Bookmarks 2025-12-02T05:16:56.547Z
by Owen Kibel
30 min read
Bookmarks for 2025-12-02T05:16:56.547Z
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The Manosphereās Porn Defense Problem: Blaming Wives for Vice | National Review Added: Dec 1, 2025
The Manosphereās Porn Defense Problem: Blaming Wives for Vice | National Review
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Natural language found more complex than it strictly needs to beāand for good reason Added: Dec 1, 2025
Natural language found more complex than it strictly needs to beāand for good reason
Human languages are complex phenomena. Around 7,000 languages are spoken worldwide, some with only a handful of remaining speakers, while others, such as Chinese, English, Spanish and Hindi, are spoken by billions. Despite their profound differences, they all share a common function: they convey information by combining individual words into phrasesāgroups of related wordsāwhich are then assembled into sentences. Each of these units has its own meaning, which in combination ultimately form a comprehensible whole.
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Jeffries says not to expect Democrats to pursue Hegseth impeachment Added: Dec 1, 2025
Jeffries says not to expect Democrats to pursue Hegseth impeachment over boat strikes
Site: Axios
"Republicans will never allow articles of impeachment to be brought to the floor," he said.
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'It Might Save Or Destroy Us': Harvard's Avi Loeb Issues Stark Alien Warning If 3I/ATLAS Isn't A Comet | IBTimes UK Added: Dec 1, 2025
It Might Save Or Destroy Us'āHarvard's Avi Loeb Warns 3I/ATLAS Could Be Alien Technology
Site: International Business Times UK
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb warns that the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS might be a deliberately steered alien probeāan event that could transform or threaten humanity if misjudged.
It might save or destroy us, the interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS is forcing humanity to confront a cosmic gamble of unprecedented magnitude.In mere months, the interstellar object known as 3I/ATLAS has become the centrepiece of a fierce debate among scientists, with Avi Loeb of Harvard University at the forefront, warning that the object may not be a benign comet, but a deliberate probe from an alien intelligence. The implications, he asserts, could be existential.Strange Path, Unlikely CoincidencesThe case for 3I/ATLAS being an alien artefact rests first on its trajectory and dynamics. According to the July 2025 preprint paper by Loeb and colleagues titled Is the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Alien Technology?, the object follows a path whose alignment with the ecliptic plane and its approaches to Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are so precise that the probability of a random interstellar object doing the same is less than 0.005 per cent.Loeb underscores this as deeply suspicious: 'The near alignment ... offers various benefits to an extraterrestrial intelligence, since it allows a spacecraft to access Earth with relative impunity.'Furthermore, the object's orbital mechanics raise the spectre of deliberate manoeuvring. Its perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, resulted in a total eclipse from Earth's perspective, creating a window during which a hypothetical spacecraft could execute a 'reverse Solar Oberth manoeuvre,' a boost manoeuvre using the Sun's gravitational well to alter course or decelerate, unobserved by Earth.If 3I/ATLAS were natural, such orbital coincidences would be astronomically improbable.Observations Challenge TheoriesYet mounting observational data continues to make the natural-comet explanation compelling. Spectroscopic investigations, including a July 2025 study by Bin Yang et al., titled Spectroscopic Characterisation of Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS: Water Ice in the Coma, revealed water ice and dust in the coma of 3I/ATLAS, with a spectral signature consistent with known cometary material.Even more telling: in August 2025, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) detected a CO₂-dominated gas coma enveloping 3I/ATLAS, along with traces of H₂O, CO, OCS, water ice, and dust. The measured CO₂/H₂O ratio is far higher than typical Solar System comets, but still fits within cometary behaviour, albeit unusually heavy on carbon dioxide.This chemical composition suggests the object formed in a region of its home system far colder than our own Kuiper Belt, allowing it to retain volatile ices that would otherwise sublimate.Likewise, ultraviolet observations by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory showed OH emissions, a well-known indicator of water vapour and sublimation typical of comets.Because of these findings, the natural comet hypothesis remains overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community.The Alien Probe HypothesisLoeb has taken pains to stress that he is not asserting 3I/ATLAS is alien technology, but that science must take the possibility seriously, given the stakes. On his blog, he writes that after discovery, his team felt 'the duty to consider a low probability event just because the implications are huge.'He has drawn up a rough 'scale of likelihood' for alien origin, tentatively placing 3I/ATLAS at a '4' on a zero-to-ten scale, reflecting scepticism but warning that dismissing it out of hand would be irresponsible.Part of Loeb's concern lies in the trajectories: according to the arXiv study, 3I/ATLAS passes close to multiple planets, including Jupiter, a potential staging area for smaller probes or a relay platform for further dispersal. This scenario evokes the 'Dark Forest' hypothesis, a solution to the Fermi Paradox which suggests that civilisations remain silent and hidden to avoid detection by predatory species.In public interviews, Loeb has not shied away from speculation: he has wondered aloud whether the object might deploy smaller satellites, or even use the Sun's gravity for stealthy manoeuvres.If such an object were indeed a technological artefact, benign, scientific, or hostile, humanity's approach could make the difference between a moment of discovery and a catastrophe.A Cosmic GambleShould 3I/ATLAS turn out to be merely an eccentric comet, the debate still serves as a rigorous stress test for how science handles extraordinary claims. But if future data yield unexpected anomalies, especially consistent with artificial manipulation, ignoring them could represent the greatest oversight in human history.On the other hand, rushing to proclaim alien contact without roadworthy evidence could undermine scientific credibility and sow unwarranted fear.That delicate balance underpins Loeb's message: as long as the data remain ambiguous, prudence demands we treat 3I/ATLAS not as just another comet, but as a cosmic wildcard. Only through vigilant observation, rigorous scrutiny, and open-minded investigation can humanity hope to manage what could be its most consequential encounter yet.May we prove wise enough, and brave enough, to see this through.
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The top 2 Linux distros Windows 10 users are fleeing to right now - and why | ZDNET
Added: Dec 1, 2025The top 2 Linux distros Windows 10 users are fleeing to right now - and why
Site: ZDNET
Windows 10 is gone, and millions are turning to Linux. Here are the distros benefiting most, and what makes them so great.
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Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication, new study finds | Here & Now Added: Dec 1, 2025
Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication, new study finds
A new study finds the notoriously adorable trash bandits in urban areas are showing early signs of domestication.
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Raccoons domesticating themselves, looking cuter for humans | The Jerusalem Post
Added: Dec 1, 2025Raccoons domesticating themselves, looking cuter for humans | The Jerusalem Post
Site: The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com
Beyond evolving features cuter to humans, the mammal has also become less fearful of humans, according to the study.
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The rise of AI denialism - Big Think
Added: Dec 1, 2025The rise of AI denialism
Site: Big Think
Computer scientist Louis Rosenberg argues that dismissing AI as a ābubbleā or mere āslopā ignores the tectonic technological shift now unfolding.
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Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is erupting in 'ice volcanoes', new images suggest | Live Science Added: Dec 1, 2025
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is erupting in 'ice volcanoes', new images suggest
Site: Live Science
Scientists have observed cryovolcanoes erupting on comet 3I/ATLAS ā giving us a new clue about what's inside it.
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The AfDās crossroads
Added: Dec 1, 2025The AfDās crossroads
Site: La Voce del Patriota
Alternative for Germany (AfD) has become the leading party in voting intentions for Germans, reaching 26% in the latest polls, 1% more than the CDU, which currently leads the federal government. This is excellent news for the party led by Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, but, barring a political catastrophe, the only way for the [ā¦]
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Site: X (formerly Twitter)
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Make Case for Regime-Change War in Venezuela | National Review Added: Dec 1, 2025
Make Case for Regime-Change War in Venezuela | National Review
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Veterans SLAM the Seditious Six & Issue a Crystal-Clear Message: We Stand with President Trump šŗšø - YouTube Added: Dec 2, 2025
Veterans SLAM the Seditious Six & Issue a Crystal-Clear Message: We Stand with President Trump šŗšø
Site: YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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Trump Calls Democrat RETARDED, Says Thereās Something WRONG With Him
Site: YouTube
Go to my sponsor https://venice.ai/tim and use code tim to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using my code will get you 20% off a pro plan.SUPPORT THE SHOW BUY C...
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Democrat Media CAUGHT Lying About Hegseth DOUBLE TAP Strike On Narco Boats | Tim Pool
Site: YouTube
They are lining up the pieces to push for civil warBecome A Memberhttp://youtube.com/timcastnews/joinThe Green Room - https://rumble.com/playlists/aa56qw_g-j...
