“It is natural for any country to pay tribute to those who have given their lives for the motherland,” commented the Chief Secretary of the Government
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent a donation to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which is often seen as a symbol of Japan’s former militarism, Reuters reported.
Kishida himself did not visit the shrine, but members of his government were there Monday on the 77th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. This is expected to anger China and South Korea, which were particularly hard hit by Japanese occupation during the war.
Japan’s relationship with China has already been particularly strained this year after Beijing conducted unprecedented military exercises off Taiwan following a visit there by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this month. During the exercises, several missiles fell into the waters of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
In Yasukuni, among the others who fell in the service of Japan, 14 Japanese war criminals convicted by the special tribunal of the Allies after the war are also honored.
A representative of the peace-loving wing of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida must avoid angering his neighbors and international partners while also appeasing his party’s right wing, especially after the assassination of its strongman Shinzo Abe last month.
Kishida himself sent a donation without visiting the temple, the Kyodo news agency reported. He made donations during festivals last year and this spring. Early Monday, however, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation showed several ministers at the temple, including Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi. Koichi Hagiuda, head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s political research council and a key ally of slain former prime minister Shinzo Abe, was also there earlier.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said he did not know if the prime minister would visit the temple, but believed he would make an appropriate decision. “It is natural for any country to pay tribute to those who gave their lives for the motherland,” Matsuno said, adding that Japan would continue to strengthen relations with its neighbors, including China and South Korea.
Later today, Kishida, as well as Emperor Naruhito, will attend a separate secular ceremony to mark the anniversary of the World War II surrender.
Why pay attention to these features anyway? I share with you brief thoughts and guidelines on the subject.
Bitterness in a vegetable or drink often provokes a grimace and unconsciously brings us back to those unpleasant childhood memories of cough syrup. And quite naturally we avoid such products because they are not particularly tasty to us. On the other hand, remember those chefs who indulge us foodies with spicy arugula paired with bitter gorgonzola? Or for the rich taste of bitter cocoa in dark chocolate with raspberries? If they are harmoniously combined, it is the sensations of moderate bitterness and expressive pepperiness that make the food come alive. What is captured here is not the peppery arugula or the scorching cocoa, but their appropriate combination with other ingredients, so that there is both harmony and delight.
Vegetables and plants with bitters are a reference to the beneficial polyphenols with antioxidant action that are given to us without making any effort. It is the same with olive oil: the more expressive the Bitterness and Spicy, the healthier the olive oil. These two characteristics are a sign of a quality and good extra virgin, and if they are absent at all, then this is a sure signal of a defect, mixing of oils – not necessarily olive or even overripe olives and lack of any character of the oil.
I have two pieces of good news here, even for the more skeptical of you.
First, good producers know how to balance them so that they are elegant and pleasant with food. Such olive oil cannot be forced upon you and you exclaim “Tomato salad is very sour”. If the feeling of bitterness is rough and very aggressive, then this definitely does not speak of high quality, craftsmanship and purity of the product. Origin and manufacturer really matter, pay more attention to them.
Fortunately, in the last years even the generic category “Olive Oil” has started to make small but confident steps towards more specific preferences such as “I buy olive oil from Crete because it is very aromatic”, “I like early harvests because of their greenness” “, “I liked the picual variety of hundred-year-old trees, because it is multi-layered”, etc.
Second, there is something for everyone: nature has given us over 1,200 varieties of olives with different flavors and intensities of bitter and peppery, so our choice of spicy olive oil depends on us and what we are cooking. Just like with wine or coffee – we like them more lively or with more moderate acidity, and depending on the food and our preferences we choose fruitier, more floral, more mineral, sweeter, etc. guilt.
To the already known varieties from Italy, Spain and Greece, I will add a few from Turkey and Croatia in the small guide below. It comes to support your choice in a store, at an exhibition, a festival or at a manufacturer:
Medium olives – peranzana, charolea, nocellara del bellice, cazaliva, cornicabra, ohiblanca, mansania, coroneiki, chondrolea, amphisis, macri, patrini, trillie, bouja
Intense Olive Oils – Moraiolo, Frantoio, Intoso, Itrana, Coratina, Picual, Early Harvest Koroneiki, Early Harvest Tsunatti, Memecik, Istrian Bielica
As a rule, the early harvests are one idea more pronounced Spicy and Fruitiness than the standard ones, and the blends are balanced by the blending of oils.
Finally, I will provoke you: when you are on the road among olive trees, try a green olive.
Your face will contort into a grimace of bitter, astringent, acrid, and your tongue will begin to steam. These are the precious polyphenols, it is they that distinguish olive oil from any other – you have hardly had such a feeling from chewed sunflower or grape seeds. When you taste a good and harmonious olive oil, however, there is no trace of this grimace, those unpleasant sensations have been transformed into a noble and elegant bitterness and spiciness. In character. Choose these olive oils because you and your food deserve the best.
There is a unique paradox in the Orthodox iconography of the Mother of God – extremely difficult to articulate, though at the same time very clearly felt when we compare this face with Western-Renaissance images of the “Madonna”. The thing is, for all its deep and peaceful spirituality, the Immaculate Orthodox Icon can hardly be defined as “beautiful” or “lovely”, as “captivating” or “charming”. This is difficult, however, not because any deprivation is felt in the image, but because in the face of her incomparable and all-surpassing chastity, definitions of this kind sound somehow impious – too bold and, in any case, inadequate for the description of her character. The Virgin is chaste in a unique, unique way. She is – dare I say it – so chaste that she’s no longer… “beautiful”.
How could we explain this paradox – the holy non-beauty of the image of the Virgin in Orthodoxy, where “loveliness” turns out to be not exactly absent, but rather a transcended category?
To answer this question, let us first look at any icon of the Immaculate Conception and try to say how it most immediately differs from Renaissance images of Virgo Maria. Don’t we first of all have a feeling that the Orthodox icon painter – in contrast to the Western artist or sculptor – has somehow fundamentally and essentially devoted himself to giving this Most Holy and otherwise completely and “immaculately” female image, even the most sublimated, even the most -enlightened gender characteristics. Do we not have the feeling – however paradoxical this may sound – that he did not dare to give the Mother of God a glimpse of her naturally beautiful femininity? So look carefully at this unique flesh without carnality – flesh woven, as it were, only from the soul and mental silence, and compare it with the blossoming corporeality of some of the Western Virgins: somewhere – a little more rustic, healthy and pure, elsewhere – aristocratic-cool and solemn . Look at this peculiar femininity without femininity – washed as it were of its gender, though not sexless, and compare it with the fresh “veneracy” of too many Western Madonnas – somewhere spring-tender, elsewhere – maturely regal. Look, I say, at this strange beauty without charm—as if all chastity and humility—and compare it with the frank loveliness of almost all the Renaissance Madonnas—self-confident, self-conscious—somewhere a little narcissistic, elsewhere even coquettish. See, finally, this immaterial flame of the Spirit, which has literally burned away all sensuality, which shines from her face, making it in a peculiar way ageless, and compare it with the full-bloodedness of the Western Madonnas—somewhere young-faced maidens, elsewhere—mature Roman or German matrons. Carefully compare the two rows of images to see that although both of them undoubtedly show us virgins – still – the Orthodox Mother of God does not seem to be a Virgin in the same way that the Western one is. And as it were, indeed: the immediately striking difference here is precisely that the Western Virgo is definitely feminine, definitely lovely in its feminine purity. She is a Virgo, but a Virgo, if I may say so, in the essentially gendered sense of the word. She is the pure woman in her sex, and as such—though perfectly, aristocratically pure—remains in it, remains in her sex without transcending it, and therefore inspires in the beholder the feelings which the beautiful virgin woman naturally and primordially inspires. Not a word – these feelings, given the nature of the image, are extremely sublime. But they are, nevertheless, feelings inspired by the beautiful woman – by the woman of supreme beauty, ideal femininity, and therefore they are feelings of infatuation: of chivalrous and platonic adoration of the Virgin.
It is precisely this “beautiful femininity” of the Western Viigo Maria that is alien to the Orthodox Virgin’s face. It is foreign to him, although – we must note this once again, because it also contains the paradox – it is foreign to him not in the elementary negative sense of this word, but rather in a difficult to express (but clearly visible in the icon) exceeding the feminine “loveliness” sense.
For, on the other hand, it is not subject to any doubt that in the Orthodox Virgin’s face we do not perceive a trace of unnatural gender idiosyncrasy such as that which we can see, for example, in some ancient images of pagan goddess-virgins – figures with a masculine, hermaphrodite (and therefore unfeminine) appearance. In contrast, the Mother of God of the Orthodox icon is completely female – completely and flawlessly “female hypostasis”. However, it is she – this “feminine hypostasis” – that is, if I may say so, perfectly washed by the lovely femininity. Her image is contemplated, so to speak, comforted by the feelings – in super-sensual ecstasy, which is why it radiates not exactly inspiration for the imagination and emotions, but peace – a peace that leads out of them and introduces into the purely spiritual sphere of prayerfulness.
And so, in Orthodox iconography, the Mother of God is a Virgin in an exclusive sense of this word. I would even venture to say that in her icon she is neither simply a virgin woman, nor simply a noble mother-woman, but a woman, as it were, freed from the very limitation, passion, and naturalism of sex; freed, one might say, from the sexual guilt of the natural man—a woman virgin of sex. Completely female by nature and at the same time extremely non-gendered, hyper-gendered by grace. Completely oversexed, I say, because she is perfectly chaste – chaste to the point of overcoming the very half-ness of human nature, and completely female – because it is she, the woman Mary, who is here so perfectly spiritual and so exceedingly chaste.
Such a virgin woman (and yet a woman) is the Mother of God of the Orthodox icon, and this is determined by the exceptional personal holiness in which she is remembered in the ecclesiastical lore of the East. Let’s remember that Orthodoxy confesses the Virgin as the holy in a unique sense, i.e. not just as the holy, but as the pre-holy, the all-holy (in Greek: Παναγία): a woman, the only one who has reached the fullness of sanctification and in this respect yielding only to the Son of God born of her in the flesh, Who is holiness itself. The Mother of God of Orthodoxy is truly the “living temple of God” on earth, i.e. she is sanctified to the point of being a flesh-temple, a being-temple, in which therefore the light of the One to Whom the temple is already dawns, the light of the Godhead, not just the flesh that is this temple.
However, we also see something similar when we look at the way in which the motherhood of the Immaculate is depicted on Orthodox and Western Renaissance icons, motherhood, which, as we know, is inseparable from the virginity of the Mother of God.
Let’s compare the two rows of images once more.
Aren’t we forced to admit here, too, that although both the one and the other are “mothers” to us, the Orthodox Mother of God does not seem to be a mother in the same way that the Renaissance one is. So notice how symptomatically Renaissance art is attached to the representation of the Mother of God in its most immediate and most primal, even natural manifestations. In it, the Mother of God is very often shown to us here as a mother caressing the Infant, blissful and playing with Him, then as a mother intensely and deeply suffering for her Child, then even – as nursing Him from her breast, a nurse. It goes without saying that all this is very touching, charmingly intimate and sometimes manages to evoke an almost heart-wrenching tenderness, but… Are we not still left with the feeling that the earthly side of the mystery is too much revealed here, that it somehow even has enveloped and suffocated – him, the unattainable and unique, bright sacrament of carrying God Himself in the lap of a woman?
On the contrary: it is precisely this exciting sight of the soulful, womb-warm, reaching its luxuriant “entelechia” femininity of the mother that is especially muted in Orthodox icons. Looking at them, we will certainly feel how deeply and fundamentally impossible it is for the Orthodox icon painter to allow himself such a daring and presumptuous penetration into the mysterious intimacy of the Immaculate Mother with her divine Infant, with the Son of Man, Who is far from being simply “Marian” . All this is foreign to the Orthodox icon, although – and here we must repeat this again – there is not a trace of coldness or non-commitment in the face of the mother with the Child. Rather, we have before us an infinite delicacy, holy trembling and detachment of the mother in this visible, close to her and yet infinite mystery of the Infant in her lap.
Emphasizing once again this element that surpasses the flowering of motherhood in the Orthodox icon, I would say that in Western images we really see the image of a noble and devoted mother, but, with all our affection, we fail to achieve in it the face of the only one, of God mother, of the Virgin Mother, of the Immaculate Mother of God.
How are we to clarify this delicate, subtle, but very definite difference between the two sets of images? How do we articulate our deeply felt dissonance between that undeniably pure, captivating, and yet disturbing and ambiguous loveliness of the Western, Renaissance Madonnas, on the one hand, and that strangely hypersexual, unlovely, but undeniably all-surpassingly-holy chastity of the Orthodox faces of the Purified? How can we explain the fact that precisely in the immanent and definitely present feminine charm of the Western Madonnas we feel a, so to speak, lack of “virginity” and, on the contrary – that in the certain absence of charm, of femininity and, as it were, even of sexuality in the Orthodox faces of the Virgin, we feel the mysterious presence, the essence of the Most Holy?
I am sure that the Orthodox sense knows the answer to these questions very immediately and clearly, although the absence of a special theological reflection on the fundamental aesthetic categories applied to icon painting makes its formulation an infinitely delicate task. In fact, I think that the main thing is that in the ontology of the Orthodox icon “beauty” in the traditional sense of its application exists and must exist as an essentially overgrown, objectively irrelevant category. A category, I say, outgrown and irrelevant in principle, because it is constitutively incapable of manifesting the nature of the holy face.
“Beauty” – we must definitely say – as it is known to us in ancient and Renaissance-New European aesthetics, characterizes the image of the natural man – of man in his natural and (precisely because of that) gender-separated, gender-limited, ontologically half-guilty being. That is why “beauty” – as the ancients astutely noted this – is, as far as the characterization of man is concerned, in an essential way necessarily either male or female beauty, i.e. it is of necessity or wonderful “manliness” (in the terminology of the ancients – dignitas – “significance”, “impressiveness”, “importance”) or lovely “femininity” (venustas, i.e. “loveliness”, “gracefulness”, “loveliness”, “veneracy”). So it is in the natural feeling of the natural man, so it is in his aesthetic attitudes. And this is because in the realm of nature itself, man resides (and resides in his idea), in gender division, in half-ness—he is either “male” or “female,” and every idiosyncrasy, any gender indeterminacy or confusion in his particular face represents the imperfection of “masculinity” or “femininity” (which are – as perfections – the beautiful). As regards the female face in particular, to the “feminine hypostasis” of man, her beauty, that is, her perfect “femininity,” her venustas appears either as the charm of the clear and unblemished sex—as femininity in its pristine purity , or as “motherhood”, i.e. fulfillment of gender realized in its ideal expediency – as femininity in its fulfillment. So it is in the realm of naturalness, where the characteristic of “beauty” is relevant, applicable to the ontologically divided human being.
However, neither the beauty of the pure, unblemished gender (the beauty of virginity), nor the beauty of the gender that has reached its flowering (the beauty of motherhood), are capable of manifesting in the female face its holiness, and this is so for a very important reason. In the sanctity (both of the man and of the woman – it doesn’t matter) in the face of the depicted shines no longer just the nature, not just the idea of the woman or of the man, but rather in their nature, in their concrete hypostasis shines the light of the one who surpasses their being Holy Spirit. Therefore, in the holy face, the “flesh”, the “hypostasis” of the man or the woman do not shine by themselves, but with the light of the Spirit – they are oh-spirit-created faces, spirit-bearing faces. And, as is known, the Holy Spirit is neither “male” nor “female”, namely “holy”, i.e. supernaturally and Easternly “whole”, all-wise. That is why, therefore, as pierced by the Holy Spirit, as spirit-bearing, the human face – whether it is a man or a woman, it does not matter – no longer radiates its natural, created, sexual “beauty”, but what exceeds it, the supernatural for the human face chastity. He is holyly chaste, and that is different from “feminine” or “masculine”; different, therefore, from “beautiful” – dignified or venereal. In the sanctified human face – in so far as it has become spirit-bearing, oh-spirit-created, deified – one can no longer see its gender limitation, not its half-guilt (even in its perfection, in its “beauty”), but that which which transcends this limitation, which is transcendent of gender in general – of “femininity” or of “masculinity” – and which has no other name than holiness – irreducible to nothing else and inferable from nothing else holiness per se. This holiness ripens, of course, in him, in the man who has attained it – it ripens, therefore, in the man or in the woman, but still holiness ripens in them, and therefore ripens something more than their “masculinity ” or “femininity”, something more than the dignitas and venustas that characterize them, namely: the chastity that surpasses them, dwarfs them.
All of this ultimately shows us why in the Orthodox icon of the Mother of God (remembered specifically and above all as the All-Holy, Παναγία) we meet a face so special and so difficult to characterize: the face of a woman – completely a woman, who at the same time somehow it is not feminine, it is not sexually beautiful, and at the same time it is not so not because it is sexless or sexless, but because it is more than feminine, more than beautiful – it is washed out of sexuality, it is all-wise
Source: This text was first published in Portal Kultura (https://kultura.bg) on August 15, 2016 (in Bulgarian).
Copernicus Sentinel-1 is used to monitor many aspects of our environment, from detecting and tracking oil spills and mapping sea ice to monitoring movement in land surfaces and mapping changes in the way land is used. It also plays a crucial role in providing timely information to help respond to natural disasters and assist humanitarian relief efforts. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
On December 23, 2021, Copernicus Sentinel-1B experienced an anomaly related to the instrument electronics power supply provided by the satellite platform, leaving it unable to deliver radar data. Spacecraft operators and engineers have been working tirelessly since then to rectify the issue. Unfortunately, despite all concerted efforts, ESA (European Space Agency) and the European Commission announce that it is the end of the mission for Sentinel-1B. Copernicus Sentinel-1A remains fully operational and plans are in force to launch Sentinel-1C as soon as possible.
ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programs, Simonetta Cheli, stated, “Unfortunately, we have to announce the end of the mission for the Copernicus Sentinel-1B satellite. The conclusion drawn by the Anomaly Review Board is that it is impossible to recover the 28V regulated bus of the satellite’s C-band synthetic aperture radar antenna power supply unit, which is needed to provide power to the radar electronics.
“Sentinel-1A remains very healthy in orbit, continuing to deliver high-quality radar images for a multitude of applications. Our focus is on fast-tracking the launch of Sentinel-1C. Now, thanks to the successful inaugural flight of the Vega-C rocket on July 13, we, with Arianespace, are targeting the launch in the second quarter of 2023.”
European Commission’s Acting Director for Space (Directorate General for Defense Industry and Space), Paraskevi Papantoniou, stated, “The permanent unavailability of Sentinel-1B satellite represents an important loss for the European Union’s space program and the European Commission is engaged to mitigate its impact. We notably managed to move forward the launch of Sentinel-1C satellite.
“Meanwhile, Copernicus Contributing Mission data, including from European New Space companies, will continue to be used to support the most critical Copernicus Services products that are affected. The preparations for the de-orbiting of Sentinel-1B satellite are an example of our joint commitment, for the European Union and ESA, to clean and responsible space, using the EU’s Space Surveillance and Tracking capabilities.”
In April 2014, Sentinel-1A was the first satellite to be launched for Copernicus, the Earth observation component of the European Union’s space program. Although the European Union is at the helm of Copernicus, ESA develops, builds, and launches the dedicated Sentinel satellites. It also operates some of the missions.
Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
After the Sentinel-1B launch in April 2016, with the mission comprising two identical satellites orbiting 180° apart, the mission was able to image the planet with a maximum repeat frequency of six days, down to daily coverage at high latitudes.
Carrying advanced synthetic aperture radar technology to provide an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface, the ambitious Sentinel-1 mission raised the bar for spaceborne radar.
The mission benefits numerous Copernicus services and applications, such as those that relate to Arctic sea-ice monitoring, iceberg tracking, glacier-velocity monitoring, routine sea-ice mapping, surveillance of the marine environment including oil-spill monitoring and ship detection for maritime security, as well as illegal fisheries monitoring. It is also used for monitoring ground deformation resulting from subsidence, earthquakes, and volcanoes, mapping for forest, water, and soil management, and mapping to support humanitarian aid and crisis situations.
With such a significant role to play and users relying on timely data, ESA acted as soon as it was clear that Sentinel-1B’s power issue could take some weeks to resolve, which was the hope at the end of December.
ESA’s Sentinel-1 Mission Manager, Pierre Potin, said, “Together with the European Commission we are making sure to bridge some of the data gaps by adjusting the Sentinel-1A observation plan and through radar data from other satellite missions that contribute to the Copernicus program. For example, we are able to use data from Canada’s Radarsat-2 and Radarsat Constellation Mission, Germany’s TerraSAR-X, Italy’s COSMO-SkyMed, and Spain’s PAZ to support operational sea-ice monitoring for the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service.
“While we continue to try to minimize inconvenience to users and push to get Sentinel-1C into orbit as soon as we can, we are also preparing for the responsible disposal of Sentinel-1B.”
The Sentinel-1 Spacecraft Operations Manager, Alistair O’Connell, added, “We have Sentinel-1B under control, all other systems except the power affected unit, which prevents the radar from being switched on, continue to function nominally and we perform regular monitoring of the spacecraft health and routine orbit control maneuvers. We will keep Sentinel-1B under control until we can begin the disposal process, which we will start after Sentinel-1C is safely in orbit.
“Deorbiting Sentinel-1B will be carried out according to space debris mitigation requirements that were in place for ESA projects at the time of design of Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B, meaning that re-entry in the atmosphere will take place within 25 years. In practice, the re-entry duration is expected to be much shorter.”
Copernicus Sentinel-1C features a world premiere of a new separation mechanism that will help avoid space debris.
A summary of the description of the anomaly, of the investigations, and the recovery attempts, as well as the parallel Sentinel-1 mission level actions and way forward is available on the Sentinel Online website.
An urgent call for an immediate end to military activity around ZNPP, and inspection of the facility by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Charter for Compassion, Parliament of the World’s Religions, and United Religions Initiative three of the largest international interfaith organizations in the world fully endorse the August 8th and August 11th statements of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres. He warns that any attack on a nuclear plant is “a suicidal thing”, and calls for access for inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA, as well as a demilitarized zone around the plant.
ZNPP, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, was occupied by Russia in March. The facility continues to be operated by Ukrainian technicians, working under the guns of 500 Russian soldiers. Recently, the Russians moved artillery and other heavy equipment into the plant, and are using it as a base to shell the surrounding areas. There have been several explosions on the site in the past few days; Russia and Ukraine both denying responsibility. Parts of the plant have been knocked out, according to Mario Grassi, Director General of the IAEA, and the situation is very grave.
“We the Charter for Compassion, Parliament of the World’s Religions and United Religions Initiative believe in the power of prayer, and contribute the following: “Our Prayer: O Source of all light and life, open the eyes of the military commanders in Zaporizhzhia that they may see beyond the immediate conflict and recognize the regional and global damage that a failed nuclear plant would bring. Turn their hearts and strategies. You outlive all warriors and war. You intend peace for all people. You endure. Help all people on Earth to discover what You created in the beginning, a world without nuclear weapons. In hope for the holiness of life, we pray. Amen.”
Julie Schelling Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons +1 347-719-1518 email us here
This conclusion was made by researchers at the IAP RAS. According to research co-author Nikolai Ilyin, the magnetic field helps the flora more effectively adjust its physiology to changing conditions and adapt to stressful conditions. For example, the field helps to defend itself, increasing the survival of vegetation in difficult periods for it. This phenomenon is promising for study in order to develop the agricultural industry and related production segments.
Prior to this, it was already reported that a number of organisms are affected by a magnetic field in the so-called. Schumann range, named after the German scientist V. O. Schumann. Waves of these lengths are recorded between the earth’s surface and the upper atmospheric layers.
According to the authors of the study, there is an effect of magnetic fields on a number of transitional stages, for example, when the included light radiation abruptly increases the rate of photosynthesis and the amplitude of electroreactions.
The blooming of the calluna in summer in Switzerland marks the beginning of an unusual migration
For a few weeks in summer, the hills undergo an amazing transformation. They turn purple because that’s when the caluna plant blooms, they say in a National Geographic video.
This colorful spectacle is the source of one of Scotland’s most expensive foods.
The flowering calluna is found on the vast plains that stretch from the Highlands to the southern Uplands. In one corner of the country, in East Lothian, small white outlines appear in the grass in this short period of 3-4 weeks. These are hives.
The blooming of the calluna in summer marks the beginning of an unusual migration.
Honey producers bring their bees here to feed on the purple flowers.
This unique nectar creates one of the rarest and most expensive types of honey in Europe.
