Scientists discover huge caves made by giant sloths
A number of huge tunnels that were discovered in South America at the turn of the century may have been made by giant sloths. At the turn of the century, professor of geology, Heinrich Frank, spotted a strange hole on a highway in Brazil, and crawled inside. There, he realised the tunnel was 4.5 meters (15 feet) long. He also found a collection of giant claw marks on the ceiling. “There’s no geological process in the world that produces long tunnels with a circular or elliptical cross-section, which branch and rise and fall, with claw marks on the walls,” Frank told Discover, adding he's "seen dozens of caves that have inorganic origins, and in these cases, it’s very clear that digging animals had no role in their creation.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The tunnel, along with many others that he and others discovered in Brazil and Argentina, are thought to be made by extinct giant sloths 8-10,000 years ago that were around the size of an African elephant. In the Rio Grande do Sul area, Frank and his team found over 1,500 tunnels made by these sloths beasts, with the longest stretching for 609 meters (2,000 feet) and standing at 1.8 meters (6 feet) tall. Goodness. 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.
2023-05-13 17:17
Tech Addiction Is Real: How to Cut Back on Screen Time and Wean Off Social Media
How often do you look at your phone a day? According to an Asurion study,
2023-05-13 05:27
Pakistan shut down the internet - but that didn't stop the protests
Millions were plunged offline after Imran Khan's arrest but the blackout hasn't stopped protests.
2023-05-13 05:27
Domino’s and AI create national dish-inspired pizza toppings for Eurovision final
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.
2023-05-12 23:52
Patient receives 'major injuries' after mistakenly wearing metallic sex toy to MRI scan
One unfortunate patient found out the hard way why you shouldn’t wear metal during an MRI after a butt plug they were using shot through their body. A post on Twitter that appeared to show a scan of a butt plug that caused “major injuries” lodged high up in someone’s body as a result of an MRI scan has gone viral, undoubtedly making many people clench in the process. In the post by Twitter user @BradiusZero, he explained why you should “Never wear a butt plug to your MRI appointment” and shared an image of a scan that appeared to show a butt plug lodged in a person's chest cavity. Alonside the image, a separate text message read: “Greatest personal injury case I've ever heard. An estimated Valley attorney, has picked up a client who is suing a sex toy company. Said client purchased a butt plug that was advertised as ‘100 percent silicone’. Client wears butt plug to MRI appointment. “Much to client's dismay, butt plug in fact has a metallic core. Butt plug is accelerated at the speed of sound…into client's chest cavity. Described in memo as an ‘anal rail gun’. Client survived with major injuries.” The post has been viewed 10.8 million times with many speculating on what was going on there. One person tweeted: “I’m glad they’re alive but I can’t help but think that the patient was trying to intentionally shock the doctors upon doing the MRI scan as a joke and it went horribly wrong.” Wearing metal in an MRI can be dangerous due to the magnetic force that is created by the machines which is approximately 1,000 times stronger than a typical fridge magnet. 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.
2023-05-12 19:55
4 Android 14 Features We're Excited to Try
The headliner at I/O 2023 was Google's upcoming Search Generative Experience, a new AI-driven approach
2023-05-12 03:52
Can You Play Commander on MTG Arena?
Commander is one of the most popular Magic: The Gathering formats, but Commander players have to get creative on MTG Arena.
2023-05-12 01:55
Wes Anderson actor slams 'bulls**t' Lord of the Rings AI parody of the director
The actor Jared Gilman, best known for his role in Wes Anderson's 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom has branded a new AI trend surrounding the director as "bulls**t." If you aren't aware, a YouTube channel called Curious Refuge has been using artificial intelligence to create trailers for famous movies but reimagining them as if they were directed by Anderson in his typical whimsical aesthetic. Earlier this month a version of Star Wars directed by Wes Anderson went viral and immediately caused some division with many fans wishing it was a real movie while others felt that the trailer missed the point of what makes Star Wars and Anderson movies great. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter Now Curious Refuge have used AI to imagine what a Wes Anderson Lord of the Rings film would be like. The trailer called 'The Whimsical Fellowship' features all your favourite Tolkien characters but this time they are played by the likes of Timothee Chalamet, Ben Stiller, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Owen Wilson to name a few. Lord of the Rings by Wes Anderson Trailer | The Whimsical Fellowship www.youtube.com While the clip has already gone viral again, 24-year-old Gilman, who has also starred in the Jim Jarmusch film Paterson wasn't as enthusiastic about it. He tweeted a version of the Return of the King title and instead changed it to read 'Return of the Wes Anderson AI bulls**t.' Gilman's tweet also went viral and one person asked him: "I'm assuming he texts you every time one of these comes out asking 'have u seen this?'" The actor replied: "Lmao I hope he never sees any of them." Meanwhile, Anderson's next real film Asteroid City is set for release on June 23rd and stars Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, Maya Hawke and Jason Schwartzman. 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.
2023-05-11 23:49
Scientists discover mystery behind 'runaway supermassive black hole'
There’s a “runaway” black hole which has been speeding through the universe and mystifying the scientific community – or so we thought. Now, a possible explanation has been found that could explain the unusual, long star structures which have been observed over recent weeks. Last month, scientists thought they’d discovered something very unusual, with a trail of stars observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Some believed then that they were the result of a black hole creating eye-catching formations. Yale University researchers also posited the theory that the formation after two galaxies merged together millions of years ago. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter However, a new possible explanation from scientists at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) suggests that it is in fact just a flat or thin galaxy. “The motions, the size, and the quantity of stars fits what has been seen in galaxies within the local universe,” said Jorge Sanchez Almeida, an IAC researcher who is the first author of the article, in a statement. “It’s a relief to have found the solution to this mystery, the new proposed scenario is much simpler. In one sense it is also a pity, because the existence of fleeing black holes is expected, and this could have been the first one to be observed.” The team published its findings in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics under the title “Supermassive black hole wake or bulgeless edge-on galaxy?”. They compared the unusual feature to a galaxy IC5249 and found it to be similar. They found that it was surprisingly similar. The stars were moving in similar ways to those found in closer, comparative galaxies, researchers said. “We also looked at the relation between the mass of the assumed galaxy and its maximum velocity of rotation, and discovered that indeed it is a galaxy which behaves like a galaxy,” said Ignacio Trujillo, an IAC researcher who worked on the study. “It is an interesting object, because it is quite a large galaxy at a very large distance from Earth, where the majority of the galaxies are smaller.” 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.
2023-05-11 21:53
MTG Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin Combo Explained
Magic: The Gathering Standard has a new two-card combo that instantly wins games. Here's how it works.
2023-05-11 08:26
MTN Is Said in Advanced Talks to Sell Some West African Assets
MTN Group Ltd. is in advanced talks with Axian Group Ltd. to sell some of its West African
2023-05-10 23:20
Chinese spacecraft returns to Earth after 276 day mystery mission
Space is full of mysteries which we will never likely solve but, generally, we at least know a thing or two about craft we send out into the cosmos. Not so, when it comes to one probe which has just touched back down on Earth after 276 days in orbit. The experimental spacecraft was launched by China’s space agency, ostensibly to test the nation’s reusable space technologies. According to state media agency Xinhua News, the mission’s aim was to help with the development of “more convenient and affordable round-trip methods for the peaceful use of space in the future”. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter That all sounds pretty similar to what SpaceX and NASA are up to, except that the Chinese spacecraft and its journey have been shrouded in secrecy. No information has been released on the altitude it reached or the systems it tested. We don’t even know where it went or, indeed, what kind of spacecraft it was – not a single image has been released to the public. Commentators on Chinese social media have speculated that Beijing has been developing a spacecraft like the UAir Force's X-37B, an autonomous spaceplane that can remain in orbit for years. However, no one knows how well this is going nor, indeed, if it’s going at all. All we do know about China’s latest unidentified flying object is that it was launched from the Jiquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert on August 5, 2022 and returned to the same site on 8 May, 2023. It follows an earlier mission, carried out in July last year, which saw a Chinese spacecraft fly to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere and back on the same day. The country’s main space contractor, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), hailed the success of the craft’s brief celestial jaunt at the time. It gushed: "The development of reusable space transportation technology is an important symbol of China's transition from a 'big' space-faring nation to a 'powerful' space-faring one.” 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.
2023-05-10 20:59