The size of the world’s population is set to peak and fall earlier than previous estimates suggested, according to a new report by the United Nations (UN). In 2024, the global population stands at around 8.2 billion. As per the new data, the number of humans will rise to approximately 10.3 billion in the mid-2080s before falling to around 10.2 billion by the end of the 21st century.The new report, the World Population Prospects 2024, takes a deep dive into the population forecasts for 237 countries or areas, and offers some revisions of their previous estimates. One of the most poignant revisions is that the world’s population peak is expected to occur earlier and at a lower figure than previously realized. Additionally, the population in 2100 could be 700 million (6 percent) fewer than the figure predicted a decade ago.There are a bunch of complex factors behind the earlier population peak, but the primary driver is simple: many parts of the world are having fewer children. The declining birth rates are particularly prominent in some of the world’s largest countries. Once known for its booming population, the population of China has recently dropped for the first time since the 1960s. It's a trend that’s being seen in many other parts of the world, including Japan, Thailand, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and South Korea.“The demographic landscape has evolved greatly in recent years. In some countries, the birth rate is now even lower than previously anticipated, and we are also seeing slightly faster declines in some high-fertility regions," Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said in a statement."The earlier and lower peak is a hopeful sign. This could mean reduced environmental pressures from human impacts due to lower aggregate consumption. However, slower population growth will not eliminate the need to reduce the average impact attributable to the activities of each individual person,” he added. According to the new report, population size has already peaked in at least 63 countries and areas, including China, Germany, Japan, and Russia. Out of the countries that have already peaked, the population of the group is set to drop by 14 percent over the next 30 years. In 48 other countries and regions – such as Brazil,  Iran, Türkiye, and Vietnam – the population is anticipated to reach its peak between 2025 and 2054. Meanwhile, in 126 additional countries – India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the United States – the population is expected to continue growing until 2054 and might peak in the latter half of the century or even later. Among these, nine countries – including Angola, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, and Somalia – are projected to experience a huge population boom, with their total population doubling between 2024 and 2054.Bear in mind that these forecasts are not set in stone and other researchers have come to slightly different conclusions. In 2020, an influential study predicted that the global population was forecast to grow over the next few decades and peak in 2064 at around 9.7 billion people, before tumbling to 8.8 billion by 2100. Nevertheless, whatever forecast you put your money on, practically all of them foresee a global population decline. When it occurs, the drop will be the first time the global human population has shrunk since the Black Death in the 14th century, bringing profound changes to the way humans live their lives and organize the world. 

A new expedition to the wreck of the Titanic is all ready to go, marking the first journey to the sunken site since the infamous OceanGate submersible accident of 2023. But don’t fret, the upcoming project will explore the seabed using robotic subs with no risk of deadly implosions.Simply named the Titanic Expedition 2024, the mission will set sail onboard the Dino Chouest on July 12, according to a post on X. The project is being led by RMS Titanic, Inc., a US-based company that won the sole salvage rights to the Titanic after a high-stakes legal battle. It will be their ninth journey to the shipwreck, where they hope to image and map the site in the finest detail yet using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)."We want to see the wreck with a clarity and precision that's never before been achieved," David Gallo, oceanographer and co-leader of the expedition, told BBC News.They also hope to take new photographs of the wreck to see how much it has degraded since their last expedition in 2010.                  IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.RMS Titanic was the supposedly "unsinkable" ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton in England to New York City. Discovered in 1985, its wreck is located some 700 kilometers (435 miles) off the east coast of Canada at a depth of around 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) below the water's surface.To reach this submerged site, RMS Titanic, Inc. says it takes between 2 and 2.5 hours for its submersible to reach the bottom of the ocean.Along with documenting the historic ship, the team hopes to use their voyage to honor the lives lost in the sinking of the Titanic, as well as those who recently died in the tragic OceanGate incident.        On June 18, 2023, OceanGate’s Titan sub imploded while descending to the Titanic wreck site, killing all five people on board, including the director of research at RMS Titanic, Inc. who was due to lead this expedition: Paul-Henri "PH" Nargeolet. To honor his legacy, a plaque will be laid on the seabed.“It's tough but the thing about exploration is that there's an urge and a drive to keep going. And we're doing that because of that passion PH had for continuous exploration," explained friend and historian Rory Golden, speaking to BBC. While this month’s expedition is looking to largely rely on ROVs, there is fresh talk of returning humans to the crash site. In May, Patrick Lahey – the co-founder and CEO of Triton Submarines – and Larry Connor – a 74-year-old real-estate investor from Ohio – announced they were planning to travel to the seabed and carry out a scientific study of the Titanic.To do so, the pair hope to travel to the depths of the North Atlantic on board a cutting-edge sub known as the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer.

Across the island of Cyprus, archaeologists have discovered the ancient remains of young women who appear to have been murdered before being sealed inside buildings, as if to separate them from both the living and the dead. The latest discovered victim of this grisly practice was recently unearthed at the Bronze-Age site of Erimi, where researchers also came across a mysterious 2.3-meter (7.5-foot) high monolith that they estimate was erected some 4,000 years ago.Located on a limestone terrace near the present-day city of Limassol, Erimi was a thriving artisan settlement that experienced its heyday during the Middle Bronze Age, between 2000 and 1600 BCE. The town’s inhabitants are thought to have prospered thanks to their expertise in producing dyed fabrics, and previous excavations have revealed the presence of workshops, warehouses, dyeing vats, residential areas and a cemetery.The recently discovered monolith was found inside a small “sacred space” in the middle of the workshop complex, indicating that the commercial and religious activities of the site’s ancient inhabitants may have been connected. In a statement, Erimi Archaeological Project director Professor Luca Bombardieri explained that the small consecrated room is in fact “the oldest sacred building attested in Cyprus”, and that its “ritual function and ideological value seem to be of particular significance.”While unable to decipher the monolith’s purpose, the researchers reveal that it is completely smooth with a small circular motif at its center. “"The monolith, which originally stood in the center of the room, collapsed onto the floor and destroyed a large amphora placed at its feet in front of a small circular hearth,” said Bombardieri.      IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.Speaking to Italian news outlet ANSA, the project leader described a second startling discovery at Erimi, in the form of a young woman whose battered corpse was walled up inside her home, possibly in an attempt to prevent her spirit from haunting the town. Having had her head smashed with a rock or a spear, the victim - who was no older than 20 years of age - then had a heavy stone placed upon her dead body, “as if to keep her still,” Bombardieri explained.Rather than being buried in a tomb within the town’s graveyard, the poor woman was simply sealed inside her own house. It therefore appears that the young girl was deliberately separated from the other corpses at Erimi, although researchers are unable to explain why.What they do know, however, is that this is not an isolated case, as they say that the bodies of at least 15 other young women from this same period in history have been discovered in similar circumstances in different parts of the island. Bombardieri therefore suspects that the skeleton at Erimi “may be linked to other cases recorded in the past in other parts of Cyprus,” although the connection between these femicides is currently a complete mystery.

Former White House Press Secretary and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki traveled over to NBC and Late Night with Seth Meyers on Thursday to preview President Joe Biden’s press conference, which had not yet happened at the time of recording, by mourning the public hasn’t seen “the magic of Joe Biden.” At the same time, she claimed Donald Trump’s association with Project 2025 should “scare the hell out of you” while flunking basic civics about the Constitution’s separation of powers. Amidst the backdrop of Democratic unease over Biden, Psaki claimed voters actually need to see more of him, “That's one of the reasons why it's such a high stakes press conference, which everybody keeps using that phrase, as you said, because the pressure is on.”     However, Psaki admitted press conferences are not Biden’s strong suit, but “he's incredibly empathetic. He cares. He loves to hold babies. He legitimately loves them. He likes to travel with members of Congress, said no one ever, except for Joe Biden. So, that you're not seeing. And because you're not seeing, and the public is not seeing him and the magic of Joe Biden, you're relying on how is he going to answer the ninth question about his mental acuity at a press conference. Psaki also declared that “in that sense, the strategy is not going well. Oh, can I say one other thing about the strategy? Is that -- nobody knows the path forward. And members of Congress and people who are rooting for him want to know, how do you win this race? How do you defeat Donald Trump? People just want a little something to go with, and they don't have it.” Meyers then lamented, “It's interesting you say that because, of course, one of the things about Donald Trump is, you know, he speaks all the time, that you sort of forget how crazy he sounds. That if Donald Trump -- if what Donald Trump did yesterday, he -- was the only time we've seen him in the last two months, you would be like, ‘What the [bleep] is wrong with that guy?’ As Psaki agreed, “You would be like, ‘What the [bleep] is wrong with that guy?’ Meyers continued, “But he just floods the zone and so I think one of the things working against President Biden is because we see him less, you just put so much more into what you're seeing.” Speaking of Trump, Meyers turned to the left’s favorite boogeyman: The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, “You mentioned, you know, if we, you know, have a democracy in a few years, we've been talking a lot about this document, Project 2025. Because, you know, while we, you know, it's not that we lose our focus. I think what's happening with the president is serious and requires attention, but Project 2025, this is, you know—”     Psaki interjected with “scary” as Meyers rolled on, “the plan of what the Trump Administration in its second time around wants to do. Have you ever seen anything like it? How outside the norm is this?” An adjective-addicted Psaki began, “Way crazy, whackadoodle, insane, outside of the norm. You know, when it's 900 pages, it's on the Heritage website, and you can read it should you choose. If you're not asleep, just because it's long, it will scare the hell out of you. Because there's a lot of pieces in there. I mean, overall, there's a lot of things in there like mass deportations, camps, all sorts of things that are frightening and scary and alarming and not who we are.” The judicial branch of government refers to the courts, while the Justice Department is part of the executive branch, but Psaki didn’t seem to know that: But overall, it's basically a roadmap for Trump becoming all-powerful. It increases the power of the executive branch of government. There is a reason for checks and balances, for three branches of government, for a judiciary that's independent, so that they can hold people to account. That's what it's there for. He wants to get rid of that so he can go after his political enemies and so that he can use it as a weapon against people he doesn't like or who have done him wrong. If that doesn't scare the hell out of you, I don't know what does. Confusing Donald Trump for Kamala Harris and Volodymyr Zelensky for Vladimir Putin might scare quite a few people. Here is a transcript for the July 11-taped show: NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers 7/12/2024 1:17 AM ET JEN PSAKI: So, what people should understand is there's a lot of advisers who may be telling him, "Here's what you should be doing. You should be out there more. You should be doing more events. You should be engaging with people." He's clearly not doing that. That's one of the reasons why it's such a high stakes press conference, which everybody keeps using that phrase, as you said, because the pressure is on. They haven't seen him a lot. At the same time, it's also your job, when you're advising a president, to bring out their magic. I know that's a weird way of saying it, but President Biden's magic is not necessarily press conferences, I think it's safe to say. It's not even really necessarily interviews. It's his interactions with people. He's incredibly empathetic. He cares. He loves to hold babies. He legitimately loves them. He likes to travel with members of Congress, said no one ever, except for Joe Biden. So, that you're not seeing. And because you're not seeing, and the public is not seeing him and the magic of Joe Biden, you're relying on how is he going to answer the ninth question about his mental acuity at a press conference. And in that sense, the strategy is not going well. Oh, can I say one other thing about the strategy? Is that -- nobody knows the path forward. And members of Congress and people who are rooting for him want to know, how do you win this race? How do you defeat Donald Trump? People just want a little something to go with, and they don't have it. SETH MEYERS: It's interesting you say that because, of course, one of the things about Donald Trump is, you know, he speaks all the time, that you sort of forget how crazy he sounds. That if Donald Trump -- if what Donald Trump did yesterday, he -- was the only time we've seen him in the last two months, you would be like, "What the [bleep] is wrong with that guy?" PSAKI: You would be like, "What the [bleep] is wrong with that guy?" MEYERS: But he just floods the zone and so I think one of the things working against President Biden is because we see him-- PSAKI: Yeah. MEYERS: -- less, you just put so much more into what you're seeing.  … MEYERS: You mentioned, you know, if we, you know, have a democracy in a few years, we've been talking a lot about this document, Project 2025. Because, you know, while we, you know, it's not that we lose our focus. I think what's happening with the president is serious and requires attention, but Project 2025, this is, you know -- PSAKI: Scary. MEYERS: -- the plan of what the Trump Administration in its second time around wants to do. Have you ever seen anything like it? How outside the norm is this? PSAKI: Way crazy, whackadoodle, insane, outside of the norm. You know, when it's 900 pages, it's on the Heritage website, and you can read it should you choose. If you're not asleep, just because it's long, it will scare the hell out of you. Because there's a lot of pieces in there. I mean, overall, there's a lot of things in there like mass deportations, camps, all sorts of things that are frightening and scary and alarming and not who we are.  But overall, it's basically a roadmap for Trump becoming all-powerful. It increases the power of the executive branch of government. There is a reason for checks and balances, for three branches of government, for a judiciary that's independent, so that they can hold people to account. That's what it's there for.  He wants to get rid of that so he can go after his political enemies and so that he can use it as a weapon against people he doesn't like or who have done him wrong. If that doesn't scare the hell out of you, I don't know what does. Now he denies, as you know -- he denies he knows anything -- he says he doesn't know anything about it. Then he says it's bad and then he wishes them luck.  MEYERS: Yeah. PSAKI: It's like, what is happening right now? But it is his plan put together by his people who have worked for him before and will work for him again.

On the inaugural episode of "Blaze News Tonight," co-hosts Jill Savage and Blaze News editor in chief Matthew Peterson chatted with Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts about Project 2025 and the left's gross mischaracterization of it in a tired attempt to frighten Americans out of voting for Republicans.As questions continue to swirl about Joe Biden's cognitive abilities and his overall fitness for office, Democrats have seemingly attempted to distract voters from the chaos in their own house by frequently casting the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 as a threat to democracy. As part of that effort, they have also attempted to tie Project 2025 to former President Donald Trump, who has no official association with it. 'The American people want to return to normal. They want to return to commonsense policies.'Biden claimed that Project 2025 would "terminate[] the Constitution" by handing "limitless power" to his potential successor."Project 2025 should scare every single American," Biden posted to X on Thursday. "It would give Trump limitless power over our daily lives.""Donald Trump and Project 2025 are connected at the hip," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) likewise insisted.Though the left has attempted to turn Project 2025 into a political bogeyman, Roberts and Peterson noted that Project 2025 basically lists the same ideas and principles that "unabashedly conservative" organizations have been espousing for decades."Only in a leftist America would you have the situation where something the conservative movement has done since 1980 — starting for Ronald Reagan and this year, obviously, for our standard-bearer, Donald Trump — be such a story," Roberts said."It's the most normal thing in the world," Peterson added.Roberts also suggested that the reason Democrats have distorted Project 2025 so much is because they know it is a very attractive policy agenda for average voters."The American people want to return to normal," he claimed. "They want to return to commonsense policies, and when they look at Project 2025 ... most Americans ... realize, 'Gosh, we agree with that.'""You know it's good when people are actually out there and attacking it," Savage quipped.Savage further claimed that Democrats and leftist media outlets like Rolling Stone have issued a "very long list of lies" about Project 2025, including that Trump and other Republicans want to "monitor[] women's pregnancies" and "gut the separation of powers." While Roberts agreed that leftists have frequently lied about Project 2025, he noted that they have accurately portrayed one Project 2025 agenda item."We call for the utter elimination of the U.S. Department of Education," Roberts stated proudly.Roberts went on to explain that leftists cleave to the Department of Education because it is the means by which they "indoctrinate our kids, generation after generation." That's why they are "scared" of eliminating it, he said.They are apparently so "scared" of ending the DOE and other Project 2025 ideas that some activists even managed to hack "a very old third-party vendor website" affiliated with the Heritage Foundation to try to extract personal information about its personnel. Roberts told Savage and Peterson that he and his group takes this and other threats from Democrats seriously and that they are prepared to take legal action if necessary."It's going to be lawful, but you have picked the wrong fight," he said.Finally, Roberts claimed that he understands why the Trump campaign has distanced itself from some aspects of Project 2025. "The presidential campaign runs in its lane, the Republican Party runs in its lane, and those of us who are offering personnel and policy from the outside are offering or doing what we do," he explained."Project 2025 exists to be of service to ... decision-makers, starting with the president."The full first episode of "Blaze News Tonight," featuring Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), can be seen below: Project 2025: Heritage President DEBUNKS Lies | Guests: Kevin Roberts & Sen. Mike Lee | 7/11/24 www.youtube.com You can catch "Blaze News Tonight" here Monday through Friday at 8 p.m. ET, and for more original content like it, click here to become a BlazeTV subscriber.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Actor Michael Douglas answered questions about the president being fit for office, saying that the "tide is turning" while admitting that claims Biden should be replaced have validity.Douglas appeared on "The View" and spoke about why he thinks there has been civil unrest and disappointment with the current regime. The 79-year-old pointed to the economy and cited figures an economist told him led to the degradation of the middle class.Douglas said that while the stock market has gone up "3,800%" since 1980, "living wages" have gone up only "16%.""We've lost our middle class," he said, stating that the demographic historically found life much more affordable. "Now, you're struggling."'I think President Trump has been very smart and has been quiet and watching the self-destruction.'Host Joy Behar asked the "Wall Street" and "Fatal Attraction" star about supporting Biden and brought up the fact that he held a fundraiser for the president at his home in April 2024."Do you agree for calls for him to step aside?" she asked. "Even Nancy Pelosi seems on the fence about him stepping aside.""This is such a tough one. I adore the guy. Fifty years of public service, such a wonderful guy, and this just happens to be one of these elections that is just so crucial, and it's really hard," Douglas replied. "I don't worry necessarily today or tomorrow, but a year down the line I worry. I am concerned."Douglas added that he has noticed politicians who are calling Biden to drop out are now "hedging their bets."The actor found himself in a similar boat as George Clooney, having raised money for the president while praising his sharpness just a few months ago, only to now share concerns about his cognitive ability.In late April 2024, Douglas said that everyone he had spoken to about Biden had said he is "as sharp as a tack.""He's fine," he reiterated. "We all have an issue of memories as we get older, we forget names. ... He's overcome a stutter in his life and sometimes he might.""Let's just say that his entire cabinet, including his vice president, everybody in his cabinet would be more than happy to work with him again in the next term," he claimed.When asked directly about Clooney's New York Times op-ed that called for Biden to be replaced, Douglas told "The View" that he thought it was "a valid point.""I'm deeply, deeply concerned. I mean, especially, it's difficult because the Democrats have a big bench. They've got a lot of heavy hitters," Douglas claimed.In a separate interview, posted to X by the New York Post, Douglas said it was "very hard to speak badly" about the president."It's been an incredible three and a half years he's had as president. But I think the tide is turning."He finished by praising President Trump's ability to sit back and allow the DNC to implode."I think President Trump has been very smart and has been quiet and watching the self-destruction [and the] cannibalism going on. Democrats got to get their act together."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The former presidential candidate eschews the bluster for a measured speech on the proper role of government in the economy and American life.

WATCH: Alec Baldwin's Unbelievable Reaction in the Court When Prosecutor Talks About His Motive to Lie

Sharing Wi-Fi passwords has got to be one of the most annoying experiences out there, yet it's something that we all have to deal with. Anywhere we go, we ask about the "free Wi-Fi" that we're entitled to from family and friends. The same goes for restaurants and hotels. It's expected of them, and most places give you free Wi-Fi. But now that 1Password has rolled out a new update to its app, you no longer have to worry about entering Wi-Fi credentials. Rather than typing the Wi-Fi password by hand or copying it from a message, you'll simply have to scan a QR code from 1Password that will get you logged in. Of course, there's one obvious shortcoming: For everything to work, the person or establishment sharing the password with you would have to have 1Password installed. Continue reading... The post 1Password has a brilliant new way to share Wi-Fi passwords appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Best Apple deals for July 2024 Today’s deals: Galaxy Z Flip 6 & Fold 6 offers, $30 Blink Video Doorbell, $25 Amazon Echo Buds, more Today’s deals: $120 off Ryzen 9 mini PC, $89 Apple AirPods, $25 portable neck fan, $79 23andMe DNA test, more Amazon gift card deals, offers & coupons 2024: Get $400+ free

In 2020, archaeologists excavating near the shore of Lake Xiada Co in western Tibet uncovered six distinctive stone artifacts. Each artifact measured about half the length of a golf tee, featuring a pointed tip at one end and an eye-like opening at the other. These artifacts, dated to 9,000 years ago, represent the oldest sewing needles on record and the oldest stone tools made by grinding. Found on the Tibetan Plateau, this is an area notorious for exposing its ancient inhabitants to a harsh climate, much like today. A Significant Technological Advance According to a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the development of the “eyed” needle was a significant advancement in human civilization. This innovation enabled our ancestors to produce more durable and protective clothing and shelters, facilitating exploration of new environments and permanent habitation in colder regions. Second Ship Found At the Antikythera Shipwreck! Breakthroughs in 2024 The Beginnings of Fashion: Why Do We Wear Clothes?     Read moreSection: ArtifactsAncient TechnologyNewsHistory & ArchaeologyRead Later