Japanese astronomers have observed a superflare on a star located 400 light-years away in the constellation Orion, depicted here on an artist’s impression with a binary star in the background. The superflare was 10 times larger than the largest such event ever seen on our Sun.
Centuries of quarrying stone from more than 650 sites around Carrara have significantly impacted the environment, a report in “Architect,” the Journal of the American Institute of Architects, says.
The Italian stock exchange company Franchi Umberto Marmi, headquartered in Carrara, has informed about its earnings in 2022: the profit was €17.25 million, of which €9.48 million will be allocated as a dividend of €0.29 per share. Revenues were €76.3 million, up 17% from financial year 2021 (Italian).
The German slate producer Rathscheck Schiefer has bought the Spanish family business Pizarras La Baña. The German group already included the Spanish subsidiaries Cafersa and Castrelos. This brings its total workforce to 600 employees and the total turnover to over €100 million per year. Rathscheck is part of the Werhahn group, a multi for construction materials, consumer goods and financial services with worldwide 10,000 employees and a turnover of €4 billion in 2021 (German).
The Marble 2023 Fair in Izmir (April 26 – 29) registered 1077 exhibitors and 77,395 visitors, almost the same numbers as in 2019 before Covid, as indicated on the webpage. More then 732 experts were invited through a buyers program. At the opening ceremony of the third biggest stone fair worldwide, the city mayor announced that 20,000 m² more might be given to the fair (1, 2).
The Roman town of Baia beneath the Gulf of Naples was one of the luxury resorts of the ancient world and has been dubbed as “Las Vegas of the Roman Empire.“ Now, archaeologists have found lavish marble décor at the site.
The 18th-century funerary park of Paigah Tombs complex near Hyderabad with incised limestone plaster and Makarana marble is now being restored by artisans.
Bentley motorcompany’s furniture brand Bentley Home has a new table series using Paper Marble finish by Paper Factor.
How did the Andes – the world’s longest mountain range – reach its enormous size of 8900 km length, up to 700 km width and in some parts nearly 7 km height? A new method by researchers at the University of Copenhagen allows to estimate how Earth‘s tectonic plates changed speed over the past millions of years and its influence on mountain growth.
Swiss company Bruag has perforated panels for inside and outside that create pixel patterns on the floor in sunlight (1, 2).
Video of the Month: Ahead of the Coronation on May 06, 2023, a bust of King Charles III was made of 23 kg of chocolate by artist Jen Lindsay-Clark. The matter was the equivalent of 2875 tiny individual Celebration sweets. The bust took 4 weeks finish.
(04.05.2023, USA: 05.04.2023)
