Egypt uncovers possible 'world's oldest brewery' in ancient city

Egypt said on Saturday it had uncovered what may be "the world's oldest industrial-scale brewery" in the ancient city of Abydos, in the south of the country, marking the latest in a series of archeological discoveries.

The brewery was originally discovered by British archaeologists in the early 20th century but, according to Egypt's antiquities ministry, its importance was not realized and its location was later lost.

© Egypts Supreme Council of Antiquities The possible 'world's oldest brewery' discovered by Egyptin ancient city of of Abydos, south of the country is shown in an undated handout image.

An American-Egyptian archaeological mission rediscovered the lost brewery in Abydos in the Sohag province, about 500 kilometers south of Cairo, and uncovered its secrets.

MORE: Egypt unlocks more secrets in Saqqara with discovery of temple, sarcophagi

The high-production beer factory dates back to 3,000 B.C., during the reign of King Narmer, who is widely believed to be the first ruler of a unified Egypt and the founder of the First Dynasty.

© Egypts Supreme Council of Antiquities The possible 'world's oldest brewery' discovered by Egyptin ancient city of of Abydos, south of the country is shown in an undated handout image.

"The factory was producing about 22,400 liters of beer at a time, and it may have been built in this place specifically to supply the royal rituals that were taking place inside the funeral facilities of the kings of Egypt," a ministry statement quoted Matthew Adams, who is leading the mission, as saying.

© Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities The possible 'world's oldest brewery' discovered by Egyptin ancient city of of Abydos, south of the country is shown in an undated handout image.

"Evidence for the use of beer in sacrificial rites was found during excavations in these facilities," he added

© Egypts Supreme Council of Antiquities The possible 'world's oldest brewery' discovered by Egyptin ancient city of of Abydos, south of the country is shown in an undated handout image.

Abydos, located in the desert west of the Nile River, is home to royal necropolises that date back to the first four dynasties. The prominent archeological site was a burial ground for Egypt's earliest pharaohs.

"The brewery was located in a vast desert area reserved exclusively for the use of Egypt's first kings, including Narmer," said Deborah Vischak of Princeton University, who was also part of the mission.MORE: Cairo's Baron Empain palace reopens after restoration

"In Abydos, they established Egypt's first great royal necropolis and also built monumental funerary temples, known as 'cultic enclosures,'" Vischak said. "The brewery may have been built expressly to supply royal ritual at the enclosures, based on extensive excavation of the monuments and evidence for the use of beer in large-scale offering rituals in them."

Egypt is hoping a string of recent major discoveries will help the country revive its ailing tourism industry, which had begun to pick up in recent years only to be hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

© Egypts Supreme Council of Antiquities The possible 'world's oldest brewery' discovered by Egyptin ancient city of of Abydos, south of the country is shown in an undated handout image.

Last month, Egypt uncovered a funerary temple and the oldest coffins ever found in Saqqara, another ancient necropolis south of Cairo.

The country unearthed 52 burial shafts with more than 50 wooden coffins found inside. They date back 3,000 years.

GIMME THAT OLDE TIME RELIGION

Myanmar spirit mediums take aim at military coup

Otherworldly forces are displeased with the generals behind Myanmar's coup, according to the ornately dressed spirit mediums joining street protests to denounce the country's sudden turn back to army rule.

© STR Myanmar's traditional spirit mediums have joined the protests against the military coup

© STR The 37 great 'nats' -- or deities -- venerated in Myanmar do not want military rule, according to spirit mediums protesting against the return to army rule

A group of the clairvoyants this week marched alongside civil servants, garment factory workers and students in the commercial capital Yangon to call for the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 

© Ye Aung THU Popular young sorcerer Linn Nhyo Taryar (R, shown with his students in this file photo) was taken away by police after participating in the Yangon protests

They channel the 37 great "nats" -- or deities -- venerated in Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country where animist worship and superstitious beliefs are part of everyday life for some.

"Nats do not want military rule," insisted Achaintan Man Gay Oo, 48. "They also want the release of Mother Suu."

It has become apparent to the mediums that the spirits are "unhappy" with the sudden end to Myanmar's nascent democracy, the 48-year-old told AFP.

"Their withered faces show the hints of their dissatisfaction," she added.

The presence of Achaintan Man Gay Oo and other mediums among anti-coup protesters may seem little more than a curiosity from outside the country.

But Myanmar's military top brass have at times clamped down on spiritual practices led by popular soothsayers, mediums and sorcerers.

During the British colonial era and the half-century of junta rule that followed, the mediums channelled "weikza" -- semi-divine Buddhist wizard-saints -- to fight their oppressors.

Most of these sects were disbanded or pushed underground by the generals, even while reportedly paying heed to their own spiritual counsel.

Than Shwe, Myanmar's feared former dictator, is rumoured to have been a regular client of a famous deaf mystic who also read the fortune of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

One popular young sorcerer boasting a large following on Facebook was whisked away at night by police this week after participating in the Yangon protests.

Linn Nhyo Taryar had prayed for the fall of the new junta, his godfather and magic mentor Tin Htut told AFP.

- 'Myanmar will have many changes ' -

The bespectacled 25-year-old now faces a two-year jail sentence under a colonial-era incitement law.

"I do not like party politics or dictatorship... but I let my children do what they believe in," Tin Htut said, angered that his protege was refused bail.

All videos posted by Linn Nhyo Taryar since the coup have been removed from Facebook.

But his followers say he might have foreseen the fall of Myanmar's democracy, pointing at a prediction he had published on the last day of 2020.

"The highest organisations in Myanmar will have many changes," he wrote.

"Internationally, Myanmar news will be at the top for good and bad things."

The spirits are not to be underestimated, Achaintan Man Gay Oo said, adding that she feels protected despite junta warnings of action against protesters.

"I have no worries at all for their crackdown," she said. "If it happens, I'm ready to give my life."

bur-dhc/gle

Nunavut hunters end blockades, mine pushes ahead with injunction against them

IQALUIT, Nunavut — Baffinland Iron Mine Corp. has pushed ahead with an injunction against a group of Nunavut hunters who blocked the road and airstrip at its Mary River mine in protest of a plan to expand the project

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

A group of seven Inuit hunters, who call themselves the Nuluujat Land Guardians, protested at the mine for a week before departing on Feb. 10.

But Brad Armstrong, lawyer for Baffinland, argued the injunction is necessary "to be sure that these blockades do not reoccur."

"It is necessary to ensure that the company can continue its operations without interruption. It will tell the Guardians they cannot come back," Armstrong said.

Armstrong's comments came during a Saturday-morning hearing at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.

Guardians' lawyer Lori Idlout countered that the injunction was unnecessary, citing the hunters' decision to end the blockade of their own accord.

She said the protest ended after the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, the organization representing Inuit in the region, and land-claim body Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. offered the hunters a face-to-face meeting, which they accepted.

Idlout said the hunters have since returned to their home communities of Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay, some of which are more than 300 kilometres from the proposed mine expansion.

Baffinland is in the middle of environmental hearings on its bid to double the mine's output of iron ore from six million to 12 million tonnes and build a 110-kilometre railway from the mine to the ocean for shipping. The railway would be the only one in Nunavut and the most northern in Canada.

Some hunters and community members in the North Baffin region have said they fear the company is moving too fast and not properly considering the effects an expansion would have on wildlife, including narwhal and caribou populations.

Baffinland asked for a temporary injunction against the hunters last week, which was in place until Saturday's hearing.

Baffinland said the blockade had caused some 700 employees at the mine to be stranded and grounded all food and supply flights to the mine.

Idlout argued that extending the injunction is unnecessary because the hunters had immediately responded to the court's order and are in the middle of planning for their upcoming meeting.

"They are few in numbers and their resources are focused currently on meeting with Inuit organizations to advance their environmental goals and protecting Inuit rights," Idlout said.

The day and time of the meeting has not yet been set.

If granted, the injunction would legally prevent the hunters from blockading the site.

Nunavut Justice Susan Cooper did not deliver an immediate ruling on the application, saying she needs some time to come to a decision. In the meantime, the temporary injunction ordered last week will stay in place.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2021.

---

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship

Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press

 JAPANESE DISCOVER UNKNOWN DEEP SEA FISH

FOSSIL FISH LIKE THE  Coelacanth 

There is a great variety of sea life swimming in Earth's oceans, but according to the National Ocean Service, more than 90% of the species living in them are not yet classified. So when scientists stumbled onto a toothy deep-sea "top predator" off Japan's coast, they could not believe a fish of that size was swimming around the deep blue. Lucy Craft has more.

#CRYPTID     #CRYPTOZOOLOGY

 

New review summarises effect of aquatic pollution on cancer prevalence in wild animals

• Download PDF Copy

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Feb 11 2021

The recent review, published in Environment International and led by the University of Tartu, summarises the effect of aquatic pollution on cancer prevalence in wild animals with the help of more than 300 reviewed studies.

Authors shed light on understudied yet important fields in cancer research in wild animals - summarising the key effects and pointing to future research avenues to crack the puzzle of why cancer develops in polluted environments.

What was immediately evident was the bias towards fish in current research into aquatic wildlife cancer. However, given this bias it is especially interesting that 10% of the aquatic animals diagnosed with cancer have had this cancer-associated with pollution; a figure we expect to be a lot higher in reality."

Ciara Baines, Study Lead Author, University of Tartu

The new article combines the information available within the scientific literature on cancer occurrences in aquatic and semi-aquatic species.

The authors suggest physiological mechanisms that link pollution and cancer, including main metabolic detoxification pathways, oxidative damage effects, infections, and changes to the microbiome.

In addition, it is determined: which types of aquatic animals are more vulnerable to pollution-induced cancer, which types of pollution are mainly associated with cancer in aquatic ecosystems, and which types of cancer pollution causes.

All aquatic ecosystems are vulnerable to pollution Toxic substances such as persistent organic pollutants, pesticides, and heavy metals, but also pharmaceuticals and microplastics, have been shown to negatively affect the health and survival of aquatic organisms.

One of the pollution-induced pathologies that should be at the centre of attention in ecological and evolutionary research is cancer, as anthropogenic contamination has resulted in a rapid increase of oncogenic substances in natural habitats.

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Pollutants can suppress the host immune system and thus increase the susceptibility of organisms to cancer-causing pathogens and/or the long-term accumulation of pollutants and tissue damage in organs. This in turn, can initiate oncogenic processes. Based on the current review, cancer has been linked to pollution in around 30 aquatic species.

Skin cancer is a frequent outcome of living in contaminated waters in several fish species. Accordingly, next to skin cancer, cancers of the liver, that assist in processing contaminants, have been described in many fish species.

Interestingly, malignant tumours in lipid-rich brain tissues, which could be a promising future study direction, are often under-described and under-studied throughout the literature. Pointing to the gaps in research was one of the aims of a review.

Tuul Sepp, PI of the research group of cancer evolution in the University of Tartu, highlights two sides of the coin in wildlife cancer studies: „On the one hand, if our activities are causing cancer in aquatic animals, it is our responsibility to know about it, to try to make it better. On the other hand, wild animals in polluted environments act as sentinels for the environmental quality for humans."

A better understanding of tumour development processes and linkage to the contamination of the environment with oncogenic chemicals have an important role in preventing the negative effects of contamination on wild populations as well as humans.

The authors highlight the need for future research to target understanding of how exposure to a chronic low-to-medium oncogenic pollutant level, combined with other ecological factors affects the health of aquatic animals. In addition, understanding the combined effects of environmental parameters and pollution cocktails on cancer prevalence is an area that needs urgent research.

Source:

Estonian Research Council

Journal reference:

Baines, C., et al. (2021) Linking pollution and cancer in aquatic environments: A review. Environment International. doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2021.106391.

Why It Matters That Some Pigs

 Are Actually Pretty Good at 

Playing Video Games

REBECCA E NORDQUIST, THE CONVERSATION

14 FEBRUARY 2021

(Eston Martz/Pennsylvania State University)

Pigs might not be able to fly, but they can play video games. In a new study, researchers from Purdue University in Indiana have shown that pigs can use a digital screen and joystick, operated by their snout, to move a cursor around for rewards.

This is a complex task. The animals need to understand the link between moving around a joystick and what's happening on a computer screen, and then link what's happening on the screen to getting a reward.

The four pigs tested were all able to do that to some extent, showing off their smarts.

As the researchers upped the difficulty in the task, sending them to new "levels", the pigs weren't ready to compete with the kids in Mario Kart just yet. 

They couldn't even compete with the monkeys for which the task was originally designed. This may be because moving around a joystick with your snout is a lot harder than with opposable thumbs, or because the pigs are just not as good at the task as primates.

High score for Porky

This new study fits well with what we already know about pigs. They show remarkable intelligence in a number of complex cognitive tasks. They can, for instance, learn to respond differently to different sounds, and are masters at spatial learning tasks.

But there are limits to what they can do. Mirror use, for instance, is not something all pigs can master, and while they can use simple geometric shapes to decide what response to give, recognising other pigs from photographs proves too difficult.

This was surprising since other farm animals like sheep and cattle are able to recognise their sheep and cattle friends on photographs.

But why do we care that pigs can play in the video arcade, or learn to hunt for sweets in spatial learning tasks? After all, they aren't likely to find an Xbox on the average farm. This study is part of a growing area in animal welfare research, the study of farm animal cognition.

Farm animal intelligence

There are three main reasons why we care about how smart farm animals are. Farms are becoming increasingly complex places to live in. Group housing is now the norm in the European Union, meaning pigs need to keep track of social interactions.

Farms are also increasingly using automated feeders which the pigs have to operate themselves, and in some farms – mainly organic ones – outdoor access means animals need to be able to navigate more space.

This is all good to combat boredom in farm animals, and undoubtedly improves farmed pigs' welfare. But it's important to know just what the capabilities of these animals are, to make sure that they can cope with all of the changes we throw their way.

Secondly, there is the ethical concept of "intrinsic value" – what the value of an animal is just for being a living being. Instead of monetary value as an agricultural product or value to a human as a companion, this is the value it has for being itself, just as a pig, with all of the piggy things it does, such as oinking, rooting for things like truffles, socialising, and natural intelligence.

If these kinds of things are altered by farming practices such as genetic selection programmes and early weaning of piglets from their mothers, that raises ethical questions. Is a more efficient farming system worth the trade-off?

Finally, understanding animal cognition gives us fundamental insight into how animals perceive the world. That understanding can foster more empathy and promote better stewardship of the animals we keep.

As cognitive testing in farm animals is a relatively new area of focus, there are many avenues yet to be explored. For example, we know very little about chickens' cognitive abilities, even though they are some of the animals most widely kept by humans on Earth.

Chickens appear to be smarter than most of us give them credit for.

We're also only starting to understand how different management practices used in farm animals are impacting animals' cognitive development.

Raising farmed species without maternal care, insufficient challenges, and mixing of social groups may all negatively impact cognition. As the body of research grows, we will be able to translate this back to improvement of farms to improve farm animals' lives.

Rebecca E Nordquist, Assistant Professor of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University.

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

 

Major antioxidant in green tea may increase levels of natural anti-cancer protein

• Download PDF Copy

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Feb 13 2021

An antioxidant found in green tea may increase levels of p53, a natural anti-cancer protein, known as the "guardian of the genome" for its ability to repair DNA damage or destroy cancerous cells. Published today in Nature Communications, a study of the direct interaction between p53 and the green tea compound, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), points to a new target for cancer drug discovery.

Both p53 and EGCG molecules are extremely interesting. Mutations in p53 are found in over 50% of human cancer, while EGCG is the major anti-oxidant in green tea, a popular beverage worldwide. Now we find that there is a previously unknown, direct interaction between the two, which points to a new path for developing anti-cancer drugs. Our work helps to explain how EGCG is able to boost p53's anti-cancer activity, opening the door to developing drugs with EGCG-like compounds."

