Seventeen of 58 species evaluated were classified as facing extinction, the Shark Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation (IUCN) said on 21 March in an update of the Red List of threatened animals and plants.

Nicholas Dulvy, who chaired the grouping of 174 experts from 55 countries said: 'Our results are alarming.  The sharks that are especially slow-growing, sought-after and unprotected from overfishing tend to be the most threatened.'

That category includes the shortfin mako, whose cruising speed of 40 km/h - punctuated by bursts of more than 70 km/h - makes it the fastest of all sharks.  Along with its longfin cousin, the two makos are highly prized for their flesh and fins, considered a delicacy in Chinese and other Asian culinary traditions.

Dulvy told AFP: 'Today, one of the biggest shark fisheries on the high seas is the mako.  It is also one of the least protected.'

In May, nations will vote on a proposal by Mexico to list the shortfin mako on Appendix II of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.  An Appendix II status would not ban fishing or trade, but would regulate it.

Six of the species reviewed were listed as 'critically endangered,' three for the first time: the whitefin swellshark, the Argentine angel shark, and the smoothback angel shark.  Eleven others were classified as either 'endangered' or 'vulnerable' to extinction.

The IUCN's shark group is conducting a two-year review of more than 400 species of sharks.

For land animals, conservation biologists focus on population size and geographic range in assessing extinction threat.  For sharks and other marine animals they use another approach, looking instead at how quickly populations decline.  But that requires a benchmark, especially for pelagic—or open ocean—species, Dulvy explained.

Only within the last 10 years have scientists been able to establish one, partly with the help of tuna fisheries that began to keep tallies of sharks by-catch.

'A decade on, we now know that the situation is way worse than we ever thought,' Dulvy said.

Ironically, fisheries management organisations doing a better job in policing tuna catches have increased the incentive for fishermen to target sharks for extra income.

'In the Indian Ocean'—along coastlines in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal—'the tuna fishery is really a shark fishery with tuna by-catch,' Dulvy said.

In light of its new findings, the Shark Specialist Group is calling for 'immediate national and international fishing limits, including complete bans on landing those species assessed as 'endangered' or 'critically endangered',' said Sonja Fordham, deputy chair of the group and an officer at The Ocean Foundation.

Sharks have lorded over the world's oceans for some 400 million years, playing a critical role in global food chains.  But the top-level predators have proven especially vulnerable to human predation: they grow slowly, become sexually mature relatively late in life, and produce few offspring.  The greeneye spurdog—newly classified as endangered—has a gestation period of nearly three years, the longest in the animal kingdom.

A 2013 peer-review study estimated that upward of 100 million sharks are fished every year to satisfy a market for their fins, meat, and liver oil.  More than half of shark species and their relatives are categorised as threatened or near-threatened with extinction.

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Researchers say they've developed a new method of powering electric cars that successfully balances zero-emission standards, increased capability, and potentially a fix to costly production.

Using water, carbon-dioxide, and cobalt, the new method is able to produce hydrogen that can be purposed for fuel, emitting only water vapor.  Once the hydrogen is produced in the new model, the gas goes to a fuel cell and is combined with oxygen from the atmosphere.  From there, the hydrogen can then be used to create electricity to power the vehicles motor, headlights, and more.

UMass Lowell Chemistry Department Chairman, Prof. David Ryan said in a statement: 'This process doesn't store any hydrogen gas, so it's safe and poses no transportation issues, greatly minimizing the possibility of a fire or explosion.  Hydrogen burns completely clean; it produces no carbon dioxide, only water.  You don't have to burn hydrogen to generate electricity.  Hydrogen can be used in fuel cells, in which it combines with oxygen from the air to produce electricity at up to 85 per cent efficiency.'

One major benefit to the new technology according to researchers is that unlike the current breed of electric vehicles, which rely on batteries that must be recharged semi-frequently and is viable only for smaller vehicles, this method would be capable of powering trucks, buses, and more.

