Thursday, August 15, 2024

SPACE

New massive eccentric brown dwarf discovered

by Tomasz Nowakowski , Phys.org

An international team of astronomers has reported the discovery of a new brown dwarf, which received designation TOI-2490 b. The newfound object is about 74 times more massive than Jupiter and orbits a sun-like star on a highly eccentric orbit. The finding was detailed in a paper published August 8 on the pre-print server arXiv.

Brown dwarfs (BDs) are intermediate objects between planets and stars, occupying the mass range between 13 and 80 Jupiter masses (0.012 and 0.076 solar masses). Although many brown dwarfs have been detected to date, these objects orbiting other stars are a rare find.

Now, a group of astronomers led by Beth A. Henderson of the University of Leicester, UK, has found another transiting brown dwarf. Using TESS, a transit signal was identified in the light curve of TOI-2490—a solar-like G-type main sequence star located some 872.5 light years away. The brown dwarf nature of this signal was confirmed by follow-up photometric observations and radial velocity measurements.

"In this paper, we report the discovery of TOI-2490b, a new, highly eccentric transiting brown dwarf discovered using TESS," the researchers wrote.

According to the study, TOI-2490 b is the size of Jupiter, while its mass is about 73.6 Jupiter masses, which yields a density at a level of 91.6 g/cm3. The brown dwarf orbits the host star every 60.33 days, at a distance of approximately 0.31 AU from it. The equilibrium temperature of TOI-2490 b is estimated to be 464.2 K.

The observations found that TOI-2490 b has an orbital eccentricity of approximately 0.78. Therefore, the astronomers noted that this result makes TOI-2490 b the most eccentric brown dwarf in the so-called BD desert—the lack of brown dwarfs around main sequence stars within about 3 AU from the host.

By analyzing the collected data, the authors of the paper concluded that TOI-2490 b likely formed with this high level of eccentricity. They added that this brown dwarf likely formed via stellar formation mechanisms and is assumed to have a similar metallicity and age to its parent star.

The study also found that the irradiation temperature of TOI-2490 b changes by about 1,000 K (from 545 to 1,552 K) as it travels around its orbit. However, further observations are required in order to fully understand such an extreme change.

When it comes to the properties of the host star, TOI-2490, it is as massive as the sun, and its radis is measured to be approximately 1.1 solar radii. The star is estimated to be 7.9 billion years old, has a metallicity at a level of 0.32 dex, and its effective temperature was found to be 5,558 K.

More information: Beth A. Henderson et al, TOI-2490b- The most eccentric brown dwarf transiting in the brown dwarf desert, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2408.04475

Journal information: arXiv

Astronomers detect a new short-period brown dwarf

Planetary health diet adoption would reduce emissions by 17%, environmental scientists suggest

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

Planetary diet adoption would reduce emissions by 17%, environmental scientists suggest — Changes in dietary emissions for adopting the planetary health diet in countries and regions

A report by a multi-institutional team of environmental scientists suggests that if everyone in the world adopted the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet, global dietary greenhouse gas emissions would drop by 17%.

In their study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the group analyzed the distribution of emissions associated with 140 food products consumed in 139 countries.

Prior research has shown that diets rich in animal and trans fats can lead to health problems such as heart disease, and that animal farming produces more greenhouse gases than vegetable gardening. So medical researchers and environmentalists have been advising adults to consume less meat and more vegetables.

In this new study, the researchers quantified the benefits the planet would receive if everyone heeded that advice. They also looked at the disparity that exists between consumption habits between countries and what could be done to improve the global dietary emission outlook.

The researchers analyzed data regarding food consumption habits from 139 countries as a means to compare greenhouse gas emissions due to food production among those same countries. To make the job more manageable, they narrowed down the food products to just 140.

As part of their analysis, they found that 56.9% of the global population engages in what they describe as overconsuming—meat and dairy make up too much of their diet. They noted that if all these over-consumers switched to the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet, global greenhouse gas emissions related to food production could be reduced 32.4%.

The EAT-Lancet planetary health diet is a diet developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission back in 2019. It was designed to create a global paradigm in which food production could meet the demands of 10 billion people by the year 2050 to reduce deaths due to hunger and poor diet and to prevent the collapse of the natural world.

The diet is similar to a vegetarian diet, but allows small amounts of dairy and animal protein products such as fish, eggs and meat. The research team also notes that western countries, which are the biggest meat eaters, would need to make the biggest changes.

