Leftovers

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ This Week in Science: Cosmic Fireball, Glowing Forests, And Much More!

    Our weekly science news roundup.

  • Science Alert ☛ Exercise Boosts Your Mood, And One Molecule Helps Explain Why

    An incredibly useful tool for mental health.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Complete Schrödinger's Color Theory Over 100 Years Later

    Coloring outside the lines.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mothers And Kids Sync Brain Activity, Even in Non-Native Languages

    Being on the same wavelength is a real thing.

  • Science Alert ☛ Curiosity Cracked Open a Rock on Mars And Revealed a Huge Surprise

    A first on the red planet!

  • Science Alert ☛ Over-Reliance on Hey Hi (AI) May Harm Your Cognitive Ability, Experts Warn

    Hard work can be rewarding.

  • Futurism ☛ Professors Say Hey Hi (AI) Is Destroying Their Students’ Ability to Think

    Students are "incapable of reading and analyzing, synthesizing data."

  • Futurism ☛ CEO of Palantir Says Hey Hi (AI) Will Seize Power Away From College-Educated Women

    "This technology disrupts humanities-trained — largely Democratic — voters."

  • Futurism ☛ Watchdog Issues Grim Warning About Letting Hey Hi (AI) Run Your Life

    Just don't.

  • Futurism ☛ Damning Political Research Finds That the People With the Least Understanding Have the Most Confidence

    We may be doomed.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Chip material prices double as Middle East conflict compounds China's existing gallium export ban — wide range of materials for chipmaking skyrocket as supply constricts

    Manufacturers have said that prices for key chipmaking metals have doubled, and gallium has climbed sharply, as disruptions from the ongoing Middle East conflict pile onto supply constraints.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia has a high rate of deaths from circulatory disease

    Latvia has a very high rate of deaths from circulatory diseases – compared to the rest of the EU – a fairly high rate of deaths from cancer and a fairly low rate of deaths from respiratory diseases, according to Eurostat figures published on March 13th.

  • Futurism ☛ Here’s How Much Each Popular Drug Impacts Your Chances of Having a Stroke

    Talk about a buzzkill.

  • New York Times ☛ ‘How Low Can You Go?’ The Shifting Guidelines for Blood Pressure Control

    The number doctors use to demarcate hypertension keeps going down, a trend applauded by many experts, who point to studies linking high blood pressure and dementia.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • [Repeat] David Revoy ☛ Forbidding generative Hey Hi (AI) and LLMs on Pepper&Carrot

      
      

      Following many Free/Libre and Open Source projects over the past week, last night I added a "Use of Generative AI" chapter to our Code of Conduct, clearly stating that we do not allow the use of Generative Hey Hi (AI) or LLMs. This also affects all our repositories on Framagit.

      → Link to the new no-LLMs statement chapter in our COC.

  • Social Control Media

    • New York Times ☛ TikTok Investors Set to Pay $10 Billion Fee to Convicted Felon Administration

      The large fee is the latest example of the White House’s inserting itself into corporate deal making in unusual and aggressive ways.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Iranian strikes, Hezbollah rockets make regular life in Israel ‘simply impossible’

    Attacks on northern Israel have been “constant” and “relentless”, says FRANCE 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky, reporting from Jerusalem. Iranian missiles combined with Hezbollah rocket attacks are making regular life in Israel “simply impossible”, she explains, noting that most residents of northern Israel have “simply fled”.

  • France24 ☛ Israel and Lebanon are expected to hold direct talks in the coming days

    An overnight Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a dozen health workers at a clinic, with health authorities saying 26 paramedics have been killed since March 2. Israel and Lebanon ​are expected to hold direct talks in the coming days, their first since the start of ​the ‌Iran war that has ⁠drawn Lebanon deeper into conflict, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on ‌Saturday. Details by FRANCE 24 correspondent in Jerusalem, Noga Tarnopolsky.

  • France24 ☛ US military bombs military sites on Kharg island, Iranian media reports no damage

    President The Insurrectionist said the US destroyed military sites on an island vital to Iran’s oil network and warned that its oil infrastructure could be next if Iran continues to interfere with the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Fars news agency, citing sources on Kharg Island, said there had been no damage to oil facilities and that only military targets had been destroyed by the US strikes. Story by Peter O'Brien and Lou Kisiela.

  • New York Times ☛ What to Know About Kharg Island, Iran’s Key Oil Hub

    The Persian Gulf island, targeted by U.S. strikes, is home to Iran’s main oil export terminal. Any disruption could jolt global energy markets.

  • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Threatens More Kharg Attacks As Gulf Arab States' Energy Infrastructure Hit

    US President The Insurrectionist said that although much of Iran’s strategic Kharg Island was destroyed in a US air strike, he may order further attacks, while US-allied Arab states in the region reported disruptions to their own petroleum industries amid Iranian retaliatory attacks.

  • CS Monitor ☛ What to know about Iran’s islands, as the US expands its bombing campaign there

    The islands off Iran have become the latest focus of the war after a U.S strike destroyed military sites on Kharg Island. The string of islands are critical to Iran's oil industry and its national security.

  • France24 ☛ Why did the US bomb Kharg Island? What is its significance for Iran?

    The islands off Iran have become the latest focus of the war after a U.S strike destroyed military sites Friday on Kharg Island, which is vital to Iran's oil network. The US strike on the island in the Persian Gulf left its oil infrastructure intact, but President The Insurrectionist warned that if Iran or anyone else interferes with the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, he will reconsider his decision not to wipe it out. Although they account for only a small share of Iran’s territory, the islands carry outsized importance because of their oil facilities and strategic location. FRANCE 24 Senior Reporter James Andre explains.

  • JURIST ☛ Drones strike civilians in Sudan, prompting UN concern

    The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said Thursday that he is “appalled” by a surge in drone attacks on civilians in Sudan. More than 200 civilians are reported killed since March 4 in strikes across the Kordofan region and White Nile state.

  • NYPost ☛ Russia and China providing ‘military cooperation’ to Iran, foreign minister boasts

    China has been helping Iran in its war against the US and Israel, Iran’s foreign minister boasted Saturday — days after confirming his country has also been aided by Russia.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taipei warns of cognitive warfare as China offers to evacuate Taiwanese from Middle East

    Taiwan officials call it a strategy to diminish its sovereignty while eroding public trust in the government.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and daughter oversee test launch of multiple rocket launchers

    It comes after the United States and South Korea launched annual major drills in South Korea.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Iran war supercharges secretive Korean tycoon’s big tanker bet

    Some estimated that Mr Ga-Hyun Chung's Sinokor controlled about 150 supertankers.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea says Pyongyang fired around 10 ballistic missiles

    It comes days after the North warned of “terrible consequences” over South Korea-US military drills.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ US and Gulf states race for Ukrainian interceptor drones, 3D printed model costs $1,000 apiece — Shahed-136 kamikaze drone threat spurs rush for interceptors

      Ukraine has sent drone interceptors and training crews to the U.S. and its Gulf State allies as the Iran War rumbles on.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Air Strikes Kill 6 In Ukraine, As Kyiv Pounds Oil Refinery In Krasnodar

      Russian drone and missile strikes killed five people and injured dozens across Ukraine, while Kyiv said it targeted a port and an oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region.

    • JURIST ☛ International investigation commission finds Russia deportation of Ukraine children were crimes against humanity

      The UN confirmed Thursday the findings of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine (the Commission) regarding the deportation and transfer of 1,205 children from Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine. The Commission was established in 2022 by UN Human Rights Council resolution 49/1 to urgently investigate a range of allegations in Russia.

    • Futurism ☛ Company Testing Humanoid Robot Soldiers on Frontlines of Ukraine

      "We think there’s a moral imperative to put these robots into war instead of soldiers."

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • JURIST ☛ US federal government sues California over electric vehicle mandate

      The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Transportation (DOT) on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in an effort to block the state from enforcing carbon dioxide (CO2) and zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandates, on the grounds that federal law prohibits state regulation in this area.

    • CBC ☛ 2026-03-07 [Older] Canada's auto market is officially open to Chinese EVs, but you won't see cheaper models right away

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Counter Punch ☛ 2026-03-08 [Older] Canada Lynx: Denial and Loss

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Stopping exports is ‘last resort’: Malaysia Deputy PM

    He said the situation remains stable due to the nation’s strong economic and fiscal position.

  • The Straits Times ☛ From surplus to supper: How Malaysian youth rescue unsold bazaar food to feed communities

    Vendors give away unsold food for free, saying blessings matter more than payment.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Wins When Oscar Winners Stay Silent

    Right now it does matter a lot whether actors can find the right words.

  • Ruben Schade ☛ More geoblocks affecting Australia

    I’m surprised how often I’m getting messages like this now from my Australian home and mobile ISPs: [...]

• Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

  • JURIST ☛ China passes ‘ethnic unity’ law critics say deepens minority assimilation

    China’s National People’s Congress on Thursday adopted a new Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, a measure state officials say will strengthen national cohesion but critics argue will further erode the cultural, linguistic and religious rights of ethnic minorities.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Fiber internet provider says it can detect leaking water pipes using existing infrastructure, prevented loss of 2 million liters a day over three months — Lightsonic tech detects underground vibrations, machine learning isolates the source

    U.K. fiber network provider Openreach used startup firm Lightsonic's technology to detect leaks in Affinity Water's service area, helping save over 2 million liters of drinking water daily.