Skull Of 2-Million-Year-Old Human "Cousin" Discovered In South Africa


THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEW PARANTHROPUS ROBUSTUS FOSSIL SUGGESTS RAPID EVOLUTION DURING A TURBULENT PERIOD OF LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE, RESULTING IN ANATOMICAL CHANGES THAT PREVIOUSLY WERE ATTRIBUTED TO SEX. LA TROBE UNIVERSITY


By Tom Hale10 NOV 2020

The 2-million-year-old skull of an extinct human species has been unearthed in the depths of a cave system in South Africa. The near-complete male skull belongs to an ancient human relative known as Paranthropus robustus that lived around the southern tip of Africa from approximately 2 million years ago.

It was first unearthed in 2018 by researchers from La Trobe University’s Archaeology Department in Australia during an excavation at the Drimolen Main Quarry north of Johannesburg, South Africa. Since it was discovered on South African Father’s Day, June 20, the researchers have nicknamed the species “the Father’s Day fossil.”

As reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, the researchers who found the specimen say it’s the earliest known and best-preserved fossil of the species ever found. This could lead to some exciting insights into this mysterious ancient species and add some pages to the story of human ancestors.

The excavation in progress with Angeline Leece (left) and Stephanie Baker (right). La Trobe University

Interestingly, this newly discovered fossil suggests Paranthropus robustus emerged at roughly the same time as our direct ancestor Homo erectus, indicating the species both shared the same landscape at the same time some 2 million years ago.

"These two vastly different species, H. erectus with their relatively large brains and small teeth, and P. robustus with their relatively large teeth and small brains, represent divergent evolutionary experiments," Angeline Leece, first author from La Trobe University, said in a statement. "While we were the lineage that won out in the end, the fossil record suggests that P. robustus was much more common than H. erectus on the landscape two million years ago."

Previously, it was believed that the females of the species were notably smaller than the males. However, the new male skull is smaller than expected, much more akin to the female skulls of the same species found in the area.

The researchers say this observation could have some big implications. Instead of the different skull sizes showing differences in sex, the team argues they might represent anatomical changes between different groups, brought on by a sudden shakeup of the local climate change in the south of Africa at this time. As the area became increasingly dry, food became increasingly scarce, forcing the species to survive on tougher vegetation. So their theory goes, this may have driven a rare example of microevolution within a human lineage, causing Paranthropus robustus to evolve chewing adaptations in the skull in response to environmental change.

"P. robustus is remarkable in that it possesses a number of features in its cranium, jaws and teeth indicating that it was adapted to eat a diet consisting of either very hard or very tough foods," explained David Strait, a professor of biological anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University. "We think that these adaptations allowed it to survive on foods that were mechanically difficult to eat as the environment changed to be cooler and drier, leading to changes in local vegetation."

Bacteria Can Extract Minerals From Rocks In MicroGravity, Making Space-Mining Easier




SPHINGOMONAS DESICCABILIS, STAINED TO GLOW GREEN, WAS THE STAR PERFORMER WHEN IT CAME TO USING BACTERIA TO EXTRACT MINERALS FROM BASALTS OF THE KIND FOUND ON THE MOON. DR ROSA SANTOMARTINO

By Stephen Luntz10 NOV 2020, 16:34

Tests performed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) suggest bacteria can extract valuable minerals from rocks, opening a path to space-mining and human colonization of other worlds.

Getting heavy materials out of the Earth's gravity is exceptionally expensive. Advances in spaceflight may help somewhat, but the economics of large-scale colonies on other worlds are likely to depend on being able to find most of what we need locally, rather than shipping from home. Although asteroids and the Moon offer rich sources of many metals we will want, the question of how to extract them in such a different environment has weighed on the minds of those planning such projects.

Indeed, if the challenges OSIRIS-REx experienced trying to grab a piece of the asteroid Bennu are anything to go by, getting rocks off asteroids may not be as easy as it sounds, and processing adds an extra complication. Scientists wondered if bacteria might help, and an international collaboration developed biomining reactors to explore the possibility.

Eighteen of these matchbox-sized reactors were carried to the ISS in 2019, where they were supplied with basalt and submerged in solutions of three bacterial species for three weeks.

Bacteria are already used to extract metals such as copper and gold from rocks on Earth in a process known as biomining, but no one knew how they would respond to microgravity. The ISS also used centrifuges to simulate Martian gravity (30 percent of Earth's) and Earth-like gravity. Each was compared to experiments run at home.

In Nature Communications, the makers report the success of the reactor with Sphingomonas desiccabilis at any gravity, extracting cerium and neodymium with 70 percent efficiency, up to four times as much as non-biological methods. For all 14 studied metals, extraction was higher in Martian than Earth gravity. The other bacteria were unsuccessful, but at least they got a ride into space.

