We could shoot lasers at the lunar soil to help us live on the Moon, scientists have proposed. By melting the lunar soil into a more solid, layered substance, we might be able to build paved roads and landing pads on the Moon’s surface, a new study suggests. Many space agencies including Nasa have plans to establish semi-permanent bases on the Moon, which would both allow us to better study it but also serve as a stop off on the way to Mars and elsewhere in the solar system. The Moon’s surface is a tough place t land and live, however. The dust of the soil tends to get kicked up by landers – and the low gravity means that it floats around after it is disturbed, potentially finding its way into equipment. As such, future Moon colonies may require robust roads and landing pads to allow for us to travel both to and around the Moon. But it is unlikely we would be able to transport materials to build them, given the cost of doing so, leading scientists to look at what is available there already. In the new study, scientists examined whether lunar soil could be turned into something more substantial by using lasers. And they had some success, finding that lunar dust can be melted down into a solid substance. They used a variety of different sized and types of lasers to see what they would produce. The best used a 45 millimetre diameter laser beam to make hollow triangular shapes that were about 250 millimetres in size. Those pieces could be locked together to create solid surfaces that could be placed across the Moon’s surface, they suggest, and then used as roads and landing pads. On the Moon, the same approach would require a lens of around 2.37 metres squared, which would have to be transported from Earth. That could then be used to concentrate sunlight, rather than using a laser, and so allow the material to be created with relatively small equipment. The plan is reported in a new journal article, ‘Laser melting manufacturing of large elements of lunar regolith simulant for paving on the Moon’, published in Scientific Reports. Read More Nasa opens up pieces of a distant asteroid transported back to Earth Earth hit by a huge solar storm that would devastate civilisation, trees show Incels using TikTok to spread ‘hateful beliefs’, research suggests

When a then little-known fund defeated Exxon Mobil Corp. in a climate-charged activist battle in 2021, snagging three

LAUSANNE, Switzerland & SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 12, 2023--

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 12, 2023--

Some female frogs will go to the extent of faking their own deaths to avoid sex with their male counterparts, a new study has revealed. Researchers in Berlin and Finland focused on the European common frog for their investigation owing to the often alarming nature of the species' mating process. The short breeding season means that several males often cling to a single female – in a pile-on that can cause the female to drown. (So, pretty understandable that they might want to avoid this.) For the research published in the Royal Society Open Science, European common frogs were collected and divided into tanks where there were two females and one male in each. Before this research, it was thought that the females couldn't defend themselves against the aggressive amorous act. However, a number of the wily participants displayed the three avoidance behaviours. A rotation technique to escape mating was a popular option – carried out by 83 per cent of the females. While nearly half of them (48 per cent) mimicked how male frogs sound to trick them into letting them go. In 33 per cent of the females, the researchers recorded a stiffening of arms and legs for two minutes, in a convincing bid to play dead. Out of the females who got mounted by a lustful male, almost half were able to escape thanks to at least one of these avoidance behaviours. “The smaller females also showed the full repertoire of behaviours more often than the larger females," the researchers noted, and younger females were more likely to pretend they were dead. However, question marks remain on whether the frogs fake their death as a conscious choice or whether it is a stress response or even a means to test the male’s strength and endurance. “I think even if we call this species a common frog and think we know it well, there are still aspects we don’t know and perhaps haven’t thought about," Dittrich explained to The Guardian. 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.

An executive at Vivo, one of China's top smartphone makers, has been arrested in India in connection with a money laundering probe, raising fears of a renewed crackdown on Chinese businesses in the country.

X says it has removed "hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts" and taken down thousands of posts since the attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group.

Social media platform TikTok is being used by incels to spread their “hateful beliefs” against women, according to a new study. Previous research has suggested that incels – men who are involuntary celibates – were mainly restricted to niche men’s forums. But researchers from the University of Portsmouth have found “prominent” incel accounts on video-sharing site TikTok. Incels have been linked to violent attacks including the shooting by Jake Davison of five people in Plymouth in 2021 and an attack in Toronto, Canada, in which self-described incel Alek Minassian drove a van into a crowd killing 11 people in 2018. Lead author Anda Solea, of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Portsmouth, said: “It is a common belief that incels are an underground community, removed from beloved and popular platforms such as TikTok. Mainstream platforms like TikTok have stricter moderation policies but are not immune to incel influence Dr Lisa Sugiura “Our study demonstrates that incel ideology is also present, popularised and thriving on TikTok.” The study found that incel ideology was being spread in a manner of styles including through the use of pseudo-scientific appeals. These use fake and misinterpreted graphs, surveys and information often based on evolutionary psychology and biological determinism to “expose the supposed true nature of women”. Other methods include emotional appeals which employ repurposed viral internet media, including TV clips and memes, depicting unattractive men’s humiliation and suffering at the hands of women to portray men as victims and evoke empathy. The study suggests that the language used is soft and implicit enough to escape content moderation but harmful enough to “perpetuate hateful beliefs” while linking with broader sexism and structural misogyny. Study co-author Dr Lisa Sugiura, associate professor in cybercrime and gender at the University of Portsmouth, said: “These clever subtle approaches aim to resonate with broader audiences, including those who might be unfamiliar with the intricacies of incel ideology. “They present a challenge to policymakers and a real danger to women. As TikTok gains popularity, more needs to be done to understand the growing incel activity on the platform.” Ms Solea said: “Incels consider themselves unable to attain romantic relationships due to societal hierarchies based on looks, money and status, where women wield power. “They have been linked to gendered hate speech and violence against women, making them an increasing security concern. “However, research has often oversimplified incels, overlooking their diversity across different online platforms. “Mainstream platforms like TikTok have stricter moderation policies but are not immune to incel influence. “This study aims to understand how incels adapt their ideology to mainstream platforms and how they influence and are influenced by mainstream discourse.” TikTok has been approached for comment.

By Yuka Obayashi TOKYO (Reuters) -Toyota and oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan announced a tie up on Thursday to develop and

NASA has lifted the lid on its first findings about the Bennu sample, one of the "most hazardous known asteroids". The highly-anticipated sample from the OSIRIS-REx’s mission took seven years to complete and finally made a safe landing on Sunday 24 September. Scientists audibly gasped upon opening the capsule. They kept details to a minimum and maintained a slow pace in progress for "good reason," as they received more material than expected. "The abundance of material found when the science canister lid was removed earlier this week has meant that the process of disassembling the TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) head – which holds the bulk of material from the asteroid – is off to a methodical start," they said a the time. That was until now... On Wednesday 11 October, the space agency shared details for the first time from NASA experts and the University of Arizona. NASA said there were signs of water and carbon on the sample through hydrated clay minerals that contain carbon. "At nearly 5% carbon by weight, carbon being the central element of life, far exceeding our goal of 60g, this is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever returned to earth," Administrator Bill Nelson said, adding that it was "exactly the kind of material that we wanted to find." He went on to suggest that "they are going to help us determine the origin of elements that could have led to life" and provide a greater understanding of how to protect Earth from asteroids. Scientists also revealed that the sample contained space dust from 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu. NASA showed the audience the sample on a video to protect the sample and to prevent contamination. Speaking about working through a glove box to analyse the sample, Francis McCubbin, astronomical curator at NASA's Johnson Space Centre said: "[It is] "hard, challenging work, and it does not go quickly, but we need to do this right". The samples will be preserved so that "scientists that aren't even born yet are going to have the opportunity to answer questions about our universe with these samples using technology that has not even been invented." Sign up for 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.

By Krystal Hu and Anna Tong OpenAI plans to introduce major updates for developers next month to make

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -TikTok has not done enough to curb defamatory or misleading content in Malaysia, the communications minister said