While I had very little time with the Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12, I was able to read two short stories, and to my surprise, I did not miss having hardcovers. However, in a short while, I was able to recognise how it could impact a casual or a heavy reader in so many ways. From its compact design to its paper-like textured display, the Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12 is perfect for readers on the go.

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Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12 review: Design and build

Kindle Paperwhite features a 7-inch display with a leather-finish matte black rear panel. It has curved frame and edges, providing a comfortable grip when reading. It weighs only 211 grams and measures 7.8 mm in thickness, allowing users to hold the device even with one hand. Therefore, longer reading sessions will not be a problem, and it will not make your hand feel numb or crampy.

With the compact and slim design, it is quite easy to carry the Kindle Paperwhite as it does not take much space or make your bag any heavier than keeping a hardcover book. Alongside its sleek design, Kindle Paperwhite is also water resistant, bringing advanced durability like smartphones. While there is no specific IP rating, Amazon claims that it can be taken to the pool or in the bath.

Overall, the Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12 is perfect when it comes to size and design. It not only looks premium, but also solves several problems of carrying a chunky tablet or a book in hand.

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Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12: Display, brightness and warm lighting

As mentioned above, the Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12 features a 7-inch screen with has noticeable bezels and the Kindle branding at the bottom. Well, while reading, the bezels were not a big problem, since the experience was quite smooth. Amazon claims that the new Kindle Paperwhite is 25% faster than the previous generation model, and it surely makes turning pages more seamless with a simple tap on the right side of the screen. However, while navigating to home, menu, book options, or waiting for the book to open, it still felt a little slow. While it did not affect the usability, but the stutter was very noticeable as we have a habit of instantly navigating through our smartphones.

Coming to the display features, the Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12 provides up to 24 levels of brightness, which is decent if you are reading indoors, but direct sunlight may hamper the reading. Additionally, the brightness is also apt for nighttime reading at a 3 or 4 level. Additionally, with the warm light setting, the reading becomes easier and intuitive, allowing readers to read for long hours of reading without strain. During my time of reading, I was able to read for about a good 1:30 to 2 hours in one sitting without getting my eyes tired. This is the maximum time for me to read digitally, as I have also tried downloading PDFs of novels, but reading on smartphones or tablets gets quite distracting with notifications and messages. Therefore, with Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12, you can easily focus on reading without any distractions. Furthermore, users can also customise the Kindle by adjusting text size, changing fonts, spacing, and much more, providing a great way to focus on reading.

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However, it should be noted that the Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12 is a pricy device, and over the purchasing cost, users will also have to purchase books via the Kindle app. While some titles come free with Amazon Prime membership, but most of the popular titles are available in paid versions. Therefore, buying a Kindle may not be the only solution if you are on a budget,

Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12: Battery life

Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12 claims to offer up to 12 weeks of charging with a single charge. During my time of usage, I started with 51%, and now I am at 38% in 7 days. Now, I believe the change could stay for another 3 weeks easily. Therefore, in my opinion, battery life is quite impressive for an e-reader. The Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12 features a USB-C port for charging, and a single charge is enough to run the device.

Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12: Verdict

In my opinion, the Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12 is slightly expensive at Rs.16,999. However, with incremental upgrades like the textured display, improved brightness, and compact design, and long battery life, it’s not a bad option. If you are a heavy reader, then this e-reader could be the best choice for long reading sessions, irrespective of day, night, or whether you are travelling. Additionally, Kindle Paperwhite Gen-12 could be perfect for someone who wants to start writing and wants all kinds of books in one place. This device will not only help build a reading habit, but will also enhance your focus with no distractions.

Chinese astronauts (from left) Wang Haoze, Cai Xuzhe, and Song Lingdong wave as they attend a see-off ceremony for the Shenzhou-19 mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, October 30, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Three Chinese astronauts returned to earth on April 30 after six months on the country’s space station, state media footage showed, as Beijing advances towards its aim to become a major celestial power.

China has ploughed billions of dollars into its space programme in recent years in an effort to achieve what President Xi Jinping describes as the country’s “space dream”.

The world’s second-largest economy has bold plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by the end of the decade and eventually build a base on the lunar surface.

Its latest launch last week ferried a trio of astronauts to the Tiangong space station, heralding the start of the Shenzhou-20 mission.

They have taken over from Shenzhou-19 crew Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, whose landing capsule touched down in the northern Inner Mongolia region on Wednesday.

Shortly after the landing, the Xinhua state news agency said the mission was a “complete success”, adding that the trio were in “good health”.

Pictures from state broadcaster CCTV showed the capsule, attached to a red-and-white striped parachute, descending through an azure sky before hitting the ground in a cloud of brown desert dust.

Teams of officials in white and orange jumpsuits then rushed to open the golden craft, and one planted a fluttering national flag into the sandy soil nearby.

The Shenzhou-19 crew had worked on the space station since October, where they carried out experiments and set a new record for the longest ever spacewalk.

They were initially scheduled to return on Tuesday, but the mission was postponed due to bad weather at the Dongfeng landing site, according to Chinese authorities.

Wang, 35, was China’s only woman spaceflight engineer at the time of the launch, according to the Chinese Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Commander Cai, a 48-year-old former air force pilot, previously served aboard Tiangong as part of the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022.

Song, a 34-year-old onetime air force pilot, completed the group of spacefarers popularly dubbed “taikonauts” in China.

Bold ambitions

Last week, China saw off the Shenzhou-20 team in a feast of pomp and pageantry at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Base in the barren desert of northwestern Gansu province.

A military band and crowds of flag-waving well-wishers bade farewell to the crew before they blasted off on a Long March-2F rocket.

State media reported that they assumed control of the space station after a handover ceremony with its former occupants on Sunday.

The all-male Shenzhou-20 crew is headed by Chen Dong, 46, a former fighter pilot and veteran space explorer who in 2022 became the first Chinese astronaut to clock up more than 200 cumulative days in orbit.

The other two crew members — 40-year-old former air force pilot Chen Zhongrui, and 35-year-old former space technology engineer Wang Jie — are on their first space flight.

During their six-month stint, the crew will carry out experiments in physics and life sciences and install protective equipment against space debris.

For the first time, they will also bring aboard planarians, aquatic flatworms known for their regenerative abilities.

China’s space programme is the third to put humans in orbit and has also landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon as it catches up with the two most established cosmic powers, the United States and Russia.

Tiangong — whose name means “celestial palace” in Chinese — is its tour de force.

China has never been involved in the International Space Station due to opposition from the United States.

Washington plans to return to the Moon in 2027, though the election of President Donald Trump brought uncertainty over the mission’s fate.

Snipers in helicopters have shot more than 700 koalas in the Budj Bim National Park in western Victoria in recent weeks. It’s believed to be the first time koalas have been culled in this way.

The cull became public on Good Friday after local wildlife carers were reportedly tipped off.

A fire burned about 20% of the park in mid-March. The government said the cull was urgent because koalas had been left starving or burned.

Wildlife groups have expressed serious concern about how individual koalas had been chosen for culling, because the animals are assessed from a distance. It’s not clear how shooting from a helicopter complies with the state government’s own animal welfare and response plans for wildlife in disasters.

The Victorian government must explain why it is undertaking aerial culling and why it did so without announcing it publicly. The incident points to ongoing failures in managing these iconic marsupials, which are already threatened in other states.

Why did this happen?

Koalas live in eucalypt forests in Australia’s eastern and southern states. The species faces a double threat from habitat destruction and bushfire risk. They are considered endangered in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.

In Victoria, koala population levels are currently secure. But they are densely concentrated, often in fragments of bush known as “habitat islands” in the state’s southwest. Budj Bim National Park is one of these islands.

Over time, this concentration becomes a problem. When the koalas are too abundant, they can strip leaves from their favourite gums, killing the trees. The koalas must then move or risk starvation.

If fire or drought make these habitat islands impossible to live in, koalas in dense concentrations often have nowhere to go.

In Budj Bim, Victoria’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and Parks Victoria have tackled koala overpopulation alongside Traditional Owners by moving koalas to new locations or sterilising them.

But Budj Bim is also surrounded by commercial blue gum plantations. Koalas spread out through the plantations to graze on the leaves. Their populations grow. But when the plantations are logged, some koalas have to return to the national park, where food may be in short supply.

Animal welfare groups say logging is one reason Budj Bim had so many koalas.

It’s hard to say definitively whether this is the case, because the state environment department hasn’t shared much information. But researchers have found habitat islands lead to overabundance by preventing the natural dispersal of individuals.

So why was the culling done? Department officials have described the program as “primarily” motivated by animal welfare. After the bushfire last month, koalas have been left starving or injured.

Why shooters in helicopters? Here, the justification given is that the national park is difficult to access due to rocky terrain and fire damage, ruling out other methods.

Euthanising wildlife

Under Victoria’s plan for animal welfare during disasters, the environment department is responsible for examining and, where necessary, euthanising wildlife during an emergency.

For human intervention to be justified, euthanasia must be necessary on welfare grounds. Victoria’s response plan for fire-affected wildlife says culling is permitted when an animal’s health is “significantly” compromised, invasive treatment is required, or survival is unlikely.

For koalas, this could mean loss of digits or hands, burns to more than 15% of the body, pneumonia from smoke inhalation, or blindness or injuries requiring surgery. Euthanised females must also be promptly examined for young in their pouches.

The problem is that while aerial shooting can be accurate in some cases for larger animals, the method has questionable efficacy for smaller animals – especially in denser habitats.

It’s likely a number of koalas were seriously injured but not killed. But the shooters employed by the department were not able to thoroughly verify injuries or whether there were joeys in pouches, because they were in the air and reportedly 30 or more metres away from their targets.

While the department cited concerns about food resources as a reason for the cull, the state’s wildlife fire plan lays out another option: delivery of supplementary feed. Delivering fresh gum leaves could potentially have prevented starvation while the forest regenerates.

Lessons for the government

The state government should take steps to avoid tragic incidents like this from happening again.

Preserving remaining habitat across the state is a vital step, as is reconnecting isolated areas with habitat corridors. This would not only reduce the concentration of koalas in small pockets but increase viable refuges and give koalas safe paths to new food sources after a fire.

Future policies should be developed in consultation with Traditional Owners, who have detailed knowledge of species distributions and landscapes.

We need better ways to help wildlife in disasters. One step would be bringing wildlife rescue organisations into emergency management more broadly, as emphasised in the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission and the more recent Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.

This latter report pointed to South Australia’s specialised emergency animal rescue and relief organisation – SAVEM – as an effective model. Under SA’s emergency management plan, the organisation is able to rapidly access burned areas after the fire has passed through.

Victoria’s dense communities of koalas would be well served by a similar organisation able to work alongside existing skilled firefighting services.

The goal would be to make it possible for rescuers to get to injured wildlife earlier and avoid any more mass aerial culls.

Liz Hicks is Lecturer in Law, University of Melbourne. Ashleigh Best is Barrister, Victorian Bar and Honorary Fellow, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. This article is republished from The Conversation.