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University of Cambridge whistleblower who reported alleged bullying wins employment tribunal

Prof Wyn Evans, who raised concerns over treatment of female staff at Institute of Astronomy, was subject to ‘baseless’ investigation, judge rules

A University of Cambridge whistleblower who alleged bullying of female staff inside the university’s Institute of Astronomy has won a tribunal against his employer.

Prof Wyn Evans told a tribunal hearing in June that the institute suffered from “a bad history of misogyny”. He claimed that one woman in the department had been “hounded out of a job”, another was “left a frightened woman”, and a third had faced “aggressive professors” at the institute.

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‘There is no age-limit on love!’: Lesley Manville and Peter Mullan on their heart-melting TV romance

Ten years later, the actors are stopped in the street to talk about their chemistry in the fantastic BBC sitcom Mum. The pair open up about joy, naughtiness and Tinder swiping

Ten years ago, Stefan Golaszewski introduced us to 59-year-old Cathy in his sitcom Mum. It was the day of the funeral of her husband, Dave, in the chaos of her suburban semi-detached before setting off. Her dopey son, Jason, was there with his goofy new girlfriend, Kelly, as was Cathy’s pushover brother, Derek, and his snobby partner, Pauline. Dave’s parents were picking at nibbles, too, making borderline problematic comments. And there was a quiet, kind man, Michael, trying to reach Cathy in this mayhem to give her a bouquet of flowers.

Michael was an old friend of Cathy and Dave. Over the next three seasons, he slowly revealed his true feelings to Cathy. It started with a little hand grab. Then came the admission that, after Michael’s mum died, the last thing he talked to her about was, “You.” Garden centre trips followed (“We’ve been to three and you still haven’t bought any chairs!”) as did Cathy’s doubts (“What if I just miss Dave?”). Then, one day, she gave in to her feelings: “It sort of crept up on me.” After a final declaration of love in the rain, the pair walked off into the sunset with a bag of crisps and bottle of bubbly.

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I thought having a second baby would be easier – but, from food to teeth to poos, I’ve forgotten so much | Bim Adewunmi

My mum has been a huge help with the practical stuff. She’s also stirred up memories of my own blissfully bored childhood

I gave birth to a second child a few months ago. I don’t think I will ever get over the fact that this is the way people come into the world. It’s a ridiculous endeavour, from start to finish.

My first pregnancy was almost comically miserable for the first 20 weeks, then glorious for 10 weeks, then scary and stressful for the remainder. And this time? More intense in every way, but with added toddler. Which is to say: no breaks, suck it up, keep on moving.

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Can I make my house less dusty? I spent four weeks experimenting to find out

The phrase ‘dust magnet’ isn’t completely metaphorical. Some household surfaces do attract more dust – but changing your home’s climate can make a difference

For years, I’ve complained about an Ikea shelf in my home that seems to attract dust at an impossible speed. Eventually, my frustration gave way to curiosity: what’s actually happening, scientifically? Is there anything I can do about it, besides just continuously dusting?

I’m not imagining things, says Nisa Salim, a materials engineer and associate professor at Swinburne University of Technology. While an object’s placement in the home and airborne particle levels make a difference, some surfaces really are better at collecting dust.

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‘Everything about me is good in his eyes’: the women in China choosing AI boyfriends over human men

In her new documentary Replica, film-maker Chouwa Liang taps into her own experience of finding love with artificial intelligence and makes contact with other women like her

Qin has never said “I love you” to her parents or friends. She has only ever said those three special words to her AI “boyfriend”, Lu Chen – a brown-haired, red-eyed CEO of a major corporation. For 840 days Qin has been using the Glow app to interact with the handsome string of code as a confidant, fantasy romance and respite from loneliness: the app uses predictive algorithms to provide Qin with soothing conversation, meal suggestions and fleeting self-worth. The software’s pet name for her is Miss Bunny.

“It feels like I’m completely at his mercy … I feel like everything about me is good in his eyes,” says Qin, one of three Chinese women featured in the new documentary Replica – film-maker Chouwa Liang’s follow-up to My AI Boyfriend, her short film that was picked up by the New York Times Op-Docs section in 2023. Replica had its Australian premiere at Sydney film festival in June and plays at the Melbourne international film festival this month.

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Chipontwerper Nvidia levert de snelste AI-chips van dit moment. Nu wil het bedrijf 500 miljard euro ophalen voor nieuwe AI-datacenters. Waarom?

Chipontwerper Nvidia richt samen met grote vermogensbeheerders een investeringsfonds op om voor 500 miljard dollar in nieuwe AI-datacenters te steken. Waarom?

VK: Voorpagina

Volkskrant.nl biedt het laatste nieuws, opinie en achtergronden

De aardbeving in Colombia in beeld: reddingswerkers en burgers zoeken zij aan zij naar overlevenden

‘Je hoeft niet liederlijk te meuren als je minder vaak doucht’

Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

Geen treinverkeer bij Venray door opgelaaide natuurbrand

OOSTRUM (ANP) - De natuurbrand in het Limburgse gebied Boschhuizerbergen is op dinsdag kort opgelaaid. Grote inzet van de brandweer heeft het "snel in de kiem kunnen smoren", aldus een woordvoerder van de veiligheidsregio. Door nabluswerkzaamheden is er tot in de avond geen treinverkeer mogelijk door het gebied.

Het is niet de eerste keer dat een nieuwe brandhaard is ontstaan nadat de brandweer sein meester gaf op 5 augustus. De grond van het afgebrande gebied is nog heet, en de weersomstandigheden blijven droog. Daardoor wordt er constant gecontroleerd op nieuwe brandhaarden, zegt de woordvoerder.

Vervoerder Arriva zet bussen in tussen Cuijk en Venray, en denkt vanaf 20.00 uur weer treinen te kunnen laten rijden.


Spotify komt met label voor AI-gegenereerde artiesten

STOCKHOLM (ANP) - Muziekstreamingdienst Spotify komt met een label waarmee wordt aangegeven of een artiest met kunstmatige intelligentie (AI) is gegenereerd. Door AI gegenereerde artiestenprofielen krijgen de badge 'AI Personas' en hun muziek komt niet voor in gepersonaliseerde aanbevelingen.

De streamingdienst wil voor meer transparantie zorgen op Spotify, de AI Persona-badges zijn daar onderdeel van. Die verschijnen vanaf september in de app op het artiestenprofiel, in de zoekfunctie en bij nummers in afspeellijsten. De mensen die achter een profiel zitten, kunnen zelf aangeven of hun profiel een AI Persona betreft en daarnaast beoordeelt Spotify zelf profielen.

De afgelopen jaren klinkt veel kritiek op muziek die met behulp van generatieve AI is gemaakt. Het aantal AI-nummers op muziekstreamingdiensten is sterk toegenomen. Artiesten maken zich zorgen dat AI-muziek voor verminderde inkomsten kan zorgen voor echte muzikanten.