Opinion: Men and the Roman Empire is more than a meme

Opinion by David M. Perry
Mon, September 18, 2023 

Editor’s Note: David M. Perry is a journalist, historian and co-author of “The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe.” He is the associate director of undergraduate studies in the history department of the University of Minnesota. Subscribe to his newsletter Modern Medieval. The views expressed here are those of the author. View more opinion on CNN.

A funny thing happened on the way to the online forum: people wouldn’t stop talking about the Roman Empire.

David M. Perry - David Perry

Over the past few days, a viral trend has swept through TikTok in which women asked their husbands and boyfriends how often they thought about the Roman Empire. A surprising number claimed to think about the ancient empire as often as “every day” or least every week or two. It became a meme (are you even in a relationship if she hasn’t asked you about the Roman Empire?), spread to other social media sites, then received serious news coverage in multiple outlets. Now it seems like it’s everywhere.

The whole experience has left me, a historian (I focus on medieval Europe, but like many professors have taught “from Plato to NATO”), a little bemused. There are any number of specific reasons why men might think a lot about the Roman Empire, to be sure, but in my experience, lots of people spend a lot of time thinking about history. People like history.

When it comes to the Roman Empire, there’s a gender bias here, and also a racial one. Lots of men in particular think Rome is cool, though it’s mostly just vibes combining mythic ideas around ancient Greece and Rome — about a thousand years’ worth of history! This popularity is evident in history classes, books, podcasts, TV shows, video games, movies and more, including Mike Duncan’s podcast, Mary Beard’s SPQR, or the TV show Rome, but also more lyrical pathways into the history such as Madeline Miller’s novels “Circe” and “Song of Achilles.”

There’s just a lot (in a fairly narrow band) of Greek and Roman history to easily consume. What’s more, a small selection of surviving primary sources for the late Roman Republic and early empire are fun to read, lurid in sex and violence and available in cheap paperback translations. Try Livy’s histories for the early stuff, or Tacitus’ Annals for a dose of political intrigue (and murder).

Pundits like to compare our present moment to a mostly false narrative about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, arguing that history justifies taking aggressive action against their pet concerns. In 1979, for example, an economics professor blamed welfare for the fall of Rome. The comparison tends to produce bad history.

But the pundits and politicians are in good company. People have been trying to use using bad history to try to claim the mythic legacy of Rome for centuries. Just look at our government buildings that claim to be “neo-classical” with their gleaming white columns—even though Rome was actually very colorful, it’s just that paint doesn’t last. More dangerously, there is a subset of people who are more seriously obsessed with an imagined past that they think supports a White supremacist narrative of history. It’s a notion that actual scholars of the incredibly complex and diverse ancient Mediterranean are pushing back against, because it’s both harmful and nonsense.

But the specifics of the ancient Mediterranean aside, it’s not surprising to me that people spend a lot of time thinking about their favorite histories. History is enthralling, and while access to sources is unequal for many reasons (what survives, what gets translated, what gets published cheaply), you can find fascinating stories from any place, time or topic.

And people do. Every time a stranger finds out that I’m a historian, like on an airplane, or at a bar or even recently at a gas station while I was filling up a leaking tire, they start telling me about their favorite history. It can be a red flag, like the Battle of Thermopylae or any time a White person in the South wants to talk to me about the Civil War, but in the vast majority of cases, it’s just someone who likes to think about the past. And if you asked them about it on video, they’d probably say they think about it almost every day.

I also see this from my students, including the many retirees who take advantage of a $10-a-credit program for Minnesotans over 62 to voluntarily come back to school and get a history major. They take classes. They write papers and exams. They do the reading. They do it for fun. It’s because people like history.

I keep asserting people’s love of history because we’re in a moment of professional collapse for those of us in the business of making new knowledge about the past. Enrollments in history classes and majors have been falling for years, and while the job market for professors has stabilized, it’s heavily skewed towards temporary positions and nowhere near as large as it was even a decade ago. The news is even worse for historians of the premodern world; American men may be low-level obsessed with ancient Rome, but only 8% of all of last year’s jobs focused on the history from the origins of humanity to the year 1500, according to the American Historical Association.

Some of that has happened because of shifting resources from the teaching of premodern Europe and ancient Greece and Rome to include more of the world — a necessary shift, it turns out, because the rest of the world also has fascinating, knowable, premodern history. I’ve never cared if anyone studies the areas of the world I study, but I do want students steeped in the past.

What to make of this disconnect in society? People love history, but the studying and teaching of history at the university level is slowly vanishing (I’m sure you could say similar things about the love for art and art history, love for literature and shrinking English departments, but I’m going to stick to what I know best). Students are told not to follow their interests, but to go to college to find a career, and are never told that strong humanities majors make more money than average business majors, or that history majors do just as well financially as majors like criminology or psychology.

The issues here aren’t easily solvable, but they start by recognizing that history and historians don’t have to be on the defensive about our topics. People want to learn about the past. We should make it easier for them in every way possible, and we need the public to make their love of history clear. Go on TikTok! Ask your boyfriend or girlfriend about history and share their answers. Make more history everywhere and in every way. There’s work to be done, and like Rome, we’re not going to build it in a day.





The 'female version' of the male obsession with the Roman Empire is — to the surprise of no one — completely different

Maria Noyen
Updated Sat, September 16, 2023 


How Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania on rape and human trafficking charges

Andrew Tate and his brother were arrested and charged with human trafficking and rape after Tate posted a video that may have revealed his location.


Princess Diana, the Salem Witch Trials, and the Titanic are common answersAndrea Comi/Getty Images

This week the internet was shocked to discover that men are obsessed with the Roman Empire.


Some women found out their partners think of the Roman Empire as often as on a daily basis.


People are now discussing the "female version" of the trend.

Earlier this week, the internet was shocked to discover that men are obsessed with the Roman Empire — so much so that some even think of it on a daily basis.

The revelation came as a surprise to many partners, who have been sharing viral reactions to the men in their lives admitting how frequently they pondered the Roman Empire on TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter.

The conversation took a new turn on Thursday when LA-based professional charcuterie artist Emmy Rener asked TikTokers to weigh in on a new question: what is the female version of the Roman Empire?

"What is something random that we all think about on a very regular basis that is female specific?" she said.

The answers Rener has received in comments and stitched videos on her TikTok revealed stark differences between men's and women's regular thoughts.
Kidnapping and violent crime are top of mind, some women say

Many of those responding to the TikTok said they would often think of serious subjects like being the victim of violence.

Danyelle Leyden, a TikToker who regularly shares content about her life and family, said being kidnapped was top of her mind in a response video.

"Definitely being kidnapped, or just in general somebody's gonna get me," Leyden said.

Speaking to Insider, Leyden said the number of women who have similar recurring thoughts to her is revealing societal differences.

"It speaks volumes for society that women are so cautious and have to feel on guard most of their lives," Leyden said. "I think unfortunately most women have had past experiences that led them to be this cautious."

"For me it also put into further perspective that as women we feel like prey subconsciously," she added.

Some people expressed similar views in the comment section of Leyden's TikTok. "Same," one user wrote in a comment that has over 6,500 likes. "I'm constantly thinking 'what if someone walks though my front door right now, what will I grab?'"

"I think it's being murdered, or assaulted," Melissa Urban said in a TikTok. She captioned the clip: "With a splash of did I leave the curling iron on."

In yet another stitch with Rener's original clip, "Awkward" star Greer Grammer expressed similar thoughts.

