All posts tagged: message

Ask Ethan: What should humanity’s message to the Universe be?

Ask Ethan: What should humanity’s message to the Universe be?

Published by Jenni Sidey

One of the greatest open questions in all of the Universe today is just how abundant intelligent alien life is right at this very moment. We can imagine that extraterrestrial intelligence is common, and that the Milky Way is swarming with civilizations — thousands or even millions of them — just as intellectually advanced or even more technologically advanced than we are. Alternatively, we could be uncommon, where only a scarce few civilizations ever come into existence within the galaxy, and where finding anyone else to communicate with is exceedingly difficult at the moment. At an even greater extreme, they could be very rare, so rare that perhaps we’re entirely alone in the galaxy, and that we’d have to search at extragalactic distances to find anyone else to communicate with, or perhaps in the most extreme scenario of all, we’re completely unique in all the Universe. Until we find a second example of life of any type somewhere else, we shall remain completely ignorant of what else, or who else, may be out there. But …

Two and a Half Men creator sends message to Trump in latest TV premiere

Two and a Half Men creator sends message to Trump in latest TV premiere

Published by Daniella Wilson

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Chuck Lorre has hit back at the White House after they accused him of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” 73-year-old Lorre has been nicknamed the “King of Sitcoms” thanks to a successful multi-decade career helping to create hit shows including Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and Mom. Appearing at the Project Angel Food charity gala in Los Angeles last week, Lorre used an award acceptance speech to say, per The Daily Beast: “Sure, I’d love to stand here and talk about my deep yearning for a more compassionate government, one that prioritizes the health and welfare of its citizens. But the burden of my profession demands that I take this opportunity to say a few words about that bloated orange piece of s*** in the White House.” He went on to joke that: “Because I’m a comedy writer, I have no choice but to explain how …

‘Snowflake’ firm in ASOS hacking message issues response | Money News

‘Snowflake’ firm in ASOS hacking message issues response | Money News

Published by Miika Tikkanen

The data firm mentioned in the ASOS hacking message has said the breach was not caused by a flaw in its system. Customers received a push notification on Tuesday, apparently addressed to the firm’s IT managers, saying the “Snowflake” had been “fully compromised”. The fashion app said some personal data had been accessed, such as name and contact details, but that payment information and passwords were safe. Snowflake – the American data storage business that services ASOS – said on Friday the hack was not its fault. “We can confirm this issue did not in any way result from a vulnerability, weakness, flaw, or misconfiguration with the Snowflake service, platform, or internal environments, and was not caused by Snowflake,” said a spokeswoman. “No remediation is required for Snowflake customers. We continue to encourage adherence to our security best practices.” ASOS said on Thursday the incident was caused by an “unauthorised party gained access to an ASOS employee account by impersonating a trusted contact to obtain log-in credentials”. It added: “Those credentials were then used to …

Pink, pretty, and protective. A dumbo octopus is here with a message from the deep-sea.

Pink, pretty, and protective. A dumbo octopus is here with a message from the deep-sea.

Published by Jenni Sidey

She’s bubblegum pink with a permanent little smile. She sports a pretty flower on her head sports a black tattoo on one of her eight arms. But don’t let this dumbo octopus’ adorable exterior fool you. Miss Abyss is here on serious business.  “Miss Abyss is a dumbo octopus from the deep-sea, and she is on a journey all across the country looking for allies to support her to help defend the deep-sea,” Angelo Villagomez, a research fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), tells Popular Science.  While Miss Abyss herself is an octopus illustrated by CAP research associate Jasia Smith, dumbo octopuses (genus Grimpoteuthis) are very real cephalopods. They live on the ocean floor, and many species can be found at extreme depths of 9,800 to 13,000 feet and are only about 8 inches tall.  CAP’s’ Miss Abyss campaign is using the dumbo octopus to raise awareness about protecting public waters from deep-sea mining using the Flat Stanley method. Based on the children’s book Flat Stanley, children are are asked to take pictures …

Message in a Bottle | Peter E. Gordon

Message in a Bottle | Peter E. Gordon

Published by Jenni Sidey

Jürgen Habermas died on March 14, 2026, only three months before his ninety-seventh birthday. For his memorial on June 19, mourners gathered in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche, the fabled site of Germany’s nineteenth-century attempt at liberal revolution. It was an elegant affair. Before the speaker’s podium stood a vase filled with white roses; to the right, a large photograph of the deceased. Though Habermas was recognizable by his white hair and glasses, the camera had captured him in an atypical pose with raised eyebrows and open mouth, as if he were astonished at all the fuss. Along with family members and colleagues from Europe and abroad, there appeared a retinue of distinguished officials, including the mayor of Frankfurt; the president of the city’s university; the director of Suhrkamp, the publishing house to which Habermas had entrusted nearly all his mature works; and the president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Cristina Lafont, a Spanish philosopher and a former student of Habermas’s, gave a loving tribute. Adding to the solemnity of the occasion was a string quartet that played two …

The pope’s message on AI is breaking through in Silicon Valley and beyond

The pope’s message on AI is breaking through in Silicon Valley and beyond

Published by Sam Flores

Get RNS’ thoughtful, essential religion reporting every morning. Sign up for free! (RNS) — In the past week, we have witnessed the in-breaking of the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Church. Young people, in particular, are publicly on fire for the faith: from the streets of Paris for the papal visit, to the stadiums of St. Louis for the beatification of Archbishop Sheen, to processions on Notre Dame’s campus marking that school’s consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  But there is another way in which the Holy Spirit is moving in the Church — and it is through Pope Leo’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas.” Only four-and-a-half months after its promulgation in May, it is breaking through in extraordinary ways.  Papal encyclicals, even those concerning Church institutions, are often ignored as academic and esoteric documents. But with Leo’s inaugural encyclical, the Church has embraced “Magnifica Humanitas”’ application of Catholic teaching to the rapidly expanding industry of artificial intelligence. Bishops’ conferences from Australia to Ireland to Chile responded with plans based on its teachings almost immediately. Closer …

The Inbetweeners Creators Have A Message For Fans As Excitement Builds For New Film

The Inbetweeners Creators Have A Message For Fans As Excitement Builds For New Film

Published by Sam Flores

The writers of The Inbetweeners are encouraging fans to have some restraint now work on the upcoming revival is underway. After years of speculation, it was confirmed earlier this month that a third Inbetweeners movie was in the pipeline, which will reunite the main cast more than a decade on from the most recent film. Now that the wheels are officially in motion, co-creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley shared a message with fans on Instagram on Tuesday. The stars of The Inbetweeners pictured during the show’s original run “Beepidy beep beep, time for an Inbetweeners update,” they wrote alongside a behind-the-scenes snap of the reunited cast. “As you probably know, we’ve started filming a new Inbetweeners adventure. We love that everyone is interested, and it’s brilliant that these four idiots are still considered news. “We’re all excited for the film, but the rumour mill can sometimes get carried away, so our advice is simple: if you want to fully enjoy what we’ve got in store for you, we’d suggest avoiding photos and conjecture about …

How September’s Pixel Drop changes the way you call and message important contacts

How September’s Pixel Drop changes the way you call and message important contacts

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Kerry Wan/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways The September 2026 Pixel Drop is officially rolling out. It brings a faster way to call and message contacts. The update is available to Pixel 6 and newer devices. The September 2026 Pixel Drop is officially rolling out, and while it’s not a huge update, it does bring a potentially very useful tool to your home screen. This is separate from the September Android Drop, which introduced a new way to keep track of important items and a new motion sickness feature. Also: The best Google phones: How does the Pixel 10 Pro Fold stack up? Here’s a look at what’s new. An easier way to message or call your regular contacts The most useful update, and the one I’m most excited about, makes it a lot easier to call or message your most used contacts.  In June 2025, Google debuted Pixel VIPs, a widget that stored important contacts for easy access. The process still involved multiple taps, though, as you …

Kelly Osbourne reveals dad Ozzy’s heartbreaking final message to her before his death

Kelly Osbourne reveals dad Ozzy’s heartbreaking final message to her before his death

Published by Daniella Wilson

Kelly Osbourne is opening up about one of the last conversations she had with her father, Ozzy Osbourne. Days before the Black Sabbath frontman died at age 76 in July 2025, Kelly said in a new podcast appearance that Ozzy shared a message to remember after his death. “He sat me down, this was about three days before he died,” Kelly, 41, said on Paul C. Brunson’s We Need to Talk podcast. “He sat me down and said, ‘Tots, I need you to know something. No matter what happens in this life, you can live the rest of your life knowing that there was one man on this planet that truly loved you. That truly loved you for every single thing you are. And that man is me.’” Kelly said that she started to cry at the sentiment and begged him not to “talk like this,” which prompted him to respond, “You know, I’m not going to be here forever. And I know you struggle with people and believing you are loved. But I love …

Pink Breaks Silence After Blasting Macklemore Pro-Palestine Message

Pink Breaks Silence After Blasting Macklemore Pro-Palestine Message

Published by Daniella Wilson

Pink issued an extensive statement on Friday addressing the backlash she faced for resharing a post calling out Macklemore for his pro-Palestine comments and demanding he be removed from Ed Sheeran’s ongoing tour. In a lengthy post on Instagram Friday, the singer-songwriter said that the post she had shared “said things in words I didn’t write, and I wouldn’t have chosen all of them,” further stating that “I’d rather be disagreed with for what I actually said than hated for what anybody else wrote, so let me say it.” “I was born a Jew. I didn’t pick it, and I’ve never hidden it,” she wrote. “And this week a whole lot of people decided what I believe without asking me, without checking a single thing I’ve ever said or done, because a repost and the word ‘Jew’ were apparently enough to fill in the rest. But let me fill it in… myself.” “Of course I don’t speak for Israel, or for any government,” she continued. “I never have. What I said in October 2023 is …