All posts tagged: Direction

Taiwan drills with U.S. rocket system, firing in China’s direction : NPR

Taiwan drills with U.S. rocket system, firing in China’s direction : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A rocket is launched from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) during a military live-fire shooting training in Taichung City, Taiwan, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. Chiang Ying-ying/AP hide caption toggle caption Chiang Ying-ying/AP TAICHUNG, Taiwan — Taiwan’s military fired rockets in China’s direction from “shoot-and-scoot” mobile launchers on Wednesday in a demonstration of how it might try to repel a Chinese attack. While the U.S.-supplied system known as HIMARS has been tested before, the latest live-fire exercise was the first time its rockets were fired into the waters of the narrow Taiwan Strait that separates the self-governing island from China. “Due to the current enemy threat, we will continue HIMARS training with unwavering determination to protect Taiwan as the nation’s strongest force,” army Sgt. Wang Ming-hui said. The military said it used reduced-range practice rockets that don’t fly very far from the coast before falling into the water. China views Taiwan as a renegade province and says it must come under its control at some point in the future. It sends warships and planes …

Niall Horan recalls his final encounter with Liam Payne before One Direction star’s death

Niall Horan recalls his final encounter with Liam Payne before One Direction star’s death

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Niall Horan has said he was in denial when he heard the news of Liam Payne’s death. Payne died in October 2024 after falling from a third-story hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31 years old. In a new interview with The Times, Horan, 32, said he was with his One Direction bandmate in Argentina just weeks before his death. “I’m glad of that, it means my last memory of him was happy,” he said. Payne had flown in to Argentina to see Horan perform on tour, with a video of the moment – in which Payne is seen happily supporting his former bandmate – circulating online. “It still feels surreal,” continued Horan. “On day one I was, like, ‘Nah, it didn’t happen.’ Our friendship was a bond that was there forever even if we hadn’t seen each other for a …

In 2010, Earth’s molten core suddenly reversed direction and scientists don’t know why

In 2010, Earth’s molten core suddenly reversed direction and scientists don’t know why

Published by Jenni Sidey

A river of molten iron, more than 2,000 kilometers below the surface, appears to have pulled off something Earth scientists did not expect. Around 2010, a broad patch of fluid in the outer core beneath the equatorial Pacific stopped drifting west and began moving sharply east. This reversed a pattern long treated as one of the deep planet’s more stable habits. That change did not happen where people can see it, or feel it, and it poses no direct danger. However, it matters because the churning outer core generates Earth’s magnetic field. The field is the shield that helps protect the atmosphere and modern technology from charged particles streaming from the Sun. The new analysis, published in the Journal of Studies of Earth’s Deep Interior, draws on ground observatories and satellite measurements from 1997 to 2025. The team combined data from the Ørsted, CHAMP, CryoSat-2 and Swarm missions to reconstruct how flow at the top of the core evolved through the years. This includes the period around the reversal. “The large-scale flow reversal beneath the …

Raman says she’s running for mayor because L.A. is headed in wrong direction

Raman says she’s running for mayor because L.A. is headed in wrong direction

Published by Sam Flores

Nithya Raman paused when the question came during a debate with Mayor Karen Bass in Sherman Oaks.What does she need to work on, she was asked by the moderator, to improve as a politician? “What I know I need to keep working on is that in order to make sure that your ideas aren’t stopped, you have to invite people in before you try and put them forward,” she said after giving the matter some thought. It was a moment of frank self-reflection for the Los Angeles City Council member hoping to be the next mayor. A graduate of Harvard and MIT, Raman is widely regarded as one of the smartest people in City Hall. She has spearheaded significant legislation during her six years on the City Council, including initiating the city’s Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance in 2021 and leading the push last year to update the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, lowering the annual maximum allowable rent increases. At the same time, she gets poor marks from her council colleagues, her progressive allies and community leaders …

Putin heads to Beijing days after Trump in test of China’s direction

Putin heads to Beijing days after Trump in test of China’s direction

Published by Sam Flores

TOPSHOT – Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shows the way to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the photo session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Centre in Tianjin on September 1, 2025. Suo Takekuma | Afp | Getty Images Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, visiting an ally that barely had time to clear the ceremonial trappings it laid out for U.S. President Donald Trump just days earlier. The summit, scheduled for May 19-20, marks the second time the Chinese and Russian leaders have met in the past year, as Beijing seeks to manage ties with Washington and Moscow while positioning itself as a pivotal power in global diplomacy. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 left Moscow effectively isolated and heavily reliant on Beijing for trade under Western sanctions. “We have very serious expectations for this visit,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday, describing the agenda as advancing the two countries’ …

Christian prayers before council meeting step in the wrong direction, says Humanists UK – Humanists UK

Christian prayers before council meeting step in the wrong direction, says Humanists UK – Humanists UK

Published by Sam Flores

Councillors at Reform UK-led Kent County Council have proposed introducing the Lord’s Prayer at the start of council meetings. Humanists UK says this would be a step backwards, as introducing prayers would not be inclusive of those of different religions and beliefs. The question of whether to introduce prayers was considered at the Selection and Member Services Committee on 7 May, and despite concerns raised by some councillors, the motion was passed for it to be considered by the full council at a future date. Notably, the motion was passed with an amendment allowing the prayer to be broadcast in its livestream despite the Council’s Monitoring Officer advising that the Council could not legally do so. Census data shows that fewer than half of Kent residents identify as Christian, while over four in ten identify with no religion, and many others are from minority religious or belief backgrounds. Between 2011 and 2021, the proportion of Kent residents identifying as Christian fell significantly. The Census question itself is also likely to understate the non-religious population: Humanists …

Does It Really Matter Which Direction You Face In The Shower?

Does It Really Matter Which Direction You Face In The Shower?

Published by Sam Flores

Our day-to-day lives are full of small, automatic habits ― little behaviours we rarely question and tend to assume everyone does the same way. From how we load the dishwasher to which sock we put on first, these routines become so ingrained that they feel almost universal. But on closer inspection, those assumptions start to fall apart. Even something as mundane as how you stand in the shower turns out to vary more than you might expect. Some people face the spray head-on, letting the water hit their face and chest first. Others instinctively turn away, preferring to let the water run down their back. And many people shift positions throughout, without giving it a second thought. I do not understand the whole face the shower vs face away debate, i’m in the shower twirling round like a fuckin kebab?? — Nicki 🫧🪷 (@nickimoraa) March 22, 2026 “Most people are not intentionally choosing a direction and instead default to whatever feels most natural in their specific shower setup,” dermatologist Dr. Brendan Camp told HuffPost. “The …

We’ve caught a comet switching its spin direction for the first time

We’ve caught a comet switching its spin direction for the first time

Published by skeptic

An artist’s impression of comet 41P as it approached the sun and shot material off into space NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI) A small comet seems to have switched the direction in which it is rotating – the first time astronomers have seen evidence of such behaviour. Changes like this may help us learn about the insides of comets, which could reveal information about the composition of the early solar system. Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák, or simply 41P, measures about 1 kilometre across and takes around 5.4 years to orbit the sun. We can only see it when it visits the inner solar system and its trajectory happens to take it relatively close to Earth. It was last seen in 2017. In March that year, it was rotating at a rate of about one full spin every 20 hours. When astronomers observed it just two months later, it had slowed down dramatically to one spin every 46 to 60 hours. Now, David Jewitt at the University of California, Los Angeles, has reanalysed observations from the Hubble …

Euphoria Season 3 Reviews: Critics Aren’t Convinced By New Direction

Euphoria Season 3 Reviews: Critics Aren’t Convinced By New Direction

Published by Sam Flores

After keeping fans waiting for more than four years, Euphoria is finally back for its third (and, quite probably, final) outing. Unfortunately, the majority of critics are saying that the new episodes have not exactly been worth the wait. Because of the delay between seasons, creator Sam Levinson took the decision to age up his teenage characters, with season three reintroducing the usual gang – played by returning stars Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer et al – as young adults. However, early reviews have said that the show loses its footing in this change, and while there’s been praise for the cast’s performances, critics are not convinced by Euphoria’s new direction – with some even going as far as saying that the new episodes indulge the show’s worst tendencies. With that in mind, here’s a selection of what critics are saying about Euphoria season three so far… “The show has lost its zeitgeisty edge. Euphoria has become a series with very little to say, none of it very audacious or compelling.” “A show …

AI Didn’t Extend Intelligence, It Changed Its Direction

AI Didn’t Extend Intelligence, It Changed Its Direction

Published by Jenni Sidey

For a long time, we treated intelligence as something that could be measured along a single line. We pushed along that same line with more memory, faster recall and better reasoning. Progress meant moving forward. The contention seemed that smarter was simply further. AI changes, if not disrupts this assumption. What it offers doesn’t feel like a continuation of human thought. It feels, at least to me, like a shift in how thought is produced. The output may look familiar to cognition, but the computational process behind it has no common ancestor with our own. The simple reality that’s entangled in today’s complex discourse is that human intelligence is anchored in experience. It bundles the richness of humanity by including the likes of memory, emotion, consequence, and ownership. We don’t just process information—we metabolize it. Our thinking is shaped by the friction of life’s experiences. Our conclusions arrive through this struggle. And this “output” is fundamentally different from one that’s retrieved on demand. It belongs to us in a way that changes how we act …