De hogere prijzen van gas en olie zorgen voor rap oplopende inflatie in Europa. Tot nu toe blijft dat beperkt tot energie en brandstof, maar die verankeren zich makkelijk in de rest van de economie. Moet de centrale bank ingrijpen, ook als de economie daardoor stopt met groeien?

De onthullingen over het belangrijkste burgerrechtenicoon van de Latijns-Amerikaanse immigrantengemeenschap in de VS galmen hard na. Een feestdag is omgedoopt en in de publieke ruimte wordt zijn naam weggepoetst.

Hoe herschikt de oorlog in het Midden-Oosten de geopolitieke kaarten? Is dit hét moment dat China de VS voorbijstreeft? En wat betekent dit voor de oorlog in Oekraïne?

In de muziek is de 'wolf note' een kwaal die ervoor zorgt dat één bepaalde noot onbeheersbaar wiebelig klinkt. Joyce Roodnat zag in Sorrentino’s 'La Grazia' een traan die in de film net zo onhandelbaar is - stom, belachelijk, en toch perfect.

Een karige vredesdeal, grondtroepen inzetten, escaleren met oorlogsmisdaden of gewoon weglopen: een maand lang onstrategisch oorlog voeren heeft de VS in een onmogelijk parket gebracht.

Perseverance found the minerals in an ancient river channel, but researchers say geology may still beat biology

A team of scientists in the US have discovered nickel compounds in Martian rocks, in an arrangement similar to organic carbon compounds understood to be formed by living organisms on Earth.…

The 13-year sales vet closed two deals worth $27 million, but ServiceNow has “nullified” his compensation saying he “overachieved” his quota.

ServiceNow is refusing to pay a salesman commissions on more than $27 million in sales, telling the 13-year veteran of the company that he "overperformed" his quota and insisting that instead he sign paperwork that retroactively reduces the commission amount, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the salesperson. ServiceNow has denied all his claims.…

Weren't these supposed to be 'atypical'?

Microsoft is preparing another out-of-band update to address its latest problematic update following reports of installation errors.…

Chip shipments overtake boards and modules as industrial demand grows, raising questions about hobbyist roots

Raspberry Pi has reported impressive revenue and profit growth, but its hobbyist origins risk taking a backseat amid soaring semiconductor shipments.…

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

date stamped on back of photograph October 1977

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Pierre Gasly finished seventh in Japan, as the Alpine man topped the midfield and even beat Max Verstappen’s Red Bull to the flag. That result leaves Gasly eighth in the standings, a fine return from the first three rounds of the season.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo say a new "quadratic quantum gravity" framework could explain the universe's rapid early expansion without adding extra ingredients to Einstein's theory by hand. The idea is especially notable because it makes testable predictions, including a minimum level of primordial gravitational waves that future experiments may be able to detect. "Even though this model deals with incredibly high energies, it leads to clear predictions that today's experiments can actually look for," said Dr. Niayesh Afshordi, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Waterloo and Perimeter Institute (PI). "That direct link between quantum gravity and real data is rare and exciting." Phys.org reports: The research team found that the Big Bang's rapid early expansion can emerge naturally from this simple, consistent theory of quantum gravity, without adding any extra ingredients. This early burst of expansion, often called inflation, is a central idea in modern cosmology because it explains why the universe looks the way it does today.

Their model also predicts a minimum amount of primordial gravitational waves, which are tiny ripples in spacetime geometry created in the first moments after the Big Bang. These signals may be detectable in upcoming experiments, offering a rare chance to test ideas about the universe's quantum origins.

[...] The team plans to refine their predictions for upcoming experiments to explore how their framework connects to particle physics and other puzzles about the early universe. Their long-term goal is to strengthen the bridge between quantum gravity and observational cosmology. The research has been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Het moet permanent mogelijk worden voor rechters om na de wettelijke ontslagleeftijd van 70 jaar nog 3 jaar door te werken als plaatsvervanger. Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid Claudia van Bruggen maakt dit vandaag bekend in een brief aan de Tweede Kamer. Het was al tijdelijk mogelijk voor rechters om door te werken als plaatsvervanger tot de leeftijd van 73 jaar. Er wordt een wetswijziging voorbereid die deze inzet permanent mogelijk maakt.

Mkb-ondernemers en samenwerkingsverbanden kunnen binnenkort opnieuw subsidie aanvragen via de SLIM-regeling. Met deze regeling kunnen ondernemers investeren in leren en ontwikkelen binnen hun bedrijf. Denk aan het opstellen van een opleidingsplan of het invoeren van een methode voor ontwikkelgesprekken.

Blown wildly out of proportion in large format, the slime molds that British photographer Barry Webb captures seem atmospheric and sculptural. Stemonitis, for example, looks like dozens of thin pieces of wire with their ends coated in colored wax. But this fungi-like form is one of hundreds of kinds of slime mold, and it typically only reaches a height of about two centimeters at the most. Thanks to Webb’s macro photos, we glimpse a phenomenally beautiful world up-close that is otherwise virtually invisible.

Scientists have documented hundreds of these organisms that aren’t actually related to plants, fungi, animals, or molds—despite the name—but comprise a unique group unto themselves. They’re more closely related to amoebas. And new discoveries are being made all the time. From mottled gray bulbs that look like snow-covered trees to pink, coral-like tendrils, Webb chronicles a huge array of colors and shapes. He also consistently submits images to local and national botanical records so that researchers have access to high-resolution imagery.

Webb’s image of a species called Lamproderma scintillans, partly engulfed by a water droplet, won the Botanical Britain category of the British Wildlife Photography Awards. Several of his photos are on display in large format in the exhibition Mythos Wald at Gasometer Oberhausen in Germany, which continues through the end of the year. And in the U.K., see Webb’s awarded images in the 2026 International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition at Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Find more on his Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Barry Webb Documents a Marvelous, Macro Array of Colorful Slime Molds appeared first on Colossal.

penqk5 has added a photo to the pool:

DirtyGlassEye has added a photo to the pool:

One site in my labyrinth of Japan shots has slipped my mind for a while now, but I have an excuse. While I was at Gotokuji it started raining and I haven't made a habit of wiping my lens with a dedicated cloth or something similar, I was using my sleeve (novice mistake in every way, seriously, if you're getting into photography, NEVER wipe your lens with your clothing). So a lot of the stuff is either uninteresting cause I couldn't even get my tripod out, or simply because there was visible water on the lens the whole time.
But there are still some outliers, and this was one of them. This was either a staff building or a merchandise store (incase it was the former I didn't go in) And it's a very beautiful residence, sizeable lot, multiple stories, has the traditional appeal, and Japan is having a housing surplus right now anyways (though understandably a stance against immigration/integration).
So the sky wasn't really blown out this time so to speak, but I was still unhappy. In editing I turned the brightness down as much as possible, I brought the saturation up on the roof and the vegetation, and the rest of the photo remains untapped from the original image. So what do you think? Good first impression? Put this image on zillow and see who bites first

谦和老爹 has added a photo to the pool:

谦和老爹 has added a photo to the pool: