reduce the risk of unhealthy weight and tooth decay.

Consistent with these recommendations, some national dietary guidelines recommend reducing sugar intake from all sources.

However, these recommendations do not differentiate between sources of free sugars and are primarily based on data from observational studies, so the physiological mechanisms underlying the observed effects cannot be readily determined.

“Our findings highlight the importance of considering the source of sugar when considering overall health effects,” said Dr. Nick Bellissimo of Toronto Metropolitan University, senior author of the study. I am emphasizing that.”

The randomized, repeated measures study included 36 adult men and women with normal BMI levels who received 1 cup of 100% orange juice, orange flavored, 2 hours after a breakfast consisting of cereal, 2% milk, and 2% milk. Ingested sugar-sweetened beverages and water. Breakfast bar.

Blood sugar responses, average appetite, and subjective emotions were measured every 15 minutes for 60 minutes in 34 participants.

Glycemic responses and energy intake for the rest of the day were measured in 31 participants using continuous blood glucose monitors and food records.

Subjective sweetness and pleasantness were measured immediately after ingesting the test beverage.

Glycemic responses, average appetite, and subjective emotions were measured every 15 minutes for 60 minutes.

Food intake was measured 60 minutes after the pizza lunch.

Blood sugar levels were lower with 100% orange juice than with orange drink at 15, 30, and 45 minutes, but not after 60 minutes.

Blood sugar levels for the rest of the day were lower after drinking 100% orange juice compared to drinking orange or water.

The findings also showed that food intake at lunch and throughout the day was lower after consuming 100% orange juice compared to consuming orange drink.

Participants also had higher subjective comfort measures and enjoyed 100% orange juice more compared to orange beverages and water.

Using 100% orange juice instead of sugary drinks may reduce your total daily calorie intake and help regulate blood sugar levels.

100% orange juice contains flavonoids such as hesperidin, which can affect sugar absorption by slowing glucose transport, causing a delayed blood sugar response.

Consumption of 100% orange juice is associated with increased flavonoid intake, decreased added sugar, and higher quality diet.

The researchers said, “Consumption of 100% orange juice as a preload resulted in higher caloric compensation, lower total daily energy intake, and lower blood glucose concentrations compared to orange beverages.”

“Future longitudinal studies are needed to assess whether the habit of replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with 100% orange juice contributes to a healthier body weight and improved glycemic control.”

of paper It was published in the magazine nutrients.

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Stephanie Robayo other. 2024. Effects of her 100% orange juice and moderate sugar-sweetened beverages on subjective appetite, food intake, and glycemic responses in adults. nutrients 16 (2): 242; doi: 10.3390/nu16020242

Source: www.sci.news

Starch-based super thickeners lower calorie and carbohydrate content in food

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Starch is a component of wheat flour and is used as a thickening agent in cooking.

Victor Fischer/Alamy

Making small sheets or cages from starch particles turns them into super-thickeners, which can reduce the calorie content of food.

Starches are often added to foods such as soups to thicken them, but this increases their calorie and carbohydrate content. now, lee peiron Researchers at Cornell University in New York have discovered that by arranging starch particles into special shapes, they can reduce the amount of starch in foods without sacrificing texture.

Starch particles expand when heated, which thickens the food. This means that the particles get stuck together and there is less room for the liquid components of the dish to flow freely. The researchers wondered if they could recreate this effect while reducing the amount needed by hollowing out starch blocks. “But you can't carve starch grains like pumpkins,” says Lee.

Instead, he and his colleagues devised a method that uses starch particles extracted from amaranth grains and assembles them into three-dimensional shapes by mixing them with water and oil. Starch particles were placed around the oil droplets, and the researchers used a combination of heating and freeze-drying to remove the two liquids. This left only starchy structures, some shaped like cages with a hollow center, others like sheets stacked on top of each other so that the liquid was trapped between them.

The research team discovered that these starch structures are so good as thickeners that they can halve the amount of starch typically needed to thicken foods.

Fan Zhu Researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand say the use of these granules as building blocks for a new class of hollow starch structures is so innovative that starches could become a big part of future food design. It has said. However, Zhu said amaranth starch is expensive and difficult to source in large quantities, so it would be advantageous to apply the new method to more affordable and abundant starches, such as starch made from corn. says. “And more research is needed into what happens when you put these kinds of structures in your mouth,” he says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Container Ship Trials New System to Capture Its Own CO2 Emissions

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Approximately 3% of all carbon emissions come from shipping

green oak/shutterstock

A container ship with a total length of 240 meters. sounion trader recently completed testing its onboard carbon capture system while cruising around the Persian Gulf. The ship has space to hold tons of carbon dioxide, joining a small but growing number of ships seeking to reduce their impact on climate change by capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions onboard. is difficult to find.

“We're miniaturizing systems that were designed for huge power plants,” he says. Louja Wen Seabound, a UK-based startup that is helping test run Sounion Trader.

Shipping accounts for approximately 3% of global CO2 emissions. To reduce it, shippers are using cleaner fuels, painting their hulls with foam to improve fuel efficiency, and even going back to sail. However, short-term options for achieving the industry's commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 are limited.

Another possibility is to capture ship emissions. keep on board, but faces major obstacles. One is to provide energy to recharge the chemical adsorbents used to absorb CO2. tristan smith Researchers at University College London say some existing systems increase fuel use by a third just to capture half of the CO2 emissions.

The system, and the carbon it captures, also takes up space on the ship that would normally be used for valuable cargo. “Space is an issue,” he says. jasper ross At the Dutch research institute TNO. “Especially when you're talking about long voyages.” About three tonnes of CO2 is produced for every tonne of fuel burned. George Malupas At the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute. Once captured and stored, the added mass can affect the ship's stability and reduce fuel efficiency.

Wen said Seabound's small-scale tests captured about 1 tonne of CO2 per day. Although this is only a fraction of the ship's overall emissions, a full-scale system could capture as much as 95 percent of the ship's CO2, she says.

To save energy, Seabound moves some of its processes onshore. On ships, the exhaust air passes through a calcium oxide adsorbent and reacts with CO2 to form solid calcium carbonate pebbles. The company will then wait to refill the adsorbent until the pebbles are offloaded at the port for permanent storage. The tradeoff is space. Seabound's approach means the ship must carry tanks of sorbent with every ton of her CO2 captured. Still, Wen said the company aims to retrofit 1,000 ships for carbon capture by 2030.

Dutch company Value Maritime has taken a similar approach, using liquid amine adsorbents to capture carbon dioxide and refill it offshore. Yvette van der Sonmen Value Maritime says 26 ships are currently using its system in parallel with existing sulfur pollution scrubbers to capture up to 40 percent of CO2 in their exhaust, but the process is still being managed by third parties. Not certified by She said the company sells some of the captured CO2 to greenhouses to use as fertilizer for plants, but much of it remains in tanks at the port.

Such systems may now look attractive for reducing emissions, Smith says. However, the rapid scale-up of cleaner transportation fuels could quickly make them obsolete unless very high recovery rates can be achieved at sufficiently low costs. “The shipping industry currently has a very short window to decarbonize, because it has been very slow to start decarbonizing,” he says.

Source: www.newscientist.com

First genetically modified banana approved by regulatory authorities

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Most banana plants are vulnerable to the fungal disease TR4

Ann Clark/iStockphoto/Getty Images

For the first time, genetically modified bananas have been approved for cultivation on farms. Regulators in Australia and New Zealand have given the green light to a Cavendish banana variety engineered to be resistant to a devastating fungal disease that is widespread in many countries around the world.

Australian Gene Technology Regulatory Authority issues license Allow commercial growth of modified bananas February 12th.

16 February, Australian and New Zealand Food Standards Approved as food, conclude that it is as safe and nutritious as traditional bananas. The food ministers of Australia and New Zealand can request a review of the decision within the next 60 days. Otherwise, approval is final.

The first banana widely eaten in Western countries was a variety called Gros Michel. However, by the 1950s, fusarium A fungal strain called Tropical Race 1 (TR1), which causes Panama disease, has forced farmers to switch to Cavendish bananas. Although reportedly not as tasty as Gros Michel, Cavendish is highly resistant to TR1.

Now, another stock fusariumIt is called TR4 and is popular all over the world. It can kill many varieties, including Cavendish.

team led by james dale Australia's Queensland University of Technology has created a resistant strain of banana called QCAV-4 by adding genes from wild bananas.

The decision is “a very important step towards creating a global Cavendish Banana safety net with TR4, which is already impacting many parts of the world,” Dale said. statement.

Quarantine measures currently limit the spread of TR4 in Australia, with only a small number of cases occurring each year. Therefore, there are currently no plans to grow QCAV-4 bananas on a large scale or sell them to consumers.

However, other countries where TR4 is more of a problem may decide to adopt genetically modified bananas. Dale's team now plans to use CRISPR gene editing QCAV-4 to make bananas resistant to another major fungal disease called black sigatoka which could mean it's even more attractive to farmers.

A Kenyan research team has already used CRISPR to create a strain of the Gonja Manjaya variety that is free of banana streak virus, a pathogen that integrates into the banana genome.

Genetically modified (GM) crops are now widely grown in many countries around the world, but in some regions, such as the United Kingdom and the European Union, very few crops are approved for cultivation by farmers.

in australia, Only four genetically modified crops have been approved so far. These are safflower, which contains high levels of oleic acid in its oil, and herbicide-resistant rapeseed (canola), Indian mustard, and cotton varieties.

However, Australia and New Zealand have approved Wider range of GM crops and edible products Similar to the situation in the UK and the EU.

topic:

Genetic recombination/
Eating and drinking

Source: www.newscientist.com

Researchers successfully decode the genome of the elusive night parrot

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

CSIRO researchers first genome of night parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis)one of the rarest and most elusive birds in the world.

night parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis). Image credit: Arianna Urso / Western Australian Museum.

The night parrot is a relatively small, short-tailed parrot species endemic to Australia.

This species is also known as the porcupine parrot, nocturnal ground parakeet, midnight parrot, solitaire, spinifex parrot, and nocturnal parakeet. first explained It was published in 1861 by British ornithologist John Gould.

The night parrot is one of the most elusive and mysterious birds in the world, with no confirmed sightings from 1912 to 1979.

They were once widespread in the arid regions of Australia, but their numbers have declined due to environmental changes such as predation by cats and foxes.

It is now known only from localized areas in south-west Queensland and Western Australia.

“Dozens of scientific specimens were collected in the 19th century, with one specimen collected in 1912. A specimen was then discovered in south-west Queensland in 1990,” says the CSIRO Australian National Wildlife Collection. said Dr. Leo Joseph, Director.

“A live bird was reported from the same area in 2013, and a live parrot was finally captured and tagged in 2015.”

“This genome will allow us to explore the genetic basis of why parrots are nocturnal, a trait that is very rare in parrots,” he added.

