Researchers Uncover New Evidence That Warrior Women Inspired Legend of Mulan

Nearly 2,000 years ago, women who rode horseback and practiced archery may have roamed the steppes of Mongolia

An 18th-century ink rendering of Hua Mulan on silk (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

By Katherine J. Wu SMITHSONIANMAG.COM APRIL 29, 2020

Mulan, a woman warrior who disguised herself as a man to fight in her father’s stead, has found most of her fame through fiction, perhaps most notably in the 1998 animated Disney film of the same name. But the legend of this Chinese heroine is likely rooted in truth: Hints of her existence—or at least the existence of women like her—are scattered throughout history. And now, a team of researchers may have homed in on a crucial cache of clues.

As Colin Barras reports for New Scientist, scientists have found physical evidence that female warriors once rode across the steppes of what is now Mongolia, wielding bows, arrows and other weapons that left traces of physical exertion on their bones.

So far, the remains appear to be rare, and they don’t point specifically to a person who bore Mulan’s name. But their chronological placement in history—around the fourth or fifth century A.D.—fits the bill for her story and, according to California State University, Los Angeles, anthropologists Christine Lee and Yahaira Gonzalez, may have served as inspiration for the legend that has lasted the millennia since.

The first historical mention of Mulan dates back to at least 1,500 years ago, when a folk song called The Ballad of Mulan was popularized during China’s North Wei Dynasty, according to Ancient Origins. Its heroine, a young woman named Hua Mulan, steps in for her old, ailing father, taking on the identity of his son by donning the traditional clothes of men and joining the emperor’s army. Though variations on the tale splinter in their endings, Mulan achieves success on the battlefield in just about all of them, becoming a leader among men who, in several iterations, never discover her true gender, write Gisela Sommer and Teresa Shen for the Epoch Times.

Though this story has been written, recorded, remixed and even Disneyfied many times over, scientists have struggled to pin down archaeological evidence that Mulan was real. Some suspected that the character had been fashioned as a fictional paragon of ancient women warriors—perhaps belonging to the Xianbei, an ancient nomadic people who conquered and controlled northern China from 386 to 534 A.D. But if these individuals existed, many reasoned, they would have been few and far between.

Hua Mulan, as depicted in the album Gathering Gems of Beauty(Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

That’s why Lee and Gonzalez were surprised when they stumbled across two female Xianbei skeletons unearthed in modern-day Mongolia. Both bore familiar marks on their bones—ones traditionally attributed to strenuous activities like horseback riding and archery. The findings stem from a re-analysis of previously discovered remains found at 29 ancient burial sites, and may have been missed by colleagues in the anthropologists’ male-dominated field of study, Lee tells Jennifer Ouellette of Ars Technica.

Three groups were represented among the skeletons: the Xiongnu, who dominated the region 2,200 years ago; the Xianbei, who displaced the Xiongnu around 1,850 years ago; and the Turkic people, who successively occupied the Mongolian steppes beginning around 1,470 years ago.

Markings on the three female Xiongnu skeletons hint that these women may have occasionally practiced archery or ridden horses, while their Turkic counterparts dabbled only infrequently in the latter activity. Two of the three Xianbei women in the mix, on the other hand, stood out as seasoned riders and possibly skilled fighters, suggesting to Lee that they may have been more battle-ready than some of their peers.

“Perhaps everybody was needed to defend the country” at a time of great sociopolitical turmoil, Lee tells New Scientist. If these women truly were Xianbei, they would have lived through the tumultuous and violent era following the end of the Han dynasty in 220 A.D.

Lee and Gonzalez have yet to publish their work in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had planned to present their analysis at a now-canceled meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, according to New Scientist.

Still, finding even hints of these warrior women is encouraging, Lee tells Ars Technica.

“It’s a small sample size, only 29 burials, and there are two women who fit the bill,” she says. “That’s actually a lot. I didn’t expect to find any.”

Written records of warrior women pepper history—and though they’ve often been passed over, Lee thinks it’s high time someone went looking for more physical evidence. If someone like Mulan existed, she almost certainly wasn't alone.

“If there are all these stories, then why hasn’t anyone ever found these women?” Lee tells Ars Technica. “It’s only because nobody was looking. I thought it was time to look.”

Katherine J. Wu is a Boston-based science journalist and Story Collider senior producer whose work has appeared in National Geographic, Undark magazine, Popular Science and more. She holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunobiology from Harvard University, and was Smithsonian magazine's 2018 AAAS Mass Media Fellow.

