Face masks ward off #covid-19, so why are we still arguing about it? | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2400394-face-masks-ward-off-covid-19-so-why-are-we-still-arguing-about
As observational studies aren’t randomised, it is difficult to ensure there is no bias, says Dye. However, when many different observational studies all come to the same conclusion, we can have more confidence in the findings.
Starlink carbon footprint up to 30 times size of land-based internet | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2394949-starlink-carbon-footprint-up-to-30-times-size-of-land-based-in
The satellite internet services provided by SpaceX Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb or Amazon Kuiper will come with a carbon footprint much higher than that associated with land-based alternatives
Risk of mass deaths as heatwaves start to pass survivability threshold | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2391326-risk-of-mass-deaths-as-heatwaves-start-to-pass-survivability-t
Between 1.5 and 2°C of global warming will lead to heatwaves so extreme that healthy people can’t survive outdoors for long, in areas where people aren’t used to extreme heat
avec un peu d’imagination, on peut y voir une réaction d’auto-protection de la planète : elle élimine l’espèce qui cause le problème :-)
pour la liste des espèces dangereuses, voir : ▻https://seenthis.net/messages/1016220
Plants find it harder to absorb carbon dioxide amid global warming | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2386953-plants-find-it-harder-to-absorb-carbon-dioxide-amid-global-war
Global warming drying the air may have slowed a rising rate of photosynthesis around the world. With this plant process involving the uptake of carbon dioxide, some researchers hoped that a boost to photosynthesis rates would help to remove the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, but the latest study suggests this effect has faltered since 2000.
Octopuses edit their own genetic code to adapt to colder water | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2377527-octopuses-edit-their-own-genetic-code-to-adapt-to-colder-water
When the temperature drops, octopuses recode their RNA in thousands of places to alter the proteins made in their nerve cells
Pneumatic computer uses pressure instead of electricity | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2376615-pneumatic-computer-uses-pressure-instead-of-electricity
A computer chip made of glass and silicone holds liquids that move from one side of the chip to the other in reaction to pressure changes. This has been used to control and automate miniaturised biochemistry experiments
Most major carbon capture and storage projects haven’t met targets | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2336018-most-major-carbon-capture-and-storage-projects-havent-met-targ
The majority of 13 flagship CCS [Carbon capture and storage] schemes worldwide, representing 55 per cent of captured carbon dioxide, have either failed entirely or captured much less CO2 than expected
Heatwave in China is the most severe ever recorded in the world
A long spell of extreme hot and dry weather is affecting energy, water supplies and food production across China
https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/23145221/SEI_120628506.jpg?width=778#.jpg
Low rainfall and record-breaking heat across much of China are having widespread impacts on people, industry and farming. River and reservoir levels have fallen, factories have shut because of electricity shortages and huge areas of crops have been damaged. The situation could have worldwide repercussions, causing further disruption to supply chains and exacerbating the global food crisis.People in large parts of China have been experiencing two months of extreme heat. Hundreds of places have reported temperatures of more than 40°C (104°F), and many records have been broken. Subway stations have set up rest areas where people can recover from the heat.
On 18 August, the temperature in Chongqing in Sichuan province reached 45°C (113°F), the highest ever recorded in China outside the desert-dominated region of Xinjiang. On 20 August, the temperature in the city didn’t fall below 34.9°C (94.8°F), the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in China in August. The maximum temperature was 43.7°C (110.7°F).
It is the longest and hottest heatwave in China since national records began in 1961. According to weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, who monitors extreme temperatures around the world, it is the most severe heatwave recorded anywhere.
“This combines the most extreme intensity with the most extreme length with an incredibly huge area all at the same time,” he says. “There is nothing in world climatic history which is even minimally comparable to what is happening in China.”
Together with the extreme heat, low rainfall in parts of China has led to rivers falling to low levels, with 66 drying up completely. In parts of the Yangtze, water levels are the lowest since records began in 1865. In a few places, local water supplies have run out and drinking water has had to be trucked in. On 19 August, China announced a national drought alert for the first time in nine years.