“We investigate functions such as navigation, sense of smell, beak shape, and suboptimal night vision.”

“Researchers will also be able to perform statistical analysis of this individual's genome to estimate the historical population size of Australia's night parrot.”

“We can now compare this annotated genome with other closely related parrot species, revealing the reasons behind its rarity and limited distribution compared to many closely related species. You can.”

Dr Joseph and his colleagues sequenced the armyworm genome using tissue obtained from specimens found in the Pilbara region.

“Access to high-throughput sequencing technology through CSIRO's Applied Genomics Initiative is accelerating genomics research in Australia,” said Dr Gunjun Pandey, CSIRO Environment Directorate Night Parrot Genomics Project Leader.

“We can now generate very high-quality genomes from very small tissue samples, as small as an ant's head or a single mosquito.”

“This level of quality and detail was not possible even five years ago.”

“Genetic data can be used to maximize diversity in conservation programs, so species are resilient and have the best chance of long-term survival.”

The night parrot genome is an exciting scientific resource for understanding more about this bird, but protecting this species from cats, foxes, fire, and habitat loss is also important for its conservation.

“The night parrot genome will open up many opportunities for further research that will help protect this species,” Dr. Pandey said.

“This will allow scientists to develop a plan to save the night parrot, with the ultimate goal of sequencing and publishing the genome.”

Source: www.sci.news

Kadena SpireKey Teams Up with WebAuthn for Smooth Web3 Interactions: Blockchain News, Opinion, TV, Jobs

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

New York City, NY, February 16, 2024, Chainwire

Kadena SpireKey is a human-friendly and secure way to seamlessly interact with any application by eliminating complex signing processes.

Kadena Spire Key

“Unlike today’s complex Web3 wallets that require you to remember every wallet you’ve ever created, Kadena’s SpireKey uses WebAuthn, a technology developed by Google and Apple over the past 20 years, to Make digital assets securely available to anyone directly on their phone or computer. It’s as easy as receiving a prompt on your mobile device and providing your fingerprint as a signature. Family Holiday Dinner Even your uncle who asks you about cryptocurrencies every time can do it. Kadena makes the application accessible to everyone, whether you’re an experienced “degener” or someone new to blockchain. said Mike Herron, CMO of Kadena.

SpireKey creates seamless interactions between humans and technology, delivering Web2 experiences with Web3 innovations. SpireKey allows users to sign transactions and their Web3 applications, just like it works with Apple Pay and Google Pay. However, it can be run directly on the user’s device without opening multiple windows or copying and pasting key pairs, eliminating potential vulnerabilities found in traditional wallets.

Enhanced security with built-in multisig

“Multi-sig signatures built into Kadena enable an additional layer of security for SpireKey, which can only be provided through our proprietary language, Pact. With multi-signatures, SpireKey allows For example, if you’re transferring more than $10,000, you can set a parameter to require signatures from three different devices: your phone, your laptop, and your cold storage wallet. Because a malicious attacker would need access to three devices, multisig functionality reduces the risk of your account being compromised. This reduces the risk of alternative attack vectors and increases overall security. “Stuart Popejoy, co-founder and CEO of Kadena, said:

SpireKey represents how Kadena thinks about the level of usability that Web3 technology should have. At the heart of SpireKey is connecting humans and allowing them to interact with blockchain. SpireKey believes that by showing real-life examples, she can get everyone equally interested in how Spirekey can impact the world beyond her Web3. Masu.

About Kadena

Kadena is a blockchain technology protocol founded in 2017 by Stuart Popejoy and Will Martino. Kadena is the industry’s only scalable layer 1 proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain. This scalability allows Kadena to provide infrastructure-grade performance for any blockchain project. Along with Kadena’s proprietary smart contract language, Pact, Kadena’s platform provides the world with the tools and environment to turn ideas and ambitions into reality. Founded by Stuart Popejoy and William Martino, who developed JPMorgan’s first blockchain and headed the SEC’s Crypto Committee, Kadena aims to enable mass adoption of true blockchain. .

For more information, users can follow Kadena’s information. twitter | telegram | discord | YouTube

contact

Kadena Press
press@kadena.io

Source: the-blockchain.com

Enormous Stone Age hunting structure uncovered in the Baltic Sea

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A team of German archaeologists has discovered a gigantic Stone Age structure submerged at a depth of 21 meters in the Western Baltic Sea. This structure was probably built by hunter-gatherers over 10,000 years ago and was eventually sunk about 8,500 years ago. Since then, it has remained hidden under the sea, leading to pristine preservation that has inspired research into lifestyles and territorial development in the wider region.

An artist's reconstruction of the Brinker Wall in Mecklenburg Bay, Germany. Image credit: Michał Grabowski.

The massive Stone Age structure was discovered in Mecklenburg Bay, about 10 kilometers northwest of the German coast of Relic.

The stone wall is made up of 1,673 individual stones, typically less than 1 meter in height, arranged side by side over a distance of 971 meters in a way that refutes their natural origin through glacial movement or ice-intrusion ridges.

This wall, known as the Brinker Wall, was built by hunter-gatherers who roamed the area after humans left. viserian ice sheet.

Running adjacent to the sunken shoreline of a paleo-lake (or swamp), whose youngest stage dates to 9,143 years ago, the structure was probably used for hunting. Eurasian reindeer (Langifer Tarandus).

“At that time, the population of all of Scandinavia was probably less than 5,000,” said Dr. Marcel Bradmeler, a researcher at the University of Rostock.

“One of their main food sources was herds of reindeer, which moved seasonally across sparsely vegetated post-glacial landscapes.”

“This wall was probably used to guide reindeer into the bottleneck between the adjacent shore and the wall, or into the lake, allowing Stone Age hunters to kill reindeer more easily with their weapons. Ta.”

Form of a southwest to northeast oriented ridge with a blinker wall and adjacent mounds.Image credit: Geersen et al. everyone, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2312008121.

The Brinker Wall is one of the oldest recorded man-made hunting structures on Earth and one of the largest known Stone Age structures in Europe.

Dr Jacob Geersen, also from the University of Rostock, said: “Our research shows that the natural origin of the submarine stone walls or modern constructions associated with, for example, the laying of submarine cables or stone extraction is unlikely. ” he said. .

“The orderly arrangement of many small stones connecting large, immovable rocks opposes this.”

The researchers used modern geophysical methods to create detailed 3D models of the Brinker Wall and reconstruct the ancient landscape.

A team of scientific divers from the University of Rostock and the West Pomeranian Mecklenburg State Department of Culture and Monuments also visited the site once and inspected it.

The main purpose of the dive was to assess the nature of the stone wall and investigate possible archaeological remains on the surrounding seabed.

They concentrated in two places: the western edge of the structure and the large stone in the center where the blinker wall turns.

No artifacts or dateable organic material were found in the immediate vicinity of the two dive sites, but a small wood sample was recovered from Holocene deposits approximately 10 m south of the structure.

3D model of the section of blinker wall adjacent to the large boulder at the west end of the wall. The photo was taken by Philip Huy of the University of Rostock. The scale bar at the top right corner of the image is 50 cm. Image credit: Geersen other., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2312008121.

“A number of well-preserved Stone Age sites are known along the coast of Wismar Bay and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, but these are located at much shallower depths, and most of them are Mesolithic and Neolithic. It dates from the Stone Age (7,000-2,500 BC),” said Dr. Jens Auer, a researcher at the Mecklenburg-West Pomeranian Department for the Preservation of Cultural Monuments.

“There is evidence that similar stone walls exist in other parts of Mecklenburg Bay. These will also be investigated systematically,” added Dr. Jens Schneider von Daimling, a researcher at the University of Kiel.

“Overall, this research could make a significant contribution to understanding the lives, organization, and hunting methods of early Stone Age hunter-gatherers.”

team's paper Published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Jacob Giesen other. 2024. Submerged Stone Age hunting architecture in the Western Baltic Sea. PNAS 121 (8): e2312008121; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2312008121

Source: www.sci.news

Binary System of Free-Floating Planet-Mass Objects Discovered by Astronomers

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The JuMBO 24 binary system resides in the Orion Nebula, a diffuse nebula located approximately 1,350 light-years away in the constellation Orion.

Free-floating Jupiter-mass binary objects are common, even if current stellar and planetary theory cannot explain their existence. Image credit: Gemini Observatory / Jon Lomberg.

Professor Luis Rodriguez of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and his colleagues said, “Near-infrared surveys of the interior of the Orion Nebula and the Trapezoid Cluster using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) revealed 40 Jupiter-mass binary objects (JuMBOs) and 2 triple objects. were detected.” .

“These systems are not associated with stars, their component masses range from 0.6 to 14 times the mass of Jupiter, and their distances in the plane of the sky range from 28 to 384 AU. It’s between.”

“The existence of these widespread binaries is surprising because our current knowledge of star and planet formation cannot explain them.”

Using NSF's Carl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), astronomers searched for the equivalent of 40 JuMBOs.

Surprisingly, only one of these objects, JuMBO 24, displayed a radio.

The radio brightness of the two planetary mass objects in this system is significantly higher than that detected in the brown dwarf.

This anomaly raises new questions and provides exciting research opportunities to further understand the nature of these free-floating planets.

While it's possible that the link between the infrared and radio signals is a coincidence, the researchers believe this is extremely unlikely, only 1 in 10,000.

“What's really remarkable is that these objects may have moons similar to Europa and Enceladus, both of which have underground oceans of liquid water that can support life,” Professor Rodriguez said. Told.

“The detection of radio waves emanating from both components of a dual system of free-floating planets represents an important milestone in our space exploration.”

“It also provides an exciting opportunity for further research into the potential habitability of planets beyond our solar system.”

of study Published in Astrophysics Journal Letter.

_____

Luis F. Rodriguez other. 2024. The radio counterpart of the Jupiter-mass binary object in Orion. APJL 960, L14; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad18ac

Source: www.sci.news

The Genius Behind a Game: How a Developer Earned £250,000 in Just 30 Minutes

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Game development is an expensive and time-consuming business. Currently, he has 2,000 people working in 18 studios around the world on the next installment of Ubisoft’s blockbuster Assassin’s Creed series, a project that will take two to three years. Last year, the self-taught programmer learned that he earned nearly £280,000 for a series of games he made sitting in his two-bedroom flat in Harlesden, pants on, on a hot day. Imagine how people would feel. And each one took about 30 minutes.

“The first one probably took seven to eight hours, to be honest,” TJ Gardner says. “But later pieces, like ‘Stroke the Beaver,’ would take about 30 minutes.”

Gardner is the author of the “Stroke” video game, which can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store for £3.29 each. Each features different animals such as cats, dogs, and hamsters, as well as less cute creatures such as snakes and fish, and all follow the same blueprint.

When you start the game, you will see images of animals on a plain blue background. In the upper left corner of the screen you will see the words “Stroke 0”. Press X to pet the animal. The animal blinks briefly. The number in the corner increases by one. After 25 strokes, you will be awarded a bronze trophy. If you keep going until you reach 2,000 strokes, you’ll earn the Platinum award.

“This is still a video game.” “Stroke the Beaver.” Photo: TJ Gardner

That’s all. There are no animations. There are no sound effects. Just pictures of animals under Wikipedia’s Creative Commons license and his lo-fi acoustic beats looping endlessly in the background. No running, no jumping, no guns, no bad guys, no special moves, no power-ups, no puzzles. Is Stroke Game a video game at all?

“It depends on how you define ‘game,'” Gardner says. “There is interaction. Sure, that interaction is very limited, but it’s there and there is a goal. I’m willing to admit that it’s not difficult and it’s not complicated, but it’s still video It’s a game.”

Looking at the numbers Mr. Gardner provided, perhaps that might not be a problem, at least for his bank managers. Since its launch in September 2022, the Stroke game has been downloaded over 120,000 times and generated sales of over £275,000. He will receive a 30% cut from Sony hosting the game on his PlayStation Store, leaving Mr Gardner with his pre-tax profit of more than £190,000.

People don’t buy these titles for addictive gameplay, engaging stories, or dizzying visuals. So what’s its appeal?

It all started in the mid-2000s, when console manufacturers started awarding virtual accolades to players who completed additional in-game goals. These are called achievements on Xbox and trophies on PlayStation. A new subculture was born, established by a community of gamers who played for the prize rather than the fun. They are known as trophy hunters. In pursuit of glory, some people will stop at nothing to play Hannah Montana: The Movie: The Game.

The PlayStation Store now has dozens of games aimed at these players. It’s a low-cost, laughably simple title that offers easy trophies in exchange for a few pounds. Gardner, who had a partner and young children to support, had recently taught himself to code (mainly from his YouTube videos and his tutorials online) and saw an opportunity.

Photo: TJ Gardner

“It was kind of tough for a young family to go paycheck to paycheck,” he says. According to Gardner, at the time anyone could apply for a game to be sold on his PlayStation Store and submit a design document outlining how it would work. “When we looked into Sony’s backend, we found that it’s actually very easy to get through quality assurance,” he says. In 2022, his first game, his Stroke the Dog, appeared on the store without any problems. “So we tried a few more, obviously using slightly different animals.”

Stroke the Hamster is a bestseller with over 11,000 downloads. Cats are his second most popular pet animal, followed – perhaps surprisingly – by turtles. But what was the inspiration behind Gardner’s epic Stroke the Beaver?

“To be honest, at one point it was like a joke to me,” he says. “I decided to see how far I could go.'' It seems quite far away. Gardner then released Stroke the Dik-Dik. “It’s an animal, right?”

Not everyone found the game interesting. Internet forums are full of posts criticizing the Trophy Hunter titles, their creators, and Sony for even allowing them to be listed on his PlayStation Store. Gardner acknowledged that Strokes’ game was shovelware, gained some defenders among his critics, and attempted to address the criticisms.

“He saw a gap and took advantage of it,” forum user the1andonly654 wrote. “Give him more power. What company wouldn’t do that?” Call of Duty, FIFA, and Assassin’s Creed are all essentially not that different. ”

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Photo: TJ Gardner

Of course, there are big differences in how much time, money, and creative effort goes into those games, and the richness of the experience they provide. But there are similarities in the business models. New installments are frequently created with the aim of exploiting existing markets. The focus is on reskinning the visuals rather than developing new ideas.

There’s an argument to be made that Gardner’s Stroke game represents a more honest trade than, say, a randomized loot box with in-game rewards. At least when he buys a Stroke game, Gardner says, “you know exactly what you’re buying.” There is nothing there to take advantage of you. Or nothing to suggest you need to buy anything else. You don’t have to buy it if you don’t want to. He didn’t have many complaints. Of the 11,105 people who bought Stroke the Hamster, he asked only 10 people to buy it. Refund.

But the critics remain, and it appears Sony is listening. Platform holder in November 2022
It is said that it started The Shovelware crackdown is threatening developers with emails sent to them to delist Trophy Hunter games and suspend their creators’ publisher accounts.

However, it’s hard to see evidence of this policy in action on the PlayStation Store, which is still full of such titles. When Gardner released Stroke the Animals, a gorgeous piece featuring 10 creatures, last December, Sony didn’t seem to mind. (“Do you like Aminares?” [sic], Read game information. “Great!” Well, there’s a lot you can stroke, so start stroking. ) Perhaps it’s not so much a mystery why Sony didn’t crack down. Thanks to his 30% cut, the company made more profits. More than £80,000 for a stroke game.

The first thing Mr. Gardner did with some of his profits was pay off his debts. Then he decided it was time to take his eyes off shovelware. “I’ve reached a stage where I’m willing to try something a little different, because even though it’s making money, it’s not money.” As you can probably imagine, it’s the most rewarding thing. ” One of his new projects is a new website.
Game achievements.net. Launching in the coming months, players will be able to track their in-game awards across multiple platforms.

So does Gardner have any regrets?

“Honestly, no,” he says. “I will never regret anything I did to help my family because I did it for them.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Photo of a polar bear snoozing on an iceberg captures attention and admiration

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Nima Sarikani/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

As midnight approaches in Svalbard, a young polar bear climbs onto an iceberg, makes himself a makeshift bed, and falls asleep. This year’s winner, Nima Sarikani, captured this peaceful moment that captures the essence of Earth’s fragility. Wildlife Photographer of the Year, People’s Choice Awarddecided by public vote.

Sarikani, from the UK, spent three days exploring Norway’s Svalbard archipelago in hopes of catching a glimpse of these iconic arctic animals. After the expedition vessel decided to change course, he was finally able to see both the older and younger males. Salikhani seized the opportunity to photograph a young bear dozing on an iceberg. This scene not only evokes the bond between animals and their habitat, but also the need to act against global challenges such as climate change and habitat loss.

These days, the sight of a lone polar bear on melting ice has become a familiar symbol of the effects of climate change. But there are good reasons for this. Global warming is affecting the Arctic particularly rapidly, where temperatures are rising three times faster than the global average. Bears are among the hardest hit, and are increasingly threatened by the loss of sea ice on which they depend for hunting and raising their young.

Salikhani is optimistic that while his shots are meant to stir the emotions of viewers, they will ultimately give polar bears hope that if they do the right thing, it’s not too late.The image will appear like this exhibition It will run until June 30th at the Natural History Museum in London, with four runners-up in the competition.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Microsoft makes strategic shift, offers Xbox games to PlayStation and Nintendo | Games industry

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Microsoft has announced that four previously exclusive Xbox games are being made available on PlayStation and Nintendo consoles. Additionally, the company plans to reveal details about the next version of its Xbox console by the end of 2024.

In a video podcast with other Xbox executives, Phil Spencer, Microsoft gaming CEO, did not reveal the names of the four games but mentioned that each is over a year old. Two of them are live service games and the other two are smaller titles. Spencer shared that his favorite games from the selection are the multiplayer pirate adventure Sea of Thieves and the musical action game Hi-Fi Rush. It has also been confirmed that the space epic Starfield from last year and the upcoming Indiana Jones game will remain exclusive to Xbox.

This move signifies a significant shift in strategy for Microsoft, focusing on increasing sales of first-party games rather than emphasizing hardware sales for Xbox. The company has faced tough competition from PlayStation ever since the original launch of Xbox in 2001.

To strengthen its gaming business, Microsoft has been actively acquiring various studios and gaming companies, such as Minecraft developer Mojang, Elder Scrolls and Fallout studio Bethesda, and Candy Crush publisher Activision Blizzard King. The acquisition process for Activision Blizzard involved extensive legal and regulatory procedures, but Microsoft is committed to making its popular games, including Call of Duty, available on other consoles.

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Sara Bond, Xbox president, reiterated that Microsoft is not planning to exit the console business. She also mentioned that the company has exciting hardware products set to be shared later this holiday season.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Google Ceases Notification of Publishers Regarding Removal of ‘Right to be Forgotten’ from Search Results

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Google will inform publishers quietly that it has removed websites from search results under Europe’s “right to be forgotten” rules, following a Swedish court ruling that the search engine applies globally. Stopped.

Previously, when an individual requested that records about them be deleted under EU data protection law, Google would notify the publisher of the original article.

Media companies, including the Guardian, are largely exempt from regulation, but links to journalistic content can be removed from databases such as search engines.

Currently, Google only notifies publishers that a URL has been removed, without providing details about what or why.

As a result, journalists are unable to identify situations in which the right to be forgotten is being misused to obscure legitimate reporting about serial offenders, hampering their ability to challenge the most serious rights violations.

A Google spokesperson said: “We have introduced a new approach to notifications following a decision by the Swedish Data Protection Authority. It came into force.”

“Although we did not agree with this decision at the time, it is binding and supports EU-wide regulatory guidance. We have therefore made strong efforts to comply with it. Ta.”

One of the changes introduced by the GDPR in 2016 was to ensure that EU national court decisions on data protection set precedent across the bloc.

A Swedish court ruled in December that notifying webmasters that search engines have removed links to their content is itself a violation of the privacy of people who have requested the right to be forgotten.

“Thus, the Administrative Court found that once Google granted the deletion of search results, the interests of individuals in privacy and effective protection of personal data generally outweighed Google’s interests. [sic] Send a message to the webmaster, concludes. according to International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Upheld a 50 million Swedish kronor (£3.8 million) fine against search engines for failing to remove URLs they were asked to remove from their lists.

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Within weeks of the first judgment in May 2014, which ruled that the right to be forgotten applied to Google, six Guardian articles were removed from the European version of the search engine.

Three of the charges related to now-retired Scottish Premier League referee Dougie McDonald, who was found to have lied about his reasons for awarding penalties in a football match in 2010. . Others included his 2002 article about a lawyer facing a fraud trial and his 2011 article about a French office worker who makes his art Post-It Notes.

Over the next five years, the search engine received about 1 million unique forgotten requests, and even though more than half were rejected, it still removed about 1.5 million unique URLs.

Source: www.theguardian.com

OpenAI Introduces Sora, a Tool that Generates Videos from Text in Real-time Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

OpenAI on Thursday announced a tool that can generate videos from text prompts.

The new model, called Sora after the Japanese word for “sky,” can create up to a minute of realistic footage that follows the user’s instructions for both subject matter and style. The model can also create videos based on still images or enhance existing footage with new material, according to a company blog post.

“We teach AI to understand and simulate the physical world in motion, with the goal of training models that help people solve problems that require real-world interaction.” says the blog post.

