Overcast. Low 76F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. The 54-year-old communicator revealed that traveling to space is a dream that she has cherished since childhood. Deborah Martorell's ambition is not enough to have the sky as a limit. After dreaming of it since childhood and looking at it through her science books, the Puerto Rican will become, in the summer of this year, the first meteorologist in the world (between men and women) to visit space, with the company Blue Origin. Her aerospace training was in charge of the PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut Project of the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences, an international non-profit suborbital research program, from which the journalist and meteorologist with more than 30 years of experience is a graduate. As she said in an interview with Las noticias de TeleOnce, inserting herself in the educational project was related to the fact that her daughters entered an adult stage and she decided to take classes. "The training helped me a lot for this stage, it is basically a training that is taken a week before launch, but if they are constantly monitoring, we are in talks until the flight takes place," said the meteorologist, who still does not know who will accompany her on her space adventure. Literally, the Puerto Rican will carry in her suitcase an experiment of which she will not yet give details and a severity indicator that will be designed by the students of the Technology Club of the Dr. Carlos González de Aguada High School. In the symbolic context, Martorell takes beyond the sky the desires of all Puerto Rican girls and women who dream of the stars. "Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do what you want to do in life. You can achieve anything you want... and not only young people and girls... Women... Look, I'm 54 (years old) and I'm here, in a dream I had as a child. Let no one tell you otherwise, you can do it," said the next Puerto Rican astronaut. I always dreamed of it since I was a little girl... To see that this is a reality and that the space is finally opening up for everyone and that we can have the opportunity to achieve dreams, is truly incredible. I never thought I would have the possibility of reaching space. Martorell began his career as a journalist studying communication and journalism at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. In 1992 she became a reporter and producer for the radio station WKAQ Radio Reloj and, after two years, she made the leap to television, becoming a reporter for WAPA Television. Coverage of Hurricane Georges and Tropical Storm Jeanne in 1997 led the journalist to become a meteorologist, after majoring in climate coverage at the University of Mississippi. The future space visitor was the first Puerto Rican to have access to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Texas, she had the opportunity to interview Puerto Rican astronaut Joseph M. Acaba, while she was on the International Space Station and covered the launch of the first Puerto Rican satellite and Artemis 1. The meteorologist broke the news through a video on social networks. The announcement came as part of Blue Origin's NS-31 Mission in Texas, the first with an all-female crew. The crew members were Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sanchez. Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: SpainChevron CataloniaChevron BarcelonaChevron ChevronChevronPhotosSave this storySaveSave this storySaveReviewed by Gemma AskhamZoom out One turn in from the street-artist-strewn portside end of La Rambla Palau Martorell stands like a majestic cat that offers up flamboyant temporary art exhibitions—when it wants to Built between 1886 and 1900 (in other words architect Joan Martorell swerved away from the ornamental and the Gaudí-esque to stay neoclassical The building has had some equally stiff-faced former lives—a bank then the chamber of commerce—but it’s the palau’s surprise intricacies such as an exuberant painted ceiling on the first floor that serve as catnip for inquisitive architecture hounds A museum's permanent collection is its defining feature: How was this one so check in advance that you don’t fall down the crack between visiting shows Highlights have included a 50-year journey through 150 Marc Chagall works from early Russian paintings to color-saturated surrealism and florals plus 2025’s homage to Colombian painter-sculptor Fernando Botero and “boterismo”—his signature style of exaggerated Largely local and savvy to cultural happenings; the type who might circle an exhibition in an event-listings guide and then thrash out their verdict over a vermut-fueled debrief Palau Martorell has got that under-the-radar vibe that conversely makes it really popular and a large-capacity elevator (with button panels in Braille); staff will accompany visits to suggest the most easily navigable routes which features products that are directly related to the exhibition as well as items inspired by a show’s colors or themes an art print of blue flowers could be displayed next to a locally made candlestick holder but the surrounding lanes of the gothic quarter present a plethora of options Grab lunch at Soho House’s smart-and-sceney ground-floor Italian or dip hot fried churros in oozy chocolate at Granja Dulcinea—a sweet institution largely unchanged since the Forties Any advice for the time- or attention-challenged Pre-reserve an entrance slot online; the visit can be done in less than an hour, depending on how long you like to linger. With the port and ocean so close by, it makes an unexpected, arty addition to a beach day in Barcelona. up-to-the-minute voice in all things travel Condé Nast Traveler is the global citizen’s bible and muse We understand that time is the greatest luxury which is why Condé Nast Traveler mines its network of experts and influencers so that you never waste a meal or a hotel stay wherever you are in the world Cover Page Legal HistorySports SearchMartorell to become first meteorologist to travel to spaceThe San Juan Daily StarApr 152 min read“This is a great responsibility and I never lose sight of the fact that I carry with me the dreams of thousands of Puerto Rican boys and girls who dream of becoming astronauts,” television meteorologist Deborah Martorell said of her planned space mission aboard Blue Origin this summer.By The Star Staff Television meteorologist Deborah Martorell announced on Monday that she will be the first in her profession to participate in a space mission “I want to thank God for the opportunities He has placed in my path which have led me on this journey to space,” Martorell said “I also want to thank Blue Origin for giving me this historic opportunity.” With over 30 years of experience in journalism Martorell expressed pride in being the first meteorologist to go into space as a woman and a Puerto Rican adding: “It’s going to be a remarkable year for Puerto Rico as we’ll be able to say we have both a teacher and a meteorologist reaching space,” acknowledging the achievements of fellow Puerto Rican Aymette Medina where Martorell spent time with the crew members of Blue Origin’s NS-31 Mission which made a brief (10 minutes and 21 seconds) trip into space She has documented the accomplishments of Puerto Rican astronauts Joseph Acabá and Marcos Berríos and reported on the launch of Puerto Rico’s first nanosatellite developed by local students Her special reports include coverage from the Lyndon B where she experienced a microgravity flight in 2008 and she reported on preparations for the Artemis missions in 2021 She also provided special coverage of the shuttle Discovery mission in 2009 and conducted the first live news interview in Puerto Rico with an astronaut Martorell said she will ensure her trip contributes to the advancement of science “The trip is scheduled for the summer of 2025 and I will be taking with me an experiment that I will announce soon along with a gravity indicator designed by the students of the Dr Carlos González de Aguada High School Technology Club,” the future astronaut revealed Martorell is known for being deeply committed to community organizations and she hopes that the trip will hold significant meaning for Puerto Rico and the organizations she has always supported © 2025 The San Juan Daily Star - Puerto Rico This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Environmental Studies program at Ohio University. On Sept. 27, the OHIO community was invited to attend an alumni panel to reconnect with fellow alumni and celebrate 50 years of environmental education, research and stewardship. One of the panelists was Andreana Madera Martorell, who graduated from Ohio University with her M.S. in Environmental Studies, receiving a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Cartography certificate from the College of Arts and Sciences Her time since graduation has been spent engaging in community education and ensuring drinking water safety “[I] started a thesis about geothermal energy with no previous knowledge or courses in geothermal energy and groundwater modeling,” she said Her plan was to create a groundwater model and study the potential of an abandoned underground coal mine (AS-029) as a geothermal energy reservoir she initially struggled to gain access to local wells.  “I lost all hope on my thesis very early on because I needed permission from landowners to access their wells,” Madera Martorell said her persistence shines through in how she handled this challenge I even went on Facebook groups in The Plains and Athens.”  she received a response from a resident and gained access to their well “That's when I said ‘ah-ha!’ With patience good things come along “I overcame these challenges by believing in and being proud of myself for taking the big step of moving out to a new place and learning new things.”  She presented her thesis at the annual Geological Society of America (GSA) in 2019 and a year later graduated with her master’s degree.  While pursuing her degree, Madera Martorell worked as a graduate assistant at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service She developed lectures and experiments about renewable energy for high school students and created educational videos for summer camps and STEM online platforms.  where she worked in the private sector as an environmental compliance inspector and as a storm water estimator before taking a job at the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2022.  Madera Martorell has worked at the EPA ever since and is currently a drinking water technical officer for EPA Region 4 in Atlanta she provides technical aid to states and reviews grant work plans to ensure that underserved and disadvantaged communities have access to safe drinking water.  Madera Martorell highlighted the support of the community around her especially her professors and colleagues at the Voinovich school Lopez would sit with me via Zoom until 11 p.m teaching me how to use MODFLOW and my colleagues would always help me with ArcGIS,” she said “They helped me to feel more at home when home was far away I couldn’t have done it without them.”  She also recognizes the influential woman who aided and inspired her during her time at OHIO as strong scientists and hard-working mothers,” she said “They all were involved in so many projects and did it so eloquently While the staff provided needed academic and life advice some of her favorite OHIO memories were the moments with her cohort “We were very united and friendly; it was such a healthy university environment with them she even spent her free time volunteering for her colleague's theses and would tag along on their field trips to diversify her studies and skills She points to this openness to learning new skills for her current success “My main advice to OU students is to be open to learn and take classes in other departments,” she said “It is likely you will have different tasks in a job it won’t necessarily be what your degree was in.”   © 2025 Ohio University an artist from the traditional Salta province in northern Argentina her work reflected the influence of her studies in France particularly the sociology of art and the psychology of perception she designed and produced tapestries in her native Salta the hexagonal shapes in Martorell’s paintings from the late 1950s produce a sense of three- dimensionality These shapes give way first to ellipses and then to the waving bands characteristic of her work from the mid-1960s a choice undoubtedly informed by her admiration of Josef Albers She also expanded her palette and made use of configurations such as the diptych and triptych the diptych Ekho Dos forms part of a larger series of the same name the dynamic waves of vibrant colours moving across the monochrome background generate deviations on the surface The waves extend even to the border of the canvas stretcher yielding an effect of rhythm and motion and an overall sense of calm This is the first time the work of María Martorell is presented at Biennale Arte Contact us Press Office Subscribe to the Newsletter and get the latest info on our programmes and initiatives Subscribe Welcome to www.automotivelogistics.media. This site uses cookies. Read our policy By 2024-11-01T16:43:00+00:00 Seat is working to enhance its Martorell assembly plant and integrating advanced digital technologies in what it describes as the biggest transformation in its history Automotive Logistics talks to its logistics director Enric Martí Seat’s Martorell facility near Barcelona in Spain covers 2.8m sq.m and since the original facility was inaugurated in 1993 it has produced more than 12m vehicles This summer it started production of the new model year Cupra Formentor and Cupra Leon It is the third largest factory in terms of production volume in the Volkswagen Group in Europe and the company said that further growth will be built in the implementation of smart technology and artificial intelligence That includes in the logistics supporting production director of logistics at Seat for the last 13 years “We are at a time of unprecedented transformation for our company as we transition towards more intelligent and connected production which involves the implementation of innovative technologies in order to improve our logistics processes,” says Martí The control tower that Seat has in place to provide visibility across its supply chain and the real-time location on 16m-plus inbound parts is one of the most important digital tools the company owns Martí explains that it has an end-to-end system that connects 320 supplier plants with its inbound processes forecasting and the resources needed for truck unloading It also calculates the capacity for outbound shipments “We are at a time of unprecedented transformation for our company as we transition towards more intelligent and connected production which involves the implementation of innovative technologies in order to improve our logistics processes,” - Enric Martí  Seat’s main logistics provider is Grupo Sesé which provides inbound and outbound logistics It also works with other smaller carriers for specific regions and receives information on the position of the trucks used which it is able to connect with the delivery note to track the parts more precisely In terms of logistics automation of in-plant material flows we have implemented more than 450 automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and our goal is to achieve automation of 80% of our flow volume with the launch of the new electric urban car family,” says Martí That will first take the form of the Cupra Raval slated for produced in Martorell from 2025 As mentioned, the new 2025 model year Cupra Formentor and Cupra Leon models are being built at Martorell Petrol combustion and hybrid versions have been built on the same line since 2021 which adds complexity to lineside logistics but Seat has been planning across production to manage this complexity Last year in 2023 more than 230,000 vehicles from the Cupra range were delivered “Although there are additional flows to cover due to the plug-in hybrid parts, we have planned the logistics and their complexity in close collaboration with all production areas to ensure success during the launch and the series,” says Martí “This collaboration has helped us to place materials in the best location along the line and to coordinate the routing of materials to avoid line stops.” This will also be the case for the electric urban car which Martorell will make for the wider VW Group Digital tools are also coming into play for inventory management at Martorell which Martí says has become an essential part of the business “We are working to optimise stock while ensuring production during these challenging times,” he says we are implementing increasingly sophisticated digital tools from detailed data visualisation and early alerts to stock optimisation algorithms.” Back in 2018 Seat built an automated logistics centre at the Martorell factory in that included the tallest warehouse in Spain and the latest technology to manage parts storage The logistics centre covers a total area of 5,700 sq.m divided into two facilities which stores and feeds inbound parts to the assembly line The first of these is 43.7 metres high and has capacity to store 25,000 containers of larger parts across seven aisles moving 250 incoming and 250 outgoing boxes per hour The second is 21 metres high and can store more than 100,000 boxes of smaller parts across five aisles It moves moves 450 incoming and 450 outgoing boxes per hour,” according to Martí “These warehouses are integrated into the production process supplying materials directly to the assembly lines to produce 2,500 cars per day,” he says it is the first time for Seat that the entire supply chain is digitised The warehouses are fully automated and use seven stacker cranes for transporting and positioning the larger crates of parts, as well as using five miniloaders in the warehouse for the smaller boxes The warehouse management system (WMS) uses software that optimises the movements, guaranteeing a first in first out (Fifo) sequence and optimising the warehouse occupancy rate Seat is building a battery system assembly plant that will help to optimise logistics processes and reduce the company’s carbon footprint Looking upstream Seat has invested in technology to gain greater visibility of its inbound parts to improve the accuracy and timeliness of parts delivery Martí says that is all part of Seat’s efforts at making Martorell a ‘factory of the future’ with production processes and a supply chain that are flexible we can send suppliers transportation data and information about our stocks,” he says “The tool gives us the opportunity to gain visibility but also having an end-to-end vision to ensure that the possible disruptions are well informed and evaluated by everyone.” Supply chain disruption is the new normal in the automotive supply chain and there are a range of reasons as well as technology and market transformations Martí says that although Seat has not been immune to supply chain disruption this year having information of its suppliers’ stocks and the incoming transport connected to its processes has helped the carmaker manage the supply chain and it has reached maximum capacity at Martorell “All this data allows us to simulate production scenarios without impacting suppliers by taking their data into account,” he says we are working on integrating digitalisation into the production cycle with the aim of becoming customer-oriented and optimising through a new logistics concept.” Seat’s invested €7m in its battery research and development centre for electric and plug-in hybrid cars Seat has also been testing the efficacy of its connections with its suppliers in preparation for the roll out of the Catena-X platform over the next few years Catena-X was established in 2021 by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) It creates uniform standards for data and information exchange across the supply chain The exchange of data is managed on a peer- to-peer system that aims to ensure security confidentiality and integrity in the exchange of supply chain data Catena-X currently has more than 192 members “We have already checked that the technological connection works and we are now planning to deploy a hybrid model between the suppliers connected via Catena X and the ones we have integrated to date,” Martí explains “The plan is to fully migrate our suppliers to Catena X once the platform is rolled out.” Seat is also working on projects to build digital twins for specific production and logistics processes but its plans for the technology are bigger than that “Our ambition is to build a supply chain digital twin that is scanning and modelling a digital [replica] of the factory to ensure the viability of projects and achieve the goal of zero errors in the physical world,” says Martí we are already integrating digitalisation into our production cycle.” Martí says Seat is continuing on the path it started with the control tower and taking advantage of the data from all of its systems and suppliers and adopting the right data governance along the entire supply chain in-plant logistics tools such as the improvement of our automatic warehouse performance management of the lead time of the trucks in factory or forecast of the critical parts coming to the factory,” he explains Using drone technology Seat is achieving much shorter reaction lead times and is researching new drone technologies that can handle heavy parts Seat has been using drones at Martorell since 2019 in conjunction with its logistics partners Grupo Sesé “For the just-in-sequence steering wheel flow when a recall is needed, we have implemented together with Sesé a drone flow that connects both facilities which are separated 2km from each other,” says Martí we are achieving much shorter reaction lead times and Now we are researching new drone technologies that can handle heavy parts.”  The steering wheels are loaded into a carbon fibre capsule weighing 5.5kg and attached to the drone with an electromagnet ready for airborne delivery from the launch pad the drone takes off for the 2km flight from the logistics centre to assembly workshop The aircraft flies autonomously at a height of 95 metres over the factory roof at 40 km/hour It only takes four minutes from take-off until the capsule is dropped off at its destination The complete process lasts 15 minutes from activating the protocol The use of drone technology boosts Seat’s Industry 4.0 development enhancing efficiency and making in-plant logistics more sustainable These technologies are helping Seat predict threats to the supply chain by gathering information using the different digital technologies Martí says digital technology is helping it identify which suppliers around the world are affected by natural disasters and whether that is going to have an impact on Seat’s supply chain “These alerts have helped us to minimise reaction times creating short-term alternatives to source materials from other suppliers,” he says “Our ambition is to connect these technologies to our control tower so that we can manage information on a single platform.” One other area in which digital technology applications are being used is in helping personnel improve performance Seat is implementing a Human Artificial Intelligence (HAi) strategy to approach data and provide AI to its employees as a part of the company’s transformation “All areas will have trained employees, so called ‘citizen developers’ and ‘data stewards’ to work with data and optimise their processes in the daily business,” he explains they can identify situations where AI can help with the different challenges that they might face The first results in logistics show a very big potential in indirect personnel process automation and AI use cases.” The digital transformation of production and logistics at the Seat Martorell plant runs alongside efforts being made to transform the company into a more sustainable carmaker Seat began building its al Sol 2 solar plant and from 2025 its facilities will have 39,000 solar panels on a surface area of 233,000 sq.m According to Seat it has reduced carbon emissions in the production process by 69% since 2010 Over the same period it has reduced energy consumption by 33% and water use by 45% Earlier this year Seat began building its al Sol 2 solar plant and from 2025 its facilities will have 39,000 solar panels on a surface area of 233,000 sq.m in Martorell generating 29 GWh and tripling the carmaker’s renewable energy self-generation capacity It has also put into operation the VW Group’s first electric paint drying oven in Martorell which is reported to minimise heat loss and reduces energy consumption by 25% which means savings of 2,500 tonnes of CO2 per year The project has been financed by the European Union with Next Generation EU funds through the Ministry of Industry “Sustainability is a key pillar of Seat SA’s corporate strategy and is at the heart of the transformation process we are undergoing towards electrification,” explained Markus Haupt executive vice-president for production and logistics “We aimed to reduce the environmental impact in the specific area of production by 50% by 2025 We are now moving forward to achieve carbon neutrality at our facilities by 2040 in line with the Volkswagen Group’s strategy,” he said Sales of Seat’s EVs grew to 45,900 in the first half of this year a 36.1% increase compared to the same period in 2023 (33,800) The carmaker said that was powered by the increasing success of the company’s plug-in hybrid models The US will prohibit the sale and import of connected vehicle hardware and software systems Hyundai and Nvidia will collaborate on virtual simulation environments for autonomous driving technology and robotics systems Car buyers looking for a Hyundai can now buy their preferred model through the Amazon Autos website Site powered by Webvision Cloud Barcelona's Palau Martorell exhibition center has opened the city's first-ever exhibition dedicated to the late Colombian artist Fernando Botero Titled Fernando Botero: A Universal Maestro the exhibition pays tribute to one of the most influential artists of the 20th century It is the largest show ever held in Spain on Botero and explores his "extraordinary versatility" across various artistic techniques More than 110 pieces by the artist are on display at Palau Martorell which had never been shown publicly until as it was exhibited in Botero's Paris studio recently discovered in a private collection in the United States The exhibition showcases a diverse range of techniques and exceptional" production and his continuous "experimentation" with artistic methods It also highlights Botero's deep connections with Spain and Italy, which played a crucial role in shaping his artistic journey. A self-taught artist, Botero was heavily influenced by masters such as Velázquez, Goya, Titian, and Picasso. During his time in Italy in the 1950s, he studied the vibrant colors of Quattrocento paintings, a period known for works such as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, and Michelangelo's David sculpture, as well as the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. This period profoundly influenced Botero, leading him to develop his signature style of exaggerated forms and volumes. In Barcelona, Botero is best known for his large bronze sculpture El Gato de Botero (Botero's Cat), located on La Rambla del Raval. Botero war born in Colombia on April 19, 1932 in Medellín, Colombia and passed away on September 15, 2023 in Montecarlo, Monaco. The exhibition runs until July 20, with tickets priced at €16. Get the day's biggest stories right to your phone This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Fresh ideas from museums around the globe in your inbox each week two recent stories I’ve experienced about the (non-linear anything but simple) relationship between children and youth with AI in the museum context clearly illustrate the slippery ground we’re navigating in this area Both stories converge on one point: the need for museum professionals to adopt a critical and non-deterministic approach to AI in our work The first story is about a mother who urgently requested a meeting with the director of a science and technology museum “My son told us a couple of weeks ago that from now on he would only interact with his personal chatbot companion because it’s the only one he truly trusts The second story involves a group of children who participated in a workshop to create a virtual garden with avatars generated by Dall-E The children “rebelled” against the mediators expressing their dissatisfaction: “We don’t like this” they said when they saw the images created from the prompts they had given to describe their creatures “I like mine better.” “Mine” meant they considered the image they had previously imagined much better than the AI-generated one They immediately asked for paper and colored pencils to create their own images “true” to what they had imagined How are we using AI to engage with children in museums Are we doing it because “it’s the thing to do since it’s inevitable” Because it’s here to stay and the sooner we embrace it Because it’s cool and gives us the image of being an “up-to-date” museum One of my main concerns in this technological tsunami following some siren songs from Silicon Valley how we suppress or outright ignore the opinions of children and young people in the debate Just as happened with our previous technological hypes – AR Metaverse – the big absentee is still the child We believe we know what they think about the technology we want to attract them with; our new magic wand with which we hope they will “dance” to our tune But as the two stories at the beginning show Dancing with an invisible partner means you can’t step on their toes And I think we are creating a lot of these imaginary tangos with children in museums regarding how we conceive their relationship with AI Let’s start with the basics, which we rarely do. Have we asked children what they think of AI? Do we know how they use it at home when interacting with Siri, Alexa, or Cortana? Do we have any idea what is going on in their heads for, as Jessica Lucas recently wrote in an article a teenager to consider a chatbot the best way to discover who they really are How is AI acting as a massive placebo effect on a generation devastated by the pandemic’s impact on their lives Do we know if it interests or worries them Can young people dream of AI sheep in our museums One of the significant risks of using AI as a tool with children and young people in museums is the danger of reproducing biases and knowledge structures (and therefore power) that are unfair and extractive It’s the paradigm of closed technology that we can’t open That’s why some groups, like AI for Kids UX led by Polina Lulu and Yesim Kunter, or initiatives we are carrying out with OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences and Collaboratio Helvetica are proposing a radical shift from this model considering their ideas to initiate a co-creation process where they decide and take the lead we don’t “touch” AI at all until much later in the process The main technologies we use are listening and deep active observation We need to do away with AI to create a new AI centered and oriented around the child An AI that allows them to play – have you noticed how serious and boring AI interactions are and establish inferences from the particular to the general enabling them to identify with their endless diversity An AI that helps them become better people connecting with them on a deeper level instead of creating digital attachment disorders An AI that helps avoid the trap of hatred and fear meticulously sown daily by certain groups on social media An AI that makes the museum resonate in their lives enriching them instead of making them more trivial and superficial compassionless system that includes the museum as the last link in the chain The museum can offer children a unique opportunity to reposition AI in their lives in a completely different way from how they use it elsewhere What’s at stake here is no less than their mental health Let’s be aware of what we have in our hands every time we decide to use AI to create content the children and young people who visit us and want to say what they think because “they have to participate in an AI workshop.” I guarantee that if you do It’s the beginning of a change for children to dream of a better museum using AI as their preferred tool Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell, Ph.D. is the Founder and CEO of Cultural Inquiry He is a professional with 23 years of experience in education with a passion for the democratization of minoritized and unrepresented cultural voices and cultural heritage He founded Children’s Boards in different Museums of the world as like the City of Arts and Sciences What happens when you move a museum exhibition from the safety of a gallery into a shopping centre MuseumNext catches up with the team at the Jewish Museum Berlin (JMB) to talk hybrid games Discover the Winning Approach to Fostering Meaningful Donor Relationships at San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum Funders and donors play a vital