List of All Articles with Tag 'tec'

Is there life on Mars? Well, according to new research, an alien crash landing there could explain puzzling new findings on the surface of the Red Planet. It comes after Nasa’s Curiosity Rover captured images of spiked protrusions on the surface back in April. The strange formations captured in the pictures seem to show a row of spikes and sharp angles emerging from rocks at the base of the Gale Crater, which is 154km long. The odd discovery has put scientists on high alert and it marks one of the most peculiar things ever recorded on the surface of Mars. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Astrobiologist Dr Nathalie Cabrol, who is from the NASA Ames Research Centre and Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, even said that it’s the “most bizarre” rock she’s seen in 20 years of studying the planet. The findings are so irregular, in fact, that experts cannot rule out the idea that they’re extraterrestrial in origin. “A fragment from an extraterrestrial or terrestrial spacecraft cannot be discounted with absolute certainty” the authors of new research published in the Journal of Astrobiology stated. The odd protrusions could be “sand spikes”, which form in certain sands as a result of strong earthquakes. Another theory posits that the formation could be debris from crashed spacecraft, and authors of the study have not ruled out that it could be the result of crafts launched by humans landing on the surface. "Given that possibly 10 or more craft have crashed upon the surface, coupled with the jettison of equipment associated with landing the rovers, it is possible the spikes and its substrate are human-made and consist of debris that fell onto the surface of Gale Crater," the paper reads. “Nevertheless, no debris field is evident and no evidence of any additional debris that may have originated on Earth. “Given its small size and that there are no known human-made analogs and no logical explanation as to what purpose these spikes may serve, it does not seem likely these specimens are the remnants of craft or equipment that fell into Gale Crater. One can only speculate about extraterrestrial origin." However, speaking to The Telegraph, Prof Richard Armstrong, of Aston University, Birmingham said: “There is no way of proving for certain what the spikes are but the balance of the evidence would suggest ‘sand spikes’ resulting from seismic activity on Mars.” 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.

Elon Musk may face legal difficulties after rebranding Twitter to X, trademark experts have warned, with tech rivals Meta and Microsoft both owning intellectual property rights for the letter. The tech billionaire renamed the social network on Monday, nine months after taking over the company in a $44 billion deal. The name change forms part of his plan to turn the platform into an “everything app”, which will offer services akin to China’s WeChat and India’s PayTM. X chief executive Linda Yaccarino said the company wanted to “transform the global town square” to integrate payments, banking and create a “global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities”. Before achieving this goal, however, IP lawyers claim Mr Musk’s firm may face challenges from its competitors. “There’s a 100 per cent chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody,” US trademark lawyer Josh Gerben told Reuters, noting that there are nearly 900 active US trademark registrations that already cover the letter X. These include Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which owns a federal trademark for a blue-and-white letter ‘X’ relating to “social networking services in the fields of entertainment, gaming and application development”. Microsoft also has registered trademarks for the letter ‘X’ relating to its Xbox video game console. Neither company responded to a request for comment. Mr Musk first owned the X.com domain in 1999, when he founded a financial services company that later went on to become PayPal. He reacquired the domain in 2017 after making a deal with his former company, before tweeting in October 2022 that buying Twitter was “an accelerant to creating X, the everything app”. It is not clear whether Mr Musk has applied for a trademark for X, but if he succeeds he may still face difficulties in protecting the registered rights against other brands using the letter. “The very essence of trade mark registration is obtaining an exclusive right to the brand that is registered,” Matthew Harris, a trademark lawyer with Pinsent Masons, told The Independent. “It may be difficult to obtain for Elon Musk under the ‘X’ rebrand, not to mention the difficulty, should he obtain registered protection, in trying to enforce any registered rights in ‘X’ against other brands using a similar name.” Read More What is Elon Musk’s ‘everything app’ X? Twitter to X: Why Elon Musk rebranded the social networking platform Twitter rebrands to X as Elon Musk loses iconic bird logo What is Elon Musk’s ‘everything app’ X?

(Corrects to add source in headline) (Reuters) -TikTok is planning to launch in early August an e-commerce platform to sell

Elon Musk's move over the weekend to rebrand Twitter and replace its iconic bird logo with an X is just the latest step in his effort to make over the billionaire's longtime favorite platform in his image.

Elon Musk’s decision to change the Twitter logo to an X has been mocked for looking like a porn site, with pictures to prove it. Since his takeover of the social media platform Twitter, Musk has made multiple significant changes that have left users baffled. Some changes affect the way users are able to interact with others, based on their verified (i.e. paid for) status, while other changes are more superficial. The latest idea has seen Musk change the iconic blue bird logo of 15 years, replacing it with a white X on a black background that many have compared with porn sites. Porn sites such as XVideos and XNXX feature logos that are variations of the letter X and comedian Jesse McLaren pointed out how true the comparisons are after sharing a screenshot of a Google Chrome page with six tabs all bearing logos that are very similar. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter McLaren wrote: “These are all porn except one. That one's Twitter.” The tweet has been viewed over 4 million times and sparked a conversation about the design of the logo. Someone commented: “It’s the fact that if I had to guess which one out of these was a porn site, my immediate first guess would be the Twitter one.” Another said: “I have a feeling that this will become an interesting case study in marketing and branding classes.” “Unethical, degrading, and perverted. Also there are some porn sites there I guess,” one Twitter user joked. Someone else argued: “Twitter is a porn site too.” Industry experts have cast doubt over Musk’s rebrand decision, particularly at a time when other competitors such as Meta’s Threads have entered the market. Mike Proulx, research director at the analysis firm Forrester, told the Guardian: “By changing Twitter’s app name, Elon Musk will have singlehandedly wiped out over 15 years of a brand name that has secured its place in our cultural lexicon.” He continued: “This is an extremely risky move, because with ‘X’, Musk is essentially starting over while its competition is afoot.” 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.

TikTok will now allow users to post text-only content for the first time in a challenge to Elon Musk's beleaguered X, formerly known as Twitter.

An NHS doctor and TikTok star has revealed the most dangerous sex position – which he says is the cause of 50% of penis fractures. Dr Karan Rajan, a surgical doctor, shares his experience and knowledge with his 5.1 million followers on TikTok. In a video which has recently gone viral, Dr Karan told his followers about the sex position he thinks is most likely to lead to a hospital visit. He gives the title to the reverse cowgirl, as if there is any erratic thrusting during intercourse or if the two parties are not in sync, the penis can slip out and be crushed by their partner's pubic bone, causing a fracture. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Although the penis is boneless, the word 'fracture' is used to describe a tear in the tunica albuginea - a piece of fibrous tissue that connects the framework of the testis and allows the penis to enlarge during an erection. Patients who suffer from a ‘penile fracture’ and don’t have treatment, are usually left with erectile dysfunction, scarring and a permanent curvature of the penis for the rest of their lives. Dr Karan finished his educational video with a warning that over-enthusiastic sex, can lead to your penis really looking like an aubergine. @dr.karanr Reply to @budsfn the one with the broken ? #schoolwithdrkaran #learnontiktok #doctor #storytime The popular clip was posted back in 2021 but has recently gone viral, garnering millions of views and racking up 411,000 likes. Many of Dr Karan’s followers were saddened by the educational video, with one saying: “This is my favourite position,” followed by a sad face emoji. Someone else commented: “They can just break, did I hear...well now I can finally take revenge." Another viewer said: “My husband is now scared to come near me because of that.” A fourth added: “But that’s the best position." Dr Karan answered people who wanted evidence for these claims and said: “Men coming to the emergency room with this issue.” Some people were rather concerned, and one asked: “Just to clarify, by breaking it, will it look swollen and bigger? How long will this swelling last? Asking for a friend.” Another person wrote: “I heard mine crack from this position once." 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.

More than 1,500 app developers in the United Kingdom brought a £785 million ($1 billion) class action lawsuit against Apple Tuesday over its App Store fees.

Elon Musk's time at Twitter is going from bad to worse. The tech mogul has introduced a number of changes that have annoyed people since he bought the website last year, from making users pay for their blue ticks to letting controversial figures rejoin the platform. His latest crime is changing the iconic bird logo to an 'X' and people are fuming about it. So much so that it is driving people away from the platform into the arms of other social media apps. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter With that in mind, those social media platforms waiting with open arms are making changes to their offering, and it looks like they are trying to replicate the Twitter experience. TikTok, for instance, has announced the introduction of text-only posts, which users will also be able to add coloured backgrounds and stickers to, and which have a limit of 1,000 words. It follows Threads, Instagram’s text-based app, which was launched earlier this month. While Threads saw 100 million people sign up in fewer than five days after its launch, the number of active daily users has since fallen by 70 per cent, Forbes reports. The moral of this story? Don't mess with a beloved social media app - people will only get annoyed. 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.

Bets that artificial intelligence will revolutionize Corporate America and deliver riches to the biggest companies behind it will

By Victor Goury-Laffont French software maker Dassault Systemes said revenue rose 5% in the second quarter, but shares

“A smart home is much better than a dumb home,” says Drew Scott. He and his brother, Jonathan