For many years, Donald Trump has viewed unpredictability as one of his greatest negotiating assets.He believes deliberately acting “crazy,” as he reportedly told aides in 2017, is a highly effective way to win concessions in advance of a deal. As I’ve written, this is akin to what President Richard Nixon dubbed the “madman theory” — that if he convinced foreign leaders he was willing to do unthinkable things, they’d back down out of fear.The problem was that savvy observers like investors and foreign leaders caught on to this game. So during Trump’s first term, conventional wisdom set in: Trump may say scary things, but he’s typically bluffing. In the end, he is rational, knows when to step back from the brink, and does not want a truly destructive outcome. Often, there was seemingly good reason to believe this: The pre-pandemic economy remained strong, Trump avoided major new wars, and he didn’t pull out of NATO.Now, in his second term, Trump has decided to blow up that assumption by imposing chaotic, impulsive, and bizarre tariffs that shake the global economy. He’s not just threatening anymore: He’s actually implementing his destructive and dangerous ideas. (At least for a little while — he did back off some of them on Wednesday amid market turmoil, though others remain.)It is entirely possible — likely, in my view — that Trump’s hoped-for endgame for his trade war remains a series of “big, beautiful deals,” with details flexible and to be determined and, that in his own mind, all he’s doing is trying to increase his leverage. That is: He’s still trying to implement madman theory.Even regarding China, where the trade war is most intense, it could well be that Trump will settle for something far short of the massive disruption that truly decoupling our economy from theirs would entail — that the endgame is a deal.But even if all this is true and Trump’s end goals are not as unreasonable as his current behavior reflects, he’s still doing grave and potentially long-lasting damage to the United States and its reputation and position in the global economy.Trump is shredding the US’s economic and business reputationIt turns out that trying the madman schtick, not just with individual foreign leaders but with the entire global economy all at once, is far riskier. And it turns out that by actually following through on his threats and putting giant tariffs into effect, Trump crossed an important line. He exploded investors’ conventional wisdom that he would, in the end, back down. So they’re responding — by ditching US bonds and currency.Now, Trump’s team did anticipate that the trade war might drive the dollar down — some of them even wanted that because it would help make US exports more competitive. They did not, however, anticipate the ominous spikes in US Treasury bond yields. In fact, Trump advisers had previously said they were trying to drive bond yields lower.US Treasury bonds are typically viewed as an extremely safe asset — they mature with interest after a set period. The interest rate, or “yield,” fluctuates based on market demand. Basically, when investors become more eager to put their money in US bonds, the interest rate drops. But when investors prefer to put money elsewhere, the interest rate goes up (demand for bonds is lower, so a higher interest rate is necessary to make it “worth it” for investors).Typically, a crisis drives investors to the safe asset of Treasury bonds. But now a Trump-invented crisis is doing the opposite and driving them away. This is a major problem both because US interest payments on its debt will rise and because it heightens the risk of a financial crisis.The reason for investors’ flight from US bonds seems obvious — a country run by a “madman” who’s willing to throw millions of business models into chaos on a whim does not seem particularly stable and reliable. The US’s global reputation was the safest place in a storm, but now, Trump is causing the storm, and investors are responding by fleeing the US.I wrote back in January that “it’s very difficult to send a credibly intimidating madman message to foreign leaders while at the same time sending a reassuring message to markets.” And now, it’s clear that Trump’s attempt to intimidate the world is doing his own economy great harm, in a way that will be difficult to recover from unless he somehow overcomes his addiction to making unhinged tariff threats (or the Supreme Court reins him in).Trump has grown more willing to embrace risk and chaosI’ve written about the institutional guardrails that, in Trump’s first term, often effectively held him back from doing damaging things. But in some ways, the most important guardrail is Trump himself — his own instincts about political self-preservation and calculations about when it is time to step back from the brink.Throughout his first term, Trump did many risky, controversial, and provocative things. But he also (often at the behest of pleading advisers) was willing to decide that this particular firing or that particular provocation would be going too far. He drew the line somewhere.But as the term went on, he kept drawing that line closer to the edge of the cliff. Take, for instance, his unprecedented attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, which many Republicans initially assumed was cheap talk. It took his followers storming the Capitol and sending members of Congress fleeing in terror before he backed down.Now, back in office, and surrounded by “yes men” and ideologues, Trump feels newly empowered to do what he wants — to take massive risks or do things that would have seemed unthinkable in his first term. Hence Liberation Day.At the beginning of this week’s market turmoil, some Trump allies claimed he was totally unbothered since the economic pain was just hitting “Wall Street” and not “Main