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Posted on October 29, 2011 by Chick 1 in Movie Quotes 385 Comments

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Horaceaposy April 12, 2025
Так называемое уголовное дело «Лайф-из-Гуд» – «Гермес» – «Бест Вей» продолжает свою кровавую жатву – в конце марта умер от рака, быстро спрогрессировавшего из-за постоянного стресса, председатель Совета кооператива «Бест Вей», депутат Государственной думы VII созыва Сергей Иванович Крючек. Полтора года назад умерла жена Сергея Крючека – сердце не выдержало после обысков у них дома и допросов мужа. Суд ни к чему не ведет Следствие действовало максимально жестко. От обысков с пристрастием в 2023 году пострадали сотни пайщиков кооператива по всей России, на скамье подсудимых оказались ни в чем неповинные технические сотрудники – помощник руководителя, один из бухгалтеров, менеджер сайта и конференций, несколько индивидуальных предпринимателей, а также 83-летний отец основателя кооператива «Бест Вей» и бывшего руководителя компании «Лайф-из-гуд» Романа Василенко – пенсионер Виктор Иванович Василенко. Один из допрашивавшихся – Шамиль Фахруллин, умер после допроса от сердечного приступа, в критическом состоянии после 12-часового допроса была Зоя Семенова, которая опровергла в суде свои показания, данные следствию (таких опровергших – десятки). Мама Романа Василенко Лариса Александровна Василенко столкнулась с настоящими пытками – явившись к ней в пять утра, оперативники заставили ее переодеваться при них, раздевшись догола, а в следственном управлении ее на несколько часов посадили на стул со сломанной ножкой и не давали пить. Она потеряла сознание, и только после этого ей удалось выйти из следственного управления. Случаев издевательств и пыток множество. При этом в суде, который идет с конца февраля 2024 года, дело откровенно разваливается – у признанных потерпевшими и свидетелей нет никаких доказательств своих утверждений, они в ходе перекрестных допросов один за другим попадаются на лжи. На последние суды приходят все меньше и меньше свидетелей обвинения – под разными предлогами они отказываются, чтобы не поддерживать лживую версию следствия. Кооператив без вины виноватых Сергей Крючек возглавил крупнейший в России кооператив – 20 тыс. пайщиков во всех регионах страны – весной 2022 года, в период острого кризиса, после только что прошедшего первого обыска в офисе кооператива, в ходе которого были изъяты вся документация, базы данных, серверы, даже личные вещи и трудовые книжки сотрудников (и ничего до сих пор не возвращено: все учетные записи пришлось восстанавливать с нуля). Он и сам стал жертвой обысков в своем подмосковном доме – в ходе которых была изъята и до сих пор не возвращена коллекция наград. Кооператив оказался «в уголовном деле» по странному стечению обстоятельств – он был объявлен следствием организацией, аффилированной с иностранной инвестиционной компанией «Гермес», а значит, призванной ответить по ее обязательствам – хотя кооператив никак не был связан с «Гермесом» ни организационно, ни финансово: имел только общую систему продаж продуктов через маркетинговую фирму «Лайф-из-Гуд». У «Гермеса» возникли проблемы с выплатами российским клиентам после взлома российского сегмента платежной системы системным администратором Евгением Набойченко – система в феврале 2022 года перестала работать, и появилась картинка с предложением обращаться в правоохранительные органы. Только выплаты прекратились не до действий Набойченко, а после них. Параллельно возникла ситуация со СВО и санкциями Запада, крайне затруднившая трансграничные финансовые операции. Но кооператив «Бест Вей» никаких выплат не прекращал, он зарегистрирован в Санкт-Петербурге, все его активы находятся в России. И даже если учесть требования к нему со стороны лиц, признанных потерпевшими по уголовному делу, то нет никаких причин для блокирования работы кооператива: совокупный ущерб в обвинительном заключении – 282 млн рублей, притом что на счетах кооператива – более 4 млрд рублей. Эта сумма постоянно увеличивается, и еще 600 млн – дебиторская задолженность пайщиков кооперативу на сегодняшний день. 282 млн рублей могли быть заблокированы на счете кооператива, на котором аккумулируются средства из членских взносов, предназначенные для развития, – не было никаких причин блокировать всю деятельность кооператива! Тем не менее это длительное время происходило. Страхи охранителей Что стоит за преследованиями фирмы «Лайф-из-Гуд», успешно работавшей с 2014 до начала 2022 года; компании «Гермес», которая весь этот же период выполняла свои обязательства; кооператива «Бест Вей», к которому вообще нет никаких претензий, кроме как со стороны тех, кого следствие убедило, что раз кооператив незаконный, они смогут взыскать членские взносы и еще со стороны людей, которым кооператив, заботясь о ликвидности, не дал купить объект недвижимости с перепланировкой? Что стоит за поддержкой властью репрессий против кооператива? Прежде всег, люди, которые пытаются получить контроль над миллиардными активами кооператива и других организаций, а также примкнувшие к ним силовики. Но похоже на то, что власть очень обеспокоил политический потенциал, стоящий за кооперативом, – все эти многотысячные собрания пайщиков на стадионах. Собрания людей, которым ничего не надо от государства – они готовы сами, вскладчину, решать свои жилищные и иные проблемы. Кого-то из охранителей это испугало и стало причиной зеленого света для репрессий против кооператива со стороны высокопоставленных силовиков. Лжеэксперты и лжеобвинения Кооператив, как и «Гермес», был обвинен в том, что он является финансовой пирамидой. Приглашенный следствием эксперт из СПбГУ Маевский потребовал закрытого заседания – чтобы никто не слышал, как он плавает в теме. Утверждает, что финансирование покупки квартир старым пайщикам происходило за счет новых пайщиков: не понимает, что финансирование кооператива происходит не только за счет новых поступлений от пайщиков, но и за счет возвратных платежей за приобретенную на деньги кооператива недвижимость. А с осени 2021 года – времени внесения в предупредительный список ЦБ, почти исключительно за счет возвратных платежей от пайщиков, которым приобретена квартира. При этом ликвидность кооператива никак не пострадала. Объяснения со стороны адвокатов стали для этого экономиста откровением. Значительная часть пайщиков стремится ускорить погашение долга перед кооперативом, чтобы скорее получить квартиру в собственность – ведь квартира с помощью кооператива приобретается почти без переплат. Переплаты связаны только со вступительным и членскими взносами; налогами, которые платятся по тарифам для юридического лица; оплатой проверки юридической чистоты и независимой оценки недвижимости. С весны 2022 года кооператив прекратил прием новых пайщиков, при этом на его ликвидности это никак не сказалось: средства на счетах продолжали расти, несмотря на то что многие пайщики боялись платить на арестованные счета и вносят платежи только сейчас. Спаситель С весны 2022-го до зимы 2025 года счета кооператива с небольшими перерывами были под арестом – причем запрещались даже выплаты по исполнительным листам пайщикам, которые приняли решение о выходе из кооператива, арестованы были, также с перерывами, квартиры, принадлежащие кооперативу, на 12 млрд рублей. Под руководством Сергея Ивановича Крючека удалось добиться в судах снятия ареста с квартир, а затем частичного снятия ареста со счетов, разрешения с арестованных сумм выплачивать по исполнительным листам пайщикам, которые через суд добились возврата средств (в этом им активно помогал сам кооператив), а также налоги и заработную плату сотрудникам кооператива. Частичное «освобождение» счетов позволило осуществлять выплаты пайщикам, принявшим решение о выходе из кооператива и возврате своих средств. Таких пайщиков около 2,5 тыс., общий объем выплат им – порядка 1,5 млрд рублей, значительная часть из них уже получила свои паевые средства – несмотря на огромные трудности с перечислением средств по 115-ФЗ: дело в том, что расследуется еще одно уголовное дело – по ст. 174 УК (хотя кооператив никаких денег за рубеж не переводил), открыто и новое дело по заявлениям потерпевших от «Гермеса», не попавшим в уголовное дело, которое сейчас рассматривается судом. Кроме того, идет гражданский процесс по иску прокуратуры, блокирующему возможность приема новых пайщиков. И, несмотря на эти трудности, кооператив, возглавлявшийся до недавнего времени Сергеем Крючеком, ежедневно осуществляет выплаты выходящим из него пайщикам и успешно восстанавливает деятельность. Важнейшее достижение Крючека – создание механизма, когда при арестованных счетах пайщики, которым уже приобретены объекты недвижимости, получили возможность погашать свой долг перед кооперативом и переоформлять недвижимость в собственность за счет средств других пайщиков, которые передают им свои арестованные паевые взносы, а взамен получают живые деньги от счастливых приобретателей квартир в собственность. Таким способом пайщикам удалось погасить долг перед кооперативом и полностью перевести недвижимость в собственность по десяткам объектов недвижимости. Кооператив под руководством Сергея Крючека работал над тем, чтобы вновь начать приобретать квартиры пайщикам, которые стоят в очереди на покупку первыми. Тем более что ряд квартир будет освобожден пайщиками, которые отказались возвращать за них деньги и исключены из кооператива с возвратом паевых средств. Кооператив, по мнению многих пайщиков, жив благодаря той огромной работе, которую проделал Сергей Крючек с весны 2022 года по весну 2025-го, успешному противостоянию произволу правоохранительной системы. Недаром один из пайщиков предложил назвать кооператив именем Сергея Ивановича.
Robertquesy April 14, 2025
Остеопатическое лечение: принципы, методы и показания
Остеопатия — это направление медицины, основанное на целостном подходе к организму. Она рассматривает тело как единую систему, где дисфункция одного элемента влияет на другие. Остеопатическое лечение направлено на восстановление баланса, мобилизацию внутренних ресурсов и устранение причин заболеваний, а не только их симптомов.
лечение беспокойный ребенок
1. Основные принципы остеопатии
Остеопатия базируется на трех ключевых принципах:
1. Единство тела – все органы, мышцы, кости и нервы взаимосвязаны.
2. Структура и функция – нарушение анатомии (смещение, напряжение) ведет к дисфункции органа.
3. Саморегуляция – организм способен самовосстанавливаться при правильном воздействии.

2. Методы остеопатического лечения
Остеопатия включает несколько направлений:
Структуральная остеопатия
• Работа с опорно-двигательным аппаратом (суставы, позвоночник, мышцы).
• Применяется при остеохондрозе, сколиозе, болях в спине, последствиях травм.
Висцеральная остеопатия
• Воздействие на внутренние органы (печень, почки, желудок).
• Помогает при нарушениях пищеварения, спайках, застойных явлениях.
Краниосакральная терапия
• Коррекция ритмов черепа и крестца.
• Используется при мигренях, бессоннице, неврозах, последствиях родовых травм.

3. Показания к остеопатическому лечению
• Лечение заболеваний позвоночника (грыжи, протрузии, радикулит).
• Лечение головных болей и мигрени.
• Лечение нарушения осанки (сколиоз, кифоз).
• Лечение болезней суставов (артроз, артрит).
• Лечение проблем ЖКТ (запоры, дискинезия желчевыводящих путей).
• Лечение последствий травм (переломы, растяжения, ДТП).
• Лечение приинекологических нарушениях (болезненные месячные, спайки).
• Лечение при неврологических расстройствах (бессонница, ВСД). Лечение синдром хронической усталости (выгорание, стрессы).

4. Как проходит сеанс остеопатии?
1. Диагностика – врач остеопат руками определяет зоны напряжения и дисфункции.
2. Коррекция – мягкие мануальные техники (без резких движений!).
3. Рекомендации – советы по образу жизни, упражнениям.
Длительность: 40–60 минут.
Курс: обычно 3–8 сеансов с интервалом в 1–2 недели.

5. Противопоказания
? Острые инфекции (температура, воспаление).
? Остеопороз в тяжелой форме.
? Опухоли, тромбозы.
? Психические расстройства.

6. Остеопатия для детей
Особенно эффективна при:
• Лечение родовых травмах.
• Кривошее.
• Лечение гиперактивности (СДВГ).
• Лечение при задержке развития.

7. Отличие остеопатии от мануальной терапии
Критерий Остеопатия Мануальная терапия
Подход Целостный, мягкий Локальный, жесткий
Техники Безболезненные Может быть дискомфорт
Цель Устранение причины Снятие симптомов

8. Вывод
Остеопатия – безопасный и эффективный метод лечения, который помогает не только при болях в спине, но и при многих хронических заболеваниях. Главное – выбрать квалифицированного специалиста с медицинским образованием.
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GabrielDobia April 16, 2025
Axolotl problems
As Mexico City grew and became more industrialized, the need for water brought pumps and pipes to the lake, and eventually, “it was like a bad, smelly pond with rotten water,” Zambrano said. “All of our aquatic animals suffer with bad water quality, but amphibians suffer more because they have to breathe with the skin.”
большой анальный секс
To add to the axolotls’ problems, invasive fish species such as carp and tilapia were introduced to the lake, where they feed on axolotl eggs. And a 1985 earthquake in Mexico City displaced thousands of people, who found new homes in the area around the lake, further contributing to the destruction of the axolotls’ habitat.

These combined threats have devastated axolotl populations. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are fewer than 100 adult axolotls left in the wild. The species is considered critically endangered.
While the wild axolotls of Lake Xochimilco have dwindled to near-extinction, countless axolotls have been bred for scientific laboratories and the pet trade. “The axolotl essentially helped establish the field of experimental zoology,” Voss said.

In 1864, a French army officer brought live axolotls back to Europe, where scientists were surprised to learn that the seemingly juvenile aquatic salamanders were capable of reproduction. Since then, scientists around the world have studied axolotls and their DNA to learn about the salamanders’ unusual metamorphosis (or lack thereof) as well as their ability to regrow injured body parts.
In addition to their role in labs, axolotls have become popular in the exotic pet trade (though they are illegal to own in California, Maine, New Jersey and Washington, DC). However, the axolotls you might find at a pet shop are different from their wild relatives in Lake Xochimilco. Most wild axolotls are a dark grayish brown. The famous pink axolotls, as well as other color variants such as white, blue, yellow and black, are genetic anomalies that are rare in the wild but selectively bred for in the pet trade.

