Comment Re:Religion (Score 2) 140
OK, if religion says so, it must be true. No doubts whatsoever.
Comment Car analogy following the same logic (Score 1) 142
Human drivers sometimes drive faster than the speed limit. So self-driving cars should be allowed to drive as fast as they want.
Submission + - Coal power falls in India and China for first time in decades (independent.co.uk)
AmiMoJo writes: Coal-fired power generation fell in both China and India in 2025 for the first time in more than five decades, as non-fossil energy sources grew fast enough in both countries to meet rising electricity demand.
Electricity generated by coal plants fell by 1.6 per cent in China and by 3 per cent in India last year, marking “a historic moment” since the early 1970s that coal power has dropped in both countries in the same year.
The shift, driven by record installations and softer demand growth, could mark a turning point for the world’s two biggest coal users.
Electricity generated by coal plants fell by 1.6 per cent in China and by 3 per cent in India last year, marking “a historic moment” since the early 1970s that coal power has dropped in both countries in the same year.
The shift, driven by record installations and softer demand growth, could mark a turning point for the world’s two biggest coal users.
Comment So the time every device wants to... (Score 1) 57
...be (like) a shiny iPhone is finally over?
Comment Re:A huge amount of CO2 would prevent escape. (Score 1) 75
Air gets "dangerous" to breathe at about 4% CO2. At that level an ICE car will probably run just fine, because there's still plenty of O2 left. EVs won't care anyway.
Submission + - Celebrating 1 Trillion Web Pages Archived (archive.org)
alternative_right writes: This October, the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine is projected to hit a once-in-a-generation milestone: 1 trillion web pages archived. That’s one trillion memories, moments, and movements—preserved for the public and available to access via the Wayback Machine.
We’ll be commemorating this historic achievement on October 22, 2025, with a global event: a party at our San Francisco headquarters and a livestream for friends and supporters around the world. More than a celebration, it’s a tribute to what we’ve built together: a free and open digital library of the web.
Join us in marking this incredible milestone. Together, we’ve built the largest archive of web history ever assembled. Let’s celebrate this achievement—in San Francisco and around the world—on October 22.
We’ll be commemorating this historic achievement on October 22, 2025, with a global event: a party at our San Francisco headquarters and a livestream for friends and supporters around the world. More than a celebration, it’s a tribute to what we’ve built together: a free and open digital library of the web.
Join us in marking this incredible milestone. Together, we’ve built the largest archive of web history ever assembled. Let’s celebrate this achievement—in San Francisco and around the world—on October 22.
Submission + - Life-Changing Eye Implant Helps Blind Patients Read Again (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A group of blind patients can now read again after being fitted with a life-changing implant at the back of the eye. A surgeon who inserted the microchips in five patients at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London says the results of the international trial are "astounding." Sheila Irvine, 70, who is registered blind, told the BBC it was "out of this world" to be able to read and do crosswords again. "It's beautiful, wonderful. It gives me such pleasure."
The technology offers hope to people with an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), called geographic atrophy (GA), which affects more than 250,000 people in the UK and five million worldwide. In those with the condition — which is more common in older people — cells in a tiny area of the retina at the back of the eye gradually become damaged and die, resulting in blurred or distorted central vision. Colour and fine detail are often lost.
The new procedure involves inserting a tiny 2mm-square photovoltaic microchip, with the thickness of a human hair, under the retina. Patients then put on glasses with a built-in video camera. The camera sends an infrared beam of video images to the implant at the back of the eye, which sends them on to a small pocket processor to be enhanced and made clearer. The images are then sent back to the patient's brain, via the implant and optic nerve, giving them some vision again. The patients spent months learning how to interpret the images.
The technology offers hope to people with an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), called geographic atrophy (GA), which affects more than 250,000 people in the UK and five million worldwide. In those with the condition — which is more common in older people — cells in a tiny area of the retina at the back of the eye gradually become damaged and die, resulting in blurred or distorted central vision. Colour and fine detail are often lost.
The new procedure involves inserting a tiny 2mm-square photovoltaic microchip, with the thickness of a human hair, under the retina. Patients then put on glasses with a built-in video camera. The camera sends an infrared beam of video images to the implant at the back of the eye, which sends them on to a small pocket processor to be enhanced and made clearer. The images are then sent back to the patient's brain, via the implant and optic nerve, giving them some vision again. The patients spent months learning how to interpret the images.
Submission + - Einstein's overlooked idea could explain how the Universe really began (sciencedaily.com)
alternative_right writes: [A newly proposed model] suggests that gravitational waves — predicted by general relativity — may be the true driving force behind the universe's formation, giving rise to galaxies, stars, planets, and ultimately life on Earth. The researchers link this idea to a mathematical construct known as De Sitter space, named for Dutch mathematician Willem De Sitter, who collaborated with Albert Einstein in the 1920s on understanding the structure of the cosmos.
The concept of gravitational waves dates back to 1893 and 1905, when Oliver Heaviside and Henri Poincaré first proposed related ideas. Albert Einstein expanded on this in 1916, describing gravitational waves as ripples in the fabric of space-time in his general theory of relativity. These waves can originate from powerful cosmic events such as supernovae, merging black holes, and colliding neutron stars. Because they are incredibly faint, detecting them requires highly sensitive instruments
The concept of gravitational waves dates back to 1893 and 1905, when Oliver Heaviside and Henri Poincaré first proposed related ideas. Albert Einstein expanded on this in 1916, describing gravitational waves as ripples in the fabric of space-time in his general theory of relativity. These waves can originate from powerful cosmic events such as supernovae, merging black holes, and colliding neutron stars. Because they are incredibly faint, detecting them requires highly sensitive instruments
Comment Re:Instead (Score 0) 55
They AI firms wi hire public relations firms and social media influencers.
Plus laywers. They'll hire everybody you say, plus laywers.
Submission + - Amazon Must Face US Nationwide Class Action Over Third-Party Sales (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Amazon.com must face a class action on behalf of hundreds of millions of U.S. consumers over claims that the online retail giant overcharged for products sold by third-party sellers, a federal judge in Seattle has ruled. U.S. District Judge John Chun in an order (PDF) unsealed on Friday certified a nationwide class involving 288 million customers and billions of transactions, marking one of the largest-ever in the United States.
The class includes buyers in the United States who purchased five or more new goods from third-party sellers on Amazon since May 26, 2017. The consumers’ 2021 lawsuit said Amazon violated antitrust law by restricting third-party sellers from offering their products for lower prices elsewhere on rival platforms while they are also for sale on Amazon. Amazon’s policies have allowed the company to impose inflated fees on sellers, causing shoppers to pay higher prices for purchases, the lawsuit said. Amazon has denied any wrongdoing. It has already appealed Chun’s class certification order, which was first issued under seal on Aug. 6.
Amazon argued that the class was too large to be manageable and that the plaintiffs failed to show its alleged conduct had a widespread effect. Amazon also said that since 2019 it has not used a pricing program that the plaintiffs challenged. Chun found there was no evidence at this stage that the size of the class was overbroad. Other federal courts had certified class actions with millions or hundreds of millions of class members, the judge said.
The class includes buyers in the United States who purchased five or more new goods from third-party sellers on Amazon since May 26, 2017. The consumers’ 2021 lawsuit said Amazon violated antitrust law by restricting third-party sellers from offering their products for lower prices elsewhere on rival platforms while they are also for sale on Amazon. Amazon’s policies have allowed the company to impose inflated fees on sellers, causing shoppers to pay higher prices for purchases, the lawsuit said. Amazon has denied any wrongdoing. It has already appealed Chun’s class certification order, which was first issued under seal on Aug. 6.
Amazon argued that the class was too large to be manageable and that the plaintiffs failed to show its alleged conduct had a widespread effect. Amazon also said that since 2019 it has not used a pricing program that the plaintiffs challenged. Chun found there was no evidence at this stage that the size of the class was overbroad. Other federal courts had certified class actions with millions or hundreds of millions of class members, the judge said.
Submission + - Your Mother's Germs May Have Influenced Your Brain's Development (sciencealert.com) 1
alternative_right writes: The details of this relationship still need to be worked out and researched in greater detail, but the takeaway is that microbes – specifically the mix of microbes in the mother's gut – can play a notable role in the brain development of their offspring.
"Rather than shunning our microbes, we should recognize them as partners in early life development," says Castillo-Ruiz. "They're helping build our brains from the very beginning."
"Rather than shunning our microbes, we should recognize them as partners in early life development," says Castillo-Ruiz. "They're helping build our brains from the very beginning."
Submission + - Climate scientists file point-by-point rebuttal of Trump admin report (cnn.com)
ZipNada writes: More than 85 veteran climate scientists have pushed back against a Trump administration report downplaying the severity of climate change, submitting more than 400 pages in public comments to the Energy Department on Tuesday.
The department’s Climate Working Group report, released July 29 alongside proposals to deregulate some polluting sectors, was authored by five well-known climate change contrarians and even portrayed climate change as potentially beneficial.
The department’s Climate Working Group report, released July 29 alongside proposals to deregulate some polluting sectors, was authored by five well-known climate change contrarians and even portrayed climate change as potentially beneficial.
Comment You know that sinking feeling... (Score 0) 418
...when you realize tthat the sea level is rising?
Comment Commodore & F-Word (Score 0) 857
I had a Commodore VIC 20.
Which was sold as VC 20 in German-speaking countries, because VIC could have been mispronounced/misunderstood as the german translation of the F-word.
VC then stood for "Volks Computer" ("People's computer")
Comment OK! (Score 0) 71
OK, google. Stop recording!
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