Former NHL players Dustin Brown and Jamie Langenbrunner highlight the 2023 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame class

Ecuadorans have voted to stop an oil drilling project in an Amazon reserve, according to the results Monday of a referendum hailed as a...

By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives voted 393-27 on Tuesday to send its version of

MLB Rumors: Dusty Baker has some explaining to do about Chas McCormick. The Orioles rotation is about to get better. What's the latest on Stephen Strasburg?

Seann Altman is a well-known social media influencer, with more than 157,000 followers on Instagram and over 717,000 followers on TikTok

Rishi Sunak’s government urged the UK financial regulator to step up its review into how banks treat customers

In 2020, philosopher Toby Ord published The Precipice, a book on the risk of human extinction. The chances of "existential catastrophe" for humanity in the next century according to Ord? One in six. It was a shocking number that alarmed many. After years of being flooded with warnings over climate change, rogue AI, nuclear weapons and pandemics, it's hard to disagree that humans face worrying chances. In his book, Ord discusses a number of potential extinction events, some of which can be examined through history. His research involved looking at the number of space rocks that have hit the moon over its history to figure out the likelihood than an extinction-sized asteroid hitting Earth. This was, in fact, looked at in 2022 by French scientists Jean-Marc Salotti, he calculated the odds of an extinction-level hit in the next century to be roughly one in 300 million. By contrast, Ord estimated the risk to be one in a million, although he does point out a considerable degree of uncertainty. Probabilities can be hard to understand in this context. Traditional probability, for example, relies on observations and a collection of repeated events, but human extinction would be a one-off. But there is another way to think if, called Bayesianism, after the English statistician Thomas Bayes. It sees probabilities as a ranking system of sorts. Specific number predictions shouldn't be taken so literally, but rather compared to other probabilities to understand the likelihood of each outcome. Ord's book contains a table of potential causes of extinctions, accompanied by his personal estimates of their probability. From a Bayesian perspective, we can view these as relative ranks. Ord thinks extinction from an asteroid strike (one in a million) is much less likely than extinction from climate change (one in a thousand). However, even using Bayesianism traditionally requires the incorporation of observational evidence. So, what do we make of Ord's "one in six"? Well it's better to take it less literally but to think of it as a warning, to jump start action on issues such as climate change to hopefully reduce the risk of human extinction in the next century. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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.

Ukrainian and Russian electronic warfare units are trying to gain the upper hand on the battlefield.

Top prospect Gavin Williams struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings for his first victory in the majors, brothers Bo and Josh Naylor drove in two runs apiece and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Kansas City Royals 10-6 on Saturday

When University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill was tapped for the post just 18 months ago, she was heralded as the "clear consensus" to lead the Ivy League university.

Hill Harper, an actor known for his roles on “CSI: NY” and “The Good Doctor,” announced on Monday that he is running for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat and challenging U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin for the Democratic nomination. Harper is the sixth Democratic candidate to enter the race for retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow's seat. Stabenow announced in January that she would not be seeking a fifth term in 2024 in the battleground state. Born in Iowa, Harper owns a house in Detroit and bought a coffee shop, Roasting Plant Coffee, in the city in 2017. He attended Brown University and Harvard Law School before becoming an actor. He starred on the CBS show “CSI: NY” for nine seasons and currently appears on ABC's “The Good Doctor.” Harper was appointed to President Barack Obama's cancer panel in 2012 as a survivor of the disease himself. In an interview with The Associated Press before his announcement, Harper described himself as a small-business owner, a union member and an activist. He said that not being a “career politician” would serve as an advantage in Congress and that he plans to run a campaign “powered by the people, for the people.” “It’s not about party. It’s about people feeling represented,” Harper said. “And being an independent voice in the U.S. Senate is something I believe Michiganders want right now.” Harper faces a tough test in catching Slotkin in both fundraising and campaigning. Slotkin has raised $5.8 million in just over four months, according to her campaign, and $3.6 million of it remains unspent. She has been endorsed by fellow U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democrat who represents parts of suburban Detroit. Many top Democratic candidates who had been considering a run for the Senate opted against it before Slotkin's February announcement, seemingly clearing the field for the third-term representative who rose to prominence by consistently winning one of the nation's most competitive House seats. But the field of Democratic candidates has grown in recent months. State Board of Education member Pamela Pugh, former Detroit state Rep. Leslie Love, businessman Nasser Beydoun and attorney Zack Burns have all announced campaigns. Michigan remains a must-win state for Democrats if they hope to maintain control of the Senate, with tough races expected in Ohio, West Virginia, Montana, Nevada and Pennsylvania. In 2020, Republican John James, now a U.S. representative, narrowly lost to incumbent Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. While two GOP candidates have announced, including state Board of Education member Nikki Snyder, Republicans have yet to find a high-profile contender to vie for the seat. Several potential candidates, including former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, are considering bids. Republicans have taken just one of Michigan’s last 15 Senate races, winning an open seat in 1994. Also Monday, Former state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., a Democrat, will announce his bid for Slotkin’s seat in the 7th Congressional District, one of the nation’s most competitive House districts. Republican Sen. Tom Barrett launched his second run for the seat Sunday night. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide A Libyan court jails 38 human traffickers over the deaths of 11 Europe-bound migrants at sea Republican's hold on nominations leaves Marines without confirmed leader for 1st time in 100 years The Good Doctor and CSI star running for US senate

SAN FRANCISCO Tesla said the $7,500 federal tax credits for its Model 3 electric vehicles are likely to