The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is nearing a decision on whether to challenge private equity firm Thoma

The relief will help some 800,000 borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans, officials say.

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 23, 2023--

Scientists are learning new things all the time about the early days of life on Earth, and a new discovery could change our understanding of evolution in our oceans. Algae are among the most vital life forms of the planet today – and new research into algae’s ancient ancestors makes for intriguing reading. Palaeontologist Tom Harvey from the University of Leicester believes he’s found fossilised phytoplankton which was key to the makeup of the oceans 500 million years ago. A new study authored by Harvey and published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B focuses on samples he found in rock from Newfoundland, Canada, While there’s more known about the early animals that dominated the food chains at that time, the smaller organisms around 500 million years ago are still relatively unstudied. Harvey’s research focuses on the microscopic creatures – and it all came about by chance. While he was actually looking for animal skin in rocks using a microscope, he instead stumbled upon collections of geometric clusters, which he later concluded were ancient forerunners to algae. “The cells were quite big, they formed quite a large colony that has this amazing geometry,” he said. “It was just too mysterious. I didn’t even want to hazard a guess.” According to Harvey’s findings, it’s evidence that the animals at that time filtered seawater for phytoplankton – which would mark the earliest evidence of them doing so, which is vital to the makeup of ocean ecosystems. Like today’s life forms, it’s thought that chemical signals sent by nearby animals caused the ancient samples to divide and grow. It also fills a space in the records of phytoplankton and helps to paint a well-rounded picture of evolution over time, given that the phytoplankton we see today only traces back around 200 million years ago. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel 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

Nathalie Ramirez Rojas spent the spring of her junior year at Baruch College splitting her time over two

For months, Google has been under pressure to reinvent its core search business and respond to the rise

The internet is losing it after a TikToker shared a voicemail from 2019, in which Olivia Rodrigo seemingly mistakes the total stranger for her doctor. In the clip, the singer's distinct voice can be heard, and she even introduces herself, as she goes on to explain how she 'tried to schedule an appointment' and asking them to 'call back'. "I would've called back and told her I loved her", one user joked in the comments. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Tesla delivered 466,140 vehicles in the second quarter of 2023. Wall Street was looking for roughly 445,000 to 447,000 units.

A new Resurgence map called Vondel, developed by Beenox, is coming to Warzone 2 Season 4 with 12 POIs on June 14.

Tech execs tend to announce new apps, features and devices in slick promotional videos, and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri was no different when he shared a Reel announcing the launch of Meta’s Twitter rival, Threads, earlier this week – one which has since been parodied by one content creator. Just days after Elon Musk’s Twitter suffered a significant outage at the start of July - and had to implement controversial, but temporary reading limits on tweets - Mark Zuckerberg’s company started teasing its “civil”, text-based alternative ahead of it eventually being released in the UK at midnight on Thursday (7pm ET). After the launch, Mosseri released a video explainer on his own Instagram profile in which he said: “We’re hoping to bring some of what we’ve built for photos and videos on Instagram to Threads with text. “Now the idea is there’s an amazing community on Instagram, and wonderful creators, and we want to create a space where we can engage in public conversations that is friendly, and that is open.” And it’s certainly proved popular, with Zuckerberg reporting more than 10 million sign-ups to the app after seven hours of it being available to the public. But one Instagram content creator decided to create his own take on Mosseri’s Reel, with a greater focus on Threads’ similarities with Twitter. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Posing as the Instagram boss, Dan Toomey opens his parody by describing Threads as “some new s*** to waste your time on from Instagram”. “Threads is for public arguments, cyber-bullying and the occasional post from a fast-food chain that goes too far – in other words, Twitter. “Now the idea is there’s an amazing opportunity to end Twitter while it’s down, like we saw a wounded deer on the side of the road and we just jammed our thumb into the side of its neck very slowly, so we can feel the last drop of life exit its body,” he continued, before a voice can be heard off-camera saying “too far, Adam”. As Toomey’s version of Mosseri carries on talking about the supposed benefits of Threads, the necklace sported by his character starts undergoing some changes with every cut, at one point turning into a pair of scissors dangling from a chain. Toomey continued: “So we’re going to bring a lot of the good creators from Twitter over to Instagram with Threads – people like BTS stans, the kid who doxes billionaires’ planes [Jack Sweeney’s ElonJet] and millions and millions of furry porn accounts. “And we’re also looking to integrate Mastodon, which is a decentralised, social media bulls*** thing.” Toomey’s take on the latest social media platform to take up some storage space on your phone has been branded “genius” by commenters on Instagram. One wrote: “The constantly changing necklace pendants really tie this thing together.” “No one’s picked up on the El*n [sic] photo in the background yet,” noted another. A third commented: “The fact that you made like seven necklaces for this is just perfect. Never change, Adam.” And yes, Mosseri himself – the real Adam - has actually seen it, sharing it to his Instagram story and on his Threads profile, where he added: “The changing necklace pendants really got me you b******.” Wholesome. 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.

TL;DR: The Ultimate Microsoft Office Pro 2021 for Windows, Windows 11 Pro, and Degoo Premium

A Texas woman has been awarded more than one billion dollars after explicit images of her body were shared on porn websites by her former partner. Attorneys for the woman, who is only identified in court documents as Jane Doe, told ABC News that the $1.2bn award was more than what they were expecting. The woman filed her civil lawsuit in Harris County Civil Court in April 2022, alleging that her ex-boyfriend Marques Jamal Jackson had shared her nudes on fake Twitter, Facebook and YouTube profiles. The defence also alleged that Mr Jackson, who did not attend the one-day-long civil trial, then forwarded the profiles to the woman’s friends, family, and colleagues. Deliberations before the jury reached an agreement regarding the award sum — the largest civil verdict in the Lone Star State so far this year — only took 30 minutes. Speaking out following the trial, the woman said having pictures of her naked body shared without her permission had left her traumatised. “This type of experience is devastating,” the woman told ABC. “It’s extremely painful. It’s hurtful. It’s embarrassing and you fear that either something will trigger and it will start again or that the previous effort inspired someone new and then they might start.” According to court documents obtained by KHOU 11, the woman and Mr Jackson met in 2016 and went on to have a four-year relationship. When they broke up in 2021, Mr Jackson allegedly shared her nudes on Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, and Pornhub. The woman’s attorney Jacob Schiffer said that Mr Jackson had access to a camera system installed on her mother’s property as well as her login information for several social media and email accounts. Mr Schiffer said Mr Jackson would even hack into the woman’s Zoom meetings to show her nudes. “Every day was me, wake up, I’m checking, I’m trying to prevent it, I’m trying to constrain it,” the woman recounted to ABC. At one point, her attorney told ABC, Mr Jackson reportedly emailed her: “...won’t change the fact that you will spend the rest of your life trying and failing to wipe yourself off the internet. Everyone you ever meet will hear the story and go looking.” The Independent could not find legal representation listed for Mr Jackson. The victim said that she unsuccessfully asked police for help and after a year of living in fear that more of her pictures would be shared online, she hired legal counsel. Mr Schiffer said that while he doesn’t expect Mr Jackson to pay the money, he hopes the hefty sum sends a message. “For the future, anyone thinking of wanting to do this to somebody else that is going to weigh on them like a ball and chain until the date that they’re buried,” Mr Shiffer said. Sharing intimate material without a person’s consent is considered a felony. It is unclear whether the victim plans to file criminal charges. The Independent has reached out to the woman’s attorneys. Read More Four in 10 women have experienced or witnessed sexual harassment on social media, research has found Thirteen-year-old girl is forced to give birth under Mississippi abortion ban How a law associated with mobsters could be central in possible charges against Trump