"Taylor Swift or getting kidnapped, I think about those two things every day. Every day," she said in her own post.
Princess Diana, the Salem Witch Trials, and the Titanic are common, too

Other common answers among women on TikTok included Princess Diana, Greek mythology, the Titanic, Helen Keller, and the Salem Witch Trials.

"I firmly believe that there are four," user @gertiethehippo said in a TikTok responding to Rener's question. "The six wives of Henry VIII, the Titanic, obviously, not the movie but the Titanic, the Romanov's, and, of course, Greek mythology."

Princess Diana.Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images

Further responses also included Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks epic 1997 performance of "Silver Springs," which resurfaced and went viral earlier this year following the release of "Daisy Jones and The Six," Today reported.

Others said they also thought about the Roman Empire.

Carly Maris, a postdoctoral fellow at San Diego State University whose research interests including Rome, Persia, and Egypt, responded to the trend on TikTok, saying that for her "personally, the female version of the Roman Empire is the Roman Empire."

"Ladies, when they would do a good job at something they would get little leaf hats, they wore special dresses, their favorite color was purple," she added.

Emmy Renner, creator of the original female version of the Roman Empire TikTok, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

Brexit bombshell: UK could rejoin EU as an ‘associate member’

Archie Mitchell and Kate Devlin
Tue, September 19, 2023 

France and Germany are pushing plans to offer Britain and other European countries “associate membership” of the EU in a move that could rebuild the UK’s ties with the bloc.

The two countries have tabled a blueprint that would create four new tiers, with the most aligned states forming an “inner circle”.

In what will be seen as an olive branch, a new outer tier of “associate membership” would be open to the UK, laying the ground for a closer economic relationship.

Senior Tories welcomed the proposal with former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine telling The Independent that Britain must urgently explore the idea as the “overarching majority of people in Britain see Brexit as a mistake”.

“The dam is breaking and there is increasingly a move towards integrating with Europe,” he said.

But the move prompted a furious reaction from Brexiteers who accused EU countries of “desperation” in their bid to enlarge the bloc.

News of the plans came after Sir Keir Starmer held talks in Paris with French president Emmanuel Macron, the final leg of an international tour designed to show the Labour leader as a prime-minister-in-waiting.

But as both main parties walk a tightrope over Brexit in the run up to next year’s general election, Labour and No 10 ruled out any form of associate membership of the EU.

As he tries to appeal to both pro-remain businesses and Leave voters, Sir Keir at the weekend pledged to secure a "much better" Brexit deal if he wins the next election, but rejected re-joining the customs union or the single market.

In March the chairman of the government watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned the economic impact of Brexit was the same “magnitude” as the Covid pandemic and the energy price crisis.

Richard Hughes said Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP), a key measure of a country’s wealth, would be 4 per cent higher if the UK had stayed in the EU.

Under the plans the UK would be expected to contribute to the EU’s annual budget and be governed by the European Court of Justice in exchange for “participation” in the single market.

Associate members, who would form the bloc’s first “outer tier”, could include members of the single market who are not in the EU, such as Switzerland, or “even the UK”, a paper put forward by France and Germany stated.

They would not be bound to “ever closer union” and further integration, it said.

But they would have to commit to the “common principles and values” of the EU.

Although they would pay into the EU’s budget, costs would be lower than those paid by full members.

Sir Keir said his meeting with Macron began with an “exchange of gifts” and covered topics including “the relationship between our two countries” and future “prosperity and security”.

Sir Keir stressed plans to “build” on the relationship between France and Britain if Labour wins power.

A European diplomatic source told The Times the plan was designed with Labour in mind, despite Sir Keir having ruled out rejoining the EU’s single market.

“It is carefully balanced politically to be a potential place for Britain without the need to ever rejoin the EU or to hold a referendum,” the source said.

A party spokesperson said: “Labour will seek a better deal for Britain. This does not involve any form of membership.”

And the prime minister’s official spokesman, asked whether Rishi Sunak would countenance Britain becoming an associate member of the EU, said: “No.”

Associate membership would not include a customs union, allowing Britain to keep an independent trade policy.

Lord Heseltine told The Independent Britain “must urgently explore” France and Germany’s plan.

The Tory former deputy prime minister said: “The remorseless pressure of public opinion is changing the dynamic of politics.

“The dam is breaking and there is increasingly a move towards integrating with Europe. This is an opportunity offered by France and Germany which should be seized upon.

“The overarching majority of people in Britain see Brexit as a mistake, even those who still believe in it agree it has never been possible to implement it.

“The Tories have at least recognised change is needed, firstly with Northern Ireland and the Windsor Agreement and then with Horizon, allowing cooperation on sciences and technology.”He also suggested that political stances could shift after the next election.

“While the red wall may be insurmountable on this side of the general election, the pressure of events will push people of both main parties to dare to change and to make permanent links with Europe,” he said.

“This new plan between France and Germany must be explored urgently.”

In response to the plan, Tobias Ellwood, who has previously called for Britain to rejoin the EU's single market, said the UK needs a "pragmatic re-engagement with Europe".

"As our Brexit deal comes up for formal re-negotiation, we need to explore more avenues for economic advantage,” he added.

Asked about the potential to join a new outer tier of the EU, Tory former business secretary and arch-Brexiteer Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “I like the outer tier that we are currently in.”

Former Brexit minister Lord Frost told The Independent Britain should “certainly not” consider associate membership.

Sir John Redwood, the Tory former trade minister, told The Independent that leaving the single market was “a crucial part of the Brexit case” and rejoining would do “huge damage” to British industry.

He said a “great win” of Brexit was no longer having to contribute to the bloc’s budget.

Tory MP Craig Mackinlay said the idea “smacks of desperation” at a time when many member states are wondering “what this democracy devouring beast is for”.

He told The Independent: “The country rejected this once and would do so again.”

Gina Miller, the anti-Brexit campaigner, told The Independent the UK should “see this move as an opportunity to start” the process to rejoin the EU.

“This ‘onion’ option, forming part of an outer layer of the EU, is an olive branch from our European neighbours, but we must negotiate cautiously to make sure that we regain at least some of the influence we lost under Brexiteer extremism,” she said.

And Best for Britain, which campaigns for closer ties with the EU, said the proposals were “encouraging”, although associate membership remains “some way off”.

Under the plans a second tier for outer members would not include any integration with EU law but would see an upgrade of the European Political Community (EPC), of which Britain is a part. It would include free trade agreements in certain areas such as energy or defence, and would focus on cooperation on important issues such as climate and security.

The paper has been written by an official ‘Franco-German working group on EU institutional reform’, made up of experts, academics and lawyers, set up by both the French and German governments earlier this year. The proposals are due to be presented at a monthly meeting of ministers of EU member states.

Starmer wants ‘closer trading relationship’ with EU if Labour wins power
Genevieve Holl-Allen
Mon, September 18, 2023 at 5:40 AM MDT·3 min read
0



Sir Keir Starmer said he had an ‘utter determination’ to make Brexit work - Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to seek a “closer trading relationship” with the European Union if Labour wins the next general election.

The Labour leader said he would seek to rewrite the existing Brexit deal when it is up for review in 2025.

Speaking at a conference of centre-Left political leaders in Montreal, he told the Financial Times: “Almost everyone recognises the deal [Boris] Johnson struck is not a good deal – it’s far too thin.

“As we go into 2025 we will attempt to get a much better deal for the UK. I do think we can have a closer trading relationship as well. That’s subject to further discussion.”

Sir Keir said he had an “utter determination” to make Brexit work and again stated Labour would not seek to take the UK back into the EU.

The Conservative Party seized on his comments, accusing him of wanting to take Britain “back to square one on Brexit”.

