Animal Rights Activists March in Valletta Demanding Ban of Horse-Drawn Carriages

Mar 19 2023

Animal Liberation Malta organised a protest march in Valletta to ban karozzini, horse-drawn carriages that are primarily used for tourist attractions. The activists marched from The Mall Floriana to Castille Square, chanting slogans like “You ride – they die”.

Animal Liberation Malta opposes karozzini because they believe that there is no need for them in a fully motorised world. Cities around the world, including Montreal, Barcelona, Prague, Melbourne, Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Palma de Mallorca, have already banned horse-drawn carriages. Palma de Mallorca has announced a ban that will come into effect in 2024 and intends to replace all horse-drawn carriages with electric carriages.

Animal Liberation Malta proposes that Transport Malta should issue a special grant for cabby drivers to switch to electric carriages, and no new licenses for cabby drivers should be issued. Existing horses will be allowed to continue working, but upon retirement, cabby owners should switch to electric options. Animal Liberation Malta also suggests that all other horse-drawn carriages, including horse-drawn hearses, should be banned.

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Penises are growing at an alarming rate new study suggests

Mar 19 2023

Scientists from Stanford University and several universities in Italy have found that the average length of an erect penis has increased by just over an inch, or almost 25%, over the past 30 years. The study looked at data from 55,761 adult men and found that the average erection length increased from 4.8 inches to 6 inches.

Researchers were surprised by the findings as they expected a decline in penis length, along with lower sperm counts and testosterone levels. The study also disproves previous research that suggested that penis sizes were decreasing.

The cause of this increase in penis length is not clear, but researchers are concerned about such a significant change in a short period. It’s important to note that the study has limitations, and further research is needed to confirm these findings.

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ATTENTION STUDENTS: Turnitin Develops New Tool to Detect AI-Based Cheating in Academic Writing

Mar 19 2023

The issue of AI-based cheating has become a major concern, leading universities to review their assessment policies. A well-known essay plagiarism detector is reportedly developing a new tool to detect the use of ChatGPT and other AI bots. This tool is already being used to identify instances where students have used AI in their writing. ChatGPT’s fluidity in producing essays, poems, prompts, contracts, lecture notes, and computer code has astounded people, though occasionally at the expense of accuracy or creativity.

The popularity of these bots among students has led to many academics questioning the way education is now being provided. The technology’s ability to shake the education system has resulted in some universities creating their own AI innovation lab to detect the use of AI writing tools.

Last month, Turnitin’s developer, David Adamson, provided a demonstration of the new software’s functionality. The system was able to identify that 50% of an essay written and edited by ChatGPT was created by AI, identifying 22 of the essay’s 43 sentences as not being human-written. The tool has been trained specifically on academic writing sourced from a comprehensive database.

Although Turnitin’s current products provide some level of AI detection, CEO Chris Caren stated that more would be required in the future. The team is hoping that the new tool, currently in testing, will be ready soon. Some students have already revealed in Tiktok videos that their essays were detected for plagiarism after using AI technology, suggesting that the trails have proven successful.

Despite the improvements, some have developed even better AI systems that would make it harder for Turnitin to outsmart the bots. Therefore, it is a matter of determining who will be faster with technology developments.

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Selena Gomez first woman to pass 400 million Instagram followers

Mar 18 2023

Singer and former Wizards of Waverly Place star Selena Gomez has become the first woman to ever surpass the 400 million Instagram follower mark last Friday.

This comes after, less than a month ago, Gomez reached 381 million followers and thus surpassing Kylie Jenner as the most followed woman on the popular social media platform.

Her latest post was a make-up free selfie captioned ‘Violet Chemistry’, which is a track title from Miley Cyrus’ fresh new eighth studio album ‘Endless Summer Vacation.’

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A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez)

Gomez has just started to post again last January after a four year hiatus from the app. She had handed over posting rights to a member of her team due to a reported unhealthy relationship with Instagram.

She did recently announce that she’ll be taking periodic breaks from social media, saying that she is ‘too old’ for it. Meanwhile, Gomez’s following seemed to have sky-rocketed after what seems to be a bit of drama between her and her ex Justin Bieber’s partner Hailey Bieber and the Kardashian sister.

The recent surge in followers reportedly places her in third place behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in terms of followers on the platform.

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