Category: Life & Style

Nearly a year after the catastrophic implosion of the OceanGate Titan submersible, a new expedition aims to safely examine the Titanic ruins in the North Atlantic. Larry Connor, a billionaire from Ohio, is spearheading this effort, which aims to demonstrate that such dives can be safely completed with competent engineering.

Connor, a 74-year-old seasoned explorer, revealed his ideas to The Wall Street Journal, emphasising the importance of strict safety precautions. The tragic Titan catastrophe in June 2023, which resulted in the immediate deaths of everyone onboard, piqued his interest in this industry.

In pursuit of his aim, Connor contacted Patrick Lahey, the CEO of Triton Submarines. Lahey, who previously criticised OceanGate for its weak safety precautions, is now working with Connor on this project.

The expedition will use Triton Submarines’ advanced Triton 4000/2 “Abyss Explorer.” This modern two-person submersible, priced at $20 million, is known as the world’s deepest diving acrylic sub, capable of descending beyond 13,000 feet.

Lahey, a co-founder of Triton with Bruce Jones, will accompany Connor on this risky dive. While the exact date of this mission has not been announced, Connor and Triton Submarines hope to set new benchmarks for deep-sea exploration and safety.

The White House announced over $900 million in grants to 530 school districts to replace ageing, gas-powered school buses with cleaner, primarily electric alternatives. This financing is part of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) $5 billion clean school bus programme, established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021.

This current batch of money will go towards the acquisition of 3,400 school buses, with 92% being electric. Approximately 67% of the cash will go to school districts in low-income, indigenous, and rural communities.

The EPA’s clean school bus effort is an important part of President Joe Biden’s overall strategy to improve public school facilities and minimise pollution from outdated buses. It is consistent with Biden’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, divert government climate investments to underprivileged regions, and increase demand for American-made electric vehicles.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan emphasised the initiative’s broader implications, saying, “This news is more than just clean school buses. It is about improving air quality for our children, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and strengthening our country’s leadership in the development of clean automobiles.” He also stated that the increasing demand for electric school buses will result in the establishment of new manufacturing jobs and investments in local firms.

On Tuesday, Thailand announced an extended visa stay period for tourists, postgraduate students, and remote workers to improve the country’s key tourism industry in the face of economic challenges.

According to government spokesman Chai Wacharonke, travellers from 93 countries would be able to remain for 60 days beginning in June, up from 57 nations, with more eligible for visas on arrival. Postgraduate students can stay for an extra year after graduation, and retirees’ insurance requirements will be reduced.

Tourism, a major contributor to Thailand’s economy and employment, is being targeted for expansion by increasing on-arrival visa limits from 30 to 60 days. The “digital nomad” visa for remote workers will be valid for five years, with each stay limited to 180 days, up from the current 60.

Thailand hopes to attract more visitors from its primary and fastest-growing markets, with 14.3 million expected from January to May 26, 2024, and a record 40 million arrivals and 3.5 trillion baht ($95.73 billion) in revenue for the year. Thailand received 39.9 million visitors in 2019, bringing in 1.91 trillion baht before the outbreak.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated director Payal Kapadia on her historic achievement at the Cannes Film Festival, where her film “All We Imagine as Light” received the prestigious Grand Prix prize. Kapadia’s achievement is notable because she is the first Indian director to receive this honour. Modi commended her great talent and stated that her achievement would encourage the next generation of Indian filmmakers.

The film won the festival’s second-most prestigious honour. It came after the Palme d’Or, which was presented to American director Sean Baker for “Anora” during the closing ceremony on Saturday night.

Kapadia’s film, which tackles the concept of friendship through the eyes of three different women, made history as the first Indian entry for the Cannes main competition in three decades. In her acceptance speech, Kapadia praised the Cannes Film Festival for the opportunity and emphasised the importance of women supporting one another. She advocated for more representation of Indian cinema at Cannes, as well as better societal inclusivity and empathy.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also complimented Kapadia and the team behind “All We Imagine as Light” on their extraordinary achievement. He emphasised the importance of their victory in promoting Indian talent on a worldwide scale.

On June 3, a rare planetary alignment will occur, allowing you to see six planets in a line in the sky. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are all involved in this amazing occurrence. This is your next opportunity to see a rare celestial show if you were unable to see the northern lights recently.

When multiple planets approach the same side of the sun along their orbits, this is known as a planetary alignment. As per Kate Pattle, a lecturer at the Physics & Astronomy Department at University College London, “This implies that their appearance in the sky is in a line when observed from Earth. In this case, Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars, Neptune, and Saturn will form a line.

Even though this event isn’t a true orbital alignment or syzygy, it’s still quite amazing to see. The alignment is best seen an hour before sunrise on June 3 (and a few days before and after). To locate it, choose a position with little light pollution and a clear view of the eastern horizon.

Seeing all six planets—including the dim Uranus, Neptune, and maybe Mercury—requires binoculars. The brightest planet, Jupiter, will be the easiest to see.

Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams is all set for her third space mission and is ready to write another chapter in her illustrious career. The much-awaited launch, which was supposed to test Boeing’s Starliner and was originally scheduled for earlier this month, was pushed back because of technical difficulties. But now that the problems have been resolved, the mission is scheduled for sometime between June 1 and June 5.

58-year-old Williams brings an extensive amount of experience to the project. She has already completed two space trips and is familiar with the complexities and requirements of space travel.

The mission, which is a component of NASA’s expansive Commercial Crew Programme, demonstrates the agency’s dedication to promoting cooperation with companies in the private sector. If successful, the project will increase the capacity for crew transport to and from the International Space Station, representing a significant milestone in human spaceflight.

Williams is an inspiration to many because of her incredible journey from Euclid, Ohio, to space. Her commitment, together with her training in engineering management and physical science, perfectly captures the spirit of invention and discovery that motivates humanity’s search for knowledge beyond Earth’s boundaries.

German author Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann won the International Booker Prize for the novel “Kairos,” a turbulent love story set in the final years of communist East Germany. They will split the £50,000 ($64,000, €59,000) award that was chosen from 149 entries.

“Kairos” portrays a young woman’s damaging relationship with an elderly man in East Berlin during the 1980s. The work has been described as “a richly textured evocation of a tormented love affair, interwoven with the personal and national transformations of East Germany” by Eleanor Wachtel, chair of the prize panel. Her compliment to Hofmann’s translation was that it retained Erpenbeck’s “eloquence and eccentricities” in the text.

Erpenbeck stated that she wanted to highlight parts of East Germany in the book that went beyond governmental persecution and monitoring. She underlined that the Berlin Wall and the Stasi are only two parts of East Germany’s past. Erpenbeck, who was born and reared in East Berlin, emphasised the need to understand the period before and following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Last year, the International Booker Prize went to the Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov, whose book “Time Shelter” Angela Rodel translated. In the autumn, the English-language fiction Booker Prize will be revealed.

In the capital of Saudi Arabia, Nora screamed out loud, leaning against the microphone. During a recent gig, she performed a set with her bandmates. It would have been impossible to imagine a performance by the all-female psychedelic rock band Seera combining traditional Arabic melodies and the psychedelia of bands like Tame Impala years ago.

Seera is a symbol of how women in Saudi Arabia, a country long associated with strict gender segregation and ultraconservative Islam, are finding their voice and expressing themselves through the arts as the country liberalises certain areas of its society.

“We had no idea how people would respond,” the bassist for the group, Meesh, stated. “We are big supporters of individual expression. We were surprised to see that they welcomed us with open arms.

Seera notes that The Accolade, a 2008-formed female band that performed in secret, predates them as the first band in the kingdom. Since the reforms implemented by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a significant shift has occurred.

Seera has scheduled their first overseas performance in Dubai and intends to release their debut album later this year. Nora dreams that the band encourages the next generation to be authentic.

India-born Gopi Thotakura made history by being the first and second Indian to travel into space as a space tourist. He joined Blue Origin on its NS-25 mission, which marked the successful completion of the programme’s 25th flight and its seventh human spaceflight.

Thotakura, an Andhra Pradesh native, travelled with Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller, and retired Air Force Captain Ed Dwight as one of the six members of the crew.

Senior Vice President of New Shepard Phil Joyce expressed gratitude to the astronaut clients for advancing Blue Origin’s goal of constructing a space highway for the good of humanity.

Thotakura talked about his love of aviation and the possibility of more accessible and reasonably priced space travel. He highlighted the amazing sensation of staring down at Earth from orbit as he thought back on his feelings.

He also emphasised the significance of preserving the environment, in keeping with Blue Origin’s motto, “For the benefit of Earth.” The goal of Blue Origin’s charity, Club for the Future, was to encourage future generations to pursue jobs in STEAM fields, and each astronaut took a postcard into space with them.

In 1984, Indian citizen Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma became the first person to travel to space.

A herd of 170 European bison reintroduced to Romania’s Țarcu Mountains could significantly mitigate CO2 emissions, equivalent to removing 43,000 US cars annually. Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania brought back European bison in 2014, after being extinct in Romania for more than 200 years.

Currently, there are over 170 of these animals in one of the largest free-roaming populations in Europe. Using a model created by the Yale School of the Environment and supported by the Global Rewilding Alliance, the study calculates how the bison affects ecological interactions that store carbon in soil.

With its 50 square kilometres of grasslands, the bison herd in the Śarcu Highlands has the potential to absorb an extra 54,000 tonnes of carbon per year—nearly 9.8 times more than it would if it weren’t there. This is equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 43,000 typical gasoline-powered US automobiles, or, because European cars are more energy-efficient, 123,000 cars.

Professor Oswald Schmitz emphasises how important it is for ecological balance that bison have an impact on the soil, nutrients, plants, and seed dissemination. The reintroduction of bison supports tourist and nature-based businesses by promoting biodiversity. To verify models and realise long-term advantages, further fieldwork is recommended.