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Democrat Fraud Scheme Exposed, Reports MILLIONS Sent To Somali Terror Group
Site: YouTube
Last chance! Up to 50% off Beamās Extended Cyber Sale: Visit https://shopbeam.com/TIMPOOL and use code TIMPOOL at checkout. Donāt miss their biggest sale of...
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Scientists Discover Earthās Ancient Atmosphere May Have Sparked Life Added: Dec 2, 2025
Scientists Discover Earthās Ancient Atmosphere May Have Sparked Life
Site: SciTechDaily
Early Earthās atmosphere may have manufactured key sulfur molecules, giving life a head start.
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Site: X (formerly Twitter)
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20 Gemini Nano Banana Pro Prompts for Realistic Portrait Photos - Imagine with Rashid
Added: Dec 2, 202520 Gemini Nano Banana Pro Prompts for Realistic Portrait Photos - Imagine with Rashid
Site: Imagine with Rashid
Create stunning realistic portraits with these 20 expert AI prompts for Google's Gemini Nano Banana Pro image model.
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Mathematics is hard for mathematicians to understand too | Science Added: Dec 2, 2025
Mathematics is hard for mathematicians to understand too
Site: Science
At a recent conference on mathematics in the age of automated proofs, mathematician and Fields Medalist Akshay Venkatesh presented āHow do we talk to our students about AI?'' He quoted an email he'd received from a young student who asked, āDo you believe that mathematics is worth being studied in a world in which a machine can answer everything for you? What do you believe would be the 'jobā of a mathematician in this world?ā Venkatesh framed AI as an opportunity to correct what he called an āessential gap that has opened between the practice of mathematics and our values.ā Mathematician William Thurston has explained these values by writing, āmathematics is not about numbers, equations, computations, or algorithms: it is about understanding.ā But Venkatesh argued that the record on this is terrible, lamenting that āfor a typical paper or talk, very few of us understand it.ā He is not alone in thinking that something is wrong with the current state of mathematics research.
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President Trump Hosts a Cabinet Meeting, Dec. 2, 2025
Site: YouTube
The White House
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My terminal feels like a full IDE after these changes
Added: Dec 2, 2025My terminal feels like a full IDE after these changes
Site: MUO
It's basically VS Code now, but better.
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HILARIOUS Franklin Memes GO VIRAL After Hegseth posts The Turtle Blowing Up Narco Boats
Site: YouTube
How did it come to this!!?? Franklin nooooooooooBecome A Memberhttp://youtube.com/timcastnews/joinThe Green Room - https://rumble.com/playlists/aa56qw_g-j0BU...
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rare early-season stratospheric warming is forming this December, and scientists warn its intensity could dramatically reshape the entire winter outlook
Added: Dec 2, 2025rare early-season stratospheric warming is forming this December, and scientists warn its intensity could dramatically reshape the entire winter outlook
Site: Nunneryplumbingandheating.co.uk
Yet 30 to 50 kilometers over our heads, something rare is brewing that could flip this quiet picture. In early December, satellites are picking up unusual
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Dylan Hartwell, auteur/autrice sur Nunneryplumbingandheating.co.uk
Added: Dec 2, 2025
Dylan Hartwell
Site: Nunneryplumbingandheating.co.uk
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Michael Dell to fund 25 million "Trump accounts" with $6.25 billion gift
Site: Axios
The gift will extend the reach of the accounts beyond newborns eligible for government seed money.
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Site: X (formerly Twitter)
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Context Engineering is the New Prompt Engineering - KDnuggets Added: Dec 2, 2025
Context Engineering is the New Prompt Engineering - KDnuggets
Site: KDnuggets
Itās not about clever wording anymore. Itās about designing environments where AI can think with depth, consistency, and purpose.
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Europeās Green Energy Rush Slashed Emissionsāand Crippled the Economy - WSJ Added: Dec 2, 2025
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Fantastical content, not editing speed, depletes childrenās cognitive resources
Added: Dec 2, 2025Fantastical content, not editing speed, depletes childrenās cognitive resources
Site: PsyPost - Psychology News
A new meta-analysis suggests fast-paced TV does not harm children's attention as often feared. Instead, programs featuring fantastical, unrealistic events appear to deplete cognitive resources, leading to poorer performance on tasks immediately after viewing.
A new analysis of existing research indicates that the speed of television programming does not inherently harm childrenās thinking skills. The findings suggest that the fantastical content of a show, rather than its pacing, is more likely to result in temporary reductions in attention and executive function. This research was published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.70069" target="_blank">Developmental Science</a></em>.
Parents and educators frequently express concern regarding the impact of screen time on cognitive development. A primary worry centers on the intensity of modern childrenās media. Many popular programs feature rapid scene changes and intense audio-visual stimulation.
The "overstimulation hypothesis" proposes that these features tax a childās mental resources. The theory posits that the brain becomes exhausted by processing rapid changes, leaving fewer resources available for focus and impulse control immediately after viewing.
This line of inquiry gained significant traction following a widely publicized 2011 study. That experiment compared outcomes for children watching the fast-paced cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants against those watching the slower-paced Caillou. Children who watched the faster show performed worse on subsequent cognitive tasks.
However, the two shows differed in more than just speed. One was realistic, while the other featured surreal, fantastical elements. This confounding factor made it difficult to determine if the pacing or the content itself caused the performance deficit.
The authors of the new study sought to disentangle these variables. They aimed to determine if media pace and media fantasy have distinct effects on a childās immediate cognitive abilities.
To do this, they utilized a statistical technique known as a meta-analysis. This method allows researchers to aggregate data from multiple independent studies to identify robust patterns that might be invisible in smaller samples.
"I first heard about this topic from my doctoral supervisor and co-author, Associate Professor Damian Scarf. This was an interest topic of his which, luckily for me, previous members of his research lab had passed up," explained study author Ashley Hinten, a research fellow in the Faculty of Arts and Education at the University of Auckland.
"Reading past studies, I was fascinated by how researchers had designed their studies and how varied the findings were. It is a topic that hooks people in ā everyone has a perspective or anecdote to share, or shows from their childhood that they look back on fondly."
The researchers conducted two separate meta-analyses. The first focused specifically on media pace. This analysis integrated data from 19 studies involving a total of 1,431 children. The participants ranged in age from 1.5 to 10 years old.
In these experiments, researchers typically compared the performance of a group that watched fast-paced video content against a group that watched slow-paced content. The definition of pace usually involved the rate of camera cuts or scene changes per minute.
The second analysis focused on the element of fantasy. This review included 16 studies with a total of 1,297 participants between the ages of 1.5 and 6 years. The study defined fantastical media as content featuring events that violate the laws of physics or reality.
Examples include animals that talk, objects that fly, or magical transformations. This type of content was compared against realistic media that depicts events possible in the real world.
The results regarding media pace provided evidence that speed alone may not be detrimental. The aggregated data revealed that media pace did not have a statistically significant effect on childrenās overall cognitive performance.
There was no consistent pattern suggesting that watching fast-paced shows led to lower scores on attention or executive function tasks compared to slow-paced shows. This challenges the assumption that rapid editing is inherently overstimulating to the point of cognitive depletion.
However, the analysis of media fantasy yielded different results. The researchers found a significant negative effect for fantastical content. Children who watched programs featuring impossible events tended to perform worse on attention and executive function tasks immediately afterward.
This deficit was observed when compared to children who watched realistic programs. The effect size suggested a moderate reduction in performance capabilities following the viewing session.
"Children performed similarly on cognitive tasks directly after viewing regardless of whether they watched slow- or fast-paced shows," Hinten told PsyPost. "However, children who watched fantastical media (i.e., shows with more unrealistic or impossible content) scored lower on cognitive tasks post-viewing than children who watched comparatively realistic media (i.e., shows that reflect the real world). This effect is thought to be short-lasting so, for example, children might struggle to follow instructions straight away after watching."
The researchers suggest a cognitive mechanism to explain this distinction. Fantastical events are novel and often defy a child's existing understanding of how the world works. Processing this information requires the brain to work harder to make sense of the on-screen action.
This intense cognitive effort may deplete the mental resources that are otherwise used for executive functions. In contrast, children may be habituated to fast pacing through regular exposure to modern media. They may possess enough "media literacy" to understand rapid cuts without expending significant mental effort.
The researchers also examined whether specific variables influenced the strength of these effects. The researchers tested potential moderators such as the childās age, gender, and the duration of the video exposure. They also looked at the origin of the media to see if familiarity played a role.
For the most part, these factors did not alter the main findings. The negative impact of fantasy appeared consistent regardless of whether the child was a boy or a girl. It also did not seem to matter if the child was a toddler or of primary school age.
One moderator that did show an influence was the specific type of cognition being measured. Within the pace analysis, the researchers found that attention and inhibitory control were more negatively affected than higher-order executive functions.
Higher-order functions include complex skills like planning and problem-solving. This suggests that while pace might not hurt overall cognition, it could have specific, localized effects on a child's ability to filter out distractions.
The researchers noted significant heterogeneity in the data. This means that the results varied considerably from study to study. While the overall trend for fantasy was negative, some individual studies found no effect or even positive effects.
This variability indicates that other unmeasured factors are likely at play. The context in which a child watches a program could determine whether the experience is beneficial or draining.
"While we found a notable difference in performance between children shown fantastical versus realistic media, the difference was not especially large," Hinten explained. "This might be driven by the fact that findings differed greatly between studies ā some studies reported that watching fantasy led to lower cognitive performance, while others found watching fantasy led to higher cognitive performance instead."
"Other researchers found no difference in performance between children shown fantastical versus realistic media. This hints at the complexity of this research area, and the number of factors at play."
As with all research, there are caveats to consider. The meta-analysis relied on laboratory experiments where children watched videos for a brief period. This setting is artificial and does not reflect typical home viewing habits.
In a natural environment, children often choose their own content and watch for longer durations. They may also interact with siblings or parents during viewing. These social interactions can buffer against potential negative effects or help children process what they see.
"In the past, there has been a tendency to make strong conclusions, such as 'SpongeBob SquarePants is bad' or 'Fantasy in childrenās media is bad,'" Hinten noted. "We think it is important not to do this because the way the experiments have been conducted does not reflect childrenās real-world watching behavior or context."
"For example, in the experiments, children do not get to choose what they watch, how long they watch for, or who they watch with. More research is needed to understand whether media factors like pace and fantasy have different impacts in different contexts for different children."
Future research could address these gaps by examining media effects in more naturalistic settings. The authors recommend investigating how repeated, long-term exposure to these media features influences development. They also suggest that future studies should separate the audio-visual features of screen media more rigorously.
"We are continuing to prepare research from my doctoral thesis for potential publication in research journals," Hinten said. "One of the studies uses data from the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study to look at the effect of repeated exposure to specific childrenās media in toddlerhood on executive functioning in later childhood. My current role is in a different field, although I hope to return to media research in the future."
"We are excited to present the first meta-analysis of this research," she added. "The purpose of this research was not to reignite concerns around childrenās screen media exposure. Instead, we wanted to better understand the effects of media pace and fantasy rates. I would hope these findings would encourage readers to take an active role in the media use of children in their lives, such as taking notice of what they are watching and talking to them about it."
The study, ā<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.70069" target="_blank">Meta-Analytic Review of the Short-Term Effects of Media Exposure on Children's Attention and Executive Functions</a>,ā was authored by Ashley E. Hinten, Damian Scarf, and Kana Imuta.
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The Tempest: Where the bee sucks, there lurk I - YouTube Music Added: Dec 2, 2025
The Tempest: Where the bee sucks, there lurk I - YouTube Music
Site: YouTube Music
Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises The Tempest: Where the bee sucks, there lurk I Ā· Grace Davidson Ā· Julian Perkins Ā· Thomas Arne The Tempest: ...
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Terminals - YouTube Music
Site: YouTube Music
Provided to YouTube by Milan Records Terminals Ā· Ludvig Forssell Death Stranding 2: On The Beach (Original Video Game Score) ā 2025 KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS Co....
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Should We Have Connected? | Death Stranding 2: On The Beach (Original Video Game Score) - YouTube Music
Site: YouTube Music
"Should We Have Connected?" from Death Stranding 2: On The Beach (Original Score) | Music by Ludvig Forssell āŗ Listen to the soundtrack here: https://deaths...
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White House Christmas 2025: "Fostering the Future"
Site: YouTube
In a stunning display of creativity, artist HervƩ Pierre has reimagined the Red Room as "Fostering the Future," a vibrant embodiment of the BE BEST initiativ...
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Gen Z Influencer Gives MACHETES & BOOZE To Homeless, Social Media PSYCHOSIS Is Here
Site: YouTube
Last chance! Up to 50% off Beamās Extended Cyber Sale: Visit https://shopbeam.com/TIMCAST and use code TIMCAST at checkout. Donāt miss their biggest sale of ...
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President Trump Makes an Announcement, Dec. 2, 2025
Site: YouTube
The White House
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Candace Owens Implies TPUSA KILLED Charlie Kirk, Claims Failed Bibi Deal Cost MILLIONS | Timcast IRL
Site: YouTube
Call 1-800-958-1000 or visit http://www.TNUSA.com/timGo to https://BackyardButchers.com/TIM and enter promo code TIM for 30% off ā plus a FREE turkey or ham ...
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Physics - Einsteinās Slit with a Single Atom Added: Dec 2, 2025
Einsteinās Slit with a Single Atom
Site: Physics
A single-atom interferometer confirms Niels Bohrās resolution of a seemingly paradoxical thought experiment devised by Albert Einstein.
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Black Hole Jets and 3I/ATLAS. First Attempt to Explain the Anomaly +ā¦ | by Liena Dreams | Dec, 2025 | Medium Added: Dec 2, 2025
Black Hole Jets and 3I/ATLAS
Site: Medium
First Attempt to Explain the Anomaly + Fresh Photos (2 December 2025)
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CachyOS vs Bazzite : r/cachyos Added: Dec 2, 2025
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Short comparison of CachyOS and Bazzite - Feedback - CachyOS Forum
Added: Dec 2, 2025Short comparison of CachyOS and Bazzite
Site: CachyOS Forum
Hey there! I am running CachyOS for some weeks now on my gaming PC and it runs fine, so I no longer use the windows on the machine. Now I wanted to have a look at bazzite as it could be an alternative for this scenario. I donāt want to tinker on my gaming pc, just run games, so having an immutable system could have advantages over a rolling release. But letās not discuss about this. It was just a test out of curiosity. It is just a short test running TombRaider and TombRaider2 (most settings ...
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Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS May Be A "Primitive Carbonaceous Object", Comparison With NASA's Antarctic Samples Suggests | IFLScience
Added: Dec 2, 2025Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Appears To Be Experiencing "Cryovolcanism", And Is Eerily Similar To Objects In The Outer Solar System
Site: IFLScience
New observations suggest that our interstellar visitor may be a "primitive carbonaceous object", complete with "ice volcanoes".
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS may be a primitive carbonaceous object, according to a new preprint study comparing the object's spectra with pristine NASA samples from Antarctica. As well as this, our third interstellar visitor also appears to be undergoing cryovolcanic activity during its first close encounter in (possibly) 10 million years. While much recent analysis has been focused on the potential for 3I/ATLAS to break up during its close encounter with our star, the international team of scientists were particularly interested in the idea of 3I/ATLAS as an "ancient survivor". Previous studies have shown that the object, our third interstellar visitor that we know of, has likely traveled through the interstellar medium (ISM), being exposed to cosmic rays potentially for billions of years. "From cosmogonic grounds, a body surviving for so long in the harsh ISM should have a significant mechanical strength. Observationally, 3I is also large: estimates place its diameter between 0.3 and 5.6 km, and its ~16 h rotation period is sufficient to distribute solar heating relatively uniformly across its surface," the team writes in their paper. "Its high incoming velocity suggests ejection through a close encounter in its parent planetary system, and although no stellar encounters are found within the last 500 pc, earlier close passages cannot be excluded. These considerations lead us to hypothesize that 3I/ATLAS may be a metal-bearing carbonaceous body." By looking at the light reflected off small bodies in the Solar System and splitting it into its spectra, scientists can learn about the object's composition. "Each element in the periodic table can appear in gaseous form and will produce a series of bright lines unique to that element. Hydrogen will not look like helium which will not look like carbon which will not look like iron... and so on," NASA explains. "Thus, astronomers can identify what kinds of stuff are in stars from the lines they find in the star's spectrum. This type of study is called spectroscopy." In the study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, the team used photometric observations of 3I/ATLAS, and compared them to pristine carbonaceous chondrites from the NASA Antarctic meteorite collection. These are samples of meteorites which have been discovered in Antarctica since 1976, as part of NASA's Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET). Comparing the spectra from 3I/ATLAS and pristine samples of the team believes they have found a close match with trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) ā objects and minor planets beyond the orbit of Neptune. "The spectral similarities indicate that 3I/ATLAS may be a primitive carbonaceous object, likely enriched in native metal and undergoing significant aqueous alteration during its approach to the Sun," the team writes, adding that it is "experiencing cryovolcanism as we could expect for a pristine Trans-Neptunian Object." "We propose that the combination of elevated metal abundance and abundant water ice can account for the unusual coma morphology and chemical products reported to date." While "cryovolcanism" may sound exotic, it is by not unexpected for TNOs. They are essentially where subsurface materials erupt from beneath the surface of an object, or to put it a little more dramatically; ice volcanoes. Most of the work on cryovolcanoes has been on Moons of the Solar System's gas giants, as well as TNOs like Pluto. "Models of the interiors of TNOs indicate that cryovolcanism, which is considered to be the most probable form of geological activity on some satellites of the outer planets, may be possible on the larger Trans-Neptunian objects (diameter > 800 km)," one paper explains. While 3I/ATLAS is believed to be between 0.3 kilometers (0.186 miles) and 5.6 kilometers (3.48 miles), the team believes it is an expected behavior for a smaller TNO approaching the Sun. "The corresponding ā¼2-mag brightness increase at 2.5 au, followed by the rapid development of a diffuse coma, confirms the activation of near-surface volatile components, even when water-ice sublimation probably was not fully achieved, except perhaps in the near subsurface as consequence of reaching a more localized pressure and temperature," the team writes. "Cryovolcanism is known to occur on pristine ice-rich and C-rich bodies in the outer solar system, and 3I behaviour has an overall similitude to what we should expect for a pristine TNO during a close approach to the Sun." āTo do so, corrosion of fineāgrained metal grains can originate energetic FischerāTropsch reactions," they added, "generating specific chemical products into the coma that are not so common in other comets because most of them formed in the outer solar system and didnāt inherit so much metal.ā As well as being cool ā it's nice enough to see an interstellar visitor, and this one is packing space volcanoes ā the discovery is interesting for learning about the environments around other stars. "Despite its unknown extrasolar formation environment, 3I shows its closest spectral affinity with CR and CH chondrites, both of which exhibit featureless red spectra ā likely due to the presence of metal grains, sulphides, and other opaque phases," the team explains. "It means that early stages of planetary formation could produce similar types of materials, even in really remote locations of our galaxy." Spectrographic studies of these objects are great, but the team urges that projects like ESAās Comet Interceptor become a top priority, with the ultimate goal of sampling a future interstellar visitor directly. "Interstellar visitors like 3I/ATLAS continue to challenge and refine our understanding of planetary-system formation and the chemical evolution of small bodies. Each newly discovered object reveals unexpected properties that test and expand current models," the team concludes. "Future intercept missions will be essential for visiting, and directly sampling these rare messengers and unlocking the record they carry from distant planetary systems." The study is posted to preprint server arXiv.
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The Performance Cost To Ubuntu WSL2 On Windows 11 25H2 - Phoronix Added: Dec 2, 2025
The Performance Cost To Ubuntu WSL2 On Windows 11 25H2
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Gaming with CachyOS Guide | CachyOS
Added: Dec 2, 2025Gaming with CachyOS Guide
Site: CachyOS
It covers essential package installation, Steam gaming with Proton, various Proton version options, Lutris as a central hub for all games, and script installers for popular games.
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GOP Base Under Trump: The Democratic Colonization of the Republican Party | National Review
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Mistral launches Mistral 3, a family of open models designed to run on laptops, drones, and edge devices | VentureBeat Added: Dec 2, 2025
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Modern humans arrived in Australia 60,000 years ago and may have interbred with archaic humans such as 'hobbits' | Live Science Added: Dec 2, 2025
Modern humans arrived in Australia 60,000 years ago and may have interbred with archaic humans such as 'hobbits'
Site: Live Science
New genetic research shows that DNA and archaeological evidence align with the "long chronology" of the peopling of Australia.
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When I Failed Wittgenstein - WSJ Added: Dec 2, 2025
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Trump Defies the Democrat-Media Cartel - WSJ Added: Dec 2, 2025
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Elon Musk on X: "If current trends continue, Whites will go from being a small minority of world population today to virtually extinct!" / X Added: Dec 2, 2025
Site: X (formerly Twitter)
