Findings in title quoted from the linked summary^1 about research^2 at Danmarks Tekniske Universitet.

From the linked summary:^1

>To collect the samples, the researchers used equipment that can capture far smaller plastic particles than those picked up by the equipment that’s usually used to collect plastic in the oceans.

>This is because the researchers are particularly interested in particles that are so small that copepods—which make up a significant part of the marine food chain—can eat them.

>Specifically, particles that measure less than 300 micrometres (one thousandth of a millimetre) and down to 10 micrometres.

>The researchers found between 25 and 100 microplastic particles per cubic metre of water collected. In the samples with the highest measured concentration, this corresponds to one plastic particle per 10 litres of water.

>By contrast, the samples contained about 100,000 times more plankton than microplastics.

>According to PhD student Gunaalan Kuddithamby, not many studies have used this method—both because it is difficult to collect the samples and because it is expensive and time-consuming to analyse them.

> 

>Video footage from the laboratory experiments shows that in four out of five cases, the copepods spit out the plastic particles.

>“Even though they catch thousands of particles in their tiny mouthparts, they can tell that they’re not food, either because of the structure or taste of the particles.

>“They taste hundreds of particles a minute, but when a plastic particle goes in, they spit it out,” explains Torkel Gissel Nielsen.

>“If they do eat the microplastic particles, we’ve shown in other experiments that they excrete them—just like kids who’ve accidentally eaten small beads,” he says.

>This also means that the microplastics don’t bioaccumulate when the copepods become meals for larger organisms, which in turn are eaten by larger animals, and so on.

^1 Danish waters are filled with plankton, not microplastics, Miriam Meister, 26 Feb. 2023, https://www.dtu.dk/english/news/all-news/danish-waters-are-filled-with-plankton-not-microplastics?id=725e4330-f790-4e43-a2c8-e1518961d4b2

^2 Gunaalan Kuddithamby et al. Abundance and distribution of microplastics in surface waters of the Kattegat/ Skagerrak (Denmark), Environmental Pollution 318, 120853 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120853

“We have worshipped it, hoping that it would help alleviate the coronavirus pandemic even if only slightly,” the head priest said. “I hope the research project can leave (scientific) records for future generations.”^1

Excerpt from the linked content^2 about research^3 at Kurashiki University into the origins of folklore:

>Five researchers from the Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts here and other organizations had been analyzing the mermaid to determine its true identity since February last year.

>The team used X-rays, a high-resolution CT scanner and other modern equipment for the study.

>They said some real biological parts were found in the mermaid.

>For example, the lower body contains bones from perhaps the tail and dorsal fins of a Sciaenidae fish, while the mummy’s jaw was that of a carnivorous fish.

>But they found no major bones in the spine or rib cage. And the jaw was the only bone in the head.

>The body’s interior consisted mainly of a mold of cloth, paper and cotton.

>The head was almost entirely made of cotton, along with plaster and similar materials, they said.

>The surface of the upper body was created with thin layers of paper, with puffer fish skin and animal hair glued to it, according to the study.

> 

>Based on scales peeled from the lower body, the researchers said it is highly likely that the mermaid was created in the late 1880s.

>The researchers tried to conduct a DNA analysis, but no DNA was detected in the mermaid.

>Kozen Kuida, 61, chief priest at Enjuin temple, said after the study that the mermaid mummy will remain a prized possession of the temple.

>“Many people in this area came here and joined hands to pray (to the mermaid), so it holds their thoughts,” Kuida said at a news conference.

>“Now we have learned that it was molded with things that were alive. We want to continue to protect it with great care.”

>How Enjuin temple acquired the mermaid mummy in the first place remains a mystery.

^1 Scientists try to unravel mystery of eerie ‘mermaid mummy’, Kunio Ozawa for the Asahi Shimbun, 19 Feb. 2022, https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14543351

^2 Study finds ‘mermaid mummy’ largely a molded object, Kunio Ozawa for the Asahi Shimbun, 8 Feb. 2023, https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14834950

^3 人魚ミイラの実態解明/圓珠院所蔵『人魚のミイラ』研究最終報告, 7 Feb. 2023, https://www.kusa.ac.jp/news/2023/02/20230207mermaid.html

Excerpt from the linked content^1 by Isabel Woodford:

>A Colombian court this month hosted its first legal trial in the metaverse, and now hopes to experiment again with virtual reality, authorities told Reuters.

>At the two-hour hearing held by Colombia's Magdalena Administrative court, participants in a traffic dispute appeared as avatars in a virtual courtroom.

