One Direction didn't win The X Factor in 2010, but filled stadiums, broke records and our hearts. Alex Fine/Courtesy of Black Dog & Leventhal hide caption

One Direction didn't win The X Factor in 2010, but filled stadiums, broke records and our hearts.

Ten years ago today, July 23, One Direction created the universe. Read an excerpt from Maria Sherman's new book, Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS, about 1D's formation and meteoric rise.

Once, there was nothing. Then there was something. There was everything. The big bang created the universe. The spectacular explosion, the smallest singularity, inflated for nearly 14 billion years. That time might as well have been filled with darkness, because it wasn't until 2010 that one Irish lad and four young Brits from working-class families Mullingar, Ireland's Niall Horan, the cute one; Wolverhampton's Liam Payne, the responsible one; Bradford's Zayn Malik, the shy one; Doncaster's Louis Tomlinson, the class clown/bad boy; and Redditch's Harry Styles, the heartthrob auditioned as soloists on the seventh season of The X Factor. Who could have known that the cosmic microwave called existence would zap up a reality singing competition show, leading to the most glorious time in the universe, the creation of One Direction?

Separately, X Factor judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, and Louis Walsh couldn't continue to advance the teenage boys in good faith. They were all talented, but not yet great, and they obviously couldn't dance. Malik especially. Then, an epiphany: Simon Cowell (or Simon Cowell and guest judge/Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, if you take her account as the truth) had the idea to group Niall, Liam, Zayn, Louis, and Harry together to form a harmonic quintet, the youngest boy band the show had ever seen. That decision, rumored to have taken Cowell ten minutes to come up with, would prove to be one of the most rewarding, simple experiments in modern pop music history. After two weeks in the show's "boot camp" program after auditions an accelerated timeline for burgeoning friendships, let alone collaborative careers something clicked. A cover of Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" later, and One Direction ("1D" if you're nasty) was official. They came in third place on the show, but that didn't matter.* They had something much more gargantuan in store.

Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS, by Maria Sherman Black Dog & Leventhal hide caption

Losing the X Factor in December 2010 was a pivotal moment for 1D. At the time, there weren't many popular male vocal groups in the U.K., save for an embryonic version of the Wanted and JLS. Short for Jack the Lad Swing, the R&B-pop group of adult men couldn't really be deemed a boy band, so the need was there. Cowell, an industry Svengali in his own right, instantly saw One Direction's potential. (Not to knock his know-how, but with hundreds of girls lining up for them outside of the X Factor studio during the competition, it would've been hard to miss.) He signed the boy band to his Sony Music record label imprint, Syco Records, in January 2011 in the U.K. Turns out, it was great timing for Cowell as well: another Syco boy band, Westlife, recently announced their retirement. He needed a new group just as much as One Direction needed to capitalize on their nascent popularity. A few months later, One Direction was signed to Columbia Records stateside. With the exception of the Jonas Brothers, American audiences really hadn't seen a monolithic boy band since *NSYNC. They needed them, too.

And so, at the beginning of 2011, One Direction got to work. Cowell put them in touch with hit American songwriter Savan Kotecha, a Max Martin protege, who, with a small team, produced their debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful." The song, released on September 11, was exactly what the young group required to not only sustain their hype postX Factor but deliver on it: an affirming, high-energy, no-nonsense, perfect piece of pop that made them appear sweet, sensitive, and attainable, the kind of boys who put women on a pedestal. If there is a better way of encapsulating exactly what a girl needs to hear while coming to terms with the absolute horror show that is heterosexuality during puberty, when the world begins to instruct her to hate herself, I have yet to hear it. The video, too, was playful with modest touches of sensuality (it doesn't hurt that it was filmed on the same stretch of beach as Blink-182's parodic "All the Small Things," an Easter egg for boy band fans if there ever was one). Kotecha told Billboard that the secret to "What Makes You Beautiful" and boy band music in general is doing "the exact opposite of what's going on... teenage girls need to feel it's their own thing." Radio was dominated by Rihanna, Adele, and LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," so he certainly accomplished that.

A combination of marketing, momentum, and music so joyful it should come with a warning for serotonin secretions, One Direction released their debut LP, Up All Night, with "What Makes You Beautiful" and the lovelorn, rock-tinged "One Thing." The album shot up the charts in the U.K. in 2011 and in 2012, debuted at number 1 in the U.S., making them the first English group to ever debut atop the charts with their first album. Really think about that for a moment. The Beatles never even did this s***.

When One Direction voyaged to North America later that year, they inspired their own sort of Beatlemania. Actually, it might've been even grander because of the advent of social media and their brilliant utilization of it. One Direction's unedited Justin Bieberesque Twitter sharing led fans to believe they were close to the boys, an illusion of access more palpable than even what watching their X Factor auditions provided. Fans felt more like friends, a priceless connection in the boy band universe. As a result, every arena tour One Direction booked sold out in a split second. Women would camp outside their hotels waiting for a glimpse of the group, fully enamored with the chaotic boy band that couldn't even dance. There was no stopping them because their meteoric rise was completely unprecedented and unchallenged, minus a minor trademark infringement lawsuit from an American band also called One Direction. They settled, those nerds disappeared, and in May 2012, One Direction began recording their second album, setting the pace for what would become their normal: an exhaustive, accelerated album-tour-album-tour schedule that might even impress the boy bands who laid the framework a decade prior. Take Me Home was released in November. It, too, debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200.

One Direction fever was unstoppable. "Live While We're Young" was a brilliant follow-up smash single to "What Makes You Beautiful." Lyrically, it was a brief detour from telling a girl she's great to having a wonderful time with her, free of the responsibilities of adulthood. Here, the One Direction boys' personalities really began to shine through. They were a bit anarchic. You could really get into trouble with them, with no bigger consequences than lunch detention. They even tamed the ever elusive rock ballad in "Little Things," which, in November 2012, they sang for the queen of England.

A year, a 3-D concert documentary so huge it was released in theaters, and a few massive arena tours later, One Direction released their third LP, Midnight Memories, in November 2013. Once again, as you most certainly guessed, it debuted at number 1, making One Direction the first group in history to debut atop the charts with their first three records. At this stage, 1D had graduated to stadiums, with tens of thousands of seats. A remarkable feat off the support of a few unrivaled singles, including their best-known track, the appropriately named "Best Song Ever." (It really was the best song ever.)

Harry Styles' impeccably-tailored style from the 2014 American Music Awards. Alex Fine/Courtesy of Black Dog & Leventhal hide caption

In 2014, keeping with their strategy, the band released their fourth album and once again, it debuted at number 1. The release, Four, is most noteworthy for the fan frenzy that turned the up-tempo, Louis Tomlinsonled song "No Control" into a single when it wasn't originally marketed to be one. (I'm no tinhatter, but perhaps it had something to do with the song's lyric of "Waking up / Beside you I'm a loaded gun," which is less like the Boyzone song "Loaded Gun" and definitely a metaphor for...One Erection.) Directioners demanded the track get a full release, and it did. That's paramount, and so is this: if you're into numerology-based foreshadowing, the album title suggested the heartbreak that was yet to come. In March 2015, after months of embarking on one of the largest, most successful tours of all time, attended by 3.4 million ticket buyers, a hubristic Zayn Malik announced he was leaving the group because he wanted to be "a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight," or so it was written in his official statement. Now there were only four.

Saddened by the loss of their bandmate and, well, best mate, Louis, Liam, Harry, and Niall went back into the studio and released One Direction's fifth and final album in 2015, without Zayn. Made in the A.M. (After Malik?) is a hybrid folk-rock-pop self-homage to the group's legacy and a gorgeous farewell to the fans responsible for their fame. The video for the single "History" made it clear that this was the end. Imagine an intimate slideshow, a collection of images of the boy band throughout their career, beginning with their X Factor auditions, and ending with the image of them hugging, the final four members walking away in separate directions and amicably waving goodbye to one another. Lyrically, "History" doubles as a grateful breakup anthem (clever boys, these) and possesses a chorus that reminds me of Randy Newman's Toy Story tune, "You've Got a Friend in Me." For 1D fans, thinking about it is enough to evoke tears. Not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything.

One Direction announced they'd embark on a hiatus beginning in March 2016, exactly one year after Zayn left the group. In the time since, each boy has tried his hand at the solo music thing with varying degrees of success: Zayn pursued the R&B-affected pop that he always loved and 1D never attempted; Harry went full Bowie, desiring vintage rock-and-roll mystique that, as the most public face of 1D, he was never granted; Louis and Niall stuck to pop-rock; and Liam flirted with EDM and hip-hop. Styles is the closest to anything like a Timberlake, but they're much too different to really compare. The similarities start and stop at their like-minded star power and how, after leaving a boy band, they were able to transgress a fickle pop music space and become critically acclaimed without abandoning the fans that brought them to the top.

In their five short years as a band, One Direction became one of the biggest boy bands the world had ever seen, a big bang in their own right. But would anyone be able to do it like them again?

Maria Sherman is a senior staff writer at Jezebel and regular contributor to NPR Music. Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS is her first book.

* As Georgina Gregory notes, reality TV singing competitions allow fans to feel like they had some say in the formation of boy bands, that they were there from the very start. In the case of One Direction, fans got to see them learn to dance and sing together, the kind of insider-y rehearsals and early day footage previously unprocurable, let alone witnessed in real time. (Not to mention, they have bragging rights to lord over Directioners who got to the fandom late in the group's career.) Losing has a positive effect, too: who doesn't love to support an underdog? In fact, it's generally unremarked upon in their history, but the Backstreet Boys were rejected from 1993's version of The X Factor, Star Search. Clearly, there's a history of boy bands going and failing on these shows.

Read more:

One Direction's Big Bang Read An Excerpt From 'Larger Than Life' - NPR

John Boyega has had a number of standout roles, with joiningStar Wars back in 2015 leading to his international breakthrough. Boyega portrayed the beloved Finn in the sci-fi trilogy, made-up of Episode VII, VIII and IX.

While its such an accomplishment to be part of this acclaimed franchise, Boyega is ready to move on, as he casually made clear in an Insta post.