Street.” This was a ludicrous thing to say — many businesses and jobs are at risk, and American consumers’ confidence in the economy is plummeting — but some feared the Trump team was so disconnected from reality that it believed it.Then, amidst those ominous signs in the bond markets, Trump blinked on Wednesday. This appeared to confirm that the worst-case scenario of Trump’s disconnection from reality was not, in fact, true, and investors responded with enthusiasm. But his simultaneous escalation against China (and new tariff threats against Mexico on Thursday on an entirely separate issue) shows he’s extremely reluctant to give up the tariff weapon. So as of early Friday afternoon, the markets were still tumultuous.What will be sufficient to spur Trump to back down again? Where is the line this week, this day, this hour? And how much pain will our economy and our country suffer before he decides enough is enough?See More: Politics

A peachy discount (Nintendo) SHOPPING – Contains affiliated content. Products featured in this Metro article are selected by our shopping writers. If you make a purchase using links on this page, Metro.co.uk will earn an affiliate commission. Click here for more information. A deal on Argos offers a discount across all Nintendo Switch 2 accessories and games, including Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. The high price for Mario Kart World may have caught everyone off-guard, but a new promotion can help reduce some of the financial damage. If you sign up to receive marketing emails at UK retailer Argos before Wednesday, June 18, you’ll be sent a voucher code which will give you £10 off any order of at least £60. While this offer applies to anything from Argos, it is a perfect way to reduce the price of physical Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World (£74.99) and Donkey Kong Bananza (£64.99), or accessories like the Switch 2 Pro Controller (£74.99). There are some caveats to this deal. You’ll have 12 days to use the code once generated (they are usually sent within 15 minutes of signing up), and you have to pay £1.95 for delivery, as Argos only offers free delivery on orders over £100. In other words, you’ll technically save £8.05 overall, but it’s still something. Unfortunately, you can’t get around this hiccup by stacking up orders, as Argos will apply the £1.95 charge to each item and deliver them separately. It’s likely you could dodge it by using the free store collection option after the Switch 2 launches on June 5, but as you can only pre-order items at this stage, that option is currently unavailable. On the upside, you can get several codes if you have unused email addresses going spare. You can only apply one code per item, but if you’re picking up Mario Kart World and the Switch 2 Edition of The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, for example, you can save £8.05 on both. More Trending You could use this offer on a Switch 2 console too, but Argos is currently sold out on those, and it’s unclear when the retailer will be restocked. Once you’ve claimed the offer, you can stop receiving marketing emails by clicking on the ‘Unsubscribe from Argos Emails’ link at the bottom of the email voucher. Nintendo Switch 2 Joy Con 2 Controller Red & Blue – £74.99 Nintendo Switch 2 Wireless Pro Controller – £74.99 Mario Kart World – £74.99 Donkey Kong Bananza – £64.99 The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom – £64.99 The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild – £64.99 Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV – £64.99 Kirby & The Forgotten Land + Star Crossed World – £64.99 The Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch in two bundles, with the console alone priced at £395.99 and a Mario Kart World bundle costing £429.99. You can check out the latest information on where to pre-order here. Donkey Kong Bananza is out in July (Nintendo) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Though fume-free, their brake pads and tyres disintegrate over time

By Matt Novak Published April 11, 2025 | Comments (0) | The Space Shuttle Discovery is the back drop as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence chairs the 6th meeting of the National Space Council on "Leading the Next Frontier" at the National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, August 20, 2019 in Chantilly, Virginia. © Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images After NASA’s Space Shuttles were retired in 2010, they were eventually sent to museums in Florida, California, New York, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Virginia. But Texas Republicans are not happy that the Lone Star state didn’t get one, given its historic significance to space travel. And they’ve introduced legislation to take the space shuttle currently at the Smithsonian and bring it to Houston. U.S. senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz introduced a new bill on Thursday called the Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act, which would require the space shuttle Discovery to be transferred from the Smithsonian to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Discovery was sent to the Smithsonian because it’s the oldest shuttle that’s still space-worthy, making it invaluable for future research and study. If the legislation passed, it would require the Smithsonian to come up with a plan for moving the shuttle, and that’s where things get very, very tricky. As the news outlet collectSpace explains, it’s virtually impossible to move the shuttle because the hardware used to relocate the four shuttles back in 2012 was destroyed. One of the modified Boeing 747 jetliners that moved the shuttles to their current homes is sitting in a museum and isn’t flightworthy, while the other would need new engines and a