Georgi Gospodinov’s Time Shelter, translated by Angela Rodel, has become the first Bulgarian novel to win the International Booker Prize. The novel is about “a ‘clinic for the past’ [that] offers a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s sufferers: each floor reproduces a decade in minute detail, transporting patients back in time. But soon the past begins to invade the present,” said the International Booker Prize website. Full of irony and melancholy, the novel deals with a contemporary question: what happens to us when our memories disappear? “Georgi Gospodinov succeeds mar
Brazil’s environmental authority declined to issue a licence for a contentious offshore oil drilling project at the mouth of the Amazon River on May 17. The decision to reject the state-run oil company Petrobras’ request to drill the FZA-M-59 block was taken “as a function of a group of technical inconsistencies,” said the agency’s head, underlining environmental concerns. Eighty civil society and environmental bodies, including WWF Brasil and Greenpeace, had called for the license to be rejected. The biodiverse area is home to little-studied patches of mangroves and a c
Environmental activists poured black liquid into Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain to protest against Italy's “inaction” on climate change. Members of the climate activist group Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) poured diluted charcoal into the fountain to symbolise the “dark future” they believe the planet faces due to climate change. The protestors demanded that the government remove subsidies for the fossil fuels sector. They held up banners that read “We won't pay for fossil fuels” and “Our country is dying.” Police detained the activists about 20 minutes after their de
A study has found that New York City is sinking due to the weight of its high-rise buildings. According to the report, the sea level around the US city is gradually rising. The study, published in the journal Earth’s Future, claimed that the sea level around New York City has been rising more than twice as fast as the global rate. The study projected that the sea level would rise between 8 inches and 30 inches by 2050. In addition, scientists expect more frequent and extreme rainfalls and hurricanes in the region due to the human-induced climate crisis. There are more than 10 lakh bui
Space Perspective, a US space travel company, plans to offer the first-ever space weddings. Its revolutionary Neptune spacecraft offers couples a rare chance to embark on a truly unique journey to the edge of space, providing them with an unforgettable experience complete with unparalleled views of our planet, for ₹1 crore per person. The space expedition has already found takers, who are eager to exchange their sacred vows under the stars. The spacecraft is designed to lift off the ground at a gentle pace of 12 mph making the experience accessible to anyone who is medically fit to fly w
Global temperatures are likely to surge to record levels in the next five years, energised by greenhouse gases and a naturally occurring El Niño event, said a new update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva on 17 May 2023. There is a 66 percent likelihood that the annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year. There is a greater chance, of 98 percent, that at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record.
Four of Uranus’ largest moons may contain an ocean layer between their cores and icy crusts, suggests a re-analysis of data from NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, along with new computer modeling. The work explores how oceans could exist in unlikely places in our solar system. The study is the first to detail the evolution of the interior make-up and structure of all five large moons of the planet: Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, and Miranda. The planet is surrounded by its four major rings and 10 of its 27 known moons in this colour-added view that uses data taken by the Hubble Space
The record-breaking humid heat wave that hit east and north India, Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand in April was made at least 30 times more likely by climate change, said a rapid attribution analysis by scientists of the World Weather Attribution (WWA) on May 17. The analysis by the international team of scientists said that a highly vulnerable, large population was subjected to a deadly combination of high heat and humidity, which amplified the impacts in early summer this year. People across South Asia during a four-day period between April 17 and 20 were exposed to a heat index or ‘feel
The United Arab Emirates’ newest snow park, Snow Abu Dhabi at Reem Mall, will open to the public on June 8. Spread over 10,000 sq.ft., the indoor snow park, Snow Abu Dhabi will maintain a temperature of -2ºC and have a snow depth of 500 mm. It will have 12 exciting rides and 17 attractions. Its attractions include two giant slides: Ice and Floes Toboggan Race and Grauppel’s Summit Escape. Innovative rides at Snow Abu Dhabi include The Entry Plaza, the Polar Express Train, the Flight of the Snowy Owl, the Magic Carpet, and the Crystal Carousel, said Reem Mall in an announcement on Inst
Al Habtoor Group has announced that it is constructing one of the world’s largest residential buildings in Dubai. The 81-storey building overlooking the Burj Khalifa will have 1,701 apartments over a built-up area of 35.17 lakh square feet. The value of the multibillion dirham development was not disclosed. The building is scheduled to be completed within three years, said Khalaf Al Habtoor, Founding Chairman, Al Habtoor Group. “As a former builder/contractor, I am excited to be driving the first piles of the project into the ground and revealing some of the novel technical details of