Fracking industry damaging oil and gas economy, expert regional economist says

By Claire Goodman, Staff writer Monday, February 3, 2020

Photo: Claire Goodman / Staff Writer
Dr. Bill Gilmer discusses the economic forecast for the Houston area.

According to Dr. Bill Gilmer, an expert on the Houston economy, the oil and gas industry is suffering, and the economic structure of the fracking industry is to blame.

Gilmer, a professor of Economics at the Bauer School of Business at the University of Houston and director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting, was the keynote speaker for the Greater Heights Chamber of Commerce’s 2020 Economic Forecast luncheon on Jan. 30. At the luncheon, Gilmer presented the findings of his most recent study, “The Economic Outlook for Houston in 2020: A Credit Squeeze in American Oil and Continued U.S Growth”.Oil credit in the U.S. is struggling, Gilmer explained, due to “a string of highly publicized bankruptcies, mergers, delistings and other signs of financial strain.” According to Gilmer, oil activity is down 25 percent as a result. That downward shift may remove up to 15,000 new jobs that could have emerged in the oil industry before the credit precipitation.

The financial model of the fracking industry is at the center of the problem, Gilmer said. The era of “big oil” fracking is waning, and in its place, a multitude of smaller fracking companies are emerging. “We had seven huge companies with Exxon and Shell, and B.P, and Chevron that sort of ruled the world with multi-billion dollar companies doing multi-billion dollar projects that lasted years upon years,” he stated. “(Fracking) is a whole new model of oil.”

The nature of the fracking industry is such that small hedge funds with capital can buy into oil production on a small scale. Large scale exploration risks, which were once only possible for major oil companies, are no longer the only way to get a foothold in the industry.

Gilmer likened the fracking industry to the stock market. “Many of these companies were built to … see how far they could leverage the company, look at a rising stock market and see if they couldn't just flip right out of that just as fast as they made a decent killing by getting that company up there,” he explained.

More specifically, he added, “There is little doubt that many of the new fracking producers were never conceived as long-term enterprises, but as a short-term speculative play. The key was low-cost borrowing, high leverage, and rapidly rising equity values.”

This speculative flipping results in an exchange of companies without utilizing the resources. “Basically, what happens when companies are reorganized, they hand it off to the lenders, and the company moves right on,” Gilmer explained. “However, there's a lot of cash loss along the way.”

When flipping for a profit fails, the fracking companies file for bankruptcy, which in turn deters lenders. “Bankruptcies and B-listings… (have) become the norm for many of these companies,” he said. According to Gilmer, bankruptcy of these companies accounted for a loss of over $7 billion in assets to the industry.

The stock market value of the oil industry has declined as a result, Gilmer noted. “Wall Street has basically completely turned its back on the industry right now,” Gilmer said. “Back in 2014, we were talking about $200 billion a year in public equity, private equity and public debt flowing into the industry. Now we're talking about less than $90 billion last year.”

By the numbers, total oil industry investment is down 52 percent from 2014 and down 27.6 percent from last year.

The outlook is not entirely bleak, Gilmore noted. Larger companies that have operated outside the flipping model are keeping the industry afloat. “There are strong and successful operators in the fracking industry that can produce with oil prices at $30 per barrel, such as EOG, Pioneer, Concho, Exxon XTO and Chevron,” he said.

Still, the regional and national economy will be dealing with the aftermath of the damage of investment fracking for some time, Gilmer stated. “Fracking was literally born into an era of low interest rates and seemingly endless credit… Even if the credit crisis ends soon, there is still a high level of debt that remains for years to come.”




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Iraqi protesters dig in heels despite new PM-designate

AFP / Haidar HAMDANIAn Iraqi protester flashes the victory sign in the holy city of Najaf where demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres to protest against the nomination of Mohammad Allawi as the country's new prime minister

Furious anti-government youth in Iraq's capital and south on Sunday rejected the nomination of Mohammad Allawi as prime minister, but came up against rival sit-ins by supporters of an influential cleric backing the new premier.

Allawi was named prime minister-designate after a hard-won consensus among Iraq's rival parties, who had struggled to agree on a candidate since outgoing premier Adel Abdel Mahdi resigned under growing street pressure two months ago.

Mass rallies have rocked Baghdad and the mainly-Shiite south since October, with protesters demanding snap elections and an independent prime minister as well as accountability for corruption and recent bloodshed.

