Why scary movies are helping some people cope with the pandemic – UChicago News

One of his favorite projects involves a cabinet of curiosities that he curated with items from online vendors on Etsy and from Woolly Mammoth, an eclectic store in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. The study examined participants morbid curiosity about strange objects at three levels: by looking at them (visual), by touching them (tactile) and by reading about them (epistemic).

Scrivner stocked the cabinet with both morbid and non-morbid items for which he had written interesting histories, including a psych report for serial killer Ed Gein, an old copy of Chaucers works, a cursed exorcism medallion, a seal and wax used in Game of Thrones and morticians tools.

Participants viewed the cabinet while wearing eye-tracking glasses. First, they inspected for 90 seconds without instructions, as if they were visiting a museum. Then, while wearing gloves, they were allowed to pick up and examine five items of their choice. Finally, they were asked if they wanted to read the stories behind another five items.

The idea is to tease apart whether morbidly curious people are really more epistemically curioustheyre not interested in doing violent things, right? said Scrivner, who has paused data collection on the project due to the pandemic. So maybe they will be interested in looking at or reading about something scary, but will only want to touch things that arent.

Scrivner also has a study coming out in Psychological Science this fall about another seasonally appropriate topic: haunted houses.

In 2017, when data for the forthcoming paper were collected, Scrivner began a collaboration with Mathias Clasen, a researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark with similar interests. With colleagues Marc Andersen and Uffe Schjoedt, they studied visitor responses to scary stimuli at a local haunted tourist attraction.

To do so, they triangulated three different kinds of data: physiological data from heart rate monitors, self-reported levels of fear and fun for visitors after they exited the haunted house and behavioral expressions of fear by coding videos of their reactions to frightening events.

We showed that theres an optimum level of fear, essentially a sweet spot, Scrivner said. The basic idea is that people regulate how immersed they are in the haunted house and how much emotional arousal they are willing to experience in order to maximize their level of fun.

With Halloween around the corner, Scrivner is getting ready to celebrate himself.

I usually like to catch a haunted house or two during October and binge a few horror movies that Ive been wanting to watch, he said. And, of course, curate my spooky Spotify playlist.

His own favorite horror movies include Hereditary and other films by Ari Aster. He also likes the work of directors Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, Insidious and The Purge), Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House) and James Wan (Saw and The Conjuring Universe).

But if youre not a horror fan, 2020 may be scary enough, according to Scrivner. Not everyone is equally morbidly curious, and for some people, the visceral feelings that such films can present outweigh their entertainment value.

People tend to know themselves well enough to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to try watching something scary, he said.

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Why scary movies are helping some people cope with the pandemic - UChicago News

Seaplane to be used for flights between Sabarmati riverfront, Statue of Unity reaches Kochi – Financial Express

The aircraft, which landed safely in Venduruthy channel for a transit halt, is scheduled to reach Ahmedabad, where the country's maiden seaplane service will be launched between the Sabarmati riverfront and the Statue of Unity in Narmada district.

A 19-seater seaplane which will be used for flights between the Sabarmati riverfront and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patels Statue of Unity in Gujarat as part of a first-of-its-kind service in the country arrived here from Maldives on Sunday.

The aircraft, which landed safely in Venduruthy channel for a transit halt, is scheduled to reach Ahmedabad, where the countrys maiden seaplane service will be launched between the Sabarmati riverfront and the Statue of Unity in Narmada district.

The service is likely to be launched on October 31 if all goes as per plans, Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya had told PTI.

The Twin Otter 300 seaplane leased by Spicejet will be able to accommodate 12 passengers.

The seaplane was provided assistance with berthing facility at Naval jetty and refuelling for its onward journey, a defence spokesperson said.

Seaplanes are a natural choice of connectivity between mainland and Lakshadweep islands. Inland water channels in Kochi and sheltered lagoons in islands offer an ideal space for the seaplanes to land and take-off, he said.

Representatives of Spicejet, Indian Navy, Cochin International Airport Limited and district administration were present to supervise the transit halt.

The crew of the seaplane were greeted by Vice Admiral A K Chawla, flag officer commanding-in-chief of Southern Naval Command.

He said the occasion refreshed fond memories of amphibious aircraft operations from Kochi naval base in the yesteryears.

Incidentally, the birth of Indian Naval Aviation was also preceded by a similar landing of sealand aircraft in the Venduruthy channel in Kochi on February 4, 1953.

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Seaplane to be used for flights between Sabarmati riverfront, Statue of Unity reaches Kochi - Financial Express

Another Mass. school district to drop its mascot of Native American origin – Boston.com

Another Massachusetts school district is retiring a mascot that references Native Americans, citing harmful Native American stereotypes.

The Pentucket School Committee voted to retire the districts Sachem mascot during a meeting Tuesday night following a presentation back in late July by Sag8tmo Paul Pouliot and Denise Pouliot, leaders of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People.

At that presentation, the couple discussed Native American history in the area, and how the Sachem mascot, which has been in use at Pentucket since 1958, impacts them, according to a news release.

Pentucket is the latest school district to retire a mascot of Native American origin, or one with problematic history. In June, Walpole school officials unanimously decided to drop its Rebels mascot. At the state level, Charlie Baker has said hes open to discussions of removing and redesigning the states seal and flag, which feature an illustration of a Native American person.

From the meeting in July, school officials learned that Native Americans who lived in the area near the school district did not have Sachems, though other nearby tribes did. Sachems were either heads of families, or served as the speakers for a tribe. Officials also learned about the problematic use of Native American headdresses, which the districts mascot has used in the past, the release said.

A lot of thought and consideration went into this decision, and ultimately the School Committee has decided this is the right path for our district to take, schools Superintendent Justin Bartholomew said. When the mascot first was selected it was done so out of respect for what they believed a Sachem represented. We know today that there are myriad reasons why it is not appropriate to have a Sachem mascot, and this is an opportunity for Pentucket to start a new chapter.

For now, the school district will refer to its sports teams simply as Pentucket. Current school uniforms will continue to be used until the time comes to replace them, and the high school gym floor, which has Sachem on it, will be changed when the new Pentucket Regional Middle High School building opens, scheduled for 2022.

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Clerks to send out mail-in ballots by midmonth – The Daily News of Newburyport

NEWBURYPORT Localcity and town clerkswill soon send out mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 election, but Greater Newburyport residents will also be able to head to the polls in less than two weeks.

Voterscan cast ballots by mail and will have the option to do so in person during a 14-day early voting period or on Election Day.

Earlyin-person voting in Massachusetts runs from Oct. 17to Oct. 30.

Newburyport City Clerk Richard Jones said his office will send mail-in ballots to voters by midmonth, about a week after they are received by the city. He added that his office will have "close to 7,000 (ballots) to collate, package, label, seal and send."

Jones urged residents to "please be patient" as the city mails out the ballots, noting the time it may take for all of them to be prepared.

Jones said he expects the election to have a similar turnoutas the September primary, which saw an unexpectedly highnumber of voters at the polls following a slow early voting period.

In September,3,125 city residents voted early by mail, while only 451 people voted early in person. On primary day, 3,196 city voters went to their polling places. Overall, the primary drew 44% of the citys roughly 15,000 registered voters to the polls.

"We thought that a lot of people had already voted by mail or early in person, but then all of a sudden, a lot of people showed up on Election Day ... I expect it to be the same (in November)," Jones said. "There are a lot of people concerned about early voting and mail-in voting, so they're going to go the tried-and-true route."

Amesbury City Clerk Amanda Haggstrom said the city saw a large turnout inSeptember compared to past primaries because of the mail-in ballot option.Haggstromsaid she isn't quite sure how Amesbury residents will prefer to vote in November.

"I'm expecting a high turnout for this election, but I can't guarantee if it will be more mail-ins or in-person," Haggstrom said, adding that she has beenreceiving lots of questions from residents about the city's voting options.

In Newburyport, early voting will be at the Senior Community Center, 331 High St., during the following dates and times:

Saturday, Oct. 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.;Sunday, Oct. 18, 10a.m. to 2 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 19, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 20, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 21, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.;Thursday, Oct. 22, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 23, 8 a.m. to noon; Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 26, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 27, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 28, 8 am to 4 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 29, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 30, 8 a.m. to noon.

On Election Day, polling places across the state are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

In Amesbury, Election Day voting takes place at Amesbury City Hall on Friend Street.

