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Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on December 29, 2025.

The post Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: Dandelion Energy CEO Dan Yates On How Geothermal Leasing Could Transform Home Heating and Cooling appeared first on Earth911.

KOTA BHARU, June 16 — Madani Communities nationwide have been urged to ensure the public receives accurate, verified and reliable information on the government’s policies, initiatives and achievements.

Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said the responsibility should be shared collectively and not left solely to government agencies such as the Information Department (JAPEN) and the Community Communications Department (J-KOM).

He highlighted several government successes, including efforts to ensure food security, such as maintaining sufficient rice supplies during festive seasons through initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

“Likewise, through the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme System (eCOSS) under the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, the once hard-to-find subsidised packet cooking oil is now available to consumers.

“These are among the achievements under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that must be communicated to the people by MADANI Communities,” he said at the Jiwa Madani programme here today.

During the event, Fahmi also presented appointment letters to Kelantan Madani Community leaders for the 2026-2027 term.

He said the Communications Ministry would organise regular briefing sessions to keep community leaders informed of current issues and government initiatives that need to be conveyed to the public.

In addition, JAPEN has been tasked with monitoring the performance of Madani Communities to ensure they remain effective in disseminating information at the grassroots level.

“We will also ask JAPEN to act swiftly if any Madani Community is found to be inactive. If that happens, we will make the necessary changes, including replacing those who are not performing,” he said. — Bernama 

For a few select evenings in the late spring and early summer, sunlight aligns with Manhattan’s grid. The city’s bustling streets are washed with golden light as the sun sets, while tourists and locals alike flood the streets to snap that perfect picture. This event is nicknamed Manhattanhenge and it will begin on May 28 and continue through July 12. 

However, you don’t need to live in the Big Apple to see a “henge” like Manhattanhenge. They actually pop up in a few places and a website called Hengefinder can help you find the closest henge.

Meet Hedgefinder

Data scientist and engineer Victoria Ritvo created the website, while software engineer John Pribyl built the accompanying app. Ritvo wrote about creating Hedgefinder in her blog, and details the three basic steps that scientists can use to find a henge. First, find the angle of the road, or its bearing relative to true north. Second, find the angle of the sun at sunset, or its azimuth. Third, find the dates when those two angles match. 

While you don’t have to do any of that high-level math, you can read about how Rivoto and Pribyl made their calculations. You simply put in an address or city and can get a calculation for the closet henge near you. 

“Having Hengefinder active means henges are now explorable outside of Manhattan, and I’ve been searching for them using the app,” Ritvo writes. “My favorite one so far, I haven’t actually seen. I’m intrigued by the Haarlemmertrekvaart, a canal which traces the southern edge of Westerpark in Amsterdam.”

Interestingly, much of Europe is left out of henge mania due to medieval street design. Amsterdam’s famed canals do offer an option, where sunlight can reflect off of the water. Henges may have been occurring twice a year for the past 400 years on the Haarlemmertrekvaart.

How henges work

The sun does not set in the same place every day. Its position changes along the horizon with the seasons. While the angle does not usually match the directions of a street, it will on a few days each year if the street is angled correctly.  

In 1997, the term Manhattanhenge was first coined by Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium at New York’s American Museum of Natural History. Tyson noted that the setting sun framed by Manhattan’s building was comparable to how the sun’s rays strike the center of England’s Stonehenge on the solstice. The Neolithic humans who built the stone circle in stages between 3100 BCE and 1600 BCE intended for the light to shine that way on the solstice. But the builders of Manhattan? Not so much.

Chicagohenge in Illinois and Baltimorehenge in Maryland both occur when the sunset  lines up with the grid systems in those cities around the spring and fall equinoxes in March and September. In Canada, Torontohenge occurs in February and October.

The post Manhattanhenge isn’t just for New Yorkers. Find a ‘henge’ near you. appeared first on Popular Science.

Eudaemonius posted a photo:

Six in the morning on the Brooklyn Bridge, and New York City is something it rarely is. It is quiet. Not empty, but quiet. Dan Aragon is standing on the walkway watching the light come up across the East River. The bridge holds a few early walkers, runners, and cyclists. A ferry is just starting to move on the water below. He has not raised the camera yet. He is still enjoying the silence.

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Curiosity got itself stuck between a rock and hard place last month, but NASA says there’s no reason to fret about the intrepid Mars rover. On April 25, mission engineers were remotely piloting its robotic arm’s rotary-percussive drill into a Martian rock nicknamed Atacama. It’s a relatively routine task for Curiosity, which takes the samples and then pulverizes them into a powder for future onboard chemical analysis.

But Atacama is no small stone. The hefty, 1.5-foot-wide geologic formation is about six inches thick and weighs about 28.6 pounds. So NASA engineers were understandably a bit worried when Curiosity attempted to retract its arm—and subsequently lifted the entire rock off the ground.

“Drilling has fractured or separated the upper layers of rocks in the past, but a rock has never remained attached to the drill sleeve,” the agency explained in a recent rundown.

While amusing to envision, the situation was no laughing matter for NASA’s engineers. The rover’s drill would be of little more use with a giant rock indefinitely attached to it. But even if controllers could detach Atacama from the rover, the force might damage the tool or the arm itself. Without those capabilities, Curiosity’s ongoing mission would be in serious jeopardy.

Mission specialists first tried the drilling version of “turning it off and on again,” by vibrating the tool. However, Atacama remained stubbornly stuck on Curiosity…for another four days. NASA then tried a new approach by reorienting the robotic arm and instructing the drill to vibrate one more time. Atacama managed to shake off a bit of sand that time, but little else.

Two more stressful days passed before NASA gave it a third try. Engineers tilted the drill slightly further, then rotated and vibrated the tool while also spinning its drill bit. The Curiosity team anticipated it may take multiple attempts to pull off the feat.But in this case, Atacama finally gave way almost immediately. The nearly weeklong ordeal culminated with the giant rock fracturing as it landed on the Martian ground.

So far, NASA hasn’t reported any lingering damage to the vehicle, meaning the rover is likely ready to continue exploring the Red Planet. As for Atacama, it seems the Martian rock learned a valuable lesson: Don’t mess with Curiosity.

The post For 6 days, NASA’s Mars rover battled a rock appeared first on Popular Science.

PUTRAJAYA, June 15 — The Economy Ministry expects Malaysia’s inflation rate to remain under control at between 1.5 and 2.5 per cent throughout this year despite pressure from the energy supply crisis and global geopolitical uncertainties.

Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the government is committed to ensuring that inflation does not have a major shock effect on the economy and the people’s cost of living even though price pressures are expected to continue.

He said the country’s latest inflation rate was recorded at 1.9 per cent, much lower than the global inflation forecast of around 4.3 per cent.

“For 2026, our comfortable projection is for inflation to occur between 1.5 and 2.5 per cent. This is our target so that inflation movements remain within the scope that we can handle and do not have a significant impact on the people,” he told the media after the monthly gathering of the Economy Ministry here today.

He said this when asked to comment on the expected inflationary pressure in the second quarter of this year following the disruption of global energy supplies and its impact on the transportation and food sectors.

Akmal Nasrullah said the current inflationary pressure was due to the increase in costs related to oil supplies and input goods needed to maintain economic activity.

In this regard, he said the government is continuing various mitigation measures including the targeted distribution of fuel subsidies, control of logistics costs through the Subsidised Diesel Control System (SKDS), as well as additional financing of RM5 billion through the Business Financing Guarantee Scheme (SJPP) and Bank Negara Malaysia facilities to help small businesses survive.

However, Akmal Nasrullah said inflationary pressures could increase if the global crisis continues.

“So far, we have managed to maintain inflation at around 1.9 per cent, but the pressure will continue to have an impact. That is why we continue to look at official data and the actual situation at the industry level so that intervention measures can be taken earlier,” he said. — Bernama 

KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — Technologie & Systemtechnik Aktiengesellschaft’s (AT&S) decision to expand its operations in Kulim, Kedah, through a new investment of up to €2 billion (RM9.4 billion) is expected to further strengthen Malaysia’s semiconductor ecosystem and create high-skilled employment opportunities for Malaysians, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.

Anwar said the Austrian company’s decision reflected growing international investor confidence in Malaysia, underscoring how clear policies, political stability, good governance and the government’s commitment to economic transformation are positioning the country as a leading destination for advanced technology investments and a new regional growth hub.

“Meetings and discussions held in early June have borne fruit, with AT&S announcing its intention to expand its operations in Kulim, Kedah, further reinforcing Malaysia’s position as a destination for high-impact technology investments,” he said in a post on X today.

Anwar was commenting on a statement issued by AT&S on its website, in which the chipmaker said it was committed to investing between €1.5 billion and €2.0 billion to expand its manufacturing site in Kulim, supported by long-term customer commitments.

Anwar said the development was significant in reinforcing mutual trust and commitment towards the future of Malaysia’s digital economy, now translated into tangible, high-impact investments for the country.

Meanwhile, AT&S chief executive officer Michael Mertin said the expansion of the Kulim facility reflected customers’ confidence in the company’s capabilities and their shared commitment to long-term profitable growth.

“Our technological leadership, strong partnerships with global players in the semiconductor industry and proven ability to scale advanced manufacturing facilities position us as the partner of choice for the next wave of growth,” he said.

AT&S chief financial officer Gerrit Steen said the €1.5 billion to €2.0 billion investment was fully supported and financed through long-term customer commitments.

“We are structuring these agreements to support long-term growth while maintaining financial discipline.

“At the same time, they support our objective of further strengthening our balance sheet and financial flexibility,” he added.

AT&S announced the expansion of its Kulim manufacturing site following agreements with its customer, AMD, and another leading technology company.

The move reinforces AT&S’ strong technological position and deepens its long-standing partnerships with leading customers in the semiconductor industry.

Building on the successful ramp-up of Plant 1, the expansion includes fitting out the existing Plant 2 structure and constructing a new manufacturing facility for integrated-circuit substrate cores and advanced printed-circuit boards, AT&S said. — Bernama 

After a hard day's shoot on safari, cameras get dirty from the dust, grit, and sand. Much like a dirty dog, these cameras need to be hosed down… Wait, what?

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