France’s Senate passes controversial reform to pension system

By Euronews with AFP • Updated: 12/03/2023 - 

France's Senate passed a controversial reform to the country's pension system by 195 votes to 112 late Saturday night.

It means the government's package to raise the pension age from 62 to 64 is another step towards becoming law.

Gérard Larcher, the French Senate president, announced: "We have reached the end of this very dense debate in which everyone has spoken. Since Thursday, March 2, we have sat continuously for ten days and almost as many nights for a total of more than 100 hours of debate. We have registered a record number of amendments and sub-amendments: 8,900 in total."


Protesters in France urge President Macron to scrap pension reform plans

French Senators had already voted on Thursday in favour of a decisive article of the bill.

The text must now be agreed upon during a joint committee on Wednesday 15 March. If deputies and senators approve the text, it will have to be validated on Thursday 16 first in the Senate and then in the National Assembly.

This last vote, if positive, will be considered as final adoption by the Parliament.

Demonstrators march throughout France against the pension reform for the 7th time, at the call of the unions who are counting on a new show of force at the start of a decisive week

Saturday's vote came hours after hundreds of thousands of people marched in protest in rallies across the country, although in significantly fewer numbers than expected.

These protests, now in their seventh consecutive day, have also severely disrupted public transport routes as various unions called for rolling stoppages in certain sectors to keep pressure on the senate to revise the reform and on President Emmanuel Macron to change his plans.

THE DRUIDS KNEW

How A "Climatic Memory" Gene Helps Trees Face Environmental Threat

Humans and animals have strategies to deal with their surroundings, including the impacts of climate change. But what about trees? Researchers in Spain have identified mechanisms in plant life to learn over time from unfavorable environmental situations.

Tree brain?

GDJ

March 11, 2023

OVIEDO — When it doesn't rain, humans look for water under rocks. Throughout history, we have developed more or less effective techniques (and more or less respectful of the environment) to always have something to drink. Reservoirs, wells or desalination plants help us, when available, to cope with periods of drought.

Animals also have strategies to deal with lack of water, such as moving (sometimes long distances) in search of new reserves or reducing hydration needs by lowering physical activity.

But how does a tree survive?

These living beings are anchored to the same place, where they spend tens, hundreds and even thousands of years. For this reason, their strategies to deal with stressful situations, such as a drought, a heat wave or a plague, are very different from those of animals.

New research has discovered something incredible: trees have a kind of climatic memory in their genes.

Plants transmitting information

“We humans have many resources to deal with these situations, from fight or flight, to building tools and shelters," says Lara García-Campa, a researcher in plant physiology at the University of Oviedo in northern Spain. "Animal survival lies to a large extent in experience, which allows us a better evaluation, anticipation and response to a risk. And this experience is based on memory.”

García-Campa explains that while plants have neither the ability to move, nor complex memory based on a nervous system like that of animals, "they have simpler systems at the cellular level, which trigger different strategies than those of animals."

The latest research published by García-Campa and other researchers from University of Oviedo has concluded that trees have mechanisms to remember unfavorable environmental situations, respond better and better to stressful situations, and transmit this information to their offspring.

The meaning of adaptation

The first time we touch fire, we burn. But most likely this will not happen again. Human beings, like many other species, remember the situation and its negative consequences in order to avoid them in the future. In fact, it is very likely that this first contact with fire never happened. Our parents or grandparents have warned us about the probabilities of burning ourselves and transmitted information as part of a memory collective that is accumulating useful knowledge for our species.

Human memory is based on a complex nervous system that plants lack. However, this does not mean that they do not have their own systems to transfer information internally and between generations.

They remember to learn from the past and reduce future damage.

The study of the memory of plants, of their ability to retain information from past stimuli and respond to them in the future, has shown that plants have different mechanisms to remember. They are very different mechanisms from those of animals, but they pursue the same objective: learning to adapt to changes.

Some plants, for example, reduce or increase the concentration of a certain chemical in certain tissues in response to a stressful event. They maintain this concentration for a period of time and use it as a signal for a recovery response.

Others exhibit epigenetic responses, modifying the way their genes are expressed to respond more effectively to future stress situations. "Whenever we talk about adaptation, we should understand it as a coordination of several processes rather than one of them taking the lead," explains García-Campa.

This research at the University of Oviedo has deepened the knowledge of a new genetic response that trees use to remember unfavorable environmental situations such as heat waves or periods of drought. This mechanism allows them to better respond to successive unfavorable periods, increasingly frequent in the context of climate change, and transmit the "knowledge" to their offspring.

