Ceylan Yeginsu,Rebecca Ruiz& Nimet Kirac, His Cousin Promised a Quake-Proof Building. Then the Walls Crumbled., ' In a functioning system, there would be no ambiguity about who had approved a project. But Turkey’s system is built on ambiguity. The Erdogan government has, for decades, weakened independent, expert construction oversight and fought proposals to toughen standards. Turkey’s chamber of civil engineers, for example, has argued for years that experienced engineers are stretched too thin to adequately supervise construction projects. The group has called for every project to get a dedicated engineer. That idea, which could have slowed down construction, went nowhere. The Erdogan government sued the group in 2015, blocking it from issuing its own, stricter certifications for engineers. Lawmakers also privatized the building inspection process, sidelining Turkey’s engineering and architectural union. And while the government in 2019 eliminated a rule allowing contractors to pick their inspectors, mayors still hold power to push past potential issues.' back

David Attenborough (2011), Flying Monsters 3D, ' 220 million years ago, as dinosaurs were beginning their domination of Earth, another group of reptiles was about to make an extraordinary leap. Pterosaurs were taking control of the skies. The story of how and why these mysterious creatures took to the air is more fantastical than any fiction. In Flying Monsters, Sir David Attenborough sets out to uncover the truth about the enigmatic pterosaurs whose wingspans of up to 40 feet were equal to that of a modern day jet plane. The central question and of the greatest mysteries in paleontology is how and why did pterosaurs fly. How did creatures the size of giraffes defy gravity and soar through prehistoric skies? Attenborough starts to unravel one of science’s more enduring mysteries, discovering that the marvel of pterosaur flight has evolutionary echoes that resonate even today.' back

David Hilbert (1925), On the Infinite, ' We encounter a completely different and quite unique conception of the notion of infinity in the important and fruitful method of ideal elements. The method of ideal elements is used even in elementary plane geometry. The points and straight lines of the plane originally are real, actually existent objects. One of the axioms that hold for them is the axiom of connection: one and only one straight line passes through two points. It follows from this axiom that two straight lines intersect at most at one point. There is no theorem that two straight lines always intersect at some point, however, for the two straight lines might well be parallel. Still we know that by introducing ideal elements, viz., infinitely long lines and points at infinity, we can make the theorem that two straight lines always intersect at one and only one point come out universally true. These ideal "infinite" elements have the advantage of making the system of connection laws as simple and perspicuous as possible. Another example of the use of ideal elements are the familiar complex-imaginary magnitudes of algebra which serve to simplify theorems about the existence and number of the roots of an equation..' back

Jana Norman, The Sacred Balance: blending Western science with Indigenous knowledges, David Suzuki’s influential book has been updated for this moment, ' In his introduction, he looks back at the “many victories” achieved by the environmental movement, including land protections, conservation efforts and preventative measures such as successful blocking of dam projects that would have damaged ecosystems irrevocably. But he notes that, no matter how many wins we celebrated, new threats arose: protected land nibbled away, mining and logging allowed in parks, halted projects renewed and environmental legislation overturned. The science is in, he writes: the consequences of human activity are clear and the threats to our survival are a stark reality. What matters now is that “we shift from anthropocentrism to ecocentrism” and “reformulate” our legal, economic and political systems. Cross-cultural collaboration incorporating wisdom “passed through generations of Indigenous Peoples worldwide” plays a crucial role in getting us onto this “different path”. ' back

Joseph Stepansky - Al Jazeera, The US ‘war on terror’, 20 years after ‘mission accomplished’, ' Washington, DC – Two decades ago, on May 1, 2003, then-US President George W Bush declared “major combat operations in Iraq have ended” in a speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, with a banner behind him proclaiming “mission accomplished”. The theatrical event, coming just 43 days after the United States had launched a ground invasion of Iraq, was meant to declare the beginning of the end of one of the main prongs of Washington’s so-dubbed post-September 11, 2001 “global war on terror” (GWOT). But far from ending operations, the US would send more troops to Iraq – peaking at about 168,000 forces in 2007, with no evidence the country had been involved in 2001’s 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington, DC. The US would also further expand its GWOT, carrying out what analysts say was an undeterminable amount of strikes and military operations – sometimes through partner forces – against those deemed threats to the US in more than 20 countries across the world.' back

Kit McFarlane, Richard II by William Shakespeare: why ‘the divine right of kings’ (still) matters, ' The concept of “divine right” may seem like an obsolete concept, but it still resonates today when we consider those people whose power, wealth or status seem to elevate them above the rules governing others in society. Social, economic and political systems can also seem to be largely immune from individual questioning and dissent. In 2014, the late Ursula LeGuin made one of these connections plain: We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words. Shakespeare reminds us we don’t have to think about power in an absolute way. He highlights the tension between absolute power and human limitations. As Greenblatt argues, Shakespeare throws “a garish light on an unnerving fact: even those in the innermost circles of power very often have no idea what is about to happen”. back

