All posts tagged: worlds

Syria’s dwindling Jewish community can visit one of the world’s oldest synagogues again

Syria’s dwindling Jewish community can visit one of the world’s oldest synagogues again

Published by skeptic

JOBAR, Syria (AP) — In this Damascus suburb, the handful of remaining Jews in Syria can again make pilgrimages to one of the world’s oldest synagogues where people from throughout the region once came to pray. Syria’s 13-year civil war left the synagogue partially destroyed. Walls and roofs have collapsed. Some artifacts are missing. A marble sign in Arabic at the gate says it was first built 720 years before Christ. Since insurgents overthrew President Bashar Assad in early December, people have been able to safely visit the widely destroyed Jobar suburb that was pounded for years by government forces while in the hands of opposition fighters. Syria was once home to one of the world’s largest Jewish communities. Those numbers have shrunk dramatically, especially after the state of Israel was created in 1948. Today, only nine Jews live in Syria, according to the head of the community, almost all older men and women. The community believes that no Syrian Jews will remain in the country in a few years. One of the people visiting …

The world’s first industrial-scale plant for green steel promises a cleaner future

The world’s first industrial-scale plant for green steel promises a cleaner future

Published by skeptic

Some of these automakers—including Volvo, which will buy from Stegra and rival SSAB—are marketing cars made with the green steel as “fossil-free.” And since cars and trucks also have many parts that are much more expensive than the steel they use, steel that costs the automakers a bit more adds only a little to the cost of a vehicle—perhaps a couple of hundred dollars or less, according to some estimates. Many companies have also set internal targets to reduce emissions, and buying green steel can get them closer to those goals. Stegra’s business model is made possible in part by the unique economic conditions within the European Union. In December 2022, the European Parliament approved a tariff on imported carbon-­intensive products such as steel, known as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). As of 2024, this law requires those who import iron, steel, and other commodities to report the materials’ associated carbon emissions.  Starting in 2026, companies will have to begin paying fees designed to be proportional to the materials’ carbon footprint. Some companies are already …

Honda And Nissan To Work Toward Merger That Would Make Them World’s Third Largest Automaker

Honda And Nissan To Work Toward Merger That Would Make Them World’s Third Largest Automaker

Published by skeptic

As China continues its dominance over the global market, EVs continue to play a central role in changing the business and global economies slow down, Honda and Nissan have announced plans to merge, according to AP. The resultant company would be world’s third-largest automaker by sales, according to the report. On Monday the two companies announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding to integrate their businesses, with Mitsubishi Motors also joining the discussions. Facing competition from EV leaders like Tesla and China’s BYD, Japanese automakers are uniting to cut costs and accelerate their transition to electric vehicles. Honda’s president, Toshihiro Mibe, stated the companies plan to form a joint holding company, maintaining their brands while Honda leads management. A merger agreement is targeted for June, with the holding company expected to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by August 2026. There is still to study and discuss, Mibe said. He commented: “Frankly speaking, the possibility of this not being implemented is not zero.” “We have come to the realization that in order for both parties to be …

A peek into a stellar nursery has revealed six baby giant worlds

A peek into a stellar nursery has revealed six baby giant worlds

Published by skeptic

astronomer: A scientist who works in the field of research that deals with celestial objects, space and the physical universe. astrophysicist: A scientist who works in an area of astronomy that deals with understanding the physical nature of stars and other objects in space. brown dwarf: A would-be star that never became massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion. celestial object: Any naturally formed objects of substantial size in space. Examples include comets, asteroids, planets, moons, stars and galaxies. chemical: A substance formed from two or more atoms that unite (bond) in a fixed proportion and structure. For example, water is a chemical made when two hydrogen atoms bond to one oxygen atom. Its chemical formula is H2O. Chemical also can be an adjective to describe properties of materials that are the result of various reactions between different compounds. cloud: A plume of molecules or particles, such as water droplets, that move under the action of an outside force, such as wind, radiation or water currents.  colleague: Someone who works with another; a co-worker or team member. …

Hear Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast from 1938: The Original Tale of Mysterious Objects Flying Over New Jersey

Hear Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast from 1938: The Original Tale of Mysterious Objects Flying Over New Jersey

Published by José

A month ago, drones were spot­ted near Mor­ris Coun­ty, New Jer­sey. Since then, reports of fur­ther sight­ings in var­i­ous loca­tions in the region have been lodged on a dai­ly basis, and anx­i­eties about the ori­gin and pur­pose of these uniden­ti­fied fly­ing objects have grown apace. “We have no evi­dence at this time that the report­ed drone sight­ings pose a nation­al secu­ri­ty or pub­lic safe­ty threat or have a for­eign nexus,” declared the FBI and the Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­ri­ty in a joint state­ment. But the very lack of fur­ther infor­ma­tion on the mat­ter has stoked the pub­lic imag­i­na­tion; one New Jer­sey con­gress­man spoke of the drones hav­ing come from an Iran­ian “moth­er­ship” off the coast. If this real-life news sto­ry sounds famil­iar, con­sid­er the fact that Mor­ris Coun­ty lies only about an hour up the road from Grovers Mill, the famous site of the fic­tion­al Mar­t­ian inva­sion dra­ma­tized in Orson Welles’ 1938 radio adap­ta­tion of H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Pre­sent­ed like a gen­uine emer­gency broad­cast, it “fooled many who tuned in late and …

