User:The Transhumanist

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

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

• 

  

  Figure 1. Compliant bonding a gold wire (Click to enlarge view)

  
  Compliant bonding is used to connect gold wires to electrical components such as integrated circuit "chips". It was invented by Alexander Coucoulas in the 1960s. The bond is formed well below the melting point of the mating gold surfaces and is therefore referred to as a solid-state type bond. The compliant bond is formed by transmitting heat and pressure to the bond region through a relatively thick indentable or compliant medium, generally an aluminum tape (Figure 1). (Full article...)
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  A userscript manager is a type of browser extension and augmented browsing technology that provides a user interface to manage userscripts. The main purpose of a userscript manager is to execute scripts on webpages as they are loaded. The most common operations performed by a userscript manager include creating, installing, organizing, deleting and editing scripts, as well as modifying script permissions (e.g. website exceptions).
  
  Userscript managers use metadata that is embedded in a script's source code primarily to determine the websites it should execute on and the dependencies necessary for the script to run properly. Metadata can also include information that is useful to the user such as the script's name, author, description and version number. (Full article...)
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  The history of California can be divided into the Native American period (about 10,000 years ago until 1542), the European exploration period (1542–1769), the Spanish colonial period (1769–1821), the Mexican period (1821–1848), and United States statehood (September 9, 1850–present). California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. After contact with, many of the Native Americans died from foreign diseases. Finally, in the 19th century there was a genocide by United States government and private citizens, which is known as the California genocide.
  
  After the Portolá expedition of 1769–1770, Spanish missionaries began setting up 21 California missions on or near the coast of Alta (Upper) California, beginning with the Mission San Diego de Alcala near the location of the modern day city of San Diego, California. During the same period, Spanish military forces built several forts (presidios) and three small towns (pueblos). Two of the pueblos would eventually grow into the cities of Los Angeles and San Jose. After Mexico's Independence was won in 1821, California fell under the jurisdiction of the First Mexican Empire. Fearing the influence of the Roman Catholic church over their newly independent nation, the Mexican government closed all of the missions and nationalized the church's property. They left behind a "Californio" population of several thousand families, with a few small military garrisons. After the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848, The Mexican Republic was forced to relinquish any claim to California to the United States.
  
  The California Gold Rush of 1848–1855 attracted hundreds of thousands of ambitious young people from around the world. Only a few struck it rich, and many returned home disappointed. Most appreciated the other economic opportunities in California, especially in agriculture, and brought their families to join them. California became the 31st U.S. state in the Compromise of 1850 and played a small role in the American Civil War. Chinese immigrants increasingly came under attack from nativists; they were forced out of industry and agriculture and into Chinatowns in the larger cities. As gold petered out, California increasingly became a highly productive agricultural society. The coming of the railroads in 1869 linked its rich economy with the rest of the nation, and attracted a steady stream of settlers. In the late 19th century, Southern California, especially Los Angeles, started to grow rapidly. (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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  A graffito in Dublin depicts a stick figure pondering its existence.

  
  The meaning of life pertains to the inherent significance or philosophical meaning of living (or existence in general). There is not a definitive answer, and thinking or discourse on the topic is sought in the English language through the question, "What is the meaning of life?" (or the related "Why are we here?" or "What is the purpose of existence?"). There have been many proposed answers to these questions from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds. The search for life's meaning has produced much philosophical, scientific, theological, and metaphysical speculation throughout history. Different people and cultures believe different things for the answer to this question. Opinions vary on the usefulness of using time and resources in the pursuit of an answer. Excessive pondering can be indicative of, or lead to, an existential crisis.
  
  The meaning of life can be derived from philosophical and religious contemplation of, and scientific inquiries about, existence, social ties, consciousness, and happiness. Many other issues are also involved, such as symbolic meaning, ontology, value, purpose, ethics, good and evil, free will, the existence of one or multiple gods, conceptions of God, the soul, and the afterlife. Scientific contributions focus primarily on describing related empirical facts about the universe, exploring the context and parameters concerning the "how" of life. Science also studies and can provide recommendations for the pursuit of well-being and a related conception of morality. An alternative, humanistic approach poses the question, "What is the meaning of my life?" (Full article...)
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  Human overpopulation (or human population overshoot) describes a concern 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 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, "[t]he global population is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100." The UN's 2022 projections report predicted that the human population 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, other researchers have found that national birth registries data from 2022 and 2023 that cover half the world's population indicate that the 2022 UN projections overestimated fertility rates by 10 to 20% and are already outdated, that the global fertility rate has possibly 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.
  
  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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  A depiction of Idris visiting Heaven and Hell from an illuminated manuscript version of the Islamic text Stories of the Prophets (1577)

  
  The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's stream of consciousness or identity continues to exist after the death of their physical body. The surviving essential aspect varies between belief systems; it may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit, which carries with it one's personal identity.
  
  In some views, this continued existence takes place in a spiritual realm, while in others, the individual may be reborn into this world and begin the life cycle over again, known as reincarnation, likely with no memory of what they have done in the past. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until the individual gains entry to a spiritual realm or otherworld. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics.
  
  Some belief systems, such as those in the Abrahamic tradition, hold that the dead go to a specific place (e.g. Paradise or Hell) after death, as determined by God, based on their actions and beliefs during life. In contrast, in systems of reincarnation, such as those in the Indian religions, the nature of the continued existence is determined directly by the actions of the individual in the ended life. (Full article...)
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  An abdominous obese male
  Weight: 182 kg/400 lbs
  Height: 185 cm/6 ft 1 in
  Body mass index: 53

  
  Abdominal obesity, also known as central obesity and truncal obesity, is the human condition of an excessive concentration of visceral fat around the stomach and abdomen to such an extent that it is likely to harm its bearer's health. Abdominal obesity has been strongly linked to cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, and other metabolic and vascular diseases.
  
  Visceral and central abdominal fat and waist circumference show a strong association with type 2 diabetes.
  
  Visceral fat, also known as organ fat or intra-abdominal fat, is located inside the peritoneal cavity, packed in between internal organs and torso, as opposed to subcutaneous fat, which is found underneath the skin, and intramuscular fat, which is found interspersed in skeletal muscle. Visceral fat is composed of several adipose depots including mesenteric, epididymal white adipose tissue (EWAT), and perirenal fat. An excess of adipose visceral fat is known as central obesity, the "pot belly" or "beer belly" effect, in which the abdomen protrudes excessively. This body type is also known as "apple shaped", as opposed to "pear shaped" in which fat is deposited on the hips and buttocks.
  
  Researchers first started to focus on abdominal obesity in the 1980s when they realized it had an important connection to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. Abdominal obesity was more closely related with metabolic dysfunctions connected with cardiovascular disease than was general obesity. In the late 1980s and early 1990s insightful and powerful imaging techniques were discovered that would further help advance the understanding of the health risks associated with body fat accumulation. Techniques such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging made it possible to categorize mass of adipose tissue located at the abdominal level into intra-abdominal fat and subcutaneous fat. (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, favor more indirect or procedural approaches to collective self-governance, where 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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  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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  A feature (also called an object or entity), in the context of geography and geographic information science, is something that exists at a moderate to scale 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 features consist of descriptions of their inherent nature, their spatial form and location, and their characteristics or properties. (Full article...)
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  Ontology learning (ontology extraction, ontology generation, or ontology acquisition) is the automatic or semi-automatic creation of ontologies, including extracting the corresponding domain's terms and the relationships between the concepts that these terms represent from a corpus of natural language text, and encoding them with an ontology language for easy retrieval. As building ontologies manually is extremely labor-intensive and time-consuming, there is great motivation to automate the process.
  
  
  Typically, the process starts by extracting terms and concepts or noun phrases from plain text using linguistic processors such as part-of-speech tagging and phrase chunking. Then statistical
  or symbolic
  techniques are used to extract relation signatures, often based on pattern-based or definition-based hypernym extraction techniques. (Full article...)
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  A revenue model is a framework for generating financial income. There can be a variety of ways for revenue generation such as the production model, manufacturing model, as well as the construction model. A revenue model identifies which revenue source to pursue, what value to offer, how to price the value, and who pays for the value. It is a key component of a company's business model. A revenue model primarily identifies what product or service will be created and sold in order to generate revenues.
  
  Without a clear and well-defined revenue model new businesses will be more likely to struggle. By having a clear revenue model, a business can focus on a target audience, fund development plans for a product or service, establish marketing plans, open a line of credit and raise capital. (Full article...)
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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. (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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  This article explains terms used for the British Armed Forces' ordnance (weapons) and ammunition. The terms may have different meanings depending on its usage in another country's military. (Full article...)
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  Etruscan: Diomedes and Polyxena, from the Etruscan amphora of the Pontic group, c. 540–530 BCE – From Vulci

  
  Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take varied forms, including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is a visual art. While some ceramics are considered fine art, such as pottery or sculpture, most are considered to be decorative, industrial or applied art objects. Ceramic art can be created by one person or by a group, in a pottery or a ceramic factory with a group designing and manufacturing the artware.
  
  In Britain and the United States, modern ceramics as an art took its inspiration in the early twentieth century from the Arts and Crafts movement, leading to the revival of pottery considered as a specifically modern craft. Such crafts emphasized traditional non-industrial production techniques, faithfulness to the material, the skills of the individual maker, attention to utility, and an absence of excessive decoration that was typical to the Victorian era.
  