role in sustaining museums,.. © MuseumNext 2025 | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Designed by General Public Don't have an account? Subscribe “Our goal is to help stakeholders understand the future of mobility.” Home › News › SEAT Martorell EV transformation a “near reality” The SEAT SA plant is on target with its historic transition towards electric vehicles and battery production Volkswagen Group’s SEAT SA is making solid progress on its electrification transformation at Martorell Select media were treated to a tour and progress update of the facilities on 13 March coinciding with the company’s annual press conference Sign up now and gain unlimited access to our news Subscribe Let us help you understand the future of mobility Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" and trends shaping the future of electric mobility Tickets for this in-person event are limited and trends shaping the future of the software-defined vehicle and trends shaping the future of autonomous mobility A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of the 65-year-old was found Police investigating the murder of a woman in Derry have named her as Montserrat Martorell A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 65-year-old was found after a “horrific” attack and a fire at a flat in the city Officers arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of murder and he was taken into custody for questioning Firefighters attended the scene on Harvey Street after reports of a fire were received at 4.15am on Saturday who was found in the bedroom of the ground-floor flat Police said that she suffered a “horrific attack and sustained multiple injuries” Det Ch Insp Anthony Kelly said: “Our investigation is moving at a fast pace and I continue to appeal to anyone who may have any information to contact detectives on 101 “Ms Martorell was sadly pronounced dead at the scene we can tell you that the victim suffered a horrific attack and sustained multiple injuries “I am aware of online speculation which is extremely unhelpful and deeply distressing to Ms Martorell’s family and would ask people to refrain from engaging in this “We will investigate any posts online which could potentially prejudice judicial proceedings.” who was seen in the area wearing a grey jacket with hood up trainers and a light coloured shirt between 1am and 2am.” the far-right Alternative für Deutschland is expected to double its votes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s official agenda began in Helsinki where he took part in a summit with Germany’s NATO partners in the Baltic Sea His public activity that day would end far away with a campaign event ahead of the national elections on Feb The upcoming polls come after the German government failed to agree on a national budget last November precipitating the collapse of the ruling coalition made up by Scholz’s center-left Social-Democratic Party (SPD) and the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) Scholz has little chance of remaining chancellor The SPD is expected to gather around 16% of the votes far behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party which together lead the polls comfortably with close to 30% of support The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is expected to finish second doubling its results from 2021 with around 20% of the ballots The audience that attended Scholz’s appearance in Chemnitz and put questions to the chancellor was by no means representative of the German electorate Although the event in a packed former cinema hall was open to everyone it is safe to assume that most attendees were at least SPD sympathizers the questions Scholz received in Chemnitz provide some insights into the topics at the top of voters’ minds While a couple of questions concerned the SPD’s policy toward the Ukraine War A recent poll presents a different but not directly contradictory picture When Germans were asked to choose the three topics that concern them the most about their country migration was in first place closely followed by poverty and social inequality Military conflicts were in a more distant fourth position.  Germans have diverse concerns ahead of the elections and the often conflated but distinct topic of domestic security together with military security occupy a great deal of attention in the current political debate — from the covers of the main newspapers to the TV talk shows These two topics will also figure prominently in the negotiations to form a coalition after the elections As long as the CDU/CSU keeps their promise not to reach a coalition agreement with the AfD the conservatives are likely to reach an agreement with the SPD have fewer chances of being in the government their chancellor candidate and Minister of Economic Affairs when Habeck visited Munich and filled a large event hall watching Habeck’s speech on several screens the Greens are disliked by broad sectors of the CDU/CSU and this is likely to complicate a future coalition The FDP might not make it into parliament but if they do they would be an obvious coalition partner for the CDU/CSU if a three-party constellation is needed to reach a majority.  The conservatives argue Germany is entitled to take this step because it only borders safe countries where it is possible to claim asylum this would greatly increase the pressure on countries at the EU’s external borders like Italy and Greece It would also imply a de facto stop in the right to asylum which is inscribed in the German constitution as a lesson from the Nazi past but has been subject to attacks by the CDU leader and likely future chancellor Friedrich Merz throughout his political career.  Once a fringe concept connected to the great replacement conspiracy theory the term gained notoriety after it was revealed that mid-ranking AfD members had attended a secret meeting in Potsdam focused on “remigration.” The attendants discussed the forced deportation of asylum seekers which made it to the AfD’s election program is defined by the party as the “constitutional and lawful repatriation of those required to leave the country.” This is the definition of the term for public consumption more real meaning that is far closer to what was discussed in Potsdam and some AfD leaders explicitly condone who led his party to the first regional election win in Thuringia last September recently renewed his calls for “well-tempered cruelty” in applying a “remigration” program No AfD politician represents better than Höcke the party’s successful efforts to push the limits of Germany’s political language Höcke had to answer before a judge in Halle for having twice used the Nazi slogan “Everything for Germany.” On the first day of the trial in a show of how radical language has become increasingly normalized a man outside the court building told another one that he didn’t understand why Höcke could be judged for using an “everyday sentence.” The demands in the election manifestos of the CDU and the AfD come at the end of a year in which the Scholz-led government has already implemented harsher migration policies Following a terrorist attack in Solingen by a Syrian who had been denied asylum the government imposed border controls at all German land borders in September 2024 it approved a so-called “security package” with measures such as the loss of asylum status (with a few exceptions) for refugees traveling back to their countries or the reduction of social benefits for some asylum-seekers there was a doubling in the number of migrants (and also asylum-seekers who were not allowed to file asylum claims) being forced back at the German borders the volume of asylum applications decreased by 30% and deportations rose by 20% The Social Democrats broadly promise to continue with the current migration policy and want to work within the framework provided by the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum an attack in Magdeburg took hold of the political conversation The Saudi-born man who drove a car into a Christmas market killing six people had expressed Islamophobic views and support for the AfD This did not preclude the far-right party from instrumentalizing the attack to agitate against migrants Merz called for double citizens to lose their German citizenship if they commit criminal offenses.  But there was still space for further political escalation as shown after an Afghan man with a history of mental health issues attacked a group of children in Aschaffenburg in Jan Merz brought a non-binding motion to the German parliament asking to turn back more migrants at the border It passed due to the votes of the AfD — the first time in Germany’s postwar history that a parliamentary majority was reached with the help of the far right Merz’s decision was criticized by former German chancellor and fellow CDU member Angela Merkel and brought thousands of protesters to the streets a bill that was put to vote by CDU calling for an end to family reunions for migrants with subsidiary protection was narrowly defeated despite the alignment of CDU and AfD on the matter once again US President Donald Trump has called for an immediate end to the Ukraine War leaving many doubts on the future of US weapons deliveries to Kyiv and prompting Germany to discuss whether to increase support for the Ukrainian army Trump’s demands for NATO spending increases Germany has been the second-largest provider of military aid for Ukraine in absolute terms since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine Germany reached the official NATO target of 2% of GDP The increase was made possible by the approval of 100€ billion in special funds for the army after Russian troops marched into Ukraine They were made possible by a constitutional amendment that allowed the government to bypass a provision introduced to the constitution in 2009 to limit the government’s capacity to take public debt to only 0.35% of the GDP.  Neither the CDU nor the AfD are willing to reform the debt brake but both parties want to provide the army with more funds Whereas the Christian Democrats say the 2% target is simply a “lower limit,” AfD’s candidate for chancellor says spending 5% of the GDP on defense is “very likely.” This would mean that nearly half of the government expenditure would go to the military The SPD also sees the 2% target as a minimum but favors a reform of the debt brake which would provide more fiscal room for the government.  It is not only the budget that is undergoing militarization Advertisements to join the army have become far more present in German cities The CDU and the AfD favor reintroducing the military service in Germany The SPD advocates for maintaining the current policy men who turn 18 have been asked about their availability to serve in the military but military service remains voluntary.  Merz had pressed the German coalition government to deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine Merz promised that if he were to become chancellor he would ask Russian president Vladimir Putin to stop attacking Ukraine’s civil infrastructure in 24 hours moving forward with the delivery of Taurus missiles if the Russian leader did not comply Although the Greens and the FDP supported this step He used it to block the delivery of Taurus arguing that Germany would otherwise become an active party in the war since the missiles could reach deep into Russia.  Scholz has tried to position himself between the AfD which calls for the immediate stop of military aid for Ukraine there were hopes that Scholz’s Ukraine policy could help him recover ground in the polls The chancellor has an overall low popularity rate at 23% but defends a majority position regarding Ukraine Fifty-seven percent of Germans want Germany to continue providing military support for Kyiv but 61% do not want the government to deliver Taurus The SPD has focused on presenting Scholz as a prudent choice while framing Merz as hot-headed and lacking experience in government at a time of international crises The strategy does not appear to be working for the SPD if we are to judge by the constant gap in the polls between the Social Democrats and the CDU as Merz inches closer to the chancellorship The economic situation in Germany has also received considerable attention during the election campaign the second year in a row of economic downturn Some key economic sectors such as the automotive or steel industry are undergoing major difficulties in part because of the higher energy costs since Germany stopped importing Russian gas after the invasion of Ukraine The AfD differs from the CDU in that they want to restore economic relations with Russia the CDU and the AfD want to secure economic growth with tax reductions supposedly funding them with cuts in the provisions for the unemployed and asylum-seekers for instance in climate-friendly technologies.   The economic insecurities among the German population have less to do with growth figures than with more specific worries half of the population expressed their preoccupation about not being able to pay their bills if prices rise further the price of groceries has increased by 15% overall while the cheapest brands have increased by 29% — a burden that falls on the most economically unstable To protect citizens from the inflation in food prices the SPD wants to decrease the value-added tax for groceries from 7% to 5% The CDU and the AfD do not have any specific proposals on the matter Another major worry among Germans is housing Thirty-seven percent of the population (8% more than four years ago) is concerned about not being able to afford to live in their current house or apartment in ten years who ran in 2021 as “chancellor for affordable housing” Whereas the SPD demands the continuation of the current rent cap the CDU and the AfD reject governmental intervention in the housing market.  What would an economic policy that addresses these many insecurities look like The economist Isabelle Weber sees Germany’s debt brake as a self-imposed restriction that “prevents democracy from meeting the enormous challenges it is currently facing.” In the current context of scarcity the AfD has it easy to present itself as the only alternative to the status quo Weber believes the removal of the debt brake would allow the German state to invest in infrastructure and promote a social-ecological economic transformation The cost of living crisis similarly offers many opportunities to the far-right who attribute these problems to immigrants Weber defends the necessity of a rent cap as well as more decisive action on food prices Four companies in Germany dominate 75% of food retail sales which allows them to maintain profit margins at the expense of consumers during high inflation periods like the current one With several attacks in Germany during the last months and the ever-present threat of an expansion of the Ukraine War it is only logical that physical security plays an important role in the election campaign it is highly unlikely that agitation against migrants and escalating military budgets will lead to greater physical security if Germany’s many other insecurities remain unanswered after the next elections the dangers could be even greater the next time around Cover image: Election placards of the SPD and the CDU in Chemnitz Marc Martorell Junyent is an author and researcher based in Munich He holds a Master in Comparative and Middle East Politics and Society at the University of Tübingen Inkstick is changing the face of foreign policy If our content is something that you’ve come to rely on please make a tax-deductible donation today Even $5 or $10 a month makes a huge difference we can tell the stories that need to be told Inkstick Media is a registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 84-2451690. We are grateful to the foundations and people who make our work possible: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Colombe Peace Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, MacArthur Foundation, N Square, Ploughshares Fund, Jubitz Family Foundation, Prospect Hill Foundation, and supporters like you You can read the Terms & Conditions of this site here By continuing to use this site you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions This website uses cookies to enhance your experience This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings we will not be able to save your preferences This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences Pre-series production of the VW Group's small electric cars at the Spanish plant in Martorell is set to begin this year before series production of the Cupra Raval and the VW ID.2 starts in 2026 Although