Latest news with #WhiteStork
Daily Record
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Stella McCartney 'threatening wildlife' with £5m Highland home plans
The latest objection to the fashion designer's plans says the proposed development will affect a "scenic and peaceful" area full of wildlife. Stella McCartney has suffered a fresh blow in her plans to build a £5m home in the Highlands after she was accused of threatening wildlife with the "habitat damaging intentions of a celebrity". The 53-year-old fashion designer - daughter of Beatles legend Paul and animal rights activist Linda - has been attempting to build a plush hideaway on the Moidart Peninsula in Lochaber. However, it has been plagued by planning issues, forcing her and husband Alasdhair Willis to try to publicly defend their project, insisting that "this is where we want to be". The couple submitted their planning application to The Highland Council in February 2023, after purchasing the plot of land for £450,000. In the latest complaint registered on the plans, a long-term visitor to the area fears the proposed structure would kill off a haven for wildlife. The area is said to attract seals, porpoises, otters and several bird species. An extremely rare White Stork was also recently spotted there. In his objection, Professor Calum Sutherland said he feared this could all be lost if the application is granted planning permission. He and his family have visited Roshven Bay every summer for the last ten years, just below where the building work is proposed. He wrote: "We choose this area as it is peaceful, relatively unspoiled and full of wildlife. The number of dwellings around the bay, and the number of wild campers, has increased steadily over the last five years. "This has not led to significantly increased noise or light pollution on the shore areas, but the current proposal appears to be taking things to a new level. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. "The size and design of the buildings, extending out to be clearly visible from almost every direction across the bay, with significant upgrading of transport access near to quiet wildlife havens is highly likely to have a significant impact on wildlife habitat and visitor experience." Prof Sutherland said on several occasions they had witnessed a family of otters hunting along the shore right below the proposed development. He added: "These along with the birdlife (including Great Northern Divers, Gannets and black throated divers), seals and porpoises we have seen on almost every visit, will most likely not cope with the proposed escalation in noise and light pollution. "Wildlife tourists will be forced away from what has until now been a scenic and peaceful vacation area. "Indeed, this year we were blessed to witness a visit from a White Stork, highly rare in the UK, never mind the Highlands. It is a shame that the ability of so many individuals to experience such an idyllic wildlife area will be aversely affected by the habitat damaging intentions of a celebrity." A previous complaint - thought to be from a birdwatcher - had earlier claimed the presence of Ring Ouzel, Wood Warbler and Redstart mean further studies should be done later in the year, which would delay the project by another six months. He wrote: "Because a field survey has only been carried out on a single day in a single month - December - the ecological appraisal is incomplete. "It fails to acknowledge that a corresponding survey between June and September would reveal butterflies and other insect life plus summer-visiting birds which may include declining species such as Ring Ouzel, Wood Warbler and Redstart, all of which would be vulnerable to human disturbance. "It would thus be remiss of the planning authority to determine this application in advance of a further field survey which should be carried out on at least one day between June 1 and September 15." The backlash against the plans for the glass-fronted home have become so fierce that Alasdhair Willis was recently forced to publicly defend it. The application for the four-bedroom property has attracted more than 60 objections. Mr Willis previously told the Press and Journal: 'This is where we want to be. "It is not a case of waking up one day and thinking this was what we wanted on a whim. This has been our life plan." The planning application remains under consideration by Highland Council.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta's tech chief says it's time for Silicon Valley to embrace the military again
Meta recently announced a partnership with defense tech startup Anduril on a US military project. Meta's CTO said the partnership is a "return to grace" for Silicon Valley's ties with the military. Anduril said the project isn't funded by taxpayers and will save the military billions of dollars. Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth said the social media giant's partnership with defence technology startup Anduril marks a "return to grace" for Silicon Valley's relationship with the military. "The Valley was founded on a three-way investment between the military, academics, and private industry. That was the founding of it," Bosworth said during an interview at the Bloomberg Tech summit in San Francisco on Wednesday. "There would be no technology if we weren't all tasked with the problem of keeping naval ballistic trajectories during the first two world wars. That is the heart and soul of the investment that led to what we are today, and that really got severed for a while there," he added. Last week, Meta announced that it was partnering with Anduril to build next-gen extended reality gear for the US military. Anduril said in a statement on May 29 that the project will incorporate its AI-powered command and control system, Lattice, as well as technology from Meta's Reality Labs and Llama AI models. "The effort has been funded through private capital, without taxpayer support, and is designed to save the US military billions of dollars by utilizing high-performance components and technology originally built for commercial use," Anduril said in its May statement. Bosworth said on Wednesday that it was "way too early" to determine if the military would turn into a business segment for Meta. "So far, it's like a zero. Let's start with one and go from there. I think there's no reason it couldn't be meaningful in the impact that it has," he continued. Bosworth said partnering with Anduril doesn't mean Meta's becoming a defense contractor. "They have got a system in a program. We are supplying them with parts. So everything we are doing is for consumers. We are developing technology with a target on consumer audiences," he said. "It turns out a lot of that technology could be multi-use and that is really where I want to establish a partnership," he continued. Bosworth isn't the only Silicon Valley executive who is looking to make inroads into the defense industry. Last year, Google's former CEO and chairman, Eric Schmidt said he was working on a military drone startup with Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun. Schmidt's startup, named White Stork, plans to mass-produce drones that can take out enemy targets using AI. "Because of the way the system works, I am now a licensed arms dealer," Schmidt said in a lecture at Stanford University in April 2024. A video of the lecture was briefly posted on Stanford's YouTube channel in August before it was taken down. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
05-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Meta's tech chief says it's time for Silicon Valley to embrace the military again
Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth said the social media giant's partnership with defence technology startup Anduril marks a "return to grace" for Silicon Valley's relationship with the military. "The Valley was founded on a three-way investment between the military, academics, and private industry. That was the founding of it," Bosworth said during an interview at the Bloomberg Tech summit in San Francisco on Wednesday. "There would be no technology if we weren't all tasked with the problem of keeping naval ballistic trajectories during the first two world wars. That is the heart and soul of the investment that led to what we are today, and that really got severed for a while there," he added. Last week, Meta announced that it was partnering with Anduril to build next-gen extended reality gear for the US military. Anduril said in a statement on May 29 that the project will incorporate its AI-powered command and control system, Lattice, as well as technology from Meta's Reality Labs and Llama AI models. "The effort has been funded through private capital, without taxpayer support, and is designed to save the US military billions of dollars by utilizing high-performance components and technology originally built for commercial use," Anduril said in its May statement. Bosworth said on Wednesday that it was "way too early" to determine if the military would turn into a business segment for Meta. "So far, it's like a zero. Let's start with one and go from there. I think there's no reason it couldn't be meaningful in the impact that it has," he continued. Bosworth said partnering with Anduril doesn't mean Meta's becoming a defense contractor. "They have got a system in a program. We are supplying them with parts. So everything we are doing is for consumers. We are developing technology with a target on consumer audiences," he said. "It turns out a lot of that technology could be multi-use and that is really where I want to establish a partnership," he continued. Bosworth isn't the only Silicon Valley executive who is looking to make inroads into the defense industry. Last year, Google's former CEO and chairman, Eric Schmidt said he was working on a military drone startup with Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun. Schmidt's startup, named White Stork, plans to mass-produce drones that can take out enemy targets using AI. "Because of the way the system works, I am now a licensed arms dealer," Schmidt said in a lecture at Stanford University in April 2024. A video of the lecture was briefly posted on Stanford's YouTube channel in August before it was taken down.
Time of India
03-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
When Google's former CEO Eric Schmidt, whose company builds drones for Ukraine, suggested US Army to give away tanks, and ...
On June 1, 2025, Ukraine launched a sweeping drone offensive, codenamed Operation Spiderweb targeting Russian air bases housing nuclear-capable long-range bombers. Over 100 drones struck facilities across Russia, from Murmansk above the Arctic Circle to the Amur region, 8,000 kilometers from Ukraine. The operation, marked by explosions across multiple time zones, underscored the growing role of drones in modern warfare. Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia, in November 2024, Schmidt urged the U.S. to rethink its military priorities, suggesting it replace traditional tank fleets with advanced drones. 'I read somewhere that the U.S. had thousands of tanks stored somewhere. Give them away. Buy a drone instead,' he said, citing Ukraine's success in using affordable drones to counter Russia's numerical and air superiority. Schmidt's advocacy draws from his leadership of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which in 2021 concluded that AI would transform warfare across all domains. Building drones for Ukraine to take on Russia The attack highlights a strategic shift advocated by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt , who has emerged as a key figure in integrating AI-driven technology into military strategy. Schmidt, founder of the military startup White Stork, is developing AI-powered " Kamikaze drones " for Ukraine. These drones, designed to loiter and strike targets autonomously, can operate in GPS-denied environments, making them ideal for Ukraine's battlefield needs. Named after a bird common in Ukraine, White Stork's drones aim to counter Russian forces by destroying high-value targets like tanks, which Schmidt notes can be neutralized by a $5,000 drone despite costing millions. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Thị trường có dấu hiệu suy thoái không? IC Markets Đăng ký Undo In a 2023 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Schmidt called Kamikaze drones—costing as little as $400 and carrying small explosives—'the most important' innovation for defeating Russia and future adversaries. Ukraine's recent operation exemplifies this vision, showcasing how drones can strike deep into enemy territory, reshaping the battlefield. Since leaving Google in 2018, where he served as CEO from 2001 to 2011 and later as executive chairman of Alphabet, Schmidt has bridged Silicon Valley and the Pentagon, championing AI-driven defense solutions. His work with White Stork and his public statements signal a broader push for militaries worldwide to embrace autonomous technology as the future of warfare. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Knepp: Baby storks born at UK's first 'European Stork Village'
An estate south of Horsham, West Sussex, has become the UK's first 'European Stork Village' as 12 baby birds are born, according to biologist Laura Vaughan-Hirsch, leader of the White Stork chicks are being raised in four ground nests, overseen by Knepp Wilding as part of the nests have been built by non-flying stork parents, who were injured in the wild, rescued by Warsaw Zoo and quarantined at Cotswold Wildlife Park and babies are being "protected in a predator-proof but open-topped pen" where "the young will be free to fly free" and other storks can visit them, said the White Stork Project. Ms Vaughan-Hirsch, who leads the project for Knepp Wildland Foundation, says efforts began in 2016 as part of a wider stork reintroduction project in southern bird species became extinct in the UK more than 600 years ago, with humans disturbing their habitat and causing their numbers to the arrival of the new hatchlings follows nine chicks who fledged from Knepp in 2024."Amazingly, some migrated all the way to Morocco," said a White Stork Project spokesperson."It's proof that even with a different start to life, these young storks are full of the same instinct to explore and journey." 'Their individuality shines through' The project says some mature nests can reach over 1.8 metres (5ft 11in) tall and 2m (6ft 7in) wide."Storks are opportunistic in their nesting choices, making use of whatever is most convenient in their environment," said Becca Bowie, from the White Stork Project."While all nests serve the same purpose, their individuality shines through, giving each nest its own unique flare."The project says that staff and volunteers are keeping a close eye on the chicks and tracking their progress.
