Researchers Want To Create Safe, Inclusive Virtual Reality Hangouts For Teens

The advent of the internet shifted how we socialise. Chat rooms, forums, and eventually social media platforms opened up new ways to both communicate and express ourselves. Online anonymity, for example, allowed us to be whoever we pleased to anyone with a connection — for better or worse. Psychological research followed this shift, and decades later there are troves of papers on almost every aspect of online interaction you could hope to explore.
Read more: https://digest.bps.org.uk/2021/11/30/researchers-want-to-create-safe-inclusive-virtual-reality-hangouts-for-teens/?source=Snapzu

Alfonso Ribeiro Explains Why He Won’t Read Will Smith’s Memoir

Alfonso Ribeiro is going to pass on opening the cover on Will Smith‘s new memoir. The 50-year-old actor, who starred with Will in Fresh Prince of Bel Air, has explained his reasons in a new interview. Speaking to Extra, Alfonso revealed that he probably won’t read it because he knows the people whom Will wrote of.
Read more: https://www.justjared.com/2021/11/28/alfonso-ribeiro-explains-why-he-wont-read-will-smiths-memoir/?source=Snapzu

Democrats Push Bill to Outlaw Bots From Snatching Up Online Goods

A group of Democratic lawmakers are reintroducing legislation to outlaw the use of automated bots to buy up retail goods, such as video game consoles and graphics cards, from websites. On Monday, US Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) announced a new push for the Stopping Grinch Bots Act.
Read more: https://www.pcmag.com/news/democrats-push-bill-to-outlaw-bots-from-snatching-up-online-goods?source=Snapzu

In a First, Surgeons Attached a Pig Kidney to a Human, and It Worked

A kidney grown in a genetically altered pig functions normally, scientists reported. The procedure may open the door to a renewable source of desperately needed organs.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/health/kidney-transplant-pig-human.html?source=Snapzu

BIG's floating city to be built in south korea as part of UN-backed plan

 the south korean city of busan, UN-habitat and OCEANIX have signed a historic agreement to build the world’s first sustainable floating city prototype. the project is to be realized off the coast of busan, a city with 3.4 million residents.
Read more: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/bigs-floating-city-to-be-built-in-south-korea-11-29-2021/?source=Snapzu

Tiger OK with 'reality' he won't be same player

In his first extensive interview since his February car crash, Tiger Woods said his hope is to return to competitive golf, but that he never expects to compete again at the highest level, "and I understand it, and I accept it."
Read more: https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/32747322/hoping-return-tiger-woods-admits-unfortunate-reality-likely-same-player-again?source=Snapzu

'Chucky' Renewed for Season 2 by USA Network and Syfy (Video)

USA Network and Syfy have renewed the "Chucky" TV show for a second season. Watch a Season 2 teaser video above.
Read more: https://www.thewrap.com/chucky-season-2-renewed-usa-network-syfy/?source=Snapzu

Lee Elder, 1st Black golfer to play Masters, dies at age 87

Lee Elder, who broke down racial barriers as the first Black golfer to play in the Masters and paved the way for Tiger Woods and others to follow, has died at the age of 87. The PGA Tour announced Elder’s death, which was first reported Monday by Debert Cook of African American Golfers Digest. No cause was given, but the tour confirmed Elder’s death with his family.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-sports-golf-tiger-woods-masters-golf-tournament-b4dfb9d42ede8ebb01ed0d86a5c1cd90?source=Snapzu

James Webb Space Telescope cleared for launch on December 22

After years of setbacks, the James Webb Space Telescope will finally launch next month. NASA has given the green light to begin fueling the observatory for launch, after engineering teams found no sign of damage from an incident last week.
Read more: https://newatlas.com/space/james-webb-space-telescope-launch-december-22/?source=Snapzu

Ikea says it will eliminate plastic packaging by 2028

As part of the company’s goal to become fully circular, it needs to work to eliminate the 10% of its packaging that still uses plastic.
Read more: https://www.fastcompany.com/90699161/ikea-says-it-will-eliminate-plastic-packaging-by-2028?source=Snapzu

In the Summer, Three Workplace Activists Were Making Waves at Apple. All Three Are Now Gone.

