Poetry in motion: Engineers analyze the fluid physics of movement in marine snails

Results could inspire novel bio-inspired underwater vehicles

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VIDEO: CUVIERINA ATLANTICA, A THECOSOMATOUS PTEROPOD WITH AN ELONGATED SHELL view more 

CREDIT: DAVID MURPHY AND COAUTHORS 

In the world's oceans, billions of tiny marine snails (a form of plankton) commute daily between surface waters, where they feed at night, to depths of several hundred metres during the day to rest while avoiding predators. Marine snails play an important role in geochemical cycles and climate: 12-13% of the global carbonate flux occurs when the calcium carbonate shells of dead snails sink to the depths, where they dissolve and contribute to atmospheric carbon and ocean acidification. But because they are difficult to study and can't be kept in the laboratory, the behavior of these animals - which bear poetic names such as sea butterflies - is poorly known, especially for the subtropical and tropical regions where their diversity is greatest.

Here, a team of oceanographers and engineers who specialize in research at the intersection of fluid physics and biology, film the movements of tropical marine snails and analyze these both from a fluid physics and ecological perspective. They show that each species has a distinct style of swimming and sinking, beautiful to watch, depending on the shape of their shell (coiled, elongated, or round), body size, presence of flapping "wings", and speed. The smallest, slowest species have more difficulty swimming due to seawater being "stickier" and more viscous for them - in technical terms, with a lower "Reynolds number" - which affects the angle, trajectory, and stability of their movement.

"We wanted to answer how the swimming behavior of these beautiful animals is affected by their different shell shapes and sizes. We found that species with a shell shaped like an airplane wing swims faster and is more maneuverable than those with 'snail-like' coiled shells. Understanding the swimming ability of these animals is helping us better understand their ecological importance and distribution in the ocean. Further, as engineers, we hope to learn from the swimming style of these organisms to design a new generation of bio-inspired underwater vehicles," says corresponding author Dr David Murphy, Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.

Between 2017-2019, the researchers caught multiple individuals of nine species of marine snails (0.9-13.1 mm long) at night off Bermuda, including 7 species of thecosomatous pteropods ("sea butterflies"), one species of gymnosomatous pteropods ("sea angels", which lack a shell as adults), and one species of atlantid heteropods. They transported them to the laboratory, where they recorded their behavior in a salt-water aquarium with high-speed stereophotogrammetry, a technique that tracks movement in 3D with a pair of cameras. For each species, they calculated the absolute and normalized speed (relative to body length) during active swimming and passive sinking, the frequency of wing movement, the angle of descent during sinking, the tortuosity of the path of ascent during swimming, and the Reynolds number.

They show that each species has a distinct swimming pattern, generally ascending in a saw-toothed spiral at 12-114 mm/s, or 1-24 body lengths per second - corresponding to an average-sized human male swimming at up to 40 m per second. The snails sink at similar speeds, but in a straight line, at an angle of 4-30° relative to vertical.

"We conclude that the swimming and sinking behavior of these pelagic snails corresponds strongly with shell shape and size. Tiny snails with coiled shells swim more slowly whereas larger snails with bottle-shaped or wing-shaped shells swim faster because their larger sizes allow them to overcome the effects of water viscosity. However, swimming speed does not correlate with how far these animals migrate each day, which suggests that light and temperature levels and the presence of predators and prey also play a role. We also found that the sea butterfly with the wing-shaped shell uses its shell to 'hang-glide' downwards in order to slow its sinking," says Murphy.

To study each species' depth preferences, Murphy et al. further sampled large numbers of snails with a computer-operated net, called a Multiple Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System, 0-1000 m below the surface. They used machine learning (based on images) and ribosomal DNA barcoding to determine species. Based on these results, the researchers estimate that these species travel 50-300 m per day, in a daily vertical "commute" that takes a total of 1-3.7 h per day.

"It's absolutely mesmerizing to watch these tiny, delicate animals flap their wings in really complex motions in order to essentially fly through the water. We're lucky to have high speed cameras that can slow down this motion enough for us to see it. And it's stunning to think that these sea butterflies are using the same fluid dynamics principles to fly through water that insects use to fly through air," concludes Murphy.