Young demonstrators have expressed contempt for the ruling elite and on Sunday, they slammed Allawi -- a former lawmaker and minister -- as part and parcel of the system they want to overhaul.

"We are here to reject the new prime minister because he has a well-known history within the political class," said 22-year-old university student Tiba protesting in Baghdad.

Hundreds of students flooded the streets around the capital's main protest camp of Tahrir Square, carrying pictures of Allawi with an "X" over his face.

They blared upbeat Arabic music through speakers to drown out somber Islamic hymns played by demonstrators loyal to populist cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Sadr backed the protests in October but has split with the main movement over Allawi, whose designation he welcomed as a "good step".

Dozens of hardcore Sadrists responded by storming a key Baghdad building known as the Turkish restaurant, a symbol of the uprising, to drive out activists and remove banners listing their demands.

- 'A mockery' -

AFP / Mohammed SAWAFIraqi protesters demanding an independent premier say Allawi is part and parcel of the system they want to overhaul

Late Sunday Sadr posted new tweets condemning student sit-ins and road closures -- the two main tactics used by anti-government demonstrators.

"No burning, no cutting, no ignorance, no disobedience," he tweeted late Sunday, even while insisting, "I loved the October revolution... It and I are one."

Despite his appeal, angry protesters in the holy city of Najaf blocked roads with burning tyres and held up a sign reading "Mohammad Allawi is rejected, by order of the people!"

In Diwaniyah, further south, protesters marched into government buildings to demand they close for the day while students began sit-ins at schools and universities.

"Naming Mohammad Allawi is a mockery," one demonstrator there told AFP.

"It represents a total disregard for those killed in the protests and for the demands of the Iraqi people who have been demonstrating for four months to reject parties affiliated with Iran."

In addition to calls for better services and an end to graft, demonstrators have accused Iraq's ruling elite of being beholden to powerful neighbour Iran.

Tehran has seen its influence grow in Iraq since the US-led invasion that toppled ex-dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

AFP / SABAH ARARIn Baghdad, hundreds of students flooded the streets around the main protest camp of Tahrir Square, demonstrating against Allawi's appointment

Allawi, 65, launched his political career in the aftermath of the invasion, first as a parliamentarian and then twice as communications minister under former premier Nuri al-Maliki.

But he resigned both times, alleging mass graft in a country considered among the top 20 most corrupt in the world by Transparency International.

- Obstacles ahead -

His appointment came after days of crisis talks prompted by President Barham Saleh, who said he would select his own candidate if Iraq's parliamentary blocs did not nominate someone by Saturday.

The negotiations were very secretive and it remains unclear what finally unlocked a deal, but on Saturday evening Allawi announced his own nomination in a video posted to Twitter.

Iraqi Presidency Media Office/AFP / -Iraqi President Barham Saleh (R) presented Allawi with the decree to appoint him as Iraq's new prime minister on February 1, 2020

There has been no official statement from Saleh.

Abdel Mahdi has congratulated his successor and the pair met on Sunday.

The outgoing PM said he would no longer conduct high-level meetings or take major decisions, in order not to interfere with his successor's preparations. He pledged "a smooth transition process."

In his first public remarks, Allawi vowed to form a representative government, hold early parliamentary elections and ensure justice for protest-related violence.

More than 480 people have died and nearly 30,000 have been wounded since the rallies began on October 1, but few have been held accountable for the bloodshed.

Allawi has one month to form a government, but ensuring an independent line-up may prove a challenge, said Sajad Jiyad of the Iraq-based think tank the Bayan Center.

"If we've learned anything from the previous PM, it's that this is the most difficult part: pushing back against the political blocs' demands," Jiyad told AFP.

In Iraq, cabinets are typically formed after complex horsetrading whereby parties demand lucrative and influential ministerial posts based on their share of parliament.

If Allawi fails to resist ministerial candidates proposed by parties, "it will back up what protesters are saying" about his allegiance to the factions, Jiyad added.

UPDATED

 Dozens of koalas dead after logging at Australian plantation

AUSTRALIAN DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE/AFP/File / Tristan KennedyKoalas are classified as 'vulnerable', and have recently suffered massive loss of habitat due to wildfires

Dozens of koalas have been euthanized and some 80 more are being treated for injuries and starvation after their habitat was logged, prompting an Australian government investigation Monday.

Victoria's environment department said the state's conservation regulator was investigating a "very distressing incident" at a bluegum plantation near the coastal town of Portland that resulted in the deaths of dozens of koalas.

"If this is found to be due to deliberate human action, we expect the conservation regulator to act swiftly against those responsible," the department said.

Those responsible could face steep fines under laws designed to protect Australia's native wildlife.

The environment department said approximately 80 koalas had been removed from the plantation site over the weekend for medical treatment, while others had to be put down.

"Wildlife welfare assessment and triage will continue with qualified carers and vets," the department said in a statement.

"Plans are being made to translocate remaining animals offsite if they are well enough to be moved."

Friends of the Earth said the plantation was logged in December in what it called a "massacre" that left hundreds of koalas dead or injured.

The conservation group said the scale of the incident was uncovered when local residents witnessed dead koalas being bulldozed into piles in recent days.

The deaths come after devastating bushfires destroyed large swathes of koala habitat across Australia's southeast and killed thousands of the animals, which are listed as "vulnerable" to extinction.

The Australian Forest Products Association said a forestry contractor harvested the land in November in accordance with strict wildlife protection rules before the remaining trees were later bulldozed after the contractor left.

"It is unclear as yet who bulldozed the trees with the koalas apparently still in them, but it is absolutely certain that this was not a plantation or a forestry company," chief executive Ross Hampton told Nine newspapers.

"We support all those calling for the full force of the law to be applied to the perpetrator."

The forestry industry lobby group has pledged to hold its own investigation into the incident.

Koala deaths in Victoria's south-west to be investigated

By Charlotte King 02/02/2020

Dozens of injured koalas have been found in piles of bulldozed trees at a timber plantation in Portland, Victoria.
(Facebook: Helen Oakley)

The State Government is investigating after dozens of distressed, injured and dead koalas were found at a blue gum plantation in Victoria's south-west.


Key points:

A triage of four vets are on the ground working with animal rescuers to save the animals
Plantation companies are required to apply for authorisation to disturb koala populations under the Wildlife Act

Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick is at the site and said it was "absolutely abhorrent"

Officers from the environment department are currently on the ground at the timber plantation near Cape Bridgewater.

WARNING: this story contains graphic images

Portland resident Helen Oakley, 63, first raised the alarm with authorities on Wednesday after hiking in the area and finding the dead koalas, some of which had been there for days.

Ms Oakley posted an emotional video on Facebook at the cleared site.

"Australia should be ashamed, they've bulldozed 140 acres down and just killed all of our koalas," she said in the video.

Ms Oakley told the ABC she had found 10 dead koalas at the property since Wednesday and said dozens more live koalas were trapped in two isolated stretches of gum trees on the property.

"Some of them have been fairly decomposed so they've been there for a while."

She said she counted 70 to 80 koalas in trees that were still standing.

"But we're finding them in the rows of pushed up blue gums [on the ground], sitting there — I found one yesterday with a broken arm."

Department of Environment incident controller Andrew Pritchard said 25 koalas had been euthanased so far and that about half of the 120 koalas on site had been assessed.

Efforts have been focused on helping the surviving koalas.

"They'll be rehabilitated at a later stage," he said.

The department did not have figures on the number of dead animals on the site.

The Australian Forest Products Association has condemned the deaths.

Chief Executive Ross Hampton said those who work in the forest industry are "appalled … at what appears to be a callous act of animal cruelty."

Mr Hampton said it was unclear who bulldozed the trees "with the koalas apparently still in them".

"But it is absolutely certain this was not a plantation or a forestry company."

"We support all those calling for the full force of the law to be applied to the perpetrator," said Mr Hampton.

Another blow to Australian wildlife

Mr Pritchard said it was not unusual to find koalas in a freshly felled timber plantation.

"They let out a high sugar content to their leaves, and koalas are very much attracted to that," he said.

"The difference in this case is there has been a fence constructed around this plantation and the koalas have not been able to move outside that fence."

He said it was not clear whether the koalas were in the trees when they were felled.

"I'm not clear on exactly if that was the case — koalas do move into trees on the ground.

"That's what we're looking into, the details as to how the animals came to be in this state."

He said the Office of the Conservation Regulator was investigating and that penalties applied for killing or disturbing wildlife.

A number of carcasses have been located at the site.
(Facebook: Helen Oakley)

Victoria's Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick has been assessing the damage on the ground since Sunday morning.

"It is absolutely abhorrent," he said.

"They have been felling these trees with koalas still in them; they have then been bulldozing these trees into massive piles that run the length of the property.

