Between 75 to 86 percent of the plastics floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch come from offshore fishing and aquaculture activities, according to an analysis of the trash collected by nonprofit project the Ocean Cleanup. Major industrialized fishing nations, including Japan, China, South Korea, the US, Taiwan, and Canada, were the main contributors of the fishing waste. “These findings highlight the contribution of industrial fishing nations to this global issue,” says Laurent Lebreton, lead study author and head of research at the Ocean Cleanup....

There are hundreds of chess grandmasters across the world at any given time, but none can consistently hold their own against AI programs‘ near-instantaneous access to vast data archives composed of millions of historic chess games and strategies. In fact, humans haven’t had much of a chance for well over two decades— at least since then-reigning world champion Gary Kasparov first lost to IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer in 1996. Barely a month following this historic turning point, the legendary—and infamous—former chess world champion, Bobby Fischer, publicly debuted his own game variation at a press conference in Buenos Aires....

The flu has a paradoxical relationship with the weather. In the United States, the flu thrives in the winter, when the air is cold and crisp, and then ebbs in the spring, when the disease is stymied by hotter temperatures. However, in tropical countries, where it is usually warm, humid and rainy, people get sick with the flu all year round. Scientists are studying why this happens, but they have no answers as of yet....

But a month later, I had the option to pull those records into the Apple Health application on my iPhone, leaving me with easy access to my information and an easy way to show that information to another doctor, down the line. NYU Langone started allowing its patients to access their medical records through the health records feature on Apple’s Health app in a wave of health care organizations integrating the Apple platform last winter....

A “blast” of chilly Arctic air is expected to pass over the eastern part of the country this week, bringing piles of snow from the Great Lakes to New England. The mercury will drop 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit below average, breaking a few records in the process. Areas of Minnesota could see sub-zero temperatures, while reports out of Texas show weather in the low teens. European countries are also bracing themselves for the blast....

So what makes a good analog hobby in our digital world? These three hobbies (birdwatching, Amigurumi crochet, and model trains) can be practiced when you’re on a detox from all your devices—but they can also be enhanced by online communities, tutorials, and showing off your handiwork on social platforms. Designed for Eastern bluebirds (which are found in much of the United States east of the Rockies and also as far south as Texas), this house has been field tested by the National Audubon Society....

A small ivory comb dating to about 1700 BCE was found with engraved with a hopeful spell against the wingless insect that like to infest human hair. The inscription reads, “May this [ivory] tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard,” according to a study published last month in Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology. The 17 letters on the comb form seven words and belong to an early form of the alphabet used by the Canaanites....

Our Mac Studio setup I’ve been testing a Mac Studio in a configuration that’s actually pretty close to what I would buy for my professional photography and video work. It has the upgraded 32-core GPU, 64GB shared system memory (up from the base of 36GB), and 2TB of built-in storage. Paying $600 extra dollars to go up to 2TB of built-in storage stings, but a 512GB SSD inside a machine built for intense creative work feels particularly puny....

Once the site is back up and running, however, Apple promised in a statement yesterday that Self Service Repair for M1 Air and Pro models will offer over a dozen different fixes for parts like the display, trackpad, top case with battery, and “more to come.” Of course, the “right to repair” comes with a cost. Customers hoping to mend their Apple laptops themselves are required to purchase proprietary company parts at a hefty premium, as well as rent an official “repair kit” at $49 for one week’s usage if they don’t want to buy the necessary tools themselves....

But humanity’s once-prolific use of lead might actually be a boon for historians. Lead pollution collected from Arctic ice cores can reveal, in year-to-year detail, the economic ups and downs of medieval Europe, according to the authors of a new study, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Lead is nice because the background levels are extremely low,” says Joe McConnell, a hydrologist at the Desert Research Institute and lead author of the new study....

There’s no doubt about it: autism rates have skyrocketed in the U.S. and beyond in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the disease affects one in every 150 children born today in the U.S., up from one in 500 just 10 years ago. It’s become the fastest-growing developmental disability-more prevalent than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined—and it continues to grow at a rate of 10 to 17 percent per year....

Military lasers are the latest evolution in “not getting killed” technology. Defense and offense in war tend to be cyclical–for a while, weapons are very good getting through to their targets, but then someone invents better armor, which works until a new weapon is made. Since the advent of gunpowder, really, offensive weapons have outmatched defenses. It’s simply easier and cheaper to fire many relatively inexpensive explosives at a target than it is to fire pricey guided missiles to stop attacks in midair....

Situations like that drive artificial intelligence research. Computer scientists want their algorithms to be able to succeed in scenarios with multiple hidden variables. In that vein, a division of Facebook called FAIR (Facebook AI Research) and Carnegie Mellon University have created an AI that is “superhuman” at poker. And tech like it could have implications far beyond the virtual felt of the gaming table. “It’s the best player in six-player no-limit Texas hold ‘em in the world,” says Noam Brown, a research scientist at FAIR, describing their AI poker whiz....

Asteroid mining may be down the road a piece yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to start scouting. With that in mind, we give you Asterank 3D, the first visual guide to our solar system’s most valuable resources. Software engineer Ian Webster created Asterank 3D to visualize the data in Asterank, a database with economic and astronomical information on over 580,000 asteroids in our solar system that Webster built using data from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Small Body Database and several other sources....

The astronauts started working with the Microsoft Hololens, an augmented reality headset that was sent up to the space station in December. The hardware is part of ‘Project Sidekick’, a program designed to give astronauts a helping hand from Earth during complicated repairs. Using the headset, the astronauts can either watch pre-recorded guides to basic procedures, or interact with experts on the ground via Skype. The headset will let people on the ground get an astronaut’s-eye view of what they’re working on, and let them make notes in the astronaut’s field of vision, guiding them through repairs or experiments....

Technically, there is coffee on board the station, but it’s made by squeezing hot water into a pouch of custom blended, freeze-dried coffee, and sipped through a straw. It only barely clears the bar for being a comforting drink, and no savory coffee smell makes it through that bag, either. But thanks to a new version of a specially designed cup sent to ISS last year, astronauts now have the ability to brew a fresh cup of coffee....

The competition’s first day was limited to a select group of attendees, from students to judges and even company reps (and a handful of journalists, for posterity’s sake), and the event center buzzed, the auditory overlapping of hundreds of voices with the sounds of whirring demonstrations and computer presentations. A fan favorite was the Lockheed Martin booth, where a line formed behind the company’s F22 Raptor simulation and students got to “drive” the stealth aircraft and take down enemy planes....

Your new inflatable playground will be the hit of your neighborhood. And just think: Instead of watching endless videos, your kids could spend hours getting tons of exercise and having a blast, too. Here are some top options for bounce houses on the market today. Weight Capacity: Remember that every bounce house has weight capacity restrictions. Smaller ones limit you to about 250-300 pounds at once, and larger houses can handle up to 1,000 pounds....

Best toy for active kitties: rabitgoo Cat-Tree TowerBest chewy cat toy: KONG Beaver Refillable Catnip ToyBest toy for cat entertainment: Potarama Electric Flopping FishBest cat toy for extra stimulation: YVE LIFE Cat Laser ToyBest cat toy on a budget: Petstages Cat Tracks Toy Factors to consider when shopping for the best cat toys When shopping around for the best toys, consider your kitty’s needs. Some felines love to play fetch, roll around and paw a crinkly or plush toy back at you....