Ancient voice: Scientists recreate sound of Egyptian mummy

January 23, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — Researchers say they’ve mimicked the voice of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy by recreating much of its vocal tract using medical scanners, 3D printing and an electronic larynx.

In a paper published Thursday by the journal Scientific Reports, the authors say the technique allowed them to produce a single sound - somewhere between the vowels in ‘bed’ and ‘bad.’

The eerie tone is unlikely to be a precise reflection of the speech of Egyptian priest Nesyamun, whose mummified body the researchers worked with, because the tongue has lost much of its bulk over three millennia.

“We have made a faithful sound for his tract in its current position, but we would not expect an exact speech match given his tongue state,” said co-author David M. Howard of London’s Royal Holloway college.

The model alone also isn’t enough to synthesize whole words or sentences, the authors said, noting that this would require the ability to calculate the audio output from the vocal tract as its shape is being changed.

“But this is something that is being worked on, so it will be possible one day,” said Howard.

Rudolf Hagen, an ear, nose and throat expert at the University Hospital in Wuerzburg, Germany, who specializes in thorax reconstruction and wasn’t involved in the study, expressed skepticism. Even cutting-edge medicine struggles to give living people without a thorax a “normal” voice, he said.

  

With this voice we can change that, and make the encounter more multidimensional.”“There is nothing more personal than someone’s voice, so we think that hearing a voice from so long ago will be an unforgettable experience, making heritage places like Karnak, Nesyamun’s temple, come alive,” he said.

Co-author John Schofield, an archaeologist at the University of York, said the technique could be used to help people interpret historical heritage.“When visitors encounter the past, it is usually a visual encounter,” said Schofield. “

Crab larvae suffering shell damage from ocean acidification

January 24, 2020

SEATTLE (AP) — Ocean acidification is damaging the shells of young Dungeness crab in the Pacific Northwest, an impact that scientists did not expect until much later this century, according to new research.

A study released in the journal Science of the Total Environment this week is based on a 2016 survey of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia coastal waters that looked at larval Dungeness, The Seattle Times reported. The findings add to concerns about the future of the Dungeness as atmospheric carbon dioxide — on the rise due to fossil-fuel combustion — is absorbed by the Pacific Ocean and increases acidification.

“If the crabs are affected already, we really need to make sure we start to pay attention to various components of the food chain before it is too late,” said Nina Bednarsek, the lead author among 13 contributing scientists. The study was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

Dungeness sustain West Coast commercial seafood harvests typically worth over $200 million annually, and are a mainstay for tribal and recreational crabbers. They have thrived in coastal waters that in recent years have been found to have hot spots of ocean acidification.

Bednarsek and her colleagues — for the first time — documented that some Dungeness larvae in the wild already had pitted and folded shells, described in their journal article as “severe carapace dissolution,” and that these larvae were typically smaller in size.

They also found damage to hairlike structures that act as sensory receptors, and the researchers hypothesize this could lead to slower movements, impaired swimming and other problems.

The authors of this new study say more research is needed to understand what the new findings may mean for the future of the Dungeness crab as the Pacific coastal waters continue to absorb more carbon dioxide.

Survey: Alaska’s Cook Inlet beluga whales continue decline


1 of 2
In this photo taken Aug. 25, 2017, provided by NOAA Fisheries, a newborn beluga whale calf sticks its head out of the water in upper Cook Inlet, Alaska. The population of endangered beluga whales in Alaska's Cook Inlet continues to decline, federal marine mammal authorities announced Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. A biennial survey conducted by the fisheries arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated the population of the white whales at 250 to 317, with a median estimate of 279. (NOAA Fisheries via AP)


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The population of endangered beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet continues to decline, federal marine mammal authorities announced Tuesday.

A biennial survey conducted by the fisheries arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated the population of the white whales at 250 to 317, with a median estimate of 279.

“The population is estimated to be smaller and declining more quickly than previously thought,” NOAA Fisheries said in the announcement.

The survey is based on data collected by aerial surveys in summer 2018.

The survey also documented that a contraction has persisted of the summer range of belugas, the geographical area where they live. Since 2008, on average 81% of the total population occupied the Susitna Delta near the north end of the inlet in early June during the aerial survey period. Before that, about 50 percent did.

The 2009-18 range for belugas is estimated to be only 29% of the range observed in 1978-79, according to the survey.

The population estimate three years ago was about 340 whales. The agency in January 2017 released a Cook Inlet beluga whale recovery plan.

Cook Inlet belugas are one of five beluga populations in U.S. waters. Cook Inlet stretches 180 miles (290 kilometers) from Anchorage to the Gulf of Alaska. NOAA Fisheries three years ago said the the carrying capacity for the area was 1,300 animals.

Beluga whales feed on salmon, smaller fish, crab, shrimp, squid and clams and in late summer can be spotted from highways leading from Anchorage, chasing salmon schooled at stream mouths. The whales turn white as adults and can reach 15 feet (4.6 meters) long.

The Cook Inlet beluga population dwindled steadily through the 1980s and early ’90s. The decline accelerated between 1994 and 1998 when Alaska Natives harvested nearly half the remaining 650 whales in only four years.

Subsistence hunting ended in 1999. Federal officials initially figured that controlling subsistence hunting would allow the population to recover. When it did not, they declared belugas endangered in 2008.

NOAA Fisheries officials in 2017 acknowledged that they did not know why the population has not recovered.

Among the identified potential threats to belugas are catastrophic events, such as natural disasters or oil spills; cumulative effects of multiple stressors; and noise. Disease agents, such as blooms of harmful algae, loss of habitat, a reduction in prey and unauthorized killing also are threats.

Oil and natural gas extracted from Cook Inlet provides energy for Anchorage and other southcentral Alaska locations.

Kristen Monsell, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, called the survey “heartbreaking news for a species already struggling to survive.” She said it’s more evidence why the Trump administration authorization of oil and gas activity in Cook Inlet, including seismic airgun blasting, is so reckless.

“These amazing whales already face an onslaught of noise pollution that’s threatening their existence. If we’re going to save them, our government has to stop handing out permits to harass the whales to oil and gas companies,” she said.

File - In this August 2009, file photo, provided by the Department of Defense, a Cook Inlet beluga whale calf, left, and an adult breach near Anchorage, Alaska. The population of endangered beluga whales in Alaska's Cook Inlet continues to decline, federal marine mammal authorities announced Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. A biennial survey conducted by the fisheries arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated the population of the white whales at 250 to 317, with a median estimate of 279. (Christopher Garner/Department of Defense via AP, File)

NASA shutting down space telescope, infrared eyes to cosmos

This composite image made available by NASA shows a neutron star, center, left behind by the explosion from the original star's death in the constellation Taurus, observed on Earth as the supernova of A.D. 1054. This image uses data from three of NASA's observatories: the Chandra X-ray image is shown in blue, the Hubble Space Telescope optical image is in red and yellow, and the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared image is in purple. After nearly two decades in Earth orbit, scanning the universe with infrared eyes, ground controllers plan to put the faltering Spitzer Space Telescope into permanent hibernation on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2020. (X-Ray: NASA/CXC/J.Hester (ASU); Optical: NASA/ESA/J.Hester & A.Loll (ASU); Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R.Gehrz (Univ. Minn.) via AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is pulling the plug on one of its great observatories -- the Spitzer Space Telescope -- after 16 years of scanning the universe with infrared eyes.

The end comes Thursday when ground controllers put the aging spacecraft into permanent hibernation.





For years, Spitzer peered through dusty clouds at untold stars and galaxies, uncovered a huge, nearly invisible ring around Saturn, and helped discover seven Earth-size planets around a nearby star.

Spitzer’s last observation was Wednesday. Altogether, Spitzer observed 800,000 celestial targets and churned out more than 36 million raw images as part of the $1.4 billion mission.



An estimated 4,000 scientists around the world took part in the observations and published nearly 9,000 studies, according to NASA.

“You have to be proud ... when you look back and say, ‘Look at the team that’s operating Spitzer, look at the team that’s contributing to having all of this great science,’ ” said project manager Joseph Hunt.

Designed to last just 2 1/2 to five years, the telescope got increasingly difficult to operate as it drifted farther behind Earth, NASA said. It currently trails Earth by 165 million miles (265 million kilometers), while orbiting the sun.

Spitzer will continue to fall even farther behind Earth, posing no threat to another spacecraft or anything else, officials said.

