On 21st December 2020, after sunrise, stargazers and astronomy enthusiasts took their positions near the telescopes and captured pictures of the planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. This was a unique event in that, it was previously viewed in the 12th century and would not happen again until 800 years from now.
Even though the skies were cloudy across most of the regions in Pakistan but surprisingly, on Monday, the celestial marvel was viewed by naked eyes and telescopes in major cities like Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi. It should be noted though that no official viewing event was organized by the Ministry of Science or SUPARCO to mark the historic moment. But Karachi University’s Institute of Space Sciences and various astronomy outreach groups in the country did hold events and live streams for the public to join. Among these were Karachi Astronomer’s Society, Pak Astronomer’s Islamabad, and Lahore Astronomical Society.
According to the President of Karachi Astronomers Society Mehdi Hassan, ‘conjunction’ is when two planets from our solar system come close to each other. Saturn and Jupiter are gas giants and they come close to each other once every 20 years. But the conjunction on 21st December 2020 was unique because of several reasons. On that day, they were so near that they could be visualized by the naked eye and appeared as two dots. Jupiter and Saturn are in fact 456 million miles apart but on the mentioned historic night, they looked like a usually long star because the difference between them was reduced to 0.1 degrees and they were exceptionally bright as well.
If you missed it worry not, we’ve got you covered. Take a look below at some of the images captured and shared by astronomers on social media.
A click shared by Pak Astronomers Pakistan
Saturn looking magical
The moons of Jupiter are also visible in this shot
The story starts with a small country in Europe: Hungary. The native country of Katalin Karikó, whose work laid down the foundations of worldwide development, supplied the COVID-19 vaccine.
Karikó is a lifelong pioneering researcher and spent decades in the field of mRNA, specifying the therapeutic possibilities, a part of DNA known as one of the building blocks of life itself.
She moved to the U.S. in 1985 with her family. She spent her life working in the U.S. as a researcher at the Temple University of Philadelphia and then at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Later, the hype was over, and the idea of mRNA as a disease anti-dote blew away in the air and sounded like something not very promising to fund. Her grant applications came up with rejections and rejections; worsening, she was demoted from her position with diagnosed cancer at the same time.
With such huge setbacks in her life, she told a health news site in November. “Normally, at that point, people just leave because it’s so horrible,” “I thought of going somewhere else or doing something else. I also thought maybe I’m not good enough, not smart enough.”
Eventually, after years of convictions and believing in the right science, she and her colleague at the University of Pennsylvania created a method of “utilizing synthetic mRNA to fight diseases that alters the mechanism of the body to produce virus-confronting material,“ she explained this to CNN.
Katalin Kariko’s work in mRNA is the basis of the Covid-19 vaccine. Image Credit: CNN
This technological discovery is the basis of the COVID-19 vaccine being used worldwide now. A writer at CNN quotes that “some even say that Weissman and Karikó, a senior vice president of BioNTech, deserve a Nobel Prize now.
Along with this breakthrough conviction of Karikó, there needs to be an exemplary, objective, and timely execution, as well as a platform with the capacity and will to make this scientific endeavor a vaccine in reality. Here comes another powerful story of two Turkish Immigrants in Germany, who founded and ran BioNTech, the power couple, both scientists and married.
Both founders are Turkish descendants; Dr. Sahin has always wanted to become a doctor and physician at the University of Cologne. Later, he earned his doctorate from the university for his work on immunotherapy in “Tumor cells.”
The husband-and-wife team of researchers: Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci. Image Credit: Facebook
During his earlier career, he met Dr. Türeci, who also studied medicine, and a Turkish physician’s daughter who immigrated from Istanbul. The couple returned to the lab after their ceremony on the day the couple was married, showing much of their conscientiousness.
The pair initially concentrated on research and teaching at the University of Zurich, where Dr. Sahin worked with Rolf Zinkernagel’s lab, the 1996 Nobel Laureate in Medicine.
Before COVID, Dr. Sahin and Dr. Türeci had their company working on finding cancer treatments that were not well-known in Biotechnology. An article in NYT also claimed that two years back, Dr. Sahin said that his company’s RNA might be able to rapidly develop a vaccine in the event of a global pandemic; he didn’t know his words would be prophetic.
Today, thousands of people have been vaccinated all over the world. “It would be the beginning of the end of the COVID era,” Dr. Sahin said in an interview last month.
The BioNTech vaccine’s effectiveness is 95%, as per a Press Release, finally the first nail in putting an end to this physical social paralysis and the huge death toll that the world is bound to face.
Both stories of immigration, belief in scientific pursuit, and collective due diligence show us that the world can only be saved if we refuse to live in the shackles of fear and ignorance and the inclusion of diversity and, above all, Direction led by Science.
Just on the edge of the sea at Anzio’s town sits a gigantic statue of the Roman emperor Nero. The only monument to a figure mostly scandalized in history. The one upon which, among cruel crimes, the burning of Rome is pinned. Modern historians refute these claims saying that the atrocities and obscenities associated with Nero are mostly fabricated, a work of jealous opponents and critics of the emperor.
Often it is claimed that Nero was seen playing the fiddle while the city was being overtaken by the blazing inferno that raged for nine days in the July of 64 AD.
Flame to Blaze
It all started on the evening of the 19th day of the month when the shopkeepers were going back to their abodes after wrapping things up. The night was silent. Only the howl of wind could be heard. It was just the opposite of a busy daytime during which the thundering voices of the crowds from the Circus Maximus, the famed chariot-racing stadium, overwhelmed other noises.
Somewhere in the dark night, a solitary flame rose, growing bigger and bigger, until it transformed into a big inferno that ultimately changed the fate of the city. There is no accurate explanation for what started the fire, but, as history witnessed, it spread wildly from one shop to another, to homes and buildings, even engulfing on its way the wood structure of the Circus Maximus. It thrashed the houses of the poor, and nature didn’t spare the wealthy. Upon reaching Palatine Hill, where the aristocrats and members of the royal family lived, it destroyed everything and kept moving. Upon reaching the lower regions of the city, it caused the most damage in the poor neighborhoods.
Nero’s name has been associated with so many fictitious claims that it becomes hard to separate the truth and the lie. In this image, he is seen playing the fiddle while flames engulf the city in the background. Source: History Extra
Just like the acclaimed Tacitus, ancient historians pointed fingers at Nero, accusing him of being the culprit who wanted to overpower the Senate and clear some area in the city to build a spectacular one-of-its-kind palace. Archaeologist Andrea Carandini has done research on the matter by digging in the city for almost twenty years. He studied the ‘ancient layers of ash’ left behind the fire and concluded that “everything was destroyed,” and not a single house was left standing. He says that it affected the Forum, the working/housing place of the senators, and the aristocracy ended up almost homeless. The mall in the middle of the Forum was later transformed into an area for commercial use, which indicated the end of those in power. Eric Varner is an art historian who says that “It seems unlikely that Nero would have started the great fire of AD 64 because it destroyed his palace, the Domus Transitoria … a huge, villa-like complex that stretched from the Palatine to the Esquiline.”
Others have also labeled it be an accident because minor fires were pretty common in Rome, and one of those could have easily transformed into a blaze given the fragility of things in those days. The slums were shabby and made of timber frames, but the senators’ houses were stony and strong. According to Tacitus, arson is the only explanation for how the fire crossed them. His statements feature southeasterly winds calling for queer patterns.
But researchers have employed modern technology to check whether a small fire can really spread like that and do the damage or not. They recreated a replica of a big stony home that a wealthy person would own in those days, and sure enough, a small fire that was lit in a corner spread from one spot to another, destroying the whole thing at the end. The temperature was found to be a severe 1,100 degrees, and the ceiling was unable to withstand the heat, part of it collapsing just before it was put out. This certainly shows that fire really didn’t have any trouble ravaging through the gigantic houses.
There’s also an impression that the fire mostly raged in other areas before it came to the Forum. But excavations suggest otherwise. Archaeologists have found remains of nails that were broken off of the ceilings and ended up melted on the ground. Scorched metal and masonry pieces were also found, indicating that the fire was forceful and capable enough to cause a collision of the well-built roofs. Many coins were discovered in the Forum as well. This could be the fallen change of the people running out of the place amid the tragedy and implying that the spread was quick, providing very little time to make a run for it. As for the pattern of winds, modern studies have shown that large fire rises higher in a current and yearns for more oxygen leading to a wider spread. The Palatine hills provided just those conditions.
Several excavations started in 1981 and onwards, where excavators found more evidence about the impact and scale of destructions. Among the findings were the pieces of Doric frieze, a section of order in the Roman architecture, that was without a doubt, burnt by the fire and the steps of a temple present at a corner of the Palatine. There were grates and bricks affected by heat, leftovers of carbonized wood, burned items of pottery and metal objects, and various other household items.
The Doric order, common to Greek and Roman architecture, was used in designing the stately buildings in Rome. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Aligning Fiction to Facts
It is said that Nero was not in Rome when the fire broke out and rushed to the city, joining the fire brigade’s attempts to put the blaze out. This is certainly a contrast to the other accounts of him rejoicing and watching the city burn from afar. It is now almost proven that the idea of ‘fiddling’ isn’t possible, for Romans didn’t use them back in the day.
We also find our liberties, for choosing the truth, in constraints; whether early historians coming from that period were making things up or are the explanations by modern archaeologists devoid of key proofs. What about Nero, the bad boy, himself? He is said to have put all the blame on Christians. Again, scholars are divided on the opinion. Christians of that time have been found to circulate and spread texts that foretell about a great fire that is destined to destroy the city. Gerhard Baudy, a Professor at the University of Konstanz, explained that the oracles constantly featured this theme, which became a desire inculcated in those who felt oppressed by the state. There was also this Egyptian prophecy that forecasted the fall of Rome on the day that the star Sirius rises, which happens to be July 19th. Baudy is of the view that this date went on to have a meaning attached in the minds of some Christians, who might have let go of their passions in an attempt to make it come true.
Fault Lines
How Nero handled the aftermath of the fire was a decisive factor in establishing his disputed reputation. The financial crisis that followed was one of the worst of that era, and its effects lasted for years. Nero taxed the provinces, and the money from the pockets of the aristocracy drained out fast. He also amended the quality of the coins, making them 80% silver and using copper for maintaining the rest of the weight. The evidence in this regard was discovered by scientists recently, who employed micro-drills to get samples of the coins. Nero did this in order to spare money for his new grand projects.
Nero’s Torches by Henryk Siemiradzki (1876). Nero blamed the Christians for the fire and punished them severely, in theatrical styles.
The consequence of his taxation policies created a gap between him and the elite class. They loathed him for making them pay to rebuild the city, especially the grand plan for Domus Aurea (Golden House). These factors, along with the declining value of the currency, made them turn against him and spew fabricated stories that tarnished any legacy he might have held in the coming years. Of course, there were some bits of truth in it as well. It is known, for a fact, that he murdered his mother, younger stepbrother, his cousin, and his ex-wife, among others.
Still, in the eyes of the ordinary folks, Nero was dear, for he announced plans to make modern building projects and schemes of employment, all the while refusing aid to the aristocrats affected by the fire. This lack of attention was a scandal for some and laudable for others. He celebrated the ordinary Romans and endeared the general public. Many think that it was more of an attempt at populism than humility.
It wasn’t just Nero who benefited from the land cleared by the fire. Those after him kept launching big projects in the open spaces, erecting the Colosseum, The Baths of Titus, the Temple of Peace, etc. Because the remains and earth fill amassed, the level of the area was also increased, allowing newer types of construction projects.
A Lifelong Blame Game
Nero, unaffected by the rumors against him, found the scapegoats in Christians. This persecution would last for ages. He ordered gruesome executions, which included being eaten alive by dogs, among other horrific sentences. Not only that but, it is also said that he mingled with the audiences while the sentences were being executed as a spectacle in front of the public.
The mighty Colossus of Nero no longer exists today. Concrete blocks mark the pot where it used to be. Source: Colosseum Rome
He was just a boy of 15 when he sat on the throne. Undoubtedly, assuming power at such a stage can have varying consequences. He matched with other teen emperors in possessing the quality of being bold and bloody. He was the last of the Julio-Claudin dynasty, and after him, the throne would be won by competitions. The fire brought a new era of Roman architecture and lifestyle, cementing it as an important position in the running course of history.
Though much revered by the public, Nero did not have a respectable death and, during a military coup, took his own life four years after the great fire. The marvels that he erected, including The Golden House, did not last for long, and his legacy was destroyed in no time by jealous commentators.
There used to be a 103 feet bronze statue celebrating Nero near the Colosseum (for reference, the Statue of Liberty is 111 feet). But today, only the marble inscription marking the spot is left, mostly ignored by the 10,000 daily visitors of the Colosseum. Unlike other things, the emperor was unable to carve out his destiny. No heroic endings. Just prevarications around life, death, and even the heritage.
Syed Muneeb Ali, a student of Physics at Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore, has collaborated with a renowned planetary scientist, Dr. Nozair Khawaja, of Freie University Berlin, Germany to develop a 3D animation, which explains the chemical processes occurring deep inside the ocean of Saturn’s icy moon – Enceladus. Scientists suspect that these processes are favorable for life (if there is any!).
Ali’s 3d animation is inspired by the breakthrough research of 2018 & 2019 in the field of planetary science by Dr. Nozair Khawaja who discovered organics which are the ingredients of life similar to those present in Earth’s oceans.
This short animation demonstrates how these organics are formed inside the core of this brightest moon of the solar system and ejected out in space in the form of ice grains. These ice grains were then captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which conducted multiple fly-bys across the plumes to capture these grains and discovered chemical ingredients important for life in these grains.
Along with being a student of Physics, Syed Muneeb Ali is an active science communicator and currently serving as the General Secretary of Astrobiology Network of Pakistan (ABNP). Moreover, he’s a science journalist and writes blogs on Astronomy and Science on various mainstream media. He is the author of the National Award-Winning book “Kainaat – Aik Raaz”.
Ali’s volunteer work is also published on Freie University’s official website. Find it here.
Dr Asifa Akhtar has been selected to receive the most distinguished prize in Germany: The Leibniz Prize! The award has acknowledged and estimated her huge breakthrough work in the field of Cell-Biology and it’s mechanisms of epigenetic gene regulation, the prize consists of a €2.5 million research funding.
With her Freiburg team, Asifa Akhtar is investigating epigenetic mechanisms that act in addition to the genes in the cells – and thus help determine which and how genetic information is used. One focus is on molecules that change the chromatin, i.e., the packaging of the DNA, and thus play an important role in controlling gene activity. “I feel incredibly honored to receive this prize. Above all, I am grateful to my former and current lab members; their dedication and hard work made this award possible,” said Asifa Akhtar.
Dr Asifa Akhtar
The DFG substantiate its decision, among other things, with Asifa Akhtar’s “groundbreaking contribution to the understanding of X chromosome regulation, also known as dosage compensation.” Since males and females differ in the number of their X chromosomes, this mechanism ensures that both sexes shed the same amount of genes encoded on the X chromosomes. If this does not happen, severe cellular defects can occur. What are the critical molecular factors achieving dosage compensation? How do they interact, and do they also have additional functions? Studies by Asifa Akhtar’s laboratory have provided important answers to these questions and clarified the essential basics of regulating the X chromosome and autosomes.
The biologist and here team elucidated the molecular mechanism that controls the different functions of theepigenetic regulator MOF (males-absent on the first protein) on the X chromosome and the autosomes. This histone acetyltransferase facilitates the accessibility of genetic material by modifying histones, which are the proteins on which the DNA is wrapped around within the nucleus. Furthermore, the team discovered that this epigenetic regulator is also involved in other control processes in the genome. The DFG acknowledges that these findings have been “fundamental for understanding developmental and pathological processes as to be known in cancer”.
The broader importance and clinical relevance of the basic research carried out in the Akhtar lab was brought to the fore by the discovery of a human syndrome caused by a mutation in an epigenetic regulator closely related to MOF and another one of the lab’s main proteins of interest. The later termed “Basilicata-Akhtar syndrome” is marked by severe developmental delay and neurological dysfunction. The lab’s groundbreaking work on the molecular characterization of this human syndrome paves the way for better understanding and eventually alleviating the condition.
Dr. Asif was born in Karachi, Pakistan and she presides the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics as its vice president, the first International female to have this position. She is among 10 other scientists who will be awarded this prize in 2021 in an expected virtual ceremony.
Our heartfelt congratulations are presented to her. She is an inspiration for so many people pursuing science both in Pakistan and Germany. We look forward to her contribution to science.
The images released by Hubble since it started working 30 years ago have served as amazing windows to see the universe in new ways. On its 30th anniversary this year, NASA has released fascinating images showing 30 galaxies and breathtaking stars, nebulas, and more.
What’s more exciting about these shots is that they can also be visualized through a backyard telescope. The difference is that NASA has processed them in a way to make the objects more striking and apparent.
According to the official website, “All of these celestial objects belong to a collection known to amateur astronomers as the Caldwell catalog.” These were compiled by an amateur astronomer from British, Sir Patrick Caldwell-Moore, and the collection was published in 1995. It took inspiration from the Messier catalog that was put together by Charles Messier, who was a French comet-hunter. The catalog had around a hundred bright objects that could be mistaken for comets by the unaided, untrained eye. Caldwell’s catalog featured 109 galaxies, star clusters, and more that were not a part of the Messier catalog but were dazzling enough to be observed easily.
Marking Hubble’s birthday, NASA released more than 50 images, and the collection features 30 objects in the Caldwell catalog. The official announcement quotes, “Some of these 30 Caldwell objects appear in more than one new Hubble image.” The released photographs are not new and have been taken by Hubble over the years and were used in research but only now has NASA has fully processed them for public release.
To access new images in Hubble’s Caldwell catalog, click here.
The remains were found in Civita Giuliana, a town 700m Northwest of the center of Pompeii. The two men found had stark resemblances. One of them seemed to be middle-aged and well-dressed in fur coats, while the other was young, aged 18 to 23, and had a few broken bones in his back, which indicated that he was a laborer and often carried heavy objects. The richer man had traces of his coat under his neck while the younger one was dressed in a simple tunic.
Both of them seem to be running to escape the volcanic lava as they have clenched teeth and fists, indicating thermal shock. The two men’s teeth and a couple of bones were stored, and the voids left by their soft tissues were filled with plaster that was left to freeze and then unearthed to show the outline of their bodies.
Director Massimo Osanna said that they “were perhaps seeking refuge” from the eruption “when they were swept away.” He also added to the reporters that, “It is a death by thermal shock, as also demonstrated by their clenched feet and hands.”
According to archeologists, the site of Pompeii is a rich source of information and an incredible spot for research and further study. More planned excavations need to be focused upon in the future.
DW quotes that, “Pompeii, 23 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of Naples, was home to about 13,000 people when the Mount Vesuvius eruption buried it under ash, pumice pebbles and dust, preserving many of the city’s ruins and remains.”
The Youth Advocacy Council Pakistan has been a finalist among eight aspiring organizations from 19 Asia-Pacific countries by the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs (R.O.C) and KPMG for the Asia-Pacific Social Innovation Partnership Award 2020. The YAC Pakistan is the first Pakistani organization that made into the finale of this competition world-wide.
Asia Pacific Social Innovation Partnership Award(APSIPA) is a regional award advised by Executive Yuan, Taiwan (R.O.C.), and held by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan (R.O.C.). It is established to explore dynamic social innovation models in the Asia Pacific and to motivate more change-makers to contribute to social innovation, discovering and celebrating social innovation partnerships that connect diverse stakeholders and make significant social impacts. Cases of partnerships are required to set achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs) as their core value.
Founder and CEO of Youth Advocacy Council Pakistan Mr. Mohsin Khan says that the TransHelp app aims to empower the transgender community
This year, there were 95 applications from 16 countries/economics, which is really an inspiring number especially in the challenging times amidst covid19. There are also cases that contribute to fighting against the global pandemic, sharing excellent partnering experiences in the Asia Pacific including YAC Pakistan, promoting good health and well-being, and reducing gender inequality through the use of digital technologies and developing Pakistan’s first TransHelp app.
On the occasion, the Founder and CEO of Youth Advocacy Council Pakistan Mr. Mohsin Khan said that “the TransHelp app aimed at bridging knowledge gaps, and tend to enhance access to health care services for the marginalized communities, particularly during the pandemic for transgender persons. It will not educate, sensitize, and empower more than 50,000 Transgenders and youth but enable them to counter stigmas associated with HIV/AIDS, and reduces HIV, STI, and other endemic disease incidences in Pakistan”.
International philosopher, cognitive scientist, political activist, and sometimes called “the father of modern linguistics,” Noam Chomsky gave a striking lecture at the Habib University Karachi yesterday on December 7, 2020.
Chomsky’s stature and significance can be summed up from The New York Times’ words, “Judged in terms of power, range, novelty, and influence of his thought, Noam Chomsky is arguably the most important intellectual alive today” as dated back on Feb. 25, 1979.
New York Times piece quotations. Credits: The Chomsky Problem by Paul Robinson
The conversation point was “Bullet dodged or merely delayed: Reflections on the future of democracy, nuclear threat and the looming environmental catastrophe in a post-Trumpian world.”
In the lecture, professor Chomsky expressed his concern, warning, and guidance for the postmodern and post-Trumpian world’s problems.
Chomsky started with how “We should recognize what a unique moment in human history; this is. Humans have been on earth for a few hundred thousand years; the present generation is facing questions that have never arisen in human history, and that will never arise again in human history unless given appropriate answers. So, that’s a tremendous burden and remarkable challenge, I think we are at a moment of confluence crises.”
He concluded how the senior analysts had presented three major issues the world faces around the ticking clock of doomsday for humankind. “First: the Nuclear War Threat, Second: The Environmental Catastrophe and the third: The Deterioration of Democracy Worldwide.” and “Pandemic: the fourth major crisis.”
ON DETERIORATION OF DEMOCRACY AND THREAT OF REACTIONARY FORCES
According to Chomsky, “As far as the deterioration of democracy is concerned, it’s proceeded very far. The Trump administration has purged the executive branch of the government of any independent voices. Nothing left, except sycophants.” He said that “The congress years ago installed inspector generals to monitor the executive offices’ performance for corruption, maleficence. They began to look into the enormous swamp of corruption that Trump had created in Washington, and he took care of that by firing them. They are gone.”
Then coming to elections, he concluded how “The election was a total disaster, how the republicans drifted off the political spectrum years ago, and if you look at the international comparisons, they are alongside the parties in Europe with Neo-fascists Origins: Alternative to Deutschland, Le Pen’s National Front and so on and the republicans have stopped being a parliamentary party. They are now a party of environmental denialists, ultranationalists, evangelical Christians, militarists, xenophobics, racists, white supremacists, and a hazardous organization.”
“In the past couple of years has been the growth of a “Reactionary international.” It’s not formalized, but it’s taking shape with Trump in the White House and led by the white house. It includes the most reactionary states in the world, the ones most bitterly attacking and destroying democracy. In the western hemisphere, the leading members are Bolsonaro of Brazil, who is dismantling the democracy of brazil into shreds.
Chomsky in conversation with the Habib University President Wasif Rizvi and Vice President Academic Affairs Dr. Christopher Taylor. Credits: Habib University
The Middle East includes the most reactionary states, in the world: The Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt with the most brutal dictatorship it ever had, includes Israel which has gone very far right, it’s one country in the world where maybe the very only where Trump’s popularity was overwhelming, maybe it is the only country in the world, where the younger population is more reactionary than the older one. Moving to the east, Modi’s India: Destroying the remnants of Indian secular democracy, crushing Muslim rights, placing Kashmir under the vicious, brutal rule. Pakistan is not too far behind. These are the shapes of things that are happening.”
ON THE PANDEMIC
“It is least of the four crises, severe though it is and dominant though it is at this moment. We will emerge from the pandemic at a terrible cost and needless cost; we can see a needless cost because some countries have dealt with it. By January 10th, Chinese Scientists had identified the virus, only after the few weeks of symptoms they had sequenced the genome provided it to the entire world. The virologists knew what they are facing and knew what kind of measure there had to be taken. In some places, the measures were taken, others not. Now, we can see the difference.”
He argued by referring, “China, the center of the crisis. Life is pretty back to normal. South Korea had severe outbreaks, dealt with it expeditiously and effectively; the situation is reasonably under control. Europe waited too long, but finally, Europe began to take significant measures. Others didn’t. – India didn’t. Brazil didn’t. The United States didn’t. France didn’t. These are the countries in the lead in facing the pandemic catastrophe.”
“In the United States, the government has given up. It has informed the public that there is nothing we can do. Unfortunately, the public has been inundated with massive propaganda from the right-wing, which tells people there’s no crisis. It’s a hoax; the liberals made it up, a large portion of the population sees no problem. People literally dying in the hospital, claiming to the nurses that there is no disease, it’s a hoax.”
He emphasized how the “Media barely mentions the fact, seldom that China has a vaccine, which might come into availability first. But Americans have to be deprived of it. Why? because we have to undermine Chinese development, this is madness.”
