The Planet (on, and off)

South Korea’s president has urged authorities to do more to “eradicate” the country’s digital sex crime epidemic, amid a flood of deepfake pornography targeting young women. Authorities, journalists and social media users recently identified a large number of chat groups where members were creating and sharing sexually explicit “deepfake” images Read more…

While solar power is growing at an extremely rapid clip, in absolute terms, the use of natural gas for electricity production has continued to outpace renewables. But that looks set to change in 2024, as the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) has run the numbers on the first half of Read more…

Staggering numbers of dead pine trees have been reported in southern Finland this summer, with researchers linking the phenomenon to climate change. Over 1,350 patches of dead pine trees have been reported in southwestern Finland since April, when researchers started collecting observations from the public. “Every day we receive more Read more…

Pacific island nations are in “grave danger” from rising sea levels and the world must “answer the SOS before it is too late,” the UN chief has warned during a visit to Tonga. From a report: The UN secretary general, AntÃnio Guterres, urged the world to “look to the Pacific Read more…

The New York Times visits the downtown of one of America’s biggest tech cities to explore San Francisco’s “Vacant to Vibrant” initiative, where “city and business leaders provide free rent for up to six months” to “entrepreneurs who want to set up shop in empty spaces, many of which are Read more…