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Mars may once have had right conditions for RNA to develop into life

When Mars was young, parts of the planet may have been able to sustain RNA, a molecule that probably played a key role in the beginnings of life on Earth




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Mysterious crater on Mars could be a good place to look for life

Could life on Mars have hidden from extreme weather in a cavern on the Pavonis Mons volcano? This 2011 orbiter image of an otherworldly crater has NASA asking just that




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We know the best spots to look for alien life – can we get to them?

Extraterrestrial oceans are an obvious place to search for alien life, but getting there and having a look won't be easy, says NASA's Kevin Hand in his book Alien Oceans




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Transcripts Reveal the Lies of Schiff & Dems on Russia

The Trump-Russia collusion investigation was an elaborate and intentional hoax, staged by the most unscrupulous and power-mad political operatives this country has ever seen.




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Disney Research Makes Dynamic Robots Less Wiggly, More Lifelike

A new computational method allows robotic characters to perform fast motions without excessive vibrations




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AI and the Future of Work: The Economic Impacts of Artificial Intelligence

Experts discuss technological inequality and the “reskilling” problem at an MIT conference



  • robotics
  • robotics/artificial-intelligence

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Robot Gift Guide 2019

Over a dozen robots that we promise will make fantastic holiday gifts




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Video Friday: This Robot Refuses to Fall Down Even if You Hit, Shove It

Your weekly selection of awesome robot videos





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Agent payouts to shift stock

Agents are being offered double the normal commission to help shift apartments throughout capital cities.




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Oh, Internet: Artificial Intelligence Attempts To Create Additional Lyrics To Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up'

This is a video of the result of Youtuber Lil'Alien [Agentalex9 Alt.] feeding Rick Astley's rickrolling classic 'Never Gonna Give You Up' into the Jukebox neural network developed by OpenAI to create more song lyrics for the song. The music video consists of AI upscaled gifs from the original video. If you're really interested in the technology utilized and just what the hell is going on, there are a bunch of links on the video's Youtube page HERE. I just managed to watch the whole video and I can attest that, uh, that was really something. "Something good?" Haha, now let's not get ahead of ourselves. Keep going for whatever this is.




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The Circle Of Life: Praying Mantis Eating The Brain (And Rest) Of A 'Murder Hornet'

Because we don't have enough on our plates as it is, now we've got 'murder hornets' flying around the United States. Murder hornets (actually Asian Giant Hornets, but that name didn't strike enough fear into the masses) have a sting powerful enough that China recommends medical treatment if stunk more than ten times, and emergency treatment if stung more than 30. *pours out a little liquor for Macaulay Culkin in My Girl*. And where is his glasses?! He can't see without his glasses! Put his glasses on! Here's a video of Coyote Peterson getting stung by one (the Japanese Giant Hornet was previously believed to be a subspecies of the Asian Giant Hornet, but has since been recategorized as a color morph). This is a video of a praying mantis eating a Giant Asian hornet until it's just a pile of limbs. So yeah, praying mantises -- start breeding them. And make sure to selectively breed them too so we can produce them bigger and bigger until they're preying on us because the way things are going how is that not how this ends? Keep going for the video while I surround my Animal Crossings town with preying mantises to protect my villagers and keep my five-star rating (okay, three).




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FIFA 20 TOTS La Liga Predictions for next Team of the Season So Far players



FIFA 20 Team Of The Season So Far continues this week, hopefully with the release of the La Liga FUT Squad. Here some predictions on who might be included, plus when they'll be announced.




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Fortnite Party Royale Event Skin 'Nightlife' available from Epic Games Item Shop



The new Nightlife reactive skin is now live ahead of the Fortnite Party Royale event which starts later today.




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FIFA 20 TOTS Liga Nos Predictions for Portuguese Team of the Season So Far



FIFA 20 Team Of The Season So Far continues this week, hopefully with the additional release of the Portuguese Liga Nos FUT Squad. Here some predictions on who might be included, plus when they'll be announced.




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FIFA 20 TOTS Bundesliga Predictions & release delay for next Team of the Season



FIFA 20 Team Of The Season So Far continues this week, hopefully with the release of the Bundesliga FUT Squad. Here some predictions on who might be included, plus when they'll be announced.




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FIFA 20 TOTS La Liga Confirmed with New Team of the Season Ultimate Team Cards



FIFA 20 Team of the Season So Far Premier League Squad is now live and features Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann.




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RPGCast – Episode 321b: Extra Life 2014

Extra Life 2014 Details




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RPGCast – Episode 324: “Extra Life 2014”

We played some games, talked some news, and healed some kids. It was a good way to spend a Saturday. Thanks for your donations and...




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RPGCast – Episode 351: “E3 2015: Fallout Sheltered Life”

XSEED and Natsume make up. Chris rubs his sore feet. Emmanuel’s ear drums get blown out by a Shenmue fan. Alex is STILL posting stories....




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RPGCast – Episode 357: “Subscribe If You Like, Download If You Don’t”

Manny teaches us 20 girls Chinese. Anna Marie plays through the best games of the past decade. Chris plays more WoW, and…oh…what’s that? Clicker Heroes...




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RPGCast – Episode 365: “Extra Life 2015”

Sarah and Alice join Anna Marie and Chris for our annual charity podcast. Kids need healing, you need RPG news, and Alice needs to deliver...




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RPGCast – Episode 381: “Shoreleave in the Rift”

Alex and Anna had to rescue Chris from the Rift to do this week’s show. After their daring efforts, Alex tells about his deep love...




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RPGCast – Episode 386: “Uplift All Cockroaches”

Chris hugs his cat. Anna Marie hugs her Mindsona. Alex hugs his car. And Alice hugs a cockroach. Yeah, you had to be there. Now...




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RPGCast – Episode 392: “My Wife Is Easy”

This week we tell you how to handle those inconvenient leaks. Alex witches. Chris lawyers. Anna Marie retreats. Kelley arms. Johnathan G-Syncs. But let’s be...




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RPGCast – Episode 508: “I Need Waifus”

Fire Emblem Three Houses released this week and we're (almost) all playing it - but there's a bit of controversy afoot. Pascal talks about poor choices he's made in other games. And the news section is all twisty, tumbly, and turvy. Now back to our respective waifus, husbandos, and depressing games...sos.




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Ducklings spotted jumping off fifth floor balcony in Glasgow

A family of ducklings were spotted jumping off a flat in Glasgow as they left their nest for the first time.




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Coronavirus in Scotland: People could be isolated before knowing if they are positive

PEOPLE who are not positive for Covid-19 could be told to isolate from their families before test results are issued as a precaution, Scotland’s national clinical director has warned.




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Light touch: eight spring dresses to lift your spirits

Whether it’s printed and high-necked or floral and ruffled, brighten your lockdown by dressing up to stay in

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Dual personalities visualized for shape-shifting molecule

Researchers have made a breakthrough in understanding the structure of a key genetic molecule, called RNA, and revealing for the first time how these changes impact RNA's function. The research team developed a bioinformatics technique to resolve separate structures of RNA rather than viewing them as a 'blur' that averaged multiple structures. This underpinned their discovery that the structure of RNA can influence how cells function.




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Position statement addresses difficult issue: allocating scare resources in COVID-19 era

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented pressure on societies worldwide, given the pandemic's rapid, often deadly spread. In health care, the pandemic has raised the pressing question of how society should allocate scarce resources during a crisis.




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Sleep difficulties linked to altered brain development in infants who later develop autism

New research finds that sleep problems in a baby's first 12 months may not only precede an autism diagnosis, but also may be associated with altered growth trajectory in a key part of the brain, the hippocampus.




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If we want better conditions for Amazon staff we need to be patient…

The tech giant has often been accused of mistreating workers, but our desire for instant gratification is part of the problem

Tim Bray resigned as an Amazon vice-president last week. “Who he?” I hear you say. And why is this news significant? Answers: first, Bray is an ubergeek who’s an alumnus of many of the outfits in tech’s hall of fame (including DEC, Sun Microsystems, the OED project at the University of Waterloo, Google’s Android team and, eventually, Amazon Web Services); and second, he resigned on an issue of principle – something as rare as hen’s teeth in the tech industry.

In his blog, he wrote: “I quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of Covid-19.” It was an expensive decision. Bray said the decision to resign would probably cost him more than a million dollars in salary and shares, and that he regretted leaving a job he enjoyed, working with good colleagues. “So I’m pretty blue.”

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Circus of Books review – tender doc about family life and gay porn

An affectionate and absorbing documentary from film-maker Rachel Mason about her devout parents, who ran a famous adult bookstore in early-80s LA

Here is a documentary with an absorbing and unexpectedly complicated story to tell, whose paradoxes and sadnesses are not entirely resolved by the end. Artist and film-maker Rachel Mason has created an affectionate portrait of her elderly parents, Karen and Barry, who in many ways are like one of the (fictional) old couples in When Harry Met Sally.

Karen is a former journalist, devoutly Jewish, and Barry is a former special visual effects engineer who worked on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 and invented a modification for kidney dialysis machines. But they found themselves in a tough financial spot in the early 1980s and took over Circus of Books, a gay porn bookstore in Los Angeles that also sold movies called things like Confessions of a Two Dick Slut and Don’t Drop the Soap, and was one of Larry Flynt’s first distribution points. Under their shrewd management, the store boomed, opened another branch and became a well-known meeting place for LGBT people, while all the time, the Masons were a conventional family who kept their three children well away from the business. Karen movingly – and honestly – recounts how upset she was to discover that one of her sons was gay: the business and family life were that separate.

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Magnificent moms

Kevin Durant said it best when he received the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award for the 2013-14 season. He was the one on the court scoring more than 30 points per ......




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California Gov. Newsom Endorses Biden, Despite Attempts to Avoid Partisan Politics

"I just couldn't be more proud of you and the prospect of your presidency," Newsom told Biden Friday during a campaign event.





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Spiral Galaxies More Likely to Host Complex Life: Study

Giant elliptical galaxies are not as likely as previously thought to be cradles of complex life, according to a paper published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 2015, University of Durham astronomer Pratika Dayal and colleagues concluded that large elliptical galaxies have up to 10,000 times more habitable planets than the [...]




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Exoplanets with Hydrogen-Rich Atmospheres Could Harbor Simple Life Forms

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has demonstrated that single-celled microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae that normally do not inhabit hydrogen-rich environments can survive and grow in a 100% hydrogen atmosphere. “There’s a diversity of habitable worlds out there, and we have confirmed that Earth-based life can [...]




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Scientists Identify SARS-CoV-2-Neutralizing Antibody

A team of researchers from Utrecht University, the Erasmus Medical Center and Harbour BioMed has identified a human monoclonal antibody that neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1 coronaviruses in cell culture. Named 47D11, this cross-neutralizing antibody targets a communal epitope (antigenic determinant) on these viruses and may offer potential for prevention and treatment of COVID-19. “This research [...]




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NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Tracks Water Loss from Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

Astronomers using NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory have tracked water loss from 2I/Borisov, the first known interstellar comet to visit our Solar System, as it approached and rounded the Sun. Their findings were published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2I/Borisov was detected on August 30, 2019 by Gennady Borisov, an astronomer at the Crimean Astrophysical [...]




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TDP chief urges PM Modi to set up scientific experts' committee to probe Vizag gas leak incident




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UK's scientific advice on coronavirus is a cause for concern

The UK government has published details of the scientific advice behind its strategies to tackle the covid-19 outbreak, but outside experts say it is missing key points and hasn't been implemented properly




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We haven’t identified any new drugs for severe covid-19 cases yet

A number of potential drugs for treating the coronavirus are in trials. There are some promising candidates but it’s unclear if they’ll help those who need them most




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Which covid-19 patients will get a ventilator if there's a shortage?

If there's a ventilator shortage, doctors and ethicists say priority should be given to people with the best chance of recovery and most years likely left to live




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How DeepMind's artificial intelligence is reinventing the eye exam

Join Pearse Keane to find out why the NHS is collaborating with AI company DeepMind and how deep learning could transform ophthalmology




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Coronavirus will play out very differently in world's poorest nations

Cases of covid-19 have been slow to appear in developing economies, but now they are ramping up. Slums and refugee camps could be particularly vulnerable




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Fever can help the immune system, so what should we do if we have one?

Fever is a pain, quite literally, but new evidence hints at its purpose. Here’s what you need to know




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End-of-life medical decisions being rushed through due to coronavirus

The covid-19 pandemic has led to rushed guidelines for doctors making treatment decisions, and has encouraged more people to make advance decisions on CPR and ventilation




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It's time to give the pedometer a break and embrace lifting weights

The incredible benefits of strength training are only just becoming apparent. That's good timing, when working out indoors is beneficial to everyone's health