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The Herald Scotland
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Glasgow DWP offices picketed by disability activists
Protestors expressed anger over the government's 'Pathways to Work' plan, which would change how disabled people access social security. The consultation, held between 1 and 4 PM, has been labelled a 'sham'. There has been anger over proposed cuts. (Image: Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco) A statement released by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) said: 'We are protesting because the consultation does not address the cuts which will have the most devastating effects and frames questions so they can only be answered positively. "This means they can tell Parliament the DWP consulted people who would be affected and no major issues were highlighted.' 'Among the elements not consulted on are changes to eligibility for PIP, combining assessments for PIP and the UC health element, and freezing the UC health element. The questions are worded so any answers must agree with the premise that some people must lose benefits. Security officers stood outside the building. (Image: Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco) 'Despite the DWP knowing how many people currently being supported will lose that support and how many people are claiming for specific conditions, this information is not provided. Consultees are expected to answer without knowing who will be affected.' A consultation in Cardiff was cancelled after the government became aware it was going to be protested, according to DPAC. The statement added: 'We should not be manipulated and used to legitimise a process which will lead to significant harm and, in all likelihood, deaths of disabled people.' Labour has blamed the previous government for a faulty benefits system they say is costing too much. In the forward to the green paper announcing the plan, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall wrote: 'We simply can't justify spending this much on a system which is failing on all counts – failing young people, failing disabled people and people with health conditions who need it, failing taxpayers and denying people the opportunities and support they need to get back to work. 'We must grasp the nettle and decisively reshape the benefits system towards being more proactive, more pro-work and sustainable.'
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
European Space Agency Bids Farewell to Gaia Mission
The European Space Agency (ESA) has said goodbye to Gaia, its "billion star surveyor." After nearly 11 years of celestial science—twice its planned lifetime—the spacecraft's fuel supplies reached critically low levels, leading the ESA to cut Gaia's power on Thursday. The ESA launched Gaia in December 2013 to build a 3D map of "more than a thousand million stars throughout our Milky Way galaxy and beyond." The spacecraft hitched a ride to space via a Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT launch vehicle, which injected Gaia into the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2, where Earth's and the Sun's gravitational pulls are balanced. Since then, Gaia has orbited the Sun at the same pace as Earth, collecting star data in unprecedented detail since the completion of its three-month post-launch calibration. Gaia is known for having created the largest and most precise 3D map of the Milky Way to date. According to the ESA, it significantly surpassed its scientific goal by "racking up more than three trillion observations of about two billion stars. " It has also contributed to the discoveries of exoplanets, black holes, quasars, and neighbor galaxies outside our own. Though the spacecraft was only supposed to last a little over five years, it remained functional for more than double that time. Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, Milky Way impression by Stefan Payne-Wardenaar But a decade-plus of continuously adjusting a spacecraft's positioning and movements burns fuel, and in January, it became clear that Gaia didn't have much time left. The ESA planned a series of technology tests and data downlinks to ensure the transmission of Gaia's last findings, then sent the spacecraft into its heliocentric "retirement" orbit far from Earth's gravitational influence. This would ensure the passive spacecraft wouldn't interfere with active missions in Gaia's original stomping grounds. On March 27, the Gaia team deactivated and powered off Gaia's instruments and subsystems. They then corrupted the spacecraft's onboard software before deactivating Gaia's communication subsystem and central computer. The ESA notes that personal farewell messages from the mission team were written into Gaia's memory prior to its retirement. "We will never forget Gaia, and Gaia will never forget us," mission manager Uwe Lammers said. Though Gaia will never communicate with Earth again, a wealth of scientific findings are yet to come. In 2026, the Gaia team will publish Gaia Data Release 4, a 500TB trove of data covering the mission's first five and a half years. This data will expand Gaia's binary star catalog, as well as its list of exoplanets and "wobbling" stars. Gaia's findings also inform the ESA's Euclid mission and its upcoming Plato mission, ensuring the beloved spacecraft will benefit science for years to come.
