Oxford University scientists have made a bombshell discovery about the potency of migraine drugs in a new study. Researchers at the top university found some migraine drugs were no more effective than paracetamol and that cheaper medication, known as triptains, were the most effective pills that could be taken. Triptans cost an estimated £1 per…
When you’re ready to dive into a new book it can be daunting to decided which one to prioritise – especially if you’re a bit of a slower reader. But Francesca has come to the rescue, as she aims to read a whopping 100 books every year – so she knows which ones you should…
Florida’s controversial legal argument defending book bans is expanding, pushing beyond school libraries into public libraries.After arguing for more than a year on behalf of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration that school officials can remove any books for any reason, including objections to LGBTQ and race-related content, attorneys for the state now are making the same defense for community libraries — in Texas.The Florida Attorney General’s Office joined 17 other red states in filing a court brief defending a Texas county’s removal of 17 books from its library system. They claim that book removals are “government speech” and therefore don’t violate others’ First Amendment rights.The legal doctrine is essentially a First Amendment exception that says governments can discriminate based on viewpoint or content when they speak for themselves.Next week, Florida Solicitor General Henry Whitaker will argue that before a federal appeals court in New Orleans. To make this happen, Llano County – located in Central Texas, population 22,540 – ceded some of its speaking time to Florida.“The county’s decisions over which books to offer its patrons in its public libraries, at its own expense, are its own speech,” the states wrote in their August filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which includes Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. (Public libraries are publicly funded.)“The government does not violate anyone’s free speech rights merely by speaking — no matter what it chooses to say or not to say,” they continued. Next week, notably, is also “Banned Books Week.” It’s a decades-old event held by librarians and free speech advocates to spread attention about books that have been targeted in school and community libraries.Some of those advocates have told the appeals court that it should uphold a district court’s preliminary ruling rejecting the government speech argument.“A Democratic governor could not order the removal of all library books advocating ‘Republican’ ideals, nor could a predominantly Jewish city council ban all copies of the New Testament to impose a single religious view,” wrote the American Civil Liberties Union and its Texas chapter in an early September filing. “This is clear not only from common sense, but also from First Amendment doctrine.”More on what is the ‘government speech’ doctrineFlorida has seen a multitude of lawsuits on school book banning and related policies. Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office has defended DeSantis’ education officials and local school officials, invoking the government speech defense: “Public school systems, including their libraries, convey the government’s message,” Moody wrote in one of the filings. It’s a relatively new legal doctrine, and the U.S. Supreme Court has not always ruled in favor of it, though justices in 2015 said Texas could refuse to allow Confederate flag specialty license plates because they represented government speech.In one of the Florida cases, U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, appointed by President Trump, said how the doctrine applies to school library books is “surprisingly unsettled.” He’s not made a ruling on it yet.But Texas U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, appointed by President Obama, ordered the county the removed books last year, writing that those suing “have sufficiently alleged that Defendants’ actions do not constitute government speech and that Defendants unlawfully removed books based on their viewpoint.”The books removed ranged from ones about farts to ones about racism and LGBTQ topics. County residents who used the local library system filed the lawsuit.The district court’s decision was appealed by the county. A conservative three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed in part with the original ruling, saying eight of the 17 books had to be returned.“We agree that library personnel must necessarily consider content in curating a collection,” it wrote in its June decision. “However, the Court has nowhere held that the government may make these decisions based solely on the intent to deprive the public of access to ideas with which it disagrees. That would violate the First Amendment and entirely shield all collection decisions from challenge.”But U.S. District Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan dissented, slamming the other two conservative judges as “Federal Library Police.”“There is a simple answer to the question posed by this case: A public library’s choice of some books for its collection, and its rejection of others, is government speech,” wrote Duncan, who was appointed by Trump.A majority of the 17-member appeals court tossed that decision and ordered a rehearing, setting up the Tuesday morning hearing where Whitaker will appear.