RELATED (wikipedia): Daylight saving time
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The surprising science behind why daylight saving time is good for wildlife
https://www.scientificamerican.com/artic...-wildlife/
EXCERPTS: In the U.S. alone, drivers may collide with deer as frequently as more than a million times a year, based on estimates compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, and other large animals—usually moose, elk and other ungulates—are often hit as well. These crashes frequently kill the animals and lead to hundreds of human deaths.
[...] Human-animal crashes typically occur on Fridays because people are leaving town for the weekend; under full moons because deer are more likely to be on the move; during the fall deer mating season in North America; and at dusk. “The animals get active right after dusk and start moving around, including crossing roads or browsing and grazing along roads, and that’s when they they’re hit by vehicles,” Langen says.
Setting the clocks back in the fall—pushing peak evening commuting hours closer to dusk or after the sun goes down—also drives up the odds of cars hitting animals. In a 2021 analysis of more than 35,000 deer-vehicle collisions in New York State, Langen and a co-author concluded that falling back to standard time from DST contributed to “far higher” accident rates, with the greatest increases on work days.
[...] Setting the clocks forward in the spring means darker morning commutes but not much added risk for deer and other ungulates. That’s partially because deer tend to be less active in the spring, Langen says. But it’s also because evening commutes will mostly occur before dusk.
In other words, from a human perspective, daylight saving is a hit or miss, depending on who you ask. (And polling indicates that opinions on it are mixed.) But for animals like deer, a switch to permanent daylight saving time in North America would almost certainly reduce roadkill, Langen says.
And it’s not just deer and ungulates that are at risk—other mammals, including raccoons, skunks and foxes, are also active at dusk, Langen says. In Australia, research shows even koalas could see a benefit to a shift to permanent DST... (MORE - details)
U.K. arrests 4 Iranians on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence
https://socialistworker.co.uk/palestine-...omplicity/
INTRO: Counter-terrorism police in London arrested four Iranian men early Friday on suspicion of conducting surveillance for Iranian intelligence of individuals and locations linked to the Jewish community in the capital. The suspects, one Iranian and three dual British-Iranian nationals aged between 22 and 55, were detained shortly after 1 a.m. local time in raids on addresses in north London and Watford, just north of the city, under the National Security Act, Metropolitan Police said in a news release...
UK preparing an aircraft carrier for possible deployment to the Middle East
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po...33946.html
INTRO: The UK is preparing an aircraft carrier for possible deployment to the Middle East, reducing the time it would take to be readied.
This does not mean that Portsmouth-based HMS Prince of Wales, which is used to carry fighter jets and helicopters, will be sent into the Gulf as conflict escalates in the region. But the preparedness of the Royal Navy’s flagship is being increased, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
The Independent understands no decisions to deploy Prince of Wales have been taken.
An MoD spokesperson told The Independent: “We have been bolstering our UK military presence in the Middle East since January, and we have already deployed capabilities to protect British people and our allies in the region, including Typhoons, F-35 jets, air defence systems and an extra 400 personnel into Cyprus.
“Since the strikes began, we’ve had British jets in the sky shooting down drowns (sic) and have sent additional assets to the region to further reinforce our air defences, including more Typhoons and Wildcat helicopters with drone busting missiles.
“HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness and we are increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment.” (
MORE - details)
Iran demonstration rages against Donald Trump’s attack and Britain’s complicity
https://socialistworker.co.uk/palestine-...omplicity/
INTRO: Tens of thousands of marchers raged through London on Saturday to oppose the murderous assault on Iran by the United States and Israel. A week into the war, there were huge explosions across Iran as Israel’s military announced a “broad-scale wave of strikes”. The escalating conflict is bringing chaos and bloodshed across the region.
Protester Atefeh told Socialist Worker, “I’m Iranian, and I’m 100 percent against this. There are some Iranians advocating for this. But they don’t represent us. We need to make sure our voices are louder than them. They think they can just overthrow Iran, we are going to stand against that.”
On the first day of the assault, US-Israeli missile strikes killed 165 schoolgirls in Minab, southern Iran. Julie told Socialist Worker, “I don’t know how grown men can murder children. It’s just awful. I don’t think many people in Britain want a war.”
Darius was at the protest with a cardboard sign saying, “Women, life, freedom”, the slogan of the protests in Iran during 2022 after Mahsa Amini’s murder by the police.
He told Socialist Worker, “I have family in Iran. I support the people of Iran. I don’t want them to be under an oppressive regime. But I don’t want them to be bombed into the ground by Israel and the Americans either. US imperialism does not help Iranians. They would seek to install a puppet regime and plunder Iran’s oil and gas. If the Israelis get their way they would fragment Iran into a number of failed states. I’m ashamed of the British government and Keir Starmer’s complicity with what is happening in Iran”, he added.
Faz, an Iranian living in London, explained, “I’m against the war and the Iranian regime. That’s why I’m here.” He argued that “the only result” of the war “is to benefit the powers of imperialism and the destruction of normal life. People aren’t winners in any war.” He added, “The regime is despotic. People don’t have basic normal life in Iran. Whether it is daily rations of food, water or basic political freedoms.”
