Latest news with #UniversityOfLiverpool
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Police station demolished as Liverpool plan moves forward
A £1bn development near Liverpool city centre is set to move into a new phase after work to demolish a key landmark building was former Smithdown Lane Police Station has been removed as part of development of the Knowledge Quarter area in Paddington is part of plans to transform the area into a "hub for research and innovation" and will also include a new neighbourhood, revamped green space and new active travel City Council leader Liam Robinson said the demolition was "a landmark moment in our journey to ensuring Liverpool becomes one of Europe's leading Research and Development centres in science innovation". "An expanded Paddington Village is vital to the city's future economic growth and to creating a conveyor belt of high skilled jobs," he said."Once delivered, this former brownfield site will become the engine room for the delivery of our wider Investment Zone plans for the coming decade and beyond."This site currently includes the Spine office building, a multi-storey car park, and the Novotel Liverpool Paddington Village Tim Jones, Vice Chancellor at the University of Liverpool, said, it was "the latest milestone" in the development of Paddington South which would benefit the city "in terms of jobs, reputation, wealth generation and more".Minister for Local Growth, Alex Norris, MP, said the Paddington South site was "set to become a hub for research and innovation, driving growth and opportunities in Liverpool's Knowledge Quarter and beyond". Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
16-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Architecture expert, 83, graduates with PhD
An 83-year-old architecture scholar has become one of the oldest people to graduate from the University of Harrison has achieved a PhD in the subject, 65 years on from when he first attended the university as an finishing his studies in 1963 he worked first as a city conservation officer before leaving to document the architecture of the Harrison, originally of Preston, Lancashire, said while studying had been "a bit more work than I had expected" it had been "fun" to continue his passion for the subject. He said he had worked on historic building conservation in the early part of his career but, at the age of 44, decided he wanted to do something else."I needed a change so I bailed out and went travelling, and I fell in love with the Himalayas," he said. In 1985 he began to study the architecture of the area and went on to publish several books including his research on Tibetan after some 40 years of further studies, he said he wanted to formalise his research."I saw you could get a PhD by prior publication so I thought I'd just bang all these books in and that'll give me a certificate," he said."But it turned out there's a lot more to it."I've enjoyed it and it's been good reviewing all the work that I've done." 'I'll keep going' He said despite being older than all of the university's the staff "nobody seemed to have been too shocked" to see him on campus."It's what you feel like inside," he said."We can go to the gym, go swimming or walking to keep the body going - but you need something to keep the brain going as well."He said while it was a "relief" to have finally gained his doctorate it "was good to have done it"."I'll keep going for as long as I can because it's what I really enjoy doing," he Harrison is set to return to the Himalayas this weekend to work with a group of young Tibetan architects documenting monasteries in the Ladakh region. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Earth is about to break its own speed record—here's why
The Earth is pretty good at keeping its pace. However, variations do happen. And on three separate days this summer—July 9, July 22, and August 5—the Earth will spin notably faster than usual. What is fractional leadership, and why is it booming now? It's not just Bitcoin: Altcoin XRP's price is also rising. Here's a possible reason why Slurpee Day 2025: How to get your free frozen treat at 7-Eleven, Speedway, and Stripes today Of course, you're not likely to feel dizzy or notice the shift at all, but scientists are well aware of it. They say that over a 24-hour period, the Earth's rotation will take a few milliseconds less than it usually does—about 1.3 to 1.51 milliseconds less, to be exact. It's faster than the blink of an eye or a heartbeat, but it's significant, either way. Twenty-four hours (86,400 seconds), or a full day, is the time it takes for the Earth to rotate fully on its axis. That exact rotation speed depends on a number of factors, including the Earth's mass, as well as its distance from the moon. With the moon closer to the poles, the Earth's spin