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Articles by Cc By-Nd
7 spannende Kinder-Wanderungen in Vorarlberg
Wer Kindern das Wandern schmackhaft machen möchte, muss bei der Tourenwahl schon ein wenig kreativ sein. Ein schönes Ziel mit Einkehrmöglichkeit alleine wird Kinder nicht begeistern, wenn der Weg dorthin keine Abwechslung bietet. Wasser, Spielmöglichkeiten, alle Arten von Tieren und die Möglichkeit, Neues zu lernen sind schon mal gute Voraussetzungen für Touren, die Kindern gefallen könnten. Dazu ist von den Eltern Flexibilität und ausreichend Zeit gefragt, denn Kinder haben oft ihren eigenen Plan.
Fake papers are contaminating the world’s scientific literature, fueling a corrupt industry and slowing legitimate lifesaving medical research
Assistant professor Frank Cackowski, left, and researcher Steven Zielske at Wayne State University in Detroit became suspicious of a paper on cancer research that was eventually retracted. Amy Sacka, CC BY-ND Over the past decade, furtive commercial entities around the world have industrialized the production, sale and dissemination of bogus scholarly research, undermining the literature that everyone from doctors to engineers rely on to make decisions about human lives.
A packed Baltimore trolley illustrates the ups and downs of US public transit
7 minutes ago phys.org Since the 1940s, there has been a broad shift away from public transit across the U.S., and service has declined in many cities, including New York, Boston, Denver, Orlando and St. Louis. A look back at the last national mass transit boom helps explain the challenges that confront modern transit agencies. Starting in the 19th century, transit companies worked closely with real estate developers to develop "streetcar suburbs" for a growing population.
Climate change is shifting the zones where plants grow
Here’s what that could mean for your garden Climate change complicates plant choices and care. Early flowering and late freezes can kill flowers like these magnolia blossoms.Matt Kasson, CC BY-ND With the arrival of spring in North America, many people are gravitating to the gardening and landscaping section of home improvement stores, where displays are overstocked with eye-catching seed packs and benches are filled with potted annuals and perennials.
Our robot harvests cotton by reaching out and plucking it, like a lizard's tongue snatching flies
34 minutes ago phys.org Cotton is one of the most valuable crops grown in the U.S., with a harvest value of some US$7 billion yearly. It is cultivated across a crescent of 17 states stretching from Virginia to California and is used in virtually every type of clothing, as well as in medical supplies and home goods such as upholstery. Cotton grows inside a hard, fibrous case called a boll.
Artist AbdulAlim U-K (Aikin Karr) combines the fractal structure of traditional African architecture with emerging technologies in computer graphics.
By bridging culture and computation, heritage algorithms challenge the myth of ‘primitive cultures’ and forge a new understanding of science and art.
Eliminating bias in AI may be impossible - a computer scientist explains how to tame it instead
Blindly eliminating biases from AI systems can have unintended consequences. Dimitri Otis/DigitalVision via Getty Images When I asked ChatGPT for a joke about Sicilians the other day, it implied that Sicilians are stinky. ChatGPT can sometimes produce stereotypical or offensive outputs. Screen capture by Emilio Ferrara, CC BY-ND As somebody born and raised in Sicily, I reacted to ChatGPT’s joke with disgust.
Eliminating bias in AI may be impossible - a computer scientist explains how to tame it instead
43 minutes ago nextgov.com When I asked ChatGPT for a joke about Sicilians the other day, it implied that Sicilians are stinky. As somebody born and raised in Sicily, I reacted to ChatGPT’s joke with disgust. But at the same time, my computer scientist brain began spinning around a seemingly simple question: Should ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence systems be allowed to be biased? You might say “Of course not!” And that would be a reasonable response.
A shift to coastal shipping and rail could cut NZ’s freight transport emissions - why aren’t we doing it?