One video included among the company’s first few examples was based on the following prompt: Movie trailer featuring the adventures of a 30-year-old astronaut wearing his red woolen knitted bike in his helmet, blue sky, salt desert, cinematic style shot on 35mm film, vibrant colors .”

The company announced that it has opened up access to Sora to several researchers and video creators. According to the company’s blog post, experts have “red-teamed” the product and implemented OpenAI’s terms of service, which prohibit “extreme violence, sexual content, hateful images, likenesses of celebrities, or the IP of others.” We will test whether there is a possibility of evasion. The company only allows limited access to researchers, visual artists and filmmakers, but CEO Sam Altman took to Twitter after the announcement to answer questions from users about a video he said was created by Sola. posted. The video contains a watermark indicating that it was created by AI.

The company debuted its still image generator Dall-E in 2021 and its generated AI chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022, quickly gaining 100 million users. His other AI companies have also debuted video generation tools, but those models could only generate a few seconds of footage that had little to do with the prompt. Google and Meta said they are developing a video generation tool, although it is not publicly available. on wednesday, announced the experiment We’ve added deeper memory to ChatGPT to remember more of your users’ chats.

OpenAI told the New York Times how much footage was used to train Sora, except that the corpus includes videos that are publicly available and licensed from copyright holders. He also did not reveal the source of the training video. The company has been sued multiple times for alleged copyright infringement in training generative AI tools that digest vast amounts of material collected from the internet and mimic the images and text contained in those datasets. .

Source: www.theguardian.com

Scientists edge closer to creating genuine one-way glass

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Scientists from Aalto University have proposed a three-dimensional metamaterial with isotropic effects in the visible spectral range.

The new metamaterial is formed by randomly oriented bimaterial nanocylinders in the host medium. Image credit: Ihar Faniayeu / Aalto University.

Unlike natural materials, metamaterials and metasurfaces can be tailored to have specific electromagnetic properties. This means scientists can create materials with desirable functionality for industrial applications.

A newly proposed metamaterial takes advantage of nonreciprocal magnetoelectric (NME) effects.

“The NME effect implies a link between specific properties of materials (magnetization and polarization) and various field components of light and other electromagnetic waves,” lead author Shadi Safaei Jaji et al. said.

Although this effect is negligible in natural materials, scientists are looking to enhance it using metamaterials and metasurfaces because of the technological possibilities it unlocks.

“So far, the NME effect has not translated into practical industrial applications,” Jazio said.

“Most of the proposed approaches only work for microwaves, not visible light, and could not be manufactured with available technology.”

“We used conventional materials and nanofabrication techniques to design an optical NME metamaterial that can be created with existing technology.”

This new material enables applications that previously required strong external magnetic fields. For example, creating a truly one-way glass.

“Glass currently sold as 'one-way' is translucent and transmits light in both directions,” says Jayge.

“If the brightness is different on both sides (for example, inside and outside the window), it acts like one-way glass.”

“However, with NME-based unidirectional glass, light can only pass in one direction, so there is no need for differences in brightness.”

“Imagine having that glass in your home, office, and car window.”

“Regardless of the brightness outside, you can't see anything inside and have a perfect view from the window.”

“If the technology is successful, this unidirectional glass could also increase the efficiency of solar cells by blocking the thermal radiation that existing cells emit toward the sun, thereby reducing the amount of energy that the cells capture. It will be done.”

of work It was published in the magazine nature communications.

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S. Safaei Jazz other. 2024. Optical Telegen metamaterial with spontaneous magnetization. Nat Commune 15, 1293; doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-45225-y

Source: www.sci.news

Review: Bose Ultra Open Earphones with Unique Open Fit and High-Quality Sound

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Bose’s latest earbuds are a big departure from previous noise-canceling champions, as they’re designed to let outside sound in instead of blocking it out and sitting in your ears, making them more than just gadgets. It also resembles jewelry.

These are the latest evolution of Bose’s open audio technology, which uses small speakers to play music without blocking your ears, and was last seen in the excellent Frames audio glasses, which have since been discontinued.

The Ultra Open Earbuds cost a hefty £300 (€349/$299), joining the ranks of smaller open earbuds such as:
£179 Shocks Open Fit Or the £149 Sony LinkBuds. However, Bose has two major advantages over his rivals. It has a great, full sound and an innovative fit that doesn’t get in the way of glasses or other headwear.

The look and fit of the Ultra Open is unlike any other earphone. The slit on the top projects noise canceling sound and reduces noise leakage from the earphones.

Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The battery cylinder is located behind the ear and connected via a flexible silicone spring to an L-shaped plastic speaker arm, which together hold the earbuds in place around the side of the ear.

The fit is very unique and takes a little practice to get it right, but once it’s in place it’s light and comfortable. I was sure it would fall if I ran, but no matter how much I sweated or how much I shook my head, it remained firmly in place.

The earbuds are charged via metal contacts on the underside of the battery.

Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Source: www.theguardian.com

Physicists conclude the shape factor of a proton’s Grunick gravitational force

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Protons are one of the main building blocks of all visible matter in the universe. Its unique properties include charge, mass, and spin. These properties emerge from the complex dynamics of its basic building blocks, quarks and gluons, explained by the theory of quantum chromodynamics. The charge and spin of protons shared between quarks has been previously studied using electron scattering. One example is the high-precision measurement of the charge radius of protons. In contrast, little is known about the internal mass density of protons, which is dominated by the energy carried by gluons. In a new study, a team of physicists led by Argonne National Laboratory used a small colored dipole to probe the gravitational density of gluons through threshold photogeneration of J/ψ (J/Psi) particles.

Proton valence quarks (blue, red, green), quark and antiquark pairs, and gluons (springs). Scalar gluon activity (pink) extends beyond the charge radius (orange) surrounding the gluon energy core (yellow). Image credit: Argonne National Laboratory.

For many years, nuclear physicists have determined the size of protons by precisely measuring their charge response. This is a result of the proton's charged constituent quarks.

However, determining the size of matter by the size of its protons is a more difficult task. This is because part of the proton's mass is driven by the elusive neutral gluon, rather than by the mass or motion of charged quarks. These gluons combine themselves with quarks within the proton.

The new discovery provides a view of this mass region produced by gluon interactions.

This measurement not only reveals the mass radius resulting from the strong force, but also its confinement effect on quarks that extend far beyond the proton's charge radius.

“A key detail of the proton's structure is its size,” said lead author Dr. Zein Eddin Meziani, a physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, and his colleagues.

“The most commonly used measure of a proton's size is its charge radius, which uses electrons to measure the spherical size of the proton's charge.”

The new measurements come from the J/Ψ -007 experiment at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.

This differs in that a small colored dipole ( ) was used to reveal the sphere size and position of the gluon mass and its range of influence on the gluon within the proton.

In the experiment, physicists used a high-energy beam of electrons to create J/Ψ particles from protons. The J/Ψ particle provides information about the distribution of gluons inside the proton.

Experimenters inserted these measurements into a theoretical model and analyzed them.

As a result, the mass radius of the gluon inside the proton was determined.

Furthermore, the area of influence of a strong force called a confinement scalar cloud, which also affects proton quarks, was also shown.

“This study paves the way for a deeper understanding of the prominent role of gluons in imparting gravitational mass to visible matter,” the authors concluded.

Their paper It was published in the magazine Nature.

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B. Duran other. 2023. Determination of the Grunick gravitational shape factor of protons. Nature 615, 813-816; doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05730-4

Source: www.sci.news

Small duck-billed dinosaur species found in Morocco for the first time

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A new genus and species of dwarf lambeosaurid hadrosauridae have been discovered in Moroccan rocks dating back to the late Cretaceous period, approximately 68 million years ago.

Late Maastrichtian dinosaurs from Morocco's latest Cretaceous phosphates.Image credit: Longrich other., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53447-9.

“Dalatypus dinosaurs, or hadrosaurs, were highly successful herbivores that caused large-scale radioactivity in the Late Cretaceous,” said paleontologists from the University of Bath. Nicholas Longrich and his colleagues.

“Hadrosaurids evolved in North America during the Turonian period (94 to 90 million years ago) and then dispersed to Asia and Europe.”

“The presence of hadrosaurids in Africa is puzzling because Africa had been isolated from Laurasia by the deep ocean since the Middle Jurassic, whereas hadrosaurids evolved in the Late Cretaceous.”

“The solution to this contradiction seems to be that the platypus either swam to Africa or crossed there on a raft.”

The newly described hadrosaurid species lived in Africa during the late Maastrichtian period of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago.

named Mincaria Batathis dinosaur was relatively small, measuring about 3.5 meters (11.5 ft) in length.

This species comes from the phosphate mines of Sidi Chennan, Morocco, the same locality where the hadrosaur family Lambeosaurus was produced. Ajnavia Odysseusand based on a partial skull.

belongs to Areni Saulinia clade of lambeosaurid hadrosaurids endemic to Europe and North Africa.

“Mincaria Bata is distinguished from Ajnavia Odysseus “This is due to the shape of the maxilla, which has a more ventrally located zygomatic surface, a curved external ridge, a more sinusoidal tooth row, and an array of neurovascular foramina,” the paleontologists said.

“But the new species is very similar. Ajnavia Odysseus Other arenisaurines also have their small size and many anatomical features. ”

skull elements Mincaria Bata. Scale bar – 5 cm.Image credit: Longrich other., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53447-9.

Researchers also unearthed the fossilized remains of two other hadrosaurids at the Sidi Daoui and Mura Larak sites.

“The humerus and femur belong to a larger hadrosaurid, measuring 6 meters (20 feet) long, suggesting that at least three species coexisted,” the researchers said.

Research team's analysis suggests a group of hadrosaurs lambeosauridae It first diversified in Asia and later dispersed to North America.

Dispersal from Asia to Europe was followed by dispersal to North Africa. Multiple dispersals from Europe to Africa appear to be more parsimonious than a single dispersal, but are not impossible, especially considering its unique morphology. Ajnavia Odysseus and Mincaria Bata.

“Hadrosaurid diversity in Europe and Africa suggests a dispersal radiation, with lambeosaurs taking advantage of low ornithischian diversity to diversify,” the scientists said. Stated.

“However, African lambeosaurs are smaller than their North American and Asian counterparts, probably due to competition with titanosaurs.”

“The lack of known hadrosaurids from eastern Africa suggests that Moroccan hadrosaurids are part of a distinct island fauna and may represent an island radiation.”

of findings appear in the diary scientific report.

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NR Long Rich other. 2024. A new small duck-billed dinosaur (hadrosauridae: Lambeosauridae) discovered from Morocco and the diversity of dinosaurs from the late Maastrichtian in North Africa. science officer 14, 3665; doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53447-9

Source: www.sci.news

Webb discovers evidence of hydrothermal activity within Ellis and Makemake

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Methane ice of unknown origin exists on the surfaces of the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake. Analysis of data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shows that Ellis and Makemake have rocky cores that have undergone significant radiation heating and are still hot/hot enough to produce methane. There is a possibility.

grain other. Researchers have discovered evidence of hydrothermal or metamorphic activity deep within the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake. Image courtesy of Southwest Research Institute.

