All posts tagged: Trap

The US Shows A Way Out Of Germany’s Energy Trap

The US Shows A Way Out Of Germany’s Energy Trap

Published by Jenni Sidey

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe Big developments are underway in Tennessee and Alabama. Over the next five years, the joint Japanese-American project will bring several so-called small modular reactors (SMRs) of the BWRX-300 type online. Almost one percent of U.S. electricity production—slightly more than three gigawatts—will be added to the existing energy mix by reactors designed by Hitachi and GE Vernova. A caveat for purists of market economics: this is a hybrid project. While the majority is privately financed, export support from Japan as well as offtake guarantees and credit facilities accounting for roughly one percent of the total volume come from the U.S. Overall, this project represents an investment of $40 billion. It joins a number of major initiatives currently being driven largely by the private sector in the U.S. Major platform operators and tech giants—Google, Meta, and Microsoft—are deeply involved in building new nuclear capacities. This disproves, above all, the claims of most German ideologues who insist that nuclear power has no future worldwide. The fog has lifted. The truth is indisputably on the …

Intricate loops of silk help net-casting spiders trap prey in webs

Intricate loops of silk help net-casting spiders trap prey in webs

Published by skeptic

core: Something — usually round-shaped — in the center of an object. fiber: Something whose shape resembles a thread or filament. gland: A cell, a group of cells or an organ that produces and discharges a substance (or “secretion”) for use elsewhere in the body or in a body cavity, or for elimination from the body. insect: A type of arthropod that as an adult will have six segmented legs and three body parts: a head, thorax and abdomen. There are hundreds of thousands of insects, which include bees, beetles, flies and moths. microscope: An instrument used to view objects — such as bacteria or the single cells of plants or animals — that are too small to be visible to the unaided eye. prey: (n.) An organism hunted by another, often for food. (v.) To attack and eat another organism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: A prestigious journal publishing original scientific research, begun in 1914. The journal’s content spans the biological, physical and social sciences. Each of the more than 3,000 papers …

Did Orbán lure EU into a trap? – POLITICO

Did Orbán lure EU into a trap? – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

All of this is very much out of Orbán’s election playbook, according to Michael Ignatieff, the former Canadian politician. He has observed Hungarian politics up close as professor of history at the Central European University, formerly based in Budapest, until it was forced out by Orbán, and is now headquartered in Vienna. “There’s always a risk you fall into a trap with Orbán. He’s fighting for his political life,” Ignatieff told POLITICO. But he doesn’t fault EU leaders for the stance they took last week. “I’m in no position to second-guess the Commission or the Council or anybody. The point to remember is that Orbán has run against Brussels Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for 16 years and cashed the checks on Saturday and Sunday. That’s the play, right? I don’t think there’s anything the EU can do one way or the other here. If it plays soft, he’ll still play hard,” he added. Orbán’s four previous election campaigns were all built around the idea of Hungary facing a dark and dangerous external threat, …

Focusing on yourself is a trap

Focusing on yourself is a trap

Published by Daniella Wilson

Add Comic Relief: Funny For Money to your watchlist I get an insight into people’s lives hosting Radio 1’s breakfast show. In a dangerous, divided and digital world, many listeners can feel isolated. For some, the solitary life enforced during the pandemic became a habit. What’s more, you can easily live on your phone – you can stay home, order every meal online and get nearly every-thing done without physically talking to anyone. We need connections. This isn’t necessarily romantic relationships; it’s neighbours, local shopkeepers, colleagues and friends. So I try to create shared moments on my show, a feeling of togetherness and community – everyone mucking in to make something fun and joyful. My Comic Relief challenge – a 1,000km cycle ride across the UK on a tandem – feels like an extension of this endeavour. Listeners, locals, famous faces and people whose lives have been supported by Comic Relief-funded projects will, at various points, join me on my gruelling eight-day journey through cities, towns and villages. I’m the daft ringleader, conducting the circus …

Dennis Quaid’s ‘heart breaks every time’ he thinks of Parent Trap co-star Natasha Richardson

Dennis Quaid’s ‘heart breaks every time’ he thinks of Parent Trap co-star Natasha Richardson

Published by Daniella Wilson

Dennis Quaid has admitted his “heart breaks every time” he thinks of his late The Parent Trap co-star Natasha Richardson. The actor, 71, became emotional while reflecting on the actress – who died aged 45 after suffering a brain bleed following a skiing accident in 2009 – and the memories they shared while filming the beloved 1998 movie.  “My heart breaks every time,” Dennis revealed during a new episode of the Out of Order podcast after watching one of their scenes together. “Natasha… she was just an incredible person and amazing.” In the film, Natasha played Elizabeth James, a wedding dress designer who unexpectedly rekindles her romance with her ex-husband Nick Parker, portrayed by Dennis, after their twin daughters, Hallie and Annie – both played by Lindsay Lohan – meet at summer camp and secretly swap places.  Reflecting on the experience, Dennis added that working alongside Natasha was so special that, “If there’s anybody I’d ever want to work with again, it’d be her.”  WATCH: Dennis Quaid says he still misses Parent Trap co-star Natasha …

The trap Anthropic built for itself

The trap Anthropic built for itself

Published by skeptic

Friday afternoon, just as this interview was getting underway, a news alert flashed across my computer screen: the Trump administration was severing ties with Anthropic, the San Francisco AI company founded in 2021 by Dario Amodei. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had invoked a national security law to blacklist the company from doing business with the Pentagon after Amodei refused to allow Anthropic’s tech to be used for mass surveillance of U.S. citizens or for autonomous armed drones that could select and kill targets without human input. It was a jaw-dropping sequence. Anthropic stands to lose a contract worth up to $200 million and will be barred from working with other defense contractors after President Trump posted on Truth Social directing every federal agency to “immediately cease all use of Anthropic technology.” (Anthropic has since said it will challenge the Pentagon in court.) Max Tegmark has spent the better part of a decade warning that the race to build ever-more-powerful AI systems is outpacing the world’s ability to govern them. The MIT physicist founded the Future …

Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson, Yerin Ha Say Their ‘Not Thirst Trap Puppets’

Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson, Yerin Ha Say Their ‘Not Thirst Trap Puppets’

Published by Daniella Wilson

[This story contains major spoilers from Bridgerton season four, Part 2.] Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie (Yerin Ha) may have finally found their happily ever after in Bridgerton season four, but it wasn’t without plenty of hurdles and setbacks that come with any fairytale story. In Part 2 alone, while also trying to figure out how to make their relationship work within society — as Sophie is a maid and Benedict is a nobleman — Sophie is also dealing with Araminta’s (Katie Leung) vendetta against her, trying to throw her in prison forever, and Benedict is contemplating leaving his family and society so he can be with his one true love. But thanks to Lady Violet Bridgerton’s (Ruth Gemmell) masterful plan, Benedict and Sophie make it down the aisle legally (if you caught that post-credits scene) by the end, along with a few highly anticipated spicy scenes along the way. Thompson tells The Hollywood Reporter that it was important for them to “deliver something real” for Benedict and Sophie’s intimate scenes, “because we’re not thirst trap puppets.” …

3 Weird Places That Trap Bad Energy, According To A Psychic

3 Weird Places That Trap Bad Energy, According To A Psychic

Published by Jenni Sidey

Janika Galloway, a psychic medium and clinical hypnotherapist, shared on Instagram that there are certain places that trap bad energy. When you carry other people’s negative energy, it can make it hard for you to actually enjoy your day.  Though it can manifest in many ways, this negative energy could show up as things constantly going wrong, feeling sick or tired for no reason, and even having heavier thoughts than usual. She explained, “When low vibrational energy enters, it warps your mind, drains your body, and clouds the clarity that leads to aligned action and a sense of being on top of things.”  So how do we fix it? Turns out, you might have to look in some unusual places. 1. Closets Chay_Tee | Shutterstock You store more than just clothes in your closet. It also holds past versions of you, both good and bad. Galloway says, “You store identities. You store experiences. You store energy.” Often, she sees people feeling stuck and resisting change when they have bad energy in their closet. They may …

‘Those lamenting the lag in Western research risk falling into the trap set by the Chinese party-state’

‘Those lamenting the lag in Western research risk falling into the trap set by the Chinese party-state’

Published by Sam Flores

Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words. The latest global university ranking, which was conducted by researchers at Leiden University in the Netherlands, has caused a stir in Western media outlets like the New York Times and Le Monde, which noted the meteoric rise of Chinese universities – eight of which made it into the top 10. Normally, such results spark national pride on Chinese social media and give Beijing’s mouthpieces an opportunity to sing the praises of the new mantra of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC): “The East is rising, the West is declining.” Paradoxically, the Dutch ranking has become a source of ridicule among Chinese internet users, who were astonished to see that Oxford University had been beaten by Zhengzhou University. The deafening silence of the official media has revealed the regime’s embarrassment; the Leiden ranking, which is based on the number of scientific publications, has mainly reminded the Chinese public of the ongoing scandals involving paper mills – operations that produce paid-for scientific articles on demand. On January 23, the National Natural Science …

The “If-Then” Trap: Why Happiness Is Not a Destination

The “If-Then” Trap: Why Happiness Is Not a Destination

Published by Jenni Sidey

We spend our lives waiting for the perfect moment to be happy. But ancient wisdom teaches us that true joy isn’t found “out there”—it’s found within. Have you ever had a moment in your life where everything was just perfect? Perhaps you were on vacation, sitting on a comfortable lounge chair, looking out over the vast, beautiful ocean. The wind was gently blowing, the sun was warm on your skin, and for those few brief moments, the world felt complete. You weren’t thinking about what happens when you go back home. You weren’t thinking about your rent, your mortgage, or your job. The infinite number of worries that usually cloud our minds had vanished. It was a perfect moment. It may have been a perfect hour, or even a perfect day. But it takes so little to push us off that edge. You have reservations for dinner that night, and you arrive right on time, only to be told there is a half-hour wait. Suddenly, the peace cracks. You pull out your phone, check social …