The Industrial Revolution: A Turning Point in World History
The Industrial Revolution is usually told as a list of inventions. That hides what actually…
Why Double-Pane Windows Fog Between the Glass
A cloth will not clear haze between the panes. That moisture is inside the sealed unit. Wipe the inside. Wipe the outside. If the cloud is still there, the seal on the insulated glass unit has likely failed. A dehumidifier will not dry that cavity. Replacing the glass unit usually will. That is not winter…
U.S. to Ban Some Canadian Alcohol, Motorcycles and Dairy Imports on Sept. 29
President Donald Trump signed proclamations on Tuesday excluding specified Canadian products from importation into the United States, the White House said. The bans take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Sept. 29. White House notices and reporting by Reuters, the BBC and CBC said the exclusions cover a wide range of Canadian alcoholic drinks…
U.S. Says It Destroyed Five Named Iranian Tankers After Missile Attempts on a Warship
The U.S. military said Tuesday it destroyed five Iranian crude tankers after what it described as two ballistic-missile attempts against a Navy warship. U.S. Central Command said the ship evaded both attempts, remained on patrol, and that no American personnel were harmed. It identified the tankers as the M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1…
Houthi Strikes on Southern Saudi Arabia Injure 73 and Disrupt Energy Facilities
Yemen’s Houthi forces launched ballistic missiles and drones at targets in southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, injuring 73 people, including women and children, and causing fires that temporarily halted operations at some energy facilities, according to Saudi officials. The attacks struck the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in…
How Official Time Works in Canada
Official time in Canada is the second kept by the National Research Council in Ottawa, tied to Coordinated Universal Time. Legal time — the hour a school, court, or bus schedule uses — is set by provinces and territories. A phone can disagree with both for a while after a law changes, because phones follow…
AfD Wins Saxony-Anhalt Election but Falls Short of a Majority
Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) finished first in Sunday’s state election in Saxony-Anhalt, according to preliminary official results, but did not win enough seats to govern alone. The state election authority reported that the AfD received 43.8 percent of the vote and 39 seats in the 83-seat Landtag. An absolute majority requires 42 seats. The…
How a Plane’s Black Box Survives a Crash
A flight recorder is painted orange so it can be found. In a crash the outer box can be crushed or burned. The part that has to survive is a small armoured cylinder of memory inside it. That cylinder is built to a published test list. If search teams never find it, the tests do…
1816: The Year Without a Summer
The phrase sounds like folklore. It was not. In 1816, parts of northeastern North America and western Europe lost a growing season. Frost returned in months that were supposed to be warm. Snow fell in June in New England. Grain failed. Prices jumped. People called it the year without a summer, or, in New England,…
Amazon Cargo Plane Overruns Runway at Miami Airport, Killing at Least Five
A Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft operated by 21 Air on behalf of Amazon Air overran a runway while landing at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon, struck multiple vehicles and caught fire, killing at least five people and injuring five others, according to Miami-Dade County officials and the Associated Press. The flight, identified as Prime…
What a VPN Does and Does Not Do
A VPN does two main things. It builds an encrypted tunnel from your device to a server run by the VPN company. It makes websites and other internet services see that server’s IP address instead of the one your internet provider assigned you. It does not hide you from the site you log into. It…