Fish have fallen victim to drug addiction. Yes, you read that right. For the first time ever, two researchers have found a percentage of cocaine and benzoylecgonine (a substance secreted by the liver after cocaine use) in the bodies of 13 Brazilian sharpnose sharks that were caught separately between September 2021 and December 2023.

The results are unprecedented: The cocaine concentration found was 100 times greater than what has been previously observed in marine animals, and is mostly concentrated in muscle tissue and the liver. The cocaine content was also about three times higher than the benzoylecgonine content, meaning that the cocaine was in its original form when the fish caught it, suggesting that it was dumped directly into the water rather than discharged from human waste.

This type of pollution is not limited to Rio de Janeiro: Although Brazil is one of the world’s largest cocaine consumers, with about 1.5 mn users — representing 8% of the world’s total — this issue has also been observed in the United Kingdom. River fish have suffered from ingesting sewage pollutants that contained drug residue, specifically methamphetamine. Scientists are urging people not to dump waste, specifically illegal and narcotic substances, into the water in order to preserve marine life.

Data harvesting has cost Meta USD 1.4 bn in fines. In 2022, the company was accused of harvesting biometric data from mns of users without proper consent through photos and videos uploaded onto Facebook. Earlier today, the parent company agreed to settle the claims with a fine to the state of Texas.

Even for a trillion dollar company, that is a hefty fine. It is the “largest settlement ever obtained from an action brought by a sin­gle state,” said Texas’ attorney-general Ken Paxton in a statement. It also marks Meta’s second largest penalty, following a USD 5 bn settlement to the US Federal Trade Commission for the misuse of user data during the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal in 2019.

The numbers: The accusation brought against them for violating the Texas state law was for a breach of “not hundreds, or thousands, or [mns], but bns of times.” The prosecution sought a penalty of a minimum of USD 10k for each violation.

A year before this lawsuit was filed, Meta announced that it would erase biometric data gathered from 1 bn users without consent, and that they would shutter the facial recognition system for legal “uncertainty.” However, after failing to destroy the data “within a reasonable time,” alongside the possibility of still using that data in the meantime, the company decided to settle the lawsuit the evening before its scheduled trial. Whether or not the settlement stipulates or ensures that the data be erased.

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