Even though his run as Finn may be over, theres plenty more of Boyega to look for:

1. Becoming Human

At first glance, Becoming Human seems like a typical teen comedy, set at a high school. But, nope, some of these teens have supernatural powers. The story revolves around a vampire, a ghost and a werewolf, all in teen form, who work together to solve a mystery. Boyega steps in as Danny, an actual human teen, who is a bully. Oh no.

2. Attack the Block

Attack the Block, which has become sort of a sci-fi classic, is set in South London. A group of teens defend their neighborhood when invaded by aliens. In addition to Boyega, you can look for Doctor Whos Jodie Whittaker and Shaun of the Deads Nick Frost.

3. 24: Live Another Day

Remember when the TV series 24 landed in London? Well, Boyega was there awaiting their arrival and ready to join the crew as a computer tech. In 24: Live Another Day, we see Kiefer Sutherland reprise his role as Jack Bauer, picking up four years after the original series concluded. Bauer is once again a fugitive, and this time around hes gone international.

4. Major Lazer

Major Lazer is also an action series, but an animated one. Its so intense and life-like, we almost forget the characters are drawn. Set in the future, Major Lazer (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is a Jamaican superhero who fights to protect society from dystopian forces. Boyega takes on the role of Blkmrkt, a whiz-kid hacker.

5. The Circle

In 2017s The Circle, Boyega teams up with Emma Watson. Watson plays a young woman who gets a dream job at a tech company. But, dream jobs can sometimes turn into nightmares. Boyega plays a friend and confidant to Watsons character, who is struggling with unsettling information shes come across.

6. Pacific Rim: Uprising

In 2018, Boyega joined another sci-fi flick (were seeing a pattern here), Pacific Rim: Uprising. He takes on the role of Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), who we met in the original film. Jake leads a group of Jaeger pilots in fighting against an alien threat.

7. Small Axe

Switching gears, aka not sci-fi, Boyega has signed on to star in the forthcoming miniseries Small Axe, based on real life experiences. The series centers on Londons West Indian community and the social strife that transpired between 1969 and 1982. We can look for Boyega in episode four, but his characters name and description have yet to be announced.

8. Naked Singularity

Also forthcoming, Boyega will take the lead in 2020s Naked Singularity. He portrays a public defender with a stellar track record, who has never lost a trial. Until he does. While that doesnt necessarily dictate the rest of ones career, his life begins to spiral. The movie is based on Sergio De La Pavas 2008 novel.

9. Rebel Ridge

Boyegas above tweet gives us an idea of what to expect for his role in Rebel Ridge that he needs to get buff. This action-drama is in pre-production, yet to receive a release date. Its described as a high-velocity thriller that explores systemic American injustices through bone-breaking action sequences, suspense and dark humor. Thats a lot, and we cant wait.

10. Borderland

And, finally, Boyegas latest project to be announced is Borderland. He will be teaming up with The Theory of Everything and Rogue One actress Felicity Jones. The story centers on an IRA member, whose wife is murdered. As he searches for her murderer, the killer is also looking for him. Its not clear what role Boyega will be playing but, we are intrigued.

Are you going to have a John Boyega marathon this weekend?

Read more:

Where to Look for John Boyega: From Becoming Human to Star Wars and Future Projects - Anglophenia

Photo by Alex Milan Tracy/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images)

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Surprisingly, Q didnt see this one coming.

Twitter announced on Tuesday night that it was taking the unprecedented step of removing or downgrading content and accounts linked to the conspiracy theory known as QAnon.

Twitter said that it had already removed over 7,000 accounts belonging to QAnon adherents and taken actions to stop the spread of the conspiracy theory that will impact some 150,000 accounts.

Weve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm. In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called QAnon activity across the service, Twitter announced.

The company says that it will permanently suspend accounts that post about QAnon and are engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension.

Twitter said it has seen more of this activity in recent weeks.

As well as suspending accounts, Twitter will no longer push QAnon accounts and content in its trending topics and recommendations. It will downgrade QAnon content in search results and block URLs associated with QAnon from being shared.

QAnon accounts that have not been suspended at already looking at ways of circumventing the ban, using hashtags like #CueAnon or #17Anon to avoid detection.

The Qanon conspiracy theory originated on the imageboard 4Chan, and broadly holds that President Donald Trump is waging a war against a shadowy deep state cabal. It also posits that members of the global elite, such as Bill Gates and Hillary Clinton, are running an underground child sex trafficking ring.

The theory is based on postings from a purported mysterious deep state operative known as Q who has made a series of predictions, like a 2017 post that claimed that Trump was days away from unsealing 25,000 indictments against deep state officials, a move that would trigger a state of temporary military control.

READ: The conspiracy singularity has arrived

While it began as a fringe conspiracy theory, in recent years Qanon has gained more mainstream attention, particularly in Trumpworld, where supporters regularly show up at rallies wearing QAnon t-shirts and waving Q flags.

QAnon followers have also been implicated in armed standoffs, attempted kidnappings, and at least one killing. This has led the FBI to designate the group a potential domestic terrorism threat.

But it is QAnons online harassment campaigns that have led to Twitters drastic action.

Recently, major QAnon accounts have begun harassment campaigns against celebrities perceived to be opponents of Trump. These accounts then direct their followers to harass the celebrities with coordinated attacks.

TV presenter Chrissy Teigen, who has been repeatedly targeted with harassment by swarms of QAnon followers, hit back at one Twitter account holder who said the move amounted to censorship.

You dont have a right to coordinate attacks and make death threats. It is not an opinion to call people pedophiles who rape and eat children, she tweeted.

Despite the negative coverage of QAnon, it has gained support among lawmakers. Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn who many supporters believe could be the mysterious Q gave the conspiracy credence recently when he posted a video on July 4 showing him and his family swearing allegiance to QAnon.

There are currently 66 current or former 2020 congressional candidates who have endorsed or given credence to QAnon, according to a list kept by Media Matters. Trump has also retweeted multiple QAnon accounts to his 83 million followers.

But Twitter told CNN that for now, politicians wont be subject to the new rules.

Currently candidates and elected officials will not be automatically included in many of these actions broadly, a Twitter spokesperson said.

As the QAnon conspiracy theory moved from the obscure corners of the internet, social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube have helped propel its popularity far beyond what would have been possible otherwise.

The Q keyword has brought together a networked faction, aided by automation, that continuously spreads misinformation and inspires dangerous behaviors, Joan Donovan, a disinformation expert and director of technology and social change research at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center, tweeted.

While Reddit banned QAnon two years ago, most social media platforms have been too slow to act, Donovan says, pointing out that some companies are not even trying.

Twitter is late out the gate. Facebook and YouTube arent even in the race.

Cover: A woman holds a QAnon sign as reopen protesters demonstrate at the capitol in Salem, Ore., on May 2, 2020. Governor Kate Brown announced a plan yesterday that could see some parts of the state reopen by May 15. (Photo by Alex Milan Tracy/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

Read the original post:

Twitter Just Deleted Thousands of QAnon Accounts - VICE

This week on Marvel Unlimited, Guardians of the Galaxy declares war on mad gods and the Prince of Darkness swoops in on Ruins of Ravencroft: Dracula.

This week on Marvel Unlimited, an ill-prepared Guardians of the Galaxy declares war on old gods reborn, while the Prince of Darkness swoops in on the Ruins of Ravencroft: Dracula, and Agents of Atlas rally against the Sub-Mariner as Atlantis Attack. After a fairly underwhelming week prior due to a staggered schedule, Marvel Unlimited returns with a major premiere from Guardians, as well as nine new ongoing titles including Black Panther #20, Captain Marvel #14, and Marauders #6. Each week, Screen Rant takes a look at the latest update to Marvel Comics' digital library, Marvel Unlimited - here are just a few of the standout titles in this weeks Pull List!

Richard Rider, last of the once legendary Nova Corps, wants Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon to get the band back together in Guardians of the Galaxy #1, leading the titles new to Marvel Unlimited this week. As the threat of New Olympus, a floating city phasing between dimensions, and the rogue Olympian gods charged by a Reborn Zeus to bring on a new age of the Immortals emerges, a reluctant band of Guardians gather to counter the divine menace. The alternate-reality Captain Marvel, Phyla-Vell and a makeshift Guardians squad comprised of Moondragon, Marvel Boy, the parallel-universe Kree, Quill, and Rocket Raccoon set off with a singularity bomb and a sigh to face the might of Olympus Reborn, in Guardians of the Galaxy #1, Then Its Us.

Related:Marvel Theory: Black Panther 2 Sets Up Both X-Men & Fantastic 4 In The MCU

A new chapter in the morose and morbid saga of Ravencroft, Institute for the Criminally Insane arrives on Marvel Unlimited this week in the build up the Ravencroftlimited series. Having chronicled the ancient origins and the tormented prisoners of the Institute in Ruins of Ravencroft: Carnage and Sabretooth, writer Frank Tieri returns the eerie psychological-thriller to the recent past in Ruins of Ravencroft: Dracula. After unearthing the Journal of Jonas Ravencroft and disturbing the prison of The Unwanted, wretched test subjects left to wither in the darkest dungeons of the Institute, Misty Knight, John Jameson, the skinchanger known as The Man-Wolf, Mr. Fantastic, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Falcon, and Winter Solider dig up the dirt on the Transylvanian count in Ruins of Ravencroft: Dracula, the final chapter of the miniseries. Dont miss the star-spangled Avenger, Captain America and true-blue Bucky take on the Prince of Darkness in the latest tale in the unsettling Ravencroft legend, new on Marvel Unlimited.

And, picking up after the events of Agents of Atlas #5 and the New Agents of Atlas, Amadeus Chos squad of heroes braces for the tsunami as Atlantis Attacks debuts on the Marvel digital archive this week. Writer Greg Pak and artist Ario Anindito pair up for a miniseries featuring the Sub-Mariner and Brawns awesome army of agents, Silk, Aero, Wave, Shang Chi, Luna Snow, Giant Man, White Fox, Swordmaster, Io, and Crescent. When The A-team learn the founder of the Pan-Asian Portal City of Pan has crossed Namor and that the Atlantean is seething for revenge, Brawn and the team are forced into confrontation with the monarch to prevent Pan from becoming another sunken city. And the surprise Jimmy Woo cliffhanger will have readers seeing double, in Atlantis Attacks #1, premiering now on Marvel Unlimited.

