Blood-red water floods Indonesian village
A village south of Pekalongan, an Indonesian city known for its production of batik fabric, was flooded with red water on Saturday.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
North Korean hackers stole more than $300 million to pay for nuclear weapons, says confidential UN report
WE DON'T KNOW THAT AT ALL
THEY MAY HAVE HACKED
AND THEY MAY HAVE NUKES
© Lee Jin-man/AP A woman wearing a face mask walks past in front of a TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea's military parade, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on January 15.
North Korea's army of hackers stole hundreds of millions of dollars throughout much of 2020 to fund the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs in violation of international law, according to a confidential United Nations report.
North Korea's army of hackers stole hundreds of millions of dollars throughout much of 2020 to fund the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs in violation of international law, according to a confidential United Nations report.
The document accused the regime of leader Kim Jong Un of conducting "operations against financial institutions and virtual currency exchange houses" to pay for weapons and keep North Korea's struggling economy afloat. One unnamed country that is a member of the UN claimed the hackers stole virtual assets worth $316.4 million dollars between 2019 and November 2020, according to the document.
The report also alleged that North Korea "produced fissile material, maintained nuclear facilities and upgraded its ballistic missile infrastructure" while continuing "to seek material and technology for these programs from overseas."
North Korea has for years sought to develop powerful nuclear weapons and advanced missiles to pair them with, despite their immense cost and the fact that such a pursuit has turned the country into an international pariah barred by the UN from conducting almost any economic activity with other countries.
The UN investigators said one unnamed country assessed that it is "highly likely" North Korea could mount a nuclear device to a ballistic missile of any range, but it was still unclear if those missiles could successfully reenter the Earth's atmosphere.
The report was authored by the UN Panel of Experts on North Korea, the body charged with monitoring the enforcement and efficacy of sanctions levied against the Kim regime as punishment for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development.
Details from the report, which is currently confidential, were obtained by CNN through a diplomatic source at the United Nations Security Council, who shared portions of the document on the condition of anonymity. The Panel's report is comprised of information received from UN member countries, intelligence agencies, the media and those who flee the country -- not North Korea itself. These reports are typically released every sixth months, one in the early fall and another in early spring.
It's unclear when this report will be released. Previous leaks have infuriated China and Russia, both members of the UN Security Council, leading to diplomatic standoffs and delays.
North Korea's mission to the United Nations did not respond to CNN's request for comment, but the claims in the report are in line with recent plans laid out by Kim. At an important political meeting last month, Kim said that North Korea would work to develop new, advanced weapons for its nuclear and missile programs, like tactical nuclear weapons and advanced warheads designed to penetrate missile defense systems to deter the United States, despite the rapport he developed with former US President Donald Trump.
Trump attempted to get Kim to give up his pursuit of nuclear weapons through high-level diplomacy, betting that his negotiating skills could help him achieve where past Presidents had failed. Trump became the first sitting US president to meet a North Korean leader in 2018 and then met him two more times, but failed to convince the young North Korean dictator to stop pursuing nuclear weapons.
It is unclear how exactly US President Joe Biden will move forward, though his aides have made it clear that allies South Korea and Japan will be heavily involved. Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, said last week that the administration is conducting a policy review and that he would not "get ahead of that review" in public.
A new source of income
The UN panel found that North Korea's stringent Covid-19 border controls have affected the regime's ability to bring in much needed hard currency from overseas. Pyongyang uses complex sanctions-evading schemes to keep its economy afloat and get around the stringent UN sanctions.
Coal has historically been one of North Korea's most valuable exports -- the Panel's 2019 report found that Pyongyang collected $370 million by exporting coal, but shipments since July 2020 appear to have been suspended.
That is likely because North Korea severed almost all of its ties with the outside world in 2020 to prevent an influx of coronavirus cases, including cutting off almost all trade with Beijing, an economic lifeline the impoverished country needs to keep its people from going hungry. While that decision appears to have kept the pandemic at bay, it has brought the North Korean economy closer to the brink of collapse than it has been in decades.
Devastating storms, the punishing sanctions and the pandemic pummeled North Korea's economy in 2020, and experts. Experts believe that North Korea may be further relying on its hackers to bring in revenue during the pandemic because of the border closures.
Cooperation with Iran
The report cited multiple unnamed nations who claimed that North Korea and Iran reengaged cooperation on long-range missile development projects, including trading critical parts needed to develop these weapons. North Korea successfully test-fired three intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBM) in 2017 and paraded a gargantuan, new ICBM at a public event in October.
Iran's pursuit of similar technology and its current arsenal of ballistic missiles is a major flashpoint in Tehran's long-running disputes with various Arab neighbors and the United States. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries have called for the curbing of Iran's ballistic weapons, but Iran's leaders have repeatedly said the arsenal is not up for negotiation.
Tehran appeared to deny that it was working with North Korea on missile technology. The report included comment from Iran's UN Mission, which claimed in December that the UN Panel of Experts was given "false information and fabricated data may have been used in investigations and analyses of the Panel."
A new source of income
The UN panel found that North Korea's stringent Covid-19 border controls have affected the regime's ability to bring in much needed hard currency from overseas. Pyongyang uses complex sanctions-evading schemes to keep its economy afloat and get around the stringent UN sanctions.
Coal has historically been one of North Korea's most valuable exports -- the Panel's 2019 report found that Pyongyang collected $370 million by exporting coal, but shipments since July 2020 appear to have been suspended.
That is likely because North Korea severed almost all of its ties with the outside world in 2020 to prevent an influx of coronavirus cases, including cutting off almost all trade with Beijing, an economic lifeline the impoverished country needs to keep its people from going hungry. While that decision appears to have kept the pandemic at bay, it has brought the North Korean economy closer to the brink of collapse than it has been in decades.
Devastating storms, the punishing sanctions and the pandemic pummeled North Korea's economy in 2020, and experts. Experts believe that North Korea may be further relying on its hackers to bring in revenue during the pandemic because of the border closures.
Cooperation with Iran
The report cited multiple unnamed nations who claimed that North Korea and Iran reengaged cooperation on long-range missile development projects, including trading critical parts needed to develop these weapons. North Korea successfully test-fired three intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBM) in 2017 and paraded a gargantuan, new ICBM at a public event in October.
Iran's pursuit of similar technology and its current arsenal of ballistic missiles is a major flashpoint in Tehran's long-running disputes with various Arab neighbors and the United States. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries have called for the curbing of Iran's ballistic weapons, but Iran's leaders have repeatedly said the arsenal is not up for negotiation.
Tehran appeared to deny that it was working with North Korea on missile technology. The report included comment from Iran's UN Mission, which claimed in December that the UN Panel of Experts was given "false information and fabricated data may have been used in investigations and analyses of the Panel."
Ancient bone sheds light on Slav alphabet history
An inscribed cow bone dating back to the seventh century proves that Germanic runes were the oldest script ever used by the ancient Slavs, Czech scientists said Thursday.
An inscribed cow bone dating back to the seventh century proves that Germanic runes were the oldest script ever used by the ancient Slavs, Czech scientists said Thursday.
© Jitka Janu The rare bone find appears to prove Germanic runes were used before a Slavic alphabet was invented in the ninth century
Up to now, it was believed that the oldest Slavic alphabet was Glagolitic, invented by Byzantine monk St Cyril in the ninth century.
Cyril and his brother St Methodius came to former Great Moravia, covering today's Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia and parts of Austria, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and the Balkans, on a mission in 863.
But the broken bovine rib found in the southern Czech Republic in 2017 and examined by an international team of Czech, Austrian, Swiss and Australian scientists proved the assumption about the alphabet wrong.
Up to now, it was believed that the oldest Slavic alphabet was Glagolitic, invented by Byzantine monk St Cyril in the ninth century.
Cyril and his brother St Methodius came to former Great Moravia, covering today's Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia and parts of Austria, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and the Balkans, on a mission in 863.
But the broken bovine rib found in the southern Czech Republic in 2017 and examined by an international team of Czech, Austrian, Swiss and Australian scientists proved the assumption about the alphabet wrong.
© HANDOUT The Germanic runes belong to the so-called Elder Futhark script
"The team discovered this was the oldest inscription found with the Slavs," head researcher Jiri Machacek from Masaryk University in the city of Brno said in a statement.
The team used genetic and radio-carbon testing to examine the bone.
"These sensitive analyses have shown the bone comes from domesticated cattle that lived around the year 600 AD," said team member Zuzana Hofmanova, an analyst at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.
Robert Nedoma from the University of Vienna identified the inscription as so-called Elder Futhark runes, used by the German-speaking inhabitants of central Europe in the second to seventh centuries.
The Elder Futhark alphabet comprised 24 signs, and the last seven were inscribed on the newly-found rib, according to the researchers.
"It is probable that the bone originally comprised the whole runic alphabet. Hence, it is not a specific message but rather a teaching tool," the scientists said.
frj/dt/mas/tgb
"The team discovered this was the oldest inscription found with the Slavs," head researcher Jiri Machacek from Masaryk University in the city of Brno said in a statement.
The team used genetic and radio-carbon testing to examine the bone.
"These sensitive analyses have shown the bone comes from domesticated cattle that lived around the year 600 AD," said team member Zuzana Hofmanova, an analyst at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.
