Ceramic high-heeled shoes and a handbag that complements the look. These exhibits became part of the exhibition of works of art presented at Ceramic Art London. This is the largest exhibition of luxury ceramics in the UK. 116 artists from 20 countries, including Guatemala, Japan and South Korea, were invited to participate. Rich Miller is a potter and TV presenter of the popular show Great Pottery. He...
European Union leaders have agreed to reforms in nine areas to revitalize the bloc's economy and help it catch up with the United States and China in the global technology race. However, there are still disagreements about the source of the money needed to implement the plan. "Every year, 300 billion euros of European savings go abroad, mainly to the United States. This is money that is not enough for...
A million plastic bottles are bought every minute in the world. And five trillion plastic bags are used every year. Half of all plastic produced is for single use. These are just some of the alarming statistics from the United Nations Environment Programme – UNEP. She warns that plastic is now part of the Earth's fossils and a marker of the current geological era. There are campaigns around the world...
The Dandora landfill receives most of the waste from the Kenyan capital Nairobi. But what is garbage for one is a godsend for the other. Recyclables collectors work here every day. Many people collect plastic, and Steve Okot collects discarded electronic devices and their parts. The work is not without risk – the landfill is toxic. It is especially difficult if something is on fire. Steve rents...
A rare pygmy hippopotamus has been born at the Athens Zoo for the first time in ten years. Moreover, this is a boy, which is also rare. There are more females than males in zoos around the world. The baby was born a little over a month ago. He weighed seven kilograms - a real hero. Typically, newborn pygmy hippos weigh between 4.5 and 6 kilograms. Pygmy hippos are native to West Africa. They are on the...
Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula has seen a series of volcanic eruptions since 2021. Geological systems woke up after 800 years of sleep. Experts say the region south of the capital Reykjavik, home to 30,000 people, could experience so-called fissure eruptions repeatedly over several centuries. The last eruption occurred between the peaks of Hagafell and Stora Skogfell on March 16, 2024. The previous one...
The giant cariniana, towering above the canopies of neighboring trees, is considered the symbol of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. This one is about a thousand years old and grows in the Tres Picos National Park near the city of Cachoeiras de Macacu. Such trees are already rare in the Atlantic Forest. That's why tourists often come here. The Atlantic Forest once covered a million square kilometers....
Finland once again topped the list of the happiest countries in the world. The global report from Oxford University's Wellbeing Research Center was published on Wednesday. It measures social support, income, health, freedom, generosity and lack of corruption, which determine a country's national happiness. Finland topped the list for the seventh year in a row, followed by Denmark and Iceland. The...
This robotic device helps Swiss scientists study hallucinations, in particular the hallucination of presence. It occurs in some cases in the early stages of Parkinson's disease. The device consists of two robots. The experiment participant pushes the robotic arm from the front, and the robot from behind synchronously repeats the movement, pushing the person in the back. In this case, there is no feeling...
The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill that gives Chinese company ByteDance about six months to sell TikTok's US assets. About 170 million Americans use the short-video app. If its parent company refuses to sell, the social network will be banned in the United States. 352 legislators voted for the bill, 65 voted against. Last year, US government officials were told to remove...
2,000 white rhinos bred in captivity in South Africa will be gradually released into the wild. This was stated by conservation NGO African Parks, which currently owns the animals. The rhinoceroses belonged to a private breeder. They could increase the world's wild southern white rhino population by nearly 15%. The animals will be released not only in South Africa, but also in other protected areas...
A new record for perceived heat was recorded in Rio de Janeiro. The thermometer rose to 40 degrees Celsius. But the perceived heat index exceeded 62 degrees. It is the highest since 2014, when Rio began recording such data. Locals and tourists flock to the beach - closer to the sea. The pools are also full of people. However, not everyone has the opportunity to escape the heat. In poor areas, people...
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks approaches Earth. It is a periodic comet that completes one orbit every 71 years. It is also the brightest known periodic comet. Images of the celestial body were obtained thanks to the robotic installation of the Virtual Telescope project in Italy under the darkest sky of the Italian peninsula. On June 2, 2024, the comet will make its closest approach to Earth. But you cannot...
Gold coins 2,000 years old were found in the Tell Abrak archaeological complex, 50 kilometers from Dubai. Italian archaeologists are participating in the excavations. They say that gold coins have been discovered here for the first time. In addition to gold coins, archaeologists found the remains of houses built in the 1st century BC, temple ruins, two statues and an inscription in Aramaic. The Tell...
This is the Otter, a small research vessel created by Norwegian specialists. It is autonomous and independently scans the seabed, collecting information. Based on it, you can make a map. This will come in handy during construction, for example, of piers or other objects. This device, among others, was presented at a technology exhibition in London. Autonomous vessels and robotic vehicles have become a...