Last week, software engineer Cher Scarlett left Apple upon reaching a settlement with the company following months of workplace activism. Scarlett, who worked at Apple for a year and a half, is perhaps best known for her work with #AppleToo, an employee activist movement that seeks to collect and publicize concerns about pay equity, harassment, and other issues at the company. “I didn’t feel like I could feasibly continue to work and also advocate for others publicly,” Scarlett told me. “I felt like there was no place for me there.”
Read more: https://slate.com/technology/2021/11/apple-workplace-activism-cher-scarlett.html?source=Snapzu

Man Accused of Raping Lovely Bones Author Alice Sebold Has Conviction Overturned

Anthony Broadwater served 16 years in prison after being accusing of raping author Alice Sebold. More than 20 years after he completed his sentence, his conviction was overturned.
Read more: https://www.eonline.com/news/1311280/man-accused-of-raping-lovely-bones-author-alice-sebold-has-conviction-overturned?source=Snapzu

Government to push for international ban of autonomous weapons, or killer robots

Mass-produced killer robots in the battlefield will lower the threshold for war, disarmament minister says.
Read more: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/127135214/government-to-push-for-international-ban-of-autonomous-weapons-or-killer-robots?source=Snapzu

No one seems to like the Lincoln Project anymore

Once the belle of the resistance ball, the group now has a growing list of detractors. They say they’re still committed to the fight.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/28/lincoln-project-anymore-523409?source=Snapzu

Nissan lays out $17.6 billion plan to electrify its future

Nissan is the latest automaker to announce a plan to spend gobs of money on an ambitious electrification strategy. The company said it will spend 2 trillion yen (around $17.6 billion) over the next five years to accelerate the roll-out of electric vehicles. And to emphasize that point, Nissan unveiled a pack of delightful EV concepts, including an adorable pickup truck, an outdoorsy SUV, and a sleek sports car.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/29/22807700/nissan-electric-vehicle-investment-plan-concepts?source=Snapzu

BMW removing touchscreen from a bunch of models due to chip shortage

Some unfortunate chip shortage news just broke for those in the market for a new BMW. Certain models are going to lose their touchscreen functionality to save silicon and allow BMW to maintain its current production levels. The news broke on the Bimmerfest forum, but BMW has since confirmed it to both Edmunds and us.
Read more: https://www.autoblog.com/2021/11/05/bmws-losing-touchscreen-functionality/?source=Snapzu

Parolees Paying for Supervision May Perpetuate More Criminality for Poor

Simone Windom was waitressing at O’Charley’s Restaurant and Bar in Pearl, Miss., a few years back when she received a call that she had to spend the weekend at a halfway house located in Brandon because she had not paid $55 in monthly supervision fees as someone who was out of prison on parole. That happened to her a few times.
Read more: https://www.mississippifreepress.org/18335/mississippi-parolees-paying-for-supervision-may-perpetuate-more-criminality-for-poor/?source=Snapzu

Astronomers Discover Ancient “Failed Star” With Lithium Deposits Intact

A team of researchers at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE), Mexico, has discovered lithium in the oldest and coldest brown dwarf where the presence of this valuable element has been confirmed so far.
Read more: https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-discover-ancient-failed-star-with-lithium-deposits-intact/?source=Snapzu

Entire Internet Dunks on Donald Trump Jr. After He Tries To Take on LeBron James

The smart money, obviously, is on LeBron James, who on Saturday found himself the recipient of namecalling from full-time blowhard Donald Trump Jr., the 43-year-old son of former frozen steak salesman Donald Trump. The L.A. Lakers star forward presumably has other things to do than engage with Trump Jr. calling him a “bitch” on Instagram. But James’ many fans have been eager to jump to his defense.
Read more: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/11/entire-internet-dunks-on-donald-trump-jr-after-he-tries-to-take-on-lebron-james?source=Snapzu

