Articles from ‘elocal magazine’

The liberal world order, which was strongly promoted by the United States after the end of the Cold War, seems to be nearing the end of its current phase.  · The world is already witnessing a rise in political populism, nationalism and protectionism. These trends may also spread further to other regions of the globe.  · US President Donald Trump appears unwilling to counteract these movements. In fact, his decisions may exacerbate the…

Mount Taranaki is set to gain the legal rights of a person under the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill, which will become law on 30 January 2025. · The dormant volcano will now be represented by a panel of eight, including four traditional owners and four Crown representatives. · The legislation, passed by Labour in 2023, recognises Mount Taranaki, alongside its companion peaks, as a living ancestor with its own identity and rights. ·…

2024 has been a year in space that has seen successes, failures, a clutch of firsts, and some goodbyes – not to mention a long-distance probe rescue, spacesuits on the catwalk, and a couple of cosmic oddities. Let's have a look back. · One of the big firsts in 2024 came from SpaceX as it finally managed to fly its Starship into space without blowing up. That's not bad for the world's largest rocket, which dwarfs even the Apollo era Saturn V,…

Shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration eight years ago, half a million people headed onto the streets of Washington DC to protest the new president. · Now, as Mr Trump prepares for his return to office, an attempt to repeat the event and stir up mass resistance to the Republican fell flat. One unimpressed attendee described it as “disappointingly tiny”, while another said turnout was “unfortunate”. · For an event that billed itself as the…

A clever new set of glasses may offer new hope to people with macular degeneration. By copying the structure of a fly's eyes, the specs are claimed to "fill in" the missing section of the wearer's view of the world. · Macular degeneration is one of the leading causes of blindness, affecting the center area of the retina. That area is known as the macula. · In one of the two main forms of macular degeneration, light-sensitive cells in the…

The extended evolutionary synthesis (EES), championed in Evolution Evolving by Kevin Lala and colleagues, offers a fresh perspective on evolution. · This approach argues that development, influenced by environmental conditions, plays a role in driving evolution alongside natural selection. · The book challenges the mid-twentieth-century modern synthesis, which frames evolution solely around random genetic mutations and their selection. · The…

Captain Harold Ruegg, Administrator for the Ross Dependency, opened Scott Base, New Zealand’s permanent Antarctic research station, during a ceremony on Ross Island on January 20th, 1957. · Ruegg gave a short speech to a small crowd which included Sir Edmund Hillary, Admiral George J. Dufek, and other officers from McMurdo Station, the nearby American logistical support base. Appropriately, as the base was named after the British explorer…

These apple cinnamon muffins start with an easy muffin batter that’s flavored with cinnamon, brown sugar, and plenty of juicy apples. They make a delicious breakfast alternative or sweet treat for any time of the day. · Ingredients · - 125g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the tin - 125g dark brown sugar - 150ml golden syrup - 250g self raising flour, plus extra for the tin - 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda - pinch of ground…

We all know someone with a fast metabolism. Or at least we think we do. · They have a voracious appetite and yet never put on weight. Is it that some people genetically are predisposed to be fatter than others? Perhaps our hormones are to blame, the type of foods we eat, even our gut health. · There are certainly lots of competing theories for why some of us pile on the pounds, with corresponding diet advice. · And all of them are a…

When the deeply patriarchal Romans first encountered Celtic tribes living in modern-day France and Great Britain in the first century B.C.E., their reaction to the roles of the sexes was one of surprise and dismay. The tasks of men and women “have been exchanged, in a manner opposite to what obtains among us,” wrote one Roman historian. · New evidence from Celtic graves now confirms that at least one part of Britain was a woman’s world long…