There is no evidence to suggest using Facebook is detrimental to wellbeing, Oxford scientists have said, challenging the view that the social media platform is linked to psychological harm. Researchers from the University’s Oxford Internet Institute analysed data from nearly a million people across 72 countries over 12 years – in the largest study of its kind – to understand more about the impact of Facebook on wellbeing. Professor Andrew Przybylski, who co-led the research published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, said: “We examined the best available data carefully – and found they did not support the idea that Facebook membership is related to harm – quite the opposite. “In fact, our analysis indicates Facebook is possibly related to positive well-being.” The research looked at Facebook data from 2008 to 2019, going back to when the platform was in its early stages. “We examined 72 countries’ per capita active Facebook users in males and females in two age brackets, 13-34 years and 35+ years,” the researchers said. The results also showed the association between using Facebook and wellbeing was slightly more positive for males as well as for younger people. Writing in the research paper, the authors said: “Although reports of negative psychological outcomes associated with social media are common in academic and popular writing, evidence for harms is, on balance, more speculative than conclusive.” Professor Matti Vuorre, also of the Oxford Internet Institute, who co-led the study, said: “Our findings should help guide the debate surrounding social media towards more empirical research foundations. “We need more transparent collaborative research between independent scientists and the technology industry to better determine how, when and why modern online platforms might be affecting their users.” Commenting on the study, Peter Etchells, professor of psychology and science communication at Bath Spa University, said: “This is a fascinating study that attempts to link Facebook uptake with measures of mental wellbeing in a broad-strokes manner, using data from over 70 countries. “Contrary to popular sentiment, the researchers didn’t find a negative association between the two; instead, it was generally the case that there were positive associations between country-level Facebook uptake and mental wellbeing. “To my mind, the value in this study lies in proof of principle – it demonstrates that it’s possible to leverage industry data to address meaningful questions about how digital technology interacts with our mental health.” But Prof Etchells said there were some caveats associated with the findings – which the study authors have addressed. He said: “This is a descriptive study, and as such cannot tell us anything about causation – that is, we don’t know how, if, or to what extent, changes in Facebook adoption drive changes in mental wellbeing. “Wellbeing is a complex phenomenon, and even in the context of social media use, we need to be careful drawing any firm conclusions by looking at how people use a single platform such as Facebook.” Read More Move fast and beat Musk: The inside story of how Meta built Threads Japan's tech investor SoftBank trims losses and promises offensive turnaround Chatbots sometimes make things up. Not everyone thinks AI's hallucination problem is fixable Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Microsoft has made a major change to its proposed takeover of the developer of Call of Duty, in yet another attempt to get it completed. The company is hoping to buy Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, or £54 billion, in what would be one of the biggest sales ever. But it has faced intense regulatory scrutiny, including by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which has looked to block the deal. Now it has said that it has sent a fresh proposal for how the takeover would work in an attempt to convince the CMA that the deal should go ahead. But it has stressed that there is still no “green light” for the deal. It came as the regulator confirmed on Tuesday that Microsoft‘s original plan to buy the computer games company “cannot proceed”. Under the new proposal, Microsoft would sell off its rights to offer games via the cloud for new or existing Activision PC or console games for the next 15 years outside the European Economic Area (EEA). It will instead sell those rights to Ubisoft, a rival developer known for the Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry games series. This is designed to ensure that gamers have access to Activision Blizzard’s games, even on consoles and computers not made by Microsoft. The CMA will now launch a new probe into this deal, a so-called Phase 1 investigation. CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said: “The CMA has today confirmed that Microsoft‘s acquisition of Activision, as originally proposed, cannot proceed. “Separately, Microsoft has notified a new and restructured deal, which is substantially different from what was put on the table previously “This is not a green light. We will carefully and objectively assess the details of the restructured deal and its impact on competition, including in light of third-party comments.” Microsoft president Brad Smith said: “Under the restructured transaction, Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service, Xbox Cloud Gaming, or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services.” It marks a new twist in the case, the biggest fight the CMA has taken on since gaining new post-Brexit powers. At one point the case looked like as though it would only end after a court battle. In January 2022 Microsoft announced that it planned to buy Activision Blizzard, the company behind the Call Of Duty and World Of Warcraft games, for an eye-watering sum. When the UK was still an EU member, a deal of that size would have been assessed by regulators in Brussels. But after Brexit the CMA now has the power to investigate such deals itself. Although both companies are American, both have significant businesses in the UK so their tie-up could have a significant impact on competition here. Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick said: “For us, nothing substantially changes with the addition of this divestiture: our merger agreement with Microsoft, closing deadline, and the cash consideration to be paid for each Activision Blizzard share at closing remain the same. “We will continue to work closely with Microsoft and the CMA throughout the remaining review process, and we are committed to help Microsoft clear any final hurdles as quickly as possible. “This has been a longer journey than expected, and I am very proud of how focused everyone has remained on delivering great games.” Additional reporting by agencies Read More Meta could finally launch Threads feature everyone is waiting for Japanese scientists hoping for a message from alien life imminently iPhone 15 could bring two major changes to fix battery life Meta could finally launch Threads feature everyone is waiting for Japanese scientists hoping for a message from alien life imminently iPhone 15 could bring two major changes to fix battery life

LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 12, 2023--

MTN Group Ltd. is seeking as many as three more strategic investors in addition to Mastercard Inc. for

A brightly flashing “X” sign has been removed from the San Francisco headquarters of the company formerly known as Twitter, days after it was installed. The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection said Monday it received 24 complaints about the unpermitted structure over the weekend. It was first erected on Friday 28 July. “As you can see, they took down the X,” social media user @darren_stallcup wrote, sharing a video of the building which no longer features the sign. Elon Musk’s company also removed the Twitter wording and iconic blue bird logo from the building last week. Read More Luminous X sign glows on roof of Twitter building in San Francisco Twitter to X: Why Elon Musk rebranded the social networking platform Elon Musk provides first glimpse of new Twitter logo in X rebrand

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TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 12, 2023--

A low intergalactic grumbling is emanating from deep space, according to scientists. And no, it’s not the start of the end times. Astronomers say they detected the first-of-their-kind low frequency ripples, described as a “cosmic bass note” of gravitational waves, which is thought to be caused by supermassive black holes merging across the universe. The discovery could unveil new secrets about how the monster black holes, which lie at the centre of galaxies, work. The objects are millions – possibly billions – the times the mass of the sun, but little is known about them because no light can escape. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “This is huge news,” said Dr Stephen Taylor, chair of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (Nanograv) consortium, which led the team which made the discovery, and an astrophysicist at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University. Dr Michael Keith, of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics and a member of the team which helped find the signal, added: “The results presented today mark the beginning of a new journey into the universe to unveil some of its unsolved mysteries. “We are incredibly excited that after decades of work by hundreds of astronomers and physicists around the world, we are finally seeing the signature of gravitational waves from the distant universe.” Before the discovery, scientists have only captured short “chirps” of gravitational waves which are linked to the massive objects merging. But the “bass note” comes after they tuned into a deeper range of frequencies. It is thought to be caused by a single complete gravitational wave travelling at the speed of light. Astronomers think it is produced by the entire population of supermassive black hole binaries from over roughly the last 8bn years of the universe. “We think each pair contributes a little wave, which is added to a little wave of another, and all together that is what we may see right now – a sort of murmur of the entire population,” said Prof Alberto Vecchio of the University of Birmingham and a member of the European Pulsar Timing Array. Prof Andrew Pontzen, a cosmologist at University College London, added: “It’s not often that we get a glimpse of the universe through a totally new lens, but after 15 years of patient work, Nanograv seems to be providing just that. It’s tremendously exciting to see initial evidence for these waves, which will eventually teach us an enormous amount about supermassive black holes, hundreds of millions of times the mass of the sun.” The findings were published on 29 June by Astrophysical Journal Letters. 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.

WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 8, 2023--

Apple is planning a cheaper version of its upcoming Vision Pro headset, according to reports – though it will still be far from cheap. The company announced its Vision Pro in June, starting at $3,500, and said that it would be coming in early 2024. Immediately, many noticed that the inclusion of the “Pro” in the name suggested that a cheaper version might also be on its way. Now new reports suggest that cheaper headset will cost as much as $2,500. The company is aiming for a price of $1,500 to $2,500, according to a new report from Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. That would still be considerably more expensive than other augmented reality headsets. The new Meta Quest 3, for instance, starts at $499, and the company has suggested that its lower price is one of the key ways it aims to compete with Apple. To make it cheaper, Apple is aiming to drop one of the key features from the Vision Pro, known as EyeSight. That is a screen that shows a virtual version of the wearer’s eyes on the front of the headset, to make conversations more natural and to give a sense of what the person is doing on the inside. The cheaper headset is also rumoured to include a cheaper processor – likely one from the iPhone, rather than the Mac chip that powers the Vision Pro – as well as fewer cameras and a less high-quality display. Apple has moved resources towards building the cheaper version, Mr Gurman reported in his Bloomberg newsletter. That has also meant moving staff away from devoted the augmented reality glasses that have been assumed to be the end goal of Apple’s work in headsets, but which he suggested had proven “too technically challenging” so far. Read More Google is about to ditch passwords forever You need to update your new iPhone if you want to avoid it getting hot Apple is preparing an urgent iPhone 15 update after they started overheating

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At least a dozen Armenian journalists, NGO workers and officials had their phones hacked with the notorious Pegasus spyware while the country fought with Azerbaijan...