The underwater 'kites' generating electricity as they move

A pair of sleek, winged machines are "flying" - or at least swimming - beneath the dark waters of the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic. Known as "sea dragons" or "tidal kites", they look like aircraft, but these are in fact high-tech tidal turbines, generating electricity from the power of the ocean. The two kites - with a five-metre (16ft) wingspan - move underwater in a figure-of-eight pattern, absorbing energy from the running tide. They are tethered to the fjord seabed by 40-metre metal cables.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59401199?source=Snapzu

Bitcoin Should Not Be Legal Tender in El Salvador: IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said bitcoin should not be used as legal tender in El Salvador and urged the Central American country to strengthen the regulation and supervision of its newly established payment ecosystem.
Read more: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/11/23/bitcoin-should-not-be-legal-tender-in-el-salvador-imf/?source=Snapzu

Astronaut Wang Yaping snaps Earth photos and more from Chinese space station

The first woman aboard China’s new space station has snapped some glorious shots of our homeworld during a six-month mission to space. Wang Yaping flew to the Tianhe core module in October aboard the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft along with her colleagues Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu.
Read more: https://www.space.com/chinese-astronaut-wang-yaping-earth-space-station-photos?source=Snapzu

UK regulator set to block Meta's Giphy deal

The UK competition regulator is expected to block Meta Platforms' acquisition of online GIF platform Giphy in the coming days, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/uk-regulator-set-block-metas-giphy-deal-ft-2021-11-29?source=Snapzu

‘South Park: Post COVID’ Takes On Pandemic Fatigue, Variants And Anti-Vaxxers

South Park: Post COVID marks the first of two South Park movies this year for Paramount+, with twelve more to come, along with six more seasons of the show. That’s a lot of South Park, but Post COVID proves a surprisingly compelling story.
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2021/11/26/south-park-post-covid-takes-on-pandemic-fatigue-variants-and-anti-vaxxers/?source=Snapzu

Resident Evil Village is an awful game and not Game of the Year material

A reader is surprised to find Resident Evil Village nominated as game of the year at The Game Awards and explains why he doesn’t think it deserves it. As a much newer media than TV, film, books, and music the video games industry is always looking for legitimacy and ways to prove it is a genuine artform on par with the others. One of the ways it’s tried to do this is through an equivalent of the Oscars.
Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2021/11/28/resident-evil-village-is-an-awful-game-and-not-game-of-the-year-worthy-15674776/?source=Snapzu

Hackers Are Breaking into Cloud Accounts to Mine Crypto: Google

A Google Threat Horizon Report published earlier this week has raised concerns over hacked cloud accounts being used to mine cryptocurrency. “Malicious actors were observed performing cryptocurrency mining within compromised Cloud instances,” the report said. It added that of 50 recent examples, 86% of cases showed that hackers were mining cryptocurrencies with the accounts.
Read more: https://decrypt.co/86980/hackers-are-breaking-cloud-accounts-mine-crypto-google?source=Snapzu

Peter Jackson’s Beatles series Get Back is a feast for obsessives

Peter Jackson’s eight-hour Disney Plus docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, an extended behind-the-scenes accounting of the recording of Let It Be, features one particular scene that foreshadows The Beatles’ dissolution. It’s January 1969, and the group is desperately trying to flesh out their new song “Two of Us.” They’re under immense pressure.
Read more: https://www.polygon.com/reviews/22803457/the-beatles-get-back-review-documentary?source=Snapzu

Greece asks faithful to be COVID-clear to attend church

Greece introduced new restrictions obliging churchgoers to present negative COVID-19 tests to attend services on Sunday following a surge in infections in recent weeks.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greece-asks-faithful-be-covid-clear-attend-church-2021-11-28/?source=Snapzu

Judge Says NYPD Illegally Withheld Footage in Police Shootings

A New York state judge said the NYPD was operating in “bad faith” when it denied requests to release body-worn camera footage from the killing of Kawaski Trawick.
Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/judge-says-nypd-illegally-withheld-footage-in-police-shootings?source=Snapzu

