Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered Zhulong, the most distant grand-design spiral galaxy identified so far, located at a redshift of approximately 5.2. The galaxy was named Zhulong, after a giant red solar dragon and god in Chinese mythology. […] Its mass was found to be comparable Read more…
Thursday New York’s governor signed new legislation “to hold polluters responsible for the damage done to our environment” by establishing a Climate Superfund that’s paid for by big fossil-fuel companies. The money will be used for “climate change adaptation,” according to New York state senator Liz Krueger, who notes that Read more…
Three more EU member states — including the most populous, Germany — have joined the list of countries with “ultra-low” fertility rates [non-paywalled source], highlighting the extent of the region’s demographic challenges. Financial Times: Official statistics show Germany’s birth rate fell to 1.35 children per woman in 2023, below the Read more…
The Russian government has banned crypto mining in ten regions for a period of six years, according to reporting by the state-owned news agency Tass. Russia has cited the industry’s high power consumption rates as the primary reason behind the ban. Crypto is particularly power-hungry, as mining operations already account Read more…
More than 140 Facebook content moderators have been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder caused by exposure to graphic social media content including murders, suicides, child sexual abuse and terrorism. The moderators worked eight- to 10-hour days at a facility in Kenya for a company contracted by the social media Read more…
Sixty-six million years ago, all dinosaurs (except for birds) were wiped from the face of the Earth. What’s indisputable about this pivotal moment in Earth’s history is that a 6.2 to 9.3-mile-wide (10 to 15-kilometer) asteroid struck what is now modern-day Mexico. Around the same time, however, volcanoes in what Read more…
Record wind-generated electricity across Northern Ireland and Scotland Tuesday night pushed Britain’s power prices below zero. Wind output peaked at a record high 22.4 gigawatts (GW), breaking the previous high set [last] Sunday evening, the national system operator said, as Bloomberg reported. The record output provided more than 68 percent Read more…