ScienceAlert: Mysterious ‘Donut’ Structure Found Hidden Inside Earth’s Core
About 2,890 kilometres beneath our feet lies a gigantic ball of liquid metal: our planet’s core. Scientists like me use the seismic waves created by earthquakes as a kind of ultrasound to “see” the shape and structure of the core.
Using a new way of studying these waves, my colleague Xiaolong Ma and I have made a surprising discovery: there is a large donut-shaped region of the core around the Equator, a few hundred kilometres thick, where seismic waves travel about 2% slower than in the rest of the core.
We think this region contains more lighter elements such as silicon and oxygen, and may play a crucial role in the vast currents of liquid metal running through the core that generate Earth’s magnetic field. Our results are published today in Science Advances.
Guardian: ‘The new digital flex’: the airport tray trend stirring outrage and delight
They might be grey, plastic and reportedly very dirty, but airport security trays are in demand. Online, a new trend called the “airport tray aesthetic” sees people carefully curating the contents of a tray, showcasing their shoes, scents, accessories, headphones, hats and reading material against a backdrop of polypropylene — and then photographing it to share with their followers.
Sometimes called “TSA tray aesthetic”, referencing the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), some of the compositions are understated and minimalist, featuring neatly placed flasks and hair clips. Others are more chaotic.
How to Geek: Why I’m Switching from Google to Proton
The many revelations concerning Google’s privacy practices have had me–and possibly you, too–looking for an alternative to Google Workspace. I found it in Proton’s suite of apps, and I’ll explain why I made the switch.
Note that I’ll only be talking about Google’s productivity suite, [not] Google Drive, Gmail, and other related services. For web search, you should check out alternative search engines.
InsideEVs: The Ultimate ‘Connected Car’ Nightmare Is Playing Out In China
What happens to your connected, software-driven car when the company behind it fails, and driving features go “offline” too?
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He tried to drive his compact EX5 SUV as he normally would, but discovered that he could no longer log into WM Motor’s smartphone app, which remotely controlled the car lock and air conditioner. He also couldn’t see his car’s mileage and charging status on the dashboard.
Qian was not alone. Other WM Motor owners reported that the smartphone app was unusable, and the built-in car stereo, which required an internet connection, had stopped working.
CultOfMac: Photoshop Elements sale: $99.99 for life (with Adobe Premiere Elements)
The good news is that Adobe finally offers a lifetime license available for Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, on sale now for just $99.99 (regularly $149).
If you’re on the hunt for apps that can handle everything from tweaking photos to crafting digital art and polishing up videos, you’re in luck. Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements are definitely worth checking out.
The TerraPower project in Kemmerer is notable for its advanced technology and cost efficiency compared to recent projects. For example, Georgia’s Plant Vogtle, which recently expanded from two to four reactors, cost nearly $35 billion, including $11 billion in overruns. In contrast, the TerraPower project is expected to cost up to $4 billion, with half funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
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But Gates isn’t stopping at nuclear power. His energy investment firm, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, backed by other big names like Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, and Richard Branson, has just raised $839 million for a new climate fund called BEV III. This fund is part of Gates' bigger plan to invest in technologies that can drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions. The fund will focus on five main areas: electricity, transportation, manufacturing, buildings, and food and agriculture.
UPI: Brazil’s Supreme Court upholds nationwide ban of Elon Musk’s X
The five-justice panel approved the decision. The court consists of 11 justices appointed by the president.
X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been suspended in Brazil since Saturday after the platform failed to appoint a new legal representative in the country before a court-imposed deadline.
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Chief Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension Friday.
On Wednesday, he had given companies, including Apple and Google, a five-day deadline to remove X from its app stores and block its use on iOS and Android devices. Individuals or businesses found to still be accessing X by using virtual private networks, or VPNs, could be fined $8,910.
BBC: South Korea: The deepfake crisis engulfing hundreds of schools
At the heart of this scandal is the messaging app Telegram. Unlike public websites, which the authorities can access easily, and then request for images be removed, Telegram is a private, encrypted messaging app.
Users are often anonymous, rooms can be set to “secret” mode, and their contents quickly deleted without a trace. This has made it a prime space for criminal behaviour to flourish.
BBC: ‘A tech firm stole our voices - then cloned and sold them’
That night they spent hours online, searching for clues until they came across the site of text-to-speech platform Lovo. Once there, Ms Sage said she found a copy of her voice as well.
“I was stunned,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
“A tech company stole our voices, made AI clones of them, and sold them possibly hundreds of thousands of times.”
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They allege anonymous Lovo employees contacted them to record audio assets on Fiverr, the popular freelance talent website, where they were selling their services to provide audio for television, radio, video games, and other media.
Last Updated: 02.Sep.2024 23:18 EDT
