List of All Articles with Tag 'science'

A spate of recent orca attacks has fuelled concern among scientists in recent weeks for animal safety, and even led to speculation that the ocean mammal could be trying to rise up against humans. But are they? In a new trend – dubbed "orca wars" by some on social media – a population of orcas has recently been smashing into boats off the coast of Portugal and near the Strait of Gibraltar at a rate of nearly one per day. That's according to researcher Rui Alves, who collects data on the attacks. In June alone there have been 12 orca attacks on boats and 12 other encounters. In May, there were 21 attacks, says his website, orca.pt. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Of course, social media reacted just how you might expect: by picking a team. One person tweeted: “If you an orca whale reading this, i am on your side. I have always been on your side.” Researchers don’t know exactly why this is happening, but there are two main hypotheses. The first is that killer whales – highly intelligent and social creatures – have invented a new fad, something that younger members of orca pods have been known to do. The other, more concerning possibility, is that it is a response to trauma involving a boat, Dr Alfredo López Fernandez, of Grupo Trabajo Orca Atlántica (GTOA, or Atlantic Orca Working Group), told the Guardian. “[It could be a] response to an adverse situation; one or several individuals have had a bad experience and are trying to stop the boat so as not to repeat it. This behaviour coincides with the profile of adults,” he said. If it is the latter, there is even one key suspect in starting the trend: a white orca called Gladis Blanca (or White Gladis), who is thought to have had a bad collision with a vessel at some stage. Other adult orcas in the region also have injuries consistent with boat collisions or entanglement, López added. “All this has to make us reflect on the fact that human activities, even in an indirect way, are at the origin of this behaviour,” he said. In fact, the attacks are not such a new thing. Back in 2020, a group of orcas were seen pursuing sailboats in the region, in an act of aggression that was previously thought to be extremely rare. Since then, it has grown more and more common. The orcas have tended to ram into the hulls of boats, but they have also been seen scraping them with their teeth. The attacks sometimes snap the boats’ rudders, leaving sailors unable to navigate. In three cases, the animals damaged a boat so badly that it sank. However, for all the concern that the orcas might be getting, erm, orca-nised, scientists remain concerned that the attacks could come back to bite the ocean mammals eventually. The Iberian orca subpopulation is considered critically endangered, according to GTOA, with only 39 animals the last time a full census was carried out in 2011. López and his colleagues fear boaters may lash out, or that the orcas might hurt themselves in the process of ramming the vessels. Either way, it doesn’t look like the attacks will stop any time soon. So who knows: maybe the ocean world really is rising up… Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

It sounds like something straight out of a Christopher Nolan film, but scientists have suggested that there could actually be an 'anti-universe' where time runs backwards. And if you’re anything like us, your brain is probably starting to hurt already. It comes from experts studying symmetries, and the new research is all to do with the fundamentals of symmetry in nature – the most significant of which are charge, parity and time. Bear with us… According to LiveScience, a new paper recently accepted for publication in the journal Annals of Physics suggests that there is a combined symmetry to the entire universe. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter As the research attests, the early universe was so uniform that time looks symmetric going backwards and forwards. The paper argues that the way we understand the world and wider universe around us, moving forwards in time, must also be expanded to include a mirrored version which runs backwards in time. It could also provide a deeper understanding of dark matter, too. The theory suggests that it is an invisible particle which only interacts via gravity and provides a pairing to the electron-neutrino, muon-neutrino and tau-neutrino. The research suggests that the conditions in a mirrored universe where time runs backwards would be full of these paired neutrinos, which would account for dark matter. Of course, we’d never be able to experience time running backwards even if it did definitely exist, but it’s a pretty cool theory none-the-less. It comes after Elon Musk made headlines in the world of science and space travel, after giving his estimation for when humans will land on Mars for the first time. The first moon landing famously took place in 1969, but space enthusiasts have been debating when they think the first Mars landing will be – now, the SpaceX CEO thinks we’ll be up there by 2029. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

We use letters every day of our lives, but apparently, there's one lowercase letter that we do not recognise. Psychologists at Johns Hopkins University have discovered that most people aren't aware that there are two types of the lowercase letter g. One of them is the open tail 'g' which most of us would have written out by hand with its image comparable to "a loop with a fishhook hanging from it. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Then, there is the loop tail 'g' which appears in print form e.g. books and newspapers as well as in Serif fonts such as Times New Roman and Calibri - we've all seen this type of letter millions of times, but it seems remembering it is an entirely different challenge altogether. There were 38 volunteers in the study published by the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance and they were asked to list letters that they thought had two variations in print. In the first experiment, "most participants failed to recall the existence of looptail g" while only two people could write looptail g accurately. "They don't entirely know what this letter looks like, even though they can read it," co-author Gali Ellenblum said. Next participants were asked to look for examples of the looptail g in the text and were asked to reproduce this letter style after this and in the end, only one person could do this while half the group wrote an open tail g. Finally, those taking part in the study were asked to identify the letter g in a multiple-choice test with four options of the letter where seven out of 25 managed to do this correctly. So how can we know a letter but not recognised it? It could be to do with the fact we are not taught to write this kind of 'g," according to Michael McCloskey, senior author of the paper. "What we think may be happening here is that we learn the shapes of most letters in part because we have to write them in school. 'Looptail g' is something we're never taught to write, so we may not learn its shape as well," he said. "More generally, our findings raise questions about the conditions under which massive exposure does, and does not, yield detailed, accurate, accessible knowledge." In a play-along video on John Hopkin's YouTube channel, four different g's labelled from one to four appear on the screen where it asked viewers to guess which is the correct looptail 'g'. (*Spoiler ahead*) The correct answer is number 3. Meanwhile, this study has also led research to question the impact that writing less and using more devices has on our reading abilities. "What about children who are just learning to read? Do they have a little bit more trouble with this form of g because they haven't been forced to pay attention to it and write it?" McCloskey said. "That's something we don't really know. Our findings give us an intriguing way of looking at questions about the importance of writing for reading..." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Twitch streamers are leaving the platform in their droves in favour of rival website Kick which is offering far more lucrative financial opportunities to their competitors. Kick, which is owned by online gambler Tyler ‘Trainwreck’ Niknam, who previously made his name on Twitch, is very similar in style and content that you would find on other streaming sites with gaming being a major source of entertainment on the website. However, unlike Twitch, gambling and more adult-themed content are more widely accepted on Kick, which was only launched in January 2023. Last month, two big streaming stars Kai Cenat and iShowSpeed both announced that they would be leaving Twitch to join Rumble, another streaming platform that is popular with political commentators. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Now the exodus of streamers from Twitch has continued with reportedly more than one million people joining Kick after the New York Times reported that the website had signed Félix 'xQc' Lengyel, one of the world's most popular streamers, for a $100 million deal. However, xQc, has confirmed that he'll still use Twitch for his streams. In addition to xQc, Twitch's top female streamer Amouranth has also ditched Twitch for Kick in what is thought to be a non-exclusive deal with the site. In an announcement video where she is reading about xQc's deal with Kick, Amouranth says: "So, 100 million dollar deals have started… Can I get one of those?" Numerous other streamers, including Mizkif, have also spoken out against Twitch, claiming that the streaming site is 'done.' Interestingly, MrBeast, who is more of a YouTube content creator than a streamer has floated the idea of streaming on Kick in a form of protest against Twitch's new guidelines which are likely to put in place major restrictions on branded content come July 1st. In a now-deleted tweet, MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, wrote: "I’m not even a Twitch streamer and now I want to stream on a competitor just to spite them for you guys. If YouTube pulled this sh*t, I’d lose my mind." Other notable steamers who have left Twitch for Kick, include Adin Ross, Destiny, CorinnaKopf and GMHikaru. Speaking to Sportskeeda in May, Kick co-founder Ed Craven confirmed that the company plans to host in-person events in the future as well as gambling streams.

By now we've seen what AI is capable of especially when its dealing with beloved cultural figures but a new take on The Simpsons might have gone too far according to some fans. Previously, AI has shown us what the likes of The Simpsons and The Avengers would have looked like if they were sitcoms in the 1980s. Well, thanks to Midjourney and one Reddit user we now know what the various Simpsons characters could look like if they were real people living in 2023. Over on the Midjourney subreddit @Crows_HeadIC shared what happened when they asked the AI image generator to reimagine the Simpsons as modern-day characters. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The post has 20 different images and features all the main Simpsons family as well as other favourites such as Ned Flanders, Mr Burns, Patty and Selma, Apu, Smithers, Principal Skinner, Moe, Lenny and Carl. My take on the real life Simpsons by u/Crows_HeadIC in midjourney One of the biggest talking points on the thread was about the recreation of Marge who now has tattoos and a long blue hair, instead of a tall vertical bonnet. One person said: "Marge is the only one that doesn’t work. Everyone else is great." Another wrote: "I struggled a lot with Marge. But why not give her a modern edge." However, another person disagreed adding: "Marge is hot AF." Consensus was split on the other characters too with some loving the redesigns and others not being convinced. One user wrote: "Homer doesn't resemble anything like him except the baldness." Another said: "Flanders and Comic Book Guy are bang on." A third added: "Damn, Lenny Carl and Skinner got mad glow ups." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Research has been revealed that shows which day of the week heart attacks are most likely to take place. According to a new study, the most severe types of heart attacks are more common on Mondays than any other day. STEMI attacks are the most severe forms of attacks, which are caused by a blockage of the coronary artery and see an interruption to the blood supply. A total of 10,528 patients were analysed as part of new research, with the study focusing hospital cases in Ireland and Northern Ireland between 2013 and 2018. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The findings were presented at the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) conference in Manchester. The data shows that the risk of an STEMI-type heart attack were 13 per cent greater on a Monday compared to the average of other days. Cardiologist Jack Laffan from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust said at the conference: "We've found a strong statistical correlation between the start of the working week and the incidence of STEMI. This has been described before but remains a curiosity." Laffan also considers it likely that the natural cycle of weeks, months and seasons has on our health. He said: "Based on what we know from previous studies, it is reasonable to presume a circadian element". Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, added: "This study adds to evidence around the timing of particularly serious heart attacks, but we now need to unpick what it is about certain days of the week that makes them more likely. "Doing so could help doctors better understand this deadly condition so we can save more lives in future." It comes after a woman revealed how when she was a teenager she mistook a heart attack for butterflies, after dancing with a boy for the first time. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

This dairy lovers’ dream job requires tasting up to 24 cheeses and a dozen pizzas per week.

It’s not often that a single scientific discovery manages to change the way we think about the entire history of humanity. An ancient footprint has been newly uncovered, and it turns out that humans were walking around 30,000 years earlier than we previously thought. Two-legged homo sapiens were living in South Africa, it’s been proven, following the discovery of a 153,000 year old track. It was found in the Garden Route National Park near the coastal town of Knysna on the Cape South Coast. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The footmarks outdate the oldest previous discoveries, with the previous oldest found in nearby areas dated at 124,000 years old. The discoveries were made possible thanks to the optically-stimulated luminescence dating method, which analyses how long it’s been since a grain of sand has been exposed to sunlight. Researchers Charles Helm of Nelson Mandela University and the University of Leicester's Andrew Carr wrote in the Conversation: "In 2023, the situation is very different. It appears that people were not looking hard enough or were not looking in the right places. "Today, the African tally for dated hominin ichnosites (a term that includes both tracks and other traces) older than 50,000 years stands at 14. "Given that relatively few skeletal hominin remains have been found on the Cape coast, the traces left by our human ancestors as they moved about ancient landscapes are a useful way to complement and enhance our understanding of ancient hominins in Africa." The scientists involved believe that the area could be home to many illuminating discoveries given the makeup of the soil. They wrote: "We suspect that further hominin ichnosites are waiting to be discovered on the Cape South Coast and elsewhere on the coast. "The search also needs to be extended to older deposits in the region, ranging in age from 400,000 years to more than 2 million years. "A decade from now, we expect the list of ancient hominin ichnosites to be a lot longer than it is at present – and that scientists will be able to learn a great deal more about our ancient ancestors and the landscapes they occupied." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Brand new AI shoes have grabbed online attention as the stompers claim to enable wearers to be the "world's fastest shoe" that allows users to "walk at the speed of run." The "Moonwalkers" can accelerate the wearer's walking speed up to 11 km/h (seven miles per hour), a 250 per cent speed increase which means those who use them can walk up to 2.5 times faster. Shift Robotics, an American start-up is the company behind the motorised shoe, and while there are wheels on the design but you don't need to worry about maintaining your balance as they are not like rollerblades because they are not freewheeling and are secured with a magnetic buckle. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter While the AI's algorithm picks up on the user's walking behaviour in under 10 steps as it adapts your walking gait. In terms of battery life, the shoes can be charged anywhere, anytime, with any USB-C PD charger and can be fully charged within 1.5 hours for over 6 miles of range. Demonstration videos of the Moonwalkers in action quickly went viral on TikTok as people, with one clip receiving 25.6m views. @shiftrobotics What Are Moonwalkers??? ? ? Moonwalkers are the world’s fastest shoes that allow you to walk up to 7 mph, thats slightly double your average walking speed! ? ? Do you think this is the future of transportation? ?♂️ ? #transportation #transportationdesign #moonwalkers #eshoes #electricshoes #worldsfastestshoes #ShiftRobotics #newtech #newgadgets #electrictransport #electrictechnology The company’s founder and CEO, Xunjie Zhang came up with the Moonwalkers concept after he was almost hit by a car while commuting to work on a scooter. "Like the moving walkways you see in airports, with every step you're making, the conveyer belt moves underneath your feet," Zhang explained to Insider. "The faster you walk, the faster the shoes walk with you". Zhang, who has a Master's in mechatronics from Carnegie Mellon University, worked alongside a team of race car engineers, roboticists, and footwear designers who took five years to build the shoes. People from ages 15 to over 60 have tested the shoes out and Zhang told the publication they were able to walk in the shoes "pretty proficiently" within 10 to 15 minutes of getting them on. On the product's Kickstarter crowdfunding page, it reads: "...a lot of people don't rely on walking. This is surprising, considering it's much safer, more convenient, and better for the environment. Plus it requires no added skill like bikes or skateboards." "The problem is that it was just too slow and inefficient. So we made it our mission to enhance walking instead of replacing it." So far, $329,409 has been raised on the Kickstarter page since it launched in October last year. If you're interested in a pair of the Moonwalkers, they are only available in the US and a pair costs $1399 shift robotics according to Insider, the company has received over 2,000 orders for them as of May 2023. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Ever wondered how water first arrived on our planet? Well, it turns out the mystery could finally have been solved. Researchers have undertaken detailed analysis of asteroids and the findings could change the way the scientific community think about origins of water on our planet. Experts at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) have discovered salt crystals on samples recovered from space. As their findings state, these crystals could only have formed with the presence of water. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The research was undertaken on samples of the asteroid Itokawa in 2005 by the Japanese Hayabusa mission. It suggests that S-type asteroids could be home to more water than previously thought. The new findings led some scientists to claim that water is likely to have arrived on asteroids when our planet was first being formed. The senior’s author Tom Zega said: "The grains look exactly like what you would see if you took table salt at home and placed it under an electron microscope. "They're these nice, square crystals. It was funny, too, because we had many spirited group meeting conversations about them, because it was just so unreal. Zega added: "It has long been thought that ordinary chondrites are an unlikely source of water on Earth. Our discovery of sodium chloride tells us this asteroid population could harbour much more water than we thought." Itokawa is a S-type asteroid, and it’s thought that temperatures on their surfaces were too high for water to form. Shaofan Che, who is the lead study author, said: "In other words, the water here on Earth had to be delivered from the outer reaches of the solar nebula, where temperatures were much colder and allowed water to exist, most likely in the form of ice. "The most likely scenario is that comets or another type of asteroid known as C-type asteroids, which resided farther out in the solar nebula, migrated inward and delivered their watery cargo by impacting the young Earth." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Richard Branson’s space tourism venture Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. plans to fly its first commercial passenger space mission

AGL Energy Ltd. said it would massively expand its production of clean energy as it abandons coal-fired power