leicsmac

Four years is a long time and it remains to be how vote share translates to seats, but it does seem like there's the distinct possibility that they'll at least be kingmaker. This timeline is... well, an odd one.

Yeah, that's likely. It would be equally vacuous if they used it as front page fodder in the same way.

One would hope the AfD and whatever Mdme Le Pen calls her band won't get enough traction for power, but given the change in landscape in the last decade, I wouldn't want to lay money on it. Edit: the above being said, Yoon and his ideas in Korea have failed epically without much drastic change so there may be hope, yeah.

It does indeed. And I think that it's not just limited to the UK, either. France, Germany, parts of Latin America, South Korea, to name but a few, are having upsurges in such sentiment that are affecting their social fabric. Social media has allowed it to spread in that way.

The ascendancy of nationalist movements across the world, if not addressed adequately and allowed to control the democratic process, will result in a conflict/humanitarian crisis in the next two decades that will cost tens of millions of lives, at a minimum - either through direct application of supremacist ideals to oppress "undesirable" demographics, or from conflict over resources/lack of cooperation in the face of a novel natural threat, or both. (This is unpopular because those movements appear to be growing all the time in terms of popularity in a lot of democratic nations with little consideration as to what they might lead to, apart from dismissal like "it won't be that bad...")

Good to see that the current government are taking rapid action on their members of parliament being arses on social media, but that being said, would the Heil really make as much of a big deal of someone being called "a thick posh lazy oaf" if it was a Tory or Reform MP saying it? Compared to what Gwynne posted which was pretty beyond the pale, this seems pretty mild.

One would think any total above 300 in a ODI is fair, but have no idea about what kind of track this is.

Glad it didn't matter in the end. Superb game.

Forward pass on the buildup to that try?

What a bizarre 60 seconds of play that was

Think England should be happy to be going in all square at half time. All to play for especially with the conditions generating mistakes.

Justice done there with Dupont shelling that easy run in, looked like a quite clear obstruction infringement by France that led to the break. And they've shelled it again

https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-slashes-overhead-payments-research-sparking-outrage In a Friday night move that quickly drew howls of protest from the U.S. biomedical research community, President Donald Trump’s administration today announced it is immediately reducing by at least half the so-called indirect cost payments that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) makes to universities, hospitals, and research institutes to help cover facilities and administrative costs. A 15% indirect cost rate will now apply to all new and existing grants, NIH said in a memo from its Director’s office. Typically, about 30% of an average NIH grant to an institution is earmarked for indirect costs, according to NIH, but some universities get much higher rates. In 2023, NIH, the world’s largest funder of biomedical research, spent nearly $9 billion on indirect costs; the change would likely leave research institutions needing to find billions of dollars from other sources to support laboratories, students, and staff. “It is… vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead,” NIH wrote in the memo. The new rate brings NIH into line with the maximum indirect costs rates allowed by private foundations, NIH stated, and is higher than the minimum 10% indirect cost payment NIH says it is required to provide. “This rate will allow grant recipients a reasonable and realistic recovery of indirect costs,” the memo stated. “This is a surefire way to cripple lifesaving research and innovation,” said a statement from the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), which tracks federal policy for major universities and medical research centers. “America’s competitors will relish this self-inflicted wound. We urge NIH to rescind this dangerous policy before its harms are felt by Americans.” Alondra Nelson of the Institute for Advanced Study, former head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, lamented on BlueSky what she said would amount to a "generational restructuring of the US research and development ecosystem." She added that "This funding shift will not only reduce US research leadership, it will put working people out of work and reduce healthcare access." Yep, definitely a golden opportunity for the Chinese in the field of scientific research.

Long term essential infrastructure projects like this and policy decisions on them are probably the greatest weakness of a democratic system. I guess some people don't think that working for the long term future is logical. And those people are responsible for all the consequences that not working for that future entails. There will be and has to be a reckoning, the same way there has to be after any event that has a grotesque cost in money and lives.

It's more about the future of civilisation than aesthetics, but go nuts, I guess.

Both wind and solar power are part of a suite of solutions, at least at a local level.

Pretty much. And the consequences of such backslides have always been brutal in the past and will in all likelihood be even worse now. It's truly disturbing that some people apparently don't or can't understand the cost in lives and suffering at stake here. The blood, when it flows, will be on their hands as much as those with the power that they elect. The Chinese must view this as a golden opportunity to surpass the US in terms of scientific progress.

I would think that this is the case with the undersea fibreoptic cables too in terms of critical societal infrastructure. We build those and use those anyway, I think if the option is available we have to do the same here.

Well, at least they've revised the object diameter down to at most 90m which means there's most likely nothing of it will hit the ground; but the airburst alone would be enough to cause some nasty problems if it were in the wrong place.

Agree with all of that. Now we need governments farsighted and driven enough to make it happen.

If this isn't the solution in principle (if perhaps not in practice), then I wouldn't mind hearing suggestions as to what the solution is for undergoing a necessary change to sustainable energy generation while keeping costs down.

And do it in a sustainable fashion. Getting more serious on fission power is something else this government is doing right, along with other non fossil fuel solutions. It's just a shame that the UK is going to be playing catchup on that.

...and it's giving the usual suspects an excuse to spread more ragebait too, which is deeply annoying.

Better option than Faes or Vesty tbh.

Random Internet find: "The nirvana fallacy is the single most powerful impediment to tackling climate change that I've encountered in my decades of trying to develop technology to help us deal with it- next to our desire to find someone else to help pay for it." And the best thing about that fallacy is that it's an easy one for the powerful to sell to everyone else through media to perpetuate the status quo.