All posts tagged: verge

Academy trusts on verge of going bust, report claims

Academy trusts on verge of going bust, report claims

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Academy trusts could be on the verge of going bust, a major report has warned, with even the biggest MATs taking a financial hit. However, the Kreston group, a network of accountancy firms, study found that CEO pay among the largest trusts is rising again after a period of “stagnation”. Kevin Connor Bishop Fleming head of academies Kevin Connor, a report author, said the research shows trusts “are heading towards a financial cliff edge as they grapple with costs” from  teacher pay rises and the SEND crisis. “This creates massive problems for the future which, without action, could become a silent stranglehold on the sector.” The academies benchmark report studies the accounts of more than 260 trusts. Here’s what you need to know… 1. More in-year deficits… The proportion of trusts racking up in-year deficits has more than trebled since 2021, from 19 per cent to 58 per cent. Secondary single-academy trusts were worst-hit, according to the analysis, as their overall reserves fell from an average surplus of £6,000 …

Why timekeeping is now on the verge of a giant leap forward in accuracy

Why timekeeping is now on the verge of a giant leap forward in accuracy

Published by skeptic

Time is vital to the functioning of our everyday lives: from the watches on our wrists to the GPS systems in our phones. Communication systems, power grids, and financial transactions all rely on precision timing. Seconds are the vital units of measurement in timekeeping. Surprisingly, there is still debate over the definition of the second. But recent advances in the world’s most accurate forms of timekeeping may have just changed the game. Accurate timekeeping has always been part of humankind’s social evolution. At the Neolithic monument of Newgrange in Ireland, a special opening above an entrance allows sunlight to illuminate the passage and chamber on the shortest days of the year, around December 21st, the winter solstice. Some 2,300 years ago, Aristotle said that “the revolution of the outermost sphere of the heavens” should be the reference for measuring time. The Greek philosopher believed the cosmos was arranged into concentric spheres, with Earth at the centre. Water clocks, which appeared around 2,000BC, are among the oldest instruments for measuring time. They do this by regulating …

Elon Musk reportedly on the verge of raising billions for xAI, his AI company

Elon Musk reportedly on the verge of raising billions for xAI, his AI company

Published by skeptic

Elon Musk’s OpenAI competitor is getting ready to raise some big money from Silicon Valley. According to new, anonymously-sourced reports from The Information and TechCrunch, Musk’s AI company xAI is currently raising $6 billion on a $18 billion pre-money valuation, and the deal is expected to close in a matter of weeks. SEE ALSO: If you’re a paying X user, Elon Musk wants his Grok AI to write your posts for you, report says Musk’s ten-month-old AI company is looking to take OpenAI on directly after Musk openly criticized and feuded with the AI giant that he helped create. Musk has long ragged on OpenAI’s change in ethos, criticizing the company’s move from an open, nonprofit model to a more secretive, profit-seeking approach. According to reports, Musk and associates have been pitching xAI to investors as an AI brand that will one day integrate with Musk’s various companies like Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink. TechCrunch reports that the pitch claims that xAI will be different from other AI companies because it will “master …

Hosts on verge of promotion

Hosts on verge of promotion

Published by skeptic

While Leicester are dreaming of lifting the title, Southampton’s lingering hopes of finishing in the top two are all but over after a dreadful performance which sentences them to the play-offs. Southampton needed a win to continue challenging for automatic promotion but were abysmal, cranking up the pressure on manager Russell Martin. They could yet play a significant part in the regular season, as they play Leeds away on the final day, but this was a chastening experience. Southampton did not manage a shot on target all evening. Martin said: “It’s not my job to make the players feel good about tonight, they need to feel the same pain and hurt that I’m feeling. “The team that plays from now will be one that fights for their team-mates. I didn’t like what I saw from my team at 2-0 down one bit. It surprised me and I told them I didn’t like it. The fans deserved better and we need to give them a performance on Saturday against Stoke.” Maresca has always insisted this absorbing …

This nova is on the verge of exploding. You could see it any day now.

This nova is on the verge of exploding. You could see it any day now.