Kowlessar, Nainggul, Wesley & Moffat, Remarkable new tech has revealed the ancient landscape of Arnhem Land that greeted Australia’s First Peoples, 'Our work used a technique called electrical resistivity tomography. This is when we pass an electrical current through the ground to measure the nature of the sediments and rocks beneath the surface. This method can map more than 50 metres below the surface, and because it doesn’t involve digging or drilling, we could work right up to existing archaeological sites. Electrical resistivity tomography equipment used to image the subsurface of the floodplains near Red Lily Lagoon, Arnhem Land. Ian Moffat We combined this data with aerial mapping of the modern landscape undertaken with a drone and an airborne laser. This allows us to compare the subsurface results to the contemporary land surface and get a good understanding for just how much change has occurred up to the present day. While geophysics techniques like these are often used to find and map archaeological sites, we instead focused on reconstructing the ancient landscape itself. Knowing how landscapes have changed provides important context for understanding choices people may have made about where to live, what to eat and how to move around.' back

Ky;ie Knott, How religious groups are fighting climate change, and one man who is helping direct their substantial assets into beneficial projects , ' But one section of society often left out of the conversation is faith and religion, a valuable under-tapped resource considering that 84 per cent of the world’s population identifies with a religious group. That is changing, says Martin Palmer, a British theologian, author, broadcaster and environmentalist. ‘Some people ignore what I’m saying’: youth climate fears need to be heard. Palmer is chief executive of FaithInvest, a UK-based global non-profit that helps religious institutions “move their finances into projects that benefit both people and the planet”. “Faith groups are increasingly taking action on the climate and ecological crises,” says Palmer via Zoom from Britain. “Faiths think of future generations – and they think about the right use of your money".' back

LiYuan, Why China’s Censors Are Deleting Videos About Poverty, ' China says it is a socialist country that aims to promote common prosperity. In 2021, its top leader, Xi Jinping, declared “a comprehensive victory in the battle against poverty.” Yet many people remain poor or live just above the poverty line. With the country’s economic prospects dimming and the people’s increasing anxiety about their future, poverty has become a taboo subject that can draw ire from the government. In March, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet regulator, announced that it would crack down on anyone who publishes videos or posts that “deliberately manipulate sadness, incite polarization, create harmful information that damages the image of the Party and the government, and disrupts economic and social development.” It bans sad videos of old people, disabled people and children. Behind the ban is a government eager to keep all talk about China positive. The Communist Party brags about how many people it lifted out of poverty in the past four decades, while refusing to mention how it had thrown the entire nation into abject poverty under Mao Zedong.' back

Loro (film) - Wikipedia, Loro (film) - Wikipedia, the free encclopedia, ' Act 2 Ennio Doris, an entrepreneur and an old friend of Berlusconi, boasts of his wealth, praising at the same time the entrepreneurial genius of Berlusconi, who is more concerned that he has lost the elections by only 25,000 votes. Ennio suggests Berlusconi to pass six senators to his side in order to bring down the centre-left government.' back

Meinard Kuhlmann (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), Quantum Field Theory, ' Quantum Field Theory (QFT) is the mathematical and conceptual framework for contemporary elementary particle physics. In a rather informal sense QFT is the extension of quantum mechanics (QM), dealing with particles, over to fields, i.e. systems with an infinite number of degrees of freedom. (See the entry on quantum mechanics.) In the last few years QFT has become a more widely discussed topic in philosophy of science, with questions ranging from methodology and semantics to ontology. QFT taken seriously in its metaphysical implications seems to give a picture of the world which is at variance with central classical conceptions of particles and fields, and even with some features of QM.' back

Melissa Fyfe, Get cliterate: how a Melbourne doctor is redefining female sexuality, ' You can trace Professor Helen O'Connell's discovery of the full clitoris – and the rewriting of the world's anatomy texts – to two books: one that angered her and another that inspired. The first book, Last's Anatomy, she couldn't seem to escape. The 1985 edition was the set text for her surgical exam and – to her "utter disbelief" as a classic overachiever – she failed the test three times. She calls this the "ridiculous book"; it had almost no mention of the clitoris, and certainly no illustrations, yet there were two pages on the penis. To top it off, aspects of female genitals were described as a "failure" of male genital formation (O'Connell still has the book, the word "failure" underlined in blue pen). "I knew at some point," she says, "that I was going to have to tackle that." She came across the second book – a University of Melbourne social scientist showed it to her – a few months after finally passing her surgical exam, in 1989. It was called A New View of a Woman's Body and was published by the US Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centres. It's full of detailed drawings of vulvas. For the clitoris chapter, the female researchers took off their pants and compared themselves with illustrations in respected anatomy texts. Then they masturbated, observed each other and took notes of the many parts of the internal and external clitoris that were changed by, or contributed to, sexual pleasure or orgasm. Young Helen O'Connell, aged 27, found it "really cool" and the women's observations – though not scientific – "valid".' back

