David Gaffney (Team 31 Specialized) has taken a strong general classification result at the UCI-ranked Penn Ar Bed-Bro An Hirwazh in France after taking an aggressive approach to the race Gaffney made a move in the general standings in the TT before making further progress when the field split on the last stage The Irish rider made the front group racing into the final which numbered just over 20 riders of the 150-rider field Gaffney told stickybottle he was content with his final placing of 9th overall after a small number of riders got away from the front group in ones and twos late on the last stage he made his own moves through the race and felt he had ridden well the first stage was tricky to get away since it was fairly flat,” he said of the 111km stage from Plouzané to Ploumoguer in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France Gaffney got away on the opening stage in a group which looked like it might make it all the way until they were caught on the last lap of the circuit That paved the way for a bunch sprint – from 100 riders of the 170 starters – won by Gabin Gicquel (OC Locminé) Gaffney took 16th in the morning 7.5km TT in Plougonvelin; some 25 seconds down on winner Simon Defrance (Soudal Quick-Step U19) That moved the Irish rider up to 14th overall The final stage – on Sunday afternoon – took the riders 119km from Pointe-Saint-Mathieu to Plouzané Gaffney rode strongly and moved up to a final position of 9th overall some 38 seconds down on overall winner Luc Royer (VC Pays de Loudéac) it was fairly aggressive for the day,” said Gaffney of the final stage adding though he followed a lot of early moves off the front “I chased an attack coming towards the end of a big 95k loop and then countered which ended up creating the original breakaway of four More caught us as the race went on and I could sense fatigue in the break but kept pushing for a good overall result a few people got away in staggers and it ended up with a small group off the front and my group just behind I gave it a good go and was happy with the end general classification result.” That final stage was won by Thibaut Van Damme (Soudal Quick-Step U19) Gaffney finished at the back of a 14-man group which crossed the line 22 seconds down on the winner We’re determined to make stickybottle.com much better for your enjoyment So become a ‘Stickybottle Supporter’ now from just €5 per month We’ve grown our audience significantly in recent years but the advertising market has become harder and harder each year In order to survive and grow – and create much better content – we need to develop an income from our readers By signing up to become a ‘Stickybottle Supporter’ you’ll be helping to secure independent coverage of Irish cycling for years to come Every cent collected from readers will be used to directly fund content Sign Up One of most fascinating and lovable names in the European post / math scene the new record from Bicurious see’s the Dublin duo expanding their scope whilst furthering what made them brilliant in the first place The second full length from the project formed of Gavin Purcell (drums) and Taran Plouzané (guitar Your Life Is Over Now… see’s Bicurious further building upon their renowned take on once instrumental rock A far more lyrical and vocal-led body of work compared their previous output whilst the record may see’s the band pushing their sound into new lyrical pastures this second record is by no means a departure for the band delirious and loose sound that we all know and love is retained and only augmented by lyrical work and personal ruminations that define this album With the record out now via Big Scary Monsters we got in touch with Gavin and Taran to break down Your Life Is Over Now… Gavin: This was the first vocal-led song Taran brought to me I remember he had an instrumental version on a logic session done with pre-programmed midi drums and than Taran told me after listening to the song that he was going to sing over it I love albums that open with a fast paced heavy energetic drum groove like ‘Heart Attack American’ by The Bronx or ‘I Think You Ain’t Worth A Dollar’ by Queens Of The Stone Age I love that this track opens the album and the lyric “and then I had a son and then another one” because it’s true…he did…and they’re both class Taran: I was inspired by DFA 1979’s ‘Freeze Me’ – I love that main riff and I wanted to have a riff that uses the same structure jumping back and forth between melody and bass line I remember sitting on the couch at home and hashing out the main riff It felt like a pretty natural thing to put vocals on it When I started adding vocals to some of these song ideas as I didn’t want them to become “proper” vocal songs… So you can hear that in the verse and the outro of ‘Coming Around’ was something that took about two years to sort out There were multiple different versions of it The chorus opens with the line “I’m the captain” which is something my 4 year-old son was shouting around the house one morning and that somehow inspired me to write the chorus lyrics the way it just bursts open right from the start – which is actually the reason why we have it as the album opener Taran: ‘Gutless’ written after my son June fighting what seemed to be gastroenteritis he was unable to keep down any food or drink which quickly got him very weak and dehydrated he was hooked up to IVs to be fed and hydrated as a baby who doesn’t have a clue about what is going on around him – doctors parents are running around trying to find out what’s wrong and trying to get him better I weirdly tried to channel my inner Jamie Lenman when writing the opening riff I don’t know if there actually is any similarity to a Jamie Lenman song but that’s what I had in my head at that point The rest of the song just flowed naturally after that which we wrote in the rehearsal room together We created the music video by asking a bunch of our friends and fans to film themselves singing along to the song and ended up with a really cool music video that shows the strong relationship we have with our fans which I find really wholesome and powerful Gavin: It was awesome to see how much people put in so much effort for the footage they shot of themselves for the music video It was really wholesome to see people filming themselves enjoying our music with their family members which I suppose ties in to the whole concept of the album being about family and community Then on the other scale there were some people who literally filmed themselves eating dirt to our music which was impressive and very entertaining to watch Taran: ‘Uncle Kevin’ is one that changed a lot over time It originally stemmed from a guitar line that didn’t even make it onto the final version of the song We went through numerous arrangements and various ways of playing each section The outro is one of my favourite parts of the album It’s something that just kinda came together during the pre-production sessions with our producer Tom the song is about an estranged father and child trying to keep what’s left of the relationship alive Difficult relationships with parents is something that is too common and I hope that the song might bring some comfort to some people Gavin: The voice sample at the end of ‘Uncle Kevin’ is my friend Hannah who sadly passed away shortly before the recording process of the album It was one of the last voice notes she sent me alongside a funny song she sent me The outro section and the lyric “You’ll never be alone” switched meaning for me after Hannah died and it reminded me of Hannah and the last conversation we had on the phone together a few days before she died Taran: I think this might be my favourite song on the album it gives me goosebumps every time (that’s what I was trying to achieve!) That chorus was actually completely different before I decided to try a “Purdie shuffle” version I remember almost dropping the idea after someone told me that my computer-drum demo version of it sounded like John Mayer and it didn’t sound like John Mayer anymore The song is about making a promise to myself when I was a kid that I would always try as hard as possible to live my life in music and life in general can sometimes make that a bit complicated and figuring out what’s really important to you Gavin: John Mayer is gonna be raging when we won’t let him support us on our next tour Taran: This is one of the first vocal-led songs we wrote I remember wanting to have a song with an intro similar to ‘Scentless Apprentice’ by Nirvana and I spent my shift writing the opening riff in my head but I think it has that big riff kinda vibe The rest of the song just came out gradually it’s about feeling like a waste of space there’s a kind of bratty positive energy from it Taran: It’s difficult to talk about this one openly We changed the title of the song at the last minute because the original title was too obvious and I didn’t feel comfortable with people knowing what the song was about at first glance so if you listen to the song you’ll figure it out pretty quickly along with ‘Monday Afternoon’ and ‘Coming Around’ was part of the first batch of songs we had for the album which we demoed at our manager’s studio in Cork back in 2022 When we were tracking the vocals back in March/April we were under time pressure to get 10 songs done in seven days I was doing quite well until my voice broke on the 5th day as we started to record ‘Untitled’ you can hear the weakness in my voice in various parts of this song Taran: This one is just a little love letter to our manager Alex Gavin: Alex never got his drum key back and he is the real meanie Taran: I was listening to a lot of Turnstile at the time of writing this song and I think that had an influence on the main riff This was a pretty straightforward song to write – I came up with the bones of it at home and we put it all together in the rehearsal room The lyrics speak of the difficulties of being a father at times can have a lifelong impact on a child’s life so it’s really important to always try and set a good example but the reality is that human beings are not perfect I guess the challenge is to try and rectify those mistakes or being honest and transparent with the child and It’s a pressure that I put myself every single day as a father always trying to be the best possible version of myself But when you’re also trying to work on yourself as a person Taran: This song was originally a finger-picked acoustic ballad that I wrote for myself When we started adding vocals to our music I wondered whether this one could work as a heavy Bicurious tune It’s difficult to talk about the meaning of the song Gavin: I personally think these are the best lyrics Taran has ever written Taran: I believe ‘Acrylic Fences’ is probably the best song we’ve ever written as a band That’s why we chose it as a lead single and why it got the most expensive music video it was really interesting to see how people might react to it assuming they expected another instrumental song It was pretty amazing to see the love that everyone had for the track it kind of paved the way for the rest of the album release the ‘Acrylic Fences’ refer to the walls that one can build around them in a relationship and how narrow-minded one can become trying to break those walls down Gavin: I agree with Taran probably the best song we’ve ever written fun but dark… all the right ingredients for a Bicurious tune The main drum groove started taking shape after seeing Jamie Lenman play at StrangeForms We were jamming the day after and I was trying to play a groove similar to his song ‘Hardbeat’ and that groove eventually evolved into the groove during the verses on ‘Acrylic Fences’ the song that stands out the most in comparison to our previous material It’s basically a poppy rock ballad kinda thing but something about the emotion and honesty throughout the song makes it very special That outro is also up there as one of my favourite parts of the album and I think it’s a pretty perfect way to close out an album The lyrics speak of the disappointment a partner can feel towards their better half when they continuously come short of their expectations Gavin: When we were putting the finishing touches on this song during one of the pre-productions sessions we couldn’t find a part to fit underneath lyrics for the part at 1:15 in We tried loads of different variations and then one of us said “let’s try it half time” and we did I looked over at Tom and Alex while we were playing and I saw they were digging it If you ever want to make anyone do a stank face play a section in half time Riffs that will expand your definition of what instrumental rock can be picked by one of the freshest talents on the scene we’d argue some of the most exciting guitar riffs of the past decade have their roots in the math and post-rock spectrum From Yvette Young’s singular fingerstyle in Covet to the masterful looped phrases of Giraffes and And So I Watch You From Afar’s syncopated bombast instrumental rock plays host to some of contemporary guitar’s most thrilling moments – and now you can add Irish guitar/drums duo Bicurious to that list With an onslaught of smart octave-doubled tones Bicurious follow in a long line of UK and Irish riff merchants filled with ingenious chord shifts and nuanced tonal inflections it’s chock-full of grade-A riff upon grade-A riff with catchiness and virtuosity in perfect balance who better to run down some of the finest riffs in the math/post-rock canon than Bicurious guitarist Taran Plouzané he lists some classic picks as well as the local tracks that shaped his style “Val Normal are an unbelievable Irish math-rock trio that unfortunately are no more They were my first introduction to the genre I gigged with them a few times with previous bands and would end up playing them their own songs at after-parties like a fangirl The simplicity but absolute heft of the intro riff is amazing This tune basically got me into instrumental music.” “I could have picked so many AMTP songs and probably will pick another in this list More specifically the riff that comes in around 2:30 which takes the melody of the song’s main riff and re-harmonizes it with the classic iv - IV - I - V (e.g Am - F - C - G) progression that we’d usually hear in this chord progression gives the familiar riff such an emotional new dimension and gives me crazy goosebumps every time.” “This band are such an inspiration to me partly because of their mastery of looping and I’ve been dreaming of seeing them live for a while While this isn’t my favourite song of theirs (check out Spice Girls off their latest album) which consists of a couple of layers of loops “Simen’s sense of melody is so catchy and a massive inspiration to my songwriting that video of them playing it in Rhodo’s Garage is the best thing ever It’s that video that got me into them and they’ve become one of my favourite bands for sure.” and were gigging a lot around the time I discovered this genre This is one of the songs I learned off by heart and would go into the music shop where [PFC guitarist] Dave [Newell] worked and start playing it until he noticed “The main riff in this song is really simple It has just the right amount of odd time signature to it and the interplay between the two guitars is great – one playing the riff and the other doing some dreamy tremolo-picking stuff melodic riff that comes in as the middle 8 section is really awesome but I guess bands in the same scene influence each other all the time!” “These guys aren’t really math or post-rock but often find themselves in the same sphere as a lot of those bands The main riffs and melodies in this song also don’t come from a guitar “My favourite part/riff in the song is the build-up about halfway through between the two keyboards both playing the same note at increasing rates which eventually transforms into a melody at its climax The overall vibe of the song is really dark and disturbing “Mogwai can be a little bit monotone sometimes but I love them when I’m in the right mood and the drums kick back in again and it just hits home but it just makes me want to play it on guitar and attempt to make a Bicurious version of it but I don’t really care to be honest such a dark epic buildup to an exploding finale And it’s this finale that I’m focusing on That absolutely face-melting riff that drops around 4:55 that everyone has been waiting for the whole time and it’s the moment the crowd absolutely loses their shit I think it’s mostly synths (sorry guitar nerds myself included) but it feels like a thousand guitars playing in unison “ASIWYFA are one of my favourite bands so it was tough to choose a favourite riff Despite not being my favourite song of theirs Gang has this incredible riff about halfway through the song which bounces between the root and 3rd of a bunch of major barred chords It basically allows the riff to maintain some low end with the root note and to add melody with the 3rd It’s a technique I use all the time when writing riffs; considering we’re a duo and I need to cover both bass and guitar it’s important to create riffs that cover both registers This riff represents a huge part of my playing and it’s so incredibly sad that Dan [Wild-Beesley] had to leave us so early [Ed’s note: Wild-Beesley passed away in 2018 following a battle with cancer] Cleft have so many absolute bangers so it’s very hard to choose one riff I could have gone for any number of head-banging riffs in their repertoire “The part I refer to isn’t so much a riff but rather a progressive chord progression that goes from about halfway through the song until the end It’s such a clever and beautiful progression using a combination of open strings and fretted notes that just keeps building in pitch and intensity I feel like the emotion of the riff captures the sadness that one might feel when thinking about the unfortunate passing of Dan I really wish I could have met him.” The main guitar motif is the riff in question It’s one of those Biffy Clyro-esque two-note chord progressions with some sexy dissonance at the end It’s played clean during those beautiful dark verses and played super-heavy during the super-heavy sections and it’s an absolute earworm of a hook but essentially it’s an instrument that belongs to the 20th century in many ways what can you do to try to reinvent that vocabulary to make it seem relevant?”: Steven Wilson on the making of a cosmic prog epic it hasn’t quite sunk in”: Eric Clapton recently named Toshiki Soejima as one of his favorite contemporary Japanese players – now the neo-soul guitarist has finally met his guitar hero “I remember there was a video of Gary Moore and he played Red House on this Fiesta Red Strat and I thought it was just the most incredible thing”: Is Toby Lee Britain’s next blues-rock superstar that attempts to describe Bicurious: confused Even the portrait of a man’s contorted face that adorns the cover art of the band’s invigorating latest single “I Don’t Do Drugs I Just Sweat a Lot” looks exceedingly confused guitarist Taran Plouzané and drummer Gavin Purcell are the mathematical contrary to confused are comprised of inventive melodies and challenging rhythms that seem to have a mind of their own seamlessly weaving their way through different time signatures “Gavin started calling us confused at the start of the band I think it’s derived from the whole bicurious thing We started using it on social media and it caught on” says Plouzané while sipping a pint outside of Abbey St’s Gin Palace We raise our voices for the microphone so that the passing Luas doesn’t drown out the interview – passerbyers are certainly confused by our exchange and I suggest that it may be the listener that is confused by Bicurious rather than the band themselves Their track “Sugar Beats” even features a sampled voice repeatedly uttering “I’m so confused” it can definitely be confusing at times for all involved” also palpably confused mascot of Bicurious is plastered around college campuses and toilet doors all over Dublin There’s one especially prominent sticker outside Trinity’s Berkeley library which triggers many smoke break conversations many of which attempt to find an agreement on a way to describe the band’s sound Math Rock is the most common term to be thrown around but Plouzané doesn’t fully agree: “We’re not really Math I mean Val Normal and Adebisi Shank were our biggest influences but we just wanted to take the genre’s best bits because the extreme end of it is sometimes hard to listen to We want to make music that’s weird but accessible to people other than weird nerds… we love the weird nerds though.” Plouzané and Purcell have been playing around Dublin in different bands since early adolescence with Plouzané notably playing guitar in the indie-rock outfit Travis Oaks the pair found their way as a two-piece who boom like a five-piece Plouzané fills out their boisterous hard-hitters by utilising a loop pedal that makes him sound like the lead and you’d never guess there was only one player behind his myriad of sounds Purcell triggers vocal samples throughout their live performances from his drum pads adding a voice to their otherwise instrumental format Plouzané will sing live and recently they’ve noticed the crowd singing their melodies back to them which they describe as a goosebumps moment “It can be difficult handling the loops live” but towards the beginning there were a couple of times I hit the wrong button and there was just complete silence but we always kicked straight back in… we’ve grown out of that.” Plouzané laughs: “It’s worth it as it saves a lot of arguments we’d have if there were more of us The band have just now finished their Irish tour celebrating the release of “I Don’t Do Drugs and before this have been touring Britain and Plouzané’s native France where the band have felt very much at home “We’ve been received quite well abroad… grunge seems to really resonate with French audiences but our sound did too and we’ve always been looked after so well A bar owner once gave us his apartment for the night we were playing there and kept the bar open for us all night It turns out that Plouzané fell asleep on the counter of the bar the videos of which ended up part of their tour vlogs Purcell affirms that touring is not always comfortable though: “We were sleeping in a squat once and I woke up to a rat nibbling on my ear.” Plouzané is quick to interject reassuring me that there was a “beware the rats” sign Purcell didn’t contract the Black Death and disappoint the band’s many loyal fans – their last EP was completely crowdsourced “We literally had no money so we did a promo video with Sean Smith and begged for money in a funny way to make us seem less desperate It turned out people were really supportive and we’re so grateful for that” It’s this loyal fan base that enables Bicurious to grow in popularity without a label who they admit is just a really great friend and essentially another member of the band has now accumulated over two million listens on Spotify never mind one with an eclectic style of music “We played Hard Working Class Heroes last December and we got lucky when sitting down with a Spotify rep He loved “Sleep” and came to our performance to hear it live It ended up on a really popular alternative playlist and now we get a good bit of “come to Indiana!” messages on Facebook from randomers – pay for our flights and we’ll play anywhere” Bicurious are now also the face of the new “An Alternative Éire” Spotify playlist “It’s become a decent source of income for us – we’re super lucky” Whether they’re playing angrily under Donald Trump’s mock-up echoes of “I am the worst president ever” on “Fake News” or sweating along to their brash and energetic bangers like “Japanese Puppy” Bicurious have proven that any genre is viable in Ireland’s vibrant underground scene and continue to see their number of fans grow day by day Researchers have investigated how similar mud volcanoes could form under water Mud volcanoes are an unpredictable and dangerous phenomenon — but now scientists have a better understanding of how some of them form and evolve Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03346-6 Download references One of the world’s richest lithium deposits began inside a mega-volcano Deadly Myanmar earthquake was probably a rare rupture Trump’s bid for Greenland threatens to destabilize Arctic research HT is an interdisciplinary research institute created and supported by the Italian government whose aim is to develop innovative strategies to pr.. UNIL is a leading international teaching and research institution with over 5,000 employees and 17,000 students split between its Dorigny campus Department of Energy and Environmental Materials and advance cancer research in a leading translational institute Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute We are seeking a tenure-track associate professor to promote interdisciplinary research in nanoprobe life sciences or related interdisciplinary field Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science A long history of human occupation extends to the Neolithic as evidenced by the presence of numerous megalithic constructions The Romans called it Armorica; then for centuries after the 10th century it was allied sometimes with England is part of Brittany that was once part of the six Celtic nations Town names that begin with "Plou-" meaning parish in Breton The northwestern-most point of metropolitan France is the Island of Ushant (Ile de Ouessant in French) and is located near 48.4 degrees north latitude With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet) ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/. NASA Airborne Sensor’s Wildfire Data Helps Firefighters Take Action News. NASA Takes to the Air to Study Wildflowers News. Next-Generation Water Satellite Maps Seafloor From Space News. NASA’s EZIE Launches on Mission to Study Earth’s Electrojets News. NASA Analysis Shows Unexpected Amount of Sea Level Rise in 2024 News. NASA-ISRO Mission Will Map Farmland From Planting to Harvest News. NASA Awards Launch Service Task Order for Mission to Study Storm Formation News. NASA Uses New Technology to Understand California Wildfires News. NASA-Led Study Pinpoints Areas Sinking, Rising Along California Coast News. NASA Radar Imagery Reveals Details About Los Angeles-Area Landslides ZF produces Solid-State LiDAR system “ibeoNEXT” on behalf of Ibeo Automotive Systems GmbHDelivery to begin in October 2020First series application in Great Wall Motor (GWM) premium SUV Friedrichshafen / Hamburg — Hamburg-based Ibeo Automotive Systems GmbH has commissioned ZF Friedrichshafen AG to produce its “ibeoNEXT” LiDAR system including the systems electronic control unit The first systems will be delivered to partners and customers worldwide from October 2020 including the Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motor ibeoNEXT will feature in Great Wall’s premium SUV model “Wey” which moves to series production from 2022 The ibeoNEXT LiDAR sensor is based on a new type of solid state Without moving parts the sensor is more robust and thus less affected by environmental influences and vibrations By processing many laser pulses in parallel the sensor can generate a high-resolution 3D model of its environment in real time with the capability to recognize crash barriers and road markings as well as vehicles cyclists and pedestrians along with their position and movement solid-state sensor design of the ibeoNEXT and its control unit were developed by Ibeo in accordance with automotive grade standards Ibeo has commissioned ZF Friedrichshafen AG to produce both components The first systems are now being produced in Plouzané near Brest (France) and will be delivered to customers and partners worldwide from October 2020 “We are convinced that LiDAR systems are a key technology for automated and particularly as they provide high-resolution 3D point clouds of their surroundings they function effectively under difficult weather conditions we consistently use LiDAR from Level 4 on in our sensor set to help enhance safety and comfort from Level 2 on,” says Aine Denari Senior Vice President and General Manager of ZF's Electronics and Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) Division One of the first customers to use the ibeoNEXT in series production is Great Wall Motor: China's largest SUV and pick-up manufacturer will be using Ibeo technology for the future series production of its premium “Wey” SUV models The LiDAR system will be used in series production of the Wey from 2022 and will support Level 3 automated driving with a highway pilot helping to enable highway driving over greater distances The system comprises the new ibeoNEXT Solid-State LiDAR a control unit and perception software developed by Ibeo that recognizes objects and helps enable safe driving in interaction with other systems “The LiDAR series contract with Great Wall Motor is one of the largest ever signed worldwide the cooperation is an important milestone with which we are further extending our global technological leadership in the field of LiDAR We are the first supplier in China to use LiDAR sensors to enable Level 3 automated driving in a production vehicle there,” says Dr The demand for global trade is driving huge growth in ship traffic in the world's oceans with four times as many ships at sea now than in 1992 The study also found evidence of illegal fishing in protected marine areas such as ships plying waters around the Kerguelen Islands Marine Reserve in the Southern Indian Ocean the French Institute for Marine Research in Plouzane or almost four times larger," Tournadre said "We are putting much more pressure on the ocean."   Maritime shipping supports about 90 percent of global trade according to the United Nation's International Maritime Organization Most of this shipping relies on a few strategic routes that must accommodate both growing traffic and larger ships the biggest container ship could carry about 8,000 containers the biggest ships hauled 18,000 containers "When we as a citizen look at what we're buying in a store we're participating in these patterns in the ocean," Tournadre said Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox In the study, Tournadre used satellite altimetry data to count ships at sea between 1992 and 2012 Satellite altimeters are instruments that measure sea surface height in very fine detail The ocean's hills and valleys provide clues to what lies beneath such as global currents and seafloor topography "The [altimeters] weren't designed for ship traffic at all," Tournadre said any object above the sea surface — whether an iceberg island or cargo ship — can be extracted from the altimetry data so they are extremely sensitive at this level," Tournadre told Live Science The new findings provide an independent check to the Automatic Identification System which tracks vessels using GPS and other instruments Ships can turn off the receivers that track their movements if they want and small vessels aren't required to report their location "What's important is for once we have long-term trends on ship traffic which is not always easy to get," Tournadre said could help in monitoring the impact of shipping on marine ecosystems The data will also provide scientists with insights into the patterns of ship traffic, and the traffic's effect on the environment, Batuhan Osmanoglu, a radar systems engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Green Belt Tournadre used data from seven satellite altimeters in orbit at various times since 1992 and calibrated each data set to that of the longest-lived satellite The chance is very low that any ship was counted twice because satellites would not have returned to the same spot in their orbit before a ship would have sailed out of range The overall growth in ship traffic worldwide was 6 percent each year between 1992 and 2002 hitting an increase of 10 percent a year by 2011 when growth stalled during the economic crisis nitrogen dioxide emissions surged as ship traffic rose along the heavily traveled Red Sea to Asia route and the Asia to Cape Town route And along the Sri Lanka to Sumatra to China shipping lane nitrogen dioxide emissions spiked more than 50 percent since 1997 Corryvreckan whirlpool: Scotland's 'raging cauldron' that is named after a Norse king and said to house a witch Atlantic ocean currents are weakening — and it could make the climate in some regions unrecognizable AI is just as overconfident and biased as humans can be Remote control: Plouzané may be 'the most remote team in France' but they are enjoying some success Along with its quaint fishing villages and magnificent beaches Brittany boasts four clubs in the French first division – Rennes despite the fact Bretons have a reputation for being a tough race Basques have hot blood but Bretons have hard heads along with a fierce independence – a similarity they share with their Celtic cousins in Cornwall But while rugby has a long and proud tradition among the Cornish in Brittany the sport never established the same foothold even though it was in the far north of the country where rugby was first played in France in the early 1870s In the decades that followed rugby migrated south leaving Brittany to pursue its obsession with the round ball rugby has started to lay down roots in Brittany Nantes hosted three pool matches during the 2007 World Cup and the semi-finals of last season’s Top 14 were also held in the city Harlequins thrashed Racing 32-8 in a Heineken Cup pool match a stunning performance that silenced the 35,000 Bretons who had come to the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes who have to travel three hours to play their local derbies Two hundred miles north-west of Nantes is Plouzané a seaside town with a famous old lighthouse and a rugby team that is a beacon of hope for rugby in Brittany The coach of the first XV is Steven Sparks a name that may stir memories for aficionados of English rugby The 39-year-old Sparks began his career propping the scrum of his hometown club before moving to France at the end of the 1990s Spells followed with La Rochelle and Castres (in what was then the Top 16) before he returned to England in 2003 playing in a front row that included Raphael Ibanez and Cobus Visagie before joining Worcester for a couple of years the pull of France proved too much and Sparks returned to finish his career with Morlaàs a Federale One side in the foothills of the Pyrenees Calling time on his career a few years ago Sparks moved to Brittany with his young family (his wife is French) and for a while dabbled in the property business But he missed his rugby and when he heard Plouzané were looking for a full-time coach in 2011 he successfully applied “I’ve got all my coaching badges,” he explains “It took two years in total and was quite difficult Plouzané have enjoyed two promotions and now reside in Federale Three But success brings its own challenges as with every promotion the club is forced to literally broaden its horizons As Midi Olympique explained in a recent feature on Plouzané, the club is the “most isolated” in the French league system, a fact for which Sparks can vouch. “Our local derbies are against Le Rheu and Auray,” he tells Rugby World “They’re both in Brittany but they take about three hours to reach.” which is a round trip of 550 miles – in English terms that’s like going from London to Newcastle and back “For the really long trips we leave on the Saturday play on the Sunday and then drive straight back,” explains Sparks “Often we don’t arrive back until the early hours of Monday morning and a lot of the boys then have to be at work a few hours later.” Such demands naturally affect the demographic of the squad students but the average age is probably around 23 and they’re players who don’t have young families,” says Sparks Then there’s the financial cost of each away game a sum Sparks estimates to be around €3,000 every time they hit the road “We have a lot of small sponsors who help us out and the players also contribute to the costs.” But the dedication, allied to Plouzane’s on-field success, is reaping its rewards The junior section is thriving with more than 160 youngsters playing each week and 80% of the first XV squad have come up through the system Sparks is evidently relishing the challenge of coaching France’s most remote club and for their part Plouzané are delighted to have a coach of his calibre “As much as he is English,” says club president Guillaume Renault so who better to front a new look than England’s man… SAND dunes have been blowing across the Sahara on and off for at least 7 million years – a finding that dramatically increases the known age of the desert Until now the earliest evidence of sand dunes has been from Tunisia the largest warm-climate arid zone on Earth has been sketchy because the sandy deposits are hard to date The region bloomed during a moist interval that began about 10,000 years ago and ended 5000 years later There is some evidence for a desert before 86,000 years ago Belonging to the subterranean scene beneath Dublin’s cobblestoned streets the mathy post-rock duo Bicurious have always been a bit of an...inquisitive entity self-aware and humorously insightful take on a genre sometimes perceived as stoic and indulgent Bicurious have held a clear identity ever since their respective early days As presented on their first string of singles and their 2018 extended play – the suitably titled I’m So Confused – the two-piece harbour a remarkable penchant for playfully rearranging the tropes of the post-rock genre into danceable melodies and snaring hooks But even with the group’s work fully leaning into the adolescent and mercurial energy of bands such as Cleft Alpha Male Tea Party and Gangs era And So I Watch You From Afar their work has always had a composed focus on highlighting societal injustices in Ireland and afar It’s been this fervent sense of dynamism that’s allowed the group to become such a celebrated component of the European post-rock scene in such a short amount of time with the band raking up the Spotify streams by the millions in just a few years it’s no real wonder why everyone is celebrating their debut LP Recorded and written over the span of two years the independently released (re)constructed is the full Bicurious experience compressed into 47 minutes of hyperactivity A record of gulfing grooves and sugar fuelled bounce whilst it may appear to some as a record of just energizing mania there’s profound meaning under it’s giddy guise the record chronicles the recent life changing events faced by the two members it musically depicts the bout of severe psychosis suffered by Gavin Purcell (drums) it narrates Taran Plouzané’s (guitars) experiences in becoming a father to son Erza at the young age of 23 These experiences are articulated with musical charisma and make their debut such a human we got in touch with Purcell and Plouzané to break down (re)constructed Related: Bicurious – (re)constructed | Album Review Gavin: “This song was originally just going to be the sample on it’s own but we realised that was kinda unsettling to listen to…so we decided to add music to it.” Taran: “The music was actually the bridge section of another song I was working on at the time One day we just played that section by itself Gavin: “The sample is based on a mixture of voices I heard during the psychotic episode I had in 2018 The inspiration for that sample was influenced by Girl Band’s track ‘Prolix’ I heard in an interview that the breathing on Prolix was captured during a panic attack I then thought it would be interesting to recreate the voices that I heard in my head because for me hearing voices was a very similar experience to having a very long panic attack.” Taran: “And that sample actually has my son Ezra crying on it it was the only song we hadn’t fully written before going in I purposely left the lead guitar parts unwritten until the day I had to record them as I thought it might be cool to let myself be inspired by the recording process as pretty much everything else was already written and we knew exactly what we wanted to do before we went in.” Gavin: “Even though this was my third psychotic episode I feel like I’ve changed a lot and am more mindful after that particular episode… For the better So this song is about what we “used to” be like and what our lifestyles were like and how they have changed since that particular psychotic episode and the birth of Ezra.” to me it’s really down to the mood of the song I could imagine it being played in a nightclub or something if our parts were played by synths and drum machines That’s why this song reminds me of what we used to do and how we used to live; not that we spent a lot of time in nightclubs I do a lot less of that nowadays (regardless of the pandemic) as I’ve become a dad and any free time I have is either spent playing/writing music or hanging out with my family.” “It was actually the first song to be written out of all of the album songs We’ve been playing this one at shows for almost two years now so it feels good to have it properly recorded.” Gavin: “We weren’t like Mötley Crüe or anything in terms of partying and we’ve never thrown a TV out a window but we used to drink more and go to after-parties when we finished playing gigs This song reflects on those parties and the fun before the episode.” the mood of the song reflects what we’re trying to describe here The ongoing happy chant throughout the song – ‘Palapalapa’ – to me symbolises the sort of singalong that takes place between a group of friends at a house party after a few drinks or even with the pub with inebriated strangers Being in a band tends to put you in these sort of situations quite often and I’ve had my fair share of parties that ended up in me feeling pretty shitty This song is about those extreme highs that can sometimes push you over the edge.” it was a lot of fun putting this one together and we went for an ASIWYFA and Enemies type of thing with the gang vocals Thankfully we had our producer Tom Peters and our manager Alex in the studio to thicken the part out with their angelic voices.” “My wife and I had a conversation one day about the whole instrumental thing and she made me realise that a lot more people might be interested in our music if they had something to sing along to during gigs but it’s something I hadn’t really thought about because we were so comfortable writing instrumental music So I pay more attention to that these days and whenever I feel like there’s a part that we think could do with a little vocal hook or something Gavin: “This is the part of the album when stuff starts to get dark.” Taran: “Following directly from ‘Palapalapa’ the comedown after the extreme highs of the party The way I see it is a kind of a deconstruction of everything that’s real around you stumbling around the streets in the early hours after a heavy night out relating the album’s storyline to Gav’s situation It’s when everything starts to turn pretty dark as Gav said Gavin: “We played a gig with Mutefish in Whelans at around the start of the psychosis in 2018 I was convinced that the crowd were all psychologists and doctors examining me while we were playing Each time I blinked the crowds faces would change as well I went to my therapist a few days after the gig and explained this and I heard a voice in my head saying “you had a groundation intervention.”” Taran: “The intro guitar loop kinda sounds like a siren and we thought it was a good representation of the ambulance coming to bring Gav to the hospital.” I was using piano sounds and it sounded like an Elbow song or something I wasn’t thinking of using it for Bicurious but we just tried it one day at rehearsal and it worked weirdly well I think it’s kind of a nice breather halfway through the album as everything around it is pretty intense.” Gavin: “There was a period after and even during the psychotic episode where I thought that I wouldn’t and wasn’t able to play music again and for me this song reflects on that.” this tune takes a step back from the overall meaning of the album and is a reflection on global warming (because it does seem like we’re all totally fucked!) I read in Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth that global warming would eventually bring European countries a load of diseases that are only really found in much warmer climates the insects that carry those diseases wouldn’t survive here at least not as long as it’s still cold enough That’s why I find that the pandemic is weirdly related to global warming even though it’s not really the same type of disease but I just think everything is pointing towards the fact that we’re all totally fucked!” “The song was being finished around the time when the pandemic started and we thought it would be interesting to get people to send us voice notes of how they felt in the first few weeks of lockdown and we included some into this song in the shape of samples.” Gavin: “During the recording of the demos for this song our manager Alex shouted “We’re all totally fucked!” before we started playing We thought this was funny so we got Alex to say it again when we were recording the album Tom got him to say it in different accents including a Soviet Russian leader voice…which is the one I think we went with it in the end?” Gavin: “The mood in this song changes a lot and my mood would change a lot around the time of the psychotic episode I would be overly happy and hyper and then all of a sudden I would be crying This song partly reflects on my “mercurial” nature around that time.” it’s probably the mathy-est song on the album It’s a word that was brought to my attention by our friend and ex-guitar tech Oisin as he was referring to my son Ezra’s ever-changing mood I was listening to a lot of Physics House Band stuff at the time of writing it It takes a few listens to really get into it I think He texts me sometimes saying stuff like “maaaaan I usually treat him as my good-song-meter.” Gavin: “The sample we used in “Intro (Voices)” is used again in this track Two days after the aforementioned Mutefish gig I was outside having a smoke with him and started hearing voices took a deep breath and heard him say “It’s okay I can hear them too”… I don’t think he actually said that So in the end we got Dan to record himself saying that line for the sample.” Taran: “This is one of my favourite tracks on the album It’s a hard song to play live (at least at rehearsals!) because there are so many loops involved but there’s something magical about the ending right after the second time the “I Can Hear Them Too” sample happens along with the full-on drums behind it just does something to me I also really like the synth bass at the start of the song which I never really get to use because it’s so crazy Gavin: “It’s the title track and final track of the album I guess it’s when we start to get back on track and there is hope Taran: “It’s the light at the end of the tunnel we’re always going to be dealing with shit in one way or another I love playing this song because I find it really powerful The build-up before the end drop sometimes gives me chills when we play it in rehearsals; once or twice I’ve closed my eyes during it Foo Fighters style… You gotta dream big!” Seth Dunwoody (Cannibal B Victorious) has continued his ascent on the European scene with another top result in France today just a week after being active off the front of Paris-Roubaix Juniors in the final before taking 12th place The 17-year-old has now put himself in a great position to repeat one of his stand-out performances of the 2023 season when he took a stage win and the general classification in the same UCI-ranked race Today on the opening stage of three at Penn Ar Bed-Pays d’Iroise (2.1) the Irish junior road race champion finished a close 2nd to Jules Simon (CIC U Nantes Atlantique U19) in the final sprint that settled the honours from a bunch of just over 100 juniors from all over the world a number of other Irish juniors were also in action for E Tarrant & Sons LTD Skoda Munster Team Cal Tutty and Michael Collins all finished in the bunch Eoghan Lattimore was 122nd at 1:38 – after being brought down in a crash with 4km to go as he was in the bunch – while Rory Condon placed 148th at 7:31 Dunwoody won the opening stage at Penn Ar Bed-Pays d’Iroise last year when he escaped in a nine-rider group to claim the victory a couple of seconds ahead of his breakaway companions That meant he claimed the yellow jersey going into the stage 2 TT before winning stage 3 in the afternoon to wrap up overall victory The riders will again face a TT tomorrow morning – a pan flat 7.5km in Plougonvelin – before a 121km stage By Zeeya Merali “THERE occurred violent earthquakes and floods…the island of Atlantis disappeared in the depths of the sea.” That was how Greek philosopher Plato described the destruction of the legendary city Now new evidence suggests that he was writing about a devastating tsunami an underwater island in the Strait of Gibraltar close to the region mentioned by Plato A rising sea could have slowly submerged the island (New Scientist But this does not match Plato’s accounts of what happened 12,000 years ago,… Seth Dunwoody (Cannibal-Victorious U19 Development Team) has taken his first win in a UCI-ranked junior race in France Fellow Irish rider Patrick Casey (Anexo Group Race Team) also put in a strong ride to take 6th in the same event Both riders are competing in the Penn Ar Bed-Pays d’Iroise (2.1) stage race in France and made the breakaway on the opening day of action They were part of the nine-rider breakaway that went to the line on yesterday’s stage with Dunwoody proving best in the sprint to the line and opening a gap of two seconds on the rest of the group Belgian riders Yaxano Smet (Van Moer Logistics Cycling Team) and Rune Duflo (Onder Ons Parike) were 2nd and 3rd Dunwoody took the yellow jersey for his efforts with the riders facing a split stage today – a morning TT and a road race in the afternoon [email protected]SPREAD THE NEWS MINEHEAD Under 18s rounded off their season when they played host to their French twin club Plouzane Plouzane have enjoyed a 30-year relationship with the Barbarians and on this occasion brought their established colts team over Arriving on the Saturday morning of their weekend visit they were treated to an a customary English breakfast followed by a training session and some bubble football In the evening, a formal meal was held by Minehead to honour and recognise the two clubs’ continuing relationship. Sunday brought the highlight of the weekend, with a full fixture between the two teams. In a very physical game, Minehead defended bravely and made the most of the few opportunities they were given as the well-drilled Plouzane side gained the bragging rights with a 30-5 win. Comments Tel: 01984 632731[email protected]Follow us Further Links Owned or licensed to Tindle Newspapers Ltd | Independent Family-Owned Newspapers | Copyright & Trade Mark Notice & 2013 - 2025