Microplastics in soil: Tomography with neutrons and X-rays shows where particles are deposited

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM BERLIN FÜR MATERIALIEN UND ENERGIE

 

IMAGE: 

A SAMPLE OF BEELITZ SANDY SOIL CONTAINING FRAGMENTS OF THIN POLYETHYLENE FILM (PET) WAS ANALYSED HERE. SUCH FILMS ARE USED IN ASPARAGUS CULTIVATION. THE NEUTRON TOMOGRAPHY (IN SHADES OF GREY) SHOWS WHERE THE PET FRAGMENTS ARE LOCATED. X-RAY TOMOGRAPHY OF THE SAMPLE (OCHRE) REVEALS THE SOIL STRUCTURE: SUPERIMPOSED ON THE NEUTRON TOMOGRAPHY, THE PET PARTICLES (IN BLUE) CONTAINED THEREIN BECOME VISIBLE.

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CREDIT: C. TÖTZKE / HZB / UNI POTSDAM

It is a real problem: Microplastic particles are everywhere. Now a team from the University of Potsdam and HZB has developed a method that allows it for the first time to precisely localise microplastic particles in the soil. The 3D tomographies show where the particles are deposited and how structures in the soil are changed. The method was validated on prepared samples. The team used a special instrument at the neutron source of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble to carry out neutron and X-ray analyses simultaneously. 

Microplastic particles are a major environmental pollutant today. Road traffic accounts for a particularly large proportion: in Germany alone, tyre wear is said to generate around one hundred thousand tonnes of microplastics every year, in addition to particles from astroturf, cosmetics, washing powders, clothing, disposable masks, plastic bags and other waste that end up in nature. Microplastic particles can now be found everywhere. But what happens to these particles in different soils? Do they break up into smaller and smaller pieces and how are they relocated and transported, changing the structures in the soil?

Some of these questions are already being analysed: A soil sample is floated in a heavy salt solution, whereupon the individual components separate according to density: Plastic and organic particles float to the top, while mineral particles sink. The mixture of organic material and plastic particles is then treated with hydrogen peroxide, for example, whereby the organic components decompose and the microplastic particles should remain. Although this method makes it possible to determine the quantity and type of microplastic in a soil sample, information is lost as to where exactly these particles accumulate in the soil and whether they change any structures in the soil. 

3D tomography with neutrons and X-rays

In their new study, Prof Sascha Oswald (University of Potsdam) and Dr Christian Tötzke (University of Potsdam and HZB) have now presented a method to answer these questions. They worked closely with the team led by Dr Nikolay Kardjilov, HZB, whose expertise went into setting up a unique instrument at the Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble: there, samples can be analysed with neutrons and X-rays to create 3D tomographies simultaneously, i.e. without altering the sample. While neutrons visualise organic and synthetic particles, X-ray tomography shows the mineral particles and the structure they form.

Method tested on prepared soil samples

To test the method, Tötzke prepared a series of soil samples from sand, organic components such as peat or charcoal and artificial microplastic particles. In a further series of measurements, he investigated how the roots of fast-growing lupins penetrate the soil samples and how they react to the presence of microplastics.

In the neutron tomograms, the microplastic particles are clearly identified, as can some of the organic components. X-ray tomography, on the other hand, provides an insight into the arrangement of the sand grains, whereas the organic and plastic particles are shown as diffuse voids. When superimposed, a complete image of the soil sample is obtained. This allows the scientists to estimate the size and shape of the microplastic particles, as well as the changes to the soil structure caused by the embedded microplastics. 

"This method is quite complex, but it makes it possible for the first time to investigate where microplastic particles are deposited and how they change the soil and its structure," explains Tötzke. He also analysed sandy soil from a field near Beelitz, a typical asparagus-growing area in Brandenburg near Berlin, into which he mixed pieces of so called mulch film, a very thin plastic film used to protect the plants. In “real life” farming it is usually not possible to remove this film after use completely. Remaining film residues are then carried into deeper soil layers during ploughing "We were able to show that fragments of such films can change the water flow in the soil. Microplastic fibres, on the other hand, created small cracks in the soil matrix," says Tötzke. It is not yet possible to predict how this will affect the soil’s hydraulic properties, for example its ability to store water. "As droughts and heavy rainfall become more likely with climate change, it is urgent to answer these questions. We now need to investigate this systematically," says Tötzke.

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JOURNAL

Science of The Total Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167927 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Non-invasive 3D analysis of microplastic particles in sandy soil — Exploring feasible options and capabilities

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

9-Nov-2023

 

NASA’s Hubble measures the size of the nearest transiting Earth-sized planet

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

 

IMAGE: 

THIS IS AN ARTIST'S CONCEPT OF THE NEARBY EXOPLANET LTT 1445AC, WHICH IS THE SIZE OF EARTH. THE PLANET ORBITS A RED DWARF STAR. THE STAR IS IN A TRIPLE SYSTEM, WITH TWO CLOSELY ORBITING RED DWARFS SEEN AT UPPER RIGHT. THE BLACK DOT IN FRONT OF THE BRIGHT LIGHT-RED SPHERE AT IMAGE CENTER IS PLANET LTT 1445AC TRANSITING THE FACE OF THE STAR. THE PLANET HAS A SURFACE TEMPERATURE OF ROUGHLY 500 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. IN THE FOREGROUND AT LOWER LEFT IS ANOTHER PLANET IN THE SYSTEM, LTT 1445AB. THE VIEW IS FROM 22 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY, LOOKING BACK TOWARD OUR SUN, WHICH IS THE BRIGHT DOT AT LOWER RIGHT. SOME OF THE BACKGROUND STARS ARE PART OF THE CONSTELLATION BOÖTES.

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CREDIT: NASA, ESA, LEAH HUSTAK (STSCI)

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has measured the size of the nearest Earth-sized exoplanet that passes across the face of a neighboring star. This alignment, called a transit, opens the door to follow-on studies to see what kind of atmosphere, if any, the rocky world might have.

The diminutive planet, LTT 1445Ac, was first discovered by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in 2022. But the geometry of the planet's orbital plane relative to its star as seen from Earth was uncertain because TESS does not have the required optical resolution. This means the detection could have been a so-called grazing transit, where a planet only skims across a small portion of the parent star's disk. This would yield an inaccurate lower limit of the planet's diameter.

"There was a chance that this system has an unlucky geometry and if that's the case, we wouldn't measure the right size. But with Hubble's capabilities we nailed its diameter," said Emily Pass of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Hubble observations show that the planet makes a normal transit fully across the star's disk, yielding a true size of only 1.07 times Earth's diameter. This means the planet is a rocky world, like Earth, with approximately the same surface gravity. But at a surface temperature of roughly 500 degrees Fahrenheit, it is too hot for life as we know it.

The planet orbits the star LTT 1445A, which is part of a triple system of three red dwarf stars that is 22 light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. The star has two other reported planets that are larger than LTT 1445Ac. A tight pair of two other dwarf stars, LTT 1445B and C, lies about 3 billion miles away from LTT 1445A, also resolved by Hubble. The alignment of the three stars and the edge-on orbit of the BC pair suggests that everything in the system is co-planar, including the known planets.  

"Transiting planets are exciting since we can characterize their atmospheres with spectroscopy, not only with Hubble but also with the James Webb Space Telescope. Our measurement is important because it tells us that this is likely a very nearby terrestrial planet. We are looking forward to follow-on observations that will allow us to better understand the diversity of planets around other stars," said Pass.

This research has been accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C.

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JOURNAL

The Astronomical Journal

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

HST/WFC3 Light Curve Supports a Terrestrial Composition for the Closest Exoplanet to Transit an M Dwarf

Fishing chimpanzees found to enjoy termites as a seasonal treat

 WAIT, WHAT?! THEY FISH, THAT'S TOOL MAKING

Seasonal rain and termite dispersal flights make protein-rich termites vulnerable to fishing chimpanzees

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FRONTIERS

 

IMAGE: 

CHIMP FISHING FOR TERMITES

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CREDIT: SETH PHILLIPS

The discovery that chimpanzees use tools to fish for termites revolutionized our understanding of their abilities — but we still don’t have crucial context to help us understand termite fishing and chimpanzee minds. Are chimpanzees fishing for a seasonal treat or trying their luck?

Researchers based at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) and University College London (UCL) investigated the relationship between termite availability and chimpanzee fishing. They found that termites are most available early in the wet season. Although other foods are abundant at that time, chimpanzees choose to termite fish then.  

“I believe these results set up an interesting hypothesis about wild chimpanzee foraging cognition,” said Dr Vicky Oelze, UCSC, senior author of the study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. “Though we can never read a chimpanzee’s thoughts, we can perhaps start to get an idea of their expectations of resource availability by analyzing the instances in which they arrive at termite mounds and investigate them for fishing viability.”

Termite treats

Termites are a key source of nutrients for chimpanzees — but the species chimpanzees prefer live deep within fortress-like mounds. However, some termites will disperse to start a new colony elsewhere, leaving the mound via flight holes the chimpanzees exploit for termite fishing. In some places, chimpanzees fish all year: in others, fishing is seasonal.

Understanding termite availability is important to understanding the variation in chimpanzee use of fishing tools. Does tool use vary between chimpanzee populations because the opportunities are different, because needs are different, or because tool use is unlikely to be invented or maintained? To understand the predators, we need to understand the prey.

The scientists focused on Issa Valley, Tanzania, which has very distinct wet and dry seasons. The researchers collected years of meteorological data and camera trap footage of 13 mounds to map the dispersals and predation of termites across time. They also carried out termite-fishing trials at 14 mounds between 2018 and 2022, copying chimpanzee tools and techniques.

“When I first visited the Issa Valley, I quickly learned that it was more difficult to termite fish than I had expected,” said Seth Phillips, UCSC, corresponding author. “It alerted me to the idea that effective foraging for these termite prey might be more complicated than people commonly understand it.”

Termites on the menu

Of 1,924 attempts at termite fishing, 363 extracted termites. The scientists found that they were much more likely to be able to extract termites as rainfall increased — until 200mm of rain had fallen. Then the proportion of successful trials dropped. Most termite mounds were most active between 50-200mm of cumulative rainfall. Dispersal flights only took place in the wet season and stopped almost completely after 400mm of rainfall.

“We are currently reviewing camera trap footage of the chimpanzee behaviors at these mounds,” said Phillips. “We want to know how chimps adapt their searching behavior according to seasonal changes. For instance, do they investigate termite mounds directly after rainfall after a long dry spell? This data could say something interesting about their foraging cognition as related to tool-use.”

Chimpanzees were among the most frequently recorded predators at termite mounds during dispersal flights and often arrived carrying a tool. At this time of year in Issa Valley, other food is available: the chimpanzees use tools to termite fish because they can, not because they need to.

Gone fishing

Although some chimpanzee communities exploit termites all year, including at relatively nearby Gombe Stream, termite fishing there also peaks in the early wet season. Some year-round fishers may be benefiting from softer soil or more effective toolsets. It’s unclear whether more sophisticated tools would allow continuous exploitation of termite mounds at Issa Valley, but initial tests suggest otherwise.  

“At the end of the day, we are human experimenters attempting to replicate a chimpanzee behavior,” cautioned Phillips. “It should not be taken for granted, for instance, that we are just as effective at foraging for termites with these tools as chimpanzees. I would expect the window of opportunity for chimpanzees to termite fish in the Issa Valley is at least a little bit wider than it is for human researchers.”

Chimp sniffing termite mound

Seth Phillips (UCSC)

CREDIT

secphill@ucsc.edu

JOURNAL

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

DOI

10.3389/fevo.2023.1289433 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

A chimpanzee's time to feast: Seasonality of Macrotermes flight hole activity and alate dispersal flights detected by termite-fishing experiments and camera traps in the Issa Valley, Tanzania

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

17-Nov-2023

Marxists.org

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1876/part-played-labour/index.htm

The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man 

Works of Frederick Engels 1876. The Part played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man. monkey playing. Written: in May-June 1876; First published: in Die ...

Russian artist Alexandra Skochilenko addresses the court in Saint Petersburg at her trial over anti-war messages

Russian artist Alexandra Skochilenko addresses the court in Saint Petersburg at her trial over anti-war messages

She was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in a penal colony

Written byDaria Dergacheva

Posted 17 November 2023  

The text reads: ‘Sasha Skochilenko was sentenced to 7 years in jail.’ Screenshot from the YouTube video from the Dozhd TV channel. Fair use.