Bitcoin Miners Adopt Liquid Immersion Cooling

Overclockers first explored liquid immersion cooling in the early 2000s, and select makers of servers adopted it for datacenters. Now, Bitcoin miners are turning to immersion cooling systems as they promise to eliminate overheating of cryptocurrency mining machines and maximize their earnings.
Read more: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cryptominers-adopt-liquid-immersion-cooling?source=Snapzu

Climate Deniers in the 117th Congress

There are 139 elected officials in the 117th Congress who still deny the scientific consensus of human-caused climate change.
Read more: https://americanprogress.org/article/climate-deniers-117th-congress/?source=Snapzu

Report: Apple still working on multi-device charger, a future where all devices 'can charge each other'

Despite its failed AirPower experiment a few years ago, Apple is reportedly still working on a multi-device charger for its products. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple is developing a multi-device charger, as well as short and long distance wireless charging technology for its idea of a future where all major devices “can charge each other.”
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2021/11/28/apple-multi-device-wireless-charger/?source=Snapzu

Living walls can reduce heat lost from buildings by over 30%

Retrofitting an existing masonry cavity walled building with a green or living wall can reduce the amount of heat lost through its structure by more than 30%, according to new research.
Read more: https://techxplore.com/news/2021-11-walls-lost.html?source=Snapzu

‘Super jelly’ can survive being run over by a car

Researchers have developed a jelly-like material that can withstand the equivalent of an elephant standing on it, and completely recover to its original shape, even though it’s 80% water.
Read more: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/super-jelly-can-survive-being-run-over-by-a-car?source=Snapzu

Thousands of people have raised more than $1 million for a man who served 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit

Thousands of people are raising money online for a Missouri man who served 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Kevin Strickland, 62, was exonerated Tuesday morning after serving decades at Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri. Strickland was convicted in 1979 of one count of capital murder and two counts of second-degree murder in a triple homicide. He received a 50-year life sentence without the possibility for parole for a crime that, over the years, he maintained he had not been involved in.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/25/us/kevin-strickland-funds-raised-wrongful-imprisonment-trnd/index.html?source=Snapzu

Look out Facebook, Apple has entered the Metaverse chat...with Canada's help

November 27, 2021 - A few years ago, a little known Montreal XR company was putting its patented technical chops into building out what many think is the "last interface", one that Facebook (ahem, Meta's) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is betting the social media giant's future on. Today, that Montreal company, and some pretty impressive Canadian innovators, find themselves thick in the middle of the Metaverse's battle of the titans.
Read more: https://techbomb.ca/metaverse/apple-has-entered-the-metaverse-chat-with-canadas-help/?source=Snapzu

The CEO of cosmetics retailer Lush says he's 'happy to lose' $13 million by deleting Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat accounts over teen mental-health harms

Cosmetics company Lush shut down its Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts globally on Friday, citing its concern about the harms of social media in the wake of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen's revelations. "In the same way that evidence against climate change was ignored and belittled for decades, concerns about the serious effects of social media are going largely ignored now," the company said in its press release earlier this week.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/lush-ceo-happy-to-lose-13m-deleting-social-media-accounts-2021-11?source=Snapzu

Panel OKs bid to demolish Wright Brothers' 1st bike shop | AP News

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — The Dayton Board of Zoning Appeals has approved the city’s request to demolish a 129-year-old historic building that once was the site of the Wright brothers’ first bike shop. The city wants to tear down the site because the building has deteriorated to a point where it can no longer be maintained and redeveloped, the Dayton Daily News has reported.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/ohio-dayton-3fa45f2548bbce928eb7732a70abb57f?source=Snapzu

‘South Park: Post COVID’ Skewers Anti-Vaxxers and ‘Woke’ Comedy

The pandemic is almost over in South Park: Post COVID. Unfortunately, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s first Paramount+ made-for-TV movie (“It’s not a movie—it’s made for TV”) is set forty years in the future, in a disease-ravaged America still grappling with the catastrophe. That’s the set-up for what turns out to be the first chapter of a two-part event (the second half drops sometime later this year) that finds the now-adult kids of South Park searching for the origins of our modern plague—and discovering, along the way, that their friendship just might be the most important thing in the world.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/south-park-post-covid-skewers-anti-vaxxers-and-woke-comedy?source=Snapzu

EU seeks to block political ads that target people's ethnicity or religion

Organizations would need to disclose how ads are paid for and how they are targeting certain groups.
Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/eu-targeted-political-ads-ethnicity-religion-sexual-orientation-transparency-233011048.html?source=Snapzu

Australian government to introduce social media legislation to unmask online trolls

The legislation will define social media services as the publisher of the comments, allowing them to be the...
Read more: https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-social-media-anti-troll-legislation-to-unmask-online-trolls/680a25ca-bbc5-4b88-9928-a54fa6bf4a0b?source=Snapzu

Physicists detect signs of neutrinos at Large Hadron Collider

The international Forward Search Experiment team, led by physicists at the University of California, Irvine, has achieved the first-ever detection of neutrino candidates produced by the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN facility near Geneva, Switzerland.
Read more: https://phys.org/news/2021-11-physicists-neutrinos-large-hadron-collider.html?source=Snapzu

The Arctic Ocean began warming decades earlier than previously thought, new research shows

The Arctic Ocean has been warming since the onset of the 20th century, decades earlier than instrument observations would suggest, according to new research.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/24/us/arctic-ocean-early-warming-climate/index.html?source=Snapzu

Facebook Ads Told Me To Become a Certified Cryptozoologist, So I Did

How a sketchy online degree program led me on an IRL quest for legendary creatures during the pandemic.
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/93bwa5/facebook-ads-told-me-to-become-a-certified-cryptozoologist-so-i-did?source=Snapzu

Sweden asks EU to ban Bitcoin mining

Lighting and warming homes in winter, or ransoming encrypted files and buying drugs? Hmmm
Read more: https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/26/sweden_bitcoin_mining_ban/?source=Snapzu

Towering musical theater master Stephen Sondheim dies at 91

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Sondheim, the songwriter who reshaped the American musical theater in the second half of the 20th century with his intelligent, intricately rhymed lyrics, his use of evocative melodies and his willingness to tackle unusual subjects, has died.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/stephen-sondheim-musical-theater-a4ef685dd49259648991ebfbcef8bbbd?source=Snapzu

South Korea considers ban on eating dog meat as it launches taskforce

South Korea today said it will launch a task force to consider a ban on eating dog meat after the country's President called for an end to the centuries-old practice. Meat from canines constitutes a major part of South Korean cuisine with about one million dogs believed to be eaten annually, but consumption has declined in recent years as more people embrace them as pets and younger people find the delicacy less appealing.
Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10242919/South-Korea-considers-ban-eating-dog-meat-launches-taskforce.html?source=Snapzu

Madonna Calls Out Instagram for Censoring Her Nipple

Madonna is not happy with Instagram. The 63-year-old “Express Yourself” superstar reposted a series of sultry photos in bed on Thursday (November 25), after they were initially taken down by the photo sharing platform. “I’m reposting photographs Instagram took down without warning or notification….. The reason they gave my management that does not handle my account was that a small portion of my nipple was exposed,” she wrote.
Read more: https://www.justjared.com/2021/11/25/madonna-hits-back-at-instagram-for-censoring-her-nipple/?source=Snapzu

Apple iOS privacy settings to change now

Privacy is a central part of Apple’s marketing campaigns and it sounds great in the company’s ads and product announcements. But actually making things as private as possible on Apple devices does require a bit of effort and time. We’ve assembled all the settings you can change on your iPhone and iPad to make the devices as private as possible. These instructions are all based on iOS 15, the newest version of the operating system.
Read more: https://wapo.st/317NF6k?source=Snapzu

Are scientists less prone to motivated reasoning?

A new study lays out a bit of a conundrum in its opening paragraphs. It notes that scientific progress depends on the ability to update what ideas are considered acceptable in light of new evidence. But science itself has produced no shortage of evidence that people are terrible at updating their beliefs and suffer from issues like confirmation bias and motivated reasoning. Since scientists are, in fact, people, the problems with updating beliefs should severely limit science's ability to progress.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/11/are-scientists-less-prone-to-motivated-reasoning/?source=Snapzu