Voters can head to the polls for early voting at Amesbury High School, 5 Highland St., during the following dates and times:

Saturday, Oct. 17, andSunday, Oct. 18, 8 a.m. to noon; Monday, Oct. 19, throughWednesday, Oct. 21, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 22, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 23, 8 a.m. to noon;Saturday, Oct. 24, 8 a.m. to noon; Sunday, Oct. 25, 8a.m. to noon; Monday, Oct. 26, 8 a.m.to 4 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 27, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 28, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 29, 8a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 30, 8 a.m. to noon.

Salisbury voters may cast ballots early atSalisbury Town Hall in the Colchester Room, 5 Beach Road, during the following dates and times:

Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 19, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 20through Thursday, Oct. 22, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 23, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 24, and Sunday, Oct. 25, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 26, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 27, through Thursday, Oct. 29, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 30, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Staff writer Jack Shea covers Newburyport City Hall. He can be reached via email at jshea@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3154. Follow him on Twitter@iamjackshea.

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Clerks to send out mail-in ballots by midmonth - The Daily News of Newburyport

Global and Asia Pacific Myristyl Alcohol (CAS 112 72 1) Market to Witness Huge Growth by 2027 Best Companies included in report KLK OLEO, KAO…

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Global and Asia Pacific Myristyl Alcohol (CAS 112 72 1) Market to Witness Huge Growth by 2027 Best Companies included in report KLK OLEO, KAO...

The Ancient City of Ur – HeritageDaily

Ur is an ancient city-state of Mesopotamia located in the Dhi Qar Governorate of southern Iraq.

The earliest period of occupation dates from the prehistoric Ubaid period sometime between 6500 to 3800 BC, when the landscape was flooded regularly by the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, which some scholars suggest is the source of the Mesopotamian floods from mythology.

During the 4th millennium BC, the region was settled by the Sumerians, a non-Semitic and non-Indo-European agglutinative language isolate that developed a close cultural symbiosis with the East-Semitic Akkadians by the 3rd millennium BC.

The first royal dynasty of Ur was established during the Early Bronze Age, with Ur becoming the capital of southern Mesopotamia around 2500 BC. The city would come under Akkadian influence with the rise of the Akkadian Empire between 2400 and 2200 BC, before coming under Gutian rule with the empires collapse during the mid-22nd century BC.

Image Credit : Hardnfast CC BY 3.0

Ur would once again come under Sumerian rule with the founding of the Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire by King Ur-Nammu around 2047 BC. This period would see a renaissance of Ur, reaching a population of 65,000 inhabitants and an empire that controlled the cities of Isin, Larsa, and Eshnunna, and extended as far north as Upper Mesopotamia.

The state was organised into a highly centralised bureaucratic system in which the Code of Ur-Nammu was written, the oldest known law code that survives today. Various large-scale building projects were also constructed, most notably the Ziggurat of Ur in dedication to Nanna/Sn, and an intricate system of irrigation channels to improve crop yields.

By the late Bronze Age, the city came under the first dynasty of (Amorite) of Babylonia, but fell to the native Akkadian ruled Sealand Dynasty for over 270 years, and was reconquered into Babylonia by the successors of the Amorites, the Kassites in the 16th century BC.

Over the centuries, the rulers of Ur would change hands several times, but the power and wealth of Ur would eventually decline around 530 BC with the fall of Babylonia to the Persian Archaemenid Empire, and was abandoned by the early 5th century BC (possibly as a result of the changing river patterns in the region).

Header Image Credit : M.Lubinski CC BY-SA 2.0

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The Ancient City of Ur - HeritageDaily

‘Realpolitiks II’ To Be Released In November – Entertainment Focus

Timed nicely around the US Presidential elections 1C Entertainment have just announced that their real-time grand strategy game Realpolitiks II will be launching on PC on 5th November 2020. You can already add the game to your wishlist on Steam.

Realpolitiks II puts you in the shoes of a modern-day world leader as you attempt to take your nation on a journey of world dominance. The road to supremacy is filled with modern world issues as you manage your nations economy, command armies, conduct diplomatic and espionage actions, and tackle global threats such as terrorism, pandemics, famine, and more.

Watch the Realpolitiks II announcement trailer below:

Realpolitiks II expands its gameplay with a set of new features, tools and strategies that you can use in order to achieve your goals. Intelligence mechanics have been enhanced with the addition of spy units that can play a crucial role in knowing what your opponents are up to, a redesigned combat system that provides even more options to plan your military actions, an advanced management system, and a lot more.

Modding tools have also been added allowing you to create your own content, campaigns, scenarios, units, even new nations.

Realpolitiks II key features:

Check out some screenshots in our gallery below:

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'Realpolitiks II' To Be Released In November - Entertainment Focus

On the Road During a Pandemic, From Austin, Texas, to Metro D.C. – The Nation

Matthew Gossage with his new baby. (Abby Batko-Taylor)

Before. Nope. Youve now just infected your other clean hand with germs, my wifes OB/GYN dryly instructed. She then put on her own latex gloves and demonstrated how to put them on and take them off while keeping your hands sterile.Ad Policy

We were in my wife and newborn sons hospital room the day after his birth, on Leap Day, February 29. CNN, muted on the TV above us, was showing the same three b-roll shots of ambulances in front of a nursing home in King County, Wash., outside of Seattle; over and over again.

My wife had given birth to our son a week before all hospitals in Austin closed to visitors. I had been able to be in the delivery room and attempt to sleep in their room with them. Our doctors were on daily calls about the pandemic and preparing for it: Get ready. This is going to be serious.

Yeah, you should probably just stay home and not leave the house, the OB/GYN recommended in her usual inconclusively sarcastic tone, which previously had always been reassuring.

Three days later, people at the supermarket glanced at my purple latex gloves, not wanting to make eye contact afterward. Hes brought the germs. Or maybe my hands were simply another reminder that unforeseen change was coming. Ordinary life was unraveling. Or fleeting.

There were no reported cases yet in Austin. Yet the sense was Its coming

It was 3 am, and the grocery store was busier than a Saturday afternoon. Going to the store at that hour had always been so relaxing for me. I had been able to take my time, getting stoned beforehand and going slowly through the aisles. This night carts were everywhere. Family members and college roommates yelled at one another across other carts.

They got baked beans.

Yeah! Get em all.

Freshly printed signs from the customer service desk were Scotch-taped to some shelves: Limit 2.

I had a detached perspective, still ecstatic over the healthy birth of our second son.

No diapers. OK.

No wipes. OK.

My family had entered a nurturing and joyous bubble that was about to overlap with a global and collective bubble of sickness, hundreds of thousands of deaths, a foreseeable yet unstoppable economic depression, disruption, and anxiety.

I strolled down the aisles away from the shelves that formerly held canned goods and pasta and toilet paper, and tried out the produce section. I crossed paths with a fellow bemused middle-aged man, and we shared a smile.

Time to get creative, I said as we both looked on a large shelf with nothing but cucumbers.

The composting toilet got here! Another brown box had arrived on our porch.

Months into the pandemic now, I felt I should be getting an honorary mention from Jeff Bezos for doing my part to get him to $200 billion in wealth. (I know hes been busy, so a Christmas card would be fine.)

I opened the Luggable Loo box and put the portable toilet in our Front of moving truck pile in our moving staging area. It shared a plastic bin with gloves, hand sanitizer, wipes, and granola bars, so it wouldnt get mixed up with our stuff that would be packed into the back of the moving truck.

We were leaving Austin after 15 years, moving outside Washington, D.C., to be close to family who could help with our domestic chaos, which had yet to become normalized. To minimize sharing germs (as our oldest son, a 4-year old, understood this new world), we planned our driving route to avoid going inside, anywhere.

Well, there are some unintended benefits to this now. Somewhere between Texarkana and Little Rock, this crossed my mind as I sat with my pants down at my ankles, using our new toilet in an empty parking lot behind a permanently closed Mexican restaurant: There are a lot of closed businesses now to privately take a shit outside of.Current Issue

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I am not alone in finding time on the john to be one of the more relaxing and thought-provoking daily activities. (In this case, the john is a seat on a bucket, with a bag, which you seal and then keep in the bucket until it can be disposed.) It was an unseasonably cool afternoon. A thunderstorm had passed, and I watched as a portly raccoon stumbled out of the dumpster across the lot from me. Maybe the place had just closed

The swirl of recent events went through my head again on that toilet outside the restaurant. A new healthy son, a global pandemic, shutdowns, working from home with no day care for our oldest son, a cross-country move with no one helping, so my wife and I could try to stay healthy and be able to take care of young children.

After I had my turn on the toilet, it was my wifes turn, and I took over holding the baby. I thought of the people we knew and worked with in Austin who had had Covid-19 already. A young woman with two children had just come out of a fever that kept her on the couch for days. Her oldest son is 12, and had been taking care of the baby while the mom lay prostrate. He kissed his mother on her forehead when she got up for the first time. I thought you were dying, he told her through tears.

I kissed my sons forehead, then his cheeks, knees, and belly, I said to him, Well, I knew we were heading for interesting times, before handing him back, packing up the Luggable Loo, and buckling up for the drive.

Scenes From a Pandemic is a collaboration between The Nation and Kopkind, a living memorial to radical journalist Andrew Kopkind, who from 198294 was the magazines chief political writer and analyst. This series of dispatches from Kopkinds far-flung network of participants, advisers, guests, and friends is edited by Nation contributor and Kopkind program director JoAnn Wypijewski, and appears weekly on thenation.com and kopkind.org.

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On the Road During a Pandemic, From Austin, Texas, to Metro D.C. - The Nation

Dole effect as a measurement of the low-latitude hydrological cycle over the past 800 ka – Science Advances

INTRODUCTION

A variety of geological proxies has been developed to reconstruct the history of the low-latitude hydrological cycle, which plays a crucial role in the global moisture and heat transport. In the past decade, the strong similarity of 18O variations between atmospheric O2 (18Oatm) and Chinese stalagmite, either on orbital or on millennial time scales, has raised the debate on the correlation between 18Oatm and the low-latitude hydrology (15). As a chemical signal of the atmosphere, 18Oatm is an integrated result of different processes that occurred over the globe, which is able to reflect biogeochemical and thus climatic changes at a planetary scale compared with regional proxies.

Interpreting the climate significance of 18Oatm, however, turns out not to be straightforward. The 18Oatm value is determined by the oxygen isotopic fractionation associated with photosynthesis and respiration of biosphere as well as the hydrological cycle, which is today more enriched by 23.5 0.3 than oceanic water. This isotopic offset is traditionally referred to as the Dole effect. The respiration of both terrestrial and marine biosphere preferentially consumes 16O over 18O, causing a nearly equivalent isotope effect of ~19 [e.g., (6)]. This is the biggest source of the Dole effect. On land, plant transpiration can cause an isotopic enrichment of leaf water relative to soil water, resulting in a globally integrated photosynthetic Dole effect of 4 to 8 [e.g., (6, 7)]. In the marine realm, O2 produced by phytoplankton shows an 18O enrichment of less than 6 with respect to ambient seawater (8). The hydrological cycle, however, changes 18Oatm in an opposite direction to the aforementioned two processes. This is because the ocean-to-land moisture transfer can always result in an isotopic depletion of terrestrial rainfall with respect to seawater. Rainwater is subsequently used by the terrestrial biosphere, which thus decreases the Dole effect (2, 6).

The fluctuation of the Dole effect (DE) over the past 800 thousand years (ka) has been reconstructed by removing the imprint of seawater 18O from ice corederived 18Oatm records [e.g., (3, 6)]. During the mid-to-late Pleistocene, varying global ice volume is the first-order reason causing mean oceanic water 18O changes. Accordingly, the reconstructed or the modeled ice-volume isotopic effect (18Osw) (9, 10) was subtracted from 18Oatm to obtain the DE [e.g., (3)]. Using this approach, the reconstructed DE shows strong variance in the precession bands with an amplitude of ~1.2, believed related to low-latitude hydrological changes (3, 6). However, the DE record contains additional and important variance at the ~100-ka periodicity, suggesting a substantial influence of ice-sheet volume on the DE, possibly via changing terrestrial productivity at mid-to-high latitudes (3). This, therefore, impedes the use of the DE as a proxy for the low-latitude hydroclimate.

In this study, we generated a new DE* (to distinguish from the traditional definition of DE) record by removing the globally stacked sea surface 18O (18Osurf) from 18Oatm, which shows pronounced precession cycles (~23 and ~19 ka) but almost no ~100-ka periodicity over the past 800 ka. Furthermore, we used the Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3) to perform a 300-ka transient simulation of global climate change. The modeled terrestrial rainfall changes between 30N and 30S strongly resemble the DE*. We therefore propose that the low-latitude hydrology is the only important forcing for the DE* on orbital time scales, while the influence of other climate factors, if any, should be minor.

We argue that 18Oatm has a stronger relevance with isotopic values of sea surface compared with those of the entire ocean because (i) the terrestrial biosphere uses waters originally evaporated from sea surface and (ii) nearly 100% photosynthesis and 95% respiration of the marine biosphere occur within ocean mixed layers (7). Therefore, it is more reasonable to use 18Osurf rather than 18Osw (or mean oceanic water 18O) to calculate the DE*. 18Osurf is different from 18Osw, because in addition to varying ice volume, hydrological changes at mid-to-low latitudes can also exert substantial influence on 18Osurf through altering evaporation, precipitation, runoff, and reservoir size of liquid water on land. Moreover, 18Osurf can be reliably reconstructed by removing temperature effect from planktonic foraminiferal 18O. Through compiling parallel measurements of planktonic foraminiferal 18O and sea surface temperature (SST) from marine sediment cores, a global 18Osurf stack over the past 800 ka has been generated by Shakun et al. (11) (Figs. 1 and 2A). We update the 24 to 0 ka BP (Before Present) interval of this stack by using high-resolution and 14C-constrained reconstructions with Mg/Ca-SST results (Materials and Methods as well as the Supplementary Materials, Fig. 1, and fig. S1).

Monsoon domain (green) was defined by Wang and Ding (1). Blue and red lines indicate the mean position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone for August and February, respectively (solid for monsoon trough and dashed for trade wind convergence) (24). Blue (11) and red (this study) dots indicate 18Osurf reconstructions used for the generation of a global stack. WAIS, West Antarctic Ice Sheet; EPICA, European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica.

(A) A global stack of 18Osurf (blue, with 1 standard error) [this study, (11)] and the modeled 18Osw (red) (10). (B) Normalized 18Osurf and 18Osw are obtained by the z-standard method, which are further used to calculate the difference. (C) A composite 18Oatm record from Antarctic ice cores, including the WAIS Divide and the Siple Dome (50 to 0 ka BP) (2, 5), the Vostok (100 to 50 ka BP) (12), and the EPICA Dome C (800 to 100 ka BP) (1317). (D) Chinese stalagmite 18O, compiled by Cheng et al. (18). (E) A compilation of Bornean stalagmite 18O (1922). The duration of terminations I to V is marked by yellow bars. In (B) to (E), dashed lines indicate the linear regression of each proxy record over the past 430 ka.

Discrepancies between the 18Osurf stack and the modeled 18Osw (10) are described in the Supplementary Materials (figs. S1 to S4). Briefly, the 18Osurf and the 18Osw show three robust discrepancies over the past 430 ka (Fig. 2). First, with respect to 18Osw, isotopic values of several interstadials within an interglacial period are more comparable in 18Osurf [marine isotope stage (MIS) 11c versus 11a, 9e versus 9c and 9a, 5e versus 5c and 5a, Fig. 2A]. Second, at the recent five glacial terminations, the rise of 18Osurf lags that of 18Osw by 3 to 4 ka (marked by yellow bars in Fig. 2; also, see figs. S1 to S3). Third, 18Osurf exhibits a long-term trend toward lighter isotopic values for the past 430 ka, which was also noted by Shakun et al. (11). This secular trend is clearly revealed in the difference between 18Osurf and 18Osw, showing a decreasing tendency over this period (Fig. 2B and fig. S4).

The aforementioned features of 18Osurf are shared by 18Oatm (1217) and tropical-subtropical stalagmite 18O (Fig. 2) (1822), including comparable amplitude of interstadials within an interglacial (MIS 11, 9, and 5), positive 18O excursions at glacial terminations, and the long-term trend over the past 430 ka. Together, the common features among different climate archives can be interpreted as that the distinct isotopic imprint of sea surface was transferred to continental precipitation and leaf water via the hydrological cycle, which was subsequently recorded by stalagmite and 18Oatm. Therefore, 18Osurf should be used to adjust precipitation isotopic records (e.g., stalagmite 18O, plant wax hydrogen isotope) and calculate the DE*.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, compared with the previous estimate of the DE (18Oatm 18Osw), the new DE* (18Oatm 18Osurf, Materials and Methods) displays a considerably better match with precession in amplitude over the past 800 ka. An evident mismatch between the previous DE and precession is found between 450 and 360 ka BP (Fig. 3A), which is improved between the DE* and precession but still exists to some extent (Fig. 3C). Note that during this period, 18Oatm and 18Osurf contain relatively less variance in the precession bands (Fig. 2, A and C), and astronomically tuned age models of both climate records have relatively large uncertainties (the establishment of chronologies are described in Materials and Methods) (17, 23). Therefore, the ambiguity of precession signals in climate reconstructions together with age model uncertainties may partly explain this mismatch.

(A) The previous estimate of DE (red) and precession (gray). (B) Eccentricity cycles. (C) The new estimate of DE* (blue, with 1 standard error) and precession (gray). (D) The global stack of benthic foraminiferal 18O (23). Eccentricity, obliquity, and precession are derived from Berger (41), which are further normalized to calculate the ETP (E + T-P). Cross-spectral analysis results of the ETP with the previous (E) and the new (F) estimate of DE, respectively, over the past 800 ka. In (E) and (F), the spectrum of each record is presented with the 95% confidence level (dashed lines). Below, coherency spectra are indicated by gray-filled curves associated with the 95% Monte Carlo false-alarm level (black dashed lines). The time-series analysis was performed using the REDFIT program (46). The numbers denote primary orbital cycles.

The DE* shows no evident imprint of an individual glacial-interglacial cycle, nor does it respond to an increase in the magnitude of glacial-interglacial cycles that occurred after glacial termination V, referred to as the Mid-Brunhes Event. In contrast to the previous estimate of DE, the spectrum of the DE* shows strong variance in the ~19-, ~23-, and ~41-ka bands but lacks variance in the ~100-ka bands (Fig. 3F). This suggests that the presence of the ~100-ka periodicity in the previous DE (Fig. 3E) (3) is an artificial signal. Together, precession and obliquity to a lesser extent are dominant forcing of the DE* over the past 800 ka, while the influence of 100-ka cycles (ice volume) seems negligible.

The DE* exhibits a remarkable similarity to Chinese stalagmite 18O (hereafter refers to the one adjusted for 18Osurf changes, simply by subtracting 18Osurf from stalagmite 18O) over the past 640 ka (R = 0.60; P < 0.001), both following the temporal rhythm of the Northern Hemisphere summer insolation (Fig. 4). Their spectra are also well matched, both showing strong variance in the precession bands (Fig. 4D). In addition, the Mid-Brunhes Event is not reflected in Chinese stalagmite 18O reconstructions, either (Fig. 4A) (18).

(A) The DE* (blue, with 1 standard error) and Chinese stalagmite 18O (orange, after adjusted for changes in 18Osurf) (17). (B) Simulated terrestrial rainfall changes between 30N and 30S (annual mean, green) and July 21 daily insolation at 20N (gray) (41). (C) Simulated terrestrial rainfall changes over 0 to 30N (annual mean, red) and 0 to 30S (annual mean, blue). Simulation results are from the experiment CCSM3_orb+ghg + ice (Materials and Methods), which are further fitted using the Savitzky-Golay algorithm with 15 points at second order. In (D) and (E), spectra of the 800-ka DE*, the 640-ka Chinese stalagmite 18O, and the 300-ka simulation output are presented with the 95% confidence level (dashed lines). Below, coherency spectra of their cross-spectral analysis are indicated by gray-filled curves associated with the 95% Monte Carlo false-alarm level (black dashed lines). The time-series analysis was performed using the REDFIT program (46). The numbers denote primary orbital cycles.

An accelerated simulation was performed using the CCSM3 from 300 to 0 ka BP, forced by orbital-driven insolation, greenhouse gases, and ice sheets (Exp_orb+ghg + ice; Materials and Methods and figs. S5 and S6). To evaluate the effect of different forcing on the hydrological cycle, two additional experiments were run, forced by orbital parameters (Exp_orb) and orbital parameters plus greenhouse gases (Exp_orb+ghg), respectively (Materials and Methods and figs. S5 and S7). Terrestrial rainfall changes in a specific region are indicated by their proportion in the global total.

In the model output of the Exp_orb+ghg + ice (fig. S6), except for those over 60S to 90S, terrestrial rainfall changes over other latitudes all contain strong variance in the precession bands. Especially over 0 to 30N, precession is the predominated cycle for the past 300 ka. Terrestrial rainfall changes over 30N to 60N and 60N to 90N also include additional but less important variance in the 100-ka bands. Our simulation successfully reproduces a fundamental feature of the global hydrological cycle as revealed in many geological records [e.g., (24)] that terrestrial rainfall changes between Northern and Southern Hemisphere low latitudes are antiphased in the precession bands (Fig. 4C and figs. S6 and S8).

Because terrestrial rainfall changes over 0 to 30N show stronger variations than over 0 to 30S (Fig. 4C), the combined rainfall changes between 30N and 30S show strong variance only in the precession bands and follow the temporal rhythm of the Northern Hemisphere summer insolation (Fig. 4B). Using cross-spectral analysis, simulated rainfall changes between 30N and 30S are strongly coherent with the DE* in the precession bands (Fig. 4E). Negative shifts of the DE* (and Chinese stalagmite 18O) are always concurrent with large terrestrial rainfall between 30N and 30S, and vice versa. Moreover, due to a high fraction of tropical rainfall in the global total, temporal changes of the global terrestrial rainfall are also highly similar to those over 0 to 30N, showing a domination of precession cycles (fig. S6).

A comparison of model output reveals that all three experiments generate similar results on terrestrial rainfall changes in tropics (fig. S7). This suggests that solar insolation is much more important than greenhouse gases and ice volume in regulating the temporal pattern of tropical hydroclimate. Including the ice-volume forcing in the model can enhance and weaken the variance in the precession bands over 0 to 30N and 0 to 30S, respectively (fig. S7).

Previously, three factors were considered important for causing the Dole effect fluctuation on orbital time scales: changes in the ratio of terrestrial to marine productivity (6, 7), vegetation changes induced respectively by ice volume (3), and the low-latitude hydrological cycle [e.g., (2, 6)]. Estimates of paleoproductivity are still subject to large uncertainties. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that changes in the global biogenic productivity were significantly affected by glacial-interglacial cycles during the late Quaternary (25). With respect to interglacial periods, a substantial reduction of terrestrial productivity and a slight increase (or unchanged) of marine productivity during glacial time have been found (25, 26). Because no evident imprint of glacial-interglacial cycles (100-ka periodicity) is detected in the DE* as aforementioned, past changes in the land/sea productivity ratio seem not critical for the DE*. This inference is supported by recent studies that suggest a nearly equivalent Dole effect value generated by modern terrestrial and marine biosphere [e.g., (8)]. This is in contrast to the previous estimate, which considered a higher terrestrial Dole effect than the marine value (6, 7).

The absence of 100-ka glacial-interglacial cycles in the DE* also excludes an important role of the ice volume. In high latitudes, the photosynthetic Dole effect of boreal biomes is partially canceled out by the respiratory effect in soils (27). Therefore, pronounced changes in the amount of boreal biomes due to the expansion and the retreat of ice sheets are inferred to exert limited influence on the global DE* (8).

The dominance of precession cycles in the new DE*, however, highlights the role of the low-latitude hydrology and vegetation as previously thought [e.g., (2, 6)]. Tropical and subtropical vegetation comprises the major part of the global productivity on land (4). On one hand, the respiratory Dole effect in low latitudes is considered lower than the global mean value due to slow diffusion of O2 in wet soils [e.g., (28)]. A strengthened hydrological cycle and subsequently an expansion of wetlands can therefore decrease the global respiratory Dole effect. On the other hand, a strengthened hydrological cycle is associated with the enhanced convection intensity over oceanic moisture source areas, the increased isotopic fractionation during the ocean-to-land moisture transfer, and the expansion of monsoon realms [e.g., (29)]. All these processes can result in the isotopic depletion of meteoric waters on land. The substantial impact of precipitation isotope composition on 18Oatm has been clearly revealed by the strong similarity between Chinese stalagmite 18O and the DE* (Fig. 4). Furthermore, elevated humidity levels over vegetated areas can decrease the evaporative enrichment of leaf water 18O [e.g., (6)]. Together, the respiratory and the photosynthetic Dole effect of the low latitude both decrease during periods with a strengthened hydrological cycle.

Apparently, our simulation supports the correlation between the tropical hydroclimate and the DE* on orbital time scales. Given its high proportion in the global terrestrial rainfall and its spectral distribution, the tropical hydrological cycle can most likely explain the DE* (fig. S7). In addition to stronger rainfall changes over 0 to 30N than over 0 to 30S, generally stronger continentality and higher altitudes in the Northern Hemisphere can decrease meteoric water 18O values to a greater extent due to the moisture isotopic fractionation along transport paths (2). Therefore, the northern low-latitude Dole effect signal should overwhelm the southern counterpart, and the global DE thus follows the temporal pattern of the Northern Hemisphere summer insolation (Fig. 4).

The obliquity cycle is recognizable in the DE* but nearly undetectable in Chinese stalagmite 18O (Fig. 4D), suggesting that meteoric water 18O is a very important but not the only cause for the DE* as aforementioned. Although terrestrial rainfall changes over northern and southern high latitudes include weak variance in the obliquity bands as shown in our model output (figs. S6 and S9), they unlikely can account for the obliquity cycle of the DE* because of their small contribution to the global terrestrial rainfall (figs. S6). We thus exclude high latitude-sourced causes for the obliquity cycle in the DE*.

In contrast to our transient simulation, some equilibrium simulations have revealed that large obliquity can enhance summer monsoon intensity in both hemispheres, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere [e.g., (30)]. Although it is model dependent, the effect of obliquity has been clearly observed in some regional monsoon reconstructions [e.g., (30)]. Therefore, the obliquity cycle of the DE* can also be interpreted in the context of the low-latitude hydrology. High-obliquity values should correspond to relatively low Dole effect values, as confirmed by our data analysis (fig. S9). To summarize, the hydroclimate over low-latitude vegetated areas should be the only dominant cause for the orbital-scale DE* over the past 800 ka.

Among a few different but interrelated forms of the low-latitude hydrological cycle (e.g., the El NioSouthern Oscillations and the Intertropical Convergence Zone), monsoons are recognized as the most mutable component and represent the dominant mode of annual low-latitude variation (Fig. 1) (1). Moreover, a compilation of geological records has confirmed the coherent variability of regional monsoons across orbital to millennial time scales (Fig. 1) (24). This has further led to an evolving concept, the geological evolution of global monsoon [e.g., (24)]. Because monsoons are viewed as a planetary-scale rather than a regional phenomenon, it would be significant if a common proxy could be found to describe the global monsoon or low-latitude hydrological changes. Because of its global character and strong correlation with simulated tropical rainfall changes (Fig. 4), the DE* is suggested as such a potential proxy on orbital time scales.

The low-latitude hydrological cycle as a whole, as revealed by the DE*, appears to be governed by insolation forcing only. This differs from regional hydroclimate reconstructions, which show substantial response to a set of other factors besides solar insolation, including changing ice volumes, greenhouse gas concentrations, SST, sea-land distribution, and orography (31). Therefore, a global proxy is in favor of going beyond regional character and complexity and is advantageous to identify common and most fundamental mechanisms for the operation of the low-latitude hydroclimate at a large spatial extent.

The idea of questing for a global monsoon proxy is similar to using benthic foraminiferal 18O as an indicator for the global glacial-interglacial cycles. Although regional ice sheets can have different timing of advance and retreat, benthic foraminiferal 18O has been used as a globally integrated proxy to depict the cyclicality, duration, and transition of Quaternary glacial-interglacial climate. Likewise, the DE* may become a benchmark to measure the dynamics of the low-latitude hydrological cycle during the Quaternary.

Paired measurements of planktonic foraminiferal 18O (18Oc) and Mg/Ca-SST with 14C-constrained chronology from 36 cores were compiled to generate a global stack of 18Osurf (Fig. 1, fig. S1, and table S1). We excluded published alkenone-SST reconstructions. Although, in many regions, Mg/Ca-SST and alkenone-SST records are largely consistent on orbital time scales, they show discrepancies on millennial time scales mainly due to their different seasonal preferences (32). 18Oc and Mg/Ca-SST are both sourced from calcareous shells, which can therefore provide more robust reconstructions of 18Osurf than using alkenone-SST. Through applying the Marine13 dataset to recalibrate 14C dates (33), the age model of nearly all records was readjusted. One record was left on its original 14C and ice-core tuned age model (MD97-2120). The time resolution of most reconstructions is <500 years (n = 32), while four other records range between 520 and 580 years. In each core, 18Osurf [, SMOW (Standard Mean Ocean Water)] was calculated by (SST-16.5)/4.8 + 18Oc [, PDB (Pee Dee Belemnite)] + 0.27 (34). An evenly spaced 18Osurf with a resolution of 500 years was further produced by averaging data in 1000-year bins. For stacking, each 18Osurf record was shifted to a mean of zero and combined as unweighted global averages. Last, because only the amplitude of 18Osurf changes is concerned, both 18Osurf stacks produced in this study and by Shakun et al. (11) were shifted with a late Holocene value of zero (Fig. 2). Considered propagating uncertainties of 18Oc and Mg/Ca measurements, the Mg/Ca-SST calibration, and the seawater 18O-paleotemperature equation, the standard error (1) of a single 18Osurf estimate is approximately 0.30 (35). The standard error (1) of the 18Osurf stack is between 0.06 and 0.08, depending on the number of available data points.

The chronology of Chinese stalagmite records was established by radiometric dating, with a typical error of <1 and 1 to 3.5 ka (1), respectively, for the interval 400 to 0 ka BP and 640 to 400 ka BP (18). Age models of marine and ice-core records are basically derived from the astronomical tuning, with an uncertainty less than 4 ka for most periods of the past 800 ka (23, 36, 37). The global stack of 18Osurf (800 to 23.5 ka BP) (11) and the modeled 18Osw (800 to 0 ka BP) (10) are both plotted against the LR04 age model (23). The 18Oatm record is plotted against the AICC2012 age model (36, 37), with that between 640 and 100 ka BP being retuned to the Chinese stalagmite chronology according to the similarity between 18Oatm and stalagmite 18O (17). Applying the AICC2012 age model to the entire 18Oatm record, however, would not change the spectral analysis results of the DE and the DE* and thus the conclusions of this study. Because the 18Oatm record contains strong variance in the precession bands, and the recognition of precession cycles in 18Oatm is additionally constrained by a few discrete absolute dating results (36, 37), the spectral analysis of 18Oatm and the DE* does not seem to be substantially influenced by the tuning method.

We followed the approach of Extier et al. (17). Series of 18Osw, 18Osurf, and 18Oatm were first interpolated to 100-year resolution and then fitted using the Savitzky-Golay algorithm with 31 points at second order. Fitted curves of 18Osw and 18Osurf were extracted from that of 18Oatm, respectively, to calculate the DE and the DE*. Given the standard error of the 18Osurf stack (0.05 to 0.12, 1) [this study, (11)] and the 18Oatm measurement (0.04, 1) (13), the standard error of the DE* was estimated to be around 0.07 to 0.15 (1).

The CCSM3 includes dynamically coupled atmosphere, ocean, land, and sea ice components (38, 39). The atmosphere model has a ~3.75 horizontal resolution (T31, varying from 340 km at the equator to 40 km around Greenland) and 26 hybrid coordinate levels in the vertical. The land model has the same T31 resolution. The ocean model has a 3 horizontal resolution with 25 vertical levels. The resolution of the sea ice model is identical to that of the ocean model, including a subgrid-scale ice thickness distribution.

To distinguish the effect of each forcing on the global climate, three experiments were designed, forced by orbital parameters (Exp_orb), orbital parameters combined with greenhouse gases (Exp_orb+ghg), and orbital parameters combined with greenhouse gases and ice volume (Exp_orb+ghg + ice), respectively (figs. S5 and S7). In the first two experiments, orbital parameters and greenhouse gases were advanced by 100 years at the end of each model year. In the third experiment, the continental ice-sheet volume and the position of coastlines were altered at steps of an equivalent 40-m sea level rise or fall to reconfigure and restart the model. The upper ocean and the atmosphere are considered to reach quasi-equilibrium in these accelerated simulations (40). Annual-mean rainfall changes over lands of six latitude bins, 90N to 60N, 60N to 30N, 30N to 0, 0 to 30S, 30S to 60S, and 60S to 90S, were calculated and shown in this study. Terrestrial rainfall changes in a specific region were represented by their proportion in the global total (Fig. 4 and figs. S6 and S7).

As shown in fig. S5, the orbital and greenhouse gases forcing were reconstructed from Berger (41) and the Antarctic ice core records (42, 43), respectively. Continental ice-volume and sea-level changes were calculated by scaling the ICE-5G ice distributions for the past 21 ka (44) to the globally stacked benthic foraminiferal 18O record (23). A part of simulation results has been published by Lu et al. (45).

We note that the Exp_orb+ghg + ice output contains some suspicious signals, including pulsed changes during the recent three glacial terminations (fig. S7, A and B), and relatively weak terrestrial rainfall during interglacial peaks (MIS 7e, 5e, and 1) over 0 to 30N (fig. S7A). The former is induced by a rapid jump in the ice-volume forcing (fig. S5), and the atmosphere and surface ocean in the model need time to reach quasi-equilibrium. The latter seems to contradict with climate reconstructions, which indicate that interglacial peaks were always characterized by very humid conditions over the Northern Hemisphere tropical lands [e.g., (36)]. In this study, we mainly focus on astronomical cycles of simulation output, which is therefore not subject to these unreal signals.

Acknowledgments: Funding: This research is funded by the National Science Foundation of China (nos. 41776054, 41525020, 91128208, 41606045, and 41976047) and the National Key Research and Development Program (2018YFE0202401). Author contributions: E.H. conceived the study, compiled all data shown in this study, and wrote the manuscript. M.Y. and Y.W. analyzed the CCSM3 simulation results. S.L. generated the global stack of sea surface oxygen isotope record. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Data and materials availability: All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials. Additional data related to this paper may be requested from the authors.

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Dole effect as a measurement of the low-latitude hydrological cycle over the past 800 ka - Science Advances

Unilux unveils UVX portable inspection strobes – Labels and Labeling

Unilux, a stroboscopic inspection lighting specialist has introduced UVX, a new line of portable UV inspection strobes with improved efficiency and optical brighteners allowing defects detection at full production speed.

New UVX inspection strobes excite UV-visible inks and optical brighteners over a wider area, making it easy to spot issues across the entire web width confirming the quality without slowing production. By spreading the usable illumination more evenly, UVX strobes provide a true representation of quality by eliminating hot spots.

Portable LED9 and LED12 UVX strobes provide the ability to inspect anywhere on the press and feature quick-change batteries for added convenience. Stationary LED2000 UV inspection systems provide full-width inspection and feature Smart Assist controls, which allow to daisy-chain multiple units for the simultaneous inspection of standard and UV-visible inks and coatings.

UV LED technology has improved since our award-winning LEDUV inspection strobes, said Mike Simonis, president of Unilux. With UVX, weve leveraged those improvements using experience that only comes from decades of problem solving in security printing, cold seal, and coating to meet customers evolving requirements.

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Unilux unveils UVX portable inspection strobes - Labels and Labeling

Video of the week: laser weapons on sea, land and air – The Engineer

17th September 202011:56 am17th September 202011:58 am

In 2015 The Engineer reported that Lockheed Martin was to manufacture high-powered laser weapons and today we bring you a video from the company highlighting its advances in this field.

According to the company, a range of threats mortar and artillery shells, small UAVs, lightweight ground vehicles and small attack boats can now be defeated from a range of around one mile away.

The Laser Weapon System page of the companys website states: As fibre laser power levels increase, our systems will be able to disable larger threats and do so across greater distances. When operated in conjunction with kinetic energy systems, these systems can serve as a force multiplier.

As the company says, the time for laser weapons systems has come. See for yourself in the video below.

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Video of the week: laser weapons on sea, land and air - The Engineer

Confederate flag could be removed from Williamson County seal and more Nashville news – Community Impact Newspaper

The Williamson County Board of Commissioners met Sept. 14 to hear a recommendation on the county seal. (Screenshot via YouTube)

Read the latest news from the Nashville area.

Williamson County

Williamson County approves recommendation to remove Confederate flag from county seal

Following weeks of debate and seeking community feedback, the Williamson County Board of Commissioners voted 16-7 on Sept. 14 approving a resolution to accept a recommendation to remove the Confederate flag from the county seal.

DATA: See 6 months of tracking COVID-19 in Williamson County

The Tennessee Department of Health releases several data points each day, and with changes in reporting practices in recent weeks, it can be difficult to know what each metric means.

Here is a breakdown of reporting metrics with local data from the last six months.

Williamson County active coronavirus cases remain stable; cases in school-age children up 13% since last week

The number of active coronavirus cases in Williamson County is 407, according to the Sept. 14 update from the Tennessee Department of Health. While this number is up slightly from Sept. 3, when the department changed its reporting practices to account for shorter active case periods, the total is the same as last week.

3 development projects to know in Williamson County

A number of construction projects, including hotels and new schools, are underway in Williamson County, Take a look at a few currently in progress.

Franklin

Robert Blair selected board chair for Franklin Special School District; community members call for former chair to resign

Following the announcement last week that Tim Stillings, a member of the Franklin Special School District board, would not volunteer to serve as board chair this year, FSSD board member Robert Blair was named as the new board chair Sept. 14.

Brentwood

City of Brentwood to conduct smoke testing in residential areas

As part of the city's ongoing work to improve its sewer system, the city of Brentwood will be conducting smoke testing over the next few weeks in some Brentwood neighborhoods.

Wendy Sturges contributed to this report.

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Confederate flag could be removed from Williamson County seal and more Nashville news - Community Impact Newspaper

Third attempt to build 150 homes on Chester flood risk area branded ‘nonsense’ – Cheshire Live

A third application to build up to 150 homes in Chester has been lodged with Cheshire West & Chester Council.

For the third time in five years an application to build on land adjacent to Clifton Drive playing fields off Sealand Road has been submitted despite the previous two attempts being unanimously rejected.

The latest application is being submitted by the administrators of former applicant Sealand Commercial Properties Limited (SCP), with Smith & Williamson looking to try and recoup some money by making a last ditch attempt to get the green light.

The plans submitted are for 150 homes with the demolition of four properties on Sealand Road to create access.

The issue over Clifton Drive and the land for the proposed development opposite has rumbled on for a number of years, the previous applications rejected owing to the land being designated a Category Three flood area, one that comes with a very high risk.

In 2015 a bid was submitted for the site by Bloor Homes and SCP before another arrived a little over 12 months when Guernsey-based Astu, again in partnership with SCP, had their application for 280 residential units rejected.

Andy Scargill, chairman of the Friends of Countess of Chester Country Park, has campaigned on the issue in the past and believes this latest attempt to be 'total nonsense'.

"Back in 2012 the old Chester City Council had a report commissioned on the flood plain area that these plans are looking to build on and in each scenario that was modelled the area flooded," Mr Scargill told CheshireLive.

"If the embankment goes then it would be very serious and there would be a huge issue with regards to flooding.

"The administrators on this occasion are obviously trying to recoup what they can so are dipping their toe into the water with this plan again, possibly in the hope that Brexit and COVID-19 will have people distracted enough for them to get outline planning, which is all they really need for the land to be of real value.

"I don't blame them, they are clawing back cash for people who have lost a lot, but my own personal view is that it is total nonsense.

"I'm angry and amused at the same time that someone would consider such a move at such a time like we are currently experiencing.

"I've said it before now but speculators don't care about Chester, they are not from the area and care about the profit and not about what is best for the city and its residents."

Back in February 2018 planning consent was given to Bark Street Investments for 142 homes on the Clifton Drive playing fields site opposite, land which the University of Chester still own the leasehold of.

Find out what's being built in your area by entering your postcode below.

That application was initially rejected before being overturned in 2016 by the High Court, an inquiry opened by the Secretary of State who upheld the decision.

But the land still remains undeveloped.

"When Clifton Drive got planning permission I felt like throwing in the towel," said Mr Scargill.

"The Local Plan had enough housing for 25 years so there was no need for such a development to be pushed through. For a Planning Inspector to say yes to it I found staggering.

"It is land that should never be built upon."

The deadline for comments on the proposals is Friday, September 25.

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Third attempt to build 150 homes on Chester flood risk area branded 'nonsense' - Cheshire Live

Here’s Why Sealand Capital Shares Surged 45% Today – AskTraders

Shares of Sealand Capital Galaxy Ltd (LON: SCGL) today surged 57.1% despite the company not making any big announcements as investors bought the companys shares causing its share price to rise.

The last significant announcement form the company was on September 1st when it announced the introduction of the Qiaohuajiao brand of fish maw into mainland China and the brand recognition that it had built since the summer.

The companys marketing efforts had paid off immensely since introducing the fish into the market on 8 July 2020.

Sealand Capital describes itself as a company that provides financial and strategic support to entrepreneurs and this is clear from its partnerships with WeChat and Tencent to provide seamless services in HongKong and across the world.

The companys shares are trading near its all-time lows and may present an excellent opportunity for long-term investors and medium-term swing traders in equal measure.

Sealand Capital share price

Sealand Capital shares today rallied 57.1% to trade at 2.20p having risen from Thursdays closing price of 1.40p.

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Here's Why Sealand Capital Shares Surged 45% Today - AskTraders

Hundreds break covid rules to watch ‘illegal street race’ over the border – North Wales Live

This video shows hundreds of people gathering along a road to allegedly watch an "illegal street race."

The footage from a dashcam belonging to Tom Jones shows crowds of onlookers lining the streets as cars whizz by in the opposite direction.

It was captured last night as Mr Jones drove along Bumper's Lane in Chester near Sealand Industrial Estate which is close to the border, reports Cheshire Live.

New covid rules in England mean outdoor gatherings of more than six people are illegal.

The incident has been reported to Cheshire Police.

Tom said: "The council have spent a lot of money resurfacing this road only for it to be abused by these idiots. Not only that but an illegal gathering for covid too.

"I have heard car racing nights in the past often on late Sunday evenings and wondered where it came from. Now I know."

Cheshire Constabulary define "street racing" as illegal racing of any kind of vehicle on a public road.

The only time street racing is permitted is when the organiser has obtained prior permission from the police as part of an organised event.

Cheshire Live has approached Cheshire Constabulary for comment.

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Hundreds break covid rules to watch 'illegal street race' over the border - North Wales Live

Artist creates giant image of seal and her pup using natural contours of an iconic beach – Yahoo News UK

The Telegraph

Coronavirus was not the main cause of death for nearly one third of recorded Covid-19 victims in July and August, research by Oxford University has found. Analysis shows that around 30 percent of people included in the coronavirus death toll by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) over the summer months had died primarily from other conditions. It means someone who suffered a heart attack, or even died in a road traffic accident, may have been included in the figures if they had also tested positive for coronavirus at some point, or if doctors believed the virus may have exacerbated their condition. Throughout the entire pandemic, around one in 13 people currently classed as Covid-19 victims did not have the disease as an underlying cause of death. It means 3,877 deaths (7.8 per cent) in which coronavirus was not the primary cause have been included in the figures. In July and August, that number jumped to 28.8 per cent of all registered deaths, meaning Covid-19 was not the main cause of death in 465 of 1,617 recorded victims (listen to the podcast below, which discusses whether Britain's death toll could be set to increase again).

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Artist creates giant image of seal and her pup using natural contours of an iconic beach - Yahoo News UK

Ministry hopes restored cave will attract seals, bats – Cyprus Mail

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Ministry hopes restored cave will attract seals, bats - Cyprus Mail

Despair in Lebanon pushing some to flee to Europe in boats – CTV News

TRIPOLI, LEBANON -- Mohammed Sufian did not dream of much: a job, food on the table, the chance to buy his 2 1/2-year-old son the little things a toddler wants.

So when he heard that smugglers were taking people from his hometown of Tripoli to the nearby Mediterranean island of Cyprus, he decided to take the chance with his pregnant wife and child. To pay their way, he sold his furniture and two of his sister's bracelets.

They boarded a small fishing boat with the others. But what would be expected to be a 40-hour trip went badly: For eight harrowing days, they were stranded in the Mediterranean Sea, apparently losing their way and running out of diesel. At least four adults and two children died -- including Sufian's little boy. Six are missing.

"I took my son with me not to give him a high life, not to give him the life of rich people," said Sufian, 21. "I was trying to give him a good life where if he will ask me for a potato chip bag or a juice box I am able to give it to him. This is what drove me out of the country."

In recent weeks, scores of others have tried to make the same illicit sea crossing, attempting to flee a country facing multiple crises and an unprecedented economic and financial collapse.

Generations of Lebanese have emigrated due to war and conflict, including waves of Lebanese who travelled by boat legally to Cyprus during the country's 1975-90 war. But this new flight -- people risking their lives to make illegal crossings in rickety fishing boats to escape poverty -- reflects a level of desperation the country has not seen before.

Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs in the past months. The local currency has lost 80% of its value, eradicating the purchasing power of many in this tiny country of 5 million where corruption and mismanagement are widespread. Unemployment has reached a soaring 35% and poverty is skyrocketing.

The crisis has been worsened by the coronavirus pandemic and last month's massive explosion at Beirut port which fed despair among a population that has long given up on its leaders.

Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, had been one of the poorest and most neglected regions even before the crisis. The city is also home to tens of thousands of Syrians who fled civil war in their country that broke out in March 2011. Many of those taking the boats have been Syrian refugees.

Earlier this month, authorities in Cyprus said they were alarmed by the arrival of four boats carrying Syrian and Lebanese migrants in waters off its coastline. European Union member Cyprus and Lebanon have an agreement to prevent migrants from reaching the island nation.

The boat carrying Sufian's family and 46 other men, women and children, mostly Lebanese and Syrians, left Tripoli on Sept. 7. Each had paid the smuggler the equivalent of up to $930 in Lebanese pounds.

Upon boarding, all their belongings, including food and water, were taken away -- ostensibly, they were too heavy. All would be returned, brought to them by another boat once they are away from Lebanon's coast, they were told.

They never got them back, and were left under the scorching sun, without water or food.

Sufian said that 20 hours after they sailed, his son began asking for water and milk. Having nothing to give and overcome by the heat and his own worry, Sufian fainted, he says. When he woke up, Sufian found that his relatives had given the boy three bottles of sea water.

"My son died later because of lack of food and water," Sufian said. He washed his son and followed the Islamic tradition of covering him with a cloth. Three days later, he dropped the body into the sea, thinking they might never make it back to land.

Sufian said several ships passed the stranded boat but no one helped, perhaps because they feared pirates. After six deaths, a half-dozen men leapt into the sea to seek help.

Ibrahim Lisheen, a 22-year-old migrant, swam for hours. Finally, he reached a warship for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL; its crew rescued those remaining on the boat. They were offered treatment and handed over to Lebanese authorities in Beirut.

Late Thursday, the body of a young man believed to have been on the ship washed up on the coast south of Beirut. Six are still missing, among them Mohammed Mohammed, 27, who left Lebanon to help his parents and seven sisters.

His father, Khaldoun, says his son had been jobless for years after he lost his job at a shop that sells fire extinguishers; he grew tired of taking "money from me to buy cigarettes," and decided to join cousins who were making the crossing. Mohammed had sold his sister's neckless to pay the smugglers.

The two men who took the money and put the migrants on the fishing boat are in hiding and families are demanding that they be punished.

Mohammed's mother, Afaf Abdul-Hamid, goes to the coast of Tripoli every day, hoping that her son will swim home. "These are human traffickers. They took my son to the middle of the sea and left him there with no food or water."

Lisheen, whose heroics led to the rescue, is furious. "Look at my body, it was eaten by fish. My body is swollen, my teeth were broken due to the salty water and I lost a lot of things," he said, as friends massaged his body with Aloe Vera to alleviate his sunburn.

Why did he take the risk? "I did that because of poverty, it makes us blind," he said. "To those who are asking me why you are leaving, I am telling them why, I am leaving in order to feed my family, my mother."

Sufian and his wife, expected to give birth in two months, live with their sorrow. And the grieving father relives, again and again, the moment when his dreams of a better life for his family became a nightmare.

"My son died due to thirst, I shrouded him with my hands, I washed him with my hands and with my hands I dropped him in the water after three days, because I lost hope."

------

Associated Press writers Zeina Karam and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

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Despair in Lebanon pushing some to flee to Europe in boats - CTV News

Can we just drown our carbon emissions in the ocean? – Grist

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Q. Dear Umbra,

Is there a maximum amount of CO2 that the ocean can absorb? What will be the effects should this happen?

Some Questions Underestimate Imminent Doom

A. Dear SQUID,

Once you learn how many of the various expressions of climate change drought, hurricanes, even wildfires have to do with fluctuations in the ocean, its hard to stop thinking about it. We land-dwellers tend to think of the ocean as this distant, mysterious, separate place. And while the vast majority of it is certainly distant and mysterious, its not separate at all! Marine flora produce more than half of the oxygen humans breathe, ocean currents determine how weather systems move and develop, and sometimes if youre lucky enough to be near a shoreline at the right time, you can see a seal and thats always incredible!

Help Grist raise $20,000 by 9/30. Just click the image above

But understanding marine fluctuations and their effects on dry land requires some grasp of several scientific concepts that, if youre anything like me, you havent thought about since high school. (Dont worry I made sure to consult actual experts on ocean chemistry for this column rather than rely solely on my own understanding of air-sea gas exchange.) And not to spoil the ending, but you dont want the ocean to absorb too much of the carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere. (Like, for example, everything thats coming out of the Western wildfires. Yikes.)

Lets start by talking about the concept of a carbon sink basically a natural or artificial reservoir that stores carbon rather than letting it cray all around in the atmosphere. You can find carbon sinks in lots of different ecosystems; they include peat bogs, grasslands, and mangroves. But the ocean is the planets biggest carbon sink by far. Scientists estimate that the ocean absorbs at least a quarter and perhaps as much as half! of all human activity-produced CO2 every year.

Heres how it works: The surface of the ocean and the air above exchange molecules all the time; that explains both how we end up with bits of microplastics in ocean air (not nice) and how carbon dioxide gets pulled out of the atmosphere (nice!). Where does all that marine carbon go? Some of it gets converted into biomass by underwater critters that consider it a delicious, nourishing treat.

There are a bunch of organisms at the sunlit surface level of the ocean kelp! Phytoplankton! Blue-green algae! that convert carbon into sugar via photosynthesis. That sustenance then gets passed along the food chain. The carbon that gets processed out as waste then sinks to the depths of the ocean where ocean scientists like to refer to it as marine snow. Whatever snow isnt consumed ends up as a thick blanket of ooze (NOAAs words, not mine) that makes up about 75 percent of the ocean floor. Meanwhile, the oceans surface is free to absorb more carbon and start the process all over again. James Bishop, a marine chemist who studies the ocean carbon cycle, refers to this process as the biological carbon pump of the ocean.

But carbon dioxide doesnt just get gobbled up by marine plants. It also dissolves in seawater, forming carbonic acid. This weak acid then dissociates relatable! into ions that can throw off the pH of the ocean, with disastrous results. You might know this phenomenon as ocean acidification. Since the Industrial Revolution, the pH of the ocean, which is naturally slightly basic (not in a pumpkin spice way), has shifted from around 8.2 to a pH of 8.1. That might not sound like much, but its very bad news for anything with a skeleton or shell made of calcium carbonate like corals, for example. Those structures can end up weakened or, in the worst cases, straight-up dissolved.

The weaker the organisms that make up the various stages of that carbon pump become, the less the ocean will be able to uptake and store all the extra carbon dioxide were dumping into the atmosphere. Theres also the fun extra factor that as the planet gets hotter, the ocean absorbs a lot of that heat. Warmer water throws off the balance of marine ecosystems as well as messing with the oceans all-important carbon pump. So, unlike a potential matchs dating history, you cant really use past behavior to predict how the oceans carbon cycle will treat us in the future.

We are already adding carbon dioxide at a rate at least 10 times higher than ever observed in the geological record, which spans at least 100 million years, Bishop said. So we dont know what the trajectory of this biological carbon pump is; we dont know who the winners and losers are going to be. Were already in dangerous territory, and yes, we could still do more damage.

I get the sense that youre trying to suss out whether the ocean can act as a sort of repository for all our climate sins. Well, thats been researched! There is another way that you can take carbon dioxide out of the air and stick it into the ocean, but its kind of the geoengineering equivalent of putting all your dirty clothes under your bed and pretending you never have to do laundry again! In the early 2000s, some scientists got together to study what might happen if you pumped carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the deep ocean via pipelines.

There are a lot of issues with this idea, as you might imagine: Its very expensive; it technically violates international conventions that make it illegal for countries to dump their trash into the ocean; and, well, if the ocean is already acidifying it isnt a great idea to dump more CO2 into it, even at its deepest, darkest levels. In fact, the concept of ocean acidification first came to light when the Department of Energy was doing lab experiments to study the possible impacts of deep-sea carbon injection.

I think that very few people are any longer proposing just to inject molecular carbon dioxide into the deep ocean, said Ken Caldeira, an atmospheric scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Science. I think the general feeling is though, yeah, it would kinda sorta work, there must be something better to do than that.

And in the end, Caldeira added: Theres no limit to how much carbon dioxide you could put in the deep ocean, but it wont stay there and it will come out and warm things up. Because the barrier between land and sea is actually very, very thin!

But just because we cant use the ocean as our unlimited carbon hiding spot doesnt mean its all over: Since the whole problem is atmosphere-warming greenhouse gas emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels, companies and governments could devote more effort to figuring out how to not burn fossil fuels. Rather than crossing our fingers and saying a prayer while sticking the byproducts of that fossil fuel-burning into the deepest crevices of the oceans, why not just turn off the carbon tap?

The ocean can hold a lot of our mistakes, but eventually its going to make us pay for them unless we change our ways.

Forebodingly,

Umbra

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Can we just drown our carbon emissions in the ocean? - Grist

The full list of North Wales schools which have reported coronavirus cases – North Wales Live

Schools across North Wales have been disrupted as a result of positive coronavirus cases.

As pupils return to classrooms this month, a number of schools have had to take action as a result of Covid-19 cases among pupils and staff.

The cases have led to large groups of pupils having to isolate, and partial closures of some sections of schools.

The Welsh Government previously warned parents to expect "periods of disruption" in schools across North Wales amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

In an interview with North Wales Live, Welsh Government education minister Kirsty Williams said schools had worked hard planning for the reopening, which had been "mostly successful".

But there were still new cases of coronavirus and it was a reminder for people to follow the rules and practice hand hygiene and socially distance, she said.

Anglesey

Three schools on Anglesey have reported a positive case so far.

Last week, parents and staff at Ysgol Corn Hir, in Llangefni were informed of the positive case and relevant staff and pupils were told to self-isolate for 14 days.

Today (September 15) the local authority have confirmed that one pupil attending Ysgol y Borth, in Menai Bridge, and one pupil attending Ysgol Llanfechell have tested positive for coronavirus.

Anglesey Council said their thoughts were with the pupils who have tested positive for the virus.

Gwynedd

A pupil has tested positive for coronavirus at Ysgol yr Hendre in Caernarfon.

The council stressed staff had been "following a stringent hygiene process and will continue to do so" and that parents had been informed "as quickly as possible".

Two reception classes will be closed until September 28 but the rest of the school will remain open as usual, the council confirmed.

It has also been confirmed that two kitchen staff members at Ysgol Friars in Bangor tested positive for coronavirus.

The school sent out an email last week informing parents that the canteen would be closed due to "unforeseen circumstances".

Parents were told to provide packed lunches for their children, but say the school did not tell them the reason why until around 11am on last Monday (September 7).

Conwy

A coronavirus case was confirmed in a student at Grwp Llandrillo Menai 's Abergele campus.

The organisation confirmed people in the same class were being taught online for two weeks after the case was confirmed on September 8.

The campus remains open to other students.

Ysgol Nant Y Groes in Colwyn Bay confirmed on Friday, September 18 that a pupil at the school had tested positive for coronavirus.

Pupils in the "DRUM, HEBOG and TAL Y FAN" classes at the school have been asked to keep their children home "until further notice".

Denbighshire

In Denbighshire, 30 pupils went into self-isolation after a case was reported at Ysgol Frongoch on Rhyl Road, Denbigh.

Denbighshire County Council's lead member for education said the school and the local authority were working with Test, Trace and Protect teams and "following Welsh Government guidelines" to contain the virus.

All other classes at the site will continue as normal and and the area has been subject to a deep clean.

Flintshire

Five primary schools in Flintshire have been hit by positive cases this week.

On Monday, the council confirmed that there had been a positive case at St John the Baptist VA School in Penymynydd, Flintshire, with pupils in Year 4 being told to isolate.

On Tuesday, they confirmed that there had been a positive case at Ewloe Green Primary School and pupils in Year 3 at the school were now being asked to quarantine.

And on the same day, they said a positive case had impacted pupils at Saltney Wood Memorial Primary School in Flintshire.

Pupils in year 5 and 6 were being asked to isolate.

On Wednesday, it was confirmed that there has been a confirmed case at Sandycroft CP School.

Pupils in Year 3 and 4 at the school are being asked to self isolate and the school remains open to other pupils.

On Thursday, there was a confirmed case at Sealand County Primary School meaning pupils and staff in Year 4 had to self isolate.

There was also a case of a Year 7 pupil at Castell Alun High School in Hope who tested positive.

Coleg Cambria, which has sites in Flintshire and Wrexham, also confirmed that a small number of students had been self isolating due to a suspected case.

They did not say which specific site the case related to.

Wrexham

A primary school in Wrexham was closed for a short period after a member of staff tested positive for coronavirus.

St Christopher's School shut for a short period on September 7, and described the case as an "isolated incident".

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The full list of North Wales schools which have reported coronavirus cases - North Wales Live