Stalin, Putin and an enduring obsession with immortality | Letter
Like Vladimir Putin, Joseph Stalin was interested in immortality (‘To them, ageing is a technical problem that can, and will, be fixed’: how the rich and powerful plan to live for ever, 28 September).In 1939 he read Prolonging Life, a pamphlet promising a lifespan of 150 years, by Aleksandr Bogomolets, a haematologist famous for his rapid-healing serums and blood transfusion methods.Bogomolets promised to prolong life with cytotoxic proteins, herbs and transfusions of young blood.Stalin made him a Hero of Socialist Labour and gave him generous research funding, but was dismayed when he died aged 64 in 1946 (this was hardly Bogomolets’s fault – as a boy in Tsarist times, he visited his mother, a revolutionary serving a sentence of hard labour in a Siberian prison, and caught tuberculosis).Donald RayfieldEmeritus professor, Queen Mary University of London Aleks Krotoski says dictators and US techno-billionaires are striving for immortality.
They should read After Many a Summer by Aldous Huxley, a novel about a Hollywood millionaire who tries to achieve immortality, but regresses to an ape‑like creature in the process,The book is partly seen as reflecting science showing that embryo development takes a foetus through stages resembling a worm, a fish, a tailed rodent-like creature etc,Hence returning an adult human body to a younger stage might reverse this evolutionary process,But the book has also been seen as reflecting the narcissistic obsession with eternal youth in the US that Huxley had moved to,So has anything changed in the intervening century? Certainly not the obsession, which if anything has become stronger.
Perhaps Vladimir Putin is already undergoing transfusions with “rejuvenating” blood, sucking, vampire-like, the blood of young Russians? Joseph UlanowskiCambridge Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Jaguar Land Rover launches phased restart at factories after cyber-attack
Jaguar Land Rover has launched a phased restart of its manufacturing operations, more than a month after the British carmaker was hit by a crippling cyber-attack, as it revealed its sales had dropped sharply in a “challenging quarter”.The maker of Jaguar and Land Rover cars has been scrambling to get its systems up and running again after the hack on the last day of August forced it to shut down factories and retail operations around the world.JLR also announced a new financing scheme to provide its struggling suppliers with cash upfront during the restart period. This means those that qualify will be paid much faster than usual, aiding their cashflow, it said. The scheme will then be expanded to include some non-production suppliers
EU to raise tariffs on foreign steel imports; UK investors quit ‘sky-high’ stock markets at record pace – business live
The EU is to take a leaf out of Donald Trump’s playbook and increase tariffs on foreign steel imports as the local industry, particularly in Germany, is threatened with “collapse” in the face of cheap Chinese imports and 50% punitive tariffs imposed by the US in June.In a major shift in policy, the European Commission is expected to propose doubling the current 25% tariff to 50% on foreign steel while at the same time drastically reducing the current quota for duty-free imports.The bloc’s industry commissioner Stéphane Séjourné in Strasbourg said this morning:“The European steel industry was on the verge of collapse - we are protecting it so that it can invest, decarbonise, and become competitive again.”He insisted the move was not the same as Trump’s blunt 50% steel tariff that applies, with some exceptions such as the UK, across the globe.The EU tariff, in contrast, will only apply after a quota of foreign imports has been filled, with all foreign imports below that duty-free
AirPods Pro 3 review: better battery, better noise cancelling, better earbuds
Apple’s extremely popular AirPods Pro Bluetooth earbuds are back for their third generation with a better fit, longer battery life, built-in heart rate sensors and more effective noise cancelling, and look set to be just as ubiquitous as their predecessors.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.It has been three years since the last model, but the earbuds still come only in white and you really have to squint at the details to spot the difference from the previous two generations
OpenAI signs multibillion-dollar chip deal with AMD
OpenAI and the chipmaker AMD announced on Monday that they had signed a multibillion-dollar chip deal that would also give the ChatGPT creator the option to buy a large stake in the chipmaker.The deal offers OpenAI an opportunity to buy 10% in AMD and marks a major vote of confidence in the company’s AI chips and software. Shares of AMD surged more than 30% and added about $80bn to its market capitalization after the announcement.“We view this deal as certainly transformative, not just for AMD, but for the dynamics of the industry,” said Forrest Norrod, AMD’s executive vice-president.The latest deal, among a string of investment commitments, is a testament to OpenAI and the broader AI industry’s voracious appetite for computing power as companies race toward developing AI technology that meets or exceeds human intelligence
England v Bangladesh: Women’s Cricket World Cup – live
40th over: Bangladesh 121-5 (Mostary 51, Fahima 7) Capsey is knocked away for three singles – Fahima tries to go big but can’t find the middle of the bat. She’s on seven off 23 deliveries.39th over: Bangladesh 118-5 (Mostary 50, Fahima 5) Tash Farrant, on commentary, laments a lack of footwork from the Bangladesh batters against England’s spinners – they haven’t really got the sweep out either.38th over: Bangladesh 117-5 (Mostary 50, Fahima 4) There it is: Mostary dabs the ball into the off side off Dean to reach 50 for the first time in international cricket. She gets there off 92 deliveries, a special moment for the 23-year-old who walked out at 25 for two
The Breakdown | David Bishop on a rugby career full of regret
The former Wales and Pontypool scrum-half has written an autobiography on a life blighted by violence and reflects on the punch that ended his international careerImagine, for a moment, the following scenario. Having broken his neck in a freak rugby accident and avoided paralysis by a millimetre, the player concerned is back for a meeting with his spinal consultant. The specialist advice is crystal clear. Make the most of your second chance and, if you fancy staying alive, never do either of the following again: dive off a high board or resume playing rugby.And now just imagine being the kind of guy who leaves the room and immediately nips home to pick up his swimming trunks before heading to the nearest swimming pool
Apple Watch Series 11 review: wrist-flickingly good with longer battery life
OpenAI promises more ‘granular control’ to copyright owners after Sora 2 generates videos of popular characters
Six out of 10 UK secondary schools hit by cyber-attack or breach in past year
Elon Musk, the Anti-Defamation League and the right: what’s behind the latest blow-up?
Tesla hit with second lawsuit over deadly California Cybertruck crash
TikTok ‘directs child accounts to pornographic content within a few clicks’