The Labour leader said his two children were among his motivations for rewriting the Brexit deal, adding: “I’ve got a 15-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. I’m not going to let them grow up in a world where all I’ve got to say to them about their future is that it’s going to be worse than it might otherwise have been.”

Asked about Sir Keir’s comments on Monday, Downing Street said that the Brexit deal should not be renegotiated.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman told journalists: “We’re not looking to relitigate the past or reopen it in any way, shape or form. Obviously, there is a set statutory review period, but beyond that we’re very much focused on maximising the opportunities it presents for the public.

“We expect the [Trade and Cooperation Agreement] to remain the basis of our relationship with the EU and are focused on maximising opportunities it presents us with. It is the world’s largest zero tariffs, zero quotas deal. It’s the first time the EU has ever agreed to such access in a free trade agreement.”

Sir Keir said he saw the 2025 review of Brexit as an “important” moment to reset UK-EU relations. He will travel to Paris on Tuesday to meet Emmanuel Macron, the French president. They are expected to discuss post-Brexit relations and a possible migrant returns deal with Europe.

His indication last week that a Labour government could be prepared to do a deal under which the UK takes a quota of asylum seekers who arrive in the bloc in exchange for the ability to return migrants who illegally cross the Channel drew criticism from the Tories.

Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, claimed that the Labour leader would “make Britain the dumping ground” for EU migrants, with Labour accusing her of “embarrassing nonsense”.

David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, who will accompany Sir Keir to Paris, on Sunday proposed a broader reset of foreign policy with the EU under a future Labour government.

He told The Observer that relations with the EU were “the top priority” for the party, describing it as “bizarre” that the UK “does not currently under the Government have structured dialogue with the European Union in a constructive way”.

Britain's opposition leader Keir Starmer pledges new deal with EU under Labor

Paul Godfrey
Mon, September 18, 2023 

Labor Leader Sir Keir Starmer has promised to negotiate a "better" Brexit deal saying the agreement delivered by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson -- after years of delays -- was too narrow. 

File Photo by Tolga Akmen/EPA-EFE


Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Keir Starmer, leader of Britain's opposition Labor Party, pledged to renegotiate the deal struck by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Brussels that took the country out of the European Union at the end of 2020.

Speaking at the Global Progress Action Summit in Montreal on Sunday, Starmer said he would seek a far better deal when it is reviewed in 2025 as Johnson's Brexit agreement was "too thin," but ruled out rejoining or entering the customs union or the single market of the 27-country bloc.

"Almost everyone recognizes the deal Johnson struck is not a good deal -- it's too thin. As we go into 2025 we will attempt to get a much better deal for the U.K.," Starmer told the Financial Times.

"I do think we can have a closer trading relationship as well. That's subject to discussion."

Saying he was motivated by the futures of the younger generation, he said Britain had "to make it work."

"That's not a question of going back in, but I refuse to accept that we can't make it work," he said.

Johnson's EU-U.K. Trade and Co-operation Agreement signed in December 2020, has a clause mandating a joint review of its implementation every five years.

The ruling Conservatives accused Starmer of a U-turn after he had pledged not to try to reverse or amend Brexit.

"Three years ago he promised he wouldn't seek major changes to the U.K.'s new relationship with the EU, but now his latest short-term position is that he will," a spokesperson for the party said.

"What price would Keir Starmer be prepared to pay to the EU for renegotiating our relationship?"

In raising his international profile as a leader ahead of a general election that must be held before the end of 2024, Starmer has in recent weeks been increasingly vocal on the need to improve ties with Brussels.

His comments in Canada follow a visit to Europol in the Hague on Thursday for discussions on how to tackle the tens of thousands of asylum seekers arriving on Britain's shores in small boats -- more than 45,000 in 2022.

Starmer is due to travel to Paris on Tuesday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron for the second time in under 10 days with post-Brexit ties high on the agenda. The pair last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi held 9-10 September.

Britain touted as future ‘associate member’ of EU
Joe Barnes
Tue, September 19, 2023

Britain could rejoin the European Union as an ‘associate member’


Britain could rejoin the European Union as an “associate member” under plans for the bloc’s expansion drawn up by France and Germany.

The UK would be expected to contribute to the EU’s annual budget and be governed by the European Court of Justice in exchange for “participation” in the bloc’s single market.

The plan will be officially unveiled on Tuesday afternoon as Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, meets Emmanuel Macron, the French president, in Paris.

Sir Keir has said he would prioritise getting “a much better deal for the UK” as part of a review of the post-Brexit trade deal, due in 2025, if he wins the next election.

Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are holding talks in Paris - Laurent Blevennec/Presidence de la Republique France

Brussels is preparing to welcome Ukraine as a full member of the bloc in less than seven years as part of its biggest shake-up in decades.

Leading European officials have set a 2030 deadline for the expansion, which will also include the Western Balkans, and the largest reforms to the EU’s budget and voting system since the Lisbon treaty in 2007.

Paris and Berlin will present their vision for the bloc on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

Laurence Boone and Anna Luhrmann, the Europe ministers of France and Germany, will propose a four-tiered structure to integrate countries that aren’t “willing and/or able to join the EU in the foreseeable future”.

Under the plan, Britain could be invited into the third tier as an “associate member” of the EU.

“Associate members would not be bound to ‘ever closer union’ and further integration, nor would they participate in deeper political integration in other policy areas such as justice and home affairs or EU citizenship,” a report commissioned by France and Germany says.

“The basic requirement would be the commitment to comply with the EU’s common principles and values, including democracy and rule of law,” the report reads. “The cost areas of participation would be the single market.”

The EU’s internal market is built around four key freedoms – movement of people, goods, capital and services.

Membership fees would be lower than usual contributions by full members but would result in “lower benefits”, such as no access to the EU’s common agricultural fund.

Associate members would be represented by speakers inside the European Commission and Parliament without any voting rights.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement signed by Boris Johnson ended the European Court of Justice’s jurisdiction in Britain and ended the UK’s financial contributions to the bloc.

“Countries would join one or the other outer tier out of their own political will, either because they withdraw from the EU or because they have no intention of joining in the first place,” according to the Franco-German plan.

“Careful negotiations will be needed to find the right balance between a looser form of integration and institutional participation while retaining the highest benefits for full EU member states.”

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UK Labour leader Keir Starmer says he'll seek closer ties with the EU if he wins the next election

JILL LAWLESS
Mon, September 18, 2023 


Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer arriving with his shadow cabinet in central London for their first meeting, Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023. 

(Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — British opposition leader Keir Starmer says he will seek a closer relationship with the European Union, but won’t reverse Brexit, if his Labour Party wins a national election that’s due by the end of next year.

Opinion polls put the left-of-center party as much as 20 points ahead of the governing Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010.

Starmer told the Financial Times in an interview that the U.K.-EU trade and cooperation agreement negotiated by the Conservatives is “far too thin.”

“We will attempt to get a much better deal for the U.K.,” he said, adding that the two sides “can have a closer trading relationship as well.”

Britain’s departure from the EU in 2020 remains a divisive political issue. Starmer campaigned to remain in the bloc during the 2016 referendum campaign that was won narrowly by the “leave” side.

Since becoming Labour leader in 2020 he has confirmed that the party will not seek to rejoin the 27-nation EU or try to re-enter the bloc’s single market and customs union, both of which would commit the U.K. to stick closely to EU rules. But he says he will seek to strengthen ties that became strained during testy divorce negotiations.

To an extent, Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has restored a U.K.-EU relationship that hit rock-bottom under his euroskeptic predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. He has struck a deal to resolve a dispute over Northern Ireland trade rules, and signed Britain up to the EU’s Horizon Europe science cooperation program. But Sunak is a committed Brexiteer who is wary of getting too close to the bloc.

