Murray-Darling water buybacks won't be enough if we can't get water to where it's needed

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Murray-Darling water buybacks won't be enough if we can't get water to where it's needed     When it was clear the Murray-Darling Basin Plan could not be completed on time, Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek announced a new agreement (without Victoria) to deliver in full the plan’s aim of restoring the health of this vast river system.The new agreement required changes to the Water Act to allow more water for the environment to be purchased from irrigators (water buybacks). Concerns about these changes prompted a Senate inquiry. Continued here

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18 Tech Gifts for the Kids in Your Life     If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDNo matter how much they're begging for one, your kid probably doesn’t need a smartphone. The official advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics is that young children need hands-on social interaction and exploration with peers and caregivers to learn. Continued here

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Avoid These 3 Mistakes Executives Make With Their Personal Brand     Set yourself up for success by knowing what not to do. Continued here

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50 Weird-as-Hell Products on Amazon That Are So Damn Clever     I ask you, where’s the fun in buying a toilet plunger? Or cleaning out your car? Being an adult can be boring — there are so many tedious chores to do and essential products to buy just to keep life chugging along. That’s why weird products are my favorite. They’re unique, standing out from the crowd and making the everyday doldrums of life a little more fun. So I’ve compiled a list of 50 weird-as-hell products on Amazon that (I think) are so damn clever.From a cactus-shaped toilet plunger to a playfully slimy car cleaner, the useful things on this list make life a little more interesting. Scroll through and see what weird — and delightfully functional — products you can find. Continued here

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Analytics for Marketers     Advanced analytics can help companies solve a host of management problems, including those related to marketing, sales, and supply-chain operations, which can lead to a sustainable competitive advantage. But as more data becomes available and advanced analytics are further refined, managers may struggle with when, where, and how much to incorporate machines into their business analytics, and to what extent they should bring their own judgment to bear when making data-driven decisions. Continued here

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Does Ashwagandha Help Relieve Stress? Here's What the Supplement Actually Does     Ashwagandha’s role in stress relief is still not fully understood despite its ever-increasing popularity.When confronted with ads selling products that promote health and longevity, it's always important to remember that the wellness industry’s primary goal is to make money. Continued here

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10 Rules For Building The Most Productive Relationships In Business     You need great relationships more than innovative products to succeed in business today. Continued here

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How Swiss stone putting shows traditions can be progressive | Aeon Essays     The author holds an Unspunnen stone above his head in the qualifying heats for the 2022 Federal Alpine Games in Basel, Switzerland, 27 August 2022. Photos supplied by the authorThe author holds an Unspunnen stone above his head in the qualifying heats for the 2022 Federal Alpine Games in Basel, Switzerland, 27 August 2022. Photos supplied by the author Continued here

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What women say about how breastfeeding affects their body image     The benefits of breastfeeding are well known – but the UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. The WHO recommends that babies should be exclusively breastfed up to the age of six months (when they can start having food in addition to breast milk). But just 1% of women in the UK exclusively breastfeed their babies to six months old. There are many reasons that lead mothers to stop breastfeeding, or not start at all. One of these is body image: their perceptions or feelings about their body. Continued here

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Best Cookbooks of 2023 (So Far)     If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDPut on your apron and prep your mise en place, because it’s time to get busy. This time around, our annual cookbook “best of” list includes titles for throwing unbeatable dinner parties, baking objectively perfect pies, and crafting imaginative cocktails. You'll find deep dives into Mexican, Taiwanese, and Middle Eastern cuisines, as well as books on fermentation, tinned fish, and salads to give your WFH lunch menu a creative spark. Continued here

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The Great Resignation Didn't Start with the Pandemic     Covid-19 spurred on the Great Resignation of 2021, during which record numbers of employees voluntarily quit their jobs. But what we are living through is not just short-term turbulence provoked by the pandemic. Instead, it’s the continuation of a trend of rising quit rates that began more than a decade ago. Five main factors are at play in this trend: retirement, relocation, reconsideration, reshuffling, and reluctance. All of these factors, the authors argue, are here to stay. They explore each in turn and encourage leaders to examine which of them are contributing most to turnover in their organizations, so that they can adapt appropriately as they move into the future. Continued here

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'The Marvels' Doubles Down on the MCU's Most Concerning Bad Habit     Contrary to what many critics and fans may have thought in the weeks leading up to its release, The Marvels is far from a total disaster. Its first act is, in fact, a complete blast — a cross-cutting, action-packed blast of infectious, zany energy that brings the film’s three leads together while simultaneously — and hilariously — keeping them apart. The further into its runtime The Marvels gets, though, the more it falls apart.The film’s climax is, in true Marvel Cinematic Universe fashion, disjointed and disappointing. More importantly, the movie fails to pull off its story about Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and their scientifically linked powers. That’s largely because the MCU’s previous films and TV shows haven’t developed Larson’s Carol or Parris’ Monica nearly enough to suddenly thrust them into the center of a team-up plot. Continued here

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11 mind-boggling facts about time     To mark the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, we'll be spending the next week tackling the big questions about time, including the science of time travel, how clocks have shaped humanity, and even the mind-bending temporal consequences of flying into a black hole.We're starting our ultimate guide with 11 mind-bending facts about the physics, psychology and history of time, plucked from the BBC Future archive. Read on to learn why there's more to time than meets the eye. Continued here

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What do people in the Pacific really think of China? It's more nuanced than you may imagine     Bernard Yegiora is affiliated with the Lowy Institute as part of its PNG-Australia emerging leaders network. China has been steadily increasing its footprint in the Pacific in recent years as it attempts to deepen its influence and challenge the traditionally strong relationships many countries have with the US and Australia. Continued here

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What Makes a Great Leader?     Tomorrow’s leaders master three key roles — architect, bridger, and catalyst, or ABCs — to access the talent and tools they need to drive innovation and impact. As architects, they build the culture and capabilities for co-creation. As bridgers, they curate and enable networks of talent inside and outside their organizations to co-create. And as catalysts, they lead beyond their organizational boundaries to energize and activate co-creation across entire ecosystems. These ABCs require leaders to stop relying on formal authority as their source of power and shift to a style that enables diverse talent to collaborate, experiment, and learn together — a challenging yet essential personal transformation. Continued here

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Finally, a Coral Success Story     Scientists have spent years cryopreserving coral in the hopes of restoring reefs. For the first time, some unfrozen specimens have reached adulthood.Arah Narida leans over a microscope to gaze into a plastic petri dish containing a hood coral. The animal—a pebbled blue-white disk roughly half the size of a pencil eraser—is a marvel. Just three weeks ago, the coral was smaller than a grain of rice. It was also frozen solid. That is, until Narida, a graduate student at National Sun Yat-sen University, in Taiwan, thawed it with the zap of a laser. Now, just beneath the coral’s tentacles, she spies a slight divot in the skeleton where a second coral is beginning to bud. That small cavity is evidence that her hood coral is reaching adulthood, a feat no other scientist has ever managed with a previously frozen larva. Narida smiles and snaps a picture. Continued here

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Christos Tsiolkas's new novel celebrates a quiet ethics of care in a culturally noisy world     Christos Tsiolkas’s eighth novel, The In-Between, is a work of social realism set in the immediate present – a return to the form and style of some of his most popular novels. This follows his experiment with cinematic techniques and authorial presence in 7 ½ (2021), and the significant historical shift of Damascus (2019), which was based around the gospels and letters of St Paul, and focused on characters one or two generations from the death of Christ. Continued here

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Eyewash, irreverence and a Bruce Springsteen concert: on the road with a pioneering performance poet     The Tour is Pi O’s verse diary about a small group of Australian poets who take their wares on the road in North America in the mid-1980s, sponsored by the Literature Board and the Guggenheim Foundation. This came to be known as “The Dirty T-Shirt Tour”, because Pi O’s dress and personal hygiene were questioned by the other members of the group, including the tour organiser. According to Pi O’s account, the motivating factors in this singling out were race and snobbery, or race-snobbery – compounded by a sneering attitude towards performance poetry, of which Pi O was a pioneer. Continued here

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Labor still far ahead in Resolve poll, in contrast to other recent polls     Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A federal Resolve poll for Nine newspapers, conducted November 1–5 from a sample of 1,602, gave Labor 35% of the primary vote (down two since October), the Coalition 30% (down one), the Greens 13% (up one), One Nation 7% (steady), the UAP 2% (steady), independents 9% (steady) and others 4% (up two). Continued here

