Wilczek (2008), Frank, , Basic Books 2008 ' In this excursion to the outer limits of particle physics, Wilczek explores what quarks and gluons, which compose protons and neutrons, reveal about the manifestation of mass and gravity. A corecipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics, Wilczek knows what he’s writing about; the question is, will general science readers? Happily, they know what the strong interaction is (the forces that bind the nucleus), and in Wilczek, they have a jovial guide who adheres to trade publishing’s belief that a successful physics title will not include too many equations. Despite this injunction (against which he lightly protests), Wilczek delivers an approachable verbal picture of what quarks and gluons are doing inside a proton that gives rise to mass and, hence, gravity. Casting the light-speed lives of quarks against “the Grid,” Wilczek’s term for the vacuum that theoretically seethes with quantum activity, Wilczek exudes a contagious excitement for discovery. A near-obligatory acquisition for circulating physics collections.' --Gilbert Taylor  
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Ajit Niranjan, G20 poured more than $1tn on fossil fuel subsidies despite Cop26 pledges – report, ' The G20 poured record levels of public money into fossil fuels last year despite having promised to reduce some of it, a report has found. The amount of public money flowing into coal, oil and gas in 20 of the world’s biggest economies reached a record $1.4tn(£1.1tn) in 2022, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) thinktank, even though world leaders agreed to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow two years ago. The report comes ahead of a meeting of G20 countries in Delhi next month that could set the tone for the next big climate conference, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates in November. It is crucial that leaders put fossil fuel subsidies on the agenda, said Tara Laan, a senior associate with the IISD and lead author of the study. “These figures are a stark reminder of the massive amounts of public money G20 governments continue to pour into fossil fuels – despite the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change".' back

Albert Einstein (1920), Ether and the Theory of Relativity, ' How does it come about that alongside of the idea of ponderable matter, which is derived by abstraction from everyday life, the physicists set the idea of the existence of another kind of matter, the ether? The explanation is probably to be sought in those phenomena which have given rise to the theory of action at a distance, and in the properties of light which have led to the undulatory theory. Let us devote a little while to the consideration of these two subjects. . . . .. Recapitulating, we may say that according to the general theory of relativity space is endowed with physical qualities; in this sense, therefore, there exists an ether. According to the general theory of relativity space without ether is unthinkable; for in such space there not only would be no propagation of light, but also no possibility of existence for standards of space and time (measuring-rods and clocks), nor therefore any space-time intervals in the physical sense. But this ether may not be thought of as endowed with the quality characteristic of ponderable media, as consisting of parts which may be tracked through time. The idea of motion may not be applied to it.' back

Arang Rhie, et al, The complete sequence of a human Y chromosome, ' The human Y chromosome has been notoriously difficult to sequence and assemble because of its complex repeat structure that includes long palindromes, tandem repeats and segmental duplications1,2,3. As a result, more than half of the Y chromosome is missing from the GRCh38 reference sequence and it remains the last human chromosome to be finished4,5. Here, the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) consortium presents the complete 62,460,029-base-pair sequence of a human Y chromosome from the HG002 genome (T2T-Y) that corrects multiple errors in GRCh38-Y and adds over 30 million base pairs of sequence to the reference, showing the complete ampliconic structures of gene families TSPY, DAZ and RBMY; 41 additional protein-coding genes, mostly from the TSPY family; and an alternating pattern of human satellite 1 and 3 blocks in the heterochromatic Yq12 region. We have combined T2T-Y with a previous assembly of the CHM13 genome4 and mapped available population variation, clinical variants and functional genomics data to produce a complete and comprehensive reference sequence for all 24 human chromosomes.' back

Christopher Knaus, Reforms needed after ‘horrendous’ Catholic church approach in paedophile priest cases, lawyers say, ' An investigation by the Guardian earlier this year revealed the church and other institutions are now routinely seeking permanent stays where perpetrators have died, a strategy widely condemned – including by the former head of the church’s response to the royal commission, Francis Sullivan – as a moral failing, a failure of leadership and another layer of abuse for survivors. Plaintiff lawyers say the threat of permanent stays is also being used during settlement negotiations to force survivors to accept paltry sums or risk having their cases halted permanently by the courts. Ross Koffel, managing principal at Koffels Solicitors & Barristers, which represented the two survivors in the Perrett case, said the need for reform was clear. The high court is expected to soon hand down a landmark judgment in one stay case, that of GLJ, which could potentially change the way stays are treated by Australian courts. “Subject to what happens in GLJ with the high court, if that doesn’t provide some relief against the applications that are being made, then it requires legislative intervention,” Koffel told the Guardian. “There is little doubt that the way in which the stay cases have progressed means that the so-called extraordinary circumstances have been applied to ordinary cases, and I think that’s the very problem".' back