More information: Yanxian Li et al, Reducing climate change impacts from the global food system through diet shifts, Nature Climate Change (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-024-02084-1

Journal information: Nature Climate Change

Changing food consumers' choices may help cut greenhouse gases

Study suggests five-second break can diffuse an argument between coupled partners

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

A trio of psychologists at The University of St Andrews, in Scotland, has found that taking a five-second break before things escalate can reduce the chances of a full-blown argument occurring. For their paper, published in the journal Communications Psychology, Annah McCurry, Robert May and David Donaldson, conducted emotional experiments with volunteer couples.

Prior research has suggested that if couples in intimate relationships take a time-out when feeling frustration or anger building toward their partner, they may be able to diffuse the situation. The research team wanted to know how much of a break is needed to achieve such a result, so they designed and carried out emotional and stress experiments with 81 volunteer couples in their lab.

The experiments consisted of asking the couples to play an interactive game with one another that was designed to lead to conflict. Part of the game involved allowing one participant to blast a loud, unpleasant noise at their partner. Each of the couples was asked to play thirty rounds of the game, and they were interrupted and forced to take a time out at different times and for different durations. Each of the couples was also filmed with a 360-degree camera fitted with a microphone while they played.

The researchers used what they describe as advanced machine learning software to help them analyze the results of the gameplay between the couples. Voice levels and facial expressions were used to determine frustration and anger levels.

The analysis showed that forcing a couple to take a time-out as short as five seconds during the moments when frustration was building but before an outburst occurred, was as effective as a 10 to 15 second time out—a finding the team suggests, indicates that the break itself serves to diffuse the situation, thus its duration was not nearly as important as the fact that it took place.

The research team concludes by suggesting that their findings indicate that couples have a simple and easy-to-use tool at their disposal, one that does not require anything but the desire and will to use it when a potential argument begins to arise.

More information: Annah G. McCurry et al, Both partners' negative emotion drives aggression during couples' conflict, Communications Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00122-4

Journal information: Communications Psychology

The science of why 'siblings or dating' is so hard

Iceland volcano eruption could have killed many in Wales

14 Aug 2024

Lómagnúpur mountain in southern Iceland and a lava flow (Credit: USW)

Drones are helping a team of university researchers understand how a volcanic eruption in Iceland more than 240 years ago could have killed people in Wales

The team of researchers and a volcanologist from the University of South Wales (USW) have used specialist equipment to develop detailed imagery and a virtual view of one of the most dramatic mountains in northern Europe.

And it could help geologists gain a much better understanding of the volcanic activity which has shaped the landscape of Iceland.

Earlier this year the GIS Informatics research team from USW used drones to survey Lómagnúpur mountain in southern Iceland. Rising to 764 metres above sea level, the cliffs on one side are the highest inland cliffs in the country at 671m, which is close to three quarters the height of Pen y Fan.

The initial work on getting the drone survey completed was unusual for the GIS research team at USW, because they are generally undertaken with an initial visit to the site of the flight.

However, because the mountain is more than 1,000 miles from South Wales, VR headsets connected to Google Earth along with specialist drone software were used to plan and simulate the entire flight operation.

“The 3D model came out well, with lots of detail,” said Joseph Griffiths, a lecturer in Informatics at USW who, along with colleague Nathan Thomas – an experienced and qualified drone pilot -carried out the drone survey.

“The 3D model is quite impressive and is generated from hundreds of individual photos which are processed into a highly complex geo-referenced point cloud. There is now scope to develop an interactive VR view of it and also the possibility of producing a detailed 3D printed model of the mountain so that people can see exactly how it looks.”

The Iceland drone survey and geological fieldwork has been carried out thanks to funding from Taith, a Welsh Government-backed scheme to support international research collaboration, in this case with scientists from the University of Iceland. Geologists from Newcastle and Lancaster Universities are also involved in the study

Volcanologist Dr Ian Skilling, who is a senior lecturer at USW, explained why the survey and fieldwork at the mountain could be so important.

“The details of Lómagnúpur that have been captured by the drone will be very important to geologists who are studying the history of volcanic activity in the area and help predict what might happen in the future in this very volcanically active area of Iceland,” he said.

“The mountain is very close to Iceland’s most active volcano, Grimsvotn, which is actually underneath Europe’s biggest ice cap called Vatnajökull, and typically erupts every few years. This area of Iceland has been very volcanically active for millions of years.

“We do know that around 240 years ago a massive eruption on the edge of the ice cap produced around 22 cubic kilometres of lava, the largest volume lava flow in recorded history, and caused a plume of toxic gas over Europe. According to parish records from the time this could have caused many deaths in Wales.

“If a similar large volume eruption underneath this ice cap happened now there could be a serious issue both with toxic gases and impacts on aircraft from the ash in the atmosphere.

“That’s why flying the drone around Lómagnúpur and examining the rocks in detail in the field is very important, as the mountain provides a long record of the interaction of large lava flows and ice caps in the past.”

Stonehenge monument altar stone came from Scotland via sea

Matthew Ward Agius

AUGUST 14,2024

"Completely unexpected" finding connects Stonehenge’s 6.6-ton Altar Stone to the northernmost parts of Great Britain and possible transport by ocean.

The origins of Stonehenge are slightly less mysterious now

Image: Toby Melville/REUTERS

A detailed chemical study of Stonehenge's central monolith has upended understanding of the British monument's mysterious origins, suggesting one of its central stones was transported from northern Scotland.

The findings more than triple the distance that the five-square-meter, six-ton sandstone slab might have traveled, compared to previous assumptions.

The 5,000-year-old neolithic stone circle is a treasured part of Britain's archeological heritage, visited by more than a million people each year. It's a site for annual solstice celebrations and most recently the subject of a controversial climate protest.

But how the structure was built remains uncertain.

Until last year, the Altar Stone was described as a 'bluestone' despite being found to be sedimentary sandstone, which was thought to have originated from a deposit near the Brecon Beacons in Wales.

Along with smaller dolerite and rhyolite bluestone boulders from the Mynydd Preseli deposits on the country’s west coast, it has long been thought that ancient Britons transported these rocks 225 kilmoters (140 miles) to construct Stonehenge. The site also features large slabs of locally-sourced sandstone.

But a report from the University of Aberystwyth last year found the Altar Stone's composition was fundamentally different from the sandstone of Wales, with its authors surmising an origin in northern Britain.

On a recommendation from the Aberystwyth team, tiny fragments of the Altar Stone were sent to the other side of the world – Western Australia – where a PhD student at Curtin University put them under the microscope.

The six-ton Altar Stone is submerged beneath these two sandstone slabs at Stonehenge.

Nick Pearce/Aberystwyth University

"Rock DNA" uncovers the origins of Stonehenge's Altar Stone

Stonehenge's large, central Altar Stone lies embedded in the earth beneath two larger sarsen sandstone blocks, which were sourced from the local Wiltshire region along with the other large upright stones that form the monument's outer circle.

But when the Aberystwyth researchers led by geologist Richard Bevins identified the possibility of a different origin for the Altar in 2023, it took a Welsh expat working on the other side of the world to fill in the gaps.

"I grew up kind of wandering those [Preseli] hills, much like, maybe, Neolithic Britons did thousands of years ago, and in some way that must have inspired me," said Anthony Clarke, a geologist originally from South Wales who currently works at Curtin University's Timescales of Mineral Systems group in Perth.

Anthony Clarke examines stone samples in his lab at Curtin University, Australia.

Image: Curtin University

Clarke and his colleagues performed an isotopic analysis of tiny decaying uranium fragments within the Altar Stone's crystals.

This process fires a laser into the rock slivers, measuring the ratio of uranium and lead released by the stone.

Using these measurements, Clarke and colleague Chris Kirkland – a Scotsman also working at Curtin – used an extensive geological database of the UK’s rock deposits to match the Altar Stone with the Orcadian Basin, about 850 kilometers north of Stonehenge.

"By measuring the isotopic ratios of uranium and lead within these little crystals, we have miniature 'clocks'," said Kirkland.

"These clocks are very handy because they tell us about the original age of the material that was eroded to produce our sandstone (...) we can look at lots of different crystals within the Altar Stone and build up an 'age fingerprint', much like DNA. It's like DNA for our rock."

Stonehenge: a story of seafaring trade?

Hauling a six-ton rock overland for more than 1,000 kilometers would have been a remarkable feat 6,000 years ago.

Instead, the researchers say the Altar Stone was probably transported over water.

"We initially thought it had to have been moved by ice – it's just such a long distance for humans to transport. But if we look at ice flow directions during previous ice ages in the UK, ice was actually moving even further away from southern Britain," Clarke said.

"If you look at overland transport of the Altar Stone, they would have to have passed some formidable barriers: rivers, the heavily forested nature of prehistoric Britain, the marshy boggy landscape and the mountains standing in the way, from northern Scotland (...) which then leaves us with a marine transport route."

Clarke points to evidence of sea-based trade, shipping and social connections throughout the British Isles at the time of Stonehenge's construction as supporting the ocean transport hypothesis.

It's similar to recent studies by archaeologists that uncovered the existence of an extinct branch of the Nile. Their analysis found the extinguished channel would have passed right by the site of many of the pyramids, indicating water transport was used by the Ancient Egyptians to transport the huge quantities of stone needed for their construction.

Clarke expects the water-transport hypothesis will draw a mix of responses from the archeological community but is confident this new Stonehenge study will help focus the search for the true source of the material used at the ancient site.

"I'm sure there's going to be a mixture of amazement and perhaps skepticism," Clark said.

"But this is something we welcome going forward, to really narrow down the source of the Altar Stone, perhaps to the individual outcrop or even quarry it might have been sourced from."

The new findings were published in the journal Nature.

Edited by: Derrick Williams

Primary source:

Clarke et al (2024). A Scottish provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07652-1

Additional sources:

Bevins et al. (2023). The Stonehenge Altar Stone was probably not sourced from the Old Red Sandstone of the Anglo-Welsh Basin: Time to broaden our geographic and stratigraphic horizons? Published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104215

Bradley, Richard (2024). Beyond the bluestones: links between distant monuments in Late Neolithic Britain and Ireland. Antiquity. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.3

Ghoneim et al (2024). The Egyptian pyramid chain was built along the now abandoned Ahramat Nile Branch. Communications Earth & Environment. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01379-7

The Altar Stone at the centre of Stonehenge may have come from more than 700km away in Scotland, Australian study suggests

By Brianna Morris-Grant

ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA

Stonehenge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but many things about it remain unknown.(Reuters: Peter Cziborra)

In short:

The 6-tonne Altar Stone inside Stonehenge may have come from a location in Scotland more than 700km away from its final placement, according to a new study.

"Fingerprinting" samples of the stone matched it to other samples in north-east Scotland, rather than Wales.
What's next?

Many questions, including how the stone may have been transported and what the original purpose of Stonehenge was, remain unanswered.

The 6-tonne stone at the centre of Stonehenge may have come from a location in Scotland more than 700km away from its final placement, new research has suggested.

The Altar Stone was long believed to have come from Wales, but may have been transported via sea, according to research led by Curtin University and published in science journal Nature.

The peer-reviewed study, funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project, was a collaboration between Curtin, the University of Adelaide, Aberystwyth University and University College London.

The Altar Stone, seen here underneath two bigger sarsen stones.(Aberystwyth University: Nick Pearce)

Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, and is believed to have been constructed between 3100 BC and 1600 BC.

Previous research has identified two types of stone used to make its inner and outer rings.

WA-led research has unlocked secrets of Stonehenge

The outer ring is made up of standing sarsen stones originating from a location about 25km away, while the inner ring is made up of smaller "bluestones", of which the Altar Stone is the largest.

Lead researcher and Curtin University PhD candidate Anthony Clarke said their team had analysed two fragments of the stone.

"As of last year, the ultimate source of the Altar Stone was an open question," he said.

"We've had [work] ongoing on the Altar Stone … [and it] has a provenance all the way in the Orcadian Basin of north-east Scotland, some 700 to 800 kilometres away.

"This is a completely unexpected result, given that we thought it was going to originate in Wales."

Anthony Clarke said visiting the area as a child was part of what inspired him to research Stonehenge.(Supplied: Curtin University)

Professor Chris Kirkland of Curtin University's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences said they had examined the Altar Stone's "fingerprint" using the "little crystals" in the sandstone.

"What we can do is look at those little crystals … [they] contain small amounts of uranium, and we know the rate of change [from] uranium to lead," he said.

"By measuring the … uranium and lead within these little crystals, we have miniature clocks [that] tell us the original age of the material.

"We can [then] build up an age fingerprint, much like DNA for a rock. Then we can compare that to a large database of other rocks around the United Kingdom [and] compare the age."

The team also investigated several ways the stone could have moved or been transported such a long distance to its final location in the centre of the monument.

University of Adelaide associate professor Stijn Glorie, a co-supervisor of Mr Clarke's PhD studies, leads the Australian Research Council Project, which funded the research.

"We collected some data on minerals inside this [sample of the Altar Stone] to understand the fingerprints of the rocks and then link that with rocks in Britain," he said.

"What this study shows us is that there was a long, long transport mechanism involved for those people to bring the rocks from Scotland.

"We first looked at the possibility that these rocks were just supported by glaciers, and we could rule this out because of the flow directions of these glaciers at the time were the opposite direction.

"So it was kind of impossible. The other option would then be that these humans have transported it themselves.

"Over land that becomes tricky, because of huge obstacles along the way, so we quite quickly get to the conclusion that the only possible way really to bring that rock from Scotland to Stonehenge is over [the sea]."

Many questions surrounding Stonehenge, including its original purpose, remain unanswered.

"It's been something that's been, particularly in Britain's history, quite important," Dr Glorie said.

"So it's something that is in people's minds and understanding how it was built and how it was formed has clear importance for understanding history.

Scientists crack Stonehenge origin mystery

Geochemical testing indicates that 50 of Stonehenge's 52 pale-gray sandstone megaliths share a common origin about 25 kilometres away at a site called West Woods.

"One key question, and I don't think we can answer it at all, to be honest, is the why?

"Why would those people go all the way to Scotland to bring a rather unremarkable rock all the way to Stonehenge?

"Obviously there is no written record, so it's hard to work out why that would be so.

"We can only speculate on this, it's a very hard research question. Why would they have come all the way to Scotland [for] a rock that looks not much different to rocks that are locally sourced?

"Maybe it has some kind of spiritual meaning to them."

Opinion

‘What can pro-Israel entities gain from backing Tommy Robinson?’ A lot

August 14, 2024

Tommy Robinson addresses the rally from a stage in Parliament Square in London, England on June 1, 2024 [Guy Smallman/Getty Images]

by Nasim Ahmed
Nasimbythedocks

“What can pro-Israel entities gain from backing Tommy Robinson?” asks John Ware in an article this week. “Absolutely nothing,” says the British journalist, dismissing the series of allegations that the far-right agitator, who many hold responsible for the recent riots across the UK and anti-Muslim pogroms, is funded by Zionist groups.

Ware goes on to describe proponents of these claims as engaging in conspiratorial thinking, implying that anyone making a connection between far-right leaders sowing hate and division on the streets of Britain and Zionist leaders are anti-Semites peddling in conspiracy theories about Jewish puppet masters controlling the world.

Ware, who is no stranger to controversy, having produced the contentious BBC Panorama programme on alleged anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and accused by his critics of stoking a witch-hunt against British Muslims, mentions Dr Anas Altikriti. The CEO and Founder of The Cordoba Foundation repeated widely shared claims that Robinson and his financiers are linked to the Zionist state of Israel and that the far-right protest on British streets were retribution for British solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Altikriti is one of several people on Ware’s list described as having a “conspiratorial take on the root causes of the riots.” He cites Massoud Shadjareh, Chair of the Islamic Human Rights Commission. MEMO contributor, Yvonne Ridley, and comments made by the British journalist describing Robinson as “Israel’s poster boy”. David Miller, a former professor, who called Robinson a Zionist asset working for Israel since 2009, and rapper, Lowkey, who suggested Robinson’s actions were part of a Zionist agenda.

Exposed: what links Israel to UK far-right riots?

Ware does acknowledge that Robinson has an affinity with Israel. But the support of the far-right leader for the apartheid state, according to Ware, is a “way of weaponising his bigotry against Muslims” rather than any genuine alliance with Zionism. He points out that mainstream UK Jewish organisations have condemned Robinson and the far-right violence unequivocally. For instance, the Board of Deputies condemned the lawlessness and thuggery, while the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, highlighted the moral stain from targeting mosques, asylum seekers and refugees.

It is, perhaps, understandable why Ware would jump to the defence of Israel from allegations that some of the worst actors in our society are spearheading its cause. Given his own well-documented support for Israel and having also funded projects in the apartheid state, would I want a cause to which I am deeply committed to, be associated with a man accused of spearheading anti-Muslim pogroms?

Ware, however, does an extremely poor job in making his argument. At no point does he challenge the actual evidence for why Robinson is called a Zionist asset. Surely, if the aim is to debunk that claim you would spend more time explaining the well-documented funding of a far-right agitator like Robinson by Zionist anti-Muslim groups and less time smearing critics. At no point does Ware refute the evidence cited as proof that Robinson is a Zionist asset.

Both can be true: some sections of the pro-Israeli community, as Ware pointed out, despise Robinson and what he stands for, while other sections of the global Zionist community see him – and the far-right, in general – as allies in a broader civilisational conflict with Muslims. I think that would have been a reasonable position. But Ware appears to discount that as a possibility.

