All posts tagged: Count

49 ways to have fun right now! Skydive in a wind tunnel, count dogs and run like a three-year-old | Life and style

49 ways to have fun right now! Skydive in a wind tunnel, count dogs and run like a three-year-old | Life and style

Published by Sam Flores

Cartwheel. On the day we scattered my father’s ashes, we lightened the mood with some competitive gymnastics. I don’t know how it started, but in attempting a cartwheel, I was shocked at my own creeping decrepitude. Over the last year, I’ve been watching online tutorials and practising – and I can do a passable cartwheel now. For that joyful split-second, upside down and wheeling, I’m reconnected with my eight-year-old self. Emine Saner ‘For one joyful split-second, I’m reconnected with my eight-year-old self.’ Photograph: Posed by model; lzf/Getty Images Have a kitchen disco. Never underestimate the fun ready to burst out of your kitchen. The crucial ingredient? Good music, played loudly. Parcels are my new favourite – the whole family have become superfans since last summer’s awesome Glastonbury set. Tieduprightnow, Gamesofluck, IknowhowIfeel, Hideout, Safeandsound – so many danceable, joyful tracks. Patrick Barkham ‘Quite a grand way to start the day.’ Photograph: Posed by model; RossHelen/Getty Images/iStockphoto Make pancakes. I don’t do it every morning – probably four times a week, though. Pancakes are quite a grand …

Will fusion power get cheap? Don’t count on it.

Will fusion power get cheap? Don’t count on it.

Published by skeptic

It’s tricky to make any predictions about the cost of a technology that doesn’t exist yet. But when there’s billions of dollars of public and private funding on the line, it’s worth considering what assumptions we’re making about our future energy mix and its cost. One crucial measure is a metric called experience rate—the percentage by which an energy technology’s cost declines every time capacity doubles. A higher figure means a quicker price drop and better economic gains with scaling. Historically, the experience rate is 12% for onshore wind power, 20% for lithium-ion batteries, and 23% for solar modules. Other energy technologies haven’t gotten cheap quite as quickly—fission is at just 2%. In the new study, published in Nature Energy, researchers aimed to improve predictions of fusion’s future price by estimating the technology’s experience rate. The team looked at three key characteristics that can correlate with experience rate: unit size, design complexity, and the need for customization. The larger and more complex a technology is, and/or the more it needs to be customized for different …

Don’t count on Starmer’s EU reset to bring down food prices – POLITICO

Don’t count on Starmer’s EU reset to bring down food prices – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

By pursuing an agreement, the government appears ready to adopt “unnecessarily stringent” EU SPS controls on imports from non-EU countries, said Jenney. This risks triggering “thousands of additional and unnecessary border delays, considerably more inspections, more paperwork and port congestion — every added layer acting as a compounding financial penalty on trade,” he warned.  Analysis conducted by the Fresh Produce Consortium — seen by POLITICO — suggests that a number of staples from the weekly shop could be negatively impacted as border checks for non-EU produce are ramped up — from Moroccan cucumbers and Indian mangoes to South African citrus fruits and U.S. sweet potatoes. This is expected to add a cost of around £400 million to the supply chain, the consortium estimates.  U.K. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds leaves No. 10 Downing Street after a Cabinet meeting on March 24, 2026. | Leon Neal/Getty Images Beyond imports, firms have warned that the SPS deal risks imposing costly burdens on domestic growers, who are forced to impose EU standards even if they have no plan to …

Inclusion promise rests on a workforce DfE can’t count

Inclusion promise rests on a workforce DfE can’t count

Published by skeptic

The schools white paper’s “experts at hand” scheme is the largest overhaul of school inclusion in a decade. By the end of 2028-29, every primary school is to receive around 40 days of expert support a year, and every secondary around 160, through a £1.8 billion service built around educational psychologists (EPs) and speech and language therapists, alongside wider specialist support. The ambition is right, but a core part of the workforce who will deliver the ambition – educational psychologists – is one the Department for Education (DfE) cannot currently see, count or grow fast enough to deliver on that date. Educational psychologists are already stretched thin, unevenly distributed and partly invisible to the department now trying to expand their numbers. Three problems, set out in our new EPI report for the British Psychological Society, go unaddressed in the white paper. These issues will determine whether experts at hand works. The timeline does not fit Training an educational psychologist takes a three-year doctorate. The cohort beginning in September 2026 will not qualify until 2029, the …

Peru’s ballot count drags on amid frustration with presidential election | Elections News

Peru’s ballot count drags on amid frustration with presidential election | Elections News

Published by Sam Flores

Three days out from Peru’s general election, voters are still waiting for results in the closely watched presidential race. Leftist candidate Roberto Sanchez moved into second place on Wednesday, as the vote count continues. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list But after years of political instability, Peru’s chaotic general election has done little to reassure voters that the tumult in their government is at an end. Peru has shifted through nine presidents in just 10 years. Then, on Sunday, the general election was marred by long lines and delayed ballot deliveries, prompting authorities to grant a one-day extension for voting in some areas. The confusion over the voting process and its results has spiked public scepticism. “We don’t know if the results are true,” Yeraldine Garrido, a 35-year-old receptionist in Lima, told the news service AFP. Another voter, Iris Valle, told The Associated Press she was frustrated at having to return a second day to vote. “I’m fed up,” she said. Those sentiments have been fanned by candidates who suggested that they will …

'Very High' Pollen Count Forecast: The Best Ways To Prevent Hay Fever Symptoms

'Very High' Pollen Count Forecast: The Best Ways To Prevent Hay Fever Symptoms

Published by Sam Flores

Handsome Man sneezing As the UK basks in warmer temperatures, hay fever sufferers are set for a particularly uncomfortable week, as the Met Office has revealed much of England will experience “very high” pollen levels until the weekend. Much of Scotland and Wales are also currently impacted by “very high” levels, while Northern Ireland is also experiencing “high” levels of pollen today and tomorrow. Tree pollen is the key culprit. According to the Met Office, tree pollen season typically runs from late March to mid-May, with around one in four people impacted by this type of pollen. The worst offenders are typically alder, birch, hazel and horse chestnut, per Allergy UK. However the Met Office says birch and ash pollen levels are currently the ones which are “very high”. What causes hay fever? Hay fever occurs when an allergen, such as pollen, causes your body to defend itself by producing antibodies. These antibodies then bind to mast cells, a process which releases a chemical called histamine. The chemical causes dilation of nasal blood vessels and inflammation …

History’s biggest census: Why India’s new population count is controversial | Politics News

History’s biggest census: Why India’s new population count is controversial | Politics News

Published by Sam Flores

India has begun counting its population in the world’s largest census, which will include caste enumeration for the first time in nearly a century. This year’s census is a $1.24bn exercise during which more than three million Indian officials will spend a year surveying about 1.4 billion Indians about their household composition, living conditions and access to basic amenities. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The last census was conducted in 2011. Another one was due in 2021, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving India’s data on such things as its demographics, housing conditions and welfare amenities outdated. How will the gargantuan task of counting more than a billion people spread out across a vast country be carried out, and why is the latest census being watched particularly closely? Here’s what we know: How will India’s census take place? According to the Press Information Bureau, India’s first modern census was conducted from 1865 to 1872 during the British colonial period, but it did not happen simultaneously across all regions of …

How Many Lives Does God Take in the Bible: An Investigation into a Surprisingly High Body Count

How Many Lives Does God Take in the Bible: An Investigation into a Surprisingly High Body Count

Published by José Betancourt

Whether or not we believe in any god, most of us here in the twen­ty-first cen­tu­ry have the impres­sion of divine rulers over­look­ing human­i­ty with at least the­o­ret­i­cal love and benev­o­lence. They for­give us, they have plans for us, they nev­er close a door with­out open­ing a win­dow, and so on. But in the par­tic­u­lar case of the Chris­t­ian God, we’ve all heard that he both giveth and taketh away, even if we’ve nev­er so much as opened the Bible, Old Tes­ta­ment or New. That line comes from the Book of Job, which belongs to the Old, a text whose depic­tion of God may sur­prise first-time read­ers — espe­cial­ly in his will­ing­ness to cause death, the sub­ject of the Hochela­ga video above on “God’s Bib­li­cal Kill Count.” It turns out that, if you go through the King James Ver­sion and tal­ly up every sin­gle per­son God kills on a spread­sheet (a task to which Hochela­ga cre­ator Tom­mie Trelawny is sure­ly among the best-suit­ed YouTu­bers), you end up with a high num­ber at the bot­tom indeed. …

Watch Jazzy Spies: 1969 Psychedelic Sesame Street Animation, Featuring Grace Slick, Teaches Kids to Count

Watch Jazzy Spies: 1969 Psychedelic Sesame Street Animation, Featuring Grace Slick, Teaches Kids to Count

Published by José Betancourt

When asked for their favorite Sesame Street seg­ment, many chil­dren of the 70s and 80s point to Pin­ball Num­ber Count. Psy­che­del­ic ani­ma­tion, the Point­er Sis­ters, odd time signatures—what’s not to love? But for the seri­ous Sesame Street buff, the “Jazz Num­bers” series above deserves the sil­ver medal. It’s got free jazz, Yel­low Sub­ma­rine-style sur­re­al­is­tic ani­ma­tion, and a vocal from Grace Slick of Jef­fer­son Air­plane. How many young par­ents rec­og­nized her dis­tinc­tive voice, I won­der? Also known as “Jazzy Spies,” this 1969 series of ani­ma­tions was devot­ed to the num­bers 2 through 10 (there was no film for “one” as it is the loneli­est num­ber that you’ll ever do), and was an essen­tial ele­ment in Sesame Street’s first sea­son. High­lights include the dream-like ele­va­tor door sequence of “2,” the Jack­son 5 ref­er­ence in “5,” and the rac­ing fans in “10.” Slick got involved through her first hus­band, Jer­ry Slick, who pro­duced the seg­ments for San Fran­cis­co-based ani­ma­tion stu­dio Imag­i­na­tion, Inc. Head­ed by ani­ma­tor Jeff Hale, the com­pa­ny also pro­duced the Pin­ball seg­ments, as well as the famous …

2026 Paralympics brings Oksana Masters’ medal count to 24 : NPR

2026 Paralympics brings Oksana Masters’ medal count to 24 : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Oksana Masters poses with one of her gold medals in Italy. Out of her 24 total medals from both Summer and Winter Paralympics, 14 are gold. Buda Mendes/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Buda Mendes/Getty Images Multi-sport athlete Oksana Masters arrived in Milan Cortina as the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian in history, with 19 medals already under her belt from both summer and winter Games. But a series of setbacks had her wondering if she would add to her collection — let alone make it to the start line in Italy. Just two days before the opening ceremony, Masters announced on Instagram that she had been in and out of hospitals with a concussion and recurrent leg infection that kept her from training — not long after recovering from hand surgery for a torn ligament. She said she cried every day leading up to the Games, admitting, “I’m not the same skier as I was training to be.” But she didn’t give up. “I might not be my best, but I will have the …