Humans would do anything to survive but we're not the only ones. Many animals have different strategies for survival and in this particular case, bobcats from southern Texas find an interesting place to live.

Bobcats facing pressure from hunting in southern Texas have found shelter in rural backyards as they continue to lose their habitats. Even though it's legal to hunt them, they found an area where they are relatively safe.

When conservation photographer Karine Aigner first started photographing bobcats on a friend’s ranch in south Texas in 2017, she knew most of the community’s human residents were more likely to see the cats as a nuisance — or a target — than as a species to be admired and protected.

In the beginning, her only goal was to see if the cats might allow her into their world. But the more time she spent watching a fiercely protective mother raise her always-curious-and-sometimes-precocious kittens, the more she began to hope that showcasing the lives of these animals might change the way they are perceived and treated.

Read more of the story on High Country News.

(Image credit: skeeze/Pixabay)

As researchers find out more about our genetic material and come up with ways to engineer our genes to enhance certain traits or prevent certain diseases from emerging, the less we should worry about genetic conditions or disorders arising from heredity. Right?

If you could use reproductive genetic technology to make sure that your child did not have a genetic disease, would you do it? That question is not science fiction anymore for many prospective parents.

If you have an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer because of a variant in your genes, there are now ways to make sure you don’t pass that pathogenic variant along to the next generation. 

If you and your partner each harbor a single gene for spinal muscular atrophy—and with it a 25 percent chance that each of your children will be born with a life-threatening degenerative disease—we can remake the odds, assuring that all your children will be born healthy.

However, the question is no longer whether it is possible but rather is it accessible? These procedures aren't cheap which means only those with the resources can afford them leaving out people in lower economic classes who would also benefit if they could only gain access to it.

Apart from accessibility, there are the moral implications. Others doubt the ethics of the practice. Now that we are able to manipulate our genes, there is always the risk that this will be misused and abused.

Americans approve of interventions to reduce a child’s lifetime risk of cancer, but don’t want parents choosing their child’s eye color or selecting for higher intelligence, says an AP-NORC poll from 2018. We are in favor of healthier babies, but not “designer babies.”

What are your thoughts on the matter?

(Image credit: Bill Oxford/Unsplash)

Several analysts have already pointed out the dangers of the gig economy and how it verges on exploitation of workers. Despite being able to work anywhere and have more control over one's time, freelancing has its own pitfalls, especially since freelancers are at the mercy of employers.

Essentially, freelancers are treated like "independent contractors" with no benefits, no opportunity to unionize, low wages, and uncertainty of payments. In his article, Jake Pitre shares his thoughts on the impact of the gig economy on freelancers and how things are more complicated than what people expect.

The result of all this is a profound sense of alienation. I write as a freelancer, and it’s been well-established how unreliable it can be, with late payments (or payments that never come) and increasingly low standard rates.

I work for myself, which is great—I set my own hours, can work in my boxer briefs at home, and more or less choose what sort of stories I want to pursue. At the same time, I also work for every editor I can find, re-starting those relationships each time and unable to build any kind of long-lasting stability.

Even more isolating, I’d say, is my Upwork job, for which I could potentially be rated for the quality of my work in social media, possibly impacting future gigs.

As the gig economy continues to grow and the big companies shift to outsourcing jobs to freelancers, the workforce might find itself digging its own grave. The appeal of freelancing is actually a double-edged sword, giving only an illusion of control when in fact, one slowly becomes alienated from their work.

Freelancers are turned into abstractions rather than people, recontextualizing the social relations of work in new ways. The platform isn’t simply an intermediary, it is the entire infrastructure within which these jobs exist.

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NASA's human space flight program retired in 2011 as intended however, there haven't been any successors to the program since then. NASA has expressed their interest in renewing such programs and they have partnered with several private companies in order to launch crewed missions once again. At the moment, Boeing and SpaceX are on a race to be the first to revive human space flight.

In regards to this, Boeing will be sending a crew of veteran astronauts and aviators on a space mission aboard their new Starliner spacecraft which they say could also take tourists on a trip to space. This could be the start of commercial space flights and space tourism.

NASA is paying SpaceX and Boeing nearly $7 billion combined to build rocket-and-capsule launch systems for ferrying astronauts to the space station.

Reuters was given rare access at Houston’s Johnson Space Center to NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Mike Fincke, and Boeing astronaut and test pilot Christopher Ferguson, who will crew the ISS mission, along with other astronauts training for future missions.

The exercises included training underwater to simulate space walks, responding to emergencies aboard the space station, and practicing docking maneuvers on a flight simulator.

-via The Daily Grail

(Image credit: NASA/Wikimedia Commons)

When I first watched the original Matrix trilogy, it got me thinking about the nature of our consciousness and the way we perceive reality apart from ourselves, and whether we can even rely on the information we receive through our senses, that is, can I reliably say that I am real and that everything I perceive is real? Thinking of which brought me into a spiraling existential crisis. But that is beside the point. We're getting a new Matrix sequel.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures will produce and globally distribute the film. Warner Bros. Picture Group chairman Toby Emmerich made the announcement on Tuesday.

