Australia is on track for a significant expansion of desalination capacity -- converting seawater to freshwater -- to meet the needs of a swelling population at a time of declining average rainfall. From a report: The world's driest inhabited continent is projected to build or expand 11 desalination plants worth more than A$23 billion ($15 billion) over the next 10 years, according to a research report by Dominic McNally at Oxford Economics.
"Our population growth forecasts imply an additional 190GL/year in household water demand across major cities by 2035, while the booming data center industry also threatens to rapidly expand urban water use," he said. "This growing demand coincides with falling average rainfall in major population centers, increasing the vulnerability of existing infrastructure." Water construction activity slowed after 2010 as a severe drought receded. However, recent dry periods have reignited interest in water security and coincide with a new boom in water infrastructure investment, including desalination, McNally said.
"Our population growth forecasts imply an additional 190GL/year in household water demand across major cities by 2035, while the booming data center industry also threatens to rapidly expand urban water use," he said. "This growing demand coincides with falling average rainfall in major population centers, increasing the vulnerability of existing infrastructure." Water construction activity slowed after 2010 as a severe drought receded. However, recent dry periods have reignited interest in water security and coincide with a new boom in water infrastructure investment, including desalination, McNally said.
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The great return-to-office battle has effectively concluded and a clear pecking order has emerged, according to Sander van 't Noordende, the CEO of Randstad, a staffing giant that places around half a million workers in jobs every week. Remote work is becoming a status symbol reserved for star performers and those possessing rare skills. "You have to be very special to be able to demand a 100% remote job," van 't Noordende told Fortune. "That's increasingly the story. You have to have very special technology skills or some expertise."
The equilibrium appears to be settling at a hybrid model of three to four days in office for most workers. Van 't Noordende noted that apart from some banks in major cities, the five-day office week isn't returning as the norm despite hardline mandates from companies like Amazon and JPMorgan. Korn Ferry predicted this "hybrid hierarchy" at the start of 2025, forecasting that flexibility would become a perk reserved for top talent. At some companies, high performers are already being offered flexible schedules as a bonus while mid-range employees don't get the privilege, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The equilibrium appears to be settling at a hybrid model of three to four days in office for most workers. Van 't Noordende noted that apart from some banks in major cities, the five-day office week isn't returning as the norm despite hardline mandates from companies like Amazon and JPMorgan. Korn Ferry predicted this "hybrid hierarchy" at the start of 2025, forecasting that flexibility would become a perk reserved for top talent. At some companies, high performers are already being offered flexible schedules as a bonus while mid-range employees don't get the privilege, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Asus has been showcasing its new 5K 27-inch ROG Strix 27 Pro gaming monitor running at 5,120 x 2,880 resolution and up to 180Hz, but even Nvidia's flagship RTX 5090 struggles to deliver smooth frame rates at this demanding pixel count. In testing conducted by Asus, the RTX 5090D -- a Chinese-exclusive variant with weaker AI performance -- achieved just 51 frames per second in a Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark at ultra ray traced settings. The test system ran an AMD Ryzen 9950X3D processor, had DLSS set to balanced, and kept frame generation disabled. The same configuration running at 4K managed 77 fps, around 50% higher.
The underlying math is simple: 5K resolution requires rendering 78% more pixels than 4K. That 218 PPI pixel density delivers impressive sharpness up close, but Asus chose an IPS panel over OLED technology to reach it, trading away deeper black levels and faster response times. Asus appears to be positioning the monitor as a dual-mode display -- 5K for productivity and video, 1440p at up to 330Hz for gaming. Early Chinese listings have it priced at the equivalent of $800, roughly what you'd pay for a larger 4K OLED panel.
The underlying math is simple: 5K resolution requires rendering 78% more pixels than 4K. That 218 PPI pixel density delivers impressive sharpness up close, but Asus chose an IPS panel over OLED technology to reach it, trading away deeper black levels and faster response times. Asus appears to be positioning the monitor as a dual-mode display -- 5K for productivity and video, 1440p at up to 330Hz for gaming. Early Chinese listings have it priced at the equivalent of $800, roughly what you'd pay for a larger 4K OLED panel.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Bij een ongeluk op de Hoeksebaan (N223) in Hoek van Holland is dinsdagavond een motorrijder omgekomen. Voor het ongeval rukten de hulpdiensten massaal uit. De motorrijder is nog gereanimeerd, maar dat mocht niet baten
The Case for a Public Social Media Platform. “What if the United States government decided to, overnight, nationalize Facebook and make it a digital division of the post office. What would that look like?”
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De wet is een dans tussen impuls, verbod en vergelding. Wet is gestolde cultuur, maar onder het stolsel is het immer fluïde, vloeiend als de organische wals van het eeuwige voorwaarts door de tijd. En ja soms moet je er een BBL en ribverwijdering tegenaan mieteren voor je het Uniform past, maar dan past het wel. @ na de breek want u klikt toch wel ondoenlijke smeerbeer.
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De meeste onderzoeken naar het effect van fysiotherapie op chronische lage rugpijn (langer dan 6 weken) laten wisselende resultaten zien; de ene studie vindt een positief effect, de ander geen of zelfs een negatief effect. En als er al een effect gevonden wordt, is dat vaak klein. Betekent dat nu dat we net zo goed geen fysiotherapie meer kunnen geven aan deze patiënten?
Nee, concludeert Adri Apeldoorn die op 14 maart aan de VU promoveert op dit onderwerp. Het probleem is dat er geen goed classificatiesysteem is: de ene patiënt met lage rugpijn is de andere niet en naargelang het type kan een andere behandeling nodig zijn. Met het huidige classificatiesysteem is 1/4 van de patiënten lastig te classificeren en dus is ook moeilijk te voorspellen hoe zij zullen reageren op therapie.
Verder ontwikkelde Apeldoorn een instrument om patiënten met lage rugklachten te screenen op psychische klachten, zoals depressiviteit, angst en doemdenken. Hij vergeleek de voorgeschiedenis van de klachten, uitslagen van lichamelijk onderzoek en diverse tests met het oordeel van de psycholoog. Apeldoorn stelt vast dat bij ruim de helft van de onderzochte patiënten sprake is van psychische klachten.
Bron(nen): Artsennet
