PAI Partners backed Vamed Care has acquired the rehabilitation clinics of Paracelsus, with the aim of creating a leading provider of rehabilitation in Germany with 50 facilities. Paracelsus Rehabilitationskliniken have been part of Swiss investment company, Porterhouse Group Bad Elster and Scheidegg with approximately 1,000 employees will join forces with Vamed Care’s 65 facilities and around 13,000 employees in Germany The group will operate under a new joint brand in the course of the year Vamed Care will acquire only the rehabilitation part of the Paracelsus business – the acute care area will remain with the Porterhouse under the Paracelsus brand Vamed Care in Germany and the Paracelsus Rehabilitation Clinics currently offer medical rehabilitation services in the areas of nephrology Long Covid and child and adolescent rehabilitation France-based PAI Partners acquired the majority of Vamed’s rehab business from Fresenius in 2024 Global healthcare group, Fresenius, has reached an agreement with France-based private equity investor, PAI Partners, for the sale of the majority of Vamed’s rehabilitation business. Vamed is a global provider of services to hospitals and other healthcare facilities ISP Healthcare acted as sole commercial advisor to Vamed Care Press release: Paracelsus Rehabilitation Clinics and VAMED care Group join forces – Paracelsus Clinics MarketsHealthcareLife SciencesPharmaSocial CareVeterinary RankingsM&AEquity ResourcesEventsYearbook CompanyAboutContact UsSubscribeNewsletterEHIA Jul 9, 2024 | Airshow Dates The European Airshow Calendar contains the latest dates for airshows across Europe for display season 2025 The following European Airshow listings have been compiled by Flightline UK from the various official event websites Information is believed to be correct at the time of publishing Flightline UK accepts no responsibility should an event be curtailed or cancelled in anyway Readers of the European Airshow Calendar are urged to use the listings with caution and to check directly with event organisers before making travel arrangements If you wish to add an event to the calendar, please click here and fill out the update form Click on each month to expand the listings Bitterroot Star Bitterroot Valley's best source for local news September 13, 2022 by Editor Author Marty Essen is excited about his new book “Doctor Refurb,” which will be officially released on September 18 to kick off Banned Books Week but Essen is evidently looking forward to that the time travel is not fact but what I wanted to do with this book is put a number on which politicians today are causing catastrophic global warming (facts) and how much each person is hastening the end of a liveable planet.” “Everything I write is political,” he added It starts out in western Montana during the Covid-19 pandemic they’ll be gum.” The message is from an alien who is just learning to speak English which is why the message doesn’t really make sense and any environmental villains he identifies will be deported by the alien to a “depository planet.” His mission is to get rid of bad people (each person is worth a certain number of years) to add 200 years to earth’s life Westin’s body parts is replaced with a “refurbished” part that is better and stronger than the real one As he rids the world of the worst environmental offenders “He has to go through this painful process to save the earth,” says Essen “dealing with many moral dilemmas in making these decisions.” The second half of the book involves time travel A character who is an alien who started out occupying the head of Jesus Christ has since then been bouncing from body to body doing evil “So Doctor Refurb has to travel through history to try to stop this evil alien,” says Essen He and his companions go back in time to find the evil alien at actual historical events (more facts) Massachusetts during the infamous ‘witch’ trials (facts again) “I’m trying to show how throughout history Christian Nationalism has been used for evil,” says Essen “I’m trying to show people the damage that politicians have done to our planet No one ever gets convicted for poisoning a region where people die 25 years later These ‘slow murders’ are never accounted for.” Doctor Refurb is influenced by actual historical events and confronts the serious subjects of climate change and child abuse committed by Christian authorities.” “It all sounds depressing but it’s the funniest book I’ve ever written,” says Essen Essen will have a book signing at Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton on Wednesday Heathens and Hippos: Stories from an Agent Activist and Adventurer,” a memoir that came out during the pandemic and so he hasn’t been able to promote it He said the book follows his life of environmental activism starting with his protesting snowmobiles in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) a big wilderness in northern Minnesota (Essen grew up in Duluth) The protest resulted in the passage of a bill that protects the BWCA from snowmobiles Essen also ran a talent agency in Minnesota before moving to Montana in 1996 Essen said he moved to the Bitterroot “not realizing that I had moved into one of the most conservative areas in Montana There’s a lot in the book about the shock of that.” And lots of other stories Essen loves the sport of baseball and started a Bitterroot Baseball League for adults But he had to give it up because “the sportsmanship was so poor Players started throwing the balls at the umpires when they didn’t like how they were calling the balls and strikes but the players stopped having fun,” he said “I got threatened when I kicked a player out for poor sportsmanship Essen also ran a telecommunications company for a number of years He began writing professionally in the 1990s as a features writer for Gig Magazine Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents,” won six national awards and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune named it a “Top Ten Green Book.” His second non-fiction book “Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Puerto Rico,” won four national awards His previous novels include “Time Is Irreverent,” “Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ Not Again!” and “Time Is Irreverent 3: Gone for 16 Seconds,” all of which became Amazon #1 Best-Sellers in multiple categories “I’ve spoken in 45 states at hundreds of colleges” over the last 15 years Essen said he might do part of his college show titled “Around the World in 90 Minutes” and based on “Cool Creatures “I try to make my presentations different and fun “I consider myself a satirist and political activist,” said Essen “‘Doctor Refurb’ is a very funny book – liberals will laugh out loud Essen and his wife were recently returning from a speaking tour and they took a side trip to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake one of their favorite places to visit when they’re in the Salt Lake area They were shocked to find that the lake was dry for 100 yards out from shore “How can people like Mitt Romney deny global warming when they see their own lake drying up right before their eyes… this is kind of why I write my books but a hundred years from now someone is going to say Filed Under: News Alcoholics Anonymous is open to all who have a desire to stop drinking The Stevensville Al-Anon Family Group meets weekly at 7 p.m Monday at the Stevensville United Methodist Church Enter the church through the Fellowship Hall door next to […] Please update our weekly listing to the following: The Stevensville Al-Anon Family Group meets weekly at 7 p.m Join Summit Independent Living for Art Expressions -- our all-abilities art club -- every Tuesday in Hamilton Just show up and enjoy an afternoon of […] The Ravalli Democrats invite you to join them at the Backyard Taphouse in Florence every other Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 for what they call Burgers and Beers ------------------------------------------- The Wonders of Hot Water A Weekly Lecture Series on the Origins and Uses of the World’s Hot Springs Tuesday Evenings July 23 through August 20 7:00pm to […] Ionic Lodge #38 of Hamilton would like to announce that we have ongoing Masonic education every Tuesday night starting at 7:00 pm and we are open to the public every […] Jordan Walker paints landscapes with precision breaking them down to expose their structure His work in From the Rockies to the Red Rock records the forces shaping […] or brand-new pattern and enjoy the company of like-minded crafters during this informal Fiber […] 1st Thursday each month Health and Wellness Series New presentation on important natural healing topics followed by Questions and Answers National Day of Prayer for the Bitterroot Valley Community Join us to prayer for our community and nation 6pm – 7pm Hosted by the Ravalli County Ministerial […] free country swing dance lessons every Thursday in May at 7:00 pm at the Rustic Hut in Florence- arrive early - all ages welcome- no partner needed  Country swing dance lessons at the Rustic Hut in Florence ~ free — The Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas is excited to launch its 2025 Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Event series with the Montana Kick-Off Adoption Event Discover and discuss new books — in audiobook and other formats — with us and other bookworms from the community I am one of the organizers for the 4th Grade Farm Fair and am reaching out to let you know that we will be hosting the event again […] Join us every Friday from 12-5PM The purpose of the GUILD is to contribute to the growth and knowledge of hand knitting and history; to sponsor and support […] Thank Goodness It’s Art Friday (TGIAF) is an arts and crafts social group where all are welcome Welcome to the Stevensville Harvest Valley Farmers Market This little market is growing and has so much to offer We have a variety to offer from Jams/Jellies at Corvallis Firehall on the Woodside Cutoff road The Bitterroot Blizzard Doll Club meets monthly on the 2nd Thursday James Jonkel is a Wildlife Management Specialist with Montana Fish Jamie serves on several committees and nonprofit organizations […] What won't perish in your garden from an inevitable spring cold snap With a little paint we'll turn rocks into quirky creatures Wings Youth Volunteer Program The Wings Programs Equine Rescue & Sanctuary is starting a youth volunteer program that will run through the summer Do you love horses and donkeys and […] Please join us for the Daly Mansion’s Annual Tea on May 10 Teatime at Riverside will have 2 seating times 11am & 1pm – 100 tickets available per seating […] The Ravalli County Democrats have scheduled their annual convention for May 10 in Victor Park The election of officers is the focus of the gathering Join us on the lawn at the Daly Mansion for the best dang community gathering in the Bitterroot Join us every 3rd Thursday at 6pm at BJ's restaurant The Bitterroot Celtic Society are a passionate group of volunteers Bitter Root Back Country Horsemen is a volunteer organization that works to keep trails open for the public The group meets every third Thursday of the month at the Corvallis […] Key Attributes of Self-Defense Training Practical Techniques: Easy-to-learn moves tailored for real-world situations Situational Awareness: Learn to identify risks and make safe choices Adaptability: Techniques designed for all ages The Corvallis Civic Club will meet on Monday at 7:00 pm in the Corvallis High School Library All are welcome to attend and help the club continue its […] WOMEN & GUNS: Women Only - Introduction to Defensive Handguns The first day is designed to assist […] will be offered three times at the Whittecar Range in Hamilton Every 4th Tuesday of the month for the monthly Guild meeting The purpose of the GUILD is to contribute to the growth and knowledge of hand knitting foams and latex offered mattress makers an array of product enhancements European companies that two years ago had dismissed gel foams as a fad latex suppliers touted new products and vulcanization processes and phase-change materials found their way into many components sales and marketing manager for Herrljunga shows off the second generation of the S-matic series featuring adjustable zones that can be customized for firmness and lumbar support with the touch of a remote control Innerspring suppliers showed off myriad products that promised new levels of comfort and support Consumer enthusiasm for innerspring beds continues to grow and that interest is starting to spread to some traditionally foam-loving regions “It started in Central Europe three to four years ago and is still growing and spreading,” said Sven Tiemeier Asia is the next region we are exploring.” Agro moved to a larger space at Interzum this year and introduced Squareflaex a minipocket spring unit assembled without glue using ultrasonic welding the low-profile pocket features a square pattern and is recommended for use in mattress toppers or multilayered upholstery The 1-inch tall product uses a special soft-spun fabric—and less of it reducing waste and eliminating the “crunchy” sound and feel glue can leave behind a minipocket spring unit for use in mattress toppers or multilayered upholstery It is assembled without glue by using ultrasonic welding Based in Leeds, England, Spinks Springs now offers a complete good-better-best in its Posturflo microcoil line: The new Posturflo (good) is wrapped in a highly perforated nonwoven material; the Posturflo Mesh (better) uses a mesh fabric for “extreme ventilation”; and Interzum award-winning Posturflo 3D (best) has spacer fabric on top to create a comfort layer All boast a high coil count that provides “body support unmatched by conventional springs,” said Darren Marcangelo Another Spinks concept bed sported new Quiltech 3D a plush knit ticking quilted to the company’s signature microcoils comfortable top layer and panel fabric all in one Turkey-based Metal Matris’s new Wave Balance and Wave Balance Smart wrapped coils create a “latex foam feeling” and improve airflow Sweden-based Starsprings introduced its second generation of the S-matic Zone Two and LS—is a lightweight but strong system that now can be placed anywhere in the mattress 12-braid cords that can be tightened or loosened with the touch of a wireless remote “to create the perfect spine position” in either one or two zones (hips and shoulders) The LS is adapted to adjust lumbar support England-based Spinks Springs displayed the three-part Posturflo collection including Interzum-award-winning Posturflo 3D with spacer fabric Dahlin called the new line a “dramatic improvement,” adding “We think adjusting the firmness is the next step for us in the market.” Starsprings also introduced its patented S-cut pocketed coils designed with a long opening between the coils for more flexibility The new product is available in 4-inch to 8-inch heights which rolled out another “first” at the show Turkey-based company’s Duo Pocket System features two layers of pocket springs of the same diameter: thicker on the bottom for full support and thinner on the top for softness and comfort “It’s a fully functional system,” said Idris Babacan is supporting the heavier parts of your body—the hips and shoulders A popular first Area sales executive Idris Babacan reported that orders were brisk for Boycelik’s new Duo Pocket System featuring two layers of pocket springs—thicker on the bottom for full support and thinner on the top for softness and comfort rolled out Wave Balance and Wave Balance Smart which use wrapped coils in rows of alternating heights to create the feeling of latex foam and improve airflow “We have very fast production lines so the cost savings to customers are great,” said Aytekin Marasli “And we now have the ability to compress coils for shipping which enhances our ability to work with U.S Polyurethane and memory foam producers showcased products offering temperature regulation and comfort achieving both through coring and contouring phase-change materials and open-cell formulations Also widely on display: A range of new gel solutions intended for comfort layers On the surface The soft launch of Dublin-based Kayfoam’s new surface-infused gel with temperature-regulating properties created a buzz at Interzum Cologne surface-infused gel—a product so new it had yet to be named Unlike foam that is infused with gel throughout a new method applies the phase-change technology and gel to only the top of the foam block “Kayfoam is delighted to be first to market in temperature-regulating innovation once again,” said David Moffit “We are especially keen to work with new partners and can offer exclusivity deals as part of our service.” “New and improved” was the theme at Orsa Foam S.p.A highlighted innovations in several of its product families most notably its Breeze line of flexible polyurethane foams Breeze now features an open-cell structure to optimize airflow and the quick evaporation of moisture and heat spotlighted two nonvisco-elastic products designed for comfort layers and pillows: Serene a pressure-relieving and highly durable polyurethane foam that launched in the United States in 2014; and Thermic phase-change material and also is highly breathable a temperature-regulating foam that features a combination of cooling elements in visco-elastic and conventional foams The company’s new HR Foam boasts “30% more open cell than regular foam” for improved airflow Interzum Award-winning Latexco Pulse Fusion fuses latex to materials without glues which the company hopes to introduce in the United States which compresses by 70% for low-cost shipping provides a range of zones for support and comfort Viscoflex performs 20% better than other polyurethane foams According to latex foam producers at Interzum Cologne their product’s star is rising around the world Suppliers focused on satisfying manufacturer demand for thin layers of their product—“just a touch” of latex at the top of the bed as one supplier said—in addition to highlighting innovations in latex mattress and pillow cores Dunlop latex suppliers touted improved vulcanization processes that yield a consistent product Others promoted their 100% natural latex products discussed the company’s increased production capacity and launch of a new sheet latex Arpico featured its new continuous-sheeting latex which is designed to be a quilting or comfort layer The company pours the latex onto a bed—not in a mold—and uses steam for vulcanization Arpico is a Richard Pieris Natural Foams Ltd company that manufactures 100% natural latex and is Global Organic Latex Standard-certified “Organic latex is very rare,” said CEO Januka Karunasena “We have doubled our plant’s production capacity and about 40% of that is continuous sheeting We are one of the only latex companies with our own plantation and manufacturing capabilities It allows us to assure long-term availability of the product Our own plantation is just 45 minutes from the factory.” rolled out a 1-inch quilting latex that is unperforated and especially smooth thanks to a new continuous foaming process pillows and comfort layers to manufacturers around the world and is using new Dunlop continuous-foaming process to produce a highly consistent product The company introduced 1-inch quilting latex that is nonperforated and smooth on both surfaces a latex cushion foam produced via a Dunlop foaming process rolled out pillows for all sleep positions Vita Talalay by Radium Foam rolled out Talalay latex pillows in five silhouettes for different sleep positions The goal is to have manufacturers cobrand the pillows with Vita and to use pillows as an introduction to the comfort of Talalay latex manager of business development for the Maastricht Pulse was introduced in 2013 and yields an even more open-cell product with uniform structure and ventilation for the production of toppers,” said Roger Coffey president of Latexco West dba Sleep Comp West in Buena Park adjustable zoning with its Aliseo 100% natural latex core and removable plugs The company introduced a further refinement to Pulse, which earned a 2015 Interzum Intelligent Material & Design award New Pulse Fusion allows Latexco to fuse its Pulse latex foam to foams or other materials without adhesives Latexco used Pulse Fusion to adhere its polyurethane Flo Fom products to latex for use in mattress comfort layers The product currently is available in Europe Ecolatex displayed a selection of 100% natural latex cores and toppers with unique contours which offers a plush feel and good airflow The company’s Aliseo core comes with colorful plugs that can be added or removed to adjust the bed’s support level.  Netherlands-based Enkev Natural Fibres demonstrates the breathability of its improved Labyrinth fiber introduced a proprietary app for customers at Interzum Cologne that demonstrates how to work with its products “Our company is profiting from the major ‘natural’ trend and we’re improving how we sell our products,” said Marc Dokter “We worked with a developer on this app with the goal of easing customer concerns about working with unfamiliar products people get nervous if they haven’t used horsehair before but it’s quite simple to work with all of our materials.” Dokter said adding a layer of any of his company’s products—from rubberized horsehair to coconut fiber to the improved stronger Labyrinth fiber— can add ventilation to a mattress Labyrinth is recyclable polyethylene fiber that Enkev now extrudes itself More bounce Custom8 Intelligent Bedding Components in Heverlee has invented an adjustable slatted base called r-Leaf introduced a unique adjustable slatted base concept–or “active slat module”–that allows users to electronically adjust slat tension or stiffness in as many as eight zones of the foundation for better posture and comfort Custom8 announced the name of its newest invention: r-Leaf Introduction: Machinery makers roll out innovations, components suppliers focus on airflow, gel and the phase-change craze Rocking and ‘rolling’ in the machinery hall Art meets tech in ticking showrooms Putting it all together with adhesives The Business Journal for the Sleep Products Industry bedtimesmagazine.com © 2001-2025 International Sleep Products Association Privacy Policy We may request cookies to be set on your device We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites and to customize your relationship with our website Click on the different category headings to find out more You can also change some of your preferences Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website refusing them will have impact how our site functions You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website But this will always prompt you to 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Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks which states that new fertilizers containing microplastics may no longer be introduced to the market all existing fertilizers containing microplastics will also be banned "This is an important sign that the issue of microplastics is visibly gaining in importance," says Wolfram Müller which was founded in 2017 and is based in Bad Essen The subsidiary of the internationally active group of companies of the same name offers several approaches to solutions for a gentle and environmentally friendly vegetable production Ad Terram is focusing on innovative coatings our coatings have a free water content of only about 1% Conventional processes involve coatings that contain microplastics and are therefore not only harmful to the environment because microplastics will only be broken down over several decades but also because they have to be mixed with approx This requires subsequent drying of the coatings which in turn requires considerable energy and time." "Since water must not be added under any circumstances they will already dry during the coating process This makes it possible for seed to be packaged immediately after the coating has been applied Coatings are available in a wide range of colors and can be customized to suit the client Ecological treatment and added valueAccording to Müller people often only talk about the pollution of the world's oceans it becomes clear that all fertilizers and coatings also "poison" the environment with a great deal of microplastic The microplastics get directly into the soil This is now to be prevented by the new legislation We are responding to the development at an early stage and are proving with our coatings that ecological treatments and an increased yield are not mutually exclusive." Ad Terram is also launching other solutions It is designed to help the plant fight abiotic stress by expanding the plant's root systems and thus facilitating nutrient uptake "We have different ways of using our biostimulant: either directly on the seed as a coating Optimum has produced increased yields in past trials by Ad Terram and partner company agri Saaten Ltd use the biostimulant on its own seed "New to the product range is our AMF (Abruscular Mycorrhiza Fungi) a fungus that forms a symbiotic relationship with the plant The fungus colonizes the root of the plant the fungus receives the photosynthesis product sugar from the plant the fungus provides nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen to the plant." AMF protects the plant from Rhizoctonia by means of the mycorrhizal fungus the plant why it is no longer possible for the Rhizoctonia fungus to occupy the plant "Our AMF is available as a coating and granules and powder We believe the former has not been available on the market before and thus offers a unique selling point." Water and organicsRounding out Ad Terram's forward-looking product range are rhizobia "These nodule bacteria enter into a symbiosis with legumes in that the bacteria attach themselves to the plant and form so-called 'nodules' By converting the nitrogen bound in the air the bacteria provide nutrients to the plant the bacteria receive water and organic matter For more information:Wolfram MüllerAd Terram GmbHMaschweg 10549152 Bad EssenTel.: +49 5472 97700-40Fax: +49 5472 97700-49[email protected] www.ad-terram.de   FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information lost part of its cargo in the Pacific Ocean during bad weather About 750 containers from the Maersk Essen fell overboard on Jan All crew members are safe and a detailed assessment of the cargo is ongoing while the vessel continues its journey The ship is expected at Mexico’s Lazaro Cardenas on Jan Charr required surgery but is not in critical condition Former heavyweight title challenger Manuel Charr was shot yesterday in Essen, Germany Charr, whose 2012 title bid against Vitali Klitschko ended with a fourth-round cut stoppage, reportedly suffered no life-threatening injuries, but required surgery after his condition worsened in Essen's University Hospital German newspaper Bild reported that Charr had gone to Essen to try and sort things out with someone he had issues with eyewitnesses report that the shooter pulled up in his car A police raid on the alleged shooter's apartment did not result in an arrest Charr has lost two of his last three bouts sandwiching a win over Alex Leapai between losses to Johann Duhaupas and Charr is thankfully out of immediate danger Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times About 750 containers have fallen overboard from a Denmark-flagged containership in rough weather in the North Pacific The incident occurred while the 13,100 TEU Maersk Essen was sailing from Xiamen which is owned by China’s Bank of Communications commercially controlled by Danish shipping giant Maersk and deployed in TP6 Asia/US West Coast service experienced heavy seas during the crossing resulting in the loss and damage of containers “All crewmembers are safe and a detailed cargo assessment is ongoing while the vessel continues on her journey flag state and relevant authorities have been notified,” Maersk said in an emailed statement “We view this as a very serious situation which will be investigated promptly and thoroughly Operations and vessel safety are our highest priority and we will be taking any necessary steps to minimize the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future,” the company added The World Shipping Council (WSC) recently released its 2020 update showing that 1,382 containers are lost at sea every year Despite a downward trend in the 2017-2019 period when 779 containers were lost every year 2020 has seen a sharp increase due to a one-off catastrophic incident involving the containership ONE Apus and several other The Japanese-flagged ship lost more than 1,800 containers due to severe weather conditions while transiting the Pacific Ocean in late 2020 more than a half of all containers lost at sea are attributed to the limited number of major incidents that have occurred in the past few years the industry recognizes that all containers lost at sea represent safety and environmental hazards regardless of how and when those containers were lost,” WSC said in the 2020 update the 2020 Update to the Containers Lost at Sea Survey no longer differentiates between catastrophic and noncatastrophic losses and includes only total containers lost at sea It is this number that the industry seeks to reduce and we continue to work with governments and other interested stakeholders to identify losses and actionable solutions to reduce the losses in the future.” stowage and securing of containers and reporting of correct weight are very important to the safety of a containership even with proper stowage and securing aboard ship a number of factors ranging from severe weather and rough seas to more catastrophic and rare events can result in containers being lost at sea Referring to the newest incident involving Maersk Essen an expert in the container shipping industry and CEO and Partner of SeaIntelligence Consulting raised the question about a possible structural problem with stowage “When the ONE Apus lost some 1800 containers overboard in a Pacific storm in 2020 this is an issue we should have seen more of given the sheer numbers of large container vessels,” he said “Now Maersk Essen has lost 750 containers overboard – also in a Pacific storm Hence the question – is this a fluke twice in a row – or a sign that we might actually have a structural problem with stowage when vessels are consistently filled to brim?” Daily news and in-depth stories in your inbox The Pioneers of Offshore Engineering GustoMSC part of NOV’s Marine and Construction business is recognized for providing advanced design & engineering consultancy for mobile offshore units and reliable equipment and technical knowledge into realistic & innovative ideas The performance of new and existing jack-ups The way our brains are wired may reveal a lot about us according to new research co-authored by scientists at Washington University in St many years of education and robust physical endurance have stronger neural connections between certain brain regions than people with “negative” traits aggressive behavior and a family history of alcohol abuse published recently in the journal Nature Neuroscience is among the first fruits of the Human Connectome Project (HCP) a $40 million brain imaging initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) The project is led by scientists at Washington University University of Minnesota and Oxford University in the United Kingdom Describing the findings as “impressive,” Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis neuroscientist Marcus E. Raichle, MD, told Nature News that the research confirms it’s possible to “distinguish people with successful traits and successful lives from those who are not so successful” based in part on the activity and anatomy of their brains Led by a team at Oxford University’s Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain the study was co-authored by Washington University’s Deanna Barch professor and chair of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences in Arts & Sciences as well as a professor of psychiatry and of radiology in the School of Medicine; and David Van Essen the Alumni Endowed Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology explains how she and her Washington University colleagues are mapping the wiring in the human brain The video was featured as part of a 2014 New York Times article on the Human Connectome Project and shows Times science writer James Gorman undergoing a hi-tech MRI scan The HCP brings together a global consortium of researchers working to map the structural and functional connections of the healthy Designed to study how brain connectivity relates to individuals’ skills and behavior the project will provide researchers with detailed high-resolution MRI brain scans on 1,200 volunteers based on data from the first 500 volunteers scanned as part of the HCP looked closely at a series of brain regions involved in high-level cognition including a network that remains active when the brain is relatively idle played a pivotal role in the discovery of brain regions now known as the “default mode network.” These regions become active when the brain seemingly is at rest and not actively engaged in a task the researchers examined a HCP database that included resting-state connectomes from about 460 people ages 22 to 35 years and information about 280 different behavioral and demographic traits that were recorded for these same participants “The quality of the imaging data is really unprecedented,” said Steven Smith a biomedical engineer at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study “Not only is the number of subjects we get to study large but the spatial and temporal resolution of the fMRI data is way ahead of previous large datasets.” As detailed in an Oxford University news release Smith and his colleagues ran a massive computer analysis to examine how brain connectivity patterns correlated with individual behavioral traits personality traits and various measures of intelligence.The study found that participants with strongly connected brain networks also scored high on behavioral measures usually considered to be positive those with weaker network connections were found to exhibit high scores for traits typically considered negative “This study provides intriguing insights into how behavior is related to the incredibly complex brain networks that make each of us a unique individual,” said Van Essen who is a principal investigator of the HCP “It is also a testament to the intense efforts by the HCP team to improve the methods of imaging data acquisition and analysis.” Some of these advances were contributed by Matthew Glasser a graduate student in Van Essen’s lab and a co-author on the study Raichle cautioned that the findings of this study do not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between strong brain network connections and positive behavioral traits or between weak connections and negative traits While the brain connection patterns are clear across the 461 volunteers in this study there’s a lot of work that needs to be done before brain scans could be used to predict what sorts of skills or behavior we might expect from a particular individual Once these causal relationships are better understood it could be possible to push brains toward the “good” end of the axis Barch said that it is likely that the variation in brain connectivity and traits seen across individuals reflects a complex dance between environment and biology Understanding the precise nature of these causal influences will help lead to the design of better interventions to help move the brain and behavior toward the positive end of the spectrum The HCP consortium includes more than 100 investigators and technical staff at 10 institutions in the United States and Europe. It is funded by 16 components of the NIH via the Blueprint for Neuroscience Research Medicine & Health Read more stories from Arts & Sciences Visit Arts & Sciences Read more stories from School of Medicine Visit School of Medicine Temperature-controlled switch activates sperm, is key to fertility WashU partners with leading St. Louis recreation organizations Brain decoder controls spinal cord stimulation Federal court order a victory for rule of law Tips for Class of 2025 jobseekers How tariff uncertainty will impact economy, businesses Want to Start a Business? Maybe Begin by Being a Gig Worker. Trump’s Budget Cuts Funding for Chronic Disease Prevention Religion in Schools This week's episode of Last Week Tonight saw John Oliver spend 26 minutes discussing every single way in which food delivery apps have become a nightmare today It varies from app to app, but most of them seem to charge a base fee of around $5 for the delivery, giving $2 to the delivery person. Given that gas is over $3 per gallon you have to hope that the customer tips well or isn't very far from the restaurant they're ordering from Some delivery drivers are getting stiffed on tips occasionally caused by a user interface fuckup in the app itself users rating their service as poor can inadvertently affect a delivery person's score and their ability to continue working Is there any part of this that is actually good Perhaps the restaurants suffer most, as the Washington Post pointed out some apps take about half of the money you pay for food This leads to restaurants jacking up the prices on app orders to compensate for the lost profits Some restaurants have even noted that they were added to the app against their will and have been listed as offering foods they don't sell So the restaurant is also getting screwed by these apps Oliver mentions that the winner here is the customer as they're getting cheap delivery subsidized by venture capital as prices continue to rise now that traditional delivery drivers are all but extinct This used to be a simple process in which you'd call from a land line and a person would bring you pizza for a couple bucks tip massive VC-backed companies have inserted themselves between you and the pizza person I spent much of college working as a delivery person for an just-off-campus Chinese food restaurant I wasn't officially an employee and I got paid two dollars per hour under the table as I had to buy the food from the restaurant and track down the money from the people on the other end of the transaction On a good Friday or Saturday I would bring home around $500 During the week it would sometimes be as little as 80 bucks but I drove a shitty little hatchback and gas was cheap Was my experience as a delivery driver worse than what is expected from an app-based delivery person today but at least I wasn't being taken advantage of by a massive corporation I was just mugged twice for my lo mein money The breeding company Agri-Saaten can look back on an exciting 2023 part of the carrot breeding programme called Carosem GmbH was sold to Enza Zaden the family business based in Bad Essen has by no means stood still as Co-Managing Director Hendrik Müller explains on request the company's product portfolio was enriched with a large number of innovative vegetable varieties Although part of the carrot breeding programme of sister company Carosem GmbH has been sold "The tried-and-tested carrot varieties Caravel F1 which are already established on the market we also want to introduce two new trial varieties to the market which can be harvested after a total of approx 120 days and are also beautifully blunt and homogeneous They still have to prove themselves in processing and the trial seed will be available from 2024," Müller explains Italian onions gain in importanceAgri Saaten has recently become the new exclusive partner of Maraldi Sementi from Italy for the German-speaking countries as well as the Czech Republic and Slovakia This has enabled the company to expand its portfolio in the leafy vegetables and salads sector Müller: "New to the programme are the baby leaf varieties Batavia Afrodite the two lamb's lettuce varieties Dali and Excel and the rocket varieties Sele F1 and Rubicon F1 We have also added American onion varieties and Italians we are seeing a trend in onions away from the classic Rijnsburger onions towards Italian types The latter category is increasingly moving from southern Europe to the north and can now also be grown in central Germany We have already successfully trialled several shallot varieties which we will now also be offering in the coming season our early Japanese onion variety Lustar F1 has now also established itself as an onion set." The acquisition of a Danish spinach grower means that Maraldi Sementi will also have access to a broad programme of baby leaf spinach varieties from 2024 Another hobbyhorse of Agri Saaten has been root vegetables for many years "We are still pushing the parsnip programme and have started breeding here the Japanese onion Lustar F1 and the parsnip Victor F1 the company's main products are still spring onion seed and sweetcorn we have a new early variety called Sprinter F1 This variety is very compact compared to our bestseller in the early segment We also have a new variety in the tender segment called Takeoff F1 the herb sector has also become increasingly important we have a number of new varieties of parsley (Sombre potted basil (Compacta) and field-grown basil (Genua Star) as well as coriander (Jantar) both for conventional and organic cultivation We have started to further develop our varieties here." The Agri Saaten programme is rounded off with new varieties of beetroot Microplastic-free coatingAgri-Saaten has been using a microplastic-free coating for a long time "We see very good future prospects here for strengthening plant growth at a time when fewer and fewer systemically effective substances are available We also try to support our customers with seed optimisations such as priming incrustation and calibration," concludes Müller For more information:Agri-Saaten GmbH Hendrik MüllerCompany ManagementTel: +49 (5472) 97700-12Fax: +49 (5472) 97700-29E-Mail: [email protected] www.agri-saaten.de Kevin Rataj from Hagermarsch in East Friesland won the 16th Lower Saxony Largest Pumpkin Championship with a weight of 702,4 kilograms The 26-year-old gardener was able to defend his title from last year in Bad Essen He says he gives his pumpkins 400 to 500 liters of water a week and adds liquid fertilizer He adds that pumpkins grow best in full sun Global warming and a large number of sunny days suit them Rataj thus set a new record in Lower Saxony announced competition organizer Wolfgang Willmann the largest pumpkins are from southern Germany thanks to a longer period of sunshine but the world record is held by a grower from Belgium Rataj can also win several races in Germany with this pumpkin but competitors are not allowed to compete with the same pumpkin in different competitions so their subsequent measurements may not hold the same weight The Lower Saxony Championships were held in the gardens of Ippenburg Castle in the Osnabrück district which were open to visitors on Saturday and Sunday This site is controlled and managed by KOHA are protected by KOHA's copyright and KOHA retains the reserved rights for them Materials on this site may not be used for commercial purposes without the prior permission of KOHA is prohibited The use of materials from any website or other medium without the permission of the KOHA Group on behalf of all the units that make it up (Koha Ditore is a violation of copyright and of intellectual property according to the legal provisions in force All violators of these rights will face the law The translation of contents into other languages ​​is done automatically and there may be errors Annex of the former Radio Prishtina (first floor) George Bush pn Has TikTok ruined reading by making it shallow and commercial or is it inspiring a new generation of passionate readers View All posts by Leah Rachel von Essen BookTok is selling books You’ve probably seen the table of BookTok sensations at your local library or bookstore or seen them pop up on your feed There are many arguments that say BookTok is bad for the book world Just a few: BookTok is more about the aesthetic of being a reader than it is about the actual reading BookTok promotes the same 20 or so books and that they’re all fluffy nonsense that determines what a book lover should look like or how many books they should own This leaves most of the BookTok space for white influencers and white authors which leaves the “BookTok” recommendations shelf looking not all that diverse Still, I hesitate to condemn BookTok wholesale. There’s a tendency in our society, I’ve long noticed, to simply criticize what’s popular. For a while, those books made up of AIM messages or texts bore the brunt of the joke People like to mock “chick lit” and romance forcing generations of women to hide their romance novels under pillows or under book covers When teens pick up comics or graphic novels adults tell them they won’t count for their summer reading Science fiction and fantasy books are pigeonholed into genre fiction into sections for what’s merely “popular” and “entertaining” rather than “literary.” there can be an over-emphasis on BookTok popularity There’s pressure for authors to be on TikTok to get their books to sell — especially after some books have gone from being self-published to being in six-figure auctions after going viral on the platform Many bookstores now have a table reserved for BookTok recommendations Teens are watching videos about books. They’re putting books on hold and buying books. They’re talking about, yelling about, crying over, and forming communities around books. (My fellow Rioter Addison Rizer wrote about how TikTok talks about books better than I could.) BookTok is driven by young teen girls and their accounts, the most popular of whom are predominantly white. TikTok in the US is dominated by Gen Z female users And there is a well-documented trend of people hating on things that teenage girls like and devaluing anything powered by teen girls on YouTube channels shared their favorites shared unboxings from big subscription companies or from publishers — but BookTube came under critique for promoting all the same books and for promoting a certain aesthetic of what a bookworm should look like There are real concerns about BookTok’s diversity and the way Black creators are devalued on the platform just as there are serious concerns about access and equity in the publishing world If anyone wants to have a conversation about how the book world devalues authors of color and raises up white women But I think that the crux of the issue people seem to have with BookTok is more about the domination of teen girls and the books that they end up squeeing about on the platform Because the one thing people like more than griping about how kids don’t read these days is griping about what teenage girls are doing on social media these days or about what young people seem to think is literature these days reading isn’t ruined because young people aren’t reading the books you’d like them to read they’re talking to each other about their favorites and they’re buying books: reading is doing just fine Want to read more about BookTok? Check out some of the books that recently trending on TikTok, read about whether the BookTok reign might be letting up soon, and learn more about TikTok’s publishing plans She might not have won three individual Olympic gold medals (yet) Aside from being the most decorated international dressage rider she has produced more Grand Prix horses competing at international level than any other rider At the moment Werth has two Grand Prix horses scoring 80% in the Grand Prix (Weihegold Emilio) and one scoring above 75% (Don Johnson) Rumour has it that her former 80% scoring mare Bella Rose who has been out of action for almost three years will get back in full training this spring But Rick Helmink broke the news that there are more Grand Prix fireworks in Werth's barn in Rheinberg Germany after spotting Isabell training Quintus at the 2017 CDI-W 's Hertogenbosch a 9-year old Westfalian gelding by Quaterback out of Freya (by Florestan x Wachhorst) the chestnut gelding was acquired for Werth by her long-time sponsor Madeleine Winter-Schulze in 2013 The horse made its show debut back in 2011 under Frank Bogenschutz but in 2012 Thomas Schulze took over the ride and competed him in a few A-level classes In 2013 he did one L-level test and then sold at the 2013 Westfalian Spring Elite Auction in Munster-Handorf for 20,000 euro Quintus returned to the show ring in 2016 under then stable jockey at the time The pair contested some S-level classes in Ankum  Werth is now preparing the gelding for his Grand Prix debut herself Stalls for Rent at Durondeau Dressage in Peer, Belgium Exceptionally Well Located Equestrian Facility in Wellington, Florida Well-built Equestrian Estate With Multiple Business Opportunities in Sweden Stable Units for Rent at Lotje Schoots' Equestrian Center in Houten (NED) For Rent: Several Apartments and Stable Wing at High-End Equestrian Facility Stable Wing Available at Reiterhof Wensing on Dutch/German border Real Estate: Well-Appointed Country House with Extensive Equestrian Facility in the U.K. Rémi Blot The Batman: One Bad Day series of one-shots has been giving Killing Jokes of their own to all of Batman's best villains but The Riddler one-shot takes the concept literally inserting The Riddler into the actual Killing Joke as he reveals he actually planned the whole thing then gave the idea to The Joker to execute because he was bored with it Riddler is telling this to Jim Gordon in the interrogation room in order to rile him up so he's not exactly the most reliable narrator If revealing he orchestrated The Killing Joke wasn't bad enough Riddler also accuses Jim Gordon of sexual harassment (of his dead wife) in this preview of Batman: One Bad Day – The Riddler #1 No unpaid interns were harmed in the making of this preview the bot has been acting a little suspicious lately It's probably nothing to worry about though Germany has been forced to admit it was a terrible mistake to become so dependent on Russian oil and gas On Sunday 1 February 1970, senior politicians and gas executives from Germany and the Soviet Union gathered at the upmarket Hotel Kaiserhof in Essen They were there to celebrate the signing of a contract for the first major Russia-Germany gas pipeline which was to run from Siberia to the West German border at Marktredwitz in Bavaria The contract was the result of nine months of intense bargaining over the price of the gas the cost of 1.2m tonnes of German pipes to be sold to Russia and the credit terms offered to Moscow by a consortium of 17 German banks the German banks’ chief financial negotiator took the precaution of asking for a loan from the federal government explaining: “I don’t do any somersaults without a net The relationship would benefit both sides: Germany would supply the machines and high-quality industrial goods; Russia would provide the raw material to fuel German industry High-pressure pipelines and their supporting infrastructure hold the potential to bind countries together as the presence at the hotel of the German economic minister Karl Schiller showed For the advocates of Ostpolitik – the new “eastern policy” of rapprochement towards the Soviet Union and its allies including East Germany launched the previous year under chancellor Willy Brandt – this was a moment of supreme political consequence was to describe it as part of an effort at “political and human normalisation with our Eastern neighbours” but for some observers it was a potentially dangerous move Nato had discreetly written to the German economics ministry to inquire about the security implications head of the gas department at the ministry had assured Nato that there was no cause for alarm: Germany would never rely on Russia for even 10% of its gas supplies Half a century later, in 2020, Russia would supply more than half of Germany’s natural gas and about a third of all the oil that Germans burned to heat homes which are essential to its steel manufacturing while “completely ignoring the geopolitical risks” German Green economic affairs and climate action minister Robert Habeck said that gas storage facilities owned by Gazprom in Germany had been “systematically emptied” over the winter to drive up prices and exert political pressure It was a staggering admission of Russia’s power to disrupt energy supplies “I was wrong,” the former German finance minister “We held on to bridges that Russia no longer believed in and that our partners warned us about.” This is an extraordinary admission for a man who acted as chief of staff to Gerhard Schröder the Social Democratic chancellor from 1998 to 2005 and thereafter a lavishly rewarded Steinmeier was also foreign minister under Chancellor Merkel and a great evangelist for Wandel durch Handel the concept that trade and dialogue can bring about social and political change German industry convinced her to hold back But some blame a more persistent misjudgment stretching back 50 years based on a fallacy that authoritarian countries can be transformed through trade then the closest adviser to West Berlin’s mayor and chancellor-to-be especially after securing its great achievement What is extraordinary, retracing the history through memoirs and contemporary records, is how frequently and determinedly