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Scientists have discovered a new virus in the Pacific that is thought to be the deepest ever found in Earth’s oceans. The so-called bacteriophage virus infects and replicates inside bacteria, and was found in the Mariana Trench, which is the Pacific’s deepest point. Bacteriophages are among the world’s most abundant life forms, and are important for regulating population sizes in the oceans and releasing nutrients. This one, the catchily named vB_HmeY_H4907, was picked up at 8,900 metres below sea level. That is still some way off the 11,000 metre floor of the trench. Min Wang, a marine virologist from the Ocean University of China, said: “To our best knowledge, this is the deepest known isolated phage in the global ocean.” “Wherever there’s life, you can bet there are regulators at work. Viruses, in this case.” Scientists think this virus is likely to be distributed widely in the world’s oceans, despite the fact it has only been discovered. It has a similar structure to its host bacteria group halomonas. These are usually found in sediments and geyser-like openings on the seafloor. They also think the virus is lysogenic, which means it infects the host but does not kill it. Dr Wang said the discovery could inform further research about how viruses survive in the world’s harshest environments. “Extreme environments offer optimal prospects for unearthing novel viruses,” he added. The virus was found in the so-called hadal zone, which the study’s authors said is “the planet’s least explored and most mysterious environment, and it is the deepest habitat for life on Earth’s surface”. The area is named after Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. Researchers wrote in the study: “These findings expand our understanding of the phylogenetic diversity and genomic features of hadal lysogenic phages, provide essential information for further studies of phage-host interactions and evolution, and may reveal new insights into the lysogenic lifestyles of viruses inhabiting the hadal ocean.” The findings were published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum. 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.

A baffling clip of a woman on a TikTok live stream licking the air and saying “Ice cream so good” while using a straightener to pop single kernels of popcorn has gone viral and people are confused. By now, we all know the internet is filled with weird and wonderful things, but sometimes there are viral videos that are particularly odd and require an explanation. One such video includes a TikTok live video made by @pinkydollreal, who appears to be a 19-year-old Montreal-based user. In it, she appeared to be repeating words like, “yes, yes, yes”, “slay” and “ice cream so good”, while also receiving payments, or “gifts”, from users watching in real-time. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The bizarre clip was shared on Twitter along with the caption, “Any time I accidentally happen upon a TikTok live, I feel like I am watching the world end” and was viewed millions of times, before the person deleted it, explaining they didn’t want @pinkydollreal to receive hate. But, other people have also been sharing the TikToker's content, with one person calling it the “weirdest thing I’ve seen [on TikTok] by far”. What is @pinkydollreal’s content and why does it appear “weird”? The content that TikToker is producing is part of a genre called NPC, or non-playable character. The reference comes from video games and refers to characters that feature but are unable to be controlled by the person playing the game. The niche genre on TikTok sees users like @pinkydollreal imitating an NPC by repeating many of the same phrases and movements in a way that appears programmed and looped. Their behaviour has set patterns and the person rarely deviates from a handful of sayings or actions to imitate a programmed character. Some people pay NPC TikTokers because the content can be considered a fetish. While the content is not overtly sexual, with no nudity or sexual langue, some who are attracted to certain things may find it arousing. Instagram sexual educator Emerson Karsh explained to InsideHook: “A fetish is a little bit more specialized. It’s attraction or arousal or sexual stimulation to certain stimuli, especially if it’s non-sexual. So, like non-sexual body parts, or inanimate objects or non-sexual situations.” 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.

No sooner did ChatGPT get unleashed than hackers started “jailbreaking” the artificial intelligence chatbot – trying to override its safeguards so it could blurt out something unhinged or obscene

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SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 7, 2023--

China’s solar sector is accelerating an already world-beating pace of installations as costs tumble and demand keeps rising,

The next release of the long-running Football Manager series of games - Football Manager 24 or FM24 - will be the last of its kind. This year's edition, the 20th instalment of Football Manager (where funnily enough, you act as a football manager for one of the world's many football clubs), will bring an end to the current iteration of games - and that's a promise directly from studio manager of Sports Interactive; Miles Jacobsen. With FM23, it seemed like the games change to digitize the behind-the-scenes of a football club had hit an apex - a rather boring apex for consumers. Instead of the growing addition of features that had underlined each new edition, FM23 simply existed as a slightly better FM22. And that was echoed by Jacobsen in a blog post for SI, who in response to FM23's reception has agreed that FM24 will simply bookend the series as the pinnacle of Football Manager. A complete edition. One where you can finally transfer a save from the previous game so your 400 hours of work doesn't go to waste. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "Football Manager 2024 will be the 20th game in Sports Interactive’s Football Manager series, and will be the last of its kind," said Jacobsen in his post. "It’s a love letter to football and the FM series as we know it. It’s the closing of this chapter of our history. You can expect a host of improvements, big and small, both in new features and revamps to existing areas of the game." But is Football Manager ending? No chance. In fact, it might be better than it has ever been by the time FM25 arrives, which will start a new chapter for the series. As part of a set of changes made to the technology powering the games, Sports Interactive's desire to revamp the engines behind FM led to the formation of 'Project Dragonfly' which would deliver a new vision for the game. However, the pandemic and multiple issues led to this being pushed back from FM22, released in 2021, to Autumn 2025. This previously unknown four-year delay will now herald and entirely new Football Manager, in a new Unity-powered engine, promising better graphics across the board and rehauled animations. "In simple terms, FM25 will have a significantly better-looking matchday experience - both on the pitch and the supporting stadium environments, alongside a vastly improved user interface that will dramatically improve how you navigate through screens and access all the information available to you as manager. We’ll also have new technology for Newgens and manager creation which are already looking really promising at this early stage," added Jacobsen. Women's football will also be added - and don't worry, your saves will continue to be transferrable. It's all change for one of the biggest series in the history of gaming. 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.

Gaming has achieved an unprecedented milestone by being selected as an official medal sport for the Hangzhou Asian Games in the form of esports, but participating in the competition holds significant importance -- and possibly life-changing implications -- for some players.

Overwhelmed by the choices of movies and TV shows to watch online? There’s a reason why. The number