Published by skeptic

Any day now, people will look up and see a distant star exploding.  Though Earthlings will be able to observe this celestial event as if it just happened, the cataclysmic blast occurred some 3,000 years ago, perhaps in the time of Solomon, the king who built the first temple in Jerusalem. Through the Iron Age, medieval times, and the Industrial Revolution, the explosion’s light hurtled through space, only to reach this planet’s doorstep now.  The beacon beaming from the darkness will come from T Coronae Borealis, a star system where a dead white dwarf star will flash in a spectacular nova, according to NASA. Astronomers are calling it one of the stargazing highlights of the year.  This particular star remnant is intriguing because it experiences periodic outbursts. Experts have determined it detonates about every 80 years. That means there are people alive who could have witnessed its last eruption in 1946. But hardly any adults today will live to see the next one.  Here’s everything you need to know about this extraordinary event.  SEE ALSO: …

Haiti healthcare system on verge of collapse as gang warfare rages on | Haiti

Haiti healthcare system on verge of collapse as gang warfare rages on | Haiti

Published by skeptic

Haiti’s healthcare system has all but collapsed amid the ferocious gang insurrection which forced the resignation of the country’s prime minister, leaving victims of the violence with little hope of medical attention, according to aid workers in the stricken Caribbean country. In the past two weeks hospitals have been set ablaze, doctors murdered and the most basic medical supplies have now dried up. Only a single public hospital in Haiti’s capital now remains operational – and that too is expected to shut its doors soon. “The healthcare system in Port-au-Prince is basically nonexistent,” said Mackynzie Archer, a consultant advising leading medical NGOs in Haiti. “Things are deteriorating quickly.” Fighting between the heavily armed gangs and security forces has paralysed Haiti’s capital in the worst episode of violence the Caribbean country has seen in decades. Armed bandits attacked police stations, government buildings and the international airport, achieving their stated goal on Monday when the prime minister, Ariel Henry, announced he would step down once a transitional council had been appointed. But as political factions jockey for …

Blind man used phone app to rescue dad from car after it fell down 10 foot verge

Blind man used phone app to rescue dad from car after it fell down 10 foot verge

Published by Sam

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter A man who is registered blind and rescued his father from their car after it plummeted down a 10-foot verge into a body of water, dragging him to safety, has urged others to download the location app that helped emergency services reach them and save their lives. Martin Ralfe, 30, an applications and technology programmer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue, had been travelling home with his dad, John, 58, late one evening in December 2023 when rain caused their car to slip on the road. Falling off the edge of the road, the pair fell 10 feet into a body of water, and Martin rescued his dad from the sunroof before using the what3words app to help emergency services pinpoint their exact location using a unique three-word combination. The app enabled a police car to find them within 15 minutes after Martin had dragged …

Camembert and other French cheese on “verge of extinction” due to collapse in microbial diversity

Camembert and other French cheese on “verge of extinction” due to collapse in microbial diversity

Published by skeptic

Camembert, brie and various blue cheeses are on the “verge of extinction” due to a collapse in microbial diversity, the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) said. Cheese itself contains its own ecosystem of fungi and bacteria which turn milk fats and proteins into different compounds. Recently, however, specific mold strains are waning in biodiversity, with one specific strain of fungi at risk of dying out completely. The particular strain in question is Penicillium camemberti, which is hailed as “the gold standard for brie and Camembert” because of its appetizing qualities, Vox explained. Unlike most molds, though, Penicillium camemberti can’t reproduce sexually with other fungi to create new genetic diversity. As a result, cheesemakers have to clone it — but that has become increasingly difficult because of mutations that interfere with the fungi’s ability to produce spores. “Camembert is not going to disappear tomorrow,” Jeanne Ropars, an evolutionary biologist who works at a lab affiliated with CNRS, told Vox. “But it’s going to be more and more difficult to produce.” At this time, it’s …

Ukraine on verge of losing Avdiivka, strategic city long targeted by Russia

Ukraine on verge of losing Avdiivka, strategic city long targeted by Russia

Published by Sam

AVDIIVKA, Ukraine — The Russians were already so close that the road to the Avdiivka coke and chemical plant was only dared taken at night. Vehicle headlights were shut off and covered, hoping to prevent glare visible to an enemy drone hovering overhead. As fighters from the Ukrainian Security Service’s “Alpha” special forces branch drove through the blackness with night-vision goggles last week, Washington Post journalists riding along saw only an occasional flash of light on the horizon — from yet more explosions in the besieged city, which is now the focus of the most pitched fighting in the war. A Russian drone above could not be seen, but a handheld device confirmed its presence. The ruined coke and chemical plant, once an economic pillar in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, is likely to be the last Ukrainian stronghold in Avdiivka, which has been embattled since 2014. Ukrainian troops say it is just a matter of time before they will have to surrender the city, and on Thursday the military said forces had already pulled back …