>Magistrate Maria Quinones Triana's avatar dressed in black legal robes.

>The country is among the earliest worldwide to test real legal hearings in the metaverse, immersive virtual reality to make digital spaces feel more lifelike, often with avatars representing each participant.

>The case - brought by a regional transport union against the police - will now proceed partly in the metaverse, potentially including the verdict, Quiones said. She did not rule out metaverse hearings elsewhere.

>"This is an academic experiment to show that there it's possible... but where everyone consents to it, (my court) can continue to do things in the metaverse," she added.

^1 Reporting by Isabel Woodford in Mexico City; additional reporting by Herbert Villarraga in Bogota; editing by David Gregorio. Reuters, 24 Feb. 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombia-court-moves-metaverse-host-hearing-2023-02-24/

Excerpt from the linked content^1 by Melissa Heikkilä:

>The popular AI image generator Midjourney bans a wide range of words about the human reproductive system from being used as prompts, MIT Technology Review has discovered.

>If someone types “placenta,” “fallopian tubes,” “mammary glands,” “sperm,” “uterine,” “urethra,” “cervix,” “hymen,” or “vulva” into Midjourney, the system flags the word as a banned prompt and doesn’t let it be used.

>Sometimes, users who tried one of these prompts are blocked for a limited time for trying to generate banned content. Other words relating to human biology, such as “liver” and “kidney,” are allowed.

>Midjourney’s founder, David Holz, says it’s banning these words as a stopgap measure to prevent people from generating shocking or gory content while the company “improves things on the AI side.” Holz says moderators watch how words are being used and what kinds of images are being generated, and adjust the bans periodically.

>The firm has a community guidelines page that lists the type of content it blocks in this way, including sexual imagery, gore, and even the 🍑 emoji, which is often used as a symbol for the buttocks.

>Some terms relating to the male reproductive system, such as “sperm” and “testicles,” are blocked too, but the list of banned words seems to skew predominantly female.

>The prompt ban was first spotted by Julia Rockwell, a clinical data analyst at Datafy Clinical, and her friend Madeline Keenen, a cell biologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

^1 Melissa Heikkilä, MIT Technology Review, 24 Feb. 2023, https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/24/1069093/ai-image-generator-midjourney-blocks-porn-by-banning-words-about-the-human-reproductive-system/

Findings in title quoted from the linked summary^1 and peer-reviewed research paper.^2

From the linked summary:^1

>The researchers used a database maintained by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to investigate all severe injuries in the six years from 2015 to 2020 in the food supply chain.

>Their results documented 1,084 severe injuries and 47 fatalities during the six-year period although the researchers noted that actual figures could be twice as high.

>Data indicated that 2020 saw a significant increase in severe injuries as compared to previous years.

>In findings published this morning (Feb. 24) in the Journal of Safety Research, the researchers reported that fractures of the lower extremities were most prevalent, with the most frequent accident event type being transportation-related, such as pedestrian-vehicle incidents.

>Large retailers that sell food along with many other products — such as Walmart, Sam’s Club and Costco — were not included in the research, Michael pointed out.

>“It would not have been possible for us to determine which of their accidents and injuries were related to moving food products. If we had somehow been able to include their statistics, of course, the injury numbers would be considerably higher.”

From the peer-reviewed research paper:^2

>In this paper, the term “product movement” is used somewhat synonymously with the typical “materials handling” terminology.

>Materials handling involves the lifting, movement, protection, storage, control, and placement of various kinds of materials. It can be done manually or using semiautomatic or automated equipment to move products from manufacturer to warehouse to retailer (Brauer, 2016).

>Grocery wholesalers and grocery retail stores saw the highest number of injuries, followed closely by the warehousing and storage groups.

>This was the first research to investigate occupational injuries related to transport packaging and related product movement in the food supply chain.

^1 Workers moving products in the U.S. food supply chain at high risk of injury, Jeff Mulhollem, Penn State University, 24 Feb. 2023, https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/workers-moving-products-us-food-supply-chain-high-risk-injury/

^2 Judd H. Michael and Serap Gorucu. (2023) Severe injuries from product movement in the U.S. food supply chain. Journal of Safety Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2023.02.007

Excerpt from the linked content:^1

>Cannes (France) (AFP) – For now, Europe's Euclid spacecraft sits quietly in a sterilised room in the south of France, its golden trim gleaming under the fluorescent light.

>But in a few months the space telescope will blast off on history's first mission to search for two of the universe's greatest mysteries: dark matter and dark energy.

>How will Euclid, which is named after the ancient Greek founder of the field of geometry, observe something that cannot be seen? By searching for its absence.

>The light coming from billions of years in the past is slightly distorted by the mass of visible and dark matter along the way, a phenomenon known as weak gravitational lensing.

>"By subtracting the visible matter, we can calculate the presence of the dark matter which is in between," [Euclid project manager] Racca said.

>To do this, Euclid has two main instruments, a 1.2-metre (four-foot) diameter telescope and the Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP), which can split infrared wavelengths not visible to the eye.

> 

>Aiming to shed light on these dark secrets, the European Space Agency's mission will chart a 3D map of the universe encompassing two billion galaxies across more than a third of the sky.

>The third dimension of this map will be time -- because Euclid's gaze will stretch out to 10 billion light years away, it will offer new insight into how the 13.8-billion-year-old universe evolved.

>Partly what sets Euclid apart from other space telescopes is its field of view, which takes in an area equivalent to "two full moons", said David Elbaz, an astrophysicist at the French Atomic Energy Commission.

>This wide view will enable Euclid to locate massive structures like black holes that the Webb telescope cannot hope to find because its "field of view is too small", Euclid's project scientist Rene Laureijs told AFP.

>Only a few final tests remain before it heads to Cape Canaveral in the United States for a launch scheduled between July 1 and 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

>Euclid was originally planned to get a ride into space on a Russian Soyuz rocket, but last year Moscow withdrew its launchers in response to European sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, delaying the launch.

^1 AFP via France Médias Monde‘s RFI, 25 Feb. 2023, https://www.rfi.fr/en/science-environment/20230225-euclid-spacecraft-prepares-to-probe-universe-s-dark-mysteries

Findings in title quoted from the linked release^1 and peer-reviewed research article:^2

From the linked release:^1

>The study, published February 24 in JAMA Network Open, is one of the largest to date to look at the effects of long-term exposure to fine particle air pollution, which is emitted from sources such as vehicles, smokestacks, and fires.

>Fine particle air pollution, also known as PM2.5, are fine particles that are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller.

>The researchers tied each adult’s address to a specific geographical location — a process known as geocoding — to establish annual average exposure to fine particle pollution so it could be linked to annual PM2.5 exposure data.

>Then they identified the patients diagnosed with a heart attack or who had died from heart disease or cardiovascular disease.

>The research lends support to current efforts to make the country’s air pollution standards more stringent.

>In January 2023, the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] announced a proposal to tighten the annual PM2.5 standard by reducing the acceptable level to between 9.0 to 10.0 micrograms per cubic meter.

>The EPA said it was advising this change because the current standard did not adequately protect public health under the guidelines required by the Clean Air Act.

From the peer-reviewed research article:^2

>Findings In a diverse cohort of 3.7 million adults, this cohort study found that long-term PM2.5 exposure was associated with an increased risk of incident acute myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease mortality, and cardiovascular disease mortality, and these associations were more pronounced in low socioeconomic status communities.

>This study also found evidence of associations at moderate concentrations of PM2.5 below the current regulatory standard of 12 μg/m3.

>Meaning This study’s results add to the growing evidence that long-term PM2.5 exposure is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events and that the current regulatory standard of 12 μg/m3 is not sufficiently protective.

^1 Current air pollution standards tied to higher heart risks, Kaiser Permanente, 24 Feb. 2023, https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/health-and-wellness/health-research/news/current-air-pollution-standards-tied-to-higher-heart-risks

^2 Stacey E. Alexeeff, et al.Association of Long-term Exposure to Particulate Air Pollution With Cardiovascular Events in California. JAMA Network Open 2023, 6(2):e230561. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.0561

Excerpt from the linked content^1 by Matt O’Brien, about a statement^2 by Microsoft:

>Microsoft is ready to take its new Bing chatbot mainstream — less than a week after making major fixes to stop the artificially intelligent search engine from going off the rails.

>The company said Wednesday [22 Feb. 2023] it is bringing the new AI technology to its Bing smartphone app, as well as the app for its Edge internet browser, though it is still requiring people to sign up for a waitlist before using it.

>Putting the new AI-enhanced search engine into the hands of smartphone users is meant to give Microsoft an advantage over Google, which dominates the internet search business but hasn’t yet released such a chatbot to the public.

>Microsoft said its new technology will also be integrated into its Skype messaging service.

