Male Pacific field cricket (T. oceanicus). Credit: Jon Richardson A trio of biologists at the University of Minnesota has found that when male crickets need to save energy, they narrow their mating filter, to focus more exclusively on females. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jon Richardson, Isabelle … Read more
Top 10 things to watch Wednesday, Sept. 25 — Today’s newsletter was written by the Investing Club’s director of portfolio analysis, Jeff Marks. 1. The S & P 500 is on track for a muted open Wednesday following another record close Tuesday. Club holding Nvidia helped lift the market Tuesday but earnings loom from fellow … Read more
Georgijevic | E+ | Getty Images A surge in demand for artificial intelligence-focused semiconductors and AI-enabled smartphones and laptops could lead to the next global chip shortage, according to a report released Wednesday by consultancy Bain & Company. The last major semiconductor shortage happened during the Covid-19 pandemic amid supply chain disruption and a rise … Read more
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images Google filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission Wednesday accusing Microsoft of using unfair licensing contracts to stifle competition in the multibillion-dollar cloud computing industry. At the heart of Google’s complaint is the allegation that Microsoft uses unfair licensing terms to “lock in” clients and exert control … Read more
LOS ANGELES — For decades, video games have relied on scripted, stilted interactions with non-player characters to help shepherd gamers in their journeys. But as artificial intelligence technology improves, game studios are experimenting with generative AI to help build environments, assist game writers in crafting NPC dialogue and lend video games the improvisational spontaneity once … Read more
People secure their boats ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Helene in Cancun, Quintana Roo state, Mexico. The US state of Florida on Tuesday was preparing for the arrival of Storm Helene, due to make landfall later in the week as a powerful Category 3 hurricane. Helene, currently churning over the Caribbean with maximum sustained … Read more
CTD rosette – a device equipped with sensors and bottles to collect water samples and measure different properties of the ocean at various depths. Credit: Dr Bob Brewin An “invisible forest” of phytoplankton is thriving in part of our warming ocean, new research shows. Phytoplankton are tiny drifting organisms that do about half of the … Read more
The value chain for high-impact weather warnings, with each of the six stages listed above the mountains. Adapted from Tan et al. (2022). Credit: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (2024). DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0273.1 Sixteen years to the day that Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, Ida slammed into the Gulf Coast state’s seaport town of Port Fourchon … Read more
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A new analysis of satellite data finds that the record surge in atmospheric methane emissions from 2020 to 2022 was driven by increased inundation and water storage in wetlands, combined with a slight decrease in atmospheric hydroxide (OH). The results have implications for efforts to decrease atmospheric methane and mitigate its … Read more
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Physics-informed virtual reality could be key to reducing the exposure of pedestrians and cyclists to harmful, non-exhaust vehicle emissions, according to a study published 25 Sep in the Royal Society Open Science journal. The research led by the University of Birmingham targets the issue of major health risks and chronic diseases … Read more