Hydroelectricity generation has fallen because of the low water levels. Sichuan has been especially affected because it normally gets 80 per cent of its electricity from hydropower. Thousands of factories in the province have had to cease operations because of electricity shortages amid high demand for air conditioning. Offices and shopping malls were also told to reduce lighting and air conditioning to save power.
In Sichuan alone, 47,000 hectares of crops are reported to have been lost and another 433,000 hectares damaged. The agriculture ministry has said it will try to increase rainfall by seeding clouds. It remains scientifically unclear whether cloud seeding makes a significant difference.
China is far from the only place affected by drought. Europe is having what may be its worst drought in 500 years. There is also a drought in the Horn of Africa, and across much of the US and Mexico.
Lower crop yields in these regions could worsen the global food crisis. Global food prices hit record levels even before Russia invaded Ukraine, and though they have fallen since March, they remain higher than in previous years. However, China has built up large grain reserves in recent years, so it can make up for some shortfall.
According to a 2021 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, droughts have been increasing as a result of global warming and will become more frequent and severe as the planet continues to warm.
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2334921-heatwave-in-china-is-the-most-severe-ever-recorded-in-the-worl
#Chine #sécheresse #changement_climatique #climat #vague_de_chaleur #chaleur
Chinese city dims lights as record heatwave hits energy supplies
Highs of over 40C in Chengdu dry up hydropower reservoirs and raise demand for air conditioning
A provincial capital in south-west China has dimmed outdoor advertisements, subway lighting and building signs to save energy as the area struggles with a power crunch triggered by record-high temperatures.
Temperatures rose past 40C (104F) in Sichuan province this week, fuelling massive demand for air conditioning and drying up reservoirs in a region reliant on dams for most of its electricity.
Factories including a joint venture with the Japanese car maker Toyota in the provincial capital, Chengdu, have been forced to halt work, while millions in another city, Dazho, grappled with rolling power cuts.
“Hot and muggy weather has caused the city’s electricity supply for production and daily life to be pushed to its limit,” Chengdu’s urban management authorities said in a notice on social media on Thursday.
Faced with a “most severe situation”, the city, which is home to more than 20 million people, had ordered landscape illumination and outdoor advertising lights to be switched off in notices issued Tuesday, the statement said. Building name signs will also be darkened.
Chengdu metro said in a video on China’s Weibo social media platform that it would also turn off advertisement lights and “optimise” the temperature in stations to save energy.
Photos circulating on Weibo showed dimmed lights on metro platforms, walkways and in malls, with commuters walking in partial darkness.
China has suffered a series of heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures this summer. By Friday, the national meteorological administration had issued red-level heat warnings for eight consecutive days, bringing the total to 30 days since June. The heat is expected to continue in some areas for the next 10 days.
On Thursday, the south-western city of Chongqing registered a record high of 45C, state media reported, hitting a record 11 consecutive days above 40C. As of Friday, Hangzhou had also experienced a record 30 days of high temperatures, the national meteorological administration said.
Multiple heat records have been broken and a worsening drought has reduced water levels in the country’s largest lake by 75%. On Thursday morning, the total area of Poyang lake in Jiangxi province had reduced by more than 2,200 sq km, to 737 sq km.
The drought is also drying up the critical Yangtze River, with water flow on its main trunk about 51% lower than the average over the last five years, state media outlet China News Service reported on Thursday.
Sichuan’s power woes could also have ripple effects on the wider Chinese economy – the province is a key supplier of energy generated by hydropower, including to eastern industrial powerhouses like Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
China is battling extreme weather on several fronts, with 17 people killed in a flash flood in the north-west of the country on Thursday after torrential rains.
Meanwhile, weather authorities in the eastern Jiangsu province warned drivers of tire puncture risks on Friday as the surface temperatures of some roads were expected to hit 68C.
The China Meteorological Administration earlier said the country was going through its longest period of sustained high temperatures since records began in 1961.
Scientists say extreme weather across the world has become more frequent due to the climate crisis and that urgent global cooperation is needed to slow an impending disaster. The world’s two largest emitters are the US and China.
