Scientists at a Russian university have announced the discovery of a remarkably well-preserved ice age cave bear, with much of its soft tissue including its nose, flesh and teeth intact.In a statement, scientists from North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk say reindeer herders on Great Lyakhovsky island in the New Siberian Islands archipelago discovered the carcass in the melting permafrost. NEFU is considered the premier center for research into woolly mammoths and other prehistoric, ice age species.Scientists at the research center have hailed the find as ground-breaking. Previously, scientists had only the bone of cave bears to study. The species, or subspecies, lived in Eurasia in the Middle and Late Pleistocene period and became extinct about 15,000 years ago.Preliminary analysis suggests this specimen to be between 22,000 and 39,500 years old, but it will be carbon dated to confirm that.Recent years have seen major discoveries of mammoths, woolly rhinos, ice age foal, several puppies and cave lion cubs as the permafrost inside the Arctic Circle melts.
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Day: September 15, 2020
The massive El Dorado wildfire in the U.S. state of California was reportedly started by a reveal party, a growing trend in the United States in which couples come up with increasingly elaborate ways to announce the gender of their expected child. For some couples, the revelation of the baby’s gender has become an important milestone, like a baby shower. But some are saying reveal parties have gotten out of control, as couples vie for the most dramatic reveal and the accompanying social media attention. FILE – A helicopter prepares to drop water at a wildfire in Yucaipa, Calif., Sept. 5, 2020. The blaze is being blamed on a gender reveal party, when a pyrotechnical device sparked a wildfire that has burned thousands of acres.Jenna Karvunidis, whom the media call the inventor of the reveal party, says social media influencer clout and the money that can generate is pushing couples to extremes. “The problem is that it’s monetary,” she told the Daily Beast. “The platforms are rewarding this more extravagant content because that’s how you get the sponsorship opportunities. … And so, they have to up the ante with more and more spectacles.” It’s not clear if Karvunidis is, in fact, the inventor of the gender reveal party, but her 2008 post to social media helped cause the trend to go viral. Her idea was simple by today’s standards: Invite a few friends and family members over, bake a modest cake with pink icing in the center to indicate the unborn baby is a girl and post some photos on a blog. Karvunidis told the Daily Beast that her reveal party wasn’t to get attention from strangers but rather to celebrate a healthy pregnancy and get her estranged mother excited. Cakes no longer seem to cut it. One expecting couple hollowed out a watermelon, filled it with blue jello and then had an alligator chomp on it to reveal the gender. Another couple hired a small plane to dump small colored balls on attendees.Another aviation-themed reveal caused a plane crash when a small aircraft that was supposed to dump 1,300 liters of pink water flew too low and crashed. Luckily, no one was injured. Some are jumping out of planes to add to the drama. In one case, a man parachuted from a plane toward event guests with a smoke canister emitting colored smoke to reveal the gender. Yet another couple built a complex Rube Goldberg machine to reveal the gender of their coming baby. Some of the events have produced painful viral video, including a recent video of a Massachusetts man accidentally firing an explosive canister of blue smoke directly into his crotch. Flare hits dad-to-be in the crotch at a gender reveal party pic.twitter.com/tpkpNN9qOd— The Sun (@TheSun) September 13, 2020But now, the parties may be causing massive damage like the El Dorado fire, which started east of Los Angeles and has burned around 5,600 hectares so far. A massive 2018 fire in Arizona is also blamed on a gender reveal event gone wrong. It’s unclear if the fires will cause a pause to the gender reveal trend, but a quick online search reveals numerous resources for parents wanting to plan their event, and it’s likely most parties don’t involve gators, planes or explosive devices. There are also signs the trend is going global with a couple recently lighting up the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, in blue to announce they were expecting a boy. Karvunidis, however, says she has had enough. “Stop it. Stop having these stupid parties,” she wrote on Facebook.