lot of other modification work to make it fit for purpose, according to collectSpace. Even assuming you successfully flew Discovery to Houston, the work on the ground would present its own problems. Getting the Endeavour from the L.A. International Airport to the California Science Center took three days to cover just 12 miles. Hundreds of trees had to be removed, and while it was quite a spectacle to watch the slow-moving shuttle wind through the city, it was an enormous undertaking. NASA employed one of its modified Boeing 747s to ferry three of the orbiters to their new homes. On a rainy night in April 2012, Discovery arrived at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Photo: NASA What about just taking Discovery apart and reassembling it? That would destroy the thermal blankets and tiles, according to collectSpace, some of the many things that make it valuable as an existing flightworthy shuttle for future research and study. And even if it were broken up into smaller pieces, those parts would still be far too large to move through traffic in any normal way. But none of that seems to be a concern to the Texas senators who are trying to make this happen. Sen. Cornyn complains that Texas wasn’t given one of the shuttles because President Barack Obama was playing politics. “Houston played a critical role throughout the life of the Space Shuttle program, but it is clear political favors trumped common sense and fairness when the Obama administration blocked the Space City from receiving the recognition it deserves,” Cornyn said in a statement posted online. “I am proud to lead the effort to finally bring Discovery home to Houston, where future generations of Texans and Americans can come to learn about the city’s integral role in our nation’s space shuttle program.” Incredibly, it doesn’t seem like the two Texas senators even bothered to talk with Space Center Houston before coming up with their idea, according to collectSpace. And while it sounds like the museum directors aren’t opposed to the plan, it does seem extremely odd they wouldn’t have been consulted in advance of such disruptive legislation. “Home to the Johnson Space Center and its famed Mission Control, Houston has an unparalleled reputation and history in the exploration of the new frontier,” Sen. Cruz said in a statement. “It is past time that the Space Center Houston Museum houses a Space Shuttle, given the unique relationship between the entire program and its support staff in Houston. Bringing the Discovery to its final home will offer hundreds of thousands of visitors each year the opportunity to engage with a living piece of NASA’s history and understand why Houston is known worldwide as ‘Space City.’” Discovery first launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 30, 1984, and landed from its final mission to the International Space Station on March 9, 2011. Daily Newsletter You May Also Like By Passant Rabie Published April 11, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published April 10, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published April 9, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published April 5, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published April 3, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published March 30, 2025

Pierre and Colette Soulages Primary School / NAS architecture + GTASave this picture!© Severin Malaud•Montpellier, France Architects: GTA, NAS architecture Area Area of this architecture project Area:  3500 m² Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2025 Photographs Photographs:Severin Malaud, Mary Gaudin Lead Architects: NAS Architecture More SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. The building of the former annex of the Montpellier Music Conservatory, located in the heart of the Écusson district and in close proximity to the Saint-Pierre Cathedral, holds significant heritage value. Since it was acquired by the Ursulines in 1679 to establish the Saint-Charles House, the complex has undergone numerous modifications and substantial densification, particularly during the 20th century. Our intervention consisted of a complete rehabilitation of the building to accommodate the Pierre and Colette Soulages Primary School. To achieve this, we adopted a subtractive approach. Through a meticulous process of archaeological assessment and identification of remarkable elements, we developed a methodology for preserving and reinforcing key features while making bold decisions about demolitions to recover the site's essence.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Restoring the original porosity helped reduce density and bring natural light into the heart of the building, symbolized by a patio that reveals the original layout of the Courtyard of the Hôtel de Brissac. The chapel also regained its original volume following the removal of an intermediate floor added in the 1990s. This complex and demanding rehabilitation process, balancing secular considerations and memory preservation, enabled the creation of a new, unique place where children's well-being is valued above all.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!A Rediscovered Porosity -Save this picture!Save this picture!Traces of past modifications, such as 20th-century wall openings, have been preserved as hollow marks, now forming part of the vertical surfaces that narrate the building's turbulent history and evolution. The patio also contributes to thermal regulation through natural ventilation, creating a refreshing microclimate. The new openings assert their identity within the overall space composition, allowing classrooms to benefit from cross-ventilation.