Aucanquilcha is a large stratovolcano located in the Antofagasta Region of northern Chile, just west of the border with Bolivia and within the Alto Loa National Reserve. Part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, it takes the form of a ridge, with a maximum height of 6,176 metres (20,262 ft). The volcano is embedded in a larger cluster of volcanoes known as the Aucanquilcha cluster. This was formed in stages over 11million years of activity with varying magma output, including lava domes and lava flows. Aucanquilcha was formed from four units that erupted between 1.04 and 0.23million years ago. During the ice ages, both the principal Aucanquilcha complex and the other volcanoes of the cluster were subject to glaciation, resulting in the formation of moraines and cirques.Photograph credit: Diego DelsoRecently featured: Benjamin FranklinGreen iguanaRhinanthus angustifoliusArchiveMore featured pictures

January 18:United Nations Memorial Cemetery1871 A number of previously independent states united to form the German Empire, with WilhelmI as German Emperor.1951 Construction began in Busan, South Korea, on the United Nations Military Cemetery (pictured), the only United Nations cemetery in the world.1956 Navvab Safavi, an Iranian Shia cleric and the founder of the fundamentalist group Fada'iyan-e Islam, was executed with three of his followers for attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Hossein Ala'.1969 Thousands of Japanese police stormed the University of Tokyo after six months of nationwide leftist university student protests and occupations.1983 Thirty years after his death, the International Olympic Committee presented commemorative medals to the family of American athlete Jim Thorpe, who had been stripped of his gold medals for playing semi-professional baseball before the 1912 Summer Olympics.Isabella Jagiellon (b.1519)Elena Arizmendi Meja (b.1884)Philippe Starck (b.1949)Bruce Chatwin (d.1989)More anniversaries: January 17January 18January 19ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Archaeologists and Masai landowners conducted excavations at Engaji Nanyori in Tanzania. Julio MercaderOur early human ancestors might have been more adaptable than previously thought: New research suggests Homo erectus was able to surviveand even thriveafter its home in East Africa shriveled up and became a dry, barren landscape.H. erectus is a now-extinct species of early human that experts say arose some two million years ago in Africa. Walking upright, they had longer legs and shorter arms than previous hominins, which gave them a distinctly modern human-like appearance. They also had bigger brains than earlier species, though not quite as large as the brains of todays humans, Homo sapiens.H. erectus persisted for more than 1.5 million years before going extinct around 100,000 years ago. It was one of the first early human species to migrate out of Africa, traveling to distant locales like China and Indonesia.In all, the species existed on Earth for far longer than todays humans have so far, with H. sapiens appearing a mere 300,000 years ago.Homo erectus had longer legs, shorter arms and bigger brains than earlier hominin species. Tim Evanson via Flickr under CC BY-SA 2.0But how was this species able to survive for so long and inhabit such a wide geographic range? Researchers have long puzzled over these questions.Now, it turns out that ecological flexibility may be the answer, according to a new paper published Thursday in the journalCommunications Earth & Environment.That success came down to their ability to survive over a long period marked by many changes to the environment and climate, says study lead author Julio Mercader, a paleoecologist at the University of Calgary in Canada, in a statement.An international team of scientists reached this conclusion after studying a site in northern Tanzania called Engaji Nanyori. The site is rich in H. erectus fossils, as well as stone tools and fossilized grains of pollen. Researchers carefully analyzed these artifacts, as well as rocks, butchered animal bones and other types of archaeological evidence, to reconstruct what the past environment looked like.This type of study is an immense amount of work, as Elke Zeller, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who did not participate in the project, tells the New York Times Carl Zimmer.Through these painstaking efforts, the research painted a picture of Engaji Nanyori as a dry, semi-desert environment, with little water and few plants. But the landscape hadnt always been that wayin fact, it was previously an open woodland for hundreds of thousands of years, the team found. Roughly a million years ago, the climate shifted drastically, and Engaji Nanyori went from a relatively hospitable habitat to a hyper-arid shrubland.Somehow, H. erectus was able to adjust to this new landscape. The early humans visited water holes that popped up after it rained and hunted the animals that congregated to drink. And across millennia, they repeatedly inhabited the same sites near rivers and streams, strategically taking advantage of the resources they offered. Researchers studied stone tools, fossilized pollen grains and other artifacts from a site known as Engaji Nanyori. Mercader et al. / Communications Earth & Environment, 2025H. erectusalso made their stone tools sharper, presumably for butchery, per the paper, and began bringing tools with them when moving to new locations. These advancements would have helped themThey may have had strategies where they basically say, This is a good tool. I should bring it with me and be ready if we find food, says study co-author Paul Durkin, a geologist at the University of Manitoba in Canada, to the New York Times.This adaptability could help explain why H. erectus was able to move out of Africa and successfully spread to other parts of the world, the researchers add.The findings offer new insights into the lifestyle and behaviors of one of our ancient ancestors, building on other recent research that foundH. erectus lived at high altitudes in present-day Ethiopia. But, more broadly, they also help refute the long-held belief that only H. sapienswith its massive, complex brainwas capable of inhabiting extreme environments.Homo sapiens is often considered to be a species that could deal with all ecological circumstances thrown at themand, indeed, it is impressive what our species was, and has been, able to cope with, study co-author Michael Petraglia, director of the Australian Research Center for Human Evolution at Griffith University, tells Haaretzs Ruth Schuster. However, this does not mean that earlier members of our genus were not also capable of occupying difficult habitats. Our article demonstrates this very clearly and at an early age.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Africa, Archaeology, Environment, Evolution, Human Evolution, Human Origins, New Research, Tools

