05 Sci-Tech

Trump’s Tariffs Leave Automakers With Tough, Expensive Choices– www.nytimes.com

pgnewser March 31, 2025 0

Trump’s Tariffs Leave Automakers With Tough, Expensive Choices– www.nytimes.com
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Automakers can respond to President Trump’s new 25 percent tariffs on imported cars and parts in several ways. But all of them cost money and will lead to higher car prices, analysts say.

Manufacturers can try to move production from countries like Mexico to the United States. They can try to increase the number of cars they already make here. They can stop selling imported models, especially ones that are less profitable.

But whatever carmakers decide, car buyers can expect to pay more for new and used vehicles. Estimates vary widely and depend on the model, but the increase could range from around $3,000 for a car made in the United States to well over $10,000 for imported models.

Those figures do not take into account additional tariffs that Mr. Trump said he would announce next week to punish countries that impose tariffs on U.S. goods. He has also said he would increase tariffs further if trading partners like Canada and the European Union raise tariffs in response to his auto tariffs, leading to an escalating tit-for-tat trade war.

“It’s going to be disruptive and expensive for American consumers for several years,” said Michael Cusumano, professor of management at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

U.S. appeals court rules AI-generated works ineligible for copyright protection – Capture

pgnewser March 20, 2025 0

U.S. appeals court rules AI-generated works ineligible for copyright protection – Capture
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The case revolved around Stephen Thaler, a computer scientist who sought copyright protection for an artwork titled A Recent Entrance to Paradise, which was generated by his AI system, the “Creativity Machine.” Thaler applied for copyright registration in 2018, naming the AI as the creator and himself as the owner.

However, the U.S. Copyright Office rejected his request, citing the requirement for human authorship in copyright law. Thaler challenged the ruling, but both the U.S. District Court and the Court of Appeals upheld the Copyright Office’s decision.

In its ruling, the appellate court reaffirmed that U.S. copyright law mandates human authorship. The court highlighted that multiple provisions of the Copyright Act presuppose a human creator, further solidifying the requirement that only works with human involvement can qualify for copyright registration.

New research suggests dark energy is fading. Could the universe reverse course?– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

pgnewser March 20, 2025 0

New research suggests dark energy is fading. Could the universe reverse course?– timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Excerpt:

Dark energy, which drives the universe’s expansion, is showing signs of weakening, according to research that could fundamentally alter our understanding of the cosmos’s destiny.
The findings from the dark energy spectroscopic instrument (Desi) team at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona could significantly impact theories about universal evolution, suggesting the possibility of a reversal in expansion leading to a “big crunch“.
This indication that dark energy peaked billions of years ago represents the first significant modification to the accepted universal model in decades, Guardian reported.
“What we are seeing is deeply intriguing. It is exciting to think that we may be on the cusp of a major discovery about dark energy and the fundamental nature of our universe,” said Prof Alexie Leauthaud-Harnett, Desi co-spokesperson and cosmologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Texas Bill Proposes Gun Safety and Hunter Education as Physical Education Elective– www.usacarry.com

pgnewser March 20, 2025 0

Texas Bill Proposes Gun Safety and Hunter Education as Physical Education Elective– www.usacarry.com
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AUSTIN, TX — A newly proposed bill in the Texas Legislature could allow public high school students to take a gun safety and hunter education course as part of their physical education curriculum. House Bill 1085, authored by Representatives Pat Curry and Helen Kerwin, aims to introduce a “lifetime recreation and outdoor pursuits” course that includes a hunter education component, providing students with valuable outdoor skills and firearm safety education.

The bill was filed on November 12, 2024, and was recently considered in a public hearing before the House Public Education Committee on March 18, 2025. It remains pending in committee as lawmakers deliberate on its potential impact and implementation.

A map of 14 million galaxies and quasars deepens a dark energy mystery– www.sciencenews.org

pgnewser March 20, 2025 0

A map of 14 million galaxies and quasars deepens a dark energy mystery– www.sciencenews.org Source Link Excerpt:

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Change is in the air. New data strengthen a hint that dark energy, long thought to be constant force in the universe, might change over time.

Dark energy explains the observation that the universe’s expansion rate is accelerating. But its origins are unknown. It’s typically expected to have constant density across the billions of years of the universe’s history. So when researchers from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, or DESI, reported in 2024 that dark energy might vary over time based on their first year of data, it shook cosmology to its core.

Many scientists expected that the standard picture would prevail with additional data from DESI. But that hasn’t happened. Instead, with three years of DESI data, the preference for a changing, or dynamical dark energy has grown.

