22 articles from SATURDAY 1.10.2022

What's Up: October 2022 Skywatching Tips from NASA

What are some skywatching highlights in October 2022? Enjoy giant planets Jupiter and Saturn all night throughout the month. Then watch as Mars begins its retrograde motion, moving westward each night instead of eastward, for the next few months. Finally, check out the Orionid meteors overnight on Oct. 20. Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What's Up, along...

Vladimir Putin’s latest frightening gambit lies at the bottom of the ocean

If the Russian president has finally started listening to his military chief, you can bet he’ll soon target all those poorly protected internet cables at the bottom of the sea“Once is happenstance,” wrote James Bond’s creator. “Twice is coincidence. Three times, it’s enemy action.” As European politicians and security agencies ponder the three explosions that caused leaks in the two...

Land tenure drives deforestation rates in Brazil, study finds

Tropical deforestation causes widespread degradation of biodiversity and carbon stocks. Researchers have now tested the relationship between land tenure and deforestation rates in Brazil. Their research shows that poorly defined land rights go hand in hand with increased deforestation rates. Privatizing these lands, as is often promoted in the tropics, can only mitigate this effect if combined...

Latest Covid surge a ‘heavy straw on camel’s back’ for every hospital in UK

Health leaders urge vaccination and return to mask-wearing as hospitalisations rise by 37 per cent in a weekEvery hospital in the UK is under significant pressure and a new Covid surge is “a very heavy straw on the camel’s back”, health leaders have warned.At least eight hospitals declared a critical incident, cancelled operations or asked people not to come to A&E unless they were...

The EU wants to put companies on the hook for harmful AI

The EU is creating new rules to make it easier to sue AI companies for harm. A bill unveiled this week, which is likely to become law in a couple of years, is part of Europe’s push to prevent AI developers from releasing dangerous systems. And while tech companies complain it could have a chilling effect on innovation, consumer activists say it doesn’t go far enough.  Powerful AI...