KARLSRUHE, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2023--

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2023--

It’s not quite the lost city of Atlantis, but scientists have just uncovered a slice of history that had been swallowed up by the sea. Experts admitted that even they were surprised when divers unearthed a 7,000-year-old stone road that had lain buried under layers of sea mud. The ancient structure was discovered after archaeologist Igor Borzić, of the University of Zadar, spotted “strange structures” nearly 16 ft (5m) underwater in the Bay of Gradina, off the coast of Croatia. The submerged road once linked the island of Korčula to an artificial, prehistoric settlement that belonged to a maritime culture known as the Hvar. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The university released footage of the incredible finding over the weekend. It showed the passageway which consisted of stacked stones and measured some 12 ft (around 4m) across. Archaeologists believe people walked this road “almost 7,000 years ago”, with radiocarbon dating of wood near the site suggesting the settlement may have been built around 4,900 BC. “In underwater archaeological research of the submerged neolithic site of Soline on the island of Korčula, archaeologists found remains that surprised them,” the University of Zadar said in a Facebook statement. “Namely, beneath the layers of sea mud, they discovered a road that connected the sunken prehistoric settlement of the Hvar culture with the coast of the island of Korčula.” Borzić and his team also discovered another “almost identical” settlement on the other side of Korčula Island. Neolithic artefacts including a stone axe, cream blades and sacrificial fragments, were found at the site which lay at a depth of 4-5m. Understandably, the researchers were delighted and, as they continue to delve into their nation’s past, we wonder what else they’ll unearth. 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.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 28, 2023--

When it’s not making disastrous decisions around the housing of migrants on barges found to contain Legionella, the Home Office is reviewing the 2016 Investigatory Powers Act and considering a proposal to require telecoms operators to notify the government of “technical changes” to their services before they are implemented – something which has been slammed as “catastrophically short-sighted”. Between 5 June and 31 July, the Home Office consulted on revising the legislation passed by Theresa May’s government, with one of the planned changes relating to “notification requirements” placed on businesses. The consultation document reads: “We propose to make changes that would support cooperation between government and industry by setting clear expectations about the circumstances in which operators might be expected to notify the Secretary of State of planned changes to their service that could have a negative impact on investigatory powers and, where necessary, mandating notification of planned changes. “This would be intended to facilitate early engagement between operators and the government so that, where necessary, appropriate steps can be taken in good time to ensure that any negative impact on investigatory powers is fully considered, and so that we can ensure continuity of lawful access to data against a background of changing technology.” However, it was a news article from Just Security on Tuesday which reignited concerns that the UK Government is about to do something “ultimately unsafe”. The piece explains: “While the proposal does not specify what technical changes would require notification, these may include changes in the architecture of software that would interfere with the UK’s current surveillance powers. “As a result, an operator of a messaging service wishing to introduce an advanced security feature would now have to first let the Home Office know in advance. “Accordingly, the Secretary of State, upon receiving such an advance notice, could now request operators to, for instance, abstain from patching security gaps to allow the government to maintain access for surveillance purposes.” If the idea of Suella Braverman being able to halt security fixes so the government can continue to spy on people doesn’t fill you with dread, we’re not sure what will. While the Home Office goes on to add in its consultation document that there is a proposed requirement for the home secretary to “consider the necessity and proportionality” of imposing such a duty on businesses, Twitter/X users remain fairly troubled by the prospect: The Investigatory Powers Act, which was dubbed “the snooper’s charter” by critics when it was first proposed, is separate to the Online Safety Bill, which the government is still trying to pass through parliament. 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.

If you’re anything like us, the first coffee of the day is the only thing that can get us up on a morning – and it turns out, there’s real science behind it. Everyone knows that coffee can give us a welcome caffeine hit, but it’s now been revealed that the drink also gives us an extra ‘special boost’ too. Scientists have claimed that the act of drinking a cup of joe gives the body a lift, making us more alert, which can’t be replicated merely with caffeine. In fact, new research shows that drinking hot coffee activates additional areas of the brain. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Scientists from the University of Minho in Portugal and elsewhere looked into the effects of coffee outside of just caffeine content as part of a study – and they found that plain caffeine didn’t have the same impact. In fact, a cup of coffee also influenced working memory and goal-directed behaviour. “There is a common expectation that coffee increases alertness and psychomotor functioning. When you get to understand better the mechanisms underlying a biological phenomenon, you open pathways for exploring the factors that may modulate it and even the potential benefits of that mechanism,” study co-author Nuno Sousa explained. Experts said that drinking coffee actually increased the connectivity in the brain’s more advanced nerve network controlling vision, and other parts involved in working memory, cognitive control and goal-directed behaviour – something not found when participants only took caffeine. Researchers also said that if subjects wanted to not just feel alert but ready to go, caffeine alone might not do the job. “Acute coffee consumption decreased the functional connectivity between brain regions of the default mode network, a network that is associated with self-referential processes when participants are at rest,” study co-author Maria Picó-Pérez said. “The subjects were more ready for action and alert to external stimuli after having coffee,” she added. 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.

The New York Knicks sued the Toronto Raptors, claiming a former Knicks employee stole scouting reports and other

PISCATAWAY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2023--

So, you're ready to buy a new iPhone, perhaps the iPhone 14 or iPhone 14

On July 18, Amouranth faced an unexpected setback as she received a ban on Twitch

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.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 15, 2023--