• Fragment of a 1,750-year-old New Testament translation discovered
• Researcher uses UV light to uncover hidden chapter of the Bible
• Ex-gravel pit in Austria - turned into a floating solar farm

• Model of Veda in human physiology presented in Vienna by Austrian physician who helped develop it
• Austria: Maharishi Ayur-Veda offers physician training, burnout prevention programmes
• Austria: Maharishi Health School planned to improve health of the younger generation

• Austria finds some egg products contaminated with insecticide
• Austria accused of violating child rights
• Genetically modified maize found to affect reproduction in mice: Austrian study

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Fragment of a 1,750-year-old New Testament translation discovered
8 June 2023 - About 1,300 years ago a scribe in Palestine took a book of the Gospels inscribed with a Syriac text and erased it. Parchment was scarce in the desert in the Middle Ages, so manuscripts were often erased and reused. A medievalist from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) has now been able to make legible the lost words on this layered manuscript, a so-called palimpsest. (more)

Researcher uses UV light to uncover hidden chapter of the Bible
8 June 2023 - Medievalist Grigory Kessel from the Austrian Academy of Sciences was studying a manuscript in the Vatican Library when his UV light brought forth something spectacular. Hidden under two layers of text was a previously unknown chapter of the Bible. Written in Old Syriac over 1,500 years ago, the fragment of text is a more detailed version of Matthew 11-12 in the New Testament. ...The Old Syriac version, which was written at least a century before the oldest Greek translations, offers subtle nuances that are missing from the standard version that most people are familiar with. (more)

Ex-gravel pit in Austria - turned into a floating solar farm
16 January 2023 - A new floating photovoltaic (PV) system is about to join the electricity grid in Austria. However, as opposed to similar projects, floating at sea, the new PV farm in Grafenworth will float on two open-pit gravel mining sites. The project cost around 22 million euros and will be able to power about 7,500 homes with green energy. (more)

Austria allocates $650 million for solar incentives in 2023
13 January 2023 - Austria is ramping up its budget to support solar, on top of new measures aimed at simplifying approval processes for the deployment of PV systems. The figures are still not final, but there are indications that Austria installed more than 1 GW of solar in 2022. (more)

Austria: Win-win as neighbor gives up farmland to host beekeeper's hives
19 September 2022 - Near Austria's border with Germany, an agriculturalist let one-fifth of his farming estate return to wild meadows in order to support his neighbor's beekeeping operation. The hyper-cultivation around Franz Nigl's property in Leiten, Austria, was never really 'his thing,' and wanting to hear the meadows 'buzzing' again, he let his good neighbor Josef Krenn, a hobbyist beekeeper, take it over. 'I've never experienced anything like that,' Krenn admits. 'We benefit from each other. Franz grows the flowers and in return he gets good honey from me.' (more)

Toolmaking cockatoo taught his mates how to craft tools - and stunned scientists
5 February 2021 - A Goffin's cockatoo named Figaro and his friends have long been stunning researchers with their ability to craft and use tools, requiring levels of intelligence thought to be similar to a 3-year-old human. ... Goffin's cockatoos live on the Tanimbar Islands, a small archipelago in Indonesia. They've become a model species for avian intelligence. (more)

Austrian man leaves fortune to French village that saved his family during World War II
30 January 2021 - An Austrian man who passed away in December has left an undisclosed fortune to the French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon to thank residents for hiding his family from Nazis during World War II. In the will, dated November 9, 2020, Schwam wrote that he wanted 'to thank them [the village residents] for the welcome many extended me in the field of education.' He asked for the money to be used to fund scholarships and schools in the village. ... Le Chambon and nearby villages welcomed Jewish refugees, mostly children, after 1940, according to the town hall website. (more)

Cows prefer to co-moo-nicate in person, research suggests
15 October 2020 - Cows prefer face-to-face chat, new research from Austria suggests. Cows are more relaxed after being spoken to directly by a live human rather than when listening to a recorded voice via a loudspeaker, researchers found. Previous research has shown that cows are quite sophisticated 'co-moo-nicators' -- both among themselves and with humans. Scientists have discovered that cows make distinctive sounds when excited, lonely or looking forward to a meal, and they direct low-frequency calls toward their calves. (more)