Marvels summer of superheroes continues with new premieres, new on-going titles, and additional archive updates on Marvel Unlimited available on theApp Store,Google Play, andonline.

Marvel Unlimted: Week of July 27, 2020/Street Date - January 22, 2020

More:Marvel's NAMOR is Actually The Little Mermaid (Yes, Really)

Source: Marvel

For Green Lantern, Beating Superman Is Hilariously Easy

SJ Twining is a Comics News/Features Writer at Screen Rant with a keen enthusiasm for Bronze Age comics, Dungeons & Dragons, Tolkien, Swords & Sorcery, Star Wars, Zenomorphs, Micronauts, Edgar Allan Poe, Elric of Melnibone, Maurice Sendak + collecting mushrooms. Contact: wanderingmonsters@icloud.com

Read more here:

Guardians of the Galaxy Relaunch Leads Marvel Unlimited Update - Screen Rant

On Thursday ESPNs Adam Schefter reported that, for the time being, Washingtons NFL team will lose the name Redskins but not yet embrace a new nickname, simply going by the Washington Football Team for the time being.

This is most likely just a way to buy time until they get a new nickname through the trademark process and produce a lot of merchandise. The team will play with just the name Washington on the jersey, and the player number on every helmet, for the time being.

They undoubtedly look cool plus lets the team create even more merchandise to sell in the process. (In theory, Washington could get fans buying old jerseys for nostalgia purposes, temporary jerseys for novelty factor, and new jerseys in the span of a year. This is grotesque and Im sure their marketing department is loving it.)

Anyway, thats not why I am writing this blog: I am writing to say that they should forget Football Team, change it to Football Club, and go by Washington FC.

Why? I have no reason, other than that I want to see what happens. I feel like itll either be beloved and quirky, or it will create a singularity of hate where soccer fans and American football fans will join together in a mass of disgust and stay up for days on end, possibly in shifts, screaming about it on Twitter.

Its all or nothing. That team either becomes a funky oddity that is adopted as the NFL team of Great Britain, or it leads to some kind of declaration of war from Premier League fans.

Weve decried all these MLS teams going with City + FC for their team names (most recently with Charlotte) but an NFL team? I have no idea. Thats where things get interesting.

Lets take a ride into the unknown, Dan Snyder. Lets make some memories.

Read the rest here:

Washington's NFL team should rebrand as 'Washington FC' - For The Win

Its time to get very, very serious about shooting your pals with rockets. Rocket Arenas first season takes off today, bringing a heap of newness to EAs bouncy battle arena a new battle pass, new ranked season, a series of new limited-time events thatll bring in new maps, and a dorky new hero who blows up baddies by tossing interdimensional cat-heads at them.

Rocket Arenas headline addition is Flux, a child prodigy who reckons getting punted by high explosives is a small price to pay for extracurricular curiosity.

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Annoyingly, the Season One update post doesnt give us much on Flux beyond her being excitable, effusive, and easily distracted by anything that tickles her scientific fancy. At least the video gives us a look at some of her abilities, with largely appear to involve robot cat heads at folks to blow them up / compress them into a horrifying singularity. She can also dimension shift to sneak about, sorta like Wraith off of Apex Legends. Importantly, you wont have to pay a penny to play as Rocket Arenas nerdy murderchild.

Season 1 also brings in Rocket Arenas first battle pass (sorry, Blast Pass), your standard affair with 117 levels of rewards split across free and paid tiers. But itll also feature two time-limited events, permanently adding new maps along with brief, themed gamemodes to show off the new locales. The first, Blast In Paradise, kicks off on August 12th by adding Grand Harbor and Lagoon of Doom to the games map pool.

Rocket Arenas core premise wot if Super Smash Bros but with rocket launchers is a goodun, though Ill admit I havent heard much buzz around the game since its release two weeks ago. If youre up for giving it a bash, Rocket Arena is currently available on Steam and Origin for 25/$30/30.

Original post:

Rocket Arena's first season fires off with new hero Flux - Rock Paper Shotgun

Anyone who grew up watching animated films can relate when Studio Ghibli is brought up to the conversation. Who can ever forget Howl's Moving Castle? Spirited Away? Princess Mononoke? The Cat Returns?These are only some of the masterpieces produced by one of the criticallyacclaimed studios in the world, which is home to some of the most revered and beloved animated works to have ever graced the screen.

Check out ther site:

http://www.ghibli.jp/

Studio Ghibli's animated works have their distinct visual characteristicsand drawing style,spearheaded by the founder Hayao Miyazaki, who is famous for mostly hand-drawing his animations. This, however, didn't hinder the spirits of BTS fans, who recently displayed their talents in drawing their favorite subject, BTS V, whom they call the LIVING ANIME, by drawing him as their favorite Studio Ghibli characters which recently went viral on Twitter.

Fans can't get enough of the likeness of the characters' drawings to BTS V himself, shown by the intricate details put into the fan arts. This is not the first time, however, that fans have pointed out BTS V's similarity to anime characters, andnot limited to Ghibli alone. Fans have realizedhe resembled a real-life anime and manga characterhighlighting his structured and proportioned face, to his shojo-like expressions, and sometimes his "tsundere"( anime term that depicts a character that's somewhat cold in the beginning but later manifests a warm, sincere,friendlier side over time)aesthetics.

Even the official Twitter account of Anime on Comic Book Com posted that V is the best Muzan incarnateas agreed byDemon Slayer fans.

Notably, this was also highlighted by variousoverseas and Koreanmedia when BTS V performed Singularity in the last leg of their Love Yourself tour,dressed in black feathers with netizens and fanscalling him different names likeBlack Swan, Howl, Evil Prince, Hades for his beauty & charisma on stage. NME, a famousBritish music journalism website wrote rave reviews as "Vhas the entire stadium in the palm of his hand in Singularity, each move as he acts as if hes just woken up in bed wearing a raven-feathered cloak so precise and deliberate, each stare to the camera smouldering and intense" while KBS, one of the major broadcasting networks in Korea, called BTS V's Singularity stageas the highlight of the tourwhichhas taken away the hearts of many viewers.

The global star is not only known for his anime-like and mysterious, princely appearance.V continues to create records inglobal music charts as the First and Only Artist in History who recently dominatedthe iTunes top song charts in 109 countries with his self-produced and composed unpromoted track "Sweet Night" . .

Original post:

BTS V, THE LIVING ANIME, GOES VIRAL AGAIN AS MUSE TO FANS WHO RE-IMAGINED THEIR FAVORITE GHIBLI CHARACTERS - allkpop

A few months ago, at a time when it was still safe to have strange experiences in unusual places, I was handed a mysterious document. ALLIANCES AND TRAITORS WITHIN THE TRUTH & UFO COMMUNITIES, it read.

The document was a single, bright red sheet of paper, crowded with close-set black type. Different kinds of lines and arrows connected in wild formulations, linking George Soros with the Illuminati, various stars of the UFO community with their alleged handlers, the CIA with Alex Jones. The Pleidiansa race of tall, blue-eyed Nordic alien beingsconnected with both Tesla and the president in ways I couldnt quite parse.

This paper was created and handed to me by Dylan Louis Monroe, a player in the QAnon world and the creator of the Deep State Mapping Project, a one-man operation where Monroe creates dense visual maps of the supposed alliances he sees between various major players and world events. Monroe was at the New Age expo Conscious Life selling Q-branded t-shirts and promoting a YouTube show, I was there reporting, and both of us were thinking about the strange alliances and friendships that had begun to surface in various conspiracy communities.

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU FOLLOW, the document warned, in bold, at the bottom, just above a large black Q.

In the months that followed our chance meeting, the world buckled under the weight of the novel coronavirus pandemic, and the alliances got stranger still. Conspiracy communities that have previously only brushed past each other like schools of fish borne along on different currents are suddenly, abruptly, swimming in the same direction.

Take Larry Cook, whose evolving belief system has been playing out in a remarkable way on Facebook. Cook is the man behind the largest anti-vaccine group on the platform, Stop Mandatory Vaccination, which, along with his personal Facebook page, serves as a central clearinghouse for anti-vaccine misinformation.

In the months since the pandemic began, Cook has begun to claim that its a pretext for the mandatory testing, tracking, and vaccination that hes feared all along. (There is no evidence that the U.S. government will impose mandatory vaccination for the coronavirus, even though it should.) Hes also started to turn towards people who can provide some explanation for whats really going on, and some measure of hope: Cook is promoting QAnon ideas, sometimes dozens of times a day. (QAnon is an ur-conspiracy theory which, broadly, holds that Donald Trump and his allies are bravely fighting back on a number of fronts against a shadowy, Satanic Deep State.)

I AM A DIGITAL SOLDIER, Cook posted recently, along with two Q-related hashtags, part of an oath that the mysterious Q had recently requested that his followers post. (Disgraced former Trump advisor General Michael Flynn was among those who posted the oath.) Linking to a webpage that shares Qs missives, Cook added, in another post, Discover why we have a lockdown and mask requirements for the healthy. (Cook didnt respond to an email from VICE News.)

Cook isnt an outlier. As Mother Jones recently noted, coronavirus and the general uncertainty of the times were living in have aided the spread of QAnon specifically.