By Patricio Gallardo of Analysis - According to a recent study, coastal shipping produces a fifth of the carbon emissions (well-to-wheel) of road freight. Rail also performed well, with about a quarter of trucking emissions. Despite this, trucking accounts for nearly 80 per cent of New Zealand's heavy goods transport, and a 94.5 per cent share of the total emissions from heavy freight transport.
Two astronomers are working to track space junk around the Moon
Abandoned and potentially dangerous Historically, NASA and the U.S. military have not closely tracked space debris from the many dozens of crewed and robotic missions to the Moon. There is no international agency that has monitored lunar objects, either. This lack of oversight is why scientists don’t know the location or orbit of the vast majority of lunar space debris.
ChatGPT is Great - You’re Just Using it Wrong
an hour ago nextgov.com It doesn’t take much to get ChatGPT to make a factual mistake. My son is doing a report on U.S. presidents, so I figured I’d help him out by looking up a few biographies. I tried asking for a list of books about Abraham Lincoln and it did a pretty good job: Number 4 isn’t right. Garry Wills famously wrote “Lincoln at Gettysburg,” and Lincoln himself wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, of course, but it’s not a bad start.
Tonga eruption: Why it was so violent, and what else we know a year on
First published on By Shane Cronin * The Kingdom of Tonga exploded into global news on 15 January last year with one of the most spectacular and violent volcanic eruptions ever seen. Remarkably, it was caused by a volcano that lies under hundreds of metres of seawater. The event shocked the public and volcano scientists alike. Was this a new type of eruption we've never seen before? Was it a wake-up call to pay more attention to threats from submarine volcanoes around the world?
Loss, decay and bleaching: Why sponges may be the 'canary in the coal mine' for impacts of marine heatwaves
First published on A bleached (left) and healthy (right) cup sponge Cymbastella lamellata. Marine sponges were thought to be more resilient to ocean warming than other organisms. But earlier this year, New Zealand recorded the largest-ever sponge bleaching event off its southern coastline. While only one species, the cup sponge Cymbastella lamellata, was affected, a prolonged marine heatwave turned millions of the normally dark brown sponges bright white.
interiqr tech prints edible, informational QR codes right into foods
Scientists have developed a new method of providing information on 3D-printed foods, by printing a QR code within the food itself. Doing so doesn't affect the taste or outward appearance of the food, nor does it require the use of any labels. The technology is known as "interiqr" (as in "interior QR") and is being developed by a team at Japan's Osaka University.
Light pollution is disrupting the seasonal rhythms of plants and trees, lengthening pollen season in US cities
Some cities never sleep. Noam Cohen/EyeEm via Getty Images The big idea City lights that blaze all night are profoundly disrupting urban plants’ phenology – shifting when their buds open in the spring and when their leaves change colors and drop in the fall. New research I coauthored shows how nighttime lights are lengthening the growing season in cities, which can affect everything from allergies to local economies.
How QR codes work and what makes them dangerous - a computer scientist explains
QR codes are visual patterns that store data smartphones can read. AP Photo/Vincent Yu Among the many changes brought about by the pandemic is the widespread use of QR codes, graphical representations of digital data that can be printed and later scanned by a smartphone or other device.
A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and ever
A new study reconstructs the fiery, devastating impact of a meteor 3,600 years ago. As the inhabitants of an ancient Middle Eastern city now called Tall el-Hammam went about their daily business one day about 3,600 years ago, they had no idea an unseen icy space rock was speeding toward them at about 38,000 mph (61,000 kph). Flashing through the atmosphere, the rock exploded in a massive fireball about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) above the ground.
The Ultraviolet Light That is Most Effective at Killing Coronavirus
Scientists have long known that ultraviolet light can kill pathogens on surfaces and in air and water. UV robots are used to disinfect empty hospital rooms, buses and trains; UV bulbs in HVAC systems eliminate pathogens in building air; and UV lamps kill bugs in drinking water. Perhaps you have seen UV wands, UV LEDs and UV air purifiers advertised as silver bullets to protect against the coronavirus.
