All posts tagged: birth

Watch “The Birth of the Robot,” Len Lye’s Surreal 1935 Stop-Motion Animation

Watch “The Birth of the Robot,” Len Lye’s Surreal 1935 Stop-Motion Animation

Published by José

Robots seem to have been much on the public mind back in the nineteen-thirties. Matt Novak at Paleofuture gives the example of a moment in 1932 when “the world was awash in newspaper stories about a robot that had done the unthinkable: a mechanical man had shot its inventor.” Despite being a typical example of the experimental-fictive journalistic style of that era, it nevertheless reflected “a time when robots represented something fearful,” and were indeed “a potent symbol of runaway automation and job loss.” Novak cites the statistic that “about 25% of jobless Americans thought automation was to blame for their unemployment by the end of the Great Depression.” Not much more than a decade after the very term robot was coined, in Czech playwright Karel Čapek’s R.U.R., robots were in need of some good PR. Enter Shell Oil, which had not only the resources to commission an eye-catching advertising film, but also a robot-shaped emblem familiar to many consumers. “The Birth of the Robot,” which made its theatrical debut in 1935, tells that character’s …

Elon Musk sued by 26-year-old influencer who gave birth to his 13th baby

Elon Musk sued by 26-year-old influencer who gave birth to his 13th baby

Published by skeptic

Elon Musk has been sued by Ashley St Clair, a conservative influencer who revealed she has given birth to their baby, Elon’s 13th. In the documents seen by TMZ, Ashley, 26, is requesting sole custody of their baby, and claims Elon has only seen the baby three times since it was born in September 2024: on September 21, 2024, in New York City, for two hours, an hour the following day, and a 30-minute meeting in Austin, Texas. She is also requesting a paternity test since “the father of the subject child has not been legally established”. Inside Elon Musk’s complicated family life Elon is not on the birth cetificate The documents reveal she did not put Elon’s name on the birth certificate, as per his request, over “security concerns”. Ashley claims that she and Elon, who once offered to help solve world hunger for $6 billion and then donated the money to his own foundation, began a “romantic relationship in or about May 2023,” and that their child, known only as RSC, was conceived in …

The Super Bowl might influence birth patterns, study suggests

The Super Bowl might influence birth patterns, study suggests

Published by José

Excitement surrounding big sports tournaments like the Super Bowl or the World Cup might lead to more than just team spirit; a scientific review published in PeerJ indicates these events could be linked to a bump in birth rates roughly nine months later. Researchers found that major sporting tournaments appear to have a noticeable influence on birth patterns, affecting both the number of births and the ratio of male to female babies born. This effect is likely driven by the intense emotions stirred up by these events. Previous research has documented birth rate fluctuations following significant social events. Holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s Eve have been associated with increased conception rates due to a combination of festive mood, alcohol consumption, and time off work. Similarly, researchers have noted potential baby booms after major cultural festivals. However, the relationship between sporting events and birth patterns has remained less explored, despite anecdotal claims and isolated studies suggesting a link. Sports hold a special place in global culture, with tournaments like the FIFA World Cup, the …

Watch Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo and Gertie the Dinosaur, and Witness the Birth of Modern Animation (1911-1914)

Watch Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo and Gertie the Dinosaur, and Witness the Birth of Modern Animation (1911-1914)

Published by José

“Con­sid­er­ing that, in a car­toon, any­thing can hap­pen that the mind can imag­ine, the comics have gen­er­al­ly depict­ed pret­ty mun­dane worlds,” writes Calvin and Hobbes cre­ator Bill Wat­ter­son. “Sure, there have been talk­ing ani­mals, a few space­ships and what­not, but the comics have rarely shown us any­thing tru­ly bizarre. Lit­tle Nemo’s dream imagery, how­ev­er, is as mind-bend­ing today as ever, and Win­sor McCay remains one of the great­est inno­va­tors and manip­u­la­tors of the com­ic strip medi­um.” And Lit­tle Nemo, which sprawled across entire news­pa­per pages in the ear­ly decades of the twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry, pushed artis­tic bound­aries not just as a com­ic, but also as a film. When first seen in 1911, the twelve-minute short Lit­tle Nemo was titled Win­sor McCay, the Famous Car­toon­ist of the N.Y. Her­ald and His Mov­ing Comics. A mix­ture of live action and ani­ma­tion, it dra­ma­tizes McCay mak­ing a gen­tle­man’s wager with his col­leagues that he can draw fig­ures that move — an idea that might have come with a cer­tain plau­si­bil­i­ty, giv­en that speed-draw­ing was already a suc­cess­ful part of …

As Birth Rates Plummet, Women’s Autonomy Will Be Even More at Risk

As Birth Rates Plummet, Women’s Autonomy Will Be Even More at Risk

Published by skeptic

History tells us that all freedoms are conditional. In 1920, the Soviet Union became the first country in the world to legalize abortion, as part of a socialist commitment to women’s health and well-being. Sixteen years later, that decision was reversed once Stalin was in power and realized that birth rates were falling. The pressure on all nations to keep up their population levels has never gone away. But in 2025, that demographic crunch is going to get even crunchier—and the casualty will be gender rights. In both the United States and the United Kingdom, the rate at which babies are being born has been plummeting for 15 years. In Japan, Poland, and Canada, the fertility rate is already down to 1.3. In China and Italy, it is 1.2. South Korea has the lowest in the world, at 0.72. Research published by The Lancet medical journal predicts that by 2100, almost every country on the planet won’t be producing enough children to sustain its population size. A good deal of this is because women have …

