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Carbon Pollution Is Making Food Less Nutritious, Risking the Health of Billions

A new meta-analysis found nutrients in food decreased over the last 40 years, reports the Washington Post. "Many of humanity's most important crops — including wheat, potatoes, beans — contain fewer vitamins and minerals than they did a generation ago."

"The invisible culprit behind this damaging phenomenon? Carbon dioxide pollution."

Surging concentrations of carbon in the atmosphere, caused largely by burning fossil fuels, have produced potent changes in the way plants grow — from increasing their sugar content to depleting essential nutrients like zinc... "The diets we eat today have less nutritional density than what our grandparents ate, even if we eat exactly the same thing," said Kristie Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington's Center for Health and the Global Environment.
People in wealthy countries with strong health care systems will have many tools to cope with the change, experts said. But for the world's poorest and most vulnerable, the consequences could be devastating. One study concluded that by the middle of the century the phenomenon could put more than a billion additional women and children at risk of iron-deficiency anemia — a condition that can cause pregnancy complications, developmental problems and even death. Meanwhile, some 2 billion people across the globe who already suffer from some form of nutrient shortage could see their health problems grow even worse. "The scale of the problem is huge," Ebi said.

Plants depend on carbon dioxide to perform photosynthesis — but that doesn't mean they grow better when there's more carbon in the air, scientists say. A sweeping survey of changes among 32 compounds in 43 crops found that nearly every plant that humans eat is harmed by rising CO2 levels... On average, they found, nutrients have already decreased by an average 3.2 percent across all plants since the late 1980s, when the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was about 350 parts per million.




Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader GameboyRMH for sharing the news.

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Robots Are Building Clay Homes In Texas Using Dirt From the Ground

A startup south of Austin is using robots to build homes out of clay pulled directly from the ground, reports a local news station:


The materials are gathered on site, mixed, and placed on a build plate. From there, a robot lowers from above, picks up the clay with a claw, carries it to the wall and drops it into place. Later, the same robot switches tools, using a hammer attachment to pound the material into shape. "It's kind of trying to replicate how a human might build an adobe house," said software engineer Anastasia Nikoulina... Using machine learning, the system constantly evaluates the wall, adjusting how it builds to create a flat, solid surface...

The project is underway at Proto-Town, a ranch between Lockhart and Luling where startups test new technologies, from anti-drone systems to nuclear reactors. The company plans to build their next home on the property, with hopes to do more than 20 homes over the next year.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

It's Goodbye Time for Jeeves and Ask.com - Relics of Yesterday's Internet

A 1999 press release bragged "Jeeves" answered 92.3 million questions in just three months. "In the digital wilds of Y2K, we came to him with our most probing questions," remembers the New York Times — whether it was Britney Spears or tamagotchis:

We asked, and he answered: Jeeves, the digital butler of information, the online valet who led us into the depths of cyberspace. Now, like so many other relics of yesterday's internet, Jeeves — and his home, Ask.com — are no more. After almost 30 years, the question-and-answer service and former search engine shuttered on Friday. "To you — the millions of users who turned to us for answers in a rapidly changing world — thank you for your endless curiosity, your loyalty, and your trust," the company said in a notice posted on its now-defunct website...

Created in Berkeley, Calif., in the days of the dot-com gold rush, Ask Jeeves first appeared on computer screens in 1996.... Their mascot, Jeeves, was modeled on the clever English butler character from the famed P.G. Wodehouse book series. Its search function was simple — type in a question, get an answer. But the quality of its responses was uneven, and the website was quickly eclipsed by Google and Yahoo as the world's go-to search engines.

The site was bought by InterActive Corp. for more than $1 billion in 2005, and was given an injection of cash to help it compete as a search engine. It rebranded as Ask.com and as part of the reimagining, the site also ditched the character of Jeeves in 2006. Scrappy but inventive, the site was one of the first to introduce hyperlocal map overlays to its searches and incorporate thumbnails of webpages. "They are doing a lot of clever and interesting things," a Google executive noted of Ask.com at the time. Still, Ask.com struggled to compete and returned in 2010 to its bread and butter: question-and-answer style prompts.
Even then, it faltered against newer, crowdsourced iterations like Quora and Google's unyielding march to the internet fore — the platform now dominates search traffic, and the world's general experience of the internet.


A statement at Ask.com ends "by thanking its millions of users, and saying, 'Jeeves' spirit endures'," notes this article from Engadget:
As sad as it is to see a relic of the early Internet days fade into obscurity, we still have Ask Jeeves to thank for why some users still punch in full questions when querying Google. On top of that, Jeeves was built to provide detailed answers in natural language, which could have arguably acted as a precursor to today's AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

"Now, Ask.com joins the Internet graveyard that includes competitors like AltaVista, which shut down in 2013," the article points out. "With Ask.com gone, alongside AIM and AOL dial-up services also sunsetting, we're truly coming to an end of a specific era of the Internet."

And the New York Times argues the memory of Jeeves now rests somewhere between Limewire and Beanie Babies...

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Formula 1 News

Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website

Leclerc penalised by Miami Grand Prix stewards

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has been hit with a penalty following the Miami Grand Prix.

Verstappen hit with penalty for pit exit breach during Miami GP

A five-second time penalty has gone Max Verstappen’s way for crossing the white line at the pit exit in the Miami Grand Prix.

‘No excuses’ after missing out on Miami win – Norris

Despite being "gutted" to miss out on a victory at the Miami Grand Prix, Lando Norris was also able to take the positives after claiming second place for McLaren.

Leclerc admits final lap spin in Miami 'all on me'

Charles Leclerc admits that his dramatic spin on the final lap of the Miami Grand Prix "is all on me" as the Ferrari driver lost out on a potential podium to finish sixth.

Watch the highlights from Miami as Antonelli beats Norris

Kimi Antonelli recovered from a chaotic opening lap to clinch his third Grand Prix win of the season in Miami.

Gasly and Lawson explain their Miami GP collision

Pierre Gasly was flipped upside down following contact with Liam Lawson in the Miami Grand Prix.

Verstappen admits regret over strategy call in Miami

Max Verstappen beat Charles Leclerc over the line to P5 in a dramatic conclusion to the Miami Grand Prix.

F2: Gabriele Minì earns maiden win in Miami rain

Gabriele Minì secured his first win in FIA Formula 2, making a penultimate lap overtake on Dino Beganovic for Feature Race victory in treacherous conditions at the Miami International Autodrome.

Verstappen gets your Driver of the Day vote in Miami

Starting second and finishing fifth may not sound like a great result, but Max Verstappen fought tooth and nail to achieve that in a Red Bull that appeared no match for the machinery ahead of him.

Antonelli overjoyed with record-breaking Miami win

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli expressed his pride and satisfaction after a hard-fought run to victory in the Miami Grand Prix – becoming the first driver in F1 history to win his first three races from his first three pole positions.

It's Like Gravity's Gone

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

It's Like Gravity's Gone

San Francisco Days, San Francisco Nights

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

San Francisco Days, San Francisco Nights

osanpo_1923

gnsk has added a photo to the pool:

osanpo_1923

The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

You Are Here review: Danny Boyle’s postwar pop-culture tribute lets it all hang out

The director’s immersive Southbank Centre takeover has vim and ardour in spades, if not complete coherence

You Are Here is an undertaking on an impressive scale: a self-styled “epic, one-off pop-cultural spectacular” involving immersive theatre, dance, music and a “cast of hundreds”, all directed by Danny Boyle. It takes up a hefty chunk of the Southbank Centre and sets itself a similarly hefty task: “reimagining some of the most vivid and influential youth and social movements that have driven culture forward since 1951”, the year of the Festival of Britain, when the Royal Festival Hall opened for business.

“Some of” turns out to be the operative phrase: there’s an awful lot going on, but even so, the sheer enormity of its subject means a degree of selectivity is necessary. Its take on British pop culture takes a noticeably dancefloor-centric view. There’s more about rave than the 60s pop explosion that really shifted the UK out of the postwar doldrums the You Are Here audience first encounters (you wander through an authentically eerie evocation of smog-bound London, its inhabitants literally grey), while New Romantics and Britpop are hard to spot, and the hippy counterculture of the late 60s and early 70s gets very short shrift indeed, unless you count the repurposing of some old west London graffiti that may have been the handiwork of “alternative society” collective the Albion Free State (“THE TIGERS OF WRATH ARE WISER THAN THE HORSES OF INSTRUCTION”).

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Pep Guardiola still has ‘incredible energy’ for Manchester City despite possible summer exit

  • Club making contingency plans should Guardiola decide to leave

  • City visit Everton on Monday trailing leaders Arsenal by six points

Pep Guardiola has said he remains as motivated as ever after almost a decade managing Manchester City as he chases a seventh Premier League title. His comments come amid a backdrop of the club making contingency plans to replace the Spaniard if he decides to leave in the summer. Guardiola has a further year remaining on his contract but City have made Enzo Maresca a leading candidate to take over as head coach, should a change be required.

Guardiola is focused on his first visit to Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday to face Everton, aiming to close the six-point gap on Arsenal. The Gunners have played twice since City’s last league match, defeating Newcastle and Fulham.

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Trump: VS helpen vanaf maandag schepen in Straat van Hormuz

WASHINGTON (ANP/RTR/AFP) - De Verenigde Staten beginnen maandagochtend met een operatie om schepen te begeleiden die vastzitten in de Straat van Hormuz. Dat schrijft de Amerikaanse president Donald Trump op Truth Social.

"Dit proces, 'Project Freedom', gaat maandagochtend van start (Midden-Oosterse tijd). De bedoeling is om mensen, bedrijven en landen te helpen die absoluut niets verkeerd hebben gedaan. Zij zijn slachtoffer van de omstandigheden," aldus Trump, die geen nadere details over de operatie verschafte.

Iran sloot de Straat van Hormuz eind februari in reactie op de aanvallen van de VS en Israël op het land. De Amerikaanse marine blokkeerde daarop Iraanse havens.

'Positieve gesprekken'

Trump schreef in het bericht ook dat "mijn vertegenwoordigers zeer positieve gesprekken voeren met Iran, en dat deze gesprekken kunnen leiden tot iets zeer positiefs voor iedereen".

Eerder zondag reageerden de VS op een Iraans voorstel dat de oorlog binnen dertig dagen tot een einde moet brengen. Teheran bestudeert momenteel de Amerikaanse reactie.