DUBAI: Ancient images carved into stone at an archaeological site in Turkey tell the story of the comet that triggered a small-scale ice age more than 13,000 years ago, scientists at the University of Edinburgh revealed this week in the Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry publication.
The researchers said that carvings on a rock called the Vulture Stone suggest that a collection of comet fragments hit the Earth leading to human disaster around 11000 BC.
The carving of a headless man is believed to symbolize the extensive loss of life and it is reported that the event, which wiped out woolly mammoths, helped to spark the rise of human civilization on Earth.
For decades, scientists speculated that a comet could have caused the drop in temperature that occurred during a period known as the Younger Dryas.
This period is crucial in the history of humanity as it is pinpointed as the era during which agricultural practices began and the first Neolithic civilizations made their mark.
Before the comet strike, vast swathes of wild wheat and barley had allowed nomadic hunters in the Middle East to set up base camps. However, the icy conditions that followed caused communities to work together in the fight to maintain crops which led to the rise of communal farming and the first towns.
The Telegraph reports that experts analyzed symbols carved onto stone at Gobekli Tepe in southern Turkey in a bid to find out if they could be linked to constellations.
The scientists interpreted the animals in the carvings as astronomical symbols and matched their positions to patterns of stars using computer software, leading researchers to date the event to 10,950BC.
Ancient Turkey carvings show how comet struck Earth, sparking rise of civilization
Ancient Turkey carvings show how comet struck Earth, sparking rise of civilization
Climate change takes spice from Indonesia clove farms
- Colonial powers once sought to wipe out cloves grown by locals on the eastern Indonesian island of Ternate to safeguard their monopoly over the prized crop
TERNATE: Colonial powers once sought to wipe out cloves grown by locals on the eastern Indonesian island of Ternate to safeguard their monopoly over the prized crop. Today farmers say the gravest threat to their plants is climate change.
“Today... rainfall is high. It’s okay for planting, but it’s uncertain for harvesting. It’s often unpredictable,” farmer Jauhar Mahmud, 61, told AFP.
Nestled on the fertile foothills of Indonesia’s Mount Gamalama volcano, Jauhar proudly shows off his favorite clove tree, which once reliably delivered profitable produce.
The fragrant flower buds that form the spice can only deliver their prized smell and taste in specific temperature and humidity ranges.
In a good season, the best of Jauhar’s 150 towering trunks can spurt 30 kilogrammes of the aromatic spice used for medicine, perfumes, cigarettes and food flavourings.
But bad weather is becoming more frequent, causing uncertainty that makes prices fluctuate from $5.30 to $7.40 per kilogramme and life increasingly tough for farmers.
Food and Agriculture Organization data from the past two decades shows Indonesia’s clove yields vary significantly, more than rival producers. The yield in 2023, the last year data is available, was almost a quarter lower than a 2010 peak.
“We’re actually losing money. Cloves do not bear fruit every year. They depend on the season,” said Jauhar, who represents 36 clove farmers on the island.
Many are taking on other jobs as yields that typically arrive in August and September dwindle.
Jauhar sells spice-infused drinks and bamboo on the side to make ends meet, and some are considering abandoning the crop altogether.
“Farmers are now reluctant to harvest because of the high cost and minimal return,” he said.
Indonesia accounts for more than two-thirds of global clove production, according to the FAO, though the majority is consumed domestically.
Since 2020, it has fallen behind Madagascar as the world’s top exporter of the spice, World Bank trade data shows.
Centuries ago, Ternate’s farmers defied colonial orders to eradicate their clove production by planting out of sight of the Dutch.
The island’s then-favorable climate kept the crop alive.
Clove trees can take more than a decade to mature, and flowers can only be harvested in a small window that depends heavily on weather conditions.
But climate change caused mainly by burning fossil fuels like coal has changed global weather patterns.
Ternate is drier overall, but when rain does come, it is often in intense, damaging bursts.
That is consistent with broader trends linked to climate change. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, and rain can fall erratically and in large amounts when it comes.
Farmers like Lakina, who owns 10 clove trees, say the crop no longer offers the same returns.
“In the past, I could get five to six sacks in one harvest,” said the 52-year-old. Now she fills two to three sacks, she said.
The changing weather affects other aspects of the trade.
Imba, a 62-year-old clove farmer with 70 trees, says it used to take three-and-a-half days to dry the cloves, but “because of the rain” it now takes at least five days.
Scientific research bears out the farmers’ observations.
In 2023, researchers at Indonesia’s University of Pattimura found clove yields were falling on Haruku island south of Ternate.
They said rainfall increased 15 percent in recent decades, along with extreme weather events that harm crops.
It has left clove farmers struggling.
“Communities living in coastal areas and small islands are especially vulnerable,” said Arie Rompas, Greenpeace’s forest campaign team leader.
“The productivity of their precious clove and nutmeg trees is dropping, and they are facing post-harvest problems with increased heat and humidity.”
At a spice sorting shop, the pungent warm smell of clove fills the air as workers scoop a pile into bags for weighing.
The men send them off to a warehouse where a mechanical sorting tray shakes the cloves, removing dirt and unwanted foliage before export to China.
For these clove sellers, climate change means lower quality and falling prices.
“If it’s too hot, the crop is no good. Too much rain, no crop. This year there was too much rain,” said supplier Rumen The.
He says prices almost halved from the start of last year from 150,000 rupiah per kilogramme to 80,000 in the harvest season, but were back up to 115,000 today as supply dwindled.
Production “is probably 30 to 40 percent” down on recent years, he added.
Jauhur urges rich spice-importing countries “to think about global climate issues” that threaten its future.
Despite the challenges, he says there are powerful “historical and emotional reasons” to continue farming.
“Our parents maintained cloves in clove’s oldest region in the world,” he said.
“They planted... to bring pride to future generations.”
From the longest conclave to anti-popes: 10 fun facts about the secret voting to elect a pope
- The periodic voting to elect a new pope has been going on for centuries and created a whole genre of historical trivia
- The last time a pope was elected who was not a cardinal was Urban VI in 1378
VATICAN CITY: “Conclave,” the movie, may have introduced movie-goers to the spectacular ritual and drama of a modern conclave, but the periodic voting to elect a new pope has been going on for centuries and created a whole genre of historical trivia.
Here are some fun facts about conclaves past, derived from historical studies including Miles Pattenden’s “Electing the Pope in Early Modern Italy, 1450–1700” and interviews with experts including Elena Cangiano, an archaeologist at Viterbo’s Palazzo dei Papi (Palace of the Popes).
The longest conclave in history
In the 13th century, it took almost three years – 1,006 days to be exact – to choose Pope Clement IV’s successor, making it the longest conclave in the Catholic Church’s history. It’s also where the term conclave comes from – “under lock and key,” because the cardinals who were meeting in Viterbo, north of Rome, took so long the town’s frustrated citizens locked them in the room.
The secret vote that elected Pope Gregory X lasted from November 1268 to September 1271. It was the first example of a papal election by “compromise,” after a long struggle between supporters of two main geopolitical medieval factions – those faithful to the papacy and those supporting the Holy Roman Empire.
‘One meal a day’ rule
Gregory X was elected only after Viterbo residents tore the roof off the building where the prelates were staying and restricted their meals to bread and water to pressure them to come to a conclusion. Hoping to avoid a repeat, Gregory X decreed in 1274 that cardinals would only get “one meal a day” if the conclave stretched beyond three days, and only “bread, water and wine” if it went beyond eight. That restriction has been dropped.
The shortest conclave ever
Before 1274, there were times when a pope was elected the same day as the death of his predecessor. After that, however, the church decided to wait at least 10 days before the first vote. Later that was extended to 15 days to give all cardinals time to get to Rome. The quickest conclave observing the 10-day wait rule appears to have been the 1503 election of Pope Julius II, who was elected in just a few hours, according to Vatican historian Ambrogio Piazzoni. In more recent times, Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on the fifth ballot, Benedict XVI won in 2005 on the fourth and Pope Pius XII won on the third in 1939.
The first conclave in the Sistine Chapel
The first conclave held under Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling in the Sistine Chapel was in 1492. Since 1878, the world-renowned chapel has become the venue of all conclaves. “Everything is conducive to an awareness of the presence of God, in whose sight each person will one day be judged,” St. John Paul II wrote in his 1996 document regulating the conclave, “Universi Dominici Gregis.” The cardinals sleep a short distance away in the nearby Domus Santa Marta hotel or a nearby residence.
The alternative locations
Most conclaves were held in Rome, with some taking place outside the Vatican walls. Four were held in the Pauline Chapel of the papal residence at the Quirinale Palace, while some 30 others were held in St. John Lateran Basilica, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva or other places in Rome. On 15 occasions they took place outside Rome and the Vatican altogether, including in Viterbo, Perugia, Arezzo and Venice in Italy, and Konstanz, Germany and Lyon, France.
The alternative popes, or anti-popes
Between 1378-1417, referred by historians to as the Western Schism, there were rival claimants to the title of pope. The schism produced multiple papal contenders, the so-called anti-popes, splitting the Catholic Church for nearly 40 years. The most prominent anti-popes during the Western Schism were Clement VII, Benedict XIII, Alexander V, and John XXIII. The schism was ultimately resolved by the Council of Constance in 1417, which led to the election of Martin V, a universally accepted pontiff.
A challenge to personal hygiene
The cloistered nature of the conclave posed another challenge for cardinals: staying healthy. Before the Domus Santa Marta guest-house was built in 1996, cardinal electors slept on cots in rooms connected to the Sistine Chapel. Conclaves in the 16th and 17th centuries were described as “disgusting” and “badly smelling,” with concern about disease outbreaks, particularly in summer, according to historian Miles Pattenden. “The cardinals simply had to have a more regular and comfortable way of living because they were old men, many of them with quite advanced disease,” Pattenden wrote. The enclosed space and lack of ventilation further aggravated these issues. Some of the electors left the conclave sick, often seriously.
Vow of secrecy
Initially, papal elections weren’t as secretive but concerns about political interference soared during the longest conclave in Viterbo. Gregory X decreed that cardinal electors should be locked in seclusion, “cum clave” (with a key), until a new pope was chosen. The purpose was to create a totally secluded environment where the cardinals could focus on their task, guided by God’s will, without any political interference or distractions. Over the centuries, various popes have modified and reinforced the rules surrounding the conclave, emphasizing the importance of secrecy.
Youngest pope, oldest pope
Pope John XII was just 18 when he was elected in 955. The oldest popes were Pope Celestine III (elected in 1191) and Celestine V (elected in 1294) who were both nearly 85. Benedict XVI was 78 when he was elected in 2005.
A non-cardinal pope and non-Italian pope
There is no requirement that a pope be a cardinal, but that has been the case for centuries. The last time a pope was elected who wasn’t a cardinal was Urban VI in 1378. He was a monk and archbishop of Bari. While the Italians have had a stranglehold on the papacy over centuries, there have been many exceptions aside from John Paul II (Polish in 1978) and Benedict XVI (German in 2005) and Francis (Argentine in 2013). Alexander VI, elected in 1492, was Spanish; Gregory III, elected in 731, was Syrian; Adrian VI, elected in 1522, was from the Netherlands.
Cha-ching! Millions of dimes spill onto Texas highway after truck rolls
- Tractor-trailer involved in the accident was loaded with 8 million ten-cent coins
ALVORD, Texas: Talk about some serious coin.
Millions of coins spilled onto a Texas highway this week after a tractor-trailer hauling $800,000 in dimes rolled over in an accident, authorities said.
The spillage led to the closure of a portion of the southbound lanes of US 287 in Alvord for about half a day as workers got on their hands and knees to pick up the coins in addition to using brooms and shovels and large industrial vacuums.
The tractor-trailer rolled onto its side at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday after veering off the road and overcorrecting, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The highway reopened at about 7 p.m. that day, DPS said.
The driver and a passenger were transported to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, DPS said.
Alvord is located about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Dallas.
The tractor-trailer appears to be part of the fleet of trucks operated by Western Distributing Transportation Corporation, which has a division that moves cargo for the government in armored vehicles with armed personnel. A person answering the phone at the company Thursday said they had no comment.
The US Mint says on its website that it’s the nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coins. A message left with the agency on Thursday was not immediately returned.
India probes snake in school lunch after 100 children fall sick
- The meal was served last week in a government-run school in the city of Mokama in Bihar
- The incident sparked angry demonstrations from the children’s families
NEW DELHI: India’s human rights body said Thursday it was investigating reports more than 100 children fell sick after eating a school lunch served after a dead snake was found in the food.
“Reportedly, the cook served the food to the children after removing a dead snake from it,” the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said in a statement.
The meal was served last week in a government-run school in the city of Mokama in Bihar, one of India’s poorest states, it said.
The commission demanded local government officials and police investigate media reports that “more than 100 children fell ill” after eating the school lunch.
The incident sparked angry demonstrations from the children’s families.
“The news about the children falling ill, due to the consumption of the midday meal, led to the blocking of the road by the protesting villagers,” it said.
Free lunches are offered to millions of children in government schools throughout India, seen by authorities as a way to encourage children to continue their education.
The commission said it demanded a “detailed report” from senior state officials and the police, to include “the health status of the children.”
It said the report, if confirmed, poses the “serious issue of violation of the human rights of the students,” the statement added.
In 2013, 23 schoolchildren died after being served a meal laced with pesticides in Saran district of Bihar. The disaster prompted the government to improve food safety in schools.
Hawaii plans to increase hotel tax to help it cope with climate change
- State leaders say they will use the funds for projects to cope with a warming planet
- Officials estimate the increase would generate $100 million in new revenue annually
HONOLULU: In a first-of-its kind move, Hawaii lawmakers are ready to hike a tax imposed on travelers staying in hotels, vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations and earmark the new money for programs to cope with a warming planet.
State leaders say they’ll use the funds for projects like replenishing sand on eroding beaches, helping homeowners install hurricane clips on their roofs and removing invasive grasses like those that fueled the deadly wildfire that destroyed Lahaina two years ago.
A bill scheduled for House and Senate votes on Wednesday would add an additional 0.75 percent to the daily room rate tax starting Jan. 1. It’s all but certain to pass given Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers and party leaders have agreed on the measure. Gov. Josh Green has said he would sign it into law.
Officials estimate the increase would generate $100 million in new revenue annually.
“We had a $13 billion tragedy in Maui and we lost 102 people. These kinds of dollars will help us prevent that next disaster,” Green said in an interview.
Green said Hawaii was the first state in the nation to do something along these lines. Andrey Yushkov, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization, said he was unaware of any other state that has set aside lodging tax revenue for the purposes of environmental protection or climate change.
Adding to an already hefty tax
The increase will add to what is already a relatively large duty on short-term stays. The state’s existing 10.25 percent tax on daily room rates would climb to 11 percent. In addition, Hawaii’s counties each add their own 3 percent surcharge and the state and counties impose a combined 4.712 percent general excise tax on goods and services including hotel rooms. Together, that will make for a tax rate of nearly 19 percent.
The only large US cities that have higher cumulative state and local lodging tax rates are Omaha, Nebraska, at 20.5 percent, and Cincinnati, at 19.3 percent, according to a 2024 report by HVS, a global hospitality consulting firm.
The governor has long said the 10 million visitors who come to Hawaii each year should help the state’s 1.4 million residents protect the environment.
Green believes travelers will be willing to pay the increased tax because doing so will enable Hawaii to “keep the beaches perfect” and preserve favorite spots like Maui’s road to Hana and the coastline along Oahu’s North Shore. After the Maui wildfire, Green said he heard from thousands of people across the country asking how they could help. This is a significant way they can, he said.
Hotel industry has mixed feelings
Jerry Gibson, president of the Hawaii Hotel Alliance, which represents the state’s hotel operators, said the industry was pleased lawmakers didn’t adopt a higher increase that was initially proposed.
“I don’t think that there’s anybody in the tourism industry that says, ‘Well, let’s go out and tax more.’ No one wants to see that,” Gibson said. “But our state, at the same time, needs money.”
The silver lining, Gibson said, is that the money is supposed to beautify Hawaii’s environment. It will be worth it if that’s the case, he said.
Hawaii has long struggled to pay for the vast environmental and conservation needs of the islands, ranging from protecting coral reefs to weeding invasive plants to making sure tourists don’t harass wildlife, such as Hawaiian monk seals. The state must also maintain a large network of trails, many of which have heavier foot traffic as more travelers choose to hike on vacation.
Two years ago, lawmakers considered requiring tourists to pay for a yearlong license or pass to visit state parks and trails. Green wanted to have all visitors pay a $50 fee to enter the state, an idea lawmakers said would violate US constitutional protections for free travel.
Boosting the lodging tax is their compromise solution, one made more urgent by the Maui wildfires.
A large funding gap
An advocacy group, Care for Aina Now, calculated a $561 million gap between Hawaii’s conservation funding needs and money spent each year.
Green acknowledged the revenue from the tax increase falls short of this, but said the state would issue bonds to leverage the money it raises. Most of the $100 million would go toward measures that can be handled in a one-to-two year time frame, while $10 to $15 million of it would pay for bonds supporting long-term infrastructure projects.
Kāwika Riley, a member of the governor’s Climate Advisory Team, pointed to the Hawaiian saying, “A stranger only for a day,” to explain the new tax. The adage means that a visitor should help with the work after the first day of being a guest.
“Nobody is saying that literally our visitors have to come here and start working for us. But what we are saying is that it’s important to be part of the solution,” Riley said. “It’s important to be part of caring for the things you love.”