The village of Giethoorn in the province of Overijssel in the Netherlands is like a fairytale. There are no usual roads and cars here. Instead there are canals and boats. Giethoorn was founded in 1230 by refugees from the south of the country. In the swampy area they found hundreds of goat horns (Gitehorns) left over from the flood. Hence the name of the village. The first inhabitants discovered peat...
A feast for elephants was held in the ancient Thai city of Ayutthaya. The giant animals are treated to fruits and vegetables. And Buddhist monks conduct traditional ceremonies. This is how Thailand celebrates National Elephant Day. 70 animals were brought to the festival. Volunteers, local and foreign, help feed them. There are 3,800 domesticated elephants in Thailand. Many live in nature...
A fairy-tale city made of ice grew up in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The city on the Neva hosts the KronshLed festival. This year it was dedicated to family values and iconic places of St. Petersburg. Here are the cathedrals - St. Isaac's and Kazan, and the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the Rostral columns. The sculptors captured both the fast-moving Sapsan and the high-speed catamaran that...
Figure, which develops humanoid robots that can perform common work tasks, raised $675 million in Series B funding last Thursday. It is now valued at $2.6 billion. Among its investors, the company names Microsoft, OpenAI, Nvidia and Jeff Bezos personally. The company, which is just 21 months old, aims to develop humanoid robots that “can free people from having to work in unsafe or harsh...
The 96th Academy Awards ceremony ended in Los Angeles. The main triumph of the ceremony was the historical drama directed by Christopher Nolan about the creator of the atomic bomb - the film “Oppenheimer”. Both Nolan and leading man Cillian Murphy also took home two of the Big Five Oscar awards – Best Director and Best Actor, respectively. Out of 13 nominations, the film won seven, including the...
8,200-year-old cave paintings discovered in Argentine Patagonia. They are the most ancient of all found in South America. The discovery was made by Argentine and Chilean archaeologists when they explored the Huenulle-1 cave. Its area is 630 square meters. Almost 900 drawings were found here. They were made at different times. The find reflects the culture and communication methods of the people who...
From these edible figurines it is immediately clear who all these dishes are intended for. Soon guests of the award ceremony of the most authoritative film award in the world will taste exquisite desserts, appetizers and main courses. As always, the no less stellar Austrian chef Wolfgang Puck worked for Hollywood stars and other celebrities. He's in charge of the food at the Governor's Ball, where Oscar...
In February, the average global ocean surface temperature reached a record high, exceeding 21 degrees Celsius. This was reported on Thursday by the EU climate service Copernicus. The previous record was set in August 2023. Then the average ocean surface temperature was 20.98 degrees. Moreover, statistics have been kept since 1979. The alarming sea record was recorded during the hottest February on...
Sailor Cole Brower became the first American woman to sail around the world alone, non-stop and unassisted. She is a participant in the Global Solo Challenge regatta. Brouwer left La Coruña, Spain on October 29, and is now returning to the same port. She circled the globe in 130 days and took second place in the race. The American also set a speed record on Class40 yachts. In addition, 29-year-old...
Famous works of art in a new version were presented at an exhibition in London. The halls contain more than 100 sculptures and other exhibits made from Lego bricks. Here are Michelangelo’s “David”, and “Venus de Milo”, and Rodin’s “The Thinker”, and a statue of the first Roman emperor Augustus. The author of all these creations is American Nathan Sawaya. He devoted almost 20 years of...
Walking through the soon-to-open National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam, Flip Delmonte remembers the city's dark history. Delmonte was still a child when, during the Nazi occupation, a relative and the Dutch resistance took him from the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam. His parents were captured across the street from a theater that the Germans were using as a collection point for Jews to be deported to...
An autonomous robot courier has taken to the streets of Tokyo. He delivers the first order from the restaurant. The service is launched by the online platform Uber Eats. It already provides such a service in several cities in North America. Now I chose Japan. The robot can reach speeds of up to 5.4 kilometers per hour. He makes his own route. It also stops itself to avoid collisions with people or other...
A bright pink 3D printed brain. This vital organ inside the head controls our thoughts, behavior and experiences. It also enables trillions of connections between billions of cells. New exhibition “Hello, Brain!” in London is based on research from the Francis Crick Institute. Neuroscience has come a long way since the first studies of the brain. But much is still unclear, such as how the brain...
The US Supreme Court on Monday overturned a Colorado court's decision to remove Donald Trump's name from the ballot in the upcoming presidential election. This regulation has now taken effect throughout the United States. That is, individual states cannot prohibit candidates from running for federal office. The Supreme Court overturned a ruling that a Colorado court issued late last year. Then he...
It’s as if the bay in the Dubai Marina area in the UAE has turned into the Marvel universe. The world's first jet suit race takes place here. Pilots, avoiding obstacles, try to get ahead. In the suit you can accelerate to 135 kilometers per hour. The total output of the jet engines is 1,500 horsepower - like the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport hypercar. People from different countries came to cheer for...
