LIMERICK, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 30, 2023--

Ever wondered how optical illusions actually work? Wonder no more. A new study by University of Exeter visual ecologist Jolyon Troscianko, and neuroscientist Daniel Osorio from the University of Sussex in the UK has weighed in on the debate over whether we perceive things weirdly because of certain errors in the ways our brain processes colour, shade, and shape or because of our eye's function or the brain's neurological wiring. They reckon it is all in the eyes. The pair found ways our visual neurons – cells that process information coming in from the eyes – work, showing how they can affect our perception of patterns on different scales. "Our eyes send messages to the brain by making neurons fire faster or slower," said Troscianko. "However, there's a limit to how quickly they can fire, and previous research hasn't considered how the limit might affect the ways we see colour." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The new model suggests limits in processing and metabolic energy force neurons to compress visual data coming in through our eyes when looking at simple patterns. "Our model shows how neurons with such limited contrast bandwidth can combine their signals to allow us to see these enormous contrasts, but the information is compressed – resulting in visual illusions," said Troscianko. "The model shows how our neurons are precisely evolved to use every bit of capacity." 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.

WhatsApp has said warnings about cyberattacks targeting Jewish people are a hoax with no basis in reality. The Meta-owned platform has debunked several messages widely circulating on social media platforms that warn Jewish people will be the target of cyberattacks through forwarded messages. But WhatsApp communications manager Emily Westcott told The Independent that the forwarded messages, which have been widely shared on the platform as well as across other social media including X/Twitter, are a hoax. The clarification comes amid the ongoing conflict in Israel after an unprecedented surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday. The hoax messages said clicking on pictures of the fighting shared on WhatsApp as a file called “Seismic Waves CARD” would quickly enable phone hacking if opened. Crypto influencer Scott Melker, who has nearly a million followers on X, was one of the users who shared the false warning. “Do not open it, it will hack your phone in 10 seconds and cannot be stopped in any way,” Mr Melker’s post on his verified X account falsely claimed. Ms Westcott pointed out that the same rumour circulated after an earthquake struck Morocco last month that left nearly 3,000 people dead and thosands more injured. In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, messages began circulating on social networks that photos of the quake shared in a file named “Seismic Waves CARD” on platforms would enable hackers to access one’s phone if opened. “The file is called Seismic Waves CARD, don’t open it or see it, it will hack your phone in 10 seconds and it cannot be stopped in any way. Pass the information on to your family and friends,” the false message had read. WhatsApp also told the fact-checking site Snopes that these messages were “false”. Another Italy-based fact-checking website, Bufale.net, also said the purported “hack” was a hoax. The recent use of the same message adds to the steep levels of misinformation and disinformation being spread following the conflict in Israel. Elon Musk, the multibillionaire owner of X, has also come under heavy criticism for the spread of misinformation on his platform over the attack. The Tesla titan pleaded with X users on Sunday to try and stick to the facts and “stay as close to the truth as possible”. Old videos are being repackaged and circulated on X as if they are from the most recent attack on Israel. One such widely shared video, that falsely claimed to show a Hamas militant shooting down an Israeli helicopter, was later found to be a clip from a video game. Another clip of Israel bombing a Gazan office tower that was shared widely was found to be from fighting that actually occured in 2021. X has not immediately responded to The Independent’s request for comment. Read More Huge crowd chants ‘free Palestine’ in front of Israel’s London embassy Aid groups scramble to help as Israel-Hamas war intensifies and Gaza blockade complicates efforts More than 10 Britons feared dead or missing as Netanyahu exacts revenge on Hamas X introduces limits to prevent non-paying users from replying to posts New discovery is ‘holy grail’ breakthrough in search for aliens, scientist say Earth hit by a huge solar storm that would devastate civilisation, trees show

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SHIMOTSUKE-SHI, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 27, 2023--

Reddit is not backing down from its controversial new fees, its chief executive has said as protests against the decision continue. Those behind the protests could be removed from the forums they administer, even in cases where the communities inside of them have supported the action, the company has suggested. Reddit has fallen into chaos in recent days after the moderators of many of its most popular communities took those subreddits “dark” in protest. It has meant that users have been unable to see posts from those communities for days. The action was a response to new plans from Reddit to charge for access to its API, which allows developers such as those behind third-party apps to see data from Reddit. Many developers have said those charges would make their apps unsustainable, and the most popular ones including Apollo have announced they will shut down. Even before that happened, moderators on the site had committed to take their forums offline in protest against the changes, which they said would make Reddit harder to use. Reddit is largely administered by unpaid volunteer moderators, who are able to make changes to those forums without needing permission from Reddit’s staff or management. Since the changes were announced, Reddit’s chief executive Steve Huffman has stayed committed to them. He has repeatedly claimed that it is unfair for developers to have access to that data for free since it costs Reddit money to host the site. Now Mr Huffman has undertaken another round of interviews in which he has shrugged off the protest, argued that it will pass, and claimed that only a small group of users are upset about the change. “It’s a small group that’s very upset, and there’s no way around that. We made a business decision that upset them,” he told NPR. “But I think the greater Reddit community just wants to participate with their fellow community members.” He said that the protest was affecting “everyday users” but that most of them were not involved in the changes. He also indicated that the protest had not cost much in financial terms, but had created “a fair amount of trouble”. He said that 80 per cent of the top 5,000 subreddits have gone back online. But many other communities have committed to continuing the protests indefinitely, and may go back offline if Reddit does not respond to their complaints. Reddit has also suggested that moderators who are involved in the protest could be removed from their position, and presumably replaced with new users who would bring the forums back online. In a post on Reddit’s support forum for moderators, an administer pointed to “rule 4”, which requires that moderators are active in the communities that they run. While the company refused to explicitly link its mention of that rule with the protest, it has also refused to rule out the fact that it could be used to remove those protestors from their position. Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told The Vergethat such a move would not be to do with the protest – but that those involved in it could be breaking the rule nonetheless. Read More Reddit hit by more outages as the fight over its future escalates Reddit just went ‘dark’, and the site is in chaos Reddit is in chaos – and it’s CEO has finally responded Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely Reddit down amid major protest Popular Reddit app Apollo shuts down as site’s users revolt against it

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 10, 2023--

By Jane Lanhee Lee and Stephen Nellis Arm Ltd on Monday rolled out new chip technology for mobile

MILAN Carmaker Stellantis aims to develop lighter electric vehicle batteries, cutting weights in half to improve sustainability, the