Non-IT News Thread
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Turkmenistan's capital tops list of most expensive cities for expats
The capital of Turkmenistan in Central Asia has been named as the world's most expensive city for foreign workers.
Ashgabat, a city of about one million people, topped a 2021 cost-of-living survey by consultancy firm Mercer. The ranking puts Ashgabat above last year's priciest city, Hong Kong, which was placed second, followed by Beirut in Lebanon and Tokyo in Japan. The annual report ranks 209 cities based on the cost of expenses such as housing, transport and food. Mercer said it evaluated more than 200 goods and services for the report, which is designed to help companies and governments around the world determine how much they should pay expatriate employees. -
Clues to how birds migrate using Earth's magnetic field
The mystery of how birds migrate long distances over land and sea is a step closer to being cracked.
By studying robins, scientists have found clues to how birds sense the Earth's magnetic field. Just as you might reach for a magnetic compass to find which way is north or south, birds are thought to have an in-built "living compass". A chemical in the eye that is sensitive to magnetism could be proof of this theory, according to a new study. Peter Hore, professor of chemistry at the University of Oxford, said it could be that birds can "see" the Earth's magnetic field, although we don't know that for sure. -
Starbucks Japan launching local Frappuccino flavors in all 47 prefectures for 25th anniv.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its entry to the Japanese market, Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. will release special, exclusive local versions of its Frappuccinos in all 47 prefectures from June 30.
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Canada: Hundreds of unmarked graves found at residential school
An indigenous group in Canada says it has found hundreds of unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school in Saskatchewan.
The Cowessess First Nation said on Wednesday that the discovery was "the most significantly substantial to date in Canada". However the group did not specify the exact number of graves found. It comes weeks after the remains of 215 children were found at a similar residential school in British Columbia. Such compulsory boarding schools were run by the Canadian government and religious authorities during the 19th and 20th Centuries with the aim of assimilating indigenous youth. -
Miami building collapse: 159 missing, officials say
The number of people listed as missing after the collapse of a 12-storey building in the US city of Miami has risen to 159, officials say.
Four people are known to have died. The mayor of Miami-Dade says they "still have hope" of finding survivors. Search teams working around the clock have reported hearing people banging beneath the debris. What caused the 40-year-old building to collapse early on Thursday morning remains unclear. At least 102 people have now been accounted for, but it is uncertain how many were in the building when it came down. Dozens of people have been evacuated from what is left of the structure. -
On sale: $125,000 balloon trips to the edge of space
If you're trying to avoid airborne viruses, heading to a near vacuum might not be the worst idea.
A Florida company is planning to fly passengers to the edge of space in a high-tech version of a hot air balloon, with a pilot and up to eight travelers riding in a pressurized capsule suspended from an enormous blimp. Human space flight company Space Perspective is now taking reservations on its Spaceship Neptune for flights in early 2024, with tickets priced firmly in the once-in-a-lifetime bracket at $125,000 per person. The refundable reservation deposits are tiered, with higher down payments needed for Year One flights and decreasing for later bookings. -
Clouds of Venus 'simply too dry' to support life
It's not possible for life to exist in the clouds of Venus.
It's simply too dry, says an international research team led from Queen's University Belfast, UK. Hopes had been raised last year that microbes might inhabit the Venusian atmosphere, given the presence there of the gas phosphine (PH3). It was suggested the concentration could not be explained by geological activity alone. But the new Belfast study puts a dampener on this idea. The team assessed what is known about conditions in the clouds, gathered by space probes, and then looked across the library of lifeforms on Earth to see if any known organisms could persist in that challenging environment. The clouds are mostly sulphuric acid with a tiny fraction of water. -
Rare black hole and neutron star collisions sighted twice in 10 days
Scientists have detected two collisions between a neutron star and a black hole in the space of 10 days
Researchers predicted that such collisions would occur, but did not know how often. The observations could mean that some ideas of how stars and galaxies form may need to be revised. Prof Vivien Raymond, from Cardiff University, told BBC News that the surprising results were fantastic. "We have to go back to the drawing board and rewrite our theories," he said effusively. "We have learned a bit of a lesson again. When we assume something we tend to be proved wrong after a while. So we have to keep our minds open and see what the Universe is telling us." -
@mlnews said in Non-IT News Thread:
Rare black hole and neutron star collisions sighted twice in 10 days
Scientists have detected two collisions between a neutron star and a black hole in the space of 10 days
Researchers predicted that such collisions would occur, but did not know how often. The observations could mean that some ideas of how stars and galaxies form may need to be revised. Prof Vivien Raymond, from Cardiff University, told BBC News that the surprising results were fantastic. "We have to go back to the drawing board and rewrite our theories," he said effusively. "We have learned a bit of a lesson again. When we assume something we tend to be proved wrong after a while. So we have to keep our minds open and see what the Universe is telling us."Maybe scientists aren't very firm on what "rare" means.
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OneWeb rocket launch to enable commercial service
OneWeb, the London-headquartered tech company trying to develop a global internet service delivered from space, reaches a key milestone on Thursday.