But its not just QAnon. The strain of living in this particular time, with a dragging, devastating pandemic and a global uprising against police brutality and racial injustice, crashing together at the highest speed, has accelerated something thats been going on for years. Call it the conspiracy singularity: the place where many conspiracy communities are suddenly meeting and merging, a melting pot of unimaginable density. UFO conspiracy theorists and QAnon fans are advocating for drinking a bleach solution promoted by anti-vaxxers. QAnon groups and Reopen America groups alike promoted Plandemic , a film clip jam-packed with conspiratorial claims about the causes and spread of COVID. The Freedom Angels, an anti-vaccine group based in California, are among the many such groups joining anti-lockdown protests, using language that feels heavily drawn from the Patriot movement: They're calling stay-at-home orders tyranny, addressing their followers as Patriots, and positioning themselves as a new civil rights movements. (They urged people to burn their facemasks on July 4th, adding, floridly: Join millions of Americans on Independence Day as we show all these BLUE STATE GOVERNORS, SWAMP DOCS, and DEEP STATE RATS how we feel about their latest ORDERS, DICTATES and MANDATES to wear our muzzles again.)

More mainstream internet stars, as several outlets have noted, have also been drawn in: Lifestyle influencers are promoting COVID conspiracy theories, while the virality-seeking teens of TikTok are discovering a new obsession with Pizzagate. Sex trafficking conspiracy theoriesall of which are tinged with Pizzagate and QAnon influencesseem to have an especially broad appeal: Recently, a pair of Arizona influencers promoted a baseless rumor that the furniture company Wayfair was trafficking children.

The trend towards a kind of disturbing unity is distilled in the hashtag #Covid911, backed by a lot of powerful players in both anti-vaccine and QAnon circles. It holds that what were living throughthe pandemic and the protests against police brutality alikeis all a massive hoax, designed to sway not just the 2020 elections but usher in the New World Order. Not long ago, Joe M., a major QAnon promoter, released a video, which is still up on multiple platforms even as its marked as false information, calling the pandemic, the protests, and, of course, the push for nationwide mail-in voting all part of a coordinated irregular warfare insurgency with multiple aims, perpetrated by the Deep State. The nine-minute clip throws in a dizzying cocktail of claims touching on virtually every conspiracy theory of the current moment, managing to claim that the murder of George Floyd was mysterious and not what it seemed, that social distancing was perhaps a pretext to halt grand juries so that President Obama couldnt be investigated for spying on the Trump campaign, and, of course, that violent paramilitary group Antifa had been given free rein by Democratic mayors to wreak havoc on city streets.

COVID-19 is being sold as a natural event, Joe M. intoned, over grim violin music and a shot of Nancy Pelosi taking a knee in kente cloth. But we see now it is an attempt by enemies of humanity to hold onto power. After November, they stand to lose it all. But they will do everything to keep the crisis alive, and the people in fear.

The last minute of the clip features shots of news reports about a feared second wave of coronavirus. The implication is that that, too, is part of the program to keep us afraid, and shouldnt be acknowledged or believed.

People contain multitudes, and our ability to believe in several conspiracy theories at once is nothing new. Weve seen hints of a conspiracy singularity before, most memorably in the worlds of Milton William Cooper, the author of the dense, chaotic, and totally unreadable conspiracy classic Behold a Pale Horse.

Cooperbefore he died in a shootout with sheriffs deputy trying to arrest him for aggravated assaultwas successful in assembling a broad coalition of anti-government zealots. Behold a Pale Horse claimed to draw on his military service in the Vietnam War to expose a variety of evil deeds perpetrated by those who wanted to bring about a New World Order.

But Cooper also successfully weaved in UFO conspiracy theoriesthat the U.S. military shot down mysterious craft to capture alien technology, for instanceas well as medical ones, including claims that both AIDS and Hepatitis B were bioweapons loosed on the public by the CDC. As Cooper biographer Marc Jacobson noted, some of these theories gained a lot of credence among Black Americans and in the hip-hop community.

Behold a Pale Horse became a surprising mainstay across a lot of different communities, one of the only things youd be just as likely to find in an Afrocentric bookshop in New York as at a militia rally merch table. It showed that UFO researchers and heavily armed self-proclaimed patriots had some kind of common language and view of the world, or at least places where their worlds overlapped. One devoted fan of Coopers radio show was Timothy McVeigh, who went on to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. Author and political scientist Michael Barkun notes in his book 2003 A Culture of Conspiracy that McVeigh also developed a fascination with UFOs around the same time, visiting Area 51 a year before he perpetrated the bombing. On death row, Barkun writes, McVeigh obsessively watched the film Contact, about a brave government scientist chosen to make contact with extraterrestrials.

Conspiracy theories that the government is hiding what it knows about aliens, or the existence of a secret strawman bank account assigned to each U.S. citizen, live in the same place, theoretically speaking. In his book, Barkun referred to these realms as the domain of stigmatized knowledge.

That domain, as we have seen, he wrote, Is made up of rejected, outdated or ignored knowledge claims, regardless of subject matter. It contains material drawn from revisionist history, pseudoscience, alternative medicine, occultism, new and alternative religions and political sectarianism. Despite these differences of focus, all share certain overarching similarities: the disdain or disinterest of mainstream institutions, along with the common outsider status conferred by that disdain or disinterest, and a consequent suspicion of the institutions that have excluded them.

Barkuns book is broadly about the approaching conspiracy singularity, focused especially on the places where far-right, anti-government, and UFO circles had started to merge. And the same fusions Barkun observed in the late 80s and early 90s, between far-right conspiracy theorists and UFO believers, could also be seen within the 9/11 truth movement. Conspiracy theories about 9/11 brought together the military-industrial complex-critical left and the Alex Jones-tinged right, as well as what Barkun called the prophecies of Nostradmus, UFOs and conspiracy theories about the Illuminati. The bedfellows were strange indeed: As a profile of Alex Jones from 2011 observed, It turns out that the world of paranoia is round, and 9/11, with its billowing smoke and miles of video and a cast of thousands, is the terra incognita where left and right meet, fusing sixties countercultural distrust with the dont-tread-on-me variety.

In other words, alliances and overlaps are common, and not new. Theres always been cross-pollination, Michael Wood told VICE News. Wood has a PhD from the University of Kent and is an expert in conspiracy psychology. Along with his co-authors Karen Douglas and Robbie Sutton, he published a 2012 paper exploring the phenomenon of people who simultaneously believe in conflicting conspiracy theories: that Princess Diana is alive and was killed by MI6, for example, or that Osama Bin Laden both died before the U.S. military raided his compound and is still alive after those same military forces supposedly killed him.

The ability to believe two things at onceeven completely contradictory thingsis based on an underlying level of "higher order thinking, the paper argued, an overriding belief that can make even conflicting ideas make sense. Simply put, it's the centralized belief that conspiracies and hidden deceptions underpin the world and guide human events.

The idea that authorities are engaged in motivated deception of the public would be a cornerstone of conspiracist thinking due to its centrality in conspiracy theories, the authors wrote. Someone who believes in a significant number of conspiracy theories would naturally begin to see authorities as fundamentally deceptive, and new conspiracy theories would seem more plausible in light of that belief.

This being so, it's still true that conspiracy communities used to have some degree of separation. Their conventions were held in different hotel ballrooms, and targeted different audiences geographically and socially. Conspiracy theories were spread in newsletters and in-person meetings; they were narrowly targeted and often somewhat underground, part of a legitimately fringe and countercultural narrative.

But now the internet is the largest hotel ballroom of them all, and the novel coronavirus pandemic has forced a lot of people into a set of universalizing life circumstances. Were all trying to make sense of the same massive global event, which seems to drive an urge towards a grand unified theory of suspicion. And with everyone using the same global platforms, conspiracy communities seem to influence and inflect each other far more rapidly. What we have today is more of a mass, a merge of conspiracy theories combining in ways that make their individual contours harder to make out.

For some people invested in multiple conspiratorial beliefs or communities, Wood said, the evidence youve based your beliefs on is more like a negative argument, what you believe didnt happen. The actual conspiracy theories themselves arent that important, he added; they are really just manifestations of this underlying suspicion and mistrust.

That can take on some odd forms. In a 1954 study cited by Wood, Theodor Adorno found that German anti-Semites tended to believe that Jews were both too withdrawn from mainstream society and overly eager to participate in it. The higher order thinking at work was anti-Semitism and every negative belief derived from that, even when they didnt logically cohere.

Similarly, Wood wrote, in more modern conspiracy theories, distrust of official narratives may be so strong that many alternative theories are simultaneously endorsed in spite of any contractions between them.

Today, alternative theories abound: that the coronavirus pandemic is both a hoax and a dangerous bioweapon unleashed by China; that Tom Hanks is deadexecuted for being part of the pedophile Deep Stateand alive in witness protection; that he is dead and replaced by a body double. All these theories have been promoted by the same guy, a QAnon fan named Tommy G.

At the same time that the conspiracy singularity starts to take shape, were seeing a distinct collapse between the fringe and the center. Nowhere is that more visible than in the increasing prominence of QAnon in relatively mainstream Republican politics. As of July, the left-leaning organization Media Matters has found 63 current and former Congressional candidates who are open and enthusiastic Q fans, some of whom, like Mary Joe Rae Perkins in Oregon and Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia, have already won their primaries. (To make it to Congress, Greene still has to defeat the second-place winner, John Cowan, in an August 11 runoff election, and is facing significant condemnation from the state GOP.)

Another useful idea referred to by Barkun, the author of Culture of Conspiracy, is the cultic milieu, a term coined in the 1970s by the British sociologist Colin Campbell, a sort of cultural underground, Barkun wrote, thats made up of a variety of rejected knowledge disdained by the mainstream. The cultic milieu, Barkun wrote, is wary of all claims to authoritative judgment, and receptive to all forms of revisionism, whether in history, religion, science or politics.

Its not a stretch to see how that domain of stigmatized knowledge extends to how people process current and ongoing events, how groups of people with seemingly nothing to bind them together on the surface might find themselves seeking explanation, order and meaning in the same places.

In fact, theres been language for this phenomenon for a long time. People deeply embedded in the overlapping worlds of conspiracy theory tend to refer to themselves as being part of the truth community. And as its members come to a new and mutually reinforcing view of just what that truth is, the rest of us would do well to pay attention to just what it is.

Follow Anna Merlan on Twitter.

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The Conspiracy Singularity Has Arrived - VICE

The sequencing of the human genome was one of the greatest scientific feats of the past century, but its a little-known fact that its still a work in progress with considerable gaps. New research suggests we could be just months away from finally finishing the job.

Nearly two decades after the Human Genome Project released the first map of our DNA, there are still large sections that are a mystery to us. Scientists have been slowly filling in the gaps, but certain portions that feature repetitive sequences going on for millions of base pairs have long been seen as intractable.

Thats because most common gene sequencing technologies create short snippets of DNA that then have to be stitched together. When applied to these highly repetitive sections it becomes almost impossible to distinguish the pieces, so putting them back together in the right order is extremely difficult.

Imagine having to reconstruct a jigsaw puzzle, senior author Adam Phillippy, from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), said in a press release. If you are working with smaller pieces, each contains less context for figuring out where it came from, especially in parts of the puzzle without any unique clues, like a blue sky. The same is true for sequencing the human genome. Until now, the pieces were too small, and there was no way to put the hardest parts of the genome puzzle together.

But that is now changing. In a paper published last week in Nature, the researchers describe how they used a cutting-edge approach known as nanopore sequencing to tackle some of the previously inscrutable sections of the genome and produce the first-ever gapless sequence of the X chromosome.

Nanopore sequencing works by passing DNA molecules through a tiny hole and measuring the change in an electric current running across the holes surface to work out the sequence of base pairs in the molecules. Unlike previous approaches, its able to create ultra-long DNA sequences.

That was enough to fill many of the gaps in the genome, but a region known as the centromere that encompasses roughly 3.1 million base pairs of highly repetitive sequences still presented a problem. Fortunately, the team was able to find idiosyncratic sequences that could act as markers to link together multiple long reads to span the entire centromere.

To ensure that the X chromosome was as accurate as possible, the researchers combined nanopore sequencing with results from a further two gold-standard sequencing technologies and approaches for mapping the genome. The result is more than 99.9 percent accurate, which is considered enough to call the sequence finished.

Filling the gaps in the human genome could prove invaluable for biomedical research. Were starting to find that some of these regions where there were gaps in the reference sequence are actually among the richest for variation in human populations, so weve been missing a lot of information that could be important to understanding human biology and disease, lead author Karen Miga, from the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, said in a press release.

And while the complete X chromosome is the pice de resistance of this paper, the team reports that they have applied their approach to the full genome and theyve managed to reconstruct several other chromosomes. They are aiming to produce a complete human genome by the end of this year.

What secrets lie in store in these hidden parts of the human genome remains to be seen, but uncovering them will be a major step towards humankind truly mastering our own biology.

Image Credit: vrx/Shutterstock.com

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For the First Time, Scientists Fully Sequenced the Human X Chromosome - Singularity Hub

Chris Cowart, the longtime IDEO product designer, Singularity University faculty member and consultant to a variety of venture firms and tech projects, is joining the food preservation technology developer Treasure8 as its new chief innovation and strategy officer, according to a post on LinkedIn.

In the last three years food has come to the fore as a theme, said Cowart in an interview with TechCrunch. Cowart, who previously spent the majority of his time consulting on healthcare companies, became interested in food through a year spent as an advisor to X, the Alphabet subsidiary that develops technologies and companies focused on sustainability, connectivity and new computing paradigms.

At X, Cowart was looking at projects that would use artificial intelligence to accelerate circular economy projects and it was there that he began to focus on food waste. The gravity of the situation around Americas food waste and food insecurity in the country was driven home through Cowarts research, he said. We overproduce by double and we throw away 30% of our food, said Cowart. And in Santa Clara county one-in-six families are food insecure.

After completing his project at X, Cowart went to Treasure8 and was immediately pulled into strategy conversations, which led to him coming on board in June.

Unlike Apeel Sciences or Hazel Technologies, which have developed new preservative technologies to keep food fresh on store shelves (and raised several hundred million dollars), Treasure8s technology is a new spin on freeze-drying, which lets perishable foods hold their nutritional value while theyre used as ingredients, supplements or powders.

Brands can reform it with rehydration, or put it into their products or reuse pieces of the vegetables and fruits in their products. There are byproducts that you can break down and start to use to pull out their nutrients into probiotics and nutraceuticals, said Cowart.

He also thinks that Treasure8 could use its process to become a provider of biochar that can be applied in more sustainable agriculture techniques.

Treasure8 initially launched with a focus on food preservation, but quickly pivoted into working with hemp companies that wanted to work with the company to use more parts of the hemp plant in products. For now, Treasure8 is operating off of its pilot facility on Treasure Island, the man-made island in the San Francisco Bay which is currently the site of a multi-billion-dollar development project.

With its new innovation officer in tow, Treasure8 is now heading to market to raise a new round of financing, Cowart said. Targeting less than $50 million, the new round could help the company as Cowart starts to think longer term about ways that Treasure8s treatment process could contribute to the development of more functional foods.

Taking food waste streams to make products and ingredients and letting it be something useful rather than something that harms the environment, thats the interesting part, Cowart said of his role at the company. [And] if youre able to go from food security to nutritional security If you can powder vegetables, and make them into bits and food that are stable and affordable All of this nutrition feeds into the food as medicine and functional food. Were going to want to fight immunity and recover from viruses and were going to have to rebuild our food supply.

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Treasure8 adds Chris Cowart to its executive team as it renews pushing its tech to reduce food waste - TechCrunch

Tempo Automation, the leading manufacturer for quick-turn prototyping and low-volume production of printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA), today announces the addition of Jeff Kowalski to its Board of Directors.

"We are pleased to add Jeff to Tempo's Board of Directors. His legacy in creating breakthrough products that directly impact customer and business value precisely aligns with Tempo's vision for software-driven PCB manufacturing in 2020 and beyond," said Joy Weiss, President and CEO of Tempo Automation. "Jeff's knack for critical thinking and problem-solving, and his unique ability to identify and incubate novel ideas, will add to Tempo's impressive momentum in reinventing electronics manufacturing."

Jeff Kowalski most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Autodesk, a global leader in design, construction, manufacturing, and entertainment software, with over 200 million customers. Kowalski's work has included pioneering real-time graphics, cloud-computing, 3D scanning, additive manufacturing, and generative design. In his most recent 12 years as CTO at Autodesk, he led a global team responsible for next-generation research and development for complex design challenges and corporate strategy, shaping Autodesk's long-term technology vision and driving innovation across the company. Kowalski also held board positions at Singularity University and Genome Compiler.

"Jeff Kowalski is a valuable addition to Tempo' Automation's Board of Directors," said Matthew Granade, Tempo Board Member and Managing Partner of Point72 Ventures. "With his long-standing position as both a seasoned entrepreneur and an innovative leader in the engineering community, Tempo's board and the entire team will benefit from his contributions."

To learn more, please visit http://www.tempoautomation.com

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Tempo Automation Welcomes Jeff Kowalski to Board of Directors - Embedded Computing Design

This is a guest blogpost by Jason Kingdon, Chairman & CEO of Blue Prism

And its raining RPA[Robotic Process Automation] IBMs announcement that they are acquiring a Brazilian Robotic Process Automation company comes just months after Microsofts acquisition of a Greek RPA vendor, and a period on from SAP acquiring a French RPA capability. If you have not spotted the pattern, you will.

Every single platform provider will need to offer automation out-of-the-box alongside their core offerings, for the simple reason that the product class offers the highest ROI of any business technology ever created. Now, that is not me from Blue Prism saying this, it is the London School of Economics and MIT.

The robotics revolution in manufacturing was said to have increased productivity in the 20th century by something like 50-fold; that is, by the year 2000 one person in manufacturing was achieving the work of 50 people.

Imagine employing 50 people for every one person you currently employ? How does that change your world? How do you think differently about what you do? Could you even imagine assigning that amount of work?

A new way of working

The same automation revolution is well under way in white-collar jobs and the service industry. It will have the same impact as the invention of the Internet; if you dont see that youre already out-of-date. It changes every aspect of the way work will take place in the service industry, the types of services that are offered, and the way technology is consumed. Work life will probably change more in the next 10 years than it has for the last 100 years. What does this look like?

The clich would be that all jobs are wiped out and there is nothing left for humans to do; in other words, Apocalypse Now (and then Brexit).

But, it wont be like that. For the businesses that have made the strategic commitment to Blue Prisms enterprise class automation platform, you see a similar pattern as to the one that occurred in manufacturing: expansion of services, higher rates of service quality, greater flexibility in working (effortless coping with Covid-19 lock-down and remote working) and most of all speed and scalability

The arrival of digital workers

Our Blue Prism Digital Worker is software that attempts to get as close to a human worker as we can. In other words it is a software robot an autonomous processing unit. It is not a script or a bot in fact the digital worker runs multiple scripts or bots marshalling these kinds of capabilities in large scale so as to automate any business processes (which may or may not include routine mundane tasks, and equally, may include sophisticated diagnostics that humans struggle with; like spotting money laundering, KYC [know your customer], or early signs of diabetes in a retina scan).

Like a human worker, the Blue Prism version of this concept is trained by a business user; and so the digital worker makes use of any tools and third-party technologies as it needs.

People ask is this intelligent systems or AI? Of course it is. In a very direct way. Just like a human, this technology aims at versatility at its core, and the abilities to use all technologies as they become available is crucial to its design. And by choice, necessity, or taste, the digital worker makes use of any novel, routine or classic machine learning or AI algorithm as is required for the task in hand. The whole point is that all of these technologies can be clipped together (with no code) according to what they are being trained to do.

A digital singularity

At the heart of this automation revolution is the fact that all systems can be made to interoperate through digital workers. It means that ancient systems from the birth of computing, to technologies just born, are now in scope. This imposes a post-legacy reality; everything that exists is legacy; or in our terms, a component or tool to be made use of.

This offers a form of digital singularity as an echo of technology singularity (the point at which humans can make a machine as smart as a human). The digital singularity refers to the point where all technology can be combined, as through a prism (if you will).

If all software becomes interoperable think how this changes the R&D landscape? And how business will start to consume technology. And the implied pace of change we are about to hit. The acceleration will be rapid and mind altering; propelling winners, in many cases companies you have never heard of, to fame and fortune, because the whole consumption profile is flexing and re-ordering.