  The word "ceramics" comes from the Greek keramikos (κεραμεικός), meaning "pottery", which in turn comes from keramos (κέραμος) meaning "potter's clay". Most traditional ceramic products were made from clay (or clay mixed with other materials), shaped and subjected to heat, and tableware and decorative ceramics are generally still made this way. In modern ceramic engineering usage, ceramics is the art and science of making objects from inorganic, non-metallic materials by the action of heat. It excludes glass and mosaic made from glass tesserae.
  
  There is a long history of ceramic art in almost all developed cultures, and often ceramic objects are all the artistic evidence left from vanished cultures, like that of the Nok in Africa over 2,000 years ago. Cultures especially noted for ceramics include the Chinese, Cretan, Greek, Persian, Mayan, Japanese, and Korean cultures, as well as the modern Western cultures. (Full article...)
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  Life extension is the concept of extending the human lifespan, either modestly through improvements in medicine or dramatically by increasing the maximum lifespan beyond its generally-settled biological limit of around 125 years. Several researchers in the area, along with "life extensionists", "immortalists", or "longevists" (those who wish to achieve longer lives themselves), postulate that future breakthroughs in tissue rejuvenation, stem cells, regenerative medicine, molecular repair, gene therapy, pharmaceuticals, and organ replacement (such as with artificial organs or xenotransplantations) will eventually enable humans to have indefinite lifespans through complete rejuvenation to a healthy youthful condition (agerasia). The ethical ramifications, if life extension becomes a possibility, are debated by bioethicists.
  
  The sale of purported anti-aging products such as supplements and hormone replacement is a lucrative global industry. For example, the industry that promotes the use of hormones as a treatment for consumers to slow or reverse the aging process in the US market generated about $50 billion of revenue a year in 2009. The use of such hormone products has not been proven to be effective or safe. (Full article...)
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  Existential risk from artificial general intelligence is the idea that substantial progress in artificial general intelligence (AGI) could result in human extinction or an irreversible global catastrophe.
  
  One argument goes as follows: human beings dominate other species because the human brain possesses distinctive capabilities other animals lack. If AI were to surpass humanity in general intelligence and become superintelligent, then it could become difficult or impossible to control. Just as the fate of the mountain gorilla depends on human goodwill, so might the fate of humanity depend on the actions of a future machine superintelligence.
  
  The plausibility of existential catastrophe due to AI is widely debated, and 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 leading 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 of respondents believed there is a 10 percent or greater chance that our inability to control AI will cause an existential catastrophe. In 2023, hundreds of AI experts and other notable figures signed a statement that "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 resist attempts to disable it or change its goals, as that would prevent it from accomplishing its present goals. It would be extremely difficult 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...)
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  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 extracting 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. Once 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. (Full article...)
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  This glossary of philosophy is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to philosophy and related disciplines, including logic, ethics, and theology. (Full article...)
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  Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. Health can be promoted by encouraging healthful activities, such as regular physical exercise and adequate sleep, and by reducing or avoiding unhealthful activities or situations, such as smoking or excessive stress. Some factors affecting health are due to individual choices, such as whether to engage in a high-risk behavior, while others are due to structural causes, such as whether the society is arranged in a way that makes it easier or harder for people to get necessary healthcare services. Still, other factors are beyond both individual and group choices, such as genetic disorders. (Full article...)
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  Meals have been traditionally prepared by women in a home kitchen (Painting from the circle of Jean-Baptiste de Saive, 1563)

  
  A meal is an eating occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The names used for specific meals in English vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal.
  
  Although they can be eaten anywhere, meals typically take place in homes, restaurants, and cafeterias. Regular meals occur on a daily basis, typically several times a day. Special meals are usually held in conjunction with such occasions as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and holidays. A meal is different from a snack in that meals are generally larger, more varied, and more filling than snacks.
  
  The type of food that is served or consumed at any given time depends on regional customs. Three main meals are often eaten in the morning, early afternoon, and evening in most modern civilizations. Further, 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...)
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  The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical future 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 self-improvement cycles, each new and more intelligent generation appearing more and more rapidly, causing a rapid increase ("explosion") in intelligence which would ultimately result in a powerful superintelligence, qualitatively 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. Stanislaw Ulam reported in 1958 an earlier discussion with von Neumann "centered on the accelerating progress of technology and changes in the mode of 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.
  
  The concept and the term "singularity" were popularized by Vernor Vinge - first in 1983 (in an article that claimed that once humans create intelligences greater than their own, there will be a technological and social transition similar in some sense to "the knotted space-time at the center of a black hole",) and later in his 1993 essay The Coming Technological Singularity, (in which he wrote that it would signal the end of the human era, as the new superintelligence would continue to upgrade itself and would advance technologically at an incomprehensible rate). He wrote that he would be surprised if it occurred before 2005 or after 2030. Another significant contributor to wider circulation of the notion was Ray Kurzweil's 2005 book The Singularity Is Near, predicting singularity by 2045.
  
  Some scientists, including Stephen Hawking, have expressed concern that artificial superintelligence (ASI) could result in human extinction. The consequences of a technological singularity and its potential benefit or harm to the human race have been intensely debated. (Full article...)
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  Robots revolt in R.U.R., a 1920 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. Stories of AI takeovers remain popular throughout science fiction, but recent advancements have made the threat more real. Possible scenarios include replacement of the entire human workforce due to automation, takeover by a superintelligent AI (ASI), and the notion of a robot uprising. Some public figures, such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, have advocated research into precautionary measures to ensure future superintelligent machines remain under human control. (Full article...)

Selected emerging technologies and related articles

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  An autonomous robot is a robot that acts without recourse to human control. Historic examples include space probes. Modern examples include self-driving vacuums and self-driving cars.
  
  Industrial robot arms that work on assembly lines inside factories may also be considered autonomous robots, though their autonomy is restricted due to a highly structured environment and their inability to locomote. (Full article...)
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  Kinesin uses protein domain dynamics on nanoscales to walk along a microtubule.

  
  Nanoid robotics, or for short, nanorobotics or nanobotics, is an emerging technology field creating machines or robots, which are called nanorobots or simply nanobots, whose components are at or near the scale of a nanometer (10⁻⁹ meters). More specifically, nanorobotics (as opposed to microrobotics) refers to the nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots with devices ranging in size from 0.1 to 10 micrometres and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components. The terms nanobot, nanoid, nanite, nanomachine and nanomite have also been used to describe such devices currently under research and development.
  
  Nanomachines are largely in the research and development phase, but some primitive molecular machines and nanomotors have been tested. An example is a sensor having a switch approximately 1.5 nanometers across, able to count specific molecules in the chemical sample. The first useful applications of nanomachines may be in nanomedicine. For example, biological machines could be used to identify and destroy cancer cells. Another potential application is the detection of toxic chemicals, and the measurement of their concentrations, in the environment. Rice University has demonstrated a single-molecule car developed by a chemical process and including Buckminsterfullerenes (buckyballs) for wheels. It is actuated by controlling the environmental temperature and by positioning a scanning tunneling microscope tip. (Full article...)
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  Various cameras and sensors being used in the ceiling of an Amazon Go store.

  
  A cashierless store (also called a till-less store, checkout-free store or Just walk out store) is a store which allows customers to shop their products and leave without having to wait in line and pay at a checkout. Cashierless stores can currently be found in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. (Full article...)
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  General concept for TDMR using multiple read elements

  
  
  Two-dimensional magnetic recording (TDMR) is a technology introduced in 2017 in hard disk drives (HDD) used for computer data storage. Most of the world's data is recorded on HDDs, and there is continuous pressure on manufacturers to create greater data storage capacity in a given HDD form-factor and for a given cost. In an HDD, data is stored using magnetic recording on a rotating magnetic disk and is accessed through a write-head and read-head (or read-element). TDMR allows greater storage capacity by advantageously combining signals simultaneously from multiple read-back heads to enhance the recovery of one or more data-tracks. In this manner, data can be stored with higher areal-density on the disks thus providing higher capacity in each HDD. TDMR is a read-back technology and thus applies equally well to future recording (writing) technologies such as heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) and microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR). (Full article...)
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  Energy shield from the game Second Life

  
  In speculative fiction, a force field, sometimes known as an energy shield, force shield, energy bubble, or deflector shield, is a barrier produced by something like energy, negative energy, dark energy, electromagnetic fields, gravitational fields, electric fields, quantum fields, plasma, particles, radiation, solid light, magic, or pure force. It protects a person, area, or object from attacks or intrusions, or even deflects energy attacks back at the attacker. This fictional technology is created as a field of energy without matter that acts as a wall, so that objects affected by the particular force relating to the field are unable to pass through the field and reach the other side, instead being deflected or destroyed. Actual research in the 21st century has looked into the potential to deflect radiation or cosmic rays, as well as more extensive shielding.
  
  
  This concept has become a staple of many science-fiction works, so much so that authors frequently do not even bother to explain or justify them to their readers, treating them almost as established fact and attributing whatever capabilities the plot requires. The ability to create force fields has become a frequent superpower in superhero media. (Full article...)
• 
  Millipede memory is a form of non-volatile computer memory. It promised a data density of more than 1 terabit per square inch (1 gigabit per square millimeter), which is about the limit of the perpendicular recording hard drives. Millipede storage technology was pursued as a potential replacement for magnetic recording in hard drives and a means of reducing the physical size of the technology to that of flash media.
  
