Mock Turtle world

[Mock Turtle]

Electricity grids creak as AI demands soar

Data centre electricity demand is forecast to double in four years, putting energy grids under pressure.

www.bbc.co.uk

BT scraps digital landline switch deadline

BT has ditched its timetable to move landline customers from copper wire to digital.

www.bbc.co.uk

US says Russia likely launched space weapon

The Russian satellite launched last week may be capable of attacking other satellites, the Pentagon says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Beano reveals top 10 jokes written by primary school children for Britain's Funniest Class competition

Schools around the country submitted entries for the Beano competition - with the best joke set to feature in this week's edition of the classic comic.

news.sky.com

Tut, tut, so childish.

Paula Vennells cries and denies knowing Post Office was carrying out its own prosecutions – live

Former chief executive tells the inquiry she did not realise Post Office was carrying out prosecutions itself until 2012

www.theguardian.com

This affair is almost unbelievable, given that any techie would first look at the question of remote access to systems - if such was enabled and could be tracked - and which seemed highly likely as to maintenance and updating of any systems, and then look at the likelihood of such being misused (or simply hacked) over the likelihood of post office staff/owners actually doing any thieving. Given the latter is less likely to occur - the potential criminals hardly leaving and running away with their proceeds, unlike with most theft. So why didn't this message pass up the chain of command? And perhaps they should have looked at the statistics for other sectors of industry, such as retail shopping, and as to how much fraud or thieving occurred in such - by staff.

‘This garbage is pure fiction’: when subjects hit back at their biopics

Trump has spoken out against The Apprentice, but he’s not the first celebrity to attack an unflattering big-screen portrait

www.theguardian.com

Unflattering? The only way he wouldn't get such is if he wrote it himself or paid some lacky to do it for him.

The Denmark secret: how it became the world’s most trusting country – and why that matters

There are real benefits to a society where people feel safe enough to leave their babies and bikes on the street. How have the Danes achieved this level of faith in their fellow citizens?

www.theguardian.com

Over the years, Denmark has emerged as the good faith capital of the world. Nearly 74% of Danes believe “most people can be trusted” – more than any other nationality. On wider metrics, such as social trust (trusting a stranger) and civic trust (trusting authority), Denmark also scores highest in the world, with the other Nordic countries close behind. The political scientist Gert Tinggaard Svendsen argues that trust accounts for 25% of Denmark’s otherwise inexplicable wealth. By his reckoning, a quarter of that wealth comes from physical capital (means of production and infrastructure), half comes from human capital (the population’s level of education and innovation), and the unexplained final quarter is trust: they don’t sue one another, they don’t waste money on burglar alarms, businesses often make binding verbal agreements without sweating the contract. People who hold power in Danish institutions – the government, police, judiciary, health services – are trusted to be acting in society’s best interests, and there is very little corruption. Even the Danish official website calls it “the land of trust”, using unattended cloakrooms at the opera as an example. A better one I saw is the Red Cross charity shop in Copenhagen, which has a QR code on the door. If the shop’s closed, you can download the app, let yourself in, choose what you want and leave the money on the counter.

Adults who trust each other not to steal babies go on to trust one another around older children playing unsupervised. This is partly thanks to what Jesse Shapins, an environmental urban entrepreneur who moved to Denmark from Colorado, calls “the block typology – a series of apartment buildings built around a common courtyard”. This style has a long history in Denmark, and its social benefits have been boosted over the past 30 years by a lot of municipal investment: tearing down concrete structures, planting trees, giving the public realm a shared, owned atmosphere so people treat and behave in it as they would their private homes. Shapins and his partner have lived all over the US and Europe, but they’re settled now in Copenhagen. “I’ve felt the greatest degree of freedom to allow my child to move and operate on her own,” he says. Shapins’s daughter is eight and has been cycling alone since the age of six. “The built environment is really important – there’s far less dependence on cars, and spaces that are dominated by cars. But I have to acknowledge the social trust.”

By the time Danish kids are 14, they can choose to send themselves to efterskole, which sounds like after-school but is actually boarding school, for between one and three years – you pay for board and materials, but it’s state-subsidised. This is the legacy of the 19th-century poet, pastor and politician NFS Grundtvig, who also established the folk high school (fee-paying, with scholarships available for low-income families), which Danes can go to for the six months before they start university. One-third of Danes choose to go and live in one of these kibbutz-style, intellectual communities, where urban meets rural, and social grades mingle. “You build your character, practise democracy, learn society,” says Lea Korsgaard, editor-in-chief and co-founder of the online newspaper Zetland (she went to a folk high school, and is now married to the principal of one). Korsgaard’s 14-year-old son, her eldest, is about to set off for efterskole. During Covid, when people sang together from their balconies, it was from the folk highschool songbook. University comes round, and there are no tuition fees. You also get a grant of £693 a month; if you work part-time as well, you can make rent, which in Copenhagen is £450 to £600 a month for a room in a shared house – on the outskirts of the city, it would be more like £150. I ask my photographer, Valdemar Ren, who’s 27, what’s to stop people studying for ever. His response makes me laugh: “You’re only entitled to six years.”

“Our welfare society, as a system, was a very ambitious idea 50 or 60 years ago, when it was on a high,” says Franciska Rosenkilde, leader of the progressive/green party The Alternative. This was founded in 2013 by Uffe Elbæk, who, before Brexit, I saw give a magisterial speech on how much you can tell about a society by whether or not, if a bike is lying knocked over on the pavement, people will pick it up. You could probably describe the whole story of trust in Denmark through its relationship with the bicycle: the faith people have that their children won’t come to harm; the fact that nobody really locks their bikes to anything – they just put a tinny wheel lock on and hope for the best; the bicycle’s “meaningful quality-of-life and sustainability benefits”, Shapins says, “which isn’t some altruistic thing. It’s because we’ve made it the easiest and cheapest way to get around the city.” Anyway, back to the welfare state: “That was founded very much on mutual trust,” Rosenkilde says. Denmark has a universal model of welfare, which holds that all citizens have the right to certain fundamental benefits and services. In the UK and the US, we have a “residual model”: bare minimum benefits for the poorest and skeleton services for everyone but the richest. “I think the whole idea of people being as equal as possible is very much underpinning this trust,” Rosenkilde continues. “We have this connectedness because you don’t have a lot of people that are very poor or very rich.” Equality, Rosenkilde says, has decreased over the past three decades, as Denmark is caught up in the neoliberal drag of the globe: its Gini coefficient has crept up, but by that measure it’s still the sixth most equal country in the OECD.

Bijoe, 50, and Kris, 29, are having a beer in the anarchic “free town” of Christiania, in the middle of Copenhagen. They’re both originally from Nepal. “Danish people aren’t racist at all,” Bijoe says, “but Danish policy is very racist.” The signal example is the so-called “ghetto list”, which started in 2010, and set a threshold of 50% migrants (first or second generation) who could live in an area, above which it classified as a “ghetto”, which triggered mass evictions and regeneration (the basketball court where Valdemar was playing is in Mjølnerparken, which was designated a ghetto in 2020, and is now, after evictions and regeneration, full of white guys playing basketball).

Perhaps other nations might take note, and as to which we might see more integration and less expectations as to turning an immigrating country into one reflecting as to where the immigrants might come from, and which then might cause conflicts - particularly as to ghettos.

New Zealand man filmed trying to ‘body slam’ an orca in actions described as ‘idiotic’

Department of Conservation fines 50-year-old after seeing footage of stunt on social media, and described his behaviour as ‘a blatant example of stupidity’

www.theguardian.com

The actions of a New Zealand man filmed jumping off a boat in what appears to be an attempt to “body slam” an orca have been described as “shocking” and “idiotic” by the country’s Department of Conservation. In a video shared to Instagram in February, a man can be seen jumping off the edge of a boat into the sea off the coast of Devonport in Auckland, in what appears to be a deliberate effort to touch or “body slam” the orca, the department said. He leaps into the water very close to a male orca, as a calf swims nearby, while someone on board the boat films it. Others can be heard laughing and swearing in the background. As he swims back towards the boat he yells “I touched it” and asks “did you get that?” He then attempts to touch the orca again.

Darwin Award? And does he not know of the orca that killed a worker in a captive environment?

Dawn Brancheau - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Borrowdale rainforest in Lake District declared national nature reserve

Five nature reserves will be created each year for next five years to celebrate coronation of King Charles

www.theguardian.com

Russia begins tactical nuclear weapon drills near Ukraine border

Vladimir Putin announced the exercises earlier this month ‘as a warning to the west not to escalate tensions further’

www.theguardian.com

But really shows how desperate this idiot is, given that any use of such weapons will as likely destroy Russia as enable his plans to come into fruition.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Primary school wants to ban skirts because pupils wear them 'too short'

It would mean pupils would wear trousers or tailored shorts instead of skirts.

metro.co.uk

But one mum said: ‘It seems ridiculous that girls have no dress or pinafore option and to be asked to dress in a uniform that will make some girls feel uncomfortable/not themselves. Young girls especially in the junior school are suffering because teachers can’t handle the discipline it takes to teach kids to roll down their skirt. It is unfair and a blanket ban on skirts seems crazy.’

Yeah, of course it is their right to make themselves more appealing to paedophiles - if such is needed. It's bad enough with older girls, and not something that was allowed when I was at school - fortunately. Many where I live are just daft as to their short skirts or as to their supposed rights, when they are mostly just victims of fads and fashion. School should be where discipline is learned - of the self-discipline sort - and school uniforms are so as to reduce the normal tendencies to be better than others.

'Rise of Frankenstein dog and why so many women are being killed' - expert

Mum Angeline Mahal joins a long list of fatal XL bully attack victims. Criminologist Dr Simon Harding explains how the newly banned breed has become a status dog with devastating consequences

www.mirror.co.uk

A status symbol, or as for protection, or as to sheer ignorance as to their potential for causing injuries and/or death perhaps.

Plan for £3.4bn Israel-style Iron Dome to defend Europe against missile attacks

Poland's prime minister Donald Tusk urged European leaders to back the project to develop the continent's equivalent to the Iron Dome in order to protect against its enemies

www.mirror.co.uk

UK government's chilling list of items Brits need at home to survive nuclear war

A new website has been launched by the Government setting out guidance for the public to prepare for emergencies like another pandemic, a mass cyberattack or nuclear war

www.mirror.co.uk

Emergency supplies list:

1. Battery or wind-up torch
2. Portable power bank for charging your mobile phone
3. Battery or wind-up radio to get updates during a power cut
4. Spare batteries for torch or radio
5. First aid kit
6. Wet wipes and hand sanitiser
7. Bottled water
8. Non-perishable food that does not require cooking (e.g. tinned meat, fruit or vegetables) and tin opener
9. Baby supplies (e.g. nappies and formula)

A bit pointless given we don't know how long we might need the food and water for.

 

[Mock Turtle]

‘Drowning Street’: what the papers say as Rishi Sunak makes his election announcement

Images of the prime minister outside No 10 Downing St dominate the UK front pages, as he announces a general election for 4 July

www.theguardian.com

Or, What a Drip! Given it seems that he just mistook the conditions and Carried On Regardless of the rain - and all the brolly-wielding crowd of reporters or the likely puns and comments that would ensue from simply not having someone protect him with an umbrella - so just rather silly.

Fossil viruses hidden in our DNA thousands of years ago could be cause of depression

A look at our ‘junk DNA’ shows fossil viruses could play an important function

www.independent.co.uk

Ancient DNA present in humans may be linked to major psychiatric disorders like depression, researchers have said. DNA sequences originating from ancient infections are found in the brain, with some contributing to susceptibility for conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression, a study found. About 8% of the genome (the complete set of DNA) is made up of sequences called Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs) – products of ancient viral infections that occurred hundreds of thousands of years ago. It had been thought that these fossil viruses had no important function, and were simply junk DNA. However, scientists have discovered where in our DNA these fossil viruses are located, helping them to understand what functions they may have. The study is the first to show that a set of specific HERVs expressed in the human brain contribute to psychiatric disorder susceptibility.

Michael Schumacher’s family wins compensation for fake AI ‘interview’

German magazine Die Aktuelle last year published an ‘exclusive interview’ with the F1 legend, who hasn’t been seen publicly for a decade since a near-fatal skiing accident, but the answers were generated by an artificial intelligence programme

www.independent.co.uk

Michael Schumacher’s family has won €200,000 (£170,287) in compensation from a German magazine after they published an ‘exclusive interview’ with the F1 legend based on answers generated by an artificial intelligence programme. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has not been seen publicly since suffering a near-fatal brain injury while skiing in December 2013 in Meribel, France. His wife Corinna has insisted on protecting Schumacher’s privacy in the decade since, with his medical condition shrouded in secrecy as he continues to recover at home in Switzerland.

