Saturday, April 20, 2024

Nigerian chess master Tunde Onakoya broke the record for the longest chess marathon

Under the bright lights of New York's iconic Times Square, Nigerian chess master Tunde Onakoya broke the record for the longest chess marathon.

After playing for 58 consecutive hours, he was still at the table, reports the BBC.

Onakoya hopes to raise $1m (£805,000) for charity to support chess education for millions of children.

Hundreds of supporters from the city's Nigerian community turned out to cheer on the chess master, including Nigerian Afrobeats music star Davido.

They provided him with music and energy with supplies of classic Nigerian dishes, including the beloved national staple, jollof rice.

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Golden Gate Güell Closed: How Can You Hide a park?

Barcelona's local council has convinced the developers of some of the most popular digital mapping solutions to hide a bus route because of tourists.

The route of the 116 bus from Barcelona, frequently used by tourists to reach Park Güell, has disappeared from applications such as Google Maps and Apple Maps.

This after, under the pressure of the residents of the area, the local authorities requested this from the producers of the applications.

The local council refused to confirm or deny that it had forced Google and Apple to shorten the bus route, but a Google spokesman said such changes were only made at the request of local authorities.

Catalans who use the 116 bus to get home have complained that it is always crowded because of tourists who use it to get to Park Güell.

Park Güell is a privatized park system composed of gardens and architectural elements located on Carmel Hill, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Carmel Hill belongs to the mountain range of Collserola – the Parc del Carmel is located on the northern face.

The park was built from 1900 to 1914 and was officially opened as a public park in 1926. In 1984, UNESCO declared the park a World Heritage Site under "Works of Antoni Gaudí".

Thursday, April 11, 2024

New madman across the water: The luxury ocean liner known as Titanic II is almost ready to be launched

The "Titanic" project was relaunched after several years of hiatus. According to officials' estimates, the mega-ship could be launched on June 27, 2027.

Australian billionaire Clive Palmer has revived the Titanic II project, an ambitious initiative to build a replica of the famous ship, but in a version he describes as "far, far superior" to the original, which met a tragic end during the voyage its inaugural

When the story of Titanic II began

In an impressive event held in a rented hall in the Sydney Opera House, Palmer made the long-awaited announcement that he plans to realize his long-held dream of building a 1:1 scale replica of the famous vessel. However, although he initially promised that his company, Blue Star Line, would build a "ship of love" that would redefine style and luxury, Palmer admitted that he had yet to find a suitable shipyard to build the vessel.

Almost a decade has passed since Palmer's press conference at London's Ritz Hotel, where he initiated the Titanic II project. However, although the project has been relaunched, it remains to be seen whether Palmer's dream of bringing the Titanic back to life will ever become a reality.

In response to a reporter's question in 2018 about the veracity of his project, Clive Palmer dismissed the idea that it could be a hoax or a publicity stunt. He qualified these accusations as "nonsense" and emphasized that he has "enough money to build the Titanic 10 times over".

Since then, Palmer has devoted his time and resources to various fields, from involvement in politics, serving as a member of the Australian federal parliament, to disbanding and reviving a political party, and investing in tourism and expensive election campaigns. The Titanic II project suffered a halt in 2015 following a legal dispute between one of Palmer's companies and the Chinese firm Citic, which left the project without funds.

The luxury ocean liner is almost ready

In 2018, Palmer re-announced the project and set 2022 as when the new Titanic would set sail on its maiden voyage. In the latest announcement, Palmer attributed the project's delays to the Covid-19 pandemic and stressed that it now has even greater financial resources. Here, in 2024, construction was resumed and the project is fast approaching completion.

At a press conference in Sydney Harbour, Palmer, 70, said he "could die at any time without having achieved anything great". However, he is adamant that he will continue to pursue his dream of building the Titanic and hopes that he will not close his eyes until he sees it floating on the sea.

Thursday, April 4, 2024

Biden vs Trump. Americans can't find the "lesser evil"

An important part of the voters is in a dilemma and will vote for the "lesser evil", while the number of undecided people continues to grow, EFE and other news sources report.

According to the same poll, most voters believe that neither candidate has the mental capacity to be president. In the case of Trump (age 77), 48% think he can perform at the required level, while only 28% think the same about Biden (age 81).

The unfavorable opinion of Biden is 59%, compared to 52%, in the case of Trump, according to the average of the surveys carried out by the specialist portal FiveThirtyEight. This level of rejection is comparable only to the situation in 2016, when Hillary Clinton faced Trump.voters,candidate,mental capacity

Trump appears to be operating in his comfort zone, as he is used to campaigning against the backdrop of guaranteed rejection by a large part of the American electorate. Some polling agencies measure how strongly Americans oppose the candidates, and the results indicate that 48% of those who reject Trump make him "strong", while in the case of Biden the percentage is 45%.

Knowing the number of candidates' haters is crucial to understanding how well they will be able to convince the undecideds, which will determine who will be president of the United States until 2029.

According to the WSJ poll, Trump has an advantage in six of the seven states considered key to victory in the American electoral system. Trump leads Biden in voting intent in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, has a margin of error advantage in Georgia, and is technically tied in Wisconsin.

"No. He's not losing. He's gaining ground or he's tied. When people start focusing (on the election) and seeing the two options, it's obvious that Joe is going to win this election," US First Lady Jill Biden said , on the CBS morning show.

The big burden on Biden's popularity is immigration and the economy, two issues on which Trump appears to be better positioned, given his past promises.


Wednesday, April 3, 2024

A study predicts that all Japanese people will have the same surname in 500 years

A study conducted by the Tohoku University in Japan predicts that, by the year 2500, all Japanese will bear the surname "Sato", currently the most common surname in the Asian country.

"Sato" is the most common surname among Japanese people, and in 2023 it was borne by 1.5% of the Japanese population, according to estimates from a study led by Professor Hiroshi Yoshida of the Center for Social and Economic Research on Aging, in the mentioned university.

It estimates that the number of people with the surname Sato has increased 1.0083 times in recent years and makes a prediction about the evolution of this number, given the demographic trends of rapid aging and declining birth rates, which lead to a net loss population continues.

His study also takes into account the Japanese law which stipulates that, at the time of marriage, husband and wife must adopt the same surname, either his or hers. In Japan, only one surname and one first name are used.

Japan debates whether women should keep their surnames

Based on these factors, Yoshida estimates that in the year 2446, half of the Japanese population will have the surname "Sato" and that by 2531 all Japanese will have the same surname. The study was made public amid the ongoing debate in Japan regarding the aforementioned civil regulations regarding surnames.

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Shakira cancels the movie "Barbie". Her sons hate it

The action of the film is set in Barbie Land - a matriarchal system where the women have all the fancy jobs, while the men (Kens) are subordinate to Barbie and spend all their time on the beach.

The dolls travel to the real world, where they experience patriarchy. Then Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling) wants to include the patriarchy in the constitution of Barbie Land, but is prevented by Barbie (Margot Robbie) and her team.

Shakira said her two sons "absolutely hated" the film. The artist's children say that it is a film that "emasculates", which Shakira agreed with "to a certain extent".

She said: "I'm raising two boys. I want them to feel strong while respecting women. I love pop culture when it tries to empower women without taking away men's ability to be men and protect." .

The artist also said: "I think that men have a purpose in society and that women also have another purpose. We complement each other, and this complement should not be lost"

However, Shakira offered a more nuanced perspective, saying: "Just because a woman can do it all doesn't mean she should, right? Why not share the burden with the people who deserve to carry it, who do they have a duty to wear it too?"

Monday, April 1, 2024

Major cities on the US East Coast are sinking. Experts have explained how it is possible

Several cities on the east coast of the USA are sinking. Experts warn that there are a number of factors causing this situation, including climate change, reports The Guardian.

Between 2007 and 2020, New York, Baltimore, and Norfolk, Virginia sank by about 2 mm per year, other places sank at double or triple the rate, and Charleston, South Carolina sank the fastest, by 4 mm per year.

Some of this surging has resulted from pumping groundwater for water supplies or natural gas, but New York and other cities are sinking under the weight of their buildings.

It's a complex situation, with a number of factors at play. After the great ice sheets melted at the end of the Ice Age, the land gradually tilted, with northern areas that were under ice rising, while southern areas that were ice-free sloped. If land sinks and sea levels rise as a result of climate change, the risk of flooding on the US East Coast is increased.

Buildings, roads, railways, farmland and more are under threat, with the risk of seawater seeping into water supplies and turning forests into 'ghost forests', with coastal wetlands particularly vulnerable to erosion, crucial to protecting many cities from storm surges during hurricanes.