It is sold for 23 euros per kilogram.
Note: Calluna vulgaris, common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to 20 to 50 centimetres (8 to 20 in) tall, or rarely to 1 metre (40 in) and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade. It is the dominant plant in most heathland and moorland in Europe, and in some bog vegetation and acidic pine and oak woodland. It is tolerant of grazing and regenerates following occasional burning, and is often managed in nature reserves and grouse moors by sheep or cattle grazing, and also by light burning.
Scientists from the Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin used an electronic typewriter to measure the primary pressure.
The function works without the help of additional tools and is more accurate than other reading tests such as compact mirrors and wallets.
The smart type, which is also intended for placing the kit, is made of graphene and is equipped with miniature “invisible” censors for data reporting, data, etc. Ice creams deliver weak electrical impulses to the skin. Censors record the operation of the organism to it. This is closely related to the cleaning of the water in the primary vessels and the cooling of the primary pressure. The color change tells if it is higher or lower than normal.
The big advantage of this work is the perfect observation. This allows the main to be measured in any citation.
Electronic typing can take thousands of measurements at regular intervals over several days and give a similar reading of a person’s baseline blood pressure. This is a huge step in the implementation of cuff tonometers, which report the readings only at the moment of demand.
Undoubtedly, there will be people who want to get such a tattoo, since cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of death. For this reason, however, he did not announce when the job will be held in mass production.
Photo: The graphene-based e-tattoo sticks to the skin non-invasively and can monitor a patient’s blood pressure over time / University of Texas at Austin
Like many animals and birds, chickens emit sound signals, by which experienced farmers can judge the well-being of fluffy birds. However, within the framework of large-scale production, it is quite difficult to isolate such signals. However, it is very important to hear anxious chicks, because when stressed, the bird gains less weight and is more likely to die.
At the University of Hong Kong, scientists have created an AI that helps overcome this problem.
As part of an experiment using a new neural network, it was possible to achieve 97 percent recognition efficiency. Moreover, artificial intelligence even points to a specific cell from which an alarm signal is heard. Thanks to this, the farmer can move the chicken to a more comfortable environment.
According to the author of the project Alan McElligott, the final goal of the study is not to count the distress signals of birds, but to create favorable conditions for chickens and minimize their suffering.
Conflict has rocked the Alevi community, Turkey’s second-largest religious community after Sunnis, though not officially recognized. The occasion was a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the Alevi temple (jemevi) “Hussein Gazi” in the Mamak district of Ankara, which is under the management of the “Hussein Gazi Art and Culture Foundation” with chairman Huseyn Yoz, called “dede” (according to Alevi terminology – leader).
For many years, this is the first visit of the Turkish president to an Alevi temple. Erdogan timed his visit to coincide with the holiday of Muharrem Aya (month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar), which also includes a 10-day fast (oruch), broken by Muslim tradition with an iftar dinner.
In all probability the visit would not have transgressed the bounds of respect for the holiday and tolerance, as it was probably intended, had not something happened which to the general public might seem strange and unimportant. It turned out that because of Erdoğan’s visit, the portrait of the Prophet Hazrat Ali (Holy Ali), nephew and son-in-law of the Sunni Prophet Muhammad (affection for the Prophet Ali was elevated to a cult at the Alevis) and Hünkyar Hadji Bektash-i Veli, considered a religious leader, and also the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
The Alevi Federation (AVF), which unites the community’s associations, accused the hosts from the Hussein Ghazi Art and Culture Foundation of provoking a split and confrontation among the Alevis in favor of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the president. According to AVF President Haydar Baki Dogan, the Hussein Ghazi Art and Culture Foundation is part of the Federation. But the information about such an important visit as that of President Erdoğan was not shared with her leadership.
In an interview with T24, he said the following:
“The foundation, without our knowledge, presented the presidency with a list of seven people who hosted the event. But that’s not the main thing. More importantly, the portraits of Hazrat Ali, Hunkar Haji Bektash-i Veli and Atatürk are permanent inventory to each jamevi, without which it is not possible for it to be a temple for rituals and visits. And their removal is a deep insult and disrespect to the primal feelings of the Alevis. Moreover, in our temple it is not accepted to break the oruch (fast) in the central hall , as they did during Erdoğan’s visit. This is done in another room (the dining room). All this harms the religious feelings of our members and we consider it a deep provocation aimed at confronting and dividing the community through the Foundation. Here why did we initiate a procedure to exclude her from the Federation”.
From the Association of Democratic Alevis and the Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Association, they also jumped against the visit, accusing the ruling AKP and the president of hypocrisy and double standards.
“Dzemevi is a place of worship, a holy place, not a place to receive official guests. There are offices for that. Is it when we ask for a meeting with the president or some responsible person, they schedule a meeting for us in their mosques. Wasn’t President Erdoğan the one who called the james “houses of fun”. What has changed that he now entered such a house?” said Ismail Atesh, secretary of the Pir Sultan Abdal Foundation.
The head of the Hussein Gazi Foundation, Dede Hussein Yoz, who hosted Erdogan’s visit, confirmed that the visit had caused a deep conflict, which he said was not justified.
Hussein Yoz told the pro-government Hurriyet newspaper that the visit was a sign of respect.
“The President was accompanied by Vice President Fuat Oktay, Minister of the Interior Suleyman Soylu, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and the Spokesman of the Presidency Ibrahim Kalan, who came to visit us out of respect. I believe that the visit is very important for the Alevi community. In the laws of our country, Jamevi temples do not appear as places of religious worship, despite the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, which was not implemented by the state rulers. Maybe this visit will be an occasion to finally make it happen”.
Another scandal unfolded against the backdrop of attacks on three Alevi temples in Ankara two weeks ago. The police arrested a 30-year-old man from Izmir, who, according to his own confession, had carried out the attacks on his own. However, three other people were subsequently detained in connection with the case.
Police have determined that the attacks were planned or ordered. Certain forces are believed to be deep at the heart of the attack.
A few years ago, nationalist elements attacked opposition leader Kemal Kulçdaloğlu, a representative of the Alevi community, while he was meeting with voters. Thanks to Kulçdaroğlu’s security, the opposition leader’s life was saved.
Information also appeared that in a number of cities in Turkey, various signs were placed on the homes of Alevis.
Among the most tragic dates in the modern history of the Alevis is the arson in 1993 of a hotel in the city of Sivas, in which 37 people, prominent representatives of the intellectual elite of the Alevis, died. The arson was carried out by fanatical Sunni Islamists after prayers at the mosque.
According to various data, the Alevis in Turkey number about 12-15 million people, which represents 15 percent of the Turks. At the same time, however, many Alevis do not dare to advertise themselves for fear of being harassed by the authorities. The dominant religion in Turkey is that of the Sunnis, who are considered the only “orthodox” ones.
The Alevi community in Turkey is considered a pillar of the secular nature of the state (for this reason, the portrait of Atatürk is an invariable attribute in jamves) and of the equality between different faiths. They are among the most serious critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamic-conservative Justice and Development Party.
The leader of the main opposition force – the People’s Republican Party (NRP) – Kemal Kulçdaroğlu is Turkey’s most prominent Alevi politician. Traditionally, the Alevis constitute the core of the NRP electorate.
Media close to the opposition link Erdogan’s visit to next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. They define the visit as a tactical move by Erdoğan, who will run for president again, aiming to attract part of the community’s representatives to vote for him.
Journalist Ihsan Charalan of the opposition newspaper “Diken” wrote that “with this visit, Erdogan aims to hit three birds with one stone: to denounce the latest attacks, to reassure his supporters, namely the Sunni Islamists, that he actually visited an Alevi cultural foundation and ultimately split Alevi unity.”
And according to the commentator from the opposition newspaper Sozju Deniz Zeyrek, Erdoğan’s visit to the Alevi temple in Ankara is definitely a pre-election tactical move.
“I don’t know if the Alevis will appreciate this move by the president as a sincere gesture to vote for him, he writes, but it is clear that Erdogan is aware that in order to win a new mandate he will have to attract to his side the supporters of Atatürk, who they truly love him, those who declare themselves against corruption, lawlessness and want an active fight against them, as well as the voices of the Alevis. And at the same time, he is aware that he will not win without attracting the votes of the Kurds to his side, if, of course, he manages to overcome the resistance of his partner, the nationalist Devlet Bahceli”.
