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LeMonde
29-05-2025
- Science
- LeMonde
200,000 barrels of radioactive waste at the bottom of the sea: Scientists set out to inspect a nuclear dump in the Atlantic
The question arose at the very beginning of the nuclear industry: What should be done with the waste? For 40 years, from 1950 to 1990, countries with nuclear technology addressed the issue by dumping barrels filled with waste into the ocean in international waters. Decades later, an interdisciplinary scientific mission was preparing to map some 200,000 barrels submerged in the Northeast Atlantic, roughly 600 kilometers off the coast of Nantes and more than 4,000 meters deep. Through two research expeditions at sea, the first of which will begin on June 15, scientists are also aiming to better understand the behavior of radionuclides and their effects on marine biodiversity. This mission was led by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in collaboration with the French national institute for ocean science and technology (Ifremer), the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR) and other partners. It was born out of a meeting a few years ago between Patrick Chardon, a specialist in the effects of radioactivity on the environment (CNRS – Université Clermont Auvergne), and Javier Escartin, a marine geologist (Ecole normale supérieure – CNRS), at a time when technology now allows for exploration of the ocean floor.
LeMonde
16-05-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
Jean-Luc Racine
While the Indian government boasted of having dismantled the "terrorist ecosystem" in Jammu and Kashmir, this territory was the scene, on April 22, of a deadly attack targeting tourists in Pahalgam. India responded by launching Operation Sindoor – named after the vermilion powder applied to the foreheads of Hindu brides – and bombed nine "terrorist infrastructures" in Kashmir and Pakistani Punjab on the night of May 6-7. Condemning an "act of war," Islamabad said it shot down five Indian aircraft, including Rafales. After several nights of clashes, the two countries announced a ceasefire agreement on May 10. Jean-Luc Racine, emeritus research director at the French National Center for Scientific Research and author of Cachemire. Au péril de la guerre ("Kashmir. At the Peril of War", untranslated, 2002), analyzes the roots of this long-standing crisis. Once again, the spiral of violence originated from the issue of this Himalayan territory, which is predominantly Muslim and whose sovereignty is disputed. Asked about the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, US President Donald Trump retorted that "this conflict has existed for a millennium." You have 91.56% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Egypt Independent
05-04-2025
- Science
- Egypt Independent
Archaeologists announce new discoveries at Luxor's Ramesseum Temple
A Joint Egyptian-French archaeological mission, comprising the Conservation and Registration Sector of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the French National Center for Scientific Research, and the Sorbonne University, have announced several new archaeological discoveries around the Ramesseum Temple on the West Bank of Luxor. These discoveries include several tombs dating back to the Third Intermediate Period, storage areas, weaving and stonework workshops, kitchens, and bakeries. Excavations inside the temple also revealed the 'House of Life,' a scientific school attached to the major temples. This is an exceptional discovery, as it not only revealed the architectural layout of the educational institution but also revealed a rich collection of artifacts including the remains of drawings and school games. This makes it the first evidence on existence of a school within Ramesseum, also known as the 'Temple of Millions of Years.' The excavations also uncovered another group of buildings on the eastern side of the temple, likely used as administrative offices. Studies have shown that the buildings and cellars on the northern side were used as storage for olive oil, honey, and fats, in addition to cellars used for storing wine, as wine jar labels were found in abundance. Excavations in the northeastern area also revealed a large number of tombs dating back to the Third Intermediate Period. Most of these tombs contain burial chambers and shafts containing well-preserved canopic jars and funerary tools, as well as nested coffins, 401 ushabti figurines carved from pottery, and scattered bones. Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, hailed the mission's efforts to uncover new secrets from the Ramesseum Temple and study the religious and societal role it played in ancient Egypt. The Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mohamed Ismail also emphasized the importance of these discoveries, as they shed light on the temple's long and complex history and open new horizons for understanding its role in ancient Egypt.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
World's glaciers are losing enough ice to fill 3 Olympic pools every second, terrifying new study finds