the Group is sticking to the schedule it has apparently rescheduled the production volumes In preparation for the production of the small electric cars in Martorell Seat has relocated the production of the Ibiza and Arona small combustion cars to line 3 so that line 1 can be prepared for the ‘Electric Urban Car’ The conversion is to be completed in the course of this year and production of the pre-series started The switch to series production is then planned for 2026 – although Seat is not yet giving any more precise details A more powerful and efficient press has already been installed in the body shop for the new models and the first all-electric paint-drying oven in the entire VW Group has been put into operation The company also reported progress in battery assembly Seat remains somewhat more general in this update because the announcement is not just about production but Seat’s entire electrification commitment this year The company plans to double the number of charging points in its plants to over 250 in the first quarter of 2025 and triple the charging network in the car parks around its plant in Martorell to 140 charging points over the course of the year The background to this is that all 450 managers at Seat SA now drive electric cars and other employees are also to be encouraged to do so The electricity comes exclusively from renewable energies and a large solar plant is also due to go into operation this year Seat and Cupra boss Wayne Griffiths was apparently a little more specific in an interview with ‘La Tribuna de Automoción’ as the specialist portal writes that the slower ramp-up of e-mobility in Europe will probably also affect the production of small electric cars In addition to the Seat plant in Martorell with the Cupra Raval and VW ID.2 the VW plant in Pamplona in the autonomous region of Navarra where the two small car SUVs ID.2 X and Skoda Epiq will roll off the production line The production forecasts for 2026 and 2027 are now ‘much lower’ than originally calculated the report cites just under 300,000 ID.2 and Raval units each in these two years as the current planning status while the figures for Navarra are around 134,000 and 337,000 units respectively that would be just under 300,000 BEVs from Martorell and 235,000 from Navarra although the volumes are likely to be lower in the first year and slightly higher in the second year during the production ramp-up Seat will stick to the targets of producing 500,000 units per year in Martorell and 300,000 in Navarra – because this level is necessary to recoup the investments Series production of the Cupra Raval and the Skoda Epiq is scheduled to begin in March 2026 The VW ID.2 is to follow ‘a few weeks later’ and the VW ID.2 X around three months later Seat is also driving forward electromobility in Spain – where sales of electric cars are lagging behind other European markets – not only to secure electric car production and employment but also to boost sales we promised to electrify our company and put Spain on electric wheels we have been working hard to make this goal a reality,’ says Griffiths because this year 25 per cent of vehicles sold in Europe should be 100 per cent electric and we are only halfway there we are much further away at just over five per cent and there is no sign of improvement.’ the company has now signed the ‘CASA SEAT Declaration for the Promotion of Electromobility in Spain’ together with the Spanish government (represented by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism) the Comunitat Valenciana and the Government of Navarra “In the ‘CASA SEAT Declaration for the promotion of electric mobility in Spain’ the company and institutions commit to work to implement urgent measures to guarantee the success of the transformation towards electrification,” Seat wrote “The commitment aims to incentivise the purchase of electric vehicles with direct aid renew the public fleets of the different administrations with electric vehicles and proactively and positively communicate the advantages of electric vehicles.” The Spanish eMobility subsidy Moves III expired at the end of 2024 Work is currently still underway on funding for 2025 with the focus on ironing out the structural weaknesses of the programme some applicants currently have to wait two years for the environmental bonus to be paid out I agree with the Privacy policy electrive has been following the development of electric mobility with journalistic passion and expertise since 2013 we offer comprehensive coverage of the highest quality — as a central platform for the rapid development of this technology Museums often take a one-way approach to education: professionals teach, and the public learns. But what if we flipped this script? Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell, Founder and CEO of Cultural Inquiry urges us to give youth a voice in our museums by setting up a Children’s Board where kids can become co-creators and decision-makers empowering children to participate in everything from exhibit design to staff development can spark fresh ideas and transformative changes that benefit the whole institution Gordillo has advocated for the inclusion of young people in museum operations His work highlights that children possess unique perspectives and enthusiasm that can revitalize how museums operate Rather than viewing kids as passive participants setting up a Children’s Board makes them active contributors ensuring that their voices shape museum experiences When you give youth a voice in your museum A Children’s Board brings together a select group of young people—often ranging from primary school age through teens—to collaborate with museum professionals Members participate in brainstorming sessions and provide real-time feedback that shapes museum initiatives a Children’s Board shouldn’t be a one-off event with regular meetings and tangible opportunities for kids to contribute Gordillo highlights several lessons that resonate for any institution looking to give youth a voice in its museum: and India—have seen impressive results by setting up a Children’s Board Not only does it enhance the visitor experience through more interactive and playful exhibitions One striking example is a young participant named Susan who observed that the museum staff she encountered rarely smiled Her observation led to the introduction of regular play sessions for staff Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell’s message is clear: museum leaders need to be bold enough to let children take the reins at times Setting up a Children’s Board is more than a gesture—it’s a powerful blueprint for sustained innovation As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote in The Little Prince but only a few of them remember it.” When you give youth a voice in your museum and commit to setting up a Children’s Board you tap into that essential spirit of curiosity and possibility Let children’s perspectives guide you in reimagining not only exhibitions but the entire museum culture The future belongs to those who listen—and play Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell, Founder and CEO of Cultural Inquiry spoke at the Museum Learning Summit 2024. What does it take to translate a historic battlefield into a meaningful digital experience The National Trust for Scotland has set a benchmark with its.. I’m not referring to the chatter of schoolchildren or the ambient hum of dehumidifiers Claudia provides strategic counsel on all aspects of U.S immigration law to clients in a variety of industries From start-ups to multinational corporations Claudia takes a hands-on approach to helping her clients navigate the complex immigration system and develop programs to effectively and efficiently streamline immigration compliance Her goal is to create a best-in-class experience for employees at every stage of the immigration process Claudia’s experience includes nonimmigrant matters L,TN and O categories and all aspects of the permanent resident process Claudia’s interest in immigration law stems from her first-hand experience of the immigration process she can empathize with the challenges immigrants face in seeking lawful immigration status in the United States Her pursuit of a career in immigration law began after a legal internship at Legal Aid Society of San Diego She has found the experience of helping foreign nationals through the immigration process to be very rewarding Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_3" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_4" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_5" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_6" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_7" ).setAttribute( "value" Tuesday | May 06 2025 | a seasoned professional with two decades of hospitality experience in Europe and Asia has taken charge of the new Meliá Phuket Mai Khao a 30-suite and 70-villa resort due to open in December The Spanish-born general manager comes to Meliá Phuket Mai Khao after successfully opening Meliá Shanghai Parkside in China and SOL by Meliá Phu Quoc in Vietnam Martorell has worked with Meliá Hotels International for the entirety of her hospitality career beginning 20 years ago when she was selected to join the leading Spanish hotel group’s internal development program working as the operations manager at Tryp Rey Pelayo at Gijón in the north of Spain before becoming the resident manager at Meliá Barcelona She then became the general manager at Tryp Barcelona Aeropuerto before moving to Asia in 2012 to be the hotel manager at Meliá Bali and The Garden Villas “Martorell has grown with our hotel group to become an exceptional general manager and her rich experience and vast knowledge of our brand place her in excellent stead to launch Meliá Phuket Mai Khao,” said Ignacio Martin “As Thailand reopens to the world and embarks on a new chapter my team and I are excited about Meliá Phuket Mai Khao’s debut and what it brings to this beautiful island including a prime focus on our guests’ inner wellbeing amid a restorative atmosphere and terrific Asian and Mediterranean gastronomy,” said Martorell vivek.mittal@businessworld.in, amit.bhasin@businessworld.in Subscribe to our newsletter to get updates on our latest news Antonio Martorell has been working as an artist since the 1960s This article is part of a series created by United Voices, a new AFAR immersion program that brings together local content creators and AFAR editors for workshops, reporting stories, and experiencing a destination together. We make our debut in Puerto Rico Antonio Martorell has for decades been one of Puerto Rico’s celebrated artists; in March 2023 President Biden awarded him the National Medal of Arts calling Martorell “one of Puerto Rico’s greatest cultural ambassadors.” we sat down with Martorell at his sprawling studio on Calle Salmon in Ponce This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity Martorell also works with younger artists to help them develop their vision there is more of what I like than of what I dislike to be able to reach [people] and to communicate even further One advantage of doing different things—theater sculpture—is that every time you go into one you learn from doing that and you apply it to the other discipline you are taking up next becomes a source of the so-called inspiration I prefer “transfiguration” because you get an idea And sweating it doesn’t mean “in pain.” You sweat in pleasure I only consider myself someone who wants to do things there wasn’t a single museum in Puerto Rico and before them there had been the talla de santos [carving of saints] But there was no place for one to see any of it It was in the ’50s that a group was established What we have to be very conscious about is that we are all heirs of a tradition that is old as it is new I remember when I did my first exhibit in New York There were critics that were surprised to see that I had a piece titled “Rilke’s House” after Rainer Maria Rilke ?” And I would respond: “That is part of my heritage [as an artist] Martorell says he will never tire of producing art But I can share my experience and my experience is: Be aware Be aware of what happens here [in Puerto Rico] and elsewhere and respond to it the two teachers that I had at the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture in San Juan: [Lorenzo] Homar and [Rafael] Tufiño taught me the relationship between a word and an image It’s not just merchandise; it is not a brand that you pay for just as efficient and as profound as mathematics Why would you want to end having pleasure and giving pleasure No other activity accepts the excess of art AFAR participates in affiliate marketing programs which means we may earn a commission if you purchase an item featured on our site.© 2025 AFAR LLC News | UK Police investigating the murder of a woman in Londonderry have named her as Montserrat Martorell Elias A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 65-year-old was found following a “horrific” attack and a fire at a flat in the city Officers arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of murder and he was taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite for questioning I am aware of online speculation which is extremely unhelpful and deeply distressing to Ms Elias’ family Police said that the victim suffered a “horrific attack and sustained multiple injuries” Crews from NI Fire and Rescue Service responded to reports of a fire at the house along with NI Ambulance Service and our officers Detective Chief Inspector Anthony Kelly said: “Our investigation is moving at a fast pace “Ms Elias was sadly pronounced dead at the scene “I am aware of online speculation which is extremely unhelpful and deeply distressing to Ms Elias’ family Mr Kelly said that detectives are working at full pace to establish exactly what happened Mr Kelly made an earlier appeal: “At this stage trainers and a light coloured shirt between 1am and 2am,” he added Mike Lynch associate Stephen Chamberlain 'died of head injury after car hit him' Notting Hill murder: Photos issued of witnesses sought following chef's death More than 200 people sentenced for offences linked to recent disorder Mountaineer Bonita Norris reveals how to overcome everyday obstacles “My thoughts at this time are first and foremost with Ms Elias’ family and friends in Spain who are left trying to come to terms with their loss “Our investigation is at an early stage and inquiries are ongoing “I am continuing to appeal to anyone who may have any information A report can be submitted online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport Prince Louis steals the show at VE Day parade as he keeps dad William looking sharp and mimics brother George Prince Louis steals show with sweet antics at VE parade VE Day 2025 fashion: best looks from the day VE Day 2025 fashion: Princess of Wales to Lady Victoria Starmer Royals watch historic flypast as huge crowds turns out for VE Day 80th anniversary  Royals watch historic Red Arrows flypast for VE Day 80th anniversary UK tourists face major travel shake-up as Dubai airport set to close David Beckham’s 50th birthday bash in London 'shut down' by council over noise complaints David Beckham’s 50th birthday bash 'shut down' over noise complaints Stream PBS SoCal and your favorite PBS programs to your TV and devices wherever Celebrate AAPI Month on PBS SoCal all May with exclusive programs Find full episodes and educational games from Curious George Support PBS SoCal and watch full seasons of your favorite shows she provides a broad and comprehensive community development strategy that includes human rights advocacy neighborhood empowerment and social enterprises She helped establish 'Thai Town' and an 'annual' community event celebrating the Thai and API communities she mobilized the Thai community in Southern California to protest the atrocities committed by the military junta against civilian demonstrators in Bangkok demanding a peaceful return to democracy for Thailand and its people she co-authored the Mid-City Plan for the Coalition of Neighborhood Developers which sought to address the lack of economic resources in an inner-city area of Los Angeles The pivotal event also led her to documenting the demographics and social and human service needs of Thais in Los Angeles for the first time in a landmark community needs assessment study as a way to advocate for more resources in underserved communities She is known most notably for her work on over a half dozen major human rights cases involving over 2,000 Thai victims of human trafficking who were discovered working in conditions of slavery in the United States Her tireless advocacy on behalf of the victims and the success of each case has made her a leading expert and sought-after spokesperson on the serious issue of modern-day slavery She taught a course entitled “Human Trafficking and Modern-day Slavery” at the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures PBS SoCal is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.Tax ID: 95-2211661 https://www.derrynow.com/section/1245/advertise-with-us All the latest breaking local news from Derry and County Derry Keep up to date with the latest sports news Read all the latest crime & court news in Derry and County Derry Read all the latest Irish news and updates from around Ireland Catch up on all the latest business news in Derry and County Derry Find whats happening in and around Derry and County Derry Enjoy our award winning photos and picture galleries taken in Derry and County Derry Read about the latest properties available in Derry and County Derry Enjoy our latest and up to date motoring review and news in Derry and County Derry Derry and County Derry Met Eireann Weather Forecast Recent death notices and obituaries from Derry and County Derry Latest environmental and climate change news in County Derry Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter Support our mission and join our community now you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism United Against Racism Derry and North West have hit out at those who spread online rumors in regards to the tragic murder of Montserrat Martorell in Derry last weekend was found dead in a flat in Harvey Street on Saturday A man has been remanded in custody charged with her murder. In addition to the charge of murder the man has been charged with rape and arson with intent to endanger life UAR spokesperson Davy McAuley said: "The brutal killing of a woman in Derry was truly shocking and we extend our heartfelt condolences to the victim’s family and friends "It is deeply concerning that within hours of the brutal murder of a woman rampant misinformation was being spread online regarding this incident "Individuals and groups attempting to exploit this tragedy to further their own racist agendas "This behavior is not only disrespectful to the victim and their loved ones but also dangerous to our community "We have seen similar tactics after the tragic killings in Southport False information was disseminated to stir up racial tensions and bring more racist violence onto our streets "Some people may innocently share this misinformation but there is no doubt that those creating it and disseminating it are trying to cause society to fracture "Racism and hate have no place in our society Derry people are better than obnoxious lies and damaging trope filled horror stories to exploit a brutal murder "People need to think before spreading dangerous misinformation Lies on social media have real world consequences." " + $(".testo_articolo").html().replace(//g please subscribe and support local journalism Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles To continue reading this article for FREE,please kindly register and/or log in Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news Derry BT redundancy payments capped at one year Derry - Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign The role offers an attractive package for the right candidate Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie The Heat and the Fury: On the Frontlines of Climate Violence (London: Footnote Press Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– Although climate change does not directly cause conflict it makes violence more likely to occur and to be more intense The effects of climate change act as ‘threat […] Zwickau/Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– When Germans voted in a national election in September 2021 33% of the population considered that the environment and climate were among the two main problems Germany was facing one month before last weekend’s election only 13% of the population held the […] author of Tahrir’s Youth: “The problems and grievances that drove the 2011 Egyptian revolution remain and are much worse today” Munich Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) — Born in the United States to Egyptian parents Rusha Latif is an independent researcher based in the San Francisco Bay Area The Center of the World: A Global History of the Persian Gulf from the Stone Age to the Present (Berkeley: University of California Press Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– Historically known as the Persian Gulf the body of water stretching from Iraq on the northwest to […] “How to Lose a War: The Story of America’s Intervention in Afghanistan” (New Haven and London: Yale University Press Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– More than three years have passed since US troops left Afghanistan in August 2021 putting an end to an occupation that lasted two […] Policy Has Failed in the Middle East” (New Haven and London: Yale University Press Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– Yemen goes through a civil war that does not end “The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Making of the Modern Middle East” (New York: Basic Books Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– How did Ottoman Damascus descend into violence and looting in July 1860 Why did the Damascene masses fall upon the Christians “Elastic Empire: Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine” (Stanford: Stanford University Press Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– The impact of US military aid on Palestine is there for everyone to see Israel has been the largest recipient of US military aid Battleground: 10 Conflicts That Explain the New Middle East New Haven and London: Yale University Press Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– The title of Christopher Phillips’ latest book “Battleground: Ten Conflicts that Explain the New Middle East” Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at: The Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service reconnected with alumni Andreana Madera-Martorell and Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson to see where they are today and learn more about how they are making an impact in their own communities where she began research in geothermal energy and was offered a graduate assistantship “I wanted to do something that would not only benefit the environment Dina López) called and explained to me what geothermal energy was and how we could be using an abandoned coal mine that was just sitting there it's something that has to do with the community as well.” Her research focused on the potential to use an abandoned underground coal mine near The Plains Ohio as a heat source through geothermal energy and develop education efforts for the field Madera-Martorell said her interest in sustainability combined with the collaboration amongst others in the program “What I loved about my research was that I received help from not only professors but also my colleagues,” Madera-Martorell said “Since my graduate assistantship was making geothermal energy Madera-Martorell also worked with the Geological Society of America (GSA) Her grants from the MSES program enabled her to attend an annual meeting for GSA where she presented her thesis as well as content for The Geology Project for which Madera-Martorell is a content creator and editor “(The Geology Project) serves as a platform for Latinx geoscientists to share their research work and experiences,” Madera-Martorell said “At this conference I had the opportunity to meet and network with many Latinx geoscientists which I still keep in touch with.” Madera-Martorell completed her Master’s degree in 2020 and now works as a physical scientist at the U.S Environmental Protection Agency in the water division Madera-Martorell said she learned about the government’s role in environmental efforts which helped her in her current position with the EPA “(My research) not only taught me more about hard sciences but also taught me about how to engage with the community,” Madera-Martorell said “It also helped me learn more about groundwater modeling which is great for what I want to work on in the future.” While her research at OHIO has been valuable for her career Madera-Martorell said the strength she felt among other women in the industry served as a force of hope for her “Something that I always carry in my heart and as an inspiration is when I entered the MSES program I noticed that there was a strong female empowerment feeling there,” Madera-Martorell “I feel like that really made an impact on me I was really inspired by them and I still am.” After Alex Wesaw completed his Bachelor of Science in Communication degree from Ohio University Lancaster in 2012, he became interested in public administration. The possibility for a graduate assistantship prompted him to apply to OHIO’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service that same year Wesaw focused his research on his interests in tribal governments and economic development particularly in reference to his own tribe Wesaw serves as the Division Director for American Indian Relations for the Ohio History Connection and an elected treasurer of his tribe Wesaw said he sees his research focus and work as a student in the Master of Public Administration program intertwining often in his current professional life the lack of tribal awareness in public administration or the lack of tribal administrators in the field helped me see that there's a really big need for this,” Wesaw said I see that these skills that I've learned are really invaluable.” After graduating from the Voinovich School in 2014 community and regional planning at Ohio State University becoming one of the only tribal planners with a doctorate degree he was named in the 2022 class of Native American 40 under 40 award recipients by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development Wesaw said achieving these milestones was especially significant to him in his connection with his tribal community we actually do things.’ And that's always resonated with me because I think it's really easy to talk about doing something or talk about why an idea is a good idea but actually doing it is hard,” Wesaw said “And that's one thing that I walked away with graduating was I had an idea about how to start doing things and how to get things done.” Wesaw stressed that while a lot of educational programs are turning to online instruction he hopes more students enter the MPA program as it has been very impactful to his professional and personal life today “I met people in the program that I'm still good friends with to this day and I've developed long-lasting relationships with my professors and I’m really thankful for that I would encourage other folks to consider getting out of their comfort zones I think (attending the MPA program) was really one of the best choices that I ever made,” he added Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson had a life goal: to complete her master’s degree before she turned 50 and before her three adolescent children began their higher education journeys. When she learned of the Executive Master of Public Administration Program at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service Frohnapfel-Hasson was working at the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services and she said her professional and educational life began to cross paths “It was a perfect opportunity to marry my professional work demands with what was happening in the courses that I was taking for the Executive MPA,” Frohnapfel-Hasson said I was able to combine them with the policy programming and marketing I was doing within state government.” The department she was working at then has now merged into the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services where Frohnapfel-Hasson currently serves as Chief for the Office of Prevention Services “Everything that we do at the state level is focused on being data informed for the best possible outcome for the citizens of Ohio and especially for those people who might need behavioral health services,” Frohnapfel-Hasson said “I think (the Executive MPA) was absolutely the background I needed to be able to move forward in my career and in helping a dedicated team establish the best possible services for Ohio communities.” the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is working with the Voinovich School in implementing the Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Prevention and Promotion In reconnecting with the Voinovich School through this new program Frohnapfel-Hasson was reminded of her time at the university “Having past experience with Ohio University I was confident in building a solid foundation for science to practice among the Center of Excellence and the state’s behavioral healthcare prevention providers and partners,” Frohnapfel-Hasson said In achieving her goal of obtaining her master’s degree Frohnapfel-Hasson reflected on the importance of connecting with colleagues during her time at the Voinovich School as they helped her to approach her work from a number of perspectives we had professionals from all walks of life in all stages of their careers,” Frohnapfel-Hasson said “The experience helped  me to view the issues that I would be challenged with in the coming years through a number of different lenses I was better equipped to look at new initiatives from every angle which I believe helped to ensure greater success overall.” © 2025 Ohio University. All rights reserved. LAKEVILLE — Patricia Van Wagner Martorell Swanson Thomas Martorell and Rollind Swanson as well as her siblings Meryl Seymour Harry “Davy” Van Wagner and Sandra Van Wagner Cowan and peaceful life and enjoyed spending time with her family Cindi Breen and Penni Martorell; and her sons-in-law Bob Green She leaves six grandchildren: Seth and Jason Green Michael and Savannah Breen; and one great grand-daughter Bailey Twing as well as many nieces and nephews and friends of the Sheffield Kingdom Hall She will be remembered for her love of babies and children Services will be private and held at a later date Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to a charity of choice Download directly KENT — Frederick Wright Hosterman passed away peacefully in his home in Kent on April 16 He attended a one-room schoolhouse just outside of Brownville The little brick schoolhouse is still standing Fred attended the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) eventually earning a master’s degree in agronomy where the company was a pioneer in applying biotechnology to agricultural sciences Fred and Dorothy moved to New York City for several years in the early 1960s and Fred bought a large tract of land on Carter Road in Kent which he maintained until his death at age 95 he spent the following decades working on his property and spending time with his children and grandchildren Fred had a jovial and close relationship with many of his neighbors all willing to share a cup of coffee or receive various bits of wisdom from Fred on any number of projects Fred was predeceased by his parents; Helen and Arch Hosterman He is survived by his three children and their spouses; John and his husband Eric of Northfield He is also survived by his five grandchildren; Nicky doing a little “dance” for almost anyone he met Another of Fred’s favorite hobbies was chopping down trees on his land this started out as a necessity for fueling his wood stoves tree-clearing projects were aimed at enhancing the magnificent view from his house high atop Carter Road Fred was frequently on his excavator moving boulders or building a retaining wall passed away peacefully in her sleep at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington She was the second youngest of five children where she graduated from Northwestern Regional 7 High School Nancy is predeceased by her husband and the love of her life Often nicknamed “the love birds,” they were true soulmates and shared many wonderful years together filled with love Nancy is also survived by 11 nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly — Lori She was a special aunt leaving behind so many happy and joyful memories She never missed attending her nieces’ and nephews’ special events Nancy worked for over 20 years at Raynard and Pierce in Canaan There she made many friendships and brightened the day of everyone who went through the door greeted by her smile and jovial spirit aunt and friend and will be missed by all who’s lives she touched A graveside service will be held at Collinsville Cemetery on Huckleberry Hill Road in Canton on Saturday followed by a reception at 5 Cherry Brook Road Memorial donations may be made in Nancy’s name to the Berkshire Humane Society where Nancy adopted her loving cat and faithful companion passed away peacefully in his home on April 22 Adam spent his early childhood in Nantucket where his love of fishing and water was born before moving to Sharon It was here where he made many lifelong friends and later graduated from Housatonic Valley Regional High School in 1984 He attended Hiram College in Ohio before settling in Connecticut a seasoned contractor and practiced carpenter He was always eager to learn and became a skilled woodworker in his later years of life Samantha Rand (Nantucket) and Jack Rand (Canaan) as well as the mother of his children and former wife Services will be held for immediate family only please consider a donation to: Compassionate Care ALS Seat is investing three billion euros in the conversion of its Martorell plant near Barcelona for the production of electric small cars This was announced by the Spanish Volkswagen brand on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the location which at the same time heralds the transformation of the plant In order to be able to produce small electric cars for the Volkswagen Group here from 2025, the plant will be converted and the employees trained. Specifically, the VW and Cupra electric cars will be built in Martorell an electric Skoda in the four-metre class will probably follow and also be built in Spain In order to prepare for the production of electric vehicles for the various Group brands Seat says it has drawn up a “strategic plan comprising five main pillars” The ‘People and Organisation’ pillar includes staff training while the ‘Electrification and Product’ pillar covers vehicle development – Seat is leading the ‘Small BEV’ development for the VW Group The other pillars are ‘end-to-end production’ (E2E) ‘digitalisation’ and ‘sustainability’ about 12,000 people are employed at the Martorell plant which covers an area of about 400 football pitches The site was opened in 1993 and since then 12 million cars have been produced there the Leon family and the Seat Cordoba accounted for the most units the most frequently built model at the factory is the Cupra Formentor which is also available as a plug-in hybrid “Our ambition is to produce electric vehicles made in Spain from 2025 and Martorell will also manufacture the CUPRA UrbanRebel,” said Wayne Griffiths the most important for our company in the years ahead our employees and the factory will begin a new era.” While in Martorell the two small electric cars are to replace the combustion engine models VW Polo and Seat Ibiza, according to earlier reports the Pamplona vehicle plant could produce electric crossovers of the small car series in the future. So far, such a VW model has been called the ID.2 X – but since the ID.2 could reportedly become the ID. Golf the crossover model may also be called something else seat-mediacenter.com A man has been charged with the murder of Montserrat Martorell in Derry A man has been charged with murdering Montserrat Martorell (65) in Londonderry at the weekend the 28-year-old man has also been charged other offences including arson with intent to endanger life He will appear before Londonderry Magistrates Court on Thursday Ms Martorell’s body was found in a burning flat in a house at the Harvey Street area of the city in the early hours of last Saturday morning She had sustained multiple injuries in what the police described as an horrific and sustained attack The injuries were so extensive that initially the police were unable to identify the victim Crews from NI Fire and Rescue Service had responded to the fire along with NI Ambulance Service and police officers police were granted a further 18 hours to question the man as they awaited witness statements and the results of forensic examinations Police investigations have also focused on CCTV and mobile phone evidence related to the case At Wednesday’s closed hearing at the city’s magistrates’ court two court clerks and a member of the press the suspect appeared on a video link from the Musgrave PSNI custody suite Also in the suite were the suspect's solicitor Keith Kyle and six police officers Deputy District Judge Philip Mateer KC ordered that nothing that could identify the suspect should be made public Receive today's headlines directly to your inbox every morning and evening Please check your inbox to verify your details the man accused of the murder of Spanish national Montserrat Martorell (65) in Derry city centre appeared via video link at Derry courthouse from Musgrave Street police station in Belfast last week He also faces charges including arson with intent to endanger life Ms Martorell’s body was discovered by the members of NIFS tasked to a blaze at her Harvey Street flat The PSNI revealed later that day she had suffered a “horrific attack and sustained multiple injuries” Murray was arrested on Monday During the short hearing last week, Murray confirmed his date of birth and address and that he understood the charges. There was no application for bail and the accused was remanded in custody until September 26. Facebook pageTwitter feedRSS feed@2025 The Irish News Ltd Stories My professors and mentors at UMBC have never told me to curb my ambitions or endeavors I am convinced that UMBC has given me unique opportunities no other university would have Daniela Mujica-Martorell is interested in how the concept of “design” can shift and change in different cultural contexts immigrant who frequently transferred between schools growing up and says UMBC has given her a strong sense of belonging and community not felt anywhere else She is thankful for the campus’ inclusive culture which she says has provided her many opportunities to explore what it means to be a global citizen This past year, she worked with Kyung-Eun Yoon, modern languages and linguistics, on an URCAD project that explored the impact of globalization on design processes in South Korea and in 2015 she studied abroad at Sophia University in Tokyo she has also been involved with the campus Korean Dance Club and the Japanese Student Association she is working on adding Korean to her repertoire she has performed translation work on a research project for the psychology department Mujica-Martorell is a member of several honors societies She has served as senior managing editor for Bartleby UMBC’s literary arts journal; an architecture and engineering assistant for Facilities Management; a student reviewer for the visual arts department promotion and tenure committee; and as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate course in international law She has also participated in UMBC’s Camerata Mujica-Martorell plans to apply for a Fulbright scholarship where she hopes to travel to South Korea to continue her research on the role of design in shaping national and cultural identities Sign up for our weekly UMBC Top Stories email: Share a story idea and learn more about the news team Confirming Ms Martorell’s identity on Monday Detective Chief Inspector Anthony Kelly also warned about “online speculation” regarding her death He said: “I am aware of online speculation which is extremely unhelpful and deeply distressing to Ms Martorell’s family He added: “Our detectives are working at full pace to establish exactly what happened. “Our investigation is at an early stage and enquiries are ongoing. I am continuing to appeal to anyone who may have any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to contact detectives on 101.” People attend a vigil in Guildhall Square to commemorate the lives of Montserrat Martorell and Sophie Watson A week ago, on Sunday 9th of August, a special film music concert was held in Mallorca, Spain with the composers Joan Martorell and Sergio de la Puente (read news) presenting a series of works included in different films which they have composed both separately and together Gori Martínez attended the concert on behalf of SoundTrackFest and tells us about it in the following special article The venue where the concert was held is located near the Mallorcan town of Porreres Unlike the concerts that Joan Martorell has given in the past in this town this time the venue was not the Auditori de Porreres but the Monti-Sion Sanctuary and the concert was part of this year’s program of the ‘Sons de Nit’ cycle It should be noted that even though the courtyard was full of people the prevention measures for the COVID-19 Coronavirus were scrupulously respected both with the necessary safety distances along with the rest of the measures such as face masks Images of some of the themes were projected Pedro Barbadillo’s documentary about Camilo José Cela; La danza de Formentor and Campamento Albanta The entire concert was performed by the two composers accompanied by the trumpet of Bernat Xavier Xamena the guitar of Guillem Fullana and the voice of Mary Lambourne Other instruments were also added through the synthesizers with an exchange between Sergio and Joan on the keyboards Joan explained how he met Sergio more than 10 years ago thanks to a workshop on composing music for video games which exchange the music they had made previously and begin their common journey with the award-winning animated film ‘The Missing Lynx’ by director Raúl García From here they have worked together and their last collaboration is in the A3Media series with soundtrack that they have both composed The most touching moment of the evening was when a piece of Cinema Paradiso was performed as a tribute to the Great Maestro Ennio Morricone, who has recently left us (read special articles about Ennio Morricone here) The concert started at 10 pm under a clear sky full of stars and with some of them fleeting The concert started with the piece composed by Joan Martorell while projecting beautiful images of nature captured with the Time Lapse system This was followed by a track composed by Sergio de la Puente from his album CABOT COVE and performed by himself on the piano The third track was again by Joan Martorell belonging to the documentary of the filmmaker Joan Martí Mir The fifth piece was the finalist song of the Goya Awards we could listen to LA DANZA DE LA SANGRE from the film HAMBRE composed by Joan Martorell; a song that had already been performed at the Pollensa Festival with the Chamber Film Orchestra some years ago Then came the piece NOT THE END from the film SIN FIN we could see the short film of nearly five minutes by the Alenda brothers with soundtrack played by Joan and Sergio in synchronization with the film which was composed by Sergio de la Puente and was accompanied on the accordion by Joan Martorell This theme had already been performed at the Bellver Castle in Mallorca a few years ago with the Chamber Film Orchestra And then came the special moment of the night who played the piano accompanied by trumpet and guitar Then we could listen to LA DANZA DE FORMENTOR a documentary about Camilo José Cela directed by Pedro Barbadillo with soundtrack was composed by Joan Martorell The performance was accompanied by images of the documentary filmed in the viewpoint of Formentor with the dance group of the writer’s granddaughter we listened to the music of CAMPAMENTO ALBANTA the main theme of the beginning of the chapters of the series The applause of the public managed to get an encore especially at this time when live film music concerts are scarce which we hope will soon subside and let us return to enjoy live music as usual Do you like music from films, games, and TV series? Discover a way to enjoy that music live in SoundTrackFest. Here you will find all the information you need to live your favorite Soundtracks and meet the Composers. Clip: Season 2 | 7m 26sVideo has Closed Captions | CC Martorell has been at the forefront of Puerto Rican art for over half a century Painter and sculptor Antonio Martorell has been at the forefront of Puerto Rico's artistic conversations for more than half a century Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback Articulate is a local public television program presented by PBS39 Link Copied to ClipboardHow to Watch ArticulateArticulate is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio. Copyright © 2025 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization Sign in with EmailNew to PBS? Create an account Are you sure you want to remove null from My List In addition to the charge of murder, the man, who was arrested on Monday, has been charged with rape and arson with intent to endanger life. He is due to appear before Derry Magistrates Court on Thursday. Ms Martorell (65), originally from Spain but who had been living in Derry, sustained multiple injuries in what police described as an “horrific and sustained attack” at Harvey Street in the city The injuries were so extensive that initially the police were unable to identify the victim. A man has appeared at Derry Magistrate's Court today charged with the murder of 65-year-old Montserrat Martorell who was found dead following a fire in a house in Harvey Street Ciaran Murray (28) of Gortfoyle Place in Derry appeared by Sightlink from Musgrave Street custody suite He was charged with the murder of Ms Martorell on August 24 He was further charged with the rape of the woman on the same date and a charge of arson with intent to endanger life of a property at 10 Harvey Street in Derry again on the same date Murray only spoke briefly to confirm his identity and that he understood the charges A PSNI Detective Inspector said she could connect the accused to the charges Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said that he had no questions for the Inspector and added that there would be no application for bail 'certainly not at this time.' He asked for an adjournment for a period of 4 weeks and said there would be no need for the defendant to appear then Deputy District Judge Laura Ievers told Murray that he was being remanded in custody and told him to keep in touch with his legal representatives.  Murray was remanded in custody to appear again on September 26 Aspiring screenwriters and directors are a dime a dozen here in Los Angeles and everyone is trying to have their project made Just ask that guy with the laptop at your local Starbucks distribution and a universal green light are about the same as winning the lottery having the right connections and a whole lot of luck to achieve success in the industry of filmmaking his drama/thriller feature film COLLISION will premiere on Netflix Martorell has seen success on both sides of the pond He’s the co-founder of the Festival du Film Court de Vaulx-en-Velin in France now in its twentieth year and he founded his film production company FM Pictures LLC in Los Angeles over a decade ago TROMATIZED: MEET LLOYD KAUFMAN to UNBELIEF starring Andrew Howard and Tobin Bell and the short drama THE COIN starring Christopher Lloyd and Kathryn Morris Martorell’s projects have taken home awards from many major international film festivals His latest venture with Netflix is COLLISION the film takes place over the course of one fateful day a corrupt businessman and his socialite wife race to save their daughter from a notorious crime lord We sat down with Martorell to talk about the process of making the film and more: Tell us about how you connected with Netflix to stream COLLISION One of our producers was already connected with Netflix and she pitched Collision to them They gave us notes on the script and we had to do a few rewrites before having it greenlit Once we all agreed on a few production details we mostly had the freedom on the creative side of the project You’re one of several writers on the screenplay I co-wrote the script with two South African screenwriters Siphosethu Tshapu and Sean Cameron Michael as we were working on a different project prior How did the concept of the movie come about I actually went to Johannesburg three years ago for another project I was in a car with Siphosethu and we were driving in Johannesburg because he wanted to show me around Everything was very cinematic and full of life I immediately told him that it would be a great location to start a film – at this exact crossroad – an intense emotional complex story of characters from different walks of life spanning racial and cultural lines Siphosethu loved the idea and started to write the first draft I’m proud of the film because Collision is a drama that has some elements of suspense/thriller – a fast-paced The story explores universal themes and connects with South African How long did it take from “idea” to filming which took at least a year and a half once we got our first draft to filming what were the challenges of filming during COVID shut downs The first challenge was that I didn’t know any of the crew members since it was my first time filming there The second challenge was shooting in the middle of the pandemic We also had to deal with repetitive power-outages All of these obstacles impacted our schedule I’m very grateful to the cast and crew What advice do you have for aspiring screenwriters and directors in Hollywood Preparation is key and it’s also why I managed to make this film happen regardless of the pandemic so I was prepared even before the pre-production and it allowed me to make the right decisions when needed and to keep up with the schedule Martorell is in post-production for his second feature documentary www.fabienmartorell.com just news.” The latest stories in entertainment and lifestyle SEAT S.A has announced plans to build a battery cell assembly plant at its Martorell facility in Spain The plant will also be used to assemble the cells that PowerCo will manufacture at its gigafactory in Sagunto This project will ensure more than 400 direct jobs and more than 100 indirect jobs 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the Martorell site and SEAT S.A is investing a total of three billion euros into its electrification says: “This is a key moment for our industry and the Volkswagen Group are committing major resources to achieving sustainable mobility And to continue advancing our ambition to turn Spain into a hub for electric mobility in Europe.” He adds: “We are investing 10 billion euros the largest industrial investment in the history of Spain create thousands of jobs and maintain the country’s competitiveness I want to thank all the people who are working to make this possible: public administrations trade unions and our employees and partners SEAT S.A's ambition is to produce three million BEVs in total between 2025 and 2030. 