• Renewable energy's share on German power grids reaches 55% in 2023
• Theoretical physicist becomes successful YouTuber to fund her quantum gravity research
• Emmy Noether: the woman who developed one of the most beautiful theorems in physics

• Celebrating 25 years of dedication to health and life: Maharishi AyurVeda Health Centre, Bad Ems, Germany
• Erfurt, Germany: Role of Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture in creating ideal cities
• Berlin: Congress of medical doctors celebrates German Ayurveda Association's 30-year Jubilee

• Germany falls into recession as consumers in Europe's biggest economy spend less
• Severe COVID cases 'more likely in highly polluted areas'
• Merkel: Virus death toll 'so bitter because it is avoidable'

---

Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Renewable energy's share on German power grids reaches 55% in 2023
10 January 2024 - The share of renewables on Germany's power grids rose by 6.6 percentage points to 55% of the total last year, the sector's regulator said, as Europe's largest economy moves closer to its 2030 target. Germany wants green power to account for 80% of its energy mix by 2030. It has ditched nuclear power and aims to abandon most of its coal generation and use its remaining gas plants mostly for grid backup. (more)

Theoretical physicist becomes successful YouTuber to fund her quantum gravity research
2 October 2023 - Physics is among the most daunting sciences to learn, but many passionate educators are trying to change that reputation. Professor Tatiana Erukhimova at Texas A [and] M University produces videos showing real-world applications of physics in a fun and insightful way. Another YouTube star named Sabin Hossenfelder actually uses her platform to not only share her knowledge in an understandable way, but to also fund her research. (more)

Emmy Noether: the woman who developed one of the most beautiful theorems in physics
21 September 2023 - Emmy Noether revolutionized our understanding of the universe by linking the concept of symmetry to the fundamental laws that conserve quantities like energy and momentum. (more)

Renewable energy's share of German power use tops 50 percent in Q1
28 April 2023 - Renewable energy accounted for 50.3 percent of Germany's power consumption in the first three months of the year, data from utility group BDEW and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Researchshowed on Friday [28 April]. Germany wants green power . . . to account for 80 percent of its energy mix by 2030, as it abandons nuclear power and aims to cut most of its coal generation, using gas plants mostly for grid back-up. (more)

Over and out: Germany switches off its last nuclear plants
15 April 2023 - 'Nuclear power, no thanks!' What was once a slogan found on the bumper of many a German car became a reality Saturday, as the country shut down its three remaining nuclear power plants in line with a long-planned transition toward renewable energy. (more)

German home solar power firm sees bright future as demand soars
13 January 2023 - Soaring demand for home solar power systems in Germany could boost revenues at Solarwatt by more than 50 percent this year to 500 million euros ($538 million) and lift them to 1 billion euros in 2025, its chief executive told Reuters. (more)

Germany returns looted artifacts to Nigeria
21 December 2022 - Germany has returned 22 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria as part of a larger effort by Western nations to seek reparation of stolen artifacts from Africa. The Benin Bronzes are sculptures and plaques looted from the ancient Kingdom of Benin -- now southern Nigeria, not the modern nation of Benin -- by British soldiers in 1897. Tuesday's [20 December] handover is Germany's first step in fulfilling its agreement with Nigeria earlier this year to release all 1,130 Benin Bronzes from German museums. (more)

Germany's Solar Valley could shine again as Europe strives to close energy gap
29 October 2022 - As Germany and the rest of Europe seek alternative sources of energy, partly to compensate for missing Russian supplies and partly to meet climate goals, interest has surged in rebuilding an industry that in 2007 produced every fourth solar cell worldwide. ... Germany's new registered residential photovoltaic systems rose by 42 percent in the first seven months of the year, data from the country's solar power association (BSW) showed. (more)

Germany to massively expand electric car charging network
20 October 2022 - Germany wants to massively expand the country's charging network for electric cars, spending 6.3 billion euros ($6.17 billion) over the next three years as it expects more and more drivers to turn away from combustion cars to more climate-friendly vehicles. The German government's goal is to have 1 million publicly accessible charging points in the country by 2030. (more)