The surface of Venus moves like ice floating on an ocean
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Much of the brittle, upper crust of Venus is broken into fragments that jostle and move – and the slow churning of Venus’ mantle beneath the surface might be responsible. My colleagues and I arrived at this finding using decades-old radar data to explore how the surface of Venus interacts with the interior of the planet.
Surface of Venus is cracked and moves like ice on the ocean, new research suggests -- Sott.net
© Paul K. Byrne/NASA/USGS, CC BY-ND New research suggests that Venus’ crust is broken into large blocks – the dark reddish–purple areas – that are surrounded by belts of tectonic structures shown in lighter yellow–red. The big idea Much of the brittle, upper crust of Venus is broken into fragments that jostle and move - and the slow churning of Venus' mantle beneath the surface might be responsible.
The US needs a macrogrid to move electricity from one coast to the other
Many kinds of extreme events can disrupt electricity service, including hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, extreme heat, extreme cold and extended droughts. Major disasters can leave thousands of people in the dark. The Texas deep freeze in February knocked out 40 percent of the state’s electric generating capacity. During such events, unaffected regions may have power to spare.
It’s not just a social media problem - how search engines spread misinformation
Search engines often serve up a distorting blend of information and misinformation. Crispin la valiente/Moment via Getty Images Search engines are one of society’s primary gateways to information and people, but they are also conduits for misinformation. Similar to problematic social media algorithms, search engines learn to serve you what you and others have clicked on before.
The body’s fight against COVID-19 explained using 3D-printed models
Neutralizing antibodies attach to the tips of the spike proteins of the SARS CoV-2 virus. David Goodsell/ProteinDatabase, CC BY-SA Editor’s note: In this interview, Nathan Ahlgren, assistant professor of biology at Clark University, uses 3D-printed models to explain what proteins do in viruses, how they interact with human cells, how the vaccine delivers mRNA into the cell, and how antibodies protect us.
Pikas are adapting to climate change
The resilient species is altering its behaviors in response to changing conditions. Andrew Smith Analysis Jan. 19, 2021 Like Tweet Email Print Subscribe Donate Now This article is republished from The Conversation and is republished here by permission. Climate change is harming many special places and iconic species around our planet, from Glacier National Park’s disappearing glaciers to California redwoods scorched by wildfires.
While we fixate on coronavirus, Earth is facing a catastrophe
At several points in the history of our planet, increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have caused extreme global warming, prompting the majority of species on Earth to die out. In the past, these events were triggered by a huge volcanic eruption or asteroid impact. Now, Earth is heading for another mass extinction – and human activity is to blame.
Buildings Grown by Bacteria
VIEW GALLERY Living building materials can be formed into many shapes, like this truss. The University of Colorado Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science, CC BY-ND New research is finding ways to turn cells into mini-factories for materials. Wil Srubar, University of Colorado Boulder Buildings are not unlike a human body. They have bones and skin; they breathe. Electrified, they consume energy, regulate temperature and generate waste. Buildings are organisms – albeit inanimate ones.
How Human Tool Use Evolved
VIEW GALLERY Researchers study animal tooling to provide clues to the mysteries of human evolution. Kristen S. Morrow, University of Georgia Human beings used to be defined as “the tool-maker” species. But the uniqueness of this description was challenged in the 1960s when Dr. Jane Goodall discovered that chimpanzees will pick and modify grass stems to use to collect termites. Her observations called into question homo sapiens‘ very place in the world.
The Great Barrier Reef Is in Trouble. There Are a Whopping 45 Reasons Why.
When the managers of the Great Barrier Reef recently rated its outlook as very poor, a few well-known threats dominated the headlines. But delve deeper into the report and you’ll find that this global icon is threatened by a whopping 45 risks. The most publicised main threats relate to climate change and poor water quality, and are unquestionably the most damaging. However, many of the 45 threats are not well known or understood. All but two are happening now – and most are steadily getting worse.
