Maria Gabriel: Only 54 percent of European citizens have basic digital skills

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19 April 2023

When you think about space travel, there is a good chance the first thing that comes to mind is SpaceX. Specifically, you are probably thinking about their goal of reducing the cost of space transportation to colonize Mars.

For most people, the mission to colonize Mars sounds like a sci-fi pipedream straight out of Star Trek and Mass Effect. However, SpaceX’s recent efforts to build the most powerful and reusable rocket may soon turn that pipedream into reality.

If their Starship launch in December 2022 is a success, their progress will look hopeful. If things go according to SpaceX’s plans, humanity stands to build a new life on the red planet within this century.

However, that also begs the question: how would the average person fare during space flight? Specifically, how does space flight affect the human body during sleep? This article will cover the basics of sleep stages and how they change for astronauts during their missions.

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The Stages of Sleep Explained

Before delving into how astronauts sleep during their missions, one must first understand how humans sleep on Earth. Sleep is as crucial to a person’s health as exercise and food. Fatigue can deeply impair a person’s judgment and physical functions.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies state that the average adult needs about seven hours or more sleep per day. While the human body sleeps, it goes through four stages, each of which has a specific purpose. These four stages are Stage 1 (N1), Stage 2 (N2), Stage 3 (N3), and Stage 4 or REM sleep.

Stage 1 or N1

Also known as the “dozing off” stage, stage 1 typically lasts about one to five minutes. Although the brain and body activity slows down with some twitching, the body has not completely relaxed yet.

Light changes in the brain’s activity occur during stage 1, which is associated with falling asleep. It is easy to wake someone up during this stage. However, if the person is left undisturbed, they move on to Stage 2 quickly.

Stage 2 or N2

During stage 2, the body experiences a drop in temperature, relaxed muscles, and slowed heart rate and breathing. Essentially, this stage is when the body is in a more subdued state.

Additionally, eye movement halts and the brain waves exhibit a new pattern. While the brain’s activity slows down, there are still minuscule bursts of activity called sleep spindles. These bursts of activity help a person resist waking up from disturbances of external stimuli during stage 2.

The duration of stage 2 varies from ten to twenty-five minutes after entering the first sleep cycle. Each stage 2 can grow long during the night. In total, the average person spends about half their time asleep in stage 2.

Stage 3 or N3

Stage 3, also called deep sleep, is the sleep stage from which people are significantly more difficult to wake. During stage 3, a person’s pulse, breathing rate, and muscle tone decrease as their body relaxes further.

Brain activity during this stage has a specific pattern referred to as delta waves. That is why some refer to stage 3 as slow-wave sleep (SWS) or delta sleep.

Most experts firmly believe that stage 3 is the most crucial in restorative sleep. That is because delta sleep enables the body to grow and recover. Stage 3 may also boost a person’s critical bodily processes and immune system.

Despite the reduced brain activity, studies suggest there is a link between deep sleep and creativity, memory, and insightful thinking.

Stage 4 or REM sleep

REM in sleep is the abbreviation of rapid eye movement. During stage 4 or REM sleep, brain activity increases close to the same levels as when the person is awake. Additionally, the body experiences temporary muscle paralysis with the exception of the muscles that control breathing and the eyes.

Despite the eyes being closed, you can actually see them moving rapidly through the lids. That is how REM sleep got its name.

Many believe that REM sleep is critical to cognitive functions such as creativity, learning, and memory. REM sleep is when the most vivid dreams happen, which explains the significant spike in brain activity.

Dreams are not exclusive to REM sleep, as they can occur in other sleep stages. However, they are not as intense or common in the other stages. Typically, people do not experience REM sleep until they have been asleep for at least ninety minutes.

How Astronauts Sleep and Age in Space

Biologically speaking, aging is the result of the accumulation of varieties of cellular and molecular damage over time. Studies suggest that adequate and quality sleep can help slow the aging process while making a person healthier.

A study by Kuniaki Otsuka revealed that sleep quality for astronauts improved while on the International Space Station (ISS). The test Otsuka and his team ran based on a ten-point scale provided higher scores for undisturbed sleep. Upon close examination, their sleep patterns increased by two points on the ISS compared to their results while on Earth.

Sleep Well and Age Slow in Space

While space travel does have certain drawbacks, like space radiation and feelings of isolation, the benefits are also considerable. For one, it provides the opportunity of being one of the first colonists of Mars. For another, the estimated seven-month voyage to Mars may leave you looking younger and healthier than ever.

Nearly 2 million Ukrainians provided with crucial cash assistance

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United Nations News

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19 April 2023

Nearly 2 million Ukrainians provided with crucial cash assistance

Stéphane Dujarric described the direct transfer of money, mostly to those who have been displaced and lost their jobs due to the fighting, as “a continuation of crucial assistance that we, along with our partners, have provided in most regions of Ukraine”.

He said last year, some six million people across different parts of Ukraine had been provided with cash, and this year more than $200 million had been transferred to help Ukrainians meet their basic needs.

“This was made possible through the coordinated efforts of [more than] 20 partners, including UN agencies, national non-governmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations as well”, said Mr. Dujarric.

One billion target

He added that the target overall, was to provide cash assistance to around 4.4 million people, transferring close to $1 billion in total.

And overall, humanitarians are hoping to provide some kind of relief to more than 11 million people of the nearly 18 million who need assistance in Ukraine.

“To this end, we and our partners requested $3.9 billion for the response”, the UN Spokesperson continued. “So far, we received a total of $900 million so we count on the international community to sustain its support to the humanitarian response in the country, as the war continues to drive a grave humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, particularly in the east and the south.

Over the weekend, the UN managed to provide shelter materials and other vital items to more than 1,500 people in a community along the Dnipro River in Kherson region.

It’s the first time that aid workers have managed to reach the area just a few hundred metres from the frontline, “where the level of destruction is appalling”, according to the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) in Ukraine.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, Denise Brown, said on Monday that in getting two convoys into the Donetsk and Kherson regions last Friday, UN teams were “inching our way towards the frontline, to relieve the suffering of these communities who are under constant shelling”.

UN, African and Arab leaders to hold virtual talks on Sudan crisis

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United Nations News

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19 April 2023

UN, African and Arab leaders to hold virtual talks on Sudan crisis

The UN chief spoke earlier in the day to President William Ruto of Kenya and with the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki.

Mr. Guterres will attend a virtual meeting on Sudan on Thursday, bringing together the AU Chairperson, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, the Executive Secretary of the East African bloc, IGAD, and other relevant organizations, to discuss ways the international community can help end the violence and restore order inside Sudan.

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UN fully engaged

“Obviously, today he will continue to be fully engaged, making phone calls, trying to secure a 24-hour ceasefire, which will enable a much-needed reprieve to all affected civilians in Khartoum,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists attending his daily noon briefing in New York.

The UN Special Representative in Sudan, Volker Perthes, also continues engagement with parties on the ground, key Sudanese leaders and Member States, in trying to secure an immediate de-escalation in the fighting.

The crisis between the Sudanese armed forces and formerly allied Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries emerged as the country appeared to be returning to the path towards democratic transition. The sides are at odds over the process of restoring civilian rule.

New 24-hour ceasefire

The deadly clashes erupted on Saturday. An initial 24-hour ceasefire, announced for 6 pm, local time, on Tuesday, collapsed within minutes of the deadline.

The parties committed to a new 24-hour truce on Wednesday, also beginning at 6 pm, local time, but some international media reported that the shelling has continued.

The UN, AU and IGAD – known as the Trilateral Mechanism – issued a statement appealing to the sides “to create necessary conditions during this period for the civilians to seek safe shelter, food and medical care.”

Devastating impact on civilians

Mr. Dujarric said the continued heavy fighting is having devastating consequences for civilians, as well as UN staff and other members of the international community.

“We reiterate to the parties to the conflict that they must respect international law,” he said.

“They are obliged to protect civilians and ensure the safety and security of all United Nations and associated personnel as well as their premises, our assets, and trapped civilians must be able to receive assistance, access essential supplies and evacuate to safer zones as needed.”

Vital supplies dwindling

As the crisis deepens, humanitarians warn that people are running out of food, fuel and other vital supplies, and many urgently need medical care.

“We desperately need a humanitarian pause so that wounded and sick civilians can reach hospitals,” Mr. Dujarric said, adding “people in Khartoum have been unable to safely leave their homes to buy food and other essential items for days.”