speeds up. On the days the Earth's rotation is set to speed up, the moon will be at its farthest distance from Earth's equator, altering the impact of its gravitational pull on Earth's axis. Richard Holme, a geophysicist at the University of Liverpool, said, per Live Science: 'There is more land in the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern. In northern summer, the trees get leaves. This means that mass is moved from the ground to above the ground—farther away from the Earth's spin axis.' Thus, it will spin faster. Interestingly, while the Earth had been gradually speeding up on the regular, climate change has impacted the Earth's rotation in a major way. It's actually caused it to slow down. A 2024 study published in Nature pointed to the melting of the polar ice caps as a significant factor in the Earth's decelerated pace. At the time, professor Duncan Agnew of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the author of the study, explained the phenomenon by using the example of a skater spinning on ice. 'If they hold their arms out, their spinning is slower. But if they bring [their arms] into their body, then they speed up. This demonstrates the conservation of angular momentum, a principle which applies to all spinning objects, including the Earth.' Agnew continued: 'As polar ice melts, the water spreads out over the whole ocean, causing the same effect as the skater spreading their arms out—the Earth slows down. More rapid melting would slow the Earth more rapidly, opposing the speedup that has been seen in recent years.' Experts began measuring the speed at which the Earth rotates in the 1950s. While variations in speed are not uncommon, the shortest day ever recorded happened just last year on July 5, 2024. On that day, the Earth completed its full rotation 1.66 milliseconds faster than usual. Experts believe July 9, 2025, may break the previously set record. This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fast Company
09-07-2025
- Science
- Fast Company
Earth is about to break its own speed record – here's why
The Earth is pretty good at keeping its pace. However, variations do happen. And on three separate days this summer — July 9, July 22, and August 5 — the Earth will spin notably faster than usual. Of course, you're not likely to feel dizzy or notice the shift at all, but scientists are well aware of the shift. They say that over a 24-hour period, the Earth's rotation will take a few milliseconds less than it usually does — about 1.3 to 1.51 milliseconds less, to be exact. It's faster than the blink of an eye or a heartbeat, but it's significant, either way. Why is Earth spinning faster now? 24 hours (86,400 seconds), or a full day, is the time it takes for the Earth to rotate fully on its axis. That exact rotation speed depends on a number of factors, including the Earth's mass, as well as its distance from the moon. With the moon closer to the poles, the Earth's spin speeds up. On the days the Earth's rotation is set to speed up, the moon will be at its furthest distance from Earth's equator, altering the impact of its gravitational pull on Earth's axis. Richard Holme, a geophysicist at the University of Liverpool, said, per Live Science, ''There is more land in the northern hemisphere than the south. In northern summer, the trees get leaves, this means that mass is moved from the ground to above the ground — further away from the Earth's spin axis.' Thus, it will spin faster. Interestingly, while the Earth had been gradually speeding up on the regular, climate change has impacted the Earth's rotation in a major way. It's actually caused it to slow down. A 2024 study published in Nature pointed to the melting of the polar ice caps as a significant factor in the Earth's decelerated pace. At the time, Professor Duncan Agnew, from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and author of the study explained it by using the example of a skater spinning on ice. 'If they hold their arms out, their spinning is slower, but if they bring them into their body, then they speed up. This demonstrates the conservation of angular momentum, a principle which applies to all spinning objects, including the Earth.' He continued, 'As polar ice melts, the water spreads out over the whole ocean, causing the same effect as the skater spreading their arms out — the Earth slows down. More rapid melting would slow the Earth more rapidly, opposing the speedup that has been seen in recent years.' Experts began measuring the speed at which the Earth rotates in the 1950s. While variations in speed are not uncommon, the shortest day ever recorded happened just last year on July 5, 2024. On that day, the Earth completed its full rotation 1.66 milliseconds faster than usual. Experts believe July 9, 2025 may break the previously set record.
CBC
08-05-2025
- CBC
He's still waiting for FOI records Toronto police said he could have last summer, requested in 2020
Jamie Jelinski feels a bit like David — and the Toronto police are his Goliath. The trouble is, he's worried that this time Goliath might win. Jelinski filed a freedom of information (FOI) request to Toronto police in June 2020 for records concerning the facial recognition technology Clearview AI after the police service admitted to using the controversial tool beginning in October 2019 and committed to stop using it in February of the following year. Jelinski said he filed the request hoping to learn how Clearview AI is used in practice — all part of his research into visual identification techniques and technologies used by Canadian law enforcement. But nearly five years later, the visual culture scholar still hasn't received all of the responsive records, despite paying police more than $200 for the remaining 1,100 pages of emails last July. "To me it suggests they don't respect the legislation that they're supposed to be operating within, they don't respect public transparency," said Jelinski, who is now a lecturer in the University of Liverpool's department of communication and media. "If they didn't intend on disclosing this to me last year, they should not have accepted my money." In Ontario, public institutions like police services are subject to provincial or municipal freedom of information and protection of privacy laws. The legislation requires institutions to issue a decision for FOI requests within 30 days and to disclose the records if access is granted in that timeframe, with a few exceptions. FOI experts told CBC Toronto that Jelinski's experience highlights why Ontario's access to information legislation needs to be modernized — and why it needs to include tools to enforce legislated timeframes and its own orders to disclose records. If the requester of information disagrees with an institution's decision or believes it has failed to meet legislated timeframes, they can submit an appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC). 3 appeals for 1 request Jelinski has submitted three IPC appeals for this request. The first, because Toronto police originally denied him access to any records. Then, after winning that appeal in 2023, he filed one in 2024 when Toronto police failed to issue him a final decision letter about whether he'd have access to the documents. He filed the third appeal earlier this year, because he hadn't received the records he paid for last summer. "I have to force them through the IPC every step of the way," said Jelinski. In response to his most recent appeal, the privacy commissioner asked Toronto police to give Jelinski copies of the records by April 24. The service didn't meet that deadline. So in an email last week, the IPC told Jelinski it would issue an order to disclose the records. CBC Toronto asked police why Jelinski's request has taken so long, why it didn't meet the most recent deadline from the privacy commissioner — and when it is that police intend to provide Jelinski with the records he's paid for. Police say some records released The service declined an interview request, but in an email, a spokesperson said certain records have already been released to Jelinski and noted the ongoing IPC mediation process. "The Toronto Police Service has requested an extension on this file," said spokesperson Stephanie Sayer in the email. "Any updates are being communicated to the requester through the IPC." Jelinski received some records in February 2022 and one additional record in 2023 after winning his first appeal but hasn't received the rest. As of Wednesday, the IPC had yet to issue the order to Toronto police to disclose the records. But even when it does, Jelinski worries police won't comply and that then his only options would be to wait or take police to court, which is expensive. "They can just ignore it, and nothing happens to them," he said. "There needs to be some updating of the legislation." Why enforcement isn't easy Even though IPC orders are legally binding, a former IPC assistant commissioner says the Ontario oversight body doesn't have a straightforward way to enforce them, unlike in some other provinces. "This situation is kind of distressing, because it really shouldn't be the case that enforcement falls back onto the shoulders of the requester," said David Goodis, an access and privacy lawyer who worked for the IPC for 30 years until early 2021. "Some of the more modern FOI laws allow people, commissioners — really anyone — to file commissioner orders with the court so that they're enforceable as a court order. And that can make a difference." Both B.C. and Alberta's access to information laws have that provision, according to Goodis. To adopt a similar mechanism, the lawyer said the Ontario legislature would have to amend the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy and Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy acts. Premier Doug Ford's office did not respond to questions about whether his government is considering such changes. "What we're talking about is fixing the act to deal with these outlier cases," said Goodis. "In my experience, this is really rare." While these cases aren't the norm, public policy researcher and FOI expert Ken Rubin said he's seeing this kind of response more and more often when he files requests. "Review commissions don't exactly have penalty-making power," he said. "I think certain agencies have realized that, and so either they ignore [requesters] or they just drag it out." Both Goodis and Rubin said the nearly five-year wait Jelinski is facing is way too long. Complexity and volume of requests a challenge A recent Toronto Police Service Board report Sayer provided to CBC outlines the service's FOI statistics for 2024 and the hurdles it's facing in responding to requests. "Meeting the mandated 30-day compliance outlined in Section 19 of the Act continues to be challenging," reads the report submitted by Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw. "This is mainly due to the number and complexity of the requests, the type, medium and volume of the records being requested and [the] needed consultation with internal and external stakeholders for certain requests." Last year, Toronto police received 5,414 FOI requests — 403 more than it did in 2023. There were also 758 requests carried over to this year from 2024. The service's average compliance rate for completing requests within the mandated 30-day timeframe was 73.6 per cent last year, down about three percentage points from 2023. So what does this wait mean for Jelinski? His experience with this FOI request and others inspired him to write a book about how his fellow visual scholars can use access requests, which he says are rarely used for research in his field. But Jelinski can't finish the book until he gets these records. "It's a key case study," he said. "I can't write up that chapter without the documents."