World’s most powerful battery paves way for light, energy-efficient vehicles

World’s most powerful battery paves way for light, energy-efficient vehicles

Published by skeptic

Weight reduction in vehicles and devices directly translates to improved energy efficiency. Traditional lithium-ion batteries, while powerful, limit the energy density needed for groundbreaking advancements in electric vehicles, aircraft, and portable electronics. Enter structural batteries—a transformative concept combining energy storage with structural integrity, heralding a new era in multifunctional material science. The Concept of Structural Batteries Structural batteries serve dual purposes: storing energy and bearing mechanical loads. Unlike conventional batteries that only supply energy, these batteries are integrated into the structure of a device or vehicle. By reducing system weight, they enable increased energy efficiency and extended range. The developed battery concept is based on a composite material and has carbon fibre as both the positive and negative electrodes. (CREDIT: Chalmers University of Technology / Henrik Sandsjö) For instance, replacing an electric vehicle’s roof with a structural battery could cut weight by up to 20%, freeing space for additional batteries and significantly improving mileage. The potential applications are vast. A structural battery could halve a laptop’s weight or make smartphones as thin as a credit …

Scientists created the world’s thinnest spaghetti

Scientists created the world’s thinnest spaghetti

Published by skeptic

The next wave of nanotechnology is emerging from an unexpected place—the kitchen pantry. A research team at University College London (UCL) has crafted the world’s thinnest spaghetti using wheat flour, with each strand measuring just 372 nanometers across. This isn’t a culinary experiment but a groundbreaking step toward eco-friendly nanofibers that could revolutionize fields like medicine, energy, and materials science. The Promise of Starch Nanofibers Starch, produced by most green plants, is the second most abundant biomass on Earth after cellulose. Its role as a natural polymer makes it an attractive material for nanotechnology. Various pasta thicknesses. (CREDIT: UCL) Starch’s biodegradable and biocompatible nature, coupled with its mechanical flexibility and ability to be chemically modified, positions it as a critical resource for applications ranging from wound dressings to energy storage. Nanofibers made from starch offer unique properties: their high surface area makes them ideal for biomedical uses, such as drug delivery, tissue scaffolding, and advanced filtration systems. However, creating starch nanofibers at scale has been limited by the energy-intensive and wasteful process of starch extraction …

Behold the world’s thinnest spaghetti

Behold the world’s thinnest spaghetti

Published by skeptic

Good luck trying to twirl your fork around the world’s thinnest piece of spaghetti. This nanofiber is about 200 times thinner than a human hair and was created by a team at University College London (UCL). While it won’t be making its way onto the menu of an Italian restaurant anytime soon, this creation was cooked up in a lab because nanofibers have wide applications in medicine and industrial design. The tiny fiber is detailed in a study published November 21 in the journal Nanoscale Advances. The team used a scanning electron microscope, scanning the mat with a focused beam of electrons and creating an image based on the pattern of electrons that are deflected or knocked-off. CREDIT: Beatrice Britton/Adam Clancy. The next thinnest known pasta is su filindeu–or threads of God– and is made by hand by a pasta maker in the town of Nuoro, Sardinia. Su Fillindeu is estimated at about 400 microns wide, making it roughly 1,000 times thicker than this new electrospun laboratory creation. At 372 nanometers, this new lab-made spaghetti …

Explore the World’s First 3D Replica of St. Peter’s Basilica, Made with AI

Explore the World’s First 3D Replica of St. Peter’s Basilica, Made with AI

Published by José

In the trail­er below for the world’s first 3D repli­ca of St. Peter’s Basil­i­ca, Yves Ubel­mann speaks of using “AI for Good,” which isn’t just an ide­al, but also the name of a lab at Microsoft. Microsoft and Ubel­man’s dig­i­tal-preser­va­tion com­pa­ny Iconem were two of the par­tic­i­pants in that ambi­tious project, along with the Vat­i­can itself. Pope Fran­cis, writes AP’s Nicole Win­field, “has called for the eth­i­cal use of AI and used his annu­al World Mes­sage of Peace this year to urge an inter­na­tion­al treaty to reg­u­late it, argu­ing that tech­nol­o­gy lack­ing human val­ues of com­pas­sion, mer­cy, moral­i­ty and for­give­ness were too great.” What bet­ter show of good faith in the tech­nol­o­gy than to allow AI to be used to bring the cen­ter of the faith Pope Fran­cis rep­re­sents to the world? In the near­ly 400 years since its com­ple­tion, of course, the world has always come to the cur­rent St. Peter’s Basil­i­ca, and will con­tin­ue to do so. The 3D-repli­ca project “has been launched ahead of the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee, a holy year in which more …

Why flexible working for teachers can b best of all worlds

Why flexible working for teachers can b best of all worlds

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles When English teacher Gareth Edwards broke his ankle, attempting a karate kick dance move at the school Christmas party, he was able to recuperate at home and teach classes remotely. Then, when the 59-year-old was contemplating early retirement last year, he was persuaded instead to go down to three days a week. Had his school, Thomas Gainsborough in Suffolk, not allowed him that flexibility, he “probably” would have ended his career altogether. Last year, almost 40,000 teachers left state schools for reasons other than retirement. Because of his school’s flexibility, Edwards wasn’t one of those. Part of Unity Schools Partnership, Thomas Gainsborough is one of 10 ambassador schools and trusts (one for each region) appointed by the Department for Education to develop flexible working approaches and provide advice to others interested in doing the same. Nationally, only around 20 per cent of secondary school teachers work part-time. At Thomas Gainsborough, it is more than a third (34 of its 100 teachers) – a rise of 15 per cent on …