Robert Nedoma from the University of Vienna identified the inscription as so-called Elder Futhark runes, used by the German-speaking inhabitants of central Europe in the second to seventh centuries.
The Elder Futhark alphabet comprised 24 signs, and the last seven were inscribed on the newly-found rib, according to the researchers.
"It is probable that the bone originally comprised the whole runic alphabet. Hence, it is not a specific message but rather a teaching tool," the scientists said.
frj/dt/mas/tgb
GIVING MORE CREDIBILITY TO THE BOOK OF VELES WHICH USED RUNES
Twitter Says It Won’t Block Journalists, Activists, And Politicians In India To Protect Free Speech
Defying the Indian government could put Twitter officials in jail. But not doing so would mean enabling a crackdown against free speech.
Defying the Indian government could put Twitter officials in jail. But not doing so would mean enabling a crackdown against free speech.
Pranav DixitBuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on February 10, 2021
Hindustan Times / Getty Images
Farmers raise slogans during the ongoing protest against the new farm laws at New Delhi's borders on Feb. 9, 2021.
Twitter has told India’s government that it won’t restrict accounts belonging to journalists, activists, and politicians in India, despite receiving an order from the country’s federal government. It is, however, blocking an unspecified number of accounts that don’t fall into these categories from being able to be viewed internally in the country.
In a blog post published Tuesday, the company said that although it had withheld some accounts that India’s government wanted it to block, it wouldn’t block others because doing so would violate free speech.
“Because we do not believe that the actions we have been directed to take are consistent with Indian law, and, in keeping with our principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression, we have not taken any action on accounts that consist of new media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians,” Twitter’s blog post said. “To do so, we believe, would violate their fundamental right to free expression under Indian law.”
Twitter’s post comes in the middle of a struggle with the government of India, a major market for the company, over restricting accounts on the platform. Earlier this month, the company restricted people in India from viewing more than 250 accounts in the country after receiving an emergency legal order from India’s IT ministry. Among the blocked accounts were the Caravan, an investigative news magazine; critics of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi; and accounts tweeting in support of a monthslong farmers’ protest that is roiling the country.
But Twitter restored the accounts six hours later, arguing with the Indian government that the accounts constituted free speech and were noteworthy. In response, the government threatened Twitter officials with a fine and up to seven years in jail for violating its order.
The standoff with the Indian government has put Twitter in a tough spot. Blocking the accounts would mean enabling a crackdown against dissent, free speech, and journalism by India’s increasingly authoritarian government. But defying the government means risking legal consequences.
In the blog post published on Tuesday, Twitter said it had taken additional steps such as banning hashtags containing harmful content from the platform, something that the government feared would provoke real-world violence amid the protest, and permanently suspending more than 500 accounts for violating Twitter’s rules.
But the post also indicates that Twitter is seeking legal redress to restore some accounts that it has restricted in the country.
“We will continue to advocate for the right of free expression on behalf of the people we serve and are actively exploring options under Indian law — both for Twitter and for the accounts that have been impacted,” Twitter wrote. “We remain committed to safeguarding the health of the conversation occurring on Twitter, and strongly believe that the Tweets should flow.”
Last updated on February 10, 2021
Hindustan Times / Getty Images
Farmers raise slogans during the ongoing protest against the new farm laws at New Delhi's borders on Feb. 9, 2021.
Twitter has told India’s government that it won’t restrict accounts belonging to journalists, activists, and politicians in India, despite receiving an order from the country’s federal government. It is, however, blocking an unspecified number of accounts that don’t fall into these categories from being able to be viewed internally in the country.
In a blog post published Tuesday, the company said that although it had withheld some accounts that India’s government wanted it to block, it wouldn’t block others because doing so would violate free speech.
“Because we do not believe that the actions we have been directed to take are consistent with Indian law, and, in keeping with our principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression, we have not taken any action on accounts that consist of new media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians,” Twitter’s blog post said. “To do so, we believe, would violate their fundamental right to free expression under Indian law.”
Twitter’s post comes in the middle of a struggle with the government of India, a major market for the company, over restricting accounts on the platform. Earlier this month, the company restricted people in India from viewing more than 250 accounts in the country after receiving an emergency legal order from India’s IT ministry. Among the blocked accounts were the Caravan, an investigative news magazine; critics of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi; and accounts tweeting in support of a monthslong farmers’ protest that is roiling the country.
But Twitter restored the accounts six hours later, arguing with the Indian government that the accounts constituted free speech and were noteworthy. In response, the government threatened Twitter officials with a fine and up to seven years in jail for violating its order.
The standoff with the Indian government has put Twitter in a tough spot. Blocking the accounts would mean enabling a crackdown against dissent, free speech, and journalism by India’s increasingly authoritarian government. But defying the government means risking legal consequences.
