Travel Tour: The Island Of Marken, Netherlands (8K)

The Flying Dutchman (April 19, 2023) – The island of Marken has been inhabited since the thirteenth century. During this period, the island was owned by the Frisian monastery Mariëngaarde, who built dikes and a drainage system here. They also ensured that agriculture and livestock farming became possible here.

About a century later, the monks were expelled here by Count William the Fourth of Holland. After this, the island quickly impoverished, the islanders were forced to live on mounds to protect themselves against the water.

These mounds are known here as wharves, a number of these wharfs are still inhabited. The many floods made farming impossible and fishing became the island’s main source of income. This came to an end with the arrival of the Afsluitdijk.

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – April 20, 2023

Volume 616 Issue 7957, 20 April 2023

nature Magazine – April 20, 2023 issue: Although currently there is no known threat to Earth from asteroids, strategies to protect the planet from a collision are being explored. On 26 September 2022, NASA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory successfully tested one such approach: the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft was deliberately crashed into Dimorphos, a moon orbiting the small asteroid Didymos, resulting in a change in the moon’s orbit.

Is Africa’s Great Green Wall project withering?

The plan to re-green a 7,000-kilometre swathe south of the Sahara is at risk of losing its pan-African vision and ambition.

A glacier’s catastrophic collapse is linked to global warming

Eleven hikers died after weeks of unusually warm weather led to melting of the Marmolada Glacier in the Alps.

Sunshine is transformed into green hydrogen on an ambitious scale

Prototype facility smashes record for converting solar power to hydrogen for its technology category.

Museums: A Tour Of The Humboldt Forum In Berlin

DW Travel (April 19, 2023) – Have you heard of Berlin’s newest tourist attraction? It’s the Humboldt Forum right in the heart of the German capital. With high-profile exhibitions around art and culture, it aims to be a place for discussion and exchange.

But the prestigious building in the reconstructed Berlin Palace has itself been the subject of controversy from the start. Not least because art from former colonies in Africa is on display. DW’s Hannah Hummel checks out the Humboldt Forum to see whether is worth a visit. We can tell you one thing in advance: The great view from the roof terrace is a must-see.

The Humboldt Forum is a museum dedicated to human history, art and culture, located in the Berlin Palace on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It is in honour of the Prussian scholars Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt.

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – April 21, 2023

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Times Literary Supplement @TheTLS (April 21, 2023) – This week’s issue features @tylercowen on long- vs short-termism; @ecshowalter on Jonathan Rosen and Michael Laudor; @NickHoldstock on Wang Xiaobo; @BenBollig on Sergio Raimondi; @islomane on noise pollution – and more.

Travel Tour: Pula, On The Istrian Peninsula, Croatia

Massimo Nalli (Uploaded April 18, 2023) – Pula is situated at the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula in Croatia. The city is best known for its many surviving ancient Roman buildings, the most famous of which is its 1st-century amphitheatre, which is among the six largest surviving Roman arenas in the world, and locally known as the Arena.

Video timeline:00:00 – VIEW OF THE PULA FROM ABOVE – 00:13 – TWIN GATE AND CITYT WALLS – 00:55 – TRIUMPHAL ARC OF THE SERGI – 02:04 – FORUM SQUARE – 04:07 – TEMPLE OF AUGUSTUS – 05:03 – ST.FRANCIS CHURCH – 06:55 – CATHEDRAL – 09:55 – ADMIRALTY BUILDING – 11:31 – CASTLE – 13:37 – CHURCH OF ST.MARY FORMOSA – 14:46 – AMPHITHEATER

During the World War II Italian fascist administration, there were attempts to dismantle the arena and move it to mainland Italy, which were quickly abandoned due to the costs involved. Two other notable and well-preserved ancient Roman structures are the 1st-century AD triumphal arch, the Arch of the Sergii and the co-eval Temple of Augustus, built in the 1st century AD built on the forum during the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus.

The Twin Gates (Porta Gemina) is one of the few remaining gates after the city walls were pulled down at the beginning of the 19th century. It dates from the mid-2nd century, replacing an earlier gate. It consists of two arches, columns, a plain architrave, and a decorated frieze. Close by are a few remains of the old city wall.

Special Report: ‘The Car Industry – A Difficult New World’ (The Economist)

Special reports: A difficult new world

The Economist – Special Reports (April 22, 2023): Everything about carmaking is changing at once. The industry must reinvent itself to keep pace, says Simon Wright

Everything about carmaking is changing at once

The car industry

The industry must reinvent itself to keep pace, says Simon Wright

Electrification

The future lies with electric vehicles

The car industry is electrifying rapidly and irrevocably

Science Review: Scientific American – May 2023 Issue

Scientific American – May 2023 - Free PDF Magazine download

Scientific American – May 2023 Issue:

Synthetic Morphology Lets Scientists Create New Life-Forms

Synthetic Morphology Lets Scientists Create New Life-Forms

The emerging field of synthetic morphology bends boundaries between natural and artificial life

The Six Moons Most Likely to Host Life in Our Solar System

The Six Moons Most Likely to Host Life in Our Solar System

Vast quantities of liquid water may exist on moons of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, making life possible there, too

How Much Does ‘Nothing’ Weigh?

How Much Does 'Nothing' Weigh?

The Archimedes experiment will weigh the void of empty space to help solve a big cosmic puzzle

News: China’s ‘Anaconda Strategy’ In Taiwan, Fox Settles Defamation Case

The Globalist, April 19, 2023: The strategies behind China’s attempts to control Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, the Norwegian environmental NGO branded as “undesirable” by Moscow and the halting of Absolut Vodka exports to Russia.

Plus: we give you the latest from Milan’s Salone del Mobile and palaeontologist Stephen Brusatte joins us after Europe’s first T-rex sale. 

Front Page: The New York Times — April 19, 2023

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Fox Will Pay $787.5 Million to Settle Defamation Suit

“The truth matters. Lies have consequences,” a lawyer for Dominion Voting Systems, Justin Nelson, in a red tie, said on Tuesday in Wilmington, Del.
CREDITPETE MAROVICH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The settlement with Dominion Voting Systems was the latest extraordinary twist in a case that exposed the inner workings of the most powerful voice in conservative news.

Russian Court Rejects Wall Street Journal Reporter’s Appeal

The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich attending a court hearing of the Moscow City Court, on Tuesday.
CREDIT

It was the first time that Evan Gershkovich, a 31-year-old American, has been seen clearly since he was detained last month and accused of espionage.

Inside the Online Market for Overseas Abortion Pills

For-profit sellers are meeting the demand for unregulated abortion pills — one that will only grow if legal access in the U.S. is further restricted.

How Mexico Became the Biggest User of the World’s Most Notorious Spy Tool

A Times investigation reveals the story behind how Mexico became the first and most prolific user of Pegasus. It’s still using it, despite promising to stop.