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“Mulan” has been one of Jewher Ilham’s favorite movies since she was a little girl. She says she remembers sitting with her dad and watching Disney’s 1998 animated version of the tale of a Chinese woman who disguises herself as a man and wins acclaim as a warrior.“I was so excited about the live-action remake, until one of my favorite actresses, Liu Yifei, publicly supported the Hong Kong police against pro-democracy protesters,” she said. Liu, the leading actress and a naturalized U.S. citizen, posted a pro-police comment on Chinese social media platform Weibo in 2019 that was welcomed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Cast member Liu Yifei poses at the European premiere for the film “Mulan” in London, March 12, 2020.It’s not only Liu’s remarks that disappointed Jewher. The live-action “Mulan” filmed some of its scenes in Xinjiang, and Disney thanked eight local government bodies in its credits, including the Turpan Municipal Bureau of Public Security, which was sanctioned by the U.S. Commerce Department for administrating the internment camps in Xinjiang.“Because I have relatives and friends in the concentration camps. They might be in a camp near where the movie was shot,” she said.Jewher’s father, Ilham Tohti, is a Uighur economist and former university lecturer who in 2014 was sentenced to life in prison in China on separatism-related charges. Officials accused him of using his lectures to incite violence and overthrown the Chinese Communist Party leadership.Washington-based lawyer Rayhan Asat is advocating for the release of her brother Ekpar Asat, a Uighur entrepreneur who disappeared upon returning to China from a U.S. State Department program.Rayhan said Disney’s actions amount to indirect funding of the Communist Party institutions that imprison Uighurs and has violated corporate social responsibility standards.To her, the rollout of “Mulan” marks the latest example of Hollywood’s hypocrisy and willingness to sacrifice values to do business in China.“Disney is publicly endorsing the Xinjiang government in thanking them in credits. Disney wants to profit by a movie that empowers woman, but it’s praising governments who are committing crimes against woman, against humanity. It’s so hypocritical,” she told VOA.“In my eyes, the Uighur women who are voicing out for their parents, brothers, sisters, and loved ones, they are the real Mulan,” she added.”Mulan” has become a political flashpoint since it was released on Disney+ in the U.S. on September 4. #BoycottMulan is trending on Twitter. Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, last week published a letter addressed to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, accusing the company of “whitewashing” the “ongoing Uighur genocide.” Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, also requested the company explain why it chose to film part of the movie in Xinjiang.Children play next to a poster of the Disney movie “Mulan” outside a cinema in Beijing on September 11, 2020.Disney’s CFO Christine McCarthy last Thursday acknowledged that the film’s ties to China had created “a lot of issues” for the company, yet Disney declined to comment further on the current controversy.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Friday said it’s “very normal for the film to thank the convenience provided by the government of Xinjiang.” He also praised lead actress Liu Yifei, calling her the real “daughter of the Chinese nation.” China has maintained that the camps in Xinjiang at the center of the controversy are training facilities aimed at combating terrorism in the region.Officials and civic groups have growing concerns about the influence China has had over Hollywood in recent years.A new report by Pen America accused Hollywood of censoring films to avoid losing access to China’s lucrative box office market. It said key players in Hollywood are increasingly making decisions about their films “based on an effort to avoid antagonizing Chinese officials who control whether their films gain access to the booming Chinese market.”It said that in some instances, filmmakers or directors have directly invited Chinese government censors onto their film sets to advise them on “how to avoid tripping the censors’ wires.”Beijing has the world’s second-largest box market behind the U.S. According to the Hollywood Reporter, American films earned $2.6 billion in China last year.Despite the political backlash, “Mulan” premiered as the top movie in China last week, where theaters are open. Preliminary estimates show “Mulan” grossed $23.2 million, which some considered a disappointment.The film received lukewarm reviews online, scoring only 4.9 out of 10 on the country’s movie rating site Douban. Users criticized the film’s handling of feminism and its portrayal of Chinese culture.In other markets, Disney canceled plans to release “Mulan” in theaters because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The company hasn’t revealed how many people have purchased the movie since it became available September 4 in the U.S.
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday he is confident there will be effective 5G competitors to China’s Huawei from Western vendors at comparable costs, adding that he believes Western technologies will come to dominate telecommunications.
“I am confident that there will be a cost-effective deliverables from Western trusted vendors that can deliver the same services, or better services, at comparative cost,” Pompeo said during an Atlantic Council event.
In what some observers have compared to the Cold War arms race, the United States is worried 5G dominance would give China an advantage Washington is not ready to accept.
With U.S.-China relations at their worst in decades, Washington has been pushing governments around to world to squeeze out Huawei Technologies Co, arguing that the firm would hand over data to the Chinese government for spying.
Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former engineer in China’s People’s Liberation Army, denies it spies for Beijing and says the United States is trying to smear it because Western firms are falling behind in 5G technology.
Pompeo said countries had come to recognize the costs of putting “untrusted” vendors in their systems.
“Over time, I think the world will come to recognize that’s not the right path and you will see Western technologies that are verifiable, trustworthy and transparent come to dominate the telecommunications markets,” he said.
5G, which will offer much faster data speeds and become the foundation of many industries and networks, is seen as one of the biggest innovations since the birth of the internet itself a generation ago.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center says slow-moving Hurricane Sally, the latest storm to threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast, remains offshore but is already bringing high winds, rain and surf to the coastline.
In the latest report, forecasters say Sally was about 110 kilometers east to southeast of east of the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. It currently has maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour, and hurricane warnings early Tuesday extended from the Louisiana-Mississippi border east to Florida.
Forecasters say Sally should reach land near the Alabama-Mississippi state line by late Tuesday or early Wednesday, although they stress “significant” uncertainty as to where the storm’s eye would make landfall. But they say Sally is moving more eastward than originally anticipated, sparing the city of New Orleans.
The slow-moving system is expected to produce 25-50 centimeters of rain, but isolated areas could see as much 76 centimeters. That, along with storm surge that could be almost three meters in the worst areas, has increased the likelihood of coastal flooding in the warning region.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared an emergency in the state’s western Panhandle’s areas, which were experiencing a great deal of rain Tuesday from the storm.
President Donald Trump issued emergency declarations Monday for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and he tweeted that residents should listen to state and local leaders.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey sought the presidential declaration after the National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama, warned of the increasing likelihood of “dangerous and potentially historic flooding,” with waters rising as much as 9 feet (2.7 meters) above ground in parts of the Mobile metro area. Ivey urged residents Tuesday to stay vigilant and heed any emergency warnings.
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Для того, аби чогось досягти в Україні, ти маєш бути або братом дегенерата єрмака або його хвойдою. При тому, що сам єрмак юридично – ніхто. Але фактично він замінив собою зеленого карлика.
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Последние новости путляндии и мира, экономика, бизнес, культура, технологии, спорт
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Спецслужбы и военные США бьют тревогу наблюдая трамповскую пукинофилию
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Обанкротившийся газпром сейчас останавливает кучу своих трубопроводов на «профилактику». Понятно, что делается это потому, что газ никто не покупает. Германия готовится подвести черту и инициировать санкции против путляндии, в частности – объявив запрет на поставки нефти и газа
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Продолжающееся шесть лет падение уровня жизни превратилось в «новую норму» в массовом сознании населения путляндии
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Marine experts are planning to rescue humpback whales that have been recorded for the first time in crocodile-infested waters in the Kakadu national park in tropical northern Australia. It is thought the giant sea mammals took a wrong turn during one of nature’s most epic migrations. The humpbacks should be starting their long journey to Antarctica from breeding grounds off Western Australia’s remote north coast. Instead, a small group – thought to be two adults and a large juvenile – were spotted in the East Alligator river in the Kakadu national park, east of Darwin on September 2. It is famous for its world heritage Aboriginal rock art and for its crocodiles. Never have migrating whales been recorded in the area. Experts believe one of the humpbacks has returned to the sea, and plans are being made to coax the others to follow. This could involve using the noise from boat engines to gently move them down the river towards Van Diemen’s Gulf that leads to the open waters of the Timor Sea off northern Australia. Whale calls and songs might also be used to try to move the humpbacks back into safer waters. Scientists also hope to fit satellite tracking devices to the mammals. Dr. Carol Palmer, a senior dolphin and whale scientist at the Northern Territory government, says it was extraordinary to see the humpbacks so far inland. “We went up the East Alligator (river), we were turning around, we went up about 30kms and then as we were just moseying on down, what did we see the humpback whales. Everyone, including myself, we were just really shocked. It is something that has never been recorded before,” Palmer said.Tens of thousands of humpback whales migrate up and down Australia’s east and west coasts each year. This migration from Antarctica begins around April, when the giant mammals head north to breed. They start heading south in September and November. Scientists have not yet explained why a small group wandered so badly off-course, ending up in crocodile-infested waters in the Northern Territory. Saltwater crocodiles are the world’s largest reptiles. They are aggressive and dangerous but are thought to pose little danger to the whales unless the humpbacks become stranded on a sandbank.
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At the start an otherwise dreary academic year for many college freshmen because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Boston College — a Jesuit Catholic university — treated incoming freshmen to a pep talk from one of the biggest stars in American music. “If you completed your assignment and read my book, you will know I got into rock ‘n’ roll for the sex, the drugs and the sex,” drawled Bruce Springsteen, winner of numerous awards, seller of a gazillion downloads, and the father of Boston College graduate Evan Springsteen, Class of 2012.“Oh wait, that’s the wrong speech. Let’s start again.”Springsteen, 70, delivered his remarks September 10 by livestream to the incoming class of freshmen, who, like millions of other among the Class of 2024, have not enjoyed the same initiations and orientations of most new freshmen. The COVID-19 pandemic has closed schools or limited the typical ways new students interact in person because of social distancing. But the megastar quickly turned philosophical and fatherly, consoling them over their limitations and dubbing these post-GenZers the “coronial generation,” a play on the coronavirus.“The life of the mind is a beautiful thing. Along with your spiritual life, it’s the apotheosis of human experience,” he said. “You can waste it, you can half-ass your way through it, or you can absorb every minute of what you’re experiencing, and come out on the other end: an individual of expanded vision, of intellectual vigor, of spiritual character and grace, fully prepared to meet the world, on its own terms.”Despite mentioning a few times that he’d lapsed from formal religious views learned in eight years of Catholic school in central New Jersey, Springsteen often returned to mentions of faith and spirituality. “My faith was something I thought I could walk away from after those eight formative years in Catholic school, but I was wrong. … My faith remained with me, informing my writing … incorporating biblical language. I consider myself primarily a spiritual songwriter,” he said. “I make music that ultimately wants to address the soul. I made my peace with my Catholic upbringing, for better or for worse. And I have had to nod to the fact that I wouldn’t exactly be who I am without it.”Freshman Danny Giunta of Massachusetts asked the mega-star how he avoided conformity in his youth and gained confidence as a fledgling artist. “How did I maintain my confidence? Ah …” Springsteen pondered. “I am a rambling mess of towering insecurities, even to this day …” But after a decade of performing in “bars, union halls, firehouses, fairs, weddings, high school dances [and] bar mitzvahs” — before he signed his first recording contract that launched worldwide adoration and wealth — he had learned and worked to gain confidence in his skills. Money, which is a frequent theme in his work, “is great. But alone, it ain’t gonna do it. Everybody wants to do well, but don’t just do well, as they say, do good. Choose something that makes you happy and makes you want to get up and go to work in the morning and allows you to rest easy at night,” he saidWhen asked by BC student Heidi Yoon about the importance of friendship near the end of his 30-minute address, the singer-songwriter lit up.“Imagine this: The people you’re going to school with right now? Forty-five years later, you’re working with those exact same people! Forty-five years later, those same people are still with you,” he said, laughing and shaking his head. “You’re gonna fight, you’re gonna love, you’re gonna argue, you’re gonna hate this about the other guy, he’s gonna hate this about you. But … we held the value of our friendship, higher than any of our personal grievances or disputes,” he said of the E Street band, assembled in 1972 and maintaining the same members for most of its duration.Springsteen gave several minutes to encouraging his young viewers to participate in the upcoming presidential election, and their role in civic duty.“Your country needs you: your vision, your energy and your love. Yes, your love,” he said. “Love your country, but never fail to be critical. When it comes to your country’s living up to your and its ideals. Listen to the voices calling you from our founding documents and keep faith with them. And vote. Vote. Vote. Vote. Only half of all Americans vote. It’s a sin.”Jesuit education is notable for its intellectual rigor, critical thinking and volunteerism. There are numerous Jesuit educational institutions around the world, with 27 universities in the U.S., including Boston College and College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, Georgetown University in Washington, Loyola University of Maryland, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Chicago, Gonzaga University in the state of Washington, and Spring Hill College in Alabama. “You are already wisened by this experience,” Springsteen said about the COVID pandemic and resultant restrictions and limitations. “So appreciate the underappreciated: sporting events, getting together with your friends, concerts. Remember those?” Springsteen said, whose concert tickets to stadium performances sell out in minutes. “We will soon look to you for answers for a safer and better world.”
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