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine had just started in February 2022, Alexandra Skochilenko, an artist from Saint Petersburg, Russia, on March 31, 2022, changed several price tags in a grocery store, Perekrestok, to notes with anti-war statements. She was kept in custody for over a year, and has now been sentenced to seven years in prison by a Russian court for “knowingly spreading false information about the Russian army.” Global Voices translated and edited for clarity her speech before the court hearings on November 16, 2023.  The original speech was published by Novaya Gazeta 

Your Honor, dear court,

My criminal case is so unusual and absurd that it was opened exactly on April 1. Sometimes, I feel like I'll enter the courtroom, and suddenly, confetti will rain down, and everyone will stand and shout, “It's a prank!” The staff at pre-trial detention center No. 5 are amazed, questioning if this is really what people are jailed for now. Even supporters of the SVO [“special military operation,” as the war on Ukraine is officially called in Russia] don't think I deserve prison for my actions.

My case led my investigator to quit before it closed. In a private talk with my lawyer, he confessed he didn't join the investigative committee for cases like mine, Sasha Skochilenko's.

Audio recording of Skochilenko's speech (in Russian), on the YouTube channel Nastoyaschee Vremya

He left my case, which could have boosted his career, and, instead, he left for a job at a store. I deeply respect his decision; we both acted according to our consciences.

Thanks to my investigators and prosecutors, the information I shared reached thousands worldwide. If not for my arrest, only a few individuals, like a grandmother, a cashier, and a security guard at Perekrestok, would have known it.

According to my case files, the so-called price tags hardly affected two of these three individuals.

If these five papers are so dangerous, why start this trial, repeating these statements, alleged by the prosecutor to threaten public safety? Did they cause an earth-shattering event, a revolution, or peace at the front? No, none of this happened. What, then, is the issue?

The state prosecutor repeatedly claimed my act was a grave danger to society and the state.

Does our prosecutor have such little faith in our nation that he believes five pieces of paper can destroy our society and state?

When someone starts a military rebellion, causing huge damage, their case is opened and closed in a day [She refers to the military coup by Evgenii Prigozhin in June 2023]. My actions hurt no one, yet I've been jailed for over a year among murderers and other serious criminals. Is the supposed harm I caused comparable to these crimes?

Every verdict sends a message. You might agree that I showed bravery and honesty, acting according to my moral compass. In investigator lingo, jailing someone is “taking a prisoner.” I didn't give in or break under threat or suffering.

What message does my conviction send to our people? Does it say to give up, be dishonest, admit to false guilt, or ignore empathy for our soldiers? Does it say our society can crumble due to five pieces of paper? Is this the message in times of crisis and stress?

My trial, widely followed in Russia and globally, will make history, regardless of the verdict. You're not judging a terrorist, extremist, or even a political activist. You're judging a pacifist.

I am a pacifist, valuing life above all, believing in peaceful conflict resolution. I can't harm a spider, let alone a person.

Peace is brought by pacifists, not warriors. Jailing pacifists only delays peace.

Life is sacred. It's resilient, astounding, and the essence of our existence. From small cells to great whales, life thrives in every corner of Earth, its most complex form being humans — conscious, mortal beings. Yet, human life is fleeting, a brief moment we all wish to extend.

Ask someone who's survived cancer about life's value. Our loved ones lost to COVID-19 remind us of life's fragility. Now, young lives are lost again, bringing more death, grief, and pain.

Label my beliefs as you wish, but I'll stand by them.

The state prosecutor has his beliefs, different from mine. Yet, I wouldn't jail him for his views.

I apologize if my actions offended anyone. My jail time, among diverse people, showed me everyone has their truth, including views on the SVO. The tragedy is our failure to accept differing truths, dividing society, breaking families, and distancing us from peace. Every person here ultimately seeks peace.

Why fight when we're all each other has in a troubled world? No wealth can rescue a loved one from death.

We're all we have. My loved ones, who don't want me jailed, await me — my elderly mother, sister, and cancer-stricken girlfriend. The state prosecutor might not truly want my imprisonment either. He likely joined his office to tackle real criminals, not someone like me, but the system demands otherwise.

He cares for his career and his family's future. But what will he say about jailing a sick woman for five papers? He reassures himself he's just doing his job, but what about when things change?

History shows shifts in political tides. Strangely, I empathize with you.

Despite my incarceration, I'm freer, able to express myself and make choices. I don't fear poverty or lack of a career. I'm not scared to be different.

Maybe that's why the state fears me and others like me, caging us as dangerous persons.

But we're not each other's enemies. Anger is easy; love and understanding are harder. We must learn to love and resolve conflicts through words, escaping our moral crisis.

Your Honor, your verdict can exemplify conflict resolution through compassion and dialogue, a step towards societal healing.

I realize this trial might seem routine to you, but remember, you hold immense power over human destinies. My fate, health, life, and my loved ones’ happiness are in your hands. I trust you'll use this power wisely.

The judge then gave Alexandra Skochilenko a prison sentence of seven years. As Reuters reported, in court, her supporters repeatedly shouted, “Disgrace, Disgrace!” and Skochilenko, smiling, made a heart shape with her hands as she stood in the courtroom cage. She was later seen wiping tears from her face.

Maldives new leader vows to expel Indian troops

AFP Published November 18, 2023 

MALE: President Mohamed Muizzu of the Maldives vowed on Friday to expel Indian troops deployed in the strategically located archipelago, in his first speech to the nation after being sworn into power.

Muizzu, 45, did not name India — but promised he would deliver on his election promises, key among them a pledge to evict some 50 to 75 Indian security personnel.

“The country will not have any foreign military personnel in the Maldives,” Muizzu said after being sworn in before chief justice Ahmed Adnan at a televised, open-air ceremony.

“When it comes to our security, I will draw a red line. The Maldives will respect the red lines of other countries too.” Earlier this week, Muizzu said that his intention was not to upend the regional balance by replacing the Indian military with Chinese troops.

Muizzu, a former mayor of the capital Male and a construction minister for seven years, had previously promised to cultivate “strong ties” with China, a key financial backer of his nation.

The country’s eighth president since independence from Britain in 1965, Muizzu was elected in September as a proxy for a pro-China predecessor who is jailed on corruption charges.

High-level representatives from both China and India were in attendance, as well as from Bangla­desh, the Seychelles and Sri Lanka.

Primarily known as one of the most expensive holiday destinations in South Asia, with pristine white beaches and secluded resorts, the Maldives has also become a geopolitical hotspot.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2023

WOWZERS
ChatGPT maker OpenAI ousts Sam Altman as CEO

Reuters Published November 18, 2023

Sam Altman, CEO of Microsoft-backed OpenAI and ChatGPT creator speaks during a talk at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel June 5, 2023. 

— Reuters

The board of the company behind ChatGPT on Friday fired OpenAI CEO Sam Altman —to many, the human face of generative AI— sending shock waves across the tech industry.

OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati will serve as interim CEO, the company said, adding that it will conduct a formal search for a permanent CEO.

“Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities,” OpenAI said in a blog without elaborating.

Greg Brockman, OpenAI president and co-founder, who stepped down from the board as chairman as part of the management shuffle, quit the company, he announced on messaging platform X late on Friday.


“Based on today’s news, I quit,” he wrote.



The departures blindsided many employees who discovered the abrupt management change from an internal message and the company’s public-facing blog. It came as a surprise to Altman and Brockman as well, who learned the board’s decision within minutes of the announcement, Brockman said.

“We too are still trying to figure out exactly what happened,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter, adding, “We will be fine. Greater things coming soon.”



The now four-person board consists of three independent directors holding no equity in OpenAI and its Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever. The organisation did not immediately answer a request for comment on Brockman’s claims.

Backed by billions of dollars from Microsoft, which does not have a board seat in the non-profit governing the startup, OpenAI kicked off the generative AI craze last November by releasing ChatGPT. The chatbot became one of the world’s fastest-growing software applications.

Trained on reams of data, generative AI can create human-like content, helping users spin up term papers, complete science homework and even write entire novels. After ChatGPT’s launch, regulators scrambled to catch up: the European Union revised its AI Act and the U.S. kicked off AI regulation efforts.

Altman, who ran Y Combinator, is a serial entrepreneur and investor. He was the face of OpenAI and the wildly popular generative AI technology as he toured the world this year.

Altman posted on X shortly after OpenAI published its blog: “I loved my time at OpenAI. it was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. Most of all I loved working with such talented people. Will have more to say about what’s next later.”



Altman did not respond to requests for comment.

Murati, who has worked for Tesla, joined OpenAI in 2018 and later became chief technology officer. She oversaw product launches including that of ChatGPT.

At an emergency all-hands meeting on Friday afternoon after the announcement, Murati sought to calm employees and said OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft is stable and its backer’s executives, including CEO Satya Nadella, continue to express confidence in the startup, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Information previously reported details of the meeting. “Microsoft remains committed to Mira and their team as we bring this next era of AI to our customers,” a spokesperson for the software maker told Reuters on Friday.

In a statement published on Microsoft’s website, Nadella said: “We have a long-term agreement with OpenAI… Together, we will continue to deliver the meaningful benefits of this technology to the world.”
Earthquake

The shakeup is not the first at OpenAI, launched in 2015. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk once was its co-chair, and in 2020 other executives departed, going on to found competitor Anthropic, which has claimed it has a greater focus on AI safety.

Well-wishers and critics piled onto digital forums as news of the latest shuffle spread.

On X, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt called Altman “a hero of mine,” adding, “He built a company from nothing to $90 billion in value, and changed our collective world forever. I can’t wait to see what he does next. I, and billions of people, will benefit from his future work — it’s going to be simply incredible.”



“This is a shocker and Altman was a key ingredient in the recipe for success of OpenAI,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “That said, we believe Microsoft and Nadella will exert more control at OpenAI going forward with Altman gone.”

The full impact of the OpenAI surprise will unfold over time, but its fundraising prospects were an immediate concern. Altman was considered a master fundraiser who managed to negotiate billions of dollars in investment from Microsoft as well as having led the company’s tender offer transactions this year that fueled OpenAI’s valuation from $29bn to over $80bn.

“In the short term it will impair OpenAI’s ability to raise more capital. In the intermediate term it will be a non-issue,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman at hedge fund Great Hill Capital.

Other analysts said Altman’s departure, while disruptive, would not derail generative AI’s popularity or OpenAI or Microsoft’s competitive advantage.

“The innovation created by OpenAI is bigger than any one or two people, and there is no reason to think this would cause OpenAI to cede its leadership position,” said D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria.

“If nothing else, Microsoft’s stake and significant interest in OpenAI’s progress ensure the appropriate leadership changes are being implemented.”

As late as Thursday evening, Altman showed no signs of concern at two public events. He joined colleagues in a panel on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in San Francisco, describing his commitment and vision for AI.

Later he spoke at a Burning Man-related event in Oakland, California, engaging in an hour-long conversation on the topic of art and AI. Altman seemed relaxed and gave no indication anything was wrong, but left right after his talk was over at 7:30 pm.

The event organiser said at the event that Altman had another meeting to attend.

UPDATED

‘Delicate and risky operation’: India tunnel rescue ongoing one week after collapse

Reuters Published November 18, 2023

Rescuers trying to reach workers trapped for nearly a week in a collapsed highway tunnel in the Indian Himalayas are working to replace the main digging machine on Saturday to restart operations after they hit a snag.

The disaster management office revised the number of people trapped since Sunday morning in the tunnel in Uttarakhand state to 41, up from 40. All are safe, the authorities have said.

The augur machine drilling through the debris broke on Friday.

A new machine flown in from the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, has reached the site, Anshu Malik Halko, director at state-run National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDC) told Reuters.

“We will first bring out the defunct machine from inside and then deploy the new one. This will take time and I cannot comment on the timeline. It’s a delicate and risky operation,” Halko said.

Members of rescue teams stand at the entrance of a tunnel where road workers are trapped after a portion of the tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 17, 2023.—Reuters/Shankar Prasad Nautiyal

Authorities have not said what caused the 4.5-km tunnel to cave in, but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.

Fifty to sixty workers were on the overnight shift at the time of the collapse, and those near the exit got out of the tunnel on the national highway that is part of the Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage route.

Work was suspended on Friday after a “large-scale cracking sound” was heard as rescue workers sought to restart the drilling machine, according to a report from NHIDC.

Close to 100 tunnel workers gathered at the site on Saturday, demanding faster progress in reaching and freeing those trapped.

Vishnu Sahu, a labourer who was leading the protest, said the rescue team is keeping workers in the dark about the pace of progress of the rescue.

“We want the top people of the company to come here,” Sahu said.

Palestinians barred from Al-Aqsa pray on the street
Agencies Published November 18, 2023 

JERUSALEM: Israeli policemen check the identity papers of a Palestinian on his way to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for Friday prayers. Israel has barred Palestinians under 50 years of age from praying at Al-Aqsa.

JENIN: For the sixth consecutive week, Israeli authorities imposed tight restrictions on Palestinians, banning them from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem for Friday prayers, leaving the mosque all but empty, Anadolu Agency reported.

An official said that only around 4,000 Palestinians, most of them elderly, had managed to reach the venerated mosque to perform Friday prayers due to the strict Israeli control of the streets.

Israeli forces have been heavily deployed across occupied East Jerusalem, particularly in the Old City and the entrances leading to the mosque.

Hundreds of Palestinians were forced to perform Friday prayers in the streets near the Old City area after being barred from entering the mosque itself.

10 killed in West Bank fighting; Blinken warns Tel Aviv to stop settler violence

The Israeli side gave no reasons for restricting Muslims’ access to Al-Aqsa for prayers.

Violence in the West Bank

The Israeli army has killed over half dozen people in the West Bank in the past couple of days, amid a dramatic rise in the number of violent incidents in the Palestinian territory.

Israeli forces carried out an operation overnight Thursday-Friday in a refugee camp in Jenin, claiming to have killed five people.

The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said three people had been killed in the Jenin raid and 15 wounded, four of them critically.

In the south, the ministry also said two people were killed “by Israeli army bullets” at the entrance to the flashpoint city of Hebron.

A day earlier, three Palestinians were killed at a checkpoint on a road between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Bethlehem, while an Israeli soldier was killed and others wounded in a shootout.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank say they have faced increased harassment from Israeli settlers since the war began.

Warning on settler violence

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday called on Israel to take “urgent” action to stop settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Blinken, in San Francisco for an Asia-Pacific summit, made the plea in a telephone call with Benny Gantz, an opposition leader who joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime cabinet.

Blinken “stressed the urgent need for affirmative steps to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank, including by confronting rising levels of settler extremist violence,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

On the war front, Blinken with Gantz “discussed efforts to augment and accelerate the transit of critical humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” Miller said.

“We have seen far too many Palestinian civilians killed and we have been urging Israel all along to do everything possible to minimize civilian casualties,” Blinken told NBC News on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2023

PAKISTAN
Sheema Kermani ‘ejected’ from UK mission for pro-Palestine slogan

Shazia Hasan


KARACHI: Classical dancer, social activist and founder of the cultural action group Tehrik-i-Niswan Sheema Kermani was on Friday “ejected” from a programme held at the British Deputy High Commission here after she raised a slogan in favour of the people of Gaza.

Ms Kermani said that the event was held to celebrate the birthday of King Charles III on Friday and guests also included other artists, politicians, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and other officials.

She told Dawn when they were making speeches and sending felicitations to Britain she raised the slogan “Ceasefire Now”.

This prompted security personnel to come closer to her and try to force her out of their premises. “That’s when I asked them to not touch me as I would see myself out,” Ms Kermani said after the regrettable incident.

“They were all congratulating the British Government and the royal family without any mention of the atrocities taking place in Gaza. I just had to do what I did. I couldn’t stay silent. Sadly, when the other guests saw me being thrown out and my leaving, none of them, not even one of them, decided to also take a stand and join me,” she added.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the British Deputy High Commission said that Ms Kermani was shouting during “an important speech about climate change in Pakistan by the British Deputy High Commissioner”.

The spokesperson added that it was then that the “security personnel came forth to stop her from shouting. But then she left on her own. So it won’t be correct to say that we threw her out”.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2023

Talking to children about Gaza

Bina Shah 

HOW do we talk to our children about what’s happening in Gaza? It’s a quandary that most parents in Pakistan are confronting as the conflict continues, one month and approximately 11,000 casualties later. Horrific images bombard us day and night, on television and through social media.

Children are not unaffected; they listen to their parents’ conversations about the conflict, they discuss it in their classrooms with their teachers, trying to make sense of it all.

The news outlet NPR has suggested some guidelines for these difficult conversations, although they leave out assigning blame for the Israeli response to the Hamas attacks of Oct 7.

It does detail the impact of the war on civilians on both sides, though, and notes that half of Gaza’s residents are children under 18 years of age. This is bound to make our children feel worried, not just for the safety of the Gazans, but for themselves.

The shooting of Malala Yousafzai, the actions of courageous Aitzaz Hasan, and the APS school attack in which so many children and teachers were killed, have all traumatised our children and made them fearful; the tragedy of Palestine today makes our children’s scars sting all over again. How we talk to them about Gaza today can go a long way towards alleviating their fears.

Parents should be proactive about encouraging conversations with their children about what’s going on in Gaza. Encouraging them to ask questions rather than expounding on your own political views is more helpful to them. Children should be taught to be cautious about everything they’re seeing on the internet, and be told to avoid spreading disinformation.

They should be spared repetitive viewings of violence on television or social media, although this is unfortunately difficult to avoid. This can be a good time for you and your child to learn about the history of the area together, too. Most importantly, children should be left with a feeling of hope, and the idea that peace and reconciliation is always possible even in the direst situations.

The tragedy of Palestine today makes our children’s scars sting all over again.

This month, the Pakistan Learning Festival took place in Karachi at the Arts Council. The Pakistan Learning Festival, formerly known as the Children’s Literature Festival, is one of the most successful literacy and learning festivals in the country.

For the last 12 years, it’s been going all over Pakistan, educating and encouraging children through storytelling, interactive sessions, direct participation in educational activities, and having a whole lot of fun. Rumana Husain, a well-known artist and co-founder of the festival, thought it was a fantastic opportunity to speak to the children about the Gaza conflict.

She put out a call on Facebook to ask if anyone had access to children’s stories about Palestine, and named a few books that she’d researched and found suitable. These books were not available in Pakistan at all, so I decided to help by writing to the publishers and asking if they would be able to send us a copy for the PLF. I told Rumana that I’d help her with the session as well if she wanted, and we agreed to hold a joint storytelling session in English and Urdu.

One publisher responded: Michel Moushabek, of Interlink Books in Massachusetts. The book Sitti’s Bird: A Gaza Story is a beautifully illustrated children’s book by the Palestinian artist and illustrator Malak Mattar. Sitti’s Bird is Malak’s own story of her childhood growing up in Gaza and longing to be an artist. She wrote it at the time of the second intifada, when Israel bombed Gaza and she and her family could not leave their home for 50 days. Michel generously sent us a PDF of the book and granted us permission to use it for our storytelling session.

Rumana Husain made a PowerPoint presentation out of the PDF, and she added a map of Israel and Palestine so that we could talk about the geography of the countries to the children.

On the day of the first session, Rumana made an announcement: “We have to be very careful that we don’t hate anyone because of their religion or their nationality, whether they be Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, or any other background. After all, Jews are People of the Book as well, and there are many Jewish people who are against the bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza.”

The children listened eagerly to our story; we read each page, first in the original English followed by Rumana’s explanation/translation in Urdu. I did my best to read the story dramatically, and the children were rapt as they heard of bombs falling, schools closing, little Malak’s fear, and her loving relationship with her ‘Sitti’, which means grandmother in Palestinian and Egyptian Arabic.

On the second day, we read the story again, to a different, smaller audience. As I looked out at the children in their seats, a group of secondary school girls held up homemade posters that read ‘Safe Palestine — Free Palestine’ with pictures of the destruction of various places in Gaza.

We announced that after the end of our story, they could come onto the stage and take a photograph with us. When they came up to the stage I saw they had put stickers of Muslim nations on their foreheads — Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar — and taped over their mouths.

They stood beside us in a two-minute silent protest, as one girl held up a poster with the name of the school they represented, as students and girl guides, in a low-income area of Malir.

I thought about Rumana’s message of interfaith harmony and how radical it was for a Pakistani festival. And I thought about the political awareness and agency being demonstrated by this group of teenaged girls. I thought about how Malak’s dream of reaching different countries through her art had come true this week. If there’s hope for Pakistan, I realised, it’s right here.

The writer is an author.
X:@binashah

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2023