Damian Carrington (2023_08_24), Fossil fuels being subsidised at rate of $13m a minute, says IMF, ' Fossil fuels benefited from record subsidies of $13m (£10.3m) a minute in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund, despite being the primary cause of the climate crisis. The IMF analysis found the total subsidies for oil, gas and coal in 2022 were $7tn (£5.5tn). That is equivalent to 7% of global GDP and almost double what the world spends on education. Countries have pledged to phase out subsidies for years to ensure the price of fossil fuels reflects their true environmental costs, but have achieved little to date. Explicit subsidies, which cut the price of fuels for consumers, doubled in 2022 as countries responded to the higher energy prices resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine. Rich households benefited far more from these than poor ones, the IMF said. Implicit subsidies, which represent the “enormous” costs of the damage caused by fossil fuels through climate change and air pollution, made up 80% of the total. Ending the subsidies should be the centrepiece of climate action, the IMF said, and would put the world on track to restrict global heating to below 2C, as well as preventing 1.6 million air pollution deaths a year and increasing government revenues by trillions of dollars. ' back

Delger Erdenesanaa, A First Look From NASA’s New Air Pollution Satellite, ' When scientists switched on the instrument aboard a new satellite this summer, they got a preview of what will soon be the nation’s first continuous record of air pollution. The satellite will stay parked above North America and provide scientists with hourly daytime updates on air pollution nationwide. On Thursday, researchers released their first images, which show changes in nitrogen dioxide pollution over the United States over the course of a day. . . . .. Because pollutants can quickly travel thousands of miles on the wind, it’s been hard for scientists to pinpoint the biggest sources of pollution on a national scale. TEMPO’s hourly updates are expected to be a “real game changer” in giving researchers the ability to track air pollution from its source, said Brian McDonald, an environmental engineer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who is coordinating this summer’s field research with the satellite.' back

Dolly Parton, Let it Be, ' Global icon and recent Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Dolly Parton, has joined forces with some of Rock music’s most legendary artists along with today’s biggest stars for her first-ever Rock album, Rockstar. The ever-evolving Parton teamed up with an all-star roster of musicians for the 30-song collection which includes 9 original tracks and 21 iconic rock anthems. . . . Music video by Dolly Parton performing Let It Be (Audio). © 2023 Butterfly Records, LLC under exclusive license to Big Machine Label Group, LLC back

International Monetary Fund (2023_08_24), IMF Fossil Fuel Subsidies Data: 2023 Update, ' This paper provides a comprehensive global, regional, and country-level update of: (i) efficient fossil fuel prices to reflect supply and environmental costs; and (ii) subsidies implied by charging below efficient fuel prices. Globally, fossil fuel subsidies were $7 trillion in 2022 or 7.1 percent of GDP. Explicit subsidies (undercharging for supply costs) have more than doubled since 2020 but are still only 18 percent of the total subsidy, while nearly 60 percent is due to undercharging for global warming and local air pollution. Differences between efficient prices and retail fuel prices are large and pervasive, for example, 80 percent of global coal consumption was priced at below half of its efficient level in 2022. Full fossil fuel price reform would reduce global carbon dioxide emissions to an estimated 43 percent below baseline levels in 2030 (in line with keeping global warming to 1.5-2^oC), while raising revenues worth 3.6 percent of global GDP and preventing 1.6 million local air pollution deaths per year. Accompanying spreadsheets provide detailed results for 170 countries.' back

Jenny Graves, The ‘weird’ male Y chromosome has finally been fully sequenced. Can we now understand how it works, and how it evolved?, ' The Y chromosome is a never-ending source of fascination (particularly to men) because it bears genes that determine maleness and make sperm. It’s also small and seriously weird; it carries few genes and is full of junk DNA that makes it horrendous to sequence. However, new “long-read” sequencing techniques have finally provided a reliable sequence from one end of the Y to the other. The paper describing this Herculean effort has been published in Nature. The findings provide a solid base to explore how genes for sex and sperm work, how the Y chromosome evolved, and whether – as predicted – it will disappear in a few million years.' back

Jonathan Lynn (Director), Wild Target (2010 film), ' Victor Maynard (Bill Nighy) is a reclusive hit-man perpetuating a family line of professional assassins. His father, a well-known assassin, is deceased, but he operates under the constant watchful gaze of his domineering mother, Louisa (Eileen Atkins), who wants him to preserve the family reputation. Rose (Emily Blunt) is an ingenious con artist, who manages to sell a fake Rembrandt, painted by her friend in the Restoration Department of the National Gallery, to Ferguson (Rupert Everett), a billionaire, for £900,000. Ferguson responds by hiring Victor to assassinate her. Victor takes the contract, but misses several opportunities to kill her, finally giving up the attempt entirely as he falls in love with his intended victim. back

Julia Child - Wikipedia, Julia Child - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which premiered in 1963.' back

