Vast Roman town uncovered along UK high-speed railway route

The remains of a vast Roman trading settlement have been discovered by a team of archaeologists working along a future high-speed railway route in England.© Courtesy HS2 Ltd The site is known as Blackgrounds.

Hundreds of Roman coins, jewelry, pottery and a pair of shackles were among the artifacts to be discovered at the site near a village in Northamptonshire, according to a press release from High Speed 2 (HS2) Tuesday. HS2 is a large-scale project intended to create high-speed rail links between London and major cities in central and northern England.

The site, known as Blackgrounds, dates back to around 50 AD, although it initially housed an Iron Age village dating back to around 400 BC, HS2 said.

As an Iron Age road and more than 30 roundhouses were found near the Roman remains, archaeologists believe the Iron Age village developed into a wealthy Roman settlement.

The area is believed to have developed over time and become wealthier, with new roads and stone buildings being constructed.

A huge Roman road around 10 meters in width (33 feet) runs through the settlement, far exceeding the normal maximum of around four meters (13 feet), said James West, site manager for MOLA Headland Infrastructure, which oversaw the excavation.

Experts believe this road -- described as "exceptional in its size" -- indicates the settlement was once a busy area with carts going in and out with goods.

"Uncovering such a well-preserved and large Roman road, as well as so many high quality finds has been extraordinary and tells us so much about the people who lived here," West said in the press release.

"The site really does have the potential to transform our understanding of the Roman landscape in the region and beyond."

Unearthed workshops, kilns and several wells suggest the town would have been a "bustling and busy area" at its peak, the press release says. In addition to industrial practices, the foundations of buildings used for domestic purposes were also uncovered.

More than 300 Roman coins were found, suggesting a significant volume of commerce passed through the area.

Glass vessels, highly decorative pottery, jewelry and evidence of cosmetics -- as the mineral galena, which was crushed and mixed with oil to create makeup -- was also discovered.

The quality of the soil, which is a fiery red color in some parts, suggest activities involving burning took place in the area, such as bread making, metal work or pottery.

A pair of shackles discovered could also be evidence of either slave labor or criminal activity, the press release says.

The artifacts will be cleaned and examined by specialists, while the layout of the area and details of the buildings are being mapped.

Blackgrounds is one of more than 100 archaeological sites between London and Birmingham that HS2 has examined since 2018.

HS2 has unearthed a number of interesting archaeological finds, such as rare Roman statues found at a church in Buckinghamshire and a Roman mosaic at a farm in Rutland in the East Midlands.





This coin depicting Marcus Aurelius from the reign of Emperor Constantine was one of more than 300 unearthed.

Satellites reveal record high methane concentrations despite reduction pledges

Concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere continued to rise in 2021 in spite of climate pledges and the economic slowdown brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, satellite data reveal.

Concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere 

 continue to rise despite climate pledges.

Methane concentrations in particular showed a worrying trend, rising to a new maximum of nearly 1,900 parts per billion (ppb), according to the European Earth observation program Copernicus.

Methane, which is released naturally by decaying matter but also by the agriculture and energy industries, is 80 times more potent in warming the climate than carbon dioxide. The gas is a target of a global emissions reduction pledge announced at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021.

The annual increase in methane concentrations also set a new record, reaching 16.3 ppb, slightly more than in 2020 but more than double the average annual increase between 2005 and 2015.

Scientists don't know yet what drives the trend, Vincent-Henri Peuch, the director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), said in a news conference held virtually on Monday (Jan. 10).

"Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas and it's a concern to see the atmospheric concentration growth rate double compared to the average," Peuch said. "More science is needed to see whether it's something that is part of the natural variability cycle or if it's something linked to more recent trends and the anthropogenic effects of climate change."

Related: Satellites discover huge amounts of undeclared methane emissions

Peuch said that in addition to an increase in both natural and anthropogenic methane emissions, the rise in methane concentration may reflect a decrease in the atmosphere's ability to break down the gas. Methane reacts in Earth's atmosphere with oxygen to gradually form the less potent and more prevalent carbon dioxide. Scientists don't yet fully understand the intricacies of these processes.

The rapid increase in methane concentrations shows that the world is nowhere near on track to slowing down the projected course of climate change. Experts believe that due to methane's potency, reductions in emissions of the gas could significantly slow down global warming. A 30% cut in methane emissions by 2030 could slash 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.28 degrees Celsius) from the temperature rise expected by 2050, according to the European Commission.

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide rose in 2021 as well, according to measurements by the Copernicus satellite constellation. Carbon dioxide concentrations increased 2.4 parts per million (ppm), reaching an annual average of 414.3 ppm. This growth rate is slightly higher than the average for the 2005 to 2015 period. Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have risen by a whopping 50% since the late 18th century's industrial revolution, according to an earlier estimate by the U.K. Met Office, the nation's weather and climate authority.

Copernicus data also showed that 2021 was one of the seven hottest years on record globally, along with the six years prior to it.

But the latest data set revealed some nuances as well.

