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Swiss mountain pass set to lose all ice within weeks
The thick layer of ice that has covered a Swiss mountain pass for centuries will have melted away completely within a few weeks, a ski resort said Thursday. Following a dry winter, the summer heatwaves hitting Europe have been catastrophic for the Alpine glaciers, which have been melting at an accelerated rate. The pass between Scex Rouge and Tsanfleuron has been iced over since at least the Roman era. But as both glaciers have retreated, the bare rock of the ridge between the two is beginning to emerge -- and will be completely ice-free before the summer is out. "The pass will be entirely in ...
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Space invaders: How video gamers are resisting a crypto onslaught
When video game designer Mark Venturelli was asked to speak at Brazil's biggest gaming festival, he submitted a generic-sounding title for his presentation -- "The Future of Game Design" -- but that was not the talk he gave. Instead, he launched into a 30-minute diatribe against the blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies and the games it has spawned, mostly very basic smartphone apps that lure players with the promise of earning money. "Everything that is done in this space right now is just bad -- actually it's terrible," he told AFP. He is genuinely worried for the industry he...
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Why watching 'The Bear' is sure to give you taste for Italian beef sandwiches
The US TV show "The Bear" is turning Italian beef sandwiches into a runaway success. Sales of these classic Chicago sandwiches have increased in the United States since the show's first season aired in June. TV series have already been seen to influence the fashion world. "Squid Game," a major worldwide hit, offered a glimpse of the powers of fiction, spurring spinoff products, makeup trends on social networks, and renewed interest in jogging suits and other clothes worn by the show's characters. Now, it seems that TV shows are also influencing food trends. It may not have reached the scale of...
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With inflation, many hotel prices in Europe are cheaper than before the pandemic
In France, but also in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain, inflation is so high that it is absorbing the rising price of hotel rooms. As a result, despite rate increases, many hotel stays are now cheaper than before the pandemic. However, this is not the case throughout Europe. Are hotel stays more expensive than before the pandemic, an atypical period that completely froze all tourist activity? According to an analytical study conducted by the data firm Mabrian, the increase in hotel prices in France compared to 2019 has mainly concerned five-star establishments, hitting +20%. Respectivel...
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Tens of thousands trek rugged trail to glimpse Iceland volcano
Tens of thousands of people have braved a steep, rugged trail in Iceland to catch a rare glimpse of an active volcano after it erupted last week, spewing red-hot lava into the sky. Tourism officials said Thursday that almost 23,000 people had made the difficult, hours-long trek to spot the volcano in the Meradalir valley, just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the capital. "We've been here for three, four hours and we never get tired of it, it's always moving", said Jean-Paul Couturier, a French pensioner on vacation in Iceland. The hike to the newly-formed crater is a 14 kilometres round-trip acr...
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'This freaking tower!': tech saves potty-mouthed stars in vertigo thriller 'Fall'
When you're dangling from a tower 2,000 feet above the desert floor by your fingertips, it may be difficult not to drop a couple of F-bombs -- even if you're a Hollywood actor shooting a PG-13 rated movie. Fortunately, a new editing technology came to the rescue of the "potty-mouthed" stars of "Fall," out in US theaters Friday, which follows two young women who decide to scale an impossibly tall metal tower in the remote California desert. This being a movie, the adventure doesn't go to plan, leaving Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner) stranded on a tiny platform where ...
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'Mac is back': McDonald's plans 'phased' reopening in Ukraine
McDonald's announced plans Thursday for a "phased" partial reopening of restaurants in Ukraine, where operations have been shuttered since February due to the Russian invasion. The US burger chain will "reopen some restaurants in Kyiv and western Ukraine, where other businesses have safely reopened," Paul Pomroy, senior vice president for international operated markets, said in a message to employees. Pomroy cited requests from the company's Ukrainian employees for the relaunch to signify "a small but important sense of normalcy" in the besieged country. McDonald's suspended its operations in ...
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A cereal that can be grown with very little water, is fonio the food of the future?
The drought that has left a large part of Europe's soils dry since the beginning of the summer serves as a reminder that water is a precious and exhaustible commodity. The restrictions imposed on farmers lead to serious considerations about the food of tomorrow. One solution could come from West African countries, which, for thousands of years, have been cultivating a cereal that needs almost no water to grow. That grain is fonio. It's not wheat, it's not barley, and it's not quinoa either. But, it looks quite similar to these grains. Available in white and black varieties, although the latter...
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What does the job of 'chief resilience officer' entail?
It's a profession that didn't exist until a few years ago. But, with the impact of climate change, several cities have taken direct action in appointing "chief resilience officers." So what's involved in these new jobs? Officers in charge of resilience are on a mission to help cities and their residents withstand extreme climate events. These job titles are now increasingly being seen on profile pages across professional social networks like LinkedIn. A "resilient city" refers to a city's ability both to anticipate risks and to recover from the consequences of major incidents. This concept is ...
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'The Sims 4': Third-party 'modders' bring abortion features to the game
Third-party developers have added features to "The Sims" that allow players' characters to access abortions. The video game -- popular for the progressive vision instilled in its simulations -- had not previously opened up abortion rights to characters. These unofficial features have become particularly popular and continue to be downloaded with the recent repeal of abortion rights in the United States. Fans of the video game "The Sims" have added features that allow characters to have virtual abortions. These new features have become very popular within the community of the world's most famou...
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