3-D: Short for three-dimensional. This term is an adjective for something that has features that can be described in three dimensions — height, width and length.
amber: Fossilized tree resin (not sap). Researchers think most of this gemstone likely comes from conifers, or evergreen trees that bear cones.
ancestor: A predecessor. It could be a family forebear, such as a parent, grandparent or great-great-great grandparent. Or it could be a species, genus, family or other order of organisms from which some later one evolved. For instance, ancient dinosaurs are the ancestors of today’s birds. (antonym: descendant)
behavior: The way something, often a person or other organism, acts towards others, or conducts itself.
caterpillar: The larval stage of moths and butterflies. Somewhat wormy-shaped crawlers, caterpillars tend to eat leaves and other plant bits. Some will, however, dine on other insects.
fossil: Any preserved remains or traces of ancient life. There are many different types of fossils: The bones and other body parts of dinosaurs are called “body fossils.” Things like footprints are called “trace fossils.” Even specimens of dinosaur poop are fossils. The process of forming fossils is called fossilization.
fungus: (plural: fungi) One of a group of single- or multiple-celled organisms that reproduce via spores and feed on living or decaying organic matter. Examples include mold, yeasts and mushrooms.
gland: A cell, a group of cells or an organ that produces and discharges a substance (or “secretion”) for use elsewhere in the body or in a body cavity, or for elimination from the body.
infect: To spread a disease from one organism to another. This usually involves introducing some sort of disease-causing germ to an individual.
insect: A type of arthropod that as an adult will have six segmented legs and three body parts: a head, thorax and abdomen. There are hundreds of thousands of insects, which include bees, beetles, flies and moths.
insight: The ability to gain an accurate and deep understanding of a situation just by thinking about it, instead of working out a solution through experimentation.
paleontologist: A scientist who specializes in studying fossils, the remains of ancient organisms.
pupa: (plural: pupae) The life stage in insects following the larval (caterpillar) stage and preceding adulthood.
spore: (in fungi) The species’ single-celled reproductive stage — functioning much like a seed — that is released and spread by wind or water. Most are protected against drying and heat, so they can remain viable for long periods, until conditions are right for their growth.
As mid-August nights draw in, stargazers across the northern hemisphere are being treated to some of the most striking views of the year. Among the highlights are three prominent star clusters, each offering a window into the dynamic and ancient life of the Milky Way. From dense globular swarms to open formations etched into familiar constellations, these stellar gatherings are visible to the naked eye from dark-sky sites, but reveal their full majesty when observed with binoculars or a telescope.
What are star clusters?
Star clusters are gravitationally bound families of stars born from the same interstellar cloud. They come in two main types: open clusters and globular clusters. Open clusters, such as the Hyades and the Pleiades, are relatively young and often located in the Milky Way’s spiral arms. Their loosely bound nature means they can disperse over millions of years as passing stars tug at their members. Globular clusters, by contrast, are tightly packed spheres containing hundreds of thousands of stars, often among the oldest in the galaxy. These vast systems orbit in the galactic halo, high above and below the Milky Way’s disk, and many shine brightly enough to appear as faint smudges of light to the unaided eye.
Roughly 150 globular clusters and more than 1,000 open clusters. Observing them requires patience and technique: allow around 30 minutes for your eyes to adapt to darkness, and use averted vision, looking slightly to the side of the target, to engage the light-sensitive rods of your eyes. While some clusters can be glimpsed without equipment, 10×50 binoculars sharpen the view and begin to resolve brighter stars, and a telescope of six inches or more reveals their intricate structures in detail.
The Great Hercules Cluster
One of the brightest sights of August evenings is the Great Hercules Cluster, also known as Messier 13 (M13). Located about 25,000 light-years away in the constellation Hercules, M13 contains around 100,000 stars bound in a glittering spherical mass. It can be found between the bright stars Vega and Arcturus by locating the Keystone asterism, a diamond-shaped pattern of four stars at Hercules’ centre. Sweeping binoculars between Zeta Herculis and Eta Herculis brings this ancient cluster into view, a highlight of the summer sky.
The Hyades and the Pleiades
In the early hours before dawn, the constellation Taurus rises in the east. At its heart lies the Hyades, the closest open cluster to Earth at just 150 light-years away. Shaped like a sideways ‘V’ marking the bull’s face, its brightest star Aldebaran, the red ‘eye’ of Taurus, is a foreground object, only 65 light-years distant.
Above the Hyades sits the Pleiades, one of the most famous open clusters, often called the ‘Seven Sisters’. This cluster hosts more than a thousand hot, young stars, but binoculars reveal the seven brightest that dominate its appearance. Positioned about 10 degrees above the Hyades, roughly a fist’s width at arm’s length, the Pleiades are a dazzling reminder of the Milky Way’s star-forming past.
Authorities in Bagh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, have ordered the temporary closure of all schools and educational institutions following a high flood alert issued by the Meteorological Department.
According to an official notification, both public and private schools across the district will remain closed on August 18 and 19 as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of students and staff.
The Met Office has forecast heavy rainfall and thunderstorms in several districts, including Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Bagh, Haveli, Kotli, Mirpur and Bhimber, over the coming days. It has cautioned that the weather conditions could trigger flash flooding and landslides, particularly in hilly areas.
Officials said the decision to close schools was taken as a necessary step to reduce risks as the region braces for the impact of the ongoing monsoon spell.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has also warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Islamabad within the next 24 hours, with intermittent breaks.
Morning temperatures were recorded at 26°C in Islamabad, 28°C in Lahore and Peshawar, 29°C in Karachi, 21°C in Quetta and Gilgit, 17°C in Murree, and 23°C in Muzaffarabad.
In Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, cloudy weather with chances of rain, wind and thunderstorms is expected in Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian and Baramula. The morning temperature was recorded at 18°C in Srinagar, Pulwama and Baramula, 26°C in Jammu, 10°C in Leh, and 19°C in Anantnag and Shopian.
The first World Humanoid Robot Games have concluded in Beijing with more than 500 androids alternating between jerky tumbles and glimpses of real power as they took part in events ranging from the 100m (109-yard) hurdles to kung fu.
Two hundred eighty robotics teams from 16 countries competed at the Chinese capital’s National Speed Skating Oval, built for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Events included traditional sports such as athletics and basketball as well as practical tasks such as medicine categorisation and cleaning.
“I believe in the next 10 years or so, robots will be basically at the same level as humans,” 18-year-old spectator Chen Ruiyuan said.
Human athletes might not be quaking in their boots just yet.
At one of the first events on Friday, five-a-side football, 10 robots the size of seven-year-olds shuffled around the pitch, often getting stuck in a scrum or falling over en masse.
However, in a 1,500m (nearly 1-mile) race, domestic champion Unitree’s humanoid stomped along the track at an impressive clip, easily outpacing its rivals.
The fastest robot finished in six minutes, 29.37 seconds, a far cry from the human men’s world record of 3:26.00.
One mechanical racer barrelled straight into a human operator. The robot remained standing while the human was knocked flat although did not appear to be injured.
Robot competitions have been held for decades, but the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games is the first to focus specifically on robots that resemble human bodies, organisers said.
The Chinese government has poured support into robotics, hoping to lead the industry.
Beijing has put humanoids at the “centre of their national strategy”, the International Federation of Robotics wrote in a paper released on Thursday.
“The government wants to showcase its competence and global competitiveness in this field of technology,” it added.
In March, China announced plans for a one-trillion-yuan ($139bn) fund to support technology start-ups, including those in robotics and artificial intelligence.
The country is already the world’s largest market for industrial robots, official statistics showed, and in April, Beijing held what organisers called the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon.
With coal accounting for 54% of Asia’s power mix last year, the region faces a significant challenge in meeting its net-zero ambitions. In a bid to cut emissions, several Asian countries are turning to ammonia for power generation, particularly through co-firing, blending low-carbon ammonia with coal or natural gas. Rystad Energy expects China, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea to emerge as key hubs for this transition. However, a sizeable supply gap remains, with about 8.8 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of ammonia needed to meet 2030 targets.
Having relied on coal for decades, Asia lacks both the policy frameworks and the market demand needed to justify investment in infrastructure for ammonia as an energy source. Countries such as Japan and South Korea also face resource constraints, whether limited natural gas or insufficient renewable capacity, that hinder domestic production of clean ammonia. To meet net-zero goals, they will need to import clean ammonia from overseas, enabling coal replacement as a baseload power source while safeguarding energy security and affordability.
Ammonia co-firing is currently expensive, mainly due to the high costs associated with low-carbon hydrogen production, ammonia conversion and transportation. However, countries in Asia appear willing to tackle this challenge and advance their co-firing plans. Assuming a low-carbon hydrogen price of $5 per kilogram, which corresponds to an ammonia price of $1,000 per tonne, Rystad Energy estimates that the levelized cost of electricity for a 10% ammonia blend will be about 50% higher than coal-only generation. This indicates that costs must be tackled through innovation, economies of scale, or the implementation of a meaningful carbon price to make ammonia co-firing competitive.
While hydrogen and ammonia are set to play a growing role in decarbonizing Asia’s power sector, much of the progress hinges on foreign partnerships and long-term offtake agreements. Even with high costs associated with hydrogen, our data shows that ammonia demand from power generation is expected to grow ninefold by 2030. However, without firm offtake commitments and accelerated development of critical import infrastructure, this growth could stall. While several key Asian players are already in discussions with international partners to secure ammonia supply, progress on import terminals and co-firing capabilities must speed up,
Learn more with Rystad Energy’s Hydrogen Solution.
While Japan and Indonesia moved early to explore ammonia co-firing for power generation, China has taken a later but more decisive approach by embedding it as a decarbonization strategy in its National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) 2024-2027 Action Plan. China is moving directly to national targets before large-scale feasibility trials. Starting in 2027, coal plants that are upgraded or newly commissioned must cut emissions by half compared to 2023 levels, with China planning to implement 10% co-firing of biomass and green ammonia alongside carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies.
If ammonia co-firing proves viable, it could be vital to meeting the nation’s goals of peaking emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. However, it remains uncertain how many plants will adopt the technology. Given the size of China’s significant coal power generation fleet, it is likely that the roll-out of ammonia co-firing will take more than the targeted two years, especially when existing coal power plants will have to be retrofitted to accommodate the technology.
Due to abundant renewable resources in Inner Mongolia, China is well-positioned to produce low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia at scale, giving it an advantage compared to regional peers. This year, Envision Energy commissioned the world’s largest green ammonia plant in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, with an initial capacity of 0.32 Mtpa and plans to expand to 1.5 Mtpa by 2028. As deal-making accelerates China could bolster its role as a dependable ammonia supplier for the region and pave the way for exports, though the required volumes still remain unclear.
South Korea is also looking to back hydrogen-for-power by 2029, with the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) having launched its second clean hydrogen power generation auction. Winning bidders, to be selected later this year, must begin generating power using hydrogen or derivatives such as ammonia by 2029 under a 15-year contract covering 3 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity. While this is 3.5 TWh less than the inaugural round, Rystad Energy estimates that producing this volume will still require around 200,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen each year.
In the 2024 auction, the world’s first, MOTIE reported participation from only six power plants out of roughly 59 nationwide. Despite the limited response, only one plant met MOTIE’s evaluation criteria, which considered factors such as bid price and alignment with the country’s Clean Hydrogen Portfolio Standards (CHPS). MOTIE ultimately awarded Korea Southern Power (KOSPO) 750 gigawatt-hours at its Samcheok power plant, representing just 11.5% of the total volume on offer.
To encourage greater participation in this year’s auction, MOTIE is introducing two new mechanisms: an exchange rate-linked settlement system and a hydrogen volume borrowing system. Unlike the 2024 auction, which settled prices in South Korean won and exposed participants to currency risk from USD fluctuations, the upcoming auction will link power price settlements to the exchange rate, helping to mitigate this risk. The volume borrowing system allows power generators to borrow hydrogen volumes from the following year in advance, complementing the existing carryover system for unused volumes. Together, these changes offer generators increased flexibility to manage unplanned events or maintenance.
Japan, an early adopter of ammonia co-firing, has also made significant progress in 2025. The nation has secured key contracts and attracted foreign investment to maintain a steady supply of low-carbon ammonia, planning to source blue ammonia from the US and green ammonia from China and India to scale up and address domestic supply shortages. Early next year, Japan will also announce the winners of its contract for difference program, which is expected to provide additional support for its ammonia-for-power ambitions and help the country meet its emissions targets.
Contacts
Minh Khoi Le Head of Hydrogen Research Phone: +47 24 00 42 00 Minh.khoi.le@rystadenergy.com
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The Ahmedabad Marathon 2025 will be held on November 30, with the start and finish point at the Sabarmati Riverfront, the organisers announced on Monday.
Registrations for all race categories – full marathon, half marathon, 10km run and 5km run – opened on August 15 and will remain open in the lead-up to the event.
Since its inception in 2017, the Ahmedabad Marathon has been held annually. Over the years, the event has grown into one of the country’s premier running festivals, attracting participants from across India.
In 2022, the Ahmedabad Marathon was listed on the Global Marathon Event List by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS). The race also holds certification from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
The route showcases some of Ahmedabad’s most iconic landmarks, including the Atal Bridge, Gandhi Ashram and Ellis Bridge, making it one of the most picturesque running experiences in the country.
In its previous edition in 2024, around 20,000 runners took part in the marathon, with more than 3,000 defence personnel joining in.
The central theme of the marathon continues to be Run4OurSoldiers – a tribute to the service and sacrifices of the Indian Armed Forces.
A major portion of the proceeds from the event goes for the welfare of the armed forces.
At the last edition, Gyan Babu won the men’s open full marathon title in Ahmedabad while Jyoti Gawate was crowned the women’s champion.
Isaac Health said it raised $10.5 million in a Series A round led by local venture firm Flare Capital Partners, bringing total capital raised to $16.3 million and setting up a national push to scale its AI-driven memory clinic.
According to the company and investor statements, new backers Industry Ventures and New York-based Black Opal Ventures participated, while prior investors who participated included: New York’s Meridian Street Capital and Primetime Partners, and Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based B Capital. The funding is intended to expand partnerships with payers and health systems, and broaden a virtual model the company says is now available in all 50 states.
“On the growth front, we’ve added a number of new partnerships. We’ve really crystallized our go-to-market fit and strategy,” Isaac Health co-founder and CEO Julius Bruch told Fierce Healthcare. “We are squarely focused on health plans, both on Medicaid and Medicare primarily, but also covering health systems. That’s where we see really the strength of Isaac Health pay out the most.”
The raise comes amid a mounting public-health challenge, with the Alzheimer’s Association saying millions of older Americans live with Alzheimer’s and related dementias. Isaac Health says patients can face average waits of about three years for specialist appointments. The delays, the company argues, cost critical intervention windows, and increase emergency and hospital use.
“Our health system isn’t equipped for the scale and complexity of these needs,” said Dr. Joel Salinas, Isaac Health’s chief medical officer and co-founder.
Isaac Health positions itself as a neurologist-led, AI-enabled platform that combines remote screening, assessment, treatment and care management. The company claims patented screening algorithms and predictive machine learning can detect diverse cognitive conditions.
In a pilot study, Isaac Health reports that 73% of patients showed improved neurocognitive function at six months and 92% met short-term cognitive improvement goals within three weeks. The study has not been peer reviewed.
Flare Capital said its investment is a bet on scaling virtual neurology and driving return through better diagnosis and management, particularly as disease-modifying Alzheimer’s therapies enter clinical practice and payers seek value-based care solutions.
Isaac Health plans to use the new fund to improve virtual care infrastructure, enhance AI-driven detection and predictive clinical decision support, and to measure outcomes and optimize care pathways. The strategy mirrors broader market moves to combine digital-first care delivery with specialty expertise to shrink geographic and socioeconomic access gaps.
