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Virtual Taekwondo Takes the Contact Out of a Combat Sport

The contactless version of the Korean martial art is making its debut at this year’s Asian Games. Critics say it’s a glorified video game.
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The best kettles in the UK to save energy and speed up your cuppa, tested

We boiled litres of water to find the best electric kettles, from hard-water heroes to vintage-style, repairable and wifi-connected models

• The best air fryers, tried and tested for crisp and crunch

Despite the march of progress, the humble kettle remains a kitchen staple. It’s what we turn to in times of strife, when spirits are flagging, or to start our day. When a visitor calls, one of the first things we often do is put the kettle on.

Many small appliances have evolved beyond their original form, but the kettle’s basic principles remain largely unchanged. Water goes in and heats until a thermostat switches it off; the water then pours out, and we enjoy a cuppa. However, the technology that goes into a kettle has been slowly improving: better insulation to keep water hotter for longer and reduce reboils; different temperature settings to suit every drink from green tea to herbal brews; and more features such as filters and concealed elements to keep scale out of our cups.

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© Composite: PR IMAGE

© Composite: PR IMAGE

© Composite: PR IMAGE

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Three Roman Desert Camps May Reveal a Hidden Campaign Against Nabataea

The desert north of Arabia has kept a Roman military story out of sight for almost two thousand years. Now three angular traces in the landscape are giving archaeologists a possible route to follow. Researchers working with satellite imagery have identified three Roman marching camps in the Harrat al-Shaam region, close to the ancient frontier […]

The post Three Roman Desert Camps May Reveal a Hidden Campaign Against Nabataea appeared first on Curiosmos.

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La Brea Tar Pits Yield New Species of Ice Age Toad

Reconstruction of Spea labreae (center and right) in La Brea Tar Pits compared with Spea hammondii (left), the species currently present in the area, and the presence of the Mexican burrowing toad (bottom). Image credit: Arturo Dávalos.

Paleontologists studying the La Brea Tar Pits, one of the world’s richest Ice Age fossil sites, have identified a previously unknown species of spadefoot toad that lived in what is now California during the latest Ice Age.

The post La Brea Tar Pits Yield New Species of Ice Age Toad appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Mexico Declares War on Stinky Seaweed

A changing climate is helping to fuel the growth of a gigantic blob of foul-smelling seaweed that has washed up in some coastal communities. Mexico is fighting back.

© Fernando Llano/Associated Press

Members of the Mexican Navy removed sargassum from the shore at Puerto Morelos, on the Caribbean coast, last week.
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244-Million-Year-Old Fossil Preserves Earliest Reptilian Digestive System

Life reconstruction of Austronaga minuta. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

An exquisitely preserved specimen of Austronaga minuta, a small, long-necked marine reptile from the Triassic of China, contains a fossilized stomach, liver and intestines, offering paleontologists their oldest detailed glimpse yet of how early reptiles digested food.

The post 244-Million-Year-Old Fossil Preserves Earliest Reptilian Digestive System appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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FTSE 100 on track for best month since first US attacks on Iran five months ago – as it happened

Live, rolling coverage as London’s biggest companies defy Middle East disruption and UK petrol prices rise to around £1.60 per litre, the highest since Donald Trump ordered renewed strikes

The story piquing the interest of the financial press this morning is that of Leopold Aschenbrenner, the AI Wunderkind (he’s German-born) who has been forced to sell off his fund in a fire sale after the AI boom ran out of steam.

The 24-year-old had persuaded a lot of people to give him a lot of money for a hedge fund, after previously working for OpenAI and the FTX Future Fund, a charitable arm of the fraudulent crypto empire of Sam Bankman-Fried, who is now in prison. Aschenbrenner ploughed that money into debt-fuelled bets on artificial intelligence companies, earning huge returns until he found out that stocks can also fall.

The trader dubbed the “Nostradamus of AI” would have been hard-pressed to foresee how quickly his high-flying hedge fund would run into trouble.

