All posts tagged: engine

Germany’s industrial engine sputters as Bosch axes 20,000 jobs – POLITICO

Germany’s industrial engine sputters as Bosch axes 20,000 jobs – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The move lands amid a deepening slump in the country’s automotive industry, long the backbone of German manufacturing. The sector has been shedding jobs rapidly: A 2025 study by EY found that more than 50,000 automotive positions were cut in Germany last year alone. Germany’s automotive downturn has become a wider political test for the government in Berlin and Europe more widely. Once the economy’s crown jewel, the industry is now being challenged by current policy on electric vehicles, energy costs and aggressive competition from Chinese manufacturers. As suppliers weaken, the risk is shifting from lower profits to a lasting loss of competitiveness. With layoffs rising and investment decisions being delayed, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government is coming under growing pressure from workers, unions and industry leaders to rethink Germany’s industrial strategy — as doubts spread domestically and across Europe about the country’s ability to remain an economic powerhouse. Source link

I didn’t expect a free research engine to pair this well with NotebookLM

I didn’t expect a free research engine to pair this well with NotebookLM

Published by skeptic

NotebookLM isn’t an academic search engine, but citations still matter when you’re figuring out what to even ask. What surprised me about STORM isn’t just the quality of its output, but how naturally it fits into a research workflow I already use with NotebookLM. Stanford’s STORM Genie is a free, deep research search engine. You can gather a lot of information into a comprehensive PDF report and use NotebookLM to learn from it. I didn’t plan to pair them. But when it happened, I realized research works better when one tool gathers broadly, and another helps you think narrowly. Allow STORM to do the hard research before it writes The immediate benefit is coverage STORM (Synthesis of Topic Outlines through Retrieval and Multi-perspective Question Asking) is a cutting-edge LLM that can help you do one thing unusually well. You can deep dive and research any scientific topic before speeding up your understanding of it. Let me explain this in a few words. Unlike traditional search engines, STORM can search and then write the entire article …

Why the North East is a crucial engine of the UK space economy

Why the North East is a crucial engine of the UK space economy

Published by skeptic

The UK space economy has rapidly evolved from a niche scientific sector into a cornerstone of national high-tech growth. With advances in satellite technology, space-enabled services, and institutional support, the UK is now one of the most dynamic space economies in Europe. While London and the South East remain major hubs, the North East of England is increasingly recognised as a vital contributor – bringing innovation, specialised talent, infrastructure, and investment that are shaping the country’s future in space. Overview of the UK space economy The UK space economy encompasses the design, manufacture, deployment, and utilisation of space assets such as satellites, sensors, launch systems, data services, and downstream applications that improve life on Earth. According to government data, the space sector contributed £17.5bn in income to the UK economy in 2021, with employment growing and organisations across the country increasing in number year‑on‑year. From communications to Earth observation, navigation to climate monitoring, space technologies touch almost every part of modern life. The UK government’s National Space Strategy identifies space as a strategic industry – …

Air India warns of possible disruptions to A350 routes after jet suffers engine damage

Air India warns of possible disruptions to A350 routes after jet suffers engine damage

Published by Sam Flores

Air India warned of possible disruptions to its A350 routes due to engine damage sustained by one of its long-haul aircraft after encountering “a foreign object” on Thursday (Jan 15). Air India operates six Airbus A350s on lucrative routes, including between India’s capital New Delhi and London, New York and Newark, making the airline vulnerable to disruptions should an aircraft be grounded unexpectedly. The damage to the airplane occurred as it was taxiing in dense fog in New Delhi, the carrier said. It did not disclose further details on the foreign object or the routes that could be affected. “The aircraft is currently grounded for a thorough investigation and necessary repairs, which may cause potential disruptions on select A350 routes,” Air India said. The plane had been flying to New York but was forced to turn back to its origin following Iran’s temporary airspace closure, which impacted its planned route. The incident occurred after it landed back in New Delhi. Iran has since reopened its airspace after a near-five-hour closure imposed amid concerns over possible …

I refuse to pay for Wallpaper Engine when this open-source alternative exists

I refuse to pay for Wallpaper Engine when this open-source alternative exists

Published by skeptic

It’s 2026, and what did we bring along with us? Subscription fatigue and microtransaction burnout. We have to pay monthly for music, movies, cloud storage, and even a heated seat in our cars. And while Wallpaper Engine is technically a one-time $4 fee rather than a monthly tithe, it still begs the question: Why have we normalized paying for desktop wallpapers at all? A while ago, I decided to cut down on paid apps I pay for and went with free, open-source app alternative. And I decided to start with my desktop’s wallpaper. I used to pay for the Wallpaper Engine just so that I could set the wallpaper the way I like. That’s when I installed Lively Wallpaper. It made me realize I don’t need to pay a dime just to put any wallpaper I want. It does it for free and often offers better performance and significantly more freedom. OS Windows Developer rocksdanister Lively Wallpaper is an open-source engine that converts videos, GIFs, webpages, and shaders into dynamic wallpapers. It features drag-and-drop setup, …

Melting Antarctic ice could cripple a deep ocean climate engine

Melting Antarctic ice could cripple a deep ocean climate engine

Published by Jenni Sidey

Cracking, creaking ice at the bottom of the world is quietly shaping the future climate you live in. New research from Australian scientists shows that melting Antarctic ice shelves and changing sea ice are disturbing one of the planet’s most important deep ocean engines, with potential ripple effects for rainfall, heat waves and storms far from the poles. A team led by Dr David Gwyther at The University of Queensland has pinpointed competing forces around East Antarctica that control the birth of some of the coldest and densest water on Earth. This icy water mass, called Antarctic Bottom Water, helps drive global ocean circulation, like a hidden conveyor belt running along the sea floor. When that conveyor slows, the entire climate system can shift. “This very cold, salty water, called Antarctic Bottom Water, is formed by the freezing of the ocean surface in sea ice factories that we call polynyas,” Dr Gwyther said. Bathymetry map of Cape Darnley, the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) and Prydz Bay with grounding line and calving front (orange line), fast …

A truly independent search engine shouldn’t exist in 2026 — but it does, and it’s great

A truly independent search engine shouldn’t exist in 2026 — but it does, and it’s great

Published by skeptic

One of the biggest issues with modern search engines is that they’re a huge privacy concern, hoovering up your data, tracking you across the web, and building a unique profile of you. It’s the same with the advent of AI tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity; you can ask and search for what you want, but it’s all being logged. That’s where this independent search engine comes in, and makes it so rare in 2025. Mojeek crawls and runs its own search index, doesn’t track you for advertising, and offers a rare sliver of peaceful privacy in an online world swimming in trackers, fingerprinting, profiling, and more. Now, this privacy is obviously wonderful, comes with significant benefits, and helps us claw back some privacy. But it doesn’t come without losing many of the conveniences we’ve become incredibly accustomed to over the years in modern search tools. Finding an independent search engine in 2026 is rare The default options are always there Credit: Gavin Phillips / MakeUseOf Running a search engine in 2026 isn’t an easy task. …