A popular left-wing Twitter account with thousands of followers, which often went viral and provoked the outrage of leading conservatives, may have been a fake all along, according to online researchers, using a provocative posts to generation attention in a tactic known as “rage-baiting.” Erica Marsh, a self-proclaimed “proud Democrat” from Washington, started her Twitter account in September of 2022, and quickly gained more than 130,000 followers, sometimes netting over 1,000 followers a day posting her quick-twitch takes on the day’s main political news. Her messages often read like a near-parody of an over-the-top, out-of-touch progressive. In a 29 June post, reacting to the recent Supreme Court decision striking down race-based affirmative action in college admissions, she wrote, “Today’s Supreme Court decision is a direct attack on Black people. No Black person will be able to succeed in a merit-based system which is exactly why affirmative-action based programs were needed. Today’s decision is a TRAVESTY!!!” The tweet quickly caught fire online, provoking the ire of leaders like Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, who told his followers, “I strongly disagree with this racist allegation.” However, despite her ability to win followers and stir the pot and attract online attention, Ms Marsh may never have been real, according to an analysis from The Washington Post. Ms Marsh doesn’t appear in phone or voting records, and past employers she claimed like the Biden campaign say they have no record of her. “I strongly suspect that this person doesn’t exist,” John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, told the paper. “It’s as if she dropped from the moon and arrived fully formed with this narrative that makes liberals look like idiots.” Twitter officially does not comment on press requests, and Ms Marsh’s account has been suspended. Before buying the social media site last year, Elon Musk argued fake accounts were a serious problem on Twitter, at one point threatening not to carry out his acquisition over the matter. Twitter said last July it removes over 1 million fake accounts per day. Fakes have been a persistent issue. In November, the company temporarily suspended its Twitter Blue subscription service, after users bought Twitter verification status and used it to impersonate celebrities, politicians and brands. Read More ‘Rate limits’ and Twitter chaos: What exactly is Elon Musk doing? Elon Musk supports eliminating voting rights for people without children Greg Abbott mocked after falling for hoax story about Garth Brooks being booed off stage Judge blocks Biden agencies from communicating with social media platforms Elon Musk supports eliminating voting rights for people without children Outrage erupts in South Africa over video of deputy president's security officers stomping on man

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MISSISSAUGA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2023--

The ocean is home to all manner of mysteries, from “alien” shape-shifters to ancient shipwrecks. And so, when Richard Branson and a team of scientists took a submersible down to the bottom of Belize’s iconic Giant Blue Hole, they were braced for some truly extraordinary sights. The Blue Hole is the largest sinkhole in the world, measuring 300m (984 feet) across and around 125m (410 feet) deep but, until Branson’s expedition in 2018 its depths had not been fully explored. The British billionaire was joined on his groundbreaking journey by Fabien Cousteau – the grandson of pioneering underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau – and oceanographer Erika Bergman. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Their mission was to create a 3D map of the hole’s interior but, when they reached the bottom, they were met by some disturbing discoveries. To be fair, they got off to a good start. The first thing they encountered as they edged down the hole was a wall of giant stalactites, which were “breathtakingly beautiful,” according to Branson. Then, at around 300 feet, they pierced a thick layer of toxic hydrogen sulphide, plunging them into darkness and cutting out the oxygen from the water around them. In an interview with CNN, Bergman explained that once you pierce that layer, which forms naturally over centuries, “you lose all of that Caribbean sunlight and it just turns completely black.” Elsewhere, Branson described it as “extremely eerie,” saying: “We didn’t expect to see any creatures below. But when we got to the bottom we could see crabs, conches and other creatures that had fallen into the hole, arrived on the bottom and then ran out of oxygen and died.” As the team continued to travel further down into the abyss, they were faced with the remains of a tragedy. In an interview with Business Insider back in July 2020, Bergman revealed that they found the bodies of two people who have “been lost in the Blue Hole”. “We found the resting place of a couple [of] folks,” she said. “And we just sort of very respectfully let the Belize government know where we found them.” She added that “everyone decided that we would just not attempt any recovery”, noting: “It's very dark and peaceful down there, [so we] just kind of let them stay.” As they reached the bottom, the team found something else unexpected, and very much unwelcome: human rubbish. It came in the form of a 2-litre Coke bottle and a lost GoPro containing some holiday snaps, according to Business Insider. “As for the mythical monsters of the deep? Well, the real monsters facing the ocean are climate change – and plastic,” Branson lamented following the discovery. “Sadly, we saw plastic bottles at the bottom of the hole, which is a real scourge of the ocean.” The business magnate said the expedition had offered “one of the starkest reminders of the danger of climate change [he had] ever seen.” He pointed out: “The Blue Hole is made of a complex system of caves that once formed on dry land. It is proof of how oceans can rise quickly and catastrophically. “Sea levels were once hundreds of feet lower. 10,000 years ago the sea level rose by about 300 feet when a lot of ice melted around the world. At 300 feet down you could see the change in the rock where it used to be land and turned into sea.” He added in his blog: “Hopefully by this trip taking place we have raised even more awareness of the need to protect the ocean and tackle climate change now – before it is too late.” He stressed that he didn’t want his grandchildren to “grow up in a world without corals, without the wonders of the ocean”. 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.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon has been on platforms since August 25. Players want to know if they can change their pilot name in the game.

New Zealand’s government and BlueScope Steel Ltd.’s local unit will spend NZ$300 million ($188 million) to upgrade a

So, you’ve got all your PCs secured with a powerful antivirus. That’s great, but you

An electric car has driven nearly 2,000km (1,250 miles) without stopping to charge as part of a demonstration of an electric road that wirelessly charges vehicles as they drive. Israeli startup Electreon claims the achievement is a new world record for the longest time and distance ever driven non-stop by a passenger electric vehicle (EV), taking just over 100 hours to cover 1,942 kilometres. The stunt was completed using a specially adapted Toyota RAV4, which drove in circles around a track fitted with Electreon’s Wireless Electric Road technology. The startup claims its tech can solve some of the fundamental challenges facing widespread EV adoption, including range anxiety, slow charge times and battery size. “The objective of this 100-hour non-stop driving rally was to demonstrate the unlimited technical potential of Wireless Electric Road technology to power EVs to drive indefinitely with a minimal battery,” said Reuven Rivlin, Electreon’s honorary president. “This is yet another clear signal that our Wireless Electric Road technology is ready for large-scale commercial projects globally.” The five-day drive involved 56 different drivers, with the vehicle only pausing momentarily to switch between drivers. Electreon plans to develop its wireless charging technology for vehicles alongside Toyota, having signed an agreement with the Japanese automotive giant in March. “This partnership will make wireless charging accessible to a diverse and wide range of drivers, and will demonstrate the many benefits of wireless charging as a cost-effective, clean solution for charging EVs, as well as a catalyst in reducing EVs’ carbon footprint,” Electreon chief executive Oren Ezer said at the time. Top-of-the-range electric vehicles in production currently have a range of just over 500km, though some prototypes have already passed the 1,000km mark. Last year, an electric Mercedes drove from Germany to the UK on a single charge, covering more than 1,200km. The Vision EQXX completed the record-breaking journey in just 15 hours, using a battery that has the same capacity as a Tesla Model S. The state-of-the-art is unlikely to ever go into mass production due to the costs of making it, however recent advances in battery technology could see the range of commercial electric vehicles rise significantly in the near future. A China-based battery startup announced earlier this month that it was aiming to become the first company in the world to mass produce electric vehicle batteries with a range of 1,000km thanks to an innovative lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate design. Other companies are also working on electrified roads for wireless or conductive charging, with Sweden unveiling plans to build around 3,000km of electric road by 2045. Read More Scientists break world record for solar power window material Electric car range set to double with first production of breakthrough battery Opinion: The real reason companies are warning that AI is as bad as nuclear war US and China ‘intertwined like conjoined twins,’ says Musk Huge ‘plume’ seen coming out of nearby moon that could support alien life

Kai Cenat was seen jumping out of his seat during a Twitch stream and screaming on seeing Kevin Gates' Instagram video

Astronomers have spotted the moment a black hole "turned on". While looking for the collision of a neutron star with another object, which should result in a kilonova (an explosion which reddens then fades over time), they stumbled upon an event which remained extremely bright. They soon worked out this light was because of supermassive black hole called J221951-484240 which had been on for around 10 months. But then they had to work out what had caused it, and got stuck between two causes, “J221951 is consistent with being nuclear, so the scenarios we are being left are a tidal disruption event or an active galactic nucleus,” lead author Dr Samantha Oates said as she presented the research at the National Astronomy Meeting 2023. “Looking at the spectrum it's consistent with both categories.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter A tidal disruption event (TDE) takes place when a star or a gas cloud gets too close to a supermassive black hole. The material is ripped apart, and begins to shine as the black hole feeds Alternatively, it could be an active galactic nucleus (AGN), the phase of a supermassive black hole where it is consistently feeding in a frenzy. “We hope in future to distinguish between these two scenarios,” Dr Oates concluded. 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.

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 7, 2023--

Forget pizza pie…this is pizza AI! Domino’s reveals national dish-inspired pizza toppings for countries competing in the Eurovision final. But they have all been made with artificial intelligence. As the stand-in host nation for war-torn Ukraine, the UK - with Mae Muller singing for glory - has been given a Beef roast dinner speciality pizza. It comes with potatoes on a bed of gravy, covered in horseradish sauce. France has Coq au Vin braised chicken, with diced potatoes and rosemary garnish. Germany’s toppings are Bratwurst sausage loaded over chips, drizzled with ketchup and mayonnaise. There is Carbonara pasta, bordered with pepperoni slices, on a pizza for Italy. Paella with clams and prawns – finished with a sprinkle of spring onions, is dedicated to Spain. Sweden has a fish with sliced tomatoes, chopped radishes and onions topping. Ukraine has a trademark Chicken Kyiv, dressed in lemon and dill. Meanwhile Australia - in Eurovision since 2015 - has Fairy Bread, an old-fashioned Aussie snack made from white bread, butter and ‘hundreds and thousands’ sprinkles. A Domino’s spokesperson said: “With Eurovision being one of the busiest nights of the year for Domino’s, the nation’s favourite pizza brand, has cooked up a treat for the senses. “By challenging AI to imagine what a limited-edition pizza for all the favourite competing countries would look like. “Domino’s set AI system MidJourney to work, curating completely unedited Eurovision-inspired pizza toppings for The Big Five countries and a few other nations. “Passing the reins to AI, pizzas generated varied from a somewhat delicious looking Roast Dinner to Carbonara and a clam and prawn loaded Paella pizza. “Signature dishes were also generated for host nation Ukraine in the form of Chicken Kyiv pizza. “And Australia, to see what the country that has competed in the competition since 2015 – to everyone’s bewilderment – would serve up. “And it’s Fairy Bread pizza. “A country and party staple of bread spread with margarine and covered in hundreds and thousands.” Sam Wilson, AI mastermind at Domino’s said: “Pizza brings everyone together, just like Eurovision. “So we challenged AI to generate the perfect pizza for each nation. It’s no surprise the classic Sunday Roast was Britain’s pizza of choice, but we didn’t expect Fairy Bread for Australia. “We’re rooting for Mae Muller this weekend and look forward to seeing her waving the flag for the UK. “But we won’t be giving AI a role in our kitchen just yet.” The Eurovision contest saw over 161 million people worldwide tune in last year. With an estimated 8.93 million people in the UK watching the finale ceremony in 2022. 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.