Perhaps Ware missed the article about Robinson published in the Time of Israel four years ago asking “why are US ‘pro-Israel’ groups boosting a far-right, anti-Muslim UK extremist?” The revealing piece uncovers the very connections between Robinson and various pro-Israel groups and individuals that Ware dismisses as conspiracy.

According to the 2019 investigation, Robinson is said to have received significant financial and ideological support from The Middle East Forum (MEF), a Philadelphia-based think tank, long known for its pro-Israel and anti-Muslim stance. MEF has been one of Robinson’s biggest sponsors. MEF’s president, Daniel Pipes, reportedly confirmed that his organisation spent approximately $60,000 on three demonstrations supporting Robinson during his legal trials.

The Times of Israel report also mentions Robert Shillman, described as a US-based ultra-Zionist billionaire, who frequently donates to Israeli institutions. Shillman reportedly financed a fellowship that paid for a position Robinson held in 2017 with the Rebel Media, a right-wing Canadian website. Other organisations, including the Gatestone Institute and the David Horowitz Freedom Centre, have published articles defending Robinson. These groups have long been known as major players in the global anti-Muslim industry.

Many of the organisations cited are part of the American right-wing infrastructure that supports Israel. Nina Rosenwald, described as an “ardent Zionist” and American-Jewish philanthropist, reportedly funds both MEF and the Gatestone Institute. Pipes, when interviewed, expressed an affinity with Robinson based on shared concerns about what he termed “the Islamist threat”. Pipes suggested that people concerned about Israel’s security often share concerns about Muslims.

Did Ware also miss the 2018 Guardian report which uncovered ties between Robinson and Zionist anti-Muslim pro-Israel groups? On its list of donors and supporters of Robinson, it too cites MEF spending around $60,000 on legal fees and demonstrations in London. Apparently a senior MEF executive was also closely involved in preparations for a pro-Robinson march.

Commenting on Shillman, the Guardian said that the Zionist billionaire played a crucial role in Robinson’s financial support and listed ways in which he helped pay for Robinson’s employment. Other organisations have contributed to Robinson’s cause. The Australian Liberty Alliance, a small right-wing group, is said to have provided funding, though the amount was not disclosed. Support by previously mentioned the Gatestone Institute, DHFC in California, are on the Guardian list. The DHFC has also lobbied for Robinson to address US politicians.

These organisations are well-funded by influential right-wing donors that are deeply and ideologically wedded to Israel. Tax returns examined by the Guardian show that, between 2014 and 2016, they received almost $5 million from several millionaire donors. The MEF received $792,000 from a foundation led by Nina Rosenwald, while the DHFC received over $1.6 million from five wealthy benefactors. The Gatestone Institute received more than $2 million in donations, including $250,000 from the Mercer Family Foundation, which is run by one of Donald Trump’s top donors.

Ware’s article is a very poor attempt at playing the man and not the ball. To throw the question back to the journalist, “What can pro-Israel entities gain from backing Tommy Robinson?” The answer is far from “absolutely nothing” as Ware suggests. It is a lot and, judging by how long Zionist groups have been funding the far-right extremist who many hold responsible for the anti-Muslim pogroms in the UK, I bet it’s more than Ware would ever care to admit.

What is the Online Safety Act and why have riots in the UK reopened debates about it?

by Olivia Brown and Alicia Cork, The Conversation

AUGUST 14, 2024

london police — Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Recent rioting, and unrest in the UK has led to calls for the Online Safety Act to be revisited. Mayor Sadiq Khan has called it "not fit for purpose" and Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas Symonds suggested that the government could change the law, which was passed under the previous government and includes a raft of measures relevant to the recent riots, including powers to fine social media companies.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been less forthcoming about the act and has said only that he would "look more broadly at social media after this disorder." His spokesperson suggested the act was not under active review.

In practical terms, social media played a key role in the widespread coordination of events in locations across the country. Online platforms have also served as a vehicle through which misinformation and hateful rhetoric has spread.

The act, enforced by the independent media regulator Ofcom, deals with the regulation of online speech and aims to protect users from potential harm including abuse and harassment, fraudulent activity and hate offenses.

Specifically, it seeks to place more responsibility on social media companies to ensure their platforms are safe, with fines of up to 10% of their annual revenue being issued to providers whose platforms are deemed unsafe.

In more extreme cases, Ofcom has the power to require advertisers and internet providers to cease working with platforms that do not comply with the regulations. The act passed into law in October 2023, and laws in relation to individual offenses are already in effect. For example, it is now an offense to share false information with an intention to cause non-trivial harm.

However, the frustration in the wake of the riots has arisen from the fact that the parts of the act are not due to come into effect until late 2024. These include enforcement powers and other measures that Ofcom could apply to social networking platforms and other platform providers, such as online forums and instant messaging platforms. This raises questions as to what might have been different in the past 14 days had they already been in place.

Algorithm concerns

A key concern has been the way in which algorithms deciding what content is recommended on social networking platforms may have propagated harmful content in relation to the riots—including racist, hateful and violent content.

For example, it was found that people were using TikTok to live-stream content of the riots as they unfolded.

At present, social media platforms such as TikTok, X, Facebook and YouTube are designed to optimize user engagement through their recommendation algorithms, with safety concerns not typically weighted within these systems. X, for example, employs different algorithms for content moderation versus content recommendation.

As a result of this, it is possible that harmful content can be recommended by one algorithm before it is identified as needing to be moderated by another algorithm.

The Online Safety Act aims to address this challenge by requiring platforms to test the safety implications of their recommendation algorithms. That is, when changes are made to their recommendation algorithms, services will be encouraged to collect safety metrics, allowing them to assess whether these algorithm changes are likely to increase individuals' exposure to illegal content.

By incorporating these safety considerations when designing and refining content recommendation algorithms, it is hoped that fewer individuals will be exposed to harmful content before content moderation teams have had the opportunity to remove it.

Neutral oversight

One of the primary challenges around the regulation of online content is the unwillingness of platform providers to be seen as "arbiters of truth." For example, X has recently changed the name of its Trust and Safety team to just Safety, as Elon Musk, CEO of X, stated that: "Any organization that puts 'Trust' in their name cannot be trusted as that is obviously a euphemism for censorship."

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, said something similar back in 2016 after the US election, when he stated that Meta "shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online."

However, and as recent events have shown, this has not precluded Musk himself from propagating specific narratives in relation to the UK riots and adding fuel to an already inflamed discourse.

The Act addresses this challenge by using the independent regulator, Ofcom, to enforce and regulate online content and algorithms. While the law was passed by the UK government, the government does not have powers to determine what content is allowed and what should be disallowed—thus securing political neutrality in the long-term implementation of the act.

Prevailing challenges

At present, the Online Safety Act does not include any legislation about misinformation and disinformation. This appears to be why Khan suggested that in its current form, the act does not go far enough.

The prevailing challenge of misinformation was put in sharp focus by the murders that led to the riots, with content falsely claiming that the Southport attacker was a Muslim migrant trending across several social networking platforms in the aftermath of the incident.

The home secretary Yvette Cooper claimed that social networking platforms "put rocket boosters" under the spread of this content, and there has been much debate as to whether it helped fuel the violence seen on many city streets.

This leaves some observers concerned that, until the act fully comes into force, we are in a legal purgatory around what can and cannot be litigated against online.

However, we won't really know how effective the Online Safety Act can be until all of it has come into force and it has been tested in another situation like the recent riots.

Provided by The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.Southport riots: Why social media's role in unrest is overblown

The anger is understandable but why target immigrants?

Anger at austerity is justified, but why target immigrants? The real culprits sit in Westminster, diverting blame from their own failures

byDavid Murray

14-08-2024

Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street, OGL 3, via Wikimedia Commons

Mark Fisher lamented the apathy of the British public in suffering austerity and the negative effects of capitalism over a decade ago. He thought it could be the tiniest incident that would tear through the fake veneer of a well-functioning UK. Perhaps the citizenry is about to waken up for real.

It is possible to perceive that British people have run out of patience with the cumulative failure of successive UK governments to reverse falling living standards, stagnating wages, lack of housing and increasing wealth inequality. Also on the increase is the cost of essential utilities while the quality of these services falls. Daily life in our local communities looks bleaker due to failing public services stressed by the austerity economics afflicting UK society.

This package of issues is likely to be the direct cause of current unrest. The rioting is notable in at least two respects, but certainly not unexpected. Firstly, it has taken 14 years of austerity policies to provoke a violent reaction. Secondly, immigrants are the target of the anger. The blame for all the above lies at the door of the House of Commons.

Every real troublesome societal issue is a problem for the entire population and as individuals we have a responsibility to play our part in mitigating any factor we can. When it comes to institutional failures or problems at the level of national or regional infrastructure, it is beyond the ability of individuals to alleviate.

As a society, we elect governments to take responsibility for not only maintaining and sustaining the services we rely on, but to provide an environment where citizens are free to innovate and create to improve these services to advance the lives of citizens and humanity as a whole.

The blame game

Austerity economics has reversed the direction of travel and, instead of holding their collective hands up and accepting responsibility for the suffering this causes, the five UK governments since David Cameron’s have abdicated this responsibility. Not only have they been derelict in this duty, but each administration has sought to divert blame and media attention to other actors.

The European Union (EU), a long-standing bugbear of a significant faction within the Conservative Party, became the first target. Rising house prices and an NHS struggling through underinvestment became the focus of discontent, despite both issues being the result of political choices. The pro-Brexit advocates pointed to the open-border policies of the EU putting undue stress on UK services as the ailment, and immigration as the symptom that had to be treated to cure the disease.

The media, undergoing its own form of austerity through failure to find a niche in the advance of information technology, found an ability to cash in by sensationalising and speculating rather than printing more reasoned facts or nuanced commentary. This austere environment enabled wealthy actors to buy headlines to influence outcomes and democracy – in these circumstances – dies a slow death through disinformation. The Brexit vote was a victory for propaganda tapping into a discontented populace and aiming this powerful weapon at a relatively innocent and benign target.

Eight years later, with European Union membership far behind in the rear-view mirror of British life, we have more legal and illegal migrants arriving than ever before. Still, the same actors rage against this ‘invasion’ without recognising the fact that the UK is not producing enough doctors, teachers, engineers, tradespeople or scientists to meet the demands of society.

The real deficits in the UK economy

UK citizens face deficiencies in their local communities every day – from uncut grass in former well-tended public parks, to dilapidated buildings in need of refurbishment to provide living or industrial accommodation. There is no end of jobs to be done if the government would simply fund the departments and local authorities adequately, to allow the resources required to make things right to be targeted accurately.

The latest statistics show a significant drop in UK birth rates. Again, it is easy to equate the precarity young people experience through insecure, low-paid work and unaffordable house prices or rents, to the austerity policies of successive UK governments. When young adults contemplate the potential for marriage and setting up a home to start a family, many must simply despair. Understandably, movement through life plans is postponed as secure footholds are sought, resulting in smaller families and, in some cases, no family at all.

Immigration is not the cause of this situation. In fact, until the UK can reverse the current trend and experience another baby boom, immigrants are essential to allowing our public services, industry and utilities to function adequately in future decades. The rioters out on the English streets expect a comfortable retirement in the good old British tradition. Without immigrants carrying out the necessary tasks, there may be no reliable public services to ease life and nothing on the supermarket shelves to buy with a pension – state or private.

Unite to beat the villains – real or imagined

There is no point in unprovoked violent protest, the only entity gaining from such action would be ’the big Other’, the metaphorical puppet masters behind the media headlines. We perceive a powerful group observing the news feed, guffawing while another handful of popcorn is scooped up. This, as Lacan tried to illustrate, is another way of using a virtual reality to absolve ourselves of personal responsibility to act.

Instead, we must unite to send a message to the UK monarchy and its government that it is no longer serving the people. Whether you are on the right, the left, an immigrant, an independence supporter in Scotland or Wales, a supporter of the Union and The King, we have a right to expect a steady advance in the standard of living for our families, adequate public services and an aspirational vision for the future to aim for.

This means recognising that our causes intersect, and the extent of our interdependence. The groups must talk to each other to defeat the divide and conquer tactics, whether these are a consequence of normal human traits or engineered and employed by self-serving actor(s) pulling the strings.

A perfect counter would be for the two groups organising protests this September in Glasgow, to invite speakers from the other faction to address their rally and for the invitations to be accepted in good faith by both sides. If each side speaks their truth, we all have much to learn from the event both in common ground and in the limits to acceptability. Both sides have legitimate concerns and dialogue will emphasise that the solutions lie in unity of purpose, and a concerted effort against a dominant establishment.

It should become obvious that all ordinary Scots (and Brits) want to mitigate the same problems. With this knowledge, we can unite to attempt to force the UK government to address the deficit in living standards. All it takes is investment from the Treasury to enact the will of the people. That investment is authorised in the antiquated Punch and Judy theatre of Westminster.

Those who have been provided the opportunity to occupy the famous green benches by the people, must be strongly encouraged to serve us, or make way for others who will. If Westminster proves immovable, then it may be time for the English, Welsh, Northern Irish and Scots to amicably end the Union and take away the Westminster punchbowl from the population’s most affluent 1%.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment