europeanspaceagency posted a photo:

The second of the Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellites, MTG-I2, has passed an important milestone in the cleanroom facilities at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, southern France. First the Lightning Imager was successfully mounted on the satellite platform along with the Flexible Combined Imager. The satellite then underwent a thermal vacuum test, which it passed with flying colours. This test ensures the satellite can operate perfectly even in the extreme temperatures in space.

Launch of the satellite is planned in 2026.

Read full story

Credits: Thales Alenia Space

europeanspaceagency posted a photo:

The second of the Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellites, MTG-I2, has passed an important milestone in the cleanroom facilities at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, southern France. First the Lightning Imager was successfully mounted on the satellite platform along with the Flexible Combined Imager. The satellite then underwent a thermal vacuum test, which it passed with flying colours. This test ensures the satellite can operate perfectly even in the extreme temperatures in space.

Launch of the satellite is planned in 2026.

Read full story

Credits: Thales Alenia Space

James Webb Space Telescope posted a photo:

No more hiding, I’ll be shining, like I’m born to be! 🎶

Webb captured newborn stars forming in clouds of dust and gas (colored golden and orange in this image) in a star-forming region called Pismis 24. Though these clouds can hide stars by trapping visible light within, in the infrared, the stars shine through the nebula and together appear to be glowing. In the center is Pismis 24-1, an object formerly thought to be a single massive star, now known to be at least two stars. At 74 and 66 solar masses, they are some of the most massive and luminous stars ever seen and are blasting out scorching radiation and stellar winds that are carving a cavity into the wall of the star-forming nebula clouds below and at above right.

The fierce forces shaping and compressing the spires in the glowing gas at the bottom of the scene are causing new stars to form. The tallest spire spans about 5.4 light-years from the bottom of the image going up to its top. More than 1,000 solar systems could fit into its tip.

A note on the color choices here - cyan indicates hot or ionized hydrogen gas being heated by the massive stars. Dust molecules (similar to smoke on Earth) are represented in orange. Red signifies cooler, denser molecular hydrogen - the darker the red, the cooler the gas. Black is the densest gas; it is not emitting light. The wisps of white are dust and gas scattering starlight.

Pismis 24 is one of the closest sites of massive star birth, giving scientists rare insight into the properties of hot young stars and how they evolve.

Read more: go.nasa.gov/4g6mjzT

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI.

Image description: In what appears as a celestial dreamscape, a blue and black sky filled with brilliant stars covers about two thirds of the image. The stars are different sizes and shades of white, beige, yellow, and light orange. Across the bottom third of the scene is a craggy, mountain-like vista with spire-like peaks and deep, seemingly misty valleys. These so-called mountains appear in varying shades of orange, yellow, and brown. The soaring spires are going up, up, up, where a wispy, ethereal white cloud stretches horizontally across the scene. Steam appears to rise from the mountaintops and join with this cloud. At the top, right corner of the image, a swath of orange and brown structure cuts diagonally across the sky.

sz-da has added a photo to the pool:

Een reeks explosies bij vier woningen de afgelopen maanden in Hellevoetsluis. De politie vermoedt dat er een verband is tussen de ontploffingen. Er zijn beelden van verdachten.

Het was begin april toen eigenaar Danny Nederstigt de deuren van zijn Bar Benthuis in Rotterdam-Noord voor lange tijd dichtdeed. De funderingen onder het pand werden niet goed bevonden en moesten worden vervangen. Nu, vijf maanden en een succesvolle crowdfundingsactie later, kan Danny eindelijk weer open: “Ik kan niet wachten.”

De stikstofcrisis blijft voor uitdagingen zorgen in de bouwsector. Het Rijk werkt hard aan schone oplossingen om bouwprojecten door te kunnen laten gaan. Dit gebeurt in nauwe samenwerking met marktpartijen, gemeenten, provincies en waterschappen, die steeds vaker schoon en emissieloos bouwmaterieel inzetten. Dit materieel stoot tijdens de bouw veel minder stikstof uit, waardoor vergunningen sneller verleend kunnen worden en projecten door kunnen gaan. Door emissieloze bouwmachines (zoals elektrische graafmachines of baggervaartuigen) te gebruiken, daalt de uitstoot van CO₂. Dat draagt bij aan de klimaatdoelen van Nederland.

Incidents of interference in Swedish airspace have jumped from 55 in 2023 to 733 so far this year, according to the Swedish Transport Agency.

Experts have largely attributed the increase to an uptick in Ukrainian attacks that have damaged refineries and forced major facilities offline.