Killer whale Tahlequah who carried dead calf in ‘show of grief’ gives birth again

Killer whale Tahlequah who carried dead calf in ‘show of grief’ gives birth again

Published by Sam

A killer whale mother who carried her dead calf for 17 days in an apparent show of grief has given birth to a new calf, scientists have said. The orca, named Tahlequah and known to researchers as J35, had carried her dead infant for more than 1,000 miles in 2018. But last Friday the whale was spotted travelling with a new calf in the Puget Sound waterway off the coast of Washington State, according to the Center for Whale Research. In a Facebook post, it said a team of researchers had been able to observe the calf and confirm it is female, giving it the name J61. But it said the team was concerned about the calf’s health “based on the behaviour of both J35 and J61”. “Early life is always dangerous for new calves, with a very high mortality rate in the first year,” the centre said. “J35 is an experienced mother, and we hope that she is able to keep J61 alive through these difficult early days.” In a post on X, the …

Humanists UK welcomes UK Government decision to add folic acid to flour to reduce birth defects

Humanists UK welcomes UK Government decision to add folic acid to flour to reduce birth defects

Published by skeptic

Humanists UK has welcomed the UK Government’s announcement that folic acid will be added to non-wholemeal flour. This is a significant public health benefit which is expected to save lives and lead to fewer cases of serious and fatal foetal abnormalities. Folic acid is crucial in the early stages of pregnancy for the proper development of the neural tube and reducing incidents of neural tube defects (NTD) like anencephaly, which is usually fatal in the womb, or causes death shortly after birth. Around 80% of women who receive such a diagnosis choose to terminate their pregnancy. Until now, the onus was on women who were hoping to become or who were pregnant to take folic acid supplements in the UK. This meant that many women, including those on low incomes or who were not aware that they were pregnant, were not getting enough folic acid. As a result, the UK is believed to have the highest rate of NTDs in Europe. Humanists UK has long advocated this measure, recognising it as a positive step towards …

It all started with a Big Bang – the quest to unravel the mystery behind the birth of the universe

It all started with a Big Bang – the quest to unravel the mystery behind the birth of the universe

Published by skeptic

How did everything begin? It’s a question that humans have pondered for thousands of years. Over the last century or so, science has homed in on an answer: the Big Bang. This describes how the Universe was born in a cataclysmic explosion almost 14 billion years ago. In a tiny fraction of a second, the observable universe grew by the equivalent of a bacterium expanding to the size of the Milky Way. The early universe was extraordinarily hot and extremely dense. But how do we know this happened? Let’s look first at the evidence. In 1929, the American astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that distant galaxies are moving away from each other, leading to the realisation that the universe is expanding. If we were to wind the clock back to the birth of the cosmos, the expansion would reverse and the galaxies would fall on top of each other 14 billion years ago. This age agrees nicely with the ages of the oldest astronomical objects we observe. The idea was initially met with scepticism – and …

Princess Beatrice’s unconventional royal birth with daughter Sienna was ‘the ultimate luxury’

Princess Beatrice’s unconventional royal birth with daughter Sienna was ‘the ultimate luxury’

Published by skeptic

© Getty If you are reading this, the chances are you are obsessed with the royals – which is just as well because so are we! So obsessed, in fact, we’ve launched a club solely dedicated to covering them. So welcome to The HELLO! Royal Club. We would love you to join us there… What is it? Interactive community offering behind-the-scenes access, exclusive royal interviews, unmissable royal insights, and an illustrious royal Inner Circle. Member benefits Two weekly newsletters, one from Emily Nash Video posts and audio notes from Emily Nash and the HELLO! Royal team Access to our royal community and opportunity to interact with club writers and members Participate in polls, comments and discussion threads Royal-themed puzzles with a weekly prize to be won Access to our Ask Me Anything sessions with our journalists Invitations to in-person and virtual events A subscription to the digital edition of HELLO! Magazine (Worth £82 annually)* Future ‘Inner Circle’ benefits By royal decree You are royally invited to join The HELLO! Royal Club – and then to go forth and …

Preterm birth before 29 weeks linked to heightened risk of panic disorder

Preterm birth before 29 weeks linked to heightened risk of panic disorder

Published by José

A study of German adults born between 1969 and 2002 revealed that those born before the 29th week of pregnancy (extremely premature) have a significantly increased risk of developing panic disorder later in life. Panic disorder was present in 2% to 4% of individuals born after the 29th week of pregnancy but in 14% of those born before. The research was published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. A typical human pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks, measured from the first day of the last menstrual period. However, some babies are born early. If a baby is born before the 37th week of pregnancy, this is referred to as prematurity. Premature births can occur for various reasons, such as infections, issues with the placenta, or carrying multiples (twins, triplets). Maternal health conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, or a history of preterm birth also increase the risk of prematurity. Babies born prematurely may face immediate health challenges, such as difficulty breathing and feeding, due to underdeveloped organs. Prematurity is the leading cause of newborn deaths. It …