Look at technology service businesses (like IBM), and they are akin to a giant form of human middleware, or mechanical Turk. It is like a digital sedan chair, a business carried by humans as it plods its progress this, in the age of the self-driving automobile. These are the areas that will change the fastest, as IBM has noted. The large human powered business service companies also look old fashioned in this new context, and these have only just been invented. They will need to pivot, as do all the main service providers, and this new revolution will make them better. Covid-19 and the current economic crisis will likely accelerate all these changes.

I should say, I already claim that any business processes worthy of the name (i.e. you want it to be repeatable and predictable) can be automated. So, buckle up.

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The automation revolution is happening now - ComputerWeekly.com

It is increasingly apparent in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic that we are living in the digital era, as we enter the age of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and the Singularity. The digitized world is using social media, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to reimagine the future of communication and work.

Automation of transportation such as drones and electric vehicles are becoming much more necessary given the accelerated rate of innovation. Quantum Computing is the next generation of supercomputers that will change everything, and will accelerate how we use data to make the decisions that once seemed impossible possible.

As we move into a post-Covid world, can these technological innovations help save humanity and the planet?

Heres how these exponential technologies can help humankind identify, measure, track, and sustain the natural balance of non-renewable resources on our planet.

1. Life-saving drones: Drones that were once used to take lives by the military, can now be used to save lives while protecting the world's wildlife and forests.

By delivering medication in hard to reach places affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, and saving wildlife by monitoring poachers that hunt and kill elephants, drones can track illegal activities.

Forest conservationists can monitor wildfires and retard the collateral damage these fires cause, and even replant trees to help negate the negative effects of climate change.

2. Remote sensors: Remote sensing tech can help a great deal in arranging, observing, and assessing the environmental impact on the ground with extraordinary accuracy.

For example, sensors have given WWF access to the development of extractive industries in environmentally delicate territories, including some of the world heritage sites to help protect such monuments as the Taj Mahal.

3. Thermal imaging and LIDAR: Thermal imaging cameras can give you virtual control to let officers for example get hold of poachers that hunt endangered species at record rates and dissuade a lot more from even entering the territory given they have a way to capture them in the act.

4. Blockchain for commodity markets: The advances in blockchain innovation have the potential to be game changers given the ledger technology and transparency of tracking every moment of the source of a transaction. For instance, it can inform buyers about the sourcing journey of their fish and other horticultural produce.

5. Quantum computing: This is probably the most disruptive technology in the next decade as it has the potential to solve any problem with extraordinary solutions and revolutionize how computers operate with 10x ability to do anything from find solutions to seemingly impossible diseases to creating a whole new way in which humanity experiences civilization.

While scientists and environmentalists are in search of new cutting-edge technologies to help save the planet, it is the next generation and youth that will make this new reality come to fruition.

Digital biology is growing enormously and so is the demand for professionals with knowledge in data science and disruptive technology.

The increasing importance of a career in the future of innovation and technology is witnessing billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett invest their money in companies generating employment related to science and the environment for the next 10 years while companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google invest in research and development around AI and AR/VR technology.

Several future professions that could help us protect and save the planet?

1. Conservation Scientist: Taking care of life on land including the quality of forests, national parks, ranges, and other natural resources will serve a vital role in society.

Securing the wild forests, improving natural surroundings for wildlife, promoting biodiversity, encouraging public recreation, and controlling wild-fires are all critical roles for the future of our world.

2. Geoscientist: This profession includes the study of the planets structure, history, and natural resources. Geoscientists work with environmental researchers and carry out their responsibilities both from the lab and in the field.

Travel can take these professionals to some wonders of the world like active volcanoes or the top of Mt. Everest.

3. Hydrologist: Water will be more valuable than oil in the future. Using their skill of water quality and accessibility, hydrologists study water development.

Their time is commonly spent between working in the field where they may wind up swimming into lakes and streams to gather water samples or observing the monitoring equipment, and research labs where they break down the information and model their discoveries to protect our water sources and life in the rivers and under the sea.

4. Environmental Scientist: Their expertise in physics, chemistry, and biology help them progress in the direction of understanding the planets ecological issues.

Research in the field to examine the contamination of the earth brought about by humans can promote measures to create a sustainable way of life for the future.

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Whether it is to save an endangered species or master a renewable resource or protect the planet from the adversities of production and supply, a career in these fields can rightfully use innovation and technology for the greater good in order to transform our world for a better future.

- Article by Kunal Sood, Founder of WeThePlanet and X Fellows

Read: 6 jobs every environment lover will enjoy

Read: How you can save the world with a career in sustainable design

Read: 5 ways to create an environment-friendly office to increase productivity

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5 technologies and 4 job roles that can help save humanity and the planet - India Today

-Analysis-

PARIS Is the longest European summit in history also historic? The answer is yes.

Indeed, the European Union is now a state. Not a so-called superstate replacing the 27 member states that make it up, but a state that includes them. We could say that the EU is now 28 states: the 27 separately plus the 27 together as one. Finally, the European state represents Alexandre Dumas' famous saying from The Three Musketeers: "One for all, all for one." The novelty that allows us to recognize Europe as a state comes from the fact that the EU will issue treasury bonds to finance a brand new part of its budget, which it calls the "recovery plan," amounting to 750 billion euros.

This historic development of issuing European debt corresponds to a social demand with weak signals that have existed for several years. Even though European power and its leaders are the subject of mistrust as national powers and leaders have also been for the past 15 years Eurobarometer surveys indicate that Europeans want a European solution to the economic and geopolitical challenges that threaten us. And while the euro is the subject of permanent and legitimate debate, Europeans are now particularly attached to their common currency: In just 20 years, the euro has won the confidence of citizens and investors large and small and has established itself as the world's second reserve currency. In fact, the national recovery plans adopted in response to COVID-19, the colossal sum of which amounts to 2.3 trillion euros, are only possible because of the guarantee of the European Central Bank and its worldwide credibility.

The advent of the European state is part of the evolution of the state in Europe. This history is often reduced to the rise of European nation-states following the French Revolution. However, this story spans more than 10 centuries. It includes many forms of statehood, and a plurality of states, each with its own singularity, as specific and different as, for example, the Holy Roman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom, Portugal or the United Provinces.

During the EU summit in Brussels Photo: Xinhua/ZUMA

The still-young EU could be described as a "baroque state." Baroque, the great European artistic movement, is set in opposition to classicism through its circumvention of rules and subverting of forms, mixing genres and resorting to the exception. This is the case of the EU, which escapes the traditional classification of political systems as territorial state entities and is distinguished by its novel singularity. Based on state cultures inherited from a long history and a fragmented political geography, contemporary Europeans are inventing the "mutuality" of sovereignty.

Europeans can now shelve the ideological debate on whether the existence of the EU is relevant.

Negotiations on the terms and conditions of the plan are thus not limited to discussions between heads of government at the European Council. The agreement will then have to be voted on by the 27 national parliaments, themselves networked with the European Parliament and the parliaments of local states, such as the Belgian or Spanish communities and the German Lnder. This "mutualization," or exchange of reciprocity of sovereignty, is democratic: It is deliberate, voluntary and negotiated, in contrast to the empires and conquests by kings and then nations of the past two millennia. Europeans do not form a nation but a society. For the past few decades they have been building a state that corresponds to this one: pluralist, unprecedented and forward-looking.

By this metric, the four-day, four-night series of debates are the manifestation of national governments becoming tremendously civilized in building this European state. They have become, together with the European Parliament, which is the direct expression of European society, actors of a deliberative democracy with its majority, its opposition (the so-called 'frugal' countries) and its compromises. From now on, Europeans can shelve the ideological debate on whether the existence of the EU is relevant, and focus on the citizen's debate that confronts the real issue: Are we satisfied with the political choices and public policies made by the European "government?"

*Sylvain Kahn is a historian, geographer and professor at Sciences Po. He is the author of Histoire de la construction de l'Europe depuis 1945 (PUF, 2018), winner of the Mieux comprendre l'Europe book prize.

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Why The European Union Has Changed Forever - Worldcrunch

John Boyega shared with fans on social media that he is putting the Star Wars franchise behind him and eager to move on from his character Finn. Responding to fan demand to see Finn pop up in the next Star Wars movie (via Variety), Boyega wrote, Lol no thank you. Ive moved on. The actor added to another fan, Im not into playing one role for too long. I have more to offer than that. Thats all. Boyega played Finn in three Star Wars films between 2015 and 2019.

While Boyega has been outspoken about his issues with the Star Wars franchise, he stressed the only reason hes disinterested in returning as Finn in the future is because hes played the character for so long. The actor said hes not against reprising characters as long as theres been enough time in between playing the role. One role hed be keen on returning to is Moses in Attack the Block. As Boyega told a fan, I havent played Moses in over a decade. Id love to revisit him. Now he is a badass.

With no more Star Wars being planned for his future, Boyegas work in last Decembers The Rise of Skywalker will be his final outing in the franchise. While critical reviews for the tentpole were largely negative, Boyega stood by the film on social media amid backlash. Writing to one fan who called The Rise of Skywalker an embarrassment, the actor responded,Embarrassing? LOL you wish. Very fulfilling, some disappointments but yet not that big of a deal. Everyone has moved on.

That Boyega found Rise of Skywalker to be a fulfilling experience suggested he liked the project more than his previous Star Wars movie, the Rian Johnson-directed The Last Jedi. In an interview with Hypebeastjust before the December 2019 release of Rise of Skywalker, Boyega said he disagreed with many of the choices Johnson made in The Last Jedi script.

The Force Awakens I think was the beginning of something quite solid, The Last Jedi if Im being honest Id say that was feeling a bit iffy for me, Boyega said. I didnt necessarily agree with a lot of the choices in that and thats something that I spoke to Mark [Hamill] a lot about, and we had conversations about it. And it was hard for all of us, because we were separated.

With Star Wars behind him, Boyega has several new projects lined up for the future. Not only does he have a role in Steve McQueens Small Axe anthology, but Boyega also has a leading role in the new film Naked Singularity.

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Photo by Alex Milan Tracy/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images)

Surprisingly, Q didnt see this one coming.

Twitter announced on Tuesday night that it was taking the unprecedented step of removing or downgrading content and accounts linked to the conspiracy theory known as QAnon.

Twitter said that it had already removed over 7,000 accounts belonging to QAnon adherents and taken actions to stop the spread of the conspiracy theory that will impact some 150,000 accounts.

Weve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm. In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called QAnon activity across the service, Twitter announced.

The company says that it will permanently suspend accounts that post about QAnon and are engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension.

Twitter said it has seen more of this activity in recent weeks.

As well as suspending accounts, Twitter will no longer push QAnon accounts and content in its trending topics and recommendations. It will downgrade QAnon content in search results and block URLs associated with QAnon from being shared.

QAnon accounts that have not been suspended at already looking at ways of circumventing the ban, using hashtags like #CueAnon or #17Anon to avoid detection.

The Qanon conspiracy theory originated on the imageboard 4Chan, and broadly holds that President Donald Trump is waging a war against a shadowy deep state cabal. It also posits that members of the global elite, such as Bill Gates and Hillary Clinton, are running an underground child sex trafficking ring.

The theory is based on postings from a purported mysterious deep state operative known as Q who has made a series of predictions, like a 2017 post that claimed that Trump was days away from unsealing 25,000 indictments against deep state officials, a move that would trigger a state of temporary military control.

READ: The conspiracy singularity has arrived

While it began as a fringe conspiracy theory, in recent years Qanon has gained more mainstream attention, particularly in Trumpworld, where supporters regularly show up at rallies wearing QAnon t-shirts and waving Q flags.

QAnon followers have also been implicated in armed standoffs, attempted kidnappings, and at least one killing. This has led the FBI to designate the group a potential domestic terrorism threat.

But it is QAnons online harassment campaigns that have led to Twitters drastic action.

Recently, major QAnon accounts have begun harassment campaigns against celebrities perceived to be opponents of Trump. These accounts then direct their followers to harass the celebrities with coordinated attacks.

TV presenter Chrissy Teigen, who has been repeatedly targeted with harassment by swarms of QAnon followers, hit back at one Twitter account holder who said the move amounted to censorship.

You dont have a right to coordinate attacks and make death threats. It is not an opinion to call people pedophiles who rape and eat children, she tweeted.

Despite the negative coverage of QAnon, it has gained support among lawmakers. Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn who many supporters believe could be the mysterious Q gave the conspiracy credence recently when he posted a video on July 4 showing him and his family swearing allegiance to QAnon.

There are currently 66 current or former 2020 congressional candidates who have endorsed or given credence to QAnon, according to a list kept by Media Matters. Trump has also retweeted multiple QAnon accounts to his 83 million followers.

But Twitter told CNN that for now, politicians wont be subject to the new rules.

Currently candidates and elected officials will not be automatically included in many of these actions broadly, a Twitter spokesperson said.

As the QAnon conspiracy theory moved from the obscure corners of the internet, social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube have helped propel its popularity far beyond what would have been possible otherwise.

The Q keyword has brought together a networked faction, aided by automation, that continuously spreads misinformation and inspires dangerous behaviors, Joan Donovan, a disinformation expert and director of technology and social change research at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center, tweeted.

While Reddit banned QAnon two years ago, most social media platforms have been too slow to act, Donovan says, pointing out that some companies are not even trying.

Twitter is late out the gate. Facebook and YouTube arent even in the race.

Cover: A woman holds a QAnon sign as reopen protesters demonstrate at the capitol in Salem, Ore., on May 2, 2020. Governor Kate Brown announced a plan yesterday that could see some parts of the state reopen by May 15. (Photo by Alex Milan Tracy/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

This article originally appeared on VICE US.

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Twitter Just Deleted Thousands of QAnon Accounts - Vice Impact

Isaac Hamlet, Iowa City Press-Citizen Published 12:07 p.m. CT July 22, 2020

One of the sketchs by Brandon Drew Holmes done for PromptPress' forthcoming Afrofuturist collection. The images includes a picture of slave trade routes out of Africa.(Photo: From PromptPress)

The unfurling ofpossible futures froma year agohassynthesized as futures do into a presentmomentequal parts unpredictable and inevitable. In this moment, anAfrofuturistcollection, the product of collaboration between PromptPress and the Center for Afrofuturist Studies (CAS), in its final phase of cultivation.

"Afrofuturism is a really exciting area of art to explore," said Kalmia Strong, the Book Arts Editor on this collection,a year ago. "What does it mean to try to create a future world where people of color are equally sharing in a positive way, which has not been the history of this country?"

The text planned for anAugust release,but not yet officially titled collectseight artists, largelyof the African diaspora. Visual artist Brandon Drew Holmes provided the illustrated images in the text to which the writers responded.

"I love Brandon's work because it lives in poetry and visual art at the same time, a divide I'm always trying to straddle myself," Anas Duplan, the founder of CAS,told the Press-Citizen in an email. "These particular drawings make such efficient use of space and reference a rich pop cultural world and imagination."

Allfour of the illustrations depict multiple subjects sometimes seemingly disparate. One includes two pop animations above the image of an apparently gay Black man across from another faintly realized image. Another shows the tracks of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade out of Africa above a pair of Black hands, a sign reading "Whites Only" and the text "A man people becomes invisible."

The works created in response are primarily poetic in form and vary in topics from a socialized sense of "otherness"to Black femininity.

"One of my former students dee(dee) Redd has a poem in this collection and I believe it's their first print publication,"Duplan said."I was impressed with their work when I taught them and thought it was only a matter of time before they started publishing more work. Their work is steeped in Black radical theory and, like Brandon's drawings, make really elegant and innovative use of space.

Most includedcreators were selectedby Duplan, but the publication was open to outside submissions, which is how Andrew David King came to be included.

Past issues are displayed on shelves, Wednesday, June 19, 2019, at Prompt Press along Iowa Avenue in Iowa City, Iowa.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

"I became aware of PromptPress through my friend, who was interning there last summer," recalled King, who graduated from the University of Iowa with an master's degree in poetry last year. "I would come by and visit him in the press's reading room. I found the call for submission on Instagram and started looking at (Holmes') work. The pieces stayed with me; not long after, I began a poem in response to them."

King is the only white contributor to the publication, but still derived broader systemic issues he could speak to in the margins of the racial focus of the prompts.

"Although Holmes' drawings are 'about' race and racial violence, they also see to be 'about' a peculiarly American form of trauma, one with partial origins in prosperity-gospel Protestantism and capitalism," notedKing.

His hope is that his own poem "earns its presence" in the collection.

King's submission, "Theory of Regeneration," is a poem the author sees as growing from out of his ownsense of loneliness and displacement.

More: Iowa City center's visiting muralist hopes to build a virtual Black mythology

While the text and interior images have been determined,the design that contains these items is still being determined.

A sketch by Brandon Drew Holmes done for PromptPress' forthcoming Afrofuturist collection. This picture features portraits of Black girls and women.(Photo: From PromptPress)

PromptPress is an ekphrastic journal with an emphasis on book art, with many of its publications challenging how a text is physically presented and thus examining how that presentation can amplify the text.

As for the future of this Afrofuturist collection, Duplan gives the impression that thisforthcoming effort is a singularity rather than a recurrent thing.

"PromptPress does a lovely job of seeking people out to guest-curate their issues," Duplan said."We'll be having a reading of the issue we put together on Montez Press Radio in August, and I hope folks tune into that."

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PromptPress to release Afrofuturist collection in collaboration with CAS in August - Iowa City Press-Citizen

Britton Braggin Rights Braggs noticed Darnell, 14, and James, 11, sitting on their bikes in front of Winchester Avenues B&K Grocery.

You heard about these people getting hurt out here with guns? the Newhallville-raised rapper asked the boys. They nodded. Were walking because we want kids like you guys to be safe, Braggs said.

Bragg, 29, was walking Newhallville Monday night along with dozens of other adults issuing a call to stop the violence.

After running into the store for an Arizona to share, Darnell and James joined a crowd of walkers on their bikes, mostly sticking by Braggin Rights side. And the quest continued to spark a community response to the rise in gun violence on New Haven streets.

I know what its like. Sometimes these kids just need someone to talk to, Braggin Rights said.

We came because we want the killing and violence to stop, said Darnell.

Black lives matter. We shouldnt be killing each other, said James.

The gathering began around 6 p.m. at Bassett Street Park. Former Alder Carlton Staggers (pictured) issued a call to parents and residents of Newhallville to come together to figure out a strategy for addressing the spike of sometimes deadly shootings in town over the past month.

Fifty people responded to Staggers call.

Staggers came with no script or agenda for the rally besides talking with adults about how to engage the youth.

We dont want the police or mayor involved. This has to be a message coming from the people, our kids need us, Staggers said.

Staggers also has five kids of his own for whom he fears every day. I wanna see my kids. I want my kids to bury me, he said.

We need to get our kids. What do we do? Staggers asked the crowd.

A conversation ensued followed by the group taking to the streets.

One audience member suggested the group collaborate with community organizations in the future to increase their impact.

Reeves said in his experience with todays youth he has learned they are most interested in entrepreneurship. They dont all want to be trained in trades like we were. They want to be entrepreneurs, Reeves said.

Reeves also said Newhallville needs to have a dedicated spot for meeting up as a community.

Newhallville native Brother Born stopped by the gathering in passing to share with the crowd that a Saturday breakfast program will start up this week from 10 to 11 a.m at the Newhallville Learning Corridor on the corner of Hazel Street and Shelton Avenue.

Devin Avshalom-Smith founder of the Newhallville Community Action Network, encouraged the crowd to attend the Newhallville Equality and Empowerment Rally on July 26 from 2 p.m to 5 p.m at Lincoln Bassett Community School. Books, groceries, masks, and gloves will be distributed. There were also be census and voter registration, blood pressure checks, and Covid-19 testing.

The city has taken away our Covid testing site, so were bringing it right back, Avshalom-Smith said.

