All posts tagged: Continent

A World Cup for a Divided Continent

A World Cup for a Divided Continent

Published by Sam Flores

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Eight years ago, when FIFA selected the United States, Mexico, and Canada to host the 2026 World Cup, the organization imagined a sprawling tournament that would reflect a strong partnership and solidarity among the countries. Three nations would co-host the matches for the first time in the tournament’s history, and millions of fans would travel across borders to watch. That vision of unity has not aged well. The games are set to start tomorrow, but immigration restrictions, trade disputes, security concerns, and a new wave of U.S. nationalism under President Trump have resulted in an unusual geopolitical experiment: a World Cup that will test how divided North America has become. “Few things can connect societies like a joint World Cup bid,” Arturo Sarukhán, a former ambassador of Mexico to the U.S., told me. He had advocated for this joint …

Continent formation may have set the stage for life on Earth

Continent formation may have set the stage for life on Earth

Published by Jenni Sidey

Long before forests, fish, or even single cells, Earth may have needed something as unglamorous as growing continents to make life possible. A study in Terra Nova argues that the planet’s earliest continental crust did more than reshape the surface. In addition, it may have acted as a chemical regulator, drawing down dangerously high levels of boron from ancient oceans. Eventually, this helped create conditions that favored the chemistry behind life’s beginnings. That idea turns on a delicate balance. Boron has long been considered useful in prebiotic chemistry because borate can help stabilize ribose, a fragile sugar tied to RNA, the molecule many scientists think came before DNA. Yet boron is only helpful in the right range. Too little may have made it irrelevant. Too much may have pushed surface waters into forms that life could not use. “What we’re talking about is a geological control system for Earth’s surface chemistry,” said Dr. Brendan Dyck, an associate professor of Earth and environmental sciences at UBC Okanagan’s Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science. “The growth of …

Is the continent really the church’s future?

Is the continent really the church’s future?

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — During his recent visit to Africa, Pope Leo XIV was encouraging to a continent where religion, family and community are still vital in the lives of people. But he was also challenging, especially to the ruling elites whose corruption and infighting are keeping the continent from reaching its true potential. Much media attention has focused on the African church’s opposition to LGBTQ rights in their countries and the blessing of gay couples in the church. Pope Leo said he believes there are more pressing moral issues to be addressed, like “justice, equality and freedom.” It was not long ago that the West treated LGBTQ people very badly. It took us time to change. Still, it is shocking to see African bishops support the criminalization of gays and, in some cases, even executions. Similar positions have been taken by other Christian churches and imams in Africa. African bishops also need to recognize that Europe’s desire to be pastoral and welcoming to gays is not that different from their desire to be pastoral and welcoming …

Giant arctic continent launched dinosaurs to world domination

Giant arctic continent launched dinosaurs to world domination

Published by skeptic

Dinosaurs could survive in cold conditions, as illustrated by Beipiaosaurus, a feathered dinosaur that lived between 127 and 121 million years ago MARK P. WITTON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY The Arctic was once home to a landmass three times the size of Antarctica. About 200 million years ago, it helped cause a cold spell that lasted for millennia and gave dinosaurs their chance to conquer the planet. According to palaeontologist Paul Olsen at Columbia University in New York, this “giant Arctic continent” consisted of what is now Siberia and China. For most of the Mesozoic Era – between 252 and 66 million years ago – all of Earth’s land was gathered into one supercontinent, Pangaea, except, it was thought, for what is now China. This slab of continental material was divided into two chunks that both drifted at a temperate latitude in what was the world’s only ocean at the time, named Panthalassa. But recent analysis of the geology – including magnetic features in rocks, which offer a way of reconstructing the ancient latitude of their formation …

Across Africa: Wined Up – A continent uncorked – Across Africa

Across Africa: Wined Up – A continent uncorked – Across Africa

Published by Sam Flores

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Try again Across Africa © FRANCE 24 Issued on: 12/02/2026 – 23:39 12:11 min From the show Reading time 1 min As one of the biggest events in the global wine scene wraps up in Paris, Georja is joined by Nigerian vine virtuoso, Chinedu Rita Rosa. The French industry is struggling but Africa’s growing young, cosmopolitan middle class is the perfect terroir for producers hoping to cultivate new markets. By: Video by: Source link

‘Ideas of Africa’ exhibit in NY captures a continent coming into its own

‘Ideas of Africa’ exhibit in NY captures a continent coming into its own

Published by Sam Flores

Also featuring works by contemporary photographers, the exhibit invites viewers to reflect on photography not only as an image, but as a creative and political process – and on how we respond to it today. It’s “an exhibition that embraces African forms of self-representation during a moment when the African continent is coming into itself”, says Oluremi Onabanjo, MoMA’s Peter Schub Curator of Photography. Click on the video above to watch the full report. Source link

At CES 2026, I Found a Pet Toy That Lets You Play With Your Dog From Another Continent

At CES 2026, I Found a Pet Toy That Lets You Play With Your Dog From Another Continent

Published by skeptic

I’ve always dreamed of being able to play with my dog 2,000 miles away. Well, actually, that’s not true. But now that I know technology exists to make that possible, I can’t believe I’ve been living without it.  I first spotted the PePeHola smart dog toy while wandering the CES show floor, surrounded by the usual blur of screens, robots and wall-to-wall crowds.  Then this small, hamster-ball looking rubber dog toy stopped me in my tracks.  Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source. It was unassuming at first glance, but once I learned what it could do, it felt like a glimpse into a future where being away from home no longer means being absent from my dog’s life. I was genuinely amazed by how cool it was, not in a flashy tech-demo way, but in a quietly realistic one. The interactive ball can be controlled through the PePeHola mobile app or the Wi-Fi powered remote control.  Macy Meyer/CNET PePeHola lets you play with your dog …