“Our office is routinely involved with amicus briefs, especially when they involve state issues,” said Kylie Mason, Moody’s spokesperson, in an email. “It is also not unusual for us to appear at an argument when we draft a (friend of the court) brief.”Mason said the crafting of the court brief came at no extra cost to the state, since “there is no additional cost for a salaried employee to help draft a brief,” but did not answer price questions about travel.The Florida Freedom to Read Project, a book access advocacy organization, warned the public in a social media post to “pay attention” to this case: “They will keep presenting this ridiculous argument until they find a friendly court,” it wrote.From school libraries … to public librariesMost of the book banning controversies in Florida have surrounded school shelves. Unlike in Texas, community libraries have largely avoided the controversy. But the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida reported last year that this was beginning to change. That change has accelerated in recent months.For example, the Pasco County library system recently pulled 130 children’s books for review, according to the Tampa Bay Times. County officials decided which books to put on that list by, in part, key word searching terms such as “LGBTQ.”One of the titles, “And Tango Makes Three,” is a children’s picture book that’s based on a true story about a same-sex penguin pair raising a chick together.Yet, just last week, school officials who removed it from school shelves in Nassau County put it back after getting sued. They emphasized in a settlement agreement with its authors that “And Tango Makes Three” is appropriate for all ages and has educational value.“Pasco County Libraries is committed to fostering an environment where all customers can access a broad range of ideas and information,” Sarah Andeara, a county spokesperson, in an emailed statement. “As part of the county’s effort to ensure our collection meets state standards, we have pulled for reconsideration certain materials in our collection.”And this is likely to continue – until, at least, higher courts weigh in on Florida’s government speech argument.“Regardless of whether book-banning campaigns target the Bible or Judy Blume, politicized efforts to restrict access to information cannot be reconciled with the Founders’ faith in the free exchange of ideas and our national commitment to freedom of expression,” wrote the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression in a brief for the Llano County case. “These battles will persist until the courts declare that the only way to win is not to play.”Financial cost of book bans:Florida school board pays over $100K to defend ban on book about same-sex penguin pairStephen King slams Florida book banning:Stephen King had a 3-word reaction to news his books are banned in some Florida schoolsThis reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule is based in Tallahassee, Fla. He can be reached at [email protected]. On X: @DouglasSoule.
US interest in utilizing Alexandroupoli as a key liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation hub in the Central and Southeast Europe region is highlighted by the agreement American company Venture Global announced to book 25% of the capacity to the new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU).
Join us at Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore on Thursday, October 3rd when author, Honor Moore, comes to the store to share her new memoir “A Termination”, a vibrant and personal portrait of how women’s lives have continually been reframed over the last fifty years. Honor will read from and discuss her new work and will sign copies after the presentation. Honor will be joined in conversation by Angela Hume. Thursday, October 3 at 7 – 8:30pm PDT RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/honor-moores-a-termination-in-store-appearance-and-signing-tickets-921052551977 “A TERMINATION” “Not my lover, not my parents, and they said I couldn’t tell a friend. . .” In 1969, Honor Moore was twenty-three, a theater student yearning for love and working for radical change, but studying administration and keeping secret, even from herself, her wish to imagine the world by becoming a poet. There was an older lover, a professor, and, with another man, an unwanted sexual encounter. That spring, she had an abortion. A Termination is the story of the young woman who made that decision, and of how that act of resistance, then shrouded in fear and silence, has reverberated throughout her life since. Angry, nostalgic, questioning, and romantic, the memoir pursues the associations of memory, moving from the New Haven of Yale Drama School, the Living Theatre and the Black Panthers; to the New York City of theater, jazz, and the Chelsea Hotel; the Berkshires of rock and roll at Tanglewood, and Chicago in the wake of the 1968 Democratic Convention. Framing the story is a self-portrait of the author fifty-five years later, a woman with a sexual past, a poet who has made her own way. A lyric, searching memoir, “A Termination” asks what it means to write with full honesty about one’s life—to explore who we were, and how our choices shape and allow who we become. HONOR MOORE is the author of seven books, including the memoirs The Bishop’s Daughter and Our Revolution: A Mother and Daughter at Midcentury, and three collections of poems. She edited Poems from the Women’s Movement and, with Alix Kates Shulman, the Library of America anthology Women’s Liberation!: Feminist Writings that Inspired a Revolution and Still Can. She lives in New York City, where she teaches in the MFA program at the New School. ANGELA HUME is a feminist historian, critic, and poet. Her nonfiction book Deep Care: The Radical Activists Who Provided Abortions, Defied the Law, and Fought to Keep Clinics Open is the story of radical abortion defense in the San Francisco Bay Area—from feminist clinical practice, to underground abortion provision, to street politics and clinic defense—from the 1970s to 2000s. She is co-editor of the book Ecopoetics: Essays in the Field , and her full-length books of poetry include Middle Time and Interventions for Women. Angela lives in Oakland and teaches writing at University of California, Berkeley. THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is requested. Registration ends at 5:30 pm on October 3rd. BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend. DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged. WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows. WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event. PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home. OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.
For Piotr Olbryś, a 19-year-old from Poland, it was his brother’s hearing aid that motivated him to look into how to make lithium-ion batteries more environmentally friendly. His work earned him one of the four first prizes, each worth € 7 000, at the 2024 edition of the EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS). “My brother has a hearing aid,” he said. “So, he’s constantly changing and throwing away batteries. That caused me to start thinking about the waste this generates.” Lithium-ion batteries are found in almost every electronic gadget.Olbryś was one of 143 young scientists from 37 countries, all aged between 14 and 20, who came together from 9 to 14 September in Katowice, Poland, to present their research.Most of them were there because they had won similar contests in their home countries. EUCYS 2024 was funded by the European Commission, which co-organised it with the University of Silesia, Katowice, and the Polish Children’s Fund.In the end, the four first prizes were awarded to contestants from Austria, Bulgaria, Poland and the United States.Better way to tune instruments The young scientists presented their projects at booths in front of visitors and judges. Their research focused on an amazingly diverse range of fields.Paula Morata González, an 18-year-old from Spain, is keen to improve the tuning of musical instruments.“I play the harpsichord and study at the conservatory,” she said. “During tuning classes, I found it much more intuitive to find beautiful notes by looking at their mathematical proportions.”“It all started when I learned about photosynthesis in high school. I wanted to know more, and just kept digging.Lamia MusicEventually she built a model that could help tune instruments. “At first my music teacher thought I was crazy,” she laughed. “But I love combining science and art.” González starts university this year, where she hopes to continue on this interdisciplinary path, double-majoring in music and biomedical sciences.Artificial intelligenceAt their booths, the contestants were interviewed by a team of judges, mostly scientists themselves, who were duly impressed. “The quality of the projects was very impressive this year,” said Milan Macek, president of the jury. “A trend seems to be the increased use of artificial intelligence.”Macek has been a judge at the seven previous editions of EUCYS. He is a professor of genetics at Prague’s Charles University, but in Katowice, he was hard-pressed to pick the winners.“There are not enough prizes for all the talent here, so hard choices had to be made.”Over 100 young scientists gathered for the EU TalentOn 2024 contest in Katowice, Poland. © EU TalentOn 2024In parallel with EUCYS, another contest was held in Katowice, in the style of a hackathon. During EU TalentOn 2024, 108 participants aged between 21 and 35 developed scientific projects to address societal challenges such as climate change and water management.The grand prize was won by a team of young researchers from the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Italy for their cancer prevention project Breath for Life. It received an award of €12 000.High-speed camera or chessboard?Most EUCYS contestants also targeted societal challenges with their projects. The work of another winner, 17-year-old Aleksandra Petkova from Bulgaria, might, for example, help design more efficient ships. “It can help us build ships that use less fuel, reducing emissions,” she said. In her research project, she used sources like drone and satellite imagery to study the wakes of ships and make them more efficient, combining physics with a very practical goal.Petkova hails from a family of scientists, which influenced her to take part in science contests like EUCYS. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t doing something with science,” she said. “As a small child, I was already playing with magnets and mirrors, trying to understand the deeper principles of how they worked.”She’s still overwhelmed by the accolades her work received. “I don’t know what I’ll do with the money. Maybe I’ll buy a new chessboard,” she laughed. “On the other hand, I would like a high-speed camera for experiments. A few thousand more frames per second would make a big difference.”Organic batteriesOlbryś from Poland looked at organic cathodes in batteries, which are easier to recycle than today’s cathodes, but lack the energy density of less green versions. This is why he researched new material combinations and found options that combine the best of both worlds.“I didn’t have access to a supercomputer, so I just did them on my home laptop,” he said. “Sometimes one calculation would take two or three entire days. The sound of the cooling fans caused me to have a lot of dreams about helicopters,” he joked.Starting university in Warsaw in two weeks, Olbryś hopes to continue his research. “I love projects where science can change the world.”Go for itLamia Music, a 15-year-old Austrian who looked at new kinds of solar cells, was giddy upon receiving first prize, in addition to an award from the London International Youth Science Forum. “I almost didn’t go to my national competition,” she said. “I just went there for fun, to meet interesting people. Now I suddenly have this prize,” she laughs. “Sometimes you just need to go for it I guess.”Her project worked on new types of solar cells, the central component of solar panels. “It all started when I learned about photosynthesis in high school,” she remembers. “I wanted to know more, and just kept digging.”“Farmers are really struggling with this. I wanted to do something real for the world.Nikhil VemuriFor Music, the prize, however, wasn’t the most important thing about the contest. “What I love about science is that you can learn new things, and meet new people,” she said. “That’s what I did here. I was fascinated just walking around and learning about fields I didn’t know anything about.”For the young Austrian, science is a passion. “Sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night with ideas,” she said.For now, she wants to continue with her research, partly under the auspices of a local university. Nitrogen pollutionNot all winners at EUCYS were from Europe. Nikhil Vemuri, 17, from the United States, won the fourth first prize.“I live in North Carolina, in an area with a lot of farms. Today, they use too much fertiliser on their fields, which causes environmental problems, such as nitrogen pollution. I wanted to help.”He designed a software tool that could predict, based on satellite imagery, where over- and under-fertilisation is likely to happen. For example, if a field slopes downwards, fertiliser will likely concentrate at the bottom. Vemuri’s tool allows farmers to use fertiliser more efficiently and sparingly, reducing pollution.“Farmers are really struggling with this. I wanted to do something real for the world.”Beyond being celebrated for his project, Vemuri repeated what other participants already said. Sure, receiving awards is nice. But what really makes EUCYS special is the connections made.“I talked to some fascinating projects here,” he said. “But more importantly, I made some great friends. That’s what makes an event like this so amazing.”
Scientists have found evidence that Earth may have once had a ring system similar to Saturn’s. It appears to have existed about 466 million years ago and may have both rained down meteorites on Earth’s surface and caused an ice age.
“Over millions of years, material from this ring gradually fell to Earth, creating the spike in meteorite impacts observed in the geological record,” said Professor Andy Tomkins at the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and lead author of a study published this week in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Impact Craters
Using reconstructions of plate tectonics from this period, called the Ordovician, the researchers found 21 asteroid impact craters within 30 degrees of the equator despite over 70 percent of Earth’s continental crust being outside this region.
That’s an anomaly that conventional theories cannot explain. “We also see that layers in sedimentary rocks from this period contain extraordinary amounts of meteorite debris,” said Tomkins. During the Ordovician, Earth was continually struck by meteorites.
Close Encounter
The researchers think the multiple asteroid impacts were caused by one giant object coming close to Earth. When that happens, debris is the result. That’s because of the “Roche limit,” about 20,000 km from Earth. Once a large object gets within that distance, gravitational forces can cause it to break up.
Cue a debris ring encircling Earth similar to the rings now enveloping Saturn. Over millions of years, the ring caused a shower of debris to fall upon Earth’s surface. The timing matches a surge of meteorite impacts preserved in the geological record, say the researchers.
Ring Shadow
The debris ring may also have cast a shadow on Earth, which has implications for the planet’s climate. The ice age at the end of the Ordovician period is considered one of the coldest periods in Earth’s history in the last 500 million years, with cold temperatures, glaciers and huge drop in sea level.
If the ring around Earth was the cause of a significant global cooling event — known as the Hirnantian — there could be other rings in Earth’s more distant history that had similar climatic consequences.
“The idea that a ring system could have influenced global temperatures adds a new layer of complexity to our understanding of how extra-terrestrial events may have shaped Earth’s climate,” said Tomkins.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Cannon Beach resident and City Councilor Gary Hayes has signed a publishing agreement with the History Press division of Arcadia Publishing for a book on the history of the Oregon Coast. The book is scheduled for release by the summer of 2025.“The publisher was familiar with my writing about the Oregon Coast and reached out to me more than a year ago with an interest in adding a title on Oregon Coast history to their collection,” said Hayes. Arcadia Publishing is the largest publisher of local and regional history books in the United States.
Asda stores across Lanarkshire and in neighbouring Toryglen are appealing to customers to donate pre-loved children’s books in-store so they can be gifted to families in need. A UK-wide partnership between Asda and literacy charity Children’s Book Project has started following successful pilots earlier this year across stores in England which saw over 6,000 booked…
A new book has been launched in Dundee to help parents bond with their unborn child. “Hello In There Wee One” has been published in partnership with Dundee City Council, NHS Tayside Infant Mental Health Team, the University of Dundee and Dundee Contemporary Arts to help expectant parents imagine what life will be like with their new arrival.Vicky Armstrong, an art therapist working with families who helped design the book, told STV News people often don’t know how to start bonding with their unborn child.She said: “I think people feel a bit silly starting talking to their bump, and think it could be nice to have a bit more guidance on how they might do that and some encouragement.“It’s something that’s focused on thinking about your baby – rather than maybe wondering what eye colour they’ll have, or what they’ll look like, and the more superficial things. This was more about thinking about what it will be like together with your baby.”Lauren Wolfe and her family were among those who contributed drawings along with a list of their favourite places to visit in the city as a young family.STV NewsLauren Wolfe and her family. STV NewsShe believes it’s something that would have helped her as a first-time mum: “It’s nice to have a book to give you ideas about how to bond,” she said.“It’s not always easy to bond with something that’s growing inside you and not knowing how that will feel later.“It’s nice to hear from other families and other people who have been through it, and I think that’s the books’ biggest power – sharing the experiences of people who have been through the same thing.“One of my best friends bonded immediately – like as soon as she found out she was pregnant – and that was very different for me.“It took me probably like six months to really bond with him after he was born and that’s just hard, it would have been nice to have reassurance that that was normal.”Dr Sean Nolan, lead clinician for NHS Tayside Infant Mental Health, hopes the book will support all families across Dundee.He said: “Bonding with your bump comes naturally to some but not to all parents and we hope that “Hello In There Wee One” can both identify earlier on those families who would benefit from a higher level of support and also just generally building positive supportive relationships for young families in Dundee.“The parent-infant interaction is itself strongly associated with attachment security, so that would be the safe and supportive relationship between main carer and infant.“A secure attachment is associated with a whole array of better outcomes across all developmental domains including emotional wellbeing and infant mental health, and it’s also good for parents too.”The book will be given to all expecting families in Dundee at their 16-week scan and is available onlineSTV News is now on WhatsAppGet all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Follow STV News on WhatsAppScan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country