Author: DW

Trauma is usually treated as something you carry, manage, work through and sometimes ease. Rarely as something that could be stopped before it takes hold. That is what a group of researchers in Munich and Stockholm set out to test. They began by making the first days of life hard. Mother mice were given far less nesting and bedding material than normal. That was enough to make mothers erratic, and the first days of life unpredictable. The mice raised in that hardship grew up looking perfectly healthy — with no obvious illness or anything visibly wrong. Then researchers put them in…

New Zealand runner Sophie Wood, who competes under her maiden name, Sophie Grant, recently accomplished something truly remarkable. Running for 29 days across the Alps, from Trieste to Monaco, Woods covered around 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) while climbing a total of more than 100,000 meters (328,083 feet) – on an average of three to four hours of sleep per night. This made her the fastest person ever to complete the Via Alpina. The 42-year-old ultra-runner finished the route more than seven days faster than the fastest man ever to do so. “It gives me goosebumps thinking about it, to take the…

08/14/2026August 14, 2026What was the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, the reason WWII ordnances are strewn about the area?Tens of thousands of troops on both sides were killed or wounded in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest in World War IIImage: Oliver Berg/dpa/picture allianceFriday’s fire is taking place on the site of one of the longest and most costly single battles in the US military’s history. That’s why the area is strewn with unexploded munitions from World War II that are at risk of exploding, both aiding the fire’s spread and potentially endangering emergency services.  The Battle of Hürtgen Forest, or Schlacht…

Trauma is usually treated as something you carry, manage, work through and sometimes ease. Rarely as something that could be stopped before it takes hold. That is what a group of researchers in Munich and Stockholm set out to test. They began by making the first days of life hard. Mother mice were given far less nesting and bedding material than normal. That was enough to make mothers erratic, and the first days of life unpredictable. The mice raised in that hardship grew up looking perfectly healthy — with no obvious illness or anything visibly wrong. Then researchers put them in…

In upcoming state elections to be held on September 6, polls suggest the Alternative for Germany (AfD) could win an absolute majority in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Based on the far-right’s cultural policy program, museums, theaters and cultural institutions in the region say that artistic freedom is one of the far-right party’s targets. The AfD has announced that artists and institutions would be required to sign a declaration pledging “not to hold in contempt Germany and its culture” if they want to obtain state funding. Many of these organizations and individuals heavily rely on these subsidies. The AfD’s interpretation of disrespect…

Water levels on the Rhine River — a small but critical artery for goods vital to Germany’s industry — remain critically low as a result of weeks of drought. At one of the river’s shallowest stretches, Kaub — between Mainz and Koblenz — the water level stood at around 16 centimeters (6.3 inches) at Monday lunchtime, according to the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV). Although the real navigable channel is roughly a meter deeper, 40 centimeters is regarded as the lowest for standard commercial vessels at Kaub. Ship operators use the reading at Kaub to decide how much cargo their barges can safely carry and whether a passage is…

US President Donald Trump signed another executive order on Monday, August 10, 2026: “Delivering gold standard childhood vaccine recommendations for Americans.”  The order reduces the current recommendation of 18 vaccines for children down to 11, which puts it almost in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. As DW reported in May 2025, there are vaccines against 30 infectious diseases. The World Health Organization recommends that every child get vaccinated against 12 of those:  Tuberculosis Hepatitis B Polio Diphtheria Tetanus Pertussis (whooping cough) Haemophilus influenza type B Pneumococcal disease Rotavirus Measles Rubella Human papillomavirus This is the WHO making recommendations for all…

After the World Cup and before the domestic football season begins, the world’s most popular sport tends to enjoy a relatively quiet period. For some though, the need for football remains. This summer that demand has been met by the creation of a raft of mobile sports games in which players can dive into nostalgia and storytelling. This craze has seemingly been inspired by the viral 82-0 basketball game in which players can draft an all-time NBA starting five by spinning a random wheel for teams and decades. Inspired by this, Deniz Sancar, a hobbyist coder who works in advertising, created 38-0-0. Sancar told Mobilegamer.biz that…

Eurovision Song Contest organizers announced rule changes that would prevent countries involved in an armed conflict from hosting the event. Israel and Ukraine are among the countries the rule could affect, with both having enjoyed recent success in the competition. What did the Eurovision organizers say? Eurovision is typically staged by the broadcaster from the country that won the previous edition as part of a co-production involving members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Under the new rules, “the winning broadcaster will automatically be ineligible to host the Contest if an armed conflict, a sensitive geopolitical situation, or any other situation…

What changes from Wednesday? In a drive to cut waste and improve public health, new European Union rules take effect on Wednesday, banning high levels of PFAS “forever chemicals” in packaging. Under the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), any new packaging products entering the market will now have to meet tighter standards if designed to come into contact with food. PFAS have been linked to increased risks of certain cancers and other health conditions.  Although the amount of material people are exposed to from food packaging is usually low, scientists are worried about the long-term effects. After all, PFAS are highly persistent chemicals…