Новости за 20.03.2017

NERC / National Oceanography Centre

The research submarine Boaty McBoatface is about to be used for the first time. Boaty is world-famous thanks to its name: the result of a joke entry to a naming contest that went viral, but few know what the sub will actually do. Well, I am currently lead scientist on RSS James Clark Ross, Boaty’s parent ship, which just set sail from Chile. Here’s what we want to find out.

The Italian rugby union team suffered five heavy losses in the 2017 Six Nations tournament, cementing them to the bottom of the table and their 12th last place finish since joining the tournament in 2000. Dejected and defeated a dozen times in a row, their place in the tournament is under renewed scrutiny. There is talk of introducing a system of promotion and relegation to the Six Nations.

Iraqi government forces are closing in on the historic Grand Mosque in Mosul, close to the heart of the old city, which remains in the grasp of Islamic State (IS). Iraqi helicopter gunships are in action, as are combat aircraft from coalition forces and the Iraqi Army hopes to gain control of the mosque imminently.

UNDP in Europe and Central Asia, CC BY-NC-SA

The refugee crisis in Europe brings with it collateral damage. The flight of people from Syria and other conflict zones has been well-documented and the policy challenges for governments have generated blanket coverage. But there have also been spill-over effects on other marginalised groups, particularly the Roma.

Carlo Cignani/Wikimedia Commons

The outstanding successes of the European Union are its historic contribution to peace and reconciliation across the continent, its post-Cold War role in the ongoing transformation of 14 former dictatorships into democratic market economies, and the legal framework it has produced for its citizens. That framework is far from perfect but it protects consumers, workers and the environment, and underpins the single European market – an economy larger than that of the US and twice as large as China’s. Читать дальше...

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Passport officers often have to scrutinise hundreds of people each day. They have just a few seconds to stare through their glass screens at the impatient and perhaps slightly dishevelled traveller facing them and decide if their face matches the tiny photograph in their passport. And this isn’t just their job – it’s a matter of great national security.

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Many cultures swear by the benefits of a hot bath. But only recently has science began to understand how passive heating (as opposed to getting hot and sweaty from exercise) improves health.

When time travel adventure Back to the Future included the conceit of the white 1980s teenager, Marty McFly, inventing rock ‘n’ roll, there was really only one song to hang it on – Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode”. Legendary is an overused adjective in popular culture, but Berry’s passing is a salutary reminder of what a giant in the field actually looked like.

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One thing that matters enormously to UK voters is the NHS. A “battle bus” emblazoned with a claim that the NHS would receive £350m a week if the UK left the European Union was crucial to the victory of the Leave vote in the June 2016 referendum – despite the fact that this central claim was widely debunked.

A good life on the Costa del Sol. Bryan Ledgard/flickr, CC BY

Spain is home to more than 100,000 British pensioners. Most moved there many years ago to enjoy their retirement with the understanding that they would be able to export their pension and healthcare rights with them. But since the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, these rights are no longer guaranteed, and pensioners I’ve spoken to in Spain are uncertain about their futures.

Marc Brenner

In 1602, a law student called John Manningham saw Twelfth Night, or What You Will, and wrote what was, in effect, the first review of the play. Manningham enjoyed the “good practice” of the trick played against Malvolio, the puritanical steward, who is fooled into believing that the Countess Olivia loves him and that she wants to see him, smiling, in cross-gartered yellow stockings. Manningham’s comments were a sign of things to come: Malvolio has been running away with the notices ever since. Читать дальше...

British Muslims are among some of the most disadvantaged people living in the UK, and yet this is not a story many are familiar with. This is because despite the poverty, disadvantage and social immobility Muslims face, headlines that link the faith to crime or terrorism, or to forced marriage or honour killings, are much more common.

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Pregnancy is a time when women are expected to make changes to their health in order to benefit their unborn child. The list of “risky behaviours” has increased significantly over the past 50 years, and expectant mothers are now advised to cut out alcohol, cigarettes and a range of foods, among other things. After their baby is born, women are reminded of the superiority of breast milk over formula – and can feel guilty whichever they choose.

triplefiveandrew/Flickr, CC BY-NC

A single house balancing precariously in the middle of a construction site may seem like a doomed and fragile structure. But in China, these residences have become a potent symbol of resistance. Known as “dingzihu” in Chinese – which can be translated as “nail house” or “nail household” – buildings like this represent those who, like stubborn nails, defy state-ordered evictions and demolitions by refusing to vacate their properties.

As the march towards Brexit rekindles arguments over British nationalism and the strength and merits of the union between England and Scotland, the mass of conflicted feelings over the British Empire is naturally bubbling to the surface again.

Six years ago, 15 teenagers from the southern Syrian city of Deraa graffitied a wall with anti-government slogans, including the phrase synonymous with the popular uprisings taking place across the Arab world: “The people want the overthrow of the regime.” When all 15 teenagers were arrested and tortured, the local community responded violently, and were met with gunfire. Four people died.