Social media platforms are required to take action to comply with UK online safety laws, but they have not yet implemented all the necessary measures to protect children and adults from harmful content, according to the regulator.
Ofcom has issued a code of conduct and guidance for tech companies to adhere to in order to comply with the law, which includes the possibility of hefty fines and site closures for non-compliance.
Regulators have pointed out that many of the recommended actions have not been taken by the largest and most high-risk platforms.
John Higham, Director of Online Safety Policy at Ofcom, stated, “We believe that no company has fully implemented all necessary measures. There is still a lot of work to be done.”
All websites and apps covered by the law, including Facebook, Google, Reddit, and OnlyFans, have three months to assess the risk of illegal content appearing on their platforms. Safety measures must then be implemented to address these risks starting on March 17, with Ofcom monitoring progress.
The law applies to sites and apps that allow user-generated content, as well as large search engines covering over 100,000 online services. It lists 130 “priority crimes,” including child sexual abuse, terrorism, and fraud, which tech companies need to address by implementing moderation systems.
The new regulations and guidelines are considered the most significant changes to online safety policy in history according to Technology Secretary Peter Kyle. Tech companies will now be required to proactively remove illegal content, with the risk of heavy fines and potential site blocking in the UK for non-compliance.
Ofcom’s code and guidance include designating a senior executive responsible for compliance, maintaining a well-staffed moderation team to swiftly remove illegal content, and improving algorithms to prevent the spread of harmful material.
Platforms are also expected to provide easy-to-find tools for reporting content, with a confirmation of receipt and timeline for addressing complaints. They should offer users the ability to block accounts, disable comments, and implement automated systems to detect child sexual abuse material.
Child safety campaigners have expressed concerns that the measures outlined by Ofcom do not go far enough, particularly in addressing suicide-related content and making it technically impossible to remove illegal content on platforms like WhatsApp.
In addition to addressing fraud on social media, platforms will need to establish reporting channels for instances of fraud with law enforcement agencies. They will also work on developing crisis response procedures for events like the summer riots following the Southport murders.
TikTok made a last-ditch effort to continue operating in the U.S. on Monday, as it passed a temporary law requiring its China-based parent company ByteDance to sell the popular app by January 19. The U.S. Supreme Court was asked to intervene and prevent a ban from taking effect.
Both TikTok and ByteDance have filed emergency requests with a judge to block the impending ban on the social media app, which is used by approximately 170 million Americans. They are appealing a lower court ruling that upheld the law. Additionally, a group of U.S. users of the app filed a similar request on Monday.
The law, passed by Congress in April, was based on concerns raised by the Justice Department regarding TikTok’s Chinese ownership. The department alleges that as a Chinese company, TikTok could access and manipulate vast amounts of data on U.S. users, endangering national security. The ban is aimed at addressing these security threats.
TikTok and ByteDance argued in their Supreme Court filing that Americans should have the freedom to choose whether or not to use the app, without government interference. They criticized the law’s potential impact on freedom of speech and expressed concerns about the future implications if the law is upheld.
If TikTok is shut down even for a month, the companies estimate that they would lose a significant portion of their U.S. user base, affecting their ability to attract advertisers and content creators. The companies stress TikTok’s importance as a speech platform in the U.S. and argue that delaying enforcement of the ban would allow for further legal review.
Despite previous attempts to ban TikTok, President Donald Trump has signaled a shift in his stance and expressed interest in saving the app. He met with TikTok’s CEO and has indicated that his administration will evaluate the law’s legality. The companies emphasize the abrupt impact the ban would have, particularly on the eve of the presidential inauguration.
The companies urged the Supreme Court for a ruling that would allow them to manage the shutdown of TikTok in the U.S. if necessary, and to coordinate with service providers within a set deadline under the law. The escalating tensions between China and the U.S. add further complexity to the dispute.
TikTok has vehemently denied any sharing of U.S. user data and accused U.S. lawmakers of creating unfounded concerns. The company emphasizes the importance of protecting free speech and the potential implications of restricting access to the platform.
In a statement following the lawsuit, TikTok’s spokesman Michael Hughes reiterated the need for the courts to closely scrutinize any restrictions on speech, particularly in cases involving foreign ownership. The ongoing legal battle underscores the complexities of balancing national security concerns with free speech rights.
Physicists are Alice Collaboration. Evidence of antihyperhelium-4 has been seen for the first time at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Antihyperhelium-4 consists of two antiprotons, an antineutron, and an antilambda. New results are also the first evidence of the heaviest antimatter hypernuclear still at the LHC.
Illustration of the production of antihyperhelium-4 in a lead-lead collision. Image credit: AI-assisted J. Ditzel.
Collisions between heavy ions at the LHC created quark-gluon plasma, a hot, dense state of matter that is thought to have filled the universe about a millionth of a second after the Big Bang.
Heavy ion collisions also create conditions suitable for the production of atomic nuclei, exotic hypernuclei, and their antimatter counterparts, antinuclei and antihypernuclei.
Measuring these forms of matter is important for a variety of purposes, including helping to understand the formation of hadrons from quarks and gluons, the building blocks of plasma, and the matter-antimatter asymmetry seen in the modern universe.
Hypernuclei are exotic atomic nuclei formed by a mixture of protons, neutrons, and hyperons, the latter of which are unstable particles containing one or more strange types of quarks.
More than 70 years after their discovery in cosmic rays, hypernuclei continue to be a source of fascination for physicists. This is because hypernuclei are rarely found in nature and are difficult to create and study in the laboratory.
Collisions of heavy ions produce large numbers of hypernuclei, and until recently, the lightest hypernuclei, hypertriton (composed of protons, neutrons, and lambda), and its antimatter partner, antihypertriton, have been observed.
Following recent observations of antihyperhydrogen-4, ALICE physicists have detected antihyperhelium-4.
This result has a significance of 3.5 standard deviations and is also the first evidence of the heaviest antimatter hypernucleus ever at the LHC.
The ALICE measurements are based on lead-lead collision data taken in 2018 at an energy of 5.02 teraelectronvolts (TeV) for each colliding pair of nucleons (protons and neutrons).
The researchers examined data for the signals of hyperhydrogen-4, hyperhelium-4, and their antimatter partners using machine learning techniques that go beyond traditional hypernuclear search techniques.
Candidates for (anti)hyperhydrogen-4 were identified by looking for an (anti)helium-4 nucleus and a charged pion with which it decays; identified by. -Three atomic nuclei, an (anti)proton, and a charged pion.
In addition to finding evidence for antihyperhelium-4 with a significance of 3.5 standard deviations and evidence for antihyperhydrogen-4 with a significance of 4.5 standard deviations, the ALICE team found that the production yields of both hypernuclei and measured the mass.
“For both hypernuclei, the measured masses are consistent with current global average values,” the scientists said.
“The measured production yields were compared with predictions from a statistical hadronization model that adequately accounts for the formation of hadrons and nuclei in heavy ion collisions.”
“This comparison shows that the model's predictions closely match the data when both the excited hypernuclear state and the ground state are included in the prediction.”
“This result confirms that the statistical hadronization model can also adequately explain the production of hypernuclei, which are compact objects about 2 femtometers in size.”
The authors also determined the antiparticle-to-particle yield ratios for both hypernuclei and found that they agreed within experimental uncertainties.
“This agreement is consistent with ALICE's observation that matter and antimatter are produced equally at LHC energy and further strengthens ongoing research into the matter-antimatter imbalance in the Universe.” concluded.
In 2003, Hubble provided evidence of giant exoplanets around very old stars. Such stars have only small amounts of the heavy elements that make up planets. This suggests that some planetary formation occurred when our universe was very young, and that those planets had time to form and grow large within the primordial disk, becoming even larger than Jupiter. I am. But how? To answer this question, astronomers used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to study stars in the nearby Small Magellanic Cloud, which, like the early Universe, lacks large amounts of heavy elements. They discovered that not only do some stars there have planet-forming disks, but that those disks are longer-lived than the disks found around young stars in our Milky Way galaxy.
This web image shows NGC 346, a massive star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Yellow circles superimposed on the image indicate the positions of the 10 stars investigated in the study. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Olivia C. Jones, UK ATC/Guido De Marchi, ESTEC/Margaret Meixner, USRA.
“With Webb, we have strong confirmation of what we saw with Hubble, and we need to rethink how we model planet formation and early evolution in the young Universe.” European Space Research Agency said Dr. Guido de Marchi, a researcher at Technology Center.
“In the early universe, stars formed primarily from hydrogen and helium, with few heavier elements such as carbon or iron, and were later born from supernova explosions.”
“Current models predict that because heavy elements are so scarce, the lifetime of the disk around the star is short, so short that in fact planets cannot grow,” said a researcher at NSF's NOIRLab's Gemini Observatory. said lead scientist Dr. Elena Sabbi.
“But Hubble actually observed those planets. So what happens if the model is incorrect and the disks have a longer lifespan?”
To test this idea, the astronomers trained Webb in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way.
In particular, they examined the massive star-forming cluster NGC 346, which also has a relative lack of heavy elements.
This cluster served as a nearby proxy for studying stellar environments with similar conditions in the distant early universe.
Hubble observations of NGC 346 since the mid-2000s have revealed that there are many stars around 20 to 30 million years old that are thought to still have planet-forming disks around them.
This was contrary to the conventional idea that such disks would disappear after two or three million years.
“Hubble's discovery was controversial and went against not only the empirical evidence for the galaxy, but also current models,” Dr. De Marchi said.
“This was interesting, but without a way to obtain the spectra of these stars, we will not know whether what we are witnessing is genuine accretion and the presence of a disk, or just an artificial effect. I couldn't actually confirm it.”
Now, thanks to Webb's sensitivity and resolution, scientists have, for the first time, spectra of the formation of Sun-like stars and their surrounding environments in nearby galaxies.
“We can see that these stars are actually surrounded by a disk and are still in the process of engulfing material even though they are relatively old, 20 or 30 million years old,” De Marchi said. Ta.
“This also means that planets have more time to form and grow around these stars than in nearby star-forming regions in our galaxy.”
This discovery contradicts previous theoretical predictions that if there were very few heavy elements in the gas around the disk, the star would quickly blow away the disk.
Therefore, the lifespan of the disk is very short, probably less than 1 million years.
But how can planets form if dust grains stick together to form pebbles and the disk doesn't stay around the star long enough to become the planet's core?
The researchers explained that two different mechanisms, or a combination of them, may exist for planet-forming disks to persist in environments low in heavy elements.
First, the star applies radiation pressure to blow the disk away.
For this pressure to be effective, an element heavier than hydrogen or helium must be present in the gas.
However, the massive star cluster NGC 346 contains only about 10 percent of the heavy elements present in the Sun's chemical composition.
Perhaps the stars in this cluster just need time to disperse their disks.
A second possibility is that for a Sun-like star to form when there are few heavier elements, it would need to start with a larger cloud of gas.
As the gas cloud grows larger, it produces larger disks. Therefore, because there is more mass in the disk, it will take longer to blow it away, even if the radiation pressure is acting the same.
“The more material around the star, the longer the accretion will last,” Sabbi says.
“It takes 10 times longer for the disk to disappear. This has implications for how planets form and the types of system architectures that can be used in different environments. This is very exciting.”
of study Published today on astrophysical journal.
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Guido de Marchi others. 2024. Protoplanetary disks around Sun-like stars appear to live longer when they are less metallic. APJ 977,214;Doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad7a63
This article is adapted from an original release by the Webb Mission Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Paleontologists have identified a new species of procolophonid reptile from fossilized skull and jaw fragments found in southwest England.
rebuilding the life of Treodatos casmatos. Image credit: Mark Whitton.
The newly discovered species Treodatos casmatoslived during the Late Triassic period, approximately 220 to 210 million years ago.
The ancient creature is a member of Leptopleuroninaean extinct lizard-like quasi-reptilian subfamily within the clade Procolophonidae.
Luke Mead, a palaeontologist at the University of Birmingham, said: “Procolophoids appeared in the late Permian, persisted until the end-Permian extinction event, and were a notable element of the post-extinction fauna in the Triassic, on the supercontinent. They were small quasi-reptile species that were diverse throughout Pangea.” his colleagues.
“Procolophonid diversity decreased during the Late Triassic and is represented only by the late-divergent clade Leptopleuroninae, known for small occurrences in Brazil, North America, Scotland, England, and possibly Wales. ”
“Leptopleuronin procolophorids typically have a reduced number of laterally expanded bicuspid maxillary teeth and are often characterized by cranial decorations such as enlarged spines of the quadrate zygoma.”
“Leptopleuronins appear to be well adapted to a high-fiber herbivore, omnivore, or entomovore diet, and this group may represent the latest surviving clade of Parareptilia.” There is.”
Fossilized remains are Treodatos casmatos It was discovered at Cromhall Quarry in southern Gloucestershire, south-west England.
