LGBT Q&A: How Can I Wipe Online Data That Points To My Queer Identity?

This Pride, we’re answering all your digital rights questions in season two of our initiative, LGBT Q&A.  You Asked: Is there a way for me to wipe data about me online that could point to my queer identity? EFF’s Answer: You cannot protect everything all the time, but there are ways to wipe information about […]

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Seaweeds are not plants – and six other surprising facts about aquatic flora

Bladderwort is a rare aquatic carnivorous plant Maximillian cabinet/Shutterstock Hidden beneath the water’s surface is a botanical world that is among nature’s most innovative and ecologically important. As I highlighted in a recent paper, an extraordinary range of adaptations have evolved in aquatic plants for life beneath the water’s surface. Some flower underwater, others capture […]

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EFF and Allies: X’s FTC Petition to Waive Privacy Violation Order Should be Rejected

X Corp. should not be able to escape privacy compliance because it changed its name.  On May 15, X Corp. filed a petition before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to set aside or modify an order issued in 2022 requiring the company to report regularly to the FTC for its violations of user data. The […]

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Comet from another star has a composition unlike anything else in our solar system

An image of 3I/Atlas from the Hubble telescope shows the teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust emanating from its solid, icy nucleus. NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) Astronomers have revealed new details about the make-up and age of a visiting comet that was born around a distant star. They conclude that the […]

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Megalodon’s legendary life revealed by fossil rediscovery

Museums are supposed to be havens for the collective cultural and scientific heritage of the planet, but specimens sometimes go missing. Happily, they can also be rediscovered, as a new study shows, with the vertebrae of the legendary predatory shark known to the world under its old name of Megalodon (now properly Otodus megalodon) turning […]

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Venezuela earthquakes highlight the limits of early warning systems

Earthquakes still arrive without warning. That is the hard truth scientists have been forced to accept, despite a decade of advances in artificial intelligence, satellite monitoring and dense seismic networks. We are getting better at detecting earthquakes once they start. We are now better at estimating the damage they may cause. But we still can’t […]

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Consciousness: how ‘working memory’ may mysteriously give rise to it

You know that feeling when you walk into a room and immediately forget why you came in? Maybe you were there to fetch your keys. On your way to the room, you were thinking about grabbing your keys. But once you arrive, your keys have completely disappeared from your mind. This is sometimes known as […]

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The world has the science to transform food systems. The next frontier is scaling it

The world’s food systems face real and urgent challenges. These include climate change, nutrition insecurity, food safety, and unequal access to markets. Research has produced practical solutions to each of these that could benefit hundreds of millions of people. Too few are moved into widespread use. For years, the development sector has flattered itself with […]

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LGBT Q&A: What Data Are Companies in the UK Collecting When Verifying My Age?

This Pride, we’re answering all your digital rights questions in season two of our initiative, LGBT Q&A.  You Asked: I live in the UK, and we have age verification now on a bunch of websites (including Reddit) and now on iPhones. Can you explain what sort of data companies are actually collecting when they check […]

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