All posts tagged: freeze

STV journalists to strike over salary freeze as profits drop

STV journalists to strike over salary freeze as profits drop

Published by Sam Flores

Chris Harvey and other STV staff at the STV strike in Aberdeen on 7 January 2026. Picture: NUJ Journalists at STV will strike on a key day for Scottish elections coverage next month in response to a salary freeze. The strike on Friday 8 May has been timed to coincide with coverage of the Holyrood vote count. It will be the second by STV News journalists this year. STV said a temporary salary freeze is one of several measures taken “to respond to the market conditions facing the media sector” and “apply fiscal restraint and minimise increases to the cost base of the business”. STV has not increased base salaries since January 2025, when staff received a 3% pay rise and the final payment under a discretionary profit-sharing plan. In a letter to unions, including National Union of Journalists (NUJ), the broadcaster said the freeze is the “only option at this stage as we prioritise returning business to profitability”. The Scottish broadcaster’s revenue in the year to 31 December 2025 was down by 6% to …

UK puts Chagos handover deal in ‘deep freeze’ after Trump criticism

UK puts Chagos handover deal in ‘deep freeze’ after Trump criticism

Published by Sam Flores

“DEEPLY FRUSTRATING” The UK had still not received a formal exchange of notes from Washington – a technical step but a legal necessity for the treaty to be enacted, Britain’s PA news agency reported. Time has consequently run out to pass the legislation before parliament is dissolved in the coming weeks, it said, quoting a government source as saying the situation was “deeply frustrating”. Main opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the agreement should now find its “rightful place – on the ash heap of history”. “That it took so long is another damning indictment of a prime minister who fought to hand over British sovereign territory and pay 35 billion pounds to use a crucial military base which was already ours,” she said. Downing Street said the government would continue to “engage with the US and Mauritius”. “Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US. Ensuring its long-term operational security is and will continue to be our priority – it is the entire reason for the …

What’s a brain freeze and why do they happen?

What’s a brain freeze and why do they happen?

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. It’s nearly ice cream season again, and with it, its accompanying nuisance—the brain freeze. You know the feeling: the sudden pain that erupts in your upper face and forehead when you guzzle that arctic treat a little too quickly. The cause of brain freeze fascinates neurologists and Slurpee lovers alike, and the science behind it is especially captivating. What is a brain freeze? The abrupt cooling of the roof of your mouth is what triggers a brain freeze, also called an ice cream headache (or sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia, if you’re a scientist). The onslaught of cold causes nearby blood vessels to constrict and then expand, a protective reflex as your brain tries to maintain its ideal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Related ‘Ask Us Anything’ Stories “Your body always wants to keep your brain nice and warm,” Dr. Kristofer Rau, assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, tells Popular Science.  In response to cold, blood vessels in …

Bank holiday snow forecast as UK maps show 4 areas hit by Easter freeze | Weather | News

Bank holiday snow forecast as UK maps show 4 areas hit by Easter freeze | Weather | News

Published by Sam Flores

Weather maps suggest parts of northern Britain will see snow this Easter Bank Holiday (Image: Getty) Weather maps show snow over four parts of the UK this Easter Bank Holiday weekend. Two maps include snow falling over northern, western and southern Scotland at 3pm on Easter Sunday (April 5) while part of north west England looks set for a dusting. That’s according to a map generated on Tuesday (March 31) by WX Charts. A second map shows snow clearing from some areas, but depths up to 5cm lingering over high ground in Scotland at 6pm on April 5. WX Charts’ weather maps show a mix of rain and snow over northern Britain on Sunday, with a band of rain moving across the country overnight into Easter Monday. Another map shows temperatures crashing into single figures, with the mercury at 0C or as low as -2C in parts of Scotland even at midday on Sunday. READ MORE: UK households urged ‘do not ignore’ this symbol on popular item READ MORE: Gardeners can save up to 71% …

Scientists Bring Mouse Brains Back to Life After “Cryosleep” Deep Freeze

Scientists Bring Mouse Brains Back to Life After “Cryosleep” Deep Freeze

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech The concept of “cryosleep” — spending prolonged periods of time in suspended animation in a deep freeze state — has been a mainstay in the world of science fiction. While the idea of slumbering peacefully while covering vast distances in space on board a spacecraft remains a distant dream, researchers are inching ever closer to turning it into a reality. As detailed in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences earlier this month, a team of researchers at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg in Germany managed to return activity to mouse brains after carefully preserving the tissue in a glass-like state, a method called vitrification, before slowly thawing them. “If brain function is an emergent property of its physical structure, how can we recover it from complete shutdown?” lead author and University of Erlangen–Nuremberg neurologist Alexander German told Nature. Instead of suspending entire human bodies, like Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley in the horror …

Fungi proteins can make water freeze faster and easier

Fungi proteins can make water freeze faster and easier

Published by Jenni Sidey

In its purest form (with no extra debris), liquid water can exist as a liquid until -40°C if left still (unmoving). In order to actually freeze this water below 0°C, there must be something (a “template”) to provide the exact arrangements of molecules necessary for ice to form. Some bacteria have developed proteins that do this; thus, these bacteria represent the most effective biological ice-forming agents in nature. Researchers now have determined that the same ice-forming capability may exist within certain fungi species. However, the evolution of this fungal ability is very surprising. This presents a resolution to an age-old question about these fungi regarding how and why they possess such an extraordinary method for initiating ice formation compared to other living organisms, including bacteria. Schematic domain map of MoINpro, EnINpro, PPoINpro, and PsINpro, highlighting conserved and variable regions. (CREDIT: Science Advances) How Fungi Obtain Their Ice-Nucleating Ability This answer is the result of the transfer of genetic information across kingdoms, possibly hundreds of millions of years ago. The genetic blueprint for the production of …

Rita Ora explains her decision to freeze her eggs at 24 after mother’s devastating diagnosis

Rita Ora explains her decision to freeze her eggs at 24 after mother’s devastating diagnosis

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Rita Ora has revealed the personal reasons behind her decision to freeze her eggs in her twenties, citing both medical advice and her mother’s health history as key factors. The 35-year-old singer also shared that her friend and fellow TV personality, Davina McCall, is actively encouraging her to start a family. Ora, known for hits such as “Hot Right Now” and “I Will Never Let You Down”, underwent two rounds of egg freezing when she was 24 and 27. Speaking to Women’s Health UK, she said: “(Back then), a doctor told me it was a really good time to preserve the best quality (eggs). “It was actually the best advice, because now I’m in my mid-thirties and I have a lot of friends really …

Minnesota Sues Federal Government Over Medicaid Funding Freeze

Minnesota Sues Federal Government Over Medicaid Funding Freeze

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Minnesota filed a lawsuit on March 2 to block the federal government from withholding $243 million in Medicaid funds, saying the freeze could lead to potential cuts in medical services for low-income individuals. In a still from video, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison talks to The Epoch Times in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024. NTD The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last month temporarily deferred $259 million in Medicaid funds to Minnesota over alleged fraud in the state’s program, according to the court filing. The lawsuit, filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the state’s Human Services Department, asked the court to block the withholding of $243 million of those funds that were tied to 14 services the government identified as “high-risk” and subject to “noncompliance action.” “These cuts are the latest in a long series of efforts to go around the law to punish Minnesotans — but just as we fought back and won when they illegally tried to cut funding …

Trump can’t freeze NEVI funds, so he’s trying to stall them – again

Trump can’t freeze NEVI funds, so he’s trying to stall them – again

Published by skeptic

Photo: Tesla Owners Florida The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) just issued a new notice today that aims to make it harder for states to actually spend the money in one of Donald Trump’s favorite punching bags: the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program. In a Notice of Proposed Modification signed February 10, the US Department of Transportation / FHWA says it’s considering modifying the existing Buy America waiver for federally funded EV chargers by raising the domestic-content threshold for charger components from 55% to “up to 100%” of total component cost. And FHWA is openly acknowledging the stakes: after it reviews comments, it could continue the waiver, modify it, or discontinue it entirely. Didn’t a judge already kill this NEVI freeze stuff? Pretty much. At the end of January, US District Judge Tana Lin ruled that Trump’s DOT/FHWA acted unlawfully when they abruptly froze NEVI and that the federal government can’t withhold NEVI funding for reasons not authorized by Congress. In other words, you can’t just yank the plug because you feel like …

DC Finally Breaks Longest Freeze Streak Since 1989

DC Finally Breaks Longest Freeze Streak Since 1989

Published by Jenni Sidey

While Al Gore and the globalists were chatting up a storm at the World Economic Forum in Davos about cow fart-induced global warming, the eastern half of the U.S. was locked in a dangerous cold pattern not seen in decades. The Washington Post’s in-house weather team, known as the Capital Weather Gang, wrote on X that temperatures across the Washington, DC metro area finally edged up above freezing on Tuesday afternoon, ending a 233-hour stretch at or below freezing that began January 23 (or around the time when Gore was spewing global warming propaganda at WEF). While just shy of ten full days, the nine-day run ties for the fifth-longest such streak on record, dating back to 1872. It also marks only the second time since records moved to National Airport in 1945 that D.C. has seen a freeze of this length, with the previous event occurring in December 1989. The longest freeze in D.C. on record was a 12-day streak in early 1936 and in February 1895. REJOICE! It is above freezing in DC. …