All posts tagged: change

Reprogrammable artificial muscle can change its shape, recover from damage, and even be reused

Reprogrammable artificial muscle can change its shape, recover from damage, and even be reused

Published by Jenni Sidey

Soft robots have long promised something rigid machines cannot easily deliver. They offer the ability to bend, flex, and handle the messy unpredictability of the real world. However, there has been a catch. Once many artificial muscles are built, they are stuck with the motions they were designed to make. A research team in South Korea says it has found a way around that problem. They created an artificial muscle that can be reshaped during use, recover after damage, and even have part of its material reused in another device. This advance could push soft robotics closer to systems that behave less like disposable tools. Furthermore, the systems may become more like adaptable machines. The work came from a joint team led by Prof. Jeong-Yun Sun of Seoul National University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Prof. Ho-Young Kim of the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering also led the team. The study appears in Science Advances. Yun Hyeok Lee, Seungwon Moon, and Min-gyu Lee served as first and co-first authors. Schematic of an rDEA and …

Dog law change is now in force and ‘extended to paths and roads’

Dog law change is now in force and ‘extended to paths and roads’

Published by Sam Flores

If in doubt, use a lead (Image: AnnaEle via Getty Images) Dog owners are being alerted about a significant legal change that could result in them facing unlimited fines. The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Act 2025 officially took effect on March 18, 2026, introducing some of the most substantial updates to countryside regulations in decades. The alert arrives as extended daylight hours and milder temperatures encourage more individuals to venture outdoors for walks. Under the fresh legislation, which is applicable in England and Wales, the previous £1,000 ceiling on fines has been abolished, meaning courts can now impose unlimited fines on owners whose dogs are discovered to have worried livestock. Crucially, “livestock worrying” doesn’t simply mean an attack; it encompasses chasing animals or causing them distress or anxiety, even without any physical harm. Simultaneously, police have been granted enhanced powers to investigate incidents. Officers can now seize and detain dogs suspected of involvement, enter properties with a warrant and gather evidence, including obtaining DNA samples or mouth impressions to assist in identifying the dog …

Why is it so hard to change your mind?

Why is it so hard to change your mind?

Published by skeptic

When was the last time you changed your mind? Peter Cavanagh/Alamy “The most difficult subjects,” novelist Leo Tolstoy once wrote, “can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.” Until recently, I would have agreed. A whole host of psychological research had suggested that many people are extraordinarily resistant to opinion change and there is precious little we can do to remove their blinkers. This, combined with the rise of social media, was thought to lie behind the increasing political polarisation of the past two decades. So you can imagine my delight at finding a new paper that offers some grounds for optimism. According to Stephanie Dolbier at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her colleagues, psychologists have already uncovered many techniques to open our minds – and it all depends on our …

‘Heat’ Climate Change Doc Film Trailer, Interview: Visions du Réel

‘Heat’ Climate Change Doc Film Trailer, Interview: Visions du Réel

Published by Daniella Wilson

The heat is on! Just watch the work of Swiss documentary filmmaker Jacqueline Zünd (Where We Belong, Almost There, Goodnight Nobody). She premiered her fiction feature debut, Don’t Let the Sun, at the Locarno Film Festival last year, bringing us a near-future-set cinematic contemplation of how external factors, namely climate change, affect and shape our inner worlds. Now, Zünd is getting ready to world premiere a film that dives into the same themes in a different, namely documentary, and very provocative form. The new film, aptly called Heat, will debut at the 57th edition of the Visions du Réel (VdR) doc festival in Nyon, Switzerland, on April 20. It will screen in the international feature film competition of the fest, which opens on Friday, April 17, and runs through April 26. Featuring highly stylized imagery and sound to bring the heat to viewers in all its intensity, the doc is set in the Persian Gulf, “one of the hottest regions in the world,” with temperatures crossing the 50 degrees Celsius/120 degrees Fahrenheit mark, and a place where “the …

Meghan Trainor cancels tour following major family change: ‘I need to be home’

Meghan Trainor cancels tour following major family change: ‘I need to be home’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Meghan Trainor shared with fans that she had made the heartbreaking decision to cancel her Get In Girl Tour, which was set to kick off on June 12. The “All About That Bass” singer took to Instagram on Thursday to explain that she needed to focus on her young family and thus cancel the 30-stop North American tour.  “After a lot of reflection and some really tough conversations, I’ve made the decision to cancel the Get In Girl Tour,” she began on her Instagram story.  “Balancing the release of a new album, preparing for a nationwide tour, and welcoming our new baby girl to our growing family of five has just been more than I can take on right now, and I need to be home and present for each and all of them at this time.” © InstagramMeghan shared the announcement on her Instagram story Meghan and her husband, Daryl Sabara, welcomed their daughter, Mikey Moon, in January via surrogate. “I know this will come as a disappointment to my fans, and I am so sorry to …

Starmer risks a major war within 10 years without one change, warns AI | UK | News

Starmer risks a major war within 10 years without one change, warns AI | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

An artificial intelligence system billing itself as the most accurate forecaster on earth has put Britain’s chances of fighting a major war within the next decade at one in four — and says only a dramatic increase in defence spending can bring that risk down. Cassi AI, whose founder claims it produces forecasts “just off the best forecast that humanity can make under uncertainty”, put the odds of UK involvement in a major conflict at one in five before the Iran war broke out on February 28. That figure has since climbed to 24 per cent. The system’s modelling suggests a single policy decision could transform the picture entirely. Were Britain to commit to spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence averaged over five years and hit that target by 2036, the conflict probability would fall to just 5 per cent — one in twenty. What qualifies as a major conflict For Cassi’s purposes, a major conflict is one in which British fatalities hit 500, or 250 in a war that claims 10,000 combatant …

Hollywood Boulevard Is Soulless and Dangerous. But We Can Change That.

Hollywood Boulevard Is Soulless and Dangerous. But We Can Change That.

Published by Daniella Wilson

The entertainment industry understands better than anyone that a brand is only as good as the experience it delivers. We spend billions ensuring that every frame, every note, every performance, matches the promise we make in the marketing.  And yet when it comes to the one street on earth that carries that industry’s name, Hollywood Boulevard, we shrug and accept a broken experience. If we ignore the ringing phone long enough, we think, it will stop. As a candidate for Los Angeles City Council, Council District 13 serving Hollywood, I’m here to say we need to pick up that phone.  I’ve worked in Hollywood — the neighborhood — for thirty years. I tended bar at the Gaslight then Opium Den on Cosmo and Selma for eight years in the ’90s. I lived next to the Army Surplus store at Vine and Santa Monica. I built a nonprofit educational agency for the homeless at Hollywood and Wilcox. I located my second company’s office at Sunset and Vine. I managed the intellectual property rights for the Hollywood Sign …

Last One Laughing special gets a major rule change for new episode

Last One Laughing special gets a major rule change for new episode

Published by Daniella Wilson

Things are about to get much more difficult on Last One Laughing UK… The entertainment hit, which tasks comedians with ensuring they don’t giggle while trying to make one another laugh, will return for a Halloween special later this year – but there’s a twist. Speaking at the Broadcast Summit, commissioner Cat Lynch told audiences that, in addition to the normal rules around not laughing, comics will also be penalised for screaming. The Prime Video comedy series will be introducing scares to make the contestants jump, which might make it rather difficult to withhold screams… There’s no word yet on who will be taking part or if there will be any returning faces, so watch this space. Sam Campbell and David Mitchell. Amazon MGM Studios Prime Video confirmed last month that Last One Laughing had been greenlit for a third season as well as a Halloween special, with the former coming to screens in 2027. The most recent series concluded earlier this month and saw the return of Bob Mortimer, who entered the game hoping to …

You be the judge: should my girlfriend change the way she bags her supermarket shopping? | Life and style

You be the judge: should my girlfriend change the way she bags her supermarket shopping? | Life and style

Published by Sam Flores

The prosecution: Dougie double quotation markShe says if you’re bagging stuff at the checkout, you’re holding up the people behind you When Teresa and I go shopping in Lidl or Aldi, I want to pack the groceries the normal way. When we take our trolley up to checkout, I put everything on a conveyor belt. Right after the cashier scans the item, I put it into a shopping bag, and once that bag is full, I’ll put it in a trolley. Our packing is done right there, quickly and in good time. But Teresa prefers to put all the items directly in the trolley after they’ve been scanned, and then go to the shelves at the back of the shop to pack our shopping into bags. She says it’s the correct way because apparently that’s what the shelves are for – to avoid congestion at the till – and that if you bag stuff at the checkout you’re holding people up. I think it’s fine. Teresa doesn’t follow my method, and grocery shopping becomes a …