“We could not be more excited to be re-entering ‘The Matrix’ with Lana,” said Emmerich. “Lana is a true visionary — a singular and original creative filmmaker — and we are thrilled that she is writing, directing and producing this new chapter in ‘The Matrix’ universe.”

In addition to Wachowski, the script was also written by Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell. Wachowski is also producing with Grant Hill. Sources say the film is eyed to begin production at the top of 2020.

It's been 20 years since the first movie came out and it has made an indelible mark on science fiction in the past decade. Also, several things have changed since then. The speculative elements within the film are no longer just visions or concepts of a distant future rather they are becoming reality. The groundwork has already been laid out for things like artificial intelligence and virtual reality. It might not be too long before we find ourselves living in the landscape imagined in the Matrix.

Red Pill Junkie gives his take on this new announcement and the surprising absence of Lilly Wachowski who co-directed with her sister, Lana, on the original trilogy. That and other things on the Daily Grail.

(Image credit: Warner Bros./IMDb)

There are eighteen songs in Taylor Swift's new album "Lover" which has just been released and for some people, that might be overwhelming. Not to mention, the themes and subject matter that her songs talk about may seem a bit lacking in depth to others but a lot of people relate to them on some level. 

The songs included in the album have been teased over the past several months and now, they have come out in their full glory. On that note, here's an analysis of every song in the album "Lover".

(Image credit: GabboT/Flickr; Wikimedia Commons)

Women have been taking more action in the political arena and their efforts are paying off since there are now more women, not only those running for the top office, but also on the ground running the campaigns, for both male and female candidates. And it's about time.

More than two dozen strategists, analysts and campaign advisers who spoke to POLITICO said the hiring and pay trends they’re seeing this presidential cycle represent a sea change in an industry long dominated by men. 

No longer elbowed out of major decision-making, women more than ever are shaping messaging and strategy as well as steering policy and financial decisions of presidential campaigns.

(Image credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr; Wikimedia Commons)

The fires that destroyed a large swath of the Amazon rainforest this past week have possibly made it more difficult to slow down the effects of climate change while also worsening our current state due to the carbon emissions from the smoke rising to the atmosphere.

"The effects of forest destruction in the Amazon don't stay in the Amazon. They affect us all," said Robin Chazdon, professor emerita at the University of Connecticut who has studied tropical forest ecology.

But there's more at stake than people might realize, Chazdon said. "There are large negative consequences for climate change globally, as the fires contribute to carbon emissions," she added. If the rainforests are "not allowed to regenerate or be reforested, they will not be able to recover their high potential for carbon storage."

Forests may be able to recover after a fire but not if there are periodic fires occuring, such as what has been happening at the Amazon rainforest. It would take more effort for us to mitigate the effects of climate change with our forests depleting at an alarming rate. Even plans to repopulate and plant a trillion trees might not be enough.

"Forests can regrow following fires, but not if fires are repeated every few years and not if the land is converted to agriculture," Chazdon said.

She added that the shrinking of the Amazon and its transition into scrubland "could bring a tipping point to forest functioning that is not easily reversible."

(Image credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT/Flickr; Wikimedia Commons)

The life of a musician is one fraught with challenges as they seek to hone their craft. Leo Driehuys had a promising career in Europe as an oboist and pianist. But he gave that up in exchange for leading the Charlotte Symphony and transforming it into a grand orchestra.

Bastiaan Driehuys was 9 when the family immigrated from the Netherlands to Davidson, and he recalls “that every conversation at dinner was how to take that orchestra to the next level.

“It’s a credit to my parents that the same spirit that led them to pick up and move from our comfortable existence in Europe led them to say, ‘Let’s go take this fledgling orchestra to the next level.’ They embraced every new challenge,” he said.

Transforming an orchestra came with challenges.

Charlotte Symphony violinist Martha Geissler, who joined the symphony in 1981, recalls that Driehuys was always pushing to attract and retain the highest caliber musicians he could, which sometimes meant he had to let weaker instrumentalists go.

In the 17 years he served as conductor for the orchestra, it grew and became renowned, going on a European tour and culminating in one of the grandest concerts they have ever performed in 1992 at the Belk Theater with other performances from Roberta Flack and Patti Lupone. He retired in 1994.

(Image credit: Bastiaan Driehuys)

The argument against bottled water is valid. There are other sources of water from which we can drink and whose quality may not be at all different from that of water in a plastic bottle. Then, there's the waste from the single-use container which just adds to our environmental problems. So what's the use of bottled water?

A single-use bottle of water is often held up as the defining example of a product that solves a nonexistent problem while simultaneously creating a new one. So it’s no wonder that some climate activists have scoffed at those who profess their sincere efforts against the carbon apocalypse while clutching a plastic bottle of Fiji water.

