Rivers Becoming ‘Reservoirs of Disease’

Scientists say “a reservoir of disease” is being created after discovering bacteria that naturally occur in rivers are becoming resistant to antibiotics due to the impact of sewage.

Pluto’s Not Coming Back, But Astronomers Want To Redefine Planets Again

Their new proposed definition wouldn’t bring Pluto back into the planetary fold, but it could reclassify thousands of celestial bodies across the universe.

A new spacesuit design can recycle astronauts’ urine into purified, drinkable water

The idea for the new stillsuit came from Frank Herbert’s Dune novels.

NASA releases new ‘Penguin and Egg’ image from James Webb Space Telescope

New image shows 2 interacting galaxies that lie 326 million light-years from Earth.

AT&T Says Criminals Stole Phone Records of ‘Nearly All’ Customers in New Data Breach

Stolen data includes millions of AT&T customer phone numbers, calling and text records, and location-related data

Model Rocket Nails Vertical Landing After Three-Year Effort

A high schooler successfully developed a model rocket with SpaceX-style vertical landing capabilities. The three-year effort was made possible by a thrust-vector control and clever landing gear design.

Joby Aviation says it completed a 523-mile test flight of a hydrogen-powered air taxi

A unique aircraft from Joby Aviation just took a long flight powered by hydrogen and emitting only water vapor.

Athletes find a fierce opponent in climate change

Extreme heat is a serious safety risk for athletes, from Olympians to amateur club sports"

Night Owls’ Cognitive Function ‘Superior’ To Early Risers, Study Suggests

Research on 26,000 people found those who stay up late scored better on intelligence, reasoning and memory tests.

Across the US, Heat Keeps Breaking Records

Palm Springs, Calif., is one of many U.S. cities seeing temperature records falling in recent days and weeks.

Melting sea ice was supposed to help Arctic shipping, but new research says otherwise

Shipping routes are becoming less accessible due to centuries-old, thick ice.

== yjc
6.4M quake that struck off B.C. is part of recent ‘swarm’

13 quakes greater than around 4.0M detected in July in same area off Vancouver Island, Earthquakes Canada says.

Inside the Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town

In January 2024, she walked into a town hall in Granbury and found a room full of people worn thin from strange, debilitating illnesses.

Whataburger App Becomes Unlikely Power Outage Map After Houston Hurricane

Amid frustrations with the local utility company CenterPoint Energy, which doesn’t offer an app, some Houstonians got creative with their attempts to track the power outages.

Researchers Discover a New Form of Scientific Fraud: Uncovering ‘Sneaked References’

This manipulation distorts citation metrics that are critical for research funding and academic promotions.

Report finds most subscription services manipulate customers with ‘dark patterns’

A second study looks into the sorry state of privacy policies.

== fup on earlier item below
‘A great day’: Young North Atlantic right whale freed from fishing gear by crews in St. Lawrence

Female calf seems to be in good shape after being freed, says rescuer.

== yjc, recently got sent link to this site
The Micropedia

Browse this site to learn about microaggressions and their impact.

Lithium-ion batteries have a forever chemical problem

Rechargeable batteries could lead to more forever chemicals in the environment, study finds.

Oregon County Seeks To Hold Fossil Fuel Companies Accountable For Extreme Heat

Multnomah County’s heat dome conditions killed 69 people in 2021.

US officials announce the takedown of an AI-powered Russian bot farm

An AI tool created a network of nearly 1,000 fake accounts on X, according to the Justice Department.

== yjc
Could maths help in taking the perfect penalty?

Now a graduate from Nottinghamshire has told the BBC he believes he holds the secret to shootout success.

Can we change how our brains age?

Scientists are asking whether new technology can also help slow down the ageing process of our brains by keeping track of what happens to them as we get older.

== yjc
He thought his garden gnomes were stolen.

A woman knocked on Kelly Blair’s door and handed him a note from the ‘Gnome Restoration Society’.

Crews face ‘complex case’ rescuing entangled North Atlantic right whale in St. Lawrence

‘The faster we can free this animal, the better are the chances,’ says expert.

Europe’s Ariane-6 rocket blasts off in maiden flight

The vehicle set off from a launchpad in French Guiana about 16:00 local time on a demonstration mission to put a clutch of satellites in orbit.

Chinese Self-Driving Cars Have Quietly Traveled 1.8 Million Miles On US Roads

Collecting detailed data with cameras and lasers.

This archaeological site could prove humans lived in northern Sask. earlier than we thought

Location near Prince Albert offers clues to when Indigenous people arrived nearly 10,000 years ago.

NATO Backs Effort To Save Internet by Rerouting To Space in Event of Subsea Attacks

Academics eye developing system to reroute data to satellites. Iceland, Sweden and Viasat among those that could benefit.

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.

10 Billion Passwords Leaked in the Largest Compilation of All Time

The largest password compilation with nearly ten billion unique passwords was leaked on a popular hacking forum. The Cybernews research team believes the leak poses severe dangers to users prone to reusing passwords.

Bird flu strain in U.S. cow outbreak not easily spread by air, ferret study shows

Study author calls evidence of some transmission ‘concerning’.

Smelly planet ‘reeks of rotten eggs’

Scientists studied the atmosphere of HD 189733 b, which has scorching temperatures and precipitation akin to raining glass, using data from the James Webb Space Telescope.

== paywall
What would happen if Russia detonated a nuclear bomb in space?

In February 2022, Russia launched a satellite known as Cosmos 2553, its purpose the subject of anxious speculation amid a period of intensifying global tension.

Real criminals, fake victims

How chatbots are being deployed in the global fight against phone scammers.

When their pay suddenly dropped, delivery drivers audited their employer

Prof Dali Kaafar, from Macquarie University’s Cyber Security Hub, has developed AI victim bots to deter phone scam callers.

== expect all these gig worker companies are abusing their workers
Shipt’s Pay Algorithm Squeezed Gig Workers. They Fought Back

When their pay suddenly dropped, delivery drivers audited their employer.

Microsoft: Web Content (Without a Robots.txt File) is ‘Freeware’ for AI Training

Microsoft’s CEO of AI said that content on the open web can be copied and used to create new content.

== yjc
Is it OK to choose ’no tip’ at the counter? Some customers think so.

Survey results show 77% of Canadian respondents dislike auto-tipping prompts on payment machines.

How Good Is ChatGPT at Coding, Really?

Study finds that while AI can be great, it also struggles due to training limitations.