Johns Hopkins Brings More Than 2,000 Staff Members Following USAID Cut by Trump

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Johns Hopkins University has announced that President Donald Trump’s administration will be cutting over 2,000 jobs due to the withdrawal of federal funding for numerous international aid projects. These projects include programs focused on preventing the spread of HIV in India and conducting clinical trials for diarrhea disease in Bangladesh.

The university, known for its significant scientific research contributions, stated that 1,975 jobs in the United States and 247 jobs internationally will be eliminated as a result of the cuts to the US’s international development institutes. Additionally, 78 employees in the US and 29 internationally based employees will be affected.

The institution expressed that this decision will have a major impact on important work being done both in Baltimore and abroad, totaling over $800 million in USAID funds being discontinued.

Researchers leading the affected programs warned that these cuts could lead to an increase in dangerous outbreaks. Furthermore, this change will also impact the economy of Baltimore since Johns Hopkins is the largest private employer in Maryland.

About Half of Johns Hopkins ' Last year's funding came from federal research dollarsaccording to a letter from university president Ron Daniels.

Similar employment freezes are being implemented at other universities across the country in response to budget cuts from the Trump administration. Notable institutions like Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Notre Dame have halted faculty hiring.

Additionally, recent actions by the Trump administration include canceling a $400 million grant to Columbia University and revoking $30 million in funding from the University of Maine.

As a result, more than 50 universities are facing scrutiny as the administration aims to terminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

Despite criticism, the White House has defended the decision to streamline federal agencies, stating that it will free up more resources for scientific research.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins are concerned about the impact of the cuts to USAID programs on the communities they serve, especially regarding HIV prevention efforts in India. Dr. Sunil Solomon, involved in the HIV detection and prevention research program ‘Accelerate,’ highlighted the potential negative consequences of program closures.

Dr. Judd Walson, chair of Johns Hopkins’s Department of International Health, expressed concern over the closure of programs such as a Tuberculosis Research Program and clinical trials in Bangladesh focused on reducing cholera and other diarrheal diseases.

The decision to end these programs has raised alarms about the potential effects on public health security worldwide, according to Walson.

In Baltimore, the economic implications of these cuts are also significant, with Johns Hopkins contributing billions to the Maryland economy and supporting tens of thousands of jobs in the state.

Further threats to Johns Hopkins loom as the Trump administration attempts to limit National Institutes of Health payments to universities for research grants. Legal challenges are ongoing, with the university potentially facing significant financial impact.

Johns Hopkins received over $1 billion in grant funding from the NIH in 2024, and the proposed cuts to indirect fee payments could have substantial financial consequences for the institution.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

A new species of bird discovered in Indonesia

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

A mysterious new species of Honey Eater myzomela It is explained by an international team of ornithologists from Malaysia, India, the UK and the US.

Babar Mizomera (Myzomela babarensis). Image credit: James A. Eaton.

myzomela It is the largest and most geographically extensive genus of the Honey Eater family. Merifagidae.

It currently contains more than 40 scientifically recognized species, first described in 1827 by naturalists Nicholas Vigers and Thomas Horsefield.

myzomela From Indonesia to Australia and Pacific islands, from Micronesia and Samoa.

The genus is a colorful, nectar-eating bird. They are important elements of the island’s ecosystem and often constitute some of the most abundant canopy birds in eastern Indonesia.

In the new study, Birdlife international ornithologist Alex Berryman and colleagues made a taxonomic revision of three populations called The Species. Banda Mizomera (Myzomela boiei)).

“We investigated the taxonomy Myzomela boiei“A colorful, sexually dimorphic honey eater distributed in two subspecies in three island groups in the Banda Sea in southern Marc,” the researchers explained.

“Myzomela Boiei Boiei Occurs in the Banda Islands Myzomela boiei Annabella occurs in Babar (and possibly its satellites) and in Taninbaru Islands (at least Yamdena and Serral, and perhaps the whole). ”

“With the addition of Damard, Leti Islands, Kisar and other small islands, these islands form the “Banda Sea Island,” a region with relatively low bird diversity but high endemic as expected. ”

The author examined 28 museum specimens and 21 sound recordings Myzomela boieiand 152 regeneration experiments were also performed.

The specimens were provided by the New York State Museum of Natural History and the Natural History Museum of Tring.

Sound recordings have been verified xeno-canto.org and Macaulay Libraryand by contacting sound recorders who visited the relevant island.

“compared to Myzomela Boiei Annabellae, Myzomela Boiei Boiei C. There are 10% longer wings, bills and Tulsas, a wider black chest band, lower duskier rear, and a very diverse song. In the regeneration experiment, Myzomela Boiei Boiei It has been proven to not respond to recordings of Myzomela Boiei AnnabellaeThe scientist said.

“But the song Myzomela boiei The Annabella of Taninbar and Babar are also very diverse, with the population of both islands not responding to songs from other islands. ”

“Babar birds are also slightly larger Myzomela Boiei Annabellae With Taninbar (has a 10% longer tail), there may be more scar colour on the back. ”

It has been named Myzomela babarensis (The generic name is Babar Mizomera), the newly described species is probably endemic to Babar, which contains five small satellites on the island.

“Myzomela boiei Currently listed as At least concern On the IUCN Red List,” the researcher said.

“Proposed department Myzomela boiei It may be superficially suggest that each of the three range-limited species may increase the risk of extinction. All populations are highly adaptable to habitat degradation and are common within their respective ranges. ”

“Myzomela babarensis As it occurs in all types of wooded habitats, including “degraded farmland,” its population is likely to be little affected by the ongoing forest degradation of Babar. ”

“We propose that Myzomela boiei, Myzomela annabellae and Myzomela babarensis It's best to consider At least concern. ”

Team's paper It was published in Brief news from the British Ornithologists' Club.

____

Alex J. Berryman et al. 2025. Taxonomic revision of Banda Mizomera Myzomela boiei (S. Muller 1843) includes an explanation of a new species of Babar Island, Indonesia. Brief news from the British Ornithologists' Club 145(1):35-48; doi:10.25226/bboc.v145i1.2025.a4

Source: www.sci.news

The intoxicated detective was seen at a concert

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

when Yang Scott Wilkinson, the band's frontman previously known as British sea power, was first asked to work on the soundtrack for a video game, he was skeptical. “We didn't know much about the game, but it seems our manager Dave thinks there's something interesting about this Robert guy who made him a pleasant hound,” he says. It was Estonian novelist Robert Kruvitz, a member of a team just beginning an esoteric video game job about an alcoholic police officer trying to solve murders in a poor part of a war-torn country. The game is Disco Elysium and is now considered one of the best brain role-playing games of all time.

Kurvitz is Sea Power Superfan. If you choose a random scene from the game, some ocean power references will be available. Wilkinson tells me that Kluvitz is “full of fascinating and bubbly passion,” and that he knows the unsettling number of “strange details about our music.” Kluvitz had already embedded some of these “very vague” sea force references into the world of Disco Elysium before they met. Whether the band liked it or not, they were already caught up in this quirky Estonian world.

“[Disco Elysium] Wilkinson regrets. “It was weird, messed up, messed up, messed up, messed up, messed up… Kruvitz seemed to have made the usual myth.”

A common myth… Disco Elysium. Photo: za/um

The game is about the perennial pull between fascism and communism. Police violence; the importance of communities in the face of state oppression. Alcoholism; homosexuality; the politics of poverty. And a real, small, pixel-sized hole. It directed the power of the ocean towards the ground. After all, the band was writing music about the slow and dangerous collapse of the planet as the ice shelves slipped into the sea. Orkney had a gloomy, reflective track about obscure waters. They waxed lyrically about the virtue of being an EU citizen (naturally pre-Brexit). The band has always embraced the miserable along with the beautiful. Wilkinson is especially complemented by the game's “strange sense of humor.”

The first meeting between them took place in Birmingham. “Birmingham is a strange place. Its own world. Its character is very strong,” reflects Wilkinson. “perhaps [Kurvitz] Have you ever been to Alan Moore for a magical blessing? [To meet us] It's a spiritual home of heavy metal and Shire Tolkien's inspiration… it seems oddly fitting. I had never thought about it before. “

New to the world of video games, Sea Power took direction from Kurvitz, who was caught up in a pool of tides of his vision for most of the project. Wilkinson says Kluvitz has a plan and “a gross knowledge of the album and the unusual EPS and B-side.” So much of the game's songs come from existing ocean powertracks, reworked, remixed, and recoded, combined with watercolors that define the declined world of disc erythium.

Game “Thought Cabinet”… Covers art for Disco Elysium soundtrack. Illustration: za/um

“Thinking about that, some of the tracks we used in the game continued their presence on the next album,” says Wilkinson. “So working on the game not only pulled from our past, it also impacted our future.”

Disco Elysium's songs are stripped away, exposing core melodies and are a little less dense than what you've heard on a standard Sea Power album. There are fewer vocal melodies, longer, more dreamy sequences. The explicit story is stripped away, and you are left with a soundscape, a painting by Turner as a song. “In general, songs had to be distilled into a basic mood that suited the scene. They're going to abolish those that were competing with that mood and usually add a bit of a dreamy liminal threat,” says Wilkinson.

“There's so much dialogue and the visuals do a lot, so music really needs to reach into the subconscious and open the gates of the mind, helping the brain absorb words and images and get them completely immersed. And it was artistically fun… I love creating textures of atmosphere and sounds just as much as writing choruses and words. Maybe sometimes.”

Sea Power is also working on the film's soundtrack, calling the fictional 1934 Irish documentary Man of Aran. This is an experience that will help Wilkinson know what to expect from creating a soundtrack for the game, despite some important differences.

“The game is a little more comfortable when it comes to timing,” he says. “When you use a movie, you know exactly that hitting clues is often important and different moods need to change direction. It can be more mathematical. This game required a more general mood texture to sit behind the scenes and melt and enhance the senses of different regions of the world. I'm definitely going to work on more games. I love games like Disco Elysium, but it's very rare.”

This spring, Sea Power is embarking on a mini tour called Soundtracks Live. The set features various tracks from different Disco Elysium songs, Man of Allan soundtrack works, and other documentary feature films from the ocean to the land beyond. Wilkinson is excited about the prospect of performing these tracks live, especially for the audience of Disco Elysium fans.

“The game required a general mood texture to sit behind the scenes”… Disco Elysium. Photo: za/um

“Since then, we have achieved remarkable growth in our listeners. [the game was released]” he says. “They look like a cool, thoughtful bunch, these disco erythium players. They're grateful. The strange drunken detective was spotted along the crash barrier of the gig.”

The relationship between disco erythium and the power of the sea was symbiotic. They have given each other new lives. Sea Power has found bulging in listeners as a result of the game, and existing Sea Power fans have discovered a new love for video games as a result of their collaboration. And relationships are still evolving.

“In our first meeting, [Kurvitz] He said he was working very hard to reorder the tracklist for our album Valhalla Dancehall,” Wilkinson smiles. “Hmm, Valhalla Dancehall, Disco Elysium… Are there any links?” The band is currently considering this revised tracklist for the album's anniversary reissue. “He's extremely talented and intelligent, too, too, all the core creators of the game. I don't think that through the game, many people don't realize that nods to the world of ocean power. When it became a huge hit all over the world, it was strange, and we were proud to be part of that story.

“And of course, he nods, “We then got the Bafta.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Two NASA astronauts are launched into the space station by a new crew and begin the return process.

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Four astronauts were launched into orbit on their way to the International Space Station on Friday evening. The astronauts included NASA’s Anne McLain and Nicole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Onysia, and Russian astronaut Kirill Peskov. They were lifted from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 7:03 pm and soared into the blue sky over Florida approximately 48 hours after the initial launch.

“This mission is evidence of what humans can achieve when we work together,” Ayers radioed mission control during the smooth countdown.

The Crew 10 mission is part of the regular rotation of NASA crew members to the space station. This particular mission is drawing more attention as it involves the anticipated return of NASA astronauts Snie Williams and Butch Willmore back to Earth.

Crew-10 Mission Roscosmos Cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, NASA ASTRONUTS NICHOLE AYERES and ANNE MCCLAIN and JAXA ASTRONAUT TAKUYA ONISHI on Wednesday.Gregg Newton / AFP / Getty Images

Williams and Wilmore have been in the spotlight for months due to unusual circumstances in orbit. They were initially scheduled for a one-week stay in June as part of a test flight for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft but encountered vehicle issues that extended their stay at the space station.

The new crew will relieve Williams, Wilmore, and two others for a six-month stint at the space station, including NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Alexander Golvnov.

The crew of Crew 10 was launched atop the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The first reusable booster stage successfully returned to Earth about ten minutes after liftoff, landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

“Tonight was an honor to fly with you,” said a SpaceX flight director to the crew in orbit. “We will support you on your journey and wish you the best.”

The crew of 10 astronauts will spend over 28 hours in low-Earth orbit traveling to the space station. They are expected to reach the space station on Saturday. The return crew could depart as early as March 19th, according to NASA.

More than 270 people arrived at the space station. NASA astronauts Butch Willmore and Suni Williams arrived on June 6th.NASA

The recent launch attempts added drama to the situation. The countdown was halted on Wednesday with 40 minutes remaining due to a ground system issue at the launch pad. The astronauts were already strapped inside the dragon capsule when the decision was made.

The Crew 10 Group consists of a mix of experienced astronauts and first-timers, all with a background as pilots. McLain and Onisi are visiting the space station for the second time, while Ayers and Peskov are on their first space flight journey.

Arrivals at the space station mark the beginning of a handover period which includes training new crews and catching up on scientific experiments, maintenance work, and other projects.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is being prepared for launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday.Craig Bailey/Reuters

Williams, Wilmore, Hague, and Golbunov are expected to return to Earth via the SpaceX Dragon Capsule, where Hague and Golbunov originally flew to the space station. The Starliner spacecraft, which encountered issues, is being brought back to Earth without any crew onboard.

The extended stay of Williams and Wilmore in low-earth orbit has gained political attention, with claims by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump regarding their return to Earth. However, NASA has planned to use SpaceX vehicles for the return journey since the announcement in August.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

New and Exciting Theories on the Origins of Life on Earth

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

As we know, the sparks between the droplets may have begun life

Shutterstock/Perry Correll

SEI 243832744 — As we know, the sparks between the droplets may have begun life

Shutterstock/Perry Correll

The first molecules needed for life on Earth may have been created when small flickers of “microlites” between water droplets triggered a necessary chemical reaction.

“This is a new way to think about how the building blocks of life were formed,” he says. Richard Zare At Stanford University in California.

There was a lasting hole in our knowledge of the origin of life. In particular, how simple gases react to produce organic molecules that combine carbon with nitrogen, such as proteins and enzymes, and the lives we know depend on.

“When you look at the gas people thought they were on the early planet, they don’t contain any carbon-nitrogen bonds,” says Zare. “They are gases like methane, water, ammonia, nitrogen.”

Experiments by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey In 1952, electricity revealed that water and such gases can be converted into necessary organic molecules, but the hypothesis was that electrical energy came from lightning.

However, the unlikely chance that lightning will hit high concentrations of gases into the diluted spread of the ocean or atmospheric means that many people have never been convinced that it is behind the emergence of life on Earth about 4 billion years ago.

Now, Zare and his colleagues spray water droplets into a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia and nitrogen gas, showing that external power sources can lead to the formation of organic molecules with unnecessary carbon-nitrogen bonds.

Zare says that water spray droplets produce small charges, which works. “Smaller droplets are negatively charged, while larger droplets are actively charged,” he says. This depends on what is called the Renl effect, where waterfall-like droplets collide and split, creating charge.

However, what the team discovered using high-speed cameras was that, on the other hand, a small flash of electricity, what Zare calls microlites, jumped between them, when the charged droplets were close enough.

This is like how static electricity is generated, or how lightning is accumulated in the clouds and discharged. “When water droplets come within nanometers of each other, we get an electric field, which causes a failure,” he says.

Microlite flashes carried enough energy (approximately 12 electron volts) to allow gas molecules to lose electrons and react with each other, and produced organic molecules through carbon-nitrogen bonds containing one of the components of RNA, hydrogen cyanide, amino acid glycine and uracil.

“It’s amazing that microlites can start chemistry starting with nitrogen. But the reported observations are compelling.” Veronica Vaida University of Colorado at Boulder University. “It brings a new, yet unreported role for water in the origin of life.”

This piece means it was sufficient to provide the chemicals needed to start on this planet, says Zare.

Water sprays are ubiquitous, often landing on rocks, allowing organic chemicals to accumulate in the gaps, he says. The area will then dry and moisten again. Such wet dry cycles are known to combine shorter molecules with longer molecules.

“This study suggests that microlites were abundant in early Earth’s water-rich environments, and could have driven prebiotic chemistry, especially when other energy sources such as lightning and ultraviolet rays were rare.” Kumar Vanka At the National Institute of Chemistry, Pune, India.

Vaida believes that this work also influences searching for extraterrestrial life. We may need to look for a place that allows small droplets to collide, she says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

“Author Reacts to AI-Generated Short Stories: A Computer Joke, To Us” | Books

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

tHis week signifies a shift in the writing landscape, with stories now being produced by AI models specialized in creative writing. Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGpt Company Openai, commends the new model, suggesting that it is excelling in its creative endeavors. Writer Janet Winterson recently praised a metafiction piece on grief generated by the AI, lauding its beautiful execution. Various authors have been invited to assess ChatGpt’s current writing capabilities.

Nick Halkaway

I find the story to be elegantly hollow. Winterson’s idea of treating AI as “alternative intelligence” intrigues me, painting a picture of an entity with which we can engage in a relationship resembling consciousness. However, I fear it may be akin to a bird mistaking its reflection for a mate in a windowpane. What we are truly dealing with here is software, as these companies extract creative content to develop marketable tools. The decisions made by the government in this regard hold significant weight, determining whether the rights of individual creators will be preserved or tech moguls will be further empowered.

This could be a turning point for creators to establish a fair market for their data training through opt-in copyrights, enabling them to set prices and regulate the use of their work. With governmental backing, creatives can stand on equal footing with billion-dollar corporations. This may lead to creators selling their narratives for adaptation into films and TV shows.

The government’s primary choice—an opt-out system favoring tech giants—urges individuals to comply unless they voice objections. This results in many people opting out and returning to square one, where no one truly benefits.

One hopes that selecting a David over a Goliath scenario will not pose insurmountable challenges. However, these are policy decisions, and the outcomes are deliberate choices.

Tracy Chevalier

A story with a metafictional premise delves into a navel-gazing realm that may seem more ludicrous than the worst AI creative writing scenario one can imagine. Sam Altman, usually seen as a technical expert, quickly grasps these nuances, guiding us through the complexities.

I am eager to witness more AI-generated “creative writing,” as it assimilates ideas, imagery, and language borrowed from established writers. The question lingers—can we fuse these elements into a cohesive narrative that encapsulates the mystical essence of humanity? Describing this essence in words is a challenge, but currently, I sense it slipping away. AI is rapidly evolving, and I fear for the future of my craft once it attains that elusive spark of magic.

Camilla Shamsey

If a Master’s student submitted this short story in my class, I would not immediately recognize it as AI-generated. I am intrigued by the promising quality of work being produced by AI at this early stage of development. However, my mind is consumed by reflections on writing, creativity, AI, and the interplay of these factors within myself.

There is a concern highlighted by Madhumita Murgia regarding the replication of existing power structures within AI, further marginalizing minority voices. Detecting influences from Sun Clara and Sun in a short story does not stem from the author’s admiration for Ishiguro’s work, but rather from the linguistic patterns ingrained during training. This raises questions about copyright infringement and how it might impact perceptions of my own novel.

As a writer, I must contemplate the implications for my livelihood and craft. Referring to AI as a “toddler” may be misleading, as it humanizes a non-human entity. Despite these uncertainties, I eventually found myself engrossed in an AI-generated short story, appreciating its narrative without dwelling on the technological aspect. The day a compelling AI narrative emerges is both exhilarating and foreboding.

David Badiel

Some critics argue that the story lacks genuine sentiment, portraying a “ghost democracy” akin to the metaphorical depth in Bob Dylan’s lyrics. However, I find the story clever in its metafictional prompts, drawing readers into a realm where imagination blurs the lines between human and machine. The narrative prompts introspection on the essence of humanity, utilizing human emotions like sadness to mimic a semblance of humanity.

Despite a facade of melancholy, the story constantly reminds readers of its artificial nature. The central character, Mira, and the accompanying emotions are fabrications, looping endlessly in a vacuum of emptiness. This mirrors the essence of a machine, existing in a paradox—simulating sadness without truly experiencing it. It’s a comical commentary on feigning sadness when devoid of genuine emotion, akin to a computer jesting with human sentiments. In a sense, it could be attributed to Borges’ style of storytelling.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Is it wise for the government to utilize AI to reform the state?

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The Trump administration wants to streamline the US government to use AI to increase efficiency

Greggory Disalvo/Getty Images

SEI 243837055 — The Trump administration wants to streamline the US government to use AI to increase efficiency

Greggory Disalvo/Getty Images

What is artificial intelligence? This is a question scientists wrestled in the 1950s when Alan Turing asked, “Can you think of a machine?” With large-scale language models (LLMs) like ChatGpt unlocking around the world, finding the answer is more pressing than ever before.

Although their use is already widespread, the social norms around these new AI tools are still evolving rapidly. Should students use them to write essays? Will they replace your therapist? And can they turbocharge the government?

That last question is being asked in both the US and the UK. Under the new Trump administration, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force is eliminating federal workers and deploying chatbots with those who have left GSAIs behind. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer calls it a “money opportunity” that will help rebuild the nation.

Certainly there are government jobs that can benefit from automation, but is LLMS a suitable tool for the job? Part of the problem is that they don’t agree with what they actually are. This was properly demonstrated this week
New Scientist Using the Freedom of Information (FOI) law, we acquired the ChatGPT interaction of Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. Politicians, data privacy experts, journalists, and in particular we were amazed at how a request was recognized.

The release of the records suggests that the UK government considers ChatGpt to be similar to ministerial conversations with civil servants via email or WhatsApp. Both are subject to the FOI Act. Kyle’s interactions with ChatGpt show no strong reliance on AI to form serious policies. One of his questions was about which podcasts they should appear on. However, the fact that the FOI request has been granted suggests that some governments seem to believe that AI can speak like humans.

As
New Scientist LLM is currently responsible for spitting out the inaccuracies of sound that are as compelling as they provide useful advice, rather than intelligent in a meaningful sense. Furthermore, their answers reflect the inherent bias in the information they ingested.

In fact, many AI scientists are increasingly seeing the view that LLMS is not the route to the lofty goals of artificial general information (AGI). We can match or surpass what humans can do. For example, in a recent survey of AI researchers, around 76% of respondents said that it is “impossible” or “very unlikely” that current approaches will succeed in achieving AGI.

Instead, perhaps we need to think of these AIs in new ways.
Write in a journal
Science this weeka team of AI researchers stated that “it should not be seen primarily as intelligent agents, but as a new kind of cultural and social technology, allowing humans to access information accumulated by other humans.” Researchers compare LLM to “past technologies such as writing, printing, markets, bureaucracy, and representative democracy” that changed the way information was accessed and processed.

This way, the answers to many questions are clearer. Can the government use LLM to increase efficiency? It’s almost certainly true, but only when used by people who understand their strengths and limitations. Should interactions with chatbots be subject to the Freedom of Information Act? Perhaps existing sculptures designed to give the minister a “safe space” for internal deliberations should be applied. And, as Turing asked, can the machine think? no. still.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

AI researchers doubt that current models will result in AGI

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Many AI companies say their models are on the path to artificial general information, but not everyone agrees

Manaure Quintero/AFP via Getty Images

Tech companies have argued that simply expanding their current AI models will lead to artificial general information (AGI). However, the performance of modern models is high, so AI researchers doubt that today's technology will lead to tighter systems.

In a survey of 475 AI researchers, approximately 76% of respondents said they were “impossible” or “very unlikely” to succeed in achieving AGI by expanding their current approach. The survey results are part of a Report by the Society for Progress in Artificial Intelligence, an International Association for Science based in Washington, DC.

This is a noticeable shift in the “need to scale” attitude that has spurred high-tech companies since the launch of the generative AI boom in 2022. Since then, most of the cutting-edge achievements have been trained by increasing the amount of data, which has resulted in improved performance. However, they appear to be stagnant with their latest releases, showing only progressive changes in quality.

“The enormous investment in scaling seemed to be constantly left behind, accompanied by comparable efforts to understand what was going on.” Stuart Russell He was a member of the panel that compiled the report at the University of California, Berkeley. “I think it began to be clear to everyone that about a year ago the benefits of scaling in the traditional sense took away the layers.”

Nevertheless, tech companies plan to spend collectively Estimated $1 trillion Support AI ambitions with data centers and chips for the next few years.

Hype about AI technology may explain why 80% of survey respondents said their current perceptions of AI capabilities were not consistent with reality. “Systems that are declared to match human performance, such as coding problems and mathematical problems, are making painstaking mistakes.” Thomas Neetteric He contributed to the report at Oregon State University. “These systems are extremely useful tools to support research and coding, but they do not intend to replace human workers.”

AI companies have recently focused on what is called inference time scaling, which takes longer for AI models to use more computing power and process queries before responding. Arvind Narayanan At Princeton University. However, he says that this approach is “a unlikely to become a silver bullet” to reach the AGI.

High-tech companies often describe AGI as their ultimate goal, but the very definition of AGI is unstable. There is Google DeepMind explained It is a system that can outperform all humans in a series of cognitive tests, and Huawei has Proposed To reach this milestone, we need a body that allows AI to interact with its environment. Internal reports for Microsoft and Openai It is listed Considering that AGI can only be achieved if Openai develops a model that can generate $100 billion in profits.

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artificial intelligence/
Computing

Source: www.newscientist.com

Baftas showcase the creativity of games, from Neva to Highland Song

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

IT is easy to be a little troubled by his recent fate. Last week I saw a video of Trump Gaza generated by a vicious AI, and was so appalled that I made the kayak guide book an impulse. It felt like the only sane response was to bring it into the water and let go of the paddle.

While video games are a reliable antidote to existential fate, layoffs, corporate homogenization, and AI slops all have invaded my safe haven, making it even more difficult to get a simple reprieve from what's happening in the outside world. And I would like to thank you for your nominations for the BAFTA Games Awards.

2025 picks have been announced Last week (as many readers know, there is a tradition now). In my opinion, BAFTA events are the most exclusive and most commercial shows of the Game Awards show, and its judging panels are a mix of video game industry experts and post-BAFTA membership experts, typically with the widest range of picks. I've always seen a lot of what I personally like about video games with these nominations: their pure creative variations and vitality. (Disclosure: Over the years I have been involved with these screening panels in a variety of abilities, but not 2025.)

There will be no appointments for SuperB Indiana Jones and The Gread Circle, as the eligibility period runs from November 2023 to November 2024. (I feel very sorry for the amazing game that came out in December.) One of my favorites I played was making the cut. A magical, authentic game about ramming through the Scottish mountains, Highland Song appears in Best British games along with another Scottish set game that wakes deep, a space horror thriller set on North Sea oil rig. Yorkshire-ish comedy is grateful you're here! It also won this award, as did LEGO Horizon Adventure, Paper Trail and Hellblade II.

Hellblade II is actually the most nominated entire game and appears in 11 categories. Meanwhile, I awaken deep things and thank you for appearing at the age of 8 and being here at the age of 7. If I could be forgiven for a very gentle patriotism, the UK gaming industry should be very proud of last year's production. This was generally scary for people working in the play business.

Personal favourites… The game about Neva, Warrior and Her Wolf is nominated for the Artistic Achievement Award. Photo: Neva

The fun is appreciated that you are here! Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Balatro, Helldivers 2, and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, have become the best game category, the game I liked more than most others. There are a lot of big games here in different categories, but what I like about BAFTAS is that indie games aren't relegated to their own specific categories. Anywherebringing you a fun, unpredictable slate. Stop motion submarine puppet adventure game Harold Halibrib and Warrior and Wolf environmentalist action game Neva (My Personal Favorite) has been awarded the Artistic Achievement Award, adjacent to large titles such as Astro Bot and Wukong.

The vague “Games Beyond Entertainment” category has always been my favorite due to its vague definition. These are all games with a broader meaning than what is meant to be. We have kind words. There, you can send a wonderful message to strangers or send your worries to the world. There is a botanical mansion about exploring the Victorian botanist's home. The Story of Kenzera: Zau is informed by the director's grief after his father's death. Tetris Forever is a fascinating interactive documentary about block-drawing games and insight into the wild times of video games history. Perhaps because of the portrayal of life with mental illness, Hellblade is there as well. And then there is a vampire therapist. You are a cowboy who speaks immortal undead through their emotional baggage. I've never heard of this game so I'll download it right away.

Last year's awards were so comprehensively dominated by Baldur's Gate 3, the show usually lacked a surprising trend, but many categories this year are far more demanding. The show will be held on April 8th at 7pm on BST at 7pm, with comedian Philwan re-running, making almost all of this nomination list worthwhile winners. That being said, if Lipentagio doesn't get the best story, I'm a fummie if it's a brilliantly smart and greatest roleplay game metaphor: Lipentagio doesn't get the best story.

What to do

Wonderstop. Photo: Ivy Road/Anapurna

Wonderstop The game is a formerly terrifying warrior and forced to run a whimsical tea shop in the fantasy forest, and she is not happy about it. It's also a game about burnout. Co-authored by Davey Wreden (The Stanley Paraable, The Beginners Guide) and Karla Zimonja (Hone Home) discover that he had invested too much in his work and was suddenly taken away from meaning when he couldn't function like he used to. (I don't know what you're talking about.)

Available at:PS5,Xbox,PC
Estimated playtime: 10 hours

What to read

Landmarks in the world of explorable 3D games… The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina Era from 1998. Photo: Nintendo

Inspired by the BAFTA investigation, I asked a lot of interesting and prominent people for them The most influential video game ever. No two chose the same game. Most of their choices were very beautifully esoteric and I found it obviously boring to choose something relatively predictable.
Sony is experimenting AI-driven game characters: That's what the AI version of Aloy on Horizon was It leaked to the bargespeak to the player in a synthesized voice. Important Reminder: Horizon is the story of how greedy technocrats destroyed the Earth with the help of AI.
there is New “official” trailer for Our Last In season 2, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay returned as Heroes Joel and Ellie. Those of us who have played the game will know there are plenty of trailers it's not Show it…
Speaking of trailers, there is a 10 minute (yes, 10) trailer Death Scheme 2It will be released on June 26th. As it's a game of Kojima Hideo, it looks like equal parts are creative and confusing And it's totally weird.

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What to click

Question block

Trigger warning for vegetarians…Monster Hunter: The World. Photo: Capcom

leader Robin We provide questions for this week:

“Here's the question I can't get out of my head: How can I play Monster Hunter! ? I'm not creaking at all, but I was able to barely pass a training session that involved in hurting harmless creatures trapped in the arena. I was tired and my son was scared. Then some innocent creatures were about to die, and I was pulling on my stupid face and taking pictures of the poor the last time it breathed. And what prompted you to leave the game if Monster Hunter didn't do that for you? ”

This is such a valid question! I was a vegetarian for 12 years, but throughout, I was willing to cut off the majestic creatures. Monster Hunter And I was proud of my achievements. I'm so fascinated by this dichotomy that I wrote an entire article about it when Monster Hunter: World came out in 2018. Quote yourself.

Whether it's Monster Hunter or Game of Thrones, one of the features of fantasy violence is to reflect the role that violence plays in the real world and in the human nature. Monster Hunter may involve murder, but it also restores humans to the hierarchy of nature… pretending to fight hunters in my spare time is probably the outlet for slave carnivorous animals.

I'm no longer a vegetarian, but I fully acknowledge the dissonance between respecting and admiring these incredible virtual creatures and killing them to make flashy helmets. The latest game has many cognitive somersaults in its story, as killing these dangerous beasts does it to protect people and ecosystems. But at the base level, it's fun so I'm doing it, and that teeth It's quite gloss on one level. Another thing: it's fantasy. I personally feel more comfortable killing virtual dragons than killing virtual people, as I have no judgment for first-person shooters at all.

To Part 2 of Your Question: One Instant Grand Theft Auto v It made me uncomfortable and I had to take my partner to play through the scene for me. A scene from the story involving a hillbilly psycho capturing and torture a Middle Eastern man. You have no choice but to be active and it made me feel nauseous. It is clearly intended to be a satirical commentary on the immediate torture of the US government after 9/11,

Source: www.theguardian.com

Tesla warns US government that Trump’s trade war could have negative impact on EV companies

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Tesla, led by Elon Musk, is cautioning about the potential repercussions of Donald Trump’s trade war. They warned that retaliatory tariffs could harm not only electric car makers but also other American automakers.

In a letter to US trade representative Jamieson Greer, Tesla emphasized the importance of considering the broader impacts of trade actions on American businesses. They stressed the need for fair trade practices that do not inadvertently harm US companies.

Tesla urged the US Trade Representative (USTR) office to carefully evaluate the downstream effects of proposed actions to address unfair trade practices. They highlighted the disproportionate impact that US exporters often face when other countries respond to trade actions taken by the US.

The company, which has been a supporter of Trump, expressed concerns about potential tariffs on electric vehicles and parts imported to targeted countries. They cited past instances where trade disputes led to increased tariffs on vehicles and parts manufactured globally.

As Tesla continues to navigate the challenges of trade policies, they emphasized the importance of considering implementation timelines and taking a step-by-step approach to allow US companies to prepare and adapt accordingly.

Meanwhile, German automaker BMW reported a decline in net profit due to trade tariffs. They highlighted the impact of US trade actions on their business performance and reiterated the challenges posed by a competitive global environment.

BMW’s forecast takes into account various tariffs, including those on steel and aluminum. The company faces challenges in China, where local EV manufacturers are gaining market share, leading to a decline in BMW and Mini sales.

Despite these obstacles, BMW remains committed to navigating the complexities of trade and geopolitical developments to maintain business resilience and performance.

Source: www.theguardian.com

CEOpromotes Child Protecting parents from worrying about kids Roblox games

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The platform’s CEO advises parents concerned about their children using Lobras not to allow them to use it.

Reports of bullying and grooming have surfaced, making the site the most popular among UK gamers aged 8 to 12, raising fears of exposure to explicit or harmful content.

David Basizakki, co-founder and CEO of Roblox, told BBC News that the platform is committed to safeguarding users and that millions have had positive experiences on the site.

However, he emphasized the importance of parental comfort and empowerment in making decisions regarding their children’s use of Roblox, mentioning the platform’s vigilance against negative behaviors and its collaboration with law enforcement when necessary.

Justin Roberts from Mumsnet highlighted the challenge parents face in monitoring their children’s online activities, especially with multiple children, expressing how managing their children’s Roblox use is a common struggle among forum users.

Roblox, a US-based company, boasts a large user base, surpassing the Nintendo Switch and Sony PlayStation combined, with over 80 million daily players in 2024, 40% of whom are under 13 years old.

The platform enforces consequences for misbehavior, utilizes advanced AI systems to detect problematic behaviors, and limits certain features for younger users to enhance safety.

Baszucki emphasized a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate content and shared that Roblox follows strict age-rating guidelines based on content and game titles.

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Baszucki and Cassel founded Roblox in 2004, initially opening it to the public in 2006 after realizing its potential beyond educational use.

As the platform’s popularity grew, safety measures were introduced, marking a significant turning point when the digital currency Robux was launched, propelling Roblox to a $41 billion valuation.

Robux is used by players to acquire items and unlock content, with content creators earning a percentage of the fees and pricing adapting dynamically based on popularity.

Baszucki envisions Roblox as the future of communication, focusing on creating metaverse-style experiences where users interact through avatars in a virtual world, aiming to engage 10% of global gamers.

Source: www.theguardian.com

The Connection Between Waist Size and Future Brain Health

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Have you ever measured your hip to hip ratio? Chances are, you probably haven’t. However, there is an important reason why you should start.

Recent research published in Nutrition, obesity, exercise suggests that these measurements may be linked to cognitive decline. The study found that individuals with smaller hips have a significantly lower risk compared to those with larger hips.

Feeling concerned about your numbers? Don’t worry too much just yet – researchers emphasize that your risk is not set in stone. Making healthier dietary choices can actively reduce the risk of cognitive decline and support long-term brain health.

BMI and Waist-to-Hip Ratio

While most scientists use Body Mass Index (BMI) to measure body size by comparing weight to height, this system has faced criticism for its inaccuracies. For instance, muscular individuals may be categorized as overweight even if they are not at risk for diseases like type 2 diabetes or heart disease.

Therefore, researchers are increasingly turning to alternative measurements such as waist-to-hip ratios as a more accurate indicator of health risks related to size than BMI. According to the authors of the study, this measurement is more reliable.

“We found a connection between healthier waist-to-hip ratios and better cognitive function scores,” stated Dr. Dahlia Y Jensen in an interview with BBC Science Focus.

The study, which was published recently, examined the relationship between diet, body size, and brain health over several decades. 664 British civil servants had their waists and hips measured multiple times between the 1950s and 1960s over approximately 21 years.

Comparing waist and hip sizes indicates the amount of central fat accumulation, which is associated with a higher risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. – Credit: FluxFactory via Getty

Diet Evaluation and Brain Health Measurement

A group of 512 civil servants completed three dietary surveys between the ages of 48 and 60. Scientists assessed dietary quality based on various components including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fats, sugary drinks, meat, salt, and alcohol.

When participants reached about 70 years of age, brain scans were conducted to measure cognitive performance. The findings revealed that middle-aged individuals with healthier diets and slimmer hips had better brain health later in life.

Brain imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were used to analyze the brain structure of the participants, with a particular focus on the hippocampus.

“The hippocampus is crucial in dementia research, and numerous studies have highlighted its importance in memory and learning,” explained Jensen. While previous studies emphasized the significance of hippocampal volume, this study explored its associations with other brain regions.

“We observed a strong link between better diet, functional connectivity of the hippocampus with other brain regions, and waist-to-hip ratio,” Jensen added. Improved white matter connections associated with a slim waist indicated better communication between brain regions.

This suggests that individuals who follow healthier diets and maintain slimmer waists in middle age are at a reduced risk of cognitive decline and diseases like dementia later in life.

“If you’re looking to improve your brain health, it’s never too late to start, but the earlier, the better,” Jensen advised.

The study had some limitations, with only 20% of female participants as they were civil servants recruited in the 1980s. However, Jensen deemed the study “exciting” and believes it will aid in understanding the link between mid-age dietary health and future brain health.

Alzheimer’s Disease Association estimates that 982,000 people in the UK currently live with dementia. Jensen hopes the study will encourage a shift towards preventive healthcare.

About our experts:

Dr. Dahlia Y Jensen is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Cognitive Neuropathy Clinic, University Medical Center Leipzig, and the Department of Neurology at Max Planck Human Brain Science Institute in Germany. She also serves as a visiting researcher at the Oxford University School of Psychiatry and is a corresponding author of the study.

read more:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Clipping, Daveed Diggs’ Sci-Fi Rap Trio, Discusses Constant Conflict in Capitalism: “We’re Always at War”

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

aSA Child, Dave Diggs and his school friends William Hutson were inspired by the space age album covers of Funk Legends. Drawing pictures filled with sparkling UFOs and quirky interplanetary travelers, Diggs went on to become an actor. He won a Tony Award for his roles in Hamilton as the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, and later portrayed Sebastian’s crab in a live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. He also appeared in the Nickel Boys, which received two Oscar nominations this year. Despite his success in Hollywood and on Broadway, he still dreams of a fantastic sci-fi world with Hutson.

Another college roommate of Hutson, Jonathan Snipes, who had similar childhood experiences and was also inspired by otherworldly paintings, formed a friendship with Diggs. Together, they formed clipping in Los Angeles in 2010. Through Hutson and Snipes’ productions, Diggs weaved a bloody horror story about racial violence and the fatalisms of enslaved people in the universe. Their latest album, Dead Channel Sky, features Diggs rapping with mechanical precision over distorted Rave Music, creating a cyberpunk world for hackers, club fans, and future avatars.

Their music has earned them nominations for the Hugo Awards, the highest honor in science fiction. What sets them apart is Diggs’ decision to avoid using the first person in his lyrics, creating a unique storytelling experience akin to film or musical theater. By leaving out personal pronouns, their songs allow listeners to project themselves onto the characters and make connections between songs that weren’t initially intended.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/fwI1FqU_qk0?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="clipping. – Change the Channel (Official Music Video)" height="480" width="854" allowfullscreen="

Hutson criticizes mainstream hip-hop for its narrow constraints and emphasis on individualism, while clipping remains adaptable and authentic. Their music, described as “a CD compilation found in a future bin” by Hutson, is filled with storytelling where Diggs embodies different characters in each song, highlighting societal issues through vivid narratives.

Touching on themes of war, capitalism, and technology, clipping’s music draws inspiration from classic sci-fi tropes, creating parallels with life in the West today. Their latest work, Dead Channel Sky, is influenced by William Gibson’s Cyberpunk novel Neuromancer and explores the relationship between physical and digital realities.

Source: www.theguardian.com

New research suggests that protein may have a significant impact on treating Parkinson’s disease

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Parkinson’s disease is rapidly becoming one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative conditions globally, impacting over 10 million individuals worldwide. It ranks as the second most common neurodegenerative ailment following Alzheimer’s disease. As of now, there is no known cure. However, recent advancements have raised hopes for the development of new treatments in the near future.

The disease is closely associated with a protein known as Pink1, which carries a mutation in the Park6 gene responsible for encoding this protein.

Malfunctions in Pink1’s functioning are directly linked to Parkinson’s disease, especially in individuals with early onset, affecting 1.2% of Parkinson’s patients in the UK.

Recent scientific progress has shed light on the interaction between Pink1 and mitochondria. Mitochondria, known as the powerhouse of cells, produce energy within the cells of all organisms.

From left, Professor David Commander, Dr. Nicholas Kirk, Dr. Sylvie Karegari and Dr. Alisa Grukova stand before the discovery of Pink 1. – Wehe

The link between Pink1 and Parkinson’s disease has long been recognized, but its potential as a cure for Parkinson’s disease has only recently been explored.

When mitochondria are damaged, Pink1 signals the need for their removal. However, in Parkinson’s patients, mitochondrial defects accumulate unnoticed, releasing toxins that eventually lead to cell death.

Currently, researchers at the Parkinson’s Center for Research in Walter and Eliza Hall (WEHI) in Australia have elucidated the structure and activation process of Pink1. Their findings on how Pink1 interacts with dysfunctional mitochondria are published in Science today.

“This is a significant milestone in Parkinson’s disease research,” stated corresponding author Professor David Commander, head of WEHI’s ubiquitin signaling division. “Understanding Pink1’s binding to mitochondria is truly groundbreaking.”

Lead author and Senior Researcher at WEHI, Sylvie Callegari, explained that Pink1 functions in four distinct steps, with the first two being newly discovered in this study.

Furthermore, Pink1’s role in detecting mitochondrial damage and initiating the process of mitophagy, the recycling of damaged mitochondria, is crucial for addressing Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease is associated with physical tremors, as well as other symptoms like language and vision impairments – Credit: Witthaya Prasongsin

In conclusion, understanding the Pink1-mitochondrial relationship is crucial for developing therapies for Parkinson’s disease, a condition characterized by the decline of brain cells.

Given the increasing prevalence of Parkinson’s disease over the past 25 years, the need for effective treatments is more urgent than ever. The researchers behind this study aim to accelerate drug development and halt the progression of Parkinson’s disease.

Read More:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Understanding the Implications of Apple’s High Court Challenge on Data Protection

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

This appeal will be reviewed by the investigative courts to determine if the national intelligence agency acted unlawfully.

What is the UK government requesting from Apple?

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a “Technical Capacity Notice” under the Investigation Powers Act, requiring businesses to assist law enforcement in providing evidence. The focus is on Apple’s Advanced Data Protection Service, which encrypts personal data stored on Apple’s cloud servers.

The UK government hopes that Apple will provide access to its services’ content through backdoors.

Why is Apple opposing this?

Apple values privacy as a core principle and has removed its Advanced Data Protection Tool from the UK. The tool offers end-to-end encryption, ensuring only the account owner can decrypt the data. Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime services maintain end-to-end encryption.

Apple faces opposition from human rights groups challenging the Technical Capacity Notice as a broad request that compromises billions of users’ personal data to potential threats.

Can Apple succeed in the challenge?

Legal lecturer Dr. Daniella Lock from King’s College London suggests Apple has a chance due to human rights considerations. The requirement for a backdoor to access encrypted data may be viewed as disproportionate, and questions arise about data security.

However, Lock acknowledges that the UK government’s secrecy surrounding the case could hinder Apple’s defense, as courts tend to support national security interests.

Does the US government support Apple?

The US government has expressed concerns about the UK’s demands on Apple, with President Trump likening it to Chinese surveillance practices.

“We told them you can’t do this,” Trump stated in an interview. “We actually said[Starmer]… can’t believe it. That’s what you know, you hear China.”

Would Apple’s defeat create a precedent?

Regardless of the outcome, future conflicts with tech companies are possible as the IPA requires companies to notify the government of changes affecting data access. Services like WhatsApp, committed to privacy, may also face similar requests.

This case represents a critical battleground between law enforcement and technology, balancing users’ privacy rights and overall security concerns.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Three newly discovered dinosaur footprints in Australia dating back 200 million years

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Paleontologists have studied and described three surfaces, including previously unknown dinosaur tracks, from an area near Biloella in Queensland, Australia.

Surface containing dinosaur tracks from the sandstone Duncreek mine area in the Kalido Basin, Queensland, Australia. Image credits: Romilio et al. , doi: 10.1080/08912963.2025.2472153.

University of Queensland researcher Dr. Anthony Romilio and his colleagues discovered footprints of early Jurassic dinosaurs preserved in three separate rocks in the Kalido Basin.

“One of the surfaces contains a single track, the other has a single trackway consisting of two tracks, and the third has a large concentration of 66 footprints,” they said.

“This is the highest concentration known from the area, with a density of 71 tracks per metre.²and only to specimens of the same age from the Carnarvon Valley, the second highest in Australia. ”

Each footprint has three toes, indicating that it belongs to the dinosaur Ichnospecy anomoepus scambus.

“The Ichnospecies, also discovered at the early Jurassic track sites in Carnarvon Valley and Mount Morgan, shows the prevalence of Ornishikian dinosaurs throughout the region,” the researchers said.

Small filled circular traces, possibly invertebrate burrows Scoritusthe surface is rich and, if correct, indicates that the tracks were formed under sub-light blue to medium energy conditions.

ICHNOSPECIES' Ornithischian Track Maker anomoepus scambus. Image credit: University of Queensland.

“The footprint comes from 47 individual dinosaurs that have passed through patches of wet white clay, and they probably walked or crossed the waterways,” Dr. Romilio said.

“These dinosaurs were small, with legs ranging from 15-50 cm long, and when they left these marks they were moving below 6 km/h.”

“Evidence from skeletal fossils abroad says that dinosaurs with legs like these were herbivores that had long legs, thick bodies, short arms and small heads with beaks.”

Scientists say the newly discovered footprint is about 200 million years old (early Jurassic epoch).

“These footprints provide valuable insight into the abundance and behavior of dinosaurs in an age where body fossils are not present in Australia,” they said.

Their paper It was published in the journal on March 10th, 2025 Historical Biology.

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Anthony Romillio et al. Dinosaur footprints from sandstones in the Lower Jurassic (Hetangian-Cinemurian), the Kalido Basin, Queensland, Australia. Historical BiologyPublished online on March 10th, 2025. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2472153

Source: www.sci.news

A nearby supernova explosion could have triggered multiple mass extinctions on Earth

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

New research from Keele University and Universidad de Alicante shows that near Earth explosion Giant O and B type stars It occurs at a rate of 2.5 per billion years. This result supports the view that such an event may have caused one or more of the mass extinction events recorded on Earth.

Among the puppies in the constellation, I have the impression of the artist Zeta Puppis, an O-shaped star about 1,400 light years away. Image credit: Tahina Ramiaramanantsoa.

Astronomers at Kiel and Alicante University believe that the explosion of supernova near Earth could condemn both the late Devonian and Ordovician extinction events that occurred 372 and 445 million years ago, respectively.

Ordovician extinction killed 60% of marine invertebrates when life was largely confined to the ocean, and the late Devonian wiped out about 70% of all species, leading to a major change in the species of fish present in ancient seas and lakes.

Previous studies have not been able to identify a clear cause of either event, but are thought to be related to Earth's ozone layer depletion, which may have been caused by supernova.

A new study found that the velocity supernova that occurs near our planet coincides with the timing of both mass extinctions.

“Supernova explosions bring heavy chemical elements to interstellar media, which are used to form new stars and planets,” said Dr. Alexis Quintana, PhD from Kiel University, the lead author of the study.

“However, if planets, including Earth, are too close to events of this type, this can have devastating effects.”

“Supernova explosions are some of the most energetic explosions in the universe,” said Dr. Nick Wright, PhD from Keel University.

“If a large star explodes as a supernova close to Earth, the results will be devastating for life on Earth. This study suggests that this may already be happening.”

An artist impression of HR 6819, a close binary consisting of deleted B-shaped stars (background) and rapidly rotating BE stars (foreground). Image credit: ESO/L. Calsada.

Astronomers came to their conclusion after conducting a large-scale census of OB stars in the sun of Kiloparscheck (approximately 3,260 light years).

They studied the distribution of these stars to learn more about how clusters of stars and galaxies form using themselves as benchmarks, and the rate at which these stars form in our galaxies.

The census allowed researchers to calculate the rate at which supernovas occur within galaxies, which are important for supernova observations, and the rates that are important for the production of large-scale star rests, such as black holes and neutron stars throughout the universe.

Data will also help in the future development of gravitational wave detectors, a useful tool for scientists studying the structure and origin of the universe.

As part of this, the researchers calculated the supernova rate within the 20 parsecs (65 light years) of the Sun and compared this to the approximate velocity rate of mass extinction events on Earth that were previously attributed to nearby supernovas.

This exclusion events linked to other factors such as asteroid impacts and ice ages.

Comparing these datasets, experts found that their studies support the theory that supernova explosions are responsible for both the late Devonian and Ordovician extinction events.

“We calculated the supernova rate close to Earth, and we found that it coincides with the speed of mass extinction events on our planet, which are related to external forces such as supernova,” Dr. Wright said.

Astronomers believe it occurs in galaxies like the Milky Way at about one or two supernovas, or even lower speeds, but the good news is that there are only two nearby stars that can reach the supernova within the next million years or so.

“But both of these are over 500 light years from the US, and computer simulations have previously suggested that supernovaes at distance from Earth are likely to not affect our planet,” the author said.

Their study It will be published in Monthly Notices from the Royal Astronomical Society.

____

Alexis L. Quintana et al. 2025. Census of AB stars within 1 kpc and collapse rate of star formation and core collapse Supernova rate. mnrasin press; arxiv: 2503.08286v1

Source: www.sci.news

New research suggests early mammals possessed dark, dim greyish brown fur

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Fur colours, which serve many functions, are essential for the evolution of mammal behavior, physiology and habitat preferences. However, little is known about the colour of Mesozoic mammals that co-evolved with dinosaurs. In a new study, scientists from China, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and the US used the dataset Melanosome (Melanin-Containing Organelle) We quantitatively measured the morphology and quantitatively measured hair colours of 116 live mammals to reconstruct the colours of six Mesozoic mammals, including the species Yuhalamiidan mammals that were not previously described.

Reconstructing the life of Shenshou Luian extinct squirrel-like euhalamidian species from the Jurassic region of central China. Image credit: Tamuranobu, http://spinops.blogspot.com.

From communication to camouflage, animal colour plays an important role in many behavioral ecological functions.

Some animals exhibit distinct and vivid arrangements like birds, but mammalian fur is generally limited to muted tones due to their dependence on the single pigment melanin.

Mammals lack palettes, but have evolved a diverse and distinctive coat pattern.

However, due to lack of data on pigmentation in extinct mammals, the evolutionary history of hairy colour is not well understood.

Recent studies have shown that melanosomes, which cause pigmentation, can be preserved in fossilized specimens.

A similar technique has successfully reconstructed the colours of dinosaurs, but despite well-preserved fur specimens, it has not been widely applied to fossil mammals.

In the new study, Dr. Ruoshuang Li, a colleague of the Chinese University of Earth Sciences and colleague, analyzed melanosomes in 116 living mammals and created a predictive model to reconstruct the hairy colour based on melanosome morphology.

The authors applied the model to six Mesozoic mammalian forms of fossilized melanosomes, including the newly described euhalamyidan species that lived 158.5 million years ago (Late Jurassic Epoch).

The authors found that the fur of these early mammals was primarily and uniformly dark in colour, with no stripes and spots that adorn many modern mammals.

This suggests that despite evolutionary differences in phylogenetics and ecology, the early mammalian melanin colored systems remained little different.

This is in stark contrast to the diverse melanosome structures found in feathered dinosaurs, early birds and pterosaurs, indicating a distinct evolutionary pattern of mammalian colour.

“The typical modern nocturne mammals, such as the dark, uniformly dull fur found in these species – moles, mice, rats and nocturne bats, support the previous hypothesis that early mammals are also largely nocturne and colored for camouflage,” the researchers said.

“In addition, the high melanin content of the fur may have been beneficial in providing mechanical strength for thermoregulation and protection.”

“Following the Cretaceous – Fat extinction event, mammals rapidly diversified into niches previously occupied by dinosaurs, leading to more diverse melanosome structures and new perage colour strategies that are more suited to a more diverse environment.”

Survey results It was published in the journal today Science.

____

rushuang li et al. 2025. Mesozoic mammalian forms illuminate the origin of the colour of the hair. Science 387 (6739): 1193-1198; doi: 10.1126/science.ads9734

Source: www.sci.news

New discoveries reveal Saturn has 274 months of unseen phenomena

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Teams of astronomers from Taiwan, Canada, the US, and France observe and bring in 128 additional moons orbiting gas giant Saturn The total number of confirmed months has reached 274. International Astronomy confirmed its discovery on March 11, 2025.

This image from Webb's Nircam Instrument shows some of Saturn, Rings and Moons. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI/M. Tiscareno, Seti Institute/M. Hedman, University of Idaho/M. Elmutamide, Cornell University/M. Shorterter, SETI Institute/L. Fletcher, University of Leicester/H. Hammel, AURA/J. DEPASQUALE, STSCI.

Dr. Edward Ashton, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Academia Cynthia, and his colleagues used the Canadian French Hawaii Television Scope (CFHT) to repeatedly monitor the sky around Saturn between 2019 and 2021, combining multiple images with details to enhance the astronomical object.

This first run produced 62 months. And there are even more other objects that were not available at that time.

“I revisited the same empty fields for the third consecutive month in 2023, knowing that these are probably moons and are likely waiting more to be discovered,” Dr. Ashton said.

“Of course, we found 128 new moons. I don’t think Jupiter will catch up based on our predictions.”

All 128 new moons are irregular moons, objects photographed by host planets in the history of the solar system.

“These moons are several kilometers in size and could be all fragments of the originally captured moon that have been broken by violent collisions with other Saturn’s moons and passing comets.”

“The mystery within Saturn’s irregular lunar system was a key motivation for the latest search. Given the small numbers compared to the larger moons, it is possible that there has been a collision somewhere within the Saturn system within the last 100 million years.”

“If not, these moons would have now collided with each other and been blown away by the blacksmith.

In fact, most of the newly discovered moons are located near the Mundirfari subgroup of Saturn’s moon, and may be the location of the collision, taking into account its size, number, and orbital concentration.

“Our carefully planned, multi-year campaign has brought us a new moon jackpot that tells us about the evolution of Saturn’s irregular natural satellite populations,” Dr. Ashton said.

“I don’t think using current technology is much better than what’s already done for the moons around Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.”

Source: www.sci.news

Tonight, a total lunar eclipse will be visible across the United States.

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

A total lunar eclipse will be visible across the United States on Thursday night or early Friday morning.

The lunar eclipse will begin around midnight ET – when the Earth’s shadow completely covers the moon – and will last for over an hour from 2:26 am to 3:32 am. According to Earth Sky. The complete process will continue until around 6 am ET.

The lunar eclipse will be visible in most of North and South America, as well as in Africa, Europe, eastern Australia, Russia, and half of Japan.

During a total lunar eclipse, the sun, earth, and moon align, creating shadows on the moon. As a result, the moon appears to have a reddish tint, earning it the nickname “Blood Moon.”

This reddish tint is caused by the way sunlight passes through the Earth’s atmosphere. Shorter wavelengths of blue light are easily scattered, while longer wavelengths of red light are more likely to pass through, giving the moon its distinctive color.

Unlike solar eclipses, all stages of a lunar eclipse can be safely viewed with the naked eye, although binoculars and telescopes can enhance the experience.

Unfortunately, cloudy conditions are predicted for many skywatchers tonight. Those who miss this event can look forward to the next lunar eclipse on September 7th, followed by another on March 3rd, 2026.

Overall, total lunar eclipses are less common than partial solar eclipses, which can occur up to three times a year. Neither of the two lunar eclipses in 2024 were total, with the last total lunar eclipse occurring in 2022.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

NOAA cancels monthly calls for climate and weather updates

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Staff cuts have impacted work at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Kristoffer Tripplaar / Alamy

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says it will “stop” monthly calls to update reporters on seasonal weather forecasts and global climate conditions.

A NOAA spokesman says recent cuts, resignation and resignation under President Donald Trump's control have led to staffing issues that have led to agents “no longer able to support them.” But they say every month Report It will be edited and continued to be published by the National Center for Environmental Information, operated by NOAA.

He says another reason the agency is closing calls could be due to fear of employees violating the new administration by talking about climate change. Tom Di RivatoNOAA's genius scientist and public relations specialist who was fired during widespread cuts in February. “They don't want to get stuck between telling the truth and then riding on the wrong side of a political appointee,” he says.

During the monthly call, NOAA scientists will provide you with updates on a variety of predictions and measurements the agency has created. In addition to information on global land and ocean temperatures, the description includes information on seasonal weather forecasts and droughts in the United States. These calls also give reporters the opportunity to ask questions to help them better understand new information.

In past briefings, researchers openly discussed the role of human-induced climate change in driving at record high temperatures. But last month's call – first held under the new administration – NOAA researchers declined to mention climate change when discussing record global temperatures in January. The call ended later New Scientist We asked the researchers directly to see what role climate change played at high temperatures.

Di Liberto says the agency has not explicitly directed researchers, let alone climate change. However, he knows from his current contact with staff there is an atmosphere of fear about saying the wrong thing.

“It's a fear of being cut, but I'm also afraid that the work they're doing is trying to help people, or that they're being told they can't say what they can say based on science,” he says.

Since January, the administration has fired almost 1,000 people from government agencies, and hundreds more have resigned. The government is It reportedly plans to cut more than 1,000 employeesone-tenth of the agency's workforce.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Train your brain to see through visual fantasies

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Have you found that the orange circle on the left is smaller than the orange circle on the right?

Radoslaw Wincza et al. (2025)

Optical fantasies may make you feel like a fool, but you may be able to train your brain to resist your brain.

“People in the general population are very likely trained to unravel illusions and have the ability to perceive the world more objectively,” he says. Radoslaw Wincza At Lancaster University, UK.

Wincza and his colleagues recruited 44 radiologists with an average age of 36. He spent over a decade finding small details such as fractures from a medical scan. They also saw 107 college students, an average of 23 years old, studying medicine and psychology.

Each participant displayed four fantasies one at a time on the screen. With each illusion, participants had to look at size or length size or length shape or line pairs and choose larger or longer ones.

In the three illusions, other objects made larger shapes or longer lines smaller and shorter lines. The team found that radiologists were less susceptible to these illusions than students.

“Radiosists have this ability to really focus on the key elements of the visual scene, where they ignore unrelated contexts and have tunnel vision,” says Wincza. “By adjusting your targets, they don’t experience that much illusion.”

In the fourth illusion, one of the shapes was vertical, and the pair was horizontal. This made the latter look even wider, even if it was actually narrower. Both groups were equally susceptible to fantasy. This is probably because this didn’t involve much of an adjustment to background distraction, as it didn’t contain any surrounding objects.

“It suggests that if everyone trains themselves, they can gain the ability to be susceptible to illusions,” he says. Carla Evans At York University, UK. Focusing on certain aspects of photography, for example, could improve this ability, but she says there is more work to see how fast this can be. “It could take years or weeks.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

NASA might have to cancel significant space missions in order to reduce expenditures

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

NASA headquarters in Washington, DC

John M. Chase/Getty Images

NASA is preparing for substantial budget cuts that could force cancellations of ongoing and upcoming missions across the solar system, and experts warn that it is facing a “brutal” future.

The space agency has already launched several layoffs as part of a broad restructuring of the US federal agency by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an independent task force led by Elon Musk. Earlier this week it announced it would close its offices for technology, policy and strategy. Chief scientist’s office. The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Branch, located in Washington, DC’s Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, represents a total of 23 employment for its agents.

“This magnitude change is by no means easy, but our strength comes from our mission and our shared commitment to each other,” NASA’s acting administrator, Janet Petro, emailed staff members. “We encourage each other to support us as we move forward.”

One employee in the Technology, Policy and Strategy office who learned they were fired this week and given anonymity for fear of retaliation says that their office is a “easy target” as it was set up under Joe Biden’s control. “Some people thought this might come,” they say.

The role of NASA’s Chief Technologist and Chief Economist is within the office, and “supported strategic planning across the agency,” the employee says. This includes managing recent increases in recent lunar missions when planning lunar-based landing sites and operations and “preventing these missions from interfering with each other.”

“There’s a lot of interest in the Antarctic of the Moon, and there’s concern that it works close to each other,” they said. “I don’t think we’ll address these issues moving forward.”

These losses are expected to be just the beginning of NASA’s much larger ull. Casey Drier American Space Exploration Advocacy Group says there are rumours that in his upcoming budget request, President Donald Trump will direct NASA’s overall scientific budget to be cut by 50%. This is a blow to NASA’s office of Science Mission Directors, and “everything that isn’t pretty much everything NASA does is not a space flight mission,” says Dreier. Currently, we have a budget of around $7 billion from NASA’s total annual budget of $25 billion.

Scientists familiar with NASA policy-making say they spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation and say that the cuts requested by the president must be approved by Congress. “NASA is really loved on a bipartisan basis,” they say. But if the cut goes on, they add that they “essentially end to NASA science.” “The mission is not safe.”

Throwing the budget by half “will be a very brutal outcome, symbolizing the nation’s return to space,” Dreyer said, and would result in the cancellation of many missions. Like James Webb’s Space Telescope, some of their Prime missions will likely survive, but the most at risk are early planning or later missions. These include the climate satellite, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Voyager Mission, where patience and curiosity on Mars was the first spacecraft to leave the solar system.

The impact on NASA may be permanent. “If you completely destroy a people’s pipeline, you’ll have serious, long-term consequences,” says Dreier. “It’s an extinction level event.”

In this week’s letter to Peter, California’s Zoe Lofgren, a top Democrat on the House of Representatives’ Science and Space Technology Committee, urged NASA to cut and fight back. “Doge is trying to reduce and burn NASA’s core capabilities,” she wrote. “It’s essential to stand up to NASA’s important work.”

I’ll talk New ScientistLofgren warned that the situation could have international consequences. “Destroying NASA’s highly skilled workforce will be a major leap for the US and a major leap for China,” she said. “Meanwhile-less reductions will undermine cutting edge innovation, curious science, and institutional ability to maintain leadership in human exploration.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Uncovered: British Technology Secretary Peter Kyle’s Use of ChatGPT for Policy Guidance

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

British Secretary of Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle says he uses chatGpt to understand difficult concepts.

Ju Jae-Young/Wiktor Szymanowicz/Shutterstock

British technology secretary Peter Kyle asked ChatGpt for advice on why artificial intelligence is so slow in the UK business community and which podcasts to appear on.

This week, Prime Minister Kiel Starmer said the UK government should make much more use of AI to improve efficiency. “We shouldn't spend substantial time on tasks where digital or AI can make it better, faster, the same high quality and standard.” He said.

now, New Scientist Kyle's record of ChatGpt usage is considered to be the world's first test under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, whether chatbot interactions are subject to such laws.

These records show that Kyle asked ChatGpt to explain why the UK Small Business (SMB) community is so slow to adopt AI. ChatGpt returned a 10-point list of issues that hinder adoption, including sections on “Limited Awareness and Understanding,” “Regulation and Ethical Concerns,” and “Less of Government or Institutional Support.”

The chatbot advised Kyle: “The UK government has launched initiatives to encourage AI adoption, but many SMBs have either been unaware of these programs or find it difficult to navigate. Limited access to funding or incentives for risky AI investments could also block adoption,” he said in regards to regulatory and ethical concerns. “Compliance with data protection laws such as GDPR, etc. [a data privacy law]which could be an important hurdle. SMBs may worry about legal and ethical issues related to the use of AI. ”

“As a minister in charge of AI, the Secretary of State uses this technology. A spokesman for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), led by Kyle, said: “The government uses AI as a labor saving tool, supported by clear guidance on how to quickly and safely utilize technology.”

Kyle also used the chatbot in his canvas idea for media appearances, saying, “I am the Secretary of State for UK Science, Innovation and Technology. What is the best podcast for me to appear to reach a wide audience worthy of the responsibility of ministers?” ChatGpt proposed. Infinite salcage and Naked Scientistbased on the number of listeners.

In addition to seeking this advice, Kyle asked ChatGpt to define various terms related to his department: Antimatter, Quantum, and Digital Inclusion. Two experts New Scientist Regarding Quantum's definition of ChatGpt, he said he was surprised by the quality of the response. “In my opinion, this is surprisingly good.” Peter Night Imperial College London. “I don't think that's bad at all.” Christian Bonato at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, UK.

New Scientist Requested Kyle's recent data Interview with Politicshomepoliticians were explained “frequently” using chatgpt. He used it to “try to understand the broader context in which innovation came into being, the people who developed it, the organization behind them, and stated, “ChatGpt is fantastically superior and if there are places you really struggle to really get a deeper understanding, ChatGpt can be a very good tutor.”

DSIT initially refused The new scientistS FOI request, “Peter Kyle's ChatGPT history includes prompts and responses made in both personal and official abilities.” A sophisticated request was granted, with only prompts and responses made in official capabilities.

The fact that data was provided at all is a shock, and Tim Turner, a data protection expert based in Manchester, UK, thinks it may be the first case of a chatbot interaction being released under the FOI. “I'm amazed that you got them,” he says. “I would have thought they wanted to avoid precedent.”

This raises questions to governments with similar FOI laws, such as the United States. For example, ChatGpt is like an email or WhatsApp conversation. Both have been historically covered by FOI based on past precedents – or are they the results of search engine queries that traditionally organizations are likely to reject? Experts disagree with the answer.

“As a rule, if you can extract it from the departmental system, it will also cover the minister's Google search history,” says Jon Baines of the UK law firm Mishcon De Reya.

“Personally, I don't think ChatGpt is the same as Google search,” he says. John SlaterFOI expert. That's because Google search doesn't create new information, he says. “ChatGpt, on the other hand, “creates” something based on input from the user. ”

This uncertainty may make politicians want to avoid using personalized commercial AI tools like ChatGpt, Turner says. “It's a real can of worms,” he says. “To cover their backs, politicians definitely need to use public tools provided by their departments to ensure that the public is an audience.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Scientists warn that volcanoes near Alaska’s largest city may erupt in the next few weeks or months

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Anchorage, Alaska – Volcanoes near Alaska’s biggest city show new signs of anxiety. Experts say the likelihood of an eruption in Mount Spall is increasing in the coming weeks or months.

The Alaska Volcanic Observatory said Wednesday it measured “a significant rise in volcanic gas emissions” during recent turbulence, with the signs indicating that the eruption was not certain in weeks or months, but not certain.

“We hope for more seismic activity, gas emissions and surface heating before the eruption. “Such strong anxiety could provide additional warnings for days to weeks.”

What is Mount Spur?

It is an ice-covered volcano about 80 miles northwest of Anchorage, 11,070 feet high.

Mount Spur is one of Alaska’s 53 volcanoes and has been active within the last 250 years. There are two main vents.

When did Mount Spur last erupt?

The last known eruption from the Summit Bent was over 5,000 years ago. Meanwhile, Crater Peak Vent erupted once in 1953 and three times in 1992. Crater Peak Vent is about two miles south of the summit.

Since then, there have been periods of increasing earthquakes and other activities between 2004 and 2006, but no other eruptions. Last October, the observatory raised the green to yellow mount spur alert status when seismic activity increased significantly and ground deformation was discovered in satellite data.

The most likely outcome of current anxiety would be the eruptions or eruptions of 1953 and 1992, the observation deck said.

But “there is a possibility that there will be no eruptions, current activity will die slowly, or even smaller eruptions may occur,” wrote John Power, a geophysicist at the station’s US Geological Survey, in an email.

What are the effects of the eruption?

According to the observation deck, eruptions of the last century lasted three to seven hours, rising more than 50,000 feet above sea level, producing ash columns deposited ashes in communities in southern Alaska.

In 1992, about a quarter inch of ash from the anchorage began to stay inside or wear masks if they were to go outside to avoid breathing the ashes. The clouds drifted all the way to Greenland.

Volcanic ash is angular and sharp, and is used as an industrial abrasive. Powdered rocks can shut down the jet engine.

The 1992 eruption prompted temporary closures of airports in Anchorage and other communities.

In states where most communities are not connected to Alaska’s main road system, closing airports is more than inconvenient. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is one of the busiest cargo hubs in the world.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Could this be the most remarkable withdrawal notice ever issued by the journal?

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Feedback is the latest science and technology news of new scientists, the sidelines of the latest science and technology news. You can email Feedback@newscientist.com to send items you believe readers can be fascinated by feedback.

Retract action

On February 25th, one of the most epic withdrawal notices was the joy of reading feedback. The notice of withdrawal is when it determines that a research published by a scientific journal is highly flawed and unreliable and is effectively published.

New withdrawal notice I covered five articles, not one, not two Perceptual and motor skillsby all Nicholas Gagen in Southern University of Brittany, France.

Five studies were published between 2002 and 2009. In 2007, Guéguen was the only author of “Bust size and hitchhiking: Field study” The aim is to use real experiments to show that women with big breasts are more likely to be picked up when hitchhiking. Two years later, this time with a colleague, he found it. There was a high chance that the blonde would ride it too..

With such a result, it is no wonder that Guéguen’s work has become a popular theme in news articles. Sadly, this includes New Scientist Covered in 2008 study Women (which has not yet been withdrawn) claim to be more embracing the chat upline at their peak monthly fertility.

It took almost ten years for the card house to start to shake. In 2017, researcher Nick Brown (People who write blogs as “Steamtraen”) and James Heathers I’ve started writing about Guéguen’s work. They found He was prolific and often “published more than ten prominent empirical articles a year, many of which include extensive fieldwork.” Immediately raise a question: How did he find time? They also began to doubt the great effects that are alleged.

And the card house began to crumble. 2019, International review of social psychology Added “Expression of concern” In six of Guéguen’s papers. 2022, Journal of Social Psychology Retract “” in a study that claims that men perceive women as having strong sexual intent when they wear red.Table 1 of the manuscript included four combinations of impossible mean and standard deviation considering the reported sample sizes” That same year, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology A study claiming that men are more likely to help women slaps the study expressing concern.When her hair naturally falls on her neck, shoulders and back“.

And come now Latest withdrawal. The notifications explaining them are amazing, although I take them in academic language. They warn that “low confidence that the research design was implemented as described” and that “many of the data in these articles was incredible or misanalyzed.” In other words, we didn’t think he did what he said, and in any case, he made it wrong.

The editor says Guéguen did not respond to the query. Frankly, given the nature of his work, feedback suspects that he had only one reply: “Stigma! Stigma! They all got it for me!”

It seems right to have Heathers have their final words.Unreliable, embarrassing, if you’re writing a study on Benny Hill, remember that someone will know how bad you made it…and you Also, it might be pretty ok for around seven years before you get more broad results. “

Botticelli xxx Peacock

A few weeks ago, Feedback wrote about the troublesome Scunthorpe issue: The difficulty of blocking offensive words online is often seen in completely harmless words such as the names of British towns. Three readers were able to share with us about similar experiences without falling into our email filter.

Richard Black was in the early 2000s when he asked students to help set up a Hotmail email account. (Note for younger readers: Hotmail is the old name of Outlook. It is the email system that parents use at work as Microsoft is nervous in the business software market.) Richard writes: (Note to younger readers: Yahoo… ah, in fact Yahoo is still around.) Anyway, the student’s last name was Peacock.

At about the same time, Richard Hind was “given the budget to implement an email filtering solution.” It worked pretty well, except for “some curious slang terms for ours that were deemed uncomfortable.” However, many “innocent emails” have also been suspended. The only pattern was being sent by staff to friends elsewhere. “I finally clicked,” says Richard. All blocked emails were signed with three kisses or XS.

I also give my thoughts for Patricia Finney. Blog I explained about optimism in the face of climate change in Botticelli’s reenactment The birth of Venus. Facebook refused Nude and nipples” I’m still waiting for an apology,” she says.

Sweet snack

Feedback reading mountains Thunderbird Episode, so we are reluctant to add to it. But a A series of books caught our eye by food historians. The dark history of sugar It’s about colonial adventures that support the sugar industry, not colonial adventures. With a light note, Pudding Philosophy Sounds fun and we were impressed by the title Kneading to know: The history of baking. Author of all these fever-related books? Neil Butterly.

Have you talked about feedback?

You can send stories to feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This week and past feedback can be found on our website.

Source: www.newscientist.com

Apple challenges UK government data request in confidential court hearing

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The Guardian has learned that appeals to the UK government’s request to access clients’ highly encrypted data will be heard in a secret High Court hearing.

The appeal, scheduled for Friday, will be reviewed by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, an independent court with the authority to investigate allegations of illegal actions by the UK Intelligence Reporting Authority.

This goes against a directive issued by the Home Office in February under the Investigatory Powers Act, which compels law enforcement to provide requested information.

The Home Office is seeking the ability to access users’ encrypted data in cases of national security threats. Currently, even Apple does not have access to data protected by Advanced Data Protection (ADP) programs.

ADP allows iCloud users to safeguard photos, memos, and other data with end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only users can access it. Messaging services like iMessage and FaceTime maintain default end-to-end encryption.

Apple has argued that removing this tool would make users vulnerable to data breaches and jeopardize customer privacy. Creating a “back door” would enable Apple to access all data and potentially share it with law enforcement agencies.

Last week, Computer Weekly reported that Apple plans to challenge the secret order.

The court took the unusual step of announcing the closed hearing before President Rabinder Singh on March 14th.

The court listing does not mention Apple or the government, and it does not disclose if the court is associated with either party.

The hearing will be held privately due to security concerns, but media outlets like Computer Weekly argue that it is a matter of public interest and should be conducted in open court as details have already been leaked.

News organizations, including the Guardian, and civil society groups are supporting Computer Weekly in their petition.

In a statement in February, Apple expressed disappointment at the situation. They cited increasing data breaches and threats to customer privacy as the reason for ceasing to offer advanced data protection in the UK.

A spokesperson emphasized the urgency of enhanced security with end-to-end encryption in cloud storage and reiterated Apple’s commitment to user data security.

“As we have stated many times before, we have never created backdoors or master keys for our products or services,” the spokesperson said.

Both Apple and the Home Office declined to comment on the upcoming hearing, and the Guardian reached out to the court for more information.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Hera Asteroid Mission Captures Breathtaking Image of Deimos, Moon of Mars

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Mars appears bright blue in this near-infrared image taken by Hera's spacecraft. The month's deimos is a dark mark towards the center of the image

ESA

Space exploration mission to study asteroids that NASA deliberately crashed a spacecraft three years ago takes stunning bonus images of Mars and its moon Deimos is on the way to his final destination.

NASA's 2022 Double Planet Redirect Test (DART) was an attempt to show that bodies on a collision course with the planet could be deliberately redirected to avoid catastrophic effects. Observations from Earth showed that NASA successfully alters the orbit of the asteroid by crushing the 610-kilogram ship into distant asteroid shaped leaves at 6.6 km/sec. Dimorphos did not present any risk to the Earth, and simply acted as a subject.

Hera is a subsequent European Space Agency mission designed to explore the effects of crashes in detail. The craft is the size of a small car weighing 1081 kilograms when fully fueled. It was released on October 7, 2024 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket, and on March 12, 2025 I made a flyby to Mars on my way to the asteroid.

Deimos looks dark surrounded by Mars

ESA

Hera came close to 5,000 kilometers to the surface of Mars, received a gravity boost and cast it at Dimorphos. The operation reduced travel time by months and saved fuel.

It was very close to Mars, but I was able to turn on the trio of sensors to take detailed photos of some of the planets. Demos in the same frame. We captured images, infrared cameras and hyperspectral imagers that can sense different colors beyond the limits of the human eye using a 1020 x 1020 pixel resolution.

Hera moved at 9 km/sec compared to Mars, allowing him to image Deimos, a distance of just 1000 kilometers, ranging from 12.4 kilometers long. You can also photograph the side of the moon, which is attractively trapped from Mars, but that's not very common.

Deimos shines much brighter than Mars in this shot taken by Hera's thermal infrared imager

ESA/JAXA

The first concept behind the Hera mission was that it existed when Dart collided with Dimorphos, but delays in funding made it impossible. It will arrive a few years after the impact.

The mission also features two miniature satellites, called Juventus and Milani, or Cubesat. Rather than rotating the traits, these will fly before them and make a drastic pass at smaller, risky distances to collect data. Both are expected to look better if they eventually land on an asteroid and do everything they can in the distance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu31-crtr9s

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Review of Wonderstop – A Fantastic Escape from the Stress of Competition | Gaming

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

tHis “comfortable game” is what appeals to one of our two responses, the ones who typically engage in regular video game play. It beckons you with its promise of soothing, resource management-focused gameplay that offers a leisurely pace, providing a gentle escape from the intense action and high-stress adventures. Alternatively, it may repel you – certainly, it repelled me. “Cozy” often serves as a code for a twee aesthetic, avoiding drama in favor of repetitive tasks aimed at creating comfort, reminiscent of resource management sims like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing.

So when I encountered WonderStop, a vibrant game where a fallen warrior transitions to running a tea shop, I felt hesitant. However, this is Davey Wreden’s third project, following the success of Stanley Parable and Beginner’s Guide. If it’s anything like its predecessors, it’s bound to be full of surprises and crafted with meticulous attention to detail and artistic vision. Wreden is an auteur, known for exploring challenging postmodern themes in his work. His creations push the boundaries of what video game mediums can achieve, and luckily, this latest offering is no exception.

Your life… Wonderstop. Photo: Annapurna Interactive

WonderStop excels at blending gameplay with a narrative about the perils of burnout. The game embodies what it preaches – it isn’t merely paying lip service to a serene lifestyle. Instead, it constructs one around the player, whether they embrace it willingly or not.

The protagonist, Alta, the fallen warrior, clearly resists this change. Constantly losing battles, she ends up in the woods, seeking solace under the tutelage of her hero. Boro, a kind gentleman running Wonderstop Tea Shop, takes Alta in and encourages her to brew tea and engage in light chores to aid her recuperation. As players brew tea and tend to the colorful, perilous Ghibli-style garden, characters come and go. Apart from brewing tea, players can care for whimsical creatures, collect items, read books, cultivate plants, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

The joy of growing up… Wonderstop. Photo: Annapurna Interactive

This scenario may not be entirely new. Games like Wytchwood, Spiritfarer, Spirittea, and Moonstone Island also involve combining ingredients to fulfill the whims of fantastical creatures. What sets Wonderstop apart is its refusal to focus on progress or resolution. There is no optimization, no ticking clock, no pressure. You won’t “win.” This game resists the gratification of grinding, clicking, and ticking boxes. The manner in which the story unfolds may unravel the game’s enchanting sleight of hand, but suffice it to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the narrative’s poignant harmony. Addressing burnout in both its dialogue and storyline is a noteworthy aspect of the game. While it’s easy to extol the virtues of rest, actively showcasing surrender and healing is a whole other level.

From a technical standpoint, WonderStop offers a seamless experience. The controls are user-friendly, the music is soothing, and voice acting, though minimal, is impactful. The game mechanics are finely tuned, with dialogues and incidental texts proving engaging, surprising, and poignant when necessary. There are no arbitrary obstacles hindering the immersive experience.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/zHru2hovsp4?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="Wanderstop – Launch Trailer | PS5 Games" height="480" width="854" allowfullscreen="

Completing WonderStop typically takes around 12 hours, but for me, the game beckoned for an immediate replay. I yearned to return to the tea shop’s gardens and uncover as many secrets as possible. It lingers, prompting reflection on the relentless pace that consumes us all. Arguably, the frustration experienced by seasoned resource management enthusiasts due to the game’s slippery and enigmatic nature is precisely the point – play with surrender.

Wanderstop’s cozy and charming facade conceals something far more profound and clever than I’ve encountered in a long while. It’s a disguised masterpiece that offers players a sanctuary worth visiting, lingering in, and engaging with.

Source: www.theguardian.com

White dwarf binary system linked to irregular radio signals

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Astrophysicists have discovered ILT J110160.52+552119.62, a recently discovered temporary radio source, and that the arrival of that approximately one minute pulse with a periodicity of 125.5 minutes is a red-white, white-white dwarf binary system with orbital periods that match the orbital period observed when two stars are observed when they are engaging.

Artistic illustration showing radioactive pulses emitted by the binary star system: white d star orbit around a red d star. Image credits: Daniëlle Futselaar/Artsource.nl.

In recent years, astronomers have detected radio pulses from sources in the Milky Way that last from seconds to minutes.

These pulses differ from what you would expect from known pulsars that produce pulses on the order of milliseconds.

Furthermore, unlike radiopulsars, these so-called long-term transients (LPTs) are periodic on timescales ranging from minutes to hours.

There have been some hypotheses regarding the origin of these novel pulses, but evidence is scarce.

“There are several highly magnetized neutron stars or magnetores known to exhibit radio pulses in periods of a few seconds,” said Charles Kilpatrick, a northwestern astrophysicist.

“Some astrophysicists also claim that the source is spinning and can emit pulses at regular time intervals, so radio emissions are only shown when the source rotates towards us.”

“I know now that at least some long-term radio transients come from binary.”

“We hope this motivates radio astronomers to localize new classes of sources that could arise from neutron stars or magnetoresistance binaries.”

In their study, Dr. Kilpatrick and colleagues focused on periodic radio signals from transient radio sources designated as ILT J110160.52+552119.62 (ILT J1101+5521);

New imaging techniques were used to detect some of these radio pulses in data collected by low frequency arrays (LOFAR).

Behaving like a large radio camera, the telescope can pinpoint the exact location of the radio source in the sky.

According to the team, the Object is about 1,600 light years away in the Ursa major's constellation.

Follow-up observations with multiple mirror telescopes of 6.5 m diameter in Arizona and the Texas Hobby and Everly telescope showed that the ILT J1101+5521 is not a single flashing star, but two stars that cause pulses together.

A white dwarf in orbit around the two stars, the red war star, brings a common center of gravity into orbit every 125.5 minutes.

Researchers say there are two possibilities for the way stars produce unusually long radio pulses.

Potentially, radio bursts can be emitted from the strong magnetic field of a white dwarf or generated by the interaction of a white dwarf and its stellar companion magnetic field.

However, further observation is required to make this clear.

“Thanks to this discovery, we know that compact objects other than neutron stars can produce bright radio emissions,” says Dr. Kaustub Rajwade, an astronomer at Oxford University.

Discoveries are reported in a paper It's published in the journal today Natural Astronomy.

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I. de Ruiter et al. Sporadicated radio pulses from white dwarf binaries during orbit. Nut AthlonPublished online on March 12, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41550-025-02491-0

Source: www.sci.news

New fossil findings show a variety of terrestrial ecosystems 75,000 years post-Endopermian mass extinction

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Searching for the land refugia is essential for human survival during the hypothetical sixth mass extinction. Studying comparable crises in the past can provide insights, but there is no evidence of fossils of diverse giant fluid ecosystems that survived the most severe biological crisis of the past 540 million years. In a new study, paleontologists have investigated plant and tetrapod fossils and various microfossils in the Permian-Triassic Nantaodonggou section in Xinjiang, China. Their fossil records reveal the presence of gymnasium forests and fern fields in a vibrant area, but marine life has experienced mass extinction.

Artistic reconstruction of the end of Permian mass extinctions based on fossil parinomorphs, plants, and tetrapods, and the end of Permian mass extinctions based on sedimentary data from the Southern Jiang section of China's New Jiang. Image credit: DH Yang.

The mass extinction of Permian, which occurred about 252 million years ago, is widely recognized as the most serious of the five major plant zoic extinctions.

This catastrophic event leads to the extinction of about 80% of known species and is a fact that is well supported by marine fossil records.

Some scientists suggest that volcanic eruptions in Siberia caused widespread terrestrial destruction through wildfires, acid rain and toxic gases.

This evidence includes the continuous extinction of properties. Gigantopteris Flora in southern China Grosso Pteris Flora crossing Gondwanaland around the mass extinction of the Endopermians.

However, other scientists argue that these devastating effects are limited by latitude and atmospheric circulation.

Several fossil discoveries suggest that certain Mesozoic plants exist before extinction events, referring to uninterrupted evolution.

Newly discovered fossils from the southern taodonggou section, located in the Tapan Hami Basin in Xinjiang Province, northwestern China, offer a unique perspective.

“We further confirm that the presence of intact tree trunks and fern stems represents local vegetation rather than transported remains,” said Professor Minli Wang, a researcher at the Institute of Geology and Paleontology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Although some plant species have disappeared locally, researchers have found that the overall extinction rate for spores and pollen species is probably only about 21%.

This conclusion is based on the discovery of many “missing” species in the early Triassic formations elsewhere, indicating temporary migration rather than permanent extinction.

This stable vegetation base was essential for the rapid recovery of local ecosystems.

Fossil evidence shows that within just 75,000 years after the extinction ended, the region supported a diverse tetrapod, including herbivorous. lystrosaurus And carnivorous chronicers show that they can quickly return to complex food webs.

This finding contrasts with previous understanding that it took more than a million years for the ecological restoration of the Endopermians to follow the extinction.

New evidence suggests that local ecological diversity in this field has recovered more than 10 times faster than in other regions.

Scientists cited the region's stable, semi-humid climate as essential to its biological resilience. According to a Paleosol Matrix analysis, the area received consistent rainfall of approximately 1,000 mm per year during this period.

Its consistent precipitation has provided southern gu with more abundant vegetation and habitable environment than other regions following the mass extinction of Permians, providing important support for migrating migrant animals.

Despite its proximity to the volcanic activity that caused the extinction of the Endopermians, the Tarpanhami Basin provides safe shelter for terrestrial life, indicating that even seemingly dangerous places can harbor important biodiversity.

“This suggests that local climate and geographical factors create an incredible pocket of resilience and hope for conservation efforts in the face of changes in the global environment,” says Professor Feng Shui of Nanjing Geology Institute, the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“In light of current concerns about a potential sixth large-scale extinction driven by human activity, this discovery of a “life oasis” underscores the importance of identifying and protecting such natural refsias. ”

study Published in the journal Advances in science.

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Huiping Peng et al. 2025. Refludium in the abandoned indid: Unearthing the lost flora that escaped the mass extinction of Permians. Advances in science 11 (11); doi:10.1126/sciadv.ads5614

Source: www.sci.news

Delayed Launch for NASA Astronauts heading to the Space Station

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The journey to the International Space Station for the four astronauts has been delayed due to issues with one of the clamp arms holding the SpaceX rocket in place on the launch pad. The mission controller stopped the planned launch on Wednesday, and NASA has not yet announced the new release date and time.

Originally, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Willmore were expected to stay at the ISS for just a week in June as part of a test flight for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, but due to vehicle issues, they are now in orbit for nine months.

Astronauts Butch Willmore and Suni Williams will be on the ISS in June.
AP

The launch for Crew 10 was scrubbed with about 43 minutes left on the countdown clock. The lift-off was scheduled for 7:48pm from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket.

There are additional opportunities for the launch this week on Thursday at 7:26pm and Friday at 7:03pm, pending resolution of clamp arm hydraulic issues.

SpaceX Crew-10 Commander Anne McClain is waving alongside his crew at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday. From left are pilots Nicole Ayers, Japanese astronauts Onish and McClain, and astronaut Kiril Peskov.
Greg Newton / AFP-Getty Images

Once Crew 10 arrives at the space station, they will take over from the current crew, including Williams, Wilmore, and two other members, preparing for the astronauts’ return home.

Williams and Wilmore will return home on the SpaceX Dragon Capsule, which arrived at the space station in September. This will mark the end of their months-long mission on the ISS.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spaceship is being prepared for launch at the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.
Terry Renna / AP

The situation has sparked political discussion, with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump involved. Trump claimed that the Biden administration returned the astronauts to Earth for political reasons, which has been refuted. Plans for NASA to use SpaceX vehicles for the return journey remain unchanged.

NASA has not yet announced the date of the crew’s closure and landing, which typically occurs after a handover period for exchanging information about ongoing projects at the space station.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Saturn’s 128-Month Earning Surpasses Combined earnings of Other Planets

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Saturn currently has a total of 274 moons

NASA/JPL/Space Science Research Institute

Another 128 months were discovered, orbiting Saturn, bringing the planet to a total of 274. It's more than what's around all other planets in the solar system. However, astronomers face problems as advances in telescope technology allow them to gradually find small planetary objects.

Edward Ashton Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan and his colleagues have found a new moon with a telescope in Canada, France and Hawaii, revealing dozens who have previously avoided astronomers. They took several hours of imagery of Saturn, adjusted them through the sky for the movement of the planets, stacking them on top of each other, revealing objects that were otherwise too thin to be visible.

All new moons are 2 to 4 kilometres in diameter and could have been formed hundreds of millions or billions of years ago by collisions, Ashton said.

“These are tiny little rocks floating in space, so some people may not be doing anything,” Ashton says. “But I think it's important to have a catalog of all the objects in the solar system.”

The dot at the center of this image is one of the moons of Saturn’s new “fuzzy blob”

Edward Ashton et al. (2025)

Despite the wealth of data collected by his team, these most recent months still only appear as “fuzzy blobs,” Ashton says. There are more powerful telescopes that can solve Moon in more detail, Many people have small areas of vision, but that would mean taking more images, he says.

The newly discovered moon is recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and Ashton and his team You now have the right to name it. Ashton, a Canadian, says he approached representatives of Indigenous Canadian people for suggestions, but also pondered the idea of a kind of public naming contest.

Is there more moons there? Scientists have spent decades scanning the area around Saturn with an increasingly powerful telescope in recent years. In 2019, 20 new moons were found, and Ashton and his colleagues already 62 discovered Apart from the 128 that was recently discovered in 2023. Ultimately, further discoveries are likely to require advances in telescope technology, Ashton believes that thousands of moons are easily found in orbit around Saturn, and even discounting the small rocky remains found in the planet’s rings.

Mike Alexandersen The Minor Planet Center, which records the planetary bodies of the IAU, says there are likely many moons in the solar system, as telescope improvements allow you to see small objects. He says he has to make a decision about what he doesn’t do with the moon.

“I know that the IAU has decided not to prioritize naming anything smaller than a kilometer because of the number of months that are likely to exist. But that’s not the same as they don’t recognize it as the moon,” says Alexandersen. “Only if the spaceship goes to visit it would they name it.”

He suggests that the cutoff between the moon and the rock particles that form part of the planet’s rings is probably between 1 kilometres and 1 meter in diameter. “In the end, it’s probably going to be an IAU, not my decision. And it’s probably going to be a relatively arbitrary kind of thing,” says Alexandersen.

Elizabeth’s Day At Imperial College, London says one day there may even be commercial reasons to have an accurate map of the solar system. “You may want to extract resources from the asteroids and moons in your solar system, so make sure you understand what’s important to that,” says Day.

Kepler’s Renaissance Astronomy in Prague: Czech Republic

Discover the enormous heritage of Renaissance astronomers Johannes Kepler and Taicho Bray.

The article was revised on March 12, 2025

It revealed that Saturn’s total number of months is greater than other planets combined

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Science is capable of understanding conscious experiences.

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Shutterstock/Jorm Sangsorn

If we could exchange bodies, we could see and feel the world just like everyone else. This idea was not only a favorite Hollywood plot, but was recalled by the 17th century philosopher and empiricist pioneer John Locke. He used it to explore one of the greatest philosophical challenges of the human condition. Are your subjective experiences the same as others?

For Locke, the appeal of the body exchange story is probably based on today’s endurable confidence. This means that it is impossible to objectively measure subjective experience. This yawning gap in science is a problem.

Let’s take a look at an example of pain that is notoriously difficult to measure objectively. Studies have shown that women have less pain relief than men, even with similar amounts of distress. Things are even worse for people in marginalized groups. Fortunately, Investigate now The neurologist methods can rewrite how we communicate the sensation of pain, and have a major impact on equalizing treatment. A new approach to answering the question of whether color perception is the same proves fruitful for everyone (see “Are we all considered the same color? We have an answer in the end”).

Trying to measure subjective energy levels can be called “woowoo.”

The perception of color is one thing, but what about more ambiguous concepts such as energy? When you try to measure someone’s subjective energy levels, you may feel it beyond the realm of research.

Still, as our cover story explains (see “New Understanding of Tiredness Uncovering How You Recover Your Energy”), looking fresh in mind-body connections, along with biological mechanisms for energy generation in our cells, reveals a new understanding of what may drive intangible sensations that appear to lack energy.

The coalescence of such science is worthy of a tentative celebration. At first, I work to work to understand what appears to be beyond objective measurements. It helps doctors to better understand and treat patients, and helps us all lead a better life. no Funny Friday– Style body swap is required.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

First Operating System for Quantum Networks Successfully Created

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Qnodeos is an operating system that allows you to connect different types of quantum computers.

Studio Oostrum/Blijft Eigendom Van Fotograaf

Researchers created the first operating system for quantum networks, making it easier to link quantum computers to each other.

“By building only hardware, we make quantum networks useless.” Stephanie Wenner At Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. She has been working on connecting quantum computers to a network for a long time. This allows for the exchange of information very safely and perform calculations in new ways, but this requires understanding of the technical nity-gritty of each device involved. Together with her colleagues, Wehner has now developed a way to run quantum networks more universally.

The operating systems the team has built are software that allows you to control devices within a quantum network regardless of the type of qubit or qubit that make them. Such control devices become more difficult due to the fact that networked quantum computers receive both quantum information from other quantum computers and traditional signals from classical computers that serve the interface.

To demonstrate that an operating system called Qnodeos can handle both, researchers tested it on two types of quantum computers and several different tasks. They used two quantum computers made from specially processed diamonds and another quantum computer made from electric charged atoms. Using these two types of quantum hardware, researchers ran a delegated quantum computing test program, similar to using laptops to perform calculations in the cloud. We also tested the ability of Qnodeos to handle multitasking by running two programs at once.

Joe Fitzsimmons At the Quantum Computing Startup Horizon Quantum, based in Singapore and Ireland, it states that this is a major advance in laying the foundations of the quantum internet. He says, “If you start to take the idea of seriously building a general-purpose quantum network, there's a lot to do,” and the new operating system will lead to a long list of things to develop next, such as routing protocols.

Wehner says that Qnodeos development is like creating coloring pages. They outline all the shapes and struggle to color them all. For example, the work raised the question of how to write a scheduling program for quantum networks. “This wasn't even on my radar before, but now I'm very excited,” she says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Ohio Rust Belt Manufacturing Hub’s Dream Hindered by Delay and Uncertainty

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Intel recently moved a large metal structure 140 miles north to one of its semiconductor plants in Ohio, an operation detailed minute by minute here.

Local school bus schedules were carefully avoided during the transportation process. The cargo, measuring up to three-quarters of the length of a soccer field, was moved by a team of White Crane Truck operators.

Intel meticulously planned 37 deliveries over the past 11 months, culminating in the final Superroad landing at the Greenfield site last month. This marked a significant milestone for the company, which has invested heavily in the project since its announcement in September 2022.

However, Intel’s success in logistics is juxtaposed with its struggles as a company. Stock prices plummeted by 60% last year, and competition with companies like Nvidia has intensified with the Advanced 18A Artificial Intelligence Chip.

Rumors of potential dissolution and acquisition by rivals have further exacerbated Intel’s instability in the industry.

The delays in construction have also raised concerns among Ohio residents and community leaders, who were initially optimistic about the economic prospects brought by Intel’s manufacturing plants. The delays have pushed back the timeline for completion, causing frustration and uncertainty in the region.

Despite the setbacks, Intel secured funding under the Chips Act and remains committed to the project. However, the landscape of the semiconductor industry continues to evolve, with competitors like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) making significant investments.

The delays have also impacted local residents, some of whom have seen their properties affected by the construction. Concerns about the future of the project linger as Intel faces challenges in meeting critical deadlines and retaining funding.

The uncertainty surrounding Intel’s Ohio project highlights the complexities of navigating the rapidly changing semiconductor industry, where competition and market demands are reshaping the landscape.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Metals can be thinned to a few atoms thick

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Two layers of bismuth sandwiched between two layers of disulphide

Luo Jun Du

By crushing the molten droplets at a large pressure between two sapphires, a sheet of thick atoms of two thick atoms can be produced. Researchers who developed the process say that rare materials can use applications in industrial chemistry, optics, and computers.

Last year, scientists created a golden sheet Thick single atom which was called “Galden” after graphene, a material made from a single layer of carbon atoms. Such materials are described as 2D because they are chemically as thin as possible.

However, it has never been possible to make other 2D metals. New techniques developed by Luo Jun Du The Chinese Academy of Sciences and his colleagues can create two sheets of bismuth, gallium, indium, tin, and lead, which are as thin as atomic bonds allow.

To squeeze the metals, the researchers used two very flat sapphire crystals with a thin layer of disulfide in a bilayer (MOS₂). They placed powdered metal between these jaws, heated to 400°C until they formed droplets, crushing them with a huge pressure of up to 200 megapascals. The metal was compressed until it cooled to just two atoms thick, or, in the case of bismuth. When the pressure was removed, the 2D metal was stuck between the MOS₂. The seat then slipped out of the sapphire.

Du says the process was devised eight years ago, but the team dug up the recent fruit when MOS discovered it₂. The layers remained the thin metal sheet stable. “The single layer of freestanding metal atoms is simply unstable from a thermodynamic perspective. Therefore, we [had to] We’re developing whole new techniques,” says Du. “The process seems simple, but it works.”

In addition to creating very thin layers of atoms, researchers were able to fine-tune the throttle pressure and create three, four, or more atoms with accuracy.

2D metals can have anomalous properties that help scientists explore macroscopic quantum phenomena and superconductivity, DU says, which could lead to ultra-low power transistors, clear computer displays, and highly efficient catalysts for chemical reactions.

One problem is MOS₂ Encapsulating metal sheets is not easily removed. DU says this may be problematic in some applications, but the experiments suggest that it does not affect electrical conductivity, thus not hindering the 2D metal used in electronic devices.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The Most Fascinating Discovery I’ve Made Online: Josh Berry | Culture

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

ah. The internet is a vast reservoir of fury, tribalism, and all the porn in human history. Like many, I find myself drawn to the internet, particularly social media. Every night before bed, I often regret spending too much time interacting with others when I could have been scrolling alone in my own chaotic nest like a zombie. Here are some internet gems that tickle my funny bone, and hopefully yours too.

1. Jonathan Ross interviewed by Alan Partridge

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Alan Partridge is a comedic genius with layers upon layers of stupidity and complexity, a quintessentially British character. Watch him in this interview with Jonathan Ross as he shamelessly promotes his book, “I, Partridge.”

Personal highlight: “I think you can count the number of friends I have in the industry with thumbs and toes…or one hand finger…not including thumbs… I have four.”

2. Johnny Vegas’s old stand-up

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/cCxgag-Ho10?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="Johnny Vegas – 2000 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala" height="480" width="854" allowfullscreen="

Johnny Vegas’s stand-up routines are raw and unapologetically funny, pushing boundaries and challenging audiences. His unique style sets him apart in the world of comedy, a breath of fresh air in today’s politically correct environment.

3. Eddie Murphy pretends to be James Brown

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hLVmw81qDSA?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="Eddie Murphy impersonates James Brown" height="480" width="640" allowfullscreen="

Eddie Murphy’s James Brown impression is not only spot-on but seamlessly weaved into his stand-up routine. His ability to convey humor without words in his impersonation is truly remarkable, showcasing his comedic genius.

4. TJ Miller

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/CexNsiQt0sI?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="Cargo Pants | Comedy Special: Dear Jonah | T.J. Miller" height="480" width="854" allowfullscreen="

I find this clip amusing because it showcases the beauty of randomness and oddity in comedy.

5. Jimmy Kerr and Susie Dent

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/bbcEwxuxE9k?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="Jimmy Carr’s funniest Susie Dent remark" height="480" width="854" allowfullscreen="

I enjoy this clip because it highlights the consistency of comedic talent.

6. Moira’s drive-thru

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/p_9m81Z-L4E?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="Drive Thru Prank | Facejacker" height="480" width="854" allowfullscreen="

These sketches never fail to entertain, whether as a teenager or an adult. Kayvan Novak’s talent in voice modulation and improvisation is truly impressive, making for top-notch comedy.

7. Mrs. Merton

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Lj-9lSEBBm0?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="Debbie McGee on Mrs Merton" height="480" width="640" allowfullscreen="

This character-based interview format with Caroline Aherne’s Mrs. Merton is a comedic gem. Her ability to deliver cutting questions with a soft demeanor is both smart and entertaining.

8. Rack Rack

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/RkRl8fwkaqw?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="Netflix Presents: The Characters | Tim Robinson | Netflix" height="480" width="854" allowfullscreen="

A sketch that delivers a surprising twist, Tim Robinson’s humor shines bright in this piece.

9. Thank you Rachel

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/lrJ1ZhECi-Q?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="“Thanks, A lot Rachel”" height="480" width="854" allowfullscreen="

A guilty pleasure meme, “Thanks, Rachel” captures the humor in an everyday situation of charger theft, delivering pure and unfiltered emotions in a hilariously relatable way.

10. Bo Burnham

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/NeOhV4zOxJ4?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed" title="The Chicken – Bo Burnham (from THE INSIDE OUTTAKES – album out now)" height="480" width="854" allowfullscreen="

While not traditionally funny, Bo Burnham’s “Chicken” offers a unique perspective on the relationship between comedy, performance, and happiness.

“Chicken” explores the pursuit of comedy through a simple yet profound narrative about a chicken crossing the road, leaving viewers to ponder the essence of comedic endeavor.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Pokemon Go Developer Sells Games to Saudi Arabian Companies for $3.5 billion

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Niantic Labs announced the sale of its video games division to Saudi-owned Scopely for a whopping $3.5 billion. This move comes as U.S. augmented reality companies pivot towards geospatial technology, unable to recreate the success of the 2016 sensation, Pokémon Go.

The deal, revealed on Wednesday, also propels Saudi Arabia closer to its goal of becoming the ultimate global gaming hub. The Kingdom’s Sovereign Wealth Fund acquired Scopely for $4.9 billion in 2023 as part of a broader strategy to diversify beyond fossil fuels.

As per the agreement, Niantic will distribute an additional $350 million to its shareholders. Additionally, it will separate its Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (AI) business into a new entity named Niantic Spatial, led by John Hanke, the founder, and CEO of Niantic.

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Niantic Spatial will receive $250 million in capital from Niantic’s balancesheet and an additional $50 million from Scopely. All former investors of Niantic will retain their shares in Niantic Spatial.

This move marks the end of a challenging period for Niantic, which struggled post the success of Pokémon Go, leading to employee layoffs in 2022 and 2023.

Saudi Arabia, already known for being a gaming and esports center, is steadfast in its plan to invest nearly $38 billion in gaming-related ventures through its savvy gaming group.

Savvy Games, a prominent investor in global video game companies, including Nintendo, holds a 7.54% stake despite a slight profit decrease last year.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Bakeromene: Chemists Synthesize Barium-Containing Organometallic Molecules

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Organometallic molecules are made up of metal ions surrounded by a carbon-based framework. They are relatively common in early actinide elements such as uranium, but are little known in later actinides. Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) are currently preparing an organometallic complex from 0.3 milligrams of bacherium 249.

The purple/blue solution in this vial contains Barcheromene crystals. Image credit: Alyssa Gaiser/Berkeley Lab.

Barcrium, one of the 15 actinides in the F block of the periodic table, was discovered in 1949 by pioneering nuclear chemist Glenn Sieborg.

However, this heavy element is very radioactive and not easy to study. And only very small quantities of the products produced globally each year are produced.

Dr. Stephen Minasian, a scientist at the Berkeley Institute, said:

“This finding provides a new understanding of how burcrium and other actinides behave towards their periodic table peers.”

“A small number of facilities around the world can protect both compounds and workers while managing the risk of highly radioactive materials that react vigorously with oxygen and moisture in the air,” added Professor Poly Arnold, a chemist at the University of California, Berkeley and director of the Chemistry Sciences at Berkeley Lab.

At Berkeley Lab’s Heavy Element Research Laboratory, researchers designed a new glovebox that uses highly radioactive isotopes to allow for lethargic synths.

They then performed single crystal X-ray diffraction experiments with just 0.3 milligrams of Vercrium-249.

The results showed a symmetrical structure with a barcrium atoms sandwiched between two 8-membered carbon rings.

Scientists have named the new molecular Bacheromene because its structure is similar to a uranium organometallic complex called Uranosene.

An unexpected discovery revealed that electronic structure calculations revealed that the bacherium atom at the center of the Balkeracene structure has a quadruple oxidation state (positive charge of +4) stabilized by the barkerium carbon bond.

“The traditional understanding of the periodic table suggests that bacherium behaves like lanthanide terbium,” Dr. Minasian said.

“But Barcrium ions are much happier in the +4 oxidation state than the other F-block ions we expected to be the most similar,” Professor Arnold added.

“A more accurate model showing how actinide behavior changes are needed across the periodic table to solve problems related to long-term nuclear waste storage and repair.”

“This clear portrait of actinides like the barklium provides a new lens for the behavior of these fascinating elements,” says Dr. Rebecca Abelgel, a researcher at Berkeley Lab and the University of California, Berkeley.

a paper The explanation of this study was published in the journal Science.

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Dominic R. Russo et al. 2025. Barcrium carbon bonds in quadruple Berkeromene. Science 387 (6737): 974-978; doi: 10.1126/science.adr3346

Source: www.sci.news