Mock Turtle world

[Mock Turtle]

ADHD: does medication work?

Of the UK’s 2.6million people with ADHD only a fraction are on drugs which, while not a cure, may offer life-changing help

www.theguardian.com

The reich stuff – what does Trump really have in common with Hitler?

Comparisons between the ex-president and the 20th-century Nazi leader are controversial but a new book says they resemble each other as political performance artists

www.theguardian.com

When Donald Trump shared a video that dreamed of a “unified reich” if he wins the US presidential election, and took nearly a full day to remove it, the most shocking thing was how unshocking it was. Trump has reportedly said before that Adolf Hitler did “some good things”, echoed the Nazi dictator by calling his political opponents “vermin” and saying immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”, and responded to a white supremacist march in Charlottesville by claiming that there were “very fine people on both sides”. The Hitler-Trump analogy is controversial. “Some of Trump’s critics – including Biden’s campaign – argue that Trump’s incendiary rhetoric and authoritarian behavior justify the comparison,” the Politico website observed recently. “Meanwhile, Trump’s defenders – and even some of his more historically-minded critics – argue that the comparison is ahistorical; that he’s not a true fascist.”

Just 95% - see below image as to aspirations.

Global rich must pay more to tackle climate crisis, says architect of Paris deal

Laurence Tubiana, one of experts behind 2015 agreement, calls for taxes or charges on consumption

www.theguardian.com

Rich individuals in all countries must pay more to tackle the climate crisis, whether through taxes or charges on consumption, one of the architects of the Paris agreement has said. There is a growing consensus on the need for some kind of global wealth tax, with Brazil, which will host the Cop climate summit next year, an enthusiastic supporter. Meanwhile, poor countries are struggling to raise the estimated $1tn (£785bn) a year of external finance needed to help them cut emissions and cope with the impacts of the climate crisis. Another proposal is for a frequent flyer levy, as the richest people tend to take far more flights – in any year about half of the people in the UK do not fly, for instance. Laurence Tubiana, the chief executive of the European Climate Foundation, said a levy could be targeted at business class and first class seats. Other possible sources of revenue include a carbon tax on international shipping, which could raise billions without disrupting global trade, according to research from the World Bank. Levies on fossil fuels could also play a role. The richest 1% of people in the world are responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the 66% at the other end of the scale, yet they experience little of the vulnerability to climate shocks that are causing suffering and death, mainly among poorer people. Tubiana said: “This inequality is true not only between developed countries and developing ones, but within each country – the 1% of rich Chinese, or the 1% of very rich Indians, or the US citizen – they have a lifestyle which is very, very similar, in terms of overconsumption. That’s where your carbon footprint comes in.”

Comedy panel shows are tedious and full of men – there’s only one way to save them

Statistics show that TV panel shows still haven’t solved their gender imbalance. Might that be why the genre is feeling so tired, asks Katie Rosseinsky

www.independent.co.uk

It just seems to be that there are more male comedians than females overall, just as there are more females than males in many roles, and perhaps this is because males often do tend to use comedy as a feature to attract females (females being less likely to do this when they have so many other aspects of attraction), and often shows off the male's intelligence at the same time too. So unless one just wants to play the equality game - in all aspects of life - one is necessarily disadvantaging males by choosing females over males, especially when the pool of males would be so much larger. Anyway, I haven't seen obvious discrimination against females on UK TV or radio, and will be just as willing to watch/listen to female comedians and/or such programmes as mostly male ones, and find them equally entertaining.

The thousand-year-old mystery of the giant snake found in drawings across the world

Archaeologists have discovered one of the world’s largest collections of ancient art

www.independent.co.uk

Desperate for summer to arrive? Bronze Age Brits had a grisly trick to help

Don't try it.

metro.co.uk

A remote tribe was given the internet for the first time - here's how it's gone

The Marubo people, who live deep in the Amazon, received high-speed internet nine months ago.

metro.co.uk

Worth a read, and not surprising the issues developing from such a sudden change.

Miriam Margolyes lifts lid on Lily Allen row- "Should have taught her to behave"

Miriam Margolyes didn't hold back when she was asked which celebrities she dislikes over the weekend at a festival as she recalled a past experience on The Graham Norton Show

www.mirror.co.uk

This prompted Miriam to recall the time she appeared on The Graham Norton Show back in 2014 with Lily, 39, and Dominic Cooper. The actress said of singer Lily: "She thought when she was on the programme that it was all about her." Miriam added: "She thought: 'Who is this woman? Miriam who?' She wasn’t friendly and I didn’t like that and so I showed my dislike, which wasn’t very nice of me because she was much younger than me and I should have just taught her how to behave."

Perhaps it is because Margolyes just comes across as an arrogant ****er - as to teaching anyone how to behave - and Margolyes comes across as being arrogant in general from what I have seen of her.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Butts, breasts, and genitals now explicitly allowed on Elon Musk’s X

It remains unclear if X can detect nonconsensual sex images at scale.

arstechnica.com

Sex education: Boys ask how to choke girls during sex - teacher

Dr Tamasine Preece says boys have asked her if "a soft squeeze on the neck is OK".

www.bbc.co.uk

Boys as young as 14 have been asking their teachers how to choke girls during sex, a teacher has told the BBC. Dr Tamasine Preece, who teaches at Bryntirion Comprehensive in Bridgend, said some children now felt it was a normal part of sex and asked if "a soft squeeze on the neck is OK". Health experts said pornography was a key contributor and that there was no safe way to strangle someone. One woman, Sophie Henson, who was strangled until she passed out, said choking should not be normalised as part of sex. It comes after warnings following the death of 26-year-old dancer Georgia Brooke, who was choked to death during sex with her boyfriend.

There does seem good evidence that internet pornography has been the source for such behaviours, and where before viewing such most might not ever think that sex would or should include anything like this. Has never been part of my beliefs as to sex (never thought that aggression should be any part of such) - and perhaps this is a symptom of escalation as to what is needed for some - and not a good thing probably in any way. But such might be the normalisation effect of watching too much pornography together with all the varieties available on the internet.

Russian crime group behind London hospitals cyber-attack, says expert

Ex-head of National Cyber Security Centre says group has ‘two-year history of attacking organisations across the world’

www.theguardian.com

Perhaps state sponsored, given the Russians seem to have no issues with having mercenaries and hardened criminals in their ranks of the armed services.

Internet addiction alters brain chemistry in young people, study finds

Changes in multiple neural networks can result in further addictive tendencies and negative behaviours, researchers say

www.theguardian.com

Young people with internet addiction experience changes in their brain chemistry which could lead to more addictive behaviours, research suggests. The study, published in PLOS Mental Health, reviewed previous research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how regions of the brain interact in people with internet addiction. They found that the effects were evident throughout multiple neural networks in the brains of young people, and that there was increased activity in parts of the brain when participants were resting. At the same time, there was an overall decrease in the functional connectivity in parts of the brain involved in active thinking, which is the executive control network of the brain responsible for memory and decision-making. The research found that these changes resulted in addictive behaviours and tendencies in adolescents, as well as behavioural changes linked to mental health, development, intellectual ability and physical coordination. The researchers reviewed 12 previous studies involving 237 10- to 19-year-olds with a formal diagnosis of internet addiction between 2013 and 2023. Almost half of British teenagers have said they feel addicted to social media, according to a survey this year.

Analysts join the call for Microsoft to recall Recall

'Does any of this add real value for users or enterprises?'

www.theregister.com

Windows Recall demands an extraordinary level of trust that Microsoft hasn’t earned

Op-ed: The risks to Recall are way too high for security to be secondary.

arstechnica.com

Microsoft’s Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs come with quite a few new AI and machine learning-driven features, but the tentpole is Recall. Described by Microsoft as a comprehensive record of everything you do on your PC, the feature is pitched as a way to help users remember where they’ve been and to provide Windows extra contextual information that can help it better understand requests from and meet the needs of individual users. This, as many users in infosec communities on social media immediately pointed out, sounds like a potential security nightmare. That’s doubly true because Microsoft says that by default, Recall’s screenshots take no pains to redact sensitive information, from usernames and passwords to health care information to NSFW site visits. By default, on a PC with 256GB of storage, Recall can store a couple dozen gigabytes of data across three months of PC usage, a huge amount of personal data. The line between “potential security nightmare” and “actual security nightmare” is at least partly about the implementation, and Microsoft has been saying things that are at least superficially reassuring. Copilot+ PCs are required to have a fast neural processing unit (NPU) so that processing can be performed locally rather than sending data to the cloud; local snapshots are protected at rest by Windows’ disk encryption technologies, which are generally on by default if you’ve signed into a Microsoft account; neither Microsoft nor other users on the PC are supposed to be able to access any particular user’s Recall snapshots; and users can choose to exclude apps or (in most browsers) individual websites to exclude from Recall’s snapshots.

Most reassuring, but I'm probably not likely to be embracing this very soon - or even any PCs capable of running all this new-fangled junk! Big Brother, here is a gift to your good self.

Randomized Trial Finds Circumcised Men Are Less Likely to Get HIV

A new randomized controlled trial adds weight to claims that circumcision may reduce the risk of infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among men who have sex with men.

www.sciencealert.com

The new study does suggest voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) could offer some protection against HIV infection for men who have sex with men, although the researchers are careful not to overstate the implications.

And perhaps not so useful for the majority of men who don't have sex with men but do have sex with women - unless of course perhaps these latter men are just fickle and will have sex with men eventually - when they realise their mistake of course.

Evolutionary Mismatch Might Be Why We Struggle in Today's World

Research is showing that many of our contemporary problems, such as the rising prevalence of mental health issues, are emerging from rapid technological advancement and modernisation.

www.sciencealert.com

Research is showing that many of our contemporary problems, such as the rising prevalence of mental health issues, are emerging from rapid technological advancement and modernisation. A theory that can help explain why we respond poorly to modern conditions, despite the choices, safety and other benefits they bring, is evolutionary mismatch. Mismatch happens when an evolved adaptation, either physical or psychological, becomes misaligned with the environment. Take moths and some species of nocturnal flies, for example. Because they have to navigate in the dark, they evolved to use the moon for direction. But due to the invention of artificial lighting, many moths and flies are drawn to street lamps and indoor lights instead. The same happens for humans. A classic example is our "sweet tooth", which motivated ancestral humans to search for calorie-rich foods in nutritionally scarce environments. This sweet tooth becomes mismatched to the modern world when food companies mass produce foods laden with refined sugars and fat, hijacking an otherwise useful trait. The result is tooth decay, obesity and diabetes. The modern world is replete with things that make our once-adaptive instincts go awry. For instance, humans evolved to live in kin-based, nomadic tribes of approximately 50 to 150 close-knit people. Our adaptive need to belong functions well in such settings. In large cities populated by hundreds of thousands of strangers, however, people can end up feeling lonely and like they have not many close friends.

Seems quite reasonable to me, and as to why so many don't see the disproportionate nature of having so many people so vastly rich (and with the power that usually comes from such) when they just don't deserve this but are merely there by various circumstances - this often being due to hereditary passing on of wealth or power, for example. Why should any be elevated to such stratospheric heights? Just seems ridiculous to me.

Studies have also shown that when social animals are kept in crowded spaces, they experience competitive stress which has consequences for physical health such as poorer immune functioning and reduced fertility. Like the animals in the crowding studies, humans living in crowded cities too can experience unprecedented levels of stress and tend to have fewer children. The social inequality in modern societies also differs from the more egalitarian hunter-gatherer environment. Humans evolved to care about social status, which motivates us to redress status gaps between ourselves and others. But when social disparity is too intense and people like Elon Musk, whose net worth would take the average American several million years of work at the mean annual wage to catch up with, are regularly made salient by the media, our concerns with social status can lead to social status anxiety. Social media exacerbates the problems associated with social comparisons. As people typically share the best sides of themselves online, social media presents a skewed impression of reality, which can make viewers feel worse about their own.

So more about enormous wealth differences than wealth differences per se - which no doubt will always be with us.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Human culture is changing too fast for evolution to catch up – here’s how it may affect you

Human culture has changed too fast for evolution to keep up.

theconversation.com

‘I could eat that girl for lunch’: the sexually explicit queer female pop topping the charts

Billie Eilish is the latest singer to write frankly about sex between women – without it being titillation for men. Artists from King Princess to Girli explain why it’s taken so long

www.theguardian.com

Leading UK cyclist out of Tour of Britain after being struck at ‘high speed’ by 4x4

One of the UK’s leading young cyclists has been forced to pull out of this week’s Tour of Britain after being hit at ‘high speed’ by a 4x4 driver

www.theguardian.com

“I was on a narrow single track road, no more than 3m wide, on a blind bend and clearly the driver couldn’t wait 10 more seconds to overtake me,” she wrote on Instagram. “He decided to try and squeeze his huge 4x4 past me at a high speed, hitting me hard and knocking me off my bike. Initially, he just drove on but turned around and came back later to verbally abuse and threaten me before getting back in his car and driving off again. Thankfully another driver came across the scene pretty quickly and kindly helped me up and drove me home.” The 21-year-old from Glasgow, who posted pictures of her badly damaged cycling kit, said she had also suffered road rash and severe bruising across her right hip in the incident. She confirmed she would miss the Tour of Britain, which starts on Thursday.

Some motorists are just so arrogant - as to seemingly not bothering as to the effects of their driving on others, especially cyclists, and such being almost psychopathic often. Country lanes are one area where many seem to think they own the road and all others are vermin if they get in their way. I suffered two such cycling incidents and where I could have been injured or even killed because of the impatience of motorists - both being large commercial vehicles in my cases (and a friend involved too in one case). I hope they catch the lunatic in the incident described in the article and take away his licence.

Woman, 23, killed in dog attack died on her birthday, heartbroken sister reveals

Tributes have been made to the 23-year-old woman who died in the dog attack at a house in Ballyneety, County Limerick, Ireland

www.independent.co.uk

Another killed by an XL Bully seemingly owned by the victim - being a young woman in this case.

Trump again suggests he would take revenge on his political enemies if re-elected

Leading MAGA figure Steve Bannon told Axios on Wednesday that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg should be jailed

www.independent.co.uk

Donald Trump has again suggested he would take revenge on his political enemies if he is re-elected as President. In an interview with conservative outlet Newsmax, the former president claimed “it’s very possible” that his political opponents could face prosecution after he became the first US president to be criminally convicted last week. “So, you know, it’s a terrible, terrible path that they’re leading us to, and it’s very possible that it’s going to have to happen to them,” Trump said when discussing his guilty verdict. “Does that mean the next president does it to them? That’s really the question,” he added. It comes as MAGA allies are pushing Trump to investigate, prosecute — and even try to imprison — those involved in bringing four criminal cases against him. Leading MAGA figure Steve Bannon told Axios on Wednesday that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the hush money charges against Donald Trump, should be jailed. “Of course [Bragg] should be — and will be — jailed,” he said. He went on to say that he wants “investigations to include [Democrats’] media allies.”

One has to wonder if a civil war might actually take place in the USA, given the distance between the Democrats and many of the Republicans.

Putin's 'favourite witch' who cast spells on enemies detained for 'fraud'

A hoard of occult items were found by Russian investigators inside the home of Alyona Polyn - a self-proclaimed 'witch' - including demon figures, skulls and voodoo dolls

www.mirror.co.uk

Or, just another of Putin's Barmy Army (along with all the convicts and mercenaries), and who got on the wrong side of him - good riddance no doubt.

Study Finds Potential Downside to Vigorous Exercise We Didn't Know About

Bad news for any extreme exercise junkies out there: excessive vigorous exercise could muffle your immune system.

www.sciencealert.com

Bad news for any extreme exercise junkies out there: excessive vigorous exercise could muffle your immune system. At least, that's what a 2023 study analyzing over 4,700 post-exercise fluid molecules from firefighters suggests. This may be problematic for workers with consistently physically demanding jobs that require intense fitness training, such as emergency workers and athletes. "People who are very fit might be more prone to viral respiratory infection immediately after vigorous exercise," said Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) biomedical scientist Ernesto Nakayasu. "Having less inflammatory activity to fight off an infection could be one cause." While there is strong evidence to suggest that moderate physical activity among healthy individuals can favor the immune system in the long run, what happens to the immune system directly following vigorous exercise is controversial.

Microsoft to test “new features and more” for aging, stubbornly popular Windows 10

Support ends next year, but Windows 10 remains the most-used version of the OS.

arstechnica.com

Well one has to ask why so many are reluctant to upgrade to newer versions of MS OSs, especially when many older versions were often better than what followed, and this also usually being down to not liking the pushy nature that MS seems to exude these days - who actually likes being forced to do things? No wonder Win 10 is still more popular - because many just don't seem to want to travel the route that MS is insisting we all do travel. Let alone having to dump an OS system that worked perfectly well, we also have to dump the hardware as well - which might be expensive too!

 

[Mock Turtle]

As to the last item above, I very nearly had no computer at all recently - or at least a working one - after some technical issues and seemingly mostly my fault. This perhaps stemming from the annoying nature of updates from MS - not enough information given as to what was happening, and being frustrated, I sometimes switched the computer off even though warned not to do so. Such coming from the time taken and not knowing if it had just gone into hung mode.

Well, I began to have some unusual issues - as to web pages crashing (in Firefox) and the first time such had happened - and I didn't pursue all possible avenues. I thought it might have been add-ons or some other issue. Eventually it became almost impossible to use Firefox even though the other browser (Edge) seemed just fine. I even tried to restore Firefox but this didn't seem to solve the issue.

Now, as to not looking at all possible avenues. I have used the Event Logs in the past and I am quite familiar with them, so it was a surprise to see so many serial 'bad block' messages in one, and which seemed to cover the time when things started to go a bit wild. Looking further, it seems such things are likely when shutting a computer down during any update process - and where I might have got away with this in the past.

I tried the various system utilities to check the hard drive (Chkdsk) and as to system files (Sfc), and at one stage it looked like nothing was going to work - error messages coming quick and fast and the time taken for checking the disk. I thought this latter might knacker the drive since it was taking so long - several hours. I should have used a backup system that I have used in the past but neglected such for this particular computer.

But eventually it all calmed down, and the system went into Repair Mode and seemingly brought itself back to life.

So, if I suddenly go offline it is either another computer failure or I have indeed gone to another place.

PS And no praying involved.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Girl footballers told 'get back in the kitchen'

Lara, 17, said she had received all kinds of comments online.

www.bbc.co.uk

Just pathetic really, and these idiots should just be ignored. No point in listening to this nonsense - they even might have been dissing females back when females got the vote, and perhaps for the same reasons.

Plans to use Facebook and Instagram posts to train AI criticised

Public posts, images and image captions will also be used to develop parent company Meta's AI tools.

www.bbc.co.uk

Plans to use peoples' public posts and images on Facebook and Instagram to train artificial intelligence (AI) tools belonging to parent company Meta have been attacked by digital rights groups. The social media giant recently has been informing UK and European users of the platforms that, under privacy policy changes, external taking effect on 26 June, their information can be used to "develop and improve" its AI products. This includes posts, images, image captions, comments and Stories that users over the age of 18 have shared with a public audience on Facebook and Instagram, but not private messages. Noyb, a European campaign group that advocates for digital rights, called, external its processing of years' worth of user content on the sites an "abuse of personal data for AI". It has filed complaints with 11 data protection authorities across Europe, urging them to take immediate action on halt the company's plans.

One way of dumbing down its so-called intelligence perhaps - now how does one actually tell the difference between fact and opinion?

Actresses call for crackdown on bad behaviour

Keira Knightley, Cara Delevigne and Ruth Wilson are among those who have signed an open letter to firms.

www.bbc.co.uk

Russia 'us top global nuclear threat' - with four times size of US nuke arsenal

Leaked papers warn Russia is becoming a safe 'sanctuary' by the West limiting Ukraine's weaponry and that Putin's threshold for a nuclear strike is 'much lower' than earlier thought

www.mirror.co.uk

And it warns: “Russia has achieved nuclear superiority, which the Putin regime believes gives it leverage over the US and its allies. Putin will use nuclear weapons if he considers it in his interests. “Leaked Russian documents and other open source information make it clear that Russia’s threshold for using nuclear weapons is much lower than previously thought. And the United States cannot rely on Russian compliance with the so-called ‘nuclear taboo.’ Moscow will use nuclear weapons when it considers it necessary for Russia’s national interests.”

So Russia being destroyed along with so many other countries is 'in his interests', well he is as mad as many might suspect then - unless we get the usual 'only joking' kind of response when pointing this out, but the recklessness and stupidity of doing this, given the consequences, is just criminal.

There are secret thresholds for a pre-emptive attack. He admitted at the time: “... conditions for a pre-emptive nuclear strike . . . are determined by secret policy documents.” One of the UK’s leading experts on the Russian military, Bruce Jones, said: “Russia is doing the same as it has done earlier in Georgia as well as Ukraine; create an even further reaching nuclear umbrella under which it can perpetrate murderous acts of war, largely against the civilian population, without the fear of any form of meaningful conventional military retaliation. The Kremlin is holding Ukraine under threat from acting as any other country should do, when suffering naked military aggression and at the same time with her enemy intimidating all NATO nations, both in North America and in Western Europe from acting justly and proactively.”

So, just another bullying, empire-building, wannabe top-nation with little to back this up - apart from an enormous chip on the shoulders of Putin and his fawning coterie.

New study challenges 'pop psychology' myths about habits

By ditching "pop psychology" myths about habits, we can better understand our habits and take more effective action, according to researchers at the University of Surrey.

medicalxpress.com

What's going on in our brains when we plan? Study uncovers how mental simulations rely on stored memories

In pausing to think before making an important decision, we may imagine the potential outcomes of different choices we could make. While this "mental simulation" is central to how we plan and make decisions in everyday life, how the brain works to accomplish this is not well understood.

medicalxpress.com

Quantum internet breakthrough after 'quantum data' transmitted through standard fiber optic cable for 1st time

The study used a specialized photon source to transmit, store and retrieve quantum data, a major component of quantum data transmission.

www.livescience.com

100-foot 'walking tree' in New Zealand looks like an Ent from Lord of the Rings — and is the lone survivor of a lost forest

An unusual northern rātā tree that looks like it is striding across an empty field has been crowned New Zealand's Tree of the Year. The giant plant, which looks strikingly similar to an Ent from "The Lord of the Rings," is centuries old.

www.livescience.com

Seems the tree (Ent) didn't manage to get the message out - Stop chopping all the trees down! - in time.

Why Humans Are So Much Kinder Than We Imagine

We help others even when it puts us in personal danger.

www.psychologytoday.com

In a cross-cultural study of eight cultures across five continents, researchers found that people are far more likely to help others (79% of the time) than not. These researchers noted that requests for small acts of assistance occur about once every two minutes. “Please pass the salt,” “Where can I find the ketchup?” “Can you get the door for me?” These sociologists found that kind, helpful, and cooperative behavior is seven times more common than uncooperative behavior (Rossi G. et al., 2023).

Spirituality and Meaning-Making

Clinicians can empower clients by understanding and engaging their belief systems to foster meaning and psychobiological change.

www.psychologytoday.com

How to Find Love Online Without Sacrificing Your Values

We don't have to want something long-term to treat people well.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

‘Placebo’ or ‘sham’ surgery is not a cruel trick – it can be very effective

So-called ‘sham’ or ‘placebo’ surgery can be more effective than more invasive surgery. So why aren’t we using it more often?

theconversation.com

‘Well that was dignified’: key takeaways of BBC general election debate

Penny Mordaunt and Angela Rayner clash in heated head-to-head while Stephen Flynn comes out on top

www.theguardian.com

Didn't watch it, and was slightly annoyed that other programmes were scrapped to make way for it, given I hardly need any of these people to persuade me as to how to vote.

‘They got their knives out and just started stabbing’: when Putin attacked Greenpeace

They thought they were mounting a low-key protest against Russian oil – until balaclava-clad soldiers took them prisoner. The Arctic 30 talk about the guns, the alcohol theft … and how Paul McCartney got involved

www.theguardian.com

‘We’re in 1938 now’: Putin’s war in Ukraine and lessons from history

Some analysts believe Kyiv is buying the west time on the precipice of a world war. Is it being used wisely?

www.theguardian.com

Kim Jong-un's sister 'is real brain' behind the North Korean ruler

She is the 'co-crime boss.'

metro.co.uk

Seven theories Greek police are exploring as they search for Michael Mosley

The authorities have launched an urgent investigation, following up on several leads to find 67-year-old Michael Mosley. The quest to find the popular TV doctor is intensifying

www.mirror.co.uk

Not looking good at the moment. And seemingly he has died - from a fall perhaps. Such a shame since he was well liked in the UK and was always working so as to provide useful information for others

One Stage of Sleep Seems to Be Critical For Reducing Risk of Dementia

The risk of getting dementia may go up as you get older if you don't get enough slow-wave sleep.

www.sciencealert.com

Prime Number Puzzle Has Stumped Mathematicians for More Than a Century

Experts have only started to crack the tricky twin prime conjecture

www.scientificamerican.com

Of course, Egesborg could not include all these details in his children’s book on the subject. Nevertheless, he managed to write a book that conveys a few mathematical concepts in a playful way. I bought the book and gave it to the child in question on his birthday — and his parents later told me that he had thoroughly enjoyed it. As I found out afterwards, however, this was less a result of the mathematical content than the fact that a frog farts loudly on one of the first pages.

If you can grab their attention at such an age, and perhaps their interest in knowing more, then it hardly matters as to how one does this.

I would think that few deficits come from being able to understand and appreciate mathematics rather than not doing so. And who doesn't just love primes?

Outcry from big AI firms over California AI “kill switch” bill

Proposed law would require AI companies to adhere to strict safety frameworks.

arstechnica.com

Artificial intelligence heavyweights in California are protesting against a state bill that would force technology companies to adhere to a strict safety framework including creating a “kill switch” to turn off their powerful AI models, in a growing battle over regulatory control of the cutting-edge technology. The California Legislature is considering proposals that would introduce new restrictions on tech companies operating in the state, including the three largest AI start-ups OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere as well as large language models run by Big Tech companies such as Meta. The bill, passed by the state’s Senate last month and set for a vote from its general assembly in August, requires AI groups in California to guarantee to a newly created state body that they will not develop models with “a hazardous capability,” such as creating biological or nuclear weapons or aiding cyber security attacks. Developers would be required to report on their safety testing and introduce a so-called kill switch to shut down their models, according to the proposed Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Systems Act.

I guess this matters as to what other nations might be doing too.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/07/united-airlines-personalized-ads-seatback-screens.html

Customers can opt out of seeing targeted ads through a United web page, and United says advertisers can’t access customers’ personally identifiable information, the airline said.

But perhaps not all ads though, unless not watching the damn screen is an option! Given that this is the modern way it seems - inflict on the public that which they will just about tolerate (not me) before they rebel.

Humans didn't domesticate horses until 4,200 years ago — a millennium later than thought

Ancient DNA of nearly 500 horses reveals that humans didn't domesticate them until 2200 B.C., 1,000 years later than we previously thought.

www.livescience.com

Neanderthals and humans interbred 47,000 years ago for nearly 7,000 years, research suggests

DNA from prehistoric and modern-day people suggests that humans interbred with Neanderthals 47,000 years ago for a period lasting 6,800 years.

www.livescience.com

Curiously, the exchange of DNA appears to have been one way — meaning modern human DNA seems to have not entered Neanderthal genomes. "There is little evidence of gene flow in the reverse direction at this time — that is, Homo sapiens to Neanderthal," Stringer noted. "Maybe it did happen but we haven't yet detected it. Or perhaps it did not happen, with implications for the behavior of the two populations." Or perhaps such hybrids were less successful for some reason, he noted — for instance, perhaps they were less healthy, or less fertile.

What could aliens look like?

The search for alien life is one of humanity's greatest missions, but it may look nothing like anything we've seen on Earth.

www.livescience.com

The Key to Effective Discipline

Children's misbehavior is stressful, and adult emotional reactivity can worsen it. Sometimes, our attempts to discipline children can backfire, escalating upset and acting out.

www.psychologytoday.com

No mention of smacking or similar, and where so many countries have banned this kind of thing - given it doesn't seem to have any benefits and more deficits - and where such often does come from the parent simply not being in control - of themselves.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Unearthed Lowry chats reveal a 'drifter' who never found love

An archive of intimate interviews see the painter discuss love, life and his signature style.

www.bbc.co.uk

Who owns the Moon? A new space race means it could be up for grabs

A race for the lunar surface's resources is currently under way. What’s to stop a Wild West opening up?

www.bbc.co.uk

Michael Mosley: TV presenter found dead on Greek island, wife confirms

Dr Clare Bailey says her husband ‘almost made it’ after his body was found close to a coastal resort

www.theguardian.com

Very sad for such a well respected chap. Perhaps he went looking for the nearby caves but the heat and/or a slip/heart attack got to him.

In thrall to Viktor Orbán and the hard right, Europe is facing its moment of truth

With nationalists set for EU election gains, now is not the time for Hungary’s pro-Putin Europhobic leader to take the helm

www.theguardian.com

Orbán’s slogan summed up the unsubtle approach of the EU’s longest-serving, most subversive national leader: “Occupy Brussels! No migration. No gender. No war!” It’s crude stuff, but it resonates in Hungary and beyond. Polls suggest Fidesz will win again, despite reinvigorated opposition led by a party turncoat, Péter Magyar.

Except he no doubt would welcome Russia taking over his country - if they paid him enough.

Rightwing populist, nationalist or “sovereignist” groups are predicted to emerge as big election winners this weekend, though still behind the two main centrist coalitions. For them, Orbán is a role model. Unlike most on the hard right – Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, excepted – he holds his country’s top job. Orbán plainly enjoys ruffling EU feathers. He recently cut a deal with Vladimir Putin on Russian energy supplies, ignoring EU sanctions. Last month he welcomed Xi Jinping to Budapest, praising China as a “pillar of the new world order” – even though the EU regards Beijing as a systemic rival and the Xi-Putin alliance as a strategic threat.

Tossers like Orbán are those most likely to make sure another world war happens rather than not unfortunately (being right-wing), and being those who tend to value nationalism over higher values.

Putin is 'a saviour sent by God to stop WW3', says fan of nuclear war

He's going to save the world... by restoring Russia's empire?

metro.co.uk

Last year, Karaganov told Putin to use nuclear weapons to smash ‘the will of the West’ and, in the process, halt World War Three, which some fear is fast approaching. Putin ‘will have to hit a group of targets in a number of countries in order to bring those who have lost their minds to their senses’, he advocated. ’This is a morally terrible choice – we use the weapons of God, dooming ourselves to severe spiritual losses. But if this is not done, not only Russia may perish, but, most likely, the entire human civilisation will end.

Well only a dumb idiot would even contemplate such risky choices. And, oh gee, if God is his adviser we are obviously doomed, unless he is just another lunatic with nationality as his bias, and one jealous of what many colonial countries have achieved (not being such a sea-faring nation) - even if such was harmful to so many of these colonised countries. But at least some freedom and democracy emerged from this - unlike in Russia - where 'might is right' still tends to be the rule - and a rather primitive rule to say the least. Let's face it, Russia is still a backwards country compared with so many others that have progressed as to freedoms, tolerance, and responsibilities, and usually where ditching the indoctrination of religion (of whatever sort) as to the population has occurred over the last several decades.

DNA in the feces of snow leopards shows alpine cats eat plants

Cats may not know Scarborough Fair, but felids such as alpine cats—both in the wild and in captivity—do eat plants despite their classification as carnivores. In particular, Panthera uncia—or snow leopards—seem to have a preference for a specific plant species despite normally being unsuited for...

phys.org

Microplastics found in every semen sample tested by research team

A team of public health researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in China has found microplastics in the semen of every sample they tested. In their study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, the group looked for microplastics in semen samples obtained from 36...

medicalxpress.com

Good job mine isn't contributing to some poor human then.

In a recent discovery, scientists found that the average person consumes plastic in amounts equal to about one credit card every week.

Oooh, this is not nice!

Study suggests evolutionary basis for male risk-taking behaviors

A new study from The University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University has found evidence of what's long been suspected—that men are more likely to be risk-takers than women.

phys.org

Baby baboon brain anatomy predicts which hand they will use to communicate

By studying the brain anatomy of newborn baby baboons, a research group including several CNRS scientists was able to predict what hand they would use to communicate after they had been weaned.

medicalxpress.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Adults and teens pick dumbphones to curb social media addiction

Parents and teens alike are trading in their smartphones for "dumber" models to help stay offline.

www.bbc.co.uk

Well, one doesn't necessarily have to have a completely dumb phone, since one can have a phone like mine - 4 inch (so quite small and hardly bigger than a flip phone), and with most features of an iPhone (bank account online and paying via phone, etc.) - and being so small, not so enjoyable as to typing anything in, so less likely to be used for social media and such, but one can get the usual warnings and prompts as to incoming information as well as viewing the latest news - plus all the usual apps available. I don't tend to use it as to FOMO - given I am a bit choosy anyway and prefer to read and reply to things on a laptop.

Michael Mosley seen 'falling over on rocky hillside' in new CCTV before death

CCTV footage appears to show TV doctor Dr Michael Mosley falling over on a rocky slope close to where his body was found

www.chroniclelive.co.uk

Best time to take paracetamol and ibuprofen and whether you can take both

Both of these common over-the-counter medications are painkillers. But they have different mechanisms of action, different drug interractions to be aware of, and are broken down differently, experts explain

www.chroniclelive.co.uk

Vehicle damage claims in Wales fall 20% since speed limit cut to 20mph, says insurer

Campaigners say lower speeds reduce casualties but scheme has since been amended to give people more choice to rescind limits

www.theguardian.com

Bring on the naked rollerskating nuns! The wild visions of Florentina Holzinger

Live tattooing, non-simulated sex, flesh hook body hoisting and an ejaculating helicopter – these are commonplace in the astonishing shows of Europe’s hottest director. But is her latest just too shocking?

www.theguardian.com

Likely the show is not for export to the less religiously tolerant countries though.

Michael Mosley search volunteer: ‘I wanted to bring him back alive’

‘It is a very sad day; we always hoped we’d find him alive,’ said Jannis Volas, who was one of the chief volunteers leading the search and rescue operation

www.independent.co.uk

23 brilliant movies that bombed at the box office

Jacob Stolworthy runs through the films that didn’t get the attention they deserved

www.independent.co.uk

Teen's lung burst after vaping the equivalent of 57 cigarettes a day

'I honestly thought they were harmless.'

metro.co.uk

A ‘terrified’ dad rushed his daughter to hospital when a hole burst in her lung after she vaped the equivalent of 400 cigarettes a week. Mark Blythe ‘cried like a baby’ when he got a call saying his daughter Kyla, 17, had collapsed and turned ‘blue’ during a sleepover at a friend’s house early on May 11. Kyla thought her habit was ‘harmless’ until that morning when her lung collapsed because excessive vaping had burst a small air blister known as a pulmonary bleb on her lungs. After nearly going into cardiac arrest, Kyla underwent a five-and-a-half-hour surgery to remove part of her lung. It would be another two weeks before the student was allowed home.

CCTV clue reveals Dr Michael Mosley's tragic final journey

Dr Michael Mosley was found dead on the Greek island of Symi on Sunday morning, after a local bar owner spotted his body close to a wall with a distinctive purple umbrella next to him

www.mirror.co.uk

One image shows where his body was found - so quite close to safety.

These Mysterious Objects Still Puzzle Scientists Thousands of Years Later

Archaeologists are often described as "stumped" or "baffled" by their discoveries.

www.sciencealert.com

Ada Lovelace’s 180-Year-Old Endnotes Foretold the Future of Computation

Ada Lovelace’s wisdom about the first general-purpose computer can be found buried in the appendix of another paper

www.scientificamerican.com

The fact that Lovelace even entertained the question of whether a clanging heap of cogs that had only been sketched on paper would be intelligent shows how ahead of her time she was. Ultimately Babbage’s contentious relationship with the British government meant that he never secured enough funding to bring the analytical engine to life. It’s funny to contrast Lovelace’s prophetic words about the potential of computers with a quote from the U.K.’s then prime minister Robert Peel: “What shall we do to get rid of Mr. Babbage and his calculating machine? Surely if completed it would be worthless as far as science is concerned?”

Oh for a time machine .. "and now on stage tonight we have Mr Robert Peel, who has something to say about modern technology."

Report: New “Apple Intelligence” AI features will be opt-in by default

Apple reportedly plans to announce its first big wave of AI features at WWDC.

arstechnica.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Ukrainian author turned soldier Oleksandr Mykhed: ‘This is not Putin’s war. This is a war waged by the whole Russian nation’

In 2022, the writer was living an ordinary life with his wife in Kyiv. Now, after fleeing his home and volunteering for the army, he’s written a powerful account of the past two years

www.theguardian.com

Chilling messages 12-year-old killer sent girlfriend after machete murder

Jurors who convicted two 12-year-old boys of killing Shawn Seesahai were told neither of them had any previous convictions, cautions or reprimands

www.independent.co.uk

Perhaps one of them is likely to be a psychopath and/or has issues at home.

Trump says he's 'sweating like a dog' during 38°C rally

Trump joked about supporters dying after going ahead with an outdoor rally despite safety concerns over hot weather in Nevada.

metro.co.uk

Surely that would be pig rather than dog, given this tends to describe him better.

Dr Michael Mosley footage 'handed to Greek police days before he was found dead'

His body was discovered on Sunday.

metro.co.uk

Wild Elephants Invent Names For One Another in Surprise Sign of Abstract Thinking

Elephants call out to each other using individual names that they invent for their fellow pachyderms, a study said on Monday.

www.sciencealert.com

Elephants call out to each other using individual names that they invent for their fellow pachyderms, a study said on Monday. While dolphins and parrots have been observed addressing each other by mimicking the sound of others from their species, elephants are the first non-human animals known to use names that do not involve imitation, the researchers suggested. For the new study, a team of international researchers used an artificial intelligence algorithm to analyse the calls of two wild herds of African savannah elephants in Kenya. The research "not only shows that elephants use specific vocalisations for each individual, but that they recognise and react to a call addressed to them while ignoring those addressed to others," lead study author Michael Pardo said. "This indicates that elephants can determine whether a call was intended for them just by hearing the call, even when out of its original context," the behavioural ecologist at Colorado State University said in a statement.

The researchers sifted through elephant "rumbles" recorded at Kenya's Samburu National Reserve and Amboseli National Park between 1986 and 2022. Using a machine learning algorithm, they identified 469 distinct calls, which included 101 elephants issuing a call and 117 receiving one. Elephant make a wide range of sounds, from loud trumpeting to rumbles so low they cannot be heard by the human ear. Names were not always used in the elephant calls. But when names were called out, it was often over a long distance, and when adults were addressing young elephants. Adults were also more likely to use names than calves, suggesting it could take years to learn this particular talent. The most common call was "a harmonically rich, low-frequency sound," according to the study in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Teens Are Spreading Deepfake Nudes of One Another. It’s No Joke

Teens are sending deepfake nude images of classmates to each other, disrupting lives. Schools, technology developers and parents need to act now

www.scientificamerican.com

One of the many reasons it is critical to stop these crimes before they happen is that adults’ responses can make things worse. In Miami, two boys, ages 13 and 14, were arrested last winter and face third-degree felony charges. This was the first known instance of children being arrested and charged over deepfake nudes, and it deserves to be the last. The criminal prosecution of children is counterproductive: our abuse-laden juvenile justice system does lasting damage to young offenders. It’s especially hard to justify with early adolescents, who might not comprehend why what they did was wrong because their moral reasoning skills aren’t fully developed. They may think of a deepfake nude as a funny prank or fail to anticipate how copies could circulate out of control. That said, nonconsensual nude deepfakes are acutely misogynistic, and the old excuse of “boys will be boys” is not (and never was) an acceptable response to sexual bullying. Victims of deepfake nudes can suffer “substantial” emotional and reputational harms. The teens who make or share the images need to be held accountable, but there are options besides criminalization. The Beverly Hills middle school expelled five students, and one New Jersey deepfake victim is suing her classmate.

AI trained on photos from kids’ entire childhood without their consent

Kids “easily traceable” from photos used to train AI models, advocates warn.

arstechnica.com

Photos of Brazilian kids—sometimes spanning their entire childhood—have been used without their consent to power AI tools, including popular image generators like Stable Diffusion, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Monday. This act poses urgent privacy risks to kids and seems to increase risks of non-consensual AI-generated images bearing their likenesses, HRW's report said.

Why Are More Americans Buying Guns for Self-Defense?

A recent study explores why, despite the falling rate of violent crime, more and more Americans report owning guns for self-protection.

www.psychologytoday.com

Who knows, but it ain't going to be any time soon as to them relinquishing their grip on such phoney defences and illusions of security.

In most industrialized Western countries, it is not the responsibility of citizens themselves but the police and the criminal justice system to protect people from harm. In the United States, however, many feel that they need firearms for self-defense - to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their property. To be specific, U.S. civilians own more than 393 million firearms, according to a recent estimate by The Small Arms Survey. Why does a large segment of the society say they need guns for self-defense?

Why? Perhaps because they haven't experienced and/or can't envisage a different reality.

Training cognitive control in children does not change brain or behavior

Training exercises designed to improve cognitive control in children do not make a significant difference to their ability to delay gratification or to their academic achievement, nor do they lead to any brain changes.

www.sciencedaily.com

Summary: Training exercises designed to improve cognitive control in children do not make a significant difference to their ability to delay gratification or to their academic achievement, nor do they lead to any brain changes.

For the study, 235 children aged six to 13 completed an eight-week training programme designed to train either cognitive control or response speed. The cognitive control training was focussed on response inhibition (the ability to stop oneself from doing an action that is no longer helpful in achieving a goal) and informed by neuroscientific research. They completed a range of gamified tasks, often requiring them to inhibit their impulses. Before and immediately after the study, as well as one year later, the children were also tested for other outcomes known to be related to cognitive control, including decision-making like delaying gratification, academic achievement, fluid reasoning, mental health and creativity. The researchers found that immediately after completing the training, and a full year later, the children improved their performance on the specific tasks they trained on. However, those improvements did not carry over into other skills and there were no improvements in any of the related cognitive or behavioural measures.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Caldicot: Female pupils sent home in short skirt crackdown

Female pupils also reported being given wet wipes to remove make up and clippers to cut their nails.

www.bbc.co.uk

Michael Mosley's top simple health tips

Michael Mosley’s simple and accessible health hacks made him a household name. Remember these?

www.bbc.co.uk

Françoise Hardy, French pop singer and fashion muse, dies aged 80

Singer and actor who wrote some of her country’s biggest pop hits had suffered with lymphatic cancer for many years

www.theguardian.com

Françoise Hardy: France’s girlish yé-yé star was a groundbreaking musical artist

Hardy shot to fame singing airy, carefree pop before she took control of her career, hung out with 60s rock aristocracy and became a sophisticated singer-songwriter of rare sensuality and melancholy

www.theguardian.com

Ah yes, the motor-racing film, Grand Prix (1966) - "Do you dance?" "I don't dance." - and she did have a lovely voice besides looking quite lovely:

What happened when 10 teens gave up their smartphones?

Will, Ruby and Grace are among those swapping their devices for basic phones, for five days.

www.bbc.co.uk

In February, the government published new guidance to try to stop pupils using phones during the school day. But a group of cross-party MPs went one step further in May, saying an outright ban on smartphones for all under-16s - not just at school - should be brought in by whoever wins the general election.

Probably not going to happen, but many of these kids should seriously look at their lives - often mostly addicted to their phones and spending so much time on them - and see what else they could be doing with the time, given they can't get it back when they are older. And the future with AI on such phones might make this even worse. FOMO is probably one of the worst aspects of having such easy communications these days.

In a survey of 2,000 13 to 18-year-olds, conducted by BBC Radio 5 Live and BBCBitesize, young people were asked about various aspects of life - including mental health and their smartphone habits. The findings of the survey, carried out by polling company Survation, external, suggest:

23% agree that smartphones should be banned for under-16s
35% think social media should be banned for under-16s
50% say not having their smartphone on them makes them feel anxious. Last year, this figure was slightly higher (56%)

Man who survived ebike fire that killed his family fights for change to UK law

Scott Peden, whose partner and two children died after battery exploded, calls for compulsory regulation

www.theguardian.com

Heart-breaking concerning these deaths and the apparent dangers of these batteries - whether such is from poor design/manufacture or from modifying them.

Washington teen returning replica gun to store shot dead by security guard

Aaron Myers, 51, faces second-degree murder charge in fatal shooting of Hazrat Ali Rohani, 17, at Big 5 store in Renton

www.theguardian.com

Tobacco, alcohol, processed foods and fossil fuels ‘kill 2.7m a year in Europe’

World Health Organization report calls on governments to impose tougher regulation of health-harming products

www.theguardian.com

Noam Chomsky, 95, in hospital in his wife’s native country of Brazil after stroke

The 95-year-old famed linguist has not been seen in public since June last year

www.independent.co.uk

Nathan Robinson, founder and editor of socialist magazine, Current Affairs, is also co-author of Chomsky’s forthcoming book, The Myth of American Idealism: How US Foreign Policy Endangers the World. He wrote: “Chomsky has been unbelievably kind over the years I’ve known him. “He treats everyone as an equal. Doesn’t care who you are. He would give as much of his time to a high school student as some celebrity or NYT reporter. And devoted himself to attacking cruelty and injustice. “So many thousands of people have stories about how he has changed their lives. He certainly changed mine.”

Michael Mosley's tragic walk in sun was 'recipe for disaster', expert says

Dr Michael Mosley died on Symi after going missing while on a walk last week in the extreme 40c Greek heat, as a post-mortem report reveals he died of natural causes

www.mirror.co.uk

As he mentions, due to the difficult terrain, if he got off-route (some kind of path presumably) then the exertion required tends to go up enormously, so perhaps it was simply the heat that got to him.

Smartphone health warning issued - seek medical help if you spot these signs

With many concerned about the effects phones are having on our physical health, it's vital to know when to seek help from a doctor and what symptoms to look out for

www.mirror.co.uk

What are teenagers worrying about this year? - BBC Bitesize

Check out this BBC Bitesize / 5 Live survey of over 2000 13-18 year-olds which reveals some of the common things teens are worrying about in 2024.

www.bbc.co.uk

Explorer Ernest Shackleton's 'last ship' Quest discovered

Wreck hunters find the ship on which famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton made his final voyage.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Mock Turtle]

Sandy Hook survivors graduate from high school

Around 60 students who witnessed the killing of their classmates will receive their diplomas.

www.bbc.co.uk

The US president at the time, Barack Obama, later called it “the single darkest day of my presidency”. Following the murders, Mr Obama proposed a large raft of new laws designed to curb gun violence. Although he implemented a series of reforms to the US background check system using executive orders, two major pieces of legislation failed to pass Congress. The laws would have banned assault rifles and instituted background checks on most private gun sales. They had bipartisan support, but most Republican senators along with a number of Democrats voted against the measures. The Sandy Hook shooting remains the deadliest ever at a US primary school. Since the attack, there have been more than 4,200 mass shootings in the United States, including several dozen at schools, CBS reported.

Childhood, interrupted: 12-year-old Toby’s life with long Covid

Trolls are citing an ‘Oxford study’ to demean Asian women in interracial relationships. But it doesn’t actually exist

Commenters pepper women’s social media accounts with the misunderstood phrase, fueling anxiety about dating and their sense of self

www.theguardian.com

Who should hold the next prime minister to account? Our best hope lies with the Green party | George Monbiot

The party’s manifesto, which pledges to use a wealth tax to revitalise our public services, shows it can push Labour to raise its ambitions, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

Musk had relationships with several women at SpaceX, report reveals

Billionaire allegedly had a relationship with a summer intern

www.independent.co.uk

Years ago, SpaceX founder Elon Musk allegedly exposed himself to a SpaceX flight attendant before offering her a strange quid pro quo — he would give her a horse if she gave him an erotic massage. The company then reportedly paid the woman $250,000 to settle a 2018 sexual misconduct claim against Musk. In 2022, Musk denied the accusation and told Business Insider, which first reported the allegation: “If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light.” Now, two years later, more allegations involving Musk’s behavior in his relationships have emerged. The billionaire had relationships with a number of female employees at SpaceX, and pressed others for sexual favors, according to a new Wall Street Journal report, based on interviews with more than 48 sources as well as emails, texts, and records. Musk’s alleged string of sexual encounters, or requested ones, with women who worked for him are nothing short of salacious. Musk, the world’s second richest person, had a relationship with a summer intern before giving her a role, years later, on his executive staff. He asked another woman to have his children, and engaged in a month-long sexual relationship with a woman that he directly supervised in 2014, the Journal reported.

Donald Trump bashes enemies with 'Haul out the Guillotine' message

Ex-President Donald Trump sent a disturbing message in a campaign fundraising email blast.

metro.co.uk

I'm sure this would appeal to his numpty base - given many can't even recognise comedy when they see it - having elected him in the first place.

You’ve Heard of Graphene. Now Say Hello to Goldene

Ultrathin gold was achieved with the help of a century-old sword-making technique

www.scientificamerican.com

What Happens if a Nuke Goes Off in Space?

Russia may be planning to put a nuclear weapon in orbit. We have known since the 1960s why that is a bad idea

www.scientificamerican.com

Turkish student creates custom AI device for cheating university exam, gets arrested

Elaborate scheme involved hidden camera and an earpiece to hear answers.

arstechnica.com

More than 100 Maya boys — some as young as 3 — were sacrificed and buried in a pit in Chichen Itza, DNA study reveals

Researchers analyzed the DNA of 64 individuals and discovered they were all male, including two sets of twins.

www.livescience.com

Are Animals Conscious?

There's a lot we don't know, but what we do know says yes.

www.psychologytoday.com

Given what we now already know as to non-human animal behaviour, and as to which so much corresponds with human behaviour, it would seem ludicrous not to assume that much of non-human life has consciousness - even if rather different perhaps than humans in many cases - given that instinct hardly covers much of the behaviour but deliberate action does - and hence consciousness being necessary for such.

One of the most influential early modern philosophers, René Descartes, believed that all animal behaviour is merely automatic. He described them as automata, like machines without minds (Thomas, 2020). Some subsequent thinkers even suggested that animals have neither desires nor fears, know nothing, and experience nothing — neither pleasure nor pain (Harrison, 1992).

Well, Descartes' views on this were about as useful as his views as to human consciousness.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Wild bumblebees are capable of logical reasoning, study finds

Wild bumblebees are capable of logical reasoning, new research by a University of Stirling psychologist has found. The pioneering study tasked bees with spontaneously finding corresponding sugar-coated strips of paper. The paper, "Spontaneous relational and object similarity in wild bumblebees,"...

phys.org

Neural balance in the brain is associated with brain maturity and better cognitive ability, study finds

In a world where external and internal stimuli can throw our entire body system off balance, how does our brain prevent itself from becoming overly stimulated?

medicalxpress.com

Fired SpaceX workers sue Elon Musk over workplace abuses

Workers fired by SpaceX filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing Elon Musk of fostering a sexist "Dark Ages" culture at the company he founded.

techxplore.com

Workers fired by SpaceX filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing Elon Musk of fostering a sexist "Dark Ages" culture at the company he founded. The civil complaint filed in a California court in Los Angeles contends Musk had the workers terminated after they published an open letter detailing their concerns and calling on the American aerospace firm's board to distance itself from the SpaceX chief executive. "Elon Musk trumpets SpaceX as the leader to a brave new world of space travel," the court filing says. "But (he) runs his company in the Dark Ages - treating women as sexual objects to be evaluated on their bra size, bombarding the workplace with lewd sexual banter, and offering the reprise to those who challenge the 'Animal House' environment that if they don't like it they can seek employment elsewhere." The suit charges Musk and SpaceX with sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination. "Musk thinks he's above the law," plaintiffs' attorney Laurie Burgess said in a statement. "We look forward to holding Musk accountable for his actions at trial."

Will AI take over human creativity? Philosopher offers insights

The steady drumbeat of triumphant claims from artificial intelligence companies can be overwhelming. If AI models are so smart, is there anything left for humans to excel in?

techxplore.com

Transplanting bone marrow stem cells from young mice into older mice found to slow development of Alzheimer's

A team of neurologists at Third Military Medical University, in China, has found that transplanting stem cells from the bone marrow of young mice into older mice led to a slowdown of the development of Alzheimer's disease.

medicalxpress.com

Isotope study suggests men and women had equal access to resources 6,000 years ago

Using isotope geochemistry, a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has uncovered new information about the Barmaz necropolis in Valais (Switzerland): 14% of the people buried 6,000 years ago at this site were not locals. What's more, the study suggests that this Middle Neolithic...

phys.org

Are plants intelligent? It depends on the definition

Goldenrod can perceive other plants nearby without ever touching them, by sensing far-red light ratios reflected off leaves. When goldenrod is eaten by herbivores, it adapts its response based on whether or not another plant is nearby. Is this kind of flexible, real-time, adaptive response a...

www.sciencedaily.com

Summary: Goldenrod can perceive other plants nearby without ever touching them, by sensing far-red light ratios reflected off leaves. When goldenrod is eaten by herbivores, it adapts its response based on whether or not another plant is nearby. Is this kind of flexible, real-time, adaptive response a sign of intelligence in plants?

New technique reveals earliest signs of genetic mutations

Mutations are changes in the molecular 'letters' that make up the DNA code, the blueprint for all living cells. Some of these changes can have little effect, but others can lead to diseases, including cancer. Now, a new study introduces an original technique, called HiDEF-seq, that can...

www.sciencedaily.com

Summary: Mutations are changes in the molecular 'letters' that make up the DNA code, the blueprint for all living cells. Some of these changes can have little effect, but others can lead to diseases, including cancer. Now, a new study introduces an original technique, called HiDEF-seq, that can accurately detect the early molecular changes in DNA code that precede mutations.

Elon Musk wins record-breaking Tesla pay deal from shareholders

The multi-billionaire had campaigned for the payout, which is worth up to $56bn.

www.bbc.co.uk

NHS: how 14 years of Tory rule have changed Britain – in charts

Waiting list in England is almost three times the 2010 figure, while satisfaction levels have plummeted

www.theguardian.com

Ambulance response times

We look at response times to ambulance calls and how many are hitting nationally set targets.

www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk

Ambulance arrives measured in minutes when a child fractures a knee but takes over two hours when an elderly person living alone breaks both ankles - both me - and which to me says something is wrong as to resources allocated to this issue.

Clean v green: ‘disgust wins out’ over eco ideals when doing laundry, study finds

Fear of being seen as unclean drives overwashing of clothes at expense of environment, Swedish scientists say

www.theguardian.com

‘Nobody is coming to help us’: Afghan teenage girls on life without school

Barred from school for 1,000 days, girls in Afghanistan face forced marriage, violence and isolation with no end in sight

www.theguardian.com

I wonder how most other Muslims view this bunch of nutters in Afghanistan - do they condemn them outright or do they wish that perhaps where they live such could be more the way?

The Truth vs Alex Jones review – so viscerally wrong it will fry your mind

This unsensationalist documentary maps the appalling suffering a demagogue caused parents whose children died in the Sandy Hook shooting – and their legal fight against him. It is dizzying

www.theguardian.com

Another made in the Trump mould.

The trials point to money as Jones’s motivation, adducing evidence that every time he ranted about the “giant hoax” in which “no one died”, his audience numbers and revenue (from the dietary supplements and other products that Infowars shills) spiked. But it does not – and perhaps no one can, though there should be film-makers who try – fathom an answer to the question of why people are so willing, so thirsty to believe lies. All the punitive damages in the world won’t remake society into a place where Alex Jones and his ilk can’t flourish. We live in a world built on shifting sands. We live in terrifying times.

Perhaps the obvious, because people tend to live with a certain mindset and hence will often only look at certain media that tends to support their current beliefs and views?

Russia trying to meddle in Moldovan polls, say UK, US and Canada

Three governments accuse Russia at G7 of ‘spreading lies’ relating to presidential election and EU referendum

www.theguardian.com

Naomi Klein blasts ‘conspiracy theorist in chief’ Trump as she wins non-fiction prize

Exclusive: ‘His lawlessness is part of his brand,’ the author said

www.independent.co.uk

When asked whether she thought Trump could make a return as president in the upcoming US election after being found guilty on 34 counts in his so-called hush money case, Klein said the investigation had not damaged the politician’s brand whatsoever. “His narrative was already protected from this because it reinforces the narrative that people are out to get him because he’s such a powerful leader and advocate for his base,” she said. “The more there are these types of investigations the more his narrative avails. His lawlessness is part of his brand. He breaks the rules. He positions himself as a mafia protectorate of his base.”

Trump 'can't understand benefit of Ukraine winning war with Russia'

Ex-President Donald Trump slammed a $60billion aid package to Ukraine that US lawmakers recently passed.

metro.co.uk

Trump also reportedly said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ‘more afraid of him than Biden’.

Putin sending so many criminals to fight in Ukraine that Russian prisons empty

Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has led to as many as 150,000 Russian prisoners being sent to the frontline and it means that prisons as well as penal colonies are being closed down

www.mirror.co.uk

As many as 150,000 Russian prisoners, including murderers, rapists, robbers and gangsters were press-ganged and recruited into the military to go to the frontline. And if they were not killed in Russia’s waves of cannon fodder in battles such as the fight for Bakhmut they were sent home, paid and set free.

Probably best not to mention WWII then, and the two million German females raped by Russian soldiers.

 

[Mock Turtle]

History of cardiopulmonary resuscitation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Italian premier and Pope to warn G7 of AI dangers

Holy smokes, don't screw this up

www.theregister.com

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis have joined forces to deliver a high-stakes warning to world leaders: Dive headfirst into AI without thinking about ethics, and you're essentially inviting disaster. The dynamic duo's alliance, months in the making, will culminate on Friday when the pontiff, taking a break from his usual heavenly duties, jets off to the G7 summit in southern Italy at Meloni's behest, The Times reports. His mission? To school the bigwigs on the impending doom AI could unleash.

Well this is probably another time that religion and science will be onside as to potential (legitimate) dangers - and all down to the nasty, wicked science of course in actually developing such technology.

Microsoft postpones Windows Recall after major backlash — will launch Copilot+ PCs without headlining AI feature

Windows Recall will arrive at a later date, available in preview "in the coming weeks."

www.windowscentral.com

How a Secret Society Discovered Irrational Numbers

Myths and legends surround the origins of these numbers

www.scientificamerican.com

A Quarter of All Americans Still Believe The Biggest Vaccine Lie

Head to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, and it's written in bold text: vaccines do not cause autism.

www.sciencealert.com

Universal Basic Income Could Double World's GDP And Slash Emissions

What if we could keep everyone out of poverty while also tackling the climate crisis? It sounds too good to be true, but it could be possible with a universal basic income scheme funded by taxing carbon emissions, a new study shows.

www.sciencealert.com

Quantum Teleportation Just Got Real: Achieving 90% Fidelity Amidst Noise

Scientists have advanced quantum teleportation by mitigating noise interference through a novel method involving hybrid entanglement, achieving close to 90% fidelity in teleporting quantum states, which could significantly enhance secure quantum communication. A research team led by Academician G

scitechdaily.com

Scientists have advanced quantum teleportation by mitigating noise interference through a novel method involving hybrid entanglement, achieving close to 90% fidelity in teleporting quantum states, which could significantly enhance secure quantum communication.

PC fined for assaulting woman in wrongful Croydon bus fare arrest

Perry Lathwood "manhandled" Jocelyn Agyemang when he wrongfully arrested her for bus fare evasion.

www.bbc.co.uk

Perhaps some UK cops get their aggressive attitudes from America, and where a better approach would likely result in fewer of such conflicts.

Scores of actresses turn down roles in play critical of JK Rowling’s gender views

Stage production set to debut at the Edinburgh Fringe has already caused outrage over its explicit working title

www.telegraph.co.uk

Well she perhaps has taught many one thing - it just takes a few (in)considered words to go from hero to zero (in the eyes of many), although heroine in her case - but her choice to do so.

The Titan Submersible Disaster Shocked the World. The Inside Story Is More Disturbing Than Anyone Imagined

A year after OceanGate’s sub imploded, thousands of leaked documents and interviews with ex-employees reveal how the company’s CEO cut corners, ignored warnings, and lied in his fatal quest to reach the Titanic.

www.wired.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Nigel Farage's claims on migration, voter fraud and climate change fact-checked

The Reform UK leader spoke to BBC Breakfast and Radio 5 Live about several issues on Friday morning.

www.bbc.co.uk

Much like Trump, one wouldn't necessarily take for fact anything coming from Farage or any similar right-wing politician, given that more often they are targeting those less likely to check what is being offered. But perhaps we could blame Blair for the increased levels of immigration - from when many of the Eastern European states joined in 2004 - and where there was the option of a seven year transitional arrangement as to 'freedom of movement' - which many other nations took advantage of but Britain didn't, and where the expectations of numbers coming into Britain was woefully low compared with the reality of what occurred.

‘He was a deeply unembarrassed racist’: Nigel Farage, by those who have known him

Some say the Reform UK leader is kind and entertaining, but it is striking how many enemies he has made, even among those close to him politically

www.theguardian.com

Chloe Deakin, an English teacher at Dulwich college, wrote in 1981: “You will recall that at the recent, and lengthy, meeting about the selection of prefects, the remark by a colleague that Farage was ‘a fascist but that was no reason why he would not make a good prefect’ invoked considerable reaction from members of the common room. “Another colleague, who teaches the boy, described his publicly professed racist and neo-fascist views, and he cited a particular incident in which Farage was so offensive to a boy in his set, that he had to be removed from the lesson.” In Michael Crick’s biography of Farage, One Party After Another, those who shared a classroom with Farage at the private school in south-east London expressed the full range of views on him.

One Jewish pupil claimed Farage would sidle up to him and say: “Hitler was right,” or “Gas ’em.” Another claimed Farage had a preoccupation with his initials, NF, as they were the same as those of the National Front. “He was a deeply unembarrassed racist,” said David Edmonds, who was in the same class as Farage when they were about 15. Others told Crick they did not hear such comments and that they regarded him as neither malicious nor exceptional in the views he held. In his autobiography, Fighting Bull, Farage admitted some people were alarmed by his admiration for Enoch Powell, and when confronted in 2013 by Crick he admitted saying “ridiculous things” but “not necessarily racist things”.

Terrifying reality behind Nigel Farage - from racism rows to views on women

The Mirror takes a look at Nigel Farage's past - and whether his ‘ordinary bloke’ credentials stand up to scrutiny as Reform begin to overtake the Tories in polling for the General Election

www.mirror.co.uk

Italy denies removing LGBTQ and abortion references from G7 declaration

Final communique omits references to protection of gender identity and sexual orientation, and to safe abortion access

www.theguardian.com

https://www.indy100.com/sport/its-****e-being-scottish

It's mostly the reality of being a relatively small component of a much larger whole, and where the larger whole or the largest part rarely gets to be winners either - in this area.

'New Nostradamus' stands by prediction that World War III is just days away

He's not backing down over the alarming prophecy.

metro.co.uk

So what is the excuse when such just doesn't happen?

Putin accuses West of pushing him 'to point of no return' on nuclear World War 3

Russian president Vladimir Putin has accused the West of pushing him to point of no return and has issued new threats on nuclear World War 3 - he accused NATO leaders of 'extreme recklessness'

www.mirror.co.uk

No, it is the evil in his mind - his beliefs as to what Russia should be - that is the issue, and why such a despicable idiot would risk so many lives in the pursuance of this! Want to go down as the biggest mass-murderer of all time do you?

Microsoft cancels universal Recall release

Wider release coming real soon – promise – after the Windows faithful give it a thrashing

www.theregister.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Are animals conscious? Some scientists now think they are

A series of experiments have led a number of scientists to say animals may be conscious.

www.bbc.co.uk

Around the same time that Rene Descartes was saying "I think therefore I am", the Catholic church found the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei "vehemently suspect of heresy" for suggesting that the Earth was not the centre of the Universe. It was a shift in thinking that opened our eyes to a truer, richer picture of the Universe and our place in it. Shifting ourselves from the centre of the Universe a second time may well do the same for our understanding of ourselves as well as the other living things with whom we share the planet.

And about time - with so many religions hardly helping with their 'Created by God' mark-of-approval stamps on the human product line but not on any other life.

Trump gets name of his doctor wrong as he challenges Biden to cognitive test

Gaffe came as 78-year-old Republican presidential candidate sought to bolster his support among Black and Latino voters in Michigan

www.theguardian.com

Trump told his audience that he had “aced” the cognitive test following advice from the then presidential physician, a Republican member of Congress whom he named as Ronny Johnson. “Has anyone heard of Ronny Johnson, congressman from Texas?” he asked the crowd.

Remembering five short words in sequence is difficult? It's more a test for dementia - but then he might not have known that. And it was Jackson, not Johnson, so he couldn't even remember one name correctly.

Surrey police face criticism after using car to ram escaped cow

Home secretary demands ‘urgent explanation’ over ‘heavy-handed’ attempt to capture wandering animal

www.theguardian.com

Not very nice to watch (even as a last resort), and it seems to me that the police need to review their methods and/or options for dealing with such situations.

Former White House staffer says Trump called for leaker to be executed

Trump’s demand that 2020 leaker be punished with death raises questions about retribution if he is re-elected

www.theguardian.com

Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin has disclosed that Donald Trump repeatedly mused out loud about executing people at several meetings while she worked for him during his presidency. Griffin’s claim, which she made in a podcast recording with Mediaite released on Friday, is likely to add to concerns that a return for Trump to the Oval Office could be characterized primarily by political retribution. The former communications director for the Trump administration told the outlet she had been at a meeting at which he “straight up said a staffer who leaked … should be executed”, referring to an anonymously sourced report that the former president had gone into a secure bunker at the White House at the height of the racial justice protests prompted by a Minneapolis police officer’s murder of George Floyd.

Well, sweety Trump does seem to have some kind of symbiosis with Putin - who seemingly wouldn't bat an eyelid as to exterminating those who crossed him - given the numbers who have died in 'suspicious' circumstances.

Kidnapped, abused, humiliated – the Ukrainian children stolen by Russia

In a special investigation, Tom Watling tells the story of five teenagers who were taken into Russia or Russian-occupied territory before eventually being rescued. Many others are still believed to be trapped

www.independent.co.uk

Orangutan 'stoically waits' for tourists in award-winning photograph 'See No Evil'

Aaron Gekoski's image of an orangutan sitting patiently at Safari World in Bangkok has won the 2024 Environmental Photography Award competition.

www.livescience.com

Skeletons of Incan kids buried 500 years ago found marred with smallpox

Archaeologists in Peru have discovered two 16th-century toddler burials with evidence of smallpox, indicating that the foreign illness spread quickly with European contact.

www.livescience.com

Can Memory Be Trusted?

A Personal Perspective: Without clear video evidence, why can no one be certain whether a memory accurately represents what has occurred?

www.psychologytoday.com

When arguments arise over the accuracy of memory in court or between individuals regarding important subject matters, an intellectually honest position is that in the absence of clear video evidence, no one can be certain whether a memory is a true representation of what has occurred. I believe it is essential for all prospective jurors to be made aware of this lesson so they can make fair and just decisions.

But this shouldn't imply that we cannot have accurate memories of events from about the age of two - since I have one quite distinct memory at such an age (verified of course), and a few more at other ages - all of which still remain intact. And it is usually the more traumatic memories it seems to me that remain unaltered. But he is no doubt correct as to leading questioning often altering the memories of those who might be vulnerable to such (the very young) - and as to which no doubt efforts are made to eliminate this kind of thing.

Parental Envy: The Silent Thief of Joy and Fulfillment

Narcissistic parental envy harms children and leads to attachment wounds, unfulfilled ambitions, and a lack of joy in life. What drives parents and how to deal with it?

www.psychologytoday.com

I'll hardly be the first to see the drive in some coming from their fathers more than from themselves, but my parents are innocent, given that I never seemed to have felt any such pressures. And perhaps why I didn't do too well academically until later on and why a friend of mine got a PhD whilst I didn't achieve such - apart from simply coming from working class roots.

We Are Not Born to Cooperate

Cooperation is essential for society. Research has looked at whether it is also an intuitive behavior in humans. The answer is “it depends.”

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Greek coastguard threw migrants overboard to their deaths, witnesses say

More than 40 people are alleged to have died as a result of Greek coastguard actions, BBC analysis reveals.

www.bbc.co.uk

More people turning away from news, Reuters Institute report says

News avoidance is now at record high levels, the Reuters Institute's 2024 Digital News Report says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Kenya’s first nuclear plant: why plans face fierce opposition in country’s coastal paradise

Unease and anger are rising over proposals to build country’s first facility on Kilifi coast, home to white sand beaches, coral reefs and mangrove swamps

www.theguardian.com

In Sweden, a far-right assault on the media is undermining the Nordic model | Martin Gelin

From troll farms to racist hate speech, nationalists’ bullying tactics are having a chilling effect on political journalism

www.theguardian.com

Putin's Kremlin bots spew out fake quotes from Elton John and Lionel Messi

Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie are among the celebrities abused by a Vladimir Putin disinformation campaign as phoney words are put into their mouths

www.mirror.co.uk

The Blood of Exceptionally Long-Lived People Reveals Crucial Differences

Centenarians, once considered rare, have become commonplace.

www.sciencealert.com

Neanderthal DNA Exists in Humans, But One Piece Is Mysteriously Missing

Neanderthals, the closest cousins of modern humans, lived in parts of Europe and Asia until their extinction some 30,000 years ago.

www.sciencealert.com

Most of this Neanderthal DNA arrived in a 7,000-year period about 47,000 years ago, after modern humans came out of Africa into Europe, and before Neanderthals became extinct about 30,000 years ago. During this time there must have been many pairings between Neanderthals and humans. At least half of the whole Neanderthal genome can be pieced together from fragments found in the genomes of different contemporary humans. We have our Neanderthal ancestors to thank for traits including red hair, arthritis and resistance to some diseases. There is one glaring exception. No contemporary humans have been found to harbour any part of the Neanderthal Y chromosome.

An Alarming Thing Happens Whenever Magic Mushrooms Are Decriminalized

Calls to poison control centers spiked across the U.S.

www.sciencealert.com

When someone ingests magic mushrooms, psilocybin gives them a psychedelic experience, causing euphoria and alterations in how they perceive space and time. Using psilocybin can also cause psychosis, hallucinations, delusions and agitation. In the U.S., psilocybin is designated as a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it has no accepted medical use and has a high potential for abuse. Our study demonstrates a steady increase in psilocybin exposures in adolescents beginning in 2019. Some of these young people experienced serious health effects.

Between 2013 and 2018, before decriminalization in Denver, the number of psilocybin-related cases did not change significantly among any age group. A considerable yearly increase in cases among 13- to 18-year-olds began in 2019 at the same time as the first decriminalization, and among 19- to 25-year-olds starting in 2020. Just two years later, psilocybin cases reported to U.S. poison centers more than tripled among adolescents and more than doubled among young adults, compared with 2018 when the drug was uniformly illegal. Most of the reported cases – 75.3% for adolescents and 72.1% for young adults – required medical attention, including admissions to a hospital or psychiatric facility. The most common effects among these exposures included hallucinations, delusions, agitation, rapid heart rate and confusion.

Our findings correspond with a review of more than 30 studies that demonstrates a similar rise in acute cannabis poisoning among children and adolescents beginning after marijuana was legalized in 1996. We find this particularly alarming, since the states that legalized and cities that decriminalized psilocybin don't allow anyone under 21 to use it or buy it. This suggests young people are getting it illegally.

MSN

(Flesh-Eating Bacteria That Can Kill in Two Days Spreads in Japan)

A disease caused by a rare “flesh-eating bacteria” that can kill people within 48 hours is spreading in Japan after the country relaxed Covid-era restrictions. Cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) reached 977 this year by June 2, higher than the record 941 cases reported for all of last year, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, which has been tracking incidences of the disease since 1999. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) typically causes swelling and sore throat in children known as “strep throat,” but some types of the bacteria can lead to symptoms developing rapidly, including limb pain and swelling, fever, low blood pressure, that can be followed by necrosis, breathing problems, organ failure and death. People over 50 are more prone to the disease. “Most of the deaths happen within 48 hours,” said Ken Kikuchi, a professor in infectious diseases at Tokyo Women’s Medical University. “As soon as a patient notices swelling in foot in the morning, it can expand to the knee by noon, and they can die within 48 hours.” Other countries have experienced recent outbreaks. In late 2022 at least five European nations reported to the World Health Organization an increase in cases of invasive group A streptococcus (iGAS) disease, which includes STSS. The WHO said the rise in cases followed the end of Covid restrictions.

Thinking about switching to Linux? 10 things you need to know

Why is now the perfect time to migrate to Linux? There's the security and support, all the choices - and great apps! Plus, it's just so easy.

www.zdnet.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Forbidden names: Which names are banned around the world? - BBC Bitesize

We find out why Nutella, Justice and Tom were banned as baby names in some countries.

www.bbc.co.uk

Potent images that shine a light on domestic abuse – in pictures

The Indian-born photographer Sujata Setia uses traditional paper-cutting as a metaphor in her portraits of survivors

www.theguardian.com

Lingchi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Bedtime reading, viewing, and dreaming for old Putin.

‘Your plastic is here’: how Easter Island copes with 500 pieces of rubbish an hour washing ashore

One of the world’s most remote populations must deal with a flood of multinational plastic, much of it tossed overboard by the factory fishing ships hoovering up sealife just offshore

www.theguardian.com

"The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones." - because we are so stupid as to not think of the consequences of our actions all too often - but given that particles of plastic have been found in human sperm, we might rue the day that we seem to make so many hasty decisions - who cares about waste?

Sexual harassment still ‘rife’ in UK schools, poll of female staff finds

A quarter of secondary school staff say they have witnessed sexual harassment in their place of work

www.theguardian.com

Well I doubt the insistence of many schoolgirls to dress how they like, and flaunt school rules, will make it less likely for such abuses to happen.

Titanic sub disaster: How the world watched a tragedy unfold over four days

The investigation ‘will take longer than initially projected to complete.’

www.independent.co.uk

One of the biggest criticisms of OceanGate was the Titan’s use of a carbon fibre hull, which is widely believed to be unsuitable for deep-sea diving. When referring to it in now-haunting footage, CEO and Titan victim Stockton Rush joked that he would be “remembered” for the “rules” he broke.

But perhaps more remembered as a reckless and arrogant twat by many others.

Aware that the material was prone to cracking at great pressure, the Titan, which did make successful dives to the Titanic, had an internal monitoring system to check for weaknesses in its hull. But this has been rubbished as a safety mechanism in the wake of the disaster as even the smallest of cracks would lead to disaster at such great depths.

Rightfully so since there was no way of knowing when failure would occur - which is essentially gambling.

32 times artificial intelligence got it catastrophically wrong

From chatbots giving truly terrible medical advice to facial recognition software incorrectly flagging members of congress as criminals, here are some of the most catastrophic mistakes artificial intelligence has ever made.

www.livescience.com

What Men and Women Don’t Understand About Each Other

Much conflict in relationships is due to women not understanding that men are afraid of them and men not understanding that women are trying to connect.

www.psychologytoday.com

Autism Linked With DNA Our Ancestors Inherited From Neanderthals

Some time deep in our evolutionary past, most likely more than once, a significant amount of Neanderthal DNA became mixed in with our own, influencing everything from how we now fight illness to even our appearance.

www.sciencealert.com

Some time deep in our evolutionary past, most likely more than once, a significant amount of Neanderthal DNA became mixed in with our own, influencing everything from how we now fight illness to even our appearance. A new study by researchers from Clemson University and Loyola University in the US now suggests that some of this stolen DNA could be linked to autism spectrum disorder, with specific polymorphisms (or variations) in DNA passed down from Neanderthals being more common in people with autism compared with the general population. The team analyzed DNA from 3,442 people in total, with and without autism. The association held across black non-Hispanic, white Hispanic, and white non-Hispanic people, though the balance was different in each of those populations. "It has been estimated that Eurasian-derived populations have approximately 2 percent Neanderthal DNA, which was acquired during introgression events occurring shortly after anatomically modern humans migrated out of Africa," the researchers write in their published paper.

It's not that people with and without autism differ in the amount of Neanderthal DNA they possess, but rather how common certain specific bits of Neanderthal DNA are. What's more, this varies between individuals – so we're talking about a very complex picture here. However, the evidence outlined here is strong enough to warrant investigation in future studies – we've still got a lot to learn, both about Neanderthals and their lasting impact on our own physiology and about how autism changes the way the brain functions. We're still not sure exactly how Neanderthals and ancient humans originally interacted, for example, or how autism changes brain connections so that people with the condition see the world in a different way.

Humans Started Passing Down Knowledge to Future Generations 600,000 Years Ago

The advent of “cumulative culture”—teaching others and passing down that knowledge—may have reached an inflection point around the time Neandertals and modern humans split from a common ancestor

www.scientificamerican.com

Researchers long thought that the ability to utilize tools or share cultural practices set humans apart. But the animal kingdom has provided plenty of examples to the contrary, whether it be stick-wielding pigs, puzzle-solving bumblebees or societies of sperm whales that “chat” with different dialects. Our species is still unique when it comes to retaining know-how. Over generations of trial and error, humans fine-tuned knowledge and innovations to learn how to craft spear points and make wheels - and all that followed the latter, from oxcarts to Teslas. Learning from past breakthroughs allowed humans to share knowledge and pass it along to future generations, creating a cumulative culture that became a key asset in our species’ evolution. “Our complex and diverse cultural traditions are likely a big part of why humans have been so successful at expanding into areas like the Arctic tundra [or] tropical rainforests and developing cultural adaptations to thrive in them,” says Jonathan Paige, an archaeologist at the University of Missouri, who studies cultural evolution.

Paige and his team sifted through the scientific literature to find dozens of examples of stone artifacts created by hominins over the past 3.3 million years. To compare the complexity of the various tools, the team counted up the procedural units it took to make each device. Paige compares these procedural units to steps in a recipe. “Recipes with many steps are more complex than recipes with only a few steps,” he says. Some, such as a 2.6-million-year-old sharpened flake of rock from Ethiopia, took only three steps to make. Others, such as a fine-tuned blade created in Finland around 10,000 years ago, took 19 different steps. The team compared the complexity of the ancient tools with a baseline of stone tools that were created without a cumulative culture. This baseline included devices that were fashioned by modern nonhuman apes and ones that were produced in experiments in which humans crafted flints without prior experience.

The results revealed that hominin toolmaking largely fell into three distinct eras. The oldest tools, fashioned between 3.3 million and 1.8 million years ago, took between only two and four steps to create. Tools then became slightly more complex, averaging around four to seven steps until around 600,000 years ago. The output of this middle period was on par with the complexity of tools produced by nonhuman apes, naive humans and random flaking experiments, which usually took between one and six steps. Around 600,000 years ago, during the Middle Pleistocene, the pace of change sped up and stone tools became far more complex. Many of the devices from the time took more than 10 steps to complete. By around 300,000 years ago, hominins were creating technology that was twice as complex as the rudimentary tools fashioned by modern chimpanzees to hammer open items such as nuts. The researchers posit that this spike in complexity relates to the origin of a cumulative culture in which ancient hominins retained and expanded upon knowledge of prior stone tools.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Jimmy Savile's Glen Coe cottage to be demolished

The site's new owners have been granted planning permission to replace the property with a new home.

www.bbc.co.uk

Quite a shame that the cottage came to be so associated with Savile but probably best that it be demolished given we don't know what went on there. Plenty like myself will have passed it so often when we were up there for climbing, mainly in the 1970s and 80s (so when MacInnes lived there), and where we usually camped at Glen Coe.

More than 550 hajj pilgrims die in Mecca as temperatures exceed 50C

At least 320 of the dead are from Egypt and Saudi officials report treating more than 2,000 people for heat stress

www.theguardian.com

Can anything else compete as to numbers of such religiously associated deaths - from heat as in these cases or crowd crushes as in many others?

Almost 2,000 children die every day from air pollution, report finds

Global study reveals dirty air is second only to malnutrition as cause of death among under-fives

www.theguardian.com

Nearly 2,000 children under five are dying every day from air pollution, which has overtaken poor sanitation and a lack of clean water to become the second biggest health risk factor for young children around the world. More than 8 million deaths, of children and adults, were caused by air pollution in 2021, according to a new study from the Health Effects Institute (HEI), as both outdoor and indoor pollution continue to take an increasing toll on health. Dirty air is now the second biggest killer globally, overtaking tobacco use, and second only to high blood pressure, as a risk factor for death among the general population. Among children under five, air pollution is second only to malnutrition as a risk factor in mortality.

Schools facing ‘national emergency’ of knife crime with four attacks every week

Exclusive: Figures obtained by The Independent show police forces received 738 reports of people carrying knives or sharp instruments in schools last year

www.independent.co.uk

Scientists have discovered six different types of depression

Is it why people react differently to treatment?

metro.co.uk

Jeremy Vine breaks silence as Joey Barton ordered to pay him £75k in libel case

Veteran broadcaster Jeremy Vine has said 'this is not the final outcome of this case' after ex-football manager Joey Barton posted defamatory posts about him online

www.mirror.co.uk

A difference between the UK and USA justice systems - where Elon Musk was able to get away with his similar defamatory remarks but this chap wasn't. Given that we perhaps know the harms that can come from such accusations, even if flippantly made, and where people have died off the back of such, with many of these being entirely innocent too.

AI goes mainstream as 'AI PCs' hit the market

A new line of PCs specially made to run artificial intelligence programs hit stores on Tuesday as tech companies push toward wider adoption of ChatGPT-style AI.

techxplore.com

Not sure it is the time yet to trust any AI on one's PC - given the issues we currently are having with the LLM expressions of AI (as to distortions, fabrications, and downright lies often coming from such). And MS is not exactly doing itself favours by their pushy nature as to taking up the latest version of their OS, especially when a new PC might be required to do this.

Study finds link between genetics and coffee intake

It's 9 a.m. and coffee shops are bustling with the line for the drive-thru wrapped around the building. This is a common occurrence around the globe as coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages.

medicalxpress.com

Study uses powerful new 'digital cohort' method to understand vaping epidemic

Tapping into the vast amount of data now available on social media, a new study from scientists at the University of California San Diego introduces a powerful new approach to understanding the nation's health, in this case the vaping epidemic.

medicalxpress.com

Looks like we will be having the same mistakes as for smoking when the young take up such useless and (relatively) expensive habits.

Starlings found to expend 25% less energy in follower position compared to flying solo

A multidisciplinary, multi-institutional team of researchers in the U.S. has found that starlings that fly in a follower position expend 25% less energy than when they fly solo. In their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group designed complex...

phys.org

The research team had to run many more trials with the birds than expected because of the number of things that could go wrong in a given trial, such as the birds choosing not to fly, or not choosing to fly behind another bird. They also found difficulty, in some cases, with measuring the data they received. Eventually, the team carried out enough trials to provide sufficient data to show that one bird flying behind another in natural flight used 25% less energy on average. They also found that the birds that were the most naturally energy-efficient tended to adopt the leader role more readily and easily.

Blood test could predict Parkinson's seven years before symptoms

A team of researchers, led by scientists at UCL and University Medical Center Goettingen, has developed a simple blood test that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to predict Parkinson's up to seven years before the onset of symptoms. The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

medicalxpress.com

 

[ChristineM]

The starlings piece is similar to tailgating a car on the track. Tuck in close enough and use their slipstream to allow you to cut back on power. The lead car drags you along.

When the opportunity comes, slip out and hit the accelerator. The power you've saved gives an extra boost that means you can pass the leading car.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Microplastics found in penises for first time, researchers say - raising questions over impact on sexual health

Scientists raise questions about the impact of microplastics on male sexual health in a new study. The size of pollutants varied, but most can come from everyday products.

news.sky.com

Bad news — many of today's top passwords can be brute force cracked in less than an hour

If you're using simple passwords, you're in trouble

www.techradar.com

The gist of the research is that some eight-character passwords can be cracked as fast as 17 seconds. These passwords were composed of same-case English letters and digits, or 36 combinable characters. Looking at the entire database, it took the researchers less than an hour to crack more than half (59%) of the passwords.

Random, using all characters, and not less than 12 but preferably more is probably one way to defeat the crackers - and never use the same password for anything else - but many sites don't allow for long enough passwords or restrict characters anyway. And a password manager is probably the best overall approach.

Russia scours China for second-hand machine tools

Shadowy buyers for Moscow’s defence industry source old western-made machinery

www.ft.com

Ten Commandments to be displayed in Louisiana public school classrooms

Law passed requiring text to be displayed in every public school classroom, although lawsuits against it are expected

www.theguardian.com

Presumably behind glass, or might be prone to altering, as to adding or crossing out 'not' in some Commandments, as per one example of this mistake already made.

Holocaust survivors to use AI to ‘future-proof’ their stories for UK schools

Testimony 360 project allows pupils to talk to AI versions of survivors and take virtual tours of concentration camps

www.theguardian.com

I started smoking at 14 – and reached 40 a day. A single therapy session changed my life

For years I had been trying to quit, without success, when I decided to take a new approach. It helped me achieve the previously unthinkable

www.theguardian.com

I love smoking. Cigarettes are the cherry on top of life’s best moments and a crutch for the worst. Is there anything better than chain-smoking in a sunlit beer garden? Or more satisfying than the victory cigarette that punctuates a completed project? Is there anything more necessary when you’re given terrible news? My form tutor at school, Mr Styles, once told us that smokers were foolish for saying it relaxed them, as really it was no different from wearing a pair of shoes a few sizes too small and celebrating the relief of taking them off, only to then put them back on again moments later. That analogy stuck with me and I thought about it often. But then I’d watch my team surrender a four-goal lead away at Newcastle and, honestly, there was simply no other response but to light up, inhale, exhale. Sweet relief.

Meanwhile, the rest of us non-smokers just deal with life 'as is' and don't need some crutch to pass from one moment to the next. So if this is an excuse for continuing smoking - as it seems to be for so many who defend it - then they should try the alternative, which will not damage your health (and others) or cost you that which could be spent elsewhere. But at least he has found a way to eliminate the useless, nasty, and mostly profitable to the exploitative habit.

Iberian lynx no longer endangered after numbers improve in Spain and Portugal

The animal, which is still categorised as ‘vulnerable’, has been the subject of a 20-year conservation programme

www.theguardian.com

Elon Musk tries to walk back ‘go f*** yourself’ remarks to woo advertisers who fled X

Musk insisted his message was only to advertisers who wanted to limit users’ freedom of speech

www.independent.co.uk

Last year, Elon Musk had a message for advertisers who were fleeing his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in droves. "Go f*** yourself." This week, the billionaire entrepreneur appeared to have changed his tune, in a bid to boost ad money spent on X, Axios reported. At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Wednesday, Musk insisted that his blunt remark was not addressed to all advertisers but only those insisting on “censorship”. “First of all, it wasn’t to advertisers as a whole. It was with respect to freedom of speech,” Musk told Mark Read, CEO of advertising giant WPP, during an onstage discussion. “It is important to have a global free speech platform where people with a wide range of opinions can voice their views. In some cases there were advertisers who were insisting on censorship.”

As in calling others 'pedos', and which some can get away with because some are extremely rich ********? Not my idea as to freedom of speech.

After Musk bought Twitter in 2022, right-wing accounts that had been previously banned — like those of conspiracy theorist and Sandy Hook school shooting denier Alex Jones, and white supremacist Nick Fuentes — were allowed back on the site. Musk also introduced paid-for verification badges. In the past, users could only become verified on Twitter by meeting certain criteria including proving their identity with a valid photo ID. After Musk took over, he sold verified badges for $8 per month as part of a “Twitter Blue” subscription package. Some X users quickly showed what a questionable idea this was by buying verified badges for famous people and brands, and tweeting from fake accounts. “I miss killing Iraqis,” a fake -but verified - account claiming to be former president George W Bush tweeted. Another fake, verified account claimed to be Nintendo of America, and posted an image of the company’s flagship character, Mario, giving the middle finger.

Freedom of speech - as long as it aids his wealth-building empire?

A financial report issued this year, prepared by X and obtained by Bloomberg, revealed that the social media platform began hemorrhaging money when Musk took over two years ago. In the first six months of 2023, the first full year under Musk's ownership, company revenue fell by 40 per cent from the same period the previous year, according to the report. The documents showed that X lost $456m in the first quarter of 2023, according to Bloomberg.

Oh, a winner all the time - until he eventually fails miserably (Cybertruck?).

Warning over Russia 'ramping up general election meddling'

Russia could interfere with Britain's General Election to weaken the country's support for Ukraine, it's been warned.

metro.co.uk

And there is no point in reciprocating, given that voting in Russia is more a tragicomedy than much else, especially with this particular lethal dictator in control.

Oleksiy Danilov told The Times that Russian spies have developed an AI tool that is allowing Moscow to meddle in UK and US elections on an exponential scale – threatening democracy. Artificial intelligence has allowed those online to create text, audio, photos, and videos to make it appear as though candidates are saying things they never actually said.

But these idiots are often far too obvious - as in the anti-West comments to various articles and seemingly coming from the troll factory in Moscow that was exposed long ago.

Three weak spots that make self-driving cars worse than humans at the wheel

In one common situation, robot cars were found to be five times more likely to end up in an accident.

metro.co.uk