Europe, which in the long term is warming much faster than the rest of the world, experienced a somewhat cooler year than other regions, with mean temperatures only slightly above the 1991 to 2020 average and outside the warmest 10 years on record, Freja Vamberg, a senior scientist with the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in the briefing.

Europe is already on average 3.9 degrees F (2.2 degrees C) warmer than it was before the industrial revolution, well beyond that 2.7 degrees F (1.5 degrees C) threshold called for in the Paris Agreement, the international treaty negotiated at the UN Climate Conference in Paris in 2015. Warming beyond that threshold could have unforeseen consequences for Earth's climate, experts believe. The world is currently on average 2 to 2.2 degrees F (1.1-1.2 degrees C) warmer than during the pre-industrial period.

The mildly cooler average temperatures in Europe in 2021 are likely caused by natural variability rather than a beginning of a new, cooling trend on the continent, Vamberg said.

"Last year was still just about above the average of the last 30 years," Vamberg said. "This is just part of the natural climate variability that happens above the warming trend. You will also have some years which are slightly cooler, or slightly warmer than others."

In fact, 2021 still broke a record for Europe's warmest summer. The continent's new record high temperature of 120 degrees F (48.8 degrees C) was set on the Italian island of Sicily in August.

The Copernicus results, Peuch admitted, reveal that existing greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures have yet to kick in.

"When you look [at the data] in detail, you will see that last year with all the COVID-related measures, carbon dioxide emissions only decreased by maybe 5 to 7%," Peuch said. "The difficulty in the current state is that we are looking at the emissions in the atmosphere, but anthropogenic emissions represent only a small fraction of the global carbon cycle."

The European Commission, which runs the Copernicus program, is currently cooperating with the European Space Agency on a new satellite constellation capable of measuring anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide in real time on the level of individual factories and power plants.

Satellites already play an important role in monitoring methane leaks from oil and gas installations. In the past years, these observations revealed that much more methane is escaping from the industrial establishments than previously thought.

The new European constellation, called CO2M, will provide a new level of detail and coverage also for methane monitoring. This in turn, will lead to better enforceability of greenhouse gas reduction pledges, experts hope.

In a separate announcement, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed on Monday that 2021 was the fourth warmest year in the U.S. since records began nearly 130 years ago. All six of the warmest years have occurred since 2012, NOAA said. A string of weather-related disasters including devastating wildfires, powerful hurricanes and giant tornadoes killed nearly 700 people in the U.S. in 2021 and caused $145 billion worth of damage.

Follow Tereza Pultarova on Twitter @TerezaPultarova. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

ALBERTA

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Public group wants role in talks over probe into alleged ATCO illegalities

EDMONTON — A group representing residential power consumers wants a seat at any discussions involving alleged illegal behaviour by one of Alberta's main power providers and is asking the regulator to release all information involving ATCO's actions.

Jim Wachowich, lawyer for the Consumers' Coalition of Alberta, said ATCO is trying to "deflect attention" by keeping the matter out of the public.

"This is a watershed event," said Wachowich.

ATCO said it has already disclosed much information and is working with the commission to settle the matter.

In November, the Alberta Utilities Commission's enforcement branch requested a hearing into its findings that ATCO Electric deliberately overpaid a British Columbia First Nation by millions for work on a new transmission line. It allegedly did so to secure lucrative contracts for another ATCO company to provide construction camps for the Trans Mountain Expansion oil pipeline project.

Investigators said the company then allegedly tried to pass the $12-million overpayment on to Alberta consumers, in violation of the law. They alleged company management was aware the arrangement was questionable and tried to cover its tracks.

In materials filed with the commission, the enforcement branch alleges that ATCO "violated (its) fundamental duty of honesty and candour ... the duty upon which the entire regulatory system relies."

ATCO has acknowledged it made mistakes and said the overpriced contract was entered into to help the First Nation build capacity in a new area of business.

In an Oct. 29 letter to the commission's enforcement branch, company president Melanie Bayley said there was an offer of a $16-million settlement.

The letter and other documents recently obtained by The Canadian Press show that investigators and ATCO representatives agreed to meetings beginning this week, before the commission holds any formal hearings.

"Both parties would like an opportunity to pursue discussions to determine whether, or to what extent, it might be possible to resolve any aspects of the case," said a letter from a lawyer for the enforcement branch to the commission.

Any proposed settlement would have to be approved by the commission.

But Wachowich argues the public must be represented at any talks involving a regulated utility.

"Granting us standing would indicate the broader public interest is being considered — we're not just considering one side of the equation," he said.

As well, his group is asking for all information collected by the enforcement branch and ATCO to be made public. That includes the results of an internal company probe.

"The biggest document is the one we don't have," he said.

Bayley said in an email that it's normal for the commission's enforcement arm to work with a company on a settlement.

"It's typical for administrative penalty matters to be handled by a utility and the (commission) with no customer or intervener involvement, since only the utility is impacted," Bayley wrote.

Bayley said a number of ATCO documents are already public. She said the company plans to release the internal investigation at some point, with commercial and personal details redacted.

