Einstein Vindicated

Albert Einstein’s prediction about how gravity behaves has been tested on a cosmic scale. Albert Einstein’s prediction about how gravity behaves has been supported by an international team of researchers who studied how the force acts on cosmic scales.

Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) researchers found that the way galaxies cluster is consistent with our standard model of gravity and the predictions from Einstein’s theory of General Relativity.

A complex analysis of the first year of data from DESI provides one of the most stringent tests yet of General Relativity and how gravity behaves at cosmic scales.

Looking at galaxies and how they cluster throughout time reveals how cosmic structure grows, which lets DESI test theories of modified gravity – an alternative explanation for our universe’s accelerating expansion.

DESI is managed by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). UK involvement in DESI includes the University of Portsmouth, Durham University, and UCL as full member institutions, together with individual researchers at the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Sussex, and Warwick.    READ MORE...

Toroidal Electromagnetic Pulses

Toroidal electromagnetic pulses can be generated using a device known as a horn microwave antenna. 

This electromagnetic “vortex cannon” produces skyrmion topological structures that might be employed for information encoding or for probing the dynamics of light–matter interactions, according to its developers in China, Singapore and the UK.

Examples of toroidal or doughnut-like topology abound in physics – in objects such as Mobius strips and Klein bottles, for example. It is also seen in simpler structures like smoke rings in air and vortex rings in water, as well as in nuclear currents. 

Until now, however, no one had succeeded in directly generating this topology in electromagnetic waves.     READ MORE...

Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough

Two of the key barriers to producing power from nuclear fusion have been overcome, in what scientists say is a major advance towards producing near-limitless clean energy.


A team at US energy firm General Atomics achieved a “sweet spot” for operating the next-generation power source within a donut-shaped tokamak reactor.


Nuclear fusion replicates the same natural processes found within the Sun in order to produce vast amounts of energy, however harnessing the superhot plasma within the reactor in order for it to work in a meaningful way has proved elusive.             READ MORE...

Nuclear Power Breakthrough

The United Kingdom is leading the world in nuclear fusion energy power plant design, according to a report by The Royal Society. The special edition report details the progress achieved by the spherical tokamak for energy production (STEP).

The STEP program aims to design and build the UK’s first prototype fusion energy plant. The report presents the technology needed for the prototype and also presents the steps needed for integrating it with the power plant for producing energy from fusion.

One of the unique aspects of the program is that it also considers decommissioning as a part of the design.

UK’s STEP for nuclear fusion
STEP is scheduled to be built at the former coal-fired power station site of West Burton, Nottinghamshire. Ground and environment surveys are underway for the project and first operation is expected to begin in early 2040s.

The program aims for the formation of an integrated delivery organization based on a public-private partnership model that will deliver the prototype plant. This includes designing for cost, and at pace.     READ MORE...

Altered States of Consciousness

Summary:  Mindfulness training can lead to altered states of consciousness, such as disembodiment and unity. Researchers found that participants were twice as likely to experience these states compared to a control group.

While these experiences can be positive, they may also be startling or unpleasant. Mindfulness teachers and students should discuss these potential side effects.

Key Facts:

•  alltered States: Mindfulness can cause experiences like disembodiment and unity.
• Increased Likelihood: Participants were twice as likely to experience these states.
• Awareness Needed: Teachers and students should discuss these potential effects.

Source: University of Cambridge

Mindfulness training may lead participants to experience disembodiment and unity – so-called altered states of consciousness – according to a new study from researchers at the University of Cambridge.

The team say that while these experiences can be very positive, that is not always the case. Mindfulness teachers and students need to be aware that they can be a side-effect of training, and students should feel empowered to share their experiences with their teacher or doctor if they have any concerns.

Mindfulness-based programmes have become very popular in recent years. According to recent surveys, 15% of adults in the UK have learnt some form of mindfulness. They are often practised as a way of reducing stress or coping with depression and anxiety.

There is anecdotal evidence that practicing mindfulness can lead to alterations of the senses, self, and body boundaries, some even similar to those induced by psychotropic drugs.     READ MORE...

New Material Goldene

Researchers have managed to create “goldene”, an incredibly thin version of gold.

The work follows the successful production of graphene, which is made out of a single layer graphite atoms. That has been hailed as a miracle material: it is astonishingly strong, and much better at conducting heat and electricity than copper.

Goldene is built on the same principle, with researchers spreading out gold so it is just one atom layer thick. And, similar to graphene, scientists say that the process gives it a variety of new properties that could lead to major breakthroughs.    READ MORE...

Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion Energy

European scientists say they have made a major breakthrough in their quest to develop practical nuclear fusion - the energy process that powers the stars.

The UK-based JET laboratory has smashed its own world record for the amount of energy it can extract by squeezing together two forms of hydrogen.

If nuclear fusion can be successfully recreated on Earth it holds out the potential of virtually unlimited supplies of low-carbon, low-radiation energy.

The experiments produced 59 megajoules of energy over five seconds (11 megawatts of power).  READ MORE...

Boosting Domestic Uranium Production

The U.S. and Europe face challenges with uranium supply due to dependence on Russian imports and global shortages.

The U.S. is advancing in high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) production with projects like Centrus Energy Corp's facility in Ohio.

The U.K. plans to invest in developing HALEU production capabilities for its next-generation nuclear reactors.

There is great potential for several new uranium production markets as the U.S. and Europe look to diversify away from Russia for new nuclear energy pursuits. The U.S. and several European countries have announced ambitious nuclear power plans for the coming decades, in support of a green transition. 

However, the lack of uranium production outside of Russia is posing a threat to achieving these plans. Sanctions introduced on Russian energy and other products, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, have led to global shortages of natural gas, uranium, and other critical materials. 

This has driven several state powers to diversify their supply chains and increase the regional production of a variety of energy sources and related materials. This means we could soon see new uranium-producing markets emerge in Europe and the U.S.  READ MORE...

Large Structure in Space

The universe is more connected than you might think: In recent years, scientists have used new tools and techniques to map the “cosmic web,” which is made up of intertwined strands of gas structures known as filaments that link galaxies. Now, a team of researchers have identified a new “large-scale structure” in the universe that they call the “Cosmic Vine.”

The researchers hail from numerous universities and institutions across Denmark, Chile, the U.K., and the Netherlands. They published a preprint of their work to the arXiv server on November 8. According to the study, the Cosmic Vine was spotted after poring over data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), humanity’s most powerful tool for peering into the far reaches of space and time.  READ MORE...

Artificial Intelligence on the Production LIne

As Doritos, Walkers and Wotsits speed along a conveyor belt at Coventry's PepsiCo factory - where some of the UK's most popular crisps are made - the noise of whirring machinery is almost deafening.

But here, it's not just human workers trying to hear signs of machine failure above the factory fray.

Sensors attached to equipment are also listening out for indications of hardware faults, having been trained to recognise sounds of weary machines that risk bringing production lines to a grinding halt.

PepsiCo is deploying these sensors, created by tech firm Augury and powered by artificial intelligence (AI), across its factories following a successful US trial.   
The company is one of many exploring how AI can increase factory efficiency, reduce waste and get products onto shelves sooner.     READ MORE...

CRISPR Gene Editing

Ark Motors Microcar

A London-based EV start-up Ark has launched an electric microcar called the Ark Zero that costs £5995. British media tout it as “the UK’s most affordable electric car.”

The start-up Ark Motors, about which there is virtually no information online, has attracted a lot of attention in the British press with their city get-around, Ark Zero. The microcar designed for cities has a range of just over 50 miles (around 80 kilometres).

The Ark Zero microcar has a top speed of 28 mph (45 km/h), which means the vehicle is not meant for the motorway. With only a 3-horsepower- (2.2-kilowatt) battery, the ArkZero has an energy consumption around the scale of two and three-wheelers. The city vehicle has enough room for “two people and a dog,” as numerous news sites quote from the company—one in front and one behind with the dog.

The tiny electric car measures 98.4 inches (250 cm) in length, 47.3 in (120 cm) in width, and 64 in (1,62 cm) in height, and has a 67.7-inch (172 cm) wheelbase. Among the British media, the consensus seems to be that the light electric vehicle is competition for the Citroen Ami, though smaller, less expensive electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular in energy-strapped Europe. For example, Italian car-sharing provider Enjoy recently announced it is adding 100 electric microcars XEV Yoyo model from the Italian start-up XEV with a range of around 150 kilometres and a speed limited to 80 km/h. Renault’s Mobilize also offers microcars, among others.  READ MORE...

SEX in our Prisons

Mugshots for former prison guards Emily Watson, Ayshea Gunn and Jennifer Gavan . 

 (View Finder Pictures)

At least 18 female guards in the U.K.'s "cushiest prison" have reportedly been fired or resigned amid a flurry of sordid sexual accusations — including claims of sex inside cells and one guard smuggling her underwear to an inmate.

HMP Berwyn, which is also Britain's largest facility, has been hit with various claims of illicit affairs and inappropriate relationships between guards and inmates since it opened in 2017, with three former workers sentenced in a 2019 scandal, the Mirror reported.

The publication obtained documents about the exits obtained through information requests showed the inappropriate relationships were more widespread than had been publicly known.

British outlets are reporting that the 18 women who were fired or resigned from a single jail is a "record," noting that since 2019, a total of 31 women across England and Wales have been fired from jails for intimate relationships with inmates.

Former HMP Berwyn guard Jennifer Gavan, for example, was sentenced to eight months in jail last year after pleading guilty to misconduct. She accepted £150 — or about $180 — from inmate Alex Coxon to smuggle him a cellphone, which they later used to exchange raunchy photos, according to the Mirror. Coxon was in prison for robbery.

Mark Fairhurst, chair of the Prison Officers’ Association, pinned blame on the recent spate of affairs and firings on "the wrong kind of women" getting hired.

"Staff being recruited don’t have face-to-face interviews… it’s all done on Zoom," Fairhurst told the Mirror. "A lot of people getting these jobs don’t have enough life experience and are susceptible to conditioning from prisoners."  READ MORE...

The Spying Game

The latest controversy to swirl around the Chinese telecoms company Huawei has shone a spotlight on the murky world of Chinese espionage, agent-recruitment and an ambitious programme of extending its influence across the globe.

So how extensive is it, how does it work and who runs it?

A dossier reportedly compiled with the help of a former MI6 spy has accused China of trying to manipulate key UK figures, including politicians, to back the telecom giant's business in Britain.

Every major Chinese enterprise anywhere in the world allegedly has an internal "cell" answerable to the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to drive the political agenda and ensure that the company is compliant with political directives.

This is why China experts assert that the CCP does operate here in Britain, often under the natural cover of business. "The Party machine is everywhere", says one, adding: "For China, business is inseparable from politics."

The CCP has 93 million members, with many of them placed or hidden in organisations abroad. This allows them to be tasked with gathering secrets, especially in the technology sphere, including telecoms.

Experts say these "agents", as well as targeted individuals in important positions in foreign companies, can be recruited or persuaded using a number of different methods.

Setting honeytraps
The first approach is usually what is known as "a positive incentive", especially if the targeted individual is a non-Chinese national.

In the West this can take the form of a tempting invitation to an important business meeting in China, an offer of financial help for a company facing difficulties, or the offer of a (sometimes meaningless) seat on a board as a non-executive director or even in some cases a life-changing sum of money.

In the last 10 to 15 years there has been an increasing readiness to target well-placed foreigners with positive incentives.  READ MORE...

Tons of Cocaine Floating Around in Pacific Ocean

New Zealand authorities have recovered 3.2 tonnes of cocaine, worth more than $300 million, found floating in the Pacific Ocean and believed to be bound for Australia.  Police said the haul of 81 bales, which was drifting hundreds of kilometres northwest of New Zealand, was recovered in a joint operation with the New Zealand Customs Service and Defence Force acting on intelligence from the Five Eyes alliance, which also includes Australia, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

“This is the largest find of illicit drugs by New Zealand’s agencies by some margin,” said Commissioner of New Zealand Police Andrew Coster.  Officials believe the drugs were dropped at a “floating transit point” in the Pacific Ocean where they would have been picked up and taken to Australia.  “We believe it was destined for Australia, where it would have been enough to service the market for one year,” Coster said.  “It is more than New Zealand would use in 30 years.”

A police photo showed the massive haul was bound by netting and covered in yellow floats. Some of the bales had a Batman symbol on them, with the packages of cocaine inside labelled with what appeared to be a print of a four-leaf clover.  Coster described the bust as a “huge result” for police in both New Zealand and Australia.  “There is no doubt this discovery lands a major financial blow right from the South American producers through to the distributors of this product,” he added.  Officials said it was too early to say where the drugs came from.

Robot Snake in our Future

A robot that imitates the flexibility of a snake could be used in cancer surgery within 10 years, experts say.  The remote-controlled robot, called COBRA, has previously been used in jet engineering and nuclear plants.

The University of Nottingham, which developed the robot, has secured funding to make the robot the first of its kind in the UK.  Prof Dragos Axinte (ABOVE) said: "We have started early tests to see if the robot can... perform surgical procedures."

The researchers, who are collaborating with Rolls-Royce, said they had secured funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to adapt COBRA for use in surgery - specifically throat cancer and injury surgery.

They said that while such medical procedures were currently performed with endoscopic tools, COBRA could offer more dexterity, accuracy, and high-definition views for surgical teams.

It has been used as part of a preliminary study at a hospital in Leicester.  READ MORE...

Switch Off Streetlights to Save Energy

A draft budget in the U.K. city of Newport is proposing to switch off streetlights to cut back on costs, but officials are concerned that the move would put residents at risk.

The city, located in South Wales, included the measure in its 2023/2024 draft budget. If implemented about half of the town’s lights would be off between midnight and 6 a.m., BBC News reported.

Newport’s Green Party councilmember Lauren James said it was imperative that safety considerations be considered.
"I hope that the council is looking into it, and make sure that there are things like high-visibility strips on steps, so it’s safe for those who do have to be out at those times," she said.

Another council member, Andrew Sterry, said his constituents had expressed concerns over a possible increase in crime.

"I am against this proposal as I received many comments from my residents and they’re extremely concerned about crime rates going up," he said. "It wasn’t that long ago that all the street lights were changed to LED to save costs."

A draft budget was made available to the public on Dec. 15, 2022. It is due to close on Feb. 2, 2023.

Among the other plans is a 9.5% council tax hike because of "increasing costs and pressures faced by the council."

Costs of living in the U.K. have soared in recent months. Late last year, inflation in the U.K. hit a 41-year-high of 11.1%, driven by sharply rising energy and food costs.

___________________________
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
By Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

97% ARE STRAIGHT

LONDON – Around 3% of people in England and Wales aged 16 or over identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to 2021 census data released on Friday.

The census in 2021 was the first in Britain to ask about people’s sexual orientation, and the results are broadly in line with previous, smaller-scale surveys.

The census, conducted by Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS), also asked about people’s gender identity for the first time. About 262,000 people – 0.5% of those aged 16 or over – replied that the gender they identified with was different from their sex registered at birth, the ONS said.

The questions about sexual orientation and gender identity were voluntary, and 7.5% of people declined to answer about their sexual orientation, while 6.0% did not answer the question on gender identity.

Overall, 43.4 million people in England and Wales said they were “straight or heterosexual”, while 1.5 million – 3.2% of the population aged 16 or over – identified as gay or lesbian, bisexual, or other.

Some 1.5% of people said they were gay or lesbian and 1.3% were bisexual. Another 0.3% ticked a box for “other sexual orientation”, two thirds of whom called themselves pansexual.

On gender identity, 262,000 people aged 16 or over answered that they were a different gender to the sex they were registered as at birth, the ONS said.

Of those, 48,000 said they now identified as a trans man, 48,000 identified as a trans woman, 30,000 said they were non-binary and 18,000 said they had another gender identity, the ONS added.

The ONS defines a trans man as someone who identifies as a man but was registered female at birth, while trans women were registered as male at birth, but now identify as women.

Census figures for Britain as a whole are not yet available, as Scotland delayed carrying out its census for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A previous, annual UK-wide survey conducted by the ONS showed that in 2020 3.8% of people identified as gay or lesbian, bisexual or other, up from 1.9% in 2014 when same-sex marriage was first allowed in England and Wales.

That survey also gave breakdowns of sexual orientation by age, gender and ethnicity – showing, among other things, that younger people are much more likely to identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual.

Sex between men aged 21 or over was legalised in England and Wales in 1967. The age of consent was lowered to 18 in 1994 and reduced to 16 – the same as for heterosexual relationships – in 2000.

Census data on sexual orientation by age will be published on Jan. 25, and further details will come later in the year.

Pipebots to Stop Leaks

Around three billion litres of water are lost through leaks across hundreds of thousands of miles of water pipe in England and Wales daily, says water industry economic regulator Ofwat.  Engineers have now developed miniature robots to patrol the pipe network, check for faults and prevent leaks.  They say maintaining the network will be "impossible" without robotics.  Water industry body Water UK told BBC News that companies were already "investing billions" in leakage.

But a recent Ofwat report pointed to a lack of investment by water companies. It named several that it said were "letting down customers and the environment" by not spending enough on improvements. Water UK responded saying that leakage was at "its lowest level since privatisation".

Leaks are a widespread and complicated problem: Across the UK, hundreds of thousands of kilometres of pipe - of varying age and in varying condition - supply millions of properties with water.

Colin Day from Essex and Suffolk Water said: "In [this region] alone, we look after more than 8,500km (5,282 miles) of pipe and only about half the leaks in those pipes are visible, which means it's complicated to pinpoint where [the rest] are."

Wasted water has been a particularly sensitive issue this year. According to Water UK, three companies - South East Water, South West Water, and Yorkshire Water - still have localised hosepipe bans in place following the summer drought. And, amid the cost of living crisis, Ofwat estimates 20% of customers in England and Wales struggle to pay their water bill.  In the last year, though, according to Ofwat, companies have reduced leakage by an average of about 6%.

The industry has committed to a government target of halving the amount of water lost by 2050. Water UK accepted that progress needed to "accelerate". "We're adopting the latest technology, including special in-pipe cameras; satellite imaging; thermal drone technology, high-tech probes, and artificial intelligence," it told BBC News.  READ MORE...

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and popular music's recognition as an art form. 

Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways; the band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements.

Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the Beatles evolved from Lennon's previous group, the Quarrymen, and built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years from 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. The core trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, together since 1958, went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them in 1962. 

Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act, and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their domestic success after signing to EMI Records and achieving their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962. As their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed "Beatlemania", the band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four", with Epstein, Martin or another member of the band's entourage sometimes informally referred to as a "fifth Beatle".

By early 1964, the Beatles were international stars and had achieved unprecedented levels of critical and commercial success. They became a leading force in Britain's cultural resurgence, ushering in the British Invasion of the United States pop market, and soon made their film debut with A Hard Day's Night (1964). A growing desire to refine their studio efforts, coupled with the untenable nature of their concert tours, led to the band's retirement from live performances in 1966. 

At this time, they produced records of greater sophistication, including the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), and enjoyed further commercial success with The Beatles (also known as "the White Album", 1968) and Abbey Road (1969). 

The success of these records heralded the album era, as albums became the dominant form of record consumption over singles; they also increased public interest in psychedelic drugs and Eastern spirituality, and furthered advancements in electronic music, album art and music videos. 

In 1968, they founded Apple Corps, a multi-armed multimedia corporation that continues to oversee projects related to the band's legacy. After the group's break-up in 1970, all principal former members enjoyed success as solo artists and some partial reunions have occurred. Lennon was murdered in 1980 and Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr remain musically active.  SOURCE:  Wikipedia