"Plants are capable of perceiving, remembering, and learning from negative experiences in order to better deal with them the next time they occur."

Bill Booth

Remembering the past to prepare for the future

"When plants perceive stress for the first time, they set off alarms, like any other living being," says García-Campa. "In the first place, general response mechanisms are activated, which are sufficient to face low stress levels. These mechanisms mainly try to prevent oxidative damage in the cell and to maintain the integrity of the different structures and organelles that make up the cells. But if the stress is more intense, a molecular machinery is activated with more advanced and, generally, more specific responses."

As García-Campa explains, this response is based on activating specific genes that until then were asleep and on modifying the way in which these genes are transcribed (translated into proteins) through a mechanism known as alternative splicing.

"This process can originate different proteins from the same gene," she points out. "In the same way that when we prepare a recipe we must adapt it to the ingredients we have, cells, through transcription and alternative splicing, can adapt the functioning of genes so that they respond better in certain situations."

Once the drought or heat wave passes, plants remember this and maintain a small number of alternative genetic forms, allowing them to respond quickly and efficiently when the situation repeats itself in the future. That is, they remember to learn from the past and reduce future damage.

Close to the point of no return

The University of Oviedo study was carried out in pine trees, but the mechanism has been described in other species, which makes the researchers think that it is probably somewhat widespread. "Therefore, plants, just like animals, are capable of perceiving, remembering, and learning from negative experiences in order to better deal with them the next time they occur," adds García-Campa.

That's because it is most likely that they will appear again. According to the special report on land and climate change from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the health and functioning of both individual trees and forest ecosystems are being affected with increased frequency, severity and duration by extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts and floods.

Unfortunately we are close to a point of no return.

In addition, they are vulnerable to new pests and diseases that increase their range as temperatures rise, as well as being affected by longer fire seasons.

“Plant cells have great cellular plasticity and are able to cope with adverse conditions and learn from them. But investing efforts in alleviating stress also has negative physiological consequences such as slowing down growth," concludes García-Campa.

“In addition, climate change is faster than the rate of adaptation of plants, so unfortunately we are close to a point of no return in which environmental reality exceeds the maximum capacity of acclimatization of many species. We must not forget our responsibility to ourselves and to future generations now that we still have time and can take giant steps towards a more sustainable world

Plant Memory Discovered: Turns out they can make memories ›

Are Plants Intelligent? Science is Beginning to Think So ›

'Mother Trees' Are Intelligent: They Learn and Remember - Scientific ... ›

Laura Valentina Cortés Sierra

LA MAREA

ENGLISH EDITION • WORLDCRUNCH

Explainer | Who is Chinese economist Yi Gang, the US-educated governor of the People’s Bank of China?

Since 2018, central bank governor Yi Gang has led financial reforms and debt reduction, while maintaining a prudent monetary stance

Educated in the US, Yi has also been responsible for raising China’s profile on the global stage and continuing its opening to the world


Orange Wang
Published:12 Mar, 2023

Yi Gang, right, with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Photo: AP

As a foreign-educated economist who once had tenure as a distinguished professor at a US university, Yi Gang cuts a distinct figure among China’s army of beige bureaucrats.

And he has unexpectedly secured a second five-year term as head of the central bank, extending his leadership role despite having reached retirement age this year. This gives him the chance to serve longer than usual, and it is particularly eye-catching given that the country has ushered in a mostly new administration under President Xi Jinping.

Yi, the 65-year-old governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), is considered in Beijing to be a straight-talking, pro-market reformer with a scholarly air. Respected for his knowledge of monetary economics, he is also well known for his low-key and balanced work style.

Though he has a comparatively low rank in China’s political hierarchy, Yi has a long working relationship with former vice-premier Liu He, who was once the president’s closest economic adviser, dating back to the late 1990s.

China’s central bank and finance chiefs retain spots in cabinet shake-up
12 Mar 2023


Fluent in English, Yi gained his PhD in economics in the United States and taught the same subject as an associate professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis – an institution he has called his “second home” and at which he worked for about eight years before returning to China in 1994.

The central bank under Yi has refrained from big stimulus measures and held consumer inflation at only 2 per cent last year – a sharp contrast with the 40-year-high inflation seen in major Western countries. He was also tasked with countering financial turbulence when the country saw a massive exodus of capital last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Yi said earlier this month that the central bank would maintain a prudent monetary policy and continue to address financial risks.

“We will further create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalised world-class business environment and steadily expand institutional opening up in the financial sector,” he said at a press conference on March 3, just prior to the opening of the “two sessions” parliamentary meetings.

Before taking the helm of the PBOC in 2018, Yi had worked at the Chinese central bank for two decades, including spending more than eight years as deputy governor under Zhou Xiaochuan – known as “Mr Renminbi” for his tireless promotion of the Chinese currency.

But despite his qualifications, the appointment of his first five-year term as China’s top central banker surprised some China-watchers, as it seemed to break an unspoken rule that someone with an overseas background should never be named a leading government official.

Others saw it differently: with Beijing determined to raise its profile on the global stage, while also maintaining policy stability at home, Yi was the obvious choice.

Since 2018, Yi – who closely studied inflation in the 1990s – has maintained a prudent stance on monetary policy, refraining from aggressive stimulus during the pandemic, and not sharply tightening like his Western counterparts have done in recent months to combat inflation.

Foreign investors react as Fed’s ‘renewed hawkish’ stance hits emerging markets
11 Mar 2023


On Yi’s watch, the PBOC has accelerated financial reforms, such as introducing the Loan Prime Rate (LPR), which sought to establish more market-based interest rates.

He called for “competitive neutrality” in regards to China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in his first year, responding to Western criticism about the unlevel playing field that has long given state firms an edge over foreign firms operating in China.

He has also stepped up efforts to expand international use of the yuan over the past four years and brought China’s digital currency initiative to the forefront. The country is now leading the race among global central banks in the field.

Under his leadership, the PBOC has accelerated China’s financial opening, lifting the ceiling on foreign ownership of financial institutions and expanding the bond-connect schemes between the mainland and Hong Kong.

But despite such positive steps being taken, market-access barriers, regulatory risks and geopolitical tensions still constrain foreign businesses in China.

China’s constitution does not limit the term of its central bank governor, but it bars premiers, vice-premiers and state councillors of the State Council from serving more than two consecutive terms. Yi’s predecessor, Zhou Xiaochuan, spent 15 years at the helm of the institution, since he still held a vice-state-level post at that time.

In recent years, China’s central bank has taken a lead role in Beijing’s deleveraging campaign, including on high-profile debt cases at Baoshang Bank and property developer Evergrande Group.

As China thaws out its property sector, can it light a fire under the economy?
20 Feb 2023


Though Yi is responsible for running the PBOC, he does not have the final say in its strategic direction. The role of PBOC party secretary was awarded to Guo Shuqing, who is also head of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Yi Gang was no longer in the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party after the 20th Party Congress, meaning he has been away from the country’s nerve centre of policy discussion and development. He was only an alternate member of the Central Committee during the past five years, with no right to vote in plenary sessions.

Born in 1958, Yi’s surprise second term might help mitigate worries about the outlook of China’s monetary policy and Chinese financial policymakers’ international engagement. But who becomes the next party chief of the PBOC, a more preponderant position, remains to be seen.

Either way, Yi has left his mark on the job.

Officials like Yi Gang ... have a lot of friends overseas

Victor Shih, University of California San Diego

In the spring of 2015, while deputy PBOC governor and director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Yi granted a media interview when taking the subway in Beijing.

In China, where government statements are closely scripted and information is tightly controlled, Yi’s off-the-cuff reply became a much-talked-about story at the time, and it hinted at the leadership style he would bring to the PBOC in the years to come.

“Officials like Yi Gang have had a lot of international exposure from early on in their careers,” said Victor Shih, an associate professor of political economy at the University of California San Diego, while speaking at an Atlantic Council event last week.

“They have a lot of friends overseas, which for the party is a little bit problematic, but for China, they really bring a lot to the table, because they’re able to … very comfortably talk to international investors, and international financial institutions such as the IMF, and negotiate with them for various things that China would like to have.”



Orange Wang
covers the Chinese macroeconomy, and has many years of experience with China's monetary and fiscal policy moves. He also covered global market and financial news for a long time, with a particular focus on new technologies and their influences on economic growth and society. Before joining the South China Morning Post, Orange worked as a Shanghai Correspondent for ET Net, a Hong Kong financial news agency.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco notches up nearly £134bn profit in 2022

12 March 2023

Saudi Aramco Oil Company. Picture: PA

The firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co, said in its annual report that higher crude oil prices propelled its profits.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco has reported that it made a 161 billion US dollar (£133.8 billion) profit last year.

The firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co, said in its annual report that higher crude oil prices propelled its profits.

It made the announcement on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange.

In 2021, Aramco declared profits of 110 billion dollars (£91.4 billion), compared with 49 billion dollars (£40.7 billion) in 2020 when the world faced the worst of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, travel disruptions and oil prices briefly going negative.

Benchmark Brent crude oil now trades at around 82 dollars (£68) a barrel, though prices had reached more than 120 dollars (£100) a barrel in June.

Aramco, whose fortunes hinge on global energy prices, announced a record 42.4 billion dollars (£35.2 billion) profit in the third quarter of 2022 on the back of that price spike.

Those high prices have further strained ties between the kingdom and the United States, traditionally a security guarantor among the Gulf Arab states amid tensions with Iran.

Before the mid-term elections in November, the kingdom said Biden administration had sought to delay a decision by Opec and allies including Russia to cut production which could have kept fuel prices lower for voters – making public the typically behind-the-scenes negotiations common in the region.

President Joe Biden had warned the kingdom that “there’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done” in terms of oil prices.

However, those consequences have yet to be seen as Saudi Arabia and Iran went to China to strike a diplomatic deal on Friday.

US petrol prices now stand on average at 3.47 dollars (£2.88) a gallon, down about a dollar from last year.

An Aramco oil facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Amr Nabil/AP)

Saudi Arabia’s vast oil resources, located close to the surface of its desert expanse, make it one of the world’s least expensive places to produce crude.

For every 10 dollar (£8.30) rise in the price of a barrel of oil, Saudi Arabia stands to make an additional 40 billion dollars (£33.2 billion) a year, according to the Institute of International Finance.

Shares in Aramco stood at 8.74 dollars (£7.26) on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange before it opened on Sunday, down from a high of 11.55 dollars (£9.60) a share in the last year.

However, that current price still gives Aramco a valuation of 1.9 trillion dollars (£1.6 trillion) – making it the world’s second-most valuable company behind only Apple.

The Saudi government still owns the vast majority of the firm’s shares.

By Press Association

Thai women activists end hunger strike, vow to keep up fight

Two Thai women activists have given up their hunger strike of more than seven weeks and say they'll continue their fight for political and judicial reforms

ByKAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA 

Associated Press

March 11, 2023,

BANGKOK -- Two Thai women activists gave up their hunger strike of more than seven weeks, announcing Saturday they have decided it is better to live so they can continue their unfinished fight for political and judicial reforms.

Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon, 21, and Orawan “Bam” Phuphong, 23, had been on hunger strike since Jan. 18, much of that time refusing water as well. Refusing all liquids in addition to food can cause permanent injury and even death if carried on for an extended period, and doctors several times had announced they were seriously at risk.

“Tawan and Bam would like to announce to the public that they have ended their hunger strike and will accept treatment to use their lives in continuing their fight as there has been no response from the court," said a statement released on their behalf on social media.

It said the two are now in a hospital under close medical supervision because of concern for damage the hunger strike might have caused to their kidneys and other organs. It added that they are responding well and fully conscious.

The activists are among at least 233 people who have been charged since November 2020 with violating the lese majeste law, which carries a prison term of three to 15 years for insulting or defaming top members of the monarchy. Critics say the law, also known as Article 112, is often wielded as a tool to quash political dissent.

Student-led pro-democracy protests beginning in 2020 openly criticized the monarchy, previously a taboo subject, leading to vigorous prosecutions under the law, which had previously been relatively rarely employed. The protest movement faded due to government harassment and the coronavirus pandemic.

In January, a court sentenced a 27-year-old activist to 28 years in prison for posting messages on Facebook that it said defamed the monarchy. Last week, another man was sentenced to two years in prison for selling calendars featuring satirical cartoons of yellow ducks that a court said mocked Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Tantawan and Orawan were charged with lese majeste for conducting public polls on whether people felt bothered by royal motorcades, which can lead to road closures and heavy traffic. They also face other charges such as sedition and refusing to comply with the authorities.

The two had been free on bail when they announced in mid-January that they were revoking their own release to return to prison in solidarity with others held pending trial on the same charge. They issued demands including reform of the justice system, the release of political prisoners and the restoration of civil liberties by abolishing legislation such as the lese majeste law.

Tantawan and Orawan were granted temporary release last month when their health deteriorated but they refused to formally recognize it and continued their hunger strike camped out in front of Thailand’s Supreme Court.

At the same time, the courts continued to turn down appeals for freedom on bail of their imprisoned comrades.

Opposition political parties had offered support for some of the hunger strikers’ demands, but they and other sympathizers at the same time implored the women to save themselves.

Several expressed approval on social media Saturday of the decision to end their strike.

“The announcement to end the hunger strike by #TawanBam is not a defeat. The dictatorship is not worth the lives of young people,” Jiraporn Sindhuprai, a lawmaker from the Pheu Thai Party, said in a Twitter post. “The word hero for this country does not always come with justice. I ask my two young sisters to look after their lives and remain an important part of the people’s fight.”

March 11 agreement is major achievement of Kurdish liberation movement: KDP Leader Masoud Barzani

President Barzani reaffirmed that the agreement was the product of the struggle and sacrifices of the Peshmerga, and all communities in the Kurdistan Region.

President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Masoud Barzani. (Photo: KDP)

ERBIL ( Kurdistan 24 ) –President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, issued a statement commemorating the 53rd anniversary of the March 11 Agreement between the Kurdish leadership and the former Iraqi regime.

“The March 11 agreement is one of the achievements of the Kurdish liberation movement,” President Barzani said. The significance of this historical occassion is that the Kurdish people, under the leadership of Mullah Mustafa Barzani, forced the Iraqi regime to officially recognize the rights of our people for the first time.

President Barzani reaffirmed that the agreement was the product of the struggle and sacrifices of the Peshmerga, and all communities in the Kurdistan Region.

He also explained that although the Iraqi regime turned its back on the rights of the Kurdish people and violated the March 11 agreement, this achievement was a gateway to greater successes of our people's struggle.

Moreover, President Barzani emphasized the peacefulness of the Kurdish people and determination to never concede their rights or freedoms.

The 1970 agreement came after 11 years of intense conflict between the Kurdish Peshmerga, led by the legendary Mustafa Barzani, and the then-Iraqi regime.

According to the agreement, the Iraqi regime, for the first time, recognized Kurdish political and cultural rights, including granting administrative autonomy, adding Kurdish studies to the education curriculum, and permitting Kurdish officials to participate in the then-Iraqi government.

The Kurdistan Region recognizes March 11 as a national holiday in honor of the historic occasion.

Inside Turkey’s post-earthquake homelessness crisis 

BBC News Mar 11, 2023 

Earthquake survivors are living on the streets in Turkey, one month on from the devastating earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people across southern Turkey and northern Syria.

The BBC’s Middle East correspondent Anna Foster investigates Turkey’s emerging homelessness crisis and the anger over unsafe buildings.

UK plans 11 billion sterling business tax break in budget - Bloomberg News

Sat, Mar 11, 2023, 

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt talks to a television crew outside the BBC headquarters in London

(Reuters) - British finance minister Jeremy Hunt will hand businesses a three-year tax break worth 11 billion pounds ($13.23 billion) by replacing the UK's investment allowance with a temporary measure in next week's budget, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing a government official with knowledge of the matter.

Hunt will limit the relief to three years and propose a permanent replacement in the ruling Conservative Party's manifesto before the next election, the report said.

Under this replacement full-expensing regime, companies will continue to save 25 pence on their tax bill for every 1 pound invested, the report said. A previously announced increase in the headline rate of corporation tax, to 25% from 19%, is due to come into force in April.

"For the manufacturing industry... those capital allowances work, so I would say, we do want to bring down our effective corporation tax, the total amount people pay," Hunt said earlier today in a GB News interview, referring to measures which allow companies to offset capital expenditure against their tax bill.

Hunt is due to present his budget on Wednesday.

($1 = 0.8314 pounds)

(Reporting by Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Mike Harrison)

The palaeontologist who fell in love with an ancient Homo heidelbergensis jawbone fossil

ABC Science / By Carl Smith for Strange Frontiers on the Science Show

Dr Eck with the jawbone so precious it's normally stored in a locked vault.

(ABC Science: Carl Smith

"The first time I met him, I was like, 'Oh, wow, yeah!'"

It was a "meet cute" in the basement of a nondescript university building, and palaeontologist Kristina Eck was instantly head over heels.

"I fell in love, I have to admit," Dr Eck says with a wistful smile.

But the object of her affection wasn't really "human" as we know it today.

In fact, "he's" not even alive.

"He" is a roughly 610,000-year-old mandible — a lower jawbone — from one of our ancient human cousins.

A year after its discovery, the jawbone was formally classified as belonging to a new human species.(ABC Science: Carl Smith)

Their relationship is not a traditional love story, but it profoundly affected Dr Eck.

"He's a friend of mine."

Which is why she began calling "him" a "he" instead of "it" — even though Dr Eck admits this mandible could have come from a man or a woman.

Why 'he' is kept in a hidden vault

Dr Eck first met the mandible when she took over as curator of the University of Heidelberg's Institute of Geosciences Museum in 2008.

"My first love was dinosaurs," she says.

"And then I got to this institute. And yeah, this bone!"

The mandible was found in 1907 near Heidelberg, a city in the west of Germany, near the French border and just north of the Black Forest.

Sandpit Grafenrain where the mandible was found in the early 1900s. The small white cross (lower centre) indicates its location.

(Supplied: Homo heidelbergensis von Mauer e.V.)

At the time, the discovery of the mandible shook the branches of the early human evolutionary tree, and it still causes much scientific debate today.

After Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) and Homo erectus, the jawbone marked only the third ancient human species discovered.


"So it's a very important thing for palaeontology," Dr Eck says.

As museum curator, she looked after the collection and its prized specimen.

And only curators are allowed to see where the mandible is stored.

She recently stepped down from the job but she's back to visit the new curator — and to check on her old friend, the jawbone.

The mandible's kept behind several security doors in the collections room, where there are rows of sealed floor-to-ceiling storage cupboards and not much natural light.

It even has its own specially constructed vault.

There's a good reason for the extra precautions.

"Unfortunately, we know from the past that there are people trying to get these," says Martina Schmalholz, who recently took over from Dr Eck as museum curator.

But Dr Eck can describe where it's kept.

"He has his own room because he's so famous and so unique," she says.

"And it's a really dark room because it should be safe from UV light."

The mandible sits in the centre of this room in an old safe with "really thick walls and there's only one key".

Dr Eck heads inside to unlock the vault and retrieve the mandible.

She reappears holding a special metal transportation case, and heads off towards a clean room.

The mandible also has its own portable metal case, secured with a code. You can glimpse part of the museum’s collections room beyond.

(ABC Science: Carl Smith)

The Heidelberg holotype

Storing an old jawbone under such tight security might seem like overkill, but the mandible is essentially priceless to scientists.

"They are really, really rare," Dr Eck says.

"I could put all [of the early] human fossils, which were found all over the world. in my car.

"[So] every human fossil is stored like [this one]."

And this mandible is even more prized than many other early human fossils.

It comes from a mysterious ancient human species called Homo heidelbergensis.

Homo heidelbergensis is believed to be a vital and recent link between the hominin species that left Africa, and both modern humans and Neanderthals.

And this mandible is the so-called "holotype" or "type specimen" — the first evidence of this species found, and the example used to describe Homo heidelbergensis.

The fossilised mandible is thicker than that of a modern human's.(ABC Science: Carl Smith)

One chunk of jawbone might not seem like enough to describe a species, but Dr Eck says a complete mandible is plenty.

"We rarely find more than one bone.

"A whole skeleton? That's a dream.

"There are ancient humans which are only based on a tooth, for example."

She gingerly lifts the mandible out of the metal case, removing sections of cushioning and plastic wrapping.

"It would be a nightmare if anything happens to this fossil."

Dr Eck uses gloves to carefully remove the mandible from its travel case.

(ABC Science: Carl Smith)

What do we know about this species?

Based on its current classification, sometime around 600,000 years ago, Homo heidelbergensis diverged from its ancestor Homo erectus.

Although much of early human history is murky and contentious, many anthropologists believe populations of Homo heidelbergensis established in Africa and Europe.

These populations appear to have spawned modern humans and Neanderthals respectively.

But there are several other theories and counter-theories, including those that argue Homo heidelbergensis shouldn't be classified as its own species at all.

In fact, in 2019, the American Association of Biological Anthropology dedicated an entire conference session to Homo heidelbergensis, concluding that "no-one was happy" with how it's currently defined.

The mandible has given scientists plenty of clues about what Homo heidelbergensis looked like — and how it might have lived.


"It's [lower jaw is] much more robust than our lower jaw," Dr Eck says.

She says it's thicker and bigger all round — and that the teeth are almost twice the size of modern human teeth.

Since the mandible's discovery, other Homo heidelbergensis remains have been found across Europe and Africa.

By analysing these and the sites they were found, researchers concluded Homo heidelbergensis were strong and tall — reaching up to 180cm in height.

The teeth are about twice the size of a modern human’s teeth.

(ABC Science: Carl Smith)

They had a large brain capacity, appear to have used tools, may have used fire, and it seems they lived in small groups.

Dr Eck points out that the owner of the jawbone, which had a fracture, may have also received some care from members of its community.

It's not known how the individual died, but she says it appears the injury healed — potentially suggesting some assistance during recovery.

"He was between 20 and 30 years old when he died. That sounds very young, but for an ancient human, that is OK."

Dr Eck says the fossil likely has many more secrets to tell, which is why she handles it carefully.

"People are still working on this. New methods make it possible to get new results."

A stained glass window at a pub in Mauer, where the mandible was found over 100 years ago.(ABC Science: Carl Smith)

The dream, Dr Eck says, is to analyse his DNA. This may help definitively find the right spot for this species on the evolutionary tree.

"But he's maybe too old at the moment for our methods," she says.

She packs the fossil back into its case, says her farewells, and puts it back into storage.
Connection to deep history

For Dr Eck, spending time with this fossil has been more than just a job.

It helped connect her to the deep history of humanity in her part of the world.

And that's also why she likes to return to exactly where "he" was discovered — the small German town of Mauer, which still celebrates the fossil's discovery.

"You can catch the mood here," she says, gesturing to the tall trees and thickets filled with birds.

Dr Eck still regularly visits the forest around the disused sand mine where the mandible was found.(ABC Science: Carl Smith)

"You don't see any buildings, you normally don't see any cars.

"He had the same four seasons we have today."

Standing near the sand pit where he was found and thinking about how "he" might have lived makes her reflect on what's universally important for all humans.

"Maybe he lived in a little family. Maybe wandering around following animals to get some food," she muses.

"I think it's a nice life."

Dr Eck has travelled the world displaying this mandible at exhibitions and museums.(ABC Science: Carl Smith)

She says her connection with this old fossilised jawbone makes her think about what's changed over the past 600,000 years.

"It's also important if we think about our future and what we are doing right now on this planet," Dr Eck says.

"For example, if the Homo heidelbergensis had nuclear power plants, we would still have the [radioactive] garbage today.

"This is something we have to think about."

Asteroid headed toward Earth may arrive on Valentine's Day 2046 - Nasa

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IMAGE SOURCE,NASA

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Asteroid 2023 DW has a better chance of hitting a date of 14 February than our planet, NASA says.

By Brandon Drenon

BBC News, Washington

A newly detected asteroid has a very small chance of impacting the Earth in 2046, Nasa tweeted on Tuesday.

If it does hit, the asteroid, roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool, may arrive on Valentine's Day 2046 according to Nasa calculations.

The closest the asteroid is expected to get to Earth is about 1.1 million miles (1.8m km), Nasa says.

But researchers are still collecting data, which they say may change predictions.

The asteroid, dubbed 2023 DW, has about a 1 in 560 chance of hitting Earth, according to Nasa. It's the only space rock on Nasa's risk list that ranks a 1 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale.

The scale, which goes from 0-10, measures the risk of space objects colliding with Earth. All other objects on the scale rank 0, indicating no risk for impact.

A ranking of 1 means that an actual collision is extremely unlikely and no cause for public concern, Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) says.

"This object is not particularly concerning," JPL navigation engineer Davide Farnocchia told CNN.

If it does collide with us, 2023 DW would not have the same doomsday effect as the asteroid that decimated the Earth's dinosaurs 66 million years ago. That asteroid was far bigger at 7.5 miles (12km) wide, Scientific American says.

But an impact from 2023 DW could still cause significant damage if it were to land atop a major city or densely populated area. A meteor less than half the size of 2023 DW exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, 10 years ago, causing a shock wave that blew out windows across 200 square miles and injured roughly 1,500 people.

While contact with an asteroid seems unlikely, scientists have been preparing for such an encounter for years. Last October, Nasa confirmed the agency's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) mission had successfully changed the travel path of a small asteroid by slamming a spacecraft into it.

"That's the very reason why we flew that mission," Mr Farnocchia said, "and that mission was a spectacular success."