
Robert Macfarlane: Why shouldn't rivers have rights? Companies do
Robert Macfarlane has been thinking a lot about rivers. Sat under the huge limbs of one of his favourite trees, an oriental plane in Cambridge, he points to where the 'elbows' of its branches rest on the ground, drawing water from a nearby chalk stream.
Talking about his new book, Is a River Alive?, the renowned nature writer's conversation is punctuated with his sightings of the birdlife around us: blue tits, goldfinches, a jay making an odd noise. Few would argue they are not alive.
But in a mix of travelogue, nature-writing and philosophy encompassing journeys along waterways in Ecuador, India and Canada, he argues rivers are alive, too — and should have rights. The modern 'rights of nature' movement was arguably born in
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Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Grade school math problem confuses people but the answer is actually easy - can you solve it in 30 seconds?
A seemingly simple math problem has left social media users confused as they argue over the correct answer. The equation, shared by user @BholanathDutta on X, appears simple enough for grade school students - but users were left with different answers. The problem reads: 4 - (4 ÷ 4) x 2 = ? Can you solve the problem within 30 seconds? At first glance, it looks like basic arithmetic that a typical middle schooler could solve. Yet users commented conflicting answers, causing a debate. The majority of respondents confidently answered 2, while others wrote that they believed the correct answer to be -2. The confusion stems from a simple math rule - the order of operations. The acronym PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction) determines which calculations to perform first in math equations. It's important to break down the problem step by step. 4 - (4 ÷ 4) x 2 = ? First, solve what's inside the parentheses: 4 ÷ 4 = 1 This gives us: 4 - 1 x 2 Next, perform the multiplication: 1 x 2 = 2 Finally, subtract: 4 - 2 = 2 The correct answer is 2. Those who arrived at -2 likely made the mistake of working from left to right without following the proper order of operations. Others could have calculated: 4 - 4 = 0, then 0 ÷ 4 = 0, then 0 x 2 = 0, giving them an incorrect final answer. This type of math puzzle regularly goes viral on social media platforms. Last week, @BholanathDutta shared another math riddle with followers, asking 'Can you solve this #math' alongside an image decorated with colorful flowers. The post shows a calculation that looks simple: 500 + 450 ÷ 5. The post has now been viewed more than 3,000 times, with dozens of commenters sharing their answers. But not everyone agrees on the solution. The overwhelming majority of respondents believe the answer is 590, with many users showing their working to prove their point. One user methodically explained their approach. They wrote: '500 + 450 ÷ 5 = ? 450 ÷ 5 = 90, 500 + 90 = 590.'


Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
Sacred Mysteries: How God acts from the inside of everything
The Gospel of St John is extraordinarily well written. I don't mean the other Gospels are badly written, but in St John's we find a beautifully composed work by a single author. The so-called prologue of this Gospel, starting, 'In the beginning was the Word,' has been so praised for its sublimity that its meaning is sometimes skated over. I've just been reading the Commentary on the Gospel of John by St Thomas Aquinas, and was struck by what he says early on about the Word of God before he 'was made flesh, and dwelt among us'. John says: 'He was in the world.' Thomas says he was in the world as an efficient cause (in the language of Aristotle) but with a striking difference. 'Other agents act as existing externally...' he says, 'But God acts in all things from within, because he acts by creating.' To create, he says, is to give being to the thing created. The Latin word for 'being' that he uses is esse, the infinitive. This in his vocabulary is the act of being that makes anything exist as what it is. Esse is sometimes translated into English as 'existence', but it is more than the fact of existing; it is the power each thing has to act as itself. In our case, esse is the difference between being alive and dead. 'Since existence [ esse ] is innermost in each thing,' Thomas says, 'God, who by acting gives existence, acts in things from within. Hence God [the Word] was in the world as one giving existence to the world.' This is very different from the mental picture people may have of God sitting in heaven and commanding things to be created. It is true that God is not part of the world and that he transcends everything that we know. But when the old Catechism answer said that 'God is everywhere', it meant, among other things, that God is interior to the vital being of anything. All this applies to the Word of God, God the Son, before ever he took upon himself human flesh and was born in Bethlehem. There is a puzzle here because, since God is present in a volcano, say, and gives it its existence and power to act, then, when the volcano erupts, God has responsibility. Certainly volcanoes function by ordinary secondary causality, for which we like to construct laws of nature. But the volcano would not continue to exist from second to second did God not sustain it in being. Fortunately, this cuts both ways. God's sustaining presence is also part of his almighty power: he does whatever he wants to. He is in charge, so if things look pretty bad at one moment, he can bring them to good. And if things seem bad to us, the Word made Flesh suffered as badly in his death as anyone could. God can do his good work while allowing secondary causes to act according to their laws. He can also allow human beings to exercise their freedom to do good or evil while he brings wicked plans to nothing, or rather to a good conclusion. The fierce logician, Peter Geach, in his book Providence and Evil, likens God to a master chess-player, winning the game whatever moves the opponent chooses. This applies in specific cases, not just in the lump. So someone with faith in God believes that it is wise to trust him, for there is nothing to be gained by going against the principles of good behaviour that he has revealed in his commandments. In the Bible, Joseph was thrown by his brothers into a pit to die. When, by fortune, he ends up in Egypt and prospers, and feeds his brothers in famine, he tells them: 'It was not you who sent me here, but God. . . You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.'