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Earth's glaciers lost 300 billion tons (273 billion metric tons) of ice every year on average between 2000 and 2023, amounting to a 5% decline in volume since the start of the millennium, a groundbreaking new study finds. The loss equates to roughly three Olympic swimming pools' worth of ice melting or breaking off from glaciers every second, according to the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), which was involved in the study together with dozens of other research institutions. This startling decline is the result of global warming driven by our ballooning greenhouse gas emissions. "We expected to find that glaciers are melting, but the amount of ice lost in the past few years is shocking even for us scientists," said lead author Michael Zemp, a professor at the University of Zurich and director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service. The results revealed extreme losses in glaciers in Europe's Alps and Pyrenees mountains, with both regions showing a 40% decline in glacier volume over the study period. "In the European Alps, glaciers lost 10% of their ice in just two single years," Zemp told Live Science in an email. Related: Alaska's ice is melting in front of our eyes, staggering satellite shots show For the study, researchers compiled satellite data and direct measurements of every glacier region in the world except the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which are both so big they have a delayed response to warming, Zemp said. Scientists gathered and converted hundreds of glacier-related datasets into time series that they could then analyze to paint a global picture of how glaciers have changed over time. "Over the past 20 years we got a wealth of satellite sensors to estimate glacier elevation and mass changes," Zemp said. "While agreeing in general about glacier melt, the exact numbers differed quite a bit from sensor to sensor" — hence the need to convert all the numbers to one format, Zemp said. The results, published Wednesday (Feb. 19) in the journal Nature, revealed stark regional differences in ice loss during the study period. Glaciers in the Alps and Pyrenees experienced the greatest decline relative to their size, while glaciers on the subantarctic islands only lost about 2% of their ice, according to a statement from the University of Zurich. Researchers also found a 36% increase in annual ice loss between the first half of the study period, between 2000 and 2011, and the second half, between 2012 and 2023, suggesting that ice loss is accelerating. Excluding the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, glaciers worldwide held about 134,182 billion tons (121,728 billion metric tons) of ice in 2000. By 2023, that figure had dropped to about 126,971 billion tons (115,186 billion metric tons), according to the study. The volume of ice lost from glaciers during the study period caused global sea levels to rise by 0.7 inches (18 millimeters), the researchers noted, which is 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) more than the Greenland Ice Sheet has contributed to sea level rise since the 1990s. Sea level rise is not the only risk linked to glaciers melting. "Glaciers are vital freshwater resources, especially for local communities in Central Asia and Central Andes," study co-author Inés Dussaillant Lehmann, a postdoctoral researcher and glaciologist at the University of Zurich, said in the statement. Dwindling freshwater reserves from glaciers could threaten water security in these regions, according to the statement. The new research is the first to paint a consistent global picture of glacier ice loss and will provide a foundation for similar studies in the future, said Samuel Cook, a glacier modeling expert and junior research group leader at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany who was not involved in the study. "This is about as robust a piece of global-scale data analysis as it's possible to have," Cook told Live Science in an email. "The thing that stands out to me is the sheer methodical thoroughness of the authors and the scale of the study." RELATED STORIES —Watch Greenland lose 563 cubic miles of ice in under 30 seconds in disturbing new time-lapse video —Greenland's glaciers are melting 100 times faster than estimated —El Niño kickstarted the melting of Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' 80 years ago, new study reveals The first quarter of the 21st century saw glaciers worldwide decline by 5% — but this is just a fraction of what could unfold over the next decades. Previous modeling revealed that at least 25% of the ice that remains in glaciers today will be lost by 2100 even if we slash our greenhouse gas emissions, because glaciers have a delayed response to climate change, Zemp said. Should emissions remain the same or increase, the world could lose 50% of its remaining glacier ice by the end of this century, he said. Only immediate action can stave off the worst outcomes, Zemp said. "Every tenth of a degree [Celsius] of avoided warming will help to preserve glaciers and will save us from related downstream impacts," he said.