“The teeth and jaws of this small reptile exhibit features never before seen in this group,” said Dr. Mead, lead author of the paper. study Published in a magazine Paleontology Papers.
“They probably fed differently than their relatives, raising new questions about how these animals interacted with their environment during the Late Triassic. ”
Reptiles have tricuspid teeth in their upper jaws, each with three distinct points. The lower jaw, on the other hand, has compressed unicuspid teeth with unusual edentulous (toothless) tips.
These adaptations may have facilitated unique methods of food processing.
Dr Mark Jones, curator of fossil reptiles at the Natural History Museum, said: “The interaction between the upper and lower teeth is interesting and there are some mammalian similarities in the shape of the teeth.”
“The mandible was not fused at the jaw area; instead, the connection was held by soft tissue and was probably flexible.”
“This flexibility may have allowed the lower jaws to make contact in a way that made it easier to masticate food.”
“This feature is not seen in closely related species and may indicate a specialized diet or feeding strategy.”
“The Late Triassic was a period of dramatic environmental change when Pangea began to collapse.”
“The unique adaptation of teeth is Treodatos casmatos This suggests that they may have carved out a unique ecological niche in a changing climate, feeding on plants, insects, or other small prey that required specialized oral food processing. ”
“Treodatos casmatos “They lived at a time when solar radiation was much lower than it is today, but there was much more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” Dr. Jones said.
“It has become generally hotter, global average sea levels have risen, and extreme rainfall events have occurred.”
“therefore, Treodatos casmatos And the communities it lived in may provide perspective on today's threatened ecosystems and the global emergency we face. ”
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Luke E. Mead others. 2024. A new protocolophonid with complex tooth rows that lived in the Late Triassic of southwestern England. paleontology papers 10 (6): e1605;doi: 10.1002/spp2.1605
IIt begins with a soft rumble, then an explosion, and finally a thunderous roar. Pyroclastic flows spew out from volcanoes and race towards us at alarming speeds. A cascade of volcanic ash seems to be pelting the surrounding space – technically, it’s the distinctive pumice gravel from Mount Vesuvius – and for a few moments, patrons at the National Museum of Australia are transported to the 1,946-year-old tragedy in Pompeii.
Immersive experiences, including increasingly advanced virtual reality technology, are gaining popularity in museums despite criticism from scholars that flashy special effects may divert viewers from the actual artifacts and exhibits. It has shifted from being a mere gimmick to a successful exhibition to a crucial component in educating future generations, assuming that the primary purpose of museums is entertainment.
Laurent Dondy, the head of development and international tours at Grand Palais Immersif, the French company involved in creating Pompeii, acknowledges some of the apprehensions regarding immersive technology in museums.
“Sorry, but I don’t want to see Van Gogh smoking or scratching his head,” he explains. “Our approach is a blend of art and science. Technology plays a role in the creative process that surprises people and can undoubtedly add a layer of enjoyment to the experience.”
Pompeii is now on display at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, offering hourly exhibitions showcasing Mount Vesuvius. While the immersive encounter is included in the admission price, other high-budget productions in Australia necessitate separate headsets and seats due to technology requirements, resulting in extra charges that can escalate the cost of a family day at the museum to hundreds of dollars.
Over 500,000 individuals attended the record-breaking ‘Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs’ exhibition at the Australian Museum in Sydney, with a quarter opting for the additional $30 fee for the VR component per person. We decided to queue for the opportunity to participate.
Visitors to the Australian Museum’s ‘Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs’ exhibition. Photo: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images
And according to its director Kim McKay, this technology is here to stay.
“In today’s world, we must provide people with experiences, and I believe museums should not be exempt from that,” she asserts. “Museums need to evolve. Like everything else, we can’t be anchored in the past; we must embrace new and evolving technologies.”
“Children now anticipate digital enhancements, and as museum leaders, it is our responsibility to determine how to effectively integrate this technology to maintain an authentic experience. It’s a fine balance.”
Gedeon Experience, the creative force behind Pompeii’s special effects, gained exclusive access to archaeological digs in inaccessible areas, documenting the daily efforts of archaeologists for two years and using CGI to reconstruct the city’s streets and buildings.
Instead of detracting from the visitor experience, this spectacle enriches and complements the over 90 items borrowed from the Pompeii Archaeological Park, including frescoes, mosaics, jewelry, sculptures, and domestic objects.
The Director of the University of Sydney’s Museums and Heritage Program highlights a prime selection of must-see exhibitions from Australia’s museums and galleries.
However, the drawback is that technology inflates exhibition budgets, leading to increased ticket prices.
“They are costly, and there is fierce competition to incorporate the latest digital technologies,” O’Reilly remarks.
Having attended the initial Pompeii exhibition in Paris in 2020, O’Reilly notes that the visual effects of the exhibition are mostly consistent with other immersive exhibitions encountered abroad over the following four years.
“A well-executed immersive exhibit can provide a profound layering of experience and knowledge, but outdated technology may disappoint some visitors. The pace of [developments] is incredibly rapid,” she observes.
“The audience is quite demanding. Game resolutions are astoundingly high. For immersive content and narrative delivery, we now expect the caliber we encounter in gaming. It’s an intimate, detailed experience, and museum-goers will anticipate a commensurate level of quality.”
Is there a risk that future generations lacking technological acumen may fail to grasp the significance of the displayed artifacts?
“Possibly, but without those innovations to begin with, they might not have engaged in the first place,” O’Reilly remarks. “Their expectations will differ from those of previous generations.”
Perhaps not. McKay recounts that when the Australian Museum polled 100 children about their desires for future museums, they anticipated “screens everywhere.”
“That wasn’t the case. They requested ‘more spiders, more sharks, more snakes.’ They sought greater authenticity,” she concludes.
The bartender said, “We don't serve time travelers here.” A time traveler enters the bar.
OK, yes, you'll almost certainly regret starting this article with such a lame old joke. Most of us, at some point, have wanted to go back in time to fix a mistake or failure. But that's impossible, right?
Well, not necessarily. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity suggests that time travel may actually be possible. We know that matter can bend space-time, and if we bend it enough we may be able to create time loops. Of course, there are many caveats, and researchers have yet to present a working time machine. But that didn't stop them from exploring the possibilities.
Here are five ways time travel could be possible, from sci-fi classics to surprising new ideas. It also introduces some thorny practical obstacles that need to be overcome.
1. Prepare the galaxy laser ring
The main problem with time travel is that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, which is 299,792,458 meters per second. This speed limit maintains causation, the idea that the cause must always come before the effect. Thanks to a quirk of Einstein's special theory of relativity and the fact that space and time are intimately connected, traveling faster than the speed of light messes it up. If we could travel faster than light, we would travel back in time. But you can't do that.
The next best thing is to manipulate the fabric of space-time. in…
Plastic food packaging can expose people to chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA)
Shutterstock/Trong Nguyen
Hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of heart disease cases worldwide may be linked to chemicals found in common plastic products, and stricter regulations on such toxins are needed. This suggests that there may be potential benefits to public health.
Maureen Cropper researchers from the University of Maryland investigated the effects of oxidation on three chemicals primarily used in plastics: bisphenol A (BPA), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The public health impact of exposure was assessed. BPA and DEHP are used in plastic food packaging, and PBDE is a flame retardant used in some household products such as furniture and electronics.
Based on more than 1,700 studies published to date, the researchers estimated how much people in 38 countries, representing about a third of the world’s population, are exposed to these three chemicals. Three of these countries, the United States, Canada, and South Korea, also have public databases that monitor levels of these chemicals in urine and blood samples, providing more accurate data.
Researchers calculated the health effects caused by these chemicals by combining them with medical records and toxicology reports. Researchers found that in 2015, approximately 5.4 million coronary artery diseases and 346,000 strokes were linked to BPA exposure, and approximately 164,000 deaths among people aged 55 to 64 were caused by DEHP. I discovered that it could be.
Thanks to you rules Since their enactment in the 2000s, the prevalence of these chemicals has decreased in many countries, including the United States, Canada, and Europe. Researchers estimate that approximately 515,000 deaths could have been avoided if exposure to BPA and DEHP in the United States had remained at post-regulation levels since 2003. This highlights the importance for governments and manufacturers to limit the use of hazardous chemicals in plastic products before they reach consumers. says Cropper.
However, it is important to remember that these results are only approximations. “Frankly, I think one of the real limitations is the lack of exposure data on these substances,” Cropper said. This means that estimates may be less accurate for some countries than for others. “It would be a good idea for more countries to actually monitor it.” [exposures to] Examining these and other substances will improve our understanding of their public health burden, she says.
called radiation-resistant bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans It can withstand radiation doses thousands of times higher than what would kill a human. The secret behind this resistance is the existence of a collection of simple metabolites that combine with manganese to form a powerful antioxidant. Now, Northwestern University professor Brian Hoffman and his colleagues have discovered how this antioxidant works.
First discovered in 1956, Deinococcus radiodurans It is one of the most radiation-resistant organisms known.
It was isolated in an experiment aimed at determining whether high doses of gamma rays could be used to sterilize canned food.
In a new study, Professor Hoffman and co-authors characterized a synthetic designer antioxidant called MDP. Deinococcus radiodurans'Resilience.
They show that the components of MDP, manganese ions, phosphates, and small peptides, form a ternary complex that is a much more powerful protector from radiation damage than when manganese is combined with other individual components alone. I discovered that.
This discovery could ultimately lead to new synthetic antioxidants specifically tailored to human needs.
Applications include protecting astronauts from intense space radiation during deep space missions, preparing for radiation emergencies, and producing radiation-inactivated vaccines.
“This ternary complex is MDP's excellent shield against the effects of radiation,” said Professor Hoffman.
“It has long been known that manganese ions and phosphates together make a powerful antioxidant, but now we discover and understand the 'magical' potency brought about by the addition of a third ingredient. That's a breakthrough.”
“This study provided the key to understanding why this combination is such a powerful and promising radioprotector.”
In a previous study, researchers found that: Deinococcus radiodurans It can withstand 25,000 Grays (or units of X-rays and gamma rays).
But in a 2022 study, Professor Hoffmann and his team found that this bacterium, when dried and frozen, can withstand 140,000 Gy of radiation, 28,000 times the dose that would kill humans. did.
Therefore, if there are dormant frozen microbes buried on Mars, they may have survived the onslaught of galactic cosmic radiation and solar protons to this day.
In an effort to understand radioresistance in microorganisms, researchers investigated a designer decapeptide called DP1.
When combined with phosphate and manganese, DP1 forms the free radical scavenger MDP, which protects cells and proteins from radiation damage.
Professor Michael Daly, from Uniformed Services University, said: “This new understanding of MDP could lead to the development of even more powerful manganese-based antioxidants with applications in areas such as medicine, industry, defense and space exploration. Yes,” he said.
of result will appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Hao Yang others. 2024. A ternary complex of Mn2+, synthetic decapeptide DP1 (DEHGTAVMLK), and orthophosphate is an excellent antioxidant. PNAS 121 (51): e2417389121;doi: 10.1073/pnas.2417389121
Saturn and its rings photographed by the Cassini spacecraft in 2016
NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology/Space Science Institute
Modeling studies suggest that Saturn's rings are much older than previously thought and may have formed around the same time as Saturn. But not all astronomers are convinced, and the researchers who were part of the team that calculated that Saturn's rings are relatively young insist that the new findings do not change their findings. are.
For most of the 20th century, scientists believed that Saturn's rings formed with the planet about 4.5 billion years ago. But when NASA's Cassini spacecraft visited Saturn in 2004, it found its rings to be noticeably free of contamination from tiny space rocks known as cosmic dust. This innocent appearance indicated that they were much younger. Estimates for 2023 put their age between 100 million and 400 million years.
now, Ryuki Hyodo in Japan Space Science Institute He and his colleagues calculated that Saturn's rings should be much more resistant to contamination from space dust than previously thought, allowing them to maintain a pristine appearance for long periods of time. Hyodo and his team haven't calculated a new age for the ring, but they suggest it could be as old as Earth, as astronomers once believed.
The researchers then modeled how these particles moved through Saturn's magnetic field, and found that only a small portion settled on the rings, while the majority were drawn into Saturn's atmosphere. It turned out that the object was either destroyed or bounced back into space. “The accretion efficiency of Saturn's rings is only a few percent, which is much smaller than previously assumed,” says Professor Hyodo. This could extend previous ring age estimates by hundreds of millions to billions of years, he said.
Sasha Kemp A member of the team at the University of Colorado Boulder that calculated an earlier, much younger estimate of the age of Saturn's rings, he and his colleagues considered not only the ring's contamination efficiency, but also its contamination efficiency, taking into account the time it would take. He said he used a more complicated method. This is because matter reaches the ring and disappears. The values calculated by Hyodo and his colleagues do not change the overall results for that age, Kempf said. “I'm sure this doesn't mean we really have to go back to square one.”
However, Hyodo argues that times should change dramatically as pollution efficiency declines. “They assumed an efficiency of 10%, but we reported 1%. The equation tells us that it's a billion years, or a billion years.”
Kemp also said that while the new simulation assumes that Saturn's rings are made of solid ice particles, the actual rings are made of soft particles that are much larger in size than what was modeled in the study. He said there was. “If you fire particles into these fairly complex and soft structures, the outcome of such collisions will be very different,” he says.
Hyodo argues that this assumption is standard for many similar studies. “No one knows what kind of effect the difference in ice will have,” says Hyodo. “It may or may not be more efficient.”
Lotfi Ben Jaffer A professor at France's Paris Institute of Astrophysics, who was not involved in either age-estimation study, said the study suggests the rings are not as young as recently claimed. “This is a positive step toward a lack of modeling efforts needed to adequately address the fundamental question of planetary ring system formation and evolution,” he says.
But Hyodo and his team need to improve their modeling to more accurately estimate the ring's contamination, he says, so they can more accurately determine its age.
You have seen game award name.
you have seen British Academy Awards longlist.
We’re still a little ways off from announcing our own Guardian Games of the Year list, but while you wait with bated breath, we’re sure to give you an appetizer. It is an alternative prize to Pushing Buttons. Right away…
Make the most of your bed as a gameplay device
Need to restore your mind while adventuring through the eerie rifts tearing Hyrule apart? All you have to do is conjure a bed out of thin air, stay out of reach of your enemies, and take a quick nap. Need to overcome a bridgeable gap? Now it’s time to conjure some bed. Need stairs? Barricades? Something decorative? Bed, bed, bed. in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom the bed is the real hero.
The perfect game to survive a long-haul flight
Hours of fun…Balatoro.
Photo: LocalThunk/Playstack
On my way to this year’s Summer Game Fest in LA, I pre-downloaded Steam Deck and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree to board the plane and prepare for my first uninterrupted 10-hour gaming session in my 30s. Ta. But when I loaded it, I had to authorize the purchase. And the Wi-Fi on the plane didn’t work. So, after getting really grumpy, I said, “I don’t know. baratolo (Photo above) And the 5 hour flight felt like a blink of an eye. Thank you, Mr. Baratolo, for not only taking up most of my free time in February, but for getting me through that awful flight.
impudence award
It led to a ton of plagiarism accusations and eventually a lawsuit from Nintendo, but it still has to be turned over to the game’s developer. pal world (Top photo) For his true face, he simply imitates a Pokemon and makes him hold a gun. (Palworld’s lead developer claims that the game does not infringe any copyright.)
Problematic Favorites Award
For years, I’ve been disgusted by the glorification of military forces in first-person shooters, as first-person shooters have become more realistic-looking. The connections between these games and real-world weapons manufacturers are also disturbing. These are frequently used as a recruiting tool in the military. And at the same time, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 The single-player campaign of “90s Special Operations Thriller…
Best First Date Award
The perfect date…Life is Strange: Double Exposure.
Photo: Square Enix
One of the first scenes of Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Above) During a student dive, we see 20-something Max Caulfield trying to flirt with a cute girl behind the bar…
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have taken striking new photos of barred spiral galaxy NGC 2566.
The barred spiral galaxy NGC 2566 has a prominent star bar at its center, with spiral arms emerging from each end of the bar. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Tilker.
NGC2566 It is located in the constellation Leo, about 76 million light years away from Earth.
The galaxy was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on March 6, 1785.
Also known as ESO 495-3, LEDA 23303, or UGCA 138, this galaxy is a member of the PGC 80593 group of at least 16 large galaxies.
“NGC 2566 appears tilted from our perspective, so its disk is almond-shaped, giving the galaxy the appearance of a cosmic eye,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.
“As NGC 2566 stares back at us, we’ll be looking directly behind it, using Hubble to study the galaxy’s star clusters and star-forming regions.”
“Hubble data is especially valuable for studying stars that are only a few million years old.”
“These stars are bright in the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths to which Hubble is sensitive.”
Using these data, astronomers will measure the ages of NGC 2566’s stars, helping them piece together the timeline of star formation in the galaxy and gas exchange between the star-forming clouds and the stars themselves.
“Several other observatories have investigated NGC 2566, including NASA/ESA/CSA’s James Webb Space Telescope,” the researchers said.
“Webb’s data complement this Hubble image, adding a view of NGC 2566’s warm, glowing dust to Hubble’s stellar portrait.”
“NGC 2566, at the long wavelength end of the electromagnetic spectrum, has also been observed by the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA).”
“ALMA is a network of 66 radio telescopes working together to capture detailed images of the gas clouds where stars form.”
aArchitectural surrealism is a defining characteristic of Monument Valley. The rigid and beautiful structures in the game transform and rotate with the player’s touch, creating new paths and stairs for the minimalist character to explore. Doorways can lead anywhere, and hitting a switch can cause pillars to rise from the ground, revealing hidden paths. Since 2014, these games have been popular on smartphones and are considered some of the best examples for touch screen puzzle enthusiasts. However, the latest entry in the series, released recently, offers a unique twist.
The iconic Moroccan-inspired architecture that made the game famous is still present, but this time, the geometric character Noor is accompanied by blooming flowers and winding vines. Noor is shown steering a small boat and getting lost in a bright yellow wheat field. The game also introduces more people, with Noor depicted as an apprentice lighthouse keeper responsible for a community devastated by a flood in various scenes. Throughout the game, she is accompanied or assisted by different characters, highlighting the theme of rebuilding together.
Monument Valley is now available as a game on Netflix, allowing subscribers to download all three entries for free. The game is developed by Ustwo Games, a small studio based in London. While some creators from the first game remain, the team has evolved over the past decade. Director Jennifer Estaris, who joined Ustwo Games in 2020, brings her experience as a climate change activist and game designer to the project. The game’s development is influenced by the play for the earth Initiative, with Monument Valley 2’s additional chapter, The Lost Forest, created as part of the Green Game Jam.
Calmly satisfied…Monument Valley 3. Photo: Ustwo/Netflix
“I believe that green nudging is crucial and that system change can be reflected in games,” says Estaris. “For Monument Valley 3, my main idea was to explore sustainable and resilient community building for a hopeful future. We focused on living in harmony with nature to provide the solutions we need.” The game offers a satisfying and visually stunning puzzle experience while subtly addressing themes of climate change through its natural shapes and architecture.
Lead Designer Emily Brown explains the team’s approach to Monument Valley 3, stating, “We wanted to explore a different perspective from the towering monuments and isolated characters of the previous games.” The game incorporates more natural elements and allows for a mix of styles and ideas, reflecting a shift towards a more hopeful and interconnected narrative.
“It was impossible for us as a team.” do not have To bring a part of myself to it”…Monument Valley 3. Photo: Ustwo/Netflix
Monument Valley’s minimalist design allows players to bring their own emotions and narratives to the game, creating a unique and personal experience. Despite the game’s focus on conveying messages about climate change and hope, the team aimed to retain the space for interpretation and personal connection. Lead Designer Brown expresses the team’s ambition for the game, stating, “We believe that things can improve when players bring a part of themselves to the experience.”
The development of Monument Valley 3 during the Covid-19 pandemic prompted the team to explore themes of community, unity, and recovery from disaster. The game embodies the concept of Hopepunk, offering a message of hope and resilience in the face of challenges. Estaris emphasizes the importance of unity in overcoming difficulties, stating, “We want people to feel that we can overcome challenges by working together.”
Most pet owners have probably seen their furry friends get soaking wet. After dripping for 1 second, they spray water everywhere. wet dog shake. Almost all hairy mammals, from dogs, cats, and mice to lions, tigers, and bears, shiver and dry when their fur gets wet. But even though it's common for dogs to get wet and shiver, scientists still don't know what causes this behavior.
Our skin is very sensitive to touch. Most people can easily distinguish the gentle touch of a loved one, a breeze, the movement of a pest on the skin. We sense touch through our nervous system using specialized cells called . somatosensory neurons Detect changes in our skin. Hairy animals have 12 unique types of somatosensory neurons that sense and respond to touch. One such neuron is C-LTMRresponds only to mild, slow stimuli. When these neurons sense something, they react strongly by sending strong electrical signals through the nervous system. The research team wondered if these neurons were responsible for the tremors in wet dogs.
To investigate the link between C-LTMR neurons and wet dog tremors, the researchers first measured this behavior in mice. They used a dropper to place droplets of sunflower seed oil on the necks of 10 mice and monitored their behavior for five minutes. Mice initiated wet dog shaking within an average of 10 seconds after droplet placement, often 3 to 4 times every 18 seconds. After the first minute, the mice stopped shaking frequently and instead groomed and scratched themselves.
So the researchers wanted to know whether the shivering in wet dogs was an automatic behavior triggered by neurons that sensed these droplets. To test this, they used genetic engineering techniques. crisper In order to remove the genes that create touch sensors in neurons, piezo 2. CRISPR is piezo 2 Gene for finding mouse cells themselves piezo 2 gene. CRISPR then disrupts the gene, preventing the mouse cells from making touch sensors. When researchers placed oil drops on the necks of genetically engineered mice, wet dog shakes did not occur. The researchers concluded that touch is the main mechanism that triggers the automatic shivering behavior in wet dogs.
Many somatosensory neurons use Piezo2 to sense touch, so the researchers are unable to pinpoint the neurons responsible for the wet dog's tremors. However, some genes are only produced by certain types of neurons. The researchers used genetic engineering to target these genes, a process called light-sensitization. optogenetics. These light-sensitive genes produce proteins that become activated when scientists shine a blue laser on them. The researchers used optogenetics to create light-sensitive C-LTMR neurons and compared them to other light-sensitive somatosensory neurons.
When the researchers shined a light on the skin of seven light-sensitive C-LTMR mice, the mice shivered 60% of the time like a wet dog. But mice with other light-sensitive neurons did not show the dog-wetting tremors in response to the laser. The researchers found that photosensitive C-LTMR mice responded best 80% of the time when the laser was applied to the neck rather than the back or thighs, with 30% and 0% responses, respectively. Ta.
The researchers thought this might indicate that C-LTMR neurons were sending signals through other neurons in the spine. spinal parabrachial neurons or SPN. To test this, the researchers cultured SPNs containing optogenetic C-LTMR neurons in Petri dishes. When they shined a laser on C-LTMR neurons, the electrical signals within the SPN were measured with electrodes, showing that these neurons were communicating.
The researchers concluded that wet dog tremors are caused specifically by C-LTMR neurons in the spine. They hope that future studies can build on their findings and gain a deeper understanding of the connections between C-LTMR neurons and the brain. Continuing these studies will impact how scientists understand wet dog tremors in mammals and how hypersensitivity and other contact-based symptoms develop in humans. Possibly.
a While there has been widespread panic over drones and other unknown low-flying objects in New Jersey in recent days, many other parts of the country are still concerned about the very American nature of the skies, which has been resurgent in modern times. A mysterious person is happily captured by a UFO.
At the newly opened National UFO Historical Records Center – A cluster of beige buildings on the grounds of Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Rio Rancho, New Mexico – Literally dozens of files detailing the unexplained flying object and the terror of those around it. It fills the cabinet.
For director David Marler, this first-of-its-kind public archive of UFO historical records is the culmination of a lifelong interest and investigation into UFOs, or UAPs, as the military now prefers to designate them, or unidentified anomalous phenomena.
It came at the perfect time. In recent years, Congressional and Senate hearings have brought the topic, which often rises and falls in public attention during times of national or political unrest, back into the spotlight.
Images taken last week showed what appeared to be several drones over New Jersey. Composite: TMX over AP
Mahler's collection of UFO books, magazines, magazines, newspapers, microfilms, audio recordings, and case files from the past 75 years is impressive, as well as files from early U.S. Air Force research (Project Sign, Project Grudge, and Project Blue Book). Included. by the National Commission on the Study of Aeronautical Phenomena, the Institute for the Study of Aeronautical Phenomena (formerly based in Alamogordo, three and a half hours away), and the UFO Research Committee of the United States. Akron, Ohio.
A September 13, 1959 military report details an object rotating seven times, marking four military radar stations in New Mexico traveling much faster than the Convair 106, the fastest fighter plane of the time. tracked by.
“The Air Force was interested in national defense in the same way it is today, not from a quote-unquote 'alien perspective,'” Mahler says. “For practical reasons, especially because qualified military and civilian pilots report these things.”
At a Congressional hearing last monthwitnesses claimed that the government was sitting on a trove of information about the UAP dating back decades. Two former Navy pilots said they witnessed first-hand unexplained objects that regularly violate U.S. airspace.
Retired Major David Gruesch, a former member of the Pentagon's UAP Task Force, said the U.S. government has been running a secret program for years to reverse engineer inhuman material taken from crash sites.
However, the United States Old Main Anomaly Resolution Officeor AARO, founded in 2022, said there is no single explanation that addresses the majority of UAP reports, namely “anomalous detections,” and that no evidence of extraterrestrial technology has been found.
David Gruesch stands at the Capitol building in Washington, DC, on July 26, 2023. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
AARO Director John Koslosky at Senate hearing said “Reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena, especially near national security locations, must be treated seriously by the U.S. government and investigated with scientific rigor.”
Marler, who has been following the issue relentlessly since he went looking for UFOs with his father when sightings were on the rise in Missouri, says he is neutral on the phenomenon.
“One has to be skeptical, look at the evidence objectively, and suspend conclusions and beliefs,” he says. “What I believe doesn't really matter unless there's data to support it.”
Earlier this year, the New York software company released Enigma, an app that collects sightings by uploading videos and photos with descriptions…
In 2023, scientists in Southeast Asia’s Greater Mekong River region described an astonishing 234 new species. The discovery was announced in 2023. Report from the nature conservation organization WWF173 species of plants, 26 species of reptiles, 17 species of amphibians, 15 species of fish, and 3 species of mammals.
Since 1997, more than 3,500 new plant and vertebrate species have been identified in the region covered by this report, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, with an average of 130 new species per year. I’m going up.
Here, we introduce six new species, including a hairy hedgehog named after a vampire, an almost invisible dragon lizard, and an endangered leafless orchid.
Hiromiz macaron
The furry hedgehog family pictured above is endemic to Vietnam. Hiromiz macaron It may seem innocuous, but its name is Macaron Means vampire in Vietnamese. It gets its name thanks to its long, pointed fangs, which remain hidden in this photo.
Hyposideros Kingston
This small leaf-nosed bat lives from Thailand to Borneo. confirmed by DNA analysis Hyposideros Kingston It was born as a new species in 2023.
It’s not known where these tiny bats, which weigh just 4.9 to 7 grams, roost. It has been seen near large limestone caves, suggesting that it may be hiding there, but it is also possible that it lives far from known caves, hiding in the hollows of trees. It is also possible that they are building a roost.
Laodracon calusticola
You need keen eyesight to spot this small lizard (Laodracon calusticola), which lives high on the tops of rugged karsts in Laos, which may explain why this species has been ignored by scientists until now. One of the earliest known sightings of this lizard was by a zipline tour guide.
Zhangixalus melanoleucus
This lime green tree frog (Zhangixalus melanoleucus) was discovered at an altitude of 2000 meters in the evergreen forest of Mount Phu Samsoon in northern Laos. Although the region is home to many other endemic species, it is one of the least studied regions in Asia.
The mystery of how the Egyptian pyramids were built has puzzled researchers for centuries. Constructed over 4,000 years ago as burial sites for pharaohs, there are still over 100 pyramids remaining. The largest, the Great Pyramid of Giza, originally stood at 147 meters (482 feet) in height.
Comprised of around 2.3 million stone blocks, each weighing between 2.5 and 15 tonnes, the construction required innovative methods to transport and lift the heavy stones. Different theories exist among scientists regarding the techniques used to achieve such great heights,” says Dr. Eman Ghoneim, a Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington in the United States.
Eman Ghoneim on Egypt's Giza Plateau with the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure – Photo credit: UNCW/Eman Ghoneim
Recent research has shed light on some aspects of pyramid construction. One prevailing theory suggests the use of ramps to move the stones, supported by the discovery of sloped structures near some pyramids. Dr. Roland Enmarch, a Senior Lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, and his team unearthed groundbreaking evidence of quarry ramps in eastern Egypt used in pyramid construction.
Construction schedules were also crucial in the building of pyramids. It is believed that the Great Pyramid of Giza took 20 years to complete, starting at the beginning of a pharaoh’s reign. Archaeologist Frank Müller-Römer has proposed various ramp designs for pyramid construction, emphasizing the importance of multiple ramps placed along the exterior of the structure.
Construction Schedule
Various techniques like levers, cranes, and pulleys were likely employed in addition to ramps. In a study by Xavier Landreau and his team in Paris, a hydraulic lift system was proposed as a method to build the Step Pyramid of King Djoser. However, some experts question the feasibility of such systems based on archaeological evidence.
Research using scanning techniques is ongoing to explore the internal structure of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The ScanPyramids project by teams from Egypt and France aims to uncover hidden spaces within the pyramid using advanced imaging technologies.
Identifying Supply Lines
Transporting materials to the construction site was a logistical challenge. Researchers like Dr. Ghoneim and his team used satellite images and ground surveys to uncover ancient tributaries of the Nile River that were crucial for transporting goods to the pyramids. These discoveries shed light on the transportation methods used by ancient Egyptians.
Archaeologists have also unearthed logbooks detailing the construction activities at the Great Pyramids of Giza, dispelling myths of supernatural involvement. Ongoing excavations of workers’ quarters near the pyramids provide insight into the organizational aspects of pyramid construction.
About our experts
Dr. Eman Ghoneim, a professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, specializes in geographic information systems and remote sensing.
Dr. Roland Enmarch, a Senior Lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, has extensive experience in ancient Egyptian research.
Frank Muller Roemer, a German archaeologist and Egyptologist, focuses on ancient Egyptian construction and transportation techniques.
TThree hundred and twenty-four. That was the score Mary Louie was given by an AI-powered tenant screening tool. In its 11-page report, the software SafeRent does not explain how the score was calculated or how various factors were taken into account. There is no mention of what the score actually means. They just saw Louis’ numbers and decided it was too low. In the box next to the result, the report said “Score Recommended: DECLINE.”
Louis, who works as a security guard, had applied for an apartment in a suburban area in eastern Massachusetts. When she toured the room, the management company said there was no problem for her application to be accepted. Although she had bad credit and credit card debt, she had an excellent recommendation from her landlord of 17 years, who paid her rent on time. She also plans to use vouchers for low-income renters and ensure that management companies receive at least a portion of their monthly rent payments from the government. Her son, whose name was also on the voucher, also had a high credit score, indicating it could act as a backstop in case of missed payments.
But in May 2021, more than two months after she applied for the apartment, the management company sent Louis an email informing her that the computer program had rejected her application. Applications needed a score of at least 443 to be accepted. There was no further explanation and no way to appeal the decision.
“Mary, we regret to inform you that your housing offer has been denied due to a third-party service we use to screen all prospective housing applicants,” the email said. I did. “Unfortunately, the SafeRent tenant score for this service was lower than what our tenant standards would allow.”
tenant files suit
Louis ended up renting a more expensive apartment. Management there did not grade her based on an algorithm. But she learned that her experience at Saferent was not unique. She is one of more than 400 Black and Hispanic tenants on Housing Vouchers in Massachusetts who said their rental applications were rejected because of their safe rent scores.
In 2022, they banded together to sue SafeRent under the Fair Housing Act, alleging that it discriminated against them. Lewis and another named plaintiff, Monica Douglas, said the company’s algorithm unfairly scores Black and Hispanic renters using Housing Vouchers over white applicants. he claimed. They found that the software inaccurately assessed irrelevant account information (credit score, non-housing-related debt) on whether a tenant was a good tenant, but did not take into account whether they would use a housing voucher. he claimed. Research shows that black and Hispanic rent-seekers have lower credit scores and are more likely to use housing vouchers than white applicants.
“It was a waste of time waiting to be turned down,” Lewis said. “I knew my credit was bad, but AI doesn’t know what I do. It knew I was late on my credit card payments, I didn’t know I was paying.”
Two years have passed since the group first sued for safe rent. Lewis, who was one of two named plaintiffs, said she has moved on with her life and has largely forgotten about the lawsuit. But her action could protect other renters in a similar housing program, known as Section 8 vouchers, from losing their homes because of scores determined by algorithms.
Saferent settled with Mr. Lewis and Mr. Douglas. In addition to paying $2.3 million, the company agreed to stop using the scoring system or make some sort of recommendation to prospective tenants who used housing vouchers for five years. Although Saferent legally does not admit wrongdoing, it is unusual for a tech company to accept changes to its core product as part of a settlement. A more common outcome of such agreements is financial agreements.
“While SafeRent continues to believe that SRS scores comply with all applicable laws, litigation is time-consuming and costly,” company spokeswoman Yazmin Lopez said in a statement. “Defending SRS scores in this case would be a waste of time and resources that could be better used by SafeRent to fulfill its core mission of providing housing providers with the tools they need to screen applicants. It has become increasingly clear.”
New AI landlord
Tenant screening systems like SafeRent are often used as a way to “avoid” direct interaction with prospective tenants and shift responsibility for refusals to computer systems, said Louie and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. said Todd Kaplan, one of the attorneys representing the company. company.
The property management company told Louis that it decided to deny her based solely on the software, but the SafeRent report says it did not set the criteria for what the score needed to be for an application to be accepted. was a management company.
Still, even for those involved in the application process, how the algorithm works is opaque. The property manager who showed Louis the apartment said he didn’t know why Louis was having trouble renting the apartment.
“They’re inputting a lot of information, and SafeRent is coming up with its own scoring system,” Kaplan said. “It becomes difficult to predict how people will see themselves on Safe Rent. Not only applying tenants, but even landlords, don’t know the details of Safe Rent scores.”
As part of Louie’s settlement with SafeRent, approved Nov. 20, the company will not use a scoring system or recommend accepting or rejecting tenants if they are using housing vouchers. I can no longer do that. If the company devises a new scoring system, it is required to have it independently verified by a third-party fair housing organization.
“By removing the thumbs up and down, tenants can really say, ‘I’m a great tenant,'” Kaplan said. “It allows for more personal decisions.”
One study found that nearly all of the 92 million people in the U.S. who are considered low-income are exposed to AI decisions in basic areas of their lives such as employment, housing, health care, education, and government assistance. It is said that there is New report on the harms of AI
By Kevin de Liban, a lawyer who represented low-income people as a member of the Legal Aid Society. Founder of a new AI justice organization called tectonic justice
Derivan began researching these systems in 2016, when he discovered that automated decision-making that reduced human input suddenly left state-funded home care out of reach for extended periods of time. This happened when I received a consultation from some patients. In one case, the state’s Medicaid payments depended on the program determining that the patient’s leg was intact because of the amputation.
“When we saw this, we realized we shouldn’t postpone.” [AI systems] As a kind of very rational decision-making method,” Derivan said. He said these systems make assumptions based on “junk statistical science” that create what he called “absurdity.”
In 2018, after Derivan sued the Arkansas Department of Human Services on behalf of these patients over its decision-making process, the state Legislature ruled that the department could not automate home care assignment decisions for patients. was lowered. While Derivan’s system was an early victory in the fight against harm caused by algorithmic decision-making, its use continues across the country in other areas such as employment.
Despite flaws, there are few regulations to curb AI adoption.
There are few laws restricting the use of AI, especially in making critical decisions that can impact a person’s quality of life, and liability for those harmed by automated decisions. I have very few means.
Research conducted by consumer report
A study released in July found that a majority of Americans are “uncomfortable with the use of AI and algorithmic decision-making technologies in key life moments related to housing, employment, and health care.” “I’m there.” Respondents said they are concerned about not knowing what information AI systems use to make assessments.
Unlike in Louis’ case, people are often not informed when algorithms make decisions about their lives, making it difficult to challenge or challenge those decisions.
“The existing laws we have in place may be helpful, but they can only provide so much,” Derivan said. “Market forces don’t work when it comes to poor people. All the incentives are basically to create worse technology, and there’s no incentive for companies to create better options for low-income people.”
Federal regulators under President Joe Biden’s administration have made several attempts to keep up with the rapidly evolving AI industry. The President issued an executive order containing a framework aimed at partially addressing discrimination-related risks in national security and AI systems. But Donald Trump has vowed to roll back those efforts and cut regulations, including Biden’s executive order on AI.
So lawsuits like Louis’ may become an even more important tool in holding AI accountable. Already in litigation attracted interest
It is an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, both of which deal with discriminatory housing policies that affect protected classes.
“To the extent that this is a landmark case, it has the potential to provide a roadmap for how to consider these cases and encourage other agendas,” Kaplan said.
Still, without regulation, Derivan said it would be difficult to hold these companies accountable. Because litigation is time-consuming and expensive, companies may find workarounds or ways to build similar products for people who are not subject to class action lawsuits. “You can’t bring in these types of cases every day,” he said.
Amazon is the latest tech giant to donate to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund.
Reports indicate that the company plans to donate $1 million to the fund, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Following in Meta’s footsteps, Facebook’s parent company, which also donated $1 million to President Trump’s inaugural committee, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that he would make a personal donation of $1 million. This was reported by Fox News.
As President Trump prepares for his second term, several major tech companies are showing support in hopes of gaining favor for their businesses. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is scheduled to meet with President Trump next week, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently dined with him at his Mar-a-Lago mansion. Google CEO Sundar Pichai is also expected to meet the president soon, according to reports. Time magazine, owned by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, even named Trump its “Person of the Year.”
Altman of OpenAI expressed his belief that Trump will lead the country in technological advancement. In a statement to the Guardian, Altman said, “President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI, and I look forward to supporting his efforts to ensure the United States stays ahead.”
Donating to inaugural committees is a common practice for large companies seeking to establish rapport with the incoming administration. Amazon, for example, donated $57,746 to President Trump’s first inaugural fund in 2017, according to Open Secrets. Google and Microsoft also made donations, while Mehta confirmed to the Guardian that he did not donate that year.
Amazon stated that during Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration, the administration declined donations from technology companies, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Allegedly, Trump plans to offer additional perks to donors who contribute at least $1 million to his inaugural committee, including access to various events around the inauguration, dinners with Trump, Cabinet nominations, and a dinner with J.D. Vance, according to the New York Times.
Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, has been a target of Trump’s criticism. However, before the election, the Washington Post decided not to endorse a presidential candidate, likely in an attempt to avoid provoking Trump, as reported by The Washington Post.
After Trump’s victory, Bezos and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy expressed their support for the new administration. Bezos praised Trump for the opportunities ahead, while Jassy celebrated the victory and expressed eagerness to collaborate with the administration. Amazon’s stock price reportedly rose by 14% after the election.
Prepare yourself with a coat, warm socks, and a chair to witness the spectacle of the night sky. The Geminid meteor shower is approaching, offering a breathtaking display of colorful meteors painting the heavens. While this year may not be as spectacular as the previous one, the shooting stars are still worth observing.
So, when will the 2024 Geminid meteor shower occur? The peak is set for the late hours of Friday, December 13th, continuing into the early hours of Saturday, December 14th. This prime time presents the best opportunity to witness these shooting stars, visible to the naked eye with their vivid hues.
According to Dr. Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King’s College London, the optimal viewing time is around 2 a.m. local time. However, the meteor shower can be observed from the evening onwards. The shower will remain active from December 4th to December 20th, allowing for extended viewing opportunities.
No special equipment is needed to enjoy the meteor shower, just warm clothing, a sense of adventure, and your eyes to gaze at the spectacle.
However, with a full moon on Sunday, some of the fainter meteors may be obscured, as noted by Professor Don Polacco, an astrophysicist at the University of Warwick.
Despite suboptimal conditions this year, the Geminid meteor shower is always worth witnessing. So, if weather permits, grab your warm attire, settle into your chair early Saturday morning, and behold the wonder above.
Looking up to observe the meteor shower, locate the constellation Gemini, the radiant point of the shower. Find Orion the Hunter and then spot Castor and Pollux above and to the left for a guide to Gemini’s location in the sky.
The Geminid meteor shower has been known to produce 120 to 150 meteors per hour during its peak, offering a dazzling display of bright meteors streaking across the sky.
These meteors exhibit varying colors, from white, yellow, and green to red, orange, and blue, depending on the metals present in the debris and their interaction with Earth’s atmosphere.
The Geminid meteor shower was particularly bright in 2023 – Credit: NurPhoto / Contributor
The Geminid meteor shower is unique as it originates from asteroid 3200 Phaethon, referred to as a “rocky comet.” These denser fragments result in a more spectacular show than typical comet debris. The close proximity of the shower’s orbit to the Sun also adds to its distinctive qualities.
Get ready to witness the magic of the 2024 Geminid meteor shower and enjoy the celestial spectacle it has to offer.
Juno and Galileo’s volcanic activity on Io, Jupiter’s innermost Galilean moon and the most volcanically active object in the solar system, is unlikely to originate from a global magma ocean just below the surface. Deep space networks and astronomical observations, according to new analysis of Doppler data.
The internal structure of Io revealed by this research. Image credit: Sofia Shen / NASA / JPL / Caltech.
Slightly larger than Earth’s moon, Io is the most volcanically active object in the solar system.
It is the innermost of Jupiter’s Galilean moons, which in addition to Io includes Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
Trapped in a gravitational tug of war between Jupiter, Europa, and Ganymede, Io is constantly squeezed, causing frictional heat to build up within its interior, which is thought to be the cause of sustained and widespread volcanic activity.
Volcanic activity on the Moon was first discovered in 1979. That’s when Linda Morabito, an engineer on NASA’s Voyager program, spotted an eruption plume in one of the images taken by the spacecraft during its famous Grand Tour of the outer planets.
Since then, countless observations have been made from both space telescopes and telescopes on Earth documenting Io’s restless nature.
“Io is Galileo’s innermost moon, orbiting Jupiter every 42.5 hours,” said Juno collaborator Dr. Ryan Park of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and colleagues.
“It has an average diameter of 3,643 km and a bulk density of 3,528 kg/m.3 As such, it is approximately 5% larger than the Moon, both in diameter and density.”
“Io’s eccentric orbit changes its distance from Jupiter by about 3,500 km, which leads to fluctuations in Jupiter’s gravitational pull.”
“Similar to the Moon’s tides caused by Earth, these gravitational fluctuations cause tidal deformations on Io, which are theorized to serve as the main energy source for the intense volcanism and infrared radiation observed on Io’s surface.”
The amount of tidal energy could be enough to cause Io’s interior to melt, potentially forming a magma ocean underground, but this theory is controversial.
Measuring the extent of Io’s tidal deformation could help determine whether the shallow magma ocean theory is plausible.
“Since the discovery of Morabito, planetary scientists have wondered how volcanoes were fed by lava beneath the Earth’s surface,” said Scott Bolton, Ph.D., principal investigator at Juno and a researcher at the Southwest Research Institute.
“Was there a shallow ocean of white-hot magma that fueled the volcano, or was the source more local?”
“We knew data from Juno’s two very close approaches could give us insight into how this beleaguered satellite actually works.”
Io’s arctic region was captured by NASA’s Juno on December 30, 2023, during the spacecraft’s 57th approach to the gas giant. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew very close to Io in December 2023 and February 2024, coming within about 1,500 km of the surface.
During its approach, Juno communicated with NASA’s Deep Space Network and acquired high-precision dual-frequency Doppler data. This data was used to measure Io’s gravity by tracking how it affects the spacecraft’s acceleration.
Combining these observations with archival Doppler data from NASA’s Galileo mission and ground-based telescopes, the researchers calculated how much Io is deformed by tidal forces.
This result is inconsistent with what would be expected if a shallow global magma ocean existed, suggesting that Io has a nearly solid mantle.
It is not yet known whether there are regions of magma deep within the moon.
The findings show that tidal forces do not necessarily create global magma oceans, which could have implications for our understanding of other moons such as Enceladus and Europa.
“Juno’s discovery that tidal forces don’t always produce global magma oceans not only prompts us to rethink what we know about Io’s interior,” Dr. Park said.
“It has implications for our understanding of other moons such as Enceladus and Europa, as well as exoplanets and super-Earths.”
“Our new findings provide an opportunity to rethink what we know about planet formation and evolution.”
The team’s paper published in this week’s magazine nature.
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RS Park others. Due to Io’s tidal reactions, shallow magma oceans do not form. nature published online on December 12, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08442-5
The annual Geminid meteor shower is scheduled to peak Friday night and early Saturday.
It is usually one of the best and most reliable meteor showers of the year.
Stargazers can also look for Jupiter and three bright star formations known as the Winter Triangle.
Stargazers may have something to look forward to this weekend, as the annual Geminid meteor shower peaks Friday night into early Saturday morning.
The meteor shower has been going on all month, but the number of shooting stars is expected to increase into the weekend, especially after midnight Friday and in the pre-dawn darkness. According to NASA.
The Geminid meteor shower can be seen in the northern and southern hemispheres, but a nearly full moon could wash out some faint shooting stars in this year’s show.
Still, the Geminid meteor shower is typically one of the best and most reliable meteor showers of the year, so when conditions are clear, skywatchers can spot bright meteors streaking the night sky. You can do that.
Under ideal sky viewing conditions, with no bright moonlight and little interfering light pollution, you can see as many as 120 Geminid meteor showers per hour.
The Geminid meteor shower was observed in Mumbai, India on December 14, 2017. Pratik Chorge / Hindustan Times / Getty Images File
As their name suggests, Geminid meteors appear to stream from the constellation Gemini, but skywatchers should be able to see the shooting stars without looking directly into the constellation.
NASA experts suggest lying on your back with your feet facing south to enjoy the Geminid meteor shower. It is best to choose a dark viewing location, away from city lights and other light pollution.
Unlike most other meteor showers, which are caused by comet debris that has burned up in Earth’s atmosphere, the Geminid meteor shower is the remains of an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon.
If you’re planning on checking out the meteor shower this weekend, be sure to also look for Jupiter in the night sky. The planet lies between the nearly full moon and the brightest reddish-orange star in the constellation Taurus, called Aldebaran, and is visible to the naked eye.
Meanwhile, all winter long, skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere also have the chance to spot the Winter Triangle, a three-bright star formation. This celestial triangle, consisting of Sirius in the constellation Canis Major, Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor, and Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion, stands out in the winter sky.
To see the Winter Triangle, first look for the three stars that make up Orion’s distinctive band. A little below and to the left of the belt is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. From there Procyon is a little higher and to the left. Betelgeuse can be seen by looking back toward the constellation Orion, and the shoulder of the constellation appears red.
Last year, the obesity rate among U.S. adults decreased slightly for the first time in more than a decade, a study found.
Researchers suggested this may be due in part to the rise of weight loss drugs like Ozempic.
However, other drugs and factors (such as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic) may also have played a role.
Obesity rates among U.S. adults declined slightly last year, according to a study, but it was the first time in more than a decade that the country had seen a downward trend. Part of that may be due to the recent rise of blockbuster weight loss drugs like Ozempic, the study authors said.
The findings of the study were announced on Friday. Journal JAMA Health Forumthe most significant declines were seen in the South, especially among women and adults ages 66 to 75.
The study looked at BMI measurements for more than 16.7 million adults from 2013 to 2023 across different regions, age groups, genders, races, and ethnicities. BMI measurements are a standard but limited method for estimating obesity relative to body weight. Height to length was collected from electronic health records.
Researchers found that the adult obesity rate in the United States decreased from 46% in 2022 to 45.6% in 2023. (These are slightly higher rates than the U.S. adult obesity rate) Estimate from the centers for disease control and preventionThis means that from 2021 to 2023, approximately 40% of U.S. adults were obese. )
Benjamin Rader, a computational epidemiologist at Boston Children's Hospital and an author of the study, said the results were not uniform across demographics or geographic regions.
“Obesity has been on the decline in the United States as a whole, especially in the South, but this has not been the case in some regions,” he said. “Obesity among Black Americans also decreased significantly, but obesity among Asian Americans increased.”
Rader said the decline in the South was notable because the region observed the highest per capita intake of weight loss drugs, based on researchers' analysis of insurance claims. But he acknowledged that the possible link needed further investigation.
The study authors also noted that obese people in the South had a disproportionately high number of COVID-19 deaths, which may have influenced the overall data.
Dr. Michael Weintraub, an endocrinologist and clinical assistant professor at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine, said the results are consistent with the following: Recent data from the CDC Results showed a slight decrease in obesity prevalence among U.S. adults from 2021 to 2023 compared to 2017 to 2020 (although severe obesity increased during this period). ).
“This data is interesting and holds the promise that we may be on the cusp of changing this obesity epidemic,” said Weintraub, who was not involved in the new study. “However, I would hesitate to call the value of this downward trend in 2023 a trend.”
Even if weight loss drugs were the main factor in reducing obesity, experts say further studies over longer periods of time are needed to assess the true effects of new drugs.
“We know these drugs are very effective, but we need a few more years to see if this is really a trend, or if it's just a small spike and we're back to normal, or if things get much worse. Dr. Tannaz Moin, an endocrinologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, said he was not involved in the study.
Moyn also pointed out that the new study only analyzed preparations of GLP-1 weight loss drugs (a category that includes Ozempic and Mounjaro). This type of drug is used to treat diabetes and obesity by reducing a person's appetite and food intake. This drug mimics the hormone that makes you feel full.
But GLP-1 drugs are only part of the prescription for treating obesity, and a more comprehensive study of different drugs could better capture changing trends, Moyn said. said. Weight loss drugs are also expensive, which can skew data about who can receive treatment.
Additionally, the study used insurance claims data, meaning those who were uninsured or who purchased weight loss drugs out of pocket were likely not included in the results.
Moin said he was surprised by the decline in BMI seen in older people.
“This group is not necessarily the group that I think is the biggest user of GLP-1 drugs, because a lot of them are in the Medicare age group,” she says, adding that weight loss drugs are the most popular for people on Medicare. may be difficult to obtain, he added. The Biden administration recently proposed a rule that would require Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight loss drugs for people seeking obesity treatment.
However, Weintraub cautioned that the observed decline does not necessarily indicate a long-term decline.
“We've been fooled until now by fluctuations in obesity prevalence,” he says. “We were excited about the downward trend in childhood obesity rates announced by the CDC in the early 2000s, but in the years since, obesity rates have increased even more.”
Zoomies are a hilarious sight. Watching a cat bounce off walls like a pinball is pure entertainment. One moment they’re leaping over furniture, and the next they’re careening into a lampshade. They zip around here, there, and everywhere before inevitably falling asleep.
Most cats will experience zoomies at some point, also referred to as “periods of frenzied random activity” or “FRAP.” This behavior is more common in the early and late hours of the day and is often seen in kittens and young cats.
Zoomies may also occur after a bowel movement, leading to terms like “poo” and “clap ‘n flap.” Several theories exist to explain this behavior.
Photo credit: Kyle Smart
Some believe it may be a response to a dirty litter box, as cats are naturally clean and want to distance themselves from their waste quickly.
Others suggest it could indicate a gastrointestinal issue or digestive illness.
One theory proposes that the behavior harks back to a cat’s wild instincts, as fecal matter can attract predators. By defecating swiftly, cats may avoid drawing unwanted attention.
On a different note, gastroenterologist and author Dr. Anish Sheth hypothesized that large stools could stimulate the vagus nerve, which connects the brain to abdominal organs.
This stimulation may decrease heart rate and blood pressure, leading to reduced blood flow to the brain and potential dizziness. The outcome? A goofy moment of cat craziness, or zoomies.
While this theory is intriguing, conventional wisdom suggests that vagus nerve activity typically relaxes animals rather than making them more active. As a result, the debate continues.
This article explores the question “Why do cats get zoomy after pooping?” posed by Ann Rosales via email.
If you have any queries, feel free to reach out to us at:questions@sciencefocus.comor message us on Facebook,Twitter, or visit our InstagramPage (please include your name and location).
Explore more ultimatefun facts on our fascinating science pages.
The issue of energy consumption and its sources has always been a significant concern in the context of the climate crisis. In response, efforts are being made to utilize cleaner and newer fuels. Recently, a groundbreaking discovery of vast reservoirs of hydrogen energy hiding beneath the Earth’s surface has emerged, prompting questions about its potential impact.
Naturally occurring geological hydrogen is formed through Earth’s geochemical processes and has been identified in limited locations such as Albania and Mali. Research published in the journal Scientific Progress suggests that these reserves are widespread globally.
The study posits that if just 2 percent of the underground hydrogen could be extracted, it could yield 1.4 × 10^16 Joules of energy, equivalent to the world population’s energy consumption in 35 minutes. This amount of energy exceeds that of all natural gas reserves on Earth and could aid in achieving net-zero carbon goals.
While current methods for obtaining hydrogen involve fossil fuels or water-intensive electrolysis processes with a carbon footprint, extracting geological hydrogen is a comparatively low-carbon process, albeit currently practiced only in Mali.
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey have developed a model combining knowledge of hydrogen occurrence and geological data to explore these reservoirs on a global scale, estimating a substantial amount of hidden hydrogen beneath the Earth’s surface.
However, experts are hesitant about committing resources to extraction due to the scale and infrastructure required, as highlighted by geoscientist Professor Bill McGuire from University College London (UCL). He emphasizes the abundance of renewable energy sources like wind and solar and questions the necessity of tapping into another finite resource.
About our experts
Professor Bill McGuire is a volcanologist, climatologist, and author currently serving as Professor of Geophysics and Climate Hazards at UCL. His works include books on natural disasters, environmental change, and climate solutions.
Intermittent fasting can be effective for weight loss, but it can also have negative effects on hair growth, as shown in a recent mouse experiment conducted by researchers at Westlake University in China. The study found that mice undergoing intermittent fasting experienced improved metabolic health but showed delayed hair regrowth. This link between restrictive eating and hair regrowth was also observed in a study published in Cell.
While similar effects may occur in humans, they are typically less severe due to differences in metabolic rate and hair growth patterns. Nevertheless, it is important to be aware of the potential unintended consequences of intermittent fasting, as highlighted by senior author and stem cell biologist Dr. Bing Zhang.
Further research is needed to fully understand the effects of fasting on hair growth, as current studies have primarily focused on its benefits for blood, muscle tissue supply, and metabolism. The research team at Westlake University conducted experiments on mice to explore the impact of intermittent fasting on hair regrowth, with findings suggesting that prolonged fasting stresses hair follicle stem cells, leading to delayed hair growth.
A small clinical trial involving 49 healthy young individuals showed that time-restricted eating with 18 hours of daily fasting reduced hair growth by an average of 18 percent. However, the researchers caution that the study’s small sample size and short duration may yield different results in larger-scale studies.
Future research will investigate how fasting affects other types of stem cells in the body and its implications for wound healing speed. Despite the potential drawbacks, intermittent fasting remains a popular and beneficial practice for many individuals.
In London, where I live, you forget about white Christmas. The best I can hope for is a storm of pathetic flakes. So this year I’m on a mission to make my own snow. It’s not just snow. To maximize the effect of the festival, we want to create the world’s largest snowflake.
It’s going to be a challenge. Guinness World Records Diameter 38cm, thickness 20cm. This incredible phenomenon was recorded in Montana in January 1887, when rancher Matt Coleman reported seeing snowflakes “larger than milk bread” during a violent storm. To be sure, some experts are skeptical. “If this was falling from the sky, they would probably need to wear crash helmets,” said Douglas Mair, a glaciologist at the University of Liverpool in the UK. Nevertheless, Guinness World Records claims that modern sources corroborate the record.
But wait a minute! There is a postscript. The largest snowflake was 10 millimeters. “A snowflake is a single ice crystal,” says Ken Libbrecht, who took the record-breaking photo in Ontario, Canada, in December 2003. The textbook image of a Christmas snowflake is actually a complete snowflake, but a snowflake is made up of several crystals joined together. So you might be able to break the record by creating the world’s largest snowflake instead. How difficult would it be? “You could grow ice crystals from water vapor,” says Libbrecht, whose lab at the California Institute of Technology makes “designer” snowflakes. “But if you want to look like a snowflake, and you want to actually make a symmetrical snowflake, that’s a tall order.” Obviously, I need help.
Scottie Pippen is once again leveraging his NBA legacy to venture into the world of cryptocurrencies with hopes of becoming a world champion in this space.
Back in his prime, Pippen was content playing the role of Robin to Michael Jordan’s Batman. However, recent events such as the Netflix documentary “Last Dance” and the publicized issues with his ex-girlfriend and the play of Jordan’s son have left him bitter about playing second fiddle and questioning the significance of the 1990s NBA dynasty. This has led him to contemplate whether there was room for another hero.
Pippen’s recent social media post pondered how many championships Elon Musk would have won, accompanied by an image of Musk in a Bulls jersey in a basketball setting. This post garnered significant attention and was a strategic move to draw attention to his latest project – a new virtual currency aimed at tokenizing the basketball used in the Bulls’ victory over the Lakers in one of their six championships.
Cryptocurrencies have made a significant impact in the US sports world, with stadiums, jerseys, and equipment adorned with various coin logos. Athletes are also jumping on the crypto bandwagon, endorsing and promoting the industry. However, caution is advised, as seen in cases like Spencer Dinwiddie who tried to tokenize his contract but faced setbacks when the NBA intervened.
The rise and fall of certain cryptocurrency platforms like FTX caution against blindly endorsing such ventures. Athletes like Stephen Curry, who promoted FTX, ended up embroiled in legal issues post the platform’s collapse due to alleged financial malpractice. This highlights the risks involved in associating with cryptocurrencies without proper understanding.
Despite the risks, Pippen remains undeterred in his crypto endeavors and aims to create a community around his new project. While some criticize his enthusiasm, others believe in his vision. As the crypto sports campaign gains momentum, Pippen’s involvement adds a touch of nostalgia and excitement to the evolving landscape.
Alternating current magnetism is a unique form of magnetic ordering in which small magnetic components align antiparallel to their neighbors, but the structure housing each element is rotated relative to its neighbors. . Professor Peter Wadleigh and colleagues at the University of Nottingham have shown that this new type of magnetism exists and can be controlled with microscopic equipment.
Mapping of alternating current magnetic order vectors in MnTe. Image credit: Amin others., doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08234-x.
Magnetic materials are used in a large portion of long-term computer memory and in the latest generation of microelectronic devices.
Not only is this a large and important industry, but it is also a global source of carbon emissions.
Replacing key components with alternative magnetic materials has the potential to lead to significant increases in speed and efficiency, while significantly reducing dependence on rare and toxic heavy elements required by traditional ferromagnetic technology .
Alternating magnets combine the advantageous properties of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets in a single material.
They are more robust, more energy efficient, and have the potential to increase the speed of microelectronic components and digital memory by a factor of 1,000.
“An alternating current magnet consists of magnetic moments pointing antiparallel to neighboring magnets,” Professor Wadley says.
“But each part of the crystal that hosts these tiny moments is rotated relative to its neighboring parts. It's like a twist on antiferromagnetism. But this subtle difference It has a big impact.”
Dr Oliver Amin, from the University of Nottingham, said: “Our experimental work provides a bridge between theoretical concepts and real-world implementation, and illuminates the path towards the development of alternative magnetic materials for practical application. I look forward to that.”
The new experimental study was conducted at the MAX IV international facility in Sweden.
This facility, which looks like a giant metal donut, is an electron accelerator called a synchrotron that generates X-rays.
A magnetic material is irradiated with X-rays, and the electrons emitted from the surface are detected using a special microscope.
This allows us to generate images of magnetism within materials with small feature resolution down to the nanoscale.
“Being the first to confirm the effects and properties of this promising new class of magnetic materials has been a hugely rewarding and rewarding privilege,” said the University of Nottingham PhD. Student Alfred Dal Din.
Scientists sequenced and analyzed the genomes of seven people who lived between 42,000 and 49,000 years ago in Ranis, Germany, and Zlatiks, Czech Republic. As a result, the Ranis and Zlati Kush were linked by distant kinship ties, and that they were part of the same small, isolated group, representing the deepest known split from lineages outside Africa. was shown. The Ranis genome contains a Neanderthal component derived from a single admixture event common to all non-Africans, which the authors date back 45,000 to 49,000 years ago. This means that all non-African ancestors sequenced so far existed in a common population during this time, and further The human remains suggest that they represent a distinct non-African population.
Illustration of the Zlati Kush, who belonged to the same group as the Ranis and had close relationships with two of them. Image credit: Tom Björklund / Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Dr. Alev Schumer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolution said, “After modern humans left Africa, they met and interbred with Neanderthals, and as a result, approximately 2 to 3 percent of Neanderthal DNA is present in all areas outside Africa.'' It's in people's genomes.” Anthropology and its colleagues.
“However, little is known about the genetics of Europe's first settlers or the timing of interbreeding between Neanderthals and non-Africans.”
“An important site in Europe is Zlaty Kush in the Czech Republic, where the complete skull of a single individual who lived about 45,000 years ago was discovered and previously genetically analyzed.”
“However, due to the lack of archaeological context, we were unable to link this person to an archaeologically defined group.”
“Ilsenhöhle, located in Ranis, Germany, about 230 km from the nearby site Zlatiks, is known for a particular type of archeology, Rincombi-Ranissian-Jersmanovičian (LRJ), dating back about 45,000 years. ”
“It has long been debated whether the LRJ culture was created by Neanderthals or early modern humans.”
“Although most small bone fragments have been preserved at Ranis, previous research was able to analyze mitochondrial DNA from 13 of these remains, indicating that they belong to modern humans rather than Neanderthals. It turns out.”
“However, because mitochondrial sequences represent only a small portion of genetic information, their relationship to other modern humans has remained a mystery.”
In the new study, the authors analyzed the nuclear genomes of 13 specimens taken from Ranis and found that they represented at least six individuals.
Based on the size of the bones, it was determined that two of the children were infants, and that three were genetically male and three were female.
Interestingly, these individuals included mothers and daughters as well as more distant biological relatives.
The researchers also sequenced more DNA from the female skull found in Zlati Kush, producing a high-quality genome for this individual.
“To our surprise, we discovered that there is a fifth or sixth degree genetic relationship between the two people from Zlati Kush and Ranis,” Dr. Schumer said.
“This means that Zlati Kush is genetically part of an extended family of Ranis and likely created LRJ-type tools as well.”
Of the six Ranis bones, one bone is particularly well preserved, in fact, it is the best preserved modern human bone from the Pleistocene for DNA searches.
This allowed the research team to obtain a high-quality genome from this male individual, called Ranis13.
Together, the Ranis13 and Zlatý kůň genomes represent the oldest high-quality living human genome sequenced to date.
Analyzing genetic variation associated with phenotypic traits, scientists found that Ranis and Zlati Kush individuals carried mutations associated with dark skin and hair color, as well as brown eyes. I did. This reflects the recent African origins of this early European population.
By analyzing parts of the genomes of Ranis and Zlati Kush inherited from the same ancestor, the authors found that their populations consisted of at most a few hundred individuals and were spread over a larger area. We estimate that there is a possibility.
They found no evidence that this small early modern human population contributed to later European or other world populations.
The Zlati Kush/Ranis people coexisted with Neanderthals in Europe, raising the possibility that Neanderthals were among their recent ancestors after they migrated to Europe.
Previous studies of modern humans dating back more than 40,000 years have found evidence of recent admixture between modern humans and Neanderthals.
However, no such evidence for recent Neanderthal admixture was detected in the genomes of Zlati-Kush/Ranis individuals.
Illustration by Zlatý kůň/Ranis group. Image credit: Tom Björklund / Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
“The fact that no such Neanderthal ancestry remains in Ranis and Zlati Kush, while modern human populations that may have later arrived in Europe inherited such Neanderthal ancestry. is an older Zlati Kush/Ranis lineage This could mean that they entered Europe by a different route or may not have overlapped with the areas inhabited by Neanderthals.''Also Max Planck. said Dr. Kay Pruefer of the Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
The Zlati Kush/Ranis population represents the earliest divergence from modern human groups that migrated from Africa and later dispersed across Eurasia.
Despite this early separation, the Neanderthal ancestry of Zlatikush and Ranis derives from the same ancient admixture event that can be detected in all peoples outside Africa today.
By analyzing the length of Neanderthal-contributed segments in the high-coverage Ranis13 genome and using direct radiocarbon dating of this individual, researchers found that this common Neanderthal admixture dates back to 45,000 years ago. It was estimated to be 49,000 years old.
Since all modern non-African populations share this Neanderthal ancestry with the Zlati Kush and Ranis, this means that approximately 45,000 to 49,000 years ago, non-African populations of consistent ancestry still existed. It means you must have done it.
Dr Johannes Kraus, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, said: “These results provide a deeper understanding of the early pioneers who settled in Europe.”
“They also suggest that the remains of modern humans more than 50,000 years old found outside Africa have interbred with Neanderthals and are part of the general non-African population now found in many parts of the world. This indicates that it may not have been the case.”
AP Sumer others. The genomes of the earliest modern humans constrain the timing of admixture with Neanderthals. naturepublished online on December 12, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08420-x
This article is adapted from the original release by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Many people carry small pieces of Neanderthal DNA, evidence of interbreeding between Neanderthals and ancient human ancestors.
Two new studies suggest that interbreeding occurred during the limited period when ancient humans left Africa.
Clarifying that timeline narrows the range of possible times for humans to spread to new continents.
The genetic code of many people hides mysteries that have long intrigued scientists. It’s a tiny piece of Neanderthal DNA that persists tens of thousands of years after the species disappears.
Most people outside Africa can attribute about 1% to 2% of their DNA to Neanderthal ancestry.
However, the details of its evolutionary history remain unclear. How often did ancient humans and Neanderthals interbreed? When exactly did it happen? Why did Neanderthals become extinct and why did modern humans survive? That Neanderthal DNA What is it bringing us now?
Two research groups independently analyzed collections of ancient genomes and reached the same conclusions about some of their core questions. published research Published in Nature magazine and thursday science Evidence suggests that ancient humans and Neanderthals interbred for a limited period of time as humans left Africa and migrated to new continents.
The results suggest that a wave of interbreeding occurred approximately 43,500 to 50,500 years ago. Then, over the next 100 generations, most, but not all, of the Neanderthal DNA was culled. The remaining DNA is now associated with traits such as skin pigmentation, immune response, and metabolism.
New findings suggest that this interbreeding event occurred more recently than previous estimates suggested, shifting and narrowing the window during which humans may have spread to places like modern-day China and Australia. That’s what it means.
The importance of fossilized human remains dating back more than 50,000 years, discovered in Europe and other parts of the world, has also been revealed. According to a new study, those populations became extinct and reached an evolutionary dead end.
“Human history is not just a success story. In fact, humans went extinct several times,” said Johannes Krause, author of the Nature paper and professor at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. “There are multiple lineages that we’re identifying now that didn’t affect later people.”
The discovery also shows how adept anthropologists are at reconstructing ancient DNA and analyzing it to infer the course of human history.
Priya Muajani, author of the Science paper and assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, said: “We can look at past events and actually reconstruct what the path we are on will be. It’s a great thing to be able to do.” Berkeley. “Although 50,000 years ago is a long time ago, having genetic data available from these samples really helps paint a more detailed picture.
The two research groups took different approaches to the study.
Moorjani’s group cataloged genomic information from 59 ancient and 275 modern humans who lived between 2,000 and 45,000 years ago. The researchers then analyzed how the distribution and length of Neanderthal DNA in those genomes changed over time.
They determined that the influx of Neanderthal genes into humans occurred about 47,000 years ago and lasted less than 7,000 years. These findings are consistent with archaeological evidence suggesting that Neanderthals and humans overlapped geographically when humans left Africa. Many scientists suspect that the two species crossed paths in the Middle East, but this has not been confirmed.
After interbreeding, natural selection retained some Neanderthal traits and discarded many more.
You’ll never know who spoke the first sentence or what they said, but you can have fun guessing. Perhaps they came from the mouths of Stone Age men who wanted to defeat their rivals and win the affections of young women. He may have crept up to his girlfriend, surreptitiously pointing at his competitors and whispering words in her ear that translated into English to mean “fuck you.”
Is it ridiculous? Not so, if we are guided by the work of linguist Liljana Progovac. She points out that Charles Darwin described language as “half art, half instinct,” but most who study the evolution of language have ignored the creative element. Her research addresses this issue by focusing on the wordplay involved in compound words such as shit-head, skin-flint, and lily-livered, many of which are now written as single words. I’m starting to fix it. She believes these are language fossils that point to a key stage in the evolution of language, the moment when humans realized they could string two words together to create very short sentences.
Moreover, after collecting examples of such phrases, Progovac noticed that they had something surprising in common. “They’re usually dismissive,” she says. And there may be evolutionary reasons for that.
Language is central to the human experience, but its ancient roots are difficult to study because it leaves no archaeological trace, at least until the invention of writing. Nevertheless, judging by the communication systems of other animals, our ancestors could use simple sounds and…
Today is my vacation. Actually, it's not a vacation. Because of printing schedules, Feedback is writing this festive edition in the first week of December. We ordered a gift for Mrs. Feedback, but we still don't know what Feedback Jr. will get Mrs. Feedback (with Feedback's money). There is no decoration at all. And we're staring down the barrel of multiple school events. We will be asked to dress up in a festive mood for our children. In short, the feedback is moody.
So now seems like a good time to complain NORAD tracks Santaone of those efforts where you can't believe the feedback exists at all. NORAD, of course, is the North American Aerospace Defense Command, and its primary mission is to use a combination of satellites and radar to detect things flying into North American airspace, such as Chinese weather balloons. But on December 24th, an elaborate volunteer-run exercise to track Santa as he travels around the world will take place. You can also call for updates, check out his progress on his website, and follow him on social media.
How this tradition began is interestingly complex. A fact sheet on the NORAD website states: heartwarming story: “NORAD has been tracking Santa since 1955, when a young child accidentally dialed an unlisted telephone number for the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD). [the precursor to NORAD] Operations Center…She believed she called Santa Claus after seeing an advertisement in the local newspaper. Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, the commander on duty that night, quickly realized the mistake and promised that CONAD would ensure Santa's safe journey from the North Pole. ”
But this story truth?This is difficult to fully elucidate. Details vary by account. How Shoup first reactedto how many times to call I came that first year. However, what is clear is that All this It started at the height of the Cold War. NORAD is inherently scary because it exists to detect incoming nuclear missiles. Its headquarters is literally a bunker dug into the mountain. stunt track santa This was and still is a great way to look cute. On the other hand, if a nuclear war were to begin, NORAD would almost certainly play a key role in it. On the other hand, run the cute Santa Tracker.
But the biggest gripe with feedback on the whole thing is that I'm 90 percent sure this stunt is the inspiration for a new Christmas-themed fantasy-action-comedy-thriller. red one. In the film's stacked qualifiers, Santa's journey is reimagined as a militaristic security operation involving a fighter jet escort and a sort of Arctic secret service commanded by Dwayne Johnson. It looks like one of the worst movies of the year, and I strongly suspect that the feedback is ultimately NORAD Tracks Santa's fault.
long setup
Speaking of tracking immaterial things, an Australian research project is asking people to monitor their own flatulence. It is necessarily Graph a fart.
Using a free phone app, participants cantrack Quantity and quality of output, including attributes such as odor, volume, duration, aftertaste, and detectability. ” feedback appreciates the precisely guided use of the word “residual” and points out that fart residual can be scored from “momentary” to “permanent.”
It aims to further explain “one of the main gut health symptoms experienced by Australians'', specifically “excessive bloating'', which up to 43 per cent of Australians report experiencing almost every day. It's about deepening your understanding.
Feedback is not supported guardianThe heading for the project is “wind power”. We also cannot approve of the decision to limit the study to Australia. But thankfully, others will too, as shown in this amazing 42-page feature on researchers trying to catch farts. And their work is extremely important at this time, when millions of us, in many countries, eat appalling amounts of meat, mince pies, and above all, gas. I'm about to eat some Brussels sprouts.
cheap in price
For all our readers who don't have a present for their loved ones yet, you're out of luck. I missed a great opportunity. London auction house Christie's recently announced the first-ever science fiction and fantasy auctionthe highlights are: dune bible: A circa 1975 collection of behind-the-scenes documents from Alejandro Jodorowsky's unproduced film adaptation of Frank Herbert's book. dunes. This is an ideal excuse for feedback to bring something to our chest. So here we go.
Jodorowsky's dunes The film has an almost mythical status as one of the great assumptions of science fiction cinema. The blockbuster, starring Orson Welles and Mick Jagger, with production design by H.R. Giger (later a director), is expected to be at least 10 hours long. alien fame). If he had succeeded in it, it would have become a classic.
Here's the problem. Jodorowsky is one of the most exaggerated filmmakers to have written a screenplay that included depictions of his own penis. Feedback learned from Danny Peary cult moviecovering Jodorowsky's mysterious 1970 Western. el topo. Peary complained that there were “too many references, Jungian and religious symbols/artifacts…inside jokes, and too many vague images that no one but Jodorowsky knows what's going on.” . Imagine it lasting more than 10 hours. we are saved.
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Unidentified drone flies over US military facility
US Navy/Ensign Drew Barbis
A mysterious drone has been flying over New Jersey and neighboring states for a month. they were discovered some us military facility. They are filmed on video from the top of residential and apartment buildings. A swarm was seen chasing a U.S. Coast Guard rescue vessel at the same time New Jersey State Police reported 50 drones arrived on land from the sea. But no one seems to know who's behind the wheel or whether it's an organized effort.
The case has attracted the attention of state governors, legislators and even members of the U.S. Congress, and the FBI has launched an investigation. investigationis asking the public to report sightings.
Witnesses say the drones are as noisy as lawnmowers, some are the size of a small car, and are much louder than the typical quadcopter and multicopter drones that anyone can buy. “These are not necessarily just hobbyist small unmanned aircraft systems that you can buy for $2,000,” he says. Daniel Gerstein at the RAND Corporation, a think tank in California. “These feel like they have longer range and are more sophisticated than what you can get at a hobby shop.”
Blurry nighttime videos are popping up all over social media sharing drone sightings in states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, including videos of drones in the sky. It is. Verrazzano Narrows Bridge in New York City. Federal Aviation Administration Drone flight restrictions issued following reports of drone activity over both the Trump National Golf Club and the Picatinny Arsenal military base in New Jersey. This sighting coincides with other drone swarms that have recently appeared near British military bases where US Air Force squadrons operate.
On December 10th, the House Homeland Security Committee held a meeting. hearing He met with officials from the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Department of Justice about the drone threat. Officials said recent sightings may include a mix of rotary-wing and fixed-wing drones, but they aren't sure what the drones are doing or who is piloting them. Little information was available. However, he said drones are not yet a serious threat. Separately Briefing session According to information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the agency told lawmakers some sightings may have mistaken the aircraft for a drone.
Mayor Ryan Hurd, from New Jersey, said: said ABC News Live Officials said they confirmed that these were not U.S. military drones and were not operated by a U.S. tech company.
Meanwhile, in the UK, Defense Secretary Vernon Coker told parliament last month that authorities: Under investigation Since November 20th, multiple drone intrusions have occurred near several military bases in the UK. These bases support U.S. Air Force squadrons that fly fighters, bombers, and support aircraft.
“The common theme in all of these incidents is that no one has completely cracked the code on how to spot, track, and, if necessary, shoot down small drones,” he said. arthur holland michelJournalist and author who writes about drones. “The second common theme is that the challenge of countering a drone is through the roof when the person operating the drone is actively trying to avoid being identified.”
Although drones can be tracked with radar and other sensors, “it is still not practical to cover every corner of the country with detection and tracking systems,” and officials say “most of our country's airspace does not allow drones at all.” Michel says that they are often “unrecognizable.” “Typically, by the time a citizen spots a drone and reports it or photographs it with a cell phone, it is too late.” [to take early action]” he says.
Gerstein said there is uncertainty about who has the primary authority and responsibility to take action against these drones, between local law enforcement and state and federal agencies. Even if they are resolved, finding the best way to deal with them is not easy.
Either directly shoot down the drone using missiles, lasers, bullets, or even other drones, or take control of the suspicious drone and use electronic warfare signals to force it to land, Gerstein said. There are many countermeasures against drones. Such techniques have been commonly used during the drone-heavy war in Ukraine, while U.S. Navy warships and other naval vessels shot down dozens of drones threatening shipping in the Red Sea region.
“When shooting down a drone, the most effective method is often the most dangerous,” Michel said. “There is no way law enforcement could fire a sophisticated projectile into the air or activate a military signal jammer every time a drone is spotted flying overhead.” [New Jersey]”
This relatively small solar flare that occurred in October (a bright flash at the center discovered by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory) would be dwarfed by a superflare.
NASA/SDO
The sun can produce extremely powerful bursts of radiation more often than we think. According to research on stars similar to the Sun, such “superflares” appear to occur about once every 100 years, and are particle storms that can have a devastating effect on electronic equipment on Earth. may be accompanied by The last major solar storm to hit Earth was 165 years ago, so we may be hit by another solar storm soon, but how similar is our Sun to these other stars? is unknown.
Direct measurements of solar activity did not begin until the mid-20th century. In 1859, our star produced a very powerful solar flare, or emission of light. These are often associated with subsequent coronal mass ejections (CMEs), bubbles of magnetized plasma particles that shoot into space.
In fact, this flare was followed by a CME that crashed into the Earth, causing a violent geomagnetic storm. This was recorded by astronomers at the time and is now known as the Carrington phenomenon. If this were to happen today, communications systems and power grids could be disrupted.
There is also evidence that there were even more powerful storms on Earth long before the Carrington incident. Assessment of radiocarbon content in tree rings and ice cores suggests that extremely high-energy particles occasionally rained down on Earth over several days, but this could be attributed to a one-time, massive solar outburst. It is unclear whether this is the case or whether it is due to several solar explosions. something small. It’s also unclear whether the Sun can produce such large flares and particle storms in a single explosion.
The frequency of these signs on Earth, and the frequency of superflares that astronomers have recorded on other stars, suggests that these giant bursts tend to occur hundreds to thousands of years apart. .
now, Ilya Usoskin Researchers from the University of Oulu in Finland studied 56,450 stars and found that stars similar to the Sun appear to emit superflares much more frequently.
“Superflares in stars like the Sun occur much more frequently than previously thought, about once every century or two,” Usoskin said. “If we believe this prediction for the Sun is correct, we would expect the Sun to have a superflare about every 100 to 200 years, and the only extreme solar storms we know of occur about once every 1500 or 2000 years. There will be a mismatch.”
Using the Kepler Space Telescope to measure the brightness of stars, Usoskin and colleagues detected a total of 2,889 superflares in 2,527 stars. The energies of these flares were 100 to 10,000 times the size of the Carrington event, the largest flare measured from the Sun.
Usoskin said it remains to be seen whether such large flares also cause large-particle phenomena, such as there is evidence for on Earth, but current solar theory cannot explain such large flares. That’s what it means. “This raises questions about what we’re actually seeing,” he says.
“It’s very impressive for a stellar flare survey,” he says. Matthew Owens At the University of Reading, UK. “They’ve clearly developed a new way to detect flares with increased sensitivity.”
Owens says it’s even harder to determine how much this tells us about the Sun’s flaring activity, in part because it’s difficult to accurately measure the rotation rates of other stars. It is said that it is for the sake of “The devil is in the details,” he says.
“The rotation rate is important because it is related to how the star generates its magnetic field, and magnetic fields are related to flare activity,” Owens said.
The newly discovered galaxy, called the Firefly Radiance, existed about 600 million years after the Big Bang and consisted of at least 10 star clusters.
The Firefly Sparkle galaxy is in the process of gathering and forming new stars, exists about 600 million years after the Big Bang, and would weigh about the same as the Milky Way if we could turn back the clock and watch the galaxy develop . Image credits: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / C. Willott, NRC-Canada / L. Mowla, Wellesley College / K. Iyer, Columbia.
The most distant galaxies detected date from when the universe was about 5% of its current age.
However, the mass of these galaxies is about 10,000 times smaller than that of the Milky Way, making them difficult to observe.
The Firefly Sparkle galaxy was first observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, but detailed new observations by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shed more light on its formation.
“We never thought it would be possible to resolve galaxies that existed so early in the universe into so many different components, much less that their mass would be comparable to the mass of our galaxy in the process of forming. “I never thought it would be possible to discover similarities between the two,” he said. Dr. Ramiya Moura, astronomer at Wellesley College.
“There’s so much going on inside this small galaxy, including various stages of star formation.”
Webb was able to image the Firefly Sparkle galaxy in sufficient detail for two reasons.
One is the blessings of the universe. A massive galaxy cluster in the foreground, called MACS J1423.8+2404, radically enhanced the appearance of distant galaxies through a natural effect known as gravitational lensing.
And when combined with the telescope’s specialization in high-resolution imaging in infrared light, Webb provided unprecedented new data on the contents of galaxies.
“Without the benefit of this gravitational lensing, we would not have been able to understand this galaxy,” said Columbia University astronomer Karltej Ayer.
“We knew that was expected based on current physics, but to actually witness it was surprising.”
Astronomers also observed two neighboring galaxies they named Firefly Best Friend and Firefly New Best Friend. These galaxies are located 6,000 and 40,000 light-years from Firefly Sparkle, respectively, and are smaller than the present-day Milky Way.
The authors propose that the firefly glow could be a young, gas-rich galaxy in the early stages of formation.
These show that Firefly Sparkle’s mass is concentrated in 10 star clusters, with a total mass about 10 million times the mass of the Sun.
As such, Firefly Sparkle is one of the lowest-mass galaxies to have resolved into star clusters observed at the dawn of the universe, when galaxies began to form, and its mass is similar to that of the progenitor Milky Way. is.
“It has long been predicted that galaxies in the early universe formed through continuous interactions and mergers with other smaller galaxies,” says Yoshihisa Asada, a doctoral student at Kyoto University.
“We may be witnessing this process in action.”
“We have just started using space microscopy, so this is only the first of many such galaxies that Webb will discover,” said Dr. Marcia Bradač, an astronomer at the University of Ljubljana.
“Just as we can see pollen grains on plants with a microscope, the incredible resolution of the Webb and the magnifying power of gravitational lenses allows us to see tiny pieces inside galaxies.”
“Our team is currently analyzing all the early galaxies, and the results all point in the same direction. We still don’t know much about how these early galaxies formed. .”
L. Mora others. 2024. Low-mass galaxies were formed from star clusters in the Universe 600 million years ago. nature 636, 332-336; doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08293-0
CChinese hackers have breached dozens of telecommunications companies around the world. The breach, dubbed “Salt Typhoon” by Microsoft cybersecurity researchers, allows cybercriminals to access information about who texted or called whom, as well as some messages. This provides unprecedented access to content, which is a much higher technical hurdle to clear. Cyber attack.
This cyber attack hit three of the largest telecommunications networks in the United States. Communications of government officials in Washington, D.C., have been intercepted, as have Internet browsing records kept by the same telecommunications companies. Hackers attempted to crack the cell phones of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, as well as Kamala Harris’ campaign staff, and may have succeeded. Even the US eavesdropping program was compromised. The call records stored there were stolen. A U.S. senator called it “the worst communications hack in our nation’s history.” In the same week, British telecommunications giant BT announced The company had withstood and avoided “attempts to compromise” its conferencing services.
The hacker group, also known as FamousSparrow, has been active since 2020 and has previously targeted government agencies in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Canada, Guatemala and Burkina Faso, according to cybersecurity firm Eset. China has another favorite target, and it has targeted it even more aggressively than previous governments. Hotel. In all of these countries, as well as the UK, France, Lithuania, and Taiwan, the group has compromised hotels’ digital systems and stolen data.
According to U.S. intelligence agencies, salt typhoons have been occurring for one to two years and are still ongoing. U.S. analysts, as well as independent cybersecurity researchers, blamed the cyberattack on the Chinese government. China denies involvement.
The US National Security Adviser has urged employees to avoid using regular texting apps and instead save all communications to encrypted messaging apps such as Signal, WhatsApp, and FaceTime. That’s good advice. Security authorities in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada have issued similar warnings.
Is this hack part of an elaborate and coordinated response to the escalating chip trade war between the U.S. and China? On Monday, the Chinese government launched an antitrust investigation into Nvidia. . Last week, Chinese regulators banned exports of minerals essential to semiconductor manufacturing, such as gallium and germanium, to the United States. Earlier this year, the United States banned the sale of cutting-edge semiconductor chips to China. Washington, which has regulatory power over Nvidia, TSMC, and others, seeks geopolitical advantage through AI, and without powerful chips it cannot create useful AI models. China is at a disadvantage because it cannot imitate or dethrone NVIDIA. So did China hack in response? It’s possible, but hacking telecommunications networks is not as closely related to the semiconductor industry as the “give me the chip or else” argument. If the Chinese government had hacked Jensen Huang’s phone…it would have ended in a trade war retaliation.
I call Salt Typhoon old-fashioned espionage.
Justices admit TikTok ban disenfranchises Americans, but upholds it anyway
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How much money did the tech industry spend on the US presidential election?
Proboscis monkeys are renowned for their loud, bulbous calls and are among the most famous primates in the world. Contrary to popular belief, their noses are not so large that they need to be held under their arms when eating. They have a healthy diet.
Endemic to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, these Old World monkeys are known for their social and friendly nature. They live in troops, with a harem group consisting of dominant males, females, and young males, while bachelor groups may include males and sometimes females.
These monkeys inhabit mangrove swamps and forests near rivers, where they feed on fruits, seeds, and leaves. They prefer unripe fruits due to the high sugar content in ripe fruits, which can cause their already plump bellies to swell further.
Baby proboscis monkeys are born with bright blue faces and black fur, but gradually change to their adult colors as they grow – Photo credit: Getty
They are unique among primates for regurgitating and re-chewing their food (rumination) and have multiple-chambered stomachs similar to cows. The bacteria in their stomachs aid in digesting tough foods and detoxifying them.
Everything about these monkeys is large, from their stomachs accounting for a quarter of their body weight to their long limbs and tails. Males can weigh up to 24 kg (about 52 lbs) and have large noses, earning them the nickname “Orang Branda” or “Dutchman” from local Malays.
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It turns out that female proboscis monkeys prefer males with large noses, which can grow up to 17 cm (6.5 inches) in length. This trait is sexually selected, with women showing a preference for males with bigger noses due to its association with body quality and vocalization. The size of the nose indicates fertility and influences the male’s success in attracting females.
Interestingly, males with larger noses also tend to have smaller canine teeth, despite the lack of territorial aggression in proboscis monkeys. Troops of monkeys often interact, and members may move between groups, gathering at night to sleep in the same areas.
Proboscis monkeys are adept swimmers with partially webbed limbs, using a splash-free dog paddle to navigate their habitat. Their main threat comes from human activities like deforestation for timber and agriculture, leading to a drastic decline in their population.
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Nuclear reactions can be categorized as either fission (when an atomic nucleus splits into two lighter nuclei) or fusion (when two atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus). You can explore both of these reactions with a simple setup.
Small amounts of radioactive materials can be found in everyday objects, making nuclear fission a practical demonstration. For example, smoke detectors contain about 0.2 milligrams of americium-241, camping gas lanterns are coated with approximately 250 mg of thorium-232, and glow-in-the-dark gun sights contain around 1.2 micrograms of thorium-232. These materials are all radioactive and could potentially be combined to create a breeder reactor that uses neutrons emitted from one source to convert thorium-232 into the more radioactive uranium-233.
For a fusion reaction to occur, the temperature inside a fusion reactor must be hotter than the core of the sun – about 150 million °C (270 million °F) – Photo courtesy of Getty
David Hahn, a boy scout from Michigan, attempted this in 1994, but did not progress beyond the neutron generator stage before drawing attention from authorities. It is unlikely that his setup ever reached a stage where it could generate useful power.
Creating a functioning nuclear reactor from nuclear fission requires the ability to slow and control neutrons to maintain a self-sustaining fission reaction. Achieving this balance is challenging, especially in small reactors, and proper shielding and cooling are essential for safety.
While modern “microreactors” are available in the 5 megawatt range, they are still the size of a shipping container, making them unsuitable for small-scale setups.
Building a fusion reactor that uses an electric field to accelerate deuterium ions and fuse them into helium 3 is possible at home, resulting in a cold purple plasma. However, the energy required for the electric field exceeds the useful energy obtained from nuclear fusion, making it impractical as a reactor.
This article, by Tim Hurst from Sheffield, provides an answer to the question “Can I build a nuclear reactor in my shed?”
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