Lifeboat Foundation

In arguing against nuclear war, Dr. Tsipis said he came « to believe that reason must prevail. »

A curious boy who gazed at the stars from his mountainside Greek village and wondered how the universe came to be, Kosta Tsipis was only 11 when news arrived that the first atomic weapon had been dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

“After the bomb went off, I sent away for a book because I wanted to understand it,” he told the Globe in 1987.

Continue reading “Kosta Tsipis, MIT physicist and prominent voice for nuclear disarmament, dies at 86” »

In what leading campaigners are describing as “a new chapter for nuclear disarmament”, the ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will now come into force on 22 January, after Honduras became the 50th Member State to ratify on Saturday.

Eight countries have signed the Artemis Accords, a set of guidelines surrounding the Artemis Program for crewed exploration of the moon. The United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates and the US are now all participants in the project, which aims to return humans to the moon by 2024 and establish a crewed lunar base by 2030.

This may sound like progress. Nations have for a number of years struggled with the issue of how to govern a human settlement on the moon and deal with the management of any resources. But a number of key countries have serious concerns about the accords and have so far refused to sign them.

Previous attempts to govern space have been through painstakingly negotiated international treaties. The Outer Space Treaty 1967 laid down the foundational principles for human space exploration – it should be peaceful and benefit all mankind, not just one country. But the treaty has little in the way of detail. The moon Agreement of 1979 attempted to prevent commercial exploitation of outer-space resources, but only a small number of states have ratified it – the US, China and Russia haven’t.

Additionally, some reports have suggested that then-President Woodrow Wilson downplayed the virus, but that is a “wrong and a false trope of popular history,” Markel said. Wilson, who would later contract the virus, was organizing and commanding the U.S. effort in World War I and once the war ended, he sailed for Paris, where he stayed until April of 1919 organizing a peace treaty and the League of Nations, Markel said.

“The federal government played a very small role in American public health during that era. It was primarily a city and state role and those agencies were hardly downplaying it,” he said.

Unlike today, there was no CDC or national public health department. The Food and Drug Administration existed but consisted of a very small group of men. Additionally, there were no antibiotics, intensive care units, ventilators, IV fluids or vaccines. “You got a bed or maybe nursing care,” Markel said.

The Afghan government and the Taliban are finally coming to the table, after repeated delays. But the violence continues, and the challenges are vast.

Spokeswoman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova, said at a briefing on Thursday that Russia is ready to continue to discuss space issues with the US. This discussion should operate within the framework of a bilateral expert group, commenting on the publication of the US Space Force doctrine by the Pentagon.

“The document confirms the aggressive direction of Washington in the sphere of space, the determination to achieve military superiority up to the total dominance in space. The outer space is considered by the American side exclusively as the arena to conduct warfare,” she said. “We see an opportunity to remove mutual concerns within the framework of the Russian-American working group on space security whose first meeting took place in Vienna on July 27 and we confirm our readiness to discuss further all issues of space activities in the bilateral format,” the diplomat added. The spokeswoman drew attention to the fact that the use of space research exclusively in peaceful purposes remains a priority for Russia as well as prevention of an arms race in outer space. “As opposed to the US, we do not pursue the goals of domineering and superiority. We are interested instead in maintaining the strategic balance in order to strengthen the international security.” She referred to the Russian-Chinese treaty draft on the prevention of stationing arms in space, use of force or threats against space objects. All existing issues and contradictions on the subject of arms in space should be resolved within the framework of the Disarmament Conference, the spokeswoman stressed. According to her, Russia thoroughly analyzes the possible consequences of “Washington’s aggressive endeavors.”

Spokeswoman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova, said at a briefing on Thursday that Russia is ready to continue to discuss space issues with the US. This discussion should operate within the framework of a bilateral expert group, commenting on the publication of the US Space Force doctrine by the Pentagon.

Continue reading “Russia to continue bilateral dialogue with US on all space issues” »

Saint Kitts and Nevis became the 44th country to ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on Sunday, the 75th anniversary of the US atomic bombing on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Six more ratifications are now needed to bring the treaty into force.

The Caribbean nation’s foreign minister, Mark Brantley, said in a statement that the bombing of Nagasaki was the apogee of human cruelty and inhumanity.

He said his country, as a small nation committed to global peace, can see no useful purpose for nuclear armaments. He called on all nations to work towards peace and mutual respect for all mankind.

One idea, which has been in gestation for some years, could be about to have its break-out moment. A new agreement, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), is expected to become international law next year — and scientists have a chance to play a part in helping it to succeed.

Seventy-five years after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a new treaty offers renewed hope for a nuclear-free world.

A Russian submarine passed through Turkey on Tuesday, in an apparent breach of the longstanding Montreux Convention, which prohibits submarines from moving between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. If the move goes unchecked it could change the balance of power in the region, making Russia more powerful in the Mediterranean.

The submarine was photographed by Yörük Işık, a highly respected ship spotter who lives in Istanbul. There is no mistaking that this is a Kilo Class submarine. Only Russia operates this type of submarine in the Black Sea. Romania also has a sole example on its lists but that hasn’t been active in decades so it cannot be that.

More specifically, the submarine is likely to be the Project 636.3 boat Rostov-on-Don, heading to take up duty in Syria. Russian state media reported on April 27 that the sub would be dispatched on a “deployment in distant waters” to the Mediterranean. Analysis of open-source intelligence suggests that she put to sea briefly after the announcement but then returned to her base on April 29. This was likely to start a pre-deployment COVID-19 isolation. She then participated in the Victory Day parade in Sevastopol, Crimea. She did not actually head south toward the Mediterranean until now.