Author: damazah@gmail.com

During its second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Spotify again teased the upcoming release of a new product that will allow music fans to leverage AI to make covers and remixes of artists’ music, with the artists’ consent. The company also announced that Merlin, a licensing partner for independent labels and distributors, has now joined Universal Music Group (UMG) on the new AI music effort. The deal brings more than 30,000 labels from Merlin’s network to the product, which will allow fan-made covers and remixes by artists who agree to participate. Spotify has positioned its AI music product as being significantly…

Scientists have discovered the earliest known evidence of the structures that eventually became spider fangs in a fossil dating back 518 million years. The finding was made by researchers from Yunnan University and the University of Leicester. Whether associated with the deadly reputation of the Black Widow or the fictional bite that transformed Spider-Man, fangs have become one of the most recognizable features of spiders. Their evolutionary story, however, began long before modern spiders appeared. A new study published in Nature traces the origins of this powerful hunting tool to Urokodia, a small marine creature that lived during the early…

That’s all, folks!Brian LoganThank you so much everyone for your considered questions. I’ve really enjoyed talking and thinking about all of this. I love the fringe. I wish I could answer more of these! (I will be easy to find in Edinburgh in August and to engage in further discussion…)‘I love the fringe!’ Photograph: John M Lund Photography Inc/Getty ImagesShareKey eventsAre there too many privately educated performers at the fringe?Leeabroad asks: Should the fringe consider imposing a limit on the number of privately educated performers or class socio-economic based diversity quotas to stop its headlong descent to becoming even more…

How do I go about substituting gelatine sheets for a vegetarian setting agent?Sarah, Aberdeen“The truth is, there’s no exact substitute for gelatine, because it has an incredibly unique texture,” says Richard Phillips, head of pastry at Timberyard in Edinburgh. Sure, there are plenty of plant-based gelling agents out there – “agar-agar [or just agar], gellan gum, pectin, carrageenan, locust bean gum, vege-gel… the list goes on,” says Phillips – but the result will never quite be the same.“The temperature you have to use them at is different [to gelatine],” says Philip Khoury, author of Beyond Baking, so his usual workaround…

Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, Lebanon – Every year on August 4 since 2020, families of the victims of a massive explosion at Beirut port gather outside the site of what was one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in modern history.They continue to press Lebanese authorities for justice and accountability for the explosion of ammonium nitrate that was unsafely stored with highly inflammable materials.Yet there has been none, despite a change in leadership that promised to support an independent judiciary into the blast that killed more than 200 people.This year I couldn’t attend the commemorations because I was covering another tragedy – only…

Deji Elumoye in Abuja ​President Bola Tinubu has felicitated Team Nigeria on their remarkable performance at the Commonwealth Games which ended recently in Glasgow, Scotland.The President, in a release issued on Tuesday by his Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, celebrated the athletes for demonstrating the resilience, determination, discipline, and excellence that define the Nigerian spirit.Tinubu commended Team Nigeria for flying the country’s flag with dignity and pride, affirming that the 24 medals won—10 gold, 7 silver, and 7 bronze—are a testament to their hard work and perseverance.​The President noted that the experience gained by every athlete will serve…

Palantir CEO Alex Karp speaks during an interview on July 27, 2026 in New York City.John Lamparski | Getty ImagesPalantir stock rocketed 27% higher on Tuesday after the company reported “otherworldly” second-quarter earnings driven by customer demand for AI sovereign tools. The enterprise software giant reported a 93% growth in overall revenue to $1.94 billion, up from around $1 billion a year ago, and beating LSEG estimates of $1.8 billion. Its commercial revenue jumped 149% to $764 million, and government revenue grew 90% to $809 million. The company expects full-year revenue between $8.15 billion and $8.158 and commercial revenue in…

If you’re at a restaurant and hear a ping a couple of minutes before your meal arrives at your table, it’s unlikely to be a good sign. But microwave ovens are a brilliant tool in the home kitchen. They’re fearsomely fast at heating up – or even cooking – food when you’re time-poor and lacking the energy to make something wholesome after a hard day at work. And in hot weather, cooking by microwave isn’t just quick: it also won’t warm your home.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn…

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has dismissed the emergence of former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as the running mate to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, describing the ticket as “dead on arrival.” Speaking during his media parley on Tuesday, Wike argued that Amaechi no longer possesses the political influence required to deliver votes either in Rivers State or the South-South region, insisting that the former governor has consistently failed to produce electoral victories in recent years. “Rotimi Amaechi being the running mate to Atiku Abubakar, I have come to know that indeed, it would be difficult…

Researchers have developed a bioengineered chewing gum that may offer a new way to target microbes associated with head and neck cancer. In tests involving oral samples from patients, extracts from the gum sharply reduced one virus and two types of bacteria linked to the disease. The research team was led by Henry Daniell of the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings were published in Scientific Reports and could support the development of more accessible and affordable treatments. A Need for Better Head and Neck Cancer Therapies Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is…