Life & Love

FASTER-THAN-LIGHT SPEEDS COULD BE WHY GAMMA-RAY BURSTS SEEM TO GO BACKWARDS IN TIME

11 MAR 2020 Time, as far as we know, moves only in one direction. But in 2018, researchers found events in some gamma-ray burst pulses that seemed to repeat themselves as though they were going backwards in time. Now, recent research suggests a potential answer for what might be causing this time …

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ALLIANZ: CORONAVIRUS IS WORSE FOR COMMERCE THAN U.S.-CHINA TRADE WAR

10 MAR 2020  In a research note published Thursday, an economist at leading European insurer Allianz SE predicted that the impact of the novel coronavirus on global commerce will be greater than that from the U.S.-China trade war. “We estimate that losses of trade in goods and services could amount …

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SWISS INVESTMENT BANK STOPS FUNDING FOR OFFSHORE ARCTIC PROJECTS

09 MAR 2020  Swiss investment bank UBS has committed to no longer providing finance for new offshore oil projects in the Arctic, greenfield thermal coal mines or greenfield oil sands projects. The bank’s new standards also include enhanced due diligence for transactions related to LNG and ultra-deepwater drilling. UBS reduced …

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PUTIN UNVEILS MORE PLANS TO BOOST NORTHERN SEA ROUTE

08 Mar 2020 Cargo shipments passing through the Northern Sea Route, Russia’s remote Arctic sea artery, topped 30 million tons during the past year, officials have said, marking a major uptick in fossil fuel deliveries from one of the world’s most vulnerable environments. The shipping upswing, which President Vladimir Putin …

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CRISPR USED ON PATIENT’S EYE IN ATTEMPT TO CURE GENETIC BLINDNESS, WORLD FIRST

9 MAR 2020 For the first time, doctors have attempted to cure blindness by gene-hacking a patient with CRISPR technology. A team from Oregon Health & Science Institute injected three droplets of fluid that delivered the CRISPR DNA fragments directly into a patient’s eyeball, The Associated Press reports, in hopes that it will reverse …

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PSA NORWAY OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO FLOATEL GANGWAY INCIDENT

8 MAR 2020  Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) is investigating an incident aboard the Floatel Endurance, which suffered an accidental gangway disconnection on February 29 while working alongside Equinor’s Martin Linge offshore platform. No one was injured in the accident. “The PSA takes a serious view of what happened. An investigation team …

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SAUDI FORCES REPORT ATTEMPTED BOMB-BOAT ATTACK ON TANKER OFF YEMEN

07 MAR 2020  Saudi Arabia’s military said Wednesday that its forces prevented an “imminent terrorist attack” against an oil tanker about 90 nautical miles southeast of Nishtun, Yemen in the Arabian Sea. “The failed terrorist attempt was carried out at [1439 hours] on Tuesday 03 March 2020 during the [voyage] …

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WHO ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR COVID-19 CONTROL ON BOARD VESSELS

06 MAR 2020 The World Health Organization (WHO) has released guidelines to avoid or manage an outbreak of coronavirus on board ships. The recently-released guide calls on shipowners to provide crew with guidance so they can recognize signs and symptoms of the virus. If a suspected case is identified, WHO recommends that the ship …

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INTERVIEW: MANISH SINGH TALKS ON THE FUTURE OF VIDEOTEL AND SEAGULL

Manish Singh, formerly from V.Group, has been appointed CEO of a new group following the purchase of maritime training company Videotel by Oakley Capital, which also owns Seagull Maritime. Having spent the past few weeks at the post, he is ready to talk about the future and the $30 million …

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SALVORS PREPARE TO LIGHTER BUNKER FUEL FROM GROUNDED VLOC

04 MAR 2020    Efforts to remove fuel from the grounded very large ore carrier (VLOC) Stellar Banner are set to begin soon, according to Brazilian environmental agency Ibama. The ship, which went aground off the coast of São Luís, Brazil on February 24, has about 4,000 tonnes of fuel and 290,000 …

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