Revolutionizing fragrance design using deep neural networks (DNNs) scent profiles from chemical data

The study demonstrates how DNNs predict fragrance profiles from essential oil chemical compositions

Institute of Science Tokyo

 

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DNNs can transform fragrance design by predicting and creating novel scents from chemical data, ushering in a new era of digital scent creation.

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Credit: Institute of Science Tokyo

Scientific research explores the potential of DNNs in transforming fragrance design. By analyzing the sensing data of 180 essential oils, the DNN was trained using the odor descriptor data from 94 essential oils to generate fragrance profiles, validated through sensory evaluations to align with human olfactory perceptions. The study underscores the technological ability to streamline fragrance creation, reduce costs, and foster innovation, opening up exciting possibilities for personalized and scalable scent development.

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have become an essential driver of innovation across various industries, from healthcare to manufacturing. By analyzing large datasets, identifying patterns, and making precise predictions, DNNs are transforming the way we approach complex tasks. One such area where DNNs are making a remarkable impact is in the digitalization of smell, a field traditionally dominated by human expertise and sensory evaluations. However, a recent study aims to revolutionize this practice by exploring how DNNs can assist in fragrance design.

Moreover, an odor reproduction technique has been developed, enabling a wide variety of scents to be generated by varying the mixing ratio of a small set of odor components. These odor components are prepared by blending essential oils used in the analysis.

A research team led by Professor Takamichi Nakamoto from the Laboratory for Future Interdisciplinary Research of Science and Technology (FIRST), Institute of Integrated Research (IIR), Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, published their research in Scientific Reports on December 28. This study was driven by the growing need for more efficient and innovative methods of fragrance creation. The study aimed to quickly make the intended scent without trial and error, leveraging DNNs to predict odor profiles based on multidimensional sensing data.

Nakamoto explains “We hypothesized that the DNNs when integrated with chemistry and sensory science could offer new insights into fragrance development. We conducted the study by analyzing mass spectrometry data from 180 essential oils, providing a comprehensive understanding of their odor components. These data were then used to train a DNN designed to predict odor descriptors from the odor-component composition. The DNN employed multiple layers optimized to capture the intricate relationships between its compositions and the resulting scents.” To improve the model’s accuracy and generalization, the team augmented the data with random mixtures of essential oil spectra and introduced noise, ensuring the model could adapt to real-world complexities. Once the DNN model generated the odor-component compositions, human evaluators assessed the DNN- generated scents alongside reference oils.

The DNN achieved the highest accuracy in predicting the odor descriptor “floral” and lower accuracy for the descriptor “woody”. Sensory testing further confirmed the effectiveness of the model, as human panelists found that the DNN-generated oils using odor components were more similar to the reference oils than those with added odor descriptors. These findings highlight the system capability to accurately replicate existing fragrance profiles and, in some cases, generate entirely new combinations.

The study demonstrates numerous benefits, like DNN can significantly reduce the time and costs involved in fragrance development by streamlining both chemical analysis and sensory evaluations. Additionally, DNN makes fragrance creation scalable, allowing it to adapt to diverse market preferences and consumer demands. Most notably, the use of DNN opens up innovative possibilities by enabling the generation of new and unique scent profiles that might not have been discovered through traditional methods.

Looking to the future, the implications of this study are profound. “As DNN models continue to evolve, they could enable the creation of personalized fragrances tailored to individual preferences. Additionally, this approach could be extended to other sensory domains, such as taste, where similar methods could be used to craft personalized flavor profiles,” shares Nakamoto.

By combining DNNs, chemical analysis, and sensory testing, the study emphasizes the potential to replicate and innovate within the fragrance industry. With its ability to enhance efficiency and creativity, a revolution in fragrance design is expected, ushering in a new era of innovation.

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About Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo)

Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo) was established on October 1, 2024, following the merger between Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) and Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), with the mission of “Advancing science and human wellbeing to create value for and with society.”

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Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-024-82654-7 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Automatic scent creation by cheminformatics method

 

Special issue of APA’s official journal focuses on psychedelic medication

American Psychiatric Association

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 1, 2025—As the body of research grows around the potential promise of psychedelic medications in psychiatry, many questions and challenges remain.  The January issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry features a series of articles, including new research, reviews and commentaries, on the use of these treatments. 

The issue addresses many of the ongoing challenges and looming questions in the field of psychiatric psychedelic research and treatment. These include issues relevant to basic pharmacology and effects on neural circuits, evidence of clinical efficacy, methodological challenges/ limitations of existing research (such as possibly large expectancy effects and functional unblinding), and contextual factors pertaining to public health and policy considerations. Other issues include drug interactions; whether patients can experience therapeutic benefits without experiencing the altered state (“psychedelic experience”) associated with psychedelic treatments; and the role of the drug (regulated by the FDA), the role of the psychological support/therapy component (likely not to be FDA-regulated) and the interaction of the two in treatment.

 

“Sufficiently addressing and answering these scientific and clinical questions will be critical for the future clinical success of these agents,” AJP’s Editor-in-Chief Ned Kalin, M.D., writes in the introduction to the issue co-authored with Guest Editors Gregory A. Fonzo, Ph.D., and Charles B. Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D. “The potential for therapeutic strategies utilizing psychedelic drugs is exciting and yet there is a long path ahead toward clinical success.”

A few of the articles from the issue are highlighted below.

 

• “Psychedelics for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: Methodologic Considerations and Guidance for Future Research, Clinical Development and Implementation,” Roger S. McIntyre, M.D. et al.
  This review addresses general methodological considerations for psychedelic clinical trial data and provides recommendations. The paper is intended to help facilitate the interpretability and translatability of psychedelic studies and provides guidance for their future research and implementation, to ensure that development of psychedelic treatments is rigorous with respect to safety and the actual benefits of these treatments.
• “Single-dose Psilocybin for Depression with Severe Treatment Resistance: a Non-Randomized Controlled Trial,” Scott T. Aaronson, M.D., et al.
  Original research from Aaronson and colleagues describes positive findings from an open-label trial of psilocybin treatment in individuals with severe treatment-resistant depression. This small open-label study demonstrated significant safety and efficacy of synthetic psilocybin in severe treatment resistant depression.
• “Benefits and Challenges of Ultra-Fast, Short-Acting Psychedelics in the Treatment of Depression,” Johannes G. Ramaekers, Ph.D., et al.
  Ramaekers and colleagues review the evidence for ultra-fast, short-acting psychedelics such as dimethyltryptamine and 5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT and DMT) which potentially offer benefits such as individualized dosing regimens to maximize treatment outcome and facilitate less complex and less costly implementation.
• “Primum Non Nocere: The Onus to Characterize the Potential Harms of Psychedelic Treatment” Sharmin Ghaznavi, M.D., Ph.D., et al.
  As with all therapeutic interventions, research is needed not only into their benefits, but also potential risks, including scrutiny in broad populations with psychiatric and medical comorbidities typically excluded from clinical trials. Among the known and potential harms of psychedelic treatments reviewed by Ghaznavi and colleagues include enduring perceptual disturbances; overuse, misuse and dependence; challenging experiences or “bad trips”; acute and cumulative cardiovascular effects; and more. They also make recommendations for further research and monitoring.

More information

• For a copy of full articles, contact press@psych.org
• APA Position Statement:  Use of Psychedelic and Empathogenic Agents for Mental Health Conditions

American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association, founded in 1844, is the oldest medical association in the country. The APA is also the largest psychiatric association in the world with more than 38,900 physician members specializing in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses. APA’s vision is to ensure access to quality psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. For more information, please visit www.psychiatry.org.
 

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Journal

American Journal of Psychiatry

 

Ancient DNA unlocks new understanding of migrations in the first millennium AD

The Francis Crick Institute

 

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Three waves of migrations across Europe were identified in the paper.

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Credit: Leo Speidel, The Francis Crick Institute

Waves of human migration across Europe during the first millennium AD have been revealed using a more precise method of analysing ancestry with ancient DNA, in research led by the Francis Crick Institute.

Researchers can bring together a picture of how people moved across the world by looking at changes in their DNA, but this becomes a lot harder when historical groups of people are genetically very similar. 

In research published today in Nature, researchers report a new data analysis method called Twigstats1, which allows the differences between genetically similar groups to be measured more precisely, revealing previously unknown details of migrations in Europe.

They applied the new method to over 1500 European genomes (a person’s complete set of DNA) from people who lived primarily during the first millennium AD (year 1 to 1000), encompassing the Iron Age, the fall of the Roman Empire, the early medieval ‘Migration Period’ and the Viking Age.

Germanic-speaking people move south in the early Iron Age

The Romans – whose empire was flourishing at the start of the first millennium – wrote about conflict with Germanic groups outside of the Empire’s frontiers.

Using the new method, the scientists revealed waves of these groups migrating south from Northern Germany or Scandinavia early in the first millennium, adding genetic evidence to the historical record.

This ancestry was found in people from southern Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and southern Britain, with one person in southern Europe carrying 100% Scandinavian-like ancestry.

The team showed that many of these groups eventually mixed with pre-existing populations. The two main zones of migration and interaction mirror the three main branches of Germanic languages, one of which stayed in Scandinavia, one of which became extinct, and another which formed the basis of modern-day German and English.

Finding a Roman gladiator?

In 2nd-4th century York in Britain, 25% of the ancestry of an individual who could have been a Roman soldier or slave gladiator came from early Iron Age Scandinavia. This highlights that there were people with Scandinavian ancestry in Britain earlier than the Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods which started in the 5th century AD.

Germanic-speaking people move north into Scandinavia before the Viking Age

The team then used the method to uncover a later additional northward wave of migration into Scandinavia at the end of the Iron Age (300-800 AD) and just before the Viking Age. They showed that many Viking Age individuals across southern Scandinavia carried ancestry from Central Europe.

A different type of biomolecular analysis of teeth found that people buried on the island of Öland, Sweden, who carried ancestry from Central Europe, had grown up locally, suggesting that this northward influx of people wasn’t a one-off, but a lasting shift in ancestry.

There is archaeological evidence for repeated conflicts in Scandinavia at this time, and the researchers speculate that this unrest may have played a role in driving movements of people, but more archaeological, genetic and environmental data is needed to shed light on the reasons why people moved into and around Scandinavia2.

Viking expansion out of Scandinavia

Historically, the Viking Age (c.800-1050 AD) is associated with people from Scandinavia raiding and settling throughout Europe.

The research showed that many people outside of Scandinavia during this time show a mix of local and Scandinavian ancestry, in support of the historical records.

For example, the team found some Viking Age individuals in the east (now present-day Ukraine and Russia) who had ancestry from present-day Sweden, and individuals in Britain who had ancestry from present-day Denmark.

In Viking Age mass graves in Britain, the remains of men who died violently showed genetic links to Scandinavia, suggesting they may have been executed members of Viking raiding parties.

Adding genetic evidence to historical accounts

Leo Speidel, first author, former postdoctoral researcher at the Crick and UCL and now group leader at RIKEN, Japan, said: “We already have reliable statistical tools to compare the genetics between groups of people who are genetically very different, like hunter-gatherers and early farmers, but robust analyses of finer-scale population changes, like the migrations we reveal in this paper, have largely been obscured until now.

“Twigstats allows us to see what we couldn’t before, in this case migrations all across Europe originating in the north of Europe in the Iron Age, and then back into Scandinavia before the Viking Age. Our new method can be applied to other populations across the world and hopefully reveal more missing pieces of the puzzle.”

Pontus Skoglund, Group Leader of the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Crick, and senior author, said: “The goal was a data analysis method that would provide a sharper lens for fine-scale genetic history. Questions that wouldn't have been possible to answer before are now within reach to us, so we now need to grow the record of ancient whole-genome sequences.”

Peter Heather, Professor of Medieval History at King’s College London, and co-author of the study, said: "Historical sources indicate that migration played some role in the massive restructuring of the human landscape of western Eurasia in the second half of the first millennium AD which first created the outlines of a politically and culturally recognisable Europe, but the nature, scale and even the trajectories of the movements have always been hotly disputed. Twigstats opens up the exciting possibility of finally resolving these crucial questions."

-ENDS-

For further information, contact: press@crick.ac.uk or +44 (0)20 3796 5252

Notes to Editors

Reference: Speidel, L.et al. (2025). High-resolution genomic history of early medieval Europe. Nature. 10.1038/s41586-024-08275-2.

1. How does Twigstats work?

The more genetic mutations (differences in our DNA) that we share with another person, the closer we tend to be related. This is because we inherit our DNA through our ancestors, and so we inherit the same mutations that they also carried. Our DNA is therefore a proxy for the genetic ‘family trees’ that connect us all.

Over the past few years, scientists have found ways to directly reconstruct these genetic family trees by looking at how mutations are shared between people, connecting our DNA today with those of ancient people. These genetic family trees reveal how old mutations are and who they are shared by.

Twigstats directly looks at these genetic family trees to summarise who we have inherited our DNA from. This new approach looks at more recent mutations to reveal connections between people who lived closer together in time.

2. The period 300-800 AD is dynamic, and also one where the runic script and language changed across Scandinavia, as explored in the illustration.

Diagram showing how Twigstats works

Credit

Leo Speidel, the Francis Crick Institute

About the Francis Crick Institute

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King’s College London.

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a brand new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe.

http://crick.ac.uk/

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Journal

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-024-08275-2 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

High-resolution genomic history of early medieval Europe.

Article Publication Date

1-Jan-2025

STATEHOOD OR   INDEPENDENCE

Power returns to 85% of Puerto Rico as New Year's Eve outage probe continues


Puerto Rican officials said that power has been restored to more than 85% of the island as of New Year's Day as an investigation into the island's massive power outage the day before remained under investigation. File Photo by Oliver Peters/Pixabay

Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Power was returned to more than three-quarters of Puerto Rico residents on Wednesday morning after a devastating blackout left nearly 80% of the Caribbean Island territory without electricity going into New Year's Eve.

LUMA Energy, the Canadian-U.S. company that provides electricity transmission to Puerto Rico, said that 85.6% of residents had power as of 10:30 a.m. local time, and power had been restored to more than 1.25 million customers.

LUMA said it has been working with GeneraPR, one of the companies operating power plants on the island, to get electricity flowing throughout the territory.

"We can report that work is already underway to restore services with the San Juan and Palo Seco plants," Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said, according to CNN.

"We are demanding answers and solutions from both LUMA and Genera, who must expedite the restart of the generating units outside the fault area and keep the people duly informed about measures they are taking to restore service throughout the island," he said.

LUMA said just before midnight Tuesday that it had restored power to both airports in San Juan and power was confirmed in 31 hospitals, including the Rio Piedras Medical Center. The company said the cause, stemming from long-standing structural grid issues, remained under investigation.

"We continue to communicate and work closely with island officials, the governor, the governor-elect and our mayors to keep them updated," LUMA said in a statement on Facebook.

"While the exact cause of the outrage remains under investigation, LUMA teams remain focused on the complex process of restoring service to all affected customers."

Puerto Rico's electrical grid suffered a failure in November 2017 that left thousands without power after Hurricane Maria, and the entire island was left without power when Hurricane Fiona arrived in 2022.

PRIVATIZED UTILITIES
Nearly all of Puerto Rico is without power on New Year's Eve

DÁNICA COTO
Updated Tue, December 31, 2024 

FILE - A utility pole with loose cables towers over a home in Loiza, Puerto Rico, Sept. 15, 2022. (

AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo, File)

FILE - Business owners turn to their power generators to be able to keep working during an island-wide blackout, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 7, 2022.

 (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A blackout hit nearly all of Puerto Rico early on Tuesday as the U.S. territory prepared to celebrate New Year’s, leaving more than 1.3 million clients in the dark. Officials said it could take up to two days to restore power.

The outage hit at dawn, plunging the island into an eerie silence as electrical appliances and air conditioners shut down before those who could afford generators turned them on.

“It had to be on the 31st of December!” exclaimed one man, who only gave his name as Manuel, as he stood outside a grocery store in the capital of San Juan, grumbling about the outage that coincided with his birthday. “There is no happiness.”

Nearly 90% of 1.47 million clients across Puerto Rico were left in the dark, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees electricity transmission and distribution.

By Tuesday night, more than 336,000 clients, including 16 hospitals and Puerto Rico's water and sewer company, had power back, according to Luma. However, the company's webpage detailing who remained without power was down.

"We understand the deep frustration this outage has caused, especially on a day like today," Luma said in a statement. “We apologize for the disruption to your plans.”

Luma said the power outage was likely caused by a failure of an underground power line. It said it's restoring power “in the quickest and safest way possible.” Hugo Sorrentini, a Luma spokesman, told The Associated Press that the incident was under investigation.

Discover Puerto Rico, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the island, warned travelers about the outage on its website and asked that cruise ship passengers contact tour operators directly to determine whether they had generators and were open for the day.

Five cruise ships were scheduled to dock in Puerto Rico on Tuesday. While most hotels were running on generators, short-term rentals lacking them reported cancellations. The main international airport in San Juan remained open.

The blackout fanned simmering anger against Luma and Genera PR, which oversees the generation of power in Puerto Rico, as a growing number of people call for their ouster.

Governor-elect Jenniffer González Colón, who is set to be sworn in on Jan. 2, has called for the creation of an “energy czar” to review potential Luma contractual breaches while another operator is found.


Power returns to 85% of Puerto Rico as New Year's Eve outage probe continues
United Press International

“We can’t keep relying on an energy system that fails our people,” she wrote on the social media platform X, adding that stabilizing Puerto Rico’s energy grid would be her top priority in office.

Meanwhile, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said he was in touch with Luma and Genera PR, adding on X that “we are demanding answers and solutions.”

President Joe Biden spoke with Pierluisi on Tuesday evening about the outage and offered federal assistance. Biden also spoke with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and directed her to offer any help needed to speed power restoration on the island.

The outage forced businesses, parks and several malls to close, and the government announced limited schedules for some of its agencies. Workers checked on hundreds of bedridden patients and distributed ice for diabetics to keep their insulin cold.
Other Puerto Ricans began to plan ahead.

“I'll go to my balcony. That's where I'll sleep,” Raúl Pacheco said with a shrug, as the 63-year-old diabetic sat on a walker nursing an injured foot.

Julio Córdova, a municipal worker, said he got dressed by the light of his cellphone and planned to buy candles.

“This affects me because I had plans. It couldn't have been yesterday or tomorrow?" he said, shaking his head as he raked leaves.

While island-wide blackouts are rare in Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory struggles with chronic power outages blamed on a crumbling power grid that was razed by Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm in September 2017.

The system, however, was already in decline after years of lack of maintenance and investment.

Only recently did crews start making permanent repairs to Puerto Rico’s power grid following Hurricane Maria. The island continues to depend on generators provided by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency to help stabilize the grid.

In November, Puerto Rico’s government asked U.S. officials for permission to keep using more than a dozen portable generators for two additional years.

Some Puerto Ricans took the latest outage in stride.

“They're part of my everyday life,” said Enid Núñez, 49, who said she ate breakfast before work thanks to a small gas stove she bought for such events.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority struggles to restructure more than $9 billion in debt, the largest of the island's government agencies.

Power plants that rely on petroleum generate more than 60% of Puerto Rico's energy, followed by natural gas and coal. Solar rooftops account for only about 7% of electricity consumption on an island with a poverty rate over 40%.

More than 9 million US workers are getting a raise on Jan. 1. Here's where.

Kate Gibson
Updated Mon, December 30, 2024 



Millions of low-wage earners are getting a raise in 2025 as 21 states are slated to hike their minimum pay starting Jan. 1.

State laws that index the minimum wage to inflation are behind 13 of the January increases, according to the Economic Policy Institute, or EPI, a nonprofit think tank. Legislation spurred the coming pay hikes in six states, while ballot measures ushered in wage gains in two.

Nearly one in five, or 20%, of the more than 9.2 million impacted workers reside in households below the poverty line, while nearly half, or almost 49%, have family incomes below twice the poverty line, EPI estimates.

Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour hasn't budged since 2009, and it remains the law in 20 states. Since then time, that base rate has lost 30% of its purchasing power due to inflation, according to Sebastian Martinez Hickey, a state economic analyst at EPI.

"The truth is the number of workers that earn $7.25 per hour is quite low, but that still means with inaction we are leaving tens of millions of workers out to dry," Martinez Hickey told CBS MoneyWatch.

Almost one-third of workers live in states that have a $15 minimum wage, and by 2027 that percentage will expand to nearly half, the Martinez Hickey said.

Ohio's minimum pay is increasing to $10.70 from $10.45 due to an inflation adjustment, but there is not a single county in the state where a worker can make less than $17.73 an hour and maintain a modest but adequate standard of living, EPI noted.

Oklahoma voters will get the chance to vote on gradually increasing the state's base hourly wage to at least $15 an hour, but not for another year and a half. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt in September signed an executive order setting the vote for June 2026.

In Maine, the minimum wage will increase to $14.65, rising 50 cents. The rise comes due to Maine law and a a 2016 citizens referendum, with the state required to make an annual adjustment based on the cost-of-living index for the Northeast Region.

Other states with increases going into effect in 2025 are:

• Alaska's minimum is going to $11.91, up 18 cents, thanks to an inflation adjustment.
• Arizona workers will make a minimum of $14.70 come January, up 35 cents, due to an inflation adjustment.
• California's minimum is going to $16.50, up 50 cents due to an inflation adjustment.
• Colorado's base hour wage is rising to $14.81, up 39 cents, due to inflation.
• Connecticut workers will make an hourly minimum of $16.35, up 66 cents, and adjusted for inflation.
• Delaware's minimum is going to $15.00, up $1.75, due to legislation passed by the state.
• Illinois is taking its minimum to $15.00, an increase of $1.00, due to legislation.
• Michigan's minimum wage is slated to be $10.56, up 23 cents, due to legislation.
• Minnesota's minimum is making an inflation-adjusted move to $11.13, up 28 cents.
• Missouri is taking its base hourly rate to $13.75, up $1.45, thanks to a ballot measure passed by voters.
• Montana's minimum is due to increase to $10.55, up 25 cents, due to inflation.
• Nebraska employers will have pay at least $13.50 as of January, up $1.50 due, to a ballot measure.
• New Jersey's hourly base is climbing to $15.49, up 36 cents, due to legislation.
• New York's minimum will be $15.50, up 50 cents, due to legislation. It's $16.50 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester.
• Rhode Island is taking its minimum up a buck to $15.00, the result of legislation.
• South Dakota's minimum is set to hit $11.50 in 2025, up 30 cents, due to inflation.
• Vermont is looking at $14.01 for a minimum hourly rate in the new year, up 34 cents after an inflation adjustment.
• Virginia's minimum is going to $12.41, up from $12.00, due to inflation.
• Washington's minimum will reach $16.66, up 38 cents, due to inflatio

More than $8bn wiped off Boeing in wake of South Korean crash

Matt Oliver
Mon, December 30, 2024 

Boeing has offered to help South Korean aviation authorities investigate the cause of the crash - REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

Almost $8bn (£6.4bn) has been wiped off the value of Boeing as the embattled plane maker faces an investigation into the deadliest air disaster in South Korean history.

The company’s shares plunged by as much as 6pc after authorities launched an investigation of all of the Boeing 737-800s – the model involved in the Jeju Air crash – operated by South Korea’s domestic carriers.

It knocked $7.9bn off the US giant’s value, which previously stood at $135bn, and caps off a torrid year for the company.

The losses pared later on Monday but still left Boeing nursing a multi-billion dollar hit as Wall Street digested the news.


All 175 passengers and four of the six crew aboard a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 were killed in the crash on Sunday.

The aircraft landed on its belly before skidding along the runway and crashing into a wall at Muan International Airport.

Beforehand, the pilots had warned air traffic control that the aircraft had suffered a bird strike and issued a mayday warning.

They are thought to have abandoned a first landing attempt before coming in for a second try.

However, experts have raised several questions about the disaster, including why the plane appeared to be travelling so fast and why its landing gear did not appear to be lowered as it hit the tarmac.

Investigators are examining the possible impact of bird strikes, whether the aircraft’s control systems were disabled, and the apparent rush by the pilots to attempt a landing soon after declaring an emergency as possible factors in the crash, authorities said on Monday.

Choi Sang-mok, South Korea’s acting president, said his country’s transport ministry would “conduct an emergency safety inspection of the entire aircraft operation system to prevent recurrence of aircraft accidents.”

Boeing has said it is in contact with Jeju Air and ready to support the airline.

The jet’s flight data recorder was recovered but appeared to have sustained some damage and it was not yet clear whether it could be properly analysed, officials said.

Under global aviation rules, South Korea will lead the civil investigation into the crash. It will also involve the US National Transportation Safety Board, since the plane was designed and built by Boeing in America.

The Boeing 737-800 jet involved in the crash is an aviation industry workhorse that is widely seen as one of the most reliable aircraft in the market, with more than 4,000 in service globally.

It predates Boeing’s troubled 737 Max jets, a later iteration, which were involved in crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that were just five months apart.

The 737 Max’s safety was further called into question when a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines jet at 16,000 feet, triggering a corporate crisis at Boeing that forced the departure of chief executive Dave Calhoun.

Jeju Airline’s 787-800 jet was 15 years old and was brought into service by the airline in 2017, having previously been operated by low-cost carrier Ryanair from 2009.

It was configured to seat as many as 189 passengers.

The plane had seen regular maintenance and there were no signs of malfunction before Sunday’s incident, Jeju Air has said.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, the death toll exceeds an Air China plane crash near Busan in 2002 that killed 129 people – making it South Korea’s deadliest aviation accident.

A top US missile-defense system was just used in combat for the 1st time to defend Israel

Jake Epstein
Mon, December 30, 2024

A US air defense system in Israel was just used in combat for the first time since it was deployed.


It's unclear if the THAAD battery successfully intercepted the incoming threat.


The battery was reportedly used against a Houthi ballistic missile late last week.

A top US air defense battery deployed to Israel was recently used in combat in what appears to be the first known instance that the system fired an interceptor since it arrived in the country two months ago.

The THAAD (or Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense) battery was used in theater over the past couple of days, a US defense official confirmed to Business Insider on Monday. They did not elaborate on the circumstances of the incident, the kind of missile attack THAAD was designed to counter.

Footage shared on social media Friday purported to show the launch of a THAAD interceptor in Israel against an incoming ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in Yemen. 

A US soldier can reportedly be heard in the background of the video saying, "Eighteen years [I've] been waiting for this."

It's unclear whether the THAAD shot was successful. The Israeli military said early Friday local time that a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory. It did not specify which air defense system was actually used to take down the threat.

A THAAD launcher positioned at an undisclosed location in the Middle East.US Army

The US deployed a THAAD battery and around 100 soldiers to Israel in October following a massive Iranian missile attack on the country at the start of the month. The Pentagon said then that the system would supplement Israel's advanced and multi-tiered air defenses.

THAAD, which is made by US defense contractor Lockheed Martin, is designed to defeat short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during the final phase of their flight. The system can engage targets at ranges of 93 to 124 miles inside and outside the atmosphere and eliminates an incoming threat by hitting it rather than exploding nearby.


The US Army began developing THAAD in 1992, and it now has seven batteries, several of which are outside the continental US. A typical battery consists of nearly 100 soldiers, six truck-mounted launchers, an advanced radar, and a fire control and communications element.

A THAAD launcher fired a missile during a test in July 2017.

US Missile Defense Agency

THAAD's first operational intercept in combat came in January 2022 when a battery used by the United Arab Emirates took down a Houthi ballistic missile. Though it has rarely seen combat, THAAD is still considered to be one of the top air defenses in the world; Israel's equivalent to the THAAD, the Arrow 3, has also proved its worth in combat.

Last year, the US sent a THAAD battery to the Middle East to protect American troops after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel. The October deployment strengthens Israel's vaunted air-defense shield against missiles, consisting of David's Sling and the Arrow systems. The widely touted Iron Dome, by contrast, is designed to counter rockets and artillery shells.

Israel is retiring the US-made Patriot battery. The Israelis soured on the Patriot after their early version failed to defeat Scud missiles fired by Iraq in 1991. Later upgrades would transform Patriot into a critical defensive asset for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

The recent employment of the THAAD battery comes amid a notable uptick in Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel over the past few weeks. Israeli forces have bombed the rebels in Yemen in retaliation.

Opinion - Does Putin believe in God?

Alexander J. Motyl, opinion contributor

THE HILL
Tue, December 31, 2024 


When asked at a recent press conference whether he believes Russia’s war with Ukraine will end in 2025, Vladimir Putin gave an odd answer. “I believe in God,” he said, “and God is with us.”

A self-confident leader who believes the war is going well for his side would have answered with a forceful yes or no, perhaps even making a fist and waving it triumphantly — as did Donald Trump after the failed attempt on his life in Butler, Pa.

Instead, Putin invoked God, a response that smacks of uncertainty and doubt. Why call on the Almighty’s supposed support if you know you’re winning and believe you’ll win? Why reach out to the heavens, if earthly matters are OK? Perhaps the war is going badly and Putin knows it?

Now, it’s remotely possible that Putin is a sincere believer, a tried-and-true enthusiast of the Russian Orthodox Church’s brand of Christianity, a devotee of the divine who can’t resist constantly calling on God in the course of his everyday labors.

That said, there’s really no reason to believe in his religious sincerity. For one thing, he’s a Russian street tough who clawed his way into the notoriously bloodthirsty KGB; neither his behavior nor his affiliation with a godless criminal institution bespeaks inordinate religiosity.

For another, one doesn’t have to be a cynic to suspect that Putin is obviously playing the religious card in order to reach out to ordinary Russians and underpin his crumbling legitimacy, just as Joseph Stalin did after Nazi Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 revealed that many Soviets greeted the advancing Wehrmacht as their liberator from the communist hell.  UKRAINIAN AND POLISH NATIONALIST SCUM

For a third, and only half-jokingly, is it reasonable to think that Putin has ever cracked open what Trump claims is his favorite book, the Bible? At least Trump has been photographed holding it. Has Putin? Does he, like Trump, have favorite passages that he just can’t recall?

So, does Putin really believe in God? If one considers that just about everything he utters is a lie, then the answer would have to be no. Certainly, the god he believes in, if he believes in some god, is not the God who gave humanity the Ten Commandments or delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

“Thou shall not kill” doesn’t quite go with a genocidal war against innocent Ukrainians and the targeted killing of one’s political opponents. The Beatitudes are equally at odds with Putin’s style: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” And this one above all: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Putin’s god might be the God of the Old Testament, who can be vengeful and wrathful, or he might be a pagan god — Zeus, perhaps, or the Slavic version thereof, Perun. In either case, Putin is no Christian. That makes him an Orthodox apostate, a heretic who has no business crossing himself or consorting with clergy — with the exception of the equally criminal Russian Orthodox Patriarch, Kirill, rumored to have been a KGB agent in Soviet times.

Putin may be sincere in believing that God supports the “special military operation,” but how could he possibly know — unless of course God speaks directly to him, perhaps while he’s sleeping the sleep of the monstrously guilty.

And if Putin is sure that God does in fact speak to him, this can only mean that Russia’s dictator is a saint with a direct line to the Almighty. But sainthood for Putin seems like a strange choice for God to have made in light of his continued disregard for the Commandments and Beatitudes. Saints rarely lived perfect lives, but they all experienced conversions and thereupon turned their backs on their sinful lives — something Putin has yet to do. Or did he have a Pauline conversion as his tanks rumbled down the road to Damascus?

So, no, Putin almost surely doesn’t believe in God and God almost surely is not “with” him and his genocidaires. But what if Putin believes he’s God or at least godlike? Blasphemy isn’t a hard sell for an old KGB hand, and delusion is right up the alley for a tyrant who’s held power for 25 years. Ancient emperors regularly believed in their own divinity, so why not Putin?

The question may strike us as outlandish, but only at first glance. Putin fashions himself as the savior of Russia and the world. He’s never wrong. He has a coterie of apostles. Russians worship him. And if he keeps Russia from losing the Ukraine war, he will have performed a miracle.

All that would be left is a crucifixion.

Alexander J. Motyl is a professor of political science at Rutgers University-Newark. A specialist on Ukraine, Russia and the USSR, and on nationalism, revolutions, empires and theory, he is the author of 10 books of nonfiction, as well as “Imperial Ends: The Decay, Collapse, and Revival of Empires” and “Why Empires Reemerge: Imperial Collapse and Imperial Revival in Comparative Perspective.”

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Archaeologists Found 115,000-Year-Old Human Footprints Where They Shouldn’t Be

Caroline Delbert
Mon, December 30, 2024

Fossilized footprints in Saudi Arabia show human traffic on the cusp of a subsequent ice age.

Like carbon dating, scientists use isotopes and context clues to calculate the approximate age of fossils.

These human prints were surrounded by animals but not hunted animals, indicating humans were just thirsty.

A uniquely preserved prehistoric mudhole could hold the oldest-ever human footprints on the Arabian Peninsula, scientists say. The seven footprints, found amidst a clutter of hundreds of prehistoric animal prints, are estimated to be 115,000 years old.

Many fossil and artifact windfalls have come from situations like this special lakebed in northern Saudi Arabia. Archaeologists uncovered the site, deep in the Nefud Desert at a location nicknamed “the trace” in Arabic, in 2017, after time and weather wiped the overlying sediment away. It’s easy to imagine that a muddy lakebed was a high-traffic area in the Arabian Peninsula over 100,000 years ago.

When populations move on, these prints are left behind until they’re covered over. In the far, far older Burgess Shale event, some of the oldest organisms ever found were preserved intact because they likely fell into a mudslide and were killed instantly. An entire armored nodosaur was found in unprecedentedly good shape because it was encased in mud and in the cold of the ocean floor. If there were a finder’s fee for incredible archaeology, a lot of it would be paid to mud.

In their paper, the scientists actually examine why that ancient mud was so special at all:

“An experimental study of modern human footprints in mud flats found that fine details were lost within 2 days and prints were rendered unrecognizable within four, and similar observations have been made for other non-hominin mammal tracks.”

That means their special, tiny batch of preserved footprints were made in unique conditions that also form a kind of “fingerprint” for pinning them all to the same timeframe. From there, scientists started to look at who made the footprints. Homo sapiens weren’t the only upright humanoid primate in the game, but the evidence, the scientists say, suggests we were the ones traipsing through the drying lakebed:

“Seven hominin footprints were confidently identified, and given the fossil and archeological evidence for the spread of H. sapiens into the Levant and Arabia during [the era 130,000 to 80,000 years ago] and absence of Homo neanderthalensis from the Levant at that time, we argue that H. sapiens was responsible for the tracks at Alathar. In addition, the size of the Alathar footprints is more consistent with those of early H. sapiens than H. neanderthalensis.”

The lake that forms Alathar today was likely part of a prehistoric highway that drew all the large animals in the area, forming a corridor dotted by freshwater rest areas that living things could travel on as they migrated with the weather or the changing climate. In this case, scientists found very little of the other factors that accompany prehistoric human travel, like knife or tool marks on animal bones indicating hunting.

“The lack of archaeological evidence suggests that the Alathar lake was only briefly visited by people,” the scientists conclude. “These findings indicate that transient lakeshore use by humans during a dry period of the last interglacial was likely primarily tied to the need for potable water.”

These Homo sapiens could be the last ones on their way through a temperate place as an impending ice age descends. That would also explain why their tracks weren’t tracked over by another group, at least not before an entire fresh layer of sediment accumulated.

Remains of 3,000-year-old dead city discovered on South China’s Silk Route

Maria Mocerino
Mon, December 30, 2024

Archaeologists unearthed a 3,000-year-old Shang city in Southern China, making it the oldest ever found in the region of Lingnan, famous for marking the departure point of the Silk Road.

At the top of the famous trade route, the ancient site boasts an impressive size of 75,790 square feet. At first glance, however, the land appeared unused; thus, plans to develop it had been diffused.

Once patterned bricks and broken pottery shards surfaced, all work stopped. Archaeologists were brought in to investigate further, and they unearthed a wealth of remains and relics.

After a three-month dig, they confirmed the remarkable grounds belonged to the latter as the region’s very first city, marking a significant point of evolution in societal development.

Niuluchong site / South Morning China Post
Archaeologists uncover walls, pottery, and stone tools

First discovered in 2022, construction workers halted operations because they had unexpectedly found signs of archaeological remains. At first, there didn’t seem to be much there.

Once archaeologists arrived swiftly at the scene, they began to uncover well-preserved walls, as He Anyi, lead archaeologists, said via South China Morning Post. One of which is even a few feet tall.

“The north and west walls of the entire city site are well preserved, among which the west wall is the best preserved, and the highest part of the west wall may be about 1.4 metres,” Anyi said.

Upon first review back in April, they had believed that the Niuluchong site dated between the late Neolithic and early Shang dynasties upon the first review. Soon, it became clear that the ancient city more accurately belonged to the latter.

Along with double walls, according to The Sun, archaeologists confirmed the presence of ash pits, pillar holes, pottery, and stone tools. They even recovered a “severely rusted” bronze sword, they believe, as per SCMP. It has yet to be confirmed due to the preservation state of the relic. Moats, they mentioned, were unusual in comparing Niuluchong to other early settlements, which indicates an advancement or a new feature rarely seen at that time.

An ancient city on the future Silk Road

As the earliest city from the Shang dynasty, excavations are planned to continue. The ancient city may hold an even greater wealth of artifacts that could supply archaeologists with new information about China's second oldest rulership (c1600-1050BC) and the region.

Later seen as a “barbarian land” by the Chinese court, the Lignan region originally spanned Hong Kong and Northern Vietnam. But it would reach new heights of stature at the dawn of the Silk Road, around the second century BCE. The Han dynasty established the Silk Road as the Shang rose to prominence around 1750 BCE. Still, they did invent writing, developed a stratified government, and advanced bronze technology, according to Stanford University.

For Chinese history and culture, the Shang significantly contributed to the evolution of the civilization. The site, aside from being at the beginning of the Silk Road, holds a profound relevance as the oldest center of the dynasty with signs of advancements in urban development might bring to light other contributions the Shang made.