Latest news with #telegraph
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
On This Day, May 24: 1st telegraph sent in United States
On this date in history: In 1844, the first U.S telegraph line was formally opened -- between Baltimore and Washington. The first message sent was "What hath God wrought?" In 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was opened to the public, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York City. In 1935, the first night game in Major League Baseball was played at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1. In 1943, Josef Mengele, the so-called "Angel of Death" became the new doctor at the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. He fled Germany at the conclusion of World War II and died in 1979 in Brazil. In 1958, United Press and the International News Service merger was announced, forming United Press International. In 1962, Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit Earth, circling it three times. John Glenn was the first, earlier in the year. In 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled private religious schools that practice racial discrimination aren't eligible for church-related tax benefits. In 1987, 250,000 people jammed San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge on its 50th anniversary, temporarily flattening the arched span. In 1991, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia. In 2007, the U.S. Congress voted to increase the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years -- from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over a three-year period. In 2018, President Donald Trump posthumously pardoned Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, for his conviction under a Jim Crow-era law. In 2022, a mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school left 19 students and two adults dead. Law enforcement officers fatally shot the gunman.
CBC
21-05-2025
- Science
- CBC
How space weather impacts us: A look at some of the worst solar storms in history
Last week, the sun spat out the strongest solar flare of the year so far, a burst of radiation and light that caused brief radio blackouts on the sunlit side of the Earth. Despite its impressive magnitude — the flare was an X-class, the most severe type of solar flare — it went largely unnoticed to those on the ground not dialled in to space news. But geomagnetic storms and more serious types of space weather, which can follow solar flares, have the ability to shut down power grids, disrupt aircraft routes, global communications and GPS, and damage satellites and spacecraft. It has not only happened to us before, but it could happen again. On Sept. 1, 1859, amateur astronomers Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson both witnessed a massive flare of light from the sun's surface while observing a cluster of sunspots. Within a day, a geomagnetic storm had struck the Earth, sparking dazzling arrays of aurora borealis and knocking out telegraph systems across Europe and North America. Telegraph operators across Europe and North America found their systems overwhelmed and signals down, with some wires overheating so much they triggered fires. Other workers unplugged batteries only to find that the telegraph systems kept humming away, supercharged by the sun. One superintendent from Boston, Mass., whose observations were recorded in an 1860 article in the American Journal of Science, reported that a telegraph wire between Boston and Fall River "had no battery connected with it on Saturday, and yet there was a current upon it during the entire day." So what happened? How space weather works Today, experts believe that the 1859 geomagnetic storm, now known as the Carrington Event, was caused by at least one, or possibly two, coronal mass ejections (CME). These are immense eruptions of solar material that often follow a solar flare. Because the sun's equator rotates faster than its poles, its magnetic fields can get tangled up. When the strain gets too severe, these magnetic fields can snap, releasing a burst of energy or solar material out into space. A solar flare emits radiation that interacts with our upper atmosphere, impacting radio signals, without really affecting us on the ground. But a CME is a massive eruption of charged particles and plasma, sometimes millions of miles wide, which can travel up to thousands of kilometres per second on solar winds. When its magnetic field slams into the Earth's, it can spark geomagnetic storms that disrupt critical infrastructure. In 1859, that was telegraph operations, but today, it's power grids, satellites and global navigation systems. Because the northern lights are caused by charged particles interacting with our magnetic field at the poles, a CME can also cause dramatic displays of aurora borealis, like the ones seen during geomagnetic storms in October and May 2024. Although they can occur independently of each other, stronger solar flares are often accompanied by CMEs, according to Robyn Fiori, a research scientist in the space weather group of the Canadian Hazards Information Service with Natural Resources Canada. "There's lots of different critical systems that can be impacted by space weather. So it's a good idea to keep track of what's going on," she said. Canada's solar storm of 1989 The last big solar event to have a notable impact on a power grid was in 2003, Fiori said, when a number of geomagnetic storms known as "the Halloween storms" rerouted aircraft, affected GPS systems used for deep-sea drilling, prompted astronauts in the International Space Station to take shelter from radiation in a specific part of the station, damaged a Japanese satellite beyond repair and triggered a power outage in Malmö, Sweden. This event included a flare so large it overwhelmed the X-ray detectors on a number of satellites. It was later estimated to be an X28 flare, according to the European Space Agency, making it the most powerful in recorded observational history. The biggest solar storm in Canada's history came in March 1989, when a CME struck Earth's magnetic field, sending electric currents flowing through the rock of the Canadian Shield to the transmission lines of Hydro-Quebec. The resulting province-wide blackout left millions of residents in the darkness and cold for nine hours. "That's the strongest event that we've had in this technological age," Fiori said, "and it's really what we've used as a benchmark to make sure that systems are safe." Other notable solar storms include one in 1909 that disrupted telegraph lines across the U.S., and one in 1967 that jammed radar systems operating in Alaska, Greenland and the U.K. amid mounting tensions between NATO and the Soviet Union, briefly sparking concerns of a Soviet attack. It's been more than two decades since a solar storm caused significant power fluctuations and communications disruptions, but in an increasingly technological world, it's something space forecasters are keeping an eye on to stay a step ahead of the next solar storm. For the next year or so, solar flares and solar activity will be higher than usual, as we're within the period of solar maximum, the peak of the sun's 11-year cycle. "We do have a lot of different technologies that are sensitive to space weather. Since 1989, for example, we've become much more dependent on GNSS or GPS for navigation. And that can be impacted by space weather," Fiori said. She added that Canada, due to its proximity to the northern magnetic pole, is more vulnerable to space weather. "But it also means that we're in the very best place to observe it so that we can build accurate forecasts."
Telegraph
07-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
‘I'm charging my relative to live with me. Should I tell HMRC?'
Email your tax questions to Mike at taxhacks@ Dear Mike, I've had lodgers in the past, and I've declared the income properly to HMRC and claimed my relief under the Rent a Room scheme. However, now a family member is moving in. I'm not charging her anywhere near as much – just enough to cover bills and the service charge on my flat, so do I still need to declare it? It just seems like a lot of faff – and I'll be under the £7,500 allowance for next year anyway. The advice I've found online is unclear as to whether her contributions count as rental income or not – with some people seeming to rely on HMRC just not finding out, which is not really want I want to do! – Peter Dear Peter, It is important that HMRC is aware of income that is potentially taxable unless there is specific exemption. I agree entirely that you should not proceed on the basis that HMRC will not find out. That approach is misguided and wrong. The general rule is that all rental income, including that received from family members, should be declared to HMRC. However, in your circumstances, I believe you are safe to proceed without reporting the income if that is the only income you are receiving on property during the tax year. This follows from the HMRC guidance, which says: 'The Rent a Room Scheme lets you earn up to a threshold of £7,500 per year tax-free from letting out furnished accommodation in your home. The tax exemption is automatic if you earn less than your threshold. Which means you do not need to do anything. You must complete a tax return if you earn more than your threshold.' You do, nevertheless, raise a wider point which I will explain because it could be relevant in other circumstances. There may be a perception by some that financial transactions within the family are no business of HMRC. That is not necessarily correct, and it is important to understand where tax issues can arise. In particular, there can be a problem where you are letting property to a family member or other connected person and are claiming property expenses against rental income if, as a consequence, the expenses claimed are overstated. This is explained in the HMRC tax manual at PIM2130 which says: 'Expenses incurred by a customer on a property occupied rent free by, for example, a relative are likely to be incurred for personal or philanthropic purposes – to provide that person with a home. The same applies where the property is let at less than a commercial rate or isn't let on commercial terms. 'Unless the landlord charges a full market rent for a property (and imposes normal market lease conditions) it is unlikely that the expenses of the property are incurred wholly and exclusively for business purposes (PIM2010). So, strictly, they can't be deducted in arriving at property business profits. 'However, if the customer lets a property below the market rate (as opposed to providing it rent-free), they can deduct the expenses of that property up to the rent they get from it. This means that the un-commercially let property produces neither a profit nor a loss, but the excess expenses cannot be carried forward to be used in a later year.' This rule extends beyond the immediate family to grandparents, grandchildren and their spouses. However, these rules will not be relevant in normal family circumstances where various family members come and stay with you whether or not they contribute to the running costs. Alternatively, the rules may be relevant if you have a holiday home which you let out commercially but also let a friend or family member stay rent-free or a rent at less than full value. You should also keep in mind that even for transactions within the family, it can be wise to involve a solicitor, depending on the circumstances – for example, it can be appropriate to have a formal tenancy agreement. There is also a wider issue raised by your question about other financial transactions within the family. It is becoming more common for parents to help their offspring with loans to help them buy their first property, either for the deposit as an alternative to borrowing from the bank. If interest is charged, it will be income of the parent as with any other loan. You can find guidance on this in the HMRC manuals at SAIM2440. You are not required to draw up a loan agreement, but it can be helpful. Setting out the loan conditions in writing makes it clear to the borrower what your terms and conditions are for making the loan, including when the loan is to be repaid. This helps avoid misunderstandings and can be particularly useful where there is a subsequent separation or divorce in the family.