“Although it would be great to be able to operate all of our telescopes forever, this is not possible,” NASA’s astrophysics director Paul Hertz said in an email.

NASA originally planned to decommission Spitzer a few years ago, but put off its demise as the James Webb Space Telescope, a vastly more elaborate infrared observatory, kept getting delayed.



Webb’s launch is now off until at least early next year. This week, the Government Accountability Office warned of further delays because of technical challenges.

It had been costing NASA about $12 million a year lately to keep Spitzer going. Hertz said with “no guarantee” Spitzer would last until Webb’s launch, the decision was made to shut it down now.

Launched in 2003, Spitzer was the last of NASA’s four so-called great observatories. With its infrared instruments, it was able to sense heat coming off celestial objects like night vision goggles, said Suzanne Dodd, a former project manager who now oversees NASA’s Deep Space Network at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.




By seeing through dust, “we’re lifting the cosmic veil on the universe,” Dodd said.

Still sending back breathtaking pictures, the Hubble Space Telescope rocketed into orbit in 1990 to observe the cosmos in visible and ultraviolet light; it will celebrate its 30th anniversary in April.

The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was launched in 1991, but because of equipment failure was destroyed in a fiery re-entry in 2000. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory is still working since its 1999 launch.

Amnesty Int’l: Asia seeing growing repression, resistance

By ELAINE KURTENBACH

1 of 6
FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2020, file photo, a protester holds an umbrella as police fire tear gas during a demonstration in Hong Kong. The human rights group Amnesty International says in annual report released Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020 that while authoritarian controls are increasingly undermining freedoms in Asia, the will to resist such repression is also growing. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

BANGKOK (AP) — Authoritarian governments in Asia are undermining human rights and demonizing their critics, but they face a rising tide of protest from young people who defy grave risks to protest such repression, Amnesty International said in its annual report on the region.

The human rights group’s annual survey of the Asia-Pacific region, released Wednesday, said India and China, the two most populous nations, are trying to impose their “own bleak, domineering vision on the continent, perceiving minorities as a threat to ‘national security.’”

The effort to silence criticism and prevent the public from holding public officials and corporations accountable is a worrying trend, it said. But anti-government protests in Hong Kong and elsewhere showed an abiding will to resist repression, it said. Some highlights from the report.


___

RISING REPRESSION: Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s push to vanquish dissent and impose the absolute control of the ruling Communist Party has intensified persecution of human rights defenders and others, the report said. In China and across South and Southeast Asia, governments are increasingly forthright in silencing their opponents and the media, reducing the space for even peaceful protests and introducing laws that punish online dissent, it said. It noted that many such governments also attack their critics with sophisticated social media tactics, smearing them as treasonous. Companies are shielded from accountability to the public by leaders who defend them for the sake of economic growth, it said. They also are quick to resort to using lawsuits to penalize whistleblowers and others who speak out.

___

VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS GROUPS AND OTHER MINORITIES: Chinese authorities subjected Uighurs, Kazakhs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the far western Xinjiang region to intense surveillance, arbitrary detentions and forced indoctrination. In Sri Lanka, anti-Muslim violence broke out after Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 250 people, mainly Christians, in three churches and three hotels. Across the region, all governments need to make more headway in protecting and empowering indigenous populations, the report said.

___

ARMED CONFLICT: In Afghanistan, more than 2,500 people died and 5,676 people were injured from January to September, mainly in attacks using homemade explosive devices that often were carried out by the Taliban against minority ethnic groups. In Myanmar, the military carried out war crimes in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states, as internal strife continued, the report said.


___

REFUGEES and MIGRANTS SPURNED: The report also noted Australian detentions of refugees and asylum seekers and turning boats of people fleeing their home countries back to sea. In Japan, where refugees rarely are granted asylum, the government has not yet ratified the Migrant’s Convention to protect rights of a growing population of foreign workers.

___

DISAPPEARANCES and EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS: In Pakistan, journalists, human rights defenders and members of the Shiá Muslim community were among the hundreds of people who were “disappeared” by security forces, often detained without charges or trial, the report said. Laws against sedition and defamation were used to curtail media freedoms, while anti-blasphemy laws were used to persecute some people and justify human rights abuses. Governments in the Philippines and other countries combating drug abuse and trafficking were responsible for killings of thousands of people, usually from poor and marginalized communities, it said.

___

PROTESTS PERSIST: Protests have gained momentum in many places, but most prominently in Hong Kong, where months of demonstrations that began peacefully but turned violent have been met with excessive force, including beatings of non-resisters and misuse of tear gas and rubber bullets, the report said. Demonstrations against India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act that excluded Muslim refugees from acquiring Indian citizenship through fast-track naturalization prompted the government to walk back plans to conduct a nationwide citizenship registry to identify illegal foreign nationals, though 25 people died in the violence and thousands were arrested. In India, as well as many other places, journalists often were targeted while trying to cover such protests.

___

SIGNS OF PROGRESS: The report noted many improvements, including the decision by the International Criminal Court to order an investigation into abuses committed by Myanmar’s military against Rohingya Muslims, some 700,000 of whom have fled to Bangladesh. But Bangladesh authorities have also targeted Rohingya in smear campaigns that have fomented violence against the refugees, it said. In some countries, such as Japan, efforts to win equal treatment for all genders and crack down on sexual harassment are making headway, it said. Taiwan legalized same-sex marriages, and South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled that criminalization of abortion was unconstitutional. In Malaysia, the coalition government is striving to deliver on campaign promises to improve protection of human rights, though it rejected proposals to better safeguard LGBTI and indigenous people, the report said.

“The coming year is likely to be as trying as the one that has just passed,” the report said. “But as young activists across Asia have repeatedly shown, where there is no hope, it must be created.”

---30---

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS 

Survey: University investments saw slower growth in 2019

By COLLIN BINKLEY

FILE - In this March 7, 2017 file photo, rowers paddle down the Charles River past the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. An annual survey finds that most U.S. universities made money on their financial investments last year, but their returns were tempered by a global economic slowdown fueled by America’s trade war with China. Harvard University remained the wealthiest school in the U.S., with an endowment valued at nearly $40 billion. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

BOSTON (AP) — Most U.S. universities made money on their financial investments last year, but their returns were tempered by a global economic slowdown fueled by America’s trade war with China, according to an annual survey of school finance chiefs.

The survey, released Thursday, found that college and university endowments returned an average of 5.3% in fiscal year 2019, down from the previous year’s returns of 8.2% and 12.2% the year before that. The returns in 2019 were among the weakest in the past decade, but it’s still seen as a long-term rebound over losses suffered following the 2008 financial crisis.

Harvard University remained the wealthiest school in the U.S., the survey found, with an endowment valued at nearly $40 billion. The University of Texas system and Yale University followed with about $30 billion each, while Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology each had more than $26 billion.

More than 100 schools reported endowments topping $1 billion, but the vast majority of schools have far less. Out of all schools surveyed, the median endowment was valued at $144 million, and 3 out of 4 had $500 million or less.

The survey is based on data reported by nearly 800 schools across the U.S. and Canada. It was performed by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, a national group that represents 1,900 colleges and universities, and by TIAA, an investment and banking firm based in New York.

Universities with more than $1 billion saw the greatest returns in 2019, the survey found, with returns averaging just under 6%. They fared better in large part because they have the money to invest in areas such as venture capital and private equity, which saw some of the strongest returns, the survey found.

Schools that invested larger shares in U.S. stocks also fared well amid a blockbuster year for the nation’s stock market, while those with heavier investments in international stocks drew more modest returns. The groups behind the survey attributed the slump to the U.S.-China trade war, saying it has slowed global trade.

Colleges tend to have different investing strategies based on their wealth, the survey found. The richest schools invest most heavily in a category that includes venture capital funding, hedge funds and private equity, while schools with smaller endowments typically focus on U.S. stocks and bonds.

But schools with $25 million or less, the lowest category in the survey, performed nearly as well as the richest schools in 2019. Their success was credited to their reliance on the U.S. stock market, which had its best returns in six years. The Standard & Poor 500 index, one broad measurement of the U.S. stock market, rose 10.4% in fiscal year 2019.

Still, the groups behind the survey said schools’ shouldn’t strive to match the S&P 500, but should focus on spreading their money over a wide range of investments to safeguard against market swings.

“There are going to be times when the markets are gangbusters and look really good, while these portfolios will not have returns that meet that,” Kevin O’Leary, CEO at TIAA Endowment and Philanthropic Services, said in a call with reporters. “It’s a balance to create consistent returns to match what we need to spend.”

Most universities in the survey reported that they increased spending from their endowments in 2019, with an average withdrawal of $30 million to support their annual budgets. Overall, about half of their spending went to student financial aid, while the rest was split among academic programs, faculty jobs and other costs.

Some of the nation’s wealthiest schools will soon face a 1.4% tax on their investment earnings as part of a tax overhaul approved by Congress in 2017. It will apply to schools that have at least 500 students and endowments that amount to at least $500,000 per student.

Liz Clark, vice president of policy and research for the business officers association, said her organization will have a clearer picture of the tax’s impact next year.

50 US military personnel have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI)

 The real extent of damage to troops revealed following Iran-US attack

THE Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday that fifty US military personnel have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a result of Iran's missile attack against two US bases in Iraq earlier this month.

By JOHN VARGA Wed, Jan 29, 2020

The attacks, which involved multiple missile launches, were carried out in retaliation for the killing of Qasem Soeimani, Iran’s top general, by a US drone strike on January 3. The retaliatory strikes occurred on January 8, and failed to kill any US soldiers. 31 of those suffering from TDIs were treated in Iraq and have returned to duty, according to Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell.

Last week, the Pentagon said that only 34 service personnel had suffered concussion and and TBIs.

Of the 16 newly reported cases, 15 are back with their regiments, Lt. Colonel Campbell confirmed.

The problem with brain injuries is that symptoms may take several days to manifest themselves.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said last week: “"The symptoms can get better, they can get worse.

"So we may see those numbers change a little bit.

“This is a snapshot in time."

The TBIs of eight service personnel were so severe that they had to be flown back to the US for further treatment.

TBIs are generally considered the signature wound of war and are regarded as serious injuries by medical professionals.
  
Qasem Soleimani (Image: GETTY)

Moreover, in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were often the weapon of choice for the insurgent army, thus causing an increase in the number of TBIs diagnosed from previous wars.

Even mild cases of the injury can cause psychological distress, suicidal thoughts and suicide, as well as drug abuse and depression

President Trump was severely criticised by veteran groups when he seemed to dismiss the seriousness of the condition last week in a press conference.

The US President told journalists: “I heard they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I can report that it’s not very serious.”

He added: “I don’t consider them severe injuries relative to other injuries that I’ve seen.”

His remarks provoked a furious response from the group Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).

The VFW”s National Commander, William “Doc” Smith said in reply: “The VFW expects an apology from the President to our service men and women for his misguided remarks.


 
US - Iran Comparison (Image: EXPRESS)

“And, we ask that he and the White House join with us in our efforts to educate Americans of the dangers TBI has on these heroes as they protect our great nation in these trying times.

“Our warriors require our full support more than ever in this challenging environment.”

Trump’s remarks are also unhelpful, because they continue to perpetuate a misconception that wounds must be visible to be taken seriously.

Dr. Chrisanne Gordon, founder, and Chairman of the Resurrecting Lives Foundation, explained: “Victims of [TBI] often blame themselves for their changed behavior, not realizing that blows or force to the head have caused lasting harm.

“Step one is helping them understand they have injuries, not character flaws.”

“They’re out of their brains; they’re not out of their minds.”

Brain injuries in Iraq put attention on invisible war wounds

By ROBERT BURNS

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2020 file photo, Iranian bombing caused a crater at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar, Iraq. Ain al-Asad air base was struck by a barrage of Iranian missiles, in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed atop Iranian commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The Pentagon now says 50 service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury caused by the Jan. 8 Iranian missile attack on an air base in Iraq where U.S. and coalition troops had taken cover in advance. (AP Photo/Ali Abdul Hassan)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The spotlight on brain injuries suffered by American troops in Iraq this month is an example of America’s episodic attention to this invisible war wound, which has affected hundreds of thousands over the past two decades but is not yet fully understood.

Unlike physical wounds, such as burns or the loss of limbs, traumatic brain injuries aren’t obvious and may take time to diagnose. The full impact may not be evident for some time, as studies have shown links between TBI and mental health problems. They cannot be dismissed as mere “headaches” — the word used by President Donald Trump as he said the injuries suffered by the troops in Iraq were not necessarily serious.

“TBI is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly,” said William Schmitz, national commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “TBI is known to cause depression, memory loss, severe headaches, dizziness and fatigue,” sometimes with long-term effects.

The VFW called on Trump to apologize for his “misguided remarks.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., a New Jersey Democrat and founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, faulted Trump for displaying “a clear lack of understanding of the devastating impacts of brain injury.”

The Pentagon says 50 service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury caused by the Jan. 8 Iranian missile attack on an air base in Iraq where U.S. and coalition troops had taken cover in advance. The toll could rise still further. No one was killed in the attack, which was an Iranian effort to avenge the killing of Qassem Soleimani, its most powerful general and leader of its paramilitary Quds Force, in an American drone strike in Baghdad.

Details of the U.S. injuries have not been made public, although the Pentagon said Tuesday that 31 of the 50 who were diagnosed with traumatic brain injury have recovered enough to return to duty. The severity of the other cases has not been disclosed.

The Pentagon did not announce the first confirmed cases until more than a week after the Iranian attack; at that point it said there were 11 cases. The question of American casualties took on added importance at the time of the Iranian strike because the degree of damage was seen as influencing a U.S. decision on whether to counterattack and risk a broader war with Iran. Trump chose not to retaliate, and the Iranians then indicated their strike was sufficient for the time being.

The arc of attention to TBI began in earnest, for the U.S. military, in the early years after it invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple President Saddam Hussein. His demise gave rise to an insurgency that confounded the Americans with crude but devastatingly effective roadside bombs. Survivors often suffered not just grievous physical wounds but also concussions that, along with psychological trauma, became known as the invisible wounds of war.

“For generations, battlefield traumatic brain injuries were not understood and often dismissed,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat.

The injuries have often been dismissed in part because the problem is not fully understood, although the Pentagon began focusing on the problem in the early 1990s when it established a head injury program that grew into today’s Defense and Veteran’s Brain Injury Center. Among its work, the center provides published reviews of research related to TBI, including links between severe TBI and behavioral issues such as alcohol abuse and suicide.

A study published this month by University of Massachusetts Amherst health services researchers concluded that military members who suffered a moderate or severe TBI are more likely than those with other serious injuries to experience mental health disorders.

Concern about TBI has recently given rise to questions about whether military members may suffer long-term health damage even from low-level blasts away from the battlefield, such as during training with artillery guns and shoulder-fired rockets.

“We’re finding that even a mild blast can cause long-term, life-changing health issues,” said Riyi Shi, a professor of neuroscience and biomedical engineering at Purdue University.

A 2018 study by the federally funded RAND Corp. found a dearth of research and understanding of potential damage to the nervous system from repeated exposure to these lower-level blasts. That same year, the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank, released a study urging the Pentagon to conduct a blast surveillance program to monitor, record, and maintain data on blast pressure exposure for “any soldier, in training or combat, who is likely to be in a position where he or she may be exposed to blasts.” It said this should include brain imaging of soldiers who have been exposed to blasts as part of the study to better understand how blasts affect the brain.

Two Romanians fined in France over huge mushroom haul

                                          FUNGI FUN IN THE FOREST

AFP/File / NICOLAS TUCATCep mushrooms are prized by gourmet food fans, and French officials set strict limits on how many a person can gather in the wild.

A French court on Tuesday handed suspended 500-euro fines to two Romanians who organised a massive harvest of prized wild mushrooms from a forest where authorities have strictly limited how much a person can gather.

The two suspects, aged 22 and 60, had already admitted to leading a group of around 40 fellow Romanians last October who carried out the hunt in the eastern region of Haute-Saone, netting 266 kilogrammes (586 pounds) of ceps, also known as porcini or king bolete mushrooms.

The expensive fungi, which can be harvested just a few weeks every year, are a favourite of gourmet food fans in France and beyond.

In the Haute-Saone region only five kilos per person can be gathered in the wild, a limit that aims to ensure sustainable harvests year after year, and anyone caught with more than 10 kilos can face prosecution.

The Romanian organisers paid the pickers three euros ($3.30) a kilo for a delicacy that can fetch 30 euros or more at market stalls during the autumn season.

"They took out tremendous amounts," department representative Stephane Clement told the court.

Prosecutors, who had sought suspended three-month prison terms for both suspects, later said they would appeal a sentence deemed too lenient. The suspects did not appear in court Tuesday.

But some local officials say the Romanians, including the two suspected organisers, were only the foot-soldiers in a network that intended to sell the bounty to restaurants and other buyers.

"These poor people are just being taken advantage of," Christiane Oudot, deputy mayor of Fougerolles, near the forest where the Romanians' camp was found, told French daily Le Monde this month.

Local prosecutor Emmanuel Dupic told AFP that an investigation into human trafficking had been opened to try to find the heads of a network "exploiting these people's misery."

The confiscated mushrooms were donated to food banks and other charities.

G20 funds fossil fuels $30 bn a year under the radar: analysis

AFP/File / INA FASSBENDERExport credit agencies currently provide 10 times more state-backed finance to oil gas and coal projects than to renewable energy schemes

Rich nations are funnelling cash through government-backed financial institutions to provide $30 billion to fossil fuel projects each year that "run counter to the Paris Agreement", a new analysis showed Thursday.

The export credit agencies (ECAs) of G20 countries currently provide more than 10 times more state-backed finance to oil, gas and coal projects abroad than they do to renewable energy schemes, the analysis said.

Under the Paris Agreement, emissions from these projects do not count as part of donor nations' carbon footprint.

ECAs are public entities that provide government-backed loans and insurance to overseas businesses.

Market monitor Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth America showed that G20 financing for coal delivered via ECAs under the Paris radar had increased as a percentage of energy project financing since the 2015 Paris treaty.

That translates to $7.1 billion annually in the years since the signing of the landmark accord that enjoins nations to slash carbon emissions.

"It's reckless and reprehensible for any government to still be providing billions in public finance for oil, gas and coal," said Bronwen Tucker, an analyst at Oil Change.

"It's even more offensive when these fossil fuel handouts come from the governments who are most historically responsible for the climate crisis."

The analysis singled out China, Japan, South Korea and Canada as among the worst offenders, accounting for 78 percent of G20 fossil fuel support from 2016-2018.

"Despite the climate emergency, ECAs are doubling down on fossil fuels," it said.

"Japan's ECAs continue to support new coal projects; Canada's ECA is pouring money into tar sands, and many ECAs are jumping at the chance to support LNG in northern Mozambique and elsewhere."

The United Nations says carbon emissions must decline 7.6 percent annually by 2030 in order to put the world on track to meet the 1.5C temperature rise cap called for under Paris.

Instead, fossil fuel emissions are rising annually as energy demand surges.

"ECAs are something almost no one has heard of but, as public finance institutions, they help governments pursue trade strategies and individual countries are able to shroud their investments around them," Tucker told AFP.

- Guarantors -

She said that most ECA funding comes from public coffers.

"But they play a different role to private enterprise in terms of their creditworthiness."

They are "backed by a government and their credit rating is much higher so the value of that guarantee is higher," Tucker added.

AFP asked all export credit agencies named in the analysis for comment.

The watchdogs highlighted the announcement last week from Britain that it was ending funding for overseas coal.

Its ECA, UK Export Finance, has not funded a coal-fired power plant since 2002, but a separate analysis showed it is financing millions of tonnes worth of overseas emissions through continued oil and gas funding.

Britain's prime minister Boris Johnson told lawmakers on Wednesday that its decision over coal was "a massive step forward by this country."

Zara's fast-fashion problem in focus

Climate activists are engaged in a fight against the throwaway mentality of the textile industry that Spanish fashion giant Zara has perfected over the years. For the company itself, technology remains key.

Even Queen Letizia of Spain wears clothes from Zara, and that comes close to a small revolution in the fashion world.  Zara, which belongs to Spanish fashion company Inditex, has left a mark with its Fast Fashion label standing for affordable, trendy clothing.

According to Brand Finance, Zara's brand value is only second to Nike in the fashion industry, leaving competitors such as Mango or H&M well behind.

However, the makers of fast fashion are increasingly being targeted by climate activists who criticize the throwaway culture and demand higher prices and wages for employees. Campaigners argue that saying goodbye to the fast-fashion concept will save a lot of energy and water.

Consumers for sustainable clothing

"Environmentally conscious consumers will be ratcheting up the pressure, although we here in Spain may not be so much aware of it right now," says Carmen Valor, a fashion expert at Comillas Pontifical University. She believes that this year will see the rise of so-called circular models that focus on recycling.

The fast fashion market was still big in 2019, although some changes became visible. According to the McKinsey Global Fashion Index, Inditex logged a much smaller "economic profit" last year — that's the indicator showing how much profit can be put aside without jeopardizing sustainable output parameters.

Sustainable supply chain not enough

Fashion expert Carmen Valor

"The fashion world is called upon to also focus more on sustainability and less on growth, but that is tough, given the current competitive environment," says Valor. The industry is struggling with insolvencies in most countries including Spain. Inditex is a listed company, and hence growing revenues help push up its stock price.

While the company keeps investing in warehouse and tracking technology such as RFID, pro-environment movements such as Fridays for Future argue that's not enough and demand bigger changes. "These would affect the whole production and supply chains where poor working conditions are often the bone of contention," Valor notes.

One thing's for sure: If clothes are to be recycled in large quantities, the quality of the stuff they're made of has to be high. But high quality and fast fashion rarely go together. Inditex wants to change this. Its Massimo Dutti line offers premium clothing at an affordable price. "Beyond that, fashion recycling is still in its infancy," Valor says.

Spanish fashion company Pislow lets consumers rent clothes for a period of four weeks

Inditex is a fashion and technology behemoth in Spain, with others looking to them when it comes to warehouse management and online platform promotion. The company's innovative drive is still limited, though, as business keeps being brisk even without any major changes. In the first nine months of 2019, revenues increased by 7.5% to €19.8 billion ($21.8 billion), while earnings soared by a whopping 12% to €2.7 billion.

Recycling in focus

Inditex is among the few players that have the financial resources to push recycling technology. At least this is what fashion expert Jose Nueno from Spanish business school IESE is convinced of. "Globally, fast fashion accounts for just 20% of the clothing sector, meaning that sometimes the need for change may appear bigger than it really is."

Adidas, Nike, Kering and LVHM top the list of fashion companies with the biggest revenues. Nueno believes that the trend of renting clothes instead of buying them may makes inroads this year. Such a concept has been tested in the US for a decade, and now it's coming to Europe."

Barcelona-based Pislow has been offering such a service. For less than €40 a month, customers can rent two pieces of fashion in line with their wishes. After four weeks, the clothes are sent back to the company which cleans them for the next client. "In addition, in many nations including the US you're seeing the return of tailors who specialize in sexing up old clothing," Nueno emphasizes.

Ecoalf founder Javier Goyeneche

Sustainability good for corporate image

In Spain, the Ecoalf brand is held in high esteem for its climate protection record. The label has banked on recycling since 2009, and its slogan is "becausetheirisnoplanetB."

"Just like established US brand Patagonia, Ecoalf is going from strength to strength, because they're not involved in any greenwashing and display a coherent policy," says Nueno. Ecoalf is expanding abroad and runs a business in Berlin. The label was founded by Javier Goyeneche, contributes resources to the cleaning of oceans and refrains from taking part in overcommercialized events such as Black Friday.

Inditex for its part is banking increasingly on promotion in social media channels to enhance its own image. That includes hiring influencers and increasing its presence on Instagram.

It seems less helpful that the superrich founder of Inditex, Amancio Ortega, is pilloried in Spain for investments showing his love for "tax optimization." Ortega's social engagement, including donations to hospitals or charity funds, is viewed as pure window dressing by Spain's left-leaning parties.

Consumers need to rethink

Inditex, which together with 31 additional firms signed the Fashion Pact (a global coalition of textile firms committed to environmental goals) a couple of months ago, faces big challenges, including the growing success of secondhand fashion. "In this area, we'll see an increasing number of platforms, trade fairs, brands and business models," Nueno predicts.

Spanish brand Ecoalf has a posh store in Berlin as part of its current expansion drive

But one problem is hard to ignore. "In order to really act in a sustainable way, we all have to consume less," Valor points out. "According to global estimates, in the US alone some 15 million tons of clothes are disposed of — that's twice as much as 20 years ago

Giving up my filthy fashion habit

As a self-confessed fast fashion addict, DW reporter Jennifer Collins decided it was time to break her bad habit and scrutinize the environmental impact of the garment industry. She was shocked by what she learned. (13.01.2017)  

Date 27.01.2020     Author Stefanie Müller (Madrid)