A Reading List of Aperiodic Frequency

07 Oct 2023

Number 263

Scientists Discover the Highest Energy Gamma-Rays Ever From a Pulsar

The researchers think that infrared light particles from the poles of the pulsar are boosted to gamma-ray energies by fast electrons.


Fluorescent Mammals Are Much More Common Than You’d Think

Recently, several mammals have been reported to “glow” under ultraviolet (UV) light, including our beloved platypus. But no one knew how common it was among mammals until now.


Getty Images Built a ‘Socially Responsible’ AI Tool That Rewards Artists

CEO Craig Peters sat down with us at Code to talk about how the company is dealing with AI and disinformation.


== in case anyone still has said console
Atari is releasing a new cartridge for its 46-year-old 2600 console

Save Mary was actually developed during the golden years, but never hit store shelves.


== don’t actually think this is a good thing, but…
Amazon’s first internet satellite launch was a success

ULA’s Atlas V rocket took Project Kuiper’s first two prototype satellites to low Earth orbit.


Hundreds of US Schools Hit By Potentially Organized Swatting Hoaxes, Report Says

Hoax callers behind school swattings use VPN and VoIP to hide from cops.


New study ties weight-loss drugs Wegovy, Ozempic to serious gastrointestinal conditions

Issues like pancreatitis, stomach paralysis higher among patients using GLP-1 inhibitor medications.


== yjc, sorry video
Robot suit moves from anime to reality

For $3.6 million (or 400 million yen), you could become the owner and pilot of a 4.5 metre, 3.2 tonne robot suit.


== yjc, I took typing in high school on old manual and early electric typewriters
Shift Happens is a beautifully designed history of how keyboards got this way

Marcin Wichary on his long quest to capture everything that shaped modern type.


Scientists have only just figured out how cats purr

The low-pitched sound of purring is unusual for an animal with short vocal folds, but cats have other structures in their larynx that enable their contented rumbling.


Underground thermal energy networks are becoming crucial to the US’s energy future

Their advantages extend beyond reducing carbon emissions.


3D Printer Uses Magnets To Break Speed Limits

Magneto X “levitates” the tool head on magnetic linear motors


USFWS Is Creating a Frozen Library of Biodiversity To Help Endangered Species

Biobanking enables researchers to preserve genetic diversity in wildlife by freezing and storing living cells.


Kidnapped By a Runaway Electric Car

A driver has told how he was “kidnapped” by his runaway electric car and forced to dodge red lights and roundabouts.


DIY Tinkerer Invents MacBook Tool That Breaks Apple’s Repair Locks

The Nerd.Tool.1 recalibrates replacement sensors, allowing repair techs to replace them without any fuss.


Warmest September on record as ‘gobsmacking’ data shocks scientists

The world’s September temperatures were the warmest on record, breaking the previous high by a huge margin, according to the EU climate service


== yjc
Bears, birds and kangaroos: Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards

The finalists in this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have been announced.


Ancient buildings included ash, beer and urine. Why do they stand the test of time?

Modern concrete has strength but not endurance. Scientists are learning what Maya and Rome got right


== ?$
Why are these orcas killing sharks and removing their livers?

When sevengill shark carcasses with pectoral tears and missing livers began washing up on the South African coast, questions abounded. Then a marine biologist found something: orca tooth impressions.


For Sustainable Batteries, Just Add a Pinch of Salt

Disordered rock salt could triple energy density for EV batteries.


James Webb Space Telescope’s First Spectrum of a TRAPPIST-1 Planet

These new observations offer insights into how its star can affect observations of exoplanets in the habitable zone of cool stars.


Soaring water temperatures, drought cited as 120 dead dolphins retrieved in Brazil’s Amazon

At least 70 of the carcasses surfaced when Lake Tefé’s temperature reached 39 C


US issues first ever fine for space junk to Dish Network

The US government has issued its first ever fine to a company for leaving space junk orbiting the Earth.


== saw it the other morning, and it was definitely bright, could still see it after I couldn;’t see any stars, just the moon
One of the brightest objects in the night sky is a human-made satellite

The BlueWalker 3 satellite has the largest commercial antenna array in low-Earth orbit, and it’s reflecting tons of sunlight.


Malaria vaccine big advance against major child killer

A cheap malaria vaccine that can be produced on a massive scale has been recommended for use by the World Health Organization (WHO).


‘Cancer Moonshot’ Projects Funded Include Implant to Sense and Treat Cancer, Tumor-Targetting Bacteria

Researchers from several U.S. institutions are collaborating “to develop and test an implantable device able to sense signs of the kind of inflammation associated with cancer, and deliver therapy when needed.”


== guess I have some research to do
Web Sites Can Now Choose to Opt Out of Google Bard and Future AI Models

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, recently launched a web crawler of its own, but included instructions on how to block it.


Researchers are still untangling the risks of catching COVID over and over

Long-term toll on individuals’ health remains somewhat uncertain, scientists warn.


== when I was a kid, ant farms were a thing
Keeping ants as pets: Enthusiasts in Edmonton say it’s becoming a thing

It can be a long-term commitment as some queens live for more than 30 years


Robot ‘Monster Wolves’ Try to Scare Off Japan’s Bears

Bear attacks in Japan have been rising at an alarming rate, so the city of Takikawa installed a robot wolf as a deterrent.


US Energy Department Funds ‘Energy Earthshots’ to Speed Clean-Energy Innovations

DOE’s Fourth Energy Earthshot Seeks to Cut the Cost of Enhanced Geothermal Systems by 90% by 2035, Delivering Clean, Affordable Power to Americans.


== an example project
ORNL to lead new center to create sustainable chemical industry processes

An EERC focused on developing chemical processes that use sustainable methods instead of burning fossil fuels to radically reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions to stem climate change and limit the crisis of a rapidly warming planet.


James Webb telescope makes discovery of planet-like objects in Orion

Jupiter-sized “planets’ free-floating in space, unconnected to any star, have been spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope.


== lengthy
Hitting the Books: We are the frogs in the boiling pot, it’s time we started governing like it.

To save the planet from climate change, we might have to kill off the internet as we know it.


Will EVs Send OPEC Into a Death Spiral?

The breathtaking pace of global electrification will hasten the decline of oil in car and bus transport


Mosquitoes Are a Growing Public Health Threat, Reversing Years of Progress

Climate change and the rapid evolution of the insect have helped drive up malaria deaths and brought dengue and other mosquito-borne viruses to places that never had to worry about them.

Now, the hermit in his lonely cave
Has himself to keep him company
But the lover whose bird has flown
He has heartaches, same as you and me