User:The Transhumanist
- User page undergoing expansion/revamp. Please excuse the blank section until it is completed. Thank you.
Introduction
Hi. My name is The Transhumanist.
- As a transhumanist...
I love emerging and evolving technologies, and so...
I'm currently immersed in studying AI (particularly generative AI and reasoning engines), and big data.
I dabble in JavaScript, including writing user scripts from time to time.
My best user script so far, is SearchSuite...
SearchSuite provides further control over Wikipedia search results, such as on/off features to sort them, to present results one-per-line, and more. While it seems to work fairly well, there is definitely room for improvement. Comments and suggestions are welcome.
By the way, most of the scripts I've been working on are for building and augmenting outlines...
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- As an encyclopedist...
I'm interested in all knowledge, especially how to organize it so you can find whatever is most relevant at any given moment.
I've been around Wikipedia since the Fall of 2005, and have been working mostly on Wikipedia's structure, and its knowledge navigation systems, throughout that time.
Selected articles that I've worked on
A revenue model is a framework for generating financial income. There can be a variety of ways for revenue generation such as the production model, manufacturing model, as well as the construction model. A revenue model identifies which revenue source to pursue, what value to offer, how to price the value, and who pays for the value. It is a key component of a company's business model. A revenue model primarily identifies what product or service will be created and sold in order to generate revenues.
Without a clear and well-defined revenue model new businesses will be more likely to struggle. By having a clear revenue model, a business can focus on a target audience, fund development plans for a product or service, establish marketing plans, open a line of credit and raise capital. (Full article...)
Natural science or empirical science is a branch of science concerned with the description, understanding, and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and reproducibility of findings are used to try to ensure the validity of scientific advances.
Natural science can be divided into two main branches: life science and physical science. Life science is alternatively known as biology. Physical science is subdivided into physics, astronomy, Earth science, and chemistry. These branches of natural science may be further divided into more specialized branches, also known as fields. As empirical sciences, natural sciences use tools from the formal sciences, such as mathematics and logic, converting information about nature into measurements that can be explained as clear statements of the "laws of nature".
Modern natural science succeeded more classical approaches to natural philosophy. Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, René Descartes, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton debated the benefits of a more mathematical as against a more experimental method in investigating nature. Still, philosophical perspectives, conjectures, and presuppositions, often overlooked, remain necessary in natural science. Systematic data collection, including discovery science, succeeded natural history, which emerged in the 16th century by describing and classifying plants, animals, minerals, and so on. Today, "natural history" suggests observational descriptions aimed at popular audiences. (Full article...)- A block is a defensive tactic in chess in response to an attack, consisting of interposing a piece between the opponent's attacking piece and the piece being attacked. This type of blocking will only work if the attacking piece is a type that can move linearly an indefinite number of squares such as a queen, rook, or bishop and there is at least one empty square in the line between the attacking and attacked piece. Blocking is not an option when the attacking piece is directly adjacent to the piece it is attacking, or when the attacking piece is a knight (because knights "jump over other pieces" and cannot be blocked). When an opponent's attack on a piece is blocked, the blocking piece is to some extent pinned, either relatively or absolutely, until a future move by either side allows it to be unpinned.
A check on a king by an opponent's queen, rook, or bishop can sometimes be blocked by moving a piece to a square in line in between the opponent's checking piece and the checked king. The blocking piece is then absolutely pinned to the king by the attacking piece.
Another type of interposing in chess can involve placing a piece between two opponent's pieces where one of those pieces is protecting the other, or they are both protecting each other. This chess tactic can be called interference. (Full article...) - An AI takeover is a theorized future event, often depicted in fiction, in which autonomous artificial intelligence systems acquire the capability to supersede human decisions. This could occur through economic manipulation, infrastructure control, or direct intervention, leading to de facto governance. Scenarios range from gradual economic dominance, as automation supplants the human workforce, up to a sudden or aggressive global takeover by a robot uprising or other forms of rogue AI.
Stories of AI takeovers have been popular throughout science fiction. Commentators argue that recent advancements in the field have heightened concern about such scenarios. In public debate, prominent figures such as Stephen Hawking have advocated research into precautionary measures to ensure future superintelligent machines remain under human control. (Full article...) - The branches of science, also referred to as sciences, scientific fields or scientific disciplines, are commonly divided into three major groups:
- Formal sciences: the study of formal systems, such as those under the branches of logic and mathematics, which use an a priori, as opposed to empirical, methodology. They study abstract structures described by formal systems.
- Natural sciences: the study of natural phenomena (including cosmological, geological, physical, chemical, and biological factors of the universe). Natural science can be divided into two main branches: physical science and life science.
- Social sciences: the study of human behavior in its social and cultural aspects.
Scientific knowledge must be grounded in observable phenomena and must be capable of being verified by other researchers working under the same conditions.
Natural, social, and formal science make up the basic sciences, which form the basis of interdisciplinarity - and applied sciences such as engineering and medicine. Specialized scientific disciplines that exist in multiple categories may include parts of other scientific disciplines but often possess their own terminologies and expertises. (Full article...)
Trichophyton is a genus of fungus, which includes the parasitic varieties that cause tinea, including athlete's foot, ringworm, jock itch, and similar infections of the nail, beard, skin and scalp. Trichophyton fungi are molds characterized by the development of both smooth-walled macro- and microconidia. Macroconidia are mostly borne laterally directly on the hyphae or on short pedicels, and are thin- or thick-walled, clavate to fusiform, and range from 4 to 8 by 8 to 50 μm in size. Macroconidia are few or absent in many species. Microconidia are spherical, pyriform to clavate or of irregular shape, and range from 2 to 3 by 2 to 4 μm in size. (Full article...)- Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a hypothetical type of artificial intelligence that matches or surpasses human capabilities across virtually all cognitive tasks.
Beyond AGI, artificial superintelligence (ASI) would outperform the best human abilities across every domain by a wide margin. Unlike artificial narrow intelligence (ANI), whose competence is confined to well‑defined tasks, an AGI system can generalise knowledge, transfer skills between domains, and solve novel problems without task‑specific reprogramming.
Creating AGI is a stated goal of technology companies such as OpenAI, Google, xAI, and Meta. A 2020 survey identified 72 active AGI research and development projects across 37 countries.
AGI is a common topic in science fiction and futures studies. (Full article...) - This article explains terms used for the British Armed Forces' ordnance (weapons) and ammunition. The terms may have different meanings depending on their usage in another country's military. (Full article...)
- The technological singularity, often simply called the singularity, is a hypothetical event in which technological growth accelerates beyond human control, producing unpredictable changes in human civilization. According to the most popular version of the singularity hypothesis, I. J. Good's intelligence explosion model of 1965, an upgradable intelligent agent could eventually enter a positive feedback loop of successive self-improvement cycles; more intelligent generations would appear more and more rapidly, causing an explosive increase in intelligence that culminates in a powerful superintelligence, far surpassing human intelligence.
Prominent technologists and academics dispute the plausibility of a technological singularity and associated artificial intelligence "explosion", including Paul Allen, Jeff Hawkins, John Holland, Jaron Lanier, Steven Pinker, Theodore Modis, Gordon Moore, and Roger Penrose. One claim is that artificial intelligence growth is likely to run into decreasing returns instead of accelerating ones. Stuart J. Russell and Peter Norvig observe that in the history of technology, improvement in a particular area tends to follow an S curve: it begins with accelerating improvement, then levels off without continuing upward into a hyperbolic singularity. (Full article...) - The technological singularity, often simply called the singularity, is a hypothetical event in which technological growth accelerates beyond human control, producing unpredictable changes in human civilization. According to the most popular version of the singularity hypothesis, I. J. Good's intelligence explosion model of 1965, an upgradable intelligent agent could eventually enter a positive feedback loop of successive self-improvement cycles; more intelligent generations would appear more and more rapidly, causing an explosive increase in intelligence that culminates in a powerful superintelligence, far surpassing human intelligence.
Prominent technologists and academics dispute the plausibility of a technological singularity and associated artificial intelligence "explosion", including Paul Allen, Jeff Hawkins, John Holland, Jaron Lanier, Steven Pinker, Theodore Modis, Gordon Moore, and Roger Penrose. One claim is that artificial intelligence growth is likely to run into decreasing returns instead of accelerating ones. Stuart J. Russell and Peter Norvig observe that in the history of technology, improvement in a particular area tends to follow an S curve: it begins with accelerating improvement, then levels off without continuing upward into a hyperbolic singularity. (Full article...)
James Burke (born 22 December 1936) is a broadcaster, science historian, author, and television producer. He was one of the main presenters of the BBC1 science series Tomorrow's World from 1965 to 1971 and created and presented the television series Connections (1978), and its more philosophical sequel The Day the Universe Changed (1985), about the history of science and technology. The Washington Post has called him "one of the most intriguing minds in the Western world". (Full article...)
Cardiology (from Ancient Greek καρδίᾱ (kardiā) 'heart' and -λογία (-logia) 'study') is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system, and it is a sub-specialty of internal medicine. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease, and electrophysiology. Physicians who specialize in this field of medicine are called cardiologists. Pediatric cardiologists are pediatricians who specialize in cardiology. Physicians who specialize in cardiac surgery are called cardiothoracic surgeons or cardiac surgeons, a specialty of general surgery. (Full article...)- The meaning of life is the concept of an individual's life, human life, or existence in general having an inherent significance or a philosophical point. There is no consensus on the specifics of such a concept, or whether the concept itself even exists in any objective sense. Thinking and discourse on the topic is sought in the English language through questions such as—but not limited to—"What is the meaning of life?", "What is the purpose of existence?", and "Why are we here?". There have been many proposed answers to these questions from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds. The search for life's meaning has produced much philosophical, scientific, theological, and metaphysical speculation throughout history. Different people and cultures believe in different answers to this question. Opinions vary on the usefulness of using time and resources in the pursuit of an answer. Excessive pondering can be indicative of, or lead to, an existential crisis.
The meaning of life can be derived from philosophical and religious contemplation of, and scientific inquiries about, existence, social ties, consciousness, and happiness. Many other issues are also involved, such as symbolic meaning, ontology, value, purpose, ethics, good and evil, free will, the existence of one or multiple gods, conceptions of God, the soul, and the afterlife. Scientific contributions focus primarily on describing related empirical facts about the universe, exploring the context and parameters concerning the "how" of life. Science also studies and can provide recommendations for the pursuit of well-being and a related conception of morality. An alternative, humanistic approach poses the question, "What is the meaning of my life?" (Full article...) 
Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly, one of the first industrial robots (1990)
Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. A roboticist is someone who specializes in robotics. Robotics usually combines four aspects of design work: a power source (e.g. a battery), mechanical construction, a control system (electrical circuits), and software (run by remote control or artificial intelligence).
The goal of most robotics is to design machines that can assist humans in various fields, such as agriculture, construction, domestic work, food processing, inventory management, manufacturing, medicine, military, mining, space exploration, and transportation.
Robots impact humans by displacing workers. Some expect this to occur at an increasing rate, leading to proposed solutions such as basic income. Robotics is itself a lucrative business that creates careers, especially for postgraduates. Roboticists often aim to create machines that seem to interface naturally with humans. The field is under active research and development, with areas of interest including robot kinematics and quantum robotics. (Full article...)- In geography and particularly in geographic information science, a geographic feature or simply feature (also called an object or entity) is a representation of phenomenon that exists at a location in the space and scale of relevance to geography; that is, at or near the surface of Earth. It is an item of geographic information, and may be represented in maps, geographic information systems, remote sensing imagery, statistics, and other forms of geographic discourse. Such representations of phenomena consist of descriptions of their inherent nature, their spatial form and location, and their characteristics or properties. (Full article...)
- Types of democracy refers to the various governance structures that embody the principles of democracy ("rule by the people") in some way. Democracy is frequently applied to governments (ranging from local to global), but may also be applied to other constructs like workplaces, families, community associations, and so forth.
Types of democracy can cluster around values. Some such types, defined as direct democracy (or participatory democracy, or deliberative democracy), promote equal and direct participation in political decisions by all members of the public. Others, including the many variants of representative democracy (i.e., constitutional), favor more indirect or procedural approaches to collective self-governance, wherein decisions are made by elected representatives rather than by the people directly.
Types of democracy can be found across time, space, and language. The foregoing examples are just a few of the thousands of refinements of, and variations on, the central notion of "democracy." (Full article...) 
Visualization of various methodological approaches to gaining insights from meta data areas
Information science (abbreviated as infosci) is an academic field that is primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, movement, dissemination, and protection of information. Practitioners within and outside the field engage in the study of knowledge application and usage in organizations. Additionally, they examine the interaction between people, organizations, and any existing information systems. The objective of this study is to create, replace, improve, or understand the information systems. (Full article...)- A userscript manager, also known as a userscript engine, is a type of browser extension and augmented browsing technology that provides a user interface to run and organize userscripts. The main purpose of a userscript manager is to execute scripts on predetermined webpages as they are loaded, for example, running a userscript to modify only youtube.com pages. But, userscript managers do a lot more than execute scripts, and screen for the pages they are intended to run on. The most common operations performed by a userscript manager include installing, organizing, creating, copying, saving, deleting, and editing (including modifying webpage permissions of) userscripts.
Userscript managers use metadata that is embedded in a script's source code primarily to determine the websites it should execute on and the dependencies necessary for the script to run properly. Metadata can also include information that is useful to the user such as the script's name, author, description and version number.
Popular userscript managers include Tampermonkey, Greasemonkey, Violentmonkey, and Userscripts for Safari. The Gear browser for iOS has a userscript manager built in. (Full article...) - Prehistoric technology is technology that predates recorded history. History is the study of the past using written records. Anything prior to the first written accounts of history is prehistoric, including earlier technologies. About 2.5 million years before writing was developed, technology began with the earliest hominids who used stone tools, which they first used to hunt food, and later to cook.
There are several factors that made the evolution of prehistoric technology possible or necessary. One of the key factors is behavioral modernity of the highly developed brain of Homo sapiens capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem-solving. The advent of agriculture resulted in lifestyle changes from nomadic lifestyles to ones lived in homes, with domesticated animals, and land farmed using more varied and sophisticated tools. Art, architecture, music and religion evolved over the course of the prehistoric periods. (Full article...) 
Location of Asia
Asian cuisine encompasses several significant regional cooking styles of Asia: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. Cuisine is a distinctive way of cooking practices and customs, usually associated with a specific culture. Asia, as the largest and most populous continent, is home to many cultures, each with its own characteristic cuisine. Asian cuisine, also known as Eastern cuisine, is considered the "culture of food within a society" due to the beliefs, cooking methods, and the specific ingredients used throughout the entire process. Asian cuisines are also renowned for their spices. A key taste factor in Asian cuisine is “umami” flavor, a strong savoriness prominent in Asian cooking, which can be achieved through fermented food or meat extract.
Ingredients common to many cultures in East and Southeast Asia include rice, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, chilis, dried onions, soy, and tofu. Stir frying, steaming, and deep frying are common cooking methods.
While rice is common to most Asian cuisines, different varieties are popular in the various regions. Glutinous rice is ingrained in the culture, religious tradition and national identity of Laos. Basmati rice is popular in the Indian subcontinent, jasmine rice is often found across Southeast Asia, while long-grain rice is popular in China and short-grain in Japan and Korea.
Curry is a common dish in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Curry dishes have their origins in the Indian subcontinent. Countries in Indochina typically use a coconut milk base in their curries; countries in West Asia typically use a yogurt base. (Full article...)
Moore's law is an example of futurology; it is a statistical collection of past and present trends with the goal of accurately extrapolating future trends.
Futures studies, futures research or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people may live and work in the future. Futures studies scholars make predictions of the future and aim at systematically exploring alternatives to the predictions. Futures studies are a branch of the social sciences and an extension to the field of history. Futures studies (colloquially called "futures" by many of the field's researchers) seeks to understand what is likely to continue and what could plausibly change.
Unlike the physical sciences where a narrower, more specified system is studied, futurology concerns a much bigger and more complex world system.[dubious – discuss] The methodology and knowledge are much less proven than in natural science and social sciences like sociology and economics. There is a debate as to whether this discipline is an art or science, and it is sometimes described as pseudoscience; nevertheless, the Association of Professional Futurists was formed in 2002, developing a Foresight Competency Model in 2017, and it is now possible to study it academically, for example at the FU Berlin in their master's course. To encourage inclusive and cross-disciplinary discussions about futures studies, UNESCO declared December 2 as World Futures Day. (Full article...)- This glossary of philosophy is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to philosophy and related disciplines, including logic, ethics, and theology. (Full article...)
- Life extension is the concept of extending the human lifespan, either through incremental improvements in medicine or through radical increases in maximum lifespan beyond its generally-settled biological limit of around 125 years. This field of study has been explored by numerous researchers and advocates, including "life extensionists", "immortalists", and "longevists" (those who aspire to achieve prolonged lifespans themselves). These researchers and advocates hypothesize that future advancements in tissue rejuvenation, stem cells, regenerative medicine, molecular repair, gene therapy, pharmaceuticals, and organ replacement (such as through artificial organs or xenotransplantations) will eventually enable humans to have indefinite lifespans through complete rejuvenation to a state of optimal health and youth (agerasia). The ethical implications of life extension are a subject of discourse among bioethicists.
The sale of purported anti-aging products, such as supplements and hormone replacement therapy, is a lucrative global industry. For example, the industry that promotes the use of hormones as a treatment for consumers to slow or reverse the aging process in the US market generated about $50 billion of revenue a year in 2009. The use of such hormone products has not been proven to be effective or safe. Similarly, a variety of apps make claims to assist in extending the life of their users, or predicting their lifespans. (Full article...) - Artificial consciousness, also known as machine consciousness, synthetic consciousness, or digital consciousness, is consciousness hypothesized to be possible for artificial intelligence. It is also the corresponding field of study, which draws insights from philosophy of mind, philosophy of artificial intelligence, cognitive science and neuroscience.
The term "sentience" can be used when specifically designating ethical considerations stemming from a form of phenomenal consciousness (P-consciousness, or the ability to feel qualia). Since sentience involves the ability to experience ethically positive or negative (i.e., valenced) mental states, it may justify welfare concerns and legal protection, as with non-human animals.
Some scholars believe that consciousness is generated by the interoperation of various parts of the brain; these mechanisms are labeled the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). Some further believe that constructing a system (e.g., a computer system) that can emulate this NCC interoperation would result in a system that is conscious. Some scholars reject the possibility of non-biological conscious beings. (Full article...)
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Selected emerging technologies and related articles
Tracy Caldwell Dyson in the International Space Station's Cupola
Spaceflight (also space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in orbit around Earth, but also includes space probes for flights beyond Earth orbit. Such spaceflights operate either by telerobotic or autonomous control. The first spaceflights began in the 1950s with the launches of the Soviet Sputnik satellites and American Explorer and Vanguard missions. Human spaceflight programs include the Soyuz, Shenzhou, the past Apollo Moon landing and the Space Shuttle programs. Other current spaceflight are conducted to the International Space Station and to China's Tiangong Space Station.
Spaceflights include the launches of Earth observation and telecommunications satellites, interplanetary missions, the rendezvouses and dockings with space stations, and crewed spaceflights on scientific or tourist missions. (Full article...)- An agricultural robot is a robot deployed for agricultural purposes. The main area of application of robots in agriculture today is at the harvesting stage. Emerging applications of robots or drones in agriculture include weed control, planting seeds, harvesting, environmental monitoring and soil analysis. According to a 2025 study, the agricultural robot market is expected to reach US$170 billion by 2032. (Full article...)
A conceptual plan of a European super grid linking renewable energy projects like DESERTEC & Medgrid across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe and could serve as the backbone for the hypothetical supersmart grid.
The SuperSmart Grid (SSG) is a hypothetical wide area electricity network connecting Europe with northern Africa, the Middle East, and the IPS/UPS system of CIS countries. The system would unify super grid and smart grid capabilities into a comprehensive network. There are no planned locations for infrastructure or schedule explicitly for the SSG; rather, the name is used to discuss the economic and technological feasibility of such a network and ways in which it might gain political support.
The ambitious upgrade and unification of current transmission and/or distribution grids finds support among advocates of large scale utilization of alternative energy, and as well as advocates of enhanced energy security for Europe.
The SSG proposal was initiated by the European Climate Forum and at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research by Antonella Battaglini and colleagues. (Full article...)
ITS graphical user interface displaying the Hungarian highway network and its data points
An intelligent transportation system (ITS) is an advanced application that aims to provide services relating to different modes of transport and traffic management and enable users to be better informed and make safer, more coordinated, and "smarter" use of transport networks.
Some of these technologies include calling for emergency services when an accident occurs, using cameras to enforce traffic laws or signs that mark speed limit changes depending on conditions. (Full article...)
A high altitude platform can provide observation or communication services.
A high-altitude platform station (HAPS, which can also mean high-altitude pseudo-satellite or high-altitude platform systems), also known as atmospheric satellite, is a long endurance, high altitude aircraft able to offer observation or communication services similarly to artificial satellites. Mostly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), they remain aloft through atmospheric lift, either aerodynamic like airplanes, or aerostatic like airships or balloons.
High-altitude long endurance (HALE) military drones can fly above 60,000 ft (18,000 m) over 32 hours, while civil HAPS are radio stations at an altitude of 20 to 50 km above waypoints, for weeks. (Full article...)
The Mona Lisa with DeepDream effect using VGG16 network trained on ImageNet
DeepDream is a computer vision program created by Google engineer Alexander Mordvintsev that uses a convolutional neural network to find and enhance patterns in images via algorithmic pareidolia, thus creating a dream-like appearance reminiscent of a psychedelic experience in the deliberately overprocessed images.
Google's program popularized the term (deep) "dreaming" to refer to the generation of images that produce desired activations in a trained deep network, and the term now refers to a collection of related approaches. (Full article...)
Lettuce grown in indoor vertical farming system
Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically and horizontally stacked layers. It often incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth, and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics. Some common choices of structures to house vertical farming systems include buildings, shipping containers, underground tunnels, and abandoned mine shafts.
The modern concept of vertical farming was proposed in 1999 by Dickson Despommier, professor of Public and Environmental Health at Columbia University. Despommier and his students came up with a design of a skyscraper farm that could feed 50,000 people. Although the design has not yet been built, it successfully popularized the idea of vertical farming. Current applications of vertical farming coupled with other state-of-the-art technologies, such as specialized LED lights, have resulted in over 10 times the crop yield as would be received through traditional farming methods. (Full article...)
Participant in a brain-computer interface getting connected to a computer
A brain–computer interface (BCI), sometimes called a brain–machine interface (BMI), is a direct communication link between the brain's electrical activity and an external device, most commonly a computer or robotic limb. BCIs are often directed at researching, mapping, assisting, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions. Due to the cortical plasticity of the brain, signals from implanted prostheses can, after adaptation, be handled by the brain like natural sensor or effector channels. They are often conceptualized as a human–machine interface that skips the intermediary of moving body parts (e.g. hands or feet). BCI implementations range from non-invasive (EEG, MEG, MRI) and partially invasive (ECoG and endovascular) to invasive (microelectrode array) based on how physically close electrodes are to brain tissue.
Research on BCIs began in the 1970s by Jacques Vidal at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) under a grant from the National Science Foundation. This was followed by a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that prompted further research into the technology. Vidal's 1973 paper introduced the expression brain–computer interface into scientific literature. Following years of animal experimentation, the first neuroprosthetic devices were implanted in humans in the mid-1990s (Full article...)
Duke University Medical Center Patient Rapid Transit or Personnel Rapid Transit (PRT) was an automated people mover system located at the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, in the United States. The system was in operation from 1979 to 2009. The PRT was notable for having cars propelled by a linear induction motor and suspended on a bed of compressed air similar to a hovercraft. Uniquely, the cars could move sideways, as well as backwards and forwards.
The proclaimed "horizontal elevator" system was designed by Otis Elevator Company during the 1970s, installed beginning in 1977 and opened on December 8, 1979. The PRT had three driverless Otis Hovair vehicles which had a hinged-window at each end for emergency exit. (Full article...)- Metal–insulator transitions are transitions of a material from a metal (material with good electrical conductivity of electric charges) to an insulator (material where conductivity of charges is quickly suppressed). These transitions can be achieved by tuning various ambient parameters such as temperature, pressure or, in case of a semiconductor, doping. (Full article...)
Cross-section diagram of a hollow charge projectile. 1: Ballistic cap; 2: Air-filled cavity; 3: Conical liner; 4: Detonator; 5: High explosive; 6: Piezo-electric fuze.
A shaped charge, commonly also hollow charge if shaped with a cavity, is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, initiating nuclear weapons, penetrating armor, or perforating wells in the oil and gas industry.
The effectiveness of a shaped charge is significantly influenced by manufacturing technology. From the military and civilian use of shaped charges, it is known that a typical modern shaped charge, having a conical cavity equipped with a metal liner, and produced using conventional technologies and traditional lining materials, can penetrate a hardened steel barrier to a depth of no more than 6 charge diameters (CD). However, by increasing the precision of shaped charge manufacturing, meeting all quality requirements for the lining material and the explosive charge, using advanced methods of filling with high-explosives, and using initiation systems capable of precisely controlling the detonation front, it is possible to increase this limit to 8–10 charge diameters. Finally, for perfectly manufactured shaped charges, it is expected that penetration depths of steel barriers equal to 12 calibers or charge diameters can be achieved. (Full article...)
An orbital ring that has fixed tethers hanging down to the ground. The stations produce lift by bending the ring cable downward as it passes through them.
An orbital ring is a concept of an artificial ring placed around a body and set rotating at such a rate that the apparent centrifugal force is large enough to counteract the force of gravity. For the Earth, the required speed is on the order of 10 km/sec, compared to a typical low Earth orbit orbital speed of 7.9 km/sec. The structure is intended to be used as a space station or as a planetary vehicle for very high-speed transportation or space launch.
Because the cable is spinning faster than orbital velocity, there is a net outward force that is countered by internal tension within the cable. This resists any attempt to bend it and allows it to carry loads. In typical conceptions, a motorized platform is placed on the cable that runs in the opposite direction at the speed that makes it appear stationary above the ground. Above Earth's equator, a platform running at 9.5 km/sec in the direction opposite the cable will appear stationary and allow a cable to be lowered to form a space elevator. This elevator is only perhaps 500 kilometres (310 mi) long, which can be built with existing materials. (Full article...)Participant in a brain-computer interface getting connected to a computer
A brain–computer interface (BCI), sometimes called a brain–machine interface (BMI), is a direct communication link between the brain's electrical activity and an external device, most commonly a computer or robotic limb. BCIs are often directed at researching, mapping, assisting, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions. Due to the cortical plasticity of the brain, signals from implanted prostheses can, after adaptation, be handled by the brain like natural sensor or effector channels. They are often conceptualized as a human–machine interface that skips the intermediary of moving body parts (e.g. hands or feet). BCI implementations range from non-invasive (EEG, MEG, MRI) and partially invasive (ECoG and endovascular) to invasive (microelectrode array) based on how physically close electrodes are to brain tissue.
Research on BCIs began in the 1970s by Jacques Vidal at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) under a grant from the National Science Foundation. This was followed by a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that prompted further research into the technology. Vidal's 1973 paper introduced the expression brain–computer interface into scientific literature. Following years of animal experimentation, the first neuroprosthetic devices were implanted in humans in the mid-1990s (Full article...)
Biosphere 2
Closed ecological systems or contained ecological systems (CES) are ecosystems that do not rely on matter exchange with any part outside the system in order to help maintain life.
The term is most often used to describe small, man-made ecosystems. Such systems can potentially serve as a life-support system or space habitats. (Full article...)- Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance.
Biometric identifiers are the distinctive, measurable characteristics used to label and describe individuals. Biometric identifiers are often categorized as physiological characteristics which are related to the shape of the body. Examples include, but are not limited to fingerprint, palm veins, face recognition, DNA, palm print, hand geometry, iris recognition, retina, odor/scent, voice and shape of ears. Behavioral characteristics are related to the pattern of behavior of a person, including but not limited to mouse movement, typing rhythm, gait, signature, voice, and behavioral profiling. Some researchers have coined the term "Behaviometrics" (behavioral biometrics) to describe the latter class of biometrics. (Full article...)
Future Force Warrior was a United States military advanced technology demonstration project that was part of the Future Combat Systems project. The FFW project sought to create a lightweight, fully integrated infantryman combat system. It was one technology demonstration project in a series of network-centric, next-generation infantry combat projects the U.S. military have developed over the past decade, such as the Soldier Integrated Protective Ensemble program, Land Warrior, and Transformation of the United States Army.
The Future Force Warrior concept envisioned the use of technologies such as nanotechnology, powered exoskeletons, and magnetorheological fluid-based body armor to provide the infantry with significantly higher force multiplier than the opposing force. However, the stated concept was not U.S. Army doctrine, and was not intended to answer every situation that Army After Next (the Army's buzzword for future fighting forces) would face; rather, the concept was meant to serve as an end goal to strive to reach or to compromise with current technologies and to stir imagination and dialogue on how these technologies and concepts could help soldiers in the near future. (Full article...)
Early embodiment of contact lens display, Canadian patent application 2280022, 1999 July 28th
A bionic contact lens is a proposed device that could provide a virtual display that could have a variety of uses from assisting the visually impaired to video gaming, as claimed by the manufacturers and developers. The device will have the form of a conventional contact lens with added bionics technology in the form of a head-up display, with functional electronic circuits and infrared lights to create a virtual display allowing the viewer to see a computer-generated display superimposed on the world outside. (Full article...)- An mRNA vaccine is a type of vaccine that uses a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to produce an immune response. The vaccine delivers molecules of antigen-encoding mRNA into cells, which use the designed mRNA as a blueprint to build foreign protein that would normally be produced by a pathogen (such as a virus) or by a cancer cell. These protein molecules stimulate an adaptive immune response that teaches the body to identify and destroy the corresponding pathogen or cancer cells. The mRNA is delivered by a co-formulation of the RNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles that protect the RNA strands and help their absorption into the cells.
Reactogenicity, the tendency of a vaccine to produce adverse reactions, is similar to that of conventional non-RNA vaccines. People susceptible to an autoimmune response may have an adverse reaction to messenger RNA vaccines. The advantages of mRNA vaccines over traditional vaccines are ease of design, speed and lower cost of production, the induction of both cellular and humoral immunity, and lack of interaction with the genomic DNA. While some messenger RNA vaccines, such as the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, have the disadvantage of requiring ultracold storage before distribution, other mRNA vaccines, such as the Moderna vaccine, do not have such requirements. (Full article...)
The lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO
4 battery) or LFP battery (lithium ferrophosphate) is a type of lithium-ion battery using lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO
4) as the cathode material, and a graphitic carbon electrode with a metallic backing as the anode. Because of their low cost, high safety, low toxicity, long cycle life and other factors, LFP batteries are finding a number of roles in vehicle use, utility-scale stationary applications, and backup power. As of September 2022, LFP type battery market share for EVs reached 31%, and of that, 68% were from EV makers Tesla and BYD alone.
In 2022, Chinese manufacturers held a near-monopoly of LFP battery type production. With patents having started to expire in 2022 and the increased demand for cheaper EV batteries, LFP type production is expected to rise further and surpass lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides (NMC) type batteries. (Full article...)- Engineering ethics is the field concerned with the system of moral principles that apply to the practice of engineering. The field examines and sets the obligations of engineers to society, to their clients, and to the profession. As a scholarly discipline, it is closely related to subjects such as the philosophy of science, the philosophy of engineering, and the ethics of technology. The field of business ethics often overlaps with, and informs, ethical decision-making by engineers. (Full article...)
An image generated using StyleGAN that looks like a portrait of a young woman. This image was generated by an artificial neural network based on an analysis of a large number of photographs.
The Style Generative Adversarial Network, or StyleGAN for short, is an extension to the GAN architecture introduced by Nvidia researchers in December 2018, and made source available in February 2019.
StyleGAN depends on Nvidia's CUDA software, GPUs, and Google's TensorFlow, or Meta AI's PyTorch, which supersedes TensorFlow as the official implementation library in later StyleGAN versions. The second version of StyleGAN, called StyleGAN2, was published on February 5, 2020. It removes some of the characteristic artifacts and improves the image quality. Nvidia introduced StyleGAN3, described as an "alias-free" version, on June 23, 2021, and made source available on October 12, 2021. (Full article...)
Use by date on a packaged food item, showing that the consumer should consume the product before this time in order to reduce chance of consuming spoiled food
Food spoilage is the process whereby food becomes unsuitable for human consumption due to issues of food safety. Spoilage is caused by bacteria and various fungi.
An estimated third of the food produced every year for human consumption globally, is lost due to spoilage. (Full article...)
