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Annual Science Conference to Feature NASA Leadership, Research
Fri, 08 Dec 2023 21:52:26 +0000
Annual Science Conference to Feature NASA Leadership, Research NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy will discuss the agency’s Artemis program during her keynote remarks in mid-December at the upcoming American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2023 annual meeting in San Francisco. Through Artemis, NASA will establish a long-term presence at the Moon for exploration and scientific discovery to […]
Match ID: 0 Score: 55.00 source: www.nasa.gov age: 1 day
qualifiers: 40.00 air pollution, 15.00 carbon
All the Fish We Cannot See
Sat, 09 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000
In a dark, unexplored layer of ocean, a hidden cache of fish might play an unexpected role in our climate’s future. It seems like a bad time for a new fishery.
Match ID: 1 Score: 30.00 source: www.wired.com age: 0 days
qualifiers: 15.00 climate change, 15.00 carbon
The Rise and Rollout of AOC’s Green New Deal
Fri, 08 Dec 2023 17:46:51 +0000
The Green New Deal sputtered on launch yet still made it into global orbit. Left policymakers can learn from the experience.
The post The Rise and Rollout of AOC’s Green New Deal appeared first on The Intercept.
Seven of the world’s “most trusted” media companies produce and promote content touting the key talking points of oil and gas.
The post Leading News Outlets Are Doing the Fossil Fuel Industry’s Greenwashing appeared first on The Intercept.
Major study finds public see ties with Europe as more important than links with US and many ‘exhausted’ by ‘toxic’ debate
Almost twice as many UK voters now believe a close relationship with the EU is more important for peace, prosperity and security than ties with the US, according to a major new study of post-Brexit attitudes.
The report, based on extensive polling and discussion groups with people of all Brexit persuasions, finds that attitudes towards the EU are becoming more favourable across a range of policy areas, and that the entire Brexit debate is now far less toxic and more pragmatic.
Continue reading...Guerrilla leader turned president says, faced with having to reduce their carbon consumption, upper classes fear ‘the barbarians are coming’
Middle-class fears of losing a high standard of living because of green policies is driving the rise of the far right across the world, the president of Colombia has warned.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian at the Cop28 UN climate summit, Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first leftwing president, said the world had to find carbon-free ways of being prosperous, and that his country’s rich biodiversity would be the basis of its wealth after phasing out fossil fuels.
Continue reading...Inaction and self-interest are built into climate summits. Instead, we need a voting system that can’t be subverted by fossil fuel producers
Let’s face it: climate summits are broken. The delegates talk and talk, while Earth systems slide towards deadly tipping points. Since the climate negotiations began in 1992 more carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels has been released worldwide than in all preceding human history. This year is likely to set a new emissions record. They are talking us to oblivion.
Throughout these Conference of the Parties (Cop) summits, fossil fuel lobbyists have swarmed the corridors and meeting rooms. It’s like allowing weapons manufacturers to dominate a peace conference. This year, the lobbyists outnumber all but one of the national delegations. And they’re not the only ones: Cop28 is also heaving with meat and livestock lobbyists and reps from other planet-trashing industries. What should be the most important summit on Earth is treated like a trade fair.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...Oil and gas interests are fighting hard to prevent decarbonisation, as they always have done
It was never really in doubt. But the first week of Cop28, which ended with a rest day on Thursday, made one crucial fact impossible to ignore: the fossil fuel industry is not planning to go quietly. Far more of its lobbyists are in the UAE than have attended UN climate talks before. One analysis counted 2,456 of them – nearly four times the number registered last year in Egypt.
The battle is hotting up over what next week’s report on progress towards the Paris goals, known as the global stocktake, will say. Fossil fuel interests – both corporate and national – are pushing hard to avoid references to the phase-out that would signal the end of their business model and vast profits. They don’t want an energy transition that leads to their demise.
Continue reading...The Guardian’s investigation into safety concerns at Europe’s most hazardous nuclear plant
The Guardian has found that the UK’s most hazardous nuclear site, Sellafield, has been hacked into by cyber groups closely linked to Russia and China, as well as uncovering other safety concerns. Reporters Anna Isaac and Alex Lawson tell Michael Safi about the Guardian’s investigation.
A Sellafield spokesperson said: “We take cybersecurity extremely seriously at Sellafield. All of our systems and servers have multiple layers of protection. Critical networks that enable us to operate safely are isolated from our general IT network, meaning an attack on our IT system would not penetrate these.
Continue reading...We bring you an audio documentary, adapted from Ryan Grim’s newest book “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution.”
The post “The Squad,” Part 1: The Rise and (First) Fall of Bernie appeared first on The Intercept.
The Murdoch empire’s twisted read of “The Squad.”
The post Correcting the Record on My Book appeared first on The Intercept.
SEMrush and Ahrefs are among
the most popular tools in the SEO industry. Both companies have been in
business for years and have thousands of customers per month.
If you're a professional SEO or trying to do digital
marketing on your own, at some point you'll likely consider using a tool to
help with your efforts. Ahrefs and SEMrush are two names that will likely
appear on your shortlist.
In this guide, I'm going to help you learn more about these SEO tools and how to choose the one that's best for your purposes.
What is SEMrush?
SEMrush is a popular SEO tool with a wide range of
features—it's the leading competitor research service for online marketers.
SEMrush's SEO Keyword Magic tool offers over 20 billion Google-approved
keywords, which are constantly updated and it's the largest keyword database.
The program was developed in 2007 as SeoQuake is a
small Firefox extension
Features
Ahrefs is a leading SEO platform that offers a set of
tools to grow your search traffic, research your competitors, and monitor your
niche. The company was founded in 2010, and it has become a popular choice
among SEO tools. Ahrefs has a keyword index of over 10.3 billion keywords and
offers accurate and extensive backlink data updated every 15-30 minutes and it
is the world's most extensive backlink index database.
Features
Direct Comparisons: Ahrefs vs SEMrush
Now that you know a little more about each tool, let's
take a look at how they compare. I'll analyze each tool to see how they differ
in interfaces, keyword research resources, rank tracking, and competitor
analysis.
User Interface
Ahrefs and SEMrush both offer comprehensive information
and quick metrics regarding your website's SEO performance. However, Ahrefs
takes a bit more of a hands-on approach to getting your account fully set up,
whereas SEMrush's simpler dashboard can give you access to the data you need
quickly.
In this section, we provide a brief overview of the elements
found on each dashboard and highlight the ease with which you can complete
tasks.
AHREFS
The Ahrefs dashboard is less cluttered than that of
SEMrush, and its primary menu is at the very top of the page, with a search bar
designed only for entering URLs.
Additional features of the Ahrefs platform include:
SEMRUSH
When you log into the SEMrush Tool, you will find four
main modules. These include information about your domains, organic keyword
analysis, ad keyword, and site traffic.
You'll also find some other options like
Both Ahrefs and SEMrush have user-friendly dashboards,
but Ahrefs is less cluttered and easier to navigate. On the other hand, SEMrush
offers dozens of extra tools, including access to customer support resources.
When deciding on which dashboard to use, consider what
you value in the user interface, and test out both.
If you're looking to track your website's search engine
ranking, rank tracking features can help. You can also use them to monitor your
competitors.
Let's take a look at Ahrefs vs. SEMrush to see which
tool does a better job.
The Ahrefs Rank Tracker is simpler to use. Just type in
the domain name and keywords you want to analyze, and it spits out a report
showing you the search engine results page (SERP) ranking for each keyword you
enter.
Rank Tracker looks at the ranking performance of
keywords and compares them with the top rankings for those keywords. Ahrefs
also offers:
You'll see metrics that help you understand your
visibility, traffic, average position, and keyword difficulty.
It gives you an idea of whether a keyword would be
profitable to target or not.
SEMRush offers a tool called Position Tracking. This
tool is a project tool—you must set it up as a new project. Below are a few of
the most popular features of the SEMrush Position Tracking tool:
All subscribers are given regular data updates and
mobile search rankings upon subscribing
The platform provides opportunities to track several
SERP features, including Local tracking.
Intuitive reports allow you to track statistics for the
pages on your website, as well as the keywords used in those pages.
Identify pages that may be competing with each other
using the Cannibalization report.
Ahrefs is a more user-friendly option. It takes seconds
to enter a domain name and keywords. From there, you can quickly decide whether
to proceed with that keyword or figure out how to rank better for other
keywords.
SEMrush allows you to check your mobile rankings and
ranking updates daily, which is something Ahrefs does not offer. SEMrush also
offers social media rankings, a tool you won't find within the Ahrefs platform.
Both are good which one do you like let me know in the comment.
Keyword research is closely related to rank tracking,
but it's used for deciding which keywords you plan on using for future content
rather than those you use now.
When it comes to SEO, keyword research is the most
important thing to consider when comparing the two platforms.
The Ahrefs Keyword Explorer provides you with thousands
of keyword ideas and filters search results based on the chosen search engine.
Ahrefs supports several features, including:
SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool has over 20 billion
keywords for Google. You can type in any keyword you want, and a list of
suggested keywords will appear.
The Keyword Magic Tool also lets you to:
Both of these tools offer keyword research features and
allow users to break down complicated tasks into something that can be
understood by beginners and advanced users alike.
If you're interested in keyword suggestions, SEMrush
appears to have more keyword suggestions than Ahrefs does. It also continues to
add new features, like the Keyword Gap tool and SERP Questions recommendations.
Both platforms offer competitor analysis tools,
eliminating the need to come up with keywords off the top of your head. Each
tool is useful for finding keywords that will be useful for your competition so
you know they will be valuable to you.
Ahrefs' domain comparison tool lets you compare up to five websites (your website and four competitors) side-by-side.it also shows you how your site is ranked against others with metrics such as backlinks, domain ratings, and more.
Use the Competing Domains section to see a list of your
most direct competitors, and explore how many keywords matches your competitors
have.
To find more information about your competitor, you can
look at the Site Explorer and Content Explorer tools and type in their URL
instead of yours.
SEMrush provides a variety of insights into your
competitors' marketing tactics. The platform enables you to research your
competitors effectively. It also offers several resources for competitor
analysis including:
Traffic Analytics helps you identify where your
audience comes from, how they engage with your site, what devices visitors use
to view your site, and how your audiences overlap with other websites.
SEMrush's Organic Research examines your website's
major competitors and shows their organic search rankings, keywords they are
ranking for, and even if they are ranking for any (SERP) features and more.
The Market Explorer search field allows you to type in
a domain and lists websites or articles similar to what you entered. Market
Explorer also allows users to perform in-depth data analytics on These
companies and markets.
SEMrush wins here because it has more tools dedicated to
competitor analysis than Ahrefs. However, Ahrefs offers a lot of functionality
in this area, too. It takes a combination of both tools to gain an advantage
over your competition.
When it comes to keyword data research, you will become
confused about which one to choose.
Consider choosing Ahrefs if you
Consider SEMrush if you:
Both tools are great. Choose the one which meets your
requirements and if you have any experience using either Ahrefs or SEMrush let
me know in the comment section which works well for you.
“You are seeing in front of your eyes that your family is suffering and might be killed, but you can’t do anything about it.”
The post For Palestinians Who Just Left Gaza, Witnessing the War From Afar Evokes Helplessness and Grief appeared first on The Intercept.
They discuss Grim’s new book, “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution.”
The post Krystal Ball and Ryan Grim on the Squad appeared first on The Intercept.
The late actor’s beauty was used for a string of roles, including Love Story and Paper Moon, but he also displayed a rare comic prowess
Ryan O’Neal, Hollywood actor and star of Love Story, dies aged 82
There were plenty of handsome leading men in the Hollywood of the early 70s: Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Kurt Russell, Burt Reynolds … but none of them were as purely and fascinatingly pretty as Ryan O’Neal, none with that cherubic pertness, complicated with a kind of wounded vulnerability: a pout, a frown, a beguiling flash of femininity to go with the dreamboat male-lead looks, which went hand-in-hand also with something worldly and hard-edged.