"Microorganisms are very versatile and as we move into space, they can be used to accomplish a diversity of processes. Elemental mining is potentially one of them,” said Dr Rosa Santomartino, from the University of Edinburgh, in a statement.

Although some love to dream of mining asteroids for use on Earth – even touting the value of space rocks if all the metals could be extracted – Professor Charles Cockell is more realistic. “While it is not economically viable to mine these elements in space and bring them to Earth, space biomining could potentially support a self-sustaining human presence in space,” he said.

“Our results suggest that the construction of robotic and human-tended mines in the Oceanus Procellarum region of the Moon, which has rocks with enriched concentrations of rare earth elements, could be one fruitful direction of human scientific and economic development beyond Earth,” Cockell added. Oceanus Procellarum is a long way from the lunar poles, where water is most abundant, but perhaps some site will be found that combines the best of both worlds.

Scientists May Have Discovered Viruses That Produce Their Own Energy

ILLUSTRATION OF A PANDORAVIRUS PARTICLE. GIOVANNI CANCEMI/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
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By Jack Dunhill11 NOV 2020, 15:54


Are viruses alive? This is a question that arises time after time and debate continues to rage on between researchers to this day. The general consensus is no – viruses are only able to reproduce within host organisms and lack the essential machinery required to consider them living.

One such machinery is the viruses’ lack of ability to produce their own energy. To get the energy they need to complete replication, they hijack the host’s energy supply to reproduce within the host cell, before exploding out and embarking on their way to infect another cell – or so we thought.

In a pre-print study published to bioRxiv (meaning it has not yet been peer-reviewed), researchers from the French National Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) have discovered that a species of giant virus is possibly capable of independent energy production, representing the first time a virus has been demonstrated to have energy production capabilities.

"In our work, we have shown experimentally that pandoravirus (a giant virus of amoebas) have electrical membrane potential, an essential component to the survival of all living cells. It allows cells to function as a battery to generate energy," Professor Bernard La Scola, corresponding author of the study, told IFLScience

The virus in question is quite the beast. With a virus particle diameter of 1 micrometer and a massive virus genome of 2.5 million base pairs, the Pandoravirus genus broke every size record possible after its discovery in 2013. Moreover, its massive size prompted scientists to rethink what exactly viruses are, as it blurred the lines between viruses being considered floating particles or single-celled organisms.

Since their discovery, scientists have found that many definitions of what a virus is do not apply to these giant viruses. They have some form of immune system, which helps fight off smaller viruses, and they have genes that allows them to process transcribe DNA into mRNA all on their own, which other viruses cannot do without a host.

Following discoveries of multiple proteins within these giant viruses that are not typically found in other viruses, the researchers decided to challenge Pandoravirus further to see whether it deviates from the norm in metabolism too.

Using technology that allows researchers to see whether there is an energy difference between the inside of a cell and outside, Sarah Aherfi and colleagues tested the virus Pandoravirus massiliensis for a voltage difference across the virus membrane (called membrane potential). They found that there was a difference in voltage, particularly with mature virus particles, suggesting a mechanism that may create energy within the virus itself.

The researchers then delved into the genome of P. massiliensis to try and identify genes commonly associated with energy production in other organisms. Eight genes were discovered that are all activated during the end of the virus’s replication cycle and share similarities (albeit low similarities) with genes used by other organisms in a key stage of energy production. When isolated and inserted into bacteria, some of these genes could produce the essential enzymes required for energy production, and supplying the virus with a regulator of energy production increased the membrane potential.

If these results are verified, a virus will have been demonstrated to produce energy independently and it's possible scientists will need to rethink the definition of viruses. Pandoraviruses are certainly viruses, as they still require host cells for replication, but to what extent do they conform to other viruses?

"Classical viruses were taken out of the three domains of life because they do not fulfill certain criteria characterizing life: they can only reproduce inside living host cells by using its translation machinery and its energy," said Professor La Scola.

"With our finding in pandoravirus (membrane potential and candidate genes of tricarboxylic acid cycle, the central hub of energy metabolism), it is increasingly evident that these organisms are very different from classical [definitions of viruses] and they are more close to the domain of life. That's why we are convinced to look seriously into their classification."

Some virologists are not yet convinced. New Scientist reported David Wessner from Davidson College in North Carolina stated that the research was limited to just viruses that have been released from cells, and some did not show energy production at all. IFLScience reached out for third-party comments, but have not recieved a response at this time.

Being a preprint, the study will need to be peer-reviewed before the textbook is rewritten and caution must be taken when drawing conclusions from initial studies such as this. Hopefully, further study into these viruses will yield new insights.


[H/T: The New Scientist]

Rare Bigfin Squid in Australian waters

Scientists record some striking footage.

Australia is home to a host of weird and wonderful creatures, and now it can add the rare Bigfin Squid to its inventory.

Credit: Matthew Marrison (MNF)

Scientists aboard a deep-sea research voyage led by the national science agency CSIRO have recorded five individuals in the Great Australian Bight at depths of up to three kilometres.

It’s a first for Australian waters, and one of only a dozen confirmed sightings worldwide.

Alongside its large fins, the appropriately named Bigfin Squid (family Magnapinnidae) has striking long arm and tentacle filaments.

“Differences in their appearance meant we were able to confirm they were five separate individuals, rather than the same squid multiple times, and although the surveys covered a relatively large area, the squid were actually found clustered close together,” says marine scientist Deborah Osterhage.

From the recordings, the team was able to measure the length of one squid, finding its tentacle filaments were more than 11 times their body length.

They also observed their colours and behaviours, including filament coiling behaviour which has not previously been seen in squids.

The findings are reported in the journal PLOS ONE.

Five Enormous Rarely Seen Squid Have Been Spotted In Australian Waters


THIS FLOCK OF NOODLES HAS NEVER BEFORE BEEN SEEN IN AUSTRALIAN WATERS. 

CSIRO, OSTERHAGE ET AL. PLOS ONE, 2020

By Rachael Funnell11 NOV 2020, 19:00


The ocean is home to some absolute whoppers and some of the largest creatures are also the most elusive. One such giant is the bigfin squid that belongs to the family Magnapinnidae, a group of deep-sea squid with large fins and long, noodly arms and tentacles. It has only been spotted in the flesh on a handful of occasions. Now, new research published in the journal PLOS One details the incredible discovery of five bigfin squid in the Great Australian Bight, the first time they’ve been seen in Australian waters.

Previous reports of these ocean giants have always been of a single individual, so to capture five of these on camera was a big deal for the team from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO. Though they weren’t spotted all at once, the bigfins have small differences in their appearance, which made it easy for the team to recognize they were five different animals and not just one camera-hungry squid. All five were seen at depths of 2 to 3 kilometers (around 1.5 miles) over a 25-hour period but were within 300 meters (984 feet) of one another, constituting a veritable crowd for an animal that’s never been seen with a party of more than one.

Bigfins have modestly sized bodies compared to their incredible long tentacle filaments. Osterhage et al. (PLOS ONE, 2020) 

VIDEO https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/five-enormous-rarely-seen-squid-have-been-spotted-in-australian-waters/

The first-of-its-kind discovery offered a unique opportunity to shine some light on these creatures of the deep, and the team were able to get an accurate reading on their size for the first time. Previous in-situ attempts to measure them have involved using nearby objects of known length, such as the arm of a submersible, but this new research used lasers to get a more accurate picture of their size. The results? The largest individual was over 1.8 meters (almost 6 feet) long with a maximum tentacle length of almost 11 times its body size. The animal was mostly white at the tips of its arms and tentacles but was sporting a mix of brown, orange, and pink hues towards its upper limbs, mantle, and fins. The researchers also spotted a behavior never before observed in squid, as a bigfin adopted a raised arm posture known as the ‘elbow’ pose.


“We filmed the five bigfin squid in depths of 2 to 3 kilometers using a towed camera system and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs),” said marine scientist Deborah Osterhage from CSIRO in an email to IFLScience. “We were doing image-based surveys to find out more about the deep-sea environment in the Great Australian Bight. The first two were seen in the towed camera footage when it was watched back onshore in the video lab. We recognized them as bigfin squid and knew how rare it was to see them, so in the subsequent ROV survey we really kept an eye out for them. We were lucky enough to see three more and were able to watch in real-time on the ship while the ROV filmed them — pretty exciting!

“Little is known of bigfin squid, and many other deep-sea cephalopods, largely due to the inaccessibility of their vast yet little explored deep-sea environments and there is much more to learn about the deep-sea and the incredible animals that live there. So, for bigfin squid we need to wait for more sightings, or more ideally an adult specimen in good condition — which has never been collected before.”

Multiple sightings of mysterious bigfin squid documented in the Great Australian Bight

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

Sighting 3: ROV images of a Magnapinna squid at a depth of 3060 m. (A) Close view of the Magnapinna squid encountered 5.3 m above the seafloor with proximal arms/tentacles seen slightly opened and fins undulating slowly. (B) Full extent of arms/tentacles, the longest being approximately 1680 mm. Credit: PLOS ONE (2020). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241066

A team of researchers from the CSIRO Energy, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and Museums Victoria has documented multiple sightings of bigfin squid in the depths of the Great Australian Bight. In their paper published in PLOS ONE, the group describes their study of the unique creatures and what they learned about them.


Bigfin squid live deep in the ocean and are noteworthy for several reasons. The first is that they are rarely seen in the wild—researchers have documented just 12 sightings. They also have unique fins that jut out from the side of the head at an angle that resembles Dumbo's ears—and they serve the same purpose, though in the water instead of the air. They also have long tentacles that are multiple times longer than their bodies. And they live thousands of meters deep in the ocean.

Because of their remoteness, little is known about the bigfin squid other than their general physical attributes. This sighting is the first in the Great Australian Bight (the huge open bay on the country's southern coast). Additionally, this is the first time the squid has been observed in a group of sorts. Though hundreds of meters apart, they were apparently sharing parts of the ocean. Squid are typically loners.

Another first was taking laser measurements of one specimen: a bigfin squid with a body (mantle) that was 15 centimeters long. More impressive were its tentacles, which were measured at 1.8 meters. All previous measurements of bigfin squid had been estimates based on background information such as other fish in the vicinity.


PlaySighting 5 of Magnapinna sp. in the GAB. This video was taken by ROV on 25 March 2017 at a depth of approximately 3056 m. Blue boxes are present in the lower corners to mask embedded logos in accordance with publishing requirements. Credit: PLOS ONE (2020).

 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241066

The researchers found the squid while they were conducting underwater surveys in the Bight. When they came across the first specimen, they deployed further tools to get a better look. They used both remotely operated underwater vehicles and towed cameras. In all, they carried out over 40 hours of underwater observations at depths ranging from 950 to 2400 meters below the surface—and wound up getting footage of five of the rare squid.


Explore further  Did a shark clash with large squid and live to tell the tale?

More information: Deborah Osterhage et al. Multiple observations of Bigfin Squid (Magnapinna sp.) in the Great Australian Bight reveal distribution patterns, morphological characteristics, and rarely seen behavior, PLOS ONE (2020). 

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241066

Journal information: PLoS ONE

2020's Atlantic Hurricane Season Has Become A Record-Smasher

By Tom Hale11 NOV 2020,


Staying true to the spirit of 2020, this year’s Atlantic Hurricane Season has been the busiest on record.

After Tropical Storm Theta became the 29th named storm in the Atlantic this year, the US National Hurricane Center announced that 2020 has broken the single-season record for the most named storms, previously held by the 2005 Hurricane Season with 28 storms.

Tropical Storm Theta sealed the deal after becoming a named storm on the evening of November 10. The storm is currently moving over the eastern Atlantic Ocean with maximum sustained winds of up to 104 kilometers (65 miles) per hour.

Storms are named once they hit a wind speed of 62 kilometers (39 miles) per hour. The name is picked from one of six annually rotating lists of 21 names in alphabetical order (avoiding the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z) created by the World Meteorological Organization. However, this year they exhausted their list of names and were forced to turn to the Greek alphabet, naming storms Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, and Theta.

Subtropical Storm #Theta has developed tonight in the Northeast Atlantic, the 29th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

This breaks the single season record for the most named storms previously held by the 2005 Hurricane Season.

Details: https://t.co/lqZULHcvhJ pic.twitter.com/ZFPgUa5Dmp— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) November 10, 2020

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, peaking between late August and September. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted that this was likely to be a busy hurricane season back in May. However, the season has surpassed even their most extreme forecasts. On top of this new record, 2020 has also seen 12 storms make landfall in the mainland US, which is three more than the previous record set in 1916.

The rocky hurricane season is likely to be the result of a cocktail of climate factors that are playing out across the planet. The first factor is linked to the El Niño Southern Oscillation, a climate cycle that describes the fluctuations in temperature between the ocean and atmosphere in the east-central Pacific Ocean, which has profound implications for the whole planet's climate and weather. El Niño typically refers to the warm phase, when the Pacific's warmest surface waters sit offshore of northwestern South America, while La Niña refers to the cold phase when there are below-average sea surface temperatures across the east-central Pacific.

El Niño helps to strengthen hurricane activity in the central and eastern Pacific basins while suppressing it in the Atlantic basin. However, the planet saw an ongoing La Niña this year, meaning hurricane activity in the Atlantic was left unsuppressed.

Secondly, as forecasted, this year saw warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, weaker tropical Atlantic trade winds, and an enhanced west African monsoon. All of these factors are known to increase the likelihood of hurricanes in the Atlantic.

While it’s unclear how this hurricane season was influenced by the world’s deepening climate crisis, it's now known that rising sea surface temperatures from human-driven climate change can fuel the intensity and destructiveness of tropical storms.

Clock ticks for TikTok sale as ByteDance seeks more time
Executive order gave Chinese owned company until November 12th to clinch deal

Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images

ByteDance is butting up against a long-awaited deadline that would subject the Chinese internet giant to possible Trump administration penalties if it can’t clinch a deal for the US operations of its widely used video-sharing app, TikTok.

The Beijing-based company has asked the US government to extend a Thursday deadline for ByteDance to divest its TikTok business in the US. President Donald Trump in August demanded the app be spun off, citing concerns about the security of American users’ personal information, and gave the company a 90-day timeline to complete a transaction.

That window is now closing, and while TikTok has struck an agreement to sell part of its business to Oracle and Walmart, the deal hasn’t been finalised. ByteDance filed a petition in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Tuesday night, requesting the court step in to prevent the Treasury Department’s forced sale.

What TikTok is really asking for is more time.

“We remain committed to working with the administration – as we have all along – to resolve the issues it has raised, but our legal challenge today is a protection to ensure these discussions can take place,” a TikTok spokeswoman said in a statement. The petition also states that TikTok is committed to completing a deal, and confirmed that it most recently submitted a proposal for review on November 6th.

Thursday’s deadline is the latest checkpoint in what has been a long, complicated sale process, which may get more confusing as President-elect Joe Biden comes into power.
Trade war

Mr Trump has made the fight over TikTok a central front in a broader trade war with China, in particular an effort to crack down on the growing influence of China’s technology industry in the US. Mr Trump first ordered a TikTok sale in August, and has threatened to ban the app if ByteDance couldn’t reach an agreement. That proposed ban has since been delayed twice – most recently on October 30th, when a Pennsylvania judge issued a temporary injunction in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of TikTok users who make their living via the app.

But the November 12th deadline to finalise a sale is still intact, and poses a significant threat to ByteDance, one of the world’s most valuable private companies. TikTok is one of the most popular apps in the world – with more than 100 million US users – and is also ByteDance’s most important service outside of China. The company and its investors are desperate to finish a deal to avoid a ban in what has been a very valuable market for other social media apps, like Facebook’s Instagram and Snap’s Snapchat.

Mr Trump gave his blessing in mid-September to a preliminary plan in which ByteDance would sell part of TikTok to Oracle and Walmart, creating a new independent company called TikTok Global. But that deal has been stuck in limbo for weeks, and was quickly overshadowed by the US election. ByteDance reiterated that its most recent proposal would put American investors in charge of data and content moderation for US users, according to Tuesday’s petition.

The way the original order was worded appears to require a divestment from ByteDance to be in place by the deadline – not just an agreement. If the government does reach an accord with the company, it could exercise discretion around enforcement timing, said Aimen Mir, a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and a former deputy assistant secretary for investment security at Treasury, where he ran reviews for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US.

“Usually when there is extended silence from Cfius, it suggests there’s no clear consensus within government on what the next step would be, but this has been an atypical case for awhile,” MrMir said.

It’s unclear what would happen if a deal isn’t finalised by Thursday. If the deadline comes and goes without an extension, court relief or an agreement between the company and the government, Mr Mir said the Justice Department would have to go to court and seek enforcement of the divestiture order.


Mr Trump’s executive order from August doesn’t stipulate a clear punishment for failure to divest, but says that “the Attorney General is authorised to take any steps necessary to enforce this order”.

“There could be fines, or it could be as draconian as a ban if the administration wanted to go that far,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. “But the government still has until midnight on November 12th to issue an extension, which is a plausible scenario.”
National security

This sale process was originally brought about because of national security concerns. The US government is worried about ByteDance’s access to the personal data of US citizens. Tuesday’s court filing included a detailed and previously undisclosed letter from US officials that outlined those concerns.

Cfius, which is led by the Treasury Department and reviews foreign acquisition of American businesses, said in a July 30th letter that its security concerns were based on both classified and unclassified information. The letter cited the move by a ByteDance Chinese affiliate in 2017 to establish a Communist Party Committee in its governance structure, and pointed out that ByteDance also collaborates with public security bureaus across China. Cfius generally doesn’t confirm, deny or comment on its reviews.

“The Treasury Department remains focused on reaching a resolution of the national security risks arising from ByteDance’s acquisition of Musical.ly,” a Treasury spokeswoman said in a statement. “We have been clear with ByteDance regarding the steps necessary to achieve that resolution.” The Justice Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Mr Trump’s order requiring the sale of TikTok underscored the aggressive stance his administration has taken toward Chinese investment in the U.S. Only seven foreign acquisitions of American companies have been blocked or unwound by US presidents since 1990, and Trump is responsible for four of them.

Now, the TikTok deal, once a priority for the administration, has in recent weeks taken on less urgency as Mr Trump turned his focus to his bid for re-election and, since last week, challenging the outcome of the November 3rd vote. – Bloomberg

TikTok asks US court to intervene after Trump administration leaves app in limbo

Platform says it’s received ‘no clarity’ from government about status of proposal to place app under control of US companies


Kari Paul and agency
Wed 11 Nov 2020 
 

Donald Trump has cited concerns that the Chinese government could spy on TikTok users if the app remains under Chinese ownership. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

The popular video-sharing app TikTok says its future has been in limbo since Donald Trump tried to shut it down earlier this fall and is asking a federal court to intervene.

Trump in August signed an executive order to ban TikTok if it did not sell its US operations in 45 days. The move forced TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to consider deals with several American companies before ultimately settling on a proposal to place TikTok under the oversight of the American companies Oracle and Walmart, each of which would also have a financial stake in the company.

But TikTok said this week it’s received “no clarity” from the US government about whether that proposal has been accepted.

The deal has been under a national-security review by the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, which is led by the treasury department. The department didn’t return emailed requests for comment this week.

“With the November 12 CFIUS deadline imminent and without an extension in hand, we have no choice but to file a petition in court to defend our rights and those of our more than 1,500 employees in the US,” TikTok said in a written statement Tuesday.

Trump has cited concerns that the Chinese government could spy on TikTok users if the app remains under Chinese ownership. TikTok has denied it is a security threat but said it is still trying to work with the administration to resolve its concerns.

The legal challenge is “a protection to ensure these discussions can take place”, the company said.

The Trump administration had earlier sought to ban the app from smartphone app stores and deprive it of vital technical services. To do this, the US could have internet service providers block TikTok usage from US IP addresses, as India did when it banned TikTok, effectively making TikTok unusable.

Such actions were set to take place on 20 September but federal judges have so far granted TikTok extensions.

TikTok is now looking to the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit to review Trump’s divestment order and the government’s national-security review. The company filed a 49-page petition asking the court to review the decision, saying the forced divestment from TikTok violates the constitution.

“The government has taken virtually all of the ‘sticks’ in the ‘bundle’ of property rights ByteDance possesses in its TikTok US platform, leaving it with no more than the twig of potentially being allowed to make a rushed, compelled sale, under shifting and unrealistic conditions, and subject to governmental approval,” the filing says.

The US attorney general office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

#GEMOLOGY  #GEOLOGY

Massive Purple-Pink Diamond From Russia Fetches $23.6 Million At Auction

COMMODITY FETISH

November 12, 2020 
By RFE/RL

The flawless 14.83-carat diamond is named The Spirit Of The Rose.

An exquisite purple-pink diamond mined in Russia, which Sotheby's described as having “unparalleled qualities,” sold for $23.6 million at an auction in Geneva.

Sotheby's had estimated the flawless 14.83-carat diamond, which it said was the largest purple-pink diamond to ever appear at auction, would sell for between $23 million and $38 million at the November 11 bidding.

The final hammer price was $21 million, plus commission. It was bought by a telephone bidder who chose to remain anonymous, Sotheby's said.

The rare diamond is named The Spirit Of The Rose after Vaslav Nijinsky’s ballet, Le Spectre de la rose, the most famous ballet performed by the Ballets Russes.

The rough diamond was unearthed by Alrosa, the world’s top diamond miner, in the Republic of Yakutia in the northeast of Russia in July 2017.

It took an entire year for Alrosa experts to cut and polish the diamond.

"The diamond’s character and immense presence is further enhanced by its perfect cut and oval shape. The numerous facets and shades of pink dance in front of your eyes in a mesmerizing way,” said Gary Schuler, the worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s jewelry division.

“It is a natural wonder, steeped in Russia’s century-long diamond tradition and cultural heritage,” he said.

With reporting by Reuters

HINDUISM IS FASCISM
Tamil Nadu university withdraws Arundhati Roy’s book after ABVP complaint

Walking with the Comrades has been removed from the postgraduate English syllabus and replaced with essays from M Krishnan’s My Native Land

TAMIL-NADU Updated: Nov 12, 2020

Divya Chandrababu
Hindustan Times, Chennai

Arundhati Roy.(HT Archive)


Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli has withdrawn Arundhati Roy’s book, Walking with the Comrades, following objections from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated student group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), according to the ABVP’s local unit.

The book, which is an account of the face-off between Maoists and the Indian government, has been removed from the postgraduate English syllabus and replaced with essays from M Krishnan’s My Native Land.

The ABVP opposed the teaching of the book, and said it was based on an “anti-national subject”.

“About 10 days ago, the university’s postgraduate literature students brought this issue to us and we found controversial topics in the book,” said Gopi Gangadaran from the ABVP’s Tirunelveli unit.

“We met the vice-chancellor K Pichumani a week ago and submitted a memorandum, following which a committee met and decided to withdraw the book because the issues we raised are valid. The book highlights Naxalism and is anti-Indian and anti-humane.”

Roy’s book, published in 2011, had been part of the varsity’s syllabus since 2017.

  ALBERTA,USA

Alberta records seven COVID-19 deaths for three consecutive days

Alberta’s COVID-19 death toll climbed to 383 on Wednesday after another seven deaths were reported for the third consecutive day.

© Provided by Calgary Herald Rivera Mount Royal Care Centre on 9th St. and 18th Ave. SW. Alberta Health Services has confirmed 66 residents at the centre have contracted COVID-19 since October 18th. Wednesday, November 11, 2020. Brendan Miller/Postmedia

An additional 672 COVID-19 infections were also reported. Due to Remembrance Day, the province did not update its COVID-19 data on active case counts.

As of Tuesday, there were 8,090 active cases in the province after an additional 713 infections were identified.

The province is dealing with another rash of care home outbreaks as numbers spike.

At least 66 residents at the Mount Royal Care Centre in Calgary have contracted COVID-19 since Oct. 18, according to Revera, the agency that oversees the facility. Six of those patients have since died and 17 have recovered.

Additionally, 29 staff members have tested positive and are in self-isolation.

Dr. Rhonda Collins, Revera’s chief medical officer, said in a statement Tuesday the agency is working closely with Alberta Health Services to respond to the outbreak.

“All residents are isolated to their rooms and monitored closely for symptoms twice daily,” said Collins. “All staff are screened at the beginning and end of their shifts and are required to wear an appropriate mask and eye protection in the home.”

She said staff have also enhanced cleaning procedures, disallowed visitors from entering the care home and are serving meals in the residents’ rooms.

Several other care homes operated by Revera are experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks, including the South Terrace Continuing Care Centre in Edmonton, where there have been 66 confirmed cases in residents and another 66 among staff, according to the agency. Ten residents have died.

The province did not update its outbreak locations Wednesday, but there were 42 sites in the Calgary zone under watch as of Tuesday. Nineteen of those are connected to acute, long-term and supportive-living facilities.

Deaths announced Wednesday include a woman in her 80s connected to the outbreak at Spruce Lodge in northeast Calgary and, in the Edmonton Zone, two women in their 80s and a man in his 70s, two of which are connected to outbreak sites.

Additionally, a woman in her 60s from the South Zone, a woman in her 70s from the North Zone and a man in his 90s linked to the outbreak at Mayerthorpe Extendicare in the North Zone have died.

There were 217 people in hospital and 46 in intensive-care units, up from 207 and 43, respectively, on Tuesday.

The province did not provide laboratory testing data in Wednesday’s update “due to technical issues.” Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, is scheduled to address the province on Thursday with additional details.

In her public update on Monday, Hinshaw warned Albertans that provincial COVID-19 numbers are concerning and public compliance with health guidelines is necessary to reduce the effect on health services.

“This is a critical juncture and we need to get our cases down to below 100 cases per day in our big cities,” she said, adding that the growth rate is troubling in major cities and even more so in smaller communities.

“We can only change this by working together.”
Calgary’s border communities differ on mask mandates as cases rise

Two of Calgary’s border communities have enacted mask mandates in recent days as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge across the province.

Airdrie officials introduced a mask bylaw on Friday, with 239 active cases in the community as of Tuesday. Cochrane town council similarly enacted a mask mandate on Tuesday after hitting 15 active cases.

Both communities are now dealing with divided opinions among residents.

Cochrane Mayor Jeff Genung said the town’s social media accounts and emails have been flooded with positive and negative reactions from locals.

“While a mask might be an inconvenience, I’m not going to debate the science with people. Even if the mask just reminds them that we are dealing with a serious pandemic, then it’s doing its job,” Genung told Postmedia.

“To get through this we need to be more compassionate, kind and forgiving with each other. But, unfortunately, in a lot of cases, I’m seeing the opposite.”

The division is also clear in Airdrie. Almost half of the people who responded to the bylaw said they were against masks, said Mayor Peter Brown.

Unlike other border communities, the City of Chestermere has yet to mandate mask-use despite having one of the highest active case rates per capita of any region in Alberta. The community had 80 active cases on Tuesday.

“Masks are not currently mandatory across the province, but we are going to be revisiting the idea of implementing a temporary mandatory mask bylaw for Chestermere in the near future,” Mayor Marshall Chalmers told Postmedia, adding the city is “eager to follow all directives issued by the provincial health authority.”

While Albertans are encouraged to wear non-medical masks in public places, the province has not made face coverings mandatory to curb the spread of COVID-19.

— With files from Stephanie Babych and the Canadian Press

COVID-19: Alberta records 672 new cases, seven additional deaths

© Provided by Edmonton Journal For several weeks, Alberta has been climbing towards new daily records of COVID-19 cases.


Alberta has recorded 672 new active cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Seven deaths were also reported bringing the province’s death toll to 383.

There are now 217 people in the hospital, up 10 from Tuesday and 46 people in intensive care, three more since Tuesday’s update.

Due to Remembrance Day, no other COVID-19 data was available from the province.

Deaths announced Wednesday include two women in their 80s and a man in his 70s, two of which are connected to outbreak sites in the Edmonton Zone, and a woman in her 80s connected to the outbreak at Spruce Lodge in Calgary.

Additionally, a woman in her 60s from the South Zone, a woman in her 70s from the North Zone and a man in his 90s linked to the outbreak at Mayerthorpe Extendicare in North Zone have died.

As of Tuesday, the Edmonton zone had the highest level of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in the province. That same day Canada’s active case count was over 40,000 with a total of 10,632 deaths related to COVID-19.

Edmonton Public Schools Tuesday said that a single case at Mill Creek School, Northmount School, Elizabeth Finch School and S Bruce Smith School.

Edmonton Catholic announced two cases at St. Edmund School and a single case at Our Lady of the Prairies School, St. Francis Xavier School and Archbishop O’Leary School.

On Monday Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said that Edmonton and Calgary need to reduce their daily infection rates to below 100.

“The rate of increase and rising hospitalizations are extremely concerning to me. We are assessing measures closely,” said Hinshaw on Monday.

On the same day, a group of Alberta doctors released an open letter to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney to implement a two-week “circuit breaker” lockdown expressing concerns over rising case numbers and how that will affect the quality of health care in Alberta.

Kenney has previously spoken against locking down the province for a second time but said if daily numbers don’t decrease the province would have no choice but to bring in more stringent measures.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were a total 490,478 news cases reported globally in the last 24 hours bringing the world total to 51,251,715. Additionally, according to WHO, there have been 8,570 reported deaths in the last 24 hours bringing the cumulative death total to 1,270,930.

– With files from Alanna Smith and Dylan Short

KENNEY TUMP MINI ME

Editorial: COVID action needed
Edmonton Journal Editorial Board

NOV 11,2020  


As a second wave of COVID-19 surges, Albertans are right to wonder about the Kenney government’s response this time around. By most every metric, the virus is hitting the province significantly harder than it did early on but with a much more hands-off approach from authorities.Last Saturday, Alberta set a new-single day case record of 919 new infections and hundreds of new ones have appeared daily since then. Before Oct. 29, Alberta had never exceeded 600 cases in a single day. As of Monday, the virus has sent 39 Albertans to intensive care, meaning more than half of the province’s ICU beds marked for COVID are currently occupied. A 50-per-cent occupancy rate previously triggered new restrictions. At the same time, R values — the rate of viral spread — in Edmonton and Calgary now sit at a worrisome 1.1 new cases for every infection and Alberta’s contact tracers are so overwhelmed, they have switched to only contacting those deemed at highest risk of a poor health outcome.But the swelling caseloads and hospitalizations so far haven’t set off the same kind of emergency lockdown measures the province implemented in the first few months before starting to loosen restrictions on May 14. Instead, there is a “strong recommendation,” without enforcement or sanctions, for people in Edmonton and Calgary to restrict gatherings within their homes to only those they live with.
© Provided by Edmonton Journal Premier Jason Kenney speaks at the daily COVID-19 update with Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, on March 13, 2020.What’s different now appears to be political reticence about shutting businesses down again and impinging on personal freedoms. Premier Jason Kenney acknowledged as much during last Friday’s COVID update: “We’ve seen other jurisdictions implement sweeping lockdowns, indiscriminately violating people’s rights and destroying livelihoods. Nobody wants that to happen here,” he said.
The dilemma as Kenney presents it — we can either choose to protect people from the virus or protect the economy — is a fallacious one. We can find ways to protect people, and also protect the economy.

That’s the point that more than 70 doctors, including emergency and intensive care physicians are making in an open letter to Kenney expressing their concerns that rising COVID cases could overwhelm the health-care system if the infection rate isn’t brought down and additional measures are not taken.

“The province should consider a two-week short, sharp lockdown or ‘circuit breaker,’ to drop the effective reproductive number and allow contact tracing to catch up,” the letter stated.

No one wants Albertans to lose their jobs or the economy to tank, but leaving people to their own devices isn’t working; the coronavirus is spreading and that’s not only threatening people’s livelihoods, it’s costing too many Albertans their lives and loved ones.

Local editorials are the consensus opinion of the Journal’s editorial board, comprising Colin McGarrigle , Dave Breakenridge and Bill Mah. (THE DIVERSITY IS LACKING BOYS)