Daily Archives: March 5, 2020

Ancient Earth Was A Waterworld Covered In Oceans That Had No Continents According To A New Study – BroBible

Posted: March 5, 2020 at 6:13 pm

Our planet is always changing, but a scientific study claims that the Earth was once a waterworld that had no continents. Wait. Does that mean that Waterworld was a documentary? The study said that the Earth was covered in vast oceans 3.2 billion years ago. Wait. Does that mean that Waterworld a time-travel movie?

A new study titled Limited Archaean continental emergence reflected in an early Archaean 18O-enriched ocean published Monday in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Geoscience brought evidence pointing out that ancient Earth was a waterworld. Dont tell Kevin Costner, he is still probably having nightmares from 1995.

Two researchers from the University of Colorado-Boulder and Iowa State University noted an ancient piece of marine sediment in the arid inland of the Western Australian outback. Not exactly the place you would expect to find marine sediment.

RELATED: Scientists Found Breathable Oxygen In Another Galaxy For The First Time Ever

The Aussie area where the remnants of the ancient ocean were found is called Panorama. In the outback, geologists discovered leftovers in the oceanic crust from a time when the entire planet was covered in water.

Scientists examined 100 sediment samples from the Panorama, and it looked a lot like the oceans from billions of years ago. Researchers believe that 3.2 billion years ago that the composition of the oceans contained more oxygen-18 than oxygen-16, the latter of which is more common in the modern ocean and is a slightly lighter isotope. Oxygen-16 is a lighter isotope than the heavier Oxygen-18.

Though these mass differences seem small, they are super sensitive, said Boswell Wing, study co-author and an associate professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Theres nothing in what weve done that says you cant have teeny, micro-continents sticking out of the oceans.

We just dont think that there were global-scale formation of continental soils like we have today, Wing added.

The belief is that there were no continents 3.2 billion years ago, and that the formation of continents absorbed the oxygen-18 isotopes from the oceans. Scientists believe that there were some land masses, but only small-sized islands on Earth, which likely formed 4.5 billion years ago.

RELATED: Listen To The Crazy Laser Gun Noise That Happens When You Drop Ice Down A Super Deep Hole In Antarctica

Our work doesnt mean there was zero dry land, just that it must have been much, much smaller in extent than today, with only small island chains emergent above the ocean, said Benjamin W. Johnson, an assistant professor of geological and atmospheric sciences at Iowa State. This value is different than the modern ocean in a way that can be explained most easily by a lack of emergent continental crust.

There are no samples of really ancient ocean water lying around, but we do have rocks that interacted with that seawater and remembered that interaction, said Johnson, who is the studys other co-author.

The study gives scientists hope that other planets could evolve into water worlds that could sustain life.

If the Earth was a water world for the first quarter or so of its history, then perhaps other Earth-like planets elsewhere in the galaxy would undergo a similar evolution, Johnson said.

via GIPHY

The study alleges that tectonic plates pushed the massive land masses up to create continents.

Lets hope that the Earth doesnt become a waterworld again, fighting for five limes on the high seas doesnt look fun.

RELATED: Earth Is Getting A New Moon But We Cant Land On It

[LiveScience]

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Ancient Earth Was A Waterworld Covered In Oceans That Had No Continents According To A New Study - BroBible

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OHCHR has filed petitions to become amicus curiae in Europe and America too – Economic Times

Posted: at 6:13 pm

New Delhi: The UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which approached the Supreme Court to be made amicus curiae in a case that has challenged the validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act, has a history of filing such petitions in various courts worldwide, including Europe and the US.

In 2011, OHCHR filed an application to be made amicus curiae (friend of the court/neutral adviser) in the European Court of Human Rights in Hirsi Jamma vs Italy, involving deportation of African nationals.

In 2015, OHCHR filed a plea against Spain on two illegal migrants. There are numerous other intervention petitions the UNHRC special rapporteurs too have made, officials told ET.

In the 2011 case, OHCHR sought intervention as it had the mandate to protect and promote all human rights and to conduct necessary advocacy. It said human rights of migrants have a special place in that mandate, in view of the particular vulnerabilities that migrants endure.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Rome had violated human rights principles by spurning African migrants and asylumseekers on high seas after considering the plight of 24 people from Somalia and Eritrea, among more than 200 intercepted by Italian authorities in 2009 and forced to return to Libya, from where they began the journey.

The case involving Spain had to do with a national each of Mali and Ivory Coast, who were asked to return to Morocco on August 13, 2014, after they attempted to enter Spanish territory by climbing over the fence surrounding the North African Spanish enclave of Melilla.

The court considered that the applicants had placed themselves in an unlawful situation when they deliberately attempted to enter Spain.

OHCHR was created by a UN General Assembly resolution in 1994. In Tuesdays case in the SC, high commissioner for refugees Michelle Bachelet Jeria invoked her mandate to inter alia protect and promote all human rights and to conduct necessary advocacy in that regard, established pursuant to the United Nations General Assembly resolution 48/141.

Reacting to the plea, the Ministry of External Affairs said the Citizenship Amendment Act is an internal matter of India and concerns the sovereign right of the Indian Parliament to make laws... No foreign party has any locus standi on issues pertaining to Indias sovereignty.

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OHCHR has filed petitions to become amicus curiae in Europe and America too - Economic Times

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High alert: We may lose half the worlds sandy beaches to sea-level rise by 2100 – Scroll.in

Posted: at 6:13 pm

Up to half of the worlds sandy beaches are at risk of disappearing by the end of this century if no action is taken to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Thats according to a new study, published in Nature Climate Change. Even assuming a better outcome for action on climate change, where global emissions peak around 2040, well over one-third 37% of the worlds beaches would be lost by 2100.

Researchers had previously analysed satellite images showing shoreline change from 1984 to 2016. They found that a quarter of sandy beaches worldwide had already eroded at a rate of more than 0.5 metres per year, shedding over 28,000 square kilometres of land to the sea.

The rate at which sea levels are rising is accelerating by about 0.1mm per year each year. But sea level rise wont be even across the globe. The term sea level can be misleading the sea surface is not flat. Much like the atmosphere, it has high and low pressure areas which create mounds and troughs. Some of these are created by major currents, so changes that will take place as the oceans warm will change the topography of the sea surface. Some areas will receive less than the predicted average sea level rise, but many will see more.

More than 60% of sandy beaches in Gambia and Guinea-Bissau may be lost to erosion by rising seas, while Australia is expected to lose nearly 12,000 km of sandy coastline. For small island states such as Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, losing 300m of land as predicted for some would be catastrophic.

Sandy beaches occupy more than one-third of the global coastline and of all the different types of beaches, sandy beaches are the most heavily used by people. Many coastal areas have been built on, for industry, housing and tourist resorts.

These softer parts of the shoreline have always been at the mercy of ocean storms and the tides. But the predicted sea level rise on top of these daily inundations pushes the boundary between coast and sea inland, a process known as coastal retreat.

The build-up of people and concrete at the landward fringe of sandy beaches has created an abrupt barrier to coastal retreat, preventing beaches from moving inland as sea levels rise. Instead, sandy stretches of coastline are at risk of being eroded and washed away entirely.

Warming seas also promise more intense and frequent storms, which are capable of moving entire beaches overnight. Porthleven Beach in Cornwall, United Kingdom lost all of its sand during a storm in January 2015, to be returned by the tide a few days later.

Soft sandy beaches are continuously moved by waves and currents depleting them in certain areas and depositing them in others. This transport of sand is normal, but the combined force of higher sea levels and stronger storms could spell extinction for many beaches.

All of this is very worrying for the millions of people who call these regions home. The worlds sandy coastlines tend to be densely populated, and are becoming more so over time.

In other research, it was found that sea level rise by 0.8 m could erase 17,000 sq km of land and force up to 5.3 million people to migrate, with an associated cost of USD$ 300 - USD$ 1,000 billion globally. In Africa alone, up to 40,000 people per year could be forced to migrate due to land loss by coastal erosion if no adaptive measures are in place by 2100.

But it isnt just climate change. Humans are actively accelerating coastal erosion by removing sand from beaches in enormous quantities and at much faster rates than it can be naturally renewed. Gravel and sand is extracted from rivers and on beaches for use in construction and at a faster rate than fossil fuel extraction in some areas.

Coastal ecosystems that bind and trap sediment, like mangrove swamps, are also being destroyed. The world lost almost 10,000 sq km of these habitats between 1996 and 2016. Meanwhile, sediment supply to the coast is also affected by building dams and irrigation systems upstream.

Sea level rise is inevitable, but how bad it will be is still not certain. Replenishing the most endangered beaches by pumping sand onto them a process called coastal nourishment could cost USD$65220 billion in total, but thats still less than one-fifth of the economic cost of taking no action at all on sea level rise. It could reduce land loss by up to 14%, lower the number of people that might be forced to migrate by up to 68% and shrink the cost of forced migration by up to 85% by 2100.

Even moderate emission mitigation policy, as the new study calls it, in which global emissions peak around 2040, could prevent 40% of the landward retreat of shorelines by 2100. On average, this would save more than 40m width of sandy beach around the world, from an average loss of around 250m.

Coastal nourishment can have its own ecological problems, so it would have to be done with careful attention to the local environment. But much of what needs to be done to save the worlds sandy beaches lies within our grasp already if we can just reduce the rate at which were consuming sand and burning fossil fuels. By doing that and expanding and protecting coastal habitats the terrible predictions from this new research might never come to pass.

Simon Boxall, Senior Lecturer in Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton. Abiy S Kebede, Lecturer in Flood and Coastal Engineering, Brunel University London.

This article first appeared on The Conversation.

High alert: We may lose half the worlds sandy beaches to sea-level rise by 2100 - Scroll.in

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Rear admiral added to Comox Valley Walk of Achievement – vancouverislandfreedaily.com

Posted: at 6:13 pm

Rear-Admiral Bob Auchterlonie and his career on the high seas will be honoured in the Comox Valley this Saturday.

The Cumberland native will be the latest person to receive a star on the Comox Valley Walk of Achievement. The Walk celebrates individuals from the area who have excelled in their chosen field. It is also to inspire young people and instil a sense of civic pride.

Once we get all the logistics done, we set up the day, says committee member Erik Eriksson. We do the ceremony and unveil the plaque on 5th Street.

The event is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at the Sid Williams Theatre, before moving over to 5th Street for the unveiling.

Auchterlonies family has strong ties to the Comox Valley, and the family bakery was a fixture in Cumberland for decades. He attended Cumberland Elementary, Cumberland Junior and Georges P. Vanier Secondary. He later graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1991 with a BA in economics. He also served as captain of the varsity hockey team.

Auchterlonie has had an esteemed career in the military, commanding ships and formations at every senior rank. He was commander of the HMCS Fredericton from 2007 to 2009, captain at CFB Esquimalt from 2012 to 2103, commodore of the Canadian Pacific Fleet from 2013 to 2015 and rear admiral of the Maritime Pacific Forces / Joint Task Force Pacific starting in 2018.

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He has also served four tours at the National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. His educational background includes graduation from the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College and the Naval Command College at the U.S. Naval War College. He also earned a masters degree in defence studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, and is a graduate of the Senior Executives in the National and International Security program at Harvard. He is also a fellow of the U.S. GOFO Capstone and Pinnacle programs.

When he got appointed admiral and then when he became head of the Pacific fleet, it just rang huge bells for us, says Eriksson. We checked him and we found out his history and where hes from and what hes done, and it all came together and we figured this is totally the kind of person that should be honoured on the Walk of Achievement.

The Walk of Achievement started in 2006. Over the years, it has added a number of esteemed people from the Comox Valley community.

We got the support from all the municipalities, and its been going really well ever since, says Eriksson.

RELATED STORY: Local musicians inducted into Comox Valley Walk of Achievement

The list on honorees includes Red Robinson, Dr. Fred Leung, Stan Hagen, Jack Hodgins, Kim Cattrall, Iona Campagnolo, Stocky Edwards and Jock Finlayson. FMI: walkofachievement.com

Courtenay

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Fat Fritz 1.1 update and a small gift – Chessbase News

Posted: at 6:10 pm

3/5/2020 As promised in the announcement of the release of Fat Fritz, the first update to the neural network has been released, stronger and more mature, and with it comes the brand new smaller and faster Fat Fritz for CPU neural network which will produce quality play even on a pure CPU setup. If you leave it analyzing the start position, it will say it likes the Sicilian Najdorf, which says a lot about its natural style. Read on to find out more!

If you havent yet updated your copy of Fat Fritz, now is the time to do it as it brings more thanminor enhancements or a few bug fixes. This update will bring the first major update to the Fat Fritz neural network, stronger than ever, as well as a new smaller one that is quite strong on a GPU, but also shines on even a plain CPU setup.

When you open Fritz 17, presuming you have Fat Fritz installed, you will be greeted with a message in the bottom right corner of your screen advising you there is an update available for Fat Fritz.

When you see this click on 'Update Fat Fritz'

Then you will be greeted with the update pane, and just need to click Next to get to it

When Fat Fritz was released with Fritz 17, updates were promised with the assurance it was still improving. Internally the version number of the release was v226, while this newest one is v471.

While thorough testing is always a challenge since resources are limited, a match against Leela 42850 at 1600 nodes per move over 1000 games yielded a positive result:

Score of Fat Fritz 471k vs Leela 42850: +260 -153 =587 [0.553]Elo difference: 37.32 +/- 13.79

1000 of 1000 games finished.

Also, in a match of 254 games at 3m +1s against Stockfish 11 in AlphaZero ratio conditions, this new version also came ahead by roughly 10 Elo.

Still, it isnt about Elo and never was, and the result is merely to say that you should enjoy strong competitive analysis. For one thing, it is eminently clear that while both Leela and Fat Fritz enjoy much of the same AlphaZero heritage,there are also distinct differences in style.

Perhaps one of the most obvious ways to highlight this is just the start position. If you let the engine run for a couple of minutes on decent hardware, it will tell you what it thinks is the best line of play for both White and Black based on its understanding of chess.

As such, I ran Leela 42850 with its core settings to see what it thought. After 2 million nodes it was adamant that perfect chess should take both players down the highly respected Berlin Defence of the Ruy Lopez.

Leela 42850 analysis:

info depth 19 seldepth 56 time 32675 nodes 2181544 score cp 23 hashfull 210 nps 75740 tbhits 0 pv e2e4 e7e5 g1f3 b8c6 f1b5 g8f6 e1g1 f6e4 d2d4 e4d6 b5c6 d7c6 d4e5 d6f5 d1d8 e8d8 h2h3

This is fine, but it is also very much a matter of taste.

Fat Fritz has a different outlook on chess as has already been pointed out in the past. At first it too will show a preference for the Ruy Lopez, though not the Berlin, but given a bit more time by 2.6 million nodes it will declare the best opening per its understanding of chess and calculations is the Sicillian Najdorf.

Within a couple of minutes this is its mainline:

info depth 16 seldepth 59 time 143945 nodes 7673855 score cp 28 wdl 380 336 284 hashfull 508 nps 54227 tbhits 0 pv e2e4 c7c5 g1f3 d7d6 b1c3 g8f6 d2d4 c5d4 f3d4 a7a6 f1e2 e7e5 d4b3 f8e7 e1g1 c8e6 c1e3 e8g8 f1e1 b8c6 h2h3 h7h6 e2f3 a8c8 d1d2 c6b8 a2a4 f6h7 a1d1 b8d7 f3e2 h7f6

From a purely analytical point of view it is quite interesting that it found 10.Re1! in the mainline. In a position where white scores 52.5% on average it picks a move that scores 58.3% / 58.9%.

Remember there is no right or wrong here, but it does help show the natural inclinations of each of these neural networks.

Even if chess is ultimately a draw, that doesnt mean there is only onepath, so while all roads may lead to Rome, they dont all need to pass through New Jersey.

Trying to find the ideal recipe of parameters for an engine can be daunting, and previously multiple attempts had been made with the well-know tuner called CLOP by Remi Coulom. Very recently a completely new tuner 'Bayes-Skopt' was designed byKarlson Pfannschmidt, a PhD student in Machine Learning in Paderborn University inGermany, who goes by the online nickname "Kiudee" (pronounced like the letters Q-D). It was used to find new improved values for Leela, which are now the new defaults.

His tuner is described as "A fully Bayesian implementation of sequential model-based optimization", a mouthful I know, and was set up with his kind help as it ran for over a week. It produces quite fascinating graphical imagery with its updated values. Here is what the final version looked like:

These values, slightly rounded, have been added as the new de facto defaults for Fat Fritz.

This is a completely new neural network trained from Fat Fritz games, but in a much smaller frame. Objectively it is not as strong as Fat Fritz, but it will run much faster, and above all it has the virtue of being quite decent on even a pure CPU machine. It wont challenge the likes of Stockfish, so lets get that out of the way, but in testing on quad-core machines (i.e. my i7 laptop) it defeats Fritz 16 by a healthy margin.

Note that this is not in the product description, soneedless to say, it is more nor less a gift to Fritz 17 owners.

Enjoy it!

More stories on Fat Fritz and Fritz 17...

Gukesh closes in on 2600 – Chessbase News

Posted: at 6:10 pm

If you want to achieve something truly special, you have to move against the crowd. Gukesh and his family are an excellent example of the same. While every youngster plays around 100-120 rated games in a year, Gukesh played over 200 to become a GM the second youngest GM in the history of the game.. While everyone usually feels that you should play in only strong events, Gukeshdecided to play in the Hillerd Chess Club tournament where he was the second seed. He scored 8.0/9, gained some valuableElo points and won the tournament by a half pointmargin. Before he left for his next tournament - the Cannes Open in France, we got in touch with him and did an interview on his victory. Get to know the unique thoughts of India's finest talent.

The Hillerd Chess Club, about 40 kilometres north of the Danish capital of Copenhagen,was established in the year 1910! In 2020,they celebrated 110 years of its existence.Gukesh started off as the second seed, and scored 8.0/9, to finish ahead of the field by half a point.

Gukesh with the organizers at the closing ceremony | Photo: Rajinikanth

Gukesh's biggest competitor for the top spot at thetournament was GM Zeng Chongsheng. Until round seven both of them were leading with a score of 6/7. Gukesh and Chongsheng had already drawn their game in the fifth round. However, in the penultimate game of the event, Gukeshdrew his game while the Chinese GM succumbed to a loss after overreaching against FM Jens Ostergaard.

The Chinese GM lost his only game in the event against Jens Ostergaard | Photo:Hillerd Chess Club

Gukesh, thus took a half point lead and won his final round game to sealthe deal with8.0/9.

...46 players

Podium finishers (L to R):IM Siva Mahadevan (far left), Gukesh (center) and GM Zeng Chongsheng (second from right) | Photo: Rajinikanth

While Gukesh winning the tournament was a great result for the youngster, usually a player like him prefers to play in tournaments where he has many grandmastersabove him, like the Gibraltar Masters,Aeroflot Open, or Reykjavik Open etc. Why did Gukesh decide to play the Hillerd chess club tournament where the first prize was a meager3,000 DKK (Approximately 402) and also where he was the second seed?I decided todo a short interview with the youngster and ask himthesequestions. Gukesh was kind enough to find time for this interview before he began his tournament in Cannes.

SS:How does it feel to win your first event of 2020?

DG: I am happy and relievedthat I won this tournament!

SS: Being the second seed, was the tournament easy for you or was it tough?

DG:The pressure was always there, asI was expected to win most of my games, but apart from a couple of games,I was able to controlmy play the way I wanted.

SS: The prize fund was also not very high. Why did you decide to play this event?

DG:I had already accepted to play for my clubat the Cannes Open and just wanted to tagone more event since I was already in Europe. Hillerd open suited the schedule.

SS: How was the organization and conditions offered by the organizers?

DG:Mr. Carsten Pedersen is an extremely friendly organiser who was very supportive from the start and gave good conditions to me and my dad. He took care of us very well during our stay. We just loved the stay provided as it was a nature resort, close tothe forest and had a huge kitchen to cook our own food. We also had amenities like table tennis and Fussball which was helpful to relax.

SS: Which was your favourite game from the event?

DG:I like my third and fourth round games against IM Siva Mahadevan and Jacob Mikkelsen Minosri.

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The position is quite unconventional (look at the rook on g1!) But Gukesh found a very nice way to win material. Can you find it? White to play and win.

SS: Tell us a bit about yourseventh round game where you were completely lost and your opponent missed a mate in one! How did it feel?

Powerplay 26: Checkmate Challenge essential knowledge

Checkmate. That's the aim of the game. There are numerous ways to checkmate the enemy king, but there are common patterns that recur over and over again, and having these at our mental fingertips is essential for when we want to finish the game.

DG:It was a pretty disappointing game from me right from the start and my opponent was executing his moves perfectly.I was almost about to resign but just continued with some blind hope and suddenly he blundered into a mate-in-one from a completely winning position. Though it was just huge relief, it wasn't comfortable. I was also surprised by the way in which my opponent handled the situation. He burst into loud laughter as soon asI delivered the checkmate and was cheerful. He even discussed about the game in a friendly way on the next day! Huge respect for him!

Nimzowitsch Defence 1.e4 Nc6

Andrew Martin maps out an aggressive repertoire for Black, which is ideal for the club player. Few below the rating of 2000 will know what to do against 1..Nc6 and could easily get into a disasterous mess right out of the opening.

Jesper Schultz-Pedersenlost his game against Gukesh, but won his respect. | Photo: Xtracon Open

SS: How has Microsense been helping you in your journey and how was the January camp of Microsense with Kramnik and Gelfanduseful for you?

Gukesh was part of theMicrosense Kramnik Gelfand training program in January 2020 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

DG:Microsense has been fully supportive for the past one and a half years helping me financially and also providing quality training camps from legends like Kramnik and Gelfand. It's a privilege to be trained under Kramniksir and Gelfand sir and they have given lot of inputs whichI am trying out andI am sure it will help me in the long run. This is myfirst tournament after the camp and my time management which was troubling me in the recent past is far better in this event thanks to their tips. I also want to thank my coach Vishnu Prasanna sir whose guidance has been invaluable. I hope to keep improving and justify their belief in me.

SS: It was very cold in Denmark and you used to travel from your hotel to the playing hall, a distance of nearly three kilometre ona cycle! Was it tough?

Rajinikanth and Gukesh powering their way through the Danish cold!

DG:It was easy for me asI was just the pillion rider. My dad toiled hard cycling through the cold to make sure I reached in time for mygame in every round!

SS:Finally, Gukesh tell us, do you have an aim for 2020? If yes, what is it?

DG:My main aim is to improve my game overall, learn and rectify from my own mistakes and obviously climb up the ratings ladder to get opportunities and invites from strong closed tournaments.

Gukesh analyzes after winning his last round | Photo: Rajinikanth

A fantastic quality of Gukesh is that he always wants to learn more. After winning the last round heknew he had become the champion, but hedidn't want to lose the opportunity to analyze with his opponent.

A live rating of 2565 at the age of 13 is afantastic achievement. And what's even better,Gukesh is getting used to winning tournaments! After winning in Hillerd, Gukesh powered on in France to win the Cannes Chess Festival 2020 with 7/9. The Chennai youngster was unbeaten in the event as he scored six wins and three draws and won the event half a point ahead of nearest rivals. The draws came against Joie Sebastien (2421), Harshvardhan G B (2377), and Zeng Chongsheng (2567). This victory made him1,800 richer. Gukesh started as the fourth seed behind Zeng Chongsheng, Grzegorz Nasuta and Gergely Antal. The tournament had over ten GMs and Gukesh won with a rating performance of 2667.

Gukesh with his winner's trophy after the Cannes Open 2020

Click or tap to enlarge

While Gukesh's victory was fantastic, the family had something more to cheer as Rajinikanth (Gukesh's father, pictured) finished ninth in the C-group (below 1700) and gained over 100 Elo points (with a k-factor of 20)! It seems Gukesh's strong play rubbed off on his father!Rajinikanth has now breached the 1400 Elo mark!

After the tournament ended we caught up with Gukesh for an interview and get his thoughts about this victory.

SS: Which tournament was tougher to win? The Hillerd ChessClub Open in Denmark or Cannes Open in France?

DG:Cannes was surely tougher. I faced stronger opponents and also the fieldhad severalmore grandmasters andInternational Masters thanHillerd.

SS: Which was your favourite game from the event?

DG:I really liked my fourth round win against Fy Rakatomaharo.

Gukesh has sent us the annotated game which you can find below. It is interesting to note that the youngster doesn't use the engine to analyzehis games. So all of his notes here are what he wrote with his own mind, without an engine.

SS: Tell us a bit about your last round game. There must have been a lot of tension as it was a must-win game?

DG:As soon as the game started he (Harutyun Barseghyan) offered me a draw. So,I decided to go for a complicated game andI thoughtI was better in the opening but misplayed in the middle game and blundered a pawn.After a few moves he returned the favour starting with Ncxe4 and thenI was able to put pressure on him and eventually won the game. It was a battle where both made mistakes.

SS: How do you manage to convert so many lost positions into a win, like you did in the last round?

DG:Honestly,I don't know! Since both of us were in time pressure, the chances of me tricking him with sharp play were higher!

SS: Tell us a bit about the organization of the Cannes Open 2020? How were the playing conditions?

DG:Cannes Open is an excellently organised event held in a beautiful venue and this is mythird time here. I also played for the Cannes Club in the French league in 2019 and the organiser and our captain Romu (Romuald Delabaca) is a good friend and a well-wisher. He always follows my progress and keeps sending his wishes. He wasbacking me from the start to win the 34thCannes Open and was glad that I could achieve it in the end!

Gukesh at the board and withhis Cannes Chess Club captain Romuald Delabaca

The aerial view of the beautiful city of Cannes | Photo: Cannes Echecs on Facebook

The playing hallis well lit spacious and has a beautiful view! | Photo: CannesOpen 2020

SS: Playing at the Aeroflot Open A-group was a natural decision for you. Why did you decide to skip it and play the Cannes Open instead?

DG:Idon't usually choose my events. It's my dad who plans them. I played in Cannes in 2017 and then lasttwo years we playedat the Aeroflot OpeninMoscow. Maybe he chose Cannes this time for a change and also for the favours Romu has done for us in the past.

Friend and team-mate Stephane Bressac is happy that Gukesh won the tournament!

SS: Tell us a bit about your father's performance. Did his games impress you? Did you advice him before his games?

DG:Idon't go near his board to watch his games and have never seen him prepare or even see his pairings! He usually plays on his mobile whenever he gets time andgoes with the same attitude on the board as well. He was playing at the Cannes Open just for fun and also to be away from the pressure of following my games!

Gukesh's father Rajinikanth played in the C-group(below 1700) and finished ninth!

SS: What's next for you now?

DG:As the HD Bank in Vietnam was called off due to Coronavirus, I have nothing planned for March. In April I will be playing Grenke Open followed by the Reykjavik Open.

Gukesh made a strong start in 2020 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Gukesh has not only won two open events, but also pumped up his rating to 2565. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to break intothe 2600 league this year!

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Man stabbed 56 times tells court his friend attacked him on night he’s ‘living over and over’ – North Wales Live

Posted: at 6:09 pm

A man said to have been stabbed 56 times after he was lured to a secluded spot and set upon has told a court he "lives that night over and over".

Giving evidence from behind a screen, Karl Johnson told Mold Crown Court that it was his friend Nathan Roberts who had attacked him.

Roberts denies attempted murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He accepts that he arranged to meet Mr Johnson down a dark lane near to the entrance to Corus Steel in Garden City on October 21 last year, claiming it was because he wanted to buy cocaine and the area was "convenient for drug dealing".

But Mr Johnson told the jury he was "not a drug dealer" and had driven to North Wales to collect money Roberts owed him.

It is alleged that Roberts struck Mr Johnson over the head, rendering him defenceless, and launched a "sustained knife attack" as Mr Johnson got back into his car.

The 28-year-old, of Chester Close, Shotton, Flintshire, claims it wasn't him but two black men wearing dark tracksuits who spoke with "foreign accents".

He said that, after they fled, he moved Mr Johnson into the passenger seat of the car and got into the driver's seat, saying he was going to get him to hospital, but stopped at the Texaco petrol station on Sealand Road to put air in a flat tyre.

The court heard that blood-soaked Mr Johnson staggered out of the car and collapsed on the floor of the petrol station shop while Roberts bought cans of beer and Red Bull.

Mr Johnson was rushed to hospital and needed surgery.

When he came around, he told doctors that two other men had carried out the attack - but told the jury he had no recollection of saying that in his evidence.

He said: "As far as I'm concerned, the only person there was me and my mate Nathan.

"I'm living that night over and over."

Asked by the defence whether the stabbing was linked to drugs and whether he was "treading on the toes of other dealers", Mr Johnson said: "I'm not a drug dealer. I was in the middle of nowhere."

Under cross examination, it was put to him that it wasn't Roberts who stabbed him, but Mr Johnson said: "There was no one else there."

He added: "It was Nathan who attacked me.

"I wish it wasn't. I wish that day had never happened.

"I'm suffering. I've got to live with that day for the rest of my life."

The court heard that police found cocaine and cannabis in Mr Johnson's car, along with 600 in cash, a set of scales, and some bicarbonate of soda, which the defence suggested can be used to cut cocaine.

