Aggregator

It's the world's largest network of environmental groups, according to NBC News, with more than 1,400 members from roughly 160 countries. It meets once every four years. And in a vote Tuesday, the International Union for Conservation of Nature "approved further exploration of the use of genetic engineering tools to aid in the preservation of animal species and other living organisms." Researchers are already pursuing projects that involve changing some species' DNA. Scientists are genetically modifying mosquitoes to reduce transmission of diseases like malaria, for example, and synthesizing horseshoe crab blood, which is used in drug development. Controversial efforts to "de-extinct" archaic creatures — such as the so-called "dire wolf" that a biosciences company announced it had revived this spring — fall under the umbrella, as well. So do possibilities like modifying organisms to help them adapt to a warming world, which are on the table but further off in development.... The decision is applicable to work on a range of organisms, including animals, plants, yeasts and bacteria.... The notion of introducing genetic engineering into wild ecosystems would have been considered a nonstarter in most conservation circles a decade ago, according to Jessica Owley [a professor and environment law program director at the University of Miami]. But the intensifying effects of climate change and other stressors to biodiversity are bolstering arguments in favor of human intervention that could make endangered species resistant to those threats... The IUCN vote, she added, reflects a feeling of desperation among conservationists and governments, as existing regulations and conservation efforts fall short and species continue to disappear worldwide. "A separate measure, a proposed moratorium on releasing genetically modified organisms into the environment, failed by a single vote..."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The lack of involvement increased with age, showing around 40 percent of Baby Boomers to 36 percent of Gen X blokes aged 44 to 59 played no part in styling their property.

The influencer reunited with the boxer, both 26, following a brief split amid his struggles with alcohol and reports of infidelity.

Family-run business Offshore Shellfish had three of its four recent shipments rejected at the French border, forcing the company to destroy £150,000 worth of stock.

Isabella Rossellini got candid about her marriage to Martin Scorsese and his struggles with anger in the new Apple TV documentary Mr. Scorsese.

Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left cringing at a very 'awkward' moment during Saturday night's live show, with some begging for it to 'stop'.

There are major changes incoming to the district

Nigel Key (left), 51, who ran a construction consultancy firm with his late wife Sheila (right), was found dead at their home in Totton, Hampshire, on Thursday afternoon.

"Windows 10 is officially dead," writes Slashdot user darwinmac, "and the vultures are circling. Or maybe they are liberators, depending on your point of view." Neowin reports: Of all the projects trying to poach Windows users, Zorin Group might be the most aggressive, launching its biggest OS upgrade, Zorin OS 18, on the very day Windows 10 died. In a recent post on X, Zorin Group celebrated the launch of version 18, claiming that it hit 100,000 downloads in "a little over 2 days". The company called it its "biggest launch ever" and claimed that over 72% of those downloads came from Windows... Zorin OS 18 now includes an updated version of WINE 10 for better support of Windows software. On top of that, there's also an expanded database that helps when it detects a Windows installer. The system checks the file and suggests the best way to run over 170 popular apps, whether that means installing a native Linux version, using the web-based alternative, or firing it up through WINE. The article also notes LibreOffice's creators have been presenting Linux as a secure and cost-effective alternative since June, and "We have also seen initiatives like The "End of 10" Campaign by KDE, making the case for Linux and providing guides and info on how to switch."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Experts have revealed that even obese people can still be physically fit and able to serve in high-demand positions like the military, as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has slammed troops.

NIK SIMON AT WELFORD ROAD: There were 17,000 supporters who choked up with Moody as he addressed the crowd at half-time.

Inside the Royal Family there were schisms, rows and stubborn silences, but no action. Last night - finally - there was.

Football fans ran on to the pitch to protest against Gary Neville during Salford City's League Two clash with Oldham after his recent rant about the 'negative' use of the British flag. 

There were boos from sections of the Turf Moor crowd when Burnley and Leeds players took the knee ahead of their Premier League clash on Saturday afternoon.

There were no more than four or five hours of air left. They needed an escape plan before the men began to slip into unconsciousness. But it would not be easy.

Kelly Osbourne cut a heartbreaking figure on Friday as she accepted an award for her late father Ozzy Osbourne in his native Birmingham.

Virginia Giuffre's book will heap more bad news on the disgraced royal, who was last night forced to relinquish his Dukedom to avoid inflicting further damage on the Royal Family .

"Earlier available only to the paying subscribers, the Comet browser now offers its core features to all users at no cost," writes the Times of India. "This includes AI-powered search, contextual recommendations, and integrated tools designed to streamline research and content discovery." They say the move reflects the Chromium-based browser's goal to "compete with incumbents like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge" — but also reflects Perplexity's "broader mission to democratize AI tools." More details from The Verge: The internet is better on Comet," the company says, promising to remain free forever as it styles the browser as a serious challenger to Google's Chrome... It's supposed to make surfing the web simpler and help you with tasks like shopping, booking trips, and general life admin. To borrow the company's words again: you "get more done." The AI-powered browser launched in July, though was only available for users who subscribed to the $200 per month Perplexity Max plan... No subscription at all will be needed to use Comet going forward, the company says. Perplexity has even struck deals with major sites including the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times to offer free access to their sites for one month through the Comet browser. And last week Perplexity also launched an agressive paid referral program, where active Perplexity Pro/Max subscribers get a payout of up to $15 for each friend who downloads and uses Comet through their affiliate link. (The payout size is based on the friend's country, with $15 being the payout amount for a U.S. user, with $10 payouts for users in 19 other countries include Canada, Australia, the U.K., several EU countries, Japan, and South Korea. In addition, Srinivas has been sharing positive tweets about Comet. (Like "This is unbelievable. Comet automatically hunts down Sora 2 invite codes across the web and signs you up!") But Perplexity is making even bigger claims for its browser: Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas said that the Comet AI browser can improve productivity so that companies won't need to hire more people. "Instead of hiring one more person on your team, you could just use Comet to supplement all the work that you're doing," Srinivas told CNBC's "Squawk Box"... The CEO said the artificial intelligence-powered web browser is a "true personal assistant" that allows users to complete more tasks in the same amount of time and said that the productivity gained could be worth $10,000 per year for a single person... Other tech companies have also been rolling out their own AI browser assistants. In January, OpenAI introduced its web agent, Operator, and Google released Gemini AI to its Chrome browser in September. Meanwhile, The Verge adds, The Browser Company (makers of the Arc browser) "is going all in on Dia, and Opera just launched its own AI browser, Neon." Of course, popularity brings problems, writes the Times of India: iPhone users are being warned by Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas against downloading a fake 'Comet' app on the App Store. He clarified that the official iOS version is not yet released and the current listing is unauthorized spam.. And earlier this month the browser security platform described a "CometJacking" attack where malicious prompts could be hidden in URLs (as a parameter). Comet is instructed "to look for data in memory and connected services (e.g., Gmail, Calendar), encode the results (e.g., base64), and POST them to an attacker-controlled endpoint... all while appearing to the user as a harmless 'ask the assistant' flow." (And with some trivial encoding it also seems to evade exfiltration checks.) The Hacker News reported that Perplexity has classified the findings as "no security impact."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

She received three court summons for unpaid or late council tax matters in two years

Six Albanians - five men and a woman - were arrested in the small Norwegian port of Husnes in 2023 after travelling there to meet a cargo ship coming from Brazil .