The firm is launching another 36 satellites, taking its in-orbit mega-constellation to 254. Although many more are needed to complete the network, this number is enough to start offering a commercial service to a great swathe of the Northern Hemisphere. This should start at the year's end. "These things don't happen overnight; there's been a tremendous amount of hard work taking place over the last few months. But this launch is special," said OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson. "This is the one that gives us connectivity from 50 degrees North latitude to the North Pole, and covers Northern Europe, the UK, Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Iceland," he told BBC News. -
Woman who was ready to fly in Mercury in 1961 selected for spaceflight with Bezos
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Then and now: Arctic sea-ice feeling the heat
The shrinking sea-ice in the Arctic is not only a sign of climate change, it is causing the planet to warm more quickly. This is because more sunlight is being absorbed by the darker ocean, rather than being reflected back into space.
Arctic sea-ice plays an important role in controlling the planet's temperature, and any problem with this natural thermostat is a cause for concern. Figures from the US space agency (Nasa) suggest the loss of the minimum Arctic sea-ice extent is in the region of 13.1% per decade, based on the 1981 to 2010 average. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report in 2007 concluded that the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as a result of human activity was primarily responsible for the decline in sea-ice extent in the region. -
@mlnews the closer you are to the equator, the worse the rise in sea level. No idea the time line though.
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@obsolesce said in Non-IT News Thread:
@mlnews the closer you are to the equator, the worse the rise in sea level. No idea the time line though.
Probably because all the spinning pushes it out there.
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@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
@obsolesce said in Non-IT News Thread:
@mlnews the closer you are to the equator, the worse the rise in sea level. No idea the time line though.
Probably because all the spinning pushes it out there.
What spinning? Dumbass round eather’s thinking shit spins.
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Haiti President Jovenel Moïse killed in attack at home
Haiti's President Jovenel Moïse has been killed and his wife injured in an attack on their home in the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince.
Unidentified gunmen stormed the property at 01:00 local time (05:00 GMT), interim PM Claude Joseph said. He has called for calm and declared a state of emergency nationwide. Mr Moïse had led Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world, since 2017 but had faced widespread protests demanding his resignation. The nation's recent history has been plagued by coups, political instability and widespread gang violence. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that he was "saddened at the death of Mr Moïse", calling it "an abhorrent act" and appealing for calm. US President Joe Biden offered condolences to the people of Haiti for the "horrific assassination". -
Surfside tower collapse: 'Zero' hope of finding survivors
Rescue teams combing the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in Florida are switching from a search-and-rescue mission to a recovery effort.
The decision comes about two weeks after the 12-storey Champlain Towers South fell in the middle of the night. Forty-six victims have been found and 94 are still missing, Surfside city officials said. No survivors have been found since the initial collapse, and rescue crews say many victims were found in their beds. News that the rescue mission was ending came during a private meeting on Wednesday between families of the missing and Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah. -
Spanish ministers clash over campaign to eat less meat
A Spanish minister has been roasted by members of his own coalition government over his efforts to reduce meat consumption in the country.
This week consumer affairs minister, Alberto Garzón, launched a campaign to encourage Spaniards to eat less meat. "Eating too much meat is bad for our health and for the planet," Mr Garzón said in a video on Twitter. But for some cabinet ministers, his plea for moderation was difficult to swallow. "It seems to me the campaign is unfortunate," agriculture minister Luis Planas said in an interview with a local radio station. Mr Planas said the "Less meat, more life" campaign was "unfair" for Spain's meat industry, which is a major contributor to the country's economy. Those views were echoed in an open letter to Mr Garzón, penned by six meat-producing associations. -
Jovenel Moïse: Foreign hit squad killed Haiti's president, police say
A group of 28 foreign mercenaries, including retired Colombian soldiers, assassinated Haiti's President Jovenel Moïse earlier this week, police say.
After a gun battle in the capital Port-au-Prince, 17 were detained, some at the house they were using, others after entering Taiwan's diplomatic compound. Three suspects were killed by police and eight are still being sought. Bloodied and bruised, arrested suspects were shown to the media on Thursday, along with a slew of seized weapons. It is still unclear who organised the attack and with what motive. The attack took place in the early hours of Wednesday, when gunmen broke into the president's home in Port-au-Prince, shooting him dead and wounding his wife. Mr Moïse, 53, was found lying on his back with 12 bullet wounds and a gouged eye, according to authorities. -
Cuba protests: Thousands rally against government as economy struggles
Thousands of Cubans have risked jail by joining the biggest protests for decades against the island's Communist government.
"There is no food, no medicine, there is no freedom. They do not let us live," one of Sunday's protesters named only as Alejandro told BBC Mundo. The protests are significant, because government critics face harsh punishments for dissent in Cuba. The island's president called for his supporters to "fight" the protesters. Cuba is in the midst of an economic crisis and has been hit hard by US sanctions and Covid. Cubans have been angered by the collapse of the economy, food and medicine shortages, price hikes and the government's handling of the pandemic. Protesters shouted "freedom" and "down with the dictatorship" in demonstrations across Cuba, including the capital Havana.
