Some of Europe’s biggest insurers are underwriting close to a third of the coal production that takes place

A new study into the Earth beneath our feet has discovered that an ancient ocean floor structure could be wrapped around the planet's core which could be taller that Mount Everest in some areas. A brand new high-resolution mapping of the core has uncovered things that scientists previously didn't know according to a study that was first published in April. The discovery found that a thin but dense layer sits at around 2,900 kilometers below the surface at the Core Mantle Boundary where rocks meet the molten outer core of the planet. Geologist Samantha Hansen from the University of Alabama is quoted in the study saying: "Seismic investigations, such as ours, provide the highest resolution imaging of the interior structure of our planet, and we are finding that this structure is vastly more complicated than once thought." She adds: "Our research provides important connections between shallow and deep Earth structure and the overall processes driving our planet.” Hansen and her team conducted the research from 15 different stations in Antarctica by using seismic waves created by Earthquakes to create a map of what the inside of the planet looks like. The team identified the unexpected energy within seconds of the boundary-reflected wave from the seismic data. The findings show that although the layer is very thin it does spread for many, many kilometers and has been called the ultra-low velocity zone (ULVZs) due to its strong wave speed reductions. Due to the properties of the ULVZs the experts believe that the layer could vary dramatically in height. Geophysicist Edward Garnero from Arizona State University adds: "The material's thickness varies from a few kilometers to [tens] of kilometers. This suggests we are seeing mountains on the core, in some places up to five times taller than Mt. Everest." These underground mountains could play a significant role in how heat escapes from the Earth's core and power magnetic fields and volcanic eruptions. The team's studies suggest that the layer could encase all of the core but further research will have to be carried out to determine if that is the case. 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.

Explore the details of what transpired in the video, the whereabouts of these two internet personalities, and the reasons behind Speed's 'possession'

Back in October, we said the 2022 HP Envy 16 passed its legendary Apple and

Stablecoin issuer Tether has added Britannia Bank & Trust, a privately-held bank operating in the Bahamas, to process

By Johan Ahlander and Tom Little MALMO (Reuters) -Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was found guilty of disobeying a police

HP Inc. is increasing its annual dividend by 5%, Silk Road Medical reduces full-year revenue guidance, and Birkenstock makes its trading debut Wednesday.

A federal judge has struck down a Texas law requiring age verification and health warnings to view pornographic websites and blocked the state attorney general’s office from enforcing it

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2023--

One of the pioneers of artificial intelligence has warned the government is not safeguarding against the dangers posed by future super-intelligent machines. Professor Stuart Russell told The Times ministers were favouring a light touch on the burgeoning AI industry, despite warnings from civil servants it could create an existential threat. A former adviser to both Downing Street and the White House, Prof Russell is a co-author of the most widely used AI textbook and lectures on computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He told The Times a system similar to ChatGPT – which has passed exams and can compose prose – could form part of a super-intelligence machine which could not be controlled. “How do you maintain power over entities more powerful than you – forever?” he asked. “If you don’t have an answer, then stop doing the research. It’s as simple as that. “The stakes couldn’t be higher: if we don’t control our own civilisation, we have no say in whether we continue to exist.” In March, he co-signed an open letter with Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak warning of the “out-of-control race” going on at AI labs. The letter warned the labs were developing “ever more powerful digital minds that no one, not even their creators, can understand, predict or reliably control”. Prof Russell has worked for the UN on a system to monitor the nuclear test-ban treaty and was asked to work with the Government earlier this year. “The Foreign Office … talked to a lot of people and they concluded that loss of control was a plausible and extremely high-significance outcome,” he said. “And then the government came out with a regulatory approach that says: ‘Nothing to see here… we’ll welcome the AI industry as if we were talking about making cars or something like that’.” He said making changes to the technical foundations of AI to add necessary safeguards would take “time that we may not have”. “I think we got something wrong right at the beginning, where we were so enthralled by the notion of understanding and creating intelligence, we didn’t think about what that intelligence was going to be for,” he said. We've sort of got the message and we're scrambling around trying to figure out what to do Professor Stuart Russell “Unless its only purpose is to be a benefit to humans, you are actually creating a competitor – and that would be obviously a stupid thing to do. “We don’t want systems that imitate human behaviour… you’re basically training it to have human-like goals and to pursue those goals. “You can only imagine how disastrous it would be to have really capable systems that were pursuing those kinds of goals.” He said there were signs of politicians becoming aware of the risks. “We’ve sort of got the message and we’re scrambling around trying to figure out what to do,” he said. “That’s what it feels like right now.” The government has launched the AI Foundation Model Taskforce which it says will “lay the foundations for the safe use of foundation models across the economy and ensure the UK is at the forefront of this pivotal AI technology”. Read More ChatGPT creators try to use artificial intelligence to explain itself – and come across major problems Artificial intelligence could ‘transform’ heart attack diagnosis, scientists say Hackers aim to find flaws in AI - with White House help ChatGPT user in China detained for creating and spreading fake news, police say Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 14, 2023--

MrBeast, besides being the most followed creator on YouTube, has now added a further accolade to his social media resume by becoming the most followed person on Threads in a staggeringly quick time as well as taking a swipe at Elon Musk in the process. Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson, quickly amassed more than one million followers (2.8 million at the time of writing) on the new social media app created by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, which was launched late on July 5th. Donaldson actually has more followers than Zuckerberg who still has an impressive 2 million followers to his name. However, Donaldson was the first person on the platform to reach one million therefore the record will always stand with him. Much of this record will be down to how easy it is for Instagram users to sign up for Threads which also allows users to easily follow everyone that they already followed on Instagram. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter MrBeast, for instance, has 38.6 million followers on Instagram so expect his Threads followers total to grow and grow in the next few days. His first Thread on the platform read: "Sooooo, how long until we're also addicted to this app? Lol." He did though appear to take a thinly veiled dig at Twitter owner Elon Musk. In one post the 25-year-old wrote: "To celebrate Threads launching, I'm gonna give this Tesla to a random follower in 48 hours. Rethread so people are aware." Donaldson then posted a picture of himself next to the Tesla in question which had a huge Threads logo on the bonnet. For those that aren't aware, Elon Musk also owns Tesla and might not be too happy about seeing a rivals logo on one of his cars. There doesn't appear to be any bad blood between Musk and Donaldson as the two have previously teased a collaboration on Twitter. However, the YouTuber has also teased working with Amazon owner Jeff Bezos so he's clearly keeping the billionaires of the world close to him. 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.