Germany was warned, by everyone from Henry Kissinger onwards, that it was making a pact it might live to regret. Kissinger wrote to Richard Nixon on 9 April 1970: “Few people see Brandt as selling out to the East; what worries people is whether he can control what he has started.” Over 50 years Germany fought numerous battles with a series of US presidents over its growing dependence on Russian energy Germany’s foreign office developed a view of American anti-communism as naive and a belief that only Germany truly understood the Soviet Union the Federal Republic of Germany tried to open its own direct line of communication with the Soviet leadership even though its interest in reunification created tensions with the US Germany was wont to cite its unique status “I cannot imagine there is anyone more interested in being allowed to continue working for detente and balance in Europe than the German people who are forced to live in two states,” Hans-Dietrich Genscher But after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 why was Germany still so reluctant to listen to others A sense of guilt for the atrocities committed against the Soviet Union during the second world war may have played a role that – through Ostpolitik – it had mended its relations with Moscow became a double prisoner of its past – bound both to the horrors it had committed and to its belief that its response to those horrors was correct The conflicts between Germany and the US in the 70s and 80s were some of the most rancorous transatlantic battles since the second world war “The disputes were all part of West Germany showing independence in foreign policy during the cold war and that became uncomfortable for some American leaders,” the historian Mary Elise Sarotte said to me Carter and the German chancellor Helmut Schmidt had little respect for each other. Carter found Schmidt moody, while the chancellor, in his autobiography, dismissed Carter as an idealistic preacher who knew nothing of Europe and was “just not big enough for the game” The two leaders did not just grate personally they disagreed on issues of substance – including how to protect human rights in Russia In 1979 Schmidt and Carter came together to jointly adopt the so-called dual track decision by which Nato would upgrade its nuclear weapons based in Europe while actively seeking an arms control agreement with Russia But in other ways their approach was very different but like many Germans of that era he carried a deep sense of shame arising from painful war memories He also believed that the stability of the eastern bloc was in the interest of West Germany In his autobiography he wrote that he had wanted to develop trading relations with Russia in order to foster “a greater Soviet dependence upon European supplies” in turn leading to “more European influence” on Moscow’s policies Schmidt became convinced that the Soviet Union represented a more reliable supplier of energy for Germany than the Gulf states saw withholding trade as the better way to influence the Soviets responding to Moscow’s imprisonment of two Soviet dissidents Aleksandr Ginzburg and Anatoly Shcharansky Carter restricted US exports of technology for the exploration and development of the Soviet oil and natural-gas industries When German ministers reviewed the security implications they concluded there was no danger of Russia misusing its potential stranglehold “Long-term disruption would be against the self-interest of the Soviet Union,” the ministry decided Schmidt explained his support for the pipeline by telling the US president “Those engaging in trade with each other do not shoot at one another.” It was a restatement of Norman Angell’s famous pre-first world war theory that the new interdependence of economies made war unprofitable and thus irrational Carter responded: “It is not beneficial for the Europeans to expect us to provide the stick and for them to compete with one another about providing the biggest carrot.” Schmidt wrote: “To speak of the Federal Republic’s economic dependence on Moscow to a degree large enough to affect foreign policy indicates ignorance or malice.” Given Germany’s plight now Despite various US efforts to persuade Europe to adopt a voluntary ban, including offering alternative sources of energy, in 1981 Ruhrgas AG and Soyusgazexport went ahead and signed a contract for annual imports of 10.5bcm of Soviet gas over a 25-year period Unemployment in Europe was close to 9% at the time and European industry needed to boost its energy supplies the US argument about security was dismissed as a veiled way of promoting the US oil industry When Moscow backed the imposition of martial law in Poland on 13 December 1981 Reagan thought such a shocking event might persuade Germany to put the pipeline on hold he urged her to back tough sanctions against the Soviets stating that “this may well be a watershed in the history of mankind A challenge to tyranny from within.” Unusually for her advising Reagan that the Germans “cannot and will not give up the gas pipeline project” Such sanctions are now a commonplace in the US foreign policy armoury they were seen as an incursion into European sovereignty telling the Commons “it is wrong” for “one very powerful nation [to] prevent existing contracts being fulfilled” Reagan had abandoned the attempt to impose sanctions In a trial of strength in which Europe sided with Germany The new pipeline started pumping on 1 January 1984 The German advocates of change through trade had won. The US position on Russia was further weakened when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. The peaceful collapse of communism was trumpeted as a vindication for those that had championed dialogue, and engagement through trade. In a speech to the Brandt Foundation in March 2008 Steinmeier gave full vent to this view: “What Ostpolitik in fact achieved – as is now recognised also by those who criticised it at the time,” he said For the democracy movements in eastern Europe it created new possibilities in finally ending the confrontation between the two blocs.” Olaf Scholz, Germany’s current chancellor, remains an adherent of this view, arguing last year that it contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union and laid the basis for democracy and EU membership for much of eastern Europe. The SPD co-leader, Lars Klingbeil, has also insisted that Ostpolitik “was the basis for reunification and the end of the cold war there has been a consensus in the federal republic for decades that conflicts can be defused through dialogue Yet a number of historians and writers believe that this rosy picture of Ostpolitik is misleading “The idea that Willy Brandt’s policy of detente towards Moscow led in a straight line to the fall of the iron curtain and German unity is at least an over-simplification,” says the historian Jan Behrends author of a new book critiquing Ostpolitik believes its role in the fall of the wall and German reunification has been exaggerated: “It was military buildup by Reagan and the flooding of the market with cheap oil that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union,” he told me The Russian government budget had grown so dependent on energy for its revenue that when the price of oil plummeted in the mid-1980s Russia’s lifeline to external capital dried up “Gorbachev could no longer fund the overseas wars and the Soviet Republics,” he said “But this argument was entirely missing in the German debate Urban argued that Ostpolitik’s theory of change suffered from two basic misconceptions: the belief that political change in eastern Europe could only come from engaging with the elite in power that “security must be the key to everything” By the turn of the century, the advocates of change through trade were in their pomp. Chancellor Schröder, with growing confidence, promoted the idea of a strategic partnership with Russia. He invited the new Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to address the Bundestag in 2001, where he won over his audience by giving the speech in fluent German and declaring “the cold war is over” Schröder, at the time of Putin’s address, saw a perfect confluence of interests between Europe, Germany and Russia: peace, stability, multilateralism and economic growth. Putin, Schröder was convinced “wants to transform Russia into a democracy” weakening their bargaining power and depriving them of badly needed transit fees The €7.4bn pipeline construction costs were to be borne by the private German companies BASF and E.ON and the majority Russian state-owned Gazprom protests against the pipeline did not just come from the US but from the states that had recently emerged from Soviet rule notoriously compared the plan to the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which paved the way for the invasion of Poland 10 days before the election in which Schröder’s Social Democrats lost to Angela Merkel’s conservatives the Nord Stream 1 contract was signed in Berlin by representatives of Gazprom Putin stood alongside Schröder at the signing ceremony did not question whether they were getting into an unhealthy dependence on Russian energy Schröder made the same case: “It never occurred to anyone that this could become a problem It was just a way of procuring gas for Germans German total trade exports to Russia rose 34% to €27bn The Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to GermanyThen came the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2014 Russia’s incursion seemed to mark a turning point Merkel’s condemnation was clear: the annexation of Crimea was contrary to international law Following the 2014 invasion, serious German media such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published lengthy articles looking at the options for how Germany could wean itself off its dangerous dependency on Russian energy such as new liquid gas terminals to allow Germany to import gas from other countries such as Qatar and the US which shows how little actual diversification was achieved When I spoke to a Qatari energy official last month he recounted how they spent five years trying to break into the German energy market only to find their route blocked at every turn Some German sanctions on Russia continued for many years but the advocates of change through trade gradually re-established their ground It seemed nothing Russia could do would shake their confidence an agreement was signed for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline on the Baltic seabed which would vastly increase Germany’s reliance on Russian natural gas Gazprom would also take over Germany’s gas storage business thereby handing control of German energy reserves to a foreign power some metaphysical – have been proposed to explain Germany’s dogged refusal to see the dangers in its dependency on Russia One argument places the blame on SPD politicians and civil servants who were allowed to move seamlessly between public office and Putin’s employment and worked hard to manipulate the EU and German regulatory environment to suit Gazprom Then there is the question of the German-Russian industrial lobby (The Forum was suspended after the invasion of Ukraine.) Its board of trustees consisted mainly of business people the former SPD minister president of Brandenburg seemed genuinely shocked by Putin’s invasion: “I was wrong because until recently I thought what happened was unthinkable.” The historian Sarotte said there is no clear evidence that business had exerted greater influence in politics in Germany than in other countries German rhetoric around the political value of interdependence crudely boiled down to gaining a competitive advantage through cheap energy View image in fullscreenGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel and then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (centre left and right) opening a symbolic valve during an inaugural ceremony for the first of Nord Stream’s twin gas pipeline in 2011 Photograph: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty ImagesThomas Urban examining the psychological roots of Ostpolitik pinpoints two emotions in Germany’s relationship with Russia: nostalgia and guilt He described to me “the memory of Bismarck who saw the alliance with Russia as an anchor of stability in Europe But then there was also the feeling of guilt because of the German attack on the Soviet Union in 1941 It meant it was difficult to criticise the Red Army or the Soviet repression since to do so means you do not recognise the greatest crimes in history It makes Germany blind to the black side of the Soviet Union It also permits Putin’s propaganda by talking only of the Russian war dead and not those that were killed in Ukraine and Belarus.” Read moreIt was the speech of a man who sensed the tide was going out and who feared his belief in dialogue no longer matched the spirit of harsher times: “In political discussions we sometimes hear opinions expressed by people who are not interested in the slightest in understanding others; people who have already made up their minds about the other side; people who don’t even bother reading because they think they already know the answer.” What he described as the “supposed antagonism” between the west and Russia he feared was becoming entrenched and ideologically driven running counter to the pursuit of diplomacy and peace Now, as Germany’s president and head of state, Steinmeier has been told by Ukrainian officials that his record as the promoter of Russian interests in Germany means he is not welcome in Kyiv at this time There would be no need for him to fall to his knees – as Willy Brandt did in Warsaw in 1970 apologising for his nation’s wartime crimes – but he could give a sober reflection on what precisely went wrong with Germany’s eastern policy for so long This article was amended on 2 and 3 June 2022 to make clear that when Egon Bahr was adviser to Willy Brandt in 1963 the latter was yet to become chancellor; and that officials at the 1970 Essen meeting were representing the Soviet Union rather than Russia Follow the Long Read on Twitter at @gdnlongread, listen to our podcasts here and sign up to the long read weekly email here At least a dozen houses flooded August 13 on Perkins Road between Bluebonnet Boulevard and Essen Lane A group of people used a mud boat to ride through the high water on Saturday August 13 at BREC's Perkins Road Community Park A field behind Pennington Biomedical Center saw water submerge its hay bales on Sautrday A workout station at BREC's Perkins Road Community Park was submerged by flood waters Saturday BREC's Perkins Road Community Park was completely submerged by water on Saturday At least a dozen homes were walloped with several feet of water between late Friday night and early Saturday morning on the well-traversed stretch of Perkins Road between Bluebonnet Boulevard and Essen Lane The flooding -- some of the most dramatic in the Perkins/Bluebonnet/Essen corridor -- forced many residents out of their homes in the middle of the night some fleeing to churches and others to hotels When resident Claudia Richard returned to her two-story home Saturday afternoon she was afraid to go back inside  There was several feet of water submerging her fence and plants and a waterline against her door More than 100 people were removed  from their homes by boat Saturday after the East Baton Ro… I don't even know how to deal with this," she said as some of her neighbors waded through the waist-deep water and carried clothes out of their flooded houses Richard said she was afraid on Friday evening that the flooding would get worse Water started creeping into her den around 2 a.m and she grabbed her Dotson named Mister and her bulldog named Bull and fled for her church Richard was especially worried about what she left behind and she was thankful that they had left earlier Friday and that most of their important things were on the second floor Richard takes a special pride in decorating her home Standing on the Perkins Road sidewalk as cars whirred past she scrolled through her phone and showed off pictures of her past Christmas decorations in comparison with the floods that now adorned her home She said she plans to stay there and rebuild And there was one item she couldn't get off her mind -- a frilly white dress with pink ribbons that she made for her granddaughter to wear to a princess party Richard especially hoped that the dress survived but said it has never flooded so badly before Several houses nearby hers had sandbags in their doorways Flash flooding devastated the Baton Rouge area over the weekend BREC's Perkins Road Community Park and fields behind the Pennington Biomedical Research Center were transformed into lakes as water pooled several feet deep in both The water in the BREC park submerged baseball fields A group of visitors road a mud boat through the high waters while a steady stream of drivers passed through the area on Kenilworth Parkway and stopped their cars to take pictures Homes in the Kenilworth neighborhood appeared not to have flooded despite flooding at the nearby park and fields Floodwaters also pooled Saturday on Staring Lane between Highland Road and Burbank Drive while workers also repaired power lines and a traffic light near Staring Lane and Hyacinth Avenue After more than two days of rain punished the Baton Rouge area parish officials across the region braced Saturday for more flooding as rivers… Instead of spending her birthday celebrating with cake Ashyrinona Noel turned 9 years old escaping flood waters with her family Email notifications are only sent once a day News Tips:newstips@theadvocate.com Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Erica von Essen receives funding from Formas Stockholm University provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK View all partners But while some wild animal culls go viral, a great many more urban wildlife deaths go unnoticed and unchallenged. Rat carcasses, for example, are disposed of discreetly and urban residents even push for increased culling of deer that feed on their tulip beds or spread ticks To understand what determines the diverse reactions to animal culls, I interviewed and observed municipal cullers in Sweden These cullers do the dirty work of disposing of wild animals that pose a threat to biosecurity It seems that while the species of animal predictably mattered people involved and the reasons for the cull also influenced whether cullers encountered public opposition Any misjudgement made in the culling process could have repercussions in terms of social acceptance This is especially relevant in today’s world as people frequently use their mobile phones to record and share what they see Humans value some species over others (a concept called speciesism) and will defend them despite their damages being comparable. Rats and rabbits both chew wires and transmit diseases and parasites but the cullers we interviewed mentioned that “people have a whole different outlook” on these two species cullers had to mask their identities and often relied on police escorts as the swan was seen as a prominent feature of the city There are certain locations for which the killing of wild animals is deemed unacceptable by onlookers The cullers we interviewed were expected to carry out their activities discreetly as they often faced criticism when culling animals in crowded areas Some cullers, for example, had experience killing rabbits and deer in kindergartens One culler recalled having “to ask the kids to go inside” as it caused children distress to see animals being killed and regularly led to confrontation with teachers cullers noted having to become as crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) as the animals they hunted One culler noted receiving “a lot less yelling at me and fewer questions when you’re out at night and early mornings” Animal culling can also be unpalatable to the eye Certain culls – particularly those involving brute force or the deaths of other animals – violate public standards One culler explained that “clubbing a bunny to death is very effective and it dies right away those who had carried out culls using a shot with a silencer from a vehicle had encountered much less criticism Having the wrong people carry out animal culls risks upsetting bystanders cullers emphasised the importance of being locally recognised with good people management skills to defuse conflicts One said: “The last thing you want is some macho hunter to come in and finish the job Some animals are simply unwelcome in cities The mere presence of wild boars in urban areas of Sweden still triggers culls However, certain animals were deemed cullable only under specific circumstances. If an animal was perceived as being behaviourally or geographically out of line, such as a moose terrorising shoppers outside a shopping centre then the public generally supported its removal cullers recounted having to involve the police to remove a girl who was protecting a moose that had been hit by a car So the public can be contradictory in its defence of animals. But cullers also exhibited similar idiosyncrasies themselves. One culler, who was routinely called out to cull birds in his city “drew the line” at culling a nightingale that kept a resident up at night In some parts of the world, animal rights organisations call for lethal removals of problematic wildlife to be replaced by rescues or relocations As cities continue to encroach on animals’ habitats human interaction with wild animals will become increasingly common is that the situation calls for the development of a wildlife etiquette within the general public This involves understanding how to behave in a manner that prevents the emergence of problematic wild animals in the first place These animals are often faultless and have been conditioned to lose their shyness 2015Gollum sits above a model of the town Minas Tirith during a press presentation for the Spiel '03 fair in Essen Turkey -- A Turkish court overseeing the case of a doctor accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ruled that a committee of experts should assess whether the fictional Lord of the Rings character Gollum is good or bad Bilgin Ciftci faces up to two years in prison for allegedly insulting a state official by juxtaposing pictures of Gollum and Erdogan on social media Lawyer Hicran Danisman told the AP Wednesday that she was forced to argue in court this week that "Gollum is not a bad character" because she got "nowhere" with a defense case based on freedom of expression Danisman said that prompted the judge to rule that a committee should provide an assessment of Gollum's character With the advent of microcoils in the comfort layer, coils replacing foam on the mattress edge and pocket coils throughout, not to mention a rise in the demand for hybrid beds, innersprings are enjoying their place on showroom floors everywhere the most recent data in the 2016 Mattress Industry Trends Report published by the International Sleep Products Association reveals that the number of innerspring mattresses shipped in 2015 (the most recent year for which data is available) jumped 8.3% over the previous year And 2016 research by the Better Sleep Council found that 35% of those surveyed thought a hybrid or spring bed was the best technology for a good mattress One of the most significant trends in coils is the continuing popularity of fabric-encased springs we’re seeing individually wrapped coil units taking a larger market share,” says Tim Witherell While traditional open coils still are prevalent encased coils have developed a much higher profile Bedding manufacturers are favoring wrapped springs because they have grown increasingly affordable have independent movement and have a good story consumers can relate to Others note that the growth of hybrid beds is a driving force in the springs market they mean a combination of springs in the support layer and some type of foam or latex at the top for extra comfort A few suppliers are turning that definition on its head introduced its Foam Pocket Spring at ISPA EXPO 2016 in Orlando The company has created machinery to feed precut blocks into the pockets Manufacturers can choose from a variety of combinations to get the feel that they want the most popular is the checkerboard pattern debuted its Foam Pocket Spring at ISPA EXPO 2016 The foam ‘springs’ are encased in a pocket and can be placed anywhere within the unit The checkerboard pattern with both foam and metal springs is one of the company’s more popular options This concept allows for zoning and different feels It’s the ultimate hybrid technology at this point It has a lot of potential outside of the initial introductions.” During Interzum Cologne 2017 May 16-19 in Cologne Starsprings offered its newest coil innovation While one of the benefits of pocketed coils is a lack of motion transfer sales and marketing manager of the Herrljunga points out that a sheet of latex glued on top of coils will cause some motion on larger sections of springs than needed The company’s new “s-touch” solves that problem topping each coil with a small pad of latex and incorporating it into the pocket adds latex ‘pillows’ on top of its pocketed coils to create the new ‘s-touch.’ Benefits include less motion transfer and reducing a step in the manufacturing process and by incorporating it into the spring pocket the spring unit is ready to be covered with ticking Starsprings launched the product in Australia Other spring finds at Interzum Cologne included Bad Essen Germany-based Agro International GmbH & Co The double-layered unit features a firmer base displayed a combination of high and low pocket coils It also upped its coil count in some units to 2,000 introduced pencil pocket spring units with higher counts “We are more concentrated on pocket springs built together with three to four levels,” says Selma Bargu a coil combination that welds two different kinds of springs on top of each other Microcoils are another innovation that gradually have expanded the meaning of the term hybrid mattress These petite pocket springs are designed purely for comfort and are found in the top layers of mattresses “It gives you an independent sleep surface with no motion transfer,” says Martin Wolfson His company’s microcoils are made from 17-gauge high tensile wire using a 7-inch coil with seven convolutions squeezed into a 2 ½-inch pocket “You only need one unit as a comfort layer that will never take a set,” he says Carthage, Missouri-based Leggett & Platt Inc. offers the NanoCoil line, which is being promoted with a new series of whimsical videos based around the adventures of NanoCoil Man. (Check them out at NanoCoilStory.com.) Quantum Edge Elite is part of Leggett & Platt Inc.’s new ActivEdge line which provides support all the way to the edge of the mattress The steel coil encasement can be compressed “Our Nano line is designed to be incredibly durable and offer exceptional support through very high coil counts,” says Jason Jewett vice president of product development for L&P “Nano can also be added to a foam core creating a reverse hybrid of sorts.” England-based Spinks Springs partnered to bring Posturfil to the United States “has taken off exceptionally well.” Posturfil coils are manufactured with the latest high-speed equipment and are extremely flexible providing superior motion separation close to the bed’s surface The two companies offer Posturfil variations made with all types of textiles—everything from spacer fabrics to perforated nonwovens to fabrics coated with temperature-regulating phase-change material or even traditional ticking Hickory Springs created a splash introducing Evocoil with Posturfil coils sewn right into the ticking on the mattress panel the result of a partnership between Hickory Springs can come in a variety of fabric wrappers—from a basic nonwoven to a thoroughly breathable mesh “Putting that product right on the sleep surface when everyone thought it had to be buried has caused people to rethink how microcoils can be used in a bed,” Witherell says “It has certainly sparked conversations.” Spinks Springs displayed the latest additions to the Posturfil family—micro pocket springs Aerocoil and NatureCoil Aerocoil has a conical shape that rebounds quickly and is 20% lighter than other microcoils which comes in 22 millimeter or 38 millimeter heights uses bamboo viscose on one side and calico cotton on the other Spinks Springs also showcased its Springs Anywhere technology which enables mattress makers to design beds with zoned comfort based on coil arrangement You can position a soft coil or a firm coil anywhere or rows can be skipped completely in the mattress comfort layer “It’s perfect for zoning or doing a firm edge support,” he says The Aerocoil has joined the Posturfil family created by Hickory Springs and Spinks Springs the lighter pocketed microcoil rebounds quickly and offers breathability Not only are springs making their presence felt in the middle and top of mattresses they also have returned to the edge of the bed L&P was one of the first to begin promoting edge-to-edge pocketed coils to replace the foam encasements that swept the industry during the previous 15 years “It’s been fun watching it take flight,” Jewett says “We’re confident the trend will continue as our customers see a lot of advantages to it It’s important to note that it’s not just about replacing the foam perimeter with a more durable edge but also increasing the throughput for the mattress manufacturer (by speeding up production).” Macau-based Macau Commercial & Industrial Spring Mattress Manufacturing Among the many coils offered by Macau Commercial & Industrial Spring Mattress Manufacturing our customer would have to buy the springs and then have a worker glue the foam encasement and then put the spring into their production,” he says “What we did this year through our machines They allow innerspring mattresses to work well with adjustable bases we’ve shown that versus a typical foam rail it’s about a 23% increase in conformity,” he says those products do very well in the world of e-commerce It’s very tough to compress a foam-encased mattress and get it to recover adequately The L&P development team designed the ActivEdge line so that it not only recovers but recovers very quickly without delay for the consumer.” In response to the industry’s movement away from foam-encased innerspring cores L&P recently expanded the Activ-Edge offering by introducing the Caliber Edge perimeter line which allows bedding manufacturers to use the concept in a broader product line Other springs suppliers are bringing or have brought out their own brand of coil edge support Texas Pocket Springs has long promoted the concept that edge-to-edge wrapped coils create a more durable mattress and it offers a unit with two rows of narrower coils on the seat edge made with a lower gauge wire UT+C has invested in new machinery and will be debuting its Perimeter Plus in 2018 One early advantage of foam-only mattresses was the ease of compressing Wu notes that he made a trip earlier this year to study roll-packing products in the United States Pocketed coils can be compressed and rolled making them viable components for boxed beds in the growing e-commerce market Springs suppliers say adding their products to a mattress makes it more compelling for the online shopper “We’ve had customers come to us to get a hybrid story to get a better feel story than the traditional (all-foam boxed bed),” Witherell says As new products are created at L&P,e-commerce is a focus “We do rigorous testing on every product we produce now to make sure it can survive the roll-pack process,” he says “The forces involved with compressing a mattress for e-commerce are quite brutal and we’re confident our products are designed to withstand it.” While innersprings have been popular in bedding for decades the category has evolved to keep up with the changing world Today’s suppliers already are looking down the road to the next big thing Hickory Springs’ Witherell predicts springs are going to continue to grow and evolve He also says to look for changes in machinery—the speed the fabrics being used to make a pocket coil And look for coils to continue to move closer to the surface of the mattress “We have some very cool avenues we’re exploring for the future of innersprings We may even see a new-to-the-industry category,” he says The company also has plans to further address the need for an e-commerce-friendly box spring to go under the mattress “We’ll continue to change the way people think about innersprings,” Jewett says “The quantity of innerspring solutions available to the mattress manufacturer has expanded greatly in the last decade and we intend to further accelerate the pace.” which are hourglass shaped with the top and bottom edges knotted; continuous coils made from a single wire; and encased coils which are individually surrounded by fabric springs manufacturers tout the natural benefits of coils Because coils act as bellows when compressed The mattress doesn’t have issues with moisture retention or staying cool Springs also offer unparalleled support and are exceptionally durable Innerspring mattresses don’t take on body impressions coils offer the most diversity of feels in a mattress “You can adjust the feel by increasing or decreasing the preload that you have,” he says putting a 10-inch coil inside an 8-inch pocket will feel firmer than putting a 9-inch coil in an 8-inch pocket “Then you can adjust the feel by the number of coils you have in the unit and the gauge of the wire you’re using to make the coil … or by the number of convolutions in the actual spring,” he says Suppliers often talk about the benefits of coils—breathability But some say there’s another element that fewer people talk about—sustainability vice president of product development for Carthage note that springs have the potential to leave a smaller environmental footprint than other components Texas Pocket Springs specializes in glueless pocket coils opting to weld the fabric together instead of gluing it It also uses recycled steel in its springs By adding polylactic acid fabric (the raw material comes from sugar cane or corn) “For those manufacturing the natural mattresses Jewett says L&P pays attention to environmental responsibility and finds coils make less of a negative impact “The reduction in the petrochemical content of an innerspring versus an equivalently sized piece of foam is significant,” he says “We think that is not discussed as often as it should be and is something that does translate well to the consumer.” Email: [email protected] Website: Agro.eu Agro manufactures innersprings at its facility in Bad Essen Nearly 450 employees use state-of-the-art technology to manufacture a wide range of innersprings Agro produces more than 8,000 individual products Email: [email protected]  Website: Boycelik.com.tr operates within almost 368,000 square feet in two facilities with 470 employees Boyçelik exports to 66 countries mainly in Asia Turkey-based Boyçelik showcased its tall pencil coils stacked in groups of three for high coil counts at Interzum Cologne 2017 Email: [email protected] Website: HickorySprings.com Hickory Springs began as a small producer of furniture springs but has grown into a supplier of components for the bedding and furniture industries as well as General Services Administration Hickory Springs’ product lines include adjustable bed bases roll-packed mattresses and fabric-encased microcoils The company sells a full range of innerspring units and