But earlier this month Beijing announced it was freezing its cooperation with Washington on global heating in protest over a visit by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan.
▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/19/chinese-city-dims-lights-as-record-heatwave-hits-energy-supplies
China issues alert as drought and heatwave put crops at risk
Local authorities told to take measures and ‘use every unit of water carefully’ in effort to save autumn harvest
A drought in China is threatening food production, prompting the government to order local authorities to take all available measures to ensure crops survive the hottest summer on record.
On Tuesday, four government departments issued an urgent joint emergency notice, warning that the autumn harvest was under “severe threat”. It urged local authorities to ensure “every unit of water … be used carefully”, and called for methods included staggered irrigation, the diversion of new water sources, and cloud seeding.
A record-breaking heatwave combined with a months-long drought during the usual flood season has wreaked havoc across China’s usually water-rich south. It has dried up parts of the Yangtze River and dozens of tributaries, drastically affecting hydropower capacity and causing rolling blackouts and power rationing as demand for electricity spikes. There is now concern about future food supply.
Even Pay, an analyst at Trivium China who specialises in agriculture, said her immediate concern was for fresh produce.
“The kinds of fresh vegetables that supply the local markets where people buy their produce each day – that’s the category that is least likely to be in a major irrigation area, and which is not likely to be strategically prioritised in a national push to protect grain and oil feeds,” she said.
Crop losses would also hit supply chains and exacerbate supply problems, Pay said, as a Chinese city’s produce supply was often grown close to that city, but would have to be sourced from further away and could rot on longer journeys.
Pay said the concerns were mainly domestic, and that categories of food that would affect the global markets were “keeping pretty safe”. But she said attention should be paid to rapeseed if the drought was still going when crops are planted in the autumn.
China is now relying more heavily on its own corn production – 4% of which was grown in drought affected Sichuan and Anhui – after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drastically destabilised global supplies.
Pay added:“I think we’re going to start to see reports of livestock farmers getting hit. A lot of pig farmers have upscaled in recent years … There are big intensive vertical farms, and if the AC gets cut off [the pigs] are not going to be in good shape.”
Pay was relatively optimistic about the measures announced on Tuesday, and its call for tailored local solutions. The order to divert water sources would probably help areas where water is inaccessible, she said, and subsidies have already been announced.
“But we’ve now had 35 straight days of heat warnings. We have dry season water levels, or below typical dry season water levels. The conditions are very, very extreme and there’s no question that there will be some loss of crops.”
Tuesday’s notice heavily emphasised that it came from the highest levels of government, partially titled “emergency notice on thoroughly implementing the spirit of general secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions”.
“That’s a really important signal to localities that there is a very high degree of political will behind the push to do anything and everything possible to support farmers and ensure crops can be saved,” said Pay.
It was also a sign of the pressure on China’s Communist party to avoid food price rises and inflation, as it prepares for its five-yearly congress meeting in the coming months.
“It’s signalling to markets, anyone with the jitters, or thinking of stocking up on food, that: hey everybody is mobilised and we’re going to do everything we can,” said Pay. “It’s also signalling to local province and county level governments that they need to get out and be seen to do something even if there is nothing that can be done.”
China has made climate crisis commitments to peak its carbon output before 2030, but – along with some European countries – has recently reprioritised coal production to stave off a global energy crisis.
Pay said China was making big efforts in adaptability. She said the hydropower failure in Sichuan – where it contributes 80% of power supply – would probably lead to a fossil fuel-driven response in the short term before efforts to boost other renewable sources which had struggled to compete with cheap hydropower.
“What’s happening this summer is going to be the base case for what a climate emergency looks like, and we’re likely to se a lot of policy research and redesign … and a lot more attention around water availability.”
▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/24/china-issues-alert-drought-heatwave-put-crops-at-risk
#agriculture
Zero-covid strategies are being ditched, but they were the best option | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25433800-100-zero-covid-strategies-are-being-ditched-but-they-were-t
If the target of zero covid is now being ditched, does that mean it was a failure? A crude answer would be: only if you think saving lives and preserving economic growth constitutes a misstep.
Let’s go further . Consider what would have happened if, in early 2020, every country able to had adopted a zero-covid policy . It is incontestable that the global death count would be far lower, fewer people would have long covid and the economic damage would have been reduced. The virus would still be spreading, but slowly, and rising rates of vaccination would control it further. Crucially, omicron probably wouldn’t have had the chance to evolve.
Food prices: Cutting biofuels could compensate for loss of Ukraine’s grain exports | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2312151-cutting-biofuels-can-help-avoid-global-food-shock-from-ukraine
Quickly increasing the supply of food crops is difficult. But a large proportion of food crops aren’t eaten but converted to biofuels. Globally, 10 per cent of all grain is turned into biofuel, says Qaim.
In the US, a third of the maize grown is converted into ethanol and blended into petrol. Around 90 million tonnes is used for ethanol, nearly double the 50 million tonnes exported by Ukraine and Russia, says Qaim.
In the European Union, 12 million tonnes of grain, including wheat and maize, is turned into ethanol, Qaim says, around 7 per cent of the bloc’s production.
The EU also produces large quantities of biodiesel. It turns 3.5 million tonnes of palm oil alone into biodiesel, says Qaim. “That’s almost the amount of sunflower oil coming out of Ukraine and Russia.”
iPhone hack: #NSO malware builds a computer inside your phone to steal data | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2302113-nso-iphone-malware-builds-a-computer-inside-your-phone-to-stea
Babylonians calculated with triangles centuries before Pythagoras | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2285917-babylonians-calculated-with-triangles-centuries-before-pythago
Neuroscientists are ignoring the differences between males and females | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2283801-neuroscientists-are-ignoring-the-differences-between-males-and
Top neuroscience research papers are eight times more likely to only study male participants or samples compared with female-only studies, a review has found
Lavoisier, Laplace, et les calories :
The universe of good reasons for putting a live guinea pig in an insulated metal pot is small. I can think of only one: in France, in the winter of 1782, the chemist Antoine Lavoisier and his polymath friend Pierre-Simon Laplace placed their unwitting subject into a double-walled metal chamber, the world’s first calorimeter, and sealed the lid. They had packed snow into the space between the walls, and by comparing the rate at which the guinea pig’s body heat melted the snow to the rate of carbon dioxide it exhaled, they discovered metabolism – the “fire of life” that drives our very existence. At last, science had a physical measure of the life force that enables us to grow, reproduce and move. Physiologists like myself have been counting calories ever since.
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933230-700-metabolism-myths-7-things-we-get-wrong-about-diet-and-e
Exclusive : Two variants have merged into heavily mutated coronavirus | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2268014-exclusive-two-variants-have-merged-into-heavily-mutated-corona
#SARS-Cov-2 : deux #variants dangereux se sont combinés en un nouveau virus
▻https://www.futura-sciences.com/sante/actualites/coronavirus-sars-cov-2-deux-variants-dangereux-sont-combines-nouvea
Il s’agit pour l’heure d’un cas unique détecté parmi des milliers de séquences. De plus, la découverte n’a encore fait l’objet d’aucune publication, il faut donc rester méfiant sur cette affirmation, d’autant plus que les méthodes de détection des #recombinaisons ne sont pas toujours fiables. Mais, pour Sergei Pond, professeur de biologie à l’université de Temple de Pennsylvania, « la question n’est pas de savoir si le virus va subir une recombinaison, mais quand ». Après la vague de variants, bientôt la vague des #hybrides ?
Cattle are being gene edited to help them survive climate change | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2256097-cattle-are-being-gene-edited-to-help-them-survive-climate-chan
CRISPR genome editing has been used to create a cow with grey patches instead of black, meaning it will absorb less heat. The aim is to reduce heat stress in the animals due to global warming – which, ironically, is in no small part due to emissions and deforestation from cattle ranching.
en plus, c’est vrai que les vaches claires ça n’existent pas !
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Gasconnes_Antignac_%2811%29.JPG/220px-Gasconnes_Antignac_%2811%29.JPG 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/K%C3%A4rntner_Blondvieh5.JPG/220px-K%C3%A4rntner_Blondvieh5.JPG 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Glanrind_1.jpg/220px-Glanrind_1.jpg 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Belgische_blauwe.jpg/180px-Belgische_blauwe.jpg 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Chianina_Bulle.jpg/220px-Chianina_Bulle.jpg 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Kvige-vff.jpg/220px-Kvige-vff.jpg 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Walworth_Gate_015.jpg/1024px-Walworth_Gate_015.jpg 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Canchim.jpg/180px-Canchim.jpg 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Touro_Nelore_REFON.jpg/180px-Touro_Nelore_REFON.jpg 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Murray_Grey_heifers.jpg/220px-Murray_Grey_heifers.jpg 
C’est vrai que pour la recherche c’est quand même nettement plus intéressant de changer la couleur de la robe d’une vache en modifiant son ADN que de trouver à ne pas mutiler les femmes atteintes d’un cancer du sein (par exemple). Le rapport ? la boucherie.
How accurate are the results from self-testing for #covid-19 at home? | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632823-200-how-accurate-are-the-results-from-self-testing-for-covi
IN THE UK, essential workers are now among those being sent home testing kits for coronavirus. This involves swabbing the inside of your own nose and the back of your throat, but how useful are the results?
Studies from early in the outbreak in China have suggested that swabs taken by healthcare professionals may give a 30 per cent “false negative” rate, where infected people are told they don’t have the virus (NEJM, doi.org/ggmzsp; medRxiv, doi.org/dvfr). This has prompted claims that self-testing will give even more false negatives and could raise the risk of infected people spreading the virus.
#Coronavirus: Are there two strains and is one more deadly? | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2236544-coronavirus-are-there-two-strains-and-is-one-more-deadly
“There do appear to be two different strains,” says Ravinder Kanda at Oxford Brookes University in the UK. “[The L-type] might be more aggressive in transmitting itself, but we have no idea yet how these underlying genetic changes will relate to disease severity,” she says.
“I think it’s a fact that there are two strains,” says Erik Volz at Imperial College London. “It’s normal for viruses to undergo evolution when they are transmitted to a new host.”
It is vital to know how many strains of the virus exist. Around the world, multiple groups are working on a vaccine for the virus. Any vaccine will need to target features that are found in both strains of the virus in order to be effective.
The differences between the two identified strains are tiny. In fact, they can’t really be considered to be separate “strains”, says Jones. And many of the genetic differences won’t affect the production of proteins, and so won’t change the way the virus works, or the symptoms it causes, he says. One is not more deadly than the other.
“In all practical terms, the virus is as it was when it originally emerged,” says Jones. “There’s no evidence it is getting any worse.” The sentiment is echoed by the World Health Organization. The study by Tang and colleagues only suggests there is some genetic diversity of the virus – it doesn’t mean it is changing, a representative told New Scientist.
Explosion sur une base militaire : la Russie reconnaît le caractère nucléaire de l’accident
▻https://www.sudouest.fr/2019/08/10/explosion-sur-une-base-militaire-la-russie-reconnait-le-caractere-nucleaire
Localisation : #Nyonoksa (Нёнокса)
▻https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Нёнокса
(avec une version raccourcie en anglais)
à noter : l’article inclut, sans aucun lien dans l’article, 2 tweets (du 5 août) qui représentent une grosse explosion d’un dépôt de munitions à Atchinsk, kraï de Krasnoïarsk, soit à quelques 3000 kilomètres de Nyonoksa, district de la municipalité de #Severodvinsk, oblast d’Arkhangelsk…
Oui, c’est pas très clair cet article qui confond deux explosions un commentaire le souligne d’ailleurs.
Lemonde (médisance effacée) pour Atchinsk Kamenka
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/796844
Security Brief: Botched Russian Weapons Test Leads to Radiation Leaks
▻http://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/ViewMessage.do?m=pmdhymyy&r=idmygccmv&s=kstvvgqpqtvlllrrtg
Radiation leaks after explosion. Two days after a mysterious blast at a Russian weapons testing range caused a spike in radiation levels in nearby Severodvinsk, Russia’s nuclear energy authority Rosatom confirmed Saturday that the explosion involved radioactive materials.
U.S. officials and experts believe the explosion, which killed seven, came after a botched test of a new nuclear-powered cruise missile that Russian President Vladimir Putin has trumpeted as central to Russia’s 21st-century nuclear deterrent, the New York Times reports.
“The possibility that this was another Russian mishap with its nuclear-powered cruise missile is looking frighteningly plausible,” said Ian Williams, the deputy director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in an email to Foreign Policy.
The missile in question. Suspicion fell on the #Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered cruise missile Russia is developing, dubbed “Skyfall” by NATO. The weapon is intended to fly for hours or even days in a bid to evade missile defense systems. “The system is part of several new strategic-range nuclear delivery systems that Russia is developing. Most are having testing problems, behind schedule, or unlikely to be fielded in large numbers, if ever,” said Kingston Reif, the director for disarmament and threat reduction policy at the Arms Control Association.
Most are having testing problems, behind schedule, or unlikely to be fielded in large numbers
ah, c’est vrai, on parle des Russes ; ce n’est pas les États-Uniens qui auraient ce genre de problèmes…
… déjà quelques entrées ici sur le Burevestnik, dont, déjà ! il y a presqu’un an, un problème lors de test…
Une description assez détaillée de ce que l’on sait de l’incident…
No sign radiation from a missile explosion has spread beyond Russia | New Scientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2213200-no-sign-radiation-from-a-missile-explosion-has-spread-beyond-r
An explosion at a missile testing range in north-western Russia killed five people working for the state nuclear energy agency and saw radiation levels spike locally, but there is no sign the radiation has spread to Europe.
The Rosatom scientists were thrown from a sea-based platform after fuel caught fire at the military facility near Severodvinsk on 8 August, Russian news agencies reported. In a statement, Rosatom said the work was “related to a radio isotope power source”. Observers have speculated it could have been a nuclear-powered cruise missile that Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke of last year.
“Russian authorities have confirmed the involvement of radioactive materials in the accident, but not the specific weapons system that was being tested,” says Ankit Panda at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, D.C. “It’s important to clarify that the radiological event in this case is not due to the presence of nuclear weaponry, but what may be a prototype nuclear propulsion unit for a cruise missile.” He believes the difficulties and dangers of such a system mean it may never see deployment.
Radiation levels in Severodvinsk, 25 miles away, jumped for nearly an hour, at levels of up to 2 microsieverts per hour, which is below levels considered dangerous. A statement on the city’s website reported a “short-term” spike on Thursday, but the statement had been removed by Friday.
… avec deux pics de radioactivité
Russia news: Radiation mystery takes new twist as officials admit TWO spikes | World | News | Express.co.uk
▻https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1164742/russia-news-russia-explosion-radiation-Severodvinsk-vladimir-putin-milita
Pictures emerged of the five “elite” scientists - dubbed “national heroes” - who were lost due to an explosion and fire during a test of a nuclear engine for an advanced new missile to equip Vladimir Putin’s military machine. This came as Moscow admitted there were two - not one as previously disclosed - spikes in background radiation near Severodvinsk as a result of the accident. Two of the men were blown into the sea during at the top secret weapons testing zone in the White Sea.
Their bodies were initially lost but later found and funerals for all those killed will be held today in top secret closed nuclear research town Sarov, where foreigners are banned.
According to one version, the troubling missile accident came as the scientists were working on the nuclear engine of deadly Burevestnik cruise missile with “unlimited range”, nicknamed the ‘Flying Chernobyl’, when it exploded.
One of the dead was Evgeny Korotaev, 50, a leading electronics engineer and also a popular DJ, whose second wife had given birth to twin girls just seven months ago.
Like the other dead, he worked for the classified Institute of Experimental Physics based in #Sarov, 235 miles east of Moscow, known as #Arzamas-16 in Soviet times.
Ah tiens, un des premiers articles (du 8 août…) était illustré d’une photo qui semble bien être liée à l’événement. On notera que par la suite, tous les autres articles sont illustrés par des photos de l’explosion du dépôt de munitions de Sibérie (Atchinsk).
L’association des mots nucléaire et explosion entrainant de façon réflexe la sélection d’une image de boule de feu ou de champignon…
Comme indiqué (parfois…) dans les articles, il est probable qu’une explosion (sans doute) chimique ait libéré les « isotopes radioactifs » qui se sont disséminés et provoqué le (ou les) pic(s) de radioactivité.
Russia explosion : Fire at nuclear submarine missile test site - two dead during test | World | News | Express.co.uk
▻https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1163236/russia-explosion-Severodvinsk-nuclear-missile-submarine-military-radiatio
AN EXPLOSION and fire at a Russian site for testing missile for nuclear submarines has left at least two people dead and 10 injured.
The incident at Severodvinsk, in the Arkhangelsk, was also feared to have led to a spike in radiation levels. A spokesperson for the city said: “At around 12 o’clock in Severodvinsk, a short-term excess of the radiation background was recorded.” However state-run media sources later said radiation levels were normal and no harmful substances had been released.
Explosion nucléaire en Russie : les médecins intervenus sur le site examinés à Moscou
▻https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/explosion-nucleaire-en-russie-les-medecins-intervenus-sur-le-site-examines
L’explosion sur le site militaire, qui a été fatale à cinq scientifiques nucléaires russes, s’est produite jeudi dernier près de la ville de Severodvinsk. Le ministère de la Défense avait déclaré qu’aucune substance toxique n’avait été libérée dans l’atmosphère mais les services météorologiques ont observé des radiations 4 à 16 fois supérieures à la normale. L’ONG Greenpeace affirme qu’elles ont été 20 fois supérieures à la normale.
Les médecins qui ont soigné les victimes de l’explosion survenue la semaine dernière sur une site militaire du nord de la Russie ont été envoyés à Moscou pour passer des examens, rapporte mardi l’agence de presse Tass citant une source non identifiée.
L’agence précise qu’ils ont signé un accord de confidentialité leur interdisant de divulguer la moindre information sur cette mystérieuse explosion.
L’explosion, qui a été fatale à cinq scientifiques nucléaires russes, s’est produite jeudi dernier près de la ville de Severodvinsk (région d’Arkhangelsk, extrême nord de la Russie). L’agence atomique russe Rosatom a déclaré que l’accident s’était produit lors d’un essai de fusée sur une plateforme en mer.
Le ministère de la Défense avait déclaré peu après l’accident qu’aucune substance toxique n’avait été libérée dans l’atmosphère et les niveaux de radiation étaient restés stables.
Mais les services météorologiques ont observé des radiations 4 à 16 fois supérieures à la normale, rapporte mardi l’agence Tass. L’ONG Greenpeace indique pour sa part que les radiations mesurées dans le secteur ont été 20 fois supérieures à la normale.
Des experts américains pensent que l’accident s’est produit lors d’un tir d’essai du missile expérimental à propulsion nucléaire Bourevestnik (Skyfall dans la classification de l’Otan).
Et le gentil Donald de s’inquiéter pour la santé des voisins russes… Mais lui, il a un joujou encore mieux.
▻https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1161026203345723393
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
The United States is learning much from the failed missile explosion in Russia. We have similar, though more advanced, technology. The Russian “Skyfall” explosion has people worried about the air around the facility, and far beyond. Not good!
Creating an AI can be five times worse for the planet than a car, by Donna Lu, on 6 June 2019, NewScientist
▻https://www.newscientist.com/article/2205779-creating-an-ai-can-be-five-times-worse-for-the-planet-than-a-c
Training artificial intelligence is an energy intensive process. New estimates suggest that the carbon footprint of training a single AI is as much as 284 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – five times the lifetime emissions of an average car.
The Internet: Saving Civilization or Trashing the Planet?, Serendipity research group
▻http://www.easterbrook.ca/steve/2013/04/the-internet-saving-civilization-or-trashing-the-planet