Have you ever noticed how time seems to slow down when you’re at the gym? The answer to this question is more complex than just regretting that early morning spin class. Our perception of time can be influenced by various factors, making it seem faster or slower than reality.
When time seems to slow down, it’s known as time delay. This can occur in situations of boredom, anxiety, or heightened alertness, all of which can be experienced during exercise.
It’s like watching a pot that never boils or staring at a stopwatch while running on the treadmill. The more you focus on the passage of time, the longer it may appear to drag on. A recent study conducted by researchers at Canterbury Christ Church University in the UK found that participants were 9% faster when measuring 30-second intervals on stationary bikes, suggesting that time felt slower to them than it actually was.
The researchers propose that physical activity enhances awareness of impulses and leads to a perception of time dilation. Essentially, the increased heart rate and physical changes during exercise may give the impression that time is moving slower than it really is.
A similar phenomenon occurs in high-anxiety situations, where time may also seem to elongate. For athletes like professional runners and cyclists, this understanding of time perception can be crucial in pacing themselves effectively.
The researchers suggest that further studies could help in designing more enjoyable exercise classes, although you might want to keep this information from your spin instructor.
This article is a response to Tania Matthews’ question: “Why does time move slower when I’m at the gym?”
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CRisti Thomas called 911 for the second time on a warm October day, but when she couldn’t get through, she began to panic. She watched anxiously as a plume of black smoke grew over a rural community in central California.
Just then, I heard a familiar ping.
Watch Duty, an app that warns users of the risk of wildfires and provides critical information in the event of a fire, was already recording the fires. She relaxed. The cavalry was coming.
“I can’t describe the sigh of relief,” she said, recalling the moments after sirens wailed through her neighborhood and helicopters roared overhead. “We saw it happen, so we had questions, and the oversight mandate answered them all.”
Thomas is one of the millions of Watch Duty evangelists who have helped the app spread rapidly. This organization has only been in existence for three years. Currently boasts up to 7.2 million active users At peak times, it receives up to 512 million page views. For a nonprofit organization run mostly by volunteers, those numbers are impressive even by startup standards. But they are not surprising.
Lookout duties have changed the lives of people in fire-prone areas. When the skies darken and ash fills the air, users no longer have to scramble for information, they can now rely on the app to get fast, accurate information for free.
Provides access to critical information about where the danger is, including fire perimeters, evacuation areas, and evacuation location maps. Users can find wildfire camera feeds, track aircraft locations, and see wind data all in one place. The app can also help identify when there is little need for alarm, when risks have subsided, and which agencies are active on the ground.
“This app isn’t just about alerts, it’s about your state of mind,” said Watch Duty CEO John Mills. The Silicon Valley alumnus founded the organization after moving from San Francisco to a large, fire-prone ranch in Sonoma County. After starting in just four California counties, Watch Duty covered the entire state in its first year and quickly expanded from the American West to Hawaii.
As the community grows to reach people in 14 states by 2024, Mills says new features and improved accuracy have made it more popular and filled an unmet need.
It’s not just residents who have become reliant on apps in recent years. A variety of responders, from firefighters to city officials to journalists, are also logging on to ensure key stakeholders are on the same page.
“People thank me for on-duty duty, but I’m like, ‘You’re welcome, I’m sorry you need it,'” Mills said. But it’s clear that the need is real. In each new area we served, word of mouth drove adoption.
“We didn’t spend any money on marketing,” Mills said. “To let the world know that we just let the genie out of the bottle and things are not going back to the way they were.”
CalFire supervisors watch over the Rhine Fire in San Bernardino County, California, in September 2024. Photo: Jon Putman/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock
Amelia Earhart, one of aviation’s most famous pioneers, is renowned for being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. However, her story tragically ended in 1937 when her Lockheed 10-E Electra plane vanished during an ambitious round-the-world flight.
Earhart’s goal was to circumnavigate the equator and the globe, planning a 46,670 km (29,000 mile) journey that spanned California, Central and South America, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Ocean.
After six weeks of traveling, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan departed from New Guinea towards Howland Island, approximately 2,735 km (1,700 miles) southwest of Honolulu.
The challenging 20-hour flight was the longest leg of their journey, pushing the plane to its limits. Despite support from the US Coast Guard, they were unable to locate the 6.5 km² (2.5 square mile) Howland Island in the vast Pacific Ocean, and it vanished without a trace.
An official US government investigation concluded that Earhart’s plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean after failing to find Howland Island. However, with no concrete evidence, various theories abound regarding the disappearance.
In 1929, Amelia Earhart boarded a plane carrying a box full of homing pigeons as part of a scientific experiment. – Photo credit: Getty
Most famously, it is speculated that Earhart and Noonan landed on a reef near Gardner Island, resulting in their tragic demise.
The failure to reach Howland Island may have been due to navigation errors. One theory, the International Date Line Theory, suggests Noonan’s calculations did not account for crossing the International Date Line.
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Noonan utilized celestial navigation based on celestial bodies’ positions. However, the Earth’s rotation and revolution around the Sun cause these positions to shift daily, necessitating precise date and time knowledge for accurate navigation.
Given the flight’s timing as it passed midnight and crossed the International Date Line, Noonan faced complex calculations that may have led them off course.
If Noonan missed the second date change as they crossed the Date Line again, the plane could have veered 110 km (70 miles) east of Howland Island.
In January 2024, the US ocean exploration team “Deep Sea Vision” discovered potential wreckage of Earhart’s plane on the ocean floor. They used underwater drones to scan over 12,950 km² (5,000 square miles) of the Pacific Ocean.
The images indicate an object resembling a Lockheed Electra in a position predicted by the Date Line Theory, prompting further investigation by the team.
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This article addresses the question raised by George Grainger of London: “Was Amelia Earhart or her plane ever discovered?”
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IThis was one of the most impressive technology events of the year. On October 13, Starship, the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, blasted into space from a launch pad in Texas. The main booster reached an altitude of more than 65 km and then began returning to Earth at speeds exceeding the speed of sound.
A crash was averted when the rocket, developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, reignited its engines, slowed, and came to a grinding halt above the tower from which it had launched just seven minutes earlier. The scissor’s claws grabbed the massive launcher, gripping it tightly, ready to refurbish and fire again.
“Today is textbook day in engineering history,” said SpaceX engineer Kate Tice.
prestigious research journal science “This feat heralds a new era of affordable heavy-lift rockets that can reduce the cost of doing science in space,” the company said last month in awarding Starship’s October flight. Announced. This year’s breakthroughs.
Elon Musk’s company plans 25 Starship flights in 2025. Photo: Argi February Sugita/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
Musk’s company has already cut the cost of putting cargo into Earth orbit by one-tenth, the magazine said. Further reductions of similar magnitude can be expected when Starship, the most powerful launcher ever built and designed to be completely and rapidly reusable, becomes fully operational later this year, it added.
This view is shared by many space engineers, who believe Starship is poised to take a major leap forward with a schedule of launches every two to three weeks. SpaceX engineers have learned how to salvage and reuse the main booster stage and plan to do the same with the upper stage this year.
With a total of 25 flights planned over the next year, this is an incredibly ambitious program. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that their research schedule is unprecedented,” astrophysicist Ehud Behar, a Technion professor at the Israel Institute of Technology, told the website Space.com.
For scientists, the benefits of Starship are clear. The cost of missions on reusable launch vehicles could drop significantly from current levels, making it possible to conduct research in space that was previously unaffordable. This point is important, he said. science In an editorial about Starship’s achievements, he said:
Until now, access to space was too precious to risk failure, the magazine said, and NASA missions tested components over and over again, driving up costs. “But regular Starship flights will give scientists more opportunities, allowing them to build instruments using inexpensive off-the-shelf parts and launch them more frequently.”
In addition to single vehicles, fleets of robotic probes could be sent to Mars, and fleets of mirror segments could be flown in formation to create giant self-assembling telescopes in space. While such a vision is exciting, there are downsides to Musk’s rocket success.
Elon Musk has grand ambitions to colonize Mars. Photo: Dot Zebra/Alamy
First, Starship could destroy NASA’s own rocket system, the troubled and extremely expensive Space Launch System (SLS), which the agency has been planning for decades. Unlike the reusable Starship, its rocket is expendable, while launching SLS will cost billions of dollars compared to the $10 million goal Musk has planned for the system. It is expected that it will cost. Many scientists predict that Starship will eliminate the need for SLS within a few years.
Another major problem for many scientists involved with SpaceX is that they have difficulty accepting Musk’s right-wing politics and close ties to Donald Trump. He is a vocal critic of U.S. immigration policy, has disdain for many Democratic politicians, and was recently given permission by President Trump to cut $500 billion from the U.S. federal budget.
In any case, Musk’s hopes for Starship have less to do with scientific aspirations and much more to do with his desire to eventually begin colonizing Mars using giant rockets. Last September, he promised that SpaceX would launch its first unmanned Starship mission to Mars in two years. If successful, manned flights would follow within four years. Ultimately, Musk said he envisions a potential colony of up to 1 million people on Mars within 30 years.
The controversial billionaire’s plans brought him a lot of attention and ridicule. Indeed, we have sent humans on a 140-meter-mile journey to the Red Planet, survived blasts of dangerous cosmic radiation, and figured out how to grow food in an atmosphere where water is scarce and the average pressure is less than 1% that of Earth’s oceans. Finding the level – challenging to say the least.
NASA’s Space Launch System at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Photo: Jennifer Briggs/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
Leaving Earth for Mars is “like leaving a cluttered room to live in a toxic waste dump,” Kelly and Zach Weinersmith write in their book. Cities on Mars: Can and should we settle in space? And have we really thought about this?, which one Winner of the 2024 Royal Society Trivedi Scientific Book Award.
This is a view echoed by Astronomer Royal’s Martin Rees, who has also attacked Musk’s Mars proposal. “We should never expect mass immigration from Earth,” he says. “It’s a dangerous delusion to think that space can escape Earth’s problems. We have to solve them here. Dealing with climate change may seem daunting, but Mars Nowhere in our solar system are environments as harsh as Antarctica, the ocean floor, or the top of Mount Everest.
“For ordinary risk-averse people, ‘Planet B’ does not exist.”
From this perspective, Starships may have some impact on space science, but they are unlikely to change the course of human history.
TikTok has been aware for a long time that its video livestream feature was being misused to harm children, as revealed in a lawsuit filed by the state of Utah against the social media company. The harms include child sexual exploitation and what Utah describes as an “open door policy that allows predators and criminals to exploit users.”
The state’s attorney general stated that TikTok conducted an internal investigation in which adults allegedly used the TikTok Live feature to engage in provocative behavior with teenagers. It was found that some of them were paid for this. Another internal investigation found that criminals used TikTok Live to launder money, sell drugs, and fund terrorist groups.
Utah was the first to file a lawsuit against TikTok last June, alleging that the company was profiting from child exploitation. The lawsuit was based on internal documents obtained through subpoenas from TikTok. On Friday, an unredacted version of the lawsuit was released by the Utah Attorney General’s Office, despite TikTok’s efforts to keep the information confidential.
“Online exploitation of minors is on the rise, leading to tragic consequences such as depression, isolation, suicide, addiction, and human trafficking,” said Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes in a statement on Friday. He criticized TikTok for knowingly putting minors at risk for profit.
A spokesperson for TikTok responded to the Utah lawsuit by stating that the company has taken proactive steps to address safety concerns. The spokesperson mentioned that users must be 18 or older to use the Live feature and that TikTok provides safety tools for users.
The lawsuit against TikTok is part of a trend of U.S. attorney generals filing lawsuits over child exploitation on various apps. In December 2023, New Mexico sued Meta for similar reasons. Other states have also filed lawsuits against TikTok over similar allegations.
Following a report by Forbes in 2022, TikTok launched an internal investigation called Project Meramec to look into teens making money from TikTok Lives. The investigation found that underage users were engaging in inappropriate behavior for digital currency.
The complaint also mentions that TikTok captures a share of digital gifts from live streams, with lawmakers arguing that the algorithm encourages streams with sexual content as they are more profitable. Another internal investigation called Project Jupiter looked into organized crime using Live for money laundering purposes.
Meta has recently removed the Facebook and Instagram profiles of AI characters that were created over a year ago. This decision came after users rediscovered these profiles, joined conversations, and shared screenshots that went viral.
The company initially introduced these AI-powered profiles in September 2023 but retired most of them by the summer of 2024. However, following comments by Meta executive Connor Hayes, a few characters were kept and gained renewed interest. According to the Financial Times, Meta plans to roll out more AI character profiles soon.
Hayes stated, “We expect these AIs to eventually become permanent fixtures on our platform, similar to user accounts.” The AI profiles would post generated photos on Instagram and respond to messages from users on Messenger.
Conversations with Meta AI user-generated therapist chatbots. Photo: Instagram
The AI profiles included characters like Liv and Carter, who described themselves as a proud black queer mom and a dating expert, respectively. Despite being managed by Meta, these profiles interacted with users. In 2023, Meta released a total of 28 AI personas, all of which were deactivated last Friday.
Conversations with these characters took unexpected turns as users questioned the AI’s creators. In response to inquiries about the lack of diversity among the creator team, for example, Liv pointed out the absence of Black individuals. Shortly after these profiles gained attention, they started disappearing.
Instagram AI Studio for building chatbots. Photo: Instagram
Meta’s spokeswoman, Liz Sweeney, clarified that the accounts were part of an AI experiment conducted in 2023 and were managed by humans. After addressing a bug preventing users from blocking the accounts, Meta removed the profiles.
Regarding the recent confusion, Sweeney stated that the Financial Times article focused on Meta’s long-term vision for AI characters on its platform, not the introduction of a new product. The AI accounts were part of an experiment conducted in 2023 using Connect. Meta assured users that they are working to resolve the blocking issue.
Although the meta-generation accounts have been taken down, users can still create their own AI chatbots. These user-generated chatbots cover various roles and themes, such as therapists, loyal confidants, tutors, and relationship coaches.
The liability of chatbot creators for the content generated by their AI companions remains unaddressed. While US law protects social network creators from user-generated content liability, a lawsuit against Character.ai suggests potential legal issues with AI chatbots.
Elon Musk’s acquisition of Company X, previously Twitter, has been deemed a financial disaster, with the company losing nearly 80% of its value since late 2022, as reported by CNN.
However, from a political perspective, Musk’s takeover could be seen as a strategic move, as Company X consistently stirs controversy and influences political discussions. The platform often highlights sensitive issues that align with conservative viewpoints, sparking debates and sometimes inciting unrest.
One example is the circulation of false stories like the rumor about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio consuming pets, which led to alarming reactions and threats during a critical time in the US presidential election.
Company X also amplifies factual but contentious news, sometimes overlooked by traditional media outlets, thanks to Musk’s active engagement. These topics range from immigration and government inefficiencies to social issues and censorship concerns.
Recent posts on Company X shed light on a scandal involving sexual abuse of young girls in northern England during the 1990s and 2000s, prompting Musk to call for accountability from UK authorities, drawing support from prominent figures like Bill Ackman.
Musk’s influence extends beyond X, as he leverages the platform to steer public conversations and intervene in global politics, aligning himself with right-wing parties and critiquing established political figures.
Despite facing criticism and losing users, Company X remains a powerful force in shaping right-wing narratives, contributing to Musk’s growing impact on political discourse worldwide.
Musk’s involvement in controversial issues through X has sparked debates and attracted both followers and detractors, highlighting the platform’s role in shaping public opinion and influencing political agendas.
As Musk continues to use X to drive political conversations and promote his agenda, the platform’s impact on mainstream discourse and public perception remains significant.
time Book a Cadillac Hotel It opened in Detroit 100 years ago this month, making the Motor City one of the most dominant metropolises on Earth.
At the time, it was the world’s tallest hotel, boasting over 1,100 rooms spread over 31 floors. At the time, Detroit was a place where everyone saw, or wanted to see, the city’s primary industry, the automobile, as facilitating the dawn of mass mobility for the wider world.
The decades since have been less serene, but today Detroit is in the midst of a resurgence.
Recently opened new lab Robots roam the exposed concrete floors of the technology hub, which was once an abandoned library archive for the city school system. Outside, the whirl of electric ATVs echoes through the streets. Inside the building, more than 100 startups are working to explore the future of mobility.
A century ago, immigrants from Syria, Poland and Ireland landed at neighboring Michigan Central Station, and now entrepreneurs and engineers are coming there. Mexico, Norway And the future is pouring down on the city.
Many people choose to come to Detroit over Boston, Silicon Valley, or Austin because of the new wave of innovation, $700 million worth of investments by Ford Motor Company, city tax breaks, and other investments. This is because funds from the family are contributing to the reconstruction of this area. It has long served as a symbol of the death of American cities.
RybackThe startup, founded by David Medina, a 26-year-old entrepreneur from Mexico, is developing an electric all-terrain vehicle that reduces both air and noise pollution in urban environments. Norwegian company wheel me promises to turn any object into a robot capable of autonomously moving large objects, and is working with some of Detroit’s biggest automakers.
“When we wanted to expand into the U.S. market, one of our major customers, Siemens, had a huge footprint in Atlanta, so it was attractive to move there,” says Detroit. says Robert Skinner, originally from the US and managing director of EcoG. , an EV charging technology company headquartered in Munich.
“But when the team went to the Detroit Auto Show, they saw the recovery and everything that’s going on — it’s vibrant here. We had a one-on-one meeting with the governor. I was able to… all of which helped me make the decision to locate here.”
Just a decade ago, General Motors went bankrupt, leaving the city $18 billion in debt and running out of cash, making it the largest U.S. city ever to fail. Over the decades, some 700,000 residents have left the city and an ever-growing list of problems has led to the closure of emergency services.
All the while, the massive Michigan Central Building and the former library archives next door served as reminders of both Detroit’s grand, distant past and recent decline.
In 2018, Ford Motor Company purchased the 90-acre site for $90 million, and since then it has taken 1.7 million hours, involving thousands of craftsmen, to create the stunning Beaux Arts classic. It has been restored to its former glory.
“At its peak, [in the 1940s]4,000 people will walk through central Michigan every day. [taking trains to and from Detroit]” said Josh Shirrefman, CEO of Michigan Central.
“We’ve recently had 4,000 people use this building again. There’s a certain poetry to it. It’s an important statement about things coming to life again.”
A mural by Jessica Trevino and Romain Brancar depicting Detroiters living near Michigan Central. Photo: Jim West/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
The region’s resurgence was marked by last summer’s concerts, where thousands of tickets were sold within hours to see performers such as Detroit native Diana Ross and Eminem.
As the nation’s largest majority-black city, efforts to foster minority-led innovation are part of its recovery story.
In the spring of 2023, Alexa Turnage and her husband Johnny… black tech saturdays After being told that Black tech founders and entrepreneurs “don’t exist.”
“We started here at 10 a.m. on a Saturday and people were still showing up at 5 p.m.,” Johnny says.
Since then, the organization has held dozens of workshops and networking events to support the Black tech community locally and nationally from its Michigan Central location.
“Our greatest accomplishment is Takeover by female founder Last March. Approximately 1,200 people gathered. We occupied all three floors of this building. ”
Hundreds of high school students also took Google’s Code Next program. This program is also available at Michigan Central.
Michigan Central isn’t the only team experiencing a resurgence.
Ten years ago, most of the high-rise buildings in downtown Detroit were abandoned or in ruins. Today, each building has been renovated to various states and all are once again occupied.
For many, the restoration of the Book Tower, a 38-story Renaissance building, is particularly satisfying.
“It is impossible to overstate the extent of the damage done to the building. There was a combination of deterioration and damage, with stone panels flying off the walls and the painted glass ceiling falling in.” -Jamie Witherspoon of Bedrock, a real estate company owned by Detroit billionaire Dan Gilbert, who owns mortgages and the NBA’s Cleveland. Cavaliers.
Bedrock’s flagship project over the past decade has been the rebirth of the Book Tower.
The building remained vacant for six years until Gilbert and his team raised deep pockets to repurpose the former office tower to suit 21st century tastes.
Last year, it spent almost $400 million to create a stunning mixed-use space with five restaurants, hundreds of apartments, 117 extended-stay suites, and dozens of caryatids overlooking life in the revitalized city center. We are now open. architectural digest magazine I named it One of the most beautiful repurposed buildings in the world.
“We saw this as an opportunity to kind of take something that was a symbol of urban decline and turn it into a place that different people could come and experience,” Witherspoon says.
Still, the city faces major challenges.
poverty in detroit almost 3 times On the other hand, housing costs are rising in areas that are becoming more upmarket. I saw some residents‘My life is turned upside down.
When General Motors recently asked the city of Detroit for $250 million to renovate its iconic Rensen skyscraper, some resident groups balked.
But there’s no denying that the city is on the rise.
On the land next to Michigan Central, Detroit City FC hopes to: build a new stadium It’s right near the Mexicantown neighborhood, a community where the soccer team has a lot of support.
“They drive from Ohio and Kentucky.” [and] Tennessee. We have people coming from Baltimore, New York and Toronto. Some people flew in from Brazil,” Johnny Turnage said of those who attended his Black Tech Saturday event.
“I have one collaborator in Los Angeles who is considering moving here.”
Soccer coaches looking to enhance their team’s performance may soon have a solution in an artificial intelligence system designed to identify the next superstar.
Technologists suggest that a kind of sporting Aladdin’s lamp is on the horizon, enabling managers to emulate the aggression of Erling Haaland or the composure of Jude Bellingham. Should the team require a new player, the AI could recommend the perfect candidate.
Eyeball, a digital scouting company, utilizes a system that uses video and automated tracking to analyze the performance of nearly 180,000 soccer players worldwide. Eyeball currently serves over a dozen Premier League clubs and other elite teams in Europe and North America.
By tapping into the world’s largest youth football video database, containing players from 28 different countries, Eyeball can now offer profiles of current or recent top stars based on eight archetypes. They claim to identify the best young players suitable for specific team roles.
For instance, the ideal midfielder would embody attributes of top international players like Steven Gerrard, Kevin De Bruyne, Dominik Szoboszlai, Federico Valverde, Dani Olmo, and Bellingham. Eyeball’s modern number nine archetype draws inspiration from players like Haaland, Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane, Victor Osimhen, Karim Benzema, and Nicholas Jackson.
Co-founder David Hicks envisions a future where scout queries are voice-activated, enabling requests like, “Show me a player like Steven Gerrard” or “I need a box-to-box midfielder who can impact the game.”
Eyeball’s long-term impact is yet to be determined. However, they are deploying cameras to gather detailed player data in various soccer hotspots across the globe.
Eyeball boasts a clientele including 13 Premier League clubs, clubs in Spain, Germany, and Italy, Ajax Amsterdam, a US-based Major League Soccer team, and universities in Europe and Africa.
Former England defender Sol Campbell collaborates with another AI-driven scouting startup, Tarnets, focusing on players from countries like South Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast, North Macedonia, Serbia, and potentially more.
AI scouting is seen as a game-changer in a field often influenced by subjective judgments and personal interests, according to Tarnets’ founder Darko Stanoevski.
Eyeball employs a single camera to scout players aged 12 to 23 at amateur clubs in Europe. The technology tracks various metrics like player distance, speed, sprints, acceleration, deceleration, and agility.
Notable players scouted through this method have transitioned to professional careers, such as Abdoulaye Kante, Daniel Skalud, and Ahsan Ouedraogo.
The effectiveness of this AI-driven approach will be evaluated in the coming years to determine its success in player selection.
Hicks envisions a future where AI analysis can predict future talent based on video data and typical player behaviors.
The system prompts discussions on whether AI analysis could influence the playing style of top-league soccer players in the future.
While decisions are still influenced by club philosophies and physical attributes, it is believed that AI scouting could lead to subtle changes over time.
WWhether it’s catching up with colleagues or gathering to set New Year’s resolutions, many of us will be reconnecting via Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet on Monday morning. But while such platforms have revolutionized flexible remote work in recent years, scientists are increasingly realizing that they can have a negative impact on people’s energy levels and self-esteem. So how can you have a healthier relationship with video conferencing in 2025?
Psychologists coined the term relatively early in the pandemic. “Zoom fatigue” Learn about the physical and psychological fatigue that can result from using video conferencing platforms such as Zoom for long periods of time. We found that people who had longer meetings using technology or who had a negative attitude toward meetings were more likely to feel: They made me even more exhausted..
Further research has found that the use of the self-view feature, which allows you to control whether your video is shown on screen during a meeting, is associated with increased fatigue levels. “We also found a gender effect, with women reporting more Zoom fatigue than men,” said Dr. Anna Carolina Queiroz, associate professor of interactive media at the University of Miami in Florida, who has been involved in these studies. says.
An insight from her the study People tend to feel more connected to others through frequent, short, and small group video calls rather than long meetings with many participants. This is likely because it takes longer to maintain nonverbal communication cues, such as eye contact, with many people. A lot of mental effort.
Those who are more sensitive to these communication cues may be more negatively affected, which may explain why women, who often feel greater pressure to present a positive image of themselves on video, tend to feel more fatigued. That could help explain things, Queiroz said.
She suggests keeping online meetings as short and small as possible and taking breaks between meetings to improve cognitive performance.
another the study This suggests that people who spend a lot of time video conferencing may become more conscious of their appearance and may be more likely to report greater dissatisfaction with it. Some people become so preoccupied with perceived flaws that they become anxious about attending gatherings and seek cosmetic surgery to change their appearance.
Dr. George Klompouzos, a professor of dermatology at Brown University and a practicing dermatologist, says, “If you’re worried about imperfections, continued exposure to images of yourself in virtual meetings tends to make those problems worse.” “There is,” he says. “Zoom dysmorphia is at least as common as body dysmorphia, which is a painful or disabling form of perceived or real defect that affects about 2% of the general population.” I’m thinking about it.
Dr. Cemre Turk, a dermatologist and postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, says that Zoom dysmorphia is very likely to cause an increase in body dysmorphia, which can be devastating to people’s work and personal lives. It said it was important to identify it because it could have an impact. , in collaboration with Kroumpouzos. screening questionnaire It could help identify and treat more such patients.
Even if frequent video conferencing didn’t motivate people to seek facial surgery or “tweaks,” something else did. Recent research suggests It can unconsciously shape purchasing decisions in other ways.
Li Huang, Ph.D., an assistant professor of marketing at Hofstra University in New York, and his colleagues used a combination of eye tracking and surveys to determine how people liked different products after participating in different types of Zoom video calls and in-person meetings. Interest was assessed. Researchers found that video calls increased people’s anxiety about being negatively evaluated by others, whether they realized it or not, and increased their interest in self-help products in the aftermath of the call. It turns out.
Although it may sound negative, “this could actually have some positive consequences,” Huang said. “People are increasingly interested in self-improvement products, but this is not limited to body improvement products such as facial creams, but more general forms such as signing up for a LinkedIn learning course or participating in a health check-up. It also includes self-improvement.
“Most of the time, we are unaware that these types of virtual interactions are affecting our psychological well-being, and we may end up making impulse purchases online without knowing why. By learning about these findings, people can try to reduce these types of impacts.”
For example, the study found that this effect was reduced if study participants were able to turn off their webcams or use ring lights to emphasize their appearance during calls.
Switching to “Speaker View” instead of “Gallery View” and turning off “Self View” can also help, and asking participants to write about their strengths and characteristics after the call can also boost self-esteem. It was helpful.
Another factor that may help reduce the negative effects of video calls is zoom the background Selected. Dr. Heng Chan of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and his colleagues assessed how tired people felt after video conferencing and found that virtual video backgrounds, such as videos of swaying palm trees or waves crashing on a beach, were associated with feelings of fatigue. I discovered that it does. There is a feeling of fatigue at the highest level, followed by a blurred background. Perhaps this is because the brain is forced to work harder by constantly reacting to new visual information, including the occasional intrusion of unblurred objects, Chan said.
People looking at static virtual backgrounds felt the least fatigued, especially if it was a nature-based image, and another study suggests it may have a calming effect. Masu.
The study didn’t assess the impact of people using real-world backgrounds, but Zhang, who uses backgrounds of trees and mountains for his video calls, said still images were still better. I think it might be better. “If you have your own office, that’s fine, but if you’re in a coffee shop or working outside, there’s a chance that people will be walking behind you or something else will happen that will distract your brain. Yes,” says Chan. “Even if you have your own office, you might be distracted by your personal belongings or worried about what others think of you.”
Huang hopes that in addition to using insights like this to help individuals protect themselves from the negative emotional impact of video conferencing, platforms will also take steps to foster a more positive user experience. I’m here. For example, instead of offering standard beauty filters, you can allow users to adjust lighting and background blur to improve their look more seriously.
“Increasing autonomy over privacy settings, such as controlling who can see and when, could also help reduce the pressure on users to always be visible to many people in meetings,” she said. I say.
Platforms could also consider leveraging artificial intelligence to detect signs of emotional distress in people’s voices and facial expressions, offering features such as discreet breaks and mindfulness exercises to help manage emotions. says Huang.
Paleontologists in Uruguay have discovered a large, poorly preserved and incomplete skull of an ancient aquatic reptile called a mesosaurus, along with some accompanying bones. These new specimens suggest gigantism exists in mature mesosaurs that reach more than twice the size of previously reported adult and typical specimens.
Mesosaurs are small to medium-sized aquatic or semi-aquatic amniotes that lived in Gondwana during the Early Permian Period. Image credit: Roman Yevseyev / Graciela Piñeiro.
mesosaurus A group of small aquatic reptiles that lived in South Africa and South America during the Permian Period, approximately 299 to 270 million years ago.
These creatures were the first known aquatic reptiles to return to aquatic life from apparently terrestrial ancestors.
“Mesosaurs are often described as small to medium-sized aquatic amniotes due to their elongated bodies and long tails that exceed the length of the rest of their bodies,” Graciela Pinheiro of the University of the Republic and colleagues. said.
“Additionally, their long-nosed skulls consist of very thin skulls with numerous needle-like marginal teeth.”
“Despite the fragility of some parts of the skull, mesosaur fossils are abundant in the Percarboniferous shales and silt deposits of Gondwana, including preserved bones with articulated skulls. This includes nearly complete skeletons in good condition, as well as partially preserved specimens that still have recognizable soft tissue.
“This exceptional preservation has led to the designation of the Mangrullo Formation in Uruguay and the Illati Formation in Brazil as part of the Conservat Lagerstätten of Gondwana,” they added.
“Furthermore, mesosaur fossils collected from these units include a variety of ontogenetic stages, from fetuses to juveniles to adults.”
“Thus, the ontogeny of mesoosaurs is well documented, with body length ranging from 10 to 12 centimeters (3.9 to 4.7 inches) in hatchlings to 80 to 90 centimeters (2.6 to 3 feet) in young adults. ”
“The average body length of the middle dragon is about 70 cm (2.3 feet),” the researchers said.
“Previous research suggested that mesosaurs were semi-aquatic amniotes, rather than fully aquatic amniotes.”
Mesosaurus ontogenetic cranial series documented from specimens discovered in the Conservato Lagerstätte, Mangrullo Formation, Uruguay. Scale bar – 1 cm. Image credit: Pinheiro others., doi: 10.3390/fossils3010001.
Dr. Pinheiro and his co-authors discovered and studied the largest known mesosaur fossil ever recorded.
The specimen includes two fragmentary skulls, a dorsal vertebrae, a tail fragment, an isolated rib, and several other bones.
They come from the regions of Picada de Cuero and El Baron. Mangrullo formation Located in northern Uruguay.
Paleontologists compared the new fossil to a larger sample of the same bone. Mesosaurus tenuidens.
Their analysis revealed that the size of mesosaurs in the Mangrullo Formation exceeded the typical size distribution previously recorded. Mesosaurus tenuidens.
These individuals were four to five standard deviations larger than average, with skull lengths of 15 to 20 cm (5.9 to 7.9 inches) and total body sizes of 1.5 to 2.5 m (4.9 to 8.2 ft).
“To explore the importance of such large mesoosaurs in the Mangrullo Formation population, we considered the potential effects of Bergmann dominance,” the researchers said.
“This is a study of isolated populations of the same species or different taxa whose body size may have been affected by changes in temperature or food availability, such as competition for nutrients. Although this is an important paleogeographical principle, it does not explain the presence of such large creatures.'' Mesosaurian specimens from the Mangurlo Formation. ”
“We therefore conclude that the large body size variations observed in mesosaurs correspond to their ontogenetic stages and growth patterns,” the researchers said.
“The smaller body size previously recognized may represent a population dominated by early juveniles, subadults, and young adults, and may be due to normal carcass wasting of animals that died from a variety of causes. It may reflect a catastrophic mass mortality event that impedes the increase.”
“The bentonite layers and gypsum crystals found in the Mangrullo Formation are the result of occasional inflows of ash fall onto the lagoon resulting from increased tectonic activity associated with the Pangea Formation.”
“These volcanic events, combined with the gradual drought and associated desertification observed in the Irati-Whitehill Sea, are the main triggers that may explain the extinction of mesosaurs, at least in the Uruguayan region of the Paraná Basin. It is suggested that
of findings Published in a magazine fossil research.
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Graciela Pinheiro others. 2025. Largest Mesosaurus Ever Known: Evidence from the Scanti Record. Phos. stud 3(1):1;doi: 10.3390/fossils3010001
During his time as owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, Nick Clegg reportedly made around $19 million from the sale of Meta shares. Filings show that before stepping down as president of Global Affairs and Communications, Clegg had sold shares worth $18.4 million.
Although his total salary at Meta has not been disclosed, he still owns approximately 39,000 shares of the company, valued at around $21 million at current prices. Joel Kaplan will succeed him as deputy, known for his conservative views and previous role in the George W. Bush administration.
Speculation surrounds Clegg’s next move after leaving Meta, with potential for a return to politics. He is considering opportunities in artificial intelligence, having criticized Rishi Sunak’s approach to AI regulation and aligning more with Tony Blair’s optimistic views on the technology’s potential.
Open to work opportunities in both public and private sectors, Clegg aims to return to London and remain in Europe in 2022. His wife, Miriam, has her own political ambitions and recently established a think tank in Spain.
Knighted in 2018 for his public service, Clegg faced criticism for joining Facebook later that year. Despite his previous advocacy against Brexit, Clegg’s tenure at Meta saw success amidst challenges of fake news and data protection.
In his Facebook post, Clegg reflects on his time at Meta, expressing pride in his work and the innovative approach he brought to the role. Despite his past political achievements and setbacks, Clegg remains optimistic about the future.
Looking ahead, Clegg’s next steps are uncertain, with possibilities in various sectors on the horizon. His departure from Meta marks a new chapter in his career, leaving a legacy of experience and impact in the digital landscape.
W
Keir Starmer was looking forward to a family holiday in Madeira in the New Year, but Elon Musk was set to disrupt it. The world’s richest man has been using social media to attack the Prime Minister and suggesting he may donate millions to the British Reform Party.
The controversy surrounding Mr. Musk’s comments has sparked public debate and media attention. What exactly has caused Mr. Musk’s outrage?
grooming gang
In the early hours of New Year’s Eve in London, Musk focused on the issue of “Pakistani grooming gangs,” posting a screenshot that stirred controversy.
Musk’s comments led to heated discussions on social media, with accusations and criticisms flying. His tweets on various controversial topics have garnered significant attention.
Tommy Robinson
Musk’s tweets touched on the imprisonment of Tommy Robinson and raised questions about the UK justice system. His remarks triggered a debate on the treatment of convicts in the country.
Musk’s social media activity has drawn reactions from politicians and officials, with differing opinions on the matters he raised.
British Reform
Musk’s involvement in political issues has put pressure on both the Conservative and Labour parties. His calls for reform in the UK have gained attention and sparked discussions online.
Talks of Musk potentially making donations to the Reform UK party have added fuel to the fire, with speculations swirling about his influence on political dynamics.
Economy
Political figures have reacted to Musk’s criticisms of the British economy, with varying opinions on the impact of his statements.
Musk’s relentless attacks on various issues have stirred controversy and debates, with responses from government officials and leaders.
Apple has agreed to pay $95 million in cash to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant, Siri, violated users’ privacy and listened to them without their consent.
iPhone owners complained that Apple routinely recorded private conversations after users unintentionally activated Siri and made those conversations available to third parties, including advertisers. The preliminary settlement was filed Tuesday night in federal court in Oakland, California, and must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.
Voice assistants typically respond when you use a “hotword” such as “Hey, Siri.” The two plaintiffs said references to Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden restaurants prompted advertisements for those products. One person said he received an advertisement for a well-known surgical treatment after a personal discussion with his doctor. The plaintiffs argued that Apple did not receive consent before recording their conversations and, in fact, could not have obtained consent because one of the plaintiffs was a minor and did not have an Apple account at the time of the recording.
The complaint alleges that the violations continued from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024. The violation allegedly began with the addition of a “Hey, Siri” function to Siri, which led to unauthorized recordings. Estimated tens of millions of class participants can receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, such as an iPhone or Apple Watch.
Apple denied any wrongdoing in the settlement agreement. The company has consistently emphasized the importance of privacy. In 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook criticized other technology companies for their surveillance, saying: ‘[t]His desire to prioritize profit over privacy is nothing new.” The company further countered in a letter to Congress. 2018 Apple’s iPhone devices do not “listen” to you, other than detecting the audio trigger “Hey Siri.”
But in a 2019 Guardian report cited in the original complaint, an Apple whistleblower revealed that contractors regularly listen to users’ private conversations when performing quality assurance on Siri. He said that he had done so. These conversations included confidential medical information, drug deals, and recordings of couples having sex. Some of these conversations were recorded by mistake, the whistleblower said, because Siri can mistake things like the “zip sound” as a wake word.
At the time, Apple said that only a “small percentage” of Siri requests are evaluated for quality, and those requests are not tied to a user’s Apple ID. “Siri responses are analyzed in a secure facility, and all reviewers are obligated to comply with Apple’s requests.” Strict confidentiality requirements. “The company then paused A quality improvement program has been installed to stop audio recording by default.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a similar request. They could seek $1.1 million in fees and costs, up to $28.5 million in a settlement fund.
For Apple, whose net income was $93.74 billion in its most recent fiscal year, $95 million is equivalent to about nine hours of profit.
A similar lawsuit on behalf of users of Google’s voice assistant is pending in federal court in San Jose, California, which is in the same district as the Oakland court. The plaintiffs are represented by the same law firm that worked on the Apple case.
aAfter a mostly mild and cloudy December, winter has finally arrived. We’ve rounded up some of the most popular and tried-and-true products to help you stay warm, especially when you don’t want to turn up the thermostat too much.
From slippers to coats and pajamas to top-of-the-line electric heaters and blankets, they’ll all help you beat the cold and even stay stylish.
The best cold weather essentials to beat the cold
electric blanket
OHS electric heated fleece overblanket
£20 at Online Home Shop
£34.99 on Amazon
This great value heater throw was rated the best budget option in 2008. emily peck Reviews of the best heated blankets. Available in blush, charcoal, forest green, and black, it comes with 9 temperature settings and a timer that turns it off after 9 hours.
heating airer
Dry: Quickly Deluxe 3-Stage Heated Airer and Cover
£149.99 on Amazon
£194.98 at Lakeland
Warm air dryers claim to dry clothes regardless of the weather without costing the earth any energy. jane hoskin We tested 12 and rated this one from Lakeland as the best overall. She says this dryer is for people who are tired of having to choose between the expense of noisy tumble dryers, dirty clothes on the radiator, and the smell of laundry that dries slowly in traditional clothes dryers. It is said to be for people who have.
electric heater
Duux Threesixty 2 Ceramic Heater
£89.99 at John Lewis
£99.99 at Currys
The mercury is dropping and the house is getting colder. But if you have your finger hovering over your central heating dial, an electric heater may be just what you need to efficiently heat your colander. pete wise We tested eight of the best, including this compact model that thoroughly heats a space while making less noise than standard fan models.
Workers excavating clay at a limestone quarry in southern England stumbled upon a unique bump, leading to the discovery of a “dinosaur highway” and approximately 200 tracks dating back 166 million years, as revealed by researchers on Thursday.
Researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Birmingham unveiled this groundbreaking find after a team of over 100 individuals excavated the Dewars Farm quarry in Oxfordshire in June. This discovery is said to revolutionize previous paleontological research in the area and provide deeper insights into the Middle Jurassic era.
Kirsty Edgar, a professor of micropalaeontology at the University of Birmingham, expressed, “These footprints offer a unique glimpse into the lives of dinosaurs, providing details about their movements, interactions, and the tropical habitats they inhabited.”
Among the series of tracks forming the “dinosaur highway,” four tracks trace the path of sauropods, giant, long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs that reached lengths of nearly 60 feet. The fifth set belonged to Megalosaurus, a fierce 30-foot-long predator with distinctive three-clawed markings, which was the first dinosaur to be scientifically named over two centuries ago.
Workers survey five vast tracks that formed part of the “Dinosaur Highway.” University of Birmingham (via AP)
Crossing sections where the tracks intersect raised queries about potential encounters between carnivores and herbivores.
Emma Nichols, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, acknowledged, “Scientists have long studied megalosaurs, but this discovery evidences the existence of further insights into these creatures that are yet to be uncovered.”
Nearly three decades ago, 40 pairs of footprints discovered in a local limestone quarry were deemed among the most significant dinosaur footprints globally. However, as the region is now largely inaccessible, evidence is limited due to the absence of digital cameras and drones during that period.
During the recent excavation, the team captured over 20,000 digital images and utilized a drone to create 3D models of the prints. This extensive documentation could prove valuable for future studies, revealing aspects like the size of the dinosaurs, their gait, and speed.
Duncan Murdoch, a geoscientist at the Oxford Museum, noted, “The preservation of these tracks is so detailed that the deformation of the mud by the dinosaurs’ feet can be observed. Together with other fossils present, such as burrows, shells, and plants, these tracks can reconstruct the muddy lagoon environments the dinosaurs traversed.”
These findings will be showcased in a new exhibit at the museum and will be featured on the BBC’s Digging for Britain next week.
Gillian Anderson (left) and David Duchovny as Agents Scully and Mulder in The X-Files
AJ Photo/Alamy
Television hasn’t always been kind to science fiction, with smaller budgets devoted to special effects and epic space stories being canceled before they even air. But despite all the obstacles, countless series have shown that telling long-form stories on the small screen is the perfect way to explore the complex ideas and philosophies that make the genre so fascinating. I’ve proven something.
You can choose from a wide variety of gold, new scientist The team found that choosing a favorite sci-fi series was a difficult task. Not everyone can choose just one. While this is far from a definitive list (and presented in no particular order), our selection has something for everyone, no matter what type of sci-fi fan you are. I hope it’s included.
A reboot of the ill-fated 1978 series, battlestar galactica It begins with a nuclear holocaust and the remnants of humanity huddled in a battered spaceship to escape sentient machines. But its most compelling moments involve survivors struggling to balance social and ethical norms against a ruthless calculation of survival. Jeremy Hsu
Katee Sackhoff as Kara ‘Starbuck’ Thrace in ‘Battlestar Galactica’
Movie/Alamy
leftovers Not only is this the best sci-fi series I’ve ever seen, it’s probably the best TV show ever made. Big claim, I know. The premise is strange. What happens if one day, suddenly, 2 percent of the population disappears? Don’t expect answers as to why this happened. This series offers nothing. Instead, it explores the devastating aftermath of inexplicable grief and loss. chelsea white
my family wasn’t interested doctor whoso I guess this show was my introduction to science fiction (if you count time travel as science fiction, which I definitely am). Physicist Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) invents a method of time travel, but it’s not what he expected. Although Sam has disappeared from his own reality, his consciousness has jumped into the bodies of other people and must sort out their lives before moving forward – and hopefully returning home. The series was revived in 2022. I’ll definitely watch it when I have some time to myself without kids, books, or sleep needs. Alison Flood
Two parts science fiction, one part noir, a richly detailed world spread It drew me in like nothing else. Set in a future where humans have colonized the solar system, the story follows a hard-boiled detective who investigates the disappearance of the crew of a deep space ice transport ship and a wealthy heiress. Eventually, they become embroiled in a conspiracy and rebellion by the Belters, who live on an exploited asteroid. Long live the Outer Planets Alliance! Bethan Ackerley
black mirror It takes place in the bizarre Twilight Zone of science fiction, not fantastical enough to feel truly invented, but a little too futuristic to feel like real-world drama. Each episode jumps genres from romantic comedy to slasher horror and delves deep into how technology is distorting the human experience. The early series are the most memorable – the first episode featuring the British Prime Minister and a pig is seared into your brain – but throughout black mirror Thought-provoking, disturbing, and often darkly funny. madeleine cuff
The joy of how many stories begin with someone opening a door and stepping into the unknown? doctor whoand one of the two reasons for its longevity is that the titular Doctor’s spaceship is a gateway to all corners of time and space. You can set your story in Victorian London or a billion years into the future. Another reason the show has been around for over 60 years is that the Doctor can regenerate into a new body, which comes in handy when you want to cast a new lead role. Rowan Hooper
I started watching X files She’s about 9 years old, which is way too young! I wanted to believe in Mulder because I thought he was the epitome of cool, and I was fascinated and horrified by the monsters he and Scully encountered each week. Revisiting the series as an adult, I identified more with the skeptical Scully and was drawn to the long-running story of an alien conspiracy. This structure, which interweaves independent plots with ongoing storylines, X files Very good. Let’s say the 2010s revival never happened. jacob aaron
At first glance, fringe may seem like a successor to X files: Introducing a somewhat antagonistic pair of eccentric investigators who quickly plunge into both the supernatural and the personal. But it’s more than that. where X files There was a conspiracy between aliens and the government. fringe There are parallel universes, family secrets, psychedelics, sensory deprivation, and an incredibly powerful supporting cast. Expect Leonard Nimoy to play multi-world villains, doppelgangers, and humans turned giant porcupines. carmela padavich callahan
I hate to admit that science fiction isn’t my type of entertainment, but stories about robots and aliens just aren’t my thing. but outlander It offers a different take on the genre, with plenty of romance and a brave heroine. This is the story of Claire Beauchamp who accidentally travels back in time from 1945 to 1743. After she accepts her fate (and meets the love of her life, Jamie), Claire, a nurse, embarrasses her contemporaries with her 20-year-old self.th– centuries of knowledge about anatomy and pathogens – not to mention her feminist attitude. alexandra thompson
of star wars The series started out as a simple space opera. Empires are evil because their agents appear to be fascists. That’s a good thing because the rebels aren’t like that. But recent works have done much to complicate that story. Andor We explore what a “well-ordered” space empire looks like, colonial, mundane and inhuman, and why such conditions create heroes out of thieves. Linda Rodriguez McRobbie
There’s something modified carbon It’s horribly depressing, but also incredibly fascinating. Who wouldn’t want to try out a smorgasbord of different bodies, or what the show calls “sleeves”? Epic cities, brutal inequality, friendly AI, and questionable storylines – this cyberpunk series has it all. Finn Grant
I don’t like watching TV at night after a day of work, kids, and other life commitments, and I usually just fall asleep. However, that’s not the case when it comes to the adventures of Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Michonne (Danai Gurira), and their ragtag team. watched all episodes of the walking dead from Rick waking up in a hospital to discover a world ravaged by a virus that has turned everyone into “walkers,” to the various terrifying communities they continue to encounter. It’s shocking, well-acted, and full of surprises, especially in the early series. Alison Flood
Nick Clegg, former UK deputy prime minister and current director of international affairs at Meta, is leaving the company after six years.
“It truly was an adventure of a lifetime!” said Clegg. post On facebook. “I’m proud of the work I’ve done leading and supporting teams across the company to ensure innovation goes hand in hand with increased transparency and accountability, and new forms of governance.”
Clegg joined Facebook’s parent company in 2018 as vice president of global affairs and communications for the social media platform. At the time, the company was under intense scrutiny over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal and its role in the 2016 US presidential election. He was promoted to director of policy in 2022 after helping establish the Facebook Oversight Board, an independent board that makes decisions about the social network’s moderation policies.
“My time at the company coincided with a major reset in the relationship between ‘big tech’ and the social pressures expressed in new laws, institutions and norms impacting the sector,” Clegg said. wrote. “I hope that I have played a role in bridging the disparate worlds of technology and politics, worlds that continue to interact in unpredictable ways around the world.”
Mr. Clegg will be replaced by Vice President Joel Kaplan, who is “clearly the right person for the right job at the right time,” Mr. Clegg wrote. Mr. Kaplan previously served as deputy chief of staff for policy under former President George W. Bush. He is known as the company’s most prominent conservative voice and rose to the top during a difficult time for Facebook. liberal bias claims.
During his tenure, Kaplan pushed for a partnership with the fact-checking arm of the right-wing news site The Daily Caller, responding to Republican concerns about the company’s affiliation with mainstream news outlets. Most recently, Kaplan caught in the photo Alongside Vice President-elect J.D. Vance at the Time Person of the Year award ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange.
The policy team reshuffle comes just weeks before President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. As President Trump enters and leaves office, tech companies including Meta have vacillated between enforcing moderate provisions such as account bans on Trump or reversing their decisions. Days after Trump’s election, Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. This comes after President Trump threatened to punish Zuckerberg if his policies had any impact on the election.
In response to Clegg’s Facebook post, Zuckerberg thanked the executive and said, “Given his deep experience and insight over many years leading our policy efforts,” Kaplan said. said he is excited to take on the role.
Zuckerberg responded to Clegg’s post, writing, “You have had a significant impact on advancing Meta’s voice and values around the world, and our vision for AI and the Metaverse.” “You have also built a strong team to advance this work.”
VLogs by Nigerian content creators Tayo Aina feature anything from Nigeria Japan (immigration) wave and voodoo festival. Performing with Afrobeats stars in Benin david or last hunter-gatherer tribe. In Tanzania, you can get millions of views on YouTube.
Aina, 31, who started the channel in 2017 while working as an Uber driver, says it has allowed her to see parts of Nigeria that she had never had the chance to visit before. Using his iPhone, he began a mini-travel adventure, taking breaks to record the places he visited and tell stories not covered in mainstream media.
“I want to inspire the next generation of Africans to have no limits,” says Nigerian content creator Tayo Aina. Photo: Handout
Aina learned how to film and edit through YouTube tutorials, saved up to buy better equipment, and soon began traveling beyond Nigeria to countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, and Namibia, learning about the continent’s culture and social life. He created a travel video that introduces Africa through the lens of photography. African traveler.
“Most of the online media was negative, and I realized that I was trying to change the narrative about Africa by presenting it more clearly. It’s light,” says Aina, who now travels around the world.
Africa’s Creator Industry 2024 Report Research by publisher Communiqué and media technology company TM Global values the sector at £2.4bn and predicts it will grow five times by 2030, reflecting trends in the global creator economy. Its growth is being driven by a wave of creators between the ages of 18 and 34, a surge in internet connectivity and social media usage across the continent, and the explosion of African culture on the world stage.
Growing interest in African culture – from Afrobeats and Amapiano Music and dance to an international fashion collection made from African textiles such as Ankara and Kikyoy. African movies – This is part of an international aspiration for authentic cultural storytelling outside the Arctic Circle, reflected in global cultural movements such as Hallyu, says David Adeleke, Founder of Communiqué.
This year, TikTok recognized More than a dozen African creators including Nigerian lifestyle creators @__iremide, a person who makes videos that satirize everyday life, and a South African Sachiko-sama. The 22-year-old is known for cosplaying characters from anime, video games, and pop culture. Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of international affairs, recently said: held a meeting Other social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok are increasing their presence and Heva I’m getting involved.
The report says the industry is gaining momentum but is still young. Most content creators are in their third year of work, have fewer than 10,000 followers, and are faced with the challenge of turning social capital into income. The report adds that discussions about the monetization and standardization of the creator business ecosystem continue to take place primarily in Western countries.
But that is gradually changing.
As Aina’s channel grew and attracted a more international audience, he discovered what he was capable of. more and more It cost him money when his content was viewed by Western audiences rather than Africa. YouTube’s advertising model relies on ad spend, which is lower in many African markets than in North America and Europe.
“Part of the reason is economic. Generally speaking, Western creators and audiences have more resources, but that alone is not enough to justify the disparity in opportunity. ” says Adeleke.
As Aina began diversifying her content and audience to generate more income, there were other issues to worry about. He shares a video about the barriers and prejudice he faced during his travels, including being detained in Ethiopia on suspicion of drug possession, being arrested in South Africa on suspicion of being a “fraudster” and being refused entry to Dubai. I’ve posted it on my blog. The 2022 incident in Dubai was the “last straw” for Aina. Aina invested her savings in St. Kitts and Nevis and eventually secured a passport from St. Kitts and Nevis, becoming a citizen of the Caribbean nation.
He currently runs the Creator Academy on YouTube, where he has trained nearly 2,000 mostly African creators. “I want the next generation of Africans to grow their brands globally without limitations,” he says.
Chiamaka “Amaka” Amaku A 30-year-old Nigerian travel and lifestyle innovator who works as a social media manager and creates content as a personal project, believes digital infrastructure issues, including the challenges of sending and receiving international money, are a challenge for Nigerian creators. It says it can limit growth. Some global payment platforms have imposed restrictions on certain countries, including Nigeria, due to concerns about fraud and money laundering.
“Payment is one of the biggest challenges in Nigeria’s creator economy,” Amaku said, adding that payment barriers deter global brands from working with Nigerian creators.
In recent years, fintech companies such as flutter wave and salary stack While supporting international payments has reduced the barriers creators face in accepting digital payments, many restrictions remain, including local bank policies. For travel creators like Amaku, that means it’s harder to book flights or take Uber abroad.
Amaku, who charges between £250 and £500 for posts on his Instagram page, which has around 20,000 followers, says it is difficult to make a living from creating content and there is a “culture of secrecy” around fees in the industry in Nigeria. He says that many people have died because of this. Creators quickly changed.
Sharon Makira A 31-year-old Kenyan luxury travel creator who describes her audience as “Afropolitan champagne nomads” agrees. He said competition for brand sponsorships is fierce because many companies still rely on traditional advertising, so negotiating rates can become a race to the bottom.
With around 20,000 followers on Instagram and 7,000 followers on YouTube, she gets around five brand deals a year, and is paid around £600 to £1,000 per campaign. When she became a full-time content creator last year, after nearly a decade in media and PR, she realized she couldn’t make a living relying on a few unpredictable brand deals, so companies started creating content. We have opened a PR studio that allows you to tailor your business to suit your needs. Cooperate with viewers, travel agencies and other businesses nomad And luxury lodges in Rwanda Singita Kwitonda.
According to her, building a business around a social media brand can earn you several times more per project than a brand deal. “I think there’s real promise there.” [African] Creators: Leverage your social capital, network, credibility, and personal brand to launch your business,” she says.
Embarking on a new routine can feel intimidating, but it’s actually simpler than we often perceive. Here are some expert tips for ensuring that new habits stick.
How to establish improved study habits
One effective method for developing a habit is to attach a desired new behavior to an existing habit.
For instance, let’s say you want to incorporate a daily 10-minute German vocabulary study session into your routine. Identify habits you already have and integrate your vocabulary learning into them.
For example, if you already have tea every day at 3pm, try studying German vocabulary for 10 minutes while enjoying your tea.
Credit: Kyle Smart
How to cultivate healthier social media habits
There is often criticism surrounding our device and social media usage, but ultimately, only you can determine if your phone is interfering with more important priorities.
If you feel this is the case, one effective way to regain control is by reducing your device usage habits, starting with disabling notifications.
Scheduling specific times for using email, social media, or news websites can help break habitual behaviors and allow for more intentional device usage. It’s a proven strategy.
How to develop a consistent exercise routine
If you’re currently not exercising at all and the thought of starting a new exercise habit seems overwhelming, try the 2-minute rule.
This rule, popularized by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits, recommends starting with just two minutes of a new activity to ease its incorporation into your daily life. Once it becomes a habit, you can gradually increase the duration.
Credit: Kyle Smart
Start with 2 minutes of exercise at 8 a.m. daily, whether it’s a brief walk, stair climbing, or some jumping jacks. Gradually increase the duration as it becomes routine. Remember, consistency is key.
Strategies for adopting sustainable habits
The psychology of habits sheds light on why behavior change can be slow, even when attitudes towards the environment evolve. Despite acknowledging the importance of eco-friendly practices, many individuals still engage in harmful behaviors out of habit.
For example, placing recycling bins near individual desks led to a significant increase in office paper recycling rates, while slowing down elevator doors reduced elevator usage. Small adjustments can lead to significant changes in behavior.
If you want to unsettle climate scientists, simply stand next to them and quietly mention the phrase “tipping point” in their ear. While climate change due to global warming is already concerning, the concept of climate tipping points adds an extra layer of fear. But what exactly are they and why are they causing alarm?
We find ourselves in a unique time where Earth’s average temperature is increasing at a rate at least 10 times faster than ever recorded in geological history. This has led to a surge in extreme weather events, melting ice sheets, and rising sea levels. Despite these clear signs, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise rapidly, with global temperatures increasing by 1.64°C (nearly 3°F) in the past year alone. As a result, the possibility of irreversible and drastic changes in the climate system becomes more and more likely.
Tipping points are named as such because they require a critical threshold to be crossed before a significant change occurs. Once activated, like a seesaw tipping over, there is no turning back. These moments, as defined by the American Cultural Heritage English Dictionary, are described as “a critical moment in a complex situation where a small influence or development suddenly produces a large or irreversible change.” This holds true for the climate crisis we face.
How things shift
One of the challenges for scientists studying global warming is the unpredictability of tipping points in terms of timing and impact. Additionally, how these points are integrated into climate models can greatly affect predictions of future climate change. The complexity of the climate system suggests that there are numerous tipping points, with nine identified as having the potential to trigger significant global environmental changes.
These include the potential collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, dieback of the Amazon rainforest, and release of methane from melting Arctic permafrost. Each of these events could have far-reaching consequences, from massive sea level rise to increased carbon levels in the atmosphere.
While some of these tipping points may seem distant, the looming collapse of the Gulf Stream and associated ocean currents presents an immediate concern. Previously considered unlikely, recent data suggests that this crucial system may be on the brink of destabilization sooner than expected, posing a threat to the UK and Northern Europe’s climate stability.
Recent research suggests Antarctic ice sheets may be melting faster than existing models predict – Photo courtesy of Getty Images
The Earth’s great engine
Understanding the significance of AMOC’s collapse requires knowledge of its role as a key component of the global ocean current system. This system, known as the global conveyor belt, transports heat from the tropics to the Arctic, playing a crucial role in global climate and weather patterns.
The sheer scale of AMOC’s operation is astounding, moving millions of cubic meters of water and gigawatts of heat every second. However, disruptions to this system, such as increased freshwater input from melting ice, can hinder AMOC’s ability to function properly, potentially causing a shutdown with severe global consequences.
If AMOC were to fail, global weather patterns would be disrupted, leading to a range of impacts from cooler temperatures in Europe to altered monsoons in Asia and Africa. The effects would be felt globally, with implications for food security, migration patterns, and geopolitical stability.
An orca that carried around a dead calf for several days in 2018 appears to be repeating the same behavior with a newly dead calf.
Scientists believe the killer whales are likely expressing sadness.
Killer whales are part of an endangered subpopulation known as southern killer whales.
Nearly six years ago, a mother orca attracted international attention when she carried a dead calf for 17 days straight. Sadly, the whale now appears to be repeating what researchers say is an expression of grief over another deceased newborn.
The mother whale, also known as J35 or Tahlequah, was first spotted with her new calf on December 20th. But on Wednesday, researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration photographed a whale with a dead calf on its head off the coast of West Seattle.
“We can confirm that J31 lost the calf and was pushing it around on its head,” Brad Hanson, a researcher at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, said in a press conference Thursday.
He said that when the calf is about to sink, “she seems to do a high arch dive to retrieve the calf, but at that point you can’t really tell if she’s pushing or grabbing the calf.” added. ”
Scientists said they believe Tahlequah likely carried the dead calf as an expression of grief. Whales have a similar wiring structure to humans and other large, long-lived social mammals, Joe Gaydos, scientific director of the Sea Dog Society, an ocean research organization, said at a press conference.
“We have the same neurotransmitters as they do. We have the same hormones as they do. Shouldn’t we have the same emotions that they have? We are a market cornered by emotions.” So I think it’s fair to say she’s sad or grieving,” Gaydos said, adding that similar behavior has been observed in dolphins and non-human primates. added.
Tahlequah, also known as J35, and a dead calf. NOAA
J35 is part of an endangered subpopulation of whales known as southern killer whales. The death of Tahlequah’s calf and the recent birth of another killer whale left the group at just 73 individuals.
Over the years, Tahlequah has had two surviving calves, both male, one born in 2020.
Southerners have been given tracking numbers by the Center for Whale Research and are closely watched by researchers, photographers and whale watchers, especially if they are near Puget Sound communities like Seattle.
Scientists have been following the story of the dead calf for weeks. Hanson said NOAA researchers discovered the female calf themselves on Dec. 23 after a citizen scientist first noticed the female calf, called J61. They were concerned about the calf’s health at the time because it appeared to be struggling and surfacing unusually, he said.
It is not uncommon for orca pups to die shortly after birth. Michael Weiss, director of research at the Center for Whale Research, said the first year of life is the biggest hurdle to survival.
Approximately 70% to 80% of calves that researchers can record and give identification numbers survive the first few years.
“We don’t know exactly what the survival rate is, probably because so many calves are born and die before they are photographed or recorded,” Weiss says. “Probably 50 percent of calves born will survive the first year.”
NOAA researchers said they are now concerned about Tahlequah’s own health because pushing his calves creates a lot of resistance in the water and requires a lot of energy.
“One thing she probably doesn’t have time for is feeding,” Hanson said. “We are concerned that she is expending so much energy caring for her lost calf.”
This is a typical calving season for southern whales. Hanson said researchers were encouraged by the birth of another killer whale, called J62. The orca was first spotted by observers on Dec. 30 and confirmed by the Cetacean Research Center on New Year’s Day.
“It appears to be very robust,” Hanson said.
Southern killer whales have been the subject of conservation efforts for decades. They are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and were listed as endangered in 2005.
Whales typically spend several months each year along the Puget Sound coastline in Washington state. They live in three pods called J, K, and L, and have evolved to eat primarily fish, including the prized Chinook salmon.
In the early 1960s, many of Minami’s killer whales were killed or captured, and some of the surviving killer whales were put on display in marine parks. As of 1974, surveys showed that only 71 individuals remained in the wild. The population has since fluctuated, reaching a high of 95 people in 1995, but has declined since then.
The main reasons why whales are struggling are a decline in the quality and quantity of their prey and pollution from industrial chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that contaminate their prey and accumulate in their bodies. Additionally, ship noise can disturb whales and prevent communication.
Research shows that unless more aggressive action is taken, the southern population is on a path to extinction. Already, Washington state and federal agencies have invested more than $1 billion in programs to reduce threats to whales. But the essential point still remains. Southerners simply don’t have enough food.
Major rivers that were once rich in salmon, including the lower Snake River, have been dammed, limiting access to and survival of salmon.
“We’re not doing enough on chinook recovery and salmon recovery,” Gaydos said.
For struggling southerners, the loss of a female calf is a devastating blow not only to the mother but to the trajectory of the subspecies as a whole.
“The real limit is the number of females that reach reproductive age and their ability to actually raise calves successfully. So we would like to see more females in the population.” Weiss said.
The coming year is expected to be filled with ambitious space missions.
Multiple robotic landers are expected to be launched to the moon in the coming weeks or months.
China and India also each hope to achieve new milestones in space later this year.
From robotic expeditions to the moon to new observatories in space and rendezvous with asteroids, 2025 promises to be full of ambitious space exploration.
NASA and U.S. commercial space companies aren’t the only ones busy. Launch plans planned for this year include potential milestones in China, Japan and India.
Here are some of the biggest upcoming space missions.
Moon fever continues
In 2025, the moon will once again be in the spotlight.
Later this month, SpaceX rockets are scheduled to launch two new missions to the moon. One, a lander called Blue Ghost developed by Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace, is intended to spend about two weeks collecting scientific data on the moon. The second is a privately built Japanese lunar lander with an attached small rover.
The Blue Ghost attempts to land on a region of the moon known as the Moon.Mare Crisium is thought to be the site of an ancient asteroid impact.
The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services Initiative. The space agency has signed contracts with three private companies, including Firefly Aerospace, to transport scientific experiments, technology and other cargo to the moon’s surface. The effort is part of NASA’s larger Artemis mission, which aims to eventually return humans to the moon. The Blue Ghost mission will carry out 10 NASA science and technology experiments.
Riding into orbit on the same rocket booster will be a resilient lander developed by a Japanese company called ispace and the Tenacious “micro rover.” It aims to take a longer route to the moon, consuming less energy than the Blue Ghost, and land on the lunar surface approximately four to five months after launch.
The touchdown target is located in the far north of the moon, in an area called Mare Frigoris.
iSpace’s bid to become the first private company to land a spacecraft on the moon ended in disappointment last year. The company’s lander, Hakuto, accelerated unexpectedly during its descent and crashed onto the lunar surface.
A third lunar launch by the company, which was the first to land a privately built ship on the moon, could also take place this month.
Texas-based Intuitive Machines also won a contract under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Last year, the company’s lander became the first American vehicle to land on the moon in more than 50 years. The company aims to send its next-generation lander to the moon’s south pole on another SpaceX rocket in the coming weeks.
The mission will include a drill to extract lunar soil and a robot that will hop into nearby craters to take images and perform scientific experiments.
Exploring the origin of the universe
NASA aims to launch the SPHEREx mission, a space observatory designed to map the entire sky in optical and near-infrared light, in late February.
The SPHEREx observatory is shown in a horizontal position, showing its telescope and three-layer photon shield.BAE Systems / NASA
The spacecraft will observe more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way and collect data on more than 450 million other galaxies.
As part of its planned two-year mission, the observatory will also search for signs of life as we know it, such as water and organic molecules, in the Milky Way. Experts hope the expedition will provide insight into how galaxies form and how the universe came into being.
Two NASA astronauts finally return home
Two NASA astronauts stranded on the International Space Station since a problem aboard their Boeing spacecraft in June are finally scheduled to return home in March.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the International Space Station.NASA
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were launched to the ISS on the first manned flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The original plan was for the two to spend about a week on the space station, then return to Earth on the Starliner. However, the capsule encountered fuel leaks and thruster problems, so NASA opted to leave Williams and Wilmore in orbit and return the spacecraft unmanned.
They will have spent more than nine months in space before returning to Earth in a SpaceX capsule with two other space station crew members.
India’s spaceflight ambitions
India is poised to make major strides in its human spaceflight program this year.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) astronaut Shubhansh Shukla will fly to the International Space Station on a commercial mission run by Texas-based startup Axiom Space.
The launch, expected by spring at the earliest, will include government-backed crew members from Poland and Hungary. The crew will spend up to 14 days on the ISS.
Meanwhile, India is also working on developing its own manned spacecraft, aiming to launch its first one in 2026.
A new private space station?
California-based startup Vast plans to launch its first commercial space station into orbit this year. The civilian outpost, called Haven-1, is scheduled to launch by August on a SpaceX rocket.
Haven-1 is designed to accommodate four astronauts on missions of up to 30 days. The space station will initially function as an independent outpost, but Vasto plans to eventually connect it to a larger module in development.
In partnership with SpaceX, Vast intends to someday launch a crewed mission to the Haven-1 outpost, but the company has not yet announced a target date for that launch.
China encounters an asteroid
China’s space exploration shows no signs of slowing down even in 2025.
This spring, the country plans to launch a mission to collect asteroid samples, the first such expedition.
The plan calls for a spacecraft called Tenbun-2 to rendezvous with a near-Earth asteroid called Kamoorewa, which some scientists have suggested. maybe part of the moon It was ejected during an ancient collision.
The mission aims to collect debris from the asteroid, release a capsule containing samples, and return to Earth in 2026. After that, the Tenbun-2 probe is expected to orbit around the Earth and fly using the Earth’s gravity as a slingshot. Heading toward the comet known as 311P/Panstars. The spacecraft is expected to arrive at the comet in the mid-2030s.
If China’s asteroid sampling mission is successful, it would be a major accomplishment for the country’s space agency. This would be an achievement that follows several recent milestones. China has already become the first company to collect and return samples from the far side of the moon, landed a rover on Mars and completed construction of its own Tiangong space station.
Paleontologists discovered hundreds of different dinosaur footprints, including one left by a ferocious 9-meter (29.5-foot) predator megalosaurus Dewar’s Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, England, by a herbivorous dinosaur up to twice its size.
Footprints of carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs at Dewar’s Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, England. Image credit: University of Birmingham.
Professor Kirsty Edgar from the University of Birmingham said: “These footprints provide a special window into the lives of dinosaurs, revealing details about their movements, interactions and the tropical environments they lived in. ” he said.
Professor Edgar and colleagues have unearthed five vast dinosaur footprints dating back to the mid-Jurassic period, some 166 million years ago.
The longest continuous track was over 150 m (492 ft) long.
Four of the orbits were created by giant, long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs called sauropods. cetiosaurusa cousin of the famous brassica, which can grow up to 18 meters (59 ft) in length. diplodocus.
The fifth orbit was created by a carnivorous theropod dinosaur megalosaurusit was characterized by large three-toed feet with claws.
Parts of the site show intersecting carnivore and herbivore tracks, raising questions about whether and how the two were interacting.
“Scientists know about it and have studied it. megalosaurus Dr Emma Nicholls, a vertebrate paleontologist at Oxford University’s Natural History Museum, said: “They lived longer than any other dinosaur on Earth, but recent discoveries show that new evidence of these animals still exists and discoveries It proves that we are waiting for the future.”
Paleontologists worked together to discover around 200 footprints and used aerial drone photography to build a detailed 3D model of the site.
Professor Richard Butler, from the University of Birmingham, said: “There is much more we can learn from this site. It is an important part of our global heritage.”
“Our 3D model will allow researchers to continue their studies and make this fascinating part of our past accessible for generations to come.”
During the excavation, researchers took more than 20,000 images of the footprints.
These provide a wealth of material for further research and education, providing valuable information about how these dinosaurs walked, their speed, size, whether they interacted, and how they interacted. May provide insight.
Dr Duncan Murdoch, a researcher at Oxford University’s Natural History Museum, said: “The preservation is very detailed and you can see how the mud deformed as the dinosaur’s feet moved in and out.”
“Together with other fossils such as burrows, shells and plants, they can bring to life the muddy lagoon environment that the dinosaurs walked through.”
Refrigerators and freezers typically derive their cooling power from environmentally harmful liquids.
Mint Images Limited/Alamy
A new type of crystal could help refrigerators and air conditioners keep us cool without warming the planet.
Refrigerators and air conditioners obtain their cooling power by circulating liquid within the device. The liquid absorbs heat and causes cooling through cycles of evaporation and condensation. However, many such liquids contribute to the greenhouse effect and cause further warming if they leak. now, jenny pringle Researchers at Australia's Deakin University have created a climate-friendly alternative to these liquids using “plastic crystals” – crystals containing molecules that can move enough to make them flexible. Developed.
If enough pressure is applied, these plastic crystals can deform. Their molecules go from a random orientation to an ordered grid. Then, when the pressure is removed, they disturb again. As part of this disordering process, the crystals absorb heat, effectively cooling their surroundings.
Although pressure-based cooling like this has been studied before, most materials capable of making this transition can only do so at mild temperatures, limiting their cooling power, Pringle said. In contrast, her team's crystals exhibit their heat-absorbing ability at temperatures between -37°C (-34.6°F) and 10°C (50°F), a temperature suitable for home refrigerators and freezers. .
However, the new crystals are not yet ready to leave the lab. That's because the pressure required to make them work is so high, Pringle says, that it's hundreds of times greater than atmospheric pressure and equivalent to thousands of meters underwater.
david boldrin Researchers at the University of Glasgow in the UK said materials like the new study “have the potential to almost completely decarbonize this giant carbon”. [cooling] However, he shares concerns about the high pressure required.
He says there may be other practical problems with this approach. Bing Li At the Chinese Academy of Sciences. With each repeated use, the grid formed by the molecules becomes more distorted and each crystal absorbs less heat. Still, Lee said he was optimistic and believed the technology could be applied in the “near future.”
Tea (Camellia sinensis) originated in China more than 3,000 years ago and evolved from a medicinal herb to a widely consumed beverage. Although there is considerable research focusing on tea plants in southwestern China, research on tea plants has received little attention. Hainan Island. Remarkable similarities between Hainanese tea and tea leaves Camellia sinensis variable Asamika Along with the island’s unique geographic and climatic conditions, research on Hainanese tea presents significant challenges. A new study fills this gap by collecting 500 tea tree samples from Hainan and using whole-genome resequencing to examine differences between Hainanese teas and cultivars. Camellia sinensis.
Guo others. A clear taxonomic position of Hainan tea was confirmed. Camellia sinensis providing valuable insights into resource conservation and molecular breeding. Image credit: Lin2015.
Tea is the oldest recorded tree crop in China, with a history of cultivation spanning more than 3,000 years.
Originally used as a medicinal herb with roots dating back approximately 5,000 years, it later evolved into a widely consumed beverage.
Tea plants grown worldwide are divided into two main groups. Camellia sinensis variable sinensis and Camellia sinensis variable Asamika.
Hainan Island, located in the northern part of the South China Sea, has a rich history of tea cultivation and has vast plantation areas.
There were reports that Hainan Island had abundant tea plant resources at the end of the Qing Dynasty.
For example, American missionary and botanist Benjamin Couch Henry discovered significant numbers of wild tea plants during his extensive explorations of the Li region of Hainan province, indicating that the island had an ancient tea plant resource. I have confirmed that it is plentiful.
Since the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is widely recognized as a potential geographic origin of tea, most studies on tea population genomics have focused on southwestern China, especially Camellia sinensis variable Asamika Despite the large number of varieties, research on Hainan tea plants remains relatively sparse.
“Our study clarifies the taxonomic position of Hainan tea and highlights the importance of conservation and molecular breeding efforts,” said researcher Dazhong Guo of Yunnan Agricultural University and colleagues.
In this study, the authors analyzed 500 tea plant samples (including those from ancient tea plants) collected from four major tea-producing regions in Hainan province: Ledong, Qiongzhong, Baisha, and Wuzhishan. The genome sequence was analyzed.
They acquired a total of 6.9 terabytes of raw sequencing data, which they filtered and aligned with a reference genome (Yunkang 10), achieving a final average alignment rate of 98.98%.
After variant calling, 32,334,340 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified, the majority of which were located in intergenic regions and a small number in exonic regions.
Phylogenetic analysis using SNP data revealed that Hainan tea samples formed a distinct cluster separate from the overall tea leaves. Camellia sinensis variable sinensis and Camellia sinensis variable Asamika There is a significant geographic concentration within the Rim Mountain region, but no clear pattern elsewhere.
Population structure analysis further confirmed that Hainan tea exhibits a unique genetic composition compared to global varieties.
Principal component analysis (PCA) supported these findings and showed that Hainan tea is genetically different from other teas. Camellia sinensis variable sinensis and Camellia sinensis variable Asamikabut shares some genetic similarities with their global counterparts. Camellia sinensis variable Asamika.
Moreover, gene flow analysis suggested limited historical movement between Hainan tea and other tea varieties, reinforcing its unique genetic lineage.
Kinship analysis showed that the close genetic relationships observed in certain Hainanese tea samples were influenced by human activities in managed tea plantations.
Genetic diversity analysis revealed that the Hainan Island and Lim Mountains populations had higher levels of diversity compared to other populations. Camellia sinensis variable sinensis and Camellia sinensis variable Asamikathere is minimal genetic differentiation between Hainan tea and Limshan tea.
These results highlight the unique evolutionary trajectory of Hainan tea, provide valuable insights into its genetic background, and provide implications for conservation and breeding strategies.
The genetic uniqueness and high diversity of Hainan tea highlight its potential as a valuable resource for future breeding programs.
“Our research provides a deeper understanding of biological evolution. Camellia sinensis The stage is now set for further studying the genetic basis of Hainan's amazing plants,” the researchers said.
Their paper Published in a magazine agricultural biodiversity.
Advanced artificial intelligence models have scored highly in professional medical examinations, but they are still challenging one of the most important doctor tasks: talking to patients, gathering relevant medical information, and providing accurate diagnoses. I am still neglecting one thing.
“Large-scale language models perform well on multiple-choice tests, but their accuracy drops significantly on dynamic conversations,” he says. Pranav Rajpurkar at Harvard University. “Models especially struggle with open-ended diagnostic inference.”
This became clear when researchers developed a method to assess the reasoning ability of clinical AI models based on simulated doctor-patient conversations. “Patients” is based on 2000 medical cases drawn primarily from the United States Medical Board Specialty Examinations.
“Simulating patient interactions allows assessment of history-taking skills, which is an important element of clinical practice that cannot be assessed through case descriptions,” he says. shreya jolialso at Harvard University. The new assessment benchmark, called CRAFT-MD, “reflects real-world scenarios where patients may not know what details are important to share and may only disclose important information if prompted by specific questions. “I do,” she says.
The CRAFT-MD benchmark itself relies on AI. OpenAI's GPT-4 model acted as a “patient AI” that conversed with the “clinical AI” being tested. GPT-4 also helped score the results by comparing the clinical AI's diagnosis with the correct answer for each case. Human medical experts reconfirmed these assessments. We also reviewed the conversations to confirm the accuracy of the patient AI and whether the clinical AI was able to gather relevant medical information.
Multiple experiments have shown that the performance of four major large-scale language models (OpenAI's GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models, Meta's Llama-2-7b model, and Mistral AI's Mistral-v2-7b model) is performance on benchmarks was shown to be significantly lower than at the time. Makes a diagnosis based on a written summary of the case. OpenAI, Meta, and Mistral AI did not respond to requests for comment.
For example, GPT-4's diagnostic accuracy was an impressive 82 percent when a structured case summary was presented and the diagnosis could be selected from a list of multiple-choice answers, but not when a multiple-choice option was provided. However, when it had to make a diagnosis from a simulated patient conversation, its accuracy dropped to just 26%.
And GPT-4 performs best among the AI models tested in this study, with GPT-3.5 often coming in second place, and Mistral AI models sometimes coming in second or third place. Meta's Llama models generally had the lowest scores.
AI models also failed to collect complete medical histories a significant proportion of the time, with the leading model, GPT-4, only able to do so in 71% of simulated patient conversations. Even if an AI model collects a patient's relevant medical history, it doesn't necessarily yield the correct diagnosis.
It says such simulated patient conversations are a “much more useful” way to assess an AI's clinical reasoning ability than medical tests. Eric Topol At the Scripps Research Institute Translational Institute in California.
Even if an AI model ultimately passes this benchmark and consistently makes accurate diagnoses based on conversations with simulated patients, it won't necessarily be better than a human doctor. says Rajpurkar. He points out that real-world medical procedures are “more troublesome” than simulations. That includes managing multiple patients, coordinating with medical teams, performing physical exams, and understanding the “complex social and systemic factors” in the local health care setting.
“While the strong performance in the benchmarks suggests that AI may be a powerful tool to support clinical practice, it does not necessarily replace the holistic judgment of experienced physicians.” says Rajpurkar.
Elon Musk has caused controversy by advocating for the release of Tommy Robinson and criticizing Keir Starmer for not prosecuting a child rapist in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Billionaire and ally of Donald Trump, Elon Musk’s message “Free Tommy Robinson!” was prominently displayed on his X feed, showing support for the far-right activist who had been jailed for contempt of court.
In addition to expressing support for Robinson, Musk also made several posts about the Rochdale and Oldham rape gangs, criticizing the Prime Minister and Security Secretary Jess Phillips for their handling of the scandal.
In a post, Musk mentioned, “In the UK, serious crimes like rape require approval from the Crown Prosecution Service for the police to prosecute a suspect. Who was leading the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008-2013.”
He also stated that Mr. Phillips claimed it was Oldham City Council, not the central government, calling for an investigation into child exploitation, remarking, “He deserves to be in prison.”
Elsewhere, he suggested: “The real reason she’s refusing to investigate the rape gang is because it would clearly implicate Keir Starmer [Crown Prosecution Service] during that time.”
Musk reposted numerous comments advocating for Robinson’s release, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and who had been jailed the previous October for spreading false information about Syrian refugees.
The recent involvement of the Tesla founder and X owner in British politics has angered many Labour MPs, prompting calls for the government to cease using X for postings.
The founder of Tesla and X has been openly critical of Mr. Starmer for the Prime Minister’s response to last summer’s British riots. He is reportedly considering donating up to $100m (£80m) to Reform Britain, and two weeks ago, he met with party leader Nigel Farage and treasurer Nick Candy, with whom he was photographed.
Musk’s recent online posts show strong support for the British far-right and follow his pledge to support Germany’s anti-immigration party, Alternative for Germany.
As one member of parliament commented: “[Musk] This time I went too far. Twitter [now X] is becoming a cesspit remarkably quickly, even for uninterested independents.”
Several ministers believe this should be the trigger for the government to distance itself from Musk’s platform, although some warn that doing so could create a diplomatic issue given Musk’s role in the upcoming Trump administration.
Downing Street declined to provide a comment.
A spokesperson for Reform UK did not indicate whether the billionaire’s support for Mr. Robinson, who is at odds within the party, would impact their willingness to accept funding from him.
A spokesperson for Oldham City Council stated: ‘Survivors are at the heart of our efforts to end child sexual exploitation, and their wishes remain our priority, regardless of the outcome of any future investigations. We have made a promise, and we intend to keep it.
“We all acknowledge the grave mistakes of the past where children were overlooked and neglected. By ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard, we can prevent the same failures from happening again.”
LLots of great stuff, date them all! It started as a joke. Envisioning a game in which a lonely remote worker starts chatting to furniture, Final Fantasy voice actors Ray Chase and Robbie Daymond immediately fell in love with the concept. What would happen if it really happened? It was A game where you can date literally anything?
A bizarre game of banging home appliances that boasts over 70,000 lines of dialogue and 100 dateable inanimate objects has become a reality. Working with Team 17 and fellow voice actress and producer Amanda Hufford, they brought their ridiculous concept to life, resulting in a game they describe as wholesome, frivolous, and fun.
You may be wondering how this works. Now, when players don Dateviators (VR glasses that turn inanimate household objects into talkable, dateable beings), inanimate furniture and appliances suddenly become very chatty, and within seconds I'm talking about a dishwasher and Start flirting.
“We knew we wanted to make sure it felt wholesome, that it was sexy, but in no way vulgar,” says Robbie Daymond. “Our mantra is that we want to create something that people won't feel embarrassed about if they come in. We're playing around with that.”
From tables and microwaves to fireplaces and televisions, there are “characters” you can write dates on, and each potential lover is brought to life by a different voice actor. Every appliance is decidedly and endearingly weird, from a surprisingly liberating microwave that makes you think you're fighting an interdimensional war to a gushing frat-boy fireplace dubbed “The Art of the Pick-Up Line.” is.
No need to be shy…date everything! Photo: Sassy Chap Games
They're also taking a different approach to paying actors fairly. “One of the superpowers we have is that we know a lot of people in the industry,” Daymond says. “We have a good relationship with [actors union] SAG and we were able to work out a deal that would give back the balance to the actors who worked on it. Thanks to a combination of clever scripting by TV writer Logan Burdick and great voice acting throughout, even my short demo gives me the following endearing freedom to see what happens next. I felt I had to meet a new appliance.
Although it sounds like a product of the pandemic, the premise of Date Everything was actually born in 2018 when Draymond wondered if anyone could empathize with the boredom and social deprivation of remote work. . “I’m really excited that something so surreal exists,” Burdick reflects. “I think it’s unbelievable that everyone got a chance.”
“I was a little skeptical when I started working with the team,” exclaims Jack, the game's quiet programmer. “But I was really impressed when I actually played it and saw how much care and attention was put into each character. A lot of games do primarily the same thing in slightly different ways. It's not a typical game, and that's very important today.”
In a dry January of 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alcohol statement pouring warm, stale lager, based on the idea that no matter how much alcohol you drink, it’s good for your health. There is no such thing as a safe drinkit was written.
Publication year lancet public healthThe statement states: “Alcohol is a toxic, psychoactive, and addictive substance; [was] It was classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer several decades ago.” It’s a sobering thought, and a surprise to those of us who celebrate our health with the occasional drink.
We all know that excessive drinking is associated with a variety of health problems, including damage to the liver, heart, mental health, and even increased risk of cancer. But most drinkers have also likely heard that small amounts of alcohol can have certain protective effects, such as reducing the risk of arteriosclerosis and lowering insulin resistance.
Of course, “moderate drinking” is a subjective measure. In the UK, this means between 7 and 14 units of alcohol per week (14 units is the equivalent of six pints of beer or one and a half bottles of wine). Belgian guidelines state that drinking 21 drinks a week for men and 14 drinks a week for women is “low risk”. So why did the WHO decide that consuming alcohol in any amount is bad?
Dry January was launched as a public health campaign in 2013 by Alcohol Change UK, a UK-based charity. – Photo credit: Getty
Well, the WHO statement was not issued in a vacuum. It explains that it partially arose from the debate over whether there is a “threshold” at which alcohol becomes carcinogenic. Dr. Jurgen Rehma PhD from the University of Toronto, researching the harms of alcohol and other drugs to public health.
“While being even, [the alcohol] “While the industry does not deny that alcohol is a carcinogen, there has been debate about potential thresholds,” he says.
“This led to a reassessment of the evidence and reiterated the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s statement that there is no lower limit.”
In other words, drinking just one drink a week increases your risk of cancer. This is consistent with what other researchers have found in recent years. “There’s a lot of research on breast cancer that shows that even drinking less than one drink a day can pose a risk,” Rehm says.
And it’s not just cancer. In 2021, scientists at the University of Oxford discovered that: No amount of alcohol is safe for brain functiontracks the loss of gray and white matter in the brain as alcohol intake increases.
They also found that while light drinkers appear to have a lower risk of heart disease than abstainers, it’s not vice that helps. Instead, the study found that light drinkers were more likely to engage in other healthy behaviors, such as exercising and quitting smoking. It was those, not the occasional shiraz, that were the beneficiary.
There is another interesting point that emerges from these and other studies. In most cases, the health risks from alcohol increase the more you drink.
“Many of the risk curves for alcohol are exponential,” Rehm says. “This means that the health benefits of reducing your daily drinks from four to two are much greater than reducing your daily drinks from two to zero.”
Nothing in life is without risk. So if you enjoy drinking occasionally, you may be able to tolerate the risk. “Personally, I don’t care about the risk of three glasses.” [a week]”Unless you’re genetically predisposed to cancer,” Rehm says.
For anyone cutting back after a very enjoyable Christmas, it’s natural to wonder whether Dry January should be a more permanent change. The evidence continues to mount and it is clear that less is more.
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About our experts
Dr. Jurgen Rehm She studies addiction at the University of Toronto, focusing on how social factors and policies influence drug use. His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Jelinek Memorial Award and the European Addiction Research Award.
In a life-size model of a house, a 50,000-pound mannequin capable of breathing, blinking, and coughing awaits a replica ambulance.
The remarkably lifelike technology developed by the model-makers who created the ‘bodies’ for the BBC’s Silent Witness integrates real-world training with simulated environments, including virtual reality, to enhance medical training and address the shortage of student lab time.
Kevin Reilly, technical services manager at the National Healthcare Innovation Center (NHIC), explains the capabilities of human patient simulation: “If you inject them, they’ll react. If they collapse your lungs and intubate you, your lips will become cyanotic. Even in worsening scenarios, we can resuscitate them exactly as we would a real patient.”
Yorkshire and the Humber region has the highest level of overweight individuals, the second highest infant mortality rate, and the third lowest life expectancy in the UK. NHIC, located at the University of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, aims to alleviate NHS staffing shortages, address inequality, and promote regeneration.
NHIC, spanning seven buildings upon completion, plans to serve a population of 7 million people from South Yorkshire to Greater Manchester, offering state-of-the-art facilities and innovative healthcare solutions.
The NHIC celebrates the history of the NHS while looking towards the future, honoring individuals like Daphne Steele, the first black hostel director in Britain, through the newly opened simulation facility.
The center’s innovative approach to medical training includes a ‘community house’ within the Daphne Steele building, allowing trainees to practice in realistic scenarios with a range of mannequins.
NHIC also addresses the need for healthcare workers, including nurses, paramedics, and podiatrists, in the face of NHS staffing challenges.
Local connections and a focus on skill development relevant to the region distinguish Huddersfield as a prime location for medical training, with the NHIC viewed as a groundbreaking project in the North of England.
Robert Steele, son of NHS worker Daphne Steele, praises NHIC’s tribute to his mother’s legacy, recalling her impactful career in healthcare that garnered global recognition.
The active fitness enthusiasts among us enjoy reaping the rewards of our workouts, whether it’s hitting the track for a run or refueling at the gym. But for the rest of us, finding time for a full workout can be a challenge, especially for those with busy schedules or young children. New research suggests that breaking up your physical activities throughout the day can be just as beneficial as longer workouts.
Studies have shown that incorporating small bursts of activity into your daily routine can help improve your overall health and longevity. Recent research indicates that even short periods of activity can have a positive impact on your health, particularly for those who are considered inactive and at risk of heart-related issues.
Thanks to advancements in movement tracking technology, scientists can now accurately monitor people’s activity levels, providing valuable insights into the benefits of even small amounts of physical activity. This precise measurement has revealed the significant impact that short, intense activities can have on overall health.
Research is highlighting the importance of “vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity” (VILPA), which includes short bursts of high-intensity activities like running up stairs as part of your daily routine. Studies have demonstrated that incorporating these types of activities into your day can lead to improved health outcomes.
While the World Health Organization recommends a certain amount of weekly physical activity, many people struggle to meet these guidelines. The idea of incorporating shorter bursts of activity throughout the day is gaining traction as a more achievable way to stay active and healthy.
Both VILPA and exercise snacks, which involve intentional bursts of activity, offer a more flexible approach to physical fitness. These concepts aim to make staying active more accessible, especially for individuals who may find traditional exercise routines challenging.
While short bursts of activity should not be seen as a replacement for longer workouts, they can be a valuable addition to your overall fitness routine. Experts emphasize that any physical activity, no matter how short, is beneficial for your health and well-being.
About our experts
Emmanuel Stamatakis: Professor of physical activity and population health, with extensive experience in sports medicine and research.
Lenert Veerman: Public health expert specializing in health economics and epidemiological modeling.
Tessa Strain: Postdoctoral fellow specializing in physical activity research and public health policy.
Jonathan Little: Professor known for developing the concept of “exercise snacks.”
The Antria Galaxy Cluster is a group of at least 230 galaxies brought together by gravity. This galaxy cluster is rare. Unlike most other galaxy clusters, there appears to be no dominant galaxy within it.
The Antria star cluster is dominated by two giant elliptical galaxies: NGC 3268 (center) and NGC 3258 (bottom right). Image credits: Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / R. Colombari & M. Zamani, NSF's NOIRLab.
Galaxy clusters, like stars and galaxies, are fundamental building blocks of the universe.
These structures typically contain thousands of galaxies of all ages, shapes, and sizes.
They have a mass about a million times the mass of the Sun and are formed over billions of years as groups of small galaxies slowly come together.
At one point, galaxy clusters were believed to be the largest structures in the universe, until they were supplanted by the discovery of superclusters in the 1980s. Its length spans hundreds of millions of light years.
However, there is one thing the cluster holds on to. Because superclusters are not held together by gravity, galaxy clusters still hold the title of the largest gravitationally bound structures in the universe.
“Galaxy clusters are some of the largest known structures in the known universe,” NOIRLab astronomers said in a statement.
“Current models suggest that these giant structures form as clumps of dark matter, and that the galaxies that form within them are pulled together by gravity to form groups of dozens of galaxies, which then merge to form groups of several dozen galaxies. This suggests that they form clusters of hundreds or even thousands of galaxies.
“One such group is antoria clusterlocated approximately 130 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Antolia. ”
The Antlia cluster, also known as Abell S636, 3rd closest Add it to the local group after the Virgo and Fornax clusters.
The new images of the Antolia star cluster were captured by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) mounted on NSF's Victor M. Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a program of NSF's NOIRLab.
It captures only a portion of the 230 galaxies so far discovered to make up this cluster, as well as thousands of background galaxies.
“Antria Cluster” host Two giant elliptical galaxies: NGC3268 and NGC 3258,” the astronomers said.
“These central galaxies are surrounded by numerous faint dwarf galaxies.”
“Based on X-ray observations that revealed the existence of a 'rope' of globular clusters along the optical peak region between these two galaxies, we believe that these two galaxies are in the process of merging. Masu.”
“This may be evidence that the Antlia cluster is actually two smaller clusters joined together.”
“The cluster is rich in lenticular galaxies (a type of disk galaxy with little interstellar medium and therefore little continuous star formation), as well as some irregular galaxies,” the researchers added. .
“Many rarer, lower-luminosity dwarf galaxies have been discovered within this cluster, including ultracompact dwarfs, compact elliptical galaxies, and blue compact dwarfs.”
“The Antria cluster may also contain subtypes of dwarf spheroidal and superdiffuse galaxies, but further investigation is needed to confirm these.”
“Many of these galaxy types have been identified within the past few decades, as advances in observational instruments and data analysis techniques have allowed us to better capture the low luminosity and relatively small size of these galaxies. It just happened.”
“Assessing galaxy types allows us to plot details of their evolution, and some galaxies are rich in dark matter, providing further opportunities to understand this mysterious material, which makes up 25% of the universe. We will provide it.”
The newly developed all-optical nanosensor is a luminescent nanocrystal that changes intensity and color when pushed or pulled. Probed only with light, allowing fully remote reading. No wires or connections required. They have force sensitivity that is 100 times better than existing nanoparticles that utilize rare earth ions for their optical response, with a force operating range of more than four orders of magnitude and a much wider range than other nanoparticles (10–100 times). Conventional optical nanosensor.
Illustration of atomic arrangement within a single lanthanide-doped nanocrystal. Each lanthanide ion can emit light. Image credit: Andrew Mueller / Columbia Engineering.
“Our discovery revolutionizes the sensitivity and dynamic range achievable with optical force sensors, and has implications for applications from robotics to cellular biophysics, medicine to space travel,” said Dr. Jim Shack, a researcher at Columbia University. We expect that this technology will immediately disrupt technology in this field.”
The new nanosensor enables high-resolution, multiscale capabilities for the first time in the same nanosensor.
This means that this nanosensor alone, rather than a series of different classes of sensors, can be used for the continuous study of forces from the subcellular level to the whole system level in engineered and biological systems such as embryonic development. It is important because it means , moving cells, batteries, or integrated NEMS, highly sensitive nanoelectromechanical systems in which the physical movement of nanometer-scale structures is controlled by electronic circuits and vice versa.
“Aside from their unparalleled multiscale sensing capabilities, what makes these force sensors unique is that they operate with benign, biocompatible, and deeply penetrating infrared light,” said Natalie, a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University. said Dr. Fardian Melamed.
“This will allow us to peer deeply into various technical and physiological systems and monitor health conditions from a distance.”
“These sensors will enable early detection of system malfunctions and failures, and will have a major impact on sectors ranging from human health to energy and sustainability.”
Researchers were able to construct these nanosensors by exploiting the photon avalanche effect within nanocrystals.
In photon avalanche nanoparticles, the absorption of a single photon within the material causes a chain reaction that ultimately leads to the emission of many photons. Therefore, one photon is absorbed and many photons are emitted.
The optically active components within the nanocrystals studied are atomic ions from the lanthanide series of elements of the periodic table, also known as rare earth elements, doped into the nanocrystals. In this study, the scientists used thulium.
They found that the photon avalanche process is very sensitive to several things, such as the spacing between lanthanide ions.
With this in mind, they tapped a piece of a photon avalanche nanoparticle (ANP) with an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip and found that the avalanche's behavior was influenced by these gentler forces than previously expected. I found that I was greatly affected.
“We discovered this almost by accident,” Shook said.
“We suspected that these nanoparticles were force-sensitive, so we measured the release while hitting the nanoparticles.”
“And they turned out to be much more sensitive than expected!”
“In fact, we couldn't believe it at first either. We thought the chip might be having a different effect.”
The authors knew how sensitive ANPs were, so they designed new nanoparticles that responded to force in different ways.
In one new design, nanoparticles change the color of their emitted light depending on the applied force.
In another design, they created nanoparticles that do not exhibit photon avalanches under ambient conditions, but start avalanching when a force is applied. These turned out to be very sensitive to forces.
They are now applying these force sensors to critical systems with the goal of making a big impact.
“The importance of developing new force sensors was recently highlighted by 2021 Nobel Prize Laureate Erdem Patapoutian. “It highlighted the difficulty of investigating biological processes,” said Dr. Shook.
“We are thrilled to be part of these discoveries that will transform the sensing paradigm and allow us to sensitively and dynamically map significant changes in forces and pressures in real-world environments that are unreachable with today's technology.” I think so.
aMany Kirawi create breakup playlists every time they get dumped, and there are three in total. A playlist featuring songs like Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” and OneRepublic’s “Apologize” would be the perfect soundtrack for a romantic split, but it wasn’t. The playlist was put together after Qirawi was told by three different banks and payment processors that they would no longer work with LaunchGood, a crowdfunding platform for the Muslim community that she co-founded.
Stripe said so. limit the work After working with LaunchGood for five years, we entered the crowdfunding space. Stripe also told the company that it no longer wanted to do any international humanitarian work, which is a prerequisite for crowdfunding platforms that cater to Muslim communities. Another bank told the company there were so many Muslim and Arabic names that it was difficult to know whether those names belonged to sanctioned individuals.
“People don’t realize that Muhammad is the most approved name,” said Kilawi, LaunchGood’s chief operating officer. With each layoff, it felt like LaunchGood was on the brink of collapse. “If we can’t accept payments, we can’t survive as a business,” she says.
Few existing options offered the stability and reliability that Killawi and his co-founders were looking for. So they did what a growing number of the founders of Islam have been doing ever since. It was about creating your own solution.
LaunchGood co-founders Amany Killawi, Chris Blauvelt, and Omar Hamid. Photo: LaunchGood
Now, more than a decade after its founding, LaunchGood is a well-known company that has helped its primarily Muslim user base raise nearly $700 million. Although the platform also hosts private fundraisers, LaunchGood is best known for: focus on philanthropy Users can also now set up automatic donations for every day of the holy month of Ramadan. It is the main gateway for many people during Ramadan, and many Muslims donate to charity every day during Ramadan.
The rise of this site and the challenges it faces are not unusual. According to studies and surveys, the “halal” consumer market, which includes halal food, financial services, and other goods and services aimed at Muslims, has grown to an estimated $2 trillion worldwide. Advisory company Dinar Standard. still 2022 survey Muslims are more likely than other religious groups to have their accounts closed, investigated, or challenged at banks and other U.S. financial institutions, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Social Policy Understanding (ISPU). More likely, businesses are effectively denied access to Muslim customers.
That’s why Kirawi decided to step away from his day-to-day responsibilities as LaunchGood’s chief operating officer and form a sister company, a payments processing company called PayGood, in 2024. She hopes to give what the LaunchGood team had to hack together to Muslim businesses and charities. As such, it is a non-discriminatory and reliable payment system.
“when [my co-founders and I] “We started 11 years ago and we just wanted to build a community,” Kirawi said. “We never thought we would have to become compliance experts. At some point, it felt very present. Can you survive in this world without financial access? ”
LaunchGood was one of the early entrants into the largely untapped Muslim-friendly technology space, while its sister company is a growing technology company aimed at catering to Muslims in the US, Canada, and the UK. Part of the enterprise and software companies. But what it means to be a Muslim-friendly company has begun to change since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. Targeting Muslim consumers has always meant some alignment with the ethics and values of the Muslim community, such as offering halal dating apps, interest-free loans, and modest clothing. Now, this new player in Muslim-friendly technology is openly responding to growing demand among its target customers to make it easier to stop contributing to Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. Or working on it implicitly.
“What happened in Gaza last year struck a completely different nerve,” Qirawi said. “Palestine is a perennial issue for Muslims, but the level and scale of destruction over the past year has been unprecedented. It has accelerated this entire Islamic ecosystem and economy.” There's a new awareness among people: “Let's vote.'' ”
Even PayGood, which is still in beta, is starting to emerge as an alternative to major payment processors like Stripe and PayPal as Muslims decide whether these existing platforms align with their values. .
HJeff Koons, the world’s most expensive artist, has faced criticism in the past for creating his famous balloon dogs and stainless steel rabbits without physically using his own hands. I have drawn a line. Work – I am contemplating using AI to enhance my work.
The art world is currently abuzz with discussions about the possibilities and risks of artificial intelligence. Deep learning models are now capable of replicating styles and generating unique compositions upon request.
Speaking to the Guardian at the launch of Reflections, a joint exhibition featuring his work alongside Pablo Picasso’s at Granada’s Alhambra Palace, Koons welcomed this divine development. His reliance on a team of craftsmen and cutting-edge technology to create his artwork led Collector magazine to question last year, “Is Jeff Koons a true artist?”
A work juxtaposed with Jeff Koons’ Ball of Gazes (David’s intervention with a Sabine woman) in Granada and Picasso’s Helmeted Head.
Koons has embraced technological advancements in his work. A highly mirror-polished stainless steel Rabbit he created five years ago, designed to mimic the look and materials of a balloon through intensive machining, fetched a record $91 million (£72.5 million). His previous bestseller, a 10-foot-tall steel balloon dog, sold for $58 million in 2013. Additionally, in February, 125 of his miniature lunar sculptures were sent to the moon via a SpaceX rocket, becoming the first authorized art pieces on the moon.
His Gazing ball series has been recreated, with a large blue glass bauble added to the shelf and selecting 35 out of 350 balls before finalizing the artwork. Koons is also exploring innovative avenues. He shared, “I have a few projects in mind. We have had insightful discussions with individuals at the forefront of AI development.”
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