He reported that the humanitarian response remains severely hampered, calling for an end to attacks against aid workers and looting of humanitarian facilities.

“Humanitarians must be able to safely carry out their work. Aid agencies must be able to safely move staff and replenish critical supplies,” he stressed.

Health system concerns

The UN is also worried that Sudan’s healthcare system could completely collapse as hospitals need additional staff and supplies, including blood.

The violence and attacks have forced 16 hospitals across the country to close, nine in Khartoum alone, Mr. Dujarric said, citing the World Health Organization (WHO). Another 16 hospitals, including in Darfur states, could close soon due to staff fatigue and lack of supplies. 

“It goes without saying that we condemn all attacks on health personnel, on facilities and ambulances – which is putting more lives at risk,” he said. “These are flagrant violations of international law, and they must stop.”

Sudanese refugees seek safety in neighboring Chad following an outbreak of violence in Darfur.

Sudanese refugees arrive in Chad

As fighting rages on in Sudan, humanitarian agencies are also monitoring the arrivals of new Sudanese refugees in neighbouring Chad, a representative of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said early on Wednesday.

UNHCR’s Laura Lo Castro tweeted about a joint mission conducted with the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Chad’s national commission in charge of refugees, to observe the influx of new Sudanese refugees in the east, “assess urgent needs and agree on [a] response plan”.

She said there were an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 new refugees in the first three sites visited.

Any new arrivals will be entering a situation marked by soaring humanitarian needs and chronic underfunding.

Just last week, before the military power struggle erupted in Sudan, WFP warned that hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people in Chad could face hunger because there was no funding for food assistance beyond this coming May.

“Don’t touch them!” US warns Russia about American nuclear technology in Ukraine

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19 April 2023

“Don’t touch them!” US warns Russia about American nuclear technology in Ukraine

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine apparently contains secret U.S. nuclear technology, which is why the United States has warned Moscow not to touch it.

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Image credit: IAEA Imagebank via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

This warning about sensitive nuclear technology that is physically located in the Zaporizhzhia power plant was officially stated in a letter from the U.S. Department of Energy sent to the Russian state company Rosatom on March 17, 2003, according to the article published by CNN which refers to a Ukrainian media resource RBC Ukraine.

It is not known what specific American technologies are deployed in the Ukrainian energy facility.

Director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Nonproliferation Policy, Andrea Ferkile wrote in a letter to the CEO of a Russian state-owned company Rosatom that Ukraine’s Zaporozhye nuclear power plant “contains US-origin nuclear technical data that is export-controlled by the United States Government.”

The letter explicitly noted that goods, software, and technology are subject to US export controls, particularly when there is a potential for their use in a manner that harms US national security interests.

The Ukrainian nuclear power plant is still operated and maintained by Ukrainian workers and nuclear specialists. However, the facility is de facto controlled by Rosatom after it was occupied by the invading Russian army.

This is probably the first publicly known case when the U.S. Department of Energy has warned the Russian state-owned company that any actions by citizens or organizations of the Russian Federation with American technology which is present in Ukraine are illegal.

DNA expertise has established that there was a woman on board a famous sunken Swedish warship

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News desk

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19 April 2023

The wreck of the royal ship Vasa was recovered in 1961 and is remarkably well preserved after more than 300 years underwater in Stockholm harbor

An American military laboratory has helped the Swedes confirm what had been suspected for years: a woman was among the dead on a 17th-century warship that sank on its maiden voyage. This was announced last week by the museum where the ship is exhibited, AP reported.

The wreck of the Royal Warship Vasa was recovered in 1961 and is remarkably well preserved after more than 300 years underwater in Stockholm harbour. Since then, the ship has been housed in the Vasa Museum, one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Swedish capital, where visitors can admire its exquisite carvings.

About 30 people died when the Vasa capsized and sank just minutes after leaving port in 1628. They are believed to have been crew members, and the identities of most of them are unknown.

For years, there had been indications that one of the victims, known as “Ge,” was a woman because of the shape of the hip bone, Fred Hawker, head of research at the Vasa Museum, said in a statement.

Anna Maria Forsberg, a historian from the Vasa Museum, specified that women were not part of the crews of the Swedish fleet in the 17th century, but could be on board as guests. Sailors were allowed to take their wives with them on board unless the ship was going to battle or on a long voyage.

“We know from written sources that about 30 people died that day,” Forsberg says, adding: “So it is likely that she was a sailor’s wife who wanted to come with him on the maiden voyage of this new, impressive ship “. She also said that the exact number of people on board that day is not known, “but we estimate that there were about 150 people, with the assumption that another 300 soldiers were to be taken on board further in the archipelago.” .

Since 2004, the Vasa Museum has collaborated with Uppsala University’s Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, which has been examining all the skeletons to learn as much as possible about the different people on the doomed ship. “Extracting DNA from bones that have been on the seabed for 333 years is very difficult, but not impossible,” says Marie Allen, professor of forensic genetics at Uppsala University. “Put simply, we found no Y-chromosomes in the ‘Ge’ genome, but we couldn’t be completely sure and wanted the results to be confirmed,” she explained.

So the Swedes turned to the Delaware-based DNA Identification Laboratory for the US Armed Forces. “Thanks to the forensic medical expertise in a new test, we were able to confirm that the individual ‘Ge’ was a woman,” explained Alain.

The Vasa, which was due to head to a naval base near Stockholm to wait for troops to board, is believed to have sunk because it had no ballast to counteract its heavy guns.

Inflatable tanks and wooden HIMARS: Fake, but work exceptionally well

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19 April 2023

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are using inflatable and wooden decoys to confuse the Russians and reduce the lethal threat posed by the Russian combat drones and other weapons in the Russian army’s arsenal.

Example of an inflatable tank. Image credit: Inflatech

Warfare based on deception is known since the first ancient wars. And even when technology has advanced to the current level, different methods to conceal the real military forces are still being used.

Drones, ranged weapons and other technological advances have significantly changed the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine. But dummies are a very effective method to fight these new threats, writes The Economist.

Inflatable tanks

The Russian military constantly reports having destroyed innumerable units of M142 HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems. Kiev, for its part, claims that not a single HIMARS has been lost since the United States began supplying them last July. What is the reason for such a mismatch of combat statistics?

The reason why this happens may look way too simple, and even a bit amusing.

Ukraine has a fleet of wooden replicas of HIMARS, which are mounted on heavy trucks. But its military forces have an even longer experience in using decoys. Since 2018, Ukraine has started using inflatable models of heavy armored vehicles and weapon platforms, explained Andrijus Rymaruks, a representative of the “Return Alive” foundation.

Inflatable Decoys of HIMARS and some kind of Main Battle Tank possibly an M1A1 Abrams produced by the Czech Company Inflatech have been Photographed, however their CEO has refused to say if his Decoys are going to Ukraine but that Sale are indeed up almost 30% since last year. pic.twitter.com/W3gc2CY7ln

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 7, 2023

Wooden “equipment” is heavy and consists of several parts. To transport it, a cargo vehicle is needed. Furthermore, an engineering team has to assemble and dismantle them, as needed. Meanwile, the inflatable structure is made of nylon fabric, is cheaper to produce, light enough to carry in a backpack.

According to an engineer from the Czech company Inflatech, which produces mock-ups of armored cars, these systems are installed very quickly: you only need to turn on the pump and in ten minutes a “brand-new copy” of HIMARS is ready.

Tanks, artillery, mortars, machine guns – you name it. It is possible to make nylon, rubber, or wooden analog for almost any type of military equipment.

The Russian Federation also has factories for the production of inflatable structures, including fighter jets and missile systems. From a distance – like, for example, when observing the territory from a high-altitude drone or satellite imagery – the airbase with these dummies will seem overcrowded with combat aircraft.

Difficulties arise when replicating some specific parts of armored vehicles, such as the antennas of radar systems. According to an engineer at Inflatech, the tanks’ cannons are too long, so aluminum tubes are used instead of inflatable parts. Inflatech’s orders have increased by 30 percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

In turn, decoy layouts and the overall production technology were also improved. Now, a fake tank – inflatable or wooden – is practically indistinguishable from a real one from a distance of five meters. Which, in fact, seems difficult to believe, but these are the words of military officers.

In order to confuse the thermal imagers of drones, the inflatable mock-ups are equipped with reflectors and false thermal signature generators, which imitate the signal obtained after a projectile hits a real tank.

Currently, such decoys are mainly used to reduce the threat posed by the Russian Lancet drones, which are considered the most dangerous aircraft of their kind. The operating range of Lancet drones is 40 km, and they can carry up to 3 kg of explosives.

But not only drones can be fooled by these measures. Enemy artillery also wastes tons of ammo to hit fake structures.

Towards a fair and just world for all

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Guest Author

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19 April 2023

In the history of the wars of the last millennium, the main platform of conflicts was Europe. But thanks to extraordinary decisions taken after the Second World War (for example, instead of continuing the confrontation, Germany and France created a structure of mutually beneficial relations – the European Union), the idea of a new war was practically excluded from the relations between the historical opponents. Unfortunately, some institutions created in the second half of the last century have proved to be less effective. The United Nations has failed since its creation to prevent any major wars, mainly due to the lack of mechanisms to resolve military conflicts by diplomatic means if Security Council members are involved in the conflict. Nor has it been able to establish an effective institution of negotiation between Council members in military conflict.

The world needs a new institution and also a different vision of relations between countries. The world needs to be more united and fairer for all, where today’s adversaries become allies. Indeed, there is a lack of a project that brings together all the countries of the world in a common cause.

In the modern world, there is only one absolutely neutral and “equidistant” centre that can create the conditions for dialogue between countries in conflict. This is Pope Francis, who in the global negotiation process offers real hope that it is possible to emerge from the conflict in Ukraine into a new creative reality. Francis, on the one hand, is irreconcilable with the evils of war; on the other hand, he maintains his political neutrality with all parties to the conflict, and this creates a new basis for the dialogue of civilisations.

The Pope acts as a moderating arbiter in the search for a just world and a peace formula that satisfies all, offering the Vatican as a platform for the negotiation processes of the conflicting parties. Here it is important to emphasise that the Vatican is a neutral state, the Pope is its head, and in his service to peacebuilding, he can rise above the confessional framework of Catholicism, presenting the Vatican not as the “capital of the Church”, but as an international platform for dialogue between countries of different traditions and cultures. I can imagine the presence in the Vatican of Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Confucian representatives, even atheists, with the Pope acting as a moderator.

In this context, the Vatican is the key piece in the jigsaw of the international relations system, the subject of law that is capable of restarting the UN’s activities, making them viable and effective. It is called upon to become an institution in which peace negotiations between the members of the Security Council become effective. To this end, the Vatican and the figure of the Pope are transformed from symbols of the West, i.e. a part of the Western ghetto, to the centre on a truly universal scale, a unifying symbol of East, West, North and South. Pope Francis’ reforms, often criticised by the Catholic faithful, actually point the way in this direction: out of the Western ghetto towards the construction of a single world, just for all.

Wars will not disappear as long as history lasts. But one thing is clear: the fewer wars there are, the closer we will be to the Kingdom of Heaven. And the role of the Pope and a new Vatican as the new Jerusalem are key in this process.

In China, 7.7 million people applied for 200,000 government jobs

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19 April 2023

Chinese youth took the exam for civil service positions this year, amid rising youth unemployment.

Government jobs are usually considered lucrative in China. The move to public office came shortly after Xi Jinping won the position of China’s leader for an unprecedented third term.

Before him, the unity is in the eyes of the dominant Chinese Communist Party. This means that the party will increase the activity in the economy, including in front of the business.

Millions of citizens seeking civil service must take the Chinese Civil Service Exam, which begins to run for the Chinese People’s Republic of China before the end of the year.

The modified exam consists of two parts, which includes the writing of an essay, called “šen lun” or “concrete writing and protection of the argument”.

The text includes, among other things, the current report of the National Committee of the Communication Ministry of China and other rules and warnings. The exam covers and tests language skills, data analysis, quantitative methods, “assessment and reasoning” and “health assessment”.

The state increases the rate of sales at the national level by about 15% to 20%, so it is necessary to put on the insurance policy.

Photo by zhang kaiyv:

A unique fragment of the 1750-year-old New Testament was discovered in the Vatican

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19 April 2023