China Is So Far Ahead On Electric Cars It’s Now Afraid America Will Steal Its Trade Secrets! – The Autopian

pgnewser March 19, 2025 0

China Is So Far Ahead On Electric Cars It’s Now Afraid America Will Steal Its Trade Secrets! – The Autopian
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Excerpt:

Now, though, it’s the Chinese government that’s worried about the plant. Why? According to a Financial Times report titled “China delays approval of BYD’s Mexico plant amid fears tech could leak to US,” China doesn’t want the United States to do to China what China did to everyone else:

“[D]omestic automakers require approval from China’s commerce ministry to manufacture overseas and it has yet to give approval, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Authorities fear Mexico would gain unrestricted access to BYD’s advanced technology and knowhow, they said, even possibly allowing US access to it. “The commerce ministry’s biggest concern is Mexico’s proximity to the US,” said one of the people.

Researchers make disturbing new discovery about deadly disease that impacts pregnant women: ‘These findings offer vital insights’ – The Cool Down

pgnewser March 19, 2025 0

Researchers make disturbing new discovery about deadly disease that impacts pregnant women: ‘These findings offer vital insights’ – The Cool Down
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Excerpt:

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have discovered that the Zika virus builds tiny tunnels called nanotubes in the cells of pregnant women, helping it to covertly cross the placental barrier, which normally protects the fetus from chemicals and microbes that could harm it.

The study, published in Nature Communications, also found that this strategy raises little alarm in the immune system.

“We discovered that the formation of these tiny tunnels is driven exclusively by a Zika protein called NS1,” first author Rafael T. Michita stated in a news release. “Exposure of placental cells to the NS1 protein of Zika virus triggers tunnel formation. As the tunnels develop and connect neighboring cells, a path opens for the virus to invade new cells.”

Scientists Cracked the Code to Capturing Ultrafast Electron Motion in Real Time – SciTechDaily

pgnewser March 19, 2025 0

Scientists Cracked the Code to Capturing Ultrafast Electron Motion in Real Time – SciTechDaily
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Researchers have simplified a highly complex quantum imaging technique, 2DES, used to observe ultrafast electron interactions.

By refining an existing interferometer design, they improved control over laser pulses, unlocking new capabilities for studying energy transfer in materials.

Unveiling the Ultrafast World of Electrons

The ultrafast movements and interactions of electrons in molecules and solids have long been difficult to observe directly. In recent years, scientists have developed methods to study these quantum processes, such as chemical reactions, solar energy conversion, and quantum computing operations, in real-time with extreme precision.

One of the most advanced techniques for this is two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES), which can track electron dynamics with a resolution of just a few femtoseconds (quadrillionths of a second). However, 2DES is highly complex and has only been used by a few research teams worldwide.

Physicists Just Found a Way to Control Atoms Using Twisted Light – SciTechDaily

pgnewser March 19, 2025 0

Physicists Just Found a Way to Control Atoms Using Twisted Light – SciTechDaily
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Atoms are the fundamental building blocks of everything around us. Occasionally, they lose electrons and become charged particles, a process known as ionization. This phenomenon occurs in lightning, plasma TVs, and even the northern lights. Until now, scientists believed their ability to control ionization was quite limited.

A research team led by Ravi Bhardwaj, Full Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Department of Physics, and PhD student Jean-Luc Begin, in collaboration with Professors Ebrahim Karimi, Paul Corkum, and Thomas Brabec, has introduced a groundbreaking method to manipulate ionization using specially structured light beams.

New genetic analysis suggests the origins of human language are more than 100,000 years old– cosmosmagazine.com

pgnewser March 19, 2025 0

New genetic analysis suggests the origins of human language are more than 100,000 years old– cosmosmagazine.com
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Excerpt:

… A new analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology by a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) uses a different approach to try and find the origin of human language: genomic data.

Modern humans, Homo sapiens, emerged about 230,000 years ago in Africa. The new research begins with the assumption that there is a common language or language group to which all modern languages can be traced.

“The logic is very simple,” says co-author Shigeru Miyagawa, a linguist at MIT. “Every population branching across the globe has human language, and all languages are related.”

Miyagawa’s team mapped out human geographic divergence using data from 15 genetic studies published in the last 18 years.

“I think we can say with a fair amount of certainty that the first split occurred about 135,000 years ago, so human language capacity must have been present by then, or before,” Miyagawa says.

(Nigerian) Bill to regulate social media scales second reading in Senate – The Nation Newspaper

pgnewser March 19, 2025 0

Bill to regulate social media scales second reading in Senate – The Nation Newspaper
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A Bill seeking to make it compulsory for social media platforms to have physical offices as well as formalise the registration and regulation of bloggers in Nigeria scaled the second read reading yesterday at the Senate.

It was the Senate’s second attempt to regulate the social media in the country.

Its first attempt during the Ninth National Assembly fizzled out after widespread criticisms and outcry by stakeholders who regarded it as an attempt to gag the media and contravene Section 39 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression provides.