The malware hit facilities on Guam that would be critical to any US response to an invasion of Taiwan.

Shares of Apple fell by 3.4% on Thursday following reports that China plans to expand a ban on the use of iPhones to government-backed agencies and companies.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2023--

ROME Italy's antitrust agency AGCM said on Thursday it had opened a probe into U.S. technology giant Apple

The meaning of life is the ultimate mystery – why do we exist? And is there a point to… well… anything? These are questions to which we may never find answers, but at least we can define what “life” means in scientific terms. And yet, our understanding of what life is is changing all the time, thanks to space exploration. As scientists continue to hunt for life beyond our own world, biologists are having to rethink the meaning of the word “life” itself. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Generally, biologists explain “life” as connoting a self-sustaining chemical system which is capable of performing functions such as eating, metabolising, excreting, breathing, moving, growing, reproducing, and responding to external stimuli. This definition works pretty well here on Earth (although there are some important exceptions, such as viruses), but experts have pointed out that if life exists elsewhere in the universe, it may not display the same properties that we’re used to. Indeed, it might be unrecognisable as life as we know it (forget those little green men). In which case, how will we spot it if it ever crosses our path? Astrobiologist Sara Imari Walker and chemist Lee Cronin think they’ve come up with a solution. The pair are now arguing that highly complex molecules found in all living creatures can’t exist thanks purely to chance. Therefore, they say, the universe must have a way of creating and reproducing complex information and retaining a “memory” of all of this.. In an interview with New Scientist, Walker, of Arizona State University, explained their radical idea on how objects come into existence. The concept, known as Assembly Theory, explains why certain complex objects have become more abundant than others by considering their histories. If the theory proves correct, it will redefine what we mean by “living” things and show that we’ve been going about the search for extraterrestrial life all wrong. In the process, we could even end up creating alien life in a laboratory, she stressed. In her discussion with New Scientist, Walker pointed out: "An electron can be made anywhere in the universe and has no history. You are also a fundamental object, but with a lot of historical dependency. You might want to cite your age counting back to when you were born, but parts of you are billions of years older. "From this perspective, we should think of ourselves as lineages of propagating information that temporarily finds itself aggregated in an individual." Assembly theory predicts that molecules produced by biological processes must be more complex than those produced by non-biological processes, as Science Alert notes. To test this, Walker and her team analysed a range of organic and inorganic compounds from around the world and outer space, including E. coli bacteria, urine, meteorites and even home-brewed beer. They then smashed up the compounds into smaller pieces and used mass spectrometry to pinpoint their molecular building blocks. They calculated that the smallest number of steps required to reassemble each compound from these building blocks was 15. And whilst some compounds from living systems needed fewer than 15 assembly steps, no inorganic compounds made it above this threshold. "Our system … allows us to search the universe agnostically for evidence of what life does rather than attempting to define what life is," Walker, Cronin, and others wrote in a 2021 Nature Communications article. The handy thing about this building block system – which they’ve dubbed the “'molecular assembly index” – is that it doesn’t rely on carbon-based organic materials to be identified. In other words, an alien could be made of entirely different stuff entirely and we’d still be able to spot it as life using the index. It also works regardless of what stage of “life” an extraterrestrial being is in – whether it is still in its infancy or has moved into a technological stage beyond our understanding. That’s because all of these states produce complex molecules which couldn’t exist in the absence of a living system. If all of this is hurting your head, let’s just get back to the basics: if there is a secret to life, it might all be down to what we do, not what we are. 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.

AP Moller-Maersk A/S, Port of Rotterdam, Bouygues SA and Yapi Merkezi are among companies that have been asked

Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. agreed to acquire NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. in an all-stock deal worth $1.9 billion that

The effects of long Covid are still being uncovered by experts, and now doctors have been studying a rare complication that saw a man’s legs turn purple. A new research paper has been released which looks into the case of a 33-year-old man who had been infected with Covid 18 months earlier and experienced difficulties when standing up. His legs would turn purple when he did so, as well as tingling and itching, but things would return to normal when he lay down. The odd condition was diagnosed as POTS dysautonomia. This was determined after his pulse was found to rise to 127 beats per minute when standing, as well as feeling shaky and unsteady on his feet. The paper leads on from previous studies, which detected POTS in 20 people after they developed a Covid-19 infection. According to the new study published in The Lancet, there is "evidence is growing of a link between long Covid and POTS dysautonomia”. The paper’s co-author Dr Manoj Sivan said in a statement: "This was a striking case of acrocyanosis in a patient who had not experienced it before his Covid-19 infection. "Patients experiencing this may not be aware that it can be a symptom of long Covid and dysautonomia and may feel concerned about what they are seeing. Similarly, clinicians may not be aware of the link between acrocyanosis and long Covid." Dr Sivan added: "We need to ensure that there is more awareness of dysautonomia in long Covid so that clinicians have the tools they need to manage patients appropriately." 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.

By Sarah Wu HSINCHU, Taiwan (Reuters) -Taiwan's chip industry is ready to work with the government to achieve its 2050

A marriage proposal at Super Nintendo World has gone viral online due to the character Luigi’s hilarious reaction. Fans of the Nintendo games have been able to enjoy the Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios in California since it opened in early 2023. For one superfan, he decided it was the perfect time and place for a wedding proposal and the clip was shared online after being caught on camera. In the video, a man and woman could be seen standing between the dressed-up characters of Mario and Luigi. He got on one knee and opened a ring box to pop the question. While the character of Mario displayed the appropriate level of excitement by mimicking a look of excitement and shock, the Luigi character simply stood there with his hands on his hips. When Luigi noticed what was going on, his reaction was still fairly muted and it has left viewers in hysterics. @bellabelli260 #nintendoworld #supermario #proposal #universalstudioshollywood #engagement #happilyeverafter #engagementring #supernintendoworld #mariobros #california #hollywood #supernintendoworldhollywood #supernintendo #peaches #mario #luigi #engaged One person commented: “Luigi: I do not see it.” “Luigi did NOT care,” said another. Someone else wrote: “Luigi not noticing till later is cannon.” Another commented: “LUIGI IS SENDING ME.” Others commented on the sound effects in the background that come from the Super Mario Bros video game. One TikToker argued: “Can you imagine being proposed to and in the background Mario is just blabbing about 'its Mario time!’” 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.

STANFORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 14, 2023--

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada on Monday banned Chinese messaging application WeChat and Russian antivirus program Kaspersky on government-issued mobile devices due