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Sequencing Through Voids - Three oversized vertical openings segment the building revealing key historical junctures. The first one, visible from the school's new entrance, marks the sale of the Ursuline convent in 1792 following the French Revolution and the simultaneous addition of the "West Wing". The second one, visible in the current patio, highlights the 1857 connection between the former Hôtel de Brissac and the raised West Wing, enclosing the convent's Grand Courtyard.Save this picture!Save this picture!The third void, at the gable end of the West Wing, frames the gallery while directing the gaze towards the National School of Dramatic Arts of Montpellier, which was once connected to the current building. Demolitions in the 1990s erased the historical urban fabric—now only signified by these large openings. Large-scale aluminum-framed windows provide generous natural light throughout the school while offering new perspectives on Montpellier's historic city center.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Design Choices and Secularism - The chapel is a powerful marker of the site's history. Built-in 1857 by architect Nulma Polge in a neo-Gothic style, it was heavily altered in the 1990s with the addition of a concrete mezzanine dividing the building into two performance spaces for the Conservatory. The main goal of the rehabilitation was to restore the original volume by removing this intermediate floor. Once removed, the entire space was treated uniformly with a lime-coated non-woven fabric to unify the deteriorated walls without damaging the decor—though many elements were pastiches of uncertain age. All stained glass windows were carefully removed, restored using traditional methods, and reinstalled.Save this picture!Save this picture!Contemporary additions are present but discreet, avoiding interference with the historic massing. Heating and ventilation systems were integrated into the floor, while acoustics and lighting were handled via freestanding metal frames with stretched fabric, adding rhythm to each bay. The result is a strong yet measured intervention, where secularism is addressed through the lens of heritage respect, turning the former chapel into a multipurpose activity room—acknowledging the paradox of a public school housed in a former convent.Save this picture!Save this picture!Stratification of exterior spaces - Around the 1880s, garden-side galleries were built with cast-iron columns, brick vaulting, and metal-beamed floors. These walkways provide shade and shelter, offering large outdoor extensions connected directly to the first-floor classrooms. Due to various structural, fire safety, and accessibility issues, comprehensive reinforcement work was necessary to open these areas to public use. These now-functional spaces offer shaded outdoor study areas—perfect for Montpellier's Mediterranean climate.Save this picture!Save this picture!The playground is divided into two different levels. The patio's cobblestones extend into the upper playground, becoming more spaced out to encourage vegetation growth. The lower courtyard is fully permeable with a wood chip surface and around ten newly planted trees. Over time, it will develop into a small urban forest, nurturing a direct connection to nature.Save this picture!Save this picture!Embracing the Site's Material History with Humility - The interior spaces were treated with restraint and simplicity. Stone walls were stripped of accumulated layers, revealing finely laid masonry that reflects former architectural functions. Concrete was chosen for its ability to open learning spaces toward circulation areas. Left raw and sandblasted, it now shapes part of the spatial identity. Other interventions favored timber in all its forms: from solid or perforated wall paneling to fiber ceiling, and custom furniture installations to refine the entrances and conceal technical ducts. All floors were entirely removed, leaving only the main beams exposed. A new floor system was installed using a technique that preserved visible beams below, completed with a clay-bead screed, and finished with appropriate acoustic flooring. These choices were made to provide optimal learning conditions aligned with the expectations of a contemporary primary school.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The Pierre and Colette Soulages Primary School acts as a bridge between its many past uses, embracing its palimpsestic heritage—exposed, layered, and reinterpreted to serve a vital new role in Montpellier's city center. Through thoughtful subtraction, the project brings light, air, and views back to every corner. Here, architecture becomes a pedagogical tool, nurturing children's curiosity through visible clues, traces, and mysteries from the site's rich history.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less About this office

Amazon has angled to become a major player in the healthcare industry for years, but the company may try extending its reach into daily life even further. According to recently revealed internal documents, Amazon conducted smallscale tests in Europe that involved training contracted Prime drivers on defibrillators to help in emergency response scenarios. According to an April 10 report from Bloomberg, the series of trials known as Project Pulse began in Amsterdam in November 2023, before expanding to London, Bologna, Italy, and elsewhere. Over 100 contract Prime delivery drivers volunteered, after which they took a basic first-aid course that included CPR training. Once completed, Amazon supplied them with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) manufactured by the Dutch company Koninklijke Philips NV.AEDs are specifically designed to be used with minimal experience. The devices rely on external sensor pads that adhere to a patient’s chest while the main component’s speaker verbally directs an operator to administer a shock when needed. Although many businesses and public facilities store AEDs in the event of a medical emergency, the American Heart Association estimates only around 15 percent of heart attacks occur in these spaces. Meanwhile, the American Red Cross cites that over 70 percent of cardiac events take place in private homes. Around 90 percent of heart attack patients survive if defibrillation is administered within the first minute of the emergency. After completing training and receiving an AED, Prime drivers then downloaded citizen responder apps depending on their location. If alerted to a nearby suspected cardiac arrest emergency, Amazon’s contract workers could then travel to the location and administer care if necessary.  However, it’s unclear how often Amazon was involved in emergency response situations, and the outcomes of those emergency responses. Prime vans outfitted with basic emergency medical equipment may make sense from a logistical standpoint, but  it’s also representative of Amazon’s extension into just about every facet of daily life. Bloomberg also noted that a previous study by Koninklijke Philips included in Amazon’s internal papers estimated that AED-stocked delivery vehicles deployed across north Seattle could respond to a crisis over a minute faster than emergency medical services. Another internal document concluded it would cost Amazon less than $17 million to equip 15 percent of drivers across the company’s more than 1,100 last-mile delivery depots worldwide. Although Project Pulse has reportedly ended, similar trials were ongoing as recently as last year in Paris. Internal documents also indicate the company may try expanding the proactive emergency response measures into other regions and markets in the future.“This type of initiative is always a plus. If someone has a cardiac arrest, the more people trained and defibrillators available, the better,” said Paul Dardel, chief physician for the French first responder app Staying Alive. “And for Amazon, it valorizes their image.” The post Amazon trained Prime drivers to use defibrillators appeared first on Popular Science.

The first bat-wearable microphone is helping biologists study the bats’ good safety record at avoiding collisions in rush hour air. On summer evenings, in around a minute, some 2,000 greater mouse-tailed bats can crowd out of a cave opening only about three meters square in Israel’s Hula Valley, says neuroecologist Yossi Yovel of Tel Aviv University. From a distance, their emergence looks like “a plume of smoke,” he says. He and colleagues have now studied the echolocation chirps that let Rhinopoma microphyllum bats detect obstacles, including each other. In the crowded flight, signals from one bat often partially mask a neighbor’s, the researchers report in in the April 8 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It’s a flying mammal version of the communications perplexities of cocktail party mammals. Yet, the team found that these bats have surprisingly few collisions. Studying bats by the thousands isn’t easy. At first, “we could only record the bat from the ground,” Yovel says. That limited the information so much that he and colleagues designed microphones small enough to fasten (temporarily) to bats that weigh around 40 grams, lighter than a newborn kitten. The goal was crafting a device adding only four grams to the flying animal’s weight, a little less than a nickel. A tiny silver microphone lets greater mouse-tailed bats make the first in-air recordings of bat echolocation pinging that reduces in-air collisions when thousands fly together.Noam Cvikel Researchers used in-air recordings from four little microphones plus flight paths from 96 tracked bats to create computer models of bat exodus and echolocation. This bat version of sonar, chirping and then listening for echoes, can locate obstacles, prey and each other. At the cave’s tight exit hole, as much as 90 percent of the echolocation chirping can be masked. But pings from the important, closet neighbors in the congestion tend to be less so, especially ones from a bat directly in front because it’s projecting echolocation calls forward. Plus, the chirping “has a lot of redundancy,” Yovel says. Eventually enough pieces of a message get through. The evening rush hour commute for greater mouse-tailed bats has surprisingly few midair collisions (marked in video). Starting from inside a cave where thousands of Rhinopoma microphyllum bats huddle during the day, the colony streams out a narrow exit to hunt in Israel’s Hula Valley. Also, he adds, “the moment they emerge through the hole, they start moving to the side,” lessening collision risk. As they fly more than a kilometer in their smoke-plume formation, bat-to-bat distance leaves room to hear themselves echolocate. The paper itself could be an echo (with a twist) on a cocktail party challenge for fringe-lipped bats hunting túngara frogs in Central and South America. Targeting by sound alone would be a challenge in frog-pool cacophony. A bat’s echolocation, however, can ping one calling frog’s ballooning throat pouch.

Nature, Published online: 11 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01108-wBiomolecular analysis shows that unusual book coverings are made of sealskin, hinting at far-flung trade networks.

Using advanced microscopes that capture brain cell anatomy and activity, a portion of a mouse's brain was mapped and rendered into a 3D atlas that creates new possibilities for neuroscience.

Hi! I really like this scene from SpongeBob. The fact that this vehicle exists only to crush Squidward in this episode cracks me up, so I decided to turn it into 3D, playing around and reimagining the environment (and a quick night version). Software used: Blender and Substance Designer. submitted by /u/CadeteEspacial [link] [comments]