2017 5:30 p.m.00:00 / The visual artist Antonio Martorell was in San Juan when Hurricane Maria made landfall Puerto Rico in September He lives a couple hours away in a small beach town and spent several frantic days worried sick about his family and workshop And this gracious 78-year-old gentleman — seldom seen without one of his trademark hats —  takes disaster as a matter of course were among the few structures in town that survived Hurricane Maria's wind and rain Mario Galluci / Courtesy of Linfield College Martorell and his staff of five “collaborative artists,” as he calls them have been painting fallen trees in vivid colors: “Turning them into fish Some are already sprouting leaves because part of the roots are still on the ground,” he said Mario Gallucci / Courtesy of Linfield College "One of my mottos is 'Finding grace is disgrace' — making the most of everything. Being a Puerto Rican, that comes easily to me," Martorell said.Antonio Martorell found a way, despite blackout conditions, to get his prints, sketches, sculptures — and himself — to Linfield College in McMinnville this month for an exhibition two years in the making Prints show umbrellas bent — not broken — by gale-force winds Hats stand stacked in teetering underwater structures “Umbrella Wall,” in which dozens of stacked black umbrellas create the handles are tied together with cheerful cascades of red Martorell is famous throughout the Latin world as an artist He thrives in graphic disciplines like poster making where his lyrical feel for color and warm humor can shine Declaration of Linfield / Declaración de Linfield While he does find opportunity in disaster he was mortified to hear an American President invoke limits to disaster aid and to see rolls of paper towels thrown into the crowd like T-shirts headed for the bleacher seats "I myself advocate independence for Puerto Rico I think this attitude by the 45th President is going to help the cause of independence it's because we're going to get together and work."Antonio Martorell's exhibition "Rain/Lluvia" is on view at Linfield Gallery He’ll give a talk Wednesday at Linfield at 7 p.m Tags: Arts, Local, Nw Life Stand with OPB and protect independent journalism for everyone Listen to the OPB News live stream (opens new window)Streaming Now and blue yarns."},{"_id":"5GBAISFG6JARZH24FUUGQFKA4U","type":"text","content":"Martorell is famous throughout the Latin world as an artist 2017.","caption":"Declaration of Linfield / Declaración de Linfield \"I myself advocate independence for Puerto Rico it's because we're going to get together and work.\"Antonio Martorell's exhibition \"Rain/Lluvia\" is on view at Linfield Gallery 18."},{"_id":"RHN6KUOQG5BQJAY6XD7DBKUZGE","type":"text","content":"He’ll give a talk Wednesday at Linfield at 7 p.m were among the few structures in town that survived Hurricane Maria's wind and rain.","caption":"Martorel's home and studio \"State of Wonder,\" at Oregon Public Broadcasting she worked as a reporter and was the local host of \"Morning Edition\" at OPB reporter and occasional music host at several stations in Ohio She earned a degree in communications from Ohio State University April grew up in the Midwest and now lives in Portland Josep Maria Martorell Codina – the first M of MBM Arquitectes a key office in modern Spanish architecture – The son of a prestigious educator who raised him in the Scout Movement his studio partner during his entire career A graduate of the ETSAB (Barcelona School of Architecture) he was active in the Catholic anti-Franco movement and founded the mythical Grup R before establishing his own studio with Bohigas in 1951 (David Mackay would join them in 1961 He developed a long career as architect and designer completing key buildings of modernity from 1950 to 1970 in Catalonia and Spain and combined his work as an architect with writing and occasional positions in the Administration and the COAC (Catalonia Institute of Architects) Martorell had a prominent role in the Olympic Villa of Barcelona where he served as director of architecture and urbanism and was able to show his sensibility for the city as well as his skills as conspicuous designer and builder there arent any match using your search terms Reynaldo Martorell lived on a banana plantation He often walked along the outskirts of the grounds noting the difference between living conditions on the plantation and in the villages abutting it The homes outside the plantation lacked running water and electricity they were better off than people who lived in the villages he has devoted his life's work to calling attention to the interplay between maternal and child nutrition He was one of the first investigators to trace the long-term impact of improved childhood nutrition on health and development he studied a group of adults 40 years after they had participated in a nutrition trial as young children Martorell connected their nutrition as infants to a range of outcomes as adults Better nutrition as children resulted in better outcomes as adults Woodruff Professor of International Nutrition and former chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health at Rollins His honors include the Carlos Slim Award for lifetime achievement in research benefitting Latin American populations and election to the Institute of Medicine Martorell continues to study the effects of childhood nutrition on adults in Guatemala in collaboration with global health professor Aryeh Stein and has undertaken projects in Mexico The Great Chinese Famine of 1959–1961 may have been the worst in human history killing an estimated 16 million to 40 million people It resulted from Mao Tse-tung's "Great Leap Forward" campaign so he forced people living in rural provinces into communes and put his attention and resources into massive industrialization Soon there were sharp declines in crop production and what little food that was produced was shipped to cities "I have researched the long-term consequences of poor nutrition in early life particularly in utero and the first two years (often called the first 1,000 days) for a long time," says Martorell Woodruff Professor of International Nutrition at Rollins School of Public Health His early work showed that babies who were malnourished in utero and during their first two years of life were likely to be stunted and have lower IQs Studying the effects of the famine was an extension of his interests "Starving is a horrible and senseless way to die but I've often wondered about the millions of children who survived the famine How are they faring today?" Martorell began a series of studies with colleagues in China and with Cheng Huang who was a postdoc at Emory who is now an economist with at George Washington University Huang developed the analytical model that they used in these studies Findings point to the importance of good nutrition in early life for future health and well-being "We hope that China and other societies across the world will take this to heart and invest in women and children," Martorell says Chinese women are still affected by iron-deficiency anemia and other micronutrient deficiencies "Improving programs to distribute these supplements should be a top item on China's public health to-do list." Read More in Public Health Magazine >> Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors Metrics details Fast and accurate threat detection is critical for animal survival Reducing perceptual ambiguity by integrating multiple sources of sensory information can enhance perception and reduce response latency studies addressing the link between behavioral correlates of multisensory integration and its underlying neural basis are rare Fish that detect an urgent threat escape with an explosive behavior known as C-start The C-start is driven by an identified neural circuit centered on the Mauthner cell an identified neuron capable of triggering escapes in response to visual and auditory stimuli Here we demonstrate that goldfish can integrate visual looms and brief auditory stimuli to increase C-start probability This multisensory enhancement is inversely correlated to the salience of the stimuli with weaker auditory cues producing a proportionally stronger multisensory effect We also show that multisensory stimuli reduced C-start response latency with most escapes locked to the presentation of the auditory cue We make a direct link between behavioral data and its underlying neural mechanism by reproducing the behavioral data with an integrate-and-fire computational model of the Mauthner cell This model of the Mauthner cell circuit suggests that excitatory inputs integrated at the soma are key elements in multisensory decision making during fast C-start escapes This provides a simple but powerful mechanism to enhance threat detection and survival studies where behavioral correlates of multisensory integration can be directly tied to activity in an identified neuronal circuit are very rare and limited by the complexity and distribution of the neuronal networks involved The one-to-one relationship between a C-start and the firing of the Mauthner cell offers a unique opportunity to study how multisensory integration in a single neuron impacts on a fast escape behavior auditory and visual stimuli can be integrated to enhance C-start probability and reduce response latency We also show that an integrate-and-fire computational model of the Mauthner cell reproduces fish responses to multisensory stimuli making a direct link between behavioral data and its underlying neural mechanism Experimental setup and stimulus design Computer-generated visual and auditory stimuli were delivered through a video projector and a water-proof speaker A clear acetate sheet delimited the experimental arena An LED was turned on synchronously with auditory stimulus onset while a high speed camera recorded fish behavior visual stimuli and the state of the LED for the duration of each trial (b) The visual loom expanded from a subtended angle of 2° to 100° in 5.3 s (L/V = 0.192) When visual and auditory stimuli were combined the auditory stimulus onset preceded the end of visual expansion by 160 ms (c) Six intensities of visual stimuli (Michelson Index MI) and 6 intensities of auditory stimuli (amplitude in dB re 1 µPa) were combined into 36 different multisensory stimuli thus creating a 2D space of multisensory intensities Risk assessment is affected by prior motor state Alluvial diagram of fish motor behavior in each trial before and after stimulation The diagram shows the motor state before (Not Freezing N = 121) and after sensory stimulation (C-start N = 166) combining all stimulus conditions Each motor state is further divided by its “future” or “past” action (numbers within colored boxes) 54% of non-freezing animals executed a C-start while 60% of animals that did not changed their motor behavior were freezing before stimulation p = 0.3 [auditory]) which showed a bimodal distribution peaking at ± 60° (reflecting animals turning left or right) Duration of the initial bend lasted about 25 ms and was not affected by changes in stimulus intensity (Gaussian GLM Unisensory stimulus intensity modulates C-start response in non-freezing animals Unisensory C-start probability as a function of visual contrast (a N = 108) for non-freezing and freezing fish Number of trials for each intensity vary between n = 29–37 for non-freezing and n = 12–19 for freezing trials Alarm probability as a function of intensity for visual (c N = 108) unisensory stimuli for non-freezing and freezing fish Number of trials for each intensity varies between n = 25–34 for non-freezing and between n = 8–14 for freezing trials In (a–d) bars represent standard error for the proportion (e) Individual response times and density distributions for C-starts grouped by visual contrast (n = 83 Dots are shaded according to the looming’s subtended angle (°) from the perspective of the animal measured 1250 ms before the end of expansion Temporal scale is zeroed at the end of the loom expansion (dashed line) (f) Individual response times and density distributions for C-starts grouped by sound intensity (n = 70 Dots are shaded according to the animal’s distance to the speaker (cm) Temporal scale is zeroed at the onset of auditory stimulation (dashed line) Shaded red or blue areas show density distributions of response times computed using a gaussian kernel Vertical scatter was added for clarity in (e) and (f) although this correlation is only observed at larger amplitudes Animals located between 0 and 30 cm from the speaker had a mean response time of 10.64 + /−0.82 ms while those between 31 and 60 cm had a response time of 14.75 + /−0.67 ms (Two Sample T-Test Multisensory integration enhances C-start probability and reduces response time (a) C-start probability for non-freezing trials (n = 416 (c) Response times and overlaid density distribution of C-starts during multisensory stimulation The purple shade of each dot represents the amplitude of the auditory stimulus presented 160 ms before the end of visual expansion (dashed line) The 250 ms period after the auditory stimulus shows three distinct phases: a high concentration of responses right after auditory presentation (MSI an interval of low response probability (LP green) responses occurring around the end of visual expansion (n = 340 (d) Multisensory response time was modulated by the delay between the auditory and visual stimuli Sound intensity (149 dB) and visual contrast (MI 0.16) were invariant while the delay between auditory cue onset and end of loom was varied Response times follow the same pattern as in c but the LP interval increases with the auditory-visual delay (n = 136 Stacked bars show response probability before the auditory stimulus (dark grey) in the MSI (cyan) and UV (green) periods for each delay (e) ICs during the MSI period as a function of sound intensity colored by visual contrast (ei) or as function of visual contrast (eii) colored by auditory intensity (horizontal jitter is applied to ease visualization) ICs during the UV period as function of sound intensity and colored by visual contrast (fi) or as function of visual contrast colored by auditory intensity (fii) (horizontal jitter applied to ease visualization) Coefficients were calculated only for combinations which yielded responses within this period (19 out of 36) In (e–f) the horizontal dashed line represents no integration and the solid line and shaded area represent a linear fit to the data and 95% confidence intervals We excluded responses which occurred before auditory stimulus onset as these are unisensory visual responses (15% of the total) most responses were triggered following the auditory stimulus (MSI period cyan dots) while a small proportion of