Why it’ll still be a long time before we get a coronavirus vaccine
Trials of experimental coronavirus vaccines are already under way, but it’s still likely to be years before one is ready and vaccination may not even be possible

ANALYSIS 29 April 2020 By Carrie Arnold 

A lab in Singapore is one of many working on coronavirus vaccines Reuters/Joseph Campbell
MANY UK newspapers recently celebrated the first volunteer to receive an injection as part of a safety trial of an experimental coronavirus vaccine. But while there are claims that it could be possible for a vaccine to be ready within a year, the chances of this happening remain slim.

The UK trial, led by the University of Oxford, will ultimately involve 1100 adults, half of whom will receive the experimental vaccine. The other half will get a meningitis vaccine as a control. The team behind the trial hopes to move on to tests to gauge how effective the vaccine is against the coronavirus as early as August, raising hopes that a vaccine could be ready before the end of the year, and that this could be the answer to the difficult question of how the country gets out of strict social distancing measures.

Unfortunately, these hopes are probably misplaced. Vaccine design expert Maria Bottazzi of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, calls the schedule “unrealistic”. Even if everything goes according to plan in the first phase of trials, Bottazzi points out that researchers will still need time to determine how well the vaccine protects people from covid-19 and whether it provokes any side effects when a vaccinated person is subsequently exposed to the virus

It is far from guaranteed that the vaccine will be safe and effective. 2013 study calculated that, before entering clinical trials, the average experimental vaccine has a 6 per cent chance of ultimately reaching the market. Of those that make it into trials, a 2019 analysis suggests the probability of success is 33.4 per cent.

But even if the Oxford vaccine succeeds, there will then be the issue of scaling up manufacturing to make hundreds of millions of doses. According to Bottazzi, this is the real bottleneck. Under the best of circumstances, the world is still looking at 12 to 18 months before a vaccine could be widely available, she says.

That in itself would be a remarkable achievement. The 2013 study found that between 1998 and 2009, the average time taken to develop a vaccine was 10.7 years. It is possible to speed this up to some extent – since then, an Ebola vaccine has become the fastest-developed vaccine ever, being produced in just five years.

But to lower this to just 18 months would require the next steps of the development process to be begun before the previous ones were completed, Bottazzi says. This increases the risk of significant loss of investment should the vaccine fail to pan out, as well as raising questions about safety. An expedited path from early trials to scaled-up manufacturing would mean that researchers won’t have as much time to study the long-term effects of a vaccine in trial participants before it is given to the public, for example.

“Between 1998 and 2009, the average time taken to develop a vaccine was 10.7 years”

To try to speed things up, on 21 April, UK health minister Matt Hancock said that the government will put money into manufacturing capability, in the hope that either the Oxford vaccine, or another vaccine being tested by Imperial College London, will prove successful. Similar measures are being taken elsewhere. US philanthropist Bill Gates has announced he is helping to build manufacturing capability for seven candidate vaccines – a strategy he said will lose billions of dollars but save time.

More than 100 vaccines for the coronavirus are currently in various early stages of development. The more that are tested, the higher the chances of finding something that is both safe and effective.

Yet there is no guarantee that it is even possible to vaccinate against the coronavirus. There is a lot we don’t know yet about how our immune systems respond to the virus, and whether it is possible to induce long-lasting immunity to it.

Hancock also said that the government is “throwing everything” at developing a coronavirus vaccine. But given the time it will take to get one – if it even proves possible to do so – it is clear that countries can’t wait for a vaccine to get them out of their current crises. As epidemiologist Mark Woolhouse at the University of Edinburgh, UK, told New Scientist in early April: “I do not think waiting for a vaccine should be dignified with the word ‘strategy’. It’s not a strategy, it’s a hope.”

We need to be realistic about the hopes of a vaccine, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying. Like annual flu vaccines, an effective coronavirus vaccine could help us protect those most at risk from the virus. As with childhood vaccines for measles and other diseases, it may also enable us to protect future generations from covid-19.

But it could be years before we have a vaccine. Until then, we will need to deal with multiple waves of infection with measures such as extensive testing, contact tracing and quarantining.

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632804-000-why-itll-still-be-a-long-time-before-we-get-a-coronavirus-vaccine/#ixzz6L8OldQV0

Tiger survival threatened by mass road-building 

in precious habitats

ENVIRONMENT 29 April 2020

By Alice Klein

Tiger-friendly crossings allow the animals to traverse roads between forests

Sanjayda/Alamy

More than half the world’s dwindling wild tiger population are threatened by roads built dangerously close to their habitats, and giant infrastructure projects planned across Asia could put tigers at even greater risk.

Tigers habitats have shrunk by 40 per cent since 2006, leaving fewer than 4000 of the animals in the wild. Those living near roads are particularly vulnerable because they are at risk of being hit by vehicles, have more difficulties finding food, and are easier for poachers to find.

Using a global dataset, Neil Carter at the University of Michigan and his colleagues calculated that the tiger’s current range, which mostly spans south and south-east Asia, contains 134,000 kilometres of roads. Based on average tiger density, they estimated that 57 per cent of tigers live within 5 kilometres of these roads, which is considered dangerously close.

This proximity to roads could be decreasing the world’s tiger population by more than 20 per cent, the researchers’ modelling suggests. Nearly 24,000 kilometres of new roads are planned for construction within the tiger’s range by 2050, which will make it even harder for the animals to avoid these hazards.

Read more: Biodiversity in crisis: Earth’s giant construction projects mapped out

For example, Nepal is planning a large road network that will connect all of its villages. This project, along with China’s Belt and Road Initiative – which is the world’s largest ever infrastructure project – will create new routes through the forests of south and south-east Asia.

These projects could be disastrous if care is not taken to minimise their impacts on local tiger populations, says Carter. “Once roads are built they have lasting effects that cannot be undone,” he says.

News roads could be made more tiger-friendly by building them away from key tiger populations, banning overnight traffic, installing road signs to alert drivers to the presence of tigers, and building tiger-friendly crossings that allow a passageway for wildlife to safely cross between forests flanking the road, says Carter. These have been built on roads and highways in Malaysia.

In 2010, all 13 countries with wild tiger populations committed to a plan to double the tiger population by 2022. By 2016, research suggested that the global wild tiger population stopped declining and had increased. Building tiger-friendly roads will be crucial to reaching this goal, says Carter.

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2242107-tiger-survival-threatened-by-mass-road-building-in-precious-habitats/#ixzz6L8MaNvx4

CAPITALISM IN SPACE
Three companies move forward in bid to bring astronauts to the Moon

Miriam Kramer AXIOS APRIL 30,2020

Artist's illustration of astronauts on the Moon. Photo: NASA


NASA today announced three companies — Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Dynetics and Elon Musk's SpaceX — will continue developing their lunar landers designed to bring astronauts to the Moon.

Why it matters: In spite of the coronavirus pandemic, NASA is moving forward with its plans to send humans back to the surface of the Moon by 2024 as part of its Artemis program.

The big picture: These kinds of government contracts are key for space companies hoping to make it through the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Those types of funds could help them stay afloat as other means of financing dry up.

Details: Blue Origin's system also brings together Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper Labs — powerhouses in the space industry — to develop the key components to take astronauts down to the lunar surface.

SpaceX will use Starship — a craft currently in development that the company hopes to one day use to send people to places like Mars — to bring crew and cargo from orbit around the Moon to its surface.

Dynetics' design hinges on a structure that can both land on and ascend from the surface of the Moon.

NASA is awarding a combined total of $967 million to these companies.
“This is the first time since the Apollo era that NASA has direct funding for a human landing system, and now we have companies on contract to do the work for the Artemis program."— NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement

What's next: The companies will now continue to study and develop their plans over the coming months before NASA starts to make decisions about which landing systems will continue on in the process.

"We've got all the pieces we need," NASA's head of human spaceflight Doug Loverro, said during a press call Thursday.

Amazon calls Trump blacklisting a "personal vendetta"
TRUMP HAS BILLIONAIRE ENVY

Mike Allen AXIOS APRIL 30, 2020

Photos: Elif Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images; Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Amazon blasted an unusual accusation in an annual report by saying President Trump's trade office as a "purely political act" that's part of a "personal vendetta."

What happened: U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer's office put five of Amazon’s overseas domains (Canada, France, Germany, India and the U.K.) on a list of "notorious markets” where pirated goods are sold, AP reports.

Why it matters: Trump has clashed repeatedly with Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post.

Amazon's Jodi Seth said in a statement: "This purely political act is another example of the administration using the U.S. government to advance a personal vendetta against Amazon."
"Amazon makes significant investments in proactive technologies and processes to detect and stop bad actors and potentially counterfeit products from being sold in our stores."
"We are an active, engaged stakeholder in the fight against counterfeit."

Lighthizer's office didn't respond to a request for comment on Amazon's blast.

Employers split from health care industry over coronavirus demands

Bob Herman AXIOS APRIL 30, 2020

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Several large employer groups this week refused to sign on to funding requests they consider a "handout" for hospitals and insurers, according to three people close to the process.

The big picture: Coronavirus spending bills are sharpening tensions between the employers that fund a significant portion of the country's health care system and the hospitals, doctors and insurers that operate it.

Driving the news: The industry's most recent request — written primarily by the large hospital and health insurance lobbying groups — focused on a few items for the next coronavirus legislation.



Providing subsidies to maintain employer-sponsored insurance, which already receives a large tax break, as well as providing subsidies for COBRA for people who have lost their jobs. Some analysts predict 12 million to 35 million people will get thrown off their job-based coverage due to the pandemic.

Increasing subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans and creating a special ACA enrollment window.

Opposing the use of the industry's bailout funds to pay for uninsured COVID-19 patients at Medicare rates.

Between the lines: Employers know they get charged a lot more for health care services compared with public insurers, but many weren't keen about urging Congress to "set up a government program to pay commercial reimbursements," said an executive at a trade group that represents large corporations.

The demands "make perfect sense for hospitals who are trying to maximize their reimbursement and for insurance companies who are getting a cut when someone is in private insurance," said another employer group lobbyist. The sources asked not to be named to speak candidly.

Many employer groups still have a bad taste in their mouth after the industry torpedoed a fix to surprise medical bills last year.

The other side: Several health care groups that signed the letter dismissed the idea of any disagreement with employers.

"As far as I know, everyone is rowing in the same direction," said Chip Kahn, head of the Federation of American Hospitals, which lobbies on behalf of for-profit hospitals and is a prominent voice in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The coronavirus is exposing the holes in employer health insurance
Bob Herman AXIOS MARCH 30, 2020

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios


A record 3.3 million people filed for unemployment in one week, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, but people didn't just lose their jobs. Many also lost the health insurance that came with the job.

Why it matters: U.S. workers, even those who feel relatively secure in their health benefits, are a pandemic away from falling into the ranks of the uninsured.

Many of the people losing their jobs right now may not have had coverage to begin with — which would make the coronavirus-related disruption smaller, but still highlights the very large holes in this system. Industries like retail, restaurants and hospitality, as well as small businesses, are less likely to offer coverage

The concern: People who get the virus but don't have insurance are susceptible to high medical bills, or even death if they avoid or are denied treatment.

The big picture: People who lose their jobs have some options.

COBRA: This option allows people to keep their employer coverage for up to 18 months, which is good for those who are getting treatment and don't want to switch doctors. 

However, people have to pay the full insurance premium — an average of $1,700 a month for a family plan — which will be unaffordable for most of the newly unemployed.

Medicaid: State Medicaid agencies determine eligibility on current income, so this may be the easiest, lowest-cost way for people to get health coverage.

Affordable Care Act plans: The health care law created marketplaces for coverage, and people who lose their jobs can sign up outside the standard enrollment window. People may be able to get subsidies, depending on income.

Short-term plans: These stopgap plans, promoted by the Trump administration, provide some coverage but often don't cover major hospitalizations.

Yes, but: All of these options have their own administrative hurdles.

The bottom line: "The ACA made health insurance more recession-resistant, but ... there's still significant disruption when you lose your job," said Cynthia Cox, a health insurance expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

USA Another 3.8 million Americans filed for unemployment last week

Courtenay Brown AXIOS APRIL  30, 2020

Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios


3.8 million people filed for unemployment last week, the Labor Department announced Thursday.

Why it matters: While the pace of unemployment filings has slowed since its peak in late March, the number of workers who have lost their jobs in recent weeks — as efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic slammed the labor market — tops 30 million.





Between the lines: State labor departments have been overwhelmed by the rush of people seeking unemployment benefits.

Economists warn that some jobless workers have been unable to apply for benefits, so the number of unemployed could be higher than the weekly figures suggest.

The bottom line: A staggering number of Americans are still losing jobs at historic rates.

TRUMPS HOOVERS DEPRESSION UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS 

Bolsonaro has Brazil headed for worst recession ever
Dion Rabouin AXIOS APRIL 30, 2020

Data: FactSet; Chart: Axios Visuals

Initially hailed as a savior of Brazil's economy as stock prices climbed to record highs after his election, President Jair Bolsonaro now has the country's markets on a crash course.

What's happening: Brazil's benchmark stock index has been one of the world's worst performers, down by nearly 30% in its local currency so far this year, and lower by 46% in U.S. dollar terms.

The country's real currency also has been among the world's weakest assets, down by around 25% against the dollar year to date.

In the first quarter, Brazil's stock market declined by 51% with its currency losing 37%, the steepest fall since 1994.

One level deeper: Brazil's economy is falling apart as it has become the Latin American epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak and Bolsonaro dismisses the pandemic as a "fantasy" or "a little flu."

The president also has fired or alienated powerful allies, including his most popular cabinet member, former Judge Sérgio Moro, who resigned on national television Friday while accusing the president of trying to tamper with ongoing police investigations.

The country's federal police are investigating two of his sons.

The state of play: Citing more widespread and lasting damage from the coronavirus outbreak, economists at Citi now expect "the worst annual contraction ever" this year for Brazil's economy, predicting a decline of 4.5%, versus an earlier forecast of a 1.7% decline.

Go deeper: Brazil and Ecuador emerge as Latin America's coronavirus epicenters

Global poll: Wide support for gender equality, except when jobs are scarce
Rashaan Ayesh AXIOS APRIL 30, 2020

Adapted from Pew Research Center; Chart: Axios Visuals
The vast majority of people across 34 countries surveyed by Pew Research Center say it's important for women to have the same rights as men — but majorities in many countries still believe men should take priority when jobs are scarce.

The big picture: Opinions vary widely across the countries as to whether men currently have better lives than women, with majorities in countries like France (70%), Sweden (62%) and the U.S. (57%) believing that is the case, but pluralities in Poland, Russia, Nigeria and India believing men and women have equally good lives.

Women are more likely to say men currently have better lives than women — particularly in Greece, Slovakia, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Hungary and Turkey.

In African countries like Kenya and South Africa, upwards of one-third of respondents believe women currently have better lives than men. That's nearly as many as believe men have better lives.

In Japan, 77% of men say women already have or will have the same rights as men, compared to 58% of women.

There are also major divides over whether men should have greater access to scarce jobs.
Most respondents across the Middle East, Africa and Asian-Pacific regions said men should have preferential treatment during a job shortage.

Just 13% in the U.S. feel that way, compared to 79% in India, 75% in the Philippines and 52% in South Korea.

Majorities in all four African countries surveyed believe men should take priority, as do many in Mexico (39%), Russia (45%) and Italy (40%).

The flipside: While majorities in many countries feel women have fewer employment opportunities, a median of 81% across the 34 countries believe women have equal access to a good education, and 63% that they have equal opportunities to express political opinions.

Worth noting: The U.S. is the only country surveyed where men (93%) were more likely than women (89%) to say gender equality is important.

Go deeper: Women's equality reframed

Shell cuts dividends for the first time since WWII amid coronavirus pandemic

Ben Geman AXIOS APRIL 30, 2020

Photo: Valery Matytsin\TASS via Getty Images

Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday that it's cutting shareholder dividends for the first time since World War II as the company reported a steep drop in quarterly profits.

Why it matters: The decision underscores how the coronavirus-fueled collapse in prices and demand is upending the oil landscape and forcing even the most powerful companies to scramble to protect their finances.

Shell, which like other companies is also steeply cutting capital spending, said in announcing the dividend cut that "the deterioration in the macroeconomic and commodity price outlook" due to COVID-19 is "unprecedented."

"The duration of these impacts remains unclear with the expectation that the weaker conditions will likely extend beyond 2020," the company warned.

Driving the news: Shell said it would reduce its first quarter dividend to 16 cents per share, a 66% cut. If that reduction is maintained all year, Shell will save about $10 billion, Reuters reports.

The company reported $2.9 billion in Q1 net profits, which is down 46% from the same period a year ago.

What's next: U.S.-based multinational giants Exxon and Chevron report their earnings Friday.

Go deeper: Oil industry has more bleak days ahead as coronavirus crushes demand