All posts tagged: sinking

The Sinking of the Britannic: An Animated Introduction to the Titanic’s Forgotten Sister Ship

The Sinking of the Britannic: An Animated Introduction to the Titanic’s Forgotten Sister Ship

Published by José

We all know about the Titan­ic. Less often do we hear about the Bri­tan­nic—the sis­ter pas­sen­ger lin­er that the British turned into a hos­pi­tal ship dur­ing World War I. Launched in 1914, two years after the Titan­ic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Bri­tan­nic fea­tured a num­ber of safe­ty improve­ments. It had enhanced water­tight com­part­ments, an increased num­ber of lifeboats, and improved ven­ti­la­tion and escape routes. Those refine­ments paid div­i­dends when the Bri­tan­nic struck a Ger­man naval mine in 1916, then sank near the Greek island of Kea. Of the 1,066 peo­ple on board, most man­aged to escape on lifeboats and only 30 peo­ple ulti­mate­ly lost their lives. (An esti­mat­ed 1,500 peo­ple died on the Titan­ic.) The ani­ma­tion above tells the tale of the Bri­tan­nic in an hour, rough­ly the same time that the ship took to slip into the sea. If you would like to sign up for Open Culture’s free email newslet­ter, please find it here. Or fol­low our posts on Threads, Face­book, BlueSky or Mastodon. If you would like to sup­port the …

Storm Bert: Father rescues son from sinking car as floods wreak havoc | UK News

Storm Bert: Father rescues son from sinking car as floods wreak havoc | UK News

Published by Sam

Tragedy almost struck a family in West Yorkshire after a father had to suddenly rescue his 11-month-old son from their flooded car. Andre Randles, 22, was driving with baby Luca from Hebden Bridge to his father’s home in Todmorden to watch a football match on Saturday afternoon. He was diverted away from his main route when he hit a dip and went “straight into a puddle of water”. Speaking to Sky’s Shingi Mararike, Mr Randles said he thought it was a shallow puddle that he could drive through but soon his car began to float. Storm Bert live: Follow latest updates Image: Andre with his 11-month-old son Luca Image: Andre Randles’ partner Paige Newsome said the incident was ‘really scary’ He called emergency services but soon “water started seeping in”. “I thought I’m going to have to get out, I’m going to have to smash a window,” Mr Randles said. He wound down his and his son’s windows, and climbed out before rescuing his son. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player …

Sicily yacht sinking LIVE: Mike Lynch’s daughter, 18, among missing | World | News

Sicily yacht sinking LIVE: Mike Lynch’s daughter, 18, among missing | World | News

Published by skeptic

A fisherman who tried to help those on the yacht stayed at the site of the sinking for hours, but found no survivors. Speaking to Italian press, Fabio Cefalu said: “There were two sailboats half a mile away from the harbour with their anchors at sea. “After 10 minutes we saw a flare in the sky, we waited about 10 minutes to see the intensity of the tornado and we went out to sea. “We were first to give rescue but we found no one at sea, we only found cushions and the remains of the boat.” He added: “I saw this morning at about 3.30am this bad weather that was approaching; we were about to go fishing and we stood still for 20 minutes to see the intensity of the tornado coming. “At about 3.55am it took us full into the harbour and destroyed everything on the pier, everything.” On the cause of the sinking, he said: “It could be that the mast broke, or the anchor at the prow pulled it, I don’t …

India’s ‘sinking island’ looks to election for survival – in pictures | World news

India’s ‘sinking island’ looks to election for survival – in pictures | World news

Published by skeptic

For many on Ghoramara, the general election is about the climate crisis and survival. The island, 150km south of Kolkata and named the ‘sinking island’ by the media, has lost nearly half its area to soil erosion in the past two decades and could disappear if a solution is not found. As voters across India cast their ballots on issues ranging from the cost of living to jobs and religion, politicians trying to win votes in Ghoramara need to put the climate crisis to the fore as the island’s dwindling population fight to save their homes from the sea amid rising water levels and increasingly fierce storms Source link

Why are the world’s cities sinking? – podcast | Science

Why are the world’s cities sinking? – podcast | Science

Published by skeptic

A study has found that more than two dozen US coastal cities are sinking by more than 2mm a year. It’s a similar picture across the world. Nearly half of China’s major cities, as well as places such as Tehran and Jakarta, are facing similar problems. These issues are compounded by sea level rises caused by global heating. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Prof Manoochehr Shirzaei of Virginia Tech University and Prof Robert Nicholls of the University of East Anglia to find out what’s making our cities sink and whether anything can be done to rescue them from the sea How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know Source link