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This Easy, Lazy Science Hack Ditches Raking And Leaves Lawns Healthier     Instead of bagging fall leaves, take the lazy way out and get a more environmentally friendly yard. Autumn is the season to gaze at gorgeous leaves of gold, yellow, and orange as they flutter from the trees and fall on our yards – but then, of course, comes the tedious task of raking them up and trying to decide what to do with them. SciLine interviewed Susan Barton, a professor of plant and soil sciences at the University of Delaware, who says taking a lazy approach is actually a win for your garden and the critters that live there. Continued here

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What to Do If You Get Emails for the Wrong Person     Opening my email to see an invite to a fall luncheon, I rolled my eyes. Not because I’m not a fan of luncheons (quite the opposite!) but because this invitation, like so many other emails I had received, was intended for someone else.When I snagged my email address early on in Gmail’s creation, I felt lucky to have a simple, straightforward handle. But it soon turned into a curse. There were other E Hugs out there, and their friends and family were all too quick to hit Send before double-checking the spelling in the “to” field. I was invited to purse-making classes, dentist appointments, and Shabbat dinners. I was informed of hairstylist jobs and the arrival of my orthopedic shoe inserts. Once, I was asked to proof a bat mitzvah program. Continued here

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The Long Wait of the Hostages' Families     Tal Levy may be six feet four, but he does not stand out in a crowd. He speaks softly and hesitantly, and prefers to look away whenever people stare at the poster he is holding, which has a photograph of his younger brother and a single word: “KIDNAPPED.” Levy’s brother Or is one of the two hundred and forty people held in captivity in Gaza. Last Saturday night, a throng of hostages’ families and hundreds of sympathizers gathered outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art—an area now known as Hostage Square—shouting “Achshav!” (“Now!”) Levy, who is thirty-five, joined, his voice rising to no more than a whisper.On the night of October 6th, Or slept over at his in-laws’ home, in the central town of Rishon LeZiyyon, with his wife and two-year-old son. At daybreak, Or, who is thirty-three, and his wife, Eynav, thirty-two, left their son sleeping in bed while they drove south to attend an outdoor music festival, Nova—music was a shared passion of theirs. They arrived at the party shortly after 6 A.M. Some twenty minutes later, Hamas militants breached the fence from Gaza and stormed the site. Or and Eynav took cover in a public bomb shelter, but dozens of gunmen were throwing grenades and firing into the shelters and the bushes where partygoers had been hiding. Speaking on the phone with his mother that morning, Or told her, “You don’t want to know what’s happening here.” At 7:33 A.M., all communication with him stopped. Continued here

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New "super melanin" protects and heals skin     Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a synthetic melanin that’s even better at protecting the skin and healing damage than the natural kind.The challenge: Melanin — a pigment found naturally in our skin, hair, and eyes — is your body’s natural defense against damage from sunlight, air pollution, and other environmental conditions. Continued here

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50 Incredibly Clever Things for Your Home You Didn't Know You Needed Off of Amazon     There is something that you are doing — possibly every day — that could be done faster, easier, and with less hassle. You might think the irritants, chores, and to-do list you face are facts of life, unavoidable. So when you see that there is a tool or trick that makes that chore go away, reduces the irritation, and makes your to-do list attainable, you might facepalm. But your very next act will be to drop that item into your cart. Here are 50 incredibly clever things for your home you didn’t know you needed off Amazon. Read on and make life easier.Fumbling around trying to get a key into a lock in the dark is frustrating and potentially dangerous. Fortunately, the remedy is easy. Stick this wireless motion detector light above the lock and it will throw exactly the light you need to get in your door easily. When you are safely inside, it shuts off. Continued here

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Why Salary Transparency in Job Postings Might Be The Next Best Practice     Exploring how the pros and cons of total transparency in the hiring process might impact your company. Continued here

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Worried about getting a blood test? 5 tips to make them easier (and still accurate)     Blood tests are a common medical procedure, offering valuable insights into a person’s health. Whether you’re getting a routine check-up, diagnosing a medical condition or monitoring treatment progress, understanding the process can make the experience more comfortable and effective. For the majority of patients, blood collections are a minor inconvenience. Others may feel uneasy and anxious. Continued here

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26 Gift Ideas for the Outdoorsy People in Your Life     If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDNext time you tell that outdoorsy friend or family member to take a hike, make sure they head into the great outside equipped to enjoy it. In this guide, we have more than two dozen gift recommendations ranging from a titanium French press to a wool hat woven in Kathmandu. Our Gear team has tested everything on this list in the past few years. Continued here