late responses were observed towards the end of the expansion (green dots) the duration of the LP period (grey area) was not fixed but dependent on the delay of the auditory pip with longer delays producing longer LP periods Varying the delay between the auditory pulse and the end of the expansion does not change response probability (binomial GLM, p = 0.28) nor the proportion of responses occurring during MSI (binomial GLM, p = 0.51, cyan area of stacked bars, Fig. 4d) the results suggest that a relatively weak sound stimulus occurring up to half a second before the end of visual expansion enhances response probability and shifts responses to the moment of its presentation effectively reducing C-start response delay compared to the visual-only condition these results confirm that a brief auditory cue combined with a low contrast visual loom enhances escape responsiveness compared to unisensory stimulation and reduces response time compared to a visual-only condition this enhancement is tightly restricted to a 40 ms window following the presentation of the auditory pip When responses reappear after the LP period These results prompted the question of the mechanisms underlying the multisensory enhancement of the escape response and the auditory-evoked effect on visual processing to effectively decrease response time Since rapid detection of a potential threat is critical to survival our rationale was that all relevant information should be rapidly conveyed to the decision node for escape We thus hypothesized that such network should integrate both visual and auditory stimuli with a very short latency and translate salience of integrated stimuli not into a graded response but into the probability of performing an all-or-none response such as a C-start We therefore tested the hypothesis that a computational model representing a single element It’s important to note that we did not attempt to produce a detailed model of the Mauthner cell circuit nor to explain the full complexity of the escape behavior but to determine the minimal neural features that could reproduce our empirical data (d) ICs as a function of sound intensity and colored by visual intensity (di) or as function of visual intensity and colored by auditory intensity (dii) the model shows enhanced multisensory integration during the MSI period and inverse effectiveness for auditory intensity (e) Modelled ICs during the UV period as a function of sound intensity and colored by visual intensity (ei) or as a function of visual intensity colored by auditory intensity (eii) (horizontal jitter applied to ease visualization) The dashed horizontal line represents no integration The agreement between modelled and experimental data reveals that inverse effectiveness can be explained by solely considering the summation of excitatory visual and auditory signals in the Mauthner Cell The boundary between LP and UV intervals is set by 5 and 95% of the responses (c) Response times for multisensory trials with variable delay in ms between the auditory stimulus and the end of visual stimulus for low (ci) medium (cii) or high (ciii) salience Black vertical segments represent the time of auditory stimulus presentation (n = 845) Stacked bars to the right show response probability before the auditory stimulus (dark grey) Numbers to the right indicate overall observed response probability for the simulation (ORP) Simulation was ran 100 times for each condition The model (run ten times more than behavioral trials) shows robustly that response probability in the LP and UV windows is not fixed but it increases for higher visual intensities a trend that was present but subtle in the behavioral experiments It also shows that most UV responses correspond to stimuli in which the sound component was weak computational results strongly suggest that the multisensory enhancement of the C-start response and its inverse effectiveness features can be explained by only considering the interaction of excitatory visual and auditory signals in the Mauthner Cell the temporal structure of the C-start response distribution can also be explained by a minimal model that accumulates excitation until reaching threshold The main questions posed in this paper are how goldfish integrate sensory information during risk assessment and whether this varies with the salience of the multisensory stimulus We found that the addition of a brief sound pulse is capable of enhancing detection while speeding up the response to a visual threat Multisensory enhancement disappears as unimodal salience increases to make single stimuli strong enough to bring the Mauthner cell to threshold Providing putative mechanistic grounds for these observations we found that behavioral results are reproduced by an Integrate and Fire model neuron it was enough to combine excitatory input currents with dynamics matching the temporal structure of the empirical auditory and visual stimuli to reproduce the multisensory response enhancement and the shift in response time The only difference remaining between the “visual” and “auditory” components is their temporal structure It is therefore not necessary to postulate complex differences between auditory and visual processing (even though they may exist) to explain their impact in response probability multisensory integration and inverse effectiveness: in this case it suffices to account for distinct temporal dynamics This underscores that the temporal structure of a sensory stimulus adds critical information to its meaning Conceptual model of multisensory integration in the Mauthner cell Mauthner cells showed a ramped depolarization as a consequence of the increasing visual expansion (red triangles bottom) or brief auditory pips (blue arrowhead Differences in cell excitability or other factors will produce different rates of depolarization in different cells (different curves in the same panel) 7 out of 10 cells reached threshold with a strong loom (upper left) while only 1 out of 10 of those cells reached threshold with a low intensity loom (upper right) A similar scenario can be observed when comparing strong and weak auditory stimuli (left and right middle panels) The effect of combining two strong or two weak stimuli is exemplified in the bottom panels A strong multisensory stimulus will depolarize all cells until threshold is reached (locked to the presentation of the auditory stimulus black dots) but the relative enhancement of response probability (0.94–1) would be minimal (6% two weak stimuli having a unisensory response probability of 0.1 might be combined to produce a summed depolarization that drives the Mauthner cell to threshold on 50% of the population (raising the IC = 0.45) The time point where each cell would have crossed threshold in the visual only condition (empty gray dots lower panels) shifts to the moment when the auditory stimulus occurs (black dots Curves indicate Mauthner cell depolarization in response to a visual loom colored red if it reaches threshold or grey if it does not Each plot indicates either the visual (P(V)) or auditory (P(A)) unimodal response probability or the Expected (ERP) and Observed (ORP) response probability and the resulting Integration Coefficient (IC) our findings suggest that excitatory inputs integrated at the Mauthner cell soma are key elements in multisensory decision making during fast C-start escapes That multisensory integration in single cells translates to actual behavioral advantage is a presumption that has received little empirical evidence Here we show that goldfish integrate weak multisensory cues to enhance threat detection and reduce escape latency the functional role of this multisensory process is evident we show that a very simple neural implementation of this process in the Mauthner cell can reproduce behavioral observations This sheds light on the computational basis of multisensory decision mechanisms likely operating in many other organisms Triggering of video acquisition occurred simultaneously with visual stimulus onset and stopped 8.25 s after the end of visual stimulation To characterize the luminance of each component of our stimuli we used the irradiance sensor (J1812) of a Tektronix J17 photometer (Wilsonville USA) positioned in the center of the tank while projecting images on the wax paper lid all pixels in the screen were set to the grayscale 8-bit value that we were currently testing we determined the contrast for each stimulus where contrast is defined as (Idisk − Ibackground)/(Idisk + Ibackground) and Idisk and Ibackground refer to the irradiance of the expanding disk and the background characterized by Michelson indices of 0.03 Auditory stimuli consisted of a single cycle of a 200 Hz sine wave (5 ms in duration) whose amplitude was changed to modify its salience We used six different auditory stimuli of amplitudes of 133.5 1 μPa when recorded with a hydrophone (Sensor SQ34) placed 10 cm away from the speaker Intensity of auditory and visual stimuli was selected to obtain a range of unimodal C-start response probabilities spanning from about 0–80% (see below) An alarm response was recorded when scoring of occurrence and description of behavior matched for both observers In order to analyze the effect of multisensory integration for different treatments we first asked what would be the expected response probability for a combination of visual and auditory stimuli if there was no integration (i.e if visually-evoked responses and auditory-evoked responses were processed as independent phenomena as opposed to the effect of a visual stimulus depending on the co-occurrence of an auditory stimulus and vice versa) Given a response probability for a visual stimulus P(V) and a response probability for an auditory stimulus P(A) using the Addition Rule for the Probabilities of Independent Events the Expected Response Probability (ERP) in the absence of integration upstream of escape decision-making can be calculated as P(V or A) = P(V) + P(A)—P(V) × P(A) We compared the ERP with the Observed Response Probability (ORP) for each multisensory combination of stimuli V and A The relative difference between ORP and ERP is a measure of the effect of integration over response probability since it is the difference between what we observed and what is expected of a system which does not integrate the sensory signals We define an Integration Coefficient (IC) as \(\frac{ORP - ERP}{{ORP + ERP}}\) it is 0 if integration has no effect over response probability it is positive if integration increases response probability and it is negative if integration decreases response probability We calculated the IC for each of the 36 multisensory combinations of stimuli R (version 4.0.2, www.r-project.org) and RStudio (version 1.1.456, www.rstudio.com) were used for statistical analysis A significance level of α = 0.05 was used throughout the study Effects of explanatory variables over response variables were assessed using Generalized Linear Models (binomial GLMs in the case of binary response variables gaussian GLMs in the case of continuous response variables) Sample size is denoted by N when it refers to the number of animals or n when it refers to the number of trials error bars represent standard error of a proportion vmax and amax (maximum value of “auditory” input) were multiplied by a number (R1 and R2 respectively) picked from a uniform random distribution in the interval (0; 1] before the beginning of each trial reported stimulus intensities for auditory or visual stimuli represent the maximum possible input current (Ri = 1) The neuron received auditory and visual inputs through two distinct excitatory synapses with weights equal to 1 behavioral responses were only observed in the last 1000 ms of visual stimulation therefore computational rounds were only simulated for 1300 ms The end of visual exponential increase was set to 300 ms before the end of the trial and the auditory square pulse was presented 160 ms before the end of the visual input We calculated response probability for a given stimulus as the proportion of trials where threshold was reached Response time was recorded as the time elapsed between the threshold was crossed and the end of visual stimulation (or to auditory stimulus onset in unisensory auditory trials) The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request Multisensory integration: Current issues from the perspective of the single neuron Multisensory integration: Flexible use of general operations Multisensory integration shortens physiological response latencies A faster escape does not enhance survival in zebrafish larvae Towards a comprehensive catalog of zebrafish behavior 1.0 and beyond The Mauthner cell half a century later: A neurobiological model for decision-making? Properties and distribution of anterior VIIIth nerve excitatory inputs to the goldfish Mauthner cell Retrograde synaptic communication via gap junctions coupling auditory afferents to the Mauthner cell Representation of auditory signals in the M-cell: Role of electrical synapses Localization of optic tectal input to the ventral dendrite of the goldfish Mauthner cell Differential processing in modality-specific Mauthner cell dendrites Neural representation of object approach in a decision-making motor circuit Behavioral and physiological characterization of sensorimotor gating in the goldfish startle response Neural circuits underlying visually evoked escapes in larval zebrafish Visual threat assessment and Reticulospinal encoding of calibrated responses in larval Zebrafish Luminance changes drive directional startle through a thalamic pathway Stimulus contrast information modulates sensorimotor decision making in goldfish A visual pathway for looming-evoked escape in larval Zebrafish The Mauthner cell and other identified neurons of the brainstem escape network of fish Mauthner and reticulospinal responses to the onset of acoustic pressure and acceleration stimuli Development of multisensory integration from the perspective of the individual neuron Influence of stimulus intensity on multimodal integration in the startle escape system of goldfish The influence of visual and auditory receptive field organization on multisensory integration in the superior colliculus Alternative neural pathways initiate fast-start responses following lesions of the mauthner neuron in goldfish Differential activation of Mauthner and non-Mauthner startle circuits in the zebrafish: Implications for functional substitution Prepontine non-giant neurons drive flexible escape behavior in zebrafish Correlation of C-start behaviors with neural activity recorded from the hindbrain in free-swimming goldfish (Carassius auratus) Role of medullary networks and postsynaptic membrane properties in regulating Mauthner cell responsiveness to sensory excitation Dynamical Systems in Neuroscience 522 (MIT Press Neural circuits for evidence accumulation and decision making in larval zebrafish Phase encoding in the Mauthner system: Implications in left-right sound source discrimination Characteristics of the anterior lateral line nerve input to the Mauthner cell Glycine and GABAA receptors mediate tonic and phasic inhibitory processes that contribute to prepulse inhibition in the goldfish startle network Mapping a sensory-motor network onto a structural and functional ground plan in the hindbrain Some principles of organization of spinal neurons underlying locomotion in zebrafish and their implications Investigation of hindbrain activity during active locomotion reveals inhibitory neurons involved in sensorimotor processing The ARRIVE guidelines 20: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research A synaptic threshold mechanism for computing escape decisions Fin-flicking behaviour: A visual antipredator alarm signal in a characin fish Cable properties of goldfish Mauthner axon The Mauthner-cell circuit of fish as a model system for startle plasticity Download references Martín Berón de Astrada and Santiago Otero Coronel for discussion and for critically reading earlier versions of this manuscript We also thank Ángel Vidal for invaluable technical assistance was funded by a doctoral fellowship from Universidad de Buenos Aires This work was supported by ANPCyT (PICT 2016-0007) and Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBACyT 20020170200213BA) and CONICET (PIP2014 GI 11220130100729CO01) (V.M.) Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE) Performed empirical and computational experiments Contributed to drafting and revising the manuscript and both authors approved the final version of the manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-04998-2 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science