List of All Articles with Tag 'tech'

Wild boar in southeastern Germany have long contained high levels of radioactive substances, which has been attributed to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. But as radioactivity levels have fallen in other animals, they have stayed much the same among boar. Now, scientists have worked out the secret behind the so-called “wild boar paradox”. Research shows there is another culprit for the high levels of radioactivity: nuclear weapons tests from the mid-20th century. And both the weapons and the nuclear reactor meltdown continue contaminating the boar because of their diet. While the muscular boar seem healthy, the dangerous levels of radioactive caesium, the main contaminator, have prompted people to stop hunting them. In turn, there is now an overpopulation issue. “Our work reveals deeper insights into the notorious radio-cesium contamination in Bavarian wild boars beyond the total radionuclide quantification only,” radioecologist Felix Stäger from Leibniz University Hannover wrote in a paper. After a nuclear incident, radioactive materials can pose a significant threat to ecosystems. This happened after the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986, where there was an increase in radioactive caesium contamination. The main component of this, caesium-137, has a half-life of about 30 years, meaning it loses its radioactivity fairly quickly. However, caesium-135, which is created via nuclear fission, is far more stable. It has a half-life of more than 2m years. The ratio of cesium-135 compared to cesium-137 can help us work out where the cesium came from. A high ratio indicates nuclear weapon explosions, while a low ratio points to nuclear reactors like Chernobyl. So the researchers analysed caesium levels from 48 wild boar meat samples from 11 regions of Bavaria. It turns out that nuclear weapons testing was responsible for between 12 per cent and 68 per cent of the unsafe contamination in the samples. “All samples exhibit signatures of mixing,” wrote the researchers. “Nuclear weapons fallout and [Chernobyl] have mixed in the Bavarian soil, the release maxima of which were about 20−30 years apart.” So while Chernobyl remains the main source of caesium in wild boar, about a quarter of the samples showed enough contributions from weapons fallout to exceed safety limits even before the reactor meltdown comes into account. And because wild boar eat so many truffles, it has been exacerbated. The fungus absorbs high levels of contamination from both sources. Wild boars' diets, which include underground truffles, have absorbed varying levels of contamination from both sources, which has contributed to the animals' persistent radioactivity. “This study illustrates that strategic decisions to conduct atmospheric nuclear tests 60−80 years ago still impact remote natural environments, wildlife, and a human food source today,” the authors concluded. The study was published in Environmental Science & Technology. 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.

(Corrects company name HashKey with capitalisation of letter K) By Summer Zhen HONG KONG (Reuters) -The first secondary crypto market

A caterer who pretended to be a plastic surgeon has been arrested after performing a fatal penis enlargement on a 'patient'. Torben K, a 46-year-old man from Solingen, Germany, administered silicone injections into the victim's penis and scrotum area. He reportedly refused to disclose the type of silicone oil. The 32-year-old patient died from sepsis seven months after the procedure in July 2019. An investigation found that Torben had no medical qualifications and previously carried out the same procedure on another man earlier in the year. Judges in Wuppertal District Court found Torben guilty of causing death by grievous bodily harm. The sister of the unnamed victim said her brother had doubts about the treatment but Torben convinced him to go ahead. He was said to experience breathing difficulties as soon as he returned home. The man reportedly visited several hospitals but later died of blood poisoning and liver and kidney failure. Speaking to local media, High State Prosecutor Wolf-Tilman Baumert said: "Unfortunately, the silicone oil ended up in the person's bloodstream. This led to severe health complications and, eventually, to his death." Torben claimed he had only done what the patient requested, to which Baumert responded: "The fact that the man asked for the treatment is irrelevant from our point of view. The defendant acted in a highly immoral manner." Torben was jailed for five years, though the verdict is not yet legally binding. Sign up for 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.

Social media platform X, formerly Twitter, plans to launch video and audio calls as owner Elon Musk races

Microsoft will allow business customers in Europe to buy its video and chat app Teams separately from its Office software, it said Thursday, a month after the European Union opened an antitrust investigation into the company's bundling of the products.

A dead “vampire” star is feeding on a nearby companion and expelling cannonballs and its behaviour has left astronomers stunned. The dead star is located around 4,500 light-years away and, until now, has baffled astronomers with its unusual behaviour. It is a rapidly spinning neutron star, otherwise known as a pulsar, that has been given the name PSR J1023+0038, shortened to J1023. It emits radiation from both its poles that occasionally reach Earth and also appears to have two different “settings” of brightness. Initially, the behaviour of J1023 confused experts, but now they believe that the stark difference in brightness levels has to do with the star launching out matter over short spaces of time. Maria Cristina Baglio, leader of the research team and scientist at New York University, Abu Dhabi, said in a statement: “We have witnessed extraordinary cosmic events where enormous amounts of matter, similar to cosmic cannonballs, are launched into space within a very brief time span of tens of seconds from a small, dense celestial object rotating at incredibly high speeds.” In addition to the pulsar emitting matter, over the last 10 years, scientists have witnessed the star pulling material from its companion star. The material it is stealing forms a structure called an accretion disk that forms around the star itself. Since it began feeding, the star has been alternating between between “low” and “high” power modes. During moments of high power, the star shines brightly with a variation of X-rays, ultraviolet and visible light. During low power, it emits radio waves and appears much dimmer. In June 2021, experts witnessed a star shooting out hot, luminous matter that has been compared to a cosmic cannonball as the star continually switched modes. J1023 has fascinated experts, who have been able to explain the way the star behaves by observing it. Despite solving many of its mysteries, the scientists aren’t done with it yet. With the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in northern Chile currently under construction, it is hoped that when it is ready, scientists will once more be able to observe the pulsar. Sergio Campana, research co-author and Research Director at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics Brera Observatory, said: “The ELT will allow us to gain key insights into how the abundance, distribution, dynamics and energetics of the inflowing matter around the pulsar are affected by the mode switching behavior.” 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.

Chinese tech firms Baidu and SenseTime launched their ChatGPT-style AI bots to the public on Thursday, marking a new milestone in the global AI race.

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla is reportedly under a federal investigation over a mysterious project that might involve the construction of a “glass house” for its chief Elon Musk. Federal authorities are probing whether the EV company’s funds were being used for Mr Musk’s own personal use, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The US attorney’s office in New York has sent subpoenas to current and former employees at Tesla, asking information about the company’s purchase of hard-to-get construction materials, and investigating whether the project involved appropriate use of the EV-maker’s funds, according to Bloomberg. The strange project appears to be for a “dramatic glass-walled building” close to Tesla’s Texas headquarters, the Journal noted. Prosecutors are also reportedly reviewing Tesla’s 2022 purchase order for a construction material – “a special kind of glass”. But a mere investigation by federal agencies does not mean there is likely any criminal or civil proceedings ahead, as officials sometimes start inquiries that can lead to dead-ends. It also remains unclear if the project is still under work, or if any construction material was ever delivered. Tesla has not immediately responded to The Independent’s request for comments. Mr Musk has previously expressed interest in building a “utopia” in Texas, constructing a whole new town from scratch on thousands of acres of farmland Tesla bought outside the state capital Austin. In March, the Tesla titan attended meetings with land owners and real estate agents, where he and his staff outlined his ideas for the project, The Independent reported. Mr Musk reportedly wants his staff around Austin – including employees at SpaceX, Tesla and the Boring Company – to be able to live in new homes for rents below market value. Local court documents filed in January also show plans to build over 100 homes near “Snailbrook” – a reference to the Boring Company mascot “Gary the Snail.” A town needs at least 201 residents and approval from a county judge to be incorporated, according to Texas law. Documents also reveal further plans to build 110 more homes in the planned town “Project Amazing”. Read More Elon Musk booed at video games contest as crowds shout: ‘Bring back Twitter!’ Meta could finally launch Threads feature everyone is waiting for Musk admits X may be doomed to fail as glitch wipes out old pictures from Twitter Elon Musk booed at video games contest as crowds shout: ‘Bring back Twitter!’ ‘San Francisco will end up like Detroit’: Why Elon Musk and tech CEOs are fighting lawsuit on homeless crisis Elon Musk’s SpaceX sued over allegations of hiring discrimination

SHANGHAI Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firms Baichuan Intelligent Technology and Zhipu AI on Thursday opened their AI large

These home office essentials can help remote workers stay on task and tackle everything on their to-do lists.

By Kanishka Singh and Richard Cowan U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will host tech leaders and experts

Okta projected third-quarter revenue above market estimates on Wednesday, a sign that demand for its identity authentication services