"We're still going through these fires in East Gippsland — we've lost an enormous amount of animals," Mr Meddick said.

"How could anyone possibly, in the light of that, conduct an operation like this?"

Mr Meddick said there was a triage of four vets on the ground working with animal rescuers in an operation overseen by the environment department.

He said he would be pushing for a full investigation including a parliamentary inquiry.

It was unclear who was at fault, he said.

"What is clear is that animals have been killed in large numbers."
 

Vets have euthanised 25 koalas at the site after they were found in distress.
(Facebook: Helen Oakley)

Plantation companies must apply for authorisation to disturb koala populations under the Wildlife Act.

They are also required to undertake risk assessments that identify potential hazards to koalas from plantation management operations, including stress, injury, exposure, and death.

Companies are required to develop a department-approved koala management plan in order to protect animal welfare. The process includes checking koalas in trees and on the ground for unusual behaviour.

Mr Meddick said there may have been breaches of legislation, including the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

"You are not allowed to harass, intimidate, threaten or kill wildlife — that has happened here."

"I can see it with my own eyes."

Related articles
Fire-affected wildlife at risk of starving in Victoria unless government drops food, vets say

DRINK A GLASS 

Japan assures diplomats tainted Fukushima water is safe



Japan plans to release contaminated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. File Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA-EFE

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The Japanese government said Monday the planned release of tainted water from Fukushima would have no impact on oceans.

During an information session for foreign embassy officials in Tokyo, the Japanese foreign ministry sent signals of reassurance regarding a plan to release tritium-tainted water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Mainichi Shimbun and Kyodo News reported.

A total of 28 diplomats representing 23 countries were in attendance, according to reports.

The water comes from Fukushima, where 170 tons of water is contaminated every day at the plant that was severely damaged during a catastrophic earthquake in March 2011. Water has been poured to cool the melted fuel, according to Kyodo.

Japan has been purifying the contaminated water using an advanced liquid processing system, or ALPS. The process does not remove tritium and leaves traces of radioactive elements.

Tokyo has defended its plan to release the water, but neighboring countries, including South Korea, are opposed to the measure.

On Monday, officials from Japan's ministry of economy, trade and industry said they do not think there would be an impact on surrounding countries.

Japanese fishermen also oppose the measure. Releasing the water into the ocean could affect sales of local seafood, they say.

Japan is planning to release the tritium-tainted water at a time when it is taking stricter measures against travelers from China.

Jiji Press reported Monday Japan turned away five foreign nationals originating from Hubei Province following new restrictions at the border.

Foreigners who have stayed in the Chinese province in the past 14 days or who hold passports issued in the province are banned from entry, according to the report.

Japan has confirmed 20 coronavirus cases since the outbreak in China in December. Japanese airports have built new quarantine stations exclusively for travelers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, according to local press reports.

upi.com/6981640

UPDATED

Authorities investigate 15th inmate death at Mississippi state prison


A 15th inmate has died in Mississippi state prison since near the end of last year. Photo courtesy of Mississippi Department of Corrections/Twitter

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Authorities are investigating the 15th inmate death in a Mississippi state prison since late December.

Officials found Jesus Garcia, 39, lying in his cell unresponsive Saturday at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, spokesperson Issa Arnita, of Management and Training Corp., the company that runs the prison, told The Hill in a statement.

Garcia was pronounced dead at 12:52 p.m. after life-saving efforts were unsuccessful.

"The cause and manner of death are under investigation," Arnita told the Hill. "There were no obvious signs of assault."

RELATED Mississippi prison system records 8th death in less than month

Garcia was serving a 20-year sentence for capital rape in a DeSoto County case, the Clarion Ledger reported.

His death marks the 15th inmate to die in a state prison since Dec. 29 and the fifth in little more than a week.

Two inmates, Nora Ducksworth and Jermaine Tyler, died at Marshall County Correctional Facility.

RELATED 2 inmates killed during fight in Mississippi prison

Ducksworth's death remains under investigation though initial signs showed the death was due to natural causes. Tyler's death showed "no initial signs of foul play," according to MTC.

One inmate, Joshua Norman, was found hanging in a one-man cell at Parchman, and another inmate, Limarion Reaves collapsed while talking to a relative on a facility phone at Kemper-Neshoba Regional Correctional Facility and was pronounced dead later at a local hospital, according to a release.

On Jan. 27, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves vowed to close Parchman's Unit 29 cell block after the ninth inmate death in a month there.

RELATED Mississippi authorities apprehend escaped inmate, one still at large

On Jan. 7, the South Poverty Law Center asked the Department of Justice to investigate the conditions in the state prison after five inmates died in 10 days.

Also, in early January, entertainment mogul Jay-Z filed a lawsuit on behalf of 29 state inmates who say authorities have done nothing to stem the violence.

Corrections officials previously attributed some of the deaths to gang violence and officials have said lack of funding prevents them from addressing problems.

Last week state lawmakers began to introduce legislation to address violence and living conditions.

"We need to get started as quickly as possible," House Corrections Chairman Kevin Horan, I-Grenada, said.

A group of sheriffs proposed taking medium-threat prisoners to regional jails to take pressure off state facilities. They said the plan could save $22.5 million because it costs about $14 more to house each inmate daily in a state-run facility compared to a county-managed one.

Mississippi governor calls for closing prison cell block after 9th death

PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

ByDaniel Uria

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday called for the closure of the 

Mississippi State Penitentiary's Unit 29 cell block after nine inmates 

have died in a month. 

Photo courtesy Mississippi Department of Corrections/Twitter

Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves vowed to close the Mississippi State Penitentiary's Unit 29 cell block after the ninth death of an inmate in a month.

During his State of the State address on Monday evening, Reeves ordered the closing of the cell block in the prison known as Parchman where nine inmates have died since Dec. 29.

"I have instructed the Mississippi Department of Corrections to begin necessary work to start closing Parchman's most notorious unit, Unit 29," Reeves said. "I've seen enough. We have to turn the page. This is the first step and I have asked the department to begin the preparations to make it happen safely, justly and quickly."

On Sunday, the Mississippi Department of Corrections said 26-year-old inmate Joshua Norman was found dead in his one-man cell.

"No foul play is suspected, according to the Sunflower County Coroner as an ongoing investigation continues and the official cause and manner of death are pending autopsy results," the department said.

Earlier this month, entertainment mogul Jay-Z filed a lawsuit on behalf of 29 inmates in the state penal system who say authorities have done nothing to stem violence inside prison walls.

The suit names Mississippi corrections chief Pelicia Hall and Parchman Penitentiary Superintendent Marshal Turner as defendants and cites violations of Eighth Amendment rights and identifies conditions within the Parchman facility.

PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Two more Mississippi inmates killed in prison: 
9 inmates dead in less than a month
Alissa Zhu, Mississippi Clarion Ledger 
 

© Vickie D. King/Courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Corrections In 1900, the Mississippi Legislature appropriated $80,000 to buy the nearly 4,000-acre Parchman Plantation to build a prison in the middle of the Mississippi Delta.

JACKSON, Miss. – Two inmates were killed at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman on Monday night, the Mississippi Department of Corrections announced Tuesday, bringing the death toll at Mississippi prisons up to nine in less than a month.


The most recent deaths appear to be "an isolated incident – not a continuation of the recent retaliatory killings," the department said in a tweet that provided scant information.

On Dec. 29, corrections department officials announced a statewide prison lockdown following a fight at South Mississippi Correctional Institution that left one inmate dead and two others injured. In the following days, riots and fights continued despite the lockdown, leading to four more killings across the state. Some of the violence, officials have said, is gang-related.

'A recipe for disaster': Democratic lawmakers visit Parchman after deadly violence
Prison crisis: Inmates killed during Mississippi's prison violence: Who are they?

The lockdown has since been lifted on all prisons except Parchman, where much of the violence has taken place. Seven men incarcerated at Parchman have died this month, including three who were killed by other inmates, one who died at a hospital of natural causes and one who was found hanging in his cell over the weekend, according to Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) did not release the names of the men who died Monday and said Parchman's chaplain has reached out to next of kin.

No additional details were provided. MDOC said the agency is investigating and will share more information later.

Burton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Activists say gangs alone are not to blame for the recent surge of violence. Systemic issues related to repeated budget cuts and chronic understaffing have created an environment for violence to thrive, they say.

Prison crisis: Jay-Z lawsuit. Deaths. Riots. Gang violence. What you need to know about Mississippi's troubled prisons

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and nearly a dozen civil rights and social justice organizations had requested the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Mississippi prisons, charging that state leaders have known about the understaffing and "horrific conditions," yet have repeatedly failed to take action.

Parchman inmates are suing former MDOC commissioner Pelicia Hall and the prison's superintendent Marshal Turner, alleging they have violated prisoners' constitutional rights by subjecting them to cruel and unusual punishment. The incarcerated men are being represented by attorneys working with hip-hop stars Jay-Z and Yo Gotti.

The lawsuit describes unsanitary conditions inside Parchman, including flooding, black mold and a rat infestation. Units go without running water and electricity for days at a time, it alleges.

Follow reporter Alissa Zhu on Twitter @AlissaZhu.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Two more Mississippi inmates killed in prison: 9 inmates dead in less than a month


2 Inmates Killed in Mississippi Prison That Continues to Struggle With Deadly Violence

Josiah Bates,Time•January 21, 2020

Two prisoners were killed at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman on Monday night. It’s the latest deadly incident at the prison, which has been dealing with stretches of violence in the past few weeks.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) says an altercation between multiple inmates left Timothy Hudspeth, 35, and another inmate with fatal injuries. The second inmate was not named, pending notification of his family.

“The safety of staff and prisoners at Parchman is our immediate priority, and we are working hard to restore and maintain order,” Interim MDOC Commissioner Tommy Taylor said in a statement sent to TIME. “We believe that the motivation behind this latest altercation is limited to this new tragic set of circumstances. The environment that makes such violence possible must be addressed quickly, and we are committed to making changes to do so.”

Officials at the prison are continuing to investigate the incident. -

Parchman is the same prison that had three deaths from Dec. 29 to Jan. 3. During that same week, two other inmates were killed in separate Mississippi prisons. Two inmates also escaped from Parchman on Jan. 3 and were captured on Jan. 6. That same day, MDOC officials also sent more than 300 prisoners at Parchman to a private facility in Tutwiler, MS for their “safety” amid understaffing at the state penitentiary.

According to the Associated Press, another inmate was found hanging on Saturday night at Parchman. The inmate, Gabriel Carmen, had reportedly been upset and was throwing fecal matter before he died. An autopsy is underway, the AP reported.

More than two dozen inmates sued the state of Mississippi on Jan. 14, and are asserting that the prisons are understaffed, that they’re being forced to live in inhumane conditions and that the prisons are “plagued by violence,” according to AP. Rappers Jay-Z and Yo Gotti are paying their attorneys’ fees, the AP also reported.

MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall stepped down from her position last week shortly after Mississippi’s new governor, Tate Reeves, took office. Hall said she is going to work in the private sector and will be advocating for criminal justice reform. Former state lawmaker Tommy Taylor was appointed as Interim Commissioner. Reeves also announced last week that he was forming a group of “diverse, experienced Mississippians” to conduct a nationwide search for a permanent Commissioner, and that he will assign an officer from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations to look into possible criminal misconduct at Parchman.

“We must get to the heart of the problem. And it starts with bringing order to Parchman,” Reeves said in a statement. “We will make progress, day by day, until we have a system that we can trust. It will be a long road, but it starts today.”

AMERICA HAS A GUN PROBLEM AS THESE HEADLINES FROM TODAY SHOW

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Los Angeles 1 dead, 5 wounded in shooting on Greyhound bus in California
Two suspects in fatal Seattle shooting arrested in Las Vegas

 

In New York lab, centuries-old corals hold clues to climate shifts

PALISADES, N.Y. (Reuters) - Some 20 miles north of New York City, a team of scientists is searching for clues about how the environment is changing by studying organisms not usually found in the woods around here: corals.


In the labs of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, a research unit of Columbia University overlooking the Hudson River, the scientists led by Professor Braddock Linsley pore over feet-long coral cores they extracted from far-away reefs.

For Linsley and his colleagues, corals are a precious repository of clues tmsnrt.rs/360ebeX about the past that may help predict future climate trends. They can also reveal how much and how fast environmental conditions have changed during a certain period of time.

Cores are the hard, stony part of a coral underneath the top of the colony - its skeleton. Much like trees, corals produce growth rings that record climatic conditions like seawater temperatures and rainfall as they grow.

In a lab room packed with boxes of coral samples, Linsley and a small team of colleagues cut the cores into slabs and then X-ray the slabs to reveal the annual growth bands.

Using dentist drills, they pulverize small pieces and run geochemical analyses of the coral dust to reconstruct changes in the temperature, salinity and acidity of the water around the coral on a monthly basis going back hundreds of years.

A school of fish swim above a staghorn coral colony as it grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
“It is years of lab work and a lot of frustration but once you get to that point, the final product is just so exciting because you’ve got this long dataset,” Linsley said.

Coral reefs develop over thousands of years and are vital to the survival and prosperity of countless marine species. They also curtail flood damage from storms and support human activities like fisheries.

As humans burn more fossil fuel - the biggest contributor to global warming - oceans absorb growing amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Some of Linsley’s recent research on corals from the South Pacific island of Tonga suggests that increased seawater acidification caused by excess CO2 could lead to a decline in coral growth rates, endangering the wellbeing of entire reefs.

LOVE AT FIRST CHANCE

Linsley, a tall and soft-spoken 60-year-old, grew up on the Connecticut coast, making dams in the sand and observing erosion on the beaches near the town of Guilford. He loved water and began his career studying ocean sediments and fossils.

His work on corals began after a chance encounter with a colleague who was visiting his girlfriend at the University of New Mexico - where Linsley was studying to get his PhD in the late 1980s - led to a collaboration.

“I was fascinated by the fact that the corals had these annual bands in them and you could potentially extract annual resolve records back several hundred years,” he said at his office in the leafy campus, papers and books scattered on his desk and photos of diving expeditions on the wall.

Slideshow (34 Images)
Corals also brought him closer to the water and he had to learn how to dive, a perk of the job for Linsley.

By studying the environmental records derived from corals, the scientist is hoping to be able to shine a light on issues like the rate of surface ocean warming, ocean acidification and the impact on coral reef ecosystems worldwide.

But one thing is already evident, he said. Environmental changes are happening much more rapidly than in the last several thousand years and they are “clearly linked” to human activity.

Linsley’s childhood home in Connecticut – which he said now regularly battles encroaching waters - stood as a stark reminder.

“My children are 11 and 13. I think about in 50 years from now when I’m not here, what’s it going to be like,” he said.

China plans to issue biosafety certificates to domestic GM soybean, corn

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s agriculture ministry said on Monday it plans to issue biosafety certificates to a domestically grown, genetically modified (GM) soybean crop and two corn crops, in a move toward commercializing GM grain production in the world’s top market.



FILE PHOTO: An employee picks out bad beans from a pile of soybeans at a supermarket in Wuhan, Hubei province April 14, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo


China will grant the certificate to SHZD32-01 soybean developed by Shanghai Jiaotong University, provided there is no objection during a 15-day period soliciting public opinion, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement.

If approved, it will become China’s first GM soybean crop to receive such a certificate, a first step toward commercialized production.

Dabeinong’s DBN9936 corn and double-stacked 12-5 corn developed by Hangzhou Ruifeng Biotech Co Ltd and Zhejiang University were also expected to receive the certificate.

Beijing has spent billions of dollars researching GM crops, but has held back from commercial production of any food grains because of consumer concerns about their safety.

China granted biosafety certificates to its first GM corn varieties and two domestic rice varieties in 2009, but has never moved to commercialize these crops.

Some in the industry believe Beijing’s most recent move could mean that China is ready to start commercialization of some domestic GM crops.

“This signifies the policy changes from the central government as China is moving to commercialize GMO corn,” said James Chen, chief financial officer of Origin Agritech Limited

“GMO corn commercialization would benefit Chinese farmers, especially those in northeastern China,” Chen said.

Origin Agritech received biosafety certificates for its phytase GM corn trait in 2009 and has several new varieties of GM corn in the pipeline for biosafety approval, including insect resistance and glyphosate tolerance double-stacked traits.

China has said it aims to push forward the commercialization of GM corn and soybeans by 2020. Beijing has long approved imports of these products.

“If the government actually issues the certificate, it will be significant progress,” said another source with a major developer of GM crop strains in China.

“But it really depends on whether the crops can be commercialized in the end,” added the source, who declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

No eyes? No problem. Marine creature expands boundaries of vision


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cousin of the starfish that resides in the coral reefs of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico lacks eyes, but can still see, according to scientists who studied this creature that expands the boundaries of the sense of sight in the animal kingdom.

Researchers said on Thursday that the red brittle star, called Ophiocoma wendtii, is only the second creature known to be able to see without having eyes - known as extraocular vision - joining a single species of sea urchin.

It possesses this exotic capability thanks to light-sensing cells, called photoreceptors, covering its body and pigment cells, called chromatophores, that move during the day to facilitate the animal’s dramatic color change from a deep reddish-brown in daytime to a stripy beige at nighttime.



A red brittle star, Ophiocoma wendtii, is seen in this image released on January 2, 2020. Lauren Sumner-Rooney/Handout via REUTERS. A cousin of the sea star and sea cucumber, this species that lives among the coral reefs of the Caribbean is one of two known animals that lack eyes but still possess the ability to see.

Brittle stars, with five radiating arms extending from a central disk, are related to starfish (also called sea stars), sea cucumbers, sea urchins and others in a group of marine invertebrates called echinoderms. They have a nervous system but no brain.

The red brittle star - up to about 14 inches (35 cm) from arm tip to arm tip - lives in bright and complex habitats, with high predation threats from reef fish. It stays hidden during daytime - making the ability to spot a safe place to hide critical - and comes out at night to feed on detritus.

Its photoreceptors are surrounded during daytime by chromatophores that narrow the field of the light being detected, making each photoreceptor like the pixel of a computer image that, when combined with other pixels, makes a whole image. The visual system does not work at night, when the chromatophores contract.

“If our conclusions about the chromatophores are correct, this is a beautiful example of innovation in evolution,” said Lauren Sumner-Rooney, a research fellow at Oxford University Museum of Natural History who led the study published in the journal Current Biology.

Laboratory experiments indicated the brittle stars have rudimentary vision. Placed in a circular arena, they moved toward walls that were white with a black bar, suggestive of a daytime hiding place.

Another scenario showed they were not simply detecting brightness versus darkness. When they were presented with gray walls making it so no part of the arena was lighter or darker overall, they still moved toward the black stripe, which was centered on a white stripe so as to reflect the same amount of light as the gray.

“It’s such an alien concept for us, as very visually driven animals, to conceive of how an animal might see its habitat without eyes, but now we know of two examples,” Sumner-Rooney added.

Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Sandra Maler

Oldest stuff on Earth found inside meteorite that hit Australia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A meteorite that crashed into rural southeastern Australia in a fireball in 1969 contained the oldest material ever found on Earth, stardust that predated the formation of our solar system by billions of years, scientists said on Monday.

A scanning electron micrograph of a presolar silicon carbide grain, about 8 micrometers in its longest dimension, from a meteorite that crashed into Australia in 1969 is seen in this image released in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. January 13, 2020. Janaina N. Avila/Handout via REUTERS
The oldest of 40 tiny dust grains trapped inside the meteorite fragments retrieved around the town of Murchison in Victoria state dated from about 7 billion years ago, about 2.5 billion years before the sun, Earth and rest of our solar system formed, the researchers said.

In fact, all of the dust specks analyzed in the research came from before the solar system’s formation - thus known as “presolar grains” - with 60% of them between 4.6 and 4.9 billion years old and the oldest 10% dating to more than 5.6 billion years ago.

The stardust represented time capsules dating to before the solar system. The age distribution of the dust - many of the grains were concentrated at particular time intervals - provided clues about the rate of star formation in the Milky Way galaxy, the researchers said, hinting at bursts of stellar births rather than a constant rate.

“I find this extremely exciting,” said Philipp Heck, an associate curator at the Field Museum in Chicago who led the research published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Despite having worked on the Murchison meteorite and presolar grains for almost 20 years, I still am fascinated that we can study the history of our galaxy with a rock,” Heck added.

The grains are small, measuring from 2 to 30 micrometers in size. A micrometer is a one-thousandth of a millimeter or about 0.000039 of an inch.

Stardust forms in the material ejected from stars and carried by stellar winds, getting blown into interstellar space. During the solar system’s birth, this dust was incorporated into everything that formed including the planets and the sun but survived intact until now only in asteroids and comets.

The researchers detected the tiny grains inside the meteorite by crushing fragments of the rock and then segregating the component parts in a paste they described as smelling like rotten peanut butter.

Scientists have developed a method to determine stardust’s age. Dust grains floating through space get bombarded by high-energy particles called cosmic rays. These rays break down atoms in the grain into fragments, such as carbon into helium.

These fragments accumulate over time and their production rate is rather constant. The longer the exposure time to cosmic rays, the more fragments accumulate. The researchers counted these fragments in the laboratory, enabling them to calculate the stardust’s age.

Scientists previously had found a presolar grain in the Murchison meteorite that was about 5.5 billion years old, until now the oldest-known solid material on Earth. The oldest-known minerals that formed on Earth are found in rock from Australia’s Jack Hills that formed 4.4 billion years ago, 100 million years after the planet formed.

Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Sandra Maler