Omni-Man will be released in Mortal Kombat 1 in October 2023 as the first DLC character coming to the new title.

Scientists are using AI to search planets for alien life. Researchers writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences say artificial intelligence can determine with 90 per cent accuracy whether a sample from another planet is biological or not. Scientists hope that their test could be used on samples already collected by the Mars Curiosity rover’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument. The findings could also help tell us more about our own planet, revealing the history of mysterious and ancient rocks found on Earth. “The search for extraterrestrial life remains one of the most tantalizing endeavors in modern science,” said lead author Jim Cleaves of the Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC. “The implications of this new research are many, but there are three big takeaways: First, at some deep level, biochemistry differs from abiotic organic chemistry; second, we can look at Mars and ancient Earth samples to tell if they were once alive; and third, it is likely this new method could distinguish alternative biospheres from those of Earth, with significant implications for future astrobiology missions.” The technique was built by giving an artificial intelligent system data about 134 known samples, with information about whether they are biotic or abiotic. To test it, it was then given new samples – including those from living things, remnants of ancient life and other abiotic samples that did not point to life, such as pure chemicals. The system also started predicting another kind of sample type, dividing the biotic ones into “living” and “fossils”. That means it could tell the difference between a freshly harvested leaf and something else that died long ago, for instance. In the future, the technology could become even more advanced and detect other aspects of life. “This routine analytical method has the potential to revolutionize the search for extraterrestrial life and deepen our understanding of both the origin and chemistry of the earliest life on Earth,” said Robert Hazen, of the Carnegie Institution for Science, one of the leaders of the research. “It opens the way to using smart sensors on robotic spacecraft, landers and rovers to search for signs of life before the samples return to Earth.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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 Department of Energy announced Friday it is awarding up to $1.2 billion to two projects that promise to remove carbon dioxide from the air in what officials said was the largest investment in “engineered carbon removal” in history

Every day, Twitter users get a new edition of "looks like he wasn't kidding about

They often arrive at work unsure exactly who and what they’ll be teaching—but they have some tricks up their sleeves to get up to speed quickly.

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 30, 2023--

By Samrhitha A and Abhirup Roy Electric-vehicle startup Fisker slashed its 2023 production guidance on Monday as it

A group of Florida students and the authors of an award-winning children’s picture book about the true story of a penguin family with two fathers have argued that a Florida school district unconstitutionally restricted access to the book under what opponents have called the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. A lawsuit filed in federal court on 20 June argues that the Lake County school district’s decision to pull And Tango Makes Three “cited no legitimate pedagogical reason for its decision” and was restricted only for “illegitimate, narrowly partisan and political reasons.” Last year, Lake County officials announced that the title was “administratively removed due to content regarding sexual orientation/gender identification” prohibited under the “Parental Rights in Education Act,” what critics have called the “Don’t Say Gay” law. That measure, signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis last year, broadly prohibits “classroom instruction” on issues related to “sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade” or “in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards” in other grades. Mr DeSantis signed a measure this year that explicitly expands the law to cover all school grades. Opponents have warned its broad scope could effectively block discussion of LGBT+ people, history and events from state schools, and be weaponised against students, staff and their families under threat from potential lawsuits against school districts over perceived violations. The lawsuit from the book’s authors Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and the families of several young students argues that such restrictions violate First Amendment protections, including the authors’ right to freedom of expression and students’ rights to receive information. And Tango Makes Three “tells a true and heartwarming story, and it teaches students about animal behavior, adoption, diversity among family structures, and responsible family values,” the lawsuit states. “The authors wrote Tango to spread a message of tolerance and equal treatment. They have a sincere and strongly held desire to ensure that Tango is available to children learning about animal behavior, adoption, and family structures, whether similar to or different from their own – and the student plaintiffs wish to read Tango to learn about those very subjects,” the plaintiffs wrote. The book was listed among free expression group PEN America’s most-banned picture books of the last school year. Last year, a record high of more than 1,200 attempts to remove books from schools and libraries were reported to the American Library Association. There were at least 1,477 attempts to ban 874 individual book titles within the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, according to PEN America. The figures mark a nearly 30 per cent spike from book challenges over the previous year. Book ban attempts have largely targeted books by and about LGBT+ people, titles written by or involving people of colour, or materials featuring honest discussions of race and racism, according to PEN America. Mr DeSantis and his administration have repeatedly rejected characterising such restrictions as “book bans” and have accused media outlets of manufacturing a “hoax” and a “fake narrative” surrounding them. The state has been at the centre of book challenges and legal battles over school and library materials as the DeSantis administration implements a sweeping agenda targeting public education and lessons and speech he deems objectionable. PEN American and Penguin Random House, one of the largest book publishers in the world, and several prominent authors and families have also sued a separate school district and school board in Florida’s Escambia County. A lawsuit filed in US District Court last month argues that school officials have pursued an “ideologically driven campaign to push certain ideas out of schools” against the recommendation of experts. “This disregard for professional guidance underscores that the agendas underlying the removals are ideological and political, not pedagogical,” the lawsuit states. The Independent has requested comment from the state’s Department of Education. Read More A zoo, Black History event and university funding: Ron DeSantis under fire after vetoing local funding because lawmakers didn’t endorse him DeSantis wants to model America after Florida. Civil rights groups are sounding the alarm on his ‘hostile’ agenda The school librarian in the middle of Louisiana’s war on libraries ‘They were trying to erase us’: Inside a Texas town’s chilling effort to ban LGBT+ books Biden condemns ‘hysterical’ threats to LGBT+ Americans as White House pushes back on book bans Florida mom who tried to ban Amanda Gorman’s book has ties to far-right groups

Apollo, a popular client app for Reddit, is shutting down. Reddit had required that Apollo pay an unsustainable amount of money to be able to access the data required to make the app run, according to its developer Christian Selig. In recent weeks, Reddit announced that it was making changes to its API, the technology that allows other apps to communicate with its forum. It said that it had been required to make the move because providing that data was proving too expensive, and that it was currently unfair for Reddit to be paying for busy apps. Shortly after, it announced that it would be pricing access to that API at such a rate that it would cost the developer of Apollo some $2 million per month, and that the new rates would go into effect in 30 days. Mr Selig said that would make running the app impossible. That led to outcry across Reddit, with many forums on the site announcing that they would go dark in protest against the company’s actions. Some of the most popular subreddits on the site joined the boycott, and some indicated they would never come back if the company did not change the terms of access on the pricing. Now, Mr Selig has announced that the situation has become untenable and that the app will shut down at the end of June. “It’s been an amazing run thanks to all of you,” he wrote in a long post on Reddit. In that same post, Mr Selig gave a long explanation of the situation with the site, and how he had come to the decision to shut down the app. He also included recordings of conversations with Reddit, which he said contradicted some of the site’s public statements about how it had behaved. He said that he had considered a host of other options, including increasing the price and changing the way the app works. But many users are already subscribed for a year, he said, and it would not be possible to alter the app enough in the time before the new terms go into effect. Mr Selig also noted that many users had asked whether he would build an alternative to Reddit. “While I’m very flattered, that’s not something I’m interested in doing,” he wrote. And he said that he supported the protests “abundantly”, noting that Reddit is largely run by people who moderate the site for free and so he understood their “anger and frustration”. “While I haven’t personally mobilized anyone to participate in the blackout out of fear of retaliation from Reddit, the last thing I want is for that to feel like I don’t support the folks speaking up. I wholeheartedly do,” he wrote. Apollo was previously one of the most well-regarded apps in the App Store. It was even featured in Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote this week, where it was mentioned by software boss Craig Federghi and included on a list of apps that would work on the company’s upcoming Vision Pro headset. Mr Selig said that was likely a “coincidence” given the amount of preparation that was required for those keynotes. The app should keep working until 30 June, he said, when the new pricing goes into effect and the app will be switched off from Reddit. He said that he would release an explanation and a tool to export data from the app before then. In recent months, Twitter has also made changes to its API that have led to prohibitive costs for access to its data and the closure of a number of well-respected Twitter clients. Mr Selig has suggested that those changes at Twitter could have helped inspire Reddit’s decisions around its own pricing. Read More Millions of Reddit users face a blackout over pricing revolt Mark Zuckerberg reveals what he thinks about Apple’s headset – and it’s not good Can Apple make us love virtual reality? | You Ask The Questions Mark Zuckerberg reveals what he thinks about Apple’s headset – and it’s not good Can Apple make us love virtual reality? | You Ask The Questions Instagram has stopped working properly

TAMPERE, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 10, 2023--

(Reuters) -Alphabet-owned Google on Tuesday said it is cutting jobs at mapping app Waze as it merges the app's advertising

Some iPhone users are set to receive payouts as part of a controversy over Apple’s battery technology. Owners of older devices who joined a lawsuit over what was termed “batterygate” are set to receive around $65, according to the lawyers behind it. The payments relate to a controversy that erupted in 2017, when users complained that Apple was intentionally limiting the performance of their iPhones. As their devices aged, they found, Apple would place restrictions on how fast the devices could run. Apple said the restrictions were a way of ensuring that older devices could continue to function even as their batteries degraded. The older batteries did not provide reliable or constant power, and so spikes in performance could mean the devices would spontaneously shut down otherwise. But users complained that they had not been told about the change and had no way to turn it off. It also played into a persistent belief that Apple slows down older devices as part of “planned obsolescence” aimed at encouraging people to buy new iPhones – though there is no evidence that is the case. The controversy meant that lawyers brought complaints on behalf of owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus, or the first-generation iPhone SE, in 2018. Now they have achieved success in what they say is “the largest all-cash recovery in a computer intrusion case in history”. The settlement stipulated that Apple would pay at least $310 million to affected customers, which is expected to work out at about $65 each. But users must have signed up before October 2020, when a deadline passed, if they want to receive it, and only those 100 million people who did so will be part of the settlement. Apple has not publicly commented on the proceedings. It had appealed the settlement, but an appeals court in the US has since dismissed that case, allowing the payments to go forward. Read More Something unexpected is happening to people’s iPhone 14s, owners claim Apple is working on a mysterious new project called ‘Watch X’, report claims Apple is planning a host of powerful new Macs, rumours say