High-Value Opportunities Exist to Restore Tropical Rainforests Around the World
The green belt of tropical rainforests that covers equatorial regions of the Americas, Africa, Indonesia and Southeast Asia is turning brown. Since 1990,Indonesia has lost 50% of its original forest, the Amazon 30% and Central Africa 14%. Fires, logging, hunting, road building and fragmentation have heavily damagedmore than 30% of those that remain.
Looking for a high-tech gift for a young child? Think playgrounds, not playpens
Of course, computer games, like playpens, deprive children of physical activity. But the metaphor goes further than that. Some computer games are marketed as educational because they promote academic skills and teach about shapes, colors, letters, sounds and numbers. Most software provides tasks with right and wrong answers and thus doesn’t encourage problem solving and logical thinking or exploration and creativity.
More bad news for dinosaurs: Chicxulub meteorite impact triggered global volcanic eruptions on the ocean floor
The end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago was a rough time to be living on Earth. Three global catastrophes occurred nearly simultaneously: The Chicxulub meteorite slammed[1] into what is now Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, the massive Deccan Traps volcanic province in modern-day India erupted[2], and some three-quarters of Earth’s plants and animals, including all non-avian dinosaurs, went extinct.
'Caves can only be explored firsthand' - a scientist dives to find new life
Maybe when you picture a university professor doing research it involves test tubes and beakers, or perhaps poring over musty manuscripts in a dimly lit library, or maybe going out into the field to examine new crop-growing techniques or animal-breeding methods. All of it’s good, solid research and I commend them all. Then there is what I do – cave diving.
Taxes on sugary beverages are not enough on their own to halt march of obesity in Asia
Facing declining markets in Western countries, multinational food companies are targeting Africa, Asia, and Latin America as new consumers of packaged foods, in a move that may worsen the global epidemic of chronic illness related to diabetes. Governments are striking back at obesity risk factors, including unhealthy foods. Singapore, which might have as many as one million residents with diabetes by 2050, now requires soda producers to reduce sugar content.
Don't want as many Kiwi-Australians? You got it
Opinion - Since 2001, New Zealanders' access to Australian citizenship has been eroded - and the latest data shows the impact, write Paul Hamer and Andrew Markus. The latest Australian census data provide further confirmation that a controversial 2001 law change affecting New Zealanders living in Australia has led to a collapse in the number of Kiwis who become Australian citizens.
Melding Mind and Machine: How Close Are We?
By The Conversation April 13, 2017Comments A noninvasive brain-computer interface based on EEG recordings from the scalp. Credit: Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE), Photo by Mark Stone, CC BY-ND Just as ancient Greeks fantasized about soaring flight, today's imaginations dream of melding minds and machines as a remedy to the pesky problem of human mortality. From The ConversationView Full Article No entries found
Melding Mind and Machine: How Close Are We?
By The Conversation April 13, 2017 Comments A noninvasive brain-computer interface based on EEG recordings from the scalp. Credit: Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE), Photo by Mark Stone, CC BY-ND Just as ancient Greeks fantasized about soaring flight, today's imaginations dream of melding minds and machines as a remedy to the pesky problem of human mortality. From The Conversation View Full Article No entries found
Polarity puzzle: is the earth's magnetic field reversing?
In the past, south was north and north was south - but now there are reports that patches of the earth's magnetic field deep under the earth's crust are weakening and even reversing. The Earth is blanketed by a magnetic field. It’s what makes compasses point north, and protects our atmosphere from continual bombardment from space by charged particles such as protons.
Weirdest New Year's Eve Celebrations Around The World
Odd if you think about it, Americans celebrate the coming of the New Year by … dropping things. We drop the ball in New York. North Carolinians drop a possum. Wisconsin drops a carp. And, in Mobile, Alabama, they drop the world’s largest MoonPie … from 34-stories high—and, for some reason, 60,000 people actually showed up for this last year.
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