Latest news with #BAO
Hypebeast
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
BAO Celebrates a Decade of Creative Taiwanese Cuisine With Special Anniversary Menu
Summary BAOis set to mark its 10th anniversary, celebrating a decade of Taiwanese-inspired innovation in London's culinary landscape. Founded by Shing Tat Chung,Erchen Changand Wai Ting Chung, BAO began as a humble street food venture, operating with nothing more than a cool box and a steamer. Over the years, it has grown into a renowned restaurant brand, famed for its cult-status Taiwanese steamed buns andxiao chiplates, influencing London's perception of Taiwanese cuisine. To honor this milestone, guests can enjoy BAO's classic steamed buns at their original street food stall price starting June 10 for a month. Guests can indulge in beloved fillings like braised pork belly, beef short rib and vegan daikon, all folded into BAO's pillowy-soft buns, delivering a nostalgic yet celebratory experience. Meanwhile, the restaurant is also unveiling a brand-new menu, introducing an entire section dedicated to Taiwanese fried chicken, featuring charcoal-finished fried chicken steak — a UK-first. Guests can personalize their dish with a house BBQ glaze dusted with garlic chili powder or a chili lime pour with shredded cabbage, alongside sticky Peking caramel wings and nuggets paired with Sichuan mayo, hot sauce, basil ranch, or yushiang for dipping. Beyond its savory selections, BAO is debuting the BAONUT, a decadent fusion of fluffy BAO and crispy Taiwanese donut, offering a unique twist on classic indulgence. Other exciting additions include a new calamari BAO, dry beef noodles infused with rich bone marrow, and a summer salad topped with juicy grilled chicken. The refreshing lineup of bubble teas introduces an aromatic mango and salted coconut flavor, expanding BAO's beverage offerings. Reflecting on the journey, Shing Tat Chung shared, 'We started BAO with no expectations – just three young creatives with a passion for food and design. We could not have imagined the journey that would come over the next decade.' Co-founder Erchen Chang added, 'We're grateful to every single one of our guests and team members from over the years and excited to celebrate our 10th birthday in style. Having recently been back to Taiwan, we're mixing up our menu for the first time, adding some new additions inspired by our trip. We can't wait to welcome BAO fans both old and new over the next month.' The anniversary celebrations will culminate in the Battle of the BAO, where alumni and current BAO chefs will compete for a spot on the new permanent menu. Hosted in collaboration with premium rewards card Yonder, the event promises a showcase of creativity and culinary expertise. BAO's new menu and special £3.50 GBP (approx. $5 USD) pricing will officially launch on June 10 with the celebratory offer available across all locations until July 10, 2025.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Giant Structure in Deep Space Challenges Our Understanding of The Universe
A colossal structure in the distant Universe is defying our understanding of how the Universe evolved. In light that has traveled for 6.9 billion years to reach us, astronomers have found a giant, almost perfect ring of galaxies, some 1.3 billion light-years in diameter. It doesn't match any known structure or formation mechanism. The Big Ring, as the structure has been named, could mean that we need to amend the standard model of cosmology. The discovery, led by astronomer Alexia Lopez of the University of Central Lancashire, was presented at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in 2024, and has been published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. It's the second giant structure discovered by Lopez and her colleagues. The first, called the Giant Arc, is actually in the same part of the sky, at the same distance away. When the arc's discovery was announced in 2021, it puzzled astronomers. The Big Ring only deepens the mystery. "Neither of these two ultra-large structures is easy to explain in our current understanding of the universe," Lopez said in January 2024. "And their ultra-large sizes, distinctive shapes, and cosmological proximity must surely be telling us something important – but what exactly?" The most immediate link seems to be with something called a Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO). These are giant, circular arrangements of galaxies found all throughout space. They're actually spheres, the fossils of acoustic waves that propagated through the early Universe, and then froze when space became so diffuse acoustic waves could no longer travel. The Big Ring is not a BAO. BAOs are all a fixed size of around 1 billion light-years in diameter. And thorough inspection of the Big Ring shows that it is more like a corkscrew shape that is aligned in such a way that it looks like a ring. Which leaves the very unanswered question: What the heck is it? And what does it mean for the Cosmological Principle, which states that, in all directions, any given patch of space should look pretty much the same as all other patches of space? "We expect matter to be evenly distributed everywhere in space when we view the universe on a large scale, so there should be no noticeable irregularities above a certain size," Lopez explained. "Cosmologists calculate the current theoretical size limit of structures to be 1.2 billion light-years, yet both of these structures are much larger – the Giant Arc is almost three times bigger and the Big Ring's circumference is comparable to the Giant Arc's length." But the size is just one of the problems. The other is what it means for cosmology, the study of the evolution of the Universe. The current model is the one that currently fits the best with what we observe, but there are some features that are challenging to explain under its framework. There are other models that have been put forward to address these features. Under one such model, Roger Penrose's conformal cyclic cosmology, in which the Universe goes through endless Big Bang expansion cycles, ring structures are expected – although it's worth noting that conformal cyclic cosmology has significant problems of its own. Another possibility is that the structures are a type of topological defect in the fabric of space-time known as cosmic strings. These are thought to be like proton-wide wrinkles that emerged in the early Universe as space-time stretched, then froze into place. We've not found much physical evidence of cosmic strings, but the theoretical evidence is pretty promising. At the moment, nobody knows for sure what the Big Ring and the Giant Arc signify. They could just be chance arrangements of galaxies twirling across the sky, although the likelihood of that seems pretty small. The best hope would be to find more such arrangements of galaxies, scattered throughout the Universe, hiding in plain sight. "From current cosmological theories we didn't think structures on this scale were possible," Lopez said. "We could expect maybe one exceedingly large structure in all our observable Universe. Yet, the Big Ring and the Giant Arc are two huge structures and are even cosmological neighbors, which is extraordinarily fascinating." The findings are reported in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. An earlier version of this article was published in January 2024. Magnetar 'Starquakes' Could Forge Gold in Space, Scientists Discover Depictions of Milky Way's River of Stars Found in Ancient Egyptian Art Dawn's Second Look Reveals Vesta Could Be Part of a Lost World
CBC
14-02-2025
- General
- CBC
St. Catharines, Ont., group wants to restore grave of Black businessman. City says search for his family first
Social Sharing Standing in the historic Victoria Lawn Cemetery in St. Catharines, Ont., Rochelle Bush can point you to a hidden history. The burial ground is the final resting place for significant members of the early Black community in Niagara, including freedom-seekers who escaped slavery and abolitionists who fought against that institution. Bush is part of a small volunteer effort to identify and restore the gravestones of the freedom-seekers buried in Victoria Lawn. Since 2021, the group, known as the Salem Chapel Underground Railroad Cemetery Project, found markers belonging to 10 freedom-seekers, seven of which were buried underground. They fixed up nine of those stones, which are now on display in the cemetery. In June 2023, volunteers unearthed the stone belonging to John Lindsay, a wealthy businessperson who escaped slavery and settled in St. Catharines, where he became the richest Black man in the region, if not the country, Bush said. Lindsay sold lemon ale during tourist season, owned property and had a number of other businesses. But since that discovery, the project has stalled, Bush said. That's due to a "disheartening" dispute between volunteers and city officials over what to do with Lindsay's stone — and who should be allowed to restore it, including how extensive the search should be for living relatives. Lindsay's marker was buried and broken into about 35 pieces, making it irreparable. The volunteers want to re-bury the existing stone and raise a new monument, but the city initially refused, saying only interment rights holders could make that decision, and the volunteers aren't Lindsay's next of kin. In July, a city council motion determined volunteers could place a new gravestone if they met certain conditions. Volunteer and historian Rochelle Bush says the proposed solution is problematic and leaves her small team discouraged from finishing the work as intended. The goal of the project is to create a free cemetery walking tour, run by the church, so members of the public can learn more about local Black history. Volunteers fundraised for the project, which did not receive city funds. The project's name comes from the Salem Chapel British Methodist Episcopal church, which Bush has worked to restore and for which she serves as resident historian. City says volunteers must exhaust efforts to find next of kin Originally, the city wanted to display Lindsay's broken stone under plexiglass in a float box, Bush said, but the volunteers were afraid it would be too easy for someone to break in and steal or scatter the pieces. Bush's group, however, proposed they put up a new gravestone and accept legal liability should next of kin appear and want the stone gone. Bush went to the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO), which regulates cemetery operators. They told her in emails viewed by CBC Hamilton that could be possible but it would be the city's decision. The city meanwhile had disagreed that the group's proposal was in line with BAO regulations, city spokesperson Scott Rosts told CBC Hamilton in an email. WATCH | Rochelle Bush shares John Lindsay's story: Rochelle Bush on the signifcance of John Lindsay 2 hours ago Duration 1:22 Historian Rochelle Bush shares why John Lindsay is significant, and why her volunteer group wants a new gravestone for him. But in July, 2024, the city decided to move forward with the project. A council motion put forward then by St. Catharines Coun. Greg Miller resolved that the Salem Chapel church be allowed to raise a new monument provided it could produce documentation showing volunteers "exhausted all reasonable efforts to identify the interment rights holder(s) without success." The church also had to agree to take the stone down should interment rights holders come forward in the future. The motion passed. Rosts said the City of St. Catharines wants to "support the meaningful work of Salem Chapel Church and its volunteers" and "thanks to further discussions" with the volunteers, "obtained guidance" from the BAO on how to proceed in the absence of permission from interment rights holder. Bush appreciated Miller's help in getting the ball rolling, but still found the city's decision frustrating, she said. The project had already been paused for about a year and it took her several months more to produce a record of Lindsay's family history for the city. Bush submitted her work in January, and Rosts confirmed the city is reviewing it "based on guidance from the BAO." He said the next step will be for the city to post a public notice giving any local descendants another chance to come forward before any work begins. There's a sensitivity required to this sort of genealogical research, Bush said. Based on her research, it's "highly unlikely" Lindsay has any descendants living locally, she said, adding that other than one child who died in Niagara, it appears his family moved to the United States. It also appears Lindsay's descendants were white-passing and today, many might not know they have Black heritage, or be deliberately keeping that secret. In her experience as a Black woman and historian, Bush said, people sometimes react negatively to having their roots exposed. "It's easy to say 'don't worry about it' but you don't know until it happens to you," Bush said, adding she tried to talk about that with city officials but it went "right over their heads." CBC Hamilton asked the city to comment on Bush's concerns. Rosts said only that the city is "required" to follow its process. WATCH | Volunteers explain what the project means to them as they unearth John Lindsay's stone: Unearthing lost gravestones of freedom seekers who fled slavery 2 years ago Duration 8:59 Researchers in St. Catharines, Ont., are working to unearth the lost gravestones of people who fled slavery in the U.S. 100 years ago. CBC's Nick Purdon visits the project site and learns that keeping the stories of freedom seekers alive is more than just preserving history — for some, it's deeply personal. The municipally owned and operated Victoria Lawn Cemetery is a "primary stop on Niagara's Freedom Trail," because of the people buried there, Bush said, such as the abolitionist Reverend Anthony Burns, and her own descendents, such as Margaret Harper, Bush's great-great grandmother. Bush has been leading tours there for over 20 years, she said, and her desire to learn more is part of why she launched the project with Adam Montgomery, who's since stepped aside. Case prompted group to limit search for other gravestones The historic Black church formed between 1814 and 1820, Bush said, and the chapel opened in 1855 while Lindsay was trustee. Famed Underground Railroad conductor Harriett Tubman lived across the street and attended the church, and some of her relatives are buried in Victoria Lawn too. There are about 30 more freedom-seekers there whose stones the team could find, Bush said, but given the challenges with raising a stone for Lindsay, the team decided to limit its scope and stick to the stones it already found and restored. It didn't have to be this way, she said, adding the city didn't even know who all was buried at Victoria Lawn until the volunteers informed them. "It's our ancestral history. We have the right to this. We should be telling the story and we should be in first place. We shouldn't feel like we're competing with somebody else."
