Until Jan. 10, the company's usage policy banned "activity that has high risk of physical harm, including," specifically, "weapons development" and "military and warfare," The Intercept reports. The updated policy instead prohibits using "our service to harm yourself or others" as well as using the technology to "develop or use weapons." But it no longer says "military and warfare."
— "We have built something that a core group of users love, but we have concluded that the market opportunity isn't big enough to warrant continued investment."
— The researchers claim that their discovery extends the fossil record by at least 1.2 billion years, and that the very first photosynthesizing cells appeared roughly 1.75 billion years ago. These exciting fossils were discovered in ancient rocks — located in the McDermott Formation in northern Australia — and feature the pigment chlorophyll, which allows organisms to absorb the sunlight during photosynthesis. It would likely help explain the Great Oxidation Event. Evidence in the fossil record shows us that there was a huge jump in atmospheric oxygen levels around 2.4 billion years ago.
— The paper uses a case study of a clean cooking program in Indonesia. In less than ten years, the policy transformed Indonesia from having the lowest to the highest population with access to clean cooking, offering valuable lessons for other regions striving for universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy by 2030. The reason for this increase is that the Indonesian government initiated a cooking fuel conversion program in that replaced kerosene with liquid petroleum gas (LPG) on a national scale. This program was highly successful in promoting the adoption of clean cooking. As fine particulates emitted from burning LPG are lower than particulates emitted from burning kerosene, therefore replacing kerosene with LPG lowers indoor fine particulates.
The paper documents that when women gained access to clean energy, there were notable improvements in their health, leading to increased productivity. Concurrently, men also experienced an increase in work hours, especially in households where women benefited the most.
— Former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for taking bribes, while Chu Ngoc Anh, former science and technology minister, has been jailed for three years for mismanagement. Viet A Technology Corp, a private medical firm, colluded with officials to sell 4.5 million COVID-19 test kits in Vietnam at inflated prices, generating $50.25 million illegally.
— The size of the Big Ring appears to defy a fundamental assumption in cosmology called the cosmological principle. This states that above a certain spatial scale, the universe is homogeneous and looks identical in every direction.
the Big Ring is one of a growing list of unexpectedly large structures. Others include the Giant Arc, which appears just next to the Big Ring and was also discovered by Lopez in 2021. Cosmologists calculate the current theoretical size limit of structures to be 1.2bn light years, but the Big Ring and the Giant Arc, which spans an estimated 3.3bn light years, breach this limit.
— Lost city may have housed 100,000 before being abandoned because of nearby volcano and reclaimed by rainforest. It shows ancient people lived in complicated urban societies
A series of earthen mounds and buried roads in Ecuador was first noticed more than two decades ago by archaeologist Stéphen Rostain. But at the time, "I wasn't sure how it all fit together," said Rostain, one of the researchers who reported on the finding Thursday in the journal Science.
The largest roads were 33 feet (10 meters) wide and stretched for 6 to 12 miles (10 to 20 kilometers). "The Incas and Mayans built with stone, but people in Amazonia didn't usually have stone available to build — they built with mud."
— During the week-long event in 2022, 1,040 private planes flew in and out of airports serving the Swiss mountain resort, according to a report commissioned by campaign group Greenpeace. Those flights caused four-times more planet-heating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than during an average week - equivalent to the emissions of 350,000 cars, it found.
UN experts have demanded accountability for sexual violence allegedly carried out by Hamas militants against Israeli civilians during the 7 October attacks, saying that mounting evidence of rapes and genital mutilation point to possible crimes against humanity. Israeli authorities have opened an investigation into possible sexual crimes during the most deadly attack on Israel in its history.
Israel's supreme court has rejected a request from international media organisations to allow journalists to report in Gaza.
The only hospital remaining in central Gaza is on the verge of shutting down amid intense fighting that has engulfed the area, a UN spokesperson has said.
— An American company's attempt to land on the moon was abandoned due to a fuel leak, but another company will attempt a landing next month.
— The trial, scheduled for January 8-30, will include testimony from nine Gambian plaintiffs. Mr Sonko, 54, was arrested after non-governmental organisations presented evidence of his alleged involvement in killings, rape and torture. But his lawyer said that he was not responsible for what happened.
ISonko fled to Switzerland, where he claimed asylum. Within months he was arrested, after an NGO, Trial International, gave the Swiss authorities details of abuses he was allegedly involved in. Other countries are also bringing cases against former members of Mr Jammeh's regime. In October, Germany handed a life sentence for crimes against humanity to Bai Lowe, a one-time member of "the Junglers". Later this year, a court in the U.S. State of Colorado will begin the trial of an alleged former member of the same group.
— "I have witnessed the power of architecture as a tool for social transformation, from laying the bricks for a school building in my native Gando, to designing a new national parliament for Benin," Kéré said. "Regardless of wealth, we must be conscious of our environmental impact and strive to bring comfort and a sustainable future to all."
Appointed in 2016 as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the Sustainable Development Goals, Yeoh is committed to raising awareness and mobilizing support for the SDGs, sustainable fashion and disaster-preparedness. In addition, she is a strong advocate for road safety.