Eind 19de eeuw was de Amerikaanse bizon bijna uitgestorven. In kleine kuddes leeft het iconische dier voort, maar er is te weinig genetische uitwisseling.

Op satellietbeelden is goed te zien dat Israël in Gaza een aarden wal om de Palestijnse bevolking heen bouwt. Dat is in strijd met de bestandsafspraken over geleidelijke terugtrekking van het Israëlische leger uit Gaza, en met het internationaal recht.

De aanhoudende hitte en droogte hebben niet direct gevolgen voor de hoeveelheid drinkwater. Wel kunnen waterbedrijven te maken krijgen met een grotere kans op vervuiling in de bronnen. Ook mogelijke verzilting vormt een knelpunt.

conspectus_bs posted a photo:

Kodak Portra 400 with Mamiya RB67 and Sekor 50 mm

• Mauritian rider outsprints Kerbaol and Pieterse

• ‘Winning a stage in a Tour de France is very special’

Marlen Reusser retained the overall lead in the Tour de France Femmes from rival Demi Vollering after another broiling stage through central France saw Kim Le Court take the second Tour stage win of her career in Tournon-sur-Rhône.

The Mauritian rider recovered from a mechanical problem earlier in the stage on the climb of the Col de Lalouvesc to join the day’s breakaway group and outsprint Cédrine Kerbaol of France, and Queen of the Mountains classification leader, Puck Pieterse.

Continue reading...

The early success of Roberto Vannacci’s National Future sends an ominous signal as extreme politics become normalised

When a serving Italian general published a far-right tract in 2023 entitled The World Turned Upside Down, a disciplinary inquiry swiftly followed. Roberto Vannacci’s text was a sustained exercise in bile and bigotry, attacking among other things the “normalisation” of homosexuality, and questioning whether a high-profile black volleyball star could really be considered Italian. The controversy sent the book into the bestseller charts, and its author was suspended for bringing the army into disrepute.

A year out from Italy’s next general election, Mr Vannacci is a problem not for the military but for the country’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. Now a member of the European parliament, in February he exploited his notoriety to found National Future, a political party which argues that Ms Meloni’s coalition government has sold out its far-right supporters through not being extreme enough. The “true right”, according to the former paratrooper – who once served as a military attache in Moscow – should be pro-Putin and anti-Ukraine, anti-EU, and committed to restoring the “cultural homogeneity” of Italy through the expulsion of immigrants and their descendants.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading...

I love this little video of burbling pasta sauces (sound on). Wish there was a 10-hour YT version for work background noise…

FOTO: De huisarts noch een patiënt uit het verhaal

Stukje Nee-DDR-land in Rhoon (?) waar een huisarts niet langer mag huisartsen omdat zij (ja) zichzelf doorgaans een gezellige dosis alcohol voorschreef, ook op het werk. Maar dat ze na 15 tot 20 glazen alcohol toch op de praktijk verscheen kun je ook zien als karakter tonen, een keer euthanasie vergeten is in feite levensreddend handelen en het verweer "drinken door stress" klinkt juist eenieder bekend in de oren. Maar goed, psychiater erbij, inspectie erbij, rechter oordelen, eindstand: berufsverbot. En zo raakt de huisartsenpraktijk in Rhoon de kleurrijkste huisarts kwijt, wordt een ongezellig beroep nog wat ongezelliger en zitten de patiënten voortaan tegenover een arts die alleen dodelijk saai en serieus dodelijke diagnoses stelt. Tja en dan blijft slecht nieuws ineens ook maar gewoon slecht nieuws.

Not content with nuclear reactors on land, the US is backing an international push to put atomic power plants aboard civilian ships and floating platforms. The US will host the launch of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea (ATLAS) initiative in Washington, DC, on August 26 and 27. ATLAS aims to tackle the legal, regulatory, safety, security, and liability problems that stand between maritime reactors and commercial deployment. Ahead of the launch, the US will hold an "Industry Day" on August 25 to showcase technology from American nuclear and maritime companies hoping to take a share of any future market. US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright linked the event to the Department of Energy's broader drive to deliver oodles of extra atomic power for AI datacenters and other industries. "DoE remains focused on unleashing American energy dominance, accelerating innovation, and advancing sources of energy that are affordable, reliable, and secure for the American people," he said. "Hosting the launch of ATLAS supports this critical mission, positioning the US nuclear and maritime sectors at the forefront of advanced energy innovation, while promoting safety and security for the United States and the world." The initiative covers civilian nuclear-powered ships and floating power plants, with the latter potentially supplying coastal communities or energy-hungry industrial processes such as desalination. The DoE is pinning its hopes on small modular reactors (SMRs), whose high energy density and long operating cycles could suit ships and offshore power installations. America is no stranger to reactors afloat. Every active US Navy aircraft carrier is nuclear-powered, giving it almost unlimited range without frequent refueling. The US Navy also used to operate nuclear-powered cruisers, such as the Virginia class, but these were retired after the end of the Cold War because they were costly to run. Civilian nuclear ships are also not entirely new. NS Savannah was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship when it was launched back in 1959, but again proved costly to run. Perhaps the IAEA hopes that SMRs will make atom-driven civilian ships more economical. Russia operates the world's only floating nuclear power plant. The Akademik Lomonosov is a barge-like vessel whose two KLT-40S reactors can generate a combined 70 MW of electricity. Putting a reactor on water changes the risks rather than making them disappear. The surrounding sea provides a vast heat sink for cooling, but a plant moored in a remote location may have limited access to emergency backup power, according to one assessment. However, any accident might also see radioactive contamination of the marine environment near the damaged reactor, which could seriously affect the coastal community the nuke was meant to be serving. "The global maritime sector is at a critical turning point, facing urgent pressure to sustain long-distance, high-speed operations while ensuring reliability and energy security," said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. "Small modular reactors offer a safe and viable option for maritime transport and offshore energy systems – delivering high energy density and long operating cycles that eliminate the need for frequent refueling." ®