In the blog post published on Tuesday, Twitter said it had taken additional steps such as banning hashtags containing harmful content from the platform, something that the government feared would provoke real-world violence amid the protest, and permanently suspending more than 500 accounts for violating Twitter’s rules.
But the post also indicates that Twitter is seeking legal redress to restore some accounts that it has restricted in the country.
“We will continue to advocate for the right of free expression on behalf of the people we serve and are actively exploring options under Indian law — both for Twitter and for the accounts that have been impacted,” Twitter wrote. “We remain committed to safeguarding the health of the conversation occurring on Twitter, and strongly believe that the Tweets should flow.”
THE METHOD OF SCIENCE THE AIM OF RELIGION
Sri Lankan monks 'ordain' last legume
Sri Lankan Buddhist monks Wednesday ordained the world's only known specimen of a species of local tree, in an attempt to stop it being axed to make way for a motorway.
Sri Lankan monks 'ordain' last legume
Sri Lankan Buddhist monks Wednesday ordained the world's only known specimen of a species of local tree, in an attempt to stop it being axed to make way for a motorway.
© - Buddhist monks tie a saffron robe around the trunk of the only known specimen of a Sri Lankan Legume or Crudia zeylanica tree
The Sri Lanka Legume (Crudia zeylanica) was first classified in 1868 and last found in 1911. In 2012 it was declared extinct until the surprise discovery in 2019 of a lone tree just north of Colombo.
But the eight-metre (26-foot) plant was set to be felled this week to allow the construction of a motorway to the central pilgrim city of Kandy until environmentalists raised the alarm and appealed for help.
Buddhist monk Thangalle Saarada hot-footed it to the site and together with several others on Wednesday blessed the plant and tied a saffron robe around its trunk while performing sacred chants.
"This tree is now symbolically a monk," Saarada said after tying the robe and sprinkling blessed water.
"We want to save the tree from the government."
The monks' mercy action is expected to save the tree, with Buddhism enjoying widespread respect in the island nation of 21 million people, where it is the majority religion.
Most people in fact will believe they will be cursed if they harm sacred plants.
"From a conservation point of view, it is extremely important that we save it from destruction," said Hiran Amarasekera, professor in Forestry and Environment Science at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
"It is not just the plant, but we need to save the entire eco system," Amarasekera told AFP.
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said they will take environmental concerns onboard and a final decision will be taken after further consultations.
aj/stu/wat
The Sri Lanka Legume (Crudia zeylanica) was first classified in 1868 and last found in 1911. In 2012 it was declared extinct until the surprise discovery in 2019 of a lone tree just north of Colombo.
But the eight-metre (26-foot) plant was set to be felled this week to allow the construction of a motorway to the central pilgrim city of Kandy until environmentalists raised the alarm and appealed for help.
Buddhist monk Thangalle Saarada hot-footed it to the site and together with several others on Wednesday blessed the plant and tied a saffron robe around its trunk while performing sacred chants.
"This tree is now symbolically a monk," Saarada said after tying the robe and sprinkling blessed water.
"We want to save the tree from the government."
The monks' mercy action is expected to save the tree, with Buddhism enjoying widespread respect in the island nation of 21 million people, where it is the majority religion.
Most people in fact will believe they will be cursed if they harm sacred plants.
"From a conservation point of view, it is extremely important that we save it from destruction," said Hiran Amarasekera, professor in Forestry and Environment Science at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
"It is not just the plant, but we need to save the entire eco system," Amarasekera told AFP.
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said they will take environmental concerns onboard and a final decision will be taken after further consultations.
aj/stu/wat
After Years of Rising, Emissions of an Ozone-Depleting Chemical Are Falling Again
A new study has found that after a mysterious increase in the 2010s, an ozone-depleting chemical is once again in decline. It’s a rare bit of good news, showing that previous research tracking the increase has likely had an impact.
© Photo: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center An astronaut aboard the International Space Station adjusted the camera for night imaging and captured the green veils and curtains of an aurora over Quebec, Canada.
The article, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, focuses on CFC-11, a chemical that both depletes the ozone and heats the planet. It shows that after a half-decade hiccup where CFC-11 pollution rose, the world’s output of the compound fell in 2019 to levels close to the average seen between 2008 and 2012.
That’s great news for the ozone hole and global temperatures. CFC-11 is a type of chlorofluorocarbon, a class of gases once widely used for refrigeration and air conditioning and as chemical solvents. But the use of those chemicals depleted the ozone layer that protects Earth from the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays, in addition to being very potent greenhouse gases. (CFC-11 specifically has 5,000 times the global warming potential of carbon in the short term.)
In 1987, world leaders came together to sign the Montreal Protocol, an agreement to ramp down CFC usage. The treaty worked—once leaders pledged to stop using CFCs, manufacturers mostly stopped using them in production, and the ozone has been recovering. But a few years ago, scientists found that between 2013 and 2018, emissions of one type of CFC, CFC-11, actually increased despite global reports of near-zero production since 2010. That suggested that emissions from an unreported source were rising.
“We don’t know for sure what caused the CFC-11 emission increase after 2013, but many experts believe that it was likely from new production of CFC-11 for making new foam [insulation] after the 2010 mandated phase-out of CFC production by the Montreal Protocol,” Stephen Montzka, an atmospheric scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration based in Boulder, Colorado who led the study, said in an email.
To determine how progress on phasing out of CFC-11 has been going since then, Montzka and his co-authors analyzed data from NOAA monitoring laboratories, which measure CFC concentrations by collecting air samples from 13 locations around the world using flasks.
“The flask canisters are shipped back to my lab in Boulder and are analyzed on custom laboratory instrumentation to determine the concentration of CFC-11 and other gases,” said Montzka.
The authors found that atmospheric levels of CFC-11 are decreasing again. Specifically, they found that in 2019, the world emitted 57,320 U.S. tons of the gas in 2019, which is nearly 20,000 U.S. tons less than 2018's output. Put simply, we’re back on track.
Another new study published in the same issue of Nature analyzed the same data from NOAA’s monitoring sites and found that about 60% of that reduction was the result of emissions cuts from eastern China specifically—probably the result of local crackdowns on factories in mid-2019.
“It was reported that Chinese authorities reacted, making seizures of CFCs, arrests and destroying production facilities,” Luke Western, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Bristol and the second study’s lead author, wrote in an email.
Those crackdowns came in response to 2019 research also led by Western showed that between 40% and 60% of the unexpected rise in emissions in the 2010s was likely from illicit use of CFC-11 at factories in the coastal province Shandong and the inland province Hebei, which were producing foam for refrigerators and building insulation.
To see if those actions made a difference, the researchers specifically examined data on CFC-11 concentrations from two measurement stations in East Asia. By using computer models that simulate the atmospheric transmission patterns of gases, they were able to determine where exactly emissions were occurring. They determined that in eastern China, CFC-11 output in 2019 was about 11,000 U.S. tons less than it was in 2018, meaning virtually all of the region’s illicit new pollution got wiped out.
The researchers still don’t know where the remaining 40% or so of the mysterious rise in CFC-11 emissions between 2013 and 2018 came from, but thankfully, it looks like that also got wiped out between 2018 and 2019. Western said future research might help them determine the culprit, but that his priority—and the priority of signatories to the Montreal Protocol—is pinpointing the source of all remaining CFC emissions to eradicate them.
“The main focus is on expanding the current measurement coverage to ensure any future challenges can be addressed,” said Western.
Montzka said that rapidly ending CFC-11 emissions “will ensure that the ozone layer heals as fast as is possible.” That’s important, since the layer blocks harmful ultraviolet radiation that can harm plant and animal life and can also cause sunburn and eye disease for humans. Less CFC-11 also means less warming. But at the same time, Montzka noted that the compound isn’t the main contributor to the climate crisis—though it’s potent, emissions are nowhere near the scale of other greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. We’ve also got to curb emissions of other greenhouse gases, including the ones emitted by ozone-depleting chemicals’ replacements, to secure a livable future.
The article, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, focuses on CFC-11, a chemical that both depletes the ozone and heats the planet. It shows that after a half-decade hiccup where CFC-11 pollution rose, the world’s output of the compound fell in 2019 to levels close to the average seen between 2008 and 2012.
That’s great news for the ozone hole and global temperatures. CFC-11 is a type of chlorofluorocarbon, a class of gases once widely used for refrigeration and air conditioning and as chemical solvents. But the use of those chemicals depleted the ozone layer that protects Earth from the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays, in addition to being very potent greenhouse gases. (CFC-11 specifically has 5,000 times the global warming potential of carbon in the short term.)
In 1987, world leaders came together to sign the Montreal Protocol, an agreement to ramp down CFC usage. The treaty worked—once leaders pledged to stop using CFCs, manufacturers mostly stopped using them in production, and the ozone has been recovering. But a few years ago, scientists found that between 2013 and 2018, emissions of one type of CFC, CFC-11, actually increased despite global reports of near-zero production since 2010. That suggested that emissions from an unreported source were rising.
“We don’t know for sure what caused the CFC-11 emission increase after 2013, but many experts believe that it was likely from new production of CFC-11 for making new foam [insulation] after the 2010 mandated phase-out of CFC production by the Montreal Protocol,” Stephen Montzka, an atmospheric scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration based in Boulder, Colorado who led the study, said in an email.
To determine how progress on phasing out of CFC-11 has been going since then, Montzka and his co-authors analyzed data from NOAA monitoring laboratories, which measure CFC concentrations by collecting air samples from 13 locations around the world using flasks.
“The flask canisters are shipped back to my lab in Boulder and are analyzed on custom laboratory instrumentation to determine the concentration of CFC-11 and other gases,” said Montzka.
The authors found that atmospheric levels of CFC-11 are decreasing again. Specifically, they found that in 2019, the world emitted 57,320 U.S. tons of the gas in 2019, which is nearly 20,000 U.S. tons less than 2018's output. Put simply, we’re back on track.
Another new study published in the same issue of Nature analyzed the same data from NOAA’s monitoring sites and found that about 60% of that reduction was the result of emissions cuts from eastern China specifically—probably the result of local crackdowns on factories in mid-2019.
“It was reported that Chinese authorities reacted, making seizures of CFCs, arrests and destroying production facilities,” Luke Western, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Bristol and the second study’s lead author, wrote in an email.
Those crackdowns came in response to 2019 research also led by Western showed that between 40% and 60% of the unexpected rise in emissions in the 2010s was likely from illicit use of CFC-11 at factories in the coastal province Shandong and the inland province Hebei, which were producing foam for refrigerators and building insulation.
To see if those actions made a difference, the researchers specifically examined data on CFC-11 concentrations from two measurement stations in East Asia. By using computer models that simulate the atmospheric transmission patterns of gases, they were able to determine where exactly emissions were occurring. They determined that in eastern China, CFC-11 output in 2019 was about 11,000 U.S. tons less than it was in 2018, meaning virtually all of the region’s illicit new pollution got wiped out.
The researchers still don’t know where the remaining 40% or so of the mysterious rise in CFC-11 emissions between 2013 and 2018 came from, but thankfully, it looks like that also got wiped out between 2018 and 2019. Western said future research might help them determine the culprit, but that his priority—and the priority of signatories to the Montreal Protocol—is pinpointing the source of all remaining CFC emissions to eradicate them.
“The main focus is on expanding the current measurement coverage to ensure any future challenges can be addressed,” said Western.
Montzka said that rapidly ending CFC-11 emissions “will ensure that the ozone layer heals as fast as is possible.” That’s important, since the layer blocks harmful ultraviolet radiation that can harm plant and animal life and can also cause sunburn and eye disease for humans. Less CFC-11 also means less warming. But at the same time, Montzka noted that the compound isn’t the main contributor to the climate crisis—though it’s potent, emissions are nowhere near the scale of other greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. We’ve also got to curb emissions of other greenhouse gases, including the ones emitted by ozone-depleting chemicals’ replacements, to secure a livable future.
'Farfarout'! Solar system's most distant planetoid confirmed
IMAGE: SOLAR SYSTEM DISTANCES TO SCALE, SHOWING THE NEWLY DISCOVERED 2018 AG37, NICKNAMED "FARFAROUT, " COMPARED TO OTHER KNOWN SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS, INCLUDING THE PREVIOUS RECORD HOLDER 2018 VG18 "FAROUT ", ALSO FOUND... view more
CREDIT: ROBERTO MOLAR CANDANOSA, SCOTT S. SHEPPARD (CARNEGIE INSTITUTION FOR SCIENCE) AND BROOKS BAYS (UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI?I)
A team, including an astronomer from the University of Hawai?i Institute for Astronomy (IfA), have confirmed a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system. The planetoid, nicknamed "Farfarout," was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down the orbit. The Minor Planet Center has now given it the official designation of 2018 AG37.
Farfarout's name distinguished it from the previous record holder "Farout," found by the same team of astronomers in 2018. The team includes UH Mānoa's David Tholen, Scott S. Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science, and Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University, who have an ongoing survey to map the outer solar system beyond Pluto.
Journey around the Sun
Farfarout's current distance from the Sun is 132 astronomical units (au); 1 au is the distance between the Earth and Sun. For comparison, Pluto is only 34 au from the Sun. The newly discovered object has a very elongated orbit that takes it out to 175 au at its most distant, and inside the orbit of Neptune, to around 27 au, when it is closest to the Sun.
Farfarout's journey around the Sun takes about a thousand years, crossing the giant planet Neptune's orbit every time. This means Farfarout has probably experienced strong gravitational interactions with Neptune over the age of the solar system, and is the reason why it has such a large and elongated orbit.
"A single orbit of Farfarout around the Sun takes a millennium," said Tholen. "Because of this long orbital period, it moves very slowly across the sky, requiring several years of observations to precisely determine its trajectory."
Discovered on Maunakea
Farfarout will be given an official name after its orbit is better determined over the next few years. It was discovered at the Subaru 8-meter telescope located atop Maunakea in Hawai?i, and recovered using the Gemini North and Magellan telescopes in the past few years to determine its orbit based on its slow motion across the sky.
Farfarout is very faint, and based on its brightness and distance from the Sun, the team estimates its size to be about 400 km across, putting it on the low end of being a dwarf planet, assuming it is an ice-rich object.
"The discovery of Farfarout shows our increasing ability to map the outer solar system and observe farther and farther towards the fringes of our solar system," said Sheppard. "Only with the advancements in the last few years of large digital cameras on very large telescopes has it been possible to efficiently discover very distant objects like Farfarout. Even though some of these distant objects are quite large, being dwarf planet in size, they are very faint because of their extreme distances from the Sun. Farfarout is just the tip of the iceberg of solar system objects in the very distant solar system."
Interacting with Neptune
Because Neptune strongly interacts with Farfarout, its orbit and movement cannot be used to determine if there is another unknown massive planet in the very distant solar system, since these interactions dominate Farfarout's orbital dynamics. Only those objects whose orbits stay in the very distant solar system, well beyond Neptune's gravitational influence, can be used to probe for signs of an unknown massive planet. These include Sedna and 2012 VP113, which, although they are currently closer to the Sun than Farfarout (at around 80 au), they never approach Neptune and thus would be most influenced by the possible Planet X instead.
"Farfarout's orbital dynamics can help us understand how Neptune formed and evolved, as Farfarout was likely thrown into the outer solar system by getting too close to Neptune in the distant past," said Trujillo. "Farfarout will likely interact with Neptune again since their orbits continue to intersect."
###
NERVE GAS, WAIT WHAT
'Handy pen' lights up when exposed to nerve gas or spoiled food vapors
IMAGE: THE HANDY PEN'S TIP CHANGES COLOR WHEN EXPOSED TO HARMFUL GASES. view more
CREDIT: ADAPTED FROM ACS MATERIALS LETTERS 2021, DOI: 10.1021/ACSMATERIALSLETT.0C00516
Exposure to some odorless, colorless and tasteless gases, such as nerve agents, can be toxic or even lethal. And having the ability to detect other types of vapors could save people from eating spoiled or rotten food. Easy-to-use portable devices could, therefore, go a long way toward protecting the public. Now researchers reporting in ACS Materials Letters have created a pen-like sensor that changes color when exposed to harmful gases.
Humans can't detect many toxic vapors, such as poisonous nerve agents or volatile amines released from spoiled foods, so a sensor that can notice these gases' very minute concentrations would be useful. Fluorescence-based sensors are a potential solution because they are inexpensive and can reveal trace amounts of compounds. However, some fluorescing compounds clump together once they react with gases, reducing their intensity, and they can require complex fabrication processes. Yet other fluorophores produce more intense light when they are clumped together -- aggregation-induced emission fluorogens (AIEgens). Most of the current detection methods using AIEgens are liquid-based, requiring gases to be dissolved in solution before analysis, and are not easily portable. So, Zhe Jiao, Pengfei Zhang, Haitao Feng, Ben Zhong Tang and colleagues wanted to adapt AIEgens to be integrated into a needle-thin fiber, creating a handheld device whose tip "turns on" in the presence of a particular gas.
The researchers developed two AIEgen-based "handy pens," one for identifying the nerve agent diethyl chlorophosphite (DCP) and the other for amines produced by rotting food. First, they coated silicon dioxide polymer fibers with a thin sol-gel layer to immobilize AIEgens. Next, they added an AIEgen that changes color when it reacts with DCP on one set of fibers, and an AIEgen that reacts with amines on another set. The coated fibers were then placed at the end of a pen-like device with a UV light source inside. The DCP sensor's tip changed from a yellow fluorescence to blue within 30 minutes of exposure to DCP. The amine sensor's tip was initially a mild blue-gray color, but it generated a vibrant yellow-colored light within five minutes when it was exposed to volatile amine vapors. Both sensors reverted to the original hue when exposed to neutralizing vapors, demonstrating that they were reversible. Finally, the team used the amine-responsive handy pen to distinguish between a salmon sample that had been refrigerated and one that had been left at room temperature for 48 hours. The researchers say that other handy pens could be easily developed by using different vapor-sensitive AIEgens, which could be applied to food safety, environmental monitoring or public safety applications.
###
The authors acknowledge funding from Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province of China, Educational Commission of Guangdong Province of China, the Social Science and Technology Development Project of Dongguan, Guangdong International Cooperation Project, the Science and Technology Plan of Shenzhen, the UNSW-CAS Collaborative Research Seed Fund Program and the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology Innovation Program for Excellent Young Researchers.
The abstract that accompanies this paper is available here.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS' mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. The Society is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a specialist in scientific information solutions (including SciFinder® and STN®), its CAS division powers global research, discovery and innovation. ACS' main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Creating more sustainable fragrances with biotech
In the face of a changing climate and crop diseases, manufacturers of products containing natural flavors and fragrances are pivoting to a new way to source ingredients. Companies have been partnering with biotechnology firms to manufacture scents and flavors using fermented microbes, which experts say are more sustainable. A new story in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, details how the industry is brewing up new fragrances.
Although the availability of natural fragrances and flavors like citrus and vanilla is dwindling, the demand for them has increased, writes Senior Business Editor Melody Bomgardner. In recent years, flavor and fragrance companies have been working with the biotech industry to shore up supply chains and avoid issues like seasonality and poor harvests, without having to use synthetic compounds. Fermentation-derived ingredients can be listed as natural in the U.S. and Europe, which appeals greatly to consumers. Biotech firms and major chemical companies are stepping up their production of fermented products while also making the process more efficient and less expensive.
To be commercially viable, engineered microbes need to make a flavor or scent molecule at a much higher concentration than what's found in plants. Once microbial engineers figure out which plant genes they need to get microbes to produce a new flavor or scent molecule, it's relatively easy to make variants of that structure, they say. For example, γ-decalactone, which smells like peaches, is just one of 20 fruity and buttery molecules that can be made from a lactone process. These new fragrance molecules can be used in products such as hard seltzers, laundry detergents and fine perfumes. Another advantage of fermented molecules is consistency of flavor and smell, which is hard to achieve with naturally derived ingredients. With sustainability being a must-have for consumers and manufacturers alike, experts are hopeful that this is a versatile, cost-effective solution.
###
The paper, "Why the flavor and fragrance industry is embracing biotechnology," is freely available here.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS' mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. The Society is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a specialist in scientific information solutions (including SciFinder® and STN®), its CAS division powers global research, discovery and innovation. ACS' main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
Texas A&M researchers discover energy drinks' harmful effects on heart
Popular energy drinks may give you a boost, but they may also contribute to possible serious heart conditions, findings show
A team of researchers, led by a Texas A&M University professor, has found that some energy drinks have adverse effects on the muscle cells of the heart.
The study, led by Dr. Ivan Rusyn, a professor in the Veterinary Integrative Biosciences (VIBS) Department at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS), was published in Food and Chemical Toxicology. In it, researchers observed cardiomyocytes - human heart cells grown in a laboratory - exposed to some energy drinks showed an increased beat rate and other factors affecting cardiac function.
When placed in the context of the human body, consumption of these beverages has been linked to improper beating of the heart, cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle which makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood), increased blood pressure, and other heart conditions.
With the global sales of energy drinks estimated at $53 billion in 2018 and rapidly growing, it is important to understand the potential unintended health consequences associated with these beverages, according to Rusyn.
"Because the consumption of these beverages is not regulated and they are widely accessible over the counter to all age groups, the potential for adverse health effects of these products is a subject of concern and needed research," Rusyn said. "Indeed, the consumption of energy drinks has been associated with a wide range of adverse health effects in humans, many of them are concerning the effects on the heart."
Researchers evaluated 17 widely available over-the-counter brands. They then treated cardiomyocytes with each drink.
Researchers also studied the composition of the energy drinks using novel methods. By comparing the effects and differing ingredient concentrations in each drink, they were able to infer which ingredients may be contributing more to adverse effects on the treated cardiomyocytes. Using mathematical models, researchers determined that the possible presence of theophylline, adenine and azelate, substances which can have negative effects on the heart.
"Little is known about the ingredients that may contribute to the adverse effects of energy drinks on the heart," Rusyn said. "Specifically, the evidence for cardiovascular effects from studies in humans remains inconclusive, as the controlled clinical trials were largely limited in the number of participants. They were tested only a limited number of energy drink types, and are difficult to compare directly, because they employed different methods to evaluate the function of the cardiovascular system."
Further research is warranted on the ingredients identified in this study to ensure the safety of their consumption, especially by consumers with pre-existing health conditions.
"This study shows that some of the tested energy drinks may have effects on human cardiomyocytes, and these data corroborate other studies in humans," Rusyn said. "Therefore, we hope that the consumers will carefully weigh the performance-enhancing benefits of these beverages versus the emerging data that suggests that they may have real adverse effects.
"We also hope that the Food and Drug Administration takes a closer look at whether these beverages may need to be carefully reviewed with respect to possible labeling of their adverse health effects, and whether certain age groups and susceptible sub-populations should be advised against consumption of these beverages."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)