Mike, an NEU union member, told Socialist Worker, “Hooligans are making callous decisions about the world, about which countries are next in terms of expanding the global US empire, with no regard for ordinary people on the ground. That is a time for us to stand up and say you don’t speak for us.” He said that trade unions are “absolutely crucial” to the anti-war movement.
The sixth form college teacher said, “We need to be out here in full force. The people who pay the greatest price are usually the workers when they see high energy bills and inflation. The trade unions should be here to stand up to the war criminals that we have in the world.”
Sophie Bolt, the general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament told Socialist Worker the war was built on lies about nuclear weapons... (MORE - details)
https://youtu.be/zUEWkfYnBUg
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/zUEWkfYnBUg
https://www.breakthroughjournal.org/p/tw...out-cancer
INTRO: In December 2025, researchers led by Yazan Alwadi at Harvard’s T.H Chan School of Public Health published a paper in Environmental Health that claimed to find that cancer incidence increased for people living closer to nuclear power plants in Massachusetts. Just this past week, the same researchers published an expanded nationwide study claiming a similar result -- this time looking at cancer mortality rates, rather than incidence -- in Nature Communications.
If these findings were true, the research would support the fringe idea that nuclear power is actively harmful to the general population even without a catastrophic failure, which has not been confirmed by past research. Anti-nuclear activists would no longer need to point to the possible risk of meltdowns; they can simply point to increased cancer risks just from living close to a plant.
That is an extraordinary claim. But the studies’ design cannot support that claim.
The problem is not that the authors found a statistical pattern. The problem is that their research design cannot determine whether proximity to a nuclear plant is the cause of that pattern. It can only show that cancer rates vary geographically and that cancer detection rates have increased over the past few decades, which we already know.
The two papers make the fundamental mistake of confusing correlation with causation.... (MORE - details)
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/...y-suggests
EXCERPTS: A remarkably hardy bacterium can survive pressures similar to those generated when asteroid impacts blast debris off Mars, a new study has found, suggesting that microbes could endure interplanetary journeys and potentially seed life on other worlds, including Earth.
The findings, published earlier this week in the journal PNAS Nexus, may prompt scientists to reconsider where life could exist across the solar system and could lead to a reassessment of "planetary protection" rules designed to prevent contamination between worlds.
[...] "We continuously redefine the limits of life," Madhan Tirumalai, a microbiologist at the University of Houston who was not involved with the new study, told The New York Times. "This paper is another example."
As the pressure increased, the researchers also detected heightened activity in genes responsible for repairing DNA and maintaining cell membranes... (MORE - missing details)
Or an occupation that fits certain surnames. Names like Baker, Carpenter, obvious. A ichthyologist named Fish etc. When I hear Trump I sometimes think of a card player, Bridge or Euchre. But my favourite of all time belongs to my local councilwoman. Her last name happens to be Noyes, that’s right, No/Yes….perfectly fitting for a politician. Have you a favourite?
Tell JamesR that I graciously accept his decision to ban me as I was out of my depth in the discussion and attempt to prove the existence of God
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6315960
Analysts say China’s recent defense warnings against Taiwan may be tempered by the US war in Iran, which has revealed Washington’s long-range strike power, Time reported Friday. The article by Charlie Campbell notes that the conflict has consumed US advanced weapons, raising concerns in Taiwan, Ukraine, and Washington about military readiness.
A Tuesday closed-door briefing with US officials and lawmakers questioned available US stockpiles. Observers warned that Chinese leader Xi Jinping could see US distraction as an opening to act against Taiwan. Xi has called unification with Taiwan a historic mission, and observers noted that US President Donald Trump’s transactional style and inconsistent stance on Russia might embolden Beijing.
University of London School of Oriental and African Studies Director Steve Tsang said even if the People’s Liberation Army is not fully ready, it is possible Xi could strike Taiwan while US munitions are depleted. However, other signs suggest the war has reinforced US deterrence and Taiwan’s de facto independence.
Within four days of the Iranian conflict starting, US forces struck nearly 2,000 targets, including 16 ships and a submarine, sinking an Iranian frigate near Sri Lanka. The military also executed decapitation strikes against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and key aides, demonstrating intelligence and precision unmatched by China.
Australian National University political scientist Sung Wen-ti commented that the strikes show that the decapitation scenario is real and could worry Beijing. The US military’s success contrasts with the failures of Chinese equipment supplied to Iran and Venezuela.
Reports say Iran purchased kamikaze drones and air-defense systems from China and negotiations for advanced anti-ship missiles were ongoing. Chong Ja Ian, a Singapore-based international relations expert, said Beijing was somewhat surprised by US capabilities and its complex operations.
The war has also exposed China’s limits diplomatically. Beijing, which brokered the 2023 Tehran-Riyadh normalization, has been confined to issuing condemnations and sending “peace envoys,” showing its limited influence over regional proxies. Former US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said China is “proving to be a feckless friend for its authoritarian allies.”
Energy risks compound China’s challenges. The country relies on the Middle East for half its oil and nearly a third of its gas. The Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted imports, making China vulnerable despite its reserves and green energy transition.
The latest US National Defense Strategy reaffirms a denial and deterrence posture along the first island chain, including Taiwan. Park Strategies Senior Vice President Sean King said Xi likely assumes the US will defend Taiwan, making an attack unlikely for now.