5 Ways to Quit the Habit of “Kitchen Sinking” Your Partner

5 Ways to Quit the Habit of “Kitchen Sinking” Your Partner

Published by skeptic

charlesdeluvio / Unsplash Kitchen sinking refers to the tendency for partners to bring up a list of past grievances and unrelated issues during arguments, diverting attention from the current topic of discussion. This cluttered mix of complaints, criticisms, and unresolved issues makes it difficult to address the original concern effectively. This communication pattern is detrimental to relationships because it muddles the core issue, leading to confusion and emotional overwhelm. By inundating discussions with past grievances, partners may feel invalidated or attacked, hindering open and constructive dialogue. Consequently, kitchen sinking can escalate conflict and erode trust and intimacy, fostering an atmosphere of defensiveness and misunderstanding rather than promoting resolution and mutual respect in relationships. Here are five ways to stop “kitchen sinking” your partner and work through conflict healthily. 1. Be Intentional Before engaging in important discussions, decide on the specific issue you want to address and remain mindful of where the conversation is going. Bring yourself back to the present when you catch yourself recollecting different negative instances or feeling the need to bring them …

That sinking feeling: why long-suffering Venice is quite right to make tourists pay | Simon Jenkins

That sinking feeling: why long-suffering Venice is quite right to make tourists pay | Simon Jenkins

Published by skeptic

Venice has had enough. It is sinking beneath the twin assaults of tourism and the sea and believes the answer lies in fending off visitors by charging them to enter. It is not alone. Tourism is under attack. Seville is charging for entry to the central Plaza de España. In Paris, the Mona Lisa is so besieged by flashing phones she is about to be banished to a basement. Barcelona graffiti shout, “Tourists go home, refugees welcome.” Amsterdam wants no more coach parties, nor does Rome. The Venice payment will be complicated. It will apply at specific entry points only to day trippers to the city centre, not hotel guests. It will be a mere five euros and confined to peak times of day over the summer. This will hardly cover the cost of running it. It is a political gesture that is unlikely to stem the tourist flow round the Rialto and St Mark’s Square, let alone leave more room for Venetians to enjoy their city undisturbed by mobs. As any visitor to Venice …

Thames Water’s extra £1.1bn will do little to steady the sinking ship | Thames Water

Thames Water’s extra £1.1bn will do little to steady the sinking ship | Thames Water

Published by skeptic

Thames Water has made a £1.1bn stab at answering the questions swirling around the troubled company, updating its five-year business plan. But it failed to address the one issue that will define its future: how it will find the funds to survive, other than trying to squeeze more money from customers. Since its spending plan was first submitted to the regulator Ofwat in October, the government has accelerated contingency plans in case Thames goes bust, its shareholders have pulled the plug on £500m of funding and industry “bruiser” Chris Weston is now its chief executive. On Monday, the plan – covering 2025 to 2030 – was updated with fresh statistics. The firm now promises to spend extra £1.1bn on top of the £18.7bn already pledged to tackle environmental issues. (The Guardian revealed last week that Thames was deliberating whether to add £1bn or £1.5bn to figure, and considering approaching debt markets). The company hasa £15.6bn debt mountain. Thames was reluctant to spell out what precisely the £1.1bn will be spent on. The main reason for …

Chinese Cities Are Sinking Into the Earth, Scientists Find

Chinese Cities Are Sinking Into the Earth, Scientists Find

Published by skeptic

This is bad. Sinking Feeling A new study has discovered that a staggering number of Chinese cities are sinking into the Earth. According to the study, which was conducted by a team of over 50 Chinese scientists using radar observations and published this week in the journal Science, almost half of China’s 82 major cities are experiencing rapid subsidence. Subsidence, or the scientific term for the Earth’s surface effectively sinking in on itself, is a serious issue. Not only does it present obvious infrastructure and safety dangers, but as NPR notes, sinking land is also known to expedite the problem of already-rising coastlines. And by these researchers’ estimates, the extreme sinking observed in China could mean that about a quarter of the nation’s coastal regions are below sea level by the year 2120. Combine the problem of sinking cities with China’s massive population, and as the researchers point out in their study, you have a recipe for a human and infrastructural disaster. “Even a small portion of subsiding land in China,” the researchers write, “could …

Nearly half of China’s major cities are sinking, researchers say

Nearly half of China’s major cities are sinking, researchers say

Published by Sam

Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released on Friday (Apr 19). The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found 45 per cent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 per cent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion of subsiding land in China could therefore translate into a substantial threat to urban life,” said the team of researchers led by Ao Zurui of the South China Normal University. Subsidence already costs China more than 7.5 billion yuan (US$1.04 billion) in annual losses, and within the next century, nearly a quarter of coastal land could actually be lower than sea levels, putting hundreds of millions of people at …