Whether portraying a graffiti tag below a retail window or the bond patterns of bricks, the artist known as Pizza in the Rain, or PITR, illuminates city streets and commercial ephemera in striking detail.

With meticulous attention to geometry and quotidian features, the Chicago-based artist highlights business signage and urban facades in an almost narrative way, with the occasional figure passing through on foot or on a bike. Simultaneously immersive and nostalgic, we’re invited in and at the same time reminded of disappearing vestiges of past eras.

From storefront to storefront, we can imagine PITR’s compositions are snapshots of one continuous city, even though many of the distinctive locations are in different places around the U.S. Many recent scenes are evocative of New Orleans, with boarded-up shutters, like those often seen in the French Quarter, or historical markers. Circo’s Pastry Shop is a real place in Brooklyn, and The California Clipper is a well-known lounge in Chicago.

PITR renders everyday details with equal importance, from sprayed markings on the sidewalk, like the kind the gas company might make, to weathered awnings and neon logos. Nothing blurs into the background in his portraits of individual buildings and maximalist city blocks. On one hand, the locations appear realistic, yet on the other, there is a sense of fantasy and surrealism in their precisely drawn, slightly dystopian imperfections.

If you’re in New Orleans, stop by Mortal Machine Gallery to check out these pieces alongside new works by Max Seckel in Parallel Structures, which opens on September 12. Explore even more on PITR’s 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 PITR Highlights Storefronts, Signage, and Graffiti in Ultra-Detailed Portraits of Urban Streets appeared first on Colossal.

In 1987, choir director Dennis Bell arranged a version of U2’s #1 hit I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For for his choir, the New Voices of Freedom. After hearing a recording of the arrangement, U2 asked Bell & the choir to join the band for an upcoming show at Madison Square Garden in NYC. Before the show, the band and the choir rehearsed together at Greater Calvary Baptist Church in Harlem:

Here is some behind-the-scenes footage of the rehearsal (more); Bono’s arm is in a sling for some reason?

The live recording of the song from that MSG show appeared on their next album, Rattle and Hum; here’s the (music-only) video from U2’s YouTube channel:

And here’s an actual video of the MSG performance (taken from the Rattle and Hum DVD):

You can also find the MSG version of the song (and the rest of Rattle and Hum) on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.

Bell and the New Voices of Freedom recorded their own version of the song, which you can listen to on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.

P.S. That same day, the band walked around Harlem and stumbled across street musicians Satan & Adam; a clip of their song made it onto the album and DVD.

(via laura olin)

Tags: Dennis Bell · music · New Voices of Freedom · remix · U2 · video

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De Italiaanse modeontwerper Giorgio Armani zette met stijlvolle, rustige kleding een van de grootste en machtigste modebedrijven ter wereld op. Zijn kenmerkende kleur: greige – een samentrekking van grijs en beige.

Mode-ontwerper De Italiaanse modeontwerper Giorgio Armani zette met stijlvolle, rustige kleding een van de grootste en machtigste modebedrijven ter wereld op. Zijn kenmerkende kleur: greige – een samentrekking van grijs en beige.

Woensdag brak de ondergrondse veiligheidskabel van de Elevador da Glória, een van de drie iconische wit-gele trams in Lissabon. De tram raasde tweehonderd meter naar beneden en botste tegen een gebouw, zestien mensen kwamen om het leven.

If you’re walking by Tradewind Liquors in downtown Chicago any time soon, be sure to look up to get a glimpse at a level of wealth and luxury most of us can only dream of: This pigeon that gets to have its nest inside the big bright ‘O’ in this liquor store sign must be the pigeon version of a billionaire.

Dang, must be nice! This pigeon is living in so much opulence, he’s basically on a completely different planet from the average bird.

While most pigeons have to settle for building their nests on dingy windowsills or the fire escapes of buildings where boring guys live, this pigeon has enough of whatever it is that pigeons consider to be money to live a life of constant neon technicolor and endless excitement. The big bright ‘O’ in the liquor store sign is located near one of the best dumpsters in the whole city, and offers an amazing view of some of the awesome humans who come into the store to buy alcohol and lottery tickets. While it’s unclear how this pigeon got so bird-rich, he’s clearly living a cut above most other members of his species.

In a recent study published in the prestigious journal Nature, a team of leading ornithologists confirmed that this pigeon is definitely on par with the likes of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, as far as pigeons go. “The big round bright ‘O’ is basically the pigeon equivalent of living in Versailles,” the study noted. “For a pigeon to live there, it would need to possess a vast fortune of chicken nuggets or diamonds or mouse bones or whatever it is those little freaks use for money.” The study also noted that the pigeon’s nest inside the liquor store ‘O’ had at least three French fries inside of it, and that French fries are the pigeon equivalent of Faberge eggs.