  IBM demonstrated a prototype millipede storage device at CeBIT 2005, and was trying to make the technology commercially available by the end of 2007. However, because of concurrent advances in competing storage technologies, no commercial product has been made available since then. (Full article...)
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  Duke Hospital PRT

  
  A hovertrain is a type of high-speed train that replaces conventional steel wheels with hovercraft lift pads, and the conventional railway bed with a paved road-like surface, known as the track or guideway. The concept aims to eliminate rolling resistance and allow very high performance, while also simplifying the infrastructure needed to lay new lines. Hovertrain is a generic term, and the vehicles are more commonly referred to by their project names where they were developed. In the UK they are known as tracked hovercraft, in the US they are tracked air-cushion vehicles. The first hovertrain was developed by Jean Bertin in the early 1960s in France, where they were marketed as the Aérotrain before being abandoned by the French government. (Full article...)
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  Diagram regarding the confirmation of gravitomagnetism by Gravity Probe B

  
  
  Gravitoelectromagnetism, abbreviated GEM, refers to a set of formal analogies between the equations for electromagnetism and relativistic gravitation; specifically: between Maxwell's field equations and an approximation, valid under certain conditions, to the Einstein field equations for general relativity. Gravitomagnetism is a widely used term referring specifically to the kinetic effects of gravity, in analogy to the magnetic effects of moving electric charge. The most common version of GEM is valid only far from isolated sources, and for slowly moving test particles.
  
  The analogy and equations differing only by some small factors were first published in 1893, before general relativity, by Oliver Heaviside as a separate theory expanding Newton's law. (Full article...)
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  An exhibit of the "Future Soldier" designed by the United States Army

  
  
  A powered exoskeleton (also known as power armor, powered armor, powered suit, cybernetic suit, robot armor, robot suit, high-tech armor, robotic armor, robot armor suit, cybernetic armor, exosuit, hardsuit, exoframe or augmented mobility) is a mobile machine that is wearable over all or part of the human body, providing ergonomic structural support and powered by a system of electric motors, pneumatics, levers, hydraulics or a combination of cybernetic technologies, while allowing for sufficient limb movement with increased strength and endurance. The exoskeleton is designed to provide better mechanical load tolerance, and its control system aims to sense and synchronize with the user's intended motion and relay the signal to motors which manage the gears. The exoskeleton also protects the user's shoulder, waist, back and thigh against overload, and stabilizes movements when lifting and holding heavy items.
  
  A powered exoskeleton differs from a passive exoskeleton, as the latter has no intrinsic actuator and relies completely on the user's own muscles for movements, adding more stress and making the user more prone to fatigue, although it does provide mechanical benefits and protection to the user. This also explains the difference of an exoskeleton to orthotics, as orthosis mainly aims to promote progressively increased muscle work and, in the best case, regain and improve existing muscle functions. Currently, there are products that can help humans reduce their energy consumption by as much as 60 percent while carrying things. (Full article...)
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  Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance.
  
  Biometric identifiers are the distinctive, measurable characteristics used to label and describe individuals. Biometric identifiers are often categorized as physiological characteristics which are related to the shape of the body. Examples include, but are not limited to fingerprint, palm veins, face recognition, DNA, palm print, hand geometry, iris recognition, retina, odor/scent, voice, shape of ears and gait. Behavioral characteristics are related to the pattern of behavior of a person, including but not limited to mouse movement, typing rhythm, gait, signature, behavioral profiling, and voice. Some researchers have coined the term behaviometrics to describe the latter class of biometrics. (Full article...)
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  Model of a woolly mammoth at the Royal BC Museum

  
  
  The revival of the woolly mammoth is a proposed hypothetical that frozen soft-tissue remains and DNA from extinct woolly mammoths could be a means of regenerating the species. Several methods have been proposed to achieve this goal, including cloning, artificial insemination, and genome editing. Whether or not it is ethical to create a live mammoth is debated.
  
  In 2003, the Pyrenean ibex was briefly revived, giving credence to the idea that the mammoth could be successfully revived. (Full article...)
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  A bioshelter is a solar greenhouse managed as an indoor ecosystem. The word bioshelter was coined by the New Alchemy Institute and solar designers Sean Wellesley-Miller and Day Chahroudi. The term was created to distinguish their work in greenhouse design and management from twentieth century petro-chemical fuelled monoculture greenhouses.
  
  New Alchemy's pioneering work in ecological design is documented in their published Journals and Reports. In 1976 the Alchemists built the Cape Cod Ark bioshelter and her sister The Prince Edward Island Ark. For the next 15 years the New Alchemy Institute studied and reported on the use of these prototype food producing ecosystems. (Full article...)
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  In February 2022, the Japanese passenger ferry Sunflower Shiretoko sailed autonomously for 750 kilometers.

  
  An unmanned surface vehicle, unmanned surface vessel or uncrewed surface vessel (USV), colloquially called a drone boat, drone ship or sea drone, is a boat or ship that operates on the surface of the water without a crew. USVs operate with various levels of autonomy, from remote control to fully autonomous surface vehicles (ASV). (Full article...)
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  British Army Reserve soldier demonstrates a virtual reality headset

  
  
  A head-mounted display (HMD) is a display device, worn on the head or as part of a helmet (see helmet-mounted display for aviation applications), that has a small display optic in front of one (monocular HMD) or each eye (binocular HMD). HMDs have many uses including gaming, aviation, engineering, and medicine.
  
  Virtual reality headsets are a type of HMD that track 3D position and rotation to provide a virtual environment to the user. 3DOF VR headsets typically use an IMU for tracking. 6DOF VR headsets typically use sensor fusion from multiple data sources including at least one IMU. (Full article...)
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  Figure 1. Thermal and electrical bumps integrated on a single substrate.

  
  The thermal copper pillar bump, also known as the "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.
  
  The thermal bump uses 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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  * When insulin pump technology is combined with a continuous blood glucose monitoring system, the technology seems promising for real time control of the blood sugar level. Currently there are no mature algorithms to automatically control the insulin delivery based on feedback of the blood glucose level. When the loop is closed, the system may function as an artificial pancreas.

  • Insulin pumps are being used for infusing pramlintide (brand name Symlin, or synthetic amylin) with insulin for improved postprandial glycemic control compared to insulin alone.
  • Dual hormone insulin pumps that infuse either insulin or glucagon. In event of hypoglycemia, the glucagon could be triggered to increase the blood glucose. This would be particularly valuable in a closed loop system under the control of a glucose sensor. The Artificial Pancreas, currently in clinical trials for FDA approval, is a recently developed device designed with this technology in mind.
  • Ultrafast insulins. These insulins are absorbed more quickly than the currently available Humalog, Novolog, and Apidra which have a peak at about 60 minutes. Faster insulin uptake would theoretically coordinate with meals better, and allow faster recovery from hyperglycemia if the insulin infusion is suspended. Biodel is developing an ultrafast insulin

  (Full article...)
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  The Stentrode device

  
  Stentrode (Stent-electrode recording array) is a small stent-mounted electrode array permanently implanted into a blood vessel in the brain, without the need for open brain surgery. It is in clinical trials as a brain–computer interface (BCI) for people with paralyzed or missing limbs, who will use their neural signals or thoughts to control external devices, which currently include computer operating systems. The device may ultimately be used to control powered exoskeletons, robotic prosthesis, computers or other devices.
  
  The device was conceived by Australian neurologist Thomas Oxley and built by Australian biomedical engineer Nicholas Opie, who have been developing the medical implant since 2010, using sheep for testing. Human trials started in August 2019 with participants who suffer from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a type of motor neuron disease. Graeme Felstead was the first person to receive the implant. To date, eight patients have been implanted and are able to wirelessly control an operating system to text, email, shop and bank using direct thought through the Stentrode brain computer interface, marking the first time a brain-computer interface was implanted via the patient's blood vessels, eliminating the need for open brain surgery. (Full article...)
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  Paralysis (pl.: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed with some form of permanent or transient paralysis. The word "paralysis" derives from the Greek παράλυσις, meaning "disabling of the nerves" from παρά (para) meaning "beside, by" and λύσις (lysis) meaning "making loose". A paralysis accompanied by involuntary tremors is usually called "palsy". (Full article...)
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  Modern cinema auditorium in Madrid, Spain

  
  A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, picture theater or simply theater, is a business that contains auditoria for viewing films (also called movies, motion pictures or "flicks") for public entertainment. Most are commercial operations catering to the general public, who attend by purchasing tickets.
  
  The film is projected with a movie projector onto a large projection screen at the front of the auditorium while the dialogue, sounds and music are played through a number of wall-mounted speakers. Since the 1970s, subwoofers have been used for low-pitched sounds. Since the 2010s, the majority of movie theaters have been equipped for digital cinema projection, removing the need to create and transport a physical film print on a heavy reel. (Full article...)
• 
  Digital image processing is the use of a digital computer to process digital images through an algorithm. As a subcategory or field of digital signal processing, digital image processing has many advantages over analog image processing. It allows a much wider range of algorithms to be applied to the input data and can avoid problems such as the build-up of noise and distortion during processing. Since images are defined over two dimensions (perhaps more) digital image processing may be modeled in the form of multidimensional systems. The generation and development of digital image processing are mainly affected by three factors: first, the development of computers; second, the development of mathematics (especially the creation and improvement of discrete mathematics theory); third, the demand for a wide range of applications in environment, agriculture, military, industry and medical science has increased. (Full article...)
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  An iPhone (smartphone) and iPad (tablet)—two examples of mobile devices

  
  A mobile device or handheld computer is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. Modern mobile devices often place emphasis on wireless networking, to both the Internet and to other devices in their vicinity, such as headsets or in-car entertainment systems, via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular networks, or near-field communication. (Full article...)
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  Bordeaux tramway with Alstom ground-level power supply, a technology that as of 2022 is being considered for electric roads.

