Eline Roebers (20), de beste vrouwelijke schaker van Nederland, kreeg ooit te horen dat ze ‘schaakt als een man’. „Zolang er een verschil in speelstijlen bestaat, zie ik het maar als een compliment.”

De fiets is gaan concurreren met de auto. Hij is soms sneller, vaak praktischer, altijd schoner. Dus stapt Bas van Putten, die jarenlang auto’s testte, voor deze nieuwe rubriek voortaan ook op de fiets.

Het kabinet verlaagt officieel de doelstelling voor de gasopslag voor de winter. Die hoeft straks niet meer voor 80 procent gevuld te zijn, maar ‘slechts’ voor 64 procent.

Dave en Jan Willem kregen hun dochter Lot dankzij een draagmoeder, Kim. Bij de bevalling ging het mis. „Ze waren er bijna niet meer geweest.”

Representatives from the University of Michigan faced tough questions and a lot of vitriol from the citizens of Ypsilanti Township Wednesday night. The University partnered with America’s nuclear weapons scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL) to build a hyperscale data center in the Township and residents are pissed. 

On Wednesday night the University hosted a town hall meant to ameliorate people’s anger and concerns. It didn’t work.

LANL and U of M want to build a $1.2 billion 220,000 hyperscale data center in Ypsilanti Township. The residents are worried about electricity costs, water usage, and noise like other communities across the country considering data centers. But citizens and leaders of the Township are also worried that this particular data center would further nuclear weapon research. They’ve also said the University has condescended to them during the entire process, lied, and ignored them.

Judging by footage of the Wednesday night’s town hall, U of M didn’t win anyone over and openly deepened citizens’ anger and mistrust. U of M faculty director Patricia Hurn delivered a prepared statement while people in the audience shouted at her. “This facility is going to be used for many different purposes including improving cancer care, strengthening the power grid, accelerating drug discovery, and sustainable computing,” she said over jeers from the crowd.

“Many of us are interested in finding the generalized cure for cancer,” Hurn said. The crowd laughed and mocked her. She pressed on. “And many of us want to drop infant mortality. Some of us want clean energy. 

“How about healthcare?” Someone shouted from the crowd.

“All of those things are going to require — and some of you are listening to me so I’ll just keep talking to you — some of us want those answers and we know that to get them is going to take really strong and big abilities to do computing,” she said.

Steven Ceccio, the project’s lead engineer, attempted to address some of the practical concerns surrounding the project. “The project is tremendously smaller in scope and size than these commercial data centers,” he said, pointing to a slide that compared the size of the proposed LANL data center to The Barn in nearby Saline Township, a massive $56 billion 1.4 gigawatt OpenAI project.

Later in the night, a man named Andy called Ceccio out. He said he worked in data centers all around the country. “I think it’s convenient that this is 1/20th the size of a data center when you’re comparing it to The Barn that’s going over in Saline. That’s an aberration. That’s not a normal sized data center. When you compare the data center that you’re about to build to the average data center in the United States, you’re at the very top of that bracket,” Andy said. 

“I’ve been to beautiful data centers, absolutely gorgeous, they poured tons of money into them. But they’re still loud. And they still have emissions and they still have generators,” Andy added. “They don’t belong in residential areas next to schools and apartments. When you go to these facilities they’re in the middle of nowhere because that’s where they belong.”

Throughout the evening, representatives from the University avoided calling the project a data center. “The biggest difference besides its size is its purpose. It’s really a scientific computing center, it’s not a commercial activity — Los Alamos and U of M are nonprofit activities and we’re using this to advance scientific research and development,” Ceccio said.

Los Alamos did not attend the meeting. “If Los Alamos cared so much why aren’t they here?” A woman named Jamie asked at the town hall.

The laboratory sent a letter to be read at the meeting in lieu of attending in person, meant to address community concerns. The letter called supercomputing an essential tool. “It allows researchers to model, analyze, and test complex systems, and it powers discovery faster and with more precision than our Manhattan project founders could have thought possible,” it said.

LANL stressed that there would be no plutonium on site in Ypsialanti Michigan and that no weapons would be produced there. “Instead, the facility would use advanced computing to model complex systems, run sophisticated simulations, and analyze massive datasets,” the letter said. LANL pointed to its work modeling wildfire behavior, tracking diseases, and strengthening the power grid.

But LANL also conceded that the data center would also be used as part of nuclear weapons research and development. “As part of Los Alamos’ national security mission, some computational research conducted using the facility could relate to nuclear modernization,” it said. This work uses modeling and simulation to help scientists assess the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s existing nuclear stockpile without nuclear testing. It is computational research — not the manufacturing, sample, testing, or production of nuclear weapons.”

In several public meetings of the Ypsilanti Township board, both residents and leaders have speculated that the Los Alamos data center might be a target in a drone strike. Douglas Winters, the attorney for Ypsilanti Township, even called the proposed site a high-value target. “It is important to emphasize that neither Los Alamos, the University of Michigan, nor any state or federal agency has classified it that way,” LANL’s letter said, adding that the Township board and city attorney had “created that terminology without basis.”

“It’s kind of a silly thing to say that, somehow, I made up the term ‘high-value target,’” Winters told 404 Media. “Or, somehow, they don’t recognize that Los Alamos — the worldwide name associated with the atomic bomb [...] would not be considered a high-value target when they have $1.2 billion worth of computers that they describe as being the biggest, baddest, and fastest in the world.”

Anger built as the town hall went on.

Jennifer Burnside said she lives “roughly two miles from the proposed site.” She said she had worked at the University for 10 years and was shocked at how it was behaving. “There is an outside power that is coming into a community that does not play by the same rules. They’re not beholden to the community and do not have to answer for their actions,” she said. “It feels like we’re being taken advantage of. We don’t want this data center and we should not have it forced upon us.”

“I live about two and a half miles from the proposed site in a fairly poor neighborhood. Most of us couldn’t afford to move out if we wanted to if this thing is as heinous as we think it will be,” a man named Corey said. “I think the thrust of your argument this evening has been: ‘You’ve heard that it’ll be really really really really bad. It’ll only be really bad.’ And that’s not good enough for us.” 

Corey added that the University had made themselves into cartoon-style mustache twirling villains. “There is no trust, we don’t believe you,” he said. “We don’t want Los Alamos here, they’re one of the biggest villains of the 20th century,” he said. “We want them far far away from us and everyone else.”

“You guys know where you fucked up, right? You didn’t do this two years ago. Why didn’t you approach the community first?” A Township resident named Eric said. “You’re asking us to come aboard when the water’s already poisoned. No pun intended.”

Ypsilanti Township resident and University of Michigan graduate Shalina Nicohl Rankin said that the University needed to show up with the board of regents next time. “This is our home. We said loudly and clearly that we do not want you here. We did not invite you,” she said. “I was taught leaders and best [a reference to the University’s motto]. Leaders and best, but you crawl into bed with Los Alamos, one of the most despicable companies on the face of the Earth. Who is known for giving people cancer and developing nuclear bombs and you bring it into our backyard.”

Fielding questions about nuclear weapons research, engineer Ceccio lamented that the weapons existed. “I would love to live in a world where we have no nuclear weapons. I would love to live in a world where we have no nuclear proliferation [...] and I would do everything I can to make that world happen,” he said. “But right now, some of the institutions of our country are here for our national security and Los Alamos is one of them. And I, for one, am proud to be part of them to help in this important mission.”

The people of Ypsilanti Township were not proud and made it clear that they did not feel like their concerns were considered. The final speaker of the evening was Township supervisor Brenda Stumbo. She said the University had repeatedly lied to the Township’s citizens and leaders. “It started with a lie,” Stumbo said. “People are leaving. They're selling their homes because of the thought of Los Alamos being here. That’s a fact. The emotion and the rage is fear. We don’t deserve this. Please, change your mind.”

The town hall ran three hours and the University has promised to hold another October first. Winters told 404 Media he wouldn’t be attending. “Maybe they should come to our September 15 board meeting,” he said.

The University of Michigan did not return 404 Media’s request for comment.

Mr Mikage (ミスター御影） posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

date stamped on slide, August 1965

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

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The numbers from the first round of the league phase point to Italian teams struggling even if Inter impressed in defeat at Real Madrid

The 2026-27 Champions League is under way. There are still 126 matches to play until we know which 24 teams will feature in the knockout phase but that doesn’t mean we haven’t learned anything yet. Here are the key data talking-points from week one.

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Matthew Klimow recalls the day a hijacked airliner crashed into the headquarters of the US defence department in Arlington, Virginia

“All day I had been a good soldier: stolid, resolute, unemotional, rational, and dispassionate,” writes Matthew Klimow, recalling the wave of emotion that overwhelmed him as he arrived home from the Pentagon on 11 September 2001. There was sadness for the lives lost. But there was another emotion, too: humiliation.

“We, as a nation, had been humbled,” writes the retired army colonel, who remained at the Pentagon even after it was struck by a hijacked airliner, killing all 64 people onboard and 125 inside the building. “The fighting force of which I was part had been impotent, unable to protect our fellow citizens. The darkness I felt matched the darkness inside my house as I opened the door.”

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Updates from Friday’s play at Edgbaston, 11am BST start
Ashes legal dispute led to lack of 2027 Test in the north
A day at the Knight-Stokes Cup | The Spin | Email Rob

State-school cricket has had its day at Lord’s, at last. On a ground that has this summer hosted men’s and women’s international Tests, the Women’s T20 World Cup final and the Hundred finals, on Thursday four school teams played in front of the Pavilion and Father Time for the Knight-Stokes Cup, named after two state-educated cricketers who have captained England’s Test teams.

Heather Knight and Ben Stokes recorded video messages for pupils from Altrincham grammar school, John Hampden grammar school, Penistone grammar school and Chelmsford County high school before they competed in the boys’ and girls’ finals. The privileges did not stop there – full use of the Pavilion dressing rooms, lunch and media duties made this a day to remember and inspire.

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NEW YORK (ANP) - In New York is de herdenking begonnen van de aanslagen op het World Trade Center van 11 september 2001. Alle nog levende oud-presidenten en de huidige vicepresident JD Vance waren daarbij aanwezig. President Donald Trump ontbrak. Volgens The New York Times was hij aanvankelijk wel van plan om te komen, maar veranderde hij zijn plannen toen bleek dat hij geen toespraak mocht houden.

Bij de herdenking in Manhattan, op de plek waar de twee torens stonden, worden geen speeches gegeven. Er worden minuten stilte gehouden op de tijdstippen dat de vliegtuigen 25 jaar geleden de torens raakten en dat de torens instortten. Ook spelen bekende muzikanten als Yo-Yo Ma en Jennifer Nettles. Nabestaanden lezen de namen voor van alle slachtoffers. Bij de aanslagen van Al-Qaeda kwamen bijna 3000 mensen om.

Trump heeft ervoor gekozen om te spreken bij een herdenking in het Pentagon. Ook dat gebouw werd op 9/11 geraakt door een gekaapt vliegtuig. Daarbij kwamen 125 mensen om.

ENTER (ANP) - Nederlanders die donderdag bij het busongeluk in Zwitserland lichtgewond zijn geraakt, met onder andere kneuzingen en breuken, worden vermoedelijk vrijdag uit het ziekenhuis ontslagen. Dat is de verwachting van Eurocross, die de hulpverlening coördineert.

Gewonde Nederlanders werden eerder naar verschillende ziekenhuizen in de regio overgebracht. De hulporganisatie zegt deze mensen verder te ondersteunen bij het organiseren van hun terugreis naar Nederland.

Donderdag raakte een Nederlandse bus van een Oad-excursie van de weg in de buurt van de Zwitserse plaats Susch. Daarbij vielen vijf doden en veertig gewonden en raakten tien mensen zwaar of middelzwaar gewond.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - De stikstofmaatregelen die het kabinet wil nemen, geven "perspectief op vergunningverlening" en daarmee op een uitweg uit de stikstofcrisis. Dat schrijft landsadvocaat Pels Rijcken in een advies dat minister Jaimi van Essen (Landbouw, D66) vrijdag met de Tweede Kamer heeft gedeeld. Als er weer meer ruimte voor vergunningen komt, zal dat een kwestie van "gebied voor gebied" worden.

Als de stikstofuitstoot daalt en overheden tegelijkertijd van alles doen om de natuur te helpen, dan wordt de natuur daar volgens de landsadvocaat "ontegenzeggelijk" beter van. Maar hoeveel beter hangt af van de uitwerking van de maatregelen en beoordelingen door ecologen. Het Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving merkte al op dat de plannen veel vragen van zowel boeren als overheden.

"Ik heb het met genoegen gelezen", zei Van Essen vrijdag na de ministerraad. Hij ziet in het advies een bevestiging van de beloften die hij een paar maanden geleden deed toen hij de plannen presenteerde. Daarin staan veel maatregelen om natuur te herstellen, onder meer uitstootdoelen per boer en zones rond natuurgebieden met minder vee. Nederland gaat weer van het 'stikstofslot', was de belofte in juni.

Live coverage of Friday's first Formula 1 practice session for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.

Het is de week waarin Feyenoord begon aan de Champions League en daarin was FC Barcelona een maatje te groot. Nu moet de knop omgezet worden, want zondag gaat de eredivisie voor Feyenoord weer verder. De ploeg van trainer Giovanni van Bronckhorst gaat op bezoek bij PEC Zwolle.

A medical report published earlier this week says a boy in the U.K. developed erythema ab igne, or "toasted skin syndrome," after resting a laptop on his abdomen for up to eight hours a day, often while it was charging. "The marks were described as being in a patch about 15 centimeters (six inches) wide, made of flat, reddish-brown 'interlacing lines forming irregular circles and a lace-like morphology,'" reports Ars Technica. From the report: Based on the appearance, the doctors started reconsidering some sort of bruising and started asking him more questions. This is when he mentioned that he was homeschooled and used a laptop for his schoolwork. He said he typically did his work by resting his laptop on his abdomen while he worked, sometimes for up to eight hours a day, and often while the laptop was charging. Then they understood what it was.

The doctors diagnosed the boy with erythema ab igne (EAI), which translates from Latin as "redness from fire" and is also sometimes called "toasted skin syndrome." This is a skin condition caused by repeated, prolonged exposure to low-grade heat -- heat not hot enough to cause actual burns. It's most often seen in adults, and common causes include using heating pads or hot water bottles for chronic pain or sitting too close to space heaters. Some people also develop it from certain occupational hazards, like glassblowing and metal work. EAI produces a lace-like rash, just like the boy's.

It's unclear how EAI develops exactly. But researchers hypothesize that chronic heat exposure leads to damage to superficial blood vessels and the release of red blood cells, forming the tell-tale red reticulated pattern. While the boy's condition looked ominous, the good news is that EAI is generally benign and reversible -- once you remove the heat source. For severe or long-term conditions, some pigmentation and scarring can remain. But the boy's parents checked back in over several months, reporting that the rash faded and then completely resolved. Hopefully, he also got some sort of laptop stand.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

OPINION "Where do we put digital government? You know, all those billions we spend on consultants and legacy systems?" "Oh, that! Put it with sports and tourism. And something we're calling 'place'." It might be a fictional conversation between a SpAd* and a mandarin**, but in reality, the outcome is more or less the same. With the arrival of Andy Burnham as UK prime minister came a shake-up of responsibilities in Whitehall, leaving responsibility for science, technology, and government tech scattered across several departments and eliminating the dedicated technology ministerial role. Shortly after the changes were announced in July, Dame Chi Onwurah, chair of the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, wrote to the government asking for an explanation. The government had yet to confirm what the new roles and responsibilities meant in practice, and there was no news on ministerial portfolios, she said. Now a joint letter from the ministers leading three departments attempts to answer Onwurah's questions. It brings clarity only by laying bare the government's confused thinking and lack of credibility. Take space, for example. The letter says BIST aims to "support companies from breakthrough ideas and research excellence through to commercialization, scaling and exporting, and to fortify the UK's global leadership in this space." When it comes to literal space, however, responsibility falls to Baroness Lloyd of Effra. A law and history graduate, Lloyd worked in Tony Blair's policy unit before becoming his deputy chief of staff. She will fit responsibility for the UK's public and private space sectors between her cyber, regulatory reform, corporate governance, and Insolvency Service duties. She will work across two departments: the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). We're sure the role will afford plenty of time to help oversee the £7.8 billion of cross-government spending brought together under the new space strategy intended to cover orbital collision warnings, low Earth orbit communications, military intelligence, launch capabilities, and space science. The question is, where did technology go? Isn't space related to technology? Technology was in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. But that T is now Trade. The D that stood for Department in DSIT is gone; in DCMS, it stands for Digital. (The DWP and DHSC still keep their D for Department, for those wishing to understand that no rules apply here.) But what is digital? It underpins everything. "The technologies shaping our economy are also transforming how people create, communicate, learn, participate and access public services. By expanding DCMS's remit to include responsibility for tech sector oversight and digital, including: digital skills, digital infrastructure and connectivity, cyber security, and the delivery of a modern digital government, we are enabling DCMS to lead the transformation of public services while strengthening and growing the digital, cyber and information foundations on which our economy and society depend." OK, but why is the technology sector separated from science? If digital underpins everything, then it is also worryingly vague. Is it really closer to culture and media? A photographer might want to use Photoshop, but they don't need to know how the software works. The development of computer hardware and software has gone hand in hand with wider research. The World Wide Web and DeepMind both came out of university projects, not to mention one of the early modern computers, the Manchester Mark 1, developed at the University of Manchester with input from WWII code breaker Alan Turing. To further muddy the waters, Kanishka Narayan was appointed Minister of State for AI, a joint Cabinet Office and BIST role that comes with Cabinet attendance. Responsibility for science and technology is now spread across four departments. Chris McDonald, Minister of State for Science, Innovation and Investment, works jointly across BIST and the Department of Health and Social Care. Science sits with business and trade, but digital sits with "creative industries" and sport. Digital government – which has been in three departments over two years – gets a junior minister in the DCMS. Stephanie Peacock is expected to perform that role along with responsibility for sport, tourism, and place (which is not defined in the letter or elsewhere). It is questionable whether she will get the backing needed to confront big tech suppliers repeatedly feasting on government spending while other ministers court those same companies for investment. Her public announcements so far have focused more on Blackpool staycations and the Commonwealth Games than digital government. In their letter, the three ministers said the changes were necessary because "the UK stands at a critical juncture where unprecedented global changes demand that we secure our position as a world leader in AI, science and technology. In this context, we cannot see science and technology as an isolated issue, limited to one department. Instead it is a major priority that cuts across the whole of government and is vital to the UK's future economic prosperity." But the government's answer has been to break up the former technology department and scatter its responsibilities among portfolios where they will struggle for attention. As for tech in the public sector, we might hope the government will stop getting beaten up by suppliers, but we will be waiting a long time. ® * Special Advisor in the British civil service ** slang term for a senior UK civil servant