Free Republic

The legal heirs of a German Jewish banker who was forced to sell his art collection to avoid persecution by the Nazis are suing a Japanese holding company to reclaim ownership of a painting by Vincent van Gogh. Three heirs of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, based in New York and Germany, filed a lawsuit on December 13 in an Illinois district court against Sompo Holdings, an insurance company based in Japan, to dispute its legal title to the painting Sunflowers (1888). The claim states that Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was a “casualty” of Nazi-era policies and economic sanctions that forced him to sell his...

Climate protesters defaced a Van Gogh painting of sunflowers at London’s National Gallery by throwing cans of tomato soup at it, BBC News reported. Video footage of the Friday incident showed two activists in “Just Stop Oil” T-shirts opening cans of what appeared to be tomato soup. They poured the contents onto the priceless painting and then glued their hands to the wall. According to the gallery, the painting was under glass and not damaged. "At just after 11am this morning two people entered Room 43 of the National Gallery,” the museum said in a statement. "The pair appeared to...

HIRSCHFELD, GERMANY - Scientists in Germany have come up with a method for extracting the precious element germanium from plants. The element is a semi-conductor and was used to develop the first transistor because it is able to transport electrical charges extremely quickly. Nowadays, silicon-germanium alloy is indispensable to modern life, crucial in making computers, smartphones and fiber-optic cables. Transparent in infra-red light, germanium is also used in intelligent steering systems and parking sensors for vehicles. Yet although germanium is present in soil all over the world, it is difficult to extract, and most supplies currently come from China. Now...

So, I grew all these mammoth sunflowers ..

Campaigners in Japan are asking people to grow sunflowers, said to help decontaminate radioactive soil, in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster that followed March's massive quake and tsunami. Volunteers are being asked to grow sunflowers this year, then send the seeds to the stricken area where they will be planted next year to help get rid of radioactive contaminants in the plant's fallout zone. The campaign, launched by young entrepreneurs and civil servants in Fukushima prefecture last month, aims to cover large areas in yellow blossoms as a symbol of hope and reconstruction and to lure back tourists. "We...

A blaze of blooms to send your spirits floating like a butterfly By FIONA MACRAE 10th July 2009. Just a few yards from the noise and fumes of one of the nation's busiest motorways stands an oasis of dazzling natural colour. Twenty acres of grassland have been transformed by an explosion of summer blooms into Britain's biggest and brightest wildflower meadow. Designed to attract butterflies and naturelovers alike, it was created in only 12 weeks and boasts 65 different species of flower from around the world. [Pic in URL] Dazzling: Sunflowers form the centrepiece of the massive wildflower meadow that...