Number 316
Jets From Black Holes Cause Stars to Explode, Hubble Reveals
The jets of material that spew from black holes catalyze stellar eruptions, surprising astronomers and raising questions about the jets’ role in the universe.
Woman with superbug infection likens pain to campfire in leg.
Penguin chicks survive tearaway iceberg
Mothers of emperor penguin chicks leave them for weeks to hunt for food.
== a little something from me to you
Gradients & Back-propagation
A little bit on training a neural network in machine learning.
Basement-free buildings are better for the future climate
Politicians mull bans due to flooding, but costs and carbon emissions also a concern.
== couldn’t not send this one
This camel desperately needed a pair of shoes. A cobbler came to his rescue
Timujin, the 27-year-old Bactrian camel, needed shoes to ease pain from stretched tendons.
== for those of us living in BC
In an era of drought, can B.C. rely on Site C and other hydro projects?
Water supply is drying up but B.C. Hydro says it doesn’t yet see it as a long-term problem.
A Faster, Cheaper Way to Double Power Line Capacity
Modeling shows that reconductoring can quickly beef up grids.
Astronomers Discover Black Hole With Energy Jets Spanning 23 Million Light Years
“The Milky Way would be a little dot in these two giant eruptions.”
Ancient Martian Atmosphere May Be Sequestered In Clay
“Mars’ missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight.”
DoNotPay ‘robot lawyer’ fined $193K by the FTC for not being a lawyer
With Operation AI Comply, agency announces five law enforcement actions against operations that use AI hype or sell AI technology that can be used in deceptive and unfair ways.
== for the Canucks in the group
Trump’s tariff plan would shave almost a half-point off Canada’s economy, says U.S. forecast
Spoiler alert: It would hurt Americans too, say analysts from Washington think-tank.
Paleontologists unearth giant skull of Pachyrhinosaurus in northern Alberta
Paleontologists near Grande Prairie pull 272-kilogram skull from the ground.
== yjc
In Pictures: 10,000 miles across US as seen through train window
Towards the front of the train, her father, John, acted as a spotter, giving Edwards a brief warning of upcoming photo opportunities.
Google Earth will show historical imagery dating back to World War II
The company has also released new Street View photos from 80 countries.
Insured losses top $7B making this summer Canada’s most destructive season
Severe weather in 2023 caused more than $3.6B in insured damage across Canada.
Large wildfires can create decade-long heat island in the wild
Effect not as pronounced in mixed forests, where broadleaf trees helped heat dissipate, study shows.
Mexico’s datacentre industry is booming
Many fear the arrival of tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the state of Querétaro will place too much of a strain on scarce water and electricity resources
==??
== paywall
Plan to refreeze Arctic sea ice shows promise in first tests
Field trials indicate that pumping seawater onto the snow on top of Arctic sea ice can make the ice thicker, offering a possible way to preserve sea ice throughout the summer.
== yjc
45 Years Ago CompuServe Connected the World Before the World Wide Web
In the beginning, RadioShack stores were key in reaching early computer users.
X-Rays From a Nuclear Explosion Could Redirect an Asteroid
Understanding how different asteroid materials vaporize and deflect will be critical for preparing for a planetary defense mission, should the need arise.
== US specific
New Government website shows how much sea levels have risen
The site doesn’t mince words as to what’s causing these changes.
== yjc
Northern Ontario man solves local legend, finds long-lost vintage liquor at bottom of a lake
Bottle of liquor recovered from the bottom of Larder Lake will be auctioned off at local charity event.
Europe’s deadly floods are glimpse of future climate
The record rains fit into the broader pattern of how Europe’s climate is changing in a warming world.
== paywall?
The Quest To Build a Telescope On the Moon
If the FarView radio telescope is built, it would double as a demonstration of two unprecedented activities: mining and manufacturing in space.
Low-lying Pacific islands pin hopes on UN meeting as sea rise threatens survival
UN general assembly to hold special session this week as experts say rises already locked in by climate change mean disappearance of many atolls
Melting sea ice, disappearing high-fat food sources mean trouble for Hudson Bay polar bears
‘We’re seeing is a transformation of an Arctic ecosystem,’ says Polar Bear International research director.
== yjc
“Fall” Or “Autumn” – Which Is Correct? And Why?
The facts on Fall? We g-Autumn.
Your cells are dying. All the time.
Some go gently into the night. Others die less prettily in freak accidents or deadly invasions, or after a showy display.
== I wonder just how many uses of AI are in fact worthwhile. How much of that compute time and its related costs are purely wasteful.
Sending One Email With ChatGPT is the Equivalent of Consuming One Bottle of Water
Training GPT-3 took 700,000 liters of water.
California Bans All Plastic Bags
A new California law bans all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026.
Tugboat Powered By Ammonia Sails For the First Time
“For the past few years, the industry has recognized the potential of ammonia as a zero-carbon fuel, but actually building and sailing the first vessel is a true landmark event.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Anticipates Superintelligence In ‘a Few Thousand Days’
Anticipates superintelligence soon, defends AI in rare personal blog post.
== yjc, your opinion may differ
Amazon, Tesla, Meta considered harmful to democracy
Exploiting workers, undermining public services, exacerbating climate crisis, ITUC says
New ‘ghost shark’ discovered in New Zealand waters
Ghost sharks are closely related to sharks and rays. They do not have scales and their skeletons are made completely of cartilage.
‘World first’ ruby grown in jewellery setting in lab
he university believes this “in situ process” has not been successfully achieved before.
== yjc
Bird on a wire and other winning photos
The Bird Photographer of the Year award has been announced, with Canadian photographer Patricia Homonylo scooping the top prize for her thought-provoking image titled When Worlds Collide.
Earth May Have Breached Seven of Nine Planetary Boundaries, Health Check Shows
Ocean acidification close to critical threshold, say scientists, posing threat to marine ecosystems and global liveability.
How whirling disease in B.C. could threaten a lucrative fishery
Whirling disease has been found in B.C. These researchers are working to stop its spread.
Some startups are going ‘fair source’ to avoid the pitfalls of open source licensing
The fair source movement, dubbed a “closed source” alternative, has some big-name backers.
Artificial-intelligence models are typically used online, but a host of openly available tools is changing that. Here’s how to get started with local AIs.
== yjc, firefox user myself
Zen Browser: a New Firefox-based Alternative to Chromium Browsers
It’s time we got to try an open-source browser not based on Chrome. Zen Browser is the hero we didn’t know we needed.
== if we were younger, I’d be looking at solar panels, but…
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) has the potential to put on a stellar show
Insurance companies may be hesitant to cover solar due to lack of experience
A comet may become visible to the unaided eye in the coming weeks
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) has the potential to put on a stellar show.
Vaporizing Plastics Recycles Them Into Nothing But Gas, Researchers Find
Polypropylene and polyethylene can be broken down simultaneously.
FTC sues insulin middlemen, saying they pocket billions while patients face high costs
The FTC brought action against the top PBMs saying the companies created a “perverse drug rebate system” that artificially inflates the cost of insulin.
Could We Turn the Sun Into an Extremely Powerful Telescope?
Using a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, it might be possible to use the sun as a gigantic telescope to peer deep into space.
Forever chemicals are everywhere. These burnt wood chips could help change that
Used in many household products, some highly toxic PFAS take a thousand years to break down.
== yjc
Researcher Wins Award For Debunking Longer Life Expectancies in ‘Blue Zones’
His research finds that most of the claims about people living over 105 are wrong.
== yjc
Climate change is impacting weeds on the Prairies
Researchers say kochia, a potent weed, is expanding in warmer climate.
Cause I understand you've been running from the man
That goes by the name of the Sandman
He flies the sky like an eagle in the eye
Of a hurricane that's abandoned