In order to rebuild a community village, Reeves said, neighbors must hold each other accountable. I gotta be able to talk to your kid when they doing wrong, he said. We have to get off singularity thinking if were going to save these kids.

Staggers and others agreed.

We need to change the culture of resolving beef, Jahad said.

Before beginning their walk the group chose when and where they would meet next with the goal of walking in every New Haven neighborhood to engage youth directly. West Hills Alder Honda Smith suggested Westville Manor. The group agreed and decided they will walk around Westville Manor on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

So which way are we going? Staggers asked.

About 30 walked through the neighborhood streets stopping at residents sitting on their porches, cars, and bikes.

Were walking out here today to let people know were tired of all these young kids getting killed. Its time to put the guns down, said Staggers to a family hosting a gathering in their backyard. And if you support us were walking Westville Manor on Wednesday, tell friends. Or you could come walk with us right now.

Retired Police Sgt. Jacqueline Jackie Hoyte was amongst the walkers. On Shepard Avenue, Hoyte and neighbor Lakeisha Williams stopped in front of a white two-family house.

On the front porch sat Manualynn King. Come walk with us. Were trying to talk to these kids out here, said Hoyte.

Oh yes. Let me get my shoes, said King who ran inside to get shoes and her mask then joined the crowd.

God put this opportunity in front of me today, said King. These kids dont know love, hope, and peace so we need to help them.

Jahad passed out his card to neighbors during the walk telling people of all ages he can help out anyone from entrepreneurs who need help writing grants or getting funding to youth who just need someone to talk and care about them. If you have some young heads send them my way, I got some jobs for them, Jahad told neighbor as he passed them his card. We need to change the culture of resolving beef, he said.

I feel like Im doing my job especially because I know I have influence and platform, he said. Braggin Rights shared videos of the walk on his Facebook and Instagram where another 12,000 people could follow along.

Thank you to all the wonderful community members stepping up, speaking out and working to change peoples lives by engaging young people, organizing others to work towards stopping the violence, and providing services where the city has dropped the ball. You give me more hope than ever before in my lifetime that a change is going to come. Young people will only listen to the community-members in the community they live in. Its been proven that the police arent the answer to stopping the violence, they can only react after the violence has already happened. Only when the community stands up and pulls together and works for a change, and shows the young people that they matter, that they are loved, will the violence end. Only love conquers hate. Thank you! NHI- can you post daily in a section where these type of events will happen and how to contact anti-violence groups, volunteer groups in the community, social service organizations and other organizations where people can contribute their time, money and services? Could the city of New Haven and towns of Hamden, East Haven and West Haven coordinate a website similar to See, Click, Fix where people can connect with services and organizations and volunteer or donate? If we all work together to connect services and organizations with communities and community members in need, we could become stronger together.

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Adults Walk The Anti-Violence Talk - New Haven Independent

A lot of the predictions we hear about the future involve a hot, crowded planet, one where we need some serious science to figure out how to feed everyone and control rising global temperatures. The UNs population forecast of almost 10 billion people by 2050 is widely quoted, and with it has come much conjecture about what such a world will look like. Where will all those people live? What kind of jobs will they have? What will they eat?

But before we invest too much into preparing for an impending population boom, we should consider some factors that, though often overlooked, could have a massive impact on the worlds population 20, 30, and even 80 years from now. A paper published this week in The Lancet explores the impact on population of factors like fertility, mortality, and migration, and details potential deviations from a heavily-populated future Earth.

On top of forecasting the populations of 195 countries, the study looked at age demographics and the impact they could have on national economies and the global power structure.

Continued global population growth through the century is no longer the most likely trajectory for the worlds population, said the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) Director Dr. Christopher Murray, who led the research. This study provides governments of all countries an opportunity to start rethinking their policies on migration, workforces, and economic development to address the challenges presented by demographic change.

Here are some of the papers key findings, and what they could mean for the future of our countries, economies, and planet.

The study predicts that the global population will peak at around 9.7 billion, but not until 2064. By the end of the century in 2100, that number will plummet by almost a billion people, to 8.8 billion.

Its a pretty huge fluctuation in 35 years time, especially barring events that would take out a big chunk of people at once, like world wars, natural disasters, or pandemics. According to the research, though, 23 countries will see their populations shrink by more than half, including Japan, Thailand, Italy, and Spain.

The US would reach its projected peak of 364 million people in 2062, then fall to 336 million by 2100. This would make the US the worlds fourth most populous country after India, Nigeria, and China, in that order, followed by Pakistan in fifth place. Chinas population is expected to shrink to 732 million by 2100, while Nigerias is set to explode, more than tripling from its current 206 million to 791 million by 2100. Sub-Saharan Africas total population is also forecast to triple, reaching 3.07 billion by 2100.

The percentage of a countrys population thats of working agedefined by the OECD as 15 to 64has a significant impact on its economy. Its part of why China was able to spur such a massive change in its GDP and poverty rates in just 30 years; high birth rates before the countrys one-child policy meant the opening of Chinas economy coincided perfectly with a huge working-age population. Its also why Japans aging population could be called a demographic time bomb.

The IHME study predicts major shifts in the global age structure, with far more old than young people by 2100; it estimates therell be 2.37 billion people over 65 and only 1.7 billion under 20. Moreover, the countries with the most young people will be those that are currently poorer, and their large working-age populations should accelerate their GDP growth.

IHME Professor Stein Emil Vollset, first author of the paper, said, Our findings suggest that the decline in the numbers of working-age adults alone will reduce GDP growth rates that could result in major shifts in global economic power by the centurys end.

At the moment, tensions between China and the West seem to be mounting, with multiple countries recently moving to ban Chinese companies like Huawei and TikTok; meanwhile, China is steadily advancing in technologies like AI and genetic engineering. The US and China are, in a sense, vying for global dominance, and the international leadership vacuum left by the current US administrations foreign policy isnt helping.

The study predicts China will overtake the US economically by 2035, but if the US maintains a liberal immigration policy, it will go back to having the worlds biggest economy by 2098.

The emphasis on immigration as an economic bolster here is critical. Countries that promote liberal immigration, the paper says, are better able to maintain their population size and support economic growth, even in the face of declining fertility rates.

For high-income countries with below-replacement fertility rates, the best solutions for sustaining current population levels, economic growth, and geopolitical security are open immigration policies and social policies supportive of families having their desired number of children, said Murray.

Its crucial, though, that countries put womens rights, education, and healthcare ahead of population growth; we already saw what happens when a government tries to force women to have as many children as possible, and it wasnt pretty.

According to the paper, the UN uses trends from the past to predict how fertility and mortality will evolve across countries in the future. But it leaves out one huge influencer: the fact that theres not only room for improvement, but improvement is likely.

Though it may not seem like it right nowCovid-19 has thrown a big wrench in all kinds of statistics regarding both the present and the futurehuman well-being has been on a steady upward trajectory for the past couple decades. Infant and maternal mortality are down. Life expectancy is up, and gender equality is progressing. The widespread dissemination of technologies like smartphones, combined with government policies aimed at helping the most vulnerable, are lifting people out of poverty.

These trends are likely to continue and even accelerate, and as further gains are made in gender equality and access to education, one of the biggest knock-on effects well see is fewer babies.

At present, women in poor countries are far more likely than women in rich countries to start having babies young, and to have a lot of them. This is due to cultural factors, like marrying young, as well as lack of education and access to contraceptives. The IHME research accounted for the likelihood that women will continue to have greater access to education and reproductive health services, and as a result will delay childbirth and have fewer kids.

The difference between this studys projections and UN forecasts, then, come mainly from the associated decline in fertility rates. The team predicts that in sub-Saharan Africa there will be 702 million fewer people by 2100 than UN forecasts predict, and over 1 billion fewer in south and southeast Asia.

Despite advances in technology that include bigger agricultural yields, cheaper manufacturing, and closely-linked global supply chains, the resources available to us do have a limit, and fewer people means more resources per person.

Looking again to Chinas example, the country was in part able to achieve its astounding economic growth and decline in extreme poverty due to its one-child policy. The Chinese population grew just 38 percent from 1980 to 2013, while Indias grew by 84 percent and Sub-Saharan Africas by 147 percent in the same time period. Fewer mouths to feed means more food per mouth, more wealth per capita, and more people having their needs met.

This applies on a global scale, too, and the papers authors point out that their forecasts have positive implications for the environment, climate change, and food productionthough they acknowledge the predictions could have negative implications for labor forces, economic growth, and social support systems in the countries with the biggest fertility declines.

Humans are pretty good at adapting, though. Whether learning to stay inside for three months straight to curb the spread of a disease or figuring out how to cope with a smaller working-age population, odds are, well manage. A lot can change between now and the year 2100, but from our current vantage point, having fewer than 10 billion people on Earth doesnt sound too bad.

Image Credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

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This Century Will See Massive Shifts in the Global Population, Economy, and Power Structure - Singularity Hub

You won't regret adding these bras to your life

Adding to the essentials in your wardrobe is never done in singularity. You can never own only one t-shirt or pair of jeans. The same goes with cotton bras. They are worn day in and day out, so it's only natural for you to own them in pairs, triplets or even more. Cotton is a breathable fabric for lingerie and when you find a bra that's comfortable and supportive enough, what should you do? Buy an entire pack of them, of course. That way, you can ensure your lingerie collection is filled with pieces that work well for you.

Grab these cotton bra packs right away - you'll regret it if you don't.

The bras included in this 6-piece set are made of poly cotton material, do not have padding or wires and come in 6 muted solid toned shades of oranges, browns and purples.

The bra pack of 3 pieces are seamless, non-wired and made of stretchable cotton fabric in pink, blue and grey.

The pack of 3 cotton sports bras have a camisole pattern with narrow straps in front and cutout horizontal strap designbehind.

The pack includes 6 bras of hosiery cotton material. They come in a mix of colour blocked shades with a contrasting panel below the cup and S-shaped adjustable straps.

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Grab These Cotton Bra Packs Because Owning One Is Never Enough - NDTV Swirlster