Chinese law enforcement may be behind a disinformation operation that’s been trying to spread propaganda

Millions of phones, TVs and radios across the US will receive an alert on Wednesday as part of a nationwide test for an emergency alert system. At 2.20pm ET, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will test the Emergency Alert System for TV and radio sets, and the Wireless Emergency Alerts for phones. “These test alerts are necessary to verify that the system is working properly so that, in a real case, citizens will know what to do, depending on the information that is issued,” said Nino Correa Filomeno, the commissioner of the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Bureau, who will coordinate with FEMA for the tests. “Amid this hurricane season, and any time an emergency occurs, it is necessary to have this system in place.” It is the seventh test for the system since FEMA set it up, however there are already conspiracy theories spreading online about its actual purpose. One false theory is that the signal is being sent to activate nanoparticles that have been introduced to people’s bodies, with one widely shared claim suggesting that it relates to the Covid-19 vaccine. Some users on X, formerly Twitter, advised people to shut off their phones in order to avoid receiving the alert. One user wrote: “Recommendations include not only disabling all alerts but also removing the sim card and shutting down your phone completely, possibly putting in a faraday bag if you have one.” Any smartphone that is switched on and within range of a cell tower will receive the emergency alert test message, which will be accompanied by a “unique tone” and vibration to make sure it is seen, heard or felt by as many people as possible, including those with disabilities. The radio and television portion of the test is being conducted with the participation of broadcasters, satellite providers and cable systems. “We want to ensure that the systems continue to be effective, that the public understands and uses these alerts and warnings about emergencies, particularly those on the national level, as we work to strengthen emergency readiness among our communities,” said Orlando Olivera, a coordinator at FEMA’s Caribbean office in Puerto Rico. “This is one step to be ready for emergencies. We are encouraging everyone, especially older adults to Take Control in 1, 2, 3: Assess your needs, Make a plan, and Engage your support network.” Read More Apple blames Instagram for overheating iPhones Japan startup unveils 15-foot robot suit for space exploration New discovery is ‘holy grail’ breakthrough in search for aliens, scientist say Elon Musk’s X ordered to pay over $1m in legal fees for laid off Twitter execs

Nasa has released the most colourful picture of the universe ever made. The space agency created the image by combining data from the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes to capture light that has never been seen before in one image. The picture shows the galaxy cluster known as MACS0416, which is about 4.3 billion light years from Earth. The reds, blues and bright yellows of the picture represent one of the most comprehensive views of the universe ever taken, Nasa said. The colours represent the wavelengths of light captured, going from the shortest in blue to the longest in red. Those colours also help show the distances of those galaxies. Those galaxies that are closer and more active tend to be blue, while the red ones are further away – though some are also red because the vast amount of cosmic dust in the galaxy absorbs the blue of the light from stars. It was created by gathering both visible and infrared light captured by both telescopes. The original imagery was taken by Hubble in 2014, which captured some of the faintest and youngest galaxies ever detected, and it was then combined with Webb’s infrared data to look even further into the early universe. As well as making for a stunning image, researchers are already studying the data used to create it to examine the galaxy cluster and what it might mean for the universe as a whole. The Webb observations can be used to find “transients”, which are objects that change brightness over time. In the image there are some 14 transients – most of which are likely to be individual stars that are becoming brighter, with a minority that are thought to be supernovae. “We’re calling MACS0416 the Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster, both because it’s so colorful and because of these flickering lights we find within it. We can see transients everywhere,” said Haojing Yan of the University of Missouri in Columbia, lead author of one paper describing the scientific results. One of them in particular is notable, and has been named Mothra. The object is being magnified by up to 4,000 by a process called gravitational lensing – and is notable because it was in both the new Webb images and the original Hubble ones. Scientists still don’t know how that could happen, since the alignment of galaxy clusters and stars needed to magnify something that much is delicate and would be expected to change. Scientists believe that the likely explanation is another unseen object that could be up to a million times bigger than our Sun and is unidentified. “The most likely explanation is a globular star cluster that’s too faint for Webb to see directly,” stated Jose Diego of the Instituto de Física de Cantabria in Spain, lead author of the paper detailing the finding. “But we don’t know the true nature of this additional lens yet.” The findings are detailed in two new papers, one to be published in The Astrophysical Journal and another that already appears in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Read More Nasa gets ‘puzzling’ data back from spacecraft exploring distant object Nasa sending VR headset up to ISS to treat astronaut’s mental health All-UK space mission will ‘push boundaries of human knowledge’ All-female Nasa astronaut team departs International Space Station on spacewalk Watch: Nasa astronauts step out of ISS for spacewalk Jupiter has a creepy ‘face’ in haunting Halloween photo by NASA

South Carolina Republicans are one step closer to restricting how race gets taught in K-12 classrooms

Social media can be a nasty place at times, but every now and then a trend comes along which reminds you just how fun it can be. The most recent is the blue couch, which has been the talk of Twitter for the past week or so. In case you missed it, influencer Amanda Joy got a lot of people talking recently after finding a couch abandoned on the streets of New York. After doing a little research and believing it to be the $8,000 ‘Bubble’ couch from French brand Roche Bobois, she decided to take it back to her apartment and clean it up. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Joy’s dad picked up the couch in his van and Joy filmed the entire process of brightening up the sofa and moving it to her living room. The TikTok now has over 40 million views, and over 4 million likes – but not everyone thought it was a good idea to take the couch off the sidewalk. Some believed the unique-looking piece wasn’t the real deal and instead claimed it was a knockoff. Others were concerned about possible bed bugs and roach infestations, with no sign of how long the couch had been on the street. In the days that followed it continued to raise eyebrows across the internet, and these are some of the biggest reactions and memes. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Another day, another problem on Elon Musk's Twitter. On July 1, Musk tweeted that he

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The European Union and United States said Wednesday they expect to draft a voluntary code of conduct on artificial intelligence "within weeks" with the hope...