The firm’s rapid downward spiral is a familiar tale, as Silicon Valley and Wall Street once again threw their weight behind a bright-eyed but untested investor who promised this time would be different. “Everybody always wants to find the next golden child,” said one longtime hedge fund executive. “It just keeps happening.”

In less than 24 hours — which included a conversation between Griffin and Aschenbrenner — Griffin’s Citadel hedge fund reached out to Situational Awareness and snapped up the investments at a discount, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified citing private information.

It was a startling reversal for Aschenbrenner, a former researcher at OpenAI who – before starting his hedge fund roughly two years ago — had no previous investment experience. His fledging firm has watched its assets plunge from $45bn at the start of July to about $10bn.

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© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

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Planificadores do IKEA: as ferramentas gratuitas que permitem desenhar cada divisão de casa antes de comprar qualquer coisa

Do roupeiro PAX à cozinha completa, passando pela sala, casa de banho e escritório, os Planificadores do IKEA permitem visualizar, personalizar e testar combinações de móveis e espaços em 3D directamente no browser.

The post Planificadores do IKEA: as ferramentas gratuitas que permitem desenhar cada divisão de casa antes de comprar qualquer coisa appeared first on Tek Notícias.

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Last European Hunter-Gatherers Colonized Central Mediterranean Islands Before the Advent of Agriculture

The publication in the journal PNAS Nexus of new evidence from Malta has shaken the foundations of what was believed about the maritime capabilities of the last hunter-gatherers in Europe. The discovery that the central Mediterranean islands were colonized before the invention of agriculture directly contradicts decades of established conceptions, which placed the development of […]

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Tankers Sail Through Red Sea Despite Houthi Blockade

Dozens of ships continued to traverse the Red Sea this week, but with scattered disruption, uncertainty about the passage grows by the hour.

© Leanne Abraham/The New York Times

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Early Miocene Fossil Rewrites Family Tree of Little Carnivorous Marsupials

An artist’s reconstruction of Miyumba chrisdickmani in the Early Miocene rainforests of northern Australia. Image credit: Nellie Pease.

Paleontologists at the University of New South Wales have described a new genus and species of dasyurid marsupial from the Early Miocene of Australia, offering the first solid evidence that the family Dasyuridae -- which today includes quolls, Tasmanian devils and tiny antechinuses -- existed long before scientists had proof of it in the fossil record.

The post Early Miocene Fossil Rewrites Family Tree of Little Carnivorous Marsupials appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Il risveglio dopo la polvere: A un quarto di secolo dall'eruzione del 2000,…

Il risveglio dopo la polvere: A un quarto di secolo dall'eruzione del 2000, la cortina di polveri attorno al sistema binario V445 Puppis si è diradata. Un team guidato da John Mills (Università di Warwick) ha analizzato i dati combinati di VLT, Hubble, SALT e TESS, osservando per la prima volta la coppia di stelle al centro del residuo.
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Taco Bell iceberg lettuce identified as source of cyclosporiasis in 5 states

Federal officials on Friday announced that shredded iceberg lettuce imported from Mexico and served at Taco Bell restaurants in five states is a source of Cyclospora, the foodborne parasite causing the nationwide surge in cases of explosive, watery diarrhea. The five states are Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.

A traceback investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration identified a single supplier in Mexico as the source of iceberg lettuce for Taco Bell restaurants where sick people reported eating. While federal authorities did not name the supplier, sources told the Washington Post that it is Taylor Farms.

Taylor Farms was also implicated in a 2024 multi-state E. coli outbreak linked to contaminated onions served at McDonald's and other fast-food restaurants. At the time, FDA inspectors found multiple violations at a Taylor Farms facility in Colorado.

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© Getty | Mario Tama

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Scientists Discover a 5-Million-Year-Old Whale Graveyard Deep Beneath the Indian Ocean

Whale Skeleton Dark Lava RockA deep ocean whale graveyard is revealing new clues about whale evolution and the ecosystems that form around their remains. When a whale dies, its body can become the beginning of an entire deep ocean ecosystem. For a time, the carcass may drift at the surface, drawing sharks and other predators. Eventually, after weathering and [...]
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