Mike Foley, Australian fossil fuel subsidies costing taxpayers $65 billion a year: IMF, ' Australia subsidises fossil fuels by $65 billion a year, or 2.5 per cent of GDP, mostly through the government’s failure to recoup the associated environmental and health costs from polluters. An International Monetary Fund report, released on Thursday, found that worldwide fossil fuel subsidies spiked to nearly $11 trillion in 2022, or 7.1 per cent of global GDP, driven by fuel price support to soften the pain from the global energy crunch after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. back

Paulina Villegas, San Francisco archdiocese files for bankruptcy amid child abuse lawsuits, ' The petition was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone said Monday, arguing that it was the “best solution for providing fair and equitable compensation to the innocent survivors who have been harmed,” he said on the archdiocese website. “The unfortunate reality is that the archdiocese has neither the financial means nor the practical ability to litigate all of these abuse claims individually,” he said. . . . .. Dan McNevin, a representative of the nonprofit Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, had also previously warned against harmful consequences of such move. “San Francisco’s bankruptcy will stiff-arm survivors who have the courage to tell their stories,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle this month, when the newspaper reported on the archdiocese’s intent to seek the protections. “If it is allowed to stand, bankruptcy halts trials, testimony, legal discovery, and the release of the files of priests and other perpetrators that, if released could be used to assess who in the organization helped to cover up crimes".' back

Sexual selection - Wikipedia, Sexual selection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' The concept was first articulated by Charles Darwin who wrote of a "second agency" other than natural selection, in which competition between mate candidates could lead to speciation. The theory was given a mathematical basis by Ronald Fisher in the early 20th century. Sexual selection can lead males to extreme efforts to demonstrate their fitness to be chosen by females, producing sexual dimorphism in secondary sexual characteristics, such as the ornate plumage of birds-of-paradise and peafowl, or the antlers of deer. Depending on the species, these rules can be reversed. This is caused by a positive feedback mechanism known as a Fisherian runaway, where the passing-on of the desire for a trait in one sex is as important as having the trait in the other sex in producing the runaway effect.' back

Tim Adams, Paying the price of truth: Nobel peace laureate Dmitry Muratov won’t be silenced by Putin , back

Tom Malinowski, Opinion | How to End the War in Ukraine — Even If Vladimir Putin Wants to Keep Fighting , ' Fortunately, there is a third possible way to satisfy the need for Ukrainian success and Russian failure, over which Putin would have no veto. In this scenario, the United States would give the Ukrainian military whatever it needs to advance as far as possible in its counteroffensive. At an appropriate point next year, Ukraine would declare a pause in offensive military operations and shift its primary focus to defending and rebuilding liberated areas while integrating with Western institutions. Then, at its July, 2024 summit in Washington, NATO would invite Ukraine to join the Western alliance, guaranteeing the security of all territory controlled by the Ukrainian government at that point under Article 5 of the NATO treaty. . . . .. To be clear: this approach would not require Ukraine to cede any territory to Russia (contrary to what a NATO official suggested this week). Ukraine and its allies would continue to pursue the country’s reunification within its 1991 borders. Nor should anyone pressure Ukrainians to adopt this approach — only they can decide whether and when shifting to consolidating their gains while joining NATO makes sense.' back

Washington Post Editorial Board, Opinion: In Wuhan, doctors knew the truth. They were told to keep quiet., ' In the first weeks of 2020, a radiologist at Xinhua Hospital in Wuhan, China, saw looming signs of trouble. He was a native of Wuhan and had 29 years of radiology experience. His job was to take computed tomography (CT) scans, looking at patients’ lungs for signs of infection. And infections were everywhere. “I have never seen a virus that spreads so quickly,” he told a reporter for the investigative magazine Caixin. “This growth rate is too fast, and it is too scary.” . . . .. But this tableau of chaos was hidden from the Chinese people — and the world — in early 2020. Chinese authorities had acknowledged on Dec. 31, 2019, that there were 27 cases of “pneumonia of unknown origin,” and 44 confirmed cases on Jan. 3, 2020. The Wuhan health commission reported 59 cases on Jan. 5, then abruptly reduced the number to 41 on Jan. 11, and claimed there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission or any signs of doctors getting sick. That claim was a lie. The coronavirus was running rampant. Doctors at the radiologist’s hospital, and other hospitals, were getting sick. But China’s Communist Party leaders prize social stability above all else. They fear any sign of public panic or admission that the ruling party-state is not in control. The authorities in both Wuhan and Beijing kept the situation secret, especially because annual party political meetings were being held in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, from Jan. 6 to Jan. 17.' back

Zhou Xin, Entrepreneurs are the hope of China’s economic future, so stop making ‘capital’ a dirty word, ' The capital detractors agree that capital may have utilitarian value in creating jobs and boosting economic growth, but it is fundamentally a necessary evil that needs to be kept in check by whatever means it takes. After supporting China’s economic boom in the past four decades and gaining a certain degree of ideological neutrality along the way, capital is once again being defined according to the orthodoxy of Karl Marx, who described it as “dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt”.' back