Separated by more than 600 miles of land, the epicenter of Friday’s earthquake in Myanmar was far from the skyscrapers of Bangkok. The collapse of a 33-storey building under construction raises questions about how the shaking in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, compares to past earthquakes.
One of the answers lies in low-frequency seismic waves that can travel long distances and impact high-rise buildings.
During a significant earthquake event, different frequencies of shaking are emitted simultaneously. Some produce rapid vibrations, while others generate low-frequency shaking.
This was evident during the Myanmar earthquake when violent, high-frequency seismic waves caused destruction near the epicenter, taking down low-rise buildings and structures made of brittle materials.
High-frequency seismic waves released during an earthquake dissipate within the Earth, while low-frequency waves can travel further along the Earth’s crust.
Low-frequency waves were observed during the 2002 Denali earthquake in Alaska, causing vibrations as far as Texas and Louisiana.
These seismic waves resonate with tall buildings, affecting them differently based on their design and height.
Similar to tuning forks producing varied sounds, buildings react uniquely to earthquakes depending on their characteristics.
Low-frequency seismic waves played a crucial role in the 1985 earthquake that caused extensive damage in Mexico City.
Seismic waves resonated through the soft soils of the Chao Phraya River Delta in Bangkok during the recent earthquake event.
Engineers have realized the underestimated risks posed by soft soils amplifying earthquake effects in recent years.
Cities like Bangkok, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and others are subject to basin effects, increasing earthquake forces, especially at low frequencies.
In 1985, the frequency of seismic waves was critical in understanding earthquake damage in Mexico City, particularly affecting buildings between 7-18 stories tall.
Old low-rise masonry buildings performed better during earthquakes in comparison to taller structures, highlighting vulnerability despite seeming stability.
Engineers shifted to building more flexible skyscrapers in earthquake-prone regions starting from the 1950s.
Concerns persist about the vulnerability of tall buildings to less frequent but more destructive earthquakes.
The fault destruction under modern cities during a major earthquake event can have devastating effects on tall buildings, despite engineering precautions.
Dr. Heaton warns about the rapid and violent movement caused by fault slip during earthquakes, potentially leaving tall buildings unsupported.
Buildings’ bases in earthquake-prone regions must be engineered to withstand such movements to prevent catastrophic collapses.
The US has ended financial support for family planning programs in developing countries, separating nearly 50 million women from access to birth control.
This policy change has attracted little attention in the wholesale demolition of US foreign aid, but it has great significance, including mother deaths and an overall increase in poverty. It derails the efforts that have in recent years brought long-acting birth control pills to some of the world’s poorest and most isolated regions.
The US contributed to family planning programs in 31 developing countries last year, providing about $600 million in 2023, according to the health research institute KFF.
According to an analysis by the sexual health research institute, the US funding provides birth control pills and medical services to deliver them to more than 47 million women and couples, reaching over 47 million women and couples. Without this annual contribution, 34,000 women could die from preventable mother deaths each year, Guttmacher’s calculation concluded.
“The magnitude of the impact is daunting,” said Mariva, who leads the coordination team for the Ouagadougou Partnership, an initiative to accelerate access to investment and family planning in nine West African countries.
The funding ended as part of the Trump administration’s breakdown of the US International Development Agency. The State Department, whose USAID skeletal remains were absorbed on Friday, did not reply to a request for comment on its decision to cease funding for family planning. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explains that he wasted the fired aid project and is not in line with America’s strategic interests.
Supporting family planning in the world’s poorest and most populous countries has been a consistent policy priority for both Democrats and Republican administrations for decades, considered a breakwater against political instability. It also reduced the number of women seeking abortions.
Among the countries that will be heavily affected by the decision are Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Funds to support the International Family Planning Program have been allocated by Congress and have been extended to the latest expenditure bill, which the government is operating until September. Moves by the State Department to cut these and other aid programs are now the subject of multiple lawsuits before federal courts.
The Trump administration has also fired US funding for UNFPA, the UN’s sexual reproductive health organization, the world’s largest procurement of birth control pills. The United States was the organization’s largest donor.
The US was not the sole supplier of birth control in any country, but the sudden termination of US fundraising has created disruption to the system and has already run out of products in clinics.
The estimated $27 million worth of family planning products already raised by USAID are stuck at various points in boats, ports and warehouses. Programs and employees have no programs or employees left to take them down or hand them over to the government. One plan proposed by Washington’s new USAID leadership is for the rest of the employees to destroy them.
Supply chain management is a major focus for USAID in all areas of health, with the US paying for transporting contraceptive products such as hormone implants, for example, from Thai manufacturers to ports in Mombasa, Kenya.
“It will be extremely difficult to put your work back on,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, executive director of UNFPA.
The US has also paid for data and information systems that help the government track what is in stock and what needs to be ordered. None of these systems have been working since the Trump administration sent halt work orders to all programs that received the USAID grant.
Bellington Wwalika, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Zambia, said contraceptives have already begun running in some parts of the country, with the US supplying a quarter of the national family planning budget.
“Wealthy people can buy the products they want. It is the poor who have to think, ‘What should I get between food and birth control?'” he said.
Even before the US retracted its family planning program, the survey found that globally, 1 billion women of reproductive age wanted to avoid pregnancy, but modern methods of birth control were inaccessible.
At the same time, there have been great progress. Demand for contraception is steadily increasing in Africa, a region of the world with lowest coverage, in long-acting ways that provide women with greater privacy and safe protection. Supply has been improved with better infrastructure and helped deliver products to rural areas. And the “Demand Creation” project, which is the main funder in the US, used ads and social media to inform people of the various options available and the benefits of pregnancy intervals or delays. The rise in education levels among women has also increased demand.
Two weeks ago, Thermasibanda, a 27-year-old engineering graduate who lives in a low-income community on the edge of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, received a hormone implant that prevents pregnancy for five years.
Shibanda has a two-year-old son and says he can’t afford more children. She can’t find a job in Zimbabwe’s broken economy and her husband can’t. They follow the $150 presence he earns from the vegetable stand every month. She relied on “hope, faith and natural methods” to prevent another pregnancy from happening after her son was born, Shibanda said, hoping for something more reliable, but that was simply impossible on her family’s budget – until a free clinic came to her neighborhood.
With USAID funding, the Zimbabwean organization that provided implants last year has been able to purchase six robust Toyota vehicles and camping equipment so that outreach teams can travel to the country’s most remote parts and provide vascular removal and IUD at pop-up clinics. Since Trump’s executive order, they have had to stop using all of that equipment.
International nonprofit MSI reproductive options intervened with temporary funds to ensure that they could continue to provide free care to women they could reach, such as Shibanda.
Shibanda said her priorities are to provide her son with the best possible education and that there are no more children as tuition costs. However, many African women have no way of making this choice. In Uganda, the national fertility rate is 4.5 children per woman, but it is not uncommon to meet women in rural areas with limited education with eight or 10 children, said Dr Justin Bukenya, lecturer in community health and behavioral sciences at Makerele University in Kampala. These women become pregnant for the first time as teenagers, with little space between pregnancy.
“By the time they were 30, they were able to get their 10th pregnancy. These are the women affected,” she said. “We’re missing the opportunity to make progress with them. The United States was doing a very strong job of creating the demands of birth control with these women here and mobilizing young men and women to go to family planning.”
Some women who rely on free or low-cost services through the public health system may now seek to buy birth control pills in the private market. However, the prices of tablets, IUDs and other devices are likely to rise significantly without guaranteed to buy large quantities from the US.
“As a result, women who relied on free or affordable options through the public health system could now be forced to rely on private sector sources.
The next biggest donor to post-US family planning is the Netherlands, which provided about 17% of donor government funding in 2023, and the UK provided 13%. The two countries recently announced plans to cut their aid budget by more than a third.
BA said the focus of the West African countries she works for is to mobilize domestic resources and come up with ways for governments to try and relocate money to cover what the US supplies. Charities such as the Gates Foundation and financial institutions, including the World Bank, which are already important contributors to family planning, could provide additional funding to try to move products into the country.
“We were very optimistic. Even with all the political instability in our area, we’ve been using modern methods to add millions of women over the last few years,” BA said. “And now, it’s all, US support, policy, it’s all gone completely. The gap is too big to fill.”
President Trump’s tariffs can increase prices, and efforts to reduce the federal workforce may lead to higher unemployment. Many economists are concerned about administration policies that will cut federal support for scientific research.
The Trump administration has recently canceled or frozen billions of dollars in federal grants for researchers, resulting in significant cuts to funding for academic medical centers and other institutions. It has also attempted to dismiss hundreds of workers at the National Science Foundation and has revoked visas for numerous foreign-born students.
These policies could jeopardize the US’s competitiveness in emerging fields like artificial intelligence, affecting the nation’s health and productivity in the long run.
“Universities play a crucial role in innovation,” says Sabrina Howell, a professor at New York University. “These policies are detrimental to our ability to innovate and grow.”
Scientists warn that the US risks losing its position as a leading research hub and a top destination for scientific talent globally.
Laboratories across the country are already laying off workers and halting projects, potentially affecting ongoing clinical trials. Top universities like Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have announced employment freezes. Other countries are actively recruiting American scientists, offering a more welcoming environment.
Economists argue that taxpayer-funded research is crucial for early-stage studies that may not attract private investors. Research has shown that every dollar invested in research and development yields about $5 in economic returns, including intangible benefits like increased longevity and leisure time.
“Research is a high-return activity that benefits society in many ways,” said economist Benjamin F. Jones from Northwestern University. “We need to invest more in research to stay competitive.”
Unexpected discovery
Hudson Freeze’s groundbreaking research in microorganisms in the 1960s led to important discoveries in DNA replication and genetic sciences. His work showcases the vital role of government funding in scientific research.
Dr. Freeze’s discoveries underscore the importance of government support for scientific breakthroughs. While private investors may overlook research on rare disorders, government funding has led to significant advancements in medical science.
The US research and development system, established during World War II, has been instrumental in driving economic growth and innovation. Federal investments in research have led to key technologies like the Internet and modern medicine.
…
Immigration plays a crucial role in driving scientific and technological advancements in the US. Despite accounting for a small percentage of the population, immigrants have contributed significantly to innovation, patents, and entrepreneurial ventures.
Changes in immigration policy and the perception of the US as unwelcoming could deter foreign students and scientists from choosing the US for education and research. Research has shown that restrictions on immigration during the Trump administration led to a decline in Chinese students studying in the US.
“International students and scientists are responsive to the environment in the US,” said economist Britta Glennon from the University of Pennsylvania. “A welcoming atmosphere is crucial for attracting global talent.”
Postpartum recovery takes longer than the traditional six-week period commonly referred to as the “fourth stage.” Recent research conducted by biologists at the Wiseman Institute of Science and Helen Schneider Women’s Hospital in Israel, and Yale University School of Medicine in the United States, suggests that it may take more than a year for the body to settle into a new normal after giving birth.
Professor Uriaron, a systems biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, led the study and emphasized the importance of understanding the extended recovery period postpartum. Using data from over 300,000 Israeli births, the researchers analyzed how various health markers changed between four and a half months to a year and a half after giving birth.
The study revealed that only 47% of the health markers studied stabilized within a month of delivery, while 12% took 4-10 weeks, and the remaining 41% took more than 10 weeks to stabilize. Some markers, such as bone and liver health, took up to 56 weeks to stabilize after childbirth.
Although certain health measurements improved over time, they did not return to pre-pregnancy levels even after a year and a half postpartum. The study also highlighted potential risk factors for pregnancy disorders but did not analyze differences between breastfeeding.
The effects of breastfeeding on the postpartum body have not been analyzed in this study, but may provide useful insights in future studies. – Credit: Igor Alessander via Getty
Experts like Professor Rebecca Reynolds, Professor Uriaron, and Professor Dimitrios Siassakos have provided valuable insights into the study’s findings. This research offers a detailed understanding of how the body changes after childbirth, which can potentially improve postnatal care.
Read more:
About our experts:
Professor Uriaron: He is a system biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the lead researcher at Uri Alon Lab.
Professor Rebecca Reynolds: She is a professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Edinburgh, focusing on understanding the mechanisms linking intrauterine development to health and illness.
Professor Dimitrios Siassakos: He is an honorary consultant in obstetrics at University College London and University College Hospital, contributing to various clinical care groups and research initiatives.
President Trump announced tariffs on automobiles and auto parts on Wednesday, impacting U.S. and overseas automakers.
Each company has different vulnerabilities based on their circumstances.
Tesla
Tesla, led by Elon Musk, sells cars from its U.S. plants, potentially making it less exposed to tariffs.
However, Tesla sources parts internationally, with about a quarter of the car’s value coming from overseas.
Tesla’s global sales are declining, partially due to Musk’s political activities, making it a target for retaliation against Trump’s tariffs in some countries.
General Motors
GM, America’s largest automaker, imports many popular vehicles, potentially making it vulnerable to tariffs.
Despite strong profits, GM relies on overseas assembly for around 40% of its U.S. sales, which could be impacted by tariffs.
Ford Motor
Ford is less reliant on imports, with most vehicles sold in the U.S. being domestically produced.
However, Ford still depends on foreign factories for key components like engines.
Stellantis, formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot, is facing sales challenges and CEO transitions, putting it at risk.
Toyota
Toyota, like other Japanese automakers, sells a significant number of cars in the U.S. but manufactures many vehicles overseas.
Despite the dependence on foreign production, Toyota is considered one of the strongest global automakers.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen, with limited U.S. factories, imports many vehicles, potentially impacting its operations.
Volkswagen has faced financial struggles, especially with declining sales in China and the rise of domestic electric vehicles.
Hyundai and Kia
Both Korean companies have seen growth in U.S. sales and are investing in local production to avoid tariffs on certain models.
Hyundai and Kia continue to import cars into the U.S., facing potential tariffs despite their investments in local manufacturing.
On January 18th, I was one of millions of Americans, scrolling through Tiktok when the all-you-can-eat video buffet service suddenly stopped just before the federal ban came into effect.
It was a breathtaking moment when I was mourning me. For daily doses of Hollywood gossip, video game news, anime updates, where did I wonder where I was going now?
Tiktok, owned by a Chinese company, was bytedance, and rose to life the next day, facing legal deadlines to find or face a ban on US owners. President Trump then quickly signed an executive order extending the window for Tiktok’s sale to April 5th.
With that new deadline approaching, Tiktok’s fate, claiming more than 170 million American users, remains uncertain. However, for now, at least, it seems unlikely that there will be a repeated blackout in January.
Last month, Trump He told reporters That he can extend the deadline again. And while bytedance has not confirmed sales plans, Oracle, Data Center Company and others have emerged as potential suitors.
The latest deadlines provide convenient members to reflect on the role of apps in society. This is what I found.
Tiktok is still the best short video app
Tiktok started as Musical.ly 11 years ago. It’s an app for users to post lip sync videos, but over time it has evolved into a generic video app that lets people scroll through short clips of news and entertainment. Currently, there are over 1 billion users worldwide.
With Tiktok’s popularity surged worldwide over the past five years, Meta, Google and others have created clones that allow users to scroll through video clips endlessly. but Young users still prefer Tiktok To watch a short video, according to a survey by research firm Emarketer.
Tiktok’s preferences may be linked in part to product quality. Videos made on Tiktok generally look clearer, more rigorously edited and catchy than videos made with similar apps like Instagram reels. (Why drink lukewarm cola when you can get a classic cola?) Tiktok’s tools, including the editing app Capcut, streamline the production of video for your app.
For me, switching to the reel felt crazy when Tiktok was temporarily down. Many users have posted videos they found to be incomplete, including a video of sourdough bread that I was asked to read the caption to learn how to bake the perfect bread. Why don’t you explain it in a video instead of a small text caption?
Meta, who owns Instagram, catches up to Tiktok’s editing tools. An Instagram spokesperson mentioned a company spokesperson announcement The editor is CapCut’s competitor for editing reel videos and is expected to debut in the coming weeks. This tool allows Instagram users to upload videos to a higher resolution, improving image quality, among other perks.
Tiktok’s secret source, which others have not replicated either, is an algorithm for people to decide which video they want to watch next. Many people in their research say that Tiktok surfaces the type of video they want to watch for everything from diet ideas to video games, and glues them to the screen for hours a day.
Mental health concerns are rising
The effectiveness of Tiktok in keeping people scrolling has been a topic of widespread concern among parents and academic researchers wondering whether people could be thought of as obsessed with apps, just like video game addiction.
Research on this topic continues and remains conclusive. One, It was released last year He also looked into the overuse of Tiktok, led by Christian Montag, a professor of cognitive and brain science at the University of Macau in China. The study reported that although few people involved 378 participants of various ages, they were obsessed with Tiktok.
But broadly speaking, the consensus from multiple studies on Tiktok and other social media apps is that young people are more likely to report being addicted, Dr. Montag said in an interview.
“I don’t think kids should appear on these platforms at all,” he said of an app similar to Tiktok. People’s brains can take at least 20 years, mature and self-regulate, he added.
A Tiktok spokesperson said the app includes tools to manage screen time, including new settings for Tiktok to block children’s phone work during certain times.
Growth of a marketing platform for brands
Tiktok has become the main hub for companies to promote their products through posted videos and products sold at the in-app store, Tiktok Shop.
The company is working hard to make Americans realize the impact on the economy, running flashy advertising campaigns in newspapers and billboards, portraying them as a small business champion.
A Tiktok spokesperson cited a study claiming that Tiktok increased revenues for small businesses to $15 billion in 2023. This is the number that should be collected with salt grains because Tiktok asked for research. However, from scrolling through Tiktok, it is clear that many brands enjoy using it to spread videos showing quirky products.
Tiktok’s video confesses that he was inspired to buy expensive tools to remove dog fur from car seats and an automatic scrubber to clean the kitchen sink.
As for the so-called creators, the platform usually helps self-promotion rather than making money, as influencers post videos of Tiktok that often get viral, said actress Alyssa McKay, who has a follower of Tiktok in New Jersey.
The video, which earns 2 million views, can earn her a few dollars, she said. She added that it is because Tiktok only pays for the scenery that comes from people who have not yet followed you.
That’s still a national security concern
Tiktok was banned in the first place because he feared that US government officials could share data collected by American users with the Chinese government for espionage purposes.
These concerns peaked at the Supreme Court hearing in January. There, the Biden administration argued to ban the app. This cites concerns that Tiktok could create new pathways for China’s intelligence reporting agency that permeates American infrastructure. However, authorities did not provide evidence that Tiktok was associated with such a threat.
But Tiktok is linked to a small US data scandal. Tiktok confirmed in 2022 that four employees were fired for using the app to silly several journalists to track information sources.
Tiktok spokesperson pointed to a video This app protects the data of American users on server systems protected by Oracle, a collaborative US database giant, and prevents unauthorized foreign access.
Matthew Green, a security researcher at Johns Hopkins University and an associate professor of computer science, said that the US government’s security concerns about Tiktoc have been exaggerated as there has yet to be a major scandal, but it is effective because of the potential for hypothetical harm.
Many apps created by American companies are companies that collect information about us and sell insights to data brokers, marketers, including parts of China. But Tiktok in particular can gather sensitive data on Americans that are useful for hostile governments, such as address books, Dr. Green added.
“We’re leaking so much information, we don’t need Tiktok to make things worse, but with millions of different phones running this app, things get worse,” Dr. Green said.
Tesla, led by Elon Musk, is cautioning about the potential repercussions of Donald Trump’s trade war. They warned that retaliatory tariffs could harm not only electric car makers but also other American automakers.
In a letter to US trade representative Jamieson Greer, Tesla emphasized the importance of considering the broader impacts of trade actions on American businesses. They stressed the need for fair trade practices that do not inadvertently harm US companies.
Tesla urged the US Trade Representative (USTR) office to carefully evaluate the downstream effects of proposed actions to address unfair trade practices. They highlighted the disproportionate impact that US exporters often face when other countries respond to trade actions taken by the US.
The company, which has been a supporter of Trump, expressed concerns about potential tariffs on electric vehicles and parts imported to targeted countries. They cited past instances where trade disputes led to increased tariffs on vehicles and parts manufactured globally.
As Tesla continues to navigate the challenges of trade policies, they emphasized the importance of considering implementation timelines and taking a step-by-step approach to allow US companies to prepare and adapt accordingly.
Meanwhile, German automaker BMW reported a decline in net profit due to trade tariffs. They highlighted the impact of US trade actions on their business performance and reiterated the challenges posed by a competitive global environment.
BMW’s forecast takes into account various tariffs, including those on steel and aluminum. The company faces challenges in China, where local EV manufacturers are gaining market share, leading to a decline in BMW and Mini sales.
Despite these obstacles, BMW remains committed to navigating the complexities of trade and geopolitical developments to maintain business resilience and performance.
Parkinson’s disease is rapidly becoming one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative conditions globally, impacting over 10 million individuals worldwide. It ranks as the second most common neurodegenerative ailment following Alzheimer’s disease. As of now, there is no known cure. However, recent advancements have raised hopes for the development of new treatments in the near future.
The disease is closely associated with a protein known as Pink1, which carries a mutation in the Park6 gene responsible for encoding this protein.
Malfunctions in Pink1’s functioning are directly linked to Parkinson’s disease, especially in individuals with early onset, affecting 1.2% of Parkinson’s patients in the UK.
Recent scientific progress has shed light on the interaction between Pink1 and mitochondria. Mitochondria, known as the powerhouse of cells, produce energy within the cells of all organisms.
From left, Professor David Commander, Dr. Nicholas Kirk, Dr. Sylvie Karegari and Dr. Alisa Grukova stand before the discovery of Pink 1. – Wehe
The link between Pink1 and Parkinson’s disease has long been recognized, but its potential as a cure for Parkinson’s disease has only recently been explored.
When mitochondria are damaged, Pink1 signals the need for their removal. However, in Parkinson’s patients, mitochondrial defects accumulate unnoticed, releasing toxins that eventually lead to cell death.
Currently, researchers at the Parkinson’s Center for Research in Walter and Eliza Hall (WEHI) in Australia have elucidated the structure and activation process of Pink1. Their findings on how Pink1 interacts with dysfunctional mitochondria are published in Science today.
“This is a significant milestone in Parkinson’s disease research,” stated corresponding author Professor David Commander, head of WEHI’s ubiquitin signaling division. “Understanding Pink1’s binding to mitochondria is truly groundbreaking.”
Lead author and Senior Researcher at WEHI, Sylvie Callegari, explained that Pink1 functions in four distinct steps, with the first two being newly discovered in this study.
Furthermore, Pink1’s role in detecting mitochondrial damage and initiating the process of mitophagy, the recycling of damaged mitochondria, is crucial for addressing Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s disease is associated with physical tremors, as well as other symptoms like language and vision impairments – Credit: Witthaya Prasongsin
In conclusion, understanding the Pink1-mitochondrial relationship is crucial for developing therapies for Parkinson’s disease, a condition characterized by the decline of brain cells.
Given the increasing prevalence of Parkinson’s disease over the past 25 years, the need for effective treatments is more urgent than ever. The researchers behind this study aim to accelerate drug development and halt the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
I'Looking at artificial intelligence and ordering my groceries. Armed with my shopping list, enter each item into the search bar of the supermarket website, then click using your cursor. When you see what looks like a digital ghost, this is usually a mundane task that is mysteriously fixed. “Are you not just Indians?” my husband asks, peering over my shoulder.
I'm trying operatorOpenai's new AI “agent” is the manufacturer of ChatGpt. It was made available to UK users last month and has a similar text interface and conversation tone as ChatGpt, but rather than answering questions, it actually does do Things – if they involve navigating a web browser.
Soon after the large language model, AI agents are trumpeted as the next big thing, and you can see the appeal. Similar to Openai's offering, humanity introduced the “computer use” feature in Claude Chatbot towards the end of last year. Perplexity and Google have also released the “agent” feature for AI assistants, with more companies developing agents targeting specific tasks such as coding and research.
While there is debate about what is accurately counted as an AI agent, the general idea is that you need to be able to take action with a certain degree of autonomy. “As soon as you start performing an action outside the chat window, you'll be an agent from a chatbot,” says Margaret Mitchell, a leading ethics scientist at AI Company.
It's early. Most commercial agents still come with experimental disclaimers. Openai describes the operator as a “research preview.” Dozen eggs $31 Or you're trying to Return the groceries to the store They bought them. Depending on who you ask, agents are just the dawn of the future of AI that can shake up the next exaggerated high-tech or labor, rebuild the internet and change our lives.
“In principle, they're amazing because they can automate many drunk people,” says Gary Marcus, a scientist and skeptical linguistic model scientist at large. “But I don't think they'll work anytime soon, and it's partly an investment in hype.”
I sign up to the operator to see for myself. Grocery shopping seems like a good first job as there is no food at home. Once you enter your request, you will be asked if there is a shop or brand you like. I tell them to go with the cheapest person. A window will appear to display your web browser and search for “UK Online Grocery Delivery.” The mouse cursor selects the first result: ocado. Starts searching for requested items and filters the results by price. Select the product and click Add to trolley.
I was impressed by the operator's initiative. If only a description of a simple item such as “salmon” or “chicken” is given, it doesn't ask me any questions. Searching for eggs will help you pass through several non-egg items that appear as special offers. My list is looking for “several different vegetables.” Choose a broccoli head and ask if you want something else specific. I tell them to choose two more, and it goes for carrots and leeks – perhaps I chose myself. Encourage me, I ask you to add “sweet sweets” and literally watch as you type “sweet snacks” into the search bar. I don't know why I'm choosing 70% chocolate, but certainly not the cheapest option, but I don't like dark chocolate and I'll trade it for a Galaxy Bar.
Thomas Dohmke is the head of Github, which develops with an autonomous coding assistant called Project Padawan. Photo: DPA Picture Alliance/Alamy
When the operator realized that there was a minimum spend on Ocado, we bumped into a scratch. So, add more items to the list. You will then be logged in and the agent will encourage you to intervene. While users can take over the browser at any point in time, Openai says operators are designed to require “when entering sensitive information into the browser, such as login credentials and payment information.” Operators usually take constant screenshots to “see” what it is doing, but Openai says that they don't do this when the user controls it.
At checkout, you will be asked to complete the payment and test the water. But when I respond by asking for details of my card, I get the reins back. I have already provided Openai with payment info (operators need a ChatGPT Pro account that costs $200 a month), but I find it uncomfortable to share this directly with AI. I've ordered it and waited for next day delivery. But it doesn't solve dinner. Give the operator a new task. Can I order a cheeseburger and chips from a local highly rated restaurant? It asks for my postcode and then loads the Derveoo website and searches for “Cheeseburger”. Again, there is a pause when you need to log in, but Derveoo already stores the card details, so the operator can proceed to pay directly.
The restaurant it chooses is local and highly rated as a fish and chip shop. I'll end up with a big bag of total cheeseburger and chippy style chips. It's not what I imagined, but it's not I'm wrongeither. However, I am regretted when I realized that the operator was skipping the delivery rider conversion. I secretly take my food and add generous tips after the fact.
Of course, seeing operators hold actions will beat the time saving points of using AI agents for online tasks. Instead, you can keep it working in the background, focusing on other tabs. While drafting this piece, I make another request: Can it be booked for gel nail polish at a local salon?
Operators are struggling with this task more. I go to Frasha, a beauty booking platform, but when I was prompted to log in, I find myself choosing to book an hour or more by car, a week behind my house in East London. I point out these issues and it finds a slot for the right date, but it's still far away from Leicester Square. Only then will it ask my location and I recognize that it should not retain this knowledge between tasks. By this point I might have already booked my own. The operator will ultimately propose a proper appointment, but I will abandon the task and choke it up as a team human victory.
AI Shopping Assistants need to pause and human input when logging in to supermarket websites or making payments online. Photo: Marco Marca/Getty Images
It is clear that this first generation AI agent has limitations. It requires a considerable amount of human monitoring to stop and log in. However, operators store cookies so that users can continue to log in to the website on subsequent visits (Openai requires closer supervision on “particularly sensitive” sites, such as email clients and financial services). The results are usually accurate, but not necessarily my own. When my groceries arrived, I see that the operator ordered smoked salmon rather than fillets, and was twice as many with yogurt as a special offer. I interpreted “some fish cakes” as 3 packs (I intended only one), and saved the insult of buying chocolate milk instead of plain because the product was out of stock. To be fair to the bots, I had the opportunity to review the order. You will get better results if you get more specific at the prompt (“Pack of two raw salmon fillets”), but these additional steps will also undermine the saved effort.
Despite the current flaws, my experience with the operator feels like a glimpse of what's coming. As such systems improved and reduced costs, I was able to easily see them embedded in everyday life. You may already have written your shopping list on the app. Why doesn't it place an order? Agents also permeate workflows beyond the realm of personal assistants. Openai CEO Sam Altman predicts that AI agents will be able to “join the workforce” this year.
Software developers are one of the early adopters. Coding Platform Github Recently added agent features For AI Copilot tools. Github CEO Thomas Dohmke says developers are used to some degree of automated assistance. The difference between AI agents is the level of autonomy. “Not only gives the answer by asking a question, but you'll have a problem and then repeat it with the code you can access,” he says.
GitHub is already working on a more autonomous agent called Project Padawan ( Star Wars (a term used to refer to Jedi apprentice). This allows AI agents to work asynchronously rather than requiring constant monitoring. Developers can report the agent's team to them and write code for review. Dohmke says he doesn't think the developer's work is at risk. “I argue that the amount of work that AI has added to most developers' backlogs is higher than the amount of work it takes over,” he says. Agents can also create coding tasks that are more accessible to non-technical people, such as building apps.
AI company Margaret Mitchell warns against the development of fully autonomous agents. Photo: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Outside of software development, Dohmke envisions a future where everyone has their own personal Jarvis. Iron Man. Your agent will learn your habits and be customized to your tastes, making it more convenient. He used him to book holidays for his family.
But more autonomous agents have greater risks than they pose. Mitchell, from her hugging face, I co-authored the paper Warning against the development of fully autonomous agents. “Completely autonomously means that human control has been completely transferred,” she says. Rather than working within a set boundary, an agent that is completely autonomous can access things that don't notice or work in unexpected ways, especially if they can write their own code. If your AI agent makes a mistake in ordering takeout, that's not a big deal, but what if you start sharing your personal information or posting under the name of scary social media content on a scam website? High-risk workplaces can implement particularly dangerous scenarios. What if I have access to the missile command system?
Mitchell hopes engineers, legislators and policymakers will encourage guardrails to mitigate such cases. For now, she foresees that the agent's abilities will become more refined for certain tasks. Immediately, I watch the agent interact with it. For example, an agent could work with my agent to set up a meeting.
This surge in agents could potentially rebuild the internet. Currently, much of the information online is specialized in human language, but this can change if AIS is increasingly interacting with websites. “Through the Internet, you're seeing more and more information that agents need to act on, although not directly in human language,” says Mitchell.
Dohmke echoes this idea. He believes that the concept of homepages will lose importance and design interfaces with AI agents in mind. Brands may begin to compete for AI attention over the human eyeballs.
One day, the agent even escapes the computer range. You can see AI agents embodied in robots, which will open up a world of physical tasks for them to help. “My prediction is to see agents who can do our laundry, cook and cook for us,” says Mitchell. “Don't give us access to the weapon.”
gThe famous brand of Lobabury didn’t want to be associated with the German far-right opposition. But Tesla, one of the world’s largest company names, does not have a traditional CEO.
After Elon Musk supports the alternative, Fool Deutsla Land (AFD), it is called Germany’s “only hope” – voters are considering replacing Tesla. Data released Thursday showed that the German company’s electric vehicle registrations fell 76% last month to 1,429. Overall, electric vehicle registrations increased by 31%.
Tesla’s biggest shareholder, who has expressed support for right-wing leaders around the world, is now a de facto American cabinet member under the Donald Trump administration.
Tesla’s reputation is closely tied to mask politics. After he spent $288 million on Trump’s 2024 election victory, Tesla’s valuation passed $1tn. But Musk’s political involvement is unprecedented for the head of a company of that size — and could also have a negative impact.
On Friday, a group of extinct rebel activists occupied a Tesla store in central Milan. Activists chained themselves to the tires of the car, while others glued them to the window along with slogans, “Let the billionaires pay again” and “Ecology, no ecofascism.”
Analysts openly wonder whether Musk is causing permanent damage to the brand he made synonymous with electric vehicles, and even brings a liberal aspiration to tackle climate change.
Tesla was asked to comment.
Tesla was the world’s largest producer of battery electric vehicles in 2024, but sales fell to 1.79 million. This was the first time since 2011 that it had withstanded a decline in sales since 2011 after years of rapid growth that became the world’s most valuable automaker.
The manufacturer said in January that global sales will increase in 2025, and Wall Street analysts hope Tesla will sell more than 2 million cars this year. But even these predictions represent little fiery return to form. Recently, Musk said in October that it expects sales growth of 20% to 30% per year, meaning that as many as 2.3 million cars are on sale.
“Customer retention will be important as customers…
Other analysts are more optimistic. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, a US financial company, is a longtime Tesla supporter. Ives believes…
It feels harsh. Being forced to sacrifice valuable sleep is tough. In the United States, Daylight Saving Time (DST) will begin on March 9, 2025. At 2am local time, the clock will spring forward an hour, skipping straight to 3am.
Not only does this make the following day feel a bit groggy, but experts are growing concerned about the potential negative impacts of the DST switch on our health.
“When the clock changes, there is a slight increase in stroke, heart attack, car accidents, and sleep loss,” says Vanderbilt’s Director of Sleep, Dr. Beth Malow to BBC Science Focus.
The effects of this time shift are felt not only by the youth but also by older individuals. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine in 2015 found that teenagers lose approximately 2 hours and 42 minutes of weekday sleep after the time change.
Mallow continues, “It has health repercussions for nearly eight months due to the shift in light exposure from the morning and evening times.”
“Morning light is essential for waking up, regulating our biological clock, and enhancing our mood. We use light therapy in the morning to treat seasonal affective disorders and improve sleep quality. Exposure to morning light supports nighttime sleep, while evening light disrupts it.”
However, all hope is not lost. Here are some simple strategies to alleviate the impact of losing that hour:
1. Back up your bedtime for a few days before the clock change
While it may be too late this time, keep this in mind for the future. Sleep experts recommend gradually shifting your bedtime 15-20 minutes earlier each night leading up to the time change.
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, sudden changes in sleep schedules, such as switching to daylight saving time, can lead to temporary insomnia symptoms affecting about 30-35% of adults.
By easing into it gradually, Malow suggests, “you can adjust to the new time and get a bit more sleep in the process.”
If you’re short on time and feeling drowsy, going to bed earlier on the night of the time change can also be helpful.
2. Expose yourself to bright light in the morning
Daylight Saving Time aims to provide an extra hour of sunlight in the evening. While this is ideal for post-work socializing, it may disrupt natural sleep-wake cycles and circadian rhythms.
To help you wake up in the morning and consequently sleep better at night, exposing yourself to bright light is crucial. Malow recommends natural light for this purpose, especially as the sun rises earlier during the summer months.
“Morning bright light exposure helps synchronize your biological clock,” she explains. “Aligning your clock will improve your nighttime sleep.”
3. Avoid lengthy naps and late-day caffeine. Opt for exercise instead
If you enjoy taking naps (who doesn’t?), this news may be disappointing. However, if you want to maintain good sleep, avoiding long naps is essential.
“Naps and caffeine impair our ‘sleep drive’,” Malow clarifies. Her solution? Engage in physical exercise instead.
“Physical activity in the afternoon energizes us during that afternoon slump, but comes bedtime, it promotes sleepiness. It enhances our sleep drive,” she adds.
But remember, avoid exercising just before bedtime, as it can stimulate endorphins and raise body temperature, both of which can interfere with sleep.
4. Put away your phone before bedtime
You’ve likely heard this advice before, but it remains just as relevant, particularly when the clock springs forward an hour. Bright light at night, especially from screens emitting blue light, can disrupt your sleep.
Blue light, found in LED screens, inhibits the natural release of melatonin in the brain, a hormone that regulates sleep. Additionally, content like news can trigger anxiety before bed.
Perhaps it’s time to eliminate daylight saving time
While the aforementioned strategies can minimize the impact of the time change, many experts are calling for the abolishment of this antiquated practice entirely.
So, should standard time become the new norm?
Alice Gregory, a psychology professor at Goldsmith’s, believes so. She argues that permanent standard time aligns better with our circadian rhythms compared to daylight saving time.
Mallow echoes this sentiment, stating, “Most individuals are quite fatigued by the interaction.”
About our experts:
Dr. Beth Malow is a neurology and pediatrics professor, Director of the Vanderbilt Sleep Division, Chair of Barry Donations for Cognitive Childhood Development, and Vice-Chair of Clinical Research at Vanderbilt University, USA. She is board-certified in Neurology and Sleep Medicine, conducting research on sleep and its medical and genetic implications.
Alice Gregory is a psychology professor at Goldsmith’s. She conducts research on the link between sleep and mental health, behavioral genetics, sleep paralysis, and nightmare disorder. She is also a prolific science communicator, publishing articles in various outlets like Guardian, GQ UK, and Slate fr.
According to new research by scientists at Tsukuba University and the Japan National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, heat from our sun promotes changes in the atmosphere temperature on Earth and changes in the atmosphere temperature on Earth.
The sun is seen by solar orbiter in extreme ultraviolet rays from a distance of approximately 75 million km. This image is a mosaic of 25 individual images taken on March 7, 2022 by the high-resolution telescope of an extreme ultraviolet imager (EUI) instrument. The image, taken at a wavelength of 17 nanometers in the extreme ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum, reveals the corona, the upper atmosphere of the sun, with a temperature of about 1 million degrees Celsius. Image credits: ESA/NASA/SOLAR ORBITER/EUI Team/E. Kraaikamp, Rob.
Seismic studies have revealed many of the fundamentals of earthquakes: the tectonic plates move, strain energy accumulates, and that energy is ultimately released in the form of an earthquake.
However, when it comes to predicting them, there is still much to learn to evacuate cities before a catastrophe like the 2011 magnitude 9.0 Tōhoku earthquake
In recent years, research has focused on possible correlations between the sun or moon and seismic activity on Earth, with several studies pointing to tidal or electromagnetic effects that interact with the Earth's crust, core, and mantle.
In a new study, Matheus Henrique Junqueira Saldanha and his colleagues explored the possibility that solar-induced climate could play a role.
“Solar heat can promote changes in atmospheric temperature, which can affect rock properties and groundwater movements, among other things,” said Dr. Junqueira Saldanha.
“Such variations can make rocks more brittle and more prone to breaking, for example. And changes in rainfall and snow thaw can change the pressure on the boundaries of the tectonic plate.”
“Those factors may not be the main factors that cause earthquakes, but they may still play a useful role in predicting seismic activity.”
Using mathematical and computational methods, researchers analyzed seismic data along with solar activity records and surface temperatures on Earth.
Among other findings, they observed that when the surface temperature of the earth was included in the model, predictions of particularly shallow earthquakes are more accurate.
“That makes sense because heat and water mostly affect the upper layers of the Earth's crust,” said Junqueira Saldanha.
The findings suggest that solar heat transfer to the Earth's surface affects seismic activity, but this is only a small measure, and incorporating predictions of solar activity into a detailed earth temperature model could help issue seismic predictions.
“It's an exciting direction and I hope our research will shed some light on the larger picture of what causes earthquakes,” said Dr. Junqueira Saldanha.
study Today I'll be appearing in the journal chaos.
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Matheus Henrique Junqueira Saldanha et al. The role of solar heat in seismic activity. chaos 35, 033107; doi:10.1063/5.0243721
A scientist with a Ph.D. issues tsunami alerts and serves as a Hurricane Hunting Flight Director. Researchers investigate communities that are prone to flooding during storms.
They were part of over 600 workers who were laid off last week by the Trump administration, resulting in around a 5% reduction in the workforce of the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Kayla Besong, a physical scientist at the Tsunami Warning Center, was one of the affected employees. She played a key role in the safety monitoring team, which was reduced from 12 members to 11. She was responsible for programming a system that assessed the risk to the U.S. coastline and issued alerts accordingly.
The layoffs have raised concerns about the impact on public safety programs and the ability to deal with the increasing frequency of weather disasters due to climate change. Last year alone, NOAA recorded a $27 billion disaster that resulted in 568 deaths in the U.S., marking the second-highest death toll since 1980, accounting for inflation.
Meteorologists are facing challenges and criticism, despite their improving accuracy in predicting weather events. The Trump administration’s decision to cut jobs at NOAA has been met with protests and legal challenges. Experts warn that these cuts threaten progress and could hinder crucial scientific advancements.
NOAA has declined to comment on the layoffs, emphasizing its commitment to providing timely information and resources to the public. Former agency officials argue that the cuts jeopardize public safety, especially during weather emergencies.
Congressional Democrats have also opposed the layoffs, citing the impact on public safety and the ability to provide accurate weather forecasts. The cuts have affected essential roles, such as hurricane modeling specialists and flight directors, who play a vital role in predicting and responding to severe weather events.
The reduction in NOAA’s workforce has sparked concerns about the agency’s ability to effectively respond to upcoming weather seasons, potentially putting lives at risk and undermining public safety efforts.
Flowers and other plants need to pollinate insects to spread and reproduce. Their bright colours and intense smells attract bumblebees that pollinate them and play an important role in their survival. Without pollination, most fruits, vegetables, flowers and plants would not grow and diversify. Bumblebees eat nectar from flower to flower and collect them to store nutrient-rich pollen. In the process, their abdomen are covered in pollen. Pollen spreads from male flowers to female flowers as they fly between them. However, as global temperatures have risen in recent years, many scientists have noticed that bumblebees struggle to find colorful flowers and plants to pollinate.
This concern allowed a team of German scientists to take a closer look at how excessive heat affects bumblebees. They chose two types of Bumblebee to study: Bombus PascuorumAlso known as Carder Bumblebee Bombus Terrestris LinnaeusAlso known as bufftail bumblebee. These two bee species are common in Germany and most other parts of Europe, making them ideal options for research. Known as the ocean west coast climate, the region is a mild, comfortable summer and cool winter with plenty of rain.
Scientists suggested that heat waves due to climate change could affect how carder and bufftailed bumblebees survive during mild summers. In their study, the researchers exposed bees of both species to four different heat treatments and three different foods designed to replicate the scent of bees in the wild.
Scientists kept the bees in a comfortable, simulated environment a week before treatment. They then removed the individual bees and placed them in environments with different temperatures and humidity. Their goal was to simulate irregular weather phenomena such as drought and extreme heat and observe the bees' ability to find the scent of different flowers.
For each test, the researchers placed individual bees in long glass tubes to observe them. They performed their first treatment at 90% humidity and 104°F (40°C) to make the air very wet and hot. They performed a second treatment under the same humidity and temperature conditions, but added sugar syrup. They again administered a third treatment under the same conditions, but added a 24-hour rest period between heat and access to the sugar syrup. They had their fourth and final treatment at the same temperature, but only 15% humidity.
Scientists then applied the floral scent to Okimen, geraniol and nonnal on special absorbent paper and introduced it to each bee. They used a technique called to observe the electrical activity of bee antennas in response to odors Electrounnography. They explained that this process helps track bumblebee behavior after heat treatment.
Scientists have found that all heat treatments affect how bee antennae responded to the scent of three flowers. Specifically, we found that bufftailed bumblebees' sensory responses to flower scents reduced by up to 29%, while bufftailed bumblebees had a 42% to 81% reduction in their scent detection skills. Of all treatments, they found that the fourth treatment with low humidity had the greatest effect on honeybee sensation.
Scientists have concluded that research like theirs is useful when it is necessary to survive, taking into account the bees' experiences in the natural environment. With this in mind for global pollinators facing climate change, scientists have recommended that future researchers prioritize studying the effects of heat stress on cellular changes in bee antennas.
Without human-induced climate change, the Earth could have been on track to enter another ice age within 11,000 years. This long-term prediction of the planet's “natural” climate is based on a new analysis of how orbital shapes and the tilt of their axis combine to change the amount of solar energy reaching Earth.
For millions of years, these orbital oscillations (known as the Milankovich cycle) entered and left the planet during the Ice Age about every 41,000 years. However, over the past 800,000 years, these ice ages, also known as ice age, have only occurred every 100,000 years. The term Ice Age, as it is currently, can be used to refer to whenever there is ice on Earth's poles, but generally refers to a wide range of ice Age periods.
The ambiguity of the record as the ice sheets were willingly retreated meant that it was not possible to explain how trajectory changes were involved in driving this long cycle.
If previous research attempted to link orbital changes to a specific period, such as onset of an ice age, Stephen Barker Cardiff University in England and his colleagues took a new tack. They came back fading during the “glacial age” where they saw the overall pattern of the ice age, also known as ice age. This allowed us to link changes in trajectories with changes in ice, despite the ambiguity of ice records over the past million years.
They discovered that these 100,000-year cycles appear to follow simple rules. For the last 900,000 years, following the most circular phase of the orbit, the planets also tilted towards the Sun, thus causing all interglacial periods after the Earth's axis wobbled at the farthest from the Sun.
This suggests that all three of these aspects of Earth's orbit (known as precession, oblique and eccentricity) are combined to create a 100,000-year glacial cycle, Barker says. “Since 900,000 years ago, this simple rule has predicted all of these major glacial end events, which says it's really very easy to predict,” he says.
Under that rule, the next ice age where you currently live is expected to begin approximately 66,000 years from the year, as there is no impact on greenhouse gas emissions. But that could only be started if there was an ice age before that,” says Barker.
The diagonal and gradual stages of precession that preceded the Holocene suggest that the glaciers are likely to be on track between 4300 and 11 and 100 years from now. We may now live in what would have been the beginning of this next ice age. “Of course, it's just a natural scenario,” says Barker.
More than 1.5 trillion tons of carbon dioxide have been released into the atmosphere as the Industrial Revolution is expected to cause sufficient warming to disrupt this long-term glacial cycle.
“The amount we've already put into the atmosphere is so big that it takes hundreds to thousands of years to pull it out through natural processes,” Barker says. However, he says more research is needed to define the planet's future natural climate in a more detailed way.
It states that this is consistent with previous modeling suggesting that anthropogenic emissions can prevent the onset of the next ice age, from dozens to hundreds of thousands of years. Andrei Ganopolsky At the Potsdam Climate Impact Research Institute in Germany.
But he says even at pre-industrial levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, it was high enough to delay the ice sheet advancement by 50,000 years. This is due to the unusually small orbital changes expected in thousands of years and the unpredictable way that Earth responds to those changes.
Grace Oh, like many HR experts, used to dread the end of the month. It was the time to handle the company’s payroll, one of the most time-consuming and critical tasks in her department.
As the Director of People at Audio and Media Company Communicorp UK, ensuring smooth monthly payroll processes was essential for the employees’ well-being and productivity.
Although Oh had already implemented digital systems to streamline administration, she felt there was room for improvement. About a year ago, she decided to introduce a new AI-powered system from Employment Hero. This system reduced her monthly payroll processing time to just an hour, allowing her team to focus on more strategic tasks.
Grace Oh: “Let AI do the job, and we humans can do our thing.”
For Oh and her team, the AI-powered system not only automated payroll but also transformed other HR functions like onboarding, probation check-ins, and feedback processes. The AI system ensured that new recruits had a positive experience and that employee engagement was enhanced through consistent and structured interactions.
By utilizing AI, the company was able to conduct regular one-on-one meetings with staff, improving communication and accountability. Additionally, AI tools were deployed for performance reviews, goal setting, and recruitment, leading to more efficient and effective processes.
With AI handling routine tasks, Oh and her team were able to focus on more impactful work that required critical thinking skills. AI’s ability to automate administrative tasks allowed HR professionals to concentrate on building relationships and driving employee engagement.
By having AI take care of “shallow work,” HR professionals can focus on building relationships with their employees. Photo: Miquel Llonch/Stocksy United
While implementing AI in HR functions can raise concerns, Oh’s experience showed that addressing fears and providing training is crucial for successful adoption. Leading by example, choosing the right technology vendor, and providing ongoing support are key factors in AI integration.
A year later, Oh has no regrets about implementing AI. She has witnessed positive feedback from employees and executives, highlighting the system’s efficiency and impact on the organization’s goals.
Rethink what’s possible with Employment Hero and transform the way you work.
If you ask someone how the universe began, they will probably reply with these three familiar words: the Big Bang. But just like in the 1960s, cosmologists discussed the issue with heat. On the other side of the discussion on the Big Bang was the idea of an unchanging “stable state” universe, whose density was kept the same by continuously adding new problems when it expanded.
Ultimately, observation ruled out the idea of the universe in a stable state and solidified the place of Canon's Big Bang in Cosmology. Its primitive explosion has begun a process of continuous expansion, and cosmologists today see cosmologists as a place of constant flux.
But now, a bold group of cosmologists is questioning everything. To be clear, this is not a return to steady-state universe, but is completely interesting. Researchers suggest that universe history could have been interrupted by a spell of eerie stillness. These periods of stagnation in the universe can occur in such a way that it replaces the entire epoch of traditional universe history, or is spliced within that timeline.
Bold is certainly the term of this hypothesis. “This refers to a completely different family that could have never realised we could have happened before this.” Adrienne Erickcek He was not involved in the work at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. However, when these static periods exist, all sorts of challenges can be solved, including those in which dark matter is being created. Even more exciting, these ideas may be testable soon. …
As we age, we naturally struggle to remember our memories. However, the condition that usually occurs later in life is dementiawhich can cause more severe memory loss. Dementia can affect our quality of life by making it difficult to remember important information, such as our age, phone number, home address, and the names of loved ones. Although there is no treatment for dementia, researchers have investigated the impact of different lifestyle choices on the risks of developing it.
A team of researchers recently analyzed the effects of diet on individuals who are sensitive to the onset of dementia and depression. These researchers previously found that both dementia and depression are associated with brain cells formed in areas that create new memories. Hippocampus. This process is known as Neurogenesis in the hippocampus, andIT problems involving cells dying at increasingly high speeds can exacerbate the risk of dementia and depression. The researchers mentioned the genetic predisposition of people with problems with neurogenesis in the hippocampus in terms they coined. Biological sensitivity of neurogenesis centers.
The researchers wanted to determine whether their diet affects neurogenesis in the hippocampus. They looked for either an increased or reduced risk of dementia and depression, depending on what participants ate. Other dementia researchers focus primarily on: Mediterranean diet Reduced the risk of dementia. In contrast, these researchers have shown that the relationship between several vitamins and food groups and conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, blood vessels and other types of dementia, depression, and general cognitive decline. We focused on neurogenesis sensitivity.
The team worked with 371 people without dementia, with an average age of 76 at the start of the exam. First, the researchers obtained blood samples from each participant to assess nutritional levels. Information from blood samples was then used to identify those who met and did not meet the criteria for neurogenesis-centered biosensitivity. Finally, they recorded the participants' medical history and paid attention to their medication.
After they gathered this initial information, they met with participants every two years for 12 years. They interviewed them about their diet during their first two years of follow-up visit. They also monitored their mental abilities and emotional states with each visit. Over the course of 12 years, 21% of participants developed dementia and 29% experienced symptoms related to depression.
After a 12-year trial, the researchers assessed how each participant's diet affected the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, or depression. They are Odds ratio, Odds ratios above 1 mean that individuals are at a higher risk of developing these conditions, and odds ratios below 1 reduce the risk. They found that sensitive participants who reported a greater chicken diet, such as chicken or turkey, had an odds ratio of 0.9, or a lower risk for Alzheimer's disease. On the other hand, for Alzheimer's disease, those who reported a diet consisting of large amounts of lean meat, such as beef and pork, showed 1.1 or increased risk.
Scientists also found that vulnerable participants who consumed large amounts of vitamin D in fatty fish, fortified milk and grains were either an increased odds ratio, or a risk for vascular dementia. . They found susceptible individuals who consumed more vitamin E forms found in whole grains, lush greens, and nuts. γ-Tocopherolshowed an increased odds ratio or risk for depression. However, researchers noted that diet did not affect whether an individual experiences natural cognitive decline, and did not affect the risk of dementia in people who are not sensitive to it.
Scientists concluded that eating more poultry than lean meat could reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease in individuals with neurogenetic-centered biological sensitivity. However, since these vitamins should benefit human health, they did not expect vitamins D and E to increase the risk of dementia and depression, respectively. Regardless of these nuances, researchers suggested that understanding the relationship between meat consumption and Alzheimer's disease could improve the later health of those with that tendency.
The global summit in Paris, attended by political leaders, technical executives, and experts, opened with a focus on the impact of artificial intelligence on the environment and inequality.
Anne Bouverot, Emmanuel Macron’s AI envoy, addressed the environmental impact of AI at the two-day gathering at Grand Palais in Paris.
Bouverot emphasized the potential of AI to mitigate climate change but also highlighted the current unsustainable trajectory. Sustainable development of technology was a key agenda item.
Christy Hoffman from the UNI Global Union emphasized the importance of involving workers in AI technologies to prevent increased inequality. Without workers’ representation, AI could exacerbate existing inequalities and strain democracy further.
Safety concerns were raised at the conference, with attendees expressing worries about the rapid pace of AI development.
Max Tegmark, a scientist, warned that the development of powerful AI systems could lead to unintended consequences similar to the scenarios depicted in a climate crisis satire film. His concerns echoed those from a previous summit in the UK.
The Paris summit, co-chaired by Macron and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, focused on AI action. However, safety discussions were prominent given the potential risks associated with the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Demis Hassabis, head of Google’s AI efforts, mentioned that achieving AGI is likely within the next five years and emphasized the need for society to prepare for its impact.
Hassabis expressed confidence in human ingenuity to address the risks associated with AGI, particularly in autonomous systems. He believed that with enough focus and attention, these concerns could be alleviated.
The view of the two large gorge, the month of the month radly radiated from the Schrodinger basin
Nasasvsernie T. Wright
The vast collision crater near the month of the moon was formed on an asteroid that moved in more than 1 kilometer for 1 second or more, and released 130 times the energy of all existing nuclear weapons. Currently, researchers say that two unusual and straight gorge were formed within 10 minutes by a secondary debris chain of two unusual and straight gorge.
David King In Houston, Texas, and the planetary research institute, we investigated a 312 kilometer Schreading Glator for 15 years. Part of it was to develop a landing site that could have a NASA concertation program. This tried to return people to the moon, but ended in 2009.
“They are basically hidden and in a sense mysterious. [of the moon]King says. “And they are generally overlooked.”
For more information, Kring and his colleagues are using a computer model to investigate the origin of two gorgees or “light rays” extending north from the crater. One is VALLISSCHREDINGER, 270 km long, 2.7 km in depth, 280 km in length and 3.5 km in depth. For comparison, Arizona's Grand Canyon length is 446 km and depth of 1.9 km.
However, it has been engraved in water for millions of years, but the gorge of the moon is a straight and straight groove formed by vast shocking force within 10 minutes. The dramatic asteroid strike not only spread dust and tile BLE throughout the moon, but also spread to space and earth.
Researchers also suggest that the main ones that cause the main crater of the main, faster, to drive the fragments that run through the moon, focusing on narrow areas due to the irregularity of Legoris, which is a loose material that covers the moon. It may have been combined.
Using their models, researchers have calculated that asteroids collide 3811 billion years ago to create the speed and direction of debris to create a gorge. 。
“There is a rock that hits 2 kilometers per second per second, perhaps 2 kilometers per second, and it may be devastating,” says Kring. “I knew that Schrödinger's impact would create these rays, but the related process needed some attention.”
Kring is not deep enough at any of the landing points that Legolis, who was kicked out of Schrölinger, was sued to seriously interfere with geological experiments, so Kring is the moon in the ARTEMIS III mission of NASA. He says that he has a sense of security to put an astronaut in. 。 If they were planning to land north of Schledinger, where much more materials landed, they would have faced a very deep layer that hid the early geology.
The view of the gorge that looks straight at the moon
Nasasvsernie T. Wright
Mark Birchel At Kent University in the UK, this study is done in some way to prove that the gorge is formed by a shock chain, but it is necessary to investigate up close.
“The ultimate evidence is the person who brings back the rocks from one or some rocks in these gorgees,” says Birchel. “Then there is a mineral grain that you just cut out, and was shocked there. [by impacts]And some of them have changed the structure as a result. “
sInse declared the support of Donald Trump in July last year, then spent more than $ 250 million in re-election efforts, and Eron Musk rapidly had a political impact, and is located at the center of the new administration. I am doing it. At present, as the president himself, the mask has begun to use its power, has made a decision that can affect the health of millions of people, and gains access to very sensitive personal data. I am attacking those who oppose him. Musk, the wealthy man in the world and an unrivaled official, has gained surprising levels of the federal government.
On the weekend, workers with the mask “government efficiency” (DOGE) collide with public servants on the demands of free access to the major government agencies of the US government agency in a series of violent series of conflicts. I did. When the dust settled down, several high -ranking officials opposed to the acquisition were pushed out, and Musuk’s allies had controlled.
Masks, which have been supported by Trump, are currently working to close the US International Development Organization (USAID). He boasted on Sunday to “supply USAID to the wood chipper.” He also targeted several other institutions in purs an aggressive attempt to purify and remake the federal government along the border of ideology, avoiding the parliament or justice monitoring.
Most of the Musuk’s actions were carried out, with thousands of people hired by the USAID -like institutions he did without moving forward, transparency, and transparency. Humanitative organizations that depend on US financing The operation has been stopped And the staff fired the staff while the government workers were closed out of their office. He operates DOGE as an unofficial government division without a mission approved by Congress. Hold the position “Special government staff” Side step financial disclosure And the public examination process.
The USAID employee protests outside the headquarters on Monday in Washington. Photo: KEVIN DIETSCH/Getty Images
Drugs like Ozempic and Wigovy, called GLP-1 agonists, offer more benefits than risks when taken for their approved uses, according to a comprehensive analysis of their effects on 175 conditions. However, the same may not be true for people who are taking the drug for other purposes.
“In this new area of **GLP-1**, we wanted to really map the benefits and risks for all the conditions that we thought were relevant,” he says. Jiyad Al Ali at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
These drugs are best known for helping control type 2 diabetes and treating obesity. They mimic the hormone GLP-1 in the body, which lowers blood sugar levels and keeps you feeling full for longer.
Dozens of studies suggest that GLP-1 agonists may also reduce the risk of many other conditions, from heart disease to dementia to substance use disorders. These studies have involved hundreds or thousands of people and have focused on one or a few symptoms at a time, but now that millions of people are using the drug, they are much more This means that less frequent effects can be investigated, Al Ali said.
To get a more comprehensive picture, he and his colleagues examined the health records of more than 200,000 diabetic patients who took GLP-1 agonists over a four-year period in addition to standard treatment. They also looked at 1.2 million people with diabetes who received only standard treatment over the same period and assessed the risk of both groups developing 175 different health conditions.
The research team found that people who took GLP-1 agonists had a lower risk of 42 diseases. For example, the risk of heart attack was reduced by 9 percent and the risk of dementia was reduced by 8 percent. The probability that this group would suffer from suicidal ideation or substance use disorders such as alcohol or opioid addiction was also approximately decreased by 1/10. .
However, there were also downsides for people taking GLP-1 drugs. They were more likely to experience known side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, as well as previously undescribed side effects. These include a 15% higher risk of kidney stones and more than double the risk of pancreatic inflammation or drug-induced pancreatitis. In total, 19 conditions were at increased risk, but taking GLP-1 drugs had no significant effect on risk levels for most of the conditions evaluated, including bronchitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Ta.
The fact that these drugs affect such a wide range of symptoms remains surprising, but it is unclear exactly why they have this effect. “They’re reducing obesity, which is the root of all disease. If you treat obesity, the heart, kidneys, brain, and everywhere else will benefit later,” Al-Aly said. They also reduce inflammation, which commonly damages organs, and appear to target parts of the brain associated with addiction, he says.
One problem with this analysis is that the research team did not report the actual number of people affected by each condition, making the results difficult to interpret. Daniel Drucker from the University of Toronto and has worked with obesity drug companies. Reducing the risk of common conditions such as heart attacks and dementia is probably worth taking seriously, but the association with rare conditions like pancreatitis is so small that the risk is low for most people. He says it’s unlikely. Al-Aly said the research team plans to announce the specific number of cases in a future study.
Overall, this study provides reassurance that the benefits of GLP-1 agonists outweigh the risks, at least for patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity. “There are no red flags with this group,” he says. stefan trapp He is a professor at University College London and has worked with obesity drug companies.
However, the situation may be different for people who do not fit these criteria, such as people who are not obese and buy drugs to lose weight. “I don’t know if the benefits outweigh the risks,” Drucker said.
Keir Starmer this week unveiled a 50-point plan to make Britain a world leader in artificial intelligence and boost the economy by up to £47bn a year over 10 years. This multi-billion pound investment aims to increase AI computing power under public control by 20 times by 2030 and is thought to be a game-changer for businesses and public organizations. Reactions to this announcement have been mixed, as it is by no means clear whether the much-touted potential of AI will translate into the level of economic benefits predicted. While many fear the technology will lead to widespread layoffs, proposals to make it easy for AI companies to data mine artwork for free will boost the value and growth of the creative industries. Some are concerned about destruction.
Despite these concerns, for many in the business world, the AI revolution has already arrived and is transforming industries. So how are you deploying technology to improve productivity, and where do you hope to see further benefits in the future?
Airlines are increasingly leveraging AI for the complex logistics of managing large aircraft and thousands of crew members in unpredictable skies. AI is used across Ryanair’s operations to optimize revenue, schedules, and ‘tail allocation’, selecting the best aircraft for each flight. BA also uses this feature at Heathrow to select gates depending on the number of connecting passengers on arriving flights.
EasyJet said it has embedded AI throughout its new Luton control room and that its predictive technology is now improving aircraft inventory levels and redesigning maintenance regimes to proactively avoid breakdowns. Meanwhile, the low-cost carrier’s Jetstream tools help with the brain-tugging task of quickly repositioning crews and aircraft with minimal disruption and maximum efficiency when problems occur. Gwyn Topham
One of the concerns raised about Starmer’s AI expansion plans is that the energy-intensive data centers required to run the program could exceed the UK’s electricity grid capacity. But some argue that the technology could actually accelerate the clean power revolution by solving the problem of how future energy systems will operate.
Power grids must increasingly adapt to real-time fluctuations in thousands of renewable energy sources and consider new technologies such as electric vehicle batteries that can not only draw power from the grid but also re-release it as needed.
Google was one of the early adopters of the digital energy approach. The company’s AI subsidiary, DeepMind, developed neural networks in 2019 to improve the accuracy of power generation predictions for renewable energy power plants. By more accurately forecasting generation and demand, they were able to balance consumption and even sell some of their power back to the grid. Google says this increases the financial value of wind power by 20%.
Meanwhile, in the UK, energy provider Octopus Energy is leveraging the advanced data and machine learning capabilities of the Kraken operating system to help customers access electricity at cheaper and greener times through time-of-use pricing. I’m doing it. Using electricity during off-peak hours often lowers electricity bills by 40%, reducing the need to invest in new fossil fuels and expensive grid expansion projects. Gillian Ambrose
Big pharma and small AI-focused biotech companies are using this technology to accelerate drug development and reduce costs and failure rates. Drug development typically takes at least 10 years, and 90% of drugs that undergo clinical trials on volunteers fail.
AI can help design smarter clinical trials by selecting patients most likely to respond to treatment. According to a recent analysis by Boston Consulting Group, 75 AI-generated drugs have entered clinical trials since 2015, and 67 of them were still in clinical trials last year.
The treatment for a deadly lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is attracting attention as the world’s first fully AI-generating drug, and is currently in late-stage trials. developed By Massachusetts-based Insilico Medicine, Inc. used AI to generate 30,000 novel small molecules and narrowed them down to the six most promising drugs and leading candidates. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca, the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company, said more than 85% of its small molecule drug pipeline is “AI-assisted”.
Ministers are considering opening up NHS databases to private companies so that anonymized patient data can be used to develop new drugs and diagnostic tools. But privacy activists oppose such a move because even anonymized data can be manipulated to identify patients. Julia Cole
(retail)
There has been a lot of talk over the past six months about the rise of AI in operations, as retailers look for ways to increase efficiency amid rising labor costs. For example, Sainsbury’s is using AI-enabled predictive tools to ensure the right amount of product is on the shelves in different stores as part of a £1 billion cost-cutting plan. Marks & Spencer uses AI to help create online product descriptions and advise shoppers on clothing choices based on body shape and style preferences as part of efforts to increase online sales.
Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said AI was already widely used in purchasing decisions, adding that the technology meant that customer interactions would be “truly powered by AI in almost every aspect of the business.” “This is a level that will be strengthened and promoted,” he added. He uses this to analyze data from shoppers’ loyalty cards to provide insights into “shopper interactions”, such as how to save money or take care of your health by buying (or not buying too much) certain products. It suggested it could provide “inspiration and ideas relevant to the family.” Sarah Butler
AI-enhanced efficiencies that automate the simplest tasks for call handlers have the potential to transform productivity and service levels in the public sector. Adolfo Hernandez insists CEO of outsourcing group Capita.
For example, by drawing on past interactions with customers, you no longer have to go beyond old conventions. Behind the scenes, the program can connect council services together, allowing planning applications departments and building services to work together. Or listen in the background to transcribe and summarize your calls to save time taking notes.
Capita has deployed its ‘Agent Suite’ product to two of its clients. early signs, it saysshows a 20% reduction in average call handling time, a 25% reduction in post-call management, and a 15-30% increase in calls resolved on the first interaction. Nils Pratley
Are you familiar with uterine fibroids? It’s not surprising if you’re not, as they are not widely discussed. However, they can affect 70-80% of women by age 50. Despite being more prevalent among Black women, women of color are often underdiagnosed.
Uterine fibroids are growths of muscle and fibrous tissue in the uterus, typically occurring in women aged 30-50. These fibroids can vary in size and shape and can be found in different layers of the uterus, leading to various symptoms.
Although referred to as “benign” tumors by doctors, uterine fibroids can still cause numerous issues, such as heavy menstruation, lower abdominal pain, and pressure on other organs when they grow large enough.
Uterine fibroids are influenced by genetics, family history, and ethnicity, as well as hormones like estrogen and progesterone, which stimulate their growth. While pregnancy can lead to an increase in fibroid size due to higher hormone levels, they are commonly detected through ultrasound scans.
Treatment options for uterine fibroids vary based on symptoms and pregnancy plans. Some women may opt for monitoring small, asymptomatic fibroids, while others may choose drug therapy to reduce hormone levels and shrink the fibroids.
Surgical treatments like myomectomy or hysterectomy can also be considered, but these may not be suitable for women looking to conceive. Uterine fibroids can significantly impact pregnancy, increasing the risk of complications like miscarriage and premature birth.
Despite available treatments, awareness of uterine fibroids remains low. Increasing awareness about menstrual health and pregnancy complications is crucial for timely and effective treatment.
Drinking coffee in the morning may be more strongly associated with a lower risk of death than drinking coffee later in the day, according to a new study led by scientists at Tulane University.
king others. This study highlights the importance of considering timing in the relationship between coffee intake and health outcomes. Image credit: Sci.News.
“Previous studies have shown that drinking coffee does not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but does increase the risk of some chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes,” said Lu Qi, a professor at Tulane University and lead author of the study. appears to be declining.”
“Given the effects of caffeine on our bodies, we wanted to know whether the time of day you drink coffee affects your heart health.”
The study included 40,725 adults who participated in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2018.
As part of the study, participants were asked about all the food and drinks they consumed in at least one day, including whether they drank coffee, when and how much they drank it.
The study also included a subgroup of 1,463 people who were asked to complete a detailed food and drink diary for one week.
Approximately 36% of the study participants were coffee drinkers in the morning (mostly coffee before noon), 16% were coffee drinkers throughout the day (morning, afternoon, and evening), and 48% were non-coffee drinkers.
Compared to non-coffee drinkers, those who drank coffee in the morning were 16% less likely to die from any cause and 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
However, the risk was not reduced for those who drank coffee throughout the day compared to those who did not drink coffee.
People who drank coffee in the morning, both moderate drinkers (2-3 cups) and heavy drinkers (more than 3 cups), benefited from a lower risk.
Those who drank less alcohol in the morning (one glass or less) benefited from a smaller risk reduction.
“This is the first study to test coffee drinking timing patterns and their health effects,” Professor Qi said.
“Our findings show that it’s not just whether or how much you drink coffee that matters, but the time of day you drink it.”
“We don’t usually give advice on timing in dietary guidance, but we might want to think about this in the future.”
“Further research is needed to validate the findings in other populations, and clinical trials are needed to test the potential effects of varying the times people drink coffee.”
of study Published today on european heart journal.
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Xuan Wang others. Timing of coffee drinking and mortality among U.S. adults. european heart journalpublished online on January 8, 2024. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehae871
W
Keir Starmer was looking forward to a family holiday in Madeira in the New Year, but Elon Musk was set to disrupt it. The world’s richest man has been using social media to attack the Prime Minister and suggesting he may donate millions to the British Reform Party.
The controversy surrounding Mr. Musk’s comments has sparked public debate and media attention. What exactly has caused Mr. Musk’s outrage?
grooming gang
In the early hours of New Year’s Eve in London, Musk focused on the issue of “Pakistani grooming gangs,” posting a screenshot that stirred controversy.
Musk’s comments led to heated discussions on social media, with accusations and criticisms flying. His tweets on various controversial topics have garnered significant attention.
Tommy Robinson
Musk’s tweets touched on the imprisonment of Tommy Robinson and raised questions about the UK justice system. His remarks triggered a debate on the treatment of convicts in the country.
Musk’s social media activity has drawn reactions from politicians and officials, with differing opinions on the matters he raised.
British Reform
Musk’s involvement in political issues has put pressure on both the Conservative and Labour parties. His calls for reform in the UK have gained attention and sparked discussions online.
Talks of Musk potentially making donations to the Reform UK party have added fuel to the fire, with speculations swirling about his influence on political dynamics.
Economy
Political figures have reacted to Musk’s criticisms of the British economy, with varying opinions on the impact of his statements.
Musk’s relentless attacks on various issues have stirred controversy and debates, with responses from government officials and leaders.
2024 was the year of large-scale language models (LLMs), and 2025 looks set to be the year of AI “agents.” These are semi-intelligent systems that leverage LLM to go beyond the usual tricks of generating plausible text and responding to prompts. The idea is that you can give your agent a high-level (or even a vague goal) and break it down into a series of actionable steps. Once you “understand” your goals, you can create a plan to achieve them, just like humans do.
So why are these automatic money pennies suddenly being hailed as the next big thing? Even though the tech industry has spent trillions of dollars building huge LLMs, Does it have something to do with the fact that you still can’t expect a reasonable return on your investments? This is not to say that an LLM is useless. This is extremely useful for people whose work involves languages. And for computer programmers, these are very useful. But for many industries, at the moment, they still seem like a solution looking for a problem.
With the advent of AI agents, things could change. LLM has the potential to be attractive as a building block for virtual agents that can efficiently perform many of the complex task sequences that make up the “work” of any organization. Or so the tech industry thinks. And, of course, McKinsey, the consulting giant that provides the subconscious hymn sheet every CEO sings. agent AI,
McKinsey’s Barbles
“we are moving from thinking to acting” as “AI-enabled ‘agents’ that use underlying models to execute complex multi-step workflows across the digital world” are adopted.
If that really happens, we may need to rethink our assumptions about how AI will change the world. At the moment, we are primarily concerned with what technology can do for individuals or humanity (or both). But if McKinsey & Company’s claims are correct, deeper long-term effects could come through the way AI agents transform companies. After all, companies are actually machines for managing complexity and turning information into decisions.
Political scientist Henry Farrell, a keen observer of these issues, suggests this possibility. LLM, he claims “an engine for summarizing vast amounts of information into something useful.” Because information is the driving force behind their operations, large companies will adopt any technology that provides a more intelligent and contextual way of processing information. information – as opposed to just something data they are currently process. As a result, Farrell says, companies will “introduce LLMs in ways that seem boring and technical, except for things that are immediately relevant, for better or worse, but actually important.” Big organizations shape our lives! As people change, our lives will change in countless seemingly unexciting but important ways.
At one point in his essay, Farrell likens this “boring and technical” transformative impact of LLMs to the way a humble spreadsheet reshapes large organizations. this is, classy explosion Written by economist and former stock analyst Dan Davis irresponsible machine It was one of the nicest surprises of the year. He points out that spreadsheets have “enabled entirely new working styles for the financial industry in two ways.” First, it allows for the creation of larger and more detailed financial models, allowing for different ways of budgeting, creating business plans, evaluating investment options, etc. And second, this technology allows for repetitive work. “Instead of thinking about what assumptions make the most business sense and then sitting down and predicting them, Excel [Microsoft’s spreadsheet product] We just presented our predictions and encouraged them to tweak their assumptions up or down until they got an answer they were happy with. What’s more, it’s also an answer that your boss will be satisfied with.
The moral of the story is clear. Spreadsheets were as revolutionary a technology when they first appeared in 1978 as ChatGPT is in 2022. However, it has now become a routine and integral part of organizational life. The emergence of AI “agents” built from models like GPT appears to be following a similar pattern. In turn, the organizations that absorb them will also evolve. And in time, the world may rediscover the famous dictum of Marshall McLuhan’s colleague John Culkin: “We shape our tools, and our tools shape us.”
what i was reading
economics story transcription of fascinating interview We will talk about economics, pluralism, and democracy with renowned economist Hajun Chan.
AI? “False consolation due to AI skepticism” energetic essay Casey Newton on the two “camps” in the AI debate.
Trump’s next move “I have a cunning plan…” Here is Charlie Stross’ blog post: A sketch of a true dystopian story Regarding the impact of President Trump’s inauguration.
Microneedling may trigger a wound healing response that promotes collagen formation
Rick Eglinton/Toronto Star via Getty Images
This article is part of a special issue that explores important questions about skin care. Check out the entire series here.
As we age, our skin inevitably loses some elasticity. Once upon a time, the main weapon against wrinkles and sagging, for those who could afford it, was the use of a surgeon's knife. Today, there are a wealth of minimally invasive alternatives that promise to tighten and rejuvenate our skin. There's everything from Botox injections to devices that shine light or ultrasound waves on your skin, to “vampire” facials that inject blood extracts into your face. .
Given that healthy skin has a wide range of health benefits, do these “tweaks” rejuvenate you from the outside in? “The question is, is this just vanity, or is it more important to your future self?” “Are you doing something useful?'' says the dermatologist. clare keeley At Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, London. “It depends on the type of treatment.”
lost elasticity
Aging involves many changes, but the main cause of wrinkles is the loss of collagen and elastin, proteins that provide firmness and elasticity. Treatments such as Botox (an injection of botulinum toxin to prevent muscle contraction) cannot stop these changes, but when injected into specific facial muscles, it can be an effective way to prevent frown lines. There is a gender. Similarly, gel-like substances called dermal fillers, injected under the skin, can smooth wrinkles and add volume to sagging tissue, but they do not address underlying structural changes and are associated with risks. Masu.
LLetters to Santa used to be filled with ideas from Argos catalogs and children’s TV ads, but for today’s kids who have grown up ‘swiping and streaming’, YouTube is now the main source of influence. This shift is evident in this year’s Christmas wish list, with some children asking for plastic toilets.
The holiday season is a critical time for the toy industry, with consumers spending approximately £900 million, a quarter of the annual sales, on dolls, games, and action figures.
Despite the high stakes, this year’s sales could fall short without a significant last-minute surge. Current data from Sarkana shows that spending is about 5% lower compared to 2023.
Reaching today’s kids in bulk has become a challenge, with traditional broadcast TV campaigns struggling to reach more than 30% of the targeted child audience. In contrast, over 80% of children aged 4 to 9 regularly access YouTube, and more than 70% play games, as reported by research firm Childwise.
Melissa Simmons, executive director of British toy company Circana, notes the shift from traditional TV advertising to digital platforms, saying that YouTube has become an integral part of children’s daily lives.
While online video sharing platforms like YouTube are increasingly seen as alternatives to traditional children’s television, the two mediums are converging. Many children’s favorite shows are now distributed on YouTube, blurring the line between television and online content.
As children spend more time watching videos online, toy manufacturers have adapted their strategies to align with these shifts. They now collaborate with popular online creators and integrate merchandising plans from the outset.
PAW Patrol maker Spin Master has launched Unicorn Academy, which is more of a “complete franchise ecosystem” than a TV show. Photo: Reuters
Spin Master’s Unicorn Academy is an example of this trend, with a multi-platform approach that includes movies, series, and toy lines to create a comprehensive franchise ecosystem.
Rachel Simpson Jones, editor of Toy World magazine, highlights the importance of storytelling and character-driven content in successful toy lines, reflecting children’s expectations shaped by their consumption of various forms of digital content.
YouTube, alongside other tech giants like Google, holds significant influence over children’s preferences, as noted by the Toy Retailers Association. Major toy brands are now leveraging YouTube channels to connect with young audiences and create engaging content.
In this digital landscape, trends can quickly emerge and shape the toy industry. Brands need to adapt rapidly to meet changing consumer preferences and capitalize on online platforms to reach their target audience.
With children’s tastes evolving rapidly, retailers face challenges in predicting which products will resonate with young consumers. The dynamic nature of children’s preferences, influenced by online trends, poses a constant challenge to the toy industry.
WWhen James Irungu took a new job at technology outsourcing company Summersource, his manager gave him few details before training began. However, the role was so sought after that his salary almost doubled to £250 a month. Additionally, it provided a way out of Kibera, a vast slum on the outskirts of Nairobi where he lived with his young family.
“I thought I was one of the lucky ones,” the 26-year-old said. But then he finds himself examining a trove of violent and sexually explicit material, including tragic accidents, suicides, beheadings, and child abuse.
“I remember logging in one day and seeing a child with a huge slit in his stomach, suffering but not dead,” the Kenyan told the Guardian. When he saw the subject matter of child exploitation, he said, “that’s when I really knew this was something different.”
He was hired by Samasource to moderate Facebook’s content and eliminate the most harmful posts. Some of the most painful images were etched into his mind, sometimes causing him to wake up in night sweats. He kept it to himself for fear that opening up about his work would cause discomfort, concern, or criticism from others.
His wife, annoyed by his “secrecy,” gradually became estranged from him. Irungu continued to work for three years, resigned to the possibility of their separation and convinced that he was protecting her. He says he regrets pushing.
“I don’t think it’s a job for humans,” he says. “I became really isolated from the real world because I started to think of it as a very dark place.” He became afraid to take his daughter away from his eyes.
“If you ask yourself, was it worth sacrificing your mental health for that money, the answer is no.”
Another former host said some of his colleagues dropped out after being alarmed by some of the content. But she found purpose in managers’ assurances that their work protects users, including young children like her.
“I felt like I was helping people,” she said. However, when I stopped, I realized that what I had taken for granted until now was now a problem.
She recalled screaming in the middle of her office floor after seeing one horrifying scene. She said it was as if nothing had happened, except for a few glances from co-workers and a team leader pulling her aside to tell her he was “going to wellness” for counseling. The wellness counselor told her to take a break and get that image out of her head.
“How do you forget when you get back on the floor after a 15-minute break and move on to the next thing?” she said. She questioned whether the counselor was a qualified psychotherapist and said the moderator would never escalate a mental health case, no matter what she saw or how distressed she was.
She was the kind of person who entertained friends at every opportunity, but she rarely left the house, cried over the deaths of people she didn’t know, felt numb, struggled mentally, and at times struggled with suicidal thoughts. Ta.
“This job damaged me and I could never go back,” the woman said, adding that the lawsuit will impact Africa’s content moderation industry as global demand for such services grows. I hope that you will give me.
“Things have to change,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to go through what we did.”
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.
The impacts of climate change are widespread, ranging from biodiversity loss to extreme weather events, rising sea levels, wildfires, and mass human migrations. Each year reveals more about our impact on the environment, with some discoveries more surprising than others.
One of the most shocking revelations to join this list is the recent discovery that our greenhouse gas emissions are altering the Earth’s rotation.
As a result, Earth days are gradually becoming longer, potentially leading to significant changes in how we experience time in the future.
“It’s fascinating how our actions as humans can have such a profound impact on the entire planet through the extensive climate change we’ve triggered over the last century,” says Professor Benedict Soja, a scientist at ETH Zurich who contributed to uncovering this concerning trend.
“This effect may surpass previous significant influences on Earth’s rotation.”
Could we see more hours in a day?
We are familiar with the greenhouse effect, where gases like carbon dioxide trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, leading to a rise in temperatures.
Last year, global temperatures were 1.18 degrees Celsius above the 20th-century average, approaching the 1.5 degrees Celsius target set in 2015 as a limit to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
Record melting of Swiss glaciers in 2022 – Credit: Getty Images
The primary consequence of this warming is the melting of large ice areas in the Arctic and Antarctic, with Switzerland losing 10% of its glacier mass in the last two years, Antarctica shedding 150 billion tons of ice annually, and Greenland losing 270 billion tons.
While many are concerned about the impact of this melting on coastal areas, Soja and his team posed a different question: Will this significant mass redistribution likely prevail? What will be its broad-scale impact on the planet? In a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they provided an answer.
“As the ice melts, the Earth’s mass shifts from the polar regions to the oceans,” Soja explained. “This results in the Earth becoming flatter and more oblate, with its mass moving further from the rotation axis.”
Understanding the Mechanism
Similar to any rotating object, the Earth adheres to the law of momentum conservation. Simply put, momentum must be preserved, and it depends on the moment of inertia and rotational speed. As mass moves away from the rotation axis due to melting ice, the moment of inertia increases.
Therefore, to uphold its momentum despite ice melting, the Earth’s rotation slows down, elongating our days.
Soja likens this concept to a figure skater performing a spin, where extending the arms slows down the rotation, while pulling them in speeds it up.
The study indicated that from 1900 to 2000, the climate’s impact on the length of Earth’s day ranged from 0.3 to 1.0 milliseconds per century. Since 2000, accelerated melting has raised this rate to 1.3 milliseconds per century, with a potential increase to 2.6 milliseconds per century by 2100 if emissions remain unchecked.
While these changes may seem small in our daily lives, they could have significant effects on a globally synchronized technological network.
Considerations on Time Management
Three main timescales play crucial roles in timekeeping: International Atomic Time (TAI), Universal Time (UT1), and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). TAI relies on atomic clocks, UT1 is determined by Earth’s rotation, and UTC synchronizes the two.
Leap seconds were introduced in 1972 to align UTC with UT1 within 0.9 seconds.
Unlike predictable leap years, leap seconds are added irregularly as needed. Since 1972, 27 leap seconds have been added, with the most recent in 2016. Disruptions from leap seconds have caused issues in the digital age, impacting technology companies striving for synchronization.
Atomic clock made in Germany – Credit: Alamy
The recent discovery of Earth’s core slowing down further complicates matters. If the planet’s rotation continues to accelerate, a negative leap second may need to be introduced to UTC. This unprecedented situation poses substantial challenges as systems are unprepared for negative adjustments.
“This has never occurred before, and frankly, I don’t think anyone anticipated it,” Agnew remarked. He compares this scenario to the Y2K scare when concerns about potential computer errors surfaced at the end of the 20th century.
“The critical aspect is that we don’t know the consequences of introducing a negative leap second,” he cautioned. “The negative impacts could be unforeseen.”
According to Agnew, if the effects of climate change had not slowed down, a negative leap second would have been necessary in 2026. “Global warming might postpone negative leap seconds and eliminate their need entirely,” he noted.
While this discovery regarding climate change may offer a positive effect, considering less necessity for negative leap seconds, the implications of further greenhouse gas emissions outweigh any potential benefits. As the situation stands, negative leap seconds may still be required in 2029.
Perhaps it’s time to reconsider the current system?
Agnew proposed a solution to reduce the required precision between timescales, eliminating the need for negative leap seconds and allowing for more predictable positive adjustments.
“It could resemble a leap year. You add a fixed number of seconds at a specific time and accept that it may not be exact but is tolerable,” suggested Agnew.
This proposition aligns with the dominance of slowing over longer timescales, rather than the complex interactions involving Earth’s core or ice melting.
Efforts are reportedly underway to implement this system, with a target to eliminate the need for leap seconds by 2035. However, international agreement hurdles must be overcome. Failure to adapt before requiring a negative leap second could lead to unprecedented chaos, highlighting the urgency of the situation.
Meet the Experts
Benedict Soja: Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geoengineering at ETH Zurich.
Duncan Agnew: Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, specializing in crustal deformation measurement and geophysical data analysis.
WEllen Kafamtengo felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen and thought she might be going into labor. It was the ninth month of her first pregnancy, but she wasn’t taking any chances. With the help of her mother, the 18-year-old took a motorbike taxi and raced to a hospital in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe, a 20-minute drive away.
At Area 25 Health Center, she was told it was a false alarm and taken to the maternity ward. But when a routine ultrasound reveals that the baby is much smaller than expected at this stage of pregnancy, things quickly escalate, leading to suffocation, a condition that limits blood flow and oxygen to the baby may cause.
In Malawi, approx. 19 out of 1,000 babies Death occurs during childbirth or within the first month of birth. Childbirth asphyxia is the leading cause of neonatal death in this country and can result in brain damage to newborns with long-term effects such as developmental delays and cerebral palsy.
Doctors reclassified Ms Kafamtengo, who was expected to have a normal delivery, as a high-risk patient. Further tests using AI-powered fetal monitoring software revealed that the baby’s heart rate was slow. Stress tests revealed that the baby would not survive delivery.
Chikondi Chiweza, head of maternal and child care at Area 25 Health Center in Lilongwe, said: Photo: Provided by Halma plc
Chikondi Chiweza, the hospital’s head of maternal and child care, knew she had less than 30 minutes to deliver Kafamtengo’s baby by caesarean section. Having delivered thousands of babies in some of the city’s busiest public hospitals, she was well aware of how quickly a baby’s chances of survival can change during delivery.
Chiweza, who gave birth to Kafamtengo’s baby healthy, says the fetal monitoring program has made a huge difference to hospital births.
“[In Kaphamtengo’s case]we wouldn’t have realized what we did until later or as a stillborn baby,” she says.
Software donated by a birth safety technology company Perigen Through a partnership with the Malawi Ministry of Health, Texas Children’s Hospitaltracks your baby’s vital signs during delivery, giving clinicians early warning of abnormalities.
Since it began using the system three years ago, the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths at the center has fallen by 82%. It is the only hospital in the country that has introduced this technology.
“The period around birth is the most dangerous for mothers and babies,” says Jeffrey Wilkinson, an obstetrician at Texas Children’s Hospital who leads the program. “Most deaths can be prevented by ensuring the baby’s safety during the birth process.”
AI monitoring systems require less time, equipment, and skilled staff than traditional fetal monitoring methods, making them essential for hospitals in low-income countries such as Malawi, which face severe health worker shortages. Routine fetal monitoring often relies on a doctor performing routine tests. This means that while the AI-assisted program provides continuous, real-time monitoring, important information may be missed during the interval. Traditional tests also require doctors to interpret raw data from various devices, which can be time-consuming and error-prone.
Area 25’s maternity ward handles approximately 8,000 births annually with a staff of 80 physicians. While only about 10% are trained to perform traditional electronic monitoring, most can detect abnormalities using AI software, helping doctors recognize higher-risk or more complicated births. Masu. Hospital staff also say that the use of AI has standardized key aspects of obstetric care in the clinic, such as interpreting fetal health status and deciding when to intervene.
Kafamutengo, who is excited to become a new mother, believes that doctors’ intervention may have saved her baby’s life. “They realized early enough that my baby was suffering and were able to take action,” she said as she held her son, Justice.
Doctors at the hospital hope the technology will be introduced to other hospitals in Malawi and across Africa.
“AI technology is being used in many fields, and saving the lives of babies is no exception,” Chiweza said. “We can really close the gap in the quality of care available to underserved populations.”
People with a uterus experience menstruation about once every 28 days for approximately 40 years of their lives.
Menstruation goes beyond just blood. It’s common for 84% of women to experience menstrual pain regularly. Severe menstrual pain can lead women to miss numerous days of education or work each month. Additionally, periods are costly, with an estimated lifetime cost of around 4,800 pounds (approximately $6,100).
Given these challenges, it’s only natural to want to stop menstruation. While periods may naturally cease during pregnancy, breastfeeding, or menopause, many women in the UK opt to stop their menstrual cycles using hormonal contraception.
Contraceptive pills, implants, and hormonal coils work by releasing hormones that prevent ovulation. Without an egg being released or the lining of the uterus thickening for pregnancy, menstruation, which occurs due to shedding of this lining, typically stops when it ceases to grow.
“There’s nothing harmful about not having a menstrual cycle,” affirms Dr. Nicola Tempest, a researcher and gynecologist at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. “Taking hormones doesn’t detract from your body’s wellbeing.”
But are there any drawbacks to not having periods?
For individuals with regular menstrual cycles (not taking hormonal contraceptives), the sudden absence of periods may signify underlying health issues.
While the occasional missed period isn’t typically worrisome, a prolonged absence of periods after having regular cycles could indicate potential problems such as early menopause or polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Tempest notes that individuals with such conditions may require hormone medication as part of their treatment, which could help in diagnosing these conditions along with other associated symptoms, even if periods have ceased due to birth control pills.
There may be certain side effects associated with hormonal contraceptives, such as a slight increase in the risk of breast, liver, and cervical cancer with long-term use. However, Tempest emphasizes that prolonged use of birth control also reduces the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer.
In her view, menstruation is not an indispensable aspect of a person’s health. “If you wish to forego menstruation, you have that choice,” she states.
This article addresses the question “Can I stop my period?” posed by Veronica Nielson via email.
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Dr. Nicola Tempest I am a clinical researcher and gynecologist at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. Her research includes chronic pelvic pain, exercise and reproduction, and endometriosis.
Recent research has found a significant connection between cholesterol levels and the risk of developing dementia. It is not just high cholesterol levels that are concerning, but also the fluctuations in levels over time. A study of 10,000 individuals suggests that these fluctuations could increase the chances of developing dementia by up to 60 percent.
The study also indicates that large variations in cholesterol levels, from high to low, are linked to a higher risk of general cognitive decline, regardless of dementia. Dr. Jen Zhou, a researcher at Monash University in Australia, emphasized the importance of closely monitoring and actively intervening to prevent such fluctuations.
The research focused on two main types of cholesterol – “bad cholesterol” or LDL and “good cholesterol” or HDL. Large fluctuations in LDL levels were found to accelerate cognitive decline, while fluctuations in HDL levels did not impact cognitive decline risk significantly.
The study highlighted the potential adverse effects of LDL cholesterol levels above 130mg per deciliter and the role of LDL fluctuations in destabilizing atherosclerotic plaques in arteries, potentially leading to impaired blood flow to the brain.
The study involved individuals in their 70s from Australia and the United States who did not have dementia at the start of the observation period. By the end of the study, a portion of participants developed dementia while others experienced cognitive decline. Those with stable cholesterol levels had a lower risk of neurological symptoms.
Globally, high levels of bad cholesterol contributed to millions of deaths in 2021. To manage cholesterol levels, individuals are advised to undergo regular medical check-ups and make lifestyle changes such as increasing physical activity, quitting smoking, and consuming a healthy diet.
According to Emily McGrath from the British Heart Foundation, lowering cholesterol can be achieved through various lifestyle adjustments, including reducing saturated fats and opting for foods rich in unsaturated fats like olive oil, nuts, seeds, and oily fish.
You've probably already noticed that the prices of many foods in your shopping cart have increased significantly. In the UK, the price of white potatoes is 20% increase in the past yearwith carrots 38% increase Olive oil rose 40%. And while that means the cost of assembling a roast dinner has soared, specialty items have also seen an even bigger price increase, with you now paying nearly twice as much for a portion of a chocolate bar. It will be.
The drivers of price increases are complex, but one of the biggest drivers is climate change. In the short term, extreme weather caused by global warming is having a devastating impact on producers. For example, in Northern Europe, heavy rains in the spring of 2024 left fields too waterlogged to harvest vegetables or plant new crops. Meanwhile, Morocco, which normally exports many vegetables to Europe, experienced a drought and ran out of water for irrigation. As a result, the prices of potatoes and carrots have soared.
As average global temperatures rise by 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in the coming years, heat waves, droughts and extreme storms will become more common and intense, causing major disruptions to food production. It will be. But current efforts to compensate for the effects of crop failures, such as clearing forests to grow more crops, are exacerbating many other problems, from biodiversity loss to rising carbon dioxide levels. I am. Are we underestimating the magnitude of the impact, when it's already happening to so many foods? If so, what can we do about it?
A team of scientists from the University of Arizona, Delft University of Technology, and the California Institute of Technology's Lunar and Planetary Institute has developed a new method to calculate how tides affect the interiors of the solar system's planets and moons. Importantly, they investigated the effects of internal tides on objects that do not have perfectly spherical internal structures.
Europa's surface stands out in this newly reprocessed color view. Image scale is 1.6 km per pixel. North of Europe is on the right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute.
Celestial tides refer to the deformations that celestial bodies experience when they interact with other bodies due to gravity.
Consider how Jupiter's powerful gravity pulls on its icy moon Europa.
Because Europa's orbit is not circular, the overwhelming gravitational pressure on Jupiter's moons changes as it moves along Jupiter's orbit.
When Europa is closest to Jupiter, the planet's gravity is most felt.
The energy of this deformation heats Europa's interior, allowing an ocean of liquid water to exist beneath the moon's icy surface.
“The same is true for Saturn's moon Enceladus,” says Dr. Alexander Byrne, a researcher at the California Institute of Technology.
“Enceladus has an ice shell that is expected to have much more aspherical symmetry than Europa.”
The body tides experienced by celestial bodies influence how the world evolves over time and, in cases like Europa and Enceladus, its potential habitability for life as we know it. may give.
“The tidal response of spherically symmetric objects has the same wavelength as the tidal forces. Lateral inhomogeneities generate additional tidal responses with spectra that depend on the spatial pattern of such fluctuations.” the researchers said.
“For Mercury, the Moon, and Io, the amplitude of this signal is as much as 1-10% of the dominant tidal response to long-wavelength shear modulus fluctuations, which exceed about 10% of the mean shear modulus.”
“For Europa, Ganymede, and Enceladus, a shell thickness variation of 50% of the average shell thickness could result in an additional signal of about 1% and about 10% for Jupiter's moons and Enceladus, respectively.”
The authors also discussed how their results can help scientists interpret observations made by missions to a variety of different worlds, from Mercury to the moon to the outer planets of our solar system. .
“Future missions such as BepiColombo and JUICE have the potential to measure these signals,” they said.
“Lateral changes in viscosity affect the distribution of tidal heating.”
“This may promote the thermal evolution of tidal bodies and influence the distribution of active areas.”
of findings will appear in Planetary Science Journal.
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Mark Rovira-Navarro others. 2024. A spectral method for calculating the tides of laterally inhomogeneous objects. planet. Science. J 5, 129; doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ad381f
This article is a version of a press release provided by NASA.
When it comes to natural disasters, it is often impossible to predict them more than a few months or even days in advance. We cannot say, “Let's prepare because an earthquake will occur within two years.'' But one of the few things we can really prepare for is an asteroid impact.
Although no one has yet discovered a large asteroid on a collision course with Earth, scientists, engineers, and policymakers are working on plans to defend the planet in the event it does. Techniques to avoid disaster are already being tested, such as impacting asteroids to change their orbits, as NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test Mission did successfully in 2022.
One of the most surprisingly useful planetary defense tools is running a role-playing game. This reveals roadblocks that can derail even the best-laid plans. Paul Chodas of NASA, who runs some of these exercises, says they reveal problems that would never have been considered otherwise. In our special feature, “If an asteroid is heading towards Earth, can we avoid disaster?”you can try such games yourself.
Compared to other existential threats, the risk from asteroids is relatively small
It goes without saying that factors such as the size of rocks coming from space and how quickly they are discovered have a major impact on whether disasters can be successfully avoided. So is the ability to communicate effectively. different options. These are important lessons that go beyond just protecting yourself from asteroids.
Compared to other existential threats, the risk of an asteroid coming our way is relatively small. Climate change is already happening. Pandemics have occurred regularly throughout human history, and global warming has made them even more likely. We know that these involve technical challenges, such as the development and deployment of green technologies, but the social challenges are equally important.
Only with effective global cooperation and communication can humanity tackle its greatest challenges. That's as true in the Asteroid Roleplaying Game as it is in real life.
Whether you're roasting a chicken in the oven, browning onions in a skillet, or choosing a spread for your toast, oil is at the heart of our culinary endeavors.
The choices are dizzying. Around 30 different oils are currently used in cooking, from sunflower to flaxseed, avocado to coconut. Deciding which one to use can have a big impact on your health, including your cholesterol, blood pressure, and risk of cardiovascular disease.
If the headlines are to be believed, palm oil is obsolete, sunflower oil is in limbo, and there seems to be no end to the benefits extra virgin olive oil can bring to our plates. But are these claims backed by solid science, and how do the health impacts of these products compare to their environmental costs?
Saturated or unsaturated?
First, let's talk about chemistry. Edible oil contains fat, which is made up of long chains of carbon atoms. Saturated fats found in red meat and dairy products are so named because each carbon atom is connected to the next carbon atom by a single bond. The remaining electrons of each carbon atom are available to form bonds with hydrogen atoms, and the molecule becomes completely “saturated” with this element. This structure makes these fats very hard and stable, which is why butter and lard are solid at room temperature.
Unsaturated fats, which are commonly found in plants and fatty fish, have at least one double bond between adjacent carbon atoms, which reduces the number of bonds.
Cygnus OB2 is the giant young stellar association closest to the Sun.
In this new composite image, Chandra data (purple) shows the diffuse X-ray emission and young stars of Cygnus OB2, along with infrared data (red, green, blue, cyan) from NASA's now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope reveals young stars. And it creates cold dust and gas throughout the region. Image credits: NASA / CXC / SAO / Drake others. / JPL-California Institute of Technology / Spitzer / N. Walk.
At a distance of approximately 1,400 parsecs (4,600 light years), Cygnus OB2 It is a huge young body closest to the Sun.
It contains hundreds of double stars and thousands of low-mass stars.
Dr. Mario Giuseppe Guarcero of the National Institute of Astrophysics, Dr. Juan Facundo Albacete Colombo of the University of Rio Negro, and colleagues used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to study various regions of Cygnus OB2. observed.
This deep observation mapped the diffuse X-ray glow between the stars and also provided an inventory of young stars within the cluster.
This inventory was combined with other inventories using optical and infrared data to create the best survey of young stars within the association.
“These dense stellar environments are home to large amounts of high-energy radiation produced by stars and planets,” the astronomers said.
“X-rays and intense ultraviolet radiation can have devastating effects on planetary disks and systems that are in the process of forming.”
The protoplanetary disk around the star naturally disappears over time. Part of the disk falls onto the star, and some is heated by X-rays and ultraviolet light from the star and evaporates in the wind.
The latter process, known as photoevaporation, typically takes 5 million to 10 million years for an average-sized star to destroy its disk.
This process could be accelerated if there is a nearby massive star that produces the most X-rays and ultraviolet light.
researchers Found Clear evidence that protoplanetary disks around stars actually die out much faster when they approach massive stars that produce large amounts of high-energy radiation.
Also, in regions where stars are more densely packed, the disk dies out faster.
In the region of Cygnus OB2, which has less high-energy radiation and fewer stars, the proportion of young stars with disks is about 40%.
In regions with higher-energy radiation and more stars, the proportion is about 18%.
The strongest influence, and therefore the worst location for a star to become a potential planetary system, is within about 1.6 light-years of the most massive star in the cluster.
In another study, the same team I looked into it Characteristics of the diffuse X-ray emission of Cygnus OB2.
They discovered that the high-energy, diffuse radiation originates from regions where winds of gas blown from massive stars collide with each other.
“This causes the gas to become hot and generate X-rays,” the researchers said.
“The low-energy release is likely caused by gas within the cluster colliding with gas surrounding the cluster.”
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MG Guarcero others. 2024. Photoevaporation and close encounters: How does the environment around Cygnus OB2 affect the evolution of the protoplanetary disk? APJS 269, 13; doi: 10.3847/1538-4365/acdd67
JF Albacete vs Colombo others. 2024. Diffuse X-ray emission in the Cygnus OB2 coalition. APJS 269, 14;doi: 10.3847/1538-4365/acdd65
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