As LLMs become more capable, many RAG applications can be replaced with cache-augmented generation that include documents in the prompt.Read More

Bumble founder and executive chair Whitney Wolfe Herd, who stepped down as CEO at the beginning of 2024, is returning to the post in mid-March. Former Slack CEO Lidiane Jones, who succeeded Herd, has resigned for personal reasons and will remain in the role until Wolfe Herd takes over.As I step into the role of CEO, Im energized and fully committed to Bumbles success, our mission of creating meaningful, equitable relationships, and our opportunity ahead, Wolfe Herd says in a statement. We have exciting innovation ahead for Bumble in this bold new chapter.RelatedBumble gained popularity in part because it was set up for women to message their matches first. But in April, it introduced a redesign and a feature that let men send the first message in response to prewritten questions. That redesign was announced following layoffs that the company said would better align its operating model with future strategic priorities, however, as Fortune notes, its share price has dropped by more than half since the redesign.Dating apps have struggled as of late, following the Bumble fumble anti-celibacy ad it apologized for last year, as competitor Match Group (the owner of Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and other services) reported a drop in users. In Bumbles most recent earnings report, it said that the number of paying users had increased from 3.8 million to 4.3 million over the last year, however, average revenue per paying user dropped from $23.42 to $21.17, and its total revenue dropped slightly.A 2023 Pew Research survey found that 52 percent of respondents thought they had come across a scammer on dating sites and apps, and 51 percent of women said their experiences had been negative. In the UK, an Ofcom report last year noted that usage of each of the top three largest dating services had declined from 2023, and survey data increasingly suggests Gen Z daters arent using the apps as much.

For today only, Best Buy is offering the 27" Samsung ViewFinity S8 4K monitor for only $169.99. This is similar to the model that's listed on Samsung for $350 except without the USB Type-C port. Nonetheless, this is an excellent price for one of the sharpest monitors on the market. The ViewFinity S8 isn't a monitor I would recommend for gaming (there are much better options), but it does make for an outstanding productivity monitor.Today Only: 60% Off 27" Samsung ViewFinity S8 4K Monitor27" Samsung ViewFinity S8 4K IPS MonitorThe Samsung ViewFinity S8 is a 27" monitor with a true 4K (3840x2160) resolution. That averages out to 163ppi. The only type of monitor that's sharper would be the 27" 5K models like the one Apple sells for $1600. You could set up a dual 27" multi-monitor setup with double 4K UHD resolution that would nearly equal the size of the Samsung Neo G9 57" double 4K UHD monitor and it would cost you a mere fraction of the price. This kind of sharpness combined with the relatively smaller size of the monitor would be wasted on video games (especially since you'd also need to get yourself a more powerful GPU), but is great for any kind of pixel perfect or text heavy productivity work.The rest of the featureset is also geared towards productivity. The IPS panel boasts wide viewing angles and an accurate 99% sRGB color space. It offers both HDMI and DisplayPort connections, and USB Type-A and Type-B ports. The refresh rate is "only" 60Hz, but again, that's because this isn't meant for gaming.Keep in mind that this is Best Buy's deal of the day and will likely expire at midnight. If you're looking to upgrade the rest of your workspace, check out the best office chairs (that also work great for gaming sessions, of course) and the best standing desks.Why Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