wrapped coils for bedding including knotted offset innerspring units ProAct innersprings with patented InChex technology InnerRest fabric encased coils and Posturfil and Posturfil HD microcoils Email: [email protected] Website: BeddingComponents.com is a worldwide manufacturer of a diverse line of bedding material and components Its large innerspring product lineup consists of a range of open coil units (from Verticoil Edge and SuperLastic Pro) to a range of traditional Bonnell core styles It sells a wide range of wrapped coils from the tiny NanoCoil to Softech microcoils to nine different pocketed-coil innerspring cores a microcoil designed to offer responsiveness and durability in the comfort layers of a mattress Email: [email protected] Website: TaiWaMachinery.com Macau Commercial & Industrial Spring Mattress Manufacturing supplies high-quality innersprings for mattress companies around the world as well as providing new types of springs into markets,” says Nelson Wu The company also creates high-speed innerspring machinery Email: [email protected] Website: MetalMatris.com.tr Metal Matris Sanayi Ticaret AS makes 200 tons of spring steel wire a day Turkey-based company include a range of wrapped coils for the core and comfort layers—Edge Support Email: [email protected] Website: NovaSunger.com.tr Nova Sunger ve Yatak Sanayi AS offers finished and semi-finished goods to markets around the world Its innerspring constructions include both Bonnell and pocket springs Nova Sunger has a total production area of nearly 804,000 square feet Email: [email protected] Website: Spinks-Springs.com was founded in 2009 as the components division of luxury mattress manufacturer Harrison Spinks Spinks Springs is a pocket spring manufacturer specializing in the creation of low-height pocket springs In addition to its team of on-site engineers who manufacture the components the company also has a dedicated research-and-development team that designs builds and maintains the machinery to make the springs patenting the process and the products where possible Email: [email protected] Website: Starsprings.com began manufacturing springs in 1937 and today is a leading manufacturer of pocket springs in Scandinavia its main production plants and research-and-development center are based in Herrljunga Poland and the United States ensure a global presence Email: [email protected] Website: TexasPocketSprings.com provides a patented belted pocket spring module used to make innersprings Its product development team researches customers’ needs to provide solutions with preconfigured mattress innerspring assemblies shipped directly to the manufacturer on a just-in-time basis Email: [email protected] Website: UnitedTAndC.com As a vertically and horizontally integrated components supplier springs and covers in-house and also is experienced in producing finished goods UT+C is a global company with production and warehouse facilities in Nowe Skalmierzyce This site uses cookies. 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You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. about how technology can be used to change our habits I intended the book to teach start-ups how to build healthy habits With headlines telling us technology is hijacking our brains I started second-guessing the impact of our devices I wanted to understand what the studies really tell us about the effect personal technology is having on our children “Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.” this generation can’t look each other in the eye and therefore can’t form deep relationships the teen suicide rate is now higher than the teen homicide rate with three times as many 12-to-14-year-old girls and twice as many boys killing themselves in 2015 as in 2007 Program Director of the Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program at Rush University College of Nursing says she now asks kids questions about technology use at their annual physicals I think the thing that scares me the most is that there’s so many mental health issues “People are tracking it back to social pressures and social media I think it’s going to escalate and get worse… What’s going to happen next?” It’s easy to get worked up about what technology might be doing to kids’ brains there is also an argument to be made that it’s the adults Studies like Twenge’s work like this: Researchers look for correlations between various things to try and make connections If thing A and thing B go up over the same period of time researchers conclude there may be something there if Ivan the ice cream man opens a new ice cream shop and subsequently sales of ice cream in the town rise one might conclude that the store opening was correlated with more ice cream consumption some might believe the store caused people to eat more ice cream there might be other factors at play that account for the change in the town’s ice cream eating If Ivan opened his ice cream shop in the heat of June then we might wonder whether the weather had something to do with the rise in sales could affect the rise in sales of ice cream as might the opening of Ivan’s shop Ivan’s shop could have driven more ice cream consumption but we wouldn’t know how much Ivan’s ice cream shop accounted for the change unless we excluded other variables social media exposure was correlated with depressive symptoms in some adolescents much more to the story than Twenge and most journalists who covered the study let on According to an article in Wired “Social media exposure could explain 0.36% of the covariance for depressive symptoms.” “That 0.36% means that 99.64% of the group’s depressive symptoms had nothing to do with social media use.” The article quotes Dr “a psychologist at the Oxford Internet Institute with more than a decade’s experience studying the impact of technology.” He told Wired “I have the data set they used open in front of me and I submit to you that eating potatoes has the exact same negative effect on depression.” even that weak correlation “didn’t hold for the boys in the dataset,” only the girls it’s easy for weak correlation signals to emerge from the noise,” the Wired article author concluded by which I mean she reviews only those studies that support her idea and ignores studies that suggest that screen use is NOT associated with outcomes like depression and loneliness.” “Although an ‘everything in moderation’ message when discussing screen time with parents may be most productive our results do not support a strong focus on screen time as a preventative measure for youth problem behaviors.” Tech critics like Twenge tend not to discuss the nuances of what their own studies reveal about how time spent online affects teens A closer read finds the correlation only with extreme amounts of time spent online The Twenge study shows teenage girls who spent over five hours per day tended to have more depressive or suicidal thoughts But common sense would have us ask whether it’s just as likely that kids who have a propensity to spend that much time online have other issues in their lives Isn’t five hours a day on any form of media a symptom of a larger problem the Twenge study found that kids who spent two hours or less online per day did not have higher rates of depression and anxiety compared to controls “It’s about a third as bad as [the effect on well-being of] missing breakfast or not getting eight hours’ sleep.” Even if we give Twenge’s study the benefit of the doubt and believe there is something happening to adolescents as a result of excessive social media use there are still some important unanswered questions if we’re going to draw correlations between social media and bad things like depressive symptoms and suicide shouldn’t we also look at the positive trends as well In the same period of time that personal tech use has increased many of the hallmarks of self-destructive teenage rebelliousness have decreased precipitously juvenile arrest rate for vandalism fell 75% between 1994 and 2015 The past-year use of illicit drugs other than marijuana for eighth and 12th graders came in at the lowest level in the 40 years of the survey and abortion rates in the United States all reached historic lows rates of arrests of Californians under age 20 have fallen by 80% teenagers comprised 27% of California’s criminal arrests these are correlated factors and it’s difficult to draw conclusions about causation There are certainly other factors at play keeping kids safe But it’s worth considering whether tech use may be curtailing all sorts of dangerous behaviors as kids find less harmful ways to spend their time A healthy amount of tech use may provide kids a way to socialize and blow off steam online instead of doing destructive things offline perhaps knowing friends have cameras in their pockets reduces the likelihood kids do things in the real world they wouldn’t want posted on Instagram Critics blaming technology for kids’ ills also gloss over what exactly kids do online Studies like Twenge’s classify all time spent on social media together denying the reality that people do all sorts of things on the web Is a teenager spending time online being bullied or looking up ways to empower themselves and building confidence on a forum for people being bullied Twenge’s study lumps both activities together How you feel after using the web depends on how you use it Facebook admits that spending time on its site can decrease feelings of well-being when the service is used passively Scrolling mindlessly past pictures of your friends having fun without you doesn’t make you feel good when you interact with others’ posts—commenting and liking—studies have found your well-being increases and you feel more connected to people you care about “I think there’s lot of good stuff,” admits Odiaga the nurse practitioner and concerned mother who asks kids about tech use at their annual physicals Although positive stories don’t make headlines and stoke fears the way those about depression and suicides do the majority of teens use technology in positive ways and use social media to stand up for social causes they believe in or stick up for those being bullied Tech can open up new worlds for kids and give them skills they couldn’t learn otherwise “I think we need to keep some historical perspective ‘What is our future going to be?’” Odiaga says Although thinking “this time is different” is a common reaction to rapid technological change Swiss scientist Conrad Gessner worried about hand-held information device causing “confusing and harmful” consequences a New York medical journal predicted a new norm would “exhaust the children’s brains and nervous systems with complex and multiple studies and ruin their bodies by protracted imprisonment.” He was referring to public education kids were said to “have developed the habit of dividing attention between the humdrum preparation of their school assignments and the compelling excitement of the loudspeaker,” from the radio according to the music magazine Gramophone “At night the children often lie awake in bed restless and fearful or wake up screaming as a result of nightmares brought on by mystery stories.” but leaps in technological innovation are often followed by moral panics “Each successive historical age has ardently believed that an unprecedented ‘crisis’ in youth behavior is taking place,” wrote Dr an Oxford historian writing about youth culture and crime in Slate “We are not unique; our fears do not differ significantly from those of our predecessors.” It could well be that today’s technology does have negative consequences it’s hard to know if the current technology backlash is simply society’s way of adjusting to some of the particularly bad elements of tech overuse and misuse we can adjust our tech use to moderate the harmful aspects while taking advantage of the benefits We can also adapt our technology use with new tech tools that help our kids moderate overuse if we’re paralyzed by our fears and try to ban our kids from using their technology instead of helping them (and us) learn to use it responsibly and now is the time to teach kids to use that power rather than pretend we can keep them from it A research overview conducted by UNICEF found that the middle way is the best way “In terms of impact on children’s mental well-being the most robust studies suggest that the relationship [with technology] is U-shaped,” the study says “where no use and excessive use can have a small negative impact on mental well-being while moderate use can have a small positive impact.” moderation and adaptation seem to be the answer after all our home for bold arguments and big thinkers As the narrator describes in this homemade film from 1958, the arrival of a Westpaket - and discovering its contents - was an exciting moment for the whole family: The vast quantities of coffee, tea and cocoa powder sent to East Germany made a significant contribution to the economy. The deliveries of these three items from the West were the equivalent of 18, 21 and even 164 per cent respectively of amounts being sold in GDR shops. The most desirable items, like Western clothing, sometimes ended up being exchanged for other items on the GDR's internal black market. Packages had to be labelled "gift shipment, not for sale" and contain a list of the products inside. Not all items were allowed though. Money, printed media and things like cassettes which couldn't be visually inspected were banned, and often seized by the Stasi if discovered. West Germans would sometimes also receive an Ostpaket with goods from the East, such as GDR spirits and beer, local crafts and festive products like Stollen cake from Dresden at Christmas time. Was Einstein Wrong?: A Quantum Threat to Special Relativity violates some of our deepest intuitions about the world It may also undermine Einstein's special theory of relativity By David Z Albert & Rivka Galchen or give an order that travels via vibrations through the air to the ear of a man with a stick that can then push the rock—or some such sequence is that things can only directly affect other things that are right next to them If A affects B without being right next to it then the effect in question must be indirect—the effect in question must be something that gets transmitted by means of a chain of events in which each event brings about the next one directly in a manner that smoothly spans the distance from A to B Every time we think we can come up with an exception to this intuition—say flipping a switch that turns on city street lights (but then we realize that this happens through wires) or listening to a BBC radio broadcast (but then we realize that radio waves propagate through the air)—it turns out that we have not Quantum mechanics has upended many an intuition And this particular upending carries with it a threat to special relativity—a foundation stone of our 21st-century physics If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today physical features of collections of particles can exceed or elude or have nothing to do with the sum of the features of the individual particles according to quantum mechanics one can arrange a pair of particles so that they are precisely two feet apart and yet neither particle on its own has a definite position the standard approach to understanding quantum physics the so-called Copenhagen interpretation—proclaimed by the great Danish physicist Niels Bohr early last century and handed down from professor to student for generations—insists that it is not that we do not know the facts about the individual particles' exact locations; it is that there simply aren't any such facts To ask after the position of a single particle would be as meaningless as asking after the marital status of the number five The problem is not epistemological (about what we know) but ontological (about what is) Physicists say that particles related in this fashion are quantum mechanically entangled with one another The entangled property need not be location: Two particles might spin in opposite ways yet with neither one definitely spinning clockwise Or exactly one of the particles might be excited Entanglement may connect particles irrespective of where they are what they are and what forces they may exert on one another—in principle they could perfectly well be an electron and a neutron on opposite sides of the galaxy entanglement makes for a kind of intimacy amid matter previously undreamt of Entanglement lies behind the new and exceedingly promising fields of quantum computation and quantum cryptography, which could provide the ability to solve certain problems that are beyond the practical range of an ordinary computer and the ability to communicate with guaranteed security from eavesdropping [see "Quantum Computing with Ions," by Christopher R But entanglement also appears to entail the deeply spooky and radically counterintuitive phenomenon called nonlocality—the possibility of physically affecting something without touching it or touching any series of entities reaching from here to there Nonlocality implies that a fist in Des Moines can break a nose in Dallas without affecting any other physical thing (not a molecule of air not a twinkle of light) anywhere in the heartland aside from its overwhelming intrinsic strangeness has been that it intimates a profound threat to special relativity as we know it In the past few years this old worry—finally allowed inside the house of serious thinking about physics—has become the centerpiece of debates that may finally dismantle solidify or seed decay into the very foundations of physics Their argument made pivotal use of one particular instruction in the quantum-mechanical recipe for predicting the outcomes of experiments Suppose that we measure the position of a particle that is quantum mechanically entangled with a second particle—so that neither individually has a precise position when we learn the outcome of the measurement we change our description of the first particle because we now know where it was for a moment But the algorithm also instructs us to alter our description of the second particle and to alter it instantaneously no matter how far away it may be or what may lie between the two particles Entanglement was an uncontroversial fact of the picture of the world that quantum mechanics presented to physicists but it was a fact whose implications no one prior to Einstein had thought much about He saw in entanglement something not merely strange but dubious Nobody at that time was ready to entertain the possibility that there were genuine physical nonlocalities in the world—not Einstein Podolsky and Rosen took it for granted in their paper that the apparent nonlocality of quantum mechanics must be apparent only that it must be some kind of mathematical anomaly or notational infelicity or that it must be a disposable artifact of the algorithm—surely one could cook up quantum mechanics's predictions for experiments without needing any nonlocal steps And in their paper they presented an argument to the effect that if (as everybody supposed) no genuine physical nonlocality exists in the world and if the experimental predictions of quantum mechanics are correct then quantum mechanics must leave aspects of the world out of its account There must be parts of the world's story that it fails to mention Bohr responded to the EPR paper practically overnight His feverishly composed letter of refutation engaged none of the paper's concrete scientific arguments but instead took issue—in an opaque and sometimes downright oracular fashion—with its use of the word "reality" and its definition of "elements of physical reality." He talked at length about the distinction between subject and object about the conditions under which it makes sense to ask questions and about the nature of human language was a "radical revision of our attitude as regards physical reality." Bohr did go out of his way to agree with the EPR paper on one point: that of course there can be no question of a genuine physical nonlocality was just one more reason why we must abandon the quaint and outdated aspiration of being able to read from the equations of quantum mechanics a realistic picture of the world—a picture of what actually exists before us from moment to moment that not only do we see the world through a glass darkly but that this shadowy and indefinite view is as real as anything gets Bohr's was a curiously philosophical response to an explicitly scientific concern More curious still was the enshrinement of Bohr's response as the official gospel of theoretical physics To spend any more time on these matters became The physics community thus turned away from its old aspirations to uncover what the world is really like and for a long time thereafter it relegated metaphysical questions to the literature of fantasy Even today this crucial part of Einstein's legacy remains very much obscured The best-selling 2007 Walter Isaacson biography of Einstein simply assures the reader that Einstein's criticism of quantum mechanics has since been resolved The crucial question is whether the nonlocalities that at least appear to be present in the quantum-mechanical algorithm are merely apparent or something more Bell seems to have been the first person to ask himself precisely what that question means What could make genuine physical nonlocalities distinct from merely apparent ones He reasoned that if any manifestly and completely local algorithm existed that made the same predictions for the outcomes of experiments as the quantum-mechanical algorithm does then Einstein and Bohr would have been right to dismiss the nonlocalities in quantum mechanics as merely an artifact of that particular formalism then they must be genuine physical phenomena Bell then analyzed a specific entanglement scenario and concluded that no such local algorithm was mathematically possible And so the actual physical world is nonlocal This conclusion turns everything upside down Bohr and everyone else had always taken it for granted that any genuine incompatibility between quantum mechanics and the principle of locality would be bad news for quantum mechanics But Bell had now shown that locality was incompatible not merely with the abstract theoretical apparatus of quantum mechanics but with certain of its empirical predictions as well Experimenters—in particular work by Alain Aspect of the Institute of Optics in Palaiseau and his co-workers in 1981 and later—have left no doubt that those predictions are indeed correct was not for quantum mechanics but for the principle of locality—and thus because it at least appears to rely on a presumption of locality Instead almost everyone says that what Bell showed is that any attempt at replacing the orthodox quantum-mechanical picture of the world with something more in tune with our classical metaphysical expectations—any so-called hidden-variable deterministic or philosophically realist theory—would have to be nonlocal if it could reproduce the quantum-mechanical predictions for EPR systems People were at least reading Bell's work but as if through a convex looking glass Only a very small minority of physicists managed to avoid this particular misunderstanding and grasp that Bell's proof and Aspect's experiments meant the world itself had been discovered to be nonlocal but even they almost universally believed that the nonlocality in question here posed no particular threat to special relativity This belief arises out of the idea that special relativity is inextricably bound up with the impossibility of transmitting messages faster than the speed of light one can argue that no material carrier of a message can be accelerated from rest to speeds greater than that of light And one can argue that a message transmitted faster than light would be a message that arrived before it was sent potentially unleashing all the paradoxes of time travel As long ago as 1932 the brilliant Hungarian mathematician John von Neumann proved that the nonlocality of quantum mechanics cannot ever be parlayed into a mechanism to transmit messages instantaneously virtually the entire theoretical physics community regarded von Neumann's proof as an assurance that quantum-mechanical nonlocality and special relativity can perfectly peacefully coexist The old aspirations of physics to be a guide to metaphysics to tell us literally and straightforwardly how the world actually is—aspirations that had lain dormant and neglected for more than 50 years—began Maudlin's book focused on three important points the special theory of relativity is a claim about the geometric structure of space and time The impossibility of transmitting mass or energy or information or causal influences faster than light—none of these requirements are even remotely sufficient to guarantee that the theory's claim about geometry is correct von Neumann's proof about message transmission offers us no assurance that quantum-mechanical nonlocality and special relativity can peacefully coexist the truth of special relativity is (as a matter of fact) perfectly compatible with an enormous variety of hypothetical mechanisms for faster-than-light transmission of mass and energy and information and causal influence Gerald Feinberg of Columbia published an internally consistent and fully relativistic theory of a hypothetical species of particle—tachyons—for which it is physically impossible ever to travel slower than light the mere existence of a nonlocality in quantum mechanics does not mean that quantum mechanics cannot coexist with special relativity the particular variety of action at a distance that we encounter in quantum mechanics is an entirely different animal from the kind exemplified by Feinberg's tachyons or Maudlin's other examples What is uncanny about the way that quantum-mechanical particles can nonlocally influence one another is that it does not depend on the particles' spatial arrangements or their intrinsic physical characteristics—as all the relativistic influences alluded to in the preceding paragraphs do—but only on whether or not the particles in question are quantum mechanically entangled with one another The kind of nonlocality one encounters in quantum mechanics seems to call for an absolute simultaneity which would pose a very real and ominous threat to special relativity The first result appeared in an astonishing 2006 paper by Roderich Tumulka a young German mathematician now at Rutgers Tumulka showed how all the empirical predictions of quantum mechanics for entangled pairs of particles could be reproduced by a clever modification of the GRW theory (recall that this theory proposes a philosophically realist way to get the predictions of quantum mechanics under many circumstances) and yet it is fully compatible with the spacetime geometry of special relativity This work is still very much in its infancy No one has yet been able to write down a satisfactory version of Tumulka's theory that can be applied to particles that attract or repel one another his theory introduces a new variety of nonlocality into the laws of nature—a nonlocality not merely in space but in time To use his theory to determine the probabilities of what happens next one must plug in not only the world's current complete physical state (as is customary in a physical theory) but also certain facts about the past but Tumulka has certainly taken away some of the grounds for Maudlin's fear that quantum-mechanical nonlocality cannot be made to peacefully coexist with special relativity showed that combining quantum mechanics and special relativity requires that we give up another of our primordial convictions We believe that everything there is to say about the world can in principle be put into the form of a narrative in more precise and technical terms: everything there is to say can be packed into an infinite set of propositions of the form "at t1 this is the exact physical condition of the world" and "at t2 that is the exact physical condition of the world," and so on But the phenomenon of quantum-mechanical entanglement and the spacetime geometry of special relativity—taken together—imply that the physical history of the world is infinitely too rich for that The trouble is that special relativity tends to mix up space and time in a way that transforms quantum-mechanical entanglement among distinct physical systems into something along the lines of an entanglement among physical situations at different times—something that in a perfectly concrete way exceeds or eludes or has nothing to do with any sum of situations at distinct temporal instants like most theoretical results in quantum mechanics involves manipulating and analyzing a mathematical entity called a wave function a concept Erwin Schrödinger introduced eight decades ago to define quantum states It is from wave functions that physicists infer the possibility (indeed And it is the wave function that lies at the heart of puzzles about the nonlocal effects of quantum mechanics Investigators of the foundations of physics are now vigorously debating that question Is the wave function a concrete physical object or is it something like a law of motion or an internal property of particles or a relation among spatial points Or is it merely our current information about the particles Quantum-mechanical wave functions cannot be represented mathematically in anything smaller than a mind-bogglingly high-dimensional space called a configuration space wave functions need to be thought of as concrete physical objects then we need to take seriously the idea that the world's history plays itself out not in the three-dimensional space of our everyday experience or the four-dimensional spacetime of special relativity but rather this gigantic and unfamiliar configuration space out of which the illusion of three-dimensionality somehow emerges Our three-dimensional idea of locality would need to be understood as emergent as well The nonlocality of quantum physics might be our window into this deeper level of reality just more than a century after it was presented to the world is suddenly a radically open and rapidly developing question This situation has come about because physicists and philosophers have finally followed through on the loose ends of Einstein's long- neglected argument with quantum mechanics—an irony-laden further proof of Einstein's genius The diminished guru may very well have been wrong just where we thought he was right and right just where we thought he was wrong see the universe through a glass not quite so darkly as has too long been insisted Editor's Note: This story was originally published with the title "A Quantum Threat to Special Relativity" Subscribe to Scientific American to learn and share the most exciting discoveries innovations and ideas shaping our world today Scientific American is part of Springer Nature which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us) Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers or give an order that travels via vibrations through the air to the ear of a man with a stick that can then push the rock—or some such sequence then the effect in question must be indirect—the effect in question must be something that gets transmitted by means of a chain of events in which each event brings about the next one directly Every time we think we can come up with an exception to this intuition—say flipping a switch that turns on city street lights (but then we realize that this happens through wires) or listening to a BBC radio broadcast (but then we realize that radio waves propagate through the air)—it turns out that we have not Recently they have been contacted by Burcu Gültekin Punsmann gives a personal account of her work as a content moderator We have slightly shortened and edited her piece for clarity.  I found myself in a job in content moderation at Arvato I accepted the very unappealing job offer and entered into a world I haven't suspected the existence of I was recruited as an outsourced reviewer and became one of the thousands of Facebook Community Operations team members around the world working in some 40 languages draining well-educated multilingual cheap labor from all over the world as new center for Facebook content moderation as the German government toughened the legislation against hate speech I feel the need today to take time to reflect on this very intense professional and personal experience This is mainly an exercise of self-reflection and learning I consider it as well as a way to dissociate myself from the very violent content I have been handling on a daily basis I wish through my account to add transparency and to contribute to discussions on content moderation practices I don't intend to violate the employee non-disclosure agreement I signed I will not dig into the polices developed by Facebook Through my relatively short work experience I learned that these policies are constantly re-evaluated the factors that impact on these sets of policies Zuckerersatzprodukte sind ein Weg zu einer gesünderen Ernährung Im Interview erklärt der Charité-Mediziner ob Honig womit er einen Joghurt süßen würde – und wie man den Süßdrang langfristig verlernt I enjoyed the training and induction period I was happy to be in a very international context I was accustomed to in my previous roles in international development The difference here was that everyone was a migrant This eclecticism has definitively attracted me The paradox of being behind high walls of confidentiality while working for a social media platform made the job unique and certainly aroused my curiosity Facebook and most of the social media platforms have a users/community based regulation system: no one is scrutinizing the content before it is uploaded Users have the possibility to report the posts they found inappropriate on the platform The content moderator is basically handling these reports the amount of content generated on Facebook is massive some 6.5 million reports are generated in average every week it continues seven days a week with almost no interruption I have difficulties in conceptualizing the role I acted in Was I acting as a censor and restricting the freedom of speech I don't think that I acted exactly in this role I respected the freedom to offend and to make use of the most creative forms of expression I handled a lot of reports that reflected the ideological divides that exist in Turkish society disputes on historical narratives and posts attacking religion I witnessed happily how the freedom to challenge and transgress values ideas and beliefs could be energizing and creative I dealt indeed more often with behaviors than speech I would say that the pictures and texts were in most cases not a form of self-expression but rather depicting attitudes These behaviors incorporated a lot of violence and cruelty I had been exposed previously to real world violence as I worked in peace building and humanitarian aid in conflict torn contexts that violence could be so predominant on social media A minority of these posts was of criminal nature These attitudes/behaviors/forms of expression would easily convince any non- specialist than the society had gone insane I witnessed behaviors that didn't respect any social norm where the notion of intimacy and decency vanish Did those social media tools subconsciously encourage people to overcome all inhibition by destroying all social filters and moral barriers Many people on social media showed behavior outside any social norms since the individual who posts is looking for followers I have often thought what would happen if people behaved in a similar way in the public space and adopt these attitudes in public transportation I had to quit as I was particularly disturbed by what I saw as signs of professional deformation in me: a kind of hyper vigilance (especially about the risks for my family) I was dreaming about the job an my own perception of reality shifted in a most concerning way  The terrible Las Vegas Shooting suddenly seemed entirely normal to me  Also I realized that my work schedule can not become compatible with my family life I have a seven year old daughter and I could barely see her during my late shifts At first the job seemed like a personal challenge to test my capacity to adapt to a radically different and extremely rigid and constraining work environment  I found myself in a factory world as part of a global digital proletariat I was part of a cohort of more than 700 people in a closed environment with no communication with the outside world My productive time and breaks were precisely calculated could only leave the production line for several minutes I don't know whether we were producing anything but I got the sense that we were helping to keep a multi-billion industry running The content moderator performs a serious job of analysis The task is actually difficult and context sensitive The moderator has not only to decide whether reported posts should be removed or kept on the platform but navigated into a highly complex hierarchy of actions The mental operations are evaluated as being too complex for algorithms Nevertheless moderators are expected to act as a computer The search for uniformity and standardization together with the strict productivity metrics lets not much space for human judgment and intuition a moderator should handle approximately 1300 reports every day which let him/her in average only a few seconds to reach a decision for each report The intellectually challenging task tends to become an automated action almost a reaction  Repetition triggers a sense of frustration and alienation s/he can only collect examples to address policy loopholes Such standardization is meant to contribute to objectivity should refrain questioning the intentions of the person behind the post The abuse needs to be clear and in the frame I nevertheless think more human judgment could have helped to prevent cases that led to press fires The tight work schedule limits social interaction to a minimum level among staff Although the moderator is part of the team and sits in an open office The virtual space is encapsulating and engenders a feeling of isolation The impact of the content viewed is therefore amplified in the queue (production line) receives the tickets (reports) randomly There is no possibility to know beforehand what will pop up on the screen It is entirely impossible to prepare oneself psychologically It takes sometimes a few seconds to understand what a post is about The agent is in a continual situation of stress The speed reduces the complex analytical process to a succession of automatisms It becomes difficult to disconnect at the end of the eight hour shift even addiction. Even in my dreams I started repeating the same task I was glad enough I did not visualize the content I wished I were a social worker or a psychologist I sometimes had the impression that I was working in the emergency services and at other times in law enforcement  Was this a digital reflection of society I tried to convince myself that I was exposed to the most marginal and radical segments of it Good that I was not working on reports sent from the society I lived in I felt even more sorry for my colleagues working on German languages reports And this is not a job that everyone can do We are asked in the recruitment interview (which took only 15 minutes) if we thought we could handle the content I was probably not the least prepared one: I worked previously under stressful condition in peace building and humanitarian I was more experienced and older than most of my colleagues I felt much more sorry for my young colleagues This system is based on a migrant and young workforce My colleagues were 28 years old in average I took part  in a half-day workshop organized by the psychological support consultant I understood that the service hasn't been available from the very beginning It gives at least the possibility for the worker to leave his workstation and talk to someone I didn't ask for any personal consultation I can't tell precisely how many people ask for consultations It was good to know that we had such a kind of resource I felt how much some of my colleagues were scared and concerned about the long-term effect of the job We were sometimes discussing in the public transportation - in English Still I felt quite uneasy about the possible 'side-effect' of our discussions on other passengers the agent quickly becomes an expert in slurs and ways of cursing The vocabulary at use is indeed quite limited; I found some long post aiming at cursing at a person sometimes fascinating Trying to differentiate cursing from sexual exploitation was another major source of difficulty It had never occurred to me previously that the cursing vocabulary could be so sexually suggestive and gendered Bullying is particularly widespread and a source of headache for the content moderator Seeing how cruel and pitiless one could be against another person profoundly disturbed me Many post seemed to be only motivated by the intention to hurt A lot of content discloses extreme graphic violence which makes the job of the content moderator very stressful Everyone has to find its own way of coping with the graphic violence I realized I gained experience when I compared myself with new recruits the intellect tries to retake control in order to overcome extreme feelings of anger and disgust I learned intuitively how to adopt a kind of medical approach to the human body I thought I was working at forensics while reviewing content depicting violent death I had sometimes to replay a video several times or focus on the details of a picture as policies can be quite precise and require proximity to the scene of the crime or accident The mental process became much more difficult in cases I couldn't help building empathy mutilated and charred bodies is mere horror I learned how to overcome my disgust and stand it I showed empathy only when I found something connecting me with the world of the living beings these small details that I tried not to notice that would humanize the corpse and overcome my reflex of repulsion Witnessing the distress of the survivors had a powerful effect as well I got an insider view into the conflicts of the Middle East Conflicts that particularly polarize a society have a reflection on social media I noticed that the conflict of Iraq and Syria were spilling all over social media in Turkey I felt as if I was embedded with the different sides of the Kurdish conflict navigating between the insurgency and the special units Sympathizers seem to be often behind the online organization of the war effort Fighters use online technologies to document their war and produce a variety of materials depicting the comradeship exalting bravery and mocking or dehumanizing the enemy Most content on social media is probably released on social media without the approval of the chain of command This experience illustrated the absurdity of the conflict I found consolation in the fact that both sides were interacting on social media and sharing same cultural references For a few weeks our queues were flooded with pictures and videos of the massacres of the Rohingya people in Myanmar The postings were for advocacy and awareness raising purposes and were associated with denunciations of the crimes and call for actions Some of these pictures became viral and circulated as gore content I noticed that horror doesn't support necessarily advocacy Videos of beheadings are the most feared among content moderators But for me the abundance of blood prevents empathy I had to handle a lot of content of cattle slaughtering I was disturbed as I realize that they affected me not much differently than human beheadings Perhaps even a bit more as the agony of the animals lasts longer ISIS was not the only source of beheading videos A lot of content was originating from the war against drug cartels in Latin America Myanmar and even from the southern borderlands of my own country The ISIS videos were though more sophisticated: the mise en scene and background music were almost making the content unreal when I couldn't discern the last facial expression of the victims The reason why these videos circulate is the real issue What is the motivation behind the act of posting a beheading videos Very few of the ISIS videos I have seen were posted by ISIS linked sources Are they posted merely out of sadism and desire to show violence Or just to attract attention by posting shocking content The only power that the content moderator has I could send a notification to the person highlighting that the post was cruel I wished I could use the function more often I dreamed often of being able to communicate with the person behind the post The protection that the content moderators try to offer is only enabled by the reports generated by the users The degree of secrecy and level of confidentiality around the practices of content moderation doesn't help The burden and responsibility cannot rest only on the technology companies But they can support the development of online communities Internet Warum sind Ohrwürmer von Videos auf Instagram und TikTok so verdammt hartnäckig Die Antwort ist einfach – aber die Folgen für den Musikmarkt weitreichend Wenn Prominente heute etwas klarstellen möchten nutzen sie den heimlichen Star des iPhones: die Notizen-App Hier finden Sie die Regeln für die Kommentarspalten unter unseren Beiträgen in den Sozialen Medien Weil sie ihr Smartphone immer bei sich tragen wenn man aus der digitalen in die echte Welt auftauchen möchte wie umfassend Werbefirmen mit Hilfe von Cookies die Internet-Nutzer überwachen und wie man seine Daten besser schützen kann Symbolfoto-Agenturen bieten ihre Bilder jetzt mit nachträglich eingefügten Corona-Masken an. Dass man allein im Auto oder beim Zuprosten eher ­keinen Mundschutz trägt – nun ja er ist auch seit Jahren einer der auffälligsten Nutzer Zeit für ein Quiz über seine rätselhaftesten und peinlichsten Twitter-Momente Die Kasachin Alexandra Elbakyan macht mit ihrer Webseite »Sci-Hub« Forschung für alle zugänglich – und wird dafür von einer Milliarden-Industrie verfolgt Wir haben Paketzusteller und Essenslieferantinnen gefragt Auf Twitter schreiben Menschen offenherzig über ihre Schicksalsschläge Wie soll man als Unbeteiligter auf so viel Leid reagieren Getränkemarkt Leben und Gesellschaft Inzwischen gehen wir mit winzigen Normverletzungen um als handele es sich um ein Kapitalverbrechen Ein Gespräch über die Dauerempörung im Netz und die Gefahr dass sich ausgerechnet die Vernünftigen aus der öffentlichen Debatte zurückziehen Ob Corona oder Ukraine: Wir verlieren unsere trügerische Sicherheit und merken dass es so etwas wie Normalität nicht mehr gibt Aus dieser Erfahrung ließe sich etwas machen Essen und Trinken Umami – die Geschmacksrichtung bringt man vor allem mit Fleisch und Röstaromen in Verbindung Aber auch Tomaten können in der Küche so eingesetzt werden dass sie jedes Gericht schmackhafter machen Wohnen und Design Patricia Urquiola ist die wirkmächtigste ­Designerin unserer Zeit was Möbelklassiker mit Shakespeare-Stücken ­gemeinsam haben und welche Lehren sie aus der Pandemie zieht Sport zu den kräftigsten fünf Prozent aller Menschen zu gehören Wer seine Träume ständig auf später verschiebt wie wir uns auch in stressigen Lebensphasen Freiräume schaffen für das Druck und Fehler im Krankenhaus: Immer mehr Ärztinnen und Ärzte geben ihren Beruf auf Die Geschichte sechs befreundeter Mediziner von denen einige an ihrem Arbeitsalltag fast zerbrochen sind Politik Immer wieder wurde der Text des deutschen Grundgesetzes den gesellschaftlichen Gegebenheiten angepasst. Ein komplett überkommenes Wort aber blieb stehen: Rasse Es ist höchste Zeit für die weiße Mehrheit im Bundestag diesen rassistischen Begriff endlich zu entfernen Gesundheit Woher das kommt - und was man dagegen tun kann Mode europaweit fangen Menschen deshalb wieder an zu Stricken warum Stricken so glücklich macht und wie es auch Anfängern gelingt Liebe und Partnerschaft Nicht alle Paare sind sich bei diesen Fragen einig – wenn einer unbedingt will Die Paartherapeutin Ilka Hoffmann-Bisinger erklärt, wie man gemeinsam den richtigen Zeitpunkt findet Hotel Europa ist Zufluchtsort für Träumer und Entdecker Und ein Frühstück wie von der eigenen Großmutter Seit 26 Jahren leitet der Pulitzer-Preisträger David Remnick eine der erfolgreichsten Zeitschriften der Welt Ein Gespräch über die Zukunft des Journalismus in autoritären Zeiten Gute Frage Eine Medizinstudentin beobachtet in der Sauna eine Frau mit einer krank erscheinenden Brust Die ganze Nachbarschaft rüstet sich gegen die grauen Stadtvögel Unser Autor möchte ihnen lieber helfen – und hat bald einen neuen Freund: Johannes B Gut getestet Sie möchten zum Muttertag Blumen übers Internet verschenken Eine Floristin hat acht Online-Händler getestet Von klein und welk bis Blumenpracht war alles dabei Als Einzelperson kann man politisch nichts bewirken mit ihrer Petition gegen Stegreifaufgaben am Kern des bayerischen Schulsystems zu rütteln Eine Jugendliche kämpft gegen unangekündigte Schulprüfungen – und zeigt dabei auch die Kraft die von Einzelnen gegen die große Politik ausgehen kann Bruce Van Essen reads details of his settlement with the Crown A Dunedin ACC beneficiary is to be paid $10,000 after the Crown admitted a police search of his home was unlawful but a High Court judge has dismissed the allegation that police and ACC investigators acted in bad faith Bruce Van Essen and Jason Patterson took a civil case against the Attorney-General and private investigators working for ACC after the men's homes were searched in 2006 during investigations into whether they were working while receiving ACC benefits ACC suspected Mr Van Essen was running a website business and Mr Patterson conducting surfing lessons The men claimed in court that their rights to be free from unreasonable search were breached that police and ACC investigators Peter Gibbons and Graeme Scott acted in bad faith that there was misfeasance in public office and that the invasion of their homes and the taking of their property amounted to trespass and conversion Mr Van Essen also claimed malicious procurement of a search warrant Early in a hearing in Dunedin late last year the Crown admitted the warrants in both cases were unlawful Justice Christian Whata agreed Mr Van Essen and Mr Patterson were entitled under the Bill of Rights Act to be free from unreasonable search and seizure He said when police were brought in by ACC to carry out the searches the warrants they used were unlawfully obtained poorly drafted and did not have enough information from ACC to justify the searches the officer in charge of preparing Mr Van Essen's application who was the ACC informant in Mr Patterson's case was also a former senior police officer well known to the officers who obtained the warrants Justice Whata said the searches went too far and irrelevant personal information was seized There had been an "almost forensic interrogation into the most private spaces and affairs of both [men]" Both men also had their seized property kept from them for a long time The conduct in both cases failed to adhere to the minimum standards of independence expected of the police in the conduct of their investigations He found the motives of Mr Gibbons and Mr Scott were proper and their investigations professional although ACC "too readily adopted processes that were highly invasive of the privacy of their clients and it seemed it failed to recognise that it was bound to observe the rights affirmed under the [Bill of Rights]" Justice Whata said damages were necessary because of the injustice to Mr Van Essen and as a mark of the court's disapproval While he was satisfied no actual abuse occurred in the case the failure by senior Dunedin police staff to properly manage the conflict of interest arising from Const Henderson's relationship with Mr Gibbons seriously aggravated the misconduct "The unchecked odour of improper influence and the potential for abuse of police powers for personal benefit is a matter of significant public concern." The nature of the conflict in Mr Patterson's case did not trigger the same sense of injustice He ordered the Crown pay Mr Van Essen $10,000 damages and gave both men indemnity from legal costs he ruled the pair had not established police and ACC investigators had acted in bad faith which meant the claims based on malice and/or misfeasance in a public office could not succeed either The officers and investigators had a proper basis to seek the warrants were pursuing what they thought was a valid line of inquiry and had not been aware of the failings of the warrants A 2008 Independent Police Conduct Authority report which criticised Dunedin police for the way they handled the warrants Police said afterwards they had taken on board its recommendations Acting southern police district commander Superintendent Richard Chambers said police accepted Justice Whata's findings Mr Van Essen said yesterday he was pleased the judge noted he had every right to bring the complaint to court Asked if he was going to appeal any part of the decision he said he was still considering his options particularly the ruling that he was not so affected by the search as Mr Van Essen A spokeswoman from Crown Law said no decision had been made on an appeal from that quarter The Festival of Consent runs until Sunday with events including talks and a dance party.