Electromagnetic levitation device that includes a permanent magnet for primary force (big dark-gray ring), and electromagnets for stabilization (copper coils in the center)
Magnetic levitation (maglev) or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic fields. Magnetic force is used to counteract the effects of the gravitational force and any other forces.
The two primary issues involved in magnetic levitation are (a) lifting forces – providing an upward force sufficient to counteract gravity, and (b) stability – ensuring that the system does not spontaneously slide or flip into a configuration where the lift is neutralized. (Full article...)
A raid conducted by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents as part of Operation Mallorca in 2010
A police raid is an unexpected visit by police or other law enforcement officers, which aims to use the element of surprise to seize evidence or arrest suspects believed to be likely to hide evidence, resist arrest, endanger the public or officers if approached through other means, or simply be elsewhere at another time. Various tactics are used by law enforcement in raids that often vary based on available equipment, situational factors, laws, and police powers. (Full article...)
A modern round consists of the following: - Bullet, as the projectile
- Cartridge case, which holds all parts together
- Propellant, for example, gunpowder or cordite
- Rim, which allows the firearm's extractor to grip the casing to remove it from the chamber
- Primer, which ignites the propellant
A cartridge, also known as a round, is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile (bullet, shot, or slug), a propellant substance (smokeless powder, black powder substitute, or black powder) and an ignition device (primer or percussion cap) within a metallic, paper, or plastic case that is precisely made to fit within the barrel chamber of a breechloading gun, for convenient transportation and handling during shooting. Although in popular usage the term "bullet" is often used to refer to a complete cartridge, the correct usage only refers to the projectile.
Military and commercial producers continue to pursue the goal of caseless ammunition. Some artillery ammunition uses the same cartridge concept as found in small arms. In other cases, the artillery shell is separate from the propellant charge. (Full article...)
![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:"Mona_Lisa"_with_DeepDream_effect_using_VGG16_network_trained_on_ImageNet.jpg)
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Selected global issues and related topics
- Gray goo (also spelled as grey goo) is a hypothetical global catastrophic scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating machines consume all biomass (and perhaps also everything else) on Earth while building many more of themselves, a scenario that has been called ecophagy (literally: "consumption of the environment"). The original idea assumed machines were designed to have this capability, while popularizations have assumed that machines might somehow gain this capability by accident.
Self-replicating machines of the macroscopic variety were originally described by mathematician John von Neumann, and are sometimes referred to as von Neumann machines or clanking replicators.
The term gray goo was coined by nanotechnology pioneer K. Eric Drexler in his 1986 book Engines of Creation. In 2004, he stated "I wish I had never used the term 'gray goo'," arguing that it had inspired public fears that interfered with research on more conventional, non-self replicating nanotechnology. Engines of Creation mentions "gray goo" as a thought experiment in two paragraphs and a note, while the popularized idea of gray goo was first publicized in a mass-circulation magazine, Omni, in November 1986. (Full article...) 
Summary of major environmental-change categories that cause biodiversity loss. The data is expressed as a percentage of human-driven change (in red) relative to baseline (blue), as of 2021. Red indicates the percentage of the category that is damaged, lost, or otherwise affected, whereas blue indicates the percentage that is intact, remaining, or otherwise unaffected.
Biodiversity loss happens when species disappear completely from Earth (extinction) or when there is a decrease or disappearance of species in a specific area. Biodiversity loss means that there is a reduction in biological diversity in a given area. The decrease can be temporary or permanent. It is temporary if the damage that led to the loss is reversible in time, for example through ecological restoration.If this is not possible, then the decrease is permanent. The cause of most of the biodiversity loss is, generally speaking, human activities that push the planetary boundaries too far. These activities include habitat destruction (for example deforestation) and land use intensification (for example monoculture farming). Further problem areas are air and water pollution (including nutrient pollution), over-exploitation, invasive species and climate change.
Many scientists, along with the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, say that the main reason for biodiversity loss is a growing human population because this leads to human overpopulation and excessive consumption. Others disagree, saying that loss of habitat is caused mainly by "the growth of commodities for export" and that population has very little to do with overall consumption. More important are wealth disparities between and within countries. In any case, all contemporary biodiversity loss has been attributed to human activities.
Climate change is another threat to global biodiversity. For example, coral reefs—which are biodiversity hotspots—will be lost by the year 2100 if global warming continues at the current rate. Additionally, the change of temperatures are likely to increase fire activity driving events such as forest fires. Still, it is the general habitat destruction (often for expansion of agriculture), not climate change, that is currently the bigger driver of biodiversity loss. Invasive species and other disturbances have become more common in forests in the last several decades. These tend to be directly or indirectly connected to climate change and can cause a deterioration of forest ecosystems. (Full article...)- Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants.
Although environmental pollution can be caused by natural events, the word pollution generally implies that the contaminants have a human source, such as manufacturing, extractive industries, poor waste management, transportation or agriculture. Pollution is often classed as point source (coming from a highly concentrated specific site, such as a factory, mine, construction site), or nonpoint source pollution (coming from widespread distributed sources, such as microplastics or agricultural runoff).
Many sources of pollution were unregulated parts of industrialization during the 19th and 20th centuries until the emergence of environmental regulation and pollution policy in the later half of the 20th century. Sites where historically polluting industries released persistent pollutants may have legacy pollution long after the source of the pollution is stopped. Major forms of pollution include air pollution, water pollution, litter, noise pollution, plastic pollution, soil contamination, radioactive contamination, thermal pollution, light pollution, and visual pollution. (Full article...) 
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, convention centers (pictured here) were deemed to be ideal sites for temporary hospitals, due to their existing infrastructure (electrical, water, sewage). Hotels and dormitories were also considered appropriate because they can use negative pressure technology.
A pandemic (/pænˈdɛmɪk/ pan-DEM-ik) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial portion of the human population. Widespread endemic diseases with a stable number of infected individuals such as recurrences of seasonal influenza are generally excluded as they occur simultaneously in large regions of the globe rather than being spread worldwide.
Throughout human history, there have been a number of pandemics of diseases such as smallpox. The Black Death, caused by the Plague, caused the deaths of up to half of the population of Europe in the 14th century. The term pandemic had not been used then, but was used for later epidemics, including the 1918 H1N1 influenza A pandemic—more commonly known as the Spanish flu—which is the deadliest pandemic in history. The most recent pandemics include the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the 2009 swine flu pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost all these diseases still circulate among humans though their impact now is often far less.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 194 member states of the World Health Organization began negotiations on an International Treaty on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, with a requirement to submit a draft of this treaty to the 77th World Health Assembly during its 2024 convention. The WHO Pandemic Agreement was adopted at the World Health Assembly in May 2025, establishing rules on how countries should act and collaborate to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemic emergencies and public health emergencies of international concern. It was approved with 120 votes in favour, 70 abstentions and the absence of the United States, which had already withdrawn from the WHO. (Full article...)
Anti-Shein protest, Grenoble, France.
Overconsumption describes a situation where consumers overuse their available goods and services to where they cannot, or do not want to, replenish or reuse them. In microeconomics, this is the point where the marginal cost of a consumer is greater than their marginal utility. The term overconsumption is quite controversial and does not necessarily have a single unifying definition. When used to refer to natural resources to the point where the environment is negatively affected, it is synonymous with the term overexploitation. However, when used in the broader economic sense, overconsumption can refer to all types of goods and services, including artificial ones, e.g., "the overconsumption of alcohol can lead to alcohol poisoning." Overconsumption is driven by several factors of the current global economy, including forces like consumerism, planned obsolescence, economic materialism, and other unsustainable business models, and can be contrasted with sustainable consumption.
Defining the amount of a natural resource required to be consumed for it to count as "overconsumption" is challenging because defining a sustainable capacity of the system requires accounting for many variables. A system's total capacity occurs at regional and worldwide levels, which means that specific regions may have higher consumption levels of certain resources than others due to greater resources without overconsuming a resource. A long-term pattern of overconsumption in any region or ecological system can cause a reduction in natural resources, often resulting in environmental degradation. However, this is only when applying the word to environmental impacts. When used in an economic sense, this point is defined as when the marginal cost of a consumer is equal to their marginal utility. Gossen's law of diminishing utility states that at this point, the consumer realizes the cost of consuming/purchasing another item/good is not worth the amount of utility (also known as happiness or satisfaction from the good) they had received, and therefore is not conducive to the consumer's wellbeing.
When used in the environmental sense, the discussion of overconsumption often parallels population size, growth, and human development: more people demanding a higher quality of living requires greater extraction of resources, which causes subsequent environmental degradation, such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Currently, the inhabitants of high-wealth, "developed" nations consume resources at a rate almost 32 times greater than those of the developing world, making up most of the human population (7.9 billion people). However, the developing world is a growing consumer market. These nations are quickly gaining more purchasing power. The Global South, which includes cities in Asia, America, and Africa, is expected to account for 56% of consumption growth by 2030, meaning that if current trends continue, relative consumption rates will shift more into these developing countries, whereas developed countries would start to plateau. Sustainable Development Goal 12, "responsible consumption and production", is the main international policy tool with goals to abate the impact of overconsumption. (Full article...)
Ocean acidification means that the average seawater pH value is dropping over time.
Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's ocean. Between 1950 and 2020, the average pH of the ocean surface fell from approximately 8.15 to 8.05. Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are the primary cause of ocean acidification, with atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels exceeding 422 ppm (as of 2024[update]). CO2 from the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans. This chemical reaction produces carbonic acid (H2CO3) which dissociates into a bicarbonate ion (HCO−3) and a hydrogen ion (H+). The presence of free hydrogen ions (H+) lowers the pH of the ocean, increasing acidity (this does not mean that seawater is acidic yet; It is still alkaline, with a pH higher than 8). Marine calcifying organisms, such as mollusks and corals, are especially vulnerable because they rely on calcium carbonate to build shells and skeletons.
A change in pH by 0.1 represents a 26% increase in hydrogen ion concentration in the world's oceans (the pH scale is logarithmic, so a change of one in pH units is equivalent to a tenfold change in hydrogen ion concentration). Sea-surface pH and carbonate saturation states vary depending on ocean depth and location. Colder and higher latitude waters are capable of absorbing more CO2. This can cause acidity to rise, lowering the pH and carbonate saturation levels in these areas. Several other factors influence the atmosphere-ocean CO2 exchange, and thus local ocean acidification. These include ocean currents and upwelling zones, proximity to large continental rivers, sea ice coverage, and atmospheric exchange with nitrogen and sulfur from fossil fuel burning and agriculture.
A lower ocean pH has a range of potentially harmful effects for marine organisms. Scientists have observed for example reduced calcification, lowered immune responses, and reduced energy for basic functions such as reproduction. Ocean acidification can impact marine ecosystems that provide food and livelihoods for many people. About one billion people are wholly or partially dependent on the fishing, tourism, and coastal management services provided by coral reefs. Ongoing acidification of the oceans may therefore threaten food chains linked with the oceans. (Full article...)
Two men next to a pile of American bison skulls awaiting industrial processing and conversion into fertilizer in the United States, in 1892.
The Holocene or Anthropocene extinction is an ongoing extinction event caused by human activity during the current geological epoch, impacting diverse families of plants and animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, as well as both terrestrial and marine species. It is sometimes also called the sixth extinction (though this can also describe the Capitanian).
Current extinction rates are estimated at 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural background extinction rates. The Holocene extinction was preceded by the Late Pleistocene extinctions at the end of the last ice age (to which human activity also likely contributed) and the extinctions caused by Polynesian expansion.
The Holocene extinction continues into the 21st century, driven by anthropogenic climate change, destruction of wetlands, deforestation, overfishing, ocean acidification, human population growth, economic growth, and increasing consumption, particularly among affluent societies. Factors such as rising meat production and the destruction of critical habitats compound these issues. Other drivers include overexploitation of natural resources, pollution, and climate change-induced shifts in ecosystems. (Full article...)
Tar sands in Alberta, 2008. Oil is one of the most used resources by humans.
Resource depletion occurs when a natural resource is consumed faster than it can be replenished. The value of a resource depends on its availability in nature and the cost of extracting it. By the law of supply and demand, the scarcer the resource the more valuable it becomes. There are several types of resource depletion, including but not limited to: wetland and ecosystem degradation, soil erosion, aquifer depletion, and overfishing. The depletion of wildlife populations is called defaunation.
It is a matter of research and debate how humanity will be impacted and what the future will look like if resource consumption continues at the current rate, and when specific resources will be completely exhausted. (Full article...)- Soil retrogression and degradation are two regressive evolution processes associated with the loss of equilibrium of a stable soil. Retrogression is primarily due to soil erosion and corresponds to a phenomenon where succession reverts the land to its natural physical state. Degradation or pedolysis is an evolution, different from natural evolution, related to the local climate and vegetation. It is due to the replacement of primary plant communities (known as climax vegetation) by the secondary communities. This replacement modifies the humus composition and amount, and affects the formation of the soil. It is directly related to human activity. Soil degradation may also be viewed as any change or ecological disturbance to the soil perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.
According to the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn and the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, the quality of 33% of pastureland, 25% of arable land and 23% of forests has deteriorated globally over the last 30 years. 3.2 billion people are dependent on this land. (Full article...) 
Mushroom cloud from the 1954 explosion of Castle Bravo, the largest nuclear weapon detonated by the U.S.
A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear annihilation, nuclear armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes widespread destruction and radioactive fallout, with global consequences. Such a scenario envisages large parts of the Earth becoming uninhabitable due to the effects of nuclear warfare, potentially causing the collapse of civilization, the extinction of humanity, or the termination of most biological life on Earth.
Besides the immediate destruction of cities by nuclear blasts, the potential aftermath of a nuclear war could involve firestorms, a nuclear winter, widespread radiation sickness from fallout, and/or the temporary (if not permanent) loss of much modern technology due to electromagnetic pulses. Some scientists, such as Alan Robock, have speculated that a thermonuclear war could result in the end of modern civilization on Earth, in part due to a long-lasting nuclear winter. According to modern climate models, the average temperature of Earth following a full thermonuclear war would fall for several years by 7 to 8 °C (13 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit) on average.
Early Cold War-era studies suggested that billions of humans would survive the immediate effects of nuclear blasts and radiation following a global thermonuclear war. The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War believe that nuclear war could indirectly contribute to human extinction via secondary effects, including environmental consequences, societal breakdown, and economic collapse. (Full article...)- It has been hypothesized that substantial progress in artificial general intelligence (AGI) and artificial superintelligence (ASI) will lead to human extinction or an irreversible global catastrophe.
One argument for the validity of this concern and the importance of this risk references how human beings dominate other species because the human brain possesses distinctive capabilities other animals lack. If AI were to surpass human intelligence and become superintelligent, it might become uncontrollable. Just as the fate of the mountain gorilla depends on human goodwill, the fate of humanity could depend on the actions of a future machine superintelligence.
Experts disagree on whether artificial general intelligence (AGI) can achieve the capabilities needed for human extinction. Debates center on AGI's technical feasibility, the speed of self-improvement, and the effectiveness of alignment strategies. Concerns about superintelligence have been voiced by researchers including Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, Demis Hassabis, and Alan Turing, and AI company CEOs such as Dario Amodei (Anthropic), Sam Altman (OpenAI), and Elon Musk (xAI). In 2022, a survey of AI researchers with a 17% response rate found that the majority believed there is a 10 percent or greater chance that human inability to control AI will cause an existential catastrophe. In 2023, hundreds of AI experts and other notable figures signed a statement declaring, "Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war". Following increased concern over AI risks, government leaders such as United Kingdom prime minister Rishi Sunak and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for an increased focus on global AI regulation. In 2025, hundreds of public figures including AI experts, five Nobel Prize laureates, and former senior US national security officials such as Michael Mullen and Susan Rice signed a statement calling for a ban on the development of superintelligence. (Full article...) - Unemployment is the state of not being in paid employment or self-employment but rather currently available for work. Unemployment is measured by the unemployment rate, which is the number of people who are unemployed as a percentage of the labour force (the total number of people employed above a specified age added to those unemployed) during the reference period. (Full article...)
Garbage floating in water, Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia
Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, which has a negative impact on how they can be used. It is usually caused by human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants mix with these water bodies. Contaminants can come from one of four main sources. These are sewage discharges, industrial activities, agricultural activities, and urban runoff including stormwater. Water pollution may affect either surface water or groundwater. This form of pollution can lead to many problems. One is the degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Another is spreading water-borne diseases when people use polluted water for drinking or irrigation. Water pollution also reduces the ecosystem services such as drinking water provided by the water resource.
Sources of water pollution are either point sources or non-point sources. Point sources have one identifiable cause, such as a storm drain, a wastewater treatment plant, or an oil spill. Non-point sources are more diffuse. An example is agricultural runoff. Pollution is the result of the cumulative effect over time. Pollution may take many forms. One would be toxic substances such as oil, metals, plastics, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants, and industrial waste products. Another is stressful conditions such as changes of pH, hypoxia or anoxia, increased temperatures, excessive turbidity, or changes of salinity). The introduction of pathogenic organisms is another. Contaminants may include organic and inorganic substances. A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers.
The control of water pollution requires appropriate infrastructure and management plans, as well as legislation. Technology solutions can include improving sanitation, sewage treatment, industrial wastewater treatment, agricultural wastewater treatment, erosion control, sediment control and control of urban runoff (including stormwater management). (Full article...)Summary of major environmental-change categories that cause biodiversity loss. The data is expressed as a percentage of human-driven change (in red) relative to baseline (blue), as of 2021. Red indicates the percentage of the category that is damaged, lost, or otherwise affected, whereas blue indicates the percentage that is intact, remaining, or otherwise unaffected.
Biodiversity loss happens when species disappear completely from Earth (extinction) or when there is a decrease or disappearance of species in a specific area. Biodiversity loss means that there is a reduction in biological diversity in a given area. The decrease can be temporary or permanent. It is temporary if the damage that led to the loss is reversible in time, for example through ecological restoration.If this is not possible, then the decrease is permanent. The cause of most of the biodiversity loss is, generally speaking, human activities that push the planetary boundaries too far. These activities include habitat destruction (for example deforestation) and land use intensification (for example monoculture farming). Further problem areas are air and water pollution (including nutrient pollution), over-exploitation, invasive species and climate change.
Many scientists, along with the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, say that the main reason for biodiversity loss is a growing human population because this leads to human overpopulation and excessive consumption. Others disagree, saying that loss of habitat is caused mainly by "the growth of commodities for export" and that population has very little to do with overall consumption. More important are wealth disparities between and within countries. In any case, all contemporary biodiversity loss has been attributed to human activities.
Climate change is another threat to global biodiversity. For example, coral reefs—which are biodiversity hotspots—will be lost by the year 2100 if global warming continues at the current rate. Additionally, the change of temperatures are likely to increase fire activity driving events such as forest fires. Still, it is the general habitat destruction (often for expansion of agriculture), not climate change, that is currently the bigger driver of biodiversity loss. Invasive species and other disturbances have become more common in forests in the last several decades. These tend to be directly or indirectly connected to climate change and can cause a deterioration of forest ecosystems. (Full article...)- International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or demand for goods or services.
In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product (GDP). While international trade has existed throughout history (for example Uttarapatha, Silk Road, Amber Road, salt roads), its economic, social, and political importance has been on the rise in recent centuries.
Carrying out trade at an international level is a complex process when compared to domestic trade. When trade takes place between two or more states, factors like currency, government policies, economy, judicial system, laws, and markets influence trade. (Full article...) - Biotechnology risk is a form of existential risk from biological sources, such as genetically engineered biological agents. The release of such high-consequence pathogens could be
- deliberate (in the form of bioterrorism or biological weapons)
- accidental, or
- a naturally occurring event.
A chapter on biotechnology and biosecurity was included in Nick Bostrom's 2008 anthology Global Catastrophic Risks, which covered risks including viral agents. Since then, new technologies like CRISPR and gene drives have been introduced.
While the ability to deliberately engineer pathogens has been constrained to high-end labs run by top researchers, the technology to achieve this is rapidly becoming cheaper and more widespread. For example, the diminishing cost of sequencing the human genome (from $10 million to $1,000), the accumulation of large datasets of genetic information, the discovery of gene drives, and the discovery of CRISPR. Biotechnology risk is therefore a credible explanation for the Fermi paradox. (Full article...) 
Seabirds killed by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound. The spill in March 1989 dumped approximately 10.8 million US gallons of crude oil into the environment, killing over 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, and numerous other wildlife. The Alaskan fishing industry also suffered tremendously as a result of the spill.
An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is defined as a catastrophic event regarding the natural environment that is due to human activity. This point distinguishes environmental disasters from other disturbances such as natural disasters and intentional acts of war such as nuclear bombings.
Environmental disasters show how the impact of humans' alteration of the land has led to widespread and/or long-lasting consequences. These disasters have included deaths of wildlife, humans and plants, or severe disruption of human life or health, possibly requiring migration. Some environmental disasters are the trigger source of more expansive environmental conflicts, where effected groups try to socially confront the actors responsible for the disaster. (Full article...)
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. In a broader sense, climate change also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The modern-day rise in global temperatures is driven by human activities, especially fossil fuel (coal, oil and natural gas) burning since the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices release greenhouse gases. These gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight, warming the lower atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere now has roughly 50% more carbon dioxide, the main gas driving global warming, than it did at the end of the pre-industrial era, reaching levels not seen for millions of years.
Climate change has an increasingly large impact on the environment. Heat waves and wildfires are becoming more common. Amplified warming in the Arctic has contributed to thawing permafrost, retreat of glaciers and sea ice decline. Higher temperatures are also causing more intense storms, droughts, and other weather extremes. Rapid environmental change in mountains, coral reefs, and the Arctic is forcing many species to relocate or become extinct. Even if efforts to minimize future warming are successful, some effects will continue for centuries. These include ocean heating, ocean acidification and sea level rise.
Climate change threatens people with increased flooding, extreme heat, increased food and water scarcity, more disease, and economic loss. Human migration and conflict can also be a result. The World Health Organization calls climate change one of the biggest threats to global health in the 21st century. Societies and ecosystems will experience more severe risks without action to limit warming. Adapting to climate change through efforts like flood control measures or drought-resistant crops partially reduces climate change risks, although some limits to adaptation have already been reached. Poorer communities are responsible for a small share of global emissions, yet have the least ability to adapt and are most vulnerable to climate change. (Full article...)
Women selling produce at a market in Lilongwe, Malawi
Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, status, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Similarly, household food security is considered to exist when all the members of a family have consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food-secure individuals do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. Food security includes resilience to future disruptions of food supply. Such a disruption could occur due to various risk factors such as droughts and floods, shipping disruptions, fuel shortages, economic instability, and wars. Food insecurity is the opposite of food security: a state where there is only limited or uncertain availability of suitable food.
The concept of food security has evolved over time. The four pillars of food security include availability, access, utilization, and stability. In addition, there are two more dimensions that are important: agency and sustainability. These six dimensions of food security are reinforced in conceptual and legal understandings of the right to food. The World Food Summit in 1996 declared that "food should not be used as an instrument for political and economic pressure."
Food insecurity goes beyond hunger; it includes people who do not have regular access to nutritious and sufficient food, even if they may not necessarily be suffering from hunger. In 2024, an estimated 28.0 percent of the world population, or 2.28 billion people, has experienced food insecurity at moderate or severe levels. There are many causes of food insecurity. The most important ones are high food prices and disruptions in global food supplies for example due to war. Climate change, water scarcity, land degradation, agricultural diseases, pandemics and disease outbreaks can also create food insecurity. Additionally, food insecurity affects individuals with low socioeconomic status, affects the health of a population on an individual level, and causes divisions in interpersonal relationships. Food insecurity due to unemployment causes a higher rate of poverty. (Full article...)
Global concentrations of health care resources, as depicted by the number of physicians per 10,000 individuals, by country. Data is sourced from a WHO indicator and is from 2017-2023.
Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health professionals and allied health fields. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, midwifery, nursing, optometry, audiology, psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, athletic training, and other health professions all constitute health care. The term includes work done in providing primary care, secondary care, tertiary care, mental health care and public health.
Access to health care may vary across countries, communities, and individuals, influenced by social and economic conditions and health policies. Providing health care services means "the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best possible health outcomes". Factors to consider in terms of health care access include financial limitations (such as insurance coverage), geographical and logistical barriers (such as additional transportation costs and the ability to take paid time off work to use such services), sociocultural expectations, and personal limitations (lack of ability to communicate with health care providers, poor health literacy, low income). Limitations to health care services affect negatively the use of medical services, the efficacy of treatments, and overall outcome (well-being, mortality rates).
Health systems are the organizations established to meet the health needs of targeted populations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a well-functioning health care system requires a financing mechanism, a well-trained and adequately paid workforce, reliable information on which to base decisions and policies, and well-maintained health facilities to deliver quality medicines and technologies. (Full article...)- Inclusive growth is economic growth that raises standards of living for broad swaths of a population. It is widely accepted that inclusive growth is challenging to be achieved in the real world. Both the intangibility and long-term perspective make it less desirable than other more conspicuous economic targets for policymakers.
There is a lack of a comprehensive and worldly recognised set of standards to systematically measure the inclusiveness of growth, which makes data collection and policy evaluation difficult. Proponents for inclusive growth warn that inequitable growth may have adverse political outcomes.
The definition of inclusive growth implies direct links between the macroeconomic and microeconomic determinants of the economy and economic growth. The microeconomic dimension captures the importance of structural transformation for economic diversification and competition, while the macro dimension refers to changes in economic aggregates such as the country's gross national product (GNP) or gross domestic product (GDP), total factor productivity, and aggregate factor inputs. (Full article...) 
Solid waste after being shredded to a uniform size
Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste product may become a by-product, joint product or resource through an invention that raises a waste product's value above zero.
Examples include municipal solid waste (household garbage), hazardous waste, wastewater (such as sewage, which contains bodily wastes (feces and urine) and surface runoff), radioactive waste, and others. (Full article...)
Global monthly average total ozone amount
Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a lowered total amount of ozone in Earth's upper atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone layer) around Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. There are also springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events in addition to these stratospheric events.
The main causes of ozone depletion and the ozone hole are manufactured chemicals, especially manufactured halocarbon refrigerants, solvents, propellants, and foam-blowing agents (chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), HCFCs, halons), referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS). These compounds are transported into the stratosphere by turbulent mixing after being emitted from the surface, mixing much faster than the molecules can settle. Once in the stratosphere, they release atoms from the halogen group through photodissociation, which catalyze the breakdown of ozone (O3) into oxygen (O2). Both types of ozone depletion were observed to increase as emissions of halocarbons increased.
Ozone depletion and the ozone hole have generated worldwide concern over increased cancer risks and other negative effects. The ozone layer prevents harmful wavelengths of ultraviolet (UVB) light from passing through the Earth's atmosphere. These wavelengths cause skin cancer, sunburn, permanent blindness, and cataracts, which were projected to increase dramatically as a result of thinning ozone, as well as harming plants and animals. These concerns led to the adoption of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which bans the production of CFCs, halons, and other ozone-depleting chemicals. Over time, scientists have developed new refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP) to replace older ones. For example, in new automobiles, R-1234yf systems are now common, being chosen over refrigerants with much higher GWP such as R-134a and R-12. (Full article...)
World population growth, 1700–2100 (2024 projection)
Human overpopulation or human population overshoot is the condition in which human populations may become too large to be sustained by their environment or resources in the long term. Human overpopulation or population overshoot is usually discussed in the context of world population, though it may concern individual nations, regions, and cities.
Since 1804, the global living human population has increased from 1 billion to 8 billion due to medical advancements and improved agricultural productivity. Annual world population growth peaked at 2.1% in 1968 and has since dropped to 1.1%. According to the most recent United Nations' projections, the global human population is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050 and would peak at around 10.4 billion people in the 2080s, before decreasing, noting that fertility rates are falling worldwide. Other models agree that the population will stabilize before or after 2100. Conversely, some researchers analyzing national birth registries data from 2022 and 2023—which cover half the world's population—argue that the 2022 UN projections overestimated fertility rates by 10 to 20% and were already outdated by 2024. They suggest that the global fertility rate may have already fallen below the sub-replacement fertility level for the first time in human history and that the global population will peak at approximately 9.5 billion by 2061. The 2024 UN projections report estimated that world population would peak at 10.29 billion in 2084 and decline to 10.18 billion by 2100, which was 6% lower than the UN had estimated in 2014.
Early discussions of overpopulation in English were spurred by the work of Thomas Malthus. Discussions of overpopulation follow a similar line of inquiry as Malthusianism and its Malthusian catastrophe, a hypothetical event where population exceeds agricultural capacity, causing famine or war over resources, resulting in poverty and environmental collapses. More recent discussion of overpopulation was popularized by Paul Ehrlich in his 1968 book The Population Bomb and subsequent writings. Ehrlich described overpopulation as a function of overconsumption, arguing that overpopulation should be defined by a population being unable to sustain itself without depleting non-renewable resources. (Full article...)- Air pollution is the presence of substances in the air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be gases, like ozone or nitrogen oxides, or small particles like soot and dust. Both outdoor and indoor air can be polluted.
Outdoor air pollution comes from burning fossil fuels for electricity and transport, wildfires, some industrial processes, waste management, demolition and agriculture. Indoor air pollution is often from burning firewood or agricultural waste for cooking and heating. Other sources of air pollution include dust storms and volcanic eruptions. Many sources of local air pollution, especially burning fossil fuels, also release greenhouse gases that cause global warming. However, air pollution may limit warming locally.
Air pollution kills 7 to 8 million people each year. It is a significant risk factor for a number of diseases, including stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, coronavirus and lung cancer. Particulate matter is the most deadly, both for indoor and outdoor air pollution. Ozone affects crops, and forests are damaged by the pollution that causes acid rain. Overall, the World Bank has estimated that welfare losses (premature deaths) and productivity losses (lost labor) caused by air pollution cost the world economy over $8 trillion per year. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
- ... that architect Geoff Malone was tasked with impressing visitors with a "rocket ship" design for a Singapore movie theatre?
- ... that the basement of the Old Town Hall in Gdańsk was rented by a famous astronomer to store his beers?
- ... that an estimated three-quarters of New Zealand's population saw Elizabeth II during her 1953–1954 tour of the country?
- ... that to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Duster's Stratosphere, a vinyl copy of the album was launched into space?
- ... that a Chinese robot beat the world record for a half-marathon?
- ... that many dams built on international rivers have led to political conflicts over water sharing, exacerbated by population increases, impacts of climate change, and water scarcity?
- ... that the Tāhuna Glenorchy Dark Sky Sanctuary is in an astronomical "sweet spot" where the aurora australis and the core of the Milky Way can both be seen?
- ... that a 17th-century painting shows a half-naked ascetic in a cave occupying the position of honour, even ahead of the emperor?
- ... that Russian astrophysicist Inna Nikolaevna Leman-Balanovskaja was sentenced to five years in a Siberian labor camp as a result of false charges?
- ... that a North Carolina radio station host asked his neighbors about 2001: A Space Odyssey on air—and went on to host Ask Your Neighbor for 29 years?
- ... that John W. Townsend Jr. used rockets to measure atmospheric gas over a subarctic town?
- ... that, when five consecutive Ranger spacecraft failed, Harris Schurmeier was put in charge with a mandate to transform the program?
- ... that 72,000 forms for the 2017 Chilean census from the Atacama Region, enough for 60% of its population, were damaged by heavy rains?
- ... that the European population of the rare Lebanese wild apple is mainly concentrated in a single national park, 58 percent of which was burnt by extreme wildfires in 2023?
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Selected images that captured my attention
A neutral density filter is a filter that reduces or modifies the intensity of all wavelengths or colors of light equally, giving no changes in hue of color rendition. The filter reduces the amount of light entering the lens, allowing the photographer to select combinations of aperture, exposure time and sensor sensitivity to avoid overexposed pictures. It would normally be attached to the lens, but is hand-held here to illustrate the effect.
A lava lake at Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano found in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lava lakes, which can form in three different ways, are large volumes of molten lava, usually basaltic, contained in a volcanic vent, crater, or broad depression. Persistent lava lakes such as the one at Nyiragongo, which is the largest to appear in recent times, are rare.
A Marginated Tortoise hatchling.
The mushroom cloud from the Ivy Mike nuclear test, one of two tests conducted as part of Operation Ivy at the Pacific Proving Grounds on Elugelab in the Marshall Islands. Mike was the first successful full-scale test of a multi-megaton thermonuclear weapon, and it left an underwater crater 6,240 ft (1,900 m) wide and 164 ft (50 m) deep where the island had been.
The mushroom cloud caused by the detonation of the "Fat Man" bomb during the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan in 1945, rising approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) above the hypocenter.
Crash landing of an F6F Hellcat into the port side 20mm gun gallery of the USS Enterprise, November 10, 1943. Lieutenant Walter L. Chewning, Jr., USNR, the Catapult Officer, is climbing up the plane's side to assist the pilot from the burning aircraft. The pilot, Ensign Byron M. Johnson, escaped without significant injury. Note the plane's ruptured belly fuel tank.
An animation of a cicada undergoing ecdysis, the molting of the exoskeleton in arthropods and related groups. Since the cuticula of these animals is inelastic, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed. The old, empty exoskeleton is called an exuvia. Within one or two hours, the cuticle hardens and darkens, during which time the animal grows, since growth is otherwise constrained by the rigidity of the exoskeleton. Each frame of this image was taken at one-minute intervals, with a 30-minute gap in middle while the cicada rested. The entire process took about 2 hours to complete.
The International Space Station (ISS) as seen from the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Zarya, the first module of the ISS launched in 1998, is seen in the foreground. Since then, twenty-six Space Shuttle flights have docked with the ISS to assemble various other modules and components, which include four pairs of solar arrays seen on each side.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the freestanding bell tower of the Cathedral of Pisa, Italy. The third oldest structure in the city's Square of Miracles, it is known worldwide for its unintended tilt. The tower's tilt began during construction in the 12th century, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight. The tilt gradually increased until the tower was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The tower, which measures 55.86 metres (183.27 feet) from the ground on the low side and 56.67 metres (185.93 feet) on the high side, has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
The sperm whale is the largest toothed animal on Earth. The species was hunted extensively by humans throughout history, until protected by a worldwide moratorium on whaling starting in 1985–86.
The Door to Hell is a natural gas field in Derweze, Turkmenistan, which has been burning since 1971 when it was ignited by Soviet scientists who expected it to burn out within days. They were trying to prevent the release of poisonous gases. The name "Door to Hell" was given to the field by locals. The hot spots range over an area with a width of 60 metres (200 ft) and to a depth of about 20 metres (66 ft).
One of two monkey selfies taken by Celebes crested macaques using equipment belonging to the British nature photographer David Slater. In mid-2014, the images' hosting on Wikimedia Commons was at the centre of a dispute over whether copyright could be held on artworks made by non-human animals. Slater argued that, as he had "engineered" the shot, he held copyright, while Wikimedia considered the photographs public domain on the grounds that they were made by an animal rather than a person. In December 2014, the United States Copyright Office stated that works by a non-human are not subject to US copyright, a view reaffirmed by a US federal judge in 2016.
Atlantic White-sided Dolphins, on a concrete-floored dock at the port of Hvalba, which is in the Faroe Islands, north of the United Kingdom. Whaling in the Faroe Islands has been practised since at least the 10th century. It is strongly regulated by Faroese authorities and is approved by the International Whaling Commission.
View from Notre-Dame de Paris.
American astronaut Eugene Cernan (born March 14, 1934), shown here on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission, the last time any human has set foot on it. In that final lunar landing mission, launched December 7, 1972, Cernan became "the last man on the moon" since he was the last to re-enter the Apollo Lunar Module during its third and final extra-vehicular activity. Prior to this, Cernan had also gone into space twice on the Gemini 9A and Apollo 10 missions.
A dust storm rushes towards a military camp as it rolls over Al Asad Airbase, Iraq, just before nightfall on April 27, 2005. A dust storm (or sandstorm) is a meteorological phenomenon common in dry, arid and semi-arid regions, usually the result of convection currents created by intense heating of the ground. These currents then carry clouds of sand over large distances.
A swan created using modular origami, a paperfolding technique which uses two or more sheets of paper to create a larger and more complex structure than possible with single-piece origami techniques. Each individual sheet of paper is folded into a module, or unit, and then modules are assembled into an integrated flat shape or three-dimensional structure by inserting flaps into pockets created by the folding process. These insertions create tension or friction that holds the model together.
Tracy Caldwell Dyson in the Cupola module of the International Space Station, observing the Earth below during Expedition 24. Caldwell Dyson is an American chemist and astronaut. She was selected by NASA in 1998 and made her first spaceflight in August 2007 on the STS-118 mission aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Imagine waking up to this. Which makes me wonder whatever happened to the guy who took this photo.
Glaucus atlanticus is a species of small, blue sea slug. This pelagic aeolid nudibranch floats upside down, using the surface tension of the water to stay up, and is carried along by the winds and ocean currents. The blue side of their body faces upwards, blending in with the blue of the water, while the grey side faces downwards, blending in with the silvery surface of the sea. G. atlanticus feeds on other pelagic creatures, including the Portuguese man o' war.
NGC 1300 is a barred spiral galaxy located roughly 69 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Eridanus. In its core, the nucleus shows its own extraordinary and distinct "grand-design" spiral structure that is about 3,300 light-years long.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin saluting the flag of the United States, part of the Lunar Flag Assembly, during Apollo 11. The Lunar Flag Assembly was designed to survive a Moon landing and to appear to "wave" as it would in a breeze on Earth. This flag fell over when the Lunar Module Eagle took off.
Crowds surrounding the Reflecting Pool, during the August 28 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. An estimated 200,000 to 500,000 people participated in the march, which featured Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech. It was a major factor leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The march was also condemned by the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X, who termed it the "farce on Washington".
Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and currently the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.8 m (2,722 ft). It was designed to be the centerpiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development known as Downtown Dubai. Construction took over five years, and the skyscraper was officially opened in January 2010.
You are feeling very sleepy...
The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It was first discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781, and communicated to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries. This image, released on February 28, 2006, is composed of 51 individual exposures, as well as some extra ground-based photos. At the time of its release, it was the largest and most detailed image of a galaxy by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The American Bison, or Buffalo, is the largest terrestrial mammal in North America, and once inhabited the Great Plains in massive herds. They were central to the lives of Native American tribes. This pile of bison skulls from the 1870s illustrates the extent of their slaughter in the 19th century by settlers: from a population of about 60 million in 1800 to as few as 750 in 1890. They have since been reintroduced into the wild and are no longer considered a high risk endangered species.
The "Baker" explosion, part of Operation Crossroads, a nuclear weapon test by the United States military at Bikini Atoll, Micronesia, on July 25, 1946. Its purpose was to test the effect of nuclear weapons on naval ships. It was the second US nuclear bomb set off since the bombing of Nagasaki.
Devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana during 2005, shown here looking down on Interstate 10 at West End Boulevard towards Lake Pontchartrain. Over 1,800 people were confirmed dead with 705 still missing. It was the costliest Atlantic hurricane in history causing around $86 billion in damage. This photo shows flooded roadways as the United States Coast Guard conducted initial damage assessment overflights of New Orleans on Monday, August 29, 2005. The city flooded due primarily to the failure of the levee system. Many who remained in their homes had to swim for their lives, wade through deep water, or remain trapped in their attics or on their rooftops.
The Aqueduct of Segovia is a Roman aqueduct located in Segovia, Spain that transports water from the Rio Frio. It is thought to have been constructed during the 1st century CE. One of the most significant and best-preserved ancient monuments left on the Iberian Peninsula, the aqueduct is considered a symbol of Segovia and is present on the city's coat of arms.
The Hubble Extreme Deep Field is an image of a small area of space in the constellation Fornax released by NASA on September 25, 2012. The successor to the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field, this image was compiled from 10 years of previous images with a total exposure time of two million seconds, or approximately 23 days.
Lucky Diamond Rich (b. 1971) is a New Zealand-born performance artist and street performer who holds the Guinness World Record for most tattooed man, taking the title from Tom Leppard in 2006. He is recognized by Guinness as being covered in tattoos over 100% of his body, including the inside of his eyelids, ears, and mouth.
United States Navy personnel engage in Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction (SPIE) training between a Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopter and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). SPIE involves either a person or goods being lowered from or raised to a helicopter via a cable above terrain on which landing would be difficult.
Height comparison of notable statues: 1) Statue of Unity 240 m. 2) Spring Temple Buddha 153 m. 3) Statue of Liberty 93 m. 4) The Motherland Calls 91 m. 5) Christ the Redeemer 39.6 m. 6) Statue of David 5.17 m.
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge was an eight-lane, steel truss arch bridge that carried Interstate 35W across the Saint Anthony Falls of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Once the third-busiest bridge in the state, it suddenly collapsed on August 1, 2007, killing 13 and injuring 145. Rescue of people stranded on the bridge was complete in three hours, while recovery of bodies—involving 75 local, state and federal agencies—took three weeks. An NTSB investigation cited a design flaw as the likely cause of the collapse, noting that a too-thin gusset plate ripped along a line of rivets.
Sandboarding is a boardsport similar to snowboarding, but competitions take place on sand dunes rather than snow-covered mountains. Here, a member of the US Navy sandboards down a dune in Jebel Ali, Dubai.
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was a magnitude 9.15, undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on December 26 2004. The earthquake generated a tsunami that killed more than 150,000 people around the Indian Ocean, making it one of the deadliest disasters in modern history. This photograph shows the tsunami as it reached Ao Nang, Thailand.
A man engaging in big wave surfing at Mavericks, located just north of Half Moon Bay, California. Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which experienced surfers paddle into or are towed onto waves which are at least 20 ft (6.1 m) high, and is a hazardous activity, as surfers can be pushed far beneath the surface of the water after a wipeout.
San Francisco Bay shrouded in fog, as seen from the Marin Headlands looking east. The fog of San Francisco is a kind of sea fog, created when warm, moist air blows from the central Pacific Ocean across the cold water of the California Current, which flows just off the coast. The water is cold enough to lower the temperature of the air to the dew point, causing fog generation. In this photo, the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge can be seen poking through the fog, and the Bay Bridge is visible in the distance.
An overhead view of Skylab, the United States' first space station, in Earth orbit as photographed from the Skylab 4 Command and Service Modules. Skylab 4 was the last mission to Skylab and brought back its final crew; this photograph was the last one taken of the station before the mission re-entered Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated in 1979.
aurora australis, as seen from the International Space Station. Aurorae are natural light displays in the sky caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude thermosphere. The particles originate in the magnetosphere and solar wind and, on Earth, are directed by Earth's magnetic field into the atmosphere.
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Trump news tracker
- 1 August 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- U.S. president Donald Trump cancels a planned attack against Iran, citing progress in ceasefire negotiations. (Axios) (The Japan Times)
- 30 July 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- U.S. president Donald Trump announces that the Board of Peace has reached a deal for a complete disarmament of Hamas. (BBC News) (Jewish Insider)
- 25 July 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- The United States halts strikes against Iran after government officials reportedly saw a potential opening to resume diplomatic efforts and talks. (Al-Monitor) (AP)
- 21 July 2026 – Tariffs in the second Trump administration
- A spokesperson for Canadian infrastructure minister Gregor Robertson announces that Canada has cancelled a joint opening ceremony for the Gordie Howe International Bridge that will connect Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, after U.S. president Donald Trump announced 50% tariffs on Canadian goods. (AP) (CBC)
- 21 July 2026 – Lebanon–United States relations
- U.S. president Donald Trump authorizes U.S. airlines to resume direct flights to Lebanon, ending a suspension imposed after the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847. (The Independent)
- 20 July 2026 – Canada–United States relations
- U.S. president Donald Trump signs another executive order imposing 50% tariffs on many Canadian goods, including USMCA-covered products, citing alleged discriminatory trade practices. The duties take effect in 30 days, with exemptions for energy, potash, and products under sector-specific tariffs. (AFP via Vanguard) (CBC News)
- 15 July 2026 –
- U.S. president Donald Trump announces that American citizen Dena Karari has been released from Iran after being detained on espionage charges since 2024. Her lawyer, Jared Genser, also confirmed her release. (The Guardian) (NBC News)
- 14 July 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- U.S. president Donald Trump cancels a proposal to implement a 20% fee on cargo ships transiting through the strait. (AP) (BBC News)
- 13 July 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- U.S. president Donald Trump announces that the naval blockade will resume beginning tomorrow and announces a 20% fee on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. (Khaleej Times) (CNN)
- Trump reportedly notifies U.S. Congress that the war has resumed, giving his administration another 60-day clock without congressional approval. (Politico) (The Hill)
- 11 July 2026 – Housing in the United States
- The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act becomes law after U.S. president Donald Trump allows the bill to take effect without his signature. It was passed by the U.S. Congress to expand affordable housing and reduce housing costs. (CBS News)
- 8 July 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- U.S. president Donald Trump says that the ceasefire between Iran and the United States is over and that airstrikes will continue. However, he also states that negotiations can continue. Pakistan's foreign ministry reaffirms its call for all sides to honor the recently-signed memorandum of understanding following Trump's declaration. (AFP via The Times of Israel) (Asharq Al-Awsat) (Reuters)
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Wikipedia newsfeed
- 15 August 2026 – 2026 Iran war
- 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis
- 2026 Iran–Oman negotiations
- Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei says that Iran and Oman have reached an agreement on a safe route for vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. (Iran International) (Saudi Gazette)
- The Emirates News Agency reports that a third Abu Dhabi National Oil Company vessel was attacked by Iran while transiting through the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier. No injuries were reported. (Reuters) (Al-Monitor)
- 15 August 2026 – Hezbollah–Israel conflict
- 2026 Lebanon war
- Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon kill 11 people, including three children. (Sky News)
- The Israel Defense Forces says that they have killed Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, a Hezbollah commander in the Radwan Force, during a airstrike in Ansar. (The Times of Israel)
- 15 August 2026 –
- Authorities in the U.S. state of Indiana reports that five people have died in recent floods from storms. (NBC News)
- 15 August 2026 – 2026 Ceuta migrant crisis
- Police in Morocco arrest 111 migrants who attempted to enter Spain's autonomous community Ceuta, amidst tightened security on both sides of the border with Spain. (CBC)
- 15 August 2026 – List of mass shootings in the United States in 2026
- Five people are shot at a park in Lexington, Kentucky, U.S., killing one person and leaving four injured. (WLKY)
- 15 August 2026 – Succession to the Liechtensteiner throne
- Hereditary Prince Alois announces that Liechtenstein will gradually transition its line of succession to absolute primogeniture, stating that any future descendant of him and Hereditary Princess Sophie, regardless of sex, will inherit the throne, allowing future women to inherit the throne. (AP)
- 14 August 2026 – Gaza war
- Gaza war hostage crisis
- The Israel Defense Forces announce that Al-Qassam Brigades commander Muhammad Bassam Mushtaha, who was accused of taking hostages during and after the Hamas–led attacks against Israel on October 7, was killed in a recent airstrike last month in northern Gaza. (The Times of Israel)
- 14 August 2026 – Sudanese civil war
- Kordofan campaign
- Heavy fighting erupts in El Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Clashes also break out in Umm Arda. (Sudan Tribune)
- Around 14 people are reported to be killed following an attack by RSF militants on the North Kordofan town of Umm Arda. (AFP via Arab News) (Xinhua)
- 14 August 2026 – Colombian conflict
- A Colombian soldier is killed and four more wounded following a drone strike in the rural area of El Carmen, Norte de Santander. (El Colombiano)
- 14 August 2026 – Mexican drug war
- Three gunmen are killed and a minor is wounded in an attempted ambush in a highway in La Piedad, Michoacán. Authorities seize four long guns, magazines, ammunition, and improvised explosives.(El Heraldo de México)
- 14 August 2026 – Terrorism in Pakistan
- Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- A constable policeman is killed and another is injured after a group of suspected insurgents attacked a police post in Kohi Sar, Bajaur district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Dawn)
- 14 August 2026 – War in the Sahel
- American missionary Kevin Rideout is released from captivity after being kidnapped by an unidentified organisation front in Niger nine months prior. (The New York Times)
- 14 August 2026 – 2026 East Nusa Tenggara earthquake
- At least 47 people are killed and several more are injured when a Mw 7.7 earthquake strikes the coast of the island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. (AP)
- 14 August 2026 –
- A Mw 4.8 earthquake strikes the province of Granada in Spain, with damage reported in Granada and the surrounding area, and being felt in Madrid. (Diario Sur)
- Sixteen people are killed and 40 others injured on the Yaounde-Bafoussam highway after a passenger bus crashed into a parked truck carrying planks in Mbam-et-Inoubou, Cameroon. (Xinhua)
- One person dies and at least 40 others are injured after a severe wildfire breaks out on Croatia's coastline. (BBC News)
- 14 August 2026 – 2026 Volta a Portugal
- In road bicycle racing, the eighth stage at the Volta a Portugal race is neutralised after British cyclist Finlay Tarling was killed in an accident during the race. (The Athletic via The New York Times)
- 13 August 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- 2026 Iran war
- 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis
- The United Arab Emirates says that two vessels linked to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, accusing Iran of being behind the attacks. (Al Jazeera) (The New Region)
- 2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East
- The Wall Street Journal reports that the Nimitz-class USS George Washington will deploy to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln following a nine-month deployment and amidst reports of conditions on the aircraft carrier. (CBS News) (The Hill) (The Wall Street Journal)
- Gaza war
- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet says that they have killed Hamas commander and Gaza District Police chief Jamal Mahmoud Abu Kamil in a airstrike in Gaza City. Additionally, the IDF also kills a Hamas company commander in a separate strike in Khan Yunis. (The Jerusalem Post) (Israel National News)
- 13 August 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
- Crimea attacks
- Russian military officer Robert Shagaev, who commanded the submarine Zaporizhzhia before defecting to Russia after its annexation of Crimea, is reported to have been killed by an explosive planted in a trash can in Sevastopol. (CNN) (Ynet)
- 13 August 2026 – Sudanese civil war
- Blue Nile campaign
- The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) says that they have retaken control of the Blue Nile town of Kurmuk, a month after being recaptured by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). (Sudans Post)
- Kordofan campaign
- The SAF and Joint Forces repels a major assault by RSF on the Jebrat al Sheikh district in North Kordofan, Sudan. (Sudan Tribune) (AA)
- Renewed drone attacks by the RSF are reported in Khartoum, Sudan, for a second consecutive day, with the SAF intercepting several drones targeting the area. (La Presse) (Sudan Tribune)
- 13 August 2026 – 2026 Pacific hurricane season
- In the United States, Hawaii governor Josh Green declares a state of emergency ahead of Tropical Storm Lala's expected landfall on the state over the weekend. (AFP via CNA)
- 13 August 2026 – 2026 United Kingdom wildfires
- Multiple wildfires break out across England on the hottest day of the year in the United Kingdom so far, with widespread damage in Stourbridge, West Midlands. (BBC News)
- 13 August 2026 – Lewes derailment
- At least 20 people are injured when a GTR Southern commuter train derails near Lewes, East Sussex, United Kingdom. (BBC News) (CNN)
- 13 August 2026 –
- At least eleven people are killed and 13 others are injured after two trucks, two minibuses, two cars and a tricycle collided on the Accra–Kumasi Expressway, Ghana. (Xinhua)
- Seven people are killed after an under-construction tunnel collapsed in Chamoli District, India. (Xinhua)
- Unprecedented torrential rainfall due to severe thunderstorms causes widespread flooding in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, leaving at least eight people dead. (BBC News) (Reuters)
- 13 August 2026 – 2026 European heatwaves
- Romania begins shutting down the second reactor at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant, the country's only nuclear power plant, after a drought lowered the Danube river below the level required for cooling, leaving both reactors offline. The government says alternative sources and imports will cover electricity demand. (AP)
- 13 August 2026 –
- Greece's public health agency reports 110 West Nile virus infections and nine deaths in 2026, including 45 new cases in one week, as authorities increase mosquito control measures in the Athens metropolitan area. (AFP via Daily Sabah)
- 13 August 2026 – Russian spies in the Russo-Ukrainian war
- Polish prime minister Donald Tusk says authorities, working with U.S. services, foiled an alleged Russian plot to kill a Ukrainian-American citizen in Warsaw and arrest a suspect accused of acting for Russian intelligence. Tusk says it is the first such Russian-directed plot in another NATO country. (CBS News)
- 13 August 2026 – 2027 Kyrgyz presidential election
- Kyrgyz president Sadyr Japarov announces that he will run for a second term in the upcoming presidential election in January 2027. (Reuters)
- 13 August 2026 – 2026 Zambian general election
- Zambians vote to elect a president and 280 seats of the National Assembly. Incumbent president Hakainde Hichilema is running for re-election to a second term in office. (AP)
- 12 August 2026 – Sudanese civil war
- Kordofan campaign, Siege of El Obeid
- The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launch eight drone and land attacks across El Obeid, North Kordofan. Two people are reported to be killed during the attacks. (Reuters)
- The RSF launch drone strikes across multiple cities in Sudan, including its capital Khartoum, Bahri, and Omdurman in Khartoum State, and the River Nile cites of Ad-Damir and Atbara. (AFP via Arab News) (The National News)
- 12 August 2026 – Colombian conflict
- Two Colombian soldiers are killed and 17 more are wounded in an ambush by FARC dissidents in Algeciras, Huila. (El Colombiano in Spanish) (Sociedad Media)
- 12 August 2026 – Libyan crisis
- A drone strike is reported on a electrical substation in Zawiya, western Libya, causing a fire and power outages. (The Hill)
- 12 August 2026 – Mexican drug war
- A failed attack against the Tayoltita Airfield, in San Dimas Municipality, Durango, Mexico, leaves one gunman killed and two soldiers wounded. Authorities deploy an operation in the zone to secure the area and search for the remaining attackers. (La Jornada in Spanish)
- 12 August 2026 – Red Sea crisis
- Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar reports that three Pakistanis were killed in a attack on a commercial vessel in the Red Sea. (DW)
- 12 August 2026 –
- A woman is killed and 172 other people are rescued after a ferry catches fire off the coast of Bali, Indonesia. (AFP via RFI)
- Four people are killed, including the perpetrator, in shooting and stabbing attacks at a daycare and a house in Hopkins, Minnesota, United States. (CBS News)
- 12 August 2026 – 2026 Cook Islands general election
- Cook Islanders vote to elect all 24 seats of Parliament amid a cost-of-living crisis and debate regarding a past partnership agreement with China. Incumbent prime minister Mark Brown faces a challenge from Cook Islands United leader Teariki Heather. (RNZ) (The Guardian)
- 12 August 2026 –
- The Rapid Support Forces-appointed governor of Sudan's Kordofan region, Hamad Mohammad Hamad Khalifa, resigns and announces he will defect. (Sudan Tribune) (Al-Arabiya)
- 12 August 2026 – Solar eclipse of August 12, 2026
- A total solar eclipse occurs in Greenland, Iceland, and Spain, with partial eclipses visible over much of northern North America, Europe (except most of Ukraine, Greece, Bulgaria and Russia), northwestern Africa and northern Asian Russia. It is the first total eclipse observable in mainland Europe since August 1999. (Time and Date) (EclipseWise)
- 12 August 2026 – MoM-BH*-1
- Astronomers studying a little red dot found by the James Webb Space Telescope announce in Nature the discovery of the first black hole star. The first object classed as such, [[MoM-BH;12 August 2026 – MoM-BH*-1
- -1]], in the constellation of Cetus, is the size of the Solar System and emits a light that outshines its host galaxy. (The Guardian) (PopSci)
- 11 August 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- 2026 Iran war
- 2026 Iran war ceasefire
- Pakistan in the 2026 Iran war
- Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif says that a deal between Iran and the United States is "close", including an arrangement over the Strait of Hormuz. (Bloomberg News) (CNBC)
- 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis
- 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran
- The Wall Street Journal reports that a U.S. military helicopter has fired at the rudder of the Panama-flagged container ship Vela Nova after crews ignored the naval blockade re-imposed in July, contradicting British maritime management that it was hit by a missile in the Gulf of Oman. (Reuters)
- Red Sea crisis
- Operation Rough Rider
- The U.S. Department of Defense reports to Congress that the U.S. military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen in 2025 killed 153 civilians and injured another 243. (The Hill)
- The Yemeni government reports that six people have been killed in strikes on a cargo ship by the Houthis in the Bab-el-Mandeb. (The New York Times)
- Gaza war
- The Israeli Army Radio reports that the Israel Defense Forces launched a strike targeting a Hamas sniper near the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip, its first strike on the enclave in 10 days. (AIN) (The Times of Israel) (The Jerusalem Post)
- 11 August 2026 – Sudanese Civil Wars
- Sudanese civil war
- Blue Nile campaign
- A heavy attack on civilians by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N) is reported in Geissan in Sudan's Blue Nile state, including on the main market, surrounding farms, and other shops. (Sudan Tribune)
- The International Organization for Migration reports that 2,300 people in the Blue Nile region has been displaced following recent clashes. (Middle East Monitor)
- Attacks by the RSF and SPLM-N are also reported in Qaysān on its provincial headquarters and a market. (Sudan Tribune in Arabic)
- Sudanese nomadic conflicts
- Around 60 people are killed and around 50 others injured in an armed attack during a cattle raid in Tonj North County, Warrap State, South Sudan. (AFP via Arab News) (Radio Tamazuj)
- 11 August 2026 – 2026 Colombia earthquake
- The casualty toll from the Mw 7.4 earthquake in Colombia yesterday increases to over 240 people killed, 570 injured, and at least 3,000 others still missing. President Abelardo de la Espriella declares a national state of emergency. (The Guardian)
- 11 August 2026 –
- At least 44 people are killed when a ferry sinks on Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. (AFP via RFI)
- Search operations for the landslide from Sunday conclude in Baguio, Philippines, placing the final death toll at ten people. Meanwhile, the national police places the nationwide toll from the tropical cyclones and monsoons at 26. (ABS-CBN News) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- At least 18 people are killed and around 30 others are injured in a two-vehicle collision in Ismailia Governorate, Egypt. (Al Ahram)
- Four people are killed and five others are injured after an old residential building collapses in Cairo, Egypt. (Gulf News)
- Three people are killed following a commercial building fire in Giza, Egypt. (Al Ahram)
- 11 August 2026 – Syria and weapons of mass destruction
- The Syrian transitional government confirms their cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency to purge nuclear materials at a hidden facility following a report by Axios on such plan after an agreement between Israel, Syria, and the United States. Conversely, Israel threatens to bombard the site again if the materials remain, and to prevent access to the site. (AA) (Axios) (The Jerusalem Post)
- 11 August 2026 – Presidency of Ahmed al-Sharaa, War crimes in the Syrian civil war, Prosecution of Syrian civil war criminals
- The Criminal Court in Damascus, Syria, sentences deposed president Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia, and former Daraa political security director Atef Najib in person, and issue international arrest warrants for all for premeditated murder and crimes against humanity. (AFP via The Standard) (The National)
- 11 August 2026 – Capital punishment in Lebanon
- The Lebanese parliament votes to abolish the death penalty. (BBC News)
- 11 August 2026 –
- A United States Marine Corps soldier is released from Russia after having been detained there since 2022. (Kyiv Independent)
- 11 August 2026 – 2026 Hungarian presidential election
- Former Supreme Court president András Baka is elected as Hungarian president through a supermajority and is scheduled to take office on 19 August. He ran uncontested as the Tisza Party's candidate, as neither Fidesz nor its partner KNDP nominated a candidate. (Reuters)
- 11 August 2026 – Palestinian sports during the Gaza war
- Palestinian Football Association president Jibril Rajoub announces that all football and sport activities will resume in September following a three-year suspension that began after the outbreak of the Gaza war. (Al Jazeera)
- 10 August 2026 – 2026 Iran war
- 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis
- 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran
- The United States Central Command says that they have redirected 55 vessels linked to Iran since reinstating the blockade in July. (Middle East Eye)
- Impact of the 2026 Iran war on Iran
- Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei appoints new leaders for Iran's military to replace their predecessors after they were killed during the initial Israel and U.S. airstrikes, including Ali Abdollahi as chief of staff, Kioumars Heydari as deputy commander, and Hossein Taeb as Basij commander. (The Jerusalem Post) (Al-Monitor)
- 10 August 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
- Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
- Аt least 13 people are killed, including a child, and 39 others were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan, Russia. (Reuters)
- 10 August 2026 – Libyan crisis
- Fawzi al-Mansouri, head of military intelligence for the Libyan National Army, is assassinated as a bomb exploded inside his car in Benghazi, Libya. (AFP via RFI) (Al Jazeera)
- 10 August 2026 – 2026 Colombia earthquake
- A Mw 7.4 earthquake strikes Chocó Department, Colombia, causing widespread and heavy damage, and leaving at least 288 people dead. (El Pais) (BBC News) (Reuters)
- The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Manizales is confirmed to be among the buildings damaged after one of the towers collapsed following the earthquake. (The Independent) (The City Paper Bogota) (El Colombiano in Spanish)
- 10 August 2026 – Wildfires in 2026
- A recent wildfire at the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java, Indonesia, is extinguished after 550 ha (1,400 acres) were burnt. However, new hotspots are also reported near the caldera. (Reuters)
- 10 August 2026 –
- The Philippine civil defense office reports that at least 16 people were killed across Luzon, including seven in Baguio, by floods, landslides and weather-related accidents after nine days of heavy monsoon rain, while three others remain missing. (AFP via RFI)
- 10 August 2026 – 2026 Ebola epidemic
- The World Health Organization reports that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo started in February before its declaration, with some cases attributed to malaria and typhoid. (Al Jazeera)
- 10 August 2026 – Colombia–Israel relations, Colombia–Syria relations
- Colombia becomes the second country to recognize the Golan Heights, a region in southwestern Syria that has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, as part of Israel's sovereignty. (AFP via CNA) (The Jerusalem Post)
- 10 August 2026 – 2026 Russian legislative election
- Upon petition from Rodina, the liberal Yabloko party is barred from participating in the 2026 Russian legislative election on charges of unregistered funding, a controversial copyright infringement, and extremism by the Supreme Court of Russia. (The Guardian) (The Moscow Times)
- 10 August 2026 – 2026 Nonthaburi shootings
- Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organization president Thongchai Yenprasert is killed in a shooting at a government building in Nonthaburi province, Thailand. Former parliament member Chalong Riewrang is taken into custody over corruption. (BBC News) (AFP via CNA) (Thairath)
- 10 August 2026 – Murder of Mir Raza Ali
- The government of Sindh, Pakistan, announces that a judicial commission headed by a judge of the Sindh High Court would investigate businessman Mir Raza Ali's death. The decision followed a recommendation by the Sindh Assembly. (Dawn)
- 9 August 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- Gaza war
- Gaza peace plan
- Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a United States-led plan for peace accepted by Hamas, saying Israel will not withdraw forces until Hamas fully disarms. (AFP via RFI)
- Yemeni civil war
- At least eleven people are killed and at least 40 others are injured in a Houthi missile and drone attack on Mokha, Taiz Governorate, Yemen. (MENA via The New Arab)
- The Governor of Al-Hudaydah Governorate, Yemen, survives an assassination attempt after the Houthis shelled his residence in Al Khawkhah district. (Yemen Online)
- 9 August 2026 – Mali War
- 2026 Mali offensives
- Around ten Malian soldiers are reportedly killed in a Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin attack in central Mali. (AFP via Arab News)
- Authorities say that they have repelled an attack by militants on a military base in San, Mali. (BBC)
- 9 August 2026 – Sudanese civil war
- Blue Nile campaign
- Mass graves of 25 civilians executed by the Rapid Support Forces are discovered in Kurmuk in Sudan's Blue Nile region. (Sudan Tribune)
- 9 August 2026 – Colombian conflict
- Colombian president Abelardo de la Espriella reports that military forces killed four FARC dissidents in Meta and two Gulf Clan members in Antioquia. (AFP via The Daily Star)
- 9 August 2026 – 2026 Canadian wildfires
- Police report that a woman was killed while evacuating the Summerland wildfire in British Columbia, Canada, which has burned more than 13,600 hectares (34,000 acres) and forced over 20,000 people to evacuate. (AFP via RFI)
- 9 August 2026 – 2026 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall in eastern China, evacuating 1 million people and cancelling 1,300 flights from Shanghai. Monsoon rains are also reported in parts of the Philippines, causing flooding. (South China Morning Post) (The New York Times) (AP)
- 9 August 2026 –
- At least 16 migrant workers are killed in a major fire at a sofa manufacturing factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
- Six people, all members of the same family, are killed after an intoxicated truck driver collides head-on with their vehicle in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, India. (The Hindu)
- Five people are killed, at least three others survive, and five are still missing in a landslide that hits a residential area in Baguio, Philippines. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- 9 August 2026 – 2026 cyclosporiasis outbreak, Salmonellosis in the United States
- Taylor Farms extends its recalls to products containing jalapeños after they were linked to the ongoing salmonellosis outbreak in the United States. Taylor Farms currently has a recall for iceberg lettuce linked to cyclosporiasis. (Ars Technica) (HuffPost)
- 9 August 2026 –
- The Hong Kong Observatory records 36.9 °C (98.4 °F) in the city, the highest temperature since records began in 1884. (AFP via Malay Mail)
- 9 August 2026 – Russia–Syria relations
- Russia and Syria reach a memorandum of understanding to reorganize Russia's presence on the Syrian coast, including transferring civilian facilities to Syrian state management and converting Russian military bases into joint training centers. (SANA)
- 9 August 2026 –
- At least eleven people are killed and two others are injured in three separate shootings in Cape Town, South Africa. (AA)
- Afghanistan's intelligence agency arrests two staff members of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in Herat, according to the office of UN secretary-general António Guterres. (AFP via RFI)
- Suspected crime boss Daniel Kinahan is arrested upon arrival at Baldonnel, County Dublin, Ireland, following his extradition from the United Arab Emirates, and is brought to the Special Criminal Court in Dublin. Kinahan is charged with directing the operations of a criminal organisation from 2015 to 2017. (RTÉ)
- The boat operator involved in a capsizing that killed two people, including a 5-month-old toddler, and injured 12 others near the Statue of Liberty, New York City, United States on August 8 has been arrested on 13 counts of reckless endangerment. (ABC)
- 9 August 2026 – Impact of the 2026 Iran war on Iran
- Iranian state media reports that Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei met president Masoud Pezeshkian in July, his first publicly reported meeting since taking over, amidst ongoing speculation about his health and future. Additionally, a rare video is released of him. (Middle East Monitor) (Reuters) (Shafaq)
- 9 August 2026 – 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup
- In association football, Malawi's women's national football team defeats Ghana 2–1 at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in the quarter-finals at Al Medina Stadium in Morocco, qualifying for the upcoming FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil and will make their debut at the tournament. (Nyasa Times) (Ghanaweb) (ESPN)
- 9 August 2026 – 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship
- Mexico defeats the United States 2–0 at the Estadio Azteca to win the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, its second in a row after winning the previous one. (ESPN)
- 8 August 2026 – 2026 Iran war
- 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis
- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company says that one of their vessels was attacked by a missile while transiting through the Strait of Hormuz during the early hours. No injuries were reported. (Khaleej Times)
- Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr says that Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the United States lifts sanctions against the country, ends the naval blockade, and halts military action against the country. (Al Jazeera)
- 8 August 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
- Kyiv strikes
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy reports that a 3-year-old boy and his grandparents were killed by a drone strike by Russian forces in Kyiv. (Reuters)
- 8 August 2026 – Sudanese civil war
- Darfur campaign
- Darfur governor Minni Minnawi says that the SAF-allied Joint Forces have repelled an attack in Sudan's West Darfur state. (Sudan Tribune)
- Kordofan campaign
- A tribe leader in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan accuses the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North of launching attacks on Otoro villages in Kauda. Additionally, four aid workers are reported to be detained. (Sudan Tribune)
- 8 August 2026 – Wildfires in 2026
- 2026 United States wildfires
- 2026 Utah wildfires
- The National Interagency Fire Center reports that two people were killed yesterday in a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane helicopter crash in Fishlake National Forest, Utah, U.S., while trying to battle the Widemouth 2 fire. (The New York Times) (The Hans India)
- 2026 Canadian wildfires
- In Canada, British Columbia declares a state of emergency after 105 wildfires were reported across the province. (DW)
- 8 August 2026 – 2026 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, which encompass the entirety of Okinawa Prefecture and parts of Kagoshima Prefecture. Additionally, China shuts down ports and ferry routes in preparation for the typhoon. (The Japan Times)
- 8 August 2026 –
- A helicopter crashes in Tijuca National Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing three Colombian tourists and the pilot. (AFP via Gulf News)
- Satellite images show that the British-sanctioned oil tanker Caroline Bezengi, believed to be part of the Russian shadow fleet, which was carrying 1 million barrels of oil, is leaking oil and sinking further off the coast of Oman, after an explosion was reported on the vessel on June 8. The oil leaks have reportedly reached the shore of Al-Qibliyah Island. (AP)
- 8 August 2026 – 2026 Morocco–Spain border incident, Italy–Spain relations
- Spain imposes temporary border checks on travelers from Italy after Italy introduced similar controls on arrivals from Spain amid a dispute over migration policy following the mass arrival of migrants in Ceuta. (AP)
- 8 August 2026 –
- 4 men and one woman are shot and killed in a house in Langa, Cape Flats, Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday night. (EWN)
- 7 August 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- 2026 Iran war
- 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis
- Operation Urja Suraksha
- Indian shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal reports that more than 4,000 seafarers from India have been repatriated and 62 Indian vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war. (Lokmat Times) (India New England News)
- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company reports that 15 of its vessels have been attacked by missiles or drones while transiting through the Strait of Hormuz since the war with Iran started on February 28. (Reuters)
- Gaza war
- Israeli incursions in the West Bank during the Gaza war
- Israeli forces withdraw from the Qalandiyah refugee camp and Kafr 'Aqab neighborhood in occupied West Bank following a two-day raid, with Palestinian Authority reporting 51 injuries. (Haaretz)
- Yemeni civil war
- Houthi attacks in Marib, Yemen, kill at least eight government soldiers and two civilians and injure 26 others, as the group launches missiles, drones and shelling against military positions, residential areas, and refugee camps. (AFP via The Manila Times)
- 7 August 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
- Odesa strikes
- A Russian drone strike hits the Chornomorets Stadium in Odesa, Ukraine, with Odesa Oblast governor Oleh Kiper reporting that two people are injured in the strikes. (Kyiv Independent)
- 7 August 2026 – Sudanese civil war
- Kordofan campaign
- Sudanese armed forces repel a surprise drone attack by the Rapid Support Forces in Dilling, South Kordofan. Additionally, five civilians are reported to be killed in El Obeid, North Kordofan. (Sudan Tribune)
- 7 August 2026 –
- Twenty people are killed and several others are injured after a fuel tanker overturns in Bangui, Central African Republic. (Xinhua)
- Sixteen people are killed and dozens others are injured in two separate road accidents in Sylhet Division and Bogra District, Bangladesh. (Xinhua)
- 7 August 2026 – 2026 United States cyclosporiasis outbreak
- Michigan health officials lift an advisory against the consumption of lettuce in the U.S. state after reporting a decline in cases of cyclosporiasis, which is caused by Cyclospora cayetanensis. (Reuters)
- 7 August 2026 –
- Brazil's National Institute for Space Research reports that deforestation of the Amazon rainforest fell to 2,874 square kilometres (287,400 ha) from August 2025 to July 2026, a 37% annual decline and the lowest level since the institute's satellite monitoring began in 2016. (AFP via The Straits Times)
- The Bald Range fire erupts Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada, forcing 20,000 people to evacuate, including the entire village of Summerland, British Columbia. The government declares a state of emergency. (CTV News)
- 7 August 2026 – International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, United States and the Russo-Ukrainian war
- The United States Senate votes 86–11 to pass a bill imposing sanctions on Russia's energy revenues, financial institutions, officials, and shadow fleet, while authorizing tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil and gas. The legislation will head to the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote. (Reuters)
- 7 August 2026 – Pakistan–Saudi Arabia relations, Pakistan–Turkey relations, Saudi Arabia–Turkey relations
- Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey mutually sign the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, declaring that an attack on one will constitute an attack on all three. (Al Arabiya)
- 7 August 2026 – Mexico–Peru relations
- The governments of Mexico and Peru reinstate diplomatic relations after agreeing to allow former Peruvian prime minister Betssy Chávez to seek asylum in Mexico. (Reuters)
- 7 August 2026 – Crime in Karachi
- Murder of Mir Raza Ali
- A judge of the Karachi High Court in Pakistan allows the exhumation of Mir Raza Ali's body. (Dawn)
- 7 August 2026 – 2026 Nonthaburi shootings
- Nine people are killed, including the shooter, and 15 others are injured in a shooting spree between a home and the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Bang Kruai district, Nonthaburi province, Thailand. (AP) (The Guardian)
- 7 August 2026 – Inauguration of Abelardo de la Espriella
- Abelardo de la Espriella is sworn in as the president of Colombia after winning the presidential election in June. (AP)
- 7 August 2026 – Investigation of UFO reports by the United States government
- The U.S. defense department releases more classified videos and files of unidentified flying objects, including an incident in the Gulf of Oman in 2021 when United States Air Force pilots encountered a swarm of "cold orbs", describing each orb as measuring around 4 feet (1.2 metres) in diameter and moving in irregular patterns. (BBC News)
- 7 August 2026 – 2026–27 Ukrainian Premier League
- The Ukrainian Premier League's FC Chornomorets Odesa announces on Telegram that its match against FC Kolos Kovalivka is postponed after its home stadium was hit by a Russian strike. (Intent)
- 6 August 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- Gaza war
- Ugandan authorities approve a measure to send troops from Uganda to the Gaza Strip as part of the International Stabilization Force proposed by the Board of Peace to secure the enclave following the war. (NBC News)
- Yemeni civil war
- The Houthis announce a military offensive against Saudi-backed government forces in Marib Governorate and Hadhramaut Governorate, with over 30 soldiers being killed in two missile attacks. (Al Jazeera)
- 6 August 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
- Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
- Ukrainian forces launch drone attacks on two oil refineries in Russia, the Yaroslavl refinery and a Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Bashkortostan, causing large fires at the facilities. (BBC News)
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Six people are killed in Russian airstrikes across Ukraine, including three civilians in Kharkiv Oblast, while a total power outage occurs in the city of Kherson after critical infrastructure was targeted overnight by Russian drones. (Al Jazeera) (Antikor)
- 6 August 2026 – Ethiopian civil conflict
- 2026 Ethiopia–TPLF clashes
- It is reported that the situation on the border between Ethiopia and Sudan is calm following recent clashes between the Ethiopian Army and Tigray People's Liberation Front that sparked fears of a new conflict four years after a peace agreement was signed in 2022 to end the war in Tigray. (Sudan Tribune)
- 6 August 2026 – Haitian conflict
- The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti reports that 613 people were killed and 375 others injured between March 6 and July 31 amid intensifying gang violence across the country. (Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation)
- 6 August 2026 – 2026 Damascus bus bombing
- Two people are killed and 13 others are injured when an explosive device detonates on a passenger minibus in Jaramana, Syria. (AA)
- 6 August 2026 – Proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance
- The Competition and Markets Authority of the United Kingdom clears Paramount Skydance's US$110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, while culture secretary Lisa Nandy declines a public-interest review after receiving commitments on editorial independence. (AA)
Me (incomplete), described in userboxes...
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History and contributions...
Awards and praise I've received over the years...
Tip of the day April 21, 2006: Thanks for helping a newbie!
I just want to thank you for building on my tip and making it a true wikipedia tip of the day. I'm still learning a lot about how to do things around here, so your help was greatly appreciated! Keep up the great work, and keep on Going for it!
Smashing!
Barnstar
Barnstar
Award
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The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar | |
| Your kindess was not random, because you were kind enough to listen to my requests to fix my userpage. Your major kindness will not be ignored, as this BarnStar is my token of appreciation! Kyo catmeow! 01:59, 24 November 2006 (UTC) |
!!!
<O.o --The Prophet Wizard of the Crayon Cake 01:45, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
- You're welcome. The Transhumanist 01:55, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
Barnstar
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The da Vinci Barnstar | |
| Awarded to User:The Transhumanist. Sometimes those who take on large areas of wikipedia organisation seem to be taken for granted, and this is just to show that your work is appreciated by the community. Khukri (talk . contribs) 09:56, 12 December 2006 (UTC) |
!
Cool signature Kamope · talk · contributions 12:58, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
Thanks. The Transhumanist 05:52, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
Thanks so much!
Thanks so much for the hints in your userpage tutorial. 
. I am a new user and familiar with HTML markup, but not so with Wikimark up. Your userpage tutorial really helped! Real96 06:14, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
- You're welcome. I'm glad you found it useful. If you see any way to improve it, by all means, please feel free to do so. The Transhumanist 06:36, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
How can I sum the above up....? Oh yes:
|
The Original Barnstar | |
| For your revamp of The Welcoming Committee, and of the Welcome Page, I award you the original barnstar. Well done! Anthonycfc [T • C] 18:19, 14 February 2007 (UTC) |
WOW!!
as a near- noob, this is by far the most detailed and useful article on wikipedia for me! Excellent! I really wish I had a user page like this after two years...Snailey! 15:42, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
Barnstar
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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar | |
| For all your work with admin coaching, barnstar awarding, Wikipedia-expanding, and various administrative duties (if you can call all that political stuff we Wikipedians must wade through such a name), I, Sharkface217, hereby award you this Tireless Contributor Barnstar. Good job. S h a r k f a c e 2 1 7 19:36, 5 May 2007 (UTC) |
Just a few words...
TT, my friend, my mop would never have been gained without your incredible expertise. My kindest regards to you, and drop by as often as possible! Now, a little token of my appreciation...
This, the Golden Wiki Award, the highest attainment level of awards and barnstars, goes to you - The Transhumanist - for being one of the most helpful, kind, resourceful and generous Wikipedians I've had to utmost fortune to meet. Your contributions around the Wiki - at the WikiClassroom, in Dispute Resolution, at the Welcoming Committee, but most of all being a genuinely fun guy, are an amazing feat, and if half the trolls I'll undoubtedly meet after gaining my mop (thanks to you) took a leaf from your book, Wikipedia would be a nicer place.
My kindest possible regards,
Anthony 21:38, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
Barnstar
![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:"What_a_Brilliant_Idea!"_Barnstar.png) |
What a Brilliant Idea Barnstar | |
| I award you this Brilliant Idea Barnstar for helping others to earn Barnstars and awards through your Award Center! • The Giant Puffin • 13:31, 3 June 2007 (UTC) |
Award
Hello The Transhumanist, (Hold on, can I say that or is it "Hello Transhumanist")
I was going to give you an award but there wasn't one good enough, so I made one better than any that has ever been seen before - This message. Yes, yes, I know, you don't think your worthy of it, but I assure you, you are the only one good enough for it - Pheonix 19:34, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
A Help:Contents Barnstar
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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar | |
| As the top contributor to Help:Contents, you deserve this barnstar. Thank you! Jreferee (Talk) 05:59, 23 August 2007 (UTC) |
Barnstar
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The Original Barnstar | |
| For taking up the challenge and improving my command page, I, Sharkface217, hereby award you this Original Barnstar. Another feather in the Transhumanist cap, eh? :-P |
:D
Hi there Trans Face!
X××x××pink×jellocreature××x××X (talk) 01:36, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
You won an award!
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X××x××pink×jellocreature××x××X (talk) awards you the unofficial funniness award! |
You deserve a barnstar for your efforts. I can't think of anyone who has contributed more to Wikipedia, except maybe Jimbo. I'm not sure where to put this on your frontpage, so here it is:
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What a Brilliant Idea Barnstar | |
| For boldly redirecting Debt-based monetary system to Criticisms of fractional-reserve banking, both saving it from deletion while defending Wikipedia from those who would violate WP:FRINGE, and being one of the most helpful editors on Wikipedia, in general. Zenwhat (talk) 03:41, 7 January 2008 (UTC) |
Barnstar
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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar | |
| I, Diligent Terrier, award you this "Tireless Contributor Barnstar" for your work in starting the List of basic American Civil War topics article from scratch. Great Job! DiligentTerrier • talk |sign here 22:17, 12 January 2008 (UTC) |
My Userpage
Hi There First id like to thank you immensly for your pages about creating a decent userpage!! They are great and I would be lost without them!! Just one question, On my userpage i have a small welcome banner up the top. How do I make this text larger and change the font? Sorry if you have already covered this somewhere. Thanks in advanceCstubbies (talk) 12:40, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
A valuable service
I think you need recognition for doing the job of ten other editors, and doing it out of altruism and genuine belief in Wikipedia. Not many editors here have the same good attitude and provide the same service as you - I don't have any specific point to put across, but I thought you should just be prodded and reminded that you do a lot of good around here, in the hope you'll keep it up. Kudos! Seegoon (talk) 17:43, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
:)
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The Excellent Userpage Award | |
| Nice page. jaytur1 (talk · contribs) 12:13, 10 February 2008 (UTC) |
Welcoming committee
Just a note, I've made a minor update to your contributions. To reiterate my edit summary, you put in a tonne of effort there, and you deserve to be credited for it :) Feel free to revert, nonetheless. Regards, AGK (contact) 16:44, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
Hi there TTH, Just wanted to thank you for your labors on this page, which is a great resource for us. Bill Wwheaton (talk) 17:48, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
You'd better hope there is a humour barnstar
... because you just gave me the biggest laugh in weeks. Good stuff giving that RfA spammer what-for here. αѕєηιηє t/c 22:03, 1 March 2008 (UTC)
Nice work -- I will withdraw the AfD nom. – ukexpat (talk) 00:55, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
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The Barnstar of Recovery | |
| For saving List of basic Canada topics from being deleted, I - Milk's Favorite Cookie hereby award you this Barnstar! Congrats! - Milk's Favorite Cookie 01:16, 15 March 2008 (UTC) |
Fictional lists
The deletion review was approved for recreation: Wikipedia:Deletion review/Log/2008 March 10. Just letting you know, in case you weren't watchlisting it. I'm not sure what you have to do next to get the old version undeleted though (if that's what you wanted :) Nice catch on rescuing that grouping. -- Quiddity (talk) 00:21, 17 March 2008 (UTC)
'Tis for you
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The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar | |
| I've noticed the extra mile you've gone to help a new user, and I wanted you to know it hasn't gone unnoticed. Keep up the good work! Keeper | 76 | Disclaimer 16:40, 5 April 2008 (UTC) |
Barnstar
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The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar | |
| I award this barnstar to The Transhumanist, for being patient and taking four rounds of references from me, until they were all valid. LAAFan 01:21, 17 June 2008 (UTC) |
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The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar | |
| I award this barnstar to The Transhumanist, for putting funny stuff on his discussion page which led me to copy them and put some of those funny stuff on my website. Thanks. Emir34 01:21, 17 June 2008 (UTC) |
Hi Transhumanist, I wanted to note that I saw all of your work on the List of Basic France topics, and I appreciate it! Lazulilasher (talk) 02:12, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
From Zach...
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The da Vinci Barnstar | |
| For helping me so many times. and for my wonderful userpage. Cheers, Zacharycrimsonwolf 04:08, 30 September 2008 (UTC) |
Guidance Star
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The Guidance Barnstar | |
| For helping me to find resources on humanism, which I will hopefully be able to use to improve the articles on it here as well! Scapler (talk) 02:39, 11 November 2008 (UTC) |
Happy Transhumanist's Day!
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The Transhumanist has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian, |
Happy The Transhumanist's Day!
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The Transhumanist has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian, Cheers, If you'd like to show off your awesomeness, you can use this userbox. |
- Congrats. :) –Juliancolton | Talk 23:44, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
I think...
...you need a barnstar for all of the hard work you have put into the WP:WPOOK!
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The Barnstar Barnstar | |
| You deserve two! at-210 discovered elements ∞ what am I? 20:21, 14 June 2009 (UTC) |
Barnstar
Transhumanist my friend,
It's about time you deserve a barnstar for all your contributions to outlines on Wikipedia, and also for being the promoter that you are for outlines. If it wasn't for you we might not have outlines as they are, so it is my honor to present to you the Special Barnstar because no other barnstar could merit what you do for outlines on Wikipedia. :-) Burningview (talk) 03:42, 8 August 2009 (UTC)
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The Special Barnstar | |
| This barnstar is presented to Transhumanist for all the hard work, contributions, coordination, and promotion he does in advancing the idea, coverage, content, and quality of Outlines on Wikipedia. For this he deserves a Special Barnstar Burningview (talk) 03:42, 8 August 2009 (UTC) |
Well done
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The Special Barnstar | |
| This award is in appreciation of the excellent work you have done supporting the development of Outlines on Wikipedia Thruxton (talk) 18:59, 5 December 2010 (UTC) |
Made me laugh
You once said in a AFD: "If you are building a robot, you can start with just the left pinky." I love that. Happy New Year! Jerry delusional ¤ kangaroo 20:34, 31 December 2010 (UTC)
another thanks
I appreciate you pointing me in the direction of a formatted signature. For some reason I couldn't find any reference to how it is done in the years I have been here. Cheers. ◦◦derekbd◦◦my talk◦◦ 12:16, 4 June 2011 (UTC)
Impressed
I just wanted to tell you (probably not the 1st ^^ ) that your are an incredible wikipedia member, your userpage is simply amazing and your contribution is...gigantic? huge? Incredible? not for the number edits (still high) but rather over the appropriateness of the things that you have created, especially the outline project. I wont give you another award, you already have billions, but simply a modest "Bravo!". --
Offiikart (Talk) 05:23, 21 June 2011 (UTC)
Thanks
Hi, thanks a lot for the barnstar, you are truly a user with whom it is pleasant to interact. I greatly appreciate your help, your tips and you recognition on the work done, even if only very minimal compared to the work you have done.
I think you, more than everyone else, deserve a special recognition. Here is the first Barnstar I ever awarded :
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The WikiProject Barnstar | |
| To The Transhumanist who created the outline project and tirelessly continues to improve it. A special thanks for your help and your recognition. OffiikartTalk 13:54, 29 June 2011 (UTC) |
ps. I did put the page alert on my watchlist 
A barnstar for you!
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The Original Barnstar |
| Your fine contributions are not overlooked. You are a quality editor, and we are so glad you are here. Thanks to the user:Transhumanist! Pinkstrawberry02™ talk 01:49, 13 October 2011 (UTC) |
Note to user getting this message: Please respond on Pinkstrawberry02's talk page. If for some reason you cannot, please send them a {{talkback}} and reply on your own talk page. Thanks for your understanding in this manner. See ya around the wiki!
barnstar
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The Chess Barnstar | |
| Awarded for many contributions to chess articles, especially the Outline of chess. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 16:34, 18 October 2011 (UTC) |
A barnstar for you!
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The Original Barnstar |
| Thanks so much for your work on the Outline of domestic violence, it is so much better that it's astounding how far it's come along. Thanks for making my first outline "sing"! CaroleHenson (talk) 11:11, 21 November 2011 (UTC) |
- You're first one? Wonderful! I can't wait to see what you come up with next. And I also look forward to seeing what you have in store for this outline. Thank you for the barnstar. It's very nice to feel appreciated. The Transhumanist 22:10, 21 November 2011 (UTC)
A barnstar for you!
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The Original Barnstar |
| Wow! Thanks for your help on the Future studies project. I can't believe all the pages you've contributed to, but glad you found ours!... RealFuturist (talk) 17:09, 3 February 2012 (UTC) |
A barnstar for you!
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The Copyeditor's Barnstar |
| Thanks for the ndashes on the Apple outline article. Zach Vega (talk) 00:58, 13 April 2012 (UTC) |
A cookie for you!
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Many years ago, back before I had created my current account, I created a humble little userspace navigation menu based off of two of your menus from the User Page Design Center (initially 15, but ultimately 6). Over the years it has grown, but I don't know if I ever would have started it without seeing your menus first. I just want to thank you for putting the effort into creating those menus and then sharing them at the Design Center where they have been helpful for people like me. I hope you don't mind me borrowing from your hard work! Thanks again and take care! Michael Barera (talk) 03:30, 13 January 2013 (UTC) |
Thank you
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The Instructor's Barnstar | |
| This Barnstar is awarded to Wikipedians who have performed stellar work in the area of instruction & help for other editors. Just wanted to stop by and say this edit was something I wanted to do but simply did not have the "kahunas" to do so. Thank you for the bold edit :-) Moxy (talk) 07:25, 13 February 2013 (UTC) |
A barnstar for you!
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The Barnstar of Diligence |
| For your efforts on updating, improving and organising Outline of human anatomy LT910001 (talk) 06:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC) |
A barnstar for you!
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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar |
| For your work on "Outline of space science" Tetra quark (don't be shy) 05:55, 18 January 2015 (UTC) |
Thank you. The Transhumanist 07:45, 18 January 2015 (UTC)
A cup of coffee for you!
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A cup of coffee for you! masum (talk) 06:10, 5 October 2015 (UTC) |
Thank you. The Transhumanist 06:56, 5 October 2015 (UTC)
At Tip-Of-The-Day: Thank you for your updates & guidance!
Want to let you know the value of your insights & feedback!
Regards, JoeHebda (talk) 21:53, 19 October 2015 (UTC)
- Thank you. Keep up the good work. The Transhumanist 16:50, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
Pony!
Pony!
Congratulations! For all your hard work on redirect repair at Glossary of North American horse racing and general wikignoming along the way of articles such as Easy Goer, you have received a pony! Ponies are cute, intelligent, cuddly, friendly (most of the time, though with notable exceptions), promote good will, encourage patience, and enjoy carrots. Treat your pony with respect and he will be your faithful friend! We need more wikipedia editors like you! Montanabw(talk) 02:22, 1 November 2015 (UTC)
To send a pony or a treat to other wonderful and responsible editors, click here.
Thank you for being one of Wikipedia's top medical contributors!
- please help translate this message into the local language
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The Cure Award |
| In 2015 you were one of the top 300 medical editors across any language of Wikipedia. Thank you from Wiki Project Med Foundation for helping bring free, complete, accurate, up-to-date health information to the public. We really appreciate you and the vital work you do! Wiki Project Med Foundation is a user group whose mission is to improve our health content. Consider joining here, there are no associated costs, and we would love to collaborate further. |
Thanks again :) -- Doc James along with the rest of the team at Wiki Project Med Foundation 03:59, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
A barnstar for you!
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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar |
| Great work with the Outlines :) Pratyush (talk) 21:07, 26 September 2016 (UTC) |
Thank you. The Transhumanist 15:31, 28 September 2016 (UTC)
Love the outlines
Hi there! I just wanted to let you know that I think your planet outlines are really cool. I have long thought it was a shame that only Wikipedians seem to know about Books or Portals, because they are really great tools for structuring knowledge (while everyone loves diving down the Wikipedia rabbit hole, we could really do with some better content organization). The outlines strike me as a great way to bring that sort content organization to mainspace, where it will actually reach a large number of readers. I notice that I am the first one to edit them besides yourself, and I hope you know that I do so with love.
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What a Brilliant Idea Barnstar | |
| Great idea with the outline articles - a great solution to a need for better mainspace-based content structuring! I see from WP:Outlines that you actually came up with this concept some years ago, but this is the first I've noticed it. A2soup (talk) 02:46, 8 February 2017 (UTC) |
A Barnstar for you!
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The Portal Barnstar | |
| The Portal Barnstar is awarded to Wikipedians who have made significant contributions to topic portals. Awarded to Transhumanist for his overly enthusiastic efforts regarding the portal system and WikiProject Portals. – Lionel(talk) 11:02, 30 April 2018 (UTC) |
- Transhumanist, thank you for your extraordinary efforts on behalf of portals. It reminds me of the time when a series of attacks on scientific bibliographies led to the formation of WikiProject Bibliographies. I don't understand why your detractors are so passionate about deleting portals, but your actions have been a model for how to deal with an attack constructively. RockMagnetist(talk) 16:10, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
A Barnstar for you!
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The Article Rescue Barnstar | |
| May all who see this barnstar know that The Transhumanist made a valiant and commendable effort for defending the portal namespace from deletion. It preserved countless hours of work initially invested into creating the content. Moreoever, The Transhumanist, is doing a yeoman's job in attempting to improve the content within with portal namespace. RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 00:24, 26 May 2018 (UTC) |
@RightCowLeftCoast: Thank you. I feel honored. Please keep in mind that I have not been working alone. Credit goes to the nearly 400 editors who came forward to speak up for the keeping of portals. And although the RfC to delete all portals is over, the job of defending portals from deletion is not. For the portal namespace to be retained in the long term, the portals in it will need to be improved to a worthy quality level, otherwise we may see more deletion attempts. This task is far more than a single editor can handle. Fortunately, many editors have come forward to meet the challenge. Working to develop portals and the entire portal system, is a team of 80 editors who are diligently redesigning, upgrading, updating, and maintaining portals. They are the members of the Portals WikiProject, and without them there might be no portals. They are doing a wonderful job, and I am very proud of them. Thank you. — The Transhumanist 17:22, 26 May 2018 (UTC)
Precious
thinking-related topics
Thank you for organising a list of thinking-related topics, for Shift work sleep disorder and the index of oral health and dental articles, for your thoughts and efforts regarding portals, and beginnings such as Portal:Thinking/Selected picture, - you are an awesome Wikipedian!
Precious
portals
Thank you for your thoughts and efforts regarding portals, for the concept of outlines, for sectional redirects, for articles such as Life Extension Foundation, for service from 2006, including portal philosophy and user page design center, - repeating (1 & 4 June 2009): you are an awesome Wikipedian!
Thank you. I looked, but couldn't figure out what 1 & 4 June 2009 were referring to. Just curious. — The Transhumanist 19:26, 4 June 2018 (UTC)
- Follow the link "awesome W." and look for your name: 2 others said it before me! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:48, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
Executive director of portals
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The Portal Barnstar | |
| Not sure if a simple barnstar can express the communities gratitude to the portal work that you're doing. Your an indispensable member of our community. Moxy (talk) 18:08, 7 June 2018 (UTC) |
Moxy, thank you. I'm honored, and I receive this praise for the team, without whom there would be very little progress on portals. They are literally transforming them into something new. I'm glad to be a part of that. — The Transhumanist 18:20, 7 June 2018 (UTC)
A Barnstar for you
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The Portal Barnstar | |
| The Portal Barnstar is awarded to Wikipedians who have made significant contributions to topic portals. Thanks for the great work you have been doing in the WikiProject. Dreamy Jazz talk | contribs 22:15, 4 July 2018 (UTC) |
You are welcome, formerly Wpgbrown. Nice new name. ;) — The Transhumanist 10:26, 6 July 2018 (UTC)
A barnstar for you!
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The Technical Barnstar |
Good to see others of the view we have as to the need to know more. Im a research person here just of this week and your views relate to my work here. take care.
Tleesd (talk) 17:56, 5 September 2018 (UTC) |
A barnstar for you!
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The Graphic Designer's Barnstar |
| Thank's for updating the Portal:Seventh-day Adventist Church. You deserve this star for your good work. Catfurball (talk) 15:28, 12 October 2018 (UTC) |
A barnstar for you!
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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar |
| For your excellent work on Portals. Everyday the portal project improves. Your dedication and willingness to get people involved really pays off. Cannot wait to continue working with you and the Portal team. Thank you for your work. AmericanAir88(talk) 00:30, 30 October 2018 (UTC) |
A barnstar for you!
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The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar | |
| Thank you for helping me in my first attempt in creating a portal page ‑‑V.S.(C)(T) 10:51, 23 December 2018 (UTC) |
Some barnstars for you!
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The Graphic Designer's Barnstar |
| Thanks for creating Portal:Hummingbirds when I asked for it. Keep doing a good job! Catfurball (talk) 00:01, 4 January 2019 (UTC) |
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The Graphic Designer's Barnstar |
| Thanks for making Portal:Capsicum. Catfurball (talk) 19:38, 5 February 2019 (UTC) |
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The Graphic Designer's Barnstar |
| Thanks for making Portal:Peaches. Catfurball (talk) 21:11, 5 February 2019 (UTC) |
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The Graphic Designer's Barnstar |
| Thanks for creating Portal:Woodpeckers for me. Catfurball (talk) 19:15, 14 February 2019 (UTC) |
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The Graphic Designer's Barnstar |
| Thanks for creating Portal:Tyrant flycatchers for me. Catfurball (talk) 19:16, 14 February 2019 (UTC) |
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The Graphic Designer's Barnstar |
| Thanks for creating Portal:Plums, you do a great job creating portals. Catfurball (talk) 18:45, 21 February 2019 (UTC) |
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The Graphic Designer's Barnstar |
| Thanks for creating Portal:Cotingas for me. Catfurball (talk) 19:07, 22 February 2019 (UTC) |
A barnstar for you!
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The Portal Barnstar | |
| For your tireless dedication to creating, maintaining, and improving portals, as well as your active involvement in making improvements to the system of portals itself. I'm sorry to hear that you're temporarily unable to create them, but your work is greatly appreciated 🙂 Brendon the Wizard ✉️ ✨ 14:17, 23 March 2019 (UTC) |
A Barnstar for you
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The Original Barnstar | |
| message Ambuj Shukla 19:16, 2 November 2019 (UTC) |
You have made immense contributions to outlines over the years, and have encouraged many more Wikipedians to follow your lead. The impact of your contributions are great. Keep doing the good work! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ambujshukla2004 (talk • contribs) 19:16, 2 November 2019 (UTC)
- Thank you. — The Transhumanist 00:06, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
A barnstar for you!
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| Hello The Transhumanist, you are receiving this award for the creation and continued dedication to WikiProject Outlines. You deserve this barnstar more than anyone. Jerium (talk) 19:18, 12 November 2023 (UTC) |
A barnstar for you!
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The Barnstar of Good Humor |
| I appreciate you reviving the User page design center! I used this when I was new. Also, everyone has a phases where they religiously obsess over their user page (especially userboxes), and this tool is a good way to show them how to have fun with it. Panini! • 🥪 23:59, 2 June 2024 (UTC) |
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