Chunyu Wang, Corresponding Author and Professor of Biological Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Wang, a member of the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, is an expert in using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study specific mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease and cancer, including p53, which he described as "arguably the most important protein in human cancer."

P53 has several well-known anti-cancer functions, including halting cell growth to allow for DNA repair, activating DNA repair, and initiating programmed cell death -- called apoptosis -- if DNA damage cannot be repaired. One end of the protein, known as the N-terminal domain, has a flexible shape, and therefore, can potentially serve several functions depending on its interaction with multiple molecules.

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EGCG is a natural antioxidant, which means it helps to undo the near constant damage caused by using oxygen metabolism. Found in abundance in green tea, EGCG is also packaged as an herbal supplement.

Wang's team found that the interaction between EGCG and p53 preserves the protein from degradation. Typically, after being produced within the body, p53 is quickly degraded when the N-terminal domain interacts with a protein called MDM2. This regular cycle of production and degradation holds p53 levels at a low constant.

"Both EGCG and MDM2 bind at the same place on p53, the N-terminal domain, so EGCG competes with MDM2," said Wang. "When EGCG binds with p53, the protein is not being degraded through MDM2, so the level of p53 will increase with the direct interaction with EGCG, and that means there is more p53 for anti-cancer function. This is a very important interaction."

"EGCG Binds Intrinsically Disordered N-Terminal Domain of p53 and Disrupts p53-MDM2 Interaction" was published with support from multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health. At Rensselaer, Wang was joined in the research by Lauren Gandy, Weihua Jin, Lufeng Yan, Xinyue Liu, and Yuanyuan Xiao.

First author Jing Zhao is a former member of Wang's lab, now on the faculty at China Agricultural University in Beijing, China. Co-first author Alan Blaney is an M.D.-Ph.D. student at Upstate Medical University. Researchers also contributed from SUNY Upstate Medical Center; the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; New York University; the State University of New York at Binghamton; NYU Shanghai; and Merck Research Laboratories.

Source:

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Journal reference:

Zhao, J., et al. (2021) EGCG binds intrinsically disordered N-terminal domain of p53 and disrupts p53-MDM2 interaction. Nature Communications. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21258-5.

Candidate for Mayor Andrew Yang Plans 

to Make New York City a Bitcoin Hub

by Kevin Helms

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is running for mayor of New York City. He has promised that as mayor he would invest in making the city “a hub for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.” Yang is also pro-universal basic income (UBI) and wants to launch “the largest basic income program in history.”

Andrew Yang Promises to Turn New York City Into a Bitcoin and Crypto Hub as Mayor

Entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is running for mayor of New York City. The Democratic primary is on June 22. He ran for U.S. president in the 2020 election before dropping out early last year.

Yang tweeted Thursday: “As mayor of NYC – the world’s financial capital – I could invest in making the city a hub for BTC and other cryptocurrencies.”



“I am running for mayor because I see a crisis – and I believe I can help,” Yang explained on his campaign website. The pro-bitcoin candidate moved to New York City 25 years ago.

Yang has long been a proponent of bitcoin. Early last year, he clarified his cryptocurrency policy while he was still in the running for President. He emphasized: “we need to have a uniform set of rules and regulations around cryptocurrency use nationwide because right now we’re stuck with this hodgepodge of state-by-state treatments … that would be my priority … just clear and transparent rules so that everyone knows where they can head in the future and that we can maintain competitiveness.”

Yang is also well known for his support of universal basic income (UBI). “We need to launch the largest basic income program in history, invest in a human-centered economy, return to fact-based governance, and create an accessible healthcare system,” he wrote on his campaign website. “We need to do all this while enacting accountable and smart policing, building affordable housing, closing our city’s digital divide, modernizing transportation and city services, and more.”

Meanwhile, another U.S. city is already on its way to becoming a bitcoin hub. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has recently gained support from the city commissioners to allow tax payments in bitcoin as well as making the cryptocurrency an acceptable currency for the city to potentially invest in and hold in its treasury reserves in the future.

 

Elon Musk wants clean power, but Tesla's dealing in environmentally dirty bitcoin

Cryptocurrency may be digital, but real fuel is burned to mine it

REUTERS

Feb 13th 2021 

LONDON — Tesla boss Elon Musk is a poster child of low-carbon technology. Yet the electric carmaker's backing of bitcoin this week could turbocharge global use of a currency that's estimated to cause more pollution than a small country every year.

Tesla revealed on Monday it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin and would soon accept it as payment for cars, sending the price of the cryptocurrency though the roof

So what's the problem, you may ask? Bitcoin's virtual, so it's not like it's made from paper or plastic, or even metal.

The digital currency is created via high-powered computers, an energy-intensive process that currently often relies on fossil fuels, particularly coal, the dirtiest of them all.

At current rates, such bitcoin "mining" devours about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands did in 2019, the latest available data from the University of Cambridge and the International Energy Agency shows.

Bitcoin production is estimated to generate between 22 million and 22.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, or between the levels produced by Jordan and Sri Lanka, according to a 2019 study in scientific journal Joule.

The landmark inclusion of the cryptocurrency in Tesla's investment portfolio could complicate the company's zero-emissions ethos, according to some investors, at a time when ESG — environmental, social and governance — considerations have become a major factor for global investors.

"We are of course very concerned about the level of carbon dioxide emissions generated from bitcoin mining," said Ben Dear, CEO of Osmosis Investment Management, a sustainable investor managing around $2.2 billion in assets that holds Tesla stock in several portfolios.

"We hope that when Tesla's bitcoin ventures are over, they will concentrate on measuring and disclosing to their market their full suite of environmental factors, and if they continue to buy or indeed start mining bitcoin, that they include the relevant energy consumption data in these disclosures."

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

Still, it's not all eco-doom and gloom, and Tesla's bet on bitcoin comes amid growing attempts in the cryptocurrency industry to mitigate the environmental harm of mining. This movement could be advanced by billionaire entrepreneur Musk, who this week separately offered $100 million for inventions that could pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or oceans.

The entrance of big corporations into the crypto market could also boost incentives to produce "green bitcoin" using renewable energy, some sustainability experts say. They add that companies could buy carbon credits to compensate too.

Yet in the shorter term, Tesla's disclosure of its bitcoin investment, made in a securities filing, could indirectly serve to exacerbate the environmental costs of mining.

Other companies are likely to follow its lead by buying into the currency, investors and industry experts say. Greater demand, and higher prices, lead to more miners competing to solve puzzles in the fastest time to win coin, using increasingly powerful computers that need more energy.

"It's (bitcoin) not a sustainable investment and it's hard to make it sustainable with the kind of system it is built on," said Sanna Setterwall, a consultant at corporate sustainability advisory South Pole.

Can Tesla turn bitcoin green?

Estimates on bitcoin's reliance on fossil fuels versus renewables vary, with detailed data on the bitcoin mining industry's energy mix hard to come by.

Projects from Canada to Siberia are striving for ways to wean bitcoin mining away from fossil fuels, or at least to reduce its carbon footprint, and make the currency more palatable to mainstream investors.

SJ Oh, a former bitcoin trader based in Hong Kong and a self-professed "tree-hugger," was aware that his passion for the environment was somewhat at odds with his day job. So a year ago he co-founded Pow.re, a firm that runs green bitcoin mining operations in the Canadian subarctic.

Located in Labrador, Pow.re's machines run on hydropower, with plans to repurpose the heat generated by the mining to serve local agriculture, heating and other needs, he said.

"Overwhelmingly, I do think there will be a concerted effort by the bitcoin industry to be environmentally friendly," said Oh, who believes Musk and his company can come up with better methods.

"Tesla is one of the greenest companies on the planet so I'm sure they'll figure it out."

Other projects aimed at reducing bitcoin's carbon impact include that run by an arm of Russian gas producer Gazprom in the Khanty-Mansi region of Siberia.

There, power generated by flare gas — a by-product from oil extraction usually burned off — is used for cryptocurrency mining. The process leaves a lower carbon footprint than coal power, said Gazprom Neft, the unit behind the project.

In theory, blockchain analysis firms say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin. Stronger climate change policies by governments around the world might also help.

"It's not so much bitcoin that is the problem." said Yves Bennaim, the founder of 2B4CH, a Switzerland-based cryptocurrency think-tank.

"People are saying it's energy intensive therefore it's polluting, but that is just the nature of the energy we are using today. As bitcoin goes up there will be more incentive to make investments in renewable sources of energy."

Some bitcoin proponents note, meanwhile, that the existing financial system with its millions of employees and computers in air-conditioned offices uses large amounts of energy too.

'Objective is making a profit'

However it is early days for such green projects, and some ESG experts say bitcoin could have a tough task being accepted by mainstream investors en masse in the foreseeable future.

"I still think the big players will refrain from bitcoin for these particular reasons - one being very a negative climate angle to it, given the way it's mined, and two, the compliance and ethical issues related to it," said Sasja Beslik, head of sustainable business development at Bank J. Safra Sarasin in Zurich.

Some industry players and academics warn that the dominance of Chinese miners and lack of motivation to swap cheap fossil fuels for more expensive renewables means there are few quick fixes to the emissions problem.

Chinese miners account for about 70% of bitcoin production, data from the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance shows. They tend to use renewable energy — mostly hydropower — during the rainy summer months, but fossil fuels — primarily coal — for the rest of the year.

"Every miner's objective is making a profit, so they don't care about what kind of energy they use, if it is generated by hydro, wind, solar or burning coal," said Jack Liao, CEO of Chinese mining firm LightningAsic, adding that government incentives for miners to favor renewable energy might help.

Others are less optimistic that significant change is on the horizon.

"Production of renewables is extremely volatile, it's not ideal as a consistent form of power," said Alex De Vries, the founder of research platform Digiconomist.

"The problem is that the miners that will last the longest will be the ones using cheap fossil fuels, simply because it is the cheapest and more stable source."

Project Syndicate

Opinion: Trump was a corrupt populist demagogue, not a would-be fascist dictator

Last Updated: Feb. 10, 2021

By 

Michael Lind

Like Silvio Berlusconi or Huey Long, Trump preyed on populist discontent to further his ambitions and line his own pockets

A pro-Trump mob breaks into the U.S. Capitol to stop the election of Joe Biden as president.

 GETTY IMAGE

AUSTIN, Texas (Project Syndicate)—Throughout Donald Trump’s single term as president of the United States, his opponents in both the Democratic and Republican parties frequently portrayed him as a would-be fascist dictator. 

But with Trump ousted from the White House, this analogy has become untenable.

The Italian leader that Trump resembles most is not the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini but rather Silvio Berlusconi, the scandal-prone former prime minister.

Figures such as Trump and Berlusconi—tycoons or media celebrities who ran for office as antiestablishment populist demagogues—are not uncommon in contemporary Western democracies.

But while populist demagogues can identify legitimate grievances among some voters, they almost never deliver on their promises to followers.

In Europe, the list includes elected leaders like Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, one of the country’s wealthiest men; former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, previously his country’s “Chocolate King”; and his successor, Volodymyr Zelensky, a comic actor who had previously played a Ukrainian president on television.

Posing plutocrats

Although Trump is the first true demagogue to be elected to the American presidency, the entertainer or plutocrat who wins office by posing as a champion of the common people has been a staple of mayoral and gubernatorial races for generations.

Media celebrity, in particular, has become an increasingly common basis for electoral success in America.

It is only when large groups feel disfranchised and ignored by conventional leaders that they are tempted to turn to flamboyant outsiders who claim to represent them, even though they usually represent only themselves.

In the 1930s, the country music radio star W. Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel became governor of Texas and then a U.S. senator. In the 1960s-80s, Ronald Reagan famously made the transition from Hollywood actor to California governor and then to the White House. Similarly, Jesse Helms, the late U.S. senator from North Carolina, started out as a right-wing radio star. Then, in 1999, the TV wrestling celebrity Jesse Ventura (who, along with Trump, had attempted to take over Ross Perot’s Reform Party) was elected to a single term as Minnesota’s governor, and in 2003, the movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor of California with no prior political experience. (Ventura had previously served as mayor of a Minneapolis suburb.)

Fascists get support from powerful groups

Populist demagogues in democratic countries generally do not intend to create police states, and they could not even if they tried. Whereas interwar fascist dictators were backed by their countries’ military, police, bureaucratic, and business establishments, populists rely on the support of alienated nonelite groups and are typically opposed by most of the other power centers in society.

Hence, many flamboyant demagogues in the American South—such as Louisiana Gov. (and then U.S. Sen.) Huey P. Long or the husband-and-wife team of populist Texas governors, James “Pa” and Miriam “Ma” Ferguson—represented small farmers and the white working class against the rich gentry who monopolized wealth and political office in their states.

Some demagogues exploit minority ethnic groups’ bitterness over their own exclusion from wealth and power. In the first half of the 20th century, James Michael Curley, the corrupt four-term mayor of Boston and one-term governor of Massachusetts, won and held power by representing working-class Irish-Americans against the Anglo-American Protestant elite—the so-called Boston Brahmins.

But while populist demagogues can identify legitimate grievances among some voters, they almost never deliver on their promises to followers. Some, like O’Daniel in Texas, become fronts for establishment interests, whereas others merely create personal patronage machines, using their official powers to reward family members or cronies. Very rarely do demagogues create new institutional structures that can carry out reforms long after they leave office.

In Curley’s case, his Harvard-educated son-in-law, Edward Donnelly, played a role similar to that of Trump’s Harvard-educated son-in-law, Jared Kushner. In Louisiana, Long created a family dynasty that included his brother Earl, who followed him as governor, and his son Russell Long, who became a long-serving U.S. senator from Louisiana.

Scandal and corruption

In any case, demagogic populists’ political careers tend to be rich in scandal and corruption. Whereas Berlusconi had his infamous “bunga bunga” parties, Trump had the “Access Hollywood” tape, where he boasted about sexually assaulting women.

And then there are the instances of graft and outright crime. Like Curley, Berlusconi was sentenced to prison. As Louisiana’s political boss in the 1930s, Long made a deal with the New York gangster Frank Costello to share gambling profits in the state, even as his minions “dee-ducted” money from state government payrolls to benefit a campaign slush fund that became known as the “deduct box.” In Texas, Pa and Ma Ferguson financed their political machine by selling pardons to the families of convicted criminals. Recent reports that Trump allies were paid to lobby the outgoing president for pardons reek of corruption, not dictatorship.

Of course, the storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters has inevitably led to facile comparisons to Nazi Storm Troopers and Italian Fascist Blackshirts. But America’s own history offers more accurate analogies for understanding the MAGA mob. It is no accident that in Tennessee Williams’s 1959 play Sweet Bird of Youth, the character of Boss Finley, the demagogic leader of a Southern state, has his own criminal gang (“Youth for Tom Finley”) whom he unleashes against his political opponents.

To be sure, demagogues in modern democracies can do a lot of harm, even if they cannot (and do not intend to) abolish elections, establish police states, and put their opponents in concentration camps. But opposing demagogic populists when they appear is not enough. We also need to understand the conditions that allow this species of politician to flourish.

Alienation and inequality

When major groups in society have adequate representation through electoral politics and institutions like trade unions, religious organizations, and community groups, populist demagogues seldom find significant public support. It is only when large groups in a given city, state, province, or country feel disfranchised and ignored by conventional leaders that they are tempted to turn to flamboyant outsiders who claim to represent them, even though they usually represent only themselves.

Unfortunately, while wealth and status are becoming increasingly concentrated in modern Western societies, intermediate institutions and local communities have decayed, and traditional political parties have declined to the point of being mere labels that billionaires and media celebrities can easily co-opt. That means the conditions will remain ripe for more Berlusconis—and for more Trumps.

Michael Lind is professor of practice at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of “The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite.”

This commentary was published with permission of Project Syndicate—Demagogues vs. Dictators.