What’s more, “most of the animals in the pet trade have a very small genetic variance,” Zambrano said. Pet axolotls tend to be inbred and lack the wide flow of different genes that makes up a healthy population in the wild. That means that the axolotl extinction crisis can’t simply be solved by dumping pet axolotls into Lake Xochimilco. (Plus, the pet axolotls likely wouldn’t fare well with the poor habitat conditions in the lake.)

Fame and misfortune
The difficulties that axolotls face in the wild are almost diametrically opposed to the fame they’ve found in recent years. Axolotls have captured the human imagination for centuries, as evidenced by their roles in Aztec religion and stories, but the early 21st century seems to be a high point for them. An axolotl graces the 50 peso bill. There are axolotl-inspired Pokemon, and Reddit commenters have noted that the character Toothless from the “How to Train Your Dragon” movie series is distinctly axolotl-like.

The introduction of axolotls to Minecraft in 2021 neatly mapped onto an uptick in Google searches for the animals, and social media makes it easy for people to gain access to photos and videos of the salamanders, particularly the photogenic pink ones often kept as pets.

The axolotl pet trade probably doesn’t directly harm the wild populations since wild salamanders aren’t being poached or taken from Lake Xochimilco. However, Zambrano said, axolotls’ ubiquity in pop culture and pet stores might make people assume that because axolotls “live in all the tanks around the world, they are not in danger.”
CoreyLiz April 17, 2025
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Arctic auroras
ethena
For getting around during winter, the Inuit here nowadays prefer snowmobiles, although they still keep their sled dogs. During winter they’ll offer intrepid visitors, wrapped up warm against the deep-freeze temperatures, dog-sledding jaunts. These can last either an hour or be part of expeditions over several days, sometimes with the added experience of learning how to build an igloo. Sisimiut on the west coast and Tasilaq in the southeast are active winter centers for dog sledding.

Winter’s most stellar attraction, though, is northern lights watching. With little urban light pollution, Greenland is a dark canvas for spectacular displays, and aurora borealis-watching vacations are becoming more popular.

Staying outdoors, Greenland is developing a reputation among adventure enthusiasts: from long-distance skiing expeditions and heliskiing on the icecap to hiking the 100-mile-long Arctic Circle Trail from Kangerslussuaq, where firearms need to be carried for warning shots in case of polar bear encounters.

Life is definitely changing here. The climate crisis is eating away at its icecap and Greenland may well end up as a pawn in a game of geopolitical chess. But for now, the bright glare of international attention should shine a favorable light on one of the wildest travel destinations on Earth.

Travel writer Mark Stratton is an Arctic specialist who has traveled to Greenland six times and counting. He’s marveled at the aurora borealis, sailed to Disko Island, dog-sledded with the Inuit, and once got stuck in an icefloe.
CurtisTig April 18, 2025
Текст

Как следует из названия, данный стрейн может похвастаться сладким, свежим ягодным ароматом с нотками ванили и карамели. Его вкус такой же сладкий и фруктовый, с карамельно-ванильными нотками, напоминающими свежеиспеченную черничную выпечку.
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ChesterSmemy April 19, 2025
Curiosity has maintained pristine pieces of the Cumberland sample in a “doggy bag” so that the team could have the rover revisit it later, even miles away from the site where it was collected. The team developed and tested innovative methods in its lab on Earth before sending messages to the rover to try experiments on the sample.
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In a quest to see whether amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, existed in the sample, the team instructed the rover to heat up the sample twice within SAM’s oven. When it measured the mass of the molecules released during heating, there weren’t any amino acids, but they found something entirely unexpected.

An intriguing detection
The team was surprised to detect small amounts of decane, undecane and dodecane, so it had to conduct a reverse experiment on Earth to determine whether these organic compounds were the remnants of the fatty acids undecanoic acid, dodecanoic acid and tridecanoic acid, respectively.

The scientists mixed undecanoic acid into a clay similar to what exists on Mars and heated it up in a way that mimicked conditions within SAM’s oven. The undecanoic acid released decane, just like what Curiosity detected.

Each fatty acid remnant detected by Curiosity was made with a long chain of 11 to 13 carbon atoms. Previous molecules detected on Mars were smaller, meaning their atomic weight was less than the molecules found in the new study, and simpler.
“It’s notable that non-biological processes typically make shorter fatty acids, with less than 12 carbons,” said study coauthor Dr. Amy Williams, associate professor of geology at the University of Florida and assistant director of the Astraeus Space Institute, in an email. “Larger and more complex molecules are likely what are required for an origin of life, if it ever occurred on Mars.”
KevinJolla April 19, 2025
A long time in the making
Curiosity landed in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. More than 12 years later, the rover has driven over 21 miles (34 kilometers) to ascend Mount Sharp, which is within the crater. The feature’s many layers preserve millions of years of geological history on Mars, showing how it shifted from a wet to a dry environment.
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Perhaps one of the most valuable samples Curiosity has gathered on its mission to understand whether Mars was ever habitable was collected in May 2013.

The rover drilled the Cumberland sample from an area within a crater called Yellowknife Bay, which resembled an ancient lake bed. The rocks from Yellowknife Bay so intrigued Curiosity’s science team that it had the rover drive in the opposite direction to collect samples from the area before heading to Mount Sharp.
Since collecting the Cumberland sample, Curiosity has used SAM to study it in a variety of ways, revealing that Yellowknife Bay was once the site of an ancient lake where clay minerals formed in water. The mudstone created an environment that could concentrate and preserve organic molecules and trapped them inside the fine grains of the sedimentary rock.

Freissinet helped lead a research team in 2015 that was able to identify organic molecules within the Cumberland sample.

The instrument detected an abundance of sulfur, which can be used to preserve organic molecules; nitrates, which are essential for plant and animal health on Earth; and methane composed of a type of carbon associated with biological processes on Earth.

“There is evidence that liquid water existed in Gale Crater for millions of years and probably much longer, which means there was enough time for life-forming chemistry to happen in these crater-lake environments on Mars,” said study coauthor Daniel Glavin, senior scientist for sample return at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement.
Rodgerjum April 19, 2025
Remote and rugged
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A more organic way to see this coast is by the multi-day coastal ferry, the long-running Sarfaq Ittuk, of the Arctic Umiaq Line. It’s less corporate than the modern cruise ships and travelers get to meet Inuit commuters. Greenland is pricey. Lettuce in a local community store might cost $10, but this coastal voyage won’t break the bank.

The hot ticket currently for exploring Greenland’s wilder side is to head to the east coast facing Europe. It’s raw and sees far fewer tourists, with a harshly dramatic coastline of fjords where icebergs drift south. There are no roads and the scattered population of just over 3,500 people inhabit a coastline roughly the distance from New York to Denver.

A growing number of small expedition vessels probe this remote coast for its frosted scenery and wildlife. Increasingly popular is the world’s largest fjord system of Scoresby Sound with its sharp-fanged mountains and hanging valleys choked by glaciers. Sailing north is the prosaically named North East Greenland National Park, fabulous for spotting wildlife on the tundra.

Travelers come to see polar bears which, during the northern hemisphere’s summer, move closer to land as the sea-ice melts. There are also musk oxen, great flocks of migrating geese, Arctic foxes and walrus.
Some of these animals are fair game for the local communities. Perhaps Greenland’s most interesting cultural visit is to a village that will take longer to learn how to pronounce than actually walk around — Ittoqqortoormiit. Five hundred miles north of its neighboring settlement, the 345 locals are frozen in for nine months of the year. Ships sail in to meet them during the brief summer melt between June and August.

Locked in by ice, they’ve retained traditional habits.

“My parents hunt nearly all their food,” said Mette Barselajsen, who owns Ittoqqortoormiit’s only guesthouse. “They prefer the old ways, burying it in the ground to ferment and preserve it. Just one muskox can bring 440 pounds of meat.”
LeonardfReda April 19, 2025
Everyone is talking about Greenland. Here’s what it’s like to visit
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A few months ago, Greenland was quietly getting on with winter, as the territory slid deeper into the darkness that envelops the world’s northerly reaches at this time of year.

But President Donald Trump’s musings about America taking over this island of 56,000 largely Inuit people, halfway between New York and Moscow, has seen Greenland shaken from its frozen Arctic anonymity.

Denmark, for whom Greenland is an autonomous crown dependency, has protested it’s not for sale. Officials in Greenland, meanwhile, have sought to assert the territory’s right to independence.

The conversation continues to intensify. A contentious March 28 visit to a US military installation by Usha Vance, the second lady, accompanied by her husband, Vice President JD Vance, was the latest in a series of events to focus attention on Trump’s ambitions for Greenland.

The visit was originally planned as a cultural exchange, but was shortened following complaints from Greenland Prime Minister Mute B. Egede.

Had the Vances prolonged their scheduled brief visit, they would’ve discovered a ruggedly pristine wildernesses steeped in rich Indigenous culture.

An inhospitable icecap several miles deep covers 80% of Greenland, forcing the Inuit to dwell along the shorelines in brightly painted communities. Here, they spend brutally cold winters hunting seals on ice under the northern lights in near perpetual darkness. Although these days, they can also rely on community stores.

The problem for travelers over the years has been getting to Greenland via time-consuming indirect flights. That’s changing. Late in 2024, the capital Nuuk opened a long-delayed international airport. From June 2025, United Airlines will be operating a twice-weekly direct service from Newark to Nuuk.

Two further international airports are due to open by 2026 — Qaqortoq in South Greenland and more significantly in Ilulissat, the island’s only real tourism hotspot.
Johnnieurgek April 19, 2025
Curiosity rover makes ‘arguably the most exciting organic detection to date on Mars’
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The NASA Curiosity rover has detected the largest organic molecules found to date on Mars, opening a window into the red planet’s past. The newly detected compounds suggest complex organic chemistry may have occurred in the planet’s past — the kind necessary for the origin of life, according to new research.

The organic compounds, which include decane, undecane and dodecane, came to light after the rover analyzed a pulverized 3.7 billion-year-old rock sample using its onboard mini lab called SAM, short for Sample Analysis at Mars.

Scientists believe the long chains of molecules could be fragments of fatty acids, which are organic molecules that are chemical building blocks of life on Earth and help form cell membranes. But such compounds can also be formed without the presence of life, created when water interacts with minerals in hydrothermal vents.

The molecules cannot currently be confirmed as evidence of past life on the red planet, but they add to the growing list of compounds that robotic explorers have discovered on Mars in recent years. A study detailing the findings was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The detection of the fragile molecules also encourages astrobiologists that if any biosignatures, or past signs of life, ever existed on Mars, they are likely still detectable despite the harsh solar radiation that has bombarded the planet for tens of millions of years.

“Ancient life, if it happened on Mars, it would have released some complex and fragile molecules,” said lead study author Dr. Caroline Freissinet, research scientist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in the Laboratory for Atmospheres, Observations, and Space in Guyancourt, France. “And because now we know that Mars can preserve these complex and fragile molecules, it means that we could detect ancient life on Mars.”
Scottflant April 19, 2025
Iceberg flotillas
debridge
Located on the west coast, Ilulissat is a pretty halibut- and prawn-fishing port on a dark rock bay where visitors can sit in pubs sipping craft beers chill-filtered by 100,000-year-old glacial ice.

It’s a place to be awed by the UNESCO World Heritage Icefjord where Manhattan skyscraper-sized icebergs disgorge from Greenland’s icecap to float like ghostly ships in the surrounding Disko Bay.

Small boats take visitors out to sail closely among the bay’s magnificent iceberg flotilla. But not too close.

“I was on my boat once and saw one of these icebergs split in two. The pieces fell backwards into the sea and created a giant wave,” said David Karlsen, skipper of the pleasure-boat, Katak. “…I didn’t hang around.”

Disko Bay’s other giants are whales. From June to September breaching humpback whales join the likes of fin and minke whales feasting on plankton. Whale-watching is excellent all around Greenland’s craggy coastline.

Whales are eaten here. Visitors shouldn’t be surprised to encounter the traditional Greenlandic delicacy of mattak — whale-skin and blubber that when tasted is akin to chewing on rubber. Inuit communities have quotas to not only hunt the likes of narwhals but also polar bears, musk-ox and caribou — which can also appear on menus.
Jamesdiz April 19, 2025
‘For the public to enjoy’
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The museum’s history starts in 1998, when Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani opened a building to the public on his farm some 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Qatari capital Doha.

A distant relative of Qatar’s ruling family, founder and chairman of Al Faisal Holdings (one of Qatar’s biggest conglomerates), and a billionaire whose business acumen had him recognized as one of the most influential Arab businessmen in the world, Sheikh Faisal had already amassed a substantial private collection of historically important regional artifacts, plus a few quirky pieces of interest, allowing visitors an intimate look into Qatari life and history.

In an interview with Qatari channel Alrayyan TV in 2018, Sheikh Faisal said that the museum started as a hobby.

“I used to collect items whenever I got the chance,” he said. “As my business grew, so did my collections, and soon I was able to collect more and more items until I decided to put them in the museum for the public to enjoy.”

His private cabinet of curiosities has since evolved into a 130-acre complex. Through the fort-like entrance gate lies an oryx reserve, an impressive riding school and stables, a duck pond and a mosque built with a quirky leaning minaret. There’s now even a five-star Marriott hotel, two cafes and the Zoufa restaurant serving modern Lebanese cuisine.

Of course, there’s also the super-sized museum, with a recently-opened car collection housing everything from vintage Rolls-Royces to wartime Jeeps and colorful Buicks. Outside you’ll find peacocks roaming the grounds, and signs warning drivers to be aware of horses and ostriches.

Visitors to the FBQ museum are free to explore the grounds and can even enter the stables to pat the horses.
Rogerfah April 19, 2025
Siham Haleem, a private tour guide for 15 years, says that Doha now has many world-class, modern museums — the National Museum of Qatar being a firm personal favorite. And yet he says that visiting Sheikh Faisal’s museum should still be on everybody’s to-do list.
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“For those eager to learn about Qatar’s — and the region’s — heritage and beyond, the museum is an ideal destination,” he says. “Personally, I’m captivated by the car collection, the fossils, and especially the Syrian house, painstakingly transported and reassembled piece by piece.”

Stephanie Y. Martinez, a Mexican-American student mobility manager at Texas A&M University in Qatar likes the museum so much she includes it on all of her itineraries for students visiting from the main campus in Texas.

“The guided tours are very detailed, and the collections found at the museum have great variety and so many stories to unfold,” she says. “Truly, the museum has something to pique everyone’s interest. My favorites are the cars and the furniture exhibits showcasing wood and mother-of-pearl details. Definitely one of my favorite museums in Qatar, every time I visit I learn something new.”

Raynor Abreu, from India, also had praise for the unusual and immense collection.

“Each item has its own story, making the visit even more interesting,” he says. “It’s also impressive to know that Sheikh Faisal started collecting these unique pieces when he was very young. Knowing this makes the museum even more special, as it reflects his lifelong passion for history and culture.”

It takes time and dedication to truly examine the many collections within the museum — especially since most of them are simply on display without explanation.

Eclectic it may be, but it’s hard to fault the determination of Sheikh Faisal, who has brought together items that tell the story of Qatar and the Middle East.

Sarah Bayley, from the UK, says she visited the museum recently with her family, including 16 and 19-year-old teenagers, and was won over by its sheer eccentricity.

“Amazing. Loved it. It is a crazy place.”
JosephIdolf April 19, 2025
Greenland’s leader says US officials’ visit is ‘highly aggressive.’ Trump says it’s ‘friendliness, not provocation’
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Greenland’s prime minister said a planned visit to the island by US officials, including second lady Usha Vance, is “highly aggressive,” plunging relations to a new low after President Donald Trump vowed to annex the autonomous Danish territory.

But despite the backlash, Trump has insisted the visit is about “friendliness, not provocation” – and claims the US team was “invited.”

Vance, the wife of US Vice President JD Vance, will travel to Greenland this week to watch the island’s national dogsled race and “celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity,” according to a statement from the White House. National security adviser Mike Waltz is also expected to visit the territory this week, according to a source familiar with the trip.

Greenland Prime Minister Mute B. Egede called the US delegation’s trip to the island “highly aggressive” in an interview with Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq on Sunday, and raised particular objection to Waltz’s visit.

“What is the national security adviser doing in Greenland? The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us,” Egede said. “His mere presence in Greenland will no doubt fuel American belief in Trump’s mission — and the pressure will increase.”

Trump claimed on Monday that people in Greenland have responded warmly to the US’s recent interest in the territory. “They’re calling us. We’re not calling them. And we were invited over there,” he said.

“We’re dealing with a lot of people from Greenland that would like to see something happen with respect to them being properly protected and properly taken care of,” Trump told reporters following a meeting with his Cabinet.

“I think Greenland is going to be something that maybe is in our future,” Trump added.

The president said he believes Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be traveling to Greenland too.

Trump’s idea to annex Greenland has thrown an international spotlight on the territory, which holds vast stores of rare earth minerals critical for high-tech industries, and has raised questions about the island’s future security as the US, Russia and China vie for influence in the Arctic. Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in the US taking the island by force or economic coercion, even as Denmark and Greenland have firmly rejected the idea.
FreddieVob April 19, 2025
Some scientists believe that fatty acids such as decanoic acid and dodecanoic acid formed the membranes of the first simple cell-like structures on Earth, Pearce said.
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“(This is) the closest we’ve come to detecting a major biomolecule-related signal — something potentially tied to membrane structure, which is a key feature of life,” Pearce said via email. “Organics on their own are intriguing, but not evidence of life. In contrast, biomolecules like membranes, amino acids, nucleotides, and sugars are central components of biology as we know it, and finding any of them would be groundbreaking (we haven’t yet).”
Returning samples from Mars
The European Space Agency plans to launch its ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover to the red planet in 2028, and the robotic explorer will carry a complementary instrument to SAM. The rover LS6 will have the capability to drill up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) beneath the Martian surface — and perhaps find larger and better-preserved organic molecules.

While Curiosity’s samples can’t be studied on Earth, the Perseverance rover has actively been collecting samples from Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake and river delta, all with the intention of returning them to Earth in the 2030s via a complicated symphony of missions called Mars Sample Return.
Both rovers have detected a variety of organic carbon molecules in different regions on Mars, suggesting that organic carbon is common on the red planet, Williams said.

While Curiosity and Perseverance have proven they can detect organic matter, their instruments can’t definitively determine all the answers about their origins, said Dr. Ashley Murphy, postdoctoral research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Murphy, who along with Williams previously studied organics identified by Perseverance, was not involved in the new research.

“To appropriately probe the biosignature question, these samples require high-resolution and high-sensitivity analyses in terrestrial labs, which can be facilitated by the return of these samples to Earth,” Murphy said.
EdwardBoupe April 19, 2025
New design revealed for Airbus hydrogen plane
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In travel news this week: Bhutan’s spectacular new airport, the world’s first 3D-printed train station has been built in Japan, plus new designs for Airbus’ zero-emission aircraft and France’s next-generation high-speed trains.

Grand designs
European aerospace giant Airbus has revealed a new design for its upcoming fully electric, hydrogen-powered ZEROe aircraft. powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The single-aisle plane now has four engines, rather than six, each powered by their own fuel cell stack.

The reworked design comes after the news that the ZEROe will be in our skies later than Airbus hoped.

The plan was to launch a zero-emission aircraft by 2035, but now the next-generation single-aisle aircraft is slated to enter service in the second half of the 2030s.

Over in Asia, the Himalayan country of Bhutan is building a gloriously Zen-like new airport befitting a nation with its very own happiness index.

Gelephu International is designed to serve a brand new “mindfulness city,” planned for southern Bhutan, near its border with India.

In rail travel, Japan has just built the world’s first 3D-printed train station, which took just two and a half hours to construct, according to The Japan Times. That’s even shorter than the whizzy six hours it was projected to take.

France’s high-speed TGV rail service has revealed its next generation of trains, which will be capable of reaching speeds of up to 320 kilometers an hour (nearly 200 mph).

The stylish interiors have been causing a stir online, as has the double-decker dining car.

Finally, work is underway in London on turning a mile-long series of secret World War II tunnels under a tube station into a major new tourist attraction. CNN took a look inside.
KevinBek April 19, 2025
Why there’s a huge collection of vintage cars stored in the middle of the desert
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Back at the turn of the 21st century, Qatar was a country with few cultural attractions to keep visitors and residents entertained. Yet the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum — known as the FBQ Museum — was a place that most people visited as an alternative to the then-still rather ramshackle National Museum of Qatar.

You had to make an appointment, and drive out into the desert, getting lost a few times along the way, but then you were welcomed to the lush Al Samriya Farm with a cup of tea and some cake. The highlight was being allowed into a space crammed full with shelves and vitrines holding all sorts of eclectic artifacts from swords to coins — with the odd car and carriage standing in the grounds.

It wasn’t necessarily the kind of museum you’d find elsewhere in the world, but it was definitely a sight that needed seeing.

Today, it has grown and now claims to be one of the world’s largest private museums. It holds over 30,000 items, including a fleet of traditional dhow sailboats, and countless carpets. There’s also an entire house that once stood in Damascus, Syria.

There are archaeological finds dating to the Jurassic age, ancient copies of the Quran, a section that details the importance of pearling within Qatar’s history, and jewelry dating to the 17th century.

There are also items from 2022’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar including replica trophies, balls used in the games, entry passes, football jerseys and even shelves full of slightly creepy dolls and children’s plush animals.

Some of the more disturbing exhibits include various items of Third Reich paraphernalia in the wartime room, and, strangely enough, several showcases of birds’ legs with marking rings on them. Basically, whatever you can think of, you have a very good chance of finding it here.

Rumor even has it that behind a locked door is a room filled with the late Princess Diana’s dresses and other memorabilia, accessible only to a select few visitors. Another door hides a room, no longer open to the public, filled with collectibles of the late Saddam Hussein.
RobertNibre April 19, 2025
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Jamesgok April 19, 2025
Wellness perfectionism doesn’t exist. Focus on these sustainable habits
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ou’re scrolling through your phone when you stumble upon the next viral trend: an influencer claiming that following their incredibly strict diet will help you achieve their jaw-dropping physique. Or you see a fresh-faced runner swearing you can run a marathon without any training — just like they did.

Whether or not you’re actively searching for wellness advice, it’s nearly impossible to avoid hearing about the latest health craze making bold guarantees of transformation.

As you wonder if these claims hold any truth, you might also question why people often feel motivated to dive into intense challenges — when seemingly simple habits, such as getting enough sleep or eating more vegetables, often feel much harder to tackle.

Many of us are drawn to these extreme challenges because we’re craving radical change, hoping it will help prove something to ourselves or to others, experts say.

“We always see these kinds of challenges as opportunities for growth, particularly if we’re in a phase of our life where we’ve let ourselves go,” said Dr. Thomas Curran, associate professor of psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science and an expert on perfectionism. “Maybe we feel that we need to be healthier, or we just had a breakup or (major) life event.”
With social media amplifying these movements, it’s easy to see why people are increasingly drawn to the idea of achieving the “perfect” version of themselves. But before jumping into a new wellness challenge, it’s important to take a moment, reflect on your goals, and consider where you’re starting from.
Kennethovedo April 19, 2025
Of course, he said yes to coming back to the series, which eventually required him to live in Italy for a few months for filming.
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During production, White revealed to Gries that Greg is “very sinister.” That became rather irrefutable by the season’s climax, which saw Tanya’s demise orchestrated by her now-husband.

Come Season 3, Gries had to rewrite Greg’s backstory again, this time drawing from some unlikely sources for inspiration, like HBO docuseries “The Jinx,” about late convicted killer Robert Durst, and the case involving the man who came to be known as the Tinder Swindler.

Gries said he was struck by Durst’s “kind of seemingly even keel personality,” which served as a model for where Greg was headed, someone “who doesn’t really show a great deal of emotion, doesn’t seem to get too angry, just gets a little bit irritated and is dangerous.”

“There’s a bridled rage underneath. And those kind of people I find – at least with respect to Gary, Greg, Gary – fascinating,” he said.

And yet, while searching for an empathetic way back to portraying his character, Gries kept wondering if there was anything still redeeming about Greg.
An important “wake up moment” came during a decisive conversation he had with White just before filming in Thailand, in which the show’s creator said of Greg, in no uncertain terms: “He’s a psychopath.”

“And that was it. It was like, ‘back to the drawing board.’ And it really did help me,” Gries said.

The penultimate episode of the series will air on Sunday, an evening that thanks to “Lotus” and other shows has again become a night of appointment viewing amid a general move away from binge watching. Gries said he appreciates the shift.

“We’re a society that in a weird way doesn’t understand the beauty of waiting. The beauty of the space between the notes,” he shared. “If I binged (‘White Lotus’) I’d feel like I just ate too many chocolates. It just wouldn’t be the same. You need to process this.”

“The White Lotus” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO, with the episode available to stream on Max. HBO and Max, like CNN, are owned by the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Jasonkit April 19, 2025
Water and life
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Lightning is a dramatic display of electrical power, but it is also sporadic and unpredictable. Even on a volatile Earth billions of years ago, lightning may have been too infrequent to produce amino acids in quantities sufficient for life — a fact that has cast doubt on such theories in the past, Zare said.

Water spray, however, would have been more common than lightning. A more likely scenario is that mist-generated microlightning constantly zapped amino acids into existence from pools and puddles, where the molecules could accumulate and form more complex molecules, eventually leading to the evolution of life.

“Microdischarges between obviously charged water microdroplets make all the organic molecules observed previously in the Miller-Urey experiment,” Zare said. “We propose that this is a new mechanism for the prebiotic synthesis of molecules that constitute the building blocks of life.”

However, even with the new findings about microlightning, questions remain about life’s origins, he added. While some scientists support the notion of electrically charged beginnings for life’s earliest building blocks, an alternative abiogenesis hypothesis proposes that Earth’s first amino acids were cooked up around hydrothermal vents on the seafloor, produced by a combination of seawater, hydrogen-rich fluids and extreme pressure.

Researchers identified salt minerals in the Bennu samples that were deposited as a result of brine evaporation from the asteroid’s parent body. In particular, they found a number of sodium salts, such as the needles of hydrated sodium carbonate highlighted in purple in this false-colored image – salts that could easily have been compromised if the samples had been exposed to water in Earth’s atmosphere.

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Yet another hypothesis suggests that organic molecules didn’t originate on Earth at all. Rather, they formed in space and were carried here by comets or fragments of asteroids, a process known as panspermia.

“We still don’t know the answer to this question,” Zare said. “But I think we’re closer to understanding something more about what could have happened.”

Though the details of life’s origins on Earth may never be fully explained, “this study provides another avenue for the formation of molecules crucial to the origin of life,” Williams said. “Water is a ubiquitous aspect of our world, giving rise to the moniker ‘Blue Marble’ to describe the Earth from space. Perhaps the falling of water, the most crucial element that sustains us, also played a greater role in the origin of life on Earth than we previously recognized.”
Danielopedo April 19, 2025
‘White Lotus’ villain Jon Gries reveals the true crimes that inspired his twisty take on Greg/Gary
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When Season 3 of “The White Lotus” premiered last month, the shock was palpable when returning character Belinda recognized a familiar face at the resort in Thailand: Greg Hunt, the wily suitor of the late Tanya McQuoid.

As the season has unfolded, Greg (played by Jon Gries) has emerged as an antagonist, particularly after Belinda dove into the investigation surrounding Tanya’s death and learned that Greg, who now goes by Gary, evaded questioning by authorities.

On a show famous for reinventing itself, the same has been asked of the actor, who says that playing the ever-shifting character has been a welcome challenge and, like “White Lotus” itself, full of twists.

“In the beginning, I totally played him for a guy who was, you know, on his last legs,” Gries said in a recent interview with CNN, referencing Greg’s very apparent ill health in the first season of “White Lotus,” which premiered to rave reviews in summer 2021. He added: “When you play a character, you want to find his empathetic side, and you want to understand where they came from, and what got them to where they are.”

But when he was contacted by creator Mike White about appearing in Season 2, Gries realized he would have to adjust his framing of Greg, despite having previously imagined a “comprehensive history” for him on his own.

“(White) said, ‘I’m writing it right now, and I’m writing you, and I just need to know here and now: If you’re in, I’ll continue writing. If not, I’ll stop,’” Gries recalled.
Williamsip April 19, 2025
New design revealed for Airbus hydrogen plane
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In travel news this week: Bhutan’s spectacular new airport, the world’s first 3D-printed train station has been built in Japan, plus new designs for Airbus’ zero-emission aircraft and France’s next-generation high-speed trains.

Grand designs
European aerospace giant Airbus has revealed a new design for its upcoming fully electric, hydrogen-powered ZEROe aircraft. powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The single-aisle plane now has four engines, rather than six, each powered by their own fuel cell stack.

The reworked design comes after the news that the ZEROe will be in our skies later than Airbus hoped.

The plan was to launch a zero-emission aircraft by 2035, but now the next-generation single-aisle aircraft is slated to enter service in the second half of the 2030s.

Over in Asia, the Himalayan country of Bhutan is building a gloriously Zen-like new airport befitting a nation with its very own happiness index.

Gelephu International is designed to serve a brand new “mindfulness city,” planned for southern Bhutan, near its border with India.

In rail travel, Japan has just built the world’s first 3D-printed train station, which took just two and a half hours to construct, according to The Japan Times. That’s even shorter than the whizzy six hours it was projected to take.

France’s high-speed TGV rail service has revealed its next generation of trains, which will be capable of reaching speeds of up to 320 kilometers an hour (nearly 200 mph).

The stylish interiors have been causing a stir online, as has the double-decker dining car.

Finally, work is underway in London on turning a mile-long series of secret World War II tunnels under a tube station into a major new tourist attraction. CNN took a look inside.
RobertAnync April 20, 2025
Family affair
rhino fi
Americans Brittany and Blake Bowen had never even been to Ecuador when in 2021 they decided to move to the South American country with their four children.

Tired of “long commutes and never enough money” in the US, the Bowens say they love their new Ecuadorian life. “We hope that maybe we’ll have grandkids here one day.”

Erik and Erin Eagleman moved to Switzerland from Wisconsin with their three children in 2023.

“It feels safe here,” they tell CNN of their new outdoorsy lifestyle in Basel, close to the borders with France and Germany. Their youngest daughter even walks to elementary school by herself.

For adventures with your own family, be it weekend breaks or something longer-term, our partners at CNN Underscored, a product review and recommendations guide owned by CNN, have this roundup of the best kids’ luggage sets and bags.

Starry, starry nights
For close to 100 years, Michelin stars have been a sign of culinary excellence, awarded only to the great and good.

Georges Blanc, the world’s longest-standing Michelin-starred restaurant, has boasted a three-star rating since 1981, but this month the Michelin guide announced that the restaurant in eastern France was losing a star.

More culinary reputations were enhanced this week, when Asia’s 50 best restaurants for 2025 were revealed. The winner was a Bangkok restaurant which is no stranger to garlands, while second and third place went to two Hong Kong eateries.

You don’t need to go to a heaving metropolis for excellent food, however. A 200-year-old cottage on a remote stretch of Ireland’s Atlantic coast has been given a Michelin star. At the time of awarding, Michelin called it “surely the most rural” of its newest winners.
Carloshoity April 20, 2025
Mindful wellness challenges
If you’re the type of person who thrives on challenges and pushing your limits, this doesn’t mean you need to shy away from wellness challenges altogether. But before diving in, take a step back and ask yourself if you’re pursuing the challenge for the right reasons, McGregor said.
velodrome finance
Some people want to try these challenges because they believe something is missing from their life, and they’re looking to attain “worth” or receive validation, McGregor noted.

A good way to assess your motivation is by considering whether the challenge will benefit your health or if it’s about showcasing your accomplishments on social media or some other reason.

Before trying any new trend, make sure you have the foundation to handle it and be aware of any potential risks, McGregor said.

For casual runners, this might mean signing up for a 5K but building your endurance gradually while incorporating other strength training exercises into your routine. For more intense challenges, such as a marathon, McGregor encourages people to consult with professionals or a coach who can monitor your progress and condition along the way.

Focusing on sustainable habits
Both McGregor and Curran emphasize the importance of fostering sustainable health habits before embarking on more extreme challenges.

Rather than chasing the idea of being “healthy,” McGregor suggests focusing on actual healthful behaviors and starting small.

If you’re a highly sedentary person and want to add more movement to your day, try doing lunges while brushing your teeth or taking short walks throughout your typical routine.
Anthonyhig April 20, 2025
Scientists redid an experiment that showed how life on Earth could have started. They found a new possibility
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In the 1931 movie “Frankenstein,” Dr. Henry Frankenstein howling his triumph was an electrifying moment in more ways than one. As massive bolts of lightning and energy crackled, Frankenstein’s monster stirred on a laboratory table, its corpse brought to life by the power of electricity.

Electrical energy may also have sparked the beginnings of life on Earth billions of years ago, though with a bit less scenery-chewing than that classic film scene.

Earth is around 4.5 billion years old, and the oldest direct fossil evidence of ancient life — stromatolites, or microscopic organisms preserved in layers known as microbial mats — is about 3.5 billion years old. However, some scientists suspect life originated even earlier, emerging from accumulated organic molecules in primitive bodies of water, a mixture sometimes referred to as primordial soup.

But where did that organic material come from in the first place? Researchers decades ago proposed that lightning caused chemical reactions in ancient Earth’s oceans and spontaneously produced the organic molecules.

Now, new research published March 14 in the journal Science Advances suggests that fizzes of barely visible “microlightning,” generated between charged droplets of water mist, could have been potent enough to cook up amino acids from inorganic material. Amino acids — organic molecules that combine to form proteins — are life’s most basic building blocks and would have been the first step toward the evolution of life.
BillySib April 20, 2025
Mist and microlightning
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To recreate a scenario that may have produced Earth’s first organic molecules, researchers built upon experiments from 1953 when American chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey concocted a gas mixture mimicking the atmosphere of ancient Earth. Miller and Urey combined ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4), hydrogen (H2) and water, enclosed their “atmosphere” inside a glass sphere and jolted it with electricity, producing simple amino acids containing carbon and nitrogen. The Miller-Urey experiment, as it is now known, supported the scientific theory of abiogenesis: that life could emerge from nonliving molecules.
For the new study, scientists revisited the 1953 experiments but directed their attention toward electrical activity on a smaller scale, said senior study author Dr. Richard Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor of Natural Science and professor of chemistry at Stanford University in California. Zare and his colleagues looked at electricity exchange between charged water droplets measuring between 1 micron and 20 microns in diameter. (The width of a human hair is 100 microns.)

