ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

What brain-eating amoebae can tell us about the diversity of life on earth and evolutionary history

by University of Massachusetts Amherst

Naegleria gruberi cells use one set of tubulins to build a mitotic spindle (cyan, left), and 

another set of tubulins (orange, right) to transform into a flagellate cell type. 

Credit: Katrina Velle, Fritz-Laylin Lab, UMass Amherst

An international team of researchers, led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, recently announced in the journal Current Biology that an amoeba called Naegleria has evolved more distinct sets of tubulins, used for specific cellular processes, than previously thought. Their insight has a host of implications, which range from developing treatments for brain-eating infections to better understanding how life on earth evolved such enormous diversity.

Much of life on earth relies on a series of polymers called microtubules, composed of tubulin, to complete a wide range of tasks inside their cells. These microtubules are like the 2x4s of the cell and are used in everything from helping the cell to move, to transporting food and waste within the cell and giving the cell structural support.

Microtubules also help in mitosis, which is when a single cell divides into two by first duplicating its chromosomes and then pulling each set to opposite sides of the cell before dividing itself in two. One of the key moments in mitosis is when a spindle, made up of microtubules, grabs hold of the chromosomes and helps separate them into two identical sets.

This is where Naegleria comes in. Biologists had previously known that Naegleria uses a specific kind of tubulin during mitosis. But the new study, led by Katrina Velle, a postdoc in biology at UMass Amherst and the paper's lead author, shows that Naegleria also employs three additional distinct tubulins specifically during mitosis. One pair of tubulins are used only during mitosis, while the other, the flagellate tubulin, specialize in cellular movement. The authors of the study then compared the tubulins and the structures they build to each other and those of more commonly studied species.

The cell surface of a Naegleria gruberi amoeba visualized by scanning electron 

microscopy. Credit: Katrina Velle, Fritz-Laylin Lab, UMass Amherst, taken at the Marine

 Biological Laboratory Central Microscopy Center

The implications of this work are exciting and range from the practical to the theoretical. For instance, the team studied a species of Naegleria, Naegleria gruberi, which is closely related to Naegleria fowleri—an amoeba that can eat your brain. "If we can understand the basic biology of Naegleria," says Velle, "we can learn how to kill it by devising drugs that target the amoeba's unique tubulins."

But Naegleria also helps us to understand the basic rules that govern life on earth. "All organisms have to replicate themselves," says Lillian Fritz-Laylin, professor of biology at UMass Amherst and a senior author of the paper. "We know how the replication processes works for some cells, but there's a huge set that we don't understand. Naegleria lets us test the rules scientists have come up with to see if they hold here."

To conduct their research, the team relied in part on the state-of-the-art microscopy equipment at UMass Amherst's Institute for the Applied Life Sciences (IALS), which combines deep and interdisciplinary expertise from 29 departments on the UMass Amherst campus to translate fundamental research into innovations that benefit human health and well-being. The team grew the Naegleria cells, stained them with different chemicals so that the tubulins would glow, and then took extremely high resolution, 3D photographs, which allowed them to measure, count and analyze the different microtubule structures.

"I've spent most of my career studying the mitotic spindles of more common cells, like mammalian cells," says Patricia Wadsworth, professor of biology at UMass Amherst and one of the paper's senior authors. "The tools of modern biology allow us to explore more diverse cells, like Naegleria, which is in some ways similar, but also very different."

"People often think of technology driving science," says Fritz-Laylin. "But in this case, the questions we are trying to answer are so fundamental to how life on earth operates, and of such interest to so many scientific specialties, that we needed to assemble an international team of various experts. In this case, collaboration, teamwork and effective communication drove the science."Proportion of mutations in cellular protein drives neurodegeneration

More information: Katrina B. Velle et al, Naegleria's mitotic spindles are built from unique tubulins and highlight core spindle features, Current Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.034

Journal information: Current Biology 

Provided by University of Massachusetts Amherst 

Law enforcement agency reluctant to buy more Tesla Model Y as "they're not a suitable police car" and don't save money

The Tesla Model Y might not be the most practical all-eletric patrol car for police officers (Image: Tyler Casey)

As some police departments around the US add more and more Tesla Model Y vehicles to their respective fleet, others are rather critical of the progressing EV transition as these electric cars are supposedly "too small" and "not designed for police work".

Enrico Frahn, 03/01/2022 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 ...

E-Mobility

 

 

All-electric vehicles like the Tesla Model Y are without a doubt great commuter cars which, over the long term, can save thousands of dollars in gas as they offer considerably lower running costs overall. However, EVs are also rather unproven as law enforcement patrol cars, which is why one department from the state of Washington has now outlined the distinct disadvantages of Tesla vehicles for police use.

According to a report by the local newspaper The Spokesman-Review, the Spokane Police Department plans to buy 64 new vehicles this year and has therefore reviewed the suitability of the Tesla Model Y as a patrol car. Unfortunately, the results of this two-car test run are rather disappointing for the city council which is pushing this EV transition. The law enforcement agency found that the electric SUV is simply not designed for police work and therefore does not provide enough space for police officers and their heavy equipment.

Furthermore, the Tesla Model Y does not provide any costs savings in comparison to regular police cars like the K8 Hybrid, which is the law enforcement counterpart to the civilian Ford Explorer. According to the department's calculations, it costs a whopping US$30,000 to fully outfit the EV as a patrol car, which results in an estimated five-year cost of ownership of US$101,000. The hybrid Ford Explorer on the other hand costs US$99,000 over the same time span.

Although the Tesla Model Y could apparently not convince officers at the Spokane Police Department, officials also noted that there might be better all-electric patrol car alternatives like the new Ford F-150 Lightning in the future. For the upcoming 64 vehicle purchase, however, "there isn't a suitable electric vehicle solution".

Buy the Pulsar Plus Level 2 Electric Vehicle Smart Charger on Amazon

Source(s)

The Spokesman-Review via Jalopnik, Image: Tyler Casey

AUSTRALIA

Iron-ore billionaire starts construction of world's largest hydrogen electrolyser factory

The new plant in Queensland, Australia, is the first part of a planned green manufacturing hub where wind turbines, solar panels, batteries and electrical cables will also be built


Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest (third left) with colleagues at the ceremonial dig that marked the start of construction at Fortescue Future Industries' 2GW electrolyser factory in Queensland.Photo: FFI

28 February 2022 
By Leigh Collins

Construction has begun on iron-ore billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s 2GW electrolyser factory in Queensland, northeast Australia — which will be the largest in the world upon completion in early 2023.
The A$114m ($83m) facility — a 50/50 joint venture between US electrolyser maker Plug Power and Forrest’s company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) — is the first part of the Green Energy Manufacturing Centre (GEM), where FFI plans to eventually produce wind turbines, solar panels, batteries and electrical cables.

GEM is being built at the Aldoga industrial development zone near the coastal city of Gladstone, which is one of the world’s largest coal-exporting ports — due to its proximity to the Bowen Basin, a region that contains Australia’s largest coal reserves.


Australian billionaire Forrest plans $7bn wind, solar and battery plant to green iron ore minesRead more


Iron-ore billionaire Andrew Forrest unveils 15GW green hydrogen project in ArgentinaRead more


ITM raises $343m to boost annual hydrogen electrolyser production to world-leading 5GWRead more

The electrolyser factory, which was only announced in October, will be powered by green energy and use Plug Power’s proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology. PEM electrolysers are more expensive to produce than standard alkaline versions, but are said to be better at dealing with the variable output from wind and solar farms.

FFI claims that the “initial capacity of 2GW per annum” will more than double current global production, but this would only be true if existing electrolyser factories are not operating at full capacity at the beginning of next year.

And while it will be the largest electrolyser factory upon completion, it might not hold that title for long, with the UK's ITM Power and Germany's Thyssenkrupp both announcing plans to expand their production capacity to 5GW by 2024 and 2025, respectively. Norway's Nel also plans to expand its new electrolyser factory to 2GW, but has not said when it hopes to reach this goal.
Article continues below the advert

Giga-scale electrolyser factories have also been announced by France’s McPhy (1GW), Plug Power (1GW in the US and 1GW in South Korea), US manufacturer Cummins (1GW, in a joint venture with Chinese oil giant Sinopec) and India’s Ohmium (500MW, but “expandable to 2GW”).

The first electrolysers built at the GEM factory are due to be deployed at FFI’s own Gibson Island project in Brisbane, Queensland, which aims to produce 50,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year for ammonia production.

FFI says that the 2GW of electrolysers produced annually at the Gladstone factory would be able to produce more than 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen every year.

“The electrolyser facility will see Gladstone become a world leading hub for the manufacture of electrolysers which are vital to the production of green hydrogen – a zero-carbon fuel that will decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy haulage, shipping, aviation, and industry,” said FFI in a statement.

Forrest added: “The world is moving on from fossil fuels and the green industrial revolution is underway. Fortescue Future Industries’ game changing electrolyser facility in Gladstone is putting Queensland at the centre of this revolution, which is creating an entirely new industry and thousands of multi-generational jobs for Australians.”

A 3GW green hydrogen plant is also being planned at the Aldoga industrial development zone — by Stanwell, a power producer owned by the Queensland government, in conjunction with Japanese industrial gases company Iwatani.

Photosynthesis rates are increasing globally due to rising CO2 levels


An analysis of plants at 68 sites around the world finds evidence that rates of photosynthesis have risen since the year 2000

Environment
28 February 2022
By Chen Ly
Photosynthetic rates have risen in recent years
Ryhor Bruyeu/Alamy Stock Photo

Since the early 2000s, the growing level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has led to an increased rate of photosynthesis around the world, climate scientists have found.

Plants produce energy through photosynthesis which takes in CO2 from the atmosphere or from water – a process known as primary production. The rate of this can increase in response to rising concentrations of the gas. This phenomenon is known as the CO2 fertilisation effect.

Now, Chi Chen at the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues have quantified the CO2 fertilisation effect globally for plants on land. The team collected data from 68 sites around the world – with croplands, grasslands and forests – that measured the changes in CO2 concentration in the air directly above the plants between 2001 and 2014.
Join us for a mind-blowing festival of ideas and experiences. New Scientist Live is going hybrid, with a live in-person event in Manchester, UK, that you can also enjoy from the comfort of your own home, from 12 to 14 March 2022. Find out more.

Across the sites, the rate of photosynthesis increased, with an extra 9.1 grams of carbon taken up per square metre per year since 2001. The team calculated that around 44 per cent of this increase can be attributed to enhanced CO2 levels in the atmosphere, while 28 per cent was down to rising temperatures.

The team then combined the data from these sites with satellite data and a global vegetation model to estimate the change over time worldwide. They found that global primary production increased, with an extra 4.4 grams of carbon taken up per square metre by plants every year since 2001.

The difference between the CO2 fertilisation effects at the sites and globally is due to a patchier global distribution of plants and the fact that vegetation regions will vary in productivity.

In recent decades, the total surface area of leaves around the world has increased. “This is largely due to this CO2 fertilisation,” says Chen.

“Plants under elevated CO2 are observed to be more efficient at using water, which often leads to faster growth as water is commonly a limiting resource,” says co-author Trevor Keenan, also at the University of California, Berkeley. “They may also grow faster and sequester more carbon, though other limitations such as nutrients can limit the extent to which increased photosynthesis translates to increased growth.”

However, negative effects of climate change may ultimately offset the CO2 fertilisation effect reported in the study. For example, more frequent and intense droughts due to climate change are adversely affecting plants globally, as are more frequent forest fires and insect outbreaks due to continued warming, says Keenan.

“Although plants are buying us time by taking up more CO2 in response to more CO2 in the atmosphere, it is not nearly enough to stop climate change,” says Keenan. “Reducing emissions is the only way we can prevent continued future warming.”

Journal reference: PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2115627119

How one of Florida’s most beloved animals may be close to climate extinction

Newly obtained documents show how officials pursued plans to remove protections from a beloved animal despite internal warnings about sea level rise

Endangered Key deer wade in a flooded field after 

Hurricane Irma in Big Pine Key, Florida. 

Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

LONG READ 

Jimmy Tobiasfor Type Investigations
Tue 1 Mar 2022 

When Hurricane Irma ravaged south Florida in September 2017 it inundated homes, knocked out electricity for millions and killed more than 30 people.

The devastation was not confined to humans, however.

In the Florida Keys, one of the state’s most beloved animals also took a beating: the Key deer, a small subspecies of white-tailed deer that evolved in peaceful isolation on the islands and is now protected under the Endangered Species Act. Irma drowned them, slammed them into buildings and dragged them out to sea. “With Irma, we probably lost about 30% of the deer,” said Nova Silvy, a zoologist who has studied the deer since the 1960s on Big Pine Key, where most of them live.

Though the deer population has largely bounced back, the hurricane’s toll foreshadowed the dangerous future faced by this animal. In the coming century, the impacts of the climate crisis, especially sea level rise, will probably inundate many of the Florida Keys, including the endangered deer’s core habitat on Big Pine Key and neighboring islands.

Despite this bleak outlook, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which administers the Endangered Species Act, has been working on proposals in recent years that would strip the Key deer of its endangered species status – even as the agency’s own scientists have highlighted the threat of rising sea levels to the deer’s habitat, according to records obtained by the Guardian and Type Investigations.

These efforts began under the Trump administration, which oversaw a concerted effort to remove protections for imperiled species, and they have outraged conservationists as well as some former FWS officials, who have opposed the agency’s attempt to remove protections for the Key deer.

“There are things happening [to the Key deer] down there that would raise flags for any animal,” said Tom Wilmers, a retired FWS biologist who spent years working with the Key deer. “And yet the agency is in denial. I just don’t understand how delisting or downlisting that animal helps anybody.”

More broadly, however, the plight of the Key deer is a window into the Fish and Wildlife Service’s broader failure to adequately protect endangered species threatened by the climate crisis. Most notably, an obscure but consequential legal memo from 2008, signed by top interior department officials at the end of the George W Bush administration, effectively absolves the FWS and other federal agencies that decline to regulate greenhouse gas pollution that harms endangered and threatened animals under the Endangered Species Act. As the law’s leading enforcer, FWS’s inaction is especially consequential.

“We are putting out ten gigatons of carbon emissions per year, plus or minus, and those emissions are causing the planet to warm. And we know as the planet warms a lot of things are happening, from extreme weather events to waterways being ice-free for longer,” said Stuart Pimm, a professor of conservation at Duke University. “They may not be quite as direct as someone going out with a shotgun and killing a bald eagle, but they are every bit as potent a factor in causing species extinctions.”

Presidential administrations have legal latitude to rescind the memo, but neither the Obama nor Trump administrations did so. Now, a group of scientists and conservationists, including Pimm, are calling on the Biden administration to take action by empowering the FWS to better protect imperiled species – not just Key deer, but polar bears, sea turtles and more – from the climate emergency. Until the White House does so, they say, the Endangered Species Act will remain hobbled when it comes to tackling one of the biggest threats that endangered species face.

The Key deer was supposed to be a conservation success story. By the mid-20th century the subspecies had been hunted to near extinction, leaving only a few dozen deer left, when the federal government established a wildlife refuge around Big Pine Key and listed the animal under the Endangered Species Act. From there the little deer made a comeback, and according to surveys conducted in 2020, they now number about 750 individuals or more.

On a windy spring day on Big Pine Key, Chris Bergh, a scientist and the south Florida program manager for the Nature Conservancy, points to the desiccated grey remains of several dead trees. Bergh has studied the impact of sea level rise on the Florida Keys ecosystem for more than 15 years. The pines that once stood here, he said, have retreated as rising ocean water slowly shrinks the precious freshwater pools that sustain the island’s wildlife.

Florida Key deer. Photograph: Papilio/Alamy

Indeed, even before the rising ocean fully drowns the Key deer’s home range, salt water contamination will ruin their drinking holes. Whether in 50 years or 100, the deer’s island habitat is probably doomed – so it would seem the deer are more in need than ever of the federal protections granted under the Endangered Species Act.

But the FWS has taken a different view. On 13 August 2019, its southeast regional director, Leo Miranda, drafted a memo to the agency’s top official at the time, “proposing to delist the Florida Key deer”.

“This determination,” he wrote, “is based on the best available scientific and commercial information, which indicates that the threats to this species have been eliminated or reduced to the point that the species no longer meets the definition of an endangered or threatened species.” He justified his proposal by citing the deer’s high population numbers and arguing that “there are uncertainties regarding what effects changes in sea-level will have on Florida Key deer habitat … before inundation” from rising waters.

A year earlier, though, FWS’s own scientists were already warning that sea level rise could imperil the deer’s habitat. In a draft research paper obtained by the Guardian and Type Investigations, the scientists drew on a range of existing research, including studies conducted by other federal agencies, to conclude that Key West could see between three and nine feet of sea level rise by 2100. In one set of scenarios modeled in that research, low-lying areas in south Florida like Big Pine Key would be mostly inundated between 2060 and 2080. That degree of sea level rise would wipe out the deer’s core habitat.

“The Florida Keys are going underwater due to sea level rise (SLR),” the paper’s authors wrote in an early version of the paper. “All SLR scenarios agree and depict this to happen.” The paper featured an image of what Big Pine Key could look like in the future: a tiny spit of land and a few squat mangrove trees standing above rising waters.

The draft research paper was circulated among agency staff, including Miranda, as early as August 2018. Nevertheless, FWS proceeded with its effort to remove the deer from the endangered species list until late summer 2019, according to documents obtained by Type Investigations and the Guardian through a public records request.

“I don’t know why they would do that – start writing a delisting rule at a point in time where you have the agency staff raising concerns,” said Karimah Schoenhut, a Sierra Club attorney who works on Key deer issues. “Agency scientists were pointing out sea level rise issues, saying there is no way you can delist species.”

An endangered Key deer among the debris after Hurricane Irma, in Big Pine Key. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Eventually, FWS backed away from the delisting plan, after the US Geological Survey found in a report that FWS had failed to take into account research that “would suggest an even greater risk to Key deer and its habitat than included in” FWS’s assessment of the deer’s status. But the agency didn’t entirely give up. Instead, it began planning to downlist the deer from “endangered” to “threatened”, a lesser classification that would not offer as much protection for the imperiled species. Internal communications obtained by the Guardian and Type Investigations show this plan remained a priority for top Trump administration officials at the interior department, but they failed to get the job done before Biden took over.

Last summer, the FWS’s scientific integrity officer concluded that the agency’s official assessment on which it based its downlisting plans did not use the “best available scientific information” and suggested that it should “not be used for decision-making”. As of January 2022, FWS was back at the drawing board, having initiated a new assessment of the Key deer’s status the previous summer, according to a statement the agency sent to the Guardian and Type Investigations. The animal’s future status as an endangered species remains up in the air.

Even if the Key deer does retain some federal protection, however, the FWS’s responsibility to protect animals from rising sea levels remains significantly curtailed – thanks in part to a legal memo issued during the final months of the George W Bush administration.

Observers say the Endangered Species Act could be a powerful tool in the fight against climate change. Under section 7, FWS has the authority to review projects undertaken, funded, or permitted by the federal government if they are likely to harm a protected species. If such projects jeopardize the survival of the species, the agency can force changes or prohibit them altogether. Environmental groups say this gives the FWS leverage to curtail fossil fuel projects or other programs whose emissions contribute to the climate crisis and threaten endangered animals.

In 2008, however, David Bernhardt, the interior department’s top lawyer at the time, signed an internal memo that effectively absolved FWS of responsibility under section 7 to regulate the climate change impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.

The memo stated that: “Where the effects at issue result from climate change potentially induced by [greenhouse gases], a proposed action … is not subject to consultation under the Esa and its implementing regulations.”

The Bernhardt memo now stands as an obstacle to climate action at FWS. It has allowed agencies including the FWS to avoid making tough decisions on greenhouse gas emissions for more than a decade, undermining the government’s ability to control fossil fuel pollution and protect the Key deer, polar bears, shorebirds, sea turtles and other species that face existential danger from melting sea ice, rising temperatures and disappearing habitats. In 2020, for instance, the Trump administration relied in part on the Bernhardt memo to avoid an endangered species consultation on its decision to scrap the Obama-era vehicle emissions standards. (Bernhardt served as interior secretary in the Trump administration.)

Environmental groups hope Biden will change course. In February 2021, a group of top researchers, scientists and academics, including Pimm, wrote Biden asking him to rescind the Bernhardt memo. They urged the agency to more fully consider greenhouse gas pollution as a threat to species protected by the Endangered Species Act. That would mean the climate danger to listed animals like the Key deer could provide a legal basis to apply the Esa in a new way to federally sanctioned fossil fuel projects – this in turn could lead to reform, including to the interior department’s vast oil and gas leasing programs. Fossil fuel production on public lands is the ultimate source of roughly a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

“Climate change is the consummate challenge of our time,” said Dr Steven Amstrup, a signatory on the conservationists’ letter to Biden and chief scientist for Polar Bears International. “The US Fish and Wildlife Service should rescind the Bernhardt memo and, as the Esa requires, start addressing the existential threat greenhouse gas pollution poses to plant and animal species across all habitats.”

In response to questions about its continued use of the memo, the FWS said that “the current state of the science is such that we cannot currently establish a causal connection to tie a particular [greenhouse gas]-emitting project to measurable consequences to specific species or critical habitats”.

Amstrup disputes that rationale. He argues that in some cases, in fact, it is possible to measure the climate impact of specific fossil fuel projects on imperiled species – such as the sea level rise that threatens Key deer, or the declining sea ice that strands polar bears – by analyzing accumulated CO2 concentrations.

The interior department, meanwhile, told the Guardian and Type Investigations that it recognizes “an obligation to consider whether our actions contribute to the climate crisis, including the impacts to threatened and endangered species and their habitats.” It did not say whether it plans to rescind the Bernhardt memo.

“I don’t think the Esa by itself is going to solve the climate crisis,” said Brett Hartl, the government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. But, he added, doing away with the memo “could help support efforts to move [federal agencies] to a much better place”.

Bernhardt, for his part, harshly criticized the letter conservationists sent to Biden.

“Some of the signatories to this letter like former DOI Solicitor John Leshy and former USGS employee Steven Amstrup are longtime activists, who continue to demand unworkable policies, which are not well grounded in the science or the law,” he wrote in a statement. “If successful their efforts will create additional chaos in the Esa interagency consultation process. As a result, I look forward to seeing whether the Biden administration will bend to their will on withdrawing legal opinion when the Obama administration did not.”

Leshy, in response to a request for comment on Bernhardt’s statement, said, “Scientific understanding as well as public consciousness of the close links between climate change and the earth’s rich biodiversity have advanced a great deal since then-Solicitor Bernhardt wrote his opinion in 2008. I expect the Biden administration will take a careful look at the issue his opinion addresses, as it should.”

On Big Pine Key, meanwhile, Nova Silvy continues to observe the Key deer as he has done for more than half a century – watching them rebound from near extinction to become a popular draw for tourists. He even has names for some of them – like Alba, a little doe with white legs. But he thinks the climate crisis is their biggest test yet.

“Unless we can turn it around, I think we are going to be in deep trouble with these deer,” he said. “I mean, I won’t see it – but my daughter may.”

This story was produced in partnership with Type Investigations and supported by the Alicia Patterson Foundation.

50 YRS OF CAPITALI$M IN SPACE

Famous for its moonwatch, Omega lends time to space debris track

March 1, 2022

— For more than 50 years, Omega has helped astronauts keep track of time as they traveled through space and walked on the moon. Now, thanks to a new collaboration, the Swiss watchmaker is lending its timing skills to help track all of the items humanity has placed and left in Earth orbit, ensuring that astronauts can safely navigate through outer space for many years to come.

Omega has partnered with Privateer, which is devoted to making "much-needed enhancements to how we collect and process information about space objects." On Monday (March 1), Privateer debuted Wayfinder, an open-access and near real-time visualization of satellites and debris in Earth orbit. The web-based app features time tracking by Omega.

"We're thrilled to partner with Omega for the launch of Privateer's proprietary knowledge graph technology," Alex Fielding, chief executive officer and chairman of Privateer, said in a statement issued by Omega. "Omega has deep roots in exploration of land, sea and space, and with their support, Privateer will be able to further humankind's exploration and understanding of this ultimate frontier."

First announced in September 2021 by company president and co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, Privateer has largely been working in stealth mode to create what it has called the "Google Maps of space." The launch of Wayfinder marked the first of Privateer's "many small steps" toward creating a sustainable future in space, the company teased on Twitter on Monday.

According to Privateer's website, more than 27,000 pieces of human-made objects are currently being tracked in orbit. That number, however, only reflects items larger than a softball. "The actual quantity of space debris 1mm+ is estimated to be closer to 100 million."

Adding to that are the 24,000 satellites set to be launched over the next decade.

"While this represents great progress for the space economy and human space exploration, it also brings significant risks and challenges," reads Privateer's website. "Our lives depend on what's in space. Even the tiniest of debris, orbiting at 17,000 miles per hour [27,360 k/ph], can damage satellites and disrupt space services that have become essential to our daily lives."

Like the Apollo missions on which Omega's Speedmaster became the first watch to be worn on the moon, Privateer's mission is also led by a crew of three. In addition to Fielding and Wozniak, astrodynamicist and space environmentalist Moriba Jah serves as chief scientist and has guided development of Privateer's technology.

"We must all embrace stewardship as if our lives depended upon it," said Jah. "Because they do."

The level of data collection and modeling needed for such a project like Wayfinder is a monumental undertaking, said Omega president and chief executive Raynald Aeschlimann. Both Omega and Privateer "share an understanding that the clock on space sustainability is ticking, and it's time to act."

"With this new project, we can give back to the planet from the depths of the sea to beyond the skies," said Aeschlimann. "There is also a great synergy between Omega and Privateer. We share an obsessive attention to detail. The inside of a mechanical watch is like a mini universe. Everything needs to operate without obstructions if you want it to work perfectly and endure."

The Privateer partnership comes on the heels of another space debris-focused collaboration by Omega. In January, the watchmaker announced that it is supporting ClearSpace and its efforts to perform the first-ever capture and removal of an uncontrolled space satellite from Earth orbit. In 2020, ClearSpace signed a service contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the first space debris removal mission, planned for 2025.

"Our partnership with Privateer is like finding the final piece in the puzzle," said Aeschlimann.

"Just as the famous Earthrise picture taken from Apollo 8 inspired the start of the green movement, this digital map of humanity's space footprint is sure to play an equally important role in raising awareness for our planet's fragility." 

San Andreas fault line could cause greater earthquakes than first thought, researchers say

Graig Graziosi
Mon., February 28, 2022,

San Andreas fault line could cause greater earthquakes than first thought, researchers say

The San Andreas fault line in California may be capable of producing much larger earthquakes than previously believed.

The findings were published in the journal Geology, and found that earlier assumptions about the scale of possible earthquakes produced by the fault line were underestimates.

According to the research, scientists previously believed that a central section of the fault produced less severe earthquakes than other sections of the fault. However, the study's authors concluded that large magnitude earthquakes are possible in the area and have happened in the past.

The San Andreas Fault is an 800-mile stretch through California where the Pacific and North American tectonic plates meet. The fault runs from north of San Francisco to San Diego.

Researchers previously believed that the largest earthquakes were formed at the ends of the fault, where immense pressure can build over time, releasing in major quakes.

California regularly experiences earthquakes, with southern California logging 10,000 each year. Most of these are minor quakes that are imperceptible to residents of the state. Only about 15 to 20 in the area are greater than a 4.0 each year.

However, major earthquakes have happened, like, the 7.9 magnitude quake that hit San Francisco in 1906, which killed more than 3,000 people. Another 57 people died in 1994 after a 6.7 magnitude quake occurred near Los Angeles.

According to the researchers, the central section of the fault line, which runs through the central coastal region of California, has not had a major earthquake in 2,000 years. However, they found that larger earthquakes had happened in the distant past.

The scientists' analysis determined that rocks in the central fault section had been moved more than five feet, largely due to earthquakes in that region. That equates to earthquakes of a 6.9 magnitude in the past.

"Ultimately, our work points to the potential for higher magnitude earthquakes in central California and highlights the importance of including the central [San Andreas Fault] and other creeping faults in seismic hazard analysis," the study concluded.

Dr Genevieve Coffey, the lead author on the study and an earthquake geologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, told Columbia Climate School news that the findings should alert other researchers to the potential for large earthquaks originating in the region.

"We should be aware that there is this potential, that it is not always just continuous creep," she said

.

'SNL' Used A 60-ft 'Rogue' Wave Off The Coast Of BC As An Opportunity To Troll Canada

Morgan Leet 

Saturday Night Live trolled Canada for a once-in-a-millennium record-breaking rogue wave that was recorded off the coast of B.C.

© Provided by Narcity

As part of the Weekend Update segment, Colin Jost made an undeniably funny joke at the expense of the historic wave.

Hosted by Jost and Michael Che, the sketch news program parodies and comments on current news events — and just took aim at Canada on Saturday.

Jost brought up the rogue wave — also called a killer wave — off the coast of B.C. that made waves globally (pun intended) as the most extreme one ever recorded.

"Researchers have observed a nearly 60-foot-tall rogue wave off the coast of British Columbia, which is the largest ever recorded," Jost said.

"Researchers believe the wave was generated when yo mama fell overboard," he joked.

Even Jost couldn't resist a cringe face after he said it, eventually laughing at the classic burn.

The massive rogue wave was actually not, in fact, created by someone's mama falling overboard. It was measured near Ucluelet, B.C., by MarineLabs.

MarineLabs says that the 17.6-metre rogue wave was "the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded" and was as tall as a four-story building.

The wave was recorded back in November 2020 but has made headlines recently after being the subject of a scientific report published on February 2, 2022, by researchers from the University of Victoria.

Rogue waves are at least double the height of the waves around them, and are also called "freak or killer waves," says the MarineLabs website.

Because they happen unexpectedly and are so large, they are actually super dangerous.

This rogue wave in Ucluelet was almost three times bigger than the waves around it. The website adds that the probability of a wave like this happening is "once in 1,300 years."

World Chess Changes Logo to Anti-War Version

Russia attacked Ukraine. We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe that appears to be as painful as it is unnecessary. We very much hope for a peaceful solution. We changed our logo into a sign of peace to show our support for Ukraine and as a call for an immediate ceasefire.

While the war is taking place in Ukraine, World Chess will use the anti-war logo in all of its broadcasts and will join the chess community and the world in calling for peace.

‘Disgrace’: Photo reveals chess world divided by Russia-Ukraine crisis

The chess world has been riven with division over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the sport’s main governing body taking a stand.

Andrew Backhouse
  @andytwit123

March 2, 2022

Sergey Karjakin (right) sits next to Magnus Carlsen of Norway during a press
conference in 2016 in New York. Picture: AFP

German chess grand master Georg Meier responded by calling the Russian a

 “disgrace to the chess world.”

A photo of a Ukrainian chess player with a weapon is symbolic of a crisis that has gripped the chess world since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week.

FIDE, the governing body of international chess, has announced it is essentially banning Russian players from tournaments after it held an extraordinary meeting on Sunday.

“No official FIDE chess competitions and events will be held in Russia and Belarus,” FIDE said in a statement.

“Following the call from IOC, the FIDE Council decides that no Russian and Belarusian national flag be displayed or anthem be played in all FIDE-rated international chess events.”

The 2022 Chess Olympiad, that was scheduled to take place in July, will not take place in Russia as previously planned.

Captain of the Ukrainian national chess team Oleksandr Sulypa. Picture: Twitter

The war has been incredibly divisive for the chess community. Notable players like US grand master Hikaru Nakamura and others have publicly supported Ukraine, raising money for charity on Twitch.

Nakamura wrote: “It has been many years since I was in Ukraine, but to see what is happening now is heartbreaking. Stay strong.”

Captain of the Ukrainian national chess team Oleksandr Sulypa posted a photo on Twitter, holding a weapon, indicating he was ready to fight.

Russian Sergey Karjakin has been outspoken on social media, defending his country’s actions and drawing sharp criticism from the chess world.

Karjakin, who unsuccessfully challenged world chess champion Magnus Carlsen for the crown in 2016, came under fire for an anecdote he posted on Twitter.

“Taxi driver in Dubai: -Where are you from? – from Russia – Russia is great! Our Prime Minister is there now! In a few years we will be close friends with Russia! We are not so stupid as Ukraine!” he posted in the now-deleted tweet.

Krjakin, who formerly represented Ukraine, sparked a firestorm with his tweet but hasn’t backed down.

He slammed FIDE’s move, writing, “For many years, [FIDE] has existed on Russian money. World cups, World Championship matches, candidates tournaments. Everything was sponsored by Russia. With its decisions, FIDE will worsen the situation of chess players all over the world.”

FIDE sanctioned Karjakin for his comments.

“FIDE Council condemns any public statement from any member of the chess community which supports unjustified military action and brings the case of chess grand masters Sergey Karjakin and Sergey Shipov to the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission,” the body said.

Karjakin also lashed out at chess website Chess24, writing: “What was originally a chess portal continues to be cowardly silent. Forgetting that I spent a dozen streams there, where I played with everyone. Chess24 doesn’t exist for me anymore.”

Magnus Carlsen posted a message from Chess24 stating the site was “devastated” by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and that it “strongly condemned” the attack.

An article posted by Chess24 stated that FIDE “appears to be riven with division over” the invasion and noted the “organisation is largely funded by Russian corporate donors and Russian sponsors such as Gazprom and Nornickel.”

French Chess Federation organizes “Chess for Mental Health” conference
by ChessBase

2/28/2022 – In the second week of March, the French capital will host the “Chess for Mental Health” international event. The conference will cover various topics related to mental health, including autism, DYS, concentration, hyperactivity. The event’s keynote is how chess can improve multiple aspects of mental health.


Focusing on Autistic Spectrum Disorder

In the second week of March, the French capital will host the “Chess for Mental Health” international event, a joint effort of FIDE, the French Chess Federation (FFE), Imagine Institute, Teladoc Health and AESIO Mutuelle.

In 2021, FIDE organized two virtual conferences dedicated to introducing chess to children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and we are happy that more and more institutions are turning towards embracing the benefits of chess for mental health. The Infinite Chess Project is one of the key social initiatives of FIDE, and it aims to enhance knowledge and awareness about chess for children with ASD, give practical advice for teachers and parents, study the benefits of introducing chess and develop teaching methods. A huge part of the upcoming conference will be dedicated to the topic of ASD, with trainers sharing their practical experience.

Eloi Relange, the President of FFE, explained:


Among its many assets, the game of chess brings many benefits in the service of mental health. Achievements and projects are multiplying at the international level. The French Chess Federation is proud to invite you to this international conference organized by our Health Social Disability Commission and our International Commission.

The conference will cover various topics related to mental health, including autism, DYS, concentration, hyperactivity. The event’s keynote is how chess can improve multiple aspects of mental health.

The list of speakers includes:
Eloi Relange, FFE President
Franck Droin, FFE, President of the “Health Social Handicap” Commission
Franck Belivier, Ministry of Health and Solidarity
Dana Reiniece-Ozola, FIDE Managing Director
Claire Compagnon, Prime Minister Services Interministerial Delegate Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Devora Kestel, World Health Organization Director, Mental Health and Substance Use
Maurice Bensoussan, President of the Psychiatric French Society and President of CNQSP FFE, “Health Social Handicap”

Towards the second hour of the conference, Anastasia Sorokina, FIDE Vice President and leader of the Infinite Chess project, will open the discussion on chess for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, followed by presentations and practical advice from Natalia Popova, Trainer of the FIDE Chess Academy in Belarus, leader of the 2-year-long project teaching chess to children with ASD, Ala Mishchanka, Special needs educational assistant with more than 15 years of experience, Luis Blasco De La Cruz of FIDE’s Commission for Chess in Education, María Rodrigo Yanguas, WFM and a sports psychologist, Erick Takawira, Director of the KZN Chess Academy, and Kanthi Devi Sarjoo, speech/language pathologist/audiologist from the Browns’ School. Chess Trainer Emmanuel Nieman, Eric Desailly of Foundation Ellen Poidatz, François Lescure, President of Teladoc Health France, and Sophie Krief, CEO of AESIO Mutuelle, will talk about the French experience.

Finally, Aurélie Renard-Vignelles, Edith Jebob Duvernet, Maxence Augier, and Dr Maurice Bensoussan will discuss troubles of DYS, concentration, and hyperactivity.
"Chess for Mental Health" Conference Program (pdf)

To participate in the Chess for Mental Health international conference, please fill out the registration form.

Links
News on the FIDE website

Ex-convict Hector Guifarro: “Chess helped me in so many ways”

Damion Coppedge: Prison, Poetry, Buddhism and Chess

Harvard mathematician solves 150-year-old chess problem

by Frederic Friedel

2/28/2022 – You know the problem: can you place eight queens on a chessboard so that now two queens threaten each other. There are 92 distinct ways of doing this. But how about on larger chessboards? For 27×27 board people have worked out that there are exactly 234,907,967,154,122,528 ways. Now a Harward mathematician Michael Simkin has come up with an almost-definitive answer for any number queens on a corresponding chessboard. Warning: his result can lead to dizziness and fainting spells.


It is known as the eight queens puzzle and was first brought up in a German chess magazine in 1848 – by one Max Friedrich William Bezzel. The problem entails placing eight queens on a chessboard so that no two queens threaten each other. The problem is fairly easy to solve – even a rank beginner should be able to construct a position that fulfils the requirement.

But how many solutions are there to the problem? Below are twelve fundamentally distinct solutions (source: Wiki). Most of the positions have eight variants which you can get by rotating them 90, 180, or 270° and reflecting each them. However, one of the fundamental solutions, the last one shown below, is identical to its own 180° rotation, and has only four variants.



So it turns out that the total number of distinct solutions is 92, as was soon conclusively established. But then the question arose: in how many different ways could queens be placed on larger boards? How many ways are there to place n queens on an n x n board so that no queen attacks another queen?

It turns out that there is no known formula to work this out. For a 9x9 board there are 352 distinctive ways, on a 10 x 10 board it is 724. The largest board for which an exact solution has been worked out is the 27×27 board. There are exactly 234,907,967,154,122,528 different way to place the 27 queens so none attacks any other. Working it out was a very laborous task.

How about larger numbers, e.g. 1000 queens on a 1000 x 1000 board? Or a million queens on a million square board? It was a problem that fascinated mathematicians. In 2021 Michael Simkin found a way to calculate the result for very large numbers of n. He has worked on the problem for almost five years, applying breakthroughs from the field of combinatorics, which focuses on counting and problems of selection and arrangements. He calculated that there are about (0.143n)n ways the queens can be placed on giant n-by-n chessboards. This final equation doesn’t provide the exact number, but it is as close to the actual result as anyone can get right now. You can read about it in greater detail in this Harward Gazette story. There we learn what the formula implies:

On the extremely large chessboard with one million queens, for example, 0.143 would be multiplied by one million, coming out to about 143,000. That figure would then be raised to the power of one million, meaning it’s multiplied by itself one million times. The final answer is a figure with five million digits.

A bit of advice to our readers: do not try to list all these positions. It would take too long.

Also read
ScienceAlert article: A Harvard Mathematician Has Basically Solved an Epic, 150-Year-Old Chess Problem

LiveScience: Mathematician cracks 150-year-old chess problem

Many more articles
Simkin's paper on the solution is available on the preprint server arXiv.

or if you are really interested: listen to this one-hour discussion at the Copenhagen-Jerusalem Combinatorics Seminar: