Mock Turtle world

[Mock Turtle]

Hajj pilgrim deaths surge past 1,000 as Saudi Arabia faces extreme temperatures

Around 1.8 million Muslims have taken part in the days-long pilgrimage this year

www.independent.co.uk

Islam follows a lunar calendar, so the Hajj falls around 11 days earlier each year. By 2029, the Hajj will occur in April, and in the next several years after that it will fall in the winter, when temperatures are milder. A 2015 stampede in Mina during the Hajj killed over 2,400 pilgrims, the deadliest incident to ever strike the pilgrimage, though Saudi Arabia has never acknowledged the full toll of the stampede.

Extreme heat hits countries around the world

Many parts of the globe are experiencing temperatures much higher than average for the time of year.

www.bbc.co.uk

Week in wildlife – in pictures: bears’ dinner party, a Kentish wildcat kitten and racing marmots

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

www.theguardian.com

How the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu drastically cut plastic pollution

With lagoons once choked by rubbish, pressure from the appalled community led the government to ban certain single-use products

www.theguardian.com

Chimps helping scientists find plants that have potential to become medicines

Observing primates could pave the way for new drug discoveries, researchers say.

www.indy100.com

Analysing video recordings, the team found a wounded male chimpanzee eating the leaves of a fern known as Christella parasitica, which was shown to have anti-inflammatory properties when tested in the lab. The fern may have helped to reduce pain and swelling, the researchers said. The scientists also observed another chimpanzee with a parasite infection eat the bark of the cat-thorn tree (Scutia myrtina), a behaviour that had never been seen before in this group. Lab tests also showed other plant extracts, such as dead wood from a tropical forest tree called Alstonia boonei and bark and resin from the East African mahogany tree (Khaya anthotheca), to have strong wound-healing and infection-fighting properties. A majority of the plant samples (88%) analysed in the lab had antibiotic properties and 33% showed anti-inflammatory benefits, the researchers said.

American Ksenia Karelina on trial after donating to charity for Ukraine

Ksenia Karelina faces a prison sentence of 12 years to life in Russia if she is convicted of treason charges

www.independent.co.uk

More nonsense from the Putin regime - and where no doubt she will be exchanged for some Russian spy eventually if she is convicted. This nastiness is just so typical of such regimes though.

The £32,000,000,000 plan to move a capital city is in jeopardy

The project will cost an estimated $32 billion.

metro.co.uk

This Centuries-Old Hack Is a Proven Way to Boost Your Health And Immunity

There are a dizzying number of tips, hacks and recommendations on how to stay healthy, from dietary supplements to what color of clothes promotes optimal wellness.

www.sciencealert.com

There are a dizzying number of tips, hacks and recommendations on how to stay healthy, from dietary supplements to what color of clothes promotes optimal wellness. Some of these tips are helpful and based on good evidence, while others are not. However, one of the easiest, most effective and safest ways to stay healthy is rarely mentioned: vaccination. We are a preventive medicine physician and an immunologist who want people to live the healthiest lives possible. Among the many research-backed ways to live healthier, we encourage people to eat well, exercise regularly, get good sleep and care for their mental health. And when it comes to your immune system, nothing can replace the essential role vaccines play in promoting whole health. The protection that vaccines provide is an irreplaceable part of living the healthiest lifestyle possible. Some healthy people think they don't need a vaccine. But your immune system needs more than just a healthy lifestyle to protect your body when vaccine-preventable diseases come knocking on the door.

Imagine the cells of your immune system as athletes preparing for the Olympics. Just as athletes undergo rigorous and specialized training to meet every possible challenge they might face in their event, immune cells need to be primed and ready to fight off every pathogenic challenge you encounter. Vaccines expose your immune cells to inactivated versions of a pathogen, providing them with practice sessions to recognize and combat the real threat with speed and precision. Vaccines ensure that your immune cells are at their peak performance when faced with the actual infection. Just as well-trained athletes can tackle their competition with skill and confidence, vaccinated immune cells can swiftly and effectively protect your body from diseases. If a person is unvaccinated and exposed to a disease they haven't encountered before, their immune cells are unprepared and must play catch-up to fight the pathogen. This leaves your body vulnerable to severe disease. Even people at the pinnacle of health can unnecessarily suffer from vaccine-preventable diseases because their immune systems might not have been well-trained.

The Blood of Exceptionally Long-Lived People Reveals Crucial Differences

Centenarians, once considered rare, have become commonplace.

www.sciencealert.com

World-First Experiment Reveals Why Some People Never Get COVID-19

A detailed comparison of COVID-19 cases has finally provided insight into why some individuals have yet to endure so much as a sniffle from a virus that brought much of the world to its knees.

www.sciencealert.com

Help a Traveling Salesman Find Every Route in this Math Puzzle

Try to solve a traveling salesman’s directional dilemma

www.scientificamerican.com

New York bans “addictive feeds” for teens

States have been taking the lead on kids online safety.

www.theverge.com

Qilin has ‘no regrets’ over the healthcare crisis it caused

Cybercriminals claim they used a zero-day to breach pathology provider’s systems

www.theregister.com

The ransomware gang responsible for a healthcare crisis at London hospitals says it has no regrets about its cyberattack, which was entirely deliberate, it told The Register in an interview. Qilin says Synnovis, a partnership between pathology services company Synlab and two London NHS Trusts, wasn't targeted by accident. Asked if it knew a healthcare crisis in the UK capital would ensue as a result of its attack on that organization, should they be successful, a spokesperson for the group said: "Yes, we knew that. That was our goal." They went on to say their cyber-assault was politically motivated: "All our attacks are not accidental. We choose only those companies whose management is directly or indirectly affiliated with the political elites of a particular country. The politicians of these countries do not keep their word, they promise a lot, but are in no hurry to fulfill their promises."

Politically motivated, as in an arm of the Russian state?

Despite being named after a Chinese mythological creature, Qilin is widely believed to be an operation running out of Russia. It operates much like others in Russia have in the past and appears to target Western organizations and not those in countries allied to Russia, which would allow it to maintain its protected status at the Kremlin.

Sweden says Russia is interfering with Nordic satellites

If Putin likes jammin', we hope NATO likes jammin' too

www.theregister.com

Sweden says its satellites have been impacted by "harmful interference" from Russia ever since the Nordic nation joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) last March. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) first confronted Russia about the interference on March 21, according to Bloomberg, exactly two weeks after Sweden joined the North Atlantic alliance. On June 4 the Swedes reportedly escalated their complaints about the interference to the International Telecommunications Union in Switzerland. It seems merely joining NATO has earned Sweden the ire of Russia – the jamming efforts focused on three Sirius satellites that service Scandinavia and some of Eastern Europe. These are nothing to do with SiriusXM in the US, but provide digital TV services across part of Europe. A Kremlin representative, Dmitry Peskov, claimed he had no idea what the Swedes were on about.

Is Your DNA Making You Gain Weight? New Genetics Research Sheds Light

Researchers have discovered a new cause of why people who lack a specific blood group are genetically predisposed to be overweight or obese. A genetic study led by the University of Exeter identified a link between the SMIM1 gene variant and obesity. This variant, found in individuals without the

scitechdaily.com

Climate Catastrophe Forces Island Monkeys to Quickly Master New Social Skills

Following Hurricane Maria, rhesus macaques in Puerto Rico adapted their social behavior for survival. The reduction in shade led to increased tolerance among macaques, significantly lowering mortality rates for those who shared space. This adaptation highlights their flexibility in facing environ

scitechdaily.com

New Study Suggests Universal Laws Govern Brain Structure From Mice to Men

The brain exhibits structural criticality near phase transitions, consistent across species, potentially guiding the development of new brain models. When a magnet is heated, it reaches a critical point where it loses magnetization, known as "criticality." This point of high complexity is reached

scitechdaily.com

Kovács and Ansell were amazed to find that all brain samples studied — from humans, mice and fruit flies — have consistent critical exponents across organisms, meaning they share the same quantitative features of criticality. The underlying, compatible structures among organisms hint that a universal governing principle might be at play. Their new findings potentially could help explain why brains from different creatures share some of the same fundamental principles.

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

 

[Mock Turtle]

Subscribe to read

www.ft.com

In a week of explosive revelations, Geneva’s public prosecutor accused Prakash, Kamal, Ajay and Namrata of treating their employees as indentured servants. They were accused of keeping the staff trapped at a villa in the ultra-exclusive Geneva lakeside suburb of Cologny, where they slept in substandard conditions in basement rooms. The workers were paid less than one-tenth of the salary they were entitled to under Swiss law, according to the prosecutor Bertossa. One servant was paid just 7 Swiss francs a day, and worked as many as 18 hours, 7 days a week, Bertossa alleged. The family dog had more than three times as much spent on it, according to documents seized by police and presented to the court. As well as attending to the family at Cologny, the retinue of staff travelled with the Hindujas to their ski chalet in the Swiss alps and villa on the Cote d’Azur, but otherwise had almost no personal freedom, Bertossa said. Their passports were taken from them. They were paid in rupees into Indian bank accounts, which they did not have access to while in Switzerland, he said.

Just ridiculous how so often the wealthy treat others so badly when they needn't do so.

Climbers 'saddened' by Welsh names row but point to 'important distinction'

'Many of us are Welsh speakers who feel passionately about this issue'

www.dailypost.co.uk

As someone who probably has some Welsh ancestry, I think the Welsh language has more or less committed itself to the past by its nature and the difficulty in pronouncing and/or spelling so much of it - and probably why English has become such a popular language worldwide, apart from the colonising and such.

Easter Island study casts doubt on theory of ‘ecocide’ by early population

Researchers challenge long-held idea that islanders chopped down palm trees at an unsustainable rate

www.theguardian.com

One man’s desperate search for wife as more than 1,000 hajj pilgrims die in extreme heat

Hoda Nagib and her husband had walked 20km in the baking sun in Saudi Arabia while on Mecca pilgrimage

www.theguardian.com

A leading TV presenter stood up to the Taliban. Now they’ve come for her family

After an online clip of her challenging the Taliban went viral, Shabnam and two siblings fled to the UK. She tells Holly Bancroft how her older sister and parents were left behind

www.independent.co.uk

The Taliban should get out more, and chase down all those around the world who despise and call out this sick regime.

Massive power outage leaves four European countries without internet

Capital cities saw lines of trafic jams as traffic lights went off.

metro.co.uk

Research reveals how sighted and blind people's brains change when they learn to echolocate

New research shows that the brains of sighted and blind people adapt in a similar way when they learn to use sound echoes to understand the world without vision.

medicalxpress.com

New Breakthrough Allows a Computer To Understand Human Emotions

Finnish researchers have developed a technology that enables computers to understand human emotions to improve AI interactions, potentially allowing machines to adjust their behavior to enhance user experiences. Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland have created a model that allow

scitechdaily.com

Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland have created a model that allows computers to recognize and comprehend human emotions by employing mathematical psychology principles. This breakthrough could enhance the interaction between humans and smart technologies, such as artificial intelligence systems, by making them more attuned and reactive to users’ emotions. According to Jussi Jokinen, Associate Professor of Cognitive Science, the model could be used by a computer in the future to predict, for example, when a user will become annoyed or anxious. In such situations, the computer could, for example, give the user additional instructions or redirect the interaction. In everyday interactions with computers, users commonly experience emotions such as joy, irritation, and boredom. Despite the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence, current technologies often fail to acknowledge these user emotions. The model developed in Jyväskylä can currently predict if the user has feelings of happiness, boredom, irritation, rage, despair, and anxiety.

Revolutionary Wearable Scanner Provides Clearest Ever Picture of Children’s Developing Brain

Recent research using wearable brain scanners offers new insights into children's brain development, tracking how critical milestones are linked to brain activity and exploring the foundations of neurodevelopmental conditions like autism. New research has provided the most detailed view yet of th

scitechdaily.com

Hard Yet Stretchable: Scientists Create “Unbreakable” New Material

Researchers have developed a new class of materials known as glassy gels, which combine the hardness of glassy polymers with the stretchability of gels. These materials maintain over 50% liquid content, enhancing their elasticity and adhesive properties. The fabrication process involves mixing po

scitechdaily.com

If birds are dinosaurs, why aren't they cold-blooded?

If dinosaurs were reptiles, then why aren't birds cold blooded?

www.livescience.com

Can Your Mind Heal Your Body?

Your mind is not magic, but it does have powers.

www.psychologytoday.com

10 Ways People Justify Doing Bad Things

Waiting for people to feel remorse about what they did to you? You may be waiting for a long time. Here are 10 ways people rationalize their bad actions.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Farage’s Putin comments could trip him up

‘You know what I am! I’m a fighter, I’m a warrior, I’m a campaigner. I stand up against big institutions when they behave badly, whether they’re banks or out of touch bureaucracies based in Brussels. And very often, I win.’ Nigel Farage finished tonight’s BBC Panorama interview by offering his...

www.spectator.co.uk

The most problematic bit of the interview was where he was asked about his previous comments about Vladimir Putin. He pointed out that he did say he ‘disliked’ Putin, but accepted that he had also admired his ability: ‘I admired him as a political operator because he managed to take control of running Russia’.

Taking control, by turning it into a fascist state? Fortunately those liable to vote for Farage are more likely to be staunchly nationalistic, so less likely to want someone perhaps seen as a traitor leading them. Nice one, Nigel! Have you been taking lessons from Laurence Fox?

And all the better for Labour perhaps -->

Senior Tories line up to denounce Nigel Farage’s defence of Putin’s war

Conservatives are desperate to halt the rise of Reform UK, which is splitting their party in two

www.theguardian.com

Punch and Judy, penny slots and Pontins: why the great British seaside continues to hold our imagination

Rachel Cooke traces the long history of the UK’s resorts through nostalgia, deprivation and revival

www.theguardian.com

Most of our holidays when children were spent at a caravan site near Southend-On-Sea, and where this image below is possibly me (on the left) with an older brother at the camp shop. The photo not taken by a family member seemingly and just found by browsing.

Does a cave beneath Pembroke Castle hold key to fate of early Britons?

Scientists hope wealth of prehistoric material in Wogan Cavern in Wales is well preserved enough to reveal what really happened to our most ancient ancestors

www.theguardian.com

Pembroke Castle has been a seat of power for centuries. It was the birthplace of Henry Tudor, father of Henry VIII, and is one of the country’s best preserved medieval strongholds, containing a maze of passages, tunnels and stairways, as well as a vast gatehouse tower. Scientists have discovered that the fortress has also been concealing a startling secret. A cave, known as Wogan Cavern, which lies directly underneath Pembroke Castle, has been found to contain a treasure trove of prehistoric material, including ancient bones and stone tools left behind by early Homo sapiens and possibly by Neanderthals. These remains will provide key information about the settling of Britain in prehistoric times, say scientists, who last week began their first major excavation of the year at Wogan. Work on the site over coming years should provide answers to major puzzles about prehistoric Britain, including the end of the Neanderthals’ occupation about 40,000 years ago. Early finds at Wogan include a wide range of fossils including mammoth, reindeer, and woolly rhino, as well as the remains of a hippopotamus, a species that last wallowed in British waters 125,000 years ago. Archaeologists have also found that much of the cavern’s floor is covered with a layer of stalagmite which has preserved the soil, bones, proteins and DNA that lie below.

‘They’re trying to divide us’: Muslims in France voice fears over rise of far right

People in Lyon say country at dangerous juncture in snap elections after National Rally’s EU parliamentary gains

www.theguardian.com

Well, perhaps all outward signs of religiosity are what enables divisions to form (the burqa or niqab being the most obvious), or as to the deemed promotion of such religions, and perhaps designed into the religion. Much like other factors, such as blasphemy, apostasy, heresy, or anything designed to keep the religion foremost in the minds of any adherents. But one predominantly Muslim country (perhaps not so friendly with Iran and especially Afghanistan) seems to go against the trends -->

This country is banning hijabs despite its 98% Muslim population

Though controversial, the bill is expected to be approved.

metro.co.uk

A country which is almost entirely Muslim is set to ban the hijab as it is ‘alien’ to its culture. Tajikistan has long had an unofficial ban on the religious wear in public institutions, but a new draft law would ban the importation, selling, wearing and advertisement of the hijab. Those who break the new law could also be fined heavily, from $740 for individuals to $5,400 for legal entities. Tajik lawmaker Mavludakhon Mirzoeva told Radio Free Europe the draft bill includes a ban on clothes deemed ‘foreign’ to Tajik culture. Though controversial, the bill is expected to be approved and signed into law by President Emomali Rahmon. In recent years, special task forces worked to enforce the ban. Police also often raided marketplaces to arrest those breaking the unofficial ban. Tajikistan also previously banned bushy beards, and forced many men to shave theirs against their will.

Will ‘sigh of relief’ after US supreme court gun ruling be short-lived?

Domestic abusers still may not possess guns, but first case decided since 2022 Bruen decision likely won’t be the last

www.theguardian.com

The week in theatre: Much Ado About Nothing; Kiss Me, Kate – review

Shakespeare’s Globe; Barbican, London The possibility of pleasure is everywhere in Sean Holmes’s summer crowd-pleaser, while Adrian Dunbar tackles his first musical role in Cole Porter’s take on the bard’s least appealing play

www.theguardian.com

Leaving London whilst still a teenager, the theatre and music concerts in London were some of the things I really missed, and I probably saw far less than I would have liked living so far away.

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www.mirror.co.uk

The usual - never my dog - until it does happen.

Older People Who Use Psychedelics Show Fascinating Brain Functions

Drugs with psychedelic effects, like psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and cannabis, may help protect the brain from some aspects of aging. A recent survey of 3,294 US adults, aged between 42 and 92, has found that those who reported using a hallucinogen of any...

www.sciencealert.com

What Lucy the Ancient Hominin Can Teach Us about Being Naked

Lucy, a 3.2-million-year-old fossilized hominin, may have been much less hairy than we imagine—a perhaps shocking revelation for our modern sense of nakedness

www.scientificamerican.com

Fifty years ago, scientists discovered a nearly complete fossilized skull and hundreds of pieces of bone of a 3.2-million-year-old female specimen of the genus Australopithecus afarensis, often described as “the mother of us all.” During a celebration following her discovery, she was named “Lucy,” after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Though Lucy has solved some evolutionary riddles, her appearance remains an ancestral secret. Popular renderings dress her in thick, reddish-brown fur, with her face, hands, feet and breasts peeking out of denser thickets. This hairy picture of Lucy, it turns out, might be wrong. Technological advancements in genetic analysis suggest that Lucy may have been naked, or at least much more thinly veiled. According to the coevolutionary tale of humans and their lice, our immediate ancestors lost most of their body fur 3 to 4 million years ago and did not don clothing until 83,000 to 170,000 years ago. That means that for over 2.5 million years, early humans and their ancestors were simply naked.

Have giant humans ever existed?

Some humans have always stood head and shoulders above their peers, but there's nothing mythological about these real-life human giants.

www.livescience.com

Who Was the Tallest Person to Ever Live?

Learn the astonishing story of the tallest person to ever live. Sadly, at 8 feet 11 inches, Robert Wadlow had an unfortunately short life. Find out what led to his remarkable growth, and the medical condition that caused Robert Wadlow's death.

www.discovermagazine.com

And sadly, like Wadlow, those with gigantism don't tend to live long lives because the disease comes with so many complications, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart problems, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, increased risk of cancer, spinal issues and vision loss.

32 of the most dangerous animals on Earth

From the tiniest insects to the largest land animal on Earth, here are some of the most dangerous and deadly creatures in the world.

www.livescience.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

At least 1,301 people died during Hajj - Saudi Arabia

Most were unregistered pilgrims who walked long distances in intense heat, officials said.

www.bbc.co.uk

About 1.8 million people took part this year, Saudi Arabia said.

From a previous Guardian article:

The Saudi authorities have said that they want to increase the number of annual pilgrims visiting Mecca year-round to 30 million by 2030, as part of the vision 2030 plan, which aims to wean the kingdom off of oil revenue with measures including increased tourism.

Suranne Jones: Investigating Witch Trials review – the misogyny will make you want to smash furniture

The actor is an engaging, funny host for this thoughtful documentary’s journey into witch-hunts and their underlying sexism. It’s eye-opening TV

www.theguardian.com

The Kremlin’s Noose by Amy Knight review – vital primer on Putin’s Russia and Boris Berezovsky’s death

The American historian and expert on Russia has written a definitive study of the flamboyant life and mysterious death of the oligarch, a confidant of Yeltsin and a man to whom Putin was once indebted

www.theguardian.com

Berezovsky had many flaws, not least a capacity for self-sabotage. But he was right about Putin’s ruthless and murderous nature. The list of dead Kremlin opponents grew in the years following Berezovsky’s demise. They include his friend and fellow exile Nikolai Glushkov, who was strangled in 2018 at his home in New Malden. (His killer staged a fake suicide.) Boris Nemtsov was shot in Moscow. And in February this year, Putin’s biggest rival Alexei Navalny suddenly died in a gulag.

Accidents happen, comrade!

Florida Man's Bowel Eviscerated After Freak Sneezing Accident

If you were to envision the kind of accident that would cause a person's bowels to explode out of their body, you might imagine some sort of gruesome stabbing or grisly car accident.

www.sciencealert.com

If you were to envision the kind of accident that would cause a person's bowels to explode out of their body, you might imagine some sort of gruesome stabbing or grisly car accident. You'd probably never imagine that something as commonplace and harmless as a sneeze would cause this kind of ghastly injury – but that's exactly what happened to a Florida man earlier this month. The man had recently had abdominal surgery and was suffering from wound dehiscence – where his surgical scar wasn't healing properly. While eating breakfast, the man first sneezed, then began coughing. He noticed pain and a wet sensation on his lower abdomen – only to discover several loops of his bowel had burst through his unhealed wound. The man was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery where his bowels were returned to his abdomen.

Drinking Coffee May Lower Risk of Death From Too Much Sitting

Years of life spent sitting on an office chair or a couch can have deadly health effects in the long run – but curling up with a regular cup of coffee might be a way to offset that harmful lifestyle.

www.sciencealert.com

AI Designs Radical Magnet Free of Rare-Earth Metals in Just 3 Months

We urgently need to move away from fossil fuels, but electric vehicles and other green technology can put their own pressures on the environment.

www.sciencealert.com

What Are Constellations, and Where Do They Come From?

Cosmic happenstance and biological evolution come together to create a road map to the stars

www.scientificamerican.com

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www.fastcompany.com

Ah, how it all passes from memory so quickly - fortunately!

Deepfake voices

www.news.uzh.ch

Denying Deathbed Forgiveness to Abusers

Would you ask a trauma survivor to forgive their dying abuser? If so, you could be doing more harm than good.

www.psychologytoday.com

This is the true story of Simon Wiesenthal, a Jew who was imprisoned in a concentration camp when a dying Nazi soldier begged him for forgiveness, and he refused. Does your opinion of his conduct change now that you know he is a trauma survivor and the dying man is his prolific abuser? Simon Wiesenthal questioned his decision to deny forgiveness. He asked psychiatrists, theologians, political leaders, writers, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, former Nazis, and victims of attempted genocides to comment on his choice, which he included in his book, The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. Some of his contributors wrote that he should have forgiven for his own sake, others stated that he was right to withhold forgiveness, and others did not know. This lack of agreement among so many different people reflects the lack of agreement in the field of Psychology regarding whether trauma survivors should forgive their abusers.

For me, it is more about how a victim has come to terms with any abuse, and if this has been done successfully - so as to never cause any significant concerns - then it is entirely up to them as to forgive or not. And mostly I can well understand when they don't forgive, especially if the abuse has been long-lasting. But not forgiving when one still feels the harms done by any abuse might just add to this, given one can't do much once an abuser is dead, apart from gloat perhaps and/or know they cannot abuse anyone again.

Stuck Solving a Problem? 3 Steps to Get Unstuck

When we are stuck with a problem, what is usually needed is a new approach and a different perspective. Here are 3 ways to shake it up.

www.psychologytoday.com

What Would AGI Think of Human Cognition?

With AGI on the horizon, will superintelligence view human cognition as a transitory phase in the evolution of intelligence, redefining the essence of humanity?

www.psychologytoday.com

As regarding the majority of humans - probably having a quiet laugh.

How can we ensure that superintelligent systems align with human values and ethical principles? What are the boundaries of cognitive enhancement, and will we eventually encounter insurmountable limitations?

And what might such an intelligence make of our religions? Well, humans, sorry to have to tell you, but you can't all be right!

 

[Mock Turtle]

Hot weather: How to sleep in the heat

A simple guide on how to get a good night's sleep in the heat.

www.bbc.co.uk

Nah, it's a dog's natural instinct to want to kitesurf.

Sony, Universal, Warner sue over AI music copyright violations

Sony, Universal and Warner claim AI software steals music to "spit out" similar work.

www.bbc.co.uk

The world's biggest record labels are suing two artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups over alleged copyright violation in a potentially landmark case. Firms including Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Records say Suno and Udio have committed copyright infringement on an "almost unimaginable scale". They claim the pair's software steals music to "spit out" similar work and ask for compensation of $150,000 (£118,200) per work. Suno and Udio did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuits, announced on Monday by the Recording Industry Association of America, are part of a wave of lawsuits from authors, news organisations and other groups that are challenging the rights of AI firms to use their work.

In the past, AI firms have argued that their use of the material is legitimate under the fair use doctrine, which allows copyrighted works to be used without a licence under certain conditions, such as for satire and news. Supporters have compared machine learning by AI tools to the way humans learn by reading, hearing and seeing previous works. But in the complaints, which were filed in federal court in Massachusetts and New York, the record labels say the AI firms are simply making money from having copied the songs. "The use here is far from transformative, as there is no functional purpose for... [the] AI model to ingest the Copyrighted Recordings other than to spit out new, competing music files," according to the complaints. The complaints say Suno and Udio produce works like Prancing Queen that even devoted ABBA fans would struggle to distinguish from an authentic recording from the band. Songs cited in the Udio lawsuit include Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You and My Girl by The Temptations. "[The] motive is brazenly commercial and threatens to displace the genuine human artistry that is at the heart of copyright protection," the record labels said in the lawsuits. They said there was nothing about AI that excused the firms from "playing by the rules" and warned that the "wholesale theft" of the recordings threatened "the entire music ecosystem". The lawsuits come just months after roughly 200 artists including Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj signed a letter calling for the "predatory" use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry to be stopped.

They took part in Apache ceremonies. Their schools expelled them for satanic activities

Educators on the Fort Apache Reservation have repeatedly condemned teens for participating in a sacred dance. It follows a pattern of Christian discipline begun more than a century ago

www.theguardian.com

Private schools operate as they choose, and there are no legal precedents, nor federal laws or policies, which could be used to protect Indigenous beliefs in this context. Even in public schools, Indigenous students and communities are still fighting in court to be allowed to wear traditional tribal regalia, traditional hairstyles, or tribal clothing, especially during high school graduation ceremonies.

Religions as cultural despots? Surely not.

Afghan girls accuse Taliban of sexual assault after arrests for ‘bad hijab’

Reports surface days before UN summit on Afghanistan that will exclude Afghan women and debate on women’s rights

www.theguardian.com

The Taliban make it so easy to despise them.

Julian Assange en route to US Pacific island after accepting US plea deal – as it happened

Julian Assange to be sentenced at a hearing on the island of Saipan Wednesday; WikiLeaks founder’s wife says he will seek a US pardon

www.theguardian.com

I was one who regularly did view Wikileaks before Assange entered his era of troubles.

Lottery winner explains the basic maths which saw him win 14 jackpots

It’s common knowledge these days that the odds of someone winning the lottery are pretty miniscule. An often-cited statistic is that you’re more likely to be struck by lightning and die than choose the lucky ticket.When there are millions of possible combinations for a lottery ticket then, well...

www.indy100.com

It’s common knowledge these days that the odds of someone winning the lottery are pretty miniscule. An often-cited statistic is that you’re more likely to be struck by lightning and die than choose the lucky ticket. When there are millions of possible combinations for a lottery ticket then, well, you’d need to buy a lot of lottery tickets if you want to be in with a good chance of taking home the jackpot. And that’s exactly what one Romanian economist named Stefan Mandel did, with the help of investors and a syndicate – named the International Lotto Fund or ILF - which saw them win a total of 14 lotteries around the world. In an interview available on YouTube, Mandel explained: “Theoretically, anybody can buy all the possible combinations. Any high school boy or girl can calculate those combinations. “Nobody has ever developed a logistical system to lodge such a large amount of play slips. “We were the only winners and that was it.”

Eventually, Mandel targeted a lottery in Virginia, where the rules around picking six numbers between one and 44 meant they only had 7,059,052 – apparently, this was a good thing. You have more of a chance winning the Conservatives' lottery, if you wanted to take part in that for some reason. What was also a good thing was that Virginia allowed individuals to purchase tickets and print them at home, making it a lot less inconvenient and awkward than doing it at a cashier – they only needed 30 computers. It was in February 1992 that his syndicate went for a jackpot of $27m, and because they had done every ticket imaginable, they scooped up $900k in additional prizes for the tickets which placed second, third, fourth and so on. 14 international agencies investigated him and the ILF – including the CIA and FBI – but both were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Alicia Vikander couldn’t get used to Jude Law’s ‘repulsive’ stench on Firebrand set

Actor wore a custom scent of ‘blood, faecal matter and sweat’ to get into character for his latest film

www.independent.co.uk

Alicia Vikander has said she never “got used” to the “repulsive” smell of Jude Law on set for Firebrand. Vikander, 35, starred opposite Law, 51, in the 2023 historical thriller-drama Firebrand, in which they portrayed Katherine Parr and Henry VIII respectively. Last year, it was revealed that Law doused himself in a bespoke perfume blended from “blood, faecal matter and sweat” to play the notorious king. Explaining his reason for doing so, during a press conference at Cannes Film Festival, Law recalled that he had read several accounts “that you could smell Henry three rooms away”. “His leg was rotting so badly. He hid it with rose oil,” he said. “I thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful.” In a new interview with Business Insider, Law said the custom scent – made by a specialist perfumier – was “repulsive” and “sort of summed up the state he was in, I think emotionally and spiritually and physically at that time: decaying and disgusting”.

But (protesting), he only executed two of his six wives!

Criminal gangs ‘shoulder-surf’ passwords to access banking apps and steal thousands

Thieves use passwords to steal thousands from banking apps

www.independent.co.uk

Ukrainian author and soldier warns the West: ‘War is coming to you’

Tom Watling speaks to Oleksandr Mykhed about his new book describing the reality of Russia’s invasion of his homeland

www.independent.co.uk

The book opens with Mykhed standing in his parents’ home, on day 383 of the invasion. After recently moving to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, his parents were forced to hide in their basement for the first weeks of Russia’s occupation in March 2022, while Vladimir Putin’s forces rampaged above them. The pair eventually managed to flee westward. But the home they left behind would later be torn apart by shell fragments. “Those who had been here had turned everything upside down and smashed the surfaces of every electronic device they could find,” Mykhed writes. “As if they … were afraid to see their own bestial reflection.”

Putin never looks in the mirror - nothing to see.

What adds to the visceral nature of Mykhed’s book is its inclusion of countless more accounts from fellow Ukrainians. None are more powerful than the stories of Ukraine’s children, detailed in the longest chapter of the book, titled “Blue Van – White Van. Anya and the Children of War”. Parents write to him to tell him their children are throwing up 10 times a day with anxiety, that they have started playing “Find and Kill the Russians” to pass the time or that they build bomb shelters for the ants in the garden because the insects, unlike the family, have nowhere to run.

Why planes from Lithuania mysteriously landed in Iran

The planes were meant to go to Sri Lanka and the Philippines but never made it.

metro.co.uk

LGBTQ+ people in homophobic countries refuse to back down

'The fight for LGBTQ+ rights continues,' she activist says, 'and there is hope for a more inclusive future.'

metro.co.uk

The surprising truth behind gay love in the animal kingdom

They're not hard to find.

metro.co.uk

Michael Jackson's chimpanzee Bubbles 'living good life' 15 years after his death

Michael Jackson, aka the King of Pop, died 15 years ago today and left behind his beloved pet Bubbles

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[Mock Turtle]

Teen Cannabis Use Dramatically Raises Risk of Psychotic Disorders

Using cannabis raises the risk of teenagers developing a psychotic disorder by a staggering 11 times compared to teens who didn't report using the drug, a Canadian study has found.

www.sciencealert.com

Using cannabis raises the risk of teenagers developing a psychotic disorder by a staggering 11 times compared to teens who didn't report using the drug, a Canadian study has found. That's a much stronger association than what previous studies have reported. A 2016 analysis of data from 10 different studies found the heaviest cannabis users were about four times more likely than non-users to be diagnosed with schizophrenia or another psychotic condition. Part of the reason, aside from cannabis users' age, is that much of the data used in past analyses of adolescent cannabis use comes from before 2000, when cannabis was far less potent than it is today, the team behind the new analysis suggests.

Deadly 'Flesh-Eating Bacteria' Is Surging in Japan. Here's What You Should Know.

You may have heard reports in recent days of a "flesh-eating bacteria" spreading in Japan, referring to an illness that can occur with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS).

www.sciencealert.com

China Makes History with First-Ever Samples from the Moon’s Far Side

China’s Chang’e 6 mission has successfully returned samples from the moon’s far side, opening a new phase of the nation’s lunar space race with the U.S.

www.scientificamerican.com

Taking a closer look at AI’s supposed energy apocalypse

AI is just one small part of data centers’ soaring energy use.

arstechnica.com

New AI algorithm flags deepfakes with 98% accuracy — better than any other tool out there right now

Recent research into methods for spotting AI-generated video looks for specific markers not found in standard digital images.

www.livescience.com

With the release of artificial intelligence (AI) video generation products like Sora and Luma, we're on the verge of a flood of AI-generated video content, and policymakers, public figures and software engineers are already warning about a deluge of deepfakes. Now it seems that AI itself might be our best defense against AI fakery after an algorithm has identified telltale markers of AI videos with over 98% accuracy. The irony of AI protecting us against AI-generated content is hard to miss, but as project lead Matthew Stamm, associate professor of engineering at Drexel University, said in a statement: "It's more than a bit unnerving that [AI-generated video] could be released before there is a good system for detecting fakes created by bad actors."

Since when have humans always planned for the consequences of their actions?

Best microscopes for students 2024

Discover a microscopic world with one of the best microscopes for students and young scientists, without emptying your wallet.

www.livescience.com

Is It Possible to Change Your Sexual Fantasies?

Research suggests that it is very difficult to get rid of an unwanted fantasy. However, we can cultivate new sexual fantasies and interests by uncovering our core erotic themes.

www.psychologytoday.com

If you have fantasies you do not wish to have, you're not alone. However, attempts to get rid of or suppress these fantasies don't seem to work very well. But by discovering our core erotic themes, we have the opportunity to expand our menu and cultivate new interests where we can invest erotic attention.

Oh yeah, and the internet will probably provide more than enough to choose from.

Wikileaks: Document dumps that shook the world

Since 2006, Wikileaks has published thousands of classified documents and emails.

www.bbc.co.uk

North Korea’s hypersonic missile explodes midair in failed launch, says South Korea

Failure of latest show of force comes after North Korea struck a mutual defence treaty with Russia

www.independent.co.uk

If the Great Leader follows Putin, there will be someone or many getting the chop - so not safe to be a scientist/engineer in either countries under such leaderships. So why wouldn't any such defect to safer countries?

Daily multivitamins do not help people live longer, major study finds

Analysis of 400,000 healthy adults finds no health benefits from taking daily multivitamins

www.theguardian.com

Tour de France 2024: stage-by-stage guide to this year’s race

A Grand Départ in Florence and a finish in Nice rather than Paris will not please traditionalists, but there is plenty of familiar terrain in between

www.theguardian.com

Stage 19 will be interesting, going over the Col de la Bonette, and where it still had snow lying around when I did it. And a finish in Nice instead of Paris for the first time.

The Brains of Believers and Non-Believers Work Differently

Not believing in God is more than just a lack of belief; it's due to the activity of distinct higher cortical brain networks.

www.psychologytoday.com

What Nonbelievers Believe

The common views of ordinary Secular Americans are neither extreme nor dangerous.

www.psychologytoday.com

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owlcation.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

What is 'AI washing' and why is it a problem?

Tech firms commonly highlight their use of AI, but in some cases it may be exaggerated.

www.bbc.co.uk

Amazon received critical headlines this year when reports questioned the “Just Walk Out” technology installed at many of its physical grocery stores. The AI-powered system enables customers at its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go shops to simply pick their items, and then leave. Open to people who have registered via an app, the AI uses facial recognition technology, and lots of sensors and cameras, to work out what you have chosen. You then get automatically billed. However, back in April it was widely reported that rather than solely using AI, Just Walk Out needed around 1,000 workers in India to manually check almost three quarters of the transactions. Amazon was quick to claim that the reports were “erroneous”, and that staff in India were not reviewing video footage from all the shops. Instead it said that the Indian workers were simply reviewing the system. Amazon added that “this is no different than any other AI system that places a high value on accuracy, where human reviewers are common”. However, Amazon also confirmed that it would be reducing the number of stores that used the Just Walk Out system. Whatever the exact details of the Amazon case, it is a high-profile example of a new and growing question – whether companies are making over-inflated claims about their use of AI. It is a phenomenon that has been dubbed “AI washing” in reference to the environmental "green washing".

One in four healthy people over 60 in UK ‘have undiagnosed heart valve disease’

Researchers say in most cases condition is mild but it can increase risk of heart attacks and strokes

www.theguardian.com

The co-lead author Vassilios Vassiliou, a clinical professor of cardiac medicine at UEA’s Norwich medical school, said: “This study focused on understanding how widespread heart valve issues of any severity are among healthy, symptom-free adults without any known heart diseases. “We examined almost 4,500 individuals aged 60 and older from three regions in the UK: Norfolk, West Midlands and Aberdeen, using echocardiography, which is an ultrasound of the heart. “Our findings showed that more than 28% of these adults had some form of heart valve disease, although reassuringly it was only mild in the majority of the cases. “The data also indicated that age was the main factor associated with these heart valve problems, meaning that the older a person is, the higher their chance of having a significant valve issue.” The co-lead author Prof Michael Frenneaux, of the Royal Brompton hospital in London, said the hearts of those people with undetected disease were likely to be put under more pressure as a result. “Over time, it can increase the risk of having a heart attack, stroke and other heart conditions,” he added. Symptoms can include feeling breathless, chest pain, feeling weak or dizzy, swollen ankles and feet, feeling more tired than usual and chest or neck palpitations.

Hassan Nasrallah: the man who has led Hezbollah to the brink of war with Israel

Conventional wisdom suggested he would resist triggering full-scale war but the ground appears to be shifting

www.theguardian.com

Why am I suspicious of those who seem to rely on cultural things (or religious ones) - like beards and hats - to impress others, and especially the congregation?

Things are not going to get better as long as oligarchs rule the roost in our democracies | George Monbiot

If we want the kind of fair, functioning state Britain saw post-1945, we need to take on the economic powers that wrecked it, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

Oligarchs seek the destruction of oversight, which is why UK bodies such as the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive have been comprehensively gutted. The same desire was the driving force behind Brexit. They want the cessation of protest. They want a failing NHS, to justify privatisation. They want malleable politicians and a tame BBC. They get what they want, distorting every aspect of national life. They pour money into neoliberal and far-right political movements, which help capital to solve its perennial problem: democracy. The arc of history bends towards injustice. But every so often it is broken over the knee of catastrophe.

Russia accused of flashing violent Ukraine war images on children’s TV channels

Russian cyberattacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure are being investigated as possible war crimes by ICC

www.independent.co.uk

Forever Chemicals Seep Through Human Skin, Alarming Study Confirms

An inescapable form of human pollution is seeping into our bodies in ways we never fully realized.

www.sciencealert.com

An inescapable form of human pollution is seeping into our bodies in ways we never fully realized. University of Birmingham scientists have shown using models of human tissue that 'forever chemicals' like PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) are surprisingly capable of passing through our skin. When these stubbornly persistent materials were first created more than half a century ago, companies like DuPont – the maker of Teflon – were aware that some of these non-stick, waterproof substances were "highly toxic" when inhaled and "moderately toxic" when ingested. As far back as 1961, secretly held company documents show that Teflon's head toxicologist knew that some types of long-lasting PFAS should not make contact with the skin. Fast forward to 2024, and independent scientists are only now beginning to show that the skin is a significant source of exposure for some of the most widespread and well-studied PFAS chemicals out there.

Synthetic psychedelic found in candies linked to seizures, intubation

Cases grow to 39, including 23 hospitalizations, across 20 states.

arstechnica.com

Exam submissions by AI found to earn higher grades than real-life students

Experts say universities should focus on working out how to embrace the ‘new normal’ of AI in order to enhance education.

uk.news.yahoo.com

Scientists discovered the oldest termite mounds on Earth — and they're 34,000 years old

The world's oldest termite mounds have been collecting carbon from the atmosphere for thousands of years.

www.livescience.com

The Shocking Truth About Clickbait

You won’t believe what people fall prey to. A primer on the psychology of clickbait.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Who won the debate? Biden's incoherent performance worsens age fears

The president came into his debate with Donald Trump with a low bar to clear, and he struggled, writes Anthony Zurcher.

www.bbc.co.uk

Before Thursday evening, many Americans had expressed concerns about Joe Biden’s age and fitness for office. To say that this debate did not put those concerns to rest may be one of the greatest understatements of the year. The president came into the debate with a low bar to clear, and he stumbled. He was flat. He was rambling. He was unclear. Roughly midway through the debate, the Biden campaign told reporters that the president was battling a cold - an attempt to explain his raspy voice. That may be so, but it also sounded like an excuse. For 90 minutes, more often than not, Joe Biden was on the ropes. Particularly early in the evening, some of his answers were nonsensical. After losing his train of thought he ended one answer by saying, “We finally beat Medicare” – an odd reference to the government run healthcare programme for the elderly.

Only saw some of the clips regarding Biden but it would take a supreme optimist to propose Biden had the right image to woo voters, even up against an obvious vile liar and the worst US president in history.

'158 or 159 Presidential Historians' Voted Trump Worst President in US History?

U.S. President Joe Biden cited this survey during the June 27, 2024, presidential debate, urging viewers to "look it up."

www.snopes.com

Panicked Democrats call for Biden to step aside after ‘horrible’ debate against Trump

‘Need to have Harris take over. Cleanest option,’ one Democrat strategist told The Independent

www.independent.co.uk

Joe Biden’s horrific debate performance casts his entire candidacy into doubt

The president had one job and he utterly failed at it

www.economist.com

Virginia Woolf - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

US presidential debates: the 10 most memorable moments

Ahead of Biden and Trump’s first debate of the 2024 election cycle, here are some memorable moments from history

www.theguardian.com

‘You’re the sucker, you’re the loser’: 90 miserable minutes of Biden v Trump

In what felt like a Greek tragedy, Trump didn’t win the first presidential debate of 2024 – but Biden certainly lost it

www.theguardian.com

North Korea executed man for distributing K-pop, report from defectors shows

The 2024 report on North Korean human rights released by South Korea’s unification ministry details an ongoing crackdown on cultural imports

www.theguardian.com

Boris Johnson makes first election appearance as campaign enters final hours

With less than 48 hours before polls open in the UK, we've got the latest on the General Election 2024 campaign where Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are battling to be prime minister on July 4.

metro.co.uk

A Reform UK canvasser has been filmed describing Rishi Sunak, the first prime minister of colour, as a ‘f****** p***’. While out pounding the pavement for Nigel Farage in Clacton, Essex, Andrew Parker was caught using the racial slur, among other inflammatory remarks. In the undercover footage taken by Channel 4, Parker also said asylum seekers crossing the English Channel should be used as ‘target practice’. Farage has stressed that the ‘appalling sentiments expressed by some in these exchanges bear no relation to my own views’, with both volunteers dropped.

Oi, less of that, we don't want fewer Reform voters and more Tory ones!

Person dies in England after E.coli outbreak from supermarket sandwiches

A recent E.Coli outbreak has seen 275 confirmed cases and 86 people admitted to hospital. The outbreak is thought to be caused by some supermarket sandwiches containing salad leaves

www.mirror.co.uk

Former Met cop has three tragic theories about what happened to Jay Slater

Former Met Police officer Peter Kirkham has shared three theories for what could have happened to 19-year-old Jay Slater, from Lancashire, who vanished whilst on holiday

www.mirror.co.uk

A Signal of Future Alzheimer's May Be Hidden in The Way You Speak

We're still not sure exactly what causes Alzheimer's disease, but we know what its effects look like, and we're getting better at detecting the early signs of it – including, perhaps, those in our speech.

www.sciencealert.com

We're still not sure exactly what causes Alzheimer's disease, but we know what its effects look like, and we're getting better at detecting the early signs of it – including, perhaps, those in our speech. Scientists from Boston University have developed a new AI ( artificial intelligence) algorithm that analyzes the speech patterns of those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). It can predict a progression from MCI to Alzheimer's within six years with an accuracy of 78.5 percent. The study continues the team's previous research, where they trained a model – using voice recordings from over 1,000 individuals – to accurately detect cognitive impairment. Their new algorithm was trained on transcribed audio recordings of 166 individuals with MCI, aged 63–97. As the team already knew who had developed Alzheimer's, a machine learning approach could be used to find signs in their transcribed speech that linked the 90 people whose cognitive function would decline into Alzheimer's. Once trained, the algorithm could then be applied in reverse: to try and predict Alzheimer's risk from transcripts of speech samples it had never processed before. Other important factors, including age and self-reported sex, were added to produce a final predictive score.

 

[Mock Turtle]

J.K. Rowling Blasts “Gender Taliban” David Tennant After ‘Harry Potter’ Actor Said “Whinging” Trans Critics Are On “Wrong Side Of History”

JK Rowling has branded 'Harry Potter' actor David Tennant the "gender taliban" after he said transgender critics are on the "wrong side of history."

deadline.com

Much like many YECs are likely on the wrong side of history too, and as to all those who have issues with non-heterosexual or non-binary individuals - and these latter two again perhaps because of religious beliefs.

Voice of Baceprot: Indonesia’s hijab-wearing metalheads play Glastonbury

The band has been praised by international rock stars but their music has also struck some nerves.

www.bbc.co.uk

Not much one can say, apart from - I hope everything goes well for them, and they must know they are risking a lot by their actions.

Duo euthanasia: Why a happily married couple decided to die together

Jan and Els sought medical intervention to end their lives after 50 happy years of marriage.

www.bbc.co.uk

'158 or 159 Presidential Historians' Voted Trump Worst President in US History?

U.S. President Joe Biden cited this survey during the June 27, 2024, presidential debate, urging viewers to "look it up."

www.snopes.com

Revealed: how Sunak dropped smoking ban amid lobbying from tobacco firms

Investigation details industry campaign including legal threats and charm offensive aimed at Tory MPs

www.theguardian.com

It's risky, but Joe Biden needs to give way to someone who can beat Donald Trump | Jonathan Freedland

The president had one job: to prove he was strong enough to take on his predecessor. Now Democrats must act, for America’s sake – and the world’s, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland

www.theguardian.com

Seems the best route to me, given that Biden is hardly going to improve even if he gets to be president - which is far less likely now.

‘I’m like a fine wine connoisseur’: the vapers fuming at Australia’s tough new laws and lack of flavours

The so-called toughest vape laws in the world are unfair and might create a new black market, seasoned vapers say

www.theguardian.com

While many might see vaping as a grotesque threat to the health of young people, and will welcome the so-called toughest vape laws in the world, seasoned vapers beg to differ. Mark has been vaping for more than 15 years. He used the device to break a 15-year, two-pack-a-day addiction to cigarettes. He loves his vapes. Mark says the new laws, which kick in on 1 July, are infantilising, contradictory and a backwards step. “Vaping is one of my greatest passions, I’m like a fine wine connoisseur or chef. And these changes make me angry and disheartened.”

Really, and no addiction being involved?

Reform takes three point lead over Tories in shock poll

Reform has been dogged by allegations over racism, misogyny, homophobia and support for Hitler and Putin but a poll has put them three points ahead of the Tories

www.independent.co.uk

Farage asked why 'racists and extremists' drawn to Reform in Question Time clash

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was torn apart by a Question Time audience after campaigners for his party were recorded making racist comments, including about Rishi Sunak

www.mirror.co.uk

Why? Because in general the less educated and less intelligent do tend to be more drawn to the easier to understand right-wing nonsense than anything else.

Joe Biden was 'two men' during 'confusing' debate with Trump, expert claims

Joe Biden was 'two men' during his debate with Donald Trump, according to body language expert Judi James, who said the US president's transformation was 'shocking and confusing'

www.mirror.co.uk

According to Judi James, a body language expert who analysed Biden's conduct during the debate and subsequent address to his supporters, it was as if two different versions of the President were present. She spoke to the Mirror, saying: "There are currently two versions of Biden: The bumbling, faltering and often rambling man who needs to be led by the hand and the man who produced the very energized, fluent and passionate-sounding State of the Union address this year. It was the first Biden who turned up for most of the debate last night but the second Biden who made the relaxed and confident-looking post-debate speech to his faithful fans. This transformation of verbal and non-verbal states is both shocking and confusing."

And worrying.

The FDA Approved Menthol Vapes Despite Serious Risks. Here's Why.

On June 21, 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of the first electronic cigarette products in flavors other than tobacco in the US.

www.sciencealert.com

Parkinson's Link to Gut Bacteria Suggests Unexpected, Simple Treatment

Researchers have suspected for some time that the link between our gut and brain plays a role in the development of Parkinson's disease.

www.sciencealert.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Societies with Little Money Are among the Happiest on Earth

Wealth and well-being go together in many studies, but certain communities complicate this link

www.scientificamerican.com

You can’t buy happiness, as greeting cards and inspirational posters tell us, and the most important things in life are free. Yet the World Happiness Report, which is released every spring with widespread media coverage, consistently shows that the inhabitants of wealthy countries are at the top of its lists. What’s more, decades of psychological research have shown that individual wealth is strongly correlated with reported life satisfaction. And although it is often said that this effect is saturated at some level beyond which greater wealth has no effect, recent work in the U.S. has suggested that superwealthy people do actually tend to rate their life satisfaction higher than those who are just moderately wealthy.

Well this might not be so surprising, given that the most wealthy will likely be less rooted in reality and more biased as to what wealth brings - which is so often, the power over others and as to controlling much of their own lives and that of others - such that they can usually insulate themselves more than most others from the worries that are always around us if we care to look.

To me, this perennial question is both fascinating and important. As a scientist studying the interplay between human behavior and sustainability issues, I would like to know whether the pursuit of greater wealth is truly required for humans to thrive. After all, the push to ensure economic growth is deeply rooted in industrialized societies. Many people have come to accept serious environmental consequences, including climate change, rather than take actions that might threaten their economy. As a result, our industrial civilization now threatens the future of all complex life on Earth. Are we on this self-destructive path because human happiness depends on making ourselves richer?

I think the main issue for many of us is why so few just have to have such wealth when it could be divided more equitably.

The survey showed that, far from being miserable, the people in these small-scale communities report being just as satisfied as people in most countries of the world — despite having very little money. Although there was a lot of variation among interviewees, some communities reported very high levels of satisfaction (above 8 out of 10) that exceeded the national average in many wealthy countries. Our main finding indicates that despite having just a few dollars per day, many of these people are very happy, in their own estimation.

Different cultures, and as to having a place within such, which so often is not the case in our inflated, and often being anonymous, conglomerations which tends to be the norm when numbers increase from village to city and beyond.

Prior work has pointed, most importantly, to the role of social relationships. As deeply social animals, humans are tightly attuned to the security of their position within society, including the support they can count on from others. This primarily comes from the strength of interpersonal relationships and an assessment of one’s social standing. But social relations do not necessarily go together with wealth. What’s more, although the communities we studied have little money, they are not poor in the sense of lacking basic necessities, and many of the people in these societies spend their days in close contact with natural surroundings, something many studies suggest benefits well-being.

So what does this mean for those of us living in industrialized countries? For most of us, money is required to meet basic needs, which are undoubtedly an essential foundation for happiness. Many low-income countries suffer from widespread corruption and intense inequality, with large numbers of people living in low-quality urban settings where access to basic facilities such as clean water, sewage and lighting is scarce. In a monetized society, money is essential, and having more of it usually helps. But our findings underscore that fulfilling these basic needs—to the point where humans can lead a happy or satisfying existence—requires much less material wealth than industrialized societies are pursuing at present. And that’s good news for our planet. As an analysis published last year suggests, it is possible for all nations to meet their basic needs, including those related to education, health care and mobility, while achieving climate-stabilization goals.

My work with Reyes-García and our colleagues suggests that many countries and communities may be able to learn from the successful features of small-scale societies to improve aspects that are weak or missing. The Western focus on the individual, the moral acceptance of self-interested material accumulation and the increasing disconnection with other humans as people spend more time in the virtual world may all undermine happiness. It may be that at this point in history, the surest way to increase satisfaction with life in wealthy countries is to forget about economic growth and focus on growing a shared humanity. That shift might also be the key to securing the future of complex and beautiful life on Earth.

Which overall, should be a tendency towards left-wing politics rather than any alternatives.

NASA and SpaceX misjudged the risks from reentering space junk

“Safety tends to not be on the front burner until it really needs to be on the front burner.”

arstechnica.com

Earth is a big place, and nearly three-fourths of the planet is covered in water. It's rare for a reentering object to hit a structure or injure a person, and falling space debris has never killed anyone. According to the European Space Agency, the annual risk of an individual human being injured by space debris is less than 1 in 100 billion. But without mitigations, those odds will only go up as more satellites go into space.

Interpol Arrests Thousands in Crackdown on International Online Scams

Americans lost $10 billion to fraud in 2023, with $1.4 billion worth starting on social media, according to the FTC.

gizmodo.com

"But we are just so poor compared to the rich nations, so we are obliged to redress this imbalance!"

Revolution at Mach 10: NASA-Backed Hypersonic Jets Poised to Transform Space Travel

Wind Tunnel Study Reveals Hypersonic Jet Engine Flow Can Be Controlled Optically Researchers at the University of Virginia are exploring the potential of hypersonic jets for space travel, using innovations in engine control and sensing techniques. The work, supported by NASA, aims to enhance scramj

scitechdaily.com

They should follow the Russian's example, as to bragging about their technology but then prosecuting their scientists when it all goes tits-up.

'Night vision lenses' could give you power to see in the dark using simple eyeglasses

Super-slim night-vision tech could be within reach thanks to a new material breakthrough that can capture infrared and visible light at the same time.

www.livescience.com

One day we could have everyday eyewear with night vision, thanks to an ultra-thin material that can capture infrared and visible light at the same time. In a new study published May 23 in Advanced Materials, researchers in Australia have found that by using "metasurface-based up-conversion technology", you can create a night vision effect without the need for bulky light-processing and cryogenic cooling components.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Kids given 'digital pacifiers' to calm tantrums fail to learn how to regulate emotions, study finds

Tantrums are part of growing up. How these outbursts of anger or frustration are managed, however, can impact children's emotional development.

medicalxpress.com

Yazidi women fear return to a broken land of rubble and brutality

Yazidi women visiting the UK to sing tell of their concerns as the camps they live in face closure.

www.bbc.co.uk

I spent months interviewing people about their sex lives. This is what I learned

Flirting in China, sex work in Australia, dangerous liaisons in Nigeria – intimate relations vary wildly around the world, as I discovered while compiling a global special of the Guardian’s This is how we do it column

www.theguardian.com

In Australia, for example, there is a National Disability Insurance Scheme, which pays for sex workers to visit citizens with disabilities at home and have sex with them, at the taxpayer’s expense.

Other nations should try this - for the elderly and as to reducing the population! Possibly the best way to go - having a stroke or two.

Your sex life is defined, in a very real way, by your country’s legal system. This is painfully apparent to LGBTQ+ people living in the many countries worldwide where homosexuality is still an offence – 77, according to the UN. I spoke to a gay couple in Lagos, who have been evicted from their shared flat because their relationship was discovered. They now have nowhere safe to meet, so they rarely have sex.

There will always be laggards as to progress.

Julian Assange is free, but his case is a grim reminder of the fragility of press freedom | Kenan Malik

The unrelenting pursuit by America exposed how far officialdom will go to hide the truth

www.theguardian.com

Failed Tory project fear drove voters to Labour and Reform, poll reveals

New poll reveals Tory project fear failed but postal votes may give Sunak hope

www.independent.co.uk

Neuroscience Breakthrough: A Non-Invasive New Therapy for Addiction, Depression, and OCD

Researchers at EPFL have effectively tested a new method that allows for deep exploration of the human brain without the need for surgery, with potential applications in therapy. Neurological disorders like addiction, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) impact millions globally, pre

scitechdaily.com

Who Is Rational—and How Irrational Are We?

We are not perfectly rational. Recent research shows how much.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

England 2-1 Slovakia: Bellingham and Kane score as England reach Euro 2024 quarter-finals

Follow live text commentary, score updates and match stats from England vs Slovakia in the UEFA Euro 2024

www.bbc.co.uk

Not being much of a footie fan I wasn't watching all of the match, having the notion that when I watch they mostly seem to lose, but I watched almost until the end, giving up to switch over to some guaranteed pleasure by watching The Wizard of Oz (which was about to start), so I missed the recovery. Saw it the following morning on replay and just smiled. Very lucky in my view.

Gareth Southgate’s straitjacket suffocates England again – but one lesson emerges

The Three Lions boss got his selection wrong again at Euro 2024 but a dramatic finish stunned Slovakia to hand him one last chance

www.independent.co.uk

Police warning over 'eye-watering' rise in online sex offences

Police Scotland say reports of online child sexual abuse and exploitation have increased by 21% in a year.

www.bbc.co.uk

Alzheimer's Risk Is Strongly Shaped by Your Mother's Side, Study Finds

The genetic risk of developing Alzheimer's disease is more strongly influenced by the mother's side than the father's side, a recent study has discovered.

www.sciencealert.com

Not sure what it means for me, given that my mother had this and my father seemingly didn't and living four years longer than her.

This Mysterious Black Hole at The Dawn of Time Weighs a Billion Suns

A black hole discovered lurking in the Cosmic Dawn is just way too big to easily explain.

www.sciencealert.com

Vape Teardown: Scientists Reveal What's Actually Inside E-Cigarettes

While vapes or e-cigarettes first appeared around 20 years ago as an alternative to smoking, their prevalence and use have increasingly become problematic.

www.sciencealert.com

While vapes or e-cigarettes first appeared around 20 years ago as an alternative to smoking, their prevalence and use have increasingly become problematic. Governments and regulators are now catching up to what is widely seen as an addictive and unsafe product. Australia has just passed a world-first bill that will ban all vapes from general retail later this year.

Single-use e-waste results in a significant loss of valuable materials – notably aluminium and lithium. Worse, when a disposable vape is thrown in the bin, the energy-dense lithium batteries pose a fire danger for waste management workers. The materials in vapes also have toxic effects on the environment when released. Having potentially valuable metals mixed with other, low-value materials such as plastic makes vapes difficult to separate and recycle. Overall, single-use vapes are clearly wasteful of resources and dangerous in the environment.

Time Crystals Could Unlock a Radical New Future For Quantum Computers

The path to quantum supremacy is complicated by a fairy tale challenge – how do you carry a cloud without changing its shape? The potential solution sounds almost as fantastical as the problem.

www.sciencealert.com

How Delicate Comb Jellies Withstand Crushing Depths—But Melt Away on Land

Scientists finally know how a gelatinous deep-sea creature keeps its cells from paralysis under pressure

www.scientificamerican.com

Hardly surprising that something evolved to live in an environment consisting of high pressures would not appreciate the lack of such.

Ask Slashdot: What's the Best Way to Charge Your Smartphone Battery? - Slashdot

To stop their smartphone battery from swelling, long-time Slashdot reader shanen bought a Samsung Galaxy with a "restrictive charging option." But what setting should they use? The way this battery protection option worked was to stop charging the phone at 85%. That left me enough charge for...

slashdot.org

Groundbreaking Discovery: How Zinc Could Change Farming Forever

Researchers have found that zinc significantly influences the nitrogen fixation process in legumes, a discovery that could transform legume-based agriculture. Climate change, drought, increased temperature, and other stressors challenge agricultural sustainability. Researchers have now made an un

scitechdaily.com

Revolution at Mach 10: NASA-Backed Hypersonic Jets Poised to Transform Space Travel

Wind Tunnel Study Reveals Hypersonic Jet Engine Flow Can Be Controlled Optically Researchers at the University of Virginia are exploring the potential of hypersonic jets for space travel, using innovations in engine control and sensing techniques. The work, supported by NASA, aims to enhance scramj

scitechdaily.com

Classical Explanation Debunked – Scientists Discover Striking Similarities Between Baby Brains and AI

Modern brain data does not support the classic explanation for infant helplessness. A new study suggests that babies' brains are not as immature as previously believed; instead, they utilize their period of postnatal 'helplessness' to develop foundational models similar to those that drive generati

scitechdaily.com

“We propose that human infants similarly use the ‘helpless’ period in infancy to pre-train, learning powerful foundation models, which go on to underpin cognition in later life with high performance and rapid generalization. This is very similar to the powerful machine learning models that have led to the big breakthroughs in generative AI in recent years, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini,” Prof. Cusack explained. The researchers say that future research on how babies learn could well inspire the next generation of AI models. “Although there have been big breakthroughs in AI, foundation models consume vast quantities of energy and require vastly more data than babies. Understanding how babies learn may inspire the next generation of AI models. The next steps in research would be to directly compare learning in brains and AI,” he concluded.

What Imageless Minds Tell Us About Consciousness

More signs that every human mind is absolutely unique.

www.psychologytoday.com

The Dark Side of Smartphones

Smartphones can provide teens, known for being anxious and insecure, a portal through which their vulnerabilities may grow into serious mental health issues.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Surprise Windows 10 update could save your PC from becoming obsolete next year

Windows 10 PCs are losing all support from next year but there could be a vital lifeline that will keep things safe and stop you from needing a new laptop.

www.express.co.uk

Supreme Court awards Trump some immunity from prosecution: Live updates

Twice-impeached convicted felon handed huge win by conservative-majority bench

www.independent.co.uk

The former president’s defense has already been shot down by the federal judge overseeing the election interference case brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith, as well as by a unanimous panel of appeals court judges, the latter writing that Trump’s attempts to stay in power after losing the vote to Joe Biden four years ago represented “an unprecedented assault on the structure of our government.”

It's almost as if the Republicans on SCOTUS are quite happy to witness and not do anything about insurrections - if such enables them to stay in power - and so much for democracy. Given that Trump did try to overturn the election result, constantly lied as to such being a 'stolen election', and by his actions and speech provoked the January 6th incident.

Wild bats found to possess high cognitive abilities previously considered exclusive to humans

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have tracked free-ranging Egyptian fruit bats from a colony based in the TAU's I. Meier Segals Garden for Zoological Research to answer a long-standing scientific question: Do animals have high and complex cognitive abilities, previously attributed only to...

phys.org

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have tracked free-ranging Egyptian fruit bats from a colony based in the TAU's I. Meier Segals Garden for Zoological Research to answer a long-standing scientific question: Do animals have high and complex cognitive abilities, previously attributed only to humans? In particular, the study focused on the traits of episodic memory, mental time travel, planning ahead, and delayed gratification, arriving at highly thought-provoking conclusions.

Prof. Yovel adds, "The cognitive gap between humans and animals is one of the most fascinating issues in science. Our study demonstrates that fruit bats are capable of quite a complex decision-making process involving the three questions indicative of cognitive abilities: Where? (each tree's location); When? (when the tree bears fruit); and What? (the nourishment it provides — sugar vs. proteins). "Once again, we find that the gap is not clean-cut, and that humans are not as unique as some might think. Apparently, humans and animals are all located on a spectrum, with almost any human ability found in animals as well."

Offspring of people who were obese as teens are likely to be obese as well, study finds

A team of pediatricians, epidemiologists and preventive medicine specialists affiliated with several institutions in Israel and Denmark has found that children born to parents who were obese when they were 17 are more likely to be obese at the same age.

medicalxpress.com

The research team found that 17-year-olds born to parents who were obese at 17 had a 77% chance of being obese when they were 17 — conversely, children born to parents who had a healthy weight at 17 had just a 15% chance of being obese at age 17. And if both parents had been severely underweight at 17, the odds of their offspring being obese at 17 was just 3.3%. The researchers also found that daughters were more likely to be obese under such circumstances in general than sons, and also in cases where only the mother had been obese as a teen. Offspring of either gender were found to be more likely to be obese at 17 if both parents had been obese at the same age. According to the researchers, the numbers support theories of a genetic element in development of obesity in teenagers.

Genetic element? More so than behavioural influences?

British female politicians targeted by fake pornography

Leading politicians victimised by online material including AI deepfakes, investigation finds

www.theguardian.com

The secret lives of porn addicts: ‘I am meticulous about covering my tracks’

As pornography use soars, some men feel their behaviour is moving from a compulsion to an addiction. They describe how this affects their health, happiness and relationships

www.theguardian.com

Was Donald Trump, as president, a king? The US supreme court thinks so | Moira Donegan

In ruling that Trump enjoys ‘absolute immunity’ for ‘official acts’ as president, the court has set a disturbing precedent

www.theguardian.com

Is the president a king? The US supreme court thinks so. On Monday, in its very last ruling of the term, the chief justice, John Roberts, writing for the court’s six conservatives, held in Trump v United States that Donald Trump has “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for all acts that can be interpreted as part of the official course of his “core” duties, and “presumptive” immunity for all other official acts. The move dramatically extends executive authority, insulates past and future presidents from prosecution for illegal or even treasonous actions they carry out while in office and renders the former president largely criminally immune for his role in the January 6 insurrection. The court said that Trump cannot be charged for some of his “official” actions in the lead-up to the insurrection, including his attempts to pressure Mike Pence and his efforts to weaponize the justice department to force some states to reverse their election results. Much of Jack Smith’s criminal case against Trump has thereby been voided.

What remains of the January 6 prosecution will now be remanded to a lower court, which will be tasked with determining which charges, if any, can proceed against Trump under the court’s new, unprecedented vision of executive immunity. That trial, if it ever happens, will not take place until long after this November’s elections, and will now likely not be able to address most of Trump’s efforts to assist in either the judicial or violent coup attempts. Richard Nixon’s status as a criminal and crook was once summarized by recounting his ominous declaration: “Well, when the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.” The court has now taken that vulgar absurdity and made it law.

‘They always got away with it’: new book reveals Kennedys’ shocking treatment of women

Maureen Callahan’s eye-opening exposé looks back at the Kennedy men and the women they ‘destroyed’, digging into a long and grisly history

www.theguardian.com

Sick details unearthed in Jeffrey Epstein transcripts released after 16 years

The 2006 grand jury investigation was the first of many by law enforcement over the past two decades into Epstein’s rape and sex trafficking of teenagers — and how his ties to the rich and the powerful seem to have allowed him to avoid prison or a serious jail term for over a decade

www.mirror.co.uk

The Biggest Problem in Mathematics Is Finally a Step Closer to Being Solved

Number theorists have been trying to prove a conjecture about the distribution of prime numbers for more than 160 years

www.scientificamerican.com

Breakthrough Study Links Gut Bacteria to Food Addiction and Obesity

New research reveals the communication mechanisms between your brain and gut. An international team of researchers has pinpointed certain gut bacteria linked to the development of food addiction in both mice and humans, which can contribute to obesity. Additionally, they have identified bacteria th

scitechdaily.com

Eyewitness Memory and Language: The Case of JFK

Eyewitness memory is visual, but the images involved must be conveyed verbally. This transition can result in significant errors in investigation and court.

www.psychologytoday.com

I think many might be more worried as to why his head went backwards at the final shot and being the one that killed him.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Video appears to show gang-rape of Afghan woman in a Taliban jail

Activist claims she was threatened with release of the footage in order to silence her, amid multiple reports of sexual violence inflicted upon imprisoned Afghan women

www.theguardian.com

The Guardian has seen video evidence of a female Afghan human rights activist being gang-raped and tortured in a Taliban jail by armed men. There have been mounting reports that sexual violence is being inflicted on women and girls being held in detention in Afghanistan, but this video is believed to be the first direct evidence of these crimes occurring. According to the activist, the mobile phone footage was later sent to her as a threat that it would be shared more widely if she continued to speak out against the Taliban regime. In the video recording viewed by the Guardian, the young woman is filmed being told to take off her clothes and is then raped multiple times by two men. The woman in the video – recorded on a phone by one of the armed men – tries to cover her face with her hands. One of the men pushes her hard when she hesitates as he gives her orders. At one point she is told, “You’ve been ****ed by Americans all these years and now it’s our turn.” The woman has said that she was arrested for taking part in a public protest against the Taliban and was raped while being held in detention in a Taliban prison. She has since fled Afghanistan. She said that after she spoke out against the Taliban in exile, she was sent the video and told that if she continued to criticise the regime the video would be sent to her family and released on social media. “If you continue saying anything bad against the Islamic Emirate, we will publish your video,” she said she was told.

Must be great for most Muslims to have such disgusting and delusional companions as to beliefs! Not that this is necessarily true but we do know what goes on in Afghanistan with regards females and their rights - which is rather minimal and so last several centuries, but the good book (the only book for many Muslims) shows the way of course. What a shame that so many are so willing to tarnish their supposed morality (and being so divine of course) by doing such things though. And so easy to dismiss any morality - other than what they see as such. Another country seemingly dedicated to slow progress (apart from the usual - this belief is the truth) -->

‘It’s irrelevant’: Iran’s record low election turnout shows little faith in process

Allowing a reformist candidate to run has not arrested a long-term decline in participation

www.theguardian.com

Argentina’s president butts heads with South American leftist leaders

Turning from his ferocious attacks on domestic opponents, Javier Milei aims his scorn at the heads of Brazil and Bolivia

www.theguardian.com

Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu to play Wimbledon mixed doubles

Murray and Raducanu will play together in what is the 37-year-old’s final appearance at SW19

www.independent.co.uk

Should be worth watching, but winners? No doubt she is due some luck, after her history of injuries, and being such a talented player.

Heartbreaking story behind 'ghost ship' that washed up on beach

A 'ghost ship' washed ashore the a Florida Panhandle beach after being abandoned at the start of Tropical Storm Alberto.

metro.co.uk

Too much money and not enough sense seems appropriate, given that some knowledge might have given him other options than what he seemed to see as the only ones available.

AI trains on kids’ photos even when parents use strict privacy settings

Even unlisted YouTube videos are used to train AI, watchdog warns.

arstechnica.com

Are Good Looks More Important Than a Great Personality?

The differences between sexy and beautiful, funny and smart.

www.psychologytoday.com

Perhaps personality for most is the issue unless a rather short-term and even temporary relationship is what is desired at the time.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Genes which affect start of puberty found by Cambridge scientists

Cambridge scientists identify six genes which they say "profoundly" affect the timing of puberty.

www.bbc.co.uk

Biden ‘seriously considering’ leaving election race

Allies of US president said to be concerned, as source reportedly acknowledges ‘devastating’ debate performance last week

www.telegraph.co.uk

Even many of those who would loath Trump to be president again (me obviously) probably might recognise that Biden is not presenting as being the better option, particularly since he is unlikely to improve over the next four or five years but will likely deteriorate and become even worse. The poll on the article showed 89% thought he should step down.

Met police to review investigation of deadly car crash at Wimbledon school

Families of two girls killed say there are unanswered questions about last year’s incident in south-west London

www.theguardian.com

Last week the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the driver would not face prosecution as she had suffered an epileptic seizure at the wheel and that there was nothing to suggest she could have predicted or prevented the tragedy having never previously been diagnosed with a medical condition. In a statement the driver, Claire Freemantle, expressed her “deepest sorrow” and said she had “no recollection of what took place”.

Quite reasonable that the parents might feel something is wrong, and even retribution is deserved, but if the medical evidence is correct then the driver could not have anticipated such an accident, and hence not being responsible - so why should she be prosecuted? Just blame this on God - as to claiming another pair of angels, unless epilepsy could be seen as some form of karma.

UK election opinion polls: Labour maintain significant lead over Tories as polling day arrives

Find out who’s up and who’s down in the latest polls – and how many seats each party is likely to win in the next general election

www.theguardian.com

Well I have voted this time - unlike so many times in the past and where the Tories had no chance of being evicted.

Who can we blame for Joe Biden's gamble? Angry Democrats are starting to point the finger | Emma Brockes

The president’s hubris in thinking he was capable of a second term could be catastrophic, says Guardian columnist Emma Brockes

www.theguardian.com

I never thought I’d argue for rearmament. But a looming Trump presidency changes everything | George Monbiot

A Putin-friendly president would pose a grave danger to Europe. Like it or not, this calls for greater defence, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

Lily Allen makes brutal Gareth Southgate joke ahead of England game

Pop singer and actor discussed England’s shaky performance with her co-host, Miquita Oliver

www.independent.co.uk

The Three Lions have come under heavy criticism for what many have branded a dismal showing in their matches to date. On Sunday (30 June), Jude Bellingham equalised in the 96th minute to save England from a “humiliating defeat”, with Harry Kane scoring the winning goal in extra time. This saw them advance to a quarter-final game with Switzerland, which will take place on Saturday 6 July. Allen recalled the last time she was interested in international football, when Southgate “lost it for us”. “That was the joke at the time: ‘What’s the quickest way out of the Euros? Via Southgate,’” she quipped. “Still as relevant as ever!” Defending Southgate, Oliver said she felt he had done a “beautiful job with these boys but they have not been winning”. “Yeah so therefore it’s not a beautiful job,” Allen retorted. “Isn’t that the point? You can’t positivity your way out of this one.”

Hardly a footie connoisseur but it seems to me that in the penalties as to the last occasion he got it wrong, where he should simply have gone with those most sensible and experienced and not under any particular pressure, even if at the time all were mostly as to such, but some seemingly were under much more pressure than others - and why they tried too hard to score.

Scientists stunned to find termite mounds have been lived in for 34,000 years

‘We knew they were old, but not that old’

www.independent.co.uk

Millions of OnlyFans paywalls make it hard to detect child sex abuse, cops say

Cops want more access to OnlyFans to detect more child sex abuse, report says.

arstechnica.com

OnlyFans told Reuters that "would-be creators must provide at least nine pieces of personally identifying information and documents, including bank details, a selfie while holding a government photo ID, and—in the United States—a Social Security number." "All this is verified by human judgment and age-estimation technology that analyzes the selfie," OnlyFans told Reuters. On OnlyFans' site, the platform further explained that "we continuously scan our platform to prevent the posting of CSAM. All our content moderators are trained to identify and swiftly report any suspected CSAM." However, Reuters found that none of these controls worked 100 percent of the time to stop bad actors from sharing CSAM. And the same seemingly holds true for some minors motivated to post their own explicit content. One girl told Reuters that she evaded age verification first by using an adult's driver's license to sign up, then by taking over an account of an adult user.

How liable should be those who accept and subsequently view images having the 'over-18' disclaimer on such sites (or any others) - when it is not obvious as to any being underage and where even a majority of professionals dealing with physical appearance assessment get this wrong most of the time - according to one report?

Spain introduces porn passport to stop kids from watching smut

Madrid unveils a digital wallet to help porn platforms verify users’ ages.

www.politico.eu

The dangers of sneezing—from ejected bowels to torn windpipes

The benefits of a good sneeze can sometimes come with a greater risk of injury.

arstechnica.com

6 animals where females reign supreme

From honeybees to elephants, here are six animals with female bosses.

www.livescience.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Hamas faces growing public dissent as Gaza war erodes support

Palestinians in Gaza are openly criticising the armed group both on the streets and online.

www.bbc.co.uk

The man in the video is beside himself, a mask of anguish radiating through his bloodied face. “I am an academic doctor,” he says, “I had a good life, but we have a filthy [Hamas] leadership. They got used to our bloodshed, may God curse them! They are scum!” The video - unthinkable before the Gaza war - was filmed outside a hospital, inundated with hundreds of Palestinian casualties after an Israeli operation to free hostages from central Gaza last month. Seconds before the video ends, he turns to the crowd. “I’m one of you,” he says, “but you are a cowardly people. We could have avoided this attack!” The video went viral. And it’s not the only one. Open criticism of Hamas has been growing in Gaza, both on the streets and online. Some have publicly criticised Hamas for hiding the hostages in apartments near a busy marketplace, or for firing rockets from civilian areas. Residents have told the BBC that swearing and cursing against the Hamas leadership is now common in the markets, and that some drivers of donkey carts have even nicknamed their animals after the Hamas leader in Gaza - Yahya Sinwar - urging the donkeys forward with shouts of "Yallah, Sinwar!" “People say things like, ‘Hamas has destroyed us’ or even call on God to take their lives,” one man said. “They ask what the 7 October attacks were for - some say they were a gift to Israel.”

So, not all singing from the same hymn-sheet, as to the demonic Israelis being entirely responsible for what has happened.

One senior Hamas government employee told the BBC that the Hamas attacks were “a crazy, uncalculated leap”. He asked that we concealed his identity. “I know from my work with the Hamas government that it prepared well for the attack militarily, but it neglected the home front,” he said. “They did not build any safe shelters for people, they did not reserve enough food, fuel and medical supplies. If my family and I survive this war, I will leave Gaza, the first chance I get.”

Which is what many of us have been pointing out.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Jeremy Corbyn re-elected in Islington North after expulsion from Labour

Former Labour leader continues to represent constituency he has held since 1983

www.theguardian.com

I wonder what he must be thinking - could have been me, or, well perhaps I did get some things wrong - and the silly voters were just not wise enough to vote for me. But at least we can get back to normal and not have politics dominating our TV and radio - just need the football to vanish too!

‘She is a fantasy of mine’: the disturbing plot to kill Holly Willoughby

Police acted quickly to arrest Gavin Plumb after a tipoff, but the case will have a lasting impact on the TV presenter

www.theguardian.com

Not that bright it seems, given he seemingly gave every indication of carrying out his 'pure fantasy', and hence where it was entirely justified to prosecute and convict him - before he did carry out such. He also had previous examples of this behaviour so could hardly maintain his 'pure fantasy' plea.

Essex police acted swiftly, arresting him the same day. This is likely in part because a search of the police national computer would have revealed Plumb’s previous convictions: attempted kidnap in 2006 and false imprisonment in 2008. In the first offence, he approached two female cabin crew members in separate incidents on the Stansted Express, a route he used as a railway station car park attendant. He handed the women threatening notes, warning them to exit the train if they did not want to be hurt. On both occasions he failed. He was sentenced to a suspended jail sentence and later admitted “stewardesses” were a “fantasy” of his at the time. In 2008, he forced two 16-year-old girls at knife-point into the stockroom of a branch of Woolworths, the now defunct department store chain. He tied one up at the wrists but the other fled, raising the alarm. He was charged with false imprisonment and spent 16 months of a 32-month sentence in prison.

Melodies in chart-topping music have become less complex, study finds

Scientists say changes since 1950 could partly be due to new genres such as stadium rock, disco and hip-hop

www.theguardian.com

Tory downfall: The 9 reasons it has all gone wrong for Rishi Sunak

A series of world events, poor decisions and fatal gaffes conspired to see Rishi Sunak lead the Tories to the worst electoral defeat in his party’s 346-year history

www.independent.co.uk

Miley Cyrus is a self-confessed narcissist – could you be one too?

In a world of selfies and social media, it can be tempting to armchair-diagnose everyone with narcissistic traits. Helen Coffey asks the experts what to look for, whether narcissism is always negative, and if it’s possible for people to change

www.independent.co.uk

Helen Villiers is a psychotherapist and, along with Katie McKenna, co-author of the recent bestseller You’re Not the Problem: The Impact of Narcissism and Emotional Abuse and How to Heal. She highlights five main traits she would expect to see in individuals with NPD. “They are: grandiosity, entitlement, exploitation, impaired or motivational empathy and impaired self-awareness.” The first is a feeling of specialness compared to everyone else; the second refers to feeling like you deserve to get anything you want; the third is about using people to get what you want; the fourth involves a lack of empathy or emotional manipulation, using someone else’s empathy against them; and the last is a tendency to blame external factors and other people for problems, never taking responsibility for your own failings. We all have these traits to some degree – and what’s interesting is that they aren’t all inherently unhealthy if kept in check. In fact, some narcissistic traits, in moderation, can be positive and even integral to living a rich, full life.

Dr Craig Malkin, a leading clinical psychologist, Harvard Medical School lecturer and the author of Rethinking Narcissism, draws a clear line between healthy and unhealthy narcissism. “When I looked at all the research, it became clear that the core of narcissism is something called self-enhancement. And self-enhancement is the drive to feel special, exceptional or unique. It’s not self-esteem. It’s not self-confidence. It’s a slightly overly positive view of self.” While this can obviously be unhealthy when taken to extremes, “the vast majority of happy, healthy people around the world self-enhance. They don’t view themselves as average,” says Malkin. “They see themselves as special, slightly above average – and that, in and of itself, is not a problem.” Furthermore, moderate self-enhancement is associated with positive outcomes. “When people moderately self-enhance, they’re able to give and receive in relationships,” he adds. “They persist in the face of failure, and might even live longer, according to some research studies on health outcomes correlated with self-enhancement.”

Jacob Rees Mogg snoozes and loses as the 'big beast' is forced to take a nap

His Wikipedia page already reads 'former Tory MP'.

metro.co.uk

"But, but, but, park benches are just so uncomfortable!"

Tool preventing AI mimicry cracked; artists wonder what’s next

Artists must wait weeks for Glaze defense against AI scraping amid TOS updates.

arstechnica.com

Rare, mystery blasts from sun can devastate the ozone layer and spike radiation levels on Earth

The vibrant auroras from earlier this year have a darker side that scientists are still uncovering.

www.livescience.com

Do women have a higher pain tolerance than men?

Does a person's sex dictate how they respond to pain? To a certain degree, yes, but there's a lot scientists don't know.

www.livescience.com

Several studies have reported that women have higher pain sensitivity and a lower pain threshold than men. For instance, a 2012 study that examined how men and women respond to physical pressure found that women are more sensitive to mechanical pain than men are. In another study, men and women were asked to indicate when they felt a heat stimulus and judge its intensity. It suggested women have lower pain thresholds to heat than men. "It is well known that females are more sensitive to pain than males," said Jeffrey Mogil, a professor of behavioral neuroscience at McGill University who studies sex differences in pain. "This has been shown in humans in hundreds of studies; not all of them are statistically significant, but essentially all of them go in the same direction," Mogil told Live Science. However, some studies actually show the opposite.

Perhaps it should be us males giving birth, but some redesigning of the body necessary.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Smoking is a key lifestyle factor linked to cognitive decline among older adults

Smoking may be among the most important lifestyle factors affecting how quickly our cognitive skills decline as we age, suggests a new study led by UCL researchers.

medicalxpress.com

Starting smoking (or vaping) is the first sign to look out for.

Research finds humpbacks were happier during pandemic pause

University of Queensland-led research has found migrating humpback whales off Australia's east coast became less stressed over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research paper is published in Marine Environmental Research.

phys.org

I'm sure much other wildlife was quite happy too to see fewer humans in their environment.

Blue and great tits deploy surprisingly powerful memories to find food

Blue and great tits recall what they have eaten in the past, where they found the food and when they found it, a new study shows. In the first experiment of its kind to involve wild animals, blue and great tits demonstrated 'episodic-like' memory to cope with changes in food availability when...

www.sciencedaily.com

Summary: Blue and great tits recall what they have eaten in the past, where they found the food and when they found it, a new study shows. In the first experiment of its kind to involve wild animals, blue and great tits demonstrated 'episodic-like' memory to cope with changes in food availability when foraging. The same study may suggest that humans leaving out seeds and nuts for garden birds could be contributing to the evolution of these memory traits.

Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian wins Iran presidential election

Victory reflects deep dissatisfaction with direction of country and could bring greater cooperation with west

www.theguardian.com

A small piece of good news to come out of Iran at last - but where such will produce much wailing and gnashing of teeth for many no doubt.

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Future rock-climbing star?

Biden says only ‘the Lord almighty’ could make him drop out in pivotal TV interview

In appearance aimed at quelling nascent rebellion among Democrats, Biden made no big gaffes, but reviews are mixed

www.theguardian.com

Didn't you know - the Lord almighty is on Trump's side.

The left revolt against Labour is significant – and the party ignores that at its peril | Owen Jones

Labour will rue the seats lost to independents and Greens, and the failure to respond to anger over its stance on Gaza, writes Guardian columnist Owen Jones

www.theguardian.com

Very funny. You should have pointed out the reverse of this when Corbyn came to power, and where he had a jolly time purging the opposition of those not so Left and that so offended him and his chums. But then where did this approach get him - back to obscurity - because he just got it wrong.

Ex-police watchdog chief accused of raping girl, 14, in store cupboard, court told

Former Independent Office for Police Conduct chief Michael Lockwood, 65, denies abusing two girls in the 1980s

www.independent.co.uk

Hey, man! Police have rights - to abuse!

Mysterious Symbols on 4,000-Year-Old Rock Art Hint at an Unknown Culture

Hidden deep in the highlands of southern Venezuela, archaeologists have uncovered one of humanity's best-kept secrets.

www.sciencealert.com

Attractiveness May Influence Teens' Tendency For Risky Behaviors

The 'cool kids' have always been portrayed as a fun-loving, risk-taking bunch, and a new study suggests this may have some basis in fact – for adolescents back in the 90s, at least.

www.sciencealert.com

The 'cool kids' have always been portrayed as a fun-loving, risk-taking bunch, and a new study suggests this may have some basis in fact – for adolescents back in the 90s, at least. Economist Colin Peter Green from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, with University of Sheffield health economist Luke B. Wilson and microeconomist Anwen Zhang from the University of Glasgow, investigated how beauty affects young people's engagement in risky behaviors, that can have consequences later in life. The research suggests physically 'attractive' teens tend to party and drink alcohol more than their 'average' or 'less attractive' looking peers, an effect that is particularly pronounced among young women. "Our main finding is that young people who are perceived to have the most pleasing appearance generally drink more and more often engage in binge drinking, which involves several consecutive days of drinking," Green says. Good looking teens were almost 15 percent "more likely to engage in underage drinking than their unattractive or very unattractive peers", the researchers report. And yet, the economists also found that the teens who were rated 'most attractive' were also less likely to smoke, use drugs, or have unprotected sex, compared with others in the study.

I wouldn't know, not having the confidence ever to approach any such 'cool kids' in my youth - but I probably saved one very attractive female from being raped (at a party) but who didn't even acknowledge this.

According to the authors, this suggests that the effects of adolescent attractiveness on risky behaviors persist into early adulthood, potentially impacting skill development and job prospects. "A young person may appear beautiful and successful, but they may also be carrying emotional baggage that can undermine their self-confidence, such as an unstable home life and mental health issues. This can be a dangerous combination," Green says. "The research shows that the risks they take and how they fare later on in life are linked to their inner confidence and self-respect."

Scientists Deliberately Gave People COVID. Not Everyone Got Sick

When scientists exposed people to the virus that causes COVID, only a subset got sick. Studying them could offer clues to immunity

www.scientificamerican.com

Perhaps me, since I don't appear to have caught such, although not so much in contact with others anyway.

Not Everyone Has an Inner Voice Streaming through Their Head

The extent to which people experience “inner speech” varies greatly, and the differences matter for performing certain cognitive tasks

www.scientificamerican.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

Scammed by the fake Chinese police

Con men threaten to extradite their victims to China if they don’t pay “bail”.

www.bbc.co.uk

Chinese people around the world are being targeted by an elaborate scam in which criminals pretend to be Chinese police. A British-Chinese woman has told the BBC that she handed over her life savings to con men who wore uniforms in video calls and gave her a virtual tour of what appeared to be a police station. Helen Young still has nightmares about the fortnight that she was made to believe she was on China’s most wanted list. Scammers posing as Chinese police manipulated the London-based accountant into believing she was under investigation for a massive fraud back in her homeland. Helen was presented with a mountain of fabricated evidence which appeared to implicate her in a crime she knew nothing about. When the fake police then threatened her with extradition to a jail cell in China, Helen sent them her £29,000 life savings as “bail money”, in a desperate attempt to stay in Britain.

Best not to have much money to be scammed out of, it seems, given this is probably going to get worse.

Judy Murray's two-word response to Emma Raducanu's costly Wimbledon withdrawal

Emma Raducanu had been due to partner with Andy Murray in the mixed doubles at his final Wimbledon - but just hours before playing she has pulled out with a stiff wrist, meaning Thursday night was the end for the Scot at SW19

www.mirror.co.uk

Yer what! Emma's priority is her singles career, and if she has to make such a decision so be it, regardless of when the decision was made - and even if Murray's mummy is a sourpuss.

‘The disruption is already happening!’ Is AI about to ruin your favourite TV show?

It won’t be long till everything from Drag Race to Keeping Up With the Kardashians could be written without humans – and you might be able to write yourself as the hero of a new show. But will robot TV ever be up to snuff?

www.theguardian.com

Totally wired: Why are so many young people addicted to video games?

Locked in their bedrooms, playing video games into the small hours, children as young as 10 years old are now addicted to their consoles. Tim Lewis hears how the compulsive games can be impossible to resist – and meets the experts tackling the issue

www.theguardian.com

Locked in their bedrooms, playing video games into the small hours, children as young as 10 years old are now addicted to their consoles. Tim Lewis hears how the compulsive games can be impossible to resist – and meets the experts tackling the issue.

I was probably too old when these time-wasting distractions became the norm (one might guess I'm not a fan), and any games on an Amstrad 6128 were fortunately rather primitive. So many things these days are created seemingly so as to always produce more profit to the providers regardless of the impact on us as humans, and especially those least likely to be able to resist all the attractions that are thrown at us - that is, children (anyone mention vaping?). But it is sad reading the stories of those who become addicted to such things, just as it is for most addictions.

Biden, Putin, Xi, Modi: what is it that keeps old ideas, as well as old people, in power? | Kenan Malik

We live in societies that celebrate youth and youth culture, yet are governed by our elders

www.theguardian.com

Well you won't find me advocating for oldies to remain in power unless it can be shown that they are still competent and bring much experience along with them, which those younger might not have. But then perhaps I still have reasonable cognitive abilities so as to think so - and my scores on quizzes tends to back this up - over younger players.

States when they are in difficulties or in fear yearn for the rule of the elder men,” wrote Plutarch, the first-century Greek historian and philosopher, as he pondered “whether an old man should engage in politics”. Only the old, he believed, possessed the wisdom granted by age, and the composure that came with experience. “The state which always discards the old men,” he argued, “must necessarily be filled up with young men who are thirsty for reputation and power, but do not possess a statesmanlike mind.”

But no doubt Plutarch had a point about younger men (or women?).

Masoud Pezeshkian: the former heart surgeon who became president of Iran

The reformist’s life has been shaped by conscription duty in a deprived city and great personal tragedy

www.theguardian.com

Seems like good news (especially for females in Iran) but we will have to wait and see.

Cara Delevingne: Older generations thought they’d ‘done wrong’ if they had gay child

‘Phobia takes a long time to understand,’ the model said

www.independent.co.uk

Well, homosexuality was illegal until 1967 in the UK and even then not fully legal, so perhaps understandable that it takes time for changes to occur. And especially as to what might have been official doctrine from any church at the time.

Man claims to have slowed ageing to the equivalent of a birthday every 19 months

Bryan Johnson spends an estimated $2m each year on new anti-aging technology

www.independent.co.uk

$2m per year? Well within the average pocket then. And I'm sure he is a particular favourite of those younger, so longing to join the oldies and as to creating the OLDIVERSE.

Putin warns 'complete end' to conflict can only happen if Ukraine does one thing

Vladimir Putin used the meeting with Hungary's Viktor Orban to fire shots at Volodymyr Zelensky, saying the Ukrainian president is dodging peace talks so he doesn't have to hold elections

www.mirror.co.uk

Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin says the gruelling war in Ukraine will come to a "complete end" when Kyiv retreats from regions the Kremlin has snatched for itself. On Friday, Putin claimed that Russia wants a "complete and final end" to the conflict as opposed to a temporary "truce or cease-fire". He then stipulated that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - all areas which are internationally recognised as Ukraine's sovereign soil. "Russia is committed to the complete and definitive resolution of the conflict. The conditions for this are outlined in my speech (to the Foreign Ministry) – the withdrawal of all troops from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions", he said at a Moscow press conference after meeting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

How about returning to a time when Russia was reliable as to its commitments? Given that few now might trust Russia ever again - unless bribed by Russia.

The Heartwarming Reason Why Your Cat Meows at You Like That

This is a story that goes back thousands of years.

www.sciencealert.com

MSN

www.msn.com

'We've always been omnivores': Why 'meatfluencers' are wrong about what our ancestors ate

Nutrition influencers claim we should eat meat-heavy diets like our ancestors did. But our ancestors didn't actually eat that way

www.livescience.com

Unpacking the Consciousness Suitcase

This blog unpacks the consciousness suitcase, dividing it up into creature consciousness, subjective consciousness, and self-consciousness, and providing over 30 definitions.

www.psychologytoday.com

How to Adopt a Can-Do Mindset

2. Understand that difficult moments can make you stronger.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[Mock Turtle]

No thanks for the memory, Microsoft, your new AI toy is a total Recall nightmare | John Naughton

The tech company’s new Windows machines can take constant screenshots of users’ every action – quelle surprise, it’s a privacy minefield

www.theguardian.com

Whoever makes these decisions in MS needs kicking out, given the troubles they seem to have over such bad decisions and trying to pressure people as to how to use their own PCs.

Jordan Peterson gets it wrong on China’s social credit system

An interview clip featuring Jordan Peterson linking Chinese digital IDs with social credit systems and 15-minute cities is misleading many online.

www.aap.com.au

What just happened in France's shock election?

Nobody expected the left to win, let alone for the far right to come in third place.

www.bbc.co.uk

Not exactly good news but far better than it might have been if the right-wing mob managed to get into power.

Temperatures 1.5C above pre-industrial era average for 12 months, data shows

Copernicus Climate Change Service says results a ‘large and continuing shift’ in the climate

www.theguardian.com

TV presenter Anne Diamond criticised over ‘unforgivable’ Emma Raducanu remark

TV presenter hit out at 21-year-old over what she perceived to be a ‘giant snub’ of Andy Murray

www.independent.co.uk

Diamond, who found fame on the Eighties chat show Good Morning Britain and is currently a presenter on GB News, was appearing on the channel when she criticised Raducanu. At one point she compared the player’s decision to Rishi Sunak’s heavily condemned decision to leave a D-Day event early in June. “Just speaking as a fan, I was really looking forward to it,” Diamond said. “I also see it as a giant snub from a young girl, who has got a future ahead of her, yes – but he is the king of Wimbledon.” Diamond added: “I’m not rooting for her anymore. I’m so sorry, I was yesterday – I was so keen and absolutely behind her, and now this. To me, this is like Rishi Sunak going back from the D-Day beaches early. I think it’s unforgivable.”

One can easily go off people. I think any other player in her position would have done the same - as to prioritising her singles career, given she had no great or any mixed doubles experience - and it was just unfortunate that this meant Murray not having this last fling. Just leave the girl alone!

Giant Cybersecurity Threat Discovered Lurking in Plain Sight

Our latest research has found that clickable links on websites can often be redirected to malicious destinations.

www.sciencealert.com

Stunning Infographics Reveal All The Amazing Planets You've Never Heard Of

Martin Vargic is a space enthusiast, author, and graphic artist from Slovakia.

www.sciencealert.com

Alaska’s top-heavy glaciers are approaching an irreversible tipping point

As the plateau of the icefield thins, ice and snow reserves at higher altitudes are lost.

arstechnica.com

Russian space chiefs finally admit US landed on Moon

The head of Roscosmos has admitted that the authenticity of the moon landing samples was confirmed by the Russian Academy of Scientists, reports say.

www.newsweek.com

Russia has finally admitted that American astronauts did, in fact, land on the moon. Head of Russian Space Corporation Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, accepted the truth of the U.S. putting a man on the moon in an address to the State Duma, Intellinews has reported. "As for whether the Americans were on the Moon or not, I have one fact to share," he was reported to have said. "I was personally interested in this matter. At one time, they provided us with a portion of the lunar soil that the astronauts brought back during their expedition." Previous polling revealed that just under half of Russians believe America's 1969 moon landing was a government hoax. However, Borisov said that tests performed on the samples by the Russian Academy of Scientists confirmed their authenticity.

Well, many Americans didn't believe it either, but perhaps the Russian suspicions were more about jealousy, given they have never managed it yet.

Scientists just grew the 1st-ever 'minibrains' from multiple people's cells

Hybrid brain organoids could be used to test how people respond differently to drugs before clinical trials begin, researchers say.

www.livescience.com

Researchers Have Discovered “Hidden” Sex Differences in the Brain’s Reward Circuits

Recent research highlights sex differences in brain pathways linked to reward behaviors, showing distinct molecular mechanisms in males and females that could influence the treatment of disorders like depression. This underscores the need for more gender-specific research, given the historical focus

scitechdaily.com

A recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience has identified sex-based differences in the molecular mechanisms influencing reward-related behaviors. Specifically, the research highlights both differences and similarities in how males and females enhance connections between the hippocampus and the nucleus accumbens, two brain areas critical for reward processing. Males and females both suffer from disorders involving these pathways, like depression and substance abuse. However, the presentation and prevalence of these conditions can differ between the sexes, and certain standard treatments are more effective on average in males or females. The new paper’s findings encourage further research to determine if the molecular differences the authors discovered may underpin differences in disease progression or medication response, which could eventually lead to more effective treatments for mental health disorders.