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☆ Inside the Quest to Make Fusion Energy a Reality
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Raymond Zhong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +15 min

The Quest to Build a Star on Earth Start-ups say we’re closer than ever to near-limitless, zero-carbon energy from fusion. Today’s fusion start-ups aren’t just preparing for this moment in the lab. Such advances helped the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory produce more fusion energy than the energy in the incoming laser beams, for the briefest of moments, in 2022. They also helped European researchers generate record amounts of fusion energy at a facility in Britain last year. What worries researchers is how much some fusion start-ups are promising, and how soon.

Persons: General Atomics, Lawrence, —, Charles Darwin’s, Lord Kelvin, Darwin, Arthur Eddington, Nicolas Tucat, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Vinod Khosla, Sam Altman, Kitty, presale, Gerald Navratil, Navratil, “, it’s, ”, Robert Goldston, you’ve, David James Bartho, Simon Simard, Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr, Stark, Bob Mumgaard, Mumgaard, Brandon Sorbom, Sorbom, “ We’re, Dr, Earl Marmar, Thea Energy, Salvador Dalí, Cary Forest, Grant Hindsley, Richard Magee, “ It’s, Jean Paul Allain, there’s, Steven Cowley, Cowley, ” David Gates, you’d, Gates, ” Thea, Thea, Eos Organizations: Nuclear Fusion Facility, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Agence France, Princeton University, University of Sydney, Underwood Archives, Getty, Fairfax Media, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, SPARC, The New York Times, ARC, Commonwealth, The New York, Dawn Princeton Plasma Physics, tokamaks, That’s, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Energy, Thea, Zap Energy, Helion, Microsoft, General Fusion, West, Technologies, Department of, Princeton Plasma Physics Locations: France, Columbia, Princeton, Harwell , England, Britain, Massachusetts, Russian, Commonwealth, Seattle, Vancouver, Southern California

☆ A brief history of America's love affair with fluoridated water — and why it's now up for debate
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-12 | by ( Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Nearly 63% of the US population has fluoridated water flowing through their taps, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Hawaii is the only US state without any fluoride in municipal taps; fluoridated water is only available there on military bases. As such, fluoridated water is now mandated on any military base with more than 3,300 people. Rumors have circulated that drinking fluoridated water can lead to bone cancer (osteosarcoma), but long-term studies from both the UK and US haven't found any credible evidence of higher rates in areas where people drink fluoridated water. Their review concluded that some studies of fluoride consumption have found links between higher fluoride water levels and lower IQs in kids.

Persons: Trump, he'll, —, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump's, Biden, Kennedy, He's, Mark Ralston, Leonard Ortiz, Nina Simone, Michael Ochs, Matthias Balk, Anthony Kim, Frank Albert Charles Burke, Obama, Ashley Malin, Malin, Oliva Organizations: RFK Jr, Service, Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, Getty, MediaNews, Orange, NBC, Environmental Protection Agency, Michael Ochs Archives, US Public Health Service, Waimanalo Health Clinic, Honolulu Civil, Calgary, US Department of Defense, Fairfax Media, National Toxicology, University of Florida, Denver, EPA Locations: New York, California, Colorado, Zhijin county, China, AFP, Midwest, Colorado Springs , Colorado, Oakley , Idaho, Arkansas, Grand Rapids , Michigan, , New Mexico, Hawaii, Honolulu, Canada, Alberta, Australia, United States, India, Iran, Pakistan, Mexico, Grand Rapids

☆ Australian TV host announces her own death in posthumous social media post
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Australian TV host Fiona MacDonald announced her own death at the age of 67 in a posthumous social media post on Thursday. The beloved host, who worked on the children's program “Wombat” and gameshow “It’s a Knockout,” died three years after being diagnosed with a motor neuron disease. There are various motor neuron diseases; the term refers to progressive neurological disorders that destroy motor neurons and cells. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and progressive bulbar palsy (PBP) are both examples of motor neuron diseases. She said the diagnosis came as a “shock” as MacDonald had no family history of motor neuron diseases.

Persons: Fiona MacDonald, ”, Kylie, ” MacDonald, I’ve, MacDonald, “, Fiona McDonald, Ross Anthony Willis Organizations: Australia Broadcasting Company, ABC, National Institutes of Health, Fairfax Media, Getty Locations: ”, Australia

☆ Wigs, robotic guns and exploding pagers: Israel has a long history of hunting down its enemies
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-20 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Over the years, Israel has viewed “targeted killings” as a way to deter attacks on the county, fuel fear among its enemies and exact revenge. Iran’s nuclear program is closer to building a bomb than ever, even after several nuclear scientists were killed, he said. But the Mossad operation dismayed Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who demanded the resignation of the spy service’s chief. Almost four decades later, Israel killed a major Hamas official, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in a Dubai hotel in a complex plot involving more than two dozen Mossad operatives. In an echo of this week’s attacks in Lebanon, Israel killed a Hamas bombmaker, Yahya Ayyash, in 1996 with a cellphone outfitted with explosives.

Persons: ”, Bruce Riedel, Adolf Eichmann, Eichmann, David Ben, Gurion, God —, Russell Mcphedran, Ehud Barak, Ahmed Bouchikhi, Ali Hassan Salameh, Yasser Arafat, Bouchikhi, Israel, Mahmoud al, Mabhouh, Mohammed Salem, Ahmed Jibril, Ronen Bergman, Jibril, Yahya Ayyash, Ayyash, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Fakhrizadeh, Ismail Haniyeh, David Barnea, Israel “, ” Barnea Organizations: Lebanese, CIA, Argentine, Nazi, Damocles, Palestinian, Fairfax Media, Getty, Palestine Liberation Organization, Hamas, New York Times Locations: Israel, British, Nazi, Argentina, Egypt, Munich, Beirut, Moroccan, Norwegian, Lillehammer, Europe, Dubai, Gaza, Israeli, Lebanon, U.S, Iran’s, Absad, Tehran, Syria, Iran, Mossad’s

☆ Meet the mastermind behind 'Mamma Mia!' — the musical that's been playing in London for 25 years
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-28 | by ( Chris Johnston | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

"Mamma Mia!" AdvertisementBjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson at the London premiere of "Mamma Mia! "Mamma Mia!" Dave M. Benett/Getty ImagesThe film's huge success meant a sequel was always on the cards — and "Mamma Mia! musical, Craymer had a stint as chair of Universal Music that spanned its stock market debut in September 2021.

Persons: —, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Judy Craymer, Mia, Craymer, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Abba, Tim Rice, Cramer didn't, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Wiktor Szymanowicz, Catherine Johnson, Phyllida Lloyd, Johnson, Lloyd, Andersson, Ulvaeus, I'm, — I'm, they're, Streep, Donna, Bertolt Brecht's, Courage, Ashley Lilley, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper, Dave M, Cher, Mamma Mia, Meryl, Pierce, Cameron Mackintosh, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bruce Milton Miller, Richard East, Taylor Swift, Lucian Grainge, Michael Buckner Organizations: Service, Business, London, Cher, London's Guildhall School of Drama, Fairfax Media, Universal, Variety Locations: London, Swedish, New York, Cannes, North America, Sweden

☆ Alice Munro, Nobel Prize winner and ‘master of the short story,’ dies aged 92
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Yahya Salem | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Alice Munro, the Nobel Literature Prize winner best known for her mastery of short stories and depictions of womanhood in rural settings, has died in Ontario, Canada, at the age of 92. The news was confirmed to CNN “with great sadness” by a spokesperson at her publisher, Penguin Random House. It largely sets the tone for Munro’s prose; semi-autobiographical in nature and exploring the universality of the human urge for self-discovery, love, and independence, through the mundanity of everyday life in small, rural communities. Alice Munro, left, and Margaret Atwood at the National Arts Club in February 2005. Munro’s mastery of short stories and literature has been lauded by many of her contemporaries.

Persons: Alice Munro, Munro, “, Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens, Lucy Maud Montgomery, ”, ” Stephen Pearson, James Munro, Catherine, Eudora Welty, Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers, —, General’s, ” Munro, Margaret Atwood, Atwood, Diane Bondareff, James Wood Organizations: CNN, Penguin Random, “ The Paris, Guardian, Fairfax Media, University of Western, CBC, Yorker, National Arts Club, Literature Locations: Ontario, Canada, Wingham , Ontario, ”, University of Western Ontario, Vancouver, Victoria, Canadian, Russian

☆ Julian Assange’s mission was to change the world - but at what cost?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | Claudia Rebaza | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Julian Assange leaves a Melbourne court after facing charges of computer hacking in 1995. WikiLeaks/ReutersUnder a global spotlightAs WikiLeaks continued its disclosures, Assange found himself the latest cause célèbre – his every movement intensely scrutinized. … He liked the fuss that (the disclosures) caused but he was oddly incurious actually about the documents.”Others offer alternative explanations for Assange’s eccentricities. There were mounting calls for Assange to leave WikiLeaks and, when he didn’t, many cut ties with it. Outside the confines of his diplomatic shelter, the world questioned whether Assange was trying to circumvent justice.

Persons: London CNN — Julian Assange, ”, He’s, Chelsea Manning, Joe Biden, Assange’s, Anthony Albanese, Assange, “, ” –, Julian Assange, Ian Kenins, Sarah Palin’s, Atika Shubert, Shubert, ” Shubert, célèbre, Fidel Narvaez, “ Assange, ” Narvaez, James Ball, Joe Raedle, ” Ball, Ball, …, Narvaez, Hans Crescent, Lenin Moreno, Moreno, Abu Hamza al, Masri, Stella Assange, Daniel Leal, Stella, “ I’m, Nick Vamos, It’s, Alice Jill Edwards, Agnès Callamard, El País, Der Spiegel, Jameel Jaffer, Xiaofei Xu, Alex Stambaugh Organizations: London CNN, WikiLeaks, Court, Ecuadorian, Army, Australian, Pentagon, NASA, University of Melbourne, Fairfax Media, of Scientology, Republican, CNN, Chelsea, Apache, Reuters, Guardian, Ellingham, Hans, London’s Metropolitan Police, US Justice Department, of Justice, Britain's, Getty, Peters & Peters, Prosecution Service, Human Rights, UN, Amnesty, The New York Times, Columbia University Locations: United States, Australian, London’s, Australia, Townsville, Queensland, cybercrime, Melbourne, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Iraq, London, Afghanistan, ”, Sweden, Ecuador, UK’s, Belmarsh

☆ Opinion: A Sydney ‘copshop’ with a dark history. And the gay community reclaiming it
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Opinion Gary Nunn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Police arrest a protester during a gay rights demonstration, which would become known as the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, June 1978. A permanent place to learn and healThere’s never been a more crucial time to record and display the stories and history of my LGBTQI community. LGBTQ+ activists demonstrate in what would evolve into the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, 1978. Many arrested gay men were sent to Cooma — the world’s only known jail for gay men — also in New South Wales. My gay community finally gets to tell their own history in a venue that imprisoned and beat us for simply being ourselves.

Persons: Gary Nunn, Read, Gary Nunn Qtopia, Sydney’s, Anthony Albanese, “ ‘, ”, Darlo copshop, Steve Warren, Peter Murphy, Murphy, Qtopia, They’ve, videographers, There’s, —, David Polson, wasn’t, “, Cooma, David hasn’t, He’s Organizations: Sydney CNN, Darlinghurst Police, “ ‘ 78ers, ‘ 78ers, 78ers, Police, Sydney Gay, Mardi Gras, Sydney Morning Herald, Fairfax Media, Getty, Warren, Mardi, South Wales, Gay, NSW police, Goliath Locations: Sydney, Australia, Darlinghurst, San Francisco, London, South, Qtopia, New South Wales, Uganda, Malaysia, Guyana, Dominica, Nigeria, Pakistan

☆ Thomas Randele makes deathbed confession: He was 1969 bank robber Ted Conrad
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

More than 50 years earlier, when he was 20 years old, he’d robbed an Ohio bank of $215,000. A day or so after her father’s shocking revelation, Ashley told CNN she pulled her mother Kathy aside and told her. Theodore "Ted" Conrad was an unassuming bank teller when he strolled out of an Ohio bank with more than $200,000. And I also wanted to learn about Ted Conrad, the bank robber, and Tom Randele, my dad,” she told CNN. Someone had sent his obituary to a crime reporter in Ohio with a note saying the deceased man was likely Conrad, Ashley Randele said.

Persons: CNN — Thomas Randele, he’d, Thomas Randele, Theodore Conrad, Ashley Randele, “ I’m, Ted Conrad, ’ ”, Thomas, “, ‘, they’re, Ashley, Kathy, ” Ashley Randele, Kathy Randele, ”, Steve McQueen, D.B, Cooper, Conrad, —, Theodore, Ted, Ross Anthony Willis, spotlighted, Thomas Crown, Pierce Brosnan, He’d, didn’t, ” Randele, Carl B, Ken Blaze, she’d, Tom Randele, Randele, Pete Elliott, Elliott, John Elliott, Robin Hood Organizations: CNN, National Bank, Fairfax Media, Stokes, Courthouse, Randele Locations: Boston, Ohio, ’, Lynnfield , Massachusetts, Cleveland, Pacific Northwest, Washington ,, Los Angeles, California, Hawaii , Texas, Oregon, Massachusetts, France, United States, Lynnfield

☆ Sydney Opera House: Australia’s most famous attraction turns 50
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Saying that the Sydney Opera House is a well-known icon of Australia is kind of like saying the Amazon is a creek. Inaugurated on October 20, 1973, by the late Queen Elizabeth II, the Opera House now welcomes more than one million visitors every year. A rich historyThere’s much more to the Opera House than, well, opera. “I think there’s a big misconception that we’re the classical arts,” says Jade McKellar, chief customer officer for the Sydney Opera House. “The Sydney Opera House constitutes a masterpiece of 20th Century architecture,” UNESCO wrote in its designation.

Persons: Queen Elizabeth II, Jorn Utzon, “, ”, Jade McKellar, we’ve, there’ll, Golding, McKellar, Megan Cope, Bob Henry, UCG, Piper, Hamelin Organizations: CNN, Sydney Opera, Deloitte, Empire, Opera, Opera House, Sydney Opera House, UNESCO, ” UNESCO, Fairfax Media, House, Nations, Botanic Garden, Getty, Opera Bar Locations: Australia, ”, Spanish, Korean, Sydney

☆ Geologist Marie Tharp mapped the ocean floor and helped solve one of science's biggest controversies
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Back then, no one knew what the ocean floor looked like — until one woman used her many talents to find out. When she reflected on her life, geologist Marie Tharp recollected being able to fill in the blanks of the ocean floor, which she saw as a fascinating jigsaw puzzle. Their final project together was the World Ocean Floor Map. The Heezen-Tharp “World Ocean Floor” map painted by Heinrich Berann. Marie Tharp Maps, LLCAfter Heezen's death, organizations that had hired him and Tharp to work on projects reassigned them.

Persons: didn't, Marie Tharp, Marie Tharp recollected, Tharp, Columbia University's, Lamont, Alfred Wegener's, Wegener, he'd, Bailey Willis, Willis, Bettie Higgs, Maurice Ewing, Roberta Eike, Tharp didn't, they'd, Bruce Heezen, Frank Albert Charles Burke, Heezen, Howard Foster, she'd, Ewing, Jacques Cousteau, Cousteau, Marie Tharp's, Heinrich Berann, you'd, It's, Hali Felt, Higgs, Society's Hubbard, Mary, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, George Washington Organizations: Service, Columbia, Columbia University's Lamont Geological Laboratory, University of Michigan, Columbia University, Lamont, Fairfax Media, Getty, US Navy, Oceanographic Conference, ABC, Disney, Entertainment, National Geographic, Mary Sears Woman, Oceanography Locations: Wall, Silicon, German, American, Lamont, Massachusetts, Nova Scotia , Massachusetts, France, Gibraltar, United States

☆ Homo floresiensis: The curious case of the hobbit and what its remarkable discovery taught us
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

The Liang Bua cave excavation site, where the fossils of Homo floresiensis were discovered on the island of Flores in Indonesia. A 3D cast of the skeleton of Homo Floresiensis on display at Stony Brook University, part of the State University of New York system. The Liang Bua team named the species Homo floresiensis after the island where the fossils were discovered. Sutikna said that a thick layer of volcanic ash was found just on top of the layer where Homo floresiensis was first found. And above the volcanic ash layer, we did not find any fossils of Homo floresiensis or other ancient animals,” he said.

Persons: Thomas Sutikna, trowel, Liang Bua, Sutikna, ”, floresiensis, Achmad Ibrahim, Saptomo, Tim Wiencis, Mike Morwood, Liang, hobbitus —, floresianus —, Paige Madison, Bert Roberts, Robert Pearce, Bua, Homo erectus, erectus, chimplike wristbones, Lucy, australopithecines, Chris Stringer, “ I’m, ” Stringer, “, luzonensis, Matt Tocheri, Flores, Mata Menge, Flores hobbits, Tocheri, ’ There’s, Stringer, it’s, ” Tocheri, ” Madison, we’re Organizations: CNN, Indonesia’s, Archaeometric Research, Research and Innovation Agency, Stony Brook University, State University of New, University of Wollongong, Sydney Morning Herald, Fairfax Media, AP, Lakehead University, Smithsonian Institution Locations: Indonesian, Liang, Flores, Indonesia, Jakarta, Stony, State University of New York, Australian, Australia, Africa, Java, Asia, London, South Africa, Philippines, Yogyakarta, Canada, Thunder Bay , Ontario, It’s, Madison, Sulawesi

☆ Not every version of Barbie was a hit. Check out these flops
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Barbie’s pregnant sidekick, MidgePregnant Midge was featured in Mattel's Happy Family Barbie Collection that also included Alan (pictured here behind the stroller). Fast-forward to 2002, Mattel introduced a pregnant Midge doll, featuring a detachable baby bump with a toy baby inside. The Midge doll created ripples. Walmart (WMT) ended up pulling the pregnant Midge doll from its store shelves, citing customer complaints about the appropriateness of a “pregnant” doll. When the FBI came after this BarbieVideo Barbie doll with a built-in LCD screen and download port for videos.

Persons: New York CNN —, Barbie, She’s, who’ve, Barbie Fashionistas, “ Barbie, ”, James Zahn, “ There’s, Midge, Alan, Lawrence Lucier, Zahn, Allan, Ryan, “ Allan ”, “ Allan didn’t, Mattel, “ Alan ”, Tanner, Barbie’s, Mark Ralston, Tanner playset, Tanner playsets, Barbie Mattel, Martin James Brannan, Skipper, Skipper ”, “, Miguel Villagran, Barbie Mark Lennihan, Richard Gottlieb Organizations: New, New York CNN, Bel Air, Mattel, Walmart, “, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, OREO, Nabisco, Fairfax Media, FBI, Global Toy Experts, New York Times Magazine Locations: New York, American, Barbie, AFP

☆ Why it’s impossible to find an open squat rack at the gym
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

You’ll have much better luck finding an open elliptical machine than a bench press, squat rack or 30-pound dumbbells. The pandemic led more people to take up weight training, gym owners and industry experts say. Post-pandemic, the surge in the popularity of weight training has helped the gym industry recover. Paul/Fairfax Media/Getty ImagesThe arrival of Nautilus and Universal strength training equipment in the 1970s and 1980s made weightlifting more attractive to a broader range of people. Genesis clubs have added more squat and dumbbell racks to keep up with demand for strength training and downsized cardio areas.

☆ A Space Force director was investigated for wearing a chartreuse mankini around colleagues and keeping a case of sex toys in the office — and kept his job, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Air Force Times reported Andrew Cox kept his job, despite unprofessional behavior and misconduct. Cox reportedly wore a chartreuse mankini over his clothes in the office and kept sex toys at work. "It was chartreuse green, and he brought it out into the main area," Air Force Times reported one person familiar with the matter said of Cox's revealing bathing suit, popularized by the 2006 film "Borat." "Mr. Cox remains the director of the Space Warfighting Analysis Center," Air Force Times reported Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek said Friday. Representatives for the Air Force and Space Force did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

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