Chomsky’s quote on “Debate Spectrum”. Credits: Noam Chomsky, Book: The Common Good, 1998
He further touches on the issues of Nuclear Weapon Threats and Environmental Issues:
He reminisced while referring to 1945 in Japan, he said that “It’s worth remembering that any nuclear war among powers of any significance, certain Pakistan and India will be terminal and will be lethal for the rest of the world”
Further, he pointed out, how the “Trump administration has continued is continuing at this very moment, to open the new areas of this country for fossil fuel exploration, it’s dismantling the regulations that impose some constraints on fossil fuels and incidentally also protects the population from emissions that are extremely harmful to health particularly at this period when people are facing respiratory diseases.”
Summarizing his conversation he said:
“Take any of the crises we face; nuclear weapons, environmental catastrophe, destruction of democracy, pandemic, racism, xenophobia, many others. They have solutions and we know the solutions. The solutions are feasible and in hands.”
“But it’s not enough to just have academic knowledge of what to do. Somebody has to take that knowledge and work with it. That’s the burden this generation is facing. It’s a severe responsibility and exciting challenge, if it’s not met we are literally facing the end of organized human society.”
By the end of the discussion. President Rizvi of the Habib University asked Professor Chomsky for advice to University Students:
Chomsky: Advice to say, to university students?
Interestingly and adequately, he advised Pakistani Students while lifting them up: “Well, Pakistan used to have an advanced scientific establishment, Nobel Prize Laureate, and so on. Now, science has virtually disappeared from the educational system.”
“Several scientists have been trying to preserve a rational educational system, which deals with the reality of the world.” “Pakistan has no future if it’s going to live in a world of religious superstition.”
Recently – at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, renowned Dominique Segura-Cox and fellow scientists observed a system that is only 1,000,000 years old, approximately at a distance of 470 light-years in the “Rho Ophiuchi,” a star formation region. The structure is idiosyncratic; A protoplanetary disk with a young ‘star’ hosting detailed rings of planet-forming material. This all suggests that the planets can form simultaneously with host stars rather than at the end of star birth.
Likewise, there were concentrated and highly dense rings surrounding the star ‘also known as protostars’ suggests the ongoing formation of a planet as per widely accepted theory for solar systems. As the planets are being born, they create vivid gaps in this disc, illuminating ring structures. As the observations show the visibility of these similar shapes around the class II future-stars, not more than one million-year-old in age. Now, the star is about to become a main-sequence star with the appearance of clear rings around it.
The phenomenal contradistinction between the two different regions, dimmed and enlightened with energy, proposes that the planet’s formation is already in progress with class II protostar. The real evidence suggests that the formation of the planet starts earlier when the star is only in the class I phase, the enthralling part about the star being only 100,000s years old within the specks of dust and gases, under the gravitation forging.
Ring and Gap features of IRS 63. Credits: ALMA/Segura-Cox et al. 2020
The researchers used the renowned Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) radio telescope for its observations, located in Chile. Segura-Cox’s team suggests that this phenomenon is first of its kind; the system is present in the L-1709 interstellar cloud zone about 144.103 Parsec away from us.
The Two Side-By-Side Rings
Seen at millimeter wavelengths, within the disc, shows two separate rings with an approx mass of half that of Jupiter. The rings’ radius would be around 20 AU (1 AU is the distance between earth and sun, approximately 150 Million Kilometres). With such a vast area, conveying massive material presence, these rings are enough to coalesce into solid cores; the eventual result can be creating gas-giant planets. This entire hypothesis suggests that the planets and their host stars can be of the same age, just like siblings or twins.
The Rho Ophiuchi star-forming region. Credits: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2
The team of Segura-Cox is also optimistic about researching the problem of “radial-drift” through the study of these rings; as the particles in a protoplanetary disk become bigger, they face more drag due to their surrounding gas in the disc and lose angular momentum, and in some cases, they fall into the protostar before they can form into planets.
The observations also infer that rings having a higher density of gases than the rest of the disc can set in motion a series of intensity in gas pressure; efficiently trapping solid material that could be prevented to inspiral and fall into each other, so if the planets can form around a budding star as IRS-63 then the radial drift is not a problem here.
The IRS-63 system is entire of the same size and mass as our solar system, which could also help find out answers and a glimpse of the past about our neighbors of the planets and how they formed 4.57 Billion years ago. As a science-tidbit, the Jupiter core could have formed much larger with the same distance from the sun as it has today before moving inwards.
Segura-Cox, D.M., Schmiedeke, A., Pineda, J.E. et al. Four annular structures in a protostellar disk less than 500,000 years old. Nature 586, 228–231 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2779-6