Michelle Langley, Who owned this Stone Age jewellery? New forensic tools offer an unprecedented answer, This new method of ancient DNA extraction provides a more direct way of determining who used specific items in everyday life. The method can only be used for artefacts made from bone or tooth as these materials are porous and can soak up human DNA from repeated contact with bodily fluids (sweat, blood, saliva). Luckily, the bones and teeth of animals (and sometimes humans) were widely used throughout the past to create everyday tools, sacred items, and personal adornment. These osseous artefacts were held in the hand or worn against the body for extended periods, resulting in sweat and other fluids soaking into their surfaces over time. As a result, the artefact records the genetic information of the wearer. Through experimentation with different techniques, Essel and her team found a way to recover that DNA record in a form that is intact enough to be read.' back

Moesy Pittounikos, Guardian: Ethical Conundrums, ' In pondering the silence of St Aquinas, Aldous Huxley argued that the great theologian experienced a fall-on mystical experience and this is why he fell silent and never wrote another word. After seeing the 'clear light', St Aquinas is said to have denounced his entire body of writing; the writing which subsequently went on to fuel Catholic philosophy, as being mere 'chaff' or 'straw'! Is this the proof that God works in mysterious ways?' back

Nathan Brownlowe, Has a mathematician solved the ‘invariant subspace problem’? And what does that even mean?, ' So that’s an invariant subspace. The invariant subspace problem is a little more complicated: it is about spaces with an infinite number of dimensions, and it asks whether every linear operator (the equivalent of a matrix) in those spaces must have an invariant subspace. More precisely (hold onto your hat): the invariant subspace problem asks whether every bounded linear operator T on a complex Banach space X admits a non-trivial invariant subspace M of X, in the sense that there is a subspace M ≠ {0}, X of X such that T(M) is contained back in M. Stated in this way, the invariant subspace problem was posed during the middle of last century, and eluded all attempts at a solution.' back

New York Times Editorial Board, Biden Can Close the Extrajudicial Prison at Guantánamo, ' President Biden said at the outset of his administration that he would seek to have the detention center closed, and he directed the Defense Department to study how best to do so. But at the rate these cases are moving, resolving them could take several more years. Mr. Biden wisely avoided the kind of highly public pledges to close down the prison that President Barack Obama made and could not keep. But to achieve the goal of finally ending the extrajudicial detention of prisoners at Guantánamo — and its disgraceful violations of fundamental human rights and abandonment of the right to due process — requires more of Mr. Biden. Clearing out the remaining prisoners requires cutting through a tangle of laws, policies, procedures and bureaucratic secrecy. These are not simple tasks, but they are well within the power of the White House to accomplish if the process is given a far higher priority. Mr. Biden can use his authority to order the Departments of Defense, Justice and State, the intelligence agencies and other agencies involved to coordinate their efforts and direct their resources to make it happen, as quickly as possible.' back

Poonam Muttreja, Why China got population control wrong; India got it right, ' Half a century ago, India and China stood at a similar point. Their fertility rates – at 5.6 and 5.5 children per woman – were neck and neck and way more than what is regarded as replacement level fertility of 2.1, at which the population stabilises. They also faced similar social and developmental challenges as they sought to build their nations after suffering the devastation of long colonial and imperial humiliations and war. However, their journeys towards population control took vastly different routes, shaped by vastly different policies and approaches. Today, as India’s population passes China’s amid a mix of hope and apprehensions about its implications, it’s important to recall those journeys so societies and policymakers draw the right lessons from them.' back

Quetzalcoatlus - Wikipedia, Quetzalcoatlus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Quetzalcoatlus is a genus of pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous period of North America (Maastrichtian stage); its members were among the largest known flying animals of all time. Quetzalcoatlus is a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks. Its name comes from the Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent. The type species is Q. northropi, named by Douglas Lawson in 1975; the genus also includes the smaller species Q. lawsoni, which was known for many years as an unnamed species before being named by Brian Andres and Wann Langston Jr. (posthumously) in 2021.' back

Rainbow Serpent - Wikipedia, Rainbow Serpent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity often seen as the creator God] known by numerous names in different Australian Aboriginal languages by the many different Aboriginal peoples. It is a common motif in the art and religion of many Aboriginal Australian peoples. Much like the archetypal mother goddess, the Rainbow Serpent creates land and diversity for the Aboriginal people, but when disturbed can bring great chaos. . . .. Not all of the myths in this family describe the ancestral being as a snake. Of those that do, not all of them draw a connection with a rainbow. However, a link with water or rain is typical. When the rainbow is seen in the sky, it is said to be the Rainbow Serpent moving from one waterhole to another, and this divine concept explained why some waterholes never dried up when drought struck.' back

Transfinite numbers - Wikipedia, Transfinite numbers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Transfinite numbers are cardinal numbers or ordinal numbers that are larger than all finite numbers, yet not necessarily absolutely infinite. The term transfinite was coined by Georg Cantor, who wished to avoid some of the implications of the word infinite in connection with these objects, which were nevertheless not finite. Few contemporary workers share these qualms; it is now accepted usage to refer to transfinite cardinals and ordinals as "infinite". However, the term "transfinite" also remains in use.' back