Interest rates have been negative in Europe for years. But it took the flood of savings unleashed in the pandemic for banks finally to charge depositors in earnest. From a report: Germany’s biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, have told new customers since last year to pay a 0.5% annual rate to keep large sums of money with them. The banks…
Tag: Relief
Sergey Brin’s Airship Aims To Use World’s Biggest Mobile Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Sergey Brin’s secretive airship company LTA Research and Exploration is planning to power a huge disaster relief airship with an equally record-breaking hydrogen fuel cell. From a report: A job listing from the company, which is based in Mountain View, California and Akron, Ohio, reveals that LTA wants to configure a 1.5-megawatt hydrogen propulsion system for an airship to deliver humanitarian…
Best observing targets for binoculars
What are the best solar system and deep-sky objects to view to get the most out of your binoculars? From moon-encircled worlds to starry knots in the Milky Way, our list makes the sky’s wonders easy to find. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/best-targets-for-binoculars-moon-planets-nebula-clusters…
First 3D-Printed House Goes On Sale, Foreshadowing Faster, Cheaper Homebuilding
“A company says it has listed the first 3D printed house in the United States for sale,” reports CNN. “This is the future, there is no doubt about it,” says Kirk Andersen, the director of operations at SQ4D Inc. SQ4D uses automated building methods, or 3D printing, to build structures and homes… The company can set up its Autonomous Robotic Construction…
‘Meme Stock’ Rally Rescues AMC Theaters From $600 Million Debt
This week’s bizarre “meme stock” rally, which has delivered lottery-like windfalls for holders of GameStop stock, also wiped out $600 million in debt owed by the AMC theater chain. Polygon reports: That’s because, on Wednesday, a private equity firm named Silver Lake — and private equity firms are popularly considered the “bad guys” in this snobs-versus-slobs drama — elected to convert…
Hear the strange music of distant planetary system TOI-178
In the animation in this post, the rhythmic movement of newly discovered planets around the star TOI-178 is represented through a musical harmony, created by attributing a note (in the pentatonic scale) to each of the planets. Hear the music of these planets. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/star-system-tio-178-planets-in-resonance-orbits-cheops…
Amazon.com and ‘Big Five’ Publishers Accused of eBook Price-Fixing
Amazon.com and the “Big Five” publishers — Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster — have been accused of colluding to fix ebook prices, in a class action filed by the law firm that successfully sued Apple and the Big Five on the same charge 10 years ago. The Guardian reports: The lawsuit, filed in district court in…
America’s Intelligence Agencies Have 180 Days to Reveal ‘Detailed Analyses of UFO Data’
CNN reports: When President Donald Trump signed the $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government funding bill into law in December, so began the 180-day countdown for US intelligence agencies to tell Congress what they know about UFOs. No, really. The director of National Intelligence and the secretary of defense have a little less than six months now to provide the congressional…
New Era for UK as It Completes Separation From European Union
A new era has begun for the United Kingdom after it completed its formal separation from the European Union. From a report: The UK stopped following EU rules at 23:00 GMT, as replacement arrangements for travel, trade, immigration and security co-operation came into force.
Boris Johnson said the UK had “freedom in our hands” and the ability to do things “differently and…
Pentagon has 180 days to disclose UFO data
The new US funding bill compels various agencies to disclose what they know about UFOs within six months. The $2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief and govern… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/342522/pentagon-has-180-days-to-disclose-ufo-data…