The Brexit divorce agreement is up for review every five years, starting in 2025. Sunak’s spokesman, Max Blain, said Monday that the Conservative government did not plan to renegotiate the deal “in any way, shape or form.”

As Labour’s consistent poll lead raises the party’s hopes of a return to power, Starmer is making international visits aimed at boosting his profile and connections ahead of a general election in 2024.

He is due in Paris on Tuesday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron. Last week he travelled to The Hague to discuss the fight against people-smuggling gangs with EU police agency Europol and met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a center-left political gathering in Montreal.


Keir Starmer warned of tough choice over revisiting Brexit
Nicholas Cecil
Mon, September 18, 2023 

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer leaving Europol in The Hague, Netherlands

 (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

Sir Keir Starmer would face difficult decisions when renegotiating Britain’s Brexit deal, experts warned on Monday.

The Labour leader is set to hold talks with French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday and meet business leaders. He wants to build a “closer trading relationship” with the European Union and strengthen the Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson which he branded “far too thin”.

But experts stressed that without rejoining the single market or customs union, which Labour has ruled out, Sir Keir would have limited room to manoeuvre to reshape trade relations with Brussels if he became prime minister. Axing trade barriers with the European bloc, when the Trade and Cooperation Agreement is reviewed in 2025, may only be possible if Britain, to some degree, becomes more of a rule-follower, having been a joint rule-maker when in the EU.

On new Brexit arrangements, Quentin Peel, associate fellow on the Europe Programme at think tank Chatham House, said: “It’s by no means straightforward. The closer you are going to be, the more you will have to follow EU rules.”

On trade, he believes “more bits and pieces” could be improved such as veterinary regulations, while major progress could be made on better co-ordinating security and foreign policy, and getting access to the Erasmus scheme to study abroad.

John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think tank, added: “‘Some bolt-ons to the EU-UK trade deal would help some sectors, like agriculture.

“But they wouldn’t change the problem: a free trade agreement is much less effective than a single market and customs union. Starmer says he wants a closer EU relationship to improve growth, but his red lines on the EU make it very hard to achieve that.”

Downing Street has said it will not seek to renegotiate the post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union after Labour pledged to seek a "much better deal".

Asked whether the Government thinks the deal should be renegotiated in 2025, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "No, we expect the TCA (trade and co-operation agreement) to remain the basis of our relationship with the EU and are focused on maximising the opportunities it presents us with."

Asked if it can be improved, he said: "We are focused, as I say, on taking the TCA and using our Brexit freedoms to the benefit of the public already.

"We're not looking to relitigate the past or reopen it in any way, shape or form.

"Obviously there is a set statutory review period but beyond that we're very much focused on maximising the opportunities it presents for the public."

The Labour leader spent the weekend meeting fellow centre-left leaders in Montreal, Canada, including the country’s prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Meeting Mr Macron on Tuesday will be seen as another sign that world leaders believe Sir Keir may be Britain’s next prime minister.

Speaking to the Financial Times ahead of his French trip, Sir Keir said: “Almost everyone recognises the deal Johnson struck is not a good deal — it’s far too thin. We will attempt to get a much better deal for the UK.”

He added: “I do think we can have a closer trading relationship as well. That’s subject to further discussion.

“We have to make it work. That’s not a question of going back in. But I refuse to accept that we can’t make it work. I think about those future generations when I say that.

“I say that as a dad. I’ve got a 15-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. I’m not going to let them grow up in a world where all I’ve got to say to them about their future is, ‘It’s going to be worse than it might otherwise have been’.”

But the Tories accused the Labour leader of flip-flopping on whether he would seek a major shake-up of the Brexit deal. Pensions minister Laura Trott said Sir Keir had changed his position on Brexit multiple times, including previously pushing for a second referendum.

“I think the question is, what price is he willing to pay to reopen that trade deal?

“And it’s something that I’m very concerned about,” she added.

The Bank of England has said Brexit has reduced the capacity of Britain’s economy to grow, weighing on investment and productivity.

Earlier this year, the BoE’s deputy governor Ben Broadbent said the impact of leaving the EU had fed through into the economy faster than the central bank had expected, although the effects had not been larger than anticipat

Doctors Thrilled as Pig Kidney Functions in Human Patient for Two Full Months

Victor Tangermann
Sun, September 17, 2023


A pig kidney has continued to function inside of a human body for roughly two months, the longest documented instance of such a procedure, known as a xenotransplant.

It's a promising sign that we could one day start relying on non-human donors for organ transplants, a possible answer to an ongoing organ shortage that has plagued the country for many years. Only around 20,000 people end up getting a new kidney a year in the US, despite there being around 100,000 people on the organ waitlist.

Researchers at NYU Langone performed the transplant on July 14. The recipient was a 58-year-old man who was "declared dead by neurologic criteria before the xenotransplant," according to a press release.

On September 13, or 61 days later, the experiment reached its previously agreed-upon end date, and the man was removed from the ventilator.

In other words, the man was not responsive after receiving the organ, but doctors received his family's consent. Now his remains are with his family.

While that may sound grisly, there are plenty of benefits to this kind of approach.

"In order to create a sustainable unlimited supply of organs, we need to know how to manage pig organs transplanted into humans," said team lead Robert Montgomery, professor and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, in the statement. "Testing them in a decedent allows us to optimize the immunosuppression regimen and choice of gene edits without putting a living patient at risk."

Fortunately, the researchers are optimistic about the latest results.

"We have learned a great deal throughout these past two months of close observation and analysis, and there is great reason to be hopeful for the future," he added. "None of this would have been possible without the incredible support we received from the family of our deceased recipient. Thanks to them, we have been able to gain critical insight into xenotransplantation as a hopeful solution to the national organ shortage."

While it's the longest a pig kidney has survived inside the human body, it's far from the first attempt.

In September 2021, the same team conducted the first-ever xenotransplant of a genetically modified pig kidney to a human, an experiment that was followed up with a second attempt just two months later. Last summer alone, the team tried two more times.

The kidney used in the latest procedure came from an FDA-approved "GalSafe pig," which was engineered by Virginia-based gene-editing tech company Revivicor.

The gene responsible for rejecting pig organs was simply "knocked out," per the press release, allowing the recipient's body to accept the kidney. Additionally, the animal's thymus gland, which remained attached to the kidney, ensured the recipient's immune system didn't start attacking the new organ.

The latest procedure was actually a simplified attempt compared to previous experiments and only included a single gene modification instead of up to ten, according to the statement.

But it wasn't entirely smooth sailing. The man still required immunosuppression medication due to a "mild rejection process" that started one month into the experiment.

In short, plenty more research still needs to be done before we can determine if such a procedure will ever be safe enough for a conventional human patient.

The researchers are now gearing up for clinical trials, which will first require approval from the FDA.

"Why we’re doing this is because there are a lot of people that unfortunately die before having the opportunity of a second chance at life," NYU transplant immunologist Massimo Mangiola told the Associated Press. "And we need to do something about it."

More on kidney transplants: Scientists Intrigued by Bionic Kidney That Survives Inside Pig

Research team reports longest successful transplant of a pig kidney into a human

Deidre McPhillips, CNN
Thu, September 14, 2023 

Joe Carrotta for NYU Langone Health

A pig kidney successfully functioned in a human body for about two months, marking the longest documented case of a xenotransplant of its kind.

In July, researchers at NYU Langone Health transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into the body of a 58-year-old man named Maurice Miller, known as Mo, who had a brain tumor and was experiencing brain death. The organ was removed on Wednesday, a predetermined date, after 61 days of study.

Now, the researchers will analyze their findings from this pre-clinical human research to assess the body’s response to the procedure and help prepare for clinical trials in living humans.

For example, tissue collected during the study showed some “novel cellular changes” that required additional immunosuppression medication to reverse a mild rejection, NYU Langone Health shared in a news release. But overall, the kidney was found to perform “optimally.”

“We have learned a great deal throughout these past two months of close observation and analysis, and there is great reason to be hopeful for the future,” said Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute and chair of the surgery department, who led the research.

“None of this would have been possible without the incredible support we received from the family of our deceased recipient. Thanks to them, we have been able to gain critical insight into xenotransplantation as a hopeful solution to the national organ shortage.”

In August, another research team published peer-reviewed research on new advancements in transplanting pig kidneys to humans.

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine found that transplanted kidneys not only produced urine; they provided the “life-sustaining kidney function” of filtering waste, according to a research letter published in the medical journal JAMA Surgery.

Both research teams used genetically modified pig kidneys that were transplanted into recipients experiencing brain death in what is considered pre-clinical human research. The NYU Langone team used just one genetic modification to “knockout” the alpha-gal biomolecule, which has been found to lead to rapid rejection of pig organs by humans. The pig’s thymus was also transplanted to help protect the kidneys from being attacked by the human immune system.

Researchers say that more work is needed, including studies in living human recipients, to establish whether pig kidney transplants could be a bridge or destination therapy for people with end-stage kidney disease, but they are hopeful about the progress being made.

“We’re gaining critical evidence about how well pig kidneys work in the human environment,” said Dr. Adam Griesemer, surgical director of the NYU Langone Pediatric Liver Transplant Program and the Living Donor Transplant Program, said at a news conference last month.

“Over the last 20 years, we’ve gained a lot of information about how pig kidneys work to replace the functions in primates. But the critical question – ‘Will those data be translated exactly to the human recipients?’ – was unknown. And for the first time, we’re being able to supply that information. So hopefully this also give some assurance to the FDA regarding the safety of initiating phase one clinical trials.”

The vast majority of people waiting for an organ transplant need a kidney. About 89,000 people are on the waiting list, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

Partially formed human kidneys grown inside pigs for the first time

Sarah Knapton
September 7, 2023

A good host – the human kidneys were grown inside pigs - iStockphoto

Humanised kidneys have been grown in pigs for the first time in a breakthrough which could help solve the transplant crisis.

In groundbreaking experiments, Chinese scientists took pig embryos and knocked out two genes needed for kidney development, before inserting human stem cells which had been coaxed back to an embryonic state.

The chimeric human-pig embryos were implanted into surrogate pigs where they developed kidneys composed of 50-60 per cent human cells.

Although the experiment was stopped at 28 days, before the kidneys were fully developed, scientists said they looked structurally the same as normal kidneys, and had started to form tubes that connect to the bladder.

Scientists are hopeful that growing humanised kidneys in pigs could bring a ready supply of organs which would not be rejected by the body.

“We found that if you create a niche in the pig embryo, then the human cells naturally go into these spaces,” says senior author Zhen Dai, of Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health in Guangdong Province.

Latest figures from NHS Blood and Transplant show that at the start of September there were 7,228 people waiting for an organ in Britain, of which 5,564 required a kidney.

Pigs are anatomically very similar to humans and are considered the best-suited animal donor candidate. But previous attempts to integrate human cells in pig embryos have failed because pig cells tend to outcompete human cells.

To get round the problem, the scientists genetically-engineered the human cells to shut down natural cell death, so they would not self-destruct when they encountered the pig tissue.

The researchers transferred 1,820 embryos to 13 surrogate mothers. After either 25 or 28 days, they managed to collect five chimeric embryos for analysis, all of which had developed early kidneys.

Despite development, worries exist

Commenting on the research, Dusko Ilic, Professor of Stem Cell Sciences, at King’s College London, said the work was “pioneering” but warned there were still hurdles to overcome.

For example, in the experiments some of the human cells migrated to the brain and spinal cord of the pigs which could bring ethical problems if it caused the animals to develop anything resembling human-like consciousness.


What the embryonic humanised kidneys look like inside the pigs - Wang Xie

There are also animal rights issues of using pigs as ‘incubators’ to grow human organs.

“As the authors admitted, there are plenty of challenges. Will this approach prove to be the ultimate solution? Only time holds the answer”, said Prof Ilic.

“Nevertheless, this captivating strategy warrants further exploration.”

“Undoubtedly, tackling the complexities of [growing nerves] will pose the greatest technical hurdles, alongside the imperative task of preventing human cells from integrating into the animal’s brain.”
Challenges still stand in the way

Experts also warned that turning off human cell death could lead to cancer.

Dr Alena Pance, Senior Lecturer in Genetics, University of Hertfordshire, said: “The concerning issue is that the human pluripotent stem cells are engineered to overexpress two genes, one is a [cancer-causing gene] that maintains proliferation potential and the other is a survival gene that essentially prevents the cells from dying.

“While expression of these genes helps the human cells to survive in the pig embryo their long-term expression and effects on the cells are not described.

“It could perhaps explain why out of 1,820 embryos implanted only five normal ones were analysed.”

Several other labs are attempting to use pigs for organ transplants, and have tried to solve the rejection problem by deleting a gene which produces a molecule that is foreign to humans, but without long-term success.

Last January, US citizen David Bennett, who had terminal heart disease, was given the first heart transplant from a genetically modified pig. But Mr Bennett died two months after surgery.

The new research was published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Early medieval warrior found buried with his weapons in Germany

Tom Metcalfe
Mon, September 18, 2023


We see a large burial that's been excavated in a dirt area. There is a skeleton at the bottom.

Archaeologists in Germany have discovered the grave of a Frankish warrior who was buried with his weapons and shield more than 1,300 years ago.

The weapons include a spatha, a long sword based on cavalry swords of the late Roman Empire.

The deceased appears to be a man who died between the ages of 30 and 40, probably in the seventh century, the archaeologists found.

The warrior was also buried with a short sword for slashing, called a seax, with an iron blade and a bronze handle; a heavy iron knife; and a spear, of which only the iron point survived. The remains of a shield made mainly of wood were also found; only the metal "boss" at the center survived.


The team found the grave in June during a dig at an early medieval cemetery that archaeologists have been excavating since March. The site is in the town of Ingelheim, which lies beside the Rhine River and about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Frankfurt.

Related: French farmer finds rare coin featuring Charlemagne just before his death



The warrior was buried with four of his weapons, including a long iron sword known as a spatha, and a shield, of which only the metal central parts have survived.



The warrior was a man aged between 30 and 40 when he died. The bones will be radiocarbon-dated and examined for signs of battle injuries.



The archaeologists have found hundreds of graves at the cemetery since they started excavating it early this year. Many had been disturbed by grave-robbers.

Excavation manager Christoph Bassler, an archaeologist at Ingelheim's Kaiserpfalz Research Center, told Live Science that a cemetery there was used from roughly the fifth to the eighth centuries by nearby settlements and farmsteads.

Several of the nearby burials had been looted at a later time, but the thieves seemed to have missed the warrior's grave, he said.

While the individual was among the wealthier residents of his community, "he was by no means filthy rich," Bassler said; his weapons were of high quality, but there was no sign in the grave of the sought-after imported goods that only the most affluent could afford.

Frankish burial


The spatha was a standard warrior's weapon during Europe's early medieval period. It was based on cavalry swords of the late Roman Empire.


Fine silver wires inlaid into the iron buckle of the sword belt suggest this grave dates from the seventh century, when this ornamental craft was at its height.


Other items found in the graves include colorful glass beads, which were worn on long necklaces by many women at the time.

Image 4 of 4

The archaeologists have also found combs, coins, and fragments of finely woven textiles during their excavations of graves in the cemetery.

The archaeologists think the grave dates to the early Merovingian period, between about 500 and 750 — an early stage of the Germanic-speaking empire of the Franks, which after 768 was ruled by Charlemagne (Charles the Great) and his Carolingian descendants.

X-rays of the warrior's sword belt show that silver wires were inlaid in its iron buckle and fittings — a style that "experienced its zenith during the seventh century," Bassler said. He and his colleagues plan to radiocarbon-date the burial's organic remains and analyze the bones for evidence of battle wounds, to see if they can determine a cause of death.

The narrowed and slightly raised shoulders of the skeleton — known as "coffin posture" — show the warrior was buried in a coffin, although none of its wooden remains have survived.

Bassler said the spatha in the grave was the warrior's main weapon. The entire sword measures about 37 inches (93 centimeters) from its pommel to its tip, and the blade is about 30 inches (75 cm) long. Such swords were used by horse-mounted troops during the late Roman Empire, as they needed a sword longer than the Roman gladius to fight efficiently, Bassler said. These swords later became standard in warfare, and the term "spatha" — the origin of the English words "spatula" and "spade" — is now used for the typical double-edged, one-handed swords used throughout early medieval Europe, he said.

Ancient Ingelheim

The Frankish warrior seems to have fought on foot, because the grave did not contain any sign of spurs or other equipment for horses, Bassler said.

He added that the area was near the Rhine and the Roman-era settlement of Mogontiacum — now the city of Mainz — and that it was chosen as a site for one of Charlemagne's imperial palaces in the eighth century.

Evidence from the other graves in the cemetery revealed that the people buried there were expert crafters with a sense for art and ornamentation.

"Glass was commonly used for drinking vessels, even by the less prosperous, and made into ornate beads, which were worn by women in colorful necklaces," Bassler said. "Fabric was spun and woven at home, and often in extraordinarily fine weave."

She’s been at CA aquarium since before WWII. Now she’s world’s oldest aquarium fish

Daniella Segura
Mon, September 18, 2023 

About a year before the onset of World War II, an Australian lungfish was brought to a California aquarium — a place she has called home for nearly 85 years.

Now, through “cutting-edge DNA analysis,” researchers have estimated the Steinhart Aquarium fish, named Methuselah, to be 92 years old, plus or minus 9 years, the California Academy of Sciences said in a Sept. 18 news release.

More than her advanced age, though, the museum said Methuselah has garnered fame “for her charming personality and penchant for belly rubs.”

Her new age estimate, 8 years higher than her previous estimated age, makes her “the oldest living fish in an aquarium anywhere in the world,” according to the San Francisco museum.

“Although we know Methuselah came to us in the late 1930s, there was no method for determining her age at that time, so it’s incredibly exciting to get science-based information on her actual age,” Charles Delbeek, a curator of projects at the aquarium, said in the release.

Methuselah came to the Steinhart Aquarium in November 1938.

New ‘DNA age clock’

Researchers — led by Ben Mayne, who works with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and David T. Robert of Seqwater — wanted to create “a catalog of living lungfish,” the museum said. To accomplish this, they studied Methuselah as well as dozens of lungfish from six other institutions in the U.S. and Australia.

Previously, methods to estimate the age of older fish proved to be “notoriously difficult and technically challenging,” as well as sometimes lethal for the fish in question, the museum said.

The team’s new method, which is expected to be published in a study later this year, uses a “tiny tissue sample from a fin clip,” a “harmless methodology,” according to the museum.

“For the first time since the Australian lungfish’s discovery in 1870, the DNA age clock we developed offers the ability to predict the maximum age of the species,” Mayne said in the release.

Knowing this “maximum age” can tell researchers “how long a species can survive and reproduce in the wild,” Mayne said.

This, in turn, can be used to model the species’ “viability and reproductive potential,” according to Mayne.

An ancient fish like Methuselah help researchers “understand maximum longevity of a species under ideal care conditions,” Mayne said.

In Methuselah’s case, her age was a bit “challenging to calculate,” Roberts said in the release.

“Her age is beyond the currently calibrated clock,” Roberts said. “This means her actual age could conceivably be over 100, placing her in the rare club of fish centenarians.”

An ancient fish like Methuselah help researchers “understand maximum longevity of a species under ideal care conditions,” Mayne said.

An ambassador for her species

Since her November 1938 arrival on a Navigation Company liner, the museum said Methuselah “has far outlived the 231 other fishes from Fiji and Australia that arrived with her.”

She has become an aquarium staple, as well as “an important ambassador for her species, helping to educate and stoke curiosity in visitors from all over the world,” according to Delbeek.

The museum has previously called the lungfish a “living fossil.”

“But her impact goes beyond delighting guests at the aquarium: Making our living collection available to researchers across the world helps further our understanding of biodiversity and what species need to survive and thrive,” Delbeek said.

Lungfish, a species native to “a handful of sluggish river systems in Queensland, Australia,” have been largely unchanged for millions of years, according to the museum. This ancient history has led some to call Methuselah a “living fossil” who offers “a fascinating glimpse into the prehistoric past.”

More than her advanced age, though, the museum said she has garnered fame “for her charming personality and penchant for belly rubs.”

The Hunter's Moon rises: How lunar phases impact deer movement, breeding

Oak Duke

Fri, September 15, 2023 

One of the most popular celestial events, the Harvest Moon, will occur in late September, on the 29th this year as a Super Moon, rising full one week after the Autumnal Equinox on Sept. 23, 2023.

A Super Moon is when the moon is closest to the earth when full in its monthly trip around the earth. Since the moon’s orbit is elliptical, sometimes it is further away and appears slightly smaller.

This year the moon will appear larger and therefore brighter as it hangs in the evening sky, rising just past sunset.

Whitetail deer and other animals, what researchers term "short day breeders" such as sheep and elk, and even chickens, turkeys and sea turtles, along with fish such as the Grunion, are all especially sensitive to changes in daylight.

Scientists call this phenomena photoperiodism.

Poets, songwriters, astrologers, dreamers, mystics, and lovers … not to mention scary story tellers down through the ages have waxed eloquent about the magical qualities of moonlight, calling light from the moon moonbeams, or light from the silvery moon.

Even the words lunacy or loony (comes from luna, meaning moon) are derived from perceived effects of basking in moonlight.

But science shows us that moonlight is simply reflected light from the sun as the moon acts like an immense mirror. The moon does not generate any light of its own.

The length of days determines the amount of light any specific location on the earth receives augmented by moonlight (reflected sunlight) at any given time.

Bachelor bucks, still in velvet, in early September.

Certain species of animals have their biorhythms more greatly affected by photoperiodism and more easily measured than others.

The Harvest Moon is particularly significant because it is always named as the Full Moon that is closest to the Autumn Equinox, one of two days each year when daylight and the darkness of nighttime are of equal length. The other is the Vernal Equinox, which occurs in the spring, in March.

The Harvest Moon acts like a "set trigger" on a gun, especially priming whitetails in the Northeast and the Midwest for the upcoming peak of the rut, or breeding time, about one month away.

This year, the rut is timed for its first major flurry just prior to Halloween, under the next Full Moon, Oct. 28 2023.

More: Here's when deer hunters can take advantage of the first rut this fall

Sheep breeders and deer farmers are very aware of the effect of melatonin on the timing of the breeding cycle of their respective animals.

For instance, in order to have all their ewes drop their lambs in the spring at the same time, melatonin implants are marketed and used as a manmade "set trigger" like the Harvest Moon is to wild deer.

Melatonin is a very complex hormone found in many animals and plants. It helps set the circadian rhythms, or life cycle responses such as reproduction, sleep, and blood flow. A small gland in the brain behind the optic nerve called the pineal gland generates melatonin which actually represses the breeding impulse in short-day breeders like deer and sheep.

When deer or sheep farmers withdraw the previously placed melatonin implants, the hormone dissipates from the ewe, or in the case of farm raised deer, doe.

Breeding can and then does take place.

The bright Harvest Moon acts in an analogous way as the melatonin implants or CIDRs (Controlled Internal Drug Release) used by the deer and sheep farmers, as light stimulates melatonin flow.

But as the moon begins to quickly wane, the short days and ever-increasing darkness help the dissipation of melatonin in wild whitetails, whose eyes have been shown by researchers to be 1,000 times more sensitive to light than ours.

A buck diligently digging up a scrape under August's Full Moon.

Much research is being done on another tiny but important hormone regulatory gland, the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (perfectly positioned on the Optic nerve chiasm) that through the influence of light it governs the flow of melatonin created in the pineal gland.

Whitetails, to some degree, have their biological clocks set by this conjunction of the Harvest Moon and the Autumn equinox.

And one month later, the annual whitetail rut will kick into gear with the onset of the Hunter’s Moon.

Is it any wonder that the October full moon, just before Halloween this year, is called "The Hunter's Moon?"

— Oak Duke writes a weekly column.

This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Lunar phases impact deer movement, breeding. What to expect this fall

Space junk in Earth orbit and on the moon will increase with future missions − but nobody's in charge of cleaning it up

Chris Impey

SPACE.COM

An illustration of Earth orbit overcrowded with space junk and orbital debris.

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Chris Impey is a University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona.

There's a lot of trash on the moon right now – including nearly 100 bags of human waste – and with countries around the globe traveling to the moon, there's going to be a lot more, both on the lunar surface and in Earth's orbit.

In August 2023, Russia's Luna-25 probe crashed into the moon's surface, while India's Chandrayann-3 mission successfully landed in the southern polar region, making India the fourth country to land on the moon.

With more countries landing on the moon, people back on Earth will have to think about what happens to all the landers, waste and miscellaneous debris left on the lunar surface and in orbit.

Related: Taking out the trash: Here's how private companies could be vital for space debris removal

I'm a professor of astronomy who has written a book about the future of space travel, articles about our future off-Earth, conflict in space, space congestion and the ethics of space exploration. Like many other space experts, I'm concerned about the lack of governance around space debris.
Space is getting crowded

People think of space as vast and empty, but the near-Earth environment is starting to get crowded. As many as 100 lunar missions are planned over the next decade by governments and private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Near-Earth orbit is even more congested than the space between Earth and the moon. It's from 100 to 500 miles straight up, compared with 240,000 miles to the moon. Currently there are nearly 7,700 satellites within a few hundred miles of the Earth. That number could grow to several hundred thousand by 2027. Many of these satellites will be used to deliver internet to developing countries or to monitor agriculture and climate on Earth. Companies like SpaceX have dramatically lowered launch costs, driving this wave of activity.

"It's going to be like an interstate highway, at rush hour in a snowstorm, with everyone driving much too fast," space launch expert Johnathan McDowell told Space.com

people celebrating

The problem of space junk

All this activity creates hazards and debris. Humans have left a lot of junk on the moon, including spacecraft remains like rocket boosters from over 50 crashed landings, nearly 100 bags of human waste and miscellaneous objects like a feather, golf balls and boots. It adds up to around 200 tons of our trash.

Since no one owns the moon, no one is responsible for keeping it clean and tidy.

The clutter in Earth's orbit includes defunct spacecraft, spent rocket boosters and items discarded by astronauts such as a glove, a wrench and a toothbrush. It also includes tiny pieces of debris like paint flecks.

There are around 23,000 objects larger than 10 cm (4 inches) and about 100 million pieces of debris larger than 1 mm (0.04 inches). Tiny pieces of junk might not seem like a big issue, but that debris is moving at 15,000 mph (24,140 km/h), ten times faster than a bullet. At that speed, even a fleck of paint can puncture a spacesuit or destroy a sensitive piece of electronics.

In 1978, NASA scientist Donald Kessler described a scenario where collisions between orbiting pieces of debris create more debris, and the amount of debris grows exponentially, potentially rendering near-Earth orbit unusable. Experts call this the "Kessler syndrome."

Nobody is in charge up there

The United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967 says that no country can "own" the moon or any part of it, and that celestial bodies should only be used for peaceful purposes. But the treaty is mute about companies and individuals, and it says nothing about how space resources can and can't be used.

The United Nations Moon Agreement of 1979 held that the moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of humanity. However, the United States, Russia and China never signed it, and in 2016 the U.S. Congress created a law that unleashed the American commercial space industry with very few restrictions.

Because of its lack of regulation, space junk is an example of a "tragedy of the commons," where many interests have access to a common resource, and it may become depleted and unusable to everyone, because no interest can stop another from overexploiting the resource.

Scientists argue that to avoid a tragedy of the commons, the orbital space environment should be seen as a global commons worthy of protection by the United Nations. The lead author of a Nature article arguing for a global commons filed an amicus brief – a type of outside comment offering support or expertise – on a case that went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in late 2021.

The author and his research collaborators argued that U.S. environmental regulations should apply to the licensing of space launches. However, the court declined to rule on the environmental issue because it said the group lacked standing.

National geopolitical and commercial interests will likely take precedence over interplanetary conservation efforts unless the United Nations acts. A new treaty may emerge from the work of the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs, which in May 2023 generated a policy document to address the sustainable development of activities in space.

Related Stories:

— 2 big pieces of space junk nearly collide in orbital 'bad neighborhood'

— Clearspace-1 space debris cleanup target in orbit just got struck by space debris

— Private company wants to clean up space junk with 'capture bags' in Earth orbit

The U.N. can regulate the activities of only its member states, but it has a project to help member states craft national-level policies that advance the goals of sustainable development.

NASA has created and signed the Artemis Accords, broad but nonbinding principles for cooperating peacefully in space. They have been signed by 28 countries, but the list does not include China or Russia. Private companies are not party to the accords either, and some space entrepreneurs have deep pockets and big ambitions.

The lack of regulation and the current gold rush approach to space exploration mean that space junk and waste will continue to accumulate, as will the related problems and dangers.

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

Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates — and become part of the discussion — on Facebook and Twitter. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.

We’re Not Racing to the Moon, We’re Making It Home

Passant Rabie
SPACE.COM

More than 50 years ago, the Apollo program was crafted as a result of rising political tensions between two competing nations. As a new group of countries and emerging space companies set their eyes on the Moon once more, they aren’t going back for national pride but rather to further their space ambitions beyond the celestial object.

In 1972, Eugene Cernan became the last astronaut to walk on the Moon when he stepped off the lunar surface as the commander of the Apollo 17 mission. Following a heated space race that lasted for roughly 20 years, things cooled off considerably for Earth’s natural satellite, as NASA sent rovers and orbiters to different parts of the solar system instead. More than four decades after Cernan’s dusty boot prints left an imprint on the cratered surface, however, a new race to the Moon is finally taking shape and the stakes are much higher this time around.

Does a space race exist between the U.S. and China?

In the late 1950s, the U.S. and the Soviet Union competed over which nation had the technological means to land astronauts on the Moon. President John F. Kennedy insisted that the U.S. had to establish itself as a global leader in space exploration through his famous 1962 speech at Rice University, saying: “We choose to go to the Moon.” At the time, it was pretty obvious who was going to get to the Moon first.

“The Apollo Moon race was never actually close,” Christopher Impey, professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, told Gizmodo during a phone interview. “America won that, Russia wasn’t really on the edge of getting there at that time.”

Astronaut Edwin Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph next to the deployed United States flag during an Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface.

Astronaut Edwin Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph next to the deployed United States flag during an Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface.

The first race to the Moon stemmed from a political context. “The new race has more players, different kinds of players,” Impey added. “And the context of the political rivalry is also different, replacing the America-Russia rivalry with America-China.”

In 2013, China became the third country ever to land on the Moon with its Chang’e-3 mission. The Chinese nation may have been late to the global space race but it has certainly made up for lost time. Since its first lunar touchdown, the country’s Chang’e-4 lunar probe became the first spacecraft in history to safely land on the far side of the Moon, which it did in January 2019. In December 2020, the follow-up Chang’e-5 mission returned samples from the lunar surface to Earth. The upcoming Chang’e-6 mission is scheduled to launch in May 2024, with plans to return samples from the Moon’s south pole.

China is aggressively advancing its lunar program, with plans to land astronauts on the Moon by the year 2030 and build a permanent base on the Moon. The International Lunar Research Station Moon base was announced as a joint project between China and Russia in 2021, and other countries, such as the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, later joined in on the endeavor.

Although it was once the main contender to the U.S. in the space race, Russia has since fallen significantly behind. Russia’s attempt to land on the Moon’s south pole ended with a fatal crash on the lunar surface on August 19. “It’s not obvious what Russia brings to the table in its alliance with China, China is by far the major partner,” according to Impey.

China may be more advanced than most other countries in terms of its space program, but can it really take on the U.S. so late in the game? Jay Zagorsky, an economist at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, has been looking at the numbers behind the space industry and noticed that the U.S. might be slipping.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which tracks the nation’s gross domestic product, began monitoring the space economy from 2012 to 2021. The data revealed that space’s share of the U.S. economy is shrinking. Throughout those nine years, the space sector’s inflation-adjusted gross output grew an average of 3% a year compared with 5% for the overall economy.

Despite the increased talk of the space industry in the U.S. and the introduction of private companies, space is not growing as fast as other economic sectors. “If you just read the headlines, you’d think, ‘wow, space is doing amazing,’” Zagrosky told Gizmodo during a phone interview. “But as an economist, I’m like, ‘wow, space is doing terrible.’”

Earlier in July, the Senate Appropriations subcommittee responsible for overseeing NASA’s budget revealed its proposed NASA budget for 2024, allocating $25.4 billion towards the space agency. The spending bill grants NASA a slightly tighter budget than the $25.4 billion the agency received in 2023 and a significant cut from the $27.2 billion requested by the Biden Administration for the upcoming fiscal year.

Other countries may not have as much to spend on space, but they are increasing their space budgets over time. “The U.S. occasionally seems to be taking its foot off the gas,” Zagrosky said. “Yes, the U.S. has the world’s biggest space economy now but that lead is not assured.”

Private players of the space race

It’s not just nations racing to the Moon this time, however, as more commercial ventures elbow their way into the ongoing space race. Private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are teaming up with NASA to fulfill parts of its Artemis missions to the Moon. Once they get to the lunar surface, these private players have their own long term plans.

“I suppose in some sense, you could think of this as a space race but it’s really a very different kind of space race than it was in the 1960s and 70s,” Jack Burns, director and principal investigator of the Network for Exploration and Space Science, told Gizmodo in a phone interview. “Today you’ve got individual private companies, all being able to put [uncrewed] landers at least on the Moon. The technologies have advanced and so it’s cheaper to do these things than we ever have imagined 50 years ago.”

Texas-based company Intuitive Machines is hoping to become the first private space venture to land on the Moon with its Nova-C lander, which is scheduled to launch in November. Intuitive Machine’s lunar lander has been in development since 2019, when NASA awarded the company a $77.5 million contract as part of the space agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services. Nova-C will carry five NASA payloads to the Moon’s surface and will operate for one lunar day, or 14 Earth days, spent collecting scientific data that may prove useful for future crewed missions to the Moon. Another private company, Astrobotic, is also preparing its own lunar lander as NASA’s commercial partner.

Delivering payloads to the Moon is just the initial phase. Increased access to the lunar surface for both robotic and crewed missions not only opens up opportunities for scientific research, but also allows for industrial utilization of the Moon by mining mineral resources or establishing lunar tourism.

An illustration of Blue Origin’s lunar lander.

In August, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) kicked off a seven-month study seeking ideas from private companies for technology and infrastructure concepts that could help build a Moon-based economy within the next decade. And earlier this year, a NASA scientist also revealed that the space agency plans to explore the potential for lunar mining within the next 10 years using a pilot processing plant to potentially extract resources such as water, iron, and rare metals.

“In a decade, two decades, I could see a number of private companies doing work on the Moon and having businesses that operate there,” Burns said. “We’re on this pathway and I think we’re going to continue.”

Aside from the commercialization of the Moon, the ongoing quest to return to the lunar surface also has to do with another object in the solar system. Future astronauts could use the Moon as a training ground to reach Mars, learning how to live and work in the habitat of another world.

In that sense, the Moon is an important stepping stone towards Mars. “We’re learning how to do these things on the Moon, including exploration, mining, and surveying for resources, all of which are going to be needed to then continue the next step towards Mars,” Burns said.

Are we fighting for resources on the Moon?

With all these different players headed to the lunar surface, is there enough Moon for everyone? In 2020, NASA announced that it had found the best evidence yet that water trapped in icy pockets were far more spread out across the lunar surface than previously believed.

“Water is a critical ingredient because you can take that frozen water and turn it into oxygen to breathe and separate the hydrogen to make fuel for rocket fuel,” Impey said. “And so you don’t have to drag all that stuff from Earth, which is very expensive.”

An illustration of astronauts on the lunar south pole.

The renewed interest in the Moon is mainly focused on the lunar south pole, where these reservoirs of icy water are believed to exist. NASA wants to land its Artemis 3 astronauts on the south pole, and China is looking towards that same region for its own crewed lunar landings.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson frequently mentions China’s efforts to get to the Moon, fearing that it might try to take over precious resources. “You see the actions of the Chinese government on Earth. They go out and claim some international islands in the South China Sea and then they claim them as theirs and build military runways on them,” Nelson said during a press conference in August. “So naturally, I don’t want China to get to the south pole first with humans and then say, ‘this is ours, stay out.’”

Whether it be for Artemis or the management of the International Space Station (ISS), NASA has partnered with the European Space Agency, Canada, Japan, and others. “So the only country that the U.S. is not working with right now in space is China,” Burns said. “That has to do with the power politics of today, but does that mean there’s a race between the U.S. and China in space? I would say no, because I don’t believe either country really looks at space as being a race.”

“Both countries are proceeding at their own pace while not necessarily being driven by the other,” he added.

As of today, however, there are no laws governing both countries in space the same way that they are governed on Earth. “The backdrop for all of this is that it’s a lawless Wild West because there’s no space law that applies to them,” Impey said.

The Moon is about a quarter the size of Earth. It’s still a vast physical object, but the fight over resources on Earth could extend to the planet’s natural satellite, where the same rules don’t apply. “There’s no ownership for resources,” Impey added. “So it’s up for grabs. I mean, the whole thing.”

Gizmodo