Award-Winning Image: Fractal Forest by Ross Gudgeon
Photo Credits: Ross Gudgeon/CUPOTY
Discover the beauty of nature through unique perspectives captured by top photographers. Check out the Close-up Photographer of the Year contest, showcasing stunning images revealing nature’s hidden wonders.
In the main image above, explore the delicate pink branches of Cauliflower Soft Coral. This stunning underwater photograph by Ross Gudgeon won the underwater category of the contest. Captured in Indonesia’s Lembeh Strait, Gudgeon positioned a small camera within a structure to create this enchanting shot. He carefully threaded through the branches of soft coral to avoid causing any damage.
Artur Tomaszek’s Award-Winning Photograph: “Dinner”
Photo Credits: Artur Tomaszek/CUPOTY
In this thrilling capture, a lynx spider is poised to attack unsuspecting termites. Taken by Artur Tomaszek, winner of the arachnid category, this dramatic image was shot during a downpour at a Hong Kong hot spring, where swarming termites provided an opportune moment for this shot. Tomaszek mentioned the challenge of photographing as thousands of termites were drawn to his camera flash.
Valeria Zvereva’s Winning Photograph: “Mushrooms in Nude Style”
Photo Credits: Valeria Zvereva/CUPOTY
The mesmerizing image captures light filtering through the intricate underside of a layered mushroom cap in Moscow, Russia, taken by Valeria Zvereva, the winner in the fungi and slime mold category.
Below, find a tranquil scene where decaying lotus leaves rest atop dark water, forming a delicate lace-like pattern interwoven with vibrant green ferns. Minghui Yuan, who won the top spot in the plant category for this photo, expressed that discovering the fern amongst the skeleton leaves felt like a representation of rebirth and hope.
Minghui Yuan’s Award-Winning Photograph: “Rebirth from Destruction”
Photo Credits: Minghui Yuan/CUPOTY
In this captivating portrait, Laurent Hessemans captured the big eyes of a charming scale moth in Tinamaste, Costa Rica. He received accolades in the invertebrate portrait category. Hessemans mentioned, “These exceptionally photogenic moths, especially the males with their large eyes and pronounced antennae, give a melancholic essence to their portraits.”
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If you’re considering running a marathon or starting an intense exercise program this January, why not opt for a simpler goal to enhance your well-being in 2026?
Setting an objective to calm your mind may not sound ambitious, but it offers significant health benefits. A growing body of research highlights the negative impact of stress on overall health, particularly on heart health. Techniques to achieve a calm state can elevate self-reported happiness, enhance emotional regulation, and improve sleep quality research suggests.
This calmness counteracts “allostatic load,” a term used by Sula Windgassen, a health psychologist and author of the upcoming book Everything is Inside Your Body. Chronic stress contributes to wear and tear on the body, overburdening key regulatory systems like metabolic, neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and immune functions, which can eventually lead to disease.
When discussing stress relief, you’ve likely come across traditional advice such as exercise and deep breathing techniques. While these methods are scientifically validated, there’s emerging evidence pointing to additional calming strategies beyond a digital detox or time spent in nature.
Develop a Sense of Control
Research shows that enhancing your perception of control over stressors can aid in managing them. For example, in a study, participants who completed daily questionnaires about their stressors reported that feeling in control correlated with resolving stress more effectively.
“It’s not that the stressor goes away; rather, individuals feel empowered to address it, letting it go or resolving it,” says David M. Almeida from Pennsylvania State University, a key researcher in the study.
Achieving this sense of control involves small, manageable changes. “Feeling in control doesn’t imply you have everything figured out; it means being aware of factors you can influence during stressful situations.” This might look like deciding your response, determining when to engage, or finding a resolution path.
Interestingly, your age may influence how easily you feel in control. “Longitudinal studies indicate that while older adults may feel less control over work demands and family matters, they often maintain a strong sense of control in interpersonal conflicts,” Almeida explains. “This allows individuals to focus on what truly matters.”
Practice Self-Compassion
Research increasingly supports the idea that self-kindness can mitigate stress’s adverse effects on mental health, as indicated in a 2024 study. This research assessed self-compassion levels and participants rated statements such as, “I strive to understand and be patient with parts of my personality I dislike.” Researchers later investigated how these feelings affected coping mechanisms.
Data revealed that increased self-compassion fostered healthier coping strategies, enhancing psychological well-being while reducing anxiety, depression, and stress during a six-week study period.
Using Various Self-Care Techniques for Inner Calm
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
These findings support earlier research, which suggests that self-compassion can buffer against the harsh realities of stress. Psychologist Kristin Neff, a pioneer in self-compassion research, emphasizes three components: self-kindness, recognizing our shared humanity, and mindfulness, which allows us to separate ourselves from painful emotions.
Self-compassion works by reducing self-criticism and rumination, according to William Van Gordon, a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Professor of Contemplative Psychology at the University of Derby. However, he advises moderation to avoid self-obsession, which can lead to heightened stress levels.
A balanced approach includes practicing compassion for both yourself and others. Van Gordon recommends active listening when someone shares their struggles with you, making eye contact, putting away your phone, and fully engaging with them (“That sounds really challenging, I’m sorry to hear that.”). Additionally, loving-kindness meditation can be beneficial; spend 10-15 minutes daily sending well wishes to others using phrases like “May you be happy” and “May you be peaceful.”
Revamp Your Self-Care Practices
Self-care strategies play a significant role in stress management, as extensively documented in the literature. Recent studies indicate that integrating diverse self-care methods into your routine yields the best results. For instance, a study published in August explored how individuals coped with stresses during the coronavirus pandemic, analyzing participants’ journaling about their anxiety levels and the coping techniques employed.
I’ve discovered that a blend of strategies such as journaling, exercise, social interaction, and cognitive reframing—like focusing on the positive aspects of not receiving a promotion—has proven most effective.
“Different combinations of tools worked for different individuals on different days,” explains Ethan Cross, an experimental psychologist from the University of Michigan involved in the research. “Those adept at managing emotions benefited from having a wide array of emotional regulation strategies.”
According to Copernicus, the European Union’s climate monitoring service, last year ranked as the third warmest on record in modern history.
This finding aligns with existing trends; Copernicus data reveals that the last 11 years have consistently been the warmest in history.
In 2025, the average global temperature soared to approximately 1.47 degrees Celsius (2.65 degrees Fahrenheit) above the baseline period from 1850 to 1900. This reference period is significant as it predates the industrial era, marking a time before extensive carbon emissions entered our atmosphere.
“Annual surface temperatures exceeded average levels across 91 percent of the globe,” stated Samantha Burgess, head of climate strategy at the European Center for Medium-Range Forecasts, which operates Copernicus. “The primary contributor to these record temperatures is the accumulation of greenhouse gases, largely from fossil fuel combustion.”
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, global leaders committed to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. However, this goal appears increasingly unachievable as temperatures have neared or surpassed this threshold for three consecutive years.
Mauro Facchini, director of Earth Observation at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Defense, Industry, and Space, noted at a press conference: “A three-year average temperature exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels is a milestone we never anticipated.” He emphasized the urgent need to address climate change.
A woman shields herself from the scorching sun near the Colosseum in Rome during July. Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty Images File
The U.S. government is anticipated to unveil its 2025 climate metrics on Wednesday. NASA provides its reports separately from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, owing to differing methodologies in calculating average annual temperatures, which often leads to variations in findings.
Nevertheless, the overarching trend is unmistakable: the planet is warming at an alarming rate, possibly faster than scientists had predicted.
Europe faces bleak climate data, compounded by the U.S. administration’s aggressive moves to roll back climate regulations and retreat from international efforts to mitigate warming.
Last week, the Trump administration announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, diminishing the U.S. role in global climate change discussions. Additionally, plans to withdraw support from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which produces crucial reports on climate change impacts, were made public.
The United States is set to officially leave the Paris Agreement later this month, following a one-year waiting window.
A child enjoys a refreshing mist under a fog system in Milan during July. Luca Bruno / AP File
President Donald Trump has labeled climate change “the work of con artists,” and his administration has actively sought to downplay critical climate reports such as the National Climate Assessment. Efforts are underway to reduce the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, a primary cause of global warming.
Simultaneously, steps are being taken to promote the coal industry, including ordering coal-fired power plants to continue operations (coal is notorious for generating significant greenhouse gas emissions). The administration is also attempting to reverse many of the Biden administration’s climate initiatives, including subsidies for electric vehicles.
According to preliminary findings from Rhodium Group, an independent research firm monitoring U.S. emissions, climate pollution in the United States is projected to rise by approximately 2.4% in 2025. This increase may not stem directly from President Trump’s policies, as many regulations are yet to be implemented. The rise is likely due to high natural gas prices, growth in energy-intensive data centers, and particularly cold winters.
Rhodium Group anticipates that U.S. emissions will eventually decrease as renewable energy sources become more economically feasible compared to fossil fuels. However, the expectation of emission reductions is now less optimistic than prior to Trump’s administration.
The greenhouse gases that trap heat are intensifying weather patterns, resulting in more extreme conditions and increasing the likelihood of heavy rainfall, heatwaves, and flooding.
Last year emerged as the third-costliest year for weather-related disasters, an analysis by the nonprofit organization Climate Central revealed. In 2025, it was reported that 23 meteorological events inflicted damages surpassing $1 billion, resulting in 276 fatalities and $115 billion in total damages.
In Fleurance, France, a pharmacy thermometer indicates a scorching 45 degrees Celsius, equivalent to 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Isabel Souliment / Hans Lukas, from Reuters file
While greenhouse gas emissions remain the principal driver of rising global temperatures, natural fluctuations also contribute. La Niña patterns, characterized by colder-than-average water in the central Pacific, generally lead to lower global temperatures, while El Niño events can raise them.
Opt for stairs over escalators for significant long-term health benefits.
Joseph Polk / Alamy
Want to boost your health this year? Small lifestyle changes can significantly impact your longevity.
According to Nicholas Kemel from the University of Sydney, just five extra minutes of sleep, two minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise, and half a serving of veggies daily can potentially extend your lifespan by a year.
It’s common knowledge that adequate sleep, exercise, and a nutritious diet contribute to longevity. Numerous studies have highlighted the lifespan differences between individuals following healthy versus unhealthy eating patterns. For instance, observing adults who adhere to World Health Organization physical activity guidelines shows significant benefits, recommending at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise weekly.
Yet, the effects of minimal lifestyle adjustments on lifespan and health expectancy remained unclear.
To address this, Koemel and his team analyzed data on sleep, diet, and exercise habits from around 60,000 adults aged 40 to 69, gathered from the UK Biobank project. Participants reported their food intake over the past year, with their diet scored from 0 to 100 based on healthiness. Several years later, wearable exercise trackers monitored their activity and sleep for one week, followed by an eight-year tracking of health and mortality records.
This research identified the least healthy 5% of participants, averaging only 5 hours of sleep, 5 minutes of exercise daily, and scoring about 35 on the dietary scale.
Using statistical modeling, researchers estimated that those who improved their habits by sleeping five more minutes, exercising two additional minutes, and consuming half a serving more of vegetables each day lived, on average, an extra year compared to the least healthy group.
Interestingly, combining minor lifestyle adjustments yielded similar longevity outcomes as making substantial changes to a single habit. For example, simply increasing sleep by 25 minutes without altering diet or exercise can be beneficial, Koemel explains. “Lifestyle integration amplifies benefits while reducing demands on individual actions.”
Compared to the unhealthiest group, those who slept an extra 24 minutes, engaged in four more minutes of moderate-vigorous exercise, and increased their vegetable intake could potentially gain four more years of disease-free living, avoiding conditions like dementia, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and type 2 diabetes. “This is a groundbreaking finding—individuals may not only live longer but enjoy more quality years,” Koemel adds.
Koemel’s estimates suggest that an average participant—who sleeps around 7.6 hours, engages in 31 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise daily, and has a dietary score of about 54—can achieve similar benefits through small adjustments.
Another enlightening study this week assessed mortality and exercise data from adults over 64 in Norway, Sweden, and the U.S. Researchers, including Ulf Ekelund from the Norwegian School of Sport Science, utilized statistical models to predict that if the majority of the population (excluding the top 20% most active) engaged in just five additional minutes of vigorous activity daily, about 10% of deaths could be avoided over the next eight years.
However, both studies note limitations. As pointed out by Alan Cohen from Columbia University, dietary recall surveys may be inaccurate due to memory lapses, and a week’s tracker data may not reflect overall habits accurately.
Further research is essential to understand the duration of lifestyle adjustments required for noticeable effects. Additionally, it’s vital to investigate how these findings vary across different age demographics and whether they apply to non-Western, low- and middle-income settings, where physical activity, dietary habits, and chronic disease prevalence differ significantly.
Stunning image from the James Webb Space Telescope revealing an Einstein Ring formed by two distant galaxies.
Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Mahler
As we approach 2026, we’re stepping into a year rich with galactic exploration.
We’ll witness the beginning of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s deep dive into the space-time legacy, alongside a potential launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Both observatories are pivotal for galaxy observation, aimed at cataloging and unraveling the complexities of galaxy structures and behavior. Expect significant updates on galactic findings in the upcoming months!
As excitement grows for the wealth of information we’ll receive on galaxies, it’s notable that my early interest skewed towards active galactic nuclei (AGNs)—galaxies boasting supermassive black holes that release immense energy as they consume matter near the event horizon. Admittedly, I was drawn to AGNs primarily for their black hole attributes.
During my PhD journey, my curriculum mandated multiple courses on galaxies, which initially overwhelmed me. Galaxies are classified by shape, each category diving into further sub-categories, revealing a perplexing web of classifications. This complexity often felt devoid of mathematical logic, highlighting a possible divide between theorists and experimentalists.
If only I could rewind time and tell my younger self that the challenges in galaxy classification were what deserved my attention.
One of the core challenges in this research realm is that galaxies only manifest as 2D images in the night sky; we lack the ability to perceive them in three dimensions or to observe their rotation due to their enormity. Thus, we rely on these frozen snapshots in time, interpreting their classification based on scientific judgment and taste.
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The shape of a galaxy offers fascinating insights into its evolutionary history – elliptical galaxies typically harbor older stars. “
Historically, Edwin Hubble devised a classification system for galaxies that remains influential today. He defined three fundamental shapes: elliptical, spiral, and irregular. Notably, lenticular galaxies, while appearing spiral, lack an actual spiral structure.
Gérard de Vaucouleurs expanded this classification by incorporating subcategories to identify patterns within galaxy shapes. However, the efficacy of these classifications hinges on the quality of the underlying dataset. A century ago, during Hubble’s time, the datasets were rudimentary, lacking knowledge of dark matter—a critical component now understood to inhabit galaxies.
Galaxy shapes serve as indicators of evolutionary history; for instance, elliptical galaxies often house older stars and lie closer in proximity to galaxy clusters. Furthermore, the assembly and evolution history of these galaxies relates intricately to the configuration of their surrounding dark matter halos.
Additionally, galaxy shapes can unveil secrets about dark energy, which accelerates the universe’s expansion. The Roman Space Telescope aims to deepen our understanding in this regard.
The Vera Rubin Observatory will extend its observational prowess, particularly focusing on dwarf spheroidal galaxies—dim, circular galaxies devoid of substantial star mass. These dwarf galaxies frequently accompany larger counterparts, helping to illuminate the evolutionary structure of the universe.
Excitingly, the scientific teams behind the Rubin and Roman telescopes are collaboratively strategizing on how best to utilize the forthcoming data. As we honor the legacies of Vera C. Rubin and Nancy Grace Roman, 2026 heralds a new generation dedicated to exploring galaxies in extraordinary detail.
What I’m currently reading: Twilight novel series.
What I see: Correct, the Twilight movie series.
What I’m working on: I’m diligently finishing the draft of my third book: Cosmos is a Black Aesthetic.
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of New Hampshire. She is the author of Turbulent Universe and upcoming works The Ends of Space and Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Boogie of Cosmic Dreams.
Many individuals set New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, particularly following the holiday festivities. Traditionally, this involved adopting a new diet, waking up early for workouts, and other habits that can be challenging to sustain. Consequently, it’s no surprise that numerous people abandon their goals within weeks.
Today, however, an alternative has emerged: weight loss medications. Instead of solely depending on lifestyle changes, individuals can benefit from regular doses of GLP-1 agonists or other therapeutic tablets (as highlighted on page 6). Health professionals still recommend integrating these medications with consistent physical activity for optimal results.
GLP-1 drugs are not only transforming our cyclical health regimens. Restaurants are now crafting menus specifically for Ozempic diners, featuring smaller portion sizes for customers who experience reduced appetite. Additionally, supermarkets have reported declines in sales due to decreased demand from those using these medications. Airlines are also considering the implications, as decreased average passenger weight could lower fuel expenses.
While it’s unclear how much these trends can be attributed to GLP-1 drugs—which are currently used by a minority—and the extent of their impact on brands reacting to this health trend, the statistics surrounding obesity are alarming. Approximately 1 billion individuals globally are affected by obesity, and the adoption of these medications is expected to rise. According to World Health Organization estimates, fewer than 10 percent of people will utilize GLP-1 drugs by 2030, yet this still represents a substantial demographic.
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Restaurants are designing menus featuring reduced portions for Ozempic diners. “
New advancements in medication are in development (refer to page 7), and the potential impacts could be even more significant. Beyond weight reduction, GLP-1 agonists have shown promise in treating various conditions, from addiction to eye diseases like cataracts.
While there remain numerous uncertainties regarding the long-term consequences, the results of discontinuation, and enhancing accessibility, the future appears bright. As we advance further into the 21st century, weight loss drugs are poised to play a crucial role in shaping health and wellness trends.
The evolving experience of young people on the internet.
Linda Raymond/Getty Images
In 2025, numerous countries will implement new internet access restrictions aimed at protecting children from harmful content, with more expected to follow in 2026. However, do these initiatives genuinely safeguard children, or do they merely inconvenience adults?
The UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA), which took effect on July 25, mandates that websites prevent children from accessing pornography or content that promotes self-harm, violence, or dangerous activities. While intended to protect, the law has faced backlash due to its broad definition of “harmful content,” which resulted in many small websites closing down as they struggled to meet the regulatory requirements.
In Australia, a new policy prohibits those under 16 from using social media, even with parental consent, as part of the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024. This legislation, effective immediately, grants regulators the authority to impose fines up to A$50 million on companies that fail to prevent minors from accessing their platforms. The European Union is considering similar bans. Meanwhile, France has instituted a law requiring age verification for websites with pornographic material, facing protests from adult website operators.
Concerns surrounding the use of technology for age verification are growing, with some sites utilizing facial recognition tools that can be tricked with screenshots of video game characters. Moreover, VPNs allow users to masquerade as being from regions without strict age verification requirements. Following the onset of the OSA, search attempts for VPNs have surged, with reports indicating as much as a 1800% increase in daily registrations following the law’s implementation. The most prominent adult site experienced a 77% decline in UK visitors in the aftermath of the OSA, as users changed their settings to appear as if they were located in countries where age verification isn’t enforced.
The Children’s Commissioner for England emphasized that these loopholes need to be addressed and has made recommendations for age verification measures to prevent children from using VPNs. Despite this, many argue that such responses address symptoms rather than the root of the problem. So, what is the appropriate course of action?
Andrew Coun, a former member of Meta and TikTok’s safety and moderation teams, opines that harmful content isn’t deliberately targeted at children. Instead, he argues that algorithms aim to maximize engagement, subsequently boosting ad revenue. This creates skepticism regarding the genuine willingness of tech companies to protect kids, as tighter restrictions could harm their profits.
“It’s exceedingly unlikely that they will prioritize compliance,” he remarked, noting the inherent conflict between their interests and public welfare. “Ultimately, profits are a primary concern, and they will likely fulfill only the minimum requirements to comply.”
Graham Murdoch, a researcher at Loughborough University, believes the surge in online safety regulations will likely yield disappointment, as policymaking typically lags behind the rapid advancements of technology firms. He advocates for the establishment of a national internet service complete with its own search engine and social platforms, guided by a public charter akin to that of the BBC.
“The Internet should be regarded as a public service because of the immense value it offers to everyday life,” Murdoch stated. “We stand at a pivotal moment; if decisive action isn’t taken soon, returning to our current trajectory will be impossible.”
“I’ve never needed a great excuse to jump into a chilly lake…”
Kaisa Swanson/Alamy
My days are filled with small rituals. Each morning, I blend a spoonful of creatine in water, enjoying it alongside my multivitamin, followed by some plain yogurt rich in beneficial bacteria. Meanwhile, the kids feast on homemade cereal, sip kefir, and practice their Spanish on Duolingo. After school drop-off, I dive into a cold pond, then warm up in the sauna before heading to work. I also make it a point to add sauerkraut to my lunch and take quick walks in the park.
On reflection, it might seem a bit off-putting. The quintessential “wellness enthusiast meets middle-aged neuroscientist.” But this cozy routine is vastly different from a year ago, when the kids were munching on sugary cereal and I was sustained solely by caffeine while buried in my computer, often devoid of sunlight.
This newfound focus on well-being stems from a year-long quest for research-backed methods to enhance my brain health, from boosting cognitive reserves to nurturing a healthy microbiome. Observing my current situation reveals that minor tweaks can lead to substantial changes.
A key insight I’ve gathered from Dr. Joan Manson and other physicians at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts is that a daily multivitamin can significantly slow cognitive decline in older adults by over 50 percent. When I inquired about other supplements beneficial for brain health, creatine stood out because it offers energy precisely when our brains require it.
However, the most significant shift didn’t come from my supplement collection, but rather from my grocery list. Conversations with neuroscientists and nutritionists have made me keenly aware of the importance of maintaining our microbiome. Consequently, my family embraced epidemiologist Tim Spector’s guidance to incorporate three fermented foods daily, eliminate ultra-processed breakfast options, and enjoy a diverse range of whole foods in our meals.
Despite my long-standing enjoyment of cold lake swims or sauna sessions, science has equipped me with compelling reasons to make these activities a priority this year. Cold and heat exposure has been shown to combat inflammation and stress while enhancing connections within brain networks that govern emotions, decision-making, and attention, which may in turn bolster mental health.
Emphasizing outdoor time has also become a family goal. I’ve discovered that gardening enhances the diversity of our gut’s beneficial bacteria, while walking in the woods can boost memory, cognition, and possibly stave off depression.
At home, we persist with Duolingo, valuing not just its linguistic benefits but also its contributions to cognitive reserve—the brain’s defense against aging. I’m also returning to playing the piano and exploring other creative outlets. I recall what Dr. Ellen Bialystok, a professor at York University in Canada, advised: “What challenges the brain is beneficial for the brain.”
The most astonishing aspect has been the rapid emergence of results. While some habits serve as long-term investments in cognitive health, I suspect others have delivered immediate benefits, such as helping my children feel more relaxed, diminish brain fog, and gain energy. It may be placebo, yet something is certainly effective.
Next year, we plan to keep experimenting. Let’s make it a year focused on discovering simple ways to promote brain growth. Now, where’s that kombucha?
There’s no doubt that 2025 will be remembered as the year of decline. “Slop,” a term for AI-generated content that is often off-base, bizarre, and visually unappealing, has infiltrated nearly every online platform. It is also starting to corrupt our hearts.
Sufficient slop has built up over recent years that scientists can now assess its long-term effects on people. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered that individuals using large-scale language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT exhibit significantly less brain activity compared to those who do not. This could adversely affect mental health as reports suggest that specific chatbots may encourage unhealthy beliefs and worsen certain mental health issues.
Furthermore, deepfakes have become ubiquitous, complicating the verification of truth online. A Microsoft study indicates that humans can distinguish between real and AI-generated videos only 62% of the time.
OpenAI’s latest application serves as a video sharing platform that is primarily AI-generated, except for one aspect: the app scans your likeness and integrates you and real individuals into the fictional scenes it creates. OpenAI’s founder Sam Altman has downplayed its significance by allowing users to create videos featuring him stealing GPU and performing skibbiddy toilet-style antics.
Yet, what about AI’s supposedly transformative effects on workplace efficiency? One study reveals that the introduction of AI has resulted in a decline in productivity, with 95% of organizations implementing AI reporting a lack of tangible returns on investment.
Slop devastates lives and careers. It is also eroding our historical narrative. As I work on a book about archaeology, I worry that future historians will look back upon the media from this period and criticize the layers of manipulative and false content. One key reason for recording our experiences, whether through writing or video, is to maintain a historical record of our activities. When I write, I aim to create a legacy that allows those living 5,000 years from now to understand who we were amidst the chaos.
AI chatbots recycle meaningless language. They produce content but not genuine memories. Historically, this may be more harmful than propaganda, which is typically crafted by people with clear intentions, reflecting societal issues and politics. Slop risks erasing our presence from our historical records, making it challenging to discern the intent behind it.
Perhaps the sole way to counteract our current cultural sloppiness is by coining words devoid of meaning. This might explain the emergence of the Gen Z “6-7” phenomenon in the mainstream. This term was designated, albeit nonverbally, as “Word of the Year” by dictionary.com. You can always default to saying 6-7 when lacking a specific response or for no reason at all. What will the future bring? 6-7. What impact will AI slop have on art? 6-7. How do we navigate a reality where jobs are scarce, violence escalates, and climate science is persistently disregarded? 6-7.
I would be intrigued to see AI companies attempt to create content around 6-7. Because humans remain one step ahead of the slop, inventing new forms of nonsense and ambiguity that can only be truly understood by another human.
Comet Lemon photographed from northern Italy on October 26, 2025
Marcel Clemens/Alamy
Although no one has officially stated it, 2025 has certainly been an exceptional year for comets. There’s Comet Lemon, discovered in January and making headlines for nine months. Each time I encountered that striking long tail formed by the comet’s solar heat, I was captivated.
In September, C/2025 R2 (SWAN) was discovered, radiantly bright even when near the moon on Halloween, making it easily visible. Then came Comet 3I/Atlas, which gained notoriety after a Harvard astronomer—primarily a cosmologist—identified it as an alien probe.
As a cosmologist who recognizes my limited expertise in comet studies, I fully trust the specialists asserting that Comet 3I/Atlas is not some extraterrestrial object. This isn’t a regret; this comet is still scientifically intriguing. Unlike lemons and SWANs, it hails from beyond our solar system, categorizing Comet 3I/Atlas as an interstellar comet.
Its entry into our solar system offers a thrilling opportunity. While pinpointing its exact trajectory may be unattainable, its composition can reveal a wealth of information about its parent star. Essentially, we can learn about the makeup of an enigmatic star even when its identity remains unknown.
Our expedition with this year’s comet reflects a long historical pattern of human fascination with enigmatic celestial phenomena. Most notably, Halley’s Comet’s passage in 1066 was illustrated in the Bayeux Tapestry, symbolizing the onset of the Norman invasion of England. Nowadays, we understand that humanity is not the universe’s focal point, and the universe lacks a center—but it’s easy to entertain the notion that the comet of 2025 could be conveying a message.
Reflecting on this year, filled with distressing and unfortunate occurrences, it’s tempting to ponder whether these comets hint at an impending apocalypse. The state of science in the United States faces turmoil, as the current administration cuts funding and initiatives (see page 20). Moreover, anti-immigrant sentiments have gained a mainstream foothold in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
As a Black and Jewish queer scientist, and an immigrant’s child, maintaining an open heart daily is a struggle. I recognize that there are those who wish to silence me. Contrary to my previous scientific education, I could interpret the comet as a sign to surrender. Yet, alternative paths exist. As a scientist, I perceive comets as sources of hope. They are breathtaking visual havens. The quest to observe them has fostered community. My astrophotography group eagerly anticipates sharing our experiences. While it’s frustrating to encounter rampant misinformation in various media concerning questions like “Are they aliens?”, I feel grateful that attention is being drawn to these phenomena.
For 2026, my aspirations are immense. Scientifically, I yearn for groundbreaking observations of dark matter. Socially, I aim to ensure that all children have access to essential resources—food, shelter, education, and healthcare—in environments that affirm their identities. While these are monumental dreams, they likely won’t manifest by year’s end. Nevertheless, comets remind us of the vast universe, brimming with marvelous surprises. Just as we strive to discover comets, we must also endeavor to create the better world we desire.
This year brought many revelations about our ancient human relatives
WHPics / Alamy
This is an excerpt from Our Human Story, a newsletter about the revolution in archaeology. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every month.
If we try to summarize all the new fossils, methods, and ideas emerging from the study of human evolution in 2025, we might still be here in 2027. This year has been packed with developments, and I doubt it’s feasible for one individual to digest everything without isolating themselves from other distractions. This is particularly true in human evolution, which is a decentralized field. Unlike particle physicists, who often unite in teams for large-scale experiments, paleoanthropologists scatter in diverse directions.
There are two ways this year-long endeavor can falter. One risk is getting overwhelmed by an insurmountable amount of research, rendering it indecipherable. The other is simplifying the information to the point where it becomes incorrect.
With that in mind, here are three key points I want to clarify as we head into 2025. First, there have been remarkable discoveries about the Denisovans, reshaping our understanding of this mysterious group and challenging some of our previous assumptions. Second, we’ve seen a variety of new discoveries and ideas regarding how our distant ancestors created and utilized tools. Finally, we must consider the broader picture: how and why our species diverged so significantly from other primates.
The Denisovan Flood
Hebei Geography University
This year marks 15 years since we first learned about the Denisovans, an ancient group of humans that inhabited East Asia tens of thousands of years ago. My fascination with them has persisted, and this year, I was excited to witness a surge of discoveries that broadened our knowledge of their habitats and identities.
Denisovans were initially identified primarily through molecular evidence. The first fossil discovered was a small finger bone from Denisova Cave in Siberia, which defied identification based solely on its morphology, but DNA was collected in 2010. Genetic analyses revealed that Denisovans were closely related to Neanderthals, who lived in Europe and Asia, and that they interbred with modern humans. Currently, populations in Southeast Asia, particularly Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, possess the highest concentration of Denisovan DNA.
Since then, researchers have been on the hunt for additional Denisovan remains, though this endeavor has progressed slowly. Until 2019, the second identified example was a jawbone excavated from Baisiya Karst Cave in Xianghe, located on the Tibetan Plateau. Over the next five years, several more fossils were tentatively attributed to Denisovans, notable for their large size and pronounced teeth compared to modern humans.
Then came 2025, which brought numerous exciting findings. In April, Denisovans were confirmed in Taiwan, when a jawbone dredged from the Penghu Strait in 2008 was finally identified using preserved proteins. This discovery significantly extends the known range of Denisovans to the southeast, aligning with where their genetic markers remain today.
In June, the first Denisovan facial features emerged. A skull discovered in Harbin, northern China, was described in 2021 and designated as a new species, named Homolonghi. Initially presumed to belong to Denisovans due to its large size, proteins extracted by Qiaomei Fu and her team from the bone and mitochondrial DNA from dental plaque confirmed its Denisovan origins.
So far, these findings align well with genetic evidence indicating that Denisovans roamed extensively across Asia. They also contribute to a coherent image of Denisovans as a larger species.
However, two additional discoveries in 2025 were surprising. In September, a crushed skull thought to belong to an early Denisovan was reconstructed in Unzen, China, dating back approximately 1 million years. This finding suggests that Denisovans existed as a distinct group much earlier than previously believed, indicating that their common ancestor with Neanderthals, known as Ancestor X, must have lived over a million years ago. If confirmed, it implies a longer evolutionary history for all three groups than previously thought.
Just a month ago, geneticists released a second high-quality Denisovan genome extracted from a 200,000-year-old tooth found in Denisova Cave. Notably, this genome is distinctly different from the first genome described recently, as well as from modern Denisovan DNA.
This indicates the existence of at least three groups of Denisovans: early ones, later ones, and those that hybridized with modern humans—this latter group remains a total archaeological enigma.
As our understanding of Denisovans deepens, their history appears much longer and more diverse than initially assumed. In particular, Denisovan populations that interbred with modern humans remain elusive.
For the past 15 years, Denisovans have captivated my interest. Despite their widespread presence across continents for hundreds of thousands of years, only a handful of remains have been documented.
Fortunately, I have a penchant for mysteries. Because this puzzle won’t be solved anytime soon.
Tool Manufacturing
TW Plummer, JS Oliver, EM Finestone, Houma Peninsula Paleoanthropology Project
Creating and using tools is one of humanity’s most critical functions. This ability isn’t unique to our species, as many other animals also use and even make tools. Primatologist Jane Goodall, who passed away this year, famously demonstrated that chimpanzees can manufacture tools. However, humans have significantly elevated this skill, producing a more diverse array of tools that are often more complex and essential to our survival than those of any other animal.
As we delve deeper into the fossil record, we’re discovering that the practice of tool-making dates back further than previously thought. In March, I reported on excavations in Tanzania revealing that an unidentified ancient human was consistently creating bone tools 1.5 million years ago, well over a million years before bone tools were believed to become commonplace. Similarly, while it was previously thought that humans began crafting artifacts from ivory 50,000 years ago, this year, a 400,000-year-old flake from a mammoth tusk was discovered in Ukraine.
Even older stone tools have surfaced, likely due in part to their greater preservation potential. Crude tools have been identified from 3.3 million years ago at Lomekwi, Kenya. Last month in Our Human Story, I mentioned excavations in another part of Kenya demonstrating that ancient humans consistently produced a specific type of Oldowan tools between 2.75 million and 2.44 million years ago, indicating that tool-making was already a habitual practice.
Often, tools are found without associated bones, making it challenging to determine their makers’ identities. It’s tempting to assume that most tools belong to our genus, Homo, or perhaps to Australopithecus, our more distant ancestors. However, increasing evidence suggests that Paranthropus—a hominin with a small brain and large teeth, which thrived in Africa for hundreds of thousands of years—could also have made tools, at least simple ones like the Oldowans.
Two years ago, Oldowan tools were discovered alongside Paranthropus teeth in Kenya—admittedly not definitive evidence, but strongly suggestive. This year, a fossil of Paranthropus revealed that its hand exhibited a combination of gorilla-like strength and impressive dexterity, indicating capable precision gripping essential for tool-making.
How did these ancients conceive of their tools? One possibility, suggested by Metin Eren and others this year, is that they didn’t consciously create them. Instead, tool-like stones form naturally under various conditions, such as frost cracking rocks or elephants trampling them. Early humans may have utilized these “natural stones,” knowledge of which eventually led to their replication.
As humans continued to develop increasingly complex tools, the cognitive demands of creating them likely escalated, potentially facilitating the emergence of language as we needed to communicate how to make and use these advanced tools. This year’s research explored aspects like the difficulty of learning various skills, whether close observation is necessary, or if mere exposure suffices. The findings suggest two significant changes in cultural transmission that may correlate with technological advancements.
Like most aspects of evolution, tool-making appears to have gradually evolved from our primate predecessors, reshaping our cognitive capabilities in the process.
Big Picture
Alexandra Morton Hayward
Now let’s address the age-old question of how and why humans evolved so distinctly, and which traits truly set us apart. This topic is always challenging to navigate for three main reasons.
First, human uniqueness is multifaceted and often contradictory. Social scientist Jonathan R. Goodman suggested in July that evolution has forged humans to embody both “Machiavellian” traits—planning and betraying one another—and “natural socialist” instincts driven by strong social norms against murder and theft. Claims that humans are inherently generous or instinctively cruel tend to oversimplify the matter excessively.
Second, our perceptions of what makes us unique are shaped by the societies in which we exist. For instance, many cultures remain predominantly male-focused, leading our historical narratives to center around men. While the feminist movement is working to amend this imbalance, progress remains slow. Laura Spinney’s article on prehistoric women suggested that “throughout prehistory, women were rulers, warriors, hunters, and shamans,” a viewpoint made viable only through dedicated research.
Third, reconstructing the thought processes of ancient people as they adopted certain behaviors is inherently difficult, if not impossible. Why did early humans bury their dead and enact funerary rituals? How were dogs and other animals domesticated? What choices shaped ancient humans’ paths toward change?
Still, I want to spotlight two intriguing ideas surrounding the evolution of the human brain and intelligence. One concerns the role of placental hormones that developing babies are exposed to in the womb. Preliminary evidence suggests these hormones may contribute to brain growth, equipping us with the neural capacity to navigate our unusually complex social environments.
Another compelling possibility proposes that the genetic changes associated with our increased intelligence may have also led to vulnerabilities to mental illness. In October, Christa Leste-Laser reported that genetic mutations linked to intelligence emerged in our distant ancestors, followed by mutations associated with mental disorders.
This notion has intrigued me for years, rooted in the observation that wild animals, including our close relatives like chimpanzees, do not appear to suffer from serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Perhaps our brains operate at the edge of our neural capabilities. Like a finely-tuned sports car, we can excel but are also prone to breakdowns. While still a hypothesis, this concept is difficult to shake off.
Oh, one more point. Although we often shy away from discussing methodological advancements, as readers generally prefer results, we made an exception in May. Alexandra Morton Hayward and her colleagues at the University of Oxford developed a method to extract proteins from ancient brains and potentially other soft tissues. Though such tissues are rarer in the fossil record compared to bones and teeth, some remain preserved and may offer a wealth of information. The first results could be available next year.
This year is poised to be the second hottest on record, following 2024, with numerous areas facing extraordinary storms, wildfires, and heat waves.
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Agency (C3S) reports that the average temperature in 2025 is currently 1.48 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial baseline. If this holds, it will tie with 2023, falling only behind 2024, which recorded a rise of 1.6 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.
While the planet warmed during the El Niño phase in 2024, it is now experiencing a La Niña phase, where the upwelling of cold water in the tropical Pacific Ocean typically results in lower global temperatures. However, fossil fuel emissions are projected to set a new record in 2025, leading to rising temperatures and exacerbating catastrophic weather events.
“The truth is that extreme events impact communities, societies, and ecosystems. We understand that in a warmer world, these extreme events will be more frequent and intense,” explains Samantha Burgess from C3S. “The storms will intensify due to increased moisture in the atmosphere.”
This summer, a heatwave in Europe resulted in an additional 16,500 fatalities associated with climate change. In October, Hurricane Melissa, the strongest hurricane to strike Jamaica, claimed over 80 lives and caused significant damage, with financial losses reaching $8.8 billion. Research from World Weather Attribution indicates that climate change enhanced Melissa’s rainfall by 16% and reduced wind speed by 7%.
In November, a series of cyclones and storms triggered landslides and flooding in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, resulting in over 1,600 deaths.
Currently, Arctic sea ice extent is at its lowest recorded level for this time of year, and Antarctic sea ice is also below normal levels.
According to C3S, the three-year moving average temperature is projected to surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius for the first time since the pre-industrial era. Scientists anticipate that global warming will exceed the long-term average of 1.5°C by 2029, falling short of the Paris Agreement objectives.
“There isn’t a clear boundary at 1.5 degrees, but we know that impacts worsen beyond that threshold,” Burgess states. “We are also nearing a critical tipping point.”
According to an October report, a tipping point has seemingly been reached, leading to the irreversible decline of tropical coral reefs, and the world could soon face additional tipping points, including the demise of the Amazon rainforest and the collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, along with the decline of Antarctic sea ice.
AI slop has arrived, becoming widespread and increasingly common. Utilized by US President Donald Trump, it has now been designated as the word of the year.
The Macquarie Dictionary has named the term, reflecting typical trends in linguistics as of 2025. A panel of language experts indicated that this recognition captures key social developments over the year.
“As of 2025, we grasp the essence of slop: AI-generated content devoid of significant substance or utility,” the commission’s statement elaborated.
“In recent times, we have evolved into search engineers, sifting through vast data for meaningful insights. Now, we must adapt to become nimble engineers to navigate through AI slops. This term will significantly enrich the English language for years ahead.”
“The pressing question is: Will those who consume and regurgitate this content soon be dubbed AI slackers?”
This term stood in contrast to the finalist list. Other notable cultural terms included: Ozempic face (a condition associated with the drug semaglutide), Blind box (a mystery box of unseen collectibles), ate (and left no crumb) (an expression denoting perfection), and the Roman Empire (a term relating to commonly recurring thoughts and interests).
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Honorable mentions chosen by the committee included “clunker,” describing an AI-operated robot that performs tasks usually done by humans, and medical misogyny, which refers to longstanding prejudices against women in medicine.
The People’s Choice also highlighted areas pertaining to AI, with notable mentions for medical misogyny and the attention economy (where human attention is treated as a valuable commodity).
The committee featured the Macquarie Dictionary editorial team alongside ABC language researcher Tiger Webb and renowned cryptic crossword creator David Astle, widely known as the DA.
Astor noted that this AI slop bears similarities to spam encountered in Sydney Morning Herald articles over the past decade.
“To be precise, AI emerges as the clear frontrunner in the digital landscape,” he stated. “This verb fits snugly into combinations like slopaganda, slop music, and corpse slop, just to name a few.
“Despite the formidable challenges, the robot has triumphed not once, but twice, delivering both cumbersome insults and delectable slops on demand: a culinary metaphor of chaotic content served up on a whim.”
AI has surged in popularity over the last year, building on its previously high-profile status. Trump frequently posts videos showcasing AI slop to his vast follower base, having been identified as the “emperor” of this genre by The New Yorker earlier this year.
In Japan, the Australian Electoral Commission has cautioned that AI is increasingly employed across various communication channels. While there are advantages, considerable downsides remain, such as deepfake videos, altered media, and forged audio.
Guardian Australia solicited ChatGPT for its opinion regarding AI slop’s recognition as the 2025 word of the year.
“AI slop being honored as Word of the Year signifies a growing awareness of the quality of AI-generated content,” remarked AI Engine. “This trend is beneficial for everyone involved, including the progress of improved AI, as it encourages a focus on transparency and substance over sheer volume.”
ChatGPT expressed that being asked about this accolade serves as a timely reminder of its core mission.
“My purpose is to steer clear of embodying exactly what this term signifies, thus seeing it rise to a cultural landmark reinforces the standards we strive to uphold in our responses.”
‘Vibecoding’, an innovative software development approach that leverages artificial intelligence to transform natural language into computer code, has been selected as Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2025.
Collins’ lexicographers track the Collins Corpus, which comprises 24 billion words sourced from various media, including social platforms, to compile an annual roster of new significant words that illustrate our constantly evolving language.
They selected vibecoding as the word of the year following a noticeable surge in its usage since its introduction in February.
The term was introduced by Andrej Karpathy, the former AI director at Tesla and a founding engineer at OpenAI, to explain how artificial intelligence can develop applications as if the code is irrelevant.
Other notable additions to the list include “biohacking,” which refers to the practice of modifying the body’s natural functions to enhance health and lifespan.
Another term is “Clunker,” a derogatory reference to a computer, robot, or AI, initially popularized by Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This term has rapidly spread on social media, often reflecting disdain and distrust towards AI chatbots and platforms.
The word “glaze,” which denotes excessive or unfair praise, is also gaining traction this year.
Additionally, “Aura Farming” has emerged, describing the intentional cultivation of a distinctive and appealing personality, essentially the art of appearing cool.
While popular among gamers, it gained broader visibility this year thanks to the viral “Boat Kid” video, which sparked a dance trend embraced by celebrities like American football player Travis Kelce.
Tech industry leaders, informally known as the Tech Brothers, were dubbed “broligarchies” after their eye-catching presence at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, which also landed them on the list.
The term “henry,” an acronym for “high-income but not yet wealthy,” has seen increased usage and was also coined by Collins.
Other entries include “cool vacations,” referring to trips taken in cooler climates, and “task masking,” which denotes the act of creating a false impression of productivity at work.
It is also characterized by “micro-retirement,” defined as a break in employment periods to engage in personal interests.
Alex Beecroft, Managing Director at Collins, remarked: “Choosing Vibecoding as the word of the year perfectly encapsulates the evolution of language alongside technology. This marks a significant transformation in software development, making coding more accessible through AI.”
“The seamless fusion of human creativity and machine intelligence illustrates how natural language is fundamentally transforming our interactions with computers.”
While it may not seem as distinct as this year’s refreshed Pro models, or as sleek as the new iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 signifies a significant milestone for standard Apple smartphones.
This is especially noteworthy since Apple has finally introduced a high-refresh-rate 120Hz display, a top feature of modern smartphones, into its base model flagship.
Moreover, the starting storage has been doubled without a price increase. The iPhone 17 is priced the same as its predecessor at £799 (€949/$799/AU$1,399), which is less than the £999 Air and £1,099 Pro, yet it offers substantial value for the price.
Externally, it appears similar to the iPhone 16, but the 17 is slightly taller, allowing for a bigger screen fitting into slimmer bezels without greatly increasing the phone’s overall dimensions. The 6.3-inch display now rivals the ultra-bright screen of the 17 Pro, protected by enhanced toughened glass for better scratch resistance.
The new anti-glare coating on the screen enhances visibility and usability, even in bright sunlight. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The 120Hz “promotion” technology significantly increases the screen refresh rate, resulting in smoother scrolling and animations. This feature has been a staple in competitor smartphones for years, while Apple reserved it for Pro versions of its devices until now.
Additionally, the 17 now includes features previously exclusive to Pro models, such as the Always-On Display, which shows widgets and notifications while the phone is idle. It operates on the same iOS 26 as the entire iPhone range and offers Apple’s revamped glass-like interface design, which appears somewhat simplified to reduce on-screen distractions while maintaining functionality.
Specifications
Screen: 6.3 inch Super Retina XDR (120Hz OLED) (460ppi)
Using a 20W or higher USB-C power adapter (sold separately), your phone can fully charge in 82 minutes, reaching 50% in just 21 minutes. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Powered by Apple’s new A19 chip, the iPhone 17 is among the fastest in the smartphone market, being only slightly less powerful than the A19 Pro. Apple maintains a technological edge over Android rivals, even in its more budget-friendly offerings.
As a result, the 17 manages multitasking and various applications with ease. Its battery performance is commendable for its size, lasting around 44 hours between charges using Wi-Fi and 5G, and about 6 hours of active screen use with the always-on feature. Though slightly reduced from its predecessor, it offers longer life than the comparably sized 17 Pro and notably outlasts the iPhone Air. Most users will require charging the 17 every other day.
Sustainability
The sleek recycled aluminum body and matte glass back provide a solid and premium feel, even without a protective case. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
This device consists of over 30% recycled materials encompassing aluminum, cobalt, copper, gold, lithium, plastic, rare earth elements, steel, tin, and tungsten. Apple evaluates its environmental impact through various reports and offers trade-in and free recycling programs, even for non-Apple devices.
Camera
The camera app has been streamlined by concealing many features behind a sliding selector and pop-out menus to maximize the viewfinder space. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The iPhone 17 features two 48-megapixel rear cameras (main and ultrawide), alongside Apple’s new 18MP front-facing camera found on the iPhone 17 Pro and Air.
While the main camera remains unchanged from the iPhone 16, it captures excellent photographs in various lighting scenarios. It may occasionally overexpose in bright light or appear slightly blurry in low-light conditions, yet it remains a dependable compact digital option. It supports a 2x crop zoom, effective in bright areas and acceptable in dim indoor settings. The ultrawide camera is notably enhanced from the previous model, enabling more detail and a broader range, particularly effective for macro photography.
Despite the camera’s ability to achieve a digital zoom of up to 10x, resulting images may lack detail and clarity. True telephoto capabilities remain exclusive to Pro models.
The front camera delivers slightly improved selfies compared to previous iterations, with a standout feature allowing it to digitally pan and zoom to encompass all subjects in a group shot, regardless of phone orientation—ideal for capturing landscape shots while holding the phone vertically.
The iPhone 17 offers various shooting modes for video capture, including a dual capture mode that records from both front and rear cameras simultaneously, placing the user in a small inset frame.
Price
Pricing for the iPhone 17 starts at £799 (€949/$799/AU$1,399) for the 256GB version.
By comparison, the iPhone 16e retails for £599, the iPhone Air is priced at £999, the iPhone 17 Pro costs £1,099, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is £1,199, and the Google Pixel 10 is also £1,199. The Samsung Galaxy S25 is priced at £699, while the Fairphone 6 retails at £499.
Verdict
While the iPhone 17 may not visually distinguish itself from its predecessor, it represents a notable advancement over previous standard iPhones.
The incorporation of key features from Apple’s more premium Pro models—including a superior, brighter, and smoother 120Hz display—is particularly significant. An always-on display enhances functionality, and the doubling of base storage to 256 GB, along with improved battery life extending roughly two days, are both highly appreciated changes. After years, the iPhone 17 no longer feels like a substantial downgrade from the Pro model.
The dual rear cameras are impressive, though the absence of a telephoto option limits their capabilities somewhat. The iPhone 17 retains a compact feel for a modern smartphone, akin to the iPhone Air but without being onerously heavy.
For users not requiring a telephoto lens, the standard iPhone 17 is an excellent choice.
Pros: Rapid performance, impressive 120Hz display, quality dual cameras with macro functionality, minimum of 256GB storage, comfortable size, tactile action and camera control buttons, USB-C, robust battery life, extended software support, Face ID.
Cons: No telephoto lens, identical design to its predecessor, not the thinnest, lightest, or most powerful option.
The iPhone 17 remains the last model with a straightforward two-camera configuration, arranged vertically on the back, making it less obtrusive compared to other models. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Waymo has announced that its driverless taxis will be available for hire on the streets of London next year.
This makes London the first European city to implement Waymo’s technology for a self-driving taxi service, similar to what’s currently operational in San Francisco and four other cities in the US.
The company confirmed that its vehicles are en route to London and will start navigating the city’s roads in the coming weeks, with “trained human experts,” or safety drivers, overseeing operations.
Originally a spin-off of Google’s self-driving car initiative and part of the parent group Alphabet, Waymo stated it would collaborate closely with the London Department for Transport to secure the necessary permits for fully autonomous vehicles by 2026.
Uber and UK tech firm Wave have also revealed plans to trial their own driverless taxis in London next year, following the UK government’s decision to fast-track regulations permitting public trials of self-driving vehicles ahead of complete legislation.
Heidi Alexander, Secretary of Transportation, expressed: “We are thrilled that Waymo intends to bring this service to London next year, in line with our proposed pilot program.
“Revitalizing the AV sector will create jobs, draw investment, and provide opportunities within the UK, while expanding accessible transportation options. Advancements like this will support our goal of becoming a leader in new technologies and spearheading national rejuvenation.”
The comprehensive rollout of self-driving taxis in the UK is anticipated to happen after the Self-Driving Vehicles Act is fully implemented in the latter half of 2027.
Waymo has a solid relationship with the UK, having established its first European engineering hub in Oxford back in 2019. The firm is also launching a service in Tokyo utilizing Jaguar Land Rover electric vehicles, marking its only current venture outside the United States.
Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, remarked that the technology is enhancing “road safety and making transport more accessible,” adding: “We have shown how to responsibly scale fully autonomous ride-hailing services, and we are eager to share the advantages of our technology in the UK.”
Waymo initiated its self-driving taxi services in 2020 and claims to have transported over 10 million passengers in the United States.
Despite some concerning incidents, Waymo asserts that data indicates that human-driven vehicles are involved in pedestrian accidents 12 times more frequently than self-driving cars.
‘Extremely serious’ cyber-attacks have surged by 50% over the past year, with UK security agencies now addressing a new nationally significant attack every two days, according to the latest data from the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC).
In what officials are calling a “call to arms,” national security leaders and ministers are encouraging all organizations, from small businesses to major corporations, to develop contingency strategies for the possibility that their “IT infrastructure is compromised.” [is] Tomorrow, all screens could potentially be rendered [go] Blank.”
The NCSC, a division of GCHQ, stated in its annual report released on Tuesday that a “highly sophisticated” China, along with a “competent yet reckless” Russia, Iran, and North Korea, represent the primary national threats. This rise is fueled by ransomware attacks from profit-driven criminals and society’s growing dependence on technology, resulting in more potential targets for hackers.
Prime Minister Rachel Reeves, Security Secretary Dan Jarvis, and Technology and Business Secretaries Liz Kendall and Peter Kyle have contacted the leaders of hundreds of the UK’s largest companies, urging them to elevate cyber resilience to a board-level concern and cautioning that hostile cyber activities in the UK are becoming “more intense, frequent, and sophisticated.”
“We must not make ourselves an easy target,” stated Anne Keast-Butler, GCHQ’s director. “It’s critical to prioritize cyber risk management, integrate it into governance, and set a tone from the top.”
The NCSC dealt with 429 cyber incidents from the past year up to September, with nearly half considered to be of national significance, a figure that has more than doubled in the last year. Among these, eighteen incidents were categorized as “very serious,” indicating they profoundly affected governments, essential services, the public, and the economy. Many of these were ransomware attacks, with Marks & Spencer and Co-op Group among those heavily impacted.
“Cybercrime poses a significant threat to our economy’s security, businesses, and the lives of individuals,” Jarvis remarked. “We are working tirelessly to combat these threats and support organizations of all sizes, but we cannot do this alone.”
The NCSC refrained from commenting on reports suggesting it is investigating possible Russian involvement in the severe attack on Jaguar Land Rover, which has halted production. This report indicated that Russia is encouraging unofficial “hacktivists” to target the UK, the USA, as well as European and NATO nations.
Last month, a cyberattack disrupted passenger services at numerous European airports, including London Heathrow.
Photo: Isabel Infantes/Reuters
Overall, the number of attacks up to September signifies the highest level of cyber threat activity recorded by the NCSC in the last nine years. For the first time in a year, the UK and its allies have detected Russian military units executing cyber attacks, provided recommendations against a China-linked campaign affecting thousands of devices, and raised alarms over cyber attackers affiliated with Iran, as noted by the NCSC. Domestic threats also persist, with two 17-year-old boys arrested in Hertfordshire last week following an alleged ransomware hack of children’s data from the Kido nursery chain.
Hackers are increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance their activities, and although the NCSC has not yet encountered an AI-driven attack, they predict that “AI will almost certainly present cyber resilience challenges by 2027 and beyond.”
“We observe attackers improving their capacity to inflict significant damage on the organizations they compromise and those dependent on them,” commented Richard Horne, NCSC’s chief executive. “Their disregard for their targets and the harm they cause is clear. This is why all organizations must take action.”
He emphasized the psychological toll inflicted on victims of cyberattacks, stating, “I have been in numerous meetings with individuals profoundly affected by cyberattacks on their organizations. I am aware of the anxiety, the sleepless nights, and the consequent turmoil caused by such disruptions for employees, suppliers, and customers.”
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Last month, when hackers targeted UK nursery schools and leaked child data online, they faced accusations of reaching a new low.
Nonetheless, the wider education sector is more familiar with being a target.
As per the British Government Survey, educational institutions are at a higher risk of cyberattacks or security breaches than private businesses.
Over the past year, six out of ten middle schools have experienced attacks or breaches, while more than 80% of universities and 90% of higher education institutions have faced similar issues. In contrast, only four out of ten companies reported violations or breaches, a statistic comparable to elementary schools.
Toby Lewis, global threat analysis director at cybersecurity firm Darktrace, notes that the UK education sector isn’t necessarily a specific target. “They are caught in the dragnet of cybercrime,” he explained, mentioning the “element of randomness and opportunism” involved in cybercrime victim selection.
Last week, the BBC highlighted that Kido, a nursery business targeted by hacking groups identified as Shinekase, had its system compromised after “early access brokers” sold access to Kido’s system, a scenario common in cybercrime circles.
Data from the annual Cybersecurity Violation Survey is derived from over 30 higher education institutions, almost 300 secondary and elementary schools in the UK, and various universities. The survey defines a cyberattack as an “attempt” to breach a target IT system, which includes sending “phishing” emails designed to deceive recipients into disclosing sensitive information, such as passwords.
Phishing emails constitute the most prevalent type of attacks on universities and schools.
Ransomware attacks have become widely recognized forms of cybercrime in the UK, wherein attackers encrypt IT systems to steal data and demand Bitcoin payments for decryption and the return of data.
The West Lothian Council’s education network has encountered ransomware attacks this year, resulting in data being obtained from several schools, with recent attacks also reported at Newcastle University, Manchester University, and Wolverhampton University.
Lewis suggests that state schools might be more susceptible due to funding pressures and a lack of expertise, while universities also face risks because they contain thousands of young students who may not be cybersecurity-savvy, along with computer networks designed to facilitate academic collaboration.
Colleges appear to be a favored target, and higher education institutions are reportedly the most frequently affected, with three in ten experiencing violations or attacks weekly, according to government data. Nonetheless, the education sector may be more conscious of government initiatives on cybercrime prevention than businesses and charities.
Pepe Dilacio, general secretary of the British Schools Association and the Association of University Leaders, remarked that ransomware attacks pose a “major risk” and emphasized the ongoing efforts to safeguard systems and data.
James Bowen, assistant secretary at the National Association of Principals, welcomed additional government funding to assist school leaders in identifying and responding to cyber threats.
The Ministry of Education stated that the school’s support includes a dedicated team to handle cyber incidents and collaborate closely with the UK’s National Cybersecurity Centre to provide complimentary training for school staff. “We take cybersecurity in schools seriously and understand the significant disruption attacks can cause, and we offer a wide range of support to schools,” said a spokesperson.
Following backlash from the hack, Kido hackers have deleted data obtained from the company, including child profiles.
However, government data indicates that the education sector continues to be a target. Ministers are preparing schools, the NHS, and local councils to potentially pay ransoms under government proposals aimed at combating hackers. In the meantime, attacks continue.
This week marks my birthday, and while it might not seem like a fitting topic for an article about pressing a button, bear with me.
At 54, I find myself officially in my mid-50s, yet I’m still pursuing video game journalism as my career. I indulge in gaming every single day. My workspace is a home office filled with games, and when I’m not playing, I’m usually contemplating them. During moments like these, I wonder: Should I ever consider stopping? Is there an expiration date on someone’s journey in game journalism? I can think of only a handful of peers my age who are still writing about games full-time. While some of my friends outside the industry still play, it’s usually limited to just a couple of titles each year, perhaps EA Sports FC or the latest Nintendo hit with kids. Life has a funny way of pulling you away from your passions if you’re not careful.
Right now, keeping pace with certain parts of the industry feels overwhelming. The realm of esports is almost unrecognizable to me, filled with numerous leagues, emerging stars, controversies, and more. It requires a full-time dedication that seems more suited for sports journalists. Then there are influencers and content creators—I’m not familiar with KaiCenat, Lazarbeam, or QuarterJade, though I have a vague awareness of their immense importance as tastemakers. During press trips to preview new games, I often find that I’m old enough to be the parent of many younger writers and creators I meet.
Despite this, I remain captivated by the mechanics of games and the craft behind them. I grew up in a time when games were perceived as exclusively for kids, but that’s certainly no longer the case. From nostalgic adventures like Lost Records: Bloom and Anger that reflect on middle age’s regrets to the God of War series examining parental and heritage themes (part of the “Game Dad” trends emerging as a new generation of developers embrace parenthood), video games encapsulate a lifelong narrative. This is why journalists of all ages should be engaged in writing about them. Consider film journalism: Roger Ebert wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times until his passing in 2013. The late Philip French, a noted critic for The Observer, officially retired at 80, yet continued writing about film for two more years before his death. They never ceased enjoying and engaging with cinema, so why should they stop writing about it?
A nostalgic adventure… Lost Records: Bloom and Anger. Photo: Don’t Nod
I now have more history with gaming than most young writers I admire. I was there for the arrival of Pac-Man, owned a Commodore 64 and a Mega Drive, and reviewed Virtual Boy games for a living. It raises the possibility of self-satisfaction similar to Roy Batty’s closing monologue, “I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe,” but I truly value that experience. If history teaches us anything, it’s that firsthand experience enriches our understanding of sociocultural impact. Nowadays, anyone can load up Space Invaders on an emulator, but the emotional context of that game during the era of the Home Computing Revolution and Star Wars Mania is challenging to convey in 2025.
I frequently emphasize the importance of continuing to play—whether it’s video games, chess, soccer, or reenacting historical events. Equally crucial is the continued questioning of our world and our preferences. After spending enough time engaged in something, you’ll often discern how the story unfolds. Currently, I have reservations about gaming censorship prompted by payment processing companies. However, I’ve navigated similar moral panics before, from Mary Whitehouse to Jack Thompson and multiple tabloids. It’s reassuring to know, like before, this too shall pass.
You remain the positive aspect of your passions—the books you read, the teams you support, the concerts you attend. Life is a tapestry of experiences from which we extract our own insights and form our personal maps of the vast cultural terrain we inhabit. This holds true whether you’re 95, 16, or in my case, 54.
In short, you’re stuck with me. I hope the game isn’t over.
What to do
Retro… the origin of Gradius. Photo: Konami
Feeling nostalgic, I recommend the retro collection Gradius Origins from Konami and Developer M2, an undeniable master at bringing classic titles to modern consoles. Origins collates all six entries in this esteemed arcade shoot-’em-up series, encompassing Gradius 1-3 and various spinoff Salamanders, featuring Japanese, North American, and often prototype versions with impressive new features.
These provide exhilarating side-scrolling experiences with striking spaceships, superb weapon upgrade systems, surreal biomechanical landscapes, and challenging bosses. The intricately choreographed enemy attack patterns are intense, but fair, and this time you can save your progress—unlike in the original. Alongside the game, there’s a delightful digital gallery, showcasing arcade flyers, concept art, and guides for all enemy ships. It’s a fantastic trip down memory lane.
Available on: PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox Estimated playtime: Over 20 hours
What to read
Breaking the fourth wall… Death Stranding 2. Photo: Kojima Production
I found this article about the fourth-wall-breaking moments in Death Stranding 2 by Maddie Myers to be quite enjoyable. I spent 100 hours in Hideo Kojima’s unique masterpiece, and the game’s awareness of its artificiality was a refreshing reminder of the hyper-realistic nature of contemporary games and the roles players have to play to sustain their illusions.
Check out this diverse range of interviews with Laura Miele, president of Electronic Arts Entertainment. It seems plans are in motion for an Apex Legends Movie, alongside Sims-related films by the publisher. Personally, I’d love to see adaptations of Mirror’s Edge or Titanfall instead, or perhaps new games in those franchises.
This past weekend, the video game retail site GOG offered 13 mature games for free, including Postal 2 and House Party, with a million players taking advantage of the deal. The intent was to raise awareness of censorship in gaming following disputes over payment processing terms affecting NSFW titles. You can find more details here on Eurogamer.
Return to the 90s… fear the spotlight. Photo: Blumhouse Games
Here’s a thought from Bluesky’s Kohigh Mathy:
“Why do certain genres seem to fade away, like music, real-time tactics, or point-and-click adventures? Will they only resurface years later? Is it market fatigue, changes in technology, or something else?”
I see multiple factors at play. Similar to how certain movie genres come and go, there’s a generational cycle of influence. Game developers who grew fond of a genre as children often attempt to recreate it as adults. The prevalence of low-poly survival horror games can be attributed to creators who fondly remember Resident Evil from the original PlayStation.
There’s also a cultural and sociopolitical dimension— developers are inspired by their environment, and prevailing global themes may be best expressed through specific game genres. Consequently, during times of global unrest and conflict, military real-time strategy games may see a resurgence. Additionally, technological advancements play a role. The arrival of new consoles or graphics cards leads to a rush to recreate beloved genres on those platforms. Veterans who enjoy revamping these genres contribute to this wave.
Last but not least, there’s the interaction of nostalgia and innovation. Rediscovering outdated genres can yield fresh perspectives. In a market flooded with souls-likes, hero shooters, and deck-builders, there’s merit in creating new takes on 1990s-style interactive movies, graphic adventures, or multi-sport simulators. This situation is advantageous for all parties involved.
If you have a question for the question block, or anything to say about the newsletter –Please email pushbuttons@theguardian.com.
The vegetation in Chapada das Mesas National Park, Brazil, struggles to capture atmospheric CO₂.
Pulsar Images/Alamy
A preliminary analysis has revealed that the extreme heat and rainfall of 2024—the hottest and wettest year recorded—now emits as much carbon dioxide as land ecosystems can mitigate. This marks the second consecutive year where land carbon sinks have nearly vanished due to climate stresses, potentially explaining the unprecedented surge in atmospheric CO₂ levels in 2024.
The implications of these findings are serious: land carbon sinks, which typically absorb billions of tons of CO₂ annually, are weakening more rapidly than anticipated, threatening our climate goals. However, it’s uncertain whether this trend over the past two years indicates a permanent shift.
“Everyone involved in this research was taken aback,” noted Guido van der Werf from Wageningen University, Netherlands. “We anticipated a minor sink, but the current situation reveals very few sinks exist.”
Land forests, grasslands, and other ecosystems work to absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere as they grow. However, when these ecosystems decay or burn, the stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere. Ideally, these processes should remain balanced. Yet, over the last fifty years, ecosystems have been absorbing more carbon than they are releasing, forming fluctuating carbon sinks.
This imbalance is thought to stem primarily from rising CO₂ levels benefiting plant growth, as well as other aspects like nutrient pollution and afforestation. Nonetheless, the effects of increased CO₂ are predicted to be finite as ecosystems may eventually lose their fertilization benefits. “We understand that land carbon sinks will decline, but the pace remains uncertain,” said van der Werf.
In 2023, researchers grew increasingly alarmed as land carbon sinks diminished significantly due to extreme wildfires, heat, and drought, all exacerbated by rising greenhouse gas levels and emerging El Niño patterns in the Pacific, which are generally linked to weakened sinks.
In 2024, it was expected that the carbon sink would strengthen with the decline of El Niño and fewer wildfires. Yet, international teams, including van der Werf, found that it remained incredibly weak.
To evaluate carbon cycling, researchers utilized satellite data to track land greenness corresponding to plant growth and compute the productivity of Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems. They then subtracted the CO₂ released through wildfires and decomposition, leveraging global atmospheric CO₂ measurements for their estimates.
The analysis revealed that the land carbon sink for 2024 was nearly nonexistent, with approximately 2.6 billion tonnes less than expected. This was less than the struggling sink observed between the 2015 and 2016 El Niño events, marking the worst land carbon sink in over a decade.
However, this weakening, unlike in 2023, was not predominantly driven by wildfires and drought. Instead, the study indicated an escalated rate of organic matter decomposition. While ecosystems did show increased productivity (with greenness reaching record highs), it was outpaced by a measure referred to as total ecosystem respiration, reflecting the overall CO₂ output.
“The substantial drop in land carbon sinks stems from respiration,” explained Guanyu Dong, from Nanjing University, who led the study. “The mechanisms at play are completely different.” While most regions have experienced a weakened sink, this trend is especially pronounced in tropical grasslands and shrublands, he added.
Van der Werf indicated that these figures are preliminary estimations and other research teams analyzing the carbon sink could yield varying results. Yet, this decline could largely elucidate the record spike in CO₂ concentrations witnessed in 2024, which is too substantial to be solely attributed to fossil fuel emissions.
The recurring disappearance of sinks for two consecutive years may foreshadow a more rapid decline than previously anticipated. “This suggests that a more pessimistic model might hold true,” noted van der Werf. Early losses in carbon sinks lead to faster increases in airborne CO₂ levels, potentially escalating temperatures even after emissions reach zero.
“That is certainly a possibility, and underscores the alarming nature of this phenomenon,” stated Scott Denning from Colorado State University, who was not involved in the research. He cautioned that the past two years could be aberrations, making it challenging to generalize about accelerated rates of decomposition. “One must interpret even these two years of data cautiously to avoid concluding it represents a permanent collapse,” he advised.
Hal Lacroix’s adventure unfolds on a spacecraft that has been exploring new planets for centuries
Dotted Zebra/Alamy
Exciting science fiction awaits fans this July, with two highly anticipated books making their debut. Are you intrigued by the beautifully articulated vision of rapid transformation as its effects evolve in a subtle yet increasingly unsettling manner? Don’t miss Alex Foster’s Circular Motion. Or maybe you’re captivated by the excellent “generation ship” narrative? If so, keep an eye on Hal Lacroix’s Here and Beyond. In addition, there are tales of climate fiction, zombies, space romance, and more. Enjoy yourself – I certainly will!
Set in a near future, this striking debut novel envisions an Earth with a colossal aircraft in orbit. Meanwhile, the Earth’s rotation gradually accelerates, initially shortening by mere seconds. However, it ominously contracts to just two hours as the story unfolds, leading to dire consequences. I’ve just completed this novel, and it may very well be my top read of the year so far—smartly written and truly engaging.
I have a special fondness for compelling “generation ship” stories. This one stands out, as 600 people embark on a 360-year voyage to a new planet following Earth’s downfall. Yet, generations must survive aboard their vessel, Shipworld, facing challenges from illness to rebellion, raising tensions among the crew. But don’t take my word for it; our sci-fi reviewer, Emily H. Wilson, gave it a hearty thumbs up, and her taste is impeccable (or at least aligns with mine!).
While I pen these words, London is engulfed in flames, making Susanna Kwan’s dystopian depiction of a rain-soaked future San Francisco even more captivating. We follow Bo, who has fled a city ravaged by catastrophic floods. Living alone on a street transformed into a river, Bo is tempted to leave her boat until her elderly neighbor Mia requests assistance, prompting her to remain. This novel draws comparisons to Emily St. John Mandel’s literary dystopia Station Eleven and Eleanor Catton’s climatological thriller Bilnum Wood, both of which I cherished; thus, I’m eager to delve into Kwan’s rainy world.
Susanna Kwan’s awakening unfolds in a flooded future San Francisco
Bulgac/Getty Images
This month’s science fiction takes us from Earth in disarray to the rain-soaked where the sun is waning. A unique story features two sisters in a small village amid arid lands who struggle for survival as temperatures plummet, leading villagers to confront death—”an ordinary man replaced by a blinding light that sears his head like a miniature sands.” Fascinating!
Another tale revolves around Quetza, an acrobat in a Martian circus who stumbles upon “ominous secrets.” Millions of years later, Azad inhabits a desert planet, teaming up with a space travel historian to discover why their ancestors abandoned Mars.
This climate fiction narrative (I refuse to adopt the “CLI-FI” label as I find it unappealing) unfolds in a self-sustaining community established on a remote Welsh island in 2056, aimed at escaping a tyrannical government. But 13-year-old Gresni suspects her family harbors secrets, especially when an event from the mainland washes ashore.
Penned by the acclaimed publisher recognized for Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow, the narrative follows Zoe and Jack, who meet as chemistry students at Harvard University. Two years later, they drop out to join a venture promising longevity, yet their love faces challenges that test its limits.
I confess that this may not fit traditional science fiction norms, but I’m finding it hard to resist: it’s a 2022 road trip story set in Ukraine, featuring “The Maverick Scientist” Yeva and Lefty, “The Only Snail” navigated to ensure the survival of his species. Yeva funds her passion for breeding rare snails by dating men who come to Ukraine for a “guidance romance tour” in search of obedient brides. “Glorious…funny and clever, filled with science, longing, and adventure,” Anne Puckett states. Therefore, I believe a blend of science and snails would surely captivate sci-fi enthusiasts.
As a passionate fan, I feel there’s a distinct lack of zombie novels like The Walking Dead. Fortunately, Lee Radford addresses this gap with a tale about a scientist whose spouse was the last person bitten by the zombie epidemic. While the government quarantines infected individuals, scientist Kesta harbors perilous secrets. Her zombie husband, Tim, is restrained to prevent his rampage. Rick Grimes, I’m just suggesting he could have handled Tim with a heartbeat…
I’ve earmarked this next book for my reading list and am eagerly anticipating it. Elric only awakens once he’s healed, envisioning an experimental treatment center where heartache can be anesthetized. Naturally, there are some “shadow side effects,” and it follows four strangers (and a dog). The Wizard of Oz certainly seems to embody the journey toward healing from heartache.
The publisher describes it as “Suffic’s action-adventure sci-fi novel.” Volatile Memory features Willa as she uncovers cutting-edge technology on nearby planets. This tech, however, turns out to be the remains of a woman donning an AI mask that resurrected her. Together, they seek to unravel its mysteries…
Emily Buchanan’s Send Flowers depicts a woman’s deceased boyfriend reborn as a houseplant
Ozgurcankaya/Getty Images
In a world nearing climate collapse, eco-influencer Fiona has stayed secluded in her apartment since her boyfriend Ed’s passing. One day, his favorite plant is left at her door, prompting her to sprinkle his ashes on the soil. The next morning, she discovers that the plant not only blooms but can also speak. Ed has returned—albeit as a house plant.
Reports indicate that numerous companies across four UK sectors have fallen prey to cyberattacks, putting the situation at risk unless they take immediate measures.
A survey of facilities conducted by facility managers, service providers, and chartered surveyors under RICS and shared with the Guardian revealed that many buildings experienced cyberattacks in the last year. This figure has risen from 16% the previous year.
Nearly three-quarters of over 8,000 business leaders (73%) anticipate that cybersecurity incidents will impact their operations in the next 12-24 months. RICS has recognized cybersecurity and digital risks as significant and rapidly evolving threats for building owners and occupants.
Marks & Spencer had to pause orders on its website for nearly seven weeks following a major attack in April, causing clothing sales to fall significantly until May 25th. They lost market share to competitors such as Next, Zara, and H&M.
As cybercriminal techniques advance, incidents targeting critical infrastructure and data breaches have become increasingly frequent, as noted by RICS. This trend will likely intensify with the enhanced capabilities of artificial intelligence and rapid technological advancements.
RICS cautioned that some buildings might be relying on dangerously outdated operating systems. For instance, a building that was opened in 2013 might still be using Windows 7, which has not received security updates from Microsoft for over five years.
Paul Bagust, head of the property practice at RICS, remarked: “Buildings have transformed from mere bricks and mortar into smart, interconnected digital environments that leverage continuously evolving technology to enhance the experience of occupancy.
This technology collects data to inform decision-making. At the levels of property management, building users, occupants, and owners, these advancements provide various benefits, including enhanced efficiency and reduced environmental impact. However, they also present multiple risks and vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious entities.”
The report highlights operational technologies such as building management systems, CCTV networks, Internet of Things devices, and access control systems as potential risk areas. This encompasses everything from automated lighting and heating to building management systems and advanced security protocols.
Bagust further commented: “It’s challenging to envision a scenario where technology does not continue to elevate the risks within building operations. Identifying these burgeoning digital challenges and implementing adequate security measures is essential but increasingly complex.”
The proprietors of Facebook and Instagram are set to assist advertisers in fully developing and targeting campaigns using artificial intelligence tools by the end of next year, potentially disrupting the traditional marketing landscape.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which also owns WhatsApp, aims to directly reach brand marketing budgets and challenge client campaigns and media organizations managing these budgets.
The AI tool currently under development, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, will enable brands utilizing Meta’s advertising platform to generate ads by leveraging product images and planned marketing expenditures.
Meta’s platform already provides various AI tools that allow advertisers to modify existing ads before they go live on Facebook or Instagram.
These new tools could bridge the gap between traditional ad creation, planning, and purchasing roles that agents perform, while also catering to smaller advertisers who cannot afford marketing service companies.
AI tools will be capable of generating complete ads, including images, videos, and text, targeting users based on the client’s budget.
For instance, targeting parameters such as geolocation can allow holiday companies to tailor advertisements that are particularly relevant to destinations appealing to users.
Following the announcement of Meta’s planned AI rollout, investors quickly divested from some of the world’s largest marketing services.
WPP shares dropped 3% during early trading, while French firms Publicis Groupe and Havas saw declines of 3.9% and 3%, respectively.
Zuckerberg, emphasizing the shift towards AI-driven advertising, describes the evolution of these tools as a “redefinition of advertising categories.”
In April, Meta revised its financial outlook for next year, announcing plans to invest between $64 billion and $720 billion in capital expenditures, which include the costs associated with building AI infrastructure.
The company had initially projected expenses of up to $650 billion in 2025.
The aim of restricting global warming to below 1.5°C faces challenges as recent climate data suggests global temperatures remain alarmingly high, with 2025 tracking closely to 2024’s record heat.
April 2025 marked the second hottest April on record, losing out only to April 2024, as per reports from the European Union’s Copernicus climate service and the nonprofit Berkeley Earth. That month, global temperatures consistently exceeded 1.51°C above pre-industrial levels, marking 22 consecutive months over this critical threshold. Copernicus reports. The average temperature for April 2025 remained cooler than April 2024, still surpassing pre-industrial levels by 1.49°C.
This unrelenting warmth has astounded scientists. The year 2024 was deemed the hottest on record, with an average global temperature exceeding 1.55°C above the pre-industrial average. It marked a significant event as it was the first calendar year to surpass the 1.5°C threshold. Under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, nations pledged to limit global temperature increases to well below 2°C, ideally to 1.5°C.
Scientists had anticipated that the cooling effects of the La Niña weather pattern would emerge in January, offering some relief. However, global temperatures have remained persistently elevated, raising concerns about 2025 possibly following 2024 in exceeding the critical 1.5°C marker. “The recent La Niña event hasn’t provided the expected cooling relief,” stated Robert Rohde from Berkeley Earth during a briefing on May 13.
Data from Berkeley Earth suggests an 18% likelihood that 2025 will be the hottest year recorded, and a 53% chance of it being the second hottest. Rohde estimates a 52% probability of having an average temperature exceeding 1.5°C this year.
The trajectory of global temperatures for the remainder of the year relies heavily on whether new El Niño or La Niña patterns emerge in the Pacific, according to Rohde.
The ongoing hot streak has dashed hopes of capping global temperatures at the 1.5°C Paris target. Although targets are assessed over a 20-year average, researchers are increasingly worried that recent high-temperature streaks have led to a breach of this threshold. “It’s becoming inevitable that we’ll see a long-term average above 1.5°C in the next decade,” Rohde cautioned.
Last year, scientists warned that exceeding 1.5°C would result in a three-year period of significant temperature rise, effectively compromising the goals of the Paris Agreement. Similarly, a paper released earlier this year indicated that 12 consecutive months above 1.5°C have already signaled a long-term warming trend at that level.
Richard Allan from the University of Reading expressed surprise at the durability of the warmth. Findings from the past two years and new record temperatures have fundamentally altered the scientific perspective on the feasibility of limiting warming to 1.5°C. “Without substantial mitigation efforts or extraordinary volcanic events in the next 20 years, we expect we will be above the 1.5°C threshold,” he remarked.
Nevertheless, he maintains that the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to below 2°C remains attainable. “It is crucial to strive for temperatures beneath that threshold,” he emphasized.
o
I’ve been tidying up my attic for the past few weeks, primarily to ensure its contents don’t collapse the ceiling. However, I have a side quest. My most treasured possession at age 12 was the Casio GD-8 car race watch. This digital timepiece featured built-in racing games on a small monochrome LCD screen. The two large buttons on the front allowed players to maneuver left and right to dodge oncoming vehicles, keeping the game alive for as long as possible. I lost count of how many times it was confiscated by teachers, as I often lent it to the toughest boy in class for protection against bullies. As a socially awkward nerd, this watch was crucial for my survival. I’m quite sure I still have it somewhere, and my resolve to find it has been strengthened by recent discoveries about its value.
Casio began producing digital watches in the mid-1970s, striving to compete on price with technology borrowed from the computer industry. As the decade drew to a close, however, the market became saturated, prompting the company to explore new methods to entice buyers. According to Polygon in 2015, “Casio returned to its original philosophy upon entering the watch market.” Yuichi Masuda, senior executive managing officer and Casio Board member, elaborated: “Watches are not merely timekeeping devices.” He noted a shift toward multifunctionality, incorporating features like phone number memory and music alarms alongside time display.
Takeoff… In 1980, kids play Space Invaders.
Photo: Eugene Adebari/Rex/Shutterstock
At that time, Taito’s Space Invaders was a sensation in Japan. Consequently, in 1981, Casio launched the CA-90/CA-901—a thick calculator watch featuring a space-themed shoot-’em-up, where players shot numbers instead of aliens. “Our aim was to create a lifestyle where games could be enjoyed anytime and anywhere,” Masuda explained.
Was Casio inspired by Nintendo’s Game & Watch series? The iconic handheld games debuted in 1980 with titles like Juggler and Ball, paving the way for classics like Donkey Kong, which later influenced the Nintendo DS. However, Shinji Saito, general manager and chief producer for Casio’s Watch Business Unit, disagrees: “In 1980, when Casio launched the CA-90, we also released the MG-880, a gaming calculator allowing users to enjoy digital invaders. While Nintendo’s Game & Watch also launched that year, the CA-90’s concept stemmed from our own development philosophy prioritizing lightness, thinness, shortness, and low power consumption; we were not inspired by Nintendo.”
In fact, during this period, Casio was innovating with features like data banks, thermometers, and pulse checkers. “The entire range of ’80s watches was vast,” watch enthusiast Andy Bagley notes. “I’ve been collecting for years and still discover models I’ve never encountered before. There were hundreds, including touchscreen watches from the ’80s.”
Past Time… Casio Gaming Watch Page from Vintage Casio Catalog
Photo: Casio
Regardless, the CA-90 became so successful that it spurred a golden age of creativity in Casio’s R&D. Between 1980 and 1985, dozens of game watches were produced—an impressive feat given the limitations of LCD technology at the time, which could display only preset shapes and lacked computer graphics or real animations. Various racing games, shooters like Helifizer and Zoom Zap, and rudimentary platformers like Jungle Star and Hungry Mouse were among them.
Some entries were more eccentric, like Aero Batics, a stunt flying game, and Hustle Monira, which involved catching dinosaurs (as opposed to just dodging falling eggs). There were also basic football and golf simulations. Similar to Nintendo’s Game & Watch titles, these watches showcased visually simplistic game designs that felt like science fiction at the time.
Notably, it wasn’t just tech giants creating game watches in the ’80s. The U.S. company Nelsnick obtained a license from Nintendo to make watches featuring games based on Zelda, Super Mario Bros., and Donkey Kong. Additionally, Seiko had its own ALBA game watches throughout that decade. The most aesthetically outrageous models came from veteran toy company Tiger, which produced bulky LCD game watches in the early ’90s based on movie licenses and arcade hits like Double Dragon and Altered Beast. However, as technology advanced and preferences shifted, the portable gaming market exploded with the arrival of the Game Boy in 1989, effectively ending the Game Watch era.
Today, a thriving collector’s scene exists. “These watches are incredibly sought after and can demand high prices,” Bagley shares. “The downside is that they weren’t very durable compared to all-stainless steel models like the Marlin, so few have survived. In pristine condition, rare and collectible game watches can fetch hundreds to over a thousand pounds.” For collectors like Bagley, these timepieces serve as nostalgic treasures, evoking memories of a time when students were distracted by digital watch beeps rather than social media alerts. “This served as my personal reference guide for the latest models. I eagerly checked the clock section whenever a new catalog arrived to scout for innovations.”
The watch industry continues to take a keen interest in classic video game themes. In 2022, Timex released a limited edition Space Invaders Watch featuring the game’s iconic sounds, and earlier this year, Casio unveiled a collection of beautifully crafted Pac-Man watches, sending fans like me racing to their website’s booking section. For those of us who were nerdy kids in the ’80s, these timepieces felt like the predecessors to smartphones and Apple Watches. Thus, my quest to find my car racing watch is not about its monetary value. It represents a connection to my 12-year-old self, a shared nostalgia for everything lost along the way.
The company acknowledges that X’s revenue and profits plummeted in the UK when Elon Musk took over the social media platform.
A decrease in ad spending due to concerns about “brand safety and/or content moderation” was cited as a key reason, according to recent accounts submitted.
Twitter UK Ltd also faced significant scrutiny for missing its account filing deadline last month, as noted in recent company filings. It finally filed its complete account in 2023, the year it was rebranded as X after Musk’s acquisition.
“The company continues to develop brand safety tools, invest in platform safety and content moderation, and implement corrective measures to educate advertisers on these initiatives,” stated the company.
Overall revenue amounted to £69.1 million, down 66.3% year-on-year from £205.3 million in 2022. Profit for 2023 dropped to £1.2 million from £5.6 million the previous year, with pre-tax profit decreasing by 74% to £2.25 million. This was described as a “significant decline in the company’s performance.”
The acquisition of masks also led to layoffs, with Musk revealing that only 1,500 of the approximately 8,000 Twitter employees were retained that year.
In the UK, the number of employees at the company decreased from 399 in the previous year to 114, including 173 cuts in the “research and development” sector.
Despite these challenges, X’s value was recently estimated at $44 billion by Musk, and his X.AI artificial intelligence company acquired the business for $33 billion last month.
Farhad Divecha, CEO of Accuracast and founder of unyte.ai, an expert in digital advertising, expressed that the revealed numbers did not come as a surprise.
“The warning signs were evident all along,” he remarked. “If anything, there may now be an opportunity for X to recuperate advertiser revenues, particularly if Musk and his team collaborate to support advertisers and implement brand safety protocols, initially focusing on the UK and Europe.”
X was contacted for comments, with KinFaiCheung listed as the director who approved the accounts. Cheung and Adeeb Sahar are listed as company directors, while Musk is identified as having a “key management” role at Company House.
Musk established a new company in the UK late last year amid speculation that he intends to make a substantial donation to Nigel Farage’s Reform British Party.
The new company, X.ai London, was founded on December 12th and is involved in “business and domestic software development,” operating from the same London office as X.
It will be assigned to a new ICHNOSPECIES Ruopodasaurus clava the footprints of these dinosaurs found in northeastern British Columbia and northwest Alberta confirm the presence of antirosaurus antirosaurus during the Middle North American period.
Cast specimen of Ruopodasaurus clava From the Murray River, British Columbia, Canada. Image credits: Arbor et al. , doi: 10.1080/02724634.2025.2451319.
“There are two major groups in Ankylosaurus,” says Dr. Victoria Arbor, an evolutionary biologist and vertebrate paleontologist at the Royal BC Museum and the University of Victoria.
“The Nodosaurid Ankylosaurs have a flexible tail and four toes, while the Ankylosaurs have a tail club like the Sledgehammer, with only three legs.”
“Unlike the well-known Ichnospecies of the Ankylosaurus. Tetrapodosaurus borealis These new tracks found in North America with four toes – Name Ruopodasaurus clava – There are only three, so anywhere in the world makes the first known example of antirosaurus footprints.”
“Ruopodasaurus clava means “falling lizards with clubs/maces,” referring to both the mountainous areas where these tracks were discovered and the distinctive tail clubs of these dinosaurs.
They don’t know exactly what the dinosaurs made, but Ruopodasaurus clava Although it looks like a footprint, paleontologists know it was about 5-6m long, thorny, armored, and had a stiff or full tail club.
“Ankylosaurus is my favorite group of dinosaurs, so it’s really exciting for me to be able to identify new examples of these dinosaurs in British Columbia,” Dr. Arbor said.
Newly discovered Ruopodasaurus clava The footprint dates back to the mid-Cretaceous period, approximately 100 million to 94 million years ago.
No bones of Ankilosauride were found in North America about 100-84 million years ago, leading to speculation that antirosauride disappeared from North America at this time.
These footprints show that during this gap in the skeletal fossil record, tailed ankylosauruses were alive and well in North America.
This finding also shows that two major ankylosaurus of Nodosaurus – Nodosaurus and Ankylosaurus groups coexist in the same region during this time, including this new three indirect species.
“We’ve seen a lot of experience in the world,” said Dr. Charles Helm, scientific advisor at the Tumbler Ridge Museum.
“It’s really exciting to know that through this research there are two types of Ankylosaurus that call this area home. Ruopodasaurus clava It has been identified only in this region of Canada.”
“The study also highlights how important the Peace Region in northeastern British Columbia is to understand the evolution of dinosaurs in North America.
“This discovery gives us a new part of the puzzle about ancient creatures that once roamed Canadian stuff.”
Findings are reported in a paper in Journal of VertebratePaleontology.
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Victoria M. Arbor et al. Ichnotaxon, a new tyrophoran from British Columbia, Canada, confirms the existence of antirosaurus dinosaurs in the central Cretaceous period of North America. Journal of VertebratePaleontologyPublished online on April 14th, 2025. doi:10.1080/02724634.2025.2451319
Challenging assumptions about infant memory, a new Yale-led study shows that 12-month-old young infants can code memory. Findings suggest that infant amnesia – the inability to remember the first few years of our lives – is likely caused by impaired memory retrieval, rather than being unable to form memories in the first place.
Yates et al. The mechanical basis of this infant amnesia was investigated by scanning the brains of awake infants with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Image credit: Kang Heungbo.
Despite childhood being a period of rapid learning, memories from this point do not continue to later childhoods or adults.
In general, humans cannot remember events in the first three years of their lives. This is a phenomenon known as infant amnesia.
The reason why grown-up humans have long-standing blind spots in their episode memories during their early childhood remains the puzzle.
One theory suggests that this occurs. This is because the hippocampus, a brain region important for episodic memory, is not fully developed during infancy.
However, rodent studies challenge this idea that memory traces or sculptures are formed in the infant hippocampus, but are inaccessible over time.
In humans, infants exhibit memory through behaviors such as conditioned responses, mimicking, and recognition of familiar stimuli.
However, it remains unclear whether these abilities are dependent on the hippocampus or other brain structures.
“The characteristic of these types of memories we call episode memories is that you can explain them to others, but that’s off the table when you’re dealing with pre-language toddlers.”
For this study, researchers wanted to identify robust methods for testing temporary memory in infants.
Scientists used an approach that showed images of new faces, objects, or scenes in infants between four months and two years.
After that, after the infant saw several other images, they showed the previously seen images next to the new one.
“When the baby sees something previously, when they see it again, they’re hoping to see more of it,” Professor Torque Brown said.
“In this task, if the toddler is staring at a previously seen image more than the new one next to it, it can be interpreted as the baby perceives it as familiar.”
The authors have pioneered methods for performing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with awake infants over the past decade (has been historically difficult due to the short attention span and inability to remain stationary).
Specifically, we assessed whether hippocampal activity is related to infant memory strength.
They discovered that the greater hippocampal activity when infants are looking at new images, the longer they see it when the infant reappears later.
The posterior part of the hippocampus (near the back of the head) where encoding activity was most intense, is the same region that is most associated with adult episodic memory.
These findings were true across a sample of 26 infants, but were the strongest among infants over 12 months (half of the sample group).
“This age effect leads to a more complete theory of how the hippocampus develops to support learning and memory,” Professor Torque Brown said.
Previously, the team found that the hippocampus of a 3 month-old young infant exhibits a different type of memory known as statistical learning.
While the memory of the episode deals with certain events, such as sharing Thai meals with out-of-town visitors last night, statistical learning is to extract patterns across events, such as restaurants that look like restaurants, specific dishes found or typical appearances where they are served seated.
These two types of memory use different neuronal pathways in the hippocampus.
And in previous animal studies, researchers have shown that statistical learning pathways seen in the anterior part of the hippocampus develop faster than that of temporary memory.
Therefore, the authors suspected that episodic memories could appear in childhood for about a year or more.
This developmental progression makes sense when thinking about the needs of babies.
“Statistical learning is about extracting the structure of the world around us,” Professor Torque Brown said.
“This is important for the development of language, vision, concepts, etc., and so I understand why statistical learning is played faster than episodic memory.”
Still, new research shows that episode memories can be encoded by the hippocampus earlier than previously thought, long before the earliest memories that can be reported as adults. So what about these memories?
“There are a few possibilities,” Professor Torque Brown said.
“One thing is that it simply doesn’t last long because memory may not be converted into long-term storage.”
“The other thing is that memories are still there long after encoding and we don’t have access to them.”
“And we think that might be the latter.”
“In our ongoing work, we test whether toddlers, toddlers and children remember home videos taken from the perspective of (young) babies.
“The new findings provide important connections.”
“Human work is significantly compatible with recent animal evidence that infant amnesia is a problem of recovery.”
“We are beginning to track the durability of hippocampal memory throughout childhood and entertain the possibilities of radical science fiction.
As containment efforts weaken, Texas health officials say the outbreak of measles in West Texas is likely to last a year, possibly even retreating the country’s fierce battle against the virus.
As of Friday, more than 300 outbreaks have become ill in Texas since January. 40 people are hospitalized. One child died of illness, and this was his first death in 10 years. Related cases have been reported in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Chihuahuas in Mexico.
“This is going to be a big outbreak,” said Katherine Wells, director of public health in Lubbock, Texas, in a recent news briefing. “And we’re still on the side that’s increasing the number of cases.”
“I really think this will be a year,” she added.
Some doctors in West Texas said in an interview that they had given up hope that vaccination campaigns could end the outbreak.
Dr. Ron Cook, who is also a state health official in Lubbock, said he resigned to the fact that the outbreak could infect more children and kill more children again.
“You just have to burn the community,’ Dr. Cook said. “That’s where we are.”
So far, cases have been concentrated in the large Mennonite community in Gaines County, which has historically had low vaccination rates. But experts fear that the longer the outbreak will last, the more likely it will spread to other unvaccinated communities around the country.
In New Mexico, authorities have reported 42 cases and one death. In Oklahoma, there were four cases of measles.
There is a particular concern that potentially infected children in West Texas will begin traveling for spring break, according to Dr. Phil Fan, director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services.
Measles has been considered “excluded” in the United States since 2000. Cases are generally linked to international travel, and if the virus attacks unvaccinated communities, the outbreak cannot last for more than a year.
The US almost lost its exclusion status in 2019, when a major outbreak spread across parts of New York for nearly 12 months. It was essentially useful as mostly due to aggressive vaccine orders. Increased vaccination rates in childhood In the community.
In Texas, where the obligation is deeply unpopular, vaccination efforts are “fighting,” Wells said. Public health officials have set up vaccination clinics in the area and are encouraging attendance in flyers and signs. It’s hardly succeeded.
In Seminole, Texas, it is the epicenter of the outbreak, with about 230 residents receiving shots at vaccination clinics.
“They’ve given out some vaccines in their community, but certainly not many,” Dr. Cook said.
“It doesn’t help that HHS secretaries aren’t actually continuing to intensify their vaccinations,” he added.
Local efforts to encourage shots were bumped into by a confused message from the country’s top health authorities, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In his first official statement on the outbreak, Kennedy faced a fierce backlash to minimize the threat, saying the outbreak was not “unusual” and falsely claimed that many hospitalized people were there “mainly due to quarantine.”
He later changed his approach, offering calm recommendations for vaccines to Western Texas, while also raising horrific concerns about vaccine safety.
To the frustration of local doctors and health officials, he also promoted unproven treatments such as cod liver oil and vitamins, and promoted a “nearly miraculous and instantaneous” recovery with steroids or antibiotics.
There is no treatment for measles, only medications that help manage symptoms. Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infection.
Texas health officials say measles patients rely on these unproven treatments and are worried that they will delay serious medical care as a result.
Current policies of governments around the world are likely to result in global warming of between 1.9 and 3.7°C by 2100, with potentially more to come in the 22nd century.
“Each year, 2,100 people continue to emit more CO2 as global temperatures rise,” said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Stripe, a California-based software company that invests in carbon removal technologies. states.
His conclusions are based on a review of more than a dozen studies published over the past five years, looking at the implications of current policies over the past five years. According to these studies, the world is most likely to warm between 2.3 and 3°C by 2100.
However, these numbers do not fully take into account the uncertainties about future emissions of greenhouse gases as a result of human actions and how the climate system will respond to those emissions. Including these uncertainties gives a wider range of 1.9–3.7 °C.
These numbers reflect the most likely range of scenarios from the 5th to 95th percentile. This means that even with current policies, there is a small chance of a maximum warming of 4.4°C this century.
The good news is that all recent studies agree that very high emissions scenarios are currently unlikely. For these, warming of 4°C or more before 2100 is the most likely outcome.
That's because the worst-case scenarios considered by climate scientists were never all that plausible to begin with, Hausfather says, but it also reflects real progress in limiting emissions growth. and coal is currently expensive.
If climate policies strengthen and technological advances continue to exceed expectations, future emissions could be even lower than assumed in these studies, but this is not guaranteed and The rise of energy-hungry technologies like intelligence could do the opposite.
“It's definitely possible to imagine a world where AI accelerates rapidly and near-term emissions increase beyond what we think will happen today,” Hausfather says.
But he doesn’t think AI-related emissions will make much of a difference in the long term. “It’s certainly not in line with rapid emissions reductions, but it’s hard to see that in itself putting us on track for a significantly different end-of-the-century outcome,” Hausfather says. .
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, is planning to reduce its global workforce by around 5%, with underperforming employees being the most likely to be let go.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined in a memo to employees that due to what he referred to as a challenging year ahead, he has decided to prioritize performance management by letting go of poor performers quicker than usual and accelerating the company’s performance evaluation process.
As of September, Meta had 72,000 employees globally, and the planned job cuts could impact up to 3,600 employees. The company aims to fill the vacant positions later in the year.
The announcement comes shortly after Meta’s decision to end third-party fact-checking and emphasize free speech, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program is also being terminated.
Employees in the US affected by the layoffs will be notified by February 10, with notifications for employees in other countries to follow later.
In the memo, Zuckerberg stated that he is raising the standards for performance management within the company: “We usually manage underperforming talent over a year, but this time we plan to make broader performance-based cuts during this cycle.”
The 40-year-old billionaire emphasized, “This will be an intense year. I want to ensure we have the best talent on the team.”
Employees being let go will be those who have been with Meta long enough to qualify for performance reviews.
Zuckerberg assured that the company will provide generous severance packages to those losing their jobs, similar to previous layoffs.
Meta’s stock dropped 2.3% on Tuesday, continuing a decline that began the day before.
The company faced criticism for removing its fact checker, potentially allowing misinformation and harmful content to circulate on its platform.
Similar to other tech companies, Meta is investing in artificial intelligence projects, with a focus on crucial technologies like AI, as mentioned by Zuckerberg.
Scientists announced on Friday that the world has experienced the first full year with global temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Agency (C3S) confirmed this milestone, attributing it to climate change causing global temperatures to rise to unprecedented levels for modern humans.
C3S director Carlo Buontempo described the trajectory as remarkable, with every month in 2024 being either the warmest or second warmest on record.
The average global temperature in 2024, according to C3S, is projected to be 1.6 degrees Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the pre-industrial period from 1850-1900, prior to significant CO2-emitting fossil fuel usage.
Last year marked the hottest year on record, and the past decade has consistently ranked among the warmest.
While the Met Office anticipates average temperatures in 2024 surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius, they estimate a slightly lower average of 1.53 degrees Celsius (34.75 degrees Fahrenheit). US climate data for 2024 is also set to be released on Friday.
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, governments have committed to preventing average temperatures from surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid severe climate disasters.
Despite reaching the first year above 1.5°C, C3S believes there is still an opportunity to alter this trajectory and work towards meeting the Paris Agreement goals to curb rising emissions.
In 2024, a woman pours water drop by drop into a bucket after drawing water from a well in a village in Zimbabwe. Jekesai Nikizana/AFP – Getty Images File
The impacts of climate change are being felt across all continents, affecting populations from wealthy to impoverished nations.
Wildfires in California, devastating fires in Bolivia and Venezuela, heavy rains in Nepal, Sudan, and Spain, and fatal heatwaves in Mexico and Saudi Arabia were all experienced in 2024.
Climate change is intensifying storms and heavy rains due to increased atmospheric heat retention and moisture levels, with water vapor reaching record highs in 2024.
Despite escalating costs from these disasters, some countries are weakening in their commitment to emission control measures.
Incoming US President Donald Trump has dismissed scientific consensus on man-made climate change and its hazardous consequences, despite the country experiencing numerous billion-dollar climate disasters in 2024.
Flooded roads in New Port Richey as Florida looks to recover from Hurricane Milton in October 2024. Spencer Pratt/Getty Images
Chukwumerije Okereke, a global climate governance professor, emphasizes that the 1.5 degree temperature surpass should serve as a wakeup call for key political figures to take action.
Despite ongoing warnings from scientists, many countries are failing to meet their responsibilities, Okereke added.
Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere hit a record high of 422 ppm in 2024, according to C3S.
Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist, anticipates that 2025 will be among the hottest on record, but unlikely to top the rankings.
As anthropogenic emissions remain a primary driver of climate warming, the transition from El Niño to cooler La Niña conditions is expected to moderate temperatures moving forward.
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.
The exceptionally powerful tornadoes this year include one spawned by Hurricane Milton in October, described as particularly destructive. Victor Gensini, a meteorology professor, emphasized the collective impact of these tornadoes, making it a significant year for severe weather.
The outbreak of tornadoes contributed to several costly weather disasters in the U.S. this year. By November 1st, NOAA had recorded 24 weather disasters, each causing at least $1 billion in damage, with tornado outbreaks ranking among the costliest events.
The increased tornado activity in 2024 has raised concerns about the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, prompting experts to explore possible links to climate change.
The classification of tornadoes according to the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale reveals the varying levels of wind speeds and resulting damage. The deadliest tornadoes of 2024, such as the EF-4 tornado in Iowa, caused extensive destruction and financial losses.
While the death toll from tornadoes in 2024 is significant, it is lower compared to previous deadliest years. The occurrence of tornadoes during hurricanes, like those associated with Hurricane Milton, also surprised experts for their strength and frequency, raising questions about climate change implications.
Research indicates a potential increase in tornado activity due to continued fossil fuel emissions, but the direct impact of climate change on tornadoes remains uncertain. Scientists are still investigating the complex relationship between climate change and tornado occurrence.
As the year approaches its end, the possibility of more tornadoes remains, underscoring the unpredictability of severe weather events.
Severe storms and tornadoes are forecasted in parts of the South and Gulf Coast, indicating that the threat of tornadoes persists despite the approaching end of the year.
As temperatures drop, winter officially begins on Saturday.
Learn about the winter solstice, the start of astronomical winter, and the shortest day of the year.
What is the winter solstice?
The winter solstice marks the start of astronomical winter, different from the meteorological winter based on the calendar.
In middle school science class, you may have learned that the Earth rotates around the sun in a large circle and on its axis, creating day and night. The axis tilt causes varying sunlight amounts in the northern and southern hemispheres throughout the year.
The winter solstice refers to the moment when half of the Earth is furthest from the sun, resulting in the shortest day of the year. It also signals an increase in sunlight for the next six months.
When is the winter solstice?
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice falls on December 21st, this year it is on December 21st. The summer solstice occurs around June 21st.
For people on the equator, their winter solstice is in June, and summer solstice in December.
What is the vernal equinox?
There are two vernal and autumnal equinoxes each year.
During the spring equinox, the sun is directly above the Earth’s equator, bringing equal sunlight and darkness.
The spring equinox in March marks the astrological end of winter, while the autumnal equinox in September marks the end of summer.
When is the next astrological seasonal change?
After the winter solstice, expect astronomical seasonal changes on specific dates:
Vernal Equinox (Spring): Thursday, March 20, 2025, 5:01 a.m.
Summer Solstice: Friday, June 20, 2025, 10:42 p.m.
Autumnal Equinox (Fall): Monday, September 22, 2025, 2:19 p.m.
Can you see the winter solstice?
As the winter solstice approaches, the sun’s orbit sets lower in the sky, resulting in longer shadows. On the day of the solstice, the shadow will be the longest of the year at noon.
You have seen game award name.
you have seen British Academy Awards longlist.
We’re still a little ways off from announcing our own Guardian Games of the Year list, but while you wait with bated breath, we’re sure to give you an appetizer. It is an alternative prize to Pushing Buttons. Right away…
Make the most of your bed as a gameplay device
Need to restore your mind while adventuring through the eerie rifts tearing Hyrule apart? All you have to do is conjure a bed out of thin air, stay out of reach of your enemies, and take a quick nap. Need to overcome a bridgeable gap? Now it’s time to conjure some bed. Need stairs? Barricades? Something decorative? Bed, bed, bed. in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom the bed is the real hero.
The perfect game to survive a long-haul flight
Hours of fun…Balatoro.
Photo: LocalThunk/Playstack
On my way to this year’s Summer Game Fest in LA, I pre-downloaded Steam Deck and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree to board the plane and prepare for my first uninterrupted 10-hour gaming session in my 30s. Ta. But when I loaded it, I had to authorize the purchase. And the Wi-Fi on the plane didn’t work. So, after getting really grumpy, I said, “I don’t know. baratolo (Photo above) And the 5 hour flight felt like a blink of an eye. Thank you, Mr. Baratolo, for not only taking up most of my free time in February, but for getting me through that awful flight.
impudence award
It led to a ton of plagiarism accusations and eventually a lawsuit from Nintendo, but it still has to be turned over to the game’s developer. pal world (Top photo) For his true face, he simply imitates a Pokemon and makes him hold a gun. (Palworld’s lead developer claims that the game does not infringe any copyright.)
Problematic Favorites Award
For years, I’ve been disgusted by the glorification of military forces in first-person shooters, as first-person shooters have become more realistic-looking. The connections between these games and real-world weapons manufacturers are also disturbing. These are frequently used as a recruiting tool in the military. And at the same time, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 The single-player campaign of “90s Special Operations Thriller…
Best First Date Award
The perfect date…Life is Strange: Double Exposure.
Photo: Square Enix
One of the first scenes of Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Above) During a student dive, we see 20-something Max Caulfield trying to flirt with a cute girl behind the bar…
Last year, the obesity rate among U.S. adults decreased slightly for the first time in more than a decade, a study found.
Researchers suggested this may be due in part to the rise of weight loss drugs like Ozempic.
However, other drugs and factors (such as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic) may also have played a role.
Obesity rates among U.S. adults declined slightly last year, according to a study, but it was the first time in more than a decade that the country had seen a downward trend. Part of that may be due to the recent rise of blockbuster weight loss drugs like Ozempic, the study authors said.
The findings of the study were announced on Friday. Journal JAMA Health Forumthe most significant declines were seen in the South, especially among women and adults ages 66 to 75.
The study looked at BMI measurements for more than 16.7 million adults from 2013 to 2023 across different regions, age groups, genders, races, and ethnicities. BMI measurements are a standard but limited method for estimating obesity relative to body weight. Height to length was collected from electronic health records.
Researchers found that the adult obesity rate in the United States decreased from 46% in 2022 to 45.6% in 2023. (These are slightly higher rates than the U.S. adult obesity rate) Estimate from the centers for disease control and preventionThis means that from 2021 to 2023, approximately 40% of U.S. adults were obese. )
Benjamin Rader, a computational epidemiologist at Boston Children's Hospital and an author of the study, said the results were not uniform across demographics or geographic regions.
“Obesity has been on the decline in the United States as a whole, especially in the South, but this has not been the case in some regions,” he said. “Obesity among Black Americans also decreased significantly, but obesity among Asian Americans increased.”
Rader said the decline in the South was notable because the region observed the highest per capita intake of weight loss drugs, based on researchers' analysis of insurance claims. But he acknowledged that the possible link needed further investigation.
The study authors also noted that obese people in the South had a disproportionately high number of COVID-19 deaths, which may have influenced the overall data.
Dr. Michael Weintraub, an endocrinologist and clinical assistant professor at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine, said the results are consistent with the following: Recent data from the CDC Results showed a slight decrease in obesity prevalence among U.S. adults from 2021 to 2023 compared to 2017 to 2020 (although severe obesity increased during this period). ).
“This data is interesting and holds the promise that we may be on the cusp of changing this obesity epidemic,” said Weintraub, who was not involved in the new study. “However, I would hesitate to call the value of this downward trend in 2023 a trend.”
Even if weight loss drugs were the main factor in reducing obesity, experts say further studies over longer periods of time are needed to assess the true effects of new drugs.
“We know these drugs are very effective, but we need a few more years to see if this is really a trend, or if it's just a small spike and we're back to normal, or if things get much worse. Dr. Tannaz Moin, an endocrinologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, said he was not involved in the study.
Moyn also pointed out that the new study only analyzed preparations of GLP-1 weight loss drugs (a category that includes Ozempic and Mounjaro). This type of drug is used to treat diabetes and obesity by reducing a person's appetite and food intake. This drug mimics the hormone that makes you feel full.
But GLP-1 drugs are only part of the prescription for treating obesity, and a more comprehensive study of different drugs could better capture changing trends, Moyn said. said. Weight loss drugs are also expensive, which can skew data about who can receive treatment.
Additionally, the study used insurance claims data, meaning those who were uninsured or who purchased weight loss drugs out of pocket were likely not included in the results.
Moin said he was surprised by the decline in BMI seen in older people.
“This group is not necessarily the group that I think is the biggest user of GLP-1 drugs, because a lot of them are in the Medicare age group,” she says, adding that weight loss drugs are the most popular for people on Medicare. may be difficult to obtain, he added. The Biden administration recently proposed a rule that would require Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight loss drugs for people seeking obesity treatment.
However, Weintraub cautioned that the observed decline does not necessarily indicate a long-term decline.
“We've been fooled until now by fluctuations in obesity prevalence,” he says. “We were excited about the downward trend in childhood obesity rates announced by the CDC in the early 2000s, but in the years since, obesity rates have increased even more.”
MJust as Christmas isn’t very fun for someone who has to prepare all the presents and prepare dinner, the annual gaming season can be pretty scary for someone who has to put together a shortlist. Every November, I add up all the critically acclaimed games of the year I haven’t played yet, the underground picks I haven’t followed, and the games I loved but forgot about in February. I feel the panic rising. And when all the year-end lists are released, you inevitably realize you missed something anyway.
The Game Awards has announced the nominations for this year’s ceremony, which will be held on December 12th in Los Angeles. (Disclosure: The Guardian is one of 130 voting bodies for this award, but my knowledge and involvement is limited to sending a ballot to Geoff Keighley each year, usually 1-2 (Sorry, Jeff.) But I’m happy to say that one of the top two games with the most nominations is Astro Bot, which received seven nominations. As far as I know, this game doesn’t get enough reviews. (The other was Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which won six awards and which critics called a miracle of fan service.) Sadly, after many attempts over the years to get into Final Fantasy Despite this, I’m still not immune to Final Fantasy’s charms.
The other contender for Game of the Year is Balatro, the ridiculously obsessive card game that took over my life in January. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, an expanded version of the 2022 action role-playing masterpiece. Metaphor: ReFantazio, a very stylish Atlus RPG that I wrote about a few weeks ago. And Black Myth: Wukong was a huge hit this summer, despite huge controversy surrounding its development and release.
It’s a close race, but my prize goes to Shadow of the Erdtree as the Grand Prize. Because this game is especially loved by game critics. However, I would be happy if Astro Bot wins. The dark horse is Baratolo. Everyone I know loses a week or two at that game, but the moment I win, the appeal wears off. However, there is a public vote worth 10% of the weighting. Significantly Black Myth: Wukong is powered by a huge fan base in China.
Neva, rightly nominated for Best Art Direction. Photo provided by: Nomada Studio
Elsewhere, I had the pleasure of seeing Neva, a game about a warrior and his wolf. This one completely made me sob and was nominated for best art direction, best independent game, and confusing game. Games that make an impact category. The latter list is supposed to be “thought-provoking games with pro-social meanings or messages,” but it appears to be an umbrella category of “emotional games.” I’ve played most of the games nominated in that category and a) I don’t see what ties them together, and b) I couldn’t explain what “prosocial” means in this context .
Indika is a dark and fascinating horror-inspired game about a 19th century nun who attacks a Russian Orthodox church. Hellblade II, like its predecessor, depicts the protagonist’s struggle with mental illness. Tales of Kenzera: Zau is about sadness and draws from its creator’s African heritage. “Closer the Distance” is also a song about sadness. Mr. Nevaeh could be interpreted as an environmentalist, and I think there is some loss in that. However, it is impossible to determine what kind of message Life is Strange: Double Exposure has along these lines.
Otherwise, there are few welcome surprises. Creepy exploration puzzler Animal Well was named Best Independent Game, followed by Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, an unpredictable mystery set in an abandoned hotel, and Mosmouth’s 1980s-style game, Ridiculously Generous The same goes for the compilation UFO 50. “Pacific Drive,” a spooky and bizarre fictional road trip about a broken old car that is constantly being repaired and reinforced, also made it onto our list of best debut games. While Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown deserves praise as the best action game, it was a real shame that Dragon’s Dogma II was only named as the best RPG.
and, ofcourse, The Pokémon trading card game Pocket won the award for Best Mobile Game. I’ve been playing it for several hours every day since it was released (and I still No shiny Articuno).
video game chronicle Easy to parse list Among all categories and nominations. But if you think The Game Awards is too commercial, a new awards show is debuting this year. indie game awards which celebrates the “creativity, innovation and passion” of small game developers, has just announced the nominees. Excerpt from the Best Games category: Mouthwashing, a horror game about the final days of the doomed crew of a space freighter. Arranger is an innovative RPG puzzle game. And Nine Sols, an action game that’s like a cross between Hollow Knight and Sekiro, is something I’ve been meaning to try all year.
Please tell us your favorite…
Before I get back to my own ghastly list, I’ll be giving a shout-out to Pushing Buttons readers’ favorite games of 2024, as always, in my newsletter towards the end of December. So go ahead and send it in with a few sentences about what it means to you and see the results in a few weeks.
what to play
Gloomy and strange…the rise of the Golden Idol. Photo: Color Gray Games
I continue to be fascinated ofRise of the Golden Idola gruesome and bizarre detective story that combines logic puzzles, fill-in-the-blank clues, and hidden object games. Each case is presented in the form of a tableau, and although I’m not sure of the style, it reminds me of a version with a certain twist. Grant Wood’s painting “American Gothic”.
The characters are frozen in a loop of seconds at or immediately after the crime, and you have to figure out who everyone is, why they’re there, and what the heck happened. It all connects to a larger story about corruption, deception, and cursed objects. This game often makes me feel very stupid (I don’t have a great brain to figure out names or details), but I still stick with it.
Available: Smartphone (if you subscribe to Netflix), PC, game console Estimated play time: 12 hours
There’s nothing like the real thing…World of Warcraft II remastered. Photo: YouTube
to celebrate world of warcraftOn the anniversary of , Blizzard re-released Warcraft and Warcraft II with updated graphics. unfortunately, everyone hates them. of the valve half life 2 Anniversary update speed has been significantly improved. Only venerable games Broke the long-standing concurrent player record. With steam.
a minecraft theme park ‘ is scheduled to be released in the UK in 2026 or 2027. I’m already breaking into a cold sweat thinking about how crowded it will be during the first half of the year.
Another game event comes up. WASDa popular showcase of indie-focused PC games, He’s not there anymore.
I’ll answer new questions next week, but for now, I have a few questions. Reader Recommendations Here are the answers to the last few question blocks. First, some more suggestions for Jonny’s wife who’s looking for a game like Civilization VI, but not quite so chill.
For the fourth year in a row, the snow has melted in parts of Scotland known for remaining snowy all year round.
This is the 10th time in more than three centuries that it has disappeared.
Such snowflakes could serve as a harbinger of the broader effects of climate change.
A patch of snow in the Scottish Highlands called the Sphinx typically remains all year round and remains frozen throughout the summer. But it has melted away four years in a row, making it only the tenth time in more than three centuries that it has happened.
The Sphinx that flanks Brelliach, Britain's third highest mountain, has historically been known to persist even after most of the snow and ice has disappeared each year on Scotland's Cairngorm Mountains, making it historically the longest-lasting snow in Britain. It was considered a zone. range.
But by September, like every year since 2021, this patch completely melted away. By comparison, the Sphinx disappeared only three times in the 20th century.
Experts say such snowy areas tend to be sensitive to small fluctuations in temperature, which could serve as a harbinger of the broader effects of climate change. The Sphinx's melting could therefore provide clues to how climate change is affecting the Scottish Highlands, the rest of Scotland and the world.
Grant Moir, chief executive of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, said: “The fact that the Sphinx is melting for the fourth year in a row is a good indicator of these changes.” “Climate change has always been relatively high on the agenda for us as a national park and is increasingly impacting the Highlands. We can learn from the Sphinx about the changes that are happening to our climate. can.”
The Sphinx is located in Brelliach, part of the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland. climate center
In addition to melting snow, highlands experience frequent storms and floods interspersed with long periods of dry weather, increasing the risk of wildfires, Moir said.
Changes in snow cover across the plateau affect mountain ecosystems by altering the natural hydrological cycle in which snow gradually melts from the mountains and flows into streams.
“It's really impacting things like salmon spawning areas and the river as a whole,” Moir said. “We need to mitigate some of these impacts and we need to think about what we can do to adapt to changing patterns.”
He added that Cairngorms Park was also home to some of the UK's most endangered species.
Its ripple effects extend beyond the natural environment. The national park is home to about 18,000 people and is visited by about 2 million people each year, Moir said. However, he said severe storms and flooding could displace residents, cause millions of pounds of damage and disrupt the region's valuable tourism industry.
“It's always been important to try to strike the right balance to ensure that nature and people can thrive within the national park,” Moir said. “What we are trying to do is make sure we invest in things that are good for nature, biodiversity and people.”
Records show that the Sphinx's snow belt has melted only 10 times in more than 300 years. climate center
Ian Cameron, author of The Vanishing Ice: Diaries of a Scottish Snow Hunter, has spent more than 25 years studying snow in the hills and mountains of Scotland. Every year he publishes his findings on the region's snow cover in the British Meteorological Society's annual report.
Prime Minister David Cameron wrote last year that the Sphinx's fate was a story with “little prospect of a happy ending”.
“There is little doubt that we are witnessing a change in the language used to describe snow in Scotland.” he wrote. “In the past, the adjective that best described the Sphinx was 'permanent,' but that had to be changed to 'semi-permanent,' then 'permanent,' and then 'semi-permanent.' But even this descriptor will not be able to withstand the pressure exerted by continued disappearances. We are now witnessing an era where patches of snow may remain only occasionally. ”
The 34th Ig Nobel Prize was awarded today for 10 unexpected things – all so surprising that, in keeping with the Prize's long tradition, it makes people laugh and makes them think.
of Award Ceremony The event took place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the lecture hall was filled with paper airplanes thrown by audience members honoring the Ig Nobel tradition of bringing in pieces of paper to be transformed into disposable aircraft.
Peaceful Dove
This year's Ig Award winners cover a wide range of subjects, including humans, plants and other behaviours, including some birds.
Before deciding to use live pigeons to guide the flight path of a missile, you might want to conduct an experiment to see if it's feasible to house a pigeon at the nose of a missile. Such an experiment was conducted in the 1940s by psychologist B.F. Skinner, who was posthumously awarded this year's Ig Nobel Peace Prize.
Skinner's daughter Julie attended the ceremony and accepted the award on his behalf. B.F. Skinner was a giant in the field of behaviorism. A few years after his experiment with putting pigeons on missiles, he Written“Something happened in the short time frame of the Pigeon project that took a long time to be understood. The practical challenges before us have led to new ways of thinking about organismic behavior.”
A botanical sense of style
A similar rethinking of attitudes could come from the work of Jacob White and Felipe Yamashita, two 2024 Ig Nobel Prize laureates in Botany. They found evidence that some real plants mimic the shapes of their artificial plastic neighbors. For more information, see their study,Bochyra trifoliata Mimicking the leaves of an artificial plastic host plant“
Marjolaine Willems and her colleagues won the anatomy prize for investigating whether the hair of most people in the Northern Hemisphere curls in the same direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) as the hair of most people in the Southern Hemisphere.
Countless metaphors and phrases are associated with the work that earned Takebe Takanori and his colleagues the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Found Many mammals can breathe through their anus.
The tenacity of the Probability Prize winners František Bartos, Erik Jan Wagenmakers, Aleksandra Sarafoglu and Henrik Godman, along with around 50 colleagues, many of them students, has paid off. ShowedWe know, both in theory and from 350,757 experiments, that when you flip a coin, it tends to land on the same side as you started with.
Painful placebo
Lieven Schenk, Tahmin Fadai and Christian Büchel won the medicine prize for demonstrating that a placebo that causes painful side effects can be more effective than a placebo that does not cause painful side effects.
(Their study It reminds me of the prize-winning paper by Dan Ariely and his colleagues, but doesn't explicitly cite it. 2008 Medicine Award They demonstrated that expensive counterfeit medicines are more effective than cheaper counterfeit medicines.
Jimmy Liao won the Physics Prize for demonstrating and describing the swimming ability of dead trout. series ofpaper He writes about his discovery of this unexpected aspect of fluid mechanics.
Drunken Bug
Earthworms can stay drunk and can become drunk when they consume alcohol. Tess Heremans, Antoine Debray, Daniel Bon and Sander Woutersen method Chromatography is used to separate drunk and non-drunk bugs.
The research award for demography (the statistical study of population) went to Saul Justin Newman for his research exploring whether demographers notice important details: Newman found that many of the people famous for having lived the longest lived in places where birth and death records were poorly kept.
This year's gathering of Ig laureates ended with a flourish: Fordyce Ely and William E. Petersen were posthumously awarded the biology prize. experiment That's just what they did in the 1940s: They exploded a paper bag next to a cat standing on a cow's back to see when and how the cow would spill milk.
Eli's daughter Jane and grandson Matt were also in attendance to accept the award and watch demonstrations including a toy cat, a man in a cow costume and five Nobel Prize winners making an exploding paper bag.
Marc Abrahams is the founder of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and co-founder of the journal Annals of Improbable Research. He previously worked on unusual uses of computers. His website is Impossible.
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