Sweet return: German farmer gets both solar power and apples
1 September 2022 - It's picking season at Christian Nachtwey's organic orchard in western Germany and laborers are loading their carts with ripe red Elstar apples, ready to be shipped to European supermarkets. But Nachtwey's farm is also reaping a second harvest: Many of the apple trees grow beneath solar panels that have been producing bountiful electricity during this year's unusually sun-rich summer, while providing the fruit below with much-needed shade. (more)

---

Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Celebrating 25 years of dedication to health and life: Maharishi AyurVeda Health Centre, Bad Ems, Germany
13 June 2018 - The attention of the Ayurveda world turned to Bad Ems, Germany, this year on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Centre. More than 200 invited guests celebrated the event in the historic Hacker's Grand Hotel. Political leaders and renowned Ayurveda representatives attended, and praised the Health Centre and Ayurveda. Many guests of honour also expressed their desire for greater popularity of Ayurvedic medicine in Germany, including the Indian Consul General Pratibha Parkar, who called for greater support from health insurance companies, so that more people could benefit from Ayurveda. (more)

Erfurt, Germany: Role of Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture in creating ideal cities
9 May 2014 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's principles for creating ideal cities include living and working in Maharishi Vastu (Vedic architecture) buildings, as well as eating locally grown organic food, explained Dr Peter Swan, international expert on Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture, who designed and has taught a popular course in that subject in many countries. Maharishi outlined specific criteria for crops grown according to Vedic Organic Agriculture, including that the consciousness of the farmer, as well as the collective consciousness of the society, should be in accord with natural law. These and other criteria are being upheld through a garden project at the Maharishi Peace Palace in Erfurt, Germany, where Dr Swan gave a recent workshop. (more)

Berlin: Congress of medical doctors celebrates German Ayurveda Association's 30-year Jubilee
25 November 2013 - The 30-year Jubilee Congress of the German Ayurveda Association, an association of medical doctors, was recently held in Berlin, attended by over 100 doctors and researchers. Founded in 1983 under the inspiration of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the association is the oldest doctors' association for Ayurveda outside of India. Among the founding members was Dr Ulrich Bauhofer, who spent many years working with Maharishi researching Ayurvedic treatments and herbal remedies. Dr Bauhofer gave inspiring opening remarks on the theme of the Veda, explaining its importance in the development of human consciousness. He also described practical medical applications of Vedic knowledge in daily life through Maharishi Ayur-Veda health care. (more)

Germany: Congress highlights contributions of German Ayurveda Association and European Ayurveda Medical Association (EURAMA)
25 November 2013 - The German Ayurveda Association holds the distinction of being the oldest doctors' association for Ayurveda outside of India. Founded in 1983 under the inspiration of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the association has contributed substantially to bringing the benefits of Maharishi Ayur-Veda health care to people around the world, while at the same time making Ayurveda more of a household world in Germany. The European Ayurveda Medical Association (EURAMA), founded in 2008, is presided over by Austrian medical doctor Wolfgang Schachinger who manages an Ayurvedic health centre in that country. Its goal is to integrate the practices and treatments of Maharishi Ayur-Veda with those of other complementary and integrative medical organizations throughout Europe. (more)

Germany: Growing interest in integrative medicine seen at Berlin medical conference
25 November 2013 - Starting in the 1980s when he introduced Maharishi Ayur-Veda health care to the world, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi emphasized the need to integrate the practices of the world's oldest, most comprehensive system of natural medicine with the technologies of modern medicine, and to synthesize them into the most effective programme. Presentations at the recent Congress celebrating the 30-Year Jubilee of the German Ayurveda Association revealed the degree to which modern science, through its techniques and methods, is discovering and employing ancient principles of good health. (more)

Germany: Maharishi Ayur-Veda presented at 30-Year Jubilee Congress in Berlin
25 November 2013 - During the 30-Year Jubilee Congress of the German Ayurveda Association held recently in Berlin, several experts in Maharishi Ayur-Veda health care presented research and knowledge in this field. Robert Schneider, MD, FACC, spoke on Transcendental Meditation and his research on cardiovascular disease. Austrian cardiologist Dr Rainer Picha spoke on the discovery of Veda in human physiology. Lothar Pirc, director of the renowned Maharishi Ayurveda Health Centre in Bad Ems, Germany, made several contributions, and Dr Wolfgang Schachinger, a medical doctor from Austria who is president of the European Ayurveda Medical Association (EURAMA), gave a seminar on a purification therapy that can be done at home. (more)

Germany: Maharishi Ayur-Veda research contributes to increasing popularity, acceptance of Ayurvedic health care
25 November 2013 - In addition to featuring expert presentations on research in the field of Maharishi Ayur-Veda health care, the recent 30-Year Jubilee Congress of the German Ayurveda Association served as a platform to inform leaders of society that the world's oldest, most comprehensive system of natural medicine offers the solution to the current crisis in health care, as well as providing both preventive and treatment programmes for chronic diseases. (more)

Germany: Professors present on complementary medicine at German Ayurveda Association gathering
25 November 2013 - 'Fascination Ayurveda', a conference held recently in Berlin to celebrate the 30-Year Jubilee of the German Ayurveda Association, started with a presentation by Dr. med. Ulrich Bauhofer, one of the first physicians trained in Maharishi Ayur-Veda health care. His talk, 'A Quiet Medicine for a Loud Time', brought out Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's core principles of Ayurveda. Of ten presentations on the second day of the conference, about half were given by professors from European universities, some of whom were already involved in complementary medicine. (more)

Germany: Maharishi Ayurveda clinic creates customized health plans, treatments, medicines
27 July 2013 - At the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Centre in Bad Ems, Germany, an individualized treatment plan is designed for each patient, based on an initial consultation that includes a special form of Ayurvedic pulse diagnosis. How this differs from the usual type of consultation, said one patient, 'is that the doctor here takes proper time to understand the person. One other thing that totally inspired me was this pulse reading--where you're told things that have not been mentioned before and which are correct.' (more)

Germany: Maharishi Ayurveda clinic treats health disorders of modern civilization
27 July 2013 - Panchakarma is an effective Ayurvedic treatment that helps to detoxify and rejuvenate the body in three steps. Dr Karin Pirc, medical director of the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Centre in Bad Ems, Germany, explained that Panchakarma depends on the self-healing power of the body and assists in restoring balance. Because the treatment is particularly effective at purifying and removing toxins, it is well suited to more modern health disorders caused by poor diet, environmental pollutants, and high stress. (more)

---

Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Germany falls into recession as consumers in Europe's biggest economy spend less
25 May 2023 - Germany has slipped into recession as last year's energy price shock takes its toll on consumer spending. Output in Europe's largest economy dropped 0.3 percent in the first three months of the year, following a 0.5 percent contraction at the end of 2022, official data showed Thursday [25 May]. ... A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of declining output. (more)

Severe COVID cases 'more likely in highly polluted areas'
4 June 2022 - People who contract COVID-19 are more likely to suffer severe symptoms if they have been exposed to air pollution for long periods. A German study found that people who live in places where there are high levels of the atmospheric pollutant nitrogen dioxide had higher chances of ending up in intensive care units (ICUs) or of needing mechanical ventilation after they had caught COVID. Nitrogen dioxide is released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned, and the gas is known to have harmful effects on people's lungs. (more)

Merkel: Virus death toll 'so bitter because it is avoidable'
4 December 2021 - Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday made what is likely her final appeal before leaving office next week for Germans to get vaccinated against COVID-19. ... The number of unvaccinated residents has been blamed as a key factor in a surge of new virus cases in recent weeks. Official figures suggest that the infection rate may now be stabilizing, but at too high a level. ... Another 378 deaths in 24 hours brought Germany's total in the pandemic to 102,946. 'Every one of them leaves behind families or friends, stunned, speechless and helpless,' Merkel said in her video message. 'This is so bitter because it is avoidable. With the effective and safe vaccines, we have the key to this in our hands.' (more)

QAnon conspiracy theories target German elections
24 September 2021 - Ahead of federal elections this weekend, conspiracy theories have been spreading online, including claims the poll will be invalid because the German state is illegitimate. Followers claim neither Germany nor Austria were officially recognized as independent states by Allied force commanders after World War Two, operationally known as the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). ... SHAEF conspiracy theory believers say the current German elections are invalid because they are organized by an non-existent state -- and anybody taking part is committing treason. Like the QAnon conspiracy in the United States, the SHAEF theory has a 'saviour', who will rescue Germany from disaster. (more)

Germany's coronavirus reproduction rate jumps to 1.79: RKI
20 June 2020 - The reproduction rate of the novel coronavirus in Germany has jumped to 1.79 after a raft of localised outbreaks, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for public health said on Saturday [20 June], far above the level needed to contain it over the longer term. The number, a sharp increase from 1.06 on Friday, is a setback for the European Union's most populous country, which has fared better in the pandemic than many European peers due mainly to early testing and social distancing measures. (more)

Thirsting, ill and ablaze, Germany's forests in critical state, minister says
30 August 2019 - Forest fires, drought, and insect infestations have left Germany's forests in a critical state, agriculture minister Julia Kloeckner said after forest owners demanded 2.3 billion euros in emergency aid to tackle the crisis. ... Last year's exceptionally hot and dry summer weakened millions of trees, undermining their defenses against the bark-beetle, which often prove fatal to trees that have stood for centuries. This summer has been even hotter. (more)

German farmers see big crop losses due to warm weather: paper
24 June 2018 - German farmers could lose around half their harvests -- and in some cases all of them -- due to unusually warm temperatures and dryness seen in May, the head of the German Farmers' Association said in an interview published on Sunday (24 June). 'We had the warmest May this year since weather records have been kept,' Joachim Rukwied, the head of the farmers' group told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. 'In the north and the east, the crops have dried out. As a result, we expect crop losses of 50 to 60 percent in some regions, all the way to total losses.' (more)

Toxic particle linked to diesel kills 6,000 a year in Germany: Agency
8 March 2018 - Some 6,000 early deaths linked to nitrogen oxides (NOx) are recorded each year in Germany, the Federal Environmental Agency said on Thursday (8 March), providing more evidence of the health hazards posed by the toxic particles mostly produced by diesel engines. The Environmental Agency (UBA) also said that NOx causes one million people to fall ill each year and that levels of the toxic particle are higher in 70 cities than the limit set under air quality standards. (more)

Half of German companies hit by sabotage, spying in last two years, BSI says
21 July 2017 - More than half the companies in Germany have been hit by spying, sabotage, or data theft in the last two years, the German IT industry association Bitkom said on Friday [21 July], and estimated the attacks caused around 55 billion euros' worth of damage a year. Arne Schoenbohm, President of Germany's BSI federal cyber agency, said many big companies and especially those operating critical infrastructure were generally well-prepared for cyber attacks. But many smaller and medium-sized companies did not take the threat seriously enough, he said. (more)

Gastric reflux drugs may be tied to dementia risk
16 February 2016 - Repeated use of a certain class of drugs for gastric reflux or peptic ulcers was linked with a higher risk for dementia among patients in Germany, researchers say. The drugs, known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), include lansoprazole (Prevacid), manufactured by Novartis, as well as esomeprazole (Nexium), and omeprazole (Prilosec), both manufactured by AstraZeneca. Regular PPI users were 44 percent more likely to develop dementia than those who were not receiving the drugs, the authors reported in JAMA Neurology. (more)