Ukraine's 'Iron General' refutes rumours he is 'quietly preparing to run for president' to replace Zelensky
General Valerii Zaluzhnyi's team were forced to play down the claims stating that 'there is no talk of any campaign headquarters'.
25-year-old is new manager at beautiful Essex pub with 'best views in county'
The Swan Inn is now preparing for its biggest event of the summer - a four-day beer festival running from August 22-25.
These 5 pets at RSPCA Essex centres are looking for new homes - can you help?
There are a number of pets from RSPCA centres across Essex who are looking for their forever homes.
Plans for 146 homes will cause 'significant harm' to Essex farmland
Council set to agree the plans despite 'significant loss' of green belt land
Shakira, 48, shows off her incredible body in metallic pink bikini as she soaks up the sun on the beach in Cabo
Shakira showed off her incredible bikini body while enjoying a relaxing getaway to Cabo, Mexico on Wednesday.
Serbian Scientists Experiment With Mealworms To Degrade Polystyrene
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Serbian scientists have been experimenting with mealworms as a way to break down polystyrene. Larisa Ilijin, a principal research fellow at Belgrade's Institute for Biology, said the scientists had discovered that mealworms can digest various plastics, including polystyrene, which is used in packaging, insulation and food containers. In the project endorsed by the government and the United Nations' agency for international development, UNDP, and other international donors, they have been including the polystyrene in the regular food of the larval form of the yellow mealworm beetle, or Tenebrio molitor.
They habitually eat more or less anything, but need the training to eat the plastic products. "We have larvae that have been adapted over a long time to biodegrade plastic, to be as efficient as possible in the process," Ilijin told Reuters. She said the bacteria living in their guts break down the plastic into carbon dioxide and water, and showed no evidence of leaving microplastic residue in their innards or faeces. The work builds on similar research projects in the U.S. and Africa. [...]
The institute has given Belgrade-based Belinda Animals several containers of the mealworms. It is now breeding them and hoping to attract a network of similar farms. "When breaking down 1 kg of Styrofoam, larvae emit one to two grams of carbon dioxide ... If we incinerate it ... (Styrofoam) emits over 4,000 times more," owner Boris Vasiljev said. He also envisages the larvae being used as animal feed, should it reach a large commercial scale.
The use of mealworms is still in its infancy, Ilijin said, as Serbia still needs to adopt regulations that would allow the use and sale of insect products for animal fodder. "Styrofoam takes over 500 years to decompose in nature ... this would be one of the good ways for solving the problem of plastic waste in nature," Ilijin said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Clinton judge blocks Trump from releasing Epstein files
Donald Trump was handed another blow on Wednesday when a federal judge denied his administration's attempts to release grand jury testimony from the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Bryan Kohberger sends note to prison guard demanding transfer after receiving sickest threat imaginable
The Daily Mail revealed last week that the criminology student turned quadruple killer has not been having an easy time settling into his new home inside the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.
Urgent warning to Brits as experts reveal thousands of ALARMS used by the elderly are about to stop working - do YOU need to take action?
The lives of vulnerable people are being put at risk by firms selling personal alarms that soon won't work, experts have warned.
China cut itself off from the global internet for an hour on Wednesday
Great Firewall took out all traffic to port 443 at a time Beijing didn't have an obvious need to keep its netizens in the dark
China cut itself off from much of the global internet for just over an hour on Wednesday.…
Time to remember Meredith: Lawyer hits out at Amanda Knox after she poses up a storm at premiere of series based on her ex-flatmate's murder
Amanda Knox and her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted in their first trial of killing Meredith but after another round of flip-flop verdicts, they were ultimately exonerated.
Kirsten Dunst puffs on cigarette in LA after admitting she wants to make a movie where she doesn't 'lose money'
Kirsten Dunst was spotted enjoying a smoke break outside a cafe in Los Angeles on Monday.
Mechanic father-of-two, 27, was crushed to death while working on car at home, inquest heard
Qualified mechanic Daniel Burton, 27, was discovered unresponsive and trapped under his Audi A3, at his partner's home in Skewen, Neath Port Talbot, on January 22.
Mourners line streets for funeral of world's longest KFC worker as hearse makes final visit to restaurant where she fried chicken for 47 years
Pauline Richards, known as Miss KFC, died last month aged 74 and worked almost every role at the branch in Taunton, Somerset - from cleaner to cashier to team leader.
Meta Freezes AI Hiring
According to the Wall Street Journal, Meta has paused hiring in its artificial intelligence division after bringing on more than 50 researchers and engineers. "All that's happening here is some basic organizational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises," a spokesperson for Meta said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Over the last few months, Meta has been offering AI researchers salaries that dwarf those of the Manhattan Project and the Space Race. The company recently offered AI researcher Matt Deitke $250 million over four years (an average of $62.5 million per year), with potentially $100 million in the first year alone. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly also offered an unnamed AI engineer $1 billion in compensation to be paid out over several years.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Tesco risks wrath of shoppers as it becomes latest supermarket to raise meal deal price
Customers said they were 'outraged' after it was revealed the supermarket's popular deal will increase on Thursday.
Duolingo has to say sorry after getting locked in a trans row and criticising 'mean' JK Rowling in German lesson
The language-teaching app has been accused of letting gender ideology 'infect' its translation exercises in a German lesson.
Migrant, 26, is found guilty of groping three women while riding bike to car wash job from his taxpayer-funded hotel
Qais Al-Aswad, 26, committed the attacks along the same bike path in Horley, Surrey over a three week period as cycled home from his job at a car wash.
Moment schoolboy is 'beaten up by man on train' as terrified passengers watch on - then move away
Shocking footage has emerged of a helpless schoolboy being threatened, hit and thrown around a train carriage by an adult - as fellow passengers appeared too terrified to intervene.
Primark's 'fantastic' pink cardigan shoppers think gives 'Y2K vibes'
It is perfect for layering or wearing on its own