"Again, this is normal in regulatory hearings and is granted by the commission all the time," she wrote.

However, ATCO has also argued some information already made public should be removed from the record.

"AUC enforcement has disclosed certain commercial arrangements between unregulated entities that are not subject to the AUC’s jurisdiction and has done so without their permission and in conflict with the express confidentiality provisions of these agreements," said a letter from the company's lawyers.

In anotherletter to the commission, ATCO chairwoman Nancy Southern said the overpriced contract wasissued out of an "entrenched and important" respect for Indigenous communities.

"This had an important impact on the decisions made," she wrote.

The documents filed by the enforcement branch alleged the First Nation took ATCO's cheque and subcontracted the work to another company at a lower price. The same documents alleged ATCO managers knew that would likely happen.

"At that point, you're not trying to build capacity, you're trying to curry favour," said Wachowich.

Wachowich said the seriousness of ATCO's alleged breach warrants public participation.

"They breached a very important standard."

Utilities commission spokesman Geoff Scotton said there are no mandated timelines for resolving the issue.

The investigators have asked the commission to force ATCO to refund the money it received from rate increases due to the overpriced contract as well as impose administrative penalties. Those penalties can be as high as $1 million per day per offence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2022.

— Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

Apple CEO earned 1,447 times more than average Apple employees in 2021


Apple CEO Tim Cook earned $98.7 million USD (roughly $125 million CAD) last year, according to a proxy statement filed by the company.

© Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc., speaks during the launch event for the iPad 6 at La... Apple CEO earned 1,447 times more than average Apple employees in 2021

Cook’s salary stayed consistent at $3 million ($3.8 million CAD) but saw the addition of $82.3 million (roughly $104 million CAD) in stocks, and $13 million ($16.4 million CAD) in other compensation, including incentives. This is almost seven times his 2020 pay and eight-and-a-half times his 2019 pay.

MacRumors reports this number doesn’t include the $750 million in shares Cook took on as part of a ten-year package when he became CEO.

The increase in pay is reflective of Apple’s general success over the last year. When stock markets opened for the first time this year, Apple became the most valuable company in the world when it was (momentarily) valued at $3 trillion USD.

But this success wasn’t reflected throughout the company. As The Verge reports, Apple employees were vocal about a number of issues last year, including transparency on pay equity. Employees also launched a website to share statements on alleged mistreatment they faced at the company.

The statement further goes on to say the median compensation for employees in 2021 was $68,254 (roughly $86,000 CAD). This includes base salary, bonuses, and commissions. The compensation ratio between Cook and employees is 1,447 to 1.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Apple Via: MacRumors, The Verge

'Do what you love' could be contributing to the Great Resignation

Galen Watts, Banting Fellow, Centre for Sociological Research, KU Leuven 

“Do what you love,” is no longer just advice.

© (Shutterstock) 

The passion paradigm is one cause of what has been dubbed the “Great Resignation.

High school students learn early on that their future careers should be passion-driven. Self-help books counsel job searchers to start with reflection on what they love. And Hollywood films teach people, in romantic fashion, to aspire to work that is intrinsically satisfying and expresses our authentic selves.

Researchers call this way of thinking about work the passion paradigm, and studies show it has become pervasive in modern societies.

The passion paradigm emerged in the 1960s. During this time, there was widespread questioning of social and cultural norms — especially among youth — which helped develop a new way of thinking about the role of work in human life.

This trend was spearheaded by the scholarship of humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow, who applied his theory of the “hierarchy of needs” to the modern workplace. In Eupsychian Management, Maslow argues that work should be thought of as a key source of personal growth and self-actualization.

Maslow envisioned a world where individuals derive deep satisfaction from their working lives, and who treat their work as a sacred activity.

Since early 2021, I have conducted interviews with over 90 professionals and managers in Toronto, to learn how they think about work. Although there are exceptions, what the data shows, in general, is that Maslow’s theory has increasingly become common.
The downsides of the passion paradigm

Because the rising popularity of the passion paradigm has coincided with both increasing economic inequality and a steep decline in the power of unions, it has attracted a host of criticism.

Sociologist Lindsay DePalma contends that the passion paradigm encourages workers to romanticize their work while blinding them to the unequal distributions of power that characterize their working lives.

In her book Work Won’t Love You Back, journalist Sarah Jaffe argues that loving your job is a bad idea because it is a recipe for (self)exploitation.

Derek Thompson, a staff writer at The Atlantic, maintains that the passion paradigm has fuelled a new religion — “workism” — which is responsible for causing burnout and depression even among high-wage earners.

© (Shutterstock) It wasn’t just managers who were part of the Great Resignation.

These commentators rightly fear that the passion paradigm can (and does) lead workers to accept harmful working conditions, poor treatment from their employers and unrealistic expectations from themselves — basically to put up with what they shouldn’t.

When people aspire to love their work, they may prioritize work at the expense of other important aspects of life — family, friends and hobbies. An overvaluation of work can lead people to see those who cannot work as lazy, stupid or undeserving of concern.

And yet, despite these evident pitfalls, the passion paradigm can also have the opposite effects. In fact, I would argue that it is one cause of what has been dubbed the “Great Resignation.”
The Great Resignation

In August 2021, 4.3 million American workers quit their jobs, the highest ever recorded. And similar waves have hit the U.K..

In Canada it’s not clear whether the Great Resignation is taking place with equal intensity, but some studies show that Canadian workers are increasingly considering leaving or switching their jobs.

Read more: Vast majority of American workers like their jobs – even as a record number quit them

There are many factors causing the Great Resignation. Among the most notable are wage subsidies which have given workers more freedom to choose the kind of work they want to do, the added work stress caused by the pandemic, the need to stay home with young children and the shift to remote work.

However, I think another reason has to do with the expectations workers have around work — expectations which derive from the passion paradigm.
The passion paradigm and the Great Resignation

By disrupting people’s routines, the pandemic has reawakened in many the deep-seated desire for a job they actually enjoy — a desire that has long been suppressed.

My interviews make it clear that many Canadian workers are looking at their jobs and asking themselves, “Is this really what I’m passionate about?” “Do I want to spend the majority of my waking hours doing this?” “Does my job bring me meaning?”

And this isn’t just managers. The highest number of resignations in Canada have taken place within the accommodation and food service industries. And as a recent article in The Atlantic put it, “this level of quitting is really an expression of optimism that says, ‘We can do better.’”

In a sense, the passion paradigm is paradoxically fuelling the demand for better, more satisfying, and more meaningful work. It is because workers expect more that they are no longer willing to put up with the status quo.

 The passion paradigm can fuel demands for better.

The passion paradigm requires a strong safety net

Of course, none of this could have happened without the government supports that reweighed the balance of power between workers and bosses.

Since the 1980s, workers have had less and less power to negotiate. So, while the passion paradigm may have grown in popularity, it grew in economic conditions that were largely determined by employers, not employees.

But in the wake of the pandemic this has slowly begun to change. Faced with labour shortages, employers are forced to take workers’ seriously when it comes to demands around pay, flexibility, autonomy and scheduling. They are receiving the message that “business as usual” is no longer acceptable — and, in some cases, they’re caving.

The crucial takeaway is that the passion paradigm can fuel demands for better, more meaningful work, but this is only possible when it’s accompanied by a strong social safety net.

Workers don’t need to stop loving their jobs. But they should ask whether their jobs are themselves loveable. And this is easier to do when you have real economic freedom.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read more:
COVID stress syndrome: 5 ways the pandemic is affecting mental health

We can’t ignore mental illness prevention in a COVID-19 world

Galen Watts receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

United's CEO said one worker a week was dying from COVID-19 before the company mandated vaccines. 

Now, no vaccinated employees have died in 2 months.

jepstein@insider.com (Jake Epstein,Taylor Rains) 12 hrs ago

 United Airlines planes are seen at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, United States on September 29, 2021. United Airlines is firing employees over its vaccine mandate. 

Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

United Airlines says an average of one employee a week died from COVID-19 before vaccine mandate.

Since enforcing a vaccine mandate, no vaccinated employee has died from COVID-19 in two months, the airline's CEO said.

The airline's CEO said that no vaccinated staff members are hospitalized with COVID-19.

More than one United Airlines employee on average was dying from COVID-19 each week prior to the company's vaccine mandate, CEO Scott Kirby said on Tuesday.

Now that a vaccine mandate is in place, the airline has not seen a COVID-19-related death among its vaccinated employees in two months, according to a memo sent by Kirby to United staff and obtained by Insider.

A spokesperson for United confirmed to Insider that the vaccine mandate went into place in September, and that "the memo references the stats before the mandate and afterwards."

It remains unclear if the data refers to all deaths that happened since the pandemic began or if it refers to a shorter time period.

Kirby also said that while nearly 3,000 United employees are currently positive for COVID-19, and there are no vaccinated employees currently in the hospital.

"In dealing with COVID, zero is the word that matters — zero deaths and zero hospitalizations for vaccinated employees," Kirby said in the memo.

Airlines recently have been canceling flights as the highly transmissible Omicron variant has forced employees to call in sick and disrupted travel across the country.

Alaska Airlines axed about 10% of its January flight schedule due to an "unprecedented amount of sick calls while JetBlue cut roughly 1,280 flights through January 13 over COVID-related absences. Delta and SkyWest confirmed to Insider that the Omicron variant has impacted their operation and flight schedule, as well.

Kirby said in his memo that on one specific day at Newark Liberty International Airport, a United hub, one-third of the company's workforce called out sick. It was not made immediately clear when, exactly, this happened.

Delta Air Lines battles with nation's largest flight attendant union over shortened Covid sick leave

Delta sent the Association of Flight Attendants a cease-and-desist letter last week over comments on social media about the airline's sick policy.

Delta urged the CDC to reduce its isolation guidelines for breakthrough cases of Covid, warning about employee shortages and flight cancellations, which later materialized, despite the new policies.

© Provided by CNBC Flight attendants hand out refreshments to a packed Delta Airlines flight traveling from Ronald Regan National Airport to Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport on Friday, May 21, 2021.

Delta Air Lines sent the country's largest flight attendant union a cease-and-desist letter after its president criticized the company's shortened sick leave policy for staff with Covid-19.

Last Thursday, Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, tweeted that the union was getting "multiple reports" that Delta "is telling workers across work groups that they should come to work w/ symptoms even if someone in the household tested positive." She also said that positive workers were told to "come to work after 5 days if the fever is below 100.9, even if still testing positive."

A day later, Peter Carter, Delta's chief legal officer sent AFA the letter.

"Not only is this information false, but it is actionable because it places Delta in a highly negative light by suggesting Delta was asking employees to work while they were ill," said Carter's letter. "Such irresponsible conduct is inappropriate, defamatory and must cease immediately."

Nelson, whose union doesn't represent Delta's flight attendants but began an organizing drive there in November 2019, defended her comments and said Delta's policies have confused flight crews.

"Delta's policy now refers to being asymptomatic before returning to work, which was a serious concern as that CDC guidance was initially omitted from Delta's policy announcement," she wrote to Delta CEO Ed Bastian on Tuesday. "But we are still getting questions from Delta flight attendants about returning to work with a low grade fever and about the fact that Delta's current policy only recommends to test before returning to work and does not require a test."

Delta updated its Covid sick leave policy on Dec. 28 to five days off with pay protection — reduced from 10 days — that doesn't require staff to use days in their sick banks. Staff can get an additional two days if they test positive again on the fifth day.

"Delta has always followed the science to form our policies regarding COVID-19," a Delta spokesman said Tuesday. "We sent a cease and desist letter because we believe institutions and leaders must speak carefully, truthfully, and factually."

The carrier had asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to halve its recommended isolation time for breakthrough Covid infections to five days, warning about staff shortages and flight cancellations, which later materialized. JetBlue Airways and other carriers asked for the same change. CDC had updated its guidance on Dec. 27, after loosening recommendations for health care workers.

Cancellations from staff out sick from Covid and a series of winter storms surpassed 20,000 between Christmas and the first week of the year. United Airlines, which still has 10 days of pay protection in place for crews with Covid, said Tuesday that it would further trim its schedule, with 3,000 workers, about 4% of its U.S. staff, positive for the coronavirus.

Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines give employees 10 days of pay protection if they test positive for Covid.

Maryland man receives first successful pig-to-human heart transplant

David Bennett, a 57-year-old from Maryland, became the first person to successfully receive a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig. 

Photo courtesy University of Maryland Medical Center

Jan. 10 (UPI) -- A Maryland man became the first person to receive a successful pig-to-human heart transplant.

David Bennett, 57, is "still doing well" three days after the first-of-its-kind surgery, and will continue to be monitored to determine whether the transplant, conducted at the University of Maryland, provides lifesaving benefits, the university said in a statement.

"This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis. There are simply not enough donor hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients," said Dr. Bartley Griffith, the doctor who performed the surgery.

"We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this first-in-the-world surgery will provide an important new option for patients in the future."

RELATEDGene therapy may help cure sickle cell disease, study says

The surgery took nine hours and saw doctors replace Bennett's heart with one from a 1-year-old, 240-pound pig that was bred and had its genes edited specifically to provide organs to humans.

The pig had 10 genetic modifications that includes inactivating, or knocking out, four genes, including one that encodes a molecule that causes an aggressive human rejection response and a growth gene to prevent the pig's heart from continuing to grow after it was implanted.

Additionally, six human genes were inserted into the genome of the donor pigs to make the porcine organs more tolerable to the human immune system.

The transplant provided the first demonstration that a genetically modified animal heart can function like a human heart without being immediately rejected by the human body.

"It creates the pulse, it creates the pressure, it is his heart," Griffith told The New York Times. "It's working and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we don't know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before."

Bennett chose to undergo the experimental treatment, as he would have died without a new heart, had exhausted other methods of treatment and was not healthy enough to qualify for a heart from a human donor.

"It was either die or do this transplant," Bennett said, a day before the surgery. "I want to live. I know it's a shot in the dark, but it's my last choice."

The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for the surgery on New Year's Eve through its expanded access provision.

Griffith said the procedure required some "clever plastic surgery to make everything fit" but added that once the clamp restricting blood supply to the organ was removed that "the heart fired right up" and "the animal heart began to squeeze."

Bennett remains connected to a heart-lung bypass machine, which he may be removed from as early as Tuesday, and is being closely monitored to ensure his body does not reject the new heart and for infections, including porcine retrovirus, a pig virus that can be transmitted to humans.

US doctors implant pig heart in human in medical first

The team behind the historic procedure say they hope the process can help solve the massive shortage of donor organs.

Surgeons in the United States have implanted the heart of a genetically modified pig into a human patient in a global first, the University of Maryland Medical School announced on Monday.

The procedure took place on Friday, and while the long-term prognosis for 57-year-old patient David Bennett is uncertain, the doctors hailed it as a "historic" milestone.

Bennett, who was still in the hospital recovering on Monday, said before the surgery: "It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it's a shot in the dark, but it's my last choice."

"I look forward to getting out of bed after I recover," he added, having been bedridden for months and hooked up to a heart-lung bypass machine.

Why was it necessary to use a pig's heart?

The US Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for the procedure on New Year's Eve, a final ray of hope for a patient who was not suitable for a traditional organ transplant.

"This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis," said Bartley Griffith, one of the surgeons on the team. "There are simply not enough donor human hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients."

About 110,000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and more than 6,000 patients die each year before getting one, according to official figures.

Muhammad Mohiuddin, who co-founded the university's cardiac xenotransplantation program, added the surgery was the culmination of years of research that involved transplanting pig organs into baboons.

The donor pigs are the result of gene editing that has removed certain markers that caused patients to reject the organs, or that led to the excessive growth sometimes seen in pigs.

Pig heart valves and pig skin grafts are already widely used on human patients.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a doctor with the University of California, San Francisco, said the gene editing was the key difference between this attempt and earlier tries at the procedure.

"Our immune system is so vigrous" that it reacts to even "very minor perturbation that look foreign," and reject them he told DW, adding that the result also allowed patients to use fewer anti-rejection medications and "live a more nomal existence."

es/rt (AFP, Reuters)

In a medical first, doctors transplanted a pig heart into a patient

© Provided by The Canadian Press

In a medical first, doctors transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life and a Maryland hospital said Monday that he's doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery.

While it’s too soon to know if the operation really will work, it marks a step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say the transplant showed that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body without immediate rejection.

The patient, David Bennett, a 57-year-old Maryland handyman, knew there was no guarantee the experiment would work but he was dying, ineligible for a human heart transplant and had no other option, his son told The Associated Press.

“It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice,” Bennett said a day before the surgery, according to a statement provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

On Monday, Bennett was breathing on his own while still connected to a heart-lung machine to help his new heart. The next few weeks will be critical as Bennett recovers from the surgery and doctors carefully monitor how his heart is faring.

There’s a huge shortage of human organs donated for transplant, driving scientists to try to figure out how to use animal organs instead. Last year, there were just over 3,800 heart transplants in the U.S., a record number, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation’s transplant system.

"If this works, there will be an endless supply of these organs for patients who are suffering,” said Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, scientific director of the Maryland university's animal-to-human transplant program.

But prior attempts at such transplants — or xenotransplantation — have failed, largely because patients’ bodies rapidly rejected the animal organ. Notably, in 1984, Baby Fae, a dying infant, lived 21 days with a baboon heart.

The difference this time: The Maryland surgeons used a heart from a pig that had undergone gene-editing to remove a sugar in its cells that’s responsible for that hyper-fast organ rejection. Several biotech companies are developing pig organs for human transplant; the one used for Friday's operation came from Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics.

“I think you can characterize it as a watershed event,” Dr. David Klassen, UNOS’ chief medical officer, said of the Maryland transplant.

Still, Klassen cautioned that it’s only a first tentative step into exploring whether this time around, xenotransplantation might finally work.

The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees such experiments, allowed the surgery under what’s called a “compassionate use” emergency authorization, available when a patient with a life-threatening condition has no other options.

It will be crucial to share the data gathered from this transplant before extending it to more patients, said Karen Maschke, a research scholar at the Hastings Center, who is helping develop ethics and policy recommendations for the first clinical trials under a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

“Rushing into animal-to-human transplants without this information would not be advisable,” Maschke said.

Over the years, scientists have turned from primates to pigs, tinkering with their genes.

Just last September, researchers in New York performed an experiment suggesting these kinds of pigs might offer promise for animal-to-human transplants. Doctors temporarily attached a pig’s kidney to a deceased human body and watched it begin to work.

The Maryland transplant takes their experiment to the next level, said Dr. Robert Montgomery, who led that work at NYU Langone Health.

“This is a truly remarkable breakthrough," he said in a statement. "As a heart transplant recipient, myself with a genetic heart disorder, I am thrilled by this news and the hope it gives to my family and other patients who will eventually be saved by this breakthrough.”

The surgery last Friday took seven hours at the Baltimore hospital. Dr. Bartley Griffith, who performed the surgery, said the patient’s condition — heart failure and an irregular heartbeat — made him ineligible for a human heart transplant or a heart pump.

Griffith had transplanted pig hearts into about 50 baboons over five years, before offering the option to Bennett.

“We’re learning a lot every day with this gentleman,” Griffith said. “And so far, we’re happy with our decision to move forward. And he is as well: Big smile on his face today.”

Pig heart valves also have been used successfully for decades in humans, and Bennett’s son said his father had received one about a decade ago.

As for the heart transplant, “He realizes the magnitude of what was done and he really realizes the importance of it,” David Bennett Jr. said. “He could not live, or he could last a day, or he could last a couple of days. I mean, we’re in the unknown at this point.”

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AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Carla K. Johnson, The Associated Press

Fact check: How do I spot state-sponsored propaganda?

Across the world, politicians use propaganda to manipulate the thoughts and actions of others. It's a strategy deployed by democracies and dictatorships alike. How, then, can I detect state-sponsored propaganda?

    

Propaganda and PR are closely related

In 2021, journalist Maria Ressa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in combating propaganda and lies disseminated by the Philippine state. The latest machinations of the Philippine government make clear that state-sponsored propaganda remains a persistent problem throughout the world today. Recall, for instance, how the United States government misled the public over its reasons for invading Iraq in 2003.

While state-sponsored propaganda is certainly no new phenomenon, it has evolved over time. In Nazi Germany, state propaganda was deployed to instill a specific ideology in the public. Today, state propaganda is often more subtle, and shared over social media.

Consider this example: Meta — formerly known as Facebook — said it recently dismantled an elaborate disinformation campaign run by Nicaraguan authorities. For the past three years, it said, a variety of websites and social media accounts had been celebrating Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and discrediting the country's opposition.

Or this case: In September, YouTube blocked two German-language channels operated by Russian state broadcaster RT (formerly Russia Today) for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus. RT is regarded by many as the Russian government's propaganda outlet. Indeed, a recent study by two researchers from the University of Oxford found that RT's overriding agenda consists of framing Western media organizations as purveyors of falsehoods.

RT is accused by many of peddling a pro-Kremlin narrative

But what, exactly, constitutes propaganda? And how can we detect it? DW spoke with four experts to provide answers to these and other questions.

Defining propaganda

Politicians use propaganda to manipulate the thoughts, feelings and actions of others. Talking to DW, Piers Robinson, a political scientist with the Organisation for Propaganda Studies, said propaganda can persuade someone to act or behave in a particular way. He cites the example of how US politicians worked to get the US public to support the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"In that case, famously, they exaggerated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to make Iraq appear a bigger threat than it really was," said Robinson. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found in the country. Images presented by the CIA purporting to prove their existence constituted deliberate misinformation deployed for propaganda purposes.

Florian Zollmann, a senior lecturer in journalism at Newcastle University's School of Arts and Cultures, used the Iraq war example to illustrate how disinformation and fake news are elements of propaganda. He said that often, false claims and propaganda are not easy to discern. 

Indeed, a study by the European Parliament has found that propaganda can pose a serious threat to the rule of law, democracy and civil rights.

Robinson and Zollmann also stressed that public relations campaigns are similar to propaganda. "Ultimately, they too are propaganda techniques," said Zollmann. Propaganda, he said, is not always bad. We should, however, recognize that public relations campaigns can be just as manipulative.

What is the purpose of political propaganda?

Political propaganda is designed to cast politicians and governments in a positive light, said Pavel Koshkin, a senior research fellow at the Institute for US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In Russia, Koshkin said, state-sponsored propaganda is utilized to create a "democratic image of Russia."

Other times, political propaganda will aim to vilify other countries, cultures or values. A Media Development Foundation study was, for instance, able to document anti-Western messages disseminated in Georgian media.

Propaganda is not only deployed by countries like Russia, China and North Korea, said propaganda expert Robinson; it is present all over the world. "I think the problem we face in democracies is that we have a lot of propaganda, but we're not aware of it."

Zollmann concurred. "Propaganda is also present in Germany and the US," he pointed out. It is deployed by both authoritarian as well as democratic states, according to Zollmann. Freely accessing alternative media outlets and information, however, is far more straightforward in democracies, he said.

What role do media outlets play in spreading political propaganda?

Media organizations can spread and amplify propaganda messages, Christian Mihr of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) told DW. Russian state-funded broadcaster RT, for instance, is often accused of serving as a Kremlin mouthpiece. Its coverage largely reflects the Russian government's official position. Polish Public Television (PVP) is similarly accused of deploying propaganda techniques to glorify the PiS-party led government. 

Media outlets may actively spread propaganda, or do so unknowingly and by mistake. Ideally, they also act as watchdogs to sniff out and debunk propaganda, said Robinson. Indeed, media researchers say this is one of most important tasks expected of journalists. RSF's Mihr said journalists are in an ideal position to help contextualize political propaganda by asking lawmakers tough questions and interviewing independent experts.

How to detect political propaganda?

Although political propaganda is often subtle, there are nevertheless ways of identifying it. Here is a checklist to help you spot propaganda:

More on how to spot misinformation:

• How do I spot fake news?
• How do I spot manipulated images?
• How do I spot fake social media accounts, bots and trolls?

Hong Kong: Journalists remain defiant despite clampdown on media

After two independent media outlets shut down in Hong Kong in recent weeks, journalists in the city describe how their once-thriving sector is now witnessing the end of an era.

The intensified crackdown on independent media outlets shows that the high level of press freedom that Hong Kong used to enjoy no longer exists, say observers

Hong Kong's Citizen News had just celebrated its fifth anniversary in the first few days of 2022, but the independent news outlet abruptly announced its decision to close down on the evening of January 2.

The next day, the front page of the website was filled with sentimental reflections from their journalists. Rather than writing other people's stories as usual, they were expressing their complicated feelings and reflecting on what could be the end of their career.

Journalist Wong, who did not want to reveal his first name, reflected on that dramatic day, as all his colleagues were busy putting out their last reports on the final day of Citizen News.

"I finished a report that I'd been procrastinating on for half a month in one day, while everyone in the newsroom was frantically writing their reports," the 27-year-old told DW.

"The server that we used for editing videos almost crashed. That was the laughing stock of the newsroom on that day, but at least we didn't get into trouble and had a chance to bid farewell to our readers and colleagues," wWoing said.

The management at Citizens News cited the raid and arrest of former staff members at Stand News, another independent media outlet in Hong Kong known for its investigative reports, as the main reason behind the decision to close the publication.

"The decision was made within a short period of time. The trigger point was the fate of Stand News," Chris Yeung, chief writer at the Citizen News, said at a press conference on Monday. "We could not rule out that ... we might be exposed to some risks."

'No more space for independent media in Hong Kong'

The Stand News was forced to close down last week after 200 police officers from the National Security Department raided its office and froze its assets. Seven people were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to publish "seditious" materials.

Two news editors were later formally charged under the crime and put into detention.

Ronson Chan, the chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and former deputy assignment editor at Stand News, told DW that it was a very sad day for him, as he lost his colleagues, his job and his identity as a journalist.

"The closure of Stand News and Citizen News is a warning sign to the public that there is no more space for independent media in Hong Kong," he said

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam defended the government's move, claiming the closure of the two media outlets had nothing to do with the national security law (NSL) imposed by the Chinese government last year.

"I could not, on behalf of these organizations and their responsible people, explain what they mean by a chilling effect," she said during the weekly press conference on Tuesday. "But I certainly will reject any allegations that this is related to the implementation of the national security law."

The impact of the sedition law

The concerns about the clampdown on press freedom aren't only felt by journalists who work for independent media outlets.

A journalist surnamed Kiu, who also does not want to reveal his first name for fear of reprisals, works for a pro-establishment media outlet. He told DW that the government's definition of sedition as "wider than the Red Sea."

"In the past, news about China would be heavily censored, but, after the NSL came into effect, Hong Kong's security forces have a lot of power to prevent negative news, especially those about them, from being published," he said. "I think investigative journalism will become increasingly rare in Hong Kong, as Chinese-language media in Hong Kong becomes more cautious under the current climate."

Kiu said he had yet to find a way to deal with the sense of powerlessness and frustration that come with the ongoing clampdown on media outlets. "It's hard to see many capable colleagues lose their jobs, and there's hardly any media outlet that can still accommodate them," he said.

'The end of an era'

Observers say the intensified crackdown on independent media outlets shows that the high level of press freedom that Hong Kong used to enjoy no longer exists.

"Without Stand News and Citizen News, the overall state of journalism in Hong Kong is becoming very poor," said Kim-Wah Chung, the deputy chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (HKPORI).

"The remaining media in Hong Kong are either the mouthpieces of the Communist Party or media that are already very close to the government. The era when there were still many types of media outlets no longer exists in Hong Kong. No media outlet in Hong Kong can do investigative reporting now," he added.

Sharon Yam, an associate professor of writing and digital studies at the University of Kentucky, said any remaining independent media outlets in the Chinese special administrative region would have to carry the burden of holding authorities accountable while making difficult risk calculations to protect the safety of their journalists and staff.
What's next for journalists in Hong Kong?

Since Stand News and Citizen News closed down, at least six small and midsize online media have also ceased operations amid what many describe as the industrywide chilling effect.

Traditional media outlets such as Ming Pao also added a statement under their opinion articles, emphasizing that any critical opinions are intended to "correct policy mistakes" rather than "inciting hatred, resentment or hostility towards the government."

"If it weren't for the safety of their employees, media outlets in Hong Kong wouldn't have to shut down," Ronson Chan said. "I believe many people see the facts and I still hope the authorities understand that a pluralistic and independent voice is vital to Hong Kong."

HKPORI's Kim-Wah Chung told DW that many journalists won't be able to keep doing their jobs based on the standards that media in Hong Kong used to follow.

"Many of the remaining Hong Kong media are now fully aligned with the government, so journalists who have left Apple Daily or Stand News most likely won't want to work for these media outlets," he said.

"Some of them might consider becoming independent or citizen journalists, but they will still face a lot of challenges, including the lack of resources to support their operations or the growing risks facing media workers in general," he added.
No giving up

Even though he feels that his future in Hong Kong appears bleak, Wong hasn't given up on the idea of working as a journalist.

Wong said most of his colleagues would try to remain anonymous and continue to document lives in Hong Kong in a discreet way. "Even if you can't write about the most sensitive subjects, if you can dig up a little more information for your readers on a story, you're already making a contribution," Wong noted.

He said all journalists in Hong Kong kne0w the risks very well, but he believes that those who choose to stay in the field now treat journalism as a religious belief.

"Whether or not we stay in this industry, journalism won't die if we keep telling the truth," he said.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru