Indigenous constellations; part-science, part-art, all-important
Randi Mann 

WEATHER NETWORK

© Provided by The Weather Network Star maps from Dakota/Lakota and Ininew/Cree First Nations. Credit: Annette S. Lee, William P. Wilson, Carl Gawboy, © 2012, Annette S. Lee & Jim Rock © 2012, and Annette Lee, William Wilson

Have you ever checked your horoscope to see what the day has in store for you? Whether you’re a dramatic Leo, a scientific Aquarius, or an adventurous Sagittarius, you’re looking to the ancient Greeks and Romans to tell your story. You don’t have to look that far.

The Indigenous Peoples of Canada have been connecting with the world around them via sky stories for epochs. Though the stories have been disrupted, there are leaders within the Indigenous community that continue to teach the importance of connecting with their stories as a way to connect with ourselves, others and nature.

And the stories are darn-right beautiful, in their meanings and visually. Before we get into some of the science, meanings and expert insight, take a look at these two beautiful interpretations of what hangs out in our skies.

THE SCIENCE OF INDIGENOUS CONSTELLATIONS

Astronomy is the oldest form of science. It helps us understand how to prolong survival and how to navigate the world while we’re here. Astronomy is critical in understanding the weather, water, and climate changes. It’s a pretty big deal. And it’s pretty significant that it’s culturally normalized to only talk about one interpretation of sky stories.

Will Morin, a professor in the Department of Indigeous Studies at the University of Sudbury, explains that many Indigenous communities use stories of the stars to communicate seasonal focuses and traditions. And living in what is now Canada, we can all appreciate the very distinct four seasons. These are some key events that Indigenous Peoples use to connect the sky, the season, the people and the environment around them:
Winter: a time for family, storytelling, and reconnection with one another
Spring: the time when ice melts, floods could occur, and therefore danger is imminent
Summer: a time for trapping and enjoying hanging out in the warm weather
Fall: the season to hunt moose and get ready for the winter

So for example, what is widely known as Pegasus, the Anishinaabe people know as the Moose. And it couldn’t get more Canadian even if we had a maple syrup-dipped Celine Dion constellation.

© Provided by The Weather Network Credit: Ontario Parks Blog

Morin continues to associate the connection between Indigenous star stories and science by explaining the pattern of a dreamcatcher (another nice intersection between art and science). Morin explains that the “Dreamcatcher is more than a “craft”, it is in fact part of the creation stories for some tribes. The dreamcatcher pattern echoes the math formula for ‘phi’ found in nature. This pattern is a star map of the constellations.”

The Indigenous studies professor continues to connect the sky stories with earth sciences by explaining that “Looking to the stars helps us to prepare for the future and links us to the past. The animals and beings among the constellations related to our relationship here on the earth, with the animals, the plants, and each other.”

If these stories have had great impacts on generations of Indigenous Peoples of Canada, then why won’t we hear about them? Why aren’t we still learning from them? How can we reconnect with the history of the people and land of Canada?

THE RECLAIMED ART OF INDIGENOUS SKY STORIES

J'net Ayayqwayaksheelth, the Indigenous Outreach and Learning Coordinator for the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), explains that there’s a vast diversity of Indigenous star stories that span our country. But the Potlatch Ban, that span from 1884-1951, disrupted the transmission of traditions, including singing, dancing, seasonal celebrations and storytelling.

Ayayqwayaksheelth shares that in times when we need to ground ourselves, like during a worldwide pandemic, star stories provide a sense of belonging by learning directly from our ancestral homelands. She continues to explain that stories offer “Timeless knowledge of being in good relations with ourselves, our kin, and the land.’

Morin echos Ayayqwayaksheelth’s sentiments by sharing that “constellation beings tell us of when to hunt, to plant, to rest, when to sacrifice and prepare for the changes to come.” Though many Canadians don’t connect with hunting, or even planting, we’re a country of diversity, and learning about new ways to rest and prepare for changes can provide additional strength throughout the everchanging seasons.

Luckily, there are experts like J'net Ayayqwayaksheelth and Will Morin to help spread the word.

RESOURCES TO LEARN ABOUT INDIGENOUS SKY STORIES

There are certainly many ways to learn and experience the arts and sciences that comprise Indigenous sky stories. Ayayqwayaksheelth, and the ROM Learning Department, directed us to the knowledgeable and engaging Wilfred Buck. Buck has live virtual events, but his stories are also accessible on YouTube.

There are also books that share the sky stories of a particular Indigenous group. For example, this Ojibwe Sky Star Map.

Overall, Canada is lucky to be composed of rich cultural and biological diversity. Indigenous star stories teach us about Canada's heritage and suggest ways to connnect with our environment to move into a stronger future.

A group of Republican senators seeks to ban the physical desecration of the American flag, including attempts to burn it

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© Provided by Washington Examiner

Sen. Steve Daines of Montana reintroduced a constitutional amendment on Monday, which was also Flag Day.

"The American flag is a symbol of liberty and a beacon of hope," Daines said in a statement. "It represents the ideals that our nation was built upon and for decades, brave men and women have carried its colors into battle to defend the United States of America. The Stars and Stripes are a representation of freedom. We must always protect and respect the American flag."

Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota co-sponsored the amendment.

Daines pursued a similar measure on Flag Day of 2018 and 2019, unveiling a report of 50 "offensive acts" done against the country's flag since 2014.

Among the incidents the senator listed included one in 2016 when anti-Trump protesters burned an American flag and a "Make America Great Again" hat after a San Jose Trump rally. He also said there was a 2017 incident involving the burning of a flag by vandals that belonged to a Marine veteran in Ohio and a 2017 incident in which a flag was hung outside of a local business in Arlington, Virginia, and burned.

In 2019, former President Donald Trump called the amendment a "no-brainer," saying he was "all-in" for the proposal.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that desecrating the American flag was constitutionally protected as free speech.

Amendments, however, can be added to the Constitution if two-thirds of both chambers of Congress agree on a proposal and three-fourths of states ratify it, or two-thirds of state legislatures call a convention in favor of the proposed changes.

The closest Congress has come to passing such a proposal in recent history was in 2006. A measure to ban burning the flag passed the House, but it failed by one vote in the Senate, which needed two-thirds support to be sent to the states for ratification. The vote was 66-34.

The Fraternal Order of Police, the American Legion of Montana, and the Department of Montana Veterans of Foreign Wars are among organizations that support the measure, Daines's office said.

More than 100 lawmakers, led by Ocasio-Cortez, push to increase congressional staff salaries

Savannah Behrmann, USA TODAY 


WASHINGTON – More than 100 lawmakers, led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called for higher wages for congressional staffers in order to better retain employees working for members of Congress

In a letter sent Monday, the lawmakers asked the House Appropriations Committee to increase congressional office budgets by 21% to be used to ramp up staff salaries.

"For years, pay and benefits for the staff of Member offices, leadership offices, and committees have fallen farther and farther behind what is offered in the private sector. At the same time, the cost of living here in our nation’s capital has risen substantially, placing opportunities such as homeownership, rental housing, and childcare out of reach for many," the lawmakers penned to Appropriations Chair Rosa 

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez(D-NY) walks after speaking during a press conference to re-introduce the Green New Deal in front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC on April 20, 2021. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 0 ORIG FILE ID: AFP_98D99A.jpg

They continued, "These realities have hamstrung the House in our ability to recruit and retain the talented and diverse workforce we need to serve the diversity and needs of the American people in the best way possible."

Per the lawmakers' letter, House staff salaries were cut last year by 20.7% from the Congressional Budget Office's 10-year baseline projection, and the average staff member leaves employment on Capitol Hill after three years.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the median salary for a staffing position such as a legislative assistant was $56,250 in 2020.

“It is unjust for Congress to budget a living wage for ourselves, yet rely on unpaid interns and underpaid, overworked staff just because some conservatives want to make a statement about 'fiscal responsibility,'" said Ocasio-Cortez in a statement. “The lack of diversity on the Hill can be traced directly to our failure to pay staff a living wage."

'How much worse does it get?' Trauma from Capitol riot, car attack, COVID takes toll on Hill staffers

The call for higher staff salaries comes amid a traumatizing and stressful year working for the legislative branch.

Morale among those on Capitol Hill has been exceedingly low, and continued to be exacerbated, over the last year as they have had to face the COVID-19 pandemic that spread amongst the complex, two deadly attacks on their place of work within months of each other, and ramped-up rhetoric.

One Democratic congressional staffer had asked USA TODAY in April: "How much worse does it get?"

Rep. Rho Khanna, D-Calif., said in a statement that “A career in public service shouldn’t translate to unsustainable, unlivable low-wages. If we want to continue to recruit the best and the brightest to inspire change in the halls of Congress, we need to pay them a living salary."

The lawmakers' letter follows earlier concern by some House leaders, who raised alarms in April that the pay discrepancies made it difficult to retain talent and staff.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., also wrote to DeLauro to boost office budgets by 20%.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More than 100 lawmakers, led by Ocasio-Cortez, push to increase congressional staff salaries

Songbirds act as one when they sing together, new study suggests

By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman, CNN 

Singers performing a duet, jazz players riffing together effortlessly, paired-up dancers never skipping a step: great performers are so coordinated, they become one.

© Courtesy Melissa Coleman The brains of duetting songbirds may be linked together during performances, according to a new study.

What are the mechanisms that regulate coordination and cooperation? Neurobiologists are learning more from some of nature's foremost musical performers: songbirds.

The brains of duetting songbirds are linked together during performances, a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found.

The exchange of auditory feedback between the birds "momentarily inhibits motor circuits used for singing in the listening partner, which helps link the pair's brains and coordinate turn-taking for a seemingly telepathic performance," according to a news release.

© Courtesy Melissa Coleman Plain-tailed wrens are songbirds that live in bamboo thickets in the Andes region.

It's not telepathy -- but almost, according to study coauthor Eric Fortune, a neurobiologist and associate professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology's department of biological sciences.

"The birds hearing each other links their brains to act as one," he told CNN.

"The male's brain has expectations of what the female brain is going to do. The female brain has expectations of what the male brain is going to do. And when they start operating together, they're tied," Fortune added.

A songbird's brain and a trampoline

The study focuses on what happens in the brains of male and female plain-tailed wrens -- a species native to the Andes region, living in bamboo thickets -- while they sing duets.

The duets of Pheugopedius euophrys are frantically paced call-and-response songs, and they take turns singing so rapidly, it sounds as if a single bird is singing, according to the study.

Working from the Yanayacu Biological Station's lab in Ecuador, right by the active Antisana volcano, scientists specifically investigated an area of the songbirds' brain known to control singing.

Researchers recorded the birds' brain activity during duets using electrodes much thinner than a hair, Fortune explained. The team observed that when a bird sings, the neurons spike in activity, but when a bird hears a partner sing, the neurons quiet down.

The fact that neurons quiet down is especially significant, Fortune explained.

"Oftentimes, what happens is after you have inhibition, you have a rebound, and that rebound can change the timing of your own behavior," he said.

Fortune compared that effect to that of jumping on a trampoline: "You bounce down, that's kind of slow, but then you shoot off."

The scientists hypothesize the release from inhibition could help a bird respond faster when it is its turn to sing.

According to Fortune, there are similarities between how the birds take turns singing and how humans do that while they converse.

"If you watch your own interactions with people, you'll see that the other person starts talking a nanosecond after you stop uttering your last word -- it's really amazing," he said.

What humans and robots can learn from songbirds

"Every achievement of humankind is based on cooperation, that is the feature of humans that has allowed us to do the amazing things we do," Fortune said.

Learning more about how songbirds stay in sync during their singing performances can help illuminate the mechanics of coordination in humans, a complex phenomenon that involves many different types of information being exchanged among parties.

"A lot of us understand how hard it is to dance, and in part it's because you are exchanging complex sets of information at different times -- touch, vision, acoustic, you have to signal your intent, there has to be some set of variations, and it turns out to be a real mess."

Songbirds, on the other hand, take turns in their duets in a more structured fashion, making it easier to analyze how cooperation works, according to Fortune.

Furthering our understanding of cooperation in songbirds could also help us build better robots, Fortune explained.

"Robots are actually more precise and better controlled than a human can control themselves, and yet robots can't cooperate with us," he said.

The brains of duetting songbirds link up to create "a single control system" spanning two individuals, according to Fortune. This could inspire the development of robots that can better form partnerships with humans.

"It's this linkage of the control systems across individuals that is critical insight for roboticists," Fortune said.

Federal judge rejects Health Canada's claim it has no role in barring gay men from donating blood

Catharine Tunney 

© Evan Mitsui/CBC Chris Karas brought a human rights complaint against Health Canada alleging that the department discriminates against him on the basis of sexual orientation.

A Federal Court judge has dismissed the federal government's claim that Health Canada has no say in the rule barring men from donating blood if they've recently had sex with other men — clearing the way for a human rights inquiry to continue.

"I'm elated," said Christopher Karas, who first brought the complaint against Health Canada forward in 2016.

"I do believe this is an important decision made by the Federal Court, but the policy is still not eliminated. So I am waiting to see that."

Karas accused the department of discriminating against him on the basis of his sexual orientation through its role in upholding the Canadian Blood Services policy of prohibiting men who have sex with men from donating blood in Canada unless they've been celibate for a period of time.

When Karas first applied to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, that period of time was one year; it has since been dropped to three months.

For years, the not-for-profit Canadian Blood Services has argued the deferment period is necessary because HIV is more prevalent among men who have sex with men — sometimes referred to as the MSM population.

Karas and his lawyers, Gregory Ko and Shakir Rahim, argue that while Health Canada does not directly take blood donations, it grants regulatory approval to screening by Canadian Blood Services.

Health Canada disagreed, arguing it has never issued a directive requiring that Canadian Blood Services adopt the ban. The department says it only reviews the blood service's policies and procedures for safety reasons and has no legal authority to direct the arm's-length agency to do anything.

© Shutterstock The federal government went to court to block a human rights complaint accusing it of backing the Canadian Blood Services policy on donations from gay and bisexual men.

In 2019, the Canadian Human Rights Commission sent Karas's complaint forward for further inquiry by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, saying preliminary evidence indicated a relationship between Health Canada and CBS that warranted investigation.

Video: A look at Canada's ban on blood donation from gay men and what's next (Global News)

Judge found submissions 'compelling'

The Attorney General of Canada, on behalf of Health Canada, pushed back and sought a judicial review of the commission's decision at the Federal Court level.

Late last week, Justice Richard Southcott dismissed that request, saying the commission's assessment that the issue warrants further inquiry is valid.

"I find these submissions compelling," he wrote.

"The assessment report states that it appears there is a 'live contest' as to the exact nature of the relationship between Health Canada and CBS, which warrants further inquiry."

Ko said the human rights process could still take years, which is why they're hoping to see movement soon from the Liberal government.

The Liberal Party promised to end what it called the "discriminatory" ban on blood donations in both the 2015 and 2019 federal elections.

"I'm waiting to see the government act and I don't know how they don't, because if they don't this will only become increasingly more important issue on the political front with a looming election," Karas said.

Ko pointed to the U.K., which recently lifted its ban on blood donations from sexually-active men who have sex with men and moved to a behavioural model. Starting this week, all blood donors in the U.K. will be asked about recent sexual activity, regardless of their sexual orientation.

"That's going to be more difficult, I suspect, for Health Canada to justify going forward given that there's this glaring example of a country that has a very similar blood supply system to us that has moved away from the model that Health Canada and Canadian Blood Services has insisted on for for several decades now," Ko said.

Earlier today, Conservative MP Eric Duncan tabled a private member's motion calling on the Liberal government to end the "discriminatory" blood ban.

"It is time to end the discriminatory blood ban in Canada. Conservatives are on record with a safe and easy way to make this change," he said in a statement.

"If the Liberals can promise to end the blood ban during an election, they should use the tools available to them to do so. Stop the virtue signaling and feel-good statements – and follow through on this reasonable and long-overdue change."

David Bowie painting found in dump near North Bay, Ont., expected to fetch up to $12K

Jan Lakes, Casey Stranges

© www.cowleyabbott.ca David Bowie’s D HEAD XLVI, a computer and acrylic collage on canvas, was salvaged from a landfill near North Bay, Ont. A Toronto auction house is including it on the block starting Tuesday.

A painting by British musician David Bowie that was discovered in a northern Ontario landfill is expected to sell at auction for up to $12,000, and maybe much more.

The president of Cowley Abbott Fine Art in Toronto says his auction house was contacted by a person who purchased the painting at a donation centre at the entrance of the Machar municipal landfill, approximately 60 kilometres south of North Bay.

The price: $5.

It turned out to be a computer and acrylic collage on canvas that was part of Bowie's D HEAD series (XLVI).

"There's a label on the back and it quite clearly identifies the work, so she of course wondered if it could be authentic," said Rob Cowley.

The painter's owner wishes to remain anonymous, said Cowley, and conducted some preliminary research over the internet. A few months after finding it, she contacted his group.

"We were able to identify the fact that the work was quite similar to many of the portraits, these smaller-type portraits from this series that Bowie had produced in the mid-'90s," he said.

"From there we also reached out to Andy Peters, who is recognized as an expert in David Bowie's signature and also has a great familiarity with his artwork as well.

"He quite enthusiastically, and quite quickly, came back to us … and was able to say that, yes, it is an authentic work by the artist."

Fame singer was an artist, collector

Bowie, born David Robert Jones on Jan. 8, 1947, was an enigmatic performer known for albums including The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Aladdin Sane, Let's Dance and the Grammy-winning Blackstar, released two days before his death in 2016.

Bowie was a noted art collector as well.

Cowley describes the D HEAD XLVI work as a "semi-abstract portrait."

"It's a figure who is in side profile," he said. "So the face doesn't have any clear distinguishing features … with hair kind of coming down the side, longish hair."

The figure harkens back to the 1960s and '70s, Cowley said.

"The figure is dressed in a teal colour, and their hair has touches of teal as well as some dark red. And there's kind of a light red background, almost like a crimson background, as well."

Overall, Cowley said, the diminutive piece — it's only 20 by 25 centimetres — is "quite a striking work."

Cowley said a quick valuation pegs it at between $9,000 and $12,000; however, at recent auctions, other paintings by Bowie have fetched over $30,000.

"It's always exciting when a work like this, by a recognized artist, is found in such a place," Cowley said.

Although it's not a common occurrence, Cowley said discovering well-known artists in odd places has happened "a couple of times."

"Oftentimes it'll be collectors," he said. "It'll be people who have an eye for art and know art. And so they might be looking through the artwork at Goodwill, and they might see something and realize, 'Oh, that does look to be an original work or a print that has some value.'

"But sometimes you get these cases where the individual is not a collector and who just sees something that catches their eye, and this was the case here."

The painting will be part of an online auction opening Tuesday.

SPACE WAR DOING WHAT REAGAN COULDN'T 
NATO nations ready to jointly respond to attacks in space

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO leaders on Monday expanded the use of their all for one, one for all, mutual defense clause to include a collective response to attacks in space.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty states that an attack on any one of the 30 allies will be considered an attack on them all. Until now, it’s only applied to more traditional military attacks on land, sea, or in the air, and more recently in cyberspace.

In a summit statement, the leaders said they “consider that attacks to, from, or within space" could be a challenge to NATO that threatens "national and Euro-Atlantic prosperity, security, and stability, and could be as harmful to modern societies as a conventional attack.”

“Such attacks could lead to the invocation of Article 5. A decision as to when such attacks would lead to the invocation of Article 5 would be taken by the North Atlantic Council on a case-by-case basis,” they said.

Around 2,000 satellites orbit the earth, over half operated by NATO countries, ensuring everything from mobile phone and banking services to weather forecasts. Military commanders rely on some of them to navigate, communicate, share intelligence and detect missile launches.

In December 2019, NATO leaders declared space to be the alliance’s “fifth domain” of operations, after land, sea, air and cyberspace. Many member countries are concerned about what they say is increasingly aggressive behavior in space by China and Russia.

Around 80 countries have satellites, and private companies are moving in, too. In the 1980s, just a fraction of NATO’s communications was via satellite. Today, it’s at least 40%. During the Cold War, NATO had more than 20 stations, but new technologies mean the world’s biggest security organization can double its coverage with a fifth of that number.

NATO’s collective defense clause has only been activated once, when the members rallied behind the United States following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Former President Donald Trump raised deep concern among U.S. allies, notably those bordering Russia like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, when he suggested that he might not rally to their side if they didn’t boost their defense budgets.

President Joe Biden has been trying to reassure them since taking office and has used the summit, his first at NATO, as a formal opportunity to underline America’s commitment to its European allies and Canada.

Biden said Monday that Article 5 is “a sacred obligation” among allies. “I just want all of Europe to know that the United States is there," he said. "The United States is there.”

Lorne Cook, The Associated Press

World's smallest dinosaur is actually a 'weird' prehistoric lizard, scientists say

By Katie Hunt, CNN 

A tiny skull entombed in 99-million-year-old amber that became the subject of scientific debate last year was initially thought to belong to the world's smallest dinosaur species.

© Stephanie Abramowicz/Peretti Museum Foundation/Current Biology Oculudentavis naga, depicted in this artist's impression, is a bizarre lizard that research initially categorized as a tiny, birdlike dinosaur.

However, the high-profile March 2020 scientific paper that unveiled the discovery of Oculudentavis khaungraae was retracted later that year. New research published on Monday, based on another, better-preserved amber specimen, suggests that the skull was from a prehistoric lizard.

© Adolf Peretti/Handout/Peretti Museum Foundation/Current Biology The amber helped to preserve the tiny lizard in great detail, with CT scans revealing its scales, skin and soft tissue.

"It's a really weird animal. It's unlike any other lizard we have today," said co-author of the new study Juan Diego Daza, a herpetologist and assistant professor of biological sciences at Sam Houston State University in Texas, in a news release.

"We estimate that many lizards originated during this time, but they still hadn't evolved their modern appearance," he said. "That's why they can trick us. They may have characteristics of this group or that one, but in reality, they don't match perfectly."

The authors of the new paper published in the journal Current Biology named the creature Oculudentavis naga in honor of the Naga people of India and Myanmar, where the amber was found. They said it was from the same family or genus as Oculudentavis khaungraae, but likely a different species

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© Edward Stanley/Handout/Peretti Museum Foundation/Current Biology Oculudentavis naga, top, is in the same family as Oculudentavis khaungraae, bottom. Both specimens' skulls deformed during preservation, emphasizing lizardlike features in one and birdlike features in the other.

Oculudentavis means "eye tooth bird" in Latin, but Daza said taxonomic rules for naming and organizing animal species meant that they had to continue using it even though it wasn't accurate.

"Since Oculudentavis is the name originally used to describe this taxon, it has priority and we have to maintain it," Daxa said. "The taxonomy can be sometimes deceiving."

The better-preserved amber, which was found in the same amber-mining region in Myanmar as the first described Oculudentavis specimen, held part of the lizard's skeleton, including its skull, with visible scales and soft tissue. Both pieces of amber were 99 million years old.

Video: Model brings to life newly discovered species of dinosaur (CNN)

Distorted skulls

The authors said the creature was difficult to categorize, but by using CT scans to separate, analyze and compare each bone from the two species, they detected characteristics that identified the animals as lizards.

These included the presence of scales; teeth attached directly to the jawbone rather than nestled into sockets, as dinosaur teeth were; lizardlike eye structures and shoulder bones; and a hockey-stick-shaped skull that is universally shared by other scaled reptiles.

In the better-preserved specimen, the team spotted a raised crest running down the top of the snout and a flap of loose skin under the chin that may have been inflated in display, characteristics shared by other lizards.

The authors believe that both species' skulls had become deformed as the amber, made from globs of resin from ancient tree bark, hardened around them. They said that Oculudentavis khaungraae's snout was squeezed into a narrower, more beaklike shape while Oculudentavis naga's braincase was compressed.

The distortions magnified birdlike features in one skull and lizardlike features in the other, said coauthor Edward Stanley, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History's Digital Discovery and Dissemination Laboratory.

"Imagine taking a lizard and pinching its nose into a triangular shape," Stanley said in a statement. "It would look a lot more like a bird." Birds are the only living relatives of dinosaurs.

An ethical minefield

Some of paleontology's most exciting finds in recent years have emerged from northern Myanmar's rich amber deposits. Much of the amber finds its way to markets in southwest China, where it is bought by collectors and scientists. However, ethical concerns about who benefits from the sale of amber have emerged, particularly since 2017, when Myanmar's military took control of amber mines. Government forces and ethnic minorities have fought in this region for years, and a United Nations report has accused the military of torture, abductions, rape and sexual violence.

The study authors said in the news release that the amber was purchased by gemologist Adolf Peretti before 2017 from an authorized company that has no ties to Myanmar's military, and money from the sale did not support armed conflict.

They said use of the specimen followed guidelines set out by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, which has asked colleagues to refrain from working on amber sourced from Myanmar since June 2017.

"As scientists we feel it is our job to unveil these priceless traces of life, so the whole world can know more about the past. But we have to be extremely careful that during the process, we don't benefit a group of people committing crimes against humanity," Daza said.

"In the end, the credit should go to the miners who risk their lives to recover these amazing amber fossils."

UPDATED

Rockton fire: Public health administrator urges residents near chemical fire to wear a mask and not pick up debris falling from the sky

By Shawn Nottingham, Paul P. Murphy, Deanna Hackney and Amir Vera, CNN 2 hrs ago

A public health official is asking residents within a 3-mile radius of a chemical fire that broke out Monday to wear a mask when outside to avoid respiratory irritation

© WLS The cause of the fire at the Chemtool Inc. plant in Rockton, Illinois, is not yet known.

The fire at the Chemtool Inc. plant in Rockton, Illinois, broke out Monday morning and prompted the city fire department to order a mandatory evacuation for all residents and businesses in a 1-mile radius of the plant, police said in a message on Twitter.

The mandatory 1-mile evacuation area around the site, as well as the mask wearing, is due to concerns about "particulate matter that can become pulmonary irritants," especially to those with compromised immune systems, said Dr. Sandra Martell, public health administrator for Winnebago County.

"Please do not pick up waste that falls from the sky and is related to the fire," Martell advised at a news conference Monday evening. "We do not know what that waste contains. Please do not handle it with bare hands. Use a shovel, use gloves and sequester it -- meaning keep it separate from your household waste -- so that we know how to properly dispose of it. It's very important. We are reliant on our groundwater in this community and keeping that safe is of utmost importance to us."

Rockton Fire Chief Kirk Wilson said the incident is expected to be a "several-day event" for the product to burn off. A large plume of smoke has been seen moving south and southeast of the explosion site. However, Wilson said, air quality analysis has shown no compromise of quality at ground level at this time.

Wilson said the city hopes to avoid "an environmental nightmare" that could occur if any of Chemtool's oil-based lubricants ran off into the Rock River, about 300 meters (330 yards) west. One of their main concerns is product spilling into the river, he said.

Speaking at a news conference earlier Monday, Wilson said the department's water-based firefighting suppression has stopped inside the building, and they're now letting the product "burn off."

About 150 homes are in the evacuation zone, he said.

The burn-off at the plant is expected to take several days. More than 40 agencies and 150-175 fire personnel are on the scene. The cause of the "catastrophic incident" has not been determined, Wilson said.

The 70 employees at the factory were able to get out safely, Wilson said. When fire crews arrived, the flames were through the roof and clouds of smoke filled the sky, CNN affiliate WREX reported.

Wilson said Monday night one firefighter was hospitalized with breathing difficulties.

"He's been evaluated and been sent home. So he's doing fine," Wilson said.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has activated the State Emergency Operations Center to mobilize emergency response personnel and facilities that will monitor the fire.

According to a release from the governor's office, the Illinois National Guard has been deployed, as well as crews from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and others.

Explosion sounded like 'a decent-sized firework'

Residents of Rockton, located about 15 miles north of Rockford near the state line with Wisconsin, reported hearing a series of explosions.

"My family and I live in the evacuation zone," Thomas Rollette told CNN. "We heard the explosions this morning and decided to check outside maybe five minutes afterwards when our dogs wouldn't calm down. By that point the smoke was already filling the sky."

He said the first explosion sounded "like somebody lit off a decent-sized firework."

"It wasn't until more and louder explosions came that I even thought something was going on. Seeing the wall of smoke outside just confirmed it for me, and pretty soon after they were telling the nearby residents to evacuate."


Company thanks first responders

According to the company's website, "Chemtool Incorporated offers a wide variety of lubricating greases to meet your needs."

The Lubrizol Corporation, which owns the facility, released a statement about the incident.

"At approximately 7 a.m. today, local emergency personnel responded to a fire at the Lubrizol Corporation's Chemtool Facility in Rockton, Ill. We have confirmed all on site are safe and accounted for. Our concern right now is for the safety of all our employees and the surrounding community," the statement said.

"As a precaution, authorities have evacuated residents in a one-mile radius of the site. We do not yet know what caused this incident, but we will be working with local authorities and with our own risk management team to determine what happened and identify any corrective actions.

"We will share more details as they are known. We are grateful to our employees, first responders and safety forces responding to this incident."

Salvation Army staff and volunteers set up a mobile unit to provide food to first responders, the Salvation Army of Rockford & Winnebago County said, according to WIFR

Illinois Chemical Plant Explosion, Fires Prompt Evacuations
The Associated Press Jun 14, 2021

An industrial fire burns at Chemtool Inc. in Rockton, Ill., on June 14, 2021. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO—An explosion at a northern Illinois chemical plant Monday morning sparked massive fires that sent flames and huge plumes of thick black smoke high into the air and debris raining onto the ground, prompting evacuations.

After 7 a.m., emergency crews rushed to the scene of the fire near Rockton, northwest of Chicago, at Chemtool Inc., a company that manufactures lubricants, grease products and other fluids, and is, according to the company, the largest manufacturer of grease in the Americas.

Rockton Fire Department Chief Kirk Wilson said about 70 employees who were at the plant when firefighters arrived were evacuated safely, and that one firefighter suffered a minor injury. Chemtool’s parent company, Lubrizol Corp., later said there were closer to 50 employees present when the plant was evacuated.

Following reports that the plumes of smoke were so big they were being picked up on weather radar, the Rockton Police Department posted an alert at 8:46 a.m. warning that fire officials had ordered a mandatory evacuation near the plant. It told people to evacuate homes and businesses, and to await further instructions.


“At this point and time there is no danger to air quality at ground level,” Wilson said, adding that given the enormous plumes of smoke, the evacuation order was a precautionary measure.

He also said firefighters had stopped using water to extinguish the blaze because they don’t want the runoff to enter the nearby Rock River.

“We don’t want an environmental nightmare to occur,” he said.

It could be “several days” before the fluids that caught fire burn out, he said.

An industrial fire burns at Chemtool Inc. in Rockton, Ill., on June 14, 2021.

 (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Crews from the 40 or so fire departments that responded to the blaze were fanning out to respond to spot fires, grass fires, and burning debris that the wind pushed into the community. Wilson said those fires were caused by burning pieces of cardboard boxes and chunks of wooden pallets, not chemicals falling from the sky.

Trisha Diduch, the planning and development administrator for Rockton, said she estimates about 1,000 people are affected by the 1-mile radius evacuation order, she said.

One of those residents was 29-year-old Alyssa King. She said after she walked outside to see black smoke and what appeared to be pieces of cardboard boxes and “small chunks of the building” falling from the sky, she called a police non-emergency line. “You gotta go,” she said she was told.


There were no immediate reports of injuries.

“We have confirmed all on-site are safe and accounted for. Our concern right now is for the safety of all our employees and the surrounding community,” Chemtool said in a statement, adding that it will share more details as they become known.

“We do not yet know what caused this incident, but we will be working with local authorities and with our own risk management team to determine what happened and identify any corrective actions,” it said.

King, who lives in an apartment less than a mile from the site, said she woke up to what sounded like slamming doors.


“It woke me up. It was shaking the whole apartment building,” said King, who had been at home with her 8-year-old daughter.

They went to her mother’s house about 2 miles (3 kilometers) away. King then returned to the apartment to collect the family’s rabbit, Oreo. As she drove near the plant, King saw smoldering embers along the roadway, and there was “burned material” all over the yard of the apartment building, she said. The air had a chemical smell, she added.

“It was awful,” she said. “I’m terrified I won’t have a home to go back to.”

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigators from Chicago were headed to the scene and would issue a statement later Monday, spokeswoman Rachel Bassler said. They were coordinating with the Illinois EPA, which also was sending a team, according to spokeswoman Kim Biggs.

Rockton is located in Winnebago County, near the Wisconsin border, about 95 miles northwest of Chicago.

By Sara Burnett and Don Babwin

Brampton high schooler helps city join ‘red movement’ to ensure access to menstrual products

Imagine having to bring your own toilet paper and hand soap every time you use a public restroom. The thought is ridiculous – these items are vital to basic hygiene.

Yet many across the country can’t escape this bizarre reality when they’re forced to supply their own feminine hygiene products.

“This is a basic right,” Keyna Sarkar told The Pointer. “Why not pads and tampons? How are they any different?”

Feminine hygiene products aren’t any different to other necessities offered in public restrooms, but unlike toilet paper and hand wash, the products have rarely been offered in public washrooms and support for the idea has too often faced prudish attitudes toward a basic fact of female biology.

It’s taboo to talk about menstruation openly in many cultures across the world and the sign of good reproductive health is seen as an unsavory subject. Some cultures forbid certain types of interaction during menstruation and ban those experiencing their period from places of worship. Others are confined to “menstruation huts” used in particular parts of South Asia and Africa (Nepal, Ethiopia for example) as isolated structures even though they often lack proper ventilation. Those inside are forbidden from touching other people or objects.

The stigma has led many to talk about the topic in hushed tones, often using euphemisms (like “time of month” and “Aunt Flo”) to hide behind, instead of dealing openly with personal needs around a biological event that occurs approximately once every four weeks.

A 2018 study from Plan International Canada (PIC) found 41 percent of female respondents were teased for being on their period and 63 percent said they had to hide feminine hygiene products if they were bringing them to the washroom at school or work. This number jumps to 81 percent for women under 25. “It’s hidden because it’s stigmatized so deeply, for no apparent reason,” the Brampton high schooler said.

There are billions of females around the world who experience menstruation and use feminine hygiene products, and the secrecy, something Sarkar personally experienced, doesn't make sense to her.

Sarkar and her family resided in Dubai before they moved to Brampton and menstruation was not a subject people spoke freely about, even in Sarkar’s all-girls class. Her teachers told her it was an “awkward” subject. Sarkar recalled the hesitancy in their voices that barely went above a whisper. “That doesn't mean you're just going to ignore it. It's something super important. There were girls who thought they were going to die.”

Sarkar said the issue can be just as hard to speak about in Canada. While some feel comfortable, she has seen many who are “very scared” to discuss their own body’s reproductive process.

She credits her mother for empowering her on a topic that she herself was originally reluctant to speak of. “She’s like, ‘In our culture it's not spoken about, but I think it should be. So I'm going to start talking about it with you and know that you can reach out to any of the males in our family if you ever need to because we're going to start this from our household’.” Her family members have stayed true to their word, and she says she approaches her dad, uncle, or grandfather if she ever needs anything.

Others aren’t as lucky, and Sarkar said there are many girls her age who struggle with purchasing menstrual products. In some cases, they or their families may not be able to afford them, or they may not feel comfortable asking.

This is commonly known as period poverty: the struggle of many low income individuals unable to afford menstrual products and related items like underwear and pain medication, according to the United Nations.

In some cases, the same sanitary product is used for hours at a time without being changed, increasing the risk of infections, including toxic shock syndrome. While this is rare, it requires immediate medical attention if it occurs. Using products besides sanitary items, like rags or cotton pads, can also lead to trouble.

Advocacy group Canadian Menstruators estimated nearly $520 million was spent on menstrual hygiene products by approximately 17.8 million Canadian women between 12 and 49 in 2014, breaking down to roughly $29 per person annually.

Other estimates are much higher; Chatelaine estimates a cost of $65.82 every year. An analysis from Huffington Post showed menstruation will cost more than $18,000 over a lifetime; PIC found 33 percent of females under 25 have struggled to afford products for themselves or their dependents and 75 percent have missed school or work because of their period.

The Toronto Youth Cabinet (TYC), a youth advisory body in Toronto, sent a statement to Stephen Lecce, the Minister of Education, in March asking for the Province to require all 76 school boards across Ontario to provide free menstrual products in secondary and elementary schools.

Stephen Mensah, TYC’s executive director, told The Pointer the group has not received a direct response from the Minister. “We are still waiting to meet directly with him on this issue.”

Other provinces have already taken action; B.C. was the first in 2019, and P.E.I followed suit soon after. Similar discussions are also taking place in Quebec.

Some school boards have taken the step independently. The Toronto District School Board voted to provide free menstrual products to all its schools in 2019. Peel District School Board’s 2020-2021 budget includes such products to be introduced in phases. Phase one focuses on secondary schools and phase two, expected to be rolled out in the coming months, will expand the program to elementary schools. The Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board is working to retrofit existing dispensers in their 26 secondary schools, expected to be completed by June 30. Elementary students will be part of Phase 2, Bruce Campbell, general manager of communications told The Pointer. A date was not provided to when the school board would enter this phase. The average age for a first period is 12-years-old, but it differs from person to person.

Sarkar is happy to see, what she calls, the “red movement” make its way across Canada but she wants more to be done faster. It inspired her to start a chapter of Girl Up in Brampton this past September. The non-profit organization is a UN initiative focused on empowering women across the world.

The group’s first initiative, a sanitary kit drive held in December, saw them collect 10,000 products in Brampton within three weeks. Sarkar drove around for days picking up donations from whoever was offering them in the community. She admitted the group was apprehensive of the initiative given the stigma around the topic among many in the community. But Sarkar has been pleasantly surprised.

“I knew that seeing the change starting up within moms like mine, there are definitely other moms outside who are willing, and there absolutely were.” Donations went to womens’ shelters across the GTA and were shipped to Indigenous communities in Nunavut and Quebec.

In her latest push, Sarkar took on Brampton City Council, delegating members who she implored to take responsibility for providing menstrual products in all City run facilities. Her push led to council approving a plan to pay for products in all City-run women’s and gender neutral bathrooms and change rooms. In total, 49 facilities will see the installation of a dispenser, at a total cost of $52,400, while annual estimated costs are $73,913.

Sarkar was not expecting the discussion to be as agreeable as it was. “I was completely ready to fight,” citing the challenges her fellow advocates have faced while presenting a similar request to other municipalities. “They (in other jurisdictions) had some really, very stupid excuses from council members that saying that no, this doesn't make sense.”

That wasn’t the case at Brampton City Hall.

Brampton is now one of a handful of cities offering the service to its residents; London became the first when it began a pilot project in September 2019.

Scotland made headlines in November for being the first country to make feminine hygiene products free for anyone who needs them. While Canada lifted the GST on feminine hygiene products in 2015, many, like Sarkar, say it’s not enough.

She has plans to make her pitch to restaurants and other facilities, but she feels “the smarter way to go about it is actually starting [with] the government first” and then approaching businesses. “I feel like the government is the one that models and sets an example.”

Email: nida.zafar@thepointer.com
Twitter: @nida_zafar
Nida Zafar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer