User:The Transhumanist

User page undergoing expansion/revamp. Please excuse the blank section until it is completed. Thank you.

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Introduction

Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf

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...

Wikipedia ads	file info – #184

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

• 
  The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable consequences for 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 a rapid increase ("explosion") in intelligence which would culminate in a powerful superintelligence, far surpassing all human intelligence.
  
  The Hungarian-American mathematician John von Neumann (1903-1957) became the first known person to use the concept of a "singularity" in the technological context.
  
  Alan Turing, often regarded as the father of modern computer science, laid a crucial foundation for contemporary discourse on the technological singularity. His pivotal 1950 paper, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence", introduced the idea of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to or indistinguishable from that of a human.
  
  Stanislaw Ulam reported in 1958 an earlier discussion with von Neumann "centered on the accelerating progress of technology and changes in human life, which gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue". Subsequent authors have echoed this viewpoint. (Full article...)
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  Blood flow diagram of the human heart. Blue components indicate de-oxygenated blood pathways and red components indicate oxygenated blood pathways.

  
  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. 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, a sub-specialty of internal medicine. 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...)
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  Human overpopulation (or human population overshoot) is the idea that human populations may become too large to be sustained by their environment or resources in the long term. The topic 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 depopulation. 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.
  
  The belief that global population levels will become too large to sustain is a point of contentious debate. Those who believe global human overpopulation to be a valid concern, argue that increased levels of resource consumption and pollution exceed the environment's carrying capacity, leading to population overshoot. The population overshoot hypothesis is often discussed in relation to other population concerns such as population momentum, biodiversity loss, hunger and malnutrition, resource depletion, and the overall human impact on the environment. (Full article...)
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  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...)
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  Visualization of various methodological approaches to gaining insights from meta data areas

  
  
  Information science is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, movement, dissemination, and protection of information. Practitioners within and outside the field study the application and the usage of knowledge in organizations in addition to the interaction between people, organizations, and any existing information systems with the aim of creating, replacing, improving, or understanding the information systems. (Full article...)
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  Emerging technologies are technologies whose development, practical applications, or both are still largely unrealized. These technologies are generally new but also include old technologies finding new applications. Emerging technologies are often perceived as capable of changing the status quo.
  
  Emerging technologies are characterized by radical novelty (in application even if not in origins), relatively fast growth, coherence, prominent impact, and uncertainty and ambiguity. In other words, an emerging technology can be defined as "a radically novel and relatively fast growing technology characterised by a certain degree of coherence persisting over time and with the potential to exert a considerable impact on the socio-economic domain(s) which is observed in terms of the composition of actors, institutions and patterns of interactions among those, along with the associated knowledge production processes. Its most prominent impact, however, lies in the future and so in the emergence phase is still somewhat uncertain and ambiguous."
  
  Emerging technologies include a variety of technologies such as educational technology, information technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
  
  New technological fields may result from the technological convergence of different systems evolving towards similar goals. Convergence brings previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications) and video together so that they share resources and interact with each other, creating new efficiencies. (Full article...)
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  Traditionally, meals have been prepared by women in a home kitchen (painting from the circle of Jean-Baptiste de Saive, 1563).

  
  A meal is an occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The English names used for specific meals vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal. A meal is different from a snack in that meals are generally larger, more varied, and more filling.
  
  Though they can be eaten anywhere, meals usually take place in homes, restaurants, and cafeterias. Regular meals occur on a daily basis, typically several times a day. Special meals are normally held in conjunction with celebratory or momentous occasions such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, funerals, and holidays.
  
  The type of food that is served or consumed at any given time depends on regional customs. Three main meals are typically eaten in the morning, early afternoon, and evening in most civilizations. Furthermore, the names of meals are often interchangeable by custom as well. Some serve dinner as the main meal at midday, with supper as the late afternoon/early evening meal, while others may call their midday meal lunch and their early evening meal supper or dinner. Except for breakfast, these names can vary from region to region or even from family to family. (Full article...)
• 
  Web scraping, web harvesting, or web data extraction is data scraping used for extracting data from websites. Web scraping software may directly access the World Wide Web using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol or a web browser. While web scraping can be done manually by a software user, the term typically refers to automated processes implemented using a bot or web crawler. It is a form of copying in which specific data is gathered and copied from the web, typically into a central local database or spreadsheet, for later retrieval or analysis.
  
  Scraping a web page involves fetching it and then extracting data from it. Fetching is the downloading of a page (which a browser does when a user views a page). Therefore, web crawling is a main component of web scraping, to fetch pages for later processing. Having fetched, extraction can take place. The content of a page may be parsed, searched and reformatted, and its data copied into a spreadsheet or loaded into a database. Web scrapers typically take something out of a page, to make use of it for another purpose somewhere else. An example would be finding and copying names and telephone numbers, companies and their URLs, or e-mail addresses to a list (contact scraping).
  
  As well as contact scraping, web scraping is used as a component of applications used for web indexing, web mining and data mining, online price change monitoring and price comparison, product review scraping (to watch the competition), gathering real estate listings, weather data monitoring, website change detection, research, tracking online presence and reputation, web mashup, and web data integration.
  
  Web pages are built using text-based mark-up languages (HTML and XHTML), and frequently contain a wealth of useful data in text form. However, most web pages are designed for human end-users and not for ease of automated use. As a result, specialized tools and software have been developed to facilitate the scraping of web pages. Web scraping applications include market research, price comparison, content monitoring, and more. Businesses rely on web scraping services to efficiently gather and utilize this data. (Full article...)
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  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 Southwest Asia typically use a yogurt base. (Full article...)
• 
  The Library of Congress Classification (LCC) is a system of library classification developed by the Library of Congress in the United States, which can be used for shelving books in a library. LCC is mainly used by large research and academic libraries, while most public libraries and small academic libraries use the Dewey Decimal Classification system. The classification was developed by James Hanson (chief of the Catalog Department), with assistance from Charles Martel, in 1897, while they were working at the Library of Congress. It was designed specifically for the purposes and collection of the Library of Congress, to replace the fixed location system developed by Thomas Jefferson.
  
  LCC has been criticized for lacking a sound theoretical basis; many of the classification decisions were driven by the practical needs of that library rather than epistemological considerations. Although it divides subjects into broad categories, it is essentially enumerative in nature. That is, it provides a guide to the books actually in one library's collections, not a classification of the world. (Full article...)
• 
  Friendly artificial intelligence (friendly AI or FAI) is hypothetical artificial general intelligence (AGI) that would have a positive (benign) effect on humanity or at least align with human interests such as fostering the improvement of the human species. It is a part of the ethics of artificial intelligence and is closely related to machine ethics. While machine ethics is concerned with how an artificially intelligent agent should behave, friendly artificial intelligence research is focused on how to practically bring about this behavior and ensuring it is adequately constrained. (Full article...)
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  Automatic taxonomy construction (ATC) is the use of software programs to generate taxonomical classifications from a body of texts called a corpus. ATC is a branch of natural language processing, which in turn is a branch of artificial intelligence.
  
  A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially, a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. Among other things, a taxonomy can be used to organize and index knowledge (stored as documents, articles, videos, etc.), such as in the form of a library classification system, or a search engine taxonomy, so that users can more easily find the information they are searching for. Many taxonomies are hierarchies (and thus, have an intrinsic tree structure), but not all are.
  
  Manually developing and maintaining a taxonomy is a labor-intensive task requiring significant time and resources, including familiarity of or expertise in the taxonomy's domain (scope, subject, or field), which drives the costs and limits the scope of such projects. Also, domain modelers have their own points of view which inevitably, even if unintentionally, work their way into the taxonomy. ATC uses artificial intelligence techniques to quickly automatically generate a taxonomy for a domain in order to avoid these problems and remove limitations. (Full article...)
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  Artificial consciousness, also known as machine consciousness, synthetic consciousness, or digital consciousness, is the consciousness hypothesized to be possible in 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 same terminology can be used with the term "sentience" instead of "consciousness" when specifically designating phenomenal consciousness (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 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 or 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. (Full article...)
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  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...)
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  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...)
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  Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabilities of competitors. Genius is associated with intellectual ability and creative productivity. The term genius can also be used to refer to people characterised by genius, and/or to polymaths who excel across many subjects.
  
  There is no scientifically precise definition of genius. When used to refer to the characteristic, genius is associated with talent, but several authors such as Cesare Lombroso and Arthur Schopenhauer systematically distinguish these terms. Walter Isaacson, biographer of many well-known geniuses, explains that although high intelligence may be a prerequisite, the most common trait that actually defines a genius may be the extraordinary ability to apply creativity and imaginative thinking to almost any situation.
  
  In the early-19th century Carl von Clausewitz, who had a particular interest in what he called "military genius", defined "the essence of Genius" (German: der Genius) in terms of "a very high mental capacity for certain employments". (Full article...)
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  A userscript (or user script) is a program, usually written in JavaScript, for modifying web pages to augment browsing. Uses include adding shortcut buttons and keyboard shortcuts, controlling playback speeds, adding features to sites, and enhancing the browsing history.
  
  On desktop browsers such as Firefox, userscripts are enabled by use of a userscript manager browser extension such as Tampermonkey or Greasemonkey. The Presto-based Opera-supported userscripts (referred to as User JavaScript) are placed in a designated directory. Userscripts are often referred to as Greasemonkey scripts, named after the original userscript manager for Firefox.
  
  On Wikipedia, a user scripts feature is enabled for registered users that allows them to install userscripts to augment editing and viewing of the encyclopedia's pages. (Full article...)
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  Help may refer to: (Full article...)
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  Knowledge extraction is the creation of knowledge from structured (relational databases, XML) and unstructured (text, documents, images) sources. The resulting knowledge needs to be in a machine-readable and machine-interpretable format and must represent knowledge in a manner that facilitates inferencing. Although it is methodically similar to information extraction (NLP) and ETL (data warehouse), the main criterion is that the extraction result goes beyond the creation of structured information or the transformation into a relational schema. It requires either the reuse of existing formal knowledge (reusing identifiers or ontologies) or the generation of a schema based on the source data.
  
  The RDB2RDF W3C group is currently standardizing a language for extraction of resource description frameworks (RDF) from relational databases. Another popular example for knowledge extraction is the transformation of Wikipedia into structured data and also the mapping to existing knowledge (see DBpedia and Freebase). (Full article...)
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  James Burke in 2007

  
  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...)
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  Robots revolt in R.U.R., a 1928 Czech play translated as "Rossum's Universal Robots"

  
  An AI takeover is an imagined scenario in which artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as the dominant form of intelligence on Earth and computer programs or robots effectively take control of the planet away from the human species, which relies on human intelligence. Possible scenarios include replacement of the entire human workforce due to automation, takeover by an artificial superintelligence (ASI), and the notion of a robot uprising. Stories of AI takeovers have been popular throughout science fiction, but recent advancements have made the threat more real. Some public figures such as Stephen Hawking have advocated research into precautionary measures to ensure future superintelligent machines remain under human control. (Full article...)
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  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 (or biology).
  • 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 fundamental 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...)
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  Roboticists with three Mars rover robots. Front and center is the flight spare for the first Mars rover, Sojourner, which landed on Mars in 1997 as part of the Mars Pathfinder Project. On the left is a Mars Exploration Rover (MER) test vehicle that is a working sibling to Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on Mars in 2004. On the right is a test rover for the Mars Science Laboratory, which landed Curiosity on Mars in 2012.

  
  
  Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots.
  
  Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer science, robotics focuses on robotic automation algorithms. Other disciplines contributing to robotics include electrical, control, software, information, electronic, telecommunication, computer, mechatronic, and materials engineering.
  
  The goal of most robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Many robots are built to do jobs that are hazardous to people, such as finding survivors in unstable ruins, and exploring space, mines and shipwrecks. Others replace people in jobs that are boring, repetitive, or unpleasant, such as cleaning, monitoring, transporting, and assembling. Today, robotics is a rapidly growing field, as technological advances continue; researching, designing, and building new robots serve various practical purposes. (Full article...)
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  Human impact on the environment (or anthropogenic environmental impact) refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans. Modifying the environment to fit the needs of society (as in the built environment) is causing severe effects including global warming, environmental degradation (such as ocean acidification), mass extinction and biodiversity loss, ecological crisis, and ecological collapse. Some human activities that cause damage (either directly or indirectly) to the environment on a global scale include population growth, neoliberal economic policies and rapid economic growth, overconsumption, overexploitation, pollution, and deforestation. Some of the problems, including global warming and biodiversity loss, have been proposed as representing catastrophic risks to the survival of the human species.
  
  The term anthropogenic designates an effect or object resulting from human activity. The term was first used in the technical sense by Russian geologist Alexey Pavlov, and it was first used in English by British ecologist Arthur Tansley in reference to human influences on climax plant communities. The atmospheric scientist Paul Crutzen introduced the term "Anthropocene" in the mid-1970s. The term is sometimes used in the context of pollution produced from human activity since the start of the Agricultural Revolution but also applies broadly to all major human impacts on the environment. Many of the actions taken by humans that contribute to a heated environment stem from the burning of fossil fuel from a variety of sources, such as: electricity, cars, planes, space heating, manufacturing, or the destruction of forests. (Full article...)
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  Existential risk from artificial intelligence refers to the idea that substantial progress in artificial general intelligence (AGI) could lead to human extinction or an irreversible global catastrophe.
  
  One argument for 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.
  
  The plausibility of existential catastrophe due to AI is widely debated. It hinges in part on whether AGI or superintelligence are achievable, the speed at which dangerous capabilities and behaviors emerge, and whether practical scenarios for AI takeovers exist. Concerns about superintelligence have been voiced by computer scientists and tech CEOs such as Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, Alan Turing, Elon Musk, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. 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.
  
  Two sources of concern stem from the problems of AI control and alignment. Controlling a superintelligent machine or instilling it with human-compatible values may be difficult. Many researchers believe that a superintelligent machine would likely resist attempts to disable it or change its goals as that would prevent it from accomplishing its present goals. It would be extremely challenging to align a superintelligence with the full breadth of significant human values and constraints. In contrast, skeptics such as computer scientist Yann LeCun argue that superintelligent machines will have no desire for self-preservation. (Full article...)

Selected emerging technologies and related articles

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  Figure 1. Thermal and electrical bumps integrated on a single substrate.

  
  A thermal copper pillar bump, also known as a "thermal bump", is a thermoelectric device made from thin-film thermoelectric material embedded in flip chip interconnects (in particular copper pillar solder bumps) for use in electronics and optoelectronic packaging, including: flip chip packaging of CPU and GPU integrated circuits (chips), laser diodes, and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA). Unlike conventional solder bumps that provide an electrical path and a mechanical connection to the package, thermal bumps act as solid-state heat pumps and add thermal management functionality locally on the surface of a chip or to another electrical component. The diameter of a thermal bump is 238 μm and 60 μm high.
  
  Thermal bumps use the thermoelectric effect, which is the direct conversion of temperature differences to electric voltage and vice versa. Simply put, a thermoelectric device creates a voltage when there is a different temperature on each side, or when a voltage is applied to it, it creates a temperature difference. This effect can be used to generate electricity, to measure temperature, to cool objects, or to heat them. (Full article...)
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  Magnonics is an emerging field of modern magnetism, which can be considered a sub-field of modern solid state physics. Magnonics combines the study of waves and magnetism. Its main aim is to investigate the behaviour of spin waves in nano-structure elements. In essence, spin waves are a propagating re-ordering of the magnetisation in a material and arise from the precession of magnetic moments. Magnetic moments arise from the orbital and spin moments of the electron, most often it is this spin moment that contributes to the net magnetic moment.
  
  Following the success of the modern hard disk, there is much current interest in future magnetic data storage and using spin waves for things such as 'magnonic' logic and data storage. Similarly, spintronics looks to utilize the inherent spin degree of freedom to complement the already successful charge property of the electron used in contemporary electronics. Modern magnetism is concerned with furthering the understanding of the behaviour of the magnetisation on very small (sub-micrometre) length scales and very fast (sub-nanosecond) timescales and how this can be applied to improving existing or generating new technologies and computing concepts. A magnon torque device was invented and later perfected at the National University of Singapore's Electrical & Computer Engineering department, which is based on such potential uses, with results published on November 29, 2019, in Science. (Full article...)
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  An electronic nose was tuned to the perceptual axis of odorant pleasantness, i.e., an axis ranging from very pleasant (e.g., rose) to very unpleasant (e.g., skunk). This allowed the eNose to then smell novel odorants it never encountered before, yet still generate odor pleasantness estimates in high agreement with human assessments regardless of the subject's cultural background. This suggests an innate component of odorant pleasantness that is tightly linked to molecular structure

  
  
  An electronic nose is an electronic sensing device intended to detect odors or flavors. The expression "electronic sensing" refers to the capability of reproducing human senses using sensor arrays and pattern recognition systems.
  
  Since 1982, research has been conducted to develop technologies, commonly referred to as electronic noses, that could detect and recognize odors and flavors. The stages of the recognition process are similar to human olfaction and are performed for identification, comparison, quantification and other applications, including data storage and retrieval. Some such devices are used for industrial purposes. (Full article...)
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  Transrapid 09 at the Emsland test facility in Lower Saxony, Germany

  
  Maglev (derived from magnetic levitation) is a system of rail transport whose rolling stock is levitated by electromagnets rather than rolled on wheels, eliminating rolling resistance.
  
  Compared to conventional railways, maglev trains can have higher top speeds, superior acceleration and deceleration, lower maintenance costs, improved gradient handling, and lower noise. However, they are more expensive to build, cannot use existing infrastructure, and use more energy at high speeds. (Full article...)
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  State-of-the-art AWG for home use.

  
  
  An atmospheric water generator (AWG), is a device that extracts water from humid ambient air, producing potable water. Water vapor in the air can be extracted either by condensation - cooling the air below its dew point, exposing the air to desiccants, using membranes that only pass water vapor, collecting fog, or pressurizing the air. AWGs are useful where potable water is difficult to obtain, because water is always present in ambient air.
  
  AWG may require significant energy inputs, or operate passively, relying on natural temperature differences. Biomimicry studies found that the Onymacris unguicularis beetle has the ability to perform this task. (Full article...)
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  Diagram of an electrical grid (generation system in red, transmission system in blue, distribution system in green)

  
  
  An electrical grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power transmission to carry power over long distances, and finally electric power distribution to customers. In that last step, voltage is stepped down again to the required service voltage. Power stations are typically built close to energy sources and far from densely populated areas. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. From small to large there are microgrids, wide area synchronous grids, and super grids. The combined transmission and distribution network is part of electricity delivery, known as the power grid.
  
  Grids are nearly always synchronous, meaning all distribution areas operate with three phase alternating current (AC) frequencies synchronized (so that voltage swings occur at almost the same time). This allows transmission of AC power throughout the area, connecting the electricity generators with consumers. Grids can enable more efficient electricity markets. (Full article...)
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  A flock of starlings reacting to a predator

  
  Swarm intelligence (SI) is the collective behavior of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial. The concept is employed in work on artificial intelligence. The expression was introduced by Gerardo Beni and Jing Wang in 1989, in the context of cellular robotic systems.
  
  Swarm intelligence systems consist typically of a population of simple agents or boids interacting locally with one another and with their environment. The inspiration often comes from nature, especially biological systems. The agents follow very simple rules, and although there is no centralized control structure dictating how individual agents should behave, local, and to a certain degree random, interactions between such agents lead to the emergence of "intelligent" global behavior, unknown to the individual agents. Examples of swarm intelligence in natural systems include ant colonies, bee colonies, bird flocking, hawks hunting, animal herding, bacterial growth, fish schooling and microbial intelligence. (Full article...)
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  MIT Technology Review is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as The Technology Review, and was re-launched without "The" in its name on April 23, 1998, under then publisher R. Bruce Journey. In September 2005, it was changed, under its then editor-in-chief and publisher, Jason Pontin, to a form resembling the historical magazine.
  
  Before the 1998 re-launch, the editor stated that "nothing will be left of the old magazine except the name." It was therefore necessary to distinguish between the modern and the historical Technology Review. The historical magazine had been published by the MIT Alumni Association, was more closely aligned with the interests of MIT alumni, and had a more intellectual tone and much smaller public circulation. The magazine, billed from 1998 to 2005 as "MIT's Magazine of Innovation", and from 2005 onwards as simply "published by MIT", focused on new technology and how it is commercialized; was sold to the public and targeted at senior executives, researchers, financiers, and policymakers, as well as MIT alumni. (Full article...)
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  Electric armour drawing

  
  Electric armour or electromagnetic armour is a type of reactive armour proposed for the protection of ships and armoured fighting vehicles from shaped charge and possibly kinetic weapons using a strong electric current, complementing or replacing conventional explosive reacting armour (ERA). (Full article...)
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  Magnetic levitation can be stabilised using different techniques; here rotation (spin) is used

  
  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 lifting forces: providing an upward force sufficient to counteract gravity, and stability: ensuring that the system does not spontaneously slide or flip into a configuration where the lift is neutralized. (Full article...)
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  The HAV 304 dynastat, seen bow-on

  
  
  A hybrid airship is a powered aircraft that obtains some of its lift as a lighter-than-air (LTA) airship and some from aerodynamic lift as a heavier-than-air aerodyne.
  
  A dynastat is a hybrid airship with fixed wings and/or a lifting body and is typically intended for long-endurance flights. It requires forward flight to create the aerodynamic lift component. (Full article...)
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  Model of the Gaiola pombalina (pombaline cage), an architectural, earthquake-resistant wooden structure developed in Portugal in the 18th century for the reconstruction of Lisbon's pombaline downtown after the devastating 1755 Lisbon earthquake

  
  Earthquake-resistant or aseismic structures are designed to protect buildings to some or greater extent from earthquakes. While no structure can be entirely impervious to earthquake damage, the goal of earthquake engineering is to erect structures that fare better during seismic activity than their conventional counterparts. According to building codes, earthquake-resistant structures are intended to withstand the largest earthquake of a certain probability that is likely to occur at their location. This means the loss of life should be minimized by preventing collapse of the buildings for rare earthquakes while the loss of the functionality should be limited for more frequent ones.
  
  To combat earthquake destruction, the only method available to ancient architects was to build their landmark structures to last, often by making them excessively stiff and strong. (Full article...)
• 
  Computer-generated holography (CGH) is a technique that uses computer algorithms to generate holograms. It involves generating holographic interference patterns. A computer-generated hologram can be displayed on a dynamic holographic display, or it can be printed onto a mask or film using lithography. When a hologram is printed onto a mask or film, it is then illuminated by a coherent light source to display the holographic images.
  
  The term "computer-generated holography" has become used to denote the whole process chain of synthetically preparing holographic light wavefronts suitable for observation. If holographic data of existing objects is generated optically and recorded and processed digitally, and subsequently displayed, this is termed CGH as well. (Full article...)
• 
  The following formats go beyond the current third-generation discs and have the potential to hold more than one terabyte (1 TB) of data and at least some are meant for cold data storage in data centers:* Archival Disc

  • Holographic Versatile Disc

  
  Announced but not released:

  • LS-R
  • Protein-coated disc
  • Stacked Volumetric Optical Disc
  • 5D DVD
  • 3D optical data storage (not a single technology, examples are Hyper CD-ROM and Fluorescent Multilayer Disc)

  
  
  In 2004, development of the Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) commenced, which promised the storage of several terabytes of data per disc. However, development stagnated towards the late 2000s due to lack of funding. (Full article...)
• 
  Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that conventionally have been implemented in analog hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented by means of software on a computer or embedded system.
  
  A basic SDR system may consist of a computer equipped with a sound card, or other analog-to-digital converter, preceded by some form of RF front end. Significant amounts of signal processing are handed over to the general-purpose processor, rather than being done in special-purpose hardware (electronic circuits). Such a design produces a radio which can receive and transmit widely different radio protocols (sometimes referred to as waveforms) based solely on the software used. (Full article...)
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  Diagram of an electrical grid (generation system in red, transmission system in blue, distribution system in green)

  
  
  An electrical grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power transmission to carry power over long distances, and finally electric power distribution to customers. In that last step, voltage is stepped down again to the required service voltage. Power stations are typically built close to energy sources and far from densely populated areas. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. From small to large there are microgrids, wide area synchronous grids, and super grids. The combined transmission and distribution network is part of electricity delivery, known as the power grid.
  
  Grids are nearly always synchronous, meaning all distribution areas operate with three phase alternating current (AC) frequencies synchronized (so that voltage swings occur at almost the same time). This allows transmission of AC power throughout the area, connecting the electricity generators with consumers. Grids can enable more efficient electricity markets. (Full article...)
• 
  An oncolytic virus is a virus that preferentially infects and kills cancer cells. As the infected cancer cells are destroyed by oncolysis, they release new infectious virus particles or virions to help destroy the remaining tumour. Oncolytic viruses are thought not only to cause direct destruction of the tumour cells, but also to stimulate host anti-tumour immune system responses. Oncolytic viruses also have the ability to affect the tumor micro-environment in multiple ways.
  
  The potential of viruses as anti-cancer agents was first realised in the early twentieth century, although coordinated research efforts did not begin until the 1960s. A number of viruses including adenovirus, reovirus, measles, herpes simplex, Newcastle disease virus, and vaccinia have been clinically tested as oncolytic agents. Most current oncolytic viruses are engineered for tumour selectivity, although there are naturally occurring examples such as reovirus and the senecavirus, resulting in clinical trials. (Full article...)
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  A space elevator is conceived as a cable fixed to the equator and reaching into space. A counterweight at the upper end keeps the center of mass well above geostationary orbit level. This produces enough upward centrifugal force from Earth's rotation to fully counter the downward gravity, keeping the cable upright and taut. Climbers carry cargo up and down the cable.

  
  A space elevator, also referred to as a space bridge, star ladder, and orbital lift, is a proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system, often depicted in science fiction. The main component would be a cable (also called a tether) anchored to the surface and extending into space. An Earth-based space elevator would consist of a cable with one end attached to the surface near the equator and the other end attached to a counterweight in space beyond geostationary orbit (35,786 km altitude). The competing forces of gravity, which is stronger at the lower end, and the upward centrifugal pseudo-force (it is actually the inertia of the counterweight that creates the tension on the space side), which is stronger at the upper end, would result in the cable being held up, under tension, and stationary over a single position on Earth. With the tether deployed, climbers (crawlers) could repeatedly climb up and down the tether by mechanical means, releasing their cargo to and from orbit. The design would permit vehicles to travel directly between a planetary surface, such as the Earth's, and orbit, without the use of large rockets. (Full article...)
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  Simplified diagram of a multistage coilgun with three coils, a barrel, and a ferromagnetic projectile

  
  
  A coilgun is a type of mass driver consisting of one or more coils used as electromagnets in the configuration of a linear motor that accelerate a ferromagnetic or conducting projectile to high velocity. In almost all coilgun configurations, the coils and the gun barrel are arranged on a common axis. A coilgun is not a rifle as the barrel is smoothbore (not rifled).
  
  Coilguns generally consist of one or more coils arranged along a barrel, so the path of the accelerating projectile lies along the central axis of the coils. The coils are switched on and off in a precisely timed sequence, causing the projectile to be accelerated quickly along the barrel via magnetic forces. (Full article...)
• 
  Intelligent Environments (IE) are spaces with embedded systems and information and communication technologies creating interactive spaces that bring computation into the physical world and enhance occupants experiences. "Intelligent environments are spaces in which computation is seamlessly used to enhance ordinary activity. One of the driving forces behind the emerging interest in highly interactive environments is to make computers not only genuine user-friendly but also essentially invisible to the user".
  
  IEs describe physical environments in which information and communication technologies and sensor systems disappear as they become embedded into physical objects, infrastructures, and the surroundings in which we live, travel and work. The goal here is to allow computers to take part in activities never previously involved and allow people to interact with computers via gesture, voice, movement, and context. (Full article...)
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  A sign on the Hangzhou Metro advertising acceptance of the digital renminbi, the first CBDC adopted by a major economy (China)

  
  
  A central bank digital currency (CBDC; also called digital fiat currency or digital base money) is a digital currency issued by a central bank, rather than by a commercial bank. It is also a liability of the central bank, unless it is dividend-yielding, then it is an ownership stake in the central bank, and is a new form of legal tender, unlike cash like retail CBDC which is the digitization of sovereign currency, which applies to physical banknotes, coin, and existing wholesale CBDC reserves that are used in the reverse repo and repo market.
  
  The two primary categories of CBDCs are retail and wholesale. Retail CBDCs are designed for households and businesses to make payments for everyday transactions, whereas wholesale CBDCs are designed for financial institutions and operate similarly to central bank reserves. (Full article...)
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  Flat-screen television receivers on display for sale at a consumer electronics store in 2008

  
  
  Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, entertainment, news, and sports. The medium is capable of more than "radio broadcasting," which refers to an audio signal sent to radio receivers.
  
  Television became available in crude experimental forms in the 1920s, but only after several years of further development was the new technology marketed to consumers. After World War II, an improved form of black-and-white television broadcasting became popular in the United Kingdom and the United States, and television sets became commonplace in homes, businesses, and institutions. During the 1950s, television was the primary medium for influencing public opinion. In the mid-1960s, color broadcasting was introduced in the U.S. and most other developed countries. (Full article...)
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  Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, sensory, or a combination of multiple factors. Disabilities can be present from birth or can be acquired during a person's lifetime. Historically, disabilities have only been recognized based on a narrow set of criteria—however, disabilities are not binary and can be present in unique characteristics depending on the individual. A disability may be readily visible, or invisible in nature.
  
  The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities defines disability as including: (Full article...)
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  Diagram of the eye, the retina, and location of the various retinal implants.
  Retinal layers, from bottom to top: retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), photoreceptors (PR), horizontal cells (HC), bipolar cells (BC), amacrine cells (AC), ganglion cells (RGC), nerve fiber layer (RNFL).

  
  A retinal implant is a visual prosthesis for restoration of sight to patients blinded by retinal degeneration. The system is meant to partially restore useful vision to those who have lost their photoreceptors due to retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) or age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Retinal implants are being developed by a number of private companies and research institutions, and three types are in clinical trials: epiretinal (on the retina), subretinal (behind the retina), and suprachoroidal (between the choroid and the sclera). The implants introduce visual information into the retina by electrically stimulating the surviving retinal neurons. So far, elicited percepts had rather low resolution, and may be suitable for light perception and recognition of simple objects. (Full article...)
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  Modern agriculture: a center pivot irrigation system on a field

  
  Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in the cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output.
  As of 2021, small farms produce about one-third of the world's food, but large farms are prevalent. The largest 1% of farms in the world are greater than 50 hectares (120 acres) and operate more than 70% of the world's farmland. Nearly 40% of agricultural land is found on farms larger than 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres). However, five of every six farms in the world consist of fewer than 2 hectares (4.9 acres), and take up only around 12% of all agricultural land. Farms and farming greatly influence rural economics and greatly shape rural society, affecting both the direct agricultural workforce and broader businesses that support the farms and farming populations. (Full article...)

Selected global issues and related topics

• 

  

  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 number of individuals. 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. Further, on 6 May 2024, the White House released an official policy to more safely manage medical research projects involving potentially hazardous pathogens, including viruses and bacteria, that may pose a risk of a pandemic. (Full article...)
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  Unemployment rate, 2021

  
  
  Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the reference period.
  
  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 added to those unemployed).
  
  Unemployment can have many sources, such as the following: (Full article...)
• 
  Inclusive growth is economic growth that raises standards of livings 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...)
• 
  Overconsumption describes a situation where consumers overuse their available goods and services to where they can't, or don't 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'd receive, 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...)
• 
  The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the interlinked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, internet telephony, and file sharing.
  
  The origins of the Internet date back to research that enabled the time-sharing of computer resources, the development of packet switching in the 1960s and the design of computer networks for data communication. The set of rules (communication protocols) to enable internetworking on the Internet arose from research and development commissioned in the 1970s by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the United States Department of Defense in collaboration with universities and researchers across the United States and in the United Kingdom and France. The ARPANET initially served as a backbone for the interconnection of regional academic and military networks in the United States to enable resource sharing. The funding of the National Science Foundation Network as a new backbone in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other commercial extensions, encouraged worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies and the merger of many networks using DARPA's Internet protocol suite. The linking of commercial networks and enterprises by the early 1990s, as well as the advent of the World Wide Web, marked the beginning of the transition to the modern Internet, and generated sustained exponential growth as generations of institutional, personal, and mobile computers were connected to the internetwork. Although the Internet was widely used by academia in the 1980s, the subsequent commercialization of the Internet in the 1990s and beyond incorporated its services and technologies into virtually every aspect of modern life.
  
  Most traditional communication media, including telephone, radio, television, paper mail, and newspapers, are reshaped, redefined, or even bypassed by the Internet, giving birth to new services such as email, Internet telephone, Internet radio, Internet television, online music, digital newspapers, and audio and video streaming websites. Newspapers, books, and other print publishing have adapted to website technology or have been reshaped into blogging, web feeds, and online news aggregators. The Internet has enabled and accelerated new forms of personal interaction through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking services. Online shopping has grown exponentially for major retailers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs, as it enables firms to extend their "brick and mortar" presence to serve a larger market or even sell goods and services entirely online. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect supply chains across entire industries. (Full article...)
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  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 plant or animal 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. 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...)
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  Changes in surface air temperature over the past 50 years. The Arctic has warmed the most, and temperatures on land have generally increased more than sea surface temperatures.

  
  Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth’s climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global temperatures is driven by human activities, especially fossil fuel 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. Carbon dioxide, the primary gas driving global warming, has increased in concentration by about 50% since the pre-industrial era to levels not seen for millions of years.
  
  Climate change has an increasingly large impact on the environment. Deserts are expanding, while 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...)
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  Tar sands in Alberta, 2008. Oil is one of the most used resources by humans.

  
  Resource depletion is the consumption of a resource faster than it can be replenished. Natural resources are commonly divided between renewable resources and non-renewable resources. The use of either of these forms of resources beyond their rate of replacement is considered to be resource depletion. The value of a resource is a direct result of its availability in nature and the cost of extracting the resource. The more a resource is depleted the more the value of the resource increases. There are several types of resource depletion, including but not limited to: mining for fossil fuels and minerals, deforestation, pollution or contamination of resources, wetland and ecosystem degradation, soil erosion, overconsumption, aquifer depletion, and the excessive or unnecessary use of resources. Resource depletion is most commonly used in reference to farming, fishing, mining, water usage, and the consumption of fossil fuels. Depletion of wildlife populations is called defaunation.
  
  Resource depletion also brings up topics regarding its history, specifically its roots in colonialism and the Industrial Revolution, depletion accounting, and the socioeconomic impacts of resource depletion, as well as the morality of resource consumption, how humanity will be impacted and what the future will look like if resource depletion continues at the current rate, Earth Overshoot Day, and when specific resources will be completely exhausted. (Full article...)
• 

  

  Changes in surface air temperature over the past 50 years. The Arctic has warmed the most, and temperatures on land have generally increased more than sea surface temperatures.

  
  Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth’s climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global temperatures is driven by human activities, especially fossil fuel 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. Carbon dioxide, the primary gas driving global warming, has increased in concentration by about 50% since the pre-industrial era to levels not seen for millions of years.
  
  Climate change has an increasingly large impact on the environment. Deserts are expanding, while 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...)
• 
  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...)
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  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. Global fallout from widespread testing of nuclear weapons has caused until 2000 up to 2.4 million deaths, with some calling this testing genocide or ecocide.
  
  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. In one model, the average temperature of Earth following a full thermonuclear war falls for several years by 7 – 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...)
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  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). 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. There are several other factors that 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...)
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  A typical suburban development in the United States, located in Chandler, Arizona

  
  
  Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for very dense urban planning. Sometimes the urban areas described as the most "sprawling" are the most densely populated. In addition to describing a special form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development. In modern times some suburban areas described as "sprawl" have less detached housing and higher density than the nearby core city. Medieval suburbs suffered from the loss of protection of city walls, before the advent of industrial warfare. Modern disadvantages and costs include increased travel time, transport costs, pollution, and destruction of the countryside. The revenue for building and maintaining urban infrastructure in these areas are gained mostly through property and sales taxes. Most jobs in the US are now located in suburbs generating much of the revenue, although a lack of growth will require higher tax rates.
  
  In Europe, the term peri-urbanisation is often used to denote similar dynamics and phenomena, but the term urban sprawl is currently being used by the European Environment Agency. There is widespread disagreement about what constitutes sprawl and how to quantify it. For example, some commentators measure sprawl by residential density, using the average number of residential units per acre in a given area. Others associate it with decentralization (spread of population without a well-defined centre), discontinuity (leapfrogging development, as defined below), segregation of uses, and so forth.
  
  The term urban sprawl is highly politicized and almost always has negative connotations. It is criticized for causing environmental degradation, intensifying segregation, and undermining the vitality of existing urban areas, and is attacked on aesthetic grounds. The pejorative meaning of the term means that few openly support urban sprawl as such. The term has become a rallying cry for managing urban growth. (Full article...)
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  Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil's Maranhão state, 2016

  
  Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present. This is one-third less than the forest cover before the expansion of agriculture, with half of that loss occurring in the last century. Between 15 million to 18 million hectares of forest, an area the size of Bangladesh, are destroyed every year. On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute. Estimates vary widely as to the extent of deforestation in the tropics. In 2019, nearly a third of the overall tree cover loss, or 3.8 million hectares, occurred within humid tropical primary forests. These are areas of mature rainforest that are especially important for biodiversity and carbon storage.
  
  
  The direct cause of most deforestation is agriculture by far. More than 80% of deforestation was attributed to agriculture in 2018. Forests are being converted to plantations for coffee, palm oil, rubber and various other popular products. Livestock grazing also drives deforestation. Further drivers are the wood industry (logging), urbanization and mining. The effects of climate change are another cause via the increased risk of wildfires (see deforestation and climate change).
  
  
  Deforestation results in habitat destruction which in turn leads to biodiversity loss. Deforestation also leads to extinction of animals and plants, changes to the local climate, and displacement of indigenous people who live in forests. Deforested regions often also suffer from other environmental problems such as desertification and soil erosion. (Full article...)
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  The dodo became extinct during the mid-to-late 17th century due to habitat destruction, overhunting, and predation by introduced mammals. It is an often-cited example of a human-driven extinction.

  
  
  The Holocene extinction, also referred to as the Anthropocene extinction or the sixth mass extinction, is an ongoing extinction event caused exclusively by human activities during the Holocene epoch. This extinction event spans numerous families of plants and animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, impacting both terrestrial and marine species. Widespread degradation of biodiversity hotspots such as coral reefs and rainforests has exacerbated the crisis. Many of these extinctions are undocumented, as the species are often undiscovered before their extinctions.
  
  Current extinction rates are estimated at 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural background extinction rates and are accelerating. Over the past 100–200 years, biodiversity loss has reached such alarming levels that some conservation biologists now believe human activities have triggered a mass extinction, or are on the cusp of doing so. As such, after the "Big Five" mass extinctions, the Holocene extinction event has been referred to as the sixth mass extinction. However, given the recent recognition of the Capitanian mass extinction, the term seventh mass extinction has also been proposed.
  
  The Holocene extinction was preceded by the Late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions (lasting from 50,000 to 10,000 years ago), in which many large mammals – including 81% of megaherbivores – went extinct, a decline attributed at least in part to human (anthropogenic) activities. There continue to be strong debates about the relative importance of anthropogenic factors and climate change, but a recent review concluded that there is little evidence for a major role of climate change and "strong" evidence for human activities as the principal driver. Examples from regions such as New Zealand, Madagascar, and Hawaii have shown how human colonization and habitat destruction have led to significant biodiversity losses. (Full article...)
• 
  Gray goo (also spelled (or spelt) 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'." 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...)
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  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, 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."
  
  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. There is also climate change, water scarcity, land degradation, agricultural diseases, pandemics and disease outbreaks that can all lead to 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...)
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  Two Indian stamps which combine to symbolize gender equality

  
  Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations, and needs equally, also regardless of gender.
  
  UNICEF (an agency of the United Nations) defines gender equality as "women and men, and girls and boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections. It does not require that girls and boys, or women and men, be the same, or that they be treated exactly alike."
  As of 2017, gender equality is the fifth of seventeen sustainable development goals (SDG 5) of the United Nations; gender equality has not incorporated the proposition of genders besides women and men, or gender identities outside of the gender binary. Gender inequality is measured annually by the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Reports. (Full article...)
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  The collapse of Lehman Brothers (headquarters pictured), the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, on September 15, 2008, is often considered the climax of the 2008 financial crisis.

  
  The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide economic crisis, centered in the United States, which triggered the Great Recession of late 2007 to mid-2009, the most severe downturn since the 1929 Wall Street crash and Great Depression. The causes of the 2008 crisis included predatory lending in the form of subprime mortgages and a resulting U.S. housing bubble, excessive risk-taking by global financial institutions, and lack of regulatory oversight. The first phase of the crisis began in early 2007, as mortgage-backed securities (MBS) tied to U.S. real estate, and a vast web of derivatives linked to those MBS, collapsed in value. A liquidity crisis spread to global institutions by mid-2007 and climaxed with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, which triggered a stock market crash and international banking crisis.
  
  During the 1990s, the U.S. Congress had passed legislation intended to expand affordable housing through looser financing rules, and in 1999, parts of the 1933 Banking Act (Glass–Steagall Act) were repealed, enabling institutions to mix low-risk operations, such as commercial banking and insurance, with higher-risk operations such as investment banking and proprietary trading. As the Federal Reserve ("Fed") lowered the federal funds rate from 2000 to 2003, institutions increasingly targeted low-income homebuyers, largely belonging to racial minorities, with high-risk loans; this development went unattended by regulators. As interest rates rose from 2004 to 2006, the cost of mortgages rose and the demand for housing fell; in early 2007, as more U.S. subprime mortgage holders began defaulting on their repayments, lenders went bankrupt, culminating in the bankruptcy of New Century Financial in April. As demand and prices continued to fall, the financial contagion spread to global credit markets by August 2007, and central banks began injecting liquidity. In March 2008, Bear Stearns, the fifth largest U.S. investment bank, was sold to JPMorgan Chase in a "fire sale" backed by Fed financing.
  
  In response to the growing crisis, governments around the world deployed massive bail-outs of financial institutions and other monetary and fiscal policies to prevent a collapse of the global financial system. By July 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, companies which together owned or guaranteed half of the U.S. housing market, verged on collapse; the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 enabled the federal government to seize them on September 7. Lehman Brothers (the fourth largest U.S. investment bank) filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history on September 15, which was followed by a Fed bail-out of American International Group (the country's largest insurer) the next day, and the seizure of Washington Mutual in the largest bank failure in U.S. history on September 25. On October 3, Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, authorizing the Treasury Department to purchase toxic assets and bank stocks through the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The Fed began a program of quantitative easing by buying treasury bonds and other assets, such as MBS, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed in February 2009 by newly elected President Barack Obama, included a range of measures intended to preserve existing jobs and create new ones. These initiatives combined, coupled with actions taken in other countries, ended the worst of the Great Recession by mid-2009. (Full article...)
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  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 plant or animal 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. 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...)
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  Existential risk from artificial intelligence refers to the idea that substantial progress in artificial general intelligence (AGI) could lead to human extinction or an irreversible global catastrophe.
  
  One argument for 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.
  
  The plausibility of existential catastrophe due to AI is widely debated. It hinges in part on whether AGI or superintelligence are achievable, the speed at which dangerous capabilities and behaviors emerge, and whether practical scenarios for AI takeovers exist. Concerns about superintelligence have been voiced by computer scientists and tech CEOs such as Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, Alan Turing, Elon Musk, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. 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. (Full article...)
• 
  Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broader viewpoint, an investment can be defined as "to tailor the pattern of expenditure and receipt of resources to optimise the desirable patterns of these flows". When expenditures and receipts are defined in terms of money, then the net monetary receipt in a time period is termed cash flow, while money received in a series of several time periods is termed cash flow stream.
  
  In finance, the purpose of investing is to generate a return on the invested asset. The return may consist of a capital gain (profit) or loss, realised if the investment is sold, unrealised capital appreciation (or depreciation) if yet unsold. It may also consist of periodic income such as dividends, interest, or rental income. The return may also include currency gains or losses due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.
  
  Investors generally expect higher returns from riskier investments. When a low-risk investment is made, the return is also generally low. Similarly, high risk comes with a chance of high losses. Investors, particularly novices, are often advised to diversify their portfolio. Diversification has the statistical effect of reducing overall risk. (Full article...)
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  Map of the world's biodiversity hot spots, all of which are heavily threatened by habitat loss and degradation

  
  
  Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease in biodiversity and species numbers. Habitat destruction is in fact the leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinction worldwide.
  
  Humans contribute to habitat destruction through the use of natural resources, agriculture, industrial production and urbanization (urban sprawl). Other activities include mining, logging and trawling. Environmental factors can contribute to habitat destruction more indirectly. Geological processes, climate change, introduction of invasive species, ecosystem nutrient depletion, water and noise pollution are some examples. Loss of habitat can be preceded by an initial habitat fragmentation. Fragmentation and loss of habitat have become one of the most important topics of research in ecology as they are major threats to the survival of endangered species. (Full article...)
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  Global concentrations of health care resources, as depicted by the number of physicians per 10,000 individuals, by country. Data is sourced from a World Health Statistics 2010, a WHO report.

  
  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, 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...)
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  Changes in surface air temperature over the past 50 years. The Arctic has warmed the most, and temperatures on land have generally increased more than sea surface temperatures.

  
  Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth’s climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global temperatures is driven by human activities, especially fossil fuel 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. Carbon dioxide, the primary gas driving global warming, has increased in concentration by about 50% since the pre-industrial era to levels not seen for millions of years.
  
  Climate change has an increasingly large impact on the environment. Deserts are expanding, while 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...)

Did you know...

• ... that Fu Wuji's Fuhou gujin zhu includes information on a diverse range of topics, from astrological signs to the dimensions of imperial tombs?
• ... that the Cold Cathode Gauge Experiment could detect gases leaking from an astronaut's life support systems on the Moon's surface?
• ... that the Apollo 16 Heat Flow Experiment was disabled when astronaut John Young tripped over a cable and tore it from its connector?
• ... that foam has been used to kill farm animals en masse in a process called foam depopulation?
• ... that the quasar 3C 345 has a jet that appears to move five to fifteen times faster than the speed of light?
• ... that 6 percent of the US population had symptoms of long COVID lasting three months or longer in the first half of 2023?
• ... that after the original Stonewall Inn closed in 1969, its space was used by a bagel shop, a Chinese restaurant, and a clothing store?
• ... that ice in outer space is an amorphous solid, and this may be the most common phase of ice in the universe?
• ... that the metaverse has been described as "a honeypot trap for architecture astronauts"?
• ... that the injuries Anthony W. Case suffered in a school shooting led him to give up baseball and turn to astrophysics as a career?
• ... that Apollo astronauts walked on walls before walking on the Moon?
• ... that around the age of four, Jacob von Eggers was deported to Arkhangelsk in Russia together with the entire German-speaking population of Tartu?
• ... that five percent of Barbados's population turned out to protest the death of Milton King in Cape Town police custody?
• ... that with a population of 1,500, Millstreet in County Cork, Ireland, became the smallest settlement to host the Eurovision Song Contest when it staged the 1993 event?

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Selected images that captured my attention

• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
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  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
• 
  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".
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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 Thinker
• 
  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.
• 
  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 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.
• 
  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.
• 
  You are feeling very sleepy...
• 
  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.
• 
  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).
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  A Marginated Tortoise hatchling.
• 
  Imagine waking up to this. Which makes me wonder whatever happened to the guy who took this photo.
• 
  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 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.
• 
  View from Notre-Dame de Paris.
• 
  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.
• 
  Sand castle
• 
  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 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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.

Trump news tracker

7 May 2025 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict

U.S. President Donald Trump states that there will be news regarding a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages "probably in the next 24 hours". (Reuters)

6 May 2025 – Red Sea crisis

U.S. president Donald Trump announces that the United States has reached a ceasefire with the Houthis, with Oman as mediator, and will stop its airstrikes, after they agreed to stop disrupting international shipping. (Reuters) (NBC News)

4 May 2025 – Tariffs in the second Trump administration

U.S. president Donald Trump announces he will introduce 100% tariffs on foreign films brought into the United States. (The Guardian)

2 May 2025 – Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration

The United States Department of Defense designates a second area on the Mexico–United States border, attached to the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, as a military zone to enforce immigration laws. (AP News)

2 May 2025 – Freedom of the press in the United States

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order calling for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop directly funding NPR and PBS, and for government agencies to stop indirectly funding these public broadcasters. (CNN)

1 May 2025 – United States government group chat leaks

In the wake of the Signalgate scandal, Mike Waltz and Alex Nelson Wong resign as U.S. National Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor respectively, marking the first resignations during the second Trump administration. U.S. President Donald Trump later nominates Waltz as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. (CBS News)

1 May 2025 –

United States District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. rules that US President Donald Trump cannot use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants, deeming the previous use of this power as having been improperly invoked. (BBC News)

25 April 2025 – German economic crisis

The German government cuts its economic growth forecast to zero, with the Deutsche Bundesbank estimating a future recession. Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck accuses U.S. President Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariffs of being the primary reason for Germany's continued economic crisis. (DW)

19 April 2025 –

U.S. authorities arrest a man in Colorado Springs for his "Declaration of War" threatening Elon Musk, Tesla owners, and members of Donald Trump's cabinet. The declaration, sent to various media outlets, detailed specific attack methods and aimed at Musk's elimination. (KCNC-TV)

18 April 2025 – Red Sea crisis

The Houthis say that American airstrikes targeted the Ras Isa port in Yemen, killing 74 people and wounding 171 others. This marks the single-deadliest known attack under President Donald Trump's new campaign targeting the Houthis. (AP)

18 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announces that the Trump administration is ready to abandon diplomatic efforts and "move on" if it is not possible to end the war in "a matter of days". (CNN)

16 April 2025 – Tariffs in the second Trump administration

California Governor Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta file a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration over the tariffs, making California the first U.S. state to do so. The lawsuit also targets the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, the law used by Trump to impose tariffs against Canada, China, and Mexico. (Politico)

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8 May 2025 –

Five tourists and a pilot are killed, and one other is injured, when a Bell 407 flying from Harsil to Gangotri crashes into a wooded area and falls into a deep gorge near Bhagirathi River in Uttarakhand, India. (The Hindu) (NDTV)

8 May 2025 – 2025 papal conclave

The second and third ballots of the papal conclave fail to elect a new pope. (CNN)

7 May 2025 – 2025 India–Pakistan standoff

2025 India–Pakistan border skirmishes

2025 India–Pakistan strikes

Indian airstrikes impact multiple locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing at least 8 people. (Reuters) (India Today)

Pakistan launches retaliatory strikes into India and Indian-administered Kashmir, and claims to have destroyed five Indian fighter jets. Three civilians are killed. (The Express Tribune) (Al Jazeera)

Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif declares the Indian attacks to be an act of war and vows further retaliation. (ABC News)

A state of emergency is declared in Pakistan's Punjab province following the airstrikes, with all schools in the region being closed. Hospitals and emergency services are placed on high alert. (The Express Tribune)

7 May 2025 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Gaza war

Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip

According to Hamas officials, Israeli airstrikes kill at least 92 Palestinians, including women, children, and two journalists, and wound at least 86 others. (AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump states that there will be news regarding a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages "probably in the next 24 hours". (Reuters)

Palestinian political violence

Four people are injured, at least two seriously, in a drive-by shooting at a car at the Reihan crossing in the West Bank. (YNet) (Times of Israel) (Arutz Sheva)

One person is injured in an attempted car ramming and stabbing in Mount Hebron in the West Bank. (YNet)

7 May 2025 –

The Walt Disney Company announces plans to open its seventh theme park in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, their first in the Middle East. (BBC News)

Eleven kindergarten teachers are killed in a collision between a minibus and dump truck in Purworejo Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. (AP)

A woman is decapitated and a security guard is critically injured in a axe mass stabbing attack by a 22-year-old Polish citizen on the campus of University of Warsaw at an auditorium in Warsaw, Poland. A day of mourning is declared. (Reuters) (BBC News)

One student is killed and two others are injured in a mass stabbing attack outside the entrance of Santa Ana High School in Orange County, California, United States. (KTLA)

The Real ID requirement takes effect at U.S. airports. (The Guardian)

7 May 2025 – 2025 papal conclave

A total of 133 cardinal electors begin the process of electing a new pope following the death of Pope Francis. (The Guardian)

The conclave's first ballot fails to elect a new pope. (The Washington Post)

6 May 2025 – Red Sea crisis

May 2025 Israeli attacks on Yemen

Israeli airstrikes hit Sanaa International Airport in Sanaa, Yemen, and destroy three of Yemenia's seven planes. (The Times of Israel)

United States attacks in Yemen

U.S. president Donald Trump announces that the United States has reached a ceasefire with the Houthis, with Oman as mediator, and will stop its airstrikes, after they agreed to stop disrupting international shipping. (Reuters) (NBC News)

A second U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter jet is lost in the Red Sea, due to an equipment failure during its attempted landing on USS Harry Truman. Both of its crew members ejected and were recovered. (CNN)

6 May 2025 – Insurgency in Balochistan

Seven Pakistan Army soldiers are killed and five others are injured when their vehicle in a convoy heading to a security operation is exploded by a Balochistan Liberation Army improvised explosive device in Balochistan, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera English)

6 May 2025 –

Twelve people are killed and 23 others are injured after a bus overturns in Padang Panjang, West Sumatra, Indonesia. (VOI.ID)

Four people are killed and over 40 others are injured when a passenger bus rolls down into a gorge in Poonch District, Jammu and Kashmir, India. (The Times of India)

6 May 2025 – India–United Kingdom relations

British prime minister Keir Starmer and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi announce they have signed a bilateral free trade agreement to significantly lower tariffs on 99% of Indian exports into the UK, including textiles, and halve tariffs of British exports into India, including aerospace manufacturing, whiskey, and lamb meat. (DW)

6 May 2025 –

The government of Peru imposes a curfew and temporarily suspends gold mining in Pataz Province for 30 days after the bodies of thirteen miners who were kidnapped and killed were discovered on Sunday. (DW)

6 May 2025 – 2025 German federal election

The Bundestag elects Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, as the 10th Chancellor of Germany in the second round of voting, with 325 votes out of the 316 votes necessary. (BBC News) (Tagesschau)

5 May 2025 – Red Sea crisis

May 2025 Israeli attacks on Yemen

The Israeli military carry out six airstrikes on Hudaydah Port in Hodeidah, Houthi-controlled Yemen, in response to yesterday's attack on Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Al Jazeera English)

5 May 2025 – Gaza war

The Israel Security Cabinet confirms they plan to control more than 70% of the Gaza Strip indefinitely, alongside moving its civilians southwards. (The Guardian)

5 May 2025 – Syrian civil war

A woman is killed and others are wounded after unidentified armed men open fire with automatic weapons inside a nightclub in Damascus, Syria. (CTV News)

5 May 2025 –

Three people are killed, four others are injured, and nine are missing after a panga boat capsizes near a beach at the Del Mar Fairgrounds near San Diego, California, United States. (ABC News)

5 May 2025 – Holy See–Palestine relations, Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war

The Vatican announces that it will convert and donate a Popemobile into a mobile health clinic for wounded children in Gaza, Palestine, in accordance with one of Pope Francis' final wishes. (The Sydney Morning Herald)

5 May 2025 – Sudanese civil war, Sudan–United Arab Emirates relations

Darfur campaign

The International Court of Justice dismisses Sudan's case against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alleging that the UAE violated the Genocide Convention by supplying weapons to the Rapid Support Forces and other paramilitary groups in the Darfur region. (DW) (PBS)

5 May 2025 – Gaza war protests

Five pro-Palestinian protesters are arrested by police during a World War II anniversary event in Wageningen, Netherlands, after throwing a smoke bomb onto the stage during a speech by Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof while Polish prime minister Donald Tusk was visiting, and holding up banners and flags. (Reuters)

5 May 2025 – Mass shootings in the United States

Three people are killed and five are injured in a mass shooting in Glendale, Arizona, United States. (ABC News)

5 May 2025 –

Three traffic police officers and two gunmen are killed and at least four others, including a police officer and two other shooters, are injured in a mass shooting and shootout by gunmen in Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia. One of the attackers fled in a police car. (Reuters)

5 May 2025 – 2025 Australian federal election

2025 Australian Senate election

The incumbent Australian Labor Party overtakes the Liberal–National Coalition as the largest plurality in the Senate, meaning support will be required only from the Coalition or the Australian Greens to pass legislation. (The Guardian Australia)

5 May 2025 – 2025 World Snooker Championship

In snooker, Zhao Xintong of China defeats three-time champion Mark Williams of Wales 18–12 at the World Snooker Championship to win his first championship, becoming the first amateur player and the first player from China to do so. (Reuters)

4 May 2025 – Red Sea crisis

2025 Houthi attack on Tel Aviv airport

A ballistic missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen hits near Ben Gurion International Airport in Central District, Israel, injuring eight people. (Reuters) (The Telegraph)

4 May 2025 – Sudanese Civil War

The Rapid Support Forces launch drone attacks on Port Sudan's international civilian and military airport. Drones also hit an ammunition depot at Osman Digna Air Base, causing damage but no casualties. (Al Jazeera)

4 May 2025 – Tariffs in the second Trump administration

U.S. president Donald Trump announces he will introduce 100% tariffs on foreign films brought into the United States. (The Guardian)

4 May 2025 – Port of Shahid Rajaee explosion

The casualty figure from the explosion at the Port of Shahid Rajaee in Hormozgan province, Iran, is revised by the judiciary of Iran to 57 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries. Two people, including a government official, are arrested in connection with the explosion. (Arab News)

4 May 2025 – Sinking of the Bayesian

Marine salvage experts begin operations to recover the superyacht Bayesian which sank in August 2024 and killed seven people, including British billionaire tech magnate Mike Lynch and members of his family. (CTV News)

4 May 2025 –

Ten people are killed and 70 others are rescued and hospitalized after two passenger boats carrying 84 people capsize on the Wu River near Qianxi, Guizhou, China. (Barron's) (CTV News) (SCMP)

At least three people are killed, fifteen others are injured, including children, and several apartments are destroyed in a gas explosion at an apartment block in Moscow, Russia. (UNN) (News.AZ)

Two people are killed and four others are injured after a car crashes into an entrance of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila, Philippines. The driver of the car is in police custody. (AP) (Reuters) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Two people are arrested after planning to carry out attacks with improvised explosive devices at Lady Gaga's concert with more than two million attendees on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to gain notoriety on social media. The suspects spread hate speech, mainly against children, adolescents and the LGBTQIA+ community. (BBC News)

Five people, including four Iranian citizens, are arrested for planning to carry out a terrorist attack at a single location in London, United Kingdom. Separately, three other Iranian men are arrested in London on suspicion of a national security offense as part of an unrelated investigation. (CTV News)

Thirteen gold mine security guards that were abducted in an ambush last month in Pataz province, Peru, are found dead. (CTV News)

4 May 2025 – 2025 Romanian presidential election

The first round of the Romanian presidential election is held with eleven candidates on the ballot. George Simion leads the first round with 40% of the vote. As no candidate has won over 50% of the vote, a run-off between the first two candidates will be held on May 18. (BBC News)

4 May 2025 – 2025 Lebanese municipal elections

First round of voting in the Lebanese municipal elections begin in the Mount Lebanon Governorate and Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate. (NBC News)

3 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Four people are injured in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike that struck an apartment building on Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The mayor of Novorossiysk declares a state of emergency following the strikes. (Ukrainska Pravda) (Al Arabiya)

The Ukrainian intelligence directorate claims it has shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet using a MAGURA naval drone over the Black Sea. (The Kyiv Independent)

3 May 2025 – Gaza war

Gaza war hostage crisis

Hamas releases a video allegedly showing Israeli hostage Maxim Hirkin, who was abducted during the Nova music festival massacre in 2023, alive. (Reuters) (Haaretz)

3 May 2025 – South Sudanese Civil War

At least seven people are killed and 25 others are injured in an airstrike on a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières in Old Fangak, Fangak County, South Sudan. (Al Jazeera English) (CTV News) (BBC News)

3 May 2025 –

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett announces that he will step down as CEO by the end of the year at the company's annual shareholder meeting. Greg Abel will take over as CEO, pending board approval. (CNN)

Six people are killed and about 80 others are injured, including five critically, in a crowd crush during a Hindu temple festival in North Goa district, Goa, India. (Al Jazeera English)

3 May 2025 – Corruption in Brazil

Brazilian social security minister Carlos Lupi resigns after police announce a corruption scandal which alleges he defrauded pensioners of $1.1 billion. Federal police say that the National Social Security Institute made unauthorised deductions from payments made to millions of pensioners over the past decade. (BBC)

3 May 2025 –

A woman is killed in Thessaloniki, Greece, after a bomb she was carrying explodes in her hands, also damaging several nearby storefronts and vehicles. The bomb was possibly intended to be placed outside a nearby bank. (AP News)

3 May 2025 – Mexican drug war

Jalisco extermination camp

José Murguía Santiago, the mayor of Teuchitlán, Jalisco, is arrested on charges of organized crime and forced disappearance. (France 24)

3 May 2025 – 2025 Australian federal election

The Australian Labor Party under current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese increases its majority in the House of Representatives, winning a second term. (ABC News Australia).

Liberal Leader Peter Dutton loses his seat of Dickson, becoming the first Leader of the Opposition to lose their seat in Australian electoral history. (ABC News Australia)

3 May 2025 – 2025 South Korean presidential election

Former Labor Minister Kim Moon Soo wins the presidential nomination of South Korea's main conservative party, People Power. (AP News)

3 May 2025 – 2025 Singaporean general election

Singaporeans vote to elect 92 out of 97 members of the Parliament of Singapore across 32 of the 33 constituencies in the general election. (CNA) (The Straits Times)

The People’s Action Party wins the election, receiving 65.57% of the vote. (CNN)

3 May 2025 –

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé is sworn-in as President of the Council of Ministers of Togo. Following constitutional reform that introduced a parliamentary system, this new post becomes the highest office in the government's executive branch. (BBC)

Over 20,000 Hefazat-e-Islam protesters rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to denounce proposed legislation that would provide equal rights for Muslim women such as inheritance law, a ban on polygamy, and recognition of sex workers as laborers, which they allege oppose Sharia law. (AP) (DW)

3 May 2025 – 2025 Kentucky Derby

In thoroughbred racing, Sovereignty ridden by Junior Alvarado wins the 151st Kentucky Derby in a upset over Journalism ridden by Umberto Rispoli. (Courier Journal)

2 May 2025 – Gaza war

Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war

Gaza Freedom Flotilla incident

A Gaza-bound activist humanitarian aid ship, part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, catches fire and issues an SOS after what its organizers alleged was an Israeli drone attack off the coast of Malta in international waters. (CNN)

2 May 2025 –

Rust is released theatrically in the United States, three and a half years after a fatal on-set shooting accident occurred involving members of the cast and crew, including cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, director Joel Souza, and lead actor Alec Baldwin. (The New York Times)

2 May 2025 – Tariffs in the second Trump administration

China–United States trade war

The Trump administration terminates the de minimis tariff exemption for some imports shipped directly to consumers. Online shops such as Shein and Temu adjust prices, while Temu also announces a shipping pause to the United States. (The New York Times) (BBC)

2 May 2025 –

Seven people, including six Italian and Chinese nationals, are killed and at least sixteen others are injured, some severely, when a truck and a van collide and catch fire on U.S. Route 20 near Yellowstone National Park in Idaho, United States. (NBC News) (CBS News)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 216 children have died this flu season in the United States, making it the deadliest since the 2009 swine flu pandemic. (CNN)

2 May 2025 – Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration

The United States Department of Defense designates a second area on the Mexico–United States border, attached to the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, as a military zone to enforce immigration laws. (AP News)

2 May 2025 – Gang war in Haiti, Haiti–United States relations

The United States Department of State designates the Viv Ansanm coalition and the Gran Grif gang as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. (NBC News)

2 May 2025 – Freedom of the press in the United States

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order calling for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop directly funding NPR and PBS, and for government agencies to stop indirectly funding these public broadcasters. (CNN)

2 May 2025 –

The German Constitution protection office designates the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a right-wing extremist organization. The AfD came second in the 2025 German federal election after winning 20.8% of the vote for a record 152 seats in the Bundestag. (BBC News)

1 May 2025 – Syrian civil war

Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian civil war

2025 massacres of Syrian Druze, Southern Syria clashes

The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights reports that nine field executions were conducted against members of the Syrian Druze community amid an outbreak of sectarian clashes. Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri characterizes the killings as part of a "genocidal campaign". (Arab News) (SOHR)

Israeli Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif appeals to Israel to intervene against ongoing massacres. (The Jerusalem Post)

1 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

Odesa strikes

An overnight Russian drone attack on Odesa, Ukraine, kills two people and injures 15 others. High-rise apartments, residential homes, a supermarket and a school were among those targeted, according to Governor of Odesa Oblast Oleh Kiper. (Reuters)

1 May 2025 –

At least ten people are killed while 37 others are injured in a multiple-vehicle collision at a toll plaza of the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway in Tarlac City, Philippines. (GMA Integrated News) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The bodies of three South African police officers who had been missing for six days are found in the Hennops River. (BBC News)

1 May 2025 – 2025 Southwest United States measles outbreak

North America's three largest measles outbreaks continue to expand, with over 2,500 confirmed cases. There have been three fatalities in the United States and one in Mexico. The outbreaks began in Ontario, Canada, then surged in Texas and New Mexico, and have quickly escalated in Chihuahua, Mexico. (AP News)

1 May 2025 – North Korea–Russia relations

North Korea and Russia announce the construction of their first road link, a bridge over the Tumen River. The bridge will be a kilometer long, and will enhance cross-border travel, tourism, and the circulation of commodities. (AP News)

1 May 2025 – 2024 South Korean martial law

The prosecutors of South Korea indict former president Yoon Suk-yeol of abuse of authority after he declared martial law in December 2024. (DW)

1 May 2025 – Epic Games v. Apple

A U.S. district judge finds that Apple willfully violated an injunction in a case brought by Epic Games. The injunction was supposed to block Apple from anti-competitive conduct and pricing, opening the App Store up to outside payment options. (BBC News)

1 May 2025 – United States government group chat leaks

In the wake of the Signalgate scandal, Mike Waltz and Alex Nelson Wong resign as U.S. National Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor respectively, marking the first resignations during the second Trump administration. U.S. President Donald Trump later nominates Waltz as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. (CBS News)

1 May 2025 – M23 campaign (2022–present)

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo request the Senate to lift the immunity of former President Joseph Kabila to face trial on charges of supporting a rebel uprising. The Justice Minister alleged that there is was evidence implicating him in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and massacres of peaceful civilians and military personnel. (BBC News)

1 May 2025 –

The Supreme Court of Korea overturns the acquittal judgement of Democratic Party presidential candidate and former leader Lee Jae-myung over violation of election law. The court orders the case to be sent back to Seoul High Court. (NBC News)

United States District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. rules that US President Donald Trump cannot use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants, deeming the previous use of this power as having been improperly invoked. (BBC News)

1 May 2025 – 2025 South Korean presidential election

Acting South Korean President Han Duck-soo resigns, indicating a possible run in the upcoming presidential election. (Yonhap)

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, the next person in the presidential line of succession, resigns a few hours later. (Yonhap)

1 May 2025 – 2025 United Kingdom local elections

The United Kingdom holds local elections, as well as a parliamentary by-election in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency. (BBC News)

1 May 2025 –

The Football Association bans transgender women from women's football in England starting 1 June after amending its eligibility criteria. (BBC Sport)

30 April 2025 – Red Sea crisis

US–UK airstrikes on Yemen

The Royal Air Force launches airstrikes on buildings they claimed were used by the Houthis to manufacture drones south of Sanaa, Yemen. (CTV News)

30 April 2025 – Puntland–Somaliland dispute

Las Anod conflict, Puntland–Somaliland prisoner exchange

Puntland releases fifteen prisoners of war in exchange for Somaliland releasing eleven combatants captured during the conflict in the contested Sool region. This is the second prisoner exchange of prisoners captured during the conflict in Las Anod. (Hiiraan Online) (Horn Observer)

30 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

North Korean involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

South Korean intelligence claims North Korean troops have suffered around 4,700 casualties, including about 600 fatalities among 15,000 soldiers. Their combat capability has also significantly improved, with increasing proficiency in new weapons such as drones. (CBC News)

30 April 2025 – Colombian conflict

The Colombian government says fifteen police officers and twelve soldiers have been killed over the past two weeks in targeted attacks by the Gulf Clan cartel and other armed groups. (BBC News)

30 April 2025 – Ukraine–United States relations

The United States and Ukraine sign the Ukraine–United States Mineral Resources Agreement to share profits from the future sales of Ukraine's mineral and energy reserves. (BBC News)

30 April 2025 – 2025 Israel fires

Wildfires rage out of control in at least 100 different locations throughout Israel and the West Bank, prompting the Israeli government to declare a state of emergency and forcing evacuations near Jerusalem. At least 40 people are reportedly injured due to the fires. (CNN)

30 April 2025 –

Kenyan parliament member Charles Ong'ondo is shot to death in Nairobi by unknown gunmen on a motorcycle in an apparent assassination. (BBC News)

30 April 2025 – Belarus–United States relations

An American citizen detained in Belarus after being accused of being part of a US-backed coup to oust Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is released from the country. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirms the release. (KCRA)

30 April 2025 –

The world's oldest person, Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, dies at the age of 116 years and 326 days. The new oldest living person is British supercentenarian Ethel Caterham, who is the last person born in the 1900s decade, the last living subject of King Edward VII, and the oldest British person ever. (BBC News) (The Telegraph)

30 April 2025 – Foreign relations of Taiwan, Somaliland–Taiwan relations

Amid strengthening ties between Taiwan and Somaliland, the Somali government bans Taiwanese passport holders from Somalia, citing UN Resolution 2758 and the One China policy. Taiwan lodges a protest with Somalia and claims China instigated the ban. (BBC News) (Reuters)

30 April 2025 – New Zealand–Philippines relations

New Zealand defence minister Judith Collins and Philippine defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro sign a visiting forces agreement in Manila. (The Washington Post)

29 April 2025 – Kashmir conflict

2025 India–Pakistan border skirmishes

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar says that India intends to launch a military strike on Pakistan within the next 24 to 36 hours. (Reuters)

29 April 2025 – Rif Dimashq clashes (April 2025–present)

Gunmen reported to be aligned with the Syrian government engage in fatal clashes with armed Druze combatants in the Druze-majority city of Jaramana in southern Syria. At least 13 people are killed, and 12 others are injured. (Al Jazeera) (CTV News)

29 April 2025 – Boko Haram insurgency

At least 26 people are killed when a truck hits a roadside bomb in Borno State, Nigeria. (Al Jazeera)

29 April 2025 –

A 38-year-old man suspected of seriously injuring two women on Saturday in a shooting and crossbow attack on the Otley Run pub crawl in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, succumbs to a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the hospital. It is confirmed that the perpetrator's motive was misogyny. (BBC News)

29 April 2025 – 2025 European power outage

At least five fatalities are reported in Spain as a consequence of the power outage that affected the Iberian Peninsula the day before. (ABC.es)

29 April 2025 – 2025 Liaoning Liaoyang Hotel Fire

Twenty-two people are killed and three others are injured after a fire breaks out in a restaurant in Liaoyang, Liaoning, China. (CNA)

29 April 2025 –

Three people are killed and over 400000 lose power due to severe storms in Western Pennsylvania, United States. (CBS)

Three people are killed and two others are injured when scaffolding collapses at a developing liquefied natural gas plant in Port Arthur, Texas, United States. (Times Now)

Fifteen people are killed, including two children, and thirteen others are injured in a fire at a hotel in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. (Business Standard) (The Telegraph)

Eighteen Russians are injured in a bus crash in Side, Turkey. (Telegrafi)

29 April 2025 – Jalisco extermination camp

Alejandro Gertz Manero, Attorney General of Mexico, concluded that the Izaguirre Ranch was used by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a recruitment camp between 2021 and 2024, but found no evidence that it served as an extermination site. (AP)

29 April 2025 –

Three people are killed in a shooting at a hair salon in Uppsala, Sweden, with the perpetrator still at large. (BBC News)

Three people are killed and two others are seriously injured in a mass shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Minnesota Public Radio)

President of Russia Vladimir Putin signs a decree restoring the "Stalingrad" name to the Volgograd Airport. (Reuters)

28 April 2025 – Kashmir conflict

2025 India–Pakistan border skirmishes

Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif says that a military incursion by India is imminent. (Reuters)

28 April 2025 – Red Sea crisis

US–UK airstrikes on Yemen

2025 Saada prison airstrike

The Houthis claim at least 68 people are killed and 47 others are injured in a U.S. airstrike on a prison holding African migrants in Saada Governorate, Yemen. (AP)

A sailor is injured when an F/A-18E fighter jet falls off the deck of the USS Harry Truman and sinks while the aircraft carrier engaged in evasive maneuvers to avoid a Houthi attack. (Politico)

28 April 2025 – Boko Haram insurgency

Sixteen people are killed after the explosion of a roadside bomb between the towns of Rann and Gamboru in Borno State, Nigeria. (Al Jazeera)

28 April 2025 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

At least seven people are killed and 16 others are wounded when a bomb explodes outside an anti-Pakistani Taliban peace committee office building in Wana, South Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)

28 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russian president Vladimir Putin declares a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine for May 8–10 to mark the World War II Victory Day. (CTV News)

28 April 2025 – South Thailand insurgency

Three people are killed and another is severely injured overnight in two separate attacks by suspected Islamist insurgents in Bannang Sata district, Yala province, Thailand. (The Nation)

28 April 2025 – Somali Civil War

Several mortars from alleged Al-Shabaab militants strike Aden Adde Airport and Halane Camp, the residences of the UNSOM, AUSSOM, and foreign embassies. (Hiiraan Online)

28 April 2025 – 2025 European power outage

A widespread power outage is reported in Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and parts of France, shutting down airports, public transit systems, and many hospitals. (La Vanguardia) (El Mundo) (El Confidencial)

The government of Spain declares a national state of emergency and deploys over 30,000 police officers to maintain order. Portuguese prime minister Luís Montenegro rules out a cyberattack as the cause of the power outage. (Reuters)

28 April 2025 –

Four female students, ages 4 to 18, are killed and six others are injured when a car crashes through the wall of a daycare center in Chatham, Illinois, United States. The driver was not injured but was taken to a hospital for evaluation. (The Independent)

28 April 2025 – 2025 Nushki oil tanker explosion

Three firefighters are killed and 70 others are injured when a fuel tanker explodes in the Nushki District, Balochistan, Pakistan. The driver of the tanker were also killed in the incident. (DAWN.COM)

28 April 2025 – Tianjin Hospital stabbing

Two people are killed and four others are injured, including one seriously, in a mass stabbing attack at the Tianjin Hospital in Tianjin, China. All the victims were medical staff, including Luo Wei, an orthopedic doctor and deputy chief physician of the Second Department of Sports Trauma Arthroscopy. (Oriental Daily News)

28 April 2025 –

Six people are injured in a mass stabbing attack at a high school in Cheongju, South Korea. The attacker, a student, is arrested. (The Korea Herald)

28 April 2025 – 2025 Canadian federal election

Voters in Canada go to the polls to elect the 343 members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. (BBC)

The Liberal Party under leader Mark Carney is projected to form government for the party's fourth consecutive mandate, with Carney remaining prime minister. (The Globe and Mail)

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh lose their seats, with the NDP also losing official party status in the House. Each make speeches conceding the election, with Singh announcing his intention to resign as party leader. (CTV News)

28 April 2025 – 2025 papal conclave

The Vatican announces the 2025 papal conclave will take place starting on May 7 in the Sistine Chapel to elect Pope Francis's successor after his death on April 21. (NPR) (Vatican News)

28 April 2025 – 2025 Trinidad and Tobago general election

Voters in Trinidad and Tobago go to the polls to elect the 41 members of the House of Representatives. (Radio Jamaica News)

The opposition United National Congress, led by Kamla Persad-Bissessar, wins a majority of seats. (The Gleaner)

27 April 2025 – Gaza war

Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip

At least 51 Palestinians are killed by Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 52,243 throughout the war. (AP)

27 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

North Korean involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

North Korea confirms the deployment of its soldiers to Russia a day after Russia confirmed the presence of North Korean soldiers fighting alongside them. (Reuters)

27 April 2025 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The Pakistani Armed Forces claims to have killed 54 Pakistani Taliban militants attempting to cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan near North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, allegedly to carry out high-profile terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. (CTV News)

27 April 2025 – Israeli–Hezbollah conflict

Israel carries out airstrikes on several suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, despite a ceasefire agreement following the 2024 invasion. The Lebanese Civil Defense reports no casualties. (BBC News)

27 April 2025 – Sudanese civil war

Rapid Support Forces militants kill over 31 civilians, including minors, in a mass shooting near al-Salha, Omdurman. (Sudan Tribune)

27 April 2025 – Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces its 2025 inductees, including English band Bad Company, American groups Outkast and Soundgarden, artists Cyndi Lauper and Carol Kaye, and more. (NPR)

27 April 2025 –

Saudi Arabia and Qatar announce they will pay Syria's outstanding debt of $15 million to the World Bank that the country accumulated throughout its civil war from 2011, allowing Syria to work towards post-war recovery and reconstruction, which is estimated to cost at least $400 billion. (AP)

27 April 2025 – Port of Shahid Rajaee explosion

The death toll from yesterday's explosion at the Port of Shahid Rajaee in Bandar Abbas, Iran, rises to 40 while the injury count increases to 1,205. (Iran International)

27 April 2025 –

At least one person is killed and at least 51 others are injured when a ferry transporting 42 people collides with a privately-owned recreational boat near the Memorial Causeway in Clearwater, Florida, United States. (IONTB) (ABC News)

27 April 2025 – Death and funeral of Pope Francis

The tomb of Pope Francis at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in Rome, Italy, is opened for public viewing and photos are released by Vatican City. More than 13,000 people enter the basilica to view the tomb and pay their respects, while several thousand others remain outside. (ABC News)

27 April 2025 – 2025 Vancouver car attack

The death toll from yesterday's vehicle-ramming attack at a street festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, rises to eleven with at least 20 others injured, making the attack tied for the deadliest vehicle-ramming attack in Canadian history. The British Columbia Prosecution Service charges the perpetrator with eight counts of second-degree murder, while investigators also rule out terrorism. (CTV News) (AP)

27 April 2025 –

Three people are killed and two are injured in a mass shooting after a quarrel outside a pizzeria in Monreale, Province of Palermo, Italy. (PalermoToday)

Polish investigators start excavating a World War II mass grave in Puźniki. It contains victims of the Volhynia massacres, when Ukrainian nationalists murdered around 100,000 civilians who were predominantly Polish. (NOS)

At least 114 people suspected of entering the United States illegally are detained in a raid by the DEA and ICE at a nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, which had been investigated for drug trafficking and prostitution. (AP) (NPR)

One person is killed and six others, including three students, are wounded in a school shooting during a university event at the historically black Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, United States. (AP) (CNN)

26 April 2025 – Islamist insurgency in the Sahel

Twelve soldiers are killed in clashes with militants near the village of Sakoira, Niger. (Reuters)

26 April 2025 – Red Sea crisis

The Israel Defense Forces say they have intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Yemen by Houthi forces. (Reuters) (Times of Israel)

26 April 2025 – Territorial disputes in the South China Sea

China seizes the disputed Sandy Cay Reef in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea. (Financial Times)

26 April 2025 – 2025 India–Pakistan diplomatic crisis

Severe flooding is reported along the Jhelum River in Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir after Indian authorities release a large amount of water without prior warning. The incident follows the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty by the Indian government. (24 News HD)

26 April 2025 – Port of Shahid Rajaee explosion

At least twenty-five people are killed and over 800 others are injured in an explosion at the Port of Shahid Rajaee in Bandar Abbas, Iran. (AP)

26 April 2025 –

Three people are killed when a Mooney M20 crashes a mile south of Upper Cumberland Regional Airport in Tennessee, United States. (WKRN-TV)

Two people are missing and a child is rescued after a boat capsizes on Maule Lake in Florida, United States. (Citizen)

26 April 2025 – Death and funeral of Pope Francis

The funeral of Pope Francis is held in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City. 400,000 people are in attendance, including more than 130 world leaders. (ABC News) (CNN) (The Guardian)

26 April 2025 – 2025 Vancouver car attack

Nine people are killed and several others injured, after a car is driven through a crowd at a Philippine-Canadian festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Al Jazeera)

26 April 2025 –

Two women are seriously injured in an attack on a road when a 38-year-old man attacks them with a crossbow and a firearm before shooting and injuring himself in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Counter Terrorism Policing is currently investigating the incident. (BBC News)

25 April 2025 – Kashmir conflict

2025 India–Pakistan border skirmishes

Indian and Pakistani military troops exchange gunfire across the Line of Control during an ongoing diplomatic crisis caused by a terrorist attack in India-administered Kashmir. (Al Jazeera)

25 April 2025 – Gaza war

Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, Gaza Strip famine

The World Food Programme (WFP) claims that their entire food stock inside the Gaza Strip is empty due to the Israeli blockade of humanitarian aid. WFP aid kitchens are expected to run out of food in a few days, and thousands of Palestinians are expected to die from starvation. The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs calls the situation "probably the worst" since the beginning of the war in October 2023. (DW)

25 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Lieutenant general Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, is assassinated in a car bombing in Balashikha, Moscow Oblast, Russia. (CNN)

25 April 2025 – Death and funeral of Pope Francis

Cardinals seal the coffin of Pope Francis in a private liturgical rite led by Camerlengo Kevin Farrell at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. (CNN)

25 April 2025 – German economic crisis

The German government cuts its economic growth forecast to zero, with the Deutsche Bundesbank estimating a future recession. Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck accuses U.S. President Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariffs of being the primary reason for Germany's continued economic crisis. (DW)

Me (incomplete), described in userboxes...

This user created the User page design guide. Outlines comprise bullets like these This user started WikiProject Outlines. This user started Wikipedia's Help Project (as User:Go for it!). This user started WikiProject Health and fitness (as User:Go for it!). This user started WikiProject Indexes This user started WikiProject Glossaries This user proudly participates in WikiProject Lists mesoThis editor is a mesopedian. This user is not a prose nazi and sees no problem with a list or a table being on an article. A, B, and CThis user prefers the serial comma. inclThis user is an inclusionist. incrThis editor is an incrementalist. evenThis editor is an eventualist. This user has been on Wikipedia for 19 years, 6 months and 27 days. This user is a Wikipedia tipster. This user uses AutoWikiBrowser to quickly make repetitive edits. This user has made over 300,000 edits to Wikipedia.  35,000+ This user has created 35,000+ active redirect pages on the English language Wikipedia. This user has created over 500 Outlines in Wikipedia. This user is interested in the digital revolution. {{Wiki}}This user is an advanced writer in the MediaWiki language. This user develops user scripts; Perl-2This user is an intermediate Perl programmer. js-2This user is an intermediate JavaScript programmer. re-3This user writes advanced regular expressions. This user thinks you can learn a lot by editing an encyclopedia. This user is a transhumanist. This user advocates humanism. This user is a member of the Geography WikiProject. Globus This user does not believe in borders, and is a World citizen. This user is interested in the Planet Earth. This user is interested in history. This user is interested in Human Prehistory This user is interested in ancient civilizations. This user is interested in ancient Egypt. This user is interested in ancient Greece. This user is interested in ancient Rome.

History and contributions...

Awards and praise I've received over the years...

Tip of the day April 21, 2006: Thanks for helping a newbie!

Filmcom 14:36, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

I award this random acts of kindness Barnstar to Go for It! for being very helpful to a newcomer wikipedian, without being asked to.Filmcom 19:41, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

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!

Smashing job on Tip of the day!

You've done a great job getting the Tip of the Day off the ground. As a result, I think you deserve this! smurrayinchester^{(User), (Talk)} 17:52, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Barnstar

This Working Man's Barnstar is awarded to Go for it! for your tireless and diligent work on the reference desk templates! -- Natalya 19:37, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Barnstar

For going above and beyond the call of duty at Esperanza/Admin coaching, I award you this Original Barnstar. Good work! --Fang Aili ^talk 18:34, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Award

		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

		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)

WC

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

		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...

The Golden Wiki Award;
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

		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

		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

		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 --Sharkface217 21:37, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

:D

Hi there Trans Face! X××x××pink×jellocreature××x××X (talk) 01:36, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

You won an award!

X××x××pink×jellocreature××x××X (talk) awards you the unofficial funniness award!

Fractional-reserve banking

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:

		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

		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)

:)

		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)

List of basic space exploration topics

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)

List of basic Canada topics

Nice work -- I will withdraw the AfD nom. – ukexpat (talk) 00:55, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Done

		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

		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

		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)

		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)

List_of_basic_France_topics

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...

		The da Vinci Barnstar
		For helping me so many times. and for my wonderful userpage. Cheers, Zacharycrimsonwolf 04:08, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

(next page...)

Guidance Star

		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!

The Transhumanist has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian, so I've officially declared today as Transhumanist's Day! For your incredible organization and leadership skills, enjoy being the star of the day, dear The Transhumanist! Signed, Dylan (chat, work, ping, sign)

→ Dylan620 (Toolbox Alpha, Beta) 00:26, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

Happy The Transhumanist's Day!

The Transhumanist has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian, and therefore, I've officially declared today as The Transhumanist's day! For your history of dedicated work to the project, enjoy being the Star of the day, The Transhumanist! Cheers, bibliomaniac15 22:08, 4 June 2009 (UTC) 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!

		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)

		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

		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 :

		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!

	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

		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!

	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!

	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!

	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!

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

		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!

	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!

	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!

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!

Do have an e-cookie and enjoy!

Greetings The Transhumanist,

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

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!

	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.

		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!

		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!

		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!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:53, 29 May 2018 (UTC)

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!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:54, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

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

		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

		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!

	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!

	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!

	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!

		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!

	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)

	The Graphic Designer's Barnstar
	Thanks for making Portal:Capsicum. Catfurball (talk) 19:38, 5 February 2019 (UTC)

	The Graphic Designer's Barnstar
	Thanks for making Portal:Peaches. Catfurball (talk) 21:11, 5 February 2019 (UTC)

	The Graphic Designer's Barnstar
	Thanks for creating Portal:Woodpeckers for me. Catfurball (talk) 19:15, 14 February 2019 (UTC)

	The Graphic Designer's Barnstar
	Thanks for creating Portal:Tyrant flycatchers for me. Catfurball (talk) 19:16, 14 February 2019 (UTC)

	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)

	The Graphic Designer's Barnstar
	Thanks for creating Portal:Cotingas for me. Catfurball (talk) 19:07, 22 February 2019 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

		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

		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!

		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!

	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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