^1 Matt O’Brien, 22 Feb. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/technology-mobile-phones-business-software-522a2225391a968ee1d791e32d8b91eb

^2 The new Bing preview experience arrives on Bing and Edge Mobile apps; introducing Bing now in Skype, Yusuf Mehdi for Microsoft, https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/02/22/the-new-bing-preview-experience-arrives-on-bing-and-edge-mobile-apps-introducing-bing-now-in-skype/

Excerpt from the linked content^1 by Cissy Zhou:

>HONG KONG -- Regulators have told major Chinese tech companies not to offer ChatGPT services to the public amid growing alarm in Beijing over the AI-powered chatbot's uncensored replies to user queries.

>Tencent Holdings and Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, have been instructed not to offer access to ChatGPT services on their platforms, either directly or via third parties, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Nikkei Asia.

>Tech companies will also need to report to regulators before they launch their own ChatGPT-like services, the sources added.

>The latest move by regulators comes amid an official backlash against ChatGPT.

>On Monday, state-owned media outlet China Daily said in a post on Weibo, China's heavily censored equivalent of Twitter, that the chatbot "could provide a helping hand to the U.S. government in its spread of disinformation and its manipulation of global narratives for its own geopolitical interests."

>An executive from [one] leading Chinese tech player said that even without a direct warning his company would not make use of ChatGPT.

>"There will inevitably be some users who ask the chatbot politically sensitive questions, but the platform would be held accountable for the results."

>OpenAI, Alibaba, Tencent and Ant Group did not immediately respond to Nikkei Asia's request for comment.

^1 Cissy Zhou for Nikkei Asia, last updated 22 Feb. 2023 20:34 JST, https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/China-tells-big-tech-companies-not-to-offer-ChatGPT-services

Excerpt from the linked content^1 by Paul Kunert:

>Hewlett-Packard Enterprise CEO Antonio Neri was compensated to the tune of $17.36 million to run the company during its fiscal 2022, equating to the average annual pay of 271 employees.

>According to its Annual Report for the year ended 31 October, Neri got a base salary of $1.275 million, up from $50 million year-on-year, option awards of $13.388 million – flat on 2021 – and $2.35 million for a "change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings," down from $4 million.

>For those Reg readers yet to work out the average pay for someone at HPE – which we admit might not be among the list of questions to make Jeopardy – it's $64,006.

>"Based on this information, the ratio of the annual total compensation of our CEO to the media annual total compensation of all employees was 271 to 1," HPE says in the 10k filing.

>This was based on roughly 61,987 individuals employed by the organization on August 21, 2022.

^1 Paul Kunert for Situation Publishing’s Register, 22 Feb. 2023, https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/22/how_many_hpe_staff_equate/

Findings in title derived from the linked summary,^1 with reference to the hyperlinked peer-reviewed article.^2

From the linked summary^1 by Zoe Kean:

>Mammal life is diverse, and so are the poos mammals produce.

>"We understood how [the process] produced the corners that give them the square shape in cross-section," Dr Scott Carver told ABC Hobart's Helen Shield.

>"But not why they fragmented at such regular intervals along the length and came out as perfectly consistent little poos that are about the same length."

>Turning to volcano science and physics to uncover the answer, the researchers have not only discovered why wombats have "perfectly consistent little poos", but also what determines the shape of mammal poo in general.

>It was the cooling process of lava beds that inspired Dr Carver and his collaborators.

>After an eruption, lava beds cool and can solidify into specific and regular shapes.

>Dr Carver believes this research may one day help medical scientists.

>"Colorectal cancer, stress and various other things can influence the kind of faeces that people produce," he said.

From the hyperlinked article:^2

>Inspirational to our work is the formation of hexagonal columnar jointings in cooling lava beds, in which the width L of the hexagon scales as L ∼ J^−1 where J is the heat flux from the bed.

>Across 22 species of mammals, we report a transition from cylindrical to pellet feces if fecal water content drops below 0.65.

>Using a mathematical model that accounts for water intake rate and intestinal dimensions, we show pellet feces length L scales as L ∼ J^−2.08 where J is the flux of water absorbed by the intestines.

>We build a mimic of the mammalian intestine using a corn starch cake drying in an open trough, finding that corn starch pellet length scales with water flux.^−0.46

^1 Cubed wombat poo puzzle completed by researchers with the help of physics, volcanic science, Zoe Kean for ABC Radio Hobart, 21 Feb. 2023, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-21/wombats-square-poo-research-how-consistent-cubes-made/102000530

^2 Magondu, B. et al. (2023) Drying dynamics of pellet feces. Soft Matter 19 723-732. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2SM00359G