Musician and filmmaker Dimitri Coats, guitarist for the punk supergroup OFF!, joined Talking Strange to discuss his punk rock sci-fi comedy feature film, Free LSD.Aaron: Who among the cast of musicians took to acting in a surprising way?Dimitri: That would have to be Keith. People would pull me aside and say, Hey, are you sure you know what youre doing? He has the lead role! And I would tell everybody, Look, I wrote this role for him; I know his strengths; I know his weaknesses; and I truly believe that he can do it! And something really remarkable happened in editing where we made him more reactionary His face and his eyes were so expressive, like a window into how he was feeling.Aaron: Knowing how he is as a performer on stage and then seeing this, it felt like two different people.Dimitri: Yeah, as we assembled his performance in the editing process, this kind of Forrest Gump quality started to emerge, and we were like, Oooo, thats great! This is working!Thats the thing about this film: we knew our fans would appreciate it, and maybe punk rock fans in general would appreciate it because of all the people who are in it and then we started thinking, What is somebody going to think thats coming at this completely cold and has no idea that theres actually a band called OFF! and that record exists?I am extremely proud of the outcome, and I think in some ways its a touching film. We didnt set out for it to be such, but there are times when its moving. And that was the psychedelia that we wanted.Watch Free LSDCat Footwear and DC have joined forces to unveil a limited-edition Batman-themed shoe collection called Built for the Knight.This Gotham City-inspired line merges Cat Footwearsdurabilitywith the iconic heroism of Batman, designed for those who tackle lifes everyday challenges head-on, whether at work or in the shadows of the city. Featuring two standout stylesthe Colorado Grader and the Intruder Galosheach pair in this collection pays homage to Batmans rich history with unique elements like the comic strip lining and the iconic Batman logo, making each shoe a badge of honor for fans ready to protect their own Gotham.Find out more at Cat FootwearJoin our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Damon Wayans spoke about how he purposely got himself fired from Saturday Night Live by going off script.Wayans frustration bubbled up during a live sketch called Mr. Monopoly. He didnt feel that the sketch was strong, but after dress rehearsal, it was chosen above one of his own sketches, which was once again cut for time. I snapped. I just did not care, Wayan said.Read more at VarietyKorean action star Jang Hyuk is set to make his directorial and writing debut with action film Stop Stop Dark Cold.Jang Hyuk has played roles in films like Volcano High, The Swordsman, The Killer and Iris 2 as well as shows like Slave Hunters and Bloody Heart. Trained extensively in Jeet Kune Do, Jang will mark his directorial and writing debut with Stop Stop Dark Cold. [The film] is currently in the script development phase and is slated to begin production in mid-2025.Read more at DeadlineSeverance star Tramell Tillman is setting the record straight about his character on the Apple TV+ series and whether hell dance again.Like the rest of the world, Tramell Tillman is rewatching season one of Severance. As one of the stars of the hit Apple TV+ series Tillman plays Milchick, the supervisor of the severed employees of Lumon Industries he was, of course, there for all of it. But the shows unexpectedly long hiatus has been testing his memory, too, and he wanted to make sure he was prepared for all the questions coming his way during the press tour for the long-awaited season two premiere.Read more at The Hollywood Reporter

Fernando and Jeff talk CES 2025, waxing poetic about the DJI Osmo Pocket 3, turning your iPhone into a GameBoy, and the LG UltraFine 6K Display.9to5Mac Overtimeis a weekly video-first podcast exploring fun and interesting observations in the Apple ecosystem, featuring 9to5Macs Fernando Silva & Jeff Benjamin.Subscribe to Overtime via Apple Podcasts and our YouTube channelfor more.Show linksHostsSubscribeAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