Mr Johnson said that, while he owned up to everything that was in the car, some of it - including the cocaine - wasn't his.

The court also heard from Mohammed Arshad, a cashier who was working in the Texaco garage on the night the two men came in at around 9pm.

He described one as "in pain and full of blood", who was "making noises" and saying: "Oh my God."

The other man bought some Red Bull and beers and Mr Arshad described him as looking "totally confused", but said he was trying to help the victim by taking off his friend's jacket and using it on his chest and attempting to give him water.

Mr Arshad said he called for an ambulance and heard one of them say they'd been attacked with a knife.

The trial continues.

26 Sustainability efforts of the fashion industry in February 2020 – FashionUnited UK

Posted: at 6:09 pm

In February, it was heartening to see that the industry is reaching outto partners outside the fashion realm to make more sustainable products orto simply tackle social and environmental problems together. Even recentfashion weeks and other industry events were used to push the sustainablefashion agenda. FashionUnited has put together 26 such efforts that wereannounced in February 2020 alone.

Alt Mat, Block Texx, Descatuk, Indra Water, Infinichains, JSP, PurFi,Sasmira and Textile Genesis are the nine start-ups selected for Fashion forGoods first innovation programme focused on South Asia, which will takethem on a nine-month journey including mentoring, coaching and support fromFashion for Good and its partners. Additionally, the start-ups will receivesupport from Indian manufacturers Arvind and Welspun to test the viabilityof their ideas to make the fashion industry more sustainable.

Swedish outdoor heritage brand Tretorn is teaming up with charity SeaLife Trust for 2020 to launch a special collection to conserve the planetsendangered sea life. The Tretorn x Sea Life Trust collection is part of thebrands spring/summer 2020 Eco Essentials, an initiative launched in 2016that reinvents its classic jackets and footwear into fully sustainableproducts.

British luxury lobby group Walpole said 40 members have becomesignatories to its Sustainability Manifesto. Earlier this year, Walpolelaunched the British Luxury Sustainability Manifesto a commitment tohelping the British luxury sector become the global leader insustainability with a focus on four key pillars. The pillars includetackling plastic packaging and circularity initiatives to extend productlife and waste reduction to safeguard the environment, addressing carbonemissions, renewable energy usage, water consumptions and discharge ofchemicals.

London-born heritage brand Hi-Tec Sports is putting sustainability firstin a new capsule collection in collaborating with Sealand Gear, the SouthAfrican-based upcycle and ecocycle brand renowned for its environmentallyand socially responsible products and accessories. The collection featuresan environmentally conscious limited-edition release of Hi-Tecs iconicSierra Re:Flex trail shoe, which marks Sealands footwear debut.

German multinational corporation Puma has teamed up with First Mile tolaunch a co-created sportswear collection made from recycled plastic, whichgoes beyond recycling as it also rooted in social impact and humanconnection. The co-branded collection has been designed to help consumersperform their best during any workout and features shoes and apparelincluding T-shirts, shorts, jackets and leggings, which have been made fromrecycled yarn that is manufactured from plastic bottles collected in theFirst Mile people-focused network in Taiwan, Honduras, and Haiti.

German e-commerce company Zalando announced that its private label Zignis now fully dedicated to sustainability, with all its new productscontaining 50 percent more sustainable materials or at least 20 percentrecycled content. All products in its SS20 collection are manufactured inthe top 50 percent of Zalandos supply base when it comes to socialperformance, according to the company. The brand said it also requiresthese factories to submit environmental data to the Higg Index to allow itto monitor and improve its performance in areas such as greenhouse gasemissions, water use and waste.

French brand Szane, the countrys first online-only label, hasreimagined its denim line to be completely eco-friendly, just three yearsafter launching its first-ever denim collection. The new eco-friendly denimrange, called Szane (R)evolutions, has completely overhauled itsproduction process at every step to create the sustainable collection,where 85 percent of materials used are from natural origins.

American denim brand Wrangler has launched a sustainable cotton programin Europe that will see the brand collaborating with farmers to promotesustainable agriculture production. This program builds upon an existinginitiative that the Kontoor Brands-owned company had previously launched inthe United States.

Swedish retail giant H&M Group has said it is to become the firstretailer to use Circulose, a newly patented material made from discardedtextiles, in a dress in its upcoming Conscious Exclusive collection -marking the first time chemically recycled fibres are used in garments soldat scale.

Swedish fashion brand Gant has announced it is bolstering itssustainable credentials with a number of new environmental targets, thelaunch of a rental service, and The 7 Rules by Gant - an initiative toeducate consumers on how to better care for their clothes. For 2020, nearly80 percent of its collection will be sustainably sourced. Additionaltargets include using 100 percent sustainably sourced cotton by 2022;reducing water use in manufacturing by 50 percent by 2025; using 100percent sustainably sourced key materials by 2025; and reducing its climatefootprint by 30 percent throughout all operations by 2030.

English fashion accessories designer Anya Hindmarch has once againforegone a catwalk show or a presentation for London Fashion Week in favourof something a little more experimental, and this time launched the 'I Am APlastic Bag collection and filled up her London stores with plasticbottles to make a statement on waste. The I Am A Plastic Bag is made froman innovative new fabric created from recycled plastic bottles and coatedwith recycled plastic windshields.

American footwear brand Teva is working to keep plastic out oflandfills. Going forward, 100 percent of the polyester straps used in Tevafootwear will be made from recycled materials. The footwear brand haslaunched a new sustainable initiative to reduce its impact on theenvironment.

Burberry has doubled down on its sustainability efforts and announcedthe launch of a new 'carbon insetting' project which was marked by acarbon-neutral AW20 runway show. In a push to reduce its carbon footprint,the label said it hosted its AW20 runway show in a certified sustainablevenue and prioritised electric vehicles and avoided air freight. Anyremaining carbon emissions from the show will be offset through a savannafire management project which aims to reduce the risk of wildfires thathave been ravaging Australia in recent months. Instead of gifting theevents guests, the brand also opted to collaborate with PUR Projet andtheir local partner to plant trees in Australia on guests behalf.

British heritage brand Mulberry used its London Fashion Weekpresentation to highlight its Made to Last initiative inspired by thebrands responsibility commitments to the past, present and future withan immersive installation that brought the brands craft and design ethosto life. Set within the brands Bond Street store, the three-day programmefeatured live music, exclusive events, craft workshops, a pop-up caf, aswell as the brands new M Collection, a capsule of bags and outerwearcrafted from a blend of Econyl regenerated nylon and sustainable cotton.

Amy Molyneaux rejoined the London Fashion Week schedule to showcase hernew collaboration with Frankie Phillips, creative director of sustainable,affordable fashion brand, ToBeFrank. The new label, ToBeFrank x Molyneauxhas sustainability at the core, with a collection that is 90 percentsustainable, using no virgin materials, and was born out of both creativedirectors wanting to prove that consumer dont have to compromise style tosave the earth.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has launched new guidelines toensure that vegan fashion items really are 100 percent free of animalproducts. The Voluntary Guideline on Veganism in Fashion sets out a numberof questions retailers should ask themselves before labelling something asvegan. The BRC said companies should not only cut out the use of leather,wool and natural silk in vegan products, but they ensure that no animalproducts are used in other components such as glues, dyes, andchemicals.

Creative agency Superimpose has launched a new educational programmewith a focus on sustainability for aspiring creative talent in partnershipwith University of the Arts London: London College of Fashion. Itsnon-commercial creative platform Services Unknown is looking to pioneer anew educational format by switching up the creative curriculum with itsweek-long crash courses aimed at inspiring the next generation of creativechange-makers.

Environmental charity Redress and TV director Lindsay Robertson haveteamed up to launch the fourth season of Frontline Fashion, anaward-winning YouTube docu-series following emerging fashion designers asthey tackle one of the industrys biggest issues: waste. Set in Hong Kong,a hotbed for Asias ever-growing fashion industry, the five-episode seriestracks the 10 finalists of the Redress Design Award in the days leading upto the grand finale of the sustainable fashion competition.

The rest is here:

26 Sustainability efforts of the fashion industry in February 2020 - FashionUnited UK

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Meet the kind-hearted truck driver who has helped feed Wrexham’s homeless every week for years – LeaderLive

Posted: at 6:09 pm

A KIND-HEARTED Flintshire truck driver has been helping to feed the homeless in Wrexham every week without fail for four years.

Matt Payne, 42, from Flint, provides hot meals and supplies at Queens Square every Wednesday from 8pm with his partner Sian Bradley, cousins Hel Smart and Carrina Edwards from Denbigh, and volunteer Matty Edwards who lives in Bagillt.

He said: We take out 30 hot meals and 30 snack bags every week. I have various cooks around Flintshire who help make the meals and put the bags together.

Then we use three cars to take it all down to Queens Square. Any left-over food is given away to the local night shelter so it doesnt go to waste.

At the moment were in desperate need of warm clothes, sleeping bags and roll mats which provide insulation.

After hearing about his selfless work from a client, Hadlow Edwards Wealth Management were keen to support his efforts.

Emily Mooney, who works as a PA for the company which is based in the former Wrexham Lager brewery building on Central Road, has been coordinating a staff collection which includes vital equipment such as sleeping bags and insulated roll mats as well as scores of food snacks.

Mr Payne said: Im really grateful to Hadlow Edwards for helping us out with this.

Theyve heard about what we do and know Ive been doing it for a long time so it will get to the people who need it. Im not a charity so I wont take money, I give out a shopping list instead!

We help between 20 and 30 people every week. Their backgrounds vary. A lot have addiction or mental health problems.

Ive put a takeaway carton in an ex solicitors hands before. He lost his wife and kids and ended up homeless. I always says youre only a couple of pay-checks or a couple of bad decisions away from being there.

Emily Mooney said: We heard about Matts wonderful work via a client and were keen to lend a hand in any way we could.

Were very proud to be part of the Wrexham community and want to support it as much as possible.

Sadly, more and more people are finding themselves living on the streets without food or any bedding, simple things we take for granted.

We asked Matt what part we could play and he said they were desperate for sleeping equipment and snacks so we immediately launched a collection in the office, which is still running and mounting up every day.

Hopefully this small gesture will make a big difference to the homeless community in Wrexham, and we applaud the work Matt continues to do on a weekly basis.

Matt was working for a skip hire firm when he was inspired to start helping the homeless following an encounter behind a retail premises in Wrexham town centre.

He explained: There was a guy huddled up and as I dont carry any money with me when Im working I didnt have anything to offer him.

Now normally Id go alright mate? and have a conversation, I chat to everyone. But on this occasion I just didnt think that would help him and I ended up ignoring him as I collected the skip.

It was the last time I ever did ignore a homeless person because I felt so bad. I was driving away thinking what can I do to help? What needs to be done? All day it wrecked my head.

At the time I was part of a motorcycle club so when I got home I put a post up on the Facebook group. I told everyone how it had made me feel so one of the members said to me what you going to about it then?

So I thought to myself what do they need? At first I started taking five or six meals every Wednesday. Then I put a Facebook appeal out locally and started getting donations.

Coats, socks, toiletries, you name it - everything that we take for granted. I got overwhelmed by peoples help. They felt the same as me, guilty that they werent helping but not knowing what needed to be done.

For the first month I was going out every Wednesday and trawling the streets looking for homeless people and finding them in various corners and shop doors.

Then I said Id be at Queens Square from 8pm every week, whatever the weather, and now I dont ever need to leave there.

The trust and respect is there. They know I will turn up. I only ever miss one week a year and thats to go on a family holiday and even then I get cover. They even help unload the car and set the table up.

Matts support for the homeless community goes beyond providing weekly meals and clothing supplies.

Hes also organised charity events and last year spent a week sleeping rough on the streets of Chester to raise awareness of the plight of homeless people in the city.

Matt said: I slept rough in Chester for a week to help raise awareness. It was the scariest time of my life. I lived alongside the homeless people.

The public view of you is the hardest thing. You had people crossing the road just to avoid you.

I left my rucksack and sleeping bag in one of the soup kitchens and headed back out into the street and the difference in how people viewed you because you didnt stand out with your sleeping bag was an eye opener.

That person who is sat there with their sleeping bag is someones son or father. Theyre not an alien.

Matts crusade to provide homeless people with things that society often takes for granted has even led to him landing a new job with Sealand-based Dandys Topsoil.

He got to know owner Adam Dandy who does a lot of work to support the homeless in Chester and began driving for the company 12 months ago.

Can you help Matt to help the homeless? Find Matt on Facebook under Matt Pyne.

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Meet the kind-hearted truck driver who has helped feed Wrexham's homeless every week for years - LeaderLive

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World Pantheism Revering the Universe, Caring for Nature …

Posted: at 6:08 pm

Do you feel a deep sense of peace, belonging, gratitude and wonder in Nature or under a clear night sky? Then you may be a scientific pantheist.Scientific pantheism focuses on saving the planet rather than saving souls. It respects the rights of humans, and also of all living beings. It encourages you to make the most and best of your one life here.It values reason and the scientific method over adherence to ancient scriptures. Take our popular quiz to find out if it suits you:-Are you Atheist, Agnostic, Pagan, Deist, Pantheist or What?

We relate closely to some of the central challenges of our era. At a time when the balance of our Earth is under unprecedented threat, scientific pantheism is one of the few forms of spirituality in which Nature plays a central part. For us, Nature is a source of peace and beauty, as well as the focus for our care and vigilance. Nature was not created for us to use or abuse. Nature created us, we are an inseparable part of her. We have a duty to live sustainably, to care for Nature and to halt and reverse the harm that humans have done to her.

Scientific pantheism is the only form of spirituality we know of which fully embraces science as part of the human exploration of Earth and Cosmos. We wonder at the picture of a vast, creative and often violent Universerevealed by the Hubble Space Telescope. We regard stargazing as a spiritual practice. We oppose climate change denial and evolution denial, especially in education.

Scientific pantheism has a joyous affirmative approach to life. It has a healthy and positive attitude to sex and life in the body. We wont tell you what you should be smoking or doing in the bedroom. We fully accept diverse gender choices, and we oppose all forms of discrimination.

Scientific pantheism moves beyond God and defines itself by positives.Atheism and Agnosticism both define themselves negatively, in relation to a God that they deny or doubt. These are useful starting points but they dont take us very far. Most people also need positive beliefs and feelings about their place in Nature and the wider Universe. We take Nature and the Universe as our start and finish point, not some preconceived idea of God. We do not believe in a supernatural creator god who watches or judges us. Most of us avoid god-language or religious words like church, worship, divinity and so on. We regard them as misleading. Some of us do like these words, but they use them metaphorically, in a similar way to how Einstein used the word.

Get the Scientific Pantheism handbook.

Our beliefs and values are summarized in our Pantheist Statement of Principles.The statement was drawn up by fallible humans. It is not required dogma it is simply a notice on our door, to show what we are about so people can decide if it suits them or if they want to learn more.These are the key elements:

Many people feel the need to belong to a religious community. Research shows that such groups provide mutual support and friends and are good for physical and mental health. Theres no good reason why groups of like-minded non-theistic folk should not enjoy similar benefits.

In the WPM we are spiritual but not religious. We dont have churches, priests, or prescribed dogma and rituals. But we do aim to provide a home base for people who love Nature and the Universe and do not believe in supernatural entities.

Two of the major benefits our members and friends say they value are gaining new like-minded friends and finding a place where they can share their enthusiasms without fear of being ostracized or feeling isolated. There have been many local meetings of members across the USA and in other parts of the world, where people have found a rare level of fellowship and stimulation.

The WPMs short term goals are to:

In the longer term, as resources permit, we hope to:

If you would like to help promote these goals, please consider becoming a WPM member. Volunteering is another great way of supporting the WPM.

All who agree with our principles are encouraged to join our Facebook page (with more than 160,000 fans), or join our Facebook discussion groupwith more than 10,000 members.

We use the name pantheism because the term encompasses a long and venerable history dating back to Heraclitus and Marcus Aurelius and extending to Einstein, D. H. Lawrence and beyond.

Our beliefs (see the Statement of Principles) are entirely compatible with atheism, humanism, agnosticism, universalism, and symbolic paganism (viewing magic, gods and spirits as symbols rather than objective realities). We offer a home to all forms of naturalistic spirituality however you may choose to label it. Other paths that approximate include philosophical Taoism, modern Stoicism, Western forms of Buddhism that celebrate Nature and daily life without supernatural beliefs, and Unitarian Universalists who do not believe in supernatural beings.

You are free to adopt the terms and practices you prefer and draw on other traditions for inspiration or celebration. Some call this a religion (a positive one), while others call it a philosophy, a way of life, or a form of general spirituality. Its up to you.

Please explore our pages. If you have any questions, please contact us.

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Daily Archives: March 5, 2020

Ancient Earth Was A Waterworld Covered In Oceans That Had No Continents According To A New Study – BroBible

OHCHR has filed petitions to become amicus curiae in Europe and America too – Economic Times

High alert: We may lose half the worlds sandy beaches to sea-level rise by 2100 – Scroll.in

Rear admiral added to Comox Valley Walk of Achievement – vancouverislandfreedaily.com

Fat Fritz 1.1 update and a small gift – Chessbase News

Gukesh closes in on 2600 – Chessbase News

Man stabbed 56 times tells court his friend attacked him on night he’s ‘living over and over’ – North Wales Live

26 Sustainability efforts of the fashion industry in February 2020 – FashionUnited UK

Meet the kind-hearted truck driver who has helped feed Wrexham’s homeless every week for years – LeaderLive

World Pantheism Revering the Universe, Caring for Nature …

The Prometheus League

Breaking News and Updates

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The Evolutionary Perspective

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