Новости за 14.03.2017

The stuff of life. Shutterstock

Phosphorus is an essential element which is contained in many cellular compounds, such as DNA and the energy carrier ATP. All life needs phosphorus and agricultural yields are improved when phosphorus is added to growing plants and the diet of livestock. Consequently, it is used globally as a fertiliser – and plays an important role in meeting the world’s food requirements.

When you think of paranormal experiences it often conjures images of ghosts, aliens or witchcraft. But it can also include hearing voices, out-of-body experiences, or even strong spiritual or superstitious beliefs. Such experiences are quite common – 75% of people in Britain have said that they have had one or more paranormal experiences in their lifetime. These are usually fleeting though, and very few report having paranormal experiences continuously over a two year period.

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It has been said that Britain has more surveillance cameras than any other country in the world. This proliferation of CCTV cameras led the government to establish a surveillance camera commissioner responsible for overseeing their governance – the only country in the world to do so. In another first, the commissioner has now released a national strategy for England and Wales to set out how CCTV should be operated and to ensure that cameras are used in the public interest.

Up in lights. ITV

It was a bold scheduling move on the part of ITV, the UK’s main commercial television channel. Shifting the nightly news programme to make way for Britain’s latest attempt at a US-style late night talk show was always going to be risky. And so far, critics and viewers seem united in their response to The Nightly Show: they can barely watch.

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A survey of 1,058 people attending GP clinics in Bristol, England, found that 0.9% were problem gamblers. That may not sound like much, but if you extrapolate that figure to the UK population, that’s around 600,000 people whose lives are blighted by this destructive addiction.

wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com

A survey of 1,058 people attending GP clinics in Bristol, England, found that 0.9% were problem gamblers. That may not sound like much, but if you extrapolate that figure to the UK population, that’s around 600,000 people whose lives are blighted by this destructive addiction.

Britain and Europe’s largest airport is not the most obvious target for an eco-friendly rebranding. Yet Heathrow Airport recently unveiled a new sustainability strategy, Heathrow 2.0, to counter growing opposition to its expansion plans.

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The tax that small business owners pay on their premises has offered a useful lesson in how the ripples of a financial crisis can leave us floundering years later. It also laid bare a stark divide between north and south in the UK, and sent the ruling Conservative Party rushing to fend off the fury of small business owners, on whose support they could normally rely.

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Recent government figures estimate that there are between 10,000 and 13,000 victims of modern slavery in the UK today. A large majority of these people are trafficked in from abroad. And, as the government report shows, a significant proportion of this group, perhaps even most of them, are themselves EU citizens.

Karan Jain, CC BY-SA

Gibraltar was the first to declare its vote in June’s EU Referendum, returning a 96% vote in favour of Remain. But rather than set a trend for the night, Gibraltarians watched with nothing short of horror as the UK voted to Leave.

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Only a quarter of UK adults manage to eat the officially recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. In fact, almost half eat less than three a day. It seems unlikely, then, that most people would be able to reach the ten a day suggested by several pieces of research published in the last few years.

Companies are bombarded with phishing scams every day. In a recent survey of more than 500 cyber security professionals across the world, 76% reported that their organisation fell victim to a phishing attack in 2016.

Regardless of international concerns, Eritrea continues to pursue a policy of indefinite military conscription that compels the young and the old to serve their country while paying them a pittance. Eritreans are continuing to leave in large numbers to find work to support their families and to find a greater degree of freedom than is possible at home.

The US's 1952 'Ivy Mike' test. National Nuclear Security Administration/Nevada Site Office, via Wikimedia Commons

Nuclear weapons are unambiguously the most destructive weapons on the planet. Pound for pound, they are the most lethal weapons ever created, capable of killing millions. Millions live in fear that these weapons will be used again, with all the potential consequences. However, the destructive power of these weapons has been vastly exaggerated, albeit for good reasons.

Who Are We? This is the question that London’s Tate is asking at its free six day cross-platform event spanning the visual arts, film, photography, design, architecture, the spoken and written word and live art. The aim of the programme is to foster collaboration and exchange between artists and researchers, with a view to exploring what is becoming of the UK and Europe. How can “another we” be created, one less susceptible to the fear and suspicion currently dominating the continent?

Is she getting enough shuteye? Shutterstock

Much is said about today’s children not getting enough sleep, a problem blamed on lax bedtimes, and excessive evening computer and mobile phone use. Plus ça change. A hundred or so years ago, it was just as bad – but then excessive homework was a culprit.

The British government can turn its attention to the main Brexit negotiations, now that the UK parliament has voted to allow the prime minister to begin the process. But several years of tense discussions lie ahead – and many British politicians seem to have spent the past few months doing their best to make them as awkward as possible.