They're ready to move in together.Office SpaceMulti-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk has grown so close to president-elect Donald Trumpthathe'll be moving with him well, sort of following next week's inauguration.Musk, who was put in charge of a so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) last year by Trump, is expected to be assigned space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is part of the White House complex and a five-minute walk from the West Wing, the New York Times reports.That's despite the fact that DOGE isan entirely advisory body and not an actual government "department."The news again highlights the incredibly cozy relationship between Musk and Trump and, more generally, between corporate America and the White House in what critics including the outgoing president Joe Biden are calling the rise of American oligarchy.On a separate level, the arrangement again raises a question pertinent both to Trump's foes and allies: after Musk spent an unprecedented hundreds of millions to get the real estate tycoon into office, who's really calling the shots?Never Let Me GoThe department Musk will be co-leading alongside pharmaceutical CEO Vivek Ramaswamy is anticipated to be run out of the office block. Currently, its staff are working out of SpaceX's offices in Washington, DC.According to an announcement last year, DOGE will be tasked with slashing government spending, a process that will involve the examination of highly classified contracts.While DOGE's purported objective is to slash a whopping $2 trillion from the federal government budget, Musk has since attempted to manage expectations, admitting that the department is more likely to only cut half that amount.The mercurial entrepreneur hasbarely left Trump's side since the election, going as far as to occupy a cottage near Trump's property in Mar-a-Lago an overbearing presence thathas annoyed Trump's aides and allies.Nobody knows how far DOGE will manage to get in its attempt to butcher the federal government's budget,and Musk's personal role remains a subject of debate. Becoming a "special government employee" would force Musk to disclose financial relationships, according to the NYT.If he were to forgo such a status, Musk would be required to hold public meetings and make any DOGE documents available to the public.Trump is also a notoriously fickle partner; whether or how long the bromance will survive the turbulent Trump administration is anybody's guess.After being sworn in as president, Trump will likely have little time and energy for Musk's enormous need for attention a reality that could put additional strain on the unusual father-son-styleduo.More on Trump and Musk: Trump Seems Awfully Touchy About the Impression That He's Taking Orders From Elon MuskShare This Article

Time zones: EST (UTC -5), CST (UTC -6), MST (UTC -7), PST (UTC -8), AKST (UTC -9), HST (UTC -10)Want to know the real secret to building a personal brand on LinkedIn?In this role, youll get a behind-the-scenes look at how to turn a LinkedIn profile into a thought leadership machine.Youll work remotely with our key executives, helping them grow their networks, engage with industry leaders, and build followings that inspire and educate.TLDR: Youll see the playbook in actionand keep it for life.What Youll Do:Write Comments: Drop bold, attention-grabbing comments on LinkedIn posts from big names and rising stars. The goal? Visibility and relationships that matter.Make Connections: Send smart, personalized connection requests to industry peers who actually add value to the network.Send DMs: Fire off thoughtful, value-packed messages that spark genuine conversations.Qualify Leads: Use your instincts (and our guidance) to spot high-potential prospects worth pursuing.Book Meetings: Line up meetings with our CEO for the people who are ready to take action.What Were Looking For:Natural Connector: Youre the kind of person who can turn strangers into allies with a single conversation.Relentless Consistency: You show up every day, knowing steady action drives real results.Metric Crusher: You dont just set goalsyou smash them, whether its comments, connections, or meetings booked.Time-Zone Ninja: You can overlap with Pacific Time to make sure youre in the mix when it matters most.What Youll Get:Talent-Driven Pay: Earn $18$30/hour based on one thing: your skills.Ultimate Flexibility: Work remote, part-time (W-2), and grow as we grow.Step-by-Step Game Plan: Proven systems to nail comments, connections, and DMsno guesswork, just results.On-the-Job Masterclass: Learn the real-world tactics of social selling and outreach that even YouTube cant teach.Make Your Mark: Help drive meaningful conversations and open doors in the cybersecurity world.Ready to Jump In?Click the big red Apply for this position button to get started. Then simply fill our our application form it takes less than 2 minutes. Related Jobs See more Sales and Marketing jobs