The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
How an innovative portable shelter could help India's outdoor workers beat the heat
An innovative portable shelter recently exhibited in one of India's largest cities shows how smart, cheap ways to help workers escape the heat are gaining traction in a country that's particularly vulnerable to climate change-driven extreme temperatures. The Neralu shelter, winner of a design contest in the southern city of Bengaluru, was displayed at the Sweat and Concrete 2025 event in late May alongside a theatrical performance about heat impacts on outdoor workers and exhibits on heat-related studies. Organizer Kanishk Kabiraj said the aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness about how extreme heat is endangering the health and livelihoods of the country's outdoor workforce. It comes amid a shift in India toward greater awareness of climate-related issues in recent years. 'We think that it's important to not only talk conceptually but to try and create models and proof of concept,' Kabiraj said. Neralu, which means shade in Kannada, the most common local language spoken in Bengaluru, consists of a lightweight frame that supports a shade, bench and angled slats operated by manual pulleys to fan people seated within. The shelter costs about $175 and is made of metal, fiber-reinforced plastic and plywood. Weighing roughly 15 kilograms (33 pounds), the shelter for up to four people can be installed on outdoor walls and easily disassembled and transported on the small motor vehicles known as tuk-tuks. 'This kind of shelter will be helpful for people like us who work outdoors,' said Madhe Gowda, a 62-year-old fruit seller who came to the exhibit. 'I sell fruits from my pushcart all day. When it's really hot, my fruits begin to rot and it becomes difficult for me to move around much." Neralu beat 19 other entries in a contest for designing heat shelters for outdoor workers organized in Bengaluru last year. Ankritya Diggavi, one of the architects behind the design, said it was inspired by speaking to and observing outdoor workers. 'They have made their own makeshift measures using material like beach umbrellas and tarpaulin sheets,' Diggavi said. The designers said the Neralu shelter can be made of recycled and repurposed material from the auto industry or other businesses. They said the design has a lot of room to be modified according to local needs and available materials. 'We wanted something simple, affordable, and quick to assemble,' said Sagar Kandal, another one of the designers. They said they have received interest from both public and private organizations that want to purchase and install these shelters in the city. The Indian Meteorological Department has found the number of extreme heat days increasing in the city, which planning experts say is likely due to climate change and rapid urbanization. And with a rising number of Indian states designing heat and climate change adaptation plans, they said the shelter can work in any heat-stressed city that needs low-cost solutions. Tamanna Dalal, a researcher on heat policy at the New Delhi-based think tank Sustainable Futures Collaborative, said the way cities are built in India is resulting in urban heat islands, parts of cities with higher average temperatures than the surrounding areas. Shelters that take local climate factors into account and can be replicated easily will become 'supremely important' as heat worsens in the coming years, Dalal added. India is among the world's most vulnerable countries to climate impacts, with floods, heat waves and cyclones having resulted in 80,000 deaths and economic losses nearing $180 billion from 1993 to 2022. According to the International Labor Organization, India stands to lose up to 34 million jobs due to increasing heat by 2030. P. Kumaravel, a 42-year-old construction worker who was at the event held over two days at the end of May, welcomed the idea of the shelter, but said good public transport and reliable health insurance are what workers like him need the most. 'This year's heat was really bad. I had rashes and pimples. We rest under a tree when we can, but we're paid to work, not to rest,' he said. 'A shelter is helpful, but it's not enough,' he said. ___ ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at