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Submission + - Terrestrial carbon sinks reduced by a factor of four in 2023 (arxiv.org)

Submitted by sonlas
sonlas writes: A newly published study shows that the terrestrial carbon sink was reduced by a factor of four in 2023.

The chemically inert CO2 added to the atmosphere each year can only be removed by dissolving in the ocean or through photosynthesis. In 2023, global fossil CO2 emissions slightly increased compared to 2022, but atmospheric CO2 levels rose much faster, indicating weakened carbon sinks, particularly terrestrial ones. Heat stress, pest attacks, and fires have intensified, especially in the Amazon, Canada, and Russia, reducing photosynthesis and increasing tree mortality.

This deterioration was anticipated due to climate change but its timing was uncertain. Immediate emission reductions and replanting more resilient tree species are crucial to mitigate further damage, even if it reduces forestry productivity. Trees' economic insignificance compared to their ecological and geographical importance exacerbates the situation, suggesting a need for greater concern and action.

Submission + - Uk girls giving up 'hard' computer science (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Bruce66423
Bruce66423 writes: 'The number of girls in England studying for a GCSE in computing has more than halved in less than a decade, prompting warnings about the “dominance of men in shaping the modern world”.

'The sharp decline in female participation follows government qualification changes that led to the scrapping of the old information communication technology (ICT) GCSE and its replacement with a new computer science GCSE....

'In numerical terms, 40,000 female students took ICT GCSE in 2015, with a further 5,000 taking computer science. In 2023, with ICT no longer available, just 18,600 females took computer science.

'Asked to give their reasons, girls who chose not to study it said they did not enjoy computer science. They also said it did not fit in with their career plans, the research found.

'Critics of the old ICT qualification complained that it taught little more than how to use Microsoft Office. In contrast, the new computer science GCSE, with its focus on computer theory, coding and programming, is perceived by many pupils as “difficult” when compared with other subjects.'

Submission + - Supreme Court allows White House to counter misinformation (cnn.com)

Submitted by smooth wombat
smooth wombat writes: The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 opinion, said the White House is allowed to press social media companies to remove false information from their sites.

Of immediate significance, the decision means that the Department of Homeland Security may continue to flag posts to social media companies such as Facebook and X that it believes may be the work of foreign agents seeking to disrupt this year’s presidential race.

Republican officials in two states – Missouri and Louisiana – and five social media users sued over that practice in 2022, arguing that the White House did far more than “persuade” the tech giants to take down a few deceptive items. Instead, they said, the Biden administration engaged in an informal, backdoor campaign of coercion to silence voices it disagreed with – a practice known as “jawboning.”

They pointed to the decision by social media companies tosuppress coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptopin late 2020 as evidence of unconstitutional government influence. But internal communications related to Twitter’s handling of the laptop story highlighted how high-level company officials were divided on whether to suppress coverage of the story, contrary to suggestions by some critics that the platform demoted it because of government pressure.

Submission + - China's lunar probe returns world's first samples from far side of the Moon (theguardian.com)

Submitted by AmiMoJo
AmiMoJo writes: China has become the first country to gather samples from the far side of the moon and bring them back to Earth in a landmark achievement for the Beijing space programme.

A re-entry capsule containing the precious cargo parachuted into a landing zone in the rural Siziwang Banner region of Inner Mongolia on Tuesday after being released into Earth’s orbit by the uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe.

The return of the lunar material wraps up a highly successful mission for the China National Space Administration (CNSA) amid a wave of interest in which space agencies and private companies will build instruments and bases on the moon and exploit its resources.

The Chang’e-6 mission, named after the Chinese moon goddess, blasted off from Hainan province in south China on 3 May and touched down on 2 June on the side of the moon that is never seen from Earth. The moon shows only one face to the Earth because it is tidally locked and completes one full rotation in the time it takes to circle the planet.

The mission’s lander spent two days collecting rock and soil from one of the oldest and largest craters on the moon, the 1,600-mile-wide South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, using a robotic arm and drill. Its ascent module then lifted off from the moon’s surface and rendezvoused with the orbiter before embarking on its journey home.

Comment Re:A hacker phone is a powerful phone (Score 1) 50

by Funnnny (#37600224) Attached to: Sony Ericsson Helps Out FreeXperia Developers

The charging protection is in the kernel, many people using Galaxy S with CM7 have a kernel that inscrease the temp that the phone will stop charging.

You can do whatever you want with the phone, but stay as-is with what the manufacturer offer, they can't help if you overclock your phone from 1000Mhz to 2000Mhz, brick, and then go to a store, say "oh I was making a phone call and the phone broke". If you want to control your phone, control it and please don't blame any want.

Comment Re:What about phones? (Score 1) 557

by Funnnny (#37087390) Attached to: The Death of Booting Up

My phone (galaxy S) boot-up take about 5% power to load all the app, play the boot and the sound animation, rescan media, check sdcard..., and then it take about 2% for a whole night sleep (with wifi and sync on)

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