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The centerpiece of shock and awe of the West’s economic response to Russia’s invasion and bombardment of Ukraine was the freezing of Russia’s central bank assets. In the March 7 edition of his Global Money Dispatch newsletter, the Credit Suisse investment strategist Zoltan Pozsar writes that the G7 seizure of Russia’s foreign exchange reserves marks a regime change in the global monetary system. Pozsar pronounces this new regime Bretton Woods…

Inspired by the shiny lining of mollusk shells, researchers created a cement composite 19 times more flexible and 17 times more crack-resistant than regular cement. Its properties could be applied to brittle ceramic materials like porcelain and concrete. · Nature is known for developing lightweight yet tough materials using limited, modest materials arranged into ingenious architecture. Take nacre, for example. More commonly known as mother of…

In December 1935, the Czech track star Zdeněk Koubek announced that he was going to be living as a man. To sports fans, the news seemed hard to believe: Koubek had been assigned female at birth, and he had competed, and set a world record, in the women’s 800-meter dash. · But after years of expressing an affinity for masculinity, Koubek decided the category no longer fit him. He was going to undergo a series of operations in his home country of…

The universe is awash with strange radio signals, but astronomers have now detected a really bizarre one that repeats every hour, cycling through three different states. While they have some ideas about its origin it can’t be explained by our current understanding of physics. · The signal first appeared in data gathered by the ASKAP radio telescope in Australia, which watches a big swath of sky at once for transient pulses. Officially…

School Possum Hunts · They have negative consequences for the healthy development of empathy in children according to an opinion piece by Lynley Tulloch, published on the SCOOP Independent News website on 10 June 2024. · The article opens with the following statement: · “School possum hunts in Aotearoa New Zealand tend to be polarising. On the one hand is the school’s touted mission of environmental conservation couched in community values and…

A cure for cancer — which is second only to cardiovascular diseases in its contribution to the global burden of disease — has long been a dream. While no magic bullet is yet in sight, three vaccines for particular skin and lung cancer types have advanced to the last stage of clinical trials in recent months. If successful, these vaccines should be available to patients in the next three to 11 years. Unlike vaccines which prevent diseases, these…

The rise of China has changed the global landscape of power, forcing readjustments. Since the economic reform and opening up in 1978, its GDP has grown on average by nine percent a year, allowing 800 million Chinese citizens to escape poverty. Now, China’s rapid rise is slowing down and incumbent global powers that have dominated political, military and economic spheres for decades are scrambling for responses. · The unprecedented Chinese…

Ghee is a type of clarified butter that originates from India and is a staple in South Asian cuisine. Its distinct nutty flavor works well in dishes such as rice, long-simmered curries, and sautéed vegetables, or drizzled over flatbreads like roti or naan.All ghee starts with butter. Most cooking oils, such as coconut or olive oil, are pure fat. Butter is different. It’s a natural emulsion that contains fat, water, and milk solids.…

Setting up a Maori parliament · Rawiri Waititi, the leader of Te Pāti Māori announced last week that they are going to establish their own Parliament to assert Maori sovereignty which they claim was affirmed and protected in the Treaty of Waitangi. · Their parliament will be according to them; · 1. Anchored in their tikanga and kawa 2. Focussed entirely o mokopuna livelihood 3. Established as part of transforming Aotearoa into a nation which…

A dark, stormy night in the town of Pitlochry, in the Scottish Highlands. The August heatwave had finally broken with a spectacle of thunder, lightning and torrents of rain, and outside the back door of a town centre hotel, a group of young chefs gathered to cool off after a hot night in the kitchen. · Usually, there'd be banter, of the bawdy kind, cigarettes and a bottle passed around, but tonight was different. Two of the group were…