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African wild dogs have vestigial first digit and muscular adaptations for life on the run

Anatomists identify a vestigial first digit in the forelimb of the African wild dog and document anatomical adaptations to its unique lifestyle of long-distance running and exhaustive predation

PEERJ

Research News 

IMAGE: ILLUSTRATION OF THE MUSCLES AND BONES OF THE AFRICAN WILD DOG FOREARM. THE BONE LABELED "METACARPAL 1 " IS THE VESTIGIAL FIRST DIGIT. MUSCLES OF THE FOREARM ARE ADAPTED TO PROVIDE... view more 

CREDIT: ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN BY BRENT ADRIAN OF MIDWESTERN UNIVERSITY (ONE OF THE CO-AUTHORS OF THE ARTICLE

African wild dogs have a vestigial first digit and muscular adaptations for life on the run

Anatomists identify a vestigial first digit in the forelimb of the African wild dog and document anatomical adaptations to its unique lifestyle of long-distance running and exhaustive predation

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are known for their unique hunting style, often referred to as "exhaustive predation", in which they chase their prey to exhaustion, rather than hunting using speed, strength, or stealth. They are also unique among the dog clade in having only four full digits on their front paws. Until recently, it was unclear how these unique behavioral and anatomical features would affect their forelimb morphology.

The African wild dog, also known as the African painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is native to southern and eastern Africa, and classified as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They use sophisticated, coordinated hunting behaviors in which some packs decide as a group to hunt and communicate their vote via "sneezing". They also have a nomadic lifestyle with packs traveling up to 50 km per day and geographically extensive home ranges of 560 to 3000 km2. African wild dogs also differ from other canid (dog) species in the absence of a fully formed first digit (tetradactyly), which may allow for increased speed and stride length, facilitating long-distance pursuit of prey.

In a recent study published in PeerJ, a team of anatomists discovered a small, vestigial first metacarpal deep to the skin of the African wild dog. Surprisingly, this species is not fully tetradactyl as previously thought, but instead has a rudimentary digit 1. Prior to this study, the vestigial first digit of the African wild dog had never been described. The unexpected reduced digit results in a reconfiguration of some of the associated forelimb muscles to assist with proprioceptive functions (the body's perception of its own position and movement). According to Heather F. Smith, the study's lead author, "We now not only know that this vestigial digit exists, but how its presence completely reorganizes and repurposes the muscles typically associated with the first digit."

Illustration of the muscles and bones of the African wild dog forepaw. The bone labeled "metacarpal 1" is the vestigial first digit. The muscles attached to this bone are smaller and reorganized compared to other species and function to stabilize the wrist during long-distance running.

The authors have also discovered a stout ligament in the wrist which may act as a strut, assisting with passive flexion and rebound of the forefoot. This taut ligament provides non-muscular propulsion during push-off of the forepaw, which may help sustain endurance running and prevent the wrist muscles from tiring. This morphology is similar in function to the suspensory ligaments of the horse "spring foot", which provides passive "spring" action by absorbing and transferring forces experienced during locomotion.

Several other muscular adaptations to long-distance endurance running in the forelimb muscles have also been identified, including relatively reduced wrist rotator muscles and thick ligaments binding the radius and ulna (the two forearm bones), resulting in greater wrist and forearm stability. Several muscles associated with joint stability elastic energy storage during locomotion are also expanded compared to other species.

According to Smith, "This is the first in-depth study of African wild dog forelimb anatomy, and it demonstrates multiple adaptive mechanisms of endurance running, including reconfiguration of forelimb muscles, ligaments, and even bones, which function synchronously to facilitate the highly cursorial lifestyle of this fascinating species".

African Wild Dog, Lycaon pictus at Savuti Chobe National Park, Botswana.

The research team describing these discoveries includes Heather F. Smith, Brent Adrian, Ari Grossman, Rahul Koshy, and Ryan Alwiel from Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona.

EMBARGOED until: 7th September 2020 at 7 am EST; 12 midday UK local time; 11 am GMT (i.e. the date of publication

Link to the Published Version of the article (quote this link in your story - the link will ONLY work after the embargo lifts): https://peerj.com/articles/9866/

Citation to the article:

Smith HF, Adrian B, Koshy R, Alwiel R, Grossman A (2020). Adaptations to cursoriality and digit reduction in the forelimb of the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). PeerJ 8:e9986.

PeerJ is an Open Access publisher of seven peer-reviewed journals covering biology, environmental sciences, computer sciences, and chemistry. With an emphasis on high-quality and efficient peer review, PeerJ's mission is to help the world efficiently publish its knowledge. All works published by PeerJ are Open Access and published using a Creative Commons license (CC-BY 4.0). PeerJ is based in San Diego, CA and the UK and can be accessed at peerj.com

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Across its journals, PeerJ has an Editorial Board of over 2,000 respected academics, including 5 Nobel Laureates. PeerJ was the recipient of the 2013 ALPSP Award for Publishing Innovation. PeerJ Media Resources (including logos) can be found at: peerj.com/about/press

 

Comprehensive look at US fuel economy standards show big savings on fuel and emissions

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, ENGINEERING SCHOOL

Research News

IMAGE: THE GRAPH SHOWS VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED VERSUS FUEL CONSUMPTION FROM 1965 THROUGH 2018 IN THE UNITED STATES. WHILE TRAVEL INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY DURING THAT TIME, FUEL USE DROPPED DUE, IN LARGE... view more 

CREDIT: GRAPH COURTESY OF THE RESEARCHERS (REBECCA CIEZ); REDESIGN BY BUMPER DEJESUS

In one of the first comprehensive assessments of the fuel economy standards in the United States, Princeton University researchers found that, over their 40-year history, the standards helped reduce reliance on foreign oil producers, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and saved consumers money.

Using data including household spending data, oil use, and greenhouse gas emissions, the researchers found that the standards (known as the CAFE standards), which were first enacted in 1975 as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil after the oil crisis, set well-defined societal objectives and were cost-effective, fair, durable and adaptive. The standards required automakers to produce more efficient vehicles over time, increasing the number of miles per gallon required of their vehicle fleets. The researchers cite that the standards saved $5 trillion in fuel costs and prevented 14 billion metric tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere, the equivalent of the United States eliminating all emissions from all sectors for nearly three years.

"It has been one of the most effective policies to date," said Judi Greenwald, a co-author of the study, former top U.S. Department of Energy official and non-resident fellow at the Princeton University's Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.

The paper, coauthored by Greenwald, Rebecca Ciez and David Greene, was published on August 23 in the journal Energy Policy. Ciez was a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the Andlinger Center and Greene is a research professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Ciez has accepted a position as assistant professor in mechanical engineering and environmental and ecological engineering at Purdue University.

"There really hasn't been any comprehensive lookback to day one of the standards to consider what their impacts have been, how they changed over time, whether the potential threats to their effectiveness materialized or not, and their overall impact," said Greene.

The researchers noted that the policies helped, in part, to keep the rate of yearly growth in U.S. gasoline consumption to 0.2% since 1975. The policy, in addition to fluctuations in gas prices, reduced oil imports and saved 2 trillion gallons of gasoline, enough to fuel all the light-duty vehicles in the United States for fifteen years.

"These standards have been remarkably effective from both an environmental perspective and an energy security perspective, and most people don't realize it," said Greenwald.

The authors said these types of regulations are more effective at improving fuel economy than other policy tools, like a gasoline tax, because they don't rely on the consumer to make the long-term fuel-efficient choice and, therefore, gain cost benefits at the pump. The fuel economy standards move the calculation to regulators and require that manufacturers improve fuel economy across their product lines using technologies that may cost a little more but save consumers much more on fuel in the long run.

A prior study by Greene found that over the lifetime of the policy, the technology for efficiency upgrades increased the cost of cars by an average of $4,800, but yielded $16,000 in savings for consumers at the pump.

Dan Sperling, founding director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis, who is unaffiliated with the study, called it an "important and authoritative history and analysis." "There is nothing like this in the literature," said Sperling, who is also the Distinguished Blue Planet Prize Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy at UC, Davis and a member of the California Air Resources Board.

Greenwald said the standards have evolved in ways that continue to benefit and serve the public and have endured various administrations and political tides. It is a testament to their initial design, as well as regulators' adaptive responses to changing circumstances over time. In 2010, two sets of vehicle standards affecting automakers, one for greenhouse gas emissions and one for fuel efficiency, were harmonized so that manufacturers could meet one set of standards when designing new vehicles.

The analysis concludes with a recommendation to continue to increase the stringency of the standards based on the best available data and analysis, as regulators have done historically. The most recent rules promulgated by the Trump administration aim to loosen the fuel efficiency requirements by dropping the annual efficiency increase from five percent to one and a half percent through 2026. Given that transportation is the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and that people keep their cars for approximately 10 years, this would severely stymie environmental progress, the researchers said. The Rhodium Group, an independent research organization unaffiliated with the study, estimates that the policy change would achieve only one fifth of greenhouse gas reductions that the Obama-era policy would achieve.

Ciez pointed to the 1990s as an example of what can happen when fuel targets are effectively frozen. She said it led automakers to produce bigger, faster, and more polluting cars. Gas prices were cheap and gas-guzzling vehicles hit the road in mass numbers. Car companies made SUVs and vehicles with quicker acceleration times, which became very popular among American drivers. Ciez said without the standards, there is little incentive for automakers to focus on fuel economy as opposed to horsepower or vehicle comfort. The standards have spurred technological innovation, allowing cars to provide all three attributes - power, comfort, and efficiency - at a reasonable cost.

Regardless of the what happens over the next four years, Sperling said, the authors have provided "a model for assessing other policies."

In the closing statement the authors contextualized this moment in history.

"It is likely that the United States is in the middle, not the end, of the story of the adaptive response of the vehicle CAFE and GHG standards."

###

 

Warning: Epidemics are often followed by unrest

From the Black Death to the Spanish Flu, history teaches that social tension accumulated over an epidemic can lead to significant episodes of rebellion, according to a study by Massimo Morelli and Roberto Censolo

BOCCONI UNIVERSITY

Research News

IMAGE: MASSIMO MORELLI, BOCCONI UNIVERSITY view more 

CREDIT: PAOLO TONATO

If you have not been hearing much of the French Gilets Jaunes or of the Italian Sardines in the last few months, it's because "the social and psychological unrest arising from the epidemic tends to crowd-out the conflicts of the pre-epidemic period, but, at the same time it constitutes the fertile ground on which global protest may return more aggressively once the epidemic is over," writes Massimo Morelli, Professor of Political Science at Bocconi, in a paper recently published in Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy.

Professor Morelli and Roberto Censolo (University of Ferrara) argue that we can get an informed opinion about the possible effects of COVID-19 on protest and future social unrest by looking at the great plagues of the past, so they analyze 57 epidemic episodes between the Black Death (1346-1353) and the Spanish Flu (1919-1920). They state that while the epidemic lasts the status quo and incumbent governments tend to consolidate, but warn that a sharp increase in social instability in the aftermath of the epidemic should be expected.

Revolts not evidently connected with the disease are infrequent within an epidemic period, but epidemics can sow other seeds of conflict. Government conspiracy, "the filth of the poor", foreigners and immigrants have often been singled out as the cause of an epidemic. "Overall, the historical evidence shows that the epidemics display a potential disarranging effect on civil society along three dimensions," the authors write. "First, the policy measures tend to conflict with the interest of people, generating a dangerous friction between society and institutions. Second, to the extent that an epidemic impacts differently on society in terms of mortality and economic welfare, it may exacerbate inequality. Third, the psychological shock can induce irrational narratives on the causes and the spread of the disease, which may result in social or racial discrimination and even xenophobia." Focusing on five cholera epidemics, Morelli and Censolo count 39 rebellions in the 10 years preceding an epidemic and 71 rebellions in the 10 years following it.

On the other hand, the authors note that, in the short-term, the necessary restrictions of freedom during an epidemic may be strategically exploited by governments to reinforce power.

Roberto Censolo, Massimo Morelli, "COVID-19 and the Potential Consequences for Social Stability", in Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, published online ahead of print, DOI: 10.1515/peps-2020-0045.

THE SCIENTIFIC PROOF FOR 

DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM

Germany: Right-wing extremists dominate anti-virus protests
2020/9/6

©Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH

Germany: Right-wing extremists dominate anti-virus protests - A man holds up the German imperial flag during a demonstration against coronavirus measures. Right-wing extremists gave speeches at 90 demonstrations protesting against measures to contain the coronavirus this year, according to Germany's domestic security agency. - Fabian Sommer/dpa

Right-wing extremists gave speeches at 90 demonstrations protesting against measures to contain the coronavirus this year, according to Germany's domestic security agency.

In recent months, the country has seen major demonstrations and rallies against regulations introduced to prevent the spread of the virus.

In late August, tens of thousands of people gathered in Berlin to demonstrate against health measures, protesting against what they called "coronavirus dictatorship" and "corona madness."

Among them were groups of self-declared Reichsbuerger (Reich citizens), who deny the legitimacy of the modern-day German state, chanting and carrying posters and leaflets. There were also smaller groups of neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists.

Members of the far-right Alternative for Germany party have also been seen at the rallies and protests.

While large gatherings in Berlin have captured headlines, regionally, the eastern state of Saxony Anhalt saw the most protests with right-wing speakers, the security agency said. The eastern state saw more than a third of the protests dominated or led by right wingers from April 25 to August 10.

The agency noted there had also been two protests in the western cities of Essen and Dusseldorf in July, with several hundred people gathering to oppose government health measures.

Often, such protests were not registered by organizations but by individuals, the agency said. Some were not registered in advance at all.

The agency provided the figures in response to a question posed by the Left Party parliamentary group.

A MUSICAL INTERLUDE WITH PINK MARTINI LIVE IN STUTTGART 2010

Chinese group plans to recover WWII American plane from lake

By SAM McNEIL

1 of 6
Han Bo, chairman of the China Adventure Association, talks about an insole found during an exploratory dive at the crash site of a fighter plane from the legendary Flying Tigers group of American pilots that crashed in a lake during World War II at his office in Beijing on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. The Flying Tigers, who were sent to China in 1941 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt before Washington joined the war, have long been one of the most potent symbols of U.S.-Chinese cooperation. The Tigers fought Japanese invaders from December 1941 until they were absorbed into the U.S. military the following July. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese group plans to try to recover a fighter plane from the legendary Flying Tigers group of American pilots that crashed in a lake during World War II.

The Flying Tigers, who were sent to China in 1941 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt before Washington joined the war, have long been one of the most potent symbols of U.S.-Chinese cooperation. The Tigers fought Japanese invaders from December 1941 until they were absorbed into the U.S. military the following July.

The Curtiss P-40 crashed in 1942 in Dianchi Lake near Kunming, the southwestern city that was the Tigers’ base.

“We hope the project of salvaging the P-40 can be a warm current in the cold wave and ease people’s worries about Chines-U.S. ties,” said Han Bo, chairman of the China Adventure Association, a nongovernment group that promotes outdoor activities and historical monuments.

The Tigers were credited with shooting down almost 300 Japanese aircraft while losing 14 of their own pilots. Their battles were some of the earliest American aerial victories in the war.

“Before the P-40 planes were deployed, the Japanese planes had the advantages in China,” said Han.

The body of the P-40’s pilot, John Blackburn, was recovered after the crash and returned to the United States. The plane sank into the lakebed.


Han said his group found the wreckage using magnetic surveying equipment in 2005 but couldn’t safely lift it out of the silt. He said divers recovered a shoe insole and a wire used to control the plane’s rudder.

The group plans to build a barrier around the aircraft, remove the silt and then lift it by crane to the surface, Han said.

“Now the technology is ready,” he said.

The group is trying to raise 30 to 40 million yuan ($5 to $7 million) in public donations to pay for salvaging the plane, Han said. The plan is to display it in a museum but it hasn’t been decided where.

Han said he is inviting surviving Flying Tigers and their families to visit for the raising of the wreckage.

——

Associated Press researcher Henry Hou contributed to this report.

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Curtiss_P-40_Warhawk

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service.

Unit cost‎: ‎US$44,892 in 1944

Manufacturer‎: ‎Curtiss-Wright Corporation

First flight‎: ‎14 October 1938

Produced‎: ‎1939–1944

‎Curtiss P-40 Warhawk variants · ‎List of surviving Curtiss P-40s · ‎Curtiss XP-46

Flying Tigers - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Flying_Tigers

The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force in 1941–1942, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), Navy (USN), and Marine Corps (USMC), recruited under President Franklin Roosevelt's authority before Pearl Harbor and commanded by ...

‎List of Flying Tigers pilots · ‎Flying Tigers (film) · ‎Flying Tigers (disambiguation)

Flying Tigers: These Americans mercenaries were the heroes ...

www.cnn.com › 2020/07/21 › asia › world-war-2-flying-tigers-intl-hnk-scli

Jul 24, 2020 - A few hundred of Americans became the heroes of China in 1941-- flying warplanes featured a tooth-filled shark on their nose, destroying ...

For Lebanese, recovery too heavy to bear a month after blast

By SARAH EL DEEB 

1 of 16

This Aug. 29, 2020 photo shows destroyed buildings near the scene of last month's massive explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon. A month after the giant explosion that killed and injured thousands and destroyed homes across the Lebanese capital, Beirut is still a wounded, grieving city struggling to come to grips with the calamity that struck abruptly on Aug.4. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

BEIRUT (AP) — A month after Beirut’s devastating explosion, Ghassan Toubaji still sits under a gaping hole in his ceiling — he can look up through the dangling plaster, wires and metal struts and the broken brick roof and see a bit of sky.

The 74-year-old survived the Aug. 4 blast with bruises, but his fall from its impact worsened his heart and blood circulation diseases. Between that and Lebanon’s crumbled economy, he can’t go back to work.

He used the last of the dollars his wife had been hoarding — a precious commodity as the local currency’s value evaporates — to fix the windows shattered by the explosion.

Teams of volunteers, a symbol of the help-each-other spirit that’s grown up from the failures of Lebanon’s corrupt political class, came by his apartment and assessed the damage. They put plastic on the windows and promised glass for free eventually. Four weeks later they hadn’t come back.

With a sweet patient smile, he said he appreciated how well meaning the young volunteers were. But he couldn’t wait — with humidity reaching 80% some days and the summer sun directed all day into his apartment, he had to do something.

“Our house is hot as hell,” he said, sitting in baggy shorts and a tank top as he watched the news in the room with the hole overhead.

Lebanese families are still struggling with rebuilding in the wake of the massive explosion centered at Beirut’s port. Many, already unable to make ends meet because of the country’s economic meltdown, now can’t bear costs of making homes livable. Frustration is high, with the state almost nowhere to be seen and promised international help slow in coming.

With winter and the rainy season only weeks away, aid groups are concerned they may not have time or resources for the mammoth job of repairing and rebuilding.

Around 200,000 housing units, approximately 40,000 buildings, were damaged in the blast, 3,000 of them so severely they are currently uninhabitable, according to U.N. estimates.

The loss of homes is just one of the indignities from the explosion, the result of nearly 3,000 tons of improperly stored and rotting ammonium nitrates igniting at the port. The blast, one of the strongest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, killed more than 190 and injured thousands.

A month later, Beirut is still a wounded, grieving city struggling with the calamity that abruptly altered so many lives. Tall buildings still face the port with blown-up facades. Hundreds-year old stone buildings have gaping holes and missing balconies. Features of small streets parallel to the port have been totally erased. Residents walk around with patched up eyes, bandaged arms or on crutches.

Social media are still awash with people sharing their stories and videos and recounting their persisting trauma. Pictures of the dead are plastered in neighborhoods. “He is a victim, not a martyr,” read one poster, rebuffing authorities’ attempts to give the dead that esteemed label of self-sacrifice for a cause, seen as a way to water down their own responsibility.

The United Nations appealed for $344.5 million in emergency funds to last until November, and a donor conference was co-hosted by France and the U.N. days after the blast. But so far only 16.3% of the funds have been received.

Of the total pledges, $84.5 million is meant for securing and repairing shelter, but only $1.9 million has been dispersed, said Elena Dikomitis, advocacy adviser for Norwegian Refugees Council for Lebanon.

Aid groups worry the funds are not robust enough.

“The cold and rain could start as early as October,” she said. “For sure, tens of thousands of houses can’t be repaired in time. That we know for sure, even with all the ongoing efforts.”

The NRC is working in two of the hardest-hit neighborhoods, Karantina and Mar Mikhail. It is targeting 12,400 people for help with shelter and 16,800 for water, sanitation and hygiene interventions before March 2021, she said.

Lebanon already has highly vulnerable populations that need help for shelter in winter, including more than 1 million Syrian refugees, the majority of whom live in substandard conditions and now risk being overlooked. “On top of those people ... you also now have all the new homeless of Beirut,” Dikomitis said.

The international community, aware of public anger in Lebanon over rampant corruption, has said it would funnel money away from government institutions and work only through international organizations and the U.N.

Many Beirutis say they are sick of hearing about aid on the way, as they struggle to stay above water in the financial crisis.

The currency has crashed in value to the dollar, and banks locked down dollar accounts to prevent capital flight. Prices have skyrocketed, and imports are limited in a country that imports nearly everything. Unable to access their money, even the most able are struggling to secure materials for repairs.

“Nobody has helped us with even a nail,” said Robert Hajj, owner of a scooter center wrecked in the blast. “Each day’s delay is deteriorating our companies ... Our money is blocked in the banks.”

“They made us give up,” he said.

With little to no safety net, elderly like Toubaji are hit hard.

He has no pension, no social or medical insurance, so he and his wife, both over 70, had to keep working. Toubaji worked charging fees from people to get papers signed for them at the Finance Ministry, wading through the bureaucracy.

He was forced to stay home by the slump and the ensuing nationwide protests that began in October. His wife, a seamstress, is also virtually out of work.

They have been eating away at the 30 million Lebanese pounds in their bank account. Overnight in the financial crisis, their savings’ value dropped from $20,000 to just above $3,000. His wife had kept some dollars at home, away from the banks, but that went into fixing their windows.

“You know how much the meter of glass costs? $160,” Toubaji said.

If the ceiling is not fixed, rain will come in. Or worse — a few days ago brick from a neighbor’s damaged house hit his roof and knocked a chunk more of the broken ceiling down onto a sofa. His home’s main wooden door also remains damaged, its splintered shards glued back in place.

“I don’t have a leader that I follow to chase and secure money,” Toubaji said, referring to Lebanon’s sectarian-based patronage system that fills the place of the absent state.

When the blast happened, Toubaji fell on his face, and shattered glass covered his back. He now walks slowly, worried his knees cannot keep him up straight.

He said Lebanon, too, had fallen because of violence and conflict before and every time, it managed to stand up “and good people came to help.”

This time, he is not so sure.

Politicians “have robbed the country and the banks are broke. Who would help the country get up on its feet this time?”

AP Explains: US debt will soon exceed size of entire economy

By PAUL WISEMAN

1 of 3
FILE - In this April 29, 2020 file photo, a sign displaying the size of the national debt is displayed along an empty K Street in Washington. The Congressional Budget Office has warned that the government this year will run the largest budget deficit, as a share of the economy, since 1945, the year World War II ended. Next year, the federal debt — made up of the year-after-year gush of annual deficits — is forecast to exceed the size of the entire American economy for the first time since 1946. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)


WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government’s war against the coronavirus is imposing the heaviest strain on the Treasury since America’s drive to defeat Nazi Germany and imperial Japan three-quarters of a century ago.

The Congressional Budget Office has warned that the government this year will run the largest budget deficit, as a share of the economy, since 1945, when World War II ended. Next year, the federal debt — the sum of the year-after-year gush of annual deficits — is forecast to exceed the size of the entire American economy for the first time since 1946. Within a few years, it’s on track to set a new high.

It might be surprising to hear that most economists consider the money well-spent — or at least necessary. Few think it’s wise to quibble with the amount of borrowing deemed necessary to sustain American households and businesses through the gravest public health crisis in more than 100 years. That’s especially true, economists say, when the government’s borrowing costs are super-low and investors still seem eager to buy its debt as fast as the Treasury issues it.

Here’s a closer look at the federal debt and the government’s use of it to combat the pandemic and the economic pain it’s inflicted.

JUST HOW MUCH MONEY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

The annual deficit — the gap between what the government spends and what it collects in taxes — will hit $3.3 trillion in the budget year that ends Sept. 30, the CBO projects. That amounts to 16% of America’s gross domestic product, which is the broadest measure of economic output. Not in 75 years has a deficit been that wide.

The federal debt, reflecting the accumulated deficits and the occasional surplus, is forecast to reach 100% of GDP next year. Then it is predicted to keep climbing to $24.5 trillion — 107% of GDP — in 2023. That would snap the record of 106% of GDP set in 1946. (The percentage does not include debts that the government agencies owe one another, including the Social Security trust fund.)

WHY IS THE BUDGET SO LOPSIDED?

The U.S. government was already deeply in debt even before the virus struck in March. The budget had absorbed the expenses of the 2007-2009 Great Recession, the federal benefits for the retirements of the vast baby boom generation and the cost of President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cut. Last year, the debt burden reached 79% of GDP, the highest share since 1948.

Then came the pandemic. The economy tumbled into a sickening free-fall as businesses shut down and millions of Americans hunkered down at home to avoid infection. GDP collapsed at a 31.7% annual rate from April through June, the worst three months on records dating to 1947. In March and April combined, employers slashed a record 22 million jobs

To help Americans to endure the crisis, Congress passed a $2 trillion relief bill in March. Among other things, the package sent Americans one-time checks of up to $1,200 and temporarily offered the unemployed $600 a week on top of their state jobless benefits.

Economists say that the rescue probably helped keep the economy from sinking into a depression but also that much more assistance is needed.

CAN THE U.S. REPAY ALL THAT MONEY?

After World War II, the United States paid down the federal debt with surprising speed. By 1961, the debt had dropped to 44% of GDP, the same level as in the prewar year of 1940.

Behind that success was a fast-growing economy that delivered rising revenue to the government and erased the debt. From 1947 through 1961 the economy grew at a 3.3% annual rate. The financial system was tightly regulated by the government. This allowed policymakers to keep interest rates artificially low and minimize the cost of repaying the debt.

Circumstances are somewhat different now. The economy doesn’t grow as fast as it did in the postwar boom years. Since 2010, GDP growth has averaged just 2.3%, even excluding this year’s economic implosion. And the government doesn’t control interest rates as it used to, not after the financial deregulation of the 1980s.

Still, the Federal Reserve is helping keep government borrowing rates ultra-low by buying up huge volumes of Treasury debt.

DOES THE DEBT CARRY ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES?

Economists have long warned that too much government borrowing risks hobbling the economy. When the government takes on excessive debt, the argument goes, it competes with businesses and consumers for loans, thereby forcing borrowing rates prohibitively high and imperiling growth.

Another concern is that investors will demand ever-higher interest rates for accepting the risk that governments could default on their debts.

Some economists and budget watchers still warn that a day of reckoning will come and that the United States will have to curb spending, raise taxes or both.

NO PROBLEMO THE GOVERNMENT PRINTS MONEY

But after the Great Recession, many economists began to rethink their view of debt. The recovery in the United States and especially in Europe was sluggish in part because policymakers were too reluctant to stimulate growth with debt.

In the United States, rates didn’t rise even though government debts were high. Investors, it turned out, had a near-insatiable appetite for U.S. Treasurys, still considered the world’s safest investment. Their rush to buy federal debt helped keep rates low and limited the government’s borrowing costs. So did persistently low inflation.

In such a low-rate, low-inflation environment, the risk of piling on more debt seems more manageable, at least for countries like the United States and Japan that borrow in their own currencies.

In a speech last year, Olivier Blanchard, a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, declared:

“Put bluntly, public debt may have no fiscal cost ... The probability that the U.S. government can do a debt rollover, that it can issue debt and achieve a decreasing debt-to-GDP ratio without ever having to raise taxes later, is high.”

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AP Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger contributed to this report.