Austria increases incentives to buy electric cars
29 June 2020 - Austria will boost financial incentives for buying battery-powered cars and bicycles, and triple grants for charging points from July in its efforts to fight global warming, the economy minister said on Monday [29 June]. (more)

Austria shuts down last coal-fired power plant
18 April 2020 - Austria has shut down its last coal-fired power plant as part of a plan to end the use of fossil fuels for energy production by 2030. Utility company Verbund said the plant in the southeastern town of Mellach was powered down Friday [17 April]. Austria is the eighth European Union country to end the burning of coal ... (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Model of Veda in human physiology presented in Vienna by Austrian physician who helped develop it
6 March 2013 - The centre for Maharishi Ayur-Veda health care and the Transcendental Meditation programme in Vienna, Austria, hosted a special event during which a beautifully designed model of human physiology was used to illustrate the precise correlations between the various aspects of the physiology and the sounds of the Veda and Vedic Literature. Dr Rainer Picha, an Austrian cardiologist who worked closely with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and scientists in Holland in the model's development, demonstrated how the sounds of the Veda, which Maharishi explained are the basic building blocks of creation, resonate within the physiology, awakening its deep inner intelligence and creating a nourishing, healing effect. (more)

Austria: Maharishi Ayur-Veda offers physician training, burnout prevention programmes
10 July 2011 - Special courses and training programmes for medical professionals and business people--including stress management and burnout prevention--are being offered in Austria, among many initiatives to make the benefits of Maharishi Ayur-Veda natural health care widely available in the country. (more)

Austria: Maharishi Health School planned to improve health of the younger generation
10 July 2011 - Among programmes being developed to promote good health for the population of Austria, plans are underway to create a Maharishi Health School in Vienna. Health schools are one of the main topics for the future in education in developed countries, mainly because the health status of the young generation is dramatically declining, experts say. The Maharishi Health School in Vienna is envisioned as a means to address this critical need in public health, starting with primary school children and focusing on health and development of consciousness. (more)

Austria: New Maharishi Ayurveda health centre will be Europe's first built according to Vastu architecture
10 July 2011 - Austria is a key centre for the knowledge and practical application of Maharishi Ayurveda health care in Europe. Many initiatives are being developed to bring the benefits of the world's oldest and most complete, natural, and prevention-oriented system of medicine to medical professionals and the public, with the aim of promoting perfect health in the whole society. (more)

Maharishi Ayur-Veda Health Centre to be built in Austria
18 August 2010 - A grand new Maharishi Ayur-Veda Health Centre and hotel for seminars is to be built in Austria. The Health Centre, featuring on-site natural healing hot springs, will be an exemplary facility in the world. It will also be a perfect Vastu--built according to principles of Vedic Architecture, Maharishi Sthapatya Veda. (more)

Unity in diversity: Celebrating the message of Maharishi's first historic visit to Austria
18 August 2010 - The theme of unity in diversity, brought to light by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during his first visit to Austria nearly 50 years ago, was celebrated in a recent presentation in that country. In 1962 Maharishi explained that, while differences remain on the surface level of different countries and different religions, there is an underlying level of unity that can be experienced by anyone: Unity will blossom in society based on each individual's growing experience of bliss through the practice of Transcendental Meditation. (more)

Maharishi's programmes in health, education, and business blossoming in Austria
10 February 2009 - Maharishi's programmes in Austria are expanding in many areas, including the fields of health, education, and business. More people are learning Transcendental Meditation and Yogic Flying; and new facilities are planned for Maharishi Ayur-Veda health care and Consciousness-Based education. (more)

Rising interest in Maharishi's programmes in Austria
6 November 2008 - Raja Dean Dodrill, Raja (Administrator) of Invincible Austria for the Global Country of World Peace, recently reported increasing interest in Maharishi's programmes in that nation, particularly the Transcendental Meditation Programme and its advanced techniques. (more)

Austria: Luxury spa to offer Maharishi Vedic Health programmes
4 September 2008 - Speaking 29 August 2008 on Maharishi Global Family Chat, Raja Dean Dodrill, Raja of Invincible Austria for the Global Country of World Peace, reported plans for a luxury spa in his domain, to offer all of the health programmes of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. (more)

Invincible Austria University launch stirs collective consciousness during visit of Dr David Lynch
15 November 2007 - Dr Lothar Krenner, National Leader and Founder of Invincibility for Austria, reported on the successful launch of Invincible Austria University during the recent two-day visit by a delegation of leaders of the Global Country of World Peace that included Dr David Lynch. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Austria finds some egg products contaminated with insecticide
14 August 2017 - Tests show that some imported egg products in Austria have been contaminated with a potentially harmful insecticide, Austria's food safety agency said on Monday (14 August) adding to the list of countries affected by an international health scare. Millions of chicken eggs have been pulled from European supermarket shelves as a result of the scare over the use of the insecticide fipronil, and hundreds of thousands of hens may be culled in the Netherlands. ... fipronil is considered moderately toxic and can cause organ damage in humans. Germany received at least 28 million possibly contaminated eggs, nearly three times the number previously reported . . . (more)

Austria accused of violating child rights
14 October 2010 - Austria should stop detaining children and halt the deportations of well-integrated foreign families that are denied asylum, Amnesty International and three other groups urged Thursday. The country also should better protect the rights of non-Austrian minors and become more lenient about allowing young asylum seekers and their parents to stay on humanitarian grounds, the organizations, which include Caritas, SOS Kinderdorf, and Diakonie, said in a letter to lawmakers. The appeal comes just days after two 8-year-old twins were taken into custody with their father in an early morning raid and deported back to their native Kosovo. Their mother, who is in psychiatric care, stayed behind. The four had lived in Austria since 2004 but were expelled after being denied asylum and refusing to leave on their own. (more)

Genetically modified maize found to affect reproduction in mice: Austrian study
23 November 2008 - Initial findings in an Austrian study show that genetically modified maize can affect reproduction in mice. The mice fed a diet consisting of genetically modified (GM) maize had smaller litters and fewer babies after several generations than those mice that were fed non-GM maize. The authors of the study, however, have dismissed the idea that this same result can happen in humans and say more studies are needed. (more)

Plot shows rise of extremism in Europe
13 August 2006 - From the squalid suburbs north of Paris to the gritty streets of Sarajevo, young, disaffected Muslims are increasingly receptive to hard-liners looking to recruit foot soldiers for holy war, European counterterrorism officials and religious leaders warn. (more)

Austria trade union federation head quits
28 March 2006 - The head of Austria's trade union federation stepped down Monday after revelations that he knew about the use of union funds to underwrite huge losses made by Bank Fuer Arbeit und Wirtschaft AG (BAWAG). BAWAG's supervisory board also announced the resignations of half its members linked to BAWAG's past financial misfortunes. (more)

UN to inspect Iran nuclear enrichment programme
26 March 2006 - After a planned trip to Natanz, Iran, UN inspectors should know by next week how far Iran has advanced on the path to nuclear enrichment. Rankled by US assertions that an International Atomic Energy Agency briefing on the advances made by Iran on enrichment was a 'bombshell', a senior agency official said that the statement 'comes from people who are seeking a crisis, not a solution' to the confrontation over Iran. (more)

Glacial cover-up won't stop global warming
17 July 2005 - Most of Austria's 925 glaciers have been receding under decades of global warming. In the Tyrol region ski-lift operators are fighting the melt by covering the glaciers with white plastic or foil that keeps the cold in and the heat out. This summer they have covered the weakest spots, about 5 per cent of the region's ski areas, knowing they can't save whole glaciers, only slow the shrinkage. (more)