Newsletter IX 2024

February 18th to March 2th

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The PDF file "Nuclear Power Accidents" contains a number of other incidents from various areas of the nuclear industry. Some of the incidents were never published through official channels, so this information could only be made available to the public in a roundabout way. The list of incidents in the PDF file is therefore not 100 % identical with "INES and the disturbances in nuclear facilities", but represents an addition.

February 2008 (INES Class.?) NPP Paluel, FRA

February 2008 (INES 0 Class.?) Nuclear factory La Hague, FRA

1. February 2010 (INES Class.?) NPP Vermont Yankee, USA

4. February 2008 (INES 0) NPP Krümmel, GER

5. February 1958 (Broken Arrow) B-47 Tybee Island, USA

6. February 1974 (INES 4-5) Akw Sosnovy Bor, USSR

8. February 2004 (INES 0) NPP Biblis, GER

February 12, 2013 (North Korea's 3th nuclear test) P'unggye-ri, PRK

13. February 1960 (France's 1st atomic bomb test) Reggane, FRA

14. February 1950 (Broken Arrow) Convair B-36 British Columbia, CAN

16. February 2011 (INES 2) NPP Tricastin, FRA

22. February 1977 (INES 4) NPP Jaslovské Bohunice, SVK

28. February 1954 (6 hydrogen bomb tests) Bikini Atoll, USA

We are always looking for up-to-date information. Anyone who can help, please send a message to: nuclear-world@reaktorpleite.de

2. March

Israel | Gaza | Genocide

War in Gaza:

Return, but where?

In Gaza, hunger and Israeli attacks are causing people to despair. At the same time, a few kilometers away, Israelis are returning to their homes.

[...] On October 7, armed Hamas terrorists entered Sderot, along with more than 20 other communities, killing around 50 civilians and 20 security forces. In the bakery, a mother wearing a light blue religious Jewish headscarf nervously holds her daughter's hand: "We're just visiting today and haven't decided yet whether we'll come back." The young saleswoman, on the other hand, has been back for a month and is happy that life has been returning since the weekend.

[...] Leading Israeli politicians such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, want to build on this and not just return to the area surrounding Gaza - despite all the warnings, including from Israel's closest ally, the USA . In late January, around a third of the cabinet, including members of Netanyahu's Likud party, attended a conference on repopulating the Gaza Strip. The organizers had called them “settlements bring security”.

According to the UN, the main reasons for the lack of aid deliveries are a lack of border crossings, military hostilities and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza. Human rights organizations accuse Israel of failing to comply with the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) order to allow more humanitarian aid to prevent a possible genocide...

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Russia | Mourning for Navalny

Mourning in Russia

People continue to come to Navalny's grave

A sea of ​​flowers and wreaths: Even today, many people in Russia say goodbye to Alexei Navalny. The police are letting the mourners do as they please – so far.

After the funeral of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, people continued to say goodbye to him at the Borisovskoye cemetery in Moscow on Saturday, despite a police presence. Police allowed mourners to linger unhindered at the grave and lay flowers, independent Russian media reported.

[...] Navalny's team emphasized on Friday evening after the funeral that the fight of the opposition who had fled abroad against corruption and Putin's power apparatus would continue. Navalny's legacy will remain alive "as long as there are millions of people in Russia and the world who are not indifferent to it. That’s why you can’t give up.”

On the day of Navalny's funeral, Russians took to the streets across the country to mourn. According to the NGO Belyj Stschjotschik (“White Counter”), at least 16.500 people are said to have attended Navalny’s memorial service in Moscow alone. According to the NGO's calculations, these are the people who crossed the Brateyevsky Bridge to the cemetery between 15:05 p.m. and 16:30 p.m.

According to the non-governmental organization OWD-Info, the police took 128 people into custody in 19 cities across the country - 31 of them in Novosibirsk alone...

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Disinformation | agitation | Elon Musk

Twitter successor:

Netzagentur expects a long legal battle with X

Because of disinformation on X, the Federal Network Agency would like to ask the responsible EU Commissioner to investigate. It also does not rule out proceedings before the ECJ. 

The Federal Network Agency expects a long legal dispute in the conflict with tech entrepreneur Elon Musk's Platform X. Since Musk took over, X has not paid enough attention to hate speech. “We expect that the matter will end up in court and that it may have to be fought all the way to the European Court of Justice,” said authority President Klaus Müller to Spiegel. "We believe that X is acting unlawfully." This will be documented and demonstrated - and the responsible EU Commissioner, Thierry Breton, will hopefully set an example.

The dispute is about disinformation. The Foreign Office uncovered a pro-Russian campaign on X in January. 50.000 fake user accounts in German tried to stir up discontent against the federal government and undermine support for Ukraine, according to an analysis by ministry experts. Müller said that the network agency is currently preparing this information for court and sending it to Brussels, where the EU Commission will take care of it...

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Thailand | Plastic | Plastic waste

Pollution in Thailand

Plastic hell in paradise

Many Thais love plastic. Plastic waste is even imported from abroad. Bags and packaging later end up in the sea and animals die miserably. But some young people no longer want to accept this.

[...] »We Thais love plastic things, we are crazy about them. I think for us it's a sign of civilization, progress and hygiene," says Chompupischaya Saiboonyadis, who everyone calls Sa. “Plastic is so practical, so cheap!” Sa is 23 years old, studies economics and is one of the representatives of a young generation of Thais who want to change exactly this old thinking – and fight for a clean homeland.

Thailand has long been considered “the garbage dump of the world.” In addition to its own consumption, it imported waste from western industrialized countries and became a major buyer after China stopped importing plastic and electronic waste almost overnight in 2018. From then on, plastic from the USA, Japan and Europe polluted the coasts. After all, this should now come to an end after a transition period: From 2025, Thailand no longer wants to accept plastic scrap from other countries.

“This is an important step,” says student Sa. “But above all we have to make people aware that plastic is a problem.” It’s not that easy. Even Sa's friends often look at her strangely when she picks up trash on the street...

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Ukraine | Contamination | Ammunition

Consequences of the war: A third of Ukraine has already been poisoned

Fighting means large parts of Ukraine are toxic. Lead, arsenic and mercury contaminate soil. What did it mean for global nutrition? Guest post.

There is no question that war leaves lasting destruction in its wake. This includes damage to both people and the environment.

As we enter the third year of Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, we must reflect on the impact of the war on Ukraine, the resilience of its people, and the global response to the problem of bomb contamination.

A third contaminated

About a third of Ukraine's territory is contaminated. This corresponds to the size of an average country in Europe. Ukraine is currently experiencing the worst environmental disaster in terms of soil pollution in terms of time.

Toxic elements such as lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury seep into the ground from ammunition and weapons. If potential areas of contamination are not identified and recorded in a timely manner, the pollutants can enter the food chain and become carcinogenic...

IMHO

Is Uranium ammunition not used in Ukraine, or is it just no longer talked about?

1. March

Rosatom | Framatome | Lingen fuel element factory

Fuel element factory: signatures against Russian cooperation

On Friday, critics submitted a collective objection against cooperation with the Russian state-owned company Rosatom on the expansion of the fuel element factory in Lingen (Emsland district).

They handed over the list with more than 10.000 signatures to Lower Saxony's Environment Minister Christian Meyer (Greens) in Hanover. The federal and state governments would have to stop the project, said Bettina Ackermann from the anti-nuclear organization "broadcast": "Until then the protests will continue."

Critics fear sabotage and espionage by Russia

Five members of the works council of the fuel element factory and two representatives of the Lingen local group of the Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union (IGBCE) were also in Hanover on Friday. “We want to show that despite all the protests that we are facing, there is also a workforce of 400 people who are fully behind the project,” said works council chairman Wolfgang Wolter. Opponents of the project, on the other hand, fear sabotage and espionage in all nuclear power plants supplied by Lingen.

[...] "The close involvement of Russian nuclear companies in the planned expansion of the fuel element factory rightly raises considerable concerns politically against the background of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the role of the state-owned company Rosatom," said Meyer, according to the statement. Public participation will run until Sunday, and people can submit objections to the application.

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Russia | Sanctions | Oil trading

Russia's oil trade under pressure - important trading partner fears sanctions

Because of Western sanctions, Russia gave India and China heavy discounts on oil purchases. Now the country is turning this back. India reacts – with a look to the Middle East.

New Delhi - After Western industrialized nations imposed a variety of sanctions on Russia and turned away from Russian oil, Russia could rely on other countries to step into the breach. One of them was India. As the US news channel CNN recently reported, India took 13 times as much Russian oil last year as it did before the start of the Ukraine war. But now the West has tightened sanctions again and India is distancing itself from Russia.

[...] Recently, Russia surprised with astonishing figures about its economic power. Apart from the fact that the actual credibility of these figures is difficult to verify, Western experts attributed this to the country's war economy. The more ammunition and tanks Russia produces, the more the economy grows - this is problematic because this productivity does not flow into the country's future, but literally evaporates in Ukraine. Russia is showing the first signs of economic decline. Recently, several major Chinese banks also turned away from Russia.

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Crude oil | Refinery | expropriation

Further federal control?

Rosneft expropriation in Schwedt increasingly unlikely

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Rosneft shares are placed under German trust so that the East German Schwedt refinery no longer uses Russian oil. That administration would expire in March. Now it becomes clear what will happen next.

In the struggle over the future of the East German Schwedt refinery, there are signs of continued control by the federal government and no expropriation of the Russian majority owner. Rosneft-Russia has explained that it wants to sell its shares and complete the process during another escrow extension, the Ministry of Economy said. “We will examine this, including further legal safeguards.”

[...] After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Rosneft shares were placed under German trust so that the East German refinery would no longer use Russian oil. This trust has been extended several times and would expire again in March. The federal government has prepared expropriation and has already started the process.

[...] The PCK refinery Schwedt, with its 3000 direct and indirect employees, plays a central role in supplying East Germany with gasoline and other refined products. But parts of western Poland are also supplied, as is Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.

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Investment | Power grid | Network expansion

Netzagentur is planning five mega routes

4800 kilometers of new lines, an estimated 76 billion euros in additional costs: the Federal Network Agency has presented its new plan to expand the electricity grid. As always, the paper is likely to cause debate.

The Federal Network Agency has presented new plans for the expansion of the so-called transmission network. According to these, five new direct current connections with a capacity of two gigawatts each are planned. Three of them run in a north-south direction, two in an east-west direction. New lines are also planned to connect offshore wind farms.

[...] The agency puts the costs for the planned network expansion at around 320 billion euros. The investment costs for the newly planned expansion measures on land are estimated at 76 billion euros. The estimated investments for the planned offshore wind lines amount to a further 2045 billion euros by 160. All costs are written off over decades and are incorporated into the network fees via the electricity bill.

If the network expansion progresses, the billions in costs for the so-called redispatch should one day also disappear. This means, among other things, the regulation of wind turbines...

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Propaganda from ZDF for TAURUS

ZDF weapons science for young people: Taurus? Yes, of course"!

KiKa gets caught in the crossfire with a clip: When children's news mutates into war propaganda. A comment.

[...] What is the clip about, which, in order to prevent misunderstandings, was not broadcast in the logo news in the linear program, but was broadcast via social networks?

The title “No TAURUS for Ukraine” is precisely misleading. Because the entire message of the 52-second song is: "Taurus? Well logo!"

When cruise missiles speak

Human-looking cruise missiles from Germany, France and Great Britain as well as a Leopard 2 tank flying the Polish flag are complaining that the German wonder weapon "Taurus" is not (yet) allowed to go east. Quote:

“We should give Olaf Scholz a real run for his money with cruise missiles.”

Because he continues to refuse to deliver "Taurus" to Ukraine...

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Finland | Olkiluoto | Maintenance

Finland's Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant has not produced electricity for over a month due to maintenance

Helsinki - The Finnish nuclear power plant Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) will be shut down for more than a month and will not produce any electricity during this time. As the company Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) reports, the reactor will be separated from electricity production on Saturday, March 2, 2024.

The duration of the annual maintenance work is initially estimated at 37 days, but it can also take longer. Electricity production at the OL3 nuclear power plant began in March 2023, just over a year ago.

According to the operator, the long shutdown period is explained, among other things, by the technical characteristics of the system type and the number of periodic checks and maintenance carried out as part of the annual maintenance...

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Battery | Lithium | Electrolytic

Batteries: Fast charge transport thanks to “molecule tubes”

New electrolyte accelerates charging of lithium-ion batteries

Runs like clockwork: Up to now, lithium-ion batteries have reacted very slowly in the cold. But now researchers have discovered a new type of electrolyte that enables fast charging processes and high performance even at low temperatures. The reason: The solution consists of tiny molecules. These form “tubes” in which lithium ions move faster, as the team reports in “Nature”.

Whether in cell phones, laptops or electric cars: lithium-ion batteries have become an integral part of the world. They form the basis for numerous battery-powered applications that not only make everyday life more efficient, but also more enjoyable. But widespread energy storage is not perfect. For example, the low energy density of batteries makes their use in electric cars difficult. The sometimes long charging times make “refueling” the batteries a test of patience.

Another problem is the loss of performance of lithium-ion batteries in cold and frost: At temperatures below minus 20 degrees, the electrolyte begins to solidify and the conductivity drops. The cold also disrupts the electrochemical reactions of the electrodes. For use in the far north or in space, such batteries can hardly be used without heating.

There is therefore a lot of research into the further development of batteries - improving the electrolyte is considered one of the most effective strategies. But which electrolytes are particularly powerful?

[...] A solution of the lithium salt lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI) in the solvent fluoroacetonitrile, or FAN for short. At room temperature, its conductivity was 40,3 millisiemens per centimeter, four times higher than conventional batteries. At low temperatures, the electrolyte was even more impressive: at minus 70 degrees Celsius, it still conducted at 11,9 millisiemens per centimeter and charged 10.000 times faster than conventional electrolytes...

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March 1, 2006 (INES 2) NPP Kozloduy, BGR

During the power reduction in the Russian-design pressurized water reactor (VVER), the operators discovered that 22 of 61 control rods could not be moved with the drive mechanisms. The operator had initially classified the incident as INES level 0, but Bulgarian security authorities eventually approved the incident as INES 2. (Costs ?)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia

Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant#Incidents

On March 1, 2006, one of four main coolant pumps failed in Unit 5, so output was to be reduced by 6% by retracting a group of 30 control rods. However, 3 of these remained stuck in the top position, whereupon the reactor was shut down by injecting boric acid into the cooling circuit. A quick shutdown was then simulated by retracting the remaining nine groups with a total of 54 control rods in order to check their function. It turned out that a further 19 control rods failed in the same way (a total of 22 out of 60). The cause of the malfunction was a change in the design of the control rods by the manufacturer Gidropress. In the event of a simultaneous loss of coolant (e.g. due to the supply line being torn off), its failure could have led to overheating and melting of the reactor core. The operator had originally classified the incident as Level 0 on the International Nuclear Event Rating Scale, but the regulator upgraded it to Level 2. The incident only became known two months later...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Kozloduy_(Bulgaria)

... Of the original six reactors, units 5 and 6 with an output of 1.000 and 1.040 MW, which were put into operation in 1987 and 1991, are still online. Reactors 1 and 2 were decommissioned in 2002, reactors 3 and 4 in 2006.

[...] An IAEA ASSET mission in 1993 examined a total of 93 events that occurred between December 1990 and May 1993, of which 73 were considered security-relevant. In 1994, 425 events were listed, 177 of which were safety-relevant (one event was classified as INES level 2)...

29. February

Climate protection | CO2 | rock

Storing greenhouse gases in the fields? Yes, it works

A long-term experiment shows that if basalt dust is scattered over fields, significant amounts of CO₂ can be removed from the atmosphere. Farmers should also benefit from the idea.

The Earth has a natural waste disposal system for carbon dioxide. Rocks, such as the sides of mountains, play an important role in removing the climate-damaging greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Because with every rain shower their rock is washed out a little. The dissolved components such as calcium bind CO₂ from the air and flush it into the sea. At least part of it, because natural climate waste removal is not strong enough to compensate for man-made climate change.

But couldn't the rock contribute more to climate protection than it does now?

[...] used worldwide, the method could bind up to two billion tons of CO₂ annually, according to an earlier study by David Beerling, among others, in the science magazine Nature. This estimate already takes into account the greenhouse gases that arise when the basalt rock is mined, crushed and transported. That is three times the amount of greenhouse gases that a country like Germany emits. At the same time, the limitations of the method become clear: emissions from the combustion of fossil raw materials such as oil and gas are almost 20 times larger. There is no way around reducing greenhouse gases, despite improved waste disposal.

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Lawyers | Basic Law | Constitutional Court

Joint call

Lawyers' associations for strengthening the Constitutional Court

The Union faction recently announced that it saw the Federal Constitutional Court as sufficiently protected from extremists. Now four professional associations of lawyers are in favor of new rules in the Basic Law.

The lawyers are not happy. Four associations made their displeasure known in a joint appeal. An unusual process. It's about making the Federal Constitutional Court more secure against the influence of extreme parties and incorporating certain rules into the Basic Law - such as the two-thirds majority required for the election of judges.

The Union faction in the Bundestag declared last week that it did not want to negotiate with the traffic light factions about such a reform. Your consent would be necessary for a corresponding change to the Basic Law...

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Ukraine War | EU Parliament | Cruise missile

Criticism of Olaf Scholz

EU Parliament calls for Taurus cruise missiles for Ukraine

On the question of a possible delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, the EU Parliament is now also pushing for Ukraine's equipment. After Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Taurus rejection, criticism from other countries is increasing.

Strasbourg. The European Parliament is pushing for the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. The country attacked by Russia needs “in particular sophisticated air defense systems, long-range cruise missiles such as the Taurus systems,” parliament said. A corresponding – legally non-binding – resolution was adopted on Thursday with 451 votes in favour, 46 against and 49 abstentions.

[...] EU calls for more equal aid among member states 

The MPs emphasized that there are enormous differences in how much military aid individual EU states provide to Ukraine. More money must be invested in European arms production. All EU member states and all NATO allies should support Ukraine militarily with at least 0,25 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) annually, Parliament said.

[...] There is speculation that the French and British are programming the Scalp and Storm Shadow cruise missiles they delivered to Ukraine themselves and that at least Great Britain has stationed personnel in Ukraine for this purpose. This was never officially confirmed.

[...] In France, too, it was never officially communicated whether French soldiers in Ukraine were helping to program cruise missiles. It has been said so far that France is training Ukrainian soldiers in France or in neighboring countries of the country attacked by Russia. The reaction to Scholz's statements was cautious. “As far as the German Chancellor’s statements are concerned, we would like to remind you that everyone acts within the framework that they consider appropriate,” the Paris Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. “Our goal is the same: to make Russia fail.”

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Israel | Gaza | shot | Palästinians

Distribution of aid supplies in the Gaza Strip

Israeli army fires on crowd - reports of dozens of deaths

The UN warns of thousands of civilians starving to death in the Gaza war. Now the situation has escalated as a crowd of people waited for relief supplies. Israeli soldiers opened fire.

Israeli soldiers fired into a crowd of people waiting for aid deliveries in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military confirmed this to the daily newspaper Haaretz. Accordingly, the soldiers felt threatened after people surrounded trucks.

[...] Probably more than a hundred dead

A government spokesman called the incident a tragedy. According to initial indications, overwhelmed truck drivers from Gaza drove into the crowd, resulting in dozens of deaths. The Times of Israel reported that around 30 trucks arrived on the coast in the city of Gaza early in the morning. Thousands of Palestinians ran towards the vans. The army released a video purporting to show the onslaught...

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Bavaria | Electricity prices | Network expansion

Experts: Nuclear phase-out has nothing to do with high electricity costs

Friends of nuclear power like to emphasize how climate-friendly, clean and cheap nuclear power is. The majority of experts see things completely differently when they appear in the state parliament's environmental committee.

Contrary to what parts of the state government have repeatedly claimed, the nuclear phase-out last year did not make electricity costs more expensive in Bavaria. “The nuclear phase-out has no price impact at all on the electricity market,” said Norbert Zösch, managing director of Stadtwerke Haßfurt, in the environmental committee of the Bavarian state parliament on Thursday. From an economic point of view, nuclear power plants even have the highest generation costs, according to the statement from the Bavarian Consumer Service. “It was only through government subsidies that nuclear power could be traded at competitive prices.”

Many critics of the nuclear phase-out, including CSU boss Markus Söder, Free Voters leader Hubert Aiwanger and large parts of the CDU/CSU, FDP and AfD, repeatedly declare that Germany can only have permanently low and reliable energy prices by using nuclear energy. Last year, the Federal Network Agency also declared unnecessary concerns that electricity prices in Germany have been rising since the last nuclear power plants were taken off the grid. In addition to Zösch ("The expansion of renewable energies clearly has a price-dampening effect"), the Bavarian Consumer Center also expressly spoke out in favor of a renewable energy supply - it "fundamentally supports a rapid expansion of renewable energies and the associated necessary expansion of the network infrastructure"...

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Thuringia | Right-wing extremists | brutalization

Right-wing extremist attacks on politicians are increasing

There are no lone perpetrators

Attacks on politicians have recently increased, especially in Thuringia. Even without a direct connection between the individual events, a series of attacks can be assumed.

Last week, several suspected right-wing extremist attacks were carried out on politicians in Thuringia. In Suhl, unknown people smashed the windows of the constituency offices of state parliament member Diana Lehmann and Bundestag member Frank Ullrich (both SPD). The office of the Thuringian state parliament president Birgit Pommer (Left Party) in Bleicherode in the Nordhausen district was daubed with swastikas.

In Schnepfenthal in the Gotha district there was even an arson attack on the house of local politician Michael Müller (SPD). The family's car was also set on fire and was totaled. Nobody got hurt. At the beginning of February, the former Bundestag candidate organized a demonstration against right-wing extremism in the town.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) reported verbal attacks on him and his wife on the sidelines of a carnival celebration, during which the word "rape" was also used. In this context he spoke of “forms of brutalization”. The Thuringian Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) spoke of a “dimension that we have never had before.”

[...] There are many different perpetrators who strike in many different places. Nevertheless, it is correct and appropriate to speak of a series of attacks, since almost all of these perpetrators act in the belief that they are putting the will of an ideal group of perpetrators called “the people” into practice. It therefore seems likely that the current series of attacks will continue, and no matter how many people take to the streets, the perpetrators will not be stopped by demonstrations alone.

28. February

Lower Saxony | Renewables | Wind turbines

Lower Saxony covers electricity consumption through renewable energies

Last year, Lower Saxony covered its entire electricity consumption with renewable energy for the first time. The Ministry of the Environment wants to further promote the expansion of wind turbines.

In total, around 2023 terawatt hours of electricity were generated in 50,8 by wind power, solar systems or biogas. According to the Ministry of the Environment, 50,5 terawatt hours were consumed. Accordingly, Lower Saxony is above the national average: throughout Germany, only half of energy consumption was covered by green electricity last year. In addition, Lower Saxony produced an additional surplus of electricity from other sources, it was said. This was sold to other federal states together with the surplus from renewable energies: According to the information, this surplus amounted to a total of 20,2 terawatt hours.

Ministry of the Environment wants to expand wind power

In Lower Saxony, the areas on which wind turbines can be built are to be further expanded. "With the Wind Act, we will further strengthen value creation and participation in the expansion of renewable energies and double the wind priority area to 2,2 percent," said Lower Saxony's Environment Minister Christian Meyer (Greens). The state government has already introduced a corresponding draft law. “We will also be feeding offshore wind farms with the capacity of two nuclear power plants into the Lower Saxony grid this year and next year,” said Meyer. In this way, other countries such as Bavaria can be helped to become climate neutral, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment told NDR Lower Saxony. In the future, the surplus electricity from renewable energies could then be used, for example, to convert hydrogen or the energy could be stored in reserve power plants...

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Ukraine | CIA | Provocation

CIA in Ukraine: The provocation that triggered Putin's war of aggression?

Explosive revelation from the New York Times. US intelligence has been cooperating with Kiev on the Russian border since 2014 and training elite units. An accelerant.

The New York Times revealed in an explosive dossier over the weekend that the US secret service CIA has been present in Ukraine for ten years. This casts both the formulation of “boots on the ground,” as debated in the wake of Macron’s statements, and the Western narrative of unprovoked war in a new light.

How the CIA program started in 2014

According to the report, the Ukrainian government entered into an extensive partnership with the CIA against Russia. The cooperation notably included the establishment of up to twelve secret CIA "outpost operating bases" along the Ukrainian border with Russia...

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United States | Nuclear facility | Forest fire | Pantex factory

Dismantling atomic bombs

Texas nuclear facility evacuated due to wildfire

It is currently hot and dry in Texas - ideal conditions for the raging forest fires. They are now also threatening a facility where US nuclear bombs are dismantled. She has to be evacuated. However, the local fire department should be well prepared for an emergency.

In the US state of Texas, a nuclear facility has been evacuated due to rapidly spreading forest fires. "We have evacuated our non-essential personnel from the site out of an abundance of caution," Laef Pendergraft, spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration's production office, said at a news conference.

[...] The Pantex factory, located approximately 50 kilometers east of the city of Amarillo, has been the most important assembly and dismantling facility for US atomic bombs since 1975. The last new bomb was assembled there in 1991. Since then, thousands of weapons have been dismantled. It said operations were suspended until further notice. Earlier, several fires nearby burned out of control due to strong winds.

Republican Governor Greg Abbott declared 60 counties a disaster area. According to Texas authorities, the largest fire burned around 1040 square kilometers of land. This means that the area has more than doubled since the fire broke out on Monday...

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Media | Disinformation | Bertelsmann

The majority sees disinformation as a threat to democracy

According to a study, 81 percent of Germans are worried about social cohesion because of false information. Social media is viewed particularly critically.

The majority of Germans see the spread of disinformation on the Internet as a significant social risk. This was the result of a study commissioned by the Bertelsmann Foundation. According to this, 81 percent of the population see false information as a threat to democracy and social cohesion. The study participants were confronted with false information, particularly in connection with controversial topics such as immigration, health, war and the climate crisis.

[...] While those surveyed with a high level of media trust believe that disinformation is spread primarily with the aim of weakening trust in politics and democracy (93 percent), according to the study, people with a low level of media trust believe this much less often (68 percent). ). In contrast, 91 percent of respondents in this group believe that false information is being spread to distract from scandals and political ineptitude, which only 63 percent of people with high media trust believe...

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Supervisory board | economic wise | Conflict of interest

Economist Veronika Grimm:

Two offices for Grimm

The offices of the economist Grimm, who will also be a supervisory board member in the future, could bite each other. Legally flawless and yet somewhat disreputable.

Veronika Grimm's appointment to the supervisory board of Siemens Energy is wrong. Economists should not advise the federal government and work for large corporations at the same time, as this poses the risk of conflicts of interest. Even if it is not prohibited by law, such double posts always have a certain flavor.

[...] If the Council of Experts now has a member who is also on the supervisory board of an energy technology company, then the committee does not just have to accept the accusation of not being able to speak. The question must also be asked whether it is actually for sale and whether its assessments are actually the result of objective research or rather controlled by corporate interests. And of all things when it comes to the energy question, which is the central question in the transformation - and Grimm's area of ​​expertise...

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 28. February 1954 (6 hydrogen bomb tests) Bikini Atoll, USA

Wikipedia

List of nuclear weapons tests

On February 28.02.1954, 6, the first of six hydrogen bomb tests took place within XNUMX weeks near Bikini Atoll, the entire series became known under the name 'Operation Castle'. As a result, 236 people on Rongelap Island suffered from high levels of radiation. The 140 crew members of the Japanese fishing boat were found 23 km from the explosion site 'Lucky Dragon V' heavily irradiated.
 

Atomwaffen A - Z

nuclear weapon states

There are nine nuclear weapon states but only five are "recognized". The US, Russia, China, France and the UK -- the states that also have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council -- are named in the NPT as "nuclear-armed states" because they detonated nuclear weapons before 1957. However, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea also possess nuclear weapons, although Israel does not admit them, and are therefore not members of the NPT...

27. February

Eu Parliament | lobbyists

ID cards are blocked: EU Parliament denies Amazon lobbyists access

The EU Parliament draws conclusions: After Amazon representatives failed to appear at the European Union Employment Committee despite being summoned several times, the lobbyists were denied access to the EU Parliament. Trade unionists are calling for deeper consequences.

Brussels. Representatives of the US retail giant Amazon no longer have access to the EU Parliament. On Tuesday, the relevant parliamentary committee asked the Secretary General to block the Amazon lobbyists' house ID cards. A parliamentary speaker confirmed this to the Editorial Network Germany (RND). Previously, representatives of the company had not appeared in the employment committee despite being summoned several times. There they should provide information about the working conditions and respond to allegations.

“The European Parliament has drawn a clear red line: Amazon’s anti-democratic behavior will not be tolerated – neither towards unions nor towards parliaments,” said Oliver Roethig from the UNI Europa trade union federation. “For Amazon workers and their unions across Europe, this is an important victory in the fight for good working conditions at Amazon.”

[...] It is the second time in the history of the EU Parliament that lobbyists have been denied access. The first case involved representatives of the chemical company Monsanto in 2017.

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Poland | Press freedom | Solitary confinement

Journalist Pablo González: imprisoned in Poland for two years without charges

Even under the new Polish government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Pablo González's situation has not changed so far. The journalist with a Spanish and Russian passport will be in solitary confinement next Wednesday for exactly two years for alleged spying for Russia. At the request of the public prosecutor, the Polish judiciary has just extended the pre-trial detention for another three months. Furthermore, no evidence or charges have been presented against the Basque, nor has a trial been scheduled.

[...] In an article in “Gazeta Wyborcza” he (Piotr Niemczyk, ex-director of a Polish secret service) mocked his former colleagues early on for their actions. The idea that a “Russian spy” advocates for human rights and supports refugees fleeing Putin seems pretty Spanish to him. “No Russian spy, disguised as a journalist, would allow himself to carry two passports and credit cards of the country he is spying for,” says the expert. “No surgical procedure in the world allows this.”

A good part of the espionage construction is based precisely on the fact that Gonzalez, who was born in Russia, also has a Russian passport in which he is listed as Pavel Rubtsov (father's last name). At first, Poland even claimed that the passports were fake. But that has long since proven to be wrong. However, it is also noticeable that the Polish investigators were in anything but a hurry to clarify the situation. It was only a year after the arrest that a request for legal assistance was sent to Spain to clarify the passport issue...

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Recycling | Plastic | MikroPlastik

Protein coating makes plastic waste degradable

Plastic waste that cannot be broken down by microbes or chemical processes could be broken down by simply treating it with a special substrate made of protein and catalyst.

Styrofoam waste normally does not provide a target for microbes or chemical shredding tools; therefore they are practically not degradable. However, if you cover them with a special layer made of a protein and a catalyst, predetermined breaking points can be built into the highly resistant material. A research team from Aachen has now developed a method of how this works cheaply and efficiently.

The team led by Ulrich Schwaneberg and Jun Okuda from RWTH Aachen University set their sights on the degradation of microparticles from polystyrene. The plastic is mainly found in the form of Styrofoam as packaging material or in insulation. Pure Styrofoam can be recycled relatively easily, provided it is not contaminated with other plastic waste. The waste is usually mixed with other types of plastic, and microparticles from the material are often found in other waste too. In this form, polystyrene cannot be broken down or recycled.

[...] The results give hope that contamination with plastics - especially microplastics - can be treated in the future. The experts write that the concept can very likely be expanded to other mass plastics such as polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE). Polyethylene and polypropylene are the plastics with the highest production volumes worldwide.

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Ukraine | Macron | Ground troops

Ground troops bring a final turning point

You probably have to remember February 26, 2024. On this day the turning point really began - and with it a world war?

Aid conference for Ukraine in Paris, February 26, 2024: French President Emmanuel Macron holds out the prospect that French soldiers could also be stationed in Ukraine - thus he is in favor of sending ground troops. He doesn't do this directly, he never said that France wasn't open to it, he explained somewhat awkwardly. He then added that each country could decide independently and sovereignly.

[...] So now ground troops for Ukraine? For months, when people expressed their fears about it, people dismissed it as a conspiracy theory and a gross exaggeration. However, it was obvious that this could happen. Ukraine is visibly running out of military personnel - that sounds pompous, in the dehumanizing language of the trenches one would say: it has a shortage of human material and cannon fodder. Therefore, it also records and recruits Ukrainians who have fled abroad because of the war. At least she tries. Because if the right to asylum should apply somewhere in Western countries, it would probably be at the point where people want to be thrown into the grinder of death - called the war front.

[...] It's no longer about guilt. It's about survival. The West's course with regard to Ukraine poses a threat to the security of European countries. Anyone who fantasizes about sending their troops, like Monsieur le Président, is declaring himself ready to involve his country, the people in it, in short: his people, in a war to overthrow someone who is born without need - we could still go to the negotiating table, but at the moment we are very busy dehumanizing the Russian president, rewriting him as a devil who completely lacks human traits such as willingness to discuss...

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Rosatom | Framatome | Lingen fuel element factory | .ausgestrahlt

Expansion of fuel element factory: report sees major risks

The Framatome company wants to expand the fuel element factory in Lingen - in cooperation with the Russian state-owned company Rosatom. The anti-nuclear organization “.ausgestrahlt” has now informed about risks.

A report commissioned by the organization states that Russia's entry into the fuel element factory in Lingen (Emsland district) clearly poses security risks. The document shows, based on various scenarios, that Rosatom will inevitably have opportunities for espionage, sabotage and disinformation, said “.ausgestrahlt”.

[...] Criticism of the cooperation with Rosatom has come in the past from both the federal and state governments as well as from initiatives and environmental associations. Rosatom reports directly to the Kremlin and is said to have been involved in the military occupation of the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The French company Framatome wants to expand operations at the fuel element factory in Lingen through its subsidiary Advanced Nuclear Fuels (ANF) and in the future produce fuel elements for Eastern European nuclear power plants there.

26. February

Brazil horror clown Bolsonaro

Bolsonaro planned a military coup, the USA warned of the consequences

According to a 135-page Supreme Court document, Brazil's right-wing former President Bolsonaro was planning a coup d'état with the help of the powerful military. The USA warned urgently against this. At a demonstration in São Paulo, Bolsonaro may now incriminate himself.

It wasn't about the words, but about the images. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the streets in São Paulo on Sunday to support ex-President Jair Bolsonaro - for the first time since he lost the election in 2022. The right-wing ex-head of state is in enormous legal problems, which is why he went to the demonstration on the main traffic artery Avenida Paulista had called for everyone to dress in green and yellow, the national colors that the right-wing president has practically made his own. "This photo will go around the world," he promised the crowd during his speech, in which he denied all blame.

[...] Bolsonaro is now trying to flex his muscles using the streets; He accused the government of his successor Lula da Silva of politically persecuting him. He stunned the federal police and lawyers at the same time when, during his speech to the crowd, he indirectly admitted that he had helped plan the coup. This puts the former head of state, who was already pushed into a corner, into even more trouble.

[...] Brazil's former head of state is also trying to mobilize international solidarity among siblings in spirit. His son Eduardo gave a wooden lecture at the conservative CPAC conference in the USA at the weekend between the appearance of Donald Trump and Argentina's head of state Javier Milei about how “freedom” is currently in danger in Brazil. He was unable to refute the allegations against his father in his ten minutes of speaking time. But maybe it was just about the pictures.

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CO2 | CCS | Cement

Habeck's plan for CO₂ storage:

Legitimacy for nonsense emissions

The federal government has presented its plan for CCS technology. Emissions from gas power plants should also be allowed to be stored. That's nonsense.

Unfortunately, there are back doors: the federal government is finally tackling the capture and storage of carbon dioxide. The dangerous greenhouse gas should therefore be partially collected and stored underground, for example, instead of increasing the temperature in the atmosphere.

This is long overdue, after all the earth has already heated up extremely due to the increased concentration.

[...] For example, in the production of cement: It is not only harmful to the climate because it requires a lot of energy. The chemical process itself produces CO2, even if the entire cement plant runs on green electricity.

Now you can and should try to simply use less cement: Where possible, use other building materials such as wood, recycle old building materials and, above all, renovate old buildings instead of constantly building new ones. But we will still need a certain amount of new cement. For such limited cases, in which we really don't know what else to do, we urgently need Carbon Capture and Storage, i.e. CCS, as the capture and storage of CO2 is commonly abbreviated.

Unfortunately, the federal government also wants to allow CCS in other cases: namely gas power plants.

[...] The good news: There is a chance that power plant operators are not that interested in CCS. After all, they also know the costs. And there should be no government funding for such cases. Nevertheless, the regulation at least allows the gas industry to adorn itself with a supposedly climate-friendly future - and thus prolong the climate-damaging present.

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Ukraine War | Cruise missile | Taurus

Scholz clearly rejects Taurus cruise missiles for Ukraine

For months, the Chancellor stayed out of the debate about delivering Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Now he is turning the coalition partners against him.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has clearly rejected the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, citing the risk of Germany becoming involved in the war. “German soldiers must not be linked at any point or place to the goals that this system achieves. Not even in Germany,” said Scholz on Monday at the dpa editorial conference in chief. From his point of view, the use of Taurus would only be possible with the participation of his own German personnel. That is why this is not currently on the agenda.

“This clarity is also necessary,” emphasized Scholz around two years after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. “I’m surprised that some people aren’t moved at all, that they don’t even think about whether what we’re doing could, in a sense, lead to participation in the war.”

[...] Taurus is a precision weapon that can hit targets 500 kilometers away. The Kremlin in Moscow, for example, is within this radius from the Russian-Ukrainian border. The Ukrainian government had already asked for the delivery of cruise missiles in May last year in order to be able to hit the Russian supply lines far behind the front. The Union is also calling for release, and the Chancellor's coalition partners, the Greens and the FDP, are also mostly in favor of it. However, a Bundestag resolution expressly calling for the delivery of Taurus failed last week...

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Plutonium | Interim storage | Survey

Survey on interim storage: Citizens support government responsibility

What do people in the vicinity of the interim radioactive waste storage facilities know and think about their radiant neighbors? To this end, the Society for Intermediate Storage (BGZ) had a survey carried out, the results of which were published on. However, according to FORUM Together against the interim storage facility and for a responsible energy policy, the survey is “misleading”.

In order to get an idea of ​​the knowledge and attitudes of citizens at their locations, the independent institute aproxima Society for Market and Social Research Weimar commissioned the BGZ to survey a total of 3.500 citizens within a radius of 25 kilometers around the 16 BGZ interim storage locations online and interviewed by telephone, the data collected was analyzed and evaluated.

According to this, around 70 percent of the 3.500 respondents believe it is correct that the state has taken responsibility for the disposal of radioactive waste in Germany.

[...] However, the questions lead loudly FORUM Together against the interim storage facility and for a responsible energy policy to wishy-washy answers. Other questions would be appropriate:

• How many kilograms of plutonium do you estimate are stored in the nuclear waste depot in your neighborhood?
• Do you think that this camp is safe from terrorist attacks even in times of war?
• How many years do you estimate it will take until this nuclear waste has decayed to the point where it only emits as much radioactivity as uranium, for example?
• Do you agree that, contrary to previous promises, the evacuation of this above-ground interim storage facility should not take place until the end of this century or the beginning of the next century?

There are 16 interim storage facilities for highly radioactive waste in Germany. All above ground and all without trustworthy proof that they would withstand a terrorist attack that cannot be ruled out. The largest interim storage facility in terms of radioactive content is the nuclear waste depot in Gundremmingen. It has an authorization for 240 trillion becquerels. That's 240.000.000.000.000.000.000 radioactive nuclear decays per second.

Plutonium. There are several hundred kilograms of plutonium stored in Gundremmingen alone. Plutonium is considered the worst chemical element. It practically does not occur in nature and is only produced in nuclear power plants. It is extremely radiant and you can build an atomic bomb with just a few kilograms.

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Surveillance for satellite, very interesting for the Military

Now come the surveillance satellites that can observe individuals

Soon there may be no place on the earth's surface where individuals are unobserved. A new generation of satellites is expected to be in orbit as early as next year. 

The world is taking another step closer to the Big Brother dystopia. The company Albedo Space wants to install a new generation of satellites in low Earth orbit in 2025 that can image objects as small as 10 centimeters. The satellites would therefore be capable of a higher resolution than ever before. And they could target individual people.

[...] As TechCrunch reports, Bill Gates' company Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Shield Capital, which specializes in defense technology, have invested. According to the report, the investors also include Booz Allen Ventures, which is part of the military group, the investment company Cubit Capital and the US hedge fund manager Bill Perkins.

With the latest funding push of $35 million, the company has raised a total of $97 million to date. According to the New York Times, the company's advisory board includes former directors of US intelligence agencies such as the CIA and the National Geospatial Agency (NGA). Albedo Space signed a contract with the US military almost a year ago.

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Nuclear sharing | Armament | deterrence | Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

ICAN board on German atomic bomb:

“The debate is a waste of time”

Nuclear armament in Europe does not lead to greater security, says Florian Eblenkamp from the Alliance Against Nuclear Weapons ICAN. He warns of a new arms race.

Mr. Eblenkamp, ​​what would you prefer: a German atomic bomb or a pan-European one?

Florian Eblenkamp: Neither option is practical – neither technically nor under international law. Politically they would not be appropriate either. This discussion is a waste of time.

What technical reasons speak against the proposals?

Producing your own atomic bomb would take decades and consume incredible resources. You can't just buy uranium and then quickly build something like that, you need very special technology that isn't even available on the Internet. There is also the question of what additional military capabilities would be needed to actually use nuclear weapons.

A model in which Europe participates in France's nuclear weapons is also being discussed. They already exist. 

In that case, however, there would be political obstacles. Who would have access to this bomb? Who pays how much for it? How many of these bombs will be shared? In addition, Germany has committed itself under international law in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) not to gain control over nuclear weapons. One would have to get out of this contract, which has already lost credibility. That would herald his end. Other states would follow the example and in the end security would certainly not have been gained...

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Sanctions | Sofas | Wolfgangsee Ferries

Trouble for banks and shipping companies

US government hunts Putin's foreign aides

India buys Russian oil, Chinese and Turkish banks are happy to do business with Russian companies. Many of the first Russia sanctions are seen by other countries not as a deterrent, but as an opportunity. Now the US government has had enough. 

Indian oil imports fill the Russian war chest because, for the Indian government, among others, good business is more important than the Russian attack on Ukraine. But Russian oil tankers are currently doing strange things: On the way to India, they suddenly stop, turn around or switch off their tracking systems in order to disappear from shipping maps. Others make surprising U-turns on the way to Russian Baltic Sea terminals and anchor in the Black Sea instead. Observers are certain: There are increasing signs that Russia is having difficulties selling its oil.

[...] At the end of last year, the USA began to investigate possible violations of the price cap and punish them with exclusion from the American financial system - Washington has initiated a new chapter in Russia sanctions.

Greece is getting out

Greek shipping companies are also currently feeling the consequences. They also earn a lot of money from oil transport and therefore continued to do business with Russia until last September. Recently, however, the three leading Greek shipping companies rejected further orders for November or later, as the Reuters news agency reports.

[...] But it is also clear elsewhere that the USA and the EU are not thinking of easing their sanctions regime - on the contrary.

Closure of Russian accounts

Immediately after the start of the war, the United Arab Emirates willingly provided Russian private individuals or companies with new accounts, office space and contacts who were no longer welcome in Europe or North America. Now, however, several banks in the Emirates have begun to restrict payment flows to and from Russia and close accounts of Russian companies and private individuals for fear of violating US sanctions...

25. February

Renewable energies | Bureaucracy | Solar package

Hardly any solar modules on public buildings

Photovoltaic systems are a common sight on new residential buildings. But the state, of all things, has not only set a bad example with its own new buildings.

Less than a year ago, the new building for the small animal and bird clinic at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen was officially opened. However, there is no photovoltaic system on the modern building that could supply electricity for self-consumption. When planning 15 years ago, solar fell into the "nice to have" category, explains Susanne Kraus, Chancellor of the University of Giessen: "When money was tight, this was the first thing to be canceled." In the future, every new building will be planned with a PV system, and existing buildings will be retrofitted.

[...] Bureaucratic hurdles

Those responsible have just encountered a new obstacle at the University of Kassel. When it comes to solar, the university is considered exemplary and had the first systems installed in 2008. But the new PV system is not allowed to go into operation. “We can’t switch on,” says university chancellor Oliver Fromm. “Because we first have to purchase a certificate for 20.000 euros.”

[...] Solar package is a long time coming

The federal government's new solar package could probably solve the problem with the certificate. But contrary to planning, the law was not passed last year.

Kemfert is nevertheless convinced that PV expansion on state roofs will be faster, at least in the future. The state has created far too many bureaucratic hurdles for itself in the past. “But they are now being eliminated piece by piece,” said Kemfert.

Then there could be more PV systems on public buildings, and at the same time the expansion plans of private individuals and companies would make progress. When it comes to the energy transition, the state could then fulfill the role model function that it has so far failed to live up to, clearly visible on many roofs.

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Demonstrations against the right wing

Weekend activities

Tens of thousands are once again taking to the streets against right-wing extremism

This weekend there will be rallies in numerous cities to take a stand against hatred, exclusion and anti-Semitism. Celebrities are also among the demonstrators.

In Germany, thousands of people once again took to the streets at the weekend to demonstrate against right-wing extremism. One of the biggest events began on Sunday afternoon in Hamburg. The organizers, including the climate movement Fridays for Future, expected around 30.000 people. At the beginning the police did not mention the number of participants...

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Fossil | Energy prices | Change of provider

Energy prices well above pre-crisis levels

Heating, refueling and electricity have become significantly more expensive over the past three years. According to a new survey, energy prices are more than 40 percent higher than in February 2021.

According to an analysis by the comparison portal Verivox, three years after the start of the energy crisis, the prices for heating, electricity and refueling are still 41 percent above pre-crisis levels.

[...] Heating, in particular, takes a toll on the office

According to Verivox, heating in particular is still significantly more expensive than it was three years ago. Heating with oil became more expensive by 64 percent during the period under review, the Funke newspapers write, citing the evaluation. According to the evaluation, in February 2021 20 euros were due for 1.270 hectoliters of heating oil, now it is 2.088 euros.

There is also a significant increase in gas. Here the costs rose from 20.000 euros to 1.162 euros for a consumption of 2.033 kilowatt hours, which corresponds to an increase of 75 percent. However, customers can save money by switching providers. According to Verivox, there is a lot of competition in the market right now...

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UN | Artificial intelligence | Warfare

AI and war: Are we humans losing control?

Many AI tools lead to improvements in quality of life. However, there are great dangers lurking in military applications – including loss of control. A warning. (Part 1)

In 300, Immanuel Kant, who would have been 1795 years old this year, formulated fundamental ideas on an international peace policy in his essay "On Perpetual Peace", which stand in contrast to today's reality of increasingly militarized conflicts. Kant, on the other hand, called for the warlike state of humanity to be overcome in favor of conscious peacemaking:

The state of peace among men living side by side is not a state of nature (status naturalis), which is rather a state of war, i.e. if not always an outbreak of hostilities, yet a perpetual threat of them. It must therefore be created (...).
Immanuel Kant

Kant was of the opinion that republican states would be more inclined to peace than to war and called for an international peace alliance as a prerequisite for ending all wars.

[...] The structure of the UN, in particular the veto right of the five permanent members in the UN Security Council and the relative powerlessness of the UN General Assembly, leads to an institutional helplessness of the UN in current conflicts.

In the meantime, however, there is a problem that is aggravating the overall situation and for which neither the UN, the EU or national politics are prepared: the development and use of artificial intelligence in connection with modernized weapon systems.

[...] Even though it is repeatedly emphasized in politics that ultimately the decision about the lethal use of a weapon must remain with a person ("man in the loop"), this principle is already being questioned in some cases...

IMHO

Who has ever been in control during a war? Does AI improve quality of life? Man-made wars are better? So many implications, I can't wait for part 2.

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Poland | Bundeswehr | Lithuania

To protect NATO territory

How Poland is recruiting Bundeswehr soldiers – and how the Bundestag is reacting

Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski is discussing stationing more Bundeswehr soldiers in his country. In the Bundestag, this is seen as a vote of confidence - and as a sign of the seriousness of the situation. However, there could be a capacity problem.

Berlin. The Polish Foreign Minister made people sit up and take notice. “German soldiers would be welcome here,” Radoslaw Sikorski told the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” and thus floated the idea of ​​increasing German troops in Poland.

There are already a few Bundeswehr soldiers there: a German general heads NATO's Joint Force Training Center (JTFC) in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz), another is part of the German-Danish-Polish leadership of NATO's Multinational Corps in Stettin. Last year, three Patriot air defense systems were stationed in Zamość, eastern Poland, near the Ukrainian border, for nine months.

[...] From the end of 2027, almost 5000 Bundeswehr soldiers are to be permanently stationed in Lithuania to protect the country against a Russian attack...

Current news+

Artificial intelligence and the Propaganda of horror clowns

New OpenAI service Sora

Deceptively real AI videos: What if we can no longer believe anything?

The new AI model Sora from ChatGPT inventors OpenAI generates deceptively real videos. Many already fear a flood of disinformation and extremely realistic deepfakes. But what if the videos themselves aren't the problem?

Hanover. It feels like déjà vu. Like back in the spring of 2023, when suddenly everyone was talking about ChatGPT. Now the makers of the popular AI chatbot are once again causing astonishment, enthusiasm and fear in equal measure: With Sora, they have presented an AI model that can generate deceptively real video clips from text. The results are so authentic that there are controversial discussions on social networks about the intended use and dangers of the technology.

Some people are extremely enthusiastic. The video model of the American start-up hope OpenAI will “turn all sorts of industries inside out,” according to postings on the Threads platform. Others fear that videographers and professional cameramen may no longer need it in the future. And some people are already seeing the downfall of the entertainment industry if artificial intelligence can one day create entire movies.

Others worry less about job losses and more about democracy. If the time comes when everyone can operate such models with two mouse clicks, fake videos could continue to flood social media. In the past few months there has been repeated discussion about disinformation through so-called deep fake videos, which not least also affected politicians.

What's in store for us? And how could AI-generated fake videos become a problem in the long term?

Sora still makes mistakes

At this point in time – this much should be said – this question is still a theoretical one. Although there have already been some prominent AI deepfakes, the new, highly accurate Sora model is currently only available to selected creatives and cannot yet be tested publicly.

[...] Fakes don't have to be perfect

The problem: In case of doubt, perfect videos are not necessary to cause damage. “Sora is absolutely capable of creating videos that could fool normal people,” Rachel Tobac, co-founder of SocialProof Security, a hacking organization focused on social engineering, told New Scientist magazine. “Videos don’t have to be perfect to be credible.” After all, many people still don’t realize that videos can be manipulated just as easily as images.

There is also another problem: the exposure of an AI fake, such as a fact check, would first have to reach those who have been taken in. Disinformation campaigns in the past have shown that fact-checking portals and journalistic media often fight against windmills and that the fake continues to spread despite all the clarification.

And of course technical developments don't stop either. Sora is already far better than any other previously released AI video generator. It will probably only be a matter of time before the model masters clapping hands and builds cities in such a way that they are not only visually pretty, but also make sense. The ability to distinguish fakes from reality is likely to become increasingly limited in the future.

[...] Some people have long since come to terms with the topic: “It's worrying. But I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it – the train has already left,” someone wrote. “The shit Sora can create is so mind-blowingly real that even the most skilled video artist can't do it. We’re screwed, man,” says another. But one person can also see something positive from the development: “The only positive result is that deception through technology will be such a discussed topic that people will finally become aware of the dangers.”

But what if it is precisely the latter argument that poses the real danger in the long term? That it's not the fake video itself that will cause the damage - but the fact that you can no longer believe anything at all?

It's about uncertainty

Actors who spread disinformation have been using exactly this tactic for many years. Stephan Lewandowsky, Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Bristol, told “Zeit” in 2019 that misinformation is no longer about planting false facts in people’s heads – but rather about unsettling them.

“It's about causing confusion and chaos. This is different today than it used to be. Russian bots, for example, tweet in the US on both sides of the vaccination dispute, some for, some against. (...) The only goal is to deepen divisions in society.”...

Continue reading ...

Background knowledge

The map of the nuclear world

If these high-risk assets are all controlled by AI, then...

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The “Internal Search”

Artificial intelligence | Propaganda | horror clowns

February 16, 2024 - Alexei Navalny was brave enough to mock Putin's absurd tyranny

June 4, 2023 - Politics with poison, agitation and propaganda

May 4, 2023 - Brain scanner: US researchers are getting closer to reading minds with AI

November 1, 2022 - Don't fear progress and technology, fear capitalism

November 19, 2021 - Glasgow Dreamboys 3 - News from the horror clowns - Glasgow was yesterday

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The search engine Ecosia is planting trees!

https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Künstliche Intelligenz

https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Sora

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OpenAI

Creating video from text

Sora is an AI model that can create realistic and imaginative scenes from text instructions...

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consumer advice center

November 24, 2023 - Artificial intelligence: how it works, areas of application and risks

Artificial intelligence is no longer science fiction. Quite the opposite: it has become an integral part of many consumers' everyday lives. But how does artificial intelligence actually work? Where is it used and what are the risks?

The essentials in brief:

• Artificial intelligence mimics human cognitive abilities such as learning and perception.
• Artificial intelligence is omnipresent in our modern everyday life. It makes it much easier and offers many options.
• When using AI, a lot of personal data is collected. Protect your data!

Missed the exit in rush hour traffic in a foreign city? No problem, within seconds the navigation device will calculate the new, adjusted route and a friendly voice will explain to you what to do next.

How is that possible? Behind this is a complex artificial intelligence (AI for short; English abbreviation AI for artificial intelligence). It collects data in real time and evaluates it. This is just one example of many that shows how much AI simplifies our everyday lives today.

What is artificial intelligence?

With artificial intelligence, information systems are developed in such a way that they imitate human cognitive abilities, such as learning, perception and creativity, as closely as possible. The goal is for them to take on certain tasks automatically.

The AI ​​is “fed” with all sorts of data. It analyzes these according to certain criteria and outputs them sorted. This can either happen according to very rigid specifications, such as “algorithms” or through complex processes such as “machine learning” and “deep learning.”...

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Wikipedia

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI), also known as artificial intelligence, is a branch of computer science that deals with the automation of intelligent behavior and machine learning. The term is difficult to define because there is already a lack of a precise definition of “intelligence”. Nevertheless, it is used in research and development.

One attempt to define “intelligence” is that it is the quality that enables a being to act appropriately and proactively in its environment; This includes the ability to perceive environmental data, that is, to have sensory impressions and react to them, to absorb, process and store information as knowledge, to understand and produce language, to solve problems and to achieve goals.

Practical successes of AI are quickly integrated into the application areas and then no longer count as AI. Because of this so-called “AI effect”, AI research only seems to be struggling with hard nuts that it cannot crack, which is also expressed by Tesler’s “theorem”: “Intelligence is what machines have not yet done”. .
 

AI in killing machines and weapons of war

On September 18, 2021, it became known that the Iranian nuclear physicist, university professor and member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Mohsen Fakhrisadeh was murdered by AI-controlled killing robots with high firearm precision. Despite the scientist's known danger, his escort and strong personal protection, according to a New York Times article, only 15 high-precision shots were necessary to kill him. This was made possible by AI-powered facial recognition, which was apparently able to accurately distinguish between the scientist, his wife and his children. The woman, like his sons, sat just a few centimeters away from him in the car and yet remained physically unharmed during the attack. According to the article, control of the attack took place from 1600 kilometers away, at an unspecified location.

In the wake of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine since February 2022, media attention has increased on the use of AI for military purposes. In Germany, both the Bundeswehr and the private defense industry are intensively involved in the development and implementation of AI-supported weapon systems.

In May 2023, a US Air Force colonel caused a stir when he described at a military conference in London how AI had violated its operational parameters and attacked its own control tower because it viewed the human operator as an obstacle to fulfilling its mission Mission would have considered. Shortly afterwards, the US military made it clear that it was not a real exercise, but merely a thought experiment...

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YouTube

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, OpenAI's Sora

Playlist - radioactivity worldwide ...

This playlist contains over 150 videos on the topic of atoms*

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Newsletter VIII 2024 - February 18th to 24th

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