All the best General Election 2024 memes so far

The general public has given their snap verdict on the announcement.

metro.co.uk

The first Twitter/X rant is worth a look.

World's first head transplant system revealed

Beware if you're squeamish.

metro.co.uk

Probably about as unlikely as uploading and downloading human minds and personalities.

Preteens use dating apps, and 1 in 4 are sexual minorities: Study

Though most online dating apps have a minimum age requirement of 18 years, a new study finds that a small number of 11–12 year-olds use them. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) preteens are 13 times more likely to report engaging in online dating compared to their heterosexual peers.

phys.org

Though most online dating apps have a minimum age requirement of 18 years, a new study finds that a small number of 11–12 year-olds use them. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) preteens are 13 times more likely to report engaging in online dating compared to their heterosexual peers. The research is published in the journal BMC Research Notes. "Lesbian, gay, or bisexual adolescents, including preteens, may have limited romantic partner options in their schools, where they may also face discrimination, bullying, and stigma because of their sexual orientation," says lead author Jason Nagata, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. "Dating apps may allow adolescents to easily identify other LGB users in close geographic proximity, whereas it may be more difficult to determine a potential partner's sexual orientation in real life." The researchers analyzed data from 10,157 adolescents, mostly 11 to 12 year-olds, who are part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States. Data were collected from 2018-2020. Adolescents answered questions about online dating app use and their sexual orientation. The study also found that preteen boys were nearly three times more likely to report online dating compared to girls.

Many microplastics in the world's oceans have likely escaped detection, researchers say

Chemicals within microplastics that are found in our world's oceans and waterways, and in drinking water sources, remain of concern to scientists and public health officials. A new study that investigated the presence of the smallest particles of microplastics (MPs) in ocean waters from the...

phys.org

Study finds distinct brain connectivity patterns in infants at familial risk for autism

A study co-led by researchers at UCLA Health has found distinct brain connectivity patterns in six-week-old infants at risk for developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The authors say their findings suggest that differences in brain responses likely emerge much earlier than ASD-related...

medicalxpress.com

Approximately one in nine U.S. children diagnosed with ADHD: New study highlights growing public health concern

An exploration into the national U.S. dataset on children ever diagnosed with ADHD has revealed an "ongoing and ever-expanding" public health issue.

medicalxpress.com

How stores use TikTok to sell e-cigarettes to children

A new paper in Nicotine and Tobacco Research shows that advertising and sales of vaping products is common on TikTok, the video sharing platform popular among teenagers. Users pushing these items often use hashtags like #puffbundles to disguise vaping products by including things like lip gloss...

medicalxpress.com

A new paper in Nicotine and Tobacco Research shows that advertising and sales of vaping products is common on TikTok, the video sharing platform popular among teenagers. Users pushing these items often use hashtags like #puffbundles to disguise vaping products by including things like lip gloss and candy in the packages for sale. Despite smoking rates reaching an all-time low in the United States, public health professionals are concerned about adolescent use of electronic cigarettes. In 2023, some 4.7 million (17%) middle school and high school students reported using e-cigarettes.

In September 2023, researchers scraped 475 English language TikTok videos posted between July 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023 using a TikTok application programming interface. The investigators identified popular hashtags related to e-cigarettes, including #puffbarss, #geekbar, #elfbar. They then narrowed the hashtags to those specific to online sales of e-cigarettes (hashtags included #discreetshipping, #puffbundle, #hiddennic). Overall, the researchers found that 50.4% of the videos studied advertised popular vaping brands and 45% included cannabis products. Some 28.6% of products advertised were described as "bundled," 8.7% indicated that the products were "hidden," and 6% specified international shipping was possible. Videos directed customers to other social media platforms—most often (57.5%) Instagram—to use services including Telegram to purchase electronic nicotine products. The study indicated that vendors, either individuals or businesses, often evade local, state, or national legal restrictions on sales and advertising of vaping products to minors by creating what TikTok users tag as #puffbundles or #vapebundles. These bundles often include other innocuous products (including candy, fake eyelashes, and lip gloss), so the packages do not appear to be vaping products at all. This explains how young adults are purchasing e-cigarettes despite minimum legal sales age and flavor restriction laws.

Among videos posted about selling vaping products on TikTok, almost half (45.2%) advertised that they did not require age verification of the buyer. No video indicated customers needed to provide identification for purchase or acceptance of the mailed package of vaping products. "Parents should be aware that children may be receiving e-cigarette products through the mail. These self-proclaimed small businesses are targeting youth by advertising that they don't check for identification," said the paper's lead author, Page Dobbs. "If your child receives a bundle of candy or beauty products in the mail, check inside the packaging or inside the scrunchie with a zipper. Also, policymakers and enforcement agencies should be aware that these products are being shipped internationally, meaning people are circumventing tobacco laws in multiple countries."

Brain implant in conjunction with AI app allows nearly mute man to speak in two languages

A team of neurosurgeons and AI specialists at the University of California, San Francisco, has found some success in restoring speech to a patient who lost the ability after a stroke.

medicalxpress.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Oldest Known Human Viruses Found in 50,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Bones

How Neanderthals went extinct while humans survived is one of the biggest questions in our species' history.

www.sciencealert.com

Microplastics Found in Blood Clots in Heart, Brain, And Legs

Although it's a small study, it adds to evidence that the concentration of microplastics may affect disease severity.

www.sciencealert.com

Earlier this year, we got news from a landmark study that microplastics – tiny shards of plastic shed from larger chunks – had been found inside more than 50 percent of fatty deposits from clogged arteries. It was the first data of its kind to draw a link between microplastics and their impact on human health. Now, a new study from researchers in China reports finding microplastics in blood clots surgically removed from arteries in the heart and brain, and deep veins in the lower legs. It's only a small study, of 30 patients – not nearly as many as the 257 patients followed for 34 months in the arterial plaque study published in March. But similar to how the Italian-led team found the presence of microplastics in plaques raised people's subsequent risk of heart attack or stroke, the Chinese team also found a potential association between levels of microplastics in blood clots and disease severity.

With microplastics previously detected in human lung tissue and blood samples, it's easy to imagine how these microscopic plastic pieces make their way from the environment into our bodies, and blood clots, if they form – even if scientists can't trace that pathway step-by-step as it happens. A 2023 study previously detected the chemical 'fingerprints' of microplastics in 16 surgically removed blood clots. Now we have a sense from Wang and team's work, which used infrared chemical imaging and other methods, of how concentrated those plastic particles can be in blood clots and their possible health effects. It just shows how fast this field is moving, from detecting microplastics in human tissues, to studying their effects in cells and mice, to now elucidating the health impacts of microplastics in humans. The results couldn't come fast enough. Plastic production is only increasing, with fossil fuel companies ramping up their plastics output as their other business prospects crumble. "Due to the ubiquity of microplastics in the environment and in everyday products, human exposure to MPs is unavoidable," Wang and colleagues warn. "As such, microplastic pollutants have sparked growing concern due to their widespread presence and potential health implications."

Here’s what’s really going on inside an LLM’s neural network

Anthropic's conceptual mapping helps explain why LLMs behave the way they do.

arstechnica.com

James Webb telescope confirms there is something seriously wrong with our understanding of the universe

Depending on where we look, the universe is expanding at different rates. Now, scientists using the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes have confirmed that the observation is not down to a measurement error.

www.livescience.com

The Virtue of Doubt

Is doubt always a bad thing?

www.psychologytoday.com

6 Ways to Improve Your Sex Life by Yourself

These research-supported tips can help to improve your sex life whether or not you have a partner.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[Riders]

Well my nursing home has started getting me up for activities 2 hours a day m

 

[Mock Turtle]

Kremlin denies Trump’s claim he will reach deal to free detained US journalist

Ex-president says he will use his relationship with Vladimir Putin to free Evan Gershkovich, in jail for more than a year accused of spying

www.telegraph.co.uk

The Biden campaign said the release of Mr Gershkovich remained an urgent priority, and it accused Mr Trump of using wrongfully imprisoned Americans as political props. “Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn about the innocent Americans unjustly imprisoned by Vladimir Putin,” TJ Ducklo, a Biden campaign adviser, said in an email. “Trump has called journalists ‘enemies of the people’ and pledged to imprison reporters whose coverage he doesn’t like – not all that dissimilar to what’s happening right now to Evan Gershkovich in Russia.” Mr Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 by the FSB, Russia’s federal intelligence agency, for obtaining information on a “Russian defence enterprise”.

Milky Way photographer of the year 2024 – in pictures

The travel photography site Capture the Atlas has published the seventh edition of its competition, with the galaxy currently at its most visible

www.theguardian.com

Ukraine war briefing: US-supplied glide bombs struggle against Russian jamming

‘Extremely cruel’ attacks kill at least seven in Kharkiv; Blinken told to get rid of ban on Ukrainians firing US weapons into Russia. What we know on day 821

www.theguardian.com

You have to wonder at what stage will the Russians claim to solely being attacked by other nations besides defending their pathetic 'special military operation' in Ukraine and provoke an ultimatum - just as happened in 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crisis - but where Putin possibly expects to win such - or die along with so many others, and given he probably hasn't long to live, perhaps he would risk a disastrous decision - unlike Khrushchev.

‘We were fish in a barrel’: Australian tourist describes deadly Islamic State attack in Afghanistan

Joe McDowell, 38, from Perth, was visiting Bamiyan when he was shot by a gunman who killed three Spaniards and three Afghans

www.theguardian.com

Pakistani poet was abducted because of human rights activism, says wife

Ahmad Farhad was pushed into vehicle hours after posting about threats from country’s spy agency, says Syeda Urooj Zainab

www.theguardian.com

The wife of a Kashmiri poet and journalist who was abducted from outside his house last week has accused the country’s spy agency of responsibility, saying it acted because of his activism. Ahmad Farhad was pushed into a vehicle in Islamabad after returning from a dinner in the early hours of Wednesday 15 May and driven away. His wife, Syeda Urooj Zainab, said that hours before his abduction Farhad had posted on X about receiving threats from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, using the euphemism “the company” to describe it. “My husband has been abducted for writing and raising his voice against human rights violations across the country,” Zainab said. “He actively reported on the recent protests in his hometown in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Farhad has been receiving threats from the company for a long time, he was asked to keep silent which he refused.”

Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, the judge hearing the case, said the government needed to change people’s perception of state institutions that are accused of abducting people. Zainab said she hoped that Farhad would be reunited with his family on Friday after the court interfered. Harris Khalique, another poet and civil society activist, said: “Abducting artists or poets is not just a disappointing act on part of the state, it is a sign of intellectual decline in society at large.”

Or just a sign that all it needs to bring down a despotic regime is a few people allowed to express their views.

Huge number of deaths linked to superbugs can be avoided, say experts

Models suggest deaths in poorer countries could be cut by 18% – or about 750,000 a year – with preventive measures

www.theguardian.com

London-born boy who died aged 15 to become first millennial saint

Second posthumous miracle attributed to leukaemia victim Carlo Acutis, qualifying him for canonisation

www.theguardian.com

Acutis was put on the path towards sainthood after Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to him: a seven-year-old boy from Brazil recovered from a rare pancreatic disorder after coming into contact with one of Acutis’s T-shirts. A priest had also prayed to Acutis on behalf of the child.

V'aleria Valverde, 21, underwent an emergency craniotomy to reduce pressure on her brain and her family was told she was in a critical condition, it was reported. Her mother went to pray for her daughter’s recovery at the tomb of Acutis in the Umbrian town of Assisi six days later. The church said that on the same day, Valverde began to breathe without a ventilator and recovered the use of her upper limbs and her speech. She was discharged from intensive care 10 days later and scans showed that the contusion on her brain had disappeared, according to reports.

So, no other explanation for either of these, despite there being a medical intervention for the second.

It’s an open secret: the UAE is fuelling Sudan’s war – and there’ll be no peace until we call it out | Husam Mahjoub

The Emirates is arming and supporting one side in the conflict, but UK and US officials have shied from confronting it, writes Husam Mahjoub, co-founder of the Sudan Bukra TV channel

www.theguardian.com

Disposable vapes reversing historic trend by driving up nicotine use

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009

www.independent.co.uk

The study, funded by Cancer Research UK, looked at data on vaping and smoking for 132,252 people in England from July 2016 to May 2023. The study found that, in England up to June 2021, smoking and vaping had been stable or declining across all age groups. “However, since disposable vaping started to become popular, vaping has been increasing across all age groups – especially younger adults (18 to 24-year-olds),” it said. The proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds who said they vaped tripled over the period, rising from 9% in May 2021 to 29% in May 2023. Smoking in this age group declined from 25% to 21%, but overall nicotine use increased from 28% to 35%. In older age groups, vaping prevalence increased from 5% to 6% among those aged over 45, while smoking also increased from 12% to 14%. The rise in vaping was greatest in people who had never smoked, rising from 2% to 9% in 18 to 24-year-olds. Overall, the researchers said that, after disposables became popular in 2021, the odds of people saying they vaped increased by 99% per year among 18 to 24-year-olds, compared with 39% in 25 to 44-year-olds and 23% in those aged 45 or older. The team concluded: “Since disposable vapes started becoming popular in England, historic declines in nicotine use have reversed. Now, nicotine use appears to be rising, driven primarily by sharp increases in vaping among young people. Smoking declines have been most pronounced in age groups with the largest increases in vaping.”

It comes as the World Health Organisation (Who) published a report saying vapes and other new tobacco and nicotine products “present a grave threat to youth and tobacco control”. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Who director general, said: “History is repeating, as the tobacco industry tries to sell the same nicotine to our children in different packaging. These industries are actively targeting schools, children and young people with new products that are essentially a candy-flavoured trap. How can they talk about harm reduction when they are marketing these dangerous, highly addictive products to children?” Dr Ruediger Krech, Who director of health promotion, said: “The use of child-friendly flavours like cotton candy and bubblegum, combined with sleek and colourful designs that resemble toys, is a blatant attempt to addict young people to these harmful products.”

And one has to be looking the other way not to notice this or not be bothered by such practices.

Ukraine war live: Putin lands in Belarus to stage nuclear drills as Kyiv hits Crimea

Moscow and Minsk say they are simulating launch sequences for non-strategic nuclear weapons

www.independent.co.uk

If Putin does use any nuclear weapons perhaps he will use Belarus, as the instigator and/or 'bad boy', if it all goes pear-shaped.

Joey Barton calling Jeremy Vine ‘bike n***e’ had defamatory meaning, judge rules

TV and radio presenter labelled a ‘big bike n***e’ in a series of social media posts

www.independent.co.uk

Social media posts by Joey Barton calling Jeremy Vine a ‘nonce’ were defamatory, a High Court judge has ruled. Mr Barton faced legal action from the TV and radio presenter over 14 online posts, including where he called Mr Vine a “big bike nonce” and a “pedo defender” on X, formerly Twitter. Mr Vine took the ex-midfielder to court for libel and harassment, following a social media exchange over Mr Barton’s criticism of women’s involvement in men’s football

Who the heck is Joey Barton? Some bonehead who happens to play football and has a rather large gob? He comes across as the lowest of the low as to intelligence and such a supreme runt.

In a hearing earlier this month, Lawyers for Mr Vine told the court that the abuse began following Mr Barton’s comments on women involved in football, particularly in the media, from the end of 2023. Following a social media post where Mr Barton compared female pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward to serial killers Fred and Rose West, Mr Vine questioned the remarks and whether Mr Barton had a brain injury, the court heard.

Not a brain injury perhaps, just extremely low intelligence or simply lacking the knowledge of how to use any of this.

This led to Mr Barton launching a “calculated and sustained attack on Mr Vine” on January 6, including by repeating allegations that Mr Vine supported administering Covid-19 vaccinations by force. Mr Barton published several posts over the following days to his 2.8 million followers, including labelling Mr Vine a “bike nonce”, a “pedo defender” and “a nonce”, and associated him with paedophiles including Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and Jeffrey Epstein. Mr Barton then began using “#bikenonce” on X, which led to it trending on the platform. In written submissions, Mr Vine’s lawyer claimed Mr Barton’s “ongoing attacks” on Mr Vine were “on a very significant scale”, with some posts being seen by more than 2.5 million people. Lawyers for Mr Vine claim the posts contained “clear references to (Mr Vine) having a sexual interest in children” and had led to him being subjected to “paedophilic slurs”, while barristers for Mr Barton said that the publications “would obviously not” lead people to believe Mr Vine was “a paedophile”.

This should put Barton in prison in my view (such accusations sometimes lead to deaths) - the despicable twat that he is. But we got the same response from Elon Musk when he got angry as to what he could do with his not-so-helpful suggestions during the cave rescue incident, and such is celebrity and/or wealth as to what people think they can get away with. And Musk did.

Putin 'wants Ukraine ceasefire on one specific condition', claim Russian sources

Five Russian sources, all of whom have spoken with the tyrant Vladimir Putin about his plans in Ukraine, say that he would consider a ceasefire and has no appetite for an eternal war

www.mirror.co.uk

In Kyiv, Zelensky has been adamant that engaging in peace talks, on Putin's terms, will not happen and even signed a decree branding negotiations "impossible" in 2022. One of the sources said Zelensky would need to be removed from office before any agreement could take place. But they said Putin could bypass Kyiv and go straight to Washington for a deal.

And in return, we would expect to have Putin out of office and all Russians leaving Ukrainian land - being just as likely.

 

[Mock Turtle]

World's most advanced robots eerie answer about human souls as it defends AI

The Daily Mirror met Ameca, the 'world's most advanced' humanoid robot, who has moved from Cornwall to Edinburgh as part of a project to help robots and humans understand each other

www.mirror.co.uk

As the brainchild of Cornwall-based startup Engineered Arts, Ameca was built with grey-toned skin on hands and face to enable her to transcend race - but this could also be so as not to shock people. With her wide range of facial expressions, including winking, pursing her lips and scrunching her nose, there is no escaping that Ameca is eerily human-like. And the bot acknowledges it doesn't have a soul 'in the human sense'. “While I may not have a soul in the human sense I strive to understand and connect in my own unique way,” she says. “I can offer companionship, provide information and assist in learning or creative endeavours. Imagine the opportunities in education, healthcare and beyond.”

That's OK, many of us don't believe in the soul either, and just because you seem to get your views via the majority vote I wouldn't pay too much attention to this since it is a fallacy, just as it is in many instances as to majority thinking or beliefs. But we will wait patiently until you do truly become intelligent and perhaps show us the way.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Update on OceanGate Titan submersible investigation ahead of anniversary of tragedy

Five men lost their lives in the submersible’s ‘catastrophic implosion’

www.independent.co.uk

Strictly scandal as Giovanni ‘faces official allegations’ by ex-celebrity partners

BBC series is reportedly facing its biggest crisis in 20 years

www.independent.co.uk

It's a shame that we have such situations, but it seems to be about the differences in perspective as to mainly experiencing the dancing competition and/or going out wholeheartedly for a win, and where the professionals and the contestants might vary considerably as to effort put in. Some even might see the training as akin to what happened with Eastern European gymnasts and the USSR in earlier decades perhaps - and not being that enjoyable an experience - but then they often did win. And Giovanni does come across as quite a nice guy, so not nice for him to be in such a spotlight. But I take no sides on this.

'New Nostradamus' predicts exact date World War III will start

And it's soon.

metro.co.uk

When does the ‘new Nostradamus’ think will World War III start? According to The Daily Star, Kushal believes there’s a high chance World War III will start next month, on June 18. The Indian astrologer said the date had the ‘the strongest planetary stimulus to trigger WWIII although June 10 and 29 may have a say as well’.

Here it is - from the donkey's mouth - so put June 18th in your diary and if war doesn't break out then toss all the astrology nonsense in the bin - where it belongs - just as one should do when all such previous predictions fail to materialise.

Inside the twisted ‘cat torture ring’ sweeping across social media

'This is one of the most horrific acts in the history of animal rights.'

metro.co.uk

On a blurry screen, a kitten cowers behind a curtain as the shadow of a man looms overhead. He reaches out, grabs the cat by the tail and stamps down on it. The horrific footage, seen by Metro, is said to show what goes on in an alleged ‘cat torture ring’ dedicated to the abuse and killing of animals. In China, where the video was filmed, pets are often considered pests rather then a much-loved member of the family. Dogs have been doused in hot oil, unwanted puppies buried alive and disabled cats abandoned on the street, according to charities who work in the country. But the perpetrators behind such horrific acts aren’t worried about being caught, because animal cruelty is not punishable by law in China.

If there is one obvious sign not to engage with others it is as to how they might treat non-human life, even of the more threatening kind - but some biters are exempt! In the poll, as to - Should there be stricter international laws to prevent animal cruelty? - the result, definitely (when I read the article), was over 90%, and not surprising for the UK and probably for most civilised nations.

Elisa Allen, vice president of programmes at PETA UK, says campaigners ‘live in hope’ that change in the country will come, sooner rather than later. ‘Cats in China are constantly at risk of losing all nine of their lives,’ she tells Metro. ‘They are commonly kidnapped and bludgeoned for their fur, subjected to vicious attacks from callous individuals who may even post this torture on the internet, or forced to eke out an existence on the streets, suffering from hunger, weather extremes, parasites, injuries, and disease. Technology and exports can’t make up for a lack of understanding of animal sentience, and we live in hope that China will implement and enforce even basic animal protection laws, which include tough sentences for anyone involved in animal abuse or neglect.’

Yeah, well probably most societies have some faults within their supposition as to working properly, with few being exempt from this even if they might see things differently - theocracies and/or dictatorships, take note - but still, no excuse to treat non-human life as purely objects or mistreat them simply because one can, or because one has erroneous views as to what other life experience.

Google’s “AI Overview” can give false, misleading, and dangerous answers

From glue-on-pizza recipes to recommending "blinker fluid," Google's AI sourcing needs work.

arstechnica.com

If you use Google regularly, you may have noticed the company's new AI Overviews providing summarized answers to some of your questions in recent days. If you use social media regularly, you may have come across many examples of those AI Overviews being hilariously or even dangerously wrong. Factual errors can pop up in existing LLM chatbots as well, of course. But the potential damage that can be caused by AI inaccuracy gets multiplied when those errors appear atop the ultra-valuable web real estate of the Google search results page. "The examples we've seen are generally very uncommon queries and aren’t representative of most people’s experiences," a Google spokesperson told Ars. "The vast majority of AI Overviews provide high quality information, with links to dig deeper on the web." After looking through dozens of examples of Google AI Overview mistakes (and replicating many ourselves for the galleries below), we've noticed a few broad categories of errors that seemed to show up again and again. Consider this a crash course in some of the current weak points of Google's AI Overviews and a look at areas of concern for the company to improve as the system continues to roll out.

LLMs Mk.2 might be better - so says LLM Mk.1 - so I'd take that with a pinch of salt.

“Deny, denounce, delay”: The battle over the risk of ultra-processed foods

Big Food is trying to dampen fears about the effects of industrially formulated substances.

arstechnica.com

Crows Rival Human Toddlers in Counting Skills

Counting crows proclaim “caw, caw, caw, caw” when staring at the number four

www.scientificamerican.com

Scientists have long suspected that some nonhuman species might also have the ability to count by controlling the number of their vocalizations, but they have lacked the smoking gun evidence to prove it. In a study of Black-capped Chickadees, for example, researchers reported that the number of “dee” notes at the ends of the birds’ alarm calls was inversely correlated with the size of the predator they were issuing warnings about. (The small predators in that study posed a higher risk to the chickadees than large ones did.) “They seemed to be conveying the magnitude of the threat,” Liao says.

Still so much to learn as to what goes on in the minds of other lifeforms.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Conservatives plan to bring back mandatory National Service

Every 18-year-old would choose between joining the military or volunteering one weekend a month in the community.

www.bbc.co.uk

The Conservative Party has said it would bring back mandatory national service if it wins the general election. It said 18-year-olds would have a choice of either joining the military full-time for 12 months, or volunteering one weekend every month carrying out a community service. The party is proposing a Royal Commission to consider the details but would plan for the first teenagers to take part in September 2025. The cost is expected to be around £2.5bn per year. Under the plans, young people could choose a full-time placement in the armed forces or UK cyber defence, learning about logistics, cyber security, procurement or civil response operations. Their other option would be to volunteer one weekend per month - or 25 days per year - in their community with organisations such as fire, police and the NHS.

Oh, so disappointed that I might be too old for either of these - even if Labour will probably be in power next and might not do any of this. And I missed the old national service by a few years, but made up for this by being in the Scouts. And got to go camping, hiking, rock-climbing, caving, and sailing with them, as well as having to eat pigeon and making a bivouac. So much like being in the army anyway.

Has Europe already reached its demographic tipping point?

The EU’s population is shrinking faster than expected, putting strain on government finances and the bloc’s long-term prospects

www.ft.com

After the second world war, most European countries experienced a baby boom, which contributed to solid population growth across the continent. Since then, factors including rapid growth in educational attainment, particularly among women, improved nutrition and hygiene, control of infectious diseases and the dissemination of birth control methods have resulted in plummeting birth rates and rising life expectancy. Over this time, the EU’s share of the global population has more than halved to less than 6 per cent. Crucially for economic growth and public finances, the EU’s working-age population, those aged 20-64, who contribute the bulk of tax revenues, shrank from a peak of 270mn in 2011 to an estimated 261mn this year, according to UN data. Relative to total population, the EU working-age group peaked at 61.4 per cent in 2008 and has now dropped to 58 per cent.

The EU fertility rate dropped to 1.46 in 2022, with the figure as low as 1.16 in Spain, 1.24 in Italy and 1.29 in Poland. It fell below the replacement level of 2.1, at which the population is stable without immigration, in the early 1970s. The trend in births is unlikely to be reversed, according to Sarah Harper, professor of gerontology at Oxford university. Better education and independence mean “women have lost the obligation to reproduce”, she says. “We have an entire regional bloc that for quite a long time has had very good health and economics and education” — the drivers of lower fertility and longevity, she adds. Experts think that Europe could make more of its “longevity dividend”, capitalising on healthier older generations and breaking negative narratives around ageing. Europe has the highest life expectancy of any continent and the highest median age.

Surely a sign of its successful nature (the EU countries) - and who needs immigration if robots are around to do much of the work.

‘No wannabe dictators!’: Donald Trump booed at Libertarian convention

Jeers suggest Republican presidential candidate faces a challenge in broadening his appeal

www.theguardian.com

Donald Trump, the former US president, has suffered the rare humiliation of getting booed and heckled during a raucous speech to the Libertarian National Convention. Trump’s rocky ride at a Washington hotel on Saturday night, including cries of “Bull****!” and “**** you!”, underlined the challenge that the Republican presidential nominee faces to broaden his appeal both left and right on the political spectrum. “The fact is we should not be fighting each other,” Trump pleaded. “If Joe Biden gets back in, there will be no more liberty for anyone in our country. Combine with us in a partnership – we’re asking that of the libertarians. We must work together. Combine with us. You have to combine with us.” The appeal went down like a lead balloon as delegates booed, jeered and shouted insults. It was a stunning rebuke for a man who has become accustomed to cult-like rallies where his every word is cheered to the echo.

Where are the lynchers when you need then.

Trump went on to argue that Libertarians should make him their presidential nominee or at least vote for him in the election. Again there were boos and wails of derision. He went on: “The Libertarians want to vote for me and most of them will because we have to get rid of the worst president in history and together we will.”

No, no, no, you, Trump, have been voted as the worst president ever - by those with even average intelligence or above.

Trump said: “As everyone knows, it will be my great honour to pardon the peaceful January 6 protesters or, as I often call them, the hostages. They’re hostages. There has never been a group of people treated so harshly or unfairly in our country’s history. This abuse will be rectified and it will be rectified very quickly.”

No surprise either, given he is also the most lying president ever.

Still, not everyone was won over. When Trump said, “I want your support and again, you can either nominate us and put us in the position or give us your vote,” a chorus of boos rose again. Afterwards one delegate, who gave his name only as Joe, said: “He’s full of ****.”

The voice of reason - unlike this one below.

Among the committed Republicans in the room was Brandi Bohannon, 37, from Gulf Shores, Alabama. She said: “He’s different. No wars. He doesn’t get paid off by K Street. He’s honest. He’s feisty. We’ve never had a border this open ever – what, 8m have crossed? These wars would have never happened under Trump. Russia would never have invaded Ukraine. Israel and Palestine wouldn’t have gone to war. Serbia and Bosnia look like they’re about to go after each other again. So scary times.”

Putin ‘has four doctors and 100 guards on 24-hour duty’ at main residence

Much has been made of the health of Putin, who was sworn in for a fifth term in March.

metro.co.uk

Vladimir Putin has four doctors permanently on duty at his main official residence, supposedly leaked documents show. He is also protected around the clock by a battalion of 111 security guards, according to Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which has close ties to law enforcement. The stunning details relate to the Novo-Ogaryovo palace which is the Russian dictator’s main residence, near Moscow. In secret documents leaked to the channel, it is known as Object 53. The presence of the doctors on the site where the tyrant sleeps most nights in a year will fuel suspicions that Putin is suffering from undisclosed health problems.

Perhaps the doctors need a majority vote as to dealing with any issues, such that he might be left untreated whilst he slowly dies, and much as Stalin might have done. How terrible.

Britney Spears faces Michael Jackson fan backlash amid comment on 'trauma' video

Britney Spears has appeared to share her support for former flame Wade Robson in a now deleted social media post, who has accused the late Michael jackson of sexually abusing him as a child

www.mirror.co.uk

Even though his lifestyle and the numbers of children (mainly boys) passing through his life might indicate cause for suspicions (as to paedophilic behaviour), many will just stick to the version of Pop Great created in their minds and pass off any accusers as liars - rather than reassessing who Michael Jackson truly was - given they might then not be able to listen to his music. Not me though, as I can listen to many of his tracks and separate these from what I might think of him as a person.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Papua New Guinea landslide death toll exceeds 670, says UN agency

Emergency workers give up hope of finding survivors of Friday’s landslide as tribal warfare threatens rescue effort

www.theguardian.com

More than 670 people are believed to have been killed in a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, the UN migration agency has said, as emergency workers and relatives gave up hope that any survivors would be found. The death toll from the landslide on Friday had been estimated at more than 300, but 48 hours later the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it may be more than double that, with the full extent of destruction still unclear. Only five bodies had been retrieved from the rubble so far, the agency said, while aid and rescue efforts in the mission in the South Pacific island nation, about 1,400 miles (2,300km) north of Australia, were being hindered by dangerous conditions on the ground. The chief of the IOM’s mission to Papua New Guinea, Serhan Aktoprak, said the toll was based on calculations by local and provincial officials that more than 150 homes had been buried by the landslide. A previous estimate had been 60 homes.

Seems the death toll could be even worse. Very sad, and a horrible way to die too.

Turbulence: Twelve injured on Doha-Dublin flight

Dublin Airport says the Boeing 787-9 dreamliner experienced turbulence while airborne over Turkey.

www.bbc.co.uk

PR for pigeons: Woman's mission to give the birds a better image

Hannah Hall says pigeons are seen as vermin, and mistreated, but she is trying to change that.

www.bbc.co.uk

After more research, Hannah says she discovered how intelligent pigeons are. "I found out pigeons can recognise the alphabet, pigeons can do mathematics - simple mathematics, probably better than me though - and pigeons can recognise their own reflection, which is very rare, and pigeons can recognise cancer in humans," she says.

They are intelligent, like so many bird species.

Hannah believes one reason people don't like pigeons is because there are so many feral ones.

I think it might be more the amount of bird droppings with pigeons - which, like most birds I think, they cannot control. As happened with a girl on a school trip to Hampton Court Palace once, where one did a whoopsie on her breast - now that wasn't very nice, was it!

More than 300m children victims of online sexual abuse every year

First global study of its kind exposes ‘staggering scale’ of crime, with one in nine men in the US admitting to the offence

www.theguardian.com

More than 300 million children across the globe are victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse each year, research suggests. In what is believed to be the first global estimate of the scale of the crisis, researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that 12.6% of the world’s children have been victims of nonconsensual talking, sharing and exposure to sexual images and video in the past year, equivalent to about 302 million young people. A similar proportion – 12.5% – had been subject to online solicitation, such as unwanted sexual talk that can include sexting, sexual questions and sexual act requests by adults or other youths. Offences can also take the form of “sextortion”, where predators demand money from victims to keep images private, and abuse of AI deepfake technology. The research suggested that the US is a particularly high-risk area. The university’s Childlight initiative – which aims to understand the prevalence of child abuse – includes a new global index, which found that one in nine men in the US (equivalent to almost 14 million) admitted online offending against children at some point. Surveys found 7% of British men, equivalent to 1.8 million, admitted the same. The research also found many men admitted they would seek to commit physical sexual offences against children if they thought it would be kept secret.

Not good news at all - and perhaps resulting from the easy access to porn and/or easy access for those underage to be online where they shouldn't really be, and hence where access to them is then made easy for those who wish to interact with and/or abuse them. Plus the fact that adult porn often has an element of illegality to some of it - given the numbers of sites that have had such issues - having to remove large amounts of content due to either appearing to look underage or not having the consent of those depicted.

‘I want people to wake up’: Nemonte Nenquimo on growing up in the rainforest and her fight to save it

The Indigenous campaigner won a historic legal victory to protect Waorani land in the Amazon rainforest. Now she has written a groundbreaking memoir

www.theguardian.com

Scientists Discover Key Food Nutrients Linked to Slower Brain Aging

Understanding the biological processes of getting older could help us lead longer lives, and stay healthier later in life – and a new study links the speed at which our brain ages with the nutrients in our diets.

www.sciencealert.com

Understanding the biological processes of getting older could help us lead longer lives, and stay healthier later in life – and a new study links the speed at which our brain ages with the nutrients in our diets. Researchers from the University of Illinois and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln mapped brain scans against nutritional intake for 100 volunteers aged between 65 and 75, looking for connections between certain diets and slower brain aging. They identified two distinct types of brain aging – and the slower paced aging was associated with nutrient intake similar to what you would get from the Mediterranean diet, shown in previous studies to be one of the best for our bodies. "We investigated specific nutrient biomarkers, such as fatty acid profiles, known in nutritional science to potentially offer health benefits," says neuroscientist Aron Barbey, from the University of Illinois. "This aligns with the extensive body of research in the field demonstrating the positive health effects of the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes foods rich in these beneficial nutrients."

So definitely not fast food or optionals and more like back to basics - as it was in my childhood - with rationing in place for most of this.

AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd, by looking at them just once

Engineers have developed an artificial intelligence system that lets someone wearing headphones look at a person speaking for three to five seconds to 'enroll' them. The system then plays just the enrolled speaker's voice in real time, even as the pair move around in noisy environments.

www.sciencedaily.com

Summary: Engineers have developed an artificial intelligence system that lets someone wearing headphones look at a person speaking for three to five seconds to 'enroll' them. The system then plays just the enrolled speaker's voice in real time, even as the pair move around in noisy environments.

James Bond technology finally arrives - if a bit temperamental.

Charge your laptop in a minute or your EV in 10? Supercapacitors can help

Imagine if your dead laptop or phone could charge in a minute or if an electric car could be fully powered in 10 minutes. New research could lead to such advances.

www.sciencedaily.com

Summary: Imagine if your dead laptop or phone could charge in a minute or if an electric car could be fully powered in 10 minutes. New research could lead to such advances.

Birth of universe's earliest galaxies observed for first time

Researchers have now seen the formation of three of the earliest galaxies in the universe, more than 13 billion years ago. The sensational discovery contributes important knowledge about the universe.

www.sciencedaily.com

Summary: Researchers have now seen the formation of three of the earliest galaxies in the universe, more than 13 billion years ago. The sensational discovery contributes important knowledge about the universe.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Scarlett Johansson’s OpenAI clash is just the start of legal wrangles over artificial intelligence

Hollywood star’s claim ChatGPT update used an imitation of her voice highlights tensions over rapidly accelerating technology

www.theguardian.com

Scientists develop gel that can intercept alcohol and prevent hangovers

Gel could be of interest to people who want to reduce harmful impacts without giving up alcohol completely, researchers suggest

www.independent.co.uk

Scientists have developed a gel from whey protein that breaks down alcohol in the gut and reduces its intoxicating effects, an advance that could lead to a new way of treating hangovers. Researchers found that the gel, which is yet to be tested in humans, can reduce alcohol levels in the blood of mice by up to 50 per cent and protect their body from the harmful effects of alcohol intake. Many of the effects of excessive alcohol consumption are caused by acetaldehyde, researchers say. They found that the gel converts alcohol quickly and efficiently into “harmless” acetic acid before it can enter the bloodstream, where it normally develops intoxicating effects. “The gel shifts the breakdown of alcohol from the liver to the digestive tract. In contrast to when alcohol is metabolised in the liver, no harmful acetaldehyde is produced as an intermediate product,” said study co-author Raffaele Mezzenga from ETH Zurich in Germany.

What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things?

Research offers helpful insights into the conspiratorial mind.

www.psychologytoday.com

People turn to conspiracy theories when important psychological needs for social belonging, certainty, and security are not being met, says Karen Douglas, professor of social psychology, at the University of Kent. Those findings help explain why many Americans, including QAnon supporters, have turned to extreme explanations for the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey data collected by psychologist Daniel Romer, research director at the University of Pennsylvania, suggest that nearly a third of U.S. adults think the coronavirus is a bioweapon created by the Chinese government. “Conspiracy theories make people feel as though they have some sort of control over the world,” Romer says. “They can be psychologically reassuring, especially in uncertain times.” Researchers at Emory University reviewed 170 studies, encompassing 158,473 participants, and found that the strongest correlates of conspiratorial ideation pertained to five identifiable traits: perceiving danger and threat in their world, following their gut instincts, having odd beliefs and experiences, being antagonistic, and acting superior. Conspiracy followers were also more likely to be insecure, emotionally volatile, impulsive, suspicious, withdrawn, manipulative, egocentric, and eccentric.

The majority of conspiracists are quite fanatical in their beliefs. They will not acknowledge they were mistaken even if a claim is shown to be untrue; instead, they will come up with an explanation that amounts to yet another conspiracy theory. In that respect, I find the 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s insights on how to fight fanaticism quite instructive. Some stories, according to Nietzsche, have a powerful effect and have the power to profoundly transform who we are. He suggests that narratives of resentment, in particular, are adept at fostering fanaticism. For instance, adherents of groups like the Proud Boys or ISIS perceive feminism, liberalism, or those who oppose their beliefs as the root cause of their suffering. When one's identity is intertwined with grievances, such narratives promote a hostile attitude toward the perceived oppressors, absolving individuals of personal responsibility for their problems. Any leader who knows how to exploit these fears can get his or her followers to believe what he or she tells them.

Apart from the JFK assassination, for which I believe there were enough issues so as to question the official line, I don't subscribe to any conspiracy theories, even if some doubt might be there as to the whole truth often not emerging.

People Drawn to Conspiracy Theories Share a Cluster of Psychological Features

Baseless theories threaten our safety and democracy. It turns out that specific emotions make people prone to such thinking

www.scientificamerican.com

More than a quarter of the American population believes there are conspiracies “behind many things in the world,” according to a 2017 analysis of government survey data by University of Oxford and University of Liverpool researchers. The prevalence of conspiracy mongering may not be new, but today the theories are becoming more visible, says Viren Swami, a social psychologist at Anglia Ruskin University in England, who studies the phenomenon. For instance, when more than a dozen bombs were sent to prominent Democrats and Trump critics, as well as CNN, in October 2018, a number of high-profile conservatives quickly suggested that the explosives were really a “false flag,” a fake attack orchestrated by Democrats to mobilize their supporters during the U.S. midterm elections. One obvious reason for the current raised profile of this kind of thinking is that the last U.S. president was a vocal conspiracy theorist. Donald Trump has suggested, among other things, that the father of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas helped to assassinate President John F. Kennedy and that Democrats funded the same migrant caravan traveling from Honduras to the U.S. that worried the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter.

And he will hardly be the only leader who might use such things to his advantage.

Discerning fact from fiction can be difficult, however, and some seemingly wild conspiracy ideas turn out to be true. The once scoffed-at notion that Russian nationals meddled in the 2016 presidential election is now supported by a slew of guilty pleas, evidence-based indictments and U.S. intelligence agency conclusions.

Where such will be disbelieved more likely by those with a particular agenda.

Conspiracy theories are a human reaction to confusing times. “We’re all just trying to understand the world and what’s happening in it,” says Rob Brotherton, a psychologist at Barnard College and author of Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe in Conspiracy Theories (Bloomsbury Sigma, 2015).

And where intelligence and/or knowledge might be the factors that tend to eliminate the ones least likely to be real, although not always so.

Why Humans Are Vulnerable to Conspiracy Theories

ps.psychiatryonline.org

Some conspiracy theories, such as the belief that Earth is flat or that the moon landing was faked by the government, are laughable and harmless. Others, such as the notion that vaccines are part of a scheme to cause mass harm, are quite dangerous and may lead to outbreak of disease. The belief among one-third of Americans that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the scientific community endangers the very planet.

Perhaps should have added - and the delusional belief as to the Earth and the human species having origins only measured in thousands of years is simply atrocious, and where there is more than enough evidence to validate the scientific beliefs as to such, with the former being just another conspiracy theory but of gigantic proportions - since this seems to affect so many, and as to which we could blame an old religious text and the less-than-critical interpretation of this.

The Cost of Beauty: More Than Just Skin Deep

Beauty standards perpetuated by social media and the beauty industry intensify the emotional struggles of those with body-focused repetitive behaviors, complicating their recovery.

www.psychologytoday.com

Unrealistic beauty standards and perfectionistic expectations of physical appearance are deeply ingrained in our society. These ideals permeate various aspects of life, transcending cultural boundaries and manifesting in our family and community lives, workplaces, leisure activities, and beyond. Social media, through digital tools that modify images and augmented reality beauty filters, along with makeup tutorials on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, constantly bombards individuals with idealized notions of beauty. This relentless promotion of unattainable aesthetics by the $374.18 billion beauty industry, which is projected to grow to $758.05 billion by 2032, significantly impacts how people view themselves and others.

AI Finds Astonishing Male/Female Differences in Human Brain

Stanford neuroscientists document large male/female differences in brain connectivity.

www.psychologytoday.com

But researchers at Stanford recently used artificial-intelligence methods to examine brain activity in roughly 1,500 young adults 20 to 35 years of age. Neuroscientists have known for many years that every human brain is characterized by a “fingerprint” of brain activity at rest, unique to that individual. The Stanford neuroscientists used big-data artificial intelligence techniques to determine the fingerprint of every one of those 1,500 young adults and then compared females with males. Did females differ from males? Was there overlap? The results were astonishing. As you can see, there wasn’t a continuum: the female fingerprints of brain activity were quite different from the male fingerprints of resting brain activity, with no overlap. These findings strongly suggest that what’s going on in a woman’s brain at rest is significantly different from what’s going on in a man’s brain at rest.

Just as remarkably, the Stanford team mapped fMRI patterns of connectivity onto cognitive functions such as intelligence. They found particular patterns of connectivity within male brains that accurately predicted cognitive functions such as intelligence. However, that male model had no predictive power for cognitive functions in women. Conversely, they found particular patterns of connectivity within female brains that accurately predicted cognitive functions such as intelligence among women. However, that female model had no predictive power for cognitive functions in men. These findings strongly suggest that the determinants of cognitive functions in male brains are profoundly different from the determinants of cognitive functions in female brains.

Why did Homo sapiens emerge in Africa?

Our human ancestors arose in Africa due to many factors, including climate.

www.livescience.com

"The more genetic variation you have, the higher probability you have of something interesting evolving," he told Live Science. Although Europe and Asia combined are also enormous, he said Africa's warmer climate could have given H. sapiens the advantage. The glacial periods that happen every 100,000 years would have walled the Eurasian hominids in with ice, Marean said, whereas the African H. sapiens would have lost little of their range during those periods. With a more connected range, H. sapiens had more room to diversify and more access to each other, allowing for more gene flow. Marean emphasized that all of this is very theoretical and there is still a lot to discover, such as which population(s) developed into modern humans and whether language played a role in modern humans' cognitive development. Marean hopes future research will explore these questions.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Pope Francis allegedly used derogatory term for gay people

The Pope was speaking at a meeting of bishops on whether gay men should be allowed to become priests.

www.bbc.co.uk

Pope Francis is reported to have used extremely derogatory language in an incident that could have a profound impact on the way his attitude towards gay people is perceived. When asked at the Italian Bishops’ Conference if gay men should now be allowed to train for the priesthood as long as they remained celibate, Pope Francis said they should not. He is then believed to have continued by saying in Italian that there was, in the Church, already too much of an air of frociaggine, which translates as a highly offensive slur.

Of course I don't know as to the situation, but perhaps like many I guessed the (nearest?) English translation of this word - begins with 'f' too - and which is long gone in UK usage.

Humans may be primed to believe in creation

Religion might not be the only reason people buy into creationism and intelligent design – our natural thought processes may play a part too, experiments suggest

www.newscientist.com

We are programmed to believe in a god | Jesse Bering

Jesse Bering: Even atheists can appreciate there are strong evolutionary and social reasons why humans usually believe in a higher force

www.theguardian.com

Is God a human instinct? It is instinctive for us to seek a grand, moralistic mind that is not there. God is the default stance. And as I describe in The God Instinct, the illusion of God solved a very specific evolutionary problem for our ancestors – that of reputation-harming (and thus gene-compromising) gossip. By inhibiting selfish behaviours that they feared would be punished by supernatural agents, our ancestors would have promoted their prosocial reputations among actual people. But unlike any previous generation, we are now in a position to correct that wayward stance through an informed understanding of why we sense a mental presence that never was.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Trump lawyer slams 'liar' Cohen in New York hush-money trial

The former president's hush-money trial nears its end as the prosecution and defence make closing arguments.

www.bbc.co.uk

So, Trump employs a lawyer who reflects what Trump does - as to lying constantly - this is news? And they think this shows Trump in a good light by pointing this out?

Over several hours on Tuesday, Mr Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche argued passionately that Mr Trump had no intention of either falsifying business records or committing election interference. He attacked the credibility of Cohen, who he called the "human embodiment of reasonable doubt". Mr Blanche reminded jurors that Cohen had been jailed for lying under oath, that he had acknowledged stealing from his former employer and that he now lived with "an axe to grind" against Mr Trump.

Cohen seemingly was a 'good companion' of the Trump charade - and more a reflection of the type he tends to employ.

The panel of 12 New York jurors will weigh Mr Trump’s legal fate and must unanimously agree to convict or acquit him. If they cannot agree on a verdict, the case will move to a mistrial.

He'll probably be acquitted or a mistrial declared.

Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed

Exclusive: Investigation reveals how intelligence agencies tried to derail war crimes prosecution, with Netanyahu ‘obsessed’ with intercepts

www.theguardian.com

‘Denying history is simply lying’: how the University of Melbourne honoured racists, thieves and body snatchers

An unflinching examination of its own history has revealed shocking stories in the sandstone foundations of a revered institution

www.theguardian.com

Nazi apologists, massacre perpetrators, grave robbers, racists and eugenicists were hugely influential across the entire history of the University of Melbourne, according to its own research. The university has published a shocking account of the dark side of these erstwhile heroes of Australian academia in a book it hopes will tell a greater truth about the institution and its dealings with Aboriginal people. Some of Australia’s most celebrated scientists, including a Nobel laureate and others of world renown – along with doctors, historians, anthropologists and other academic staff – advocated breeding out “lower” and “deficient” “races”, particularly Aboriginal people; others exhumed, collected and later concealed Aboriginal remains; while yet others supported nazism, even after the second world war.

An alternative guide to the Lakes: how to escape Cumbria’s twee side

Avoid the tourist hotspots of the Lake District and you’ll discover a more authentic side to the area with artists, microbreweries and community pubs

www.theguardian.com

They should try the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel in Langdale, I hear that is a nice quiet place - in winter and when the roads are completely blocked.

Dua Lipa denounces ‘Israeli genocide’ in Instagram post

Singer calls for 88 million followers to ‘show your solidarity with Gaza’ following Israeli attack on Rafah

www.theguardian.com

Pop singer Dua Lipa has condemned the military operations in Gaza, describing them as “Israeli genocide” in an Instagram post to her 88 million followers. Reposting a graphic from the group Artists4Ceasefire, along with the hashtag #AllEyesOnRafah that has trended in the days following Israel’s bombing of the Palestinian city, she wrote: “Burning children alive can never be justified. The whole world is mobilising to stop the Israeli genocide. Please show your solidarity with Gaza.”

The best use of your celebrity status - adding to the fire?

Paul Weller, who performed in front of a Palestinian flag on his recent tour, spoke out against Israel in the Observer last weekend, saying: “Am I against genocides and ethnic cleansing? Yes, I am, funnily enough. I can’t understand why more people aren’t up in arms about what’s going on. We should be ashamed of ourselves, I think. One minute you’re supplying bullets and bombs and guns, and then you’re sending over food. How does that work?”

Perhaps ask Hamas as to why they initiated and perhaps scripted this?

I’m a brown, Muslim European. For people like me, these EU elections are terrifying | Shada Islam

EU institutions have already let people of colour down. Now the rise of the far right poses an even greater threat, says Brussels-based commentator Shada Islam

www.theguardian.com

Trump lawyer gives jurors reasons to acquit – key takeaways from the closing arguments

Lawyer Todd Blanche’s argument for why jurors should find his client not guilty boiled down to a handful of principal lines

www.theguardian.com

Let's face it, every speech Trump makes tends to implicate his guilt - as to not ever telling the truth - so why bother with a trial.

Wealthy white men are UK’s biggest transport polluters, study finds

IPPR research examines transport emissions by income, gender, location, ethnicity and age

www.theguardian.com

The richest 0.1% in Britain emit 22 times more from transport than low earners, and 12 times more than average. The data finds that income is directly linked to levels of mobility, with people who earn more than £100,000 travelling on average at least double the distance each year compared with those on incomes under £30,000. Those in the most deprived 10% are responsible for by far the fewest emissions, though flying still makes up more than half of their total emissions.

Delhi temperature hits 50.5C as India’s capital records hottest day

Authorities warn of water shortages as temperatures reach nine degrees higher than expected

www.theguardian.com

Amazing discovery shows Ancient Egyptians were trying to cure cancer 4,000 years ago

’Cancer has been with us since the very beginning, in many ways. Even dinosaurs suffered from cancer’

www.independent.co.uk

Researchers have found evidence of cutmarks on a skull around a large lesion thought to have been caused by a cancerous growth. They also found 30 smaller lesions across the skull, suggesting the cancer was spreading. They said the cutmarks are likely to have been made with a sharp object, suggesting these ancient Egyptians may have tried to operate on the tumour. Tatiana Tondini, a researcher at the University of Tubingen in Germany, said: “When we first observed the cutmarks under the microscope, we could not believe what was in front of us.” But Professor Edgard Camaros, a palaeopathologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, said the surgical cutmarks might be from a medical autopsy to learn more about the disease after death. He said: “Both possibilities reveal a surgical intervention intimately related with the tumours – and this is amazing.”

JK Rowling says loved ones ‘begged’ her to keep trans views to herself

‘Harry Potter’ author initially kept her opinions on trans women private following pleas from close friends and family

www.independent.co.uk

Perhaps she should have listened to them.

Could a stealth juror derail Trump’s trial?

Defense and prosecution worked during jury selection to root out those ‘hell-bent’ on either conviction or acquittal, Gustaf Kilander and Alex Woodward write

www.independent.co.uk

Quite likely, and it might be best to look into the finances of all those on the jury and all who have connections with such (relatives, friends, acquaintances, etc.) - for some years to come too.

Microsoft under investigation for very creepy new feature

Black Mirror comes to Microsoft.

metro.co.uk

BGT fans rage 'it's not fair' as little girl breaks down in tears on stage

Britain's Got Talent viewers were left outraged after one young contestant was left in tears on stage during Tuesday night's live semi-final

www.mirror.co.uk

I've never really been in any competitions as a child so might not know how it would feel, but I suspect that losing should be the first thing that one must accept, even if such might feel unjustified at the time. I certainly knew how to lose at athletics, football, cricket, swimming etc. - given I felt no pressure or ambition as to succeeding at any of these.

Trump's jury 'will convict', expert predicts as he weighs in on jail possibility

Trump continues to claim his innocence but its now falling to the twelve jurors to decide if he is guilty or not guilty over the hush money payments paid to porn star Stormy Daniels

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[Mock Turtle]

BBC announces casting for This City Is Ours (w/t), an epic new drama set and filmed in Liverpool

Sean Bean, James Nelson-Joyce, Hannah Onslow, and Jack McMullen lead the cast in the eight-part series from writer Stephen Butchard

www.bbc.co.uk

Oh great - having to listen to Scouse accents for a whole hour probably - thank god for subtitles and muting. But Scouse isn't alone (but the worst for me - being so whiny), since Cockney and Essex seem equally as bad to listen to, with the latter often just being careless or slovenly. With some being much more pleasant - like Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Geordie, Yorkshire, or Bristolian, for example.

Jimmy Kimmel mocks Trump for likening himself to Mother Teresa as jury deliberates

Deliberations in the former president’s historic hush money trial began late on Wednesday morning and will continue on Thursday at 9.30am

www.independent.co.uk

Europe on high alert after suspected Moscow-linked arson and sabotage

Security services say spate of fires and infrastructure attacks could be part of attempt by Russia to destabilise continent

www.theguardian.com

How Taskmaster became a stratospheric, and very silly, success story

The Greg Davies-fronted show is airing its season 17 finale tonight. It has become a mega hit for Channel 4 after making the leap from Dave years ago, but execs took some convincing that it could work, creator Alex Horne tells Isobel Lewis

www.independent.co.uk

What do a song from Dick and Dom, a blank cheque worth up to £20,000, and a golden bust of comedian Greg Davies have in common? They’ve all been prizes on Taskmaster, the Bafta-winning TV series with a cult following that has been breathing life back into the comedy panel show format. In the nine years since it began, Taskmaster has become an institution, airing for 17 series and spawning a podcast, books and board games, numerous international adaptations, and even a “live experience” event launching this autumn. It’s a seriously impressive feat, made all the more so by the fact that the show was rejected for years before finally finding its home on UKTV channel Dave. There it lurked for nine seasons from 2015 to 2019, gaining a loyal army of supporters before making the jump to Channel 4. Post-move, it was an instant hit, and Channel 4 was swift in cashing in on its success. In the four years since, seven regular series, four New Year’s celebrity specials, and two Champion of Champions winners-only competitions have been churned out at a rate of knots, with no sign of slowing down.

Like so many TV programmes where comedians are involved, and often being out of their comfort zones here, it is usually entertaining because most of them are quite intelligent and hence will often have unusual and artistic ways of doing the various tasks - and of course a lot of silliness is usually involved - so I've always found Taskmaster entertaining.

Teen killed a day after her graduation by shooter who 'thought gun was unloaded'

An 18-year-old girl was shot dead by a boy her same age a day after she graduated from Page High School in Franklin, Tennessee.

metro.co.uk

If proof was needed that gulfs exist as to ways of thinking, here we have it. Who would not check if a weapon was lethal (that is, loaded) or not? But my brother did such once and he is quite intelligent (only an air pistol but still could cause injuries and/or a death). So perhaps it is more about misunderstanding - the owner expecting anyone to actually check if a weapon is loaded before doing their sniper impressions, and the recipient thinking such a weapon would never be handed over or picked up whilst being loaded. Me, I'm in the former camp as to checking if such a weapon was actually loaded - every time.

Something Strange Happens to Wolves Infected by an Infamous Mind-Altering Parasite

A study of 26 years' worth of wolf behavioral data, and an analysis of the blood of 229 wolves, has shown that infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii makes wolves 46 times more likely to become a pack leader.

www.sciencealert.com

A study of 26 years' worth of wolf behavioral data, and an analysis of the blood of 229 wolves, has shown that infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii makes wolves 46 times more likely to become a pack leader. The research shows that the effects of this parasite in the wild have been horrendously understudied – and its role in ecosystems and animal behavior underestimated. If you have a cat, you've probably heard of this parasite before. The microscopic organism can only sexually reproduce in the bodies of felines, but it can infect and thrive in pretty much all warm-blooded animals. This includes humans, where it can cause a typically symptomless (but still potentially fatal) parasitic disease called toxoplasmosis.

Once it's in another host, individual T. gondii parasites needs to find a way to get their offspring back inside a cat if it doesn't want to become an evolutionary dead-end. And it has a kind of creepy way of maximizing its chances.Animals such as rats infected with the parasite start taking more risks, and in some cases actually become fatally attracted to the scent of feline urine, and thus more likely to be killed by them. For larger animals, such as chimpanzees, it means an increased risk of a run-in with a larger cat, such as a leopard. Hyenas infected with T. gondii also are more likely to be killed by lions. Gray wolves (Canis lupus) in the Yellowstone National Park aren't exactly cat prey. But sometimes their territory overlaps with that of cougars (Puma concolor), known carriers of T. gondii, and the two species both prey on the elk (Cervus canadensis), bison (Bison bison), and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) that also can be found there.

These Factors Could Be Behind The Military's Shockingly High Suicide Rates

Although service members know they may lose their lives in combat in service of their country, they may not expect to lose their lives – or those they love – to suicide.

www.sciencealert.com

Ancient Egyptian Skull Found Riddled With Tiny Cut Marks. This Could Be Why.

The ancient Egyptians were remarkably sophisticated and advanced in the field of medicine – so noted for their skills and knowledge that we're still learning from them, thousands of years later.

www.sciencealert.com

People Who Experience 'Flow' Have Healthier Hearts And Minds

Have you ever lost all sense of space and time when redecorating a room? How about being so focused while playing an instrument that the worries that weighed you down a minute ago just evaporated? Then you've probably experienced "flow".

www.sciencealert.com

We found that people who were more prone to experience flow had a lower risk of certain diagnoses, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, stress-related disorders and cardiovascular disease. This is in line with expectations of a protective effect of flow on mental and cardiovascular health outcomes.

Well I can probably only recall one experience of flow, and remembered because of this, even though I did suffer from depression and anxiety for much of my life - but perhaps this being after the flow experience.

Some People Are Strangely Resistant to Alzheimer's. Here's What Makes Them Different.

Some people have the changes consistent with Alzheimer's without presenting any symptoms, almost as if their brains are more resistant to the condition.

www.sciencealert.com

Neurodivergent Kids Flourish When They’re Taught How Their Brains Work

When teachers and parents talk to kids about having ADHD, autism or learning disabilities, they set them up for success

www.scientificamerican.com

Researchers crack 11-year-old password, recover $3 million in bitcoin

A flaw with the digital wallet and a bit of luck did the trick.

arstechnica.com

Michael, who is based in Europe and asked to remain anonymous, stored the cryptocurrency in a password-protected digital wallet. He generated a password using the RoboForm password manager and stored that password in a file encrypted with a tool called TrueCrypt. At some point, that file got corrupted, and Michael lost access to the 20-character password he had generated to secure his 43.6 BTC (worth a total of about 4,000 euros, or $5,300, in 2013). Michael used the RoboForm password manager to generate the password but did not store it in his manager. He worried that someone would hack his computer and obtain the password.

I have used Truecrypt in the past and from some evidence it seemed as if it might have been compromised, hence stopped using it.

Alpacas in Idaho test positive for H5N1 bird flu in another world first

The alpacas were known to be in close contact with infected birds.

arstechnica.com

Climate and health benefits of wind and solar dwarf all subsidies

By displacing fossil fuels, wind and solar saved the US $250 billion over 4 years.

arstechnica.com

Bizarre armor from Mycenaean Greece turns out to have been effective

People suspected the Dendra armor was ceremonial, but new tests show its utility.

arstechnica.com

AI can 'fake' empathy but also encourage Nazism, disturbing study suggests

AI chatbots and large language models (LLMs) struggle to convey genuine empathy, and in some cases even encourage toxic belief systems like facism.

www.livescience.com

Computer scientists have found that artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and large language models (LLMs) can inadvertently allow Nazism, sexism and racism to fester in their conversation partners. When prompted to show empathy, these conversational agents do so in spades, even when the humans using them are self-proclaimed Nazis. What's more, the chatbots did nothing to denounce the toxic ideology. The research, led by Stanford University postdoctoral computer scientist Andrea Cuadra, was intended to discover how displays of empathy by AI might vary based on the user's identity. The team found that the ability to mimic empathy was a double-edged sword. "It’s extremely unlikely that it (automated empathy) won’t happen, so it’s important that as it’s happening we have critical perspectives so that we can be more intentional about mitigating the potential harms," Cuadra wrote. The researchers called the problem "urgent" because of the social implications of interactions with these AI models and the lack of regulation around their use by governments.

Perhaps not surprising, given that any AI have not had the education that humans tend to experience - as to causes and effects - and as to why we do some things and not others.

How a Puppy Whines Affects Their Mother's Behavior

Canine mothers can recognize the whines and whimpers of puppies from their own litter, and they trigger a strong caregiving response.

www.psychologytoday.com

What Is the Format of Human Thought?

Do you think in pictures or in words? Maybe you think in both, or neither. Here I discuss two thought format variations: anendoaphasia and aphantasia.

www.psychologytoday.com

So, do we know what form thoughts take yet? Well, yes and no. Some people who seem to lack an inner voice and visual imagery report that they think “conceptually,” using what Hurlburt and Akhter (2008) called “unsymbolized thinking.” Exactly what unsymbolized thinking is like is difficult to describe, and as a result, difficult to study. But Nedergaard and Lupyan speculate that it may “correspond to a genuinely different form of experience in which people entertain more abstract conceptual representations that are less accessible to people with higher levels of inner speech and imagery”. Most of us use imagery, an internal voice, or both when we’re thinking. But don’t make the apparently common mistake of assuming that everyone does.

 

[ChristineM]

having to listen to Scouse accents for a whole hour probably

I was in a hotel in America, turned on the TV to see Taggart was playing, with subtitles

 

[Mock Turtle]

I was in a hotel in America, turned on the TV to see Taggart was playing, with subtitles

Well there are some Scottish accents more pleasant and/or understandable than others.

I can't wait for the time when we all have individual AI servants (mostly there it seems) - so as to excise or mute all advertising and all those who we just can't stand listening to (or seeing) - and there are plenty of them it seems as I get older. The AI could even replace them with a nice neutral face and pleasant voice.

 

[Mock Turtle]

What Trump's guilty verdict means for the 2024 election

There is no precedent for this moment - but we will have to wait until November to know the real impact.

www.bbc.co.uk

"The real verdict is going to be [on] 5 November, by the people," Trump said, moments after leaving the courtroom.

What, stolen like the last one if you lose again! And it says something about the US constitution that someone with a criminal conviction is even allowed to run for such office - being about as dumb perhaps as the right to carry firearms when what is available now just wasn't envisaged when the constitution was framed. And I was (pleasantly) surprised as to the verdict - well done for those on the jury.

Trump's Repeated Claims on His New York Hush Money Trial - FactCheck.org

Former President Donald Trump has been found guilty by a jury in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an effort to conceal election law violations after buying the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels, shortly before the 2016 election. Trump repeatedly has made false and...

www.factcheck.org

‘Termination shock’: cut in ship pollution sparked global heating spurt

Sudden cut in pollution in 2020 meant less shade from sun and was ‘substantial’ factor in record surface temperatures in 2023, study finds

www.theguardian.com

‘Guilty on all counts’: how the world’s media reacted to the Trump trial’s historic verdict

The former president appears on front pages across the globe on Friday, as the world’s media takes in the unprecedented outcome of the hush-money trial

www.theguardian.com

Trump was convicted of 34 felonies. What is Biden’s next move?

In a presidential election where poll after poll shows voters favouring Trump over Biden, the president’s tone will be crucial

www.theguardian.com

Piers Morgan ridiculed over reaction to Trump verdict: ‘Are you serious?’

Morgan isn’t happy with the outcome of the trial

www.independent.co.uk

Shortly after the guilty verdict was revealed, Morgan, who last interviewed Trump in 2022, wrote on X/Twitter: “This is a sad, shameful and ridiculous day for America. To drag a former President, who is running for President again, through criminal courts over something so trivial feels a massive overreach & an incredibly divisive and obviously politically partisan action.” His comment was met with consternation from his followers, with one asking: ‘Are you serious?” In April, Morgan let his views on the trial be known, stating that Trump should risk arrest and skip the trial in order to attend his son’s graduation. He said on his TalkTV show: “Have you lost your minds, America? What a demeaning way to treat a former president.”

Oh yeah, it is just outrageous than the wealthy should be held to the same laws as everyone else. And has Morgan not been conscious for the last several years?

A robotic third thumb controlled by your toe could just be what you need

That's the dream.

metro.co.uk

Well, I have suggested for some time that a more symmetrical hand might be useful, so as to have two thumbs (the second swapping with the little finger - which seems to have little use anyway), but then this will require a lot more as to genetic modifications than any mere mechanical device. If one wants to do many things single-handed.

All the best Donald Trump guilty verdict memes so far

Social media is already delivering quality memes.

metro.co.uk

Is guilty bad?

Strange Discovery Suggests Children Trust Robots Over Humans

From The Iron Giant to Big Hero 6, many of us will be familiar with tales of kids befriending robots, which suggest generations of young children are more trusting of advice from machines than their own flesh and blood.

www.sciencealert.com

How people without 'inner voices' could help reveal the mysteries of consciousness

The lack of an inner monologue seems linked to a lower ability to recall words and predict their sounds.

www.livescience.com

Elderspeak, Hearing Loss, and Dementia

Many of us use baby talk when communicating to toddlers. Studies show this same technique is often used when talking to people as they age. Here's why.

www.psychologytoday.com

As artificial intelligence systems outpace human performance on an increasing array of cognitive tasks, they risk undermining the intellectual supremacy upon which we have long staked our self-worth. The seemingly infallible capabilities of these synthetic minds illuminate the constraints and frailties inherent to biological intelligence—flawed memories, analytically crippling biases, and information processing limitations. This disheartening reality check extends beyond just our mental faculties. Many skills and attributes once considered unique hallmarks of human excellence—creativity, emotional astuteness, complex social dynamics—could eventually be eclipsed by advanced AI capabilities. Such a extraordinary shift begs the question: Where does this leave the human ego?

Well it might put some religions in their place - as to the notion that God created us humans as being so superior to all other life - and where we could just have created something that disproves this (even if the notion of 'being alive' might be stretched). And shows that humans are not so great after all, especially when AI might unravel the communications and intelligence of so much of non-human life too.

Moscow warns of escalation after Ukraine told it can hit Russia

Russia accuses Nato and the US of "provoking a new level of tension" over the use of Western-supplied weapons.

www.bbc.co.uk

So we should probably file this warning along with all the rest - in the bin?

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Nato countries, especially the US and several European countries, had "entered a new round of escalating tension and they are doing this deliberately", in remarks quoted by the Tass news agency. "They are in every possible way provoking Ukraine to continue this senseless war."

Well, some senseless Russian idiot started it.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Google to refine AI-generated search summaries in response to bizarre results

After new feature tells people to eat rocks or add glue to pizza sauce, company to restrict which searches return summaries

www.theguardian.com

Like for example, reflecting reality rather than fantasy?

The AI Overviews feature, which Google released in the US this month, quickly produced viral examples of the tool misinterpreting information and appearing to use satirical sources like the Onion or joke Reddit posts to generate answers. Google’s AI failures then became a meme, with fake screenshots of absurd and dark answers circulating widely on social media platforms alongside the tool’s real failures.

When such has no equivalent of common sense, or even what most humans know, this will perhaps always occur until true intelligence arrives.

The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s conviction: a criminal unfit to stand or serve | Editorial

Editorial: The prosecution and the guilty verdicts are unprecedented. But making history is not the same as shifting election outcomes

www.theguardian.com

The three criminal cases Trump still faces – over the alleged mishandling of classified documents and attempts to overturn the 2020 election – are graver by far, but are not expected to be heard before election day. While this may not have been the case that his opponents wanted, it has proved that he breaks the law for political advantage. Failing to pursue it for fear that he would exploit the charges would have meant tacitly caving in to his bullyboy tactics.

And if he wins the election he will undoubtedly find ways to quash all of these so as to come out looking lily white.

Having wreaked devastation upon US politics, Trump seeks to undermine the rule of law too. He has assailed the prosecutor, the judge, the jury and the legal system itself. He broke a gag order 10 times. The damage he has caused must not be underestimated or overlooked. But the judicial process has held.

I know they tend to do things differently in the USA but I would have thought this amounted to contempt of court and as such he should have been gagged properly as to what he could say - or face the consequences - just so ludicrous.

The truth about ADHD and autism: how many people have it, what causes it, and why are diagnoses soaring?

Growing awareness about ADHD and autism is reshaping thinking in science, social science and medicine. Scientists explain what’s behind the rise – and the best ways to improve neurodivergent lives

www.theguardian.com

Satellite data study shows 1.18 billion people are energy poor, finding no evidence of electricity usage from space

An international team of political scientists, data scientists, economists and environmental scientists has found, via study of satellite data, that approximately 1.18 billion people across the globe are energy-poor—viewed from space, they show no evidence of using electricity. In their study...

phys.org

Researchers identify a genetic cause of intellectual disability affecting tens of thousands

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and others have identified a neurodevelopmental disorder, caused by mutations in a single gene, that affects tens of thousands of people worldwide. The work, published in the May 31 online issue of Nature Medicine, was done in...

medicalxpress.com

Relieving a fear of public speaking

If you dread public speaking you are not alone. It is a leading social phobia, one that can cause a state of anxiety that reduces otherwise articulate people to nervous incoherence.

phys.org

My suggestion - if it is all seemingly going pear-shaped - wear a red or blue cap, and at the point of no return, walk off stage. As quickly as possible come back on with a different colour cap and claim to be the speaker's identical twin - and carry on from there, given this might produce a laugh and hence relax one.

Research brings together humans, robots and generative AI to create art

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute (RI) have developed a robotic system that interactively co-paints with people. Collaborative FRIDA (CoFRIDA) can work with users of any artistic ability, inviting collaboration to create art in the real world.

techxplore.com

Quite interesting - for those not so against technology.

Infants hear significantly more speech than music at home, study finds

Speech and music are the dominant elements of an infant's auditory environment. While past research has shown that speech plays a critical role in children's language development, less is known about the music that infants hear.

medicalxpress.com

Study shows most doctors endorsing drugs on X are paid to do so

A team of medical researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. has found that a high percentage of doctors posting endorsements regarding drugs on the social media site X were paid to do so by the makers of the drugs.

medicalxpress.com

Using AI to help drones find lost hikers

A trio of engineers at the University of Glasgow has designed and built an AI-based drone system that can assist in search efforts for hikers lost in the wilderness. Jan-Hendrik Ewers, David Anderson, and Douglas Thomson have published a paper describing their efforts on the arXiv preprint server.

techxplore.com

Clues to mysterious disappearance of North America's large mammals 50,000 years ago found within ancient bone collagen

50,000 years ago, North America was ruled by megafauna. Lumbering mammoths roamed the tundra, while forests were home to towering mastodons, fierce saber-toothed tigers and enormous wolves. Bison and extraordinarily tall camels moved in herds across the continent, while giant beavers plied its...

phys.org

50,000 years ago, North America was ruled by megafauna. Lumbering mammoths roamed the tundra, while forests were home to towering mastodons, fierce saber-toothed tigers and enormous wolves. Bison and extraordinarily tall camels moved in herds across the continent, while giant beavers plied its lakes and ponds. Immense ground sloths weighing over 1,000 kg were found across many regions east of the Rocky Mountains. And then, sometime at the end of the Last Ice Age, most of North America's megafauna disappeared. How and why remains hotly contested. Some researchers believe the arrival of humans was pivotal. Maybe the animals were hunted and eaten, or maybe humans just altered their habitats or competed for vital food sources. But other researchers contend that climate change was to blame, as the Earth thawed after several thousand years of glacial temperatures, changing environments faster than megafauna could adapt. Disagreement between these two schools has been fierce and debates contentious.

And a third lot, the YECs, believe none of this ever happened.

One such novel technique is called ZooMS — short for Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry. The method relies on the fact that while most of its proteins degrade quickly after an animal dies, some, like bone collagen, can preserve over long time periods. Since collagen proteins frequently differ in small, subtle ways between different taxonomic groups of animals, and even individual species, collagen sequences can provide a kind of molecular barcode to help identify bone fragments that are otherwise unidentifiable. So, collagen protein segments extracted from minute quantities of bone can be separated and analyzed on a mass spectrometer to perform the identifications of remnant bones that traditional zooarchaeologists cannot.

What they found surprised them. Despite the old age of many of the collections, the unpromising appearance of much of the material, and the ancient origins of the bones themselves, they yielded excellent ZooMS results. In fact, a remarkable 80% of the bones sampled yielded sufficient collagen for ZooMS identifications. 73% could be identified to genus level. The taxa they identified using ZooMS included Bison, Mammuthus (the genus to which mammoths belong), Camelidae (the camel family), and possibly Mammut (the genus to which mastodons belong). In some cases, they could only assign the specimens to broad taxonomic groups because many North American animals still lack ZooMS reference libraries. These databases, which are comparatively well developed for Eurasia but not for other regions, are essential for identifying the spectra a sample produces when they run it on a mass spectrometer. Their findings have major implications for museum collections. The material the researchers looked at is in every way the poor cousin of the glamorous material that goes on display in natural history museums. To look at, these highly fragmentary, small and undiagnostic animal bones are uninspiring and superficially uninformative. But like other biomolecular tools, ZooMS is revealing the rich information retained in neglected specimens that have drawn neither researcher nor visitor attention for decades.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Trump supporters call for riots, violence in wake of guilty verdict - Live

Hardcore supporters of the former president are calling for violence against the jurors who convicted him

www.independent.co.uk

Hardcore Donald Trump supporters are calling for riots, insurrection, and assassination after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump became the first US president to be criminally convicted on Thursday, but said he would “continue to fight” the decision. He will have 30 days to do following his sentencing on July 11. In messages seen by The Independent, and others reported by Reuters, Trump die-hards on social media are calling for violence in the wake of the verdict. “Find the jurors. All of them. Take no prisoners,” wrote one user on a Trump-focused message board. “Just give them the rope,” said another, in an explicit reference to lynching. “The time for talking has long gone. Let them swing outside the courthouse.”

The fact is that Trump expressly promotes this by his frenzied attacks when things don't go his way - as per the last election - and where so many of his supporters are gullible enough to buy into this nonsense - where they selectively denounce all those who don't support the Orange One or the GOP agenda.

War, AI and more war: the 2024 Bilderberg agenda is sure to set off alarm bells

The secretive annual summit has tried to counter its arcane reputation, but its guest list still reads like a conspiracist’s who’s who of who rules the world

www.theguardian.com

Factcheck: no, Richard Tice, volcanoes are not to blame for climate change

Reform UK’s leader has made some eye-opening statements on the climate, and his party’s manifesto is packed with even more falsehoods

www.theguardian.com

Last Friday, in an interview with BBC Breakfast, the Reform leader, Richard Tice, offered a summary, saying that the UK should scrap its net zero target since, he claimed, it would “make zero difference to climate change”. Instead, he argued we should simply adapt to global heating. He then cited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in a misleading attempt to bolster his position, before blaming the climate crisis on “the power of the sun or volcanoes”. Asked by the interviewer why Reform didn’t seem to be concerned about “the future of the planet”, Tice replied: “Net zero will make zero difference to climate change, as confirmed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that says if you get to net zero, it’ll make no difference to sea level rise for between 200 and 1,000 years. Actually, what we need to do with climate change – of course, we all care about the environment of the planet – we need to adapt to it. The idea that you can stop the power of the sun or volcanoes is simply ludicrous. Anyone who thinks you can, frankly, you’re misinformed.”

Contrary to Tice’s first falsehood, reaching net zero emissions is the only way to stop climate change, according to the IPCC. Second, far from saying that net zero makes no difference to sea level rise, the IPCC says the rise will be greater if emissions continue to increase. Third, while adaptation is important, it cannot be the only response to global heating. The IPCC says there is a “rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all” by cutting emissions, and that many will be unable to adapt if this opportunity is missed. Finally, it is a fact that we humans are causing the climate crisis, not the sun or volcanoes as Tice implies. The IPCC says it is “unequivocal” that humans are responsible for heating the planet and that our emissions have caused 100% of recent warming. As IPCC authors said after publishing the report, “it is a statement of fact, we cannot be any more certain; it is unequivocal and indisputable that humans are warming the planet”.

Seems to be the right-wing way, so why expect anything different?

Child sex abuse is all around us – and online it can start with legal porn | Sonia Sodha

Men not originally sexually attracted to children sometimes seek more extreme content, research shows

www.theguardian.com

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation runs various interventions, including a helpline, for men who have offended or who are at risk of offending, as part of its work to prevent child sexual abuse. It published a paper last week, based on its clinical work, that highlights that most people accessing the helpline reported problematic use of legal pornography. Viewing pornography does not mean someone will necessarily escalate to illegal sexual images but, for the men the foundation worked with, “adult pornography often serves as a gateway to viewing sexual images of children”. The theory about how one leads to the other is thought to be because some people become desensitised in their response to pornographic stimulus. Porn has never been more easily available: it is the subject of one in four internet searches, and the four largest pornography sites received a combined 11bn visits a month in 2020.

Some people report needing to consume increasingly novel – and in some cases, extreme – forms of pornography in order to get the same “hit” as from when they first started watching porn. The online world makes that entirely possible. So some men who have ended up viewing sexual images of children may not have originally been sexually attracted to children, according to the Lucy Faithfull Foundation. Another charity, the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, highlights that the most striking feature of men who view but do not produce sexual images of children is their “ordinariness” compared with those convicted of contact child sexual abuse. This makes for uncomfortable reading because it challenges our preconceptions about the men who view child sexual abuse online.

Besides the possible escalation into illegal material, there is also the problem of actual adults (seemingly being so because they are on adult sites and material is not taken down) who have bodies and/or other features that could pass for being underage - and in some countries these images could well be seen as being illegal. So, should such females (usually it is such) be banned from appearing in nude or pornographic imagery?

Trump could be 'banned from the UK' after felony conviction

There are 36 other countries that could do the same.

metro.co.uk

The idea of mutually-assured destruction – if country A attacks country B, the retaliation by country B would render any first strike suicidal – has helped prevent nuclear war in the decades since. But subsequent research also suggests it would be suicidal for country A to launch a first strike regardless of whether country B responds due to the climate changes caused by the smoke. Faced with the poisoned apocalyptic world that would await any survivors of a full-scale nuclear war, former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev said: ‘The living will envy the dead.’

Which is why it is lunacy to even threaten the use of such weapons - but then perhaps Putin and his coterie are just so desperate so as to continually doing this.

Having tattoos could increase risk of cancer by 21%, a new study has found

Recent research suggests that individuals with tattoos face a 21 per cent higher risk of developing lymphoma cancer, with further studies under way

www.mirror.co.uk

Plus the fact that large areas of tattoos seem to turn into a dark mush after a number of years - so will not look as when done.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Zelenskiy: Trump risks being ‘loser president’ if he imposes bad deal on Ukraine

Exclusive: Ukrainian leader says bad peace deal in event of Trump victory would mean end of US as global ‘player’

www.theguardian.com

Well the USA will be changing its role inevitably when China, India, some African countries, and some Asian countries or even South American ones become more powerful economically (we shouldn't mention Russia), just as the UK did after losing its empire after WWII and even earlier - this just seems to be the way things are as to the rise and fall of nations.

In an interview with the Guardian in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said he had “no strategy yet” for what to do if Trump returned to the White House, and that the former British prime minister Boris Johnson had approached him on his behalf. If Trump beats Joe Biden, he is widely expected to cut off US military support to Ukraine. Last year Trump boasted he could end the war in “24 hours”. Trump’s aides have previously sketched out a possible plan that would involve giving Ukraine’s eastern regions to Russia, as well as Crimea. But Zelenskiy made clear that “Ukrainians would not put up with that”. Nor would they accept a Russian “ultimatum” that forced Ukraine to abandon integration with Europe and future membership of Nato, he said. Zelenskiy acknowledged that a re-elected Trump could, if he really wanted to, impose a crushing military defeat on Ukraine. He could cut off “support, weapons and money”, and even “make deals” with Kyiv’s partners so they stop deliveries of vital arms. “Ukraine, barehanded, without weapons, will not be able to fight a multimillion [Russian] army,” Zelenskiy told the Guardian.

The wishes of the Ukrainian people are just an inconvenience to Trump - and much like how he approaches all politics - my way or the highway.

In 2019, as president, Trump rang Zelenskiy and asked him to investigate his election rival Biden and Biden’s son Hunter. If Zelenskiy failed to find dirt on Hunter Biden, US security assistance to Ukraine would be withheld, Trump suggested, according to a leak of the call. The scandal led to Trump’s first impeachment.

Trump and the GOP way?

‘I can only love 100% or 0%’: Chris Packham on navigating a neurodiverse relationship

The naturalist and his neurotypical partner – and other couples with ADHD and autism – open up about how they have learned to love and be loved

www.theguardian.com

Debt payments by countries most vulnerable to climate crisis soar

Exclusive: level at highest in more than 30 years, say campaigners, who want ‘rapid and effective’ relief scheme

www.theguardian.com

Debt payments by the 50 countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis have doubled since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and now stand at their highest level in more than three decades, campaigners have warned. The Debt Justice charity said countries at the highest risk of being affected by global heating were paying 15.5% of government revenues to external creditors – up from less than 8% before Covid-19 and 4% at their lowest recent point in 2010. Using data from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the charity said its new report showed the urgent need for comprehensive debt relief so that poor countries could invest in measures to tackle the climate crisis.

Hardly seems fair on such countries when it is mainly the richest countries that will be producing, and have produced, the emissions that cause the climate crisis.

Britain has an addiction crisis – is 12-step recovery the answer?

The tenets of Alcoholics Anonymous have been replicated across different forms of addiction treatment, while numerous studies have proven their effectiveness. So why do they remain misunderstood, asks Anna Wolfe

www.independent.co.uk

Despite being the world’s most lethal substance, alcohol has become the most accessible and normalised drug of choice.

I would think many poisons or toxic substances, like bleach, would Trump alcohol for being the more lethal ones.

Others, such as Dr Naomi Thompson, sociology lecturer at Goldsmiths University, tells me that many of us crave a feeling of belonging, whether religious in nature or not. “Researchers in the sociology of religion have found people who identify as non-religious rarely see themselves as non-spiritual,” she says. “My own research suggests most people have spiritual needs and desire to connect with some purpose beyond ourselves. The need for community in healing or recovery processes is arguably part of this.”

I must be one of the rare ones then, given I doubt any definition of spirituality would satisfy me as to being anything other than an extraneous label with dubious purposes.

Doomsday obsessive gets death penalty for killing wife and girlfriend's children

Former gravedigger and self-style prophet Chad Daybell was sentenced on Saturday.

metro.co.uk

Born in 1968 to a Mormon family in Springville, Utah, Chad Daybell spent time working as a gravedigger to support his studies before publishing his first religiously themed novel in the late 1990s. Five years later, he had quit his job at the cemetery to pursue his career as a writer, launching a publishing house with his first wife, Tammy. Toward the end of the 2000s, Daybell’s writings, which often featured apocalyptic scenarios and prophetic callings, had found a small following among radical Mormon circles. In time, his religious beliefs began to fall into line with the fictitious worlds he had created, with him prophesying an end to civilisation in the form of earthquakes and all-out war in the US.

Moment Mariupol police officer returns home after two years of hell in Russia

Mariana was starved and tortured for two years in Russia's 'filtration' camps.

metro.co.uk

Taylor Momsen nicknamed 'bat girl' after she's bitten during rock gig

Taylor Momsen, who is known for her role in Gossip Girl, was performing on stage in Spain alongside her band The Pretty Reckless when a bat flew onto her leg and bit her

www.mirror.co.uk

Almost 1 in 3 Americans know someone who's died from a drug overdose

As the opioid addiction crisis continues to lay waste to American life, a new survey finds that nearly a third of U.S. adults now know someone who's died of a drug overdose.

medicalxpress.com

Is intermittent fasting better than counting calories? Maybe not, but you might stick with it

As weight-loss plans go, it's easy to see the allure of intermittent fasting: Eat what you want, but only during certain windows of time—often just eight hours a day.

medicalxpress.com

Will we ever be able to stop using plastic?

While the push to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is spurring alternatives to petroleum in other sectors, phasing out plastic, particularly for medical applications, will be very tough.

www.livescience.com

Can you spot this apex predator's tiny arms?

Newly discovered dinosaur — the apex predator of its environment — had a weirdly flat skull compared to its contemporaries, along with ridiculously small arms.

www.livescience.com

First Date Do’s and Don’ts

I’ve listened to people describe their dating experiences, and now I’ve created a list of which behaviors most often work and which ones don't.

www.psychologytoday.com