But let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment. Bottled water can be a literal lifesaver, and I don’t mean for irresponsible Klean Kanteen owners. Water is supposed to run from the tap unrestricted and nearly free of cost, and it’s also supposed to be safe to drink. For billions of people across many developing countries, this is not the case — and nor is it true for residents of an increasing number of municipalities in the U.S.

(Image credit: Steve Johnson/Unsplash)

We know that babies and toddlers acquire language as they interact with the people around them and as their parents talk to them but that doesn't mean that they only receive information from their environment. That is, they can actually influence their learning environment through babbling.

New research from Cornell’s Behavioral Analysis of Beginning Years (B.A.B.Y.) Laboratory reveals that baby babbling elicits profound changes in adult speech. Adults unconsciously modify their speech to include fewer unique words, shorter sentences and more one-word replies. This simplified speech happens only in response to the baby’s babbling, and not when the adult is simply talking to the baby.

“Infants are actually shaping their own learning environments in ways that make learning easier to do,” said lead author Steven Elmlinger, a doctoral candidate in the field of psychology. “We know that parents’ speech influences how infants learn – that makes sense – and that infants’ own motivations also change how they learn. But what hasn’t been studied is the link between how infants can change the parents, or just change the learning environment as a whole. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Baby talk isn't just cute but it also affects how we speak to babies which, in turn, could help them learn the language a lot easier. The researchers conducted the study with mothers and infants then measured the vocabulary used by the parents and the words or vocalizations made by the infants to come up with these findings.

(Image credit: The Honest Company/Unsplash)

Black holes usually form by pulling in surrounding material into its core until it has gained enough mass such that the gas around it dissipates and the black hole is revealed in its full glory. Astronomers say they have found one of the farthest black holes to date which is still in its early stages of growth.

"It's extraordinarily challenging to find quasars in this cloaked phase because so much of their radiation is absorbed and cannot be detected by current instruments," said Fabio Vito of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, in Santiago, Chile, who led the study. "Thanks to Chandra and the ability of X-rays to pierce through the obscuring cloud, we think we've finally succeeded."

The new finding came from observations of a quasar called PSO167-13, which was first discovered by Pan-STARRS, an optical-light telescope in Hawaii. Optical observations from these and other surveys have detected about 180 quasars already shining brightly when the universe was less than a billion years old, or about 8 percent of its present age.

(Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXO/Ponticifca Catholic Univ. of Chile/F. Vito; Radio: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); Optical: Pan-STARRS)

The protest against the building of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) at Mauna Kea is going on its sixth week and more protesters are joining in the fight to save the sacred land from desecration. According to organizers, there have been 10,000 to 15,000 people who have been to the mountain in support of the protest.

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) should not be built at Mauna Kea, they contend, raising issues of indigenous rights, sovereignty and environmental stewardship.

Many protesters, also referred to as protectors, are making a stand to be caretakers of their native land, said Lanakila Mangauil, a Hawaiian culture and history public school teacher.

Seeing numerous new faces blocking the access road up Mauna Kea, Mangauil told USA TODAY, takes his breath away.

For scientists, however, Mauna Kea is at a prime location for astronomy especially in their pursuit to find extraterrestrial life. So far, there are already thirteen telescopes stationed on Mauna Kea, but the planned Thirty Meter Telescope would be the largest.

The TMT project had only been approved in 2014 by the Supreme Court of Hawaii however, plans of constructing it were already under way since 2009.

(Image credit: Caleb Jones/AP)

It has been 14 years since divers went to the Titanic's wreckage at the bottom of the Atlantic and this time, a team of explorers went back and found that it is in an advanced state of deterioration. Though it is natural for the ship to decay, the process has been sped up by a group of metal-eating bacteria which has already devoured the captain's quarters.

The expedition was intended to capture footage and computer imagery to assess the Titanic's current condition, and "project its future," along with providing high quality visuals and 3D models of the 107-year-old wreckage. The first 4K visual images will allow the wreck to be seen in augmented and virtual reality.

“The future of the wreck is going to continue to deteriorate over time, it’s a natural process," said expedition scientist Lori Johnson. "These are natural types of bacteria, so the reason that the deterioration process ends up being quite a bit faster, is a group of bacteria, a community working symbiotically to eat, if you will the iron and the sulphur.”

(Image credit: Lori Johnston, RMS Titanic Expedition 2003, NOAA-OE; Wikimedia Commons)

If you're craving to read a book right now but don't know with which to start, looking for suggestions from other people or reading along with someone is a good way to find something new or different from the usual books you like to read. On that note, former President Barack Obama has posted his summer reading list to help you pick out some good books.

Obama begins his list with a heartfelt suggestion that we all read and/or revisit the collected works of Toni Morrison, the American literary giant who recently passed away. His praise for her body of work is thoughtful and explains just why her work is so relevant in these turbulent times, calling her work “not just beautiful but meaningful—a challenge to our conscience and a call to greater empathy.”

For other books on the list, check out Book Riot's summary or former President Obama's list on Facebook.

(Image credit: Pete Souza/White House; Wikimedia Commons)