  
  France plans to invest 30 to 40 billion euro by 2035 in an electric road system spanning 8,800 kilometers that recharges electric cars, buses and trucks while driving. Two projects for assessment of electric road technologies were announced in 2023. Three technologies are being considered: inductive charging, overhead lines, and ground-level power supply. Inductive charging is not considered a mature technology as it delivers the least power, loses 20%-25% of the supplied power when installed on trucks, and its health effects have yet to be documented. Overhead lines is the most mature technology, but the catenaries and overhead wires pose safety and maintenance issues. Ground-level power supply technologies, provided by Alstom, Elonroad, and others, are considered the most likely candidate for electric roads. A working group of the French Ministry of Ecology recommended adopting a European electric road standard formulated with Sweden, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, and others.
  
  The first standard for electrical equipment on-board a vehicle powered by a rail electric road system (ERS), CENELEC Technical Standard 50717, has been approved in late 2022. Following standards, encompassing "full interoperability" and a "unified and interoperable solution" for ground-level power supply, are scheduled to be published by the end 2024, detailing complete "specifications for communication and power supply through conductive rails embedded in the road" as specified in the proposed technical standard prTS 50740 in accordance with European Union directive 2023/1804. (Full article...)
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  Police car equipped with an LRAD-500X sonic weapon (Warsaw, Poland, 2011).

  
  
  A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include weapons that target personnel, missiles, vehicles, and optical devices.
  
  In the United States, the Pentagon, DARPA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, United States Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center, and the Naval Research Laboratory are researching directed-energy weapons to counter ballistic missiles, hypersonic cruise missiles, and hypersonic glide vehicles. These systems of missile defense are expected to come online no sooner than the mid to late-2020s. (Full article...)
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  Differential technological development is a strategy of technology governance aiming to decrease risks from emerging technologies by influencing the sequence in which they are developed. On this strategy, societies would strive to delay the development of harmful technologies and their applications, while accelerating the development of beneficial technologies, especially those that offer protection against the harmful ones. (Full article...)
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  A deployment of Bloom Energy Servers outside eBay headquarters

  
  The Bloom Energy Server or Bloom Box is a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power generator made by Bloom Energy, of Sunnyvale, California, that takes a variety of input fuels, including liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons produced from biological sources, to produce electricity at or near the site where it will be used. It withstands temperatures of up to 1,800 °F (980 °C). According to the company, a single cell (one 100 mm × 100 mm plate consisting of three ceramic layers) generates 25 watts.
  
  The fuel cells have an operational life expectancy of around 10 years; based on predictions on fuel costs, the "break even" point for those who purchase the device is around 8 years. The cell's technology continues to rely on non-renewable sources of energy to produce electricity, and because it is not a hydrogen fuel cell, it still produces carbon dioxide (an important greenhouse gas) during operation. (Full article...)

Selected global issues and related topics

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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 to 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...)
• 
  Overconsumption describes a situation where a consumer overuses their available goods and services to where they can't, or don't want to, replenish or reuse them. In microeconomics, this may be described as the point where the marginal cost of a consumer is greater than their marginal utility. The term overconsumption is quite controversial in use 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 manmade 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. The total capacity of a system occurs at both the regional and worldwide levels, which means that certain 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 given region or ecological system can cause a reduction in natural resources that often results in environmental degradation. However, this is only when applying the word to human impacts on the environment. 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 that of population size and growth, and human development: more people demanding higher qualities of living, currently 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, who make up the majority 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 and it is expected that the Global South, which includes cities in Asia, America, and Africa, will account for 56% of consumption growth by 2030. This means 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...)
• 
  Gray goo (also spelled as grey goo) is a hypothetical global catastrophic scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating machines consume all biomass (and perhaps also everything else) on Earth while building many more of themselves, a scenario that has been called ecophagy (the literal consumption of the ecosystem). 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...)
• 
  Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources to achieve later benefits". 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 gain (profit) or a loss realized from the sale of a property or an investment, unrealized capital appreciation (or depreciation), investment income such as dividends, interest, or rental income, or a combination of capital gain and 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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  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 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, and tertiary care, as well as in public health.
  
  Access to healthcare may vary across countries, communities, and individuals, influenced by social and economic conditions as well as 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 healthcare 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 healthcare 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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  Raw sewage and industrial waste in the New River as it passes from Mexicali (Mexico) to Calexico, California

  
  Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants mix with these water bodies. Contaminants can come from one of four main sources. These are sewage discharges, industrial activities, agricultural activities, and urban runoff including stormwater. Water pollution may affect either surface water or groundwater. This form of pollution can lead to many problems. One is the degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Another is spreading water-borne diseases when people use polluted water for drinking or irrigation. Water pollution also reduces the ecosystem services such as drinking water provided by the water resource.
  
  Sources of water pollution are either point sources or non-point sources. Point sources have one identifiable cause, such as a storm drain, a wastewater treatment plant or an oil spill. Non-point sources are more diffuse. An example is agricultural runoff. Pollution is the result of the cumulative effect over time. Pollution may take many forms. One would is toxic substances such as oil, metals, plastics, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants, and industrial waste products. Another is stressful conditions such as changes of pH, hypoxia or anoxia, increased temperatures, excessive turbidity, or changes of salinity). The introduction of pathogenic organisms is another. Contaminants may include organic and inorganic substances. A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers.
  
  Control of water pollution requires appropriate infrastructure and management plans as well as legislation. Technology solutions can include improving sanitation, sewage treatment, industrial wastewater treatment, agricultural wastewater treatment, erosion control, sediment control and control of urban runoff (including stormwater management). (Full article...)
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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. Over the past 200 years, the rapid increase in anthropogenic CO₂ (carbon dioxide) production has led to an increase in the acidity of the Earth’s oceans. 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 410 ppm (in 2020). 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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  Global distribution of dryland subtypes based on the aridity index (1981–2010)

  
  Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. This spread of arid areas is caused by a variety of factors, such as overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity and the effects of climate change. Geographic areas most affected are located in Africa (Sahel region), Asia (Gobi Desert and Mongolia) and parts of South America. Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people. Effects of desertification include sand and dust storms, food insecurity, and poverty.
  
  Humans can fight desertification in various ways. For instance, improving soil quality, greening deserts, managing grazing better, and planting trees (reforestation and afforestation) can all help reverse desertification.
  
  Throughout geological history, the development of deserts has occurred naturally over long intervals of time. The modern study of desertification emerged from the study of the 1980s drought in the Sahel. (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). 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 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 or within countries.
  
  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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  A woman selling produce at a market in Lilongwe, Malawi

  
  Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender or religion is another element of food security. Similarly, household food security is considered to exist when all the members of a family, at all times, have access to enough food for an active, healthy life. Individuals who are food-secure 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 possible 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. (Full article...)
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  Seabirds killed by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound. The spill in March 1989 dumped approximately 10.8 million US gallons of crude oil into the sound, killing over 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, and numerous other wildlife. The Alaskan fishing industry also suffered tremendously as a result of the spill.

  
  An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is defined as a catastrophic event regarding the natural environment that is due to human activity. This point distinguishes environmental disasters from other disturbances such as natural disasters and intentional acts of war such as nuclear bombings.
  
  Environmental disasters show how the impact of humans' alteration of the land has led to widespread and/or long-lasting consequences. These disasters have included deaths of wildlife, humans and plants, or severe disruption of human life or health, possibly requiring migration. Some environmental disasters are the trigger source of more expansive environmental conflicts, where effected groups try to socially confront the actors responsible for the disaster. (Full article...)
• 
  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...)
• 

  

  A continuous buildup of toxic assets in the form of subprime mortgages purchased by Lehman Brothers ultimately led to the firm's bankruptcy in September 2008. The collapse of Lehman Brothers is often cited as both the culmination of the subprime mortgage crisis, and the catalyst for the Great Recession in the United States.

  
  The 2007–2008 financial crisis, or the global financial crisis (GFC), was the most severe worldwide economic crisis since the Great Depression. Predatory lending in the form of subprime mortgages targeting low-income homebuyers, excessive risk-taking by global financial institutions, a continuous buildup of toxic assets within banks, and the bursting of the United States housing bubble culminated in a "perfect storm", which led to the Great Recession.
  
  Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) tied to American real estate, as well as a vast web of derivatives linked to those MBS, collapsed in value. Financial institutions worldwide suffered severe damage, reaching a climax with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, and a subsequent international banking crisis.
  
  The preconditioning for the financial crisis was complex and multi-causal. Almost two decades prior, the U.S. Congress had passed legislation encouraging financing for affordable housing. However, in 1999, parts of the Glass-Steagall legislation, which had been adopted in 1933, were repealed, permitting financial institutions to commingle their commercial (risk-averse) and proprietary trading (risk-taking) operations. Arguably the largest contributor to the conditions necessary for financial collapse was the rapid development in predatory financial products which targeted low-income, low-information homebuyers who largely belonged to racial minorities. This market development went unattended by regulators and thus caught the U.S. government by surprise. (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.

  
  In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its 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 average temperature is primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices add to 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 greenhouse gas driving global warming, has grown by about 50% and is at levels unseen 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 minimise 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 (WHO) calls climate change the greatest threat 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...)
• 

  

  The distribution of atmospheric ozone in partial pressure as a function of altitude

  
  Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone layer) around Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. There are also springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events in addition to these stratospheric events.
  
  The main causes of ozone depletion and the ozone hole are manufactured chemicals, especially manufactured halocarbon refrigerants, solvents, propellants, and foam-blowing agents (chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), HCFCs, halons), referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS). These compounds are transported into the stratosphere by turbulent mixing after being emitted from the surface, mixing much faster than the molecules can settle. Once in the stratosphere, they release atoms from the halogen group through photodissociation, which catalyze the breakdown of ozone (O₃) into oxygen (O₂). Both types of ozone depletion were observed to increase as emissions of halocarbons increased.
  