“We're seeing some interesting signs of a hot period in a cool place,” said Dr. Christopher Grein, a planetary researcher at the Southwest Research Institute.

“I approached this project thinking that because the cold surfaces of large Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) can store volatile materials like methane, they should have ancient surfaces with material inherited from the proto-solar nebula. I participated.”

“Instead, Webb had a surprise for us! We found evidence of a thermal process producing methane from inside Ellis and Makemake.”

Dr. Grein and his colleagues used the Webb to observe isotope molecules on the surfaces of Ellis and Makemake for the first time.

These so-called isotopologues are molecules containing atoms with different numbers of neutrons. These provide data that helps us understand the evolution of planets.

The astronomers measured the composition of the dwarf planet's surface, specifically the ratio of deuterium (deuterium, D) to hydrogen (H) in methane.

Deuterium is thought to have formed in the Big Bang, and hydrogen is the most abundant atomic nucleus in the universe.

The D/H ratio of planetary bodies provides information about the origin, geological history, and formation routes of hydrogen-containing compounds.

“The moderate D/H ratio observed by Mr. Webb discredits the existence of primordial methane on the ancient Earth's surface. The D/H ratio of primordial methane would be much higher,” Dr. Grein said. I did.

“Instead, the D/H ratio indicates the geochemical origin of the methane produced deep inside. The D/H ratio is like a window. You can use it to look into the subsurface.”

“Our data suggest that temperatures in the cores of these world rocks could increase and methane could be cooked.”

“Nitrogen molecule (N₂) may be generated as well, and this has also been confirmed in Eris. ”

“Hot cores may also indicate a potential source of liquid water beneath the surface of the ice.”

“If Eris and Makemake harbored, or perhaps still harbor, warm or hot geochemistry in their rocky cores, then the surface of these planets is probably geologically recent, due to cryogenic volcanic activity. could be supplied with methane,” said Dr. Will Grundy. Astronomer at Lowell Observatory.

“We discovered the carbon isotope ratio (¹³C/¹²C) suggests that the surface has been resurfaced relatively recently. ”

“Following NASA's New Horizons flyby of the Pluto system, and with this discovery, the Kuiper Belt turns out to be much more alive than we imagined in terms of hosting a dynamic world.” said Dr. Grein.

“It's not too early to start thinking about sending spacecraft to fly close to other of these objects to put Webb's data into geological context. I'm sure we'll see the surprises that lie ahead. I think you’ll be surprised!”

of study It was published in the magazine Icarus.

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Christopher R. Grein other. 2024. Moderate D/H ratios in the Ellis and Makemake methane ices indicate evidence of hydrothermal or metamorphic processes in the interior: a geochemical analysis. Icarus 412: 115999; doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2024.115999

Source: www.sci.news

Google to reveal oil and gas methane leak detected from space

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Google and the Environmental Defense Fund on Wednesday announced a partnership to uncover the sources of climate-warming emissions from oil and gas operations that will be detected from space by a new satellite.

MethaneSAT is scheduled to launch next month and is one of several satellites being deployed to monitor methane emissions around the world to identify the main sources of the invisible but powerful greenhouse gas. There is one. The partnership is led by EDF, the New Zealand Space Agency, Harvard University and others.

Data from the satellite will be available later this year, and Google Cloud will provide the computing power to process the information.

Google also announced that it will use artificial intelligence to map oil and gas infrastructure by identifying components such as oil tanks. MethaneSAT emissions data is overlaid with Google Maps to help you understand which types of oil and gas equipment are most likely to leak.

This information will be made available through Google Earth Engine, a geospatial analytics platform, later this year. Earth Engine is free to researchers, nonprofit organizations, and news organizations.

The satellite image above shows a map of points, correctly identified as oil well pads. Google used satellite and aerial imagery to apply AI to detect infrastructure components. Well pads are shown in yellow, oil pump jacks in red, and storage tanks in blue.
Google

“For energy companies, researchers, and the public sector, it's generally helpful to predict methane emissions in the most sensitive components,” Yael Maguire, Google's vice president of geographic sustainability, said on a call with reporters. “We believe this information is extremely valuable for mitigation efforts.”

The launch comes as governments crack down on short-lived sources of greenhouse gases and more than 50 major state-owned and independent oil and gas operators, from ExxonMobil to Saudi Aramco, pledge to reduce methane leakage to near zero at the COP28 climate change summit. This was done amid a promise to reduce the number of By the end of this decade.

The United States is one of the largest emitters of methane and has proposed enforcement measures to stop leaks from oil and gas operations. A new rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will allow the public to report large methane leaks to federal regulators if they have access to methane detection technology.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

African Reforestation Initiatives May Harm Grasslands and Savannahs

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Introducing too many trees into the African savannah can prevent small plants from accessing sunlight, which can affect the animals that eat them

Karine Boukey/Alamy

Ambitious tree-planting projects aimed at restoring Africa's forests could inadvertently harm grasslands and savannahs by providing too much shade. This can interfere with photosynthesis in small plants, which can have knock-on effects on other parts of the ecosystem.

In 2011, the German government and the International Union for Conservation of Nature launched the Bonn Challenge to restore 350 million hectares of degraded or deforested land around the world by 2030. As part of this effort, the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) was formed, with 34 countries across the continent pledging to reforest his 133.6 million hectares of land.

However, this has raised concerns about how Africa's other major ecosystems will be affected. You can learn more about kate parr Researchers at the University of Liverpool in the UK compared the area of forest restoration efforts in the AFR100 countries with the area of naturally forested areas.

In 18 of these countries, the pledged area was found to exceed the actual forest area, so non-forest habitats must also be included in the pledged area.

Of the 133.6 million hectares committed to reforestation across Africa, 70.1 million hectares are comprised primarily of non-forest ecosystems such as grasslands and savannahs. “It's the size of France, it's huge,” Parr said.

The researchers also found that 52 per cent of projects already underway are located in grasslands or savannahs. Approximately half of these are agroforestry projects. These include planting trees on agricultural land, which tends to be non-forest areas consisting of non-native species with low overall species diversity.

“Trees are great individually, but when you get a lot of them together, they can really change the ecosystem,” Parr says.

In open, grassy ecosystems, trees typically grow in a sparse pattern. Crowding of trees through mass planting can greatly reduce access to sunlight and can damage small plants. This has a knock-on effect on animals such as zebras that eat these plants.

Many of the countries involved receive funding to carry out afforestation projects, so there is an economic incentive to plant more trees, Parr said. “There is also a lack of awareness that these ecosystems are being harmed by tree planting,” she says.

Mr Parr hopes those responsible for tree-planting operations will consider the broader impacts of where they are planted, working with local communities to ensure people's livelihoods are not affected.

Jessica Gurevich A professor at Purdue University in Indiana said: “This is a worrying wake-up call for NGOs.” [non-governmental organisations], national and international restoration efforts, and a misguided “let's plant a tree” public reassured that these efforts must be more tightly controlled and evidence-based. Masu. ”

AFR100 had not commented at the time of publication.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Is Russia’s Space Weapon Nuclear and a Potential Threat?

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Mysterious new weapon could threaten satellites in Earth orbit

Key Fame/Shutterstock

According to a series of reports, the US government has privately warned lawmakers and European allies that Russia is planning to launch a nuclear-capable space weapon.

The news comes after U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner announced: vague warning It cited a “grave national security threat” and asked US President Joe Biden to “declassify all information related to this threat” for more public discussion. Since then, news reports have revealed additional details about what Russia's mystery weapon is. Here's what we know so far:

Does this mean Russia aims to deploy nuclear missiles and bombs into space?

This point remains unclear.Report from ABC News and new york times The term “nuclear weapon” may mean a weapon capable of producing an explosion involving a fission or fusion reaction.If this is true, it would be a violation of the rules 1967 Outer Space TreatyIt prohibits signatories, including Russia and the United States, from placing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in space.

Although a nuclear explosion in space would not directly harm people on Earth, it could destroy and disable multiple satellites.When the United States detonated a nuclear bomb in low Earth orbit during that period starfish prime In a 1962 experiment, the resulting radiation damaged or destroyed about a third of the satellites in low Earth orbit at the time.

However, there is another possibility that does not involve nuclear weapons.

What else does Russia have in its nuclear capabilities in space?

Russian space weapons may simply use nuclear power to power onboard systems. PBS News Hour U.S. officials said the Russian weapon was “probably nuclear-powered.”

Russia and the United States have used various forms of nuclear power in space for decades. One form includes nuclear fission reactors, such as those found in civilian nuclear power plants, which derive their power from an ongoing nuclear chain reaction.

The United States launched an experimental nuclear reactor into space in 1965, while Russia reportedly launched at least 34 nuclear reactors aboard satellites between 1967 and 1988. World Nuclear Association.

The United States, Russia, and other countries have also launched space missions using radioisotope systems. These use heat from the natural decay of radioactive materials as a power source, but they provide much less power than nuclear fission reactors.

What does this Russian space weapon actually do?

News reports agree that Russian weapons are designed to target satellites in space, rather than directly harming anyone or anything on the ground. However, if this weapon is able to knock satellites out of orbit, these objects could fall to the planet's surface and cause severe damage. If they blow away, the resulting cloud of space junk could threaten other satellites and even the International Space Station. This could even trigger a Kessler syndrome scenario, where a chain reaction of space debris gets out of control and makes it virtually impossible for satellites to survive in Earth orbit.

Various countries, including Russia, the United States, China, and India, have previously tested anti-satellite weapons (ASATs), which shoot missiles from Earth and shoot down objects in orbit. But countries have been much quieter about whether they have actually deployed ASAT weapons into space.

What does Russia say about the potential of this weapon?

A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin's government reportedly called the U.S. warning a “malicious hoax” aimed at pushing the U.S. Congress to pass legislation authorizing more military aid to Ukraine. Ta. Reuters. Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States and Europe have supported Ukraine's military resistance against Russian forces.

Why does Russia need new anti-satellite weapons?

Satellites are important for both military and civilian applications that have a huge impact on modern life. They monitor the weather, power GPS systems, provide space-based surveillance, and enable communications. For example, SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation has proven essential to the Ukrainian military in coordinating drone and artillery fire against Russian forces on the battlefield.

A U.S. official quoted by PBS NewsHour suggested that Russian space weapons have “electronic warfare capabilities to target U.S. satellites critical to U.S. military and civilian communications.”

According to some sources, Russia has spent years developing a space-based electronic warfare system that can jam communications signals to and from satellites. report This is by the Secure World Foundation, a space security organization based in Colorado.Victoria Samson at the Secure World Foundation Said Such a Russian space weapon could be powered by nuclear power.

