After the surprise news that Yamaha decided to suspend testing at the Sepang MotoGP test due to a technical issue with their new V4 machine, Technical Director Max Bartolini spoke to the media at Sepang. Bartolini was interviewed by Dorna, then spoke to assembled journalists.
The extremely unusual decision to stop testing was taken after Fabio Quartararo stopped on track on Tuesday toward the end of the day. Identifying the cause of the problem had led Yamaha racing in Japan to decide to suspend their testing program until they can figure out a solution, or a way of continuing to run the engine safely.
David Emmett Wed, 04/Feb/2026 - 09:40
The launch of the Artemis II mission to send humans around the Moon is fast approaching. The Register had a go at building Lego's latest SLS set and found it a lot of fun, particularly making whooshing noises as the rocket "launches."…
There's no doubt about it — if you stopped time today, Waymo would be named the robotaxi winner outside of China, or certainly in the West. No other company compares in robotaxi deployment to date. Now, there are companies that think they can catch up, or whose chief aim is ... [continued]
The post $16 Billion for Waymo to Dominate the Robotaxi Market in the West appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Value-packed, all-new LEAF scores another industry award The all-new 2026 Nissan LEAF was named a Car and Driver Editors' Choice winner. The annual list names the best cars, trucks, SUVs and vans from the 2026 model year, ranked across 47 unique vehicle segments. "Redesigned for 2026, the new LEAF provides the range, performance, ... [continued]
The post 2026 Nissan LEAF Named a 2026 Car and Driver Editors' Choice Winner appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Huge thanks to my February sponsor, John Rember, author of the three-book series Journal of the Plague Years, a psychic survival guide for humanity's looming date with destiny, shaped by his experiences living through the pandemic in his native Idaho. Thoughtful, wry and humane, Journal 1 is a pleasure.
"The Global Economy's Warning Signals Are Broken.
"From markets to spending to debt, usually reliable indicators that forecast where the economy is headed are proving deeply fallible… The cooperative system of trade based on rules is giving way to great power aggression and mercantilism. With so much change happening so fast, historical patterns are cracking."
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/business/economy/global-economy-forecasts.html
"Gold extends rally, jumps over 2% after best day since 2008.
"Gold prices climbed more than 2% on Wednesday, building on their best day since 2008 in the previous session, as bargain-hunting and a softer dollar supported bullion. The closely watched employment report for January will not be released this Friday because of the partial shutdown."
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/gold-extends-rally-jumps-over-013913040.html
"Gold giant becomes major buyer of U.S. debt…
"Tether is no longer just a crypto liquidity provider. It is now one of the largest private holders of both gold and U.S. government debt, placing it in territory traditionally occupied by banks, asset managers and sovereign institutions."
https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/gold-giant-becomes-major-buyer-of-u-s-debt
"The Treasury market is treading in dangerous waters…
"While yields have remained relatively contained compared to historic highs, several "dangerous" undercurrents are causing unease among global investors… Total U.S. national debt has surpassed $38 trillion. Annual net interest payments are nearing $1 trillion, now rivaling major expenditures like defence and Medicare."
https://www.ft.com/content/c1229d2e-b871-4419-b9ed-7a9589c5a296
"The trillion-dollar question for AI business models.
"Here is a sobering truth about artificial intelligence: It is not yet profitable. Money is pouring into AI, and funds flow through it - for the time being. But when one examines AI companies' profits, clear data is hard to find."
https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/ai-business-models/
"An AI bubble is not big tech's only worry…
"Digital advertising, which accounts for a large and growing share of big tech's revenues, is looking less recession-proof. Having shrugged off the previous two downturns of their short history, in 2008-10 and 2020, digital ads are likely to take a serious knock when the next one eventually hits."
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/02/02/an-ai-bubble-is-not-big-techs-only-worry
"Office CMBS Delinquency Rate Spikes to Record 12.3%, Much Worse than Financial Crisis Meltdown Peak.
"The delinquency rate of office mortgages that have been securitized into commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) spiked by over a percentage point in January to 12.3%, once again the worst ever, and 1.6 percentage point above the worst moments of the Financial Crisis…"
"Trump Is Reverse Engineering The Great Recession.
"Residential mortgage-backed securities are back. Subprime mortgages are up… one of the core financial products that led to millions of foreclosures during the Great Recession is being quietly readied for a comeback — even as economic and climate conditions make its return all the more destabilizing."
https://www.levernews.com/trump-is-reverse-engineering-the-great-recession/
"Trump unveils $12bn critical minerals stockpile scheme in apparent move to counter China's dominance.
""Today we're launching what will be known as Project Vault to ensure that American businesses and workers are never harmed by any shortage," Trump said at the White House on Monday. He compared it to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)…"
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/03/trump-critical-minerals-stockpile-project-vault
"Former Farming Leaders Warn U.S. Agriculture Could Face 'Widespread Collapse'.
"Current economic conditions and Trump administration policies could lead to "a widespread collapse of American agriculture," a bipartisan coalition of former Agriculture Department officials and leaders of farm groups warned in a letter on Tuesday."
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/us/politics/us-agriculture-warning.html
"Farmer warns rising feed costs will hit food prices [UK].
"The Met Office declared the summer of 2025 was the hottest since records began in 1884, which led to a drought being declared across the Midlands from July until December… the dry weather led to a drastic reduction in the supply of silage…"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c050r4rz81zo
"Germany eyes lasers, spy satellites in military space spending splurge…
"Germany will build an encrypted military constellation of more than 100 satellites, known as SATCOM Stage 4, over the next few years, the head of German Space Command Michael Traut told Reuters on the sidelines of a space event ahead of the Singapore Airshow."
"German Borrowing Costs at Highest Since 2011 on Spending Spree… as investors demand higher premiums to account for the record debt burden they need to absorb…
"It comes as Germany seeks to raise €512 billion ($604 billion) from debt sales this year to fund a spending spree aimed at fixing its infrastructure and modernizing its armed forces."
"Damning EU report lays bare bloc's 'dangerous dependence' on critical mineral imports.
"The EU is struggling to free itself from dependence on China and countries in the global south for critical minerals and rare earths needed for everything from smartphones to wind turbines and military jets."
"EU States Seek Russian Fertilizer Ban in Next Sanctions Package.
"Nordic duo Finland and Sweden have proposed a possible ban on imports of Russian fertilizer as part of the EU's next sanctions package, as the gas-based product has become a way around current gas-related sanctions."
https://www.energyintel.com/0000019c-23a7-d32e-a99c-7faf3c9e0000
"Ukraine war briefing: second round of Abu Dhabi talks set for tense start after 'massive' strikes on Kyiv.
"Senior Ukrainian and Russian officials are due to meet in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday for a second round of talks brokered by the Trump administration. The two-day talks are expected to mirror last month's format…"
"Russia warns of military measures if US deploys weapons in Greenland…
"Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned on Tuesday that Moscow would take "military and technical compensatory measures" if the United States deploys elements of its proposed "Golden Dome" missile defense system on the Arctic island."
"Steeper Discounts on Russian Oil Test India Response to US Deal.
"Discounts on Russian oil being offered to Indian refiners have widened over the past 10 days, raising the question of whether processors will be encouraged to snap up cargoes despite a trade agreement with the US that hinges on lower purchases."
"Top China Official Vows to Boost Consumption to Overhaul Economy.
"China will press ahead with building a unified market to unleash domestic consumption as countries around Asia face a "pivotal juncture" in the transformation of the global economy, a top economic official said."
"Japan Claims 'World First' Retrieval of Rare Earths in Deepsea Drill.
"In a statement posted on X, PM Sanae Takaichi said the deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu removed sediment containing rare earth minerals from an area near Minamitori-shima (Minamitori Island) at a depth of nearly 6,000 ki
lometres."
https://www.asiafinancial.com/japan-claims-world-first-retrieval-of-rare-earths-in-deepsea-drill
"Yen Crisis Tracker.
"The Japanese yen is mired in a protracted decline linked to escalating worries about the country's financial health. With a new prime minister heading into an election, investors are bracing for policy shifts that could reshape the market."
https://www.reuters.com/data/yen-crisis-tracker-2026-02-03/
"Bank of Japan won't come to the rescue of a Takaichi-driven bond rout.
"Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi should not count on the Bank of Japan's help in taming sharp bond yield rises given the huge cost of intervention, including the significant risk of igniting unwelcome yen falls, sources say."
"North Korea: teenagers 'executed for watching Squid Game' as regime wages war on K-Drama and K-Pop…
"Interviewees said that newer South Korean content was reaching North Korea faster than in previous decades. They mentioned popular South Korean dramas from the 2010s, including Crash Landing on You, noted for its North Korea setting, and Descendants of the Sun, which features military themes."
"Thailand: From 'Economic Tiger' to the 'Sick Man of Asia'.
"Thailand's economy is in a structural crisis, transitioning from a high-growth "Economic Tiger" to a stagnant state as its main pillars of consumption, manufacturing, and tourism falter. The decline is driven by deep-seated issues, including a shrinking population."
https://www.nationthailand.com/business/economy/40062077
"Rohingya Again Abandoned as Myanmar's Conflict Enters a Far Deadlier Phase.
"This Rohingya Myanmar crisis exemplifies systemic human rights failures embedded in the junta's state policy of impunity, where airstrikes target civilians and aid blockades starve millions, reviving perils for the Rohingya minority…"
"Death toll of terrorist attacks in Pakistan's Balochistan rises to 250: official.
"More than 250 people have been killed in coordinated attacks launched by terrorists across Pakistan's Balochistan province since Saturday, a security official has said, with fighting continuing as government forces pursue the attackers."
https://www.trtworld.com/article/9abdf9b86bb1
"Afghan Migration to Crisis-Stricken Iran: A Mirror of a Deeper Catastrophe in Afghanistan.
"From what we hear and see, Iran's economy is more fragile and unstable than ever. Items such as cooking oil, rice, chicken, and red meat are no longer ordinary commodities; they have become luxury, scarce goods and concrete indicators of a collapsing livelihood."
"'Game is over': Iran's ex-leaders, hardliners clash after protest killings.
"Several of Iran's former leaders, including some who are currently imprisoned or under house arrest, have released damning statements over the killing of thousands during nationwide protests, garnering threats from hardliners."
"US shoots down Iranian drone as Middle East tensions escalate.
"The US military said it shot down an Iranian drone that "aggressively approached" an American aircraft carrier 500 miles from Iran's southern coast on Tuesday… In a separate incident hours later, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces threatened to board and seize a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz."
https://www.ft.com/content/81c72320-dab7-4429-8859-c2bd551ec5a1
"Iran-US; Why the Next Oil Crisis Will Be More Dangerous. Markets are not fully pricing in the high chance of a major oil shock...
"So, how big are the risks? Geopolitical analysts concur that they are greater than the market is now pricing. Tina Fordham of Fordham Global Foresight argues that with at least eight destroyers and an aircraft carrier in place, the buildup is accelerating."
"All-female Syrian militia refuses to lay down arms…
"'They will only get to our land over our dead bodies,' YPJ vows as Kurds fight for de facto capital… Ms Mohammed said: "Our commanders and soldiers have played the largest role, in the war against IS, in the war against al-Nusra, on all frontlines. So we can't accept an armed force without women.""
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/03/kurdish-female-soldiers-fight-for-qamishli/
"Milk rationing begins at Israeli supermarkets as dairy strike escalates.
"Sources familiar with the details told Israel Hayom that dairy farmers plan to escalate their protest measures if the Knesset committee does not transfer the discussion of the dairy reform to the Economics Committee."
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/02/03/israel-dairy-farmers-strike-milk-shortage-crisis/
"Israel kills at least ten Palestinians in Gaza, including three children…
"A source in Gaza's ambulance and emergency services told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli artillery fire struck the Zaytoun and Tuffah neighbourhoods, east of Gaza City, at dawn, killing seven people, including two baby girls."
"Economic collapse in Yemen drive many towards cryptocurrency despite grave risks.
"As inflation in Yemen surged to a record 45 per cent in 2021, Aisha Hamid watched the value of her savings steadily erode. Even with inflation now down to about 20.7 per cent, the 34-year-old Sana'a resident says the damage has already been done."
https://www.newarab.com/news/economic-collapse-yemen-drive-many-towards-cryptocurrency
"Yemen accuses Eritrea and Puntland of abuses against fishermen in Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
"Yemen's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources has accused Eritrean forces and Somalia's Puntland administration of carrying out deadly attacks, arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions of Yemeni fishermen working in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden."
"Ethiopia's prime minister accuses Eritrea of mass killings during Tigray war.
"Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, while addressing parliament Tuesday, accused Eritrean troops fighting alongside Ethiopian forces of mass killings in the war, during which more than 400,000 people are estimated to have died."
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/eritrea-ethiopia-abiy-ahmed-red-sea-addis-ababa-b2913325.html
"Central Africa: Civilians at Risk in Eastern Congo.
"Abuses against civilians by government forces and armed groups have become rampant in the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo… Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, and the Central African Republic have further restricted civil and political rights."
https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/02/04/central-africa-civilians-at-risk-in-eastern-congo
"Gaddafi's son killed in clashes as 444th Brigade denies involvement [Libya].
"Abdullah Osman, , as an adviser and chief of cabinet to Saif al-Islam, reportedly confirmed the death following an armed confrontation with the militia, according to conflict zone journalist Levent Kemal."
"Islamic State in the Sahel and the Dangers of Continued Regional Upheaval.
"The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for last week's coordinated attack on Diori Hamani International Airport and the adjacent Air Base 101 in Niamey, Niger's capital, marking one of the most high-profile attacks for IS-affiliates in the Sahel region."
https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2026-february-3/
"US military says some forces have been dispatched to Nigeria…
"Defense Minister Christopher Musa confirmed that a team was working in Nigeria but did not provide further details. A former U.S. official said the U.S. team appeared to be heavily involved in intelligence gathering and enabling Nigerian forces to strike terrorist-affiliated groups."
"US urges its citizens in Cuba to brace for protests, outages, fuel shortage…
"In recent weeks, Washington has moved to block all oil from reaching Cuba, including that from ally Venezuela, pushing up prices for food and transportation and prompting severe fuel shortages and hours of blackouts."
"Thousands march in Venezuela to demand US frees President Maduro, wife…
"Thousands carried signs in support of the abducted president, and many wore shirts calling for the couple's return from detention in a US prison. "The empire kidnapped them. We want them back," declared one banner carried by marchers."
"Colombian and Ecuadorian merchants and truckers protest escalating trade war between both nations…
"Protesters called for their governments to eliminate 30% tariffs on dozens of goods, warning the levies will hurt the economy of border provinces and affect energy companies on both sides of the border."
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/protesters-trade-quito-bogota-trump-b2913301.html
"Gen Z is officially less intelligent than millennials, first recorded intergenerational IQ drop.
"Gen Z is now officially the only generation to measure lower than their predecessors in intelligence. A neuroscientist says this is because short videos and summarised texts are being increasingly relied on, but this is not how the human brain works."
"More Gen Z and millennials are getting cancer…
"Oncologists have observed a disturbing trend — cancers are increasingly being diagnosed in younger adults, particularly those in their late 20s to early 40s — namely Gen Z and millennials."
I rely on donations and tips from my readers to to keep the site running. Every little bit helps. Can you chip in even a dollar? Buy me a coffee or become a Patreon supporter. A huge thank you to those who do subscribe or donate.
You can read the previous "Economic" thread here. I'll be back tomorrow with a "Climate" thread.
The post 4th February 2026 Today's Round-Up of Economic News appeared first on Climate and Economy.
Harry Sword explores the world of the cult London shop and record label - one of the most vital imprints for adventurous leftfield heavy metal - offering ten entry points into one of the most beguiling and bewitching catalogues out there
Crypt of the Wizard have ploughed an idiosyncratic furrow through the strangest corners of deeply underground sonics of cleaving ferocity and beyond since 2015. The shop has become an idiosyncratic institution through sheer dogged belief in the power and glory of heavy metal. Setting up on Hackney Road - and expanding to found a label in 2018 and a festival starting in 2024 - CotW remains the only specialist metal emporium in London. Initially the brainchild of founders Charlie Woolley...
The post The Strange World Of… Crypt of the Wizard appeared first on The Quietus.
Paying attention to the calls of our avian neighbours can reduce stress, find scientists in Germany
Feeling stressed? Try a dose of birdsong to lift the spirits. A new study shows that paying attention to the treetop melodies of our feathered friends can boost wellbeing and bring down stress levels.
Previous research has shown that people feel better in bird-rich environments, but Christoph Randler, from the University of Tübingen, and colleagues wanted to see if that warm fuzzy feeling translated into measurable physiological changes. They rigged up a park with loudspeakers playing the songs of rare birds and measured the blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol levels (a marker of stress) of volunteers before and after taking a 30-minute walk through the park. Some volunteers experienced the birdsong-enriched environment, some heard just natural birdsong, and some wore noise-cancelling headphones and heard no birdsong. Half of the recruits were asked to pay attention to the birdsong.
Continue reading...A shortlist of 24 images has been selected for the wildlife photographer of the year people's choice award. You can vote for your favourite image online. The winner will be announced on 25 March and shown from that date as part of the overall wildlife photographer of the year exhibition, which runs until 12 July at the Natural History Museum in London
Continue reading...Inkpen, Berkshire: We're paying the price now for a poor grass harvest, and the concern is isn't a one-off bad year
At this point in the year, when the growing season seems so far away, last summer's hay harvest is most remembered, sometimes rued. The hottest summer followed the driest spring in over 100 years in southern England. And although making hay while the sun shines is genuinely crucial, rain is critical to growth. Last year produced a very poor harvest, and hay is now running out.
Traditionally, two cuts are made, in late spring and summer, doubling the yield. It's an ancient, ingenious and hopeful system, and in the case of meadow hay (rather than single-species ryegrass) it benefits nature, removing nutrient‑laden grass and encouraging biodiversity. But long-term studies show that as our weather patterns change, grass-growing potential has declined greatly over the last 80 years.
Continue reading...
Bulega returns to make a run for the crown in his third season with the team, and ahead of his first season with the Italian manufacturer, Lecuona is raring to get started
Six new names take on their first full season in WorldSBK. Here are 2026's rookie challengers!
Electric motorcycles are beginning to move from pilot use to commercial deployment in the Philippine moto-taxi sector, with ride-hailing platform Xpress Super App confirming the integration of electric motorcycles supplied by VOLTAI into its operating network. VOLTAI is an electric vehicle brand under the Aboitiz Group, one of the country's ... [continued]
The post Electric Moto-taxis Begin Rollout in Manila, Other Urban Centers appeared first on CleanTechnica.
C is for Cranford
For my third alphabetical visit to unsung suburbs we're off to Cranford, once described as "one of the smallest and prettiest villages in Middlesex" and today absolutely none of those things. It lies on the River Crane, fairly obviously, and straddles the boroughs of Hillingdon and Hounslow (though mostly the latter). What tarnished Cranford was mass transit, first a main road, then a bypass, then a motorway, then the expansive environs of Heathrow which encroach just across the river. A few treasures remain but you do have to look quite hard, and best bring boots because it's muddy out there. [14 photos]
Cranford started out as a few cottages near a crossing over the River Crane. The main road west from London passed this way, a couple of miles beyond the important coaching hub of Hounslow, becoming safer and more strategically important after being turnpiked in 1717. The bridge here needed rebuilding in 1776, then was widened and strengthened in 1915 to cope with a greater volume of traffic. The stone parapet displays the arms of the county of Middlesex, who were dead proud of it, and also marked the dividing line between the parishes of Cranford and Bedfont. These days the Bath Road carries so many vehicles that unbroken barriers have been built down the central reservation, so impenetrable that it took me five minutes to cross from one side of the bridge to the other. The A4 essentially divides Cranford in two with pedestrians very much an afterthought, although there is a subway with authentic prewar signage if you walk as far as the roundabout.
If you've ever driven through Cranford you'll know it as the place with the turrets. Most of the rest of the main street is drab but in the middle of Berkeley Parade is an extraordinary cluster of fairytale towers surrounding the central crossroads. They have crow-stepped gables and pointy tops in Scottish Baronial style and were added to the shopping mix by E B Musman in 1930. At the foot of the towers are gorgeous wooden doors leading to twin flats above, although like much of the parade they look like they've seen better days. A busy carwash blocks the best view to the south but this just adds to the overall idiosyncrasy. Alas the northeast turrets were demolished in the 1960s to be replaced by anodyne flats whereas the northwest pair have been more elegantly absorbed into a hotel. It's notionally a 4-star Hilton but its signs were taken down recently because sssh, the clientele are now mostly migrants.
The rest of the main road is a mix of local services and airport filler, including boxy budget hotels for those whose flight plans require an overnight stay. The Moxy looks tackier than the Ibis, though it's a close call. Heathrow-edge development has been inexorable here with what used to be the White Hart now a drive-in KFC and the village pond the site of a chunky office block that now hands out degrees from the University of Derby. Bullish optimism can be the only reason behind naming a business Sublime Solicitors, ditto the nextdoor Jolly Cafe. Meanwhile the old flatroofed Cranford Library has just been closed so that a sparse collection of books can be shifted down the road into what the council describes as a Community Hub. Activities provided include money management advice, Storytime and 'all ages mindful colouring' (but it's closed on Wednesdays, so don't all rush).
Thankfully there is an older heart to suburban Cranford, a lengthy High Street which wiggles off the Bath Road opposite Tesco Express. It includes a few Edwardian cottages at the southern end and further up a converted stable block beside a proper listed Victorian villa with stone dogs guarding the door (alas extremely well hidden by shrubbery). But the real treat is a cylindrical brick hut dating back to pre-police days in 1838 which is one of only two parish lock-ups remaining in London. Drunks and thieves would have been confined overnight in dark cramped conditions before being turned over to a magistrate, highway robbery being a particular issue in the locality. The lock-up cuts a strange sight on the verge outside a block of flats, and could perhaps be mistaken for a bin store were it not for the information board placed out front when it was renovated in 2017. Full marks to Hounslow and the Heritage of London Trust.
Far less impressive is the church of Holy Angels, a geometric redbrick building built in 1970 to replace a previous church twice destroyed by arson. It was still in use as a place of worship until fairly recently but you can plainly see damp patches and peeling strips on the exterior, also metal panels securely affixed where all the windows and doors have been sealed up. The parish website confesses "As a result of bad design and sub standard construction at the time of building, Holy Angels is now closed. We await the outcome of discussions concerning the building", thus the congregation now has to troop off to another church we'll get to later. The Catholic church nextdoor is also oddly polygonal but thankfully had a different architect so remains in one piece, if locked away to restrict regular access.
The second road to despoil rural Cranford was The Parkway, a dual carriageway added in 1959 to bypass Cranford, Hayes and Yeading. Alas it sliced straight through the top of the High Street taking out a couple of big villas, and today the old road abruptly meets a seething airport feeder where pedestrians have a choice between several pushbuttons or a ridiculously long footbridge. On the far side is Cranford's only pub, The Queen's Head, which claims to be "the first pub in England to be granted a Spirits Licence" although the current building's a very '30s rebuild. Across the road The Jolly Gardeners initially looks like it might still serve pints but no, it closed 15 years ago and has morphed into a shabby home that still advertises hot food and Taylor Walker cask ales in increasingly decrepit gold lettering.
Cranford has a second historic nucleus to the northwest but to get there you need to cross the River Crane and there are no good options. To the north of Cranford Bridge is an older arched bridge used by drivers as a cut-through to Harlington, but much too narrow to be safely used by pedestrians. The London Loop prefers to cross Berkeley Meadows and then hug the river through Cranford Park, where I stared at the quagmire by the entrance gate and decided against. More direct is Avenue Park, essentially a cluster of playgrounds leading to a vast sodden meadow, which has a single footbridge at the very far end but is sadly devoid of any tarmacked means of getting there. The only all-weather route is a lengthy walk alongside the thunderous Parkway to a turnoff by a motorway junction, or of course to drive, which is likely how most parishioners get to church these days.
Cranford Park was once the site of two medieval manors controlled by the Knights Templar and Hospitaller, one moated and the other taking advantage of raised land beside the River Crane. In 1618 the combined estate was bought by a courtier of James I and later passed into the hands of the Earls of Berkeley who used it as their summer seat. Alas in 1944 their vacated manor house was demolished along with half the stable block, although the east wing of equine stalls survives and looks unexpectedly magnificent as well as magnificently unexpected. If you visit only one building in Cranford this is the one you should see. Also intact is London's oldest ha-ha - an unobtrusive boundary ditch visible from only one side - although several bricks on the corner have recently been dislodged so if anyone reading this works for Hillingdon council you might want to get that sorted. A visitor centre used to sit atop the old cellars but that burned down and construction of its replacement appears to have stalled, indeed its windows are already smashed, so you'll need to bring your own refreshments.
Immediately adjacent is St Dunstan's Church, Saxon in origin and medieval at heart. These days it's very much High Anglican so all Masses and Benedictions rather than Communions and chumminess, and likely smells it too. The churchyard is full of old graves and surrounded by memorial tablets packed onto the perimeter wall. At the far end facing sideways is the memorial to much-loved comic Tony Hancock whose ashes were scattered here, but marginally outside the burial ground because his death was a suicide. It jolts somewhat to see he predeceased his mother. And less than 100m away is the third road to sever Cranford which is the M4 motorway which was squeezed through a narrow gap between church and council estate in the early 1960s. Junction 3 was carved out of Crane-side woodland to link with The Parkway, diverting the river and allowing parishioner access through the St Dunstan's Subway. Look one way and you could still be on a country estate, look the other and convoys of articulated lorries are rumbling towards Slough. Poor Cranford... and there's one more blight to come.
Houses in south Cranford have the misfortune to be directly on the Heathrow flightpath and less than a mile from the end of the northern runway. I was fortunate on my visit that planes were taking off from the southern runway so any noise pollution was merely a semi-intrusive whine. But the pattern alternates delivering a regular stream of decelerating jet engines roaring low over the houses in Waye Avenue, either before or after 3pm, ensuring there are few less appealing streets to live anywhere in the capital. Residents foresaw this problem in 1952 and got a civil servant to agree that planes would never take off over Cranford, only land, except in times of exceptional need. The so-called Cranford Agreement was never legally ratified but has held sway ever since, even though the Coalition government decided they'd like to end it. Plans for a third runway have since muddied the waters and more crucially the airport's not yet built sufficient taxiways to enable mass eastbound take-offs from the northern runway. But one day the gentlemen's agreement will fail and Cranford will be crisscrossed not just by two dual carriageways and a motorway but also a horrendous flighpath... so if you're visiting, come before then.
Everyone seems to agree: AI is a bubble.
Too much capital. Too few revenue-generating products. Infrastructure costs that dwarf actual utility.
The consensus is almost universal.
But here's the part most people skip:
If it's so obvious, why is the smartest institutional money in the world—hedge funds, sovereign wealth, Big Tech treasuries—still deploying billions into AI infrastructure?
Not retail investors chasing hype. Not momentum traders. The people with asymmetric information and 10-year horizons.
Either:
They see something the consensus doesn't
They're trapped in a coordination problem
The bubble label itself is missing something structural
Made a 26-second short that sits with that tension. No answers given—just the question most people don't ask.
Link: https://youtube.com/shorts/hXCKOUio1Fs
Curious what people here think. Is this a traditional speculative bubble, or is the capital flow revealing a different dynamic?
submitted by /u/Reasonable_Archer914[link] [comments]
One of the toughest parts of any new computer build or upgrade is finding the right video card. In a gaming PC, the GPU is easily the most important part, and you can limit your experience by going with the wrong model. The buying process can be frustrating, especially right now with memory shortages leading to higher prices. In this guide, we'll help you navigate the market and find the right GPU for your needs.
It's all about the gamesThe first question to ask yourself is what kind of games do you want to play. Competitive shooters like Valorant, Overwatch and Marvel Rivals were designed to run on older hardware. As such, even entry-level GPUs like the GeForce RTX 5060 can push those games at 120 frames per second and above at 1080p (more on why that's important in a moment).
By contrast, if you want to play modern, single-player games with ray tracing and other graphical extras, you'll need a more powerful GPU. Just how much more powerful will depend on the resolution of your monitor.
A 1440p or QHD monitor has 78 percent more pixels than a 1080p screen, and a 4K display has more than twice as many pixels as a QHD panel. In short, running a game at 4K, especially at anything above 60 frames per second, is demanding, and most GPUs will need to use upscaling techniques like NVIDIA's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) to push new games at high refresh rates.
On the subject of resolution, it doesn't make sense to spend a lot of money on a 4K monitor only to pair it with an inexpensive GPU. That's a recipe for a bad experience. As you're shopping for a new video card, you should think about the resolution and frame rate you want to play your games. If you're in the market for both a GPU and display, be sure to check out our guide to the best gaming monitors.
If your budget allows, a good bet is to buy a midrange card that can comfortably render all but the most demanding games at 1440p and at least 144 frames per second. Put another way, you want a GPU that can saturate a monitor at its native resolution and refresh rate in as many games as possible. That will give you the smoothest possible experience in terms of motion clarity, and allow you to dabble in both competitive shooters and the latest single-player games as the mood strikes you.
One of the confusing aspects of the GPU industry are all the players involved. What you need to know is that there are three main players: AMD, Intel and NVIDIA. They design the cards you can buy, but delegate the manufacturing of them to so-called add-in board (AIB) partners like ASUS, XFX, Gigabyte and others.
As you can imagine, this creates some headaches. The most annoying of which is that AMD, Intel and NVIDIA will often set recommended prices for their graphic cards, only for their partners to sell their versions of those GPUs for more than the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP). For example, NVIDIA's website lists the RTX 5070 with a starting price of $549. On Newegg, there are no new 5070s listed at that price. The only models anywhere close to $549 are refurbished and open box specials. If you want one that comes sealed, that will cost you at least $630.
As for what company you should buy your new GPU from, before 2025, NVIDIA was the undisputed king of the market. Specific GeForce cards may have not offered the best rasterization performance in their price range, but between their performance in games with ray tracing and the fact NVIDIA was ahead on features like DLSS, an RTX GPU was a safe bet.
However, with this year's RTX 50 series release (and excluding models like the RTX 5080 and 5090 where there's no competition), it's safe to say NVIDIA missed the mark this generation. If you're in the market for an entry- or mid-level GPU, AMD and Intel offer better value, with cards that come with enough VRAM for now and into the future. That said, there are still a few reasons you might consider an NVIDIA GPU, starting with ray tracing.
Ray tracingFor decades, developers have used rasterization techniques to approximate how light behaves in the real world, and the results have been commendable. But if you know what to look for, it's easy to see where the illusion falls apart. For that reason, real-time ray tracing has been a goal of industry for years, and in 2018 it became a reality with NVIDIA's first RTX cards.
In some games, effects like ray-traced reflections and global illumination are transformational. Unfortunately, those features are expensive to run, often coming at a significant frame rate drop without upscaling. Since ray tracing was optional in many games before 2025, you could save money by buying an AMD GPU. For example, even if the RX 7800 XT was worse at ray tracing than the RTX 4070, the former was often cheaper to buy, had more onboard VRAM and offered as good or better rasterization performance in many games.
However, you can't ignore ray tracing performance anymore. We're starting to see releases like Doom: The Dark Ages where the tech is an integral part of a game's rendering pipeline, and more are likely to follow in the future. Thankfully, AMD's newest cards are much better in that regard, though you'll still get an edge running an NVIDIA model. For that reason, if ray tracing is important to you, NVIDIA cards are still the way to go.
Refresh rates and frame ratesIf you're new to the world of PC gaming, it can be tricky to wrap your head around refresh rates. In short, the higher the refresh rate of a monitor, the more times it can update the image it displays on screen every second, thereby producing a smoother moving picture.
For example, moving elements on a monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate will look better than on one with a 120Hz refresh rate. However, that's dependent on your GPU being able to consistently render a game at the appropriate frame rates. In the case of a 120Hz monitor, you want a GPU with enough headroom to drive most games at 120 fps. Realistically, most video cards won't be able to achieve that in every game, but it's a good baseline to aim for when shopping for a new GPU.
Frame generationSince the release of NVIDIA's RTX 40-series GPU, the company has offered a feature called frame generation. As the name suggests, it allows NVIDIA's latest video cards to generate an additional frame for every frame they render normally. With the 50-series, NVIDIA has since begun offering multi-frame generation, which gives those GPUs the ability to generate up to three additional frames for every rendered frame. AMD has its own take on the tech, as does Intel, though NVIDIA's offering is considered superior to both due to how it handles frame pacing.
Frame generation is nice to have, but it's not the silver bullet it might seem. Enabling it will increase system latency, reducing how responsive your games feel. Somewhat unintuitively, high-end GPUs also benefit more from the tech than their entry-level counterparts since they can naturally render more frames. For that reason, it's best to think of frame generation as a way to get the most out of a high refresh rate display.
Upscaling and latencyI've mentioned DLSS a few times already. Alongside FSR and Intel XeSS, DLSS is an example of what's known as an image reconstruction technology. More and more, native rendering is going out of fashion in game design. With ray tracing and other modern effects enabled, even the most powerful GPUs can struggle to render a game at 1440p or 4K and a playable framerate. That's why many developers will turn to DLSS, FSR or XeSS to eke out additional performance by upscaling a lower resolution image to QHD or UHD.
Upscaling in games is nothing new. For example, the PS4 Pro used a checkerboard technique to output games in 4K. What's different now is how modern GPUs go about it. With DLSS, NVIDIA pioneered an approach that uses machine learning to recreate an image at a higher resolution, and in the process, addressed some of the pitfalls of past upscaling methods. If you're sensitive to these sorts of things, there's still blur and shimmer with DLSS, FSR and XeSS, but it's much less pronounced and can lead to significant performance gains.
To DLSS, NVIDIA later added single and multi-frame generation. DLSS is only available on NVIDIA cards, and following the recent release of DLSS 4.5, widely considered to offer the best image quality. That's another reason why you might choose an NVIDIA card over one of its competitors.
However, if you decide to go with an AMD GPU, don't feel like you're missing out. The company recently released FSR 4. While it's not quite on par with DLSS 4 and 4.5 in terms of support and image quality, it's a major leap over FSR 3 and FSR 2.
While on the subject of DLSS, I'll also mention NVIDIA Reflex. It's a latency-reducing technology NVIDIA introduced in 2020. AMD has its own version called Radeon Anti-Lag, but here again Team Green has a slight edge. If you're serious about competitive games, Reflex can significantly reduce input lag, which will make it easier to nail your shots in Counter-Strike 2, Valorant and other shooters.
Driver supportPreviously, one of the reasons to pick an NVIDIA GPU over the competition was the company's solid track record of driver support. With one of the company's video cards, you were less likely to run into stability issues and games failing to launch. At the start of 2025, NVIDIA's drivers were abysmal, but the company has since corrected course.
VRAMAs you're comparing different GPUs, especially those in the same tier, pay close attention to the amount of VRAM they offer. Many modern games will eat up as much VRAM as a GPU can offer, and if your card has a low amount, such as 8GB, you're likely to run into a performance bottleneck.
If your budget allows for it, always go for the model with more VRAM. Consider, for instance, the difference between the $379 RTX 5060 Ti 8GB and $429 RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. Spending an extra $50 is going to be a lot for some people, but it's the difference between a card that is only adequate for many recent releases and one that will last you for a few years. In many cases, more VRAM is better.
A slight caveat to this is when comparing models that have different memory bandwidths. A GPU that can access more of its memory faster can outperform one with more memory, even if it has less of it outright. Here, you'll want to read reviews of the models you're comparing to see how they perform in different games.
Size and power drawModern GPUs are big. Most new cards will take up at least two PCI slots on the back of your motherboard. They can also vary dramatically in length, depending on the number of fans the AIB has added to cool the PCB. To be safe, be sure to check the length of the card you want to buy against the maximum clearance listed by your case manufacturer. If you have a radiator at the front of your case, you will also need to factor the size of that in your measurements. The last thing you want is to buy a card that doesn't fit in your case.
Lastly, be sure to check the recommended power supply for the card you want. As a rule of thumb, unless you know what you're doing, it's best to just stick with the manufacturer's recommendation. For instance, NVIDIA suggests pairing the RTX 5070 Ti with a 750 watt PSU. So if you're currently running a 650 watt unit, you'll need to factor in the price of a PSU upgrade with your new GPU.
It depends. If you can find a deal on an old RTX 40 series GPU, then yes. NVIDIA's RTX 50 series don't offer greatly improved performance over their predecessors, and with most models selling for more than their suggested retail price, it's not the best time to buy a new NVIDIA card.
That said, I suspect finding a good deal on a used GPU will be difficult. Most people will know the value of what they have, and considering the current market, will probably try to get as much as they can for their old card.
You may find better deals on older AMD and Intel GPUs, but I think you're better off spending more now on a new model from one of those companies since the generational gains offered by their latest cards are much more impressive. Simply put, the 9070 XT and B580 are two of the best cards you can buy right now.
Anything older than a card from NVIDIA's 40 series or AMD's RX 6000 family is not worth considering. Unless your budget is extremely tight or you mostly play older games, you're much better off spending more to buy a new card that will last you longer.
When is a good time to buy a new GPU?If you've read up to this point, you're probably wondering if it's even worth buying a GPU right now. The answer is (unsurprisingly) complicated. There are a handful of great cards like the Radeon RX 9060 XT and 9070 that are absolutely worth it. The problem is finding any GPU at a price approaching those set by AMD, Intel or NVIDIA.
The AI boom, and in particular actions by OpenAI, have led to memory shortages. In turn, those shortages have caused the price of consumer GPUs, SSDs and RAM kits to skyrocket in recent months. As of our latest update to this guide, some models like the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti are selling for hundreds of dollars above MSPR.
As such, if you own a relatively recent GPU, you're probably best off trying to hold onto your current card until things settle down. But if your GPU isn't cutting it anymore, you face a difficult decision: overpay now, or wait and potentially pay even more later.
To make that decision easier, I've been maintaining a separate guide that lists a selection of GPU models you can buy close to MSPR. My goal is to update that article at least once per month, so be sure to check often.
Best GPUs for 2026: Engadget ecommendations Entry-level (1080p)As we mentioned above, if you're only aiming to play basic competitive shooters like Valorant and Overwatch 2 in 1080p, an entry-level GPU may be all you need. While 1080p isn't an ideal resolution when it comes to sharpness, many gamers prefer it since it's easier to reach higher framerates. And it also helps that 1080p gaming monitors, like the AOC 24G15N 24-inch we recommend, tend to offer speedy refresh rates for between $100 and $200. When you're zipping through matches, you likely won't have time to take a breath and appreciate the detail from higher resolutions.
Here are our recommendations for entry-level video cards:
AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB: Surprisingly enough, you can actually find this AMD GPU for $300. While you'll have to live with 8GB of RAM, that's more than enough for 1080p gaming, and it also has the benefit of DLSS 4 upscaling.
AMD Radeon RX 7600: While it's a last-gen card, the RX 7600 is still powerful enough to handle basic shooters.
While entry-level cards can dabble with 1440p gaming, it's worth stepping up to something a bit more powerful if you actually want to achieve higher refresh rates. For most gamers, 1440p is the best balance between sharpness and high frame rates. It looks noticeably better than 1080p, and doesn't require the horsepower overhead of 4K. (And there's a good chance you won't really see a visual difference with the jump to 4K.)
Here are our recommendations for midrange GPUs:
NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti: Forget the disappointing RTX 5070, the 5060 Ti delivers excellent 1080p and 1440p performance. And best of all, you can still find it under $500. (Read our NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti review.)
AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB: A step up from the 8GB model we recommend above. The 16GB 9060 XT offers excellent performance across many of the latest games, and is less expensive than the 5060 Ti.
AMD Radeon RX 9070: AMD surprised us all with the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT, two midrange cards that offered similar power to and more VRAM than NVIDIA's more expensive cards. While you won't see the RX 9070 for its $550 launch price today, you can still snag one for a slight premium at $650. (Check out our AMD Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT review.)
If you want the most of what modern PC games have to offer, including 4K and all of the benefits of ray tracing, then be ready to spend big bucks on a high-end GPU. If you're going this route, though, be sure you're also gaming on a high-end monitor that befits these powerful GPUs.
Here are our recommendations for premium GPUs:
NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti: The RTX 5070 Ti surprised me with excellent 4K gaming performance for a launch price that was well below the RTX 5080. It's the best overall NVIDIA card if you want to play in 4K at 120Hz or beyond, but it's also the hardest to find at MSRP. (Check out our NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti review.)
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT: I already mentioned the RX 9070 XT. With shortages of the 5070 Ti, it's the best GPU you can buy now without paying a ridiculous premium. (Check out our AMD Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT review.)
NVIDIA RTX 5080: If the RTX 5070 Ti isn't enough for you, the RTX 5080's additional power and 24GB of VRAM should suit your fancy. Just be prepared to pay around $1,500 for it, a 50 percent jump from its $999 launch price.
When Essex University's Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a 'left behind' UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degrees
The seaside city of Southend-on-Sea, on England's east coast, looks grey on a winter afternoon in term-time. Its cobbled high street, bordering the university campus, is sparsely populated with market stalls, vape shops and discount retailers, and feels unusually quiet.
"There used to be lots of shops, restaurants and youth clubs around here," says 23-year-old Nathan Doucette-Chiddicks. Now, the city is about to lose something else that it can scarcely do without.
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Recent paintings by Rudy Rucker. Inspired by my sojourns in the lands of math and literature. Images are Copyright (C) Rudy Rucker, 2026. For more info on Rudy's art, go to his Paintings Page. I'll be talking about this stuff, and selling prints, at a Dorkbot event on February 25 at the Monkeybrains building at […]
The post Mind, Writing, and Painting first appeared on Rudy's Blog.
2026 Sepang MotoGP Test FP3 Times: Mir Fastest As Yamaha Ends Test Prematurely [ 04-Feb-26 4:05am ]The big news at the Sepang MotoGP test is that Yamaha have put their entire test on hold after Fabio Quartararo suffered a technical problem on Tuesday afternoon. See this story for more information.
David Emmett Wed, 04/Feb/2026 - 04:05
UK to properly probe xAI to test if its revolting robo-smut generator broke the law [ 04-Feb-26 6:46am ]The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched a probe into Elon Musk's xAI, after its Grok chatbot produced sexual images of real people, without their consent.…
Book review: Proto - How One Ancient Language Went Global [ 03-Feb-26 6:00am ]
Kawasaki KZ 1000 MKII RCM-131 by Sanctuary Yokohama-Yamato [ 04-Feb-26 6:00am ]
Foto: Sanctuary Yokohama-Yamato
Shackleton - Euphoria Bound [ 04-Feb-26 6:00am ]
Shackleton
Euphoria Bound
More dreamstates and haunted dancefloors from the Lancashire-born producer in permanent exile
Euphoria Bound by Shackleton
The gamification of the music industry isn't a choice anymore, it is part of the hustle and grind. As the discourse flits from topic to topic like a hummingbird, the actual art behind the wall of commerce gets brutally atomised. Instead of democratising music, platforms like TikTok have turned musicians into manic clowns: aggressively performing their next trick for a dead-end of likes and disembodied yellow thumbs. Music is part of an extended human centipede of content. Sometimes, it's the least important bit.
So when an artist is truly disconnected from the machine, it's not just an enviable flex of self confidence, it suggests they are...
The post Shackleton - Euphoria Bound appeared first on The Quietus.
The lithium boom: could a disused quarry bring riches to Cornwall? [ 03-Feb-26 4:08pm ]Known as 'white gold', lithium is among the most important mined elements on the planet - ideal for the rechargeable batteries used in tech products. Can Europe's largest deposit bring prosperity to the local community?
It looks more like the past than the future. A vast chasm scooped out of a scarred landscape, this is a Cornwall the summer holidaymakers don't see: a former china clay pit near St Austell called Trelavour. I'm standing at the edge of the pit looking down with the man who says his plans for it will help the UK's transition to renewable energy and bring back year-round jobs and prosperity to a part of the country that badly needs both. "And if I manage to make some money in the process, fantastic," he says. "Though that is not what it's about."
We'll return to him shortly. But first to the past, when this story begins, about 275-280m years ago. "There was a continental collision at the time," Frances Wall, professor of applied mineralogy at the Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter, explained to me before my visit. This collision caused the bottom of the Earth's crust to melt, with the molten material rising higher in the crust and forming granite. "There are lots of different types of granite that intrude at different times, more than 10m years or so," she says. "The rock is made of minerals and, if you've got the right composition in the original material and the right conditions, then within those minerals there are some called mica. Some of those micas contain lithium."
Continue reading...
Expensive gas still biggest driver of high UK electricity bills [ 04-Feb-26 5:37am ]
High gas prices are responsible for two-thirds of the rise in household electricity bills since before the global energy crisis, says the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The new analysis, from one of the UK's foremost research bodies on energy, flatly contradicts widespread media and political narratives that misleadingly seek to blame climate policies for high bills.
Kaylen Camacho McCluskey, research assistant at UKERC, tells Carbon Brief that despite "misleading claims" about policy costs, gas prices are the main driver of high bills. She says: "While the story of what has driven up GB consumer electricity bills is often largely attributed to policy costs, our analysis shows that this is not the case. Volatile, gas-linked market prices - not green policies, as some misleading claims have suggested - dominate the real-terms increase in bills since 2021."
In its 2025 review of UK energy policy, published today, UKERC says that annual electricity bills for typical households have risen by £166 since 2021.
It says that, after adjusting for inflation, some two-thirds of this increase (£112) is due to higher wholesale gas prices, as shown in the figure below. (This analysis does not account for the recent surge in wholesale gas prices, which, in a matter of days, have jumped by around 40% in the UK and 140% in the US.)
Contributions to the rise in annual electricity bills for typical households, £ adjusted for inflation, between April-September 2021 and April-September 2025. "Networks" includes the cost of building and operating the electricity grid. "Policy" includes costs to support clean power, as well as social policies and the "capacity market" that guarantees security of supply. "Other" includes supplier operating costs. Source: UKERC analysis of data from the Ofgem price cap.
Gas sets the price far beyond its share of generation
UKERC estimates that, despite only supplying a third of the country's electricity, gas-fired generators set the wholesale price of power around 90% of the time in 2025. (This is slightly lower than widely cited earlier estimates, published in 2023 and covering 2021, which found gas was setting power prices 97% of the time.)
A surge of new clean power means that gas would only set wholesale power prices 60% of the time by 2029, UKERC says, adding that this would cut the nation's exposure to "gas price shocks". It finds that new renewable projects set to come online over the next three years could cut wholesale power prices by 8% from current levels.
UKERC argues that the government could "strengthen…these downward trends" by shifting older renewable plants onto fixed-price "contracts for difference" (CfDs). These older schemes, built under a policy known as the "renewables obligation", are paid a top-up subsidy in addition to the wholesale power price, linking their receipts to high gas prices. Newer renewable projects with CfDs get a fixed price, which is not linked to wholesale electricity prices or the price of gas power that drives it.
Prof Rob Gross, UKERC director says in a press release that "unpredictable global gas prices still dominate our power market".
He adds, "The link between the wholesale price of gas and electricity prices continues to be the most significant factor in the price increases consumers have seen over the last few years. Government took action on some policy costs in [last year's] budget and ongoing policies will weaken the link to gas prices. But more could be done to help ensure that the stable prices offered by renewables flow through to consumer bills."
The UKERC analysis shows that rising network charges, linked to investments in expanding the electricity grid as well as balancing supply and demand in real time, were the second-largest contributor to the rise in bills since 2021.
Significant further grid investments are set to add further pressure on bills over the next few years. However, energy regulator Ofgem says these investments will cut bills relative to the alternative.
Policy costs are only the third-largest driver of current high bills, according to UKERC's analysis. It says these were linked to just 12% of the rise for typical households, or £19 per year.
Image by Centre for Ageing Better via Pexels (CC0)
It is commonly argued that rising policy costs are certain to raise bills, but this tends to ignore the interplay between CfDs and wholesale power prices. The record-breaking recent government auction for CfDs is expected to be roughly "cost neutral" for bills, potentially even generating consumer savings of £1bn a year by 2035. As UKERC explains, this is because new renewable projects will receive CfD payments and may result in higher network costs, but they also cut wholesale power prices. A full analysis of the overall impact on bills must take all of these factors into account.
Thinktanks agree: gas is still the biggest factorThe UKERC report aligns with another recent analysis from thinktank Nesta, which said that, while there was a pressing need to look at future cost pressures from network and policy charges, "it is clear that gas is still the main source of our high energy bills to date". It added:
"It is still true that higher gas prices are the main reason for higher energy bills for most British households when you look at the whole bill. Gas is not the only culprit, but it is still the biggest one."
This article by CarbonBrief is republished under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Read the original here.
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Bylines Network Gazette is back!
With a thematic issue on a vital topic - the rise child poverty, ending on a hopeful note. You will find sharp analyses on the effect of poverty on children's lives, with a spotlight on the communities that are on the front line of deprivation, with personal stories and shared solutions. Click on the image to gain access to it, or find us on Substack.
Journalism by the people, for the people.
The post Expensive gas still biggest driver of high UK electricity bills first appeared on East Anglia Bylines.
MEMO: Sierra Club & Partners Rally to Make Polluters Pay for Climate Disasters [ 04-Feb-26 4:50am ]Summary of Week of Action and What to Expect Next Washington, DC — Last week, Sierra Club joined partners from across the country for a "Make Polluters Pay" Week of Action, a coordinated set of advocacy actions and events dedicated to holding Big Oil and Gas companies accountable for their climate ... [continued]
The post MEMO: Sierra Club & Partners Rally to Make Polluters Pay for Climate Disasters appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Kash Patel Creating Tension With Mexico Because He Can't Shut The Fuck Up On Social Media [ 04-Feb-26 4:00am ]Kash Patel, FBI Director, is not very good at his job. There are plenty of examples to demonstrate that notion, from him apparently completely misunderstanding the purpose and protections of the 2nd Amendment and Minnesota gun laws (whatever your thoughts on gun rights might generally be), to his gathering of barely trained castoffs to serve in the FBI, to the absolute wild waste of resources he spent last summer trying to root out independent thought within his agency. None of this is justice. None of it is good policing. All of it is the result of putting a podcast host shitposter in charge of America's federal police force. Ol' Crazy-Eyes just might not be the right person for the role.
And if you're going to be the leader of a federal police force, one of the skills you probably want to have is the capability of shutting the fuck up. Kash can't do this. Rather than simply not answering, it appears Patel may have lied to Congress about the Epstein files (remember those?). In the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination, Patel blabbed about suspects all over social media and elsewhere, leading to wasted time and attention on completely innocent parties.
And, now, in the wake of an operation by the FBI that would appear to violate Mexican law, Patel decided to gush about the whole thing on the internet. What other option did he have, I wonder?
Ryan Wedding is a former Olympian who, by all accounts, turned himself into a violent cocaine drug kingpin working with a Mexican cartel. He was charged in Canada in 2015 for cocaine trafficking and in America in 2025 for that and for murder. Recently, Wedding found himself in American custody to face those charges. How that happened wasn't initially disclosed in coverage of the arrest. But then Kash Patel got out his phone and decided to gush about the whole thing on internet.
On Friday, however, FBI Director Kash Patel announced the joint operation publicly on X. "Our FBI HRT teams executed with precision, discipline, and total professionalism alongside our Mexican partners to bring Ryan James Wedding back to face justice," he wrote, sending shock waves through Mexico.
Except there's a problem with that statement. A pretty big one, actually. Mexican law is very clear that foreign LEOs are not to operate on Mexican soil. That would make the FBI's participation as outlined by Patel illegal. And that might create problems for his eventual prosecution and a really big headache for the Mexican government.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum scrambled to perform damage control, as foreign intervention in Mexico is politically toxic. She said that there was no U.S. involvement in the operation and that U.S. agents in Mexico are limited by law.
"I'm not going to get into a debate with the FBI director, nor do I want there to be a conflict," Sheinbaum said at a press conference Tuesday. "What they, the U.S. authorities, told the Mexican authorities is that it was a voluntary surrender." She pointed to a picture Wedding posted to his Instagram account at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico announcing that he was turning himself in.
Wedding's lawyer disputes that account, because of course he did. Whether Wedding actually surrendered or not is unknown to me, of course, but I've been well-trained the past 13 months not to believe a single thing my government says, so who the fuck knows. Wedding's lawyer claims he was handcuffed and transported to California and that this runs contrary to any claim any of this was voluntary. And because of all of this, the Mexican government now has both an internal problem and has to deal with an unreliable shitposting partner in the American government.
Patel's rash decision to post about Wedding's arrest online doesn't help the situation right now. It opens Sheinbaum up to political attacks in Mexico and makes the U.S.-Mexico relationship even shakier. Under Trump, though, American law enforcement is playing fast and loose with not just the law but diplomatic relations.
I'm not exactly advocating that the American government carryout these illegal extraditions violating our allies' own laws and then hiding it through silence. That would be crazy.
Instead, the point is that this administration's goons, such as Kash Patel, are so shitty that they can't even carry out such nefarious actions in silence because they can't shut the fuck up about them.
Feds Identify "Leader of Antifa" [ 04-Feb-26 5:22am ]
I Have to Get Hotter [ 04-Feb-26 5:03am ] Euphoria Bound [ 04-Feb-26 5:02am ]
AMD suggests the next-gen Xbox will arrive in 2027 [ 04-Feb-26 5:27am ]Microsoft could launch the next-generation Xbox console sometime in 2027, AMD CEO Lisa Su has revealed during the semiconductor company's latest earnings call. Valve is on track to start shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year, she said, while Microsoft's development of an Xbox with a semi-custom SOC from AMD is "progressing well to support a launch in 2027." While it doesn't necessarily mean Microsoft is releasing a new Xbox console next year, that seems to be the company's current goal.
Xbox president Sarah Bond announced Microsoft's multi-year partnership with AMD for its consoles in mid-2025. Based on Bond's statement back then, Microsoft is embracing the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in future Xbox games. She also said that the companies are going to "co-engineer silicon" across devices, "in your living room and in your hands," implying the development of future handheld consoles.
Leaked documents from the FTC vs. Microsoft court battle revealed in the past that Microsoft was planning to make the next Xbox a "hybrid game platform," which combines local hardware and cloud computing. The documents also said that Microsoft was planning to release the next Xbox in 2028. Whether the company has chosen to launch the new Xbox early remains to be seen, but it is possible when the Xbox X and S were released in 2020, and they haven't sold as well as the Xbox One.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/amd-suggests-the-next-gen-xbox-will-arrive-in-2027-052707822.html?src=rss
Clouds rush to deliver OpenClaw-as-a-service offerings [ 04-Feb-26 5:28am ]If you're brave enough to want to run the demonstrably insecure AI assistant OpenClaw, several clouds have already started offering it as a service.…
Zurich Transit Operator Prepares Fresh €150 Million Electric Bus Tender After Supplier Setbacks [ 04-Feb-26 4:59am ]UPDATED AS OF FEBRUARY 2. Zurich's public transport authority, Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ), has officially launched one of its largest fleet procurements in years, opting for a new competitive tender for battery-electric buses rather than relying on existing framework contracts. The move, first reported by BusWorld and CH Media, was formalized ... [continued]
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OpenAI's Lead Is Contracting as AI Competition Intensifies [ 04-Feb-26 5:20am ]
OCTANE [ 04-Feb-26 5:01am ] NAK [ 04-Feb-26 5:00am ]
There Will Be More EVs (and NEVs) at the Chicago Auto Show 2026 [ 04-Feb-26 4:34am ]The Chicago Auto Show will return to McCormick Place from February 7 to 16, 2026, with a lineup that underscores the show's evolving role in the US auto market: less about global debuts and more about consumer-ready vehicles, electrification pathways, and hands-on engagement. The small ratio of pure EVs to ... [continued]
The post There Will Be More EVs (and NEVs) at the Chicago Auto Show 2026 appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Yamaha Suspends V4 MotoGP Testing, Quartararo's Technical Issue Under Investigation [ 04-Feb-26 4:30am ]The big news at the Sepang MotoGP test is that Yamaha have put their entire test on hold after Fabio Quartararo suffered a technical problem on Tuesday afternoon. No details off the issue have been confirmed or released, but clouds of white some were seen coming Quartararo's bike as it was sat parked against the barriers.
Earlier, I had seen Yamaha mechanics spending a lot of time ensuring that the cooling system was fully filled, though that is not necessarily proof that this is where the problem is. However, if you are going to run into problems with heat, Sepang is one of the prime candidates for it to happen. Senior management at Yamaha have told the teams that testing with the V4 is to stop until the cause of the problem is identified. The garage doors in Yamaha remain closed.
David Emmett Wed, 04/Feb/2026 - 04:30
Toyota Uses bZ Time Attack Concept to Probe the Limits of EV Racing [ 04-Feb-26 4:08am ]At the 2025 SEMA Show, Toyota presented a battery-electric concept car that signals how the company is thinking about motorsport in an electric future. The bZ Time Attack Concept was developed not as a styling exercise, but as a functional prototype to evaluate how a BEV platform behaves under racing ... [continued]
The post Toyota Uses bZ Time Attack Concept to Probe the Limits of EV Racing appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Global EV Sales Leaders — Top Selling Brands & OEMs in 2025 [ 04-Feb-26 3:49am ]After publishing our report on the top selling EV models in the world in December and 2025 as a whole, as well as an overall report on global EV progress, here's our complementary report on the auto brands and groups leading EV sales around the world. Geely on the Way ... [continued]
The post Global EV Sales Leaders — Top Selling Brands & OEMs in 2025 appeared first on CleanTechnica.
20 Best Selling EV Models in the World in 2025 — Tesla Makes an (Increasingly Rare) #1 + #2 Win [ 04-Feb-26 3:39am ]Regarding December's best selling electric vehicles, the big news is that thanks to a strong month in China, Tesla partly recovered from the hangover on the US market and saw its best sellers return to leading positions. The Model Y (132,327 units, down 3% YoY) won the best seller spot, ... [continued]
The post 20 Best Selling EV Models in the World in 2025 — Tesla Makes an (Increasingly Rare) #1 + #2 Win appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Yamaha misses start of day two at Sepang MotoGP Test: "The team is still investigating" [ 04-Feb-26 3:59am ]
2026 Official Sepang MotoGP Test: Results - Day 2 (Wednesday) [ 04-Feb-26 3:01am ]