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Is the Multiverse Real? Why One Force Still Baffles Most Physicists     One of the examples of fine-tuning which has most baffled physicists is the strength of dark energy, the force that powers the accelerating expansion of the universe.One of the most startling scientific discoveries of recent decades is that physics appears to be fine-tuned for life. This means that for life to be possible, certain numbers in physics had to fall within a certain, very narrow range. Continued here

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At what age do adolescents and teenagers begin to think like adults?     Adolescence, defined as the transitional period between puberty and adulthood, is characterized by major changes in psychological, emotional, and social processes, and is often associated with challenging behavior. Teenagers can be moody, defiant, and may engage in substance use and other risky behaviors. It is during this stage of life that people are most vulnerable to developing mental health conditions such as schizophrenia.  According to neuroscientific theory, adolescence is characterized by the gradual maturation of executive function and development of higher-order cognitive skills, such as decision-making and planning, with which we coordinate other cognitive abilities and behaviors. But at what point in adolescence is this maturation process complete?   Continued here

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Is a 'gastronomic society' dinner the height of decadence, or an act of artistry? | Aeon Videos     In the short documentary The Art of Eating (1976), rare herbs are harvested, lobsters are boiled, caviar is spread and wines are paired as viewers get a window into a biannual meeting of the ‘oldest gastronomical society in Québec’. The Canadian filmmaker Doug Jackson has a good deal of fun with the proceedings, setting the mood with regal music and ornate title cards as he captures these diners – the vast majority of them older white men – relishing each whiff, bite and sip. Yet the film never fully embraces a tone of mockery – there’s clearly immense skill on display from the chefs, and sincere knowledge, dedication and joy in this culinary ritual from the diners. As one attendee notes towards the film’s end, it is, alas, only a twice-a-year occasion and, in his mind, not so different from supporting any other art form.An Oceanic lullaby, ‘Gimme Shelter’ and more elucidate how music taps into our emotions Continued here

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A Cathartic Watch     This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.Welcome back to The Daily’s Sunday culture edition, in which one Atlantic writer reveals what’s keeping them entertained. Today’s special guest is Elizabeth Bruenig, a staff writer at The Atlantic who covers politics, culture, and religion. Continued here

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50 Bougie Things for Your Home That Are Surprisingly Under $30 on Amazon     Bougie on a budget sounds like an oxymoron, but this list proves that items with surprisingly high-end vibes can cost less than $30. From decor to spruce up spaces around your home to functional finds that you soon won’t be able to live without (like a lighter that works in the wind and rain), scroll on for a variety of elevated home products with rave reviews.With this portable blender, you can blend and drink delicious smoothies wherever and whenever. It can hold up to 14 ounces, and the motor and stainless steel blades are powerful enough to crush ice cubes and frozen ingredients without issue. You’ll be able to blend about 20 drinks before needing to recharge the device. Continued here

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Growing NZ cities eat up fertile land - but housing and food production can co-exist     Auckland Council recently voted to decrease the amount of city fringe land available for development, citing flood risks and infrastructure costs. Meanwhile in Christchurch, plans for an 850-home development north of the city have been rejected because of the area’s “existing rural nature and the lack of public transport and local jobs”. Continued here

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The Issue That Will Decide the 2024 Election     In this past week’s off-cycle elections, Ohioans voted to enshrine the right to abortion access in their state constitution; Virginia Democrats took full control of their General Assembly blue; and deep-red Kentucky reëlected Democratic Governor Andy Beshear. Abortion is “an incredibly powerful issue that has the possibility to realign the parties,” the New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer says, and could make a big difference in 2024. Democrats who have made reproductive rights a part of their platform have secured victories in local and statewide elections since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year. Yet a new poll, out this week, shows President Biden trailing Donald Trump in five of six key battleground states—all of which Biden won in 2020. The New Yorker staff writers Evan Osnos and Susan B. Glasser join Mayer to weigh in on the role that abortion might play in the politics of 2024 and also the current disconnect between the facts and public mood on the economy, Trump’s civil trial, and the presumed Biden-Trump rematch in 2024.By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Continued here

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You Need to Watch the Most Unhinged Sci-Fi Action Movie on Netflix ASAP     Now that you can stream Scott Pilgrim on Netflix, you can “get a life” over and over again.For a lot of millennials, it's strange to even concede that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is more or less nostalgia bait in 2023, down to its cascade of familiar actors who've wildly transformed over the years. But then again, one of the distinct pleasures of revisiting this funhouse arcade version of Toronto is getting a chance to see younger versions of Chris Evans, Kieran Culkin, Brie Larson, Anna Kendrick, and many more actors you probably forgot were in this thing, all crammed into a tightly edited, 112-minute high-concept fever dream whose only real sin is its restraint, if you can believe it. Continued here

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The False Binary in Higher Ed     For much of the past century, America believed that college was essential to upward mobility. A four-year degree has long been a symbol of the American dream, seen as a way to ensure that millions of students could be better off than their parents and grandparents. Today, however, that faith is plummeting. A Gallup poll earlier this year found that Americans’ confidence in higher education has fallen to a new low of 36 percent, down from 57 percent in 2015. Although a record share of Americans had a bachelor’s degree as of 2021, degree skepticism and pandemic-related disruptions led undergraduate enrollment to drop 8 percent from 2019 to 2022.This pessimism is understandable. The earnings advantage afforded by a bachelor’s degree, although still sizable, has leveled off in the past 15 years while tuition has continued to rise. And according to the National Student Clearinghouse, 40 million Americans have enrolled in college but haven’t ultimately graduated—an all-time high. As a result, college has left many students in debt, without a degree to help them get out of it. In response, many Americans have adopted an either/or approach to higher education, one that pits abstract academics against career preparation. Some prospective students are giving up on traditional degrees altogether, favoring instead cheaper, shorter, career-focused credentials. This fall, for example, a Clearinghouse analysis found that enrollment in nondegree-certificate programs rose nearly 10 percent compared with last year. Continued here

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Determinism vs. free will: A scientific showdown     The takeaway of Robert Sapolsky’s Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will is basically the same as that espoused by those Snickers commercials: You’re not you when you’re hungry. Except according to Sapolsky, there is no “you”—the hunger is what dictates your behavior, along with your stress level, whether or not you were born with fetal alcohol syndrome or grew up in a culture that valorizes individual freedoms versus one that prioritizes communal responsibility or in one that believes in an omniscient, omnipotent, vengeful deity. Continued here

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Africa-US trade: Agoa deal expires in 2025 - an expert unpacks what it's achieved in 23 years     African governments are seeking an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) beyond 2025. The law was enacted in 2000 to “encourage increased trade and investment between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa”. We asked David Luke, who specialises in African trade policy and trade negotiations, what benefits Agoa has brought for qualifying African countries and how it can be improved.The duty- and quota-free access to the US market granted by Agoa has helped in boosting trade and investment between sub-Saharan Africa and the US. Many of the qualifying African countries have recorded specific successes in goods exported under Agoa to the US. These include textiles and apparel from Kenya, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Lesotho, Ghana and Madagascar. In Kenya, for instance, the apparel-dominated Agoa sales have grown from US$55 million in 2001 to US$603 million in 2022, accounting for 67.6% of the country’s total exports to the US. Continued here

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Christoph Niemann's "Create Your Own Cover with Till-E"     In a sequence drawn by Christoph Niemann for the cover of the November 20, 2023, A.I. Issue, an artist encountering a creative block is rescued by Till-E, a bot who eagerly takes over the job. Niemann, with his characteristic biting humor, imagines the unintended consequences of turning to artificial intelligence to solve problems of the artistic imagination. The cover's strap, a graphic element that has occupied the left of every New Yorker cover since 1925, guides the reader to an interactive area of our Web site where anyone can partner with the industrious little bot to create their own cover. I talked to Niemann about his cheeky take on artificial intelligence and why he doesn't seem overly concerned that robots will bring about the end of life as we know it.I haven't seen anything that would come close to that yet—so far, it's pretty superficial bling. I'm sure that A.I.-generated art will become better and better, and eventually might even create intriguing conceptual work. The deciding question will be: Do we care whether the art is made by a human being? Continued here

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15 Years Later, Star Wars Could Reintroduce A Threat Even More Dangerous Than The Dark Side     Within Legends, there's a group of mysterious beings who throw all of Star Wars lore into question.Over the years, Star Wars fans have learned more and more about the way of the Jedi, from how Force sensitivity works to how Force projection can be used. But the Sith are much more mysterious, and there are multiple sectors and groups who use the Dark Side in their own ways. For example, we saw the Dathomiri Nightsisters in Ahsoka as they helped Thrawn by reviving an entire dead army, and the Knights of Ren appeared in The Rise of Skywalker. Continued here