So how dangerous is this new anti-satellite weapon?

The good news is that if this space weapon sabotages satellites rather than physically destroying them, it will not cause a catastrophic space debris scenario like Kessler syndrome. However, it can still be dangerous.

Space weapons that use electronic warfare to jam signals could effectively disable satellites. That could disrupt critical battlefield communications, render GPS guidance systems inoperable and obscure reconnaissance satellites, making it more difficult for the United States to coordinate military forces around the world.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Beneficial microorganisms in plant roots enhance the flavor of tea

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Microbes appear to influence how well tea plants absorb nutrients

Artur Szymczyk/Alamy

Tweaking the microbial community at the base of the tea plant could make your favorite tea taste even better.

Just as the bacteria that live in our guts influence our health, the microbes that live in and around plant roots play a role in how plants absorb nutrients from the soil. Masu. But little is known about their effects on tea flavor and nutritional content, he says. Yang Zhenbiao At the University of California, Riverside.

To learn more, Yang and his colleagues collected and analyzed tea plants (Camellia sinensis) is grown in Fujian Province, China. Researchers found that certain soil microorganisms are involved in increased nitrogen uptake, which increases the production of a chemical called theanine in plant roots, resulting in increased production of a chemical called theanine, especially in the leaves of a variety called Roguey. It turns out that the level has increased.

Theanine adds a rich flavor to beer, and the amount of theanine contained is considered an important indicator of the quality of tea. It also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can counteract the stimulant effects of caffeine, Yang says.

In the next step of the study, the researchers extracted the 21 most beneficial microorganisms for theanine from the soil and generated a custom microbial community. Its composition was very similar to that found naturally around Logi.

When this mixture was applied to the roots of other types of tea plants, theanine levels were increased even in the roots of tea plants grown in nitrogen-poor soils. “Not only does it have great health benefits, but it also improves the sweetness and flavor of the tea,” says Yang.

The research team hopes that the customized microbial community could be used in the future to perfect the quality of tea and improve the nutritional value of other plants such as rice.

“Improving nitrogen absorption efficiency can also reduce dependence on fertilizers, which could also have a major impact on the future of agriculture,” says Yang.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Telemedicine and doctor’s office have the same safety for abortion pills.

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Abortion pill pills contain mifepristone and misoprostol

Brigette Supernova / Alamy

Abortion pills are just as safe and effective when obtained through telehealth services as they are when obtained in a doctor's office, according to the largest study ever on telemedicine abortions.

Access to abortion is a contentious political issue in the United States. In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) eliminated in-person dispensing requirements for the abortion drug mifepristone, allowing people to obtain the pill through telehealth services or by mail. Anti-abortion groups are currently challenging this ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Previous studies of hundreds of pregnancies have shown that telemedicine abortions are safe. For further investigation with a larger sample size, Ushma Upadhyay Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, collected data on more than 6,000 telemedicine abortions performed in 20 U.S. states and Washington, DC. All participants were less than 10 weeks pregnant, and approximately 72% of them obtained the abortion pill through a secure text message rather than a video call.

The researchers followed the participants for three to seven days after the abortion, and then again two to four weeks later. The research team found that nearly 98 percent of abortions effectively ended the pregnancy. Additionally, only 0.25 percent of participants experienced serious side effects, such as uncontrolled bleeding or infection. By comparison, personal use of mifepristone is more than 97% effective and has a 0.3% chance of causing adverse events. There was also no difference in outcomes between abortions obtained via text message or video.

“These findings are consistent with the growing body of evidence that mifepristone is safe and effective and that FDA's decision to eliminate the in-person dispensing requirement was scientifically sound.” says Upadhyay.

“The outcomes for patients who come to telemedicine and brick-and-mortar clinics are essentially indistinguishable,” he says. samuel dickman at Planned Parenthood of Montana, a reproductive health nonprofit. Telemedicine abortions are essential to providing care to rural populations and people who are uncomfortable going to an abortion clinic because of an abusive partner, he says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Unanswered Questions Surrounding Putin’s Plans for Russian Nuclear Weapons in Space, Says Intel

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Despite its recent emergence, these technologies and concepts are not new.

The United States and the Soviet Union developed and tested anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) during the Cold War. Both nations also regularly utilized nuclear power in space.

As early as 1959, the United States initiated the development of anti-satellite missiles due to concerns about Soviet efforts to do the same. This led to a 1985 test launch by an F-15 fighter jet, which successfully destroyed a satellite by ejecting its payload at an altitude of 36,000 feet and hissing into orbit, carrying a deteriorating U.S. aircraft, according to the U.S. Air Force Museum.

A paper published by the Air Force’s Air University Press in 2000 stated that from 1969 to 1975, the U.S. government developed an anti-satellite system using existing nuclear missiles in “direct ascent” mode to destroy space targets.

In addition to nuclear weapons, the U.S. government placed its first nuclear-powered satellite into orbit in 1961. The Soviet Union similarly developed and deployed comparable technology that powered many satellites during that period.

History has demonstrated that these developments are not without risks. In 1978, a Soviet nuclear-powered satellite malfunctioned and fell from the sky, spreading radioactive debris over northern Canada.

However, what has not yet been publicly revealed is the existence of a Russian nuclear-powered satellite carrying weapons.

According to a 2019 technical essay published in The Space Review, nuclear-fueled satellites equipped with powerful jammers that can block communications and other signals over large areas for extended periods may be installed. Experts have responded to this week’s news.

Bowen, of the University of Leicester, stated that such a design would be “very expensive” and “waiting for something to go wrong could create a nuclear environmental disaster in orbit.”

Ultimately, while none of this technology is new, the actual implementation would certainly be considered an escalation, according to Bowen and Bugerin.

Some have questioned whether the disclosure is purely political in nature, rather than a military threat.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskovin suggested that the White House’s actions may be an attempt to manipulate Congress to vote on a funding bill that would provide new aid to Ukraine. He raised the possibility of a diversionary tactic from the other side.

Francesca Giovannini, executive director of the Atomic Stewardship Project at Harvard Kennedy School, noted that “Russia has long been attempting to develop weapons in space,” indicating potential misinformation or diversion tactics being employed.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

I experimented with Apple Vision Pro and it gave me a fright – Arwa Mahdawi

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

IIf you’re worried that technology is getting a little too intelligent and robots are on the verge of taking over the world, there’s a simple way to ease your fears. Call the company and ask some simple questions. He is put through an automated voice system and spends the next 10 minutes yelling, “No, I didn’t say that!” What do you mean by “I didn’t really understand”? We don’t need that option! Make me human, damn it!

That was certainly my experience when I called Apple to try and reconfirm the Vision Pro demo, which was abruptly canceled due to snow. But if my phone experience felt dated, the Apple Vision Pro headset itself felt like an amazing glimpse into the future. Not surprisingly, its price is $3,499.

I think my expectations were pretty low. For the last decade or so, we’ve been told that virtual reality and augmented reality are just around the corner, but they’ve consistently failed to break into the mainstream. The headset was clunky and impractical, the price was prohibitive, and the experience itself, while impressive, wasn’t necessarily awe-inspiring. Metaverse, a rebrand of virtual reality, was similarly disappointing.

But the Vision Pro really impressed me. I felt like Usher and kept saying “wow” throughout the demo. The Vision Pro is branded as a “spatial computing” rather than an entertainment device and is intended to be used for everything from answering emails to browsing the Internet. Navigate with your eyes and scroll by pinching your fingers or moving your hand. He is conducting an invisible orchestra.

Despite all the use cases on the market, its most impressive aspect is immersive video. Everything else feels like a bit of a gimmick. Do you want to see computer apps floating in front of your eyes? Not so much! But when you watch a movie, you feel like you’re drawn into the content. If money wasn’t an issue, I would have bought a headset right away just because watching movies is so much fun.

And that’s basically the scope of the market for Vision Pro at this point. In other words, people who have nothing to do with money. The headset is impressive, but it’s still not very comfortable (I’m lucky to be able to drink coffee while wearing it) and it’s not worth the price. This technology is still in its infancy and will take some time to become widespread in broader culture.

But while it’s hard to say when spatial computing will become as ubiquitous as smartphones are today, it’s clear that the question is when it will be widely adopted, not if. There is no denying that we are moving towards a world where “real life” and digital technology seamlessly merge. The internet is moving from our screens to the world around us. And it raises serious questions about how we perceive the world and think about reality. Big tech companies are rushing to get the technology out there, but it’s unclear how worried they are about the consequences.

Some of these outcomes are easy to predict. In a few weeks’ time, you’ll almost certainly hear about a car accident caused by someone using a headset while driving. There are already a lot of videos out there of people using the Vision His Pro while out and about, including in the car. (Incidentally, while Apple advises people not to use headsets while driving, it doesn’t have guardrails to prevent people behind the wheel from using the technology.)

And without some radical intervention, it seems depressingly inevitable that these headsets will soon take online harassment to a whole other level. Over the years, there have been multiple reports of people being harassed and even “raped” within the Metaverse. The highly immersive nature of virtual reality makes the experience feel frighteningly real. With the lines between real life and the digital world blurring to the point of being almost indistinguishable, is there a meaningful difference between attacks online and attacks in real life?

Even scarier, and more broadly, is the question of how spatial computing will change what we think of as reality. Researchers at Stanford University and the University of Michigan recently studied the Vision Pro and other “pass-through” headsets, a feature that brings VR content into a real-world environment and allows you to see what’s around you while using the device. (This is a technical term referring to It has emerged with some stark warnings about how this technology will rewire our brains. interfere with social connections).

These headsets basically give us all our private worlds and rewrite the concept of shared reality. The camera you use to see the world allows you to edit your environment. For example, you can wear a camera and go to the store. Then all the homeless people will disappear from your sight and the sky may become brighter.

“What we’re going to experience is that when you use these headsets in public, you lose that common ground,” said the director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab and lead researcher on the study. Jeremy Bailenson, one of them, recently said: Said Business Insider. “People will be physically in the same place and visually experience different versions of the world at the same time. We’re going to lose what we have in common.”

What’s scary isn’t just the fact that our perception of reality might change. It’s the fact that a small number of companies will have a lot of control over how we see the world. Consider how much influence big tech companies already have over the content we watch. And it’s multiplied by millions. Do you think deepfakes are scary? Wait until they look more realistic.

We are seeing a global increase authoritarianism. If we’re not careful, this kind of technology will significantly accelerate that. Is it possible to draw people into another world, numb them with entertainment, and determine how they see reality? It is an authoritarian’s dream. We are entering an era in which we can coax and manipulate people like never before. Forget Mussolini’s bread and circuses, up-and-coming fascists now have donuts and vision pros.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? Click here if you would like to email your answer of up to 300 words to be considered for publication in our email section.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Top Podcast of the Week: Uncovering the PCP Mystery on the Titanic Set

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

This week’s picks

the guillotine is coming

Wide range of weekly episodes available
“Themes are for cowards,” says the outspoken host of this new freeform chat series with three Glaswegian comedy buddies, Frankie Boyle, Susie McCabe and Christopher MacArthur Boyd. There are frank discussions about the ethics of sex with Tories, whether Billy Connolly would have been radicalized had he grown up in the internet age, and whether Boyle’s date with a “neo-Nazi” constituted sexual assault. There is a high possibility that it will develop into love. Alexi Duggins

Go straight to the comments

Wide range of weekly episodes available
Delve into the delusions of Daily Mail readers’ brains in this witty, high-spirited piece, where you hear celebrity guests comment on the news stories they’ve covered and guess which one it’s related to. I’ll try. Our first guest is Dani Dyer, who talks about his father’s love of Chinese restaurants, babysitting Keira Knightley and blow-drying fake eyelashes on Love Island. advertisement

With a handshake: Peter Bogdanovich and the icons of cinema

Wide range of weekly episodes available
Before his death, American filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich was working on an interview podcast. Now, thanks to his ex-wife and collaborator Louise Stratten, the work has seen the light of day. The guest list is impressive, with Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, Greta Gerwig, Julie Delpy and more talking about other greats in filmmaking. Hannah Verdier

‘Themes are for cowards’…Frankie Boyle (pictured) has launched a new podcast with Susie McCabe and Christopher MacArthur-Boyd. Photo: Paul Hansen/Observer

Source: www.theguardian.com

Scientists warn that Amazon’s crucial water cycle is on the brink of collapse

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature warns that wildfires, deforestation, and global warming could permanently disrupt the water cycle in parts of the Amazon rainforest if action is not taken in the coming decades. The study suggests that between 10% and 47% of the landscape is at risk of transitioning away from tropical rainforest by 2050 if rates of warming and deforestation are not dramatically reduced.

Lead author of the study, Bernardo Flores, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Santa Catarina in Florianópolis, Brazil, stated that “So many stressors are intensifying, including climate stressors and land-use stressors, that when combined will ultimately cause water stress in forests. We could reach a point where forests can no longer survive.”

The Amazon contains about 10% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity and serves as a vital carbon sink. Exceeding the limits of rainforests could accelerate climate change and have dire consequences for communities, including indigenous peoples, who depend on rainforests. Flores said he is optimistic that the changes outlined in the study are already occurring, but they could slow or even stop.

The study focuses on overlapping stressors on the Amazon, including rising temperatures, extreme drought, deforestation, and fires. Ernest Alvarado, an associate professor at the University of Washington’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, who was not involved in the study, emphasized the importance of maintaining the Amazon’s water cycle, stating, “If you lose your balance, it’s a big problem.”

Reducing the amount of water-absorbing forests due to deforestation, wildfires, drought, and climate change reduces the amount of water available to the atmosphere from plants and reduces the amount of rain that sustains the landscape. Approximately 15% of the Amazon has already been lost, according to Flores.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

“Millennials Embracing the Nostalgia of Landline Telephones” | Lifestyle and Technology

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Landline is nearing deprecation. For many young people, CD-ROMs, cassette tapes, and simple printers are the mainstream. Parents film their kids on TikTok holding a wall phone Like an archive piece, I don’t know how to make a phone call. Public telephones have long since disappeared. But not everyone is ready to hang up the curl cord.

Nicole Randone, 24, of Westchester, New York, receives calls from her bedroom using a Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen-branded purple landline that was first sold in 2003 when she was 3 years old. ing. “One of my first memories is of the tan landline my parents had mounted on the kitchen wall,” Randone said. “I always dreamed of the day I would have one in my room.”

All of Randone’s styles are influenced by what she calls “2000s nostalgia.” On her Instagram, she shows off to her 118,000 followers a bedroom decorated with bright pink boomboxes, Von Dutch accessories, and Chad Michael Murray wall poster. “Having a landline really bridged the gap between reality and childhood fantasy,” Randone said. “It will make you feel like the main characters of your favorite TV shows, One Tree Hill, The OC, and Gilmore Girls.”

Sunny paid $30 for a Hello Kitty landline. Photo provided by: Sunny

The overwhelming majority of American adults do not own a landline phone.by washington post, in 2022, only a quarter of Americans lived in a home with a telephone. That number has essentially dropped significantly since 2010, when about 63% of Americans had both wireless and landline options.

Service providers are closer than ever Landline phone phasing out: California, AT&T was suggested It completely abolished landline telephones and asked the state Public Utility Commission for permission to suspend service. The telecommunications giant called landlines “historical curiosities that are no longer needed.”

Perhaps so, but that’s why some Gen Z customers are attracted to analog technology.they are not need Services; They still use their mobile phones for most daily tasks. Instead, they appreciate the beauty of a landline phone. It reminds them of simpler times before digital. Landlines are a way to talk to friends for hours, and the conversations go deeper than a standard “wyd” text.

“When people look at my landline, they treat it like a toy,” Landon added. “I’m an influencer, so I’m always online, so it feels really comfortable to disconnect, and it almost feels like an escape.”

Sunny bought a Hello Kitty landline after seeing someone show off a frog-shaped cell phone on TikTok. (Sunny asked that her last name not be used for privacy reasons.) Then she learned that she could buy an adapter to connect her iPhone to a landline. Ta. That way it will be more convenient. The adapter connects to her Bluetooth and pairs with her phone. That means the landline shares a number with her iPhone and calls are sent to both devices.

“I love the novelty of talking with friends and sitting in the same place,” Sunny said. “When I have a long text conversation with a friend, I just ask if we can talk on the phone and catch up.”

A landline telephone installed in Sam Casper’s West Hollywood home. Photo: Sam Casper

Sam Casper, a 27-year-old singer-songwriter who lives in West Hollywood, owns a pale pink Crosley landline phone. “It was her mother’s husband’s grandmother’s phone call,” she said. “But it’s funny. You might think it’s old when I say that, but she bought it from Urban Outfitters a few years ago.”

Casper uses his phone to talk to friends, but some of them have their own landlines. “It’s so cute and romantic,” she said. “This is very ‘Sex and the City.’ That’s why we started this.” I hate cell phones. Nowadays everyone cancels last minute via text and I think that’s so stupid. ”

Casper has his friend’s phone number on a Chateau Marmont napkin next to his cell phone. Another part of her setup: “I have a tape, but what is it called?” “It’s like a voice box, a voicemail machine,” she added. Combined Wi-Fi and phone service used to cost about $130 a month, but I called my provider and got it reduced to $82.

Not everyone can talk on a landline in Casper. She is “choosing” who receives a phone number that is separate from her own mobile number.

“There’s no caller ID, so you can’t see who’s calling you,” she said. “If I meet a new friend and they’re someone I want to invite over to my house, I use my landline. I always get giddy when I hear the phone ringing. I just sit there and talk. I love spinning little cords.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Odysseus’ quest to become the first privately funded lunar lander delayed

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A Houston-based company’s planned launch of a spacecraft to the moon, aimed at becoming the first commercially built spacecraft to land on the moon, has been postponed.

The Intuitive Machines spacecraft, nicknamed Odysseus, was scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 12:57 a.m. ET on Wednesday. However, the launch was postponed because “the methane temperature before entering the methane load was outside nominal values,” according to NASA. Announced just before release.

The new launch date is scheduled for Thursday at 1:05 a.m. ET.

The lander will ride into orbit atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

Odysseus was originally scheduled to spend eight days in space before landing on the moon on February 22nd. This event marks the first U.S. moon landing in more than 50 years.

Another company attempted to accomplish the same feat a month ago, but ultimately failed. The lander, built by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology, suffered a catastrophic fuel leak shortly after liftoff, forcing operators to abort the entire mission.

Astrobotic Technology and Intuitive Machines are part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Lander Services Program, which is designed to accelerate the development of lunar landers by private companies and ultimately help NASA deliver cargo to the lunar surface. The lander could also be used to transport scientific equipment.

On its next flight, the lander will carry a combination of commercial cargo and NASA scientific equipment.

Odysseus is expected to land near the moon’s south pole, an area that has long intrigued scientists because water ice is thought to be relatively abundant in craters. .

NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program is part of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon in the next few years. NASA recently announced delays for two upcoming Artemis missions, pushing back a lunar circumnavigation flight that was scheduled to launch later this year to 2025 and pushing back Artemis’ first landing attempt to next year.

NASA eventually hopes to begin regular missions to the moon and build a base camp there.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

North Korea and Iran have been found using AI for hacking, Microsoft reveals

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that adversaries of the United States, primarily Iran and North Korea, and to a lesser extent Russia and China, are starting to take advantage of generative artificial intelligence to launch or coordinate offensive cyber operations.

Microsoft disclosed that it collaborated with business partner OpenAI to identify and prevent numerous threats exploiting the AI technology it developed.

In a blog post, the company stated that these techniques are still in their early stages and are not particularly novel or unique, but they do broaden the capabilities of U.S. rivals to use large-scale language models to infiltrate networks and exert influence, emphasizing the importance of publicly exposing this.

Cybersecurity companies have been using machine learning to detect anomalous behavior within networks for years, but the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT-led large-scale language model has intensified the cat-and-mouse game, as both criminals and aggressive hackers are leveraging it.

Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI is substantial, and the company noted in its announcement on Wednesday that generative AI is anticipated to power malicious social engineering and lead to the development of more advanced deepfakes and voice clones, at a time when disinformation is on the rise and threats to democracy are rampant, with more than 50 countries holding elections in a year.

Microsoft provided examples of how adversaries were using large-scale language models, including the disabling of AI accounts and assets for specific groups.

The North Korean cyber-espionage group known as Kimsky used the model to study foreign think tanks and generate content for spear-phishing hacking campaigns.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps utilized large-scale language models for social engineering, troubleshooting software issues, and researching ways to bypass detection on compromised networks, using phishing emails and accelerated email creation.

The Russian military intelligence unit, Fancy Bear, employed the model to study satellite and radar technology potentially linked to the Ukraine war.

China’s cyber-espionage group known as Aquatic Panda targeted various industries, higher education, and governments from France to Malaysia, with limited exploration of how large-scale language models can enhance technical operations, and another Chinese group, Maverick Panda, interacted with the model to gather information on high-profile individuals and regions.

On another blog, OpenAI announced that its current GPT-4 model chatbots are “limited to malicious cybersecurity tasks beyond what is already achievable with publicly available non-AI-powered tools,” a situation that cybersecurity researchers aim to change.

Jen Easterly, head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, informed Congress of the growing threat from China and the potential impact of artificial intelligence, stressing the need to develop AI with security in mind.

