Latest news with #Algonquian
Otago Daily Times
25-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Democracy, society and hi-tech
Artificial intelligence is power-hungry in every sense of the term, Andrew Perchard, John Holt and Duncan Connors write. The Algonquian people spoke of the wendigo: a beast that poisoned people's minds to aid its insatiable gluttony for human flesh and souls. While the Beehive worries about minutae, it is the Tech Bros of Big Tech who present the greatest existential threat to democracy and society. Like the wendigo of old but conceived in the darkest depths of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, Amazon, Meta, Palantir and X owned by Bezos, Zuckerberg, Thiel and Musk, foster worldwide acquiescence to feed their insatiable appetite for resources to concentrate more wealth and power in their hands. Trump is the means to an end; the Tech Bros donated $US394.1 million ($NZ653m) to his 2024 campaign and the President is now a pliable friend. The failed bromance that begat DOGE wasn't about promised government efficiency. This mirage has dismantled vital programmes and undermined democratic institutions. The lauded "Big, Beautiful" spending Bill will limit state-level regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) for a decade. Tech Bros despise regulation and are disdainful of democracy. Society feels their destructive whirlwind as the $US300 billion bet on generative AI remains unregulated. Having relied on massive US government subsidy to grow their businesses (in Musk's case $US38b by 2025, while Thiel landed $US20b between 2016 and 2019 for supporting Trump's first presidential campaign), they now want government to bail out failing AI. Why? In 2024, Darren Acemoglu of MIT and Jim Covello of Goldman Sachs registered their scepticism of AI's economic benefits, while neural scientist and serial AI entrepreneur Gary Marcus views the technology as "driven by hype", predicting the "likely financial collapse of generative AI". Apple recently underlined the fundamental limitations of generative AI. The cash-strapped UK government has allocated £47b ($NZ106b) so, as a minister pungently stated, AI could be "mainlined into the veins" of the nation. Meanwhile, the growing chorus of concern about AI threatening society and democracy are dismissed as Luddite hysteria. The energy implications are also striking. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates by 2030 AI will consume more energy than Japan and US industry combined. Yet governments acquiesce. According to investigative journalists Democracy for Sale, Big Tech has shaped the British government's AI strategy despite these implications while AI-related energy consumption will quadruple in the UK by 2030. National electricity grids already struggle to cope with demand from AI data centres. In Ireland these centres consume 21% of electrical output and nearly caused several grid blackouts last year that led to a four-year moratorium on new data centres. Internationally, AI is placing national grids under strain, crowding out domestic and industrial customers as their needs increase. In New Zealand, Cyclone Gabriel demonstrated we have a delicate energy balance; with ageing, vulnerable electrical infrastructure and lacking government commitments to offshore wind and mass solar, there is a real risk that with AI data centres, like Microsoft's and Amazon's in Auckland, our already troubled grid could reach a tipping point. This is not a local issue; there is a genuine global risk of rolling outages as countries scramble to integrate Big Tech into hybridised energy solutions with unpredictable variability in ageing grid networks struggling with unprecedented demand. The environmental consequences are also troubling. Four Big Tech beasts' AI-technology increased carbon emissions by 135% and 182% over 2020 and 2023, and the IEA predicts that 40% of the increase in AI's global energy consumption (1250TWh by 2035) will come from coal and gas. Musk's xAI supercomputer in Memphis, powered by 35 methane gas turbines, is choking local neighbourhoods. Globally, many countries are struggling to connect new renewable energy sources, causing significant variance between supply and demand. The AI wendigo craves energy resources to sate its appetite. AI is not our saviour because what exactly needs to be saved? Like the Wise Men of Chelm, the Tech Bros create "problems" to which they claim to have an instant "solution". We cannot dismiss AI but it is a limited tool, not our master. Through hype and unlimited expenditure subverting governments, Tech Bros present a threat to democracy and society. As we abdicate our intellects and responsibilities to unconscious machines, fossil fuels feed the wendigo of generative AI. Unregulated, AI is a major existential threat. The wendigo become leviathan, devouring souls marching willingly, not towards a golden age of peace and prosperity, but a future of Orwell's and Huxley's darkest nightmares. — Andrew Perchard is an honorary research professor, University of Otago, and a former head of energy supply policy at the Scottish government; John Holt has worked in heavy industry and infrastructure and has been a senior occupational health and safety professional in Australia and the UK for over 20 years; Duncan Connors is a freelance writer, consultant and has worked in energy and infrastructure policy.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
June's Strawberry Moon treats skywatchers to a rare low-riding show (photos)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. June's full 'Strawberry Moon' lit up the night sky last night, treating skywatchers to a rare once-in-a-18-year display as it rode low across the southern horizon. Skywatchers were served the lowest full moon in almost two decades, thanks in part to a quirk of orbital mechanics known to astronomers as a "major lunar standstill". This phenomenon occurs over a two-year period when the moon's tilted orbit is at its greatest inclination relative to our planet's celestial equator (which is essentially Earth's normal equator projected out into space). During a major lunar standstill, the moon can be seen rising and setting at more extreme positions on the horizon, while tracking a very high — or low — path through the night sky depending on the time of year. June's Strawberry Moon occurs close to the southern solstice for those in the southern hemisphere, which means that it's never particularly high in the sky to begin with. The major lunar standstill exacerbated this effect, making the June full moon the lowest full moon in almost two decades. This month's full Strawberry Moon was named for the brief fruit picking season that occurs around this time each year by Algonquian, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. Read on to see the best pictures of the 2025 Strawberry Moon as captured by the global astrophotography community. As always, if you missed last night's full moon don't worry. The lunar disk will continue to appear (almost) fully lit for the next few nights, so be sure to read up on the best practices for observing and photographing the lunar surface as it transitions to a waning gibbous moon in the coming days. Space enthusiast Marwella Zhang was able to capture this detailed portrait of the Flower Moon around midnight from Bangka Island in Indonesia, while grappling with the haze caused by tropical storm Wutip. "After sunset, the sky was starting to get clear," Zhang told in an email. "I took my first shot, but the sky was still hazy. By midnight, as it had been predicted, the sky got clear, and I took the opportunity to get a better shot of the moon." New York's photography contingent also showed up in force to capture stunning compositions of the full moon framed by the iconic city skyline. Photographer Gary Hershorn was able to position himself to capture the orange orb of the Strawberry Moon hanging above the spire of the Empire State Building on the night of June 10. Hershorn also used a powerful lens to snap the moment Earth's natural satellite appeared to brush up against the famous landmark, creating a colorful scene that blends the warm reflected sunlight bouncing off the lunar surface with the glow of the city beneath. Kristin Louise Raught caught a striking view of the Strawberry Moon hanging over the ghostly form of Mt. Rainier in Washington State on June 10. "I went out to get a photo of the moon directly over Tahoma (Mt. Rainier) but I saw the ferry coming and wanted to include it in the photo," Raught told in an email. "Rather than wait for the moon to align with the mountain, I decided to instead catch the ferry at the last possible moment before it disappeared behind the building on the pier," explained Raught. "I wanted to preserve the detail in the moon, so I opted for less light in the photo overall. I was happy that the sailboat was positioned so perfectly at this moment, it adds a wonderful detail to the photo." Andrew von Rathonyi took a different approach when eyeing the moon from the town of Irondequoit, New York, choosing to frame the celestial body as it appeared to graze the top of a low-hanging cloud, illuminating its fringes with reflected sunlight. One particularly striking shot was captured by Ahsan Mohammed Ahmed Ahmed in the city of Halabja, Iraq, which featured the silhouette of a man playing the violin on a hillside, framed by the rising form of the full moon. Ismael Adnan Yaqoob was able to snap the Strawberry Moon as it rose above a ferris wheel in the Iraqi city of Duhok on the night of June 10, at which point it had moved further from the horizon, losing the orange glow of moonrise. Photographer Isla Terli was able to snap the silhouette of a passenger airliner from Turkey as it passed across the face of the full Strawberry Moon, along with the prominent craters, ejecta rays and lunar seas that mark its surface. Twitter/X user @VeronicaJoPo caught the Strawberry Moon traveling low over Ely Cathedral in the town of Little Downham, Cambridgeshire, in the UK around the full moon phase. Finally, photographer Isla Terli was able to capture this atmospheric shot of the Strawberry Moon rising over the Selimiye Mosque in the Turkish city of Edirne, soon after it had emerged from below the southeastern horizon. Remember, the Strawberry Moon will appear almost completely lit in the nights following its full moon phase, which occurred at 3:44 a.m. EDT (0744 GMT) in the early hours of June 11 for viewers in New York. Editor's Note: If you capture a picture of the Strawberry Moon and want to share your astrophotography with readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, name and location to spacephotos@
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
June's Strawberry Moon rises tonight. Here's what to expect from the lowest full moon since 2006
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Look up — or rather, down — tonight to spot the lowest full moon in nearly two decades. This month's full moon will ride low on the southern horizon thanks to an orbital phenomenon known as a major lunar standstill. Called the "Strawberry Moon," June's full moon was named by the Algonquian, after the short fruit harvesting season that coincides with its appearance each year. The full moon phase technically occurs at 3:44 a.m. EDT (0744 GMT) on June 11 for viewers in New York, though its disk will appear completely lit when it rises above the southeastern horizon at sunset on June 10. The lunar disk always appears larger at moonrise thanks to the "moon illusion," a trick of the brain that makes Earth's natural satellite appear larger than it actually is when it's close to the horizon. The moon will also likely take on a yellow-orange hue, because our planet's atmosphere scatters the shorter, blue wavelengths of the sun's reflected light. Read on to learn more about the moon's orbit and how the major lunar standstill will affect the path of the Strawberry Moon through the night sky. The sun appears to travel through Earth's sky along an imaginary line called the ecliptic, which is tilted 23.5 degrees relative to our planet's celestial equator (the plane of Earth's equator projected into space). The moon's orbital path is also tilted at around 5 degrees to the ecliptic, which is why we don't see an eclipse every time the moon passes close to the sun during its monthly new moon phase. Our sun's gravitational influence is constantly tugging on the moon, causing its tilted orbit to swivel in an 18.6-year cycle, according to the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. We are in the midst of a major lunar standstill — the two-year period of the lunar cycle when the moon's tilted orbit is at its greatest inclination relative to the celestial equator. During this period, the moon rises and sets at more extreme positions on the horizon while riding very high or low in the sky, depending on the time of year. June's full Strawberry Moon falls close to the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice, when the sun tracks its highest path above our heads and the lunar disk trudges a correspondingly low track through the night sky. RELATED STORIES: — Full moon calendar 2025: When to see the next full moon — 'Major lunar standstill' may reveal if Stonehenge is aligned with the moon — Don't miss these 15 spectacular moon events in 2025 This year, the Strawberry Moon's seasonally low altitude will be made more extreme by the "great lunar standstill," resulting in the lowest full moon in over a decade, according to Indeed, the last time a major lunar standstill occurred was in 2006, and a similar event won't happen again until 2043. Editor's note: If you capture a picture of the full moon and want to share your astrophotography with passionate readers, please send the image(s), along with your name, comments and shooting location, to spacephotos@
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
When's the next full moon? Here's what to know after June's strawberry moon
The last full moon of Spring is rising at sunset on Tuesday evening. The strawberry moon appeared Tuesday, June 10. The moon in June is also one of the lowest-hanging of the year, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. While the strawberry moon does appear with a reddish tone, the name derives from the Native American Algonquian tribes, who lived in the northwestern United States. The Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota tribes also used the name, which marked the wild strawberries in June, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. Here's everything to know about catching a glimpse of the strawberry moon. According to while the strawberry moon typically happens in June, this year we are in a major lunar standstill — the two-year period of the lunar cycle when the moon's tilted orbit is at its greatest inclination relative to the celestial equator. The strawberry moon's low altitude will be made more extreme by the lunar standstill, which means we'll experience the lowest full moon in over a decade. The following dates list out the rest of the expected full moons in 2025: July 10- Buck Moon Aug. 9- Sturgeon Moon Sept. 7- Harvest Moon Oct. 6- Hunter's Moon Nov. 5- Beaver Moon Dec. 4- Cold Moon USA Today contributed to this story. Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@ @NatassiaPaloma on Twitter; natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma Thompson on Facebook. More: El Paso is No. 2 'Best Big City to Live in the US,' according to US News & World Report This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: When's the next full moon? Here's what to know after strawberry moon
Time Out Abu Dhabi
11-06-2025
- Time Out Abu Dhabi
Strawberry moon in the UAE: when to catch the full moon in Abu Dhabi
Named after the eye-catching colour of wild strawberries, June's full moon this year is set to be extra special. But when exactly can you spot it? Strawberry full moon in the UAE If you want to spot the strawberry moon at its peak, then make sure you head outside on the evening of Wednesday June 11. The strawberry moon occurs when the moon swings closer than usual, appearing slightly larger and up to 30 percent brighter than your average full moon, according to NASA. That's why these celestial events are such head-turners. In the tale of lunar lore, June's full moon has been crowned with many titles drawn from diverse cultural traditions. Rooted in the wisdom of Native American tribes, it is hailed as the 'Strawberry Moon' by the Algonquian people, honouring the lush fruit of the season. Meanwhile, the Cherokee embrace it as the 'Green Corn Moon,' celebrating nature's bounty. In European folklore, June's full moon is adorned with equally charming names. It is known as the 'Rose Moon,' a tribute to the fragrant blooms that fill the air. Additionally, it bears the whimsical titles of 'Honey Moon' and 'Mead Moon,' reflecting a time when June was favoured for weddings. In the Far East, China adds its own poetic touch, dubbing it the 'Lotus Moon' in reverence to the serene beauty of lotus blossoms. Summer in Abu Dhabi The 27 best things to do indoors this summer in Abu Dhabi It's time for some air-conditioned bliss Psst: This is when summer officially starts in Abu Dhabi No complaints here Yas Waterworld's epic new expansion is opening this summer – including 12 new slides Weeeeee! 25 brilliant beach and pool day passes in Abu Dhabi Grab your SPF – a lush day by the water awaits
