Recycling Old Wind Turbine Blades | Chess Grandmaster Denies Cheating Accusations | Russia's Ukraine Opportunity Amid War Fatigue

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This Group Is Helping Find New Ways to Recycle Old Wind Turbine Blades - Time

This spring, researchers at a quarry near Draperstown, Northern Ireland, undertook what amounted to a massively scaled up version of the type of science experiment you might see in a middle school classroom. Using a crane, researchers added huge concrete blocks—each 2,400 lbs.—to a footbridge to see how much weight it could hold. What was notable about the bridge, though, was that instead of using steel or timber girders, the bridge made use of two 23-foot lengths of decommissioned wind turbine blades for its supports. And instead of holding six blocks, as the researchers expected, the bridge held 33 of them, around 80,000 lbs., and still did not fail.

Figuring out what to do with used wind turbine blades is a weak point in the rollout of renewable energy. About 85-90% of the components of most wind turbines—including the steel tower, the gears and generator assembly, and the concrete base—can be recycled. But the blades, intended to be strong enough to withstand hurricane-force winds and light enough to swing in the breeze, are typically made out of materials like fiberglass that are much harder to break down and reuse after the wind turbine has reached its end of life. A lot of them are ending up in industrial incinerators, or buried in landfills. “The wind turbine blade will be there, ultimately, forever,” Bob Cappadona, chief operating officer for French water, waste, and energy company Veolia Environnement SA’s North American branch, told Bloomberg in 2020. “The last thing we want to do is create even more environmental challenges.”

Wind turbines are one of the safest and most cost effective ways to generate electricity without the use of fossil fuels. If the world is to reach net-zero emissions and avert catastrophic climate change, they’re going to play a big part. That will also entail solving the problem of what to do with used turbines when they wear out (the blades usually last about 25 years). The Re-Wind Network, the international effort of researchers and entrepreneurs dedicated to finding uses for old turbine blades, and the group behind the bridge experiment, estimates that the world is going to be dealing with about 8.6 million tons of scrapped wind turbine blades by 2042.

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Chess Grandmaster Hans Niemann Denies ‘Ridiculous’ Cheating Claims—Calls Accuser Carlsen A ‘Bully’ - Forbes

American chess grandmaster Hans Niemann denied allegations that he cheated in a win over World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen last year, suggesting during an interview Monday with Piers Morgan that the allegations from Carlsen are "completely defamatory," a month after Niemann concluded a legal dispute with Chess.com and Carlsen.

Hans Niemann was publicly accused of cheating by World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen last year and ... [+] kicked off a major online chess platform, but was later reinstated after a legal dispute.

Niemann, 20, said on Piers Morgan Uncensored that a report from Chess.com suggesting he "likely cheated" more than 100 times in online chess matches was "completely defamatory" and "frankly ridiculous."

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Russia smells blood as Ukraine tries to stop war fatigue spreading among allies - CNBC

Ukraine is trying to keep its international backers close as the spillover effects of the war with Russia â as well as the thorny issues of diplomatic gaffes, conflict fatigue and elections â threaten to upset its alliances and damage support for its cause.

Opinion polls in both Europe and the U.S. carried out this summer show there has been an overall decline in support for measures backing Ukraine, particularly when it comes to additional funding and the supply of military equipment.

"Partisan divides appear to be emerging in both Europe and the U.S. on supporting Ukraine," geopolitical analysts at Teneo risk advisory noted Monday, adding that governments were mindful of prioritizing domestic politics and policies ahead of Ukraine, particularly as elections are on the horizon in a number of allied countries like Poland, Slovakia and the U.S.

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Psychologists having to talk to young offenders through cell doors - the Guardian

Exclusive: psychologist at Feltham YOI in London says there are often not enough guards to unlock children for therapy sessions

Traumatised children in a young offender institution are talking to psychologists through the hatch in their cell doors as there are not enough guards to unlock them for therapy sessions, the Guardian has learned.

“Our ability to have children unlocked for sessions has decreased massively,” said Dr Radha Kothari, the principal clinical psychologist at Feltham young offender institution in west London, which holds boys aged 15 to 18 who have committed the most serious crimes, including rape and murder.

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