Latest news with #Nissen
Daily Mirror
26-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
Titan submarine boss denounced as 'psychopath' risking lives for fame
Former employees of the firm behind the Titanic submarine disaster, OceanGate, have come forward with shock accusations about the boss behind the concept, labelling him a 'psychopath' The chief executive behind the Titan submarine that imploded during a deep sea tour has been branded a "psychopath" by his former employees following a bombshell new documentary. Stockton Rush, 61, died during the OceanGate disaster in June 2023. The tour company was known for sending thrill-seekers 3,800m down to see the Titanic shipwreck - a two hour trip in the murky waters, which former staff deemed as unsafe. Just 90 minutes into the journey, five people were tragically killed as the submarine imploded under water. British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were named as the victims onboard. French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet also died. The deep-sea vessel was on an expedition to the Titanic wreckage around 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland, when it lost contact with the tour operator an hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent, with the vessel reported missing eight hours after communication was lost. After days of searching, wreckage from the submersible was recovered from the ocean floor near the Titanic. Now, a new Netflix documentary has revealed the timeline of events leading up to the disaster and explained that staff were concerned about the idea. The chief pilot of OceanGate, David Lochridge, was fired when his inspection report highlighed several safety risks. He previously said that Rush "wanted fame" to "fuel his ego". And that wasn't the only negative feedback about the boss. According to former engineering director, Tony Nissen, Rush was a "borderline psychopath". Nissen was the lead engineer on the Titan sub and had previously explained that he had felt pressure to get it operating. Nissen had refused to step foot on the submarine a few years ago. 'I'm not getting in it,' he told Rush at the time. OceanGate suspended all tours and operations following the incident. This comes after a BBC documentary revealed the chilling moment when the Titan submersible imploded on its descent. It is caught on a camera from support ship the Polar Prince, which was being manned by Wendy Rush, the wife of Rush. The new footage, from June 2023, was obtained by the US Coast Guard for its ongoing investigation into the disaster and shows Wendy hearing the sound of the implosion and wondering what it was. Initially she asks with a nervous smile: "What was that bang?" A moment later she receives a text message informing her that the Titan has 'dropped two weights' which leads her to believe that all is well and the dive is proceeding as expected. But the text had taken a few moments to arrive, and had actually been sent before the implosion, which killed all five passengers instantly.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Lyon County Sheriff's Office reminds public of woman's cold case murder
LYON COUNTY, Iowa (KCAU) — Authorities in Lyon County, Iowa, are reminding the public about a murder cold case as they search for more information. The Lyon County Sheriff's Office reported that in 1978, a dead woman was discovered in a rural part of the county. In 2006, she was identified as Wilma Nissen. Officials believe Nissen was murdered, and they're still investigating her death. Story continues below Top Story: Catholic Diocese of Sioux City comments on first American Pope Crime: Sioux City man sentenced for stealing keys, taking off in car Sports: South Dakota softball advances to Summit League semifinals On Thursday, authorities released a press release to remind the public the case is still open and being investigated. They're encouraging anyone who knows anything about her death to come forward and help her family get closure. If you know anything about Wilma Nissen's murder, call the Lyon County Sheriff's Office at 712-472-8300. You can also email sheriff@ with tips regarding the case. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Time Out
04-05-2025
- General
- Time Out
The revolutionary high-tech London building named one of Britain's most at risk from demolition
Every year the Twentieth Century Society (C20) puts together a list of Britain's most at-risk 20th and 21st architectural marvels. Earlier this month it published the 2025 edition of its Risk List, with the included structures ranging from a Brighton synagogue with a stained glass Holocaust memorial to a Bauhaus-inspired department store in Bradford. C20's 2025 Risk List intended to highlight 'outstanding twentieth and twenty-first century buildings across the country that are at risk from demolition, dereliction or neglect'. Among the 10 selected structures is one from London – and there's every chance you haven't heard of it. The Patera Prototype in Newham is the only structure in the capital to feature in C20's 2025 At Risk list. So, what exactly is it? Well, for starters, here's what it looked like back in its 1980s heyday: The Patera was made as a prototype for a new type of industrial structure designed to be replicable and moveable. It's a significant example of 'high-tech architecture', a style that emerged in the 1970s with the aim of incorporating high tech industry and technology into building design. High-tech buildings are often identifiable for having visible beams, pipes and cables, as well as for being very flexible in use. Famous examples include stuff like Lloyd's of London in the City or Paris' Pompidou Centre. Anyway, back to the Patera. The structure that currently sits in Newham was made in 1982 by Michael Hopkins Associates and Anthony Hunt Associates and it's one of only two remaining prototypes (the other is part of the Hopkins office in Marylebone). C20 describes it as being 'a prefabricated off-the-peg industrial structure… envisaged as a form of 'High-Tech Nissen hut''. The Patera Prototype is undeniably a fascinating piece of design – but it could soon be lost as a document of architectural history. C20 says that the structure is currently threatened by the redevelopment of the Royal Docks. The Patera sits in a boatyard workshop on Albert Island, which is earmarked for a major £300 million development. The structure was rediscovered in 2020, and C20 had a listing application rejected in 2021. It has sat semi-dismantled since 2022. C20 isn't suggesting that the docks' redevelopment is halted by the Patera – just that it is relocated and restored. The charity reckons that 'this early relic of the High-Tech movement [could] become a cultural or creative venue'.
CBC
24-04-2025
- Climate
- CBC
With Jasper's devastation in mind, Alberta communities gear up for wildfire season
Social Sharing Memories of the destruction wrought by a wildfire that roared through Jasper National Park last summer are fuelling wildfire prevention efforts across the region. The July 2024 wildfire destroyed one-third of the structures in Jasper's historic townsite, 365 kilometres west of Edmonton. "The situation we watched last summer was absolutely devastating," says Nicholas Nissen, mayor of Hinton, Alta., a town 80 kilometres east of Jasper. Since then, many displaced Jasperites have been calling the town of 10,000 home. "I'm certain those people feel nervous when they look out at a big forest and see a summer coming." That's part of the reason Nissen says they're digging in this spring to prepare for the worst by reinforcing the firebreak south of town. "You can see around us — the grass grows, the shrubs grow, the trees grow up so those firebreaks need to be re-done," Nissen said this week, pointing to a machine mulching the 58-hectare fireguard. Hinton's fire chief, Jim Smith, said he's "feeling really good" about above-average moisture levels this winter. However, he notes that things are already heating up. "A couple days ago we had seven fires, six of those were wildland fires," he says, "One after another, one after another. And then at the end of it, we had a train on fire on rails," Smith said. WATCH | Communities near Jasper on edge this spring: Fireguards and more gear part of this season's wildfire plan 6 minutes ago Duration 2:40 Earlier this month, officials with Alberta Wildfire predicted an average season and Todd Loewen, minister of forestry and parks, said he was "cautiously optimistic." Nonetheless, provincial fire crews and volunteer firefighters are gearing up and training up. "It doesn't matter what type of year it is," said Tyler Olsen, reeve of the Municipal District of Greenview, located north of Jasper National Park. "When you're surrounded by trees there's always that risk." Olsen is based in Grande Cache, Alta., a community of 3,200 located about 200 kilometres northwest of the Jasper townsite. He has spent half his life as a volunteer firefighter on the front lines and said he felt "spoiled" with by Grand Cache's gear and its station, which was built in 2020. "We just got a new sprinkler trailer this year so that brings the total up to three." The other thing Olsen says they have going for them is friendships forged while fighting wildfires across the province. "We were in Fox Creek, Edson, High Level, all those places. You know that they, on the drop of a hat, when they hear Grande Cache, they'll be here." Olsen said the crew from Grande Cache had a hand in saving the area around the Jasper Park Lodge last summer. David Argument, the resource conservation manager with Parks Canada in Jasper, said crews have been on the ground all winter. The goal, he said, is to interrupt how fire could spread in the park this season. He said crews have cleared two large blocks, about 116 hectares in total, located west of town. "Logging equipment is removing all standing pine and spruce, which are a fire-prone species," Argument said. They're leaving Douglas fir and Aspen stands, which Argument called "very fire resistant, or fire resilient, species." Argument also said there are two initial attack teams, or eight people, plus an additional 20 Parks Canada staff members ready to fight fires. As well, they know they can rely on about 30 volunteers with the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade if need be. Argument said that, as a Jasperite, he is at times still caught by the tragedy of the situation and the long recovery road ahead. "But at the same time. We're going to see it green up this spring and it's going to be really interesting to watch."
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Genetic cholesterol eliminated by new drug, reducing heart attack risk, study finds
Researchers have discovered an experimental medication that significantly reduces a cholesterol-like particle that can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Many Americans are unaware that elevated levels of this particle — known as lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a) — are circulating in their blood. Elevated Lp(a) cannot be modified with lifestyle changes, and has been called "one of the last untreatable frontiers of cardiovascular risk" by Cleveland Clinic, who led the study. Low-carb Keto Diet May Not Raise Heart Disease Risk, New Study Suggests This new research confirmed earlier findings showing that the experimental drug — lepodisiran, made by Eli Lilly, who funded the study — can "silence" the main gene responsible for synthesizing Lp(a). (Other experimental gene therapies with a similar mechanism of action are also in development, according to Cleveland Clinic.) Read On The Fox News App The findings were published in The New England Journal of Medicine and were also presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology on March 30. Lipoprotein(a) levels are elevated in approximately 20-25% of people worldwide, according to the American Heart Association. This equates to approximately 64 million people in the U.S. and 1.4 billion people globally. Lp(a) shares similarities with another lipoprotein that doctors target to reduce the risk of heart disease, known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – often referred to as "bad cholesterol." Heart Disease Risk Higher For Women Who Have These Unhealthy Lifestyle Habits But lipoprotein(a) is more prone to plaque buildup and clots in the arteries than LDL, according to lead author Steven Nissen, M.D., chief academic officer of the Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic. "Lipoprotein(a) is an independent risk factor for heart disease that is largely determined by genetics — that is, it is inherited," added Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt, director of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, told Fox News Digital. (He was not part of the study.) Lp(a) is primarily determined by differences in one gene, while LDL cholesterol levels are influenced by multiple genes. "That's a very big difference, and LDL has a much larger environmental component," Nissen noted. Diet, exercise and weight loss can help decrease LDL levels, but they do not have an impact on Lp(a) levels, experts say. And unlike LDL, which can be reduced with medications like statins, there are currently no approved drug treatments that lower Lp(a). "There is no approved pharmacotherapy for lipoprotein(a) by regulatory authorities in any country in the world," Nissen confirmed. The researchers performed a clinical trial of 320 individuals from Argentina, China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and the U.S. from Nov. 11, 2022, to April 17, 2023. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either a placebo or one or two subcutaneous injections of lepodisiran. The normal level of Lp(a) is less than 75 nanomoles per liter and the average level for people in the trial was about 250 nanomoles per liter, Nissen told Fox News Digital. "They were very high — more than three times the upper limit of normal," he added. When Measuring Heart Attack Risk, One Important Red Flag Is Often Overlooked, Doctors Say After one injection of the highest dose, participants showed a nearly 100% reduction in levels of lipoprotein(a) at six months. Those who received a second dose at six months maintained an almost 100% reduction at the one-year mark. In other words, the therapy removed virtually all lipoprotein(a) from the blood, according to Nissen. Cardiologists say these findings may ultimately help treat millions of Americans who have elevated levels of Lp(a). "The results are very impressive," Bhatt said. The researchers noted that there were no major safety concerns, but 12% of participants reported mild reactions at the injection site. The study had only a few Black participants — a population that needs more research, as they are more likely to have elevated lipoprotein(a) concentrations than White persons, according to previous studies. (To address this concern, the researchers are enrolling many more Black patients in their larger phase 3 clinical trial.) Another limitation was that only two doses of lepodisiran were administered in the trial, so the effect of more doses is not known. The study also did not show that reducing Lp(a) levels also reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes, outside experts noted. "A phase 3 trial testing the clinical impact of this drug is needed to see if the large reduction of Lp(a) translates into lower rates of heart attack," Bhatt said. Nissen confirmed that the phase 3 trial to address this question is already underway. The European Society of Cardiology and the National Lipid Association in the U.S. both recommend that all adults check their Lp(a) levels. Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter "I have been checking Lp(a) levels in all patients for many years," Bhatt said. But unlike traditional cholesterol, which doctors typically monitor over time, Nissen pointed out that lipoprotein(a) only needs to be checked once in a lifetime. For more Health articles, visit "Whatever your level is when you're 24 years old is the level when you're 64 years old – it doesn't change, because it's genetic," he said. "So you only need to get it once, and if you get it early in life, then you know you're at risk, and you can live your life accordingly."Original article source: Genetic cholesterol eliminated by new drug, reducing heart attack risk, study finds
