All posts tagged: Deadly

AI-designed proteins target toxins in deadly snake venom

AI-designed proteins target toxins in deadly snake venom

Published by skeptic

3-D: Short for three-dimensional. This term is an adjective for something that has features that can be described in three dimensions — height, width and length.  amino acids: Simple molecules that occur naturally in plant and animal tissues and that are the basic building blocks of proteins. antibodies: Any of a large number of proteins that the body produces from B cells and releases into the blood supply as part of its immune response. The production of antibodies is triggered when the body encounters an antigen, some foreign material. Antibodies then lock onto antigens as a first step in disabling the germs or other foreign substances that were the source of those antigens. artificial intelligence: A type of knowledge-based decision-making exhibited by machines or computers. The term also refers to the field of study in which scientists try to create machines or computer software capable of intelligent behavior. cell: (in biology) The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the unaided eye, it consists of a watery fluid surrounded by a membrane …

The Cybertruck Appears to Be More Deadly Than the Infamous Ford Pinto, According to a New Analysis

The Cybertruck Appears to Be More Deadly Than the Infamous Ford Pinto, According to a New Analysis

Published by José

Explosive. On New Years morning this year, US Army Master Sergeant Matthew Livelsberger rolled his rental cybertruck up near the front doors of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. Levelsberger then armed a device which would soon detonate a collection of gas canisters and explosive fireworks, blowing the windows out of the hotel and injuring seven bystanders. Never one to waste a tragedy, Musk soon took to X-formerly-Twitter to brag up that the “Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards” — a claim which inadvertently led to the revelation that Tesla tracks and can remotely lock vehicles. Now a year into the Cybertruck’s lifespan, it turns out that explosions might be the only thing they make safer. A new analysis by independent automotive blog FuelArc suggests that fire fatalities are 17 times more likely in a Cybertruck than in the infamous Ford Pinto — the posterchild deadly cars if ever there was one. The site arrives at that conclusion by comparing the total units sold so far — 34,438 for the Cybertruck, compared to 3,173,491 …

Deadly Wildfires Devastate Los Angeles Art Community

Deadly Wildfires Devastate Los Angeles Art Community

Published by skeptic

Flames approached the Getty Villa in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 7, 2025. Source: Mike Blake/Reuters.   Fast-moving fires broke out in Los Angeles last week, destroying thousands of structures, forcing mass evacuations, and killing at least two dozen people. The L.A. fires, which remain only partially contained, have also devastated the city’s vibrant art community.   L.A. Fires Destroy Cultural Landmarks and Museums The L.A. fires destroyed the iconic Bunny Museum in Altadena. Source: Christina House/Los Angeles Times.   According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, over 30 culturally and historically significant properties had been destroyed by the L.A. fires as of Friday, January 10. “It is a mass erasure of heritage,” Adrian Scott Fine, chief executive of the Conservancy, told the Los Angeles Times. “We haven’t seen anything like this before.”   In the heavily-hit Altadena neighborhood, the L.A. fires burned the Bunny Museum to the ground. The Bunny Museum, which gained a cult reputation and appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records, housed a 50,000-piece rabbit-themed collection. The …

UN chief Antonio Guterres declares last 10 years a ‘decade of deadly heat’ | World News

UN chief Antonio Guterres declares last 10 years a ‘decade of deadly heat’ | World News

Published by skeptic

The world has experienced a “decade of deadly heat”, the head of the UN says, as he urged countries to “exit this road to ruin”. UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said the top ten hottest years on record had occurred in the past decade and warned the world was witnessing “climate breakdown in real time”. “We must exit this road to ruin – and we have no time to lose,” he said in his New Year’s message. “In 2025, countries must put the world on a safer path by dramatically slashing emissions, and supporting the transition to a renewable future. It is essential – and it is possible.” He also said that hope has been “hard to find” in 2024, but that the world could make 2025 a “new beginning”. Reflecting on a year dominated by two major wars, in the Middle East and in Ukraine, he said conflicts were causing “enormous pain, suffering and displacement”. Image: An activist holds a sign that reads 1.5 degrees during a demonstration at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Pic: …

A Deadly Apathy | David Shulman

A Deadly Apathy | David Shulman

Published by skeptic

This winter in Israel-Palestine is a dark one, and not because the days are shorter. We have war crimes, man-made famine, and ethnic cleansing in both Gaza and the West Bank. Since early October the army has intermit- tently stopped humanitarian aid—namely food—from entering the northern part of Gaza, which has a population of some 200,000 or more. Much of that population has now been forcibly displaced toward the tent cities farther south, but it seems that tens of thousands of Palestinians are still hanging on in Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya, where the fighting and the bombing continue. Brigadier General Itzik Cohen, who is in command in the Jabaliya arena, has claimed that there are no civilians left in the north of Gaza. Oddly, many of these nonexistent ordinary people are being killed nearly every day. Here is one egregious example. On October 29, after four soldiers were killed in Beit Lahiya, the army bombed a five-story apartment building; it claimed that a “lookout” had been sighted on the roof. Nearly a hundred people died, …

This international surveillance project aims to protect wheat from deadly diseases

This international surveillance project aims to protect wheat from deadly diseases

Published by skeptic

Their automated system sends data to Chris Gilligan, who leads the modeling arm of Wheat DEWAS at the University of Cambridge. With his team, he works with the UK’s Met Office, using their supercomputer to model how the fungal spores at a given site might spread under specific weather conditions and what the risk is of their landing, germinating, and infecting other areas. The team drew on previous models, including work on the ash plume from the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, which caused havoc in Europe in 2010. Each day, a downloadable bulletin is posted online with a seven-day forecast. Additional alerts or advisories are also sent out. Information is then disseminated from governments or national authorities to farmers. For example, in Ethiopia, immediate risks are conveyed to farmers by SMS text messaging. Crucially, if there’s likely to be a problem, the alerts offer time to respond. “You’ve got, in effect, three weeks’ grace,” says Gilligan. That is, growers may know of the risk up to a week ahead of time, enabling them …

Deadly violence in Nigeria linked to breakup of United Methodist Church over LGBTQ policies

Deadly violence in Nigeria linked to breakup of United Methodist Church over LGBTQ policies

Published by skeptic

A religious schism has turned deadly in Nigeria, with a church member fatally shot and two young children killed as homes were set ablaze, according to United Methodist News Service. The news service said the reported violence on Sunday stemmed from a schism in the worldwide United Methodist Church over its decision to repeal LGBTQ bans — and the ensuing formation of the new Global Methodist Church by breakaway conservative churches. According to the news service, a United Methodist church member was shot and killed in a confrontation between both factions in Taraba, a state in northeast Nigeria. Homes were set ablaze, claiming the lives of two children, ages 2 and 4, of the overseer of a United Methodist school and nursery, the news service said. Another 10 church members were reported injured. The worldwide Global Methodist Church held its inaugural general conference earlier this year. It was created by churches breaking away from the United Methodist Church — an international denomination with a strong U.S. presence. While the UMC, at its general conference in May, lifted …

‘Mirror life forms’ may sound like science fiction, but scientists warn they could be deadly to humans and destroy the environment

‘Mirror life forms’ may sound like science fiction, but scientists warn they could be deadly to humans and destroy the environment

Published by skeptic

When you look in a mirror, the reflection is fundamentally you, but with a perfect reversal of all your features. This illustrates a phenomenon we also see in the tiny world of molecules. Some molecules exist as mirror images of themselves, known as “enantiomers”, that can’t be superimposed on one another. This concept is known as chirality, or “handedness”. It’s important because mirror images of the same molecules can have completely different effects and functions in biology. Writing in the journal Science, a group of 40 renowned scientists have warned that within the next decade, it may be possible to create entire mirror-image life forms made up of these enantiomers – specifically, microbial life such as bacteria. This poses real dangers, they argue. “Mirror bacteria” could evade people’s immune systems, they suggest, causing deadly infections. Such infections could also lead to a substantial proportion of plant and animal species being displaced, completely disrupting the environment. Mirror-image molecules are structurally identical, just as your left and right hands are structurally identical and can perform exactly the …

Deadly airstrike targets U.N. school shelter in Khan Younis, Gaza

Deadly airstrike targets U.N. school shelter in Khan Younis, Gaza

Published by Sam

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Israel says ceasefire deal is closer than ever, as death toll rises in Gaza 04:26 Biden speaks on Israel hostage return at White House Hanukkah celebration 01:04 Now Playing Deadly airstrike targets U.N. school in Khan Younis sheltering displaced Palestinians 01:16 UP NEXT Hamas makes concessions, fueling new hope for ceasefire and hostage deal with Israel 00:51 Dozens killed and around 50 Palestinians wounded by missile strike on Nuseirat camp 01:03 U.S. officials push for ceasefire in Gaza raising hope for hostages 04:48 More than 1.8 million people in Gaza experiencing extremely critical levels of hunger 02:41 Freed hostage shares struggles as husband remains in captivity 05:55 Gaza family buried under airstrike rubble, pulled to safety 02:03 Airstrike on tent camp kills displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis 01:14 Trump’s rhetoric on Gaza hostage deal ‘reinforces’ what Biden is trying to do: fmr. Mideast envoy 05:50 Lebanon ceasefire appears precarious as Israel and Hezbollah trade fire 01:58 Israel says an Israeli-American …

Entrepreneur Marc Lore on ‘founder mode,’ bad hires, and why avoiding risk is deadly

Entrepreneur Marc Lore on ‘founder mode,’ bad hires, and why avoiding risk is deadly

Published by skeptic

Entrepreneur Marc Lore has already sold two companies for billions of dollars, collectively. Now he plans to take his food delivery and take-out business Wonder public in a couple of years at an ambitious $40 billion valuation. We talked with Lore in person in New York recently about Wonder and its ultimate aim of making meal planning effortless, but we also touched on Lore’s management philosophies. Below is some of what he had to say on the latter front, edited lightly for length and clarity. Lore on so-called founder mode, wherein founders and CEOs actively work with not only their direct reports but with “skip level” employees, too, in order to ensure that small challenges do not become big ones (Brian Chesky operates this way, as does Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Elon Musk, and Sam Altman, among many others): Yeah, the founder mode thing didn’t really resonate with me, because I operate differently. I really focus on this idea of vision, capital, and people. We have a meeting every week with the leadership team, and we …