  Ozone depletion and the ozone hole have generated worldwide concern over increased cancer risks and other negative effects. The ozone layer prevents harmful wavelengths of ultraviolet (UVB) light from passing through the Earth's atmosphere. These wavelengths cause skin cancer, sunburn, permanent blindness, and cataracts, which were projected to increase dramatically as a result of thinning ozone, as well as harming plants and animals. These concerns led to the adoption of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which bans the production of CFCs, halons, and other ozone-depleting chemicals. Currently, scientists plan to develop new refrigerants to replace older ones. (Full article...)
• 
  
  

  

  Destruction, from The Course of Empire by Thomas Cole (1836)

  
  Societal collapse (also known as civilizational collapse or systems collapse) is the fall of a complex human society characterized by the loss of cultural identity and of social complexity as an adaptive system, the downfall of government, and the rise of violence. Possible causes of a societal collapse include natural catastrophe, war, pestilence, famine, economic collapse, population decline or overshoot, mass migration, incompetent leaders, and sabotage by rival civilizations. A collapsed society may revert to a more primitive state, be absorbed into a stronger society, or completely disappear.
  
  Virtually all civilizations have suffered such a fate, regardless of their size or complexity, but some of them later revived and transformed, such as China, Greece, and Egypt. However, others never recovered, such as the Western and Eastern Roman Empires, the Maya civilization, and the Easter Island civilization.
  
  Anthropologists, (quantitative) historians, and sociologists have proposed a variety of explanations for the collapse of civilizations involving causative factors such as environmental change, depletion of resources, unsustainable complexity, invasion, disease, decay of social cohesion, rising inequality, long-term decline of cognitive abilities, loss of creativity, and misfortune. However, complete extinction of a culture is not inevitable, and in some cases, the new societies that arise from the ashes of the old one are evidently its offspring, despite a dramatic reduction in sophistication. Moreover, the influence of a collapsed society, such as the Western Roman Empire, may linger on long after its death. (Full article...)
• 
  Existential risk from artificial general intelligence is the idea that substantial progress in artificial general intelligence (AGI) could result in human extinction or an irreversible global catastrophe.
  
  One argument goes as follows: human beings dominate other species because the human brain possesses distinctive capabilities other animals lack. If AI were to surpass humanity in general intelligence and become superintelligent, then it could become difficult or impossible to control. Just as the fate of the mountain gorilla depends on human goodwill, so might the fate of humanity depend on the actions of a future machine superintelligence.
  
  The plausibility of existential catastrophe due to AI is widely debated, and 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 leading 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 of respondents believed there is a 10 percent or greater chance that our inability to control AI will cause an existential catastrophe. In 2023, hundreds of AI experts and other notable figures signed a statement that "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...)
• 
  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, regardless of gender.
  
  UNICEF defined 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."
  
  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...)
• 

  

  Litter on the coast of Guyana

  
  Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants.
  
  Although environmental pollution can be caused by natural events, the word pollution generally implies that the contaminants have an anthropogenic source – that is, a source created by human activities, such as manufacturing, extractive industries, poor waste management, transportation or agriculture. Pollution is often classed as point source (coming from a highly concentrated specific site, such as a factory, mine, construction site), or nonpoint source pollution (coming from a widespread distributed sources, such as microplastics or agricultural runoff).
  
  Many sources of pollution were unregulated parts of industrialization during the 19th and 20th centuries until the emergence of environmental regulation and pollution policy in the later half of the 20th century. Sites where historically polluting industries released persistent pollutants may have legacy pollution long after the source of the pollution is stopped. Major forms of pollution include air pollution, water pollution, litter, noise pollution, plastic pollution, soil contamination, radioactive contamination, thermal pollution, light pollution, and visual pollution. (Full article...)
• 

  

  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 modern extinction.

  
  
  The Holocene extinction, or Anthropocene extinction, is the ongoing extinction event caused by humans during the Holocene epoch. These extinctions span numerous families of plants and animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, and affecting not just terrestrial species but also large sectors of marine life. With widespread degradation of biodiversity hotspots, such as coral reefs and rainforests, as well as other areas, the vast majority of these extinctions are thought to be undocumented, as the species are undiscovered at the time of their extinction, which goes unrecorded. The current rate of extinction of species is estimated at 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural background extinction rates and is increasing. During the past 100–200 years, biodiversity loss and species extinction have accelerated, to the point that most conservation biologists now believe that human activity has either produced a period of mass extinction, or is on the cusp of doing so. As such, after the "Big Five" mass extinctions, the Holocene extinction event has also been referred to as the sixth mass extinction or sixth extinction; given the recent recognition of the Capitanian mass extinction, the term seventh mass extinction has also been proposed for the Holocene extinction event.
  
  The Holocene extinction follows the extinction of the majority of large (megafaunal) animals during the preceding Late Pleistocene. Some of these extinctions were likely in part due to human hunting pressure. The most popular theory is that human overhunting of species added to existing stress conditions as the Holocene extinction coincides with human colonization of many new areas around the world. Although there is debate regarding how much human predation and habitat loss affected their decline, certain population declines have been directly correlated with the onset of human activity, such as the extinction events of New Zealand, Madagascar, and Hawaii. Aside from humans, climate change may have been a driving factor in the megafaunal extinctions, especially at the end of the Pleistocene.
  
  Over the course of the Late Holocene, there were hundreds of extinctions of birds on islands across the Pacific, driven by human settlement of the previously uninhabited islands, with extinctions peaking around 1300 AD. Roughly 12% of avian species have been driven to extinction by human activity over the last 126,000 years, which is double previous estimates. (Full article...)
• 
  International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy)
  
  In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product (GDP). While international trade has existed throughout history (for example Uttarapatha, Silk Road, Amber Road, salt roads), its economic, social, and political importance has been on the rise in recent centuries.
  
  Carrying out trade at an international level is a complex process when compared to domestic trade. When trade takes place between two or more states, factors like currency, government policies, economy, judicial system, laws, and markets influence trade. (Full article...)
• 

  

  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.

  
  In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its 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 average temperature is primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices add to 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 greenhouse gas driving global warming, has grown by about 50% and is at levels unseen 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 minimise 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 (WHO) calls climate change the greatest threat 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...)
• 

  

  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, dense multi family apartments, office buildings and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a more or less densely populated 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...)
• 

  

  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. 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, and/or the termination of most biological life on Earth.
  
  Besides the immediate destruction of cities by nuclear blasts, the potential aftermath of a nuclear war could involve firestorms, a nuclear winter, widespread radiation sickness from fallout, and/or the temporary (if not permanent) loss of much modern technology due to electromagnetic pulses. Some scientists, such as Alan Robock, have speculated that a thermonuclear war could result in the end of modern civilization on Earth, in part due to a long-lasting nuclear winter. 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...)
• 

  

  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...)

Did you know...

• ... that Mike Judge's three-month tenure at the video-card manufacturer Parallax Graphics was an inspiration for Office Space?
• ... that after significant modifications of the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou 6 is the world's largest active cargo spacecraft by capacity?
• ... that research suggests liminal spaces appear unsettling by falling in the uncanny valley of physical places?
• ... that Paul Blasingame was a member of the "inertial mafia", who advocated the use of inertial navigation systems, and he oversaw the development of the one used by the Apollo spacecraft?
• ... that astrophysicist Suzanna Randall continued her research at the European Southern Observatory while training for the spaceflight programme Die Astronautin?
• ... that Vladimír Mandl wrote the first book on space law 25 years before Sputnik 1 was launched into space?
• ... that the Māori believed that the failure of the rockets launched at a pā (fort) during the Battle of Puketutu was due to rites and rituals performed during its construction?
• ... that 100 beerhouses were licensed in Brighton (population 40,000) in the first week after the Beerhouse Act 1830 was enacted?
• ... that Lillian V. Holdeman Moore identified a spike in hydrogen-gas-producing bacteria in Skylab astronauts?
• ... that food psychology research has found that the COVID-19 pandemic led to both reduced and increased consumption of junk food among different geographical populations and educational backgrounds?
• ... that Nicole Lloyd-Ronning returned to astrophysics research after a ten-year hiatus, aided by an American Physical Society award for women with interrupted careers?
• ... 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 studios of Basin PBS had once been a movie theater, a church meeting space, and a nightclub?

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Selected images that captured my attention

• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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 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.
• 
  The Thinker
• 
  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 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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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).
• 
  An animation of a cicada undergoing ecdysis, the molting of the exoskeleton in arthropods and related groups. Since the cuticula of these animals is inelastic, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed. The old, empty exoskeleton is called an exuvia. Within one or two hours, the cuticle hardens and darkens, during which time the animal grows, since growth is otherwise constrained by the rigidity of the exoskeleton. Each frame of this image was taken at one-minute intervals, with a 30-minute gap in middle while the cicada rested. The entire process took about 2 hours to complete.
• 
  The 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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  A Marginated Tortoise hatchling.
• 
  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".
• 
  View from Notre-Dame de Paris.
• 
  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.
• 
  Imagine waking up to this. Which makes me wonder whatever happened to the guy who took this photo.
• 
  You are feeling very sleepy...
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.

Trump news tracker

15 May 2024 – 2024 United States presidential election

U.S. President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump agree to hold a presidential debate on June 27, hosted by CNN, which will be the earliest general election debate in modern history in the United States. A second debate will be held in September. (The New York Times)

30 April 2024 – Prosecution of Donald Trump in New York

Judge Juan Merchan fines Donald Trump $9,000 for contempt of court, and threatens to jail Trump if he continues to violate his gag order. (Reuters)

19 April 2024 – Self-immolation of Maxwell Azzarello

A man fatally sets himself on fire near the New York City courthouse where former President Donald Trump is currently on trial. (The New York Times)

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29 May 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russia–NATO relations

Sweden announces a package of $1.23 billion in military aid to Ukraine, the largest given by Sweden so far. (AP)

The Polish Defence Ministry says it has given Ukraine permission to use Polish-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russian territory. (Ukrainska Pravda)

France and Germany announce that French and German weapons sent to Ukraine, including long-range missiles, are permitted to target bases inside Russia. (CNN)

29 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war

Rafah offensive

Israel says that it has taken full control of the Egypt–Gaza border after capturing the Philadelphi Corridor. (Reuters) (DW)

29 May 2024 – 2023–2024 Sundhnúkur eruptions

The town of Grindavik, Iceland, and the nearby Blue Lagoon are evacuated due to volcanic activity. (BBC News)

29 May 2024 –

At least 28 people are killed when a bus falls into a ravine in Balochistan, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera)

The India Meteorological Department records a temperature of 52.9 °C (127.2 °F) in Delhi. (The Guardian)

29 May 2024 – Brazil–Israel relations

Brazil recalls its ambassador to Israel amid an ongoing diplomatic crisis between the two countries. (Reuters)

29 May 2024 –

Amnesty International reports that the number of executions recorded globally in 2023 was the highest since 2015 and represents a more than 30% increase from 2022. (BBC News)

29 May 2024 – 2024 Malagasy parliamentary election

Citizens of Madagascar vote for members of the National Assembly. (Africanews)

29 May 2024 – 2024 South African general election

South Africans vote for members of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. (The Guardian)

29 May 2024 – 2024 Vanuatuan constitutional referendum

Vanuatuans hold the first national constitutional referendum to vote on amendments related to party switching. (Radio Free Asia)

29 May 2024 – 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League

In association football, Olympiacos win their first UEFA Europa Conference League title after defeating Fiorentina by a score of 1–0 in the final, becoming the first Greek team to win a major European club trophy. (AP)

28 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war

Rafah offensive

Al-Mawasi refugee camp attack

At least 21 people are killed and 64 others are injured in a Israeli attack on a tent camp in al-Mawasi, Rafah Governorate. (Al Jazeera)

Israeli tanks reach central Rafah for the first time with heavy clashes being reported. (Reuters)

Humanitarian aid during the Israel–Hamas war

The U.S. removes the Gaza floating pier from the Gaza Strip for repair after its flotilla was damaged in bad weather. (AP)

28 May 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

Eastern Ukraine campaign

Russian guided bombs hit a block of apartments in Toretsk, Donetsk Oblast, killing at least two civilians and injuring six others. (Reuters)

28 May 2024 – Red Sea crisis

A Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier takes on water after being hit by three missiles off the coast of Yemen. (Reuters)

28 May 2024 – Cyclone Remal

Seventeen people are killed and six others are missing after a stone quarry collapses due to strong winds in Aizawl, Mizoram, India. (The Hindu)

28 May 2024 –

One person is killed and seven others are injured in a natural gas explosion at an apartment building in Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. (AP)

28 May 2024 – International recognition of the State of Palestine

Norway–Palestine relations, Ireland–Palestine relations, Palestine–Spain relations

The governments of Norway, Ireland, and Spain officially recognise the State of Palestine, after declaring their intention to do so on May 22. (The Journal) (Euronews) (AP)

Denmark–Palestine relations

The Parliament of Denmark rejects a proposal to recognise a Palestinian state. (Reuters)

28 May 2024 – International reactions to the Israel–Hamas war

Israel–Hamas war protests

Pro-Palestinian protestors in Mexico set fire to the Israeli embassy in Mexico City. (The Jewish Chronicle) (Proceso)

28 May 2024 – Animal rights in Colombia

The Senate of Colombia approves a resolution banning Spanish-style bullfighting in the country. (La FM)

28 May 2024 – Bankruptcy of FTX

Former FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame is sentenced to more than seven years in prison and fined more than $11 million for fraud and criminal conspiracy. (Reuters)

28 May 2024 – Belarus–European Union border crisis

A Polish Border Guard soldier is seriously injured in an incident among a surge in migrants trying to cross the EU border from Belarus. (Polskie Radio)

28 May 2024 – South Africa's genocide case against Israel

Mexico announces it will intervene in support of South Africa in South Africa's genocide case against Israel. (Middle East Eye)

28 May 2024 – 2023–2024 Georgian protests

The Georgian parliament overrides a presidential veto of the foreign agents law, thereby requiring president Salome Zourabichvili to endorse the bill within five days. (DW)

28 May 2024 – 2024 Taiwanese legislative reform protests

The Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party pass amendments granting the Legislative Yuan greater powers to oversee the executive and to question officials and citizens, despite claims that these amendments violate civil liberties and could reduce the powers of president Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party. (The Guardian)

28 May 2024 – Haitian crisis

Garry Conille is named the new Prime Minister of Haiti by the Transitional Presidential Council. (AP)

27 May 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War

Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez signs a bilateral security pact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and pledges €1 billion (US$1.1 billion) of military aid to Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)

Russia captures the villages of Netailove in Donetsk Oblast and Ivanivka in Kharkiv Oblast. (Arab News)

27 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas War

Rafah offensive

An Egyptian border guard is killed in a shootout at the Rafah Border Crossing. (Reuters)

27 May 2024 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Twenty-three gunmen and seven soldiers are killed during three shootouts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)

27 May 2024 – Red Sea crisis

Yemen's Houthi militia says that they attacked three merchant ships and two destroyers from the United States Navy. (Reuters)

27 May 2024 – 2024 Enga landslide

Papua New Guinea asks for international help following the landslide in Enga Province three days ago, and reports that more than 2,000 people were buried alive and are now presumed deceased. (AP)

27 May 2024 – Tornado outbreak sequence of May 19–26, 2024

The death toll from a tornado outbreak in the U.S. states of Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arkansas on Saturday and Sunday increases to 21. (Reuters)

27 May 2024 –

A teenager is killed and six other people are injured in a shooting in downtown Lansing, Michigan, United States. (USA Today)

26 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war

Rafah offensive

Tel al-Sultan massacre

Between 47 and 52 people are killed in an Israeli airstrike and subsequent fire in a tent camp for displaced civilians in Rafah in the Gaza Strip. (AP) (Reuters)

Insurgency in the North Gaza Strip

A spokesperson for Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades claim that they captured IDF soldiers in Jabalia yesterday. However, the IDF denies this claim. (Reuters)

The Al-Qassam Brigades fire rockets towards Tel Aviv, Israel, for the first time in four months. (BBC News) (El Confidencial)

26 May 2024 – Mali War

More than twenty civilians are killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen in a village in Mopti region, Mali. (Reuters)

26 May 2024 – Yemeni civil war

The Houthis, with assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross, free more than 100 detainees in Sana'a, Yemen, in a "unilateral humanitarian initiative" to pardon prisoners and return them to their families. (Reuters)

26 May 2024 – 2024 Armenia–Georgia floods

At least three people have been confirmed dead in Armenia following flooding on the Armenia–Georgia border, with several bridges collapsing as a result of the flooding. (Reuters)

26 May 2024 – 2024 Enga landslide

The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 670 people were killed in the landslide in Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, on Friday. (AP)

26 May 2024 – Tornado outbreak sequence of May 19–26, 2024

The death toll from an overnight tornado outbreak in the U.S. states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas increases to 15. (The Virginian-Pilot) (AP)

26 May 2024 –

Ten people are killed and 39 others are injured in a collision between a bus and three other vehicles on a highway near Mersin, Turkey. (Reuters)

26 May 2024 – France–Germany relations, List of international presidential trips made by Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Macron makes the first state visit by a President of France to Germany in 24 years. (AP)

26 May 2024 – 2024 Comorian presidential election

Incumbent president Azali Assoumani is sworn in for his fourth term in office. (Reuters)

26 May 2024 – 2024 Lithuanian presidential election

Gitanas Nausėda wins the Lithuanian presidential run-off with 75.57% of the vote. (Reuters)

26 May 2024 – 2024 Indianapolis 500

In auto racing, Josef Newgarden wins the Indianapolis 500 for the second consecutive year, becoming the first driver to do so since Hélio Castroneves in 2002. (Barron's)

26 May 2024 – 2024 Indian Premier League

In cricket, the Kolkata Knight Riders defeat the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final of the Indian Premier League to win their third IPL title. (The Hindustan Times)

25 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war

Humanitarian aid during the Israel–Hamas war

Israeli allegations against UNRWA

Italy restores €35 million (US$38 million) of funding for UNRWA several months after it suspended the aid due to allegations linking UN staff to the October 7 attacks. (Al Jazeera)

Four U.S. Army vessels connected to a floating pier off the Gaza Strip become disconnected and wash up on beaches, two in Israel and two in the Gaza Strip. (NPR)

25 May 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

Eastern Ukraine campaign

Russia captures the village of Arkhanhelske in Donetsk Oblast. (The Moscow Times)

Kharkiv strikes

At least fourteen people are killed and 58 others are injured in Russian strikes on a hardware store and residential area in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (The Kyiv Independent) (Reuters)

25 May 2024 – 2024 Cannes Film Festival

Anora, directed by Sean Baker, wins the Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival. (Reuters)

25 May 2024 – 2024 Rajkot gaming zone fire

At least 27 people, including many children, are killed in a building fire at a family entertainment venue in Rajkot, Gujarat, India. (NDTV)

25 May 2024 – Tornado outbreak sequence of May 19–26, 2024

At least five people are killed after a tornado strikes the cities of Pilot Point and Valley View in Texas, United States. (NBC Dallas-Fort Worth)

25 May 2024 – 2024 United Kingdom general election

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces plans to conscript young persons with an option for alternative civilian service if the Conservative Party wins the upcoming election. (BBC News)

25 May 2024 – 2023–24 AFC Champions League

Al Ain win their second Champions League title after beating the Yokohama F. Marinos by an aggregate score of 6–3 over a two-legged final. (Reuters)

25 May 2024 – 2023–24 DFB-Pokal

Bayer Leverkusen win their second DFB-Pokal title after beating 1. FC Kaiserslautern by a score of 1–0 in the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, completing the first unbeaten double-winning season in German football. (The New York Times)

25 May 2024 – 2023–24 FA Cup

Manchester United win their 13th FA Cup title after beating the defending champions, Manchester City, by a score of 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium in London, England. (The Guardian)

25 May 2024 – 2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League

Barcelona win their third Women's Champions League title after defeating Olympique Lyonnais 2–0 in the final. (BBC Sport)

24 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war

Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis

In Jabalia, North Gaza Governorate, the Israeli Army recovers the bodies of three civilians who were murdered and taken to Gaza by Palestinian militants in the October 7 attacks. (Reuters)

24 May 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

Sources claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin is interested in negotiating a ceasefire, which would freeze the conflict at the current frontlines. (Reuters)

The European Union makes a decision allowing Ukraine to use interest funds from frozen Russian bank accounts, totaling €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) per year. (Al Jazeera)

24 May 2024 – Haitian crisis

Two American Christian missionaries, one of them the daughter of a Missouri State Representative, and a Haitian pastor are killed in a gang ambush in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (The Wall Street Journal)

24 May 2024 – 2024 Cannes Film Festival

Norah becomes the first film from Saudi Arabia to screen as part of the official calendar at the Cannes Film Festival. (Arab News)

Black Dog, a Chinese film directed by Guan Hu, wins the Un Certain Regard prize for international films at the Cannes Film Festival. (Reuters)

24 May 2024 – 2024 Enga landslide

Four people are confirmed killed and many others are presumed dead in a landslide in Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. (Papua New Guinea Post-Courier) (RNZ)

24 May 2024 –

Fourteen people are killed and three others are injured in a building fire in a densely populated area of Hanoi, Vietnam. (VnExpress) (Reuters)

Dozens of people are killed across Mexico in a deadly heatwave, with temperatures as high as 45 °C (113 °F) recorded. (France 24) (DW)

24 May 2024 – 2024 Bishkek riots

Hundreds of international students from Pakistan and other Asian countries leave Kyrgyzstan following attacks by Kyrgyz nationalist mobs on student hostels in Bishkek earlier this month. (Reuters)

24 May 2024 – Crocus City Hall attack

Russia arrests more than 20 people in connection with the Islamic State – Khorasan Province attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, in March. (Reuters)

24 May 2024 – South Africa's genocide case against Israel

The International Court of Justice, in a 13–2 decision, orders Israel to stop their military offensive in Rafah. (Reuters)

24 May 2024 – United States v. Live Nation Entertainment

The first consumer class action lawsuit by ticket buyers is filed against Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment, following the lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice. (Reuters)

24 May 2024 – Uvalde school shooting

Families in Uvalde, Texas, U.S., file a lawsuit against Daniel Defense and Activision Blizzard for creating the DDM4 V7 gun and promoting the weapon through the game Call of Duty, respectively. They also sue Meta Platforms for owning Instagram, which was used by the gunman. (AP)

24 May 2024 – 2024 United Kingdom general election

A record number of Conservative MPs stand down ahead of the UK election. (BBC News) (Sky News)

Jeremy Corbyn is expelled from the Labour Party after confirming that he will stand as an independent candidate in the election. (The Independent)

23 May 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

2024 Kharkiv offensive

Seven people are killed and at least 28 others are injured in Russian missile strikes in Liubotyn and Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Reuters)

Crimea attacks

At least two people are killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on Alushta, Crimea. Explosions are reported across the peninsula and Ukrainian media reports that multiple targets were hit. (Reuters)

Eastern Ukraine campaign

Russian forces captures the village of Andriivka in Donetsk Oblast. (The Daily Telegraph)

23 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war

Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip

At least 60 Palestinians are killed in Israeli attacks in Rafah, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City, Gaza. (Al Jazeera)

23 May 2024 –

Pope Francis and the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints approves the canonization of Carlo Acutis, who will become the first millennial saint. (Holy See) (BBC News)

Romanian author Mircea Cărtărescu wins the International Dublin Literary Award for his novel Solenoid, translated by Sean Cotter. (The Guardian)

Eleven people are killed and two others are injured in an explosion at a sugar factory in Morogoro, Tanzania. (AP)

Four people are killed and 16 others are injured when the second floor of a restaurant collapses in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. (AP)

23 May 2024 – Cross-Strait relations

China's People's Liberation Army begins two days of military drills around Taiwan. In response, Taiwan mobilizes its military. (BBC News) (Reuters)

23 May 2024 – Diplomatic missions to Palestine

Colombian President Gustavo Petro orders the opening of an embassy in Ramallah in the West Bank. (Al Jazeera)

23 May 2024 – Kenya–United States relations

U.S. President Joe Biden announces during a state visit by Kenyan President William Ruto that he will designate Kenya a major non-NATO ally as it is expected to lead the international intervention in Haiti. (Reuters) (NPR)

23 May 2024 –

Russia removes the border markers signaling the border with Estonia on the Narva River, prompting a protest by the EU. (BBC News)

23 May 2024 – United States v. Live Nation Entertainment

The United States Department of Justice sues Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, seeking the breakup of the company and accusing the company of creating a monopoly by eliminating competition and increasing prices. (AP)

23 May 2024 –

Three people are killed and five others are injured in a shootout between two groups at a café in Istanbul, Turkey. (Metro)

The United Nations General Assembly votes 84–19, with 68 abstentions, to establish July 11 as an annual day of remembrance for the Srebrenica genocide, despite receiving opposition from Serbia and Bosnian Serbs. (Al Jazeera)

22 May 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

Eastern Ukraine campaign

Russia captures the village of Klishchiivka in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)

At least two people are killed and four are injured by Ukrainian shelling in Lysychansk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)

Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War

Sweden announces US$7 billion in military aid to Ukraine from 2024 to 2026. (Bloomberg)

Russia returns six Ukrainian children displaced by the war back to Ukraine, in a deal brokered by Qatar. (Al Jazeera)

22 May 2024 – 2024 New Caledonia unrest

Australia and New Zealand begin evacuating their citizens from New Caledonia amid civil unrest. (AP)

22 May 2024 – San Pedro Garza García stage collapse

At least nine people are killed, including a child, and 121 are injured after a temporary stage collapses in high winds at a campaign event for the Citizens' Movement party in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo León, Mexico. Later, the Nuevo León government pledges 400,000 pesos ($23,900) in compensation to families of the deceased. (AP) (El País) (Reuters)

22 May 2024 – International recognition of the State of Palestine

Norway–Palestine relations, Ireland–Palestine relations, Palestine–Spain relations

The governments of Norway, Ireland, and Spain announce that they will recognise the State of Palestine as a sovereign state beginning on May 28, and also call for a two-state solution. In response, Israel recalls its ambassadors to these countries. (BBC News)

22 May 2024 – Russia–NATO relations

The Russian Ministry of Defence proposes to unilaterally adjust Russia's maritime border in the Baltic Sea, prompting comments of concern made by Baltic members of NATO, including Finland and Lithuania. The Ministry of Defense later retracts the proposal. (Reuters) (BBC News)

22 May 2024 – 2024 Bishkek riots

The Kyrgyz Ministry of Internal Affairs announces that ten people, including four foreigners, have been detained in connection with violent riots that occurred in Bishkek last week. (RFE/RL)

22 May 2024 – 2024 Chadian presidential election

Prime Minister Succès Masra of the transitional government resigns after Mahamat Déby is elected President. (Al Jazeera)

22 May 2024 – 2024 United Kingdom general election

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces that the next general election will be held on 4 July. (CNN)

22 May 2024 – 2024 Vietnamese presidential election

Security Minister Tô Lâm is elected President by the National Assembly, two months after the resignation of Võ Văn Thưởng amid the ruling Communist Party's anti-corruption campaign. (DW)

22 May 2024 –

President of the United States Joe Biden announces a student loan debt cancellation of $7.7 billion for 160,000 people. (Al Jazeera)

German far-right party Alternative for Germany bans Maximilian Krah, its leading candidate in European elections, from further activities due to his comments defending members of the Schutzstaffel (SS). (Al Jazeera)

Russia launches a Soyuz-2 rocket carrying the Kosmos 2576 satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome launch site in Arkhangelsk Oblast. The United States Space Command accuses it of being an anti-satellite weapon capable of attacking other satellites, and is in the same orbit as a satellite operated by the National Reconnaissance Office. (Al Jazeera)

The United Nations Security Council votes against a resolution introduced by Russia and China banning member states from placing weapons in outer space. (Space.com)

22 May 2024 – 2023–24 UEFA Europa League

In association football, Atalanta win the UEFA Europa League over Bayer Leverkusen by a score of 3–0 in the final, ending Bayer Leverkusen's record of 51 unbeaten games. It is also Atalanta's first major trophy since 1963. (The Guardian)

21 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas War

Humanitarian aid during the Israel–Hamas war

The UNRWA suspends food distribution in Rafah due to insecurity and a lack of supplies. (Reuters)

Israeli incursions in the West Bank during the Israel–Hamas war

The Israeli army launches a raid on the city of Jenin in the West Bank, with sources claiming that seven Palestinians were killed. (Reuters)

21 May 2024 – Nigerian bandit conflict

Gunmen kill 40 people in an attack on a village in Nigeria's Plateau State. (Reuters)

21 May 2024 –

Jenny Erpenbeck wins the International Booker Prize for her novel Kairos, translated from the German by Michael Hofmann. (The Guardian)

Pixar Animation Studios lays off 14% of its workforce, approximately 175 people. (Reuters)

21 May 2024 – Singapore Airlines Flight 321

A Singapore Airlines flight from London, England, to Singapore makes an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, after experiencing severe air turbulence over the Bay of Bengal, resulting in one death and at least 30 injuries. (BBC News)

21 May 2024 –

Eleven workers drown after a microbus falls off a ferry into the Nile River in Giza, Egypt. (Al-Ahram)

At least five people are killed and 35 are injured as a strong tornado devastates the town of Greenfield, Iowa, United States. A Doppler on Wheels unit records a wind gust of between 250 mph (400 km/h) and 290 mph (470 km/h) over Greenfield, the strongest winds recorded inside a tornado by a mobile weather radar since the 2013 El Reno tornado, equivalent to EF5 intensity on the Enhanced Fujita scale. (AP) (University of Illinois)

21 May 2024 – Argentina–Spain relations

Spain permanently recalls its ambassador from Argentina amid a diplomatic crisis over President of Argentina Javier Milei's comments about Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez. (CNN)

21 May 2024 – Moldova–European Union relations

Moldova becomes the first non-European Union (EU) signatory country to sign a security and defense pact with the EU to receive assistance in strengthening and managing its borders, facilitating cooperation in cybersecurity, and combating disinformation. (Politico)

21 May 2024 –

A Swiss parliamentary committee rejects a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that alleged the country violated its citizens' human rights by not doing enough to prevent climate change. (Reuters)

21 May 2024 – Censorship in Israel

The Israeli Ministry of Communications seizes broadcasting equipment from the Associated Press and suspends their live feed of Gaza, accusing them of breaking the new media law by supplying images to Al Jazeera. (AP)

21 May 2024 –

Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton is reported to be on life support after being physically attacked in a prison in Port-Cartier, Quebec. (Vancouver Sun)

The European Union passes the Artificial Intelligence Act, to be applied in 2026. The act imposes strict transparency obligations on AI systems, restricts governments from using real-time biometric surveillance in public spaces, and bans social scoring, predictive policing, and untargeted scraping of facial images. (Reuters)

A court in Saint Petersburg, Russia, sentences Anatoly Maslov, a 77-year-old hypersonic missiles expert, to 14 years in prison for state treason. (Reuters)

The Netherlands moves to ban international adoptions. (Reuters)

20 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war

International reactions to the Israel–Hamas war, War crimes in the Israel–Hamas war

Karim Khan, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, requests arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas political leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, and Al-Qassam Brigades leader Mohammed Al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. (Reuters)

20 May 2024 – Haitian crisis

Gang war in Haiti

Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, reopens after being closed for three months due to gang violence, as the US military flies in supplies and civilian contractors to help the police in order to pave a way for an intervention. (AP)

20 May 2024 –

Red Lobster, an American restaurant chain, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. (NPR)

20 May 2024 – Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse

The container ship Dali is freed from bridge debris since its initial collision on March 26 and is escorted by tugboats back to the port of Baltimore. (AP)

20 May 2024 – Russian military commissariats attacks

A court in Novosibirsk, Russia, sentences a 24-year-old man to 25 years in prison for allegedly plotting an arson attack on a military recruitment office with alleged directions from Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)

20 May 2024 –

Judges grant Julian Assange permission to appeal his extradition order from the United Kingdom to the United States. (Reuters)

20 May 2024 – 19th Congress of the Philippines

Migz Zubiri resigns as President of the Senate of the Philippines and is replaced by Francis Escudero. (KPL/VNA)

20 May 2024 – 2024 South African general election

The Constitutional Court of South Africa rules that former President Jacob Zuma is ineligible to run in the upcoming parliamentary election due to his 2021 jail sentence. (Al Jazeera)

20 May 2024 –

First vice president of Iran Mohammad Mokhber becomes acting president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi. (Al Jazeera)

Lai Ching-te is sworn in as President of Taiwan, with Hsiao Bi-khim as his Vice President. (Al Jazeera)

19 May 2024 – 2024 Democratic Republic of the Congo coup attempt

The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo say that they foiled a coup by armed men in Kinshasa that killed two police officers and four attackers, including the coup's leader, Christian Malanga, a opposition leader of the United Congolese Party. Around 50 attackers, including Malanga's 20-year-old son and a US citizen from Maryland, are arrested. (AP)

19 May 2024 – 2024 New Caledonia unrest

France deploys law enforcement to New Caledonia to regain control of the road to La Tontouta International Airport, which is currently controlled by protesters. (Reuters)

19 May 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine

At least six people are killed and 27 others are injured in a Russian double tap missile strike on a recreation area near Kharkiv. Separately, five people are killed and nine others are injured in a Russian strike using a multiple launch rocket system on two villages in Kupiansk Raion, Kharkiv Oblast. (Reuters)

19 May 2024 – 2024 Varzaqan helicopter crash

A Bell 212 helicopter crashes in Varzaqan, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, killing all the eight people on board, including President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. (AP)

19 May 2024 –

Two people are killed and five others are missing after a boat collision on the Danube river near Verőce, Hungary. (Reuters)

Seven villages on the island of Halmahera, Indonesia, are forced to evacuate after the Mount Ibu volcano erupts. (Reuters)

19 May 2024 – Argentina–Spain relations

Spain recalls its ambassador to Argentina after President of Argentina Javier Milei calls Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's wife Begoña Gómez corrupt during a rally in Madrid and also refuses to meet with King Felipe VI. (Reuters)

19 May 2024 – 2024 Dominican Republic general election

President Luis Abinader wins re-election with 59% of the popular vote. (BBC Mundo)

19 May 2024 – 2023–24 Premier League

Manchester City win the Premier League, becoming the first team in the 136-year history of the Football League to win four consecutive top-flight titles. (The Guardian)

18 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war

Israeli war cabinet

Benny Gantz threatens to withdraw his party from the unity coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't submit a post-war plan for Gaza by June 8. (Al Jazeera)

Rafah offensive

The Israeli army recovers the body of Ron Binyamin, who was killed and taken to Gaza by Palestinian militants in the 7 October attacks. (Reuters)

Austria unfreezes €3.4 million (US$3.7 million) in funds to the UNRWA. (Reuters)

18 May 2024 – Myanmar civil war

Rakhine offensive

The Arakan Army seizes control of Buthidaung after the army captures Tatmadaw positions in the surrounding area. The town, which hosts a majority Rohingya population, is burned amidst the crossfire. (AP)

18 May 2024 – 2024 New Caledonia unrest

The death toll from the ongoing protests and riots in New Caledonia increases to six. (Al Jazeera)

18 May 2024 – 2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan floods

At least 68 people are killed by floods in Ghor and Faryab provinces, Afghanistan. (AP)

18 May 2024 –

Three people are killed and five others are injured in a boat collision on Bobs Lake in Ontario, Canada. (CBC News)

At least 23 migrants are missing after boarding a boat travelling from Tunisia to Italy. (Reuters)

18 May 2024 – 2024 Bishkek riots

The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan asks that Pakistani nationals in Kyrgyzstan stay indoors after mob attacks on Pakistanis and other foreign nationals are reported. (AP)

18 May 2024 –

Italian financial police seize 134 Fiat cars imported from Morocco following a dispute on stickers indicating the origin of the car. (Reuters)

18 May 2024 – 2023–2024 Georgian protests

President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili vetoes the proposed "Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence". (The Guardian)

18 May 2024 – LGBT rights in Peru

Hundreds of protesters march in Lima, Peru, to demand the reversal of a new law that describes transgender people as having a mental illness. (Reuters)

18 May 2024 –

The Communist Party of Vietnam nominates Minister of Public Security Tô Lâm as the next President after Võ Văn Thưởng resigned as President in March due to the party's anti-corruption campaign. (Al Jazeera)

18 May 2024 – 2023–24 Bundesliga

In association football, Bundesliga champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen become the first Bundesliga team to finish a season unbeaten after defeating FC Augsburg on the final matchday. (The New York Times)

18 May 2024 – 2023–24 Women's Super League

In association football, Chelsea F.C. Women wins their 7th Women's Super League title after defeating Manchester United W.F.C. 6–0 in the final match. (Reuters)

18 May 2024 – Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk

In boxing, Oleksandr Usyk defeats Tyson Fury by split decision and becomes the first undisputed four-belt heavyweight champion in history. (BBC Sport)

17 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war

Humanitarian aid during the Israel–Hamas war

Humanitarian aid deliveries begin arriving at the U.S.-built Gaza floating pier. (Reuters)

Rafah offensive

The Israeli army recovers from Rafah the bodies of three people killed in the Re'im music festival massacre last October, including Shani Louk. (The New York Times)

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 18 years, 7 months and 19 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)

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