There's a slew of Nintendo Switch deals up for grabs at major retailers ahead of

America’s “most wanted” hacker reinvented himself as a cybersecurity consultant after time in prison.

A popular left-wing Twitter account with thousands of followers, which often went viral and provoked the outrage of leading conservatives, may have been a fake all along, according to online researchers, using a provocative posts to generation attention in a tactic known as “rage-baiting.” Erica Marsh, a self-proclaimed “proud Democrat” from Washington, started her Twitter account in September of 2022, and quickly gained more than 130,000 followers, sometimes netting over 1,000 followers a day posting her quick-twitch takes on the day’s main political news. Her messages often read like a near-parody of an over-the-top, out-of-touch progressive. In a 29 June post, reacting to the recent Supreme Court decision striking down race-based affirmative action in college admissions, she wrote, “Today’s Supreme Court decision is a direct attack on Black people. No Black person will be able to succeed in a merit-based system which is exactly why affirmative-action based programs were needed. Today’s decision is a TRAVESTY!!!” The tweet quickly caught fire online, provoking the ire of leaders like Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, who told his followers, “I strongly disagree with this racist allegation.” However, despite her ability to win followers and stir the pot and attract online attention, Ms Marsh may never have been real, according to an analysis from The Washington Post. Ms Marsh doesn’t appear in phone or voting records, and past employers she claimed like the Biden campaign say they have no record of her. “I strongly suspect that this person doesn’t exist,” John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, told the paper. “It’s as if she dropped from the moon and arrived fully formed with this narrative that makes liberals look like idiots.” Twitter officially does not comment on press requests, and Ms Marsh’s account has been suspended. Before buying the social media site last year, Elon Musk argued fake accounts were a serious problem on Twitter, at one point threatening not to carry out his acquisition over the matter. Twitter said last July it removes over 1 million fake accounts per day. Fakes have been a persistent issue. In November, the company temporarily suspended its Twitter Blue subscription service, after users bought Twitter verification status and used it to impersonate celebrities, politicians and brands. Read More ‘Rate limits’ and Twitter chaos: What exactly is Elon Musk doing? Elon Musk supports eliminating voting rights for people without children Greg Abbott mocked after falling for hoax story about Garth Brooks being booed off stage Judge blocks Biden agencies from communicating with social media platforms Elon Musk supports eliminating voting rights for people without children Outrage erupts in South Africa over video of deputy president's security officers stomping on man

By Sakura Murakami TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan on Thursday started releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant

Today, Google announced it is updating features in Google Search, including its policies on personal

SAVE $249.01: The ultra-popular M1 MacBook Air with 256GB of built-in storage is back down

Scientists have designed a new robot nicknamed “morphobot” that can travel on different terrains, including land and air by shapeshifting its parts into wheels, propellers, or legs as required. Researchers, including Alireza Ramezani from Northeastern University in the US, say the morphobot can transform its shape to navigate the environment by flying, rolling, crawling, crouching, balancing, and tumbling. Several animals have adapted the use of their limbs to allow them to tackle different terrains. Sea lions, for instance, walk on land using their flippers that they also use to swim, and meerkats use their hindlimbs to scout their surroundings. Chukar birds have also shown adaptations to use their wings to walk on all fours up steep inclines. Similarly, the morphobot, described this week in the journal Nature Communications, performs different modes of movement inspired by animals like birds, meerkats, and seals by mimicking the animals’ limb repurposing abilities. The robot, which weighs 6kg (13lb), has four legs each comprising two joints, along with ducted fans fixed at the leg ends. It spans 70cm in length and has a width and height of 35cm. The new study shows that the morphobot’s fans can shapeshift to function either as legs, propellor thrusters, or wheels as required. The robot has demonstrated the ability to alter its movements to walk on rough terrain, traverse steep slopes, tumble over large obstacles, fly to higher levels, and crawl under low-ceiling pathways. Based on the study, researchers say future mobile robots can be designed with multi-functional limbs to navigate complex terrains by adapting their movement strategies. The new innovation could help further improve the design of robots to traverse harsh environments, such as those used in search and rescue responses after natural disasters, space exploration, and automated package delivery. The findings, according to scientists, demonstrate the advantages of designing robots with multipurpose appendages that can be used to travel over varied and challenging terrains. Read More ‘Real-life’ Spider-Man captured swinging in the air at Disney park in California Scientists invent electronic skin that gives amputees sense of touch ‘Robot taxi’ with smiling face and ‘ghost driver’ interacts with pedestrians in new experiment Scientists create tiny robot that works like an animal and swims around your body Celebrity impersonators banned from Facebook protest outside Meta offices Elon Musk picks UFC legend to train him for Mark Zuckerberg fight

The “anti-competitive practices” of big tech firms pose an “existential threat” to UK journalism, while the risks from AI-generated misinformation are “greater than ever before”, editors have warned. A poll by the News Media Association, a trade body for the newspaper industry, found 90% of editors believe Google and Meta pose a threat to the news industry. The Government has been urged to resist calls to water down the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, which will force tech firms to pay news publishers for content used on their platforms. The Government must resist pressure from the tech platforms to water down the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill and pass this sensible legislation, which will help to level the playing field field between platforms and publishers and spur innovation and competition across the UK digital economy Owen Meredith, News Media Association Some 97% of editors said the risks posed by AI-generated misinformation are “greater than ever before” in the run-up to a general election, which is likely to take place next year. More than three-quarters (77%) of editors said news blackouts enforced by tech platforms weaken democratic engagement by limiting public access to trusted news. News Media Association chief executive Owen Meredith said: “The findings of our survey clearly show the huge level of concern from editors about the impact of the tech platforms’ activities on the sustainability of journalism. “The Government must resist pressure from the tech platforms to water down the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill and pass this sensible legislation, which will help to level the playing field field between platforms and publishers and spur innovation and competition across the UK digital economy.” Katie French, regional group editor at Newsquest, which owns many local newspapers, said: “While tech platforms have greatly enhanced our way of life by allowing unrestricted access to information and increased connection, they have severely impacted the business of news, and news brands such as my own have not been fairly compensated. “My titles have more readers than ever before in their history thanks to the global and national audiences our online content is exposed to. “However, we receive very little in the way of fair remuneration for the rich and high-quality service our content provides even by hosting our content or signposting readers to our stories through search engines. “Our very presence is giving credibility to these platforms that otherwise would be filled with clickbait, nonsense and unregulated information.” Original journalism everywhere should be protected Sun editor Victoria Newton The BBC’s plans to cut local radio provision and boost its online local news were also criticised, with 86% fearing it will “damage independent local journalism in the UK.” Sun editor Victoria Newton told the NMA’s Journalism Matters parliamentary reception on Tuesday: “Original journalism everywhere should be protected, as should the publishers that spend and invest in journalism. “I make a special mention for our vital local newspapers, without whom court cases and local democracy would go unreported. “These outlets should also be protected from the BBC’s expansionist activities, which risk driving them out of the market.” – A total of 30 editors responded to the online survey, which was carried out between August and September. Read More King warns of urgent need to ‘combat significant risks of powerful AI’ Kamala Harris arrives in the UK ahead of AI safety summit Study finds ‘deepfakes’ from Ukraine war undermining trust in conflict footage More than 500 potential cyber attacks logged every second, BT says AI being used to create child abuse imagery, watchdog warns ChatGPT and other chatbots ‘can be tricked into making code for cyber attacks’

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 20, 2023--

By Sara Merken Plaintiffs' lawyers have asked a San Francisco federal judge to award more than $181 million

It might sound more like the kind of idle daydream billionaires like Elon Musk would have, but could flooding the Sahara actually be the best way of tackling climate change in the future? The idea of creating a new “sea” in Africa is being discussed, and it’s not the first time that the notion of a great oasis in the Sahara has been discussed among the scientific community. As the ongoing climate crisis continues to worsen, the notion of flooding vast areas of the desert is being returned to once again [via IFL Science]. A new “sea” was first proposed following the study of the Messinian salinity crisis – which saw a dried-out area of the Mediterranean rejuvenated by the Zanclean flood, reconnecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean around 5.33 million years ago. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Given how the Mediterranean was transformed by the flood, the idea of flooding the Sahara to achieve similar results has been thrown around in the scientific community as far back as 1877, the Scottish engineer Donald McKenzie suggested flooding the El Djouf basin in Western Africa. The idea is now returning to popularity as the world looks for solutions to the climate crisis. One proposal centres on the Middle East’s Dead Sea and flooding the area using water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea Depression. A vast sea in Africa could represent a hugely innovative step towards tackling climate change and fostering a new hub of life – but even the people suggesting work such a project acknowledge just how expensive and dangerous it is. Even Y Combinator is a US startup accelerator who has described “desert flooding” as “risky, unproven, even unlikely to work”. Only time will tell whether the notion of a new sea in the Sahara coud ever work, or whether it’ll remain the stuff of dreams. 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.

The university says it is "important" to end the policy, seen as a perk for the white and wealthy.