Amidst concerns about the irresponsible release of large language models, Microsoft and other companies are facing criticism for not taking focused action to address vulnerabilities, which has disappointed some cybersecurity experts who advocate for creating more secure underlying models to counter potential misuse.

Edward Amoroso, a professor at New York University and former AT&T chief security officer, emphasized the increasingly powerful role of AI and large-scale language models as potential weapons in cyber warfare, stating that they ultimately pose a threat to every nation-state.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Elon Musk relocates SpaceX to Texas following reduction of $56 billion compensation to Tesla by Delaware judge

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

SpaceX, the rocket company, has relocated its corporate headquarters from Delaware to Texas, as announced by CEO Elon Musk.

Musk stated, “SpaceX has moved its state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas. If your company is still incorporated in Delaware, we recommend moving to another state as soon as possible.” This announcement was made on the platform.

This move comes after a Delaware judge ruled in favor of Tesla investors in a lawsuit alleging that Musk’s $56 billion compensation was excessive. Musk, who also serves as Tesla’s CEO, recently announced plans for a shareholder vote to move Tesla’s corporate domicile to Texas as well.

Musk also mentioned, “The people’s vote is unequivocally in favor of Texas! Tesla intends to immediately conduct a shareholder vote to move its incorporated state to Texas.” This statement was made earlier this month after a public opinion poll indicated support for the incorporation change.

In January, a Delaware judge nullified Musk’s compensation package, citing improper actions by the electric car maker’s board of directors.

This decision follows a lawsuit filed five years ago by Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta, accusing Musk of improperly directing negotiations over his compensation package and the board of directors of lacking independence.

Musk’s compensation deal with Tesla is the largest ever for an executive, contributing significantly to his fortune, which ranks among the largest in the world. Musk testified at his compensation trial in November 2022 that the money would be used to fund interplanetary travel.

Neuralink, Musk’s brain chip implantation company, also moved its location from Delaware to Nevada last week.

Reuters contributed to this report

Source: www.theguardian.com

Miski Omar’s Top 10 Most Hilarious Internet Finds | Cultural Comedy

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

I I experience existential fear in three situations. The first is when I meet people. “Fat penguin,” I blurted out. It breaks the ice. The second situation is when someone asks me to name the 10 funniest things he's seen on the Internet. Third, we must recognize that by 2030, climate change will be irreversible and more than 1 million species will be at risk of extinction. In other words, it's not just fat penguins that break the ice even when they're alive.

But that doesn't matter now. The key is to edit the content that loops endlessly in your head. This is where I bring up existential fear number two. have fun.

1. Notice, Senpai, notice!

This guy certainly wants attention, but it's not clear from whom.

You say, “It will be or it won't be,'' but I say, “I hope his eyes look at me and my loyalty is recognized. Realize, Senpai, realize.'' This monologue is, Better than anything Shakespeare could have come up with. It's also a great reference for anyone looking to write science fiction dialogue.

2. Who brings the baby into the mosh pit?

It takes a village to raise a child and it is said that strangers went to great lengths to bring this child to THE Flo Rida. There are many questions, including why the baby was in the mosh in the first place. Why didn't I know the words? What is that retrograde? I can't believe this random baby accomplished one of my bucket list goals before me.

3. Triumph Skating Academy Dance Class

www.theguardian.com

The overlooked community of scientific detectives is now gaining attention from the research community

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A group of investigators devoted to finding errors in scientific research has shocked some of the world’s most prestigious research institutions and the scientific community as a whole.

The highly publicized case of alleged image manipulation in a paper co-authored by a former Stanford University president and a leader at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has garnered national media attention, prompting speculation from top scientific leaders that this may only be the beginning.

“At this pace, we’re going to see another paper published every few weeks,” said Holden, the editor-in-chief of Science, one of the world’s two most influential journals. Mr. Thorpe said on site.

Investigators argue that their work is necessary to rectify the scientific record and prevent generations of researchers from pursuing futile avenues due to flawed papers. Some scientists are calling for universities and academic publishers to reform their approach to addressing flawed research.

“I understand why the investigators who discovered these issues are so furious,” said Michael, a biologist and former editor of the journal eLife, as well as a prominent advocate for reform in scientific publishing. “Authors, journals, institutions, everyone is incentivized to downplay their significance,” Eisen said.

For approximately a decade, investigators identified widespread problems with scientific images in published papers and voiced their concerns online, but received little attention. Last summer, neuroscientist and then-Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne resigned amid scrutiny over allegations of image manipulation in a study he co-authored and a report criticizing his lab culture. Since then, there has been a noticeable shift. While Tessier-Lavigne himself has not been found to have engaged in any misconduct, members of his lab appear to have manipulated images in questionable ways. Thereport from the scientific panelhired to investigate the allegations stated.

In January, a blogger’s scathing post exposed questionable research by top leaders at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which subsequently retracted six papers and requested corrections to dozens more.

In hisresignation statement, Tessier-Lavigne stated that the committee could not find any evidence that he was aware of any misconduct, and that he had never submitted documents that appeared to be inaccurate. In a statement from its research integrity officer, Dana-Farber stated that it had taken decisive action to correct the scientific record and that discrepancies in the images were not necessarily evidence that the authors were attempting to deceive.

“We are experiencing a moment of public awareness that really turned a corner when the Mark Tessier-Lavigne scandal unfolded, and since then the Dana-Farber scandal has been the most recent and continuous,” Thorpe said.

This long-standing issue is now receiving national attention, with the emergence of new artificial intelligence tools that are helping address problems ranging from longstanding errors and sloppy science to unethically manipulated images in photo-editing software, making it easier to spot various issues.

This increased scrutiny is prompting changes in how some publishers operate. Universities, journals, and researchers are being urged to consider new technologies, the potential backlog of undiscovered errors, and methods for enhancing transparency when problems are identified.

This comes at a challenging time in academic circles. Venture capitalist Bill Ackman, in apost last month on X, discussed the use of artificial intelligence to identify plagiarism by leaders of top universities with ideological differences, and raised questions about political motivations in plagiarism investigations. More broadly, public trust in scientists and science has steadily declined in recent years, according to thePew Research Center.

Eisen stated that he does not believe investigators’ concerns about scientific images veer into “McCarthyist” territory. “I think they’re honing in on a specific type of problem in the literature, and they’re right. That’s bad,” Eisen said.

Scientific publishing is the primary means by which scientists establish a foundation of understanding in their fields and share new discoveries with their colleagues. Before publication, scientific journals review submissions and solicit feedback from researchers outside the field to identify errors or faulty inferences, a process known as peer review. Journal editors evaluate research findings for plagiarism and conduct copy editing prior to publication. While this system is not perfect, it still relies on the good faith efforts of researchers to avoid manipulating research results.

Over the past 15 years, scientists have become increasingly concerned that some researchers are digitally altering images in papers to distort or enhance their results. The field of image integrity screening has expanded significantly since Yana Christopher, a scientific imaging expert with the European Federation of Biochemical Societies and its journals, began working in the field nearly 15 years ago. At the time, “no one was doing this, and people were in denial about research misconduct,” Christopher stated. “The prevailing belief was that it was very rare and that instances of manipulating results were few and far between.”

Scientific journals now employ entire teams dedicated to processing images and ensuring their accuracy. The number of retractions of published papers has increased significantly in recent years, with records indicating that over 10,000 papers were retracted last year, according to aNature analysis. A loose collective of scientific investigators applies external pressure, often identifying and flagging errors and potential manipulation on the online forum PubPeer. Many of these investigators receive little or no compensation or public recognition for their work.

“There’s a certain level of urgency,” Eisen stated. Ananalysis of comments on over 24,000 articles posted on PubPeer revealed that over 62% of PubPeer comments were related to image manipulation. For years, investigators relied on keen observation, pattern recognition, and a grasp of photo manipulation tools. In recent years, artificial intelligence tools capable of scanning documents for anomalies have been rapidly developed and improved.

Scientific journals are now utilizing similar technology to detect errors prior to publication. In January, Science announced that it is using an artificial intelligence tool called Proofig to scan papers undergoing editing and peer review for publication.Science editor-in-chief Thorpe stated that the family of six journals quietly incorporated the tool into their workflows approximately six months prior to the January announcement. The journal previously relied on visual inspection to identify these types of issues. During the editing process, Proofig flagged papers that had not yet been published, citing “logical explanations” for problematic images that were difficult to justify, or issues that the authors had addressed prior to publication. “Less than 1% of errors are significant enough to prevent a paper from being published,” Thorpe stated.

Chris Graff, director of research integrity at publisher Springer Nature, stated that the company is developing and testing “in-house AI image integrity software” to identify duplicate images. Graff’s research integrity department currently uses Proofig to assess papers in case concerns arise post-publication. The testing process varies among journals, but some Springer Nature publications use Adobe Photoshop tools to manually identify image manipulation and conduct experiments to visualize cellular components or general discrepancies in raw scientific experimental data.

“Although AI-based tools can facilitate and scale investigations, we still believe the human element is important in all investigations,” Graff stated, emphasizing that image recognition software is not infallible and that human expertise is necessary to guard against false positives and negatives. No tool can detect all mistakes and fraud.

“There are many facets to that process. You can never catch them all,” Thorpe remarked. “As journals, institutions, and authors, we need to do a better job of addressing this when it occurs.”

Many forensic scientists have grown frustrated that their concerns have been disregarded, or that investigations have progressed slowly with little public resolution. Sholto-David, who publicly voiced his concerns about the Dana-Farber study in a blog post, stated that the response from journal editors was so unsatisfactory that he nearly “gave up” on writing a letter to journal editors regarding the errors he had discovered. Elizabeth Bick, a microbiologist and longtime image investigator, said that if she reports image issues frequently, “nothing happens.”

While public comments on PubPeer questioning research data can stimulate discussion surrounding questionable research, authors and institutions often do not directly respond to online criticism. Although journals can issue corrections or retractions, it is generally the responsibility of research institutions or universities to investigate incidents. If the incident pertains to federally funded biomedical research, the federal Office of Research Integrity may conduct an investigation.

Thorpe stated that agencies need to assume responsibility when errors are discovered and act more swiftly to openly and candidly address what occurred to regain public trust. He stated, “The university has been very sluggish in responding, very slow in instituting the process, and the longer this goes on, the greater the damage will be. I don’t know what would have happened if Stanford had said these papers are flawed, instead of initiating this investigation.”

Some scientists are concerned that the problem of image manipulation is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of scientific integrity. Detecting issues with images is much simpler than spotting simple data errors in spreadsheets. While it is crucial to crack down on problematic papers and hold individuals accountable, some scientists believe that these measures address a larger problem: rewarding career advancement for those who publish the most exciting results rather than enduring results. “Scientific culture itself doesn’t say we care about getting it right. It says we care about getting papers that make a splash,” Eisen said.

Source: www.nbcnews.com