It is a great moment in 1973’s The Thief Who Came To Dinner when Ryan O’Neal’s jewel thief coolly inveigles himself into a fancy society soiree and Jacqueline Bisset is taken aback and perhaps even jealous of that brazen, faintly androgynous O’Neal beauty that almost matches her own. “You’re too pretty to be any good,” she says tauntingly. “Any good at what?” he deadpans. “What else is there?” she replies. What indeed?
O’Neal had made the entirety of American womanhood fall devastatingly in love with him with his breakthrough performance in Arthur Hiller’s Love Story in 1970, the heart wrenching date-movie weepie, in which he was the entitled Harvard rich kid falling for the smart, tough girl from the wrong side of the tracks: played by the formidable Ali MacGraw, who is to become terminally ill. Their romantic dynamic had something to do with her being stronger and more assertive than O’Neal’s character, who had been so browbeaten by his wealthy father – but he achieves a kind of nobility and hard won maturity through her sacrifice for him. (At the end of the decade, O’Neal starred in the somewhat anticlimactic sequel Oliver’s Story in which he finds love, of a sort, with Candice Bergen.)
In a sense, O’Neal’s stardom-sponsor at that stage was Robert Evans, the head of Paramount Pictures which produced Love Story – and who was at the time married to Ali MacGraw. But the film-maker who really put O’Neal on the map was the brilliant young director Peter Bogdanovich who cast him in two of his greatest pictures and found in O’Neal exactly the right qualities of insouciant suavity, comedy and romantic adventure.
Internet references conflating the two films drew anger in Japan, which was twice attacked by nuclear weapons during the second world war
Audiences in Japan will finally get to see Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan’s hit biopic about the creator of the nuclear bomb – following criticism that it was marketed in a way that trivialised the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The movie’s distributor in Japan, Bitters End, said on Thursday that the film, which examines J Robert Oppenheimer’s moral quandary over his key role in the world’s first nuclear attack on 6 August 1945, would be released in 2024.
Continue reading...
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the most popular digital assets today, capturing the attention of cryptocurrency investors, whales and people from around the world. People find it amazing that some users spend thousands or millions of dollars on a single NFT-based image of a monkey or other token, but you can simply take a screenshot for free. So here we share some freuently asked question about NFTs.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a cryptographic token on a blockchain with unique identification codes that distinguish it from other tokens. NFTs are unique and not interchangeable, which means no two NFTs are the same. NFTs can be a unique artwork, GIF, Images, videos, Audio album. in-game items, collectibles etc.
A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that allows for the secure storage of data. By recording any kind of information—such as bank account transactions, the ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contracts—in one place, and distributing it to many different computers, blockchains ensure that data can’t be manipulated without everyone in the system being aware.
The value of an NFT comes from its ability to be traded freely and securely on the blockchain, which is not possible with other current digital ownership solutionsThe NFT points to its location on the blockchain, but doesn’t necessarily contain the digital property. For example, if you replace one bitcoin with another, you will still have the same thing. If you buy a non-fungible item, such as a movie ticket, it is impossible to replace it with any other movie ticket because each ticket is unique to a specific time and place.
One of the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that they can be tokenised to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought, sold and traded on the blockchain.
As with crypto-currency, records of who owns what are stored on a ledger that is maintained by thousands of computers around the world. These records can’t be forged because the whole system operates on an open-source network.
NFTs also contain smart contracts—small computer programs that run on the blockchain—that give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren't cryptocurrencies, but they do use blockchain technology. Many NFTs are based on Ethereum, where the blockchain serves as a ledger for all the transactions related to said NFT and the properties it represents.5) How to make an NFT?
Anyone can create an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet, some ethereum tokens and a connection to an NFT marketplace where you’ll be able to upload and sell your creations
When you purchase a stock in NFT, that purchase is recorded on the blockchain—the bitcoin ledger of transactions—and that entry acts as your proof of ownership.
The value of an NFT varies a lot based on the digital asset up for grabs. People use NFTs to trade and sell digital art, so when creating an NFT, you should consider the popularity of your digital artwork along with historical statistics.
In the year 2021, a digital artist called Pak created an artwork called The Merge. It was sold on the Nifty Gateway NFT market for $91.8 million.
Non-fungible tokens can be used in investment opportunities. One can purchase an NFT and resell it at a profit. Certain NFT marketplaces let sellers of NFTs keep a percentage of the profits from sales of the assets they create.
Many people want to buy NFTs because it lets them support the arts and own something cool from their favorite musicians, brands, and celebrities. NFTs also give artists an opportunity to program in continual royalties if someone buys their work. Galleries see this as a way to reach new buyers interested in art.
There are many places to buy digital assets, like opensea and their policies vary. On top shot, for instance, you sign up for a waitlist that can be thousands of people long. When a digital asset goes on sale, you are occasionally chosen to purchase it.
To mint an NFT token, you must pay some amount of gas fee to process the transaction on the Etherum blockchain, but you can mint your NFT on a different blockchain called Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. This option is available on OpenSea and this simply denotes that your NFT will only be able to trade using Polygon's blockchain and not Etherum's blockchain. Mintable allows you to mint NFTs for free without paying any gas fees.
The answer is no. Non-Fungible Tokens are minted on the blockchain using cryptocurrencies such as Etherum, Solana, Polygon, and so on. Once a Non-Fungible Token is minted, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the contract or license is awarded to whoever has that Non-Fungible Token in their wallet.
You can sell your work and creations by attaching a license to it on the blockchain, where its ownership can be transferred. This lets you get exposure without losing full ownership of your work. Some of the most successful projects include Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yatch Club NFTs, SandBox, World of Women and so on. These NFT projects have gained popularity globally and are owned by celebrities and other successful entrepreneurs. Owning one of these NFTs gives you an automatic ticket to exclusive business meetings and life-changing connections.
That’s a wrap. Hope you guys found this article enlightening. I just answer some question with my limited knowledge about NFTs. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below. Also I have a question for you, Is bitcoin an NFTs? let me know in The comment section below
Kyiv condemns plans to hold Russian elections in occupied territory; Volodymyr Zelenskiy heads to Argentina for inauguration of far-right counterpart Javier Milei
Ukraine condemned Russian plans to hold presidential elections next spring on occupied territory, declaring them “null and void” and pledging to prosecute any observers sent to monitor them. Russia’s upper house set the country’s presidential election this week for next March, and chair Valentina Matviyenko said residents in four occupied Ukrainian regions would be able to vote for the first time. Ukraine’s foreign ministry said: “We call on the international community to resolutely condemn Russia’s intention to hold presidential elections in the occupied Ukrainian territories, and to impose sanctions on those involved in their organisation and conduct.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy was travelling to the inauguration of Argentina’s president-elect, Javier Milei, Kyiv said on Saturday. Zelenskiy congratulated Milei, a far-right populist who has challenged Argentina’s political establishment, on his victory and both leaders spoke on the phone soon after Milei’s election. Zelenskiy then thanked Milei for his “clear support for Ukraine”, saying: “This is well-noticed and appreciated by Ukrainians.” Milei’s office published a statement after the call saying he had “offered that Argentina could be the host of a summit between Ukraine and Latin America”.
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, warned that Ukrainians were in “mortal danger” of being left to die if western countries did not continue their financial support. Zelenska made the remarks a day after Republican senators in the US blocked a key aid bill that would have provided more than $60bn worth of support to Ukraine.
The Polish government denied reports that the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine was being hindered by protesting Polish truckers blockading the border. “I categorically deny that such a situation occurred,” said Polish vice-minister of national defence, Marcin Ociepa. “Military convoys that cross the border are convoys escorted by military police.”
Avdiivka, the eastern Ukrainian city that has seen some of the most intense fighting of the war, is on the verge of “imminent collapse” to Russian forces, according to a report. A dispatch in the Times by its former Kyiv correspondent said Ukrainian troops defending the frontline area were “starved of ammunition” and hamstrung in their attempts to repel the advancing enemy soldiers.
Olympic chiefs have been criticised for allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete next year as neutrals, outside team events and if they do not actively support the invasion.
The Finnish supreme court has blocked the extradition of a Russian neo-Nazi group leader who fought in Ukraine, Jan Petrovsky, warning of the risk that he could be susceptible to inhuman treatment, which is precluded under the European convention on human rights.
Continue reading...Britain must pressure Israel to halt the theft of land in the West Bank. Settlers are killing hopes for a two-state solution and Sunak’s government does nothing
• Read more: Labour steps up criticism of ‘intolerable’ killings in Gaza
The rocky hills of Wadi as-Seeq, in the heart of the occupied West Bank, feel a long way from the war in Gaza. But the silence of its abandoned homes speaks also of Palestinian suffering. In the last year, the Palestinian Bedouin community there has faced relentless harassment and violence from settlers who set up an illegal outpost next to their community, and destroyed a UK donor-funded school. On 12 October, days after Hamas’s appalling terrorist massacre in southern Israel, an armed group of illegal settlers, reportedly including members of the IDF, descended on the Palestinian Bedouin hamlet. Many of the residents were beaten and abused, before being driven out of their homes.
It was not easy to reach those people, now staying in borrowed tents outside of Ramallah in the village of Taybeh. Travelling there last month, with the West Bank Protection Consortium, under thick fog, our route was blocked by piles of sand, a shot-out car with its lights still on and a soldier urging us to turn around. Reaching Taybeh, we were welcomed with cups of qahwah sadah, a bitter coffee, by people who had nothing, after being forced to leave behind all their possessions. A community leader told me: “The settlers took my home, my memories and the dreams I had for my children.”
Continue reading...Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy slams Israeli ‘death and destruction’ and urges UK travel ban on violent settlers
• Read more: Labour will oppose expulsions of Palestinians and bar violent settlers from UK
The Labour party today delivers its strongest criticism of Israel over its attacks on Palestinians, describing the death and destruction in Gaza over the past two months as “intolerable” and attacking two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers for “totally unacceptable” support of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
In a sharp change of tone, David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, with the full backing of party leader Keir Starmer, attacks the Israeli authorities for “turning a blind eye” to violence by settlers in the West Bank, which has “forcibly displaced” more than 1,000 Palestinians from their homes since the attacks on Israel by Hamas on 7 October.
Continue reading...BBC documentary uses cutting-edge science and visual effects to show how details about the Jurassic pliosaur came to light
It’s not every day that Dorset farmer Rob Vearncombe has to come up with a way to get a gigantic fossilised creature down from a sheer cliff face. Yet this is what he found himself doing earlier this year when he designed a crate on which the skull of an enormous prehistoric reptile was lowered off part of England’s Jurassic coastline – a massive engineering challenge.
“He deserves a lot of credit,” said fossil expert Steve Etches.
Continue reading...Meet the couple who poured their heart and soul into a home in Italy
The idea of the forever home is a romanticised concept when it comes to finding the perfect property. But what if the perfect property wasn’t the forever home? Would you really want to transform it with all your interiors passion, mining the clippings collected on Pinterest and from magazines for years for inspiration? Would you travel to Europe’s art fairs and flea markets to find the perfect pieces of furniture for it, and employ a lighting director to get the ambience just right, even though you didn’t own it?
In the case of Karoline Dilitz, the answer is yes, yes and yes. Looking around her palatial apartment in Merano, northern Italy, it’s not hard to see why her family agreed to lavish all their interiors affection on it for a contractual 20 years.
Continue reading...“You are seeing in front of your eyes that your family is suffering and might be killed, but you can’t do anything about it.”
The post For Palestinians Who Just Left Gaza, Witnessing the War From Afar Evokes Helplessness and Grief appeared first on The Intercept.
The veteran animation genius has said he’s retiring – but as he’s changed his mind before, should anyone take his word for it? We travel to Ghibli HQ in Tokyo to find out what’s going on
When Hayao Miyazaki, the world’s greatest living animator, approached his longtime producer Toshio Suzuki in July 2016 and told him that he wanted to make another film, Suzuki was not enthusiastic. “I said: ‘Absolutely not. This is a bad idea,’” Suzuki recalls. He had his reasons. “I’ve seen many, many great directors, who feel that they can make one more great film and most of the time they fail. I didn’t want to see him go down that road.”
Besides, Miyazaki had supposedly already made his final film. Three years previously, following the release of his highly acclaimed The Wind Rises, Miyazaki told a packed press conference in Tokyo that he was retiring from feature film-making. At 72, he was slowing down, he said, and didn’t feel able to complete the exhausting work of making another feature. “I’m really serious this time,” Miyazaki insisted. “My era of animation is over.”
Continue reading...Advocates for rail travel hope the revived connection will help people to experience ‘the joy of the journey’
The first night train between Berlin and Paris will depart on Monday evening after a nine-year hiatus, plugging a significant gap in Europe’s increasingly comprehensive overnight rail timetable and giving a boost to travellers looking for a realistic alternative to flying.
Widely viewed as a jewel in the crown of European rail travel, the service was cancelled in 2014 despite angry protests.
Continue reading...Economic loss from disruption on important travel route for grain exports estimated to be $20bn
Extreme drought and a warm autumn have left water levels on the Mississippi exceptionally low for the time of year. This is causing problems for farmers who rely on the river as a travel route for the crops: 60% of US grain exports use the waterway to reach the Gulf coasts.
The total economic loss is estimated to be about $20bn and, despite attempts to dredge the river, it remains worryingly low as the country enters an important month for grain transport.
Continue reading...The travel photography blog Capture the Atlas has published the sixth edition of its annual northern lights photographer of the year list. As another solar maximum (the period of greatest solar activity during the sun’s 11-year solar cycle) approaches, there have been displays at lower latitudes, such as in Wales, Germany, Italy’s Dolomites and Death Valley national park in the US
Continue reading...We bring you an audio documentary, adapted from Ryan Grim’s newest book “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution.”
The post “The Squad,” Part 1: The Rise and (First) Fall of Bernie appeared first on The Intercept.
Image:
The structural model of the communications system that ESA is supplying for NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) on the Gateway recently completed a vibrations test to check it will withstand the intense shaking during the launch.
The HALO Lunar Communication System (HLCS) is an advanced piece of technology that will enable communication between the upcoming lunar space station, the Gateway, and satellites and rovers around and on the Moon.
In October, the structural model of the main box of HLCS completed a critical mechanical qualification test. This included a vibration test, which checks that the system can endure vibration levels exceeding those expected during launch; this ensures an additional safety margin beyond the anticipated flight conditions. The qualification test was a success, as it aligned with the engineers’ predictions. After passing the test campaign, the manufacturing of the final flight units can begin.
This comprehensive testing and manufacturing process aims to ensure the HLCS is not only functional but also durable and reliable for its mission in lunar communication, navigating the challenges of space travel with resilience and precision.
Find out more here.
Video:
00:02:09
Overview of ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt’s training for his mission to space.
The Swedish astronaut will travel to the International Space Station on Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) no earlier than January 2024. He will spend up to 14 days in orbit conducting microgravity research and educational activities.
Marcus Wandt started intensive training for his mission in June 2023. Lessons on payloads and simulators take place in training facilities and space centres around the world. Each of the partners is in charge of training astronauts on the elements that they contribute to the International Space Station.
Marcus’s training in Europe focuses on the Columbus module systems and the experiments he will conduct during his Muninn mission. Marcus spent over 100 hours of training to fully qualify to operate, monitor and maintain Columbus and its experiments.
Spaceflight instructors adjust their lessons to his level and that has helped speed up the training. While he is yet to experience microgravity, Marcus has a solid understanding of flight vehicle systems, their main safety features and how to interpret flight data.
Marcus was one of the 17 new astronaut candidates chosen from over 22 500 applicants from across ESA Member States in November 2022.
Access the related broadcast quality footage.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.
You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
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