Creators of the technology say that their method would also solve some of the major problems associated with using hydrogen fuel as a replacement for fossil fuels.  Among the major fixes, they say, is cost.  Current methods of producing Hydrogen cost about three time as much as natural gas per unit of energy produced.

Ryan said: 'Since hydrogen is not mined or pumped out the ground like fossil fuels, we have to produce it.  Current methods of doing that are expensive and inefficient.  This, coupled with the lack of needed infrastructure, has hampered the transition from a petroleum to a hydrogen economy.'  

Developers of the technology already have a provisional patent on the method and are waiting to be awarded a full one.

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For the first time ever, a woman has been awarded the Abel Prize - one of the world's most prestigious international mathematics awards.

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters announced that Karen Uhlenbeck of the University of Texas at Austin was this year's winner for her achievements in math and physics.  According to the jury who selected Uhlenbeck for the designation, of particular note is the mathematician's 'fundamental work in geometric analysis and gauge theory, which has dramatically changed the mathematical landscape.'

The prize, which comes with a more than $700,000 award, is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel and is considered among global mathematicians to be the Nobel Prize of the field.

UT Austin President Gregory L. Fenves said: 'For more than three decades at The University of Texas, Karen Uhlenbeck conducted research that revolutionized geometric analysis and mathematics as a whole.  She was an inspiring teacher and dedicated mentor to thousands of UT students, motivating them to reach great heights in their academic and professional lives...'

Uhlenbeck is no stranger to accolades, having been the recipient of similar awards throughout her career.  In 1983, Uhlenbeck was chosen to be a MacArthur Fellow – known commonly as the genius award – and was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2000.

Among Uhlenbeck's most influential and lasting works has to do with the study of soap film in an analysis of 'minimal surfaces' -- a surface with equal pressure on each side and a curvature of zero.

'Her pioneering insights have applications across a range of fascinating subjects, from string theory, which may help explain the nature of reality, to the geometry of space-time,' said Paul Goldbart, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and a professor of physics at UT Austin.

Throughout her career, Uhlenbeck has also been an advocate for bringing more women into her field, founding the Women and Mathematics Program at the Institute for Advanced Study for Princeton as well as the Distinguished Women in Mathematics Lecture Series at UT Austin.

'Seeing the success of students is its own reward,' said Uhlenbeck in a statement.

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A U.S. government-led group is working with chipmaker Intel Corp and Cray Inc to develop and build the nation's fastest computer by 2021 for conducting nuclear weapons and other research, officials said on Monday.

The Department of Energy and the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago said they are working on a supercomputer dubbed Aurora with Intel, the world's biggest supplier of data center chips, and Cray, which specializes in the ultra-fast machines.  The $500 million contract for the project calls on the companies to deliver a computer with so-called exaflop performance - that is, being able to perform 1 quintillion - or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 - calculations per second.

If the project succeeds, Aurora would represent nearly an order of magnitude leap over existing machines that feature so-called petaflop performance, capable of doing 1 quadrillion, or 1,000,000,000,000,000 - calculations a second.

It also heightens the stakes in a race in which the United States, China, the European Union, and Japan have all announced plans to build exaflop-capable supercomputers.

One of Aurora's primary functions would be simulating nuclear blasts, a pillar of weapons development since the ban of live detonation testings.

Rick Stevens, an associate lab director with Argonne overseeing the exascale computing project, said during a news briefing: Aurora will be built with artificial intelligence capabilities for projects such as developing better battery materials and helping the Veterans Administration prevent suicides.

The project is a win for Intel, which will supply its Xeon CPU chips and Optane memory chips for Aurora.

Intel has been fending off rival U.S. chipmaker Nvidia Corp's rise in the chip content of supercomputers as the machines take on more artificial intelligence work.  Nvidia's chips are found in five of the world's current top-10 supercomputers, though the Nvidia chips are found alongside chips from its rivals, according to TOP500, which ranks the machines.

The world's current most powerful machine, the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, contains chips from International Business Machines Corp and Nvidia.

The source of chips for supercomputers has become a factor in trade tensions between the United States and China.  The world's third-fastest supercomputer - the Sunway TaihuLight in China - has chips developed domestically in China.

Chirag Dekate, an analyst with Gartner who studies the supercomputing market, said that despite the small contract size relative to Intel's overall revenue, the work done on Aurora will eventually filter down to the company's commercial customers.  Dekate said: 'It's not just a jingoistic race between the U.S. and China.  The innovations that Intel is developing here will percolate down to other parts of its business.'

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McLaren have given fans their take on what the future looks like as they presented a futuristic race car that can take to the tracks in 2050.

McLaren Applied Technologies, the sister company of the Formula One team, worked extensively gathering opinions from fans of the sport and now present the 2050: the MCLExtreme which features an on-board artificial intelligence co-pilot, an electric battery that can be folded away and self-healing tyres.

The work done by MAT encapsulates more than just the race car for the drivers in three decades time.  They have also extensively given their thoughts on developments in driver human performance, racing tracks of the future and the fan experience we can expect to see in 2050.

In an extensive breakdown of the various elements that the MCLExtreme includes, fans raved given it is a 500km/h rear-wheel-drive electric car powered by a 'foldable battery moulded to the aerodynamic package'.

This is not a new venture for McLaren having teased fans with futuristic designs back in 2015 when they released images and designs for its MP4-X.

Technology continues to evolve at a rapid rate but the notion of flying race cars was soon quahsed by both fans and engineers.  In the unveiling, McLaren wrote: 'Staying true to the sport's mission to be road relevant, we don't expect race cars to fly by 2050.  Flying road cars equals more aerial congestion, more noise pollution and probably more accidents.  If you think drone sightings at airports cause wide-scale disruption, well... you know the rest.  With the emergence of high-speed underground transportation portals, such as Virgin Hyperloop One, building underground networks that shift large volumes of traffic in less time is more probable.  This is in keeping with the desires of the fans we spoke to, who believe flying race cars are the antithesis of grand prix racing.'

Efficiency is absolutely essential for successful racing teams and chasing quicker times rarely ever puts efficiency at risk.  But with cars getting faster, a fascinating feature on the latest design sees contractible side-pods that alter depending on the natural conditions.

McLaren added: 'Taking inspiration from nature, the MCLE features sidepods that expand and contract like the gills of a great white shark.  They turn it into a 500 km/h bullet on the straights, but expand as the car enters braking zones and corners to provide stability and control.'

Artificial Intelligence is likely to prove one of the biggest advancements in the sport moving forward with on-board assistance potentially making radio communications with engineers redundant.

The statement continues: 'Drivers may be connected to AI via a symbiotic link in the helmet and sensors within the race suit.  The AI learns and predicts the driver's preferences and state-of-mind.  It provides real-time race strategy and key information via a holographic head-up display – but more than that – it understands the driver's mood and emotional state, tailoring advice based on the physiological and psychological feedback it receives.'

Karl Surmacz, Head of Modelling and Decision Science explains at McLaren Applied Technologies: 'In the future we could get to the point where human ingenuity is replaced with an AI algorithm.  Machine learning would see human preferences and decisions, as well as our domain expertise and instinct, captured.  Take enough examples of our creative processes and outcomes, and this could be codified into an algorithm which would enable AI to make creative decisions consistent with those of a human counterpart.'

With plans in the UK to have UK all new cars with 'effectively zero-emission' by 2040, this makes up a key part of the latest designs, too.

Tracks are another area of constant discussion with new countries pitching all the time to bring F1 to their nation.  Transparent roofs and adaptable race tracks depending on conditions are just two of the suggestions that have emerged from McLaren's findings.

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An Anglo-Saxon pendant worth £145,000 has been declared treasure by the coroner's office.

The gold piece has a central cross motif and probably belonged to a woman of 'high social status', according to experts.  It features gold bead work and measures 0.67in by 0.5in (17mm by 13mm), and is believed to date from the late-Sixth Century to the mid-Seventh.

Norfolk's coroner declared that is treasure, which means that ownership now lies with the Crown. It will be valued by the Portable Antiquities Scheme run by the British Museum.

A similar item, The Winfarthing Pendant, was uncovered on nearby farmland by a student in 2014.

Julie Shoemark, Norfolk's finds liaison officer, said it made a 'valuable contribution to our understanding of Saxon society'.  Ms Shoemark, from Norfolk County Council's archaeology department, said: 'Like the Winfarthing assemblage, this piece most likely belonged to a high-status lady.  It dates to an important turning point in Saxon history during the first flowering of Christianity [in England] and is of similar date to the jewellery assemblage from the now famous and nearby Winfarthing burial, according to the Times.  Male graves of this period appear to be entirely lacking in elaborate jewellery.'

The Winfarthing Pendant was on show at the British Library in London until February 2019 along with the Alfred Jewel and the Domesday Book.

It was found by Tom Lucking, a student who was metal detecting on farmland along with other items near Diss.  He unearthed the grave of an aristocratic woman dating from AD630 to 650 after finding a bronze bowl, including a 7cm (2.8in) pendant.

In November 2016, an inquest in Norwich declared the haul, which included coins and a copper bowl, to be treasure.

Mr Lucking, who was 23 when he found the items, said at the time: 'We knew there was something large, but couldn't predict it would be like that.'

The former student, who's now an archaeologist, said any money he receives will be used for a deposit on a house.  'It's going to make things a lot easier,' he said.

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An online security expert has warned users not to be duped by 'sextortionists' claiming they have sexual footage of you which they intend to share widely.

A live streamed video blog from the cybersecurity company Sophos about sex-related online scams told internet users to 'relax', delete the email and move on.  There is nothing to be afraid of as it is almost certainly nothing more than a bluff, they said.  

Paul Ducklin, computer security expert at Sophos explained in his own blog what the phenomenon involved: 'Sextortion is where crooks, say they have sex-related pictures or webcam footage of you, and demand you to pay them thousands of dollars, or else.

He warned internet users on a video blog called Naked Security Live that if you receive a message telling you to pay up or have a sex footage released, ignore it.  Mr Ducklin said: 'sex combined with extortion makes sextortion'.

On the blog, Mr Ducklin read out a text message of what you might receive from a sextortionist.  Mr Ducklin said: 'You get an email 'final warning' 'you have the last chance to save your social life, I am not kidding, I give you 72 hours to make the payment before I send the video to all your friends and associates.  Do not try to cheat me.  As soon as you open this email I will know you have opened it'.

They will say they have installed malware on your computer and that they have the video without you realising it's been taken.  In almost all cases, this is a lie, says Mr Ducklin, who explained that extortionists will convince you they have hacked your computer and gained access to cameras by feeding you some private information about yourself.  This can be passwords they have simply gathered from a data breach and leak.  Such information can include your address and date of birth, or a guess at the number of contacts in your address book.

While it is possible for a 'RAT' or Remote Access Trojan to control your computer wirelessly, it requires the hacker to implant spyware onto your computer first.  In most cases, this is harder to do than extortionists claim, but there has been cases of it which ended in court, said Mr Ducklin.  He cited the Miss Teen America scandal of 2014 where an IT student was sentenced to 18 months for hacking the beauty pageant winner's computer.

But Mr Ducklin warned viewers not to fall sextortionist scams.  He added: 'Surely if they actually had a video, if they actually had a picture, they'd send you a still from the video or they'd send you a link that'd let you watch it - that would be very convincing'.  Otherwise, they probably don't have anything on you', he said.

Similarly, even if you have opened an email from the supposed hacker, all they would know if that you had opened the email, and would not be able to gain further information such as your location.  They cannot track you in the sense of stalking or following your activities online, he added.

For those still worried about privacy and hacking, Mr Ducklin reassures users to 'relax' - ignore the email and delete it: 'A pack of lies, so don't reply, don't engage with the crooks, just delete the email and move on.  If they did get the malware on your computer... your best defence is to get a good anti-virus on it'.

A study last year by California-based security company Barracuda also warned of a rise in the scam.  Fraudsters send emails to computer users with a password they have used in the past that has been made public during a data leak.  In the same way as described by Mr Ducklin, victims are then told that they have been recorded watching explicit videos on their computer and that the footage will be made public if they don't comply.  The scammers then threaten that they have your contact list from your email and social networking accounts, before demanding a ransom is paid.

One woman who spoke to Barracuda, under the condition of anonymity, told them that the scammers had sent her three emails over the month of October.  She said they contained her passwords that were 'all very old,  but in an exchange with her the scam artists said it 'didn't matter because they had been controlling her computer for years.'

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In today's all-connected world, it can seem impossible to remain truly anonymous and insulated from being tracked, watched or indexed by the internet or other means.  But Jameson Lopp, CTO at Bitcoin security company Casa, has discovered how to get off the grid.

Lopp devised an exhaustive, albeit extremely complicated, list of 15 steps to 'escape the all-seeing eyes of corporate America and the government,' according to the New York Times.  Among the solutions Lopp recommends are to create an LLC to shield your identity, use cash as much as possible, quit using a smartphone GPS for directions and even move to a new home.  The goal was to completely remove oneself from databases that host our personal information and sell it to third parties, the New York Times reported.

His concerns aren't unlike the recent attention that's been given to the shadowy underworld of 'data brokers' and online surveillance systems that profit off the sale of users' data - often without their knowledge or consent.

Many organizations, ranging from telecommunications firms and hotels to the likes of Silicon Valley giants have been criticized for extensively collecting and sharing users' data.  Facebook and Google in particular have been called into question for the massive amounts of data they store from users.  But the rise of facial recognition technology and other types of biometric authentication has also stoked fears of a global surveillance state in which anyone's whereabouts can be easily tracked.

Many of Lopp's strategies sought to stamp out the kinds of information collection and monitoring overseen by federal agencies.  To start, he sought to mask his identity by creating a limited liability company, or LLC.  People can be recorded in a database each time they fill out a form for everyday things like buying a property, registering a credit card or other common transactions, the Times noted.

In some states, it's not required for the owner's name of an LLC to be publicly available.  This makes it that much harder for people to snoop on and track down the owner of an LLC.

After his LLC was established, Lopp set up new bank accounts and payment cards, creating a bank account under his new LLC, as well as a corporate credit card with a firm that doesn't require users to list their name.  He now purchases items with a prepaid debit card, which has money already loaded onto it, limiting the number of transactions linked to his LLCs.  Lopp also uses cash for many purchases, which allows him to remain anonymous.

The Bitcoin evangelist then got a new phone number that's linked to his LLC and often uses services that create random phone numbers that are deleted after each call, akin to having a burner phone.  He has changed his phone habits as well, by refusing to use the device for GPS directions and disabling geolocation services.  This means his device can't keep a record of his location activity, which also prevents apps on the device from slurping up that data too.   When Lopp needs directions, he uses a GPS device that isn't tied to him, the Times said.

He recommends that users encrypt their data when traveling so that if officials seize your device, they're unable to access private information stored on any devices.

Lopp also uses a Virtual Private Network when browsing the web at home to mask his IP address.

In what is perhaps some of his more drastic measures, Lopp also moved into a new house, which he purchased in full using a cashier's check from his LLC, uses a pseudonym when interacting with his neighbors and wears a disguise when traveling outside to avoid being tracked by CCTV cameras or facial recognition software.

Lopp got rid of his motorcycle and Lotus Elise sports car as part of the effort and, instead, purchased a more 'boring' model under the LLC, the Times said.

Additionally, he acquired a decoy house to throw off the local Department of Motor Vehicles, as they require residents to register a new car with their real name and an address.  'It’s the crappiest, cheapest hole in the wall I could find that has a physical mailbox,' Lopp told the Times.

To further protect his location, he only works remotely and reports into videoconferences from an obscured room.  Lopp also set up a private mailbox to prevent his name from being added to mailing lists and has packages sent through a remailing service, which sends the package to a random address, then reroutes it back to the private mailbox, according to the Times.

Finally, he recommends that people hire a private investigator periodically to try to find them.

In all, he estimates the process of going off the grid cost him $30,000, the Times said.

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It’s a common claim among marijuana enthusiasts that the plant can boost sexual arousal and even lead to more powerful orgasms.  And now, there’s research to back it up.

A new study that analyzed reports from hundreds of women, both pot smokers and non-smokers, has found that marijuana use prior to sex doubles the chances of having a more satisfying orgasm.

Exactly why marijuana seems to improve the sexual experience is still somewhat of a mystery.  But over the years, scientists have come up with several possible explanations.

Researchers explain in the new paper, published to the journal Sexual Medicine: ‘It has been postulated that it leads to improvement in sexual function simply by lowering stress and anxiety.  It may slow the temporal perception of time and prolong the feelings of pleasurable sensations.  It may lower sexual inhibitions and increase confidence and a willingness to experiment.  Marijuana is also known to heighten sensations such as touch, smell, sight, taste, and hearing.’

The study led by a team at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine reviewed self-reported survey responses from 373 women.  About 47 per cent of the participants indicated that they were marijuana smokers, and of this group, 34 per cent noted that they used it before sex.

To find out how pot use factors into sexual satisfaction, the researchers developed a Sexual Health Survey addressing a broad variety of topics, including sex drive, lubrication, and the presence of sex-related pain.

‘To limit bias, the authors embedded the questions about marijuana deeper into the questionnaire,’ the paper notes.

In reviewing the data, the researchers found significant differences in the participants’ reported sexual experiences depending on whether they used marijuana beforehand or not.

‘Most women reported increases in sex drive, improvement in orgasm, decrease in pain, but no change in lubrication,’ the researchers wrote.  These differences translate to 2.13 higher odds of reporting ‘satisfactory orgasms’ for women who smoke pot.

‘Marijuana appears to improve satisfaction with orgasm,’ the team concluded.

‘Women who used marijuana before sex and those who used more frequently were more than twice as likely to report satisfactory orgasms as those who did not use marijuana before sex or used infrequently.  Our study is consistent with past studies of the effects of marijuana on sexual behaviour in women,’ the researchers wrote in the paper.

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A Google employee has broken the world record for calculating Pi to the highest number of digits - at 31 trillion.  The announcement was made on Pi day which falls on March 14th, or 3.14, the US format of the date and the first three digits of the mathematical constant.

Emma Haruka Iwao, a developer for the search firm, used an application called y-cruncher on 25 different virtual cloud computers to generate the number.  The Japanese researcher said the calculation took about 121 days to complete – with zero breaks, otherwise the process would have been disrupted.

In mathematics pi, represented as the symbol 'π', is the ratio of a circle's radius to its circumference and has far more digits than 3,14, which continue infinitely.  The constant is used in engineering, physics, supercomputing and space exploration - because its value can be used in calculations for waves and circles.

Supercomputers are often tasked with calculating the number to more digits, with the previous record set in November 2016 by Peter Trueb, at 22 trillion digits.  Ms Iwao used Google Cloud's Compute Engine to calculate pi to 31,415,926,535,897 decimal places.  According to the firm's estimates, it would take 332,064 years to say the 31.4 trillion digit number.

Coming up with the figure used about 170 terabytes of data, roughly the same amount of browsable data on the whole of the internet in 2014.

Ms Iwao who had been fascinated by the number since she had been a child said: 'Pi seems simple – it starts with 3.14.  When I was a kid, I downloaded a program to calculate pi on my computer.  When I was a kid, I didn't have access to supercomputers.  But even if you don't work for Google, you can apply for various scholarships and programs to access computing resources.  I was very fortunate that there were Japanese world record holders that I could relate to myself.  I'm really happy to be one of the few women in computer science holding the record, and I hope I can show more people who want to work in the industry what's possible.'

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