wanderingmagus

An international team of researchers from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), the University of Greifswald, and Universiti Brunei Drussalam has discovered that Nepenthes hemsleyana – a pitcher plant found in Borneo – uses an echo reflector to attract bats. However, it is not the bats themselves that the plants are after, but their droppings. As the pitcher plants grow in soil that is low in nutrients they need additional fertiliser and the bats’ droppings provide them with vital nutrients. In return, the plants offer the bats the perfect place to sleep inside their pitchers.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13235727

What in the name of all the Earth and its domains and the heavens above is this asshattery?

The family of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is very much up in arms at something called the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation over its decision to give a leadership award named after the former Supreme Court justice to **drumroll* … *Elon Musk.

. . . Oh yeah, Rupert Murdoch is also getting this year’s Leadership Award, along with Martha Stewart (weird but whatever), Michael Milken (what?), and Sylvester Stallone (no, seriously, fucking what?).

. . . The award is all of four years old, and has previously gone to “individual women of prominence.” Did we run out of those or something?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13207517

A leading psychologist who advises Meta on suicide prevention and self-harm has quit her role, accusing the tech giant of “turning a blind eye” to harmful content on Instagram, repeatedly ignoring expert advice and prioritising profit over lives.

A leading psychologist who advises Meta on suicide prevention and self-harm has quit her role, accusing the tech giant of “turning a blind eye” to harmful content on Instagram, repeatedly ignoring expert advice and prioritising profit over lives.

The headquarters of the New Orleans Police Department is in such a state of decay that rats are eating drugs in the evidence room, the department's chief said.

4 panel System32Comics comic 1: "Oh no! The virus is stealing my personal data!" 2: "Free Anti-Virus Software Help!" 3: Free Anti-Virus Software to the rescue! 4: Free Anti-Virus Software is stealing his personal data

Avast, the cybersecurity software company, is facing a $16.5 million fine after it was caught storing and selling customer information without their consent. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the fine on Thursday and said that it’s banning Avast from selling user data for advertising purposes.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/11125375

“I’m aspirationally Jewish,” Musk said. “So I was like, ‘What are people talking about with this antisemitism?’ Because I never hear it at dinner conversations."

Elon Musk said he is "Jewish by association" during a conversation with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro after a visit to the former Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland.

Musk, the Tesla CEO and owner of social media platform X, made the comments during a conference on antisemitism organized by the European Jewish Association. The association had arranged for Musk to make a private visit to Auschwitz, where an estimated 1.1 million Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust.

"I must admit to being somewhat frankly naive about this. In the circles that I move, I see almost no antisemitism. ... Two-thirds of my friends are Jewish," the billionaire tech mogul said in a video posted on YouTube by Bloomberg Technology. "I have twice as many Jewish friends as non-Jewish friends. I’m like Jewish by association."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10484686

Pardon?