“The big droplets are positively charged. The little droplets are negatively charged,” Zare told CNN. “When droplets that have opposite charges are close together, electrons can jump from the negatively charged droplet to the positively charged droplet.”
The researchers mixed ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen in a glass bulb, then sprayed the gases with water mist, using a high-speed camera to capture faint flashes of microlightning in the vapor. When they examined the bulb’s contents, they found organic molecules with carbon-nitrogen bonds. These included the amino acid glycine and uracil, a nucleotide base in RNA.

“We discovered no new chemistry; we have actually reproduced all the chemistry that Miller and Urey did in 1953,” Zare said. Nor did the team discover new physics, he added — the experiments were based on known principles of electrostatics.

“What we have done, for the first time, is we have seen that little droplets, when they’re formed from water, actually emit light and get this spark,” Zare said. “That’s new. And that spark causes all types of chemical transformations.”
HerbertHeala April 20, 2025
A tiny rainforest country is growing into a petrostate. A US oil company could reap the biggest rewards
swell
Guyana’s destiny changed in 2015. US fossil fuel giant Exxon discovered nearly 11 billion barrels of oil in the deep water off the coast of this tiny, rainforested country.

It was one of the most spectacular oil discoveries of recent decades. By 2019, Exxon and its partners, US oil company Hess and China-headquartered CNOOC, had started producing the fossil fuel.? They now pump around 650,000 barrels of oil a day, with plans to more than double this to 1.3 million by 2027.

Guyana now has the world’s highest expected oil production growth through 2035.

This country — sandwiched between Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname — has been hailed as a climate champion for the lush, well-preserved forests that carpet nearly 90% of its land. It is on the path to becoming a petrostate at the same time as the impacts of the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis escalate.

While the government says environmental protection and an oil industry can go hand-in-hand, and low-income countries must be allowed to exploit their own resources, critics say it’s a dangerous path in a warming world, and the benefits may ultimately skew toward Exxon — not Guyana.
Allanabulk April 20, 2025
A tiny rainforest country is growing into a petrostate. A US oil company could reap the biggest rewards
kyberswap
Guyana’s destiny changed in 2015. US fossil fuel giant Exxon discovered nearly 11 billion barrels of oil in the deep water off the coast of this tiny, rainforested country.

It was one of the most spectacular oil discoveries of recent decades. By 2019, Exxon and its partners, US oil company Hess and China-headquartered CNOOC, had started producing the fossil fuel.? They now pump around 650,000 barrels of oil a day, with plans to more than double this to 1.3 million by 2027.

Guyana now has the world’s highest expected oil production growth through 2035.

This country — sandwiched between Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname — has been hailed as a climate champion for the lush, well-preserved forests that carpet nearly 90% of its land. It is on the path to becoming a petrostate at the same time as the impacts of the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis escalate.

While the government says environmental protection and an oil industry can go hand-in-hand, and low-income countries must be allowed to exploit their own resources, critics say it’s a dangerous path in a warming world, and the benefits may ultimately skew toward Exxon — not Guyana.
Since Exxon’s transformative discovery, Guyana’s government has tightly embraced oil as a route to prosperity. In December 2019, then-President David Granger said in a speech, “petroleum resources will be utilized to provide the good life for all … Every Guyanese will benefit.”

It’s a narrative that has continued under current President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, who says new oil wealth will allow Guyana to develop better infrastructure, healthcare and climate adaptation.
WilliamnoImi April 20, 2025
“You have a government that is reckless about what is going to happen to Guyana,” said Melinda Janki, an international lawyer in Guyana who is handling several lawsuits against Exxon. It’s pursuing “a supposed course of development that is actually backward and destructive,” she told CNN.
kelpdao
And while plenty of Guyanese people welcome the new oil industry, some say Guyana’s startling economic statistics do not reflect a real-world prosperity for ordinary people, many of whom are struggling with the higher prices accompanying the oil boom. Inflation rose 6.6% in 2023, with prices of some foods shooting up much more rapidly.

“Since the oil extraction began in Guyana, we have noticed that our cost of living has gone sky high,” said Wintress White, of Red Thread, a non-profit that focuses on improving living conditions for Guyanese women. “The money is not trickling down to the masses,” she told CNN.

CNN contacted President Ali, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Finance for comment but received no response.
Guyana, a former Dutch then British colony which gained independence in 1966, is one of only a handful of countries that is a “carbon sink,” meaning it stores more planet-heating pollution than it produces. This is due to its vast rainforest; trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow.

The country has protected its biodiversity where others have destroyed theirs, President Ali said in a BBC interview last year. In 2009, the country signed an agreement with Norway, which promised Guyana more than $250 million to preserve its 18.5 million hectares, or nearly 46 million acres, of forests.

Ali insists the country can balance climate leadership and fossil fuel exploitation. The new oil wealth will allow Guayana to develop, including building climate adaptations such as sea walls, he has said. He has also pointed to the continued failures of wealthy countries, already grown rich on their own fossil fuels, to help poorer countries with climate finance.

But there are concerns Guyana could fall victim to the “resource curse,” in which vast, new wealth ?can actually make life worse for those who live there.
TerryTrugh April 20, 2025
The voice of ‘White Lotus’ star Walton Goggins is the lullaby we didn’t know we needed
jumper exchange
While his “White Lotus” character Rick has been the source of some stress this season, Walton Goggins is here to soothe us into a state of dreamy sleep to make up for it.

The actor has partnered with relaxation and meditation app Calm for one of their famed Sleep Stories, lending his smoky voice to a fable titled “The Yard Sale.”

Goggins announced the Sleep Story on his verified Instagram on Tuesday, writing, “A friend once said to me the first question you ask someone shouldn’t be, ‘How are you?’ but rather, ‘How did you sleep last night?’ I agree.”

The post included an excerpt from the story, in which Goggins is heard languidly instructing listeners to relax their bodies and get into bed. “You could even climb into a hammock,” he added. “I wouldn’t do that because I’ve never gracefully got in or out of one.”

In the caption, the actor also wrote that he “wanted to create a Sleep Story that feels dreamlike, helping people slow their minds down by wandering through a yard sale (which happens to be one of my favorite things to do), uncovering hidden treasures.”

“It’s the Walton Goggins version of counting sheep. I hope you enjoy,” he added.

Other celebrities who have read bedtime stories in the hopes of putting audiences to sleep include Dolly Parton and the late Jimmy Stewart, whose voice was featured in a Calm Christmas Sleep Story in 2023 thanks to generative AI technology.

Goggins currently stars on “The White Lotus,” where his character is often the most stressed out and tortured of the ensemble, at one point setting a slew of snakes free.

Quote of the Week

Public Television is taking a break from its pledge drive to kick some ass. No commericals, NO MERCY!

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