It’s pretty fascinating to get a glimpse into how the upper crust of the pigeon world truly live!

While this pigeon is clearly loaded, most of his neighbors are not entirely sure where he acquired his vast fortune. Maybe his family found an entire hamburger in the trash, which is like the pigeon equivalent of making billions of dollars in the tech industry. Or maybe this pigeon has the smallest, yellowest eyes of all the pigeons in the area, which makes him a pigeon celebrity supermodel, and gives him endless power in the pigeon community. 

Ultimately, the question of what counts as money for pigeons is one for scientists to determine after decades of careful research. Still, what we know for sure is that the ‘O’ in the neon Tradewind Liquors sign is the perfect size, shape, and brightness for a wealthy bird with taste. Whether you’re a human or a pigeon, it’s only natural to dream of living in a big round house that glows as bright as the sun, and somehow this filthy little bird has managed to achieve that dream! Congrats to this pigeon for attaining the ultra-elite status in pigeon society that afford him this privilege. Hopefully one day he’s kind enough to invite us over to see his glamorous nest up close!

As smartphones continue to rewire our brains and erode our attention spans, it’s becoming more and more common for obsessive phone use to interrupt activities that we used to be able to enjoy without the need to check our devices. One glaring example: This man can’t even spend two hours on the toilet without looking at his phone. 

Sad! Whatever happened to staying focused on the task at hand?

Like many casualties of modern technology, 36-year-old driving instructor Sammy Riverton has become a slave to his phone. This unfortunate reality is the most blatantly obvious when, mere seconds after putting it in his pocket to sit on the toilet for a few hours, his brain is already nagging at him to take it back out and check it in case he might be missing an important message or news story. 

Despite knowing that he’s just sat down for what could be a quiet, contemplative two-hour toilet session, Sammy’s dopamine-depleted mind starts bargaining with him immediately, telling him, “Just check your Instagram notifications quick to see if anyone’s liked your recent post about your new car,” or, “Don’t want to miss any good deals on Facebook Marketplace.” No matter how much he tries to just be in the moment and enjoy a couple hours on the toilet the old-fashioned way, he invariably ends up reaching down into the pants that are bunched up around his ankles and pulling out his phone to do a Sudoku puzzle or check the news to see the latest crazy thing Trump did. 

Sure, he might catch himself and try putting the phone back down in an attempt to finish out his next 90 minutes on the toilet without checking it again, but as the minutes tick by, the urge only gets stronger. “Just one quick peek to make sure I didn’t get any important texts,” he tells himself—and the next thing he knows, he’s watching a 45-minute viral video compilation of bears messing with people or doing the entirety of a New York Times Sunday crossword. Even if he attempts to practice proper bathroom phone hygiene by leaving his phone in another room, his urge to scroll will eventually have him waddling across the house with his pants around his ankles to retrieve it and spending the rest of his time on the toilet completely distracted from what he’s supposed to be doing. 

Yep, this is downright depressing. 

The worst part about all of this? Sammy is far from alone when it comes to his inability to go two hours on the toilet without looking at his phone. Obsessive phone use is becoming so commonplace and normalized that it’s getting to the point where we think nothing of it if we don’t have the mental stamina to spend half our day on the toilet distraction-free. This is not okay.

Formula 1 races are coming thick and fast now, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza next up. But who are the favourites to excel at the Temple of Speed? Here are what the odds tell us...

Ubuntu 24.04.3, with a prettified Xfce 4.18

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ROME (ANP/RTR) - Giorgio Armani is overleden, meldt het modemerk. De Italiaanse modeontwerper en oprichter van het gelijknamige bedrijf is 91 jaar geworden.

Triest nieuws voor mensen die graag kleren dragen. Giorgio Armani, de koning van de mode, is dood. De pionier van de high-end fashion laat een vermogen van dik 5 miljard euro na. Dat verdiende hij met het maken van peperdure doch tijdloze en elegante kleding die wereldwijd zowel gedragen wordt door hotemetoten op rode lopers als bontkraagniffo's op fatbikes. Een man die geweldig kon naaien, en dat zonder kinderen na te laten. Met naald en draad veranderde hij eerst de catwalk, toen Hollywood en uiteindelijk de wereld. Een Italiaans icoon is niet meer. Armani werd 91.

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